The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JANUARY 2, 1858.

under this system of annexation are gradually
melting away like the kings and rajahs of the East.
The volumes before us are all excellent of their
kind. Mr. Buckland's researches (1) seem to have
lain in the less frequented walks of natural history.
Frogs, efts, sticklebats, rats, anct snakes are his
special favourites. The monkey, also, has a con-
siderable space to himself. We are glad to see Mr.
Buckland's papers collected and published. They
exhibit considerable industry and curiosity, some
quaint humour, and a power of lively narrative.
"My Feathered Friends " (2) is a very kindly,
honest little volume, full of sound boyish reminis-
cences, redolent of bird's nesting and bird-trapping.
Say what we will of its cruelty, the passion for birds •
eggs is deeply implanted in the natural boy. Nor
can we be sure that the choice of high trees by the
wildest class of birds for the situation of their tares
may not he wisely ordained by Providence as an in-
centive to the masculine feat of " swarming " up a
smooth trunk. To all boys worth their salt, who
have not been rendered blase by too early an enjoy-
ment of the gun, Mr. Wood's book will be a treasure.
Mr. Broderip's "Zoological Recreations" (a), of
which we are glad to see a third edition, is a book
of greater bulk than either of the above two, and has
more pretensions, perhaps, to the character of a
scientific;work. It is composed of a series of papers
originally commenced in the New Monthly Magazine,
when that periodical was under the management of
Theodore Hook, and extending down to the year
1848. They are pleasingly written, and treat of a
large variety of birds, beasts, and fishes, both wild
and tame—English and foreign. All these three are
excellently adapted for Christmas presents.
" A ' Popular' History of British Crustacea" (4) has
as little the appearance of a popular work about it
as anything we have long seen. It is entirely tech-
nical, and is, we dare say, very correct. But, as we
don't understand the subject, we cannot lay down
an opinion. The plates seem good.

The Gordian Knot. By Shirley Brooks. With
Illustrations by John Tenniel. No. I. London :
Bentley.

THzriE are few cultivators of light literature in whose
minds the announcement of a new story by Mr.

Shirley Brooks will have failed to roue a' high
degree of expectation. To such persons—(don't
despise them too much, 0 votary of the ponderous
and philosophic —!)—the paper-knife, as it
passes through the soft damp leaves of a young and
tender serial, imparts a sort of tremulous excitement.
What, then, must be their feelings when the:, find them-
selves actually cutting the " Gordian Knot "? They
know whose name is one of the first to be enrolled
among the contributors to every fresh magazine, and
who is not the less a firm pillar of support to some of
the older ones. And they will not be disappointed,
we can venture to assure them, in the first instal-
ment of the novel now before u?.. Mr. Brooks here
exhibits most of the qualities which have hitherto
made his productions welcome. He will not, we
trust, be offended if we express our belief that is
just the writer to obtain the refusals of the two great
novelists of the day—and this, though a secondary
position, implies no inconsiderable public. There
are many whom Dickens irritates—some people, they
say, have lately found him tedious; there are -many
for whom Thackeray is too philosophic, too cynical,
too difficult.. Mr. Brooks catches these hearts
on the rebound. Long practice, an attentive
study of the faults as well as the merits of the best
models, and consummate tact, have made him the
easiest novelist of the day. He never dwells too
long on an idea—never bores you with " skip." If
he has an idea or an allusion a little subtler than
usual, he bides enough of it to flutter the reader
with having made a discovery, yet not enough to
obscure it to his comprehension altogether. He is
tent suit peuntalin—what would a novel be without
such humour ?—but we. do not recollect that he ever
laughs at what is really worthy of respect, or that
he excites any feeling which one would be ashamed
to acknowledge. "The Gordian Knot" begins freshly,
and seems likely to twine itself among those parts
of society of which the author has heretofore shown
himself a skilful delineator. He will evidently be
most ably assisted by Mr. Tenniel, whose illustrations
to the present number are well drawn, and show a
keen appreciation of the spirit of the book. The
air and attitude of the man with the eyeglass in the
archery party are extremely happy, and the scene of
the tiger's escape has equal merit of a more exciting
character.

