The Press. — London, England, 1853-05-14 00:00:00

which his rivals had struck, he neither deprived the company of the government of India, nor erected a body whose in dependence of the Crown might give umbrage both to the Kin 4 and to the coantry. 'the Administration and the trade were left in the hands of the company, while a control and saperintendence were placed in a sated named by the Cr own, and removable with the Ministers of the day. It wag easy for Mr. Fox, with his vomit bowels of reuson ing bong exercised ou this subject, to prove that these two authorities must be always in contort; that, with two sot. p e en , heads confreatiel, a onfoleion must ensue, anal that th abuses of the Indian Government most perpetuated un ler so strange awl a'lolll dull`, a eystou. The experience of seventy years, however, has blunted argnments which could not be 100 inally refuted. The real supremacy of the Ministers of the Crown, usually kept in the background, but al says reedy to 1 w exerted, has kept in cheek the a lmi nietration of the company, and plaeed the affairs of Inlie nailer that guarantee of ministerial responsibility by which all things in ( Treat Britani are (or dered and controlled. The directers of the East. India Company here not ventnreal Uo commiee at acts which a minister of the Crown would ma sanction ; and a minister of the Crown wonill not sanction . , 'vets which he eostild not defend in Parliament. Thus silently, but effectually, the spirit of the British constitution has pervaded India, and the m eat abs 'hat deepotisin has been qualified and tem peel by the genius of representative goverment. In givin; to the In lia Bill of Mr. Pitt, however, all the credit which can possibly be dote to it.. we must. not lose sight of another and more powerful cause of the improve ment which has taken place in the literality of our gover nors of India. Lord Clive mid Mr. I battings, invested with an irregnlarpower; contending every mouth for the exist- Price of a British settlement. withnut ouy military means of adequate proportion ; sought by complicated intrigue, by insincere *Wetmore by acts of violence at one moment, and of treachery at another, to rear and to consolidate a sovereignty (of London merchants. lit the words of Erskine they sought " to support an empire, which Heaven never gave, by wens which it never can sanetion." This course of cupidity and fraud. of robbery and op preesion, was brought to a close by the impeachtuent of Warren Hastings. The mind of Mr. Burke eottijorehended the veld extent of the question, and his genius !militated the heavy mass of materials which his industry haul enabled him to master. lie enlisted in this cause the powerful reasoning of Fox and the brilliant fancy of Sheridan. After a time he sitcceedeal in gaining the support of Mr. Pitt. anal armed against the former Governor of India the great battery of parliamentary impeachment. Whether the minister was convinced by the evidence which threw so full a light on the misdeeds of Warren Hastiegs, ur whether be was glad to protect himself from the ambition* of a rival by acceding to a prosecution against him, the effect wits no less certain. For years Mr. Rorke persevered in his great task. Neither the dilatory plea of a dissolution of Parlia ment, nor the appalling earthquake of the French revolu tion (to name more appalling then to him), ever distraeted his attention from his great Indian enterprise The apeceu's delivered by hint in Weetminsterhall are great mmumente of industry and eloquence; they surpass in p ewer those of Cicero when denouncing the crimes of Verve 4. Fi osl.y, althon4h the impeachment ended in an semi tar, its results were memorable and beneficial. Ne e has etc great object of punis)ment, the prevention of er me, tact o attained more completely than by this trial. The Lorale and Commons of England, assembled in West miaweerhall, in the presence of the judges, the bar. the itotneracy, and the public,he ml the whole record of Indian teensections immlled before them. autol the iwts of our *gen a brought to the test of English lew and Cbrietinn N pallietion, no plea of teoeessity vonlol alterthertumw t " of 111 se ISIS; and no MAD who could aspire tam civil tar jot !icial ant'iority in India womb' ever than to repent row it let w:tlelt tho Mg seven years of a solemn n a ntt.to;st trileinal, had b iiiii 1111-141 as wicked. o enessive,poebliwts.rtptielons,,mal oriel. The 1.1111Sekliel• co` nure;iod was brkElght in present— of negotintione. t , "el4 ti `S. pition4. elanneata. veite.l in the haze or an o b. se ire distteee, and covered by the jungle of strange manners and sue •an Id' 51.0 a,y. .1110 sentvtiev wear pe an et d, nd by the Wertz, b the universal amuses of rient and wrong. Mr. Haul ve. wits nequitteal. but tyranv, deceit, and injustice we eo e oanietotwil. !Milos was savtet from nbomientiotet ditto . acef d to the English name, a. el the ha 44 of Cornwallis. Atnuu. lientinck. and Attain. id, have sao itrool ml tenpire where Cheyt Sing was despoiled anal Nun( omar was executed.