Chapter XVI: {george III. 1787–1789} (1)

Meeting of Parliament..... Debate on the Treaty of Commerce
between England and France..... Pitt’s Plan of Financial
Reform..... Motion for the Repeal of the Corporation and
Test Acts..... Affairs of the Prince of Wales..... Motion
for Inquiry into the Abuses of the Post-Office.....
Impeachment of Warren Hastings..... Parliament
Prorogued..... Continental Affairs..... Meeting of
Parliament..... Dispute between Government and the East
India Company..... Pitt’s Financial Measures—Additions
made to the Bill for trying Controverted Elections.....
Claims of the American Royalists, &c. The Slave-Trade
Question..... Charge against Sir Elijah Impey.....
Impeachment of Warren Hastings..... Parliament
Prorogued..... Continental Alliances..... Derangement of His
Majesty..... Meeting of Parliament..... Debates on the
regency

{A.D. 1787}

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met on the 23rd of January. During the preceding year Fredrick the Great passed off the stage of life, having previously involved the French and English governments in disagreements, concerning the troubles which still existed in the Netherlands. No mention was made of these disagreements and troubles in the king’s speech; but his majesty dwelt much upon the treaty of navigation and commerce which, as before related, had been concluded with the French monarch. Against this treaty and its negociator, Mr. Eden, who had quitted their ranks, and now supported Pitt, the Whig opposition had a rooted aversion; and in the debate upon the address, Fox, whose professions of friendship towards the French were proverbial, not only censured the arrangements, but sounded the old trumpet of war and national hatred. He denounced Louis XVI. as a dangerous monarch; dwelt on the ambitious designs and encroaching spirit of France; blamed ministers for laying aside all jealousy of that power; and asserted that the court of Versailles was at that very moment labouring to counteract Pitt’s diplomatists. But though Fox censured the French treaty, which formed the leading topic of the king’s speech, he voted for the address, a circumstance for which he received a little banter from the lips of the minister. Pitt remarked:—“I am happy that, notwithstanding the vehemence with which the right honourable gentleman has argued against the address, he is ready to vote for it. I hope he will continue the same line of conduct throughout the session; for, if he makes a practice of voting in direct opposition to his own speeches and arguments, we may look for a greater degree of unanimity than could otherwise be expected.”

DEBATE ON THE TREATY OF COMMERCE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

In his speech his majesty promised that a copy of the treaty of commerce between England and France should be laid before the two houses; and recommended the members to take measures for carrying it into effect. In accordance with this promise and recommendation, on the 5th of February, Pitt moved that the house should resolve itself into a committee, to take into consideration that part of his majesty’s speech which related to this treaty. This motion was carried; and on the 12th Pitt brought the subject before the house, and moved these three resolutions:—That all articles not enumerated and specified in the tariff should be importable into this country, on terms as favourable to France as to the most favoured of all other nations; that if any future treaty should be made with any other foreign power, in any articles either mentioned or not mentioned in the present treaty, France should be permitted to enjoy the same terms as that power; and that all the articles specified in the tariff should be admitted into this country on payment of the duties, and with the stipulations stated in the treaty. In moving these resolutions Pitt entered into an eloquent vindication of the measure, enforcing its object, spirit, and provisions. He expressed his abhorrence of the maxim, that any nation was destined to be the natural and unalterable enemy of the other; it was a libel on the constitution of political societies, and supposed the existence of infernal malignity in human nature. In most of our wars, he said, France had been the aggressor; but her assurances and frankness in the present negociations were such as to entitle her to a return of confidence. Even from the recent American war Pitt deduced arguments in favour of the treaty with France; reflecting that though she had gained her object in dismembering our empire, she had done it at an expense which had sunk herself in extreme embarrassment, he thought that she was sincere in her wish for the benefits of a mutual connexion. These benefits were represented by opposition to preponderate on the side of France; but Pitt endeavoured to show that if the scales were held with an even hand, the weightiest would be on our side. He remarked, “It would be ridiculous to imagine that the French would consent to yield advantages without any idea of compensation. The treaty would undoubtedly benefit them, but it would be still more profitable to us. France might gain, for her wines and other articles, a large and opulent market; but we should procure the same to a much greater extent for our manufactures. Both nations are prepared and disposed for such a connexion. France, by the peculiar dispensation of Providence, was gifted, perhaps, more than any country on earth, with what made life desirable, in point of soil, climate, and natural productions: Britain, on the contrary, possessing these advantages in a less degree, had, from the happy freedom of its constitution and the equal security of its laws, risen to a state of great commercial grandeur, and acquired the ability of supplying France with the artificial conveniences of life in return for her natural luxuries.” Many objections were brought against this treaty by the opposition; Fox distinguishing himself on this occasion by his hostility to its several provisions. In his speech Fox re-asserted that France was the natural and unalterable enemy of England; and that she ought to be considered, not only as a rival, but as a nation with whom there ought never to be any political or commercial connexion whatever. Fox, also, again spoke of the restless ambition of France, and denounced the character of the French monarch with great bitterness. Like Pitt, he alluded to the American war; but it was only to heap coals of fire on the heads of Louis XVI. and his subjects. He accused them of treachery and duplicity; pointed out the mean way in which they had taken advantage of our difficulties, and to revive the national animosity existing between the two nations; and he reaffirmed that no doubt could be left on the mind of any thinking man, but that the French nation was actuated by a regular, fixed, and systematic enmity to this country: she might have changed her policy, but there was no proof that she had changed her sentiments. But though some plausible objections were suggested by members of opposition against this measure, the only topic on which they insisted with any advantage, and, in truth, the only real difficulty respecting the execution of the treaty, arose from its inconsistency with the celebrated Methuen treaty, concluded between Great Britain and Portugal, by which the duties of Portuguese wines imported into England were in future to be only two-thirds of those imported from France or any other country. This point, however, was conceded by France during the progress of the measure, the duty on French wines being lowered to that existing on the wines of Portugal, which latter it became necessary to reduce. After several discussions, in which some young members distinguished themselves, the measure received the concurrence and sanction of parliament. On the 8th of March both houses presented a joint address to his majesty, for concluding a treaty calculated to promote a beneficial intercourse between the two countries, as well as the permanent blessings of peace. On the whole, the measure tended to increase Pitt’s popularity; many great commercial towns, which had hitherto been hostile to him, declared their entire approval of the treaty, and expressed a conviction that he was seeking the good of his country.

