The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY
____lB,_ 1858.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(YESTERDAY.)

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY'S RESOLD.

TIONS

The Earl of DONOUGHNLORE called their lord-
ships' attention to the fact of Viscount Falkland having
voted in the division on these resolutions on Friday
last, both in person and by proxy. The majority of the
Government was thus diminished by one, and should
sole 10 instead of 9. He hoped the house would adopt
means to prevent such mistAkss in future.
The Earl of BESSBO ROUGFI said that if their lord-
ships looked at the division lists, they would find that
Viscount Falkland's proxy had not been tendered.

piness it must be a merciful Government. (Hear, bear.)
Now, having acquired this derninion in India there
arose a rebellion against us. We had a wonderful army
and that army mutinied. Let no one for an instant sup-
pose that I stand up as one not feeling, deeply feeling all
the atrocities that mutinous army has perpetrated. No
.man has been mere reedy to raise his voice against themthan I have been, and I wilt say let punishment to the
uttermost follow those atrocities ; but f draw a broad
distinction hetween the mutinous army and the people
The Governor-General of India and the Directors of
of India. (Hear, hear.) And now I come to Oude.
the East India C enpany were pleased to annex
Oude to our dotninions. I hold some peculiar opinions on
this matter. (Hear, hear, from the Oppotition.) You do
not know what them opinions are,
why do you cheer ?
(Laughter.) The opinions I hold are that I think the first
injustice the least—(hear, bear)—that when you have
conquered a country you aught to annex it at once and
not et eate intermediate authorities and enter into tit Wises
with them ; but that having done so you are bound by
these treaties. (Hear, hear.) Let me take the instance of
Seinde. There we began unjustly, but still we conquered
Scinde, and we annexed it. That I think a better mode
of proceeding than we followed in Oude. We entered
into treaties with Oude as far back as 1801, and these
treaties contained certain stipulations with regard to the
dominions of Oude. Another treaty was made after that,
but though laid on the table of this house it has been
declared to be no treaty at all. (Hear.) Ultimately it
was declared, on the ground of the treaty, that because
the King of Oude did not behave to his people as he
ought to have done hits kingdom was to be annex-d to
our dominions. Now, I say that was an injustice which
it would have been far better to avoid by annexing Oude
at once. (Hear ) 13e that as it may, it pleased the Go-
vernor-General and the Court of Directors to annex
Oude to our dominions. We ought to recollect chat the
people of Oude were accustomed to their nat ve dominion,
and when the annexation took place they expressed
strong feelings of dissatisfac•ion, and when the mutiny
of the army broke out they joined the mutineers. We
warred against them, but will any man tell me that we
warred against the people of Owls as a band of muti-
neers, and not as a nation ? (Hear.) It was a nation war-
ring against a nation, and we conquered them. Now, I
solicit the attention of the house to what followed. A
scene was enacted to which the history of mankind shows
no parallel. (Hear.) Annexing Oude, we immediately
proceeded to dispossess the landowners. That created die-
content. When the mutiny broke out the people of Oude,
as I have said, joined the mutineers, and we conquered
them. But before Oude was conquered the present Go-
vernor-General issued a proclamation, by which he con-
fiscated—l use the term in English as it was written in
English—he confiscated, with the exception of that of
six persons, all the landed property of Oude. (Hear.) I
say that the history of mankind affords no parallel to
such a case. (Roar.) I know that the Normans in their
day confiscated a great deal of the land, but they did not
go the length of confiscating all with the exception of
the property of six per-one. (Hear.) But to come to the
commencement of the question now before us. The Go-
vernment of India in this country receives from India a
proclamation that was ordered to be issued on the fall of
Lucknow ; and what did that Government do ? It sees
that a proclamation is about to be issued which in that
Government's opinion would make the whole people of
Oude rebellious; to the very end of their lives. (Cheers.)
And I ask gentlemen to observe that it has been said,
and I believe cannot bo contradicted, that this procla-
mation,.so issued, so declared, was done in opposition to
the opinions and wishes of Sir Colin Campbell, Sir J.
Outram, and Sir J. Lawrence. (Hear.) I have seen pri-
vate letters in London from India which say that the
effect of this proclamation was equivalent to a demand
for 20,000 troops in addition to those we have already
in India. I say, then, that the Government which would
have passed over a proclamation of that description in
n that (the Opposition)
ella:ehn n ui
enotn;(hear, hear),
so ready to
ssaainlyednslcoeu
awe
isokutvlhede
thhgaeevrneat
ldweemos eue rindy enhdoaiwyme
op
bench. (Laughter.) The President of the Board of Con-
trol, on receiving such a proclarottion was bound to
express an opinion. Whose opinion? What opinion ? His
own. (Hear.) He was bound, acttn„e on his own under-
standing, to tell Lord Canning what he thought of it,
and he did tell him. (Hear, hear ) What other con-
clusion could he have come to when he read of the con-
fiscation for ever of the lands of the people of Oude
—for it is idle to tell me this proclamation does not
confiscate the whole land of Oude (Hear, hear.)
There aro some ugly words ie that proclamation,
the true sense of which too house cannot fail
to see if it will only be guided by its own judg-
ment instead of being led away by party feeling. (bear,
hear.) The Governor-General in this proclamation, it
w:11 be observed, informs the people of Oude that the
Government will remunerate these who preserve their
allegiance, and he names six persons who are to be per-
mitted to retain their property. But be says further—
and, mark you, this proclamation is addressed to the
people of Oude—(cheers)—not to the chiefs, not to the
landed proprietors, not to the Dukes of Bedford—
(cheers and laughter)—bnt to the people of Oude, with
six exceptions, and to them he soys that " The proprie-
tary right in the atoll of the province is confiscated to
the British Government, which will dispose of that right
in such manner as it may seem ftting." (Cheers.) You
will recollect this was written in English—(hear)--and
that words more complete could not be used to signify
that the whole landed property of Oude was confiscated
to the Government of England. (Rear.) And now I
will make an observation, if the house will allow me,
upon the statement made by the noble lard the member
for the city of London on the injustice of publishing
that proclamation and the despatch of the noble lord the
President of the Board of Control. Now, let us hear
how it did occur. This inteeded proclamation was sent
home, but the proclamation was issued at Lucknow,
after the fall of Lucknow, and differed in some respects
from that proclamation. My hon. friend the member
for Birmingham (Mr. Bright) read the actual proclama-
tion as it was published in the newspapers. He put a
question, and an answer was given to him, to which by
and bye I will refer. The answer given was the answer
to this proclamation that I have read, and he was pro-
mised that the answer should be laid on the table. It
was laid on the table. Could you lay on the table an
answer that was not given 1 (" Oh I") All the Govern-
ment could do was to say, " We have sent an answer
to the intended proclamation, and that answer you shall
know." You did know it, and what was there wrong
in that ? It is a very simple statement, but a very true
one. Therefore, I say that Lord Ellenborough was
bound to give an answer ; that, in the second place,
he was bound to give that answer which in his
honest mind he intended to give ; and that this
answer was made. And now I come to the third ques-
tion involved. It has been said that Lord Ellenborough
ought to have made an answer, but that he had no right
to publish that despatch. Therein was the gravamen of
the charge made by the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Card-
well). I would ask the house whether there are not cer-
tain questions that compel an answer? If I go up to the
Secretary to the India Board and say—" Would you rob
atiornnasn?"
of paunbdl
ci f
pt ho el i hon.cy
p rgeevnetnl et mma
yn raenpal
wi plied,
in"gCtohnes
tie
Or!:
tion," the presumption would be that he would rob him.
(A laugh.) The hon. member for Birmingham said, " I
have seen a proclamation from the Governor-General of
India about Oude, and I want toknow if you have heard
of it, whether you have answered it, and the nature of
your answer ?" What occurred ? The Secretary to the
India Board got up and answered one-belief that ques-
tion. He said, "We have answered that proclamation,
and you shall see the answer." Upon which my hon.
friend, who is not a roan to be put off, said, 4‘ I hope the
Government are not satisfied with that answer ; I am
not. I want to know what you said. Did you agree with
the proclernatiou "No," said the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, " we did not agree with it ; we differed from
the policy indicated in every sense." Ncw I ask the
house, as men of common sense, whether, if the right
hon. gentleman had got up and said, "considerations of
public policy prevent my answering the question," the
conclusion of every man would not have been that the
ouhldavheaavnestwoeldrandstra,tatnhde
clbyovern
e decliningn
t did c noteew ae gr rhe
ee
Covernment blamed that proclamation! (Hear.) It is as
certain as daylight. If he hada
PProved the proclamationhe
wouldw
with the proclamation. (Hear.) What then wits the con-
duet to be pursued by the right hon. gentlemen? That
which he did pursue. He said, "We did disagree with
the proclamation." Will you tell me about paralysing
the Governor-General's arm ? Who was to blame ?
(Hear, hear.) WAS not Lurd Ellenborough bound to
answer the proclamation as his own judgment told
him it should be answered ? and, if you compelled
the publication of that despatch, the evil of it rests here,
and not with the Government. (Cheers.) There is this
wonderful 7
peculiarity-
- will not say mischief - of a Go-
!torment like ours—that the people should know what
is going on. I believe that the arguments used in this
debate go further than some hoe. gentlemen think, and
that they condemn the hidden diplomacy which is the
curse of this country. (Cheers.) I firmly believe that,
if we knew from day to day what the Government are
doing, we should be better off than we are. (Cheers.)
Now, we are led blindfold into every error. War comes
on us, and we are told we must not inquire. Peace
comes on us, and we are told we are too late. (Rear.)
When it is important that we should know the public
interests step in, and when to know is of no use at all
we are told all. (Loud cheers.) Sir, I want to know if this
•
is not a fair description ? There was no other course be-
fere the Government except that which they pursued.
They were called upon to give an opinion. They did
give an opinion, and they gave it according to the
honest bias of their own minds. (Cheers.) When they
were called upon to publish that opinion it was by this
side of the house, and they had no alternative. It was
published in spite of themselves, and the publication is
not to belaid
are to regard our Indian dominion as a matter in which
an interest, h
we -ave a yet greater interest is
we have _ a
truth and justice. (ue r.) If you wanted to pacify
India it would be by the couree pointed out in the des-
patch
despatch ought to be printed in letters of gold. Sir, I
believe so. That was an honest despatch, and Ido not
know my own countrymen if they do not come to the
same conclusion. (Cheers.) I entreat my countrymen
to remember that there are thingseabove party. If they
are to consider mere party moves I will ask them
what they will get if the Government are in a minority
to-night ? Why, a Government that we have cashiered
lately—(loud cheers)—because they neglected the
honour of , England. (Continued cheering.) We
are to allow hon. gentlemen on this side of the house
after passing a few weeks in the cold regions of
Opposition, to go io State across to that (the Treasury)
bench. (Cheers.) And for what ? Do the people of
England expect any change in the policy of the late QO.
'cerement? If they do they are wofully deceived. Sir,
I believe that good government, that happiness for the
people, that the advance of liberal measures, which we
all desire, are msre to be obtained from that weak Go-
vernment—(pointing to the Treasury bench)—than from
the strong insolence of this. (Pointing to the front Op.