* The foregoing passage is charaeteritstie, a d the allusions to " Minh)" anti " Auckland' . tamp it with the individualism of the author. tt It work in which Burke and Sheridan are disparaged, the !times of " Minh)" and " Anek hind" 4411: extolled'. One might suppose that. Amongst a list of buttons rulers of British India. the moues Wellesley" and " Has tings" might have risen to the writer's memory. But we are not sorry to see these intrusions of the noble Lord's party zeal. even in biogra phy, as it gives more value to some of his face statements. Thus we find him record ing (vol. i., p. 81 the -predilections of King W.lliam the Third for Tory dtwtrines"—a frank admission from a member of " the Revolution In the sante volume the noble Lord htlks of " Austria. the old land natural ally of England :" and we rejoice to have the noble land's severe eondemnati at of the disgraceful practice of dragging " private" letters before it public tribunal. There is an inquiry now pending (to which we will not here refer) whose THE PRESS. proceedings are condemned in the honourable and gentlemanly feeling that animates the following passage from the pen of the noble Lord : *The commencement of the year 1774 was marked by one of those unhappy incidents which tended so greatly to embitter our national contest with America. Benjamin Franklin, a man of science and of letters, luiving risen from obscurity by his talents. was at this time Deputy Postmaster-General under the Crown for tlw American ea sy kitties, and agent in Libation ter the Assembly of Massachu• setts. In both capacities he had become intimately con nected with Mr. John Temple, lately Surveyor-General of the Customs, awl at this time one of the Commissioners of Customs at Boston. Some letters of Hutchinson, the tiovernor, and 'liver, the Licuteoamt-tioveroor, of 3liu4su elotsetts, addressed to Mr. Thomas Wluitely, Under SVITC• tory of State, appear to have fallen into the hands of Mr. Temple, awl to have been by him communicated to Frank lin. The letters were ltdarl , :o4l . ll to a private friend, but to a private friend in °thee, and the matter of them maw of a public nature. The violence of the Boston opplosititin was in these letters treated with severity: doubts were expressed whether a calmly three thousand miles from the parent state should enjoy all the liberty of the parent state. Such letters were sure to kindle a Name in the cottony.. Regard less at tome of such 11111•41.1illeat . a, and of the private chit railer of the letters, Franklin imitated the conduct of the younger Vane, and transmitted the letters, under an in ufsettrecy, to the Speaker of the House of Assem bly ill Massachusetts. The secrecy which he had out kept himself was not likely Ur lie 'observed by the toilers of a popular assembly; the letters were divulged; it was re solved t") that they were designed to subvert the constitution; awl a Iwtitimi of the Assembly to the King praying for the rtomoval of Hutchinson and t 'liver was voted, and transmitted to Franklin for presentation.* And Lord Joint adds afterwards, as if he were writing of a Sir Baldwin Walker, " It is impos sible to justify Franklin." Here for the present we must pause. But there remains in this work a great deal of matter upon which it will be our duty to com ment. IVe sincerely feel grateful to the noble Lord for the etnulour and manly frankness of the tone with which he has written about his party. The " Fox Club," however, will not share t. - -r feelings. Its members with pious veneratioa and credulous ignorance will turn to these pages, expecting in them the style of an idolator of Fox. How astounded will they be in beholding in a Russell the unconscious icouttehttst, of their remotes ! Demerara rafter ' , Viersi. Years q Preethmt. llv Landowner. London : Bosworth. THERE is not much novelty in this tract: it deals with topics which the House of Commons and the Press have made familiar to us ttll— with legislative blunders. colonial grievances, the ruin of planters, the improvidence of negroes, the retrogression towards barba rism of a race once thought to be making progress in the ways of civilisation, and the transithmal sutrerings of a province on which the new financial system has pressed with extraordinary severity. We knew all these things before. It is not partieularly pleasant to be reminded of them, especially after prae tieal proof has been given that they eannot here be remedied : yet something either in the style or matter of this author has led its to reperuse, in his pages, details disagreeable in themselves. and with whielt we thought our selves already as well acquainted au; we wished to be. The merit of the work consists in its manifest authenticity. The " Landowner." unlike many of his class. knows the colony well, and writes from h W. thought the results of his experience are often pretty much the ' ••0 as may be found in books. 'Witness his • - eription of the etfccts produced on native .eiety by the net of licts Is its interesting 1.1 observe the first effeets of unroll. o,lllllllll4fteeduit.ii t' i. ,9lte% 11111'1! intrlt Its th . . tilt' tu,rtin is of the white man. A shirt : mil µ high st. la, a pith' of 'JUN.,: (.1111.111.1 in one hand, and net umbrella in the other. which had once been coosidereil the clone •t e tstume OIL .t SZmility. ipiiekly received the 11144 MS a ddi tion of it VIII' of 111111 a coat : Wain% 111111 ribbons of the ~.,-ayest hues adorned the other set 7 hone; tutu Vt•lsil'l* . F4 of ITory kind eame into common use rosily I. itertaiiiment 11 and IMMO% and holds were iourebas.4l by the iiegmepi in the best parts of the milisity. lint. as time rolled on. the freed mail fomid that these lit‘uries new only to la• obtained lit money. ihr IVIIIIIII 0(4.41:1 y toil 141 h onest industry. He etmsidered them dear at that Kiev. and opiietiv rsil.nusl them for oiler anti le ss "P ensive Pl e a" llres. I :511 ' 1146 w ceased , and a rapid renetitai el IMMO . 