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

their apprehension that it would prove a burden open that the question whether it is a military mutiny is one iof primary i m p or t ance. (Hear, hear.) Is it a military- property in some cases amou n ti ng almost to coefisca- Con, the sum really obtained from it had not yet ex- ,' mutiny, or is it a national revolt ? Is the conduct of needed a fourth of the expected amount. (Hear, n ear .) I the troops th e consequence of a sudden impulse, or is it He might add that the re had only been throe cases in the result of an organiied conspiracy ? The house must which any dispute as to the meaning of the act had b een feel that upon the right appreciation of that issue the Carried into the courts of law, and all the decisions had greatest of a',l qu es ti ons, namely, the measures which the been for the Government. (Hear, hear.) Government ought to adopt, or Parliament ought t ) After a few observations from the Earl of DERBY and sanction, entirely depends. (Hear.) The measures which the Loan CHANCELLOR, may be adequate for a military mutiny will not be ade- The petition was ordered to lie upon the table, quate to cop e w ith a nat i onal revnlt. Tne measures REGISTRATION OF LONG LEASES (SCOT. which may b e p er f ect l y competent to deal w i th conduct LAND) BILL. I 1 which is only the consequence of sudden impulse will be This bill was read a third time and passed, totally insufficient to deal with conduct which is the THE DUBLIN MAIL. consequence of combination, long matured, deeply laid, In answer to Viscount DUNGANNON, and extensively ramified. (Hear.) I appreh en d th a t Earl GRANVILLE said that an a rrangement h a d the right understanding by this lieuse of the cause of been come to for the conveyance of the mail between the present state of affairs in India is a primary piece London and Dublin. He could not state what would be of knowledge without which we cannot undertake to sup the time occupied by the sea passage —the Government port any measures that are brought forward for the pur bad nothing to do with that—the contra c t b e i n ,, f u r t h e pose of putting an end to the disorders which there exist. whole distance ' • but he believed th a t it would be a b ou t I will, therefore, tc-right pr,sume t o a dd ress you upon three hours and 45 minutes. two points—l will ask you first to inquire what are the REFORMATORY SCHOOLS BILL. cause: of the present state of affairs in India; and when This bill wag read a second .ime. you have arrived at a general conclusion on that point INCLOSURE ACTS AMENDMENT BILL I will ask you to inquire what are the proper measures This bill was read a third time. under the circumstances which should be adopted. COMMON INCLOSURE BILL. These are the two p o i n t s t o w bi c b , w i th your kind in- This bill was read a second time. dulgence, I will call your attention to-night, it being INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS BILL. in opinion that they are inseparably connected, and The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved tbe second read- that unless we arrive at ajeet conclusion with respect to log of this bill. It was, he said, originally brought into the cause it is totally impossible for us to adopt any the other ho use o f par li ament b y S ir S Northcete, an d sufficient rem e dy. (Hear.) Itns not my intentio n t o - n i g h t after the dissolution was taken up by Mr. Adderley. to trouble the house with any lengthened description The bill was entirely voluntary. Schools were to be of the condition of the Bengal army. I apprehend founded by private liberality, and they would then be that whatever may be the variety of opinions on other entitled to receive grants from the Privy Council, Powers subjects no great difference can exist with regard were given to arrest children found begging who were to this—that the condition of the Bengal army, On the high road to crime, and to place thorn in these both as regards discipline and disposition, has been for schools, acid to make the parents responsible for their some time, and was at the time of the revolt, highly support. unsatisfactory. Th e h ouse has upon that subject very ' Lord BROUGHAM expressed himself in favour of ample materials on which it may frm its (Tilden,. the principle of the bit. The house is now familiar with the fiery criticism of the The Earl of DERBY said be should probably not be lamented Napier. (Hear, hear.) I have no doubt every present when the bill was in committee, and he there- expression which he used is uppermost in the minds of fore now called attention to an extraordinary provision those whom I address. The country has been recently in the interpretation clause, that a person who had had favoured with the calmer reminiscences of another dis an order of affiliation made upon him should, for the tioguished Indian general—Lord Melville. There exists purposes of this bill, be deemed the father of the child, in a pamphlet, no doubt familiar to many members, the (A laugh.) concurrence of a distinguished and perhaps one of the This bill was then read a second time, rising of Indian officers—Colonel Jacob—who does not The Militia Ballots Suspension Bill was read a second agree with Napier on any other subject. It appears to time. me that I sho u ld t respass unnecessarily on the time of The Public Health Act (Aldershot) Bill was read a the house if I entered into any minute details or brought second time, numerous proofs of the conclusion to which I suppose a The report of amendments on the Portland Harbour vast majority of the house has arrived. Since the time Bill was brougbt up and agreed to. when General Napier wrote those confidential and THE AUSTRALIAN MAIL SERVICE. rapid descriptions of the state of the Bengal army, since The Earl of HARDWICKE postponed a notice he Lord Melville had per•onal experience of it, since had on the paper renetive to this subject until Monday Colonel Jacob publi s h e d th a t pamp hl et, i t has been next. acknowledged that the condition of the Bengal army Their lordships then adjourned at 25 minutes past has not improved but deteriorated, an d th at t h e griev sev en. ances, or the alleged grievances, of the S Toys, instead of having diminished, have perhaps increased. (Hear.) I think the house:will feel it unnecessary for me to enter into the question whether that army was over or under officered. I think that the house will agree with me that it is unnecessary to prove that, if under-efficered, 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 revolting against our authority was the conduct of men who were not so much the avengers of professional grievances as the exponents of gereral discontent. (Hear, hear) I shall show, or endeavour to show, to the House to-night that our Government in India of late years has alienated or alarmed almost every influential class in the country. (Hear, bear.) I shall show, or endeavour to show, to the House to-night, that the mutual suspicions and prejudices between rival religions sled 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 of sentiments, and those sentiments, I am sorry to say, hostile to our authority. (Hear, hear.) I shill have to show to the House how these feelings have led to com munication between classes who never communicated before. I shall have to show to the House how comi Implication under such circumstances led to conspiracy. I shalt have to show to the House how the most power ful native class in India, the army, which has been dis ciplined by our energy and exertions, was at last drawn into the vortex ; and I shall show to the House that for a considerable period of time the state of India was one of menacing combustion, and all that was wanted was the occasion and the pretext. (Hear, hear.) I shall show the House how that occasion was aft rded, and bow that pretext was invented. But before I touch upon that point, although it is not my intention to-night to refer to many documents, there is one passage in a most important Indian State paper to which I ought to advert. The house is familiar with a minute that was laid on our table in 1856 ; it is, in fict, a history of the government of India by the late Governor- Generid. It u)ns , Fs's of 45 pages and 180 paragraphs. ' It touches upon every theme, one would suppose, that eight years of energetic government supplted, or that could occur to either hou io of Parliament. Here we are t 4 , 1 of the kingdoms that under the government of Lord Dalhousie were added to the British crown. No subject is too high or too insignificant to escape notice. We are informed not only of annexations of territory, but of the establishment of railroads and electric tele graphs. Nothing is omitted, except the subject upon which we require information. When the intelligence of the military revolt arrived I was anxious to refer to this most important Indian State paper, and to have the opinion of the late Governor-General on the state of the Bengal army and the Indian army generally when he retired from his long vice-royalty. He has given us 45 pages and 180 paragraphs, but to