The Press. — London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

4 j; C Zbt ritd6L;4l No. 220.—V0L.V. Tress. LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1857. WE are on the eve of great events. Changes of the first importance, imperial and domestic, will be accelerated by the portentous intelli gence from Central India. A crisis in Indian affairs, long anticipated, has at length arrived. Words of warning, often spoken, and as often disregarded by the supporters of a system of routine, have become realised. The crisis in India must produce changes at home. For months to come the public mind, " which " can bear only one cause of excitement at a " time," will be concentrated, almost exclu sively, on the East. That such should be the case can give no cause for wonder. The money market—the great commercial seats of industry—the shipping interest—the political system of England—the stability of her Empire, and the glory of her Crown—are all affected by the Indian mutiny. The emergency demands that England should have bold men and a brilliant policy ; the country fears the mismanagement of shallow men and half The worst feature in !the present crisis is that it has so long been foretold, and that its obvious symptoms have been so superciliously disregarded. Obstinate officials, with per plexed minds, but plausible lips, would shut their eyes to the fact that our military arm in India has been neglected, and that an insane confidence has been fostered in the governing talent of civilians. For twenty years, with a few passing and striking exceptions, our system in India has been one leading gra dually, but surely, to deterioration and de generacy. Lord AUCKLAND was a feeble statesman ; he had too exclusive a faith in civilian rule for an empire won by warriors like CLIVE, LAKE, and WELusorox, and by the farsighted minds of WARREN HASTINGS and the Marquis WELLESLEY.! The file of office was like a fetich t. , ) Lord AUCKLAND, and we know how his system endel. We all recollect the national shudder when the news of the dire events in Affghanistan reached England. But the subject is too painful to dwell upon. The rule of Lord ELLENBOROLGH was bold and decisive. He committed some errors, chiefly in language, Lbut bis views were original and masterly. He was fertile in re sources ; and the greatness of the English name was upheld in India. The hushed attention with which the Noble Earl's speech on Monday was heard by the Peers was a recognition of the undeniable fact that on the subject of India Lord ELLENBOROUOII has the ear of the Senate, and of the public out of LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1857. doors. His speech was the address of a saga cious statesman and a commanding orator. The feeble and faltering tone of Lord GRAN VILLE, and his evasion of a reply, clouded with anxiety some eminent personages in the great audience in the House of Lords. Some there were on Monday night who could not help recollecting how the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, by a combination of intriguing redtapists and disappointed cliques, was re called in the midst of signal triumphs, the result of a skilful policy, by which the nation alities of India were soothed, and the Execu tive of England strengthened. The commer cialists insisted on his being displaced ; but the Duke of WELLisoroN and Sir ROBERT PEEL, two statesmen peculiarly averse from lavishing titular honours. advised the Crown to confer marked distinctions on the statesman who had repaired the errors of Lord AUCKLAND. The Queen raised Lord ELLENBOROUGH two steps in the Peerage—an Earl's Coronet and the insignia of the highest order of chivalry were conferred on the Noble Lord. Can that be the best system of governing India in which the anomaly occurred of a Cabinet re commending for honours a statesman, whom another body insisted should be removed from the position in which those identical honours had been gained ? In the Cabinet which advised her Majesty to bestow these great rewards on Lord ELLENBOROUGH there sat the Duke of WELLINGTON, Sir ROBERT PEEL, Lord STANLEY (the Earl of Derby), the Duke of Buccumen, the Earl of ABERDEEN, the Earl of RIPON, Lord LYNDHURST, and Sir JAMES GRAHAM, at the head of the most powerful Parliamentary connection of modern times. After the recall of Lord ELLENBOROUGH, and the interregnum of Lord HARDINGE, the system of dependence on civilians was again put into force. Admitting some of its advantages. and acknowledging the abilities of Lord DALHOUSIE, we believe that the routine of civilian rule is unsuited to Oriental races, and to imperial exigencies. Subse• (pent events have shown that the prin ciples promulgated in the Minute of the Mar quis of DALHOUSIE (28th February, 1gI6) must be accepted with caution. The policy which led to the annexation of Oude is now more than ever doubted. The most sceptical, also. I must now be convinced that a system of bureaucracy alone cannot govern India. The enthronisation of civilian rule may lead to the chronic jeopardy of our Indian empire. The worst part of the present condition of affairs is the fact that Government received repeated warnings, and still remained inert and incredulous. "My Lords," said the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, on Monday, " there must " have been a continuance of mismanage " ment and misconduct before the natures of " the soldiers composing those regiments could " have been so changed." Constant remon strances have been in vain addressed to the authorities for the last three years about the condition of Bengal, the seat of Viceregal Go vernment. Journals patronised specially by the Directors of the East India Company con- .. s . . + 4 STAMPED .... SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED ..FIVEPENCE. tained appeals from various public bodies, all of which have been strangely neglected. The insecurity of life and property in many districts of Bengal, the daring gang robberies, and the utter inefficiency of the police, were all brought in vain under the notice of the authorities. In 1853 a petition was presented to Parliament, signed by eighteen hundred Christian inhabitants of Bengal, bearing testi mony to detailed grievances that loudly called for energetic measures ; but the country recol lects how hurriedly the Parliamentary inquiry into Indian affairs was closed up, not withstanding the appeals of Mr. DISRAELI and Lord STANLEY, and of a large number of inde pendent members of the House of Commons. But henceforward not Parliament alone, but the people of England of all ranks and classes, must maintain a standing political inquiry into Indian affairs The public mind of Great Britain will he occupied with India until next spring. India must become a Par liamentary subject of the first magnitude, and parties will stand opposed to each other on this most urgent of questions. The pre servation of ourempire will demand the united energies of Conservative politicians. In the old Whig circles dismay is not con cealed at the domestic aspect which this vast subject has assumed. The Whigs sunk lower than ever in popular estimation when to deficits in our Exchequer at home there were added the disasters in Affghanistan. Great administrative energy, and a great policy, are called for in this mighty crisis. The responsibility of this occasion can be evaded by no Ministerial subterfuges. If Mr. VERNON SMITH be President of the Board of Control, Lord PALMERSTON is Premier, and it is upon him that depends whether, as Lord ELLENBOROUGH said, "he shall obtain for himself a reputation " like Lord CHATHAM, or allow his Government " to go down as the most calamitous, the most " disastrous, and the most disgraceful since " the time of Lord NORTH." The aged Premier has eminent talents, though enfeebled ener gies ; but we doubt his capacity in an Indian crisis. He was a leading Member of the Cabinet under which Lord AUCKLAND was a Governor- General, and it is impossible for us to forget his backwardness in the relief of Kars. In the plasticity of a Parliamentary Proteus we see no evidence of the power which can save au imperilled empire. GOVERNMENT MEASURES. Is our remarks a fortnight ago upon the mean ing of the word policy, we drew attention to the recklessness displayed by recent Govern ments in their introduction of measures. We attributed this evil to the protracted insubor dination of their own party, which rendered Parliamentary defeats of such frequent occur rence as to deprive them of all significance. But an inevitable consequence of this state of things we did not expressly mention. We mean the difficulty of discovering what are looked upon by Government as questions of principle, and what are not. Formerly, when Government announced its intention to bring forward a proposal in which it conceived a great principle to be at stake, it was usually an understood thing that the existence of the Cabinet depended on its success. Thus, as we have said, Governments were preserved