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peal of the 46th clause of the Act of the 53d George III. cap. 155, by which the Court of Directors is prohibited from sending to India, in the capacity of a Writer, any person who shall not have resided during four terms at the Haileybury College; and for introducing into the said Act a Clause, appointing a Public Exami. nation, at such times, and under such regulations, as the Court of Directors, with the approbation of the Board of Control, may direct; to which examination all persons shall submit their acquirements and qualifications for approval, previous to their being permitted to proceed in the capacity of Writers to either of the Presidencies of Fort William, Fort St. George, or Bombay.

"DOUG. KINNAIRD, JOSEPH HUME,
WM. MORGAN,
CHAS. WRIGHT,
RANDLE JACKSON,
R. F. BEAUCHAMP, SAMUEL DIXON.'

JOHN MORGAN,
RICHD. WILLIAMS,
JOHN ADDINELL,

THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS.

Sir John Doyle." Mr. Chairman, before you commence the business of the day, will you permit me to solicit your attention to

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The Chairman.-The Court will allow me to rise to a point of order. This Court, it must be observed, is specially met in consequence of a requisition signed by more than nine Proprietors. That requisition having been read, I think the business of the day has already commenced; and therefore the gentleman whose name stands at the head of it is in possession of the Court. It would, under these circumstances, be extremely irregular to entertain any other question save that which the Court is assembled to consider; I hope, therefore, the Hon. Bart, will allow the regular business to go on.

The Hon. D. Kinnaird.-" I beg leave to speak to the order of our proceedings. Permit me to suggest that this is the first time I have ever known, in an assembly of gentlemen met for the consideration of their own affairs, an individual to be denied the privilege of asking a question. That question may, for aught the Chairman knows, be very intimately connected with the business regularly announced as the subject of discussion for this day; and, unless it shall appear that the question about to be asked has no reference to the interests of the gentlemen assembled here, I think my gallant friend has a right to put it, and to demand an answer. I submit, that it is rather premature to decide whether the question shall be heard or not; and I must contend that we are assembled in this Court under no law, though undoubtedly we are met for a specific purpose, that will not allow us to postpone that purpose, if it seem fit that we should do so. (Hear!) As a matter of courtesy we ought to hear

my gallant friend; and I take leave to say that, in doing so, we act in perfect unison with the practice of all other assemblies, whether dignified or not, which never refuse to hear a question when propounded in respectful terms. (Hear!) Let the Court hear what the question is, and then decide whether it is proper that it shall be entertained (which is the just and regular course); instead of at once proceeding to the business of the day, and meeting the request of my gallant friend with a direct negative. (Hear !)”

The Chairman.-"The Hon. Proprietor having stated his view of the case, I hope I shall be permitted to say a few words in explanation of my conduct. I consider it my duty to state to the Proprietors what appears to me to be the regular order of our proceedings. The Court is summoned to consider a motion which the Hon. Proprietor himself is to bring forward. The Hon. Baronet stated, plainly and distinctly, that he wished, before we proceeded to the order of the day, to address me.' (Hear!) On this I thought it necessary to state, that we were met specially here, and that the business of the day had commenced, inasmuch as the requisition had been read. I laid down no rule or order to guide the Proprietors, but I think they must see that it would not be proper to proceed to other business this day, until that which they are assembled to consider is disposed of." (Hear!)

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Mr. Hume."I believe what has fallen from the Hon. Chairman, as to the law of this Court, is strictly correct. But we have been all long enough here to know that the practice of the Court was to allow questions to be asked, which, in courtesy, were generally answered (I have tainly known some to be asked to which no answer was returned); although such questions did not relate to the business immediately before the Court, circumstances may occur which would render both the question and the answer imperatively and irresistibly necessary. This respectable

Court always paid attention to the honour and character of their servants-to the honest fame of those who had earned and received their thanks and approbation. If it were in their power to rescue the character of an honourable and zealous servant from a most vile and malicious calumny that had gone abroad, were they not bound, at the earliest period, to effect that object? (Hear!) If, for instance (I will suppose à case) it were asserted in a public newspaper that the Marquess of Hastings was about to be impeached-if it dignified situation of Governor-general, a were publicly stated, that, while filling the deficit of 3 or £400,000 had, through his instrumentality, taken place in an establishment over which the Court of Directors have the responsible controul--if such

