CHAPTER XII.

Instance of political Equity.-Compliments paid to Mr. Pitt.-Judicious Protest of Lord Hood.-Reply to it by the Minister.-Mr. Sheridan opens the Seventh Charge.-Appointed -Appointed one of the Managers of the Impeachment.—Struggle for the Appointment of Mr. Francis.

MR. SHERIDAN, at the close of his celebrated speech, called upon the House of Commons to vindicate the insulted character of justice; to demonstrate its true quality, essence, and purposes, by rendering it, in the case of Mr. Hastings, active, inquisitive and avenging. This language, however, was nothing when compared to the love of justice manifested by Mr. Fox and his friends in resisting the motion for an adjournment, and demanding an immediate decision of the question, without hearing what could be said on both sides. Those members who were for the delay, supported it by a reason that was at the same time highly complimentary to the accuser, and equitable to the person upon whose conduct they were called to decide. It was observed, that as they were still under the fascinating power of the magician's wand, it was requisite that they should have time to cool before they came to a determination. In opposition to this judicious recommendation, it was vehemently contended that the proposed adjournment was contrary to parliamentary usage, and that the motive assigned for it was ridiculous; as if any custom could warrant a premature judgment on matters of serious import to the character of an individual, and the honour of a nation; or that there was any absurdity in the desire to pause for reflection and farther information, after having been charmed by the eloquence and astonished by the reasoning of a public accuser. This conduct,

which was equally indecorous and unjust, exhibited too plainly the spirit in which the prosecution was conceived, and the object it had in view, notwithstanding the high pretensions to public virtue and impartiality continually made by the party with whom it originated.

On the following day the debate was renewed; and Mr. Pitt, while he assented to the motion for an impeachment, in a general conviction that the seizure of the treasures of the princesses of Oude was an unjustifiable proceeding, could not accede to the whole of the grounds of the accusation contained in the charge, or the inferences that had been drawn from them. This drew from Mr. Sheridan a very handsome acknowledgment of the pleasure which he felt in the reception of his motion, and at the liberality of the minister. Of such a compliment as that which he had received from the right honourable gentleman, Mr. Sheridan observed, that he had reason to be proud; because, conscious as he was that he stood up in a good cause, the advocate for millions, and the advocate for strict justice, to find that he was likely to prove successful could not but afford him the most solid satisfaction. He was the more happy also, as the right honourable gentleman by his conduct had proved that whatever differences existed between them, which sometimes occasioned warm altercations, yet when a great national question, that called for the aggregate support of parliament, fell under consideration, their political divisions sunk into petty jars, and the minister was ready to come forward as one who felt for the honour and character of the country.

On the nineteenth of February Mr. Burke requested leave to call the attention of the house to the present state of the accusation of Mr. Hastings, which was attended with many unpleasant circumstances, owing, as he conceived, to a departure from the usual course of proceeding in matters of this nature. Having now come to a resolution upon two articles of charge, he thought that the house

should resort to the ancient mode of voting the impeachment, and then take proper steps to prevent the accused party from quitting the kingdom, removing his property, alienating any sums of money, or taking any other course to evade the ends of justice. This suggestion, however, made no impression upon the house, and the investigation of the remaining charges was proceeded in; but on the second of the following month, when the conduct of Mr. Hastings towards the Nabob of Farruckabad came under consideration, a very unexpected opposition to the prosecution was made in a quarter, which, at an earlier stage of the business, would in all probability have proved fatal to the impeachment. The late venerable Lord Hood, in a very expressive and solemn manner, begged leave to call the serious attention of the house to the consequences of pro ceeding with too scrupulous a nicety in canvassing the conduct of those who had filled foreign stations of high difficulty and great importance. Certain actions, which may appear to persons at a distance in a very criminal light, were yet, on a nearer investigation, perfectly justifiable on the grounds of absolute and indispensable necessity. But should the fear of an impeachment by parliament be hung out to every commander, in whose hands was placed the defence of our national possessions, it must necessarily operate as a dangerous restraint to their exertions, when it was considered that no general or admiral had scarcely ever been fortunate enough to conduct himself in the performance of his duty, without occasionally falling into circumstances in which the public service compelled him to do things in themselves not pleasing to his feelings, nor perhaps strictly legal; but which, from the indispensable necessity of their situation, were perfectly justifiable. The example set by the House of Commons, in the present instance, would for ever stand before our future commanders, and create a great and dangerous clog to the public service. For his own part, the noble veteran observed, at his time of life he could

have no prospect of being again employed in any foreign or active command, and therefore he had no personal inducement for the part he should take in giving his negative to any farther progress in this prosecution; but he spoke for those who were to come after him: his regard for his country made him anxious to prevent a precedent by which all her services would for the future be greatly impeded; and this, he was confident, would be the effect of punishing any harsh and severe, but perhaps necessary and indispensable acts of power which the saviour of India had been compelled to commit for the public good.

This plain but solid reasoning, which could not be refuted, conveyed so strong a censure upon the minister for the part he had imprudently taken in the agitation of this measure, that he was under the necessity of rising to offer an apology for his conduct.

It must be allowed that the vindication of Mr. Pitt was ingenious and subtle, but it was far from being satisfactory; and it will admit of a doubt whether he was convinced himself that the line adopted by him in this business was the one, which, in his official capacity, he ought to have chosen. He admitted the force of his lordship's arguments, but he endeavoured to shew that they did not apply in the present case, though it was impossible that a single individual in that house could have selected an instance in which they were more completely illustrated. The minister also confessed, that had the gallant admiral's observations on the merits of Mr. Hastings been brought forward in an early stage of the business, they might have been urged with some force, but that the period of their operation was past. Thus it should seem that the indiscreet resolutions of legislative bodies may be persevered in when they only affect individuals; and that if the minister of a great nation, through policy or inadvertence, gives his countenance to a vexatious prosecution, it would be undignified to retrace his steps, even when he is convinced

that he has been misled by artifice, or hurried into error by the impulse of his feelings.

The proposition for an impeachment on this part of the accusation was carried; and on the second of April, previous to the bringing up of the report of the committee, Mr. Sheridan opened the seventh charge, relative to the corrupt receiving of bribes and presents. At the commencement of his speech on this occasion, he adverted, in very becoming terms, to the flattering treatment which he had experienced when he addressed the committee at an unusual length upon the subject of the third charge.

"Honoured with their almost unprecedented indulgence," Mr. Sheridan said, "he would not offer so ungrateful a return to the liberality of their feelings as to suppose that they would not do him the justice to believe that it was far, indeed, from any great willingness on his part that he had been induced to trespass a second time upon their patience; but when he remembered that it would ill-become him to refuse his feeble aid to those who had, with equal zeal, in this momentous cause, stepped forward, as it was possible, under the inevitable restraints of an attention divided by occupations more multiplied and varied than his own ;---when he considered the importance of the proceedings, with respect to the impeachment of Mr. Hastings;---when he reflected how much the character of that house, and its honour, and what was still more material, the honour and the justice of the country, were implicated in the business ;--when he consulted his own serious and sincere feelings on the subject---he could not refuse to lend himself to the occasion, and discharge his duty, by exerting his best endeavours to accelerate the progress of this interesting business, by assisting to draw it nearer to that conclusion, of which the distance appeared, at last, considerably diminished."

But whatever might be the confidence of Mr. Sheridan at this