Aebeez at 05:43, 8 April 2026

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{{short description|1787–1795 charging of the Governor-General of Bengal}}
[[File:Warren Hastings by Johan Joseph Zoffany.jpg|thumb|Warren Hastings in 1783–1784]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
The '''impeachment of Warren Hastings''', the first [[Governor-General of India|governor-general of the Bengal Presidency]] in India, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the [[Parliament of Great Britain]]. [[Warren Hastings|Hastings]] was accused of misconduct during his time in [[Calcutta]], particularly relating to mismanagement and personal corruption. The [[Impeachment in the United Kingdom|impeachment]] prosecution was led by [[Edmund Burke]] and became a wider debate about the role of the [[East India Company]] and the [[Company rule in India|expanding empire]] in India. According to historian Mithi Mukherjee, the impeachment trial became the site of a debate between two radically opposed visions of empire—one represented by Hastings, based on ideas of absolute power and conquest in pursuit of the exclusive national interests of the colonizer, versus one represented by Burke, of sovereignty based on a recognition of the rights of the colonized.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Mithi |last=Mukherjee |title=Justice, War, and the Imperium: India and Britain in Edmund Burke's Prosecutorial Speeches in the Impeachment Trial of Warren Hastings |journal=Law and History Review |volume=23 |issue=3 |year=2005 |pages=589–630 |doi=10.1017/S0738248000000584 |s2cid=145641990 |url=http://125.22.40.134:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1922/1/Justice_War_and_the_Imperium_India_and_B.pdf |access-date=16 May 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128161607/http://125.22.40.134:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1922/1/Justice_War_and_the_Imperium_India_and_B.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The trial did not sit continuously and the case dragged on for seven years. When the eventual verdict was given, Hastings was overwhelmingly [[acquitted]]. It has been described as "probably the [[British Isles]]' most famous, certainly the longest, political trial".<ref name="Turnbull-p207">{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=207}}</ref>

==Background==
===Appointment===
Born in 1732, Warren Hastings spent much of his adult life in [[Company rule in India|India]] after first travelling out as a [[clerk]] of the [[East India Company]] in 1750. Hastings developed a reputation as an "Indian" who sought to use traditional Indian methods of governance to run British India rather than the policy of importing European-style law, government and culture favoured by many of his colleagues and representatives of other colonial powers in India. After working his way through the ranks of the Company he was appointed in 1773 as [[Governor-General of Bengal|governor general]], a new position that [[Regulating Act of 1773|had been created]] by the [[North Ministry|North government]] in order to improve the running of British India. The old structure of rule had come under strain as the company's holdings had expanded in recent decades from isolated [[trading post]]s to large swathes of territory and population.<ref>{{harv|Peter Whiteley|1996|pp=103–114}}</ref>

The powers of the governor general were balanced out by the establishment of a [[Council of Four (India)|Calcutta Council]] which had the authority to [[veto]] his decisions. Hastings spent much of his time in office marshalling his own supporters on the Council in an effort to avoid being outvoted.

===Disputes and war===
{{Main|Second Mysore War}}
[[File:James Lonsdale (1777-1839) - Sir Philip Francis - NPG 334 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Hastings' initial accuser Sir [[Philip Francis (politician)|Philip Francis]]]]

Hastings soon ran into opposition on the council. His principal enemy was the Irish-born politician [[Philip Francis (politician)|Philip Francis]]. Francis developed a strong dislike of Hastings and was convinced that the Governor General's policies were self-serving and destructive. This was a belief shared with some other members of the Council whom he was able to influence. Francis and Hastings' personal rivalry continued for many years and led to a duel between them in 1780 in which Francis was wounded, but not killed.<ref>{{harv|Robert Harvey|1998|p=380}}</ref> Francis returned to Britain in 1781 and began raising questions about Hastings' conduct. He found support from many leading opposition Whigs.