my surprise, when I examine them, the Indian army never appears. (Hear, hear.) There is no staneet which can possibly interest us, or no incident of inspertance which did occur, that is not - here commemorated ; but the state of the Indian army I could not di - cover. At last, to my great surprise, I found in paragraph 151 a reference to the condition of the European soldier. Ho was not the soldier upon whose condition I wanted information ; but still that para graph was at the moment of some comparative interest. The subject is treated at length. The improvements in barrack constuction, the improvements in the very i lation of barracks, the d ffsrencee in their altitude in the hill country, and in the plain, are touched upon with a solicitude which cannot be too much praised. Under the same head—there being more than 20 paragraphs devoted to such important topics—l find an incidental notice of the native s)nlier in India. Here it is : " The position of the native soldier in India has long been such as to have hardly any circumstance of his condi tion in need of improvement," (A laugh ) I thought it right in speaking of the condition of the Bengal army, and adverting to the opinion of men like Napier, Melville, and Jacob, that we shoul I have before us tlie statement of the highest authority, an.l thcretore I base real to the house that sentence from the minute of Lord Dalhousie. (Hear, hear.) I now proceed to lay be fors the house the ri a'ons and facts that have induced me to arrive at the co iclusion which I ha - re already stated. Of late yeere a very groat change has taken place in the government of India In old days, and for a considerable time—indeed, until, I would say, the last 10 years—the principle of our government of India, if I may venture to describe it in a sentence, was to respect nationality. We often talk now of our conquest of India, and sometimes we aro told that it is necessary to re-conquer that country. The conquest of a country in habited by 150,000,000 men, in many instances of war like habits, could at no time have been an easy achieve ment. Its difficulty must certainly be increased to us now after what hae occurred, and therefore I think it is of some importance that upon this grave and common idea of conquering India we should have as correct opinions as circumstances justify. I deny that in a vul gar sense we have ever conquered India. We have taken a part in the military operations which hive very fre quently been conducted upon a great scale in India. Tne annals of our warfare in India are glorious. Our arms have been victorious in many single fields and many brilliant campaigns. We have often triumphed over powerful Sovereigns, and banned most skilful and dan gerous confederacies. But we haveconquered India only in the same sense in which William of Orange conquered England. We have been called in by populations suffer• ing under tyranny, and wo have entered those kingdoms and principalities to protect their religion and their pro perty. It will be found in that wonderful progress of human events which the formation of our Indian empire presents that our occupation of any country was pre ceded by a solemn proclamation and concluded by a sa cred treaty, in which we undertook to respect and main tain inviolate the rights and privileges, the laws and cus toms, the property and religion of the people. Such was the principle upon which ourlndianempire was founded, and it is a proud as well as a politic passage in the his tory of Englishmen that that principle has been until late years religiously observed. (Hear.) All our great Indian statesmen-1 am not talking merely of politician , who have gone out to undertake the government of pre sidencies, but of men like Malcolm, Metcalf, Elphinetone, and Munro—have always upheld the principle of main taining the engagements we made in those proclamations and treaties. Our empire in India was, indeed, founded upon the old principle of divide et impera, but that prin ciple was put into action by us not with any Machiavel lian devices, but by merely taking advantage of the na tural and, if I may use the expression, spontaneous cir cumstances of the country in which we were acting a part. There were in India so many independent States, go many princes of different races, so many religions, and even so many languages, that if you rigoreusly per- I rd o aidti m et e ha d ecm y orn o a n bb r oinm e a n tnt g io a ed g n em en t s it was totally impossible to which an s tas fa fail i you. n In W dia lly ? The two p r incipacause a s n of the downfall of those dynas ties were—first, secondly, that whea tire' that they persecuted the people whom their treasuries of their religion ; and, they had conquered confiscated the land of the ' chief became empty they came proprietors. England, on the contrary, .always agpeomi policy fo n u o n t tle o d ta m per with their land, and a solemn eng with a guarantee of , their religion. It was by a I principle that our power i n I ndia was establisulf e oda. Al,, that our great Indian authorities, i n d eed, have found the istenc s of independent native Stat es to b e a source not ex oi em barrassment, but of security t o E ng l and. Tney have l oo k e d upon them, to use the expression of one of the most eminent of our Indian statesmen, as the " safety valves "of our empire. The turbulent spirits of the country were enrolled in their armies. Their mode of life HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YEsTaRDAy.) The Sewall took the chair at four o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Lord A CHUROIIILL 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 Railway Company's Bill, and the Scinde Railway Company Bill were read a second time. ROYAL ASSENT. The SPZAKEII 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 bad been withdrawn, and the order for referring it to a committee was read and dis charged. THE lONIAN ISLANDS. Sir DE LACY EVANS asks, I if there was any truth in the statements in the pubic jlurnals, that the loni ans had declared their readiness of shedding their blood, to east off British control ; and, if true, what measures bad been taken to prevent it? Mr. LABOUCHERE raid that he had received no official information from the lonian Mends, but he had seen several private letters from that part. On two or three occasions lately the lonian Assembly had passed early in the session resolutions striking at the counec tion with this country, and it is usual on such occasions for the Governor to prorogue the assembly forthwith on such occasions. The Assembly had not passsed such a resolution this session, and in consequence the Assembly bad not been prorogued. The disturbances alluded to bad arisen from the presentation of a petition to this house by Sir J. Pakington from M. Montgomery, rela tive to the propriety of there being a representative for the lonian Isles in this house. He was unable to state what had been done in consequence. INDIAN NEWS. In answer to a question from Sir J. PAKINSITON, Lord PALMERSTON said that the Government bad not received any telegraphic communication in anticipa ef the news from India. The Government were ignorant of what it was likely to be. TFIE BUSINESS OF THE DAY. Lord PALMERSTON moved the postponement of the order of the day till after the disposal of Mr. Disraeli's motion on India.—Agreed to. THE STATE OF INDIA. Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, I hardly know whether there is anything more inttresting—l am sure there aro few things more instructive—than to recall the commence ment of great events. It is remarkable how insignificant incidents at the first blush have appeared which have proved to be pregnant with momentous consequences, and that in a street riot at Boston and Paris began, in fact, the two great revolutions of modern times. Who would have supposed, when we first heard of the rude visit of a Russian sailor from a port in the Black Sea to Constantinople, that we were on the eve of one of the greatest of modern wars, and on the solution of one of the most difficult of pslitical problems ? And so, a few weeks ago, when a paragraph appeared in our j rnals that there was a mutiny in a native regiment in India, I dare say fow people read the paragraph. I dare say, indeed, most persons turned for amusement to the more exciting di cu - sions in this house on questions of domestic int - rest or cf comparative insignificance ; and if the tranquil course of the House of Commons this year did not afford . them even this resource, they were, I dare say, more interested in the stimulating adventures of the police courts. But, sir, I hare always thought if mankind ccu!d bring themselves to ponder in time on the corn mercoment of those events that greatly affect their for tunes and destiny, it is possible that we might bring to the transaction of affairs more prudence and more energy than are generally exercised at the commencement of such incidents, and that probably we might prevent many eublie disasters and calamities. It was with that feeling, sir, when the first news arrived of the occupation of Delhi by the