The Sun. — London, England, 1857-07-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, 1,0 \DON, _ TUESDAY EVENING, JITIY 28, 1857 against the Government of India, had the audacity to seize the persoreafthe political officer at Darjeeling, when travel ling under the Rajah's safeguard within his dominions. Military preparatione were made; the agent was released, and all the territories which the Rajah possessed within the plains were confiscated, and have been retained. In Scinde, Meer Ali Morad of Khyrpore, was accused of hav ing forged a clause in a treaty wh ere b y he had wrongfully obtained possession of lands which of right belonged to the British Government. A full and fair investigation was made. The Ameor had every of p )rtnnity afforded to him of defending himself; but his guilt was proved beyond a doubt. The lands were taken from him, and his power and influence were reduced to insignificance." I mention these cases, which were not accompanied by a violation of the laws of adoption, to illustrate the sys tem that was now pursued with such vigour in India. I now call the attention of the house to 1854. There had been five or six years during which the Indian Govern meet, commencing with Sattara, had dealt under this system with the territories of a dozen independent princ -s who died without natural heirs, when in 1854 one of the most considerable of the native princes died—one who still sat on a Royal throne —the R'ijah of B3rar—a prince with a territory of 80,000 square miles—a popu lation of from 4,000,000 to s,ooo,ooo—with land the richest in India, and most highly cultivated—whose trea sures were great, and who had been a faithful ally,—for never had it been alleged that he had violated the condi tions of any treaty ; he died without natur,l heirs, and in pursuance of the new policy it was determined to ann. x that vast and wealthy country to our dominions. (Hear, hear.) Our Resident at the Court protested against this annexation, and the Governor-General was opposed in Council by the ablest of its members when he proposed it—among others, by General Lowe, whose name is known to many members of this house. Geo. Lowe has always been considered as our first Indian it v.esman. He is a man who has risen by his own energies and merits. He has passed 50 years as the repre sentative of the Indian Government at various Courts of India—with Malennedan sultans, Hindoo Rajahs, and Mahratta princes —and he is supposed to be more familiar with the wants of India and the life of India than any other Indian statesman of the day. He was th. efore, with great propriety, elected a member of the Supreme Council. (Hear.) The Governor-General of India detailed the policy which he intended to pursue with respect to the Rajah of Berar in a Minute of Coun cil ; and I am bound to say that a public document ex emplifying more vigour, acuteness, and energy, w a g pro bably never penned since the bulletins and manifestoes of the great Emperor Napoleon, when heaunexed kingdoms to his immense empire. (Hear, hear.) I shall at present refer partichlarly to only one passage for the future guidance of the house, for I feel that we are only as yt t in the ants-chamber of Ind'an discussions, (Rear.) In that minute the Governor-Geeeial says : " The incorporation of Nagpore would give to us a terri tory which comprises 80,000 square miles, producing an annual revenue of 40 1 ice of rupees, and containing more than 4,01),000 of people who have long desired to return to our rule." Mark what follows : " It would completely surround with British territory the dominions of his Highness the Nizam in a manner highly beneficial for the purposes of internal adminis tration." (Hear, hear.) The Nizam is the moat powerful Mussnl man Sultan in India, with a population of from 8,000,000 to 10,060,000 under his command, and territory of cone measurate proportion. (Hear.) And, mind you, these minutes bring you into the Secret Council of Calcutta, which is the sameas the Cabinet Council in this country, in 89 far as they indicate the policy that was in the minds of individuate. (Hear.) Let me now ask the house , to listen to some expressions in the minute of General Lowe, as recorded in these papers. It is of the greatest impeitanca to have the opinion of a man of this sort We have a great variety of opinions upon Indian pol:cy this house, and though it is easy to say that one man is a tool of the Directors, and that another is a wild Indian reformer, yet when we get the opinions of .the most mature and experieeeed intellect a nong Indian statesmen, delivered confidentially for our guidance, I hold them to ,be above all price. What says General Lowe ? After raising a great many objections in 22 paragraphs, he makes this confession : In my c. nversations with natives, when I was in Raj pootana, there never was any unpleasant remark made to me respecting the annexation of the Punjab. Some said Duleep Sing was an unlucky youth in having such bad counsellors ; but no one ever said that the British Govern ment acted with injustice in annexing that territory to its own ; they seemed perfectly to understand that an inva sion of our territory entitled us, according to the ordinary course of human affairs, both to repel the invaders and to seize, thole country. " But every person, who mentioned the subject to me, and there were numerous parsons who did so, hold totally different language in regard to the annexation of Sattara. They did not make use of many words on such occasions ; my own situation, being one of authority over them, placed them under great restraint in that respect, but what they did say, and their manner of saying it, showed me very clearly that they thought it a case of might against right, and ail expressed an earnest hope, evidently accompanied by some dread in their minds to the con trary, that a kind Providence would save the Rajpoot families from such disgrace and disaster, " When I went to Malwa, in 1850, where I met many old acquaintances whom I had known when I was a very young man, and over whom I had no authority in 1850, I found those old acquaintances speak out much more dis tinctly as to their opinion of the Sattara case ; so much so, that I was on several occasions obliged to check them. "It is remarkable that every native who, ever spoke to me respecting the annexation of Sattara asked precisely the same question—viz., What crime did-the lat e 12.,..jeb, commit that his country should be seized by the company ? (Clear, hear.) Thus clearly indicating _their notion', that if any crime had been committed our act would been jus 'fiable, and not otherwise." The house must not for a moment suppose that General Lowe is a man very confident in his own opinions, or of a temper which listens with impatience to the sugges tions of other-. Oa the contrary, it is quite clear, from the tone of these minutes, that he is a man who, if he has a fault, has the fault rather of too easily yielding up his own convictions to the predominant practice of the moment. These minutes are full of evidence that it was with the greatest pain, and with the utmost desire to avoid the painful duty, that he felt it necessary to come.forward and oppose this policy. They are full of expressions of admiration and devotion to the Governor General. But invariably as the proceedings ad vance you find that General Lowe gives up the struggle in despair. I will just read a line from his minutes to show that I have not misrepresented him in this respect : "After a very careful perusal of the Most Noble the Governor-General's minutes on this important subject, and of the various papers circulated along with that document, it is with feelings of sincere regret that I find it quite out of my power to arrive at the same conclusion as his lord ship has done respecting the course which the British Government ought now to pursue towards the Nagpore State ; and I can truly add-that I write this minute with mach reluctance, for it vexes me that it should be my duty to express on au important subject sentiments which are opposed to those of a statesman whose great talents, whose eminent public services, and whose whole character I view with genuine a dmiration and respect." And he adds : " There is also another cause for my disinclination to write this minute, which I may as well confess at once viz. that I feel completely convinced th a t, pract i ca ll y speaking, it will have no effect whatsoever on the majority of the public functionaries iu London who will have to consider and to decide this question." Allow me to say before proceeding further that the East India Directors sre not entirely open to the character given them by General Lowe, because I have shown you that there was a strong minority in the court which resisted the first of these great measures, and there are papers on the table reepecting the proposed annexation of the Raj of Kerow lee, which show that that Raj was not annexed to our dominions—the case being too flagrant—entirely through the influence of the East India directors. But to pro ceed with the great case of Berar. The Raj of Berar, with it• 10,000 square miles, its population of 4,000,000 or 5,000,000, and its treasures, was seized notwithstand ing the prote.t of General Lowe. The troops,of the British Government were ordered jute th e t err a IT, the furniture and jewels of the Queen were viz :el. It was understood that the Queen had a private treasure of her own to a large amount, and though it was proved that it was entirety her own property, having belonged to the Queen mother, a woman of great abilities. who had once been regent of the kingdom, yet it was seized, a n d by the British 'Government. The Raj of Nagpore was an nexed ; it is one of the four kingdoms which we are told with so much pride and self-complacency in the minute of 1856 have been added to the Crown of England. I must pause here for a moment on the subject of annexa tion. I want to touch upon the second division of the subject. I want to show you how the settlement of pro perty in India has been disturbed by the new system of Government during the last ten years. (Hear, hear.) This portion of the subject is intima•ely connected with that part to which have already alluded, and the house will see in a few rnoweats why I have stopped at the year 1854 on the subject of annexation. The principle of the law of adoption is not ttie prerogative of princes and pri ecipali ties in India ; it applies to every man in Modosetia who has landed property, and who professes the Elindoo re ligion. The great feudatory, or jaghedar, who h. ide his lands by public service to his lord ; and the emindar, who holds his laud free of all land-tax, who corresponds, if not precisely, in a popular sense at least, with our freeholder,—both of these classes—classes mos-. numer one in India—always, on the failure of their natural heirs, find in this principle the means of obtaining sue cessers to their estates. Those classes were all touched by the annexation of Sattara, they were touched by the annexation of the territories of the 10 inferior but inde pendent princes to whom I have already alluded, and they were more than touched, they were ta - rified to the last degree, when the annexation of the Raj