I wish to impress it strongly on your
Lordships' minds, that neither the complaints of Mr. Markham nor the
exculpations of Durbege Sing were ever made known till Mr. Markham was
examined in this hall.
The first intimation afforded the Council of what had been going on at
Benares from April, 1782, at which time, Mr. Markham says, the
complaints against Durbege Sing had risen to serious importance, was in
a letter dated the 27th of November following. This letter was sent to
the Council from Nia Serai, in the Ganges, where Mr. Hastings had
retired for the benefit of the air. During the whole time he was in
Calcutta, it does not appear upon the records that he had ever held any
communication with the Council upon the subject. The letter is in the
printed Minutes, page 298, and is as follows.
"_The Governor-General._--I desire the Secretary to lay the accompanying
letters from Mr. Markham before the board, and request that orders may
be immediately sent to him concerning the subjects contained in them. It
may be necessary to inform the board, that, on repeated information from
Mr. Markham, which indeed was confirmed to me beyond a doubt by other
channels, and by private assurances which I could trust, that the
affairs of that province were likely to fall into the greatest confusion
from the misconduct of Baboo Durbege Sing, whom I had appointed the
Naib, fearing the dangerous consequences of a delay, and being at too
great a distance to consult the members of the board, who I knew could
repose that confidence in my local knowledge as to admit of this
occasional exercise of my own separate authority, I wrote to Mr.
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