• '-'A • ■ 
 SHORT ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RESIGNATION 
 
 O F 
 
 PT^RREN HASTINGS , EJq. 
 
 GOVERNOR GENERAL OF BENGAL, 
 In the Year MDCCLXXV. 
 
 1 
 
 WITH 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Egm-AflmnwinTir ■!■■ 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed in the Year MDCCLXXXI.
 
 • •■•••« 
 
 • • * ■• •' • 
 
 • "•» •"■• .... 
 
 ill
 
 
 ^ 
 
 t 
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 _r t 
 
 IT has been objeded to the Stri^ures which have lately 
 appeared on the Adminiftration of Mr. Haftings, that 
 they are Perfonal. For my own Part, I covet not the 
 Praifc of that cold Philofophical Juftice, which, while it 
 Condemns the Treafon, fuffers the Traitor to efcape, 
 ^ Such languid Cenfure is, in my Opinion, little better 
 than the Accomplice of Crime. The moft Atrocious 
 Offenders will be the foremoft to embrace a Morality whicli 
 ^ terminates in abftradt Propofitions, and which contents 
 ^ itfelf with preaching rigid Rules of Piety and Virtue, 
 ^ without prefuming to interfere with Pradice, and without 
 applying them as the Meafures of Public Approbation or 
 Contempt. ' -^ 
 
 In the Cafe of Mr. Haftings, it is impoflible to fe- 
 parate the Perfon from the Politics of the Governor. 
 That Gentleman, with the Concurrence of one humble 
 ^ AfTeflbr, has, during the laft five Years, ruled the Af- 
 fairs of India by his abfolutc Will, in violation of all the 
 
 wife
 
 VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 wife Maxims of Adminifiratioii eftablijfhed by Experience, 
 and in Contempt and Defiance of the Legal Controul 
 and Superintendence of his Mafters. In defpotic States the 
 Charader, nay, the Caprices of, the Tyrant muft be ftudied* 
 in order to form a Judgment of the Principles of his Go- 
 vernment. , 
 
 . 'A lo noi?£-> \ i bs'if.:'.; . 
 
 It is to be lamented that one Caprice of Mr. Ha'flings, 
 
 which might have preferved India, and all its Advantages, 
 
 to this Country, fhould have been of fuch fhort Duration. 
 
 In the Year 1775 he conceived the Idea of relinquifbing 
 his Government. His Condu(3: in that Bufinefs forms 
 the Subjedt of the following Sheets. The Documents 
 which are fubmitted to the Public are Authentic. .The 
 Remarks which follow them come from the Hand of a 
 Mafter, and have a Claim to the ferious Attention of 
 every Man who takes an Intereft .in the Fate of India* 
 or the Welfare of his Country. • mi^uioD 
 
 THE EDI TOR. 
 
 A SHORT
 
 SHORT ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RESIGNATION 
 
 O F 
 
 IV^RREN HASTINGS, Efq, 
 
 At a General Court of the United Company of Merchants 
 of England trading to the Eaft-Indies, held on Wednefday 
 the 20 th of November, 1776. 
 
 RESOLVED, 
 
 That the whole oftheEvidence refpedling the Refignatlon of Warren 
 Hastings, Efquire, Governor- General of Bengal, and the Ap- 
 pointment of Edward Wheler, Efquire, to be one of the Coun- 
 cil there, as read to this Court, be printed for the Information of the 
 Proprietors before the Ballot. 
 
 Papers ordered to be printed in purfuance of the 
 
 above Refolution. 
 
 At a Court of Diredors held on Friday the nth of Odtober, 1776. 
 
 A LETTER from Lauchlln Macleane, Efquire, dated the lothinflant, 
 "*^ being read, intimating, that he is authorized, empowered, and di- 
 reded to fignify to this Court, the defire of Warren Haftings, Efquire, 
 
 B to
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 to refign his office of Governor-General of Bengal, and to requcfl; their 
 nomination of a fucceffor to the vacancy which will be thereby occafioned 
 in the Supreme Council. 
 
 ORDERED, that the faid letter be taken Into confideratlon on Friday 
 next, the 28th inftant, at two o'clock. 
 
 Letter mentioned in the preceding Minute. 
 
 To the Honourable the Court of Direftors of the United Company of 
 Merchants trading to the Eafl-Indies.- 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 ■jVyr R. Haftings, " Seeing the neceffity of unanimity In the Supreme 
 IVX (( Council of Bengal, for conducing the affairs of the Company 
 *• there, and for eftablidiing any permanent fyfteni of government for the. 
 " good and profperity of that country; andfindingfrom the unhappy divi- 
 " lions which have fubfifted in the Supreme Council, that fuch union is 
 *' not likely to fublift ; and having anxioufly on every occafion ftudied to 
 ** promote the welfare of the Company, a condudl which he will ever 
 " continue," has from thefe motives authorized, empowered, and di- 
 redted me to fignify to you his defire to refign his office of Governor- 
 General of Bengal, and to requefl your nomination of a fucceffor to the- 
 vacancy which will be thereby occafioned in the Supreme Council. 
 
 I have the honor to be, v/ith the utmoft refped, 
 
 Gentlemen,^ 
 
 Your moft obedient 
 
 T , humble fervant,. 
 
 Londonv 
 
 .1 OA K /; L. MACLEANE. 
 
 lothUctober, 1776.. 
 
 At a Court of Diredors held on Friday the i8th day of October, 1776',. 
 
 np H E Court according to order, talcing into confideration the letter 
 "■' from LauchlinMacleane, Efquire, dated the I oth, which had been 
 read the i ith inftant, relative to the refignation of Warren Haltings, 
 Efquire, ©f his office of Governor-General 0/ Bengal,, and the appoint- 
 ment
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 nwnt of a fucceflbr to the vacancy which will be thereby occafioned 
 in the Supreme Council : 
 
 And thefaid letter being again read. It was propofed That Mr. Mac- 
 lean fliould be called in and heard on the contents thereof: 
 
 And he being accordingly called in, was acquainted from the Chair, 
 that the Court delired to be informed of the authority under which he 
 adts, in a point of fuch very great importance. 
 
 Mr. Macleane thereupon fignified his readinefs to give the Court every 
 poffible fitisfadlion on that fubjeft; but the powers with which he is en- 
 trufted by the papers in his cuflody, being mixed with other matters of 
 a nature extremely confidential, he would fubmit the fame to the in- 
 fpedlion of any three of the Members of the Court; and then with- 
 drew. 
 
 And the propofal of Mr. Maclean having been confidered, It was 
 
 RESOLVED, That three of the Diredors be empowered to 
 infpedl the authorities, powers and diredions, with which Mr. Mac- 
 leane is furnifhed by Mr. Haftings, to make the propofitions contained 
 in his faid Letter, dated the loth inftant, and to report their opinion 
 thereon. 
 
 And the Chairman, Deputy-Chairman and Richard Becher, Efquire, 
 being empowered to make fuch infpedion, thofe Gentlemen accordingly 
 withdrew for that purpofe. 
 
 And after fome time, being returned, the Chairman reported from 
 them, that Mr. Macleane had laid before them feveral Papers, and that 
 he had acquainted them with his having more to produce relative to 
 the Powers with which he is inverted on the fubjcd of the prefent 
 enquiry. 
 
 And the Court, thereupon ORDERED, That the further confidera- 
 tion of this Affair be adjourned until Wednefday next, the 23d Inftant, 
 and that each Member of the Court be by the Secretary efpecially ac- 
 quainted therewith, and defired to attend accordingly. 
 
