The Trial of Warren Hastings—Westminster Hall—Description of it on the
Opening Day of the Trial—Edmund Burke—The other Managers—Procession of
the Peers—Entrance of the Defendant—The Arraignment—Speech of Lord
Chancellor Thurlow—Reply of Warren Hastings—Opening of the Trial—Mr.
Windham—His Admiration of Dr. Johnson—His Reflections on the
Spectacle—Bearing of the Lord Chancellor—Windham on Hastings—William
Pitt—Major Scott—Conversation with Windham—Partisanship—Close of the
First Day’s Proceedings—Conference on it with the Queen—Another Day at
the Trial—Burke’s Great Speech—Resemblance between Hastings and
Windham—Fox’s Eloquence—Death of Mrs. Delany.
On the 13th of February, 1788, began the trial of Warren Hastings. Miss
Burney was furnished by the Queen with two tickets for the opening
ceremony. She went accordingly, accompanied by her brother Charles, and
also by a Miss Gomme, of whom she was commanded to undertake the charge.
We abridge her description of this great spectacle. It should be
premised that the zeal with which she espoused the side of the defence
was due not solely to the favour shown to Mr. and Mrs. Hastings by the
Court, but in an equal degree, at least, to her own personal friendship
for the accused statesman and his wife, with whom she had become
acquainted before she joined the royal service:
“We got to Westminster Hall between nine and ten o’clock....
“The Grand Chamberlain’s Box is in the centre of the upper end of the
Hall: there we sat, Miss Gomme and myself, immediately behind the
chair placed for Sir Peter Burrell. To the left, on the same level,
were the green benches for the House of Commons, which occupied a
third of the upper end of the Hall, and the whole of the left side: to
the right of us, on the same level, was the Grand Chamberlain’s
Gallery....
“The bottom of the Hall contained the Royal Family’s Box and the Lord
High Steward’s....
“A gallery also was run along the left side of the Hall, above the
green benches, which is called the Duke of Newcastle’s Box, the centre
of which was railed off into a separate apartment for the reception of
the Queen and four eldest Princesses, who were then _incog._, not
choosing to appear in state, and in their own Box.
“In the middle of the floor was placed a large table, and at the head
of it the seat for the Chancellor, and round it seats for the Judges,
the Masters in Chancery, the Clerks, and all who belonged to the Law;
the upper end, and the right side of the room, was allotted to the
Peers in their robes; the left side to the Bishops and Archbishops.
“Immediately below the Great Chamberlain’s Box was the place allotted
for the Prisoner. On his right side was a box for his own Counsel, on
his left the Box for the Managers, or Committee, for the Prosecution;
and these three most important of all the divisions in the Hall were
all directly adjoining to where I was seated....
“The business did not begin till near twelve o’clock. The opening to
the whole then took place, by the entrance of the _Managers of the
Prosecution_; all the company were already long in their boxes or
galleries.
“I shuddered, and drew involuntarily back, when, as the doors were
flung open, I saw Mr. Burke, as Head of the Committee, make his solemn
entry. He held a scroll in his hand, and walked alone, his brow knit
with corroding care and deep labouring thought—a brow how different to
that which had proved so alluring to my warmest admiration when first
I met him! so highly as he had been my favourite, so captivating as I
had found his manners and conversation in our first acquaintance, and
so much as I owed to his zeal and kindness to me and my affairs in its
progress! How did I grieve to behold him now the cruel Prosecutor
(such to me he appeared) of an injured and innocent man!
“Mr. Fox followed next, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Windham, Messrs. Anstruther,
Grey, Adam, Michael Angelo Taylor, Pelham, Colonel North, Mr.
Frederick Montagu, Sir Gilbert Elliot, General Burgoyne, Dudley Long,
etc....
“When the Committee Box was filled, the House of Commons at large took
their seats on their green benches....
“Then began the procession, the Clerks entering first, then the
Lawyers according to their rank, and the Peers, Bishops, and Officers,
all in their coronation robes; concluding with the Princes of the
Blood,—Prince William, son to the Duke of Gloucester, coming first,
then the Dukes of Cumberland, Gloucester, and York, then the Prince of
Wales; and the whole ending by the Chancellor, with his train borne.
“They then all took their seats.
“A Serjeant-at-Arms arose, and commanded silence....
