The Press. — London, England, 1856-06-28 00:00:00

considered noble enough, according to Mahoinedan ideas, to mingle with that of the greatest sovereigns of the earth, irrespectively of his being a man of considerable wealth and holding an influential position at the Guicowar's Court. His two sons were accord ingly married to the two daughters of the last Nawab of SURAT, and the representative of the Company sanctioned the wedding by his pre sence, and gave no reason to suppose that any of the ribaldry would be afterwards raised up in reference to it which has lately been given utterance to by the Directorial spokes man, Sir JAMES HOGG. In process of time one of the sons and his wife died without issue, leaving MEER JAFFIR ALI, or his wife rather, the sole heir apparent to the Nawab. Shortly after she also died, leaving two children, and the Nawab her father died of cholera at no distant date. Up to this period all had gone on smoothly, but then the contest which has not yet ended began. As far as the local authorities at Surat were concerned, they were favorable to the claims of MEER JAFFIR ALI, and so was personally the Governor of Bombay. But there was a power behind the Governor greater than the Governor, for the old enemy of MEER JAFFIR'S father had risen to be Political Secretary to the Government of Bombay. The decision, therefore, virtually rested in his hands. It was against the MEER, and, being argued with all the ingenuity the Secretary was master of, the award was confirmed by the Supreme Government, with whom the final decision on the question lay. There never was a more honest and upright Gover nor-General than he who then presided over the affairs of India; but a Governor-General must rely to a great extent upon the informa tion laid before him by the secretaries, and if these are biassed by personal feeling in their reports, the most sagacious Governor- General is liable to be deceived. And to this extent alone has MEER JAFFIR ALI even ques tioned that high functionary's decision ; he says that the Governor-General did not de cide correctly, only because the facts were not fairly put before him. In short, he avers that his Lordship was as unjustly dealt with in the nutter as he was himself. How far MEER JAFFIR iS correct in this assertion we are unable to say; but one thing must be clear, which is, that a secretary who has a personal bias is, however upright and well-intentioned, not likely to prove a very reliable authority when appointed the reporter to Government on his adversary's case. At any rate the Governor-General should have been macro aware of this feeling when the papers were laid before him for review. A decision adverse to MEER JAFFIR ALI having been thus obtained, he left India to seek a reversal of it from the authorities in England, and after much labour succeeded in inducing the Directors to promise him redress if he would only cease to agitate the case in this country and return to India He did so, but there the hostile Secretary's influence still prevailed. The favorable intentions of the Directors, if they had even been more than a pretence, were rendered nugatory ; hostile suits against him were encouraged among his relations ; and not only was the pension re fused, hut much property that personally be longed to him was attached and placed under seal. He returned, therefore, to England again to pursue his claim, but his evil genius was still to he encountered. The hostile Secretary had been made by Sir CHARLES Woon a Director, and all the influence of his new position was used to defeat his old enemy's son. With Sir CHARLES Woon he was successful, and the Indian Board refused to entertain the appeal. MEER JAFFIR then applied to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, but they, while expressing an opinion that the case was one in itself very fitted for reference to them, declared them selves unable by their constitution to enter tain it, unless referred to them by the Crown. This Sir CHARLES Woon refused to allow, and then the matter was intrusted to Sir FITZROY KELLY, and brought before the House of Commons in the shape of a private bill. The select committee to which it was referred, and which embraced some of the most eminent men in the House, reported favorably on it, bk,,, THE PRESS. and the third reading was carried, with the approbation of Government, by 213 members to twenty-eight. A large portion of the ma jority consisted of Conservative Members, and to them the public are greatly indebted for the result. Of the mode in which Sir Jesms HOGG be haved in reference to the matter we have only this to say, that it is a point deserving of most serious consideration whether, after such an exhibition, the destinies of India shall any longer be intrusted to his hands. It is an insult to our Indian subjects to perpetuate his power. The question is one, not of party, but of national character; and it must, for the credit of our institutions, be met. If the Ministry have the slightest regard for the public honour they will lose no time in putting an end to an anomaly so unseemly by means of a short bill. The right of the Directors to do injus tice, and then prevent the Minister from affording a remedy for it, must be done away with at once and for ever; and the responsi bility of deciding on petitions of grievance, for which the courts of law in India afford no remedy, must be vested henceforwarded undividedly in the Ministers of the Crown. THE PUBLIC RECORDS. THE seventeenth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, bearing date 10th April, 1856, has just been published and presented to Parliament. It is not a bulky document, but it contains some weighty matter, and gives us no small insight as to what documents are contained, and the duties which are performed, in the Public Record Department. Our magnificent and " unequalled" collection of Public Records has been shamefully treated and neglected for ages past, and great blame must attach to our legislators for neglecting to find adequate provision for the reception of such invaluable docu• ments. We are glad, however, to find that the past apathy concerning them is coming to an end, and that, instead of the "Records" being allowed any longer to find a resting place over some hundreds of tons of gunpowder in the Tower of London, and in the confined and miserable depositories at Carlton ride and the Chapter-house, Poet's-corner, they are shortly to be removed into the new and capacious repository recently erected at the back of the Rolls house, Chancery-lane. It is much to be desired, however, that, before the Records be finally arranged in the new repository, a thorough inspection of them be made ; and that all such as are not likely to be required for business or historical purposes be re jectod and disposed of, in some such manner as the Legislature may direct. We find in the report (p. 21) that no less than nine houses in