Merciful God!  Here is a man accused by regular articles of impeachment.  The accuser declares he is morally certain that the money had been received, but was prevented from being applied to its destination by the person accused; and he acquits him.  Does he acquit him from his own knowledge, or from any evidence?  No:  but he applies to the man’s conscience, and says, “If you in your conscience can acquit yourself, I acquit you.”

Here, then, is a proceeding the most astonishing and shameless that perhaps was ever witnessed:  a court trying a man for a delinquency and misapplication of money, destined, in the first instance, for the use of the judge, but which he declares ought, in his own opinion, to be set apart for the public use, and which he was desirous of applying to the Company’s service, without regard to his own interest, and then the judge declaring he is not sorry that his purpose had been defeated by the party accused.  Instead, however, of censuring the accused, he applies to the man’s own conscience.  “Does your conscience,” says he, “acquit you of having acted wrong?” The accused makes no reply; and then Mr. Hastings, by an hypothetical conclusion, acquits him.

Mr. Hastings is accused by the Commons for that, having a moral certainty of the money’s being intended for his use, he would not have ceased to inquire into the actual application of it but from some corrupt motive and intention.  With this he is charged.  He comes before you to make his defence.  Mr. Middleton is in England.  Does he call Mr. Middleton to explain it here?  Does he call upon Mr. Johnson, who was the other day in this court, to account for it?  Why did he not, when he sent for these curious papers and testimonials to Major Palmer, (the person authorized, as he pretends, by him, to resign all his pretensions to the money procured,) send for Major Palmer, who is the person that accused him in this business,—­why not send for him to bear some testimony respecting it?  No:  he had time enough, but at no one time and in no place did he do this; therefore the imputation of the foulest corruption attaches upon him, joined with the infamy of a collusive prosecution, instituted for the sake of a collusive acquittal.

Having explained to your Lordships the nature, and detailed the circumstances, as far as we are acquainted with them, of this fraudulent transaction, we have only further to remind you, that, though Mr. Middleton was declared guilty of five of the six charges brought against him by Mr. Hastings, yet the next thing you hear is, that Mr. Hastings, after declaring that this conduct of Mr. Middleton had been very bad, and that the conduct of the other servants of the Company concerned with him had been ten times worse, he directly appoints him to one of the most honorable and confidential offices the Company had to dispose of:  he sends him ambassador to the Nizam,—­to give to all the courts of India a specimen of the justice, honor, and decency of the British government.