. his country. And from whom did he receive these proposals, my Lords? Why, from the Nabob Azoph ul Dowlah, to whom he threatened to transfer both the person of the Rajah and his zemindary if he did not redeem himself by some pecuniary sacrifice. Now Azoph ul Dowlah, as appears by the Minutes on your Lordships' table, was at that time a bankrupt. He was in debt to the Company tenfold more than he could pay, and all his revenues were sequestered for that debt. He was a person of the last degree of indolence, with the last degree of rapacity. A man, of whom Mr. Hastings declared, that he had wasted and destroyed by his misgovernment the fairest provinces upon earth; that not a person in his dominions was secure from his violence, and that even his own father could not enjoy his life and honour in safety under him. This avaricious bankrupt tyrant, who had beggared and destroyed his own subjects, and could not pay his debts to the English government, was the man with whom Mr. Hastings was in treaty to deliver up Cheit Sing and his country, under pretence of his not having paid regularly to the Company those customary payments which the tyrant would probably have never paid at all, if he had been put in possession of the country. This I mention to illustrate Mr. Hastings's plans of economy and VOL. XV. finance, K finance, without considering the injustice and cruelty of delivering up a man to the hereditary enemy of his family. It is known, my Lords, that Mr. Hastings, besides having received proposals for delivering up the beautiful country of Benares, that garden of God, as it is styled in India, to that monster, that rapacious tyrant, Azoph ul Dowlah, who with his gang of mercenary troops, had desolated his own country like a swarm of locusts; had purposed, likewise, to seize Cheit Sing's own patrimonial forts, which was nothing less than to take from him the residence of his women and his children, the seat of his honour, the place in which the remaining treasures and last hopes of his family were centered. By the Gentoo law, every lord or supreme magistrate is bound to construct, and to live in such a fort. It is the usage of India, and is a matter of state and dignity, as well as of propriety, reason, and defence. It was probably an apprehension of being injured in this tender point, as well as a knowledge of the proposal made by the Nabob, which induced Cheit Sing to offer to buy himself off; although it does not appear from any part of the evidence, that he assigned any other reason than that of Mr. Hastings intending to exact from him six lacks of rupees over and above his other exactions. Mr. Hastings Mr. Hastings indeed almost acknowledges the existence of this plot against the Rajah, and his being the author of it. He says, without any denial of the fact, that the Rajah suspected some strong acts to be intended against him, and therefore asked Mr. Markham, whether he could not buy them off, and obtain Mr. Hastings's favour by the payment of 200,0001. Mr. Markham gave, as his opinion, that 200,000 7. was not sufficient; and the next day the Rajah offered 20,000l. more, in all 220,000. The negotiation, however, broke off; and why? Not, as Mr. Markham says he conjectured, because the Rajah had learned that Mr. Hastings had no longer an intention of imposing these six lacks, or something to that effect, and therefore retracted his offer; but because that offer had been rejected by Mr. Hastings. Let us hear what reason the man, who was in the true secret, gives for not accepting the Rajah's offer. "I rejected," says Mr. Hastings, "the offer of twenty lacks, with which the Rajah "would have compromised for his guilt when it was too late." My Lords, he best knows what the motives of his own actions were. He says, the offer was made "when it was too late." Had he previously told the Rajah what sum of money he would be required to pay, in order to buy himself off; or had he required him to name any sum which he was willing to pay? Did he, after having refused the offer made by the Rajah, say, Come, and make me a better offer, or upon such a day I shall declare that your offers are inadmissible? No such thing appears. Your Lordships will further remark, that Mr. Hastings refused the 200,000 7. at a time when the exigencies of the Company were so pressing that he was obliged to rob, pilfer, and steal upon every side; at a time when he was borrowing 40,000l. from Mr. Sullivan in one morning, and raising by other under jobs 27,000 l. more. In the distress which his own extravagance and prodigality had involved him, 200,000l. would have been a weighty benefit, although derived from his villainy; but this relief he positively refused, because, says he, the offer came too late. From these words, my Lords, we may infer, that there was a time when the offer would not have been "too late ;"-a period at which it would have been readily accepted. No such thing appears. There is not a trace upon your Minutes, not a trace in the correspondence of the Company to prove, that the Rajah would, at any time, have been permitted to buy himself off from this complicated tyranny. I have already stated a curious circumstance in this proceeding, to which I must again beg leave to direct your Lordships' attention. Does it any where appear in that correspondence, or in the testimony of Mr. Benn, of Mr. Markham, or of any human being, that Mr. Hastings had ever told Cheit Sing with what sum he should be satisfied? There is evidence before you directly in proof, that they did not know the amount. Not one person knew what his intention was, when he refused this 200,000l. For when he met Mr. Markham at Bauglepore, and for the first time mentioned the sum of 500,000l. as the fine he meant to exact, Mr. Markham was astonished and confounded at its magnitude. He tells you this himself. It appears, then, that neither Cheit Sing nor the Resident at Benares, (who ought to have been in the secret, if upon such an occasion secresy is allowable) ever knew what the terms were. The Rajah was in the dark; he was left to feel, blindfold, how much money could relieve him from the iniquitous intentions of Mr. Hastings; and at last he is told that his offer comes too late, without having ever been told the period at which it would have been well timed, or the amount it was proposed to take from him. Is this, my Lords, the proper way to adjudge a fine? Your Lordships will now be pleased to advert to the manner in which he defends himself and these proceedings. He says, "I rejected this "offer of twenty lacks, with which the Rajah "would K 3 |