PITT’S PLAN OF FINANCIAL REFORM.

Encouraged by his success and increased popularity, on the 26th of February, Pitt introduced a plan for consolidating the various duties upon articles in the customs and excise, so as to convert them into single duties upon each article, and thereby get rid of multiplied grievances to the people, and of a perplexing confusion of accounts, and wasting expenses of collection to the government, an operation by which the revenue would gain about £20,000 per annum. At the same time Pitt proposed to lower the duties on foreign spirits, with a view of annihilating the smuggling trade, which he stated amounted to 4,000,000 of gallons annually; whilst that which was legally imported and paid duty did not exceed the sixth part of that quantity. The whole of Pitt’s plan obtained a large majority in both houses; the leading members of opposition expressing their approbation of it, as well as the clearness and perspicuity with which it had been unfolded. On a subsequent day, the 29th of April, when Pitt opened his budget, he informed the house that the state of the revenue would enable him to provide for all services of the current year, and apply the stated surplus to a sinking-fund, without the necessity of any loan or new tax. Fox and Sheridan contended that the finances were not in so prosperous a condition as he had represented; and after specifying certain supposed errors and fallacies, they called on the minister to supply the alleged deficiency by the imposition of new taxes. Pitt, however, defended his own estimates; contending that it was his duty to render, by every possible means, the taxes already established more productive, rather than increase the burdens of the people. In following out this judicious line of policy, he afterwards proposed a measure for enabling the board of treasury to divide the country into districts, and to farm the duty on post-horses, the greater part of which was now lost to the exchequer by collusion between innkeepers and collectors. To make it certain that the revenue would not suffer by this experiment, he suggested that the tax for each district should be put up at the highest point it had ever reached. This was opposed as contrary to the principles of the constitution, and as tending to oppression, like that exercised in France, where the taxes were generally farmed. Pitt, however, defended the measure by the analogy of turnpike-tolls and cross-posts, and by showing that the oppression alluded to arose, not from the system of farming, but from an arbitrary form of government, which naturally led to oppressive modes of collection. The bill passed the commons by a large majority, and was carried in the upper house without a division.

MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE CORPORATION AND TEST ACTS.

Great exertions had recently been made by the Protestant dissenters, to show the public the injustice of that policy which restricted eligibility to office by a religious test. Pamphlets had been written by able pens, and when it was found that they had produced their intended effect, delegates were appointed to arrange a plan, and it was determined to bring the subject before parliament. The dissenters, moreover, thought the present a favourable opportunity for seeking relief from their disabilities, because in the late general election they had, as a body, warmly espoused the ministerial cause. On the 28th of March, therefore, Mr. Beaufoy, member for Great Yarmouth, himself a dissenter, and a friend of the minister, made a motion for taking into consideration the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, as things grievous to a large and respectable portion of Society. His general arguments, with those of Fox, who ably supported the motion, were, that the Test Act was not originally intended to operate against Protestant Dissenters, but to prevent the intrigues and influence of the popish party; that the dissenters deserved well of the nation, and especially of his majesty’s family, of whom from the Revolution, they had been the most zealous supporters; that every man having a right to judge for himself in matters of religion, he ought not, on account of the exercise of that right, to incur any punishment, or be branded with any marks of infamy; and that the exclusion from military service and civil trusts was both a punishment and an opprobrious distinction. The house, however, was not disposed to take a liberal view of this great question. Lord North and Pitt, who took the lead in opposing the motion, argued, that the acts in question were meant to include both Papist and Protestant dissenters, and that the Corporation Act in particular was professedly made against dissenters, and not against Papists, though it eventually included both. The preservation of the Corporation and Test Acts, they further argued, was essential to the preservation of the constitution. Yet, by a strange anomaly of sentiment, Pitt declared, in flattering and explicit terms, the esteem and regard which he felt for the Protestant dissenters, who had ever approved themselves genuine and zealous friends of constitutional liberty, of which their conduct during the late political conflicts had given a memorable proof. Pitt, however, was resolved to preserve the union, of church and state inviolate, and it was on this ground chiefly that he opposed the motion, which was lost on a division, by one hundred and seventy-eight against one hundred. The dissenters were much disappointed and chagrined at the conduct of Pitt on this occasion, for it was generally supposed by them, that if he did not support them, he at least would not have discountenanced their efforts. It is probable, however, that Pitt himself was in reality in their favour, but at court a conscientious, and therefore insuperable hostility existed against such a measure, and a determination on his part to force it through parliament, would doubtless have led to his dismissal. Moreover, as there were many important interests involved in his administration, he may have been led to conclude that the time was not yet arrived for so bold an enactment.

