upon this occasion as possible; to avoid any difficulty of proof, and to shew he was willing to meet the charge, he would admit the words complained of, for he certainly did say, that Mr. Hastings murdered Nundcomar, by the hands of Sir Elijah Impey.

Mr. Burke entered into his reasons at length, for having made this assertion. The House, he said, would have the goodness to recollect the peculiar circumstances which attended the case of the unfortunate Nundcomar. He was possessed of certain knowledge of the bribery and corruption of Mr. Hastings, and one of the charges now exhibited against that gentleman was to be supported by circumstantial evidence, in which the fate of Nundcomar was a material feature; it was therefore very natural to allude to it in the course of opening the charges. And here, he said, he could not help observing it was pretty singular, that Mr. Hastings should, at the moment he was about to be convicted of the foulest bribery, bring forward a charge against his accuser. This was done, no doubt, with a view to divert the attention of the House and the public, from his own criminality, to a complaint against his

accusers.

But this was not all the singularity which attended the case of Mr. Hastings. Indeed, the House would perhaps act inconsiderately in taking this petition into consideration, for it was a notorious fact, that Mr. Hastings came to the bar of the House of Commons, and there gravely produced, signed by his own hand, a paper, which he called his defence; it was accepted by the House; but when the managers came to substantiate some of their charges from extracts out of this defence, he then procured the honourable major not only to say, but also to swear, that this defence was not the defence of Mr. Hastings, for that many parts of it were drawn up by others, and that some parts Mr. Hastings had not even read! Mr. Burke then proceeded to observe, that the House should recollect, that if any obstacles were thrown in the way of the

House; for if the managers were crippled, the prosecution would be defeated. He concluded by assuring the House he had the most implicit reliance on their honour, and was convinced they would protect their managers in such a manner, as to give vigour to the pursuit of justice.

Mr. Pitt's motion was then put, and carried. He next moved, "That a message be sent to the Lords, acquainting them that circumstances had happened, which rendered it inconvenient for the Commons to proceed that day in the trial of Warren Hastings, Esq. and that the Commons requested their lordships to adjourn the farther consideration of the trial to a future day." This motion being agreed to, Mr. Hobart was ordered to carry it to the Lords.

May 1.

On the order of the day for taking the petition of Mr. Hastings into consideration, Mr. Montague rose and read, as part of his speech, the following Letter to him from Mr. Burke:

"My Dear Sir,

"With the consent, as you know, and the approbation of the committee, I am resolved to persevere in the resolution I had formed and had declared to the House, that nothing should persuade me, upon any occasion, least of all upon the present occasion, to enter into a laboured, litigious, artificial, defence of my conduct. Such a mode of defence belongs to another sort of conduct, and to causes of a different description.

"As a faithful and ingenuous servant, I owe to the House a plain and simple explanation of any part of my behaviour which shall be called in question before them. I have given this explanation, and in doing so I have done every thing which my own honour and my duty to the House could possibly require at my hands. The rest belongs to the House. They, I have no doubt, will act in a manner fit for a wise body, attentive to its reputation. I

must be supposed to know something of the duty of a prosecutor for the public; otherwise neither ought the House to have conferred that trust upon me, nor ought I to have accepted it. I have not been disapproved by the first abilities in the kingdom, appointed by the same authority, not only for my assistance, but for my direction and controul. You, who have honoured me with a partial friendship, continued without interruption for twenty-four years, would not have failed in giving me that first and most decisive proof of friendship, to enlighten my ignorance and to rectify my mistakes. You have not done either; and I must act on the inference. It is no compliment to mention what is known to the world, how well qualified you are for that office, from your deep parliamentary knowledge and your perfect acquaintance with all the eminent examples of the ancient and modern world.

