The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 475 pages of information about The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12).

The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 475 pages of information about The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12).
and in a lowly and suppliant manner, alone, and without any guard or attendance whatsoever, entreated his favor; and being received with great sternness and arrogance, he did put his turban in the lap of the said Hastings, thereby signifying that he abandoned his life and fortune to his disposal, and then departed, the said Hastings not apprehending, nor having any reason to apprehend, any violence whatsoever to his person.

IV.  That the said Hastings, in the utmost security and freedom from apprehension, did pursue his journey, and did arrive at the city of Benares on the 14th of August, 1781, some hours before the Rajah, who, soon after his arrival, intended to pay him a visit of honor and respect at his quarters, but was by the said Hastings rudely and insolently forbid, until he should receive his permission.  And the said Hastings, although he had previously determined on the ruin of the said Rajah, in order to afford some color of regularity and justice to his proceedings, did, on the day after his arrival, that is, on the 15th day of August, 1781, send to the Rajah a charge in writing, which, though informal and irregular, may be reduced to four articles, two general, and two more particular:  the first of the general being, “That he [the Rajah] had, by the means of his secret agents, endeavored to excite disorders in the government on which he depended”; the second, “That he had suffered the daily perpetration of robberies and murders, even in the streets of Benares, to the great and public scandal of the English name.”

V. That it appears that the said Warren Hastings is guilty of an high offence, contrary to the fundamental principles of justice, in the said mode of charging misdemeanors, without any specification of person or place or time or act, or any offer of specification or proofs by which the party charged may be enabled to refute the same, in order to unjustly load his reputation, and to prejudice him with regard to the articles more clearly specified.

VI.  That the two specified articles relate to certain delays:  the first, with regard to the payment of the sums of money unjustly extorted as aforesaid; and the second, the non-compliance with a requisition of cavalry,—­which non-compliance the said Hastings (even if the said charges had been founded) did falsely, and in contradiction to all law, affirm and maintain (in his accusation against the Rajah, and addressing himself to him) “to amount to a direct charge of disaffection and infidelity to the government on which you depend”:  and further proceeded as follows:  “I therefore judged it proper to state them [the said charges] thus fully to you in writing, and to require your answer; and this I expect immediately.”  That the said Hastings, stating his pretended facts to amount to a charge of the nature (as he would have it understood) of high treason, and therefore calling for an immediate answer, did wilfully

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The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.