AFFAIRS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

On the 20th of April, Alderman Newnham rose to ask the chancellor of the exchequer whether he intended to bring forward any proposition, for extricating the Prince of Wales from his embarrassing situation; and having received a reply in the negative, he gave notice of his intention to bring the subject before the house on the 4th of May. On a subsequent evening, Pitt requested the alderman to inform the house more particularly of the nature of the motion he intended to make; at the same time holding out a threat, apparently with the object of preventing it being brought forward. Nothing daunted, however, on the 27th of April, Alderman Newnham stated, that the motion he intended to make would be to this effect:—“That an humble address be presented to his majesty, praying him to take into consideration the present embarrassed state of the affairs of the Prince of Wales, and to grant him such relief as his royal wisdom should think fit, and that the house would make good the same.” An interesting conversation followed this announcement, in which Alderman Newnham was entreated to withdraw his motion, as being pregnant with inconvenience and mischief. Pitt observed, that by his perseverance he should be driven to the disclosure of circumstances which he should have otherwise thought it his duty to conceal; and Mr. Rolle, member for Devonshire, asserted that the investigation of the question involved matter by which the constitution both in church and state might be essentially affected. Fox, Sheridan, and other members in the confidence of the prince, declared that he wished for a full and impartial investigation of his conduct, and Mr. Rolle was called upon to explain the extraordinary language he had used. Rolle was silent on this occasion; and on the 30th of the month, when Alderman Newnham again brought the subject before the house, by stating that his royal highness wished him to persevere in his design, Fox called the attention of the members to his mysterious declaration. Looking Rolle full in the face, he said that he wished he had spoken more explicitly; but he supposed he alluded to a certain low and malicious rumour, a supposed marriage; a thing which not only had not happened, but which was even impossible. Rolle acknowledged that his allusions had reference to this rumour, and Fox then contradicted the report in the most unqualified language: the fact, he said, not only never could have happened legally, but never did happen in any way whatsoever, and had, from the beginning, been a base and malicious falsehood. Fox said, that he had direct authority from his royal highness for his declaration; and then another of the prince’s friends called upon Rolle to declare to the house that he was satisfied with these explanations. This he refused to do, and Sheridan rose and observed, that such a line of conduct was neither candid nor manly, and that the house ought to come to a resolution, that it was seditious and disloyal to propagate reports injurious to the character of the Prince of Wales. At this point Pitt interposed, by declaring that Sheridan’s, and not Rolle’s conduct was unparliamentary: adding, that those who exhibited such warmth ought rather to acknowledge their obligation to a gentleman who suggested a question which produced such an explicit declaration on such an interesting subject; a declaration which must give entire satisfaction not only to him, but to the whole house. Alderman Newnham still persisted in his intention to bring forward his motion, but Pitt seems to have considered that after such a declaration he had no further pretext for refusing the relief which the prince required. The result was, that an interview took place at Carlton-house between the premier and the prince, and the motion was withdrawn. Subsequently a message was delivered from the king to the house on the subject, which was followed by an addition to his annual income of £10,000 out of the civil list; an issue of £161,000 from the same source, for the payment of his debts; and £20,000 more on account of the works at Carlton-house. In making the declaration, however, which led to this result, Fox appears to have gone beyond the strict limits of his commission. Mrs. Fitzherbert continued to live with the prince, and she alleged, and her friends also alleged for her, that he knew that there had been a private marriage that was good and binding, _in foro conscientiæ_, whatever it might be by act of parliament. The lady would never speak to Fox again, and it is said, that she was only reconciled to the prince by his assurance that something should be done or said in parliament to save her reputation, by those very friends who had emphatically denied the marriage. Something was said by Sheridan, but he did not venture to unsay what had been said, or to affirm more than that another person who had been alluded to was without reproach, and was entitled to the truest and most general respect. With this Mrs. Fitzherbert seems to have been satisfied; and the society in which she moved, which was composed of persons that had great influence and almost absolute dominion over the world of fashion, seems to have considered her character and reputation as spotless as they were before. But thus much is certain, that, if the prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert were married, it was not legally. It is said that a ceremony was performed _more Catholico_ in the town-house of her uncle, Lord Sefton; but if this report is true, such a marriage was expressly declared to be null and void by the law of the country. The terms of the Royal Marriage Act, moreover, “is explicit against such a marriage, and it is a matter of wonder how Mrs. Fitzherbert, who was not an inexperienced boarding-school girl, but a woman of experience, having been twice married before ever she met the prince, could have been led into the belief that her union with the prince was legal. Neither a Catholic priest, nor a Protestant clergyman, nor the functionary at Gretna Green, could make such a union binding, for the laws of the country could not be thus set aside. Conscience may have been satisfied, but after all, the marriage—if marriage there was—was both irregular and illegal.

