Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1855-11-28
TRIAL, OF WARREN HASTINGS
By MACAULAY-

.sh fg 81 BY MACAULAf- ,srssa
In the meantime the preparations for his
trial had proceeded rapidly and on the 18th
of February, IISS, the sitting of the Court
commenced There have been spectacles
more dazzling to the eye. more gorgeous with
jewelry and cloth of gold, more attractive to
grown-up children, than that which was then
exhibited at Westminster; but. perhaps, there
never was a spectacle so we'll calculated to
strike highly cultivated refecting, and i'm
agffafive mind All the various kinds of in
tercst which belong to the near and to the dis
tsnt, to the present and to the past, were col.
Iccted on one spot, and in one hour All the
talents and all the Accomplishments which are
developed by liberty and civilization were
now displayed, with every advantage that
could be derived both from coo Operation and
from contrast. Every step in the proceedings
carried the mind either backward, thrQ many
troubled centuries, to the days when the foun-
dations of the constitutions wers laid or far
away, over boundless seas and deserts, to dus-
ky nations living under strange stars, worship
ping strange gods, and writing strange charac-
ters from right to left The High Court Of
Parliament was 10 sit, according to the forms
handed down from the days of the Plantagen-
cts. on an Englishmau accused of exercising
tyranny over the lord Of the holy city of Ben
ares, and the ladies OF the princely house of
Dude
The place was worthy of such trial. 1t was
the great hall of William Rufus !; the hall
which had resounded with acclamations at the
Inauguration of thirty kings; the hall which
had Witnessed the just sentence of Bacon and
the Just absolution of Somers the hall where
the eloquence of Stratford for g moment awed
and melted a victorious patty infiamed with
jast resentment; the hall where Charles had
confronted the High Court of Justice with the
placid courage which has half redeemed his
fame. Neither military nor civil pomp was
wanting. The avenues were lined with grena-
diers. The streets were Kept clear by cavalry
Tue peers, robed in gold and ernline. were
marshalled BY the heralds under Garter King
alarms. The Judges, in their vestments OF
state, attended to give advice on points OF
law. Near hundred and seventy Lords
threefourths of the Upper House, as the Up
per House then was walked in solemn order
from their usual place of assembling to the
tribunal. The junior baron present led the
gay-Lord Heathfeld, recently ennobled fol
his memorable defence of Gibraltar agains
the fleets and armies of France and Spain
The long procession was closed by the Duke
of Norfolk. Earl Marshal of the realm, by the
great dignitaries, and by the brothers and SOM
of the King. Last of all came the Prince o.
Wales, es,.conspicious by his fine person and no
ble bearing. The grey old walls were huns
with scarlet. The long galleries were crowd
ed by such an audience as has rarely excited
the fears or the emulation of an orator. There
were gathered together, from all parts Of
great, free, enlightened, and prosperous realm
grace and female loveliness, wit and learning
the representatives of every science and o
every art. There were seated around th,
Queen the fair haired young daughters of tn
house Of Brunswick. There the Ambassado
of great Kings and Commonwealths gazed wit
admiration on a spectacle which no othe
country in the world could present. Their
Siddons. in the prime of her majestic beauty
looked with emotion On scene SURPRISING a
the limitations of the stage. There the hsto
rian Of the Roman Empire thought of the day
when Cicero pleaded the cause of Sicil
against yerres; and when, before senat
which had still some show of freedom, Tacitr
thundered against the oppressor of Africi