were the fact-if such a charge were sent abroad-if it were asserted, that a threatened impeachment hung over the head of that eminent individual-ought this Court to remain a moment without demanding information on the subject? (Hear, hear !) If this charge were altogether false and calumnious, as I firmly believe it to be, ought it not to receive a prompt and decisive contradiction? (Hear!) I appeal to you, sir, not as Chairman, but as a man of honour and feeling, whether, in a case of such a nature, it was not proper that questions should be asked, and that they should be immediately answered? (Hear!) There are no other means under Heaven by which the reputation of this much in jured nobleman can be rescued from the obloquy which has been levelled at it, and placed in its true light before his country and the world. (Hear, hear!) Though, on a former occasion, when the grant to the Noble Marquis was before the Court, I took a hostile part against the proposition, and stated my reasons openly and boldly for pursuing that course; but, sir, I should be deeply ashamed of myself if, when the character of the Noble Marquis is assailed, I did not assist, by every means in my power, to do him justice. Sincerely should I lament the day I first entered this Court, if I became a member of a body who could obstinately adhere to a technical rule, and thus prevent a simple question from being put to the Chair-that question having for its object the attainment of a declaration most important to the Proprietors, and infinitely interesting to the Noble Marquess. Is it, or is it not a fact, that the Court of Directors meditate an impeachment against the Marquis of Hastings? That question is easily answered-and the friends of the Noble Marquis have an undoubted, a sacred right, to know how the matter stands. (Hear!) Sir, the question ought to be met either by a direct and explicit denial, or by a clear and positive admission. (Hear!) If the assertion be true, I shall call for an immediate special Court to investigate the whole of the business. (Hear!) If it be false, we are called upon by every feeling of honour, of justice, and of humanity, instantly to put an end to the slander. (Hear, hear!) We are bound not to let the character of an individual suffer, even for a moment, under such a load of calumny, when we have it in our power at once to dispel and suppress it. (Hear!) We ought not, by any delay, to allow the poison to circulate; and sure I am that every man in the Court must now perceive the propriety of an immediate explanation. (Hear!) No point of form should be interposed so as to retard the attainment of substantial justice. I have, I believe, stated my sentiments intelligibly; and let me tell the Hon. Directors that

we, the Proprietors, are masters of our own proceedings. It is our duty to use our own discretion, and to suggest whatever course of proceeding we may think proper. I say that, to let this business rest in silence, to refuse answering a question of so much delicacy and importance, merely on account of a point of form, would be most cruel and unjust towards the Marquess of Hastings. It would be the only illiberal act, on the part of the Proprietors, which I have ever known or heard of; their conduct on all other occasions has been the very reverse of illiberal: it has been uniformly kind and considerate. As I have already said, let us know the truth or falsehood of this accusation. If, sir, it be an unfounded calumny, we owe it to the Noble Marquess, we owe it to ourselves, and we owe it to justice, to contradict it promptly and decidedly." (Hear!).

Mr. S. Diron.-" This Court is assembled for an especial purpose, and I think the Hon. Chairman has a right to stop any proceeding which appears likely to lead to debate on a different subject. But if the Hon. Bart., or any other Proprietor, says, 'I have a matter to which I wish to draw the attention of the Court,'-and if the Chairman agrees, before the Court breaks up, to give him an opportunity to introduce the subject, I think that is sufficient. I hope the Hon. Bart. will be satisfied with having an opportunity to make his statement, or ask his question, in the course of this day.”

Sir John Doyle." If, Sir, you had permitted me the honour of addressing you as I proposed-if you had been pleased to hear what I was about to say-I have no doubt, from my knowledge of your character, as a man of honour and urbanity, that, as soon as you had understood the nature of my application, you would not have deemed it necessary to interfere; because I am sure that, in appealing to your honour and justice, the appeal would not have been made in vain. I am satisfied, Sir, that I shall carry along with me the feelings of every gentleman present, in my desire to do justice, in his absence, to the distinguished person who lately filled the highest executive office of this great Company. If this had been an ordinary or common circumstance, labouring as I am under the pressure of long and severe illness, I should not have trespassed on the time and attention of the Court; had it been the mere assertion of an anonymous writer speaking his own opinion, I should have treated it with the contempt it deserved. But this is not the case. It purports to be an account of what has passed in the Court of Directors, as well as of what is farther contemplated by that respectable body: I therefore did feel that

