The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-22 00:00:00

THE PRES

THE WEEK.

A document of the very highest importance has just been laid on the
table of the House of Commons, and it was published by the printer to
the House yesterday afternoon. It is a correspondence between Sir
Jamss OUTRAM and Lord CANNING, through their respective Secretaries,
on the subject of the " Confiscatory Proclamation." The great fact which
it reveals is, that Sir JAMES OUTRAM, a statesman, and a man of great
Indian experience, remonstrated with the inexperienced Governor-General
in the following emphatic manner :
FROM GEORGE COUPER, ESQ., SECRETARY TO THE CHIEF COMMIS-
SIONER OF OUDE (SIR J. OUTRAM), TO G. F. EDMONSTONE, ESQ.,
SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
(Political.)
D. Camp, Chimlut, 8 March 1858.
" Sir,—l am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No. 191,
dated 3rd instant, inclosing a Proclamation to be issued to the landholders,
chiefs, and inhabitants of (hide, upon the fall of the capital.
" 2. In this Proclamation an hereditary title in their estates is promised
to such landholders as have been steadfast in their allegiance, and with
these exceptions, the proprietary right in the soil of the province is
confiscated. _ _ _ _

--------
" 3. The Chief Commissioner desires me to observe that in his belief

there are not a dozen landholders in the province who have not themselves
borne arms against us, or sent a representative to the Durbar, or assisted
the rebel Government with men or money. The effect of the Proclama-
tion, therefore, will be to confiscate the entire proprietary right in the soil,
and this being the case, it is, of course, hopeless to attempt to enlist the
landholders on the side of order ; on the contrary, it is the Chief Commis-
sioner's firm conviction that as soon as the chiefs and talookdars become
acquainted with the determination of the Government to confiscate their rights,
they will betake themselves at once to their domains, and prepare for a
desperate and prolonged resistance.
"4. The Chief Commissioner deems this matter of such vital impor-
tance, that, at the risk of being deemed importunate, he ventures to submit
his views once more, in the hope that the Right Honourable the Governor-
General may yet be induced to reconsider the subject.
" 5. He is of opinion that the landholders were most unjustly treated
under our settlement operations ; and even had they not been so, that it
would have required a degree of fidelity on their part quite foreign to the
usual character of an Asiatic to have remained faithful to our Government
under the shocks to which it was exposed in Oude. In fact, it was not till
our rule was virtually at an end, the whole country overrun, and the
capital in the hands of the rebel soldiery, that the talookdars, smarting as
they were under the loss of their lands, sided against us. The Chief
Commissioner thinks, therefore, that they ought hardly to be considered
as rebels, but rather as honourable enemies, to whom terms, such as they
could without loss of dignity accept, should be offered at the termination of
the campaign.
"If these men be given back their lands they will at once aid us in
restoring order, and a police will soon be organized with their co-operation,
which will render unnecessary the presence of our enormous army to re-
establish tranquillity and confidence.
"But if their life and freedom from imprisonment only be offered, they
will resist ; and the Chief Commissioner foresees that we are only at the
commencement of a guerilla war for the extirpation, root and branch, of this
class of men, which will involve the loss of thousands of Europeans by
battle, disease, and exposure. It must be borne in mind that this species of
warfare has always been peculiarly harassing to our Indian forces, and
will be far more so at present when we are without a native army.
" 6. For the above reasons the Chief Commissioner earnestly requests
that such landholders and chiefs as have not been accomplices in the cold-
blooded murder of Europeans may be enlisted on our side by the re-
storation of their ancient possessions, subject to such restrictions as will
protect their dependents from oppression. If his Lordship agree to this
proposition, it will not yet be too late to communicate his assent by
electric telegraph before the fall of the city, which will probably not take
place for some days. Should no such communication be received, the Chief
Commissioner will act upon his present instructions, satisfied that he has
done all in his power to convince his Lordship that they will be ineffectual
to re-establish our rule on a firm basis in Oude.-1 have, &c.
" (Signed) G. Courmt, Secretary to Chief Commissioner.
" Chief Commissioner's Office, Camp, Cbimlut, 8 March."