“Then some other officer, in a loud voice, called out, as well as I
can recollect, words to this purpose:—‘Warren Hastings, Esquire, come
forth! Answer to the charges brought against you; save your bail, or
forfeit your recognizance!’
“Indeed I trembled at these words, and hardly could keep my place when
I found Mr. Hastings was being brought to the bar. He came forth from
some place immediately under the Great Chamberlain’s Box, and was
preceded by Sir Francis Molyneux, Usher of the Black Rod; and at each
side of him walked his Bails, Messrs. Sullivan and Sumner.
“The moment he came in sight, which was not for full ten minutes after
his awful summons, he made a low bow to the Chancellor and Court
facing him. I saw not his face, as he was directly under me. He moved
on slowly, and, I think, supported between his two Bails, to the
opening of his own Box; there, lower still, he bowed again; and then,
advancing to the bar, he leant his hands upon it, and dropped on his
knees; but a voice in the same moment proclaiming he had leave to
rise, he stood up almost instantaneously, and a third time profoundly
bowed to the Court.
“What an awful moment this for such a man!—a man fallen from such a
height of power to a situation so humiliating—from the almost
unlimited command of so large a part of the Eastern World to be cast
at the feet of his enemies, of the great tribunal of his country, and
of the nation at large, assembled thus in a body to try and to judge
him! Could even his prosecutors at that moment look on—and not shudder
at least, if they did not blush?
“The crier, I think it was, made, in a loud and hollow voice, a public
proclamation, ‘That Warren Hastings, Esquire, late Governor-General of
Bengal, was now on his trial for high crimes and misdemeanours, with
which he was charged by the Commons of Great Britain; and that all
persons whatsoever who had aught to allege against him were now to
stand forth.’
“A general silence followed, and the Chancellor, Lord Thurlow, now
made his speech....
“Again Mr. Hastings made the lowest reverence to the Court, and,
leaning over the bar, answered, with much agitation, through evident
efforts to suppress it, ‘My Lords—impressed—deeply impressed—I come
before your Lordships, equally confident in my own integrity, and in
the justice of the Court before which I am to clear it.’...
“A general silence again ensued, and then one of the lawyers opened
the cause. He began by reading from an immense roll of parchment the
general charges against Mr. Hastings, but he read in so monotonous a
chant that nothing else could I hear or understand than now and then
the name of Warren Hastings.
“During this reading, to which I vainly lent all my attention, Mr.
Hastings, finding it, I presume, equally impossible to hear a word,
began to cast his eyes around the House, and having taken a survey of
all in front and at the sides, he turned about and looked up; pale
looked his face—pale, ill, and altered. I was much affected by the
sight of that dreadful harass which was written on his countenance.
Had I looked at him without restraint, it could not have been without
tears. I felt shocked, too, shocked and ashamed, to be seen by him in
that place. I had wished to be present from an earnest interest in the
business, joined to firm confidence in his powers of defence; but
_his_ eyes were not those I wished to meet in Westminster Hall....
“Another lawyer now arose, and read so exactly in the same manner,
that it was utterly impossible to discover even whether it was a
charge or an answer.
“Such reading as this, you may well suppose, set everybody pretty much
at their ease; and but for the interest I took in looking from time to
time at Mr. Hastings, and watching his countenance, I might as well
have been away. He seemed composed after the first half-hour, and
calm; but he looked with a species of indignant contempt towards his
accusers, that could not, I think, have been worn had his defence been
doubtful. Many there are who fear for him; for me, I own myself wholly
confident in his acquittal....
“At length I was called by a ‘How d’ye do, Miss Burney?’ from the
Committee Box! And then I saw young Mr. Burke, who had jumped up on
the nearest form to speak to me. Pleasant enough! I checked my
vexation as well as I was able, since the least shyness on my part to
those with whom formerly I had been social must instantly have been
attributed to Court influence; and therefore, since I could not avoid
the notice, I did what I could to talk with him as heretofore. He is,
besides, so amiable a young man, that I could not be sorry to see him
again, though I regretted it should be just in that place, and at this
time....
“The moment I was able to withdraw from young Mr. Burke, Charles, who
sat behind me, leant down and told me a gentleman had just desired to
be presented to me.
“‘Who?’ quoth I.
“‘Mr. Windham,’ he answered.
