UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 A N S -W E Jl 
 
 PHILIP FRANCIS, E iQi
 
 ANSWER 
 
 O F 
 
 PHILIP FRANCIS, ESQ. 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 BROUGHT AGAINST 
 
 SIR JOHN CLAVERING, 
 
 COLONEL GEORGE MONSON, 
 
 AND MR. FRANCIS, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 BAR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 OH THE 
 
 FOURTH OF FEBRUARY, 1788; 
 
 B Y 
 
 SIR ELIJAH IMPEY, KNIGHT. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 ?MKTE BY J, TARV15, WILD-COUKT, LIKCOLR's-IKK- 
 
 FIELDS. 
 VBCCLXUTHX.
 
 -TU3 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 Wcdnefday, February 27, 1788. 
 
 ** The Houfe (according to Order) re- 
 " folved itfelf into a Committee of the 
 " whole Houfe, to confider further of 
 " the feveral Articles of Charge of 
 " High Crimes and Mifdemeanors 
 '* againft Sir Elijah Impey, Knight, late 
 *' Chief Jaftice of the Supreme Court 
 " of Judicature at Fort William, in 
 " Bengal. Right Honoura&k William 
 " Wmdbam> Efq. in the Chair. 
 
 * FRANCIS. I flattered myfelf, Sir, 
 that when the Houfe thought proper to ex- 
 clude me from the Committee of Managers 
 appointed to conduct the impeachment of Mr. 
 Haftings, whether that refolurion was meant 
 to be a difcharge from a fervice, or a relief 
 B from 
 
 354578
 
 C 2 } 
 
 from a duty, it would have this effect at all 
 events that, from thenceforward, I fliould be 
 fuffered to remain in a ftate of neutrality ; and 
 that, as I was deprived of the honour, I Ihould 
 be exempted from the cares and cenfures, to 
 which the Managers of an Impeachment muft 
 unavoidably fubtnit. But much more had I 
 reafon to expect that, after the public declara- 
 tion which I made in Parliament two years 
 ago*, that I would never fit in judgement on Sir 
 Elijah Impey ; and that I would never give a ju- 
 dicial vote in any caufe, in which he might bt a 
 -party, unlefs I could fafely give it for him ; hav- 
 ing publicly avowed that declaration in print, 
 having fmce repeatedly declared to my friends, 
 particularly to the honourable Baronet -f- near 
 me, that I would take no part in the profecu- 
 tion of Sir Elijah Impey, and having flrictly 
 adhered to the fpirit of thefe declarations, I 
 ihould not be implicated, in any lhape, in the 
 impeachment of that gentleman. _Leaft of all 
 did I expect, that I fhould be accufed by him 
 of having borne teftimony to his good conduct, 
 and compelled by him to anfwer, as a criminal,. 
 
 * On the feventh of March, 1786. 
 f Sir Gilbert Elliot. 
 
 for
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 for declarations, which he tells you I have here- 
 tofore made in his favour. I do not mean to 
 deny his right of mixing accufation with de- 
 fence, if to criminate others be in any degree 
 material, or even ufeful to his own exculpation. 
 In fome cafes undoubtedly, the weapons of at- 
 tack are the beft, perhaps the only inftruments 
 of defence. Whether the ufe he has made of 
 thefe weapons, and the manner, in which he 
 has availed himfelf of his undifputed right on 
 this occafion, be perfectly prudent or not, can 
 only be determined by the event. All I con- 
 tend for is, that /, in my turn, may be allowed 
 the fame latitude which ke has taken, and 
 which / allow him. It is not. my dired: object 
 this day to criminate him, or any man ; but it 
 may be neceflary to my defence. It may be 
 unavoidable. Defence and accufation, in this 
 particular cafe, may be infeparable. If that 
 ihould happen, I defire it may be remembered, 
 that, befides the general right of attack which, 
 for myfelf, I admit to belong to him and to 
 every defendant, I appeal to the fpecific ufe, 
 which he has made of it, and follow the pre- 
 cedent, which he has himfelf fpecificaily fet me. 
 On fome late occafions, my fhuation, in this 
 Houfe, has been equally painful and invidious. 
 B 2 I have
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 I have been repeatedly marked as the perfonal 
 object of debate, the middle pafsive fubject 
 between the action and reaction of the powers 
 of the Houfe, between the hammer and the 
 anvil. If any man thinks there is any thing 
 delightful or agreeable in fuch a diftinction, I 
 am fure his opinion is not founded on experi- 
 ence. I fland here, now, defendant again ft 
 Sir Elijah Impey. In that character at lead, I 
 hope to be heard with patience and a liberal 
 conftrudtion. I defire no more. 
 
 The charge produced by this gentleman 
 againft Sir John Clavering, Colonel Monfon, 
 and myfelf, as I underflood it, and as precifely 
 as I have been able to collect it from my notes 
 and memory, was, in real amount and fub- 
 flance, to this effect. It is his own fault if I 
 do not flate it correctly. 
 
 " That whereas we had, by fundry decla- 
 " rations and minutes, both before and after 
 " the event, exprefled, or flrongly intimated 
 (( our opinion, that the profecution, trial, and 
 * e execution of Nundcpmar, were founded on 
 " political motives, and purfued for the fole 
 <c purpofe of faving Mr. Haflings from the 
 " effect of that man's evidence ; no credit 
 3 " ought
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 " ought to be given to the fame, becaufe we 
 " had, in a few days after the execution, or- 
 " dered a paper, purporting to be a petition 
 " from Nundcomar againft the Judges, to 
 " be burnt, the entries of it to be expun- 
 " ged, and the tranflations to be deftroyed ; 
 " and, becaufe I had, on that occafion, decla- 
 " red, that I confidered the infinuations con- 
 " tained in it as wholly unfupported, and of a 
 " libellous nature, and that to fend a copy of 
 " it to the Judges, would be giving it much 
 " more weight than it deferred/' 
 
 If this be the charge, I admit the premifes, 
 and I deny the conclufion. If it be not the 
 charge, I lhall paufe for a moment, and wait 
 to be informed, What is it ? No man, I think, 
 will fay, that I have weakened or underftated 
 it. For myfelf, I declare that I am not able 
 to conceive, how it can be exprefled in ftrong- 
 er terms againft the parties accufed. If ne- 
 verthelefs it fhould be contended, that the 
 terms I have made ufe of are loofe or defec- 
 tive, or that I have not done perfect juftice to 
 Sir Elijah Impey's meaning and intention, let 
 jt be remembered, Sir, that he has not deli- 
 vered his accufadon in writing, as I had a 
 fhrift unquestionable right to exped. No- 
 thing
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 thing that may be urged to juftify his with- 
 holding the remainder of his defence, can be 
 applied to that part of it, in which others are 
 accufed. It might be very prudent in him ; it 
 might be eflential to his fafety, not to put his 
 accufers in pofleffion of his defence. Be it fo. 
 In that refped:, he is at liberty to act as he 
 thinks proper ; though I believe his refnfal to 
 produce his defence, in the only form in which 
 it could be fairly canvafled, or even compared 
 with the written accufation, will not be re- 
 ceived as a ftrong prefumptive proof even of 
 his own confidence in the merits of his caufe. 
 My demand is a demand of right. It is not 
 to oblige him to produce his defence, but to 
 produce his accufation. Before I proceed, 
 Sir, to the refutation of the charge, as I have 
 flated it, the exactnefs of which, I perceive, 
 is not difputed, I muft call the attention of 
 the Committee to two preliminary confiderati- 
 ons, and requell that gentlemen will carry 
 them in their minds during the fubfequent dif- 
 cuffion. They will throw a light on the gene- 
 ral queflion, and, I believe, be found very 
 material to a thorough underftanding of the 
 whole tranfadlion. I mean (imply to flate them 
 now, and to referve the application of them for 
 
 another
 
 another part of my defence. The firft relates 
 to the manner, in which the paper in question, 
 came into Sir Elijah Impels hands ; the dif- 
 ficulties, which were to be furmounted be- 
 fore he could be in poffeffion of it ; and the 
 probable truth or faHehood of his aflertion, 
 that he never knew what the charges were, 
 which Nundcomar had produced againft Mr. 
 Haftings. I ihall recapitulate the tads to you 
 briefly as they appear on the records, or as 
 they hare been ftated by Sir Elijah Impey. 
 
 The Rajah Nundcomar was executed on the 
 5th of Auguft, 1^75. On the i4ih, General 
 Qavering brought the petition, which was af- 
 terwards burnt, before the Governor General 
 and Council, in their fecret department. It 
 was produced and read; but I conclude, that 
 the tranflation, which the General brought 
 with him, wasrot relied on, becauie I find the 
 next fecret confultation, of the i6th, begins 
 with the following words* : " The Perfian 
 * tramlatorfendsinaaxrrrSki/tTanilarionof the 
 " petition of the late Haha. Raja Nundcomar, 
 delivered in by General Clavering." Mr. 
 Hafiings immediately moved that, " as this 
 
 Vide Besgai Appendix fagc, 585. 
 
 '* petition
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 " petition contained r exprefsions reflecting 
 " upon the characters of the chief Juftice and 
 tf Judges of the Supreme Court, a copy of it 
 " might be fent them." I objected to that 
 propofal, and moved, that orders fhould be 
 given to the Sheriff, to caufe the original to be 
 burned publicly by the hands of the common 
 hangman; a Singular ftep, Sir, and on the 
 face of our proceedings utterly unaccountable. 
 Mr. Haftings repeatedly faid, that he did not 
 object to that motion ; but he obferved that it 
 would not be effectual, " as the petition flood 
 " on our own records, through which it 
 " would find its way to the Court of Dircc- 
 " tors, to his Majefty's Minifters, and in all 
 " probability become public to the whole peo- 
 " pie of Britain." Admitting the force of the 
 obfervation, I propofed that the entry of the 
 addrefs from Rajah Nundcomar Jhould be expunged* 
 On this motion, the unanimous refolution of the 
 board ftands in the following words AGREED^ 
 that it be expunged accordingly ; and that the. tranf- 
 lations be defrayed. To this refolution Mr. 
 Haftings was a party, not only as a Member of 
 the Council, legally bound and concluded by 
 the fenfe of the majority, but by his own ex- 
 prefs confent and agreement. 
 
 On
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 On the aSth of Auguft the Judges wrote to 
 its in the following words * : 
 
 " A paper, containing a falfe, fcandalous, 
 " and malicious charge againil the Judges of 
 " the Supreme Court, produced at your 
 " Board, having been by you declared a libel, 
 " and ordered to be burnt by the hands of the 
 *' common hangman, we return you our 
 " thanks for having (hewn fo due a ienfe of 
 " this outrage to public juftice ; but, as we 
 " muft be interefted as well in the Minutes 
 " introducing and condemning the paper,' as 
 " in the paper itfelf, we find ourl elves obliged 
 " to defire that you will furnifh us wkh a co- 
 " pyof the libel, and of fuch Minutes, which 
 " relate to it, as (land on your confutations, 
 " and mud therefore be conveyed to England, 
 " that we may judge whether they contain any 
 " matters NECESSARY FOR us TO TAKE so- 
 
 " 
 
 In our reply, dated 1 1 th September, we faid-f-, 
 " We ihall be much obliged to vou, if you 
 " will be pleafed to acquaint us, from whom 
 ** yqu received the imperted: informatiofi 
 
 Page 586. f Page 589.
 
 " which appears to have been conveyed to 
 " you, on this and other occafions, of the 
 " proceedings of this Board in our fecret de- 
 " partment; fuch communications cannot re- 
 " gularly be made to you but by the authority 
 " of the Board ; nor can they be obtained 
 " without a breach of truft in fome of our 
 " officers, which we are perfuaded you would 
 " not encourage. 
 
 ff We do not think ourfelves at liberty to 
 " communicate to you the Minutes, Which 
 te may have paffed on the prefent fubjedt, as 
 " fuch Minutes are drawn up folely for the 
 ee information of our fuperiors. With refpedt 
 6< to the libel, it is not pofsible for us to fur- 
 " nifli you with a copy of that paper, having 
 <s ordered the original and tranflations to be 
 " deftroyed, and no copy to be kept of either" 
 This letter, you will obferve, was figned by 
 Mr. Haftings, who knew that he, alone, had 
 given the information, who had agreed to 
 the refolution of the Board, that the original 
 paper and tranflations fliould be deilroycd, and 
 that no copy fhould be kept of either ; who 
 neverthelefs kept a copy of the tranflation, 
 (which he rnuft have obtained from the Perfian 
 tranflator, by a breach of duty in that officer) who 
 
 knew
 
 knew that be had given, or intended to give a 
 copy of that tranflation to Sir Elijah Impey ; 
 and who not only did fo, but, as it now ap- 
 pears, altered the tranflaiioD, made by the 
 proper officer of government, in many places, 
 with his own hand; and it is by this laft ex- 
 traordinary circumftance that Sir Elijah Impey 
 proves the authenticity of the paper, which he 
 produces in his defence, namely, that it is al- 
 tered, corrected, and interlined in Mr. Haf- 
 tings's hand-writing. Mr. HafKngs, I know, 
 did no: agree to the letter, though he figned 
 it; his diflent is recorded in the following 
 words; 
 
 " I difapprove of the draught, becaufe I 
 " do not think the information imperfect, 
 " which was received by the Judges ; becaufe 
 " k appears to me an inconfiftency to ipeak of 
 " a paper, which was expunged from the re- 
 " cords, and ordered to be publicly burnt by 
 fe the common hangman, as a fecret of flate, 
 ff which it was a breach of truft to divulge ; 
 " and becaufe the letter is written im afira'm of 
 " ix/unutiom, equally unbecoming the dignity 
 " of the Board, and deficient in the retpecr, 
 '* which is due to the Judges of the Court, to 
 f: whom it is addrefled." 
 Cz
 
 This difient, you fee, is fup,ported by ever^ 
 argument he could think of, except the true 
 one. He does not tell us, that he himfelf had 
 given the information ; that he himfelf had 
 kept a copy of the tranilation ; that he himfelf 
 had corrected, and given it to Sir Elijah Impey. 
 Had he afligned the true reafon for his diflent, 
 we muft have given a very different anfwer to 
 the Judges. It would have been impoffible 
 even for us to fign fuch a letter as that, which 
 we ail figned ; much lefs could we have defired, 
 or expected Mr. Haftings to put his name tq 
 it. It may be faid perhaps, that he was bound 
 by a prpvifion in the Act of Parliament, and 
 by the forms of the Council, to fign a letter re- 
 folved on by the majority, even againft his opi- 
 pion. That he was legally fo bound and con- 
 cluded, I admit ; but that in fact he fubmiN 
 ted to the law, J deny. On other occafions it 
 appears that he did not hold himfelf bound, by 
 any obligation whatever, legal or formal, tQ 
 fign a letter, pf which he difapproved *. 
 
 The . 
 
