a long time, any
peace at all, but had exposed the British character to the irony, scorn,
derision, and insult of the whole people of that vast continent.

* * * * *

My Lords, in the progress of this impeachment, you have heard our
charges; you have heard the prisoner's plea of merits; you have heard
our observations on them. In the progress of this impeachment, you have
seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received Benares; you have seen
the condition in which Mr. Hastings received the country of the
Rohillas; you have seen the condition in which he received the country
of Oude; you have seen the condition in which he received the provinces
of Bengal; you have seen the condition of the country when the native
government was succeeded by that of Mr. Hastings; you have seen the
happiness and prosperity of all its inhabitants, from those of the
highest to those of the lowest rank. My Lords, you have seen the very
reverse of all this under the government of Mr. Hastings,--the country
itself, all its beauty and glory, ending in a jungle for wild beasts.
You have seen flourishing families reduced to implore that pity which
the poorest man and the meanest situation might very well call for. You
have seen whole nations in the mass reduced to a condition of the same
distress. These things in his government at home. Abroad, scorn,
contempt, and derision cast upon and covering the British name, war
stirred up, and dishonorable treaties of peace made, by the total
prostitution of British faith. Now take, my Lords, together, all the
multiplied delinquencies which we have proved, from the highest degree
of tyranny to the lowest degree of sharping and cheating, and then
judge, my Lords, whether the House of Commons could rest for one moment,
without bringing these matters, which have baffled all legislation at
various times, before you, to try at last what judgment will do.
Judgment is what gives force, effect, and vigor to laws; laws without
judgment are contemptible and ridiculous; we had better have no laws
than laws not enforced by judgments and suitable penalties upon
delinquents. Revert, my Lords, to all the sentences which have
heretofore been passed by this high court; look at the sentence passed
upon Lord Bacon, look at the sentence passed upon Lord Macclesfield; and
then compare the sentences which your ancestors have given with the
delinquencies which were then before them, and you have