The Sun.
London, England, 1831-10-28 00:00:00

HALF .CASTES OF INDIA.

A very interesting meeting of Anglo-Indians was held
in the Town-hall, of Calcutta, on the 28th of March last,
in order to rece:Ne the report of Mr. Ricketts, who had
been sent by hi countrymen to England in 1829, and had
just returned. The object of his mission was to state to
the East India , Company, to Parliament, and to the pub-

lic, the grievances of our half-caste brethren, of whom
nearly 500 as 'ere associated to hear the statements of Mr.
Ricketts' pr oceedings. Many admirable speeches were
made, and it is curious and instructive to see the impres-
sion made ,an those present by Mr. R.'s narrative. At the
East India House he says he found a ready access and a
willing ad mission " that the grievances of the half-castes
ought to 'he a subject of grave consideration." Lord El-
lenborou, gh, lie tells us, "shuffled from the question," and
"imposed obstructions" in the presentation of the petition
of the A nglo-Indians to Parliament. The Duke of Wel-
lington " declined the interview," which Mr. Ricketts
auxious,ly sought. The petition to the Lords was pre-
sented on the 20th of March, and on the 31st of March,
1830, Mr. Ricketts was called upon to give evidence before
the House of I.ords. He says that every member of the
Committee, " except Lord Ellenborough," was anxious to
bring Indian grievances to light. Mr. Ricketts was
examined be` ore a Committee of the House of Commons
on the 21st of June, and complains with the greatest bit-
terness of the ungenerous and illiberal tendency of ques-
tions put ~0 him by the Committee as to " colour—caste
of mothe' s—and want of mental qualifications." These
seem to have touched him to the quick—the two former,
he say, , were " indeed questions of grave magnitude,"
used "to prop up a system of aristocracy," depending on
the hue of the skin, " distinctions utterly overthrowing all
sound moral philosophy." As to the latter he boasts that
ther:e are no books in the republic of letters where an
Anglo•lndian is not to be found—that poetry and essays
--grammar and logic—algebra and mathematics—theology
~nd metaphysics, have received valuable contributions from
native pens. The Report speaks of three individuals with
all the exuberance of grateful feeling, as having eminently
assisted the Indian cause in England, viz. Sir Alexander
Johnston, Dr. Bowring, and Mr Crawford, to each of
whom the unanimous thanks of the meeting were voted.
In the progress of the discussions several of the speakers
referred to the " contempt and exclusion " with which the
half-caste Indians were visited—notwithstanding their
" British origin, and semi-British parentage, free from
guilt, even from the charge of guilt, the stigma of repro-
bation and rejection was on every one of them, and the
sons and subjects of the freest and noblest of nations were
in a state of excommunication and outlawry—denied the
common rights of citizens, and flung into the gloom of
civil disability and savage degradation." Mr. Ricketts
stated that the costs of his journey were 5711. 2s. 7d. And
1608 rupees, and producing a silver watch, said, " This,
which I bought to regulate my time to my engagements,
is the only fortune I have made." The meeting voted to
Mr. Ricketts a silver vase, ordered his portrait to he taken,
and a public dinner to be given to him. The meeting
was much occupied with a suggestion of Dr. Bowring on
the desirableness of obtaining, if practicable, a seat in the
House of Commons for a native of India, whose authority
would necessarily be of great value in the discussion of
Indian affairs, and whose advocacy of Indian interests
would be far more efficient in the Legislature than in any
other place. Renewed petitions to the Parliament were
determined on, and it was resolved that the claims to a par-
ticipation in the rights of British subjects should be urged
" loud and long "—and urged again—until the great object
is finally obtained.

TIIE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.—We are au-
thorised to state that the Archbishop of YOitk, having
been necessarily detained in Yorkshire during the discue.
sion on the Reform Bill in the Ilouse of Peers, sent his
proxy in favour of the Bill going into Committee to the
Bishop of LONDON, who was prevented from attending in
his place on that occasion, by the unexpected death of his
father.— York Courant.

The particular neighbourhood in London
which tbt, jokes of HOOK and CRostaß have denounced as
tcrra incognita, has now had justice done to it, and has
assumed the character of classic ground through the in
fluence of Miss PORTER'S new and best romance entitled
the " Field of Forty Footsteps," the chief scene of which is
laid in the vicinity now occupied by Russell-square, the
London University, Torrington•square, 84c. The story is
of the time of OLIVER CROMWELL, and the strange but
too true events embodied therein actually transpired in
the fiel,ls and in the lordly mansion then standing on them,
but which are now covered by the populous quarter indi-
cated above.
ANECDOTE OF A RAVEN.—The raven is a
bird of humour and sagacity. There was one kept a few
years ago at Newhaven, an inn on the road between Bux-
ton and Ashbourn. This bird had been taught to call the
poultry when they were fed, and could do it very well too.
One day the table was being set nut for the coach-passen-
gers' dinner ; the cloth was laid with the knives and folks,
spoons, mats, and bread, and in that state was left for
some time, the room door being shut, but the window
open. The raven had watched the operation very quietly,
and, we may suppose, felt a strong ambition to do
the like. When the coach was about arriving, and dinner
was carried in, behold ! the whole paraphernalia of the
dinner-table had vanished ! It was a moment of conster-
nation—silver spoons, knives, forks, all gone ! But what
was the surprise and amusement to see through the open
window, upon a heap of rubbish in the yard, the whole
array very carefully set out, and the raven performing the
honours of the table to a numerous company of poultry
which he had summoned about him, and was very conic •
quentially regaling with bread.—JuvenileForget-Me-Not.