Star.
London, England, 1824-02-12 00:00:00

CHARGE AGAINST THE MARQUIS OF MASTINGS._-.

Sir JOHN DOYLE rose to ask a question of the Ho-
nourable Chairman prior to their proceeding with the
business of the day.
The Chairman (W. WIGRAM, Esq.) observed that the
,Court was specially summoned to consider a particular
subject, and it was, therefore, irregular to enter on any
other business.

Mr. D. KINNAIRD defended the right of any Proprie-
tor to put such questions to the Chairman as appeared
to him to be necessary. It was impossible for the Chair-
man to know, until he heard the question, whether it
might not be intimately connected with the proceed-
ings of the day.
Mr. Holz believed the statement of the Chairman
was strictly correct as the law of that Court. But they
all knew that it was the constant practice to put ques-
tions under similar circumstances. The Court would

always pay attention to the interests of their servants,
especially if they had been honoured with their thanks
and approbation. And if it was in their power to rescue

a servant from a most malicious and infamous insinl

tion which had gone abroad, they were bound to do ,„.
He would ask whether, as had been insinuated in a pul,.
lic paper, the Marquis of Hastings was about to he on.
peached by the Court of Directors? isr whether, throoeji
his means a deficit of three or four hundred thousand

pounds had taken place in an Establishment, of whiZt
the Court of Directors were the responsible Governor,?
(Hear.) He appealed to the Chairman, not in his ofli_
cial capacity, but as a man of honour, to answer this
question. lithe imputation were countenanced by the
Court of Directors, then let the Public know the fact ;
if discountenanced, let the denial be equally explicit—
(Hear, hear!) If the imputation were altogether fahe,
then let the consequences fall upon the head of the ca.
lumniator—(Hear, hear!) That Court were the master;
of their own proceedings, and had the power of pol.
poning any business which they had previously made
special, if they pleased. It was cruel to the high in;:;-
vidual against whom the charge had been insitittatee,
to let it pass in silence ; it was illiberal to thetuselve ,
and, if persevered in, the only act of tha:
he (Mr. Hume) could charge them with, since he knew
their affairs s their errors, whatever they had been, welt

always of an opposite character—(Hear, hear!)
Mr. SAMUEL DIXON was quite satisfied that the Chair.
man was right on the point of order, and he submitted
whether the gallant officer had not better postpone his
question until the special business was disposed of, upio
'the understanding that he should then have an opiniitu.
nity of putting it?
Sir Join.; DOYLE said, that if the Honourable Ctai;.

man had permitted him to proceed when he first ad.
dressed him, and heard the little which he hal to say,
he felt confident that the known sense of honour

justice which he knew the Chairman possessed, would
not have refused an answer to the plain question winch
he was about to put. Indeed, he felt confident that an
appeal to the honour and jutice of such a man amid
never be made in vain. Had his question arisen out ~F

the mere suggestion of any anonymous writer, stating
his own opinion of any public man, or of any politic
act, he should have then left the opinion to feel its Awn
way, or treated it, if he knew it to be false and calum-
nious, with proper contempt ; but the opinion exptessel
in the manner he alluded to was of no such character;

it imported to he an account of what had actually pa,,s,f.l
in the Court of Directors, and what was further co:,•

templated by that honourable and tesj:ectable body,—
He felt himself. therefote, justified in calling-for an ex.
planation from the Chairman, as the be,t ant. ilEht
conclusive authority to which lie could resort on the
matter of fact, inasmuch as no proceeding of the Cowt
could take place without his knowledge. The clue,.
tions, then, which he had to put resoled themsAves
substantively into these :—1 st, Whether any embezzle-
ment or deficit by the Nlarquis of Hastings, of 300,00 U
or any other sum, had been discovered by the Court of
Directors ? 2d, Whether the Court of Directors, in col,
sequence of such discovety, had already negatived a
grant to him of 50001. per annum ? and 3d, Whetho7
the Court of Directors, in consequence of such di,co•
very, had any purpose of procuring the impeachment
of the Marquis of Hastings ?" Sir John Doyle coz•
chided by saying, " In the presence of this Court, ad
in the face ot our common country, to which we are
responsible, I call upon the Honourable Chairman to
give a plash and distinct answer to these questions. I
know
.I am addressing a man of honour and a friend of
justice, and I feel that I cannot make this appeal in
vain."—( Loud cries of " Mar." )

Mr. LOWN DE i rose amid loud cries of" Cluzir," and said
that he also wanted an explanation about this 300,000:.

The CHAIRMAN.—With every disposition to give as
answer to any question propounded by any member of
the Court of Proprietors, I am under the necessity ri
reminding you that I sit here in an official capacity, sari
am placed under the impossibility of giving any answer
to such questions as have been put, without the autl:(-
lity of the Court of Directors, whose organ I am. I
have no instructions from the Court of Directors on the
subject, and cannot, therefore, give any answer.
Mr. D. KINN.SIRD said, it would be a disgrace to