 * On the i6th of the preceding June, $775, the 
 majority refolved on a letter to the Judges, to which Mr. 
 Jiaftings did not agree. Pi4 he fign it with a diflent I 
 
 No
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 The fnxlied terms of evafion, in which Sir 
 Elijah Impey declined anfwering our requifi- 
 lion, deferve your attention, bat they require 
 no comment. He fays*, " Our letter men* 
 " tions no information we had received from 
 *' your Board ; we cannot fee what reafon you 
 <c have tofuppoie we have received any. We 
 ff ihall, at all times, be ready to give you 
 cc any information and affiftance in our power, 
 " in forwarding the public bufinefs, but muft 
 gf decline making a precedent ef fubmitting to 
 tc anfwer qucftions, which we think not intend- 
 <( ed for the benefit of the fervice, and which 
 " you have neither grounds nor right to put 
 " to us." 
 
 (Signed) E. IMPEY, 
 
 - JOHN HYDE." 
 
 NoAc records 675, [page 575] The Governor Gene. 
 raJ, and Mr. BaiweH, dUappnmng of this reply, decline 
 fafixifig Aar aaves it, for wkich they will afig their 
 " rtafons in a Minute." On die xotk of Jane they refute! 
 to fign another letter to the Judges, which was accord' 
 ing)? lent without their Cgnamre ; and Mr. Haftings laid 
 tethonglithbnielfjotined in that refnial, b* ty tl* 
 iff ur rftkt I**, mmd tke J&ril rf tic Ctmfmmfi 
 
 Sir
 
 ( H ) 
 
 Sir Elijah Impey tells you, on another occa- 
 fion, and to ferve another material purpofe, 
 that he knew nothing of the contents of the 
 charges of Nundcomar againft Mr. Haftings. 
 His words, as I wrote them down upon the 
 Snftant, were ; '* I aver, that I did not know 
 " what they were. How fhould I ? They 
 " were produced before a fecret Council, and 
 " examined by a fecret Committee, of which 
 " all the members, their clerks and fecreta- 
 " ries, were fworn to fecrecy" Now, Sir, ad- 
 mitting it to be poffible, that Sir Elijah Impey 
 might not know, from public report, the fpe- 
 ciftc fums ftated, or the particular fac^s and 
 circumftances charged by Nundcomar againft 
 Mr. Haflings, that admiffion will not avail 
 him. You are called upon to believe, that Sir 
 Elijah Impey, living in the clofeft connection 
 and intimacy with Mr. Bailings, did not know 
 what was known to ever}' man in Calcutta ; 
 what was the univcrfal fubject of converfa- 
 tion there for many months together, namely, 
 that Nundcomar had accufed Mr. Haftings of 
 venality and corruption in his office. He di4 
 not know that this charge was laid before the 
 Council on the nth of March ; that Nundco- 
 mar had been examined before the Council ; 
 
 that
 
 that, on the xoth of April, Nundcomar was 
 fummoaed to appear before all the Judges, to 
 anfwer to a charge of a confpiiacy againft Mr. 
 Mailings ; and that, haTing been acquitted aod 
 dHmified on that e lamination, he was, on the 
 6th of Mav, aircftgdj and committed to t)y 
 common jail, by a warrant figned bj two of 
 the Judges, fcjxra a charge of forgery. The 
 fads at leaft were too public and too noto- 
 rious not to be known to him. But we are to 
 believe that, knowing fuch fads, k neirer 
 once occurred to him, that there could be any 
 relation between the firft and all that followed 
 it. Being ignorant, as he allures you, of the 
 particulars of the charge againft Mr. Raftings, 
 he never once fufpeded that that act of Nund- 
 comar could have been the motive of thoie 
 (ubfequent "* J fai*^ ^ which were taken to de~ 
 firoy him. Any other man, I think, would 
 have combined the circumftances. . - In any 
 other human mind, they muft have excited 
 fome degree of fufpicion. My Hoaourable 
 Friend, I doubt not, will be able to iatisfy 
 this Houfe, in proper time, that the general 
 fad, namely, that Nundcomar had brought a 
 criminal charge agaiaft Mr. Halting., and 
 cren the fpecial nature of that charge, were
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 judicially known to Sir Elijah Impey long be- 
 fore the execution. What I contend for, and 
 infift upon now, is, that it is a thing utterly 
 incredible ; that it is a belief, to which no hu- 
 man credulity can extend, that Mr. HaftingS) 
 who, in the face of the moft facred obliga- 
 tion and engagement, thought himfclf at li- 
 berty to communicate to Sir Elijah Impey the 
 petition of Nundcomar, to give him a corrected 
 tranflation of it, and to furmlh him, as I fliall 
 prove he did, with copies of -our Minutes, 
 diredtly arraigning the conduct of Sir Elijah 
 Impey in the trial and execution of Nund- 
 comar, fhould not have imparted to him the 
 charges preferred againft himfelf by Nundco- 
 mar, which, though entered in the fecret de- 
 partment, were neither of a fecret nature in 
 themfelves, nor in fad: a fecret to any man in 
 Calcutta. 
 
 The fecond preliminary obfervation, which I 
 wifh to imprefs on the minds of the Commit- 
 tee, regards the diftindtion, which Sir Elijah 
 Impey carefully makes, and ftrenuoufly infifts 
 on, between the paper itfelf, and our Minutes, 
 upon the fubjeft ; the firft he faw ; the fecond 
 he never faw, till very lately, when he ob- 
 tained a copy of them from the India Houfe. 
 
 It
 
 It is indeed not only material, but eflential to 
 his defence, that he fhould perfuade you of 
 the truth of this laft affertion. He well knew, 
 though you are not aware of it, that, if he 
 admitted that he had feen our Minutes of the 
 1 6th of Auguft 1775, at any time before Ja T 
 nuary 1776, he muft have convicted himfelf 
 of the grofleft falfehood and contradiction. I 
 ihall fpeak to that point prefently. But it 
 feems that he not only did not fee them in 
 the year 1775, but that he never faw them 
 axall, till very lately. Now, Sir, I beg leave in 
 the firft place toobferve, that the Minutes in 
 queftion, on the prefent production of which 
 he profefies to place fo much reliance, have 
 not been concealed from the world ; have 
 not been buried in obfcurity. The books, 
 now before me, (called the Bengal Nar- 
 rative and Appendix) muft have been print- 
 ed by the Court of Directors in the year 
 1776, or 1777 ; I prefume fo, becaufe I had a 
 copy of them, long before I left Bengal, in 
 the courfe of the year 1778, if not iboner. 
 There were other copies in Calcutta. They 
 were read with avidity by every man in the 
 fettlemenr, who could procure a fight of them. 
 They contain not only our Minutes, but great 
 D part
 
 C 18 ) 
 
 part of our proceedings, and all our corref- 
 pondence with Sir Elijah Impey, on the fub- 
 ject of Nundcomar. To all other men, the 
 contents muft have been an object of curiofity 
 at leaft. I know they were fo. To him, in par- 
 ticular, they were in the higheft degree in- 
 terefling and important. Yet the learned gen- 
 tleman never faw them in Bengal ; thefe books 
 it feems, never fell into his hands ! nay, you 
 are to be believe that, among the number of 
 perfons, by whom they were unqueftionably 
 perufed, he had .no acquaintance, who might 
 have told him that fuch a compilation, pub- 
 lifhed by authority, and in which his name 
 and conduct were fo often mentioned, exifted 
 in Calcutta. He had no friend or well-wifhcr, 
 among that number, who might have waited 
 on him, as foon as he had read our Minutes, 
 to congratulate him on the teftimony given, 
 as you are told, by his enemies or opponents, 
 in favour of his integrity, and to recommend 
 thofe paflages at leaft to his immediate pe- 
 rufal. Believe it if you will ; believe it if you 
 can. Perhaps you may think that, having 
 gone fo far, you have done enough, and that 
 Sir Elijah Impey has no farther demand 
 on your credulity. That learned gentle- 
 man
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 man is not fo eafily fatisfied. It feems, Sir, 
 he knew the facts ; he knew that we had or- 
 dered a libel on the Supreme Court of Judica- 
 ture to be burned, and that it was burned ; 
 he had feen the paper itfelf, and was in pofTef- 
 fion of a copy of it, given him by Mr. Haft- 
 ings ; but he had never, never feea the Mi- 
 nutes that related to k ! Now, Sir, it is of 
 itfelf an extraordinary circumftance, that Mr. 
 Haftings, who thought himfelf at liberty to 
 give him the paper, in violation, as I think, of 
 the laws of the Council, and of his own per- 
 fonal agreement, fhould not have communi- 
 cated to him thofe Minutes, which make an 
 eflential part of the tranfaction, and which, if 
 they were then fuppofed to mean what he tells 
 you they fo clearly exprefs, were not only in- 
 nocent of all offence to the Judges, but con- 
 veyed a pofitive approbation of their conduct. 
 Why fhould Mr. Haftings make fo partial a 
 communication of our proceedings to Sir Eli- 
 jah Impey ? Why fhould the Governor Gene- 
 ral with-hold from the Chief Juftice the fair 
 and reafonable fatisfacYion of knowing that we, 
 his enemies, had borne teftimony to the recti- 
 tude of his conduct, and vindicated his cha- 
 racter from every afperfion, which might have 
 D 2 been
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 been, or could be thrown upon it. I defy 
 any man to ftate a principle of action that 
 will juflify Mr. Haftings in doing the fir ft, 
 and not doing the fecond ; or a rational motive 
 of any kind, to make it probable in fact, that 
 he did the one and not the other. The affer- 
 tion is, that Mr. Haftings did not communi- 
 cate our Minutes on this occafion to Sir Elijah 
 Impey. Why not ? perhaps he thought it 
 unfair; perhaps he thought it would have 
 been a breach of truft and honour to his col- 
 leagues. Perhaps he made a diftinction 
 between the paper itfelf, which, as he fays, 
 having been ordered to be publickly burnt, 
 could be no fecret of ftate* y and the Minutes of the 
 Council, given in fecret debate and recorded for 
 the fole information of the Court of Directors. 
 In general, there might have been fomething, 
 though in this cafe there would have been no- 
 thing in the diftinction; but in fact, did he 
 make the diftinction ? I appeal to SirElijah Im- 
 pey, andfhall leave it to him to anfwer the quef- 
 tion. In his letter of the 2oth of January 1776, 
 in four or five months after the tranfaction of 
 which we are fpeaking, he tells the Secretary of 
 State, " The Governor General has, within 
 
 * Page 589. 
 
 " thefe
 
 ** thcfe few days, communicated to me feveral 
 f( Minutes, figncd by General Clarering, Colo- 
 " nel Monfon, and Mr. Francis ; they are fcte- 
 " rally fraught with direct charges, or plain 
 " mfinuations againft the characters of the 
 " Judges, and the conduit of the Court of 
 " Judicature. Some feem more particularly 
 " levelled at me." You have it then from un- 
 queftionable authority, that Mr. Haftings did 
 communicate our Minutes to Sir Elijah Impey : 
 Minutes fraught with direct charges againft 
 him: Minutes, which, as he, Intprj, &ys s 
 were intended to be kept fecret ; bnt tbe Governor 
 General badatlaf ttongtt, flat tbey omgbt injtf- 
 tict to be commmmcated to him. Did he fo ? Thee 
 where was the juftice of Mr. Haftings, when 
 he communicated to his learned friend thole 
 fecret Minutes of ours, which were fraught 
 with charges againft him, and did not commu- 
 nicate to him thole other Minutes, in which, 
 as this learned gentleman tells you, we had ex- 
 prefled a direct, unequivocal approbation of 
 his conduct ? was it a fair and honourable pro- 
 ceeding to his colleagues ? would it have been 
 common juftice even to his enemies, to impart 
 the one, and not the other, to the perfon, who 
 was the fubject of both ; to impart to Sir Elijah 
 
 Impej
 
 Impey every thing that was likely to inflame 
 him againft us, and to withhold from his know- 
 ledge what might have operated in his mind, 
 as an antidote againft that poifon ; namely, 
 the ftrong declarations which we are ftated to 
 have made in his favour ? was it juft to Sir E. 
 I. to difcover to him the charges, which we 
 hacJ written home againft him, and not to fur- 
 nilh him with that clear, complete, and irre- 
 fiftible anfwer, which had efcaped or been ex- 
 torted from us, by which the charges might 
 not only have been refuted, but muft have 
 been annihilated ; I mean the direct teftimony 
 and confeffion of his accufers ? For my part, 
 Sir, I acquit Mr. Haftings of acting fo un- 
 juftly to all parties ; to his friend, as well as 
 to his foes. L acquit him of it, becaufe I am 
 not able to conceive a reafon, good or bad, 
 why he Ihould act in a manner at once fo 
 unfair to his colleagues, and fo injurious to his 
 friend. I have no doubt that he communica- 
 ^tcd#//our Minutes to Sir Elijah Impey. In 
 proper time, I fhall fhew you, for what reafon 
 the contrary is maintained by this learned gen- 
 tleman. On this part of the fubjecl:, I mall 
 trouble you with only one obfervation more. 
 The Judges, in their letter of the 2 8th of Au- 
 
 guft
 
 guft 17/5, tranfinitted to us certain petitions*, 
 which had been addrefTed^to them, in order that 
 they might ftand recorded -f- on our confidta- 
 tions ; " which," they fay, " we think pecu- 
 t ( liariy proper at thk time; as, by promul- 
 " gating the univerfal fenfe of this fettlement, 
 f< in relation to our conduct, they are a di 
 " reel: and public refutation of the libel, and 
 " corroborate fmcb of your Minutes, as tend 
 f< to vindicate our reputations," Now, Sir, 
 if he had not feen our fecret confiscations of 
 the 1 6th of Auguft, how came he to know, 
 that thofe or any other Minutes exifted ? How 
 could he make the diftinction between fuch as 
 did and fuch as did not tend to vindicate his 
 reputation ? Mine was the only Minute of the 
 three, to which, by any poffiblc conftruction, 
 that tendency could be imputed. Is it not 
 evident from this paffage alone, that he had a 
 copy of the confukation before him ; or, what 
 
 * Sir Elijah Impey has lived to alter his c pinion of 
 Pentioes. In his letter to Lord Weymooth, of the 2nd . 
 of March, 1780, he fays. " the only manner, in urHch 
 " the obtaining Petitions here differs from the mode* 
 " pradifed by fadkns in Engl.nd, is there they are 
 " foliated, and got by influence here they are ccai- 
 manded." 
 
 * Page 586. 
 
 is
 
 is in effect the fame, that the fubftance of our 
 different Minutes had been diftinftly ftated 
 to him. From all the premifes, taken toge- 
 ther, I draw this immediate inference of fad: 
 which, as I conceive, it is impoflible for the 
 human mind to refifl, and which, for other 
 reafons, I know to be true, namely that, while 
 he pretended to be fcrupuloujly neuter in the d'tf- 
 putes, which agitated the Council, he was fecretly 
 leagued in early connexion, in clofe commu- 
 nication, in deep alliance and confederacy 
 \vith Mr. Haflings. In what fenfe that fact is 
 material to my defence, and in what manner I 
 mean to apply it, will foon appear. 
 
