ving the testimony of his conscience in
justification of his conduct, and taking up the whole ground, honorably
acquit him, and commend this action as an instance of heroic zeal in
their service.

The great end and purpose for which I produce this to your Lordships is
to show you the necessity there is for other inquiries, other trials,
other acquittals of parties, than those made by a collusive clan abroad,
or by the Directors at home, who had required the parties to inquire of
themselves, and to take the testimony of the judges at second-hand, as
to the conscience of the party accused, respecting acts which neither
they nor any man living can look upon but with horror.

I have troubled your Lordships with the story of the Three Seals, as a
specimen of the then state of the service, and the politics of the
servants, civil and military, in the horrid abuses which then prevailed,
and which render at length the most rigorous reformation necessary. I
close this episode to resume the proceedings at the second revolution.

This affair of the three seals was, we have seen, to quiet the fears of
the Nabob. His fears it was indeed necessary to quiet; for your
Lordships will see that the man whose fears were to be set asleep by
Major Calliaud's offering him, in a scheme for murdering his sovereign,
an odd sort of opiate, made up of blood and treason, was now in a fair
way of being murdered himself by the machinations of him whose seal was
set to his murderous security of peace, and by those his accomplices,
Holwell and Hastings: at least they resolved to put him in a situation
in which his murder was in a manner inevitable, as you will see in the
sequel of the transaction. Now the plan proceeds. The parties continued
in the camp; but there was another _remora_. To remove a nabob and to
create a revolution is not easy: houses are strong who have sons grown
up with vigor and fitness for the command of armies. They are not easily
overturned by removing the principal, unless the secondary is got rid
of: and if this _remora_ could be removed, everything was going on in a
happy way in the business. This plan, which now (that is, about the
month of July) began to get into great ripeness and forwardness, Mr.
Holwell urged forward, Mr. Vansittart being hourly expected.

I do not know whether I am going to state a thing, though it is upon the
records, which will not have too theatrical an appearance for the grave
state in which we are.