Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-11-26

a,,;o,s in The Eainburgh Rev. "' "f
sume, by Macaulay: sen HASTINGS.
TRIAL OF trial had proceeded rapidly;
and on the 18th of 2Shere have been spec,aciss more
court commences, more gorgeous with jewelry and
dazzNng lraiore attractive TO grown up chiidfen'
cloth OF geohich was then exhibited at Westminster;
than .naasps there never was a spectacle so well caicu-
but, pc strike a highly .cultivased, a rejecting, an
latednatiya mind. All the various kinds OF interest
iT;ch belong to the near and TO the distant, the pre-
sent and the past, were collected on one spot, and in
one hour. Ali the talents and all the accomplishments
which are developed by liberty and civilization were
now displayed, with every advantage That could oe de-
rived both from cooperation and from contrast. Every
stem in The proceeding carried the mind either back
ward. through many troubled centuries, TO the days
when the foundations ofthe Constitution were laid; or
far away, over boundless seas and deserts, TO dusky
nations living under strange stars, worshipping strange
GODS. and writing strange characters from right to lett.
The hiuh Cont Of Parliament was to sit, according to
forms handed down from the days of the Plon'agenets,
on an Englishman accused ofexercising tyranny over
the lord Of the holy city of Benares, and the ladies' OF
the princely house OF Dude.
The place was worthy of such a trial. II was the
great hall Of William Rufus; the hall which had re-
sounded with acclamations at the Inauguration of thirty
kings; the hall which had witnessed the Just sentence
of Bacon, and the Just dissolution of Somers; the hall
where the eloquence OF Stafford had Tor a moment
awed and melted q victorious party inHamed with just
resentment; the hall where Charles had confronted the
high cour. Of Justice with the placid courage which has
half redeemed his fame. Neither military. For civil
pomp was wanting. The avenues were lined with gre
uadiers. The streets were kept clear by cavalry. The
,eers. robed in gold and crmine, were marsiiailed By
The heralds, under Garter. King farms The judges,
in their yestments Of state, attended to give advice on
points Of law. Near q hundred and seventy lords,
three-fouvths Of The upper house, as the upper house
then was, walked in solemn order from their usual place
of ~assembling to the tribunal. The junior baron pre-
sent led the way, Lord Heathield, raeeatly ennobled
Tor his memorable defence Of Gibraltar, against the
feels and armies Of France and Spain. The long pro-
cession was closed by the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Mar
shal Of the Realm, by the great dlgnltar,es' and oy the
brothers and sons Of the King. Last of all came the
Prince Of Wales, conspicuous by his fine person and
noble bearing. The grey old walls were hung with
scarlet. The long galleries were crowded by such On
audience a. has rarely excited the fears or the emula.
ton Of an orator. There were gathered together, from
all parts of a great, free, enlightened and prosperous
realm, grace and female loneliness, wit and learning,
the representatives Of every science and OF every art.
There were seated round the Queen the fair.haired
Young daughters of the house OF Brunswick. There
the ambassadors of great kings and commonwealth
gazed with admiration on q spectacle which no other
country in the world could present. There Siddons,
in the prime OF her majestic beauty, looked with emo
ton on a scene surprising all the limitations OF the
stage. There the historian Of the Roman Empire
thought of the days when Cicero pleaded the cause OF
Sicily agains, Verres; and when, before a Senate which
had stiiI some show of freedom, Tacitus Numbered
av.ins, the oporessor of Africa. There were seen, side
by side, the greatest painter and the greatest scholar OF
the age. s.,
The spectacle had allured Reynolds from that easel
which has preserved TO US the thoughtful foreheads OF
no many writer's and statesmen, and the sweet smiles
of so many noble matrons. 1t had induced Parr to
suspend his labors in that dark and profound mine from
which he had extracted a treasure of erudition-a trea-
sure too often buried in the earth, too often %paraded
with injudicious and %inelegant oslentaton but still
precious, massive, and splendid. There appeared the
voluptuous charms Of her TO whom the heir OF the
throne had in secret plighted his faith.l There, too,
was she, the beautiful mother Of q beautiful race, the
St. Cecilia, whose delicate features, lighted up by love
and music, art has rescued from the common decay
There were the members Of that brilliant society which
quoted, criticised, and exchanged repartees, under the
rich peacock-hangings Of Mrs. Montague. And there
the ladies', whose lips, more persuasive than those oil
Fox himself. had carried the Westminster election
against palace and treasury, sione around Georgiana
Duchess Of DevonshiTe.
The sereeants made proclamation. Hastings ad.
vanced to the bar, and bent his knee. The culprIt was
indeed not unworthy of that great presence. He had
ruled an extensive and popnlons country, had made
laws and treaties, had sent forth armies, had set up and
pulled down princes. And in his high place he had so
borne himself, that oil had feared hinl, that most had
loved him. and that hatred itself could deny him nc
title 10 glory, except virtue. lie looked like a great
man, and not like a bad man. A person small and
emacisted, yet deriving dignity from a carriage winch,
while it indicated Difference TO the court, ind'ca-
ted also habitual self possession and seltrespect-a
high and intellectual forehead-a brow pensive, but
not ploomy--a mouth of infiexible decision-a face
pale and worn, but serene, on which was written, as
legibly as under the great picture in the council
chamber at Calcutta, Mems cqaa in arauis-such
was the aspect with which The great proconsui present
ed himself TO his judges.
His counsel accompanied him, men all of whom were
aNerward raised by their talents and learning 10 the
highest posts in their profession-the bold and strong
minded Lawyer, afterward Chief Justice of the King $
Bench; The more humane and eloquent Dallas, AFTER
ward Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; and Plome-,
who, nearly twenty years later. successfully conducted
N the same high court the defence OF Lord Melville,
md subsequently, became Vice Chancellor and Master
al the Rolls.
But neither the cnlprit nor his advocates attracted ="
m,xh attention as the accusers. In the midst of the
hIaze Of red drapery,,a space had been fitted mp with
vfeeu benches and tables for the Commons. The ma
sagers, with Burke ., their head, appeared ia full dress.
'rhe collectors Of gossip did not fail TO remark that even
For. generally SO regardless Of his appearance, had PAD
10 The i,~lusirious tribunal the compliment "f wearing q
h,y and sword. Pitt had refused to be- one Of ihe con-
Jne,ors Of The impeachment; aud his commanding, co.
Mons and sonorous eloqnence was wanting TO that
sGibbon.