登陆注册
4705400000293

第293章

Then at length the wretched men who were detained at Lucknow regained their liberty. When their irons were knocked off, and the doors of their prison opened, their quivering lips, the tears which ran down their cheeks, and the thanksgivings which they poured forth to the common Father of Mussulmans and Christians, melted even the stout hearts of the English warriors who stood by.

But we must not forget to do justice to Sir Elijah Impey's conduct on this occasion. It was not indeed easy for him to intrude himself into a business so entirely alien from all his official duties. But there was something inexpressibly alluring, we must suppose, in the peculiar rankness of the infamy which was then to be got at Lucknow. He hurried thither as fast as relays of palanquin-bearers could carry him. A crowd of people came before him with affidavits against the Begums, ready drawn in their hands. Those affidavits he did not read. Some of them, indeed, he could not read; for they were in the dialects of Northern India, and no interpreter was employed. He administered the oath to the deponents with all possible expedition, and asked not a single question, not even whether they had perused the statements to which they swore. This work performed, he got again into his palanquin, and posted back to Calcutta, to be in time for the opening of term. The cause was one which, by his own confession, lay altogether out of his jurisdiction.

Under the charter of justice, he had no more right to inquire into crimes committed by Asiatics in Oude than the Lord President of the Court of Session of Scotland to hold an assize at Exeter. He had no right to try the Begums, nor did he pretend to try them. With what object, then, did he undertake so long a journey? Evidently in order that he might give, in an irregular manner, that sanction which in a regular manner he could not give, to the crimes of those who had recently hired him; and in order that a confused mass of testimony which he did not sift, which he did not even read, might acquire an authority not properly belonging to it, from the signature of the highest judicial functionary in India.

The time was approaching, however, when he was to be stripped of that robe which has never, since the Revolution, been disgraced so foully as by him. The state of India had for some time occupied much of the attention of the British Parliament. Towards the close of the American war, two committees of the Commons sat on Eastern affairs. In one Edmund Burke took the lead. The other was under the presidency of the able and versatile Henry Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland. Great as are the changes which, during the last sixty years, have taken place in our Asiatic dominions, the reports which those committees laid on the table of the House will still be found most interesting and instructive.

There was as yet no connection between the Company and either of the great parties in the State. The ministers had no motive to defend Indian abuses. On the contrary, it was for their interest to show, if possible, that the government and patronage of our Oriental empire might, with advantage, be transferred to themselves, The votes, therefore, which, in consequence of the reports made by the two committees, were passed by the Commons, breathed the spirit of stern and indignant justice. The severest epithets were applied to several of the measures of Hastings, especially to the Rohilla war; and it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. Dundas, that the Company ought to recall a Governor-General who had brought such calamities on the Indian people, and such dishonour on the British name. An act was passed for limiting the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The bargain which Hastings had made with the Chief Justice was condemned in the strongest terms; and an address was presented to the King, praying that Impey might be summoned home to answer for his misdeeds.

Impey was recalled by a letter from the Secretary of State. But the proprietors of India Stock resolutely refused to dismiss Hastings from their service, and passed a resolution affirming, what was undeniably true, that they were intrusted by law with the right of naming and removing their Governor-General, and that they were not bound to obey the directions of a single branch of the legislature with respect to such nomination or removal.

Thus supported by his employers, Hastings remained at the head of the Government of Bengal till the spring of 1785. His administration, so eventful and stormy, closed in almost perfect quiet. In the Council there was no regular opposition to his measures. Peace was restored to India. The Mahratta war had ceased. Hyder was no more. A treaty had been concluded with his son, Tippoo; and the Carnatic had been evacuated by the armies of Mysore. Since the termination of the American war, England had no European enemy or rival in the Eastern seas.

On a general review of the long administration of Hastings, it is impossible to deny that, against the great crimes by which it is blemished, we have to set off great public services. England had passed through a perilous crisis. She still, indeed, maintained her place in the foremost rank of European powers; and the manner in which she had defended herself against fearful odds had inspired surrounding nations with a high opinion both of her spirit and of her strength. Nevertheless, in every part of the world, except one, she had been a loser. Not only had she been compelled to acknowledge the independence of thirteen colonies peopled by her children, and to conciliate the Irish by giving up the right of legislating for them; but, in the Mediterranean, in the Gulf of Mexico, on the coast of Africa, on the continent of America, she had been compelled to cede the fruits of her victories in former wars. Spain regained Minorca and Florida;

France regained Senegal, Goree, and several West Indian Islands.