MOTION FOR INQUIRY INTO THE ABUSES OF THE POST-OFFICE.

On the 15th of May, Mr. Grey called the attention of the house to certain abuses and corrupt practices in the post-office, which, he said, had come to his knowledge, in consequence of the dismissal of his noble relative, the Earl of Tankerville, from the office of joint-postmaster-general. After stating some very extraordinary circumstances which had been brought to light by this dismissal, and charging Lord Carteret, the present postmaster-general, the Earl of Tankerville’s late colleague in office, with sanctioning the abuses which existed, and refusing to reform them, Grey moved, “that a committee be appointed to inquire into certain abuses in the post-office.” Pitt gave his assent to this motion, which was carried without a division: a committee was appointed, and a report was brought up from that committee on the 23rd of May. The report contained some startling matter, and it was ordered to be taken into consideration on the 28th of the above month. On that day Mr. Grey accordingly introduced the consideration of the report, in doing which he strongly reprobated the conduct of Lord Carteret, and blamed Pitt himself. He concluded his speech with moving, ‘“That it appears to this house that great abuses have prevailed in the post-office, and that, the same being made known to his majesty’s ministers, it is their duty, without loss of time, to make use of such measures as are in their power to reform them.” The post-office was defended by Pitt and Lord Maitland, the latter of whom moved, first, the previous question, and then that the report should be put off for three months, both of which motions were carried without a division. The debate on this question was not only remarkable for the awkward disclosures concerning the practices in the post-office which were thereby elicited, but for the personalities in which honourable members indulged; especially Pitt, Fox, Grey, and Sheridan. The effect produced out of doors by it were very prejudicial to Pitt and his party, for the report of the committee went to show that great abuses existed, and yet all inquiry was nipped in the bud by a ministerial majority. To have sustained his character as a reformer of abuses, Pitt ought, certainly, to have acted firmly in the matter; but instead of this he chose to attribute the part which Mr. Grey had taken to his youth and inexperience. Pitt himself was only twenty-eight years of age, and after he sat down, Sheridan rose, and in a merry mood ridiculed the gravity with which an unmerited reproof had been bestowed upon his friend, by “the veteran statesman of four years’ experience; the Nestor of twenty-eight!”

IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.

