had not the happiness of Lord Hastings' private acquaintance. It was the meditation of wrong towards him first made him (Mr. J.) his friend: it was an attempt to bear hard upon him, and affront him from his post, at the close of the first cam

ing aspect of the country. From the prince to the peasant I have found every class eloquent in their expressions of gratitude to the British Government, for the blessings they enjoy under its protection. Peace and comfort on all sides; discontent and dissatisfaction appear to be unknown, except in a few districts in the immediate power of Scindiah's relations." (Hear, hear!) Would the Hon. Proprietor now wish to press his amendment? Had he been pre sent in the last Court, he might have had the pleasure of hearing Sir John Malcolm quoted in confirmation on these subjects. He (Mr. Jackson) had the extract in his hand, but he need not repeat it. He must, however, appeal to what fell from an Hon. Director (Mr. Money) on a former day. What, said that Hon. Director, was now the Company's situation?-Greatly extended territories, increased investments, ample revenues, an overflowing treasury, internal improvements effected to a vast extent; justice and wise laws universally administered; all India at peace, the natives happy, and no man dissatisfied! (Hear, hear!) These, as nearly as he could recollect, were the very words which were used by an Hon. Director last week. And now an Hon. Proprietor comes down to the Court, and seeks on a sudden to check that expression of gratitude, that would otherwise perhaps have warmed every bosom, and have led to the holding up of every hand in favour of this noble and calumniated individual, by thus obliging them to discuss a proposition, detestable in its origin, founded upon the calumnious aspersions of an unknown defamer, avowed by the mover to be such as he did not believe one word of, and calculated only to cast a shameful stigma upon a man of the highest character and honour! The Hon. Member had noticed the government of Warren Hastings, observing that there were some parts of it which he disapproved; adding, with allusion to Lord Hastings, "but there must be some blots in the conduct of every Governor, and their merits must be regarded as sets-off." Now he (Mr. J.) called upon the Hon. Gentleman, and upon every member of the Court to bear him witness, that he repudiated and disclaimed this doctrine of setoff, as far as it regarded the Marquess of Hastings! he (Mr. J.) would accept of no such compromise: either the Noble Lord was deserving the marks of honour they had shewn him, or he had no claim to distinction and further remuneration. He spoke of him but as of a public man : he

extreme disadvantage under which the Governor-General had begun that war, and the necessity which he was under at the same time of providing for the safety of Central or Southern India, all the states of which, with scarcely an exception, were then, as it has since been ascertained, involved in deep conspiracy against the existence of the British authority; he had regarded his conduct even then as highly meritorious, and had stood up in his place as its advocate. Since that period he had read many papers, and watched every step of the Noble Lord's brilliant career, up to that warm and concurrent resolution of thanks in 1822, in which both Courts so feelingly lamented its close!-Had any thing happened since to detract from those eulogiums, which the Directors were so anxious should arrive in India before the Marquess's de parture?—If so, he called upon gentlemen on either side of the bar to put their charge in some tangible shape, so that it might be met.(Hear, hear!) Let them move for all papers which might enable the Court of Proprietors to form a judgment on the subject; remembering that his Hon. Friend (Mr. Kinnaird) had embodied their own language, even to an idea, in the motion he had framed, and challenged animadversion! It could not be denied that his Hon. Friend had taken the proper course that day to satisfy the minds of all upon the question of the Noble Marquess's character. If any one, he repeated, knew any thing against the Marquess, let him come forward, as his Hon. Friend had observed, in a way that was agreeable to the constitution of the Company. If the Directors had aught to allege detractive of their former opinions, they owed it to God and their country to bring it before the Court. In the mean time he (Mr. Jackson) would suggest, that the Hon. Member (Mr. Smith) should either withdraw a motion so full of the deepest imputation, and so replete, possibly, with mischievous consequences, over which he might hereafter have no controul-or move for a more general series of papers, such as might shew what the real character and conduct of the Marquess had been. Let the Hon. Member only do this, and he (Mr. Jackson) would stand up with a grateful heart, and avow that that was precisely the course which he himself had come down prepared to take, and would therefore support; observing, at the same time, to his Hon. Friend,

"Sir, yo.. have now moved a resolution which I second with greater pleasure than any that I ever yet held up my hand for; but do not think of persisting in an exclusive proposition, which would amount at once to accusation, judgment, and execution!"-(Hear, hear!)

