You saw the native government vanish by degrees, until it was reduced to a situation fit for nothing but to become a private perquisite, as it has been, to Mr.Hastings, and to be granted to whom he pleased.

The English government succeeded, at the head of which Mr.Hastings was placed by an act of Parliament, having before held the office of President of the Council,--the express object of both these appointments being to redress grievances; and within these two periods of his power, as President and Governor-General, were those crimes committed of which he now stands accused.

All this history is merely by way of illustration: his crimination begins from his nomination to the Presidency; and we are to consider how he comported himself in that station, and in his office of Governor-General.
The first thing, in considering the merits or demerits of any governor, is to have some test by which they are to be tried.

And here, my Lords, we conceive, that, when a British governor is sent abroad, he is sent to pursue the good of the people as much as possible in the spirit of the laws of this country, which in all respects intend their conservation, their happiness, and their prosperity.

This is the principle upon which Mr.Hastings was bound to govern, and upon which he is to account for his conduct here.