Special Forei-:i Currency Program THE HISTORY OF THE IlfflAN EMPIRE THE HISTORY OF THE / '' VOL. n MAYUR PUBLICATIONS DELHI-l 10035 l983 I/, Z First Reprinted in 1983 Published by MAYUR PUBLICATIONS 1168/76 DevaRam Park DELHI-1 10035 Distributed by D. K. PUBLISHERS' DISTRIBUTORS 1 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, NEW DELHI-1 10002 Phone: 27-8368 Printed at GOYAL OFFSET PRINTERS DELHI-110035 Original Title BBniCATED DT SR*^ ^InH AUTBORITV TO MBR MOST OBACIOUS ^Hl jH^ MAJESTY THE QUEEN. THE INDIAN EMPIRE: narour, topookabbt, ssoboot^ cukatb, ropiTLATioN, chief cinxs Ain> fbotinces ; tkibdtast aits fboiiozio 'BTAIB; KIUTAja' EOWXR AKD BBSOUBOBS; BKLIOIOR, ESUCAHON, CEIVK; LAITD TXNUSXS;. SSATLK FSODUOXB ; OOTEKHMXNT^ mtASOI, ABS OOMMEBCX. wira n rvui moovxt or i MUTunr or thx benoai. abut ; of thb nrsrsBEOTioN ur wbbtxbn utdia ; and ab bxpositioh 01' IHS ALIiBOBD CAUBXS. BY R. MONTGOMERY MARTIN, AVTBOa OF TBS ** HUTO»VOV TBB BKJTIBB COLOMIBS," BTC. ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, PORTRAITS, AND VIBW& VOL. II. mi Mvnirr or thk benoai aeht ; mwsvsxanos ts westx&m vkxxa. ; am ajt sxfositton of the ALLEOEO CAUSES. THK LONDON PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIM[TBD, M, rATKKNORBK BOW, LOMOOM : AMU A. W. OITTbMS, U, PABK PLACE, HEW TOBK. THE INDIAN EMPIRE. HISTORY OF THE MUTINY OF THE SEPOY TROOPS. INTRODFCTORY CHAPTER. ALLEGED CAUSES OF DISCONTENT— OPPRESSIVE AND PAUPERISING TENURE OF LAND— INEFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE— EXCLUSION OF NATIVES FROM ALL SHARE IN THE GOVERNMENT— IGNORANCE OF THE LANGUAGES, AND AVERSION EVINCED TOWARDS THE NATIVES— EDUCATION, RELIGION, AND MIS- SIONARY OPERATIONS— CASTE— FREE PRESS— DEFECTIVE CURRENCY— OPIUM MONOPOLY— NEGLECT OF PUBLIC AVORKS— REPRESSION OP BRITISH ENTERPRISE —RECENT ANNEXATIONS— INFRACTION OF THE HINDOO LAW OF INHERITANCE —EXTINCTION OF NATIVE STATES— SATTARA, NAGPOOR, CARNATIC, TANJORE, JHANSI, OUDE, Etc.— STATE OF THE BENGAL ARMY; RELAXED DISCIPLINE; REMOVAL OF REGIMENTAL OFFICERS TO STAFF AND CIVIL EMPLOYMENTS; PAUCITY OF EUROPEAN TROOPS ; SEPOY GRIEVANCES ; GREASED CARTRIDGES —MOHAMMEDAN CONSPIRACY— FOREIGN INTRIGUES; PERSIAN AND RUSSIAN. Never, perhaps, was the condition of Bri- tish India deemed more fair and promis- ing than at the conclusion of 1856. The new governor-general, Lord Canning, who arrived in the spring of that year, had seen no reason to question the parting declara- tion of his predecessor, Lord Dalhousie — that India was " in peace without and within," and that there appeared to be " no qimrter from which formidable war could reasonably be expected at present."* The British and Anglo-Indian press, adopt- ing the same tone, declared " the whole of India" to be " profoundly tranquil."t The conviction seems to have been general amid all ranks and classes, from the viceregal palace at Calcutta, to the smallest and most distant English post ; and thus it happened that the vessel of the state pursued her course with all sail set, in the full tide of prosperity, till a series of shocks, slight at first, but rapidly increasing in strength and frequency, taught a terrible lesson of the necessity for careful steering amid the sunken rocks, the shoals, and quicksands, • Minute by the Marquis of Dalhousie, 28th February, 1856. — Parliamentary Papers (Commons), 16th June, 1856; pp. 6—8. t The Times, 9th December, 1856. VOL. II. B heretofore so feebly and faintly traced in those famous charts and log-books — the voluminous minutes and correspondence of the East India Company. The sky had been carefully watched for any indication of the storms of foreign in- vasion ; but the calm waters of our " strong internal administration," and the full cur- rent of our " unparalleled native army," had so long borne the stately ship in triumph on their bosom, that few attempts were made to sound their depths. Those few excited little attention, and were, for the most part, decidedly discouraged by the authorities both in England and in India. The consequence has been, that at every step of the revolt, we have encountered fresh proofs of our ignorance of the first conditions on which rested the general security of the empire, and the individual safety of every European in India. Our heaviest calamities, and our greatest advantages, have come on ns by surprise : we have been met by foulest treachery in the very class we deemed bound to us hy every tie of gratitude and self-interest, and we have found help and fidelity among those whom we most distrusted. Wc have failed where we confidently looked for J ALLEGED CAUSES OF DISCONTENT. triumph ; we have succeeded where we anti- cipated failure. Dangers we never dreamed of, have risen suddenly to paralyse our arms J and obstacles which seemed well- nigh insurmountable, have vanished into thin air before us. Our trusted weapons have proved worthless; or worse — been turned against ns; and, at the outset of the struggle, we were like men whose pistols had been stolen from their holsters, and swords from their scabbards, while they lay sleep- ing; and who, starting up amazed and be- wildered, seized the first missiles that came to hand to defend themselves against a foe whose numbers and power, whose objects and character, were alike involved in mid- night darkness. \'ery marvellous was the presence of mind, the self-reliance, the enduring cou- rage displayed by English men and women, and many native adherents, in their terrible and unlooked-for trial; and very comfort- ing the instances of Christian heroism which adorn this sad and thrilling page of Anglo-Indian history : yet none will ven ture to deny, that it was the absence of eflBcient leaders on the part of the muti- neers, and not our energy and foresight, which, under Providence, was the means of enabling us to surmount the first over- whelming tide of disaster. Nothing can be more contradictory than the opinions held by public men regarding the imme- diate object of tlie mutineers. Some deny that the sepoys acted on any " prearranged plan;" and declare, that "their primary and prevailing motive was a panic-terror for their religion."* Others regard the re- volt as the issue of a systematic plot, which must have taken months, if not years, to organise ; and compare the outbreak to the springing of a mine, for which the ground must have been hollowed, the barrels filled, the train laid, and the match fired, before the explosion. t A third party assert, that our own impolicy had gathered together masses of combustibles, and that our heed- lessness (in the matter of the greased car- tridges) set them on fire. It is quite certain that the people of India labour under many political and social evils, resulting from inefficient administra- tion. Human governments are, at best, * See Indopliilus' (Sir Charles Trevelyan's) Let- ters to the Times, llepublished by Longman as a pamphlet : p. 37. t See Sir E. Bulwer Lytton's speech at the Herts Agricultural Society, October, 1867. fallible and weak instruments. In Chris- tian England, after so many centuries of freedom, kept aud strengthened by un- ceasing effort, we all acknowledge how far the condition of the masses falls^ short, in reality, of what in theory we might have hoped for. How, then, can we doubt, that there must be in India much greater scope for oppression, much greater need for watchfulness. We have seen, in Ireland, a notable example of the efiects of absentee proprietorship ; but here is a case of ab- sentee sovewigntyship, in which the whole agency is systematically vested in the foreign delegates of a foreign power, few of whom have ever acquired any satisfactory in- sight into the habits, customs, or languages of the people they were sent to govern. It is easier to account for the errors committed by the Company than for the culpable neglect of ParUament. We know that an Indian question continued to be the " dinner-bell" of the House of Commons, notwithstanding the revelations of the Tor- ture Committee at Madras, until the mas- sacres of Meerut and Cawnpoor showed that the government of India was a subject which affected not only the welfare of the dark-coloured millions from whom we ex- acted tribute, but also the lives of English- men, and the honour of Englishwomen — the friends or relatives, it might be, of the heretofore ignorant and listless legislators. A right understanding of the causes of the revolt would materially assist all en- gaged in framing measures for the resto- ration of tranquillity, and for a sounder system of administration. The following enumeration of the various causes, distant and proximate, which are asserted by differ- ent authorities to have been concerned in bringing about the present state of affairs, is therefore offered, with a view of enabling the reader to judge, in the course of the narrative, how far events have tended to confirm or nullify these allegations. Land-tenure. — The irregular, oppressive, and generally pauperising tenure of land, has been set forth in a preceding section : and since every sepoy looks forward to the time when he shall retire on his pension to live in his own cottage, under his own fig- tree, the question is one in which he has a clear and personal interest. Irrespective of this, the manner in which the proprietary rights of the inhabitants of the Ceded and Conquered provinces have been dealt with. BREACH OF FAITH WITH THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. is a matter of history with which the land- owners in native independent states are sure to make themselves acquainted; and the talookdars and hereditary chiefs of Oude, could not but have remembered with alarm, the grievous breach c*" faith com- mitted against the proprietors of the soil in the North-Westem Provinces. A general allusion to this disgraceful procedure has been already made;* but the following detail is given on the autho- rity of various papers drawn up by Mr. Henry St. George Tucker. The views of Mr. Tucker were, it should be premised, ntterly opposed to any system " founded on the assumption of the government being the universal landlord;" which sweeping assumption he regarded " as a virtual anni- hilation of all private rights." The Ryotwar Settlement made by Munro, in Madras, he thought tended to the im- poverishment of the country, the people, and the government itself; and was, in fact, a continuation of the policy of Tippoo Sultan, who drove away and exterminated the proprietors ; his object being to engross the rents as well as revenues of the country. The landowners of the North- Western Provinces — including Delhi, Agra, Bareilly, and the cessions from Oude in 1801 — have, however, peculiar and positive grievances to complain of. In 1803, under the adminis- tration of the Marquis Wellesley, a regula- tion was passed, by which the government pledged themselves, "that a permanent settlement of the Ceded provinces would be concluded at the end of ten years;" and proclaimed "the proprietary rights of all zemindars, talookdars, and other descriptions of landholders possessing a right of property in the lands comprising their zemindaries, talooks, or other tenures, to be confinned and established under the authority of the British government, in conformity to the laws and usages of the country." In 1805, a regulation was passed by the same gov- ernment, in nearly corresponding terms, declaring that a permanent settlement would be concluded with the zemindars and other landholders in the Conquered pro- vinces, at the expiration of the decennial leases. But, in 1807, the supreme govern- ment being anxious to extend to the land- • Itidian Empire, vol. i., p. 579. t Calcutta Records — Regulation X. of 1807; sec. 5. \ See Letter of Court of Directors to Bengal, 16th March, 1813. § The Ryotwar : see Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 675. owners of our newly-acquired territory those advantages which had been conferred on the zemindars of the Lower Provinces, by fixing the land-tax in perpetuity, a new regulation was enacted, appointing commis- sioners for superintending the settlement of the Ceded and Conquered provinces; and notifying " to the zemindars, and other actual proprietors of land in those provinces, that the jumma which may be assessed on their estates in the last year of the settle- ment immediately ensuing the present set- tlement, shall remain fixed for ever, in case the zemindars shall now be willing to engage for the payment of the public re- venue on those terms in perpetuity, and the arrangement shall receive the sanction of the Hon. Court of Directors."t Far from objecting to the pledge given to the land- holders in those regulations ; far from con- tending against the principle of a fixed assessment, either on the ground of policy or of justice, the Court expressed their approbation of the measure contemplated, and gave it their unreserved sanction. To as late a period as 1813, not even a donbt was expressed in the way of discourage- ment; and the government of India had every reason to presume that they were proceeding in this great work with the full concurrence and approbation of the con- trolling authorities in this country. Mr. Edmonstone, in his able and instructive letters to the Court (of 31st July, 1821), has shown most conclusively, that the plans and proceedings of the government abroad received an ampl6 confirmation. " Unhap- pily," says Mr. Tucker, " different views were adopted at a subsequent period; and since 1813,J the whole tenor of the Court's correspondence with the supreme govern- ment, has not only discountenanced the idea of a permanent settlement of the lands in the Ceded and Conquered pro- vinces, but peremptory injunctions have been issued to that government, prohibiting the formation of such settlement at any future period. The pledge so formally ^ven to the landholders in 1803, and 1805, and 1807, has accordingly remained unredeemed to the present day; tem- porary settlements have been concluded, in various ways, with difiFerent classes of per- sons ; some of the principal talookdars have been set aside, and deprived of the manage- ment of their estates ; and the great object seems to have been, to introduce the system of revenue administration§ which obtains in 4 RUIN OP NATIVE ARISTOCRACY IN THE N.W. PROVINCES. the territory of Port St. George. I (in 1827) was a party to the introduction of leases for thirty years in the Western Provinces, by way of compromise for vio- lating the pledge which had been given to the landholders in 1803 and 1805, to con- firm the settlement then made with them in perpetuity. I trust that this long term will operate as some compensation for their disappointment, and that it will, in a great degree, answer the ends proposed by a per- manent settlement; but, as a principle, I still maintain, that permanency of tenure, and a limitation of the public demand upon the land, were boons Ijestowed under the dictates of a just and enlightened policy, and that Lord Cornwallis is to be regarded as the greatest benefactor of India."* The measure referred to by Mr. Tucker, which I had myself the satisfaction of assisting to procure, was, however, partial in its extent, as well as temporary in its operation. It can hardly be called a com- promise ; it was simply a sop thrown by the stronger party who broke the bargain, to certain members of the weaker party, who had no resource but to accept it. The public pledge of a permanent settlement with the whole Conquered and Ceded, or, as they are now styled, North-Western Provinces, remains unredeemed. Moreover, even supposing the landholders could forget the manner in which that great boon was freely promised and arbitrarily withheld, they would still have reason to complain of the irregular and often oppressive assess- ments to which they were and are sub- jected. There is abundant evidence on this heiid ; but none of greater authority than that of Colonel Sleeman, the resident at Luckuow; who, being commissioued by Governor-general Dalhousie to inquire into the state of Oude, became incidentally ac- quainted with the results of our fifty years' government of the half of Oude, ceded to us by the treaty of 1801. " The country was then divided into equal shares, according to the rent-roll at the time. The half made over to the Bri- tish government has been ever since yield- ing more revenue to us; while that retained by the sovereign of Oude has been yielding less and less to him : and ours now yields, in IiiihI itvciiue, stamp-duty, and the tax on spirits, two crore and twelve lacs [of rupees] • See Memorials of Indian Government ; a selec- tion fri'm the papers of H. St. G. Tucker, edited by J. W. Kaye; pp. 106—137. a-year ; while the reserved half now yields to Oude only about one crore and thirty- three lacs. Under good management, the Oude share might, in a few years, be made equal to ours, and perhaps better ; for the greater part of the lands in our share have been a good deal impoverished by over- cropping; while those of the Oude share have been improved by long fallows." Ccionel Sleeman would seem to attribute the greater revenue raised from our terri- tories, to tiJiat obtained by the native govern- ment, simply to our "good management;" for he adds, that " lands of the same natural quality in Oude, under good tillage, now pay a much higher rent than they do in our half of the estate."t Yet, in another portion of his Diary, when describing the decided aversion to British rule entertained by the landed aristocracy of Oude, he dwells on our excessive assessments, as co- operating with the cost and uncertainty of the law in civil cases, in causing the gradual decay of all the ancient families, " A less and less proportion of the annual produce of their lands is left to them in our periodical settlements of the land revenue ; while family pride makes them expend the same sums in the marriage of their chiU dren, in religious and other festivals, per- sonal servants, and hereditary retainers. They fall into balance, incur heavy debts, and estate after estate is put up to auction, and the proprietors are reduced to poverty. They say, that four times more of these families have gone to decay in the half of the territory made over to us in 1801, than in the half reserved by the Oude sovereign ; and this is, I fear, true. They named the families — I cannot remember them."J To Mr. Colvin, Lieutenant-governor of the N.W. Provinces, the Colonel writes, that on the division of Oude in 1801, the landed aristocracy were equal in both portions. " Now (28th Dec., 1853) hardly a family of this class remains in our half; while in Oude it remains unimpaired. Everybody in Oude believes those families to have been systematically crushed."^ The correspondence in the public jour- nals, regarding the progress of the mutiny, affords frequent evidence of the heavy rate of assessment in the North- West Provinces. For instance, the special correspondent of the Times (Mr. Russell), writing from the t Journey through Oude, in 1849-'50, by Colonel Sir W. Sleeman ; vol. i., p. 169. \ Ibid., vol. i., p. 321. % Ibid., vol. iL, p. 415. WRETCHEDNESS OP MADRAS RYOTS. camp at Bareilly, speaks of the " indigent population" of Rohilcund ; and asserts, on the authority of Mr. Donalds, a settler and planter there, that the Company's land-tax on certain districts was not less than sixty- sis per cent.* It is to be hoped that a searching and unprejudiced inquiry will be instituted wherever decided and general disaffection has been manifested — wherever such state- ments are made as that from Allahabad ; in which it is asserted, that "one, and only one, of the zemindars has behaved well to us duriug the disturbances here."t An exposition of the working of the " model system" in Southern India, is given by Mr. Bourdillou, secretary to the govern- ment at Madras, in the revenue department, in a pamphlet published in 1852, in which he showed that, in the year 1848-'9, out of a total of 1,071,588 leases (excluding joint holdings in the fourteen principal ryotwarree districts), no fewer than 589,932 were each under twenty shillings per annum ; ave- raging, in fact, only a small fraction above eight shillings eacli : 201,065 were for amounts ranging from twenty to forty shillings ; averaging less than 28.?. 6d. each : and 97,891 ranged between forty and sixt}' shillings; averaging 49s. 6d. each. Thus, out of 1,100,000 leases, 900,000 were for amounts under sixty shillings each, the average being less than 19*. 6d. each per annum. Mr. Bourdillou thus describes the condition of several millionj of people subject to the Crown of England, and under its complete jurisdiction in some parts for more than half a century: — " Now it may certainly be said of almost the whole of the rj-ots paying even the highest of these sums, and even of many holding to a much larger amount, that they are always in poverty, and generally in debt. Perhaps one of this class obtains a small amount out of the government advances for cultivation; but even if he does, the troulile he has to take, and the time he loses in getting it, as well as the deduction to which he is liable, render this a questionable gain. For the rest of his wants he is dependent on the bazaar-man. To him his crops are generally hypothecated before they are reaped ; and it is he who redeems them from the possession of the • The Times, July 6th, 1858. t Pari. Papers, 4th February, 1858. i According to Mr. Mead, " 18,000,000 souls, in Madras, have only a penny a-week each to subsist on."— (p. 3.) village watcher, by pledging himself for the payment of the kist (rent claimed by gov- ernment.) These transactions pass without any written engagements or memoranda between the parties ; and the only evidence is the chetty's (bazaar-man) own accounts. In general, there is an adjustment of the accounts once a year; but sometimes not for several years. In all these accounts interest is charged on the advances made to the ryot, on the balance against him. The rate of interest varies with the circum- stances of the case and the necessities of the borrower : it is probably seldom, or never, less than twelve per cent, per annum, and not often above twenty-four per cent. Of course the poorest and most necessitous ryots have to pay the highest. A ryot of this class of course lives from hand to mouth; he rarely sees money, except that obtained from the chetty to pay his kist: the exchanges in the out-villages are very few, and they are usually conducted by barter. His ploughing cattle are wretched animals, not worth more than seven to twelve shillings each ; and all the rest of his few agricultural implements are equally primitive and inefficient. His dwelling is a hut of mud walls and thatched roof, far ruder, smaller, and more dilapidated than those of the better classes of ryots above spoken of, and still more destitute, if pos- sible, of anything that can be called furni- ture. His food, and that of his family, is partly thin porridge, made of the meal of grain boiled in water, and partly boiled rice with a little condiment; and generally, the only vessels for cooking and eating from, are of the coarsest earthenware, much inferior in grain to a good tile or brick in England, and unglazed. Brass vessels, though not wholly unknown among this class, are rare. As to anything like education or mental culture, they are wholly destitute of it." Mr. Mead, who resided several years at Madras, and who visited other parts of India, declares, that by the system which the British government have pursued, " the native aristocracy have been extinguished, and their revenues lost equally to the rulers and the multitude. The native manufac- turers are ruined ; and no corresponding in- crease has taken place in the consumption of foreign goods. Not a fourth of the land is taken up for tillage ; and yet 200,000 men annually leave these shores, to seek employment on a foreign soil. The tax- ation of all kinds, and the landlord's reut. 6 INEFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE THROUGHOUT INDIA. amount to but 5s. per head ; and yet the sur- plus production of 23,000,000 is but 2s. 7d., and the imports but 1*. 6d., each person."* The people of the North- West Provinces are being rapidly reduced to the condition of those of Southern India; and it is asserted, that they would rejoice at any change which promises relief from a " system" calculated to weigh down, with unceasing pressure, th'" energies of every man who derives his sub- sistence from the cultivation of the soil. TTie Inefficient Administration of Justice is an admitted evil ; the costliness, the procrastination, above all, the perjury and corruption for which our civil and criminal, our S udder and Adawlut courts, are noto- rious. Shortly before the outbreak of the mutiny, Mr. Halliday, the lieutenant-gov- ernor of Bengal, urged, in the strongest language, the necessity for measures of police reform, which should extend to "our criminal judicatories as well as to the ma- gistracy and constabulary organisation." He adds, after referring to the evidence brought forward in Mr. Dampier's elaborate reports — " I have myself made much per- sonal inquiry into this matter during my tours. Whether right or wrong, the general native opinion is certainly that the admin- istration of criminal justice is little better than a lottery, in which, however, the best chances are with the criminals ; and I think this, also, is very much the opinion of the European raofussil [country] community. * * * Often have I heard natives ex- press, on this point, their inability to un- derstand the principles on which the courts are so constituted, or so conducted, as to make it appear in their eyes as if the object were rather to favour the acquittal, than to insure the conviction and punishment of offenders; and often have I been assured by them, that their anxious desire to avoid appeariug as prosecutors, arose in a great measure from their belief that prosecution was very likely to end in acquittal, even, as they imagined, in the teeth of the best evi- dence ; while the acquittal of a revengeful and unscrupulous ruffian, wa? known by ex- perience to have repeatedly ended in the most unhappy consequences to his ill-ad- Tised and imprudent prosecutor. That this very general opinion is not ill-founded, may, I think, be proved from our own records." t The youth and inexperience of the ma- • Mead's Sepoy Revolt; p. 313. (Routledge, 1858.) t Minute to Council of India, 30th April, 1856. gistrates, which contributes so largely to the inefficiency of the courts over which they preside, arises out of the numerical in- adequacy of the covenanted service- to sup- ply the number of officers required by the existing system. The Hon. A. Kinuaird stated, in the House of Commons, June 11th, 1857, that in Bengal, there were but ieveuty covenanted and uncovenanted ma- gistrates, or one to 460,000 persons; and that there were three or four cases of a single magistrate to more than a million souls. It is terrible to think of the power such a state of things must throw into the hands of the native police, and this in a country where experience has taught us, that power, thus delegated, has invariably been employed as a means of extorting money. No wonder, then, that " from one end of Bengal to the other," the earnest desire and aim of those who have suffered from thieves or dacoits, should be, " to keep the matter secret from the police, whose corruption and extortion is so great, as to cause it to be popularly said, that dacoity is bad enough, but the subsequent police inquiry very much worse." The frequent change, from place to place, and office to office, is urged as another reason for the inefficiency of our system. In the district of Dacca, for instance, the average time of continuance in the magis- trate's office, has been, for the last twenty years, not ten months. The extent of the evil may be understood by looking over the register of civil servants, and their ap- pointments. The Friend of India quotes the case of a well-known name among Indian officials — Henry Lushington — who arrived in India on the 14th of October, 1821, and, by the 9th of May, 1842, had filled no less than twenty-one offices — a change every year. But during this time he returned to Europe twice, and was ab- sent from India four years and a quarter : his occupancy of each office, therefore, averages scarcely nine months. The jour- nalist adds — " Thousands of miles of coun- try, inhabited by millions of people, would have neither justice nor protection, were it not for the illegally assumed power of the planter and zemindar. There are districts in which the magistrate's court is sixty miles away ; and in one case, I know of a judge having to go 140 miles to try a case of murder — so wide does his juris- diction extend. This very district contains upwards of two m.illions of people ; yet to " INGENUOUS YOUTHS" SENT OUT AS INDIAN JUDGES. govern it there are just two Europeans ; and one of these spends a considerable por- tion of his time in sporting, shooting wild animals, and hunting deer."* The diminished numbers and impaired efficiency of the rural police, or village chowkeedars, during the last twenty years, is another reason why " our magistracy is losing credit and character, and our administration growing perceptibly weaker." They are, says lieutenant-governor Halliday, so in- adequately and uncertainly paid, as to be kept in a permanent state of starvation; and though, in former days, magistrates battled for them with unwilling zemindars and villagers, and were encouraged by govern- ment to do so, they are now declared to have no legal right to remuneration for service, and have themselves become too often the colleagues of thieves and robbers. The measures suggested by Mr. Halliday as indispensable to the effectual improve- ment of the Bengal police, were — the im- provement of the character and position of the village chowkeedars, or watchmen ; the payment of adequate salaries, and the holding forth of fair prospects of advance- ment to the stipendiary police ; the appoint- ment of more experienced officers as cove- nanted zillah magistrates ; a considerable increase in the number of the uncove- nanted or deputy magistrates ; an improve- ment in our criminal courts of justice; and, lastly, the establishment of sufficient means of communication with the interior of districts : because no system could work well while the police-stations and the large towns and marts in the interior continued to be cut off from the chief zillah stations, and from one another, by the almost entire absence of roads, or even (during a large part of the year) of the smallest bridle- roads or footpaths. The proposer of the above reforms added, that they would involve an increased ex- penditure of £100,000 a-year on the magis- tracy and police of Bengal ; and this state- ment, perhaps, furnishes an explanation of the little attention excited by a document full of important but most unpalatable assertions. The onus cannot, however, be allowed to rest solely on the local authori- ties. The consideration of the House of • Quoted by Mr. Kinnaird, in Bengal, its Landed Tenure and Police Syttetn. (Ridgway, 1857; p. 14.) The series of measures provided by Lord Cornwallis, to protect the cultivator under the Permanent Set- tlement from oppression on the part of the proprie- Commons has been urgently solicited, by one of its own members,t to the report of the lieutenant-governor ; and the fact of such flagrant evils being alleged, by a lead- ing functionary, to exist in the districts under the immediate eye of the supreme government, is surely a sufficient warning, not merely of the necessity of promptly re- dressing the wrongs under which the Ben- galees laboured, but also of investigating the internal administration of the distant provinces. It is unaccountable that the judicial part of the subject should have been so long neglected, after the unreserved con- demnation of the system, pronounced by Lord Campbell in the House of Lords in 1853. In reply to the complaint of the Duke of Argyll regarding the stro"ng expressions used in a petition for relief, presented on behalf of the people of Madras, his lordship adverted to the mode in which " ingenuous youths" were dispatched from the college at Haileybury, with, at best, a very imper- fect acquaintance with the languages of In- dia, and were made at once judges. Even the advantage of only acting in that capa- city was withheld, the same youth being one day a judge of civil cases, the next a col- lector of revenue, and the next a police ma- gistrate. Speaking from experience derived from the appeals which had come before him as a member of the judicial committee of the Privy Council, he thought, "as far as regarded the administration of justice in the inferior courts, no language could be too extravagant in describing its enormities." J The testimony borne by Mr. Halliday, in Bengal, entirely accords with that given by other witnesses regarding the administra- tion of justice in the North- Western Pro- vinces. Colonel Sleeman, writing in 1853, declared — " There is really nothing in our system which calls so much for remedy." He says, that during his recent tour through Oude, he had had much conversa- tion with the people generally, and with many who had sojourned in our territory in seasons of disturbance. They were all glad to return, rather than remain in our districts and endure the evils occasioned by " the uncertainties of our law, the nkultipli- city and formality of our courts, the pride and negligence of those who preside over tors, have been disregarded ; and the consequence of this neglect has been to leave too great power in the hands of the zemindars. — (Ibid., p. 6.) t By the Hon. A. Kinnaird, June 11th, 1856. i Hamard^t Debates, vol. cxxiv., p. 647. 8 NATIVE MODE OF PROCURING TESTIMONY. them, and the corruption and insolence of those who must be employed to prosecute or defend a cause in them, and enforce the fulfilment of a decree when passed." Colonel Sleeman cites the statements made to him by the Brahmin communities of two villages, invited back by the native authorities from the Shahjehanpoor district, and resettled on their lands; "a mild, sensible, and most respectable body, whom a sensible ruler would do all in his power to protect and encourage ; but these are the class of land- holders and cultivators whom the reckless governors of districts under the Oude gov- ernment most grievously oppress. They told me : — " ' Your courts of justice are the things we most dread, sir ; and we are glad to escape from them as Boon as we can, in spite of all the evils we are ex- posed to on our return to the place of our birth. • • • The truth, sir, is seldom told in these courts. There they think of nothing but the num- ber of witnesses, as if all were alike j here, sir, we look to the quality. When a man suffers wrong, the wrongdoer is summoned before the elders, or most respectable men of his village or clan ; and if he denies the charge and refuses redress, he is told to bathe, put his hand upon the peepul-tree, and declare aloud his innocence. If he refuses, he is commanded to restore what he has taken, or make suitable re- paration for the injury he has done ; and if he re- fuses to do this, he is punished by the odium of all, and his life becomes miserable. A man dare not put his hand upon that sacred tree and deny the truth — the gods sit in it, and know all things ; and the offender dreads their vengeance. In your Adaw- luts, sir, men do not tell the truth so often as they do among their own tribes or village communities: they perjure themselves in all manner of ways, without shame or dread ; and there are so many men about these courts, who understand the ' rules and regula- tions' (aen and kanoon), and are so much interested in making ti'uth appear to be falsehood, and false- hood truth, that no man feels sure that right will prevail in them in any case. The guilty think they have just as good a chance of escape as the inno- cent. Our relations and friends told us, that all this confusion of right and wrong, which bewildered them, arose from the multiplicity of the ' rules and regulations,' which threw all the power into the hands of bad men, and left the European gentlemen helpless!'"* The comment made on the above asser- tions, tends to establish their accuracy. Colonel Sleeman says — "The quality of tes- timony, no doubt, like that of every other commodity, deteriorates under a system which renders the good of no more value, in exchange, than the bad. The formality • Sleeman's Journey through OtuJe, vol. ii., p. 68. t Ibid., vol. i., p. 1G8; vol. ii., p. 415. J The clause runs as follows : — " That no natives of said territories, nor any natural born subject of her majesty resident therein, shall by reason only of of our courts here, as everywhere else, tends to impair, more or less, the quality of what they receive. The simplicity of courts com- posed of little village communities and elders, tends, on the contrary, to improve the quality of the testimony they get ; and, in India, it is found to be best in the isolated hamlets and forests, where men may be made to do almost anything rather than tell a lie. A Mahratta pnndit, in the valley of the Nerbudda, once told me, that it was almost impossible to teach a wild Gond of the hills and jungles the occasional value of a lie. It is the same with the Tharoos and Booksas, who are almost exclusively the cultivators of the Oude Turaee forest, and with the peasantry of the Himalaya chain of mountains, before they have come much in contact with people of the plains, and become subject to the jurisdiction of our courts. These courts are, everywhere, our weak points in the estimation of our sub- jects ; and they should be everywhere sim- plified, to meet the wants and wishes of so simple a people." f The Exclusion of the Natives from all Share in the Government, has been acted on as necessary to our retention of India. Yet many leading authorities agree in viewing the degraded state in which they have been held as a great defect in our system. " We exclude them," said Sir Thomas Munro, " from every situation of trust and emolument. We confine them to the lowest offices, with scarcely a bare sub- sistence. * * * We treat them as an in- ferior race of beings. Men who, under a native government, might have held the first dignities of the state ; who, but for us, might have been governors of provinces, are regarded as little better than menial servants, and are often not better paid, and scarcely permitted to sit in our presence." Lord Metcalfe, Lord William Bentinck, and others, have taken the same tone j and the opinions of the Duke of Welling- ton, Sir Robert Peel, and Lord Glenels, are sufficientlv evidenced in the 87th clause of the Charter Act of 1833, which declares the natives eligible to all situations under government, with certain exceptions. This clause,^ so generously intended, has his religion, place of birth, descent, colour, or any of them, be disabled from holding any place, office, or employment under the said Company." Mr. Came- ron, a gentleman long and intimately acquainted with India, writing in 1853, says—" During the NATIVES EXCLUDED FROM HONOURS AND EMOLUMENTS. 9 proved a cruel mockery, by exciting expec- tations which have been frustrated by the conditions attached to it, and the deter- mined opposition of the Court of Directors, even when those conditions, including the voyage to England, have been fulfilled. The monopoly of commerce was the worst feature of the E. I. Company, as regarded the British nation ; the monopoly of patron- age is its worst feature as ' regards the Indian population, and not its best as regards that of England. Lord William Bentinck stated the case very ably in his evidence before the select committee on steam communication with India in 1837. "The bane of our system is not solely that the civil administration is entirely in the hands of foreigners, but that the holders of this monopoly, the patrons of these foreign agents, are those who exercise the directing power at home; that this directing power is exclusively paid by the patronage ; that the value of this patronage depends exactly upon the degree iu which all the honours and emoluments of the state are engrossed by their clients, to the exclusion of the natives. There exists, in consequence, on th3 part of the home authorities, an interest in respect to the administration precisely similar to what formerly prevailed as to commerce, directly opposed to the welfare of India; and, consequently, it will be re- marked without surprise, that in the two renewals of the charter that have taken place within the last twenty-five years, in the first, nothing was done to break down this administrative monopoly ; and in the second, though a very important principle was declared, that no disability from holding office in respect to any subjects of the Crown, by reason of birth, religion, descent, or colour, should any longer continue, still no provision was made for working it out ; and, as far as is known, the enactment has re- mained till this day a dead letter."* The number of natives employed in the administration, notwithstanding the large accessions of territory between the years 1851 and 1857 (inclusive), has actually de- creased from 2,910 to 2,846. Of the latter number, 85G receive less than ^120 per twenty years that have [since] elapsed, not one of the natives has been appointed to any office except such as they were eligible to before the statute." Mr. Henry Richard, commenting on this policy, re- marks — " In adopting this course, and treating the natives as a conquered and inferior race, on no ac- count to be admitted to political and social equality with ourselves, we are not only violating the die VOL. II. C annum; 1,377 from £120 to £240 per an- num; and only eleven receive above £840. f These figures, when compared with the in- creased numbers and high salaries of the European covenanted and uncovenanted servants, can hardly fail to suggest a reason why the Hindoos — who frequently filled the chief positions in Indo-Mohammedan states, and almost invariably that of Dewan (or chancellor of the exchequer) — may think the rule of power-loving, money-get- ting Englishmen, worse for them than that of the indolent Moslem, who, though he sometimes forcibly destroyed the caste of thousands, yet never withheld from their race the honours and emoluments of high office. Rajpoots led the forces of Delhi; Rajpoot- nies (though that they aflected to consider a degradation) sat within its palaces in imperial state — the wives and mothers of emperors : Brahmins filled every revenue office, from that of the treasurer-in-chief to the lowest clerk ; all the financial business being transacted by them. The Great Mo- guls, the minor Mohammedan sovereigns, and tiieir chief retainers, were spendthrifts rather than hoarders : they won kingdoms with their swords ; and, like all conquerors, looked to reap where they had not sown ; but avarice, or the love of money for its own sake, was very rare among them. They sat on their silver howdahs, on the backs of their elephants, and threw rupees, by bags- fnl, among the people, who always benefited, at least indirectly, by the lavish expenditure for which they furnished the means. The modern Brahmins (whatever their ancestors may have done) certainly evince more acquaintance with, and predilection for, the practice of the rules of Cocker, than for the abstract study of the Vedas, and the geographical and astronomical absurdities of the Shastras. They are born diplomatists, as well as financialists. Our greatest states- men have acknowledged their remarkable ability. The despatches, especially the sup- plementary ones, of the late Duke of Wel- lington, abound with evidence of this : and when describing the character of Talleyrand, the duke could find no better comparison than that he was "like Eitel Punt (the tates of justice and of Christian morality, but we are disregarding all that the experience of the past has taught us to be wise policy with a view to perma- nent success." — {Present and Future of India under British Rule, p. 37.) • Pari. Papers, 26th April, 1858 ; p. 201. t Pari. Paper (House of Commons), 16th April| 1858. 10 AVERSION EVINCED BY THE ENGLISH TOWARDS THE NATIVES. Brahmin minister of Sindia) ; only not so clever."* Such men as these can hardly be expected to endure, without resentment, treatment which keeps the promise to the ear, yet breaks it to the sense. In England we have grown used to the assertion, that there is no such thing as pub- lic opinion or discussion among the natives : but this is a mistake, and only proves that we have overlooked its rise and progress. The public meetings held in every presi- dency, the numerous journals, and, still more, the political pamphlets published by natives, attest the contrary. Of the latter class one now lies before me, written in English — fluent, grammatical English — with just a sufiBcient tinge of Orientalism to give internal evidence of the veritable author- ship. The writer, after admitting the pro- tection afforded by British rule from ex- ternal violence and internal commotion, adds — " But it has failed to foster the growth of an upper class, which would have served as a connecting link between the govern- ment and the mass of the people. The higher order of the natives have, ever since its commencement, been shut out of all avenues to official distinction. They may acquire colossal fortunes in commercial and other pursuits, or obtain diplomas and honours in colleges and universities, but they cannot be admitted into the civil ser- vice, or the higlier grades in the military service, without undertaking a voyage to England, and complying with other equally impracticable conditions. The highest situa- tions to which they can aspire, are deputy- magistrateships and Sudder ameenships."t Ignorance of the Languages, and the Aver- sion evinced towards the Natives, are the causes alleged by Baboo Shew Purshad (in- spector of schools in the Benares division), for the " unpopularity of the government, and, consequently, of all the miseries under which the country labours." The reluc- tance of the English functionaries to mix •with the natives, has prevented their ac- quiring that thorough knowledge of their sentiments and capabilities, social and moral condition, internal economy, wants, and prejudices, which are essential to suc- cessful government. " In England," says • Kaye's Life of Malcolm, vol. i., p. 241. + 2%« Mutinies, the Government, and the People ; by A Hindoo ; p. 36. (Printed at Calcutta, 1858.) 1 Thoughts of a Native of Northern India on the JUbellion, its Causes and Remedies (Dalton, Coik- the writer just quoted, " you have only to pass good acts, and draw goo^ rules, and people will take upon themselves to see that they are worked in the right way, and for their benefit, by the local authorities ; but here the case is otherwise : the best regulations can be turned into a source of the worst oppression by an unscrupulous and exacting magistrate ; and if you give us a good magistrate, he can keep us happy without any regulation at all. The Pun- jab owes its happiness more to Sir John Lawrence and Messrs. Montgomery and Macleod, than to any system or regulation. * * * It is owing to these few officers, who come now and then to the lot of some dis- tricts, that people have not yet despaired and risen in a body. * * * The govern- ment will feel, no doubt, stronger after the suppression of the mutiny than they ever were. If the hatred of their countrymen towards the natives increases in ratio to the increase of power, as hitherto, the disaffec- tion of the people, and the unpopularity of the government, will increase also propor- tionally. The consequences are obvious : and, be assured, the country will be deso- lated and ruined. "J Englishmen, generally, have no gift for languages ; and this has been always one of their weak points as rulers of India, where it is of the first importance that all func- tionaries, whether civil or military, should be — not first-rate Grecians, or versed in black-letter lore^r-but able to converse, in the vernacular dialect, with the men over whom they bear rule. Had such knowledge been at all general, warnings would, in all human probability, have been received of the combinations (such as they were) which preceded the massacres of Meerut, Cawn- poor, and Jhansi. It is a serious defect in the system (springing, no doubt, from the monopoly of patronage), that so little trouble has been taken to promote the efficiency of the servants of the Company, as adminis- trators of a delegated despotism. Lord Wellesley strove earnestly for this end ; but his efforts were coldly received, and are even now insufficiently appreciated. So far as the natives are concerned, sending out " incapables" to bear rule over them, manifests a shameful indifference to spur-street, 1858) : with a Preface, written at Cal- cutta, and cigncd " M. W." — initials which suggest the name of a well-known member of the Bengal (uncovenanted) service. The Dedication to H. C. T., Esq., is similarly suggestive. EUROPEAN FUNCTIONARIES IGNORANT OF NATIVE LANGUAGES. 11 their interests, and is inflicting a wrong, of which we cannot hope to escape the penalty. " It is suicidal to allow India to be a refuse, as it is at present to a great extent, for those of our youth who ai'e least qualified to make their way in their own country ; and it is such au insult to the natives, who are full of intelligence, and are making great progress in European knowledge of all kinds, that if anything could excuse them for rebelling, it would be this." This is plain speaking from an authority like Indophilus ; and what he adds with re- gard to young officers is equally applicable to civilians : — " It should not be left, as it is at present, to the decision of a young man whether he will pass in the native languages or not. The power of understanding his men, and of rendering himself intelligible to them, should be considered an indispen- sable qualification ; and those who cannot, or will not, acquire this necessary accom- plishment, should be removed from the ser- vice. Every officer should be presumed to understand the language of his soldiers."* The change which has taken place in Anglo-Indian society, has, without doubt, been a painful one for the natives. The very large increase in the proportion of Englishwomen who now accompany their husbands, fathers, and brothers to India, has tended to decrease the association with the native gentry; and these are becoming yearly less able to vie with the Europeans. One branch of the intercourse of former days has greatly diminished; the conven- tionalities have become more stringent ; the temptations have decreased; the shameless profligacy described by Clivef no longer exists; and a dark-coloured "beebee" (lady), the mother of a large family of Eura- sians, would not now be considered a fit head for the household of a distinguished military or civil servant. Ho^v far any radical reform has taken place, or whether the great " social evil" has only changed its hue, it is hard to say ; but several trust- worthy witnesses assert as an evident fact, that the Europeans and natives of all classes associate far less than they used to do, and that many of the former have adopted a supercilious tone towards the latter, which is equally impolitic, unjust, and inconsistent * Letter to the Times, September 23th, 1837. t Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 307. X A writer in the Times, " who has passed his life in India," asserts, that •' the white and the dark man are no more equal, and no more to be governed by the same rules, than the man and ihe ape."— (" H." with the usual refining and softening effect of legitimate domestic intercourse. Tlie repeated use of the word "niggers" in recent books of Indian memoirs, and in the correspondence published in the public journals, J is itself a painful and significant symptom. An American traveller asks, how we can reconcile our denunciation of the social inequality of the negro and white races in America with our own conduct to the East Indians ? "I allude," he says, " to the contemptuous manner in which the natives, even those of the best and most intelligent classes, are almost invariably spoken of and treated. The tone adopted towards the lower classes is one of lordly an-ogance; towards the rich and enlightened, one of condescension and patronage. I have heard the term ' niggers' applied to the whole race by those high in office ; with the lower order of the English it is the designation in general use."§ Sir CharlesNapier considered, thatnothing could be worse than the manners of Eng- lishmen in India towards natives of all ranks. Therefore, when endeavouring to bring into operation the resources of Sinde, he refused British officers a passage on board his merchant steamers, knowing that " if granted, they would go on board, occupy all the room, treat my rich merchants and supercargoes with insolence, and very pro- bably drink and thrash the people." || Religion and Education. — Missionary ope- rations are alleged to have had their share in jeopardising the permanence of our power; while, on the contrary, the advocates of religious enterprise assert, that had the messengers of the glad tidings of universal peace and good-will been suffered to have fre': way in India, as in every other depen- dency or colony of the British empire, such an exposition of the tenets of Protestant Christianity would long since have beeu afforded to the intelligent and argumenta- tive Hindoos, as would have rendered it impossible for the most artfully-concocted rumours, founded on the most unfortunate combination of circumstances, to persuade them (in the teeth of a hundred years' ex- perience to the contrary), that force and fraud would ever be used to compel the Nov. 23rd, 1837.) It is much to be regretted, that sue 1 mischievous and exceptional opinions as these should find unqualified expression in a journal which circulates largely throu,i;hout India. § Taylor's Visit to India, l^c., in 1853 j p. 273. il Life, by Sir William Napier; vol. iii., p. 473. L. 12 RELIGION AND EDUCATION IN INDIA— 1813 to 1834. adoption of a creed which appeals to the reasou, and requires the habitual exercise of the free-will of every disciple. With some few and partial exceptions, the policy of the home and local government has been steadily and even sternly repres- sive of all attempts for the extension of Christianity ; and every concession made has been wrung from them by the zeal of influential individuals, supported by public opinion. It needs not to establish this fact on evidence, or to remind the reader that English missionaries were not eveu tolerated in India until the year 1813; that Marsh- man and Carey were compelled to take up their residence without the British frontier, in the Danish settlement of Serampoor; that Judson and his companions were actu- ally deported; and that Eobert Haldane's munificent and self-sacrificing intention of expending ^40,000 on the formation of an effective mission for Benares, was frustrated by the positive prohibition of government, despite the efforts of Wilberforce and others. An Indian director is said to have de- clared, that "he would rather a band of devils landed in India than a- baud of mission- aries ;"* and his colleagues acted very much as if they shared his conviction. Secular education was long viewed by the East India Company as a question in which they had no concern ; and the efforts made by the Marquis Wellesley and others, were treated with an indifference amounting to aversion. At length public opinion be- came decided on the subject; and, in 1813, the sura of £10,000 was, by the determina- tion of parliament, decreed to be annually appropriated, out of the revenues of India, for the cultivation of exclusively Hindoo and Mohammedan lore. In 1824, Mr. Mill (the historian, who entered the service of the Company after writing his famous exposition of the worst features of their rule) was ordered to pre- pare a despatch on the subject of education. He did so, and in it boldly laid down the principle of inculcating sound truth, in op- position to the absurd fictions of the Shas- tras. The directors accepted his dictum, and founded English schools and colleges for exclusively secular instruction. Lord W. Bentinck, in 1834, pursued a similar course; and a few thousand youths (including Naua Sahib) learned to talk English fluently, • Quoted bv the Hon. A. E.inEaird — Exeter Hall, Jan. eth, 1858. + Arthur's Mysoor,p. 91, to quote Shakespeare, Pope, Addison, and Byron, instead of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Hafiz or Sadi ; and to jeer with the flippancy of superficial scepticism at the ignorance of their parents and countrymen, in asserting that the earth rests on eight elephants, a serpent, a turtle, and such like;t and at the Mu^ulmans, for believing in Mohammed's journey to the moon. After all, such instruction was a direct and tan- gible interference with the religious views of the people. No greater would have been committed, had we placed before them a frank and full exposition of our own creed, choosing Moses rather than Milton to nar- rate the origin and fall of the whole human race, and trusting to the equally inspired record of the evangelists, to impart, with re- sistless power, the divinely revealed mystery of man's redemption. We have taught the whole truth as re- gards material things — tliat the earth is round, for instance, and that the ocean is everywhere the same; in opposition to the Brahminical doctrine, that the earth con- sists of seven continents, divided by seas composed respectively of salt-water, wine, sugar-cane juice, clarified butter, curds, milk, and fresh-water. Spiritual truth we have not ventured to set forth ; and the con- querors who represent a nation which ap- plauds itself for the maintenance in strict union of church and state, have become the voluntary exponents of a neutral system which closely resembles practical infidelity. And practical infidelity is the cause to which alone our conduct is attributed by the more intelligent class of the natives. They know that the government is firm even to obsti- nacy in the maintenance of its convictions, and they utterly discredit the reality of a belief which can co-exist with the tempo- rising and cowardly half measures em- ployed by those who are in all other things habitually positive and outspoken. The Anglo-Indian authorities were not, however, all blind or indifferent to the workings of the " Godless colleges." In Madras, a strong feeling grew up in favour of the teaching of the Bible in government schools. The Marquis of Tweeddale, then governor, shared and ably expressed this opinion, declaring, that " it required a more solid foundation than is to be found in the Hindoo or Mohammedan faith, to bear the change which learning operates on the mind of those who emerge out of a state of ignorance, and attain those mental THE BIBLE EXCLUDED FROM GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS. 13 acquirements which enlarged education gives. * * * Nor do I see how native society itself can safely and permanently advance except upon this basis. I would therefore adopt the rule proposed by the council, which recognises the Bible as a class-book in the government schools, but at the same time leaves it free to the native student to read it or not, as his conscience may dictate, or his parent may desire."