and is not abated by the capital punishment of the said Nundcomar, but
rather confirmed by the time and circumstances in which the accuser of
the said Warren Hastings suffered death. That one of the offices for
which a part of the money above mentioned is stated to have been paid to
the said Warren Hastings was given by him to Munny Begum, the widow of
the late Mir Jaffier, Nabob of Bengal, whose son, by another woman,
holds that title at present. That the said Warren Hastings had been
instructed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company to
appoint "_a minister_ to transact the political affairs of the
government, and to select for that purpose some person well qualified
for the affairs of government, to be the minister and guardian of the
Nabob's minority." That for these offices, and for the execution of the
several duties belonging to them, the said Warren Hastings selected and
appointed the said Munny Begum, a woman evidently unqualified for and
incapable of such offices, and restrained from acting in such capacities
by her necessary seclusion from the world and retirement in a seraglio.
That, a considerable deficiency or embezzlement appearing in this
woman's account of the young Nabob's stipend, she voluntarily declared,
by a writing under her seal, that she had given fifteen thousand pounds
to the said Warren Hastings for an entertainment,--which declaration
corresponds with and confirms that part of the charge produced by Rajah
Nundcomar to which it relates. That neither this nor any other part of
the said charge has been at any time directly denied or disputed by the
said Warren Hastings, though made to his face, and though he was
repeatedly accused by his colleagues, who were appointed by Parliament
at the same time with himself, of peculation of every sort. That,
instead of promoting a strict inquiry into his conduct for the clearance
of his innocence and honor, he did repeatedly endeavor to elude and
stifle all inquiry by attempting to dissolve the meetings of the Council
at which such charges were produced, and by other means, and has not