cle
had allured Reynolds from his easel and Parr from his study.

The sergeants made proclamation. Hastings advanced to the bar, and bent
his knee. The culprit was indeed not unworthy of that great presence. He
had ruled an extensive and populous country; had made laws and treaties;
had sent forth armies; had set up and pulled down princes; and in his high
place he had so borne himself, that all had feared him, that most had
loved him, and that hatred itself could deny him no title to glory, except
virtue. A person, small and emaciated, yet deriving dignity from a
carriage which, while it indicated deference to the court, indicated,
also, habitual self-possession and self-respect; a high and intellectual
forehead; a brow, pensive, but not gloomy; a mouth of inflexible decision;
a face, pale and worn, but serene, on which a great and well-balanced mind
was legibly written: such was the aspect with which the great proconsul
presented himself to his judges.

The charges, and the answers of Hastings, were first read. This ceremony
occupied two whole days. On the third, Burke rose. Four sittings of the
court were occupied by his opening speech, which was intended to be a
general introduction to all the charges. With an exuberance of thought and
a splendor of diction, which more than satisfied the highly raised
expectations of the audience, he described the character and institutions
of the natives of India; recounted the circumstances in which the Asiatic
Empire of Britain had originated; and set forth the constitution of the
Company and of the English Presidencies.

Having thus attempted to communicate to his hearers an idea of eastern
society, as vivid as that which existed in his own mind, he proceeded to
arraign the administration of Hastings, as systematically conducted in
defiance of morality and public law. The energy and pathos of the great
orator extorted expressions of unwonted admiration from all; and, for a
moment, seemed to pierce even the resolute heart of the defendant. The
ladies in the galleries, unaccustomed to such displays of eloquence,
excited by the solemnity of the occasion, and perhaps not unwilling to
display their taste and sensibility, were in a state of uncontrollable
emotion. Handkerchiefs were pulled out; smelling bottles were handed
round; hysterical sobs and screams were heard, and some were even carried
out in fits.

At length the orator concluded. Raising his voice, till the old arches of