登陆注册
4705400000306

第306章

When the Court sat again, Mr. Fox, assisted by Mr. Grey, opened the charge respecting Cheyte Sing, and several days were spent in reading papers and hearing witnesses. The next article was that relating to the Princesses of Oude. The conduct of this part of the case was intrusted to Sheridan. The curiosity of the public to hear him was unbounded. His sparkling and highly finished declamation lasted two days; but the Hall was crowded to suffocation during the whole time. It was said that fifty guineas had been paid for a single ticket. Sheridan, when he concluded, contrived, with a knowledge of stage effect which his father might have envied, to sink back, as if exhausted, into the arms of Burke, who hugged him with the energy of generous admiration.

June was now far advanced. The session could not last much longer; and the progress which had been made in the impeachment was not very satisfactory. There were twenty charges. On two only of these had even the case for the prosecution been heard; and it was now a year since Hastings had been admitted to bail.

The interest taken by the public in the trial was great when the Court began to sit, and rose to the height when Sheridan spoke on the charge relating to the Begums. From that time the excitement went down fast. The spectacle had lost the attraction of novelty.

The great displays of rhetoric were over. What was behind was not of a nature to entice men of letters from their books in the morning, or to tempt ladies who had left the masquerade at two to be out of bed before eight There remained examinations and cross-examinations. There remained statements of accounts. There remained the reading of papers, filled with words unintelligible to English ears, with lacs and crores, zemindars and aumils, sunnuds and perwarmahs, jaghires and nuzzurs. There remained bickerings, not always carried on with the best taste or the best temper, between the managers of the impeachment and the counsel for the defence, particularly between Mr. Burke and Mr. Law.

There remained the endless marches and counter-marches of the Peers between their House and the Hall: for as often as a point of law was to be discussed, their Lordships retired to discuss it apart; and the consequence was, as a Peer wittily said, that the judges walked and the trial stood still.

It is to be added that, in the spring of 1788, when the trial commenced, no important question, either of domestic or foreign policy, occupied the public mind. The proceeding in Westminster Hall, therefore, naturally attracted most of the attention of Parliament and of the country. It was the one great event of that season. But in the following year the King's illness, the debates on the Regency, the expectation of a change of ministry, completely diverted public attention from Indian affairs; and within a fortnight after George the Third had returned thanks in St. Paul's for his recovery, the States General of France met at Versailles. In the midst of the agitation produced by these events, the impeachment was for a time almost forgotten.

The trial in the Hall went on languidly. In the session of 1788, when the proceedings had the interest of novelty, and when the Peers had little other business before them, only thirty-five days were given to the impeachment. In 1789, the Regency Bill occupied the Upper House till the session was far advanced. When the King recovered the circuits were beginning. The judges left town; the Lords waited for the return of the oracles of jurisprudence; and the consequence was that during the whole year only seventeen days were given to the case of Hastings. It was clear that the matter would be protracted to a length unprecedented in the annals of criminal law.

In truth, it is impossible to deny that impeachment, though it is a fine ceremony, and though it may have been useful in the seventeenth century, is not a proceeding from which much good can now be expected. Whatever confidence may be placed in the decision of the Peers on an appeal arising out of ordinary litigation, it is certain that no man has the least confidence in their impartiality, when a great public functionary, charged with a great state crime, is brought to their bar. They are all politicians. There is hardly one among them whose vote on an impeachment may not be confidently predicted before a witness has been examined; and, even if it were possible to rely on their justice, they would still be quite unfit to try such a cause as that of Hastings. They sit only during half the year. They have to transact much legislative and much judicial business. The law-lords, whose advice is required to guide the unlearned majority, are employed daily in administering justice elsewhere. It is impossible, therefore, that during a busy session, the Upper House should give more than a few days to an impeachment. To expect that their Lordships would give up partridge-shooting, in order to bring the greatest delinquent to speedy justice, or to relieve accused innocence by speedy acquittal, would be unreasonable indeed. A well-constituted tribunal, sitting regularly six days in the week, and nine hours in the day, would have brought the trial of Hastings to a close in less than three months. The Lords had not finished their work in seven years.

