The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke Volume X Part 18

My Lords, I have one farther remark to make upon these accounts. The cabooleats, or agreements for the payments of these bribes, amount, in the three specified provinces, to 95,000_l._ Do you believe that these provinces were thus particularly favored? Do you think that they were chosen as a little demesne for Mr. Hastings? that they were the only provinces honored with his protection, so far as to take bribes from them? Do you perceive anything in their local situation that should distinguish them from other provinces of Bengal? What is the reason why Dinagepore, Patna, Nuddea, should have the post of honor a.s.signed them?

What reason can be given for not taking bribes also from Burdwan, from Bissunpore, in short, from all the sixty-eight collections which comprise the revenues of Bengal, and for selecting only three? How came he, I say, to be so wicked a servant, that, out of sixty-eight divisions, he chose only three to supply the exigencies of the Company?

He did not do his duty in making this distinction, if he thought that bribery was the best way of supplying the Company's treasury, and that it formed the most useful and effectual resource for them,--which he has declared over and over again. Was it right to lay the whole weight of bribery, extortion, and oppression upon those three provinces, and neglect the rest? No: you know, and must know, that he who extorts from three provinces will extort from twenty, if there are twenty. You have a standard, a measure of extortion, and that is all: _ex pede Herculem_: guess from thence what was extorted from all Bengal. Do you believe he could be so cruel to these provinces, so partial to the rest, as to charge them with that load, with 95,000_l._, knowing the heavy oppression they were sinking under, and leave all the rest untouched?

You will judge of what is concealed from us by what we have discovered through various means that have occurred, in consequence both of the guilty conscience of the person who confesses the fact with respect to these provinces, and of the vigor, perseverance and sagacity of those who have forced from him that discovery. It is not, therefore, for me to say that the 100,000_l._ and 95,000_l._ only were taken. Where the circ.u.mstances ent.i.tle me to go on, I must not be stopped, but at the boundary where human nature has fixed a barrier.

You have now before you the true reason why he did not choose that this affair should come before a court of justice. Rather than this exposure should be made, he to-day would call for the mountains to cover him: he would prefer an inquiry into the business of the three seals, into anything foreign to the subject I am now discussing, in order to keep you from the discovery of that gross bribery, that shameful peculation, that abandoned prost.i.tution and corruption, which he has practised with indemnity and impunity to this day, from one end of India to the other.

At the head of the only account we have of these transactions stands Dinagepore; and it now only remains for me to make some observations upon Mr. Hastings's proceedings in that province. Its name, then, and that money was taken from it, is all that appears; but from whom, by what hands, by what means, under what pretence it was taken, he has not told you, he has not told his employers. I believe, however, I can tell from whom it was taken, and I believe it will appear to your Lordships that it must have been taken from the unhappy Rajah of Dinagepore; and I shall in a very few words state the circ.u.mstances attending, and the service performed for it: from these you will be able to form a just opinion concerning this bribe.

