Mr. Hastings says of himself, in his defence during the impeachment, With the year 1750, I entered the service of the East India Company; and from that service I have derived all my official habits, all the knowledge which I possess, and all the principles which were to regulate my conduct in it.' This early initiation into habits of business may have its advantages in a few rare instances, i. e. when the youth has already a manly intellect; when the value of every redeemable opportunity for improvement is perceived by native sagacity, and the premature separation from compulsory studies is compensated by voluntary application. Mr. Hastings was first attached to one of the factories in Bengal. In affairs which depended on industry, he was indefatigable; where genius could shorten the way to a successful conclusion, he showed acuteness and invention. After the daily requisitions of office were satisfied, he had some hours which he might either waste or improve. In these he gave himself assiduously to the study of the Persian and Hindustanee languages, and to the cultivation of those attainments which increased his qualifications for the Company's ⚫ service. At the same time, he began to observe the relations of the native powers with the eye of a statesman. His application was crowned with such rapid advances in commercial and political knowledge, that he was selected by the presidency to attempt the establishing of a factory in the interior parts of Bengal, where no European had hitherto penetrated; and though the design was then defeated by the sudden intervention of a turbulent period, he conciliated the esteem of the natives among whom he had resided.

In 1756, Surajah Dowlah having made himself master of Calcutta, issued orders for the seizing of all the English in Bengal, and Mr. Hastings was one of those who were carried prisoners to Moorshadabad, that tyrant's capital. Even at that court he had already inspired with personal respect, men who had the power to protect him. He was treated with humanity, received many distinguishing attentions, and was permitted to reside at the Dutch factory of Calcapore.

When Col. Clive retook Calcutta, Mr. Hastings served as a volunteer in his army. Surajah Dowlah, who had aimed at the ex-” pulsion of the English, exhibited a striking instance of the mutability of human affairs. His defeat at Plassey by Col. Clive was followed by his dethronement, and the substitution of Meer Jaffier. This revolution took place in 1757, and made it expedient to have a resident at the court of the Nabob. Col. Clive showed that discernment of men which marked his character by selecting Mr. Hastings to act as the honourable Company's minister. As his zeal and fidelity in previous duties led to this appointment, so his able conduct as resident recommended him to a still higher office; and in 1761 he became a member of the council at Calcutta. At the council board he distinguished himself by the elegant composition of the minutes which he delivered, according to the custom

of the service, on the subjects for deliberation; and he was held in high consideration by his colleagues for the soundness of his judgment.

In 1765 Mr. Hastings returned to England in H. M's. ship the Medway, with his friend Mr. Vansittart, at that time governor of Bengal. The fortune with which he had retired, after a service of upwards of fourteen years, was originally moderate; and an unexpected diminution made his income very small. He had brought with him only a part of his acquisitions; and by some casualty the remittance of the remainder failed. To repair this deficiency, he exerted his interest for a reappointment in India; and it is a curious fact, that the same individual who afterwards became allpowerful with the Company, could not at that time obtain permis

sion to return.

Mr. Hastings now lived in England, cultivating literature and enjoying the society of men of genius; among whom were the great lord Mansfield and Dr. Samuel Johnson. Three letters to him from the doctor have been preserved by Mr. Boswell; who, speaking of the condescension with which Mr. Hastings communicated to him these letters, delineates the following short sketch of his character: Warren Hastings, whose regard reflects dignity even upon Johnson; a man the extent of whose abilities was equal to that of his power; and who, by those who are fortunate enough to know him in private life, is admired for his literature and taste, and beloved for the candour, moderation, and mildness of his character. Were I capable of paying a suitable tribute of admiration to him, I should certainly not withhold it a moment when it is not possible that I should be suspected of being an interested flatterer. But how weak would be my voice, after that of milions whom he governed.'

In 1766, the year after his return, he had, in concert with Dr. Johnson, formed a plan for instituting a professorship of the Persian language at Oxford, with a view of undertaking the office; but a surprising revolution was preparing in his fortunes. In the winter of the same year, Mr. Hastings being examined at the bar of the House of Commons, during an inquiry into the affairs of the Company, attracted general notice by his prompt, masterly, and intelligent expositions. In consequence of this unsought display, his talents were soon after called into action. The court of directors were desirous to have a person of eminent ability to succeed to the presidency of Madras; he was accordingly appointed second in council at that settlement, with a provision that he was to succeed Mr. Dupre, their then governor. Mr. Hastings was recommended to this appointment by some of the very men whose opinions in politics the tenor of his own uniformly opposed; a circumstance which we can only attribute to a disinterested choice on one side, and singular merit on the other. He continued in that station until February 1772, when his great talents were required in Bengal. Owing to mismanagement abroad, and the

want of adaptation to circumstances not anticipated in orders sent from home, the affairs of Calcutta and its dependencies had become much embarrassed, and reduced to an alarming state of distress. The court of directors thought no person so capable of retrieving them as Mr. Hastings. They accordingly sent a despatch to Madras, enjoining him to proceed immediately to Bengal, to assume the administration at a fixed day to which they had limited the stay of the present governor, Mr. Cartier.

Mr. Hastings succeeded to this arduous charge in April 1772. He found the funds of that settlement loaded with a debt of near three millions sterling, bearing a heavy rate of interest; but in less than two years he had discharged that debt, and had replenished the treasury with a sum in specie to the same amount,

Unfortunately for the interest of the British nation in India, the gentlemen who were joined with Mr. Hastings in the council, Mr. Barwell excepted, entertained habitual prejudices against his system of administration with a corresponding attachment to their own views. Hence they commenced an opposition to his plans; and three votes gave them the ascendency until the death of Col. Monson, which happened in Nov. 1776, when the equal division of members gave the governor general the casting vote. General Clavering died in August 1777. Mr. Wheeler had been appointed early in that year to succeed Col. Monson; he commonly voted with Mr. Francis. The force of talent in the council being no longer almost neutralized by pertinacious obstruction, the first effect was, that the fruits of the measures originating with Mr. Hastings were more decisive and apparent; the second was, that the leading men of this country reposed in his talents a higher confidence; and the legislature, who had twice before continued his appointment for short, and as it were probationary terms, extended it to ten years.

