It appears that he held an incredible quantity of private correspondence through the various Residents, through Mr. Graham, Mr. Fowke, Mr. Markham, Mr. Benn, concerning the affairs of that country.  Did he ever, upon this alleged contumacy, (for at present I put the rebellion out of the question,) inquire the progress of this personal affront offered to the Governor-General of Bengal?  Did he ever state it to the Rajah, or did he call his vakeel before the Council to answer the charge?  Did he examine any one person, or particularize a single fact, in any manner whatever?  No.  What, then, did he do?  Why, my Lords, he declared himself the person injured, stood forward as the accuser, assumed the office of judge, and proceeded to judgment without a party before him, without trial, without examination, without proof.  He thus directly reversed the order of justice.  He determined to fine the Rajah when his own patience, as he says, was exhausted, not when justice demanded the punishment.  He resolved to fine him in the enormous sum of 500,000_l._ Does he inform the Council of this determination?  No.  The Court of Directors?  No.  Any one of his confidants?  No, not one of them,—­not Mr. Palmer, not Mr. Middleton, nor any of that legion of secretaries that he had; nor did he even inform Mr. Malcolm [Markham?] of his intentions, until he met him at Boglipore.

In regard to the object of his malice, we only know that many letters came from Cheyt Sing to Mr. Hastings, in which the unfortunate man endeavored to appease his wrath, and to none of which he ever gave an answer.  He is an accuser preferring a charge and receiving apologies, without giving the party an answer, although he had a crowd of secretaries about him, maintained at the expense of the miserable people of Benares, and paid by sums of money drawn fraudulently from their pockets.  Still not one word of answer was given, till he had formed the resolution of exacting a fine, and had actually by torture made his victim’s servant discover where his master’s treasures lay, in order that he might rob him of all his family possessed.  Are these the proceedings of a British judge? or are they not rather such as are described by Lord Coke (and these learned gentlemen, I dare say, will remember the passage; it is too striking not to be remembered) as "the damned and damnable proceedings of a judge in hell”?  Such a judge has the prisoner at your bar proved himself to be.  First he determines upon the punishment, then he prepares the accusation, and then by torture and violence endeavors to extort the fine.