rebels, that I thought I was o-dy psrformicz my duty in addressing some inquiries to her M jesty's G )vern ment as to their opinions with regard to the cause of those remarkable events and the exact position of affairs. I am bound to say that at the time the answer which I received impressed me with the feeling that her Majesty's Ministers did net view the events which ha I occurred in that spirit which I thought their latent importance de. served. The helve rec3ll_ct the information that was afforded .hy the Government on that occasion. The right ho i. gertleman (Mr. V. Smith) told the house that the Governor General,of India wrote in very good spirits, that her Majesty's Government hoped and trusted —nay, that they even believed—that by the rex , mail wo should hear that the city of Delhi had been rand to the ground, and, in order to afford that test of truth and of denger which is so thoroughly appreciated by the inhabitants of the British isles, we were told to look to the stare of the public securities. (A. laugh.) We were told that the stocks at Calcutta had not fallen, bat, on the contrary, had rather risen, and the inference to be drawn from this - circumstance was that the danger was neither profound nor extensive. Well, Sir, the tone taken by the Govern • merit in the other house of Parliament was not more se rious. The noble lord there informed the country that the Government were utterly taken by surprise both here and • in India—that 24 hours helixes these events occurred they ' were not even suspected. (Hear.) Even in that patrician assembly more generally considered to be connected with the land the funded test was also introduced. A question was asked, as if in combination with the Ministry, whe ther the funds had fallen at Calcutta, and the answer that they had not fallen was received with marks of ap probation. (Hear.) I admit that one ought not to review with too criti ca l severity the first expressions of a Go vernment after such events ; but when the Government bad had the advantage of being informed, not by tele graph, but by despatches—el.leth they h a d had a con. sideeable time to cons.d er these events—when several Councils (anxious, I have no doubt), had bee n bald upon them some ten days aftr the E n t ' notification the house was favoured by a great officer of State—one of the principal member s of the Cabinet —incidentally, it is true, still, on the occasion of an Eastern debate having some indirect reference to India (the Persian war) the house was favoured with the matured opinion of the Cabinet upon these great events —the Chancellor of the Exchequer informed the house that the revolt of the Bengal army was a sudde n i es • pulse, ls occasioned by superstitious feelings, c. H ear, • bear," from the Treasury bench.) We were favoured with the mature opinion of the Government upon the cause of these important events, and were led to believe from the tone of the Government and the expressions of persons of authority, who, if not members of the Govern ment, exercise great influence in this house, and are supposed to be general supporters of the Government, that the conduct of the troops in India was looked upon as a mere military mutiny. (Hear, hear.) I apprehend that it is of the greatest importance to obtain as clear an idea as we can of the causes which have led to this re volt. When the Government appeared to me to be in a condition I ventured to intimate that it was their para . mount duty to investigat e the causes of dissatisfaction. Some objection was taken, that this being a mere mill - tary mutiny all ai e had to do was to put it down, and when it was put down then the Government would con icier the condition of the Indian army, I humbly think THE SUN, 1{0;\ DON, TETESDAY EVENING. JULY 28, 1857 offered a career which our more reeuleted and ordinary habits would not have furnished to the fiery youth 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 he the reverse, and may be described as one which would destroy nationality. Everything in India has been changed. Law and marnere, customs and usages, political erganizetione, 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 beads 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 people. (Hear.) I believe that directly or indirectly all the principal 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 as 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 recollect I am venturing to treat of a theme of colossal proportions, that the issue at stake is of corresponding magnitude, 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 to the forcible destruction of native authority in the East by our Government, and on this subject ate involved same 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 contingents, in other for tribute, in others, again, for the residence at the native court of a representative of the English Government, but 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 that so long as tin latter shall observe the conditions of the treaty the English Government will secure to him and to his heirs the thane 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— xith ancient Powers that had threatened us—were closed. There was no fear of foreign assailants, and under those circumstances less regard for 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 be 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 almost without disguise that the future Indian policy would be •to in crease our revenue by increasing our dominions ; that, 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 heir.. The terri tories of this prince were not of first-rate importance, although they were not without value ; his revenues ' were by no means considerable, yet they were not to be ' despised ; he was a prince to whom the respect and in terest of a large portion of the Indian races were directed. He was one of the great Mahratta family. After the fall of the l'ilahratta 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 beads of that family should all be placed upon the tausnud as a mass of gratifying 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 probably is unknown to many, but which at one time occasioned some some interest in teis house, and respect ing whom many papers were laid upon this table. Toe neath of the Rajah of Sattara was fixed upon as the incident by whica our new Indian policy was to be in augurated. The Rajah of Sattara, as I have already reminded the house, died without natural heirs, but the house must also remember that a Iliedoo dynasty like that of Setters can never become ex . inguished. 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 Hinder) in another world can look for no happiness unless certain duties are fulfilled, certain ceremonies performed, in this by his heir, and therefore it is absolutely neces eery 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 simile right, but a religious duty ; the whole frame work of Indian society is established upon that princi ple. The 11.jan 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 rest dent and published to the people by ealvoes of artillery, and was received by them with perfect approbation. Time 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 ell India as the son and and successor of the deceased prince ; but, claireirg 'be equivocal right of suzerainty as lord para mount, he ordered his troops to enter the Rej, and the Rajah of Sattara was absorbed into the dominions of the Ea=t India Company. This step was not taken without c insiderable difficulty. The Governor-Genaral of that day was a young man, an energetic man, but one not experienced in Indian life, for at that period he bad 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 riot merely a question affec . ing 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 Boatel. I believe all 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 against that 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 be postponed till it could be subjected to the arbitration of the highest authority in Indian matters in this country, Mr. Mount stuart Elehinstone ; but hie proposal was rejected. (Hear ) I am bound to say that the directors of the East India Company on that occasion evinced considerable character, skill in prescience, and in many instances, no small ability. Unfortunately there was a majority 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 wiedoin. I have not those dissents by me, but I call to rnindethe names of such men at 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 papers, centains lan guage 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 said was 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 learned 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 that 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 conquest, 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 confidencemerel y native s o p o r f i n a c p e o s, w b e u r f t u , l a p s a l r t s y li hall b o e n a g b t l e h e t o show, population the of India. (Hear, hear.) All the Rajahs who during th a t time died without na t ura l h e i