The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke

VIII.—PRESENTS.

That, before the appointment of the Governor-General and Council of Fort William by act
of Parliament, the allowances made by the East India Company to the Presidents of that
government were abundantly sufficient; and that the said Presidents in general, and the said
Warren Hastings particularly, was restrained by a specific covenant and indenture, which he
entered into with the Company, from accepting any gifts, rewards, or gratuities whatsoever,
on any account or pretence whatsoever. That in the Regulating Act passed in the year 1773,
which appointed the said Warren Hastings, Esquire, Governor-General of Fort William in
Bengal, a salary of twenty-five thousand pounds a year was established for him, to which
the Court of Directors added, "that he should enjoy their principal houses, with the plate
and furniture, both in town and country, rent-free." That the same law which created the
office and provided the salary of the said Warren Hastings did expressly, and in the clearest
and most comprehensive terms that could be devised, prohibit him from receiving any
present, gift, or donation, in any manner or on any account whatsoever; and that the said
Warren Hastings perfectly understood the meaning, and acknowledged the binding force of
this prohibition, before he accepted of the office to which it was annexed: he knew, and had
declared, that the prohibition was positive and decisive; that it admitted neither of
refinement or misconstruction; and that in his opinion an opposition would be to incur the
penalty.

That, notwithstanding the covenants and engagements above mentioned, it appears in the

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