In 1774 parliament changed the whole system for governing British India, and managing the political affairs of the Company at home; and appointed a supreme council at Calcutta, which was to control all the other settlements. Under this new arrangement the legislature appointed Mr. Hastings the first governor general for a term of five years. In 1778 he was continued for one year more; in 1779 again for one year more; in 1781 for ten years; and in 1784 his appointment was confirmed by the act of parliament that formed the present government of India.

The purport of his commission given by the court was, 'that the directors of the East India Company appointed Warren Hastings, Esq. governor general of all their possessions in India, and invested him with the whole government, civil and military.'

From 1765, when this country acquired the sovereignty of Bengal, it had been the custom to entrust the departments of the revenue and of judicial proceedings to native ministers. Under that system of collection, the annual revenues were a million below the sum they were calculated to produce. Mr. Hastings effected

a great revolution. He changed the whole face of the interior administration in the departments of finance and judicature.

The year preceding, the total annual resources of the Bengal government were £3,132,319. He left it in 1785, when its annual resources were £5,218,815 in English money, being an increase of more than £2,000,000 a year. These revenues had in 1795 increased to £5,500,000, from the successful operation of a system adopted by Mr. Hastings; a system for which he was impeached.

The following branches of resource were created by Mr. Hastings, and have produced, in the year 1785:

Post-office collection £14,340 Os.

Oude subsidy
Benares revenue

His arrangements for Oude and its dependencies furnished matter for sixteen articles of impeachment; and the result of those arrangements is simply this: that between 1773 and 1794, the Company had actually received £16,000,000 sterling into its treasury more than it would have done, if Mr. Hastings had not concluded that engagement with Surajah Dowlah, in 1773, which is known by the name of the treaty of Benares.

Such have been the consequences of Mr. Hastings having disobeyed orders; for he was charged with disobedience of orders, in marching a brigade beyond the bounds of Surajah Dowlah's do

minions.

From 1765, when lord Clive acquired the Duannee, to 1772, when Mr. Hastings came to the government, nearly a third of our military force was either in Oude or Corah, and paid by the extraction of specie from Bengal. But from 1772 a third of our army was paid by the sovereign of Oude, independant of the very large sums in specie brought from Oude into Bengal, in consequence of the Rohilla war, and the sale of Corah and Allahabad. Never was there a man eminent in public life whose conduct had been more rigidly inquired into, or more freely commented upon; and no character has come out more bright from a fierce crucible. If he was powerfully attacked, he was ably defended, and the warmth of his friends and the candour of the public, at least kept pace with the malice of his detractors, and the exertions of the more honourable assailants who were misled by gross misrepresentations. In 1776, the weight of government was exerted against him, and the influence of his Majesty's ministers personally exercised at the India House to effect his recall; but the majority of the proprietors defeated the attempt, and fixed him in

Bengal. On May 28, 1782, the House of Commons voted, on the motion of Mr. Dundas (then lord advocate, afterwards secretary of state, ultimately lord Melville), that it was the duty of the Court of Directors to displace Mr. Hastings from his government. This happened during the Rockingham administration: but it is an important point to remark, that Mr. Fox, Mr. Dundas, and the other gentlemen who spoke in support of the resolution for Mr. Hastings's removal, acknowledged that his abilities were of the most splendid kind, and his integrity unquestionable. The resolution was in these terms:

"That Warren Hastings, Esq. Governor general of Bengal, and William Hornby, Esq. president of the council of Bombay, having in sundry instances acted in a manner repugnant to the honour and policy of this nation, and thereby brought great calamities on India, and enormous expenses on the East India Company, it is the duty of the Directors of the said Company to pursue all legal and effectual means for the removal of the said Governor general and President from their respective offices, and to recal them to Great Britain.'

In consequence of this vote, the Court of Directors again took into consideration the state of their affairs, and on the 22d of October determined, by a majority of thirteen to ten, that Mr. Hastings should be recalled. The propriety of this measure was most ably and fully discussed by the proprietors on the 24th and 31st of the same month, when it was determined by ballot that Mr Hastings should remain in his station: the numbers for his continuance being four hundred and twenty-eight against seventyfive. In consequence of this resolution, the next day the vote of recall was rescinded by the Court of Directors. In the month of June 1785, Mr. Hastings returned from India to England, having been at the head of the government of Bengal more than thirteen

years.

On the 20th of June 1785, the day Mr. Hastings arrived in England, Mr. Burke gave notice of his intention to move an impeachment of him in the ensuing session. On the 4th of April 1786, he exhibited twenty articles, to which he afterwards added two more; but it was not until 1787, April 10, that the impeachment was voted; it was then carried without a division. The twenty-two articles occupy an octavo volume of four hundred and sixty closely printed pages. The following are their substance; they charge the late Governor general

1. With great injustice, cruelty, and treachery against the faith of nations, in hiring British soldiers for the purpose of extirpating the innocent and helpless people who inhabited the Rohillas.

of

2. With using the authority delegated to him through the East India Company, for treating the king Shah Allum, emperor Indostan, or otherwise the Great Mogul, with the greatest cruelty, in bereaving him of considerable territory, and withholding forcibly that tribute of twenty-six lacs of rupees, which the Company

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