"
Let us suppose his Majesty to have been pleased to appoint any one to an
office in the gift of the crown, what should we think of the person
whose business it was to execute the King's commands, if he should say
to the person appointed, when he claimed his office, "You shall not have
it, you assume to be my superior, and you disgrace and dishonor me"?
Good God! my Lords, where was this language learned? in what country,
and in what barbarous nation of Hottentots was this jargon picked up?
For there is no Eastern court that I ever heard of (and I believe I have
been as conversant with the manners and customs of the East as most
persons whose business has not directly led them into that country)
where such conduct would have been tolerated. A bashaw, if he should be
ordered by the Grand Seignior to invest another with his office, puts
the letter upon his head, and obedience immediately follows.
But the obedience of a barbarous magistrate should not be compared to
the obedience which a British subject owes to the laws of his country.
Mr. Hastings receives an order which he should have instantly obeyed. He
is reminded of this by the person who suffers from his disobedience; and
this proves that person to be possessed of too independent a spirit.
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