The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-16 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 16, 1854. We have only selected a few salient points. There is about the whole letter a sort of paternal admonition, a quiet tone of severity tempered with regretful kindness, which, perhaps, Sam Weller would have described as " rayther overpowering," especially when employed towards an equal in age and stand ing, though not in ecclesiastical position. Mr. Bsocx does not take the medicine kindly ; quotes HOOKER; strikes out right and left. " Your lordship must excuse me " if I say that the strain of your invectives, " when coupled with your profession of friend " ship, painfully reminds me of the spirit and " vocabulary of the Bishop of EXETER ;" " the " insult which you would insinuate that I " have cast upon my honoured diocesan is " yours, not mine ;" and appeals to a " tri " bunal that would take as the basis of its " investigation the Thirty-nine Articles of " Religion' "—a court which, unfortunately, does not exist . The sting of the Bishop's letter lies in its ending—that of Mr. BROCK'S in the beginning. In fact, he has been " cut" by the Bishop. He has " twice during the last few months " been face to face" with him " without re " ceiving the slightest marks of recognition." The Bishop's reply is, we must fairly say, very kind and peaceful. When he answers to this last charge that "he certainly never saw " him onthe occasions referred to, severer critics will say, Of course not ; he was making a speech, or indoctrinating a lord, or bambooz ling a bishop. Mr. BROCK is at best a " coun try cousin," and doesn't understand the me tropolitan science of " not seeing " people. Besides, the Bishop did walk with him once in the Green-park. What more can he want? For the sake of the great Conservative party able to govern England—and the only party that is able—we deprecate all this sad forgetfulness of an old admonition—" Sirs, ye are brethren; "why do ye strive ?" Mr. BROCK we hold to have been entirely right in bringing before the world a book which (to our view) is unprotes tant and unreal ; but we doubt the wisdom of trying to include among the condemned any beyond the actual offenders. On the other hand, while we respect the Bishop of OXFORD'S untiring diligence and versatile capacities, we grudge that they should so often spend themselves in Peelite speeches and works well meant, which yet have given offence. " Cum talis sis, utinam noster esses." He has reminded Mr. BROCK of his father: let us be allowed to remind him of his own. He may do very noble service yet; but it must be in his father's way, the true old way of the Protestant Church of England. SIR FITZROY KELLY'S PROMISED MEASURE FOR INDIA. THE announcement made by Sir FITZROY KELLY, towards the close of last session ,of his in tention to bring forward next year a measure to prevent the recurrence of such injustice as the case of the Nawab of SuaAT disclosed, was not of a nature calculated to make much impres sion on our public. In England we are so accustomed to legal rule that we can with difficulty comprehend that there is any part of our empire in which it does not prevail. But whoever is acquainted with India must ac knowledge that a regular and equal adminis tration of justice is the great want of that country ; and it is the more imperative on us to supply this want, as it is for many reasons impossible that we should concede to the natives the power of self-government. Rightly viewed, it is not only our duty but our policy to convince them that our power is employed to advance their best interests ; but this we shall never get them to believe, let us say what we may, so long as we allow local op pression and injustice to prevail. The first necessity of a people, under every form of government, is to have the tribunals of justice both competent and pure ; yet, excepting the Supreme Courts, whose jurisdiction, as 867 The objects sought to be attained might be effected, we imagine, by a short and simple bill, providing (any act of Parliament or of the Legislative Council notwithstanding) that all decisions, whether made by agents, com missioners, or any other persons whatever, which affeeted the rights to hereditary lands, here ditary pensions, or any other hereditary property within the limits of British India, should be ap pealable to the Sudder Adawluts, and from them to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as decisions passed in the Zilla Adawluts by sessions judges are appealable at present. Nothing could be more reasonable, nothing more constitutional, than such an act. The passing of it would put an entire end to such injustice as the Nawab of SURAT and other natives are now subjected to, while it is not to be supposed that the Privy Council would not uphold, as far as consistent with law and justice, the rights and authority of the Indian Government. A body to whose guardianship her Majesty is content to commit the rights and privileges of her Crown may be surely entrusted with the power of deciding, in the last resort, on those which pertain to, or are claimed by, the East India Company. THE POPE'S CAMPAIGN. WHILE Englishmen are thinking about the mili tary struggle in the East, their old antagonist, the Pope, is steadily concentrating his re sources on his campaign against Protestantism. His plans are all carefully matured, and his strategy has been submitted to the best intel lects of the Vatican. In various directions the sappers and miners of his Holiness are noise lessly but busily at work ; and ample stores of sacerdotal provender have been collected by the Jesuit commissaries-general. In short, there is no disputing the fact that the spirit of Popery was never more zealously propagandist amongst us than now. While we are engaged abroad about the Czar, the Pope hopes that he can cunningly steal in by the postern-gate. For open war or the secret ambuscade he is equally prepared. Now, while the Vatican, true to its old arts, is thus secretly toiling, it is absolutely impos sible for Englishmen to avoid the