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INDIA, 
 
 ITS 
 
 STATE AND PROSPECTS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD THORNTON, Esq. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PARBURY, ALLEN, & CO., 
 
 LEADENHALL STREET. 
 1835. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 Printed by J. L. Cox and Son, 75, Great Queen Street, 
 Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 
 
Ts 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The Act which last year passed the British 
 Legislature, " for effecting an Arrangement 
 with the East-India Company, and for the 
 better Government of His Majesty's Indian 
 Territories," has created an era in the 
 history of those territories ; and seems to 
 afford a fitting opportunity for taking a 
 view of their situation and resources. Such 
 an attempt can scarcely be regarded as un- 
 necessary when it is recollected, that the 
 majority even of the best-informed of our 
 countrymen are either entirely ignorant of 
 the subject, or but superficially acquainted 
 with it. Neither our long intercourse with 
 India, nor the splendour of our commerce 
 
 b 
 
 996 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 and our conquests there— neither the in- 
 trinsic importance of the subject, nor the 
 repeated and animated discussions which 
 it has excited in the British Parliament; 
 have secured for it that degree of popular 
 attention which it deserves. Statesmen of 
 eminent name have observed and lamented 
 this fact, which, considering the intense 
 interest which has been taken in matters 
 little less remote, and certainly not of 
 greater importance, appears both incon- 
 sistent and inexplicable. Whether the open- 
 ing a large part of India to European adven- 
 ture will have the effect of dispelling this 
 apathy, remains to be seen. That it is not 
 justified by the relative circumstances of 
 India and England is the conviction of the 
 author. Under this conviction, he has been 
 desirous of drawing attention to a subject 
 whichhe feels to have been unduly neglected; 
 and he has thought that a popular view of 
 the state and prospects of British India 
 might afford the best means of attaining his 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 object. To this it has been deemed ex- 
 pedient to prefix a very brief Historical 
 Sketch. It is true that histories of India, 
 both learned and popular, are not wanting ; 
 but a very short summary of the principal 
 facts of the progress of our extraordinary 
 dominion seemed indispensable. The reader 
 however who feels the importance and 
 interest of the subject, will not be satisfied 
 with a few pages ; he will apply to works of 
 greater extent and more strictly historical 
 character to gratify a curiosity which it is 
 hoped may here be excited. 
 
 Of the rest of the work the author trusts 
 that he may speak with greater confidence. 
 On the political relations of India— on the 
 mode of its government — on the sources of 
 its wealth and prosperity — on the state of 
 society, manners, religion, and morals — 
 on its judicial system, and the revenue 
 which not only supports the national insti- 
 tutions, but remits to this country a noble 
 tribute, little is known because the sources 
 
 b2 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 of knowledge have been generally inac- 
 cessible. Much information was scattered 
 about, but it was nowhere collected within 
 a moderate space. The changes effected 
 by the late Act are now first brought before 
 the Public in a permanent form; and the 
 work, notwithstanding its limited extent, 
 may be regarded as containing a digest of 
 the most important parts of the vast body 
 of evidence submitted to Parliament pre- 
 viously to the passing of that Act. 
 
 Though the circumstances of the times 
 have induced him to choose this period for 
 publication, they have had no share in 
 determining the course of the author's 
 inquiries. India has long occupied the 
 larger share of his time and attention. 
 To promote her interests as well as those 
 of his own country, is the object of his 
 work, and if an exposition of her resources 
 should tend to draw British capital to their 
 development, he believes that both nations 
 would be benefited. On the important sub- 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 ject of religion, he trusts that he has ac- 
 quitted himself with charity as well as zeal ; 
 and if an author may in any way be per- 
 mitted to offer an opinion on his own 
 labour, he would say that the chapter on 
 the Judicial System contains some original 
 disquisitions, the subjects of which, at least, 
 are important ; and that on the Revenue 
 presents a somewhat comprehensive view 
 of the various systems founded on the best 
 authorities, and fortified by the opinions 
 of the most eminent statesmen. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Obscurity of Early History — Invasion of the Moguls — Ta- 
 merlane — Early commercial Routes — Portuguese Discove- 
 ries — Attempts of the Dutch — Early voyages of the English 
 — Incorporation of the Company — Atrocities at Amboyna 
 — Factories in Bengal — Grant of Bombay — Wars between 
 the Moguls and Mahrattas — Foundation of Calcutta — Rival 
 Companies — French in India — War in the Carnatic, and in 
 Bengal — Acquirement of the Dewannee of Bengal, Bahar, 
 and Orissa — Acquisition of the Northern Circars — War with 
 Hyder Ali — Acquisition of the Rohilla Country — of Benares 
 — War with the Mahrattas, with Hyder Ali, and with Tip- 
 poo Saib — Intrigues of the French — Renewed War with 
 Tippoo Saib — Death of Tippoo and partition of his Dominions 
 — Brilliant services of Lord Lake and Sir Arthur Wellesley 
 — War with Nepaul — War with the Pindarries— Disputes 
 with Scindia — and with Holkar — Extraordinary conduct of 
 the Burmese Monarch — War with the Burmese — Causes and 
 Character of the British Conquests. 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 POLITICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Extended British Dominion— Extent of British Influence — Re- 
 lations of the protected States — States with whom subsidiary 
 Treaties exist — Condition of the protected States — Conse- 
 quence of British protection — Effects of the pacific policy 
 of the British — Kingdom of Oude — French, Portuguese, 
 Danish, and Dutch Settlements. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 East-India Company and Ministers of the Crown — Character of 
 the Government of the Company — First Interference with it 
 — Further Interference — The Coalition Ministry and their In- 
 dia Bill — Probable Consequences had it passed — Establish- 
 ment of the Board of Control — Opening of the Trade with 
 India — Total Withdrawal of the Company from Trade — 
 Arrangement of the Property and Debts of the Company — 
 Constitution of the Home Government and Forms of Proce- 
 dure — Character of the Court of Directors — Testimony of 
 Mr. Mill — Distribution of Patronage — Effects of Competi- 
 tion — Remarkable Provision of the late Act — Evils resulting 
 from it — The College of Haileybury — New Plan suggested 
 for Examination of Candidates for Writerships— Education 
 of Cadets — Proposal to make the whole Service military- 
 Administration of the Government in India — Division of the 
 Presidency of Fort William — Governor-General and Council 
 — Legislative Power and its Limitations — Administrative 
 
 Power 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 Power in the four Presidencies — Appointments to Office — 
 Respective Powers of the Crown and the Court of Directors 
 — Permission to British Subjects to reside in India — Limita- 
 tions and Conditions. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Opening for British capital, skill, and enterprize — System of 
 Husbandry antiquated and unimproved — Settlement of Eu- 
 ropeans — Classes likely to emigrate — Effects of their Settle- 
 ment — Productions of India — Cotton — Interest of England 
 in its Cultivation — Soil and Climate of India fit for it — 
 Carelessness and mismanagement— Improvement practicable 
 — Weekly demand for Cotton at Liverpool — American jea- 
 lousy — Silk — Exertions of the Company — Food of the Silk- 
 worm — Want of care — Demand in the European market — 
 Prospects for Capitalists — Indigo — Results of European atten- 
 tion—Present state of the Indigo Trade — Probable conse- 
 quences of an increased demand — Tobacco — an Exotic — 
 Consumption — Quality — Where best Kinds grown — Requi- 
 sites for Improvement — Coffee — Its introduction — Nature 
 of the Plant— Bengal adapted for it — Native consumption — 
 Probability of a Market — Sugar — Possibility of widely- 
 extended Cultivation — Quality of the Cane — Injury from 
 want of care — Prospects of* Improvement — Capability of 
 India — Benefit to England— Fitness of Time — State of the 
 West- Indies — Parallel of the Indigo Trade — Necessity of 
 encouraging the Sugar of the East — Amount of Duty — 
 
 Injustice 
 
Xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Injustice and impolicy of it— Necessity of equalization— No 
 diminution of Revenue— Consequences of liberal Policy and 
 the contrary— Timber— Forests of India— Supply of Bam- 
 boos—Employment of Capital— Cultivation of Grain — Tea. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Impediments — Decline of Native Manufactures — Machinery — 
 Unequal taxation of Indian Piece Goods — Claims of India 
 upon Great Britain— Reasons for conceding them. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 Relations of Commerce and Agriculture — Trade, with China- 
 Opium — Advantages of Bengal — Universal taste for Opium 
 in China — Demand for Tea in England— India and England 
 mutually benefited — Process of Exchange— Trade with Eng- 
 land — Articles exported from the latter Country — Difficulty 
 of finding Returns — Means of removing it — Beneficial Con- 
 sequences to England — Trade with France and other Euro- 
 pean Nations — Wine — Indigo — Trade with America — Nature 
 of it — Trade with the Burmese— With Central Asia — Causes 
 of its not advancing — Caubul — Trade might be increased — 
 Suggestion for this Purpose — Trade with Persia — Chintzes 
 — Demand for other Articles might be diverted to India — 
 Increase of Commerce. 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 PUBLIC WORKS— MEANS OF FOREIGN AND 
 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Necessity for promoting Enterprize — Irrigation — Construction 
 of Tanks — Canals — Various lines suggested— Objections to 
 Canals — Railways — Expenses less than in England — Most 
 advantageous Power — Importance of increasing means of 
 Communication — Roads and Bridges— The Posts — Steam 
 Navigation — Experiments on the Rivers — The Indus — 
 Supply of Fuel — State of the Country — -Ganges, Jumna, and 
 Burhampooter — Peculiarities of those Rivers — Steam Com- 
 munication with Great Britain — Leading Routes — Experi- 
 mental Voyage by the Cape of Good Hope — Expense — 
 Opinion of Capt. Wilson — Persian Gulph and Euphrates — 
 Description of Route — Obstructions on the Euphrates — 
 Journey by Land — The Arabs — Route by the Red Sea — 
 Variations of this Route — Division into Stages — Practica- 
 bility, public benefit, and private advantage — Political Con- 
 siderations. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 
 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans — Approaching Changes — Adoption 
 of European Habits — Progress of the English Language — 
 Effects of its extension upon British Dominion — Taste for 
 English Literature— Periodical Press — Slavery. 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 Moral and Religious State of India — Prevailing Vices — Want 
 of Veracity — Exemplified in legal Testimony — Want of 
 Honesty — Illustrations — State of Public Feeling — The 
 malevolent Passions — Instances — Tendency to Litigation — 
 Want of Sensibility — Anecdotes related by Bishop Heber — 
 Deficiency of Maternal Affection — Facts illustrating it — 
 Infanticide — Suttees — Absence of patriotic Feeling — Impurity 
 — Tone of Conversation — Opinion of various authorities — 
 — Physical and moral Causes — Civil Position of Natives of 
 India insufficient to account for State of Morals — Hindoo 
 Religion — Doctrines — Rites and Ceremonies — Barbarous and 
 licentious Exhibitions — Connection between Religion and 
 Morals— Institution of Castes — Precepts positively Evil — 
 Symptoms of Change — Practice of debating among Hindoo 
 Youths — Progress of simple Deism — Its probable Results — 
 Effects of the Diffusion of Knowledge — Effects of Civilization 
 in regard to Truth and Error — Means of advancing Chris- 
 tianity — Education — Example — English Church Establish- 
 ment — Number of Chaplains — Additional Bishops — Church 
 of Scotland — Clause in the late Act of authorizing Grants 
 of Money for Religious Purposes — Missionaries — Situa- 
 tion of Native Christians — Remarks on the Pilgrim Tax 
 now abolished— Syrian Christians— Roman Catholics— Their 
 
 ill 
 
CONTENTS. XV11 
 
 ill Success as Missionaries — Causes — Lutheran Missionaries 
 
 Swartz — Christian Villagers — Number of Converts — 
 
 Church Missionary Society — Baptist Missionaries — Reasons 
 for Exertion. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 Law of the Hindoos — Of the Mahometans — Of the English — Re- 
 gulations of the Local Government — Supreme Courts — Extent 
 of their Jurisdiction — Inconveniences from its vagueness and 
 uncertainty — Dislike of the Natives — Provisions of the late 
 Act — Company's Courts in Bengal — MoonsifF — Zillah Courts 
 — Provincial Courts — Sudder Dewanny and Nizam ut Adaw- 
 lut — Judicial Arrangements in Madras— in Bombay — Law 
 administered and Modes of proceeding — Native Pleaders and 
 Method of Payment — Agents — Criminal Law under the 
 three Presidencies — Use of the Mahometan Law — Method of 
 taking evidence— Mahometan Law of Evidence — Principle 
 and Practice — Rules of Evidence and Disqualification of 
 Witnesses — Confessions — Atrocious Practices of the Police — 
 Appointment of Law Commissioners — Formation of a Code 
 — Qualifications for the Task — Cautions necessary — Natural 
 Rights — Greatest Happiness Principle — Ancient Institutions 
 — Law of Nature — Utility — Peace — Courts — Necessity 
 for Change — Cheap Justice — Remuneration of Judges — 
 Advocates and Agents — Delay — Employment of Natives — 
 Conflicting Jurisdictions of King's and Company's Courts — 
 Petty and Superior Courts —Plan for establishing Courts of 
 
 Primary 
 
XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 Primary Jurisdiction — Local Judges — Plan for Courts of 
 Appeal — Question of Appeal to England — Concurrent Juris- 
 diction of European and Native Judges — Best Modes of 
 Payment and Procedure — Regulations of Pleaders — Admini- 
 stration of Criminal Law — Trial by Jury— Punchayets — 
 Language of the Courts — Persian — English — Evidence— 
 System of Conveyancing — Registration. 
 
 Chapter XL 
 REVENUE. 
 
 The Land the principal Source of Revenue — Modes of Collec- 
 tion — Zemindary, Ryotwar and Village — Other Sources of 
 Revenue — Monopoly of Salt — Of Opium — Of Tobacco — 
 Post Office — Transit Duties — Their Origin — Changes — 
 Stipulation with Oude — How levied — Effects — Customs — 
 Saltpetre — Cardamums — Sayer Duties — Their Nature and 
 Varieties — Abkaree — Town Duties — How appropriated — 
 Objections to them — Wheel Tax — Amount and Tendency — 
 Stamp Duties — in Bengal — in Madras — in Bombay — Ge- 
 neral Operation of Stamp Duties — Fraudulent Conduct of 
 Natives — Mode of distributing Stamps — Inequality of 
 Taxation in India — Advantages and Disadvantages of a Pro- 
 perty-Tax — Principal Amount of Revenue must continue to 
 be derived from the Land — Different Claims of Occupiers 
 — Origin of the Zemindary System — Zemindars in the 
 Northern Circars — Permanent Settlement — Errors — Grie- 
 vances of the Ryots — Division of Zemindaries — Profits of 
 
 the 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 the Zemindars — Regulation in Madras for protection of 
 Ryots — Abuses arising out of the Zemindary System — 
 Extraordinary Case — Sale of Zemindaries — Character of 
 the Zemindars — Immense Mass of Litigation — Decision of 
 the Home Government against extending the Zemindary 
 Settlement — Failure of the System — Extent of the Perma- 
 nent Settlement — Effects of a Temporary Settlement in the 
 Western Provinces — Extraordinary Sales — Remedial Mea- 
 sures — Proposal of Lord W. Bentinck — Points to be kept 
 in View — Disturbances in the Western Provinces — Policy of 
 discouraging the Zemindary System — Judgment of Sir 
 Thomas Munro — Danger of Hasty Innovation — Necessity 
 for laborious Enquiry into the Rights of all Classes — Means 
 of correcting Mischiefs of the permanent Settlement — Re- 
 purchase by Government — Attachment instead of Sale — 
 Upholding existing Engagements — Revival and regulation 
 of Office of Village Accountant— Villages in India — Opinion 
 of Sir C. Metcalfe on their Advantages — Village System 
 applied to Revenue — Its Effects — Ryotwar System preferable 
 to every other — Reasons for it — Modified Ryotwar System 
 in Bombay — Trial in Bengal — In Madras — Mode of Set- 
 tlement under that Presidency — Observations on it — Facility 
 of applying the Ryotwar System — Objection to it and 
 Answers— Whether Land Revenue be Rent or a Tax- 
 Mr. Mill's Opinion — Remarks on it — Beneficial Effects of 
 moderate Assessment — Redemption of the Land Revenues 
 — Impracticable now — When practicable must be effected 
 with Caution — Prospects of the Revenue — Decline in certain 
 parts of India — Causes obscure — Means of improving Re- 
 venue 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 venue — Currency — Necessity for Uniformity — Difficulties — 
 Sicca Rupee — Suggestion of Mr. Tucker to be preferred as 
 to assimilating it with the English Coinage. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH INTERESTS AND 
 AUTHORITY. 
 
 Sources of Danger — Of Defence — Promotion of the well-being 
 of the People and of the arts of Peace — Force of Habit — 
 The Army — Its Character — Dependence to be placed upon 
 it— Means of securing its Fidelity — Native States — French 
 — Russia — Arrangements with Persia — Prospect of per- 
 manent Peace. 
 
INDIA, 
 
 &C. &C. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 The early history of India is involved in ex- 
 treme obscurity, and fable has in consequence 
 usurped the place of fact. The ridiculous fic- 
 tions which the Hindoos dignify with the name 
 of history are unworthy not only of belief, but 
 even of grave consideration. Little of either 
 pleasure or information would be afforded by a 
 detailed account of the solar and lunar dynasties, 
 or an investigation of the accuracy of chronicles 
 which carry us back through countless ages. 
 Our best information is derived from the Greeks ; 
 and until the conquests of Alexander, they were 
 acquainted with India only through vague and 
 meagre reports obtained from the Persians. Alex- 
 ander passed the different rivers of the Punjaub, 
 and advanced towards the Ganges, which, how- 
 ever, he was not destined to reach. The narra- 
 tives of his followers are admitted to be, in some 
 
 b respects* 
 
2 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 respects, discordant ; and though previous to the 
 time of Ptolemy the spirit of commercial adven- 
 ture had added something to the stock of infor- 
 mation, the knowledge of India possessed by the 
 Greeks must be regarded as both scanty and in- 
 accurate ; but though unsatisfactory, it is suffi- 
 cient to shew that the people to whom it relates 
 are almost unchanged by the lapse of centuries. 
 Even the minute features of the national charac- 
 ter are at this time the same that they were two 
 thousand years ago. 
 
 Though capable of being trained into efficient 
 soldiers, the natives of India have not been fortu- 
 nate in maintaining their independence, and they 
 have generally afforded an easy triumph to a bold 
 and determined invader. A large portion of their 
 country was subject to the Persian monarchy ; 
 to Alexander they offered some resistance, but 
 his conquests were effected in no long space of 
 time ; and at a later period they became, first tri- 
 butaries, and ultimately subjects of the victo- 
 rious disciples of Mahomet. 
 
 Previously to the invasion of the Moguls, the 
 Mahometan history of India possesses slender in- 
 terest, and is, perhaps, little to be relied on. For 
 a considerable time after that event, it offers but 
 a picture of those commotions and crimes which 
 characterize a state of society in which conflicting 
 parties are struggling for the sovereignty. The 
 
 most 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. O 
 
 most remarkable person of this period wasTimur, 
 or Tamerlane ; a man who, though exhibited by 
 an English poet as a model of clemency, as well 
 as of heroism, had little pretension to the former 
 quality. His conquests extended from the Ir- 
 tisch and Volga to the Persian Gulph, and from 
 the Ganges to the Archipelago. He even medi- 
 tated the invasion of China, and had made vast 
 preparations for an expedition against that coun- 
 try, when death intercepted his career. His cou- 
 rage, perseverance, and military skill are indis- 
 putable; but, unfortunately, his cruelty is not 
 less so. 
 
 The death of Timur took place about ninety 
 years before the arrival of the Portuguese in India 
 by the south-east passage, the discovery of which 
 was to effect a revolution in the destinies of the 
 country, compared with which all previous changes 
 were unimportant. The great mass of commerce 
 between India and Europe was carried on by the 
 route of the Red Sea until the seventh century, 
 when the conquest of Egypt by the Saracens 
 transferred it by the Black Sea to Constantinople. 
 When, however, the Mamelukes became masters 
 of Egypt, they permitted the Venetians to re- 
 sume the ancient route; and Alexandria was 
 thenceforward the sole entrepot of Indian trade. 
 The spirit of Portuguese discovery received its 
 impulse from the genius of Prince Henry, young- 
 
 b 2 est 
 
4 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 est son of John I. of Portugal. Under his coun- 
 tenance naval adventure became popular ; but 
 the progress of discovery was greatly impeded by 
 the imperfect state of navigation. The first ac- 
 quisition was but of small importance, consisting 
 only of the little island of Puerto Santo. It was 
 sufficient, however, to encourage confidence, and 
 stimulate to further exertions, and a subsequent 
 expedition was rewarded by the discovery of the 
 rich and beautiful island of Madeira. 
 
 After a tedious succession of voyages continued 
 for nearly half a century, Vasco de Gama, an 
 active and enterprizing Portuguese admiral, 
 doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and coasting 
 along the eastern shore of the continent of Africa, 
 sailed from thence across the Indian Ocean, and 
 landed at Calicut on the coast of Malabar. At 
 the period of his arrival the west coast of Hindos- 
 tan was divided between two great sovereigns, 
 the king of Cambay and the Zamorin, each of 
 whom had under him numerous petty princes. 
 The dominions of the Zamorin included the 
 whole coast from Bombay to Cape Comorin; but 
 the attempts of De Gama to conclude a commer- 
 cial treaty with this power were frustrated by the 
 jealousy of the Mahometan merchants, and he 
 returned to Lisbon. His successor, Cabral, was 
 not more fortunate, and in consequence he pro- 
 ceeded to Cochin and Cananore. The kings of 
 
 these 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 these places were dependents upon the Zamorin : 
 a dependency from which they were anxious to 
 be emancipated. By them Cabral was very fa- 
 vourably received ; and in an incredibly short 
 time the Portuguese acquired a paramount influ- 
 ence over the whole coast. Previously, however, 
 to the arrival of Albuquerque in 1508, they were 
 not possessed of a good port. After a violent 
 struggle they secured and fortified Goa, which 
 from thenceforth became the capital of the Portu- 
 guese settlements, and the point from whence 
 they spread their conquests and their commerce 
 over the Eastern seas. 
 
 The Venetians and the sultan of Egypt, who were 
 the principal sufferers by the diversion of the com- 
 merce of the east into a new channel, made some 
 ineffectual attempts, in conjunction with the king 
 of Cambay, to dispossess the Portuguese of their 
 conquests ; but the latter not only maintained their 
 superiority, but succeeded in acquiring the com- 
 mand of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The 
 trade by those routes consequently ceased, and 
 feeling secure from competition, the Portuguese 
 proceeded to push their success. In the course 
 of a few years they established a commercial 
 empire of unprecedented extent, splendour, and 
 opulence; they commanded the east coast of 
 Africa, the coasts of Arabia and Persia, the two 
 peninsulas of India, the Moluccas, Ceylon, and 
 
 the 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 the trade to China and Japan. They levied 
 tribute upon a hundred and fifty native princes, 
 and claimed a right to sweep from the Indian 
 seas every vessel that sailed without their per- 
 mission. Of all this mighty dominion, a mise- 
 rable remnant is all that now exists, and that 
 remnant depressed, impoverished, and almost in 
 a state of estrangement from the mother country. 
 The annexation of Portugal to the crown of 
 Spain was fatal to the colonial dominion of the 
 former country, and the Dutch occupy the next 
 conspicuous place in the commercial history of 
 India. They had originally been contented with 
 the carrying trade between Lisbon and the north 
 of Europe ; but Philip II. having put an end to 
 this trade, they endeavoured to repair their loss 
 by the discovery of a passage to India by the 
 northward. Failing in this attempt, they em- 
 braced the proposal of Hautman, a prisoner for 
 debt at Lisbon, to reveal to them the knowledge 
 he possessed of Indian navigation and commerce 
 on condition of his liberation. Four ships were 
 dispatched to India under the command of Haut- 
 man in the year 1594, and a sanguinary war with 
 the Portuguese soon followed. Success was long 
 doubtful ; but the Dutch ultimately triumphed. 
 The Portuguese at first lost Malacca and Ceylon; 
 they were subsequently driven from various set- 
 tlements on the coast of Malabar ; and not long 
 
 afterwards 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 afterwards the native princes permitted the Dutch 
 to establish factories at Negapatam, Sadras, Pu- 
 licat, and Bimlipatam, on the east coast. From 
 this period the power of Portugal in the east was/* 
 rapidly approaching to extinction. 
 
 The spirit of rivalry to the Portuguese was not 
 confined to the Dutch. The splendid results 
 which had followed the discovery of the south- 
 east passage could scarcely fail to excite the emu- 
 lation of a maritime and enterprising nation like 
 the English. Two attempts were made in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. to explore a north-west 
 passage, and one in the reign of Edward VI. to 
 discover a passage by the north-east. Many 
 similar attempts followed within a short space of 
 time, but all with the same want of success. 
 There seemed, therefore, no alternative but to 
 renounce the glittering visions of oriental wealth, 
 or to follow them in the same track which the 
 Portuguese had so successfully pursued. The 
 first attempt to proceed by the south-east was 
 however unprosperous. After encountering some 
 Spanish men-of-war on the coast of Brazil, the 
 expedition was obliged to return for want of pro- 
 visions. The second expedition was still more 
 unfortunate ; the ships, three in number, were 
 driven on the coast of Spanish America, and the 
 crews, with the exception of four men, perished. 
 
 The more fortunate expeditions of Drake and 
 
 Cavendish, 
 
8 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Cavendish, and their flattering reports of the 
 wealth of the countries which they had visited, 
 kept alive the national ardour for a participation 
 in the Indian trade, and the fact of the Dutch 
 having resolved on contending with the Portuguese 
 for a share of this coveted traffic, determined the 
 English to follow their example. An association 
 was formed and a fund subscribed for the purpose, 
 and a memorial presented to the Government, 
 setting forth the places with which the Spanish 
 and Portuguese had established intercourse, and 
 pointing out others to which the English might 
 resort without affording ground of complaint to 
 their predecessors. Some difficulties were inter- 
 posed by the Government on account of a treaty 
 then pending with Spain, but permission was 
 given to make preparations for a voyage, while 
 the patent of incorporation was under considera- 
 tion. The Government of the day appears to have 
 been not indisposed to share in the patronage 
 created by the adventure, and recommended Sir 
 Edward Mitchelbourne to be employed in the 
 expedition. The answer of the Directors affords a 
 memorable proof of their independence, and must 
 be regarded as peculiarly honourable to them, 
 when it is considered that they were at the time 
 petitioners to the throne for a charter. On con- 
 sultation they resolved " not to employ any gen- 
 " tleman in any place of charge, and requested 
 
 " that 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 9 
 
 " that they might be allowed to sorte theire 
 " business with men of theire own qualitye, lest 
 Si the suspiceon of the employmt of gentlemen 
 " being taken hold upon by the generalitie, do 
 " dryve a greate number of the adventurers to 
 (i withdraw their contributions." 
 
 Greatly to the honour of the Government, the 
 honest resistance offered to its interference was 
 not permitted to prejudice the cause of the adven- 
 turers, and on the last day of the year 1600, they 
 were by letters-patent from the Queen constituted 
 a body politic and corporate, by the title of " the 
 Governor and Company of Merchants of London 
 trading to the East-Indies." The government of 
 the Company was vested in a committee of twenty- 
 four and a chairman. It was empowered to trade 
 to all places beyond the Cape of Good Hope and 
 the Straits of Magellan for fifteen years, with the 
 exception of places in possession of princes in 
 amity with the Queen, whose objection should be 
 publicly declared ; and all other the Queen's sub- 
 jects were prohibited from interfering with the 
 Company's exclusive trade, except by license 
 granted under their common seal. From James I. 
 a renewal of the charter was obtained, by which 
 all preceding privileges of the Company were 
 confirmed, and they were constituted a body 
 corporate for ever. 
 