“‘I really thought he was laughing, and answered accordingly; but he
assured me he was in earnest, and that Mr. Windham had begged him to
make the proposition. What could I do? There was no refusing: yet a
planned meeting with another of the Committee, and one deep in the
prosecution, and from whom one of the hardest charges has come—could
anything be less pleasant as I was then situated?
“The Great Chamberlain’s Box is the only part of the hall that has any
communication with either the Committee Box or the House of Commons,
and it is also the very nearest to the prisoner. Mr. Windham I had
seen twice before—both times at Miss Monckton’s; and anywhere else I
should have been much gratified by his desire of a third meeting, as
he is one of the most agreeable, spirited, well-bred, and brilliant
conversers I have ever spoken with. He is a neighbour, too, now, of
Charlotte’s. He is member for Norwich, and a man of family and
fortune, with a very pleasing, though not handsome face, a very
elegant figure, and an air of fashion and vivacity....
“I was sorry to see him make one of a set that appeared so inveterate
against a man I believe so injuriously treated; and my concern was
founded upon the good thoughts I had conceived of him, not merely from
his social talents, which are yet very uncommon, but from a reason
dearer to my remembrance. He loved Dr. Johnson—and Dr. Johnson
returned his affection. Their political principles and connexions were
opposite, but Mr. Windham respected his venerable friend too highly to
discuss any points that could offend him; and showed for him so true a
regard, that, during all his late illnesses, for the latter part of
his life, his carriage and himself were alike at his service, to air,
visit, or go out, whenever he was disposed to accept them.
“Nor was this all; one tender proof he gave of warm and generous
regard, that I can never forget, and that rose instantly to my mind
when I heard his name, and gave him a welcome in my eyes when they met
his face. It is this: Dr. Johnson, in his last visit to Lichfield, was
taken ill, and waited to recover strength for travelling back to town
in his usual vehicle, a stage-coach. As soon as this reached the ears
of Mr. Windham, he set off for Lichfield in his own carriage, to offer
to bring him back to town in it, and at his own time....
“Charles soon told me he was at my elbow....
“After the first compliments he looked around him, and exclaimed,
‘What an assembly is this! How striking a _spectacle_! I had not seen
half its splendour down there. You have it here to great advantage;
you lose some of the Lords, but you gain all the Ladies. You have a
very good place here.’
“‘Yes; and I may safely say I make a very impartial use of it: for
since here I have sat, I have never discovered to which side I have
been listening!’
“He laughed, but told me they were then running through the charges.
“‘And is it essential,’ cried I, ‘that they should so run them through
that nobody can understand them? Is that a form of law?’
“He agreed to the absurdity; and then, looking still at the
_spectacle_, which indeed is the most splendid I ever saw, arrested
his eyes upon the Chancellor. ‘He looks very well from hence,’ cried
he; ‘and how well he acquits himself on these solemn occasions! With
what dignity, what loftiness, what high propriety, he comports
himself!’...
“Suddenly, his eye dropped down upon poor Mr. Hastings: the expression
of his face instantly lost the gaiety and ease with which it had
addressed me; he stopped short in his remarks; he fixed his eyes
steadfastly on this new, and but too interesting object, and after
viewing him some time in a sort of earnest silence, he suddenly
exclaimed, as if speaking to himself, and from an impulse
irresistible—‘What a sight is that! to see that man, that small
portion of human clay, that poor feeble machine of earth, enclosed now
in that little space, brought to that Bar, a prisoner in a spot six
foot square—and to reflect on his late power! Nations at his command!
Princes prostrate at his feet!—What a change! how must he feel it!——’
“He stopped, and I said not a word. I was glad to see him thus
impressed; I hoped it might soften his enmity. I found, by his manner,
that he had never, from the Committee Box, looked at him....
“Recovering, now, from the strong emotion with which the sight of Mr.
Hastings had filled him, he looked again around the Court, and pointed
out several of the principal characters present, with arch and
striking remarks upon each of them, all uttered with high spirit, but
none with ill-nature.
“‘Pitt,’ cried he, ‘is not here!—a noble stroke that for the annals of
his administration! A trial is brought on by the whole House of
Commons in a body, and he is absent at the very opening! However,’
added he, with a very meaning laugh, ‘I’m glad of it, for ’tis to his
eternal disgrace!’
“Mercy! thought I, what a friend to kindness is party!
“‘Do you see Scott?’ cried he.
“‘No, I never saw him; pray show him me.’