Mr. John Smith, in explanation, professed that he did not know whether, according to the rules usually observed in the discussions of that Court, he was en. titled again to address them at this stage of the business; but if he might be permitted to do so, he certainly felt a strong inclination to offer a few words upon this occasion. Either he had lost his understanding, and was labouring under a delusion, or he was afraid that the Marquess of Hastings must reckon upon finding, in the gentlemen who had last addressed the Court (he would not say his Lordship's enemies), but certainly those who acted as if they were not his friends. (Hear, hear!) With respect to the course which he (Mr. Smith) had taken in that amendment which he was called upon by the Court to submit, he could only say, that if the Marquess of Hastings had been his own brother he would have taken the same step. (Hear!) He begged to say, that his Hon. and Gallant Friend near him (Sir John Doyle), whose friendship he had long enjoyed, and hoped he should still continue to possess, had attributed to him some observations about wars in India; but he would appeal to the recollection of gentlemen, whether in his speech he gave any opinion at all about those wars which were carried on by the Marquess of Hastings? (Hear!) He (Mr. Smith) knew, in fact, nothing about them; but he did look with extreme jealousy upon wars un. dertaken by us in India, (hear, hear !) at any time; and let it not be forgotten, that even Mr. Canning, in moving the vote of thanks which had been referred to, most cautiously abstained from giving any opinion whatever upon the policy of those wars. The Court, he was sure, would remember that this was clearly the case in that extract from the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech which had been read by Mr. Kinnaird. Generally speaking, however, he (Mr. Smith) was favourable to the administration of the Marquess; but it would be idle, at the same time, not to say that there were rumours abroad relative to some transaction at Hyderabad, which did impute something of improper conduct to that noble Lord. (Hear!) And he could not furnish a better proof of the existence of such report, than by referring to the conduct of his honourable and gallant friend, who had thought it to be his duty to interrogate the Chair about them. (Hear!) But it had been said, that he was most unjust in bringing forward this

motion or amendment. He totally denied the charge. He admitted the Marquess of Hastings to be a great man, and an admirable Governor-General: and he was willing to allow his fame to be as pure as those honourable gentlemen below would contend for. But, in the name of common sense, could a better opportunity be afforded the Noble Lord of proving that all these imputations were false, than would be afforded by such a proposition as the one he had suggested? (Hear, hear!) Reports of such a nature were certainly prevalent, and he believed them to be unfounded. There might be some improprieties after all; and then he (Mr. Smith) should be told that the Noble Marquess's career had been so glorious, and his conduct so admirable, that no specific measure ought to be enacted which might affect him. He (Mr. Smith) admitted all this: but if there should be any thing beyond that required explanation, he thought, as a Proprietor, that he had a right to submit it to the Court. (Hear!) But what was it that the Court were now about to do? An hon. friend of his had said, that the Marquess Wellesley had received a greater reward than it was now proposed to give to the Marquess of Hastings. Now this, he confessed, he did not know before to-day; and he must undoubtedly be extremely ignorant of the af fairs of that Court, if they had ever bestowed on any one, as a reward, £10,000 a-year.

Mr. Douglas Kinnaird, with his Hon. Friend's permission, would endeavour to inform him how that matter stood. In the year 1803, the Marquess Wellesley received from the Company a grant of £5,000 a year, which was to endure for twenty years, and to commence from three years preceding 1803: the Marquess Wellesley, therefore, received £15,000 in land, and £5,000 a-year for seventeen years afterwards, making together £100,000. At the end of that term Lord Wellesley, being then fifty-nine years old, received a fresh grant of £5,000 a year for life.

The Chairman.-Mr. Kinnaird would permit him to set him right. The Marquess Wellesley by a grant dated the 10th December 1800, was to receive £5,000 a-year for twenty years, commencing from 1799: he therefore did not receive more than £5,000 a-year in all that period, at the expiration of which he was granted the same sum per annum for life.