 The early voyages of the Company were con- 
 fined 
 
10 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 fined to the islands of the Indian Ocean ; but after 
 the confirmation and extension of their charter by 
 James they proceeded to establish a commercial 
 intercourse with the Asiatic continent. Their 
 endeavours were of course opposed by the Por- 
 tuguese ; but the English Company finally suc- 
 ceeded in establishing factories on various parts of 
 the coast. One of their earliest settlements was 
 at Surat, and this factory with that at Bantam 
 remained for a long period their principal stations. 
 In the Dutch, the English Company found 
 enemies more formidable than the Portuguese. 
 The Dutch were bent on securing a monopoly of 
 the spice trade, and they enforced it in the most 
 unscrupulous and vindictive spirit. After a long 
 course of hostility, relieved by some weak and 
 inefficient attempts at pacification, the spirit of 
 the whole British people, with the exception of 
 their pusillanimous sovereign, was roused to the 
 highest pitch of indignation by the atrocious pro- 
 ceedings at Amboyna. The Dutch, having deter- 
 mined on obtaining the exclusive possession of 
 the island, fabricated a plot to afford them a pre- 
 text for effecting their purpose. The plot, it was 
 pretended, was confessed by two soldiers in the 
 Dutch service, one a Japanese, the other a Portu- 
 guese, who had been put to the torture. Upon 
 this evidence the English were apprehended, 
 imprisoned, loaded with irons, and their books 
 
 and 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 11 
 
 and property seized. A mock trial followed, in 
 the course of which the prisoners were subjected 
 to the most varied and horrible tortures, for the 
 purpose of extorting confession. It is unneces- 
 sary to say that this mode of examination was 
 successful. There is a point where human firm- 
 ness must yield : the love of truth and the con- 
 sciousness of innocence may sustain the sufferer 
 for a time, but these motives will be overcome by 
 protracted agony. Had the victims of the Dutch 
 been accused of conspiring against the crown of 
 England, the result would have been the same ; 
 they would have purchased remission of pain by 
 the acknowledgment of guilt. Confession was 
 of course followed by conviction — conviction by 
 execution— and the commercial interests of the 
 Dutch were cemented by the blood of the accused 
 persons. A modern historian of India has chosen 
 to take his post with the enemies of his country, 
 and to employ much ingenuity in extenuating the 
 guilt of the Dutch. But the atrocity admits not 
 of palliation. The pretence of a conspiracy was 
 too absurd to deceive even the most credulous. 
 When the boxes of the factors were opened and 
 their papers rifled, no traces of such conspiracy 
 were discovered. The number of English on the 
 island did not exceed twenty, while the Dutch 
 had a garrison of three hundred men in the fort 
 and several other garrisons in the island. The 
 
 English 
 
12 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 English were not only few in number, but they 
 were unprovided with arms and ammunition. They 
 had not a single ship, whereas the Dutch had 
 eight lying off the town of Amboyna. A conspi- 
 racy against the Dutch authorities, under such 
 circumstances, could have been formed only by 
 men labouring under insanity ; and those who 
 professed to believe in its existence, had they 
 been sincere, would have justly fallen under the 
 same imputation. The pen of the historian should 
 not be employed in opposition to the interests of 
 justice and humanity: and it is no less painful 
 than astonishing to find an able writer of the nine- 
 teenth century taxing his abilities to justify con- 
 duct so horrible as that of the Dutch in this trans- 
 action, and even to excuse the application of tor- 
 ture as an instrument for the investigation of truth. 
 It would be idle to say a word in refutation of a 
 mode of trial from which common sense and hu- 
 manity alike recoil. The torture procured for the 
 Dutch authorities that which they wanted— a legal 
 excuse for the condemnation of their victims ; but 
 the courage of the sufferers revived as they ap- 
 proached a more righteous tribunal, and on the 
 awful verge of eternity they solemnly protested 
 their innocence. 
 
 Those who will deliberately commit the graver 
 crime of murder, will of course not hesitate at 
 the comparatively light one of robbery. Massacre 
 
 was 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 13 
 
 was not unnaturally followed by confiscation, and 
 the Dutch retained English property to an im- 
 mense amount. Its value has been stated at 
 £400,000. The truckling policy of James de- 
 terred him from seeking reparation of this great 
 national wrong, and the disturbed reign of Charles 
 allowed the Dutch a prolonged period of impu- 
 nity ; but the honour of the country was in some 
 degree vindicated by Oliver Cromwell, who re- 
 quired and obtained payment of a large sum in 
 satisfaction of the pecuniary injury inflicted. 
 
 At this time all the factories in the tract extend- 
 ing from Cape Comorin to the Persian and Arabian 
 Gulphs were controlled by the presidency of 
 Surat. On the coast of Coromandel the Com- 
 pany had established themselves in the first in- 
 stance at Masulipatam. Subsequently they left 
 that place for Armegum. Finally they settled at 
 Madraspatam, where, by permission of the Na- 
 tive Government, they erected Fort St. George, 
 now the seat of one of the British presidencies. 
 
 The connexions of the Company with Bengal 
 were formed gradually. The first privilege which 
 they obtained from the court of Delhi was that of 
 free resort to the port of Pipley, a privilege after- 
 wards much extended, through the intervention 
 of a surgeon named Boughton, who acquired influ- 
 ence at the imperial court by the exercise of his 
 professional skill. Factories were accordingly 
 
 established 
 
14 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 established at Hooghley, Cossimbazar, Balasore, 
 Patna, and Malda. Of these Hooghley was chief, 
 but the whole of them were subordinate to Fort 
 St. George. 
 
 The accession of Charles II. to the throne was 
 followed by a renewal of the charter of the Com- 
 pany, by which their ancient privileges were 
 confirmed, and authority conveyed to them to 
 make peace and war with any people, not 
 being Christians, and to seize unlicensed persons 
 within their limits, and send them to England. 
 From the same prince they obtained a grant of 
 the island of Bombay, which he had received as 
 part of the marriage portion of Catherine of Por- 
 tugal. This island, now the seat of a presidency, 
 was on its first acquisition subordinate to Surat. 
 
 Though the British interest in India was on 
 the whole progressive, its advance was not unin- 
 terrupted. A civil war in Bantam was the means 
 of excluding the English from that part of India, 
 while the factories of Surat and Bombay were 
 disturbed by unremitting war between the Mogul 
 and the Mahrattas. The Mogul empire was 
 established by Baber, a descendant of Timur, 
 already mentioned, and sultan of the Mogul 
 Tartars. Having lost the northern part of his own 
 dominions by the hostilities of the Usbeck Tartars, 
 he attempted the conquest of Hindostan with such 
 success, that putting an end to the dynasty of 
 
 Lodi 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 15 
 
 Lodi at Delhi, he established an empire, which 
 was raised to the greatest splendour and authority 
 under Aurungzebe towards the end of the seven- 
 teenth century. The Mahrattas were a native 
 Hindoo race little known till the middle of that 
 century, when under a chief named Sevagee, they 
 became successful rivals to the Moguls. The con- 
 flict between these two great powers was necessa- 
 rily injurious to the English. Both the bellige- 
 rents had fleets of galliots on the coast; these 
 repeatedly skirmished in the very harbour of Bom- 
 bay, and the factory was, in self-defence, occa- 
 sionally driven into hostilities with each party. 
 Surat suffered even more severely, the Mahrattas 
 ravaging up to its very gates. In Bengal the 
 English, thinking they had reason to be dis- 
 satisfied with the conduct of the native powers, 
 resolved to seek redress by arms ; but the attempt 
 was unfortunate, and they were obliged to retire 
 from Hooghley and take refuge at Chutanuttee, 
 contiguous to Calcutta. After a succession of 
 hostilities, in which the factories at Patna and 
 Cossimbazar were taken and plundered, an ac- 
 commodation was effected, and the English were 
 allowed to return to Hooghley. Negociations for 
 regaining their ancient privileges were commenced, 
 but were interrupted by fresh hostilities . The con- 
 test between the Moguls and the Mahrattas had 
 taken a decided turn in favour of the former ; and 
 
 Aurungzebe 
 
1G HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Aurungzebe threatened to drive the English from 
 his dominions. But the revenue derived from the 
 trade was too valuable to be relinquished, and a 
 fresh negociation for peace terminated favourably. 
 Tegnapatam, on the coast of Coromandel, had been 
 ceded to the English by the Rajah of Gingee, 
 while besieged in his capital by Aurungzebe ; 
 and on the defeat of the Rajah the grant was con- 
 firmed by the Mogul chief : the English fortified 
 the station, and it has since been known as Fort 
 St. David. 
 
 The peace was followed by an event which de- 
 serves notice, as having laid the foundation of the 
 future capital of British India. This was the trans- 
 fer of the agency to Chutanuttee, to which place 
 the British had retired when expelled from Hoogh- 
 ley. It was subsequently fortified, and in 1698 a 
 grant was obtained from Prince Azim, one of the 
 grandsons of Aurungzebe, of the three connected 
 villages of Chutanuttee, Govindpore, and Calcutta, 
 with the justiciary power over the inhabitants. 
 These new possessions were forthwith fortified, 
 and received the name of Fort William ; and 
 about the same time Bengal was elevated to the 
 rank of a presidency. For some years the posi- 
 tion and relative constitution of the British presi- 
 dencies had fluctuated considerably ; but Bombay 
 at last completely superseded Surat : and from 
 the building of Fort William the established Pre- 
 sidencies 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 17 
 
 sidencies were those of Madras, Bombay, and 
 Bengal. 
 
 From its commencement the Company had 
 been occasionally exposed to the competition of 
 rivals. In the reign of James I. Sir Edward 
 Mitchelbourne, for whose employment the Go- 
 vernment had vainly interceded, obtained a license 
 to engage in the Eastern trade, which was in evi- 
 dent violation of the charter of the Company ; he 
 however made but one voyage, and it appears ra- 
 ther for plunder than for traffic or discovery. By 
 Charles I. Sir William Com ten was invested with 
 similar privileges, and formed an association which 
 assumed the name of the Assayda Merchants : 
 with this body, after some years of competition, 
 the Company coalesced. In the reign of Wil- 
 liam III. another company was formed under a 
 charter from the King, which was termed the 
 English Company, the old one being designated 
 the London Company. The rivalry of these two 
 bodies was soon found to be productive of mis- 
 chievous consequences, and the expediency of an 
 union became apparent. This was ultimately ef- 
 fected, and in 1708 the two Companies were con- 
 solidated by Act of Parliament, under the name 
 of the United Company of Merchants of England 
 trading to the East-Indies. From this period the 
 British interests in India may be considered as 
 steadily advancing. The amount of trade and 
 
 c shipping 
 
18 II I ST0 It I C A L S K ETC H . 
 
 shipping increased, and the intercourse and in- 
 fluence of the Company were extended. The 
 warmest champion of Free Trade would find a 
 difficulty in pointing out the disadvantages which 
 resulted from the suppression of competition. 
 
 A period of quiet prosperity affords slender ma- 
 terials for history ; and till the breaking out of 
 the war between England and France, in 1745, 
 nothing occurs worthy of notice. The first ap- 
 pearance of the French in India was nearly a 
 hundred and fifty years before this period, when a 
 company which had been formed in Brittanny 
 sent out two ships ; but the voyage was attended 
 with so little success, that on their return the 
 company was dissolved. At later periods the 
 French made some further attempts to trade and 
 establish factories : their chief rendezvous was at 
 Surat ; but the Dutch and English uniting against 
 them, they were compelled to abandon it. They 
 next attempted to seize on Trincomalee, but in 
 this also they were unsuccessful. They were 
 more fortunate in an attempt upon St. Thom6, a 
 seaport contiguous to Madras, which they carried 
 by assault. They retained it, however, only two 
 years ; but from the wreck of this establishment 
 was formed their celebrated settlement of Pondi- 
 cherry, where a small district was ceded to them 
 by the native prince. In 1746 Madras was be- 
 sieged by a French armament, and compelled to 
 
 capi tulate. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 19 
 
 capitulate. Admiral Boscawen made an attempt 
 to retaliate upon Pondicherry, which was unsuc- 
 cessful ; but the peace of Aix la Chapelle restored 
 Madras to the English. 
 
 From this time the history of India rises in in- 
 terest and importance. We have no longer to de- 
 tail the advantages of commercial speculation, but 
 to record the transfer of a magnificent empire 
 into the hands of strangers, who a short time 
 previously were supplicants for the privilege of 
 defending themselves. 
 
 The territory of the Carnatic was one of the 
 subordinate principalities immediately governed 
 by Nabobs, but subject to the Soubahdar of the 
 Deccan, who was himself a feudatory under the 
 Mogul Emperor. Nizam ul Mulk, Soubahdar of 
 the Deccan, dying in 1748, the succession to the 
 vacant province was disputed between his son 
 Nazir and his grandson Murzafa; at the same 
 time the Nabob of the Carnatic was opposed by 
 a rival claimant. The pretender to the province 
 and the pretender to the nabobship made com- 
 mon cause, and succeeded in attaching to their 
 interests M. Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry, 
 a man of great talent, and of still greater ambi- 
 tion and capacity for intrigue. The combined 
 forces of these allies were successful in a battle, 
 in which the lawful Nabob of the Carnatic was 
 killed and his eldest son taken prisoner. His se- 
 
 c 2 cond 
 
20 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 cond son, Mahomet Ali Khan, having escaped, 
 implored and obtained the aid of the English. 
 Such was the origin of the Carnatic war between 
 the English and the French ; and it is remark- 
 able that these two nations should have been en- 
 gaged in hostile operations against each other in 
 India, at a time when no war existed between 
 them in Europe. As soon as intelligence of these 
 extraordinary events reached the courts of the 
 two countries, orders were sent out to put an end 
 to the contest, and a treaty was entered into by 
 which the two nations were to possess equal do- 
 minion, military force, and advantages of com- 
 merce on the east coast of the peninsula. The 
 breaking out of the seven years' war in 1756 
 prevented the execution of this treaty, and the 
 French and English became principals instead of 
 auxiliaries. The French at first met with some 
 partial success ; but the tide of fortune turned in 
 favour of their rivals, who acquired, partly by 
 conquest and partly by negociation, a consider- 
 able increase of dominion as well as of influence. 
 The English were at the same time obliged to 
 have recourse to arms to defend their interests in 
 another part of India. The Nabob of Bengal, 
 Surajah Dowlah, attacked, and after a brief re- 
 sistance, took Calcutta. The event has attained 
 an infamous celebrity by the cruelty which ac- 
 companied it. The European inhabitants, one 
 
 hundred 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 21 
 
 hundred and forty-six in number, were, in the 
 most sultry season of the year, confined for twelve 
 hours within a cube of eighteen feet, having no 
 outlets except two small windows strongly barred. 
 In this miserable den all, except twenty-three, 
 perished. The city was in a short time retaken 
 by Colonel Clive, afterwards Lord Clive, who had 
 already exhibited proofs of that talent which 
 raised him to eminence. Peace with the Nabob 
 followed ; but it was subsequently proved that 
 he was in correspondence with the French. The 
 English resolved to punish his faithlessness, by 
 supporting the pretensions of a rival. This led 
 to the famous battle of Plassy, by which Meer 
 Jaffier obtained the nabobship, and his English 
 allies considerable treasure and accession of terri- 
 tory. 
 
 Meer Jaffier, however, became unwilling to ful- 
 fil the conditions of his elevation, and he was in 
 consequence deposed. His successor, who was 
 raised by the same influence, was his son-in-law 
 Meer Cossim, and it was stipulated that he should 
 grant to the English, for the pay of their army, 
 the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chitta- 
 gong. Like his predecessor, however, he became 
 hostile to the power which had raised him, and it 
 was deemed expedient to restore Meer Jaffier. A 
 war ensued with Cossim, in which the English 
 
 were 
 
22 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 were completely victorious, and Cossim escaped 
 into the dominions of the Nabob of Oude. 
 
 The same year which witnessed the expulsion 
 of Cossim was signalized by the conclusion of a 
 peace between France and England. The former 
 country was reinstated in the factories which she 
 possessed in 1749; but the latter, in addition to 
 her old settlements, retained the circar of Masu- 
 lipatam and its dependent districts, acquired from 
 the French, as well as the castle of Surat, the 
 jaghire round Madras, the Calcutta zemindary, 
 and the districts of Burdwan, Midnapore, and 
 Chittagong. 
 
 The Nabob of Oude, Suja Dowlah, with whom 
 Cossim had taken refuge, encouraged by some 
 discontents which existed in the British army, 
 decided on hostilities, and being joined by the 
 Rajah of Benares, war commenced. The disci- 
 pline of the British army having been restored, 
 Suja Dowlah was twice defeated ; first by Major 
 Carnac, secondly by Major Munro, and was 
 compelled to throw himself upon the generosity 
 of the victors. Terms were made by which the 
 entire territory of Oude, with the exception of 
 certain districts reserved to the Mogul Empe- 
 ror, was restored to him, and in return he 
 conferred upon the British the dewannee of the 
 three provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. 
 
 The 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 23 
 
 The word dewannee is derived from dewan, which 
 was the appellation of the officers appointed by 
 the Mogul government for the collection and dis- 
 bursement of the provincial revenues, and for the 
 administration of civil justice. These officers 
 held their stations during pleasure, and were only 
 stewards for the Emperor ; but the grant to the 
 Company was in perpetuity, and assigned to 
 them the whole provincial revenue, subject only 
 to the payment of certain specific sums. In addi- 
 tion to this, the Emperor granted to the English 
 the maritime districts known by the name of the 
 Northern Circars, though over them his authority 
 was but nominal. They fell within the govern- 
 ment of the Soubahdar of the Deccan ; but hav- 
 ing been the seat of hostilities between the Eng- 
 lish and French, the Soubahdar's authority was 
 not well established. By negociation with him 
 the Company obtained possession of this dis- 
 puted territory, with the exception of a small 
 part which became theirs in reversion. This 
 cession, however, involved the British in new 
 wars. It was a condition of their treaty with 
 the Soubahdar that they should assist him with 
 troops when he might stand in need of them ; 
 and in 1760 he applied for this assistance against 
 Hyder AH Khan, the sovereign of Mysore. The 
 required aid was granted ; but Hyder Ali, not 
 less skilful as a diplomatist than as a warrior, 
 
 succeeded 
 
24 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 succeeded in detaching the Soubahdar from his 
 English connexion, and prevailed upon him not 
 only to conclude a separate peace, but even to 
 enter into an alliance offensive and defensive, 
 for the purpose of extinguishing the British 
 power in the Deccan. Their combined ope- 
 rations were frustrated, and the Soubahdar de- 
 serting Hyder as he had done his former ally, 
 made peace with the British, and retired to his 
 own dominions. Hyder Ali then prosecuted the 
 war alone, and entering the Carnatic committed 
 dreadful ravages. Having diverted the British 
 forces to a distance from Madras, he suddenly 
 appeared before that place with 6,000 cavalry, 
 having accomplished a march of 120 miles in 
 three days. His further progress was arrested by 
 negociation, and a treaty was concluded on the 
 principle of a mutual restitution of conquests. 
 
 Our arms were next directed against the Mah- 
 rattas, who had invaded the Rohilla country. 
 The British, acting as the allies of Suja Dowlah, 
 drove them beyond the Ganges. For this service 
 the Rohilla chiefs had agreed to pay Suja Dow- 
 lah forty lacs of rupees ; but failing in the per- 
 formance of their contract, the Rohilla country 
 was added to the British conquests. A consider- 
 able tract of land was also conquered from the 
 Jauts and other adventurers, by which the boun- 
 daries of the province of Oude were considerably 
 
 advanced. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 25 
 
 advanced. On the death of Suja Dowlah, which 
 took place soon afterwards, the province of Be- 
 nares was ceded to the Company. 
 
 A subsequent war with the Mahrattas was dis- 
 tinguished by some movements of uncommon 
 brilliancy. A body of native troops, commanded 
 by British officers, but whose number did not ex- 
 ceed seven thousand, traversed with success al- 
 most the entire Mahratta territory. Several fine 
 provinces were subdued, and important fortresses 
 taken ; but war breaking out with Hyder Ali, 
 peace was made with the Mahrattas, and all the 
 acquisitions given up, except Salsette and the 
 small islands situate within the gulf formed by 
 Bombay, Salsette, and the continent. The war 
 with Hyder Ali raged until his death, and was 
 continued by his son Tippoo Saib ; but the con- 
 clusion of a peace between the English and French 
 depriving Tippoo of the hope of assistance from 
 the latter power, hostilities were terminated by a 
 treaty, which left the affairs of both the bellige- 
 rents nearly in the same condition as before the 
 commencement of the war. 
 
 The important changes which about this time 
 were effected with regard to the authority of the 
 Company would here demand attention, but as 
 the due consideration of them would interrupt the 
 narrative of the progress of British conquest in 
 India, it will be sufficient thus briefly to advert 
 
 to 
 
26 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 to them, and to reserve a more copious notice for 
 the third chapter, which will be devoted to the 
 constitution and authority of the Indian Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Tippoo Saib's restless character would not suffer 
 him to remain at peace, and his invasion of the 
 possessions of the Rajah of Travancore, who was 
 under the protection of the English, involved that 
 power in a fresh quarrel with this turbulent 
 prince. The result to him was humiliating. 
 After two years war he was compelled by Lord 
 Cornwallis to purchase peace by the payment of 
 a large sum of money, the sacrifice of half his 
 dominions, and the delivery of two of his sons as 
 hostages for the due performance of the conditions 
 of the treaty. 
 
 The memorable campaign, which terminated in 
 the discomfiture of Tippoo Saib, was succeeded 
 by seven years of tranquillity. The enemies of 
 British interests were not, however, inactive, but 
 were employed in sowing the seeds of future 
 wars. Among the most insidious and dangerous 
 of these enemies may be reckoned the French, 
 ever on the watch for an opportunity of diminish- 
 ing the power of the English, and now intox- 
 icated with the doctrines of liberty and equality 
 which they had undertaken to disseminate 
 throughout the earth. Even regions which for 
 ages had patiently submitted to despotic power, 
 
 were 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 27 
 
 were not exempt from the intrusion of these 
 opinions. The French ventured to establish a 
 society in Mysore for the diffusion of the know- 
 ledge of the rights of man, and met with very 
 different success to that which awaited the un- 
 fortunate Jean Bon St. Andr6 in the kindred 
 region of Africa. They received from the sove- 
 reign patronage and protection. He even con- 
 descended to become an honorary member of the 
 society, and was enrolled among its associates by 
 the incongruous name of Citizen Tippoo. The 
 result of these machinations was another war, 
 which terminated with the storming of Seringa- 
 patam, the death of Tippoo, and the partition of 
 his dominions. In the division the English re- 
 tained the districts of Canara, including all the 
 sea coast of the Mysore, the provinces imme- 
 diately adjoining the possessions of the British on 
 the coast of Malabar, and the Carnatic ; the forts 
 and posts of the passes into the Mysore, and the 
 island and fortress of Seringapatam. Certain 
 districts were given to the Nizam, which, how- 
 ever, were afterwards surrendered by that power 
 to the English, together with other territories 
 which had been acquired by a former treaty. A 
 third portion was reserved to be given to the 
 Peishwa upon certain conditions ; but he having 
 refused to accede, the reserved territory was 
 divided between the British and the Nizam. The 
 
 Peishwa 
 
28 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Peishwa, however, was forced ultimately to claim 
 the assistance of the British to deliver him from 
 the state of anarchy by which he was surrounded. 
 A treaty was in consequence concluded, by which 
 the British consented to furnish the Peishwa with 
 a certain number of troops, and he to assign a 
 portion of territory for their payment. 
 
 The war which ensued for the protection of the 
 Peishwa was distinguished by the brilliant ser- 
 vices of Lord Lake and of another commander, 
 who in the East commenced that illustrious 
 career which he terminated by the liberation of 
 Europe. The splendour of his Indian campaigns 
 is indeed obscured by the surpassing glory that 
 encircles the head of the conqueror of Napoleon ; 
 but no one who adverts to this period of the his- 
 tory of India, however briefly, can be excused 
 if he pass by the name of Wellington without 
 bestowing the tribute of admiration. Space will 
 not permit a detailed recital of the achievements 
 of the British army in these wars : it must suf- 
 fice to record the results. In a comparatively 
 short space of time a formidable confederation of 
 French and Mahratta power was broken, and an 
 immense accession of territory gained. 
 
 From this period the history of India presents 
 little of importance until 1814, when the British 
 became involved in a war with the Nepaulese, a 
 people of predatory habits, inhabiting a mountain 
 
 country . 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 29 
 
 country. The nature of the country, the imper- 
 fect knowledge which the British possessed of it, 
 the courage of the enemy, and the fortifications 
 by which they were defended, were obstacles to 
 the success of the British, and continued for some 
 time to impede it. Military skill ultimately 
 overcame these difficulties, and the Nepaulese 
 being subdued, agreed to a treaty by which the 
 British became possessed of certain districts 
 deemed necessary to the security of their frontier ; 
 but endeavouring, in the true spirit of Indian 
 policy, to evade ratification of the treaty, a re- 
 newal of hostilities became unavoidable. A war 
 of very brief duration was sufficient to accomplish 
 its object. 
 
 The constant wars and commotions prevailing 
 among the native powers of India produced in 
 great numbers men trained in habits of rapine 
 and disorder. Gathering strength by degrees, 
 these lawless ruffians became at length associated 
 in bands under recognized leaders, and on the 
 arrival of the Marquis of Hastings in India they 
 mustered a force of not less than 40,000 cavalry. 
 They were termed Pindarries, and in their preda- 
 tory excursions committed the most shocking 
 excesses. The irruptions of these bandits into 
 the Company's territories compelled the Govern- 
 ment to take up arms, and they were preparing 
 to take vigorous measures for their expulsion, 
 
 when 
 
30 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 when the Peishwa, an ally and dependent of the 
 British, revolted against their authority. The 
 Rajah of Nagpore, who stood in the same relation 
 to the British, pursued a similar course. Both 
 these powers were subdued, while the war with 
 the Pindarries was prosecuted with success. In 
 the mean time the British Government became 
 involved in disputes with Scindia and Holkar, two 
 independent chiefs. With the former they made 
 terms, but the treaty forced upon him was exe- 
 cuted with extreme reluctance. Holkar resolved 
 to have recourse to war. It ended in his entire 
 defeat ; his power was completely broken, and he 
 was compelled to sue for peace. The army being 
 now at liberty to act against the Pindarries, the 
 dispersion of that lawless body was at length 
 effected. 
 
 It now only remains to notice the war with the 
 Burmese. This war, like most of those in which 
 the English have been engaged, was occasioned by 
 the aggression of the power with whom it was 
 waged. During the Pindarrie war the Burmese 
 were in communication with several of the belli- 
 gerent native chiefs, and were even prepared for 
 an invasion of the frontier of Bengal. This was 
 averted by a stratagem. The Marquis of Hastings 
 had received a rescript from the Burmese monarch, 
 requiring the surrender of all provinces east of the 
 Baugrutty. The projected hostility was evidently 
 
 a measure 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 31 
 
 a measure concerted with the Mahrattas. Lord 
 Hastings sent back the envoy with an intimation 
 that the answer should be conveyed through 
 another channel. It declared that the Governor- 
 general was too well acquainted with his Majesty's 
 wisdom to be the dupe of the gross forgery at- 
 tempted to be palmed upon him, and he therefore 
 transmitted to the king the document fabricated 
 in his august name, and trusted that he would 
 submit to condign punishment the persons who 
 had endeavoured to sow dissention between two 
 powers, whose reciprocal interest it was to cul- 
 tivate relations of amity. By this proceeding the 
 necessity of noticing the insolent step of the 
 Burmese monarch was evaded, and that sovereign 
 on hearing of the defeat of his Mahratta allies, 
 was content to remain at peace. 
 
 But though the expression of hostile feeling was- 
 for awhile suppressed, the feeling itself was not 
 removed, and the Burmese monarch now gained 
 courage to attack where before he had been satis- 
 fied to threaten. War commenced, and the suc- 
 cesses of the British led to the conclusion of an 
 armistice which was employed in negociations. 
 These negociations being unsuccessful, hostilities 
 were resumed. The march of the English, as in 
 Nepaul, was in some degree retarded by the 
 nature of the country, but this obstacle being 
 overcome, the Burmese sustained a complete de- 
 feat, 
 
32 HISTORICxVL SKETCH. 
 
 feat, and the British advanced towards the capital, 
 when negotiations were recommenced and a 
 treaty concluded, by which the Burmese secured 
 their existence as a nation, and the English ob- 
 tained an extension of territory, valuable as 
 affording a secure frontier. The treaty contained 
 a stipulation for the payment of a sum of money 
 by the Burmese, falling very far short of the ex- 
 penses of the war, and of which a part only was 
 paid. 
 
 The extent of British dominion and influence in 
 India will be sketched in the next chapter. After 
 all the declamation that has been expended upon 
 the means by which they have been acquired, 
 probably no conquests were ever made more 
 righteously. Strangers were forced to become 
 conquerors in self-defence. During a considerable 
 part of the last century the question was, whether 
 India should be subjugated by France or by 
 England ? To this question but one answer could 
 be given. The perfidy of the native princes was 
 another source of war and of British aggrandize- 
 ment. But the crimes of these rulers have in 
 this respect been beneficial to their subjects, by 
 transferring them to the care of a better and a 
 milder government. No friend to mankind can 
 wish that the natives had remained under their 
 old masters, and none but the most prejudiced 
 can believe that their lot would have been im- 
 proved by transferring them to the French. 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 POLITICAL SKETCH. 
 
 A discussion of the merits of the various geogra- 
 phical divisions of India which have been adopted 
 either in ancient or modern times would here be 
 out of place, nor perhaps would much benefit be 
 gained by following any of them. In a work, the 
 professed object of which is not geographical, an 
 enumeration of the principal districts is all that 
 can be admitted, and the notice even of these 
 must of necessity be brief and popular. 
 
 The most eastern part of the British dominions 
 in India is Arracan, recently severed from the 
 Burmese empire, which it adjoins. The conti- 
 guous district of Chittagong, with Midnapore and 
 Burdwan, were among our earliest acquisitions in 
 India, having come into our possession from the 
 Nabob of Bengal in 1760. These were followed 
 five years afterwards by the provinces of Bengal, 
 forming in themselves a powerful kingdom, and giv- 
 ing the British an influence and authority which 
 has gradually led to their supremacy in India. At 
 the north-eastern extremity of this territory is 
 Assam, which with Arracan was ceded by the 
 Burmese at the termination of the war with that 
 
 d power. 
 