position bench amid great chet Ting.) I have seen, Sir,
both, I have tried there beee, aed I ;►um sure that we
are further advanced in a course (.1 lett rove ment and
liberty than we eheuld have been under the guidance of
the noble lord (Lord Patmerwon). (Cheers.) It we
seek simple honesty—if we want justice for the peop?is
of England—if we seek the happiness of the people of
England and good government for England, we shall
give a decided negative to the resolutions of the right
hon. gentleman the member for Ox`ord. (Loud cheers.)
Sir C. WOOD considered that the object of the last
speaker was to divert the attention of the house from the
question before them. It was not a question of a strong
or a weak Government, but whether Lord Canning had
done anything calling for the censure of Parliament. He
was not prepared to consider Lord Canning's policy and
he asked the house if they were I (Hear, hear, and cries

of yes, yes.) He wished to enter on the question irre-

spective of party feeling. (Ironical cheers) He as•
eared the house that he was not actuated in defending
Lord Canning and condemning the Government from
the paltry love of office (ironical cheers) but from a be•
lief that put lis interests in this country and India were
perilled by the course her Majesty's Government had
taken. (Hear, hear.) He proceeded to defend the
proclamation which he Paid was only addressed, as
regarded confiscation, to those who had been in arms
against our authority in India. There was a distinc-
tion drawn between the landholder and the people.
Up to the sixteenth paragraph the proclamation had
reference to the former and what followed to the
latter, and as such, he contended, the proclama-
tion would be read and understood in Oude. The