 B 2 At
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 At a Court of DIredlors held on Wednefday the 23d of Odober, 
 
 1776. 
 
 np H E Court, in purfuance of their Order of the i8th inftant, took 
 "*" into further confideration the matter referred to the Chairman, 
 Deputy-Chairman, and Mr. Becher, relating to the infpedtion of the 
 authorities, powers and diredlions with which Mr. Macleane, in his 
 letter dated the loth inftant, declares he is furnifhed from Warren 
 Haftings, Efquire, for propofing to the Court the refignation of his 
 office of Governor-General of Bengal, and aifo to conlider, in cafe fuch 
 refignation fhall be accepted, of the appointment of a fuccefibr to the 
 vacancy thereby occafioned in the Supreme Council there. 
 
 The Chairman, Deputy-Chairman, and Mr. Becher, in confequence 
 of their delegation on the i8th inflant from the Court, now re- 
 ported. 
 
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 *' That having conferred with Mr. Macleane on the fubjedl of his 
 letter prefented to the Court the i ith inftant, find, that from the 
 purport of Mr. Haftings's inftrudlions, contained in a paper in his 
 own hand-writing, given to Mr. Macleane, and produced by him 
 to them, Mr. Haftings declares, he will not continue in the 
 government of Bengal, unlefs certain conditions therein fpecified can 
 be obtained, of which they fee no probability : and Mr. George Van- 
 Sittart has declared to them, that he was prefent when thefe infiruc- 
 tions were given to Mr. Macleane, and when Mr. Hafi:ings em- 
 powered Mr. Macleane to declare his refignation to this Court : Mr. 
 Stev/art has likewife confirmed to them that Mr. Hafi:ings declared to 
 him, that he had given diredions to the above purpofe by Mr. Mac- 
 leane." 
 
 And the Court having confidered of the faid report, and of the autho- 
 rity which, as therein fet forth, appears to have been verted in Mr.. 
 Macleane, to propofe to this Court the refignation of Mr. Hafl:ings of 
 the office of Governor-General of Bengal, It was 
 
 RESOLVED
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY, That this Court do accept of the 
 faid propofed relignation accordingly*. 
 
 Pojlfcript of the Getter al Letter from the Honourable the Court of "Direc- 
 tors to the Honourable the Governor General and Council, dated the 
 20th ofOBober, ^77^ > received the loth of June, \jyj> 
 
 " Upon taking into confideration a letter lately received from Col. 
 Lauchlin Macleane, dated the loth inft nt, reprcfenting that he Was 
 authorized, impowered, and direcfted to fignify to us the defire of War- 
 ren Haftings, Efq; to refign the office of Governor-General of Bengal, 
 and to requeft our nominaion: of a fuecellbr to the vacancy which 
 would thereby be occafioned in the Council there ; and it having ap- 
 p' ared from an inipedtiun of the powers with which Mr. Macleane was 
 inverted from Mr. Haftings, and from collateral teftimony in confirma- 
 tion (.if i'uch p )wers, that Mr. Macleane was authorized to fagnify to 
 ► us Mr Hadings's defire to refign his faid office, we unanimoufly re- 
 folved to accept fuch refignation, and thereupon, in confequence of 
 the powers d^kgated by the ad: of the 13th of his prefent Majelly, 
 did nominate and appoint Edward Wheler, Efq; to fuccced to the office 
 in the Council of Fort William in Bengal, which would become va- 
 cant thereby, if fuch nomination fhould be approved by his Majefty, to 
 whom a proper memorial and petition was prefented, praying his Ma- 
 jefty's confent to fuch nomination, agreeable to the diredtions of the 
 faid adl of Parliament, a copy of which memorial and petition is in— 
 clofed. 
 
 " The difpatches by his Majefty's fliips of war being unexpededly 
 detained, we have the opportunity of acquainting you,, that Lord Vif— 
 count \Vey mouth, one of his Maiefty's principal Secretaries of State,, 
 has fignified to us by his letter, of which v/e inclofe a copy, that the 
 King is gracioully pleafed to approve of our nomination ; and that the 
 proper inftrument of his Majelty's approbation will be prepared accord- 
 ingly for the Royal Signature. 
 
 " The fliortnefs of the time, fi nee we were informed of his Majcfty's- 
 pleafure upon this nomination, will not permit our writmg more at 
 
 * In confequence of this refblution, a memorial was prefented to his Majefty, and his 
 roya! lignature was obtained, approving the appointment of Mr. VVheltr to be Supreme.- 
 Counfellor at Bengal, in the room of Warren IJaJtings, Efq. refigned. 
 
 large
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 large at prefent, but whatever fliall occur to us as neceflary upon this 
 alteration in the adminiftratlon of the prelidency of Bengal, will be com- 
 municated to you by our next difpatch. 
 
 We are your affedtionate friends, 
 
 Jofeph Sparks, John Roberts, 
 
 Ben. Booth, Robert Gregory, William James, 
 
 George Tatem, W. G. Freeman, Frederick Pigou, 
 Richard Becher, Daniel Wier, 
 
 Samuel Peach, George Cuming, 
 
 J. B. Rous, G. Wombwell, 
 
 J. Stables, Henry Savage." 
 
 To the Honourable the Court of Diredlors. 
 
 Honourable Sirs, Fort William, 15 Aug. 1777. 
 
 No event of my life ever befel me, for which I was fo little pre- 
 pared as the news of the notification made by Colonel Macleane of my 
 delire to refign your iervice, your acceptance of that notification, your 
 nomination of Mr. Wheler to fill the vacancy, which would of courfe 
 follow my removal from this Government, your application to the 
 King to approve the nomination of Mr. Wheler, and his approval of 
 it ; afts fo folemn in their progrefTion, fo important in refped: to their 
 objecfl, and concluded by an authority fo facred, that although I knew 
 them to be invalid, the grounds on which they were built being de- 
 fedtive, yet my confidence forfook me, and I thought of nothing but 
 to fubmit myfelf to the hard lot which had been impofed upon me. I 
 could not dilavow the declaration made by Colonel Macleane without 
 appearing adverfe to a man who had given me the moft undoubted 
 proofs of his friendfhip, and even in this inftance, in which he ex- 
 ceeded his power.-, had been a*fluated, as I knew, by a fincere and ho- 
 neft, though a miftaken and too precipitate zeal to ferve me. I could 
 not arraign the juftice of thofe, whofe approbation I have ever fought 
 as the fixft reward of my fidelity and inceffant toils for their fervice ; nei- 
 ther would the high refpedt which 1 bear to an inftrument having his 
 Majefty's Royal Signature, however obtained, allow me, without the 
 ^reatefl reluilance, to dilclaim the principle on which its effed de- 
 pended.
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 pended. Nor were thcfe, though the firfl:, the only caufes of my ac- 
 qulefcence. The fame adl that deprivdd me of my rights, deprived me 
 at the fame time of all power to aitert them. While underftood to be 
 mine, it mud alienate my friends, expofe me to the derifion of my 
 enemies, call a ilaiu on my reputation, and leave me without a 
 refource. 
 
 On the other hand, I could not ratify the promife which had Been 
 made in my name, without making ati ungrateful return to the Com- 
 pany for the honourable fupport which they had fo fuccefsfully beftowed. 
 upon me, nor without branding my own character with fallehood and 
 deception, after the repeated protcltations publicly and loudly made by 
 me, that no confideration of private convenience, nor impatience of 
 injury, fliould prevail up 'n me to make a voluntary furrender of the 
 truft which had been comniitted to me ; but that 1 would retain my feat 
 in this Government until a clear decifion was paffed between me and 
 my opponents in it, or until I fhould be removed from it by authority. 
 
 My mind being thus divided by fuch oppofite confiderations, I could 
 not immediately refolve on the conduct which it was proper for me to 
 purfue with reff edl to the engagements which had been impofed upon 
 me J and I fuffered myfelf to continue in a ftate of indecifion for a long 
 time, in the hope of fee;ng Mr. Macleane, who I underftood was on 
 the point of returning to India, or of learning by other means of infor- 
 mation the authorities by which fo uncommon a meafure had been con- 
 cluded, and of which (llrange as it may appearj I am yet ignorant. 
 
