The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-15 00:00:00

NE WS PA PER
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lit mutt fall if that war rilicaild so ci.,,,,1
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your lordsbipe to bear le itinot whA rgetil s .s. se_en '6;4
Lion , f this country if we were unable t prit! 1
~4 er:i,%,n..1,-4
security el India tlle funds absnlu'elY " T0..444ft • 'ss:l ikz,„
c\thr
rying on tne war. It is with a view to t enk,,5,,,.7v
tione—the future am not of fsrce reel ' As:"dee . ...: si_-!"
feature means of carrying on the ear—that Itslrne- - s
desire and niutreat your for ships to consider upon A .
prenciele we shah act towards the people cf India, I
am satisfied that in the two pane:toes I reed te your lord-
ships I stated the two principles upon which alone you
can proceed, and I feel assured that it your lordships Or
the other House of Parliament sheuld by your votes
upon the resolutions now proposed to you and to the
House of Cousin us induee, as you would, the people Of
India to believe that sou anptove the policy cf the pre.
okitiatirm and disapprove the Policy anneuneed irrthe
letter, you will occasion in !mint a war t f a social cha-
racter. yore may have succeeded in wars purely poli-
tical ae,onst princee, but I speak the language of all
those who know lodic best when I tell you that in a
social war you must fail, for you will unite all men of all
creeds against you. I earnestly adjure your lordshipe
to avoid that great your
; and when I urge upon you
clemency a' the rule of the conduct of your Government
I only adopt the advice I have tessel derived from the
greatest men who before our appearance in India dorai.
nated in that country, and of the greatest men who have
it ustrated our own history. (Lend cheers.)
The Duke of ARGYLL said it had b. en argued by
many that the question before them was a personal
question, and that because Lord Canning was a mere.
1 tier of the aris'ocracy, counting many friends an
both sides of their lordships hou-e, a deep feeling of
excitement had been tailed with reference to the present
di -mnsion. Now, he could not agree that the interest
which they felt in the discussion arose from any s 4
cause. No doubt there was a time when Lord Canning
did require support in their lordships' hou,e and through
the country—fur Lord Canning's great capacity was not
as yet fully apprec'ated—but that time was passed, and
he must cengrstu'ate the early friends cf Lord Canning
upon the complets triumph that he had gained.
(Cheers ) Let i; be remembered that Lord Cannir
was the first to raise his wise in favour of justice , A
mercy. (Cheers.) Ile would venture to predict and
in future times the administration of Lord Canning in
India would be remembered when the administration of
England by the noble earl opposite would be utte,ly
forgotten. He had beard it said that this was a mere
party move. Now, he was no; one of those who de.
precated party organization ; en the contrary, he
heartily wished that at the moment they had in both
houses such a complete organist ttion as would ensure to
them what they otherwise never would have, namely,
an honest Gaveremeut and an effective Opposition.
(Hear, bear.) But the real truth was, that on both
bides of that house a cmservative feeling prevailed—sr
feeling favourable to all governments. Nevertheleen,
tLeir feelings had been roused ou that occasion because
they believed that the Government of India had been
materially weakened, not merely by the publication of
nut by the sending of the despatch. Now, the Govern.
ment had plenty of dine to consider whether or not the
de-patch should have been published—ther had at least
the whole of Fri lay, upon which, by-the-bye a council
was held by reflection--and if they were of opinioa
that its publication would ba dangerous they ought even
at the eleventh hour to have gone down to the house
and declared that out of consideration for the public
service they were unable to keep the promise which had
been prematurely made. And the fact was there were pas
sages in the despatch quite as obnoxious as those which
had been suppressed. But no, the Government wanted to
make political capitelont of tee despatch, a: d therefore it
was made public. Every one of the Cabinet were relapses.
Bible for the puelication of the despatch; and it was
im-
possible to read is without seeing it was intended for
publication. Besides, nothing could be more accurate
than the statements in the despatch, esp 2cially that con•
tained in the paragraph relating to the annexation of
Oude. Now, did the nohl i lord metal to reopen th; whole
question of the annexation of Oude ; fur if he did, the
Cabinet of L ird Palmerston, and ant merely Lord Dal.
housie, must be held responsible for that measure. He
could not help feeling that in tide affair the Government
had committed as many mistakes as it was possible for
them to commit ; and that, for the sake of casting din.
ciedit upon Lord Dalhousie, they had indirectly cast
censure upon the Crown. (Cheers.)
The Earl of CARNAR,VON believed that his noble
friend the late President of the India Board was perfectly
a' is to justify the language of his despatch against the
taunts of the noble duke. There might be a despatch if
such a character, that it was bit er not to publish it;
but under a parliamentary constitution it was better to
have the freest publmity. If it was publicity in India
that was object.ed to, then it was in the power of the
Governor-General himself to suppress it ; but if it was
the publication in Righted that was meant, then the at•
tack ought not to come from those who had always bees
in favour of publicity. There were two publications, one
of which was the !necessary correlative of the other—
the proclamation and the despatch. But it was in the
very nature of the proclamation that it should be a public
document; while the despatch would never, but for an
accidental misunderstanding, have met the public gaze.
It comes to this—that the present was a combined attack
on ono individual, and as he bad admitted his responsi-
bility, it would be ungenerous for the house to pas, the
resolution. There had been a second copy of the pro.
claination, in which there was a modification, and it
Was said that the Governor-General had reasons for his
conduct, which were as yet unknown to us. But the
question was not what was in the mind of the Governor.
