The Shasta courier., 1866-09-22
The Impeachment of Warren Hastfnos--
Grand Drama of the English par

Inc following splendid description of
Warren Hastings Impeachment scene at
Westminster Hall, February 13, l7ss. saws
the Flag, was contributed to the Edinburg
Review, in 1S4l. by the most elegant writer
who has lived in England, T. B. Macaulav
The extraordinary situation of the President
OF the United States-the almost certainty of
his impeachment by Congress-gives the in
cldent particular interest at this time
Warren Hastings, Governor General of India
was one of the greatest Engishmen and most
skillful rulers of his age, thus differing wide
ly from the American culprit but in natural
cruelty OF disposition, unscrupulousness of
expedient, and headstrong audacity he in no
wise exceled the other. His trial lasted ten
years; Johnson's will be more EXPEDITIONS
and if the latter shall find no Edmund Burke
to,impeach him with oak splitting vehemence.
the echoes of feebler orator will gather
force and volume as they traverse the hills
and valleys of Freedom:
The High Court of Parliament was to sit.
according to forms handed down from the
|
accused of exercising tyranny over the lord
of the holy city of Benares, and the ladies of
the princey house of Dude. The place was
worthy of such trial. 1t was the great hall
Of William Rufus the hall which had re.
sounded with acclamations at the inaugura.
ton of thirty kings; the ball which had
witnessed the Just sentence of Bacon and the
lust absolution of Somers a hall where the
eloouence of Strafford had for a moment
awed and melted victorious party inflamed
with Just 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
were wanting. The avenues were lined with
grenadiers. The streets were kept clear by
cavalry. The peers. robed in gold and err
mine, were marshaled by the heralds under
Garter, King at Arms. The judges, in their
vestments of state attended to give advice on
points of law. Near hundred and seventy
Lords, three fourths 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 present led
the wav-Lord Heathfeld. recently ehnobled
for his memorable defense of Gibralrer against
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 hv the brothers and
sons of the king. Last of all came the Prince
of Wales, conspicuous by his fine person and
noble bearing. The gray old walls were
hung with scarlet. The long galleries were
| crowded by such an audience as has rarely
excited the fears 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 art. There were seated around the queen
the fair haired young daughters of the house
of Brunswick. There the ambassadors of
great kings and commonwealths gazed with
admiration on a spectacle which no other
country in the world could present. There
Siddons, in the prime of her ma ajestic beauty,
looked with emotion a scene surprising all
the limitations of the stage: There the histo
rian of the Roman Empire thought Of the
DAYS when Cicero pleaded the cause of Sicily
against Verres and when, before a senate
which had still some show of freedom, Taci
tus thundeoed against the espresso, of Afri-
ca. There were seen, ride by side. the
greatest painter and the greatest scholar of
the age The spectacle had allured Reynolds
from that easel which has preserved to us the
thou ghtful foreheads of so nanv writers and
statesmen, and the sweet smiles of so many
noble matrons 1t had induced Parr to sus
pend his iabors in that dark aud profound
mine from which he had extracted vast
treasure of erudtion-a treasure too often
buried in the earth, too often paraded with
iniudicious and inelegant ostentation but
still precious. massive and splendid. There
appeared the voluptuous charms of her to
whom the heir to tue throne had in secret
plighted his faith. There, toe, was she, the
| II E ,f,1 4la
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 hangngs of Mrs. Montague. And
there the ladies. whose lips. more persuasive
than those of Fox himself, had carried the
| Westminster election against palace and
treasury. shOne round Georgianna Duchess
of Devonshire.
| But neither the cul rit nor his advocates
attracted so much notice as the accuserS. In
the midst of the blaze of red drapery, a space
had been fitted up with green benches for the
| Commons. The managers, with Burke at
their head, appeared in full dress. The col
lectors of gossip did not fail to remark that
even Fox, generally so regardless of his ap-
pearance. had paid to the illustrious tribunal
the compliment of wearing a bag and sword.
Pitt had refused to be une of the conductors
of the impeachment; and his commanding,
copious, and sonorous eloquence was wanting
to that great muster of various talents Age
and blindness had untitled Lord North for
the duties OF public prosecutor; and his
friends were left without the help of his ex.
cellent sense, his tact, and his urbanity.-
But, in spite of the absence of these two dis
tingushed 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
| Engish Hyperides. There was Burke. igno
rant. indeed, or negligent of the art of adapt
ing his reasonings and his style to the cana
city of his bearers but in aptitude of com
prehension and richness of Imagination
superior to every orator, ancient or modern.
There with eyes sreverentially fixed on Burke.
appeared the finest gentleman of the ape-
his form developed by every many exercise
his face beaming with intelligence and
spirit-the ingenious, the chivalrous. the
high souled Windham. Nor, though sur
rounded by such men, did the Youngest
manager pass unnosiced. At an age when
most Of those who distinguished themselves
in life are still contending for prizes and