 I muft now requeft the Committee to ob- 
 ferve, that there are two parties concerned in 
 the accufation brought againft us by Sir Elijah 
 Impey ; one, the then majority of the Coun- 
 cil collectively, viz. General Clavering, Colo- 
 nel Monfon, and myfelf ; the other, Sir John 
 Clavering alone. Our caufes are diftinct, and 
 muft be feparately confidered and defended. 
 With refpect to the former of thefe parties, 1 
 have already ftated to you the recorded facts 
 of the tranfaction, in the order in which they 
 happened. I am now to ftate the reafons of 
 
 but
 
 our conduct; I mean, not only our avowed, 
 but our referred reafons for acting as we did. 
 
 In reply to the Governor's motion, I faid* 
 that " I thought our fending a copy of the 
 " Raja Nundcomar's addrefs to our Board, to 
 " the Chief Juftice and the Judges, would be 
 ** giving it much more weight than it defenr- 
 " ed ; and that I confidered the infinuarions, 
 " contained in it, againft them, as wholly un- 
 ** fupported, and of a libellous nature." In die 
 whole of that opinion Colonel Monfon agreed ; 
 but he added, " that if the Board mould com- 
 " municate the paper to the Judges, he thought 
 ** they (the Members of the Board) might be 
 " liable to a profecurion for a libel." General 
 Clavering difapproved of the propofirion, " be- 
 " caufe he thought it might make the Mem- 
 " bers of the Board, who fent it, liable to a 
 ft profecurion." The Governor General and 
 Council having unanimoufl y agreed that the 
 Perfian paper flbouid be publicly deftroyed, I 
 concluded the debate with another motion, in 
 the following words* : " By the Cirne channel 
 " through which the Court of Directors, and 
 " his Majefty's Minifters, and the nauon, 
 ** might be informed of the contents of the pa- 
 
 per
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 " per in queftion, they muft alfo be informed 
 ff of the reception it had met with, and the 
 " fentence pafled upon it at this Board. I 
 " therefore hope that its being deftroyed in the 
 " manner propofed, will be fufficient to clear 
 (t the character of the Judges, fo far as tbey ap- 
 tf pear to be attacked in that papery and to pre- 
 f( vent any poflibility of the imputations, indi- 
 " rectly thrown on the Judges, from extend- 
 " ing beyond this Board, I move that the en- 
 " try of the addrefs from Rajah Nundcomar, 
 " entered on our proceedings of Monday laft, 
 " be expunged." 
 
 Before I offer any obfervation on the true 
 intent and meaning of thefe Minutes, allow me 
 to read to you a few fhort paflages out of 
 other Minutes of ours, written both before and 
 after the execution of Nundcomar, in which 
 our opinion of the real principle and purpofe 
 of that proceeding is very ftrongly and very 
 explicitly declared. 
 
 " Minute of Mr. FRANCIS. 
 
 , 1775*. 
 
 " 
 " 
 
 I beg leave to obferve, that a profecution 
 for a confpiracy is now inflituted, or is iu- 
 
 55 
 
 " tended
 
 " tended to be inftkuted, againft Maha Rajah 
 ' Nundcomar and others, die tendency of 
 ** which (eons to me to be to prevent or deter 
 " him from proceeding in making good thole 
 " diicoveries, which he has laid before the 
 " Board. I cannot but think that the Eaft 
 " India Company, and cociequectly this 
 " Board, have a very great concern in every 
 " ftep taken in that profecution, whether it 
 " be actually begun, or intended." 
 
 Matte of GENERAL CLAVERIXG. 
 
 8/Mrr, 1775*. 
 
 " la reply to what the Governor General 
 " has juft laid, I conceive that the protection 
 " of the inhabitants of Bengal is immediately 
 " crafted to our care, and that k properly be- 
 " longs to us to reprefent to the Judges fuch 
 ** matters as may appear to us, wherein they 
 " have acted improperly, either wilfully or 
 " ignorantly. In the prefect inflance, th"y 
 " probably are ignorant, how much a dole 
 (f confinement may endanger die Kfe of this 
 " man, which is of fo much importance to 
 " the public, for proving an accusation, which 
 " he has made of cru/y in the Governor Ge- 
 " neraL" 
 
 * **& 55- 
 
 z Extract
 
 t 28 ) 
 
 Extraft of a Minute O/CLAVERING, MONSON, 
 and FRANCIS. 
 
 Sty. 15, 1775. 
 
 <c After the death of Nundcomar, the Go- 
 <c vernor, we believe, is well affured that no 
 " man, who regards his fafety, will venture to 
 cc ftand forth as his accufer. 
 
 " On a fubject of this delicate nature, it be- 
 '" comes us to leave every honeft man to his 
 <f own reflexions. It ought to be made known 
 " however to the Englifh nation, that the for- 
 <e gery, of which the Raja was accufed, mud 
 <e have been committed feveral years ago; that 
 <f in the interim he had been protected and 
 " employed by Mr. Haftings ; that his fon was 
 * e appointed to one of the firft offices in the 
 " Nabob's houfehold, with a falary of one lack 
 <e of rupees; that the accufation, which ended 
 (f in his deftruction, was not produced till he 
 " came forward, and brought a fpecific charge 
 *' againli the Governor General of corruption 
 " in his office." 
 
 Ditto of ditto. 
 
 '* We agree with Mr. Haftings, that not 
 " only he himfelf^ but many other perfons in 
 
 " this
 
 ( 9 
 
 " this fettlement, have reafon to thank God, 
 " as he exprefles it, for the inflinition of this 
 Court." 
 
 Ditto, dated Nov. 2.1, 1775. 
 
 " It feems probable, fuch embezzlements 
 " may have been univerfaUy praftifed. In the 
 " prefent circumftances, it will be difficuk, if 
 " not impracticable, to obtain direct proof of 
 " the facts. The terror, imprefled on the minds 
 " of the natives by the execution of Maha 
 " Rajah Nundcomar, is not to be effaced; 
 " for, though he fuffered for the crime of 
 " forgery, yet the natives conceive he was ex- 
 " ecuted for having dared to prefer complaints 
 f * againft the Grovemor GeneraL 
 
 " This idea, however deftitute of founda- 
 " tion, is prevalent among the] natives, and 
 *' will naturally deter them from making dif- 
 '' coveries, which may be attended with the 
 ?' fame fatal confequences to themfelves. 
 
 " Punifliment is ufually intended as an ex- 
 " ample, to prevent the commiiHonof crimes; 
 *' in this inflance, we fear, it has ferved to 
 * 4 prevent the difcovery of them," 
 
 Ditto
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 Ditto, March 21, 1776, 
 
 " Some of the facts, with which he (Mr. 
 " Haftings) has been perfonaliy charged, have ., 
 " been proved. The presumptive evidence, 
 " in fupport of the reft, will, we apprehend, 
 < lofe none of its force, by the precipitate re- 
 " moval of Maha Rajah Nundcomar." 
 
 Now, Sir, if it be true that there is a mani- 
 feft inconfiflency, a palpable contradiction be- 
 tween thefe declarations, and our intermediate 
 proceedings on the i6th Auguft, 1775, I have 
 brought that inconfiftency and contradiction 
 plainly and diftindly into your view. I am 
 fure I can fatisfy the Committee that it does not 
 exift. In the firft place, you will allow me to 
 fay that, fetting afide all confideration of mo- 
 ral character, and claiming nothing in favour 
 of General Clavering, Colonel Monfon, and 
 myfelf, but that we mall not be taken for 
 idiots, it is not very likely that, having re- 
 peatedly charged the profecution and execu- 
 tion of" Nundcomar againft Sir Elijah Impey, 
 as a political meafure of tl?e mofl atrocious 
 kind ; having fo often recorded that opinion 
 on the proceedings of the Council, we fliould 
 almoft at the fame moment, voluntarily, and 
 
 without
 
 without arty apparent reafon, deliberately con- 
 tradid: ourferves, and record cur own condqpe 
 nation on die face of our proceedings. Iska 
 thing to be believed, that having advanced 
 judt a charge, we fhould fo lightly abandon k, 
 and that, having abandoned, we mould re- 
 fume and re-afiert k, without once attempting 
 to reconcile or explain the inconfifiency of our 
 conduct, if die idea of that contradiction, which 
 is now urged and infilled on, had ever occurred 
 to us ? Is k likely that, while we were con- 
 tending with Mr. Haftings for the good opi- 
 nion of the Court of Directors, we (houkl have 
 placed ourfelves before* them in a point of 
 view, which mirfE have iMteriv 
 
 ttvtr confidence in us ? Sir, I arSrm tiiay, in 
 &3, we did no fuch thing. The terms of 
 my opinion of the fiminHs of the paper, 
 which I propofcd ihoukl be deftroyed, are, I 
 ice, particularly relied on. I denre they may 
 be ftrirtly examined. I ^i^\ that to lend 
 to the Judges a copy of Nundcomar's petition, 
 would be giving k much more weight than 
 k deferred; that I confidered the infimimnnc 
 contained in k againrl them as wholly unt up- 
 poined, and of a libeUous nature. I tbou^st 
 and uidfo then. I think and lay fo ftffl, in 
 
 the
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 the extent and manner in which they were 
 ftated in that paper. The perfon, in whofe 
 name it appeared, was dead. He had, whe- 
 ther juftly or unjuflly, legally or illegally, 
 been convicted of a crime, and had fuftered 
 an ignominious death. Even if he had been 
 refpited after conviction, his evidence would 
 have been ufelefs, for his credit was gone. A 
 petition from fuch a perfon, accufmg his 
 Judges, could have no fort of weight. It 
 came before us without a refponfible accufer, 
 without a proof, or evidence of any kind ; I 
 therefore faid it was wholly unfupported. No 
 man, I prefume, will deny that it was in ftrift- 
 nefs of a libellous nature. I afTerted then, as I 
 aflert now, that it was a libel on the whole 
 Court of Juftice, in the ftrift and proper fenfe 
 of the word. The dreadful charge contained 
 in it, included all the Judges, concerning two 
 of whom (Sir Robert Chambers and Mr. Hyde) 
 we never had a fufpicion of the motives, which 
 we attributed to Sir Elijah Impey, though I 
 am far from acquitting them of all blame. 
 Concerning another of the Judges, the late Mr. 
 Lemaiftre, though we faw him united in the 
 clofeft intimacy with the Chief Juftice, and 
 ready to fapport his opinions on all occafions, 
 2 with
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 with a degree of zeal and pafiion which, how- 
 ever fincerc, was not to be excufed, yet in 
 that, which conftitutes the deadly guilt of the 
 transaction, we never fufpeded him to be con- 
 cerncd ; in a confederacy I mean with Sir Eli- 
 jah Impey to take off Nundcomar, in order to 
 feve Mr. Haftings from the effect of that man's 
 evidence. We were bound therefore to treat 
 die petition as an mdifcriminate libel againft a 
 whole Court of JufHce. Is tliere any thing in 
 that refolution, or in die terms of my opi- 
 nion, on which it was founded, that under 
 any, I will not fay fair and liberal, but under 
 the moft rigorous conftrucHon, do be under- 
 fbood to exprefs or fignify that we thought the 
 paper fslfe, as well as libellous of all the 
 Judges ? This is no new difiincHon, let up by 
 me to ferve the prefent purpofe. It is no af- 
 ter thought, no ex pojl foSo vindication of my 
 conduct. I can prove to the Committee, that 
 I always made the (ame diftinction between an 
 accufation and a libeL When Mr. Hattings 
 accufed me perfonally, about three months be- 
 fore, of prefenting a libel againft him to the 
 Board, my aniwer to him Hands recorded in 
 the following words :
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 Extraft of a Minute of Mr. FRANCIS. 
 
 March 21, 1775. 
 
 <f The Governor General, who had long ex- 
 " peded the appearance of fuch a letter, and 
 " was apprifed of the contents of it, made no 
 " objedion, however, to its being received 
 " and read at the Board. When the man, 
 " who advances a fpecific charge, declares 
 " himfelf ready to come forward and fupport 
 " it, and to hazard the confequences of fail- 
 " ing in his proofs, it may ftill indeed be pre- 
 " fumed that the charge is falfe ; but it does 
 " not partake of the nature of a libel. A li- 
 " beller advances charges, which he does not 
 " intend, or is unable to make good. When 
 " called upon to appear and produce his evi- 
 " dence, he flickers himfelf, fometimes in the 
 " obfcurity, fometimes in the fuperiority of 
 " his fituation, and leaves the accufation with- 
 " out an accufer, to operate as far as it can, 
 " in the opinions of men, againft die honour 
 " and reputation of the party accufed. Rajah 
 " Nundcomar is not an obfcure perfon in this 
 " country, nor does he in this inftance ad the 
 tc part of a libeller. -He is himfelf of very 
 " high rank ; he pubiickly accufes the Gover- 
 z fi nor
 
 < ** 5 
 
 <c norGeaeral of mifconduct in his office, and 
 " defires to be heard in perfoo in fupport of 
 " his charge.* 
 
 This is my di fijp<fftaiifl the charge, as it 
 affects us collectively on the face of our pro- 
 ceedings ; and I willingly fubmk to your judg- 
 ment, whether the avowed ofteatible reaibns, 
 publicly affigned by me, be not fufficient to 
 account for my public otncial conduct on the 
 occafion, and to acquit me of the prefent 
 charge of contradiction. But had I no other 
 motives for what I did, beyond thofe which I 
 have atEgned ? Undoubtedly I had, and I am 
 ready to declare them. Addreffing you, as I 
 do, under an honourable and moral obligation, 
 as powerful and coercive as any, that law or 
 religion can impoie upon the hom*n mind, I 
 flkouki hold myfelf a perjured man, if called 
 upon, as in effect I am, for the whole truth, I 
 reierved any nut of it from your knowledge. 
 My iecret predominant motive for propohng 
 to deftroy the original paper produced by Ge- 
 neral Cbvering, was to lave kirn, and btm alone, 
 from the danger, to which he had expofed him- 
 felf by that rafli inconfiderate action. Yet 
 the fiep I took was not immcdiatdy taken OB 
 F 2. my
 