General, but what was the effect on the minds of the
people of India. It was said that there were exceptions
in favour of certain individuals, but that made the
matter worse. If there had been no exceptions specified,
a certain nureber would have ft It that it ceuhl not apply
to them, lei .g innocent. But the mention of these
names excluded that hope, and gave to the confiscation
an effect of reality which nothing could efface. To those
who had been faithful the proclamation gave only the
enjoyment ( f what they already had, and only six per.
SODS were to be thus rewarded. With those exceptions,
the whole population was included in one sweeping
clause ( f confiscation. This would drive many to dis-
traction. Then there were the disbanded regiments of
sepoys, and a numerous class of men who, carried away
by a blinding fanaticism, by a mistaken loyalty to the
royal family, had committed themselves before they were
aware of this. This proclamation excluded the hope of
reconciliation, as it would throw on them the onus pro.
bandi of their innocence. If it was to be acted on wholly,
it would be monstrous ; if, in part, where was the justice
of takiug one man's land away from hint, and sparing at
all ; and if it was not to be acted upon, it was impolitic)
to make threats which were uol intended to be enforced.
What had occurred was not the fault of Government or
any member of the Government, but of the right hon.
gentleman who received a private letter, and did not
communicate to the Government a message referring env
a public matter. ([fear, hear.) However, he did not
regret it ; lie rejoiced that the despatch had gone forth
in the words of Lord Ellenborough, as " a message of
peace and pardon to the people of India." He con.
demned the policy of confiscation, and pointed to the
evils that bad arisen from it in Ireland. He called on
them to support the pug cy of justice and of mercy, and
not to sanction that of severity and the lust of power.
The Duke of SOMERSET said the Government had
at first tried to make the house believe that the publica-
tion of the despatch hat slipped out by accident— ques.
tiers were suddenly asked, and must be answered at
once. Now, it came out that it was not an accident at
al— (hear, Lear, and laughter)—but that they ought to
consider it as a sort of anti- proclamation. (A laugh.)
Had the President of the Board of Control sent out this
anti-proclamation in defiance of the Cabinet, that they
should now say they were n, t responsible for it II (Rear.)
After throwing overboard the India Bill they had thrown
over the India Minister, thus showieg a disposition to
clear the decks as soon as they could. (A. laugh.) The
despatch was most unwise, and had the noble lord been
in opposition, and such a despatch been sent out by those
in office, he would have felt it to be most prejudicial to
our interests. It condemned the annexation of Onde
clearly, decisively, and in the strut gest language. The
noble earl said that Oude lied been uniformly faithful to
the treaties. The proclamation in 1851 referred to the
treaties in which the Sovereign was bound not only to
pay tribute, but also to maintain good government. We
were bound to make that condition, because it was by
our aid that he was suppored from without, and from
within by our defending him from external attack, and
our resident assisting hint in the government of the king-
dom. We had all along been remonstrating with him
for not maintaining good government, and when our re-
monstrances were not heeded we annexsd the territory.
That annexation Was confirmed by the British Govern.
tnent. But the noble lord sympathised with the rebels
of Oude, and said their resistance was legitimate
latnedia war.ft
bre. If this was done to secure the peace
o
was a bad way. The noble lord said that there bad bZen
no confiscation in India since the Norman conquest.
r occa.
aytheonSeawr°onrdt
Lenaid, " My lords,
sion he held up to emulation, w
He thus held up to reprobation
hwelnia a forme
you hold India as the
in England." (Lang • erulwedouoldvesr
on Govern.m•Genera. Some
Governor-General,
against the
Nhterrurnlls
that he did not act with suf.
was He had then said that he desired
ficiel t energy.
abgecoa utbhes eebraeliftwaoaf a the
feeling
l said that
not to excite hatred between the races, but to act
with justice not with revenge, and when they cams
to bear his reasons for the proclamation, they would
Idoubtless find that he was still acting from the same
motives. The prop_ ,r course would have been, not to
send such a despatch as that, but a letter of advice to
act in accordance wiih that policy. The concluding ob.
servatioesof the noble duke, which were wholly inaudible
to the reporters, excited much amusement amongst those
noble lords who were near enough to hear.

The LORD CIIA.NCELLOR—We are very much
indebted to the noble duke who has just addressed your
I,rdships, for enlivening the debate with a little pleasan.
try, but he must forgive me for saying that I think he
has not added very much to our instruction. (Hear.)
No one who bad come into this house and who had lis•
toned to our debate with that attention which its very
interesting character deserves would have supposed that
my noble friend who has proposed these resolutions to
your lordships had called upon you to decide upon the
policy cf the proclamation and the propriety of the de•
spatch ; and he would be astonished to find that the
noble earl had submitted to your lordships a point of the
very narrowest description, and bad called upon you
merely to express your disapprobation of a premature
publication of the despatch addressed to the Governor.
General. ov!rnor.
General. (Hear, hear.) I cannot help observing in the
outset upon some of the peculiar wording of the reso u•
tions of my noble friend. He does not condemn, norbr
does he call upon your lordships to condemn, the pu 1.1
cat on altogether. What he complains of is the prem.
ture publication of the despatch—(hear, hear)--to that