The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-08 00:00:00

INDIA.

By the arrival of the Overland Mail we have re-
ceived files of papers from Calcutta to the 2d, and
from Bombay to the 11th of Novetnimr, from
Melbourne to the 17th of October, and from Sydney
to the 13th of October.

The following is the letter of our correspondent,
dated

"CALCUTTA, Nov. 2.

" On the 22d of October the Governor-General
made his triumphal entry into Lucknow, and received
and decorated all the Princes and higher noblesse of
Oude. Your readers, I dare say, will scarcely care
for the ceremonial, the formal genuflexions, the be-
stowal of necklaces, the small speeches and large
complimonts which make up an Indian reception.
The real interest of the scene, besides, does not lie
in them. Two days after a grand Durbar was held,
attended by the majority of the Talookdars of Oude.
After the usual formal greetings, the Governor-
General rose ani addressed the assembled land-
holders thus :

" Talookdars of Oude,—l am glad to find myself
in your country and among you, and to have this
opportunity of speaking to you in the name of the
Queen your Sovereign.
"' A year has not passed away since this pro-
vince was the seat of anarchy and war. The
conduct of its people had been such that the Go-
vernment was compelled to lay a heavy hnnd upon
it. But peace and order are now restored in every
corner of Oude, and I am come, to speak to you not
of the past, but of the future. •
" You have all of you who are here present re-
ceived yesterday the grants of those estates which
the Government has restored to you.
" You will have seen by the terms of these grants
that the ancient Taiookdaree system of,Oude is re-
vived and perpetuated.
" Be assured that so long as each one of you is a
loyal and faithful subject, and a just master, his
rights and dignity as a Talookdar will be upheld
by me and by every representative of your Gleam,
and that no man shall disturb them.
" You will also have seen by those grants that
the same rights are secured on the same conditions
to your heirs for ever.
" ' Let this security be an encouragement to you
to spend your care, and time, and money upon the
improvement of your possessions. •
" As the Government has been generous to you,
so do you be generous to those who hold under you
down to the humblest tiller of the soil. Aid them
by advances of money and other indulgencies to in-
crease the productiveness of the land, and set them
an example of order and obedience to your rulers.
"' Let the same security in your possessions en-
courage you to bring up your sons in a manner be-
fining the position which they will hereafter oc-
cupy as the Chiefs of Oude. Learn yourselves, and
teach them to look to the Government as a father.
" Talookdars, I trust that there are none among
you who are so infatuated as to believe that the
Government has designs against your religion.
Even if there be any such, I will not condescend to
repeat the assurances which they have already re-
ceived on this head. I leave it to time, and expe-
rience, and their own senses to dispel their perverse
suspicions. But for their own sakes I warn them
not to be led into acts of opposition or distrust to-
wards the Government by the false tales of design-
ing men.
" Lastly, Talookdars, wherever in any matter
you have doubts to be resolved or wishes to make
known, address yourselves to the Chief Commis-
sioner. He will tell you the truth in all things.
Ho is the high and trusted representative of the
Government in Oude, and, depend upon it, ho will
be your best adviser and your truest friend. I wish
that I could speak to you in your own language.
That which I have said will now► be interpreted to
you, and I enjoin you to bear it in your memories'
" The Talookdars,' says a local reporter,' looked
satisfied,' and well they might. If one could
imagine the Duke of Sutherland, say, suddenly
assuring his tenantry that their farms were their
own for ever in fee simple, one would expect some
slight marks of complacency to be manifested. That
and nothing less is the effect of the Viceregal speech.
The Oude proclamation, the despatches to Lord
Stanley, our entire policy since the annexation, are
flung to the winds together. The aristocracy are
restored to their estates en masse and granted a per-
petual settlement ; in other words, the rate of taxa-
tion is fixed for ever, and all the increase of renta
sure to follow our rule Hill go, as in Bengal, to en-
rich them, instead of the State.

" The measure, wholly unexpected and at vari-
ance with every profession Lord Canning has made,
is in itself most wise. The rople will not revolt
without their leaders. They did not even in Behar,
where the resumptions have created a genuine hate
of our rule. The leaders now cannot move. They
all accept a perpetual settlement as the greatest of
benefits, and they all know that the first act of a
native King would be to upset it. They may not
personally feel the benefit for a year or two, but
they are not fools, and they know how rapidly the
Bengalce Zem:ndars have thriven. They are re-
, lcat,cd at once from all uncertainty as to the future, 1,
they recover at once their feudal supremacy, they
arc exempted at once from the visits and authority
of the collector, and, above all, they are made too
strong for the native officials. Those gentry, even
in Bengal, dare not worry the Zemindars, and in
Oude with its martial population they must keep
strictly within the letter of the law. There will
be some distrust at first, but in five years, I feel
assured, if the perpetuity of the settlement is really
and honestly maintained, the possibility of rebellion
will cease in (Jude. There may be any amount of
discontent, but the rich never revolt in earnest.
"The terms of the grants are not yet published,
and are very possibly severe. The perpetuity