Mr. John Smith resumed. After all this explanation, the object that had been proposed to the Court was, to give to the Noble Marquess an additional large sum of money. It might be perfectly true, and he dared to say it would turn out to be so, that this matter of the Hyderabad transaction would prove to be of no great consequence. If it should appear to have been mere matter of carelessness, -he

would be the last man in the world to refuse any thing to the Noble Marquess in the shape of such a reward as that proposed. But it was quite unfair, and quite contrary to common sense (he begged pardon of his Honorable Friend) that he should be called "unjust" if he wanted -what?-all that he required was-any papers that could be furnished in the way of information upon transactions passing in India.

The Hon. D. Kinnaird." That is what I want, too."

Mr. Smith then added, something had been said about his connexion with the Court of Directors. Now he could assure them, that Honourable Court of Proprietors, and his Hon. Friend, that he had received no information in this case from any Director whatever. How he came by any intelligence on the subject might be very briefly stated. Some short time since he heard two gentlemen speak. ing together of this Hyderabad affair; and having the good fortune soon afterwards to become acquainted with a gentleman who had just returned from India, after a long residence in that country, and who knew much about what had passed and was passing in those distant quarters, he applied to him; and from that gentleman had certainly received much information. He (Mr. Smith) afterwards applied to another gentleman from India on a similar matter: but derived little intelligence from that individual, beyond what he had already acquired. With respect to the refusal by the Court of Directors to confirm the grant of £5,000 a-year to the Marquess of Hastings, that had become a common topic of conversation all over this town. Whether the fact were true or false, hé (Mr. Smith) knew not; but he must quite deny having received any information upon the business from the Directors. (Hear) He would not take up the valuable time of the meeting any longer; but he must desire to protect his own character from the imputation of any act which might seem to prejudge the Marquess of Hastings. He confessed that he had no prejudice against that great and gallant person: at the same time, from the circumstances of the party himself, (and nobody, it was to be hoped, would object to this observation), he did wish to see that noble individual placed in a more exalted station than he now occupied, and in one that might be more comfortable to himself, than he was at present understood to enjoy. In conclusion, the Hon. Gentleman repeated his conviction that he Could not, with any degree of consistency, be charged with injustice to the Noble Marquess for what he had done, because he was satisfied that he had observed precisely that line of conduct which the Mar.

quess himself would wish hit (Hear, hear!)

pursue.

The Hon. Mr. Elphinstone said, if the last proposition that day submitted to the Court had been a motion for the production of all the papers relative to the conduct of the late Governor-General, he should have been glad to support it; but when, instead of moving for all the papers, as he had expected would be done, he heard the Hon. Member change his motion for this pitiful one, which related only to the loans of Palmer and Co., he (Mr. Elphinstone) altered his opinion. (Hear, hear!) For what did it now tend to? Why, it went to fix upon the Hon. Mar." quess the very stain which in other places it had been attempted to cast upon his character; this was what the changed proposition of the Hon. Member went to. His first object seemed to be of a more ex. tensive and equitable kind, and if he would go back to that original intention, and move for all the papers, he (Mr. Elphinstone) would support him. He had not the pleasure of being acquainted with that Hon. Gentleman, but he had a very high respect for his character. If the Hon. Gentleman could be induced to renew his original design, he was sure that the Court of Directors would give all the papers that were required, and he himself would call for them, if no one else would. (Hear, hear!) Very sure he was, that the more there came out about that Noble Marquess, the higher his character would stand. (Hear!) When the Court looked at the splendid services he had rendered in India, and the solid benefits which had accrued to the Company under his government, this loan-this story, about Palmer and Co. was in truth a very pitiful little thing; it was like (as the Gentlemen in the Court were all merchants, and would understand the simile)

it was like putting on the credit side of the account about half a million of money, while on the debit side their was this single shilling. (Hear!) But even that single shilling should not remain there long. (A laugh.) Inquiry would leave a perfectly clear and very heavy balance in favour of the noble Marquess. (Hear!) For his own part, he was not very capable of addressing the Court; but there were times when a man could not sit still and hear a great and noble character insulted. (Hear, hear!) When he said this, he did not mean to intimate that the Hon. Member would willingly or knowingly insult the reputation of any man but really the effect of his proposition was just as unfortunate.

