The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-05 00:00:00

THE GRE IT MOGUL.

(From, .11.feni's ..Sepoy Revolt.)
It is little more than halt a century since Lord
Lake, whilst engeged in a campaign ageins: the
Matirattas, encamped near the city of Delhi, and
making his way into the palace, found there the re-
presentative of the royal house of Timor, in the
person of an aged man, poor, helpless, and blind,
the plaything of fortune, the prize, by turns, of
numerous adventurers. His ancestors had, by the
law of force, at one time acquired the dominion of
all India, and the rule which had raised them to
the pinnacle of greatre s had sunk him to the
lowest depths of abasement. He had lived to see
the dominions over which he had himself reigned
the prize of successive conquerors, his wealth scat-
tered, his wives dishonoured ; and had reached the
climax of human misery, when a brutal soldier
scioped his eyes out with a dagger, and left him
without the hope of better days. The English
general seated him again in the chair of royalty,
and iu return for a parchment gift of the countries
which he had won, and intended to keep, by the
sword, allotted to him the first rank in the long
line of mockery kings that once reigned, but now
who merely live, in India. In public and private
the Padshah, as he is called, received the signs of
homage which were considered to belong to his
I.re-eminent station. He has never forgiven the
English since a governor-general insisted upon
having a chair in his presence ; and, until recently,
the agent of the latter, when vouchsafed the honour
of an audience, addresse I him with folded hands,
in the attitude of supplication. He never received
letters, only petitions ; and conferred an exalted
favour on the Government of British India by
accepting a monthly present of 80,000 rupees.
Merely as a mark of excessive condescension, lie
tacitly sanctioned all our acts, withdrew his royal
approbation from each and all of our native
enemies : and fired salutes upon every occasion of
a victory achieved by our troops. Hitherto it would
have been impossible to have found a royal ally more
courteously disposed ; and we believe it never
entered the brain of the most suspicious diplomatist,
that the treaties between the Great Mogul and the
Hon. Company were iu danger of being violated by
his Majesty. To sweep away the house of Tamerlane
would not have added one jot to our power. Out-
side the walls of his palace the King of Delhi, as he
was termed, had no more authoritythan the meanest
of those whom he had been taught to consider his
born vassals ; but within that enclosure his will was
fate, and there wore 12,000 persons who lived sub-
ject to it. The universal voice of society ascribed to
this population the habitual practice of crimes of
which the existence is unknown at home, except b
the few who form the cora of the corrupt civilisation
of great cities. Its princes lived without dignity, and
its female aristocracy continued to exist without
honour. The physical type of manhood was debased,
whilst the intellectual qualifications of both sexes,
with one or two exceptions, did not reach even the
Mahomniedan standard of merit, perhaps the lowest
in the scale of modern humanity. But a " Light
of the World" could not exist even in these days
wi;heut experiencing earthly troubles. His Ma-
jesty had no fear of Mahratta daggers, and his pen-
sion was paid far more punctually than were the
revenues of his ancestors, Domestic troubles were
more burdensome, perhaps, to his effulgent shoul-
ders than would be the cares of the universe, and
there were no less than 1,200 little lights which
radiated upon him from all parts of Hindostan, and
required a great deal of oil to keep them burning.
It was no uncommon thing for one of this celestial
race to be obliged to live on 50s. a month, but in
no case did ho forget the dignity of his birth. A
Mussulfnan is obliged to settle a dowry upon his
wife, and a member of the Soolatun (plural of Sul-
tau) never endows her with less than 50,0001. Their
sole occupation was confined to playing on the In-
dian lute, and singing the king's verses. Too proud
to work with their hands, too ignorant to be useful
with their heads, they would have been content to
continue for generations to come in their late
miserable condition—forlorn mortals, empty alike
il4 pocket and stomach, in heart and brain, and
conscious only of the possession of unsatisfied
appetites.

A MARRIAGE IN A MOUSETRAP.

(Prem. the Sundag Times.)

It seems as though it were difficult for her
Majesty and her counsellors in the important affair
definitively to settle the details of the ceremonials
and festivities that are to appertain to the royal
marriage. First., it is announced, that there are to
be grand processions, three in number, passing
within view of a select portion of the British public.
who are to have the privilege of squeezing them-
selves into some human pose, provided for the occa-
sion. This is subsequently contradicted. There
are to be no processions, unless, indeed, we are to
give this name to the files of royal personages pass-
ing out of one room into another in the gloomy
Palace of St. James, to be witnessed only by those
concerned, even the attendants being excluded, for
want of space. Then it was announced that the
public might obtain tickets to view the processions,
on application to the Lord Chamberlain. We need
not state, after what we have said, that this an-
nouncement has also received a contradiction, or has
been revoked, arrangements having already been
made for the disposal of a few tickets which, in conse-
quence of the limited spaca in St. James's Palace,
can be given on the occasion." But then, as a
compensation, the Lord Chamberlain announces
that " the chapel and rooms will be exhibited to the
public by ticket, immediately after the ceremony."
Heaven forbid that we should indite a syllable
savouring of a disloyal spirit ! We do not harbour
it, while we deprecate the whole of what we may
term the external arrangements for this royal mar-
riage as amongst the badly mismanaged things,
which, if it were possible to lessen the affectionate
loyalty universally cherished towards the Queen,
would be sure to have that effect. In addition to
the gratification which Englishmen and women
always take in showy ceremonials, and in the pomp
and circumstances of royal processions, there is—
the truth must be told an interest of a commercial
character attached to such things ; and it is neither
discreet nor just in those who advise royalty on such
matters, to wantonly divest them of that character.
Everybody knows how much tradesmen at the
west-end' depended upon `the season,' to help
them through their heavy payments for rent, taxes,
and the other incidents of business • and how much
money used to be distributed in salaries and wages
amongst the workmen, workwomen, and servants.
That is now well nigh at an end. What with the
attractions of Windsor, Osborne, and Balmoral,
the residence of the Court in London is brief, in-
deed ; and that being so, the nobility and gentry
which the Court draws around it in London, and
nowhere else can scarcely be said to have season'
any more than the Court. And trade and com-
merce suffer accordingly. If her Majesty's tastes,
or habits, or health necessitates this seeming dis-
regard of the prosperity of those on whom she
largely depends for her comforts and luxuries, a
royal marriage is, at least, one of the occasions that
not only might, but should, be made to afford some
compensation for those losses which the regal loco-
motion of the time entails upon the trading
portion of the metropolis. Mere pecuniary con-
siderations could not induce her Majesty to take the
one of two courses which would withhold it. Had
the marriage of our Princes Royal taken place in
Westminster Abbey, thousands upon thousands
would have participated in the festivities ; directly
or indirectly, trade would have been benefited, and
multitudes, who have been suffering through the
winter upon short commons,' would have had
their hearts gladdened, and so have joined in the
chorus of general joy. As it is, the royal festivities
will be flat, stale, and unprofitable' to all but a
comparative few. They who pay the cost of these
magnificent displays of England's hospitality and
munificence are too vulgar to gaze upon the pageants
they provide. Sufficient for them ares
wthheereemppetry.
rooms. They can gaze upon the spot
havesona s
Inordinate,
trodden.
indeed, Whatmus
tmboer more
the
woulddes.r they
liberty to stand upon ground halloweda d
the vulgar crowd, if they are not
13
t satisfiedhobezriyoiwuyfsraottirlrifietotehluitee:
to build processions in the air,
realities that have been enjoyed y
few.