The Press. — London, England, 1858-03-27 00:00:00

Eastern despots, and emasculated by every species of sensual indulgence, they secluded themselves in the recesses of their zenanas, and left the country to the malversations of their favourites and the anarchy produced by a rapacious landed aristocracy. All the abuses which such a state of society can engender seemed to have come to a head in the person of \Vajid Alec Khan, the last king. The monarch himself took no heed whatever of public business, but passed his whole time in the society of singers, eunuchs, and poetasters, with the latter of whom he frequently conde scended to compete. No public works were carried on ; the pay of the troops was in arrear, and was discharged by assigning to theta the revenues of a district. The Court parasites absorbed the money, and the soldiers helped themselves by plundering the villages. Nor was this the only oppression to which the cultivator was exposed. The revenue collec tors from the city, who were thorough cockneys and ignorant of all agricultural matters, farmed the revenue sometimes on the "con tract system," by which they bound themselves to pay a definite sum to the Government, sometimes on the " trust system," which obliged them to pay all they could get ; but in enter ease squeezed the ryot out of the last coin they could exact. More powerful even than tne collectors were the independent hind holders or great barons, with whom might always made right, and who, having gained possession by force or fraud of half a-dozen villages, laid waste a portion and turned it into jungle, in order to serve as cover for the mud forts in which they defied both their rivals and the sovereign power. More than eight hundred square miles in the kingdom of Oude were devoted to these jungles, which afforded sport to the chieftain, grazing ground for his cattle, and means of escape in case of attack. No stories of medireval cruelty and rapine, nor even the atrocities which have been practised in India on our own country men, can equal the scenes which were of monthly occurrence in Oude, and with which two-thirds of Colonel Sleeman's volumes are filled. We began a classification of the mur ders and robberies he mentions, but found that the analysis Would extend beyond all reasonable limits. Female infanticide was a practice almost universal, and the proud Rajpoot who would have disdained to be any man's " brother-in-law " on the sister's side, bought a wife of higher caste at an enormous price, or pretended to believe that the one stolen and brought over the frontier to him, Was at least of rank equal to his own. Yet the system of these ruffians was not without its benefits—at any rate as compared with the no-government of the King. They were at least strong, and, their authority once estab lished, their feudal dependants enjoyed that sort of security which results from only one person having a right to plunder. The law of primogeniture was in force among them, and there was something settled in their rule. which generally induced the villagers, who had been driven away in their struggle to attain it, to return and recommence cultiva tion. The great want was that of a middle class, the materials for which existed in the shape of a great number of persons who en • joyed guaranteed incomes from the British Government, but who would have been crushed had they attempted to become coun try gentlemen, and who therefore remained at Lucknow, an overgrown and useless aristo cracy. It might naturally be supposed that the lower classes would welcome any change, even that of annexation, under such oppression. But this, Colonel Sleeman says, was not the case. They admitted the insecurity of pro perty ; but they seemed to have something of a Celtic taste for fighting, and a no less Celtic distaste for law. They appreciated the good intentions of the British Government, whose officers never interfered but for their good ; but they saw that. the landholders iwindled away in the half of the country which nad been ceded to us, and they distrusted the delays and complications of the English courts, where witnesses were only estimated by their number, and where there was no public opinion to cheek false swearing, no rustic ordeal to confound the criminal in the THE PRESS, MARCH 27, 1858. presence of his most respected associates. Still, the state of the country was so bad that it was felt that something must be done ; and a person who casually dipped into these vo lumes might easily fancy that annexation was the measure recommended by the author. He expresses himself, however, most distinctly as opposed to it, and believes that our confisca tion of the revenues and absorption of the country would lose us the confidence of the whole of India. His scheme was that of as sumin,9; the administration—a very different thing—and devoting the whcle of the proceeds to the Government, the country, and public works. Ho very clearly saw the danger which the former plan might occasion : While we have a large portion of the country under native rulers, their administration will contrast with ours greatly to our advantage in the estimation of the people ; and we may be sure that, though some may be against us, many will be for us If we succeed in sweeping them all away, or absorbing them, we shall be at the mercy of our native army, and they will see it ; and accdents may pos sibly occur to unite them, or a great portion of them, in some desperate act. The thing is possible, though improbahle ; and the best provision against it seems to me to be the maintenance of native rulers, whose confidence and affec tion can be engaged, and administrations improved under judicious management. The following is from a letter to Lord Dal housie:— In September, NV, T took the liberty to mention to your lordship my fears that the system of annexing and absorbing native States—so popular with our Indian service, and so much advocated by a certain class of writers in public journals—might some day render us too visibly dependent upon our native army; that they might see it, and that accidents might occur to unite them, or too great a portion 9f them, in some desperate act. My only anxiety about Burmah arises from the same fears. Our native army has been too much petted of late ; and they are liable to get into their heads the notion that we want them more then they want us Not only can no commanding officer say wind his corps will do under circumstances in which their religion or prejudices may afford a pretext for disobedience, but no of can say how far their regiments sympathise with the recusant or discontented corps, and are prepared to join them. He expresses the same view in a letter to Sir James %Veir Hogg, dated 12th Jan., 1833 : The people see that these annexations and confisca tions go on, and that rewards and honorary distinctions are given for them, and fur the victories which lead to them, and f)r little else; and they are too apt to infer that they are systematic, and encouraged, and