 I have been difappointed in thefe expedations, and have therefore- 
 yielded to the necefiity which compels me to declare, that I do not 
 hold myfelf bound by the notification made by Mr. Macleane, nor 
 by any of the ads confequent of it. What the evidences were, which 
 were produced by Mr. Macleane to your committee, 1 know not, but 
 conclude that they muft; have been very flrong to have operated not 
 only on his belief, but on that, of the gentlemen to whom they wej-e- 
 exhibited, one of whom I perfonally know, and the other I believe to 
 poffefs great judgment and probity. Strong as the written evidence- 
 was, I believe that it was of its nature held infufticient, without ver- 
 bal teftimony. To what converfations the gentlemen, who were called, 
 on for that purpofe, clepofed, or how they might have underrtood any 
 thing which palled between me and Meilrs. Macleane and Graham, I 
 knew not. 1 moft certainly never called them in as witneffes to .any 
 
 tranfadlions,,
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 tranfadions, nor ever authorized them to give teftlmony. What I myfelf 
 know with certainty, or can recolledt at this diftance of time, con- 
 cerning the powers and inftrudtions which were given to Meffrs. Mac- 
 leane and Graham, when they undertook to be my agents in England, 
 I will circumftantially relate. 
 
 I am in pofleflion of two papers which were prefented to thofe gentle- 
 men at the time of their departure from Bengal ; one of which compril'es 
 four fliort propofitions, which I required as the conditions of my being 
 confirmed in this Government. The other paper contained an expla- 
 nation of the lad of thefe. Whether any other inftrudions were 
 given by me in writing, I cannot affirm : if there were, 1 do not 
 recollecfl that I gave them, nor have 1 any copy of them. But I very 
 well remember, that I earneftly recommended both to Mr. Graham 
 and to Mr. Macleane a caution not to fifFer my caufe to be ufcd by 
 any body of men as a mere inftrument of a party, defiring tiiem to give 
 up the defence of it, if it could not be maintained without fuch 
 means. In what words this injunftim was expreffed, I cannot tell ; but 
 I prefume that this mufi: have been the authority which was quoted for 
 the offer of my refignation. I can only fay, that I do not retain even 
 the fainteft idea of having given fuch a Commiffion ; nor can I con- 
 ceive the neceffity of empowering others to do for me in my name, an 
 a(fl which mufi: have waited for my ratification, and which it was at 
 all times in my own power to perform for myfelf, without any agency. 
 Mr. Barwell, with whom I was in ftridl confidence, perfc61y remem- 
 bers this part of my inftrudlions, as I have related it. If it expreffed 
 more than I have mentioned, or contained any ambiguity in the con- 
 ftru(ftion of it, which may have warranted the fenle in which it was 
 underflood, my fubfequent correfpondence with Meffrs. Macleane and 
 Graham ; and more efpecially my letters to your Honourable Court, 
 had they been adverted to, muft have redlified that error, and totally 
 deftroyed every conclufmn which could have been drawn from it. I 
 am not furprifed that the particular expreffions, or even the general 
 tenor of theie fliould have elcaped your notice, amidfl the mafs of pa- 
 pers with wliich the public difpatches from hence were crowded, and 
 the multiplicity of other affairs you had to engage it j but I hope 
 I may be allowed to appeal to tho'e evidences at that time in your 
 poffeffion, for proof that nothing was more foreign from my intention 
 than by any voluntary aQ of my own to relinquifh the trufl whic.h 
 had been publicly committed to me, although 1 repeatedly preffed for 
 
 fuch
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 fuch a declflon upon the contefts between me and my opponents in tTic 
 Government, as fliould either confirm to me the polleffion of it, or 
 take it from me. 
 
 Thefe fentiments were declared cfr implied in all my letters to your 
 Honourable Court ; in all, I believe I may venture to fay, without ex- 
 ception. 
 
 I have extracted a few of the moft ftriking paflages to this effedl from 
 the letters which had been received by you at the time of the notifica- 
 tion made by Mr. Macleane, which I beg leave to quote at large. 
 
 'ExtraSis, ^d December, 1774, per BritiJJj King. 
 
 — — " Painful as my fituation is likely to prove, and unfuitable to 
 my difpofition, it is my determined refolution to retain the place which 
 your favour originally afligned me, and the legiflature has fince fo ho- 
 nourably confirmed, till your juflice fliall decide between me and my 
 opponents." 
 
 ExtraBs, "T^d December, lyy/^, per Britijl: King. 
 
 " If you fliould judge me fit to be continued in the chief direc- 
 tion of your affairs, 1 have already faid, and yet repeat, that I am wil- 
 ling and defirous to devote what remains of the adlive feafon of my life 
 to your fervice." 
 
 3 J December, ijy^, per Briiijlj King, 
 
 " It will be difficult to explore the fource of meafures fo uni- 
 formly violent and perfonal before the gentlemen could have acquired 
 a knowledge of the affairs of the Company, or of myfelf, unlefs we 
 trace it in a preconcerted intention to provoke me to a refignation of the 
 Government, or to lead me into a warfare of fcurrility inconfiftent with 
 my charader and flation. If thefe, however, have been the objedls of 
 the majority, they will find themfelves difappointed j for with refpedt to 
 the former, I have determined to facrifice my own feelings, and abide 
 by the decifion of my employers, on the appeal which 1 have made to 
 their unbiafled judgment; and with refped: tu the latter, I will venture 
 to fay, that I fliall be armed with a fufficient defence in the exercife of 
 my own moderation." 
 
 C 2zd
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 2.^d February, iJJS' per Bute and Pacific. 
 
 " My fituation is truly painful and mortifying ; deprived of thc- 
 powers with which I have been invefted by a folemn adt of the legifla- 
 ture, ratifyino- your choice of me to fill the firft office in this Adminiftra- 
 tion • denied the refpedt which is due to my ftation and charadler ; 
 denied even the rights of perfonal civility by men with whom I am- 
 compelled to alTociate in the daily courfe of official bufmefs, and con- 
 demned to bear my iliare in the refponfibility of meafures which I do. 
 not approve; I fliould long fmce have yielded up my place in this- 
 difgraceful fcene, did not my ideas of my duty to you, and a confidence . 
 in your juftice animate me to perfevere." 
 
 18 May, ijys> P^^ Northumberland. 
 *' I now take my leave for a long interval of time, in which I have • 
 every thing to expeft from the determined inveteracy of my enemies j 
 but I will (till wait with what patience I can, the remedy which I look . 
 for from yourjuflice, &c." 
 
 TjOtb July, lyj^, per Northumberland. 
 
 " Permit me. Honourable Sirs, to take this occafion to difclaim the 
 intention which may be obvioufly afcribed to thefe appeals, of having 
 written them folely for my own vindication. Had this been the fole 
 objedl which I could have obtained by them, as much as- 1 feel for my 
 own honour, and great as my ambition is to devote my future labours 
 to your fervice, I fliould have long fince quitted the fcene of trouble in 
 which I am involved, nor- ever prefumed to intrude on the bufmefs of 
 your Honourable Court with the relation of my grievances," 
 
 30//6 July, i775> per Northmnherland. 
 
 " If I am confcious of poiTeffing talents and integrity, fuch as may 
 qualify me to fill with credit the feat which you have affigned, I 
 ihould repay that benefit with ingratitude, and difgrace the choice 
 which you have made of me, were I to defert it, becaule the profef- 
 fion of it was attended with prefent trouble, and a temporary mortifica- 
 tion." 
 
 St6 September, lyy^, per Colebroo/i. 
 
