Great exertions had recently been made by the Protestant dissenters, to show the public the injustice of that policy which restricted eligibility to office by a religious test. Pamphlets had been written by able pens, and when it was found that they had produced their intended effect, delegates were appointed to arrange a plan, and it was determined to bring the subject before parliament. The dissenters, moreover, thought the present a favourable opportunity for seeking relief from their disabilities, because in the late general election they had, as a body, warmly espoused the ministerial cause. On the 28th of March, therefore, Mr. Beaufoy, member for Great Yarmouth, himself a dissenter, and a friend of the minister, made a motion for taking into consideration the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, as things grievous to a large and respectable portion of Society. His general arguments, with those of Fox, who ably supported the motion, were, that the Test Act was not originally intended to operate against Protestant Dissenters, but to prevent the intrigues and influence of the popish party; that the dissenters deserved well of the nation, and especially of his majesty’s family, of whom from the Revolution, they had been the most zealous supporters; that every man having a right to judge for himself in matters of religion, he ought not, on account of the exercise of that right, to incur any punishment, or be branded with any marks of infamy; and that the exclusion from military service and civil trusts was both a punishment and an opprobrious distinction. The house, however, was not disposed to take a liberal view of this great question. Lord North and Pitt, who took the lead in opposing the motion, argued, that the acts in question were meant to include both Papist and Protestant dissenters, and that the Corporation Act in particular was professedly made against dissenters, and not against Papists, though it eventually included both. The preservation of the Corporation and Test Acts, they further argued, was essential to the preservation of the constitution. Yet, by a strange anomaly of sentiment, Pitt declared, in flattering and explicit terms, the esteem and regard which he felt for the Protestant dissenters, who had ever approved themselves genuine and zealous friends of constitutional liberty, of which their conduct during the late political conflicts had given a memorable proof. Pitt, however, was resolved to preserve the union, of church and state inviolate, and it was on this ground chiefly that he opposed the motion, which was lost on a division, by one hundred and seventy-eight against one hundred. The dissenters were much disappointed and chagrined at the conduct of Pitt on this occasion, for it was generally supposed by them, that if he did not support them, he at least would not have discountenanced their efforts. It is probable, however, that Pitt himself was in reality in their favour, but at court a conscientious, and therefore insuperable hostility existed against such a measure, and a determination on his part to force it through parliament, would doubtless have led to his dismissal. Moreover, as there were many important interests involved in his administration, he may have been led to conclude that the time was not yet arrived for so bold an enactment.
AFFAIRS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
On the 20th of April, Alderman Newnham rose to ask the chancellor of the exchequer whether he intended to bring forward any proposition, for extricating the Prince of Wales from his embarrassing situation; and having received a reply in the negative, he gave notice of his intention to bring the subject before the house on the 4th of May. On a subsequent evening, Pitt requested the alderman to inform the house more particularly of the nature of the motion he intended to make; at the same time holding out a threat, apparently with the object of preventing it being brought forward. Nothing daunted, however, on the 27th of April, Alderman Newnham stated, that the motion he intended to make would be to this effect:—“That an humble address be presented to his majesty, praying him to take into consideration the present embarrassed state of the affairs of the Prince of Wales, and to grant him such relief as his royal wisdom should think fit, and that the house would make good the same.” An interesting conversation followed this announcement, in which Alderman Newnham was entreated to withdraw his motion, as being pregnant with inconvenience and mischief. Pitt observed, that by his perseverance he should be driven to the disclosure of circumstances which he should have otherwise thought it his duty to conceal; and Mr. Rolle, member for Devonshire, asserted that the investigation of the question involved matter by which the constitution both in church and state might be essentially affected. Fox, Sheridan, and other members in the confidence of the prince, declared that he wished for a full and impartial investigation of his conduct, and Mr. Rolle was called upon to explain the extraordinary language he had used. Rolle was silent on this occasion; and on the 30th of the month, when Alderman Newnham again brought the subject before the house, by stating that his royal highness wished him to persevere in his design, Fox called the attention of the members to his mysterious declaration. Looking Rolle full in the face, he said that he wished he had spoken more explicitly; but he supposed he alluded to a certain low and malicious rumour, a supposed marriage; a thing which not only had not happened, but which was even impossible. Rolle acknowledged that his allusions had reference to this rumour, and Fox then contradicted the report in the most unqualified language: the fact, he said, not only never could have happened legally, but never did happen in any way whatsoever, and had, from the beginning, been a base and malicious falsehood. Fox said, that he had direct authority from his royal highness for his declaration; and then another of the prince’s friends called upon Rolle to declare to the house that he was satisfied with these explanations. This he refused to