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The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12) written by Edmund Burke

E >> Edmund Burke >> The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12)



THE WORKS

OF

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

EDMUND BURKE


IN TWELVE VOLUMES

VOLUME THE NINTH


[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms.]


LONDON
JOHN C. NIMMO
14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.
MDCCCLXXXVII




CONTENTS OF VOL IX.


ARTICLES OF CHARGE OF HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS AGAINST
WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE, LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL: PRESENTED
TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1786.--ARTICLES VII.-XXII.

ART. VII. CONTRACTS 3

VIII. PRESENTS 22

IX. RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL 42

X. SURGEON-GENERAL'S CONTRACT 60

XI. CONTRACTS FOR POOLBUNDY REPAIRS 60

XII. CONTRACTS FOR OPIUM 63

XIII. APPOINTMENT OF R.J. SULIVAN 70

XIV. RANNA OF GOHUD 72

XV. REVENUES

PART I. 79

PART II. 87

XVI. MISDEMEANORS IN OUDE 95

XVII. MAHOMED REZA KHAN 179

XVIII. THE MOGUL DELIVERED UP TO THE MAHRATTAS 202

XIX. LIBEL ON THE COURT OF DIRECTORS 228

XX. MAHRATTA WAR AND PEACE 238

XXI. CORRESPONDENCE 266

XXII. FYZOOLA KHAN

PART I. RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN, ETC.,
BEFORE THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 268

PART II. RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN UNDER THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 275

PART III. GUARANTY OF THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG 278

PART IV. THANKS OF THE BOARD TO FYZOOLA KHAN 286

PART V. DEMAND OF FIVE THOUSAND HORSE 287

PART VI. TREATY OF CHUNAR 296

PART VII. CONSEQUENCES OF THE TREATY OF CHUNAR 302

PART VIII. PECUNIARY COMMUTATION OF THE STIPULATED AID 306

PART IX. FULL VINDICATION OF FYZOOLA KHAN BY
MAJOR PALMER AND MR. HASTINGS 313

APPENDIX TO THE EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH CHARGES 319

* * * * *

SPEECHES IN THE IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE,
LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL.

SPEECH IN OPENING THE IMPEACHMENT.

FIRST DAY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1788 329

SECOND DAY; SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16 396




ARTICLES OF CHARGE

OF

HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

AGAINST

WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE,

LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL:

PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN APRIL AND MAY, 1786.


ARTICLES VII.-XXII.




VII.--CONTRACTS.


That the Court of Directors of the East India Company had laid down the
following fundamental rules for the conduct of such of the Company's
business in Bengal as could be performed by contract, and had repeatedly
and strictly ordered the Governor and Council of Port William to observe
those rules, viz.: That all contracts should be publicly advertised, and
the most reasonable proposals accepted; that the contracts of
provisions, and for furnishing draught and carriage bullocks for the
army, should be _annual_; and that they should not fail to advertise for
and receive proposals for those contracts _every year_.