them, as Englishmen, it they pi oceeded to the reguiar
business of the day, without taking into further con-
sideration this atrocious libel on II ie Marquis of Hastings.
Mr. ELPHINSTONE here rose to order, and said, that
as the Chair man had thought proper to decline answer.
ing the question, he (Mr. Elphinstiii,e) felt it his dui!.
although an individual Director, and of course only eni•
powered to express his own opinion, to give an explicit
answer—(Hear, hear.) The Honourable Director then
read the questions, ab put by Sir John Doyle (for which
see Sir John's speech), aad answered them in the negative
he said such a thing was never thought of by the Court
of Directors—never suspected by them ; and the im-
putation against the Marquis of Hastings was horn be-
ginning to end unfounded and untrue. (Cries of" Hear.")
Sir Jon?' DOYLE thanked the Hon. Director for his
candid and manly statement; but why the organ of
the Coma of Directors could not give a plain answer
to a plain question he could not conceive. He re-
gretted the silence of the Chairman, for his own stike.
The ettataNtAm begged to explain.—The gallant
Officer, iii first putting his question, had addressed him
personally, forgetting that he was not there acting in
his individual capacity, and governed by his own per-
sonal opinion, but as Chairman of the Court of Direc-
tors—( Hear, hear). He had not sheltered himself under
any point of form, but merely stated, that uninstructed
he could deliver no opinion upon the subject. When
he spoke there, he must be understood as delivering the
collective opinion of the body to which he belonged.
In that view he had said he was without instruction,:
and he must be permitted to add, that the answers of
his Honourable Friend (Mr. Elphinstone) were not •spe-
cifically given to the same questions as had been-put
to the Chair.
Sir J. DOYLE said, that so far from meaning to put
the question to the Chairman in his official capacity, be
thought lie had expressly guarded himself against em-
ploying the term cx officio in any way. It was in his
individual capacity he put the question, and in fact
accompanied it with the reason that he put it to him,
because he, as Chairman, must know the fact from his
situation at the meetings of the Directors.
The CHAIRMAN denied the right of any Propriztor
to select him individually, more than any other Di-
rector, to answer particular questions. He repeated,
that attending there as the organ of the Court of Ai ec-
tors, he could only speak from their instructions.
Mr. LOWNDES again reiterated his desire for furthci
exp!anation.
The DEPUTY CHAIRMAN (Mr. Astell, M.P.) justine..
the conduct of the Chairman, who could not, without
areach of duty, adopt any other course than he had done.
Mr. PATTISON :aid, that as a Director he could not
rollow the example set by their Chairman, but, as 431

i

lonest straight-forward man, would at once give his 1
~2inion—(Hear, hear). He saw no obscurity, or doubt,
or equivocation, in the mode in which the questions had
been put. They struck him to be as clear and as easy
of reply as if he were asked 44 Does the sun shine ; is
that a man, that a book, or that a chair ?" They were '
palpable questions capable of being answered '‘ Yes,"
No."—( Hear, hear). The Honourable Director
then read the questions in the words in which they were
originally put; and at the end of each, said, I answer
distinctly • No." He added, that he took upon himself
the responsibility of giviug_, these explicit and distinct
answers; and would to GOD! for the sake of the Court
of Directors, the Chairman bad overcome his sense of
the imperative value of form, and given the same an-
swers promptly—(Hear, hear). The question was not,
whether the Marquis of Hastings might or might not
have committed a mistake—whether he might or might
not have embarked in expensive wars, and added millions
to their revenues; but the plain question was, was the
Marquis of Hastings a thief or a pickpocket?—(Hear).
Or ought any Proprietor be suffered to leave that Court
without any doubt upon such an imputation ? That ;he
Court of Directors had refused the vote of .5,01. r./. a
year was a fact ; but not ai in consequence of the dis-
covery" of any embezzlement of 500,0001. or even on:
rupee. The very idea of such a charge, or an impeach-
ment for it, was just as far from any idea of the Court
of Directors, as any expectation that they would be
favoured in their chamber with a visit from the comet
hcar).-It was never thought of, never glanced
at, never even imiendoed at (to coin a word). lie had
said, " No. no, no,- to the three questions : as an honest
man, he ielt himself hound to give this complete and
monosyllabic reply—(Hear, hear).
Mr. THANT thought the Chairman acted conforma-
blv to his duty in not hastily replying to the question.
Mr. D,I7GLAS KINNAIRD censured in very strong
laagnage the conduct of the Honourable Chairman, for
wrapping himself up in the dignity of technical form,
add refusing o hen a great public character had been
maligned to clear him from the aspersion. The Mar-
quis of Hastings dared the Court of Directors to examine
Lis conduct; he challenged their strictest investigation ;
though left unrewarded, he was determined to go un-
calumniated—( Hear, hear.)—The indignant feeling of
Englishmen would get the better of them, and the public
could pronounce upon their injustice. He had no pt
vate motive for speaking thus warmly; he never was in
company with the Marquis of Hastings but twice since
he came from India, and once before he went out ; and
would have been as ready to condemn him, if just
rounds were sustained, as he now felt in defenoing
i,im from calumny, when he found him made the ob-
ject of it— ( Hear, heat.)
Mr. LOWNDES made another burst, but
The CHAIRMAN interposed, and read the order of the
day for the discussion upon Haileybury College.
Mr. Hume rose, and asked whether, after the violent
effervescence of temper which had unfortunately arisen,
they were in a condition to enter into the calm and dis-
passionate consideration respectingHaileybury College?
He should propose, as an amendment, that that ques-
tion be adjourned for a fortnight.
This amendment, after some remarks against the con-
duct of the Chairman by General Thornton, and some
general conversation, was agreed to.
The Court was crowded to excess, and there was a
greater assemblage of strangers than ever remembered.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1824.
THE FUNDS.

STOCK EXCHANGE, TWELVE O'CLOCK.
Consols opened this morning at 911, and got up to e, owing
to a Broker having purchased £lOO,OOO at 91} for the Account—
soon afterwards they declined to 91i, but again rose to 916.
This being the first day for the New Account for the 9th April,
bargains have been done at 92 for that period. Another Broker
has just come into the Market and sold £lOO,OOO, but it has not
L.. 1 much effect, as Consols remain steady at 91i.