I was justified in calling on the Chairman of the Court of Directors, as the best authority I could find (inasmuch as no proceeding can take place in the Court of Directors of which he is not cognizant) to declare whether the charge publicly made against the Marquess of Hastings was true or false. I wished, before the Court proceeded to other business, to have stated that accusation which my Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) has laid before the Court with such proper feeling and emphasis. The charge, as the Court will perceive, resolves itself into this, namely, that an embezzlement of £300,000 has been discovered by the Court of Directors, which embezzlement is the act of the late Governor-general of India. This has been publicly stated therefore I feel justified in asking of the Hon. Chairman the following questions:-1st. Whether any embezzlement or deficit by the Marquis of Hastings of £300,000, or any other sum, had been discovered by the Court of Directors? 2d. Whether the Court of Directors, in consequence of such discovery, had already negatived a grant to him of £5,000 per annum? And, 3d. Whether the Court of Directors, in consequence of such discovery, had any purpose of procuring the impeachment of the Marquess of Hastings? Such are the points of the libel; and, in the face of this Court, and in the name of our common country, I call upon the Hon. Chairman for a plain and distinct answer, confident that when I appeal to his honour and his justice, the application will not, cannot be made in vain." (Hear, hear!)

Mr. Lowndes rose amidst cries of "order." He declared that he came to the Court for the purpose of canvassing this business of the £300,000. (The noise increasing, the Hon. Proprietor was compelled to sit down.)

The Chairman." With every disposition to answer any question which may be propounded to me as Chairman of the Court of Directors, still I must say that on this occasion I feel it impossible for me to do so, as I have received no instructions from the Court of Directors; and without such instructions I cannot answer the questions of the Hon. Baronet."

Sir John Doyle." If I had called on the Hon. Chairman to speak the sentiments of the Court of Directors, or to give his opinion, or theirs, on any point of policy or conduct, I would readily admit that he was right in refusing to answer so comprehensive a question. But this is not a question of opinion-I ask for an answer to a plain matter of fact. (Hear, hear!) Either it is true that these discoveries have been made, and that certain consequences arising therefrom have been contemplated by the Court of Directors, or it is not true.

If

it be not true, then it becomes the Hon. Chairman, as a man of honour, as a gentleman, as one worthy of filling the high situation he holds, to say distinctly, "No!" (Hear, hear!) If, on the other hand, any such embezzlement has been discovered, let it be brought forward fairly, boldly, and openly. (Hear, hear!) Let us not have to contend with the affected tender. ness of the male Candours of the day, who, while whispering away character, and nodding away reputation, pretend to lament those reports and rumours, which have emanated from their own base and covert malignity. (Hear, hear !) I impute not such conduct to any person who hears me; but, I would ask, what corollary will be drawn from this refusal to answer so plain a question? The corollary which, of necessity, must be drawn by indifferent persons is this, that he who can, if he please, give an answer, which would remove a weight of slander and calumny from the character of an honourable man, and refuses to do so, must either be himself the libeller, or must have some reason for giving a tacit countenance to the libel. (Hear, hear !) Let it be observed, that I guard myself most particularly from the idea, that I mean to cast any insinuation against the Hon. Chairman or his colleagues: I impute nothing to them. But I again say that such is the corollary which indifferent persons would be inclined to draw, from conduct of so ambiguous a character. (Hear, hear!) They will be led to believe, that the refusal to answer arises from a desire to assist and abet this foul calumny." (Hear, hear !)

Mr. Lowndes rose, but the uproar was so great that he could not proceed.

The Chairman." There is no motion now before the Court, and it is necessary that we should observe regularity in our proceedings."

confusion.

Mr. Lowndes again rose, amidst great He observed that he had seen the statement relative to the discovery of the embezzlement of £300,000, but no name was mentioned; and, where no name appeared, there could be no calumny.

The Hon. D. Kinnaird.-" Sir, I apprehend you have now called on me to discharge the duty which I have undertaken, by proceeding to call the attention of the Court to the question which they are specially assembled to consider. But, prepared as I am to enter into that discussion, and certainly it is a most important one, I do not think it advisable to proceed at the present moment. I trust that no heated feeling will be excited, that no angry passions will be roused, but that cool and temperate reason alone shall govern the Court, whenever the discussion of that question takes place. But I confess that