right hon. gentleman read numerous extracts from
Col. Sleemau'e report, and also that of Sir J. Outram
in reference to the rapacious conduct of the talookdbars,
or landowners of Oude towards the people, observing it
was their property only that had been confiscated.
The proclamation must be looked at in the manner
in which it was issued to the people of Oude;
and in doing so, it appeared to bim it would
produce benefit by inducing the disaffected to return to
the British authority. The proclamation, as issued by
Lord Canning with regard to confiscation was similar in
language to those issued by a predecessor with reference
to the Panjaub. After that portion of India had been
for a long time in a state of anarchy by a decided policy
such as that which had dictated the present proclama-
tion, it had become tranquil, and had furnished us with
means for suppressing the mutiny. Was the proclama-
tion, then, a fit subject for censure ? (Hear, bear, from
the Opposition benches.) Was Lord Canning, placed as
be had been in a position of peril, and having acted with
consummate judgment under the most trying circum-
stances, to be the target of vituperation? (Hear, hear.)
But if the proclamation gave offence, it might have been
repiied to with much more fitting language. (Hear,
hear) Never until Friday last had he heard the lan-
guage of a subordinate quoted against a man in Lord
Canning's exalted station. (Hear, hear.) Public ser-
vants abroad had of late years been attacked in their
absence, but he (Sir C. Wood) contended that this was
the first instance in which a high Minister of State had
been so attacked by his own Government. (Hear, bear.)
It would be difficult for Lord Canning to avoid resigna-
tion under such accumulated attacks, but his sense of
patriotism might rise superior to the bad taste of his
colleagues. He did net think he should have had to
contend against the wisdom of publishing the despatch.
He thought the Government stood unmistakably con-
victed on that point. The Government were responsible
for this publication, although Lord Ellenborough, with
that high-spirited and chivalrous feeling which charac-
terised bim, took upon himself the whole responsibility.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer had been the delinquent
in the matter, fur his words of disapproval of the de
spatch might have been recalled, but the promise of
Lord Ellenborough to produce it could not. (Hear.)
If one Minister was to be responsible for the whole
of his colleagues, the right hon. gentleman ought to
take his fair share of the responsibility attaching to the
publication of the despatch. (Rear, hear.) When
it was stated by the Government it would be inceio
venient to produce certain papers asked for in refer- I
ence to the Cagliari, the motion was not persisted
in, nor would the production of this despatch if her
Mejesty's Government had given a similar answer.
(Hear.) He would not allude to that part of the Sell-
citor-Generars defence, that a copy of the despatch had
been given to Earl Granville and Mr. Bright, because
from the dates it appeared the copies were not given
till after its publication, but the noble lord the Secretary
for the Colonies distinctly stated on Friday the circum-
stances on which it should or should not have been
given. If this despatch had only been intended for
Lord Canning's eye, there would not have been no much
cause for complaint, but proclaiming it at the same time
to the people of India was the most disastrous thing pos-
sible. (Hear, hear.) It was, however, writton and in-
tended for publication, for it partook more of the charac-
ter of a proclamation than a despatch. (Hear, hear.) ,
It was a document in its terms derogatory to the Go-
vernor-General and dangerous to the peace of the
country. If there was just cause of complaint against
the Governor-General, it was the duty of the Govern-
ment to have recalled him in a manly and honest man-
ner, but it not they ought not to undermine and weaken
his authority. (Rear.) The effect of this despatch on
the people of India would be far beyond that on the
Governor-General, and twenty changes of the Home
Government were as nothing in comparison to it. (Hear,
hear.) It would encourage the people of Oude to con
tinue their resistance against the British authority ; and
the right hon. baronet asked the house if there was to
be no settled policy in India, but that in every change
of home government a change of policy was also to take
place in India. If, as they now said, the annexation of
Oude was unjust, why did not the house state so two or
three years since ! Then, no breath was whispered
against it, and ought now not to have been condemned,
as it had been in the despatch referred to. If they
were prepared to restore Oude and reinstate the king,
let them do so ; but if not, let them say so, and then
they would have credit for consistency. They, how-
ever, appeared to shrink from doing so, yet they
told the people of Oade they were acting right in re-
sisting the authority of England. It was impossible this
despatch could facilitate the pacification of Oude or
encourage those they had called on to come in to lay
down their arms. When it told the people they were
doing right iu resisting British authority, on that de-
spatch would lie the blood of those soldiers shed in paci-
ficating Onde. (Cheers.) It would be published in every
native newspaper in India, and the people would be told
that the former rule, though bad, was at least native,
and in consequence no part of India would be free from
insurrection and war. (Hear, and cheers.( That was a
question ten thousand times more important than the
change of the Horne Government, and he held that the
despatch, so far from proving a message of peace to '
India, would prove to be a firebrand of war. (Cheers.)
Tee publication of the despatch could not now be re-
traced ; but he held it to be their duty to protest at the
earliest possible moment against the writing and pub-
lishing of such a documebt, and counteract its prejudi-
cial effects as much as possible, by censuring the con-
duct of those who bad taken a step so fatal to our autho-
rity in India, and to assure the people of that country
that we were prepared to maintain our possessions there
aanndd t ot hreul e themskill o fwoi tuhr
justice and clemency.
swthaticeshmtebne
hvaaldouhrithofertoo
our
Mr. HARDY said on rising to follow the right hon,
btsaoilndeiedr,s
gentleman who had addressed the house with so much
elcquence and so much vigour he felt that some apology
was required from him, seeing that he so seldom ad-
dressed the house. He never addressed it, however, with-
out a strong conviction of the justice of the cause that
he advocated, and he never felt more strongly the jus-
tice of his cause than he did now. The right hon. gentle-
man had spoken of the annexation of Oude, but, passing
that by, he would at once come to the question whether
this despatch was one which did justice to the people of
England and to the people of India. The right hon. gen-
tleman told them that he had three objections to take—
that they had prematurely condemned Lord Canning,
that they had done it in unfit terms, and that the pub-
lication of the despatch in India was dangerous to
British power. Now, as to the premature condem-
nation of Lord Canning, when was the time at which
they were to condemn! if he was told that one of the
servants of this country had published a proclamation
which was in itself bad, was he to hesitate I He had re.
ceived no intimation that any such proclamation was
about to be issued. (Hear, hear.) He knew nothing,
he heard nothing, but that a letter had come to a right
hon. gentleman containing explanations. That letter
bad never been produced to the President of the Board
of Control ; but it had been shown Co a noble lord in
another place, that be might use it as an attack on Lord
Ellenborough. (Cheers.) That letter had been much
spoken of ; but who produced it ? It was not produced
en that side of the house ; and was it produced on the
other by any fair means ? But when it was stated by
Lord Ellenborough, the noble lord who led the opposi-
tion in the other house got up, and said he had not seen
the letter. The noble lord,i t appeared was not in the
secret ; it was not communicated to him. He did not
see in his place that evening the right hon. gentleman,
whose portrait, painted by himself, would be handed
down to posterity. But he turned from that which was
small point of the case. (Opposition cheers.) Hon.
gentemen opposite cheered, but not one of them had
been found to defend the right hon. gentleman. But he
should pass from that point. And now with regard to
the speech they bad just heard. He bad no fault to,find
with it, except that the right hon. gentleman had en-
deavoured to alter the issue, and put the question on
the issue raised by the noble lord (Lord J. Russell), who
told them that in the despatch the Government not
merely condemned Lord Canning, but declared him unfit
tc hold the meanest office. Now, he asked if that was
a fair representation of what had been done on the occa-
sion ? Then the noble lord threw out his taunts on those
who sat on the Treasury bench, and said they had shown
a spirit of animosity towards Lord Canning, and bad
endeavoured to deprive him of the just tribute which was
his due. Now, he should like to know to whom Lord
Canning was more indebted for his defence, when he
was attacked on a former occasion, than to the right
hon. gentleman, the member for the University of
bridge and the right hon. member for Oxfordshire, and
who damned bim with faint praise more than the noble
lord the member for the City of London. The noble
lord did not then look with the same feeling on the ocon.
pants of the Treasury bench, and in his desire to do
them a little harm he did not care about disparaging
, Lord Canning. The noble lord the member for Tiverton,
on the motion for the vote of thanks to Lord Canning,
said they would not be at all committed on the question
of the memorial of the inhabitants of Calcutta. The
noble lord (Lord J. Ressell) said he did not pretend to
judge of the manner in which Lord Canning had
t
con-
ducted these operations, and then he went on o praise
Lord Canning. (Cheers.) Hon. members cheered as
t.
.•
he had omitted to state that. Be stated in the first in-
stance that the noble Lord bad praised Lord Canning.

