that long trial. By the end of March the 'immense quantity of rubbish and trash,' as Thurlow called it, had been sifted of 'the very little evidence' it contained, and on the 23rd April the final verdict was proclaimed with due solemnity in the great Hall where Hastings had first been solemnly impeached. Of the peers who had sat through the whole trial twenty-nine only remained. On the first two articles of charge twenty-three declared Hastings 'Not Guilty.' On two charges of corruption he was unanimously acquitted, and on the remaining counts the adverse votes ranged from two to five. Eighteen of the twenty-nine, including Lord Thurlow and Archbishop Markham, acquitted him on every count, while Lord Mansfield voted against him on one count only, which involved a question of law rather than justice[1].
After seven years of cruel suspense the great Proconsul had won a victory which pleased the public, but left him in point of worldly fortune a ruined man. He had no pension, he had been living up to his income, and the legal costs for his defence exceeded £70,000. For him there was small chance of public office under any ministry led by Pitt or Fox. Pitt curtly declined to aid him in obtaining money from the public purse. The Directors and Proprietors of the Company he had served so well, concurred in voting him a handsome pension and a sum of money for his legal expenses. But the Board of Control withheld their sanction, and the Directors finally granted
- ↑ Debrett, Debates.