rs h a d dominions of greater or less extent, and no inconsiderable revenues, and ail of these were absorbed into the British empire. Th e , . . . against the Government of India, had the audacity to seize the personof the political officer at Darjeeling, when travel ling under the Rajah's safeguard within his dominions. Military preparations 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 Morel of Khyrpore, was accused of hav ing forged a clause in a treaty whereby he had wrongfully obtained possession of lands which of right belonged to the British Government. A full and fair investigation W 33 made. The Ameer had every of p utunity afforded to him of defending himself; but his guilt was proved beyond a doubt. The lands wore 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 be India. I now call the attention of the house to 1854. There had been five or six years during which the Indian Govern ment, commencing with Setters, had dealt under this system with the territories of a dozen independent princes who died without natural heirs, when in 1854 ono of the most considerable of the native princes died—one who still sat on a Royal throne the Rajah of Berar—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 in been alleged that he had violated the condi tions of any treaty; he died without natural heirs, and in pursuance of the new policy it was determined to annex that vast and wealthy country to our dominions. (Hear, hear.) Oar 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 et etesman. 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 Mahomedan sultans, Hindoo Rajahs, and Mabratta princes —and be 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 ernp:ifying more vigour, acuteness, and energy, was pro bably never penned since the bulletins and manifestoes of the great Emperor Napoleon, when heannexed kingdoms to his immense empire. (Hear, hear.) I shall at present refer particularly to only one passage for the future guidance of the house, for I feel that we are only as yet in the ante-chamber of Indian discussions. (Hear.) In that minute the Governor-Geemal says : " The incorporation of Nagpore would give to ns a terri tory which comprises 80,000 square miles, producing an annual revenue of 40 lace of rupees, and containing more than 4,00,1,000 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, bear.) The Nizam is the most powerful Mussnl man Sultan in India, with a population of from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 under his command, and territory of corn measurate proportion. (Hear.) And, mind you, these minutes bring you into the Secret Council of Calcutta, which is the same as the Cabinet Council in this country, in so far as they indicate the policy that was in the minds of individuals. (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 importance to have the opinion of a man of this sort. We have a great variety of opinions upon Indian policy in 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 experienced 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 pootanse 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 soiz, that country. " But every person who mentioned the subject to me, and there were numerous persons who did so, held totally different language in regard to the annexation of Sattara. They did not make use of many words on sach 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 mo very clearly that they thought it a case of might against right, and all 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 ma respecting the annexation of Sattara asked precisely the same question—viz., What crime did the late It-,ja.h commit that his country should he seized by the company ? (Hear, hear.) Thus clearly indicating their notions, that, it 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 hie own opinions, or of a temper which listens with impatieuce to the sugges tions of other. Or, the contrary, it is quite clear, from til e tone of these minutes, that he is a man who, if he hes a fault, has the fault lather of too easily yielding up his own convictions to the predominant practice of the :noment. 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 cemnforward 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 Meng 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 Sate ; and I can truly add that I write this minute with Bauch 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 admiration and respect." And be aids : "There is also another cause for my disinclination to write this minute, which I way as well confess at once NiZ., that I feel completely convinced that,' practically speaking, it will have no effect whatsoever on the majority of the public functionaries in London who will have to consider and to decide this question." Allow me to say before proceeding further that the General t the t amsebey Low e , b ec nese I h ave was a stron g m i nor i ty in the East India Directors are not e n ti re l y open to the shown character you given tha court which resisted the first of these great measures, and there are papers on the table respecting the proposed annexation of the Raj of Kerow lee, which show that that Kij *as 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, 00,000 square miles, its population of 4,000,000 or 5,000,000, and its treasures, was seized notvvithstand leg the protest of General Lowe. The troops of the British Government were ordered into the territ iry, the furniture and jewels of the Queen were seiz ed. 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 entirely 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, and by the British Government. The Raj of Nagpore was an nexed ; it is one of tbo four kingdoms which we are told with so much pride and eelhcomplacency in the rnioute 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 I have already alluded, and the house will see in a few moments why I have stopped at the year 1854 on the subject of annexation. The principle of the law of adoption is not the prerogative of princes and principali ties in India ; it applies to every man in Hindostan who has landed property, and who professes the Hindoo re ligion. The great feudatory, or jaghedar, who holds his lands by public service to his lord ; and the emindar, who holds his land free of all land-tax, who corresponds, if not precisely, in a popular sense at least, with our freeholder,—both of these classes—classes most numer ous in India—always, on the failure of their natural heirs, find in this principle the means of obtaining suc cessors 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 terrified 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 made to inquire into titles, but no one had ever dreamt of abolishing the law of adoption ; there fore no auth or it y, 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 the house. The house is aware, no doubt, from reading the evidence taken before the committee of 1853, that there are great portions of the land of India which are exempt from the land tax. Being free from land-tax in India is f ar more t h an equ i va l en t t o f ree d om f rom th e land-tax i n thi s country, for, speaking generally and popurly, the l an d-t ax i n I n di a is the whole taxation of h the State ; and it is not a light impost, therefore, by any means. There are large portions of the land in India minute to which I have referred—the memorable dock- went that was placed on the ta - ble of the House cf C mons by the late Chairman of the East India Company —after enumerating some vast annexations to which I shall not now allude, contains a paragraph which is called " minor political events," and with the permis sion of the house I shall read from that paragraph a pas sage that will convoy an impression of what has been going on in India much more vivid than could be given by mere spoken words. It says : " Early in 184 S, the Rajah oiUn g ool, a petty chieftain in the Jungle Melia's, resisted the authority of the Govern ment. His Raj was taken from him, and he has since died in exile." ['hese aro Raja that were not obtained by violating the law of adoption, but they are instaiicas which show that the system of annexation was pursued by every means and on every pretext. "The Rajah of Sikkim, a hill chieftain on the borders of Nepaul, in order to enforce certain dal= which he allege which enjoy this freedom. The origin of these grants is difficult to penetrate, but they are undoubtedly of great antiquity, They are of different kinds. Besides the private freeholds, which are very extendve, there are large grants of land free from the land-tpx, with which mosques and temples have been :endowed. One of the greatest sources of our success in India in old days was that whenever a tyrant, a Mussulinan chief, seized and confiscated their lands and we were appealed to, we came in as vindicatorsof public right, and weinvariably guaran teed the security of property, asin the case of the Jaghiers and Euanis. 