“‘There he is, in green; just now by the Speaker, now moved by the
Committee; in two minutes more he will be somewhere else, skipping
backwards and forwards; what a grasshopper it is!’
“‘I cannot look at him,’ cried I, ‘without recollecting a very
extraordinary letter from him, that I read last summer in the
newspaper, where he answers some attack that he says has been made
upon him, because the term is used of “a very insignificant fellow;”
and he printed two or three letters in the Public Advertiser, in
following days, to prove, with great care and pains, that he knew it
was all meant as an abuse of himself, from those words!’
“‘And what,’ cried he, laughing, ‘do you say to that notion now you
see him?’
“‘That no one,’ cried I, examining him with my glass, ‘can possibly
dispute his claim!’
“What pity that Mr. Hastings should have trusted his cause to so
frivolous an agent! I believe, and indeed it is the general belief,
both of foes and friends, that to his officious and injudicious zeal
the present prosecution is wholly owing.”
A long conversation—or rather several conversations, for the talk was
interrupted more than once—ensued, in the course of which Miss Burney,
much to the astonishment of Windham, who knew her friendship for Burke,
declared herself a partisan of Hastings, while at the same time she
admitted that she knew nothing of the merits of the case—had not even
read the charges against the late Governor-General. “I had afterwards,”
she writes, “to relate a great part of this to the Queen herself. She
saw me engaged in such close discourse, and with such apparent interest
on both sides, with Mr. Windham, that I knew she must else form
conjectures innumerable. So candid, so liberal is the mind of the Queen,
that she not only heard me with the most favourable attention towards
Mr. Windham, but was herself touched even to tears by the relation. We
stayed but a short time after this last conference; for nothing more was
attempted than reading over the charges and answers, in the same useless
manner.”
Miss Burney went again to Westminster Hall on the second day of Burke’s
opening speech:
“All I had heard of his eloquence, and all I had conceived of his
great abilities, was more than answered by his performance. Nervous,
clear, and striking was almost all that he uttered: the main business,
indeed, of his coming forth was frequently neglected, and not seldom
wholly lost; but his excursions were so fanciful, so entertaining, and
so ingenious, that no miscellaneous hearer, like myself, could blame
them. It is true he was unequal, but his inequality produced an effect
which, in so long a speech, was perhaps preferable to greater
consistency, since, though it lost attention in its falling off, it
recovered it with additional energy by some ascent unexpected and
wonderful. When he narrated, he was easy, flowing, and natural; when
he declaimed, energetic, warm, and brilliant. The sentiments he
interspersed were as nobly conceived as they were highly coloured; his
satire had a poignancy of wit that made it as entertaining as it was
penetrating; his allusions and quotations, as far as they were English
and within my reach, were apt and ingenious; and the wild and sudden
flights of his fancy, bursting forth from his creative imagination in
language fluent, forcible, and varied, had a charm for my ear and my
attention wholly new and perfectly irresistible.”
She was again visited in her box by Windham, who, on Hastings happening
to look up, remarked that he did not like his countenance. “I could have
told him,” says Fanny, “that he is reckoned extremely like himself; but
after such an observation I would not venture, and only said: ‘Indeed,
he is extremely altered: it was not so he looked when I conceived for
him that prepossession I have owned to you.’” The Queen’s reporter, for
such she was, attended a third time on the day after the Lords had
enraged the Managers by deciding that they must complete their case upon
all the charges before the accused was called on for any defence. She
heard Mr. Fox speak for five hours with a violence that did not make her
forget what she was told of his being in a fury. His eloquence was not
nearly so much to her taste as Burke’s. Fox’s countenance struck her as
hard and callous; his violence, she thought, had that sort of monotony
that seemed to result from its being factitious, and she felt less
pardon for that than for any extravagance in Mr. Burke, whose excesses
seemed at least to be unaffected and sincere. Mr. Fox appeared to her to
have no such excuse; ‘he looked all good-humour and negligent ease the
instant before he began a speech of uninterrupted passion and vehemence,
and he wore the same careless and disengaged air the very instant he had
finished.’ After other attendances at the trial, Miss Burney’s mind was
withdrawn from the subject in which she took so much interest by the
last illness and death of Mrs. Delany. The old lady, who died on the
15th of April, 1788, left some small remembrances to the friend whose
companionship had soothed her latter days.