* The Court of Directors refused to comply with liord Tweeddale's recommendation, and persevered in their previous resolve, despite the remonstrances of the Madras council, and their clear exposition of the mistaken view on which that determination was founded. An able pen wrote a denuur ciation of the system, which now reads like a prophecy : — " The government does not know what it is doing. No doubt it is breaking down those superstitions, and dis- persing those mists, which, by creating weakness and disunion, facilitated the con- quest of the country ; but, instead of sub- stituting any useful truth, or salutary prin- ciples, for the ignorance and false principles which they remove, they are only facilitating the dissemination of the most pernicious errors, and the most demoralising and revo- lutionary principles. I have been appalled by discovering the extent to which athe- istical and deistical writings, together with disaffection to the British government and hatred to the British name, have spread, and are spreading, among those who have been educated in government schools, or are now in the service of government. The direction of the government system of edu- cation is rapidly falling into the hands of astute Brahmins, who know how to take advantage of such a state of things, and at the same time to strengthem them- selves by an alliance with Parsee and Mus- sulman prejudices; while the European gentlemen who still remain nominally at the head of the system, know nothing of the under-currents which pervade the whole, or consider themselves as bound, either by principle or policy, not to make any exer- tions in favour of Christian truth ; while the professed object of the government is to give secular instruction ouly."t • See Lord Tweeddale's Minute, August 24th, 1846, and reply thereto. — Sixth Report of House of Lords, 1853; pp. 189; 152. f Testimony of Professor Henderson, of the Bom- bay Government Schools, dated 31st October, 1803; published in a Discourse upon his death, by Dr. Wil- ton president of the Bombay Literary Society. In April, 1847, an order was issued by the Court of Directors to the governor-gen- eral, requiring, that the principle which had been " uniformly maintained, of abstaining from all interference with the religion of the natives of India," should be rigidly en- forced. A paragraph in a previous despatcli (to Madras, 21st May, 1845), declared it to be " the duty of government, and not less of its officers, to stand aloof from all mis- sionary labours, either as promoting or as opposing them." At this time, it was well- known that many of the most esteemed ofiBcials, civil and military,, were, and had been for years past, members of committees of Bible and Missionary societies. A public demand for "specific instructions" regarding the meaning of the directors, was made by their servants; and this, together with the privately expressed opinions which reached the governor-general (Lord Hardinge), in- duced him to withhold the despatch and recommend its suppression ; in which the directors concurred, because. its publication " might give rise to discussion on a subject on which it is particularly desired that the public mind should not be excited."! In the year 1849, a native of high- caste, occupying a responsible position in the Calcutta college, publicly embraced Christianity, and was immediately dismissed by the English authorities. § The government pursued the system of excluding the Bible from its schools, while the missionaries persisted in making it the foundation of theirs ; and the opinion of the natives was evidenced in the large voluntary contributions made by them to the latter. The statistics of 1853 gave the following result : — Government schools, 404; scholars, 25,362: Christian Mission schools, 1,668; scholars, 96,177. The re- turns showed some singular facts : among others, that the only school at Bangalore in which Brahmin youths were found, was a missionary one. In 1854, the duty of adopting measures for the extension of education, was avowed in a despatch by Sir Charles Wood ; and the doc- trine of grants in aid for the support of ail schools, without reference to the religious doctrine taught therein, w{^s plainly set forth. J Pari. Papers (House of Commons), 12th Feb- ruary, 1858; pp. 3, 5, 11. — Letter from a Layman in India ; pamphlet, published by Dalton, Cock- spur-street, 1858; pp. 11, 12. — Speech of Rev. W. Chalmers, Exeter Hall, January 5th, 1858. § Christian Education for Indio in the Mother- ) Tongue, p. 15. 14 CRY FOR "CHRISTIAN EMANCIPATION" IN INDIA. A minister of public instruction for India was appointed, with a salary of £3,000 a-year; four inspectors, with salaries varying from £1,500 down to £750; and a large number of sub-inspectors: but no single vernacular school* was established, neither was any attempt made to frame and cir- culate tracts on agriculture and mechanics, or to convey, in the native languages, the more elementary and practical portions of the knowledge generally availed of in Europe for the furtherance of various branches of trade and manufacture.t The extensive scale on which prepara- tions were made surprised the natives, and the unauthorised and improper statement of some of the officials, that "it was the order of government that people should now educate their chiJdren,"J created miich anxiety. Yet proselytising was neither contemplated nor desired. The Calcutta Bible Society requested permission of the Council of Education to place a copy of the Bible, in English and the vernacular, in the library of each government school and col- lege. It was notorious that the Koran and the Shastras were there; yet the council declined to give the Bible a place beside them, because it would be a breach of " neutrality ."§' In England, and even in India, the autho- rities generally seem to have had no mis- givings as to the result of purely secular teaching. Some few, however, deprecated education of any kind to any extent ;. and this party included a late governor-general. Lord Ellenborough, who declared his belief of its incompatibility with the maintenance of British dominion in India — a conviction, the ground of which is explained by a sub- sequent statement made by his lordship in his place in parliament (in 1852), that "no intelligent people would submit to our gov- ernment."l| Witb such views, it is not surprising that Lord Ellenborough, when addressing the House of Lords on the 9th of June, 1857, on the recent tidings of the mutiny of the Bengal army, should have adverted with extreme astonishment to a svatemeut which he could " scarcely believe to be true," though he had seen it " distinctly stated in the papers, that the governor-general himself, • A Vernacular Society is now being organised jn London. It is much needed ; for, as its chief pro- moter, Mr. Tucker, truly says, no people have ever been Christianised through a foreign langunge. t Keport of Public Meeting for the Formation of Lord Canning, subscribed largely to a mis- sionary society, which has for its object the conversion of the natives." The«.reply of Lord Lansdowne was, that if " Lord Can- ning had so acted as to give countenance to such belief as the noble earl inferred, he would no longer deserve to be continued in his office.'' These, and similar expressions of opinion, have done good by affording unmistakable evidence of the feelings enter- tained by men of high talent and position. A cry arose for " Christian emancipation," and several public meetings took place. On one of these, held at Exeter Hall on the 5th of January, 1858, the Times commented in the following terms : — " We have made a great mistake in India. The religious policy pursued by the government of that country, has made us, as one of its own servants declared, 'cowards in the eyes of men, and traitors in the eyes of God.' * * * A stranger to the question, after reading the noble chairman's speech on that occasion, might well imagine that the Hindoos were the conquerors, and we the subjects ; that we had been tyranuically debarred, for more than a century, from the free exercise of our religion ; and that we were at length seizing a favourable moment to demand relief from these unjust disabili- ties. All that his lordship, and those who followed him, asked for, was Christian emancipation ■ * * * and that, under a government acknowledging faith in Christ Jesus, the profession of the Gospel should no longer be visited with penalties of civil disqualification. These are literally the conditions to which our policy has driven us. * * * We were never really neutral ; we made ourselves partisans; but, unfor- tunately, in our anxiety to escape the charge of favouring Christianity, we ac- tually favoured heathenism. * * * AH this must now end, if not for truth's sake, for the sake of government itself. Our policy has broken down utterly, and proved destructive to its own objects. There is no mistaking the results of the experiment. Where, asked Lord Shaftesbury, did the insurrection break out ? Was it in Madras, where Christians are most numerous, and where Christianity has been best treated ? Was it in Bombay, where caste was scouted, a Christian Vernacular Education Society, 20th May, 1858; p. 8. X Pari. Papers, 13th April, 1858; p. 2. § Letter from a Layman, p. 13. II Dickinson's India under a Bureaucracy, p. 117. DANGER OP CHANGING IDOLATERS TO ATHEISTS. 15 and Hindoos taught that government could pay no heed to sucli pretensions? No; it was in Bengal, where idolatry and caste received the greatest reverence; and in tlie Bengal army, which represented the most pampered class of the whole population." One last incident, illustrative of the anti- Christian policy of the Indian government, remains to be quoted. The Southals — a wild tribe, resembling our gipsies — were driven into rebellion in 1856,' by the mis- conduct of some railway contractors, the exactions of native bankers, and the out- rages committed by the native police. The missionaries materially aided in restoring tranquillity, and succeeded in obtaining the confidence of these poor savages, who were without the pale of Hindoo caste ; and the Calcutta authorities entered into arrange- ments with the Church Missionary Society for the establishment of schools of religious and industrial instruction among them, and specially among the females.* When the measure became known in England, the home government refused its sanction, and ordered the establishment of schools on its own plan, the teachers of which were to be "most strictly enjoined to abstain from any attempt to introduce religious subjects in any form."f It is interesting to learn, from one of the Hindoos themselves, the view taken by them of our so-called neutrality. Shew Purshad says — " It is absurd to think that the Eng- lish are hated by the Hindoos on account of their religion. * * * It is not religion, but the want of religion, which has brought so much evil to this country. The people know that the government is a Christian one. Let it ac*' openly as a true Christian : the people will never feel themselves disap- pointed; they will only admire it. * * * Education must be carried on upon a * See Mr. J. M. Strachan's Letter tu Captain Eastwick. (Seeley, 1858.) t Pari. Papers (Commons), 24lh Aug., 1857; p. 2. X See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 46. § " Active resistance to the recently introduced messing system in the gaols of Bengal and tlie N.W. Provinces, has produced bloodshed." — Col. Sjkes' Letter to the Times, October 8th, 1857. II Thoughts «fa Native, SfC, pp. 18—34. ^ Mr. Tucker was connected with the Benares district for twenty-five years : during this period he avowed and acted up to his own high standard of Christian duty, at tlie risk of being deemed a dan- gerous fanatic ; the more so because the " Holy City" of Benares is the stronghold of the Brahmins, and holds a somewhat similar position, in the esti- mation of the Hindoos, to what -Mecca does in that of the Moslems. Yet, on his departure for Europe sounder principle, and religion must be fostered. Don't turn India from idolatry to atheism. * * * Who can detest 'religion?' It is the order of their own ShastrasJ that every man is to revere his own religion. You may have a thousand missionaries to preach, and another thou- sand as masters of the schools, at 'the ex- pense of the government, or distribute a thousand Bibles at the hands of the gov- ernor-general. The people will not murmur out a single syllable, though they may laugh and jeer ; liut take care that you do not interfere with their caste — you do not force them to eat the food cooked by another in the gaols,§ or thrust grease down their throats with the cartridges made by Eu- ropeans. ♦ * * Difference of caste must vanish, with many other offsprings of folly and ignorance, when its proper time comes. To try to exterminate it now must end in bloodshed." || Mr. Henry Carre Tucker, the son of the late chairman of the East India Company (and himself no mean authority^), confirms the statement, from long personal experience — that so long aS we scrupulously abstain from any direct interference with the cere- monial observances of caste, we may teach Christianity as much as we please, adding — " This view is strengthened by the fact, that during the late mutiny, those large military stations have escaped the best where the governors were most zealous for Chris- tianity." He proceeds to instance Pesha- vvur, under Herbert Edwardes ; and Lahore, under "those brave Christian men, Johc Lawrence and Robert ^Montgomery :" bu here we cannot follow him without anti- cipating the subsequent narrative. His conclusions, however, are too important to be omitted : they are — " That we ought to assume a bolder position as a Christian gov- in March, 1858, a valedictory address was presented to him, signed by all the principal inhabitants — e.\- pressing sorrow at the termination of their official connection, a " deep sense of admiration of his en- larged spirit of philanthropy and almost boundless benevolence," and " gratitude for his zealous exer- tions in extending the benefits of education." In token of their sense of the manner in which he had employed his few leisure hours in furthering " the welfare, here and hereafter, of those committed to his charge," the subscribers to the address collected among themselves 6,000 rupees, for the obtainment of a full-length portrait of their friend, to be placed in the Benares college; and witli the balance, after defraying the cost of the jiicture, they propose t& found a scholarship to commemorate his name. Certainly the Hindoos know how to apprcciati! Christian disinterestedness when they meet with it. 16 CASTE, A SOCIAL CONVENTION. ernment; that it is quite feasible to Chris- tianise our education ; and that, instead of causing alarln and disaffection, those dan- gerous points have, through God's blessing, been the most quiet where Cliristian exer- tion has been the greatest. Oude, destitute of all missionary effort, and the sepoys, to whom Christian instruction was closed, were the worst of all."* The ignorance displayed by the sepoys, and that large part of the Indian population connected with the army, regarding Chris- tianity, is remarkable, even after making every possible allowance for the rigid exclu- sion of missionary teaching, and the abso- lute prohibition of proselytism among their ranks. t The cause is obvious — not simply to the minds of earnest Christians, but to the class who have least sympathy with any- thing approaching religious enthusiasm. The Times,i in one of its leading articles, is constrained to admit, that it is because the superior beneficence and purity of our religion have not been vividly and trans- parently exhibited in practice, that we " have not converted the people who have witnessed the every-day life of British gentlemen and ladies — we will not say to an acceptance of our religion, but even to any high regard for it. * * * "We ought to have stood high in that land of many religions, as a con- sistent, believing, just, kind, and holy people. That we have not even done this, and that we are regarded simply as unbelievers, with httle religion except a few negative tenets, which we find convenient for political pur- poses, must be deemed a shortcoming in our practice. It must be our fault that we Christians stand so much lower in the reli- gious scale of India than we did in the scale of ancient paganism." While (according to the above impartial testimony) we have not taught Christianity either by precept or example, and while among the sepoys the Bible has remained a • It would 6eem as if the government had feared the infiueiice of Christianity among the English soldiery ; for it is only very recently that chaplains have been appointed to accompany expeditions. Xo provision of the kind was made in the Cabool war ; and Sir Charles Napier loudly complained of 1 similar deficiency among his force in Sinde. \ Witness the case of Purrub-deen Pandeh, a high- caste Biahmin (a naik in the 25th regiment), who, though " previously much esteemed in the corps," was summarily removed for having received Chris- tian baptism. This occurred at Meerut in 1819. — (Pari. Papers, 8th February, 1858.) X October 6th, 1857. § See London Quarterly lieriew, October, 1857 : sealed book, no such embargo has ever been laid on the Koran. The Mohammedans, themselves essentially propagandists,*- have remained masters of the situation. Wrapped in a complacent belief of their own supe- riority, as believers iu a revelation more recent and complete than that of their con- querors, the followers of the False Prophet adopt their own classification of " Jews, English, infidels, and heretics;" and really viewing us (in a certain sense) as we do the Jews, have taken pains to communicate this impression to the Hindoos. Indeed, who will venture to defend from the charge of practical atheism, a govern- ment that causes such sentences as " Gocl is a Spirit," to be expunged from its school- books ;§ being apparently ignorant that this fundamental truth is the very essence of all that is sound in Mohammedanism, and is acknowledged, at least in theory, by every Brahmin and Buddhist in India. Caste, and the panic-terror which the idea of its violation may have occasioned, constitute a social and political, even more tiian a religious question. || Sir Charles Napier well defined the difference when he said, that what the natives dreaded, was " not conversion, but contamination." Caste is no universal, immutable law : it is a pure convention ; but one which, by the nature of our position, we are bound to respect to a certain reasonable extent. The traditional four castes^ have merged into innumerable others. Human passions have proved too strong for the strongest fetters ever forged by a wily priesthood. Intermarriages have taken place between every variety of caste ; and the result is, the general division of the Hindoo population into high-caste (consisting of Brahmins who compose the priest and scholar class, and the Rajpoots, who are hereditary soldiers), low-caste (iu which all the Mahrattas, and article on the " Sepoy Rebellion ;" by the Rev. W. Arthur; p. 259. II No European can form, though they ought to form, a correct idea of the difference between the prejudices of caste and those of religion. Give a couple of gold mohurs to a pundit, and he will cheer- fully compose a book in refutation of his own reli- gion ; but give him a glass of water openly touched by you, even through the medium of a stick a hun- dred feet long, and he will not drink it, though you offer him a thousand gold mohurs. Secretly, per- haps, he may not have objection to do anything either to please you or satiate his own passions — {2'hotu/hts of a Xative, i^c; p. 18) U See Indian Emjtire, vol. i., p. 14. HIGH-CASTE, LOW-CASTE, AND OUT-CASTE. 17 most of the remaining native princes, are included), and, thirdly, out-caste — a section diffused all over India, and forming a large proportion of the entire population. The Abbe Dubois maintained, thnt they were, in his time, one in five ; but an able writer of our own day suggests one in ten as nearer the truth : adding — " Even in this pro- portion the Indian out-castes would be twenty millions of human beings, or more than the population of aljl England."* This class includes the aborigines, or at least the predecessors of the Hindoos, the Gonds, Bheels, Sonthals, &c., who have never accepted caste ; and, indeed, could not by Brahmiuical law find place in it. The ban-ier is equally impassable for the Mussulmans, whose observance of certain caste rules is worthless in the sight of the Hiudoos. No man can venture to foretel how much longer the system may endure, or how soon it may be thrown to the winds. The Jains have caste ; the Buddhists (who still linger in India) have none. Then there are the Seiks, originally a peaceable, reli- gious sect, founded by a Hindoo, whose creed was derived from the Vedas and the Koran. Caste was suddenly abolished among them by Govind, their tenth " Guru," or spiritual chief; converts were gladly wel- comed from all quarters, and admitted to a perfect equality. f A similar change may come over the mass of the Hindoos ; and as the teaching of St. Paul produced the simultaneous conversion of two thousand persons, so here, whole communities may be led at once to renounce the error which has so long enthralled them. Or, the work may be more gradual — indivi- dual enlightenment may be the thin edge of the wedge : but in either case, Christian civilisation is the instrument which alone can prosper in our hands — the only one that affords any rational prospect of leading to the voluntary renunciation of caste. This renunciation does not necessarily accom- pany conversion to Christianity ; though it would seem to be an inevitable consequence. Some of the Hindoo pamphleteers, how- ever, declare that, caste can hardly be deemed incompatible with Christianity, when it exists so evidently, although undfer pecu- liar form8,'among the English. They ask, whether we do not treat all men Whose skins are darker than our own, as if of quite * Sepny Rebellion in India ; by the Rev. AV. Arthur. — London Quarterly Review, October, 1857. t See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 154. vol,. II. D another caste or breed? Whether half-caste is not our contemptuous term for an Eura- sian ? Tliey point to the whole framework of Anglo-Indian society, to its "covenanted" service, to the rigid exclusiveness produced by patronage alike in the military and civil service, in confirmation of their assertion. High-caste, low-caste, and out-caste, with their various subdivisions, are, they saj', pretty clearly defined in oui practice, how- ever forcibly we may repudiate such dis- tinctions in theory. To return : the Indo-Mohammedans have, to a certain extent, imitated Brahmiuical practices as conventional distinctions, and are interested in inciting the Hindoo se- poys to maintain a system which enables them to dictate to their officers the what, wheu, how, and where, in a service in which unhesitating and unquestioning obe- dience is otherwise exacted, 'llie natives are perfectly aware that caste is a great inconvenience to the Europeans, and that it materially impedes their efficiency as sol- diers and servants. It is this which made them so watchful of every measure of gov- ernment that might infringe on the caste monopoly of privileges and immunities, which we had unwisely made their " Magna Charta," and which we, strangely enough, took no pains to investigate or define. The consequence of our ignorance of its theory and regulations has been, that we have been perpetually falling into opposite errors — vacillating between absurd deference" to pre- tended scruples, and real infraction of the first and most invariable observances. Per- secution on the one hand, undue concessions on the other, have been our Scylla and Cha- rybJis ; but it is our ignorance that has made them so. In considering the operation of caste in India, we must bear in mind that it is a thing hard to preserve intact, and easily de- stroyed, either by force or fraud. Many, comparatively recent instances of both are on record ; and Tippoo Sultan. especially' de- lighted in compelling Brahmins to forfeit their privileges by destroying kine. The natives know us too well to fear any such ebullitions of insane barbarity or fierce zeal ; but it is quite possible they may anticipate our desiring the annihilation of caste on the score of policy, and dread our attempting it l)y a coup d'etat. It is alleged that articles in the public journals, regarding the need of soldiers experienced by England in carrying out the Russian, Persian, and Chi- 18 THE GREASED CARTRIDGES. nese wars, gave rise to rumours which were circulated among the sepoys, of the anxietj' of government to get rid, at once and for ever, of the shackles which prevented the Indian troops from being sent across the Cala-pani, or Black water, to fight our bat- tles in foreign climes.* A Hindoo would naturally cling to the system which was at once his reason and excuse for avoiding expatriation, v.hich he fears worse than death ; and his suspicions would easily be roused on the subject. The readiest way of destroying caste, is by forcing or tempting the party concerned to taste anything prepared by unclean hands — that is, by persons of an inferior, or of no caste; or which contains the smallest par- ticle of the flesh of kine. The Mohamme- dans abstain as rigidly from tasting the flesh of the impure hog, as the Hindoos from that of the sacred cow. The motive differs, hut the result is the same. In both cases, the abstinence respectively practised is one of the first and most generally recognised of their rules. The Indian government could scarcely have been ignorant, when issuing a new description of fire-arms to the sepoys, that to bite a cartridge greased with cows' or pigs' fat, was more to Hin- doos and Indo-Mohammedans, than "eat- ing pork to a Jew, spitting on the Host to a Roman Catholic, or trampling on the Cross to a Protestant. "f To the Hindoos it was indeed much more, so far as tem- poral welfare was concerned ; for it involved practical outlawry, with some of the pains and penalties specially attached to conver- «ion to Christianity. It is clear, that if it had been necessary to distribute greased cartridges, to be bitten by the troops, not only the greatest care ought to have been taken that no contaminating material should be used in the manufacture, but also that an explicit assurance should have been given to this effect. Yet, the inspector-general of ordnance has stated, that " no extraordinary care appears to have been taken to ensure the absence of any objectiouable fat. "J So that, so far from endeavouring to remove all suspicion from the minds of the sepoys, of any intention to inflict on them the calamity they most dreaded, we did not even guard against its |>erpetration. The issue of the greased cartridges, under * Mead's Sepni/ Revolt, p. 37. (Routledge and Co. : London, 1858.) t Letters of Indophilus, p. 33. \ Pari. Papers (by command), 1857 ; p. 7. such circumstances, was unquestionably a gross blunder, and is viewed by many as the exciting cause of the mutiny. ... The Free Press, and the so-called Gagging Act of Lord Canning, have given rise to discussions which bring to mind Dr. John- son's remark, that opinions formed on the efiicacy of a certain branch of scli^Ustic discipline, are apt to be materially in- fluenced by the fact, " of which end of the rod falls to one's share." The evils alleged to have l)een produced by unrestricted pub- lication, are too circumstantially stated by official authorities to be omitted in the pre- sent category ; and it becomes necessary to show, if possible, the two sides of the ques- tion — that is, the case of those who wield, and those who wince under, the rod of cen- sorship. It is now little more than twenty years since complete freedom of the pre.>is was bestowed by Sir Charles Metcalfe. § The measure was sudden and startling: it was scarcely in accordance with liis own previous views ; and it was in decided oppo- sition to the opinions which the Court of Directors had from time to time enunciated. A recapitulation of the restrictive mea- sures adopted in the three presidencies, from 1799 to 1819, is given in an important communication made by "the Chairs" || to the president of the India Board, on the 17th of January, 1823. Among other evidence in support of the necessity for a rigid censorship, they quoted the following Minute, written in 1807, by Lord William Bentinck (then governor of Madras), re- garding a charge delivered by oue of the judges of the Supreme Court (Sir Henry Gwillim) to the grand jury : — " It is necessary, in my opinion, for the public safely, that the press in India should be kept under the most rigid control. It matters not from what pen the dangerous matter may issue; the higher the authority the greater the mischief. We cannot pre- vent the judges of the Supreme Court from uttering, in open court, opinions, however mischievous; hut it is in our power, and it is our duty, to prohibit them from being circulated through the country by means of the press. Entertaining strongly this sentiment, I would recommend that the order of government may be given to all proprietors of printing-presses, forbidding them, upon pain of the utmost displeasure of the governor in council, to print any paper whatever without the j)reviou8 sanction of the governor in council, communicated by the chief secretary ."H § Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 431. II The chairman and deputy-chairman of the E. I. Company (J. Pattison and W. Wigram.) ^ Pari. Papers (Commons), 4th May, 1858. BENTINCK, METCALFE, AND ELPHTNSTONE ON FREE PRESS. 19 The opinion pronounced by Sir Thomas Munro, regarding the revolution which a free press would produce throughout the native army, is next quoted; and the writers proceed to express similar and very decided views on the subject : — " A free press is a fit associate and necessary appendage of a representative constitution ; but in no sense of the terms can the government of India be called a free, a representative, or a popular govern- ment ; the people had no voice in its establishment, nor have they any control over its acts. • • • Can it be doubted that the respect of the natives for our authority would be greatly diminished, and the energy of the government impaired, by a free press ? • * • It is impossible to suppose that a foreign government, however strong and beneficent its cha- racter, should not be obnoxious in some degree to those who live under it. It is humbling to the pride of the people; and where they differ, as in India, in religion, in language, in manners, in colour, and in customs from those who administer the government, there cannot be much sympathy or attachment between them. Though the situation of the large body of the people may now be greatly better, on the whole, than it was under their native governments, there are not a few, particularly among the Moham- medans, who have suffered from the change. These, we may be sure, will always be ready to avail them- selves of any opportunity of retrieving their fortunes, and we know not that they could deiire a more efficient auxiliary than a licentious press, labouring daily to extinguish all respect for our character and govern- ment in the minds of their countrymen. The ten- dency and effect of our system, too, has been to beget in the minds of the people at large a respect for themselves, and notions of their own importance, which makes the task of governing them a more difficult one than it was when they first came under our rule. But the delicacy of our situation in India cannot be well understood without special advertence to the circumstance of the government being de- pendent in a great degree for its security on a native army, which, though better paid, with reference to the wages of labour, than any other army in the world, contains in its organisation some elements of discontent. The exclusion of the natives from its higher ranks must necessarily be a source of heart- burning to men of family and ambition ; and when a sense of mortification is united with a spirit of enter- prise, their joint workings are not easily daunted or repressed. It may be difficult to retain the fidelity of men of this description, with all the care and cau- tion that can be exercised ; but it would appear to be either a lamentable infatuation, or unpardonable rashness, to allow them to be goaded on to revolt, by means over which we possess or may obtain con- trol. Whatever English newspapers are published at the presidencies will naturally find their way to the principal military stations. Many of the native officers can read and understand English ; and by means of the native servants of the European officers, it will not be difficult for them to obtain the perusal of those papers, containing a perhaps exaggerated re- presentation of their grievances or an inflammatory in- centive to rebellion, which, from their assemblage in garrisons and cantonments, they have better means of concerting than any other portion of the population."' • Pari. Papers, 4th May, 1858 ; pp. 20—23. The degree of severity with which the restrictions enacted to control the press were enforced, depended of course materially on the character of those by whom the supreme authority was wielded. Lord Amherst used his power as governor- general in such wise as entirely to stifle all public discussion; and Lord William Bentinck, his successor (in 1828), was so impressed by the mischievous effect of this policy, that though, as has been shown, very ready to repress, in the most summary fashion, any real or imagined excess on the part of journalists, he, nevertheless, deemed it necessary to issue a notice inviting sug- gestions from any quarter for the itnprove- ment of public measures, and the develop- ment of the resources of the country ; and the result was the publication of letters from various quarters, written with much ability and freedom ; among which, the first and most important were those afterwards embodied by the Hon. Frederick Shore, in his Notes on Indian Affairs. Lord William Bentinck quitted India in 1835 ; Lord Auckland came out as his suc- cessor in the same year ; and it was during the brief provisional sway of Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) Metcalfe, that the im- portant measure was adopted of giving complete freedom to the press. In ex- plaining the difference between his own opinions and those of his predecessor, Sir Charles says — " His lordship, however, sees further danger in the spread of knowledge and the operations of the press. I do not, for my own part, anticipate danger as a certain consequence from these causes. I see so much danger in the ignorance, fanaticism, and barbarism of our subjects, that I rest on the spread of knowledge some hope of greater strength and security. • • • The time is past when the ope- rations of the press could be effectually restrained. Even if that course would be any source of safety (which must be very doubtful), nothing so precarious could in prudence be trusted to. If, therefore, in- crease of danger is really to be apprehended from increase of knowledge, it is what we must cheerfully submit to. We must not try to avert it j and, if we did, we should fail."t Lord Elpliinstone (the present governor of Bombay), in commenting on this passage, truly says, that Lord Metcalfe " considers the freedom of the press, and the diffusion of knowledge, as convertible terms ;" and expresses his surprise that a statesman who entertained such alarming notions of the insecurity and unpopularity of our rule, should have been the man to abolish the ■j- SeUctiont from the Metcalfe Papers, p. I9t. 20 AUCKLAND, ELLENBOROUGH, AND NAPIER ON FREE PRESS. few remaining restrictions deemed indis- pensable by his predecessor.* In 1841, Lord Auckland revoked an order passed in 182G, prohibiting public servants from being connected with news- papers as editors or proprietors. Next carae Lord Ellenborough ; who found his tranquillity so disturbed by the " abuse" of the press, that after three months' residence in India, he ceased " to read a word that appeared in the newspapers. "f The com- mander-in-chief, Lord Gough, is alleged to have avowed with yet more stoical philo- sophy, that "for his part, he never rpad any paper but the Tipperarij Journal." The governor-general deemed it the most judicious course to treat all attacks on his administration with silent contempt ; and, in 1843, he issued an order of opposite tenor to that of Lord Auckland ; which, by enforcing strict secrecy regarding all in- formation officially obtained, neutralised the power which had been freely exercised un- der the express sanction of the three pre- vious rulers. " Lord Ellenborough's general order," says Indophilus, " and the disposition which was shown to place a strict interpretation upon it, effectually restrained the pens of the Company's servants ; and no govern- ment could stand such pounding and kick- ing, and bedaubing and besmearing, as ensued." Statements, however false, put forth in ignorance or from malice preppnse, were left to be copied into the native papers ; and no denial, no antidote in any shape, was offered. For instance, a paragraph went the round of the newspapers, that it was intended to annex the Rajpoot states; and although great disquiet was thereby ■occasioned throughout Rajpootana, no con- tradiction was ever published.]: The Afghan war, and the annexation of Sinde, were subjects on which the authori- ties were perhaps wise in preferring to • Miimte of 24th June, 1858. Pari. Papers (House of Commons), 4th May, 1858; pp. 52, 53. t Debate, 27th Dec, 1857. — Times report. X Letters of Indophilus, p. 48. § Life, vol. iii., p. 194. |1 Ihid., vol. ii., p. 218. 5f Ibid., vol. ii. p. 305. Dr. Buist (editor of the Bombay Times, and sheriff of Bombay), in a pamphlet entitled, " Corrections of a Few of the Errors con- tained in Sir William Napier's Life of his Brother, in so far as they affect the Press of India," gives some valuable statements regarding the Indian newspapers ; of which he says there were, in 1843, about thirty ; costing close on £100,000 a-year for their maintenance — deriving their chief support, and nearly all their intelligence from oificers of the submit to comments which they might treat as calumnious, rather than engage in con- troversy; but sometimes leadings-officials, more sensitive or less discreet than their superiors, broke all bounds, and declaimed against the press in terms of unmeasured invective. The brave, testy, inconsistent general. Sir Charles Napier, who came to India at sixty years of age with five pounds in his pocket, for the sake of providing for his family,§ and who did provide for them magnificently, by what he termed that "very advantageous, useful, humane piece of rascality," the seizure of Sinde ;|| — this man (who was as ready with his pen as with his sword, and, in either case, fought ever without a shield) fairly flung himself into a hornet's-nest by his reckless and indiscriminate abuse of those "ruffians,"^ whom he boasted of taking every public opportunity of calling "the infamous press of India."** One of them excited his special displeasure by taking part against him in the Outram controversy — Dr. Buist, of the Bombay Times, whom Sir Charles alternately threatened with a law-suit and a horse- whipping, and of whom he spoke at a public dinner as that " blatant beast ;"tt a mot which he duly records, and which Sir Wil- liam has not thought it derogatory to his brother's fame to publish. With such personal feeli.igs as these, it is not to be wondered that Sir Charles should regard the public statements of the journalists with jealous aversion, and should accuse them of desiring to excite mutiny among the troops; of inciting the hos- tile tribes to rise against them; of glory- ing in the sufferings of their countrymen; and many similar accusations in which the fiery old warrior gave vent to his irrepres- sible belligerence. His is not fair testi- mony concerning the operation of a free press ; and it is necessary to turn to more impartial witnesses. Sir Charles Trevelyan British army. The Englishman (Calcutta) was con- ducted by Captain McNaughton (Bengal Army.) and Mr (now Sir Ronald McDonald) Stevenson, projector and engineer of the great Bengal railway : Hurkaru — Mr. John Kaye, Bengal artillery, now of the India House (author of the History of the Afghan War) : Calcutta Star and Morning Star — Mr. James Hume, barrister, now police magistrate of Calcutta ; Friend nf India — -the well-known Mr. John Marshman : Bombay Courier, by Mr. W. Crawford, barrister, now senior magistrate of police : and Bombay Genthman's Gazette, by Mr. P. J. McKenna. — (p. 15.) •• Life, by Sir William Napier, vol. iii., p. 124. tt Ibid., vol. iii., p. 294. OPERATION OF A FREE PRESS IN INDIA— 1837. 21 asserts, tliat it has been, " on the whole, highly beneficial :" and that — " There oannot be a greater evil than that public officers should he exempted from the control of public opinion. In Lord William Bentinck's, Lord Met- calfe's, and Lord Auckland's time, the press was held in wholesome respect by the public function- aries at the most remote stations, and it acted as a sort of moral preventive police. • • • 'We used to call it the Parliament of the Press. It may safely be said, that there was not a single good public measure which was not powerfully aided by it. As regards the native press, some newspapers were conducted in a creditable manner in the Eng- lish language, by and for the natives, who had re- ceived an English education ; others were published in the native language by the missionaries : and it must not be supposed that the remainder, which were written by natives in the native languages, did nothing but preach sedition. Their standard, both of intelligence and morality, was, no doubt, below that of the English newspapers; but they opened the minds of the natives to an interest in general topics, and tavfjht them to think, from which every thing else might be expected."' Sanscrit literature proves that the Hin- doos were a thoughtful people before the English set foot in India; but the spread of European and " non-religious" theories, has been certainly likely to teach them to reason ill an entirely different fashion. We know that Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, and Con- dorcet gave currency to ideas which took a very practical form in the French Revolu- tion. These writers, with the English in- fidel, Tom Paine, have found imitators and admirers in India, and their doctrines are flung abroad like firebrands by the native press. A blind, tmreasoning distrust of all governments — a fierce disaffection towards all constituted authorities — thirst for license under tlie name of freedom ; such are the fruits of the tree of knowledge, apart and contra-distinguished from the tree of life. A saying, attributed to the Duke of Wel- lington, is often cited against the danger at- tendant on promoting education without reli- gion — that of making men "clever devils." No better illustration of this need be ad- duced than the terrible scenes enacted by the Bengal sepoys,among whom native news- papers of the worst class have freely circu- lated. The utter indifference so long evinced by government, regarding the number, tone, * Letters of Indophibts, p. 45. t On application to the East India House for some additional details to those given in the Indian Empire (vol. i., p. 523), the writer was informed that the directors had no information on the subject. X Dr. Buist's Corrections of Sir W. Napifr, p. 40. § The Edinburgh Hevieto speaks of the Anglo- Indian press as exclusively representing " the opin- and character of the native journals, is almost incredible ;t indeed, that complete freedom should have been accorded even to the European press, is strangely at variance with the general policy of the Company. In 1857, the adult male European popu- lation scattered throughout India, not in the service, was estimated at only 4,000. J The journals must, therefore, to a great extent, have been maintained by officials. Some of them, especially the Madras At/ie- ncpum, uniformly deprecated annexation ; and thus its supporters contributed with thejr purses, and sometimes with their pens, to oppose the very acts which, in their official capacity, they were bound to en- force. § It was impossible that the natives should not take a lively interest in discus- sions which immediately affected them. Even a child, hearing its own name often repeated, would listen ; and the natives have done so to some purpose. Five years ago, one of the ablest and most disinterested advocates for the neces- sity of Indian reform, as the sole means of averting the blow which has since fallen, wrote : — " The free press is doing its work in India : the Parsee merchants, the zemindars, the native heads of castes, are beginning to feel their power, to com- bine, and to ask for redress of grievances ; some of them are violent, and these do not alarm me ; but some are remarkably temperate ; and I confess, that knowing the strength of their case, I fear the men who begin so temperatelv, and have reason on their side."|| Sir Charles Metcalfe, in establishing, and Lord Auckland in confirming, the freedom of the press, especially insisted that the boon thus granted might be withdrawn, in the event of its proving injurious in opera- tion. " Should the safety of the state ever demand such a course, in a single hour a law may be passed to stop or to control every press in India: nothing has been lost of useful power."^ In the middle of June, 1857, when the mutiny was at its height, the supreme government deemed it necessary to pass an act, which, for the space of the suc- ceeding twelvemonth, was intended to re- place the press in the position it occupied ions of European settlers in the country, or half-castes not in the Company's service," whopi it describes as a class bitterly hostile to government. (October, 1847.) Mr. Mead, on the contrary, affirms, that " six out of seven of the whole body of subscribers are in the Company's service." — Sepoy Revolt, p. 183. II Dickinson's India under a Bureaucracy, p. 20. "U Minute, by Lord Auckland, 8tb August, 1836. 22 RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRESS RE-ESTABLISHED— 1857. in 1835, before the removal of all restrictioTis by Sir Charles ^Metcalfe. The authorities were unanimous regarding the necessity of the measure, which involved the re-iu- stitution of the licensing systena, together with a rigid censorship. The act was passed by the governor-general in council in a sitting; and Lords Harris and Elphinstone, the governors of Madras and Bombay, ex- pressed their entire acquiescence. No dis- tinction was made between the English and the native press, the government being desirous to avoid drawing invidious distinc- tions between European and native sub- jects. They add, moreover — " We do not clearly see how any distinction of the sort could be really carried into effect, for there are now more than one newspaper in the English lan- guage written, owned and published by natives, almost exclusively for circulation amongst native readers ; and although we have no reason to fear that treasonable matter would be designedly pub- lished in any English newspaper, we have to guard in these times against errors, indiscretion, and tem- per, as well as against international sedition. • • • I'o show that the necessity of controlling the Eng- lish as well as the native press, is not merely imagi- nary, it will be enough to state, that the treasonable proclamation of the king and mutineers of Delhi — cunningly framed so as to influence the Moham- medan population as much as possible against the British government,. and ending with the assurance, that the multiplicatfon and circulation of that docu- ment would be an act equal in religious merit to drawing the sword against us, was published by a respectable English newspaper of this town without comment. For doing the very same thing, with comments having the outward form of loyalty, the publishers of three native Mohammedan papers in Calcutta,,have been committed to the Supreme Conrt, to take their trial for a seditious libel."' Lord Harris went further than this, and declared "the larger portion of the British press throughout the country," and par- ticularly in the Madras presidency, to be " disloyjil in tone, un-English in spirit, wanting in principle, and utterly regardless of correctness in statement. "f He com- plained especially of the seditious matter circulated among the sepoys by a newspaper entitled the Examiner, " the mouth-piece of the Roman Catholic priests."J Lord Elphinstone considered the unrestricted liberty of the press incompatible with the continuance of British rule. "Systematic abuse of the government," he writes, " mis- * Despatch to the Court of Directors, dated 4th July, 1857. Signed — Canning, Dorin, Low, Grant, and Peacock. Pari. Papers (Commons), 28th Au- gust, 1857 ; pp. 4, 5. t Minute, by Lord Harris, dated "Fort St. George, 2nd May, 1857"— /«('(/., p. 11. X Minute, 22nd June, 1857— tflirf., p. 13. representation of its acts, and all attempts to create ill-feeling between the different classes of the community, especially be- tween the European officers and the native soldiery, must be prevented."§ The home authorities confirmed the act, declaring that they felt no doubt of its necessity. || The first Euglish paper threatened with the revoke of its licence, was the well-known Friend of India, which, in an article en- titled " The Centenary of Plassy," censured the mamraon-worship of the East India Company, and declared that "only the intense greediness of traders could have won for us the sovereignty of the country." Mohammedan princes and Hindoo rajahs were spoken of as a class that would speedily die out; and in conclusion, the writer held forth a hope that the second centenary of Plassy might be " celebrated in Bengal by a respected government and a Christian people." The secretary to government (Mr. Bea- don) officially informed the publisher, that the circulation of such remarks, in the existing state of affairs, was dangerous "not only to the government, but to tiie lives of all Europeans in the provinces not living under the close protection of British bayonets." This communication was pub- lished in the Friend of India, with satiri- cal comments, which the authorities consi- dered so offensive, that the licence would have been withdrawn but for the resigna- tion of Mr. Mead, who was acting as provisional editor during the absence of the proprietor, Mr. Marshraan.<[ The Bengal Hurkarii (Messenger) was warned for its exaggerated echo of the vengeanc&.cry of the London Times ; a writer, styling himself " Militaire," de- nouncing the just .and wise recommen- dation of government not needlessly to " embitter the feelings of the natives," and urging that, "for every Christian church destroyed, fifty mosques should be de- stroyed, beginning with the Jumma Musjid at Delhi ; and for every Christian man, woman, and child murdered, a thousand rebels should bleed."** Ten days later, another article appeared, which contained the following passage : — § Minute, 24th June, 1857. Pari. Papers (Com- mons), 4th May, 1858 ; p. 53. II Letter of Court of Directors, 26th August, 1857 —Ibid., p. 30. % Pari. Papers— /6iV., pp. 42—46. Mead's Se- poy Revolt, pp. 359 — 376. ** Bengal Httrkaru, 5th September, 1857. PRESS-CENSORSHIP ENFORCED, AND LICENCES REVOKED. 23 " There are many good, honest, simple people in Calcutta, who are both surprised and disappointed that popular indignation has not boiled up to a higher pitch. They are astounded at finding that Lord Canning has not been already ordered home in irons, and that Mr. Beadon has not been sentenced to be tarred and feathered, and ridden upon a rail, previously to being placed in some extremely un- covendnt'ed situation under a native superior. We are very far from saying that these proceedings would not be appropriate in the cases in question ; but we would say to our enthusiastic friends, ' My dear sirs, you are too impatient. - All in good time."" The licence of the Hurkaru was revoked ; but the editor (Mr. Blanchard) having re- signed, a new licence was issued to the proprietor. Other English papers have been warned for transgressing the condi- tions of their licences ; but the native edi- tors generally do not appear to have in- curred censure. The existing difficulty seems to be, the course to be adopted with regard to the republication of articles from English papers. The following, for instance, is styled by Mr. Frere (commissioner of Sinde), " a very mischievous perversion of an Indian debate, which, in quieter times, might be amusing." A summary of griev- ances could hardly be deemed amusing at any moment. At the present crisis, it is not only humiliating, but alarming, to find such statements circulating in Hiudoostan on the authority of British parliamentary debates ; for the so-called perversion is really a summary of the leading arguments advanced by members of both houses against the East India Company, more especially by the Marquis of Clauricarde, whose speech, it was predicted at the time, would occasion great excitement among the natives of India. " The Jam-iJamsihid of Meerut relates, that in durbar of , the Marquis of Clanricarde com- plained much of the Indian government; that a vast amount of rupees was expended among the home authorities in the way of pay, they knowing little of the circumstances of the country ; that the nobles and great men of Hindoostan were becoming extinct i and the middle classes gradually suffering damage, and poor people bemg ruined. It would be proper that the country should be so governed, that the people do not' suffer. Some zillahs require a decrease of taxation, and the, salt- tax is very wrong. In whatever countries there' was fitting manage- ment, the latter impost had been abolished. Beside • Bengal Ifttrkaru, 14th September, 1857. t Pari. Papers (Commons), 4th May, 1858. p. 48. \ All the italicised words are exactly rendered from the Persian by their English synonymes. § Kirman, the name of a town and province in tliis, in Hindoostan, the system of justice was de- fective. Moreover, on this account, the English name suffered ; and, in Hindoostan, amid ten judges, nine are Hindoostanees, but their pay and position was unimportant and inconsistent with their duties. And the heads of the B. I. Company say, that amid fourteen crore (million) of Hindoostanees, not one is worthy of rank or trust ; a very sad and distress- ing statement, enough to break the hearts of the people of Hindoostan, and cow their spirits. Besides which, he said many more things ; in answer to which, the Duke of Argyle was unable to advance any c! jar argument."! It would be difficult to know on what ground an editor could be warned for the republication of the above statements, unless it were on the strength of the now repu- diated axiom, " The greater the truth, the greater the libel !" In another case — that of a Persian news- paper, edited in Calcutta by one Hafiz Abdul Kadir — the insurrectionary views of the writer were undisguised. The licence was, of course, revoked ; and the press and printing materials seized It would have been madness to suffe: such effusions as the following to go forth : — ■ " Now, when the drum of the power of the Eng- lish is sounding so loudly, it is in every one's mouth that the state of Travancore also is to be annexed to the British dominions upon -the ground of mal- administration. It is also said that the principality ofUlwar will be con/iscated\ by government. But at present the progress of confiscation is arrested by the government of the Almighty Ruler. " The government should first arrest the progress of the disturbances and disorders which are raging in all parts of the country, and then address itself to these confiscations again. I formed a design of going to Worms. But the " worm8"§ unexpectedly eat off my head. He (God) is Almighty. He does what he will. He makes a world desert in a breath. " Everybody knows, and now perhaps it has be- come quite clear to the lords of annexation, what kind of mischief the confiscation of Lucknow has done, causing ruin to thousands of their own friends. * * * Come what may, in these degenerate days, the men of Delhi must be celebrated as sons of Rustum, and very Alexanders in strength. Oh ! God destroy our enemies utterly, and assist and aid our sovereign (Sultan)." With the above characteristic extract this sectioQ may fitly conclude, without any attempt to hazard conclusions on so difficult a subject as the degree of con- trol necessary to be exercised for the main- tenance of a despotic government, in a crisis so arduous and unprecedented as the present. Persia, also signifies "woi;ms." The conceit can thus be rendered into English. The whole tone of the article, in the original, is highly sarcastic. — Goolahun Nuwhahdr, 27th June, 1857. Pari. Papers (Commons), 4th May, 1858 ; pp. 46, 47. 