regulation,
namely, to be put up to auction, and disposed of to the best bidder; and
that the Company particularly ordered that the commodity, when provided,
should be consigned to the Board of Trade, who were directed to dispose
thereof by public auction.

That in May, 1777, the said Warren Hastings granted to John Mackenzie a
contract for the provision of opium, to continue three years, and
without advertising for proposals. That this transaction was condemned
by the Court of Directors, notwithstanding a clause had been inserted in
that contract by which it was left open to the Court of Directors to
annul the same at the expiration of the first or second year.

That, about the end of the year 1780, the said Warren Hastings, in
contradiction to the order above mentioned, did take away the sale of
the opium from the Board of Trade, though he disclaimed, at the same
time, _any intention of implying a censure on their management_.

That in March, 1781, the said Warren Hastings did grant to Stephen
Sulivan, son of Lawrence Sulivan, Chairman of the Court of Directors of
the East India Company, a contract for the provision of opium, without
advertising for proposals, and without even receiving any written
proposals from him, the said Sulivan; that he granted this contract for
four years, and at the request of the said Sulivan did omit that clause
which was inserted in the preceding contract, and by which it was
rendered liable to be determined by orders from the Company: the said
Warren Hastings declaring, contrary to truth, that such clause was now
unnecessary, as the Directors _had approved_ the contract.

That the said Sulivan had been but a few months in Bengal when the above
contract was given to him; that he was a stranger to the country, and to
all the local commerce thereof, and therefore unqualified for the
management of such a concern; and that the said Sulivan, instead of
executing the contract himself, did, shortly after obtaining the same,
assign it over to John Benn and others, and in consideration of such
assignment did receive from the said Benn a great sum of money.

That from the preceding facts, as well as from sundry other
circumstances of restrictions taken off (particularly by abolishing the
office of inspector into the quality of the opium) and of beneficial
clauses introduced, it appears that the said Warren Hastings gave this
contract to the said Stephen Sulivan in contradiction to the orders of