In 1780 [[Hyder Ali]], the ruler of [[Mysore]], went to war with the company after British forces captured the French-controlled port of [[Mahé, India|Mahé]]. Taking advantage of Britain's involvement in the [[American War of Independence]] and the support of French forces Hyder went on the offensive and enjoyed success during the opening stages of the war, inflicting a serious defeat at the [[Battle of Pollilur]] and at one point threatening [[Madras]] itself with capture. The Commander in Chief [[Eyre Coote (East India Company officer)|Eyre Coote]] went south with reinforcements and defeated Hyder's army in a series of battles which helped to steady the position in the Carnatic. Hyder was unable to secure victory and the war ended in a [[stalemate]]. It was halted by the [[Treaty of Mangalore]] in 1784 which largely restored the [[status quo ante bellum]]. Even so, the British position in India had been severely threatened.

The war shook public confidence and raised questions about the supposed mismanagement by the company's agents in India. It proved to be a catalyst for the growing campaign in London against Hastings which gathered strength during the ensuing years.

===First attacks===
The company had already gone through scandals in the 1760s and 1770s and the wealthy [[nabob]]s who returned to Britain from India were widely unpopular. Against this backdrop the criticisms circulated by Francis and others provoked a general consensus that the [[India Act 1773]] ([[13 Geo. 3]]. c. 63) had not been sufficient to rein in the alleged excesses. The Indian question again became a contentious political issue.

The [[Fox–North Coalition]] fell from power after it attempted to bring in a radical East India Bill in 1783.<ref>{{harv|Peter Whiteley|1996|pp=217–218}}</ref> The following year the new government of [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]] passed the [[India Act 1784]] which established a [[President of the Board of Control|Board of Control]] and which finally stabilised the governance of India.

Hastings was personally attacked by [[Charles James Fox]] during the presentation of his India Bill.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=193}}</ref> When Pitt introduced his bill he failed to mention Hastings at all, seen as expressing a lack of confidence, and made wide-ranging criticisms of the company.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=194–195}}</ref> He suggested that recent wars in India had been ruinous and unnecessary. Hastings was particularly upset by this, as he was an admirer of Pitt.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=196–198}}</ref> By now, Hastings wished to resign and return home unless the role of Governor General was given greater freedom to exercise power—which was unlikely to be granted him. He handed over to an Acting Governor General, [[Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet|John MacPherson]] until a permanent replacement was appointed.

===Return to Britain===
[[Image:Burke.jpg|180px|thumb|left|The MP [[Edmund Burke]] led the prosecution of Hastings.]]
Hastings sailed for home on 6 February and reached Britain in June 1785.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=198–199}}</ref> During the voyage he wrote a defence of his conduct ''The State of Bengal'' and presented it to [[Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville|Henry Dundas]].<ref>{{harv|Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall|1889|p=180}}</ref> Hastings anticipated he would face attacks in Parliament and the press but expected them to be short-lived and to fall away once he was there in person to defend himself.<ref name="Turnbull-p201">{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=201}}</ref> Initially this proved to be the case as he enjoyed an audience with King [[George III of Great Britain|George III]] and a unanimous vote of thanks by the directors of the East India Company.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=201–202}}</ref> Hastings even hoped to be awarded an [[Irish peerage]].<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=202–203}}</ref> However, in Parliament [[Edmund Burke]] announced he "would at a future date make a motion respecting the conduct of a gentleman just returned from India".<ref name="Turnbull-p201" />

In early 1786 Burke began his first move by raising questions over Hastings' role in the [[First Anglo-Maratha War|Maratha War]]. The attacks on Hastings were largely made by opposition Whigs hoping to embarrass the government of [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]]. Pitt and other government ministers such as Dundas defended Hastings and suggested that he had saved the British Empire in Asia.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=204}}</ref> Philip Francis made eleven specific charges against Hastings, and others later followed. They covered various subjects such as the [[Rohilla War]], execution of [[Nanda-Kumar]] and Hastings' treatment of the [[Narayan dynasty|Rajas of Benares]] [[Chait Singh]]. Pitt broadly defended Hastings, but declared his punishment of the Rajah had been excessive. In the wake of this an anti-Hastings motion was passed in the Commons 119–79.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=204–205}}</ref>