 < 36 ) 
 
 my own fuggeftion. As foon as Mr. Haftings 
 propofed that a copy of the paper fhould be 
 fent to the Judges, a ftep fufpicious on the 
 face of it, and by which it was impoffible any 
 good purpofe could be anfwered, Colonel 
 Monfon ftarted at it, and defired me to go 
 with him into another room. Poffibly Mr. 
 Harwell may recollect the circumftance. He 
 then faid, " I fuppofe you fee what the 
 " Governor means. If the Judges get pof- 
 f( feffion of the paper, Clavering may be 
 " ruined by it." My anfwer was, " Why, 
 te what can they do to him ?" To that he 
 replied, " I know not what they can do; 
 " but. fince they have dipped their hands in 
 * c blood, what is there they will not do?"-~ 
 He then defired me to move that the original 
 paper mould be deftroyed by the hands of the 
 common hangman. This ihort converfation 
 palTed very nearly, I firmly believe, if not 
 precifely, in the terms in which I have related 
 it. It is not poflible I mould ever forget or 
 miftake the fubftance of it. If I am charged 
 with having a&ed a feeble, pufillanimous part,, 
 let it be remembered that my fears, whether 
 well or ill. founded, were not for myfelf j that 
 the danger, whether real or imaginary., could 
 
 no
 
 '( 37 ) 
 
 no way extend to me. To fear nothing when 
 we ourfelves are in no danger, is not an un- 
 queilionable proof of refolution; much lefs 
 is it a proof of timidity to fear every thing 
 for the fafety of a friend. It was my opinion, 
 however, and is fo at this hour, that the dan- 
 ger to General Clavering was real and ferious. 
 The author of the libel was dead. General 
 Clavering had made himfelf the publifher, and 
 put himfelf into the power of his enemies. I 
 cannot bring before you in evidence the ftate of 
 the fettlement at that time; the great power 
 that was confederated againft us, and the univer- 
 fal combination of all ranks of Europeans to fup- 
 port that power in all its operations. We were 
 lent out by Parliament to enquire into and to 
 reform abufes. The firft difcoveries, that came 
 before us, gave a general alarm. The caufe 
 of Mr. Haftings was made and declared to be 
 the common caufe and intereft of all the Com- 
 pany's fervants. We, on the contrary, were 
 conlidered as their common enemy, and were 
 At once the object of their jealoufy, their fear, 
 and deteflation. With a very few exceptions, 
 we three in effedt flood alone againft the com- 
 bined power of two Members of the Council, 
 one of whom was the Governor General; 
 
 againft 
 
 35457H
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 againft the Supreme Court of Judicature, 
 againft die Board of Trade, and againft die 
 united animofity and clamour of the whole 
 fettlement. If, in that ftate and temper of 
 the times, General Clavering had been indicted 
 for a libel on the Supreme Court, wuofe 
 powers were in effect, to us, undefined, unli- 
 mited, and fubject to nocontroul*, 1 cannot po- 
 fitively affirm what would have been the con- 
 fequence ; but I am poiitiveiy fure, that no 
 efforts would have been fpared, no methods 
 unattempted to harafs and tuftrefs him, and, 
 if poffible, accompliili his ruin. This I de- 
 clare upon my honour, and am ready to de- 
 clare upon my oath, was my motive, as I am 
 convinced it was that of Colonel Monfon, 
 for infilling that the original paper mould be 
 deftroyed. I do not expect, that the force 
 of this motive mould be felt in this place 
 and at the prefent hour, as it was by us, 
 upon the fpot, and in the moment of ac- 
 
 * Sir Elijah Impey, in his letter of the i5th of May 
 *775 (l* a g e 5^3-) fays, " The bounds, between the 
 ' authority of the Supreme Court and the Council, are. 
 ' of too delicate a nature to be difcufled, without there 
 " fhould be, which I trufl there never will be, an abfo- 
 '-Jute neceffity to determine them." 
 
 tion.
 
 I 39 ) 
 
 tion. The period is too remote. The fcene 
 is too ^iftanr- The infiant imprdSon upon 
 our minds cannot eafily be communicated 
 to joins. We knew we were fuirounded by 
 the fcnres of die law. We had no legal learn- 
 ing. We had no legal advice. You may 
 {peculate coolly and wifely upon our conduct ; 
 but yr _ will not determine equitably, if you 
 do not endeavour to place yourfelves exactly 
 in our fituanon. At all events, whether we 
 did right or wrong, we certainly did not do 
 that of which we are accufed. We never 
 faid, that the contents of Nundcomar's peti- 
 tion were not true. As Mr. Hastings entirely 
 agreed with us in every thing we did, I never 
 had a doubt that die tranilmion w^s deftroyed, 
 until Sir Elijah Impey~produced a copy of it at 
 the bar of this Houfe. Of the authenticity of 
 this rnnfhrion, you have no other evidence 
 but that, which confefles it was obtained by 
 means the moft unjuflifiablc, by means, which 
 prove, what we always fufpected, that we were 
 betrayed, by one of our own Board, to Sir 
 Elijah Impey, and by means, which prove to 
 demonfrratkm die colhiiion and confederacy, 
 that fubfifted from the firft between Sir Elijah 
 Impey and Mr. Hafimgs. The exifience of
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 that well-grounded fufpicion is material to our 
 defence. 
 
 I am now to reply to that part of Sir Elijah 
 Impey's accufation, which excludvely affedts 
 General Clavering. On my own account per- 
 fonally, I have no manner of concern in it. I 
 am here the uninftrufted advocate, the feeble 
 defendant of an honourable friend, who is now 
 no more. In his name, and for his caufe, I 
 claim and expect that indulgence, that favour 
 and protection, which he, I am fure, would 
 never have folicited for himfelf, but which is 
 admitted to be due, and which this Houfe, in 
 fact, has liberally diftributed to other defen- 
 dants. The learned gentleman himfelf, when 
 he appeared at your bar, was received there, 
 as he ought to be, with favour and indulgence. 
 He was received there, with what I believe is 
 not quite fo common, though perhaps equally 
 proper, with diftinguimed marks of protec- 
 tion. But if indulgence, if favour and protec- 
 tion are due to a perfon, who is prefent to de- 
 fend himfelf, who is himfelf a man of great 
 learning and experience, and 'who can at any 
 time colled and command the united learning 
 of his profeflion, and fummon it to his aflift- 
 ance : how much more are they due to a man 
 
 of
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 of great charader, who is not here to plead his 
 own caufe ? who is not only abfent, but dead, 
 and who died in the fervice of his country. 
 Not, indeed, in die field of battle, where his 
 gallant mind would have led him, but in a 
 vile, vexatious conteft with men ; I will not 
 attempt to quality them ; General Ckvering 
 thought himielf degraded by a conteft with 
 fuch men. 
 
 In this tranfaction, I cannot undertake toan- 
 fwer for all the motions of his conduct. I 
 think I can for fome of them. But affuredly, 
 Sir, I (hall not attempt to explain what I 
 never underftood; that is, with what inten- 
 tion, and for what poffible purpofe, he brought 
 the paper before the Board. Neither is that 
 queftion material at prefent. The queftionable 
 words in his Minute of the i4th of Auguft, 
 I 775> w hen he produced the Petition of 
 Nundcomar, are thefe : " As I imagined V 
 " that the Paper might contain fome requeft 
 " that I Ihould take fome fteps te intercede 
 4( for him, and being refoived not to make any 
 " applications whatever in his favour, I left 
 " the Paper on my table till the 6th, which 
 " was the day after his execution, when I 
 ** ordered it to be translated by my interpret 
 " ter." On this proceeding, the queftion is 
 G too
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 too obvious not to occur inftantly to every 
 man who hears me, why had be refolved not 
 to make any application whatever in favour of 
 Nundcomar ? 
 
 In attempting to account for an a<3: done 
 by another, fo many years ago, and to verify 
 the motives of the perfon who did it ; you 
 will not exped: that the evidence fhould 
 amount to demonftration. The beft that I 
 can offer you, and the utmoft the cafe will 
 admit of, is ftrong probability and fair con- 
 jecture. The peculiar character and known 
 principles of General Clavering muft be taken 
 into the account. Remember that you arc 
 trying a caufe of honour in a Court of Honour, 
 in the forum confcientia, which exifts in the 
 heart of every honourable man, not in a Court 
 of Law. You cannot fairly pronounce upon 
 the man, without knowing and confidering the 
 general principles of his life. Now, Sir, I 
 affirm of General Clavering, what I believe 
 will not be difputed by any perfon who knew 
 him, that his moral mind and character were 
 ftriftly and feverely upright ; that he determined 
 every queftion that came before him with ri- 
 gid juftice ; that his delicacy, in every thing 
 that appeared to him to touch his honour, was 
 more than fcrupulous, and bordered, if pof- 
 
 fible
 
 ( 4J 
 
 ^jFijp \iincw^ yyf y^^a J. 
 him * fo, when I have feen him rerufc Ikdc 
 complimentary prcfcnts of unit, or flowers, 
 Cent to his family, and order them to be le- 
 turned. He was a man TOT tcndci of public 
 reputation; verj fearfal of rcpraaui ; ana 
 pirriciilarlT fearful of the impoeation of fop- 
 porting and encooraging the accofer of Mr. 
 Hafliogs. With thefc princi^es, he might 
 
 intercede for a man found guilty of a 
 offence. But it is much more probable, and 
 more matenal to his prefent vindication, that 
 he was well convinced his mterceffion would 
 do mifchief inftead of good, and would rather 
 
 mar. Mr. Farrer tells yon in his evidence*, 
 that when he proposed to the General to re- 
 ceive and tranfimt to the judges, a Petition 
 of Nundcomar jMi^-dM to the Governor Ge- 
 neral and Council, his anfwer ended with thefb 
 words,r 
 
 That he had fobd and 
 
 for ^**tp*^^*""g that opinion, I benevc 
 
 |av, wlwiieard Sir Enjah Impels rbgitide- 
 
 Gz
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 fence at the Bar, went away with an impref- 
 fion, that General Clavcring, Colonel Mon- 
 fon and I, never took any formal fteps in favour 
 uf Nundcomar ; and that if we had interceded 
 for him, it might probably have faved h;s 
 life. Whether the Judges would or would 
 not have yielded to our interceffion, is a quef- 
 tion, which no human tribunal can decide. 
 You may form a judgment of it, however, 
 by obferving how the Court acted, when we 
 really did intercede with them in favour of 
 Nundcomar, in inflances of no importance to 
 the real purpofes of juftice, though very im- 
 portant to the unfortunate man himfelf. I 
 lhall Hate the fads I allude to, in the terms in 
 ivhich they are recorded. 
 
 On the 8th of May, 1775,* a Petition wa.s 
 received from Rajah Nundcomar to the Go- 
 vernor General and Council, which, after 
 flating many other particulars, very deferv- 
 ing of the attention of the Houfe of Com- 
 mons, concludes with the following words, 
 " The Honourable Prefident, I am well af- 
 " fured, is fully fenfible of the fa&s I allude 
 " to ; It may be requifite to explain to the 
 " reft of the Honourable Members of the 
 
 * Page 55*. 
 
 " Board,
 
 *' Board, that the inftitutions of our religion 
 " ftri&ly enjoin a number of ablutions, prayv 
 *' eis, and other ceremonies to be perfonne4 
 " by the led: of Bramins, before they can 
 " take any kind of food. Nothing of this 
 " can be performed in the place where I now 
 ft am ; and, could even thefe obftacles be 
 " furmounted, the place itfelf, as being in 
 " habited by men of a different religion, 
 " would prevent my receiving any fuftenance 
 " whhout breaking thofe rules, which I have 
 " hitherto religioufly obferved. I therefore 
 " humbly requeft, that I may be permitted 
 " to refide, under as ftrict a guard as may he 
 " judged requifite, in fome place where thefc 
 " objections may be obviated." 
 
 After a long and careful examination 
 made by the Board into the truth of this re- 
 prefentation, I moved*, " That the Sheriff 
 " and his Deputy ihould be direclted to wait 
 " on the Chief Juftice, on the part of the 
 " Board, to reprefent to him the fituation of 
 " the Rajah Nundcomar, whofe religion, as 
 " he had informed the Board, had oblige^ 
 :t him to deny himfelf fuftenance in the par^ 
 ff tkular circumitances of his'preient cx>n- 
 
 S>7- 
 
 ^ finement;
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 ** fmement ; and to defire the Chief Juftice 
 " would confider of granting the Prifoner 
 " fuch relief, as might be confident with the 
 " Itridt fecurity of his perfon to anfwer to the 
 " charges brought againfl him; and that a 
 " copy of the latter part of the Rajah's Pe- 
 ." tion to the Board fhould be delivered to the 
 * { Sheriff." Colonel Monfon and General 
 Clavering agreed. 
 
 The Governor General faid, " I object to 
 " the Motion, becaufe the fame reprefenta- 
 *' tion may be made by the Prifoner himfelf 
 *' to the Chief Juftice; and I think, therefore, 
 " it would be improper that it Ihould be con- 
 " veyed to him through the authority of Go- 
 ff vernment." 
 
 In reply to this meffage Sir Elijah Impey, 
 in his letter of the pth of May, thought pro- 
 per to fay *, 
 
 " I muft make it my requefl, that the 
 " Maha Rajah may be acquainted by the 
 " Board that, if he has any further appli- 
 C cation to make for relief, he muft ad- 
 " drefs himfelf immediately to the Judges, 
 " who will give all due attention to his re- 
 " prefentations ; for fhould he continue to 
 " addrefs himfelf to the Board, that which 
 * Page 562. 
 
 will,
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 " will, and can only be obtained from prin- 
 " ciples of juftke, may have the appearance 
 ** of being obtained by the means of infliMfyig 
 " and authority, the peculiar turn of mind of 
 "* the natives being to expect every thing from 
 " power, and little from juflice." 
 
 In another letter, dated May 15, 1775, he 
 %*: 
 
 " I did not, nor do not queftion the autho- 
 " rity of the Board in receiving Petitions ; I 
 " carefully reftrided what I laid to this ixJivi- 
 " fad Prijmuri I did not defire his Petitions 
 " Ihould not be received ; but, when received, 
 " if they were to require any thing from the 
 " Judges or the Court, that the anfwers given 
 " to thofe Petitions fhould be, that he muft 
 " apply himfelf directly to the Judges ; and 
 " this I did to avoid the imputation I then 
 " alluded to, and which would be equally de- 
 '* rogatory to the character of the Council, 
 ' as that of the Judges. 
 
 '* The particular reafbn, which called upon 
 " me in this cafe, to make that reqmfitko, 
 " was the reports publicly circulated in this 
 *' town, that, if the Judges could not br pre~ 
 
 vailed
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 rc vailed upon to releafe the Maha Rajah, he 
 " he would be delivered by force." 
 
 This fuppofed report of an intention in the 
 Commander in Chief and two of the Council, 
 to releafe the Prifoner manu forti, was not in- 
 confiderately advanced or abandoned by the 
 learned Gentleman. After we had forced him 
 to declare, as he did in his letter to the Board 
 of the 3oth of May 1775 *, " That he knew 
 " it to be totally groundlefs ; that he again 
 te and again difclaimed ever having given 
 " any credit, and detefted the thought of 
 " adding weight to fo fcandalous a report," 
 he revived it in his letter to the Secretary of 
 State, of the 2oth of January 1776, in the fol- 
 lowing words : " It fhould be known that 
 " the conduct of the Council, (meaning the 
 " majority) to the Judges, and to the Pri- 
 v " foner during his confinement, had raifed an 
 " almoft univerfal belief in the Natives, and 
 " even among the Europeans, that the Pri- 
 " foner would be protected from ji-iftice, in de- 
 " fiance of the Court." And now he re- 
 /\ fumes, and infifts upon it once more at the Bar 
 of this Houfe. I leave it to him to recon- 
 cile an imputation of fuch a nature, if he can, 
 to that high approbation, with which he fays 
 ; H * Page 569. 
 
 we
 
 .< 49 ) 
 
 we afterwards received the execution of Nund- 
 comar. But, in what light did General Cla- 
 vering confider it ? Sir, the imputation of a 
 defign to refift the Civil Power, to oppofe the 
 Execution of Juftice, appeared to him not 
 only fo fcandalous, but fo dangerous, fo par- 
 ticularly levelled at //, as a Military Man, 
 as Commander in Chief of the JSP^Y* toat 
 he thought it neceflary, for his fafery, to ex- 
 culpate himfelf from it by oath*. I fay, /or 
 bis fafity, becaufe I am firmly of opinion, that 
 he would have been in #s great danger as Nund- 
 comar, if the Judges could "have found any 
 thing criminal to have laid to his charge. 
 Colonel Monfon and I, though not the imme- 
 diate objects of that infamous calumny, 
 thought it right to take the fame oath. From 
 this extraordinary facl:, I leave it to you- to 
 conclude, what muft have been our opinion 
 of the perfonal fecurity of our fituation. 
 
