The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-06 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1847.

Since the first introduction of British authority
into Hindostan, since the warlike achievements of the
great 'OLIVE, the gigantic peculations of WARREN
HASTINGS, and the insidious intrigues of Sir ELIJAH
harm., there has been a perpetual clamour as to the
morality of our advance in that quarter of the Asiatic
continent. Rising and sinking by turns, according
as it was influenced by the progress of arms or
diplomacy in our Oriental possessions, that clamour
has now gained and now lost proselytes among the
credulous and the undiscerning. First our ears were
stunned with lamentations upon the questionable
principles by which the Government of Bombay was
actuated, then upon the " drilling rain" of bullets at
Laswarrie, then upon the carnage of Seringapatam,
then upon the insecurity of our alliances, with wail-
ings, in fact,
.upon all the diversities of ill which
could possibly arise from the occupation of such
remote and enormous territories. One after another
have these bugbears of the imagination been raised by
a designing clique, for the purpose of frightening
the mother-country, either into a diminution of her
enterprise or into an absolute abandonment of her
Eastern dominions. It was hoped, doubtless, that these
dismal pictures of British India would be effectual in
paralyzing wholesome speculation, in rousing the
wrath of the godly, and in thwarting to a considerable
extent the zeal of the promoters of a more extended
civilisation. In some measure that evil wish has un-
doubtedly been realised ; in some measure the indig-
nation of the more enlighted, but happily most help-
less, religionists has been excited ; in some measure
the good-will of a minority has been diverted from our
Oriental engagements. It is a merciful dispensation,
however, that in political administration, as well as
in mercantile undertakings, the good-will and the
stock in trade are two very different things.
And thus in spite of all the howlings
of bigotry, of ignorance, of timidity, and of a
shameless and odious antagonism to the great
and beneficent spirit of Progress, the germ of civili-
sation, first planted on the Asiatic soil by a boatful of
English merchants has sprung up, has extended its
branches, has multiplied itself, in short, like that
beautiful tree of the Hindoos which sends down its
pendant twigs to take fresh root in the earth, and
gives forth in time a fresh trunk and fresh boughs-
The whole history of British India, in fact, from the
mere contemplation of the original settlement down
to the deposition of LALL SINGH, the Vuzeer
of Lahore, is a repetition, turn by turn, of
miserable prophecies and their brilliant '
non-
fulfilment. Obloquy without stint has been
cast upon the Executive, and contempt upon the
Administrative in Bombay, and the subordinate officers
in every department, and under almost every circum-
stance, have been partakers of these gratuitous ban-
quets of vituperation.
Ever since the first occupation of Sinde Sir
CHARLES NAPIER has, more or less, come in for his
share of abhorrence and misrepresentation. Latterly
the reproaches upon his original seizure of that terri •
ritory, and upon his subsequent administration of its
affairs, have been uttered more lavishly than hereto-
fore. There has been an increasing outcry against
the unremunerative character of the newly-acquired
province, against the expulsion of its venerable and
virtuous Princes, against its insufficiency as a
barrier between ourselves and the predatory
inhabitants of Beloochistan, or even between
ourselves and the miniature district of Cutch
Gundava: Nor did these comprise the whole of the
aspersions uttered in relation to Sinde. Discredit
was thrown upon the military skill and administra-
tive capacity of his Excellency Sir CHARLES NAPIER.
It must be perfectly familiar to our readers that, from
the original investment and occupation of Sinde, we
have resolutely controverted these arguments and
scouted these aspersions; that The Sun has continued
to maintain the integrity of the Governor of Sinde,
and the advantages accruing to us from the possession
of the province of Sinde ; that we have done this,
moreover, while the rest of the press was unanimous
in aspersing the one and contemning the other. It
is, consequently, with peculiar satisfaction that we
find our able and distinguished Contemporary, the
Times, avowing, at last, the insufficiency of these de-
preciatory attacks upon the conqueror and Governor
of Sinde. It is an example of magnanimity deserving
all honour and imitation ; and how immeasurably
the reverse of a merely shameful recalcitration !
We are, nevertheless, in no degree surprised
at this acknowledgment ; we were too fully
convinced that magna est veritas et prevalebit
to credit the continuance of these idle and baseless
charges. A territory such as Sinde cannot be
spurned by a few arithmetical fallacies ; nor can a
man like Sir CHARLES NAPIER be deprived of public
respect and national admiration by a visionary ru-
mour, an insidious libel.

Another of the execrable scarecrows which have
been raised by the enemies of the British sway in
Asia is to the effect that, by instructing and im-
proving the indigenous population of those parts, we
should be raising up for ourselves enemies, against
whom opposition must ultimately be useless.
In other words, the truths of Christianity
and the data of human knowledge are
dragon's teeth starting up into armed men
Can anything be more monstrous than this? As if
the development of the mental faculties necessitated
the corruption of the moral, as if education vitiated
into unnatural enmity instead of fostering to
fraternal friendship, as if the advancement of
civilisation did not ensure the retrogression of war, as
if religion and science originated hatred and blood-
shed. This fear of producing to ourselves foes in the
Asiatic tribes by imparting to them the blessings of
civilisation is nothing less than the ghost of the feudal
system. That ghost may like, its brethren, "revisit
the glimpses of the moon," but it is too unsubstan-
tial to emerge unscathed into the daylight.

But a short while since the number was not small
of those who were ready to carp at the Government
for not having introduced a paragraph into the Royal
Speech in reference to national education. The con-
clusion was immediately and invidiously drawn, that
upon a question of such general interest the Cabinet
were altogether indifferent. We entertained a dif-
ferent opinion, which has received confirmation by
what transpired last evening in the House of Lords.
The -Marquis of LANSDOWNE, whilst laying upon the
table minutes relative to education, recently sanc-
tioned by her MAJESTY'S Committee of the Privy
Council,
_ori embraced the opportunity of making their
Lordships
theds h''and
cTlehaer the country acquainted with the views
portion of public h
Government upon a matter to which of late so
large a
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unremitted assiduity.d with which
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teresting topic of national
The Ooveril-