do, and Sheridan rose and observed, that such a line of conduct was neither candid nor manly, and that the house ought to come to a resolution, that it was seditious and disloyal to propagate reports injurious to the character of the Prince of Wales. At this point Pitt interposed, by declaring that Sheridan’s, and not Rolle’s conduct was unparliamentary: adding, that those who exhibited such warmth ought rather to acknowledge their obligation to a gentleman who suggested a question which produced such an explicit declaration on such an interesting subject; a declaration which must give entire satisfaction not only to him, but to the whole house. Alderman Newnham still persisted in his intention to bring forward his motion, but Pitt seems to have considered that after such a declaration he had no further pretext for refusing the relief which the prince required. The result was, that an interview took place at Carlton-house between the premier and the prince, and the motion was withdrawn. Subsequently a message was delivered from the king to the house on the subject, which was followed by an addition to his annual income of £10,000 out of the civil list; an issue of £161,000 from the same source, for the payment of his debts; and £20,000 more on account of the works at Carlton-house. In making the declaration, however, which led to this result, Fox appears to have gone beyond the strict limits of his commission. Mrs. Fitzherbert continued to live with the prince, and she alleged, and her friends also alleged for her, that he knew that there had been a private marriage that was good and binding, in foro conscientiæ, whatever it might be by act of parliament. The lady would never speak to Fox again, and it is said, that she was only reconciled to the prince by his assurance that something should be done or said in parliament to save her reputation, by those very friends who had emphatically denied the marriage. Something was said by Sheridan, but he did not venture to unsay what had been said, or to affirm more than that another person who had been alluded to was without reproach, and was entitled to the truest and most general respect. With this Mrs. Fitzherbert seems to have been satisfied; and the society in which she moved, which was composed of persons that had great influence and almost absolute dominion over the world of fashion, seems to have considered her character and reputation as spotless as they were before. But thus much is certain, that, if the prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert were married, it was not legally. It is said that a ceremony was performed more Catholico in the town-house of her uncle, Lord Sefton; but if this report is true, such a marriage was expressly declared to be null and void by the law of the country. The terms of the Royal Marriage Act, moreover, “is explicit against such a marriage, and it is a matter of wonder how Mrs. Fitzherbert, who was not an inexperienced boarding-school girl, but a woman of experience, having been twice married before ever she met the prince, could have been led into the belief that her union with the prince was legal. Neither a Catholic priest, nor a Protestant clergyman, nor the functionary at Gretna Green, could make such a union binding, for the laws of the country could not be thus set aside. Conscience may have been satisfied, but after all, the marriage—if marriage there was—was both irregular and illegal.
MOTION FOR INQUIRY INTO THE ABUSES OF THE POST-OFFICE.
On the 15th of May, Mr. Grey called the attention of the house to certain abuses and corrupt practices in the post-office, which, he said, had come to his knowledge, in consequence of the dismissal of his noble relative, the Earl of Tankerville, from the office of joint-postmaster-general. After stating some very extraordinary circumstances which had been brought to light by this dismissal, and charging Lord Carteret, the present postmaster-general, the Earl of Tankerville’s late colleague in office, with sanctioning the abuses which existed, and refusing to reform them, Grey moved, “that a committee be appointed to inquire into certain abuses in the post-office.” Pitt gave his assent to this motion, which was carried without a division: a committee was appointed, and a report was brought up from that committee on the 23rd of May. The report contained some startling matter, and it was ordered to be taken into consideration on the 28th of the above month. On that day Mr. Grey accordingly introduced the consideration of the report, in doing which he strongly reprobated the conduct of Lord Carteret, and blamed Pitt himself. He concluded his speech with moving, ‘“That it appears to this house that great abuses have prevailed in the post-office, and that, the same being made known to his majesty’s ministers, it is their duty, without loss of time, to make use of such measures as are in their power to reform them.” The post-office was defended by Pitt and Lord Maitland, the latter of whom moved, first, the previous question, and then that the report should be put off for three months, both of which motions were carried without a division. The debate on this question was not only remarkable for the awkward disclosures concerning the practices in the post-office which were thereby elicited, but for the personalities in which honourable members indulged; especially Pitt, Fox, Grey, and Sheridan. The effect produced out of doors by it were very prejudicial to Pitt and his party, for the report of the committee went to show that great abuses existed, and yet all inquiry was nipped in the bud by a ministerial majority. To have sustained his character as a reformer of abuses, Pitt ought, certainly, to have acted firmly in the matter; but instead of this he chose to attribute the part which Mr. Grey had taken to his youth and inexperience. Pitt himself was only twenty-eight years of age, and after he sat down, Sheridan rose, and in a merry mood ridiculed the gravity with which an unmerited reproof had been bestowed upon his friend, by “the veteran statesman of four years’ experience; the Nestor of twenty-eight!”
IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS.