of Berar took place. What man was safe ? What feudatory, what freeholder who had not a child of his own loins was safe throughout India ? (Hear, hear.) These were not idle fears ; they were extensively acted upon and reduced to practice. The resumption of jagheers and of inams commenced for the first time in India. There .have been, no doubt, impolitic moments when at temp's have been toads to inquire into titles, but no one had ever dreamt of abolishing the law of adoption ; there fore no authority, no Government had ever been in a position to resume jagheers and inams the hol ders of which had left no natural heirs. Here was a new source of revenue • but while all these things were acting upon the minds of these classes of Hindoos, the Government took another step to disturb the settlement of property, to which I must now call the attention of i,he house. The house is aware, no doubt, from reading the evidence taken before the committee of 1153, that there are great portions of the land of India which are exerny, from the land tax. Being free from land-tax in India is far more than equivalent to freedom from the land-tax in this country, for, speaking generally and popal eey, the land-tax in India is the whole taxation of ' the State ; and it is not a light impost, therefore, by any rams. There are large portions of the land is Zndiq , which enjoy this freedom. • The origin of these grants is difficult to penetrate, but they are undoubtedly of great ant.quity. They 'are of different kinds. Besides the private freeholds, which are very ex t ens i ve , th ere are large grants of land free from the land-t - ix, with which mosques and temples have been endowed. Outs of the greatest sources of our success in India in old days was .that whenever a tyrant, a Mussulman chief, seized and confiscated their lands-and we were appsated te, ve came in al vindicatorsof public right, and we invariably guaran teed the security of property, as in the case of the Jaghiers and Enams. However. an able, an amiable man, under the pressure no doubt of pecuniary distress in the public revenue, was so ill advised as to question these titles. Our power was then supposed, so far as Bengal was con cerned, to be established. The Governor General of that day was advised to institute an inquisition into those titles. It was alleged that there were fraudulent claims of exemption. There were fraudulent claims in England, and, no doubt, in India, the scene of so many revolutions and conquests, there may have been claims fictititiously made. But the House will recognise at once the wise policy which would prevent a Govern ment at any time entering into the dangerous ground of examining the - titles of landed estates in that country. (Hear, hear.) Even in England, the process, if carried on, would produce revolution, and would, under a' y cirtumstances, arrive at results •f the most e.tartlirg character. (Hear.) Any person in possession of church land or of a Royal manor, who could not prove that the land was rightfully held by the persons from whom he inherited it, might have his whole property confiset ed. (Hear, hear.) For 30 years that system was trird in Bengal, and after some experience the discontent was hound so great that it was entirely dropped, Thit under the new system which was established in India that Plan of investigating titles was at once embraced, as a proof of a powerful Government, vigorous Executive, and most fruitful source of public revenue. Therefore commissions were issued to inquire into titles to landed estates in the Presidency of Bengal and adjoining coun try. They were also issued in the Presidency of Bombay, and surveys were ordered to be made is the ❑esdy sett'ed provinces, in order that these commissions might he conducted, when the surveys were completed, with due efficiency. Now, there is no doubt that during the last nine years the action of these commissions of in quiry into the freehold property of landed estates in India has been going on at enormous rate, and immense results have been obtained. Of course, it is excessively difficult to arrive at very precise calculations on such matters, clouded in myetery, but from information placed before me, and in which I have great confidence, I am induced to believe the amount obtained by the G )vern ment of India in this manner—that is, by the resump tion of estates from their prooriet ire is not less in the Presidency of Be-gal than 500.0001. a-year. Conceive a bat a capital is represented by such an annual revenue ! Conceive the thousands and tens of thousands of estates that must have been resumed by the Government fretn the proprietors to obtain such a result. (Hear ) This is in Bengal alone, but the commission has las) been issued in the Presidency of Bombay, and has been hard at work there. I have been informed—and I would not mention the resul's unless I bad profound conviction that they are strictly true—that the amount of freehold ,and resumed by the Government of Bombay is not less than 370,0001. a year. The Preside cy of Madras re rria,n-, of which I know nothing. The Nordi-Westere Provinces, mapped out and surveyed, would pro. bably, but for the recent affairs, have been eubjectsd to the same process. I ask the house for a moment t ) pause and consider wha.:, a revolution in property has been going on under the new system in India, when a sum exceeding two-thirds of a million of pounds sterling per annum has been obtained by the Government as ren tal of land absolutely taken from the proprietors of the country. The house will see, as far as I can place before it the salient points of the question, how the sy-tem has worked, lion. members see that the law of adoption has been abolished, a law not affecting kingdoms and princi palities merely, but the tenure of land in the whole or greater part of Hiedostan. The law of adoption is limited to the Hindoos, but the house will understand that, so far as the resumption of eetates is concerned, the sense of injury thereby created affects all classes of the population and all races. But there is another source of revenue, which during the last few years recourse has been had to, and with respect to which the results, as regards the opinions and sentiments of the population, are not less important. The house will understand that when we gradual y obtained absolute possession over the great kingdoms of India—we often left a nominal authority— (pomp and pageant of power, to the netive princes to whom and to tieir heirs and chief deper:d,nts, the Government accorded pensions. They were perpetual pensions. For instance, the Nabob of Arcot, when be ceded the Carnatic, was allowed 4,0001. a-year, and this revenue was enjoyed for several generations. I mention this as an illustrative case. Not only the descendants of the chief, but the Ministers and great personages all had pensions, which were placed on the Government list of India, Naw, under the new system these pensions have been discontinued, and are to be considered as annuities only. The house will see that this is confiscation by a new means, but on a most extensi ve , s t ar tli ng an d shock ing scale, because the descendants of those ancient Royal families and nobles find themselves by this new rule re duced to a state sf the utmost humiliation. Take the case of the descendant of that very great chief theNabib of Arcot, who was alo wed a pension of 4,0001. a-year. (A.n hon. member.-40,000/.) Well, then, that makes the case much worse, but I have ratherconfidence in my own statement. Possibly both statements may be Tight, be cause what I speak of may be a portoin gone to one of the descendants. The son, of course, expected to hare that revenue, but be was alarmed when he heard thet the revenue, if he got it, was to be considered an annuity. Tois, however, it was at once announced that he should not have ; and I am assured by one who I think cannot be mistaken that he has received under the name of an annuity from the Indian Government a sum in rupees which amount i in pounds sterling to 1501. Conceive 1501. being' offered to a nun who expected to receive as much as, according to what we has;e just heard, 40,0001. a year. Let me read upon this subject a pa , slge from those minutes which are the keystone of the new Indian system. The 43d paragraph of the mi nutes is in these words : " During the last autumn the Nawab of the Carnatic very suddenly died. As the treaty by which the Musuud of the Carnatic was conferred on his Highness's nedeces sor was exclusively a personal one ; as the Nawab had left no male heir, and as both he and his family had disrepu tably abased the dignity of their position aid the large share of public revenue which bad been allotted to them, the Court of Directors has been a Ivised to place the title Of Nawab in abeyance, granting fitting pensions to the several members of the Carnatic family. Very shortly after the death of the Nawab of the Carnatic the Rajah of Tan jore deceqsed. He left no son and no male heir, diract or indirect, who bore his name. The Hon. C.,urt was there fore advised to resume the large stipend which the Rajah is id enjoyed as a lapse to the Government, pensions being granted to the members of the family, as in all similar cases." The house will see, therefore, with reference to the second point, how far, the Governmeet have disturbed the settlement of property by their tem luct with regard to the resumption of lends, by abolishing the principle of adoption, an I by changing into annuities those pensions on condition of paying which we became lords of the so vereignties. That, then, is the second great cause w hi c h has produced general discontent throughout India, and has estranged numerous and powerful classes from that authority which I think on the whole they were disposed to regard with deference. I have now to approach the third point—that of tampering with the religion of the people of India. This, lam aware, is one of those sub j mts which are called difficelt and delicate, but no subject is difficult or delicate when the existence of an empire is at stake, and I shall, therefore, address myself to this point without any undue reserve. I know that a great prejudice has been raised in this country against missionary enterprise in India, and if I could ascribe to missionary enterprise in that country any share in the production of those vast calamities which we are now considering nothing should induce me to shrink from expressing my opinion upon the subject. When, how ever, we hear of missionary enterprise in India being the source and origin of these disasters and troubles I cannot but remember that missionary enterprise is no new feature ittindia. (Hear, hear.) At a period antecedent to the existence of our empire there were active Christian missious in India. Roman Catholic missions existed, I believe, long before the successes achieved by Clive, and although our own missions are of much more naoderii date, their greatest efforts—their most energetic ex Lions —have been co-existent with general satisfaction and peace ameng all classes in India, and with a vigorous and successful policy on the part of the Government. With these facts before me, then, I must hesitate before I attri bute to missionary