Chancery lane have been given up by the Board of Works to the Record authorities, and have been fitted up for the reception and stowage of Records. This is a strong exemplification of the "penny wise and pound foolish" policy by which the Government of this country are for ever actuated. These nine houses are only for the purpose of affording temporary accommodation for the Records —for there are to be wings added to the repository, into which the Records deposited in these houses will hereafter have to be removed. Now, the ex penses attending the fitting up of these houses, to say nothing of the compensation granted to the former tenants of them, or the loss of the rents, would have gone a long way towards erecting another portion of the repository. It is in such makeshifts and patchings-up as these that the public money of this country is so unprofitably employed. The management of the Public Record Depart ment is vested in the MASTER of the ROLLS, as " the Keeper of the Records." with a " Deputy Keeper," in the person of Sir FRANCIS PALORAVE. Without questioning the amount of responsibility resting upon these tw•o high officers, we think it would be more satisfactory to have one responsible officer at the head of the Record Department; it would conduce to the welfare of the establishment if it were entirely removed from the superintendence of the Rolls Court. At the present time it is placed in the anomalous position of being neither a civil nor a judicial department; and it is impossible that the MASTER of the Rous can find time in the midst of his judicial functions to give that care and attention which are so imperatively needed for the well-being and proper management of a public establishment. The formation of " Calendars" appears to be steadily progressing. We observe that, "for the " purpose of accelerating the proceedings of the "State Paper-office Calendars," the MASTER of the RoLts has appointed three persona of literary ability k to assist in editing the volumes of State Paper Calendars. This principle of employing "temporary" SATURDAY, officers in the public departments, except upon special and urgent occasions, is highly objectionable. There is no need for it in the present case. There must be many officers in the Public Record Depart ment well qualified for the task of editing calendars; or how are the rough calendars of the several docu ments first prepared? Then comes the question of payment, which involves some delicate points. These temporary assistants are paid, not at the fixed salaries of established officers, but at a high proportional rate, according to the amount of work done. To say the least of it, this is not only unfair but illiberal and unjust to the established officers of the department. Sir W. F. Williams of Kars has been nominated to the Commandantship of the Royal Artillery at Wool• with, in place of Major• General Whinyates, who has resigned that appointment. The entry of the Guards into London has been arranged by the authorities to take place with every ceremony. The battalions will be detained at Aldershott until the whole have arrived from the Crimea. On the day succeeding the arrival of the last battalion, the troops, consisting of the 3rd battalion of the Greuadier Guards, the Ist battalion of the Coldstreams, and the Ist battalion of the Scots Fusilier Guards, will leave by special train for the metropolis so as to arrive about ten o'clock in the forenoon at Waterloo terminus. The gallant troops will be welcomed by the Commander in Chief, the authorities of the Horse Guards, and several general and staff officers. The line will immediately be formed, the Grenadier Guards on the right, Ist battalion Coldstreams centre, and Scots Fusilier Guards on the left. Columns of sections will then he formed by the right bringing the Grenadiers in front, and, preceded by their bands, they will march over Waterloo bridge, along the Strand, Cockspur• street, Pall-Mall, through St. James's Palace into St. James's-park, and thence to Buckingham Palace, where the troops will salute her Majesty and Prince Albert. Should the weather prove favorable the Queen and Prince will head the troops to Hyde park, and there inspect them. Major-General Sir James Jackson, K.C.8., is to have the vacant colonelcy of the Enniskillen Dra goons. Sir James served in the Peninsula, at Waterloo, in India, and various parts of the world with great distinction. He now commands the troops at the Cape. Sir Henry Somerset is mentioned for one of the infantry colonelcies now vacant. General Williams, by order of her Majesty, has sat to Mr. Mayall, of Regent-street, for a full-length photographic portrait in the dress worn by the gal lant general at Kars. The picture forms one of a series of portraits of distinguished men, photo graphed by the same artist for her Majesty's private collection. Lieutenant-General Lord Rokeby, K.C.8., recently in command of the Ist division of the army in the Crimea, arrived in town on Wednesday from the East, vii Marseilles, and reported himself at the Horse Guards. A serious affair between the German Jagers and the Rifle Brigade occurred last Saturday at Aldershott Camp. The dispute began on Saturday night in the public-houses in the village, and as usual in such cases was taken up with no little party feelma,the Germans, it is asserted, using their knives very freely. The men were at length separated and brought into camp by strong pickets arriving on the spot. On Sunday afternoon the Germans in a large body went into the village, and arming themselves with sticks attacked the English soldiers wherever they could find them ; a desperate riot ensued and the whole camp was under arms ; the village was sur rounded by troops and the combatants carried of into camp. Several men were so severely injured with bayonet wounds as to be sent immediately to hospital. It is only a few weeks ago that the 3rd Regiment of Jagers were ordered to quit Aldershott at a very short notice, iu consequence of a distur bance in which they were implicated; and the gene ral impression is, that their comrades of the 2nd Regiment must follow if the authorities desire to maintain peace and order in the encampment. Seve ral courts martial have been held during the week upon the ringleaders ; but nothing has transpired. The men have since been quiet, and have even fraternised. The 29th, 87th, 43rd, and 86th regiments stationed in India will be relieved during the autumn, and return to England early next spring. It is believed that only one cavalry regiment (the 6th Dragoon Guards, Carabiniers) will proceed to India, instead of two, as originally intended. The Grenadier Guards' annual regimental dinner is postponed from Saturday, the 28th of June, to Thursday, the 3rd of July. A general order from the Horse Guards, upon tb• disembodiment of the militia, acknowledges the zeal and discipline shown during the whole period of their Errvice. X