34 POLITICAL SKETCH. 
 
 power. A part only of this district is immediately 
 subject to the British Government, Upper Assam 
 having been lately assigned to a native prince. 
 At the northern boundary of these provinces we 
 arrive at the dominions of Bhotan and Nepaul. 
 Goruckpoor, Benares, the Upper and Lower 
 Dooab, Bareilly, and Kumaon (the latter newly- 
 acquired from the Nepaulese), are the principal 
 divisions of the British territory in this northern 
 part of India. South of the Lower Dooab and 
 the zemindarry of Benares, lie the districts ceded 
 by the Rajah of Berar in 1826. 
 
 In the west, the British dominions extend from 
 Ahmedabad to Cambay, and from thence along a 
 line of coast extending, with little interruption, 
 several hundred miles, through Konkan, Canara, 
 and Malabar, to Cochin. The island of Bombay 
 is upon this coast. More inland, Candeish, the 
 Poonah territory , and the Southern Mahratta coun- 
 try, are incorporated with the British dominions. 
 Coimbatoor and Salem connect Malabar on the 
 west with the Carnatic on the east, which, with 
 Tanjore, the jaghire of Madras, and nearly the 
 whole of the coast of Coromandel, belong to the 
 same mighty empire. The Northern Circars and 
 Kuttack complete the line of maritime districts to 
 Midnapore. 
 
 The influence of British authority is not con- 
 fined to the dominions immediately subjected to 
 
POLITICAL SKETCH. 35 
 
 it ; it is exerted over nearly the whole of India 
 by virtue of protective treaties with the native 
 princes. In the states thus situated, the prince 
 exercises the functions of sovereignty under the 
 control of the British power, which is represented 
 by a resident agent. The presumed advantages 
 of this arrangement are mutual— the prince and 
 his successors are guaranteed in the possession of 
 their dominions ; and, in return, he renounces all 
 external connexions, except with the British, 
 through whom alone negotiations are conducted, 
 and by whose decision he is bound in all matters 
 of dispute with other states. In some cases the 
 prince consents to receive a subsidiary force; in 
 others, this provision is dispensed with. But the 
 great principles which pervade them all, are the 
 supremacy of the British and the dependency of 
 the native government. Subsidiary treaties ex- 
 ist with Holcar, the Nizam, the sovereigns of 
 Oude, Nagpoor, Mysore, Travancore, Cochin, the 
 Guicowar, and Cutch. The states under British 
 protection, without subsidiary treaties, are too 
 many to be enumerated. These two classes of 
 protected states occupy a vast extent of territory. 
 It is to be lamented that the benefits that might 
 have been anticipated from this indirect exercise 
 of British authority have not been realised. Most 
 of the protected states are wretchedly misgovern- 
 ed, and there cannot be the slightest doubt that 
 
 d 2 the 
 
36 POLITICAL SKETCH. 
 
 the people would be far happier as British sub- 
 jects than they are now. The British provinces 
 have been steadily advancing in prosperity ; the 
 progress of the protected states has been from bad 
 to worse. In some cases, the reliance on British 
 support encourages the sovereign to abandon him- 
 self to a course of personal gratification, regardless 
 of the interests of his subjects. In all, the supre- 
 macy of a foreign power deprives him of that 
 importance, which is necessary to command either 
 the respect of his subjects or his own. Feeling 
 that he is regarded as a cipher, he will not be 
 unlikely to take the same view of his situation, 
 and, divesting himself of all responsibility, to 
 consider his elevated rank only as bestowing a 
 title to unlimited indulgence — an exemption from 
 every species of care, and a license to sink into 
 irreclaimable apathy and sensuality. 
 
 The policy of the British Government in India 
 has always been opposed to conquest. But 
 though it is impossible not to respect their mo- 
 tives, it is equally impossible not to perceive that, 
 had they been actuated by a less scrupulous spi- 
 rit, the condition of a large portion of the people 
 of India would have been far better than it is. 
 Could the whole of the protected states be an- 
 nexed at once to the British dominions, humanity 
 would have cause to rejoice. Unfortunately this 
 cannot take place without a violation of that good 
 
 faith 
 
POLITICAL SKETCH. 37 
 
 faith which, in all parts of the world, it has been 
 the pride of England to maintain. Occasionally, 
 the accumulation of abuses in these protected 
 states becomes so enormous, that the supreme 
 power is compelled to carry its interference be- 
 yond mere remonstrance. It is not improbable 
 that some change will be made in the relation at 
 present existing between Oude and the protect- 
 ing power. A long course of misgovernment hav- 
 ing reduced that kingdom to a state of anarchy, 
 the British may perhaps find it necessary to take 
 the administration into their own hands. 
 
 It will be evident from this view, that the Bri- 
 tish authority in India is paramount. That of the 
 French is almost annihilated. They still occupy 
 Pondicherry, and one or two other places of small 
 importance, but they no longer dispute with the 
 English the dominion of the East. The Portu- 
 guese linger in a few spots, the scenes of their 
 former commercial grandeur. The Danes have 
 possession of a few settlements, neither extensive 
 nor important. The Dutch retain Sumatra, Java, 
 Borneo, and some other islands ; but from none 
 of these has Britain at this time any thing to fear. 
 Her rivals have fallen before her, and left her in 
 possession of the most gigantic dominion that ever 
 was appended to a foreign state. 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 The East-India Company proceeded to Hindos- 
 tan as merchants — circumstances converted them 
 into sovereigns. On various occasions the minis- 
 ters of the crown had shown a strong disposition 
 to interfere with the government of India, and to 
 participate in its wealth and patronage. The 
 magnificent conquests which distinguished the 
 middle of the last century furnished a fresh pre- 
 text for interference ; and as men are never at a 
 loss to find reasons to justify the course of action 
 which they are inclined to pursue, the anomalous 
 fact of a Commercial Company swaying the des- 
 tinies of a mighty empire, was dwelt upon with 
 all the energy which personal interest lends alike 
 to truth or falsehood. Upon the intelligent and 
 the unprejudiced such declamation would have 
 little effect. No government ever existed that 
 was conformed precisely to the principles of ab- 
 stract reason : and if such a one should ever be 
 framed, its endurance would, in all probability, 
 only be sufficient to manifest the folly of the 
 experiment. In all forms of government anoma- 
 lies exist, and the question with regard to the 
 
 Company 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 39 
 
 Company is therefore only one of degree. 
 Thoughtful men may in their closets frame 
 schemes of government, which upon paper shall 
 appear perfect, but pure science is only for the 
 intellect — the ideal must yield something to the 
 practical, when brought to bear upon the ordinary 
 concerns of life. Instead, therefore, of expatiat- 
 ing upon the irregularity of merchants exercising 
 sovereign power, it would have been well to 
 inquire how it had been exercised, and how far 
 the great purposes for which government exists 
 had been answered. Some such inquiries indeed 
 were instituted, but with little of that spirit of 
 fairness by which they ought to have been cha- 
 racterized. It could not be denied, that the state 
 of the people had been improved : but it had not 
 been improved so rapidly as the opponents of the 
 Company thought, or affected to think, that it 
 ought. The work of a century could not be 
 accomplished in a few years. Under the most 
 favourable circumstances national improvement 
 is slow, and the circumstances of Hindostan were 
 any thing but favourable. Its native population 
 had been for centuries subject to aliens, whose 
 iron rule had raised an abundant crop of all those 
 vices which are generated by oppression. They 
 were the victims of one of the most odious and 
 debasing superstitions that ever shed its withering 
 influence over the human mind, a superstition 
 
 which 
 
40 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 which alike palsied the intellect and corrupted 
 the heart : they were, moreover, both constitu- 
 tionally and by principle, averse to change. Un- 
 der such a combination of circumstances, it is 
 more surprising that any advance had been 
 made under the dominion of the Company, than 
 that the work of ages had not been achieved in a 
 few brief years. But such considerations as these, 
 reasonable as they are, could not be expected to 
 have much influence in modifying the views of 
 faction and ambition. The golden prize of India 
 was regarded by the Government at home with 
 envy, and as early as 1767, some discussion took 
 place as to the rights of sovereignty. 
 
 The year 1773 was marked by the first direct 
 invasion of the power hitherto exercised by the 
 Company. By an act passed in that year, the 
 Directors were required to lay before his Ma- 
 jesty's ministers, from time to time, all corres- 
 pondence from India relating to revenue and to 
 civil and military affairs. A governor-general and 
 council were named, and various changes were 
 made in the constitution of the Company at home. 
 Before this time, every holder of £500 stock was 
 a member of the Court of Proprietors, and no 
 amount gave a plurality of votes. The qualifica- 
 cation was raised to £1000, and an increased 
 number of votes given to the holders of stock to a 
 larger amount. Modifications equally important 
 
 were 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 41 
 
 were made in the Court of Directors. They had 
 formerly been elected annually ; they were now 
 to serve for a period of four years. 
 
 The barrier once broken down, the flood of Par- 
 liamentary interference rolled on apace. The year 
 1781 produced a further change. In addition to the 
 information required by the last act, the Directors 
 were called upon to communicate to Ministers all 
 despatches sent to India ; and in all matters of 
 war and peace, and all transactions with other 
 powers, to be governed by their advice. This was 
 an important step gained by the Ministry at the 
 expense of the Company, and Lord North would 
 not have been content even with this acquisition 
 had he felt himself more secure in his ministerial 
 seat ; but he was then tottering, and not long after- 
 wards fell. The ill-fated cabinets of the Marquis 
 of Rockingham and the Earl of Shelburne were 
 too shortlived to admit of any proceedings ; but 
 this temporary repose was followed by the se- 
 verest blow ever aimed against the authority and 
 privileges of the Company. Had it succeeded, 
 it would have been alike fatal to India and to 
 England ; to the rights of the Company, and to 
 the liberties of the people. 
 
 Forced by circumstances into power, the coa- 
 lition ministry was disagreeable to the King, and 
 unpopular with the nation. To enable them to 
 overcome these obstacles to the maintenance of 
 
 their 
 
42 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 their station, the Ministers turned their eyes to 
 India, a country which, at that time, afforded a 
 field for the speculations of every political char- 
 latan. A plan was accordingly devised, osten- 
 sibly for the better government of India, but sub- 
 stantially for upholding a falling ministry. By 
 this monstrous scheme the Company were to be 
 deprived of even the forms of authority. The 
 two existing Courts of Proprietors and Directors 
 were to be abolished. Seven commissioners, to 
 be named in the act, were to be invested with 
 the uncontrolled exercise of both the political and 
 the commercial functions of the Company, the 
 last being committed to the especial care of nine 
 assistant commissioners, who were also to be 
 named by the act. The chief commissioners, in 
 whom was centred all the power and patronage, 
 were to be irremovable, except by the King, upon 
 the address of either House of Parliament. The 
 assistant commissioners were to be removable by 
 the concurrence of five of the superior. 
 
 The bill excited throughout the country a de- 
 gree of alarm almost without precedent. It was 
 regarded at once as a gross violation of chartered 
 rights, and as an instrument for destroying the 
 independence of Parliament. 
 
 The feeling of respect for corporate rights was 
 stronger at that time than at present, and perhaps 
 wisely so. Statesmen may sometimes find it 
 
 convenient 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. • 43 
 
 convenient to treat them with contempt ; but the 
 experiment is always attended with danger. 
 Every fresh violation of the rights of public bo- 
 dies weakens the security of all private rights. 
 The expediency which to-day calls for the sacri- 
 fice of a corporation, may to-morrow demand the 
 sacrifice of an individual. Common safety is to 
 be found only in common protection, and it is 
 impossible to frame a distinction which shall have 
 the effect of placing in security the rights of pri- 
 vate persons, whilst those of public bodies are left 
 at the mercy of expediency. The title of the 
 East-India Company had originated in a royal 
 grant. It had been strengthened by time, and 
 by the repeated recognition of the Legislature ; 
 and the violent measure proposed by the Coalition 
 Ministry could be justified only by the grossest 
 delinquency. The partisans of the Ministry, in- 
 deed, treated chartered rights with a levity wor- 
 thy of a later period ; and the attorney-general 
 ventured upon language which his own party felt 
 to be rash, if not indecent. In one of the de- 
 bates on the bill, the zeal of this functionary 
 led him so far as to say, " What is a charter ? a 
 parchment with a piece of wax dangling from 
 it." * Such language was not calculated to allay 
 
 the 
 
 * A subsequent speaker, adverting to this, supposed a bill 
 introduced to hang the attorney -general, when, said he, «« it 
 might be said, What is a hanged attorney -general ? Nothing 
 but a carcase dangling at the end of a rope." 
 
44 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 the public alarm, and men would naturally begin 
 to ask upon whom the next blow was to fall. 
 Wherever it might be aimed, it was obvious that 
 the passing of the obnoxious bill, by transferring 
 the patronage of India into the hands of Ministers 
 or their nominees, would enable them to strike 
 with redoubled force and increased certamty. 
 Mr. Mill has denied this assumption, and appears 
 to think the degree of influence to which the 
 House of Commons is subjected a matter of little 
 importance. He asserts, that if the subservience 
 of the House of Commons depends upon the de- 
 gree, more or less, of influence to which it is ex- 
 posed, it must be an ill-constituted assembly. It 
 is so far ill constituted that it partakes of that 
 infirmity which adheres to every thing human. 
 But how is this to be avoided ? If Mr. Mill be- 
 lieves that while human nature remains what it 
 is, he can call into existence a legislative assem- 
 bly from which all unworthy motives shall be in- 
 fallibly excluded, he deceives himself, but he will 
 certainly deceive no one else. He talks of secu- 
 rities ; but the best security is the removal of 
 temptation. The patronage of India in the hands 
 of the Company is little likely to be abused ; in 
 the hands of the Minister for the time being, it 
 would be attended with danger. Locked up for 
 the benefit of a single political party, as proposed 
 by the Coalition Ministry, it would enable that 
 
 party 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 45 
 
 party to dictate both to the throne and to the 
 people, and to fix themselves in power too firmly 
 for any thing short of a political convulsion to 
 displace them. 
 
 In this light was the subject viewed by the 
 people of England, notwithstanding which the 
 House of Commons passed the bill. The House 
 of Lords, however, interposed, and rescued the 
 crown and the country by rejecting a measure 
 which would have enslaved both. 
 
 The fate of the Ministry being bound up with 
 their India Bill, the rejection of the one passed 
 sentence of deposition upon the other. The Coa- 
 lition Ministry was succeeded by that of Mr. Pitt, 
 and at an early period after his accession to 
 power, the affairs of India were brought under 
 the consideration of Parliament. The plan of the 
 new Ministry was of a less violent character than 
 that of their predecessors. The Company were 
 to continue to exercise the functions of govern- 
 ment under the inspection of the English cabinet, 
 as they had done for eleven years previously ; but, 
 to ensure a greater degree of attention than could 
 otherwise be bestowed, a Board was created for 
 the express purpose of superintending and con- 
 trolling Indian affairs. 
 
 The system established in 1784 is substantially 
 that which now exists ; the changes subsequently 
 made being too unimportant to require notice. 
 
 The 
 
46 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 The objects of the Company were originally 
 purely commercial, and could they have pursued 
 them in peace and security they would have sought 
 nothing further. Their enemies compelled them 
 to unite with the character of the merchant, that 
 of the soldier and the civil governor. The British 
 Legislature has effected a change scarcely less un- 
 expected. In 1813, the trade with India was 
 thrown open ; twenty years afterwards the Com- 
 pany relinquished the field to their competitors. 
 The history of the world affords nothing more ex- 
 traordinary than the present posture of the Com- 
 pany. Formed exclusively for the prosecution of 
 a desirable branch of commerce, it has renounced 
 trade, yet continues to exist for purposes which 
 its founders never contemplated. Called inci- 
 dentally to the exercise of civil and military 
 power, it continues to wield that power now that 
 its original character has disappeared, and when 
 it has no longer any interest in those commercial 
 advantages which it was the single purpose of its 
 conquests to secure. The act of 1833 suspended 
 the mercantile career of the Company, and it 
 now exists only as an instrument for governing 
 the country, which the wisdom and spirit of its 
 servants has annexed to the British crown. The 
 whole of the Company's property, territorial and 
 commercial, having been surrendered, its debts 
 and liabilities are charged upon India, and a 
 
 dividend 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 47 
 
 dividend of £10. 10s. on their capital stock se- 
 cured; the dividend redeemable at the rate of 
 £200 for every £100 stock, after April 1874, and 
 at an earlier period on the demand of the Com- 
 pany, should they be deprived of the govern- 
 ment of India. This last provision is of course a 
 dead letter until after April 1854, when the pre- 
 sent act will expire. For the better securing the 
 redemption of the dividend, a fund is formed 
 under the control of the Commissioners for the 
 Reduction of the National Debt, termed the 
 Security Fund of the India Company. For the 
 purposes of this fund a sum of two millions has 
 been invested in the public funds, there to accu- 
 mulate to the amount of twelve millions. The 
 Company are required to lay a financial statement 
 annually before both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 Various provisions are contained in the act, 
 especially relating to legislative and ecclesiastical 
 arrangements, which will be noticed in subse- 
 quent chapters. It will be proper here to advert 
 to the present constitution of the Company and 
 the government of India, as settled by the last 
 and preceding acts of Parliament. 
 
 The authority of the Company is exercised 
 through the Court of Proprietors and the Court 
 of Directors. To be qualified to vote in the former 
 Court, a Proprietor must have been twelve months 
 in possession of stock to the amount of at least 
 
 £1,000; 
 
48 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 £1,000 ; this sum entitles him to one vote, £3,000 
 to two votes, £6,000 to three votes, and £10,000 
 to four votes. The Proprietors have the privilege 
 of electing the Directors ; of making by-laws for 
 the regulation of the Company, which are binding 
 when not at variance with the law of the land, 
 and of controlling all grants of money exceeding 
 £600. The Directors are bound to convene a 
 General Court on the requisition of nine qualified 
 Proprietors, and such court, while it may discuss 
 any matter connected with the affairs of India, 
 has no power of rescinding a measure adopted by 
 the Directors and approved by the Board. The 
 votes are given by ballot, and in the election of 
 Directors, a proprietor may vote by attorney. 
 
 The Court of Directors consists of twenty-four 
 Proprietors, who are elected for four years : six 
 go out annually by rotation, but they are re- 
 eligible at the expiration of a year. The quali- 
 fication for the office of Director is the possession 
 of £2,000 stock. Formerly no person having been 
 employed in any civil or military capacity in 
 India could be chosen a Director until he had been 
 resident in England for two years. The last act 
 has removed this ground of disqualification : but 
 if the Court of Directors, with the consent of the 
 Board of Control, shall declare that the accounts 
 of any civil or military officer are unsettled, or that 
 a charge against him is under consideration, he is 
 
 disqualified 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 49 
 
 disqualified for two years after his return, unless 
 in the mean time the accounts are settled or 
 the charge determined. The presence of thirteen 
 Directors is necessary to constitute a court, and 
 they elect from their own body a chairman and 
 deputy chairman annually. In the Court of 
 Directors is vested the administration of the 
 affairs of India, subject to the supervision of the 
 Board of Commissioners. 
 
 The Board is constituted by commission under 
 the Great Seal. The first-named commissioner is 
 President. The President of the Council, the Lord 
 Privy Seal, the First Lord of the Treasury, the 
 Principal Secretaries of State, and the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, are commissioners ex -officio. 
 Two commissioners may form a Board, and the pre- 
 sident having a casting vote, his power is conse- 
 quently great. 
 
 To the Board the Directors are bound to trans- 
 mit copies of all proceedings of their own court 
 and that of the Proprietors, as well as of all letters 
 and despatches received which contain material 
 information, or which the Board may require. 
 Copies of all despatches and official communica- 
 tions proposed to be sent out, must also be laid 
 before the Commissioners, who within two months 
 are to return them. If they disapprove or sub- 
 stantially vary any paper submitted to them, they 
 are to state their reasons in writing. The Direc- 
 
 e tors 
 
50 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 tors may then submit such remarks and explana- 
 tions as they see fit, and the Commissioners are 
 enjoined by the Act to consider them ; after 
 which they are to give further directions, which 
 are to be final and conclusive. Despatches relat- 
 ing to subjects which in the opinion of the Board 
 require secresy, may be framed by themselves 
 and transmitted to a Secret Committee of three 
 members of the Court of Directors, who are forth- 
 with to forward them to their destination. In 
 such cases, neither the Secret Committee nor the 
 Court have any power of deliberation. But in 
 other instances, if the Court of Directors shall 
 consider the directions of the Board contrary to 
 law, a case is to be framed for the opinion of the 
 Court of King's Bench, which is to be conclusive. 
 Such is the state of the law. In practice, the 
 intercourse between the Court and the Board 
 varies somewhat from the prescribed routine. 
 With a view to avoid unnecessary controversy, 
 the custom has arisen of making what is called a 
 previous communication from the Chairs to the 
 President of the Board. This is an unofficial 
 draft of a proposed despatch, which the Presi- 
 dent having examined, returns, either altered 
 or unaltered, but unofficially, and without assign- 
 ing reasons for alterations, if he has made any. 
 The business then proceeds in the prescribed 
 course. If the views of the Court and the Board 
 
 coincide, 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 51 
 
 coincide, there is, of course, neither difficulty nor 
 discussion. If they differ, the Board assigns its 
 reasons ; the Court either acquiesces, or states 
 why it continues to dissent; and finally, the 
 Board delivers its determination. Mr. Canning- 
 expressed a very favourable opinion of the prac- 
 tice of previous communication, as a means of 
 preserving a good understanding between the two 
 authorities to which Parliament has entrusted the 
 government of India. He said, " The use and 
 " object of previous communications is free dis- 
 " cussion. They are amicable preludes to further 
 " propositions, which enable the Board to state 
 " its objections (when it has any), and to offer its 
 " amendments and additions, without assuming 
 <( the air of dictation, and through which each 
 " party becomes acquainted with the other's 
 " sentiments, without being committed in point 
 " of consistency and dignity to its own. The 
 " official draft being thus prepared, with a free 
 " knowledge how far it is likely to meet the con- 
 " currence of the Board, the best chance is taken 
 " for avoiding direct official collision." 
 
 Excepting such as pass through the Secret 
 Committee, despatches generally originate with 
 the Court; but the Board may require orders, 
 instructions, and despatches to be prepared and 
 submitted for its consideration ; and if the Direc- 
 tors defer compliance beyond the space of four- 
 
 e 2 teen 
 
52 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 teen days, the Board may themselves prepare such 
 documents, and the Directors are bound to trans- 
 mit them. 
 
 The Act of 1833 was not passed without much 
 previous investigation, and the ultimate determi- 
 nation of the Legislature to continue in the Direc- 
 tors the powers which they had hitherto exercised, 
 may be regarded as an evidence that they had 
 exercised them wisely. A body of men better 
 qualified for the high duties which they are called 
 upon to perform could not indeed be found. Many 
 of the Directors have the advantage of local expe- 
 rience. They are elected by a constituency suf- 
 ficiently popular, but at the same time perfectly 
 inaccessible to those temptations which would 
 not be without effect upon a class of voters less 
 select. The number of Directors is sufficient to 
 ensure a great variety of talent and information, 
 whilst it is not so great as to impede the progress 
 of business. But the claims of the Court need 
 not be rested upon arguments of its probable fit- 
 ness for the duties which it is called upon to ful- 
 fil : it may confidently appeal to history. Two 
 or three humble factories extended into a mighty 
 empire — a people steadily advancing to prosperity 
 under its government — surrounding states implor- 
 ing its protection, and seeking, under its fostering 
 care, deliverance from the evils of native mis- 
 government — these are the facts to which the 
 
 authorities 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 53 
 
 authorities of the East-India Company may point 
 as attesting their capacity for the high functions 
 which they have been called upon to perform. 
 
 The testimony of Mr. Mill in favour of the 
 Company may be regarded as unexceptionable. 
 His laborious history manifests little desire to 
 praise ; but he is compelled to pay a tribute to 
 the merits of the Court of Directors at home, and 
 their servants abroad. To them he attributes all 
 the good which has arisen from the British con- 
 nection with India, while the evil he ascribes to 
 that state influence to which the Directors have 
 yielded — sometimes from an undue deference to 
 the judgment of others, sometimes from the im- 
 possibility of successful resistance. The passage 
 in which Mr. Mill delivers his judgment is too 
 important to be passed over. He says, 
 
 " In regard to intention, I know no govern- 
 ment, either in past or present times, that can be 
 placed equally high with that of the East-India 
 Company. I can hardly point out an occasion 
 on which the schemes they have adopted, and 
 even the particular measures they pursued, were 
 not by themselves considered as conducive to the 
 welfare of the people whom they governed. I 
 know no government which has on all occasions 
 shewn so much of a disposition to make sacrifices 
 of its own interests to the interests of the people 
 whom it governed, and which has, in fact, made 
 
 so 
 
54 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 so many and such important sacrifices. If the 
 East-India Company have been so little success- 
 ful in ameliorating the practical operation of their 
 government, it has been owing chiefly to the dis- 
 advantage of their situation, distant a voyage of 
 several months from the scene of action, and to 
 that imperfect knowledge which was common to 
 them in common with all their countrymen. But 
 they have never erred so much as when, distrust- 
 ing their own knowledge, they have followed the 
 directions of men whom they unhappily thought 
 wiser than themselves, viz. practical statesmen 
 and lawyers ; and lastly, in the highly important 
 point of the servants or subordinate agents of go- 
 vernment, there is nothing in the world to be 
 compared with the East-India Company, whose 
 servants as a body have not only exhibited a por- 
 tion of talent which puts to shame the ill-chosen 
 instruments of other governments, but have, ex- 
 cept in some remarkable instances, as that of the 
 loan transactions with the Nabob of Arcot, exhi- 
 bited a degree of virtue which, under the temp- 
 tations to which they were exposed, is worthy of 
 the highest applause." 
 
 In the face of such facts, it was seriously 
 proposed, during the inquiries which took place 
 previously to the passing of the last Act, to place 
 the patronage of India in other hands. One sug- 
 gestion was to transfer it to other corporations. It 
 
 is 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 55 
 
 is obvious that the only recommendation of this 
 plan is that it would be a change. A more plausi- 
 ble scheme was to bestow the appointments upon 
 certain schools and universities, and throw them 
 open to public competition. Such a plan pro- 
 mised much, but would have effected nothing. 
 Calculated to impress the mind favourably 
 in the first instance, a moment's reflection will 
 shew its hollowness. The degree of talent and 
 industry displayed by boys, is an erroneous 
 index to their future character as men. The for- 
 tunate competitors for school and university 
 honours are not always, — perhaps it may be said 
 not often, — eminent in after-life ; whilst the men 
 who have failed in attaining these distinctions, not 
 unfrequently exhibit a degree of ability of which 
 their early years afforded no indication. On a 
 recent proposal to extend certain privileges to 
 clergymen who had taken university honours, the 
 highest authority in the church declared that a 
 worse test of desert could not be devised. It is 
 certainly as little applicable to the civil service of 
 India as to the church at home; and had it been 
 adopted, so far from ensuring a better set of men, 
 the presumption is that it would have afforded a 
 worse. If, indeed, the principle were good, it is 
 not easy to conceive why it should not be applied 
 to the patronage of the state as well as to that 
 vested in the East- India Company. The former 
 
 is 
 
56 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 is certainly not bestowed with greater purity, nor 
 does it produce better public servants. The 
 experiment is needless, and would end in disap- 
 pointment ; but if made, it surely ought not to 
 be at the expense of a public body, who, accord- 
 ing to the concurrent testimony of friends and 
 enemies, have exercised their power in a manner 
 the most exemplary. 
 
 The Directors possess the right of making all 
 appointments of writers, cadets, and assistant- 
 surgeons. The President of the Board of Com- 
 missioners participates in the distribution, not by 
 law, but custom. The direct power of the home 
 authorities is, however, limited to the original 
 nomination. The advancement of the nominee in 
 India depends upon the local authorities, among 
 whom the patronage is distributed, according to 
 regulations made by the Court and approved by 
 the Board. 
 
 The late act prescribes a mode of filling up 
 vacancies in the civil service remarkable for its 
 complexity and uncertainty. For every expected 
 vacancy four candidates are to be named, and one 
 student admitted ; and if the Directors do not 
 within one month nominate the whole number re- 
 quired, the Board may supply the deficiency. 
 The candidates must be not less than seventeen 
 years of age, nor more than twenty. They are to 
 be examined in certain branches of knowledge, 
 
 and 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 57 
 
 and classed according to their proficiency; and 
 the candidates to the appointed number, whose 
 names stand highest in the list, are admitted to the 
 Company's College at Haileybury. It would not 
 be easy to frame a plan more efficacious in creating 
 a large amount of disappointment, or less calcu- 
 lated to secure a competent measure of knowledge. 
 For one who succeeds, three sustain the mortifi- 
 cation of being rejected ; a penalty which it is 
 possible has not been incurred either by idleness 
 or stupidity. It may be that all the candidates 
 are sufficiently qualified, and three-fourths of 
 them are exposed to the stigma of rejection, not 
 because they are incompetent, but because a few 
 of their competitors seem to be somewhat more 
 competent ; the supposed indications of such 
 higher competence being extremely fallacious, 
 and frequently the result only of superior quick- 
 ness, not of superior knowledge. The hardship 
 of this is evident. To those in whom the pa- 
 tronage is vested, the operation of the plan, 
 though less personally annoying, is equally 
 unjust. The candidates nominated by one may 
 all be rejected, and those nominated by another 
 all admitted ; yet there may be but a shade of diffe- 
 rence in their respective claims, or possibly none 
 at all. Again, the plan does not ensure that 
 which is its professed object, a reasonable pro- 
 ficiency in learning. The fortunate candidates 
 
 are 
 
58 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 are selected, not because they come up to a certain 
 standard, but because they are the best that offer. 
 It may be that the acquirements of all are but 
 moderate, and then the grosser deficiencies of 
 some ensure the triumph of others one degree 
 less ignorant than themselves. Happy is he who, 
 possessing little ability and less application, has 
 the good fortune of contending for admission in a 
 year of universal mediocrity. 
 