interference any of those calamities and dangers which we are now considering. The house will pardon me for making those observations. When the country is in danger we are very apt to seize the first plausible reason which may account for that danger, but the great object of the debate I wish to induce the house to enter upon is to arrive at sound and safe conclusions as to the causes of the calamitous events which have moored. (Hear, hear.) I think very great error exists as to the assumed prejudices of Hindoos with regard to what is called neissionary enterprise. The fast is that the Hindoos, and the Indian population generally, with the exception of the Musulmano, are educated in a manner which peculiarly disposes them to theological inquiry. There are no people who take such interest in religiose; discussions as the Hi ndoos. They are a most ancient race; they have a mass of tradi tion on these subjects; a complete Indian education is in a great degree religious; their laws, their tenure of land, depend upon religion; and there is no race in the world better armed at all points for theological discussion than they are. Add to this that they can always fall back upon an educated priesthood, prepared to supply them with arguments and illustrations when they require such assistance. So far from the Hindoo looking with suspicion upon the missionaries, I am convinced from what I have read and heard, that the Hindoo is at an times ready to discuss theological . questions with the missionarY• remember reading years ago a history of -the Roman Catholic mission in India, written by an abbe who was a man of admirable piety, of great knowledge, and of im maculate characte r , w h o, I b e li eve had spent the whole of his life in India ; and no man who has read that impartial and able work can suppose for a moment that missionary enterprise, whether conducted by Roman Catholics, Protestants, or any denomina'ion of Christians, would ever cause any serious dissension between the !Endo° population and the country. But what the Hiudoo does dread—what ha regards with the utmost jealousy what he looks upon with undying appre hension, is the union o f m i ss i onar y en terprise with the power of the Government. (Hear, hear.) With the idea of Government he associates power ; he associates with power only one idea violence ; he remembers the missionary enterprise of the Mussulmans, who bore the Koran in one hand and cimiter in the other; and, although he is perfectly ready to live upon the best terms wtth the missionary pure and simple, and to enter into interminable theological arguments with him, the moment he suspects the mission. ary is sanctioned by the Government—that authority anti cipates conversion—the most sensitive feeli !Ts of the Hindoo are outraged. (Hear, hear.) No taxation, however grievous, no injustice, however glaring, acts so dangerously upon the Hindoo character as the persuasion that the au thority of the Crown is exercised to induce hire to aban don the religion he professes. Now, have the Government their apprehension that it would prove a burden upcn property in some cases amounting almost to confisca . Sion, the sum really obtained from it had not yet ex seeded a fourth of the expected amount. (Hear, hear.) Be might add that tbere had only been three cases in which any dispute as to the meaning of the act had been tarried into the courts of law, and all the decisions had bean for the Government. (Hear, hear.) After a few observations from the Earl of DERBY and the LORD CHANCELLOR, The petition was ordered to lie upon the table. REGISTRATION OF LAND) BILL LONG LEASE 3 (SCOT. . This bill was TH rea E DUBLINd a third timeM AIL. and passed. In answer to Viscount DUNGANNON, Earl GRANVILLE said that an arrangement had been come to for the conveyance of the mail between London and Dublin. He could not state what would be the time occupied by the sea passage—the Government • bad nothing to do with that—the contract being for the whole distance ' • but he b-lieved that it would be about three hours and 45 minutes. REFORMATORY SCHOOLS BILL. This bill was read a second .ime. INCLOSURE ACTS AMENDMENT BILL,. This bill was read a third time. COMMON INCLOSURE BILL. This bill was read a second time. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BILL. • The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved tbe second read ing of this bill. It was, he said, originally brought into the other house of parliament by Sir S. Northcote, and after the dissolution was taken up by Mr. Adder!ey. The bill was entirely voluntary. Schools were to be founded by private liberality, and they would then be entitled to reeeive grants from the Privy Council. Powers were given to arrest children found begging who were on the high road to crime, and to place them in these schools, and to make the parents responsible fur their support. Lord BROUGHAM expressed himself in favour of the principle of the b 11. The Earl of DERBY said he should probably not be present when the bill was in committee, and he there fore now called attention to an extraordinary provision in the interpretation clause, that a person who had had an order of .affiLation made upon him should, for the purposes of this bill, be deemed the father of the child. (A. laugh.) This bill was then read a second time. The Militia Ballots Suspension Bill was read a second that the question whether it is a military mutiny is one of primary importance. (Hear, bear.) Is it a military mutiny, or is it a national revolt ? Is the conduct of . the troops the consequence of a sudden impulse, or is it the result of an organised conspiracy? The house must feel that upon the right appreciation of that issue the greatest of all questions, namely, the measures which the Government ought to adopt, or Parliament ought t sanction, entirely depends. (Hear.) The measures which may be adequate for a military mutiny will not be ade quate to cope with a national revolt. Tae measures which may be perfectly competent to deal with conduct which is only the consequence of sudden impulse will be totally insufficient to deal with conduct which is the consequence of combination, long matured, deeply laid, and extensively ramified. (Hear.) I apprehend that the right understanding by this house of the cause of the present state of affairs in India is a primary piece of knowledge without which we cannot undertake to sup port any masures that are brought forward for the pur pose of putting an end to the disorders which there exist. I will, therefore, to-might presume to address you upon two points—l will ask you first to inquire what are the cause • of the prevent state of affairs in India ; and when you have arrived at a general conclusion on that point I will ask you to inquire what are the proper measures under the circumstances which should be adopted. These are the two points to which, with your kind in dulgence, I will call your attention to-night, it being my opinion that they are inseparably connected, and that unless we arrive at ajust conclusion with respect to the cause it is totally impossible for us to adopt any sufficient remedy. (Heas.) It:is not my intention to-night to trouble the house with any lengthened description of the condition of the Bengal army. I apprehend that whatever may be the variety of opinions on other subjects no great difference can exist with regard to this—that the condition of the Bengal army, both as regards discipline and disposition, has been for some time, and was at the time of the revolt, highly.l unsatisfactory. The house has upon that subject very ample materials on which it may f ear its opinira. The house is now familiar with the fiery criticism of the lamented Napier. (Hear, hear.) I have no doubt every expression which he used is uppermost in the minds of those whom I address. The country has been recently favoured with the calmer reminiscences of another dis tinguished Indian general—Lord Melviile. There exists in a pamphlet, no doubt familiar to many members, the concurrence of a distinguished and perhaps one of the rising of Indian officers—Colonel Jacob—who does not agree with Napier on any other subject. It appears to me that I should trespass unnecessarily on the time of the house if I entered ipto any minute details or brought numerous proofs of the conclusion to which I suppose a vast majority of the house has arrived. Since the time when General Napier wrote those confidential and rapid descriptions of the state of the Bengal army, since Lord Melville had per anal experience of it, since Colonel Jacob published that pamphlet, it has been acknowledged that the condition of the Bengal army bas not improved but deteriorated, and that the griev ances, or the alleged grievances, of the Sepoys, instead of having, diminished, have perhaps increased. (Hear.) I think the houso;will feel it unnecessary for me to enter into the question whether that army was over or under officerel. I think that the house will agree with me that it is unnecessary to prove that, if under-officered, those officers who remained were inexperienced, ignorant of the language of the country, and too frequently con temptuous of its usages. I think the house will agree with me that it is unnecessary to enter into the question of the pay, the pension, the furlough of the Sepoy, his foreign service or general service. And there is one reason which above all others induces me not to enter into. any details upon this branch of the ques tion, because I am persuaded (and I shall offer facts and arguments in support of my opinion) that the conduct of the Bengali army in revoltirg against our authority was the conduct of men who were not so much the avengers •of professional grievances as the exponents of general discontent. (Hear, hear.) I shall show, or endeavour to show, to the Hoare to-night that our Government in India of late years has alienated or alarmed almost every influential class in the country. (Hear, hear.) I shall show, or endeavour to show, to the House tonight, that the mutual suspicions and prejudices between rival religions and different races, which were the cause of se gregation between powerful classes in that country, have of late years, in consequence of our policy, gradually dis appeared, and for them has been substituted an identity THE lONIAN ISLANDS. of sentiments, and those sentiments, I am sorry to say, Sir DE LACY EVANS asit •i if there was any truth hostile to our authority. (Hear, hear.) Ish ell have to fa the statements in the pub is j urnala, that the loni- show to the House how these feelings have led to °am ens had declared their readiness of shedding their blood, municetion between chases who never communicated to cast off British control ; and, if true, what measures before. I shall have to show to the House how comi bad been taken to prevent it? teunication under such circumstances led to conspiracy. Mr. LABOUCHERE 'said that he had received no I shall have to show to the House how the most power official information from the lonian Islands, but he had ful native class in India, the army, which has been die seen several private letters from that pare On two or ciplined by our energy and exertions, was at last drawn three occasions lately the lonian