Mr. D. Kinnaird submitted whether he might not, at this stage of the business, put one or two considerations to the Court. He assured them, that it was his object to

have the completest possible investigation into the whole of the Marquess's conduct in India; for he meant to challenge the minutest inspection of every part of it. His only reason for not pursuing the course which one or two Hon. Gentlemen were for pursuing, in moving for all papers on this subject, was, that he thought it would be disrespectful to the Directors not to allow them to introduce such papers into their report: for the motion he had had the honour of introducing was, to enable the Court of Directors to report on the matter of these imputations. If there had been one blot in the conduct of the Noble Marquess, let it be represented to the Proprietors. God forbid that he should not wish to have all the papers produced; but he might be allowed to ask-when a motion was made by one individual for papers referring to matters affecting generally the Marquess's conduct, and another gentleman, more friendly to the Marquess, said, "no-let us have only those which regard this one part of his conduct-it is a dirty transaction;"-what was he (Mr. Kinnaird) to do? All he would say was, that he was perfectly ready for all the papers. If assistance was necessary in their arrangement or preparation, he was ready, for one, to take a labouring oar-(a laugh); and he now confessed himself willing to devote all that time which he could take from the discharge of positive and imperative duties elsewhere, and he would devote it to such investigation. (Hear!) He was quite ready to enter upon it; and all he feared was, that so few Proprietors would wish to unite with him, that he was likely to have (as it was called) all the fun to himself.-(À laugh). Let the Directors make their report, and then the Proprietors would be the fittest persons to judge whether they would give the Marquess the money or not: the Directors' Report would pretty well tell them what to do. Meantime he (Mr. Kinnaird) was quite ready to withdraw his proposition, if the Hon. Gentleman thought fit to substitute his in its stead; but he would ask him, whether he would let any thing so unjust go forth to the world in this shape? Injustice, he well knew, the Hon. Member could never mean to be guilty of; but were he (Mr. Kinnaird) asked in what way a man might inflict a wound upon another, without giving an opportunity of cure, he should say, by dealing it out with an affected air of candour-as if a man should say, "let us hear these reports; but don't let us go any further." The calumniator who had so basely desired to traduce the Court of Directors and the Marquess of Hastings, would boast that he had gained his object, when he should find that the result of his measures was, to set the slander about the whole country,

and over all India, sanctioned by a motion which was introduced by the Hon. Member, though it said (in other words): "let us look at a part only of the Marquess's conduct, and not at the whole of it." He (Mr. Kinnaird) was sure his Hon. Friend would alter his mind, when he came to see that, which he thought was a proper course, almost all others would think to have been a most improper one; however, he was quite ready to withdraw his motion.

Mr. Peter Moore and Mr. Impey rose at the same time; but the former gave way.

Mr. Impey said, that he wished to say a few words in the preliminary stage of this proceeding. He only wished that none should go away under the impression that there were, in that Court, either enemies of the Marquess of Hastings, or persons prejudiced against him. (Hear, hear!) Instead of finding enemies amongst them, he was satisfied that the Noble Marquess, both there and in the Court of Directors, would find his warmest friends. He thought they had always shewn themselves in the highest degree his Lordship's admirers; over and over again, he had been the object of their gratitude. As to their general character, it was proverbial, that no Government was so liberal to its servants as the East-India Company. Had they not shewn it conspicuously throughout their records? and did not that Court contain within its walls (alluding to the statues) examples of its munificence to Governors-General-to Clive, to Warren Hastings, to Cornwallis, to Wellesley, and their other benefactors? (Hear, hear!) All these great men had performed for them great and distinguished services, and the East-India Company might be said to have run a race with them in apportioning their rewards. Had they, he would ask, done otherwise in the case of the Marquess of Hastings? The first service he had performed was in Bengal, in the Nepaul war. The Court of Directors immediately recognized that service, and acknowledged it, by a vote conceived in the most ample terms of satisfaction. The next great occasion which arose for considering the services of the Marquess of Hastings was in the Pindarree war;then again the Court evinced their grati tude, by a vote of £60,000, as a reward to the Governor-General. The Court took care, in the manner of securing this sum to the Marquess of Hastings, for himself and his family, to vest in trustees the amount, so that nothing should intercept the benefit they intended to confer. There had been no retraction of the principle of these votes behind the bar-his own opinion of the Noble Marquess's merits he retracted not-he really believed their late Governor-General had performed his duty with great ability for the East. India Company, and had done them infinite service.