1114 . 11 tt 'War& that and savage state of life Which, hi reality. was more agreeable mid eongenial to his nut:night nature. And at coutl►anion l►ict:trc is painted ill the following, of which the scene is a (Wilma plantation iu grinding time; the chief actor, a !SATURDAY, young European manager, serving his first apprenticeship to mosquitoes, fever, and negro labourers, while the background must be filled with any number of sable figures, in a state of greasy nudity. The inexperienced youth in charge has, of course, heard something of negro •' strikes," but flatters himself that his gang are an exception. His ships are loading in the river; the canes ripe and abundant; wages good, and work going on prosperously. In this state of things one or two shrewd Africans, guessing the manager's anxiety to get his crop cut without delay, conclude to turn it to profit. The result is thus told : The first information which the manager receives in the morning from his foremen is, that the people do not intend to " turn out" unless their wages are increased, for, as they allege, " their manna is a rich man, and they are making plenty of sugar.•' While the tin•emeu are yet speaking, and before time numager ha.; even time to consider these demands, the determination nut to work is fully con tinned by the appearance of two or three lalsoarers !Mlle tering alonp., , towards their provishm grounds, and of numerous party carrying fishing seines and nets, hurrying to the canals and the sea-side, followed by a few sporting men, armed with rusty fowlite , -pieces: ad, as if this was not enough, on IL sudden a loud and fearful drumming issues from the cottages, ►ntd groups of younger people are seen twisting themselves into all the indelicate attitudes of the "Joan Johnny dance," to the sound of a rude drum, assisted by the voices of the performers. It is altogether the coolest, most contemptuous, uud most passive resist ance conceivable. Of course the managor storms and vows vengeance ; but he has no remedy. The men were engaged only by the day ; he has no lien upon them except as regards the rent free cottages and provision grounds which they hold. Even from these he can only eject them by due legal process ; and he knows perfectly well that his neighbour, who is also short of hands, will immediately take the ejected into employ On second thoughts, therefore, he pockets his disappointment, assumes, if he can, an air of good-humoured indifference, and waits patiently till they come back to him. though every day's delay is a hundred pounds or more out of the anticipated profits of his employer. Exposed unceasingly to tropical sun and rain—living nearly alone, with few books and fewer neighbours—harassed by such scenes as the above, and rarely released from the monotonous routine of his duties, a West Indian manager's life is in every sense a hard one. The mortality among this class is great ; and few who belong to it attain old age. The landed proprietors of Guiana are divisi ble into three classes. First come the wealthy merchants and capitalists, about fifty or sixty in number, non-residents, but whose capital mainly keeps the colony afloat. These gentle men, having other sources of income besides those which depend on their West Indian estates, have held on through the worst times, laying out largely in improvements, and trust ing to a future change of fortune to remune rate them. They are often reviled as absentees ; but it is only justice to remember that, had not the bulk of their property been invested in England, it must have perished in the univer sal distress ; and that, so far from exhausting the wealth of Guiana, they alone have saved her from bankruptcy. "It is not," says our author very justly, " their actual presence so much as their countenance and capital which are required by the colony." The next class are the " industrious, hard working, practical men," abounding rather in energy and experience than capital, living on the spot. and acting as their own managers. To them an opportunity has been offered such us they never enjoyed before, in the abandon ment and sale, at nominal prices, of large estates, which the former proprietors could no longer work with advantage. The purehase of such estates by such men used to be pointed out with triumph by the Manchester school as the sure means of regaining to Guiana her lost prosperity. lint the experiment has not worked well. They " had neither capital nor credit" to profit by their purchases, and the result may be told in one word—bankniptey : Dilapidated buildings. swampy lands. patched and jing ling machinery. :00 labourers wages iu smear, all plainly bespeak the hatill4o-nnattli system which prevails on their properties. The plain truth is. a poor HUM hll% no business with the sugar estate in I temenira : he might as well. on the strength tar being able to purchase an old barn in Lan cashire. consider himself tptalitied to set np ns u Manche*. ter manufacturer. E