Assembly had passed into the vortex • and I shall show to the House that early in the session resolutions striking at the connec- for a considerable period of time the state of India wa s tion with this country, and it is usual on such occasions one of menacing combustion, and all that was wanted for the Governor to prorogue the assembly firth with on was the occasion and the pretext. (Hear, bear.) I shall sucb occasions. The Assembly had not passsed such a show the House how that occasion was aff rded, and resolution this session, and in consequence the Assembly hew that pretext was invented. But before I touch bad not been prorogued. The disturbances alluded to upon that point, although it is not my intention to-night bad arisen from the presentation of a petition to • this to refer to many documents, there is one passage house by Sir J. Pakingtan from M. Montgomery, rela- in a most important Indian State paper to which I tive to the propriety of there being a representative for ought to advert. The house is familiar with a minute the lonian Isles in this house. He was unable to state that was laid on our table in 1856 ;it is, in feet, a what had been done in consequence. history of the government of India by the late Governor- INDIAN NEWS. General. It consists of 45 pages and 180 paragraphs. In answer to a question from Se- J. PARINCITON, It touches upon every theme, one would suppose, that • . Lord PALMERSTON said that the Government bad eight years of energetic government supplied, or th.t. not Received any telegraphic oommunication in anticipa- a ml,l occur 'to either house at Parliament. Here we of the news from India. The Government were ignorant are t's.ld of the kingdoms that under the government of Of what it was likely to be. Lord Dalboesie were added to the British crown. No THE BUSINESS OF THE DAY. subject is too high or too insignificant to escape notice. Lord PALMERSTON moved the postponement of We are informed not only of annexations of territory, the order of the day till after the disposal of Mr. but of the establishment of railroads and electric tele- Disraeli's motion on India.—Agreed to. graphs. Nothing is omitted, except the subject upon THE STATE OF INDIA. which we require information. When the intelligence of the military revolt arrived I was a nx i ous t o re f er to Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, I h ar dl y k now w h et h er there this most important Indian State paper, an d t o h ave th e is anything more interesting—l am sere th ere are few opinion of the late Governor-General on the state of the things more instructive—than to recall the commence- Bengal army and the Indian army generally when he ment of great events. It is remarkable how insignificant retired feem his long vice-royalty. He has given us 45 ', A ges and 180 paragraphs, but t o m y surpr i se , w h en I incidents at the first blush have appeared which have . examine them, the Indian army never appears. (H ear, *overt() bei pregnant with momentous consequences, hear.) There is no subject which can po ss ib ly ' 'find thit in a street riot at Boston and Paris began, in interest us, or no incident of importance which fant ei the e twen great revolutions of modern times. Who did occur, that is not here commemorated ; but w.ould ha ve.tupposed, when we first heard of the rude the state of the Indian army I could not die. I found k - S sisitotrf a Russian sailor front a port in the Black Sea to cover. At last, to my great surprise, 1 a reference to the condition European of th e Contith:tope, that we were on the eve of one of the in paragraph 51 soldier. He was not the soldier upon whose gretelit of modern wars, and on the solution of one of condition I wanted information ; but still that pare thethenoetetiffictilt of political problems And so, a few graph was at the moment of some comparative interest. egeeneeagoewbenaparagraph appeared in our journals that The subject is treated at length. The improvements there-was a mutiny in a native regim en t i n I n di a , I d are in barrack construction, the i m p roveme nts i n th e ven • lation of barracks, the diff erences i n th e i r a ltit u d e i a the say few people read the paragraph. I d a r e sa y, indeed, bill country, and in th e pl a i n , are t ouc h e d upon w i th a • eitl i ttpersoris turned for amusement to the more exciting solicitude which cannot be too much praised. Under dieeuesions in this house on questions of domestic into- the same head—there being more than 20 paragraphs Feet or. of comparative insignificance ; and if the tranquil devoted to such important topics—l find an incide n t a l . notice of the native soldier in India. Here it is : course-of the-House of Commons this year did not afford position of the native soldier - in India has long theltn- even . tbis resource, they were, I dare say, more b e e " n T s h u e di ) hardly any circumstance of his condi intereeted in the stimulating adventures of the police tion in need of improvement." ophets. But, sir, I have always thought if mankind (k laugh.) I thought it right in speaking of the could bring themselves to ponder in time on the corn- condition of the Bengal army, and adverting to mencement of those events that greatly affect their for• the opinion of men like N a pi er , M e l v il le, and tunes and destiny, it is possible that we might bring to Jacob, that we shoul I have bef of the highest authority, and ore us the st a t ement therefore I have read the transaction of affairs more prudence and more ener gy to the house that sentence from the minute of Lord than are generally exercised at the commencement Daleousie. (Hear, hear.) I now proceed to lay be of such incidents, and that probably we might fore the house the reasons and facts that have induced me to arrive at the coeclusion which I hare alr ea dy prevent many public disasters and calamities. It was with that feeling, si r , w h en th e first stated. Of late years a very greet change has t a k en place in the government of India. In old days, and for stews arrived •of the occupation of Delhi by the a considerable time—indeed, until, I would say, the last rebels, that I thought I was only performing my duty 10 years—the principle of our government of India, if I in addressing corns inquiries to her Majesty's Govern- may venture to describe it in a sentence, was to respect went as to their opinions with regard to the cause o f nationality. We often talk now of our cenqusst of those remarkable events and the exact position of affairs. India, and sometimes we are told that it is necessary to Lem bound to say that at the time the answer which I re-conquer that country. The conquest of a country in received impressed sae with thefeeling that her Majesty' s habited by 150,000.000 men, in many instances of war 'Ministers did net view the events which ha I occurred in like habits, c mld at no time have been an easy achieve tbat spirit which I thought their latent importance de- meat. Its difficulty must certainly be increased to us Carved. The house will recoil ot the information that now after what bas occurred, and therefore I think it is was afforded by the Government on that occasion. Th e of some importance that upon this grave and common right ho gentleman (Mr. V. Smith) told the house that ilea of conquering India we should have as correct the Governor Generaleiflndia wrote in very good spirits, opinions as circumstances justify. I deny that in a vul that her Majesty's Government hoped and trusted—nay, gar sense we have ever conquered India. We have taken that they even believed—that by the flex❑ex< mail we should a part in the military operations which have very fre bear that the city of Delhi had been razed to the ground, quently been conducted upon a great scale in India. and, in , order to afford that test of truth and of danger The annals of our warfare in India are glorious. Our which. is so thoroughly appreciated by the inhabitants of arms have been victorious in many single fields and raauy gni Britt* isles, we were told to look to the state of the. brilliant campaigns. We have often triumphed over pnblic securities. (A laugh.) We were told that the stocks powerful Sovereigns, and bailed most skilful and dau nt, Calcutta bad not fallen, bat, on the contrary, had gerous confederacies. But we have conquered India only rather riven, and the inference to be drawn from this in the same sense in which William of Orange conquered circumstance was that the danger was neither profound England. We have been called in by populations suffer noir ee;ensive. Well, Sir, the to n e tak e n b y th e G evern• ins under tyranny, and we h ave en t ere d t h ose ki ng d oms merit in the other house of Parliament was not more se- and principalities to protect their religion and their pro rious. The noble lord there informed the country that the perty. It will be found in that wonderful progress of Government were utterly taken by surprise both here and human events which the formation of our Indian empire • hillndia—that nehours before these events occurred they presents that our occupation of any country was pre were not even suspected. (Hear-) Even in that patrician ceded by a solemn proclamation and concluded by a sa aseembly more generally considered to be connected with cred treaty, in which we undertook to respect and main the land the funded test was also introduced. A question tain inviolate the rights and privileges, the laws and cue ha asked, as if i n com bi nat i on w i th the Ministry, whe• t ome, th e proper t y an d re li g i on of the people. Such was f se tie funds had fallen at Calcutta, and the answer the principle upon which ourledianenapire was founded, that they had not fallen was received with marks of ap- and it is a proud as well as a politic passage in the his p4bliattoloon-criTi ! d er.) I admit that one ought not to review tory of Englishmen that that principle has been untillat; severs y the first expressions of a Go- ye trs religiously observed. (Hear.) All our great Indian vernaient aftaee;_vsauch events ; but when the Government statesmen-1 am net talking merely of politician• had bad the d nta ge of being informed, not by tele- who have gone out to undertake the government of pre graph, but by siderable time to C despatches—when they had had a cen.. sidencies, but of men like Malcolm, Metcalf, Elphinstone, (anxious, one der these events—when several and Munro —have al ways upheld the principle of main- Councils nniificat p ien t e h r ne home o have no doubt), h a d b een taming the engagements we made in those proclamations ten days after the first and treaties. Our empire in India was, indeed, founded princip a l ue members of the ciide was put into action by us not with any Machiavel the occasion of luau devices, but by merely taking advantage of the ne on, Eastern debate having India (the. Persian war) the house wasirfaevtouvreedrence to tural and, if I may tile the expression, spontaneous cir w with the cumetances of the country in which we were acting a matured opinion. of the Cabinet upon these great part. There were in India so many independent States, —thu Chancellor of the Exchequer informed he e l:O ats :o n many print=s of different races, so many religions, that the revolt of the Bar-gal army was a sudden ; l ee '.e . pulse, occasioned by superstitious feel-ions. (' Elear, f„r d m e e v d en so many la , susses, that if you rigorously per engagements it was totally impossible to bear," from the Treasury bench-) We were favours-] raise a combination which could overwhelm ou Wiry with the mature opinion of the Go v ernment upon the did th e IVia hOmine d y • ans and the Manrattes fail in India ? cause of these important events, and were led to beli eve The two principal causes of the downfall of there d am' from the to n e o f te e G overnmen t ant i t h e , x ,„ B ,i ons o f tiLs were --first that they ac j c i o ersecuted the people w Y nion; persdne of authority, who, if not members of the Govern- they had conquered onaccount of thsir religion ; and, tuela,. exercise, great influence in this house, an d are secondly, that whea treasuries became empty they 1 L U PP 0 4 10 440.60 general supporters of the Government, 1 confiscated the land.of the chief proprietors, England, and a solemn engagement not to tamper with that the «Induce of the troops in India was looked upon ont_ie contrary, al wa .