nt in the nature of his
situation. All those who enjoy a great superintending trust, which is to
regulate the whole affairs of an empire, are responsible for the acts
and conduct of other men, so far as they had anything to do with
appointing them, or holding them in their places, or having any sort of
inspection into their conduct. But when a Governor presumes to remove
from their situations those persons whom the public authority and
sanction of the Company have appointed, and obtrudes upon them by
violence other persons, superseding the orders of his masters, he
becomes doubly responsible for their conduct. If the persons he names
should be of notorious evil character and evil principles, and if this
should be perfectly known to himself, and of public notoriety to the
rest of the world, then another strong responsibility attaches on him
for the acts of those persons.

Governors, we know very well, cannot with their own hands be continually
receiving bribes,--for then they must have as many hands as one of the
idols in an Indian temple, in order to receive all the bribes which a
Governor-General may receive,--but they have them vicariously. As there
are many offices, so he has had various officers for receiving and
distributing his bribes; he has a great many, some white and some black
agents. The white men are loose and licentious; they are apt to have
resentments, and to be bold in revenging them. The black men are very
secret and mysterious; they are not apt to have very quick resentments,
they have not the same liberty and boldness of language which
characterize Europeans; and they have fears, too, for themselves, which
makes it more likely that they will conceal anything committed to them
by Europeans. Therefore Mr. Hastings had his black agents, not one, two,
three, but many, disseminated through the country: no two of them,
hardly, appear to be in the secret of any one bribe. He has had likewise
his white agents,--they were necessary,--a Mr. Larkins and a Mr.
Croftes. Mr. Croftes was sub-treasurer, and Mr. Larkins
accountant-general. These were the last persons of all others that
should have had anything to do with bribes; yet these were some of his
agents in bribery. There are few instances, in comparison of the whole
number of bribes, but there are some, where two men are in the secret of
the same bribe. Nay, it appears that there was one bribe divided into
different payments at different times,--that one par