The Press. — 1857-10-24 (London, England)

1857.  with which he has been professionally connected, and which exhibit a series of outrages upon all rights and a denial of all justice that is, we should hope, unparalleled in the whole civilised world. Ho describes the career of the unfortunate petitioner for redress bandied about between collector and. Government till, on the failure of all attempts to obtain either inquiry or redress, the miserable victim commits suicide or resigns himself to despair. He draws a picture, indeed, that those he appeals to, and who are unacquainted with the Indian system, might almost deem to be incredible, had he not in the outset disarmed the supposition by the following unanswerably convincing words :  If what appears in these pages be assailed as prejudiced exaggeration, let my credit at least derive whatever strength is due to it from the fact, that no single statement which I have ever yet put forward, however startling and incredible, whether it appeared in the exposure of the administration of justice in Southern India, in the representation of the condition of the Madras Presidency, or in the Torture Report, has been shown to be untrue, or even incorrect.  Statements so vouched for must command attention, and we do most earnestly recommend them to the careful perusal of all who really have the honour of their country and the good of India at heart. Nay, more, to all who would maintain the sway of England over it ; for it is impossible that this can be upheld, in the face of such universal injustice, by the mere pressure of military force. India is not a party question, and we have never desired to see it made one. It is a question of which a true and accurate solution concerns not the men of one political connection only— it concerns us all. If any one is now endeavouring to turn it to party purposes, it is clearly the people in power ; their object being to throw dust in the eyes of the nation, in order to induce it to condone their misconduct antl mistakes. That they can seriously believe, in the face of the evidence that is daily accumulating, that their policy has been either wise or righteous, it is impossible to suppose ; and it is little to their credit that they should attempt to brazen the matter out, instead of frankly coming forward and admitting that they have been wrong, and endeavouring by future honesty and devotedness to atone for what is past. Their conduct is the more reprehensible as they must know as well as we do that, sooner or later, it must come to this. Indeed, we can see surging up a feeling among the masses upon every side that is likely to prove most dangerous, if the system of continued trifling with the subject be much longer maintained. The middle classes of this country have thoroughly made up their minds as to the gross misgovernment of India, if its Ministers have not; and so. too, have all in India save the mere official class, both natives and whites. Our warnings have been often given and as often neglected, but we do not hesitate to warn the Legislature once more. If the honour of the country is to be vindicated, if its dominion over India is to be preserved, and if all those dire disasters are to be avoided which on the separation of India from the mother-country would assuredly follow both abroad and at home, then must Parliament take up this question in an honest spirit of determination to do justice irrespective of party interests, and the past system of dealing with that unfortunate country must entirely be changed. As regards the Conservative party generally, there is no need of giving any warning to them ; for in the past session, and during the recess, they have shown that they fully appreciate the crisis, and are prepared to meet it as it should be met. But if there be any of them unconvinced, we would recommend them to read the book before us, and that of other independent writers like Mr. Norton, when they will see how very different is the real misrule of India from the picture of the paternal and beneficent government which the organs of the Ministers and of the Directors are fur ever presenting to our eyes. And it may tend still further to increase their confidence in their leaders to see how such men, writing thousands of miles off, having no political or personal connection with them whatever, and havipg pot yet eves WWI OM  1012  sentiments they have given utterance to, explaining with a clearness that is unrivalled the true causes of the rebellion in India—those causes being the very same that Lord Ellenborough in the House of Lords and Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons assigned. From every part of India letters are pouring in upon IN testifying to the same purport ; and if this he not evidence enough to convince the most sceptical, then we can only say that on such a one argument and proof must be alike thrown away. We have only in conclusion to thank Mr. Norton fin• this valuable contribution to the political literature of the country. His work is one that throws infinitely more light than many of vastly higher pretensions ou the past and present condition of our Indian Empire. 

Article type: NotIncident