The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-10-19 00:00:00

But neither the culprit nor his advocates attracted so much
notice as the accusers. In the midst of the blaze of red dra-
pery, a space had been fitted up with green benches and
tables for the Commons. The managers, with Burke at their
head, appeared in full dress. The collectors of gossip did
not fail to remark that even Fox, generally so regardless of
his appearanae, had paid to the illustrious tribunal the com-
pliment of wearing a bag and sword. Pitt had refused to be
one of the conductors of the impeachment; and his com-
manding, copious, and sonorous eloquence was wanting to.
that great muster of various talents. Age and blindness had.
unfitted Lord North for the duties of a public prosecutor;
and his friends were left without the help of his excellent
sense, his tact, and his urbanity. But, in spite of the ab-
sence of these two distinguished members of the lower house.
the box in which the managers stood contained an array of
speakers such as perhaps had not appeared together since
the great age of Athenian eloquence. There stood Fox and'.
Sheridan, the English Demosthenes, and the English Hy-
perides. There was Burke, ignorant, indeed, or negligent
of the art of adapting his reasonings and his style to the ca-
pacity and taste of his hearers ; but in amplitude of compre-
hension and richness of imagination superior to every ora-
tor, ancient or modern. There, with eyes reverentially
fixed on Burke, appeared the finest gentleman of the age—
his form developed by every manly exercise—his face beaming
with intelligence and spirit—the ingenious, the chivalrous.
the high-souled Windham. Nor, though surrounded by such
men, did the youngest manager pass unnoticed. At an age
when most of those who distinguish themselves in life are
still contending for prizes and fellowships at college, he had.
won for himself a conspicuous place in Parliament. No ad-
vantage of fortune or connection was Wanting that could set
off to the height his splendid talents and his unblemished.
honour. At twenty-three he had been thought worthy to be
ranked with the veteran statesmen who appeared as the dele-
gates of the British commons at the bar of the British no-
bility. All who stood at that bar, save him alone, are gone—
culprit, advocates, accusers. To the generation which is now
in the vigour of life, he is the sole representative of a great
age which has passed away. But those who, within the last
ten years, have listened with delight, till the morning sun
shone on the tapestries of the House of Lords, to the lofty
and animated eloquence of Charles Earl Grey, are able to
form some estimate of the powers of a race of men among
whom he was not the foremost.
The charges and the answers of Hastings were first read.
This ceremony occupied two whole days, and was rendered
less tedious than it would otherwise have been, by the silver
voice and just emphasis of Cowper, the clerk of the court, a
near relation of the amiable poet. On the third day Burke
rose: Four sittings of the court were occupied by his
opening speech, which was intended to be a general intro-
duction to all the charges. With an exuberance of thought
and a splendour of diction which more than satisfied the
highly-raised expectation of the audience, he described the
character and institutions of the natives of India ; recounted
the circumstances in which the Asiatic empire of Britain had
originated ; and set forth the constitution of the company,
and of the English presidencies. Having thus attempted to
communicate to his hearers an idea of Eastern society, as
vivid as that which existed in his own mind, he proceeded to
arraign the administration of Hastings, as systematically
conducted in defiance of morality and public law. The
energy and pathos of the great orator extorted expressions
of unwonted admiration, even from the stern and hostile
Chancellor—and, for a moment, seemed to pierce even the
resolute heart of the defendant. The ladies in the galleries,
unaccustomed to such displays of eloquence, excited by the
solemnity of the occasion and perhaps not unwilling to dis-
play their taste and sensibility, were in a state of uncontroll-
able emotion. Handkerchiefs were pulled out, smelling-bot-
tles were handed round, hysterical sobs and screams were
heard, and Mrs. Sheridan was carried out in a fit. At length
the orator concluded. Raising his voice till the old arches
of Irish oak resounded,—" Therefore," said he, " hath it
with all confidence been ordered by the Commons of Great
Britain, that! impeach Warren Hastings of the high crimes
and misdemeanonrs. I impeach him in the names of the
Commons House of Parliament, whose trust he has betrayed.
I impeach him in the name of the English nation, whose an-
cient honour he has sullied. I impeach him in the name of
the people of India, whose rights he has trodden under foot,
and whose country he has turned into a desert. Lastly, in
the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes,
in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I im-
peach the common enemy and oppressor of all ! "