Encouraged by Pitt's failure to adequately support Hastings, his opponents pressed on with their campaign. The situation quickly deteriorated for Hastings. It soon became clear that he was heading towards an [[Impeachment in the United Kingdom|impeachment]]. Hastings recruited [[Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough]] to act in his defence.<ref name="Turnbull-p210">{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=210}}</ref> On 21 May 1787 Hastings was arrested by the [[Serjeant-at-Arms of the British House of Commons|Serjeant-at-Arms]] and taken to the House of Lords to hear the charges against him.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=205}}</ref>

Hastings was to be prosecuted in the House of Lords by an Impeachment Committee. Impeachment was a relatively rare process of prosecuting those in high public office. Previous figures who had faced such trials included the [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]], a [[royal favourite|favourite]] of [[James I of England|James I]], and the [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Earl of Strafford]], whose impeachment failed (but was followed up by a legislative [[bill of attainder]] that resulted in Strafford's execution).

==Impeachment==

[[File:The trial of Warren Hastings, 1788.jpg|thumb|400px|The trial of Warren Hastings, 1788]]

===Opening===

Hastings' trial began on 13 February 1788. It took place in [[Westminster Hall]], with members of the House of Commons seated to Hastings' right, the Lords to his left, and a large audience of spectators, including royalty, in the boxes and public galleries.<ref>{{harv|Garrard|Newell|2006|p=137}}</ref> The proceedings began with a lengthy address by [[Edmund Burke]], who took four days to cover all the charges against Hastings.<ref name=bartleby>[http://www.bartleby.com/268/6/3.html The World’s Famous Orations. Ireland (1775–1902). "III. At the Trial of Warren Hastings" Edmund Burke (1729–97)]</ref> While Burke took the
proceedings very seriously, [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macaulay]] said that many spectators treated the trial as a [[social event]].<ref name=bartleby/> Hastings himself remarked that "for the first half hour, I looked up to the orator in a reverie of wonder, and during that time I felt myself the most culpable man on earth."<ref name=bartleby/>

Hastings was granted [[bail]] in spite of Burke's suggestion that he might flee the country with the wealth he had allegedly stolen from India.<ref name="Turnbull-p210" /> Further speeches were made over the coming weeks by other leading Whigs such as [[Richard Brinsley Sheridan]] and [[Charles James Fox]]. In total there were nineteen members of the Impeachment Committee.<ref name="Turnbull-p207" />

===Public opinion changes===
[[File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg|thumb|190px|''[[Portrait of Lord Cornwallis]]'' by [[Thomas Gainsborough]]. The testimony of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]], Hastings' successor as [[Governor General of India|Governor General]], was a major boost to his defence.]]
In spite of the early excitement about the trial public interest in it began to wane as it dragged on over months and years. Other major events dominated the news particularly once the [[French Revolution]] began in 1789. Sheridan now complained he was "heartily tired of the Hastings trial" despite being one of its instigators.<ref name="harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138">{{harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138}}</ref> As the trial progressed, public attitudes about Hastings also began to shift. Hastings had initially been overwhelmingly portrayed as guilty in the popular press, but doubts were increasingly raised. Increased support for Hastings may have been a result of declining perceptions of his accusers. In a cartoon [[James Gillray]] portrayed Hastings as the "Saviour of India" being assaulted by bandits resembling Burke and Fox.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=214}}</ref>

A major lift for the defence came with the testimony on 9 April 1794 of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] who had recently returned from India, where he succeeded Hastings as Governor General. Cornwallis rejected the accusations that Hastings' actions had damaged Britain's reputation and observed that Hastings was universally popular with the inhabitants.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=212}}
</ref> When asked if he had "found any just cause to impeach the character of Mr Hastings?" he replied "never".<ref>{{harv|Wickwire|Wickwire1980|p=183}}</ref>

A further blow for the prosecution came with the evidence of William Larkins the former [[Accountant General]] of Bengal. They had rested their hopes on his revealing widespread corruption but he denied that Hastings had amassed any illicit money and made a defence of his conduct. Various other figures came forwards as character witnesses to support Hastings.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=212–214}}</ref> Burke's reply to the defence lasted nine days from late May to mid-June 1794.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/speechesofrighth02burk archive.org: "The speeches of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke on the impeachment of Warren Hastings : to which is added a selection of Burke's epistolary correspondence" (1890 ed. G. Bell, London)]</ref>

