ground which Mr. Middleton took for condemning the Begums; or to pass a verdict of "guilty," for the most trivial misdemeanour, against the poorest wretch that ever had existed! Major Williams, among the strange reports that chiefly filled these affidavits, stated one that he had heard,—namely, that fifty British troops, watching two hundred prisoners, had been surrounded by six thousand of the enemy, and relieved by the approach of nine men. And of such extraordinary hearsay evidence were most of the depositions composed. Considering, therefore, the character given by Mr. Hastings to the British army in Oude, "that they manifested a rage for rapacity and peculation," it was extraordinary that there were no instances of stouter swearing. But as for Colonel Gordon, he afforded a flagrantly conspicuous proof of the grateful spirit and temper of affidavits designed to plunge these wretched women in irretrievable ruin. Colonel Gordon was, just before, not merely released from danger, but preserved from imminent death, by the very person whose accuser he thought fit to become; and yet, incredible as it may appear, even at the expiration of two little days from his deliverance, he deposes against the distressed and unfortunate woman who had become his saviour, and, only upon hearsay evidence, accuses her of crimes and rebellion. Great God of justice! canst Thou from Thy eternal throne look down upon such premeditated turpitude of heart, and not fix some mark of dreadful vengeance upon the perpetrators? With respect to Mr. M'Donald, I like not the memory which remembered things better at the end of five years, than at the time; unless there might be something so relaxing in the climate of India, and so affecting the memory as well as the nerves, "the soft figures melting away," and the images of immediate action instantaneously dissolving, men must return to their native air of England, to brace up the mind as well as the body, and have their memories, like their sinews, restrung. I must pause a moment, and particularly address myself to one description of gentlemen, those of the learned profession, within these walls. They saw that this House was the path to fortune in their profession; that they might soon expect that some of them were to be called to a dignified situation, where the great and important trust would be reposed in them of protecting the lives and for tunes of their fellow-subjects. One right honourable and learned gentleman, in particular, (Sir Lloyd Kenyon,) if rumour spoke right, might suddenly be called to succeed that great and venerable character who long had shone the brightest luminary of his profession, whose pure and steady light was clear even to its latest moment, but whose last beam must now too soon be extinguished. I will ask the supposed successor of Lord Mansfield, calmly to reflect on these extraordinary depositions, and solemnly to declare, whether the mass of affidavits taken at Lucknow would be received by him as evidence to convict the lowest abject in this country? If he say it would, I declare to God I will sit down and not add a syllable more to the too long trespass which I have made on the patience of the committee. If Mr. Hastings, who once remarked that "a mind touched with superstition might have contemplated the fate of the Rohillas with peculiar impressions," could image forth in his fancy the proud spirit of Sujah Dowlah looking down upon that Middleton, who had been engaged in the previous violations, most busy in perpetrating the last; upon that very Hastings, whom he had left the guardian of his wife, and mother, and family, turning all those relations forth to the merciless seasons, and to a more merciless soldiery; he might indeed cherish such a contemplation with peculiar impressions! That Mr. Hastings was regularly acquainted with all the enormities committed on the Begums, there was the clearest proof. It was true that Middleton was rebuked for not being more exact. He did not, perhaps, descend to the detail; he did not give him an account of the number of groans which were heaved, of the quantity of tears which were shed, of the weight of the fetters, or of the depth of the dungeons; but he communicated every step which he took to accomplish the base and unwarrantable end. He told him, that, to save appearances, they must use the name of the nabob, and that they need go no further than was absolutely necessary: this he might venture to say without being suspected by Mr. Hastings of too severe a morality. The governor-general also endeavoured to throw a share of the guilt on the Council, although Mr. Wheeler had never taken any share, and Mr. Macpherson had not arrived in India when the scene began. When he shrank from the inquiry ordered by the Court of Directors, under a new and pompous doctrine, that "the majesty of Justice was to be approached with supplication, and was not to degrade itself by hunting for crimes;" Mr. Hastings seems to have forgotten the infamous employment to which he had appointed an English chief justice, to hunt for criminal charges against innocent, defenceless women. I trust, therefore, that this House will vindicate the insulted character of justice; that it will demonstrate its true quality, essence, and purposes-it will demonstrate it to be, in the case of Mr. Hastings, active, inquisitive, and avenging. I have heard of factions and parties in this House, and know that they exist. There is scarcely a subject upon which they are not broken and divided into sects. The prerogative of the Crown finds its advocates among the representatives of the people. The privileges of the people find opponents even in the House of Commons itself. Habits, connexions, parties, all lead to diversity of opinion. But when inhumanity presents itself to the observation of the members, it finds no division among them: they attack it as their common enemy; and, as if the character of this land was involved in their zeal for its ruin, they leave it not till it is completely overthrown. It is not given to this House, to behold the objects of their compassion and benevolence in the present extensive consideration, as it was to the officers who relieved them, and who so feelingly described the ecstatic emotions of gratitude in the instant of deliverance. They cannot behold the workings of the heart, the quivering lips, the trickling tears, the loud and yet tremulous joys of the millions whom their vote of this night will for ever save from the cruelty of corrupted power. But, though they cannot directly see the effect, is not the true enjoyment of their benevolence increased by the blessing being conferred unseen? Will not the omnipotence of Britain be demonstrated to the wonder of nations, by stretching its mighty arm across the deep, and saving, by its fiat, distant millions from destruction? And will the blessings of the people thus saved dissipate in empty air? No! if I may dare use the figure, we shall constitute Heaven itself our proxy, to receive for us the blessings of their pious gratitude, and the prayers of their thanksgiving. It is with confidence, therefore, Sir, that I move you on this charge, "That Warren Hastings be impeached." 407 SELECTIONS FROM MICHELL. THE CHRISTIAN MARTYR. BUT see! Vespasian's fabric yonder stands,* How thoughts on thoughts, like waves, o'ersweep the heart! What dreams arise, what airy phantoms start! Here on the massive podium let me lean; No longer stern or silent is the scene; Roll back Time's wheel-hark! ancient spirits call- Hero and sage, from Death's cold marble rise! And their deep hum is like the winds that creep; A scene that meek-soul'd Mercy fain would shroud,— *The Colosseum. Then crouches watchful, growling fierce and low: Instruct, delight, and prompt to deeds sublime, THE END. LONDON --PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS, HOXTON SQUARE. |