(Cries of Read.) He hew' net get a copy of the riseech,
(Cries of Oh, ob.) He e- it i only eay be ceecui red in
what the noble lord had - lie morel C3lll age of
Lord Canning. Bet the ~o, I erd ought to he the latit
man to eay that the occuraote ef the Trtaeury bench
wsre ready to withhold from Lorl Caenhee tribute
of !Tete.) which was due. He was quite ready that they
should take this qae,tion on the ground that, right
hen. gentleman had put it—that they should treat it as
affecting the interest of India, though at the same time
he could not give eutire credit to the right tem. gentle-
man for being uuiuflaenced by party considerations. Ile
could not say that the rectiou placed before them was a
sort of motion on which they ought to be called upon to
vote. Ile had Lever heard it cede lan Louest motion,
but he had heard it character i-ed as au adroit one. It
was a trap in which to catch members of different
opinions. They were told that they had no right to con-
sider the meaning of the proclamation which L wd Can-
ning had issued, and then those who said that immedi-
ately went into an elaborate defence of it, and the right
hon. gentleman who had just sat down told theta he per-
fectly understood the meaning of it. The right hon.
gentleman the member for Northaruptonahire, whom he
did not see in his place, told them that he approved
of it. He should like to ask the right hoe. gentle-
man whether he had any knowledge of the proclama-
tion before it was published, and whether he had
issued any directions for its publication. But the right
hon. gentleman was not there. [A. MEMBER—Re could
not answer if he was.] He presumed that there were
members of the late government that could answer that
question. His hon. and learned friend the member for
Sheffield spoke of the proclamation in terms so distinct
that neither in England nor in India could it be misun-
I derstood ; and when the right hon. gentleman who had
just eat down told them it would n be understood in
India in the same sense, he could only say, on the con-
trary, that he bad been informed by those who had re-
sided in Oude, or the neiglabourhool, that so far from
that being the case, it would be distinctly understood as
taking possession of every right in the land, not only of
the talookdars, but of the smallest holders. It was ad-
dressed to them all, and under it the whole of the pro-
perty would he seized. And when he read the letter of
Mr. Edmonstone he found that all that was saved to
the landowners was their lives and their honour ; their
lives we had not the power to take, nor their honour, as
they were spread over the whole of Oude, while we had
only possession of Lucknow. If ever there was a docu-
ment which carried its own explanation with it, it was
that proclamation—(hear, hear)—for if it was not in-
tended to apply generally, why were six exceptions epe•
cified by name Or, again, if it destroyed no proprie-
' tary rights, what was the value of the exception nrede
in favour of the six loyal talookdars ! Throughout the
allele kingdom the people, and not the talookdars and
chiefs oily, were in arms against us. It wee, in fact, a
rational revolt, as it had been described by Lord Ell,. •
her mob and the Court of Directors. (Hear, hear ) It
was not his (Mr. Hardy's) hit( wion to go into the an-
r exation of Oude, for the present was not the proper
time to discuss that ; but this he would say, there was I
not a single averment in Lord Elfenberough's despatch
which could not be proved by the most irrefragable eve
dense. (Cheers.) The noble lord did not say that the peo-
ple of Oude had been unjustly treated, but he recom-
mended the Governor-Generai to consider the position in
which they were placed, and what their feelings must n-
ceeearily be. He asked the Governor-General to bear
all that in mind in dealing with them ; and that was
exactly what the Court of Directors had also done. In
their letter to the Governor-General, dated the sth of
May, they said—" In dealing with the people of Oude
you will doubtless be more l by special considerations of
jestice and of policy. Throughout the recent contest we
have ever regarded such of the inhabitants of that coun-
try as, not being sepoys or pensioners of our own army,
have been in arms against us as an exmptionel class.
They cannot be considered as traitors or even rebels, for
they had nut pledged their fidelity to us, and they feed
scarcely become our subjects. Many, by the introluU-
tiou of a new system of government, had necesearily
been deprived of the maintenance they had 1 etterly en-
joyed; and there feared that the speedy loss of their
means of suleistence must follow from the same course.
It was natural that such persons should avail themselves
of the opportunity presented by the distracted state of
the country to strike a blow for the restoration of the
native rule, under which the permitted disorganisation
of the country had been so long to them a source of un-
lawful profit. Neither the disbanded soldiers of the
native Government, nor the great talookdars and their
retainers, were under any obligation of fidelity to our
Government for benefits conferred upon them. You
would be justified, therefore, in dealing with them as
you would with a foreign enemy, and in ceasing to c
Bider them objects of punishment after they bavo once
!aid down their arms." (Cheers.) That was the view r f
the despatch to which he (Mr. Hardy) would invite at-
tention ; and what, ho would rt4e, was the position of
Lord Ellenborough on the 12th of April, when the pro-
clamation arrived ? The Government had not been back•
ward in expressing their opinions as to the mode in which
the people of India should be treated. They had sent
out a state paper dated the 24-h March, aid laid it on
the table of the house on the 29th of April ; arid in that
despatch they declared the mode in which they had
determined to act with regard to the people of
India. [Mr. Hardy read the fourth paragraph
of this document.] The document went on to state
that for a huodred years the people of Oude
had been faithful allies of the Government ; that
whatever wrongs might have been perpetrated by them
had been committed one upon another ; and that they
had never offered any opposition to the British rule, hut
had, on the contrary, assisted it with money and soldiers
in times of emergency. It was after that it spateh had
been sent out that Lord Ellenborough wrote the letter
, which was now complained cf. it was sail that Lis
right hon. friend (Mr. Deirael;) had stated in the house
that the proclamation was disapproved cf by the govern-
meat in every sense ; but how was it possible, after
having indited the despatch of the 24th of March, they
could do otherwise than disapprove of it ! (Cheers.) But
the right hon. gentlentue (Mr. Vernon Smith) paid he
would never have agreed to make ore of his colleagu .s
scapegoat. The right hon. gentleman did not seem to
recollect all the passages in his political career —(laughter
and cheer-)—other viso the right hon. gentleman might
have mallet to mind a motion brought forward by an
hon. baronet (Sir E. B. Lytton), involving one of the
colleagues of the right hon. gentleman, namely, the
noble lord the member for the city of L uion. But that
colleague was abandoned. The noble lord retired from
the cebinet, and the motion war given up. (Hear.)
Upon the noble lord was thrown the onus whh
belonged to the whole ministry ; and they refused to
bear any part of it. (Seer, hear.) So that it could
seem that the right hon. gentleman had after all keen a
party to the abandonment of a c league. (Cheer.)
The present government did not, however, wish to throw
over the despatch of Lord Ellenberough. On the con-
trary, they adopted it from beginning to end. They
adopted it as laying down the principles upon which
they were prepared to treat the inhabitants of Oude ;
and they adopted it as embodying sentiments of humanity
which were as necessary for the honour of this country'
as they were for the happiness of the people of India.
The despatch reminded the Governor-General of those
principles, but it did not encourage those who were in
revolt. And here (=aid the hon. gentleman) I certainly
do csinplaira of the noble lord the member for the
City, in having in the course of his speech made use
of an expression which I am sure in his cooler
moments he will regret. (Ilear.) The nebl, lord
told us that the mutineers, when they read the despatch
would say, "True it is we have the Governor-General
for our foe, but we have a friend in England." (Opposi-
tion cheers.) Hon. gentlemen opposite Fay they are free
from party spirit, and yet they are ready to applaud that
sentiment. (Ministerial cheers.) Are they not ashamed to
say that we whose friends are fighting the battles of the
country would wish to encourage Ooze who are in arms
against it (Loud ministerial cheers.) When have we ever
been negligent of the interests and honour of the country
—we who, in support of those interests and that honour,
assisted in sending the late Government out of office ?
(Loud laughter and cheers.) Has it ever been said that
the noble earl who was so lately at the Board f Contr., I
was slow to strike those who were in arms again-t him ?
Has it ever been said that his arm was shortened again-4
rebellion ! But the noble lord is one that knew how to
temper justice with mercy, and be was the first to receive
those who came and submitted themselves to his mercy.
(Load cheers.) The house was told that they must not
regard the despatch as expressing certain sentiments,
but that they must look at this tone in which it was
written. (Hear.) Yet surely when the irtsrests cf mil-
lions were at stake, when the honour of England vta4 in
peril, and when the cause of humanity was in question,
people were not to dip their pens in milk and water.
(Laughter and cheers.) They ought rather to state their
sentiments with frankness, though without insult, as ho
believed Lord Ederiborough had done. (Oh, oh, and
oheers.) He (Mr. Hardy) had not the honour of Lord
Canning's acquaintance, but be believed him to be a man
of the highest probity and humanity. (Cheers.) In fact no
tn•an could command so many and such devoted friends,
except his character was deserving the respect of all.
(Loud cheers.) If, then, Lord Ginning was actuated by
those noble and patriotic motives which had been
ascribed to him, he would read the despatch in a very dif-
ferent light from that in which it was regarded by hon.
gentlemen opposite. (Hear.) He would look OD it, not
as intending an insult, but as calling his attention, no
doubt in strong and forcible terms, to the opinions enter-
tained by Government with reference to the conduct his
should pursue towards the inhabitants of India. (Hear,
hear ) The passage which the noble lord had specially
reprobated was the 17th paragraph, " We cannot but
think that the precedents from which you have departed
will appear to be conceived in a spirit of wisdom supe-
riorhiave to that which appears in the precedent y
made." (Opposition cheers ) Well, that miglaohein
read
in two ways. (Laughter.) He ventured toars y thatn
addressing that despatch to Lord Canning,
Lod Ellen-
like him-
berous,,h thought he was dealing
witle
a man
himself, had the
self —(laughter)—
good of India at heart would sonade wwhho w o,liir kuld note
momentsuff,.r iu
inry
feeling of wounded pride to stand for on
competition with the interests both
th of
country. (Loud cheers.) Hardy)f)ade a
believed o
edf thm
He (that
Lord Canning, en far
wishing to resign, would
bow to the arguments cfornonatained in Lord Ellenborough's
letter, and to tho-e which had been submitted to bins by
numerous parsons in India of the greatest consideration
and weight. Indeed, he hoped that long before now
Lord Canning would have adopted a different course,
and woald have offered to the people of Oude terms
more
i suitable than those contained in his proclamation.
But t was said that the Government had sent out this
despatch without waiting to see what explanation the
Governor-General had to offer. Well, but this was
not the first occasion on which the same thing had taken
place with regard to Oude. In 1832 there was a Go.
vernment of which the noble viscount (Lord Palmer-
ston), the noble lord (Lord J. Russell), and he did not
know how many right hon. and hon. gentlemen opposite
were members. Lord Auckland was then Governor-