===Verdict===
On 23 April 1795 the [[Lord Chancellor]] [[Lord Loughborough]] oversaw the delivery of the [[verdict]]. A third of the Lords who had attended the trial's opening had since died<ref name="harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138"/> and only twenty-nine of the others had sat through enough of the evidence to be permitted to pronounce judgment.<ref name="Turnbull-p215">{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=215}}</ref> Loughborough asked each of the peers sixteen questions relating to individual charges. On most charges he was unanimously found [[Acquittal|not guilty]]. On three questions five or six peers gave [[guilt (law)|guilty]] verdicts, but Hastings was still comfortably cleared by [[majority vote]].<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|pp=214–215}}</ref> This overwhelming verdict had been expected for some time and caused little surprise.

Burke, who had invested a large amount of time and energy into the prosecution, was frustrated by the ultimate failure of the impeachment. He had warned the Lords that it would be "to the perpetual infamy" of the House if they voted to acquit and remained convinced of Hastings' guilt until his death in 1797.<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[Image:Microcosm of London Plate 094 - Westminster Hall edited.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Westminster Hall]] where the trial took place]]
Hastings was financially ruined by the impeachment and was left with debts of £70,000.<ref name="Turnbull-p215" /> Unlike many other Indian officials he had not amassed a large fortune while in India and he had to fund his legal defence, which had cost an estimated £71,000, out of his own funds.<ref name="harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138"/> His defence lawyer was Richard Shaw(e) who built his mansion Casino House in [[Herne Hill]] at least in part from the proceeds, employing [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] and [[Humphry Repton]] as landscape designer (responsible for the water garden the remnants of which survived as Sunray Gardens in 2012).
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dulwichsociety.com/newsletters/62-summer-2009/429-casino-house
|title=Casino House |publisher = The Dulwich Society |access-date=2012-03-11}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Hastings appealed to the British government for financial assistance and was eventually compensated by the East India Company with a loan of £50,000 and a pension of £4,000 a year.

Although this did not solve all his financial worries, Hastings was ultimately able to fulfill his lifelong ambition of purchasing the family's traditional estate of [[Daylesford, Gloucestershire|Daylesford]] in [[Gloucestershire]] which had been lost in a previous generation. Hastings held no further public office, but was regarded as an expert on Indian matters and was asked to give evidence to parliament on the subject during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1812. After he had finished giving his testimony, the members all stood up in an almost unprecedented act for anyone other than the royal family.<ref name="harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138"/>

Hastings' successors as Governor General, beginning with [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]], were granted the much wider powers that Hastings had sought while in Calcutta. [[Pitt's India Act]] served to move much of the supervisory role for India away from the East India Company directors and officials in [[Leadenhall Street]] to a new political [[President of the Board of Control|Board of Control]] based in London.

The overwhelming failure to secure a conviction, and the stream of testimony that came out of India praising him, have led commentators to ask why Hastings, who appeared to many observers to have given dedicated service to the company and to have curbed its worst excesses, ended up being prosecuted in the first place.<ref name="harv|Garrard|Newell2006|p=138"/> A number of factors may have played a part, including [[partisan (political)|partisan]] politics, although Pitt joined the opposition in supporting the Impeachment.

There has been particular focus on the role played by Pitt—particularly his sudden withdrawal of outright support for Hastings in 1786 which galvanised the opposition into pursuing the case. It is possible that Pitt believed "he ran the very genuine risk of being accused by the opposition of shielding a notorious criminal from justice, for political reasons".<ref>{{harv|Patrick Turnbull|1975|p=206}}</ref> Henry Dundas was himself later [[Impeachment of Henry Dundas|impeached]] in 1806 and acquitted in what is currently the last impeachment trial in Britain.