Suggestions for Indian Reform. By J. T. Mackenzie

London : Jones and Causton.
Tuts is a practical pamphlet upon the great question
of the day—lndian Reform, Mr. Mackenzie speaks
with the authority of a long personal experience of
India, which keen observation and mature reflection
have turned to a practical purpose. The great
change he advocates is the formation of one single

19

responsible Council for India, presided over by a
Minister for Indian Affairs, the President of that
Council, and supported by a Vice-President, both
political appointments. The Council of India Mr.
Mackenzie would have formed of practical men
resident not less than ten years in India, and ap-
pointed for life—each to preside over a separate
Dopartment of Finance, Justice, Trade and Sta-
tistics, Public Works, Army and Navy, Political Re-
lations :

Each of these six members should be individually re.
sponsible to the President of the Council for the efficient
management of his own department; and they should col-
lectively form a Board to assist the President and Vice-
President in discharging all the home duties pertaining to
Indian affairs. They should, however, possess no votes in
the Council, but be strictly executive officers of the Presi-
dent and Vice-President, privileged to advise, but bound to
obey ; and they should be precluded from sitting in either
House of Parliament. These being highly paid appoint•
menta, the parties holding them would of course he pro -
hibited from all professional employment, or other busi-
ness occupation.

Mr. Mackenzie then discusses at length the various
reforms needed in the local administration of India,
and we aro bound to say that his suggestions are
marked by moderation and good sense. We do not
agree, however, with his recommendation that no
officer should in future hold a civil appointment.
Experience has proved unquestionably that the
military administrators in India are the best, and wo
think that in all unsettled districts the civil offices
should be filled by army men, a sufficient supply of
young officers being appointed to fill their places in
the regiment so as to preserve its efficiency. Upon
the trade of India Mr. Mackenzie offers some
remarks which are must excellent iu spirit, and well
worthy of attention :

The traditional policy of the East India Company has
always been to assume that India had attained the
maximum power of her consumption of British goods.
Such was the doctrine laid down when the monopoly
trade with India was thrown open in 1833, and subse-
quently—even to the present time; but not now to be
tolerated, seeing that the trade has since increased more
than fourfold ; for whilst the British goods taken by India
in 183. i amounted t:i 2,68.2;221i., its imports fur 18-)6 had
increased to 10,971,338/.
Large as this increase is, from a long residence in Cal-
cutta and the interior of India, and from my familiarity
with its laws and customs, I can safely assert, that so far
from having reached, as some aver, the consuming power
of its hundred and sixty millions of inhabitants, we are
only now on the threshold of a gigantic system of com-
mercial intercourse, whereby the prosperity of Great
Britain arid her Eastern possessions, and the good feeling
and happiness of their populations, may be alike and
illimitably promo!ed. The obstacles which impede the
realisation of this great object could be very easily removed
by a wise and patriotic Government. The condition of so
populous a country as India, with every variety of climate
and soil, and with a capacity for yielding every description
of produce we require, must be a matter of vital interest
to every one—from the labourer who lives on the produce
of his daily toil, to the capitalist who desires the safe und
lucrative employment of his wealth.

Doubtless the Indian authorities will still adhere to their
traditional doctrine that the inhabitants of India cannot
consume more British goods than they now import ; and
such assertions can only be met by the common-sense
argument, that a country which we are enormously assist-
ing each year to enrich by the large amount of products
which we take from it, will add to its power of consump-
tion in proportion to the increased security which may be
given to the property of the producers.
I will cite an instance in point.
Having induced the natives of the villagas in my occupa-
tion to establish several large bazaars, I sent native mer-
chants to Calcutta to purchase British manufactures, in
order to their being sold in common with native produc-
tint's. The result was that, in the course of a few years,
the sale of British goods was multiplied to tenfold its pre-
vious amount. Or to refer to one particular article, a large
quantity of British cloth for covering umbrellas—white,
preen, and red—having arrived at Calcutta, and the other
European materials for the manufacture of that commodity
being blso procurable, I suggested this branch of industry
to the native merchants, and the experiment was conse
qucutly made; and in a few months, so great was the
demand, that the commonest native was seen walking
about with his Belette-chatty (English umbrella), in place
of the native article made from the bamboo and the leaves
of Indian trees. Nor does the trifling character of the
goods, as in this case, militate against the importance of
the principle at issue; for tbat consumption will be most
permanent which involves the purchase of a comparatively
inexpensive article by the general populatioa of u densely-
peopled country.
A fair and legitimate exportation of British goods end
manufactures to India would give full and remunerative
employment to all classes at home, and relieve to a con-
siderable extent the increasing evil of pauperism. But
these beneficial results may not reasonably be hoped fur
under a rule which prevents the peasant from clothin
himself or his family as he might wish, lest the servants
of his zemindar, landlord, or the professional robbers, or
the equally dangerous and predatory police, should con-
strue it into a sign of increased prosperity, and resort to
greater acts of oppression and tyranny by extortion.
Nothing can make him a large and permanent customer fur
pods of British manufacture, if we maintain a systent, the
operation of which has been so graphically described by
the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal inhis Minutes alms