During the previous debates, Burke had not been idle with his impeachment of Hastings. On the first day of the session he gave notice that he should resume proceedings on the 1st of February. It was not, however, till the 7th of that month that any other direct charge was entered into; and then Sheridan brought forward that which related to the resumption of the jaghires, and the confiscation of the treasures of the Begums, or Princesses of Oude, the mother and grandmother of the reigning nabob. Imperfect records of the brilliant speech which Sheridan uttered on this occasion, and which occupied five hours in the delivery, now remain, but of its force some faint idea may be formed, by the following brief extract. The orator remarked:—“The conduct of Mr. Hastings, respecting the Nabob and Begums of Oude, comprehends in it every species of human offence. He has been guilty of rapacity, at once violent and insatiable; of treachery, cool and premeditated; of oppression, unprovoked; off barbarity, wanton and unmanly. So long since as the year 1775, the Begum princess, wife of Sujah-ul-Dowla, wrote to him in the following terms:—‘If it be your pleasure that the mother of the late nabob, that myself, his other women, and his infant children, should be reduced to a state of dishonour and distress, we must submit: but if, on the contrary, you call to mind the friendship of the late blessed nabob, you will exert yourself effectually in favour of us, who are helpless.’ But inflamed by disappointment at Benares, he hastened to the fortress of Chanar, to put in execution the atrocious design of instigating the nabob, son of this princess, to matricide and plunder. No sooner had Mr. Hastings determined to invade the substance of justice than he resolved to avail himself of her judicial forms, and despatched a messenger for the chief-justice of India to assist him in perpetrating the violence which he meditated. Without a moment’s pause, or the shadow of process instituted, sentence was pronounced; and thus at the same time, when the sword of government was converted into an assassin’s dagger, the pure ermine of justice was stained and soiled with the basest contamination. It was clear to demonstration that the Begums were not concerned in the insurrection of Benares. No: their treasures were their treason. If the mind of Mr. Hastings were susceptible of superstition, he might image the proud spirit of Sujah-ul-Dowla looking down on the ruin and devastation of his family; beholding the palace which he had adorned with the spoils of the devoted Rohillas, plundered by his base and perfidious ally; and viewing the man whom on his death-bed he had constituted the guardian of his wife, his mother, and his family, forcibly exposing those dear relations, the objects of his solemn trust, to the rigour of the merciless seasons, or the violence of the more merciless soldiery. Such were the awful dispensations of retributive justice. It was not given to that house to witness the tremulous joys of the millions whom the vote of that night would save from the cruelty of corrupted power. But the blessing of the people thus delivered would not be dissipated in empty air. No: they would lift up their prayers to heaven, in gratitude to the power, which, by stretching its mighty arm across the deep, bad saved them from ruin and destruction.” This subject was peculiarly favourable to a display of that impassioned eloquence in which the orators of antiquity so much excelled, when acting as public accusers; and it is universally agreed that Sheridan’s speech was incomparably the best of its class that had ever been delivered in the British senate. Its power was seen in its effects. When the orator sat down, all, or nearly all in the house, both members, peers, and strangers, joined in a tumult of applause, and clapped their hands as though they were in a theatre. This was exceedingly irregular and indecorous, but it shows that Sheridan had enlisted the feelings of his audience on his side. So manifest were the effects which it produced, that Sir William Dolben, a friend of Hastings, foreseeing a conviction if the house divided in the midst of such excitement, moved that there should be an adjournment. Pitt was in favour of this motion; but Fox, who wished for a division as much as Sir William Dolben feared it, objected, and reminded gentlemen that it was still “only midnight.” He remarked:—“It is obvious that the speech just delivered has made no ordinary impression; and I see no reason why we may not come to the question. If any friend of Mr. Hastings should wish to attempt effacing the impression, this appears to be the proper time for doing it.” Major Scott, in reply, stated that he could convict Sheridan of gross misrepresentation of facts, and professed his willingness to proceed if it was the pleasure of the house; but Pitt interposed, and an adjournment took place at one o’clock in the morning. The debate was resumed on the morrow by Francis, the most bitter enemy Hastings had in the house, and who heightened the picture which Sheridan had so forcibly drawn. Major Scott replied, and used some powerful arguments on behalf of the accused. The most powerful was that with which he concluded his speech. He observed:—“One fact no man can doubt; namely, that the sum procured from the princesses of Oude could not have been raised from any other source. And, without that supply, we might now have been debating here how Mr. Hastings should be impeached—not for saving, but for losing India.” Scott’s speech made some impression on the house, but it was of no avail, inasmuch as Sheridan had succeeded in convincing Pitt that Hastings was guilty. Pitt said that he had compared the charge minutely with the evidence; that he was ready to concur with the motion; and that he thought himself bound to vote with Sheridan. The conduct of Hastings in authorising the resumption of the jaghires, and seizure of the treasures of the princesses was, in his opinion, unjustifiable; and the crime was aggravated by making the son the instrument of robbing his mother, and by refusing to revise his proceedings, in obedience to the orders of the directors. Pitt’s explicit declarations made conviction certain, and though some members of administration looked blank and disappointed, upon a division Sheridan’s proposition was carried by one hundred and seventy-five against sixty-eight.