That the said Warren Hastings, in direct disobedience to the said
positive orders, and, as the Directors themselves say, _by a most
deliberate breach of his duty_, did, in September, 1777, accept of
proposals offered by Ernest Alexander Johnson for providing draught and
carriage bullocks, and for victualling the Europeans, without
advertising for proposals, as he was expressly commanded to do, and
extended the contract for _three years_, which was positively ordered to
be _annual_,--and, notwithstanding that extension of the period, which
ought at least to have been compensated by some advantage to the Company
in the conditions, did conclude the said contract _upon terms less
advantageous than the preceding contract, and therefore not on the
lowest terms procurable_. That the said Warren Hastings, in defiance of
the judgment and lawful orders of his superiors, which in this case left
him no option, declared, that _he disapproved of publishing for
proposals, and that the contract was reduced too low already_: thereby
avowing himself the advocate of the contractor, against whom, as
representative of the Company, and guardian of their interests, he
properly was party, and preferring the advantage of the contractor to
those of his own constituents and employers. That the Court of Directors
of the East India Company, having carefully considered the circumstances
and tendency of this transaction, condemned it in the strongest terms,
declaring, that they would _not permit_ the contract to be continued,
and that, "if the contractor should think himself aggrieved, and take
measures in consequence by which the Company became involved in loss or
damage, they should certainly hold the majority of the Council
responsible for such loss or damage, and proceed against them
accordingly."--That the said Warren Hastings, in defiance of orders,
which the Directors say were _plain and unequivocal_, did, in January,
1777, receive from George Templer a proposal essentially different from
the advertisement published by the Governor-General and Council for
receiving proposals for feeding the Company's elephants, and did accept
thereof, not only without having recourse to the proper means for
ascertaining whether the said proposal was the lowest that would be
offered, but with another actually before the board nearly thirty per
cent lower than that made by the said George Templer, to whom the said
Warren Hastings granted a contract, in the terms proposed by the said
Templer, for three years, and did afterwards extend the same to five
years, with new and distinct conditions, accepted by the said Warren
Hastings, without advertising for fresh proposals, by which the Company
were very considerable losers: on all which the Court of Directors
declared, "that this waste of their property could not be permitted;
that he, the said Warren Hastings, had disregarded their authority, and
disobeyed their orders, in not taking the lowest offers"; and they
ordered that the contract for elephants should be annulled: and the said
Directors further declared, that, "if the contractor should recover
damages of the Company for breach of engagement, they were determined,
in such case, to institute a suit at law against those members of the
board who had presumed, in direct breach of their orders, to prefer the
interest of an individual to that of the Company."--That the said Warren
Hastings did, in the year 1777, conclude with ---- Forde a contract for
an armed vessel for the pilotage of the Chittagong river, and for the
defence of the coast and river against the incursions of robbers, for
the term of five years, in further disobedience of the Company's orders
respecting the mode and duration of contracts, and with a considerable
increase of expense to the Company. That the farming out the defence of
a country to a contractor, being wholly unprecedented, and evidently
absurd, could have no real object but to enrich the contractor at the
Company's expense: since either the service was not dangerous, and then
the establishment was totally unnecessary, or, if it was a dangerous
service, it was evidently the interest of the contractor to avoid such
danger, and not to hazard the loss of his ship or men, which must be
replaced at his own expense, and therefore that an active and faithful
discharge of the contractor's duty was incompatible with his
interest.--That the said Warren Hastings, in further defiance of the
Company's orders, and in breach of the established rule of their
service, did, in the year 1777, conclude a contract with the master and
deputy master attendant of the Company's marine or pilot service, for
supplying the said marine with naval stores, and executing the said
service for the term of two years, and without advertising for
proposals. That the use and expenditure of such stores and the direction
of the pilot vessels are under the management and at the disposition of
the master attendant by virtue of his office; that he is officially the
proper and regular check upon the person who furnishes the stores, and
bound by his duty to take care that all contracts for furnishing such
stores are duly and faithfully executed. That the said Warren Hastings,
by uniting the supply and the check in the same hands, did not only
disobey the Company's specific orders, and violate the fundamental rules
and practice of the service, but did overset the only just and rational
principle on which this and every other service of a similar nature
ought to be conducted, and did not only subject the Company's interest,
in point of expense, to fraud and collusion, but did thereby expose the
navigation of the Bengal river to manifest hazard and distress:
considering that it is the duty of the master attendant to take care
that the pilot vessels are constantly stationed in the roads to wait
the arrival of the Company's ships, especially in tempestuous weather,
and that they should be in a constant condition to keep the sea; whereas
it is manifestly the interest of the contractor, in the first instance,
to equip the said vessels as scantily as possible, and afterwards to
expose them as little as possible to any service in which the stores to
be replaced by him might be lost or consumed. And, finally, that in
June, 1779, the said contract was prolonged to the said master
attendant, by the said Warren Hastings, for the further period of two
years from the expiration of the first, without advertising for
proposals.--That it does not appear that any of the preceding contracts
have been annulled, or the charges attending any of them abated, or that
the Court of Directors have ever taken any measures to compel the said
Warren Hastings to indemnify the Company, or to make good any part of
the loss incurred by the said contracts.

