le officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of
England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren Hastings,
Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from
us by deceit and force, and ruined the country, therefore we, upon
the strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and
necessary for us to abide by, following the rules laid down in
giving evidence, declare the particulars of the acts and deeds of
Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution,
civility and justice, superior to the conduct of the most learned,
and by representing what is fact wipe away the doubts that have
possessed the minds of the ministers of England; that Mr. Hastings
is possessed of fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to
us; that he is clear from the contamination of mistrust and wrong,
and his mind is free of covetousness and avarice. During the time
of his administration, no one saw other conduct than that of
protection to the husbandmen, and justice; no inhabitant ever
experienced affliction, no one ever felt oppression from him. Our
reputations have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence,
and our families have always been protected by his justice."

Good God! my Lords, "_our families protected by his justice_"! What!
after Gunga Govind Sing, in concert with Mr. Hastings, had first robbed
him of 40,000_l._, and then had attempted to snatch, as it were, out of
the mouths of babes and sucklings the inheritance of their fathers, and
to deprive this infant of a great part of his family estate? Here is a
child, eleven years old, who never could have seen Mr. Hastings, who
could know nothing of him but from the heavy hand of oppression,
affliction, wrong, and robbery, brought to bear testimony to the virtues
of Mr. Hastings before a British Parliament! Such is the confidence they
repose in their hope of having bribed the English nation by the millions
and millions of money, the countless lacs of rupees, poured into it from
India, that they had dared to bring this poor robbed infant to bear
testimony to the character of Mr. Hastings! These are the things which
are to be opposed to the mass of evidence which the House of Commons
bring against this man,--evidence which they bring from his own acts,
his own writing, and his own records,--a cloud of testimony furnished by
himself in support o