Some days were again employed in the examination of witnesses touching affairs with the Nabob of Ferruckabad; after which, on the 2nd of March, this fourth charge was opened by Mr. Pelham. In it Hastings was accused of withdrawing his protection from that prince, in consequence of having received a present of £100,000 from the Vizier of Oude; and of being the primary cause of that cruel oppression, which the nabob for many years had suffered from the vizier, under whom he held his dominion. The debate on this subject was very dry, but it was rendered remarkable by a new advocate of the accused, in the person of the veteran sailor, Admiral Hood, who had maintained the honour of the British flag in the late war. Hood argued that great allowance ought to be made for persons in high and responsible situations; they frequently finding themselves compelled to act in a manner not strictly consonant with the rules of equity and justice. With honest simplicity Hood illustrated his argument by his own delinquency. When in the West Indies, he said, his fleet was in extreme distress for want of bread, and he obtained a supply by resorting to means which the law did not authorize. “Those acts,” he continued, “were indispensable to the preservation of my ships and my men; yet, if the government had not stood between me and legal prosecutions, I should in all probability have been condemned to linger out the remainder of my days in prison.” Hood said that he considered the eminent services and merits of Hastings outweighed his errors and delinquencies, and expressed his fears lest any censure or punishment of him, might operate as a check on the exertions of future governors and commanders. He added:—“I am an old man: at my time of life I can entertain no expectation of being again employed on active foreign service; but I speak for those who come after me. My regard for my country makes me anxious to prevent a precedent by which all her services for the future would be greatly impeded; this I am confident will be the effect of punishing any harsh and severe, but perhaps necessary, stretches of power, which the saviour of India may have been found to have committed.” It was thought that if Hood had advocated the cause of Hastings at on earlier stage of the proceedings, he might have stopped them with such arguments altogether; but, as it was, it only served to draw declarations from Pitt which left Hastings no other hope than that of an acquittal in Westminster-hall. Pitt said that he should have given a silent vote on the question before the house, but he felt himself called upon to answer the argument used, lest the weight of his lordship’s authority on such subjects might mislead the judgment of the committee. For himself he must ever prefer what was right to what was expedient. At the same time Pitt admitted, that if a servant of the public should carry his exertions beyond the strict line of right, or even of necessity, all due merit should be allowed him, and the abundance of his zeal should be allowed as an atonement for the irregularity of his actions and the error of his judgment. But, he asked, was the conduct of Hastings correspondent to such a principle? Was the crime that day alleged against him justified by necessity? Was it of such a size and complexion as could be justified by any necessity? Wherever a departure was made from justice and right, it was not sufficient to say that such a step was necessary; the party must prove the necessity, and this, in his opinion, had not been done. With regard to the merits of Hastings, he confessed, there had been a period in which such an argument might have been urged with effect. At the commencement of the proceedings, the house might have weighed his crimes against his virtues, and considered whether the latter were of sufficient excellence to counterbalance the former. Such a consideration, however, could not with any propriety be entertained after the inquiry had once been instituted: the committee were not then required to determine on a general view of facts, the general merits or demerits of the accused, but on the investigation of a particular transaction, on the criminality or innocence of that single transaction. Still Pitt admitted that there remained a stage, in which the merits of the accused might and ought to be weighed against his failings; which time, he said, was, when in case of conviction on the charges alleged against him, he came to receive sentence. Pitt concluded by saying, that, with respect to the particular charge under discussion, Hastings had clearly convicted himself of criminality, and by contending that the deed admitted of no plea of necessity. Upon a division the motion was carried by a majority of one hundred and twelve against fifty.

The charge relating to abuses, for selfish purposes, in contracts and salaries, was opened on the 15th of March, by Sir James Erskine, who endeavoured to show that Hastings had made both corrupt and improvident bargains for providing bullocks, elephants, &c.; that he had grossly favoured individuals that were devoted to his will, and useful in his designs, at the expense of the company; and that he had been guilty of abuses in the opium contracts. As usual, Major Scott defended the accused, and entered with great minuteness into the particulars of the charge; but on a division the motion was carried by sixty against twenty-six.

The affair relative to Fyzoola Khan, the Rohilla chief, who retained possession of Rampore in Rohilicund, was brought forward on the 22nd of March, by Mr. Wyndham. The eloquence and nice metaphysics of Wyndham’s speech were much admired, but he evidently misstated some of the facts and bearings of the case. Major Scott proved this to demonstration; but on a division, the motion was carried by ninety-six against thirty-seven.

The seventh charge, relating to the corrupt receiving of bribes and presents, was opened by Mr. Sheridan on the 2nd of April. It was clear that Hastings had been singularly indifferent as to riches for his own use yet the orator imputed to him the grossest corruption and most ravenous greed for money. He remarked:—“He is changeable in every thing but corruption; there, and only there he is systematic, methodical, immutable. His revenge is furious as a tempest, or a tornado; but his corruption is a monsoon; a trade-wind, blowing uniformly from one point of the compass, and wafting the wealth of India to the same port, in one certain direction.” In his speech, however, in indulging his wit and irony, Sheridan gave vent to some sallies, which showed that he was convinced that Hastings had not received the presents for himself, but for his employers. Describing the accommodating morality of the court of directors, and their correspondence with the governor-general, he remarked that it might be thus condensed:—“Forasmuch as you have accepted presents, we highly disapprove of your conduct; but inasmuch as you have applied them to the credit side of our account, we exceedingly approve your conduct.” Major Scott again defended Hastings; but on this occasion Lord Mulgrave and Mr. William Grenvilie, who had before differed from Pitt, spoke very strongly against the accused, and condemned his conduct as highly criminal, and Scott himself conld not deny the facts alleged against him. Many members, indeed, who had supported Hastings on the other charges, voted against him in this, and on a division the motion was carried by one hundred and sixty-five against fifty-four.