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 Governer General of that day was advised to institute an inquisition into those titles. It was alleged that there wire 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 went 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 any cirtumstances, arrive at results of the most starthrg character. (Hear.) Any person in possession of church land or of a Royal manor, wbo could not prove that the land was rightfully held by the persons from whom he i inherited it, might have his whole property confiscated. (Hear, hear.) For 30 years that system was trawl in Bengal, and after some experience the discontent was found so great that it was entirely dropped, Bet 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 B::-nn el and adjoining coun try. They were also issued in the Presidency of Bombay, and surveys were ordered to be made in the newly sett!ed provinces, in order that these commissions might be 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 mystery, but from information placed before me, and in which I have great confidence, I am induced to believe the amount obtained by the Gevern meat of India in this manner —that is, by the resump tion of estates from their proprietors, is not less in the Presidency of Beegal than 500,000/. a-yearn Conceive what a capital is represented by such an anneal revenue ! Conceive the thousands and tens of thousands of estates that must have been resumed by the Government from the proprietors to obtain such a result. (Hear ) This is in Bengal alone, but the cenarnissioia has also been issued in the Presidency of Bombay, and has been hard at work there. I have been informed—and I would nut mention the results unless I had 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 main-, of which I know nothing. The Noinh-Western Provinces, mapped out and surveyed, would pro bably, but for the recent effehs, have been subjected to the same process, I ask the house for a to-invent to pause and consider what 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 system has worked. Hon. members see that the law of adoption has been abolished, a law not affecting kingdoms and princi palitiee merely, hut the tenure of Land in the whole or greater part of Hiudostan. The law of adoption is limited to the Hindoos, but the house will understand that, so far as the resumption of estates 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— :1 (pomp and pageant of power, to the native princes to whom and to their heirs and chief dependents, the Government accorded pensions. They were perpetual pensions. For instance, the Nabob of Arcot, when he ceded the Carnatic, was allowed 4,000/. 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 N9W, 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 extensive, atartlinandshock ing scale, because the descendants of those ancient Royal families and nobles find therneNves by this new rule re duced to a state of the utmost humiliation. Tal , .e the case of the descendantof that very great chief the Nabob cf Arcst, who was slowed a pen ,, ion of 4,000/. a-year. (sin hon. member. —40,0001 ) Well, then, that makes the case much worse, but I have ratherconfidence in my own statement. Possibly both statements may be right, bu cause what I speak of may be a portoin gone to one of the. descendants. The eon, of course, exp"cted to hare that revenue, but he eras alarmed when he heard that the revenue, if he got in was to be c nisidere.d an annuity. This, however, it was at once announced that he should not have ; and I am assured by one who I think cannot he mistaken that he bas received under the name of an annuity Irons the Indian Government a I sum in rupees which amounts in pounds stet ling to 1501. Conceive 1501. being offered to a roan who exeected to receive as much as, according to what we have just heard, 40,000/, a year. Let me read upon this subjec a pa cogs from thee minutes which are the keystone a the new Indian system. The 431 paragraph of the in flutes is in these words : " During the last autumn the Nawab of the Camille very suddenly died. As the treaty by which the Musnud of the Carnatic was conferred on his Highness's predeces 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 and the l arge share of public revenue which had been allotted to them, the Court of Directors has been advised 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 Baj th of Tan jore deceased. He left no son and no male heir, direct or indirect, who bore his name. The Hon. Court was there fore advised to resume the large stipend which the Rajah had 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 Government have disturbed the settlement of property by their 3 e • -itle`... with regard to the resumption of I Inds, by abolishing the principle of adoption, and by changing into annuities th ose pensions on condition of paying which we became lords of the so vereignties. The', then, is the second great citi-e which has produced general discontent throughout India, and hs s 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 anproaels the third point—that of tampering with the religion of the people of India. This, lam aware, is one of 'those sub jects which are called difficult and delicate, but no subject is difficult or delicate when the existence of an empire is at stake, and I shall, therefor.), 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 hoar 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 in India. (Rear, hear.) At a peried antecedent to the existence of our empire there were active Christian missions in India. Roman Catholic missions existed, I believe, long before the successes achieved by Clive, and although our own nsissions are of much more modern date, their greatest efforts—their most energetic ex tions —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 maki ng 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 occured. (Hear, hear.) I think very great error exists as to the assumed prejudices of Hindoos with regard to what is called missionary enterprise. The fast is that the Hindoos, and the Indian population generally, with the exception of the Mussulmans, are educated in a manner which peculiarly disposes them to theological inquiry. There are no people who takesuch interestin religious discussions as the Hindoos. 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 i s no race in the world better armed at all points for theological discussion than they are.l 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 all times ready to discuss theological questions with the missionary. I 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 character, who, I believe 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 Catholice, Protestants, or any denomination of Christians, would ever cause any serious dissension between the Hindoo population and the country. But what the Hindoo does dread --what he regards with the utmost jealousy what he looks upon with undying appre hension, is the union of missionary enterprise with the power of the Government. (Rear, hear.) With the idea of Government he associates power ; he associates with power only one idea —violence ; he remembers the missionary enterprise of the Mussulmatis, who bore the Koran in one band 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 feelings 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 him to aban don the religion he professes. Now, have the Government of India lent a sanc ti on to that suspicion of the Hindoos ? nexation of Oude took place early in 1 — _—....- 856. This is only Have the Government taken a course which has led the the middle of 1857. Is it true that there has been no mass of the people to believe that there was ground for evidence of combination and conspiracy in India ? There such a suspicion ? This is a most important inquiry, and may have been evidence which the Government has not it is one to which the house ought to address itself. I : understood. There may have been symbols which per must say, after examining the subject, lam sure with im- plexed them. There may have been conduct, the partiality, that it appears to me the Legislative Council of ' motives of which they could not penetrate. But that India have, under the new system, been constantly mod- i there is no evidence of combination for the last twelve dling with the Hindoo religion. I don't say that the : months, especially in Bengal, seems to me a position establishment of a great system of national education— i which cannot for a moment be maintained. (Hear, which, if it had been kept free from any taint of this de- I hear.) The house has heard of the circulation of myste ecription, wouid have been of the utmost advantage to I rious cakes is India, or, if not, allow me to tell them what India—has been converted into an obvious and open in i has taken place and was taking place in India nearly t yelve strament of 'proselytism. I don't say that in establishing months ago. This took place. A messenger comes to a national system of education for the Hindoos you have the !mailman of a village and brings him six pancakes— gone ostentatiously i n t o th e i r schools with our sacred chupatties, such as th e natives make of wheaten flour, and scriptures, but lam