The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

by, for the simple reason that it furnishes a
better illustration of the foulness of the
Directorial system than any other that could
be adduced. We all remember how indig-
nantly they repudiated the idea of tolerating
the torture of their ryots when the deeds
done in this line were brought to light by the
Madras Torture Report; though since the
outcry against them on that score has sub-
sided, we may remark, by way of parenthesis,
that they have done nothing whatever
effectual to put an end to the infamies thus
disclosed. Now, there is a little circumstance
in the affair under review which affords the
best possible proof of the actual amount of
anger they exhibit against those of their
servants who, happening to have interest with
them, have been guilty of cruelty towards
those subject to their sway. In this pamphlet
there will be found mention more than once
of a certain Mr. Goldsmid (incorrectly spelt
Goldsmith), described as " a malignant
partisan," who was Sir George Clerk's secre-
tary, and on whom the act is charged of having
introduced the slander complained of into Sir
George Clerk's report. Well, this Mr. Gold•
amid happens to be the very individual who
was once assistant to Mr. Luard, late of the
Bombay Civil Service, and who is alluded to
in Mr. Luard's pamphlet, which was reviewed
by us in our issue of the 19th of September
last. Mr. Goldsmid is there accused (and the
matter is one, we are informed, of public
notoriety in the Western Presidency) of having
" caused the death of a native by beating him,
" and having urine put down his throat by the
" lowest caste that could be procured, having
" previously with his mod hands dragged him to
"prison by a rope tied about his heels, beating him
"on his back wit% a bridle all the way." Yet
this abominable conduct on the part of a
magistrate towards a prisoner before him in
open court did not prevent his being restored
by the Directors to his office after a short
suspension, he having in the interim had to
stand his trial before her Majesty's Supremo
Court. There he escaped conviction on a
ground which left the stain upon his character
intact. The facts, we believe, were established,
but it was shown that the Dative was suffering
from severe illness at the time, and a doubt
arose, therefore, how far his death was attri-
butable to his disease, and how far to Mr.
Geldsmid's atrocious act. In a moral point
of view this only rendered the enormity the
greater ; for what could be more horrible than
the perpetration of such a series of outrages
on a dying man? But, in a legal point of view,
Mr. Goldsmid was entitled to the benefit of
the doubt, and so with a total loss of character
he escaped. One would have supposed that
expulsion from the service would have fo
lowed ; but his interest was great, and a con-
genial mcupation was found for his ruthless
nature. He was appointed to inqui:•e into the
titles of all the natives of the Decean to their
estates ; and the result of his wholesale con-
fiscations the present state of that part of
India tells. Stigmatised in native op►nion as
a murderer, and proved to be a brute, he was
the fittest instrument for sach heartless work.
Eventually he was made Secretary to the
Government of Bombay, and n that capacity
he penned the slander on the late Sir Charles
Napier of which Sir William so justly com-
plained. Such are the masters and such the
servants who dare unblushingly to accuse of
inhumanity the kindest anti most beloved of
Governors—the Conqueror of Scinde. We
would gladly have drawn a veil over these
passages of Indian history so disgraceful to
the country, but the Directors have ; provoked
the exposure ; and if' the people of England
after it shall continue to tolerate their rule,
they must be content to stand branded in the
face of all Europe as abettors of their mis-
government and as partners in their guilt.

The Course of True Lore Fever did Run Smooth.
By Charles Reade. London : Bentley.
Tuts very pretty book appears, we are sorry
to say, under somewhat false colours, which
our sincere admiration for the charming young
person on the cover must not prevent us from
exposing. From the advertisements, from the
general aspect of the volume, and even from
the running title, we are led 1,..) imagine that.