"The House having upon an opinion of my diligence and fidelity, (for they could have no other motive,) put a great trust into my hands, ought to give me an entire credit for the veracity of every fact I affirm or deny. But if they fail with regard to me, it is at least in my power to be true to myself. I will not commit myself in an unbecoming contention with the agents of a criminal, whom it is my duty to bring to justice. I am a member of a committee of secrecy, and I will not violate my trust by turning myself into a defendant, and bringing forward, in my own exculpation, the evidence which I have prepared for his conviction. I will not let him know who the witnesses for the prosecution are, nor what they have to depose against him. Though I have no sort of doubt of the constancy and integrity of those witnesses, yet because they are men, and men to whom, from my situation, I owe protection, I ought not to expose them either to temptation or to danger. I will not hold them out to be importuned, or menaced, or discredited, or run down, or possibly to be ruined in their fortunes by the power and influence of this delinquent; except where the national service supersedes

alone. No man shall fall a sacrifice to a feeble sensibility on my part, that at this time of day might make me impatient of those libels, which, by despising through so many years, I have at length obtained the honour of being joined in commission with this committee, and of becoming an humble instrument in the hands of public justice.

"The only favour I have to supplicate from the House is, that their goodness would spare to the weakest of their members an unnecessary labour; by letting me know as speedily as possible, whether they wish to discharge me from my present office; if they do not, I solemnly promise them, that, with God's assistance, I will, as a member of their committee, pursue their business to the end: that no momentary disfavour shall slacken my diligence in the great cause they have undertaken: that I will lay open, with the force of irresistible proof, this dark scene of bribery, peculation, and gross pecuniary corruption, which I have begun to unfold, and in the midst of which my course has been arrested.

"This poor Indian stratagem, of turning the accuser into a defendant, has been too often and too uniformly practised by Deby Sing, Mr. Hastings, and Gunga Govind Sing, and other Banyans, black and white, to have any longer the slightest effect upon me, whom long service in Indian commitees has made well acquainted with the politics of Calcutta. If the House will suffer me to go on, the moment is at hand when my defence, and, included in it, the defence of the House, will be made in the only way in which my trust permits me to make it, by proving juridically on this accusing criminal the facts and the guilt which we have charged upon him. As to the relevancy of the facts, the committee of impeachment must be the sole judge, until they are handed over to the court competent to give a final decision on their value. In that court the agent of Mr. Hastings will soon enough be called upon to give his own testimony with regard to the conduct of his principal: the agent shall not escape from the necessity of

delivering it; nor will the principal escape from the testimony of his agent.

"I hope I have in no moment of this pursuit, (now by me continued, in one shape or other, for near eight years,) shewn the smallest symptom of collusion or prevarication. The last point in which I could wish to shew it is in this charge, concerning pecuniary corruption; — a corruption so great and so spreading, that the most unspotted characters will be justified in taking measures for guarding themselves against suspicion. Neither hope, nor fear, nor anger, nor weakness, shall move me from this trust; —nothing but an act of the House, formally taking away my commission, or totally cutting off the means of performing it. I trust we are all of us animated by the same sentiment.

"This perseverance in us may be called obstinacy inspired by malice. Not one of us, however, has a cause of malice. What knowledge have we of Sir Elijah Impey, with whom, you know, we began; or of Mr. Hastings, whom we afterwards found in our way? Party views cannot be our motive. Is it not notorious, that if we thought it consistent with our duty, we might have, at least, an equal share of the Indian interest, which now is almost to a man against us?

"I am sure I reverence the House as a member of parliament and an Englishman ought to do; and shall submit to its decision with due humility. I have given this apology for abandoning a formal defence, in writing to you, though it contains in effect not much more than I have delivered in my place. But this mode is less liable to misrepresentation, and a trifle more permanent. It will remain with you either for my future acquittal or condemnation, as I shall behave. I am, with sincere affection and respect, my dear Sir, your faithful friend, and humble servant,

"EDMUND BURKE."

The first difficulty that occurred relative to the mode of proceeding was, whether the House should go into proof of the