(Hear, hear!) He came now to the only part of the question which seemed to have led to this discussion. On the Marquess's intimation of his intention to return from India, he again received their thanks; and after his arrival in Europe, a proposition, it was stated, of a pecuniary nature, had been submitted to the Court of Directors, and by them negatived, in consequence of their view of the papers and documents then before them. How could the Court of Proprietors discuss the act of the Directors, without having these papers before them, and judging from the whole case? The Noble Marquess's character doubtless stood high: so did the character of the Court of Directors; who were, be it remembered, acting upon the responsibility of their oath. (Hear, hear!) Was it not then justice, to call upon the Court of Proprietors to suspend their vote until they saw these papers? (Hear!) There was one question more: they had coupled with their motion a demand for explanation respecting a loan at Hyderabad to the Nizam. The subject of the loan was at present a mere matter of report, although the information was known to have come upon affidavit. The statement was, that the Government of Bengal had sanctioned a loan to a native Prince, in direct opposition to law. They had two questions, in point of fact, before them: one was the motion for papers generallythe other confined to this alleged transaction at Hyderabad. In his opinion, the motion ought to comprehend all papers: (Hear, hear!) they ought to have the whole, when it was material for them to consider the subject fully. Why not then have them at once, and more particularly as an honourable and venerable Director (Mr. Elphinstone) had pledged himself, in some way or other, to bring the whole of the papers under the consideration of the Court. He was decidedly of opinion, that all which bore upon the general question ought to be submitted to them. (Hear, hear!)

Mr. P. Moore said that, notwithstanding all the debate which had taken place, he could not see the direct course which they intended to pursue. He never saw a discussion so clumsily and inefficiently got up. (4 laugh.) The parties who took the lead in this affair, and who called for inquiry, were nevertheless all at variance with each other. One names one set of papers, another calls for others; and some say, "give us one specific paper, and that will bring all the rest." Where were all the rest? Who could tell the meaning of "all the rest?" Where were they specified? Who said they could be made out in half a century? In this state of uncertainty and darkness, he was fearful of offering an opinion. One gentleman had said, that they must probe this case to the

bottom, to clear up some particular insinuation, that came from God only knew where. Why were the Court of Directors to be put upon their defence in this loose way? He wished to see some-ground laid, before they took a step which was calculated to shake their confidence in those who were deputed by them to perform the Executive trust. (Hear, hear!) He had heard the gallant General (Sir J. Doyle) with great attention, and he had demanded all, all the papers; 66 produce all!" said he: why that all might be 10,000 volumes. It was quite clear, however, that the Marquess of Hastings was ready to meet any charge which might be insinuated against him. (Hear!) He had lately read a pamphlet, which had, he believed, been published by the friends of the Noble Marquess. It contained something, perhaps, with which he might be disposed to find fault; but it also contained the history of two great achievements which had made a great impression upon the whole world. One was, the putting down that murderous, plundering, devastating tribe, the Pindarrees, who would have, were it not for Lord Hastings' prompt and decisive measures against them, continued. ravaging and desolating whole provinces, and extirpating men, women, and children. The next point of praise for Lord Hastings was the Mahratta war. He was particularly gratified at the success which attended that campaign, for of the necessity for the attack he had long been convinced, and had, before the Noble Marquess set out for India, waited upon him to read a part of a speech which he (Mr. Moore) had formerly delivered in that Court, shewing the necessity of breaking up that Mahratta confederacy. The Marquess of Hastings had destroyed it to a miracle, and for it, he deserved all the Court, or the nation, could bestow upon him. There was one other point of which they ought not to lose sight, and the necessity of preventing which they ought to foresee; it was to take care that these servants, who in high and responsible situations had essentially served them abroad, should not, upon their return home, be harassed and persecuted for rumours or trifles. (Hear, hear!) They would, by adopting a different course, be holding out a bounty to their servants, not for doing something, but for doing nothing. What was the ground of this attack upon the Marquess of Hastings? Some confounded newspaper stuff, from a source as filthy as the John Bull, employed in pouring forth abuse against every man of condition and property in the country. If these sort of contemptible stories were to be taken up in a serious light, where would they end? They had that day heard of a conversation in a hackney coach; by and bye they might hear of some conversation which issued