同类推荐
  • 河东记

    河东记

    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。
  • ON REGIMEN IN ACUTE DISEASES

    ON REGIMEN IN ACUTE DISEASES

    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。
  • 佛说断温经

    佛说断温经

    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。
  • 显扬圣教论颂

    显扬圣教论颂

    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。
  • 窥园留草

    窥园留草

    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
  • 红楼之溶帝宠玉

    红楼之溶帝宠玉

    她是一株绝世卓然的仙草,阆苑仙葩,世间又有几人能真正读懂她的美丽?明了她的心?唯有他——那位霸气的帝王。他是一个风流倜傥,睥睨天下的逍遥王爷,身世扑朔迷离。他本无意于天下,更无意于权力,只是她的一笑、一嗔,拨动着他的心,令他改变初衷,冲冠一怒为红颜,历经风霜雪雨,只为对她那亘古不变的绵绵深情。天上人间,前生来世,几经多少风刀雪剑,唯有彼此一颗相爱的心,足矣!青竹为亲讲述一个很好看的水溶与妹妹的故事…另外青竹建了一个群,喜欢妹妹和水溶的亲可以进入哟,敲门砖本文文名。QQ:246609097欢迎各位亲的加入哦。片段一:黛玉一边再无顾虑地说道:“你只管这般,却不顾着自己的身子,你让我眼里心上如何过得去?告诉你,你做了我的溶哥哥,日后就再不能这般任性了,别忘了,你那个‘木舟展翅’的游戏我还没有玩够呢!你必须要速速养好身体,以后要日日陪我玩!若是再有半点闪失,休想让我再理你!”水溶认真地听着,欢畅地听着,陶醉地听着,喜悦地听着,只觉得黛玉字字珠玑,令他百听不厌。黛玉说完,他还只是愣在那里,只愿沉浸在黛玉的话里不愿自拔。良久,方傻傻地说道:“玉妹妹字字真言,水溶定会句句铭心。绝不敢让妹妹有半点失望!”片段二:皮鞭呼啸着狠狠地落在水溶的身上,卓卓燕郡主一边打,一边咬牙切齿地恨道:“我让你忘不了黛玉!我让你忘不了黛玉!只要你肯答应娶我,我立刻就让父王停止进攻!日后自会和你们暄朝和睦相处,你也可以做我东蒙的金牌驸马!”皮鞭所到之处无不在水溶的身上落下一道深而长的血痕,如尖刀在凌迟着身体,这番痛楚岂是常人可以忍受?但是水溶牙关一咬,连眉头都不皱一下,面对着卓卓燕歇斯底里地逼问,只是冷冷地说出那两个字“妄想”。卓卓燕:东蒙可汗王的刁蛮女儿。片段三:“玉儿,你的眼里为什么只有水溶一个?这天下如此爱你的人不止他一个,我也可以这般爱你的,我甚至可以比他还爱你!只要你一句话,就是天上的星星,我也会毫不犹豫地摘下来捧到你的眼前!”付烈觉如英俊的面庞一片灰白,曾烁烁放光的碧眼中尽是哀伤之色。付烈觉如:西番的藩王。片段三:“美人和江山我都要!这一切本来就是都属于我的!就算是不择手段,我也一定要抢回来!水溶,你就等着瞧吧!”公瑾禧祯狭长地丹凤眼中尽是凛冽的狠绝之色。公瑾禧祯:暄朝皇上的长子,曾被封为太子。
  • 繁华那年遇见你

    繁华那年遇见你

    那年遇见你,是我的幸运;如今爱上他,是我一生的意外。你总说爱不是强留,但没有强硬的爱,还是爱吗?我的一生的意外都是因为你……我不担心你的离开,但我害怕会再也见不到你!
  • 亦恕与珂雪