„ • g d ion, It was by a 3 came in with a guarantee ot as a mere military mutiny. (ffear, hear.) I acqirettend t t4 i i r r -tbat-it is. of the Indi t a i policy founded el t e a d br upon that have foundtshed. greatest importance to obtain cl.far an i principle i that our power idear,se we can of .the causes which have led to this re - our great Indian authorities, indeed, Ali volt. When the Government appeared to we to be in a ; condition I ve n t ure d to intimate that it was their para. istencs of independent nati ve St ates to be asou i f il c : not of • e roodet duty to inv es ti gate the causes of dissatisfaction. ern h arrassmen t, b u t o f secur i ty to Rigland.- Soffit objection was tak en, that this being a mere 1 ,oked upon them, to use the express i on of one Y of a th ve e tail mutiny all . 1, e had t o d u was to put it down, and asset eminent of our ludian stat esmen, as the " safety when it was put down then th e G overnment would con- valves "of oar ronpire. The turbulent spirits of the eider the condition of the Indian army, I humbly think country were enrolled in their armies. Their mode of life time. The Public Health Act (Aldershot) Bill was read a second time. The report of amendmente on the Portland Harbour Bill was brought up and agreed to. THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL SERVICE. The Earl of HARDWICKE postponed a notics he bad on the paper relative to this subject until Monday ant. Their lordships then adOurned at 25 minutes past ieren. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTBRDAY.) The SPEAKER took the cbair at four o'clock. NEW MEABER. Lord A CHURCHILL took the oaths and his seat for Woodstock, in the room of the Marquis of Blandford. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Lords' Amendments to the Midland Great West ern Railway of Ireland (Streamstown and Clara Junc tion) Bill were considered and agreed to, The Eastern Bengal WOlway Company's Bill, and the Scinde Railway Company Bill were read a second time. offered a career which our more regulated and or linary habits would not have furnished to the fiery 3 euth of In dia. A strict observance of our treaties, the rigid main tenance of the laws and customs of the people, and, above all, a faithful respect for our guarantees of their land and a scrupulous adhesion to our engagements not to tamper with their religion—these were the sources of our strength, and upon these our great Indian statesmen always insisted. But of late years a new principle ap pears to have been adopted in the government of India. If the old principle—the principle upon which our empire was created and established, and which prevailed until very recent times—was a respect for nationality, the new system seems to be the reverse, and may be described as one which would destroy nationality. Everything in India has been changed. Law .and manners, customs and usages, political .organizetiens, . the tenure of pro perty, the religion of the people—everything in India has either been changed or attempted to be changed, or there is a suspicion among the population that a desire for change exists on the part of our Government. Now, taking the last 10 years, I would range under three heath the various causes which have led, in,my opinion, to the great discontent among all classes of that country with our rule. I would describe them thus—first, our forcible destruction of native princes; next, our disturbance of the settlement of property ; and thirdly, our tampering with the religion of the peopl e . (H ear .) I b e li eve th a t directly or indirectly all the principelt causes of popular discontent or popular disturbance will range under those three heads, and to those three heads I now wish to ad dress myself. I will endeavour to do so without over powering the subject with details and without referring to documents, except for authority, and I will also en deavour to compress my observations as much ae possi ble without sacrificing clearness ; bet even then I shall have to trust to the generous forbearance of the house for the time I shall occupy. (Hear.) The house will olboct I am venturing to treat of a theme of colossal Portions, that the issue at stake is of corresponding gnitude, and that upon the just appreciation by Par liament of the present state of India depends the great ness of this country. (Hear, hear) Now, sir, I will first address myself t o the forcible destruction of native authority in the East by our Government, and on this subject ate involved seme of the most important principles of Indian policy. The house must recol lect that even at the present time there are at least 200 native Indian princes ; they still govern a population of at least 60,000,000 of inhabitants. With all these princes the English Government has treaties. These ,treaties differ in many particulars of detail; in some there are conditions for contingent., in other for tribute, lb others, again, for the residence at the native court of a representative of the English Government, Out there is one feature of similarity throughout all those treaties— that is, an engagement on the part of the English Go vernment with each Indian prince tbat so long as the latter shall observe the auditions of the treaty the English Government will secure to him and to his heirs the throne upon which he sits. Now, sir, about the year 1848 I fix as the date of the inauguration of the new system of Indian policy, which I shall show to be opposed to all the principles by which our empire was gained and established. Great wars had then termi nated victoriously and triumphantly for this country. The struggles with new Powers that had sprung up— Nide ancient Powers that had threatened us—were closed. There was no fear of foreign assailants, and under those circumstances less regard far internal safe , guards. But the condition of. India in a financial point of view was by no means satisfactory. The house is so familiar with this part of the subject that I shall not dwell too closely upon details. The house is aware of the nature of Indian finance and that it admits of no ex pansien. The great bulk of the revenue is raised from the land,- and, although we receive a considerable amount from opium and salt; yet the revenue from those sources can only increase from increased consumption by an increased population. But affairs had then come to such a point that it was necessary that the revenue of the East Indian Government -should he increased. About this time. appeared one of the most important State papers that ever was published relating to India ; it was a minute of Council which referred to the decease of an Indian prince, and in which was laid down the principle alnecist without disguise that he . future Indian policy would be to in crease our revenue by increasing our dominions ; • hat, in fact, the only mode' by which an increased re venue could be obtained-was by enlarging our territo ries. About this time a very important incident occur red, although it did not at the time attract as much attention as its consequences justified—the death of a native Indian prince without natural heirs. The terri- , torier of this prince were not of first-rate importance, although they were not without value ; hid revenues were by no means considerable, yet they were not to be despised ; he was a prince to whom the respect and in teresi; of a large portion of the Indian races were directed. He was one of the great Mahratta family. After the fall of the Mahratta empire it had become a point of high policy with our Government that from the ruins of that empire independent Mahratta States should be formed, and that the heads of that family should all be placed upon the musnud as a means oftgrattfying the feelings of the defeated Mahratta people, and of claim • ing their sympathies for the new order of things. Such was the position of the Rajah of Sattara—a name which pro'•ably is unknown to many, but which at one time occasioned some some interest in this house, and respect ing whom many papers were laid upon this table. The aeath of the Rajah of Sattara was fixed upon as the incident by which our new Indian policy was to be in - auzurated. The Rajah. of Sattara, as I have tCready reminded the house, died without natural heirs, but the house must also remember that a Hindoo dynasty like that of Sattara can never become extinguished. The law of adoption prevails in India, and has prevailed from the most ancient times. The law of adoption is, in fact, the very corner stone of Hindoo society, and men who have no natural heirs adopt one as a matter of course, and as one of the great duties of life. Indeed, according to the Hindoo 'religion, the deceased Hindoo in another world can look for no happiness unless certain duties are fulff led, certain ceremonies performed, in this by his heir, and therefore it is absolutely neces sary that he should appoint an heir in order to insure the fulfilment of those duties and the performance of those rites. Hence, adoption in India is not only a simple right, but a religious duty • the whole frame work of Indian society is established upon that princi ple. The R'tjah of Sattara, dying without natural heirs, had before his death selected an heir, who was nomi nated with all the solemn ceremonies peculiar to the oc casion, whose adoption was notified to the British resi dent and published to the people by salvoes of artillery, and was received by them with perfect approbation. Teo Governor-General of India, however, in pursuance of the vigorous and novel policy which he had deter mined to establish in India, took the decided step of abolishing the law of adoption. He did not recognise the individual who had' been proclaimed to all India as the son and and successor of the deceased prince ; but, claiming the equivocal right of suzerainty as lord para mount, he ordered his troops to enter the Raj, and the Rajah of Sattara was absorbed into the dominions of the East India Company. This step was not taken without insiderable difficulty. The Governor-General of that day was a young - man, an energetic man, but one not experienced in Indian life, for at that period he had only been a few months in the East. The most experienced Indian statesmen protested against his conduct, and warned him of its consequences. They knew it was not merely a question affecting a small territory, but that it was a policy which would involve most important inva sions of law, custom, and right. The Governor of Bom bay, contiguous to which presidency was Sattara, was at that time Sir G. Clerk, now the secretary of the Indian - Board. 