The Pursuit Of Hastings, 1788–1796

This chapter details the final years of Burke's protracted stand against wrongdoing in India, which brought setbacks followed by radical disenchantment. He delivered the Presents and Contracts charges with stamina and gusto, but the prolongation of the trial soon began to count against him. He started to reflect again about the sentiment of humanity: it was fortified by custom among people who shared a culture, yet it required the support of rhetoric if it was to gain traction among strangers. The force of persuasion could not sustain the cause through the dreariness of judicial proceedings. After the acquittal of his adversary in April 1795 Burke was disheartened; with the award of an annuity to Hastings the following year he felt beaten. Campaigning through his final illness against the search for peace with France while striving to save Ireland from the prospect of dreadful strife, Burke would look back on the India business as a draining undertaking.

Acquittal · Disenchantment · Humanity · Persuasion · Political science · Rhetoric · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology