The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-11-15 00:00:00

DR. HUNTER ON ENGLISH RULE IN

INDIA.

In London, on Tuesday night, Dr. W. W. Hunter, C.1.E.,
Director-General of Statistics to the Government of India,
gave at the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh, the first
of two lectures on "What have the English done for India?'
Dr. Hunter said that the test of British rule in India
was not what it had done. for ourselves, but what it
had done for the Indian people. If our attempt to
administer that vast and distant empire had turned
out a failure, if its people were not more free more
secure, and more prosperous under British rule than
they were under their native dynasties, then the wise
course for Great Britain would seem to be to dirtail
her former responsibilities to accept no new ones, and
to withdraw, as far as might be, from the undertaking
to which she had proved unequal. If, on the other
hand, British rule in India meant order in place of
anarchy, protection in place of oppression, govern-
ment by the law in plane of misgovernment by the
sword, then he thought Great Britain might with a
firm heart continue to accept the great responsibility
which had fallen to it, and calmly face the duties that
responsibility involved.
After giving a stretch of the condition of India in
the last century, and referring to the repeated inva-
sions from which it had suffered, Dr. Hunter pro-
ceeded to describe what had been effected for the
country by British rule. A century of British rule
had not only secured the Indian frontier from invaders,
but had freed the interior from banditti. In the last
century neither Government nor people thought it
possible to deal with a great Indian famine. In
the present century famine had been brought
within administrative control, and a vast orga-
nisation of preventive and remedial agencies was
coos"antly kept in readiness to deal with the
periodically recurring dearths, Depopulation from
any cause was now unknown. In the last century
various causes of depopulation were at work.
Tigers, leopard's, and wolves slew their thousands of
men,- an& their tens of thousands of cattle; but the
wild elephants were ebsolutely resistless, lifting off
roofs, pushing down walls, trampling a village 'under
foot as if it were a city of sand. All this was now
changed. One of the complaints of the modern Eng-
lishman in India was that he could so seldern get a
shot at a tiger; wolves had disappeared. The wild
elephant was now so rare that he Watt specially pro-
tected by the Government, and in many parts of
India be could only be ciught by efficial licence, or
under official supervision. Many districts had veti-
Honed for a close season, so is to preserve the edible
game still remaining.
The only animal that had defied the energy of the
British official was the snake. One might, however,
judge of the loss of life by wild beasts in the laet
century from the deaths Clawed by this their
sole survivor at the present day. The ascer-
..tained number of iteaths from snakebite in
1869 exceeded 11,000, and ils• was eetimatad that
20,000 persons-annually died. in-India from tirrs'eause.
The total deaths from wild beasts in the fast cen-
tury was probably nut under 150,000,5 s ysalv. Dr.
Hunter coecluded recalift:Filati.P.4 the
improvepents he Itati-:•deedribpi . na; a,4fewa of
the 'outward and visiffie Ohl* of a eebiliettY of
British'eule in India, is inttmatiaig that ixa'fhis next
leettare, he should exane s'oftie!'4, it-s• lethi obvious
but :,0041.1y impertatetions-tiqteitolii. They should
that. gra itaai wee thic3seawl4ch thei r
catmtrymen had won in establishiqfpeaardifdlecurity
thOghout the provinces of Itreia, they had accom-
plished a far more difficult Utak and won even more
glorious results in the social emancipation, the incluse
trial development, and the moral enlightenment of
the people. The lecturer was frequently applauded.

ANECDOTE OF THE CZAR NICHOLAS I.
The Berliu Correspondent of the Standard says that the
diaries of Privy Councillor Boguslovshi, recently published
In St. Petersburg, contain not a few interesting contributions
towards the personal history of Nicholas I. The following is
one of the anecdotes given by the correspondent :

"The Emperor Nicholas not unfrequently acted as
his own Foreign Secretary, issuing commands of
which his Chancellor knew nothing. Hating heard
on one occasion that a play had been produced in
Paris, bearing the title Catherine 11. and her Favourites,
in which the celebrated Empress was painted in the
blackest colours, his Majesty addressed the following
autograph letter to the Count Pahlen, the Russian
Ambassador at Paris : _ _

"'Upon receipt of this, repair without delay, what-
ever may be the hour, to the King of the French, and
communicate to him my wish that all printed copies
of the piece called Catherine 11, be forthwith con-
.fiscated, and that its performance in any Parisian
theatre be prohibited. Should the King decline to
accede t 3 my request you are to demand your papers
and to quit Paris in twenty-four hours. Leave the
consequences to me,'
"The Czar's messenger bearing the despatch, arrived
at his destination when Count Pahlen was dining with
the King. Strictly following the Czar's instructions he
summoned the Ambassador from the table, and handed
him the Imperial letter, The Count grew uneasy on
reading it, but of course had no alternative but to exe-
cute the command of his Sovereign. Returning to
the dining-room, he approached the King and solicited
animmediate audience. His Majesty, much astonished,
inquired whether it was not possible to wait until
dinner was over. 'Your Majesty,' replied the Am-
imssador, the instructions of the Emperor are so
imperative that it is necessary for me to explain
them at once.' Upon this the King rose and ac-
companied the Ambassador into another room,
where the latter handed to him the despatch,
Surprised at the acerbity of tone and irritated at
the urgency of the language in which the letter was
couched, Louis Philippe turned to the Count and said
with dignity The will of your Emperor may be a
command for you, but it is not so for me, the King of
the French ; besides this, you are well aware that
France has a Constitutional Government, with freedom
of the press, and I am therefore unable, even if I were
willing, to comply with the request." If that is your
Majesty's final rummer,' returned the Count, I must
beg to be at once supplied with my passport," But
that would be equivalent to a declaration of war,'
remarked the King. That may be, your Majesty;
but, as you see, the Emperor takes all responsi-
bility upon himself." Give me at least time to
consult my Ministers,' urged the King. lam allowed
twenty-four hours,' replied the Ambassador; 'at the
expiration of that time I must take my departure,'
"The matter was ultimately disposed of by the
French Government proscribing the play and confisca-
ting the printed copies, the Count, of course, remain-
ing at his post.
"Something similar occurred in the year 1844, when
a niece bearing the title The Emperor Paul was an-
nounced for performance in Paris. On that occasion
the Emperor Nicholas wrote to the King—' If you do
not forbid the representation I will send a million of
spectators to hiss it from the stage.' "