On this day, began the trial of Warren Hastings, the former Governor-General of Bengal, at Westminster Hall, London.

His critics included Whig parliamentarians Edmund Burke, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the dramatist, and Charles James Fox.Burke took two days to read the 20 counts of charges against Hastings.

Hastings had helped consolidate the British empire in India but throughout his tenure, he had faced several allegations of corruption.

In India, Philip Francis, a member of the Supreme Council in India, was his constant critic, and the two had fought a duel. The trial would end after seven years and Hastings would be acquitted. But the trial would leave him deeply in debt. It would take him a few years to be solvent again and return topublic life.

England had been divided in its attitude to Hastings. His critics spoke about the rights of the colonised; but on the other side were those who questioned many aspects of the trial.