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think of proceeding to discuss the question of the education of our young gentlemen intended for India, while a charge, imputing to the Noble Marquess, an utter disregard of honour, a deliberate sacrifice of our interests in that country, with the government of which he was entrusted, remains unanswered. I call for an answer to the calumny; it is due to the Marquis of Hastings-it is due to the country; (Hear, hear!) and I shall, if this silence is to be preserved, feel it necessary to move an adjournment of the Court. (Hear!) I will tell the Hon. Chairman that there are no tricks, no subterfuges, no evasions, by which public discussion can be prevented in this country; no point of form will be allowed to impede the course of justice. (Hear!) I am addressing Englishmen, who well know the value of character, in public and in private life; and there is not one of them who, if appealed to by a person placed in the situation of the Marquess of Hastings at this moment-accused of having been guilty of acts, which, if true, must consign his name to infamy-there is not, I say, one of them, if the accused party, in the honest confidence of innocence, called on him to say "Yes" or "No" to the accu

what has just occurred in the Court has
excited my feelings to such a degree, as to
render me quite incompetent to go on with
that subject. Before I sit down I hope I
shall be able to convince the Court, that it
would be utterly disgraceful to a body of
Englishmen sitting in that room, if they
suffered any other discussion to take place,
until the subject of the atrocious libel on
the Marquess of Hastings was brought un-
der their serious consideration. (Hear,
hear!) It ought to be taken up at once;
it ought not for a moment to be lost
sight of. I cannot believe, Sir, that you
acted on your own well-considered and de-
liberate opinion, in refusing to answer the
plain question which was put to you-a
question which affected in the most direct
manner the character of a high-minded
man, who had served this Company long
and meritoriously. (Hear!) I hope you
will yet concede an answer to that question
—that you will not suffer this base calumny
to remain uncontradicted-but that, as you
have the power to put down the efforts of a
malignant slanderer, you will immediately
exert that power, and relieve the minds of
the Noble Marquess's friends from the
weight of anxiety which oppresses them.
You have, Sir, heard it stated in this Court,sation, who would dare to refuse the appli-
that a calumny of the most malicious, and,
I will add, the most unfounded descrip-
tion, has been published against the late
Governor-general of India-a man who
has served the Company sedulously-a
man whose services have been but ill-re-
quited by the Company-but whom public
opinion will yet compel them to requite as
his merits deserved. (Hear!) Yes, Sir, we
ought to feel big with gratitude, for the
successful efforts which that distinguished
person has made to consolidate our empire,
and to secure our dearest interests; we
ought not to allow a whisper to go forth
against his character, much less should we
suffer a statement of fact, a statement which
directly impugned his honour, to remain
without refutation. Is it possible, when
such an assertion has been made, that any
man can tamely stand by and not do the
Noble Marquess the common justice-that
justice which is due to the humblest indi-
vidual-to say plainly whether the asser-
tion be true or false? (Hear!) I do not
believe, when the public papers of to-mor-
row give to the world the proceedings of this
day, that Englishmen will suppose it pos-
sible that an attempt was made to get over
this question in silence. (Hear, hear!)
They will not believe that a charge imput-
ing the highest delinquency, nothing short
of high treason to your interests, having
been advanced against a nobleman, on
whose honour the breath of suspicion had
never before lighted-they will not believe
that the question, as to the truth or false
hood of the allegation, had been met by a
cold appeal to technical form. I cannot

cation. (Hear !) Is it then to be endured, that one of your highest, your most esteemed, and most efficient servants, is charged with betraying his trust-and when the question as to the fact is this so or is it not?" is distinctly put—I say is it to be endured that you shall remain silent?—is it to be tolerated that you will not conde. scend to answer?-that you will not utter the healing expression? (Hear!) I put it to you whether, in domestic life, such conduct would be permitted? Suppose a servant, not a long-tried and an approved one but a servant of six months' standing, were accused by you of embezzling your property, and that he dared you to the proof, could you, in such a case, remain silent? No, Sir, you must answer: otherwise you would be liable to an action, and to the penalties attendant on it, as a party to the slander. (Hear, hear!) What, then, is the justification for keepping silent on this occasion? In the face of the Court I dare the Chairman to say "yes" to these interrogatories. (Hear, hear!) He is perfectly aware that no such discoveries have been made; that no such impeachment was ever contemplated. I shall act the prophet as well as the historian on this occasion, and I foretell, that the Court of Directors never will have an opportunity to charge the Marquess of Hastings with any offence whatsoever. (Hear, hear!) If, Sir, feelings of justice, if sentiments of humanity do not prompt you to speak, will you not listen to the dictates of prudence? Is the character of the Marquess of Hastings no part