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|first1=John |last1=Garrard|first2=James L. |last2=Newell|title=Scandals in Past and Contemporary Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nDksFA0DYVAC|year=2006|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-6551-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Robert Harvey|title=Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQV2QgAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-26569-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall|title=Warren Hastings|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.91491|year=1889|publisher=Macmillan and Company}}
* Mukherjee, Mithi. "Justice, War, and the Imperium: India and Britain in Edmund Burke's Prosecutorial Speeches in the Impeachment Trial of Warren Hastings." ''Law and History Review'' 23.3 (2005): 589-630 [http://125.22.40.134:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1922/1/Justice_War_and_the_Imperium_India_and_B.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128161607/http://125.22.40.134:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1922/1/Justice_War_and_the_Imperium_India_and_B.pdf |date=28 January 2021 }}. Also see Mukherjee, ''[https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198062509.001.0001/acprof-9780198062509 India in the Shadows of Empire: A Legal and Political History]'' (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010).
* Brian Smith. "Edmund Burke, the Warren Hastings trial, and the moral dimension of corruption." ''Polity'' 40.1 (2008): 70-94 [https://www.brianandrewsmith.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2008-Polity-Burke-Hastings-and-Corruption.pdf online].
* {{cite book|author=Patrick Turnbull|title=Warren Hastings|url=https://archive.org/details/warrenhastings0000turn|url-access=registration|date=September 1975|publisher=New English Library|isbn=978-0-450-02588-4 }}
* {{cite book|author=Peter Whiteley|title=Lord North: The Prime Minister Who Lost America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCZLeb-4lfYC|year=1996|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-1-85285-145-3}}
* {{cite book|first1=Franklin B. |last1=Wickwire|first2=Mary |last2=Wickwire|title=Cornwallis, the imperial years|url=https://archive.org/details/cornwallisimperi0000wick|url-access=registration|date=April 1980|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-1387-4}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|author1=Warren Hastings|author2=Edmund Burke|title=Articles of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Against Warren Hastings, Esq., Late Governor General of Bengal: Presented to the House of Commons, in the Months of April and May 1786|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-0yAAAAIAAJ|year=1786|publisher=J. Debrett|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author=Warren Hastings|title=The History of the Trial of Warren Hastings, Esq. Late Governor-General of Bengal, Before the High Court of Parliament in Westminster-Hall: On an Impeachment by the Commons of Great-Britain, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors : Containing the Whole of the Proceedings and Debates in Both Houses of Parliament, Relating to that Celebrated Prosecution, from Feb. 7, 1786, Until His Acquittal, April 23, 1795|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLg-AQAAMAAJ|year=1796|publisher=J. Debrett|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author=John Logan|title=A Review of the Principal Charges Against Warren Hastings Esquire, Late Governor General of Bengal..|url=https://archive.org/details/areviewprincipa00logagoog|year=1788|publisher=John Stockdale|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author=Warren Hastings|title=The answer of Warren Hastings to the Articles: Delivered at the bar of the house of Peers, on Nov. 28, 1787|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tY9AAAAcAAJ|year=1788|publisher=John Murray|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author1=Joseph Gurney|author2=Warren Hastings|editor=E. A. Bond|title=Speeches of the managers and counsel in the trial of Warren Hastings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NplJAAAAMAAJ|volume=I|year=1859|publisher=Longman|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author1=Joseph Gurney|author2=Warren Hastings|editor=E. A. Bond|title=Speeches of the managers and counsel in the trial of Warren Hastings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZpJAAAAMAAJ|volume=II|year=1860|publisher=Longman|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author1=Joseph Gurney|author2=Warren Hastings|editor=E. A. Bond|title=Speeches of the managers and counsel in the trial of Warren Hastings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJpJAAAAMAAJ|volume=III|year=1860|publisher=Longman|location=London}}
*{{cite book|author1=Joseph Gurney|author2=Warren Hastings|editor=E. A. Bond|title=Speeches of the managers and counsel in the trial of Warren Hastings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5tJAAAAMAAJ|volume=IV|year=1861|publisher=Longman|location=London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Warren}}
[[Category:Impeachment trials|Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:1788 in Great Britain|Impeachment Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:1795 in Great Britain|Impeachment Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:Impeachment in the United Kingdom|Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:Trials in the Kingdom of Great Britain|Impeachment Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:Parliament of Great Britain|Impeachment Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:Edmund Burke|Impeachment Hastings, Warren]]
[[Category:British East India Company]]

Impeachment of Warren Hastings - Revision history

Aebeez at 05:43, 8 April 2026