24 METALLIC CURRENCY AN INCITEMENT TO MUTINY. Currency* — An ill-regulated and insuffi- cient currency has long pressed heavily on the people, and has exercised a singular influence in the present crisis. Until re- cently there was only one public bank (that of Bengal) in all Incl:;". : with much difficulty two others, also under the control of gov- ernment, were established at Bombay and Madras; but the amount of notes issued by them is insufficient for the requirements of even these cities. Three or four joint- stock banks have been lately formed ; but the government has continued, up to the present time, to rely on a bulky and in- divisible coin, the silver rupee (worth about two shillings), for its standard circulating medium. The exclusive use, by the state, of metallic money, has occasioned the accumu- lation of treasure, amounting, sometimes, to fourteen millions sterling, in thirty or forty treasuries, scattered all over the country. Forty to fifty thousand sepoys have been annually employed in escorting money from one district to another, an em- ployment properly belonging to a police force; which has occasioned much discontent, and tended to the relaxation of discipline, and general demoralisation of the soldiery. A paper currency would have answered every purpose of local taxation and pay- ments to the troops : it would have been far more easily transmissible, and it would not have offered so tempting a bribe to native cupidity. In several instances, it is evident that the sepoys were stimulated to the commission of crime by the hope of plun- dering the local treasuries of much larger sums than were ever allowed to remain in them. The Tirnesf has recently published the following forcible remarks on the subject : — "Regiments that held Company's paper were faithful until they had exchanged it for gold; regi- ments that had pay in arrear were faithful until the arrears were paid up. The Comjiany's gold has never received credit for the part it played in the mutiny. Yet it had often been presssd upon the authorities at Calcutta, that a paper currency would be a boon to India. Those who wished for this, probably thought little of the danger of carrying bullion in bullock-trunks or palkies through the jungle, or storing it in e.tposed places ; their object was, in all probability, the e.xtension of commerce and the development of the resources of the country. The policy of the Company was, is, and ever must • The cash balances in the difTerent Indian trea- suries, varied from twelve to fourteen millions ster- ling. In 1856, the amount was £12,043,334: of this sum, there was in Bengal, £5, 117.553: in the N. W. Provinces, £2,251,904 = £7,369,457. The Madras presidency had £2,311,365; and the Bom- be, to discourage all independent enterprise within their territories, and they were consistent in refusing to listen to any such suggestions. Now, however, when we are commencing . new era— if, indeed, we are commencing, or are cbout to commence a new era — this subject must be reconsidered. There can be no good reason why India should not in mone- tary facilities be placed upon a level with England. There is excellent reason v ly the troops should be paid in paper money. The absence of the gold is the absence of a powerful temptation, and thff^-bank- note is a guardian of the fidelity of the man in whose pocket it lies." The Opium Monopoly, with its concomi- tant grievances — the forced cultivation of the poppy, and the domiciliary right of search — ranks among the causes of popular disaf- fection. The Company obtain opium from the ryots at a very low price, by a system of advances, and sell it for the contraband China trade, at a very high one.{ An official authority declares, that the peasants in the opium districts of Patna and Benares, are compelled to give up fixed portions of their lands for the production of the poppy. The forced cultivation of this poisonous drug brings on the wretched cultivators the persecuting surveillance of the police ; the probability that they may be retaining some portion for private sale, exposing them to every sort of ingenuity which spies, autho- rised and unauthorised, can imagine, as the means of inflicting fines and extorting bribes. § The deteriorating influence on the consumer cannot be doubted. In China we liave notoriously returned evil for good ; exporting ship-loads of their refreshing herb to combat our own spirit-craving pro- pensities; and importing, in defiance of the laws of God and man, millions of pounds' worth of a stimulant which we know to be, when once resorted to, almost invariably persevered in, to the destruction of the body, and, it would seem, of the soul even, of its miserable victim. In India we found the debasing indulgence general among cer- tain classes. Baber and his successors, with the exception of Aurungzebe, were all its habitual consumers; and the able historian of Rajast'han, Colonel Tod, attributes the loss of independence by the Rajpoots, their general deterioration, and the diminished productiveness of the country, chiefly to the same suicidal practice. bay,£2,362,510.— (Parliamentary Papers, April 20th 1858.) t June, 1858. I J. Passmore Edwards' Evils of the Opium Trade, p. 18. § See Iniquities of the Opium Trade ; by Rev. A. A. Thelwell. THE AVORKING OP THE OPIUM MONOPOLY. 25 But though the East India Company (lid not originate the iise or cultivation of opium in all their vast dominions, they have done so in some. It is argued, that the very taxation is itself a discourage- ment to the cultivation; and this would be the case in a free country; but is not true in India, where there are so many means of compelling the peasant to toil like a serf at any labour for a bare subsistence. That the Company have been voluntarily instru- mental in increasing the production, stands on the face of their own records. On the cession of Malwa by the Mahrattas, measures were taken to raise from that province a revenue similar to that obtained in the Bengal presidency. A powerful impulse was giveu to the growth of the poppy ; but the cost of cultivation was found so far to exceed that of Bahar or Benares, and the transport was likewise so much more difficult, that the excessive production obtained in Cent.nl India, scarcely afforded sufficient nett ])rofit to atone for the injury done to the Bengal monopoly. The utmost efiforts were made to remedy this, and to pre- vent diminished cultivation in the old pro- viuces. " Premiums and rewards," says a late chairman of the East India Comi)any, " have been held out ; new offices and es- tablishments have been created ; the revenue officers have been enlisted in the service; and the influence of that department has been brought into action to promote the production. * * * Tlie supreme gov- ernment of India, too, have condescended to supply the retail shops with opium, and have thus added a new feature to our fiscal policy. I believe that no one act of our gov- ernment has appeared, in the eyes of re- spectable niitives, both Mohammedan and Hindoo, more questionable than the estab- lishment of the Abkari}^ or tax on the sale of spirituous liquors and drugs. Nothing, I suspect, has tended so much to lower us in their regard. They see us derive a revenue from what they deem an impure source ; and when they find the pollution of public-houses spreading around them, they cannot understand that our real object is to check the use of the noxious article which is sold, or to I'egulate those haunts of the vicious with a view to objects of police. And have we succeeded in pro- * Memiirials of Indian Gorenunent ; a selection from the papers of H. St. George Tucker ; edited by Mr. Kaye: pp. 152—134. t Ibid., p. loG. VOL. II. E moting these objects? Will any man be so hardy as to maintain, that the use of spirituous liquors and drugs has been di- minished by the operation of the tax, or that it has not been everywhere extended ? * * * But even if we admit that these objects have been kept in view, or that it is becoming, in the present state of the coun- try, to regulate the vend of spirits and drugs, was it becoming in a great govern- ment to exhibit itself as the purveyor of opium to publicans, or — in the words of the Regulation — ' to establish shops, on the part of government, for the retail sale of the drug?' Is it desirable that we should bring it to the very door of the lower oiders, who might never otherwise have found the article within their read), and who are now tempted to adopt a habit alike injurious to health and to good morals?"* Not content with stimulating to the utmost the production of opium in our own territories, we voluntarily extended the curse in the Mahratta districts of Central India, in the Afghan state of Bhopal, in Oodipoor, Kotah, Boondi, and other Rajpoot princi- palities, by negotiations and treaties, "such as are not, I believe (says Mr. Tucker), to be paralleled in the whole history of diplo- macy;" whereby we have bound ourselves to the payment of large annual suras on ac- count of opium. " We make it the interest of the chiefs to increase the growth of the poppy, to the exclusion, in some instances, of sugar-cane, cotton, and other products which constitute the riches of a country, and which ought to minister to the comforts of the people." These statements are very important, coming from one whose official position, Indian experience, and personal character, give his opinions threefold weight. He adds a brief warning, which, read by the blaze of the incendiary fires of 1857, is pregnant with meaning. " The Rajpoot, with all his heroic bravery and other good qualities, requires very skilful management. The same may be said of the Afghan of Rohilcund, who is still more restless and impatient of control ; and if there were not other and better reasons, I should say that it is not safe, with either race — Rajpoot or Afghan — to supply the means of habitual excitement, which must render them more turbulent and ungovernable."t Sir Stamford Raffles, another acknow- ledged authority, indignantly denounced the conduct of the European government in 36 SEPOY ARMY INJURBD BY INCREASED USE OP OPIUM. overlooking every consideration of policy and humanity, and allowing a paltry addi- tion to their finances to outweigh all regard to the ultimate prosperity of the country. Unfortunately, the financial addition* is paltry only when viewed in connection with the amount of evil which it repre- sents, and which has increased in propor- tion to the extended cultivation. An ex- perienced authorityt states, that wherever opium is grown it is eaten ; and considers th«t " one-half of the crimes in the opium districts, murders, rapes, and affrays, have their origin in opium-eating." Major-gen- eral Alexander uses the most forcible lan- guage regarding the progressive and de- structive course of intoxication by opium and ardent spirits throughout India, ap- pealing to the returns of courts-martial and defaulters' books for testimony of the con- sequent deterioration of the sepoys ; and to the returns of the courts and offices of judges, magistrates, and collectors, for that of the mass of the natives. Under this view of the case, and remembering also the example set by the notorious tendency to drunkenness which disgraces the British troops, there is something terribly significant in the fact, that the fiercest onslaughts and worst brutaUties which our countrymen and countrywomen have endured, were com- mitted under the influence of the hateful drugs by which we have gained so much gold, and inflicted so much misery. The Neglect of Public Works must take its place among the indirect causes of revolt; ,for it has materially impeded the development of the resources of the coun- try, and furnished the people with only too palpable reason for discontent. It was a subject which ought always to have had the special attention of the Anglo-Indian au- thorities. They should have remembered, that the people over whom they ruled were literally as children in their hands ; and should have taken care to exercise a far- seeiag, providential, and paternal. despotism. Under Mohammedan and Hindoo govern- ments, the princes and nobles have ever delighted in associating their names with some stately edifice, some great road or canal, some public work of more or less • See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 682. t Mr. Andrew S) m, who had charge of the Com- pany's opium agency at Goruckpoor. See pam- plilets on the Opium Trade ; by Major-general Alexander and Mr. W. S. Fry. t Life, vol. ii., p. 428. utility. It was a fashion which those who made for themselves a fortune and a name, especially delighted in following; and the fact is so well known that it needs no illustration. Every book of travel affords fresh instances. Foreign adventurers have adopted the same beneficent custom : wit- ness the Martiniere college at Lucknow. Very few Englishmen, however,have thought of spending on, or in India, any considerable portion of the wealth they made there ; the noble Sir Heniy Lawrence and others, whose names are easily reckoned, forming the exceptions. It would occupy too much space to offer anything like an enumeration of our short- comings in this respect : able pens have already performed the ungracious task; and it needs but a few hours' attentive study of the admirably condensed exposition given by Lieutenant-colonel Cotton (chief engi- neer of Madras), and of the pamphlets pub- lished by Mr. Dickinson and other mem- bers of the Indian Reform Society, to be convinced how iinjust and impolitic have been our omissions in this important branch of government. Sir Charles Napier says, that "in India, economy means, laying out as little for the country and for noble and useful purposes as you can ; and giving as large salaries as you can possibly squeeze out of the pub- lic to individuals, adding large 'establish- ment8.'"t The force of this remark is painfully apparent, when the immense num- ber of " collectors," and the extent and enor- mous expense of the revenue establishment, are compared with the number of engineers, and the cost of the department for public works. The contrast between what is taken from, and what is spent upon India, be- comes still more glaring when the items of expenditure are examined, and a division made between the work3 undertaken on behalf of the government — such as court- houses, gaols, &c. — and those immediately intended for the benefit of the people, such as roads, canals, and tanks. The injustice of this procedure is sur- passed by its impolicy. Colonel Cotton says — "Certainly, without, any exaggeration, the most astonishing thing in the history of our rule in India is, that such innumerable volumes should have been written by thousands of the ablest men in the ser- vice on the mode of collecting the land revenue, while the question, of a thousand times more im- portance, how to enable the people to pay it, was 1 literally never touched upon j and yet, even the THE NEGLECT OF PUBLIC WQEKS IN INDIA. 27 question of the amount of taxation was utterly in- »ignificant in comparison with that. While we have been labouring for a hundred years to discover how to get twenty lacs out of a district which is not able to pay it, not the least thought has been bestowed on the hundreds of lacs it was losing from the enormous cost of transit, which swallowed up all the value of the ryot produce, if they raised it.' • • • If we take the whole loss to India, from want of communication, at only twenty-five million sterling, it is twelve times as great a burthen as the in- terest of the [Indian] debt. • • • Public works have been almost entirely neglected in India. Tho motto hitherto has been — ' do nothing, have nothing done, let nobody do anything.' Bear any loss, let the people die of famine, let hundreds of lacs be lost in revenue for want of water, rather than do any- thing. • • • Who would believe, that without half-a-dozen miles of real turnpike-road, with com- munications generally in the state that they were in England two centuries ago — with periodical famines and a stagnant revenue— the stereotyped answer to any one who urges improvement is, ' He is too much in a hurry — he is too sanguine — we must go on by degrees;' and this, too, in the face of the fact that, almost without exception, money laid out upon public works in India, has yielded money returns of one hundred, two hun- dred, and three hundred per cent., besides innu- merable other advantages to the community. • • • We have already all but lost one century, to the great damage of our finances and the greater injliry of the people."+ It is terrible to think of the amount of suflFering occasioned by the ignorant apathy of the nation to vrhom it has pleased Provi- dence to entrust the government of India. "The neglect of public works" is a vague, unmeaning sound in British ears : no nation blessed with free institutions can appreciate its full intent; and no people under the despotism of a single tyrant, but would rise, and cut off the Pharaoh who demanded the tale of bricks, yet withheld the straw. Nothing but the complicated system of our absentee sovereigntyship, can account for such strange persistence in errors which have repeatedly brought the Company to the verge of bankruptcy, and inflicted on the mass of the people chronic poverty and periodical famine. In England, we are occasionally horror- struck by some case of death from actual destitution ; and we know, alas ! that large portions of our working population, with difficulty obtain the necessaries of Jife ; but we are also aware that public and indi- vidual benevolence is incessantly at work to diminish the sufferings inseparable, at least to some extent, from an over-populated • Public Works in India ; by Lieutenant-colonel Cotton, 1854 ; p. 8. t Ibid., pp. 294, 296. I Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 273. and money-worshipping country. When Ireland was scourged with famine, the whole British empire, even to its farthest colony, poured forth, unsolicited, its contri- butions in money or in food with eager haste. Is, then, human sympathy depen- dent on race or colour ? No ; or the West Indies would still be peopled with slaves and slave-drivers. The same springs of action which, once set in motion, worked incessantly for the accomplishment of negro emancipation, would, if now touched on behalf of the Hindoos, act . as a lever to raise them from the deep wretchedness in which they are sunk. The manufacturers of Manchester and of Glasgow are surely blind to their own interests, or long ere this they would have taken up the subject of roads, canals, and tanks for India, if only to encourage the growth of cotton in the country in which it is an indigenous pro- duct, and to diminish their dangerous de- pendence on America. Had they done so, they would have had their reward. But the active and enterprising philanthropical class, which includes many "successful merchants" in its ranks, perhaps requires to be told, that the subject of public works for India is at once a great call for national justice and individual charity; that there is no con- ceivable means of fulfilling on so large a scale the unquestionable duty of giving bread to the hungry, as by initiating measures to rescue hundreds of thousands of British subjects from probable starvation. The frightful massacres of Meerut and Cawnpoor have not banished from our minds the recollection of that terrible "Black Hole," where 123 persons perished, some from suffocation, and others in the mad- dening agonies of thirst ; and this not from any purpose of fiend-like cruelty, but simply because the young Nawab, Surajah Dowlah, did not know the size of the prison-chamber of the English garrison in which he had directed his prisoners to be secured ; and none of his officers cared to disturb his sleep, to procure a chaTige of orders. When he awoke the door was opened, and the few weak, worn survivors, on whose frames some hours of agony had done the work of years, tottered forth, or were dragged out from amid the already putrefying corpses of their companions. J Surajah Dowlah paid, with his throne and life, the forfeit of his apathetic igno- rance ; and his people were happily delivered from that crowning curse — despotic inca- 28 FAMINES CONSEQUENT ON MISGOVERNMENT. pacity. His fate ought to have served as a warning of the effects of mere neglect. Has it done so ; or has the evil been mul- tiplied a thousand-fold under a Christian government ? Can it, or can it not, be proved by pubhc records, that, for every single Englishman who perished while the Indian nawab lay sleeping, many thousand natives have fallen victims to an apathy no less criminal, manifested by the representa- tives of the E. I. Company? This is the meaning, or at least a part of the meaning, of the " neglect of public works in India ;" and the only excuse offered for it is the poverty of the government. It is asserted, that the drain consequent on perpetual wars, which directly enriched and often in- directly ennobled the individuals concerned, occasioned so wide a destruction of native property, created such an unceasing drain on the state revenues, and so increased and complicated the labours of the collectors, that the one-engrossing anxiety of the autho- rities, how to meet current expenses, unavoid- ably superseded every other consideration. The peculiar system of the Company has likewise contributed to induce a selfish and short-sighted policy. The brief period of administration allotted to each governor- general, whatever its advantages, has had the great drawback of rarely sufficing for the initiation, organisation, and carrying through of any large measure of general benefit ; and it is, of course, seldom that a new-comer, fresh from England, has the ability or the generosity to appreciate and cordially work out the plan of his prede- cessor. The consequence has been a la- mentable want of any consistent policy for the development of the resources of India. Lord Dalhousie, it is true, exerted himself zealously and successfully in the furtherance of certain great undertakings, in connection with which his name may well be grate- fully remembered. The Ganges canal, the Bengal railway, the electric telegraph, are works of undoubted utility ; and the good service they have rendered to the supreme government in its hour of need, must be calculated in lives rather than in money. But a few great and costly achievements cannot excuse the general neglect mani- fested by the non-appropriation of a certain portion of the revenue of every district to meet its own peculiar and urgent require- ments. From the absence of any adequate provision , the vast reservoirs, someti mes m any miles square, constructed by native princes centuries ago, have been allowed, to a con- siderable extent, to go to decay, and are now sources of disease instead of fertility, being covered with rank weeds.* The East India Company have added the tax levied by their Mohammedan or Hindoo predecessors for annual repairs, to their general assessments, but have suffered many of the tanks to go to ruin ; while, according to a recent writer (1858), " in many cases they still exact the same money-revenue from the cultivators, amounting,, at the present day, to fifty, sixty, and seventy per cent, of the gross produce of the soil, as if the tanks were kept in perfect repair, and the cul- tivators received the quantity of water re- quired to grow a full crop of produce."! Water, water ! is the primary want of the Indian farmer; yet, according to Colonel Cotton, it is undoubted that, in the worst year that ever occurred, enough has been allowed to flow into the sea to have irrigated ten times as much grain as would have sup- plied the whole population.;^ The case is put in the clearest light in an extract from a private letter, hastily written, and not meant for publication, addressed by "one of the most distinguished men in India," to Mr. Dickinson, and published by him, under the idea that it was better calculated than any laboured statement, to carry conviction to an unprejudiced mind. The writer, after declaring that the perpetual involvements of the Company had originated in their having omitted not only to initiate improve- ments, but even to keep in repair the old works upon which the revenue depended ; adds — " But this is not the strongest point of the case. They did not take the least pains to prevent famine. To say nothing of the death of a quarter of a million of people in Guntoor, the public works' com- mittee, in their report, calculate that the loss in money by the Guntoor famine, was more than two millions sterling. If they could find money to supply these losses, they could have found a hundredth part of the sum to preventthem. " Lord thinks it would be better not to blame the government ; how can we pos- sibly point out how improvement can be made without proving that there has been neglect before ? * * * Lord won- • Macleod Wylie's Bengal a Field of Missions, p. 241. t Lectures on British India; by John Malcolm Ludlow J vol. ii., p. 317. J Quoted in the Madrai Petition of 1852. WANT OF ROADS A CAUSE OF FAMINE. 29 ders at my vehemence about public works : is he really so humble a man as to think no better of himself, than to suppose he could stand unmoved in a district where 250,000 people had perished miserably of famine through the neglect of our government, and see it exposed every year to a similar occurrence ? If his lordship had been living in the midst of the district at the time, like one of our civilians, and had had every morning to clear the neighbourhood of his house of hundreds of dead bodies of poor creatures who bad struggled to get near the European, in hopes that there perhaps they might find food, he would have realised things beyond what he has seen in his shire park."* What excuse, even of ignorance, can be offered for a government that turns a deaf ear to statements so appalling as these, made by their own servants? Such im- penetrable apathy affords a confirmation of the often-repeated assertion, that no- thing but the continual pressure of public opinion in England, will ensure anything being effected in India. Would that this power might be at once exerted ! Even now, in the midst of battles, we ought to be doing something to avert the consequences of past neglect, or the scourge of war will be fol- lowed by the yet more fatal visitations of famine, and its twin-sister, pestilence. We may not be able to do much, or any- thing, in some of the most disturbed dis- tricts; but in the great majority, where comparative quiet prevails, a vigorous effort ought at once to be made for the introduc- tion of a better system ; that is, one de- signed to benefit the mass of the people, instead of being exclusively framed to suit the convenience of the European officials. Had this been earlier attempted, we might have had fewer great works to talk about in parliament or at the India House (though that is hardly possible, considering that we are Anglo-Saxons of the nineteenth cen- tury) : but certainly India would not now be so generally destitute of the means of cheap carriage ; neither would it be ne- cessary to urge "the clearing-out of this poisonous old tank ; the repairing of that embankment; the metalling of this mud- track through the jungle; the piercing, by a cheap canal of irrigation, of that tongue of land, of a few miles, between two rivers ;"t • Dickinson's India under a Bureaucracy, pp. 87—90. t Ludlow's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 320. the preservation of bridges; and such-like cheap, homely, obscure labours, as are now urgently needed throughout the length and breadth of the peninsula. Cheap transit by land and water is a point only secondary in importance to irri- gation, as a means of preventing famine, by enabling one part of the country to help another in the event of the failure of local rains. Major-general Tremenheere, in his recent evidence before parliament (May, 1858), when adverting to the brief intervals which have elapsed between the years of scarcity in the present century, forcibly states the necessity for affording the greatest facilities for the transport of pro- duce, as the true remedy for these oft-recur- ring famines. I The evidence of subse- quent witnesses before the same committee, shows that, in a country where easy transit is essential to the preservation of life during periodical visitations of dearth, there exists the most remarkable deficiency of means of intercommunication ever heard of under a civilised government. "There are no roads to connect even Calcutta with any of the great cities of the interior. No road to Moorshedabad; no road to Dacca; none to Patna ; no such roads as parish roads in England, to connect villages and market-towns in the interior. Conse- quently, in the rainy season, every town is isolated from its neighbours, and from all the rest of the country. Besides roads, bridges are wanted : there are hardly any bridges at all in the country ; their place is partially supplied by ferries. The grand trunk-road, within the Lower Provinces, is only par- tially bridged ; and half the bridges, I believe, have been washed away from defects of construction."^ In Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, the main- tenance of good roads is a duty to which the government are alleged to be specially pledged ; for, in making the decennial set- tlement (on which the permanent one was subsequently grounded), a separate tax for t'le purpose was inserted in the rent-roll, but was afterwards merged in the general assessment, and not applied to the roads. The native land-owners have remembered this breach of faith ; and when urged, some years ago, to make fresh provision for the maintenance of highways, they objected, on the ground of the misappropriation of their actual yearly payments. Happily for them, their interests are closely allied with those of the British settlers. Both classes are equally without the pale of privilege . and patronage, dignities and immunities, t First Report of the Select Committee on the Colonization and Settlement of India, p. 6. § Ibid. Evidence of W. Theobald, Esq., p. 74. 30 MILITARY MOVEMENTS IMPEDED BY WANT OP ROADS. with which the East India Company has fenced round its covenanted service; but the storm which has disturbed the immi- grant planters in their peaceable avoca- tions, has contributed to procure for them the opportunity of laying before a parlia- mentary committee, and consequently be- fore the nation at large, the obstructions which impede all attempts to earn an hon- ourable livelihood by developing the re- sources of India. Several witnesses declare the want of internal communication to be peculiar to the administration of the East India Company, who have attempted nothing except for military or governmental purposes, and even then very imperfectly; while, under Hindoo and Mohammedan dynasties, the peninsula was intersected with roads, the remains of which are still traceable.* The planters, to some extent, make roads in their imme- diate vicinity, suitable to their own neces- sities ; but these do not answer for pur- poses of general traffic, which requires continuous lines. The native land-owners understand road-making, but want the means, not the will, to cari-y it on exten- sively. Mr. Dalrymple, an indigo and sugar planter, and silk manufacturer, resident in India upwards of thirty years, adduces, as an instance of the feeling of the natives on this subject, that he has known one of them make a road for a hundred miles from a religious motive.f For the neglect of many duties, and espe- cially of this one, we are paying a severe penalty; and the hardships so long suffered by the natives, in having to carry their arti- cles of produce or merchandise on their heads, along paths impassable for beasts of burden, now fall with tenfold weight on our heavily-laden soldiery. Individual suf- fering, great as that has been (including the long list of victims to "solar apo- plexy," on marches which, by even good common roads or by canals, would have been short and comparatively innocuous), forms but the inevitable counterpart of the public distress, occasioned l)y the present insurmountable impediments to the rapid concentration of military force on a given point. Facilities for the movement of troops are important in every seat of war ; but particularly so in India, where the * Second Report — Evidence of Mr. J. T. Mac- kenzie, p. 88. t Second Report, p. 67. X Telegram of the governor-general to Sir Henry extent of country to be maintained exceeds beyond all proportion the number of Euro- pean troops which can at any sacrifice be spared to garrison it. The upholders of " a purely military des- potism" have not been wise even in their generation, or they would have promoted, instead of opposing, the construction of rail- ways between the chief cities, as a measure of absolute necessity. If only the few al- ready projected had been completed, Delhi could hardly have fallen as it did — a rich, defenceless prize — into the hands of the mu- tineers, nor afforded them the means of establishing a rallying-point for the dis- affected, and doing incalculable damage to European prestige, by setting an example of temporarily successful defiance. As it was, the contrast was most painful between the lightning-flash that brought the cry for help from stations surrounded by a seething mass of revolt, and the slow, tedious process by which alone the means of rescue could be afforded. Thus, the appeal of Sir Henry Lawrence for reinforcements for Cawn- poor, received the gloomy response, that it was "impossible to place a wing of Euro- peans there in less time than twenty-five days." The bullock-train could take a hun- dred men a-day, at the rate of thirty miles a-day :| this was all that could be done ; and, with every effort, at an enormous cost of life and treasure, the troops arrived only to be maddened by the horrible evidences of the massacre they were too late to avert. "Indophilus" views the railroad system as the basis of our military power in India; and considers it "so certain that railways are better than regiments, that it would be for the interest of England, even in a strictly economical point of view, to diminish the drain upon her working population, by lending her credit to raise money for the completion of Indian railways. "§ The urgency of the requirement has become so evident as a measure of expediency, for the maintenance of our sovereignty, that it scarcely needs advocating : on the contrary, it seems necessary to deprecate the too exclu- sive appropriation of Indian revenue to rail- roads (especially costly ones, in which speed is apt to be made a primary requisite), || to the neglect of the far cheaper means of transit which might be opened by single Lawrence, May 24th, 1857. — Pari. Papers on the Mutiny; Appendix, p. 315. § Letters nf Indophilus, p 12. I| See Colonel Cotton's Public Works, p. 184. REPRESSION OF BRITISH ENTERPRISE, 31 rail, by tram-roads, by the formation of canals for steam navigation, and by the opening and improving of rivers. Measures of this kind must be taken, if we would enable the people to bear the expenses attendant on our system of government.* Labour thus wisely employed and directed, would produce capital ; the now insuperable difficulty of raising a sufficient revenue without oppressing the masses, would be removed ; and their rulers, relieved from pecuniary pressure, might dare to be just by renouncing opium smuggling, and to be humane by abandoning the less criminal but still obnoxious saltf monopoly, which, as at present conducted, acts as an irre- gular poll-tax — falling heaviest on those who have farthest to fetch it from the government depots. The Repression of British Enterprise is closely connected with the neglect of public works; for had European planters been allowed to settle in any considerable num- bers, and to give free expression to their opinions, they would certainly have agi- tated the subject in a manner which no government could have wholly withstood. The Company, from their earliest days, •trove with unremitting care to guard their chartered privileges against the encroach- ments of their countrymen, and adopted a tone of lofty superiority which was scarcely consistent with their own position as " merchant adventurers." Had there not been in America, the West Indies, and other colonies and dependencies of the British crown, abundant outlet for capital and enterprise, the Indian monopoly would probably have been soon broken through': as it was, the " interlopers" were compara- tively few, and easily put down, if they proved in the least refractory, by the strong • The salaries of Englishmen in India are all on a very high scale. The average annual salary re- ceived by civilians is estimated at £1,750. — (See article on " British India" — Quarterly Review, Au- gust, 1858; p. 237.) A Queen's officer, directly he embarks for India, has double pay. The fees of the lawyers and solicitors at Calcutta, are more than double what they are in English courts. No trades- man in Calcutta would be satisfied with the Eng- lish rate of profit j and, in fact, all European labour is much more highly remunerated in India than elsewhere. — (First Report of Colonization Committee. Evidence of Major-general Tremenheere ; p. 36 ) It was found necessary to raise the scale of salaries of English functionaries, as a means of preserving them from corruption ; and, to a great extent, the measure has succeeded. Even-handed justice re- measure of deportation. Gradually the ex- clusive system was greatly modified by the effects of the parliamentary discussions which accompanied each renewal of the Company's charter, together with the dis- closures of mismanagement involved in the perpetually recurring pecuniary embarrass- ments, from which they sought relief in the creation and augmentation of an Indian national debt. In 1813 their trade with India ceased entirely : it had long been carried on at an actual loss ; the traffic with China, and the Indian territorial revenues, supplying the deficit. Yet, notwithstanding the opening up of the Indian trade to all British subjects (followed by a similar pro- cedure with that of China in 1833), the Company were slow in abating their jealous hostility towards "adventurers," and did their utmost to prevent European enter- prise from gaining a footing in India. They do not seem to have recognised the change of policy incumbent on them when, ceasing to be traders, they became sovereigns of a vast empire, and were thereby bound to renounce class interests and prejudices, and merge all meaner considerations in the para- mount obligation of promoting the general good. Of course, colonization, in the ordinary sense of the term, is neither practicable nor desirable in a country already well and gene- rally densely peopled, and where land is the most dearly prized of all possessions. Even in certain favoured localities, where out- door employment can be best undertaken by Europeans, there is no product which they could cultivate on the spot, in which they would not be undersold by the natives. Indeed, it would be manifestly absurd to at- tempt to compete, as labourers, with men who can support themselves on wages ranging from 1^^. to 4^rf. a-day.J It is as the pio- quires, that the same experiment should be tried with the natives of the country from which the funds are levied, and it will then be seen whether improved efficiency and integrity may not equally be the re- sult. " A native judge, who has any prospect of pro- motion, hardly ever is known to be corrupt." — Raikes. t The difference in the price of salt, between Cal- cutta and Benares, amounts to 100 per cent. Rice, which sells at a seaport at 2s. a bushel, is quoted at an average of 5s. Id. per bushel in the Punjab, the Trans-Indus, and the Cis-Sutlej territories ; the dis- tance of these states from a seaport being from 800 to 1,200 miles.— Third Report of Colonization Com- mittee, dated July 12th, 1858. Evidence of W. Balston, Esq. ; p. 65. X Evidence of R. Baikie, Esq.— First Report of Colonization Committee, 6th May, 1858; p. 52. 32 DETERIORATION OF NATIVE MANUFACTURES. neers of skill and capital thatEuropeans must look to find remuneration and useful em- ployment in India. In that sense the field is wide enough, and the need great indeed ; for the native products and manufactures have, in many instances, actually diminished in extent and in value under the sway of the East India Company. Every child knows that calico takes its name from Calicut, whence it was first brought to Eng- land ; yet domestic manufacture has been overwhelmed by the cheap, coarse fabrics of the Maqchester steam-power looms; nor has the encouragement been given which might have opened for them a lucrative market in luxurious England for their own more delicate and durable productions. The Dacca muslin — the famous " woven wind," which, when wet, lay on the grass like the night-dew — this, also, has become almost a thing of the past. Yet, if only a market were assured, the cotton could be grown as before, and the same exquisite manipulation would be as cheaply obtainable. Much important information regarding the present state of aflFairs, has been laid before the select committee lately appointed to inquire into questions aflFecting the settle- ment of India. Well-informed persons de- clare, that labour is cheap and abundant almost everywhere throughout India;* that the natives are very tractable ; and yet, de- spite their readiness to learn, and long in- tercourse with Europeans, the knowledge of agriculture is in about the same position as at the time of Alexander's invasion. f This is in itself a discreditable fact, considering the effects produced by the application of science to agriculture in Europe : and the apathy manifested in India is especially blamable and impolitic, on the part of a government which has virtually usurped the position of landlord over a large portion of the country, more than one-half of the re- venues of which, that is to say, i615,500,000 out of £28,000,000, is derived by rents from the land; while four-fifths of the an- nual exports, namely, £17,500,000 out of £21,500,000, are the direct produce of the soil.f • Second Report of Select Committee on Coloni- zation and Settlement of India, 10th June, 1858. — Evidence of Mr. J. P. Wise; p. 40. t First Report, 6th May, 1858.— Evidence of Major-general Tremenheere ; p. 29. X Second Report. — Evidence of Major-general Tremenheere j pp. 28, 29. § /iid.— Evidence of Mr. J. T. Mackenzie ; p. 83. II Evidence of Captain J. Ouchterlony. — Third Re- While the system pursued has not im- proved under the rule of the Company, the cultivators themselves have absolutely dete- riorated ; the better class of farmers are alleged to have become generally impove- rished, and to live in less comfort than they used to do under the Hindoo and Moham- medan dynasties ; while very many of the ryots are hopelessly in debt.§ Impaired fertility is the natural consequence of over- cropping, and the native tenant has no means of counteracting this; his poverty being so great, that he cannot afford to keep up a farming establishment of suffi- cient strength, especially as regards cattle, to admit of the due production of ma- nure, or of those requirements which are considered indispensable, in England, to the cultivation of the commonest arable land. II The native agriculturist, if he bor- row from a native banker and capitalist, pays, it is alleged, from fifty to seventy- five per cent, interest.^ Usury thrives by sucking the life-blood, already scanty, of tillage and manufacture, and rivets the fetters of that system of advances which is truly described as the curse of India.** The existence of the prevailing wretched- ness above indicated, goes far to prove that the Company, in opposing the settlement of their fellow-countrymen, have not been actuated by a disinterested solicitude for the welfare of the natives. In fact, the fear of an influx of Europeans was almost a monomania with the Court of Directors ; and every measure which could in any manner, however indirectly, facilitate the antici- pated irruption, met with opposition avow- edly on that account. Thus, the chairman and deputy-chairman of the Company, when advocating the enforcement of rigid restric- tions on the press in 1823, adverted espe- cially to the possibility of its "affording amusement or occupation to a class of ad- venturers proceeding clandestinely to India, to encourage whom would be a departure from the policy hitherto observed."tt Lord William Bentinck granted to Eng- lishmen the privilege of holding lands in the interior of India, contrary to the in- port, 12th July, 1858 J p. 4. Another witness says, the charge for money advances is from fifty to a hun- dred percent. J "but when the lenders advance in grain, they generally charge from one to two hun- dred per cent., because they have to be repaid in kind." — Mr. Mackenzie. Second Report, p. 83. il Evidence of Mr. J. P. Wisp.— /iirf., p. 41. *• Evidence of Mr. Fowler. — Third Report, p. 54. , tt Pari. Papers, 4th May, 1858 ; p. 19. GOVERNMENT BY THE CROWN OR THE COMPANY. 33 structions of the Company ; and his reasons for 80 doing are recorded in the minutes in council, of the years 1829 and 1830. At this period the question of settlement in India excited a good deal of interest in England ; and a clause was inserted in the East India Charter Act of 1833, giving permission to all British suhjects by birth, to purchase land and reside in India ; and an enactment, in conformity with this clause, was passed by the local legislature in 1837. Sir Charles Metcalfe was one of the lead- ing advocates for a change of policy, as indis- pensable to the continuance of the Anglo- Indian empire ; but he held that this change could never be eflfected until the govern- ment of the Crown should be formally sub- stituted for that of the Company. The opinion is remarkable as coming from one of the most distinguished servants of the latter body — one who, trained in the close preserve of the covenanted civU service, rose, under the fostering care of Lord Wellesley, from occupying a clerk's desk, through in- termediate grades of office, to the highest place in the council-chamber, and exercised, in a most independent fashion, the supreme authority provisionally entrusted to his care in 1835. His views would lose much of their force if conveyed in terms less full and unequivocal than his own ; but, in read- ing the following extracts, it is necessary to remember that the word colonization has here a very limited application, and that the immigration required is not general; but must, to be beneficial to either of the parties concerned — the natives or the immigrants — consist of the capitalist class ; in fact, of pre- cisely those who find in overstocked Europe no field for the development of their re- sources, and who are deterred from the colonies by the high rate of wages, which constitute their chief attraction to the la- bouring masses. " It is impracticable, perhaps [he writes as early as 1814], to suggest a remedy for the general disaffection of our Indian subjects. Colonization seems to be the only system which could give us a chance of having any part of the population attached to our government from a sense of common in- terests. Colonization may have its attendant evils ; but with reference to the consideration above-stated, it would promise to give us. a hold in the country which we do not at present possess. We might now * Metcalfe Papert, pp. 144; 150; 164; 171. It is, however, only fair to remind the reader, that Lord Metcalfe is declared by his biographer, Mr. Kaye, to have subsequently greatly modified his opinions. Se«ing that government by the Crown VOL. II. F be swept away in a single whirlwind. We are without root. The best-affected natives could think of a change of government with indifference ; and in the N.W. Provinces there is hardly a man who would not hope for benefit from a change. This disaffection, however, will most probably not break out in any general manner as long as we pos- sess a predominant power." In 1820, he declares — " As to a general reform of our rule, that question has always appeared to me as hopeless. Oar rulers at home, and councillors abroad, are so bigoted as to precedent, that I never dream of any change unless it be a gradual declension from worse to worse. Colonization, without being forced or inju- diciously encouraged, should be admitted without restraint. * * » I would never agree to the present laws of exclusion with respect to Euro- peans, which are unnatural and horrible." In 1836, he says — " The Europeans settled in India, and not in the Company's service, and to these might be added, generally, the East Indians of mixed breed, will never be satisfied with the Company's government : well or ill-founded, they will always attach to it the notion of monopoly and exclusion ; they will consider themselves comparatively dis- countenanced and unfavoured, and will always look with a desire to the substitution of a King's govern- ment. For the contentment of this class, which for the benefit of India and the security of our Indian empire ought greatly to increase in numbers and importance, the introduction of a King's govern- ment is undoubtedly desirable.* * * It must be doubted whether even the civil service will be able to retain its exclusive privileges after the extensive establishment of European settlers. * * * The necessity of employing unfit men in highly important offices, is peculiar to this service, and demands cor- rection."* The evidence laid before parliament, after an interval of twenty-five years, forms a singular counterpart to the above state- ments. The persons examined speak from long and intimate experience; and their testimony, though varying in detail, coin- cides for the most part in its general bearing. They denounce the obstructive policy pursued towards them; and the ma- jority distinctly declare, that permission to settle has not been availed of, because the protection of life and property, common to every other part of the British empire, is not afforded in India to any but the actual servants of government ; the interests of ail other subjects, European and native, being habitually disregarded. One witness alleges, that, " at this present time" (May, 1858), there are fewer Englishmen settled in the interior of India than there were twenty years ago, government servants excepted.f would be, in fact, government by a parliamentary majority ; he said, if that were applied to India, our tenure would not be worth ten years' purchase. — Papers, p. 165. t Mr. G. Macnair. — Second Report, p. 2. 34 OBSTRUCTIONS TO BRITISH SETTLEMENT. Another gentleman gives a clear exposition of similar convictions ; stating, that — "The real serious impediment to the settlement of Englishmen in India, is to be found in the policy of the system under which our Indian possessions have been hitherto, and, unfortunately, up to the present day, are still governed ; — that policy which, giving certain extensive and exclusive privileges to a corporation established for trading purposes, and gradually formed into a governing power, originally shut out the spirit of enterprise, by excluding from the country Englishmen not servants of the Com- pany. Although the extreme severity of this original policy has been somewhat modified and gradually relaxed, its spirit has remained but little changed ; and its effects have been to keep the people of this country very ignorant of the resources and great value of India, and of the character, condition, and wants of the natives. Moreover, it is a matter of notoriety, that there has been, and is at the present time, a constant anta- gonism between the official and non-official Anglo- Indian communities ; and that exactly as the adven- turesome Englishman, who is called an interloper, with difficulty obtained his admission in the country, so even now he maintains his position in a con- tinuous but unequal struggle with the local gov- ernment, which he, in turn, regards as an obstacle between himself and the Crown and constitution to which he owns allegiance, and looks for protection in his own country. Then again, the departments of administration, police, the judicial system, both civil and criminal, are notoriously so wretchedly ineffi- cient, oppressive, and corrupt, that they deter the peaceful and industrious from living within their influence, or risking their lives and property under their operations. I believe that even the compara- tively few gentlemen settled in the interior of the country, would willingly withdraw, if they could do so without a ruinous sacrifice of property ; for little or no heed has been given to their complaints, nor indeed of the natives ; while the evils which have been pointed out for many years past are greatly on the increase. The present constitution of the legis- lative council has made matters worse than they were before ; and that body has certainly not the confidence either of Europeans or natives. With the exception of two judges taken from the Supreme Court of Calcutta, it is composed of salaried and government officials, who have been such from the age of twenty, who have really nothing at stake in the country, and who are not likely to live under the operation and influence of the laws which they pass ; while those who are directly interested in the well- being of the country, both Europeans and natives, are entirely excluded from any voice in the laws by which they are to be ruled and governed. • * » At present, you have in India a series of anta- gonisms which works most injuriously for all classes, and completely prevents that union amongst the governing people which appears to me to be essen- tial to the well-being, not only of ourselves, but of the millions of people our subjects, taken under our care and protection avowedly for their own good, and enlightenment, and advancement in civilisaticn. At present there is an antagonism in the army, by * Evidence of Mr. J. G. Waller.— Second Report, pp. 169, 170. t Evidence of'Mr. John Freeman. — First Report, pp. U2j 119; 139. ihe distinction of two services ; and a worse anta- gonism between the Queen's courts and the Com- pany's courts ; between the laws administered in the presidency towns and in the interior ; between the covenanted service, who have a monopoly of the well-paid appointments, and the upper, or educated portion of the uncovenanted service, who think themselves most unjustly excluded from advance- ment: and, finally, between almost every English- man (I speak of these as facts, not as matters of opinion) not in the service of the Compivtij,, and the local government and covenanted service, who not only represent but carry out the policy of the East India Company, so as to shut out the direct authority of the Crown, the intervention of parlia- ment, and the salutary and most necessary influence of public opinion in England. You cannot discon- nect the European and the native. If you legislate simply with the idea of what is suitable to the Eng- lish, without referring to the native and redressing the grievances of the native, there will be that un- happy antagonism between them that will effectually bar Europeans from going out to India."* The exorbitant rate of interest (from fifteen to eighteen per cent.) charged on advances of money made to an indigo - planter, silk producer, or any settler occu- pied in developing the resources of the country (though not to be compared with that exacted from the native borrower), is urged by " an English zemindar"t resi- dent some twenty-five years in Bengal, as another proof of the insecurity of property in the mofussil, or country districts, com- pared with that situated within the Cal- cutta jurisdiction, where large sums can be readily raised at from six to seven per cent, interest. J He enumerates the grievances already set forth in preceding sections, and points to the successful cultivation exten- sively carried on by European settlers in Ceylon, as a consequence of the perfect security and encouragment to capitalists, afforded by the administration and regu- lations of that island. § Another witness declares that, in some parts of India, the land-revenue system actually excludes European capitalists. He instances the Madras presidency, and some portions of that of Bombay, where the Ryotwarree settlement is in force, where the government is the immediate landlord, and is represented in its transactions with its wretched tenants by the revenue police, an ill-paid and rapacious army of some 60,000 men, whose character was pretty well exposed in the Madras Torture Report. The settlement makes no provision for the X The fixed legal maximum of interest in Bengal is twelve per cent, j other commissions bring it up to eighteen per cent. — Evidence of Mr. J. P. Wise. Second Report, p. 54. § Ibid., p. 113. SERVICE RENDERED BY BRITISH SETTLERS. 35 introduction of an intermediate class of landlords; and the pauperised labourers emigrate in tens of thousands, to the Mau- ritius and elsewhere, leaving their own waste lands, to obtain subsistence in better governed countries. In Bengal, both European and native capital and skill find employment under the permanent settlement, the value of which the natives generally perfectly un- derstand, and call th^ " Great Charter of Bengal." Tlje same witness adds — " It is invaluable to them and to us too; for it has saved Bengal from insurrection."!" This one great advantage possessed by Bengal, cannot, however, compensate for its other drawbacks; among which, the British settlers especially dwell on the lamentable deficiency of commercial roads, and the contrast thereby oflFered to the beautiful pleasure-drives for civilians and their ladies, which surround the chief sta^ tions. A settler engaged in growing rice, sugar, tobacco, and vegetables, for the Cal- cutta market, on an estate situated only forty miles from the great English metro- polis, describes the difficulty of transit as so great, that the men who come to take the sugar away are obliged to do so upon bullocks' backs, each animal carrying about two maunds (about 1^ cwt. English), and treading warily along the lines separating one rice-field from another, which are gene- rally about a foot in breadth, somewhat ele- vated above the field, acting also as ledges to keep the water in the fields : but, adds this witness, " some distance from there, where there is a little bit of road, they will take twenty or twenty-five maunds of produce with a cart and a couple of bullocks."t Despite all discouragements, the British settlers claim to have done good service to their country and to India; and they affirm, " that wherever Europeans have been settled during the late convulsion, those parts have been less disturbed."^ Their enterprise has been imitated by the * Evidence of Mr. Theobald. — First Report, pp. 61,62; 85. t Evidence of Mr. J. Ereeman. — First Report, p. 119. (See further testimony to the same effect — FirstReport, pp. 114 ; 167. Second Report, pp. 31 ; 40; 52; 108. Third Report, pp. 64, 65.) X Evidence of Mr. J. P. Wise. — Second Report, p. 36. § Evidence of Mr. Freeman. — FirstReport, p. 114. II The " Nuddea Rivers" is the name given to the network of channels which traverse the country be- native merchants ; and many in Calcutta have, during the last twenty years, be- come large shippers of produce, and send orders for manufactured goods direct to England. § Articles of great importance have been principally discovered and worked by the "interlopers." The coal-beds found by them after years of research, now give beneficial employment to several associa- tions, including the Bengal Company, which alone pays about £2,000 per month to the railway, for the transit of coal from Ranee- gunge to Calcutta. The supply furnished by them has proved invaluable to the gov- ernment during the mutiny ; and the fleets of inland steamers belonging to the General Steam Navigation and Ganges Companies, have rendered vital service in the convey- ance of the British troops, the naval bri- gade, and military ammunition and stores. Their efficiency would have been much greater had the authorities heeded the arguments previously addressed to them regarding the want of a canal to Rajmahal, or kept open one of the Nuddea rivers from Nuddea to the Ganges. || The British settlers were the first to es- tablish direct steam communication between Calcutta and Suez : through their instru- mentality the transit through Egypt was carried out, and the first steamer placed on the Nile : they introduced the river steam-tugs, used to facilitate the intricate and dangerous navigation between Cal- cutta and the pilot station ; and they estab- lished the horse-carriages, by which Sir Colin Campbell and hundreds of officers and soldiers hastened to the seat of war. Silk, and other valuable and easily-trans- portable products, such as indigo, the hate- ful drug opium, together with jute, hemp, tobacco and linseed, have considerably increased in quantity, and improved in quality, under the influence of British capital and energy. The settlers succeeded in growing good tea before it was dis- covered to be indigenous in so many places tween the Ganges and the Hooghly. These chan- nels are supplied partly from the Ganges and partly from the drainage of the country, and are sometimes all but dry. The general opinion is, that one of them might be kept open for the country-boats and for steamers all the year round, instead of five months, if proper engineering skill were applied to the task ; by which means a circuitous and even dangerous route of five hundred. miles would be avoided. — First Report. Evidence of Mr. W. Theo- bald, p. 75. 