Now upon what pretence did he do all this? The Nabob had represented to Mr. Hastings that he was now of age,—that he was an independent, sovereign prince,—that, being independent and sovereign in his situation, and being of full age, he had a right to manage his own concerns himself; and therefore he desired to be admitted to that management. And, indeed, my Lords, ostensibly, and supposing him to have been this independent prince, and that the Company had no authority or had never exercised any authority over him through Mr. Hastings, there might be a good deal said in favor of this request. But what was the real state of the case? The Nabob was a puppet in the hands of Mr. Hastings and Munny Begum; and you will find, upon producing the correspondence, that he confesses that she was the ultimate object and end of this request.
I think this correspondence, wherein a son is made to petition, in his own name, for the elevation of a dancing-girl, his step-mother, above himself and everybody else, will appear to your Lordships such a curiosity as, I believe, is not to be found in the state correspondence of the whole world. The Nabob begins thus:—"The excellency of that policy by which her Highness the Begum" (meaning Munny Begum) "(may her shadow be far extended!) formerly, during the time of her administration, transacted the affairs of the nizamut in the very best and most advantageous manner, was, by means of the delusions of enemies disguised under the appearance of friends, hidden from me. Having lately seriously reflected on my own affairs, I am convinced that it was the effect of maternal affection, was highly proper, and for my interest,—and that, except the said Begum is again invested with the administration, the regulation and prosperity of this family, which is in fact her own, cannot be effected. For this cause, from the time of her suspension until now, I have passed my time, and do so still, in great trouble and uneasiness. As all affairs, and particularly the happiness and prosperity of this family, depend on your pleasure, I now trouble you, in hopes that you, likewise concurring in this point, will be so kind as to write in fit and proper terms to her Highness the Begum, that she will always, as formerly, employ her authority in the administration of the nizamut and the affairs of this family."
This letter, my Lords, was received upon the 23d of August; and your Lordships may observe two things in it: first, that, some way or other, this Nabob had been (as the fact was) made to express his desire of being released from his subjection to the Munny Begum, but that now he has got new lights, all the mists are gone, and he now finds that Munny Begum is not only the fittest person to govern him, but the whole country. This young man, whose incapacity is stated, and never denied, by Mr. Hastings, and by Lord Cornwallis, and by all the rest of the world who know him, begins to be charmed with the excellency of the policy of Munny Begum. Such is his violent impatience, such the impossibility of his existing an hour but under the government of Munny Begum, that he writes again on the 25th of August, (he had really the impatience of a lover,) and within five days afterwards writes again,—so impatient, so anxious and jealous is this young man to be put under the government of an old dancing-woman. He is afraid lest Mr. Hastings should imagine that some sinister influence had prevailed upon him in so natural and proper a request. He says, "Knowing it for my interest and advantage that the administration of the affairs of the nizamut should be restored to her Highness the Munny Begum, I have already troubled you with my request, that, regarding my situation with an eye of favor, you will approve of this measure. I am credibly informed that some one of my enemies, from selfish views, has, for the purpose of oversetting this measure, written you that the said Begum procured from me by artifice the letter I wrote you on this subject. This causes me the greatest astonishment. Please to consider, that artifice and delusion are confined to cheats and impostors, and can never proceed from a person of such exalted rank, who is the head and patron of all the family of the deceased Nabob, my father,—and that to be deluded, being a proof of weakness and folly, can have no relation to me, except the inventor of this report considers me as void of understanding, and has represented me to the gentlemen as a blockhead and an idiot. God knows how harshly such expressions appear to me; but, as the truth or falsehood has not yet been fully ascertained, I have therefore suspended my demand of satisfaction. Should it be true, be so kind as to inform me of it, that the person may be made to answer for it."
My Lords, here is a very proper demand. The Nabob is astonished at the suspicion, that such a woman as Munny Begum, whose trade in youth had been delusion, should be capable of deluding anybody. Astonishing it certainly was, that a woman who had been a deluder in youth should be suspected to be the same in old age, and that he, a young man, should be subject to her artifices. "They must suspect me to be a great blockhead," he says, "if a man of my rank is to be deluded." There he forgot that it is the unhappy privilege of great men to be cheated, to be deluded, much more than other persons; but he thought it so impossible in the case of Munny Begum, that he says, "Produce me the traitor that could suppose it possible for me to be deluded, when I call for this woman as the governor of the country. I demand satisfaction." I rather wonder that Mr. Hastings did not inform him who it was that had reported so gross and improbable a tale, and deliver him up to the fury of the Nabob.
Mr. Hastings is absolutely besieged by him; for he receives another letter upon the 3d of September. Here are four letters following one another quick as post expresses with horns sounding before them. "Oh, I die, I perish, I sink, if Munny Begum is not put into the government of the country!—I therefore desire to have her put into the government of the country, and that you will not keep me longer in this painful suspense, but will be kindly pleased to write immediately to the Munny Begum, that she take on herself the administration of the affairs of the nizamut, which is, in fact, her own family, without the interference of any other person whatever: by this you will give me complete satisfaction." Here is a correspondence more like an amorous than a state correspondence. What is this man so eager about, what in such a rage about, that he cannot endure the smallest delay of the post with common patience? Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not be made mistress of himself and the whole country! However, in a very few months afterwards he himself is appointed by Mr. Hastings to the government; and you may easily judge by the preceding letters who was to govern. It would be an affront to your Lordships' judgment to attempt to prove who was to govern, after he had desired to put the whole government of affairs into the hands of Munny Begum.