    亦恕与珂雪

    在工程公司上班的理工男,无所事事晃到公司附近的咖啡馆,工作的烦闷,以及来自身为编剧的室友影响,使他兴起了写作小说的念头,此时,恰巧一位喜欢画画的女孩,理工男因此决定了故事的起点:一个学艺术的女孩叫珂雪,一个学科学的男孩叫亦恕。整部小说就在工程师和画画女孩间的情愫展开,而主角笔下的小说人物亦恕与珂雪,也随着主角的生活情节同步进展,挥洒出动人的爱情追寻历程。
  • 在细雨中呼喊(第3版)

    在细雨中呼喊(第3版)

    《在细雨中呼喊》是二十世纪九十年代的经典文本,是余华的第一部长篇力作。小说描述了一位江南少年的成长经历和心灵历程。《在细雨中呼喊》的结构来自于对时间的感受,确切地说是对记忆中的时间的感受,叙述者天马行空地在过去、现在和将来这三个时间维度里自由穿行,将忆记的碎片穿插、结集、拼嵌完整。
  • 弃后之重生情缘

    弃后之重生情缘

    她是芳华绝代的艳后,尊贵的地位与荣耀,带给她的却是无尽的折磨……只是渴求有一份属于自己的真挚感情,难道,这也是奢望……无情遭弃,涅盘重生,等待她的又将是怎样离奇的命运……她,绝世的美貌并没有为之带来幸福,陷害,漂泊如影随行他,一国之君,冷漠残酷,狠绝毒辣,人生充满着憎恨与报复他,性格怪异,医术超群,俊美无铸却从不以真面目示人他,妖冶绝情,霸道自负,放荡不羁,他们在冥冥之中相互纠葛,谁才是她注定的宿命……
  • 暗恋之我的不说话王子

    暗恋之我的不说话王子

    暗恋每个年青人对这个词都不陌生吧!每天都在发生着故事,每个故事的起源都不同,暗恋着他,是不是告了白?那就一起来看庾莎灵和她的朋友是怎样碰到自己心中的他,怎么爱上他……怎样告白,告白中遇到了多少麻烦……之后是否能成功……
  • “举人街”奇事

    “举人街”奇事

    辽西九河下梢的广宁卫,傍倚关东名山医巫闾山,是个人杰地灵的宝地。自唐代初年建城立邑以来,历经千年,不知出了多少举人进士,名人奇才。在广宁卫,最著名的要数林默涵居住的那条“举人街”了。为什么要把一条寻常的街巷叫“举人街”呢?原来,自打科举时代起,这条街上出过两百多位举人。
  • 庶妃有喜

    庶妃有喜

    夏子新文:金牌嫡女,逃嫁太子妃http://m.wkkk.net/a/892265/*一朝穿越,成了任人宰割的灰姑娘。亲爹不疼大娘不爱,嫡姐欺压庶妹挑衅……是可忍,孰不可忍!老娘可是来自二十一世纪,难道还斗不过你们这些古董?只是未想到最后,招惹一个个美男相随……温润的长兄,冷情的王爷,腹黑的太子……究竟哪一个,才是她的此生良人?
  • 星际脱单指南

    星际脱单指南

    一觉醒来,跨越了整颗星球的时间,全宇宙的血族都要从两位数排起,人人都得叫她一声老祖宗。翻身农奴把歌唱,看谁还敢说她是弱鸡!来呀,互相伤害啊,打不赢我叫你父亲。于是……她多了一个父亲。姚思:“……”暮玄:“……”
  • 换个名字继续爱你

    换个名字继续爱你

    传说,权倾一世的星际集团总裁唐亦廷,不近女色,二十八岁,还是个(此处省略);传说,令人闻风丧胆的黑帝斯唐亦廷,只对一样东西过敏,居然是(自己想像)……传说这东西靠不靠谱,李沅衣并不知道,她只知道,惹上这样一个霸道的男人,除了爱上他,别无选择——*****节目中,她炮轰他为冷血杀手,他意味深长说了一句:“这么漂亮的女人,本少怎么舍得动她?”不舍得动?开玩笑,半夜爬窗找她算账的是谁?