That in the year 1777 the said Warren Hastings did recommend and appoint
John Belli, at that time his private secretary, to be agent for
supplying the garrison of Fort William with victualling stores; that the
stores were to be purchased with money advanced by the Company, and that
the said agent was to be allowed a commission or percentage for his risk
and trouble; that, in order to ascertain what sum would be a reasonable
compensation for the agent, the Governor-General and Council agreed to
consult some of the principal merchants of Calcutta; that the merchants
so consulted reported their opinion, that twenty per cent on the prime
cost of the stores would be a reasonable compensation to the agent;
that, nevertheless, the said Warren Hastings, supported by the vote and
concurrence of Richard Barwell, then a member of the Supreme Council,
did propose and carry it, that thirty per cent per annum should be
allowed upon all stores to be provided by the agent. That the said
Warren Hastings professed that "he preferred an agency to a contract for
this service, because, if it were performed by contract, it must then be
advertised, and the world would know what provision was made for the
defence of the fort": as if its being publicly known that the fort was
well provided for defence were likely to encourage an enemy to attack
it. That in August, 1779, in defiance of the principle laid down by
himself for preferring an agency to a contract, the said Warren Hastings
did propose and carry it, that the agency should be _converted into a
contract_, to be granted to the said John Belli, without advertising for
proposals, and fixed for the term of five years,--"pretending that he
had received frequent remonstrances from the said agent concerning the
heavy losses and inconveniences to which he was _subjected_ by the
indefinite terms of his agency," notwithstanding it appeared by evidence
produced at the board, that, on a supply of about 37,000_l._, he had
already drawn a commission of 22,000_l._ and upwards. That the said
Warren Hastings pledged himself, that, _if required by the Court of
Directors, the profits arising from the agency should be paid into the
Company's treasury, and appropriated as the Court should direct_. That
the Court of Directors, as soon as they were advised of the first
appointment of the said agency, declared that they considered the
commission of twenty per cent as an ample compensation to the agent, and
did positively order, that, according to the engagement of the said
Warren Hastings, "the commission paid or to be paid to the said agent
should be reduced to twenty pounds per cent." That the said John Belli
did positively refuse to refund any part of the profits he had received,
or to submit to a diminution of those which he was still to receive; and
that the said Warren Hastings has never made good his own voluntary and
solemn engagement to the Court of Directors hereinabove mentioned: and
as his failure to perform the said engagement is a breach of faith to
the Company, so his performance of such engagement, if he had performed
it, and even his offering to pledge himself for the agent, in the first
instance, ought to be taken as presumptive evidence of a connection
between the said Warren Hastings and the said agent, his private
secretary, which ought not to exist between a Governor acting in behalf
of the Company and a contractor making terms with such Governor for the
execution of a public service.

That, before the expiration of the contract hereinbefore mentioned for
supplying the army with draught and carriage bullocks, granted by the
said Warren Hastings to Ernest Alexander Johnson for three years, the
said Warren Hastings did propose and carry it in Council, that a new
contract should be made on a new plan, and that an offer thereof should
be made to Richard Johnson, brother and executor of the said contractor,
without advertising for proposals, for the term of _five years_; that
this offer was _voluntarily accepted_ by the said Richard Johnson, who
at the same time desired and obtained that the new contracts should be
made out in the name of Charles Croftes, the Company's accountant and
sub-treasurer at Fort William; that the said Charles Croftes offered the
said Richard Johnson as one of his securities for the performance of
the said contract, who was accepted as such by the said Warren Hastings;
and that, at the request of the said contractor, the contract for
victualling the Europeans serving at the Presidency was added to and
united with that for furnishing bullocks, and fixed for the same period.
That this extension of the periods of the said contracts was not
compensated by a diminution in the charge to be incurred by the Company
on that account, as it ought to have been, but, on the contrary, the
charge was immoderately increased by the new contracts, insomuch that it
was proved by statements and computations produced at the board, that
the increase on the victualling contract would in five years amount to
40,000_l._, and that the increase on the bullock contract in the same
period would amount to above 400,000_l._ That, when this and many other
weighty objections against the terms of the said contracts were urged in
Council to the said Warren Hastings, he declared that _he should deliver
a reply thereto_; but it does not appear that he did ever deliver such
reply, or ever enter into a justification of any part of his conduct in
this transaction.--That the act of Parliament of 1773, by which the
first Governor-General and Council were appointed, did expressly limit
the duration of their office to the term of five years, which expired in
October, 1779, and that the several contracts hereinbefore mentioned
were granted in September, 1779, and were made to continue _five_ years
after the expiration of the government by which they were granted. That
by this anticipation the discretion and judgment of the succeeding
government respecting the subject-matter of such contracts was taken
away, and any correction or improvement therein rendered impracticable.
That the said Warren Hastings might have been justified by the rules and
practice or by the necessity of the public service in binding the
government by engagements to endure one year after the expiration of his
own office; but on no principles could he be justified in extending such
engagements beyond the term of one year, much less on the principles he
has avowed, namely, "that it was only an act of common justice in him to
secure _every man connected with him_, as far as he legally could, from
the apprehension of future oppression." That the oppression to which
such apprehension, if real, must allude, could only consist in and arise
out of the obedience which he feared a future government might pay to
the orders of the Court of Directors, by making all contracts _annual_,
and advertising for proposals publicly and indifferently from all
persons whatever, by which it might happen that such beneficial
contracts would not be constantly held by men _connected with him_, the
said Warren Hastings. That this declaration, made by the said Warren
Hastings, combined with all the circumstances belonging to these
transactions, leaves no room to doubt, that, in disobeying the Company's
orders, and betraying the trust reposed in him as guardian of the
Company's property, his object was to purchase the attachment of a
number of individuals, and to form a party capable of supporting and
protecting him in return.

