ever was born,) the Court of Directors, to whom Mr. Hastings was responsible by every tie and every principle, and was made responsible at last by a positive act of Parliament obliging him to yield obedience to their commands as the general rule of his duty,—­the Court of Directors, I say, perfectly approved of every part of General Clavering’s, Colonel Monson’s, and Mr. Francis’s conduct; they approved of this inquiry which Mr. Hastings rejected; and they have declared, “that the powers and instructions vested in and given to General Clavering and the other gentlemen were such as fully authorized them in every inquiry that seems to have been their object ...  Europeans."[2]

Now after the supreme authority, to which they were to appeal in all their disputes, had passed this judgment upon this very inquiry, the matter no longer depended upon Mr. Hastings’s opinion; nor could he be longer justified in attributing that to evil motives either of malice or passion in his colleagues.  When the judges who were finally to determine who was malicious, who was passionate, who was or was not justified either in setting on foot the inquiry or resisting it, had passed that judgment, then Mr. Hastings was called upon by all the feelings of a man, and by his duty in Council, to give satisfaction to his masters, the Directors, who approved of the zeal and diligence shown in that very inquiry, the passion of which he only reprobated, and upon which he grounded his justification.

If anything but conscious guilt could have possibly influenced him to such more than patience under this accusation, let us see what was his conduct when the scene was changed.  General Clavering, fatigued and broken down by the miseries of his situation, soon afterwards lost a very able and affectionate colleague, Colonel Monson, (whom Mr. Hastings states to be one of the bitterest of his accusers,) a man one of the most loved and honored of his time, a person of your Lordships’ noble blood, and a person who did honor to it, and if he had been of the family of a commoner, well deserved to be raised to your distinction.  When that man died,—­died of a broken heart, to say nothing else,—­and General Clavering felt himself in a manner without help, except what he derived from the firmness, assiduity, and patience of Mr. Francis, sinking like himself under the exertion of his own virtues, he was resolved to resign his employment.  The Court of Directors were so alarmed at this attempt of his to resign his employment, that they wrote thus:  “When you conceived the design of quitting our service, we imagine you could not have heard of the resignation of Mr. Hastings ... your zeal and ability."[3]

My Lords, in this struggle, and before he could resign finally, another kind of resignation, the resignation of Nature, took place, and Sir John Clavering died.  The character that was given Sir John Clavering at that time is a seal to the whole of his proceedings, and the use that I shall make of it your Lordships will see presently.  “The abilities of General Clavering, the comprehensive knowledge he had attained of our affairs ... to the East India Company."[4]