Charles Goring was
appointed for this purpose.
The preceding facts are stated to the House, not as the foundation of an
inquiry into the conduct of the Begum, but as they lead to and are
therefore necessary to explain by what means a discovery was made of a
sum of money given by her to Mr. Hastings.
Mr. Goring's first letter from the city, dated 17th May, 1775, mentions,
among other particulars, the young Nabob's joy at being delivered out of
the hands of Munny Begum, of the mean and indigent state of confinement
in which he was kept by her, of the distress of his mother, and that he
had told Mr. Goring that the "Begum's eunuch had instructed the servants
not to suffer him to learn anything by which he might make himself
acquainted with business": and he adds, "Indeed, I believe there is
great truth in it, as his Excellency seems to be ignorant of almost
everything a man of his rank ought to know,--not from a want of
understanding, but of being properly educated."
On the 21st of May, Mr. Goring transmitted to the Governor-General and
Council an account of sums given by the Begum under her seal, delivered
to Mr.
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