That, with the same view, and on the same principles, it appears that
excessive salaries and emoluments, at the East India Company's charge
and expense, have been lavished by the said Warren Hastings to sundry
individuals, contrary to the general principles of his duty, and in
direct contradiction to the positive orders of the Court of Directors:
particularly, that, whereas by a resolution of the Court of Proprietors
of the East India Company, and by an instruction of the Court of
Directors, it was provided and expressly ordered that there should be
paid to the late Sir John Clavering "the sum of six thousand pounds
sterling per annum in full for his services as commander-in-chief, in
lieu of travelling charges and of all other advantages and emoluments
whatever," and whereas the Court of Directors positively ordered that
the late "Sir Eyre Coote should receive the _same_ pay as
commander-in-chief of their forces in India as was received by
Lieutenant-General Sir John Clavering," the said Warren Hastings,
nevertheless, within a very short time after Sir Eyre Coote's arrival in
Bengal, did propose and carry it in Council, that a new establishment
should be created for Sir Eyre Coote, by which an increase of expense
would be incurred by the India Company to the amount of eighteen
thousand pounds a year and upwards, exclusive of and in addition to his
salary of ten thousand pounds a year, provided for him by act of
Parliament as a member of the Supreme Council, and exclusive of and in
addition to his salary of six thousand pounds a year as
commander-in-chief, appointed for him by the Company, and expressly
fixed to that amount.

That the disobedience and breach of trust of which the said Warren
Hastings was guilty in this transaction is highly aggravated by the
following circumstances connected with it. That from the death of Sir
John Clavering to the arrival of Sir Eyre Coote in Bengal the
provisional command of the army had devolved to and been vested in
Brigadier-General Giles Stibbert, the eldest officer on that
establishment. That in this capacity, and, as the said Warren Hastings
has declared, "standing no way distinguished from the other officers in
the army, but by his accidental succession to the first place on the
list," he, the said Giles Stibbert, had, by the recommendation and
procurement of the said Warren Hastings, received and enjoyed a salary,
and other allowances, to the amount of 13,854_l._ 12_s._ per annum. That
Sir Eyre Coote, soon after his arrival, represented to the board that a
considerable part of those allowances, amounting to 8,220_l._ 10_s._ per
annum, ought to devolve to himself, as commander-in-chief of the
Company's forces in India, and, stating that the said Giles Stibbert
could no longer be considered as commander-in-chief under the Presidency
of Fort William, made a formal demand of the same. That the said Warren
Hastings, instead of reducing the allowances of the said Giles Stibbert
to the establishment at which they stood during General Clavering's
command, and for the continuance of which after Sir Eyre Coote's arrival
there could be no pretence, continued the allowances of 13,854_l._
12_s._ per annum to the said Giles Stibbert, and at the same time, in
order to appease and satisfy the demand of the said Sir Eyre Coote, did
create for him that new establishment, hereinbefore specified, of
eighteen thousand pounds per annum,--insomuch that, instead of the
allowance of _six thousand pounds a year, in lieu of travelling charges,
and of all emoluments and allowances whatsoever_, to which the pay and
allowances of commander-in-chief were expressly limited by the united
act of the legislative and executive powers of the Company, the annual
charge to be borne by the Company on that account was increased by the
said Warren Hastings to the enormous sum of thirty-eight thousand two
hundred and seventeen pounds ten shillings sterling.

That on the 1st of November, 1779, the said Warren Hastings did move and
carry it in Council, "that the Resident at the Vizier's court should be
furnished with an account of all the extra allowances and charges of the
commander-in-chief when in the field, with orders to add the same to the
debit of the Vizier's account, as a part of his general subsidy,--the
charge to commence from the day on which the general shall pass the
Caramnassa, and to continue till his return to the same line." That this
additional expense imposed by the said Warren Hastings on the Vizier was
unjust in itself, and a breach of treaty with that prince: the specific
amount of the subsidy to be paid by him having been fixed by a treaty,
to which no addition could justly be made, but at the previous
requisition of the Vizier. That the Court of Directors, in their letter
of the 18th of October, 1780, did condemn and prohibit the continuation
of the allowances above mentioned to Sir Eyre Coote in the following
words: "These allowances appear to us in a light so very extraordinary,
and so repugnant to the spirit of a resolution of the General Court of
Proprietors respecting the allowance made to General Clavering, that we
positively direct that they be discontinued immediately, and no part
thereof paid after the receipt of this letter." That on the 27th of
April, 1781, the Governor-General and Council, in obedience to the
orders of the Directors, did signify the same to the Commissary-General,
as an instruction to him that the extraordinary allowances to Sir Eyre
Coote _should be discontinued, and no part thereof paid after that
day_. That it appears, nevertheless, that the said extra allowances
(amounting to above twenty thousand pounds sterling a year) were
continued to be charged to the Vizier, and paid to Sir Eyre Coote, in
defiance of the orders of the Court of Directors, in defiance of the
consequent resolution of the Governor-General and Council, and in
contradiction to the terms of the original motion made by the said
Warren Hastings for adding those allowances to the debit of the Vizier,
viz., "that they should continue till Sir Eyre Coote's return to the
Caramnassa." That Sir Eyre Coote arrived at Calcutta about the end of
August, 1780, and must have crossed the Caramnassa, in his return from
Oude, some weeks before, when the charge on the Vizier, if at any time
proper, ought to have ceased. That it appears that the said allowances
were continued to be charged against the Vizier and paid to Sir Eyre
Coote for three years after, even while he was serving in the Carnatic,
and that this was done by the sole authority and private command of the
said Warren Hastings.

That the East India Company having thought proper to create the office
of Advocate-General in Bengal, and to appoint Sir John Day to that
office, it was resolved by a General Court of Proprietors that a salary
of three thousand pounds a year should be allowed to the said Sir John
Day, _in full consideration of all demands and allowances whatsoever for
his services to the Company at the Presidency of Fort William_. That the
said Warren Hastings, nevertheless, shortly after Sir John Day's arrival
in Bengal, did increase the said Sir John Day's salary and allowances to
six thousand pounds a year, in direct disobedience of the resolution of
the Court of Proprietors, and of the order of the Court of Directors.
That the Directors, as soon as they were informed of this proceeding,
declared, "that they held _themselves_ bound by the resolution of the
General Court, and that they could not allow it to be disregarded by the
Company's servants in India," and ordered that the increased allowances
should be forthwith discontinued. That the said Warren Hastings, after
having first thought it necessary, in obedience to the orders of the
Court of Directors, to stop the extraordinary allowance which he had
granted to Sir John Day, did afterwards resolve that the allowance which
had been struck off should be _repaid_ to him, upon his signing an
obligation to refund the amount which he might receive, in case the
Directors should confirm their former orders, already twice given. That
in this transaction the said Warren Hastings trifled with the authority
of the Company, eluded the repeated orders of the Directors, and exposed
the Company to the risk and uncertainty of recovering, at a distant
period, and perhaps by a process of law, a sum of money which they had
positively ordered him not to pay.