 " Prompted equally by duty and gratitude, I have hitherto refolved 
 to bear my part in this diftraded icene, and, if I live, I ivill fee the 
 end of it." If
 
 ( I^ ) 
 
 If there be any force in words, the above extradts are all pofitivc 
 affirmations of a rcfolution to retain my place in this Government, un- 
 til 1 fliould be removed from it. The connexion of the fame Ipirit 
 which runs through all my letters is a yet ftronger confirmation of it. 
 Thefe were my own declarations, regularly notified in clear and unequi- 
 vocal language by myfelf, your fervant, to you my employers, and 
 would, mofl undoubtedly, in your opinions, had they been then on 
 your remembrance, have been conftrued to revoke any kind of intima- 
 tion, however authenticated, which could be delivered by proxy, thefe 
 declarations being fubfequent to the powers of the proxy ; and all 
 powers granted to a proxy being in their nature revokable before any 
 adt done in confequence of them. 
 
 From what had palled here and in England fince the conftitution 
 of the New Government of Bengal, my mind had been framed to the 
 expeftation and patient endurance of any event which I thought could 
 have befallen m.e. But I mud own that it was unequal to the iaftr 
 for furely nothing can exceed the humiliation of being deprived of a 
 truft of the firft importance perhaps under the Britifli Empire, by an 
 imputed adl of my own, without even the formality to verify it, which 
 would have been required for the acceptance of a common note of 
 exchange. 
 
 I am aware of the confequences to wliich I expofe myfelf by invali- 
 dating an aft of fuch importance, unaided as I am by perfonal influence, 
 and Itripped even by that adt of the Friends whom the credit of 
 my character had raifed. But I muft be juft to myfelf, and I will be 
 the fole mailer of my own aftions in every inftance, in which I am ac- 
 countable for them. I ihould mofl: chearfully have fubmitted to any 
 fentence which had removed me from the Government; but I will not 
 pafs that difgrace upon myfelf. 
 
 I beg that what I have written may be underftood only as applying to 
 the original adl of Colonel Macleane, and to the obligation implied by it. 
 Of its effedls on my condudl derived from other confiderations I have 
 yet to fpeak, and on this fubjedl 1 ihall be very brief. It was my inten- 
 tion to have yielded to it, not as to an engagement, which I was bound 
 to perform, but as to a cafe of ncceflity, againft which all refillance 
 would be vain. What has fince pafied it is needlefs, and might be im- 
 proper to repeat after the agreement made to tranfmit to you the plain 
 account of it as it flood recorded on our proceedings without a 
 comment. 
 -, C 2 .1 now
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 I now wait your decifion upon that referance, but not without a hope 
 that on a revifion of your former conclufions, they will have appeared 
 defedlive, and that your wifdom will have removed, or correcfted them, 
 and freed me from the anxiety of a longer expedlation. Your decifion, 
 whatever it may be, I fhall receive with equal compofure as I have not 
 a yvKh for myfelf, but that may preferve the confiftency of my own cha- 
 radler, and perfevere to the laft in the faithful difcharge of my public, 
 duty. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with the greatefl: refped^ 
 Honourable Sirs, 
 
 Your mofl: obedient, and 
 
 faithful humble Servant, 
 
 (Signed) W. H A S T I N G S. 
 
 "Eixtradls from the Company's General Letter to Bengal^ dated 2 id of 
 
 December 3 ijy^. 
 
 Paragraph 32. 
 
 After avowing the commiflion and inflrutSlions given to his agentj^ 
 (Macleane) we muft declare, that the extradls quoted by the Governor- 
 General are nugatory. The offer of refignation was made fubfequent 
 to the date, and even to the receipt of all thofe letters. The Governor- 
 General has put it beyond a doubt, that Mr. Macleane adled by his im- 
 inediate authority. He has no where pointed out to the Court of 
 Dire<flors, the time when the negotiation of his agent was to com- 
 mence, nor the period to which his commifTion was limited ; the let- 
 ters referred to, contain no revocation or abridgment of the powers of 
 Mr. Macleane; and as to the Governor-General's intimation, that fub- 
 fequent correfpondence with Meffrs. Macleane and Graham might 
 have operated to deftroy conclufions drawn from former inftruftions, 
 the Court of Direftors think it fufficient to remark, that to this hour 
 they remain totally ignorant of the contents of fuch correfpondence. 
 
 Paragraph 33. 
 
 In regard to the proceedings had in Bengal, although General Cla- 
 vering aded unwarrantably, and even illegally, in diredling the Secre- 
 tary to iflue a fummons in his name, as Governor-General, to Meffrs, 
 
 Barwell
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 Bai'well and Francis, to meet him in Council, and Mr. Francis 
 could not be jultified in concurring in thofe tranladtions, before Mr. 
 Haflings had acknowledged and confirmed the proceedings of his 
 agent, we cannot neverthelefs but be difpleafed at the Governor- 
 General, for not giving a dired: and candid explanation of the whole 
 tranfacSion. But the Governor-General has now fufficiently explained 
 the motives of his filence : He tells us, he could not difavow the 
 declaration of Colonel Macleane, without appearing adverfe to a man 
 who had given him the moft undoubted proofs of his friendfhip ; and 
 who, though in this inftance he had exceeded his powers, he knew 
 had been actuated by. a fmcere and honeft, though a miftaken zeal to 
 ferve him. This open declaration of the Governor-General needs no 
 comment. 
 
 Paragraph 34. 
 
 If the anfwer of the Governor- General and Mr. Barwell, that they 
 knew of no adl or inftrument by which the place and office of the 
 Governor-General were vacated, had been accompanied with a dired: 
 difavowal of the pretended authority by which the offer of refignation 
 had been made to the Court of Diredlors, the Governor-General had 
 been lefs reprehenfiblc ; and furely the folemn proceedings in England, 
 undeniably evinced by the documents before him, rendered fuch ex- 
 planation his indifpeniable duty : indeed official deference to his em.- 
 ployers, had. there been no other motive, required that the Governor- 
 General fhoLild, in the moft unreferved manner, have contributed to 
 detect a flagrant impofition, if he found fuch had been pradifed in his 
 name upon the Court of Direftors of the Eaft India Company. 
 
 . , Paragraph 35, 
 
 But however great the improprieties above-noticed may be, they 
 bear very little proportion to the fubfequent proceedings of the Go- 
 vernor-General and Mr. Barwell. 
 
 Paragraph 361 
 
 In the firft place, it was an adt o^ indecency in the Governor-General 
 and Mr. Barwell to meet, even by adjournment, as a Council, to 
 enter upon public bufinefs, and to form the mod: important refolu- 
 tions, without hav-ing fjmmoned Mr. Francis to attend his duty as a 
 Counfellor at every fuch meeting; but Mr, Francis has declared, that 
 he neither received a fummons, nor knew till late in the day, and then 
 
 only
 
 ( H ) 
 
 only by report, that a board had been afTcmbled, by which the offices 
 of General Clavering had been declared vacant. 
 
 Paragraph 37. 
 
 It was an a6l of great prefumption in the Governor- General and Mr. 
 Barwell, to refolve and declare, that General Clavering had vacated 
 his place of Commander in Chief of the Company's Forces in India, 
 to which command he had been appointed, by a fpecial Commiffion 
 from the Company, without admitting that he had fucceeded to the 
 •office of Governor-General. 
 
 Paragraph 38. 
 
 And we muft be of opinion, that the refolutions and declarations of 
 the Governor-General and Mr. Barwell, that General Clavering had 
 vacated the office of Senior Counfellor of the Prefidency of Fort 
 William in Bengal, and that Mr. Barwell was promoted to the faid 
 office of Senior Counfellor, were, to all intents and purpofes, not only 
 unwarrantable but illegal. 
 
 Paragraph 39. 
 