The Indian newspapers which have just come to hand are unanimous
in the expression of their apprehensions of the evil effects of Lord CAN-
NING'S Proclamation. We make one or two extracts from the Bombay
Standard of April the 24th :

" We regret to learn from our Lucknow correspondents that the pre-
sent condition and prospects of Oude are most unsatisfactory. On this
point their testimony is unanimous. They differ, however, materially as
to the functionaries on whom the responsibility of this state of matters
rests. Some my intl;n that had Lord CANNING carried out the policy
pressed on him by Sir COLLN CAM MILL, and, by a generous treatment of
the talookears and great zemindars of Oude, detached them from the
rebel ral ke before the commencement of the operations against Lucknow,
we should not only have reduced the numerical strength of the enemy by
more than two-thirds, but we should have recruited our own force by a
veuable irregular and police contingent of many thousands, and have
closed up nearly every one of those points to which the dispersed sepoys

S, MAY 22, 1858.

and budmashes have made, and at which they are now reorganizing them-
selves." _
_ .

" If," writes a Lucknow correspondent on the 14th of April, " this pro-
vince be not the theatre of disaster and humiliation, to Mr. MONTGOMERY
will the praise be due—not to Lord CANNING. Mr. MONTGOMERY is de-
termined to carry out that policy which Sir COLLN CAMPBELL recom-
mended, and of which I believe Sir JOHN LAWRENCE, Sir JAMES
OUTRAM, and Sir HERBERT EDWARDES have been the earnest advocates
"We have letters from Lucknow to the Ist instant. Things were
settling down into a state of melancholy propriety and regulation hum-
drum,' according to one of our correspondents. We presume he refers
exclusively to the city, for in another letter we read that the province is
in a very ticklish state. The great talookdars do not like Lord CANNING'S
proclamation, and are shy. The dispersed sepoys and budmashes are
abroad, and the roads are not safe in any direction. Dacoities, it is to be
feared, will be rife.' "

CABINET-MAKING.
A PICTURE IN THREE COMPARTMENTS.
SCENE I.—Cambridge house. Lord P.'s Study.

Lord C—DON (loquitur). Yes, yes ! that's all very well for you,
HarrEtt, and I dare say you're right when you doubt about our majority.
But we may succeed, and Lord DERBY may go out, and then it would be a
pity not to be prepared.
Lord P— (interrupting). Prepared, my dear fellow ! I am per-
fectly prepared ; ready to construct a Cabinet to-morrow--choice mate-
rials—dovetailing and French polish in the first style of workmanship.
Lord C—CARDE (regarding him with admiration). Well ! by Jove
you are a clever fellow! Like the dog in Captain What's-his-name's book,
that was always getting buried and coming to life again just at the right
time. So, you see no difficulty ?
Lord P—. Well, I don't quite say that—there is a little difficulty,
though I hope to get through it or over it somehow. There are lots of
men—homines, eh ? LEWIS, if not viri—and a fair allowance of patronage,
if we make the most of India. But lam not quite sure what my principles
are to be.

Sir G. C. L—. Surely, an enlightened Liberalism—
Lord P—. Edinburgh Review, eh ? The principles of our glorious
revolution, and all that sort of thing. That's Lord JOHN'S trick—the high
constitutional dodge ; but it doesn't take now. As many Whig Ministers
as you please ; but the country has outgrown a Whig Ministry. Put that
in your best meerschaum, CLARENDON. No, I must take a decided line;
and I'm not quite sure whether Radical or strong Conservative will pay
the best. The Globe recommends the former, the Post the latter. Which
would you advise, HAYTER ?
Sir W. G. H—. I hope I shall not offend your Lordship if I beg
you to consider my feelings. I have had frightfully up-hill work these
ten days in talking over those Independent Liberals, and of course I had
to vouch for your advanced views on Reforms of all kinds. A few of
them believed me, or I should have small hopes of a majority : and now to
fling them over—
Lord P—. Well, well, I don't say it would pay ; but I could come
out strongly as an old Tory. However, I suppose it must be as you say—
a Cabinet on some sort of Liberal principles. Now about the men.
Lord C—DON. Well, my dear PALMERSTON, I should not mind re-
turning to the Foreign-office.
Lord P—. But, my dear fellow, what am Ito do with RUSSELL ?
I don't mean to put him over my head; and you see he knows nothing
about foreign affairs, and made a mull of it at Vienna. So, of course,
that is the only place he'll care to accept.
The Right Hon. V. S—. Well, if incapacity is to be the qualifi-
cation—