 On the 3oth of May, the Chief Juftice 
 thought fit to write us a very long letter (on 
 the fubject of our interpofirion in behalf of 
 Nundcomar,) in which he faid j, 
 
 Page 565. J Page 569. 
 
 H " As
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 " As to communicating Petitions to the 
 " the Judges, I apprehend that no Board, 
 " even of the higheft authority in England, 
 " can refer any matter, either to a Court of 
 " Juftice, or any Judge thereof, othervvife 
 " than by fuit legally inftituted ." 
 
 On the 23d of June*, the Chief Juftice 
 declared from the Bench, that the Governor 
 General and Council, whom he confidered as 
 nothing more than as Agents of the Eaft In- 
 dia Company, could only apply to the Court 
 by humble Petition, and that the Court could 
 not receive in future any letters or merTages 
 but in that form . 
 
 Extract of a Declaration from the Bench, made 
 by Sir ELIJAH IMPEY on the 230* of June,. 
 1785. 
 
 " The Company, as well as all other Ap- 
 " pellants, muft not claim it, but prefer an 
 " humble Petition. This being thus explain- 
 r< ed, to prevent any further altercations of 
 " this nature-, the Court muft inform the 
 " Board that they cannot (refpect being had 
 
 * Page 616. 
 
 " tO
 
 ( 5' > 
 
 " to the dignity of his Majefty's Courts, and 
 " to the welfare of the country) receive in 
 " future any letter or mefiages but in that 
 " form." 
 
 On the 27th of June *, we tranfmitted to 
 the Judges a translation of a letter addreffed 
 to the Governor General and Council, in fa- 
 vour of Nundcomar, by the Nabob Mobaric 
 ul Dowlah, Subadar of the Provinces of Ben- 
 gal, Bahar, and Orixa ; titular indeed, for to 
 that (late was he reduced, but the only right- 
 ful reprefentative of the Sovereignty, and ftill 
 acknowledged to be the Nazim, or Chief 
 Criminal Magiftrate of the country. Whe- 
 ther the Judges gave any anfwer to that fpe- 
 cific application from the Nabob, through the 
 Governor General and Council, I cannot dif- 
 cover. I rather fufpecl: that, as Sir Elijah 
 Irnpey knew the reference had pafled unani- 
 9ncx/ly at the Board, he thought it beft to 
 take no notice of what he could not conve- 
 niently condemn without a cenfure of his 
 friends. But obferve how he acted, when he 
 found us alone. On the 2oth of June, the 
 
 * Page 583. 
 
 H 2 Governor
 
 Governor General and Council had refolved to 
 addreis t!.e judges in behalf of the Nabob's 
 Vakeel, for whom we claimed, as well on the 
 part of the Prince whom he reprefented, as on 
 the part of our Government, by whom he was 
 received, the rights and privileges of a public 
 Mmifter*. Mr. Haftings and Mr. Harwell 
 diflented, and refufed to fign the letter. I 
 beg leave to read to you an extract from the 
 anfwer, which the Judges fent us the next 
 day by a Mailer in Chancery -j~: 
 
 " That the Court is of opinion, that all 
 " claims of individuals ought to be made di- 
 ** rec~r.ly to the Court by the individuals, and 
 t( not by the authority of the Governor Ge- 
 tl neral and Council. 
 
 " That it is contrary to the principles of 
 <e the Englilh Conflitution, for any perfon or 
 t{ perfons to addrefs a Court of Juftice by 
 tc letter miflive, concerning any matter pend- 
 " ing before fuch Court ; and that the higher 
 " the flation of the perfon or perfons fo ad- 
 <( drefsing, the adt is the more unconftitu- 
 tional." 
 
 * Page 6067. t Page 610. 
 
 Finally,
 
 , ,( 53 ) 
 
 Finally Sir, I beg leave to read to you an 
 extract of what is called * tbt unanimous opinion 
 of the Court, ittemd (on tbe jjl ofjnty) by tie 
 Chief Juliet, in 'confeyunct of a later fgmed J* 
 Oaverw -,Gforge Monfon ; P. Francis. 
 
 " c It is with the deepeft concern we find the 
 " Council ftill perfift to addrefs the Court by 
 " letter, on fubjecb pending in Court, or on 
 " which the Court have given their opinion ; 
 " and that, not with landing the frequent de- 
 " clarations, and unanimous opinion of the 
 " Court, upon the impropriety of that mode 
 " of addrefs." 
 
 After ali this had pafled, it is not much to 
 be wondered at, that General Clavering ibould 
 refolve not to make any more applications in 
 favour of Nundcomar. 
 
 You have feen, that we interceded for him 
 with the Judges. You have feen, in what 
 manner our interceffion was received. It is 
 proper you mould know, what the fubjed 
 and occafion were, which drew down fo many 
 cenfures and menaces upon us. As foon as 
 we received Nundcomar's petition of the 8th 
 of May, the conclufion and prayer of which 
 
 Fage 663. 
 
 -we
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 we immediately refolved to communicate to 
 Sir Elijah Impey ; we examined the Sheriff 
 and Under Sheriff, concerning the circum- 
 ftances of Nundcomar's confinement, and of his 
 fftuation in the goal. From their evidence it 
 appeared, that he was committed on the 6th ; 
 and from that time, I think about forty 
 hours, had refufed to take any fuftenance. 
 The next day, the Chief Juftice's anfwer to 
 our meflage was received in Council. 
 
 He defired the Sheriff and Under Sheriff 
 to inform us " that Rajah Nundcomar was 
 " not committed by him, and that he had no 
 " authority to interfere in the affair, there be- 
 < i n g felony exprefsly charged in the war- 
 " rant." General Clavering then faid*, " I 
 " acquaint the Board that I have received a 
 " letter from Mr. Jofeph Fowke, who is juft 
 " come from vifiting Maha Raja Nundcomar; 
 " acquainting me, that it is the opinion of 
 " the people, who were about him, that they 
 " do not think he can live another day with- 
 " out drink. He fays his tongue is much 
 " parched, but that his fpirit is firm. In the 
 
 * Page 560. 
 
 " converfation
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 * c converfation that he had with the Raja, the 
 " Raja told him, do not trortk jmfelf about 
 * e me. 'fbe wSSL ofkejven mxft be complied sw/. 
 " I am rnocnt" I immediately moved that 
 the goaler might be fent for to inform us whe- 
 ther Rajah Nundcomar had really taken no 
 fuftenance fince his confinement, and in what 
 fituation the Raja then was. When he came, 
 I queftioned him myfelf, and it appeared by 
 his examina^'-on, that the Rajah had then ta- 
 ken no fuftenance for fixty -three hours ; that 
 the jail was crowded ; that it had not been fo 
 full before, and that there were at that thne 
 twenty-three felons in it, befides other prifb- 
 ners. I then moved " that the information 
 " laid before the Board by General Clavering, 
 " and the further account given by the jailer, 
 " fhould be communicated to the Chief Juftiee, 
 " by the Secretary, on the part of the Board ; 
 " and that the Secretary fhould wait upon him 
 " accordingly as foon as the Board broke up." 
 This was agreed to and ordered. 
 
 On the fame day, we received a letter from 
 Sir Elijah Impey to inform us that he had 
 fent for the pundits, and examined them con- 
 cerning the pretended fcruples of Nundcomar. 
 The refult was, that tbcre were ao grotnds for
 
 altering the mode of confinement of the Maha Raja. 
 He aflured us*, " that the Judges would, 
 " as far as by law they might, remit the ri- 
 " gour of the Englifh law, in -all cafes, 
 " where its effects might be prejudicial to the 
 " natives on account of their religion; and 
 * ( perhaps in fome cafes, would yield even to 
 * ( prejudices, if national and deep rooted. 
 *' But they muft not fuffer the pretence of 
 " religion to be fet up for the purpofes of 
 " eluding the ordinary courfe of the law." 
 Accordingly the unfortunate man was aban- 
 doned to his fate; or, if you will, to the un- 
 avoidable confequence of his own obflinacy. 
 Whether his fcruples were well, or ill founded, 
 is more than I am able to explain. We know 
 with certainty that the Gentoo religion is, in 
 a great degree, ceremonial ; and in a very low 
 degree, if at all, dogmatical. It prefcribes 
 many things to be performed, many others to 
 be abftained from, but not much to be believ- 
 ed. It forms the occupation, rather than the 
 creed of a mild, inoffenfive, innocent people. 
 To preferve what they think a religious purity, 
 to fave themfelves from what they deem to be 
 
 : . Page 561. 
 
 indelible
 
 ( 57 ? 
 
 indelible pollution; I do not fay that they 
 will act with vigour, (that perhaps is not in 
 their nature) but I know they will fuffer and 
 endure with a patience more than human. 
 Can you doubt that Nundcomar was in earned 
 in the fcruples he profeft, when I tell you that, 
 
 thrr frh QifjjliV t^ 
 Sir Elijah Impey debated the point with us, 
 whether Nundcomar ought to be relieved or 
 not, and while he was amufing himfelf with 
 writing us long letters on the fubjed, the old 
 man, above feventy years of age, refolutely 
 perfifted in refufing all manner of food for 
 more than eighty hours ? In fo much that the 
 Judges themfelves, alarmed at the idea and 
 poffible coafequences of an illegal mitrder, gave 
 an indirect permiiiion to the jailor, as it were 
 without their knowledge, to pitch a tent for 
 Nundcomar out of the limits of the prifon, in 
 which, at proper hours, he might perform 
 his ablutions and prepare his food. Sir Eli- 
 jah Impey takes care to tell you, what fpe- 
 cial pains he took to inform himfelf, whe- 
 ther there was -ny real foundation for the re- 
 ligious difficulties pretended by Nundcomar*. 
 * Page 561 , 
 
 I Ho
 
 He fent the pundits, whom he calls the keep^ 
 ers of the conferences and the oracles of the Gentoos, 
 to examine the place of his confinement, and 
 they, it feems, told him that *, (f a Bramin 
 " could not properly perform his ablutions, or 
 " eat and di ink in the place where Raja Nund- 
 " -oemar was confined. But, if he did, he 
 f ' would not lofe his caft, but he muft perform 
 " apeniiance." 
 
 Now, Sir, it is proper you fhould know, 
 that thefe pundits, in pomt of circumftances 
 and lituation, were very low and indigent per- 
 fons; that they received fmall falaries for 
 their attendance on the Supreme Court, and 
 were removeable at the pleafure of the Judges. 
 Admitting neverthelefs that, in this ftate of 
 dependance, they might have had courage 
 enough to deliver an opinion adverfe to the ap- 
 parent inclination of the Chief Juftice, on 
 whom they depended, and that the opinion, 
 which they did deliver, was (incere, it ought 
 not to have prevailed with Sir Elijah Impey 
 againft what he faw was the internal conviction 
 of Nundcomar, demonftrated by a determina- 
 tion to die, rather than fave his life by fub- 
 mitting to pollution. He ought to have 
 * Page 562. 
 
 known,
 
 ( J9 ) 
 
 known, that the Hindoos are not only divided 
 into cafts, but that, in the fame caft, there 
 are different orders and degrees, not only dif- 
 tinct in point of rank, but feparated by religi- 
 ous rules and inftitutions, attached and appro- 
 priated to every divifion of every caft, and 
 which can neither be renounced or invaded 
 without a crime, The Bramin of a lower clafs 
 is no judge even of the ceremonies, much lefs 
 of the religious fcruples of a fuperior Bramin. 
 When Nundcomar was informed of the report 
 made by the pundits, the old man {railed, and 
 laid, " thefe men are not of my level. They 
 " are no judges of my confcience." 
 
 Want of food was not the only diftrefs, to 
 which this unfortunate man was obliged to 
 fubmit. He was confined in a miferable jail, 
 crowded with debtors and felons of all nations, 
 ranks and religions ; and though he might 
 have had every accommodation, which fuch a 
 place could afford, ftill I affirm, that it mud 
 have been to him not only a loathfome, but 
 a dangerous, cruel, and tyrannical confine- 
 ment. Mr. Nay lor, the Company's Attor- 
 ney, committed by Sir Elijah Impey for a 
 contempt of the Court, in not anfwering inter- 
 rogatories, died in confequence of being ihut 
 I z up
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 np there a few weeks. Others, to my know- 
 ledge, have furTered by it feverely. 
 
 In fuch a prifon, we knew that Nundcomar 
 was periihing for want of food. That we felt 
 the moft ferious anxiety for his fituation, Sir 
 Elijah Impey may affect to doubt, if he thinks 
 proper. That General ClaVering fent con- 
 ftantly to enquire about his health, is charged 
 and admitted. But, in this offence, he had 
 accomplices, it feems, whom Sir Elijah Im- 
 pey has thought it perfectly proper and be- 
 coming in him to include in the charge. For 
 the fake of calumniating the memory of Sir 
 John Clavering, he brings the ladles of his 
 family into public notice, into the judicial view 
 i of the Houfe of Commons. Sir John Cla- 
 vering's daughters are accufed of fending every 
 day to the prifon with compliments to the 
 Rajah, and inquiries about his health. One 
 would think that, even if there had been any 
 thing improper in what they did, the confi- 
 deration due to their fex and youth, to their 
 beauty and accomplifhments, might have pro- 
 tected them from fo ungenerous an allufion to 
 their names and conduct. But it is in the ex- 
 ercife of their charity, in the dilplay of that 
 benevolent virtue, which gives new luftre to 
 
 youth
 
 routh and beauty ; it is in the performance 
 of the moft amiable of all human duties, that 
 the daughters of General Clavering are intro- 
 duced to be evidence againft their father, and 
 even Lady Clavering againft her hufband. 
 The charge means nothing, if it be not in- 
 tended to convey, that General Clavering had 
 ibme improper connection and correfpondence 
 with the accufer of Mr. Haftings. Without 
 that application, the mention of the ladies of 
 his family would be mere malice, and nothing 
 elfe. But, why not accufe me too of the fame 
 offence ? I was at leaft as guilty of it as they. 
 I fent meffages every day to Nundcomar. If, 
 knowing his fituation fo exactly as I did from 
 the Sheriff, I had neglected him at fuch a 
 time, I muft have loft all fenfe of humanity. 
 For the fame fort of purpofe, we are accufed 
 of having paid a vifit of ceremony to Rajah 
 Nundcomar. I anfwer it by afking, wfyfboield 
 ft-<? not? He was a perfon of the fir ft rank in 
 his own country .He belonged to the high- 
 eft order of the Bramins. I believe he was 
 taeir Chief. He had been Prime Minifter of 
 the Government under Meer Jaffier, and his 
 fon. Was fuch a man not intitled to a vifit 
 from General Clavering, Colonel Monfon and
 
 me ? In point of rank, he was far fuperior to 
 any of us. But, what was the fad. ? On the 
 day'*, after he was examined before the 
 Judges, at Sir Elijah Impey's houfe, on a 
 charge of a pretended confpiracy againft Mr* 
 Haftings, when the charge was difmifled, and 
 \vheR his accufers were not even bound over to 
 profecute, we paid him a Ihort vifit at his 
 houfe. I am fure it did not exceed ten minutes. 
 We faw plainly enough for what reafon he was 
 perfecuted, and we thought it became us to 
 pay him that compliment, as a public mark of 
 countenance and good opinion. We did not 
 promife him protection, for unfortunately we 
 had no power to protect him. 
 