 Admission to the College being gained, the 
 student enters upon the usual course of study ; 
 and at the expiration of a prescribed period, such 
 of the students as have a certificate of good 
 conduct, are subjected to an examination in the 
 College studies, and classed according to merit. 
 After passing this examination the students are 
 nominated to supply the vacancies in India, and 
 have seniority according to their priority in the 
 list, and, according to the same principles, have 
 the right of electing to which presidency they 
 will proceed. The Professors of the College are 
 nominated by the Court, and approved by the 
 Board. 
 
 It is somewhat extraordinary, that in these 
 reforming times the College should have been 
 spared, as its necessity is by no means apparent. 
 The vacancies in the civil service are now com- 
 paratively few, and the number of students being 
 proportioned to the vacancies, is, of course, greatly 
 
 diminished. 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 59 
 
 diminished. Whether there ever existed any ne- 
 cessity for the College may admit of doubt : but 
 it is quite clear that it is not adapted to the al- 
 tered circumstances of the Company. It seems 
 probable that in future the average number of stu- 
 dents will not greatly exceed that of the professors 
 and assistant professors, and to maintain such a 
 magnificent establishment for so inadequate a 
 purpose is only calculated to excite ridicule, or a 
 graver though not more friendly feeling. The case 
 would be different if the education proper to qua- 
 lify the civil servants of the Company could not 
 be obtained elsewhere; the public might then 
 be disposed to look with indulgence upon an in- 
 stitution which, though disproportioned to its 
 object, and exorbitant in its expenditure, was yet 
 necessary to prevent the inconvenience that would 
 arise from committing the affairs of India to the 
 hands of ignorant men. But surely, in this coun- 
 try, there is no deficiency of the means of educa- 
 tion. No description of knowledge is acquired 
 in the College that might not be acquired else- 
 where, and perhaps, on the whole, under more fa- 
 vourable circumstances. The only question there- 
 fore is, by what means shall the Company ensure 
 a succession of civil servants, properly educated 
 for the stations they are destined to fill. The 
 most simple course will be the most efficient. 
 Let the candidates be required to possess a cer- 
 tain 
 
60 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 tain degree of knowledge in such branches of lite- 
 rature and science as may be deemed necessary, 
 their proficiency to be of course ascertained by 
 examination. But the examination should be 
 confined to the positive acquirements of the stu- 
 dents. Success should not be a matter of acci- 
 dent, nor should the same amount of information 
 in one year obtain honour, and in another incur 
 disappointment and degradation. The tests of pro- 
 ficiency should be well denned, and he who was 
 prepared to pass them should have nothing to fear 
 from the quackery of competition, where, though 
 learning may sometimes vanquish ignorance, ar- 
 rogance but too frequently bears the prize from 
 modesty. Such a plan, though less showy, would 
 be far more useful than that of the act of 1833. 
 The required amount of learning would be se- 
 cured, and none would be rejected but those who 
 ought not to succeed. Seniority and choice of 
 station are minor points of detail, which might 
 very readily be arranged to the satisfaction of all. 
 Admission to the military service of the Com- 
 pany is not clogged with the difficulties which 
 have been thought necessary in the civil service. 
 The European officers of the Company's army 
 commence their service as cadets, and they are 
 eligible at sixteen years of age. Cadets for the 
 artillery and engineers are educated at the Mili- 
 tary Seminary at Addiscombe. They usually re- 
 main 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 61 
 
 main about two years, and on quitting the semi- 
 nary are appointed to different branches of the 
 service. If the demands of the engineer and ar- 
 tillery services fall short of the entire number of 
 cadets, the remainder are draughted into the ge- 
 neral service. 
 
 In the Committee of the House of Commons, 
 1832, some member threw out a suggestion that 
 it might be desirable to make the whole service 
 originally military. It is not easy to conceive on 
 what grounds this opinion is maintained. The 
 duties of a soldier and a civilian are very different. 
 An individual is sometimes qualified to confer ho- 
 nour on either station ; but his possession of the 
 qualification for one does not necessarily imply 
 his fitness for the other. Such a plan would be 
 unreasonable, by requiring in the civil servant 
 qualities and attainments altogether foreign to his 
 duties. It would be injurious, by excluding from 
 the civil service all persons, however well quali- 
 fied, who did not happen to possess a taste for 
 military life. In this country, civil office is some- 
 times held by military men, but their military 
 character is accidental. We do not require those 
 destined to diplomatic, financial, or judicial ser- 
 vice, to prepare themselves by a series of cam- 
 paigns, and why this should be advisable in India 
 and not in England, no valid reason can be as- 
 signed. 
 
 It 
 
62 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 It will now be proper to advert to the mode of 
 administering the government in India. 
 
 The British dominions in that country were 
 formerly divided into three presidencies : Fort 
 William (Bengal), Fort St. George (Madras), and 
 Bombay. By the late Act the presidency of Fort 
 William is directed to be divided, and a portion 
 of it to form the new presidency of Agra ; but 
 the division is not to affect the succession to com- 
 mands and offices, nor the operation of the Mutiny 
 Act. 
 
 The Governor-general is governor of the presi- 
 dency of Fort William. He is appointed by the 
 Court of Directors, subject to the pleasure of the 
 Crown. His council, nominated by the Court, 
 consists of four members, three of them servants 
 of the Company of ten years' standing. The fourth 
 member of council is not to be chosen from the 
 servants of the Company; his appointment is 
 dependent on the approbation of the Crown, and 
 he is not entitled to sit or vote in council, except 
 at meetings for making laws and regulations. 
 The Court may also appoint the commander-in- 
 chief of the Company's forces in India an extra- 
 ordinary member of council. In the event of 
 there being no commander-in-chief, or of that 
 office being held by the Governor- general, the 
 Court may appoint the commander-in-chief of 
 the forces on the Bengal establishment. The 
 
 Governor- 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 63 
 
 Governor-general in Council is supreme in India : 
 but all laws and regulations disallowed by the 
 Court of Directors under the control of the Board 
 are to be forthwith repealed, and no law is to be 
 made without their previous sanction, which shall 
 give to any courts of justice, except those esta- 
 blished by royal charter, the power of punishing 
 his Majesty's European subjects with death, or 
 which shall abolish any of the courts established 
 by charter. The presence of the Governor-general 
 and three ordinary members of council is neces- 
 sary to give validity to any act of legislation. The 
 other functions of government may be exercised 
 by the Governor-general and one member. If 
 the voices are equal, the Govern or- general has a 
 second vote ; and in cases where he may consider 
 the peace and safety of the country materially 
 affected, he may, after certain forms, act on his 
 own responsibility, in opposition to the opinion of 
 the majority of the council. 
 
 The administration of the affairs of each of the 
 four presidencies is committed to a governor and 
 three councillors. The Governor-general is go- 
 vernor of Fort William, and has the power of 
 appointing a deputy governor in case of necessity. 
 The appointments to the subordinate presidencies 
 are subject to the same regulations as that of the 
 Governor-general and his Council. If the Court 
 of Directors do not supply vacancies within two 
 
 months' 
 
64 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 
 months' notice of them, the Crown may appoint. 
 The King may also remove any person holding 
 office under the Company. The same power of 
 removal is possessed by the Court, with the ex - 
 ception of officers appointed by the Crown. And 
 the Court, under the control of the Board, have 
 the further power of reducing the number of coun- 
 cillors in any of the presidencies, or of suspending 
 the appointment of councils altogether. 
 
 One provision remains to be noticed; but as its 
 probable consequences will be discussed elsewhere 
 it will be sufficient to merely mention it. All 
 natural-born British subjects are now permitted to 
 reside without license in any part of the territories 
 which were under the government of the Company 
 on the 1st day of January 1800, in any part of the 
 countries ceded by the Nabob of the Carnatic, of 
 the province of Cuttack, and of the settlements of 
 Singapore and Malacca. The only conditions 
 required are, that the party shall proceed by sea, 
 and shall on his arrival give notice of his name, 
 place of destination, and objects of pursuit. A 
 license is still necessary in the territories not 
 specially excepted by the act. A British subject 
 may hold lands in any place where he is authorized 
 to reside. 
 
( 05 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The restrictions on the residence of Europeans, 
 which were necessary while our power in India 
 was gathering stability, have now been abolished 
 to as great an extent as prudence will permit, and 
 British subjects are at liberty to transfer their 
 capital and skill to a country where there is an 
 almost inexhaustible field for the employment of 
 both. England is saturated with the capital of 
 which India stands in need. England abounds 
 with the scientific information, and the practical 
 ingenuity, in which India is remarkably deficient. 
 England, too, possesses, in an eminent degree, 
 that spirit of enterprize, the want of which is one 
 of the most striking characteristics of the larger 
 portion of the inhabitants of the East. For the 
 employment of English capital, knowledge, skill, 
 and enterprize, India presents a surface of vast 
 extent and extraordinary fertility, with a supply 
 of labour at once cheap and abundant, and it is 
 to Englishmen that she must look for that im- 
 pulse to improvement which, from her own sons 
 she will never receive. The system of husban- 
 
 f dry, 
 
66 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 dry, if system it deserves to be called, has been 
 handed down for ages unimproved, and, as may 
 readily be imagined, is of the most wretched des- 
 cription. Where nature has done so much, man 
 has done scarcely any thing. This has arisen 
 from a variety of causes ; the natural indolence 
 of the natives ; the darkness engendered by the 
 gross superstitions which hold dominion over their 
 minds, and the insecurity which at all times, pre- 
 vious to the reign of the British, has attached to 
 the possession of property. In a country sub- 
 jected to the three-fold curse of indolence, super- 
 stition, and anarchy, there is little temptation to 
 accumulate capital, and still less to invest it in 
 improvement. Dispirited by oppression, and 
 enervated by fear, the native would be content to 
 draw from the soil just as much as would satisfy 
 the demands of his task-master, and afford him- 
 self a bare subsistence ; while no stranger would 
 risk his capital in a country where his improve- 
 ments would enrich, not himself, but the tempo- 
 rary possessor of supreme power, or some of his 
 rapacious myrmidons. 
 
 The wisdom and equity of British sway is re- 
 moving one of these causes, and not only render- 
 ing property secure, but, what is equally impor- 
 tant, convincing the holders of its security. This, 
 however, is not sufficient. A people who have 
 slept for centuries, are slow in waking to active 
 
 exertion. 
 
AGRICULTURE. 67 
 
 exertion. India possesses no class of men likely 
 at present to take an interest in its improvement, 
 and to effect this important object with speed and 
 certainty the assistance of European capitalists is 
 indispensable. The provisions of the late act re- 
 garding the settlement of Europeans may there- 
 fore be regarded as wise and beneficial. The re- 
 strictions previously imposed were necessary till 
 we were strong enough to dispense with them. 
 That period has arrived, and we have removed 
 them in the spirit with which, on the return of 
 strength or the attainment of manhood, we cast 
 away the supports required by sickness or in- 
 fancy. 
 
 The circumstances of India happily preserve it 
 from the influx of one class of emigrants who find 
 little difficulty in transporting themselves from 
 Europe to the Western World ; those who, bank- 
 rupt alike in fortune and reputation, seek a land 
 where subsistence may be gained and character 
 dispensed with. The distance, the expense of 
 the voyage, and the absolute necessity of pos- 
 sessing some portion of either capital or credit, 
 secure India from being visited by any great 
 number of mere adventurers. Even to the labo- 
 rious poor, India presents no temptation. The cli- 
 mate would incapacitate them for toil, and the 
 cheapness of native labour renders competition 
 impossible. The British settlers must conse- 
 
 f 2 quently 
 
68 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 quently be men of capital, and their immediate 
 dependants ; and the introduction of such a class 
 of British subjects into the tract of country now 
 opened to their enterprize, must be regarded, 
 under existing circumstances, as promising un- 
 mixed advantage. The indirect benefits will not 
 be inconsiderable. Every European must be a 
 consumer, and thus give a stimulus to production. 
 A body of British settlers will also tend to bind 
 India more closely to Britain, by community of 
 habits, language, and religion. Most of them will 
 keep up some connection with the parent coun- 
 try, and many will entertain the hope of return- 
 ing to it, while the increased intercourse that will 
 take place between natives and Europeans must 
 tend to remove the prejudices of both. We may 
 safely then concur in the opinion of Sir Charles 
 Metcalfe, that " every measure which is calcu- 
 lated to facilitate the settlement of our country- 
 men in India, and to remove the obstructions by 
 which it is impeded, must conduce to the sta- 
 bility of our rule, and to the welfare of the people 
 subject to our dominion." 
 
 The danger to be apprehended from the emi- 
 gration of mere adventurers being small, the set- 
 tlement of Europeans should rather be invited 
 than discouraged ; and with this view, it may be 
 acceptable to point out some of the most desir- 
 able modes of employing capital. Agriculture is 
 
 unques- 
 
AGRICULTURE. 69 
 
 unquestionably the first ; it is that in which ca- 
 pital is at once most required and most likely to 
 produce a valuable return. But though India is 
 rich in productions of almost universal demand, 
 her resources remain undeveloped by the imperfect 
 modes of cultivation, to which prejudice, igno- 
 rance, and poverty have condemned her. A vo- 
 lume would be insufficient for a complete expo- 
 position of the agricultural capabilities of India; 
 but a few remarks directing attention to some of 
 the more valuable and improvable of her produc- 
 tions, will not be misapplied. 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Woollen was formerly the most important 
 branch of manufacture carried on in Great Bri- 
 tain, and linen occupied the second place. In 
 the vicissitudes which attend the progress of 
 human industry, both linen and woollen have 
 yielded to cotton, which now gives employment 
 to a greater number of hands, and a larger amount 
 of capital than any other commodity. To Britain 
 an ample supply of the raw material is conse- 
 quently an object of the highest importance. 
 Equally important to the country which can 
 supply the demand is the acquisition of such a 
 customer. 
 
 The soil and climate of India are admirably 
 adapted to the growth of cotton, and every variety 
 
 is 
 
70 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 is produced there. But from the carelessness and 
 mismanagement which mark every stage, both of 
 culture and preparation for the market, the price 
 which India cotton bears is greatly inferior to that 
 commanded by the cotton of America. Yet the 
 cotton of the East is capable of producing fabrics 
 of unequalled strength and durability. This cir- 
 cumstance may not be attributable entirely to the 
 quality of the material, but in some degree also 
 to the simplicity of the mode of manufacture. 
 Thus the paper of Nepaul possesses the same 
 quality of durability; but if manufactured by 
 European mills, and bleached by European art, 
 its superiority is gone. In the same way the 
 circumstances under which the cotton goods of 
 India are fabricated, doubtless have some effect 
 in promoting durability. The thread is spun by 
 hand— the weaving is performed by a hand-loom, 
 and the process of bleaching is effected by steam 
 and exposure to the sun. The injuries inflicted 
 upon the fibre by the use of machinery in the first 
 two operations, and of mineral acids in the third, 
 are thus avoided ; the cloth is not subjected to 
 the process of singeing, and there is throughout 
 no sacrifice of strength to either beauty or eco- 
 nomy. Yet all these advantages would not confer 
 the power of making a good article from a bad 
 material. The low price of Indian cotton must, 
 therefore, be accounted for on some other ground 
 
 than 
 
AGRICULTURE. 71 
 
 than that of its intrinsic inferiority— and the 
 slovenly methods of culture and carriage are quite 
 sufficient. The native will in all cases adopt that 
 course which gives him the least trouble, and is 
 attended with the smallest outlay ; no prospect 
 of increased profit is sufficient to tempt him to 
 greater care, or a more liberal expenditure. In 
 consequence of this apathy, the cotton of India 
 is deteriorated in value — no care is taken to select 
 the best varieties, nor the most favourable situ- 
 ations — no regard is paid to a due rotation of crops 
 — a number of articles are grown upon the same 
 ground and at the same time, to the injury of all 
 — and the whole system of husbandry is of the 
 most injudicious and perverse character. The 
 cotton-shrub in India an annual, in America 
 and the Leeward Islands is triennial. It is said 
 that the best produce is yielded in the first year, 
 and if it be so, the practice of suffering the plants 
 to die annually may be defensible. But nothing 
 can justify the neglect of changing the seed — 
 a measure of indispensable necessity, but never 
 regarded by the Indian cultivator. The methods 
 of cleaning and separating the cotton from the 
 seed, are as rude and insufficient as the mode of 
 culture. The essential oil of the seed frequently 
 escapes, and the cotton in consequence becomes 
 dirty and discoloured. From this cause also it 
 derives a tendency to become mouldy. It is 
 
 further 
 
72 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 further injured while in the course of transit. A 
 large proportion of it is grown at a great distance 
 from the place of export. It is conveyed partly 
 by water in ill-constructed boats, insufficiently 
 protected from the weather, and is sometimes 
 warehoused for months at intermediate places. 
 On its arrival, though some attempts maybe made 
 to clean it and remove the seed, they partake of 
 the inefficiency which pervades every part of the 
 proceedings, from the sowing of the seed to the 
 shipment of the wool. Finally, it is subjected to 
 powerful screws, injudiciously worked, and all the 
 seed and other impurities with which it happens 
 to be contaminated, are pressed into it. Shipped 
 in such a state, it is rather surprising that it 
 should bear so high a relative value, compared 
 with the cotton of the West, than that it should 
 fall so much below it. That great improvement 
 maybe effected byintelligenceand care is obvious, 
 but European attention and European capital are 
 indispensable. By the application of these, there 
 is reason to believe that the cotton of the East 
 may be brought to rival that of the West, and 
 one of the most important branches of our manu- 
 facturing industry thus be rendered independent 
 of foreign states for a supply of its raw material. 
 The weekly demand for cotton at Liverpool 
 amounted in 1832 to fifteen thousand bales. The 
 custom of the British manufacturer would be one 
 
 of 
 
AGRICULTURE. 73 
 
 of the noblest presents that could be bestowed on 
 India, whilst its transfer to that country would be 
 alike beneficial to our own. The jealousy of our 
 manufacturing superiority which prevails in North 
 America is notorious, and it behoves us to guard 
 in time against its consequences. 
 
 Silk. 
 
 On the production of silk the Company have 
 bestowed great attention, and expended consider- 
 able sums. Private capital to some extent has 
 also been applied to it, and with promise of suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Silk-worms in India are fed not only on the 
 mulberry, but also on the palma christi, or castor- 
 oil plant, and several kinds of the laurel tribe. 
 The mulberry is of course the most important, 
 and the silk produced from it of a far superior 
 quality. The culture of this valuable tree* is 
 conducted by the natives of India in the careless 
 manner which distinguishes all their agricultural 
 operations. No care is taken to select the best 
 species of plant — none to preserve it, or to obtain 
 the largest quantity of leaf, while the worm often 
 perishes from neglect. Yet land applied to the 
 
 raising 
 
 * It is said that a dwarf-tree, the height of which seldom 
 exceeds six or seven feet, is widely spread in China, and gives 
 food to their superior worms. 
 
74 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 raising of silk yields a higher rent than if culti- 
 vated for any other purpose ; and though the 
 reputation of India silk in the European market 
 is not high, there is an anxiety for a fuller supply, 
 which is enhanced by the increasing competition 
 between the English and French manufacturers. 
 Though perhaps in every point of view a less 
 important article than cotton, it yet affords an 
 opening for the investment of capital with a 
 reasonable prospect of fair returns. 
 
 Indigo. 
 
 The beneficial effects of British capital upon 
 India have been exemplified in the indigo planta- 
 tions. The old Indian methods of producing this 
 article were miserably imperfect, and it is to the 
 connexion of Europeans with the Indian soil that 
 we must ascribe the great extension of cultivation 
 and the great improvements which have taken 
 place in the mode of producing it. The effects of 
 this connexion became rapidly perceptible. It 
 increased the value of land, and raised the price 
 of labour. The indigo trade does not, however, at 
 present offer to the capitalist inducements equal 
 to those held out by other articles of produce. 
 Though the consumption of indigo in France has 
 greatly increased, the supply is at present fully 
 equal to the demand, and there is not much prospect 
 of an extension of the trade. The price at which it 
 
 is 
 
AGRICULTURE. 75 
 
 is now afforded is barely remunerative, but its 
 lowness has the effect of driving all competition 
 out of the market. There are several plants pro- 
 ducing indigo besides that from which it is now 
 obtained, and should an increased demand arise, 
 they will probably be brought into use. 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 This article is an exotic in India, as is evident 
 from the fact of there being no native name for it. 
 Of its introduction, however, no memorial exists. 
 The consumption in India is small, as the natives, 
 though they smoke almost universally, never use 
 tobacco but in combination with other ingredi- 
 ents. A very small portion of land is conse- 
 quently devoted to its growth, as the quality is 
 generally bad and unfit for exportation. That it 
 might be greatly improved is the opinion of those 
 best qualified to judge, and even at present India 
 produces some good tobacco, though in small 
 quantities. There is a kind grown to a very li- 
 mited extent in the northern circars, dnd con- 
 verted into snuff at Masulipatam, on the coast of 
 Coromandel. This snuff is highly valued in Eng- 
 land. Some good tobacco is also raised in Bun- 
 del cund. Capital, knowledge, and care, are pro- 
 bably all that are wanting to render the production 
 of tobacco of marketable quality more general. 
 
76 agriculture. 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 The cultivation of coffee in India is of recent 
 introduction, the first plantation having been esta- 
 blished in 1823. Coffee being a shrubbery plant, 
 requires considerable time to bring it fairly into 
 the market ; at present, therefore, to pronounce 
 an opinion upon the subject would be premature. 
 Bengal is regarded by Dr.Wallich as well adapt- 
 ed for its growth. The Hindoos at present do 
 not drink it, though the Mahomedans do. There 
 seems nothing improbable in the expectation that 
 it may in time find consumers among the former 
 class ; and, at all events, the taste for it is so ge- 
 nerally diffused throughout the world, that little 
 difficulty in finding a market need be anticipated 
 should an article of average quality be produced. 
 
 Sugar. 
 
 The cultivation of sugar is already extensive, 
 and there are few parts of India possessing the 
 means of irrigation where it might not be suc- 
 cessfully cultivated. The cane is quite equal to 
 that of the West-Indies, but it is deteriorated by 
 a wretched system of cultivation. The old mode 
 of extracting the sugar is perfectly Indian— that 
 is, of the rudest description. The West Indian 
 process has been lately introduced, but no im- 
 provement will take place, either in the culture 
 or the manufacture, that does not result from Eu- 
 ropean 
 
AGRICULTURE. 77 
 
 ropean enterprize and capital. To the employ- 
 ment of these no article offers fairer prospects. 
 The consumption of sugar is enormous, and to its 
 probable increase it is not possible to suggest 
 limits. India may become the greatest sugar 
 country in the world, and it is our duty to the 
 people committed to our rule to secure to them 
 this important branch of trade. The course pre- 
 scribed by our own interest is not less clear. A 
 large share of the profits of British capital em- 
 ployed in India, will return to increase the re- 
 sources of our own country. The time, too, is 
 peculiarly fitted for the experiment, and the pre- 
 sent circumstances of our West India possessions 
 urge it with a voice which it would be the ex- 
 treme of folly to disregard. A change has taken 
 place, the consequences of which are yet in the 
 bosom of Time ; but the best informed and the 
 most sagacious regard them with gloomy fore- 
 bodings. Some venture to predict that the period 
 is approaching when all labour will cease in the 
 West-Indies, excepting so much as is necessary 
 to preserve existence, in a climate where the 
 wants of man are few. It scarcely admits of 
 doubt that there will be a reduction both in the 
 breadth of cultivation and the amount of produce ; 
 and it is worth remembering that the great and 
 sudden prosperity of the indigo trade in Bengal 
 was caused by the destruction of the plantations 
 
 in 
 
78 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 in St. Domingo. Previously to the French revolu- 
 tion, that island enjoyed an almost exclusive posr 
 session of this trade ; but the disorganizing doc- 
 trines which convulsed the parent country ex- 
 tended to the colony. A revolt of the negroes 
 was the result, and from that time St. Domingo 
 has not produced a single pound of a commodity 
 with which she previously supplied the whole 
 world. Habit has rendered sugar one of the 
 necessaries of human existence, and a prohibitory 
 price alone can lead to a diminished consumption. 
 Why, then, should we not avail ourselves of the 
 advantages which India offers for the supply of 
 an immense and increasing demand? Why, in 
 the event of our West-India colonies becoming 
 unproductive (a calamity which there is but too 
 much reason to apprehend), should we not be 
 prepared to draw from the fertile provinces of the 
 East those supplies which are denied us in the 
 West ? It would be absurd to say, that the 
 destruction of our West-India colonies would, in 
 any case, be unattended with loss ; but the loss 
 would receive all the mitigation of which it is 
 susceptible, by opening to the capitalist fresh 
 channels of profit, and to the consumer new 
 sources of supply. But to insure these beneficial 
 effects we must be liberal — we must be just to- 
 wards our Eastern possessions. Hitherto we have 
 been neither. The duty levied on East-India 
 
 sugar 
 
AGRICULTURE. 79 
 
 sugar exceeds by more than thirty per cent, the 
 duty imposed on sugar produced in any other 
 part of the British dominions ; the duty upon 
 East-India rum is nearly double that paid by the 
 produce of other settlements. The latter duty is, 
 of course, prohibitory, and the former is a serious 
 drawback upon the profit of the cultivator, as 
 well as a serious impediment to production. 
 These grievances ought not to continue. It is 
 not just to tax heavily the industry of one half 
 of our fellow-subjects, and to confer compara- 
 tive immunity on their rivals. It is not politic 
 to discourage a branch of production capable of 
 affording extensive employment to capital and 
 labour, and ministering to an appetite universally 
 diffused. The admission of the sugar of India at 
 the same rate of duty which is paid on that raised 
 in other British dependencies, is called for by 
 every motive to which a statesman should be 
 accessible. It might be conceded without any 
 apprehension of a diminution of the revenue. The 
 increased importation would more than make up 
 the difference between the higher and the lower 
 duty. Such a measure would be at once useful 
 and popular, inasmuch as it would not only 
 substantially promote the benefit of India, but 
 would convince its people of the disposition 
 entertained by the government at home to en- 
 courage their productive powers. To the great 
 
 body 
 
80 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 body of consumers in this country it would be 
 scarcely less acceptable and beneficial. If the 
 period should ever arrive when the sources of our 
 present supply shall fail, we shall be compelled 
 to have recourse to the East. It will be prudent, 
 then, to provide in time for this contingency, the 
 occurrence of which must be regarded as some- 
 thing more than a bare possibility. If by excessive 
 taxation we depress the spirit of production in 
 India, all we can look for when the hour of ne- 
 cessity arrives, is an insufficient supply at an 
 exorbitant price. If by an upright, wise, and 
 generous policy we place her on a level with her 
 competitors, and give free course to the develop- 
 ment of her agricultural resources, we secure to 
 ourselves, under all circumstances, an abundant 
 supply of sugar at a reasonable rate. To the West- 
 India colonists the question is of no importance 
 whatever. If ruin should overtake them, it will 
 not be in consequence of doing justice to India; 
 it will arise, not from fair competition without, 
 but from insubordination and commotion within ; 
 it will not be averted by undue protection, nor 
 accelerated by a reasonable concession to another 
 body of producers, whose claims are equally en- 
 titled to attention. The interests of India and of 
 England demand an equalization of the duty, and 
 not a single session of Parliament should be al- 
 lowed to pass over without the performance of this 
 act of justice. 
 
A GUI CULTURE. 81 
 
 TIMBER. 
 
 The forests of India might be rendered of far 
 greater importance than they have hitherto been. 
 Dr.Wallich, who visited many parts of India with 
 an especial view to the forests, states that they 
 contain every description of timber in the world, 
 or a substitute for it. The wealth derivable from 
 this source has been in a great degree overlooked, 
 and even the timber most necessary for the supply 
 of the wants of the natives has been neglected. 
 There has been a serious falling off in the sup- 
 ply of bamboos, the universal building mate- 
 rial for the poorer classes in India. With regard 
 to other timber, almost all that was near the rivers 
 has been cut down ; but the natives being igno- 
 rant of the modes employed in Europe and Ame- 
 rica for the removal of timber grown at a distance 
 from water-carriage, there is still a large supply 
 inaccessible to them, but which would offer little 
 difficulty to superior skill. Capital might also be 
 judiciously applied in establishing saw-mills in 
 the vicinity of forests, by which the risk incurred 
 in floating timber entire down the rivers might 
 be avoided. 
 
 On the other products of India it will be un- 
 necessary to dwell. Wheat and barley are raised 
 
 g on 
 
82 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 on a considerable breadth of land, but rice is the 
 grain most extensively cultivated. 
 
 The attempts to introduce the cultivation of tea 
 have not succeeded, and we know so little of the 
 subject that it would be improper to offer an opi- 
 nion. At present, the culture of this plant must 
 be regarded as pure matter of experiment. 
 