1 believe ail will agree, however differing in opinion upon points of Indian policy, that Sir G. Clerk has shown himself in many instances to be a most con summate and experienced statesman. He protested aga i nst t h a t policy, and warned the Indian Government against its consequences. I have been told, on authority so high that I cannot doubt it, that at the last extremity he proposed that the annexation should ba postponed t 11 it could be subjected to the arbitration of the highest authority in Indian matters in this country, Mr. Mount stuart El .hinstone ; but his proposal was rejected. , (hear) I,am bound to say that the directors of Voe East India Company on that occasion -evinced considerable character, skill in prescience, and in many instances, no small ability. Unfortunately there was a majori , y in fa vour of the new policy ; but there remain on record the dissents of six members of the Court; men without excep tion of great Indian experience, and, as their dissents show, men of great ability, of thoughtful minds, and of practical wisdom. I have not those dissents by me, but I call to mind the names of such men as Mr. St. George Tucker, Mr. Melville, and Capt. Sheppard, whose names are appended to them. The protest of Capt. Sheppard, which may be found in the Sattara paperer, contains lan guege which I recommend to the attention of the house, for it contains words of wisdom that would have become any statesman of any country in the world. The ques tion of Sattara passed. Whatever may have - been the passing rumours they were altogether disregarded, 'and from that moment, without ceasing, the system of annex ation took place, or was attempted, -in every instance in which a native prince died without 'natural heirs. The principle of adoption,. which I have before gaieties the very-corner stone of Indian society, was systematically set aside by Government, and the opposite principle be came the basis of a new policy. An hon. and learns I gentleman who takes an interest in Indian affairs moved some time ago for a return of the annexations that have taken place between 1848 and 1856. I do not know whe ther teat paper is in the hands of members, but if it is a brief glance will show that while some of the annexations have taken place by c , nquest, in the great majority of instances they have been the consequence of a want of heirs, In every one of - these instances our Government were taking a step which shook the confidence not of merely native princes, but, as I shall be able to show, the confidence also of a powerful party among the population of India. (Hear, hear.) All the Rajahs who during that time died without natural heirs had dominions of greater er less extent, and no incensiderable revenues, and all of these were absorbed into the' British empire. The -minute to which I have referrede—the memorable docu ment that was planed on the tattle of the House of C moos by the late Chairman of the East India' Company -after enutneraing some vast annex ttions to which I si,all not now allude, contains a paragraph which is called " minor political events," and with the perrnis ,ion of the house I shall read from that paragraph aims sage that will convey an i m p r ession of what has been ;ping on in India much miore vivid than could be given by mere spoken words. It says : " Early in 18!S, the Rajah of Ungool, a petty chieftain in the Jungle Mohals, resisted the authority of the Govern ;Bent. His Raj was taken from him, and he has since died in exile." Poese are Raj , ' that - were not obtained by violating the law of adoption, but they are instances which show that .ho system of annex ation was pursued by every means tiud on' overy pret€ "The Rajahof Sikkim, a hill chieftain on the borders of I.l6 Pmitl, in order .to enforce certain claims which ha alleged ROYAL ASSENT. The SPRAYER and several members attended the House of Lords to hear the royal assent given by com mission to numerous bills. (See Lords.) AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. Lord CASTLEROSSE appeared at the bar of the house with her Majesty's gracious answer to the Ad dress relative to the slave trade in Africa, in which her Majesty stated she would do all in her power to carry the wishes of the house into effect. PORTSMOUTH ELECTION. The SPEAKER, announced that the petition against the return of Portsmouth had been withdrawn, and the order for referring it to a committee was read and dis charged. of India lent a sanction to that suspicion of the Hindoos ? H ave the Government tsken a course which has led the mass of the e -people to believe that Were was ground for such-a suspicion ? This is a most important inquiry, and lit is one to which the house ought to address itself. I must s ,y, after examining the subject, I am sure with im artiality, that it a p pears to me the Legislative Council of India have, under the new system, been constaitly med dling with the Hindoo religion. I don't say that the establishment of a great system of national education— which, if it had been kept free from any taint of this de scription, wonid have been of the utmost advantage to India—has been converted into an obvious and open in strument of proselytism. I don't say that in establishing a national system of education for the Hindoos you have gone ostentatiously into their schools with our sacred scriptures, but I am very much misinforri,ed if the sacred scriptures have not suddenly appeared in those schools, and you cannot persuade the Hindoos that they have appeared there without the concurrence or tbo secret sanction of the Government. I think also that the establishment of what is called in the minute " a system of female education in India " was a very unwise step on the part of tie authorities. After all their efforts they seem to have collected some, fifty Indian ladies in an establishment, and I cannot but regard it as a most dangerous measure considering .the peculiar ideas entertained by Hindoos with regard to women— that these 59 Gentoo ladies should have been placed in an institution where they wsre under the guidance and in struction of men. I think that was a circumstance calculated to alarm and disturb the Hindoo mind. There were, how ever, other acts on the pa , t of the Government, Ivhich regard as much more reprehensible, and which, as I shall show, have produced very evilconsequences. There are two acts which have passed the Legislative Council of India within the last few years, and which hive amazingly dis turbed the whole religious mind of Hindostan. The first was the law which enacted that no maushould lose his pro perty on account of a change of religion. That has occa sioned great alarm in India. The house must understand that a great deal of property is held in India by men as trustees for sacred purposes hereditarily, and if a man does not lose his property who has changed his religion he can hold that property as a Christian which, as a Hindoo, he ought to employ for the maintenance and propagation of he Hindoo faith. That is a change in the law which has created great alarm and suspicion. But there is also ano ther law which has more alarmed the feelings of the Hin doos, and that is the law which permitted a Hindoo widow to marry a second husband. (Hear, hear.)' What c o uld h a ve induced the Govern or -G enera l oandia to pass such a law it is at this moment impossible to conceive. If there had been any great feeling on the subject among the Ilicdoo community one could have understood the reason ; but, as I am informed, no man or woman among them ever ex presaed any desire in favour of that last enormity which gave umbrage to their faith. These two laws have, more than any other cause, disquieted the religious feelings of the Hindoos. Even vety lately I heard that the Governor General had forbidden the procession of an ancient society in the neighbourhood of Calcutta from being solemnised. That was not a wise step. And then I am also told that the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal has forbidden the cele bration of a ceremony sacred both toMahornedans and Hin doos. This, as it appears to me, is a policy on the part of the Legislative Council of India highly dangerous, tampering as it does with the religion of the population, But what has been the consequence of the conduct to which have alluded? There has been established in Calcutta a society imitating our societies for propagating the Gospel in this country. The moment it was believed the mis sionaries were patronised by the Government—the moment it was widely circulated that the missionaries were the emissaries of the British Government, it was deemed necessary to take steps to counteract the effect of their conduct, and some yeas ago, but still within the period within which I am generally confining nay remarks, a society called the Sobala was set on foot to maintain the ancient faith of the country, and to protect it from the as saults of the Government; and that society was organised on a scale of great and increasing extent. It has had its agents throughout Bengal and the North-Western Pro vinc..s generally, and has since extended them to more dis- tant parts. But here was an organisation —some o f it s agents I am told have even reached this country—which in the moment of trouble and political disaster would not be idle, acting, as they believed, in the most sacred cause of their country. I have endeavoured to show to the house under the th ee heads to which I first adverted—namely, the forcible destruction of native authority in India, the disturbance of the settlement of property in India, and the tampering with the religion of India —that there have been great causes at work during the last ten years which have naturally and necessarily occasioned great discontent and disquietude among the powerful classes in that coun try ; and, taking into consideration at this moment the state of affairs in India. and the state of the public mind in India shortly after the annexation of Berar, I think we shall see that the whole of the native princes were alarmed by our policy, and though those who were most aggrieved were the Indian rajahs, still there can be no doubt that the Mahomedan princes and population could not have looked at this policy without considerable distrust. I have shown that even so far as the tenure of land is concerned, irre spective of the principle of adoption, the Mohoinedan prin ces and population were equally erected ; I have shown that a powerful society to defend the religion of the coun try was in active operation, and think the house will see that it is no exaggeration to assume that about 1854 and 1855 the temper of India was one of peril, and one which ought to have occasioned great disquietude to the Govern