 We have thus given you our fentiments on thefe extraordinary tranf- 
 adlions. What meafures it may be neceffary for us to take in confe- 
 quence thereof, in order to retrieve the -f- honour of the Company, and 
 to prevent the like abufe from being pradlifed in future, will have our 
 mod ferious and earlieft confiderations, fo foon as we ffiall be furnifhed 
 with the opinions mentioned in the former part of this letter. But we 
 cannot even for the prefent difmifs the fubjedt, without expreffing 
 our approbation of the fentiments of Mr. Francis, minuted on your 
 proceedings of the 24th of June, 
 
 * The honour of the Cotr.pany remains In this hour unretrieved, and many abufes of 
 a more ferious nature than thofe here complained of have fince been praftifed. 
 
 No meafures have been taken, as threatened, by the Court of Diredlors, except that 
 of continuing and fupporting in power, the very men whofe conduft they thus ftrongly 
 condemn and reprobate. 
 
 REMARKS.
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 THE firft general obfervation that occurs on the form and con- 
 tents of the preceding letter is, that on Mr. Haftings's profefled 
 principles, and fuppofing the fafts to be as he wiflies them to be under- 
 flood, no letter whatfoever was neceffaryj or, at the moft, a very fhort 
 one. If Mr. Macleane had no power from him to refign the Govern- 
 ment, or, which is the fame thing, if he exceeded his powers, nothing 
 was neceffary, on the part of Mr. Haftings, but fimply to difavow Mr. 
 Macleane, and to declare, that he did not hold himfelf bound by the 
 a(5ts done by that gentleman, in his name, but without his authority; 
 and this he (bould have done inllantly and frankly at the Board, on 
 Thurfday the 19th of June, 1777, the moment the Company's letter 
 was read. He was not unprepared for the intelligence it contained. 
 Private letters, which he received on the preceding Saturday, by a 
 perfon difpatched exprefs to him, from Sir Edward Vernon's fquadron 
 at the Cape, informed him of it; and it was known to every man in 
 Calcutta the next day. By this meffenger, Mr. Macleane wrote to 
 him from Portfmouth. Now, if fuch an explicit declaration, on his 
 part, would have been fufficient to warrant his continuing to hold the 
 government, and to render void and ineffedlual every thing done to 
 deprive him of it without his confent or knowledge, the labour evi- 
 dently employed in drawing up this verbofe letter to the Court of Di- 
 redors is fuperfluous. But, in cafes of this nature, in which nothing 
 but fair and manly dealing is required, every effort that does not 
 ftrengthen a caufe, in reahty weakens it, at leal'c in the eyes of men 
 of penetration and experience. Inftead of endeavouring to prove a 
 negative, which wanted no proof if it were true, viz, that he gave no 
 power to Mr. Macleane to do the aSi in quejlion, he flaould have thrown 
 it upon that gentleman, and upon the Court of Directors, to prove the 
 affirmative. He fliould have ftood boldly and firmly to his denial, and 
 gone no farther. 
 
 On his principles, he owed them none of that delicacy and referve 
 with which he affedts to treat their condu(5l. As an honeil man, as 
 an injured man, he ought to have expreffed the higheft indignation at 
 the cheat impofed on the Company, and abetted by the Court of 
 Diredlorsj efpecially if it be true, as he fays, .that it not only deprived 
 him of his rights, but of all power to aJJ'ert tijsm ', that it 7nuji alie- 
 nate his friends, expofe him to the derifion of his enemies, cafl a Jlatn- 
 
 C-ll
 
 ( i6 ) 
 
 en bis reputation, and leave him without a refource. When we fee a 
 man of Mr. Haftings's underftanding (at a time, when every thing 
 that ought to be dear to him, is at ''';ake) dechne the plain and open 
 path, and travel into labyrinths, we cannot help feeling a fufpicion 
 that all is not right in his own breaft. On any principle, which he 
 can venture to avow, Mr. Macleane's intention muft have been to be- 
 tray, and fell him to the minifter j and fo it was underfcood in Cal- 
 cutta, by the friends of Mr. Haflings and Mr. Harwell, who expref- 
 fed themfelves very freely concerning the conduct of the perfons who 
 liad carried on this curious negotiation in England. They were all 
 vmderftood or fufpedled to have made terms for themfelves by the fale 
 of Mr. Haflings. But this gentleman himfelf can not fay fo, as 
 long as he attributes the ails of Mr. Macleane to an honejl and fincere 
 ■zeal to ferve him. How fuch ads, if not authorized by himfelf, 
 could deferve fuch epithets, feems to require explanation. 
 
 The fecond general obfervation on the letter is, that whereas he 
 fliould naturally have fent home the declaration contained in it, as he 
 might have done fome time in June, he obferved a profound lilence 
 even to the Court of Direcflors, till the 15th of Auguflj" and in Ben- 
 gal, from that time to this, has never once declared himfelf explicitly 
 on the fubjedl. If he knew the whole tranfaftion to be an impofition, 
 what further lights could he wait for, or what motives could he expedl 
 would be fuggefted to him, to engage him to ratify an adl founded in 
 the groffeft impollure, and calculated, not only to rob him of his 
 rights, but to ruin his reputation for ever ? In fuch circumftances, 
 an honeft man would have had no occafion to write a long letter, and 
 a wife man would have forefeen the danger of doing it. Mr. Haflings 
 is undoubtedly a man of talents : whether he be wife or honefl, is 
 another queftion. A fair difcufTion of his prefent letter may help the 
 public to determine it. I fhall follow his arguments and allertions in 
 the order in which he has placed them. 
 
 " No event of my life ever bef'l me, Sec." — If Mr. Haflings be 
 juftified in difavowing Mr. Macleane, the event, which he defcribes in 
 thefe pompous terms, was a grofs impofition. Mr. Macleane mufl 
 have been an impoflor, and the Court of Diredlors not much better. 
 On thii fuppofition it remains to be explained, why Mr. Haftings's con- 
 fidence JJjouldfo/ fake him, arid why he Jhoidd think of nothing but to fub- 
 mit himfelf to the hard lot which had been impofed upon him. A flat 
 jdifavowal of any concern in the tranfadion, and a reiufal to be bound 
 
 by
 
 ( ^7 ) 
 
 by it, would at oiicc have relieved him from all diiuciilties. It would 
 alio have precluded a conteft for the Government, which filled Calcutta 
 with anxiety and conuernation, and which mi^ht have been attended 
 with conlequeiices fatal to the Britilli empire in Bengal. If, on the 
 other hand, Mr. Macleane was not an impoitor; if he only exceeded 
 his powers; if he was actuated, as Mr. HiiWugs incw, by a iincere 
 zeal to ferve him ; how can he affirm that no event of his life ever 
 befel him for which he was fo little prepared 1 
 
 " I would not arraign the jujiicc of thofc, lu.iofe approbation I have 
 " ever fought, &c." — For fome years paft, Mr. Haftirigs has had no 
 fhare in the approbation of the Court of Direflors : whether he has 
 been folicitous to obtain it will appear hereafter. The public will fee 
 with artonirtimcnt, that his government has been one uninterrupted 
 feries of adts of difobedience and contempt of their authority. But: 
 now, it fecms, he is fo exceffively fcrupulous and refpedlful, that he 
 cannot arraign the juftice of men whom he fuppofes to have confpired 
 with an impoftor " to deprive him of his rights, to alienate his friends, 
 " to expofe him to the derifion of his enemies, to caft a llain on his re- 
 *' putation, and to leave him without a refource." His high refpett for 
 the Royal fignature is equally extraordinary ; as if the King could 
 have any perfonal concern in fuch a tranfacffion ; as if the inftrument 
 figned by his Majefly was not merely a minifterial aft; or, as if there 
 could be any poffible difrefjjed: to his Majefly to reprefent humbly to 
 him, that he had been deceived by the falfe fuggeftions of his fervants, 
 or of the Court of Di.red:ors. A wife and virtuous Prince would not 
 have received fuch a reprefentation as a mark of difrefpcft : — it would 
 be criminal and abfurd to fuppofe it. 
 