Dinagepore, a large province, was possessed by an ancient family, the last of which, about the year 1184 of their era, the Rajah Bija Naut, had no legitimate issue. When he was at the point of death, he wished to exclude from the succession to the zemindary his half-brother, Cantoo Naut, with whom he had lived upon ill terms for many years, by adopting a son. Such an adoption, when a person has a half-brother, as he had, in my poor judgment is not countenanced by the Gentoo laws. But Gunga Govind Sing, who was placed, by the office he held, at the head of the registry, where the records were kept by which the rules of succession according to the custom of the country are ascertained, became master of these Gentoo laws; and through his means Mr. Hastings decreed in favor of the adoption. We find that immediately after this decree Gunga Govind Sing received a cabooleat on Dinagepore for the sum of 40,000_l._, of which it appears that he has actually exacted 30,000_l._, though he has paid to Mr. Hastings only 20,000_l._ We find, before the young Rajah had been in possession a year, his natural guardians and relations, on one pretence or another, all turned out of their offices. The peshcush, or fixed annual rent, payable to the Company for his zemindary, fell into arrear, as might naturally be expected, from the Rajah's inability to pay both his rent and this exorbitant bribe, extorted from a ruined family. Instantly, under pretext of this arrearage, Gunga Govind Sing, and the fict.i.tious Committee which Mr. Hastings had made for his wicked purposes, composed of Mr. Anderson, Mr. Sh.o.r.e, and Mr. Croftes, who were but the tools, as they tell us themselves, of Gunga Govind Sing, gave that monster of iniquity, Debi Sing, the government of this family. They put this n.o.ble infant, this miserable Rajah, together with the management of the provinces of Dinagepore and Rungpore, into his wicked and abominable hands, where the ravages he committed excited what was called a rebellion, that forced him to fly from the country, and into which I do not wonder he should be desirous that a political and not a juridical inquiry should be made. The savage barbarities which were there perpetrated I have already, in the execution of my duty, brought before this House and my country; and it will be seen, when we come to the proof, whether what I have a.s.serted was the effect either of a deluded judgment or disordered imagination, and whether the facts I state cannot be substantiated by authentic reports, and were none of my invention, and, lastly, whether the means that were taken to discredit them do not infinitely aggravate the guilt of the offenders. Mr.

Hastings wanted to fly from judicial inquiry; he wanted to put Debi Sing anywhere but in a court of justice. A court of justice, where a direct a.s.sertion is brought forward, and a direct proof applied to it, is an element in which he cannot live for a moment. He would seek refuge anywhere, even in the very sanctuary of his accusers, rather than abide a trial with him in a court of justice. But the House of Commons was too just not to send him to this tribunal, whose justice they cannot doubt, whose penetration he cannot elude, and whose decision will justify those managers whose characters he attempted to defame.

But this is not all. We find, that, after the cruel sale of this infant, who was properly and directly under the guardianship of the Company, (for the Company acts as steward and dewan of the province, which office has the guardianship of minors,) after he had been robbed of 40,000_l._ by the hands of Gunga Govind Sing, and afterwards, under pretence of his being in debt to the Company, delivered into the hands of that monster, Debi Sing, Mr. Hastings, by way of antic.i.p.ation of these charges, and in answer to them, has thought proper to produce the certificate from this unfortunate boy which I will now again read to you.

"I, Radanaut, Zemindar of Purgunnah Havelly Punjera, commonly called Dinagepore:--As it has been learnt by me, the mutsuddies, and the respectable officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren Hastings, Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from us by deceit and force, and ruined the country; therefore we, upon the strength of our religion, which we think it inc.u.mbent on and necessary for us to abide by, following the rules laid down in giving evidence, declare the particulars of the acts and deeds of Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circ.u.mspection and caution, civility and justice, superior to the caution of the most learned, and, by representing what is fact, wipe away the doubts that have possessed the minds of the ministers of England: that Mr. Hastings is possessed of fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to us; that he is clear of the contamination of mistrust and wrong, and his mind is free of covetousness or avarice. During the time of his administration, no one saw other conduct than that of protection to the husbandmen, and justice; no inhabitant ever experienced afflictions, no one ever felt oppression from him. Our reputations have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence, and our families have always been protected by his justice. He never omitted the smallest instance of kindness towards us, but healed the wounds of despair with the salve of consolation, by means of his benevolent and kind behavior, never permitting one of us to sink in the pit of despondence. He supported every one by his goodness, overset the designs of evil-minded men by his authority, tied the hands of oppression with the strong bandage of justice, and by these means expanded the pleasing appearance of happiness and joy over us. He reestablished justice and impartiality. We were, during his government, in the enjoyment of perfect happiness and ease, and many of us are thankful and satisfied. As Mr.

Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and customs, he was always desirous, in every respect, of doing whatever would preserve our religious rites, and guard them against every kind of accident and injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we have experienced from him, and whatever happened from him, we have written without deceit or exaggeration."