ment of that country. (Hear.) It was under these circum stances—it was with the great body of princes alarmed and the most powerful classes of the' proprietors smarting un der grievances - it was even in the midst of usurpation and confiscation, added to religious terror first touching the great MASS of the working population, that an event occurred in pile to the consequences of which I am now going to solicit your attention for a few moments. And that was the annexation of Oude—(hear)—the effectof which, as I shall show, was of a very peculiar and, if I may use the expression, generalising character. Now, I am not going, to-night at all into the circumstances of the Oude case. It is a subject which of course requires ant will receive due. attention when it shall come specially under the considera tion of the house ; but it would now demand too much time for me to enter into or even allude to the merits of it. I must, however, remind the house that in the case of Oude the principle of adoption was not observed, for the ruler of Oude was a Ilahomedan prince, and still is. The' annexation of Oude did not take place in consequence of the alleged iufraction of the treaty by the sovereign of Onde. That, I believe, has never for a moment been pre tended; and not only the late s but the preceding and other sovereigns, have been our faithful as well as affec tionate allies. At the time of our greatest disaster in In dia, when our army was destroyed in Affghanistan. • and when alarm with respect to the disaffection of the native princes in some quarters was felt, so great was our confi dence in the sovereign of Oude that we denuded not only his kingdom, but also the contiguous province, of all the forces we had there, awl he not only sent us all his war elephants, but even 400,0001. sterling. (Hear.) If I allude at all to Oude, it is that my argument may not be misunder stood or misrepresented. We shall be told, n'") doubt, that the condition of his country was not satisfactory, ortha,t his character was not irreproachable. I shall not enter into these questions. But, whatever may have been thought of his co s luct, no right can be founded onthat for dethroning hitn—(hear, hoar)—for by the treaty we had with him the very matter of misconduct had been anticipated and pro vided for. And thew was another reason why the Govern ment of India ought to look with much indulgence on the personal conduct of the late Sovereign of Oude, because the Government of India changed the line of succession in Oude, and placed the father of the late King on the throne instead of the prince who by custom and by law ought to have succeeded. Of that prince Iha l some knowledge by the information I had received years ago from men .nost competent to speak of him. He lives in a distant eastern city upon a pension allotted to him by the Indian Govern ment, and he was recommended to me long before the question of Oude ever interested the public attention as, without exception, a man of the most immaculate character that ever existed in the E a man most enlightened and amiable, and more competent, perhaps, to be a benevolent and judicious prince than any that ever existed. That, I think, ought to be recollected when the disposition of that throne comes fairly to be considered. I now only wish to call the attention of the house to the consequences of this startling event—the annexation of Oude. For the first time the Mahomedan princes felt that they had an identity of interest with the llindoo Mahrattas. From that moment they set aside the sullen pride of former conquerors who would not condescend to sympathise with the victims of Sattara. They saw that from a system founded upon a violation of Hindoo law they were not to b 3 exempted. The moment that the throne of Oude was declared vacant, and English troops were poured into the territory, the Ma homedan princes understood what would be their future fate. You will see how the plot thickens. You have the . _ whole of the Indian princes—men of different race and dif ferent religion —men between whom there were traditionary fends and long and enduring prCjudices, with all the elements to produce segregation—become united—Hindoos, Mah rattas, and Mahomedans,—secretly feeling a common interest and a common cause. (Hear, hear.) The princes and the proprietors are against you in their hosrts. (Hear) You have an active set spread all over India, alarming the ryot, the peasant, respecting his religious faith. Never mind what were your intentions ; the question is, what were their thoughts— what wore their infere aces ? But the annexation . of Ourie brought more than that. Although you had alienated from you thehearts of princes and proprietors —although yon bad poisoned the former affection and veneration of the peasantry—there was a class in India which, if yon had allowed it to rennin faithful, might have enabled even the new system to have tri umphed. It turned out that the great proportion of the Bengal army were subjects of the King of Oude. I have been told on such high authority that I venture to make the statement in this house - although I heard it first with,. I hope, some allowable scepticism- that there were not less than 70, , 100 snen frourpude in that army. In many instances they were propPletors, and in many more they were the sons of proprietors. They entered the service of the British 'Government. They looked forward, when their period of service terminated, to retiro to their native village with their pension, and with the high privileges which, if not legal, were no less effectual. If an Oude subject, a soldier of the Company, were injured, and if he complained of the decision of the authorities, he had a right to (appeal to the British Resident. Here was a favoured class in Oude. Here was an imperium in imperio. lam not vaunting it. lam not praising it. I arnistating facts. It is the existence of the situation which acted on the opinions of the man, and the opinions of the man have produced the events. What is his position? The Oude Sepoy finds that he has no village to return to where he is to live the favoured subject of his native sovereign. If he is injured ho must appeal to the Company and be treated as all other subjects of the Company on the broad plains of Bengal. He goes back to his estate or to the heal of his family, his brother or father who holds it. This estate may be small, but it is as dear to him as the tenura of a Kentish yeoman. They have cultivated that estate and they have paid to their native sovereign the taxes claimed from them in kind. We know very well how taxes iu kind are paid in Eastern countries. Sometimes they pay more and sometimes less, but when there is a bad season, though' living under a despot, practically they defy despotisin,ancl do not pay taxes at all. But the Onde Sepoy retort s now to his village and finds it belongs to the company, and' that the rigid revenue system of India is appliedao his small property. lam saying nothing a b s t rac tedly against the revenue system of the India Company. Ab st r actedl y a fixed payment demanded under all circumstances is such as to make a fixed payment more advantageous than frost ing a great deal to the prince or proprietor. The Oude Sepoy finds himself subjected to a hard and novel system of taxation and revenue. He finds he has lest political privileges and the territorial position which he occupied, And for the first time the great body of the Bengal army is disaffected. How doe? th at act? With the princes, proprietors, and pro religious classes, all for a long time distrusted and disaffected, the 'opportunity occurs, and the only class which can keep them in order is angr, and discontented. Hon: gentlemen opposite will tell you, that I have no evidence that there was any combination among these classes. It is a sudden impulse, says the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He may as well have told you that the income-tax was a sudden impulse. (Laughter.) The an. i 3. nexation of Oude took place early in 1856. This is only the middle of 1857. Is it true that there has been no evidence of combination and conspiracy .in .India ? There may have been evidence which the Government has not understood. There may have been symbols which per plexed them. There may have been conduct, the motives of which they could not penetrate. But that .there is no evidence of combination for the last twelve months,, especially in Bengal, seems to me a position which cannot . for a moment be maintained.' (Hear , hear.) The house has heard of- the circulation of myste rious cakes in India, or, if not, allow me to tell them what has taken place and was taking place ire India nearly ft selve months ago.. This took place. A messenger comes to the headman of a village and brings him six pancakes— chupatties, such as the natives make of wheaten flour, and he says, "These six pancakes are, sent to you; you wit! make six others and send them on to the next village. The headman obeys, accepts thesis cakes, makes six others, and sends them on to the headman of the meat village with the same message. How did itbagin ? It is a mystery. If we knew the village whence : the pancakes were first circulated we might get very valuable information. Bob in the course of four or five months the whole of Bengaland the greater part of tl • contiguous country have been sub jested to this process of a man going from village to village, from headman to headman, from police-station to police station, leaving six pancakes with ro other order than that six other spaucekes sheuld be made and circulated. Sup peso the Emperor of Russia, whose territory in extent and character has more resemblance to our Eastern possererions than the territory of any other power—suppose the Emperor of Russia were told, "Sire, there is a very remarkable circumstance going on in 3 nur territory ; from village to viii-ge men are passing who leave the tail of an ermine or a pot of caviare, with a message for some one to perform the same ceremony. Strange to say, this has been going on in some 10,001) villages, and we cannot make head or tail of it." I think the Emperor of 'Russia would say, " I do not know whether you can make head or tail of it, but I am quite sure there is something wrong and we wait take some precautions, because, where the people are not usually indiscreet and troublesome, they do not make a secret communication unless it is opposed to the Govern meat. This is a secret communication, and therefore a communication dangerous to the Government.... This sending of cakes went on. Ido not say that the Govern ment could penetrate the secret; I do not find fault with them because they did not find it out. .What I want to show is—that there were outward and visible signs of con federacy. There was also an indication of conspiracy among the military which must have been known to the Indian Government. I allude to the cir cuenstsnces of the lotus flower. A man , came with a lotus flower and gave it to the chief of * regiment. It was circulated from hand to hand in the regiment, and every man who took it looked alit and passed it ou, saying nothing. Wo must understand that every man who passed it on was acquainted with the plot. When it came to the last