During the previous debates, Burke had not been idle with his impeachment of Hastings. On the first day of the session he gave notice that he should resume proceedings on the 1st of February. It was not, however, till the 7th of that month that any other direct charge was entered into; and then Sheridan brought forward that which related to the resumption of the jaghires, and the confiscation of the treasures of the Begums, or Princesses of Oude, the mother and grandmother of the reigning nabob. Imperfect records of the brilliant speech which Sheridan uttered on this occasion, and which occupied five hours in the delivery, now remain, but of its force some faint idea may be formed, by the following brief extract. The orator remarked:—“The conduct of Mr. Hastings, respecting the Nabob and Begums of Oude, comprehends in it every species of human offence. He has been guilty of rapacity, at once violent and insatiable; of treachery, cool and premeditated; of oppression, unprovoked; off barbarity, wanton and unmanly. So long since as the year 1775, the Begum princess, wife of Sujah-ul-Dowla, wrote to him in the following terms:—‘If it be your pleasure that the mother of the late nabob, that myself, his other women, and his infant children, should be reduced to a state of dishonour and distress, we must submit: but if, on the contrary, you call to mind the friendship of the late blessed nabob, you will exert yourself effectually in favour of us, who are helpless.’ But inflamed by disappointment at Benares, he hastened to the fortress of Chanar, to put in execution the atrocious design of instigating the nabob, son of this princess, to matricide and plunder. No sooner had Mr. Hastings determined to invade the substance of justice than he resolved to avail himself of her judicial forms, and despatched a messenger for the chief-justice of India to assist him in perpetrating the violence which he meditated. Without a moment’s pause, or the shadow of process instituted, sentence was pronounced; and thus at the same time, when the sword of government was converted into an assassin’s dagger, the pure ermine of justice was stained and soiled with the basest contamination. It was clear to demonstration that the Begums were not concerned in the insurrection of Benares. No: their treasures were their treason. If the mind of Mr. Hastings were susceptible of superstition, he might image the proud spirit of Sujah-ul-Dowla looking down on the ruin and devastation of his family; beholding the palace which he had adorned with the spoils of the devoted Rohillas, plundered by his base and perfidious ally; and viewing the man whom on his death-bed he had constituted the guardian of his wife, his mother, and his family, forcibly exposing those dear relations, the objects of his solemn trust, to the rigour of the merciless seasons, or the violence of the more merciless soldiery. Such were the awful dispensations of retributive justice. It was not given to that house to witness the tremulous joys of the millions whom the vote of that night would save from the cruelty of corrupted power. But the blessing of the people thus delivered would not be dissipated in empty air. No: they would lift up their prayers to heaven, in gratitude to the power, which, by stretching its mighty arm across the deep, bad saved them from ruin and destruction.” This subject was peculiarly favourable to a display of that impassioned eloquence in which the orators of antiquity so much excelled, when acting as public accusers; and it is universally agreed that Sheridan’s speech was incomparably the best of its class that had ever been delivered in the British senate. Its power was seen in its effects. When the orator sat down, all, or nearly all in the house, both members, peers, and strangers, joined in a tumult of applause, and clapped their hands as though they were in a theatre. This was exceedingly irregular and indecorous, but it shows that Sheridan had enlisted the feelings of his audience on his side. So manifest were the effects which it produced, that Sir William Dolben, a friend of Hastings, foreseeing a conviction if the house divided in the midst of such excitement, moved that there should be an adjournment. Pitt was in favour of this motion; but Fox, who wished for a division as much as Sir William Dolben feared it, objected, and reminded gentlemen that it was still “only midnight.” He remarked:—“It is obvious that the speech just delivered has made no ordinary impression; and I see no reason why we may not come to the question. If any friend of Mr. Hastings should wish to attempt effacing the impression, this appears to be the proper time for doing it.” Major Scott, in reply, stated that he could convict Sheridan of gross misrepresentation of facts, and professed his willingness to proceed if it was the pleasure of the house; but Pitt interposed, and an adjournment took place at one o’clock in the morning. The debate was resumed on the morrow by Francis, the most bitter enemy Hastings had in the house, and who heightened the picture which Sheridan had so forcibly drawn. Major Scott replied, and used some powerful arguments on behalf of the accused. The most powerful was that with which he concluded his speech. He observed:—“One fact no man can doubt; namely, that the sum procured from the princesses of Oude could not have been raised from any other source. And, without that supply, we might now have been debating here how Mr. Hastings should be impeached—not for saving, but for losing India.” Scott’s speech made some impression on the house, but it was of no avail, inasmuch as Sheridan had succeeded in convincing Pitt that Hastings was guilty. Pitt said that he had compared the charge minutely with the evidence; that he was ready to concur with the motion; and that he thought himself bound to vote with Sheridan. The conduct of Hastings in authorising the resumption of the jaghires, and seizure of the treasures of the princesses was, in his opinion, unjustifiable; and the crime was aggravated by making the son the instrument of robbing his mother, and by refusing to revise his proceedings, in obedience to the orders of the directors. Pitt’s explicit declarations made conviction certain, and though some members of administration looked blank and disappointed, upon a division Sheridan’s proposition was carried by one hundred and seventy-five against sixty-eight.