The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-18 00:00:00

LONDON, FRID.A►Y EVENING, DECEMBER 18, 1857.

Christian religion.- (Cheers ) Having done this, you
must then establish a rule by which justice shall be ad-
ministered. And here let me say a, word about the tad
Indian. lam teld whenever I speak of India and of
tablishing justice there,s" Oh you must listen to the
experience of tl • old Indians." But these old Indians
have done some thiegs by which any man may estimate
the value and character of their knowledge. • I heard a
gentleman in the lieu: e of Commons assert that torture
was employed in India for the purpose of collecting the
revenue, when he was isrmedrately followed by au old
Indian who was a director of the East Indian Company,
and had been a chairman of the Court of Directors, who
distinctly, boldly, and with great vehemence denied that
torture was ever perpetrated in India for any such pur-
pose—the vehemence -of his denial, the firmness, aye,
the au lacity with which he denied it, won upon the
House of Commons, and they cheereilom they always
do cheer, a bold statement. But not long after a com-
mittee eat on the subject, and a report lwati made. I
read that report, and it confirmed all that had been
asserted about the use of torture in the British do-
minions. I have lived long enough .to call to that gentle-
man's mind the firtnr-ess, the vehemence, and the unhesi-
tat:ngness of his denial. I dick it in the House of Com-
mons', and I silenced him. (Cheers.) There are men
hers who were present on that occasion. That was the
first instance I derived of the value- of an old Indian's
experience. The next was still more remarkeblei Up
to the vtry hour of—nay, even after the outbreak of the
sepoye a very old Indian told us ,that no outbreak
would take -plebe. The sepoys, he said, was docile
and faithful and- would Lever rebel. But while'
this was being sitilthe Sepoys did rebel, and the very
men who. said these things of them were cut down by
own
their o servants, and the ladies with whom they had
lived and from whom they bad received nothing but
kindness and-tenderness of treatment, and even the very
childrenyfhom.they had fandled and nursed, were mar-
del ed by them. Again, then, I say, we may by this test
the value of the old Indian's eiperionee. (Hear, hear.)
-The retiult, then, of all this is—let us not go to old In-
dians for knowledge about India. If you want to know
the true state of India go to the hard working missionary
—go to the traders, don't go to the governors, who are
surrounded by flatterers, and who are bowed down to
by the Hindoo. They go out to India from this country
young and inexperienced, and are captured by the beau-
tiful and graceful approach of the Hindoo. They look
with gauze before their eyes, and not what is around
them. They know nothing of the Hindoo character.
Such being the case, an inquiry must take place regard-
ing the principles on which the future government of
India is to be founded. But I warn the Government as
to the sort of evidence which they receive. I have not
much more to say. But before I close let me say one
word to you as representing the people of England. Re-
collect that you have taken upon yourselves the govern-
ment of India. You are answerable for all that tappens
to be done in the name of the people of Eoglands toward
that country. Among other deeds which England has
done has been the acquisition of Hindostan. There is
an enormous population under your dominion, weak
and unciviSeed. You are still the governors of that
couetry, and I would beseech you to ree sheet the deep
responsibility that now presses upon ysu. You have to
govern India ; and upon your shoulders will rest the re
sponsibiliiy for the made in wh oh thatcountry is hence-
forth governed. Your representatives require the spur
and sometimes they require the bridle ; it is you upon
whose it devolves to use that spur :IA to guide that bri-
dle. You have a free press and you are enabled to say
what you like. You must take every means of impressing
upon your representativea the necessity of watching care-
fully the Government of India. It is a great and onerous
duty, but having taken upon ourselves the government
of that country we are bound, as honest men, to see it
well governed. In the next session the subject cannot
be shelved. The people have had their feelings too much
excited to allow tr..) government of that country to re-
main in the hands of those who have hitherto governed
it since the scenes that have incurred. Depend upon it
Parliament will have to bring to bear upon the Govern-
ment of India all the intellect and all the independence
it possesses, but that intellect and that independence
will fail if not backed up by popular opinion ; and I
entreat every man within his circle to weigh well within
himself the mode and manner in which be thinks Eng-
land ought to govern the people of India. I believe the
time is at hand when all of you will have a direct influ-
ence in the Government of this country. When. that
period arrives your responsibility will be still greater.
The great body of us now can certainly influence the
councils of the nation by our opinion, but the time is
not far from hence when you will be able to determine
by your vote who shall govern England. When that
time arrives I hope to see a good Government in India
—good government wherever the power of England ex-
tends, and I ask to what part of the earth it does not
extend ? For, strange to say, these small Wands exercise
an influence upon mankind which no Government ever
before wielded. These islands are great in letters, in
art, in science, is knowledge, and in happiness. The
people of England are like a torch set up to enlighten
mankind. You have been enabled, through Providence,
to extend your dominion overtire wbolafeeeof theglobe,
and it now remains to be seen whether Englishmen are
as good as they are brave, whether they are as wise as
they are sagacious, and whether they can conduce to
dt hue c
edtto happiness
the of
greatness
ng i
eu
d. asc h h
et
ereey. h )
a ve n-
The
bon.
gentleman then moved the following resolution :
" That the system of the double Government of India,
fac
mtwt
ohe- ser
raiseuct with
octr develops
vsecurecountry,
u and as tested by the results of its administration, has proved
alike incompatible with the welfare and happiness of our
prosperityehodf the British
empire,eeenditieee
f athned
people
nationalhthinetsearfeeetty and
j,
and
lo pe theirurid rrreospo
eurrtcye,s,i t aride
xtpo
dg
ev
ne
tthemh at
our wit
i
pofroltendctiaii;n iba
tj
fe t
hse a in
persons
moral
e view that
to
there be established for India a responsible form of Go-
vernment in the name of the Crown, under which all
abuses may be checked by the control of the people of
England, exercised through. th •representatives in the
()sr
House of Commons."
Mr. OTWAY seconded the resolution, and Mr. MEAD,
the late editor of the Friend of India, supported it.
Mr. COLLETT moved the following amendraent,
.--
"That the suppression of the Indian rebellion and the
redress of Indian grievances can be obtained only by en-
forcing the penalties of the law upon those who are alike
the authors of both, not in Indiabut in England ; by
restitution to the native princes and people; by the abo-
lition of the Board of Control ; and by- the resumption by
the Queen in Council, by the Parliament, and by the na-
tion, of control over the East India Company."
Mr. CARR seconded the amendment, w lc h. h, on a show
of hands, was negatived by a large majority.
Mr. C. MURRAY then moved as an addendum the fol-
lowing words :