Lord We shall see you Minister for India, eh ? No, mon
cher—l stick by my friends, as you and C CARDE here can tell; but I
can't afford to pay the penalty as I did before. There's the Household,
now—you might be some sort of Stick in Waiting, and C---CARDE might
be Lord Chamberlain, and look after the morals of the Theatre.
Lord C---cAnDE. Would that give me a free pass behind the scenes?
If so, I should not mind. (At this moment the D_ of A— and Lord
H—Y are announced, and exit the Noble Marquis abruptly with Lord
C—DON.B hat.)
The D— of A— (after formal greeting, and a short silence).
I hope the withdrawal of the Nobleman whom we passed on the staircase
may be taken as a good omen for our intended Cabinet. It was a mere
tempting Providence to place him among men of character and abilities,
and I solemnly protest—
Lord G—. Please don't. Let Exeter-hall alone—l hate poaching.
Come now, we are quite enough for business. What do we go in for, and
whom are we to have ? Our Cabinet, I presume, will be
Sir G. C. L—. Progressive and enlightened.
D. of A—. Dignified and capable.
Lord C—POINT, Conservative-Liberal.

Lord H--•--v. Liberal-Conservative.
Sir 8.. HALL. " Reform."

Lord STANLEY of A—,

_
Lord p--. Of course of course—" season it according to the de-
mand," when it comes to bolting pledges on the hustings. But here among
friends we all mean the same thing; to do what we can for ourselves, and
what we must for the country. (A general murmur of assent.) As to the
men, RUSSELL joins us, of course, and I've promised C—WELL.
Sir G. G—. Can you trust him ?

Lord p-- (continues). Then there's M— G—, and BRIGHT.
No, not BRIGHT, but TRELAWNY.
Lord C—DON. Will they trust us ?

Lord p___—. Well, well, you may trust me for promising hand-
somely, and letting in no more of the enemy than I find inevitable.
You know I like to keep things snug. We all understand each other—
now for the House. I see H—R is on thorns, so I'll not detain you
longer. But pray remember—(a sudden pause among the departing
guests)—we must take the popular line, at least till we have bagged our
majority. [Exeunt omnes.
Lord (so/us). So much for Cabinet-making prospectively !
And a pretty job it will be, if I can manage it ! But who would have
thought there were so many dupes in the world !

SCENE Il.—Lord J. R--r„ the D— of B—, Earl G--y.

Lord J. It—. It is a very grave situation. I feel as if I should
have done more wisely to stand alone. If we win, we win for PALMERS-
TON; if we lose, we shall have gone through a most humiliating canvass to
DO purpose.
Lord G—. Don't say we. I wouldn't go a yard out of my way to
to bring P—N back. I ,like the present men quite as well, if not
better. But if it is to be, something must be done for the Old Whig
connection.

D— of B—. Right, my dear Lord G—v ; the very thing.
Of course. JOHN goes in as one of us ; and we must try to
support him in making good terms. I declare, when I heard of
those people meeting in No. 11, it quite took my breath away. Such
names! people that no one knows, except when there's a Reform Bill
to be carried. Ido trust JoRN will do his best to keep the Cabinet
select, whatever may be done with inferior offices.
Lord J. R—. I trust I shall not be wanting. I know what is due
to the Constitution and to its tried defenders. But it's hard to deal with
P-s. I could be content with a Consulate, but he wants a Dicta-
torship. Can I take office under him ? _ _ _

I) of B—. I think you may, provided he agrees to come up to
ua within a year. You are sure to get the whip-hand of him if it comes
to carrying a Reform Bill ; and who knows but in process of time you
may find yourself master in the Cabinet ?

Lord G—. Ah ! that is a specimen of " the acrimony which divides
politicians of substantially the same opinions." This will end in the old
story of your alternately abolishing one another. If caballing is to be
your line, better stand alone, as you said. It would be more dignified,
and not a bit more desperate. Don't you think it might be better to
make a strong Cabinet at once, and try to pull together ?
Lord J. R—. I dare say it might ; but P—Nr likes to have rather
a feeble set about him. Will he give up his Chancellor ?
Lord G—. Of course he will ; and a pretty job it will be to find
another! But that is your business, not mine.
Lord J. R—. We shall never get rid of P—n E--at least, with
P--pr's consent. L—ERE, too, is rather a poor creature, but we can
hardly throw him over.