( 83 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 The subject of Indian manufactures will de- 
 mand a very brief notice. India is not calculated 
 to become a great manufacturing country in the 
 present condition of the world. Labour, indeed, 
 is cheap, but however small the expense at which 
 human life is maintained, the hands of man can- 
 not compete with machinery in cheapness of pro- 
 duction. The piece-goods of India, formerly an 
 important article of export, are now superseded 
 not only in the British market, but in her own ; 
 and Manchester and Glasgow furnish clothing 
 to the people of India. The fabrics produced by 
 machinery are not indeed equal in strength or 
 durability to those manufactured by manual la- 
 bour, but the vast difference in price ensures them 
 a preference in every market. Some attempts 
 have been made to establish cotton-mills in India, 
 but the most sanguine must entertain great doubts 
 of their success. The advantages possessed by 
 the parent country are so overwhelming, that the 
 contest is altogether unequal. Machinery may 
 be constructed in England, but when disabled by 
 accident, the difficulties of getting it repaired will 
 
 g 2 be 
 
84 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 be considerable. Time might overcome this ; but 
 there are other impediments not likely to be sur- 
 mounted. The coal of India is of inferior quality, 
 and with the disadvantages under which that 
 country must labour in a career of manufacturing 
 competition, she will do wisely to apply her ener- 
 gies principally to the improvement of her agri- 
 culture. She ought, however, to be allowed a 
 fair chance of success. If w r e can do little to 
 advance, we ought to do nothing to depress her 
 manufacturing industry. Yet our statute-book 
 contains provisions which have a direct tendency 
 to this end. The injustice which excludes her 
 sugar from consumption is extended to her cotton 
 and silk piece-goods — the former are charged in 
 this country with a duty of ten per cent., the 
 latter with a still more oppressive impost of twenty 
 percent., while British goods are imported into 
 India free of duty. If any indulgence were shewn, 
 it surely ought to be to the weak. Here the case 
 is reversed in favour of the strong. India should 
 not be regarded in the light of a foreign country, 
 but as an integral part of the British empire, 
 separated by distance but united with it by a 
 common interest. There should be no more dis- 
 tinction between Britain and India than between 
 England and Scotland ; and the subjects of both 
 divisions of the empire should have the privilege 
 of exerting their industry unrestrained by laws 
 
 intended 
 
MANUFACTURES. 85 
 
 intended to favour one at the expense of the other. 
 The duties on India piece-goods should therefore 
 be repealed, and in doing this we should make 
 no sacrifice. Our manufacturing greatness is too 
 firmly established to dread any thing from such a 
 measure. The actual advantage to India might 
 be small, yet the boon would be valuable, as 
 indicating a desire to give her industry a fair 
 opening. As the produce of the existing duties 
 must be inconsiderable, there can be no financial 
 object in retaining them fit to be placed in com- 
 parison with the conciliation of our fellow subjects 
 in the East. 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 Commerce and agriculture have a tendency 
 to benefit each other. Whatever contributes to ad- 
 vance the commercial prosperity of India will sti- 
 mulate its agriculture ; whilst, on the other hand, 
 as its circumstances are not the most favourable 
 to manufacturing industry, it can only become a 
 great commercial country by increased attention 
 to the improvement of its soil. It cannot import 
 unless it have something to export in exchange, 
 and its powers of exportation must be limited by 
 its power of production. With this view the im- 
 provement of agriculture ought to be a primary 
 object with the friends of India. If this be duly 
 encouraged, foreign commerce will follow as a 
 matter of course. 
 
 The external trade of India compared with her 
 capacity is not great. As connected especially 
 with the interests of our own country, consider- 
 able importance must be attached to her commer- 
 cial relations with China. 
 
 India exports to China vast quantities of opium, 
 for the growth of which she possesses peculiar fa- 
 cilities. 
 
FOREIGN TRADE. 87 
 
 cilities. Opium may be raised in Bengal cheaper 
 and better than in any other part of the world ; 
 and China affords a market almost unlimited in 
 extent. The taste for this drug has spread through 
 the empire in spite of severe regulations for its 
 exclusion, and is said to have extended even to 
 the palace itself. However much this increased 
 consumption of a pernicious stimulant may be 
 regretted in a moral point of view, it is certain 
 that it promotes several objects equally desirable 
 both for India and England. This is not the 
 place to discuss its importance as a source of re- 
 venue ; but, commercially, its advantages are ma- 
 nifold. To India it affords employment for her 
 land and labour. It gives also ready means of 
 transmitting the tribute which she pays to Eng- 
 land, and to that country consequent facilities 
 for receiving it. The demand for tea in India is 
 small ; in England it is enormous. Here, as in 
 many other instances, the convenience of the three 
 countries is promoted, and their wealth increased 
 by the agency of universal commerce. Bengal 
 produces opium, and China desires to consume it; 
 but in Bengal there is no taste for tea, which is 
 the produce of China. In England this taste 
 exists ; but the Chinese have little desire for the 
 commodities of that country. Again, India has 
 to remit a certain amount of revenue to England ; 
 but the demand for Indian goods is limited : all 
 
 difficulty, 
 
88 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 difficulty, however, is removed by the interven- 
 tion of that system of mercantile accommodation 
 which has spread itself throughout the civilized 
 world. The opium of Bengal is exported to China, 
 where it is paid for probably in bullion. The 
 holders of the bullion may not deal in the com- 
 modities of China, and the direct course, there- 
 fore, would be to remit it to India ; but a bill is a 
 more convenient remittance than bullion, and the 
 latter consequently finds its way into the Com- 
 pany's treasury as the consideration for a bill 
 upon India, and bullion thus deposited performs 
 the office of paying for the tea required for the 
 consumption of England. The importer of this 
 article purchases of the Company in London bills 
 upon China or bills upon India which are nego- 
 ciated in China, and with the proceeds of these 
 which arise from the sale of opium, he procures 
 his freight of that article which constitutes the 
 morning and evening beverage of almost every 
 class of the English people. The multifarious 
 ramifications of commerce occasion many devia- 
 tions from this course, and conceal the operation 
 that is actually taking place. But whatever the 
 details the principle is the same, and the opium 
 of India is substantially exchanged for the tea of 
 China. When the trade with that country was 
 confined to the Company, the transaction was 
 more simple, but in no other respect different. 
 
 Whether 
 
FOREIGN TRADE. 89 
 
 Whether the British public under the new system 
 will be better or worse supplied with an article 
 which habit has made essential to their comfort, 
 is a question which it is altogether foreign to the 
 purposes of this work to discuss. 
 
 India, by exporting opium, assists in supplying 
 England with tea. China, by consuming opium, 
 facilitates the revenue operations between India 
 and England. England, by consuming tea, con- 
 tributes to increase the demand for the opium of 
 India. 
 
 With England the trade of India has greatly 
 extended, and in proportion to the development 
 of her resources will it be increased. As has 
 been already stated, the cotton piece-goods of 
 England have materially interfered with those of 
 native manufacture, and the probability is that 
 the consumption of the former will continue to 
 increase and that of the latter to decline. Both 
 justice and policy, therefore, require that every 
 encouragement should be given to the growth of 
 cotton in India ; and if she should be enabled to 
 supply the vast demand of the parent country for 
 the raw material, it will be some compensation 
 for the loss of the home market to her manufactu- 
 rers. Metals and woollens are articles of export 
 from this country. The great obstacle to the ex- 
 tension of commercial intercourse between Eng- 
 land and India is the difficulty of finding returns 
 
 suitable 
 
90 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 suitable to the English market. But this diffi- 
 culty is in a great degree created by faulty legis- 
 lation, and would be removed by the adoption of 
 a wiser policy. All duties that press injuriously 
 upon the industry of India should be repealed, 
 and especially so much of the tax upon sugar as 
 places her in a worse condition than other coun- 
 tries subject to the British crown. The exports 
 of India must be principally the products of her 
 soil. In proportion as that receives the benefit to 
 be derived from European capital, energy, and 
 skill, will her amount of exchangeable commodi- 
 ties be increased. But the hope of progres- 
 sive prosperity will be vain, if the parent country 
 retard the course of improvement by ruinous im- 
 posts. It can never be too often repeated, that 
 by advancing the prosperity of India we are ad- 
 vancing our own : by offering a market for the 
 goods of India, we are opening one for those of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 With France and the other European nations 
 the commerce of India is inconsiderable. Wine 
 is imported from the first-named country, but in 
 many instances the consumers prefer receiving it 
 from English houses of established character. The 
 consumption is of course very limited, the na- 
 tives not being accustomed to drink wine. The 
 feeling against it is, however, wearing away, and 
 some drink wine in considerable quantities. Any 
 
 great 
 
FOREIGN TRADE. 91 
 
 great accession of European settlers would, of 
 course, increase the demand. The principal ar- 
 ticle imported by the French is indigo, and their 
 consumption of it is on the increase. 
 
 The trade with America somewhat exceeds that 
 with France. The Americans generally purchase 
 their cargoes with bills or bullion — they take back 
 indigo, silk, and saltpetre. Their demand for 
 these articles is not likely to decline, nor is there 
 much probability of their rivalling us in the com- 
 modities with which we supply the Indian mar- 
 ket. 
 
 Some facilities have within the last few years 
 been afforded to the trade with Ava through Ar- 
 racan. The Burmese appear likely to be conside- 
 rable consumers of British goods. 
 
 The commerce of India with central x4sia is 
 limited by various causes. The heavy duties le- 
 vied by the various sovereigns, the insecurity of 
 property, and the difficulty of transport, all con- 
 tribute to cramp the operations of a trade which 
 doubtless would extend itself, if aided by wiser 
 government, greater security, and improved modes 
 of communication. Caubul is a great and in- 
 creasing consumer of Indian and British commo- 
 dities. The manufactures of our own country 
 have in a great degree superseded those of Rus- 
 sia, which formerly commanded an extensive sale 
 in Caubul. Through the last-named country both 
 
 Indian 
 
92 FOREIGN TRADE. 
 
 Indian and British goods are transmitted to Bokh- 
 ara, where the introduction of the latter has had 
 the same effect, of displacing in a great degree 
 the goods of Russia. If this trade were pushed 
 as it might be, the supply of Bokhara with mus- 
 lins and woollens might be secured exclusively to 
 India and England. With a view to the exten- 
 sion of our commerce with these countries, Lieu- 
 tenant Burnes suggests the propriety of imitating 
 the Russians, by establishing fairs or bazaars on 
 the frontier of our Indian empire adjoining Cau- 
 bul, and the suggestion certainly deserves atten- 
 tion. 
 
 The trade with Persia might be greatly ad- 
 vanced. The chintzes of Masulipatam enjoy a 
 preference in that country which ensures their 
 sale, but there are commodities which Persia 
 receives from other quarters which might advan- 
 tageously be supplied by British India. Indigo 
 and cotton are carried by the Dutch from Batavia, 
 and the indigo is unquestionably inferior to that 
 of India. The French, too, send various articles 
 from their settlements. With reasonable care 
 and activity, the whole of this trade might be 
 transferred to our Indian possessions. 
 
 The commercial capabilities of our Eastern de- 
 pendencies are at present very imperfectly under- 
 stood, but a few years will probably develop 
 them, to the joint advantage of India and Eng- 
 land. 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PUBLIC WORKS— MEANS OF FOREIGN AND 
 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. 
 
 What has hitherto been done for the improve- 
 ment of India has generally been effected by the 
 government. The want of capital, and whilst 
 subject to native rule, the sense of insecurity, 
 have conspired with the tame and unenterprising 
 disposition of the Hindoos to discourage all private 
 speculation, of which the cost was great and the 
 remuneration distant. 
 
 Much therefore remains to be done to render 
 India what it might be, and as the probability of 
 government being able to expend money upon 
 public works is not great, it is to private enter- 
 prise that we must look to supply what is wanting. 
 
 The culture of a large portion of India depends 
 upon irrigation. To promote this, tanks have been 
 constructed in immense numbers, and the repairs 
 and restoration of reservoirs forms a heavy charge 
 upon the government. These tanks are constantly 
 liable to accidents, and in one district of the 
 Madras Presidency, North Arcot, no less than 
 eleven hundred burst in one year, 1827. Such 
 
 accidents 
 
94 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 accidents are often accelerated, and their disas- 
 trous consequences increased by the mismanage- 
 ment of the natives. They are of course deficient 
 in scientific skill, and practical experience seems 
 in a very small degree to have supplied the defi- 
 ciency of science. Independently of the heavy 
 charge which these tanks entail upon government, 
 injury frequently accrues to the cultivators from 
 the delays which the necessary regulations of 
 government interpose. Delay is ruinous, but it 
 cannot be avoided with safety to the party at 
 whose expense the reparation is to be effected. 
 It is worthy of consideration, whether the con- 
 struction and preservation of these important aids 
 to cultivation might not be entrusted in many 
 instances to private hands, with benefit alike to 
 the government, the capitalist, and the cultivator. 
 The ruling powers would of course take care that 
 what was undertaken was performed. The present 
 means of irrigation are probably sufficient for the 
 land to which it is directed, but should more be 
 brought into cultivation they must be extended. 
 In this case a fitting opportunity would be afforded 
 for ascertaining whether private or public super- 
 intendence could best accomplish this important 
 object : a more important one to the prosperity 
 of India it is not easy to imagine. The island of 
 Ceylon has been greatly depopulated, in conse- 
 quence of the ruin of the tanks. It formerly 
 
 exported 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 95 
 
 exported grain— it now depends for its supplies 
 upon the Continent. 
 
 Another mode in which capital might be in- 
 vested, certainly with advantage to the people of 
 India, and possibly to those embarking in the 
 speculation, is the improvement of the means of 
 internal communication. It is represented as 
 being the opinion of the best-informed persons, 
 that canals might be made in various parts with 
 considerable benefit. One was projected between 
 Saugor Island and Calcutta, and the line was 
 carefully surveyed and levelled ; but from the 
 difficulties which at the time necessarily discou- 
 raged the investment of capital in India, it was 
 not undertaken. It has been said, also, that it 
 would be neither difficult nor expensive to con- 
 struct a canal from the Hooghley to the vicinity 
 of the coal and iron countries of Burdwan and 
 Beerbhoom, to which it would be extremely de- 
 sirable to have better means of access than are 
 afforded by the Dummooda, and other uncertain 
 and dangerous rivers. Another plan which has 
 been suggested is, for a communication between 
 Calcutta and the Western Provinces by a line of 
 canals. At present the communication is tedious 
 and uncertain ; the navigation of the Hooghley 
 is frequently interrupted, and the course by the 
 more Eastern rivers is circuitous. 
 
 But canals must depend for their utility upon 
 
 a regular 
 
96 PUBLIC A\ r ORKS, &c. 
 
 a regular supply of water ; and in many parts of 
 India it might be difficult to secure it. In such 
 circumstances, railways present an admirable sub- 
 stitute. Even where the difficulty of obtaining 
 water was not great, railways might be preferable 
 in cases where the probable amount of traffic was 
 limited. The expense of such works would be 
 far less than in England. In our country an 
 enormous proportion of the expense, varying from 
 a third to a half, arises from the purchases of land, 
 fencings, parliamentary and law proceedings, and 
 other causes independent of the mere construction 
 of the railway. In India some of these charges 
 might be avoided altogether, and others would be 
 very much reduced. The actual expense of the 
 work would also be less than that of similar under- 
 takings in England. As the traffic would be com- 
 paratively small, a single road, with occasional 
 passing places, would be sufficient ; and as the 
 weight of the carriages and lading would be much 
 less, the rails might be proportionably lighter. 
 Labour in India is vastly cheaper than in Eng- 
 land ; and, under these circumstances, the cost 
 of railways would be extremely moderate. At 
 present, perhaps, the use of animal power would 
 be the most advantageous ; but this, of course, 
 would form one point of inquiry with those who 
 might be disposed to undertake such works. 
 There are various lines upon which railways 
 
 would 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 97 
 
 would be immediately profitable ; and if the 
 resources of India should be improved to the full 
 amount of their capabilities, a necessity for fresh 
 lines would be created, whilst the old ones would 
 become increasingly lucrative. The extension of 
 commerce demands additional means of commu- 
 nication, and the increase of means of communi- 
 cation facilitates the extension of commerce. The 
 wealth and prosperity of India will be limited 
 only by the amount of capital and enterprize 
 applied to her improvement ; and in no way can 
 this be applied more beneficially than in connect- 
 ing every part of the country by modes of com- 
 munication cheap, ready, and certain. 
 
 Roads and bridges are works of less novelty, 
 and they will doubtless be multiplied in propor- 
 tion to the advancement of India in prosperity. 
 Increased facilities of intercourse will tend to the 
 improvement of the posts, and the substitution of 
 better modes of conveyance than those now in 
 use. Every where the state of the post may be 
 regarded as a test of the state of the country. At 
 once the result and the instrument of civilization, 
 its improvement should occupy a prominent place 
 in the views of every legislature. It is alike 
 important, whether the attention be directed to 
 its financial, its commercial, or its social effects. 
 At present the natives make little use of the post; 
 
 h a circum- 
 
98 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 a circumstance strikingly indicative of the con- 
 dition of the country. 
 
 Connected with the subjects to which this chap- 
 ter is devoted is that of steam navigation. It has 
 been proposed to have recourse to steam, not 
 only for navigating the rivers of India, but also 
 for communicating with greater rapidity and 
 certainty between that country and England. 
 On each of these points a few observations are 
 required. 
 
 The experiments which have been made on 
 some of the rivers of India have been attended 
 with partial success, but not sufficient to justify 
 any very sanguine hope that the introduction of 
 steam navigation will be attended with much 
 advantage. The boats must be of peculiar construc- 
 tion to navigate these rivers at all. It is admitted 
 that they must be confined to the carriage of pack- 
 ages of moderate size, and that all bulky goods 
 must be excluded. From the impediments offered 
 by rocks, rapids, shallows, and trees, they could 
 not be navigated in the night, and the degree of 
 speed would be very limited. Perhaps an excep- 
 tion might be afforded by the Indus. The ascent 
 is not obstructed by rocks or rapids, and it affords 
 means of communication with Central Asia that 
 are invaluable. The coal in the vicinity is of 
 inferior quality, but the supply of wood is abun- 
 dant. There is consequently no physical obstacle 
 
 to 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 99 
 
 to the establishment of a considerable commerce 
 upon this noble river. The moral impediments, 
 however, which arise from the ignorance and bar- 
 barous policy of the states with which it commu- 
 nicates, are great, and these must be surmounted 
 before it can be made the medium of diffusing 
 the benefits of commerce and civilization. 
 
 The Ganges, the Jumna, and the Burhampooter 
 present almost insurmountable obstacles to a regu- 
 lar and certain navigation. At particular seasons 
 these rivers become torrents, and when the wind 
 acts in the same direction with the stream, the 
 united force becomes almost irresistible. With 
 such difficulties, it may be doubted whether the 
 attention and expenditure bestowed upon the 
 attempt to improve the means of navigating these 
 rivers is not misdirected; whether they would 
 not be more beneficially employed in extending 
 and improving the modes of conveyance by land. 
 Roads and railways offer advantages which can 
 never be obtained upon the rivers of India ; and it 
 is by these that the improvement of the country 
 will be most expeditiously advanced. 
 
 The question of steam communication between 
 Great Britain and India has given rise to much 
 discussion, and on the practicability and value of 
 establishing it, as well as upon the choice of the 
 most eligible route, great difference of opinion 
 exists. The three leading routes are, 1st, that 
 
 h 2 by 
 
100 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 by the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates ; 2dly, 
 that by the Red Sea ; 3dly, the usual passage 
 by the Cape of Good Hope. From the first and 
 last of these little is to be hoped. Round the 
 Cape one steam trip has been made ; but it oc- 
 cupied 113 days, and it does not appear likely 
 that by any arrangements the time could be very 
 considerably shortened. The expense, too, would 
 be so heavy, that as a private speculation it 
 would be utterly impossible that it could ever be 
 made to pay : that it should be taken up by the 
 government is as little probable as desirable — 
 nothing but an urgent necessity for establishing 
 such a system of communication, a necessity which 
 certainly does not exist, could justify it. Steam- 
 ers are much better adapted for short trips than 
 for long ones, and the passage by the Cape may 
 be rejected at once as ineligible. It has been 
 well observed by Captain Wilson, that " no man 
 who has had experience of long sea voyages by 
 steam, or has observed the effect of long conti- 
 nued strain upon the vessels and engines, and 
 also that of the protracted action of fire on the 
 flues and boilers generally, would ever for a mo- 
 ment have believed it practicable that steamers 
 could be constructed to make that voyage for a 
 constancy with advantage." 
 
 The route by the Persian Gulf and the Eu- 
 phrates has more plausible pretensions, but on 
 
 investigation 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 101 
 
 investigation they are scarcely borne out. Bom- 
 bay would in this route be the most convenient 
 point of starting, and a steam vessel would pro- 
 ceed from thence to Bussorah, where another, of 
 smaller size and of a different construction, would 
 be substituted to ascend the river, either to 
 Beles or Bir. From thence the course would 
 be overland to some port of the Mediterranean ; 
 and Captain Chesney suggests four ports as sta- 
 tions, two of them, Scanderoon and Latichea, 
 already available, and two others, Seleucia and 
 the mouth of the Orontes, capable of being made 
 so. Almost every part of this route, with all its 
 variations, are open to very serious objections. 
 Of the Euphrates scarcely any thing is known, 
 except from the reports of Captain Chesney. The 
 survey made by that officer is highly creditable 
 to his talents and spirit of laborious research, but 
 is scarcely calculated to lead any one else to the 
 same conclusions with its author. It is evident, 
 indeed, that the impediments to the successful 
 navigation of the Euphrates are both numerous 
 and great, and in practice we can scarcely hope 
 to find them less than in prospect. Captain 
 Chesney enumerates no less than forty obstruc- 
 tions, arising from rocks, shallows, and falls ; 
 and although this officer did not observe any 
 fallen trees, such occasional impediments must 
 be anticipated, as they occur in all rivers circum- 
 stanced 
 
102 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 stanced as the Euphrates. Some of the natural 
 obstructions are admitted by Captain Chesney 
 to be formidable ; some, indeed, would seem 
 to be insurmountable, and most of them would 
 occasion delay. Near Labtar Island the naviga- 
 tion is impeded by rocks, which render it neces- 
 sary for boats to lighten a little in the low season. 
 Near El Kaim is a much more important obstruc- 
 tion l a ledge of irregular rocks extends one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards along the river, and crosses 
 its bed with the exception of a narrow passage. 
 The country boats are obliged here to discharge 
 a part of their cargo, and the passage is regarded 
 by the native boatmen as very difficult. A little 
 lower is another ledge extending three or four 
 hundred yards, broken and irregular, with a large 
 rock rising above the water, between which and 
 one of the banks is the passage for boats. Here 
 Captain Chesney observes, "the steamers' paddles 
 spreading above the water would have nothing to 
 spare." A short distance beyond this obstruc- 
 tion is another, where the country boats usually 
 discharge one-third of their lading. Below Tel 
 Hafa Mountain, and extending towards El Waha- 
 dia Mills, is a bed of rock, stretching three-quar- 
 ters of a mile in length, with a passage for boats 
 of no great width, having a fall of a foot, over 
 which craft are dragged with some difficulty. 
 Still further, near El Madia, are other rocks, in 
 
 passing 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 103 
 
 passing which it is necessary that boats should be 
 lightened ; and at the island of Karabla, a short 
 distance from the town of Anna, commence the 
 rocks and pass of Bahalet, consisting of an irre- 
 gular shelf, extending along the river six hundred 
 yards, the water being broken by several small 
 falls, one of nearly two feet. The depth of water 
 in the shallowest places is about twenty-two 
 inches. The passage of boats at this spot is at- 
 tended with great delay and difficulty. They dis- 
 charge two- thirds of their cargo ; and having ef- 
 fected a passage with as much as they are able to 
 carry, return for the remainder, thus making two 
 or three trips. Twenty or thirty men are em- 
 ployed to drag the boats up the falls against the 
 stream ; and Captain Chesney states, that " a 
 " steamer must, in all probability, be taken up in 
 " the same way, as it is doubtful whether she could 
 " work up with the paddles." Seven or eight miles 
 farther, the river is again obstructed by rocks ; 
 and boats discharge part of their cargo both as- 
 cending and descending. Below Hadisa, after a 
 great number of minor obstructions, is the whirl- 
 pool of Elias. The water rushes over a rocky 
 bottom, with a fall at the extremity of two feet in 
 a distance of sixty or seventy, and terminates in 
 a whirlpool directly in the passage. The descent 
 here would, perhaps, be a matter of some diffi- 
 culty, though it is said that the country boats 
 
 effect 
 
104 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 effect it in safety, merely making a half turn in 
 the whirlpool as they pass. The ascent they 
 never attempt, being dragged through a narrow 
 and rocky passage by which they avoid it. Cap- 
 tain Chesney questions whether a steamer would 
 be able, when the fall is at the greatest, to work 
 up with her paddles, first passing the whirlpool, 
 which might partly turn her round. If com- 
 pelled to pursue the course of the country boats, 
 her progress would be greatly impeded, the 
 passage being very narrow and intricate. Five 
 miles below the island of Jibba another rocky 
 passage occurs, where boats are compelled to 
 lighten. These are only a portion of the obstruc- 
 tions recorded by Captain Chesney. They apply, 
 indeed, to the low period of the river ; but it is 
 impossible not to perceive that they offer very 
 considerable resistance to a rapid and constant 
 navigation. The Lemlun marshes present a diffi- 
 culty of a different kind ; here the river varies 
 little in depth at any period of the year, as during 
 the time it is swollen it spreads a shallow sheet 
 of water over an immense tract of country. The 
 difficulty is enhanced by the course of the stream, 
 which is winding and circuitous, and full of sharp 
 turns at short intervals. Further, the current of 
 the Euphrates is rapid. During- six weeks of the 
 year a strong wind blows from the north-west, 
 and this happens at the time when the current of 
 
 the 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 105 
 
 the river is the strongest. Against their combined 
 force, if a steamer could contend at all, its pro- 
 gress must be extremely slow. Captain Chesney 
 thinks that he can construct a vessel capable of 
 navigating the Euphrates at all times. This is 
 doubted by other competent judges ; but if prac- 
 ticable, the disadvantages attending the route will 
 render it of little value. At certain seasons the 
 passage must be tedious. Through the tortuous 
 course of the channel in the Lemlun marshes, 
 through the narrow and intricate passes between 
 rocks, no one would attempt to steam in the 
 night. Steam-navigation is expensive, and in 
 return for the expense men expect a high degree 
 of speed, and a tolerable measure of certainty. 
 Neither of these could be attained on the Eu- 
 phrates. The heat during three months of the 
 year would be an objection to passengers. At 
 Bagdad the thermometer is sometimes as high as 
 120° in the shade, This would be 130° on a steam- 
 boat, a degree which few travellers would be 
 disposed to encounter. But the number of pas- 
 sengers could not be great. Passengers must be 
 attracted by superior accommodation. To afford 
 such accommodation, boats must be large ; to 
 navigate the Euphrates, they must be small. 
 Passengers would be further deterred by the 
 necessity of a long and inconvenient journey by 
 land. To obviate this, Captain Chesney suggests 
 
 the 
 
106 PUBLIC WORKS, &C 
 
 the clearing away the bar from the mouth of the 
 Orontes, and afterwards forming a canal of sixty- 
 three miles to connect that river with the Eu- 
 phrates. These things might be done, but who is 
 to bear the expense ? This question will, it may 
 be apprehended, tend to procrastinate their com- 
 mencement to a very remote period. 
 
