insurrection at Benares had
produced disturbances at Oude, and which disturbances were imputed to
the princesses. Great barbarities were inflicted in order to secure
these treasures; but the robbers were successful, and immense sums
flowed into the treasury of the company. By these iniquities, the
governor found means to conduct the war in the Carnatic successfully,
and a treaty was concluded with Tippoo, the son of Hyder Ali, by which
the company reigned without a rival on the great Indian peninsula.

When peace was restored to India, and the company's servants had
accumulated immense fortunes, Hastings returned to England. But the
iniquities he had practised excited great indignation among those
statesmen who regarded justice and humanity as better supports to a
government than violence and rapine.

Foremost among these patriots was Edmund Burke. He had long been a
member of the select committee to investigate Indian affairs, and he
had bestowed great attention to them, and fully understood the course
which Hastings had pursued.

Through his influence, an inquiry into the conduct of the late
governor-general was instituted, and he was accordingly impeached at
the bar of the House of Lords. Mr. Pitt permitted matters to take
their natural course; but the king, the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, the
ministers generally, and the directors of the East India Company
espoused his cause. They regarded him as a very great man, whose rule
had been glorious to the nation, in spite of the mistakes and
cruelties which marked his government. He had added an empire to the
British crown, educed order out of anarchy, and organized a system of
administration which, in its essential features, has remained to this
time. He enriched the company, while he did not enrich himself; for he
easily might have accumulated a fortune of three millions of pounds.
And he moreover contrived, in spite of his extortions and conquests,
to secure the respect of the native population, whose national and
religious prejudices he endeavored not to shock. "These things
inspired good will. At the same time, his constant success, and the
manner in which he extricated himself from every difficulty, made him
an object of superstitious admiration; and the more than regal
splendor which he sometimes displayed, dazzled a people who have much
in common with children. Even now, after the lapse of more than fifty
years, the natives of India still talk of him as the greate