Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1898-09-17
ANBCD0TAI LITERATURE.
Contributed to the Independent
By W. g.
rnrAL or WARREN nAsTINos.

GOWN from Tue uhyS OF Tue iauea-
gents, on the trial Of Warren Hast
ings, an Englishman, accused Of
exercising tyranny over the Lord OF
the city of Benares, and the ladies
of the prineely house OF Dude.
The place was worthy of such a
trial. 1t was the great hall Of VIM.
Rufus, the hall which had resound-
ed with acclamations at she inaugu-
ration of thirty kings. Neither
military nor civil pomp was want
ing. The avenues were lined with
genadiers, and the streets guarded
by cavalry. The peers, robed in
gold and ermine, were marshalled by
the heralds under Garter King at
Arms. The judges, in their vest
ments of state, attended to give adj
vice on points of law. Near ITO
lords, three.fourths of the then up
per house, walked in solemn order
to the tribunal. Lord Heath6eld,
recently enobled for his gallant de-
fence of Gib.alter, led the way.
Last of all came the Prince of
Wales. There were gathered together
ladies of rank, and representations
of every science and every art. The
queen was there surrounded by fair
haired young daughters of the house
of Brunswick. There were also the
ambassadors of other nations, gaz-
ing with admiration on spectacle
which no other country 10 the world
could present.
The sergeants made proclamation.
Hastings advanced to the bar and
bent his knee. The man was not un-
worthy of that great presence. He
had ruled an extensive and populous
country, had made laws and treat
les, had sent forth armies, had set
up and pulled down princes. He
looked like great, not bad man.
A forehead, high and intellectual.
A brow pensive, but not gloomy. A
face, pale and worn, but serene
"Mens aequa in arduis." Such was
the aspect of the great pro-consul
before his judges.
The accused was accompanied by
his counsel-the bold and strong
minded Law, afterwards Chief JUS
tice of the Kings Bench-the more
humane and eloquent Dallas, after
wards Chief Justice OF the Common
Pleas-and Pioneer, who afterwards
successfully conducted the defence
of Lord Melville, and subsequently
became Vice Chancellor and Master
Of the Rolls. But, strange to say,
neither the culprit nor his advocates
attracted as much attention as the
accusers. In the midst of the blaze
OF red drapery sat the commons up
on green benches upon green tables.
The managers, with Burke at their
head, appeared in full dress, and
Fox was there wearing bag and
sword. Pit had refused TO be one
of the conductors at the impeach-
ment, and his commanding, copious
and sonorous eloquence. Lord North,
on account of age and blindness, was
untitled for the duties of a public
prosecution. There was an array of
speakers such as perhaps had notap-
peared together since the great age
of Athenian eloquence.
There stood Fox and Sheridan,
the English Demosthenes and the
English Hyperides. There was
Burke, superior to every orator an
Gent and modern, in amplitude of
comprehension ard richness of i'm
agination, though ignorant or negli-
gent of the art of adapting his reas-
onings and his style to the capacity
and taste of his hearers. There
with eyes reverently 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 in
genious, the chivalrous, the high
souled Windham.
The charges and the answers of
Hastings we're first read. The cere.
mony occupied two whole days. On
the third day Burke rose. Four
sittings of the court we're occupied
by his opening speech, what was in
tended to be general introduction
to all the charges. With an exu-
berance of thought and splendor 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 Presidences. Hay
ing thus attempted to communicate
to his hearers an idea of Eastern 80.
ciety, as vivid as that which existed
in his own mind, be proceeded to ar
raign the administration of Hast
ings, as Systematically conducted in
defiance of morality and public
law.
The energy and pathos of the
great orator extorted expressions
nf nnvuOnAo1