 The passage by the Euphrates may or may not 
 be physically practicable, but however that may 
 be, there is an impediment which mechanical skill 
 certainly cannot remove, and in treating which it 
 is to be feared political science will be alike at 
 fault. The lawless state of the country would 
 render the passage by the Euphrates, could it be 
 effected, neither safe nor agreeable. The Arabs 
 of the banks are more to be dreaded than the 
 rocks and shallows of the river. The boats would 
 be constantly exposed to plunder, and even if 
 the passengers and crew were strong enough to 
 protect themselves from robbery, they would be 
 liable to constant and serious annoyance from the 
 malice or levity of the lawless hordes by which 
 they would be surrounded. This objection is felt 
 by the advocates of the Euphrates line. It is 
 freely admitted by Captain Chesney. He thinks, 
 indeed, that the Arabs would not succeed in 
 stopping a steamer, but he adds, with rather 
 more coolness than seems suited to the occasion, 
 " they might fire at her." The opinion of Captain 
 
 Chesney, 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 107 
 
 Chesney, as to the probability of annoyance, is 
 confirmed by the testimony of Mr. Hine, given 
 before the Committee of the House of Commons 
 last year. That gentleman, who resided in the 
 country fifteen years, says, if the Arabs " saw 
 " you were armed, they would not assault you — 
 " they would not come down in any considerable 
 V numbers, in order to stop you — for they would 
 " know it would be useless, but they would fire 
 " at you from the banks." And he adds the 
 consoling assurance, that they are very expert 
 marksmen. It has been proposed to compound 
 with these marauders, by paying " black-mail/' 
 Mr. Colquhoun says, " the power of annoyance 
 " with an Arab Sheik is an article of commerce ; 
 " he sells it, and often lives by it." The tribes, 
 however, are numerous, and to compound with 
 them all would be no small expense ; and after 
 the composition had been effected, the adherence 
 of the chieftain could by no means be calculated 
 upon as a matter of course. Mr. Colquhoun 
 says, it " would depend upon whether he could 
 " make more by breaking his promise." Mr. 
 Bankes being asked, " could you trust the faith 
 " of the Arabs after making an engagement?" 
 answered, " I think as long as their interest goes 
 M hand in hand with their engagement, I could ; 
 " but I am not sure that I could answer for them 
 " much beyond that." The wild virtues of uncivi- 
 lized 
 
108 PUBLIC WORKS, &e. 
 
 lised life have been usually much exaggerated, 
 and those best acquainted with the value of Arab 
 faith, seem not to rate it very high. It may be 
 urged, that a man's interest will in the long-run 
 be best promoted by honesty ; but this is not a 
 view of the subject to be taken by an untutored 
 mind. The principle of the Arab is (in the words 
 of one of the witnesses before the Committee) " a 
 '■ bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ; if 
 M an Arab gets one piastre to-day, he thinks it 
 " better than the chance of thirty a year hence." 
 The land-passage is exposed to the same dan- 
 gers in this respect as that by water. To elude 
 them will be frequently impossible — to purchase 
 the protection of the chiefs is a process, of which 
 the expense is certain, while the benefits are 
 doubtful*— to fight would certainly not be agree- 
 able to that division of the travellers consisting 
 of females and children, nor possibly to some who 
 would feel more hesitation in avowing their dislike 
 to it. This danger alone is therefore sufficient to 
 render the route by the Euphrates ineligible. 
 But it is due to Captain Chesney to say, that his 
 various papers on the subject are not only credit- 
 able to his talents and industry, but exhibit a 
 
 degree 
 
 * Captain Chesney says, that the Arab must be paid before- 
 hand for whatever he undertakes, because he never confides in 
 ^a promise, the natural consequence of not fulfilling his own. 
 
-PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 109 
 
 decree of fairness which is still more honourable 
 to him. 
 
 It remains to consider the route by the Red 
 Sea, the only one which is in any degree likely to 
 be made available. In this, as in the last route, 
 the starting place would be Bombay, and with 
 proper depots for fuel, a steamer might work 
 from thence to Suez without difficulty. It has 
 been suggested that it might be expedient to 
 form a steam -packet station somewhere in the 
 vicinity of the ancient Pelusium, and thus enable 
 the mail and passengers to cross the isthmus by 
 the shortest route. This, however, is held to be 
 impracticable, and consequently the only course 
 is to proceed to Cairo and Alexandria. From the 
 former to the latter place there are various routes ; 
 two by land, a third by the mouth of the Nile 
 and the sea, and a fourth by the canal of Alex- 
 andria, which has been cleared out by the present 
 ruler of Egypt. The land journies may be per- 
 formed with tolerable expedition. The passage 
 by the Nile and the sea is liable to some delays. 
 There must be two classes of boats, one for the 
 river and one for the sea. Another impediment 
 is occasioned by the bar of Rosetta, which can 
 only be passed in moderate weather, and with 
 men well accustomed to the passage. The canal is 
 navigable only during the high waters of the Nile. 
 
 The navigation of the sea of Suez being attended 
 
 with 
 
110 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 with some difficulty, Cosseir has been recom- 
 mended as a port in place of Suez. But the 
 harbour is not a good one, and its selection would 
 render necessary either a long journey overland, 
 or a circuitous route by the Nile. Suez may 
 therefore be regarded as the best station. 
 
 The distance from Bombay to Suez being three 
 thousand miles, cannot be performed in one stage. 
 Captain Wilson proposes two methods of dividing 
 it. By the first, the vessel would proceed from 
 Bombay to Mocha and from Mocha to Suez. By 
 the second, the distance would be divided into 
 three stages:— Bombay to Maculla, Maculla to 
 Juddah, and Juddah to Suez. This plan appears 
 to be the preferable one. The vessel would be 
 certain of carrying coal enough in the worst wea- 
 ther, and the strain on the machinery would be 
 much less than on the former plan. By such 
 arrangements the voyage from Bombay to Suez 
 might probably occupy from twenty-five to thirty 
 days, and from Bombay to Falmouth between 
 fifty and sixty. 
 
 The plan is thus far practicable ; but to what 
 extent it is likely to be either beneficial to the 
 public interests, or profitable to the undertakers, 
 are questions which cannot be answered so satis- 
 factorily. The necessity of this rapid communi- 
 cation is not very urgent, nor are the advantages 
 to be derived from it very apparent; while the 
 
 outlay 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. Ill 
 
 outlay of capital must be considerable, and the 
 returns, to say the least, extremely uncertain. 
 
 The carriage of letters would not alone cover the 
 necessary expense, and the number of passengers 
 cannot be expected to be very great. About one- 
 half the passengers at present proceeding between 
 Bombay and England are ladies and children ; a 
 large proportion of the remainder are persons in 
 infirm health, and these would be excluded from 
 the steam-boats by the passage overland and 
 other circumstances. The intercourse between 
 India and England is, indeed, likely to be in- 
 creased ; but many passengers will be disposed 
 to seek the most economical mode of conveyance, 
 which will certainly not be afforded by steamers. 
 The passengers must also be sought almost exclu- 
 sively at the place from which the vessel departs, 
 as few persons will be disposed voluntarily to 
 incur the fatigue and inconvenience of an unneces- 
 sary overland journey in India. Supposing a very 
 rapid communication between England and India 
 to be necessary, it would be indispensable that it 
 should be constant. Neither by the Euphrates 
 nor the Red Sea could this advantage be attained. 
 For several months in the year we could not ex- 
 pect to navigate the former, and the latter would 
 be unapproachable during the prevalence of the 
 south-west monsoon. If it be not physically 
 impossible for a steamer to make way against the 
 
 monsoon, 
 
112 PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 
 
 monsoon, her progress must be very slow, and the 
 wear and tear of the vessel and machinery ruin- 
 ous. If effected at all, therefore, the voyage 
 could not be performed with certainty, as to time, 
 and the principal advantage proposed would con- 
 sequently be lost. There is yet one most serious 
 objection which applies to the two routes : they 
 both traverse countries frequently visited by the 
 plague. Upon the whole, there is nothing in the 
 present prospects of steam navigation with India 
 that is very encouraging, and it may be doubted 
 whether the money expended in experiments by 
 the various courses, might not be applied in a 
 manner far better calculated to promote the per- 
 manent welfare of India. 
 
 There are some political considerations con- 
 nected with this subject which imperatively press 
 themselves upon the attention. The Russians 
 are but fifteen days' march from the Euphrates, 
 and although they do not require to be taught 
 that the course of that river will bear them 
 towards India, it may be doubted whether our 
 appearance upon it might not give rise to jealou- 
 sies which would endanger our peace, if not our 
 dominion. In Egypt, perhaps, we have still more 
 to apprehend . Some of those who have interested 
 themselves in the success of steam navigation by 
 this route, contemplate it only as a preliminary 
 measure, and anticipate the completion of the 
 
 much 
 
PUBLIC WORKS, &C. 113 
 
 much-vaunted project for a canal, connecting 
 the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. They seem 
 to forget that this would strike a fatal blow at 
 the commerce of England, or if this result occur 
 to them, they disregard it. The discovery of the 
 passage by the Cape destroyed the commerce of 
 Italy and the Mediterranean. The restoration of 
 the trade of the East to its old channel, would 
 have the like effect upon those countries into 
 whose hands it has passed. It may not be in 
 our power to arrest the progress of events ; but it 
 is madness to accelerate that which is fraught 
 with ruin to ourselves. 
 
( 114 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 
 
 The Hindoo is strongly averse to change ; the 
 Mahometan, with perhaps somewhat less of con- 
 stitutional repugnance to innovation, is wrapt in a 
 bigotry which almost precludes his seeing any 
 thing to admire in the habits and manners of an 
 infidel. Yet, unpromising as are these circum- 
 stances, change will take place, even in Hindos- 
 tan— in fact, it has already commenced. Imita- 
 tion is one of the principles of human nature 
 most early developed and most general in its 
 operation ; and though the progress of change in 
 India will be slow — as, in fact, it is desirable that 
 it should be— it will not be the less sure. In 
 those parts of India where the influx of Europeans 
 has been considerable, the natives have began, in 
 some degree, to conform to the tastes and cus- 
 toms of Europe. Those who are able to indulge 
 in the more expensive practices of the West, have 
 manifested a strong inclination to do so. They 
 wear watches ; are fond of carriages and equipages ; 
 and, what is more remarkable, have become con- 
 siderable consumers of wines and spirits. These 
 
 are 
 
SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 115 
 
 are matters trivial in themselves, but acquiring 
 importance as indicating that a social revolution 
 is approaching. We naturally imitate those whom 
 we regard as our superiors ; and the relation of 
 ruler and subject is, perhaps, the only one which 
 could have softened the prejudices of India against 
 all modes of life alien to its own. 
 
 It is not merely in the minor details of manners 
 that the natives are approximating to an European 
 standard. They are anxious to form their minds 
 upon European models, and to become acquainted 
 with those sciences and branches of knowledge 
 which enter into a course of liberal education. 
 A strong desire has been manifested to become 
 acquainted with the English language ; a desire 
 which certainly ought to be encouraged and 
 gratified. It is proposed to make use of native 
 agency in carrying on the functions of govern- 
 ment, to an extent hitherto untried ; and it is 
 obvious, that to the natives selected for official 
 station, an acquaintance with our language will 
 be a desirable qualification. On many occasions, 
 it w r ill be positively useful in the discharge of 
 their duties, and it will have the general good 
 effect of producing a community of feeling between 
 the supreme and the subordinate authority. 
 
 It may be asked, whether the intellectual ad* 
 vancement of the natives of India will not be 
 inconsistent with the permanence of our domi- 
 
 i 2 nion. 
 
116 SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 
 
 nion. To this question it might be sufficient to 
 answer, that we have no power to obstruct the 
 progress of knowledge. Where the desire of 
 information is once excited, it is not possible to 
 stifle it. It may be added, that it would be unjust 
 to the people over whom we have acquired autho- 
 rity, to withhold from them the means of improv- 
 ing their minds. But, whatever may be the 
 degree of danger attending the diffusion of know- 
 ledge, there is no better mode of counteracting it 
 than by making, as far as we can, our own lan- 
 guage the universal object of study. By doing 
 this, we shall identify the people of India with 
 ourselves. The great influence which the French 
 obtained in Europe was mainly attributable to the 
 wide diffusion of their language. It was the com- 
 mon dialect of Europe ; and the universality of 
 the French language paved the way for the uni- 
 versality of French dominion. The French lan- 
 guage was every where spoken ; French authors 
 were every where read ; and the best of them 
 were regarded as exhibiting the finest models of 
 taste and the highest excellencies of genius. The 
 supremacy of French talent came to be universally 
 admitted, and from this admission flowed a ready 
 submission to French dictation. The extension 
 of the English language in India will, in all pro- 
 bability, be attended with the like results. Its 
 study will, of course, lead to an acquaintance 
 
 with 
 
SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 117 
 
 with our literature, and our great authors will 
 become to India what they are to us. The admi- 
 ration felt for them will be transferred to the 
 general account of their country, which will thus 
 become associated in the mind of the educated 
 Hindoo with all that is high in intellect and pure 
 in feeling. This will be a far better guarantee for 
 the security of our dominion than ignorance can 
 offer. 
 
 A taste for our literature has already begun to 
 diffuse itself. It appears that no inconsiderable 
 portion of the young men of the more respectable 
 classes speak our language fluently, and are 
 familiar with our best authors, including those 
 who might be supposed to be least adapted to 
 Oriental taste, Dryden and Pope, and those more 
 especially national, Shakespeare and Milton. To 
 encourage and extend this taste will be true 
 policy. The mind of England has impressed itself 
 indelibly upon the broad plains of America. It 
 may yet awaken the slumbering energies of India ; 
 and the names of our poets and philosophers, which 
 are now resounded on the shores of the Missis- 
 sippi and St. Lawrence, may be re-echoed from 
 the Ganges and Burhampooter. 
 
 Connected with the diffusion of a taste for read- 
 ing and for the study of the English language, is 
 the subject of the periodical press. Whether or 
 not it should be entirely free from restraint, is a 
 
 question 
 
118 SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 
 
 question on which difference of opinion may be 
 expected to exist, and with regard to which, those 
 who differ should exercise mutual candour and 
 forbearance. In this country, and in the age in 
 which we live, the current of opinion, of course, 
 runs in favour of unlimited freedom ; and those 
 who think that any restraint should be imposed, 
 will admit that it should be to no greater extent 
 than is absolutely essential to the safety of the 
 state. There are circumstances connected with 
 the state of society in India, that place it beyond 
 the reach of those arguments, which prove the 
 expediency of a perfectly unfettered press here. 
 Yet it is not uncommon to find the question argued 
 as though the circumstances of the two countries 
 were precisely similar. If India be entitled to a 
 free press because the press in England is free, 
 by the same rule, she is entitled to a representa- 
 tive government, because England possesses one. 
 Few persons will contend that she is at present 
 fitted for such a government, though she may, at 
 some future period, become so. No country 
 should be deprived of the advantages of free in- 
 stitutions, but in proportion as it is unfit for them ; 
 and no greater degree of restraint should be im- 
 posed upon either a nation or an individual than 
 is necessary to secure the ends for which govern- 
 ment exists. To inflict what is unnecessary is 
 tyranny ; to concede what is mischievous is weak- 
 ness. 
 
SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 119 
 
 ness. Freedom of discussion is a plausible phrase ; 
 but it should be recollected, that what is con- 
 tended for is sometimes not freedom of discus- 
 sion but freedom of abuse. The experiment, how- 
 ever, is now in progress, and it is to be hoped 
 that it may be justified by success. 
 
 From the relation in which we stand to India 
 our moral power is great ; but we must not over- 
 rate it, nor by straining it too far, run the hazard 
 of losing it altogether. There is much in Indian 
 society which it would be desirable to change — 
 much that, according to the modes of thinking 
 prevalent in modern Europe, is unfit to be per- 
 mitted. But we must not expect to alter the 
 face of society by a word ; we must not expect to 
 accomplish at once that which must be the gra- 
 dual result of time and circumstances ; we must 
 be patient as well as persevering, and not, in our 
 zeal to eradicate abuses, incur evils worse than 
 those to which we refuse a temporary toleration. 
 Slavery is unquestionably an evil; but in India 
 it exists in its mildest form, and its extent is not 
 great. The humanity of the Legislature has di-, 
 rected that measures shall be taken for its miti- 
 gation and ultimate extinction ; but prudence has 
 forbidden any premature and violent steps, which 
 might endanger the peace and well-being of the 
 community, without promoting the benefit of any 
 part of it. The end is good; and it is desirable 
 
 that 
 
120 SOCIETY AND MANNERS. 
 
 that the means should be wise. Slavery in Eu- 
 rope has disappeared before the light of Christian 
 civilization, and wherever that light extends the 
 same effect will follow. 
 
 The friends of India have the gratification of 
 knowing that she is advancing in knowledge and 
 in freedom : they have but one further wish, that 
 her moral improvement may correspond with her 
 intellectual and civil advancement. This must be 
 the result of higher principles than human wis- 
 dom can supply, and the means of promoting it 
 will be discussed in the ensuing chapter. 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 The moral and religious picture of India is a 
 dark one. The character of the natives has some- 
 times indeed been pourtrayed in an amiable and 
 attractive light; but such representations have 
 proceeded from persons either ignorant of the 
 facts, or having a purpose to serve by mis-stating 
 them. Nearly all well-informed and unpreju- 
 diced reporters agree in representing the moral 
 state of India as most lamentable ; and the few 
 who deliver a more favourable opinion when 
 speaking generally, on descending to particulars, 
 admit all the facts which justify the harsher con- 
 clusion. It must not be supposed that those who 
 speak with the greatest severity of the prevalent 
 vices of Indian society, wish to exaggerate them, 
 or feel any pleasure in the view which they are 
 compelled to take. But there is neither justice 
 nor policy — there is neither true charity nor ge- 
 nuine liberality in casting a cloak over that which 
 ought to be exposed, in order that it may be 
 amended. If we would effect a cure, we must 
 not deny the virulence of the disease. It may be 
 
 painful 
 
122 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 painful to those of kindly feelings to think harshly 
 of their fellow-men ; it may be annoying to the 
 hunters after popular applause, to subject them- 
 selves to the charge of illiberality ; but the lover 
 of truth will pursue his object wherever it may 
 lead him, and deliver unhesitatingly the result of 
 his enquiries, though it may not be such as will 
 be gratifying either to himself or to others. 
 
 There is no virtue in which the natives are more 
 universally deficient than in a regard for truth. 
 Veracity is, in fact, almost unknown. Falsehood 
 pervades all the intercourse of private life, and is 
 carried to such an extent in courts of law, as to 
 render it almost impossible for the judges to ex- 
 ercise their duty in such a manner as to satisfy 
 their consciences. False testimony is not the ex- 
 ception, but the rule ; and it is delivered, and 
 even persevered in, with a calmness, a self-pos- 
 session, and an air of sincerity which would dis- 
 arm suspicion, were it not that two conflicting 
 stories cannot both be true, and that the charac- 
 ter of Indian witnesses is tolerably appreciated by 
 those most accustomed to them. Not only will 
 two sets of witnesses give directly contrary testi- 
 mony, but not unfrequently will it turn out, 
 upon investigation, that neither of them know any 
 thing of the matter in question. Even those who 
 have a just cause, will seek to defend it by false- 
 hood. It must be quite unnecessary to descant 
 
 upon 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 123 
 
 upon the low state of moral principle that must 
 be prevalent where such things are of frequent 
 occurrence. No virtue is more essential to the 
 well-being of society than a general regard to 
 truth. When this is wanting, all rights are inse- 
 cure, and courts of law may be made the instru- 
 ments of the grossest injustice. The tenure of 
 property is nearly as uncertain as it would be in 
 the absence of all law ; the only difference being, 
 that in the one case it is taken by force, in the 
 other it is transferred by fraud. 
 
 From the prevalence of falsehood in legal pro- 
 ceedings, it will be inferred, that honesty is not 
 in higher estimation than truth; and according 
 to the most accurate and intelligent observers, 
 trick, deception, and fraud, are interwoven with 
 almost all transactions of business. In every 
 bargain, fraud is apprehended ; and it is to be 
 feared that there are few in which it is not con- 
 templated. The consequence is, that conditions 
 and securities are multiplied without end, and 
 the ingenuity displayed in devising precautions 
 against fraud is only exceeded by the ingenuity 
 exercised in evading them. If confidence is re- 
 posed, it is but too often accepted only for the 
 purpose of abusing it. The agent or steward of a 
 rich man endeavours to transfer as much as pos- 
 sible of his master's wealth to his own coffers. 
 He again is plundered by his subordinates ; and 
 
 this 
 
124 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 this is the course of procedure down to the lowest 
 dependent, who having none beneath him, enjoys 
 the luxury of plundering without being plun- 
 dered in return. The dearest ties of consangui- 
 nity afford no security. The brother cannot safely 
 trust the brother, the uncle the nephew, nor even 
 the father the son. Trusts of the most solemn 
 character are commonly abused ; and the offices 
 of guardian and executor converted into sources 
 of emolument without hesitation and without 
 shame. 
 
 Breaches of moral obligation are indeed too fre- 
 quent every where : but nothing can mark more 
 strongly the difference between Europe and India 
 in this respect than the state of public opinion. 
 In Europe, though falsehood and fraud exist, the 
 imputation of either is disgraceful. The habitual 
 liar will defend his veracity with warmth, and 
 feels, or affects to feel, the charge of falsehood as 
 an insult. The swindler would, if possible, pass 
 for an honest man, and all who violate the laws 
 of sound morality, pay to them an indirect ho- 
 mage, by endeavouring to assume the virtues 
 which they have not. In India this is not the 
 case. There is little more of decency than of 
 morality. Men do not even pretend to truth and 
 honesty, because the pretension is not necessary 
 to their station in society. The virtues them- 
 selves are not respected, and therefore no one is 
 
 respected 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 125 
 
 respected for possessing them, nor despised for 
 wanting them. The wholesome check derived 
 from public opinion can be wanting only in a 
 very depraved state of society, and, when once 
 destroyed, it is obvious that the scale of morality 
 will continue to descend with fearful rapidity. In 
 Europe, bad men are sometimes withheld solely 
 by this check from actions injurious to society. 
 In the better disposed it is an important auxiliary 
 to good conduct ; and with that numerous class 
 who hover between virtue and vice, not insensible 
 to the claims of the one, and at the same time 
 little able to resist the temptations of the other, it 
 throws the preponderating weight on the right 
 side. The influence of habit, moreover, is not to 
 be despised, and those who first adhere to truth 
 and justice, only because it is decent, may in 
 time become attached to the same course, be- 
 cause it is right. Too many, indeed, form their 
 standard of morals exclusively from the customs 
 of their country, and where the most important 
 moral qualities find no echo in public sentiment, 
 it requires little sagacity to pronounce an accu- 
 rate judgment on the state of society. 
 
 While abundantly productive of the meaner 
 vices, the Indian character is not exempt from 
 those of a darker hue. Falsehood and dishonesty 
 are associated with malevolence ; and contention, 
 animosity, and revenge prevail among every grade 
 
 and 
 
126 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 and condition. Men pursue each other with the 
 most deadly enmity, and with the most deter- 
 mined and long-continued perseverance. No 
 opinion was ever more unfounded than that which 
 has been so often advanced, and so commonly re- 
 ceived, of the mild and benevolent character of 
 the Hindoos. Passive, indeed, they are, and fre- 
 quently servile, but not mild. Where they have 
 any thing to hope or any thing to fear, where 
 the expression of resentment would expose them 
 to danger or inconvenience, they can conceal it, 
 and submit to insult and injury with an appear- 
 ance of the most patient submission ; but the de- 
 sire of revenge, though hidden, is active, and at 
 the first favourable opportunity will be indulged. 
 Nothing would be more easy than to produce nu- 
 merous instances of the obstinate malignity which 
 marks the Hindoo character, and which is con- 
 firmed and fortified by superstition. With all the 
 delicacy which the British Government has at 
 all times observed towards the religion of the 
 majority, it has been found impossible to avoid 
 occasionally interfering to suppress practices ori- 
 ginating in vindictive feeling, and sanctioned by 
 superstitious credulity, which threatened com- 
 pletely to paralyse the operation of the law. 
 One of these was common in the province of Be- 
 nares, where the Brahmins were held in the 
 highest reverence, and their persons regarded as 
 
 inviolable. 
 
HELIGION AND MORALS. 127 
 
 inviolable. When any process from the judicial 
 or fiscal authorities was to be executed upon a 
 Brahmin, he would threaten to inflict personal 
 violence, sometimes extending to suicide on himself 
 if the officer approached too near; or if, as fre- 
 quently happened, his affection for his own person 
 was too tender to allow him to place it in jeopardy, 
 he would bring forward some member of his fa- 
 mily or tribe whom he threatened to maim or put to 
 death, if an attempt were made to serve the pro- 
 cess. These threats were not mere words ; they 
 were often carried into execution, the victims 
 themselves acquiescing, under a conviction, that 
 after death they should become the tormentors 
 of those who were the occasion of their being 
 sacrificed. A practice, somewhat similar, was 
 that of a person placing himself at the door of 
 another, armed with some offensive weapon, or 
 provided with poison, for the purpose either of 
 recovering a debt or extorting a donation. By 
 the established rules, the besieger was to remain 
 fasting until his object was obtained, and the per- 
 son besieged was also to abstain from nourishment 
 until the other party was satisfied. During the 
 siege, ingress to the house and egress from it were 
 suspended. Neither could be attempted, except 
 at the risk of the party, without wounding himself 
 with the weapon, or swallowing the poison which 
 he had provided. These two customs were found 
 
 so 
 
128 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 so dangerous as to call for the interposition of the 
 supreme authority to put them down. 
 
 Some instances, not very dissimilar, which be- 
 fore the Committee of the House of Commons in 
 1 832 were mentioned with approbation, seem rather 
 to merit the expression of a contrary sentiment. 
 One of the chiefs of Telinga, on no greater provo- 
 cation than an attempt to disarm him when enter- 
 ing a court of justice, plunged his weapon into 
 his heart, and fell dead in the presence of the 
 judge on the bench. On another occasion, when 
 a military force endeavoured to carry into execu- 
 tion a judicial process in the Nellore district, a 
 chieftain destroyed all his family as well as him- 
 self. The gentleman by whom these instances 
 were quoted, regarded them as indicating the pos- 
 session of a nice sense of honour. They rather 
 indicate an overweening pride, and a fierce, bitter, 
 and malignant spirit ; and as these instances oc- 
 curred among those whom the witness represented 
 as the best and most estimable of the inhabitants 
 of India, we may conceive that in those provinces 
 where the native character is inferior, deeds of 
 even greater ferocity are not unknown. That 
 spirit of litigiousness which all admit to prevail in 
 India more generally than in any other country in 
 the world, is but a petty manifestation of that 
 mixture of pride and malignity which, on other 
 occasions, by a more elevated display, has suc- 
 ceeded 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 129 
 
 ceeded in confounding the moral sentiments of the 
 European observer, and concealed beneath the 
 barbarous grandeur of the act, the base and hate- 
 ful character of the motive. Of all people the 
 Hindoos are the most prone to litigation. A large 
 number of the suits originate in malevolence or in 
 fraud, and whatever their origin, the interests of 
 both parties are almost invariably upheld by such 
 a degree of mendacity as in the most corrupt parts 
 of Europe is scarcely conceivable. Under these 
 circumstances, it is almost impossible to keep the 
 course of justice tolerably pure. The highest sa- 
 gacity in the judges, combined with the most rigid 
 impartiality and the most scrupulous care, can 
 scarcely preserve courts of justice from degene- 
 rating into something very different from the name 
 they bear. What they must have been before the 
 establishment of the British authority, when jus- 
 tice was notoriously and almost avowedly bought 
 and sold, is sufficiently clear. 
 
 It is a lamentable truth, that the feelings of 
 the Hindoo are exclusively for himself. Sensi- 
 bility for others he has none. His humanity to 
 the inferior animals has been greatly extolled 
 by those whose observation has been partial, or 
 who have possessed no means of observation at 
 all. This, like many other virtues ascribed to 
 the Hindoo character, is not merely exaggerated, 
 but altogether unfounded in fact. Certain ani- 
 
 k mals. 
 
130 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 mats, which his unholy superstition has rendered 
 sacred, receive from the Hindoo as much atten- 
 tion and respect as he would award to the highest 
 caste of his own species. But, with these excep- 
 tions, the brute creation in India are treated with 
 the greatest cruelty. Even the beast which an 
 execrable religion elevates to divine honours is 
 not exempted from the general lot. The labour- 
 ing oxen are subjected to treatment which in this 
 country would call forth the indignation and hor- 
 ror of the lowest and most unfeeling classes. 
 The Hindoo has no sentiment. He acknow- 
 ledges and knows nothing beyond positive obli- 
 gation. He is commanded to reverence a beast, 
 and he obeys. He is not commanded to treat 
 with humanity the same beast labouring for his 
 benefit, and no feeling exists to supply the defi- 
 ciency of positive precept. 
 
 To his own species the Hindoo is almost inva- 
 riably cold and unfeeling. Estranged from his 
 fellow-man by the exclusive spirit of a frightful 
 superstition, he regards human suffering with 
 a callous insensibility which is truly horrible. 
 Some examples related by Bishop Heber are ab- 
 solutely appalling. Such instances as the fol- 
 lowing, throw more light upon the real character 
 of the people, than all the eloquence that has 
 been expended upon the kindness and benevolence 
 of the Hindoos. " A traveller falls down sick in 
 
 the 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 131 
 
 the streets of a village (I am mentioning a fact 
 which happened ten days ago); nobody knows 
 what caste he is of, therefore nobody goes near 
 him, lest they should become polluted ; he wastes 
 to death before the eyes of a whole community, 
 unless the jackals take courage from his helpless 
 state to finish him a little sooner; and perhaps, 
 as happened in the case to which I allude, the 
 children are allowed to pelt him with stones and 
 mud. The man of whom I am speaking was 
 found in this state, and taken care of by a passing 
 European ; but if he had died, his skeleton would 
 have lain in the streets till the vultures carried it 
 away, or the magistrates ordered it to be thrown 
 into the river." 
 
 A second anecdote rests on the same authority. 
 " A friend of mine, some months ago, found a 
 miserable wretch, a groom out of employ, who 
 had crept, sick of a dysentery, into his court- 
 yard. He had there remained in a corner, on 
 the pavement, two days and nights. Perhaps 
 twenty servants had been eating their meals 
 daily within six yards of him, yet none had 
 relieved him, none had so much as carried him 
 into the shelter of one of the out-houses, nor 
 had any taken the trouble to tell their master. 
 When reproved for this, the answer was, " He 
 was not our kinsman." " Whose business was 
 it ?" " How did we know that Sahib would like 
 
 k 2 to 
 
132 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 to be troubled V 9 What must be the state of 
 moral feeling where such things occur? That 
 they do occur is unquestionable. The high cha- 
 racter of Bishop Heber, and his truly kind and 
 amiable disposition, exempt his narrative from 
 the slightest suspicion of exaggeration ; he evi- 
 dently relates the facts reluctantly, and would, if 
 possible, soften their hideous character. He says, 
 "I only mention these instances, because none of 
 those who heard them seemed to think them un- 
 usual or extraordinary ; because in a Christian 
 country I think they could not have happened ; 
 and because they naturally arise from the genius 
 of the national religion, which, by the distinction 
 it establishes, makes men worse than indifferent 
 to each other." 
 