:ate►<- w

General, and a despatch was eddreered to Men, ceiling
en en hire to cenee! a treaty which he had eutered into
the King ef 03de. (ili ate) wonlii it have
been if despatch had been published. [Mr. BRIGHT
—" Hear, lecar.l The King et Oude would then have
knewn bow the treaty was reean'ed in this country, and
he woeld rot on a late occasion have appealed to a treaty
which rr, Eueland had no existence, and which Lord Auck-
land, Lord Hardinge, (Jul. Sleernan, and Lord Dalhousie
said bad never been prop,rly explained to him, nor had he
been wade to understand that it was annulled. (Cheers.)
But how did the Government of 1839 deal with Lord
Auckland ? He would tell thein in Lotd Auckland's
onn word,: :
" I cannot fully express how deeply I must regret that a
measure admitted to be so well-timed and beueficial by the
great majority of judges in this country, a measure which,
after years of uncertainty and disorder, promised, as it ap-
peareit to me, to place our relations with Oude on a stable
and practicable footing, just and useful alike to the British
Government, to the king, and to Lis people, should have
been so ueequivocallycondenned nod rejected inEngland,
without permitting to the Government in India even the
opp rtunity of one explanatory represntation. (Cheers.)
This condemnation has not only been aneounced to us,
but it has been declared publicly, and it remains for me
only to act as best becomes the obligations of my duty is
the difficult circumstances in which I am situated."
(Cheers.) He would only say in pas,ing that the exam-
i n givesn
igno.
tle ins
7as f r
position,thin their
seas
here set him was one which Lerd Caneing would do
a
well to fll (Cheers.) And what was the gnaws ?of
the Government ? They didanveetrcnentrid.
Generale ,ed to
placingt
a a
they confirmed their previous dee
t bu
elision in the most peremptory language. They simply
said, " We have only to observe that we adhere to our
former instructions, and direct that they may be forth-
with carried into effect," (Cheers ) Ho had, therefore,
a right to Fay that the noble lords who sat on the oppo.
site benches, and who appeared so anxious to cross over
—(laughter)—had been parties to cot demuing a Cover.
cmor- General of India without waiting for one explana-
tory remark, and the publiehieg in the House of Lords
what they bad done, He might add that Lord Auck-
land did not resign. (Hear, hear.) The proclamation of
Lord Canning could not be confined to the kingdom of
Ou le. In the neighbourhood there was a district, Ro-
h leund, where there was a peculiar tenure of land—a
jo-nt family tenure. Several members of a family heti
the same piece of land ; and as it was not often suf-
ficient to support them all, some of them took service
in neighbouring provincee, and under the East India
Compaey. Would it not be thought that the procla-
mation twilled to them? (Hear.) Would not the
people of Rohilcund ask one another, " If such things
are dene in the green tree, what will be done in the dry I
—if the Btitieh Government treats the inhabitants of
(Jude in this manner, what will it not do to us, who are
confessedly under its rule (e)hei re.) Again, the proola•
motion would be peculiarly grievous to the Hindoes ;
for they held that unless they had land which they could
charge with payments on account of sacrifices for their
souls their eternal welfare as well as their temporal in-
terests would be compromised. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Hardy) would ask his hon. and learned friend (Mr.
Roebuck) what was the object of this motion ? (Cheers.)
Was it England or in India ? (Renewed cheers.) If
in India, he could only say that serious as would be the
eff.ct of the proclamation, a majority in favour of the
resolution would be still more fatal. (Cheers.) It ap-
Peered front every newspaper of ttat day that, as re-
garded the result of the-proclamation there was but one
opinion in India. (Cheers.) He would quote a few
lines from an article which appeared on the 6th of May
in what was called "the leading journal," but which he
hoped would not lead the public much longer—it led
thew in many contrary directions. (Laughter and cheers.)
fortnigir. ago the journal in qi stion wrote—" All
the authorities concur in affirming that we might come
to termite with the inhabitants without any trouble at
all. Neither landholders nor people, even in Oude, have
any otjectiou to our rule or supremacy ; but the former
cllB9 desire a satisfactory tenure of their estates, and
the latter look for assistance and protection." (Laugh-
ter.) Very different was this fr nn the course that great
journal had since taken. (Hear, hear.) lie (11r.
Hardy) bad received or had seen wetly letters, which,
however, he would not produce, because ho should be
c:lied upon to read them ; and that he had no autho•
ray to de. This, however, he would state, namely,
that they entirely confirmed the statetneete in the In-
dian niNspapers, and showed that the proclamation was
con:16111nel from ono end of India to the other. (Hear.)
He could venture to say that if the proclamation was
carried into effect, they would require not merely rein•
foreemente fez the troops in India, but a new army of
20,000 men. (Loud cheer. He read in the Friend of
India, which had just arrived :
All the authorities who describe the impediments to a
forcible subjugation of Oude concur in affirming that we
might come to terms with its inhabitants without any
trouble at all. Neither landholders nor people, even in
Oude, have any objection to our rule or supremacy; but
the former class desire a satisfactory tenure of their es-
Cates, awl the latter look for assurance and protection."
(Cheers.) Aped again-
-" All efforts to conciliate the people round Lucknow have
hitherto proved unavailing. They will neither return to
the city, nor provide our troops with supplies. Not one of
our men dare wander far from the main body. It makes
every man iu Oade a declared enemy, and does not exhibit
any means of coercion. (Loud cheers.) As an amnesty, the.
boon conferred is ridiculous; for what power have we to
put to death five millions of human beings ? But the In-
dian treasury has been for some times exhausted ; the pro.
clamation cannot refill it. Lucknow cannot bo put up to
auction, aor the castles of the talookelare sold to the highest
bisiders. Oude cannot be parcelled oat into small farms and
let to aliens, for interlopers would as soon take possession
of the forfeited estates as an Irish gauger of a Tipperary
estate in a year of famine, or a church neissionary of a lie-
iug under the Neapolitan Government. The reports that
the proclamation will give rise to will be endless. The
British Gove'rument will he held up both as weak-and rapa-
cious; as weak, in offering the life it has not theepower to
take ; as rapacious, in seizing estates to which it has no
right."
(Loud cheers.) The right hon. gentleman (Mr. V.
Smith) told the house that it had no irdormation upon
which to pronounce an opinion upon the mneaning of the
proclamation ; but the gentlemen opposite, in some of
their speeches, had put an interpretation upon it which
no one in Eogland had a right to put, and which the
people of Onde had not put. (Cheers.) But this, forsooth,
was not a party question—this was not a question that
affected the tenure of office. He did not know with what
feel ugh hon. gentlemen regarded those (the Ministerial)
benches—and, for himself, the sooner he was turned out
the better it wonl I be for his ease and comfort. (Laugh-
ter.) But there were rights to he vindicated and a duty to
be done. (Cheers.) He should wish his right hand might
either if ever he held it up in support ef anything that
owtmaged lteintteity ; but he was proud to say that he
could on this occasion hold it up in the common inte-
rest both of England and of India. He did most firmly
believe that when the recollection of party struggles had
passed away, it would be admitted that the noble lord,
the late President of the Board of Control, though
he might have been irjudicious, had been actuated
by nothing but an honest desire to promote the
good of the people fit whose sake he had sacrificed 30
yearn of his life. (Loud cheers.) If boo. gentlemen op-
posite suco (sited in their attempt to re-occupy the Trea-
sury benches, they would have done so without pro•
claiming a policy. (A laugh answered by loud cheers.)
Tney wool l not have declared whether they intended to
maintain the proclamation or whether they intended to
disavow ; and the public would justly say that they
had taken office under false pretences. (Loud cheer'.)
Lord DUNKELLIN hoped the house would extend
to him its u.nal forbearance to a new member, while he
expressed his opinions upon a question of painful and
peculiar interest t i bine (Hear, hear.) He felt with the
learned S ilicicitor•General that it was impossible to dis-
cuss the suhject before them without referring to the do-
cameo ,te a inch were supposed to have been published in
India.. -Anil yet, it could not be but painful to the Go-
v, ruor-General to be told that the House of Common.
heel consumed documents as emanating from him, with-
out any certainty that such was the case. The procla-
mation had been condemned as too severe—as being too
sweeping—on the supposition that tee people of Oude
were not in rebellion. Now, he begged to deny at once
the very foundation upon which that argument rested.
Not only were the people of Oude in rebellion, but in a
rebellion of the very worst kind. Oude had long since
been sun, zed to the Biitish dominioue, and it formed a
portion of eur territory in India when the pretest G,.-
vernor-General assumed his office. The outbreak com-
menced at Meerut, far away from the confines of Oude,
and it had raged at its height before it burst upon that
kingdom. Lord Cunning's proclamation was not
the
men-are of confiscation, it was intended to plaoe tn
proprietary rights of Oita° upon a lief._ footing, and
athde
without which there would never be
country. It had. been suggested howevhepere,:ntchea.nti Lordhave
Cunning's proper course would haven
eunnestyt
might
issued an amnesty. No doubt such. a
state effect
Governor-General
aimmficetdiitaintens
havewou hlb rany o 'been] to
andh
avper
pbraohdlyatchseidts
of quietness. But, although
been eminently
unworthy of him,
course, it would have
interests at stake, and fur the
might have consulted his own ease in adopting that
succeed him in the govern-
followed such a policy. Ile
chaarveienrgorfegth4,%ieti whotlm ehaae
have
were
futuretn
wmnitd o:otlandeoia; toh resolution of the right hon. gentle-
ten unjust as well as
man the membert for Oxtftonrdh,avbeechause he believed the
toiveerenemeteninterests of our Indian empire.
(Hear.)l LOVAINg having been on terms of conside-
rable with
.Lord Canning, confessed to enter-
p detrimentalolc
.); nf
th et
oG
the highest possible opinion of his merits. Ho ad-
miredtainhis firmness as well as his humanity ; nor had he
been sleek in justification of his noble friend. Be also
very
much regretted the publication of the despatch, at
the seine time that there was no overlooking the fact
that it was useless to Attempt to suppress it. However,
the real question before them fur diecuseion was, what
was to be their future policy towards India, and whether
it was right to have issued such a proclamation— which,
let them made-, must be read unmitigated and uninter-
preted by any of those private instructions which would
never reach the bulk of those to whom it was directed.
(Hear, hear.) Attempts had been made on every side
to gloss over the fulject of the wholesale confiscation.
Now, one thing was certain, that whenever previously
the tide of conquest had swept over India the property
in the soil had invariably remained where it was. The
latest account- from India showed how the proclamation
hail been interpreted in India. Much had been com-
plained of the sending out such a despatch at such ajunc-
ture to the Governor-General. Now, be would recall to
the house that during the progress of the Crimean
war a Minister in office did not hesitate tos forward
letters to the Crimea actually impugning the honour
(Hear,
and the veracity of the commander-in-chief. his f
. h
hear.) Well, were civil governors
a e
be left un-
questioned when the gallant chiefs
of our armies were
thus unmercifully dealt with in the mtihdast had Lord Can-
t of unparalleled
difficulties ? He honestly confessed
Ling asked Lis advice as to the issuing of his prociams,