prescribed from home. The native States I consider to be breakwaters, and when they are ail swept away, we shall he left to the mercy of our native army, which may not always be suffi ciently under our control. Such a feeling as that which pervaded Runde'cunt' and Gwalior in 1842 and 1843, mast, sooner or later, pervade all India, if these doctrines are carried out to their full extent ; and our rule could not probably exist under it. With regard to Oude, I can only say that the King pursues the same course, and every day shows that he is unfit to teign. lie has not the slightest regard for the duties or responsibilities of his high position ; and the people, and even the members of his own family, feel humiliated at his misconduct, and grow weary of his reign. The greaser part of these mem bers have not received their stipends for from two to three years, and they despair of ever receiving them as long as he reigns. He is neither tyrannical nor creel, het alto gether incapable of devoting any of his time or attention to business of any kind, but spends the whole of his time with women, eunuchs, tiddlers, and other parasites. Should he be set aside, as he deserves to be, three courses are open : 1. To appoint a regency during the minority of the heir apparent, who is now about eleven years of age, to govern with the advice of the Resident ; 2. To manage the country by European agency during the regency, or in perpetuity, leaving the surplus revenue to the royal family ; 3. To confiscate and annex the country, and pension the royal family. The first plan was prescribed by Lord Hardinge, in case of accident to the King; the second is what was done at Nagpore, %%Ph so much advan tage, by Sir Richard Jenkius in 1817 ; the third is what the absorbing school would advocate, but I should most deprecate. It would be most profitable for us, in a pecu• niary point of view, but most injurious, I think, in a political one. It would tend to accelerate the crisis which the doctrines of that school must, sooner or later, bring nn )n ns. Which course the Goveruor•General may prefer I know not. These volumes arc full of interesting obser• vations and amusing anecdotes, among which may be mentioned in particular the six stories apparently well authenticated —of boys brought up by wolves (vol. i., p 206-222), and the absurdities related of Ghazee•od- Deen Hyder and of the late King. But we can only find space to refer to the light cast on recent events by the remarks in vol. i. c. vi. respecting the custom lately prevalent of al lowing the sepoys to forward their• complaints through the British civil authorities. Colonel Sleeman bhows very clearly that this pri vilege made the honest men discontented, the dishonest successful, and both trouble- 305 some and encroaching. The practice extended in many cases to the native civil servants, and the mischief was similar to that which De Tocqueville tells us was caused by the " ga rantie des fonctionnaires " in France before 1798. The power of passing grievances through a powerful British official amounted to an " exceptional jurisdiction," easily stretched beyond just limits, and tending, as the French philosopher says, " to make men at once re " volutionary and servile." However monotonous the long catalogue of crimes contained in these volumes may ap pear, and however imperfect, in a literary point of view, the form of a diary must neces sarily be, their sound common sense, and the peculiarity of their subject, would always com mand attention. At the present crisis they stand fore'nost among the works which no one who desires to understand the Indian mutiny will think of neglecting, and they will no doubt form a standard authority on a state of things which we trust is now passing away with the calamities it has engendered. The Geology and Extinct Volcanos of Central France. By G. Poulett Scrope, AI.P., F.R S. Second Edition. London: Murray. Tin: wonders of electricity and galvanism, and the peculiar discoveries on the laws of light, have to some small extent abated the ardour with which geology was popularly pur sued for nearly twenty years. But there is not the_ least chance of geology losing its im portance. On the contrary, with increased facility for locmotion between various coun tries, and with the economical results of the gold discoveries, it seems reasonable to expect that no other science will permanently sur pass it in attraction. The philosopher and the student of cosmogony must always regard geology with especial interest, on account of its intimate relation to the highest la ws of created matter ; while the political economist, and even the ethnologist, are compelled to regard the geological features of a territory, before offering any estimate of the degree of civilisation to which particular countries and races may attain. Let it also be remembered that careful geological surveys of many vast tracts of the earth's surface have not yet been made ; and we may fairly conjecture that new discoveries in geology may be anticipated which will be of the highest philosophical/and economical value. The brilliant volume befoie us is in many respects a new book, although " second edition " is on its pages. Mr. Pudica Scrope, while residing in Italy in the years Wl7 18-19, had observed the phenomena of Vesuvius, Etna, and the Lipari Isles. On returning to England, he had the advantage of intercourse with the late Professor E. D. Clarke, and also with Professor Sedgwick, who was then direct ing his vigorous faculties to the study of geology. When Mr. Scrope published his volume on "The Geology of Central France," the doctrines of Werner were in the ascend ant, but Mr. Poulett Serope was by no means disposed to agree in the dogmas of that par ticular school, and his earlier geological writings had the force which comes front the freshness of scientific controversy. In the Quarterly Review for May, 1827, Mr. Scrope's first edition of his work had the advantage of being specially noticed by Sir Charles Lyell in that accomplished gentleman's first literary essay. Other geologists fullov•ed Mr. Scrope to the country of the Auvergne, amongst whom we may particularise Sir Roderick Murchison ; and several French savans concurred subse quently in the views originally put forward by Mr. Serope. The central parts of France are not often visited by English tourists ; and it is remark able that previous to the middle of the last century those districts had not been studied with philosophic attention. Mr. Serope ob serves:— To those who now travel over the mountains of Central France, and see on all sides marks of volcanic agency exhibited in the most decided manner, numerous hills formed entirely of loose cinders, red, porous, and scorilied as t lose just thrown from a furnace, and surrounded by plains of black and rugged lava, on which the lichen almost rtfuses to vegetate, it appears scarcely credible that, previous to the middle of the last century, no one had thought of attributing these marks of desolation to the