 ** The fame cB that deprived me of my iights, &x:." — In the firft 
 place, it is not true that he was deprived of ali power to aflert his 
 rights. His continuance in the Government is fufficicnt to fliew, that 
 nothing could be fo eafy as to exercife the power of which he fays he 
 was deprived. But if it were otherwife, the accumulated injuries fup- 
 pofed to be done him by the a6t in queftion are not to be afligned as 
 caufes for his acquicfcing in it. This is not the language of a man 
 whofe heart is quite found. It is pitiful on the face of rt-, and will be 
 found to imply fomething worfe upon examination. The exprefllon 
 alfo is very inaccurate, and the whole fentence equally obfcure. Caufe 
 and effedt are relative terms. But fince Mr. Haltings in facft did not 
 acquiefce — that is, fince no effedl has followed, it is falfe and abfurd to 
 
 D lay
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 fay, that fuch and fuch things were the caufes of his acqutefcence. As 
 to the quahty and confequences of the adl, which he proceeds to afllgn 
 as additional caufes for his acquiefcence, I believe that any man but him- 
 felf would rather have reckoned them among the reafons which fhould 
 indifpenfably have obliged him to difavow and annul it. 
 
 " On the other hand, I could not ratify the promife ivhich had 
 " been made in my name, C^c." — This paragraph contains a defence 
 without a charge. If the promife made in his name was made without 
 his confent or knowledge, no confideration whatever obliged him to 
 ratify it. On the contrary, every confideration of duty and honour 
 ought to have impelled him to fliew, by his condudl as well as by his 
 declarations, that he had no concern in the fraud which had beea 
 impofed upon the Company and upon the King. His endeavouring 
 therefore to excufe himfelf for not doing what, on his own principles^ 
 it would have been criminal and difhonourable in him to have done, 
 is at bed unfeafonable and fuperfluous. Confidering who Mr. Haftings 
 is, and the long practice he has had in the arts of writing, it is a fuf- 
 picious circumftance, that he fliould infifl on a defence where none 
 was wanting. 
 
 •• My mind being thus divided, &c." — The queftion on which hh 
 mind remains in a llate of indecifion is, whether he fliall or fliall not 
 ratify a fcandalous impofition, the tendency of which was to deprive. 
 him of every thing that can be dear to a human creature. But, it 
 feems, he waited to learn, by what authorities fo uncommon a jneajure had 
 been concluded. Thefe are ftrange terms to be ufed on fo important an 
 occaiion by a man, who, if his whole letter be not a falfehood, muffc 
 have known with certainty, that there could be no authority at all for 
 the meafure. If it was written authority, it muft have been a forgery : 
 if it was verbal, it muft have been a lie. In the midft of all his igno- 
 rance, however, it feems he knew, that Mr. Macleane had been aSiuated 
 by afnccre and honcji, though a mifiaken and too precipitate zeal toferve 
 him I Mr. Macleane was no fool. The only i^wi^ in which fuch an 
 adl could be ferviceable to Mr. Haftings was, to ftifle and prevent an 
 enquiry into his condudl, and to fave him from an impeachment. 
 '• ' *, 
 
 " Ifhaxe been difappointed, &c." — Not having received the infor- 
 mation he expedled, he declares he does not hold himfeJf bound by 
 Mr. Macleane's notification. It would have been well if he had de- 
 clared at the fame time, what fort of information could poffibly have 
 
 engaged
 
 ( ^9 ) 
 
 engaged him to do otherwife; fince the engagement made for him, as 
 he himfelf defcribes it, was the moft ruinous to him that could have 
 been contrived. 
 
 " What the evidence, &c." — He concludes that the e*vtdences, pro- 
 duced by Mr. Macleane to the co?7jmittee, miifi have been very Jiroug, 
 though he knoivs not what they were. Confidering tiiat Mr. Macleane 
 difpatched a perfon to him from England with news of the event, it is 
 fomewhat extraordinary that he fliould continue in fuch blind and utter 
 ignorance of the moft material circumftances of this interefting traniac- 
 tion. Can it be fuppofed, that he has not kept copies of his letters to 
 Mr. Macleane, efpccially on fubjcdls of extraordinary importance ? 
 Why are not fuch parts of them produced as relate to the queftion ? 
 Where arc thofe powers, which Mr. Macleane is faid to have exceeded ? 
 Is it to be believed that a man fo accurate as Mr, Haftings, or indeed 
 any man of bufinefs, fhould not keep copies of inftruments capable of 
 being applied to purpofes in whicli his fortune, fafety, and reputation 
 were fo efientially concerned ? What evidence have we, that Mr. 
 Macleane did really exceed his powers ? Certainly not the beft, fince 
 better muft exift, and ought to be produced. The perfonal teftimony 
 of Mr. Haftings, in this cafe, (to fay nothing of his perfonal interell 
 in it) ought not to be admitted, as long as he withholds other evi- 
 dence, which would make his own unnecefTary. Mr. Haftings fays, 
 he believes that the inTitten evidence produced by Mr. Macleane, Jirong as 
 it was, was held injujicient without verbal tejlimony. Catching at cir- 
 cumftances, when it ought to be in his power to meet his adverfaries 
 in front, and to eftablifh the truth of what he fays by diredl proof, is 
 not a fign of ftrength ; nor will the artifice avail him. It does not 
 appear that Meffrs. Stewart and Vanfittart were called in by the Court 
 of Directors for any purpofe, or by Mr. Macleane for any other pur- 
 pofe but to prove that Mr. Haftings's declarations, made in their 
 prefence, correfponded with the inftruflions which Mr. Macleane 
 faid he had received from him. Powers and inftrudions are very dif- 
 ferent inftruments. The former are produced and depofited with the 
 party with whom the agent is directed to negotiate. If they are full 
 and unlimited on the face of them, they bind the conftituent, not- 
 withftanding any limitations he may prefcribe to his reprefentative by 
 fecret inftrudions, of which the other contrading party knows nothing. 
 I need not wafte time in proving, that private orders, if any fuch had 
 exifted, cannot be pleaded to invalidate plenipotentiary powers. But 
 as far as the public is informed, Mr. Haftings's real intentions coin- 
 
 D 2 cided
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 elded with the iile to which Mr. Macleane applied the full powers 
 intruiled to him ; at leaft we have the honour of three of his mofb 
 intimate fi lends pledc;ed to the Eaft-India Company, to the King and 
 to the nation, in fupport of the aflirmative*. _, 
 
 " / am in popjjion of tii'o papers, &c." — Why are thefe important 
 papers not produced, or rather, why are they fupprefTed ? A man of 
 real honour would not offer his own teftimony, in a perfonal queftion, 
 in lieu of a written proof, which he declares is in his poffeflion. A 
 man of judgment and experience would hardly exped: that, under fuch 
 circumftances, his perlbnal teiHmony ihould be accepted. It would be 
 treating Mr. Haftings too liberally, to lay it entirely afide in the prefent 
 inftance, and not to draw conclufions from it entirely to his difadvan- 
 tage. No reafonable man will believe that the papers would have 
 been fuppreifed, if they had not contained, or amounted to, a proof of 
 the truth of the fad;, which it is the objedt of this letter to deny. 
 From his own account of them it appears, that he refted his confirma- 
 tion in the Government on four conditions. By confirmation it is to 
 be prefumed he meant his own voluntary continuance, fince he ac- 
 tually held his office by a legal tenure, to which no additional ftrength 
 or confirmation could be given by the Company, nor even by Parlia- 
 inent. What the conditions required by him were is yet a fecret; 
 but it is plain they have not been complied with; for if they had, 
 ihey mull: have been known by the a6ls done in confequence to carry 
 them into execution. It is underftood, however, that the recall of 
 Mr. Francis,, who he concluded held the pen for his colleagues, was 
 one of die articles, and the mofr earneftly infilled on. 
 
