to be expected from Mr. Hastings, who was his confidant, and whose corrupt transactions he could at any time discover to the world?  My worthy colleague has traced the whole of Mr. Hastings’s bribe account, in the most clear and satisfactory manner, to Gunga Govind Sing,—­him first, him last, him midst, and without end.  If we fail of the conviction of the prisoner at your bar, your Lordships will not have acquitted Mr. Hastings merely, but you will confirm all the robberies and rapines of Gunga Govind Sing.  You will recognize him as a faithful governor of India.  Yes, my Lords, let us rejoice in this man!  Let us adopt him as our own!  Let our country, let this House, be proud of him!  If Mr. Hastings can be acquitted, we must admit Gunga Govind Sing’s government to be the greatest blessing that ever happened to mankind.  But if Gunga Govind Sing’s government be the greatest curse that ever befell suffering humanity, as we assert it to have been, there is the man that placed him in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first author and origin of all these evils and, calamities.  My Lords, remember Dinagepore; remember the bribe of 40,000_l._ which Gunga Govind Sing procured for Mr. Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror of that scene.

But, my Lords, do you extend your confidence to Gunga Govind Sing?  Not even the face of this man, to whom the revenues of the Company, together with the estates, fortunes, reputations, and lives of the inhabitants of that country were delivered over, is known in those provinces.  He resides at Calcutta, and is represented by a variety of under-agents.  Do you know Govind Ghose?  Do you know Nundulol?  Do you know the whole tribe of peculators, whom Mr. Hastings calls his faithful domestic servants?  Do you know all the persons that Gunga Govind Sing must employ in the various ramifications of the revenues throughout all the provinces?  Are you prepared to trust all these?  The Board of Revenue has confessed that it could not control them.  Mr. Hastings himself could not control them.  The establishment of this system was like Sin’s opening the gates of Hell:  like her, he could open the gate,—­but to shut, as Milton says, exceeded his power.  The former establishments, if defective, or if abuses were found in them, might have been corrected.  There was at least the means of detecting and punishing abuse.  But Mr. Hastings destroyed the means of doing either, by putting the whole country into the hands of Gunga Govind Sing.

Now, having seen all these things done, look to the account.  Your Lordships will now be pleased to look at this business as a mere account of revenue.  You will find, on comparing the three years in which Mr. Hastings was in the minority with the three years after the appointment of this Committee, that the assessment upon the country increased, but that the revenue was diminished; and you will also find, which is a matter that ought to astonish you, that the expenses