The Press.
London, England, 1858-06-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JUNE 12, 1858.

that those measures are essentially retrograde.
First, we have the Ballot, which 200 Liberals

are prepared to adopt as a " Shibboleth," though
(by the way) they use the word in very different
senses. Is the Ballot progress? Is it progress
to give up the long struggle by which public
opinion has gradually gotten the better of
bribery and intimidation, and accord a legislative
impunity to malpractices which it will no longer
be possible to detect ? Is it progress to reduce
the elector, who now goes in broad daylight to
exercise in the face of his country a trust for his
country's good, to an irresponsible worker by
secret mechanism, exposed to degrading suspi-
cions if he work honestly, but screened
from punishment or exposure if he abuse
his trust ? Again, is it progress—we do
not say to extend the suffrage by a process
of equalization, but to carry it lower than
we have as yet seen it carried in our great towns ?
What probability is there in the assumption so
continually paraded by a large portion of the
press, that a less educated and less independent
class of electors would by the mere virtue of supe-
rior numbers be sufficiently enlightened to return
representatives superior to those of whom our
present House of Commons consists ? Surely it
is more probable that a lower class of electors
would produce a change for the worse, if any.
To bring the masses up to the qualification,
whether pecuniary or educational, would be pro-
gress—to bring it down to them looks sadly like
retrogression. Once more—what would be the
effect of that unconditional sweeping away of
Church-rates now so generally advocated by the
men of the movement ? To say nothing of the
Act itself; which is merely to appropriate (" con-
vey, the wise it call") for the benefit of the few
a charge to which they are legally liable for the
benefit of the many—will the result of that Act
be progress? Will the poor man's religious in-
struction be better cared for when the very
maintenance of the material fabric of the "poor
man's church " is left precarious ? Or, to look
at a broader application of the same principle, is
the Voluntary System, as a substitute for a recog-
nized National Church, truly describable as pro-
gress Surely, if so, it is a progress such as
IIoGARTH depicted by way of solemn warning ;
a course leading towards schism unlimited,
religious lukewarmness and indifference—we had
almost said, national infidelity. The national
religion might survive the national recognition
of Christianity, but he must be bold in paradox
who would contend that it would be stronger for
lacking that recognition.
We might pursue our theme further, and
point to such startling indications as the Man-
chester scheme for an Indian despotism. But
we have said enough to furnish the outline of a
picture which every thoughtful man may fill up
for himself. Conservatives are too apt to act
merely on the defensive. Let them carry the
war into the enemy's camp, and inquire by what
right or title the men who have imperilled our
national honour, and who to regain office would
connive at the fiercest attacks on our national
institutions, are to shelter their past delinquen-
cies or meditated schemes of mischief under titles
of unmeaning self-praise. Let them point out
boldly, that quiet and order are main elements
of prosperity—that restless movement is not
progress.

INDIA-PRESENT POLICY AND FUTURE

LEGISLATION.
" OrDE is quieting down. Air.

" has restored the talookdars and established the
" zemindaree system, to the content of the
" people."—Telegram of Times' Correspondent.
Had this piece of information been despatched
previous to Mr. CARDWELL'S motion, or before his
Allies had found it advisable to repudiate Lord
CANNING'S Proclamation in order to place them-
selves in a position to, as they said, vindicate him ;
and, as they hoped, avenge and replace them-
selves, it is not improbable that it would have
been announced in a footnote to have " mis-
carried for the present." As it is, as the voice of
the country has declared loudly and unmistake-
ably in favour of the course indicated in the

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famous Despatch of Lord ELLENBOROUGH and
enforced by the decision of the Cabinet of Lord
DERBY, and as the events of each successive day
confirm public opinion, it reaches duly the Times
office, and is disseminated promptly among its
thousands of readers.

It happens that we have also received intelli-
gence of the same character, which entirely
agrees with that transmitted by the correspon-
dent of our contemporary. Our information is
contained in a private letter from a gentleman in
a high legal position. The letter bears date
April 22nd, and the following is the passage
bearing upon the Proclamation and its influ-
ence :

" Lord CAN published in Lucknow a mad
Proclamation, that every man's land in Oude was
confiscated—conciliation being clearly the only
politic or just course. Every one was horrified ;
but the authorities here have since contrived to
make so many exceptions and qualifications that
it is hoped the mischief will be diminished ; and
meanwhile they have kept the Bedlamry out of
the newspapers."
We put forward the telegram of the Time:
correspondent, and publish this extract from a
private letter, not for the purpose of defending
the policy enforced by Lord DERBY with such wise
resolution and prompt decision. Such policy now
needs no defence. Not only is the attack
silenced, but the bitterest and most unscrupulous
of his opponents find themselves compelled,
either by interest or by conviction, to adopt and
profess it as an article of faith whenever they rise
to make an assault upon the Ministerial resolu-
tions. We quote the extracts for the purpose of
showing the public what a narrow escape we have
had, and to whom we owe it. Had matters been
in the hands of Lord CANNENG, instructed and
directed by the reckless Cabinet of Lord PAL-.
MERSTON and Mr. VERNON SMITH, desperation
would have prolonged to an indefinite period the
contest in Oude, and we should have lost proba-
bly for ever the opportunity of obtaining any
better or higher influence over its population
than that created and maintained by sheer mili-
tary force and supremacy. Had Lord PALMERS
TON and Mr. VERNON SMITH remained in power,
or had the intries of the Cambridge-house
Alliance succeeded,and Mr. CARDWELL'S motion
been carried, that would have been our position.
Oude would not have been tranquillized, nor her
people conciliated. We might have obtained the
acquiescence of fear, but never the quiet arising
from mercy and justice on the one side, and con-
fidence on the other. There is everrospeet of
that issue to the conflict being secured now, and
we shall have owed it to the policy which the
Government of Lord DERBY conceived and en-
forced exactly at the right moment. They, the
Government taunted with having no policy and
no measures, will have done this in the teeth of a
most formidable-looking faction; trusting only to
the justice of their cause and the good sense of
the House of Commons.

At home, in Parliament, preparation for Indian
legislation continues to progress very, very
slowly, and public opinion out of doors can
scarcely be said to form itself more rapidly.
Every day's discussion, indeed, shows us more
clearly how much mischief has been done, and how
many impediments have been created, by Lord
PALMERSTON'S precipitancy, and the over-eager
haste with which he attempted at the close of
last year to catch the momentary feeling of the
country, and make use of it to invigorate his
dying Cabinet. His conduct then was just of a
piece with his conduct about China. The
country felt alarmed, angry, horrified; and Lord
PALmEnsToN, warned by the Parliamentary and
political influences of the Russian war, suddenly
and adroitly shook the East India Com-
pany out of his bag, and halloed the public
lustily on. It was very good fun at first ;
but the matter has become a great embarrass-
ment now, when it becomes necessary to settle
down to the subject in earnest, and people begin
to discover that they do not know half so mach
about India as is necessary. Mr. GLansTolitz,
with his usual ingenuity, found a loophole through
which he thought Parliament might escape and
retire, till a more convenient season and ad-
ditional knowledge should enable them to return
to the subject with more advantage and better
chance of coming to a conclusion. The Right
Hon. Gentleman expatiated on his new device with

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