 An attentive Reader will eafily psrceive with wiiat laiuied ambiguity 
 Mr. Haftlngs expreffid hunfelf on every occafion in which plain and ex- 
 plicit declarations might naturally be expedled from him. This circum- 
 
 ftance 
 
 * The foLlowiug pafTage, in a letter from Mr. Haftiivgs to Colonel Champion, will 
 I'frve to throvy fjme liglu on his cotincdlion wLtli i\Ir. Maclsane. It is dated the 27th of 
 bicptc^r.ber, . 1774, ?nd h:is bflcn ivintqd,. though not publiflied by the Court of Dire<?lors.. 
 '■ The vtry high character for capacity and abilities, which the Colond (Macleane) de- 
 " fervsdly bears ; bis experience in life aiid knowledge of mankind, with a temper of 
 " mind to render thefe qualities amiable as well as refpeiSable ; to which I may add, the 
 " friendfhip fubfifting between him and niyfelf, are circurallances I mention to you, in 
 " the hopes they will difpofe you to meet him half way in the advances to intimacy and 
 " frtendlhip. So high does he ftand in my opinion, that he fopffes my ftiUcji confidence^ 
 '-' and I have been glad of the opportunity of his going up the country, to impart my 
 »•- fentimencs to him on fcvcral points af a very interejilng nuture.'"
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 fiance does no credit to the honefty and good faith of a man fo perfedt 
 a mafter of language, and fo well acquainted with the force of words, 
 as he is. In the prefent inftance, for example, the words, ivhich I re- 
 quired ai the conditions of my beitig confirmed ill this Government, do not 
 diredlly exprefs the only fenfe which he could intend to convey by them. 
 What he meant, or wilhed the Court of Diredlors to underfland, was 
 limply this, " If you do not comply with fuch and fuch conditions, I 
 " will refign the Government." The exprefhon he has had made ufe 
 of will not rationally admit of any other interpretation. But why not 
 fpeak plainly? Why make ufe of any expreffions that required inter- 
 pretation ? 
 
 If, in making the declaration abovementioned, he had employed the 
 only proper Ifcrms to exprefs it, he mud have left himfelf without an 
 evafion. He muft have bound himfelf to refign the moment the con- 
 ditions were rcfufed. It is true, he has not done fo in terms ; but the 
 fads of themfelves are equally conclufive. On certain conditions he was 
 to continue, or, as he calls it, to be confirtntfd in the go'vernment. The 
 conditions are not granted ; quid Jequitur ? Mr. Macleane, his avowed 
 agent, declares to the Court of Diretitors, by a Letter dated the loth of 
 Odober 1776, " That he is authorifed and impowered to fignify to 
 " them the define of Warren Haftings, Efq; to refign his office of 
 " Governor General of Bengal, and to requcO; their nomination of a 
 " fucceffor to the vacancy which would be thereby occafioned in the 
 " Council." 
 
 With all the preceding evidence before us, can any man living have 
 a doubt that Mr. Macleane pofl"efred authority to make the declaration 
 he did for Mr. Haftings ? On one fide, certain conditions are demanded ;. 
 on the other, certain powers are given. Though we do not know wliat 
 they were, their relation to each other is natural and obvuins. The 
 refufal of the firft is followed by an exercifcj of the fecond. In any 
 other fenfe, the whole tranfadlion is a con fu fed mafs of improbabilities 
 and contradidlions, terminating in this monftrous conclufion, that Mr. 
 Macleane, a man of diftinguidied capacity, of fupeiior uudcrftanding, 
 and poflcfiTed of Mr. Haftings'syz///^/ confidence, gives it under his liand, 
 and vouches for it to the world, that he is impowered to perform an ad: 
 for which he had no authority ; which, as Mr. Haft-ngs defcribes it, is 
 the ruin of every thing that can be dear to his conftituent, but which 
 Mr. Haftings neverthelefs knows proceeded hom a fine ere and honejl, 
 
 though
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 though a m'lftahn and too precipitate zealtoferve him ! Surely Mr. Haftings 
 muft have an extraordinary confidence in the power of his pen, or a very 
 mean opinion of the underftanding of mankind. Perhaps he may find 
 himfelf miftaken in both. Let us return to his Letter. 
 
 In this and the preceding paragraph, the reader will obferve what a 
 multitude of negatives Mr. Haftings has recourfe to, to lupply the place 
 one plain peremptory affirmative, wliich was all that the cafe Ciemanded 
 of him. He is ignorant -y — he does not know, but he believes ; — he cannot 
 (jjirm ; — he does not recoUeSi ; — he cannot tell, but he preju-nes ; — in fhort, 
 he does not retain even the Jaintejl idea oj having given inch a commijion. 
 What a pity it is, that tliis total privation of memory (liould be confined 
 to one of the moil material tranfadtioas of his lite ! Witnefies o f a 
 fimilar temper, and full as well guardvi'd as Mr. Haltings, ^e exam.ned 
 every day, but the truth is foon fitted out of them. 
 
 " I cannot conceive the necejjity, &c." — In a queftion of fadl, it is 
 immaterial whether the perfon to whom a particular a£l is imputed 
 thought himfelf under a neceflity of doing it or not. Several cafes, how- 
 ever, maybe imagined, in which it might be neceffary for Mr. Haftings 
 to have had fome perfon onthefpot impowered torefign the government 
 for him. It might happen, for example, that the alternative held out 
 to his friends was an inft:ant impeachment, and that they had no other 
 expedient to avoid it. Whether or no the ad ?nuji have waited for his 
 ratification, depends on the nature and extent of the powers. If they were 
 full and abfolute, no delay was neceflary. If they were not, the cafe 
 required nothing of him but to difavow Mr. Macleane, and to deny 
 that he had ever given him the authority in queftion. It is not difficult 
 to comprehend for what reafons he did not think it prudent to give the 
 lie dire<ff to fuch a man as Mr. Macleane. If that Gentleman, however, 
 had furvived, the queftion between them muft have come to iftTue, Mr. 
 Haftings has been fingularly fortunate in a fucceffion of accidental deaths, 
 not only among his enemies, but his friends. If Colonel Leflie had lived, 
 he would have had a fecond queftion of a fimilar nature to fettle with him, 
 and a third with the late Mr. Elliot. The death of JohnStewait probably 
 faved him from a fourth, 
 
 " Mr, Barivell, &c." — Powers or inftrudions to perform an adl of 
 fuch confeqiience could not be merely verbal. Mr. Macleane was too wife 
 a man, to fubjedl himfelf fo eafily to the inconvenience and difhonour of 
 
 being
 
 > (,23 ) 
 
 being difavowed. If they exifted, they mufl: have beert ia writing. The 
 Court of Diredlors fay, that they injpe^ed his poivers. But Mr. Haflings, 
 it feems, cannot recolledl that he gave them, nor has he any copy of them. 
 What his fubfequentcorrefpondence witiiMeffieursMacleane andGraliam 
 might have contained, is known to nobody but hinifelf. But when be 
 infifts on the explanations wliich the Court of Diredlors might have 
 derived from his public addrefles to them, and when he appeals to thofe 
 evidences for proof, that nothing was more foreign from his intention than, 
 by any voluntary aSf of his ozen, to reli?2quif}i the truji ivhich had been 
 publickly committed to him, the validity and efFed; of that appeal deferves 
 to be carefully confidered. If it does not prove the propolition to which 
 it is applied, it turns againft him. If the principal pillar on which he 
 refts thefupport of his caufe fhould fail him, the edifice, which might 
 have flood without it, falls to the ground.. 
 