36 PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES OP INDIA. in the Himalayas ; and were beginning the cultivation so successfully in Assam and Kumaon, that, in 1856, '700,0001bs. were exported to England. The Neilgherry coffee is alleged to have obtained an excellent name in the London market, as that of Tellicherry has done long ago. Beer has been brewed on the Neilgherries, and sold at 9rf. per gallon, which the soldiers pre- ferred to the ordinary description, retailed there at Is. and Is. 2d. per quart bottle.* During the Russian war, there was an export of grains and oil seeds (forming, in 1856, a large item) from the interior of India to England ; but it ended on the conclusion of peace, because war prices, or canal irrigation and carriage, were essential conditions of remuneration. The same thing occurred with wheat. At the com- mencement of the war there was a first ex- port of twenty quarters, which rose to 90,963 quarters in 1856, and fell with de- clining prices to 30,429 quarters in 1857. Rice is exported largely under any circum- stances, because it is produced in great abundance on the coast, and is not subject to the cost of inland carriage. f This, and much similar testimony, tends to corrobo- rate the unqualified declaration previously made by Colonel Cotton, that " India can supply England fully, abundantly, cheaply with its two essentials, flour and cotton ; and nothing whatever prevents its doing so but the want of public works."J The evidence of British settlers is very satisfactory regarding the possibility of cul- tivating cotton of good quality to an almost unlimited extent. One witness predicts, that the first three or four large canals (for irrigation as well as transit) made in India, would drive the American cotton entirely out of the market, from the much lower cost of production in India. American cotton costs 6d. per pound at the English ports : Indian, of equal quality, might, it is alleged, be delivered there from any part of India at a cost of Hrf. per pound. § Even supposing this representation to be somewhat sanguine and highly-coloured, it is most desirable that a vigorous efi'ort should be made to restore the ancient staple pro- duct of India, by making one grand experi- ment — whether slave labour may not be beaten out of the market by the cheapest • Evidence of Captain Ouchterlony. — Third Re- port, p. 4. t Third Report.— Evidence of Mr. W. Balston, pp. 64 ; 98. J Public Works, p. 29. and most abundant supply of free labour which could possibly be desired. In the cultivation and manufacture of cotton, all the requirements of England and of India (national and individual) are combined : capital, skill, and careful superintendence, would find remunerative exercise on the one side; and, on the other, large masses of people, now half-starved, would be em- ployed; and men, women, and even chil- dren could work together in families^-an arrangement always much desired in India. Neither is there any reason why the manufacture of the finer fabrics — of gold- wrought and embroidered muslins — should not be resumed as an article of export. They are quite peculiar to India, and must remain so. The temperature of the coun- try ; the delicate touch of the small supple native fingers ; the exquisite, artistic tact in managing the gorgeous colouring: all these points combine in producing effects which have been strangely undervalued in Eng- land. The barbaric pearl and gold, the diamonds of Golconda, the emeralds and pearls, have led us to overlook the incom- parable delicacy of Indian manufactures. Shawls are almost the only exceptional article amid general neglect. The French, always discriminating in such matters, have shown more appreciation of the value of native manipulation. Several factories, called " filatures," have been for many years established in their settlement at Pondi- cherry, and where, properly organised and superintended by practical men, the profit yielded is stated at no less than thirty per cent, per annum on the capital invested. A parliamentary witness says, if three times the amount could have been spun, it would have found ready purchasers. 1| It is, however, asserted, that the assessments are not half as high in Pondicherry as in the neighbouring British territory. The point long doubtful, wtiether the English constitution could ever bear per- manent residence and active occupation in India, appears to be solved by the concurrent testimony of the planters, whose evidence be- fore a committee of the House of Commons, has been so largely quoted. Their stal- wart frames and healthy appearance, after twenty, and even thirty years' experience, went far to confirm their statements, that § Evidence of Mr. W. Balston. — Third Report, p. 98. II Evidence of Captain Ouchterlony. — Third Re- port, pp. 13 ; 37. GOOD HEALTH OF BRITISH SETTLERS IN INDIA. 37 out-door employment in the more temperate localities, was, even in India, favourable rather than detrimental to health. It is still an open question, how far their chil- dren or grandchildren may thrive there ; and to what extent early transplantation to schools in the sanitaria afforded by the Neilgherries and other hilly tracts, may operate in preventing physical deterioration. The chief attractions to " merchant ad- venturers" in India, are as prominent now as in the days when good Queen Bess granted the first charter to her subjects ; the field for capital and enterprise is quite as wide, and even more promising. Mer- chants, money-lenders, and government sti- pendiaries, are the only wealthy natives at present in India; and many of these — some by fair and highly creditable means, others by intrigue and usury — have be- come possessed of fortunes which would enable them to take rank with a London millionaire. India is, in truth, a mine of wealth ; and if we are permitted to see the sword of war permanently sheathed, it may be hoped that we shall take a new view of things ; especially, that the leaders of our large manufacturing towns — Birmingham and Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast — will take up the question of good government for India, and convince themselves, by dili- gently comparing and sifting the evidence poured forth from many different sources, of the necessity for developing the re- sources and elevating the condition of their fellow-subjects in Hindoostan. Poverty, sheer poverty, is the reason why the con- sumption of our manufactures is so small ; and its concomitants — the fear of extortion, and personal insecurity, induce that ten- dency to hoarding, which is alleged to operate in causing the annual disappear- ance of a considerable portion of the already insuflScient silver currency. This, and other minor evils, are effects, not causes ; they are like the ailments which inherent weakness produces : strengthen the general frame, and they will disappear. The temptation of profitable and secure in- vestments, such as urgently-required public works may be always made to offer by a wise government, would speedily bring forth the hoarded wealth (if there be such) of India, and would assuredly attract both European and native capital, which, thus employed, might be as seed sown. The British settlers, and some public- spirited native merchants (such as the well- known Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeeboy, of Bom- bay, with others in each presidency), have shown what individual effort can accomplish. It is now for the government to follow their example, and prepare for a rich harvest of material and moral progress. Annexation, and Infraction of the Indian Laws of Inheritance. — The system of sub- sidiary alliances, established by Lord Welles- ley, in the teeth of many and varied difficul- ties, has, without doubt, been the means of quietly and effectively establishing the su- premacy of England over the chief part of the Indian peninsula. It has likewise greatly conduced to the general tran- quillity, by compelling the native govern- ments to keep peace with one another. It might have done much more than this, had subsequent governors-general entered into the large and generous policy of its promoter, and viewed it as a protective measure calculated to prolong the existence of native states, and regulate the balance of power. Lord Wellesley had no passion for annexation ; he did not even say with Clive, " to stop is dangerous, to recede is ruin :"* on the contrary, he believed that the time had arrived for building up a bar- rier against further extension ; and for this very purpose he bent every energy of his mind to frame the system which has been perverted by his successors, and warped by circumstances, into a preliminary to absorp- tion and extinction. He desired to preserve the independence of the Rajpoot principalities; and thus, rather than by exterminating wars, to keep in check the then alarmingly turbulent and aggressive Mahratta powers. His plans were perfected, and fairly in operation when he quitted India. Unhappily, his whole policy was, for a little while, misrepresented and misunderstood. Its reversal was decreed, and unswerving " non-intervention" was to be substituted for protective and defensive alliances. In theory, this principle seemed just and practicable ; in action, it involved positive breach of contract with the weaker states, with whom, in our hour of peril, we had formed treaties, and whom we were pledged to protect against their hereditary foes. Mistaken notions of economy actuated the authorities in England ; and, unfortu- nately. Sir George Barlow, on whom the • Metcalfe Papers, p. 5. 38 SUBVERSION OF LORD WELLESLEY'S SUBSIDIARY SYSTEM. charge of the supreme government de- volved by the sudden death of Lord Corn- wallis, was incapable of realising, much less of forcibly deprecating, the evil of the measures he was called upon to take. Lord Lake, the commander-in-chief, felt his honour so compromised by the public breach of faith involved in the repudiation of treaties which he had been mainly in- strumental in obtaining, that he resigned, in disgust, the diplomatic powers entrusted to him.* No less indignation was evinced by the band of rising statesmen, whose minds had been enlarged and strengthened by par- ticipation in the views of the " great little man," who, "from the fire of patriotism which blazed in his own breast, emitted sparks which animated the breasts of all who came within the reach of his notice."t One of these (Charles Metcalfe) drew up a paper on the policy of Sir George Barlow, of remarkable interest and ability. He " The native powers of India understand the law of nations on a broad scale, though they may not adhere to it ; but they are not acquainted with the nice quirks upon which our finished casuists would draw up a paper to establish political rights. Our name is high, but these acts must lower it ; and a natural consequence is, that we shall not again be trusted with confidence. " Sir George Barlow, in some of his despatches, distinctly states, that he contemplates, in the dis- cord of the native powers, an additional source of strength; and, if I am not mistaken, some of his plans go directly, and are designed, to foment dis- cord among those states. • • • Lord Welles- ley's desire was to unite the tranquillity of all the powers of India with our own. How fair, how beautiful, how virtuous does this system seem ; how tenfold fair, beautiful, and virtuous, when com- pared with the other ugly, nasty, abominable one."J All the members of the Wellesley school imbibed the same. tone; and though they differed widely on many points, and sub- sequently became themselves distinctive leaders, yet Elphinstone and Malcolm, Adams and Jenkins, Tucker and Edmon- stone, consistently maintained the rights of native states, and regarded any disposition to take advantage of their weakness or promote strife, as " ugly, nasty, and abominable." When the non-intervention system proved absolutely impracticable, the authorities fell back on that of subsidiary alliances ; but instead of proceeding on the broad basis laid down by Lord Wellesley, and organ- • See Indian Umpire, vol. i., p. 406. t Metcalfe Papere, p. 10, X Ibid., pp. 6, 7. § Ibid., p. 178. ising such relations of mutual protection and subordination between the greater and the minor states, as might be necessary for the preservation of general tranquillity, a system of minute and harassing inter- ference was introduced into the affairs of every petty state. "We established," writes Sir Charles Metcalfe in 1830, when a member of the supreme council, " a mili- tary police throughout Central India, with a view to maintain order in countries belong- ing to foreign potentates."§ The arrange- ments made were costly, clumsy, and in- efficient; and, in the end, have worked badly for all parties. The British contingents, which have now joined the rebel Bengal army, were, for the most part, forced on the native princes, and their general tendency has been to foster the inherent weakness, corruption, and extortion of the states in which they have been established. The benefit of exemption from external strife, has been dearly purchased by in- creased internal oppression ; the arm of the despot being strengthened against his subjects by the same cause which paralysed it for foreign aggression. Then has arisen the difficult question — how far we, as the undoubted supreme power, were justified in upholding notoriously incapable and profligate dynasties, even while the cruel wrongs of the people were unceasingly re- ported by the British residents at the native courts ? As is too frequently the case, the same question has been viewed from dif- ferent points of view at different times, and, at each period, the decision arrived at has run the risk of being partial and prejudiced. In the time of Warren Hastings, Sir John Shore, and Lord Wellesley, the in- crease of territory was deprecated by the East India Company and the British nation in general, as equally unjust in principle and mistaken in policy. The fact that many of the Hindoo, and nearly all the Mo- hammedan, rulers were usurpers of recent date, ruling over newly-founded states, was utterly ignored ; and their treacherous and hostile proceedings against us, and each other, were treated as fictitious, or at least exaggerated. At length a powerful reac- tion took place ; people grew accustomed to the rapid augmentation of our Anglo-Indian empire, and ceased to scrutinise the means by which it was accomplished. The rights of native princes, from being over-esti- mated, became as unduly disregarded. ADVISABILITY OF MAINTAINING NATIVE STATES. 89 The system of annexation recently pur- sued, which has set at nought the an- cient Hindoo law regarding the succession of adopted sons and female representatives, is alleged to have been a special cause of the revolt.* From time immemorial, the adoption of heirs in default of natural and legitimate issue, has been the common cus- tom of the Hindoos. If a man have no son, it is an imperative article in his religious beUef that he should adopt one ; because it is only through the ceremonies and offer- ings of a son, that the soul of the father can be released from Put — which seems to be the Brahminical term for purgatory. The adopted child succeeds to every hereditary right, and is treated in every respect as if lawfully begotten. Lord Metcalfe has ex- pressed a very decided opinion on the sub- ject. After pointing out the difference between sovereign princes and jagheerdars — between those in possession of hereditary sovereignties in their own right, and those who hold grants of land, or public revenue, by gift from a sovereign or paramount power — he adds, that Hindoo sovereign princes have a right to adopt a successor, to the exclusion of collateral heirs ; and that the British government is bound to acknow- ledge the adoption, provided that it be regular, and not in violation of Hindoo law. " The supposed reversionary right of the paramount power," Lord Metcalfe de- scribes " as having no real existence, except in the case of the absolute want of heirs ; and even then the right is only assumed in virtue of power; for it would probably be more consistent with right, that the people of the state so situated should elect a sove- reign for themselves.^t Many of our leading statesmen have con- curred not only in deprecating the use of any measures of annexation which could possibly be construed as harsh or unjust, but also in viewing the end itself, namely, the absorption of native states, as a positive evil. Mountstuart Elphinstone, who has probably had more political intercourse with the highest class of natives than any other individual now living, has always con- tinued to entertain the same views which he set forth as interpreter to Major-general Wellesley,in the memorable conferences held to negotiate the treaties of Suijee Anjen- • Vide Rebellion in India ; by John Bruce Norton, t Metcalfe Papers (written in 1837) ; p. 318. I Supplementary Despatches of F. M. the Duke . of Wellmgton : edited by the present Duke: vol. iii. gaum and Deogaum, in 1803, with Sindia and the rajah of Berar;t when he described the British government as uniformly anxious to promote the prosperity of its adherents, the interests of such persons being regarded as identified with its own. Many years later, Mr. Elphiustone wrote — " It appears to me to be our interest as well as our duty, to use every means to preserve the allied governments : it is also our interest to keep up the number of in- dependent powers : their territories afford a refuge to all whose habits of war, intrigue, or depredation, make them incapable of remaining quiet in ours; and the contrast of our government has a favourable effect on our subjects, who, while they feel the evils they are actually exposed to, are apt to forget the greater ones from which they have been delivered." Colonel Wellesley, in 1800, declared, that the extension of our territory and in- fluence had been greater than our means. "Wherever we spread ourselves," he said, "we increase this evil. We throw out of employ- ment and means of subsistence, aU who have hitherto managed the revenue, commanded, or served in the armies, or have plnndered the country. These people become addi- tional enemies, at the same time that, by the extension of our territory, our means of supporting our government and of de- fending ourselves are proportionately de- creased."§ Marquis Wellesley, in 1842, wrote — " No further extension of our territory is ever desirable in India, even in the event of war for conquest, if that could be justified or were legal, as the law now wisely stands."]] Lord Ellenborough (despite the annexa- tion of Sinde) advised, that even "what are called rightful occasions of appro- priating the territories of native states," should be avoided ; because he considered, that the maintenance of those states, and " the conviction that they were considered permanent parts of the general government of India, would materially strengthen our authority. I feel satisfied, that I never stood so strong with my own army as when I was surrounded by native princes; they like to see respect shown to their native princes. These princes are sovereigns of one-third of the population of Hindoostaii ; § Wellington Despatches. Letter to Major Mun^o, dated 20th August, 1800. 11 Letter from the Marquis Wellesley to Lord Ellenborough, 4th July, 1842. 40 DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON ANNEXATION QUESTION. and with reference to the future condition of the country, it becomes more important to give them confidence that no systematic attempt will be made to take advantage of the failures of heirs to confiscate their pro- perty, or to injure, in any respect, those sovereigns in the position they at present occupy." Sir John Malcolm went further still, and declared, that "the tranquillity, not to say the security, of our vast Oriental dominions, was involved in the preservation of the native principalities, which are dependent upon us for protection. These are also so obviously at our mercy, so entirely within our grasp, that besides the other and great benefits which we derive from these alliances, their co-existence with our rule is, of itself, a source of political strength, the value of which will never be known till it is lost. * * * I am further convinced, that though our revenue may increase, the permanence of our power will be hazarded in proportion as the territories of native princes and chiefs fall under our direct rule." Henry St. George Tucker likewise lifted up his voice in warning, declaring, that the annexation of a principality to our gigantic empire, might become the source of weak- ness, by impairing our moral influence over our native subjects.* These opinions so far prevailed, that down to the viceroyalty of Lord Dalhousie, the Hindoo custom of adoption was not only sanctioned, but urged by the supreme gov- ernment on native princes in the absence of natural jeirs. The majority of Indian dynasties have been maintained in this manner. The famous Mahratta leaders, Dowlut Rao Sindia of Gwalior, and Mul- har Rao Holcar of Indore, both died child- less : the latter adopted a son ; the former left the choice of a successor to his favourite wife, who exercised the right, and herself filled the position of regent. f On the death of the adopted prince, in 1843, his nearest relative, a boy of eight years of age, was proclaimed maharajah. The war which took place in the same year, and which terminated in the capture of the fortress of Gwalior by the British troops, on the 4th of January, 1844, did not lead • Several of the above opinions, with others of similar tendency, will be found collected in a pam- fihlet entitled The Native Statei of India : pub- isbed by Saunders and Stanford, 6, Charing-cross : 1853. t Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 427. to the extinction of the principality, as it would unquestionably have done under the course of policy which subsequently pre- vailed. The young maharajah was con- firmed in the position, for which, as he advanced in age, he showed himself well qualified ; and his name, like that of his co- temporary the rajah of Indore, now takes high rank amid the faithful allies of Eng- land. Lord EUenborough's opinions regarding the maintenance of native states, were not, however, shared by his zealous champion. Sir Charles Napier, who expressed himself on this point, as on most others, in very strong terms. " Were I emperor of In- dia," he said, when his views were most matured, " no Indian prince should exist." He would dethrone the Nizam, he would seize Nepatil : in fact, he considered, that without the abolition of the native sove- reignties no great good could be effected, and the Company's revenues must be always in difficulty. { Sir Charles was probably singular in his desire to extend the British frontier inde- finitely, and " make Moscowa and Pekin shake;" but many persons, including Mr. Thoby Prinsep and other leading India House authorities, looked forward to the extinction of the subsidiary and protected states vrithin our boundary as desirable, both in a poUtical and financial point of view, especially in the latter. § In India, the majority of the governing "caste," aa Colonel Sykes called the civi- lians, || were naturally disposed to favour ex- tensions of territory which directly conduced to the benefit of their body, and for the in- direct consequences of which they were in no manner held responsible. To them, the lapse of a native state was the opening of a new source of promotion, as it was to the di- rectors in England of " patronage" — an ad- vantage vague in sound, but very palpable and lucrative in operation. No wonder that the death of the " sick man" should have been often anticipated by his impatient heirs as a happy release, which it was excusable and decidedly expedient to hasten. It was but to place the sufi'erer or victim within reach of the devouring waves of the Ganges, X See review in the Times, May 25th, 1857, of Sir W. Napier's Life of Sir C. Napier. § See Mr. Frinsep's pamphlet on the Indian Ques- tion in 1853. II Third Report of Colonization Committee, 1S58; p. 88. ANNEXATION POLICY OF LORD DALHOUSIE. 41 aad the result, according to Hindoo notions, is paradise to one party, and pecuniary ad- vantage, or at least relief, to the other. The whirlpool of annexation has been hit upon as offering advantages of a similar kind ; namely, complete regeneration to the native state subjected to its engulphing influence, and increased revenue to the para- mount power. Bengal civilians began to study " annexation made easy," with the zeal of our American cousins, aiid it was soon deemed indispensable to hasten the process by refusing to sanction further adoptions. The opinions quoted in preceding pages were treated as out of date, and the policy founded on them was reversed. The ex- perience of the past showed, that from the days of Clive, all calculations founded on increase of territorial revenue, had been vitiated by more than proportionate in- crease of expenditure. It might have also taught, that the decay of native states needed no stimulating, and that even if their eventual extinction should be deemed desirable, it would at least be well to take care that the inclined plane by which we were hastening their descent, should not be placed at so sharp an angle as to bring them down, like an avalanche, on our own heads. These considerations were lost sight of in the general desire felt "to extinguish the native states which consume so large a portion of the revenue of the country ;"* and few paused to consider the peculiar rights of native administrators, as such, or re- membered that, in many cases, the profit derived from the subsidy paid for military contingents, was greater than any we were likely to obtain from the entire revenue. In fact, the entire revenue had repeatedly proved insuflJcient to cover the cost of our enormous governmental establishmeuts, civil and military. The expenditure consequent on the war with, and annexation of, Siude,t was the sub- ject of much parliamentary discussion, the immense booty obtained by the army being contrasted with the burden imposed upon the public treasury and highly-taxed people' of India. Still the lesson prominently set forth therein was unheeded, or treated as applicable only to projects of fbreiga ag- * 3Iudern India : by Mr. Campbell, a civilian of the Bengal service. t Mr. St. George Tucker asserted, that the pro- ceedings connected with the annexation of Sinde were reprobated by every member of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, " as characlcr- VOL. II. G grandisement, and having no relation to questions of domestic policy. The Marquis of Dalhousie expressed the general sentiments of the Court of Directors, as well as his own, in the following full and clear exposition of the principles which prompted the series of annexations made under his administration : — " There may be a conflict of opinion as to the advantage, or to the propriety, of extending our already vast possessions beyond their present limits. No man can more sincerely deprecate than I do any extension of the frontiers of our territories, which can be avoided, or which may not become indispensably necessary from considerations of our own safety, and of the maintenance of the tranquillity of our provinces. But I cannot conceive it possible for any one to dispute the policy of taking advantage of every just opportunity which presents itself for consolidating the territories that already belong to us, by taking possession of states which may lapse in the midst of them ; for thus getting rid of these petty intervening principalities, which may be made a means of annoyance, but which can never, I venture to think, be a source of strength ; for adding to the resources of the public treasury, and for extending the uniform application of our system of government to those whose best interests, we beUeve, will be promoted thereby." Lord Dalhousie differed from Lord Met- calfe and others above quoted, not less with regard to the nature of the end in view, than as to the means by which that end might be lawfully obtained ; and he has re- corded his " strong and deliberate opinion," that "the British government, is bouud not to put aside or to neglect such rightful opportunities of acquiring territory or re- venue, as may from time to time present themselves, whether they arise from the lapse of subordinate states by the failure of all heirs of every description whatsoever, or from the failure of heirs natural, when the succession can be sustained only by the sanction of government being given to the ceremony of adoption, according to Hindoo law." It is not surprising that the process ised by acts of the grossest injustice, highly inju- rious to the national reputation :" and that the acquisition of that country was " more iniquitous than any which has ever stained the annals of our Indian administration." — Memorials of Indian Gov- enitnetit, pp. 351, 352. 42 REPUDIATION OF SUCCESSION BY ADOPTION— 1848. of absorption should have been rapid, when the viceroy, who held the above opinions, was essentially a practical man, gifted with an " aptitude for business, unflagging powers of labour, and clearness of intellect ;" which even the most decided opponents of his policy have applauded. In reviewing the result of his eight years' administration. Lord Dalhousie dwells, apparently without the slightest misgiving, on the large in- crease of the Biitish territories in the East during that period; four kingdoms, and various chiefships and separate tracts, having been brought under the sway of the Queen of England. Of these, the Puvjab was the fruit of conquest * Pegu and Martaban were likewise won by the sword in 1852 ; and a population of 570,180 souls, spread over an area of 32,250 square miles, was thereby brought under the dominion of the British Crown.f The Raj or Principality of Sattara, was the first state annexed by Lord Dalhousie, to the exclusion of the claims of an adopted son. There was only one precedent — and that a partial one — for this measure : it occurred under the administration of Lord Auckland, in 1840, in the case of the little state of Colaba, founded by the pirate Angria, whose chief fort, Gheria, was taken by Watson and CUve in 1756.^ Colaba was dependent on the government of the Peishwa at Poena; and, on the extinction of his power, the British entered into a treaty with, Ragojee Angria, the existing, chief, guaranteeing the transmission of his terri- tories in their integrity to his " successors." With the sanction of the Bombay govern- ment, Ragojee adopted a boy, who died soon after him. Permission was asked for a fresh adoption, but refused; and the territory was treated as having escheated for want of heirs male, although, it is alleged, there were many members of the Angria family still in existence, legally capable of succeeding to the government. Sattara was altogether a more important case, both on account of the extent and excellent government of the kingdom, and because its extinction involved a distinct repudiation of the practice of adoption previously sanctioned by the British au- thorities, and held by the Hindoos as in- variably conferring on the adopted child * Norton's Rebellion in India, p. 65. t Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 456. t Ibid., p. 468. Pari. Papers, 16th April, 1858.] § See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 271. every privilege of natural and legitimate issue. § The fact was so generally recognised, that there seems no reason to doubt that the native princes, in signing subsidiary or other treaties, considered that children by adoption were included, as a matter of course, under the head of legitimate heirs and successors. The exception, if intended, was suflBciently important to demand men- tion. But the conduct of the government, in repeated instances (such as those of the Gwalior and Indore principalities, of Kotah in 1828, Dutteah in 1840, Oorcha, Bans warra, and Oodipoor, in 1842, and, several years later, in Kerowlee),|| was calculated to remove all doubt by evidencing its liberal construction of the Hindoo law of succes- sion. Lord Auckland declared, in the case of Oorcha, that he could not for a moment admit the doctrine, that because the view of policy upon which we might have formed engagements with the native princes might have been by circumstances materially al- tered, we were therefore not to act scru- pulously up to the terms and spirit of those engagements; and again, when discussing the question of the right of the widow of the rajah of Kishenghur to adopt a son without authority from her deceased husband, his lordship rejected any reference to the " sup- posed rights" which were suggested as de- volving on the British government as the paramount power, declaring that such ques- tions must be decided exclusively with refer- ence to the terms and spirit of the treaties or engagements formed with the difierent states ; and that no demand ought to be brought forward than such as, in regard to those engagements, should be scrupulously consistent with good faith. By this declaration Lord Auckland pub- licly evinced his resolve to adhere to the principle laid down by high authority forty years before, under very critical circum- stances. It was not an obedient depen- dency, but the fortified border-land of a warlike principality, that was at stake, when Arthur Wellesley urged the governor- general to abide by the strict rules of jus- tice, however inconvenient and seemingly inexpedient. On other points of the ques- tion the brothers might take diflPerent views ; on this they were sure to agree ; for they II The social grounds on which the practice of adoption is based, are well set forth by General Briggs. See Ludlow's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 226 ; and Native States, pp. 21 ; 23. ANNEXATION OF SATTARA— 1849. 43 were equally ready to " sacrifice GwaUor or every other frontier in India ten times over, in order to preserve our credit for scrupu- lous good faith."* The recent mode of dealing with Sattara has not contributed to raise the British name either for generosity or unflinching in- tegrity. The deposition of that most able ruler, Pertab Sing, on a charge of con- spiracy against the supreme governmeni,t was earnestly deprecated in England by many eminent men, and excited great in- dignation among his subjects. The secret and hurried manner in which his seizure and trial were conducted, increased the appa- rent hardship of his sentence ; and an able writer asserts his conviction that, at the present time, not a native in India, nor five persons in the world, believe in his guilt.J He died in 1847, leaving an adopted son, around whom the aflFections of the people still cling.§ The remembrance of his misfor- tunes has not passed away ; and one of the mutineers, hung at Sattara in 1857, ad- dressed the surrounding natives while he was being pinioned, to the efi"ect that, as tlie English had hurled the rajah from his throne, so they ought to be driven out of the country. II The deposition of Pertab Sing was not, however, accompanied by any at- tempt at annexation of territory ; the gov- ernment, on the contrary, " having no views of advantage and aggrandisement," resolved, in the words of the new treaty (5th Sep- tember, 1839), to invest the brother and next in succession to the rajah with the sove- reignty. -This brother (Appa Sahib) died in 1848. He, also, in default of natural issue, had adopted a son, whose recognition as rajah was strongly urged by Sir George Clerk, the governor of Bombay, on the ground that the terms of the treaty, " seemed to mean a sovereignty which should rot lapse for want of heirs, so long as there was any one who could succeed, according to the usages of the people." "In a matter such as this question of resumption of ter- ritory, recovered by us, and restored to an ancient dynasty,"1f he observes, "we are morally bound to give some consideration to the sense in which we induced or per- mitted the other party to understand the terms of a mutual agreement. Whatever we intend in favour of an ally in perpetuity, • Wellington Despatches, 17th March, 1804. t See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 432. X Ludlow's Lectures, yoL ii., p. 171. § Ibid., p. 171. when executing a treaty with him on that basis, by that we ought to abide in our rela- tions with his successors, until he proves himself unworthy." Sir G. Clerk further advocated the con- tinuance of the independence of Sattara, on account of its happy and prosperous state. Mr. Frere, the British resident, said that no claimant would venture to put for- ward his own claim against the adopted sons of either of the late rajahs ; but that there were many who might have asserted their claim but for the adoption, and who would "be able to establish a very good prima facie claim in any court of justice in India.-" These arguments did not deter Lord Dal- housie from making Sattara the first ex- ample of his consolidation policy. "The territories," he said, " lie in the very heart of our own possessions. They are inter- posed between the two military stations in the presidency of Bombay, and are at least calculated, in the hands of an independent sovereign, to form an obstacle to safe com- munication and combined military move- ment. The district is fertile, and the re- venues productive. The population, accus- tomed for some time to regular and peaceful government, are tranquil themselves, and are prepared for the regular government our possession of the territory would give." With regard to the terms of the treaty, he held that the words "heirs and successors" must be read in their ordinary sense, and could not be construed to secure to the rajahs of Sattara any other than the succes- sion of heirs natural : and the prosperity of the state, he did not consider a reason for its continued independence, unless this pros- perity could be shown to arise from fixed institutions, by which the disposition of the sovereign would always be guarded, or com- pelled into an observance of the rules of good government. (This, of course, could not be shown, such security being peculiar to countries blessed with free institutions, and utterly incompatible with any form of despotism.) In conclusion, the governor- general argued, that " we ought to regard the territory of Sattara as lapse, and should incorporate it at once with the British do- minions in India."** The Court of Directors were divided in opinion on the subject : nine of them agreed y Bombay Telegraph, 19th June, 1857. *\ Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 419. •• Minute by Lord Daihousie, 30th August, 1848. 44 ANNEXATION OF SATTARA— 1849. with, and five differed from, Lord Dalhousie.* The dissentients were Messrs. Tucker, Shep- herd, Melville, Major Oliphant, and General Caulfield. Regarding the precedent estab- lished in the case of Colaba, Mr. Tucker said — " I remonstrated against the annexation (I am disposed to call it the confiscation) of Colaba, the ancient seat of the Angria family, to which the allu- sion has been made in the Bombay minutes ; and far from having seen reason to modify or recall the opinion recorded by me on that proceeding, I have availed myself of every suitable occasion to enforce my conviction, that a more mischievous policy could not be pursued than that which would engross the whole territory of India, and annihilate the small remnant of the native aristocracy. There are per- sons who fancy that landed possessions in India cannot be successfully administered by native agency. In disproof of this notion I would point to the Ram- poor jaghire in Rohilcund, which was a perfect garden when I saw it long ago, and which still re- mains, I believe, in a state of the highest agricul- tural prosperity. Nay, I would point to the princi- pality of Sattara, which appears to have been most successfully administered both by the ex-rajah, Per- tab Sing, and his brother and successor, Appa Sahib, who have done more for the improvement of the I country than our government can pretend to have done in any part of its territory ."f This, and other energetic protests, are said to have produced so strong an im- pression, that a vote seemed likely to pass in the Court of Proprietors, repudiating the annexation of Sattara. The ma'ority of the directors perceiving this, called for a ballot, and so procured the confirmation of the measure by the votes of some hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, for the most part utterly ignorant of the merits of the case. J The provision made by the supreme gov- ernment for the widows and adopted son,§ was censured by the directors ; and Lord Dalhousie writes, that although the Hon. Court had declared " their desire to provide liberally for the family, and their wish that the ladies should retain jewels, fur- niture, and other personal property suit- able to their rank, they still objected that the grant of so much property, which was fairly at the disposal of the government, was greatly in excess of what was re- quired." || The Kingdom of Nagpoor "became British territory by simple lapse, in the absence of all legal heirs;" for the government, says Lord Dalhousie, " refused to bestow the territory, in free gift, upon a stranger,^ and wisely incorporated it with its own dominions."** Absorption was becoming a very familiar process to the British functionaries, and the addition of a population of about 4,650,000, and an area of 76,432 square miles, ff ap- peared to excite little attention or interest. Parliamentary returns prove, however, that the kingdom was not extinguished without palpable signs of dissatisfaction, and even some attempt at resistance on the part of the native government. The ranees, or queens, on the death of the rajah in Decem- ber, 1853, requested leave to take advantage of the Hindoo law, which vested in them, or at least in the chief of them — the right of adopting a son, and of exercising the powers of the regency. They offered to adopt, ac- cording to the pleasure of the supreme government, any one of the rightful heirs, who, they alleged, existed, and were en- titled to succeed to the sovereignty ; " both according to the customs of the family and the Hindoo law, and also agreeably to the practice in such cases pursued under the treaties." The reply was a formal intima- tion, that the orders issued by the gov- ernment of India having been confirmed by the Hon. Court of Directors, the prayer of the ranees for the restitution of the raj to the family could not be granted. The maharanee, called the Banka Bye (a • The question of the right of adoption, says Mr. Sullivan, was treated by all the authorities at home and abroad as if it had been an entirely new one, and was decided in the negative ; whereas, it ap- peared, by records which were dragged forth after judgment was passed in the Sattara case, that the question had been formally raised, and as formally decided in favour of the right, twenty years before ; and that this decision had been acted upon in no less than fifteen instances in the interval.- — Pamphlet on the Double Government, published by India Reform Society ; p. 24. t Lieutenant-general Briggs, in his evidence be- fore the Cotton Committee appointed in 1848, men- tioned having superintended the construction of a road made entirely by natives for the rajah of Sat- tara, thirty-six miles long, and eighteen feet wide, with drains and small bridges for the whole dis- tance. X Sullivan's Double Government, p. 26. § They were allowed to retain jewels, &c., to the value of sixteen lacs, and landed property worth 20,000 rupees a-year. Pensions were also granted (from the revenue) to the three ranees, of £45,000, £30,000, and £25,000 respectively.— Pari. Papers (Commons), 5th March, 1856; p. 10. II Pari. Papers, &c., p. 10. •[J Lord Dalhousie, in a minute dated 10th June, 1854, admits that lineal members of the Bhons- lay family existed ; but adds, " they are all the pro- geny of daughters." — Pari. Papers (Commons), 16th June, 1856. •• Minute, dated 28th February, 1856; p. 8. tt Pari. Papers (Commons), 16th April, 1858. ANNEXATION OF NAGPOOR— 1853. '15 very aged woman, of remarkable ability, who had exercised the authority of regent during the minority of her grandson, the late rajah), and the younger ranees, were not entirely unsupported in their endeavours for the continuance of the state, or at least for the obtainment of some concessions from the paramount power. The commissioner, and former resident, Mr. Mansel, repre- sented the disastrous effect which the an- nexation of Nagpoor was calculated to produce upon certain influential classes. The dependent chiefs, the agriculturists, and the small shopkeepers would, he con- sidered, "if not harshly agitated by new measures," be easily reconciled to British rule; but — "The officers of the army, the courtiers, the priesthood, the chief merchants and bankers who had dealings with the rajah's treasury and house- hold — all the aristocracy, in fact, of the country, see in the operation of the system that British rule involves, the gradual diminution of their exclusive consequence, and the final extinction of their order."* The extinction of the aristocracy was cal- culated to aflFect the mass of the population more directly than would at first seem probable. Mr. Mansel truly says — "The Indian native looks up to a monarchical and aristocratic form of life ; all his ideas and feel- ings are pervaded with respect for it. Its ceremonies and state are an object of amusement and interest to all, old and young; and all that part of the hap- piness of the world which is produced by the grati- fication of the senses, is largely maintained by the existence of a court, its pageantry, its expenditure, and communication with the people. Without such a source of patronage of merit, literary and personal, the action of life in native society as it is and must long be, would be tame and depressing. • * • It is the bitter cry on all sides, that our rule exhi- bits no sympathy, especially for the native of rank, and not even for other classes of natives. It is a just, but an ungenerous, unloveable system that we administer, and this tone is peculiarly felt in a newly. acquired country. It may be that we can- not re-create, but we may pause ere we destroy a form of society already existing, and not necessarily barren of many advantages. • • • Xhe main energies of the public service in India are directed to, or absorbed in, the collection of revenue and the repressing of rural crime ; and the measures applied to the education of the native people are of little influence ; while many of our own measures — as in the absorption of a native state (if we sweep clean the family of the native prince and the nobility gradually from the land) — are deeply depressing on the national character and social system, 'f * Pari. Papers (Commons) — Annexation of Be- rar: No. 82; March 5lh, 1856; p. 4. t Ibid., p. 6. X Ibid., pp. 12, 13. § The mode of appropriating the personal and here- He therefore recommended, with a view of reconciling the past with the future, in a change of government from Oriental to European hands, that the Nagpoor royal family should be permitted to exercise the right of adoption ; to enjoy the privileges of titular chieftainship; and to retain pos- session of the palace in the city of Nagpoor, with a fixed income and a landed estate. The reply to these recommendations was, that the governor-general in council could not conceal his surprise and dissatisfaction at the advocacy of a policy diametrically opposed to the declared views of the supreme authority. The grounds on which the British commissioner advocated the creation of a titular principality, were pronounced to be weak and untenable; while all experience was alleged to be opposed to the measure which he had " most inopportunely forced" on the con- sideration of government. The king of Delhi, the nawab of Bengal, and the nawab- nizam of the Carnatic, were cited as so many examples of its impolicyr but " in all these cases, however, some purpose of great temporary expediency was served, or be- lieved to be served, when the arrangement was originally made ; some actual difficulty was got over by the arrangement; and, above all, the chiefs in question were exist- ing things [?] before the arrangement." In the present instance, however, the offi- cial despatch declares there was no object of even temporary expediency to serve; no actual difficulty of any sort to be got over; no one purpose, political or other, to be promoted by the proposed measure. J The provision suggested by Mr. Mansel as suitable for the ranees in the event of his proposition being rejected, was condemned as extravagantly high ; the hereditary trea- sure of the rajah, the governor-general con- sidered, in accordance with the decision of the Hon. Court in an analogous case (Sat- tara), was "fairly at the disposal of the government, and ought not to be given up to be appropriated and squandered by the ranees."^ The money hoarded, having been accu- mulated, it was alleged, out of the public funds, was available to defray the arrears of the palace establishments — a reasonable ditary treasure of the late rajah, suggested by the commissioner as likely to be approved by the ranees, was the building a bridge over the Kumaon river; and thus, in accordance with Hindoo custom, link- ing the family name to a great and useful work. 46 ANNEXATION OF NAGPOOR— 1853. plea, which could not be urged in defence of the same seizure of personal savings in the case of Sattara. This unqualified censure of the commis- sioner was followed by his removal, a pro- ceeding directly calciJated to inculcate the suppression not only of opinions, but even of facts, of an unpalatable kind. The half- measure which he had suggested might possibly have worked badly, as most half- measures do ; but it was avowedly pro- posed as a compromise, and as a means of meeting difficulties, which the Calcutta authorities saw fit to ignore. No notice whatever was taken of Mr. Hansel's state- ment, that in arguing with the people at Nagpoor on the practice of putting the members of the family of a deceased chief on individual life pensions, upon the absorp- tion of a state, they immediately (though not before unsubservient to the execution of orders from Calcutta for the extinction of sovereign powers) fell back upon the law and rights of the case, and contended that the treaty gave what was now being arbi- trarily taken away.* Nothing, indeed, could be more arbi- trary than the whole proceeding. A mili- tary officer. Captain Elliot, was made offi- ciating comnrissioner, and a large body of troops was placed at his disposal to overawe opposition, in the event of the royal family or their late subjects evincing any disposi- tion to resist the fulfilment of the orders of the governor-general for the seizure of the treasure, hereditary jewels, and even the personal property and household efi"ects of the deceased rajah, which were advertised to be sold by public auction, to provide a fund for the support of his family. The ranees sent a vakeel, or ambassador, to Calcutta, to intreat that a stop should be put to the sale of efi'ects held as private property for a century and a-half; "and, further, for the cessation of the unjust, oppressive, and humiliating treatment shown bj' the commissioner, under the alleged orders of government, towards the maha- ranees and the other heirs and members of the family of the late rajah, whose lives are embittered and rendered burdensome by the cruel conduct and indignities to which they have been obliged to submit." Repeated memorials were sent in by the ranees, concerning " the disrespect and contumely^' with which they were treated by the acting commissioner, and also • Pari. Paoers on Berar, p. 7. regarding the manner in which the sales by auction were conducted, and property sacri- ficed ; particularly cattle and horses : a pair of bullocks, for instance, estimated to be worth 200 rupees, being sold for twenty. The official return of the proceeds of the rajah's live stock, tends to corroborate the statement of the ranees. A hundred camels only realised 3,138 rupees, and 182 bullocks only 2,018; elephants, horses, and ponies in large numbers, sold at equally low prices. The remonstrances of the ranees were treated with contemptuous indifi'er- ence. The government refused to recog- nise their envoys, and would receive no communications except through the official whose refusal to forward their appeals was the express reason of their having endea- voured to reach the ear of the governor- general by some other channel. The removal of the property from the palace was attended by considerable excite- ment. The native officer employed by the English government, was " hustled and beaten" in the outer courtyard of the palace. The sepoys on duty inside the square, are described by Captain Elliot in his rather singular account of the matter, "as not afibrding that protection and assis- tance they were bound to do; for, setting aside Jumal-oo-deen's [the native officer's] rank, position, and employment, he was married, and somewhat lame." There was great excitement in the city, as well as in and about the palace, and great crowds had assembled and were assembling. ' It was doubtful to what extent opposition might have been organised, for the aged maha- ranee was asserted to have sent a mes- sage to the British officer in command, that if the removal of property were attempted, she would set the palace on fire. This threat, if made, was never exe- cuted : reinforcements of troops were in- troduced into the city, and the orders Oi the government were quietly carried through. The governor-general considered that the " scandalous conduct" of the sepoys and rifle guards on duty, ought to have been punished by dismissal from the service; but it had been already passed over in silence, and so no martyrs were made to the cause, and the aft'air passed over as an ebullition of that " floating feel- ing of national regret," which Mr. Mansel had previously described as ready to dis- charge itself in dangerous force upon any objects within its range. ANNEXATION OF NAGPOOR, OR BERAR— 1854. 47 The maharanee denied having incited or approved the resistance offered by her people ; but the Calcutta authorities per- sisted in considering that a plan of resis- tance had been organised by her during the night preceding the disturbances which took place in the morning of the 11th of October, 1854, and threatened to hold the ranees generally responsible, in the event of any repetition of such scenes as those which had already brought down upon them the displeasure of governmernt. The ladies were, no doubt, extremely alarmed by this intimation, which the offici- ating commissioner conveyed to them, he writes, in " most unmistakable language." The sale of the chief part of the jewels and heirlooms (estimated at from £500,000 to £750,000 in value)* was carried on unop- posed in the public bazaars ; a proceeding which the then free press did not fail to communicate to the general public, and to comment on severely.f Of the money hidden within the sacred precincts of the zenana, 136 bags of silver rupees had been surrendered ; but there was a further store of gold mohurs, with the existence of which the Banka Bye had herself ac- quainted the British functionaries imme- diately after the death of her grandson, as a proof of her desire to conceal nothing from them. When urged, she expressed her readiness to surrender the treasure ; but pleaded as a reason for delay, the extreme, and as it speedily proved, mortal sickness of Unpoora Bye, the chief widow, in whose apartments the treasure was hidden, and her great unwil- lingness to permit its removal. The com- missioner appears to have treated this plea as a continuation of " the old system of delay and passive resistance to all one's instruc- tions and wishes." Nevertheless, he deemed it objectionable " to use force ;" and " was unwilling that Captain Crichton [the officer in command] should go upstairs on this occasion, or take any active part in this matter," it being " better to avoid a scene :" and, as an alternative, he advised '' writing off the amount known to he buried, to the debit of the ranees, deducting the same from their annual allowance, and telling them the same was at their disposal and in their own possession."