of the property of the Court of Proprietors? A fig for our own character, if we do not protect his. If we do not shew that we are sensitively alive to his honour, who will hereafter be faithful to us? Who will encounter the obloquy which too often attends the career of those whose duties are of a difficult and delicate nature, if we manifest no anxiety to relieve a highminded individual, falsely accused, from the pain and embarrassment which must necessarily attend such an accusation? (Hear!) We represent all England in this Court on the present occasion; and by our conduct this day will our fellowcountrymen judge of us hereafter. We are the legitimate protectors of the character of our servants; we ought to be the strenuous protectors and supporters of the fame of the Marquess of Hastings, who for so long a period, and with such glorious success, directed the affairs of the Company in India. (Hear!) I contend, Sir, that it is most unjust, when the character of that nobleman is foully attacked, to refuse to answer the question put by a Proprietor, although you have no pretence for that refusal; although the question can be answered without inconvenience; although it is admitted by all that that question is reasonable and proper. (Hear!) What, Sir, is it right that such a question should be met with contemptuous silence on the part of the Court of Directors? It is an insult on our feelings and understandings; and I think it absolutely necessary that an answer should be obtained." (Hear, hear!)

The Hon. W. F. Elphinstone." I feel it necessary, as the Hon. Chairman has declined answering the question, to say that I, as an individual Director, have no hesitation in giving a direct and explicit answer. (Hear!) I most distinctly declare that I am ready to stake my reputatation and honour on the truth of what I am about to say. (Hear, hear!) It is, in the first place, demanded whether any embezzlement or deficit by the Marquess of Hastings of £300,000, or any other sum, has been discovered by the Court of Directors? I declare for myself (and allthe gentlemen of whom I have inquired near me, give the same answer) distinctly and positively 'no.' Such a thing was never thought of in the Court of Directors. (Cheers.) In the second place, I am asked, whether the Marquess of Hastings was ever suspected of making away with a single shilling-instead of £300,000 -of the Company's money? To this also I answer positively "no." altogether, a wicked, unfounded, and villainous untruth. (Cheers.) With respect to an impeachment, as no such charges existed against the Marquess of Hastings, there could, of course, be no proceeding of that kind contemplated." (Hear, hear !)

Sir J. Doyle. -"Having thought it my duty, as the friend of the Marquess of Hastings, to put those questions to you, Sir, and not having been able to obtain from you a plain answer to a plain matter of fact, I have now, on the part of my Noble Friend, to say, that I feel perfectly satisfied with the answers which have been given by the honourable, high-minded, and venerable Director near you, who, on his own responsibility, has fairly met, and distinctly answered my interrogatories. But why the Hon. Chairman, who is the organ of the Court, should refuse to make such a statement, is to me, and I believe to every one else, matter of surprise. It is a circumstance which, for his sake, I cannot but regret. If I had asked you, Sir, an abstruse question, if I had introduced a controverted point of Indian policy, and demanded your opinion on it, your silence would have been excusable; a sufficient reason could be adduced for it: but, when the question related to a plain matter of fact, in which a distinguished individual felt his honour most deeply interested so deeply, indeed, that I felt it necessary to break through the regular order of your proceedings, that I might promptly restore his good name-when such was the case, I certainly was astonished to see a gentleman of acknowledged integrity sheltering himself behind a mere point of form, resolutely refusing to answer, and obstinately barring himself out from doing justice to a much-calumniated nobleman, under the paltry, shabby pretence of a contemptible technicality. (Hear, hear!) Since I have been an infant I have always been taught to believe, and I have always cherished the feeling, that the character of the British merchant was one of the highest and most perfect kind; but if such conduct as I have observed to-day is to be encouraged, if commercial men are imbued with such a spirit as I have here seen manifested, then I must say with Buonaparte, that our merchants have ceased to be an honourable and high-minded race, and have degenerated into a set of grovelling shopkeepers." (Hear, hear!)

The Chairman. · The Hon. Baronet who has just down, and the Hon. Proprietor who preceded him, have chosen to address themselves personally to me. I, however, present myself here, not as an individual, but as Chairman of the Court of Directors. In that point of view I stated, not as a matter of form (for the question was clearly put to me), that I had no answer to give, as I had received no It is, instructions from the Court, of Directors. And why did I state this? Because it appeared to me, that it was not my opinion the Hon. Baronet wanted, but, through me, the opinion of the Court of Directors. It is not for me to make any observations on what has fallen from the

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