My Lords, this Radanaut, zemindar of the purgunnah, who, as your Lordships hear, bears evidence upon oath to all the great and good qualities of the Governor, and particularly to his absolute freedom from covetousness,--this person, to whom Mr. Hastings appeals, was, as the Committee state, a boy between five and six years old at the time when he was given into the hands of Debi Sing, and when Mr. Hastings left Bengal, which was in 1786 [1785?], was between eleven and twelve years old. This is the sort of testimony that Mr. Hastings produces, to prove that he was clear from all sort of extortion, oppression, and covetousness, in this very zemindary of Dinagepore. This boy, who is so observant, who is so penetrating, who is so accurate in his knowledge of the whole government of Mr. Hastings, was, I say, when he left his government, at the utmost, but eleven years and a half old. Now to what an extremity is this unhappy man at your bar driven, when, oppressed by this acc.u.mulative load of corruption charged upon him, and seeing his bribery, his prevarication, his fraudulent bonds brought before you, he gives the testimony of this child, who for the greatest part of his time lived three hundred miles from the seat of Mr. Hastings's government!

Consider the miserable situation of this poor, unfortunate boy, made to swear, with all the solemnities of his religion, that Mr. Hastings was never guilty in his province of any act of rapacity! Such are the testimonies, which are there called _razinamas_, in favor of Mr.

Hastings, with which all India is said to sound. Do we attempt to conceal them from your Lordships? No, we bring them forth, to show you the wickedness of the man, who, after he has robbed innocence, after he has divided the spoil between Gunga Govind Sing and himself, gets the party robbed to perjure himself for his sake,--if such a creature is capable of being guilty of perjury. We have another razinama sent from Nuddea, by a person nearly under the same circ.u.mstances with Radanaut, namely, Maha Rajah Dirauje Seo Chund Behadre, only made to differ in some expressions from the former, that it might not appear to originate from the same hand. These miserable razinamas he delivers to you as the collected voice of the country, to show how ill-founded the impressions are which committees of the House of Commons (for to them they allude, I suppose) have taken concerning this man, during their inquiries into the management of the affairs of the Company in India.

Before I quit this subject, I have only to give you the opinion of Sir Elijah Impey, a name consecrated to respect forever, (your Lordships know him in this House as well as I do,) respecting these pet.i.tions and certificates of good behavior.

"From the reasons and sentiments that they contain," &c.[9]

The moment an Englishman appears, as this gentleman does, in the province of Dinagepore, to collect certificates for Mr. Hastings, it is a command for them, the people, to say what he pleases.

And here, my Lords, I would wish to say something of the miserable situation of the people of that country; but it is not in my commission, and I must be silent, and shall only request your Lordships to observe how this crime of bribery grows in its magnitude. First, the bribe is taken, through Gunga Govind Sing, from this infant, for his succession to the zemindary. Next follows the removal from their offices, and consequent ruin, of all his nearest natural relations. Then the delivery of the province to Debi Sing, upon the pretence of the arrears due to the Company, with all the subsequent horrors committed under the management of that atrocious villain. And lastly, the gross subornation of perjury, in making this wretched minor, under twelve years of age, bear testimony upon oath to the good qualities of Mr. Hastings and of his government,--this minor, I say, who lived three hundred miles from the seat of his government, and who, if he knew anything at all of his own affairs, must have known that Mr. Hastings was the cause of all his sufferings.