! • Pari. Papers (Annexation of Berar), p. 9. t Indian News, 2n(l April, 1855. \ Letter from officiating commissioner, Capt. Elliot, to government, 13th IJec, 1854. — Pari. Papers, p. 44. The princesses would have been badly off had this arrangement been carried out, for the amount of hoarded treasure had been exaggerated, as it almost invariably is in such cases ; and although no doubt is expressed that the formal surrender of 10,000 gold mohurs (made immediately after the delivery of the governor-general's threatening message) included the entire hoard, yet double that sum was expected ; the other half having, it is alleged, been previously expended. The maharanee excited the angry sus- picions of the Calcutta government by a despairing effort for the maintenance of the state, with which she felt the honour of her house indissolubly allied. It appeared, that Major Ramsay, then resident at Ne- paul, had, when occupying the same posi- tion at the court of Nagpoor, been on very bad terms with the deceased rajah. The Banka Bye attributed the extinction of the raj to his representations, and sent a vakeel to him, in the hope of deprecating his opposition, and obtaining his favourable intervention. The errand of the vakeel was misunderstood, and attributed to a desire to communicate with the Nepaulese sovereign on the subject of the annexation of Nagpoor. Under this impression, the governor-general in council declared, that the ranees had no right whatever to com- municate with native courts ; that it was impossible to put .any other than an un- favourable construction on their attempt to do so : and the acting commissioner was officially desired to acquaint them, that the repetition of such an act would " certainly lead to substantial proof of the displeasure of government being manifested to them." On the mistake being discovered, the following minute was recorded by the gov- ernor-general, and concurred in by the four members of council whose names have become lately familiar to the British pub- lic. Its curt tone contrasts forcibly with that adopted by the Marquis Wellesley, and his great brother, in their arrange- ments for the royal family of Mysoor : yet the dynasty of Hyder Ali had been founded on recent usurpation, and overthrown in open fight; while that of Berar represented a native power of 150 years' duration, and long in peaceful alliance with the Company as a protected state. The age and reputa- tion of the Banka Bye, her former position as regert, the remarkable influence exer- cised by her during the late reign, and her 48 PROCEEDINGS OF BRITISH RESIDENTS AT NAGPOOR. uniform adhesion to the British govern- ment, — thescj together with the dying state of Unpoora Bye, the eldest of the rajah's widows, and the bereaved condition of them all, might well have dictated a more respect- ful consideration of their comphiints and misapprehensions, than is apparent in the brief but comprehensive account given by the supreme goverumeut, of the groundless charge which had been brought against the princesses : — " It now appears that the vakeel sent by the ranees of Nagpoor to Nepaul, was in- tended, not for the durbar, but for Major Ramsay, the resident there. Major Ramsay, when officiating resident at Nagpoor, was compelled to bring the late rajah to order. The rajah complained of him' to me, in 1848. The officiating resident was in the right, and, of course, was supported. It seems that these ladies now imagine that Major Ramsay's supposed hostility has in- fluenced me, and that his intercession, if obtained, might personally move me. The folly of these notions need not to be no- ticed. The vakeel not having been sent to the durbar, nothing more need be said about the matter."* The means used by Major Ramsay " to bring the rajah to order," had been pre- viously called in question, owing to certain passages in the despatch which had occa- sioned the supersession of Mr. Mansel. These passages are given at length, in evi- dence of the entirely opposite manner in which successive British residents at Nag- poor exercised the extraordinary powers en- trusted to them ; interfering in everything, or being absolutely nonentities (except as a drain upon the fiuauces of the state they were, barnacle-like, attached to), accord- ing to their temper of mind and habit of body. " In my arguments," says Mr. Mansel, " with natives upon the suhject of the expediency and pro- priety of the British government dealing with the Nagpoor case as a question of pure policy, I have put to them the position, that we had all of us at Nagpoor, for the last two years, found it impracti- • Minute, dated November, 1854. Pari. Papers (Annexation of Berar), p. 41. Signed — Dalhousie, J. Dorin, J. Low, J. P. Grant, B. Peacock. f Major Ramsay denies this; and, while bearing testimony to the " high character" of Mr. Mansel, says, that the policy adopted by the latter was radically opposed to his own, for that he had pur- sued the most rigid system of non-interference with any of the details of the local government; whereas Mr. Mansel appointed, or caused the appointment of, several individuals to responsible offices in the cable to carry on the government decently. I re- marked that Major Wilkinson, after a long struggle, succeeded in getting the rajah within his own in- fluence, and, by his fine sagacity and perfect ex- perience, had controlled him whenever he chose. Colonel Speirs, from decaying health, was latterly unable to put much check upon the rajah, though his perfect knowledge of affairs of the day here, and of Oriental courts in general, would otherwise have been most valuable. Major Ramsayf pursued a course of uncompromising interference, aiv* in a state of almost chronic disease, attempted a per- fect restoration to health. Mr. Davidson, as his health grew worse, left the rajah to do as he liked ; and under the argument, that it was better to work by personal influence than by fear, he left the rajah to do as he pleased, with something like the pretence of an invalid physician — that his patient would die with too much care, and required gentle treatment. During my incumbency, I found the rajah so much spoiled by the absolute indulgence of my prede- cessor, that I was gradually diiven to adopt the radical reform of Major Ramsay, or the extreme conservatism of Mr. Davidson ; and in the struggle which latterly ensued between myself and the rajah, his end was undoubtedly hastened by vexation at my insisting on his carrying out the reform in spirit as well as to the letter. • • • The argument of the natives, with whom I have frequently conferred on this subject, is, that the British residents at Nag- poor should participate in the blame charged to the rajah by myself; for if the same system of advice and check which was contemplated by the last treaty, had been carried out from first to last, the rajah would never have been tempted into the habits of indolence and avarice that latterly made him make his own court and the halls of justice a broker's shop, for the disposal of oSicial favours and the sale of justice. The answer to this is, that the British government does its best; that it sends its highest servants to a residency ; and if the principles or abilities of the different incumbents vary, it is only natural and incidental to any colonial system in tlie world. The result, however, is, that the management of the country gels into all kinds of embarrassment, of death, judicial corruption, and irresponsibility of ministers, when the readiest course is to resume those sovereign powers that were dele- gated on trust."J Surely the foregoing statements of the last " incumbent " of the Nagpoor resi- dency, afford a clear exposition of the mischievous effects of establishing, at the courts of native princes, a powerful func- tionary, whose office combines the duties of a foreign ambassador with those of a domes- tic counsellor, or rather dictator. If the Nagpoor government, and set apart particular days in tile week on which the heads of departments waited upon him at the residency, and submitted their reports and proceedings. — Letter of Major Ramsay to government, 5th February, 1855 — Pari. l'ap''rs, pp. 46 ; 53. I Letter of Commissioner Mansel, 29th April, 1854 — Pari. Papers, p. 7. See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 4'20, for an account of the circumstances under which the so-called delegation of sovereign powers was made in the case alluded to. ANNEXATION OF ODEIPORE— 1853. 49 resident be an upright man, he can scarcely fail to be distracted by the conflicting in- terests of the paramount and dependent states — the two masters whom he is bound to serve ; and if of a sensitive disposition, he cannot but feel the anomalous character of his situation at the elbow of a dependent sovereign, who must naturally regard him as something between a schoolmaster and a spy. No doubt there have been British residents whose influence has been markedly beneficial to native states ; not only for- merly, when their position was better de- fined, and, from circumstances, involved less temptation to, or necessity for, interference in the internal aff'airs of the state, but even of late years. The general effect, however, has been the deterioration and depression painted with half unconscious satire by Mr. Mansel, in the case of Nagpoor. The circumstances attending the annexa- tion of this state, have been dwelt on more on account of the incidental revelations which they involve of the practical working of a pernicious system, than from any special interest which attaches to the par- ticular question so summarily decided by Lord Dalhousie. No connected statement of the case has been made public on be- half of the princesses, notwithstanding the spirited attempts made by the Banka Bye to obtain a fair hearing. When the gov- ernor-general refused to receive any com- munication through her envoys, she sent them to England, in the hope of obtain- ing a reversal of the decision pronounced at Calcutta. The vakeels complained of the treatment which the ranees had met with, especially o*" the strict surveillance under which they were placed : their state- ments were published in the newspapers, and the new commissioner for Nagpoor (Mr. Plowden) took up the matter in re- sentment. Meantime, Unpoora Bye died (14th Nov., 1855), her end being embittered, and probably accelerated, by the same mental distress which is acknowledged to have hastened that of her husband. The aged maharanee abandoned further opposi- tion, and wrote to London to dismiss her vakeels (2nd Dec, 1855), on the ground that, instead of obeying her orders, and laying her case before the authorities in a supplicating way, so that her " honour and humble dignity might be upheld," they had displayed a great deal of imprudence, and used calumnious expressions against the British officers. She informed them, VOL. II. H with significant brevity, of the death of Un- poora Bye; adding — " Well, what has hap- pened, has happened." This letter, which is alike indicative of the character of the writer and of the dictation (direct or indi- rect) under which it was written, closes the series of papers, published by order of par- liament, regarding the annexation of Berar. The territory resumed from AH Morad, one of the Ameers of Sinde, in 1852, comprised an area of 5,412 square miles. The reason of the resumption has been already stated.* Odeipore is mentioned, in a Return (called for by the House of Commons ia April, 1858) "of the Territories and Tribu- taries in India acquired since the 1st of May, 1851," as having been annexed in 1853. The area comprises 2,306 square miles, with a population of 133,748 per- sons. This place must not be confounded with the two Oodipoors (great and small) in Rajast'hau, the absorption of which even Lord Dalhousie would scarcely have ven- tured on attempting. The territory resumed from Toola Ram Senaputtee, in Cachar, in 1853, comprises 2,160 acres of land ; but, unlike Odeipore, has only the disproportionate population of 5,015. t Hyderabad. — In 1853, the Nizam con- cluded a new treaty with the Company, by which he transferred to them one-third of his country, to meet the expenses of the con- tingent maintained by him, but disciplined and commanded by British officers. The resident. Major-general Eraser, when the proposition for the cession of territory first came under consideration in 1851, recom- mended nothing less than the deposition of the Nizam, and the assumption of sovereign power by the Company for a definite num- ber of years — a measure which he considered justified by the weak character of the Ni- zam, and the disorganised state of his ad- ministration. This proposition was at once rejected by Lord Dalhousie, who ably argued, that the transfer of the administra- tion to the British government would never be consented to by the Nizam ; that to im- pose it upon him without his consent, would be a violation of treaties ; that the Nizam was neither cruel, nor ambitious, nor tyrannical ; that his maladministration of his own kingdom did not materially affect the security of British territory, or the in- terests of British subjects; and that the • See Indian Empire, Tall body of troops to Lucknow, and issue the fiat of annexation. This done, everything, it was supposed, would go on in an easy, plain-sailing manner. The inhabi- The embroiderers in gold and silver thread tants might not be satisfied ; the zemindars were also reckoned by hundreds. The j might grumble a little in their forts ; the makers of rich dresses, fine tutbans, highly ; budmashes might frown and swagger in the ofnamettid shoes, and many other sUbordi- ' bazaar; but what of that? The power of nate tradfes, suffered severely from the cessa- the British was invincible."^ • Dacoitee in Excehis, p. 145. bins, of the Bengal civil service, financial commis- t Heply to Charges, ^c, p. 43. sioner for Oudh. London : Bentley, 1858 ; p. 70. 1 ikutiniei in Oudh; by Martin Richsord Gub- 1 % Bomhay AtheruiBum. ANNEXATION OF OUDE— 1856. 81 The minutes of the supreme council certainly tend to corroborate the foregoing opinion, by showing that the difficulties and dangers attendant on the annexation of Oude were very imperfectly appreciated. The refusal of the king to sign the proffered treaty (though previously deprecated by the governor-general as an insurmountable ob- stacle to direct absorption), seems to have been welcomed when it actually occurred, as an escape from an onerous engagement ; and the submission of all classes — heredi- tary chiefs, discarded officials, unemployed tradespeople, and disbanded soldiery — was looked for as a matter of course ; any con- cessions made by the annexators being vouchsafed as a matter of free grace, to be received with gratitude, whether it regarded the confirmation of an hereditary chicfdom, or a year's salary on dismissal from office. The king, Lord Dalhousie considered, by refusing to enter into any new engagement with the British government, had placed himself in entire dependence upon its plea- sure; and although it was desirable that " all deference and respect, and every royal honour, should be paid to his majesty Wajid Ali Shah," during his lifetime, together with a stipend of twelve lacs per annum, yet no promise ought now to be given of the continuance of the title, or of the pay- ment of the same amount of money to his lieirs. Messrs. Dorin, Grant, and Peacock concurred in this opinion ; but Major- general Low minuted against "the salary of the heirs" of Wajid Ali being left to the decision of a future government, the mem- bers of which would very probably not suffi- ciently bear in mind the claims of the Oude family on the British government for com- fortable income at least. The minute pro- ceeded to state, that though, for many rea- sons, it was to be regretted that the king had not signed the treaty, yet, in a pecuniary point of view, his refusal was advantageous. To himself the loss had been great; and, as he had issued all the orders and proclama- tions that could be desired, and had done his utmost to prevent all risk of strife at the capital, by dismounting liis artillery, guns, &c., it would be harsh, and not creditable to a great paramount state, which would " gain immense profit from the possession of the Oude territories," if, in addition to the punishment inflicted on the king, the income intended for his direct male heirs should also be curtailed. Major-general Low was in a minority of VOL. II. M one, as Mr. Peacock had been regarding the appropriation of the stu-plus revenue; and their opinions, in neither case, appear to have met with any consideration. The claims of the various classes of the popu- lation were treated in as summary and arbitrary a manner as those of their sove- reign ; and, owing to the peculiar constitu- tion of Oude, the experiment was a much more dangerous one in their case than in his. The administration was to be con- ducted, as nearly as possible, in accordance with the system which the experience of nearly seven j'ears had proved to be emi- nently sui^cessful in the provinces beyond the Sutlej ; that is to say, the measures which had been matured, and gradually carried through, in the conquered Punjab, by the co-operation of some of the most earnest and philanthropic men whom India has ever seen, was now to be thrust upon Oude, without any preliminary inquiry into its adaptation. In the Punjab, the Lawrences and their staff acted as a band of pacificators on an errand of love and mercy, rather than in the usual form of a locust-cloud of collectors. Such men, invested with considerable discretionary power, could scarcely fail of success ; yet one at least of them shrunk from enforcing the orders of government, and left the Punjab, because he could not bear to see the fallen state of the old officials and nobility.* In Oude, the newly-created offices, rather than the men who were to fill them, occupy the foreground of the picture. General Outram was appointed chief commissioner, with two special military assistants, a judi- cial and financial commissioner, four com- missioners of divisions, twelve deputy-com- missioners of districts, eighteen assistant- commissioners, and eighteen extra assis- tants, to begin with. An inspector of gaols was to be appointed as soon as the new ad- ministration should be fairly established ; and a promise was held out for the organisa- tion of a department of public works, to aid in developing the resources of the country. The pay of the new functionaries was to range from 3,500 rupees to 250 rupees a month (say from £4,200 to £300 a-year.) The number of native officials to be retained was, as usual, miserably small, and their re- muneration proportionately low. As a body, they were of course great losers by the revolution. * Arthur Cocks, chief assistant to the resident. — Ilaikes' Jicvolt in the North- West Provinces, p. 25. 82 NATIVE FUNCTIONARIES SUPERSEDED BY EUROPEANS. The king urged, as a special ground of complaint, the manner in which " writers, clerks, and other attaches" of departments had been supplanted by strangers. " Is it," he asks, " consistent with justice to de- prive people of the soil of situations of this nature, and bestow them on foreigners? Foreigners have no claim to support from the government of Oude, while natives of the soil are left without means of procuring their livelihood."* Mr. Gubl)ins, the financial commissioner for Oude, who was sent there at the period of the annexation, speaks of the sufferings of the nobility as having been aggravated by the neglect of the British functionaries. " The nobles had received large pensions from the native government, the payment of which, never regular, ceased with the intro- duction of our rule. Government had made liberal provision for their support; but be- fore this could be obtained, it was necessary to prepare careful lists of the grantees, and to investigate their claims. It must be admit- ted, that in effecting this there was undue delay ; and that, for want of common means of support, the gentry and nobility of the city were brought to great straits and suffering. We were informed that families which had never before been outside the zunana, used to go out at' night and beg their bread. "f "When Sir Henry Lawrence came to Lucknow, towards the close of March, 1857, we are told that he applied himself to cause the dispatch of the necessary documents, and gave the sufferers assurance of early pay- m'ent and kind consideration. But nearly fourteen months had dragged slowly away before iiis arrival ; and a smouldering mass of disaffection had meanwhile accumulated, which no single functionary, however good and gifted, could keep from bursting into a flame. The discharged soldiery of the native government, amounting to about 60,000 men, naturally regarded the new adminis- tration with aversion and hostility. Service was given to about 15,000 of them in newly- formed local regiments, and some found employment in the civil departments. The large proportion, for whom no permanent provision could be made, received small jiensions or gratuities : for instance, those who had served from twenty-five to thirty years, received one-fourth of their emolu- ments as pension ; and those who had served * Reply to Charges, p. 43. ■f Gubbins' Mutinies in Oiidh, p. 70. from seven to fifteen years, received three months' pay as a gratuity. Under seven years' service, no gratuity whatever appears to have been given to the unfortunates sud- denly turned adrift for no fault of their own. It was further decreed, that no person whatever should be recommended for pension or gratuity, who should decline employment ofiTered to him under the British govern- ment. J Of the late king's servants, civil and military, many remained without any per- manent provision; and not a few refused employ — some because they lioped that the native kingdom would be restored ; but the majority of the soldiery, on account of the severity of the British discipline. § By far the greatest difficulties in which the new government became involved, re- garded the settlement of titles to land. Con- sidering the long series of years during which at least the temporar}' assumption of the powers of administration had been con- templated by the British government, it is not a little surprising to find the governor- general in council avowedly unprovided witii " any information as to the extent and value of rent-free holdings in Oude, or as to the practice which may have prevailed under the native government in respect of these grants." Without waiting for any en- lightenment on the subject, rules are laid down " for the adjudication of claims of the class under consideration ;" and, as might have been reasonably expected, these rules worked badly for all parties. The despatch above quoted is very able, but decidedly bureaucratic throughout : its arbitrary provisions and minute details re- mind one of the constitutions which the Abbe Sieves kept in the pigeon-holes of his writing-table, ready for any emergency. No consideration was evinced therein for the peculiar state of society in Oude, or even for the prominent features portrayed by Colonel Sleeman in his honest but cur- sory investigation. The fact was, that Oude, instead of the exclusively Mohamme- dan kingdom, or the British dependency, which it was represented to be, was really a Hindoo confederacy, presided over by a foreign dynasty. The most powerful class were Rajpoot chiefs,- claiming descent from the sun and the moon ; who laughed to scorn the mushroom dynasty of Wajid Ali, and regarded, with especial contempt, his assumption of the kingly title. These men, X Oude Bine Booh for 1856, p. 278. § Gubbins' Mutinies in Oitdh, p. 69. THE TALOOKDARS OP OUDE. 83 united, might at any moment have compelled the Mohammedan ruler to abdicate or govern on just principles, had not co-operation for such an object been rendered impracticable by their own intestine strife. The state of things among them resembled that which brought and kept the Rajpoot princes under partial subjection : the faggots bound up together could not have been broken ; but it was easy to deal' with them one by one. Thus the suzerainty of the Mogul emperor was established over llajast'han; and thus, though somewhat more firmly, because on a smaller scale, the power of the usurping governors was fixed in Oiide. But the great jungle barons were overawed rather than subjugated ; and, in the time of Colonel Sleeman, the officers of the native government could uot examine into their rent-rolls, or measure their lands, or make any inquiry into the value of the estates, except at the risk of open rebellion. They had always a number of armed and brave retainers, ready to support them in any enterprise; and the amount was easily in- creased ; for in India there is seldom any lack of loose characters, ready to fight for the sake of plunder alone.* The talookdars were mostly the hereditary representatives of Rajpoot clans; but some were the heads of new families (Hindoo or Mohammedan), sprung from govern- ment officials, whose local authority had enabled them to acquire a holding of this description. The term " talookdar" means holder of a talook, or collection of villages, and, like that of zemindar (as used in Ben- gal), implied no right of property in the villages on behalf of which the talookdar engaged to pay the state a certain sum, and from which he realised a somewhat larger one, which constituted his remuneration. In fact, the property in the soil was actually vested in the village communities; who " are," says Mr. Gubbins, " the only pro- prietors of the soil ; and they value this right of property in the land above all earthly treasure. "t Over these talookdars there were govern- ment officers (with whom they have often been confounded), and who, under the title of Nazims or Cliukladars, annually farmed from government the revenues of large tracts of country for a certain fixed pay- ment; all that they could 'squeeze out in • Sleeman's Oade, vol. ii., pp. 1, 2. t Gubbins' Mulinies in Oudh, p. 61. i Letter on Oudh and its Talookdars, p. 2. excess being their own profit. "These men, from the necessities of their position, were," says Carre Tucker, " the greatest tyrauts and oppressors imaginable. Backed by artillery, and the armed force of gov- ernment, it was their business to rack-rent the country, extracting, within the year of their lease, all that they possibly could ; whilst landholders resisted their exactions by force of arms. A constant war was thus carried on, and the revenue payments varied according to the relative strength of the nazim and the landowners. To avoid such contests, and obtain the privilege of paying a fixed sum direct into the govern- luent ti'easury, many of the talookdars would bid for the farm of their owu part of the country. Such men, while acting as lord- lieutenants, would of course use their delegated uuthority to consolidate their influence over their own clan and tenantry, and also to usurp rights over independent' village communities." This system led to the most cruel oppression ; but it was sup- ported by the mmisters and courtiers of the king at Lucknow, as leading to an annual repetition of presents and bribes, without which no candidate could hope to obtain investiture as nazim or chukladar.J The government, not content with abo- lishing this manifest evil, attempted to re- volutionise, at a stroke, the whole state of society, by sweeping aside the entire class of chiefs and barons, with the incidents of their feudal tenure, and making the revenue settlement with the village communities and smaller holders. Hereditary rights, unquestioned during successive genera- tions, were confounded with those e.xer- cised by the revenue farmers ex officio, and the settlement officers were desired to deal with the proprietary coparcenaries which were believed to exist in Oude, and not to suft'er the interposition of middlemen, such as talookdars, farmers of the revenue, and such like. The claims of these, if they had any tenable ones, might be, it was added, more conveniently considered at a future period. Nothing could be more disheartening to the great landowners than this indefinite adjournment of any consideration of their claims ; which, in effect, acted like a decree of confiscation, with a distant and very slight chance of ultimate restitution. It was quite evident that the motive of the measure was expediency, aiul that the government had, as stated by the Times, 84 TALOOKDARS OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. " a natural leaning in favour of the peas.int cultivators, to the detriment of the war- like and turbulent chiefs," whom it was thought politic to put down ; and the plan of ignoring their ancient possessions had the additional advantage of bringing their manorial dues, averaging from ten to twenty per cent, on the village assessment, into the public exchequer. The summary settlement in Oude too far resembled that which had been pre- viously carried througli, with a high hand, in the North- West Provinces, concerning which much evidence has recently been made public. Mr. H. S. Boulderson, a Bengal civilian, engaged in establishing the revenue settlement of 1844, declares, that whether the talookdars in Oude experienced, or only anticipated, the same dealings from our government which the talookdars in the North-West Provinces received, they must have had a strong motive to dread our rule. "The 'confiscation' which has been pro- claimed against them — whether it really means confiscation, or something else — could not be more effectually destructive to what- ever rights they possessed, than the dis- graceful injustice by which the talookdars of the North-West Provinces were extin- guished." He asserts, that the settlement involved an utter inversion of the rights of property; and that the commissioners, in dealing with what they termed "the patent right of talookdaree," and which even they acknowledged to be an here- ditary right which had descended for cen- turies, treated it as a privilege dependent on the pleasure of government, and assumed the authority of distributing at pleasure the profits arising out of the limitation of their own demand.* The opinion of Sir William Sleeman has been already quoted concerning the treat- ment which the landed proprietors had re- ceived in the half of Oude annexed by the British government in 1801, and now in- cluded in the North-West Provinces. By his testimony, the measures, and the men who enforced them, were equally obnoxious to the native chiefs and talookdars ; being resolved on favouring the village communi- ties, to the exclusion of every kind of vested interest between them and the state trea- sury. Sir William states — " In the matter of discourtesy to the native * Minute on the Talookdaree cases, recorded on 2nd of April, 1844. Printed for private circulation in June, 1858 s p. 19. gentry, I can only say that Robert Martin Bird in- sulted them whenever he had the opportunity of doing so ; and that Mr. Thomason was too apt to imitate him in this, as in other things. Of course their example was followed by too many of their followers and admirers. * • • It has always struck me that Mr. Thomason, in his system, did all he could to discourage the growth of a middle and upper class on the land — the only kind of property on which a good upper and middle class could be sustained in the present state of society in India. His village republics, and the ryotwar system of Sir Thomas Munro at Madras, had precisely the same tendency to subdivide minutely property in land, and reduce all landholders to the common level of impoverishment. » • • Mr. Thomason would have forced his village republics upon any new country or jungle that came under his charge, and thereby rendered improvement impossible. • • • He would have put the whole under our judicial courts, and have thereby created a class of pettifog- ging attornies, to swallow up all the surplus produce of the land. • • • Mr. Thomason, I am told, systematically set aside all the landed aristocracy of the country as a set of middlemen, superfluous and mischievous. The only part of India in which I have seen a middle and higher class maintained upon the land, is the moderately settled districts of the Saugor and Nerbudda territories; and there is no part of India where our government and character are so much beloved and respected."f Mr. Gubbins makes some very impor- tant admissions regarding the revenue sys- tem pursued in the North-West Provinces, and that subsequently attempted in Oude. " The pressure of the governmeii': demand is, in many districts, greatly too iiigh. It is too high in Alighur, in Myupoorie, in Boolundshuhur, and throughout the greater pift of Rohilcund. The principle on which that settlement was made, was to claim, as the share of government, two-thirds of the nett rental. But the fraud and chicanery opposed to our revenue officers, caused them unwittingly to fix the demand at more than this share. In Oude, after repeated and most careful examination, I came un- hesitatingly to the conclusion, that the gov- ernment collector appropriated, if possible, the entire rent, and never professed to relinquish any part of it."t Of course, under a system which grasped at the entire rent of the so:!, there could be no landlord class : a very short period of time would suffice for their extinction ; and any so- called proprietary rights must, in due course, have also been annihilated. No arguments iu favour of the village system (excellent as this was in its place and degree), coidd justify the suppression of t Sleeman's Oude, vol. ii., p. 413. Letter to Mr. Colvin, dated "Lucknow,28th December, 1853." I Gubbins' Mutinies in Oudh. p. 73. SEPOYS AFFECTED BY ANNEXATION OF OUDE. 83 every other co-existing institution. But the projected change, even had it been un- exceptionable ill its tendency, was altogether too sudden : the village communities were not strong enough to feel safe in occupying the vantage-ground on which they were so unexpectedly placed; and many of them considered the rough-and-ready patriarchal sway of their chiefs but ill-exchanged for our harsh and unbending revenue system, and tedious and expensive law processes. Government erred grievously "in following supposed political and financial expediency, instead of ascertaining and maintaining existing rights in possession ; and in sup- posing, that in the course of a very hurried assessment of revenue by officers, many of whom were inexperienced, it was possible to adjudicate properly difficult claims to former rights.* Lord Dalhousie's succes- sor admits it to be too true, "that unjust decisions were come to by some of our local officers, in investigating and judging the titles of the landholders. "f The natural consequence was, as stated by General Outram, that the landholders, having been "most unjustly treated under our settle- ment operations," and "smarting, as they were, under the loss of their lands," with hardly a dozen exceptions, sided against us, when they saw that "our rule was virtually at an end, the whole country overrun, and the capital in the hands of the rebel soldiery ."J The yeomanry, whom we had prematurely attempted to raise to inde- pendence, followed the lead of their natural chiefs. All this might, it is alleged, have been prevented, had a fair and moderate assessment been made with the talookdar, wherever he had had clear possession for the legal limit of twelve years, together with a sub-settlement for the protection of the village communities and cultiva- tors. § Very contradictory opinions are enter- tained regarding the manner in which the British sepoys were affected by the annexa- tion of Oude. Mr. Gubbins admits, that when the muti- nies commenced in the Bengal army, the talookdars inOude were discontented and ag- grieved; numbers of discharged soldiers were brooding over the recollection of their former license; and the inhabitants of the cities * Letter on Oudh and its laloukJiirs ; by H. Carre Tucker : p. 5. t Despatch dated 3lst March, 1858.— Pari. Papers on Oude (Commons), 20th May, 18j3 ; p. 4. generally were impoverished and distressed ; but the sepoys, he says, had benefited by the change of government, and were rejoicing in the encouragement given to the village communities at the expense of the talook- dars. Thousands of sepoy families laid complaints of usurpation before the revenue officers, and " many hundreds of villages at once passed into their hands from those of the talooqdars ! Whatever the talooqdar lost, the sepoy gained. No one had so great cause for gratulation as he." The sepoys, although an exceptional class, had their own grievance, besides sharing in the general distrust and aversion enter- tained by the whole people at the idea of being brought under the jurisdiction of our civil courts ; as well as at the introduction of the Company's opium monopoly, and the abkaree, or excise, on the retail sale of all spirituous liquors and intoxicating drugs, the consumption of which was very large throughout Oude, and especially among the soldiery. Under the native government, the Bri- tish sepoys enjoyed special and preferential advantages, their complaints being brought to its notice by tiie intervention of the resident. Each family made a point of having some connection iu the British army, and, through him, laid their case before his commanding officer. The sepoy's petition was countersigned by the English colonel, and forwarded to the resident, by whom it was submitted to the king. || This privilege was not recognised or named in any treaty or other engagement with the sovereign of Oude, nor could its origin be traced in any document recorded in the resident's office ;^ but it was in full opera- tion at the time of our occupation of Oude ; and had been, for a long term of years, the subject of continued discussion between successive residents and the native durbar. Mr. Gubbins considers that the termina- tion of this custom could not have produced disaffection among the sepoys, because but little redress was thereby procured by them. " Some trifling alleviation of the injury complained of, might be obtained ; but that was all. That a sepoy plaintiff ever suc- ceeded in wresting his village from the grasp of the oppressor, by aid of the British t Despatch dated 8th March, 1858.— Pari. Pa- pers, p. 1. § Carre Tucker's Letter, p. 7. II Gubbins' Mutinies in Oudh, p. 64. ^ Sleeman's Oude, vol. i., p. 289. 86 SEPOY RIGHT OF APPEAL MUCPI ABUSED, resident, I never heard ; if it ever occurred, the cases must have been isolated and ex- traordinary."* The evidence of Sir W. Sleeman (whose authority is very high on this subject, iu his double cliaracter of officer and resident) is directly opposed to that above cited. He thought the privilege very important; but desired its abolition because it had been greatly abused, and caused intolerable annoyance to the native government. The military authorities, he said, desired its con- tinuance ; for though tiie honest and liard- woiking sepoys usually cared nothing about it, a large class of the idle and unscrupu- lous considered it as a lottery, in which they might sometimes draw a prize, or ob- tain leave of absence, as the same sepoy has been known to do repeatedly for ten months at a time, on the pretest of having a case pending iu Oude. Consequently, they en- deavoured to impress their superiors with the idea, "that the fidelity of the whole native army" depended upon the mainte- nance and extension of this right of appeal. And the privilege was gradually extended, until it included all the regular, irregular, and local corps paid by the British gov- ernment, with the native officers and se- poys of contingents employed in, and paid by, native states, who were drafted into them from the regular corps of our army up to a certain time — the total number amounting to between 50,000 and 60,000. At one period, the special right of the sepoys to t,lie resident's intervention extended to their most distant relatives ; but at the ear- nest entreaty of the native administnition, it was restricted to their wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. " Iu con- sequence, it became a common custom with them to lend or sell their names to more remote relations, or to persons not related to them at all. A great many bad charac- ters have, in this way, deprived men of lands which their ancestors had held iu undis- puted right of property for many genera- tions or centuries ; for the court, to save themselves from the importunity of the residency, has often given orders for the claimant being put in possession of the lauds without due inquiry, or any inquiry at all."t The use or abuse of the privilege de- pended chiefly on the character of the resi- * Oubbins' Mutinies in Oudh, p. 65. t Sleeman's Oude, voL i., pp. 288—292. t Ibid., p. 289. dent ; and tliat it was occasionally shame- fully abused, is a fact established, we are told, by the residency records. " If the resident happens to be an impatient, over- bearing man, he will often frighten the durbar and its courts, or local officers, into a hasty decision, by which the rights of others are sacrificed for the native officers and sepoys ; and if he be at the same time an unscrupulous man, he will sometimes direct that the sepoy shall be put in possession of what he claims, in order to relieve himself from his importunity, or from that of his commanding officer, without taking the trouble to inform himself of the grounds on which the claim is founded. Of all such errors there are, unhappily, too many instances recorded in the resident's office."| Sir W. Sleeman adduces repeated in- stances of sepoys being put in possession of landed estates, to which they had no right- ful claim, by the British government, at the cost of many lives; aud quotes, as an illus- tration of the notorious partiality with which sepoy claims were treated, the case of a shopkeeper at Lucknow, who pur- chased a cavalry uniform, and by pretending to be an invalid British trooper, procured the signature of the brigadier commanding the troops in Oude, to numerous petitions, which were sent for adjustment to the durbar through the resident. This pro- cedure he continued for fifteen years; and, to crown all, succeeded iu obtaining, by the aid of government, forcible possession of a landed estate, to which he had no manner of right. Soon after, he sent in a petition stating that he had been in turn ejected, aud four of his relations killed by the dis- possessed proprietor. Thereupon an in- quiry took place, and the whole truth came out. The King of Oude truly observed, with regard to this atfair : — " If a person known to thousands in the city of Lucknow is able, for fifteen years, to carry on such a trade successfully, how much more easy must it be for people in the country, not known to any in the city, to carry it on !"§ On one occasion, no less than thirty lives were lost in attempting to enforce an award iu favour of a British sepoy. On another, a sepoy came to the assistant-resident (Captain Shakespear), clamouring for jus- tice, and complaining that no notice of his petition had beeu taken by the native gov- ernment. On being questioned, he ad- mitted that no less than forty persons had been seized, and were iu prison, on liis re- quisition. § Letter of the King of Oude to the resident; 16th June, 1836. — Sleeman's Journey throu(/h Oude, vol. i., p. 286. BRITISH SEPOYS RECRUITED FROM BYSWARA AND BANODA. 87 As to punisliing the sepoys for preferring fraudulent claims, that was next to impos- silile, both on account of the endless trouble which it involved, and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of procuring a conviction from a court-martial composed of native officers ; the only alternative being, to lay the case before the governor-general. The natural consequence was, that ±he sepoys became most importunate, untruthful, and unscru- pulous in stating the circumstances of their claims, or the grounds of their com- plaints.* It is impossible to read the revelations of Colonel Sleemau on this subject, without feeling that the British authorities them- selves aggravated the disorganisation in the native administration, which was the sole plea for annexation. At the same time, it is no less clear, that the injustice perpe- trated on behalf of the sepoys, was calcu- lated to exercise a most injurious effect on their morals and discipline. The unmerited success often obtained by fraud and col- lusion, was both a bad example and a cause of disgust to the honest and scrupulous, on whom the burthen of duties fell, while their comrades were enjoying themselves in their homes, on leave of absence, obtained for the purpose of prosecuting unreasonable or false claims. Of the honest petitioners, few obtained what they believed to be full justice ; and where one was satisfied, four became discontented. Another cause of disaffection arose when it was found necessary to check the growing evil, by de- creeing that the privilege of urging claims through the resident should cease when native officers and sepoys were transferred from active service to the invalid establish- ment. Altogether, the result of making the se- poys a privileged class (in this, as in so many other ways), was equally disastrous to their native and European superiors. Colonel Sleeman says, that the British recruits were procured chiefly from the Byswara and Banoda divisions of Oude, whose in- habitants vaunt the quality of the water for tempering soldiers, as we talk of the water of Damascus for tempering sword- blades. " The air and water of JVIalwa," it is popularly said, "may produce as good trees and crops as those of Oude, but cannot produce as good soldiers." They are de- • Sleeman's Juurney through Oude, vol. i., p. 292. t Ibid., vol. i., p. 289. J See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 62. scribed as never appearing so happy as when fighting in earnest with swords, spears, and matchlocks, and consequently are not much calculated for peaceful citizens; but the British sepoys who came home on furlough to their families (as they were freely permitted to do in time of peace, not only to petition the native government, but also ostensibly to visit their families, on reduced pay and allowances), were the terror, even in the midst of this warlike population, of their non-privileged neighbours and co- sharers in the land. The partiality shown them did not pre- vent "the diminished attachment felt by the sepoys for their European officers" from becoming an established fact; and officers, when passing through Oude in their travels or sporting excursions, have of late years generally complained, that they received less civility from villages in which British in- valids or furlough sepoys were located, tl;an from any others; and that if anywhere treated with actual disrespect, such sepoys were generally found to be either the per^ petrators or instigators. f The evidence collected in preceding pages, seems to place beyond dispute, that the an- nexation of Oude, if it did not help to light the flames of mutiny, has fanned and fed them by furnishing the mutineers with refuge and co-operation in the territories which were ever in close alliance with us when they formed an independent kingdom ; but which we, by assuming dominion. over them on the sole plea of rescuing the inhabitants from gross misgovernment, have changed into a turbulent and insurrectionary pro- vince. The metamorphosis was not accomplislied by the deposition of the dynasty of Wajid Ali Shah. Indian princes generally, might, and naturally would, view with alarm so flagrant a violation of treatie.s, and of the first principles of the law of nations; but the Hindoos of Oude could have felt little regret for the downfall of a government essentially sectarian and unjust. The kings of Oude, unlike the majority of Moham- medans in India, were Slieiahs;J and so bigoted and exclusive, that no Sheiah could be sentenced to death at Lucknow for the murder even of a Sonnite, much less for that of a Hindoo. According to Colonel Sleeman, it was not only the law, but the everyday practice, that if a Hindoo mur- dered a Hindoo, and consented to become a Mussulman, he could not be executed for the crime, even though convicted and sentenced.* Under such a condition of things, it is at least highly probable, that a rigidly impar- tial and tolerant administration would have been a welconu -hange to the Hindoo popu- lation. That it iias proved the very reverse, is accounted for by the aggressive measures initiated by the new government, and the inefficient means by which their enforce- ment was attempted. The latter evil was, to a certain extent, un- avoidable. The Russian war deprived In- dia of the European troops, which Lord Dal- liousie deemed needful for the annexation of Oude : but this does not account for the grave mistake made in raising a contingent of 12,000 men, for the maintenance of the newly-annexed country, almost entirely from the disbanded native army. These levies, with half-a-dozen regular corps, formed the whole army of occupation. Sir Henry Lawrence foresaw the danger ; and in September, 1856, seven months be- fore the commencement of the mutiny, he urged, that some portion of the Oude levies should change places with certain of the Punjab regiments then stationed on the Indus. Oude, he said, had long been the Alsatia of India — the resort of the dissi- pated and disaffected of every other state, and especially of deserters from the British ranks. It had been pronounced hazardous tr employ the Seiks in the Punjab in 1849; and the reason assigned for the different policy now pursued in Oude was, that the former kingdom had been conquered, and the latter " fell in peace." Sir Henry pointed out the fallacy of this argument, and the materials for mischief which still remained in Oude, which he described as containing " 246 forts, besides innumerable smaller strongholds, many of them sheltered within thick jungles. In these forts are 476 guns. Forts and guns should all be in the hands of government, or the forts should be razed. Many a foolish fellow has been urged on to his own ruin by the possession of a paltry fort, and many a paltry mud fort has repulsed British tioops."t Tlie warning was unheeded. The gov- ernment, though right in their desire to * Sleeman's Oude, vol. i., p. 135. t Article on " Army Reform ;" by Sir H. Law- rence. — Calcutta Kirietc for September, 1856. J See Letter signed " Index," dated " Calcutta, De- CLiiiber 9th, 1857."— 3Vnics, January loth, 1858. protect and elevate the nliage communities, were unjust in the sweeping and indiscrimi- nating measures which they adopted in favour of the villagers, and for the increase in the public revenue, anticipated from the setting aside of the feudal claims of the so-called middlemen. Before attempting to revolutionise the face of society, it would have been only politic to provide uiTqtMs- tionable means of overawing the opposition which might naturally be expected from so warlike, not to say turbulent, a class as the Rajpoot chiefs. Had men of the Lawrence school been sent to superintend the " absorption" of Oude, it is probable they might have seen the danger, and suggested measures of con- ciliation ; but, on the contrary, it is asserted, that the European officials employed were almost all young and inexperienced men, and that their extreme opinions, and the corruption of their native subordinates, aggravated the unpopularity of the system they came to administer. Personal quarrels arose between the leading officers ; and the result was a want of vigour and co-opera- tion in their public proceedings.} Meantime, the obtainment of Oude was a matter of high-flown congratulation be- tween the home and Indian authorities. The Company have changed their opinion since ;§ but, at the time, they accepted the measure as lawful, expedient, and very cleverly carried out. Far from being disappointed at the want of enthusiasm evinced by the people in not welcoming their new rulers as deliverers, their passive submission (in accordance with the procla- mations of Wajid Ali Shah) called forth, from the Court of Directors, an expres- sion of " lively emotions of thankfulness and pleasure," at the peaceable manner in which " an expanse of territory embracing an area of nearly 25,000 square miles, and containing 5,000,000 inhabitants, has passed from its native prince to the Queen of Eng- land, without the expenditure of a drop of blood, and almost without a murmur." || Upon the assumption of the government of Oude, a branch electric telegraph was commenced to connect Cawnpoor and Luck- now. In eighteen working days it was completed, including the laying of a cablCj § See Despatch of the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors, 19th April, 1858.— Pari. Papers, 7th May, 1858; p. 4. II Despatcli dated December, 1856. — Onde Blue Bvuk for 1856; p. 288. FIRST TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE FROM OUDE, 1st MARCH, 1856. 89 6,000 feet in length, across the Ganges. On the morning of the 1st of March, Lord Dalhousie (who on that day resigned his oflBce) put to General Outram the signifi- cant question — "la all quiet in Oude?" The reply, " All is quiet in Oude," greeted Lord Canning on his arrival in Calcutta. On the previous day, a farewell letter had been written to the King of Oude by the retiring governor-general, expressing his satisfaction that the friendship which had so long existed between the Hon. East India Company and the dynasty of Wajid Ali Shah, should have daily become more firmly established. " There is no doubt," he adds, " that Lord Canning will, in the same manner as I have done, strengthening and confirming this friendship, bear in mind and give due consideration to the treaties and engagements which are to e&ist for ever."* It is difficu.lt to understand what diplo- matic purpose was to be served by this reference to the eternal duration of treaties which had been declared null and void, and engagements proffered by one party, which the other had at all hazards persisted in rejecting; or why Lord Palhouaie, so clear, practical, and upright in his general cha- racter, should seem to have acted so unlike himself in all matters connected with what may be termed his foreign policy. It must not, however, be forgotten, that that policy, in all its circumstances, was sanctioned and approved, accepted and rewarded, by the £ast India Company. Lord Dalhousie's measures were consistent throughout ; and he enjoyed the confidence and support of the directors during the whole eight years of his administration, in a degree to which few, if any, of his prcde^ cessors ever attained. It was the unquali- fied approval of the home authorities that rendered the annexation policy the promir nent feature of a system which the people of India, of every creed, clime, and tongue, looked upon as framed for the express pur- pose of extinguishing all native sovereignty and rank. And, in fact, the measures lately pursued are scarcely explicable on any other ground. The democratic element is, no doubt, greatly on the increase in England ; yet our institutions and our pre- judices are monarchical and aristocratic : • Letter, vouched for as a true translation by Robert Wilberforce Bird, and printed in a pam- phlet entitled Case of the King of Oude ; by Mr. John Davenport: August 27th, 18u6. VOL. II. N and nothing surprises our Eastern fellow- subjects more, than the deference and courtesy paid by all ranks in the United Kingdom, to rajahs and nawabs, who, in their hereditary principalities, had met — as many of them aver — with little civility, and less justice, at the hands of the representa- tives of the East India Company. Yet, it was not so much a system as a want of system, which mainly conduced to bring about the existing state of things. The constant preponderance of e:(penditure above income, and an ever-present sense of precariousnesSj have been probably the chief reasons why the energies of the Anglo- Indian government have been, of late years, most mischievously directed to degrading kings, chiefs, nobles, gentry, priests, and landowners of various degrees, to one dead level of poverty — little above pauperism. We have rolled, by sheer brute force, an iron grinder over the face of Hindoo society — crushed every lineament into a disfigured mass — squeezed from it every rupee that even torture could extract ; and lavished the money, thus obtained, on a small white oligarchy and an immense army of mercenary troops, who were believed to b'j ready, at any moment, to spread fire and the sword wherever any opposition should be offered to the will of the paramount power, whose salt they ate. We thought the sepoys would always keep down the native chiefs, and, when they were destroyed, the people ; and we did not anticipate the swift approach of a time when we should cry to the chiefs and peo- ple to help us to extinguish the incendiary flames of our own camp, and to wrench the sword from the hands in which we had so vauntingly placed it. In our moment of peril, the defection of the upper classes of Hindoostan was "almost universal." But surely it is no wonder that they should have shown so little attachment to our rule, when it is admitted, even by the covenanted civil service, that they " have not much to thank us for." Throughout British India, several native departments are declared to have been " grossly underpaid," particularly the police service, into which it has been found diffi- cult to get natives of good family to enter at all. In revenue offices, they were for- merly better paid than at present. The general result of our proceedings has been, that at the time of the mutiny, " the nativg 90 HEAVY EXPENDITURE CONSEQUENT ON POLYGAMY. gentry were daily becoming more reduced, were pinched by want of means, and were therefore discontented."* It is difficult to realise the full hardship of their position. Here were men who would have occupied, or at least have had the chance of occupying, the highest positions of th^ state under a native government, and who were accustomed to look to the service of the sovereign as the chief source of honourable and lucrative employment, left, frequently with no alternative but starvation or the acceptance of a position and a salary under foreign masters, that their fathers would have thought suitable only for their poorest retainers. Not one of them, however ancient his lineage, how- ever high his attainments, could hope to be admitted within the charmed circle of the covenanted civil service, as the equal of the youngest writer, or even in the army, to take rank with a new-fledged ensign. The expenses of an Asiatic noble are enormous. Polygamy is costly in its inci- dentals ; and the head of a great family is looked to, not only for the maintenance of his own wives and children, in a style pro- portionate to their birth, but also of those of his predecessors. The misery which the levelling policy produced, was severely felt by the pensioners and dependents of the fallen aristocracy, by the aged and the sick, by women and children. And this latter fact explains a marked feature in the present rebellion; namely, the number of women who have nlayed a leading part in the in- surrection. The Ranee of Jhansi, and her sister, with other Hindoo princesses of less note, have evinced an amount of ability and r«solve far beyond that of their country- men; and the cause of disaflfection with almost all of these, has been the setting aside of their hereditary rights of succes- sion and of adoption. They have viewed the sudden refusal of the British govern- ment to sanction what they had previously encouraged, as a most faithless and arbitrary procedure; and many chiefs, whose hosti- lity is otherwise unaccountable, will pro- bably, like the chief of Nargoond, prove to have been incited to join the mutineers .chiefly, if not exclusively, by this particular grievance. • Oubbins' Mutinies m Oudh, pp. 56, 57. t Regulation xxxi., of 1803. X For instance, in the alienation of a part of the revenues of the post-office, and other public depart- ments ; enacted in the case of certain noble families. A branch of the annexation question, in which the violation of rights of succes- sion is also a prominent feature, yet re- mains to be noticed — namely, the Resumption of Rent-free Lands; whereby serious disaffection has been produced in the minds of a large class of dispossessed proprietors. All rightful tenure of this kind is described, in the regulations of the East India Company, as based upon a well- known provision "of the ancient law of India, by which the ruling power is entitled to a certain proportion of the annual pro- duce of every beegah (acre) of land, except- ing in cases in which that power shall have made a temporary or permanent alienation of its right to such proportion of the pro- duce, or shall have agreed to receive, instead of that proportion, a specific sum annually, or for a term of years, or in perpetuity."t Both Hindoo and Mohammedan sove- reigns frequently made over part, or the whole, of the public revenue of a village, or even of a district, to one of their ofiicers; they often assigned it in jaghire for the maintenance of a certain number of troops, or gratuitously for life, as a reward for service done; and sometimes in perpetuity. In the latter case, the alienation was more complete than that practised in the United Kingdom; J for here titles and estate escheat to the state on the death of the last legal representative of a family; but, among the Hindoos, such lapse never, or most rarely occurs, since all the males marry, in child- hood generally, several wives ; and their law vests rights of succession and adoption in the widows of the deceased. These rights were acknowledged equally by Hindoo and Moslem rulers — by the Peishwa of Poona, and the Nawab-vizier of Oude; the only difference being, that in the event of adop? tion, a larger nuzzurana, or tributary offer- ing, was expected on accession, than if the heir had been a son by birth : in other words, the legacy duty was higher in the one case than the other. " Euam," or " gift," is the term commonly given to all gratuitous grants, whether temporary or in perpetuity — whether to individuals, or for religious, charitable, or educational purposes : but it is more strictly applicable to endowments of the latter de- scription ; in which case, the amount of state-tribute transferred was frequently very considerable, and always in perpetuity. "A large proportion of the grants to indi- viduals," Mountstuart Elphinstone writes. RESUMPTION COMMISSION APPOINTED IN BENGAL -1836. 