The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-11 00:00:00

FIFF7..n4

THE PRES S, JULY 11, 1857.

" nothing was easier" than for him at that moment (Oct., 1856) to
obtain the right of entry into Canton. Meantime the little bill comes
in, a half a million is asked on account beforo anything is done, and
the reduction of the tea and sugar duties is to be suspended.

The total amount collected for the Hume Memorial has
been 1,6581. 78. Sixteen hundred and fifty-eight pounds and
seven shillings was "the tottle of the whole" subscribed by the
Liberals and Radicals in honour of the veteran economist! Time
was when the Whig aristocracy quaked at the name of " Hume," and
when " the large constituencies hung upon his words. A more
faithful and untiring public servant the Radicals never had, and
JOSEPH HUME performed considerable services for the "Liberals."
The smallness of the sum raised in his honour excites inquiries of
various kinds. Was Mr. HUME overrated when living, or is he un-
justly neglected when no more ? Or is it that his name, also, is to be
added to the long list of public men who, like BURKE, SHERIDAN, Sir
PHILIP FRANCIS, MACKINTOSH, and many more, never received justice
from the Whigs ? Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR, at the " Hume Memorial
Meeting " on Thursday, said, " When he remembered how much the
" late JOSEPH Humz had sacrificed for the public good, the great services
" he rendered to his country, he was surprised that he had not received
" a greater public acknowledgment." We also share the surprise of
Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR. But some wags might be wicked enough to
lay the alleged " ingratitude " of the public at the door of the Member
for Lambeth. Mr. WILLIAMS said that "he was one of the four or fire (!)
Liberal Members who started the memorial." The auspices were
not favourable. Mr. WILLIAMS " hoped that future generations would
" think better of the late JOSEPH HUMS than the people of the present
" day." Mr. WILLIAMS ought to be contented if " posterity " thinks
much or at all about many politicians of the time. Mr. WILLIAMS
then related his wish that in the House of Parliament there
should be a statue to Mr. HUME, " but that Lord PAL-
" MERSTON gave a very ungracious answer, but he trusted
" that there would ibe more Premiers than Lord PALMERSTON."
But Mr. WILLIAMS fails to perceive that " the people" have been just
as " ungracious" as the Premier. " The people" of England are rich
enough to subscribe for twenty statues to JOSEPH HUME, if they had
fully appreciated him. The Irish gave O'CONNELL in 1829 the sum of
55,0001., and in subsequent periods they contributed 225,0001. to one
" who," as Sir A. ALISON remarks, " died poor, having given to his poli-
" tical followers what they gave him." They raised a handsome
chapel over his grave, and two statues to his memory at Dublin and
Limerick. What have the Radicals done for JOSEPH Hew. ? We fear
that the answer must be of a double character—to the effect that his
public reputation was in some respects temporary and overrated, but
also that his undoubted services and well-meant efforts were not pro-
perly appreciated by his political friends ; for it cannot be forgotten
that Mr. HUMS wished to be a Privy Councillor—an honour never
offered to him by the Whigs.

The intelligence that the next mail will bring us from India it, is
not improbable will comprise the destruction of Delhi, and the spread
of the revolt in neighbouring cantonments. It is scarcely possible to
conceive so serious and so deep-seated a mutiny being crushed
just as it attains its full development. In its earlier stages it might
have been repressed with ease. That it will now be limited to Delhi
we have every doubt. It is impossible to deny that the position of
India is one full of peril. No evasions of the Government, no set
speeches, or diplomatic interpretations of definite questions, can fence
off this palpable fact,—that the most reckless misgovernment has
brought about the gravest crisis, and excited a most serious rebellion
against our rule. The 14,000 troops under orders for India it is pro-
bable will be 20,000, and it is necessary that they should ; for wo
may calculate upon disturbances occurring at the advanced posts of
our Indian empire, if, as in the case of Ceylon, we withdraw the Bri-
tish forces for services in Central India. The seeds of revolt
are at this moment too surely ripening among the Cingalese,
while our position at Pcgu at one end of India, and in
the Punjaub at the other, is far too precarious to be implicitly
relied on. Add to this the enormous additional cost we shall now be
involved in to maintain our supremacy, and the public may well ask
whether a double government is the best form of government to
develop the resources or to maintain intact the credit and dignity of
our vast Indian empire.

The Glasgow poisoning case is at length over, and the verdict
which was generally anticipated has been returned. By this time the
whole details of the trial have been thoroughly criticised by the publics
press, and on the general evidence adduced we have nothing new to
add. But we cannot help thinking the present a very fitting oppor-
tunity for calling public attention to the nature of the Scotch verdict
of " Not proven." We are among those who cannot appreciate its
propriety. his thoroughly opposed to the maxim of English law,
that prisoners are innocent until they are proved guilty; and it seems
to us almost equally at variance with the dictates of common sense,
which forbids us to punish a person on mere suspicion. The verdict
of " Not proven" unquestionably amounts to a punishment, for it
affixes an enduring stigma to the defendant's name, and quite as un-
questionable is it that this young lady's guilt is now but a matter of
conjecture. We are sorry to see journals, whose duty it should be to
curb public prejudice and dissipate inconsiderate opinions, pandering
to the popular excitement, and writing down to the level of