Con, ha should have replied to him with the exact ad-
vice contained in the despatch before them. That de-
spatch, however, left no imputation upon the personal
honour of Lord Canning, who, in that respect, was more
fortunate than the gallant chiefs of our army in the Cri-
mea. He hoped that the house, by its verdict on the
question now raised, would show, once and for ever,
that the interests of India were not to be made the sub-
ject of party contests. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BYNG said, the real question before them was,
whether the despatch ought to have been laid before the
public. The question about the annexation of Oude,
though he thought it had never been properly debated,
must be reckoned among the things that were gone by.
The proclamation confiscated, with certain exceptions,
the proprietary rights of the landowners. The land-
owners were not the people, but the oppressors of the
people ; to whom the announcement that they were no
longer to be oppressed, would be so far from an instance
of Reglish severity, that they would take it as an earnest
of amelioration. As to the responsibility of Ministers be
was quite sure the Government could not disown a col-
league ; it might as well be said that they could disown
the budget of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or a
treaty to which the Foreign Secretary had assented. It
would be highly dangerous to India if the Governor-
General was made to feel that what one Government had
done another would disavow. (Hear.) He himself was
not like one speaker, a relative—he was scarcely even a
friend of Lord Canning—(hear)—but he believed it was
admitted on all hands that Lord Canning was the only
man whose nerve never deserted him, and who was
never betrayed into either cruelty or rashness, when
there was a panic amongst those who ought to have sup-
ported him at Calcutta. (Hear.) If there was a man who
ought to have entered into the feelings of Lord Canning
under these circumstances, it was the man who,
like himself, had issued proclamations, and bad been a
Governer-General. If there was one man on whom Lord
Canning ought to have depended for support, it was Lord
Ellenborough. (Hear.) Though the dangers for India
were great, there was still time to avert them. From the
despatch there was an appeal to the House of Commons.
Let him learn by next, mad that a majority of the House
of Commons approved his conduct, and would support
him, or at least not condemn him unheard. (Hear.)
Mr. A. B, HOPE said that never since he had been in
Parliament had there been a question on which he had so
great a difficulty to make up his mind. He did not, like
most members of that house, put his conscience in com-
mission. (Hear, and laughter.) The lash of the whip did
not reach his back—(a laugh)—and so he bad nothing
but his conscience to guide him. He never saw the two
parties on either side of the Speaker's chair come into
the house with less clean hands. (Laughter.) On one
side, a man, able, grave, and well approved by his coun
try, who, through many difficulties and trials, through
good report seldom, and bad report often, had upheld
the dignity of the rown and the nation, who might have
committed one fault, for that one fault was reproved in a
despatch couched in language such as our forefathers
•would have despised. (Rear.) That despatch, intended
to be read by the people in every part of India, with
antithesis neatly poised, gave some of those stabs which
ran in very deep and left bat a small scar. (Hear.) On
the other side, the right hon. gentleman, who had been
three weeks Secretary at War, and for three years Pre-
sident of the Board of Control, and might, without any
stretch of that charity which had little place in that
house, be supposed to have some idea of official matters
having received letters which he knew were not ad-
dressed to him as Mr. V. Smith, but as President of the
Board of Control—not in the character of his Vernon
Sinithism—(a laugb)—but in an official character—

deemed it sufficiently important to ask the advice, be
begged pardon, to read it—(a laugh)—to his noble friend
the member for Tiverton, but not worth sending to the
Board of Control. Olean) After that he came to this
house, and risieg in his seat, gloried in his laches, and
exulted in the mischief he had done. He offered no bet-
ter exonse than the pitiful quibble that he had not con-
sulted the member for Tivecton, but only read it to him
—(bear, hear)—gathering his opinions from his nods and
winks, or, perhaps from his silence—(hear, hear)—and
following his course. (Hear.) There he was amongst those
who hatched this motion. (Hear.) There was one defence
of Lord Canning that had been forgotten, which was,
that he was so littlo accustomed to anything like consi-
deration or advice, or anything practical from the right
hon. gentleman, but he bad naturally got into a lax way
of doing business with him. (Laughter.) Lord Macaulay
bad facetiously told a story of a youth who went out to
trap the hare, and found himself at the mouth of the
dark lair where lay a grim old bear. (Laughter.) Instead
of the bare Vernon Smith, he came on the grim old bear,
Ellenborough, (Laughter.) The only fault hitherto
charged to Lerd Canning had been on the side of cle-
mency, and Government ought not inconsiderately to
have sent out a despatch couched in the theatrical lan-
guage of Widdicomb. (A laugh.) In referring to the case
of Lord Auckland, the Under-Secretary for the Colonies
had used the word ignominious, and if the arguMent
went for anything it was that treatment to which that
term could be applied was proper treatment for a Gayer-
nor-G2neral, which he was sure the house would not
assent to. (Hear, hear.) As to the equanimity with
which it was said Lord Canning wouid receive the de•
spat* he might well quote the couplet—
" Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
But why did you kick me down stairs ?