very much misiefor me d if the sacred he says, " These six pancakes are sent to you ou w scriptures have not sudd en l y appeared in those schools, and make six others and send them on to the next village." you cannot persuade th e Hi n d oos that they have appeared The headman obeys, accepts thesix cakes, makes six others, there without the concurrence or the secret sanction of and sends them on to the headman of the next village with the Government. I think also that the establishment of the same message. How did it begin? It is a mystery. what is called in the minute " a system of female If we knew the village whence the pancakes were first education in India " was a very unwise step on the circulated we might get very valuable information. But part !of the authorities. After all their efforts they in the coarse of four or five months the whole of Bengaland seem to have collected some fifty Indian ladies in the greater part of tle contiguous country have been sub an establishment, and I cannot but regard it as a jaded to this process of a man going from village to village, most dangerous measure considering the peculiar from headman to headman, from police-station to police ideas entertained by Hindoos with regard to women— station, leaving six pancakes with no other older than that that these 50 Gentoo ladies should have been placed in an six other pancakes should be made and circulated. Sup institution where they wars under the guidance and in- pose the Emperor of Russia, whose territory in extent and situation of men. Ithink that was a circumstance calculated character has more resemblance to our Eastern possessions to alarm and disturb the Hindoo mind. Ther e we re , how- ) than the territory of any otherpower—suppose the Emperor ever, other acts on the part of the Geverarriont, which I of Russia were told, " Sire, there is a very remarkable regard as much more reprehensible, and which, as I shall circum s t ance go i ng on i n your terr i tory; from village to show, ha ve p ro d uce d very evileousequences. There are two vlll , ge men are passin g , who leave the tail o f au erm i ne or acts which ha ve passed the Legislati ve C ounc il of I nd i a a pot of caviare, witha message for some one to perform within the last f ew y ears , and which have amazingly dis. the same ceremony. Strange to say, this has been going turbed the whole religious mind of Hindosten. The first on in some 10,000 villages, and we cannot make head or was the law which enacted that no man should lose his pro- tail of it." I think the Emperor of Russia would say, party on account of a change of religion. That has occa- "I do not know whether you can make head or tail of it, sioned great alarm in India. The house must understand but lam quite sure there is something wrong and we must that a great deal of property is held in India by men as take some precautions, because, whore the people are not trustees for sacr e d pu r p oses hereditarily, and if a man doss usually indiscreet and troublesome, they do not make a not lose his property who has changed his relieion he can secret communication unless it is opposed to the Govern hold that property as a Christian which, as a'llindoo, he ment. This is a secret communication, and therefore a ought to employ f or th e maintenance and propagation of communication dangero us t o th e G overnment. " This the Hind oo f a ith. T hat is a change in the Jaw w . hich has sending of cakes went on. Ido not say that the Govern created great alarm and suspicion. But there is also ano- ment could penetrate the secret ; Ido not, find fault with ther law which has more alarmed the feelings of the Hin- them because they did not find it out. What I want to does, and that is the law which permitted a Hindoo widow show is—that there were outward and visible signs of con to marry a seco n d h us b an d . (Hear, hear.) Wh a t cou ld h ave f e der a cy. Th ere was a l so an indication of conspiracy induced the Governor-General ciandia to pass such a law among the military which must have been known it is at this moment impossible to conceive. If there had to the Indian Government. I allude to the cir been any great feeling on the subject among the Hindoo cumstances of the lotus flower. A man came community one could have understood the reason; but, as with a lotus flower and gave it to the chief of a lam informed, no man or woman among them ever ox- regiment. It was circulated from hand to hand in the pressed any desire in favour of that last enormity which regiment, and every man who took it looked at it and gave umbrage to their faith. These two laws have, more passed it on, saying nothing. We must understand that than any other cause, disquieted the religious feelings of every man who passed it on wan acquainted with the plot. the Hindoos. Even very lately I hoard that the Gov ernor When it came to the last soldier of the regiment he dis- General had forbidden the procession of an anc i en t soc i e ty appeared and took it to the next station. The process was in the neighbourhood of Calcutta from being solemnised. gone through in every regiment in Bengal. There was not That was net a wise step. And thee I am also t o ld th a t a regiteent, not a station, not an escort to which the lotus the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal has forbidden the cele- flower was not sent. All these things took place after the bration of a ceremony sacred both toMahomedans and Hin- annexation of Oude. (Hear.) An hon, gentleman reminds does. This, as it appears to me, is a policy on the p ar t me that last year the Bengal regiments refused th e i r fur of the Legislati ve C ounc il of India highly dange rous , loughs. That was cert a i n l y a sign ficant circumstance. I tampering as it does with the religion of the popul a ti on , ventured to say that I would show a state of society in Bat what has been the consequence of the conduct to whi c h In fia which proved the existence of general discontent, 1 have alluded? There has been established in Calcutta a and, difficult as it might be to prove conspiracy, that I society imitatiug our societies for propagating the Gospel would offer the house facts and circumstances sufficient to in this country. The moment it was believed the mis- eonvince them that there was conspiracy. I think I have sionaries were patronised by the Government—the moment said enough to induce the house to pause before they form it was widely circulated that the missionaries were the too precipitate an opinion upon the causes of the disasters emissaries of the British Government, it was deemed in India. I think I have said enough to make the house at necessary to take steps to counteract the effect of their least feel that it is not by saying that we have to deal conduct, and some years ago, but still within the period with a mere military mutiny that we shall save India. within which I am generally confining my remarks, a The truth is, as I have shown, that the people of India were society called the Sobah was set on foot to maintain the only waiting for an occasion and a pretext. That occasion ancient faith of the country, and to protect it from the as- was furnished, and that pretext was soon devised. • Turning saults of the Government; and that society was organis e d for a moment to the last Indian paper--that relating to on a scale of great and increasing extent. It has nail its European troops—l find there an observation by Lord ‘Cali agents throughout Bengal and the North-Western Pro- ning which I think worthy the attention of the house. meets generally, and has since extended them to more dis- There is not much in these papers; but here is something tent parts. But here was an organisation —some of it s to which I ought to refer. In a despatch dated the 7th of agents I am told have even reached this country—which February, 1857, the Governor-General takes, I think, a in the moment of trouble and political disaster would not very rational view of his position and of the condition o f the be idle, acting, as they believed, in the most sacred cause Indian empire. He shows the dangers that m a y arise, but of their country. I have e n d ea h oure d to show to the house he remarks, " Peace has b een restored in Europe it is rue, under the th - ee heads to whi c h I fi rs t a d verted—namely, and with its return the disquietude which even a distant the forcible destruction of native authority in India, the war had raised in the minds of the native population in disturbance of the settlement of property in India, and some parts of India has passed away." (A laugh.) There the tampering with the religion of India —that there have is no doubt that the war between England and Russia occa been great causes at work during the last ten years which sinned disquietude in India. It is the character of Eastern have naturally and necessarily occasioned great discontent nations, and especially of the Indian populations m an y of and disquietude among the pow er f u l c l asses in that coca- which are extremely warlike, to sympathise with' war, and trh ; and, taking into consider a ti on a t t hi s