Though two charges remained to be discussed, the house now resumed, and the report of the committee was brought up by the chairman. It was moved that the report “be now read the first time;” but it was suggested by Pitt that the charges considered should be referred to a committee, in order that they might select the criminal matter out of them, and frame it into articles of impeachment. Pitt suggested this plan, that he, with other members, might be left to deliver their votes freely on the grand question. He wished it to be understood, he said, that he only went to a certain length, and that he could not join in a vote of impeachment, which might seem to countenance the whole of each several accusation. After some objections on the part of Fox, this suggestion was agreed to, and the report was then turned over to a committee, for the purpose which Pitt proposed. In the meantime, on the 19th of April, Francis opened the eighth charge, which related to the management of the revenues of Bengal. Much had been recently said of the personal hostility which Francis entertained towards Hastings, and he commenced his speech by disclaiming such a feeling, and by asserting that his animosities were all of a public, and not of a private nature; after which he entered into an elaborate discussion of the charge, enumerating the different modes which Hastings had adopted of managing the revenues in question. Major Scott replied to Francis, and on this occasion Pitt defended the accused; but upon a division the motion was carried by seventy-one against fifty-five. The committee appointed to frame articles of impeachment from the first seven resolutions of the house were...... Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Sir James Erskine, T. Pelliam, Wyndham, St. John, J. Ansturther, Welbore Ellis, Michael Angelo Taylor, W. Adam, Sir Grey Cooper, Philip Francis, F. Montague, Mr. Grey, Sir Gilbert Elliot, Dudley Long, Lord Maitland, Colonel North, and General Burgoyne. On the 25th of April, Burke, as chairman of this committe, presented six articles of impeachment, which were forthwith read for the first time, and ordered to be printed, and to be taken into consideration on the 9th of May. On that day, accordingly, it was moved that the articles of impeachment should be read a second time, which motion gave rise to a long debate. Hastings was again warmly defended by Lord Hood, who went over his previous arguments, and implored the house to recollect that whatever errors the accused had committed, he had, notwithstanding, saved the most valuable possessions of the British empire. On this occasion, also, Hastings was defended by Wilkes, who had almost veered round to the opposite point of the political compass from that at which he had started in early life, and who made one of the most effective speeches that had been delivered on the subject. Wilkes moved an amendment that the report should be read a second time that day three months; and he was followed and supported by Nathaniel Smith, chief secretary to the court of directors, Alderman Thompson, and Islay Campbell, lord advocate, the latter of whom reviewed the whole subject, both as a lawyer and a statesman. Other members, also, expressed their dissent to an impeachment; and Mr. Burgess produced an address, just received from the British officers now commanding in India, in which they all bore testimony to the excellent character, high abilities, and important services of the late governor-general. All the exertions of the friends of Hastings, however, proved unavailing. At a late hour Pitt delivered his authoritative opinion; and he having declared that it was impossible for him to vote against the motion, and that the house could no otherwise consult its own honour, its duty to the country, and the ends of public justice than by sending the impeachment to the lords; the motion was carried by a majority of one hundred and seventy-five to eighty-nine. The first article was then read, and agreed to without a division, and the rest were all passed with some trifling amendments on the following day. Burke then rose and moved, “that Warren Hastings, Esq., be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors upon the said articles.” This, after some observations made by Mr. Sumner—who had been in the company’s service in India—complaining of the virulence with which the house prosecuted Hastings, was carried without a division; and Mr. F. Montague, one of the committee of managers, next moved, “that Mr. Burke, in the name of the house of commons, and of all the commons of Great Britain, do go to the bar of the house of lords, and impeach Warren Hastings, Esq., late Governor-general of Bengal, of high crimes and misdemeanors, and do acquaint the lords that the commons will, with all convenient speed, exhibit articles against him, and make good the same.” This motion was also agreed to without a division, and Burke forthwith performed his commission; and on the next day, the 11th of May, he reported to the house what he had done, and proposed that Messrs. Wallis and Troward should be retained, to act as solicitors for the impeachment on the part of the commons. Nothing further was done till the 14th of May, when Burke brought forward the last charge, in which he accused Hastings of being the cause of all the distresses which had afflicted the province of Oude, a charge that was voted unanimously. It was expected that Burke would rest here for the present session; but on the 21st he moved, “that Warren Hastings, Esq., be taken into the custody of the sergeant-at-arms of this house.” This was agreed to and done; and the sergeant-at-arms delivered him into the custody of the gentleman-usher of the black rod, by whom he was conducted to the bar of the lords. On the motion of the lord chancellor, however, he was admitted to bail—himself in £20,000, and two sureties, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Sumner, in £10,000 each—and he was ordered to deliver in an answer to the articles of impeachment in one month from that time, or upon the second day of the next session of parliament. On the same day, the seventh article of impeachment being presented to the house by Burke, was ordered to be carried up to the lords; and on the 23rd, thirteen more articles were presented to the commons, which were subsequently carried to the upper house.

{GEORGE III. 1787–1789}

PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

The session was closed on the 30th of May, when the king, in his speech, commended the measures taken by parliament respecting the reduction of the national debt, and the treaty of navigation and commerce with the most christian king. His majesty spoke of the general tranquillity of Europe; but lamented the unhappy dissensions which prevailed in the United Provinces.

CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.