serious question raised by Mr. DISRAELI at the close of the session :—" Have we a l'rotestant Con stitution?" Whether we like it or not, that question will soon have to be discussed and decided by the people of England. We here advert to it again because, exactly in propor tion to its transcendant importance, ought discretion to guide the counsels of the great Conservative and Protestant party of the realm. The progress of events, the zeal of Rome, the facilities for perversion allowed to it, with other causes, will force on an early discussion of this most important of all English questions, for whichwe must all be prepared. We cannot believe that Mr. DISRAELI asked his deeply significant question in the spirit of any rheto rical artifice iu debate. His speech on the occasion was weighty with the gravest matter, and informed by the calmest political logic. It is utterly impossible that a statesman of his parliamentary experience would have spoken in that tone if he had not the clearest apprehension that the whole subject of our relations with Popery must, before long, be brought before the Senate. Still further, we are convinced that Mr. DISRAELI must have possessed the strong consciousness that he was supported in his opinions by the sense and convictions of a vast number of the parlia mentary supporters of Conservative prin ciples. We have said that in the discussion of this great subject discretion should guide our counsels, and we must direct attention to the fact that, owing to the fatal vacillation of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, the Pope has decidedly been the gainer in the events of the last four years. And so long as the political guardianship of the national religion shall be left to the Liberals the Pope will be the winner. We can per fectly understand how the supporters of the present Cabinet must nervously shrink from the subject of Protestantism. The Whigs up ILr THE PRESS. we explained last week, is confined to a small circle round each presidency, there are no such tribunals for the administration of justice in India. Selected from among the holders of lay offices—wholly ignorant of law—removable at pleasure--and compelled to consult in all things the wishes of the Govern ment, on whose favour all chance of future promotion, or even present tenure of office, depends—the district judges are, in all cases in which the Government is concerned, mere instruments for giving legal effect to its desires. If the cases in which the Government is thus concerned were merely political, the evil would be a matter of less consequence, as scarcely affecting the position of the people lenerally ; but when it is considered that in ndia the Government is not only the political head of the State, but the landlord of the nine hundred and twenty million acres (except remaining native States and Jaghires) con tained within its boundaries ;—when, even as respects native States, it now puts forth the claim to be heir as suzerain on the death of the holder without male issue ; or, as respects Jaghires, on the decease of the actual holder, — it may be conceived what a prodigious number of cases there must be in the shape of claims for rent, ejectments, &e., in which the Govern ment in India is perpetually suitor in its own Courts and before judges appointed by itself. But if its position as suitor in Courts estab lished by itself, before judges removable at pleasure, and who, whenever they venture to thwart its wishes, are practically and very painfully reminded of their dependence,—if this be a position incompatible with any chance of justice to the ryot who dares to contest its will, the claims of persons circumstanced like the Nawab of SURAT have still less probability of meeting with equitable consideration, as they are not allowed the small chance of justice which a trial before a Zilla Court would in the outset afford. The reason of this is that, if tried in the Zilla Courts, the case would be appeal able by law to the Sudder Adawlut, and thence to the Privy Council in England ; and, though the Company might have little to fear from the two former tribunals, they would have, in the latter, to face a Court altogether superior to their influence. To avoid, therefore, a course which would prove fatal (as it has proved fatal within the Supreme Courts' jurisdiction) to attempts to deprive natives of their hereditary lands, or hereditary pensions granted by solemn deed in consideration of lands or valuable privileges voluntarily surrrendered, at a time when the Company's sway was but half established, such cases are not sent for trial to the Adawlut judges, but are remitted for decision to persons specially appointed, whose opinion in the case has usually been ascer tained beforehand, either indirectly or directly, in the shape of a preliminary report to Govern ment. Should such report be unfavourable to the views of Government, the case is not dropped, but the formal adjudication of it is postponed, or it is remitted for adjudication to some other civilian appointed as Special Com missioner, and known to be more pliant. Such officials can never be wanting, so long as pro motion or even actual tenure of office shall depend entirely on subserviency to the Go vernment. Against a decision thus obtained the aggrieved native, as may be supposed, appeals to the local Government in vain ; any appeal to the courts of law is inadmissible; and, should he represent his wrong to the English Government, he is told by Sir CHARLES WOOD that the India Board cannot enter into the case, or it would be besieged by similar petitioners for redress. Hence the univer sality of injustice in Indiais alleged as a reason for refusing to remedy it in any single instance. It is this flagrant system of wrong that Sir Frrzavr KELLY proposes to introduce a mea sure to put an end to, and we congratulate the people both of India and of this country that the subject has been taken up by a jurist so eminently qualified to do it justice. We are not conversant with the details of his measure : probably he has not yet settled them himself