Hastings had declared his belief
that no such designs had been formed.
Mr. Hastings has done with his charge of rebellion what he did with his
declaration of arbitrary power: after he had vomited it up in one place,
he returns to it in another. He here declares (after he had recorded
his belief that no rebellion was ever intended) that Mr. Markham was in
possession of information which he might have believed, if it had been
communicated to him. Good heavens! when you review all these
circumstances, and consider the principles upon which this man was tried
and punished, what must you think of the miserable situation of persons
of the highest rank in that country, under the government of men who are
disposed to disgrace and ruin them in this iniquitous manner!
Mr. Balfour is in Europe, I believe. How comes it that he is not
produced here to tell your Lordships who was his informer, and what he
knows of the transaction? They have not produced him, but have thought
fit to rely upon this miserable, beggarly semblance of evidence, the
very production of which was a crime, when brought forward for the
purpose of giving color to acts of injustice and oppression. If you ask,
Who is this Mr. Balfour? He is a person who was a military collector of
revenue in the province of Rohilcund: a country now ruined and
desolated, but once the garden of the world.
Pages:
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358