My Lords, I have now gone through the whole of what I have in charge. I have laid before you the covenants by which the Company have thought fit to guard against the avarice and rapacity of their Governors. I have shown that they positively forbid the taking of all sorts of bribes and presents; and I have stated the means adopted by them for preventing the evasion of their orders, by directing, in all money transactions, the publicity of them. I have farther shown, that, in order to remove every temptation to a breach of their orders, the next step was the framing a legal fiction, by which presents and money, under whatever pretence taken, were made the legal property of the Company, in order to enable them to recover them out of any rapacious hands that might violate the new act of Parliament. I have also stated this act of Parliament. I have stated Mr. Hastings's sense of it. I have stated the violation of it by his taking bribes from all quarters. I have stated the fraudulent bonds by which he claimed a security for money as his own which belonged to the Company. I have stated the series of frauds, prevarications, concealments, and all that mystery of iniquity, which I waded through with pain to myself, I am sure, and with infinite pain, I fear, to your Lordships. I have shown your Lordships that his evasions of the clear words of his covenant and the clear words of an act of Parliament were such as did not arise from an erroneous judgment, but from a corrupt intention; and I believe you will find that his attempt to evade the law aggravates infinitely his guilt in breaking it. In all this I have only _opened_ to you the package of this business; I have opened it to ventilate it, and give air to it; I have opened it, that a quarantine might be performed,--that the sweet air of heaven, which is polluted by the poison it contains, might be let loose upon it, and that it may be aired and ventilated before your Lordships touch it. Those who follow me will endeavor to explain to your Lordships what Mr. Hastings has endeavored to involve in mystery, by bringing proof after proof that every bribe that was here concealed was taken with corrupt purposes and followed with the most pernicious consequences. These are things which will be brought to you in proof. I have only regarded the system of bribery; I have endeavored to show that it is a system of mystery and concealment, and consequently a system of fraud.

You now see some of the means by which fortunes have been made by certain persons in India; you see the confederacies they have formed with one another for their mutual concealment and mutual support; you will see how they reply to their own deceitful inquiries by fraudulent answers; you will see that Cheltenham calls upon Calcutta, as one deep calls upon another, and that the call which is made for explanation is answered in mystery; in short, you will see the very const.i.tution of their minds here developed.

And now, my Lords, in what a situation are we all placed! This prosecution of the Commons, I wish to have it understood, and I am sure I shall not be disclaimed in it, is a prosecution not only for the punishing a delinquent, a prosecution not merely for preventing this and that offence, but it is a great censorial prosecution, for the purpose of preserving the manners, characters, and virtues that characterize the people of England. The situation in which we stand is dreadful. These people pour in upon us every day. They not only bring with them the wealth which they have acquired, but they bring with them into our country the vices by which it was acquired. Formerly the people of England were censured, and perhaps properly, with being a sullen, unsocial, cold, unpleasant race of men, and as inconstant as the climate in which they are born. These are the vices which the enemies of the kingdom charged them with: and people are seldom charged with vices of which they do not in some measure partake. But n.o.body refused them the character of being an open-hearted, candid, liberal, plain, sincere people,--qualities which would cancel a thousand faults, if they had them. But if, by conniving at these frauds, you once teach the people of England a concealing, narrow, suspicious, guarded conduct,--if you teach them qualities directly the contrary to those by which they have hitherto been distinguished,--if you make them a nation of concealers, a nation of dissemblers, a nation of liars, a nation of forgers,--my Lords, if you, in one word, turn them into a people of _banians_, the character of England, that character which, more than our arms, and more than our commerce, has made us a great nation, the character of England will be gone and lost.

Our liberty is as much in danger as our honor and our national character. We, who here appear representing the Commons of England, are not wild enough not to tremble both for ourselves and for our const.i.tuents at the effect of riches. _Opum metuenda potestas._ We dread the operation of money. Do we not know that there are many men who wait, and who indeed hardly wait, the event of this prosecution, to let loose all the corrupt wealth of India, acquired by the oppression of that country, for the corruption of all the liberties of this, and to fill the Parliament with men who are now the object of its indignation?

To-day the Commons of Great Britain prosecute the delinquents of India: to-morrow the delinquents of India may be the Commons of Great Britain.

We know, I say, and feel the force of money; and we now call upon your Lordships for justice in this cause of money. We call upon you for the preservation of our manners, of our virtues. We call upon you for our national character. We call upon you for our liberties; and hope that the freedom of the Commons will be preserved by the justice of the Lords.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] This doc.u.ment cannot be found

END OF VOL. X.