The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 11 (of 12)Burke, Edmund
History
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 11 (of 12)
Burke, Edmund
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1760-1820; Political science -- Early works to 1800
Another complaint is, that many of his witnesses were obliged to leave
England before he could make use of their evidence. My Lords, no delay
in the trial has prevented him from producing any evidence; for we were
willing that any of his witnesses should be examined at any time most
convenient to himself. If many persons connected with his measures are
gone to India, during the course of his trial, many others have returned
to England. Mr. Larkins returned. Was the prisoner willing to examine
him? No: and it was nothing but downright shame, and the presumptions
which he knew would be drawn against him, if he did not call this
witness, which finally induced him to make use of his evidence. We
examined Mr. Larkins, my Lords; we examined all the prisoner's
witnesses; your Lordships have their testimony; and down to this very
hour he has not put his hand upon any one whom he thought a proper and
essential witness to the facts, or to any part of the cause, whose
examination has been denied him; nor has he even stated that any man, if
brought here, would prove such and such points. No, not one word to this
effect has ever been stated by the prisoner.
There is, my Lords, another case, which was noticed by my honorable
fellow Manager yesterday. Mr. Belli, the confidential secretary of the
prisoner, was agent and contractor for stores; and this raised a
suspicion that the contracts were held by him for the prisoner's
advantage. Mr. Belli was here during the whole time of the trial, and
six weeks after we had closed our evidence. We had then no longer the
arrangement of the order of witnesses, and he might have called whom he
pleased. With the full knowledge of these circumstances, that witness
did he suffer to depart for India, if he did not even encourage his
departure. This, my Lords, is the kind of damage which he has suffered
by the want of witnesses, through the protraction of this trial.
But the great and serious evil which he complains of, as being
occasioned by our delay, is of so extraordinary a nature that I must
request your Lordships to examine it with extraordinary strictness and
attention. In the petition before your Lordships, the prisoner asserts
that he was under the necessity, through his counsel and solicitors, "of
collecting and collating from the voluminous records of the Company the
whole history of his public life, in order to form a complete defence to
every allegation which the Honorable House of Commons had preferred
against him, and that he has expended upwards of thirty thousand pounds
in preparing the materials of his defence."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account