91 " are also ia perpetuity, and are regarded as among the most secure forms of private property ; but the gradual increase of such instances of liberality, combined with the frequency of forged deeds of gift, some- times induces the ruler to resume the grants of his predecessors, and to burden them with heavy taxes. When these are laid on transfers by sales, or even by succession, they are not thought unjust ; but total re- sumption, or the permanent levy of a fixed rate, is regarded as oppressive."* During the early years of the Company's rule, the perpetual enam tenures were sedu- lously respected; but as the supreme govern- ment grew richer in sovereignty, and poorer in purse (for the increase of expenditure always distanced that of revenue), the col- lectors began to look with a covetous eye on the freeholders. They argued, truly enough, that a great many of the titles to laud were fraudulent, or had been fraudu- lently obtained ; and in such cases, where grounds of suspicion existed, any govern- ment would have been in duty bound to make inquiry into the circumstances of the original acquisition. But instead of investigating certain cases, a general inquiry was instituted into the whole of them; the principle of which was, to cast on every enamdar the burthen of proving his right — a demand which, of course, many of the ancient holders must have found it impossible to fulfil. The lapse of centuries, war, fire, or negligence might, doubtless, have occasioned the destruction of the deeds. Some of the oldest were, we know, engraven on stone and copper, in long- forgotten characters ; and few of the com- missioners could question the witnesses in the modern Bengalee or Hindoostani, much less decipher Pali or Sanscrit. A commission of inquiry was instituted in Bengal in 1836, " to ascertain the grounds on which claims to exemption from the payment of revenue were founded, to confirm those for which valid titles were produced, and to bring under assessment those which were held without authority ."f In theory, this sounds moderate, if not just; in prac- tice, it is said to have proved the very reverse, and to have cast a blight over the The expense of whole of Lower Bengal. * Quoted in evidence before Colonization Com- mittee of House of Commons, of 1858. — Fourth Re- port, published 28th July, 1858; p. 36. t Statement of the East India Company. I Fourth lleport of Colonization Committee, p. 47. the commission was, of course, enormous; and even in a pecuniary sense, the profit reaped by government could not compensate for the ruin and distress caused by proceed- ings which are asserted to have been so notoriously unjust, that " some distinguished civil servants" refused to take any part in them. J Mr. Edmonstone, Mr. Tucker, and a few of the ablest directors at the East India House, protested, but in vain, against the resumption laws, which were acted upon for many years. The venerable Marquess Wellesley, a few weeks before his decease (July 30th, 1842), wrote earnestly to the Earl of EUenborough (then governor-gen- eral), as follows : — " I am concerned to hear that some inquiry has been commenced respecting the validity of some of the tenures under the permanent settlement of the land revenue. This is a most vexatious, and, surely, not a prudent measure. Here the maxim of sound ancient wisdom applies most forcibly — ' Quieta non movere.' We ancient English settlers in Ireland have felt too severely the hand of Strafford, in a similar act of oppression, not to dread any similar proceeding." Strafford, however, never attempted any- thing in Ireland that could be compared with the sweeping confiscation which is de- scribed as having been carried on in Ben- gal, where " little respect was paid to the principles of law, either as recognised in England or in India;" and where, " it ia said, one commissioner dispossessed, in a single morning, no less than two hundred pro- prietors."§ In the Chittagong district, an insurrection was nearly caused by " the wholesale sweep- ing away of the rights of the whole popu- lation ;" and in the Dacca district, the com- mission likewise operated very injuriously. || The general alarm and disaffection ex- cited by these proceedings, so materially affected the public tranquillity, that the Court of Directors was at length compelled to interfere, and the labours of the Bengal commission were fortunately brought to a close some years before the mutiny.^ The enam commission appointed for the Deccan, was no less harsh and summary ia § Quarterly Retiew, 1858. — Article on " British India ;" attributed to Mr. Layard : p. 257. II See Second Report of Colonization Committee of 1858; p. 60. ^ Quarterly Review, 1858; p. 257. 92 ENAM COMMISSION APPOINTED IN THE DECCAN— 1851. its proceedings, the results of which are now stated to afford the people their " first and gravest cause of complaint against the gov- ernment."* Due investigation ought to have been made in 1818, when the dominions of the Peishwa first became British territory, into the nature of the grants, whether hereditary or for life; and also to discover whether, as was highly probable, many fraudulent claims might not have been established under the weak and corrupt administration of the last native ruler, Bajee Rao. All this might have been done in perfect con- formity with the assurance given by the tranquilliser of the Deccan (Mountstuart Elphinstone), that " all wuttuns and enams (birthrights and rent-free lands), annual stipends, religious and charitable establish- ments, would be protected. The proprietors were, however, warned that they would be called upon to show their sunnuds (deeds of grant), or otherwise prove their title."t Instead of doing this, the government suffered thirty years to elapse — thus giving the proprietors something of a prescriptive right to their holdings, however acquired ; and the Court of Directors, as late as Sep- tember, 18-t6, expressly declared, that the principle on yrhich they acted, was to allow enams (or perpetual alienations of public revenue, as contradistinguished from surin- jams, or temporary ones) to pass to heirs, as of right, without need of the assent of the paramount power, provided the adop- tion, were regular according to Hindoo law.J The rights of widows were likewise dis- tinctly recognised, until the " absorption" policy came into operation ; and then inves- tigations into certain tenures were insti- tuted, which paved the way for a general enam commission for the whole Bombay presidency ; by which all enamdars were compelled to prove possession for a hundred years, as an indispensable preliminary to being confirmed in the right to transmit their estates to lineal descendants — the future claims of widows and adopted sons being quietly ignored. The commission was composed, not of judicial officers, but of youths of the civil service, and of captains and subalterns taken from their regiments, and selected princi- • Quarterly Review, p. 259. t Proclamation of Mr. Elphinstone ; and instruc- tions issued to collectors in 1818. X Fourth Report of Colonization Comn.ittee, p. 35. § IhiJ. pally on account of their knowledge of the Mahratta languages; while, at the head of the commission, was placed a captain of native infantry, thirty-five years of age.§ These inexperienced youths were, besides, naturally prejudiced in deciding upon cases in which they represented at once the plaintiff and the judge. The greater the in- genuity they displayed in upsetting claims, the greater their chance of future advance- ment. Every title disallowed, was so much revenue gained. Powers of search, such as were exercised by the French revolutionary committees, and by few others, were en- trusted to them ; and their agents, accom- panied by the police, might at any time of the night or day, enter the houses of persons in the receipt of alienated revenue, or ex- amine and seize documents, without giving either a receipt or list of those taken. The decisions of previous authorities were freely reversed ; and titles admitted by Mr. Brown in 1847, were re-inquired into, and disallowed by Captain Cowper in 1855.11 An appeal against a resumptive decree might be laid before the privy council in London ; and the rajah of Burdwan suc- ceeded in obtaining the restoration of his lands by this means.^ But to the poorer class of ousted proprietors, a revised ver- dict was unattainable. Few could afford to risk from five to ten thousand pounds in litigation against the East India Com- pany. But, whatever their resources, it was making the evils of absentee sovereignty- ship most severely and unwisely felt, to re- quire persons, whose families had occupied Indian estates fifty to a hundred years and upwards, to produce their title-deeds in England ; and to make little or no allow- ance for the various kinds of proof, which, duly weighed, were really more trustworthy, because less easily counterfeited, than any written documents. The commissioners on whom so onerous a duty as the inquiry into rent-free tenures was imposed, ought at least to have been tried and approved men of high public character, who would neither hurry over cases by the score, nor suffer them to linger on in needless and most harassing delays ; as the actual functionaries are accused of H Quarterly Review, p. 258. Stated on the autho- rity of " Correspondence relating to the Scrutiny of the revised Surinjara and Pension Lists." Printed for government. Bombay, 1856. 51 Second Report of Colonization Committee, p. 9. REVENUE SETTLEMENT OF N. W. PROVINCES A FAILURE. 93 having done, according to their peculiar propensities. Perhaps it would have been better to have acted on altogether a different system, and acknowledged the claim estab- lished by many years of that undisturbed possession which is everywhere popularly looked upon as nine-tenths of the law; and, while recognising all in the positions in which we found them on the assumption of sovereignty, to have claimed from all, either a yearly subsidy or (in pursuance of the practice of native sovereigns) a succession duty. At least, we should thereby have avoided the expense and odium incurred by the institution of a tribunal, to which Lieu- tenant-governor Halliday's description of our criminal jurisdiction would seem to apply — viz., that it was " a lottery, in which, however, the best chances were with the criminal." On the outbreak of the rebellion, the resumption commission was brought suddenly to a close; its introduction into Guzerat (which had been previously con- templated) was entirely abandoned, and some of the confiscated estates were restored. Bat the distrust inspired by past proceed- ings will not easily be removed, especially as the feeling of ill-usage is aggravated by the fact, that in border villages belonging jointly to the Company and to Indian princes, the rent-free lands, on the side be- longing to the former, have been resumed, while those on the latter remain intact.* In the North-West Provinces, the gov- ernment avoided incurring the stigma of allowing a prescriptive right of possession and transmission to take root through their neglect, by immediately making a very summary settlement. The writings of Sleeman, Raikes, Gubbins and others, to- gether with the evidence brought before the colonization committee, tend to prove the now scarcely disputed fact, that the at- tempted revenue settlement of the I'.orth- West Provinces, and the sweeping away of the proprietary class as middlemen, has proved a failure. With few exceptions, the ancient proprietors, dispossessed of their estates by the revenue collectors, or by sales under decrees of civil courts, have taken advantage of the recent troubles to return, and have been suffered, and even encouraged, to do so by the ryots and small tenants, to whom their dispossession would have appeared most advantageous. f • Quarterly Review, p. 259. t Ibid., n. 251. X Minute on Talookdaree cases; by Mr. Boulueraon. 5 Quarterly Review (July, 1858), p. 260. A number of cases of alleged indivi- dual injustice towards the rajahs and talook- dars, were collected, and stated, in circum- stantial detail, in a minute laid before Mr. Thomason (the lieutenant-governor of Agra in 1844), by Mr. Boulderson, a mem- ber of the Board of Revenue ; who eventu- ally resigned his position, sooner than be associated in proceedings which he believed to be essentially unjust. His chief ground of complaint was, that the board, instead of instituting a preliminary inquiry into what the rights of talookdars and other proprie- tors really were, acted upon a priori argu- ments of what they mnst be ; and never, in, any one of the many hundred resumptions made at their recommendation, deemed the proofs on which the proceedings rested, worthy of n moment's inquiry. After reciting numerous instances of dis- possession of proprietors who had held es- tates for many years, and laid out a large amount of capital in their improvement, the writer adds ; — " I have in vain endeavoured, hitherto, to rouse the attention of my colleague and government to this virtual abolition of all law. • • • The respect of the native public I know to have been shaken to an inexpressible degree : they can see facts ; and are not blinded by the fallacious reason- ings and misrepresentations with which the board have clothed these subjects ; and they wonder with amazement at the motives which can prompt the British government to allow their own laws — all laws which give security to property — to be thus belied and set aside. All confidence in property or its rights is shaken ; and the villany which has been taught the people they will execute, and reward the government tenfold into their own bosom."J In a Preface, dated " London, 8th June, 1 858," Mr. Boulderson states, that his minute " produced no effect in modifying or stay- ing the proceedings" of the revenue board ; and if " forwarded to England, as in due official course it should have been, it must have had as little effect upon the Hon. Court of Directors." Even in the Punjab, the system pursued was a levelling one. Notwithstanding all that the Lawrences and their disciples did to mitigate its severity, and especially to conciliate the more powerful and aggrieved chiefs, the result is asserted to have been, to a great extent, the same there as in the Deccan : " the aristocracy and landed gentry who have escaped destruction by the settlement, have been ruined by the re- sumption of alienated land."§ Thus annexation and resumption, confis- cation and absorption, have goue hand-in- 94 KAKA ABBOTT AND JOHN BECHER IN HUZAKA. hand, with a rapidity which would have been dangerous even had the end in view and the means of attainment been both unex- ceptionable. However justly acquired, the entire reorganisation of extensive, widely scattered, and, above all, densely populated territories, must always present difficulties which abstract rules arbitrarily enforced can never satisfactorily overcome. The fifteen million inhabitants brought by Lord Dalhousie under the immediate government of the British Crown, were to be, from the moment of annexation, ruled on a totally different system : native institutions and native administrators were expected to give place, without a murmur, to the British commissioner and his subordinates ; and the newly absorbed territory, whatever its his- tory, the character of its population, its languages and customs, was to be " settled," without any references to these important antecedents, on the theory which found favour with the Calcutta council for the time being. Many able officials, with much ready money, and a thoroughly efficient army to support them, were indispensable to carry through such a system. In the Punjab, these requisites were obtained at the ex- pense of other provinces; and the picked men sent there, were even then so few iu number and so overworked, that they scarcely had time for sleep or food. Their private purse often supplied a public want. Thus, James Abbott was sent by Sir Henry Lawrence to settle the Huzara dis- trict, which he did most effectually ; going from valley to valley, gaining the confidence of all the tribes, and administering justice in the open air under the trees — looking, with his long grey beard on his breast, and his grey locks far down his shoulders, much more like an ancient patriarch than a deputy- commissioner. " Kaka," or " Uncle" Ab- bott, as the children called him (in return for the sweetmeats which he carried in readiness for them), took leave of the people in a very characteristic fashion, by inviting the entire population to a feast on the Nara hill, which lasted three nights and days; and he left Huzara with only a month's pay in his pocket, " having literally spent all his substance on the people." His successor, John Becher, ably fills his place, " living in a house with twelve doors, and • See the graphic description given by Colonel Herbert Edwardes, of Sir Henry Lawrence's old Staff in the Punjab, previous to annexation. — all open to the people. * * * The re- sult is, that the Huzara district, once famous for turbulence, is now about the quietest, happiest, and most loyal in the Punjab."* Of course, Kaka Abbott and his successor, much less their lamented head (Sir Henry Lawrence), cannot be taken as average specimens of their class. Such self-devo- tion is the exception, not the rule : it would be asking too mucli of human nature, to expect the entire civil service to adopt what Colonel Herbert Edwardes calls the Baha- duree (summer-house) system of administra- tion, and keep their cutcherries open, not " from ten till four" by the regulation clock, but all day, and at any hour of the night that anybody chooses.f Neither can chief commissioners be expected, or even wished, to sacrifice their health as Sir Henry Lawrence did in the Punjab, where, amid all his anxieties for the welfare of the mass, he preserved his peculiar character of being pre-eminently the friend of the man that was dowu; battling with government for better terms for the deposed officials and depressed aristocracy, and caring even for thieves and convicts. He originated gaol reform; abolished the "night-chain," and other abominations ; introduced in-door labour ; and himself superintended the new measures — going from gaol to gaol, and rising even at midnight to visit the pri- soners' barracks. J The manner iu which the Punjab was settled is altogether exceptional : the men employed certainly were ; so also was the large discretionary power entrusted to them. Elsewhere matters went on very differently. The civil service could not furnish an effi- cient magistracy for the old provinces, much less for the new ; the public treasury could not satisfy the urgent and long reite- rated demand for public works, canals to irrigate the land, roads to convey produce, and avert the scourge of famine, even from Bengal : how, then, could it spare ready money to build court-houses and gaols in its new possessions? Like Aurungzebe, in the Deccan, we swept away existing institutions without being prepared to replace them, and thereby became the occasion of sufferings which we had assumed the responsibility of pre- venting. Thus, in territories under British government, the want of proper places of Quoted in Raikes' Revolt in the North-West Pro- vinces, p. 25. t Ibid., p. 29. t rbid., p. 34. NATIVE OFFICIALS CORKUPT BECAUSE UNDERPAID. 95 confinement is alleged to be so great, that " prisoners of all classes are crammed toge- ther into a dungeon so small, that, when the sun goes down, they fight for the little space upon which only a few can lie during the weary night. Within one month, forty die of disease, produced by neglect, want of air, and filth. The rest, driven to despair, attempt an escape ; twenty are shot down dead. Such is a picture — and not an ima- ginary picture — of the results of one of the most recent cases of annexation !"* Even supposing the above to be an ex- treme, and, in its degree, an isolated case, yet one such narrative, circulated among the rebel ranks, would serve as a reason for a general breaking open of gaols, and as an incitement and excuse for any excesses on the part of the convicts, to whom, it will be remembered, some of the worst atrocities committed during the rebellion are now generally attributed. In fact, the increase of territory, of late years, has been (as the Duke of Wellington predicted it would be) greatly in excess of our resources. Annex we might, govern we could not ; for, in the words of Prince Metternich, we had not " the material."t That is, we had not the material on which alone we choose to rely. Native agency we cannot indeed dispense with : we could not hold India, or even Calcutta, a week with- out it ; but we keep it down on the lowest steps of the ladder so effectually, that men of birth, talent, or susceptibility, will serve us only when constrained by absolute poverty. They shun the hopeless dead- level which the service of their country is now made to offer them. Our predecessors in power acted upon a totally different principle. Their title was avowedly that of the sword ; yet they dele- gated authority to the conquered race, with a generosity which puts to shame our ex- clusiveness and distrust ; the more so be- cause it does not appear that their confi- dence was ever betrayed. Many of the ablest and most faithful servants of the Great Moguls were Hin- doos. The Moslem knew the prestige of ancient lineage, and the value of native ability and acquaintance with the resources of the country too well, to let even bigotry stand in the way of their employment. • Quarterly Revtew (July, 1858), p. 273. + Quoted by Mr. Layard, in a Lecture delivered at St. James's Hall, Piccadilly, on bis return from India, May llth, 1838. The command of the imperial armies was repeatedly intrusted to Rajpoot generals > and the dewans (chancellors of the exche- quer) were usually Brahmins : the famous territorial arrangements of Akber are insepa- rably associated with the name of Rajah Todar Mul ; and probably, if we had availed ourselves of the aid of native financiers, and made it worth their while to serve us well, our revenue settlements might have been ere now satisfactorily arranged. If Hindoos were found faithful to a Moslem govern- ment, why should they not be so to a Christian one, which has the peculiar ad- vantage of being able to balance the two great antagonistic races, by employing each, so as to keep the other in check ? Of late, we seem to have been trying to unite them, by giving them a common cause of complaint, and by marking the subor- dinate position of native officials more offensively than ever. They are accused of corruption — so were the Europeans : let the remedy employed in the latter case be tried in the former, and the re- sult will be probably the same. The need of increased salary is much greater in the case of the native official. Let the government give him the means of supporting himself and his family, and add a prospect of promotion : it will then be well served. By the present system we proscribe the higher class, and miserably underpay the lower. The result is unsatisfactory to all parties, even to the government ;■ which, though it has become aware of the neces- sity of paying Europeans with liberality, still withholds from the native "the fair day's wage for the fair day's work." Latr terly, the Europeans may have beei; in some cases overpaid ; but the general error seems to have lain, in expecting too much from them ; the amount of writing required by the Company's system, being a heavy addition to their labours, especially in the newly an- nexed territories. The natural consequence has been, that while a certain portion of the civilians, with the late governor-general at their head, lived most laboriously, and de- voted themselves wholly to the duties be- fore them ; others, less zealous, or less capable, shrunk back in alarm at the pros- pect before them, and, yielding to the in- fluences of climate and of luxury, fell into the hands of interested subordinates — signed the papers presented by their clerks, and, in the words of their severest censor, " amused 96 FIRST SEPOY BATTALION ORGANISED BY CLIVE— 1737. themselves, and kept a servant to wash each separate toe."* Under cover of their names, corruption and extortion has been practised to an almost incredible extent. Witness the ex- posure of the proceedings of provincial courts, published in 1849, by a Bengal civilian, of twenty-one years' standing, under the title of Revelations of an Orderly. An attempt has been made to remedy the insufficient number of civilians, by taking military men from their regiments, and employing them in diplomatic and adminis- trative positions ; that is to say, the Indian authorities have tried the Irishman's plan of lengthening the blanket, by cutting off one end and adding it to the other. The injurious effect which this practice is said to have exercised on the army, is noticed in the succeeding section. Tke Slate of the Indian Army, and the alleged Causes of the Disorganisation and Disaffection of the Bengal Sepoys, remain to be considered. The origin of the native army, and the various phases of its progress, have been described in the earlier chapters of this work. We have seen how the rest- less Frenchman, Dupleix, raised native levies, and disciplined them in the Euro- pean fashion at Pondicherry ;t and how these were called sepoys (from sipahi, Por- tuguese for soldier), in contradistinction to the topasses (or hat-wearers) ; that is to say, to the natives of Portuguese descent, and the Eurasians, or half-castes, of whom small numbers, disciplined and dressed in the Eu- ropean style, were entertained by the East India Company, to guard their factories. Up to this period, the policy of the Merchant Adventurers had been essentially commercial and defensive ; but the French early mani- fested a political and aggressive spirit. Dupleix read with remarkable accuracy the signs of the times, and understood the op- portunity for the aggrandisement of his nation, offered by the rapidly increasing disorganisation of the Mogul empire, and the intestine strife which attended the as- sertion of independence by usurping gov- ernors and tributary princes. He began to take part in the quarrels of neighbouring potentates ; and the English levied a native soldiery, and followed his example. The first engagement of note in which the * Sir Charles Napier. — Life and Opinions. t See Indian Empire, vol. i., pp. 114; 258; 304; 633. British sepoys took part, was at the capture of Devicotta, in 1748, when they made an orderly advance with a platoon of Europeans, as a storming party, under Robert Clive. Three years later, under the same leader, a force of 200 Europeans and 300 sepoys, marched on, regardless of the superstitions of their countrymen, amid thunder and lightning, to besiege A^cot ; and having succeeded in taking the pftCB, they gallantly and successfully defended it against an almost overwhelming native force, supported by French auxiliaries. The augmentation in the number of the sepoys became very rapid in proportion to that of the European troops. The expedi- tion with which Clive and Watson sailed from Madras in 1756, to recapture Calcutta from Surajah Dowlah, consisted of 900 Europeans and 1,500 natives. The total military force maintained by the English and French on the Madras coast was at this time nearly equal, each com- prising about 2,000 Europeans and 10,000 natives. The British European force was composed of H. M.'s 39th foot, with a small detail of Royal Artillery attached to serve the regimental field-pieces ; the Madras Euro, pean regiment, and a strong company of artillery. The sepoys were supplied with arms and ammunition from the public stores, but were clothed in the native fashion, commanded by native ofiBcers, and very rudely disciplined. At the commencement of the year 1757, Clive organised a battalion of sepoys, con- sisting of some three or four hundred men, carefully selected ; and he not only fur- nished them with arms and ammunition, but clothed, drilled, and disciplined them like the Europeans, appointing a European officer to command, and non-commissioned officers to instruct them. Such was the origin of the first regiment of Bengal native infantry, called, from its equipment, the " Lall Pultun," or " Red regiment" (pultun being a corruption of the English term " platoon," which latter is derived from the French word " peloton.") It was placed under the direction of Lieutenant Knox, who proved a most admirable sepoy leader. There was no difficulty in raising men for this and other corps ; for during the per. petually-recurring warfare which marked the Mussulman occupation of Bengal, ad- venturers had been accustomed to flock thither from Bahar, Oude, the Dooab, Ro. hilcund, and even from beyond the Indus; EARLY HISTORY OF THE NATIVE ARMY— 1757 to 1760. 97 engagiug themselves for particular services, and being dismissed when these were per- formed. It was from such men and their im- mediate descendants that the British ranks were filled. The majority were Mussulmans ; but Patans, Ruhillas, a few Jats, some Raj- poots, and even Brahmins were to be found in the early corps raised in and about Calcutta.* The Madras sepoys, and the newly-raised Bengal battalion, amounting together to 2,100, formed two-thirds of the force with which Clive took the field against Surajah Dowlah at Plassy, in June, 1757. Of these, six Europeans and sixteen Natives perished in the so-called battle, against an army estimated by the lowest calculation at 58,000 men.f Of course, not even Clive, " the daring in war," would have been so mad as to risk an engagement which he might have safely avoided, with such an overwhelming force; but he acted in reli- ance on the contract previously made with the nawab's ambitious relative and com- mander-in-chief, Meer Jaffier, who had promised to desert to the British with all the troops under his orders at the com- mencement of the action, on condition of being recognised as Nawab of Bengal. The compact was fulfilled ; and Meer Jaffier's treachery was rewarded by his elevation to the musnud, which the East India Com- pany allowed him to occupy for some years. Meanwhile, the cessions obtained through him having greatly increased their terri- torial and pecuniary resources, they began to form a standing army for each of the three presidencies, organising the natives into a regular force, on the plan introduced by Clive. The first instance on record of a Native court-martial occurred in July, 1757. A sepoy was accused of having connived at the attempted escape of a Swiss who had de- serted the British ranks, and acted as a spy in the service of the French. The Swiss was hanged. The sepoy was tried by a court composed of the subahdars and jema- dars (Native captains and lieutenants) of his detachment, found guilty, and sentenced to receive 500 lashes, and be dismissed from the service — which was accordingly done. The hostilities carried on ngainst the French, subjected the East India Company's troops to great hardships. TheEuropeanshad * Jiis<; and Progress of the Bengal Army ; by Captain Arthur Broome, Bengal Artillery ; 1850 : vol. i., p. 93. t See Indian Empire, " Table of Battles," vol. i., pp. 400,461. VOI,. II. o been much injured in health and discipline by repeated accessions of prize-money, and by the habits of drinking and debauchery into which they had fallen. Numbers died; and the remainder had neither ability nor incli- nation to endure long marches and exposure to the climate. During an expedition in pursuit of a detachment under M. Law, they positively refused to proceed beyond Patna : Major Eyre Coote declared that he would advance with the sepoys alone; which, they rejoined, was " the most desirable event that could happen to them." Major Coote marched on with the sepoys only; but the French succeeded in effecting their escape. The rficreants got drunk, and be- haved in a very disorderly manner ; where- upon thirty of the worst of them were brought before a court-martial, and, by its decree, publicly flogged for mutiny and in- subordination. The sentence was pronounced and exe- cuted on the 28th of July, 1757. On the following day, the sepoys, undeterred by the penalty exacted from their Euro- pean comrades, laid down their arms in a body, and refused to proceed farther. The Madrassees especially complained, that although they had embarked only for service in Calcutta, they had been taken on to Chandernagore, Moorshedabad, and Patna ; and that now they were again required to advance, to remove still farther from their families, and endure additional fatigues and privations. They alleged that their pay was in arrears, and that they had not received the amount to which they were entitled. Major Coote warned them of the danger which would accrue from the want of unanimity and discipline among a small force j surrounded with enemies, and the hazard to which, by laying down their arms, they ex- posed the savings they had already accumu- lated, and the large amount of prize-money then due to them. These considerations prevailed ; the men resumed their arms, and marched at once with the artillery to Bankipoor, the European infantry proceed- ing thither by water. When Clive first left India, in 1760, the Bengal force consisted of one European battalion of infantry and two companies of artillery (1,000 men in all), and five Native battalions (1,000 men in each.) The number of European oflBcers was at the same time increased : one captain as commandant, one lieutenant and one ensign as staff, with four sergeants, being allowed to each Native EUROPEAN AND NATIVE TROOPS MUTINY IN 1764. battalion. There was likewise a Native commandant, who took post in front ■with the captain, and a Native arfjutant, who re- mained in the rear with the sulwltems. In 1764, very general disaflfection was manifested throughout the army, in conae- quence of the non-payment of a gratuity promised by the nawab, Meer Jaffier. The European battalion, which was, nnfortu- nately, chiefly composed of foreigners (Dutch, Germans, Hessians, and French), when assembled under arms for a parade on the 30th of January, refused to obey the word of command, declaring, that until the promised donation should be given, they would not perform any further service. The battalion marched off under the leader- ship of an Englishman named Straw, de- claring their intention of joining their com- rades then stationed on the Caramnassa, and with them proceeding to Calcutta, and compelling the governor and coHncil to do them justice. This appears to have been really the design of the English mutineers ; but the foreigners, who were double their number, secretly intended to join Shuja Dowlah, the nawab-vizier of Oude; and went off with that intention. The sepoys were at first inclined to follow the example of the Europeans, whose cause of coraplaiut they shared ; but the oflScers succeeded in keeping them quiet in their lines, until the Mogul horse (two troops of which had been recently raised) spread themselves among the Native battalions, and induced about 600 sepoys to accompany the treacherous foreigners. The European oflBcers rode after the mu- tineers, and induced their leader Straw, and the greater part of them, to return. Pro- baby they would have done so in a body but for the influence exercised over them by a sergeant named Delamarr, who had been distinguished by intelligence and good conduct in the previous campaign, but who had a private grievance to avenge, having, as he alleged, been promised a commission on leaving the King's and entering the Com- pany's service ; which promise had been broken to him, though kept to others simi- larly circumstanced. This man was born in England of French parents, and spoke both languages with equal facility ; on which ac- count he was employed by the officers as a medium of communication with the foreign troops. As long as any of the officers re- mained with the mutineers, he affected fidelity; but when the last officer, Lieutenant Eyre, was compelled to relinquish the hope of reclaiming his men, by their threatening to carry him off by force, Delamarr put himself at the head of the party, and gave out an order that any one who should attempt to turn back, should be hanged on the first tree. The order appears to have had a contrary effect to that which it was intended to produce ; for the Germans thought the French were carrying the mat- ter too far ; and they, with all but three of the few remaining English, returned on the following day, to the number of seventy, ac- companied by several sepoys. Thus the original deserters were dimin- ished to little more than 250, of whom 157 were of the European battalion (almost all Frenchmen), sixteen were of the European cavalry, and about 100 were Natives, includ- ing some of the Mogul horse. They pro- ceeded to join the army of Shuja Dowlaii of Oude ; aud some of them entered his service, and that of other Indian potentates ; but the majority enlisted in Sumroo's brigade.* On the 12th of February (the day follow- ing the mutiny), a dividend of the nawab's donation was declared as about to be paid to the army, in the proportion of forty rupees to each European soldier, and six to each sepoy. The sepoys were extremely in- dignant at the rate of allotment : they unanimously refused to receive the proffered sum, and assembled under anus on the 13th of February, at nine in the forenoon. The Europeans were very much excited; and it became difficult " to restrain their vio- lence, and prevent their falling upon the sepoys, for presuming to follow the example they themselves had afforded ."f Suddenly the sepoys set up a shout, and rushed down, in an irregular body, towards the Europeans, who had been drawn up in separate companies across the parade, with the park of artillery on their left, and two 6-pounders on their right. Captain Jennings, the officer in com- mand, perceiving that the sepoys were moving with shouldered arras, directed that they should be suffered to pass through the intervals of the battahon, if they would do so quietly. Several officers urged resis- tance ; but Captain Jennings felt that the discharge of a single musket would be the signal for a fearful struggle, which must end either in the extermination of the Europeans, or in the total dissolution of th« * Indian Empire, vol. i., \>. 29'i. t Broome's Boif/al Armt/, vol. i., p. 420. MUTINOUS SEPOYS BLOWN AWAY FROM GUNS— 1764. 99 Native force, on which the government were deeply dependent. He rode along the ranks, urging the men to be quiet; and arrived at the right of the line just in time to snatch the match out of the hand of a subaltern of artillery, as he was putting it to a 6-pounder, loaded with grape. The result justified his decision. Two corps (the late 2nd grenadiers and 8th Native infantry) went off towards the Ca- ramnassa river. The other two Native bat- talions present (the late 1st and 8rd Native infantry), remained behind — theone perfectly steady, the other clamorous and excited. The remaining three detached battalions all exhibited signs of disaffection. Captain Jen- nings, with the officers of the mutinous corps, followed them, and induced every man of them to return, by consenting to their own stipulation, that their share of the donation should be raised to half that of the correspond- ing ranks of the European battalion. This concession being made generally known, tranquillity was at once re-established. The question of the better adaptation of the natives of India to serve as regular or irregular cavalry, was discussed. The coun- cil considered that a body of regular Native cavalry might be raised on the European system, under English officers. Major Car- nac objected on the following grounds : — " The Moguls," he said, " who are the only good horsemen in the country, can never be brought to submit to the ill-treatment they receive from gentlemen wholly unac- quainted with their language and customs. We clearly see the ill effects of this among our sepoys, and it will be much more so among horsemen, who deem themselves of a far superior class; nor have we a suffi- ciency of officers for the purpose: I am sorry to say, not a single one qualified to afford a prospect of success to such a pro- ject." These arguments prevailed. The Mogul horse was increased, during the year (1764), to 1,200 men each risallah (or troop) under Native officers, with a few Europeans to the whole. The number of the Native infantry was also rapidly on the increase ; but their posi- tion and rights remained on a very indefinite footing, when Major Hector Munro suc- ceeded to the command of the Bengal army in August, 1764. In the following month a serious outbreak occurred. The oldest corps in the service, then known as the 9th, or Captain Galliez' battalion, but afterwards . the 1st Native iiifautry, while stationed at Manjee (near Chnpra), instigated by some of then- Native officers, assembled on parade, and declared themselves resolved to serve no longer, as certain promises made to them (apparently regarding the remainder of the donation money) had been broken. They retained their arms, and imprisoned their European officers for a night; but released them on the following morning. There did not then exist, nor has there since been framed, any law decreeing gra- dations of punishment in a case which clearly admits of many gradations of crime. It has been left to the discretion of the military authorities for the time being, to punish what Sir Charles Napier calls " passive, respectful mutinies," with sweep- ing severity, or to let attempted desertion to the enemy, and sanguinary treachery, escape almost unpunished. The present proceeding resembled the out- break of spoilt children, rather than of con- certed mutiny.* No intention to desert was shown, much less to join the enemy. Suqh conduct had been before met with perhaps undue concessions. Major Munro now re- solved to attempt stopping it by measures of extreme severity. Accordingly he held a general court-martial; and on receiving its verdict for the execution of twenty-four of the sepoys, he ordered it to be carried out immediately. The sentence was, "to be blown away from the guns" — the horri- ble mode of inflicting capital punishment so extensively practised of late. Four grenadiers claimed the privilege of being fastened to the right-hand guns. They had always occupied the post of honour in the field, they said; and Major Munro admitted the force of th€'argument by granting their request. The whole army were much affected by the bearing of the doomed men. " I am sure," says Cap- tain Williams, who then belonged to the Royal Marines employed in Bengal, and who was an eye-witness of this touching episode, " there was not a dry eye among the Marines, although they had been long accustomed to hard service, and two of them had ac- tually been on the execution party which shot Admiral Byng, in the year 1757."t Yet Major Munro gave the signal, and the explosion followed. When the loathsome results became apparent — the mangled limbs scattered far and wide, the strange burning • Broome's Bengal Army, vol. i., p. 459. t Captain Williams' Bengal Native In/antty, p. 170. 100 BENGAL ARMY REORGANISED BY CLIVE IN 1765. smell, the fragments of human flesh, the trickling streams' of blood, constituted a scene almost intolerable to those who wit- nessed it for the first time. The officers commanding the sepoy battalions came for- ward, and represented that their men would not suflPer any further executions ; but Major Munro persevered. The other con- victed mutineers attempted no appeal to their comrades, but met their deaths with the utmost composure. This was the first example, on a large scale, of the infliction of the penalty of death for mutiny. Heretofore there had been no plan, and no bloodshed in the numerous outbreaks. Subsequently they assumed an increasingly systematic and sanguinary character. On the return of Clive to India in 1765 (as Lord Clive, Baron of Plassy), the Ben- gal army was reorganised, and divided into three brigades — respectively stationed at Monghyr, Allahabad, and Bankipoor. Each brigade consisted of one company of artil- lery, one regiment of European infantry, one rishllah, or troop, of Native cavalry, and seven battalions of sepoys. Each regiment of European infantry was constituted of the following strength : — 1 Colonel commanding the whole Brigade. 1 Lieutenant-colonel commanding the Regiment. 1 Major. 3G Sergeants. 6 Captains. 36 Corporals. 1 Captain Lieutenant. 27 Drummers. 9 Lieutenants. 630 Privates. 18 Ensigns. The artillery comprised four companies, each of which contained — 1 Captain. 1 Captain Lieutenant. 1 First Lieutenant. 4 Corporals. 2 Drummers. 2 Fifers. 10 Bombardiers. 20 Gunners. 60 Matrosses. 1 Second Lieutenant. 3 Lieut. Fireworkers. 4 Sergeants. Each risallah of Native cavalry con- sisted of — 1 European Subaltern in command. 1 Sergeant-major. 4 Sergeants, 1 Risaldar. 3 Jemadars. 2 Naggers. 6 Duffadars. 100 Privates. A Native battalion consisted of — 30 Jemadars. 1 Native Adjutant. 10 Trumpeters. 30 Tom-toms.* 80 Havildars. 50 Naike. 1 Captain. 2 Lieutenants. 2 Ensigns. 3 Sergeants. 3 Drummers. 1 Native Commandant. 10 Native Subahdars. 690 Sepoys. * That is, Tom-tom (native drum) players, t Broome's Bengal Army, vol. i., p. 540. Captain Broome, from whom the above details are derived, remarks, "that the pro- portion of officers, except to the sepoy bat- talions, was very much more liberal than in the present day; and it is most important to remember, that every officer on the list was effective — all officers on other than regi- mental employ, being immediately struck off the roll of the corps ; although, as there was but one roster for promotion in the whole infantry, no loss in that respect was sustained thereby. The artillery and engi- neers rose in a separate body, and were fre- quently transferred from one to the other."t The pay of the sepoy was early fixed at seven rupees per month in all stationary situations, and eight rupees and a-half when marching, or in the field ; exclusive of half a rupee per month, allotted to the ofi"- reckoning fund, for which they received one coat, and nothing more, annually. From that allowance they not only fed and clothed themselves, but also erected canton- ments in all stationary situations, at their own expense, and remitted to their wives and families, often to aged parents and more distant relatives, a considerable proportion of their pay ; in fact, so considerable, that the authorities have been obliged to inter- fere to check their extreme self-denial. J In 1766, the mass of the British officers of the Bengal army entered into a very formidable confederacy against the govern- ment, on account of the withdrawal of certain extra allowances, known as " double batta." The manner in which Lord Clive then used the sepoys to coerce the Euro- peans, has been already narrated. § The first epoch in the history of the Ben- gal army may be said to end with the final departure of Clive (its founder) from India, in 1767. Up to this time, no question of caste appears to have been mooted, as interfering with the requirements of military duty, whether ordinary or incidental; but as the numbers of the sepoys increased, and the proportion of Hindoos began to exceed that of Mussulmans, a gradual change took place. A sea voyage is a forbidden thing to a Brahminist ; it is a violation of his reli- gious code, under any circumstances : he must neglect the frequent ablutions which his creed enjoins, and to which he has been accustomed from childhood ; and if he do not irrecoverably forfeit his caste, it must be by enduring severe privations in regard to food \ Williams' Bengal Native Infantry, p. 263. § See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 306. MUTINIES IN 1782 and 1795. 101 while on board ship. The influence of the officers, liowever, generally sufficed to over- come the scruples of the men ; aud, in 1769, three Bengal battalions prepared to return by sea from the Madras presidency to Bengal. Two grenadier companies em- barked for the purpose, aud are supposed to have perished ; for the ship which they en- tered was never heard of afterwards. This event made a deep impression on the miuds of the Hindoos, confirmed their supersti- tious dread of the sea, and agi^ravated the mingled fear and loathing, which few Eng- lishmen, except when actually rounding the "Cape of Storms," or becalmed in a crowded vessel in the Red Sea, can under- stand sufficiently to make allowance for. In 1782, a mutiny occurred at Barrack- poor, in consequence of the troops stationed there being ordered to prepare for foreign service, which it was rumoured would entail a sea voyage. No violence was attempted ; no turbulence was evinced ; the men quietly combined, under their Native officers, in re- fusing to obey the orders, which the govern- ment had no means of enforcing. After the lapse of several weeks, a general court- martial was held. Two Native officers, and one or two sepoys, were blown from the guns. The whole of the four corps con- cerned (then known as the 4th, 15th, 17th, and 31st) were broken up, and the men drafted into other battalions. In 1787, Lord Cornwallis arrived in India, as governor-general and commander- in-chief. He earnestly desired to dissipate, by gentle means, the prejudices which marred the efficiency of the Native army ; and he offered a bounty of ten rupees per man, with other advantages, to such as would volunteer for service on an expedition to Sumatra. The required four companies were obtained ; the promised bounty was paid previous to embarkation ; every care was taken to ensure abundant supplies of food and water for sustenance and ablution ; the detachment was conveyed on board a regular Indiaman at the end of February ; and was recalled in the following October. Unfortunately the return voyage was tedi- ous and boisterous : the resolute abstinence of the Hindoos from all nutriment save dry peas and rice, and the exposure consequent on the refusal of the majority to quit the deck night or day, on account of the num- ber of sick below, occasioned many to be afflicted with nyctalopia, or night-blindness; and deaths were numerous. Notwithstand- ing tliis, the care and tact of the officers, and the praise and gratuities which awaited the volunteers on relanding, appear to have done much to reconcile them to the past trial, and even to its repetition if need were. The government thought the difficulty overcome, and were confirmed in their opinion by the offers of proceeding by sea made during the Mysoor war. In 1795, it became desirable to send an expedition to Malacca, whereupon a proposition was made to the 15th battalion (a corps of very high character), through its commanding officer. Captain Ludovick Grant, to volunteer for the purpose. The influence of the officers apparently prevailed ; the men were re- ported as willing to embark; but, at the last moment, a determined mutiny broke out, aud the 29th battalion was called out, with its field -pieces, to disperse the muti- neers. The colours of the 15th were burnt; and the number ordered to be left a blank in the list of Native corps.* Warned by this occurrence, the government proceeded to raise a " Marine battalion,"t consisting of twelve companies of a hundred privates each ; and it became generally understood, if not indeed officially stated, that the ordinary Bengal troops were not to be sent on sea voyages. A corps of Native militia was raised for Calcutta and the adjacent districts, and placed, in the first instance, under the town major. It consisted of eighty companies of ninety privates; but was subsequently aug- mented to sixteen or more companies of one hundred privates each. Captain Williams, writing in 1816. says — "It is now com- manded by an officer of any rank, who may be favoured with the patronage of the gov- ernor-general, with one other European officer, who performs the duty of adjutant to the corps."J Several local corps were formed about the same time. Some important changes were made in the constitution of the Bengal army in 1796 ; one effect of which was to diminish the authority and influence of the Native officers. The stafi" appointment of Native adjutants was abolished, and a European adjutant was appointed to each battalion. The principle of reginental rank and pro- motion (to the rank of major, inclusive), was * A regiment was raised in Bahar, in 1798, and numbered the loth. t Formed into the 20th, or Marine regiment, in 1801. X Bengal Native Infantry, p. 243. 103 PROMOTION BY SENIORITY ESTABLISHED BY E. I. CY.— 1796. adopted throughout the E. I. Company's forces; and, contrary to the former ar- rangement, the whole of the staff of the goyernment and of the army, inclusive of a heavy commissariat, with the numerous officers on furlough in Europe, and those employed with local corps, and even in diplomatic situations, vrere thenceforth borne on the strength as component parts of com- panies and corps. Thus, even at this early period, the complaint (so frequently reite- rated since) is made by Captain Williams, that the charge of companies often devolved on subalterns utterly unqualified, by pro- fessional or local acquirements, for a situa- tion of such authority over men to whose character, language, and habits they are strangers.* The rise, and gradual increase, of the armies of the Madras and Bombay presi- dencies, did not essentially differ from that of the Bengal troops, excepting that the total number of the former was much smaller, and the proportion of Mohamme- dans and high-caste Brahmins considerably lower than in the latter. The three armies were kept separate, each under its own commander-in-chief. Many inconveniences attend this division of the forces of one ruling power.' It has been a barrier to the centralisation which the bureaucratic spirit of the Supreme government of Calcutta has habitually fostered ; and attempts have been made, more or less directly, for an amalga- mation of the three armies. The Duke of Welfrngtou thoroughly understood the bear- ing of the question, and his decided opinion probably contributed largely to the main- tenance of the chief of the barriers which have prevented the contagion of Bengal mutiny from extending to Bombay and Madras, and hindered the fraternisation which we may reasonably suspect would otherwise have been general, at least among the Hindoos. The more united the British are, tTie belter, no doubt ; but the more distinct nationalities are kept up in India, the safer for us : every ancient landmark we remove, renders the danger of com- bination agaiust us more imminent. The Madras and Bombay sepoys, through- out their career, have had, like those of Ben- gal, occasional outbreaks of mutiny, the usual cause being an attempt to send them on ex- peditions which necessitated a sea voyage. • Williams' Bengal Native Infantry, p. 253. + Parliamentary evidence of Sir J. Malcolm in 1832. X Ibid. Thus, in 1779, or 1780, a mutiny occurred in the 9th Madras battalion when ordered to embark for Bombay ; which, however, was quelled by the presence of mind and decision of the commandant. Captain Kelly. A fatal result followed the issue of a similar order for the embarkation of some com- panies of a corps in the Northern Circars. The men, on arriving at Vizagapatam (the port where they were to take shipping), rose upon their European officers, and shot all save one or two, who escaped to the ship.f One motive was strong enough to over- come this rooted dislike to the sea ; and that was, affection for the person, and confidence in the skill and fortune, of their command- ing officer. Throughout the Native forces, the fact was ever manifest, that their dis- cipline or insubordination, their fidelity or faithlessness, depended materially on the influence exercised by their European leaders. Sir John Malcolm, in his various writings, affords much evidence to this effect. Among many other instances, he cites that of a battalion of the 22nd Madras regiment, then distinguished for the high state of discipline to which they had been brought by their commanding officer, Lieu- tenant-colonel James Oram. In 1797, he proposed to his corps, on parade, to volun- teer for an expedition then preparing against Manilla. " Will hr go with us ?" was the question which went through the ranks. " Yes !" "Will he stay with us?" Again, "yes!" and the whole corps ex- claimed, " To Europe, to Europe !" They were ready to follow Colonel Oram any- where — to the shores of the Atlantic as cheerfully as to an island of the Eastern Ocean. Such was the contagion of their enthusiasm, that several sepoys, who were missing from one of the battalions in garri- son at Madras, were found to have deserted to join the expedition. J The personal character of Lord Lake contributed greatly to the good service rendered by the Bengal sepoys (both Hin- doo and Mohammedan) in the arduous Mahratta war of 1803-'4. He humoured their prejudices, flattered their pride, and praised their valour; sind they repaid him by unbounded attachment to his person, and the zealous fulfilment of their public duty. Victorious or defeated, the sepoys knew their efforts were equally sure of appreciation by the commander-in-chief. His conduct to the shattered corps of Colonel Monson's detachment, after their MUTINIES OF 1806 (VELLORE), 1809, and 1825. 