 I have given you now an exact and faithful 
 account of a tranfaction, which, I think, Sir 
 Elijah Impey would never have appealed to, if 
 he had not been blinded by a guilty mind. He 
 flattered himfelf that he had contrived to make 
 it impoffible to detect the falsehood of his flory. 
 I believe you are fatisfied, that he was, from the 
 firft, united in clofe collufion with Mr. Mailings; 
 that we were not miitaken in fufpecting, that 
 our fecret debates in Council were betrayed to 
 
 * aoth April, 1775. 
 
 him;
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 Mm ; that our ordering Nuudcojnar's petition 
 to be burned, was founded on ah apprehenfion 
 materially connected with that fufpicion; 
 that, by that reiblution, we never meant to 
 pronounce upon the fubftance or merits of the 
 petition ; and that the learned gentleman him- 
 felt never once thought of giving the conflruc- 
 tion to what we faid; or of drawing the con- 
 clufion from what we did, which he now ad- 
 vances, for the firft time, almoft thirteen 
 rears after the event. If, on this laft material 
 point, there be yet a doubt in the mind of any 
 man, I can remove it by the beft of all evidence, 
 by that at Icafl, which ufually makes the deep- 
 eft impreffion, by the evidence of die party 
 again ft himfelf. Sir Elijah Impey's letter to 
 the Secretary of State, dated the zoth of Jan- 
 nary 1776, is now before me. It confifts of 
 feventeen folio pages in print. It appears to 
 have been written on purpofe to vindicate his 
 character from the afperfions uniformly thrown 
 upon it, by Clavering, Monfon, and Francis, 
 for his conduct in the bufinefs of Nundcomar, 
 to charge them with having conftoMtfy imputed 
 to the Court the moft atrocious motives for their 
 condud, by ftrong infinuation, malignant iar- 
 cafm, and fevcre cenfure ; and to accufe them 
 of attempting, on fundry occafions, to over- 
 awe,
 
 awe, or reduce the. authority of the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 I beg leave to read to you a few Ihort pak 
 fages out of this ftudied performance*. 
 
 1. " The Governor General has within 
 ff thefe few days communicated to me feveral 
 " Minutes, figned by General Clavering, Co- 
 " lonel Monfon, and Mr, Francis. They 
 " are feverally fraught with direct charges, 
 ** or plain infinuations, againft the characters 
 " of the Judges, and the conduct of the 
 " Court of Judicature. Some feem more par- 
 *' ticularly levelled at me. 
 
 2. " The crimes either directly charged upr 
 " on the Judges, or' indirectly infinuated, 
 " (which, I think, we have more reafon to com- 
 " plain of, as being lefs liberal) are of fo horr 
 te rid and deteftable a nature that, if they are 
 *' well grounded, ought to fubject each of 
 " them to the highefl punilhment a Parlia- 
 " ment Impeachment can inflict, and brand 
 " their names with infamy to the lateft pof- 
 " terity. 
 
 3. " I do fincerely attribute the offenfivc 
 " parts of the paragraphs to imaginations heat- 
 " ed by party difputes ; and entertain fo high 
 
 * Vide Appendix to the firft Report of the Seleft 
 Committee in 1781 j No. 27. 
 
 " a fcnfe
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 ** a ienfe of die honour of die Gentlemen, 
 " that at a, period fonie diftance from die 
 te events, which ihall have given rime for 
 " their judgements to cool, they &iU them- 
 " felves be (hocked at what they have wrote, 
 ** and be willing to retract the charges." 
 
 I agree with this learned gentleman intire- 
 ly m the definition he has given of his crimes, 
 as well as in his opinion of the poniihment they 
 deferve. But I call upon him to explain to 
 yon, if he can, why, in January 1766, he 
 looked forward to a futmre period for nfxtxrt 
 retractation of the charges we had dated, of 
 the falsehoods we had written againft him, if 
 it be true, as he now tells yon, that we had 
 already abandoned thofe charges, if we had 
 already acknowledged the falfebood of our 
 aflertions, and borne a clear tmqueftionable 
 teftimony to the rectitude of his conduct. 
 The diftindion he endeavours to fet up be- 
 tween oar ACnfcr, which he affirms he never 
 (aw, and our public act in burning the paper, 
 will be no relief to him. He (ays he never (aw 
 our Minutes on the fubject. Be it fo, the af- 
 fertion is incredible; but I abandon that 
 quem'on. At die prefent moment, I do not 
 defire you to believe what he denies, but only 
 K to
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 to remember, what he has admitted. He was 
 In pofleffion of the paper, and knew that we 
 had ordered it to be deflroyed. If he had re- 
 ally conceived that, by that refolution, we 
 meant to exprefs or imply an opinion of the 
 falsehood of the contents, he ought. to have 
 concluded from it then, as he pretends to do 
 now, that -we ourfelves had acquitted him, by a 
 public voluntary adtof our own, of all the atro- 
 cious charges we had brought againfl him. In 
 that fenfe, if the adt in queflion was any proof 
 at all, it was full as good a proof of our 
 favourable, opinion of him,, as any thing we 
 Could have faid in our Minutes upon the fub- 
 je(ft. In this long letter he never mentions or 
 alludes to either one or the other. Yet thai 
 was the time, if ever, for him to have availed 
 himfelf of the evidence of the perfons he calls 
 his enemies, againft themfelves, and to invali- 
 date any .declarations they might have made 
 againft him on other occafions : inflead of apt- 
 pealing then to the recorded faft, to what he 
 now calls irrefiilible evidence of our opi- 
 nion in his favour, he exprefsly looks forward 
 to adiftant day, when he expedh that we fhall 
 be ready to condemn ourfelves, when we Ihall 
 
 be
 
 
 ( 6? ) 
 
 be ihocked at what we* have written, and be 
 willing to retract our charges. 
 
 4. " A public notification is profefiedly 
 " made to the Englilh nation, by which it is 
 " attempted to perfuade them, that the Court 
 " of Judicature, eflabliihed by his Majefly for 
 " protecting the natives of this country, and 
 " the Eaft India Company, from the violence 
 " and oppreffion of the Company's fervants, 
 " has been by the Judges converted into an 
 " execrable inftrument in the hands of Mr. 
 " H illings, of deftroying the innocent native, 
 " for the fake of protecting the guilty fervants 
 " of the Company. 
 
 5. " It Ihould be known, that the condud: 
 " of the Council to the Judges, and to the 
 " Prifocer during his confinement, had raifed 
 " aa almoft univerfal belief in the natives, 
 " and even among the Europeans, that the 
 " prifoner would be protected from. Juitice, ia 
 ** defiance of the Court. 
 
 6. " Raja Gourdafs (fon of Nundcomar) has 
 ** caufedit to be intimated to me, that he was 
 " very defirous to pay his refpe&s to me, but 
 " is pofuively enjoined (hemuftmeanyor^/^f;;) 
 " entering my houfe by numbers of the Coun- 
 " cil." 
 
 K 2 I have
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 I have no recollection of this fact, nor do I 
 believe one word of it. It is pojjible, I confefs, 
 that Raja Gourdafs might have been very defi- 
 rous to pay his refpects to Sir Elijah Impey, and 
 for reafons perfectly coercive on the timid 
 mind of a Hindoo. But he had no occafion for 
 our confent. If he had aikedme for my appro- 
 bation of fuch a vifit, I mould certainly have 
 told him what I thought of it. The ftory in 
 effect, which you are called upon to believe, 
 is, that Raja Gourdafs was bond-fide, 'very dejirous 
 to pay his refpects to Sir Elijah Impey, that is, to 
 thank him for the murder of his father. 
 
 I mail read but one Ihort paragraph more 
 out of this letter. To underftand it, you 
 ihould know that, in one of our Minutes, we 
 had faid, we were ignorant of any attempts to 
 over-awe or reduce the authority of the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 i( In anfwer to this, (Sir Elijah Impey fays) 
 " I muft refer to the letters fent me by the 
 " Council in May laft, concerning Nundco- 
 " mar ; the letter addrefled to Mr. Juftice 
 " Hyde and Juftice Lemaiftre ; the univerfal 
 " tenor of the Minutes of the Council, whenever 
 " the conduct of the Judges made part of their 
 " confultations. 
 
 In
 
 In this pafiage, the terms he has felecred are 
 inchive without exception. The viuverfd 
 tenor of our Minutes was to attack, to con- 
 demn, and to reprobate the conduct of the Su- 
 preme Court. It was fo. I allow k. But, 
 when you have received that charge from Sir 
 Elijah Impey, when you have feen k delibe- 
 rately dated and infifted on by him, in writ- 
 ing, -in a formal letter to the Secretary of 
 State for his Majefty's information, will you 
 permit him to tell yon now, that it was not 
 true ? will you fuffer him to aver againJu: h is 
 own record ? will you endure to hear him (ay, 
 that we did not uiuverfalh condemn the Judges, 
 whenever their conduct made part of our confidta- 
 toons? for that on the very proceeding, which 
 was efl.entia.Uy in question, which, he lays, 
 we had charged as a crime, teat would brand 
 the names of the Judges uitb infamy to the latejlpof- 
 ffrity, on this very proceeding, we had already 
 laid or done what mud have amounted in our 
 minds to a complete vindication of their* con- 
 duct. Even now, Sir, I am content to let 
 him choofe what fingle aflertion he will abide 
 by. But no man is at libery to afien and deny 
 the truth of the fame proportion. You ice, 
 for what reaion Sir Elijah Impey was fo parti- 
 cular
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 cular in ftating to the Committee, that he had 
 never, till very lately, feen our Minutes of the 
 1 6th of Augufl 1775. 
 
 Had he admitted that he had feen the 
 Minutes in Calcutta, his letter to the Secre- 
 tary of State would, upon his prefent ihewing, 
 have been a direct falfehood as a charge, and 
 palpably defective as a defence. With thofe 
 Minutes before him, and under.ftanding them 
 in the fenfe of approbation or even of ac- 
 quittal, he coiild not have faid that we had 
 vn'werfally condemned the conduct of the 
 Supreme Court. Much lefs, while he was 
 defending himfelf againft the moft atrocious 
 imputations, particularly levelled at him, 
 could he have omitted all mention of a fact fo 
 material to his defence, fo irrefiftible in its na- 
 ture, as that we, who accufed, had com- 
 pleatly acquitted him. 
 
 I do not mean to give the Committee any 
 farther trouble. Either the charge, which 
 this learned Gentleman has brought againft 
 Sir John Clavering, Colonel Monfon and my- 
 felf, is anfwered, or it is not in my power to 
 anfwer it. Had he acted with the fame can- 
 dour to me, which my honourable friend has 
 obferved to him ', had he thought proper to 
 
 deliver
 
 deliver it in writing, I would have anfwered 
 it in writing. Let him deliver it even now 
 upon paper, and I pledge myfelf to anfwer 
 it in the fame manner. Whether he does or 
 no, it is my intention, though I do not ab- 
 folutely bind myfelf to do fo, to write down 
 what I have faid, and to offer it to the. Com- 
 mittee. Some way or other, I mean to put 
 him in pofleffion of my defence. If his caufe 
 be good, let him have all advantages in de- 
 fending it. Let him go free while he accufes ; 
 and let me be bound down by my defence. 
 
 A word more, and I have done. Some fin- 
 gular circumftances have contributed to mark 
 me to the public eye as an object of attention. 
 In our day it has happened, that two perfons, 
 removed from Rations of the higheft truft, 
 have been accufed of crimes the raoft atro- 
 cious that ever yet were the fubject of accufa- 
 tion before any human tribunal ; one of 
 them, on evidence which, in this Houfe at 
 leaft I may prefume to fay, may be taken for 
 conclufive. The other is only accufed. The 
 very firft thing thefe perlbns think it necelTary 
 to do, the very firft ftep they make towards 
 then- defence, is to declare that / am their 
 enemy. Their conduct tells you, that I am 
 
 thr
 
 the firft difficulty, which they muft endeavour 
 to overcome ; that I am the fmgle perfon, 
 whom it is eflential to their fafety to attack, 
 to calumniate, to difqualify, to difcredit, and 
 to remove. I am honoured by their objec- 
 tion. I am proud of the diftinttion. In the 
 bafe, vindictive meaning of enmity, I am not 
 the perfonal enemy of either of them. But I 
 defire it to be underftood, I wifh to have it 
 proclaimed, wherever my name can be known, 
 and to whatever period it ihall exift, that it is 
 the pofleffion which I value moil, that it is 
 the inheritance which, above all others, I am 
 anxious to tranfmit to my fon, that I am in 
 moral principle oppofed to the principles of 
 thefe men ; that I declare and avow immortal 
 enmity to their minds and to their conduct, 
 and that I truft that my character and princi- 
 ples will be known and diftinguiihed by an 
 eternal oppofition and everlafting hoftility to 
 the manners, the character, the conduct, and 
 the hearts of Warren Haftings and Sir Elijah 
 Impey. 
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 < 73 ) 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 No. L 
 
 of a Petition from Rajah Nundcomar, 
 confned i Goal, to the Governor General 
 and. Council, dated, Calcutta, %tb May, 
 
 Honourable Sir, and Sirs, 
 
 A.FTER having been honoured with the 
 confidence of the Nabob Jaffier Ally Khan, fo 
 peculiarly the friend of the Englifh; after 
 having difcharged the firft office in the 
 Subah ; after being now ten years retired from 
 all public employments, and having feen my 
 fon appointed to a diftinguifhed poft, with 
 this teftimony, as I have been credibly in- 
 formed, of the Governor's approbation of his 
 father, that he inflated my fon in the poft, 
 with a view to his profiting by my experience 
 and wifdom, I might perhaps flanle the 
 Honourable Board with an addrefs from the 
 