Now, Munny Begum having obtained this salary, and being invested with this authority, and made in effect the total and entire governor of the country, as I have proved by the Nabob's letters, let us see the consequences of it; and then I desire to know whether your Lordships can believe that in all this haste, which, in fact, is Mr. Hastings's haste and impatience, (for we shall prove that the Nabob never did or could take a step but by his immediate orders and directions,)—whether your Lordships can believe that Mr. Hastings would incur all the odium attending such transactions, unless he had some corrupt consideration.
My Lords, very soon after these appointments were made, consisting of Munny Begum at the head of the affairs, the Lord Chief-Justice under her, and under her direction, and Rajah Gourdas as steward of the household, the first thing we hear is, just what your Lordships expect to hear upon such a case, that this unfortunate chief-justice, who was a man undoubtedly of but a poor, low disposition, but, I believe, a perfectly honest, perfectly well-intentioned man, found it absolutely impossible for him to execute his office under the direction of Munny Begum; and accordingly, in the month of September following, he sends a complaint to Mr. Hastings, "that certain bad men had gained an ascendency over the Nabob's temper, by whose instigation he acts." After complaining of the slights he receives from the Nabob, he adds, "Thus they cause the Nabob to treat me, sometimes with indignity, at others with kindness, just as they think proper to advise him: their view is, that, by compelling me to displeasure at such unworthy treatment, they may force me either to relinquish my station, or to join with them, and act by their advice, and appoint creatures of their recommendation to the different offices, from which they might draw profit to themselves." This is followed by another letter, in which he shows who those corrupt men were that had gained the ascendency over the Nabob's temper,—namely, the eunuchs of Munny Begum: one of them her direct instrument in bribery with Mr. Hastings. What you would expect from such a state of things accordingly happened. Everything in the course of justice was confounded; all official responsibility destroyed; and nothing but a scene of forgery, peculation, and knavery of every kind and description prevailed through the country, and totally disturbed all order and justice in it. He says, "The Begum's ministers, before my arrival, with the advice of their counsellors, caused the Nabob to sign a receipt, in consequence of which they received at two different times near fifty thousand rupees, in the name of the officers of the Adawlut, Foujdarry, &c., from the Company's circar; and having drawn up an account-current in the manner they wished, they got the Nabob to sign it, and then sent it to me." In the same letter he asserts "that these people have the Nabob entirely in their power."
My Lords, you see here Mr. Hastings enabling the corrupt eunuchs of this wicked old woman to draw upon the Company's treasury at their pleasure, under forged papers of the Nabob, for just such moneys as they please, under the name and pretence of giving it to the officers of justice, but which they distribute among themselves as they think fit. This complaint was soon followed by another, and they furnish, first, the strongest presumptive proof of the corrupt motives of Mr. Hastings; and, secondly, they show the horrible mischievous effects of his conduct upon the country.
In consequence of the first complaint, Mr. Hastings directs this independent Nabob not to concern himself any longer with the Foujdarry. The Nabob, who had before declared that the superintendence of all the offices belonged to him, and was to be executed by himself, or under his orders, instantly obeys Mr. Hastings, and declares he will not interfere in the business of the courts any more. Your Lordships will observe further that the complaint is not against the Nabob, but against the creatures and the menial servants of Munny Begum: and yet it is the Nabob he forbids to interfere in this business; of the others he takes no notice; and this is a strong proof of the corrupt dealings of Mr. Hastings with this woman. When the whole country was fallen into confusion under the administration of this woman, and under her corrupt ministers, men base-born and employed in the basest offices, (the men of the household train of the women of rank in that country are of that description,) he writes to the Nabob again, and himself confesses the mischiefs that had arisen from his corrupt arrangements.
"At your Excellency's request, I sent Sudder ul Huk Khân to take on him the administration of the affairs of the Adawlut and Foujdarry, and hoped by that means not only to have given satisfaction to your Excellency, but that through his abilities and experience these affairs would have been conducted in such manner as to have secured the peace of the country and the happiness of the people; and it is with the greatest concern I learn that this measure is so far from being attended with the expected advantages, that the affairs both of the Foujdarry and Adawlut are in the greatest confusion imaginable, and daily robberies and murders are perpetrated throughout the country. This is evidently owing to the want of a proper authority in the person appointed to superintend them. I therefore addressed your Excellency on the importance and delicacy of the affairs in question, and of the necessity of lodging full power in the hands of the person chosen to administer them. In reply to which your Excellency expressed sentiments coincident with mine. Notwithstanding which, your dependants and people, actuated by selfish and avaricious views, have by their interference so impeded the business as to throw the whole country into a state of confusion, from which nothing can retrieve it but an unlimited power lodged in the hands of the superintendent. I therefore request that your Excellency will give the strictest injunctions to all your dependants not to interfere in any manner with any matter relative to the affairs of the Adawlut and Foujdarry, and that you will yourself relinquish all interference therein, and leave them entirely to the management of Sudder ul Huk Khân. This is absolutely necessary to restore the country to a state of tranquillity."