 With the knowledge of other facts, which un- 
 happily are too well authenticated, we need not, 
 indeed, feel surprise at these. Those who are 
 destitute of affection for their own offspring, can 
 scarcely be expected to evince much sensibility 
 for strangers ; and though exceptions undoubtedly 
 occur, one general characteristic of the Hindoo is 
 a deficiency of natural affection. Almost every 
 where but in India parental affection is one of the 
 most powerful impulses of human nature— some- 
 times so powerful as to overcome even the attach- 
 ment to life itself. The differences of climate, of 
 colour, of civilization, and of creed, seem, in 
 
 general, 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 133 
 
 general, to have little effect in modifying this pas- 
 sion ; and whether in the regions of eternal snow, 
 or beneath the burning rays of a tropical sun ; 
 among the fair-haired children of the North, or 
 the sable and woolly natives of Africa ; in the 
 polished scenes of elegance and refinement, or 
 in the hut where human nature exists in a condi- 
 tion scarcely superior to that of the beasts of the 
 field ; under the light of revealed truth, or in 
 the darkness of ignorance and superstition ; in 
 every possible variety of situation and circum- 
 stance, the mother clings to her child with an 
 intensity of affection, a devotedness of soul, and 
 a forgetfulness of self, which no other object can 
 call forth. In India this feeling is comparatively 
 weak, and a very slight pretext is sufficient to 
 dissolve the obligation when it has become incon- 
 venient. In time of famine, the parent will sell 
 her child without hesitation. The pressure of 
 extreme want may suggest an excuse for this; 
 but there are attendant circumstances which 
 prove that the sacrifice is not severely felt. This 
 is attested by the following fact, related by Mr. 
 Grant, in his valuable paper on the state of society 
 in India : 
 
 " In the scarcity of grain which prevailed about 
 Calcutta in the year 1788, a gentleman then high, 
 now still higher in office there, ordered his ser- 
 vants to buy any children that might be brought 
 
 for 
 
134 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 for sale (for in times of dearth Hindoo parents 
 frequently sell their offspring), and to tell their 
 mothers, that when the scarcity should be over, 
 they might come again and receive their children 
 back. Of about twenty thus humanely preserved, 
 most of whom were females, only three were ever 
 inquired for by their mothers. The scarcity was 
 neither extreme nor long. The unnatural parents 
 cannot be supposed to have perished from want, 
 for each received money for her child, and by the 
 liberal contribution of the inhabitants of Calcutta, 
 and chiefly of the Europeans, rice was distributed 
 daily to multitudes at various stations about the 
 city. And yet, notwithstanding this facility of 
 obtaining food, a woman was at that time seen to 
 throw away her infant child upon the high road." 
 Such facts require no comment. 
 
 Infanticide was common until forbidden by 
 British law. The horrible practice of suttee has 
 fallen before the same benign influence. Both 
 these customs indicate a people destitute of moral 
 sensibility, and neither of them would have been 
 discontinued but by the interposition of foreign 
 authority. 
 
 The absence of the gentler feelings is not com- 
 pensated by the possession of the loftier sensibili- 
 ties of our nature. Patriotism is a virtue abso- 
 lutely unknown. His country is nothing to the 
 Hindoo, whose affections are centered in himself. 
 
 The 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 135 
 
 The coldness and insensibity of the native cha- 
 racter might lead to the supposition, that the 
 vices which usually result from the excitement of 
 passion would be of rare occurrence, but the con- 
 clusion would be erroneous. India is disgraced 
 by the grossest impurity, which, emanating from 
 the institutions of a false religion, spreads itself 
 through all the ramifications of social life, poison- 
 ing the very sources of moral principle, and pro- 
 ducing a license, both of action and speech, as 
 odious as it is vile. The tone of conversation is 
 represented as indescribably disgusting, and alto- 
 gether without parallel in European society, how- 
 ever debased. Females of abandoned character are 
 appendages to the temples of religion, and the cor- 
 ruption of manners is universal. It has been seen 
 that mothers will, without reluctance, sell their 
 children ; and, to complete the frightful picture 
 of moral deformity, it may be added, that they will 
 sell them for the vilest purposes. The religion of 
 the Hindoo has no connection with sound morals. 
 
 The defects of the Hindoo character are 
 pointed out by Tamerlane in his Institutes. 
 He says, " The inhabitants of Hindostan are 
 equally debilitated in their corporeal and inert 
 in their mental faculties ; inexorable and per- 
 fidious to such an extreme, that only personal 
 violence can enforce justice. Regardless of ho- 
 nour and indecent in their dress, they sacrifice 
 
 their 
 
136 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 their lives for trifles and are indefatigable in 
 unworthy pursuits. Whilst improvident and im- 
 prudent, their ideas are confined and views circum- 
 scribed. When reduced to poverty, they patiently 
 have recourse to the most menial employments, 
 forgetting their previous circumstances, and sel- 
 dom quitting the world without injuring their 
 benefactors; but whilst the acquisition of riches 
 tempers every atrocity, indolence pervades their 
 most momentous transactions. The native of 
 Hindostan has no pretension to humanity but the 
 figure ; whilst imposture, fraud, and deception, 
 are by him considered as meritorious accomplish- 
 ments." The opinion of Tamerlane upon this sub- 
 ject must of course be received with some caution. 
 He was a conqueror, and the disciple of a religion 
 in which bigotry and persecution are virtues. His 
 own character, too, did not peculiarly qualify him 
 to act the part of a moral censor. But after all 
 these deductions from his credibility, considerable 
 weight must be attached to his report, and in all 
 its main features it is corroborated by a host of 
 later testimonies which are perfectly unimpeach- 
 able. Bernier, who visited them above a hundred 
 and fifty years ago, speaks of their faithless and 
 perfidious character, and declares his belief that 
 there does not exist a nation more avaricious and 
 sordid. Mr. Scrafton, about the middle of the 
 last century, says, " The Gentoos are found still 
 
 more 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 137 
 
 more cruel and rapacious than their foreign mas- 
 ters, and what is more extraordinary, the Brah- 
 mins still exceed the rest in every abuse of power, 
 and seem to think, if they bribe God by bestowing 
 part of their plunder on cows and faquirs, their 
 injustices will be pardoned/' Governor Holwell, 
 about the same time, calls them " a race of people, 
 who, from their infancy, are utter strangers to the 
 idea of common faith and honesty;" — "as de- 
 generate, crafty, superstitious, litigious, and 
 wicked a people as any in the known world, if 
 not eminently more so." Lord Clive, who knew 
 them well, says, " The inhabitants of this coun- 
 try we know by long experience have no attach- 
 ment to an obligation." Governor Verelst, an 
 able and well informed cotemporary of the latter 
 authorities, bears ample testimony to the treachery 
 and dishonesty of the native character. In 1772, 
 the Governor and Council of Bengal complain of 
 the mischievous consequences flowing from the 
 prevalence of litigiousness, chicane, and in- 
 trigue. Lord Teignmouth affirms that " the 
 nation is wholly void of public virtue ;" that the 
 natives " make not the least scruple of lying 
 when falsehood is attended with advantage" — 
 that " cunning and artifice is wisdom with them — 
 to deceive and overreach is to acquire the cha- 
 racter of a wise man"- that " a man must be 
 long acquainted with them before he can believe 
 
 them 
 
138 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 them capable of that barefaced falsehood, servile 
 adulation, and deliberate deception which they 
 daily practise ;" — and that " it is the business of 
 all, from the ryot to the dewan, to conceal and 
 deceive." Sir John Macpherson, adverting to these 
 statements, admits that they " are not fictitious 
 representations." Sir Robert Barker says, " it 
 is well known that neither promises nor oaths 
 have been able to bind this treacherous sect of 
 people to their engagements." Mr. Grant sums 
 up a long and able enquiry into the native cha- 
 racter thus : " Upon the whole, then, we cannot 
 avoid recognizing in the people of Hindostan, 
 a race of men lamentably degenerate and base, 
 retaining but a feeble sense of moral obligation, 
 yet obstinate in their disregard of what they know 
 to be right; governed by malevolent and licentious 
 passions, strongly exemplifying the effects pro- 
 duced upon society by great and general corrup- 
 tion of manners, and sunk in misery by their vices 
 in a country peculiarly calculated by its natural 
 advantages to promote the happiness of its in- 
 habitants." The general tendency of the evidence 
 before the parliamentary committee is to the same 
 effect. Mr. Clarke says, " a native will, in ge- 
 neral, give his evidence rather with reference to 
 the consequences of what he may say to his own 
 interests, than from any regard to truth or false- 
 hood ,, — " in order to the improvement of the na- 
 tive 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 139 
 
 tive character, I think there is wanting a better 
 moral principle in themselves individually than 
 they are now found to possess, and a more power- 
 ful influence of moral opinion on the part of na- 
 tive society. At present, their morality affords 
 little interna] control over their actions ; it does 
 not furnish them with a conscientious check over 
 their conduct, and there is no control of public 
 opinion acting upon them externally. Injustice 
 or misconduct which should prove successful in 
 making the fortune of a native, would attach no 
 disgrace to him in the estimation of his country- 
 men. " The same gentleman states, that prose- 
 cutions for perjury are very frequent, and if the 
 criminal '* is of a character to which, from rank 
 or caste, any degree of respectability or sanctity 
 attaches, those qualities would not be affected by 
 his punishment in the minds of the natives." — 
 He believes, " that persons holding offices at- 
 tached to temples, have been viewed with equal 
 reverence and treated with equal deference in re- 
 gard to their spiritual authority while under actual 
 punishment for perjury," and their conviction has 
 not operated as any stain upon them in native 
 society. Mr. Oldham would not trust the natives 
 to administer justice alone— thinks the acutest 
 among them the most corrupt — that a native can- 
 not trust a native, and among the people there 
 is a decided want of regard to character. This 
 
 gentleman, 
 
140 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 gentleman, who held a judicial station in India, 
 relates the following story : 
 
 " A murder had taken place in the district of 
 Moradabad. The thannadar, as is usual in those 
 cases, proceeded to the spot to hold an inquest 
 on the body, and to enquire for witnesses of the 
 fact : he took the evidence of one witness, who 
 deposed that he was present at the time the mur- 
 der was committed, related circumstantially the 
 number of sword-wounds given, the distance he 
 stood from the deceased, &c. I mean merely to 
 state, that the most minute particulars were given 
 by this man as an eye-witness. The man was sum- 
 moned before me as a magistrate for his evidence 
 to be taken again. The man's name, as usual, 
 was asked ; he gave his name correctly. His fa- 
 ther's name was asked ; he gave that correctly. 
 He went through the whole circumstances verba- 
 tim, as related before the thannadar ; but when I 
 began to ask him a little more, and cross-question 
 him a little, he lost himself quite, and seeing that 
 I suspected there was something that there should 
 not be, and followed it up, the man having no 
 answer to give, at last said, ■ The whole of the 
 evidence I have given is by order of the zemin- 
 dar. I am not the real witness, but am come to 
 personate him by the zemindar's orders.' ' 
 
 The Honourable W. Leslie Melville says : " If 
 all the testimony delivered on the subject of In- 
 dia 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 141 
 
 dia agrees in any thing, it surely is in represent- 
 ing the low state of moral feeling exhibited in our 
 courts of justice." Native officers and retainers, 
 as well as suitors and witnesses, are all repre- 
 sented as false and corrupt. Mr. Butterworth 
 Bayley says : "The great cause of failure in the ad- 
 ministration of criminal, as well as of civil justice, 
 is the habitual disregard for truth which unhappily 
 pervades the bulk of the native community, and 
 the little security which the obligation of an oath 
 adds to the testimony of a witness. I do not be- 
 lieve that this characteristic vice of the natives of 
 India has been fostered or encouraged by the 
 establishment of our courts of justice as is gene- 
 rally imagined. The same vice has been found to 
 prevail to at least an equal extent in Mysore, in 
 the Mahratta country, and in other parts of India 
 to which our authority has not extended, and 
 where our institutions were wholly unknown. 
 False testimony has, in certain cases, been di- 
 rectly encouraged and approved by the great law- 
 giver of the Hindoos ; the offence of perjury can 
 be expiated by very simple penances, and the 
 inhabitants of India must undergo a great moral 
 regeneration, before the evil which saps the very 
 foundation, of justice, and bars all confidence be- 
 tween man and man, shall be effectually reme- 
 died. My own impression is that, generally 
 speaking, the moral sanction of an oath does not, 
 
 especially 
 
142 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 especially among the lower classes, materially 
 add to the value of native testimony ; that the 
 only practical restraint on perjury is dread of the 
 punishment prescribed by law for that offence, 
 and that the fear of consequences in a future 
 state, or the apprehended loss of character and 
 reputation among their countrymen, has little ef- 
 fect in securing true and honest testimony on the 
 part of those who may be influenced by fear, fa- 
 vour, or affection." Mr. Holt Mackenzie admits, 
 that the natives regard their own countrymen 
 with distrust. Captain Macan, speaking of the 
 native troops, not only declares them to be, 4C with- 
 out any exception, the most gasconading and the 
 vainest race of men" he "had ever met;" but 
 adds his testimony to the universal selfishness. 
 He says, u they talk a good deal about loyalty 
 and honour ; but I think, from an intimate know- 
 ledge of the native character, they feel only for 
 their own interest." The government has repeat- 
 edly added the seal of its confirmation to the uni- 
 versal tendency of individual testimony. As early 
 as 1772, the Governor and Council of Bengal are 
 found complaining of the " litigiousness " of the 
 natives as productive of ' ' endless expense and ac- 
 tual oppression," and expressing an anxiety " to 
 curb and restrain trivial and groundless com- 
 plaints, and to deter chicane and intrigue, which 
 passions among these people often work to the 
 
 undoing 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 143 
 
 undoing of their neighbours." And as late as 
 1827, the Bengal Government advert to the want 
 of veracity in the natives as matter of notoriety. 
 They say, " it is needless to remark how much 
 the proceedings of all our tribunals are delayed 
 and embarrassed by the notorious disregard for 
 truth, so generally displayed by the natives in 
 giving evidence, and from their want of moral 
 principle, evils which cannot he mitigated or reme- 
 died by any direct or immediate modification of our 
 judicial institutions." To multiply such 
 quotations would be easy if it were necessary ; 
 but the authorities already adduced are sufficient 
 to attest the moral darkness which envelops India. 
 The fact cannot be denied, and the important 
 questions are, Whence does it arise ? and How 
 is it to be removed ? The first question is not 
 to be answered by referring to physical circum- 
 stances. That these have some small effect in 
 modifying character may be true ; but with the 
 page of universal history before us, we cannot 
 attribute the great distinctions of national charac- 
 ter to physical causes. How different the ancient 
 Romans from the modern Italians, though placed 
 in the same physical circumstances. Who would 
 recognize the descendants of the conquerors of 
 the world in the men who exist but to languish at 
 an opera, or flutter at a masquerade ? The mere 
 difference of race will not account for this; for 
 
 though 
 
144 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 though on the old Roman stock some barbarian 
 shoots have been engrafted, it must be remem- 
 bered that the northern hordes who pressed into 
 the fair provinces of the south, during the decline 
 of the Roman empire, were as brave, as hardy, 
 and as warlike, as those whose domains they in- 
 vaded. That national character changes without 
 any foreign admixture, and though the soil and 
 climate remain unaltered, we have abundant proof, 
 and the change does not always require any great 
 lapse of time. Events sometimes take place, of 
 so stirring a nature, as to perform the work of 
 centuries in a few years. Every instance which 
 history furnishes of national degeneracy or national 
 advancement, is a proof of the efficiency of moral 
 causes, and the comparative inertness of physical 
 circumstances. 
 
 We must not, then, conclude that the vices of 
 the Hindoo character are the result of his enervat- 
 ing climate. The slightest consideration, indeed, 
 must shew us the falsehood of such a conclusion, 
 since the variations of the climate are considerable, 
 and those of national character very slight, those 
 slight variations being capable of being accounted 
 for from moral causes, and from moral causes 
 alone. We must search for more substantial 
 reasons for the lamentable state in which we find 
 the people of India ; and it would not appear 
 unreasonable to ascribe some of their vices to the 
 
 misfortune 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 145 
 
 misfortune of their civil position. A long course 
 of bondage may be allowed to have some influence 
 in deadening the moral sensibilities, and raising 
 an abundant crop of all the meaner vices. The 
 dictum of the Greek philosopher, that the hour 
 that makes a man a slave deprives him of half his 
 value, might have been illustrated in their history ; 
 and, judging from their present character, we 
 might suspect such to be the fact. Lying is 
 especially the vice of slaves. Violence and op- 
 pression call forth deceit to counteract them. 
 The victim of despotism feels that he has no other 
 resource ; and he has no self-respect to restrain 
 him from the employment of that which he re- 
 gards as his only protection. Where the same 
 practice is indulged by all, it is, of course, unac- 
 companied by shame in any. Infamy does not 
 follow detection. After a time there will be no 
 attempt at concealment, except from the common 
 enemy ; and at last, a proficiency in falsehood will 
 be accounted the highest proof of genius. Dis- 
 honesty is another natural consequence of poli- 
 tical slavery, as it is the natural associate of men- 
 dacity. Where the ruler will, if possible, take 
 all, the subject will, of course, preserve as much 
 as he can. As the law will not protect him, he 
 will endeavour to protect himself ; but he will not 
 long stop here ; he will not long preserve two 
 measures of justice— one for his ruler and one for 
 
 l his 
 
14G RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 his fellow-subjects. He will soon learn to deal 
 with the latter as with the former ; he will come 
 to regard society as the scene of an universal 
 scramble, in which every one must take all he 
 can get, and he will sedulously follow the example 
 of his master, in drawing to himself as much trea- 
 sure as possible, without regard to the means of 
 acquisition. Malevolence and cruelty are further 
 consequences of a state of political oppression. 
 The brave are usually humane ; but the cowar- 
 dice which attends subjection disposes men to 
 cruelty. The spirit which dare not resist, will 
 yet burn to revenge ; such a feeling, long in- 
 dulged, will, of course, gather strength, and the 
 desire of vengeance will become co- extensive with 
 the belief of injury. These results will be greatly 
 accelerated, if the rules of justice should be re- 
 laxed, not only between the state and the sub- 
 ject, but also between man and man. If the pri- 
 vilege of oppression and plunder should not be 
 confined to the ruling authorities, but, through 
 the corruption of courts of justice, sold to all who 
 have the power of purchasing it, the progress of 
 demoralization will be rapid indeed. Dishonesty 
 will have free range, and every accession of plun- 
 der will increase the power of making fresh ones. 
 Malevolence will possess unbounded means of 
 gratification, and the law will be an engine of 
 persecution as ready as it is powerful. In this 
 
 state 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 147 
 
 state of things, falsehood will be at a premium, 
 inasmuch as it will be a constant and unfailing 
 instrument, whether of cupidity or of revenge. 
 That the Hindoos were oppressed and plundered 
 by their Mahomedan conquerors, is certain ; that 
 the courts of justice, under those rulers, were cor- 
 rupt, almost beyond conception, is equally so. 
 And we might be justified in ascribing the demo- 
 ralization of the people to some such process as 
 that which has been described, were there not 
 reason to believe that, previously to their subjec- 
 tion by the Moguls, they were in a state no bet- 
 ter than that in which they were found at the 
 breaking up of the empire of the conquerors. The 
 question, too, occurs, How came a people, so 
 numerous and powerful, to fall so readily into the 
 power of strangers, possessing no extraordinary 
 advantages for successful invasion ? It is obvious 
 that one part of the national character must then 
 have been precisely what it is now. There must 
 have been the same want of public spirit and 
 patriotic feeling ; the same absence of all regard 
 for the common good ; the same centralisation of 
 the entire feelings of the man in self. From des- 
 potism they might have suffered, but that despo- 
 tism was a domestic one. To what cause, then, 
 shall we attribute that prostration of mind and 
 depravity of heart which have sunk a great people 
 into wretchedness, and rendered them the object 
 
 l 2 of 
 
148 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 of political contempt and of moral abhorrence ? 
 The answer is readily obtained — to superstition ; 
 to the prevalence of a mighty system of religious 
 imposture, as atrocious as it is extravagant ; which, 
 in the same degree that it dishonours the Supreme 
 Being, corrupts and debases his rational creatures; 
 which, upon the most outrageous absurdity en- 
 grafts the most abominable vice, and rears a 
 temple to false and filthy deities upon the ruins 
 of human intellect and human virtue. It were 
 criminal to conceal or palliate the real cause of 
 Hindoo degeneracy. It is false religion, and no- 
 thing beside. 
 
 The gods whom the Hindoos worship are imper- 
 sonations of all the vices and all the crimes which 
 degrade human nature ; and there is no grossness 
 and no villainy which does not receive counte- 
 nance from the example of some or other of them. 
 The vilest and most scandalous impurity pervades 
 their mythology throughout ; is interwoven with 
 all its details; is at once its groundwork and 
 completion ; its beginning and its end. The rob- 
 ber has his god, from whom he invokes a blessing 
 on his attempts against the life and property of 
 his neighbour. Revenge, as well as robbery, 
 finds a kindred deity ; and cruelty, the never- 
 failing companion of idolatry, is of the essence of 
 the system. 
 
 The rites and ceremonies are worthy of the 
 m faith ; 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 149 
 
 faith ; they may be summed up in three words, 
 folly, licentiousness, and cruelty. Penances, silly 
 and revolting, are the means of expiating sin. 
 Grossness the most horrible, both in nature and 
 in degree, from which the most abandoned cha- 
 racters in the most abandoned parts of Europe 
 would recoil, enters into public worship, and the 
 higher festivals are honoured by an increased 
 measure of profligacy. That unhappy class of 
 females, who every where else are regarded with 
 contemptuous scorn, or with painful commisera- 
 tion, are in India appendages to the temples of 
 religion. The Hindoo faith, in perfect confor- 
 mity with its character, demands barbarous as 
 well as licentious exhibitions and torture, and 
 death are among its acceptable modes of service. 
 From such deities and such modes of worship, 
 what can we expect but what we find? If the 
 sublime example of perfect purity, which true re- 
 ligion places before its followers, be calculated to 
 win to virtue, must not universal contamination 
 be the necessary consequence of investing pollu- 
 tion and crime with the garb of divinity ? If men 
 find licentiousness and cruelty associated with 
 the ceremonies of religion, is it possible that they 
 should believe them to be wrong? Can they be 
 expected in private life to renounce as criminal, 
 practices which in public they have been taught 
 to regard as meritorious? Will they abhor in the 
 
 world 
 
150 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 world that which they reverence in the sanctuary ? 
 It were absurd to believe it. 
 
 A false religion engenders a spurious morality. 
 In the Hindoo code of duty, " the weightier mat- 
 ters of the law" scarcely find place. Almsgiving- 
 is inculcated; but it is in behalf of a tribe of 
 proud, lazy, sturdy mendicants, to whom alms- 
 giving is not charity. But the great points of 
 Hindoo morality consist in ceremonial obser- 
 vances, burdensome as they are idle. Surrounded 
 on all sides by danger, the votary of this impious 
 superstition can scarcely move or refrain from 
 motion without incurring defilement. Ablutions 
 and purifications, prohibitions of certain kinds of 
 food, and regulations for dressing that which is 
 permitted ; minute directions for all the most in- 
 different actions of life — these swell the intermi- 
 nable list of empty forms, which excuse the ab- 
 sence of purity, justice, and charity. 
 
 The Hindoo system prescribes the observance 
 of frivolous ceremonies, and neglects to inculcate 
 important moral duties. But its pernicious influ- 
 ence does not terminate there : it enforces much 
 that is positively evil. By the institution of castes 
 it estranges man from his fellows, and shuts up 
 the avenues of benevolence ; invests one part of 
 society with the privilege of unrestrained indul- 
 gence — casting over them the cloak of sanctity, 
 however unworthy — shielding them from the con- 
 sequences 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 151 
 
 sequences of their actions, however flagitious ; 
 and condemns another to hopeless and perpetual 
 debasement, without the chance of emancipation 
 or improvement. A system more mischievous or 
 iniquitous — better calculated to serve the interests 
 of vice, or destroy those of virtue— seems beyond 
 the power of the most perverted ingenuity to frame. 
 The root being corrupt, so are the branches. Pre- 
 cepts are given, which set at nought all the first 
 principles of morality. False testimony is dis- 
 tinctly permitted in a number of specified cases, 
 some of which are sufficiently ludicrous did the 
 subject admit of mirth. The profession of a rob- 
 ber is recognised as a lawful one, by giving a rule 
 for the division of the spoil. Punishments of the 
 last degree of barbarity are denounced against 
 atrocious crimes, against crimes of no very deep 
 malignity, and against actions that are no crimes 
 at all. Falsehood, fraud, and cruelty are thus di- 
 rectly sanctioned, and the numerous rules relating 
 to another branch of morals, many of them tri- 
 fling, many licentious, and all of them disgusting, 
 are quite sufficient to account for the laxity which 
 exists in practice. Such are the sources of Hin- 
 doo morality, and the connection between cause 
 and effect is illustrated by the state of society. 
 The religion and its ceremonies, the code and its 
 precepts, naturally lead to the expectation that 
 the disciples of such a religion, the subjects of 
 
152 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 such a code, would be precisely what all report 
 represents the natives of India as being. 
 
 But the dominion of superstition, though long 
 is not eternal, and the mists in which the mind of 
 India has been so long enveloped are already be- 
 ginning to clear away. How this good work may 
 be best advanced is a most interesting and im- 
 portant enquiry. Much importance is attached 
 to education, and its influence is not to be de- 
 spised ; but an education which left the people as 
 morally depraved as it found them, would scarcely 
 be preferable to none. Yet instruction, in mere 
 human learning, may do much in preparing the 
 way for the reception of a far more valuable spe- 
 cies of knowledge. It may break down preju- 
 dices ; it may shew to this long-deluded people 
 the absurdity of their own faith, and lead them 
 to feel the want of a better. This operation has 
 begun : motion has commenced in the long slum- 
 bering mass, and it will go on increasing in 
 strength, until the idols before which the intellect 
 of India has been prostrated, shall be hurled from 
 their pedestals, amidst the applauses of those who 
 once bowed before them in slavish adoration. 
 
 The symptoms of this agitation are too evident 
 to be mistaken. Mr. Lushington says : " Some of 
 the students, who have completed their education 
 in the Hindoo college and other institutions, are 
 in the habit of holding debating societies, where 
 
 they 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 153 
 
 they discuss topics of considerable importance 
 in the English language, and read lectures and 
 essays of their own composition upon various lite- 
 rary and scientific subjects. At one of the meet- 
 ings above-mentioned the question was, 'Whe- 
 ther posthumous fame be a rational principle of 
 human action or not V It is true, that the debate 
 soon branched off into a consideration of the pos- 
 sibility and probability of human perfection ; but 
 the orators spoke with remarkable fluency, quot- 
 ing Gibbon, Hume, Reid, Bolingbroke, Voltaire, 
 Shakespear, Milton, &c. The forms of similar 
 meetings in England were imitated; and the 
 chairman having inquired the reason of the secre- 
 tary's absence, a loud cry of * Persecution !' was 
 raised, and it was explained that he was pre- 
 vented by his father, who was afraid that his 
 principles of paganism should be corrupted in 
 consequence of the other members being deists. 
 Thus has the beginning of a most wonderful 
 change been worked among a race, who for a long 
 time were considered as sunk in a hopeless state 
 of ignorance and the blindest idolatry. I should 
 have mentioned before, that one of the young Hin- 
 doos in question, being called upon at the police 
 to swear, as usual, on the waters of the Ganges, 
 declined, averring, that he should just as soon 
 swear by the waters of the Nile." It thus appears 
 that there is some danger of deism becoming the 
 
 popular 
 
154 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 popular faith. Of the authors mentioned by Mr. 
 Lushington as familiar to the Hindoo students, 
 four out of seven are advocates of deistical opinions. 
 And Mr. Sherer states, that a large impression of 
 Paine's works, which arrived in Calcutta from 
 America, was eagerly bought up by the Hindoo 
 youths, who had received instruction in English. 
 Even among the Brahmins deism is making pro- 
 gress, and some opposition to Christian schools 
 has arisen from this source. Bishop Heber says, 
 " Our chief hindrances are some deistical Brah- 
 mins, who have left their old religion, and desire 
 to found a sect of their own." This is not, indeed, 
 precisely the course of events which the friends 
 of religion would desire ; but it is not, upon the 
 whole, discouraging. It may even be considered 
 as a favourable symptom. The acknowledgment 
 of the first great article of all true religion, may 
 be a preparation for the reception of the remain- 
 der. When a nation, which has heretofore main- 
 tained a belief in revelation, rejects it, as the 
 French did, forty years ago, in favour of the cold 
 dogmas of a corrupted deism, it is a fearful sha- 
 dow of " coming events," and may justify an 
 apprehension that the light which that country 
 has enjoyed is about to be extinguished altogether. 
 The abandonment even of a corrupted form of 
 Christianity, must be a change for the worse. 
 But when a nation casts " to the moles and the 
 
 bats" 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 155 
 
 bats" a system of idolatry so absurd and so hor- 
 rible as that of the Hindoos, even though mere 
 deism be substituted, it is a step in advance. 
 Something is gained by the recognition of one 
 Supreme Being ; and on this foundation we should 
 not despair of raising the sublime superstructure 
 of Christianity. In this way, human knowledge 
 will act as the pioneer of religious truth. It must 
 not be looked to as an efficient instrument for 
 effecting the moral reformation of the people. It 
 is too often so regarded, not only with respect to 
 India, but to other countries. This is an error. 
 Human knowledge is incapable of purifying the 
 heart ; it does not address itself to this object, 
 and its most judicious advocates will make no 
 such pretensions on its behalf; it has not even a 
 direct influence in promoting the interests either 
 of virtue or piety, though its diffusion in a country 
 situated like India tends indirectly to these pur- 
 poses. The light of knowledge will shew the 
 Hindoo the folly of his old superstitions ; and as 
 these are the great sources of his demoralization, 
 something will be gained by their destruction. 
 Human knowledge will be admirably useful in 
 pulling down ; but another species of knowledge, 
 far higher and more valuable, will be necessary to 
 build up. We should therefore promote, by all 
 the means in our power, the diffusion of genuine 
 science and sound learning in our Indian posses- 
 sions ; 
 
156 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 sions ; but if we stop here, we do little. We 
 should regard this only as a means to an end, 
 and that end the establishment of the only system 
 of religious belief which can render men either 
 virtuous in this world or happy in another. 
 