同类推荐
  • A Woman of Thirty

    A Woman of Thirty

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Menexenus

    Menexenus

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 庚子销夏记

    庚子销夏记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘八大曼拏罗经

    大乘八大曼拏罗经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 雕虫诗话

    雕虫诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 修亚诸神传

    修亚诸神传

    这里不是凡界,这是一场以天使为起点的诸神史诗!这是诸神的崛起之路,是一群热血强者的传奇人生!
  • 大腕的青春

    大腕的青春

    本书通过大量历史文献、珍贵照片和作者平实的叙述,描绘了1986年到1993年期间一个被称为“西安摇滚普及办公室”的学生组织,从形成到发展,再到消亡的过程。这是迄今为止国内首部青年的青春成长编年史。书中展现了作者与崔健、许巍、张楚、唐朝、黑豹等现今仍活跃在中国流行乐坛的音乐人,与张一白、孟京辉、刁亦男、蔡尚君、张有待、张扬等活跃在中国文艺界的著名导演和从业者的点点滴滴。这是作者真正用心保存的记录。
  • 市民社会的乌托邦:马克思主义的社会历史哲学阐释

    市民社会的乌托邦:马克思主义的社会历史哲学阐释

    "市民社会是一个关涉多学科的问题,其理论思潮之庞杂、历史内涵之丰富使得如何总体性地把握这一分析路径成为一个难题。本书稿以市民社会“概念”的演变——市民社会——资产阶级社会——垄断资产阶级社会(帝国主义)——晚期资本主义社会——作为核心的关节点,试图贯穿起马克思主义分析路径的中心逻辑。市民社会是当代中国社会“现代性”转型的基本社会理论问题,从马克思主义的视域对市民社会展开考察,对当代社会转型具有重要的实践意义,同时也可以为当代资本主义研究提供一个基本的理论基础。"
  • 饮食门

    饮食门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 校草一打请笑纳

    校草一打请笑纳

    平昊街的霸王花苏保保,在情窦初开的年纪里,每个月都会收到神秘礼物,那个署名Q的人,如清风朗月一般走进了她的心。然而,因为祖辈的一个约定,她成为了美集集团的太子爷龙千秋的未婚妻。只是两人,似乎八字不合,从第一次见面起,就成了冤家……贵族学院圣安,苏保保,龙千秋,穆南倾,神秘的Q先生……斩不断的桃花劫,正呵呵傻笑着……
  • 六朝平妖录

    六朝平妖录

    天下仙宗有四,茅山乃四宗之首世人云:入得茅山九峰,求长生则长生至,求天下则天下平。
  • 带着洪荒开发大宇宙

    带着洪荒开发大宇宙

    “不好了!大事不妙了,地球人来了!!!”探子一路连滚带爬冲进帝国议事厅。“什么?地球人!来了几个?”帝王一听,浑身止不住的颤抖,指节掐得皇座发白。“三个!”探子带着哭腔绝望道。“天啊,三个!!!”帝王一听,面若死灰,急忙慌张收拾细软:“传我命令,帝国崩了,大家逃命去吧!”不久,三个旅游的地球人看到全球混乱的逃命,满是无语:“王大人声名远扬,宇宙各族闻风丧胆,现在出球的旅游体验极差。”
  • 玄灵转经晚朝行道仪

    玄灵转经晚朝行道仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 逍遥旅

    逍遥旅

    他拥有千亿修真者羡慕的先天五行之体,他拥有狂怒而能量激增的特殊体质,他还拥有重伤后能量大增的怪异的身体,他难道只是一个普通的较强悍的修行者而已吗,他的真正的身份连他身为神界五大巨头之一师尊都探不清楚。他的真正的身份是什么呢?他的任务将会是什么?这一切都不从而知,只能靠他本人一步步的去探索。没有最豪华的打斗场面,只有更豪华的打斗场面,请您细细品来!
  • 逆仙狂魔

    逆仙狂魔

    浩渺九州习练修仙之术是多少人可遇不可求的机遇,一个孤儿机缘巧合习练仙术,这是让无数人后悔的事情,山贼说,不要提他,他把我们的名声搞臭了;修仙者说,早知道当初就应该给他个差评赶出修仙大门,这个修仙的叛徒;魔教教主说,我其实和他不熟;您怎么在磨刀?哈哈哈哈,我只是想问你知道他什么时候回来吗?无数人想念的他却只想依性而活,活他个红红火火!