103 gallant but disastrous retreat before Holcar,* was very remarkable. He formed thera into a reserve, and promised them every opportunity of signalising themselves. No confidence was ever more merited. Through- out the service that ensued, these corps were uniformly distinguished. Th« pay of the forces in the last centnry was frequently heavily in arrears, and both Europeans aud Natives were driven, by actual want, to the vefge of mutiny. The Bombay troops, in the early wars with Mysoor, suffered greatly from this cause; and yet none ever showed warmer de- votion to the English. When, oti the capture of Bednore, General Matthews and his whole force surrendered to Tip- poo, every inducement was offered to tempt the sepoys to enter the sultan's ser- vice ; but in vain. During the march, they were carefully separated from the European prisoners at ea- h place of encampment, by a tank or other obstacle, supposed to be insurmountable. It did not prove so, how- ever ; for one of the captive ofiBcers subse- quently declared, that not a night elapsed but some of the sepoys contrived to elude the vigilance of the guards by swimming the tanks (frequently some miles in circum- ference), or eluding the sentries ; bringing with them such small sums as they could save from the pittance allowed by the sul- tan, for their own support, in return for hard daily labour, to eke out the scanty food of the Europeans. " We can live upon anything," they said; "but you require mutton and beef." At the peace of 1783, 1,500 of the released captives marched 500 miles to Madras, and there embarked on a voyage of six or eight weeks, to rejoin the army to which they belonged at Bombay .f Similar manifestations of attachment were given by the various Native troops of the three presidencies ; their number, and pro- portion to the Europeans, increasing with the extension of the Anglo-Indian empire. In 1800, the total force comprised 22,832 Euro- peans, and 115,300Natives of all denomina- tions; the Europeans being chiefly Royal troops belonging to the regulaT cavalry and infantry regiments, which were sent to India fot periods varying frt)m twelve to twenty years. • As the requirements of government augmented with every addition of territory, the restrictions of caste became daily more • Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 40O. t Sir John Malcolm's Government of India. London : John Murray, 1833; p. 210. obnoxious ; and attempts, for the most part very ill-judged, were made to break through them. Certain regulations, trivial in them- selves, excited the angry suspicions of the sepoys, as to the latent intentions of govern- ment ; and the sons of Tippoo Sultan (then state-prisoners at Vellore), through their partisans, fomented the disaffection, which issued in the mutiny of 1806, in which thir- teen European officers and eighty-two pri- vates were killed, and ninety-two wounded. J In 1809, another serious outbreak oc- curred in the Madras presidency, in which the Native troops played only a secondary part, standing by their officers against the government. The injudicious manner in which Sir George Barlow had suppressed an allowance known as "tent-contract," previously made to Europeans in. command of Native regiments, spread disaffection throughout the Madras force. Auber, the annalist of the East India Company, gives very few particulars of this unsatisfactory and discreditable affair; but he mentions the remarkable fidelity displayed by Pur- neah, the Dewan of Mysoor (chosen, and earnestly supported, by Colonel Wellcsley, after the conquest of that country.) The field-officer in charge of the fortress of Seringapatam, tried to corrupt Purneah, and even held out a threat regarding his property, and that belonging to the boy- rajah in the fort. Tlie dignified rejoinder was, that the British government was the protector of the rajah and his minister ; and that, let what would happen, he (Purneah) would always remain faithful to his engage- ments. § A skirmish actually took place between the mutineers and the king's troops. Lord Minto (the governor-general) hastened to Madras, and, by a mixture of firmness and conciliation, restored order, having first obtained the unconditional submission of all concerned in the late proceedings; that is to say, the great majority of the Madras officers in the Company's service. The refusal of the 47th Bengal regiment to march from Barrackpoor in 1825, on the expedition to Burmah, is fully accounted for by the repugnance of the sepoys to embarkation having been aggravated by the insufficient arrangements made for them by the commissariat department. The autho- rities punished, in a most sanguinary mau- X See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 407. § Auber's British Power in India, voL ii., pp. 476. 477. 104. REGIMENTAL OFFICERS EMPLOYED AS CIVILIANS. ner, conduct which their own negligence had provoked.* An important change was introduced into the Native army, under the adminis- tration of Lord William Beiitinck (who was appointed commander-in-chief as well as governor-general in 1833), by the abo- lition of flogging, which had previously been inflicted with extreme frequency and severity. Sir Charles Napier subsequently complained of this measure, on the ground of its leaving no punishment available when the army was before the enemy. The limited authority vested in the officers, in- creased the difficulty of maintaining disci- pline, by making expulsion from the service the sole punishment of offenders whodeserved perhaps a day's hard labour. Sir Charles adds — " But I have been in situations where 1 could not turn them out, for they would either starve or have their throats cut ; so I did all my work by the provost- martial." His favourite pupil, "the war- bred Sir Colin Campbell," appears to have been driven to the same alternative to check looting. The change which has come over the habits of both military men and civi- lians during the present century, has been already shown. Europeans have gradually ceased to take either wives or concubines from among the natives: they have become, in all points, more exclusive ; and as their own number has increased, so also has their regard for couventionalities, which, while yet strangers in the land — few and feeble — they had been content to leave in abeyance. The eflect on Indian society, and especially on the army, is evident. The intercourse between the European and Native offi- cers has become yearly less frequent and less cordial. The acquisition of Native lan- guages is neglected; or striven for, not as a means of obtaining the confidence of the sepoys, but simply as a stepping-stone to distinction in the numerous civil posi- tions which the rapid extension of territory, the paucity of the civil service, and the re- jection of Native agency, has thrown open to their ambition. There is, inevitably, a great deal of sheer drudgery in the ordiuary routine of regimental duty; but it surely was not wise to aggravate the distaste which its • Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 424. Thornton's India, vol. iv., p. 113. t Times, 15th July, 1857. Letter from Bombay correspondent. \ Indophilus' ieiters to the Times, p. 15. performance is calculated to produce, by adopting a system which makes long con- tinuance in a regiment a mark of incapacity. The military and civil line of promotion is, to a great extent, the same. An In- dian military man is always supposed to be fit for anything that off'ers. He can be " an inspector of schools, an examiner in political economy, an engineer, a surveyor, an architect, an auditor, a commissary, a resident, or a governor."t Political, judi- cial, and scientific appointments are all open to him; and the result, no doubt, is, that Indian officers, in many instances, show a versatility of talent unknown elsewhere. But through teaching officers to look to staff' appointments and civil employ for ad- vancement, the military profession is de- scribed as having fallen into a state of dis- paragement. Officers who have not ac- quitted themselves well in the civil service are "remanded to their regiments," as if they were penal corps ; and those who re- main with their regiments, suffer under a sense of disappointment and wounded self- esteem, which makes it impossible for them to have their heart in the work. J The employment of the army to do the civil work, was declared by Napier to be " the great military evil of India ;" the offi- cers occupying various diplomatic situations, the sepoys acting as policemen, gaolers, and being incessantly employed in detachments for the escort of treasure from the local treasuries, to the manifest injury of their discipline. " Sir Thomas Munro," he adds, "thought three officers were sufficient for regiments. This is high authority; yet I confess to thinking him wrong; or else, which is very possible, the state of the army and the style of the officer have changed, not altogether better nor alto- gether worse, but become different." There is, probably, much truth in this suggestion. The character of the Native officers and sepoys, as well as that of the Europeans, had changed since the days of Munro, The Bengal army had grown, with the Bengal presidency, into an exclusively high-caste institution. The men were chiefly Brahmins and Rajpoots, or Mussul- mans — handsome, stately men, higher by the head and shoulders than the MaJrassees or Mahrattas; immeasurably higher in caste. Great care was taken to avoid low-caste recruits ; still more, outcasts and Christians. In this respect, most exaggerated deference was paid to religious prejudices which, in SIR CHARLES NAPIER MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF— 1849. 105 other points, were recklessly infringed. In Bombay and Madras, no such distinctions were made. Recruits were enlisted without regard to caste ; and the result was, a mix- ture much less adapted to combine for the removal of common grievances. A Native army, under foreign rule, can hardly have been without these : but so flattering a description was given of the Indian troops, that, until their rejection of our service, and subsequent deadly hostility, raised suspicions of " a long-continued course of mismauage- meut,"* little attention was paid to those who suggested the necessity of radical reforms. Yet Sir John Malcolm pointed out, aa early as 1799, the injustice of a system which allowed no Native soldier the most distant prospect of rising to rank, distinction, or affluence ; and this " extraordinary fact" he believed to be " a subject of daily comment among the Native troop8."t The evil felt while the Indian army was comparatively small, could not but increase in severity in proportion to the augmenta- tion of the sepoys, who, in 1851, amounted to 240,121, out of 289,529 men; the re- mainder being Europeans. Meanwhile, the extinction of Indian states and of national armies had been rapidly progressing. The disbanded privates (at least such of them as entered the British ranks) may have bene- fited by the change ; regular pay and a retir- ing pension compensating them for the pos- sibility of promotion and the certainty of laxer discipline, with license in the way of loot (plunder.) But the officers were heavy losers by the change. In treating of the causes of the mutiny, Mr. Martin Gubbins says, that in the Punjab, " the father may have received 1,000 rupees per mensem, as commandant of cavalry, under Runjeet Sing ; the son draws a pay of eighty rupees as sub-commander, in the service of the British government. The diflFerence is pro- bably thought by themselves to be too great." In support of this guarded admis- sion, he proceeds to adduce evidence of the existence of the feeling suggested by him as probable, by citing the reproachful exclama- tion of a Seik risaldar, conspicuous for good conduct during the insurrection — "My father used to receive 500 rupees a-month in command of a party of Runjeet Sing's horse ; I receive but fifty."J • Speech of Lord Ellenborough : Indian debate, July 13th, 1857. The Duke of Argyll, and others, said, that " there could be no douht there had been some mismanagement." — Ibid., July 27th, 1808. VOL. II. P Sir Charles Napier returned to India, as commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Indian armies, on the 6th of May, 1849. He was sent out for the express purpose of carrying on the war in the Punjab ; but it had beeu successfully terminated before his arrival. He made a tour of inspection, and furnished reports to government on the condition of the troops ; which contained statements cal- culated to excite grave anxiety, and prophe- cies of evil which have been since fulfilled. He pointed out excessive luxury among the officers, and alienation from the Native soldiery, as fostering the disaflFection occa- sioned among the latter by sudden reduc- tions of pay, accompanied by the increased burthen of civil duties, consequent on the rapid extension of territory. It was, however, not until after positive mutiny had been developed, that lie recog- nised the full extent of the evils, which he then searched out, and found to be sapping the very foundation of the Indian army. Writing to General Caulfield (one of his few friends in the East India direction) in November, 1849, he calls the sepoy "a glorious soldier, not to be corrupted by gold, or appalled by danger ;" and he adds — " I would not be afraid to go into action with Native troops, and without Europeans, provided I had the training of them first."§ In a report addressed to the governor- general in the same month, the following passage occurs : — "I have heard that Lord Hardinge objected to the assembling of the Indian troops, for fear they should conspire. I confess I cannot see the weight of such an opinion. I have never met with an In- dian officer who held it, and I certainly do not hold it myself; and few men have had more opportuni- ties of judging of the armies of all three presidencies than 1 have. Lord Hardinge saw but the Bengal army, and that only as governor-general, and for a short time; I have studied them for nearly eight years, constantly at the head of Bengal and Bombay sepoys, and I can see nothing to fear from them, except when ill-used; and even then they are less dangerous than British troops would be in similar circumstances. I see no danger in their being massed, and very great danger in their being spread over a country as they now are : on the contrary, I believe that, by concentrating the Indian army as I propose, its spirit, its devotion, and its powers will all be increased."!! The above extract tends to confirm the general belief, that the private opinion of Lord Hardinge, regarding the condition of t K aye's Life of Malcolm, vol i., p. 96. I Gubbins' Mutinies in Oudh, p. 98. § Sir Charles Napier's Life, vol. iv., pp. 212, 213. II Pari. Paper (Commons), 30th July, 1857. 106 MUTINY TO BE TREATED IN DETAIL, WHEN PRACTICABLE. the army, was less satisfactory than he chose to avow in public. Lord Melville has given conclusive evidence on the subject by stating, from his personal acquaintance with the ex-commander-in-cbief, that — " Enter- taining the worst opinion privately. Lord Hardinge never would express it publicly, trying thereby to bolster up a bad system, on the ground of the impolicy of making public the slight thread by which we held our tenure of that empire."* Napier, who never kept back or qualified his views, soon saw reason to declare, that " we were sitting en a mine, and nobody could tell when it might explode."t, The circumstances which led him to this unsatisfactory conclusion were these. After the annexation of the Punjab, the extra allowauce formerly given to the troops on service there, was sum- marily withdrawn, on the ground thai the country was no longer a foreign one. The 22nd Native infantry stationed at Rawul Pindee refused the reduced pay. The 13th regiment followed the example; and an active correspondence took place between these corps, and doubtless extended through the Bengal army; for there are news-writers in every regiment, who communicate all intelligence to their comrades at head- quarters.J Colonel Benson, of the military board, proposed to Lord Dalhonsie to disband the two regiments; but the commander-in- chief opposed the measure, as harsh and impolitic. Many other regiments were, he said, certainly involved : the government could not disband an army; it was, there- fore, best to treat the cases as isolated ones, while that was possible ; for, he added, " if we attempt to bully large bodies, they will do the same by us, and a fight must eusue."§ The governor-general concurred in this opinion. The insubordination at Rawul Pindee was repressed without bloodshed, by the officer in command. Sir Colin Campbell; and the matter was treated as one of accidental restricted criminality, not affecting the mass. Sir Charles Napier visited Delhi, which he considered the proper place for our great magazines, and well fitted, from its central position, to be the head-quarters of the • Letter to General Sir William Gomm, July 15th, 1857.— Times, July 21st, 1857. t Ibid. X Evidence of Colonel Greenhill. — Pari. Committee, 1832-'3. § Sir Charles Napier's Xi/e, vol. iv., p. 227. Il/iia., pp. 216; 269 1 427. artillery — the best point from whence to send forth troops and reinforcements. Here, too, the spirit of mutiny manifested itself; the 41st Native infantry refusing to enter the Punjab without additional allow- ances as heretofore ; and twenty-four other regiments, then under orders for the same province, were rumoured to be in league with the 41st. The latter regiment was, however, tranqnillised, and induced to march, by what Sir William Napier terms " dexterous management, and the obtaining of furloughs, which had been unfairly and recklessly withheld." At Vizierabad the sepoys were very sullen, and were heard to say they only waited the arrival of the relieving regiments, and would then act together. Soon after this, the 66th, a relief regiment on the march from Lucknow (800 miles from Vizierabad), broke into open mutiny near Amritsir, insulted their officers, and at- tempted to seize the strong fortress of Govindghur, which then contained about £100,000 in specie. The 1st Native cavalry were fortunately on the spot; and being on their return to India, were not interested in the extra-allowance question. They took part with the Europeans ; and, dismounting, seized the gates, which the strength and daring of a single officer (Captain M'Donald) had alone prevented from being closed, and which the mutineers, with fixed bayonets, vainly sought to hold. This occurred in February, 1850. Lord Daihousie was not taken by surprise. Writing to Sir Charles Napier, he had declared himself " pre- pared for discontent among the Native troops, on coming into the Punjab under diminished allowances ; and well satis- fied to have got so far through without violence." "The sepoy," he added, "has been over-petted and overpaid of late, and has been led on, by the government itself, into the entertainment of an expectation, and the manifestation of a feeling, which he never held in former times." || This was written before the affair at Govindghur; and in the meantime, Sif Charles had seen " strong ground to suppose the mutmous spirit general in the Bengal army."^ He believed that the Brahmins *[f Two great explosions of ammunition have been mentioned in connexion with the mutinous feeling of the period ; one at Benares, of 3,000 barrels of powder, in no less than thirty boats, which killed upwards of 1,200 people: by the other, of 1,800 barrels, no life was lost. MUTINY AND DISBANDilENT OP 66th EEGIMENT— 1849. 107 were exerting their influence over the Hin- doos most injuriously; and learned, with alarm, a signiticant circumstance whicli had occurred during the Seik war. Major Neville Chamberlaine, hearing some sepoys grumbling about a temporary hardship, exclaimed, "Were I the general, I would disband you all." A Brahmin havildar replied, " If you did, we would all go to our villages, and you should not get any more to replace us." Napier viewed this remark as the distinct promulgation of a principle upon which the sepoys were even then pre- pared to act. The Brahmins he believed to be secretly nourishing the spirit of insubor- dination; and unless a counterpoise could be found to their influence, it would be hazardous in the extreme to disband the 66th regiment, at the risk of inciting other corps to declare, " They are martyrs for us ; we, too, will refuse ;" and of producing a bayonet struggle with caste for mastery. "Nor was the stake for which the sepoy contended a small one — exclusive of the principle of an army dictating to the gov- ernment: they struck for twelve rupees instead of seven — nearly double ! When those in the Punjab got twelve by meeting, those in India Proper would not long have served on seven."* The remedy adopted by Napier, was to replace the mutinous 66th with one of the irregular Goorka battalions ;t and he ex- pressed his intention of extensively following up this plan, in the event of the disband- ment of further regiments becoming neces- sary. " I would if I could," he says, " have 25,000 of them ; which, added to our own Europeans, would form an army of 50,000 men, and, well handled, would neutralise any combination amongst the sepoys." The Goorkas themselves he describes as of small stature, with huge limbs, resem- bling Attila's Huns ; " brave as meu can be, but horrid little savages, accustomed to use a weapon called a kookery, like a straightened reaping-hook, with which they made three cuts — one across the shoulders, the next across the forehead, the third a ripping-up one." The Nusseeree battalion, chosen to re- place the 66th, welcomed, with frantic shouts of joy, the proposal of entering the regular army, and receiving seven rupees a • Sir C. Napier's Life and Correspondence, vol. iv., pp. 261, 262. t See Indian Empire, vol. i., p. 445. j After Sir Charles left India, a minute was drawn up by the Supreme Council, which stated. month, instead of four rupees eight annas; which sum, according to their commanding oflicer, had been actually insuflBcient for their support. What the European officers of the 66th thought of the substitution does not appear ; but Lord Dalhousie, while ap- proving the disbandment of the mutineers, disapproved of the introduction of the Goor- kas. The commander-in-chief was at the same time reprimanded for having, in January, 1850 (pending a reference to the Supreme government), suspended the opera- tion of a regulation regarding compensation for rations; which he considered, in the critical state of affairs, likely to produce mu- tiny. This regulation, says Sir W. Napier, " affected the usual allowance to the sepoys for purchasing their food, according to the market prices of the countries in which they served: it was recent; was but partially known; was in itself unjust; and became suddenly applicable at Vizierabad, where it was entirely unknown." General Hearsey, commander at Vizierabad, and Generals Gil- bert and Colin Campbell, deprecated its en- forcement as most impolitic, and calculated, in the sullen temper of the sepoys, to produce a mutiny; and, in fact, only twelve days elapsed before the Govindghur outbreak occurred. The amount of money involved in the tem- porary suspension was only £\0; but even had it been much greater, if a commander- in-chief could not, in what he believed to be a crisis, and what there is little doubt really was one, be allowed to use his dis- cretion on a subject so immediately within his cognizance, he had, indeed, a heavy weight of responsibility to bear, without any commensurate authority. A less impetu- ous spirit than that of the " fiery Napier," would have felt no better thai^ a "huge adjutant-general," when informed that he " would not again be permitted, under any circumstances, to issue orders which should change the pay and allowances of the troops in India, and thus practically to exercise an authority which had been reserved, and most properly reserved, for the Supreme government alone."J The general at once sent in his resigna- tion (May 22nd, 1850) through Lord Fitz- roy Somerset; stating the rebuke he had received, and probably hoping that the " that the ration and mutiny question, which led to Sir Charles Napier's resignation, was not the real cause for the reprimand; but the style of the commander-in-chief's correspondence had become offensive." — Zi/e, vol. iv., p. 411. u 108 CONDITION OF THE BENGAL NATIVE ARMY— 1850. British commander-in-chief, the Duke of Wellington, would urge its withdrawal. The Duke, on the contrary, decided, after examining the statements sent home by the Calcutta authorities (which, judging by subsequent events, were founded on a mis- taken view of the temper of the troops), that no sufiBcient reason had existed for the suspension of the regulation, and that the goveruor-general in council was right in expressing his disapprobation of the act. The resignation was consequently accepted ; and Sir Charles's statements regarding the condition of the army, were treated as the prejudiced views of a disappoiuted man. Yet the report addressed by him to the Duke in June, while ignorant, and probably not expectant, of the acceptance of his resignation, contains assertions which ought then to have been investigated, and which are now of primary importance as regards the causes of our sudden calamity, and the system to be adopted for the prevention of its recurrence. " The Bengal Native army," Sir Charles writes, " is said to have much fallen off from what it was in former days. Of this I am not a judge ; but I must say that it is a very noble army, and with very few defects. The greatest, as faj: as I am capable of judging, is a deficiency of discipline among the European officers, especially those of the higher ranks. I will gi?e your grace an instance. " The important order issued by the governor-gen- eral and the commander-in-chief, to prepare the sepoys for a reduction in their pay, I ordered to be read, and explained with care to every regiment. With the eiception of three or four commanders of regiments, none obeyed the order ; some gave it to pay-sergeants to read, and others altogether ne- glected to do so — such is the slackness of discipline among officers of high rank, and on an occasion of such vast importance. This want of discipline arises from more than one cause : a little sharpness with officers who disobey orders will soon correct much of this; but much of it originates in the great de- mand made upon the troops for civil duties, which so breaks up whole regiments, that their command- ing officers lose that zeal for the service which they ought to feel, and so do the younger officers. The demand also made for guards is ipimense. • • • I cannot believe that the discipline of the Bengal army will be restored till it is relieved from civil duties, and those duties performed by police bat- talions, as was intended by Lord Ellenborough. " The next evil which I see in the Native army is, that so many of the senior officers of regiments are placed on the staff or in civil situations ; and very old, worn-out officers command regiments : these carry on their duties with the adjutant and some favoured Native officer. Not above one or two captains are with the regiment; and the subalterns being all young, form a society among them- selves, and neglect the Native officers altogether. Nothing is therefore known as to what is passing in a Native regiment. • • • The last, and most important thing which I reckon injurious to the Indian array, is the immense influence given to '' caste ;" instead of being discouraged, it has been encouraged in the Bengal army. In the Bombay army it is discouraged, and that army is in better order than the Bengal army. In this latter the Brahmins have been leaders in every mutiny." • The manner in which courts-martial were conducted, excited his indignation through- out his Indian career. Drunkenness aud gambling were, in his eyes, unsoldieriy »ad ungentlemaniy vices, aud he drew no dis- tinction between the ofiScer and the private. " Indian courts-martial are my plagues," he writes ; " they are farces. If a private is to be tried, the courts are sharp enough ; but an officer is quite another thing." He mentions a case of notorious drunkenness, in which the accused was " honourably ac- quitted;" and he adds — "Discipline is so rapidly decaying, that in a few years my belief is, no commander-in-chief will dare to bring an officer to trial : the press will put an end to all trials, except in law courts. In courts-martial now, all is quib- bling and disputes about wliat is legal ; the members being all profoundly ignorant on the subject : those who judge fairly, in a military spirit, are afraid of being brought up afterwards, and the trials end by an acquittal in the face of all evidence !" This state of things was not one in which he was likely to acquiesce ; and in six months he had to decide forty-six cases of courts-martjal on officers (some for gam- bling, some for drunkenness), in which only two were honourably acquitted, and not less than fourteen cashiered. In the cele- brated address in which he took leave of the officers of the Indian army (9th Decem- ber, 1850), he blamed them severely for getting into debt, and having to be brought before the Court of Requests. " A vulgar man," he wrote, " who enjoys a champagne tiffin [luncheon], and swindles his servants, may be a pleasant companion to those who do not hold him in contempt as a vulgar knave; but he is not a gentleman : his com- mission makes him an officer, but he is not a gentleman." The luxury of the Indian system was, as might be expected, severely criticised by a warrior who is popularly said to have en- tered on a campaign with a piece of soap and a couple of towels, and dined oflF a hunch of bread and a cup of water. Pre- vious commanders-in-chief, when moving on * Sir C. Napier to the Duke of Wellington, 15th June, 1850.— Pari. Paper, August 6th, 1857. "OLD INDIANS," "MARTINETS," AND "FAST REGIMENTS"— 1850. 109 a military inspection, used, at the public expense, eighty or ninety elephants, three or four hundred camels, and nearly as many bullocks, with all their attendants : they had also 332 tent-pitchers, including fifty men solely employed to carry glass doors for a pavilion. This enormous establish- ment was reduced by Napier to thirty ele- phants, 334 camels, 222 tent-pitchers ; by which a saving was effected for the treasury of £750 a-month. " Canvas palaces," he said, " were not necessary for a general on military inspection, even admitting the favourite idea of some ' old Indians' — that pomp and show produce respect with Indian people. But there is no truth in that no- tion : the respect is paid to military strength ; and the astute natives secretly deride the ostentation of temporary authority."* " Among the modern military changes," he snys, " there is one which has been gradually introduced in a number of regiments by gentlemen who are usually called ' martinets' — not soldiers, only mar- tinets. No soldier can now go up to his officer with- out a non-commissioned officer gives him leave, and accompanies him ! • * • This is a very dan- gerous innovation : it is digging a ditch between the officers and their men ! How are Company's officers to study men's characters, when no man dare address them but in full dress, and in presence of a non- commissioned officer?"t Sir Charles deplored "the caste and luxury which pervaded the army," as calcu- lated to diminish their influence equally over European soldiers and Indiao sepoys. " His [the soldier's] captain is no longer his friend and chief: he receives him with upstart condescen- sion J. is very dignified, and very insolent, nine [times?] out of ten; and as often the private goes away with disgust or contempt, instead of good, respectful, comrade feelings. Then the soldier goes daily to school, or to his library, now always at hand ; while his dignified officer goes to the billiard- room or the smoking-room ; or, strutting about with * Life, vol. iv., p. 206. The ostentatious parade with which the progresses of Indian functionarie ., both civil and military, was usually attended, not only aggravated, by contrast, the hardships endured by their inferiors, but inflicted most cruel sufi'erings on the natives of the countries through which they passed, thousands being pressed for palanquin or dooly (litter) bearers, and for porters of luggage, and paid very poorly, and often very irregularly. " The coolies, says bir C. Napier, " who are sum- moned to carry i^he governor-general's baggage when he moves, are assembled at, or rather driven by force to, Simla from immense distances, and are paid about twopence a-day, under circumstances of great cruelty. Now, I happen to know, that from the delays of offices, and without, perhaps, any tan- gible act of knavery in any especial officer or indi- vidual, some 8,000 or 10,000 coolies employed to take Lord down into the plains when he left India, were not paid this miserable pittance for three a forage-cap on the side of an empty pate, and clothed in a shooting-jacket, or other deformity of dress, fancies himself a great character, because he is fast, and belongs to a fast regiment — ». e., a regi- ment unfit for service, commanded by the adjutant, and having a mess in debt !"J It is, of course, exclusively to the sepoys that Sir Charles refers in the following pas- sages, in which he upholds the necessity for discipline and kindly intercourse being maintained by the European oflScers : — " They are admirable soldiers, and only give way when badly led by brave but idle officers, who let discipline and drill grow slack, and do not mix with them: being ignorant themselves, they cannot teach the sepoy. • * • I could do anjrthing I like with these natives. Our officers generally do not know how to deal with them. They have not, with some exceptions, the natural turn and soldierlike feelings necessary to deal with them. Well, it matters little to me ; India and I will soon be sepa- rate : I see the system will not last fifty years. The moment these brave and able natives learn how to combine, they wiU rush on us simultaneously, and the game will be up. A bad commander-in-cbief and a bad governor-general will clench the business.! * • • I am disposed to beKeve, that we might, with advantage, appoint natives to cadetships, dis- cbarge all our Native officers on the pensions of their present rank, and so give the natives common chance of command with ourselves — before they take it ! " Every European boy, aye, even sergeants, now command all Native officers ! When the native saw the English ensign live with him and cherish him, and by daily communication was made aware of his superior energy, strength, daring, and mental ac- quirements, all went smooth. Now thin^ have changed. The young cadet learns nothing: he drinks, he lives exclusively with his own country- men ; the older officers are on the staff, or on civil employ, which they ought not to be ; and high-caste — that is to say, mutiny — is encouraged. I have just gotten this army through a very dangerous one; and the Company had better take care what they are at, or some great mischief will yet happen ! "I think that Native ensigns, lieutenants, and captains, aye, and commanders of corps too, will assimilate with our officers, and, in course of time, years!" It is scarcely possible to' believe that Eng- lishmen could be either so ungenerous or so short- sighted as wantonly to outrage the feelings of the natives ; but, on this point, the testimony of various' authorities is corroborated by the special correspondent of the Times, whose sympathies naturally lay with his countrj'men, and who would not, without strong evidence, venture to bring such a heavy charge against them. Seeing a native badly wounded on a charpoy (movable bed), with a woman sitting beside him in deep affliction, he asked for an explanation, and was told that an officer " had been licking two of his bearers, and had nearly murdered them." Mr. Russell probably did not disguise his disgust on this or other occasions j for he was often told, " Oh, wait till you are another month in India, and you'll think nothing of licking a nigger." — The Times, June 17th, 1858. t Life and Correspondence, vol. iv., p. 325. X Ibid.,Mol. iv., pp. 306 ; 326. § Ibid., pp. 185; 212. I no OPINIONS OF LORD MELVILLE, SIR C. CAMPBELL, & MAJOR JACOB. gradually throw caste to the dogs, and be like our- selret in all but colour. I have no belief in the po>fer of caste resisting the Christian faith for any great length of time, because reason is too strong for nonsense in the long run ; and I believe if the Indians were made officers, on the same footing as ourselves, they would be perfectly faithful, and in time become Christians : not that I want to convert them ; but so it will be."* So far from any idea being entertained of elevating the Native officers according to the plan propounded by the commander-in- chief, their absolute extinction was discussed in public journals and periodicals; a fact which supplies a very clear reason for gene- ral disaffection. Sir Charles Napier, in the year in which he died (1853), writes to his brother. Sir William :— "The Edinburgh article you mentioned says, that if the Native officers were gradu- ally gotten rid of, the operation would be safe, though not economical or generous. But however gradually it might be done, 800,000 armed men would at once see that all their hopes of rising to be lieu- tenants, captains, and majors, and when no longer able to serve, the getting pensioii^ would, for those ranks, be blasted for ever. The writer would soon find his plan unsafe ; it would end all Indian questions at once. There is no sepoy in that great army but expects to retire, in age, with a major's pension, as certainly as eveiy ensign expects to become a major or a colonel in our army. There is but one thing to be done : give the Native officers rank with our own, reducing the number of ours. This may endanger ; hut it will not do so more than the present system does ; and my own opinion is pretty well made up, that our power there is crum- bling very fast."t The above statements have heen given at length, not simply because they were formed by the oommander-in-chief of tlie Indian army, but because they are the grounds on which he based his assertion, that the mutiny of the sepoys was " the most formidable danger menacing oiu: Indian empire." Certainly Sir William Napier has done good service in his unreserved exposi- tion of his brother's opinions ; and though many individuals of high position and cha- racter, may, with justice, complain of the language applied to them, yet the sarcasms • Letter written May Slst, 1860 ; published by Lieutenapt-general Sir William Napier, in the Timet of August 17th, 1857. t Life ana Opinions, vol. iv., p. 383. of the testy old general lose half their bit- terness when viewed as the ebullitions of an irascible temper, aggravated by extreme and almost constant bodily pain. When he descends to personalities, his own com- parison describes him best — " a hedgehog, fighting about nothing :" but his criticisms on the discipline of the Indian army, its commissariat, ordnance, and transport de- partments, bear witness of an extraordinary, amount of judgment and shrewdness. If, as "Indophllus" asserts, "Sir Charles Napier had not the gift of foresight beyond other men," it is the more to be regretted that other men, and especially Indian states- men, should have allowed his assertions to remain on record, neither confirmed nor re- futed, until the mutinies of 1857 brought them into general notice. Sir Charles Napier was not quite alone in his condemnation of the lax discipline of the Bengal army. Viscount Melville, who commanded the Punjab division of the Bombay forces at the time of the mutiny of the two Bengal regiments under Sir Colin Campbell, in 1849, was astonished at the irregularity which he witnessed in the Bengal army. When questioned concern- ing its condition, on his return to England in 1850, he did not disguise his strong dis- approbation ; upon which he was told that, however true his opinion might be, it would be imprudent to express it.{ Sir Colin Campbell kept silence on the same principle ; but now says, that if he had uttered his feelings regarding the sepoys ten years ago, he would have been shot.§ Major John Jacob wrote a pamphlet|| in 1854, in which he pointed out various de- fects in the system ; but the home authori- ties were evidently unwilling to listen to any unpleasant information. The reports of the commander-in-chief who succeeded Sir Charles Napier, and of the governor-general, were both exceedingly favourable ; but then the efforts of both Sir William Gommf and of Lord Dalhousie, seem to have been di- rected exclusively to the furtherance of very necessary measures for th| welfare of the European troops. Indeed, in his lordship's own summary of his administratiuu, the condition of the immense mass of the Indian army, amounting to nearly 300,000 men, is J Speech in the House of Lords, July 15th, 1867. § Times, 15th January, 1858. II Native Troops of the Indian Army. if Indian Empire, voL i., p. 637. ALLEGED SEPOY GRIEVANCES— FRANKING ABOLISHED. Ill dismissed iu the following brief, and, if accurate, very satisfactory sentence : — "The position of the Native soldier in India has long been such as to leave hardly any circumstance of his position in need of improvement."* This statement is hardly consistent with that made by the chairman of the East India Company (Mr. R. D. Mangles) to the cadets at Addiscombe, in June, 1857. He adverted to the " marked alteration in the tone and bearing of the younger officers of the Indian army, towards the natives of all ranks," as a fact which "all joined in la- menting ;" and he added, that if the " es- trangement of officers from men, and espe- cially of English from Native officers, was allowed to continue and grow, it was impos- sible to calculate the fatal consequences that might ensue."t Here, at least, was one point in which the treatment of the Native soldiery was sus- ceptible of improvement. But there were others in which the peculiar advantages they had once enjoyed had sensibly dimin- ished : their work had increased ; their pay, at least in the matter of extra allowances, had decreased. Sinde, for instance, was just as unhealthy — just as far from the homes of the sepoys; under British as under Native government ; yet the premium previously given for foreign service was withdrawn on annexation. So also in the Punjab, and elsewhere. The orders for distant service came round more rapidly as territory increased. The sepoys became involved in debt by change of station, and the Madras troops could ill afford the travelling expenses of their famihes, from whom they never wil- lingly separate, and whose presence has probably been a chief cause of their fidelity during the crisis. One regiment, for in- stance, has had, within the last few years, to build houses and huts at three different stations; and on their late return from Burmah, the men had to pay sixty rupees per cart, to bring their wives and children from Burhampoor to Vellore, a distance of 700 miles. This is said to be a fair ave- rage specimen of what is going on every- where. " The result is, that the men are deeply embarrassed. A sepoy on seven • Minute, dated 28ta February, 1856 ; p. 41. t See Daily News, July 13th, 1857, p.p. 26, 27. X Norton's Rebellion in India. § Letter signed " Caubulee." — Baily Newt, July 17th, 1857. rupees a-month, who has to pay fifty or sixty rupees for his wife's cart once iu eeery two or three years, is unavoidably plunged in debt. He must borrow at exorbitant in- terest from the money-lender ; and before he can reclaim the past, the ' route* comes for a fresh march,to far-distant cantonments, and hurries him into fre«h difficulties."^ The Bengal sepoys do not carry their families with them on a campaign, but leave them in their native villages, visiting them every year. The furloughs granted for this purpose, have been diminished in consequence of the growing necessities of the service; and another infringement of a prerogative, which their separation from their wives and children rendered very valuable, was committed by the withdrawal of their privilege of franking letters to their homes. Several late regulations regarding the payment of pensions, and increasing strictness on the part of the general in- validing committee, are asserted to have been viewed by the sepoys as involving breach of faith on the part of the govern- ment. They are said to have felt with the old Scotchwoman, "I ken ye're cheating me, but I dinna ken exactly hoo."§ Any alteration in the rules of the retiring pen- sion-list, was watched by the sepoy with jealous care. The terms which secured to him a fixed monthly stipend in the event of becoming incapacitated for further duty after a service of fifteen years, and which, if he died in battle, or from sickness while on foreign service, made some provision for his family, could not of course be altered, even slightly, without exciting alarm as to what further changes might follow. The Bengal sepoys were largely drawn from Oude; and not from Oude generally, but from certain limited districts. Naturally there existed among them the feeling observable in British soldiers born in the same county, when associated in a regiment on foreign service ; and possibly it was clanship, quite as much as caste, which bound them together: but whatever it was, a strong tie of union, and consequent power of combination, existed among them, which rendered them efficient for good or evil. Sir John Malcolm had given a memorable warning regarding them. Neither the Hindoo nor the Mohammedan soldier were, he said, revengeful, but both were prone to acts of extreme violence ia points where they deemed their honour slighted. The absence of any fear of death was common to them all. Such an inatru* 112 OPPOSITE VIEWS— MALCOLM AND GENERAL ANSON. ment as an army constituted of men like these afforded, had need be managed with care and wisdom, or our strength would become our danger. The minds of the sepoys were alive to every impulse, and would all vibrate to the same touch. Kind- ness, liberality, and justice would preserve their attachment : besides thf&, Malcolm adds, " we must attend to the most trifling of their prejudices, and avoid rash inno- vations ; but, above all, those that are calculated to convey to their minds the most distant alarm in points connected with their usages or religion."* This policy found little favour among the Euro- peans in 1856. The exclusive payment of the troops in such an inconveniently heavy coin as the sil- ver rupee (two-shilling) piece, obliges them to resort frequently to money-changers; and thus to lose a per-ceutage on their small stipend. Unfortunately, the gover- nor-general, whose practical ability might have been so beneficially exercised in this and other matters, appears to have listened j to only one set of statements regarding the Native army, and to have acted upon the principle that the sepoy had been "over- petted," and required sterner discipline. General Anson, who succeeded Sir Wil- liam Gomm in command of the army, took the same view of the case, only a more exag- gerated one. When the cartridge agitation first commenced, he set at nought the feelings of the sepoys, by declaring that " he would never give in to their beastly prejudices." This speech sufficiently reveals the character of the commander-in-chief to whom it could be even attributed with any show of probability; and it certainly de- serves a place among the immediate causes of the mutiny. t The European officers appear to have too generally adopted the same tone, especially as regarded the Ben- galees ; and it was commonly said, that whereas the leading feeling with the Bom- bay and Madras sepoys was the honour of their regiment, that of the Bengal sepoy was the pride of caste. But, in fact, all the Hindoos, except the outcastes, maintain more or less strongly, certain religious prejudices which interfere with their effi- ciency as soldiers ; especially their invariable dislike to sea voyages, and to passing cer- tain recognised boundaries. • Malcolm on the Government of India, p. 219. t Cooper's Crisis in the Punjab, p. 37. j Sleeiran's Journey through Oude, vol. ii., p. 95. The Afghan war was very unpopular for this reason ; and the calamities and sore dis- comfiture endured there, deepened the un- favourable impression which it made upon the whole Native army, and generally upon the people of India. An insurrection in the Saugor and Nerbudda districts broke out in 1842. The wild barons of the hills and jungles swept down over the valleys and cultivated plains ; yet the pillaged inhabi- tants yielded little support to the officers of the government, and would furnish no information with regard to the movements of the insurrectionists. Colonel Sleeman was sent by Lord Ellenborough to inquire into the cause of this inconsistency. He assembled a party of about fifty of the low- landers in his tent; and there, seated on the carpet, each man freely spoke his mind. Urarao Sing, a sturdy, honest farmer, spoke of the conduct of the chiefs as quite natural. The sudden withdrawal of the troops for objects of distant conquest, and the tidings of disaster and defeat, awakened their hopes of regaining their former position, for they thought the British raj at an end. Colonel Sleeman said, that the farmers and cultiva- tors of the disturbed districts, having been more favoured, in regard to life and property, than in any other part of India, ought to have been stanch to their protectors : " but," he added, "there are some men who never can be satisfied ; give them what you will, they will always be craving after more." "True, sir," replied Umrao Sing, with the utmost gravity, " there are some people who can never be satisfied, give them what you will ; give them the whole of Hindoostan, and they will go off to Cabool to take more."J Hedayut Ali, a subahdar of the Bengal Seik battalion, a man of excellent character, whose father and grandfather had occupied the highest positions attainable to natives in the British service, has furnished some important evidence on the causes of disaffec- tion among the sepoys. He lays much stress on the sufferings endured by the sepoys in Afghanistan in 1838-'9, and the violations of caste which they were com- pelled to commit by the extreme cold, espe- cially in the matter of eating without first bathing, and of wearing sheepskin jackets ; whereas no Hindoo, except of the lowest caste, likes to touch the skin of a dead animal. The annexation of Oude is cited by this witness as having, in addition to other real ARBITRARY REGULATIONS OF GENERAL ANSON— 1856. 113 or imaginary grievances, caused universal disaffection throughout the army, which from that time determined upon mutinying. The grounds upon which this opinion is based, are very clearly stated. On the 14th of March, 1856, the King of Oude reached Cawnpoor, on his way to Calcutta. Hedayut All reached that city on the same day. He remained there six days, and had frequent interviews with the king's vakeels, courtiers, and servants ; as did also the principal people of Cawnpoor, and many of the Native oflBcers and sepoys of the regiments stationed there; all of whom were indignant at the king's dispossession. The vakeel of Nana Sahib was among the visitors, and took pains to increase the excitement, by saying how displeased and grieved his master was by the conduct of the English. Shortly after, Hedayut Ali proceeded to join his corps at Lahore, and marched thence to Bengal. On the way, he learnt that the Native in- fantry at Barrackpoor were showing symp- toms of mutiny ; and this, with other intelli- gence, he, from time to time, communicated to his commanding officer. The King of Oude again visited Cawnpoor in December, 1856, and stayed about a fortnight ; during which time much mischief is said to have been concocted. Meanwhile the commander-in-chief and the governor- general were initiating measures very dis- pleasing to various classes of natives. The Madras sepoys had shown, at Vellore, how dangerous it was to interfere with the marks on their foreheads, or the fashion of their turbans. The Seiks and Mohamme- dans are scarcely less susceptible on the subject of their beards and monstachios. Consequently, in the extensive enlistments of these races, carried on after the annexa- tion of the Punjab, a pledge was given that no interference should be attempted in the matter of hair-dressing. General Anson, however, issued an order, directing the Mohammedans to cut their beards after a prescribed fashion. They refused, pleading the condition of their enlistment. The general insisted on their obeying the order, or quitting the service ; and many of them, sooner than suffer what, in their view, was a disgrace, took their discharge, and went to their homes. Sir Charles Napier under- stood the native character far too well to have so needlessly played the martinet, in- dependently of the sympathy which he would naturally have felt for the recusants, by reason of having himself " a beard like a VOL. II. Q Cashmere goat." The discharged sepoys " bitterly complained of the commanding officers having broken faith with them ; and several of them, who afterwards re-enlisted in the same regiment as Hedayut Ali, frequently spoke of the manner in which they had been deprived of the benefit of several years' service. But the crowning act of innovation enacted by Lord Canning and General Anson, was the general service order of 1856, by which all recruits were to be compelled to swear that they would go, by sea or land, wherever their services were required. The refusal of the 38th Bengal infantry to march to Burmah, was severely punished by Lord Dalhousie's sending the regiment by land to Dacca, where the can- tonments were very bad, and the loss of life among the troops extremely heavy."* He did riot, however, attempt to strike such a blow as that now aimed at caste ; for the unqualified aversion to the sea entertained by the Bengal sepoys, would, it was well known, prevent many from bring- ing up their children to a profession which they had learned to look upon as an here- ditary means of obtaining an honourable maintenance. They feared also for them- selves. Hedayut Ali says — " When the old sepoys heard of this order, they were much frightened and displeased. ' Up to this day, those men who went to Afghanis- tan have not been readmitted to their caste ; how are we to know where the Eng- lish may force us to go? They will be ordering us next to go to London.' Any new order is looked upon with much sus- picion by the Native army, and is much canvassed in every regiment." This latter remark is unquestionably a just one ; the intercourse maintained throughout the Bengal army, and the rapid and correct transmission of intelligence, having been one of the most marked features of the mutinies. The following observations are also painfully correct : — " Of late years the sepoys have not confided in their officers. • * * A native of Hindoostan seldom opens his mind to his officer; he only says what he thinks would please his officer. The sepoys reserve their real opinion until they return to their lines and to their comrades. • • • The government must be aware, that when a soldier has once or twice shown a disposition to mutiny, he is useless as a soldier : one mutinous sepoy infects a whole com- pany ; and gradually, one man after another, from fear or sympathy, joins the mutineers. " Many commanding officers, to my knowledge, reported that regiments were all right, when they • Norton't Rebellion in India, p. 21. 114 EVILS OF THE SENIORITY SYSTEM— 185fi. knew that there were discontent and bad feeling in the ranks ; and, to my belief, for the sake of the name of their respective regiments, concealed the real state of their regiments, until at length the seppys took to murdering their officers. • • • Another reason (and, in my opinion, a very serious one) why the army became mutinous and disaffected is this. Promotion all %ent by seniority, and not, as it ought, according to merit and proficiency. All the old men, from length of service worth nothing as commissioned or non-commissioned officers, re- ceived promotion ; while younger men, in every way fit, languished in their lines ; saying, ' What use is there in us exerting ourselves j we cannot get pro- motion until our turn comes, and that time can't come until our heads are gray and our mouths toothless.' For this reason, the sepoys for the most part drew their pay, and were careless with regard to their duty. The higher ranks of the Native army, from old age alone, were quite incapacitated from doing their duty, even had they the will to do it. I state confidently, that the generality of Native officers were an encumbrance to the state : instead of commanding sepoys, the sepoys commanded them ; and instead of the commissioned and non- commissioned ranks preventing the men from muti- nying, they rather persuaded them to do so."* 'I'he above opinion of a Native ofBcer on the effect of the Bengal military system upon his countrymen, reads like the echo of that of Indophilus, regarding its opera- tion on the Europeans. The arguments urged in the two cases are so nearly iden- tical, that it may well be asked whether justice and, common sense do not prompt to the same course of general legislation. " Under a pure seniority system, an officer's pro- motion goes on precisely in the same manner whether he exerts himself or takes his ease ; and as few love exertion for its own sake, the majority take the^r ease. Under a system of selection according to 'qualification and service, promotion is dependent upon exertion, and the majority consequently exert themselves. Those only who know the Bengal army can form some estimate of the amount of idle- ness and bad habit engendered by the seniority system co-operating with the enervating influences of the climate, which would be converted into active interest in professional duty, by the substitution of a well-considered system of promotion according to qualification and good service."t Lord MelvilleJ: had also urged, so far as he was- allowed to do, the evils of the seniority system. Other authorities, more or less di- rectly, assert, that it was the defective charac- ter, rather than tlie insufficient number, of the officers left to do regimental duty as "the refuse of the army," which weakened their * Translated by Captain T. Rattray, from the original Oordoo; and published in the Times, April Ist, 1858. t Letters of Indophilus, p. 1 8. \ The directors are said to defend themselves for neglecting Lord Melville's repraserilations, on the ground that his " evidence was contradicted most hold on their men. Brigadier-general Jacob remarks, that " qualifications, not numbers, are necessarj' for the leaders of the native Indian soldiers ;" and his opinion is cor- roborated by the fact, that the irregular aud local force, which was officered entirely by a few but picked men, was — allowing for discrepancies of pay and dates of enlist- ment — generally held to be in an equally, if not more, efficient condition than the regular regiments. A well-informed, but not unprejudiced witness says, that the conduct of irregular regiments, which possess only three Euro- pean officers, has always contrasted so favourably with that of line regiments, with their fourteen or fifteen, that the natural conclusion one would arrive at is, that the latter are over-officered. He also deprecates the seniority system, by which a sepoy who may enter the service at the age of sixteen, cannot count on finding himself a naik (corporal) before he attains the age of thirty-six ; a havildar (sergeant) before forty-five; a jemadar (lieutenant) before fifty-four; or a subahdar (captain) before sixty; while, "after fifty, most natives are utterly useless."