 553- 
 
 t common
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 common goal, had, I not in a degree prepared 
 them for fome fatal change in my fituation, by 
 a reprefentation I made in the month of 
 March, 1775, of the fevere menaces which 
 had been uttered againft me by the Governor 
 General. Where the firft magiftrate declares 
 his determined intention of hurting an indi- 
 vidual to the utmoft of his power, the enemies 
 of the man fo marked for deftruction will 
 eagerly grafp at an opportunity of gratifying 
 their malice ; the diffolute and abandoned 
 will find a fufficient inducement to perfecute 
 him from the hopes of gratifying the refent- 
 ment of the man in power ; and if the un- 
 happy man, fo devoted, have, by an upright 
 conduct, made the wicked his enemies, malice 
 and wickednefs may unite their endeavours to 
 complete his ruin. To advance a ftep fur- 
 ther, Ihould the firft man in the State coun- 
 tenance one * publicly known to be deflitute of 
 all moral principle, and as publicly known to 
 be the enemy of the perfon, againft whom he 
 has denounced his refentment : Ihould he 
 treat a man of fuch principles with a degree 
 of diftindtion far above his rank in life: 
 
 * Mohunperfaud. 
 
 fhould
 
 ( 75 J 
 
 ibould he admit him to prince conferences 
 with him, what is the wretched object of his 
 refentment to ezped: > where ihtll he find an 
 afylum, when the whole body of die wicked 
 and abandoned is let loofe upon him? 
 I mean not now, however, to deprecate the 
 Governor General's refentment. The reafons 
 of the encouragement afforded to my enemies, 
 and the motives of the Governor General's 
 refentment agaraft me, will be fufficiently 
 explained to the world by the reprefentation I 
 have already made in a former addrefs to the 
 Honourable Board. Should my life be taken 
 away by the flagitious charge now laid againft 
 me, the facrs before alluded to will remain 
 upon record, the witnefles will be ready, and 
 the proofs produceaWe, whenever the Governor 
 General has courage fufficient to hear them, 
 A charge which has been now thefe three 
 years depending in a Civil Court, without the 
 witnefles, upon whole evidence I am com- 
 mitted, having been once produced or men* 
 tioned, has been laid againft me by men, who 
 are marked by the public as the moft turbulent 
 and abandoned. My only inrenrion in letting 
 forth the fervices I have done, and the cha- 
 racter I have to an advanced age fupported, 
 
 L* it
 
 < 76 ) 
 
 is to introduce my requeft, that I might not 
 fuffer upon fuch a charge, from the bafe 
 accufation, a puniihment equal to that of 
 death, the violation of the moft facred duties 
 of my religion. The Honourable Prefident, 
 I am well allured, is fully fenfible of the facts 
 I allude to. It may be requifite to explain to 
 the reft of the Honourable Members of the 
 Board, that the inftitutions of our religion 
 ilrictly enjoin a number of ablutions, prayers, 
 and other ceremonies to be performed by the 
 Sect of Brahmins before they can take any 
 kind of food. Nothing of this can be per- 
 formed in the place where I now am ; and 
 could even thefe obftacles be furmounted, 
 the place itfelf, as being inhabited by men of 
 a different religion, would prevent my re- 
 ceiving any fuftenance, without breaking 
 thofe rules, which I have hitherto religioufly 
 obferved. I therefore humbly requeft that 
 I may be permitted to refide, under as ftrict 
 a guard as may be judged requifite, in fome 
 place where thefe objections may be ob- 
 viated. 
 
 (Signed) NUNDCOMAR, 
 No. II.
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Fort Wtifam, o/& My, 1775 *. 
 COUNCIL. 
 
 The Jailer being arrived, is called before 
 the Board, and afked his name : he anfwers, 
 Matthew YandeL" 
 
 Mr. Frads. 
 
 $. Whether Rajah Nondcomar has re- 
 filled to f*fr* any ruftcnance fince his commit- 
 ment ; and whether you believe it to be true 
 that he has received none ? 
 
 JL I dp believe it to be true that he has re- 
 ceived none. I am fomedmes out upon bnfi- 
 pefs, but I don't know of his having received 
 
 3. What fitnatkm is the Rajah now in 
 with refpecl to Jiis health, and his peribnal 
 appearance? 
 
 JL He appears to be very well, only a 
 little daunted with die notation he is now in; 
 low in fpirits. 
 
 . How many boors has the Rajah been 
 in your cuftody > 
 
 JLHe
 
 t 78 ) 
 
 A. He came on Saturday night, a little 
 after ten ; it is now pail one ; fo that he muft 
 have been at this time in confinement fixty- 
 three hours. 
 
 Governor General. ^. Have you any other 
 prifoners of the Bramin caft in the goal ? 
 
 A. I dare fay I have, but I have not en- 
 quired ; we have generally of all cafts in the 
 goal. 
 
 Mr. Francis. . How many perfons have 
 you in the goal, debtors and felons? 
 
 A. Between fixty and feventy perfons. 
 
 ^. Is it crowded. 
 
 A. Yes, fuller than in general ; we have 
 not had it fo full before ; we have about 
 twenty-two or twenty-three felons ; five or 
 x ufed to be a great many. 
 
 No. III.
 
 No. HI. 
 
 ExtraS from tt* frf Report from the Sdcct 
 Committee, 1782 *. 
 
 The cafe of Mr. North Naylor, Attorney 
 to the Company, is of itfelf fuincieat to 
 lender all fuch complaints, in future, art afioir 
 of the extremeft hazard. 
 
 Mr. Naylor, who appears to hare been a 
 perfoo of coofiderable indufiry and abilities, 
 was employed by the Governor General and 
 Council to defend that Board, and fame per- 
 ffli of diftin6tJOtt. among tjH^ natives, againft 
 the late fuits in the Supreme Court. The 
 Supreme Court attached Mr Jfey lor for a con* 
 tempt, on account of ibme fleps he had taken, 
 under the direction, and in favour of his 
 clients; and, on his refufal to anfwer a feries 
 of interrogatories, (in which refuial he was 
 fupported by his Clients) he was drtainrd in 
 the f f t r^ n ff? gQal at Calcutta, a miserable 
 and pefblenrial place, upwards of a month. For 
 thefe inrerrogatories, which your Committee 
 conceive to be in many pans wholly unjufti- 
 fiable, they refer to their report of laft feflkm, 
 ; and to the Comjuran Appendix to that report* 
 
 (No. 23.)
 
 (No". 23.) Mr. Naylor, who was in no good 
 ftate of health, at the time of this rigorous 
 imprifonment, and having had during it$ 
 continuance, fome family misfortunes, died 
 foon after his releafe upon bail; his death 
 being in all probability, haftened, if not 
 caufed by his fuflferings under confinement. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Copy of a Note from Mr. Mackrabie, Sheriff of 
 Calcutta, to Mr. Francis, dated nth May> 
 
 1775- 
 
 Raja Nundcomar has now a tent fixed on 
 the outfide of the prifon gate, for the pur- 
 pofe of warning and eating. He has done 
 both this morning, but is not yet returned 
 into his apartments in the jail, fo that I can- 
 not be admitted to him. Nilmony * has feeri 
 him, and finds him fomewhat better, though 
 very weak. Laft night he was fo much al- 
 
 * Mr. Francis's Sircar, a Bramin, 
 
 tered,
 
 tcred, that I really thought him almoft in ex- 
 tremities fo did Tolfrey. Upon a late repre- 
 fentation to the Judges, fome time after the ap- 
 plication made by me, they gave directions 
 for his having this indulgence. It is, I find, 
 to appear as the fole act of the Jailor, to avoid 
 precedents. The authority was not given to 
 me ; and, upon my return to town, at mid- 
 night, I found the Raja informed, and orders 
 given for all the different preparations. You 
 fee how little ihare I have in it. I thinl; 
 I fhould not be quoted ; I will give you fome 
 icafons, with the particulars at large, at 
 dinner, 
 
 I am ever faithfully, 
 Yours, 
 
 A. M. 
 
 M No.V.
 
 No. V. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from Mubbaric O'Dowlah, 
 SubaJodar of Bengal, to the Governor General 
 and Council, received 27 tb June, 1775*. 
 If feveral tranfactions of former times are to 
 be tried by the Act lately tranfmitted from the 
 King of Great Britain, it will occafion trouble 
 and ruin to the inhabitants of this country. 
 The affair of Maha Rajah Nundcomar, which 
 is now before the Court, is really hard and 
 rigorous ; for, fliould the crime of which he 
 is accufed, be proved againfl him in the faid 
 Court, the- ciiftom of this country does not 
 make it deferving of capital punilhment : nor, 
 as I am informed, was life formerly forfeited 
 for it in your country; that has only been 
 common for a few years pail. The Maha 
 Rajah has tranfacted affairs of the greateft im- 
 portance. When Meer CorTim Ally Khan had 
 taken the refolution to ruin and expel the 
 Englifh, the Maha Rajah, in particular, exerted 
 himfelf to the utmofl, with my father, in fup- 
 plying them with grain and money for the ufe 
 
 * Page 583. 
 
 Of
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 .of their troops. The fervices of the Maha 
 Rajah on this occafion are well known to the 
 King of Hindoftan ; certainly he never could 
 have committed fo contemptible a crime. 
 People employed in important affairs will un- 
 doubtedly have many enemies ; and thofe, who 
 have been active in the affair of Nundcomar, 
 have long been his declared foes. Taking 
 therefore into confideration the welfare of the 
 people, I beg in particular, with refped: to 
 this affair, that the Rajah's execution may be 
 fufpended till the pleafure of his Majefty, the 
 King of England, (hall be known. 
 
 RESOLVED, 
 
 That a Copy of this tranflatiori be tranf- 
 mitted with the following Letter to the Chief 
 Juftice and Judges of the Supreme Court of 
 Judicature* 
 
 To Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Jufiice, Robert 
 Chambers, S. C. Lemahtre, and J. Hyde, 
 Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 We have this inftant received a letter from 
 
 his Excellency, the Nabob Mubbarick 
 
 O'Dowlah, Muttuwanum ul Mulluk, Ferofe 
 
 Jung Bahader, through the hands of Roy 
 
 M 2 Rada
 
 .( 84 ) 
 
 Rada Churn, his public Vakeel, containing 
 an interceflion in behalf of Maha Rajah 
 Nundcomar; we conceive it to be regular in 
 this Board to tranfmit it to you, and of which 
 we fhall inform the Nabob. 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
 ( Signed) WARREN HASTINGS, 
 
 J. CLAVERING, 
 GEO. MONSON, 
 
 Fort William, RICH. HARWELL, 
 une, 1775. P.FRANCIS. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Extraft of Secret Confultatiorts. fort 
 May i6tb 1775*. 
 
 General Clavering. "I requefl the favour of 
 " the Governor General that he, as one of his 
 " Majefty's Juftices of the Peace, will be 
 * pleafed to receive my affidavit, that either 
 " in my corporate capacity as a Member of the 
 
 * Page 565. 
 
 " Board
 
 ct Board, or as an individual, I never conceiv- 
 " ed any intention, nor ever heard of fuch 
 " an intention, fuggefted to me by any body, 
 " that the Maha Rajah Nundcomar was to be 
 " delivered by force from the confinement he 
 " is in. I think it neceflary to make this affi- 
 " davit, becaufe I find in a letter, addrefled 
 " to the Governor General and Council, by 
 " Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Juftice of the 
 " Supreme Court of Judicature, a paragraph, 
 " in which he mentions, that he, the Chief 
 " Juftice, was induced, contrary to his belief, 
 " to make the application to the Board upon 
 " the 9th inftant, that the Governor General 
 " and Council (hould acquaint Maha Rajah 
 " Nundcomar to apply dire&ly to the Judges 
 ' inftead of his applying to them, as there were 
 f( reports, publicly circulated in the town, 
 '* that, if the Judges could not be prevailed 
 " upon to releafe Maha Rajah Nundcomar, 
 ** he would be delivered by force ; and fur* 
 " ther I defire to declare, that I never heard 
 " of fuch a report till I read it in Sir Elijah 
 " Impey's letter." 
 
 Governor General. " I beg leave to fubmit 
 tf it to the confideration of the General, whe- 
 ** ther, on a reviewnl of the words, made ufe 
 
 c of
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 *' of by the Chief Juftice in his letter, there is 
 
 (C a neceffity for his giving a mere rumour fo 
 
 " much confequence, as to take and enter 
 
 " upon the public records a folemn oath for 
 
 " the refutation of it; I am morally certainj 
 
 Sf that neither the Chief Juftice, nor any other 
 
 " reafonable perfon could entertain the mofl 
 
 " diftant fufpicion of an intention in the Gene- 
 
 " ral, or any other Member of this Board, to 
 
 " commit fo flagrant an outrage on the laws of 
 
 " their country, as to attempt to refcue by 
 
 " force a man committed to gaol under a legal 
 
 " authority .-"-I do not underftand the words of 
 
 " the Chief Juflice's letter as expreffing more 
 
 " than a mere popular opinion, which is often 
 
 " known to prevail without foundation, and 
 
 " however improbable, to operate to the pro- 
 
 " duiftion of the worft confequences. I have 
 
 " heard of many reports faid to be circulated by 
 
 " Nundcomar, or his dependants, but I have 
 
 " paid fo little attention to them, that I really 
 
 " cannot recollect any of the purport here al- 
 
 " luded to ; but do not think it neceffary my- 
 
 " felf to follow the General in the affidavit 
 
 " propofed to be taken by him, if he mall 
 
 tf ftill adhere to his firft declaration, for the 
 
 " refutation of a charge, which 1 think can 
 
 " nei-
 
 '* neither light upon myfelf, nor any other 
 " Member of the Council." 
 
 General Cluvcring. " I conceive that a de- 
 " claraiion, fimilar to that which I have 
 " made, isabfolutely necefTary forthejuftifica- 
 '* don of each Member of this Government; 
 " becaufe the report of an attempt to deliver 
 " by force the Maha Rajah is made the ground, 
 " which Sir Elijah Impey acquaints the Board 
 " he had for his application to us to direcl: 
 " Maha Rajah Nundcomar to apply for relief 
 " henceforward to the Judges, and not to the 
 ** Council. By making this propofition^ I 
 " do not conceive myfelf more implicated in 
 '* the charge brought (as it feeais to me) 
 " againft the Government, that any other 
 ce Member of it ; but in times, when people 
 " make a trade of informations, I think MA 
 tf man can be fafe from the danger, attending up- 
 '* on them, efpecially when reports, which are 
 " credited by a Chief Juftice (notwithftanding 
 " his declaration to the contrary) might, in 
 " fuch fufpicious times, be eafily converted 
 " into a criminal accufation. It is for thefe 
 : * reafons, that I defired that my own affidavit 
 " might be taken, and I could wifh that the 
 
 '
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 ** fame folemnity might be obferved by every 
 " Member of the Board." 
 