 The paflages quoted by Mr. Haftings from his public letters, from 
 December 1774, to September I775> clearly and uniformly exprefs a 
 determination to continue in the government until the Court of Diredtors 
 fhould decide between him and his opponents j or to the end of his life, 
 if their decifion fliould be in his favour. But it is not true, that they 
 are all pojjitive affirmatives of a refolution to retain his place until he Jl^otild 
 he removed from it. It is endiefs and in vain to argue on the interpretation 
 of words. The evidence on this part of thequeftion is compleatly before 
 the Public, and their judgment is demanded on it. 
 
 Let it only be obferved, that thequeftion between him and hisopponents 
 was. Whether his meafures were right or wrong, not Whether he or they 
 fhould have the government. On the firft, the Court of Directors had 
 authority to decide, and they did accordingly decide againft him, in the 
 moft harfh and peremptory terms ; — fuch terms indeed, as never were 
 before ufed to a man in his ftation. On the fecond, he well knew that 
 they had no authority to decide, nor was it ever propofed to them. They 
 could neither remove Mr. Haftings, nor promote any other perfon to his 
 office. Let it be admitted neverthelefs, that thefe pafliiges, in his public 
 letters^ exprels precifely what he fays they do j does it follow, that becaufe 
 he made many public profeflions of an intention to do one thing, he might 
 not have fecretly impowered his agents, under particular circumftances 
 and in certain emergencies, to do another ? When it is aflerted as a matter 
 of faft, that Mr. iViacleane was intrufted with certain fpecific powers, 
 will any external declurations, made by Mr. Haftings on other occafions, 
 
 amount.
 
 { H ) 
 
 amount to a 'Jir'Tof of the contrary ? Is 'there any inconfiflency in fuppofing 
 that he plight have given inch powers, to be referved in petto, until an 
 occufion demanded the ufc of them, and his maintaining, in the interim, 
 the appearance of an intention to adt differently in the eyes of the pubHc ? 
 This, it is true, is double dealing; but the charge againft him is for 
 falfeliood and duplicity, to which it is noahfwerfor him to fay, that he 
 is incapable of either. 
 
 " All porvcrs gratitedt&cJ" — Tliis propofition is true, but nothing to 
 tlie purpofe. Direft and exprcfs powers mufl: be diredly and exprefsly 
 revoked in the terms in which they were granted. If thofe given to 
 Mr. Madcane were abfolute or compleat within themfelves, they could 
 not be annulled by any declarations that 'did not exprefsly refer to them. 
 On the contrary, the fpecific powers orce produced, annihilate every de- 
 claration that cppofes them or difters from them, unlefs it were a poUtive 
 revocation fignilied to the fame parties to which the powers were ad- 
 -dreffed. 
 
 " Surely nothing can exceed the humiliation, &c.'' In the obvious 
 
 fenfe of this propofition, it conveys a fentiment, which every man's 
 feelings mufl tell him is untrue. It is not in Mr. Haftings's power to 
 perfuade us that, generally and abfolutely, it is more difgraceful and more 
 humiliating to a man in office to refign his employment, than to be turned 
 out of it. A variety of reafons may be affigned to jullify a man of ho- 
 nour, or to provoke a man of fpirit, to relinquilh his polh Ads of this 
 nature are ufually deemed honourable, but there never yet was an inftance 
 of their being attended with difgrace. Mr. Haftings's iituation muft be 
 fingular indeed, if that which does other men credit, fliould be the ruin 
 of his reputation. And yet it may very pofTibly be the cafe. 
 
 " I am axvare of the confeqUences,&c"^^ On Mr. Haftings's profefled 
 principles, he had no dangerous confequences to apprehend, fince no con- 
 sideration whatever obliged him to ratify a fraud, much lefs to fet the 
 feal to his own ruin. Bat nothing Can be fo far from the truth, as that 
 he is a man unaided by perfonal injluence. On this point, the Public have 
 been wonderfully deceived. The influence of Lord B— ^ — , Lord M — — , 
 of the late Sir Gilbert Elliot, and of all their connexions, has been uni- 
 formly and conftantly exerted to fupport him. Of men of their high 
 rank and charadler, it is fair and reafonable to prefume, that they thought 
 him an honeft, and poffibly an injured man. He has had Mr. Purling 
 
 and
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 and Mr. Sullivan inceffantly working for him in the Court of Direc- 
 tors, or Proprietors. He has had the two Macpherfons afBduoufly 
 employed in puffing his merits, and writing for him in the news- 
 papers; and laftly, he has had the ftrenuous fupport of the adivc 
 part of the Indian interefl in England, Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ; 
 who, having a common intereft, have therefore made common caufe 
 with him. But of all the auxiliary powers, that fupport him, the moft 
 effential have been derived from the revenues of Bengal, of which he has 
 been abfolute mafter for many years part. The friends, whom the credit 
 of thefe refources had raifed to him, might very naturally be alienated 
 from him by an adl which deprived him of the means of fecuring their 
 friendflilp. 
 
 " It was my intention to have yielded, &c." — At what point of time 
 was this his intention .? On the 20th of June he declared, under his 
 hand, that he was refohed to ajfert and maintain the authority and triijl 
 repofed in him by Parliament . By the prelent letter, it appears, that he 
 fufFered himfelf to continue in a JIate of indecifion to the 15th of Auguft. 
 On that day he declares, that he does not hold himfelf bound by what 
 was done in England; and he treats the idea of a voluntary refignation as 
 the loweft humiliation and difgrace to him. But it feems he intended, 
 no matter when, to have yielded as to a cafe of riecef/ity, againfi which 
 all refijiance would be vain. There is but little modefly in appealing to 
 his fecret intentions, againft his public adls and declarations. No human- 
 eye can penetrate into the recefles of his heart. But, admitting that he 
 had ever formed the intention he profefles, he will not find it an eafy 
 matter to account for it on the principles of the letter before us. The 
 aft to which he intended to yield was not only unauthorifed, but, ac- 
 cording to his avowed idea of it, ruinous and difhonourable to him in 
 every fcnfe. If he thought it a cafe of necefity, againfi which all re- 
 ffiance would be vain, he ought to have affigned his reaibns for fo extra- 
 ordinary an opinion. The event has demonftrated, that it was utterly 
 without foundation. Unlefs every fyllable of the prefent letter be falfe,, 
 he could have no poffible motive for furrendering the government, in 
 confequence of any thing done in England. Bat, if the powers affumed 
 by Mr. Macleane were really given him by Mr. Haftings; if that emer- 
 gency really occurred, in which Mr. Macleane was inftrudled to produce 
 and apply them ; if the compromife made in England really flieltered- 
 him from an impeachment; then indeed, he may be underfiood to have 
 run fome rifque in defeating an arrangement formed on fuch a foun- 
 dation, With this knowledge of the fads before him, it is no wonder,. 
 
 § thati
 
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 that his conjidence pould forfake him, and that he fiould think of nothing 
 but to juhinit himfeif to the hard lot nvhich had been impofed up • him. 
 In every other fenfe, fuch language is not only contemptible, but hfurd. 
 An honeft. man is fufficiently fupported by the confciouinels of j is in- 
 tegrity ; his confidence never forfakes him. An injured man, if he pof- 
 felTes a fpark of courage, never voluntarily fubmits to injultice. 
 
 The laft paragraph mufl be left to fpeak for itfelf, to thofe who under- 
 ftand it. A man who talks of removi?ig conclufions, mufl: have known i 
 
 the ufe of nonfenfe in addreffiug public bodies. Mr. Haflings can write -• 
 
 intelligibly enough, when his caufe will admit of it. The prefent letter 
 could not be more happily concluded than by a flourifhing fentence that 
 founds well and means nothing. Such are the artifices by which he has 
 hitherto deceived mankind ! 
 
 I 
 
 FINIS,
 
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