(Laughtix.) Thera was so little to be said on either side—
with Lord Canning so hastily condemned, in so bitter lan-
guage, published so as to be translated into every tongue
in India, on one side, and the conduct of those who dared
to come forward as supporters of this motion. After the
suppression of letters to the supposed President of the
Board of Control, in this pitiful strife of factions which
bad done more than all the paid satellites of Napoleon
111. to damage the cause of free institutions, the ques-
tion was what were they to do ? If it had not been for
the amendment he did not see how tbey could have ab-
stained from some such censure as that conveyed in the
resolution, though he was not anxious to see the present
Government displaced, or to see others take their place.
(Hear, bear, and laughter.) But as the reeignation of
Lord Ellenborough had produced, perhaps not techni-
cally but virtually, a great change in the case, he thought
the amendment, giving a general vindication of Lord
Canning's policy up to the time of the proclamation,
and a virtual condemnation of the rashness of that un-

stateeman•like step the publication of the despatch,
would be that which the house ought to support. Those
who wished well for Lord Canning would vote for the
amendment of the hon. member for Samisen. (Hear,
hear.) Wishing to place the censure on the act of Lord
Ellenborough, but not to make it subservient to a pri-
vate cabal—(Hear, hea.)—he should give his vote
against the motion, and should support the amend-
ment. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. ATHERTON supported the resolution, defend•
ing the conduct of Lord Canning, and reprobating the
conduct of the Ministry as unjust and impolitic. The
Cabinet was not merely responsible for the despatch of
Lord Ellenborough on technical grounds, but it had
adopted and vindicated that despatch in debate.
Lord ELCHO defended the proclamation of Lord
Canning. It was evident that he himself thought it a
lenient measure, inasmuch as its publication was delayed
till after the capture of Lucknow, lest it should be con-
.

struea into an act of weakness. He considered that
the conduct of the Government had been cruel towards
Lord Canning and impolitic towards the natives of

India.

Sir R. PEEL—I rose immediately after the right hon.
baronet the member for Halifax (Sir C. Wood) for the
purpoge of complimenting him upon the vigour with
which he addressed the house. He said that it was
owing to the warm interest which he felt in the welfare
of India that he was disposed to quarrel with the policy
o her Majesty's Government. I admit that the ques-
tion we are now discussing raises a very grave and seri-
ous issue, and I am desious, with the indulgence of the
hoMe, to oiler a few observations upon it. (Hear.) I
have listened attentively to a good many speeches which
have been addressed to the house, and I devoted par-
ticular attention to that of my right hon. friend who in.
troduced the subject. We shall all admit that he was
very neat and temperate in his expressions. He was
neryisccurate in his dates ; in fact, I am sure of this,
tbat I never shall forget that period between fhe 12th of
April and the 6th of May—(a laugh)—but I must say
that he illustrated his facts with a series of arguments
Dot half so forcible os I should have expected. He at-
tempted to insinuate that her Majesty's Government
were desirous of shielding their collective responsibility
behind the assumed liability and self-sacrifice of one of
their colleagues, but I must say that I think the explicit
declaration of the noble lord the Secretary for the Colo-
Mpg most have satisfied the house that such an imputa-
tion was most unfounded. (Cheers.) There was one
observation which fell from my right honourable friend
which I caught fresh from his lips, because I was very
anxious to make an allusion to it. I felt equally with
the house the force of the remark, and that I might not
misrepresent my right honourab:e friend I took down
his words. He said, addressing the chair, " Don't
suppose, air, that the object and the motives," those
were his two words—" that the object and motives of
this motion are at an end, because Lord Ellanborough
has resigned." Why, of coarse they are not an end.
(A. laugh.) Don't suppose, I may say, that the
Hesse of Commons is so limited in its apprehension
as not to perceive that the object and the motives of this
motion have a far wider and more liberal basis. (Hear,
hear.) Depend on it it is not the interests of poor Lord
Canning that have been considered by his friends
in this motion. (Cheers.) It is not the welfare of the
millions of India that has been considered. (Renewed
cheering.) An opportunity must be seized to attack the
Government, and therefore you must make India the
battlefield. Now, that, I must say, is a matter which
is greatly to be regretted. Our chief object in the vig r-
oes prosecution of hostilities in India not the tempo-
rave establishment of the power, the prestige, and the
dignity of the Bi lash name, but that we should so coin-
Port ourselves as to be able to look farwaril to the con-
tinuance of„ottibrirwer, and, if possible, to the possession
of the pyre
That being the cgaseof the millions over whom we rile.
instead
of
ten4il must say that I think this mo-
tion,to assist our fellow-couotryweu
in India, will greatly7e e their embarrassment; and
I believe that the counterrea'd Gates quite as much as
(Cheer house does the entitle which
(s.) It is absolutely impost:l:low being pursued.
separate the
policy which has been- pursued in Inediatofrhom the cen-
sure that is attempted to be passed upon
Government. I do not wish to discuss theeqrtMeesattoantY'sf
the annexation of Oude, but in order to form my ergoo
went I must say that the nations of India have become
subject to British rule either by military operations by
:treaties, or by official acts o I arbitrary spoliation ;s
and
it is the result of one of this last class of operations that
directly bears upon the subject which we are now dis-
cussing. Alleged misgovernment of the native prince,
of India has been always the pretext or justification for
annexation. In the course of the rule in India we have
absorbed some 200 sovereignties, I fear on too many oe-

casions with no better justification than that of conveni-
ence or expediency. Lord W. Bentinck admirably alludes
to the mode of our proceeding with reference to the an-
nexation of countries. He says that a political agent of
the India Government takes up his abode at the court
of the Royal victim ; by degrees, he usurps all authority,
acts the part of a dictator rather than the Minister of a
friendly power, and exercises a jurisdiction totally in
compatible with the Royal power and dignity. Now, I
must say that this was precisely the coarse panned in
the case of Oude. Alleged misgovernment in Oude
was the cause of its annexation. Mr. Grant, Lord Dal.
housie's chief coadjutor and adviser in this matter, says,
" We unhinged the whole social fabric and political
state of that country and then annexed it." lam not
going to discuss the policy or expediency of that annexa-
tion, but I must say that when these are the officially
reported grounds on which it toek place, there is a great
deal of sense and proper feeling in this 14th paragraph,
which I will read to the house :
" We must admit that, under the circumstances, the
hostilities which have been carried on in Oude have rather
the character of legitimate war than that of rebellion—
(cheers)—and that the people of Oude should rather be
regarded with indulgent consideration than as subject to
a penalty exceeding in extent and severity almost any
which have been recorded in history as inflicted upon a
subdued nation."