§ The full complement of European officers to each regular regiment is twenty-six ; but of these half are geuerally absent, either on service or on furlough. The commander is usually a lieutenant-colonel; then there is an adjutant, to superintend the drill; a quartermaster, whose duty it is to look after the clothing of the men ; and, lastly, an interpreter. The necessity for this last functionary lies at the root of our late sudden calamity ; for the officers, if they had been able and willing to hold close intercourse with their men, and explain to them the reasons for the various unpopular orders recently issued, would, if they could not remove disaffection, at least Lave become acquainted with its existence. An infantry regiment on the Bengal establishment com- prises ten companies, each containing a hundred privates, two native commissioned, and twelve non-commissioned officers. The great increase of the irregular regi- ments has been in itself a source of jealousy and heartburning to the regular troops, who strongly, in every particular, by that of Sir Patrick Grant, who assured us, that the Bengal army (of which he had been long adjutant-general) was all that it should be."— Letter, signed " H. C." — Daily News, July 25th, 1857. § Mutiny of the Bengal Army by one who has served under Sir Charles Napier; pp. 1 ; 7. ARBITRARY REGULATIONS OF 1856. 115 expected that their numbers would be largely augmented on the recent annexa- tions, and that extensive promotions would take place. This expectation was wholly disappointed. The enormous expenses of the array rendered the comparative cheap- ness of irregular troops an irresistible advan- tage. According to the Army List for 1857, the irregular and local force of Bengal num- bered forty-two infantry, and twenty-seven cavalry regiments; and the so-called contin> gents of Native States, comprised sixteen of cavalry and nineteen of infantry: in all, ninety-four regiments ; the whole officered by picked men from the twenty-four regi- ments of the regular army. The relative numbers of the three armies need not be given here, as their proportions and distribu- tion are immediately connected with the history about to be entered on. The ques- tion of the greased cartridges has been already noticed under the head of " Caste ;" and will frequently recur in the ensuing narrative. A Mohammedan Conspiracy, widely rami- fied and deeply rooted, is urged by some authorities as in itself the great motive power of the late political convulsion; others, on the contrary, r'eny its existence, en the ground of no sufficient evidence having been adduced thereof. Dr. Alexander Duff, the eloquent Pres- byterian preacher of Calcutta, writing in August, 1857, says — " It is a long-con- cocted Mohammedan conspiracy now come to a head. The main object is the destruc- tion of British power, and the reascendancy of Mohammedan. Even the cartridge affair was only a casual incident, of which the conspirators adroitly took advantage."* In his published Letters on the Indian Rebellion, the Doctor throughout insists on Mussulman intrigues as being continually developed and exposed ; but he wrote in a season of excitement, when rumours abounded of dangers and atrocities, many of which have happily proved unfounded, but which naturally served to confirm his preconceived opinion. The truth is terrible enough; and for the sake of our national honour, for the sake of human nature, and, above all, for the sake of truth itself, we •Speech of the Hon. A. Kinnaird, 11th June, 1857 : second edition ; p. 36. t Proclamation issued by Prince Mirza Moham- med Feroze Shah, 17th February, 1858. t See Times, September 1st, IS.'^'' should strive to strip this fearful episode of the obscurity in which conflicting exagge- rations have wrapped its origin and pro- gress. Beyond question, the Mohammedan princes of India have strong reason for combining to restore the green flag of Islam to its former supremacy in Hindoostan. If an opportunity offered, it is at least highly probable that the orthodox Sonnites of Delhi, and the heterodox Sheiahs of Oude, would be content to forget for a time the rival claims of Caliphs and Imaums to apostolic succession, and make common cause against the power which treats both with indifference. The whole Mussulman body would of necessity be drawn closer together by the danger which threatened all alike. They had still something to lose; that is, some- thing to fight for. Submission had not succeeded in preserving the independence of Oude ; and even Hyderabad, much more the titidar principality of Delhi, seemed tottering to a close. Still the Mohamme- dans were as a handful amid a heap; and the chief point to solve was, whether the recent innovations had sufficiently disgusted the leading Hindoos to render them willing to forget past usurpations, and join with their former subjugators in attempting the overthrow of the British raj. Tippoo Sultan had made an effort of the kind, but without success ; and it now ap- pears, by his own proclamation, that Prince Mirza Feroze Shah, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca, "persuaded many at Delhi to raise a religious war;" being in- cited thereto by observing that " the Eng- lish were in a bad and precarious state. "f Great anxiety had been felt at Delhi, throughout the period of Lord Dalhousie's administration, regarding the manner in which his annexation policy would be brought to bear upon the family who, fallen as they were, still represented, in the minds of the Indian people, the mighty Mogul emperors of old, and whose restoration to power had been prayed for daily in the mosques throughout India for nearly a hundred years. J In 1849, the heir-apparent died, and the Indian government recommended the Court of Directors to " terminate ♦he dynasty of Tiraour whenever the reigning king should die." The court consented ; but so reluc- tantly, that the governor-general did not care to avail himself of their permission, and therefore recognised the grandson of 116 PERSIAN WAR DEPRIVED INDIA OF EUROPEAN TROOPS— 1856. the king as heir-apparent ; " but only on condition tliat he should quit the palace in Delhi, in order to reside in the palace at the Kootub ; and that he should, as king, receive the governor-general of India, at all times, on terms of perfect equality." These conditions show that something of external pomp and circumstance .still lingered around Delhi, of which the repre- sentatives of the East India Company were anxious to be rid, and the royal family as anxious to retain. True, the power had long vanished ; but even the tarnished pageantry wis clung to, naturally enough, by those who had no other birthright, and no prospect of being able to win their way to wealth and honour as warriors ; the profes- sion of arms being the only one in which a Mohammedan prin(ie of the blood could en- gage without forfeiting caste. The sullateen (plural for sultan) — as the various branches of the family are termed — are probably a very idle and dissolute race. It is in the nature of things that ibey should have become so. Certainly we never did anything to hinder their debasement ; and have, while acting as their political and pecuniary trustees, been lamentably indifferent to their moral and physical welfare. We never evinced the slightest interest in them; and have no right to wonder at their degradation. With the downfall of the dynasty we had no concern. In dealing generously with Shah Alum, we acted with sound policy. All India respected us for it. Even in Leadenhall-street, sufiBcient memory of the bygone feelings and events lingered in 1849, to make the application of the new absorp- tion laws seem peculiarly harsh in the case of Delhi. The scruples of the Court of Direc- tors induced Lord Dalhousie to draw back his hand, at least as far as the titular sove- reignty was concerned ; but his proposal for its extinction having been once mooted, and even sanctioned, it may be considered that the sentence was rather deferred tlian reversed. This, at least, was the public opinion. It is a singular fact, that the same accounts from India, which have been already quoted as describing the unbroken tranquillity of the entire peninsula at the close of 1856, state that the palace of Delhi was " in a ferment," owing to the recent death of the heir-apparent from cholera, and the renewed discussion regarding the succession. " We have (it is added) no treaty, agreement, or * Calcutta correspondent, November 8th, 1856. — Ti7nss, December 9th, 1856. stipulation with Delhi. The king's privi- leges and pension were all granted as of free grace ; and the former will probably be withdrawn. The palace is a sink of iniquity ; and the family, on the death of its present head, will probably be compelled to move."* The same paper contains the announce- ment that the anticipated declaration of war against Persia had appeared in a proclama- tion published at Calcutta on the 1st of November, 1856. The casus belli was the breach of the treaty of 1853, by which the Persian government promised to abstain from all interference with Herat ; the inde- pendence of that city, under its brave chief, Esa Khan, being deemed essential to the security of the British frontier. On the pretence that Dost Mohammed had been instigated to seize Candahar and advance upon Herat, a Persian army crossed into the Herat territory (which was declared to be Persian soil), and laid siege to the city. Under instructions from the home govern- ment, a force was assembled at Bombay for service in the Persian Gulf. The Times' correspondent describes the departure of the force, in three divisions, as taking place in the middle of November. The first, con- sisting of H.M.'s 64th regiment and the 20th Native infantry, embarked from Vin- gorla in two steamers, each with its trans- port in tow. The second, 'comprising a European regiment, the 2nd Belooch cavalry, and two squadrons of the 3rd cavalry, sailed from Poorbuuder and Kurrachee. The third embarked from Kurrachee a few days later, and consisted of the 4th Rifles (a very strong and well-appointed regimeut), two troops of the Poona horse, a field battery, a troop of horse artillery, a third-class siege-train, and two companies of sappers and miners. The rendezvous was fixed at Bunder Abbas, a place near the entrance of the gulf, in the occupation of our Arab ally, the Imaum of Muscat. t At the time the above facts were recorded, no idea appears to have been entertained of any connection existing between the Persian war and the ferment in the palace of Delhi. The declaration of war had been long expected ; and, according to the Times' correspondent, created little excitement at Bombay. The Persians, who are nume- rous there, as also in other large Indian cities, relied on the promise of protection given them, and remained quiescent. " Even t Bombay correspondent, November 17th, 1856. — Times, December 9th, 1856. REPORTS OF MOHAMMEDAN PLOTS— 1856. 117 the Mussulman population, who sympathise with Persia," he adds, "sympathise still more with Afghanistan ;* and the fact that we are fighting with, and not against, Dost Mohammed, is thoroughly understood. The European public accepts the war with a feeling of quiet resignation. The idea that it is our destiny to advance — that we cannot help ourselves, has obtained a control over the public mind ; and every war breaks the monotony of Indian life, which is the curse of India, as of all aristocratic life." It seems probable that the Persian war materially, though indirectly, contributed to break up the aristocratic monotony of high-caste European life, by denuding India of her most reliable troops. The number sent, of men of all arms, to the Persian Gulf, in November, 1856, amounted to 5,820, of whom 2,270 were Europeans. In the following February a still larger force was dispatched, under Brigadier-general Havelock, consisting of 5,340 men, of whom about 1,770 were Europeans; and 800 cavalry were subsequently dispatched at an enormous cost. Thus the " army of Persia" deprived India of about 12,000 men, of whom on&rthird were Europeans. Lord Canning considered this force quite sufficient for any operations which Major- general Outram could undertake before the hot season ; but, he adds, " it is certain that very large reinforcements will be needed before a second campaign, com- mencing with the autumn of 1857, can be entered upon." Man proposes — God disposes. Long before the autumn set in, an Indian cam- paign had commenced, which, whether the Persians had or had not withdrawn their claims on Herat, must have equally relieved the governor-general from the task of pro- viding a third armament for the Persian Gulf, "to include not less than six Euro- pean regiments of infantry and one of cavalry." The Persians were overcome, and the independence of Herat was secured, at a cost to Britain of about ^6500,000 in money. f Meanwhile, intimations of Persian intrigues were given to the authorities by various persons, but set at nought as idle * This assertion may be reasonably questioned, since the Sheiahs of Oude looked up to the Shah of Persia as the head of their sect. Mr. Ludlow says that the Persian v/ar caused great excitement in Northern India, where many of the Moslems were of the SliL-iah sect ; and he adds, that one of his rela- tives had himself, within the last two or three years, read placards on the walls of Delhi, calling true rumours. The trial of the King of Delhi fur- nishes evidence that inducements to revolt were held forth by the Shah of Persia, who promised money and troops. His procla- mation to that effect was posted over the mosque gate, and was taken down by order of Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, who, moreover, was informed by John Everett, a Christian risaldar very popular with the natives, that he had been warned to fly, as the Persians were coming, and the Mussulmans were greatly excited. Sir T. Metcalfe thought the information of no importance.^ A state- ment of a Mohammedan plot was laid before Mr. Colvin ; but he also suffered the warning to pass unheeded, and did not even report it to government. At this very time Delhi was absolutely devoid of European troops, yet strongly fortified, and stored with the munitions of war. Its palace-fort was still tenanted by the representative of the rois faineants of the East, whose persons had formerly been fought for by opposing factions as a tower of strength ; their compulsory signature being used notoriously to legitimatise usur- pation, and influence the populace. Extreme insalubrity is given by Lord Eilenborough as the reason why no Euro- pean regiment had ever yet been stationed there, sickness prevailing to such an extent, that, after the rains, two-thirds of the strength even of the Native troops were in hospital. § Sanitary measures would pro- bably have prevented, or greatly mitigated this evil (as at Seringapatam); nor does it appear that any cause but neglect existed to render Delhi less habitable than of old. Sir Charles Napier's prediction was one which any chance traveller might have rea- sonably made ; and there is, therefore, the less excuse for the absence of obviously ne- cessary precautions. " Men," he said, " of all parts of Asia meet in Delhi ; and, some day or other, much mischief will be hatched within those city walls, and no European troops at hand." II He knew also, and oflfi- cially urged upon the governor-general, " that the powder-magazine was defended only by a guard of fifty natives, and the gates so weak that a mob could push them believers to the holy war in the name of the Shah of Persia. — Lectures on British India, toI. ii., p. 219. t Speech of Lord Claude Hamilton : Indian de- bate, July ^Olh, 1857. X Calcuttacorrespondent.— Times, March 29, 1858. § Indian debate, July 13th, 1857. II Letter to a lieutenant-colonel in the Bengal artillery: published in the Times, 20th August, 1857. 118 BRITISH RULE TO LAST A HUNDRED YEARS. m; whereas the place ought to be garri- soned by 12,000 picked men."* The absence of a Europeau garrison in Delhi is the most unpardonable of our blun- ders; and — what does not always follow — it is the one for which we 1 ? most dearly paid, not in money only, but in the life- blood of our best and bravest soldiers. One cannot think of Nicholson and his gallant companions without bitterly denouncing the neglect which suffered Delhi to fall defenceless at the feet of a few rebels, put at once a sword and shield into their hands, and gave them the ancient Mussulman metropolis of India as a nucleus for every aggrieved chief, every disaffected soldier, every reckless adventurer, escaped convict, pindarree, thug, dacoit, to rally round, for the destruction of the British raj — at least for a long carnival Of war and loot. The very heroism of the troops who regained Delhi embitters the recollection of the neglect by which it was lost. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori! as one of them (Captain Battye) said when mortally wounded ; but, to their country, their very devotion only renders it more painful that the necessity for such sacrifices should have been so culpably occasioned. This is, however, anticipating events, the progress of which will best evidence how far Persian intrigues may have been connected with the mutiny. At present, many assertions are made, the tnith of which yet remains in dispute. It would seem, however, that the efforts of the King of Persia had been chiefly directed to Delhi ; and that if communica- tions were entered into with leading Mo- hammedans in other parts of India, these had not had time to ripen ; and, conse- quently, when the mutinies broke forth, heralded by incendiary fires in every British camp, the conspirators must have been taken by surprise almost as much as the Europeans themselves. f Shett NowmuU, "a native merchant of Kurrachee, for many years favourably known to government on account of his great in- telligence, his extensive influence and coo* nexions throughout the countries on our western frontier, and his true attachment to the British government," communicated, to Mr. Freere, commissioner of Sinde, in June, 1857, his reasons for believing that " Persian influence was at the bottom of the mutiny." He declared that cossids (mes- sengers), nuder different disguises, withletters secreted in the soles of their shoes or other- wise, had, for the last two years, been regu- larly passing between Delhi and the Persian court, vi& Candahar ; that a great spread of the, Sheiah tenets of Islamism had been observable during the same period; and also that a very perceptible decrease had taken place in the rancour usually existing between the Sheiahs and Sonnites. The new cartridges had been used " through the same influence," to excite the feelings of the Hindoo portion of the army, and lead them to mutiny. Dost Mohammed, he said, thought more of Persia than of England, for a very pertinent reason — " Persia is on the Dost's head ; Peshawur is under his feet :"J in other words, a man placed between two fires, would especially dread the more immediate one. Prophecies of various kinds were current — always are current, in India ; but when the mutiny broke out, more heed was given to them by the natives ; and the Europeans also lent an ear, knowing that a pretended prophecy might disguise an actual plot, and, in more ways than one, work out its own fulfilment. The alleged prediction which limited the duration of the British raj to a hundred years, was repeated far and wide ;§ • Memoir on the Defence of India ; addressed by Sir C. Napier to Lord Dalhousie. See Indian debate of 23rd July, 1857. t In the captured tent of the Shahzada com- mander, after the rout of the Persians at Mohum- rah, there was found a royal proclamation addressed •^ to all the people of Heran ; but which also called on " the Afghan tribes, and the inhabitants of that country who are co-religionists of the Persians, and who possess the same Koran and Kebla, and laws of the prophet, to take part in the Jahdd." It expressly invited the followers of Islam in India and Smde to unite and wreak vergeance on the British for all the injuries which the holy faith had suffered from them, and not to withhold any sacrifice in the holy cause. " The old and the young, the small and the great, the wise and the ignorant, the ryot and the sepoy, all without exception," are summoned by the Shah- in-Shah to arise in defence of the orthodox faith of the prophet ; and having girt up the waist of valour, adorn their persons with arms and weapons ; and let the UUema and preachers call on the people in the mosques and public assemblies, and in the pulpits, to join m a Jahdd, in the cause of Ood ; and thus shall the Ohazis in the cause of faith have a just title to the promises contained in the words of the prophet, " Verily we are of those who fought in the cause of God."— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine for 1857 : article entitled " The Poorbeah Mutiny." X Letter from H. B. B. Freere, commissioner of Sinde, to Lord Elphinstone, governor of Bombay, nth June, 1867.— Pari. Papers (253), 4th May, 1858; p. 48. § Dr. A. Duff's Letter) ! London, 1868 j p. 26. RUSSIAN INTRIGUES AN ALLEGED CAUSE OF DISSAFFECTION. 1 19 and the Europeans in Calcutta and many of the leading cities, iratched the approach of the centenary of Plassy with a feverish anxiety bordering on panic. But prophecies such as these, are usually the consequence or tlie sign, rather than the cause, of popular tumults. In health we can smile at language which, in sickness, excites a fevered imagination to frenzy. For years the natives had been allowed to speculate on the future destiny, and com- ment on the present policy, of their rulers, without any restraiut whatever; now, every third word seemed treason. Such of the English functionaries as understood Indian languages, began to examine the literature of the day ; and were exceedingly puzzled to decide what was, and what was not, written with a sinister intent. A Persian paper, for instance, was brought to Mr. Freere about the commencement of hostilities, which described the signs preced- ing the day of judgment, in language strik- ingly applicable to existing circumstances, and calculated to unsettle and excite men's minds, and prepare them for some sudden disturbance ; but it read so like a free trans- lation of a sermon by a popular English preacher on the same subject, as to render it difficult to decide how to act with regard to it.* The struggle which has taken place be- tween the Christians and the Mussulmans, in various distinct parts of Europe as well as Asia, and which has been cotempora- neous with the Indian mutiny, is viewed as indicating a desire on the part of the pre- sent representatives of Islam to regain some- thing of their former dominaucy. The Indo- Mohammedans are, however, very unlike their co-religionists in other countries, and the anti-idolatrous doctrines of their founder have been so corrupted by intermixture of the superstitious practices of modern Brah- miuism, that it is not possible to judge their feelings by any test applicable to Mohammedans in general. The English naturally viewed, with great alarm, the fanatical outbreaks at Jaffa, Marash, and Belgrade, and still more so the alarming one at Jeddah; but the govern- ment have wisely striven to repress the sus- picious distrust and aversion manifested by the Europeans to the Mohammedans as a class, fearing to see them driven to revolt by conduct equally unjust and impoliticf • Letter from H. B. B. Freere.— ParL Papers (233), 4th May, 1858; p. 48. This possible source of mutiny has been as yet but very partially explored, and th^ present heat of prejudice and excitement must be allowed to subside before any satis- factory conclusion can be formed on the subject. Foreign intrigues are alleged to have been practised against us, and attempts made to undermine our position in India, in various ways, by a Christian hs well as by a Mo- hammedan power; by Russia as well as Persia. It is difficult to say how far the vague expectation of Russian invasion (which certainly exists in India) has been occasioned by exaggerated rumours, and perverted re- ports gleaned from European journals, and circulated by the native press durinp the period of the Crimean war, or how much of it may be attributed to the deliberate machinations of Russia. In England, both sources of danger were equally disregarded; and, amid the misera- ble inconsistencies which marked the war from beginning to end, not the least was the fact, that one of the arguments used to reconcile the people to heavy additional tax- ation, was the necessity of maintaining and restoring effete and incapable Mohamme-> dan Turkey, as a means of checking the in- ordinate increase of the power of Russia, and making the battle-field in the Crimea> rather than on the frontier of our Indian empire. The Russian government intimated, that to roll back their European boundary would but lead them to advance their Asiatic one; and some years before the campaign of 1853, their organ at St. Petersburg declared that, in the event of war, the czar would dictate the terms of peace at Calcutta. In the teeth of this defiant warning, the British ministry, accustomed to treat India as a sort of peculiarly circumstanced colony, and to neglect colonies as a matter of course, paid no heed whatever to the strange excitement manifested throughout India at the first tidings of the Crimean conflict. No pains were taken to ascertain the tone adopted by the natives, or tq~g«ard against rumours cir- culated and schemes set afoot by foreign emis- saries, in a country where a passport system would have been a common measure of pru- dence. Ministers concentrated all their energies on the conduct of the European struggle (though not with any very satisfac- tory result), and acted as if on th^ under- standing that, " during the Russian w^r, the t See letter of Lord Hobart — 2Yme«. PeQemb^r 3rd, 1867. u 120 RUSSIAN ROUBLES IN BAZAARS— 1857. government had too much to do, to be ex- pected to attend to India."* The ill effects which the tidings of the Russian and Persian wars were calculated to produce in India, were aggravated by the drain of European troops thereby occa- sioned. The government demand for two regiments of infantry for the Crimean war, was earnestly deprecated by Lord Dalhousie. "Ahhough the war with Russia," observes his lordship, " does not directly affect our Indian do- minions, yet it is unquestionably exercising at this moment a most material influence upon the minds of the people over whom we rule, and upon the feelings of the nations by which we are surrounded ; and thus it is tending indirectly to affect the strength and the stability of our power. " The authorities in England cannot, I think, be aware of the exaggerated estimate of the power of Russia which has been formed by the people of India. I was myself unaware of it until the events of the past year have forced it upon my convictions. Letters from various parts of India have shown me, that the present contest is regarded by them with the deepest interest, and that its issue is by no means considered so certain as we might desire. However mortifying to our pride it may be to know it, and however unaccountable such a belief may appear in people living amidst the visible evidences of our might, it is an unquestionable fact, that it is widely beUeved in India, that Russia is pressing us hard, and that she will be more thiin a match for us at last. "We know by our correspondence in the East, that the King of Ava has declaredly been acting on this feeling ; and that, influenced by it, he has been delaying the dispatch of the mission which many months ago he spoke of sending to Calcutta. • • • " India is now in perfect tranquillity from end to end. I entertain no apprehension whatever of dan- ger or disturbance. We are perfectly secure so long as we are strong, and are believed to be so : but if European troops shall be now withdrawn from India to Europe ; if countenance shall thus be given to the belief already prevalent, that we have grappled with an antagonist whose strength will prove equal to overpower us ; if, by consenting to withdrawal, we shall weaken that essential element of our military strength, which has already been declared to be no more than adequate for ordinary times ; and if, further, we should be called upon to dispatch an army to the Persian Gulf — an event which, unlooked-for now, may any day be brought about by the thraldom in which Persia is held, and by the feeble and fickle character of the Shah ; then, indeed, I shall no longer feel, and can no longer express the same confidence as before, that the security and stability of our position in the East will remain unassailed. • • • In a country where the entire English community is but a handful of scattered strangers, I feel it to be a public duty to record, that in my deliberate judgment, the Euro- pean infantry force in India, ought in no case to be weakened by a single man, so long as Eng- • Speeches of Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Vernon Smith, president of the India Board.— Indian debate, July 26th, 1857. + Minute by the governor-general : 13th Septem- land shall be engaged in her present struggle with Russia."t The regiments were nevertheless with- drawn, and were not oven returned at the close of the Russian war. Then came the Persian ■ ar, and the requisition upon Lord Canning, who complied less reluctantly than Lord Dalhousie had done; but still under protest. Lord Canning reminded the home authorities, that, for all Indian purposes, the strength of the army would be equally reduced, whether the regiments were sent to Persia or to the Crimea. He spoke of the excitement which even a dis- tant war raised in the minds of the natives, and insisted on the necessity of an increase of European troops, as necessary 'to the safety of India during the continuance of hostile operations against Persia.J It is at least possible that the Russian government should have retaliated on us our invasion of its territory, by striving to sow discord in India. The course of the rebellion has afforded many incidents cal- culated to produce a conviction of their having done so : for instance, the assertion of oue of the Delhi princes, that when the mutineers marched on that city, the royal family believed them to be the advanced guard of the Russian army. Another far more significant fact, which was communi- cated to me on the authority of a naval oflficer in a high position on the Indus, was the extraordinary amount of silver roubles seen in the bazaars in the North- West Provinces, immediately before the mutiny, and supposed to have passed to the tables of the money-changers from the notoriously well-filled pockets of Russian spies. The ex- tent and mode in which this agency may have been employed, will probably never be revealed ; but it can hardly be doubted that it is an active and recognised mode of ob- taining the accurate and comprehensive information possessed by the government of St. Petersburg, regarding the condition of the domestic and foreign affairs of every other nation. Spies, in time of peace, may easily become political incendiaries in time of war, in countries hostile to the authority which they serve. As to detecting them, that is next to impossible : a charge of this nature is always difficult to prove; but, to an Englishman, the difficulty is insur- ber, 1854.— Pari Papers, 12th February, 1858; pp. 7; 9. J Minutes dated 7th and 8th February, 1857. — Pari. Papers, 20lh July, 1857 ; pp. 8, 9. RUSSIAN SPIES AND POLITICAL DETECTIVES. 121 mountable. Clever thieves, clever forgers, England has produced in abundance: un- scrupulous politicians are not quite un- known among us ; but our secret service department has, on the whole, been singu- larly free from subterranean and syste- raatised "dirty work." The secret opening of a letter is scouted at, in a political func- tionary, as listening at a keyhole would be in a private individual;' and, even while quite uncertain as to the extent of the mutiny in 1849, Sir Charles Napier would not entertain the idea of examining the correspondence of the sepoys, then passing to an unusual extent through the govern- ment post-offices. The Russian language has probably many words which, like the French owe fin, finesse, and others, have no equivalent in English; nor has America — sharp, shrewd, and slick as some of her children are — annexed to the mother-tongue any words which serve as fit exponents for that peculiar branch of continental diplo- macy which renders trained spies a regular governmental department. We have no political detectives among us. Our aristo- cracy, whether of rank or letters, may indeed be occasionally annoyed by the indiscretion of caterers for the public press, in the shape of newspaper reporters and gossiping memoir writers ; but, at our tables, the host speaks bis mind in the plainest terms regarding the most powerful per- sonages of the moment, without fearing that one of his servants may be taking notes behind his chair, which may procure his exile or imprisonment ; and the hostess is equally certain that none of her guests will drive from her roof to lodge informa- tion of some enthusiastic ebullition which has escaped her lips, and for which neither youth nor beauty, character nor station, would save her from personal chastisement under the orders of a Russian Usher of the Black Rod. What we call grumbling in Great Britain, folks abroad call treason; and that is an offence for which Britons have so little temptation, that they are slow to note its existence, or provide against it even when themselves exercising those despotic powers which, if men dare not openly oppose, they secretly strive against. To what extent Russian emissaries have fomented Indian disaffection, will probably never be proved : the natives can, perhaps, give information on the subject, if tiiey will; and if tliat evidence be obtained, and thoroughly sifted, by men possessing intimate acquaintance with the VOL. II. R Indian languages and character, united to sound judgment, some light may yet be thrown on a subject every branch of which is most interesting as regards the past, most important as regards the future. No Englishman, except, under very pecu- liar circumstances, would ever detect spies amid a multitude of foreigners. I speak strongly on this point, because, in China, several Russians were pointed out to me by the experienced Dr. Gutzlaff ; dressed in the costume of the country, speaking the lan- guage, adopting the habits of the people, and appearing, to the casual observer, to all intents native born. It is notorious that a Captain Vikovitch played a conspicuous part in inciting the unjust and disastrous expedition to Af- ghanistan against Dost Mohammed. This and many other instances, leave little doubt that Russia maintains, in Central Asia, agents to watch and, if possible, influence the proceedings of England, and probably receives from some of the Greek or Arme- nian merchants settled at Calcutta or Bombay, accounts about the state finances, the army, and affairs in general ; but, be- sides this, disclosures are said to have been made which prove that Russian emissaries, under various guises, have been successfully at work in inflaming the bigotry of the Mussulman, and the prejudices of the high-caste Hindoo.* It is possible, how- ever, that information on this subject ob- tained by the government, may, for obvious reasons, be withheld from the public. This introductory chapter has extended to a greater length than the writer anticipated at its commencement. His design was simply to state the alleged causes of the mutiny, as far as practicable, in the words of those who were- their chief exponents, and to refrain from mingling therewith his own views. But the future welfare of India and of England is so manifestly connected with the policy now evolving from the crucible of heated and conflicting public and party feel- ing, that it is barely possible for any one really interested in tlic result, to look on, and describe the struggle, without revealing his own convictions on points where right and wrong, truth and fallacy, justice and oppres- sion, are clearly at issue. In the foregoing summary, some alleged causes are noted which appear to l)e scarcely compatible with one another. The iucom- • Dr. Duff's Indian Heheltion, p. 93. 122 NATIVE INDIAN ABMY AS LARGE AS EVEE— 1858. patibility is perhaps less real than apparent. "What we call British India, is, in fact, a congeries of nations, differing in language, creed, and customs, as do European states, and with even less points of union, except- ing only their involuntary association under a foreign government. It follows, that in striving to trace the origin of wide-spread disaffection, and the connection between seemingly distinct in- surrectionary movements, we must be pre- pared to find great variety of motive — general, local, and temporary — affecting scattered masses, and manifesting itself sometimes in active hostility, sometimes in sullen discontent. Under a despotic government, with an enormous army of native mercenaries, the outbreak of rebe'.lion would naturally occur among the soldiery. While they were con- tented, the people would almost necessarily remain in complete subjection ; but if the soldiery had grievances, however slight compared with those of the people, the two classes would coalesce; the separate dis- content of each party reacting upon the other, the .irmy would initiate rebellion, the people would maintain it. According to Mr. Disraeli, this has actually been the case ; the conduct of the Bengal troops, in revolting, having been that of men " who were not so much the avengers of profes- sional grievances, as the exponents of gene- ral discontent."* It is difficult to u..derstand what the reason can have been for keeping up such an ' enormous Native army as a peace es- tablishment. Soldiers were used to perform police duties in the older provinces, where war had been unknown for years, simply be- cause there were not policemen to do them ; and this confounding of civil and military duties lies at the bottom of much misgov- ernment, extortion, and unnecessary ex- pense. The troops so variously engaged were trained only for arms, yet employed mainly in duties which officers and men looked upon as derogatory to them as soldiers, and which, in fact, they had no business with at all. It was at once deteriorating • Debate (Commons), July 28th, 1857. t Ihid. \ The new recruits are, however, very different men from the tall, well-formed Brahmin or Rajpoot sepoyg of the old Bengal army. These were six feet in height, and forty inches round the chest ; docile, polite, doing credit to their ofBcers on parade, smart at drill, neat and clean on duty. Already the re- action hag commenced ; and Indian officers in gen- eral appear disposed to recollect (what the best and their efficiency, and putting power unneces- sarily in their hands, to employ them in functions which should have been, as a mere matter of policy, kept perfectly distinct. There is much justice in Lord John Eussell's remark, that we have had alto- gether too large an army, and that 50,000 Europeans, with I(X),06o Natives, would be a much better security, as far as force is concerned, than a Native army of 300,000.t At this moment, the total amount of troops in our service is scarcely less than before the mutiny, so rapidly have new corps replaced the old ones, and new sources of supply become available to meet an urgent demand. J There is need of care, lest our new aux- iliaries prove equally, if not more dangerous than the old ones. There is more need than ever of moderation, or rather of justice and charity, being urged by the British public on their countrymen in India, lest we lose for ever our hold on the confidence of its vast population. It is most true that " the time is really come for the people of England and for the government of the country to meet the manifestations of a spirit which would render our rule in India not only a crime but an impossibility, by an active and reso- lute policy. Outrages on natives roust be punished, unless we would willingly and knowingly accept the hostility of India, and, with our eyes open, justify the asser- tions of the intriguers, who tell the people that nothing will content us but their utter extermination." The growing alienation of the Europeans from the natives has been already noticed as a cause of disaffection; but since that section was written, the free, fearless, gra- phic representations of Mr. Kussell have thrown new light on the subject, and shown but too plainly a sufficient reason for " the rift, bottomless and apparently causeless, which, even before the mutiny, was ob- served as separating the European from the native, and increasing in breadth every day."§ Unhappily, it is no new thing to be told wisest of them have never forgotten), that " Pandy, until he went mad in 1857, was a good orderly soldier." " For myself," an officer writes in a recent Indian journal, " I would rather serve with them than wiih the dirty, unworthy, ungentlemanly (Pandy was a gentleman) set of strange bedfellows with whom misfortune has made us acquainted." — Mr. Russell— 2Vwies, Nov. 8th, 1858. § Ibid., October 20th, 1858. ILL-TREATMENT OF NATIVES— 1858. 123 that Englishmen in India are arrogant and exclusive. la the last century, West Indian proprietors and East Indian nabobs were chosen by essayists, novelists, and play- writers, as representing a peculiar class of domestic tyrants, wealthy and assumptions ; whose presence. Lord Macaulay said, raised the price of everything in their neighbour- hood, from a rotten borough to a rotten egg. The habits they had acquired indicated the life they had led; and ^11 who knew India, and had the intelligence to form, and the moral courage to express, an opinion on the sub- ject, sorrowfully agreed with Bishop Heber in deprecating the " foolish, surly, national pride," of which he daily saw but too many instances, and which he was convinced did us much harm in India. " We are not guilty," he said, "of wilful injustice or oppression; but we shut out the natives from our society, and a buUying, insolent manner is contin- ually assumed in speaking to them." Some went still further than this, and echoed Lord Byron's emphatic warning,* of the sure retribution that would attend us, if, instead of striving to elevate India, by safe and sure degrees, to our own height of free- dom, we tried, with selfish blindness, to get and keep her down beneath the iron heel of despotism, using the energy our own dear- bought freedom sustains in us, not to loosen, but to rivet the chains of a feebler race, for whose welfare we have made ourselves re- sponsible before God and man. Nothing can be more incompatible with the dignity of our position, than the " vulgar bahaudering" which disgusted Sir Charles Napier in 1850. It appeared then as if Mr. Thackeray's lash were needed to keep within bounds the vagaries of the Anglo-In- dian variety of the germs " Snob." Now the evil seems to have passed dealing with by such means ; it is the provost-marshal or the police-magistrate, not the accomplished satirist, who can alone cope with men whose insolent cruelty needs corporeal rather than mental discipline. The Duke of Wellington always listened with impatience to commendations of the mere courage of ofiQcers. " Brave !" he would say, " of course they are ; all English- men are brave; but it is the spirit of the • " Look to the East, where Ganges' swarthy race Shall shake your tyrant empire to the base ; Lo ! there rebellion rears her ghastly head, And glares the Nemesis of native dead ; Till Indus rolls a deep purpureal flood, And claims his long arrear of Northern blood ; gentleman that makes a British ofiBcer." Yet, at this very time, when Englishmen and Englishwomen have passed all former tradi- tions of valour and steadfastness in extremest peril, when once again India has proved, in Canning's words, " fertile in heroes" — a class, it would appear not inconsiderable in number, are acting in such a manner as to disgrace the British army, and even the British nation, in the eyes of Europe, and to render the restoration of peace in India as difficult as they possibly can. The excessive timidity of the Hindoos (of which their reckless daring, or passive sub- mission when hopeless, is the natural coun- terpart) encourages, in coarse natures, the very arrogance it disarms in higher ones. The wretched manner in which our law- courts are conducted, and the shilling ne- cessary to procure the stamped paper on which to draw up a petition to the court,t operate, in the extreme poverty and depres- sion of the sufferers, in deterring them from bringing any formal complaint, even to obtain justice for a ferocious assault ; and so the " sahibs" (European gentlemen) ride through the bazaars (markets), and lay open the heads of natives with the butt of their whips, just to clear the way ; or, when summoned to court for debt, lay the lash across the shoulders of the presumptuous summonser in the open street, as an expres- sion of opinion. A young gentleman in his cups shoots one of his servants with his revolver ; an officer kicks a servant down- stairs because he has entered without leaving his shoes outside the door ; and now, daily at the mess-tables, " every man of the mute white-turbaned file, who with crossed hands, glistening eyes, and quick ears, stand mo- tionless in attendance," hears the word " nigger" used every time a native is named, and knows well that it is an expression of contempt. In India, the ears of Europeans become familiarised with the term, which soon ceases to excite surprise or disgust. In England, it is felt to be painfully sig- nificant of the state of opinion among those who use it, and cannot be disassociated with the idea of slaves and slave-drivers. It seems the very last word whereby British officers (even in the " griffin" stage) would So may ye perish ! Pallas, when she gave Your free-born rights, forbade ye to enslave." The Curse of Minerva. t The number of petitions rejected because not written on stamped paper, is said to be enormous. The fact has been repeatedly alluded to in parliament. 124 IMPORTANCE OF MR. RUSSELL'S COMMUNICATIONS. choose to denote the men they commanded, or even the people among whom they lived, and who, whatever their colour, are not the less British subjects. But what is to be said for the example given to the European soldiery* by British officers, of Christian parentage and education, one of whom " takes his syce (native groom), because he has put a wrong saddle on his horse, and fastens him on a pole placed out in the full sun of May?" — or by another, who " fastens down his syce in the stin by heel-ropes and foot-ropes, as if he were a horse, and spreads grain before him in mockery ?" These in- stances Mr. Russell gives publicly. Pri- vately, he offers to send the editor of the Times evidence of still greater significance. It is a mockery to talk of equal laws, and yet suffer such outrages as these to pass un- punished. It is difficult to understand why the senior regimental officers do not bring the offenders to justice, unless, indeed, the courts-martial are becoming, as Sir Charles Napier prophesied, mere forms, and the most undoubted offenders certain of " hon- ourable acquittal." Some of the old offi- cers are said to watch the state of affairs with great dissatisfaction ; and Sir Frederick Currie (the late chairman of the Court of Directors), with Colonel Sykes and some other leading men, have expressed their opinions with a plainness which has exposed them to the invectives of a certain portion of the Anglo-Indian press. f The plain speaking of Mr. Russell him- self, is of the first importance to the best interests of England and of India. No- thing but the strongest and most genuine love of justice and hatred of oppression, could give him courage to write as he does, circumstanced as he is. Among the deeds of heroism he so eloquently chronicles, none can surpass that which he is himself enact- ing, in pleading even now for the rights of the wretched and despised native popula- tion, while living in the midst of the class to whom that very wretchedness furnishes food for cruel tyranny, or idle, heartless, senseless jests. On this point, as indeed some other leading features of the rebel- lion, the public journals, with the Times • The European soldiery are unhappily not slow to follow the example. It is alleged, that very re- cently a convoy, under a party of the 97th and 20th regiments, were on thrir way to Lucknow. Dark- ness fell upon them ; there were confusion and delay on the road ; probably there were apathy, neglect, and laziness on the part of the garrewana, or native drivers, who are usually a most harmless, inoflfen- at their head, and the fragmentary but deeply interesting accounts of individual sufferers, are almost the exclusive sources of information. The government have, it is tnie, furnished the House of Com- mons with reams of Blue Books and other parliamentary papers ; but not one of these contains anything approaching a con- nected statement of the view taken by the home or Indian authorities of the cause, origin, or progress of the mutiny, which has now lasted fully eighteen months. Each department appears to have sent in its own papers, duly sifted, weeded, and garbled ; but no person appears to have revised them as a whole. The omissions of one set are partially supplied by the admissions of another ; decided assertions made in igno- rance by one functionary, are qualified in the next page by the statement of a colleague. This is the case throughout the whole series yet published, beginning with the various and contradictory allegations made regarding the greased cartridges. To enter into dis- cussion on each point would be endless ; and therefore, in subsequent pages, facts, so far as they can be ascertained, will be simply stated, with the authority on which they rest ; the counter-statements being left un- noticed, unless they happen to be of peculiar importance or interest. " That most vindictive, unchristian, and cruel spirit which the dreadful contest and the crimes of the mutineers have evoked," is not, however, confined to the army and the press ; it extends to the counting-house, and even to the pulpit. " One reverend divine has written a book, in which, forgetting that the heart of man is deceitful and des- perately wicked, he takes the cheerful view that the Oriental nature is utterly diaboli- cal and hopelessly depraved, as contradis- tinguished from his own nature and that of his fellows. * * * An excellent clergy- man at Simla, recently took occasion, in his sermon, to rebuke the disposition on the part of certain of his hearers to ill-use the natives; but generally, the voice from the pulpit has been mute on this matter, or it has called aloud, ' Go forth and spare not.' "t sive, and honest 'race. Some ruffians among the soldiery took advantage of the obscurity to wreak their brutal ferocity on the drivers, and pricked them with their bayonets so severely that one man died of his wound almost immediately, and the others were removed to the hospital in litters. — Times, Nov. 8th, 1858. f Ibid., Oct. 20lh, 1858. t Ibid., November 8th, 1858. ;HE LOSDON PKOfTHTO AMD PUEinsniKO COIiEiJiy CHAPTER II. JANUARY TO MAY, 1857. At the commencement of 1857, the Indian array, exclusive of the icontingents of Native states, stood thus : — Presidoncy. Europeans. Natives. Total. Bengal .... Madras .... Bombay 24,366 10,726 10,430 135,767 61,244 45,213 160,133 61,970 65,069 Grand Total . . . 45,522 232,224 277,172 The royal European troops included four cavalry and twenty-two infantry regiments, containing, in all, 24,263 men. The Euro- peans in the service of the Company, con- sisted of five horse brigades of artillery, twelve battalions of foot, and nine cavalry regiments. The Native cavalry was com- posed of twenty-one regular, and thirty- three irregular regiments; the Native in- fantry, of 155 regular, and forty-five irregu- lar regiments.* The whole expense of the Indian army, which, including the Native contingents officered by us, mustered 315,520 men, was returned at £9,802,235, of which £5,668,100 was calculated to be the cost of the 51,316 European soldiers, leaving £4,134,135 as the sum total required for 263,204 natives. The number of European troops was actually less in 1857 than in 1835, whereas the Native army had increased by 100,000 men. The disproportion was greatest in the Bengal presidency. .In Bombay, the relative strength of European to Native in- fantry was as 1 to 94; in Madras, as 1 to 16^; and in Bengal, as 1 to 243-.t The preponderance of Brahmins in the Bengal army was very great, and the gov- ernment had directed the enlistment of 200 Seiks in each regiment. But this order had been only very partially obeyed. A large proportion of the Madras troops are low-caste Hindoos. In the Bombay regi- ments a third are Brahmins, from one to two Hundred men are Mussulmans, and the re- mainder low-caste Hindoos, with a few Jews. The number and strength of the Bengal • Pnrl. Papers, April IStli, 1858 ; pp. 4, 5. t Pari. Papers on the Mutinies, 1857 (No. 1), p. 9. army (European and Native) in January, 1857, are thus shown : — Description of Troops. Queen*8 Troops : — ■ 2 Regts. of Dragoons 15 ditto of Infantry Company's Troops : — Fingineers and Sappers Artillery — Horse . . „ Foot(Euro.) „ (Nat.) Cavalry — Regular . . „ Irregular . Infantry — Europeans . „ Native Regr. .. ,. Irreg. Veterans Medical Establish- 1 ment and Warrant > Officers . . J Total European OflBcers. European Non-Com., and Rank and File. 56 473 529 120 63 102 76 106 91 114 1,276 126 85 370 3,058 Native Commissd., Non-Com.. and Rank and File. 1,310 13,956 15,266 88 999 1,899 27 28 2,460 136 56 186 163 1,289 798 1,531 2,302 5,002 14,061 83,103 27,355 326 21,308 135,767 Grand Total 160,133 The distribution of the above force wag as follows : — Distfibution of Bengal -irmy. Presidency Division, includ- "j ing the garrison of Fort > William ... I Sonthal District Dinapore Division , Cawnpoor ditto Oude Field Force . Saugor District Meerut Division Station of Sirdarpoor " of Rewah . " ofKherwarrah . Sirhind Division, Lahore ditto . Peshawur ditto, including Sind Sagur District . Punjab Irregular Force . Troops in Pegu Euro- Natives. 1,221 14,639 41 3,365 1,174 t2,2.'>l 314 16,048 1,034 3,661 2.57 6,864 3,098 17,248 1 656 6 762 6 1,034- 4,930 12,849 4,198 15,964 4,794 20,129 68 9,049 1317 2,121 Total. 15,860 3,407 13,425 16,362 4,695 6,121 20,346 657 768 1,040 17,779 20,162 24,923 9,107 3,938* The Native regiments in India are never quartered in barracks, but in thatched huts ; each of the ten companies which form a regiment having its own line, in front of which is a small circular building called X The above statements were kindly furnished by Captain Eastwick, deputy-chairman of the East India Company. 12G GOVERNMENT WARNED ABOUT GREASED CARTRIDGES— 1853. " the Bells," in which the arms and ac- coutrements are placed after having been cleaned — the key being usually held by the havildar (sergeant) on duty. The officers reside in bungalows (also thatched, and very inflammable), each situated in its own com- pound ; and the powder-magazines and depots of stores are, or rather were, exposed without protection in the open plain. Each cantonment resembled an extensive camp ; and the principal stations (such as Meerut and Cawnpoor) covered so large an area, that they required almost as strong a force to defend them as to occupy them; and" a long time might elapse before what was done in one part of them was known in other parts.* The idea of combination to mutiny, on any ground whatever, was evi- dently the last thing the European officers . suspected ; and the construction of the can- tonments was on a par with the blind security which marked the general arrange- ments of the period. In 1856, ihe authorities desired to place an improved description of musket in the hands of the sepoys ; that is to say, to sub- stitute the Minie rifle for the old " Brown Bess." Considering the nature of our posi- tion in India, and the peaceful character of the duties which the Native army was then fulfilling, and which alone it seemed likely to be required for, the policy of this mea- sure may be doubted ; but of the suicidal folly with which it was carried out, there can scarcely be a second opinion. In 1853, some rifle ammunition was sent from England to India, and experiments were directed to be tried, which induced Major-general Tucker (then adjutant-gen- eral) to recommend earnestly to govern- ment, that " in the greasing composition nothing should be used which could pos- sibly ofiend the caste or religious prejudices of the natives. "f This warning did not prevent the autho- rities, three years later, from committing the double error of greasing cartridges in the Dum Dum arsenal, eight miles from Cal- cutta, after the English receipt, with a com- pound chiefly made from tallow ; and of issuing to the Native troops similarly pre- pared cartridges, sent out direct from Eng- land, but which ought, of course, only to have been given to the European troops. Not a single person connected with the * Indophilus' Letlera to the Times, p. 12. t Letter of Major-general Tucker to the Times, 1857. store department cared to remember, that to order the sepoys to tear with their teeth paper smeared with tallow made of mixed animal fat (a filthy composition, whether the animal were clean or unclean, and especially to men who never touch animal food), would naturally excite the distrustful suspicions of the Native soldiery — Moham- medan, Hindoo, and even Seik ; f