 Colonel Monfon. " From the letter of Sir 
 " Elijah Impey now before the Board, in 
 " which there are infmuations, which may 
 " poffibly be interpreted to my prejudice and 
 " difadvantage, I requefl that my affidavit 
 " may be taken, that I never had an intention 
 ** either in my public or private character, to 
 " ufe any force to releafe Maha Rajah Nund^ 
 " comar from his confinement by the Juftices 
 *' of the Peace ; nor did I ever hear, that fuch 
 " a rumour prevailed in the town of Calcutta, 
 " until I was informed of it by the Chief Juf- 
 " tice's letter." 
 
 Mr. Francis. " I beg leave to declare upon 
 " oath, that, until I fa w the letter from Sir 
 " Elijah Impey, I never heard of the report 
 " mentioned therein ; and that I do not be- 
 " lieve that an intention, to deliver the Maha 
 " Rajah Nundcomar by force from his con^ 
 " finement, was ever thought of by any Mem- 
 " ber of this Board. 
 
 Fort William , May i6tb, 1775* 
 
 " Whereas it has been afferted by Sir Eli- 
 
 ** jah Impey, in a letter, written by him to 
 
 " the Governor General and Council, on the 
 
 " 1 5th
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 " 1 5th infant, that reports had been publicly 
 " circulated in this town, that, if the Judges 
 " could not be prevailed upon to releafe the 
 " Maha Rajah Nundcomar, he would be de- 
 ** livered by force ; we hereby moil folemnly 
 ** declare, that we never ourfelves conceived 
 " fuch an intention, nor ever heard of fuch a 
 " defign in any Member of the Government, 
 ff or by any body elfe; nor did we ever hear 
 " mention of fuch a reporr, tfll we read it 
 t in Sir Elijah Impey's letter above-menti- 
 " oned." 
 
 (Signed) JOHN CLAVERJNG, 
 GEORGE MONSON. 
 PHILIP FRANCIS. 
 
 Sworn before me, 
 
 (Signed) " WARREN HASTINGS." 
 
 " Tbt Governor Gourd has declined giving 
 " in the affidavit, as deeming it unneceflary, 
 " but declares his entire conviction and affu- 
 " ranee, that no Member of this Board ever 
 " conceived an intention of ufing force for the 
 4 * releafe of Maha Raja Nundcomar from hi* 
 t imprifonment." 
 
 Governor GeweraL " Having already de- 
 
 ( .ared that I thought it unneceflary to take 
 
 N "the
 
 ( 90 ) 
 
 " the affidavit, which has been propofed, I 
 * e ihall content myfelf with the declaration, 
 " contained in the preceding Minute, at the 
 " fame time deeming myfelf under the like 
 (f obligation to adhere to the flric~t line of 
 * e truth, in every declaration made by me 
 <e upon record, as if I was under the tie of an 
 " oath." 
 
 No. VIL 
 
 Tranftation of Nundcomar's Petition, which was 
 laid before the Governor General and Council, 
 by Sir John Clavering, i^th Auguft, 17755 
 and prefented to the Houfe of Commons by 
 Sir Elijah Impey, on the 8tb February, 
 1788, 
 
 70 the Governor General and Council. 
 
 Within thefe three Soubahs of Bengal, 
 
 Bahar, and OrifTa, the manner in which I 
 
 have lived, and the honor and credit which I 
 
 have poffeffed*: formerly the Nazims of all 
 
 * Something wanting here to compleat the fenfe. 
 
 thefo
 
 < 9' ) 
 
 thefe Souhabs afforded attention and aid to 
 my good name; and from the prefence of 
 the King of Hindofian I received munfib of 
 five thonfand, and from the beginning of the 
 Company's adminifrration, in confederation of 
 my good wifhes to the King, the Gentlemen 
 who had the direction of affairs at this place, 
 and at this time the Governor, Mr. Haffings, 
 who is at the head of affairs, did hold, and do 
 hold me in refpect ; never did any lofs to the 
 State, or oppreffion of die Ryots proceed from 
 me : at this time, for the fault of reprefenring 
 a juft feft, which, for the intereft of the King, 
 and the relief of the people, I in a (mall de* 
 cree p 1 ^** known, many l**.ngli(Vi gentlemen 
 have become my enemies; and having no 
 other means to conceal their own actions, 
 deeming my defirucrion of the utmoft expe- 
 diency for themfelves, revived an old affair 
 cfMih-n Pe-r-d. wticft hid fcnntriy b~n 
 repeatedly found to be falfe ; and the Gover- 
 nor knowing Mohun Periaud to be a notorious 
 Ear, turned him out of his houfe, and them- 
 felves becoming his aiders and abettors ; and 
 Lord Impey, and the other Judges have tried 
 me by the Englifh laws, which are contrary to 
 the cufloms of this Country, in which there 
 N * was
 
 ( 9* ) 
 
 was never any fuch adminiftration of jufticsr 
 before, and taking the evidence of my ene- 
 mies in proof of my crime, have condemned 
 itie to death : But by my death the King's 
 juftice will let the actions of no perfon remain 
 concealed. And now, that the hour of death 
 approaches, I (hall not, for the fake of this 
 world, be regardlefs of the next, but repre- 
 fent the truth to the Gentlemen of the Council. 
 The forgery of the bond of which I am ac- 
 cufed, never proceeded from me. Many prin- 
 cipal people of this country, who were ac- 
 quainted with my honefty, frequently re- 
 quefted of the Judges to fufpend my execu- 
 tion till the King's pleafure fliould be known ; 
 but this they refufed, and unjuftly take away 
 my life. For God's fake, Gentlemen of the 
 Council, you who are juft, and whofe words 
 are truth, let not me undergo this injury, 
 but wait for the King's pleafure. If I am un- 
 juftly put to death, I will, with my family, 
 demand juftice in the next life. They put me 
 to death out of enmity and partiality to the 
 Gentlemen who have betrayed their truft ; and 
 in this cafe, the thread of life being. cut, I in 
 my laft moment again requeft, that you, 
 Gentlemen, will write my cafe particularly to 
 
 tha
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 Ac juft King of England.--! fufler, but mf 
 innocence will certainly be made known 
 to him. 
 
 No. VHL 
 
 is the retain of Mr. Mackraby, 
 the Sbcrif. 
 
 Hearing that fome perfoos had fuppofed 
 Maha Raja Nundoxnar would matr an addrefs 
 to the p^npl** ox his cTccutiOii, I have committed 
 to writing the following Minutes of what pafled 
 both on that occafioo, and aHb upon my 
 paying him a vifit in prifon the preceding 
 evening, while both are frefh in my remem- 
 brance. 
 
 Friday evening, the 4th of Auguft, upon 
 my entering his apartment in the goal, he 
 aroie and fitliMTp*! me in his ufual ""ffTfr^ 
 After we were both feared, he fpoke with great 
 
 Cafe and filch imrnmmni myonrrrn^ that X 
 
 really doubted whether he was fenfible of his 
 approaching fate ; I therefore bid the 
 prefer inform him, that I was come to 
 
 him
 
 him this laft mark of refpect, and to afiure hifH 
 that every attention mould be given the next 
 morning which could afford him comfort on 
 fo melancholy an occafion ; that I Was deeply 
 concerned that the duties of my office made 
 toe of neceflity a party in it, but that I would 
 attend to the laft, to fee that every defire hd 
 had mould be gratified ; that his own pallan- 
 keen and his own fervants Ihould attend him, 
 and that fuch of his friends, who I underftood 
 were to be prefent, fliould be protected. He 
 replied, that he was obliged to me for 
 this vifit, that he thanked me for all my 
 favours, and intreated me to continue it to his 
 family ; that fate was not to be refitted, and 
 put his finger to his forehead, " God's will 
 fe muft be done." He defired I would pre- 
 fent his refpects and compliments to the 
 * General, Colonel Monfon, and Mr. Fran- 
 cis, and pray for their protection of -f- Rajah 
 Gourdafs ; that they would pleafe to look 
 upon him now as the head of the Bramins. 
 His compofure was wonderful ; not a figh 
 dcaped him, nor the fmalleft alteration of 
 
 * The General, Sir John Clavering. 
 f Rajah Gourdafs, his fon. 
 
 voice
 
 ( 91 ) 
 
 voice or countenance, though I undcrftood 
 he had not many hours before taken a foiemn 
 and affedonate leave of his fon-in-law Roy 
 Radichurn. I found myfdf fo much fecond 
 to him in firmnefs, that 1 could flay no longer. 
 Going down flairs, the jailor informed me, 
 that fince the departure of his friends, he had 
 been writing notes and looking at accounts ia 
 his ufual way. I began now to apprehend 
 that he had taken his refolution, and fully 
 expected that he would be found dead in the 
 morning ; but on Saturday the 5th, at feven, 
 I was informed that every thing was in readi- 
 nefs at the goal for the execution. I came 
 there about half an hour paft feven ; the 
 bowlings and lamentations of the poor 
 wretched people who were taking their laft 
 leave of him is not to be defcribed. I have 
 hardly recovered the firfl: fliock while I write 
 this, above three hours afterwards. As fooa 
 as he heard I was arrived, he came down into 
 the yard, and joined me in the jailor's apart- 
 ment. There was no lingering about him, 
 go affected delay; he came chearfully into 
 the room, made the ufual falam, but would 
 pot fit till I took a chair near him. Seeing 
 fcmebody, J forget who, look at a watch, 
 
 he
 
 < 96 ) 
 
 got up, and faid he was ready, and imme- 
 diately turning to three Brainins, who were to 
 attend and take care of his body, he embraced 
 them all clofely, but without the leaft mark 
 of melancholy or depreffion on his part, while 
 they were in agonies of grief and defpair. I 
 then looked at my own watch, told him the 
 hour I had mentioned was not arrived, that it 
 wanted above a quarter of eight, but that I 
 Ihould wait his own time, and that I would 
 not rife from my feat without a motion from 
 him. Upon its being recommended to him, 
 that, at the place of execution, he would give 
 fome fignal when he had done with this world, 
 he faid he would fpeak. We fat about a 
 quarter of an hour longer, during which ho 
 addrefTed himfelf more than once to me; 
 mentioned Rajah Gourdafs, the General, Colo- 
 nel Monfon, and Mr. Francis, but without 
 any feeming anxiety ; the reft of the time, I 
 believe he pafled in prayer ; his lips and tongue 
 moving, and his beads hanging upon his hand. 
 He then looked to me and arofe, fpoke to fome 
 of the fervants of the goal, telling them that 
 any thing he might have omitted Rajah Gour- 
 dafs would take care of, then walked c hear- 
 fully to the gate, and feated himfelf in his 
 
 pallan-
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 pallankeen, looking round him with perfed 
 unconcern. As the Deputy Sheriff and I 
 followed, we could make no obfervation upon 
 his deportment till we all arrived at the place 
 of execution. The croud there was very 
 great, but not the leaft appearance of a riot. 
 The Rajah fat in his pallankeen upon the 
 bearers' Ihoulders, and looked around at firft 
 with fome attention. I did not oblerve the 
 fmalleft difcompofure in his countenance or 
 manner, at fight of the gallows or any of the 
 ceremonies pamng about it. He aiked for the 
 Bramins, who were not come up, and (hewed 
 fome earaeftnefs, as if he apprehended the 
 execution might take place before their arrival. 
 I took that opportunity of affuring him, I 
 would wait his own time, " it was early in the 
 " day, and there was no hurry ." The Bra- 
 dins loon after appearing, I offered to remove 
 the officers, thinking that he might have 
 fomething to fay in private, but he made a 
 motion not to do it, and faid he had only a 
 few words to remind them, of what he had 
 faid concerning Rajah Gourdafs, and the care 
 of his * Zenana. He fpoke to me, and de- 
 
 * Zenana. Properly the apartments of the women; 
 meaning here, in the feafe of a Bramln who docs not ad- 
 Kit of pol/gaajr, hi* wife and children. 
 
 O fired
 
 ( 98 ) 
 
 fired that the men might be taken care of, 
 as they were to take charge of his body, which 
 he deiired repeatedly might not be touched 
 by any of the bye-ilanders ; but he feemed not 
 the leaft alarmed or difcompoied at the croud 
 around him. There was fome delay in the 
 neceffary preparations, and from the awkward- 
 nefs of the people ; but he was no way defirous 
 of protrading the bufinefs, but repeatedly told 
 me he was ready; Upon my afking him if 
 he had any more friends he wiflied ta fee, he 
 anfwered he had many, but this was not a 
 place, nor an occafiori to look for them. 
 *' Did he apprehend there might be any prc* 
 " fent, who could not get up for the crowd r" 
 He mentioned one, vvhofe name was called ; 
 but he immediately faid, it was of no confe- 
 quenee, * probably he had not come." He 
 then defired me to remember him to General 
 Clavering, Colonel Monfon, and Mr. Francis, 
 and looked with the greateft compofure. 
 When he was not engaged in converfation, he 
 lay back in his pallankeen, moving his lips 
 and tongue as before. I then cauied him to 
 be aiked about the fignal he was to make, 
 which could not be done by fpeaking, on ac- 
 count of the noife of the croud. He faid he 
 would make a motion with hii hand j and, 
 
 when
 
 ( 99 ? 
 
 when it was reprefentcd to him that it would 
 be necefiary for his hands to be tied, in order 
 to prevent arty involuntary motion, and I re- 
 commended his making a motion with his 
 feet, he faid he would. Nothing now re- 
 mained, except the laft painful ceremony. 
 I ordered his pallankeen to be brought clofe 
 under the gallows, but he chofe to walk, 
 which he did more erect than I have generally 
 feen him. At the foot of the fteps, which lead 
 to the ftage, he put his hands behind him to 
 be tied with a handkerchief; looking round 
 at the fame time, with the utmoft unconcern. 
 Some difficulties arifing about the cloth, which 
 Ihould be tied over his face, he told the people 
 that it muft not be done by one of us. I pre- 
 fented to him a fubaltern feapoy officer, who 
 is a Bramin, and came forward with his hand- 
 kerchief in his hand, but the Rajah pointed to 
 a fervaut of his own, who was laying proflrate 
 at his feet, and beckoned him to do it. He 
 had fome weaknefs in his feet, which, added 
 to the confinement of his hands, made him, 
 mount the fteps with difficulty, but he mewed 
 not the leaft reluctance, fcrambling rather for- 
 ward to get up. He then flood erect on the 
 ftage, whilft I examined his countenance as 
 O 2 fted-
 
 ( 100 ) 
 
 ftedfaftly as I could, till the cloth covered it, 
 to fee if I could obferve the fmalleil fymp- 
 tom of fear or alarm, but there was not a 
 trace of it. My own fpirits funk, and I 
 ftepped into my pallankeen ; but before I was 
 well feated, he had given the fignal, and the 
 flage was removed. I could obferve, when I 
 was a little recovered, that his arms lay back 
 in the fame pofition in which I faw them 
 firft tied, nor could I perceive any contortion 
 on that fide of his mouth and face which were 
 vifible. In a word, his fteadinefs, compo- 
 fure, and refolution throughout the whole of 
 this melancholy tranfaction, were equal to any 
 examples of fortitude I have ever read or 
 heard of. The body was taken down, after 
 hanging the ufual time, and delivered to the 
 Bramins for burning. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
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 Answer. . .to the 
 
 oyfte.-- by 
 
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