My Lords, what evidence do we produce to your Lordships of the consequences of Mr. Hastings's corrupt measures? His own. He here gives you the state into which the country was thrown by the criminal interference of the wicked woman whom he had established in power, totally superseding the regular judicial authority of the country, and throwing everything into confusion. As usual, there is such irregularity in his conduct, and his crimes are so multiplied, that all the contrivances of ingenuity are unable to cover them. Now and then he comes and betrays himself; and here he confesses you his own weakness, and the effects of his own corruption: he had appointed Munny Begum to this office of power, he dare not say a word to her upon her abuse of it, but he lays the whole upon the Nabob. When the Chief-Justice complains that these crimes were the consequence of Munny Begum's interference, and were committed by her creatures, why did he not say to the Nabob, "The Begum must not interfere; the Begum's eunuchs must not interfere"? He dared not: because that woman had concealed all the bribes but one from public notice to gratify him; she and Yatibar Ali Khân, her minister, who had the principal share in this destruction of justice and perversion of all the principal functions of government, had it in their power to discover the whole. Mr. Hastings was obliged, in consequence of that concealment, to support her and to support him. Every evil principle was at work. He bought a mercenary silence to pay the same back to them. It was a wicked silence, the concealment of their common guilt. There was at once a corrupt gratitude operating mutually by a corrupt influence on both, and a corrupt fear influencing the mind of Mr. Hastings, which did not permit him to put an end to this scene of disorder and confusion, bought at the expense of twenty-four thousand pounds a year to the Company. You will hereafter see what use he makes of the evidence of Yatibar Ali Khân, and of this woman, for concealing their guilt.
Your Lordships will observe that the virtuous majority, whose reign was but short, and two of whom died of grief and vexation under the impediments which they met with from the corruptions and oppositions of Mr. Hastings, (their indirect murderer,--for it is well known to the world that their hearts were thus broken,) put their conduct out of all suspicion. For they ordered an exact account to be kept by Mahomed Reza Khân,--though, certainly, if any person in the country could be trusted, he, upon his character, might; but they did not trust him, because they knew the Company did not suffer them to trust any man: they ordered an exact account to be kept by him of the Nabob's expenses, which finally must be the Company's expenses; they ordered the account to be sent down yearly, to be controlled, if necessary, whilst the means of control existed.--What was Mr. Hastings's conduct? He did not give the persons whom he appointed any order to produce any account, though their character and circumstances were such as made an account ten thousand times more necessary from them than from those from whom it had been in former times by the Company strictly exacted. So that his not ordering any account to be given of the money that was to be expended leaves no doubt that the appointment of Munny Begum was in pursuance of his old system of bribery, and that he maintained her in office, to the subversion of public justice, for the purpose of robbing, and of continuing in the practice of robbing, the country.