moment the the moment they hear that there is a great struggle, iii state of affairs in India. and the state of the public mind Europe, such as that which took place a considerable time in India shortly after the annexation of Barer, I think we ago between England and France, or that which recently shall see that the whole of the native princes were alarmed occurred between England and Russia, we find that their by our policy, and though those who were most aggrieved minds aro agitated. The mind of India was disquieted at were the Indian rajahs, still there can be no doubt that the a time evli_n there were causes of domestic disquietude Mahomedan princes and population could not have looked also occurring; but no doubt the somewhat sudden terrui at this policy without considerable distrust. I have shown nation of the war between England and Russia gave u s a that oven so far as the tenure of land is concerned, irre- good opportunity of protecting our empir e in I n di a . It is spectivo of the principle of adoption, the Mahomedan prin- impossible to believe that our Indian Government could ces and population were equally effected; I have shown have been ignorant of the state of the Bengal army. that a powerful society to defend the religion of the court- (Hear, hear.) I cannot suppose that the strange expres try was in active operation, and think the house will see don which 1 have quoted from the minute of the l a te Go that it is no exa s egeration to assume that about 1851 and vernor-General could h ave b een anything but a political 1855 the temper o f I n di a was one o f per il , an d one which ruse, if I may use the expression, and if he avoided treat ought to have occasioned great disquietude to the Gover n . ing in detail of a subject which he knew was pregnant with went of that country. (Hear.) It was under there drown- so much danger perhaps he considered—as I believe it is stances—it was with the great body of princes alarmed and the habit to consider in India—that, although the Bengal the most powerful classes of the proprietors smarting un- army had been for years in a state of what may be called der grievances -it was even in the midst of usurpation and chronic insubordination, there was nothing in its condi confiscation, nd-led to religious terror first t ouc hi ng th e thin tending to preheipitate the revolutionary movements great massof the working population, thataneventoccurred that have now occurred. But unquestionably it was the in India to the consequences of which lam now going to duty of the Indian Government to have most solemnly ire solicit your attention for a few moments. And that was pressed upon the Government at home that the time had the annexation of Omle—(hear) —the offectof which, as I come when they ought most siriously to consider the state shall show, was of a very peculiar and, if I may use the of our India army and the means which should be adopted expression, generalising character. Now, I am not going in the event of an outbreak, to defend and preserve our to-night at all into the circumstances of the Oude case. It empire. Who ca-a doubt that such representations were is a subject which of course requires an i will receive due made to th e Gov ernmen t a t home ? It is almost trifling attention when it shall come spec i a ll y un d er the ecu dd era _ w i th the patience of assemblies like the two Houses of Lion of the house ; but it worth" now demand too much Parliament to be told by Ministers when these grave ev e nts time for me to enter into or oven allude to the merits of it. are occurring iu India that they had been taken completely I must, howev er , rem i n d t h e house that in the case of by surprise, and that 2.1 i hours beten they h a d no id e a of Oude the principle of adoption was not observed, for the their possible eccurrence. (Hear.) I cannot but believe ruler of Oade was a slnhoniedan Prince, and still is. The that there are representations not only from Lord Canning, annexation of Oude did net take place in consequence of but from Lord Dalhousie—not only from poor General the alleged infraction of the treaty by the sovereign of Anson, to whose probeble despatch or minute I h a ve re- Oude. That, I believe, has never for a moment been preferred in my notice of motion, but from other persons in tended ; and not only the late, but the precedin g and authority, that must have brought the state of India befehe other sovereigns, have been our faithful as well as affec- the tovernment at home. We can understand that, how" tionate allies. At the time of our greatest disaster in In- ever cognizant either the Government in India or the Go' dis, when our army was destroyed in Affghanistan, and vernment in England were of the dangers impending, in the when alarm with respect to the disaffection of the native death-struggle with the Russian empire, it was totally itn princes in sorno quarters was felt, so great was our confi- possible to attempt to remove them. It was one of those deuce in the sovereign of Oude that we denuded not only conjunctures in which statesmen have a tight to say , his kingd om , b u t a l so th e contiguous province, of all the " Great as the stake is and bad as our chances are, still forces we had th ere , an t h e not only sent us all his war for a long time we have lived upon chances in India ; and elephants, but even 400,0001. sterling. (Hear.) If I allude in the midst of the efforts we are making in Eur o pe we atall to Oade, it is that my argume n t ma y no t be misunder- cannot give our minds or devote one mean ] to a danger so stood or misrepresented. W e shrill b e told, no doubt, that distant." But I caunot understand why ou r Mi n i s ters, the condition of his country was n o t satisfactory, orthat his with the information which they must have a t h an d-- be chtracter was tot irreproachable. I shall not enter into cause if they had not that information they only prove these questions. But, whatever m a y h a v e b ee n th o u g ht of that there is no use for Ministers either in India o r in his era much uo right can be found e d o n th a t f or d e thr on i ng England—(hair, hear)—the moment the peace of Paris him—(hear, hear)—for by the treaty we lied with him the was signed did not regerd it as their Srst duty to g ive all very matter of mis con d uc t h a d b een an ti c ip a t e d an d p ro - th e i r energ i es and thoughts rind devot e a ll their r.sources vided for. meat of India And these was k another reason why the Govern- to the settl emen t o f I n di a. ( Hear, hear.) The first po ougt to 100 wi much indulgence on the .ley should have been one of profound peace--a p o licy personal conduct o f th e Into Sovereign o f (nud e , because the suggested by the disquietude which prevailed, according Government of Indi a c hanged the line o f success i on i n to Lord Cannin g hi mse lf , d ur i ng the war between England Oude, anti placed the father of the late King on the throne end Russia. What was the course pursue-1 ? Was it of instead of the prince who by custom and by law ought to a sedative and tranquillizing nature? Did eve calm the have succeeded. Of that urine° I hat some know le-Igo by population and at the seine time inquire into their griev the information I had received years ago from men most roues and attempt to baffle their manoeuvres and conspi competent to speak of him. He lives in a distant eastern racies ? Why, the people of India, who for a long s eries city upon a pension allotted to him by th e I n di an G overn- of years, as I have endeavoured to show to-night, and I went, and lie war recommended to m e l ong b e f ore the think not nesuccessfully, hair been preparing for an out' question of Oade ever interested the public attention as, ' break, found that as soon as a struggle in Europe had without exception, a man of the most immaculate character ceased, Asia was mad e th e scene o f war in more than ono that ever existed in the E a st, a man mos t en li g ht ene d and quarter. (Hear, hear.) The most powerful class of amiable, and more com p e t en t , per h aps; to b e a b enevolent Mahorneilaus—the Shiites—h ear d that you w e r e going to and judicious prince than any that ever existed. That, I make war upon an Oriental monarch, and that monarch think, ought to be recollected when the disposition of that the head of their religion. There wes nothing in that in- , throne comes fairly to be considered. I now only wide to telligence which tended to remove their disaffection, and call the attention of the house to the consequences of this before they had recovered from it they found there was startling event—the annexation of Crude. For the first war in China. The condition of India in 1856 has been time the Mahomedan princes felt that they had an identity shown to you by Lord Canning, in what may be of interest with the flindeo Mehrattas. From that moment ' called a wail of lamentation over the st a t e o f our they sot aside the sullen pride of former conquerors who I Indian empire aura the paucity of troops at his di s p o sal. would not condescend to sympathise with the victims of ( Neverthel