(Hear, hear.) I think that Lord Ellenborourgb, if he
wrote this paragraph, was perfectly justified in thus
alluding to the people of Oude. (Cheers.) But Lord
Canning is of a different opinion. Ido not wish to say
one word disrespectful to Lord Canning. I perfectly con-
cur in the panegyric passed upon him by the noble lord
the member for London. I admit that his position has
been one of great difficulty ; but at the same time, I do
not think, when the interests of millions are concerned,
that we should hesitate to express our opinion upon his
policy. (Cheers.) Lord Canning has been in circum-
stances of peculiar difficulty. He arrived at Calcutta as
the successor of one of the most able, accomplished, and
enlightened administrators that of late years has ruled
the destinies of India—l mean Lord Dalhousie. (Hear.)
He had hoped, of course, that Lord Dalhousie'e govern-
ment would have given him a secure and undisturbed
possession of power. But he was disappointed. And
why Because the whole course of our government
in India had been not to enlist in our favour, but to
place against ns the energies and the feelings of the
people of India. The consequence was that as soon as
the master mind of Lord Dalhousie was no longer there
Lord Canning found himself encompassed by a hostile
people. At the very outbreak of this insurrection Lord
Canning was accused of supineness and indecision al-
most amounting to incapacity. But now that the dan-
ger is passed, that the neck of the revolt is broken, that
what is called our national honour has been vindicated
by British bayonets, Lord Canning comes forward and
recommends an not of arbitrary spoliation, which, I ven-
ture to say, is unequalled in the annals of any civilised
country. (Cheers.) We well know that this kind of
spoliation and confiscation is unknown in India. What•
ever tumults or convulsions may have swept over that
great peninsula, no religious fanaticism, no result of
war, has produced such consequences. But we know
more than that. We know that from this policy of Lord
Canning Sir James Outram has dissented. Sir J. Outram
said, I believe Sir J. Lawrence recommended an indis-
criminate amnesty. But an attempt bad been made to
shield Lord Canning by the policy of Lord Dalhousie.
It is said that Lord Canning is only doing what Lord
Dalhousie did before. This I deny. Lord Dalhousie
gave to his proclamation a prospective action, whereas
Lord Canning's proclamation has a retrospective opera
tion—(cheers)—retrospective operation in Oude, when
only the ground under the soles of our feet is our own,
when the whole country is in arms against us 1 (Hear.)
The way to conciliate 5,000,000 of people-in that coun-
try is not by proposing to confiscate their proprietary
rights. It is this policy of confiscation from which her
Majesty's Government dissent. Is there a man to stand
up in this house and tell me that this policy should be
adopted ! (Cheers.) Is there a man who, if I may use
the expression, is such a traitor to those principles in
which every free-born Englishman is nurtured as to tell
me that the successful operation of the British arms is to
be followed by the universal confiscation Chof a people ?
No, no, that is not the policy, that is not the system that
we ought to adopt. (Hear.) You cannot separate the
policy of Lord Canning from the censure that you are en-
deavouring to cast upon Government. I stand here as a
free and independent man, and as such venture to ray
that the Government hays not been fairly dealt with in
reference to this motion. (Glenn.) The question that
ought to be decided is whether we, as a corporate body,
should sanction arbitrary spoliation, or recommend that
severity should be tempered with moderation and jus-
tice. Lord Canning, who was heretofore called Clemency
Canning, has now enormous power, and it may be that
his proclamation was dictated by that lust of power that
every man feel.. (Cries of " Oh, oh 1") I have a very
high, a very noble opinion of Lord Canning—(laughter)
—but I want to know whether he wishes to assimilate
his conduct in India to the early successors, for in tance
of the Spanish conquerors of America ! Theirs was a
system of universal spoliation. Or does he wish to as-
similate his conduct to that of the Power that ground
down beneath the iron heel of despotism a great nation
—that drove with the utmost severity the iron of despair
into the soul of unhappy Poland (Cheers.) If he does
not let him moderate his rule in accordance with the
principles of civilised nations. (Loud cheers.) An hon.
gentleman who spoke the other night from these benches
alluded to the former condition of Ireland (now happily
prosperous), when confiscation was attempted. That
attempt never succeeded. Let me refer to one example
in our own history. Lord Derwentwater in 1715, in
accordance with the proclamation issued by his Reyal
master, had his estates confiscated and his titles at-
tainted, but the proclamation went no further. Let me
take a far more notable instance in our English history.
In 1746, when the insurrection in Scotland was sub-
dued, when the last hopes of the family of the Stuarts
perished upon the field of Culloden, when those who had
travely advocated their cause perished upon the scaf-
fold, their estates were confiscated, but the confiscation
went no further. (Laughter.) The estates of the fol-
lowers of the Stuarts were confiscated, but the great
mass of the people of Scotland were left in the enjoy-
n,oat of their property. (Hear, hear.) These are
examples that Lord Canning might have followed.
And now with reference to the discussion we have
had in this house. We are told that the same
mail, of last Monday, that took out information to
India that Parliament had determined to transfer the
government of India from the East India Company
to the Crown took out also intelligence which must he
exceedingly unsatisfactory to the people of India. Never
was an act performed more reprehensible than that to
which I allude. It has been stated openly, and for the
purpose evidently of making it conspicuous, that the
Directors of the East India Company met last Monday
and passed an unanimous vote of approbation of Lord
Canning. (Hear.) That vote is palpably in opposition
to the Government of the day. (Cheers.) It is meant
to be so. I, for one, have always stood up for the East
India Company. From the first I have voted in their
favour. I believe that their government has not been
so unjust and arbitrary as some have representec'. But
late votes of theirs is a good example of that double go-
vernment of which we have heard so much. It is in
flagrant opposition to the Government, and must produce
the worst effects in India. (Loud cheers.) But it is not
merely in India that this opposition will be felt. We
have to deal with its effect in this country. We have
heard a good deal about the premature publication of a
despatch, and a great deal of blame has been cast upon
the Secretary to the Board of Control for the observations
that he has made upon it. But depend on it that is no t
the real question at issue. The resolution says that " this
house sees with regret and serious apprehension that
her Majesty's Government have addressed to the Gover-
nor-General," &c. Now, I must say there seems to be
something concealed in this expression of regret and
serious apprehension. There is something hypocritical
about it. (Loud cheers.) It is not a straightforward
expression of opinion. I want to drive home the hypo-
crisy of certain disinterested politicians. (Cheers and
great laughter.) I want to show that it is not that they
feel regret and apprehension, because the Secretary to
the Board of Control made his statement, or because
the despatch was prematurely published, but lest India
should not be made the shuttlecock of party. (Loud
cheers.) The member for Halifax said that he would
not much care if her Majesty's Government wereeturned
out to-morrow, for the people would rejoice. Well,
there lies the question. (Hear.) This is a party move,
The question we are now discussing lies between Lord
Derby and the noble lord the member for Tiverton.
(lisar, hear.) I venture to say lam not speaking
merely my own opinion, but that of thousands in this
country, when I say that the question really is whether
Lord Derby shall continue to advise the Crown and
exercise the duties of that position which he has honour-
ably and fairly acquired—(cheers)—or whether this
House of Commons is, with trembling humiliation to
the .Piccadilly manifesto, to allow the noble lord the
cheers.)
memberfeeesrtso.,) after I elrbetaTlwweoi
back to
due
htrl
otadt
hov,:neeme
withtt
:ea e scramble r
seriousm b I
me
ab
tce back to
afterpower.
ano h
a (Loud
na-
nof o twh e
comenob j
ustice condemned the policy
upon
aforarTtyivegruteeant,iotno
relating
tathiinm
to India. (Hear.) It is said by some that if the Govern-
ment is beaten Lard Derby
go
the want of strength of his
out, on account of
part •but in these days the
strength of a Government dependsy'
not N J much upon its
numerical force as upon its bpeliengouint
oafccdorodoarsnle(hweiatrh
the active sympathies of people
eo
hear) —and the general sympathies and feelings of the
public will always be in favour of any Government,
be it presided over by LordDerbayl,i, n
is thoeblei,gloirtid.
the member for Tiverton, or the noble lord the
mmaemtebleeradfe'rr ofLothriedeLer n;bwhael, after
pariy—(hear, hear)—if it is
evident that they are equal to the conduct of public
affairs, Now, as this has been made a party question, let
me ask you before we come to a decision upon the subject
to cmsider the pceition of the champions in the struggle.
Tile noble lord the member for Tiverton has just ',i.e.
convicted, upon the clearest evidence, of toadying to
foreign influence. (Loud cheers and counter-cheers.) He
has just been convicted, and very properly convicted, of
preferring the favour of despots to the friendship of
athonsde
living under a constitu'ional sovereign—(cheers
laughter), and yet you want to bring the noble lord back
to office. (No and cheers.) Why, the noble lord bee
shown in a crisis--in a moment of emergency—that be
is wanting in moral courage. (Cheers.) It is palpable to
every one, and has been decided by this house and en•
cloned by the country, and I will venture to say that the
Government of Lord Derby is infinitely more liberl in
action than was that of the noble lord. There were not
many questions left as legacies to the present Govern-
ment by their predecessors. There was no Reform Bill.
(Rear, hear.) There were, it is true, some loose observe-
thaions about an India Bill, in which that great subject
d been treated like a medical reform or turnpike trust
.B,Ltir,ietried_ak :groal I.hieaareurbgei
Derby's
s question
Ia
nthink tcheen
sonly a
otywßo
leg
vc i eells
swere,ir
and Governmentcries of repudiated the Conspiracy
"No 1 no I")—and, more than