you; they are neither
present themselves, nor represented by any counsel, advocate, or
attorney: and I hope no House of Lords will ever judge and decide upon
the title of any human being, much less upon the title of the first
women in Asia, sequestered, shut up from you, at nine thousand miles'
distance.

I believe, my Lords, that the Emperor of Hindostan little thought, while
Delhi stood, that an English subject of Mr. Hastings's description
should domineer over the Vizier of his empire, and give the law to the
first persons in his dominions. He as little dreamed of it as any of
your Lordships now dream that you shall have your property seized by a
delegate from Lucknow, and have it tried by what tenure a peer or
peeress of Great Britain hold, the one his estate, and the other her
jointure, dower, or her share of goods, her paraphernalia, in any court
of Adawlut in Hindostan. If any such thing should happen, (for we know
not what may happen; we live in an age of strange revolutions, and I
doubt whether any more strange than this,) the Commons of Great Britain
would shed their best blood sooner than suffer that a tribunal at
Lucknow should decide upon any of your titles, for the purpose of
justifying a robber that has taken your property. We should do the best
we could, if such a strange circumstance occurred.

The House of Commons, who are virtually the representatives of Lucknow,
and who lately took 500,000_l._ of their money, will not suffer the
natives first to be robbed of their property, and then the titles, which
by the laws of their own country they have to the goods they possess, to
be tried by any tribunal in Great Britain. Why was it not tried in India
before Mr. Hastings? One would suppose that an English governor, if
called to decide upon such a claim of the Nabob's, would doubtless be
attended by judges, muftis, lawyers, and all the apparatus of legal
justice. No such thing. This man marches into the country, not with
moulavies, not with muftis, not with the solemn apparatus of Oriental
justice,--no: he goes with colonels, and captains, and majors,--these
are his lawyers: and when he gets there, he demands from the parties,
not their title,--no: "Give me your money!" is his cry. It is a shame
(and I will venture to say, that these gentlemen, upon recollection,
will feel ashamed) to see the bar justify what the sword is ashamed of.
In reading this correspondence, I have found these great muftis and
lawye