e ss, a t th a t very per i o d troops were sent to Persia Sattara. They saw th a t f rom a system foun d e d upon a I and to China, and the Madras army was told that it m ust violation of Hindoo law they were not to be exempted. garr-son Pegu. At the time when it was the policy of Eog- The moment that the throne of Oude was declared vacant, land to so o th e an d tranquillise India, and to remedy the and English troop s were poure d i n t o th e territory, the Ma- grievances occasioned by feeble government, our Minister. homeclan nrinces understood what would be their future ha t the hardihood to raise the torch of war in every direc fate. You will see how the plot thickens. You h a v e th e tion throughout the East. (Hear.) lam told that only 5,000 whole of the Indian princes—men of different race and dif- men went away, and 5,000 came or are corning back, Do ferent religion —m e n bet we en whom there were traditionary you think that the nati ons o f I ndia count your troops upon feuds and long and enduring prejudices, with all th e e l emen t s their fi nge r s ? They know that your troops are goingaway, to produce segregati on —b ec ome united—Hind oos , m a l l - —they hope you may have to send more; and, deciding rates, and Mahomedans,—secretly feeling a common broadly upon these facts, they do not inquire how many interest and a commo n cause. (Hear, hear.) The prin ces are going or how many are coming back ;it is sufficient for and the proprietors are against you,in their hearts. (Hear) them to know that you have war in Persia and in Chiria, You have an active set spread all over Indi a , a l arm i ng an d th a t your European troops era gradually leaving the the ryot, the peanut, respecting his religious f a ith. great peninsul a . Th at b e i ng the state of the case, the tim© Never mind what were your intentions ; the question is, being ripe, the occasion being offered offered by the Go what were their thoughts—what were their inferences e vernment of England —a pretext only was wanted, and a But the annexation of Oude brought more than that, pretext was soon found. Your cartridges greased in a Although you had alienated from you the hearts of princes manner to outrage their religious belief —men lost their and proprietors —although you had poisoned the former caste by ser v i ng t h e P ower wh i c h they had Belong obeyed affection and v enera ti on o f th e peasan t ry —th ere was a class I will nut go into the question as to whether the cartridges in India which, if you had allowed it to remain faithful, complained of are the same as have always been used, as we might have enabled even the new system to have tri- have been told is the case. I did not suppose that any one umphed. It turned out that the great proportion of the will after this discussion suppose that because the c art- Bengal army were subjects of the King of Cade. I have ridges were believed to be or were pretended to be believed been told on such high authority that I venture to make to be greased with pig's fat or cow's fat that that was the the statement in this house— although I heard it first with, cause of this insurrection. (Hear.) I hope at least that I hope, some allowable scepticism--th a t th ere were no t th e r i s i ng generation in Parliamentary life, who are now less than 70,000 teen from Oade in that army. In many entering upon their career amid occurrences which will instances they were proprietors, and in many more they furnish ample materials for long discussions during many were the sons of proprietors. They entered the service of years in this house —that they will not too hastily accept the British Government. They looked forward, when such superficial ideas. I can assure them that the rise and their Period of service terminated, to retire to their restive fall of emp i res are not affairs of greased cartridges. (Hoar.) villa g e with their pension, and with the high privileg es S uc h results are occasioned by adequate causes and byan which, if not legal, were no less effectual. If an O n d o accumulation of adequate causes. (Hear, hear.)l subject, a soldier of the Company, were injured, and if be have now, Sir, endeavoured, imperfectly, as I am aware, complained of the decision of the authorities, he had a to sketch the causes which I believe to have led to right to (appeal to the British Resident. Here was a the present condition of our Indian empire. I h a ve favoured class in Oude. Here was an imperium in imperio. omitted many things, and many of importance, from an lam not vaunting it. lam not praising it. I am!stating effort to avoid overloadieg the subject with details, and facts. it is the existence of the situation which acted on I know I h aes , su bj ec t e d myself thereby to many observe the opinions of the man e and th e op i nions of the man have tions in reply, which I might have avo i ded, had it not been produced the events. What is his position? The Oude for an anxious apprehension of trespassing too long u pon Sepoy finds that he has no village to return to where he is the attention of the, house. But I hope at least I have , t r li h e i a m r to live the favoured subject of his native sovereign. If h e conve yed t o the house with clearness the general positions is injured he must appeal to the Company and be treated as I to w g i a s i h n t a o n e y st fi a e b e l t i i e n h g — p ( a h r e t a y r all other subjects of the Company on the broad plains of ) p d —by Bengal. He goes back to his estate or to the head. of his deeply considering and properly family, his brother or father who holds it. This estateg eaht t h la i f s dte s or ub wn j oe e ti c l t s: w nekd e ma y arrive at some safe conclusion for our future guid may be small, but it is as dear to him as the tenure of a alma. I will now refer to the second branch of my observ- Kentish yeoman. They have cultivated th a t es t a te an d ations, and I trust they will be much briefer than those to they have paid to their native sovereign the taxes claimed which the house has already listened with so much pati' from them in kind. We know very well how taxes in kind oncee Assuming, Sir, f r a moment that the general views are paid in E astern countries. Sometimes they pay more which Iha ve attempted t o conveyto the house are founded and sometime s l ess, b ut when there is a b a d season , th oug h on justice, I have now to inquire what are the becoming living under a desp o t, p rac ti ca ll y th e y d e fy despotism,and means which th e G overnment ought to adopt to meet the pa y taxes at a ll. B u t th e Oriole Sepoy return snow present emerg ency. In a certain sense a nd t o a cer tain do to his village and finds it belongs to the company, and that degree there can of course be no controvert' among us, be the ri g id revenue system of India is appl i e d to his small cause w e are a l l agreed that in the present state of affairs property, l am say i ng not hi ng a bstractedly against ins the the employ men t of force is the first and most necessary revenue system of th e I n dia Company. Abstractedlyis a step. (H ear, hear.) But the degree of employment and fixed p a y men t d eman d e d un d er all circumstances such the manner of employment greatly depend on the views as to make a fixed paymen t more a dv a ntageous than trust- whi c h we take of the cause of the emergency. A merely' ing a great d ea l t o th e prince or proprietor. hie Oude military mutiny may be met by a mere military effect. Sepoy find s hi mse lf su bjected to a hard and novel system But if, on the contrary, what we have to deal with be an of taxati on an d revenue . H e finds he has lest political insurrection favoured by the great mass of the population: privileges a nd the t err itorial position which he occupied. our measures must, as I think, be both in nature and And for the first time the great body of the Ben ga l army degree different from those of which we have had an fin is disaff e ct e d. How does that act ? With the princes, timation from Her Majesty's Government. Looking upon proprietors, and te religious classes, all for a long time this. as n a ti ona l revo l t , I cannot arrive at a belief t h a t distrusted and di h saffeetZd, the opportunity occurs ' and the measures announced by the Government, merely the only class which can keep them in order is angry and military measures, are adequate to the occasion. (Hear.) discontented. H o n. gentlemen opposite will tell you that I should doubt whether they were adequate for a mer e I have no evidence that there was any combination among military mutiny, but under no circumstances did I "7; these classes. It is a sudden impulse, says the Chancellor lieve, 168 the Government appear to believe, that this 3 of the Exchequer. He may as well have told you that the a mere military mutiny, would I presume to offer any income-tax was a sudden impulse. ( Laughter ,) Th e an. strong opinion upo n their conduot. If, when a mere . 1 have r, great i eussio we w' have I claim taome the na dians Govei decide I can ()mast larger recom I (ham been from I hope that ( place, are ti tion i has it or on