D-- of B—. My dear Joint, you take too serious a view of these
things. We owe it to ourselves not to bid for mere administrative ability.
We want men trained in the same traditions and imbued with the same
spirit—a homogeneous Government, not one on a broad basis.
Lord G-y. Ah ! I'm afraid I can't follow you there. Even
says the country won't stand a Whig Administration on the old
footing. Depend upon it the Radicals will want more than fair words or
promises of Reform. We shall lose all if we attempt our old plan of exclu-
siveness. Besides, you must remember that it is a Peelite who is trying to
open the gate for you. Something will be due to them as well as to the
movement party, or the next thing you will see will be the Duke of NEW-
CASTLE Premier.

of B— (in a faint voice). Dreadful—dreadful! But
surely, my dear Lord G----, you are not in earnest ?
Lord Never more so in my life. I don't say I wish to sec it
but it would do no great harm. There would be a chance ofmoderate men
Working together heartily and carrying out useful measures.
Lord J. My dear Lord G—, thank you a thousand times.
I see the necessity of sacrifice—of concession—in fact, of any constitu-
tional measure for conciliating support. May I hope that we shall have
the aid of your experience in our intended taskof Cabinet-making?

Lord G—. Thank you—l am in no hurry. When Lord DERBY
is out., and you are sent for, I shall be open to an offer. But I rather
think you won't like my terms. [Exit.
SCENE lII.T-----s Office. Messrs. L—., D—., &c.
D— (throwing down his pen). I'm sick of this. It can't pay, and
it isn't respectable. Here am I, wasting good rhetoric to prove that confis-
cation means amnesty, and that we shall make the Zemindars of Oude our
implacable enemies by leaving them their estates. " What's to become of
the Times," if we are never to grapple with the rights of a question ?
Mr. L—. Never mind, my dear D—. ; let us get Lord DERBY
out, and then you can be as candid and as logical as you please. Depend
upon it, our present line will pay well enough.
Mr. D—. Ay, ay, that's well enough for you—a Right Honour-
able, and all the rest of it. You puff Lord PALMERSTON because you've
been well paid beforehand ; but I don't see that his return to office will do
me any good, and meanwhile the paper is sacrificed.

Mr. L—. Nay! now ; you're too modest by half. Why shouldn't
your articles fetch as good a price in the market as mine ? You forget,
" there are materials for two Cabinets on the Opposition side." Why don't
you take up Lord J. R—, in case Lord P— gets pitchforked upstairs,
or " goes under," as the Yankees say ?

D— (musingly). Something in that; but the question rather
is of his taking me up. And you see I've not had your Australian train-
ing, and can't eat dirt with a relish. But, besides this, I've a notion that
the writers of "leaders" ought not be known. I don't think we are as
powerful a print as we once were; but even now (forgive my hinting it)
people think more of the Times as an authority than of Mr. R. L—.
Mr. L—. Capital. Your quite Bright to day, isn't he, DE—?
Mr. DE—. Well, I think he's not far wrong. I confess we are
writing very shallow stuff: but there's some fun in it, after all. It takes
a good hand, for instance, to make a case in favour of CARDWELL'S
resolution. Think, too, if they do succeed in turning out Lord
DERBY ! Every one will say the Times did it; we shall be the first
estate of the realm instead of the fourth. With a new Ministry made
of used-up Whig materials, full of jobs and blunders, and perpetually bad-
gered by the Independent Liberals, we shall easily see what is in the wind,
and appear to prophecy or to dictate as we want to display our power or
our intelligence. It is a great game, after all. We are the real Cabinet-
makers. Pity we don't make 'em a little better, eh, L—?

Mr. L—. Not at all, not at all. What's the use of criticizing sen-
sible ? We want men in office whom we can censure or
patronize—who have political nostrums to be puffed and jobs to be con-
cealed. So, hurrah for CARDWELL'S resolution, and three cheers for " The
Times !"

Chorus of Devils from below.
" Three cheers for the Times !"

"BEWARE!"
Adapted from Longfellow by J. B. Eng., M.P.

I know a Viscount gay and free;
Take care!
He can both Whig and Tory be—
M.P.! beware!
Trust him not ! he is fooling thee !

He has gay balls at his house in town ;
Take care!
He sends thee a card, and does thee brown!
M.P.! beware!
Trust him not ! he is fooling thee!

And he has bribes of a gold en hue;
Take care !
He promises many, and pays but few—
M.P. ! beware !
Trust him not ! he is fooling thee !

He hints his plans thro' the Dodger L . . . ;
Take care !
He knows how much it is safe to show;
M.P.! beware !
Trust him not ! he is fooling thee !

He has a Cabinet, sketch'd out fair ;
Take care !
He tells his dupes they will all be there!
M.P.! beware !
Trust him not ! he is fooling thee I