of Revenue, his line of conduct has only been a continuance of what I have described, but upon a larger scale.—­What was the general opinion of the natives of the use he made of his power?  He was looked up to by the natives as the second person in the government, if not the first.  He was considered as the only channel for obtaining favor and employment from the Governor.  There is hardly a native family of rank or credit within the three provinces whom he has not some time or other distressed and afflicted; scarce a zemindary that he has not dismembered and plundered.—­Were you in a situation to know this to be true?—­I certainly was.—­What was the general opinion, and your own, concerning his wealth?—­It is almost impossible to form a competent judgment, his means of acquiring it have been so extensive.  I had an account shown to me, about July, 1785, stating his acquisitions at three hundred and twenty lacs of rupees,—­that is, 3,200,000_l._”

My Lords, I have only to add, that, from the best inquiries I have been able to make, those who speak highest of his wealth are those who obtain the greatest credit.  The estimate of any man’s wealth is uncertain; but the enormity of his wealth is universally believed.  Yet Mr. Hastings seemed to act as if he needed a reward; and it is therefore necessary to inquire what recommended him particularly to Mr. Hastings.  Your Lordships have seen that he was on the point of being dismissed for misbehavior and oppression by that Calcutta Committee his services to which Mr. Hastings gives as one proof of his constant and uniform good behavior.  “He had executed,” he says, “the duties of his office with fidelity, diligence, and ability.”  These are his public merits; but he has private merits.  “To myself,” says he, “he has given proofs of constancy and attachment.”

Now we, who have been used to look very diligently over the Company’s records, and to compare one part with another, ask what those services were, which have so strongly recommended him to Mr. Hastings, and induced him to speak so favorably of his public services.  What those services are does not appear; we have searched the records for them, (and those records are very busy and loquacious,) about that period of time during which Mr. Hastings was laboring under an eclipse, and near the dragon’s mouth, and all the drums of Bengal beating to free him from this dangerous eclipse.  During this time there is nothing publicly done, there is nothing publicly said, by Gunga Govind Sing.  There were, then, some services of Gunga Govind Sing that lie undiscovered, which he takes as proofs of attachment.  What could they be?  They were not public; nobody knows anything of them; they must, by reference to the time, as far as we can judge of them, be services of concealment:  otherwise, in the course of this business, it will be necessary, and Mr. Hastings will find occasion, to show what those personal services of Gunga Govind Sing to him