soldier of the regiment be die' appeared and took it to the next station. The process was gone through in every regiment in Bengal. There was not a regiment, not a station, not an escort to which the lotus flower was not sent. All these things took place after the annexation of Oude. (Hear.) An hon. gentleman reminds me that last year the Bengal regiments refused their fur loughs. That was certainly a significant circumstance. I ventured to say that I would show a state of society in India which proved the existence of general discontent , and, difficult as it might be to pro re conspiracy, that would offer the house facts and circumstances sufficient to convince them that those was conspiracy. I think I have said enough to induce the house to pause before they form too precipitate an opinion upon the causes of the disasters in India. I think I have said enough to make the house at least feel that it is not by saying that we have to deal with a were military mutiny that we shall save India. The truth is, as I have shown, that the people of India were only waiting for an occasion and a pretext. That occasion was furnished, and that pretext was soon devised. Turning for a moment to the last Indian paper—that relating to European troops—l find there an observation by Lord Caw ning which I think worthy the attention of the house. There is not much in these papers ; but here is something to which I ought to refer. In a despatch dated the 7tll of February, 1857, the Governor-General takes, I think, 0 very rational view of his position and of the condition of the Indian empire. He shows the dangers that may arise, but he - remarks, " Peace has been restored in Europe it is trite, and with its return the disquietude which even a distant war had raised in the minds of the native population to some parts of India hes passed away." (A. laugh.) There is no doubt that the war between England and Russia coca' sioned disquietude in India. It is the character of Eastern nations, and especially of the Indian populations, many o f, which are extremely warlike, to symp a thi se withwar, an the moment they hear that there is a great struggle iii Europe, such as that which took pl a c e a cons id era b le time ago between England and France, or that which recently occurred between England and Russia, we find that their, minds are agitated. The mi n d o f I n di a was disquiete d a t a time when there were causes of domestic disquietude also occurring ; but no doubt the somewhat sudden termi . nation of the war between England and Russia gave us * good opportunity of protecting our empire in Indi a. It i* impossible to. believe that our Indian Government 'could have been ignorant of the state of the Bengal army (Hear, hear.) I cannot suppose that the strange eXprer sioa which I have quoted from the minute of the late Ga . , vernor-General could have been anythi ng b u t a po lities' ruse, if I may use the expression, and if he avoided treat ing in detail of a subject which he knew was pregnant with so much danger perhaps he considered—as I believe it t s the habit to consider in India —th a t , a l t h ough the Bengi°, army had been for years in a state of what may be Cello , chronic insubordination, there -Was nothing in its-Bondi' tint' tending to precipitate the - revolutionary movenaeot; that have now occurred. But unques ti ona b ly i t was tu" duty of the Indian Government to have most solemnly 01 ; pressed upon the Government at hom e th a t th e time low come when they ought most seriously toconsider 'the stat e , of our India army and the means which s h ou ld b e a d o pted iu the event of an outbreak, to defend and preserye col t empire. Who can doubt- that such representations , won" made to the Government at home? It 'is 'almost t r ifling with the patience of assemblies like the two Honses o Pariiwnent to be told ty Ministers when these grave e vent* are occurring in India that they had been taken complete'', by surprise, and that 21 hours befdr e th ey h a d no idea of their possible occurrence. (Hear.). I cannot but believe that there are representations not only from Lord Ganningi but from Lord Dalhousie— no t o nl y ( roar poor Gene "' Anson, to whose probable despatch or minute I have re ferred in my notice of motion, but from other persons t° authority, that must have brought the state of India before thieGovernment at home. We can understand that, hew * aver cognizant either the Government in India or the Go vernment in England were of the dan gers i mpe ndieg,iot' death-struggle with the Russian empire, it was totally possible to attempt to remove theta. It was one of 'the'" conjunctures in which statesmen have' a right td sa i l! " Great as the stake is, and bail as our chan c e s are, st' a for a long time we have lived upon chances in India'; an in the midst of the efforts we are making in Europe " cannot give our minds or devote one means to a d en ser s° distant." But I cannot understand why our Minister*, with the information which they must have at hand—b e ; cause if they bad n o t th a t i n f ormat i on they only ' pr °° ,, that there is no use f or Mi n i s t ers either 'in India or 11 ' England--(hear, hear)—the moment the peace of P°l was signed did not regar d it as t h e i r f i rst duty to give I' their energies and thought s an d d evote all their r_seur ae° to the settlement of India. (Hear, hear.) The first Pt: Hoy should have been one of profound peace—a Pell° suggested by the disquietude which prevailed, ae cordiof to Lord Canning himself, d u ri ng th e war between Eriglani and Russia. What w a s th e course pursued ? Was it fj, a. sedative and tr anqu illi z i ng nature ? D i d we calm the population and at the seine time inquire into their griey; sneers . and attempt to baffle their manoeuvres and, coal'', racies? Why, the p eop l e o f I nd i a, who for a long ,Seriiej of years, as I have e n d eavoure d to show to-night, and think not unsuccessfully, had been preparing for a n ()et • break, found that as soon as a struggle in Europe ceased, Asia was made the sc ene o f war in more than o n quarter. (Hear, bear.) The m os t powerful class 'Mahoenedans—the Shiites—heard that you were going " ti v make war upon an Oriental monarch and that monist. ° the head of their religi on . Th ere was nothing in that telligence which tended to remove their disaffection, o °, before they had recovered from it they found there v't, war in China. The condition of Indi a i n 1856 h as be k e; shown to you by Lord Canning, in what may u r called a wail of lamentation ov er th e sta t e o f 01 Indian emeire and the paucity of troop s a t hi s di s posal. Nevertheless, at that very period troops wer e sen t to Persia , and to Chins, and the Madras army was told th at it r e°: e earrisen Pegu. At the time when it was the policy of B o * . laud to soothe and tranquillise India, and to remedy the, grievances occasioned by feeble government, our Ministers ea the hardihood to raise the torch of war in every *dir s e,S tion throughout the East. (Hear.) lam told that only 5,u w ,- )n men went away, and 5,000 came or are coming back. "',," you think that the nations of India count your troops lIP ° .; their fingers? They know that your troops are goingiew ° ,,J; —they hope you may have to send more; and, deckling broadly upon these facts, they do not inquire how 113 °,"" t are going or how many are coining back ; it is sufficient them to know that you have war in Persia and in Chin i t and that your Eu ropean troops are gradually leaving tw",, great peninsul a , Th at b e i ng the 'state of the case, the OW being ripe, the occasion being offered offered by the q ° ; vernment of s England—a pretext only was wanted, and pretext was soon found. 'Tour cartridges greased in manner to outrage their religious belief —men lost their caste by serving the Power which they had so long ober' I will not go into the question as t o w h e th er th e cartridgvreo complained of are the memo as have always been used, as have been told is the case. I did no t suppose t h a t any o net, will after this discussion suppo s e th a t b ecause the car ridges were believed to be or were pretended to be beliel„, to be greased with pig's fat or c o w' s f a t th at t h at was tP,.. ca,u,e of this insurrection. (Hear.) I hope at least te a i ; the rising generation in Parliamentary life, who are 0 1 1 1 entering upon their care er am id occurrences which wit furnish ample materi a l s f or l ong di scussions during I.o°?,'t years iu this h ouse —th at the y will not too hastily aeeerg such superficial ideas. I can assure them that the rise O r.) fall of empi res are no t a ff a i rs of greased cartridges." (Isleae Such results are occas i o n e d b y a d equate causes an d bY O accumulation of adequate causes. (Hear, hoar.) ~,,, have now, Sir, endeavoured, imperfectly, as I am aviN e to sketch the causes which I believe to h ave led ve the present condition of our Indian empi re . Ib° omitted many things, and many of importance, from sd effort to avoid overloadi , g the subject with details, 0 ", I know I have subjected myself thereby to m an y o bserv ° o lions in reply, w hich I might have avoid e d , h a d i t not 1).0°0 for an anxious apprehension of trespassing. too long ur oe the attention of the house. But I hop e at least I. bis e ct conveyed to the house with clearness the genera l positiel t I wish to esteblish— (hear, hear)—by which Ido not se n d t fleetiug party triu mp h , b ut that after well tlivße gaindeeply c a o ny considering and properly discussing this subject ia , may arrive at some safe conclusion f or our future tu rd ~ a „„, I will"now refer to the secon d b ranch of my 01W-so ations, and I trust they will be much briefer than those 0 , which the house has alr e ady li s t ened with so 'much Pseis mice. Assuming, Sir, f r a moment that the general vie ed which I have attempted to convey to the house are for1 01 :4 on justice, I have now to inquire what are the bece'llhe menus which th e Government ought to adopt to inee t o ja present emergeney. I n a certain sense and to a Cer be degree there can of course be no controvert' among osa se ire cause we are a ll agree d that i n the present state of ao: o r the employment a force is the first and most neces s ;a step. (Hear, hear.) But the degree of employment !toe the manner of employment greatly depend on the vl v r el y which we take of th e ' ca us e o f th e e m ergenc y.. A 01° ffe et. military mutiny may be met by a mere military 8, 0 0 But if, on the contrary, what we have t o d ea l with 10 ,1 00 , insurrection favoured by the great mass of the populis t our measures must, as I think, be both in nature jO . degree different from those of which we have had so urc e timation from Her Majesty's Government. Looking e t this as national revolt, I cannot artier) at a belief 4'a the measures announced by the Government, T i e eea .) military measures, a,re adequate to the occasion. ("i a ece I should doubt whether they were adequate for, I hes military mutiny, but under no circumstances di , l e % ie lieve, as the Government appear to believe, thafet r u ' e a a mere military mutiny, would I' presume to ate t o* strong opinion upon their condu c t, If, when * 4 di G,