At this time the attention of government was particularly called to the troubled state of Holland. The dissensions which had long subsisted between the stadtholder and the states had arisen to an alarming height, and demanded the interposition of foreign powers. The French were favourable to the States of Holland; but, on the other hand, the cause of the stadtholder was warmly espoused by the King of Prussia in conjunction with Great Britain. Frequent skirmishes took place between the Orangists and the democrats ef Utrecht; and in the midst of these contests, the Princess of Orange, who had more courage than her husband, the stadtholder, set eff from Nimeguen for the Hague, accompanied by only a few domestics, with a view of negociating with the States-general. It is thought that the King of Prussia recommended this journey, with a view of drawing from it some plausible ground of interfering in behalf of the House of Orange, and if he did, it fully answered his purpose. The princess, who was of the royal house of Prussia, advanced as far as Schoonhoven where she was surrounded by a party of armed burghers, who conducted her to a small town, there to await the further will of those who governed the democrats. Commissioners soon arrived from head-quarters; and they not only refused her permission to proceed to the Hague, but conducted her back to Schoonhoven as a prisoner. She remained there two nights and a day, when, after experiencing insolent treatment from the soldiers who had her in custody, she was directed to return to Nimeguen. While a prisoner the princess had written letters to her brother, the King of Prussia; and on hearing of the insult offered to her, his rage knew no bounds. He insisted that immediate satisfaction should be made, and exemplary punishment inflicted on those who had committed the outrage; declaring at the same time, in some public manifestoes, that this cause was in itself sufficient to justify an armed intervention. The States of Holland, however, cherishing a hope that the French, who had led them on, would not abandon their cause, passed a resolution, justifying and approving the conduct of their commissioners in the arrest of the Princess of Orange; and plainly told Frederic William, in their reply to his demand, that the object of the princess in going to the Hague was to create a civil war, and that there had not been any real insult or injury. At the same time the States-general acknowledged the justice of the King of Prussia’s complaint, and stated that they had made repeated applications to the States of Holland upon the subject, but which had been disregarded. Still determined upon obtaining satisfaction, Fredric William, by his ambassador at the Hague, now demanded that the States of Holland should write a letter of apology to the princess; should punish, at her requisition, those who had been guilty of the offences offered to her august person; should declare that their suspicions about her object in going to the Hague were unfounded; should revoke the resolutions which they had voted; and should accompany this revocation of the resolutions with an invitation of her royal highness to come to the Hague, for the purpose of entering into negociations in the name of the stadtholder, her husband, for the adjustment of all differences. The States of Holland were not in a condition to withstand a Prussian army, but still hoping for aid from the court of Versailles, they refused to accede to these humiliating terms, and issued their orders for laying the country under water, so soon as any Prussian troops should make their appearance on the frontiers. Thus braved, the king of Prussia issued his mandate for war with the refractory states. And in this he was countenanced by the English government. Although nothing at this time could have been less agreeable to Pitt than the prospect of a war, his heart being set on economical reforms and financial arrangements, yet the reduction of the United Provinces to a state of dependence on France, as was menaced by the French court, was not to be endured, and he therefore entered cordially into the policy of the Prussian monarch. As the friends of the house of Orange were in want of money, Pitt supplied them with a loan, without the authority of parliament; and he offered to the States-general, through our ambassador at the Hague, the mediation of the British government, for the restoration of their legitimate government under the authority of the stadtholder. But Pitt’s offers of mediation were rejected, and the oligarchical party applied for assistance to France. The court of Versailles made a regular notification to that of St. James’s of its intention to aid the States-general, and the British minister replied that in such a case England would take an active part in favour of the stadtholder. Pitt, indeed, engaged the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel to furnish 12,000 troops, if they should be required, and at the same time sent dispatches, both by sea and land, to Bengal and Madras, directing the governors of those provinces, in case of war, to attack the French possessions in India and to seize the Dutch settlements in the name of the stadtholder. His prompt measures had the effect of overawing the court of Versailles, and being likewise distracted by its own financial embarrassments, it was under the mortifying necessity of abandoning those designs on the United Provinces, which had long been among its most cherished projects. In the meantime, on the 13th of September, the Duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian forces in the contiguous duchy of Cleves, entered Holland at the head of 20,000 troops. The Dutch had boldly defied the King of Prussia, but their consternation at this event was extreme, and the country seemed everywhere unprepared for resistance. Utrecht surrendered to the Duke almost as soon as summoned; Gorcum, Dordt, Schoonhoven, and other towns in his route, tamely submitted to him; and Amsterdam, which alone made any show of resistance, after a fortnight’s siege, was captured. So rapid were his successes, that the proud republic of Holland, which had maintained a contest of eighty years against the power of Spain, and which repulsed the attacks of Louis XIV., when in the zenith of his glory, was in the course of one month overrun by the troops of the conqueror. The result was, that the stadtholder was not only reinstated in his former privileges, but gratified with new, and that the ancient forms of government were re-established. Tranquillity being restored, the Duke of Brunswick withdrew the main body of his forces from Holland, leaving 4,000 only for the security of peace, and the protection of the stadtholder. About the same time an amicable arrangement was effected between the courts of England and France, by which it was agreed to discontinue warlike preparations on both sides, and to place the navy of each kingdom on the peace establishment. War, therefore, was averted; Pitt was left to pursue his measures of reform undisturbed, and the court of Versailles to consider its financial embarrassments. But in Holland this triumph of the Orangists did not put an end to the disaffection that prevailed throughout the country; on the contrary, it facilitated the conquest of the United Provinces by the revolutionary army of France.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.