The fate of the India Bill had taught him how completely
indifferent the popular mind was to issues touching deep moral questions. Though
a seeming failure, he regarded the impeachment as the greatest work of his life.
It did much to arouse and stimulate the national sense of justice. It made clear
the cruel methods sometimes pursued under the guise of civilization and
progress. The moral victory is claimed for Burke, and without a doubt the claim
is valid.
The second of the great social and political problems, which employed English
statesmen in the last half of the eighteenth century, was settled in the
impeachment of Warren Hastings. The affairs of America and India were now
overshadowed by the French Revolution, and Burke, with the far-sighted vision of
a veteran statesman, watched the progress of events and their influence upon the
established order. In 1773 he had visited France, and had returned displeased.
It is remarkable with what accuracy he pointed out the ultimate tendency of much
that he saw. A close observer of current phases of society, and on the alert to
explain them in the light of broad and fundamental principles of human progress,
he had every opportunity for studying social life at the French capital.
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