tranquillity and social ha of the
h" Moreover, this meeting,bppiness is of opinion that the future
people of Ma-
dostan depend upon tbe faithful recognition on the
part of the English Government of ancient treaties entered
into with the native princes, and an honourable respect
for the religious opinions of the people of India; to insure
which this meeting suggests a radical change in the repro.
sentative system of this country—viz., the abrogation of
the rate-paying qualification and the substitution of a
claim to be registered—manhood suffrage--and the aboli-
tion of the property qualification for members of Parlia-
ment, without which there is no hope of any real or per-
manent reform in our home, colonial, or Indian empire. '
Tice motioe having been seconded,
The CHAIRMAN first put the resolution without the
addendum, which was carried with only two dissentients.
The addendum was then put to the vote, and carried
by a large majority.
A petition to the House
, of Commons, founded on the
resolution, was, on tue motion of Mr. ERNEST JONES,
unanimously adopted
The meeting then separated.
During the proceedings a great deal of interruption
and disturbance was occasioned by Captain Atcherley,
who by a unanimous vote of the meeting was expelled
the room.

SUPPRESSION OP
TRADE TIIE -AFRICAN SLAVE

passes from the
to the Legis-
lature of that province :

" The naval station of We province consists of the
sloop Euterpe, the steamer Vienne (which recently re-
placed the Mage), the brig-schooners Olinda and Eolo,
and the small craft, Theresa. These vessels, destined to
prevent the African slave traffic, are in inceesant servile
both to the south and north of the station, and, under the
direction of the distinguished chief commanding them,
they zealously perform the duties committed to their
charge.
" After the capture of the American brig-schooner
Mary E. Smith, effected last January by the national
vessel Olinda, in the waters of St. Mathew's, no other
attempt at such crime has taken place.
"Oar people have comprehended the time to have
arrived for putting an end to the saddest of the legacies
left to ns by the first European settlers in our country,
and for washing off the stain which still degraded us in
the eyes of the civilised world. Honour be to the country
which, as soon, as it knew its duties both as a nation and
a Christian people, showed an example of self-denial, not
duty appreciated as yet by an European Government.
The slave traffic in Brazil is now a thing only belonging
to history ; it will never more make its appearance again,
because the necessity of its perpetual extinction is a sen-
timent impre-sed on the conscience of the Brazilians in
such deep characters as to remind us continually of the'
horrors with which it has always been attended, not less
than of the wounds it has inflicted on our national pride.
"
which more than all the others felt the effects of that
abominable trade, in obedience both to my duty and to
fiNrmot;eitlhiesftaonfdigetwhehoceiertapionptuylation I have of such being
the of a
the reiterated injunctions of the Imperial Government,
province,
I incessantly repeat my orders to the authorities along
the coast to be gvi dandy on the watch against the
insiduons attempts of any speculator that, as in the case
of the Mary E. Smith, might come and offer a tempta-
tion to the weakness of some incautious planters.
"I have told you already, in another place, how eight
convicts of that crime, captured on board the said vessel,
. are undergoing in prison the penalty to which they have
been condemned by the sentence of the 'Judge-Auditors
of Marine."