 Experience justifies us in expecting benefit 
 from such a course. Christianity has advanced 
 most rapidly in countries enlightened by science, 
 and refined by elegant literature. Among bar- 
 barous and uncivilized nations its progress has 
 been comparatively slow. It may not be that in 
 any country the most learned have been the 
 earliest in embracing it ; but in every place where 
 knowledge exists, except it be confined by pains 
 and penalties to a peculiar class, its benefits ex- 
 tend far beyond the circle of philosophers, and 
 where freedom of enquiry is permitted, the leaven 
 of thought will gradually pervade the w r hole mass. 
 The gospel was first proclaimed in one of the most 
 polished ages of the world— when the conquering 
 arms of Rome had been the means of spreading 
 the arts, the knowledge, and the civilization which 
 she herself had received from Greece, over every 
 part of her mighty empire ; and it was in the 
 most refined and inquisitive portions of that em- 
 pire — it was in Asia Minor and Italy, that the 
 progress of conversion was the most rapid and 
 successful. Ignorance on the contrary, is favour- 
 able to error. The impostor Mahomet com- 
 menced 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 157 
 
 menced his career in an age when the lustre of 
 Grecian and Roman civilization had been dimmed 
 by the operation of various causes — when that 
 cloud which hung for centuries over the human 
 mind, was enlarging in circumference and deepen- 
 ing in blackness ; and while Christianity had 
 triumphed over the gods of ancient times by moral 
 means alone, Mahomet owed his success to the 
 keenness, not of his arguments, but of his sword. 
 With these facts before us, we may conclude that 
 knowledge and civilization are favourable to the 
 progress of truth, and to the operation of moral 
 causes, and in this belief we may regard the in- 
 troduction of the sciences and learning of the west 
 among the Hindoos with pleasure and with confi- 
 dence. Our religion will follow and accomplish 
 that " great moral regeneration," the necessity 
 for which has been so forcibly urged by one of the 
 ablest of Indian statesmen. The Hindoos have 
 been debased by a false religion ; they must be 
 restored to a healthy state of moral feeling by the 
 true one. All other remedies will be at best but 
 miserable palliatives — this alone will go to the 
 root of the disease. 
 
 What then is to be done to promote this end? 
 By direct means scarcely any thing. We cannot 
 divert any large portion of the funds of India to 
 the purpose— the state of the revenue will not 
 bear it ; and if it would, the natives would pro- 
 bably 
 
158 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 bably view such an appropriation with a degree 
 of dislike which would not only impair our influ- 
 ence, but what is of far greater importance, re- 
 tard the reception of revealed truth. Government 
 can do little except by encouraging education. 
 The system of education at present must be in a 
 considerable degree irrespective of religion ; but 
 there is no necessity for discouraging the reading 
 of the sacred volume. Nothing should be done 
 which is likely to induce parents to withdraw 
 their children from the schools ; but the Scrip- 
 tures may be read like any other books, and ex- 
 perience shews that the natives regard this nei- 
 ther with distaste nor apprehension. The moral 
 influence of the children thus educated in the fa- 
 milies to which they belong, is a point not to be 
 overlooked : in many instances, the parents have 
 regarded with approbation the books which the 
 scholars carried home from school, and especially 
 the New Testament. The schools are also bene- 
 ficial in breaking down the distinctions of caste. 
 At first, some attempts may be made to preserve 
 these distinctions, but they soon cease, and the 
 children of various castes mix together upon a 
 footing of equality. 
 
 One most unexceptionable mode of advancing 
 the cause of Christianity is, by the example of 
 those who profess to believe it. If they display 
 indifference to the religion in which they have 
 
 been 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 159 
 
 been educated, there is but slender hope of con- 
 ciliating the respect of the Hindoo towards a faith 
 which neither he nor his fathers have known. 
 Obedience should be yielded not only to the 
 moral precepts of Christianity, but also to its po- 
 sitive institutions. The Christian festival of Sun- 
 day should command that decent respect to which 
 it is entitled. In a few instances, it is to be re- 
 gretted, that the magistrates and revenue officers 
 do not close their courts on that day. This is cer- 
 tainly wrong, and ought to be amended. There 
 would, indeed, be little difficulty in procuring a 
 general observance of Sunday, as the Hindoos 
 and Mahometans mutually keep each other's fes- 
 tivals, and in such a climate as that of India, an 
 invitation to rest could scarcely be unpopular. 
 
 Although both state and christian policy re- 
 strain us from maintaining a religious establish- 
 ment commensurate with the moral wants of the 
 people, we ought to make sufficient provision for 
 the spiritual instruction and consolation of those 
 Christians who are called to reside in a country 
 where Paganism is yet the dominant creed. This 
 has not always been attended to. For many 
 years the number of chaplains was lamentably 
 small. It has been increased, and the good ef- 
 fects which have followed have justified the pro- 
 priety of the increase. Several, however, of the 
 witnesses before the Parliamentary Committee 
 
 regard 
 
160 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 regard even the present number as quite inade- 
 quate. For a long period the English church 
 in India was without the superintendence of a 
 Bishop. This is not a place for religious con- 
 troversy, and it is not intended to enquire what 
 form of church government is most apostolic ; but 
 certainly an episcopal church without a bishop is 
 an anomaly which could not have existed at any 
 previous period since the promulgation of Chris- 
 tianity. Dr. Buchanan relates, that a Syrian 
 bishop, with whom he conversed, thought it 
 strange that there was no bishop in India to superin- 
 tend so large an empire, and said that he did not 
 perfectly comprehend our ecclesiastical principles. 
 The difficulty might well perplex him ; but, at 
 length, principally through the exertions of Dr. 
 Buchanan, the anomaly was removed by the erec- 
 tion of the see of Calcutta. But the slighest 
 reflection will show that a single bishop for the 
 whole of the British possessions in India is alto- 
 gether inadequate. By the late act, the King has 
 power to create two new bishoprics, Madras 
 and Bombay, and to assign to the three dioceses 
 their respective limits. This provision has not 
 yet been acted upon ; but when put in force it 
 will make an important addition to the efficiency 
 of the English church in India. 
 
 No inconsiderable proportion of the British 
 residents in India being natives of the northern 
 
 part 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 161 
 
 part of this island, the late act properly provides 
 that the Company shall maintain, at each of the 
 presidencies, two chaplains of the Church of 
 Scotland. This clause contains a provision of 
 which the policy, and even the intention, is by 
 no means clear. It is the following : " Provided 
 always, That nothing herein contained shall be 
 so construed as to prevent the Governor General 
 in Council from granting from time to time, with 
 the sanction of the Court of Directors and of the 
 Commissioners for the Affairs of India, to any 
 sect, persuasion, or community of Christians not 
 being of the United Church of England and Ire- 
 land, or of the Church of Scotland, such sums of 
 money as may be expedient for the purpose of 
 Instruction, or for the maintenance of Places of 
 Worship." This strange provision is happily only 
 permissive. The Government are not restrained 
 from thus granting money ; but it is to be hoped 
 that they will restrain themselves. To act upon 
 this provision would be to open a door which, in 
 a short time, it would be found impossible to 
 close. To recognise the claims of one sect, would 
 embolden all others to assert their's. No distinc- 
 tion could be drawn, that would not give serious, 
 and perhaps reasonable, offence to those who were 
 excluded by it, whilst an unlimited compliance 
 would drain the resources of India, excite se- 
 rious dissatisfaction in the minds of the natives, 
 
 m and 
 
162 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 and prove a stumbling-block in the way of Chris- 
 tianity. A moderate provision is made for the 
 Protestant Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches; 
 and this is justified by the circumstance of their 
 being established in the two divisions of the pro- 
 tecting country. The majority of European re- 
 sidents will belong to one of these churches. 
 Those who do not, will generally be members of 
 one of the denominations of Protestant Dissenters, 
 and such will feel no scruple in attending the 
 worship of the church of Scotland. But it must 
 not be forgotten, that the provision thus made 
 is the exception, not the rule ; and that very 
 weighty reasons forbid such exceptions to be mul- 
 tiplied. 
 
 But though we cannot do any thing directly to 
 promote the success of missionary exertions, it is a 
 solemn duty to abstain from doing any thing to im- 
 pede them. Every denomination of Christian mis- 
 sionaries should be permitted freely to use their 
 own resources, in the manner which appears to 
 them best adapted to promote their peculiar views 
 of the doctrines of religion. Two things are espe- 
 cially desirable in those who undertake the impor- 
 tant task of unfolding to the natives the discoveries 
 of revelation—discretion and charity. By culti- 
 vating these, they will advance their common end 
 far more than lies in the power of government to 
 promote it by pecuniary assistance. 
 
 As 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 163 
 
 As no impediment should be thrown in the way 
 of conversion, so no disability should be incurred 
 in consequence of it. This is so clear, that it 
 may seem scarcely necessary to announce it. 
 But unfortunately, native Christians have been 
 excluded, on account of their faith, from offices 
 to which Hindoos and Mahometans were eligible. 
 This evil, it may be presumed, is corrected by 
 that clause of the last act, which declares, that no 
 native or natural-born subject of his Majesty 
 •* shall, by reason only of his religion, place of 
 birth, descent, or colour, or any of them, be dis- 
 abled from holding office under the Company." 
 Some difficulties have been suggested as to inhe- 
 ritance of property by converts to Christianity. 
 If such exist, they ought to be removed. Men 
 should not be seduced into the profession of Chris- 
 tianity by the temptation of temporal benefit, but 
 they certainly ought not to be deterred from em- 
 bracing it by the prospect of penalty and loss. 
 
 Nothing can be plainer than that converts 
 should be protected from persecution ; from the 
 necessity of complying with practices which their 
 consciences disapprove; and from all inconve- 
 niences, pecuniary or otherwise, resulting from 
 their change of faith. Another point, equally 
 clear, is, that the neutrality of government should 
 be perfect. While, on the one hand, it should 
 not force Christianity on the people, on the other, 
 
 m 2 it 
 
164 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 it should on no account evince any appearance of 
 approbation towards idolatry. 
 
 The government formerly drew a portion of its 
 revenue from a source, the propriety of which was 
 much questioned. A certain sum per head was 
 collected upon all pilgrims resorting to the great 
 temples, and to those smaller pagodas which had 
 acquired celebrity, and the offerings which the de- 
 votees brought with them were likewise subjected 
 to a toll. Sums were also levied for permission to 
 perform the various ridiculous and revolting acts 
 of penance, and for licenses to erect shops, 
 booths, and stalls, for the accommodation of those 
 who resorted to the festivals. These sources of 
 revenue have been recently abandoned, and, of 
 course, will never be revived ; but the question of 
 their continuance was agitated with great zeal 
 and ingenuity. It was, indeed, one which it was 
 by no means easy to answer satisfactorily. To ac- 
 quire income from so abominable a source, seems, 
 at first sight, even more reprehensible than the 
 French practice of deriving a revenue from licens- 
 ing places of vicious indulgence. But, in order 
 to make the cases parallel, it must be supposed 
 that we have the power, consistently with our 
 avowed toleration of the Hindoo religion, to sup- 
 press these idolatrous practices altogether. On 
 the other hand, the pilgrim tax has been com- 
 pared to a duty upon ardent spirits, by which 
 
 the 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 165 
 
 the consumption of an article pernicious to health 
 and morals is diminished ; but the comparison is 
 not just. The use of ardent spirits is not unlaw- 
 ful in itself— it is the excess only that is criminal. 
 But idolatry is unlawful in all forms and all de- 
 grees. At the same time, the suggestion that the 
 only effect of the abolition of the tax would be a 
 great increase in the number of worshippers, as the 
 means would be placed within the power of many 
 who before were excluded by the cost, was cer- 
 tainly entitled to attention. The question was, un- 
 doubtedly, one altogether of great difficulty, and 
 which reflecting and well-principled men would 
 generally be found to answer with hesitation. If 
 by retaining the tax, we were understood as giv- 
 ing any sanction to the abominations of idolatry, 
 we were doing great wrong both to our Hindoo 
 fellow-subjects and ourselves. If by abolishing it 
 we have extended the practices which we are 
 most desirous to suppress, we have done harm in 
 another way. In such circumstances, even an 
 honest intention affords little security for a sound 
 conclusion, and the event only will enable us to 
 judge accurately of the measure. 
 
 The earliest Christian church established in 
 India was that of the Syrian Christians, which is 
 said to trace its origin to St. Thomas. For many 
 years they appear to have met with considerable 
 success among the Brahmins and Nairs of Travan- 
 
 core, 
 
166 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 core, who compose the military caste, and are the 
 nobility of that country. They were protected 
 by the reigning government, and enjoyed the 
 same privileges as the other inhabitants. About 
 the middle of the sixteenth century they were 
 disturbed by the appearance of Roman Catholics 
 in the province, who are alleged to have destroyed 
 many of their public records, church formularies, 
 and copies of the scriptures. Certain it is that 
 the Catholics, by some means, succeeded in 
 severing from the Syrian church about one-half 
 of its members, and uniting them with their own. 
 The converts, however, though formally attached 
 to the Roman communion, still retained some of 
 their own customs. The Syrian church in Tra- 
 vancore is accordingly at this day separated into 
 two divisions, one called Syrian Christians, and 
 the other Roman Syrians. The former continued 
 in a very depressed state until a few years ago, 
 when Lieutenant-colonel Munro, the British resi- 
 dent at the court of Travancore, interposed on 
 their behalf. In consequence of his represen- 
 tations, many of their former privileges were re- 
 stored to them ; and, under his auspices, a col- 
 lege was established for the education of their 
 clergy, which was supported by a grant of land 
 bestowed for the express purpose by the ranee of 
 Travancore. The exertions of Colonel Munro did 
 not terminate with the establishment of this col- 
 lege. 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 167 
 
 lege. He obtained the co-operation of some mis- 
 sionaries of the Church of England, under whose 
 care the college was placed, with the entire con- 
 currence of the Syrian bishop, and procured a 
 translation of the scriptures into the vernacular 
 tongue. The number of Syrian Christians is 
 about 70,000 ; that of the Roman Syrians is about 
 the same. These have a college at Verapoly, 
 under the care of a bishop. The present super- 
 intendent is a native of Ireland, educated in 
 Spain. 
 
 The professed Catholics were formerly nume- 
 rous, but by the acknowledgment of their own 
 missionaries their numbers have been certainly 
 decreasing for the last century ; and there is rea- 
 son to believe that many of the conversions of 
 which they boasted were but nominal. The Abbe 
 Dubois has endeavoured to account for the ill suc- 
 cess of the Roman missionaries, and the first 
 cause which he assigns for it is the Pope's inter- 
 ference with the practices of the Jesuits. The 
 members of this order, never very scrupulous in 
 the means they employed for the accomplishment 
 of their objects, conformed to many of the idola- 
 trous and superstitious customs of the Hindoos, 
 in order, as they alleged, to conciliate their minds 
 and lead them to embrace the Catholic faith. 
 This was analogous to their conduct in China, 
 where, finding that the fact of the founder of the 
 
 Christian 
 
168 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 Christian faith having suffered as a malefactor was 
 a cause of offence, they thought fit to deny it, and 
 to affirm that it was a false and malignant report, 
 invented by the Jews and other enemies of Chris- 
 tianity. The members of those orders which 
 retained a less pliant morality were not, however, 
 prepared to follow such examples. The Capu- 
 chins, the Jansenists, and others, objected to the 
 vicious conformity of the Jesuits, and appealed to 
 the Pope. His decision was against the practice 
 complained of; but as the Jesuits, though always 
 professing the most unbounded reverence for the 
 Holy See, were far from being the most obedient 
 of its servants, it required repeated remonstrances 
 from Rome to induce them to desist. The fact that 
 such practices were adopted, as lures to the pro- 
 fession of the Christian name, is quite sufficient to 
 shew the character of a large portion, if not the 
 whole, of the alleged converts. The Abb6 Du- 
 bois, belonging to the Propaganda Society, is, of 
 course, the advocate of the forbidden practices, 
 and regards the decision of the head of the Roman 
 church as having mainly contributed to the decline 
 of the Catholic religion in India. But it is obvious 
 that nothing was lost but in name. A mass of 
 actual Pagans were called Christians ; theyare now 
 no longer called so. Their numbers have ceased to 
 swell the roll of Catholic converts ; but the ge- 
 nuine interests of Christianity are certainly not in- 
 juriously 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 169 
 
 juriously affected by the change. But the Abbe" is 
 not content that the entire blame of retarding the 
 progress of Roman Catholic profession should rest 
 upon the head of his spiritual father. He assigns 
 as a farther cause, the wars between the English 
 and the French. These wars, during their conti- 
 nuance, must have interfered in some degree with 
 the labours of missionaries of every religious pro- 
 fession ; but it is certain that the Protestants 
 were, in many parts, far more exposed to suf- 
 fer from them than the Catholics, and since 
 their cessation the field has been open alike to the 
 labours of both. The last of the three causes 
 which the Abb6 Dubois enumerates was, doubt- 
 less, a very efficient one. Some of the most zea- 
 lous of the Roman missionaries endeavoured to 
 recommend themselves to the natives by impos- 
 ture, and the Hindoos detected it. The Jesuits 
 announced themselves as Brahmins from a distant 
 country, and thereby gained for their persons and 
 their office a degree of respect far surpassing that 
 which they could have hoped for as Europeans, 
 and the propagators of an unknown faith. The 
 consequence was that which always follows un- 
 successful imposture — the artifices used were in- 
 jurious to the cause which they were intended 
 to promote. The Jesuits, who at first were vene- 
 rated as something more than saints, were after- 
 wards despised as convicted impostors, and the 
 
 faith 
 
170 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 faith which they had disgraced shared in their 
 personal unpopularity. From the ill success of 
 his own church, the Abbe is led to regard all at- 
 tempt at conversion as hopeless ; but the success 
 which has attended missionaries of another kind 
 warrants a different conclusion. 
 
 The first Protestant missionary was Bartholo- 
 mew Ziegenbaly, who was sent to Tranquebar by 
 the king of Denmark in the early part of the last 
 century. Finding himself in want of further pro- 
 tection than his own sovereign could afford him, 
 he came to England, where he was introduced to 
 George the First, and shortly afterwards returned 
 to India, under the patronage of the king and of 
 the bishops of the English church. He was fol- 
 lowed by other Lutheran missionaries, among 
 whom the venerable Swartz must not be forgotten. 
 This apostolic man commanded the esteem alike 
 of every description of residents in India, Hindoos, 
 Mahometans, and Europeans. The sovereign of 
 Tanjore, when dying, was anxious to make him 
 the guardian of his heir, a trust which he de- 
 clined. Hyder Ali received him as an envoy on 
 the part of the English, and offered to take his 
 word as the guarantee of a proposed engagement, 
 when he would trust no one else. On two occa- 
 sions during war, his character saved the garrison 
 and people in the fort of Tanjore from perishing 
 by famine. There was grain in the country; but 
 
 the 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 171 
 
 the people refused to furnish bullocks to carry 
 it, because they had formerly been defrauded of 
 their pay. In this extremity the Rajah applied to 
 Swartz, and that which the credit of the govern- 
 ment could not command, was readily obtained on 
 the promise of an humble foreigner, destitute of 
 property, and whose income afforded him only a 
 bare subsistence. These missionaries continued 
 to propagate Christianity with considerable suc- 
 cess, and a body of Christians, the fruits of their 
 labours, are scattered over India south of Madras ; 
 their chief stations being Vepery, Tanjore, Tran- 
 quebar, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tinnevelly, Ram- 
 nad, and Cuddalore. The number of these Chris- 
 tians it is not easy to estimate ; but it is both 
 large and increasing. The amount of increase at 
 one station, Tinnevelly, has been ascertained, and 
 is most encouraging. In 1823 the native Chris- 
 tians in that province were only 4000 ; they now 
 exceed 8,000. In the south of that province are 
 two villages entirely christian, and from which 
 every vestige of idolatry has disappeared. Bishop 
 Heber, who visited Tanjore and Trichinopoly, was 
 greatly interested in the Christians whom he found 
 in those provinces, and those who have visited 
 Tinnevelly and other parts have been impressed 
 in the same favourable manner by the character 
 of the Christian communities which they met 
 with. The Hindoo tehsildar of the district which 
 
 contains 
 
172 RELIGION AND MORALS. 
 
 contains the two Christian villages already men- 
 tioned, when questioned by the visitor, testi- 
 fied to the quiet and inoffensive character of the 
 inhabitants, and said that he should rejoice if all 
 around him resembled them. The mission which 
 has produced such beneficial effects has been sup- 
 ported from its commencement by the English So- 
 ciety for promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 The progress of Christianity in India is not to 
 be judged altogether by the actual number of 
 converts. The number of these would have been 
 much larger had the missionaries exercised less 
 caution in receiving them. No temporal induce- 
 ments have been offered to the profession of 
 Christianity ; and none are admitted to baptism 
 until after a long probation. The apparent pro- 
 gress is thus rendered slow : but this is counter- 
 balanced by the assurance that outward con- 
 formity is a sign of internal conviction, and that 
 those who forsake their old religion are real and 
 not merely nominal converts. In the mean time, 
 the knowledge of the great truths of revelation is 
 spreading far and wide, and where so many hear, 
 some will be convinced. 
 
 The Church Missionary Society has, from its 
 establishment, directed a large portion of its at- 
 tention to India, and sedulously and usefully 
 co-operated with the labourers whom it found 
 already there. Its schools and stations are nu- 
 merous, 
 
RELIGION AND MORALS. 173 
 
 merous, and the number of scholars in the former 
 increased in seven years from 6,581 to 12,298. 
 A lady, under the patronage of this society, suc- 
 ceeded in introducing female schools, in opposition 
 to the prejudices of the natives, which led them 
 to regard the instruction of females with dislike. 
 The excellent and exemplary Baptist Missionaries 
 have done much to advance the interests both of 
 religion and learning, but the number of labourers 
 is yet inadequate to the promised harvest. The 
 worn-out superstition is obviously falling to pieces, 
 to be replaced, either by what is called the re- 
 ligion of nature, or by a better faith, to which 
 that may form a stepping-stone. It is for those 
 who take an interest in the diffusion of Christian 
 knowledge, to consider whether we ought not to 
 avail ourselves of the moral movement, and give 
 it the best direction ; and whether the duty of 
 extending the knowledge of divine truth is not 
 especially pressed upon us, as well by the state 
 of opinion and feeling in India, as by the position 
 in which we stand towards that country. 
 
( 174 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 The judicial system of India has hitherto been 
 of a most heterogeneous character, and it must 
 probably continue so for a period of which the 
 duration cannot be anticipated. The law of the 
 Hindoos is founded upon their religion. It is, 
 of course, in many respects, barbarous and ab- 
 surd. It is also sometimes extremely vague, and, 
 on the whole, very imperfect. The Mahometans 
 introduced their law, which like that of the Hin- 
 doos, was closely connected with their religion. 
 The settlement of the British created a necessity 
 for the introduction of a system of law differing 
 from either. The law of England thus obtained a 
 footing in India ; but it did not altogether super- 
 sede either of the systems which it found pre- 
 viously in operation. But the Hindoo and Maho- 
 metan codes were such as no European people 
 could consent to administer ; they were, there- 
 fore, modified in practice, and while their leading 
 principles were adhered to, their more barbarous 
 provisions were softened or rejected. Circum- 
 stances 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 175 
 
 stances also continually arose to shew the neces- 
 sity of some additional rules for the administra- 
 stration of justice; and the governments of India, 
 from time to time, enacted various Regulations, 
 which, unless annulled by the authorities at home, 
 have the force of law. The principles of judicial 
 administration in India are consequently derived 
 from no fewer than from four different sources, the 
 institutions of the Hindoos, those of the Mahome- 
 tans, the English law, and the Regulations of the 
 Indian governments. It seems to be the prevail- 
 ing opinion, that from the wide differences of 
 these various codes, from the general character of 
 the people, from the diversity of languages, and 
 from other causes, the administration of justice 
 has been far from perfect. 
 
 The law of England is administered in courts 
 established by royal charter, and called Supreme 
 Courts. Of these there are three; one at Cal- 
 cutta, composed of a chief justice and two puisne 
 judges; one at Madras, and one at Bombay, com- 
 posed respectively of a chief justice and one 
 puisne judge. Formerly the regulations of the 
 Indian governments, which were intended to take 
 effect within the jurisdiction of these courts, were 
 required to be registered in them. By the late 
 act, registration is declared no longer necessary to 
 give validity to the regulations of the Governor 
 General in Council, and the power of legislation 
 
 previously 
 
17G THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 previously enjoyed by the governments of the 
 other presidencies is withdrawn. 
 
 The Supreme Courts exercise jurisdiction over 
 the European population generally, and under 
 certain circumstances over natives also. In this 
 respect their jurisdiction is understood to be re- 
 stricted within certain local limits ; but they have, 
 in some instances, claimed authority over natives 
 residing beyond those limits, on the ground of 
 constructive inhabitancy ; and over landed pro- 
 perty to a very wide extent, on the ground that 
 the unmoveable estates of all who are personally 
 subject to them, are also within their jurisdiction. 
 They have directed their receiver to manage the 
 collections of very considerable estates in the in- 
 terior, and thus have, in fact, rendered the whole 
 of the tenantry liable to the process of the Court. 
 On the principle of constructive residence, a 
 trader residing without the limits, but having 
 commercial dealings within them, may be ren- 
 dered subject to the jurisdiction of the Court. 
 These vague and uncertain claims of jurisdiction 
 ought to be set at rest, especially as the natives 
 entertain a great dislike to the Supreme Courts. 
 Possibly the expense of their proceedings may be 
 a principal source of their objection. English 
 law is not a very cheap commodity at home, and 
 in India it can hardly be expected at a lower rate 
 than in the original market. This, in the eyes of 
 
 a native, 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 177 
 
 a native, would stamp the system as one of the 
 worst that could possibly exist. Litigation is with 
 him a great luxury, and to make it dear is re- 
 garded as an act of oppression. At the same time 
 it must be allowed, that the members of the Su- 
 preme Courts cannot possess much knowledge of 
 the native habits and character, nor any fami- 
 liarity with the native languages; and under these 
 circumstances, it would be well that some con- 
 siderable limitations should be put upon their ju- 
 risdiction. 
 
 Previously to the passing of the last Act, the 
 authority of the Supreme Courts was almost pa- 
 ramount to that of the Government ; but by that 
 act the Governor General in Council is empowered 
 to make laws and regulations for all courts of jus- 
 tice, whether established by his Majesty's char- 
 ter or otherwise ; but he cannot abolish any of 
 the former description without the previous sanc- 
 tion of the Court of Directors. This sanction 
 must, of course, be subject to the approval of the 
 Board of Control, though the clause does not 
 specify this provision. 
 
 The Company's Courts are numerous, and have, 
 at different times, been subject to various modifi- 
 cations. In Bengal, the lowest court of civil ju- 
 dicature is that of the Moonsiff. This is a native 
 officer, who has original jurisdiction in cases 
 where both parties are natives; to a certain amount, 
 
 n without 
 
178 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 without appeal, and to a higher amount, subject 
 to the right of appeal to the Zillah Court. He 
 receives no salary, but is paid the amount of 
 the stamp duty taken in lieu of the institution 
 fees on the suits decided. No great care seems 
 to be taken to ensure a due measure of qualifica- 
 tion in these officers ; and it is represented that, 
 without the protection of appeal, in all cases but 
 suits for very small sums, little confidence would 
 be placed in their decisions. 
 
 The Zillah Court, which is the court of appeal 
 from the MoonshT and some other subordinate 
 authorities, to be noticed hereafter, has also an 
 original jurisdiction to a limited amount. The 
 zillah judge is an European ; his decisions, in the 
 first instance, are subject to appeal, and those 
 given in his appellate character, to a special 
 appeal. Each judge is assisted by two native law 
 officers, a Hindoo pundit and a Mahometan moo- 
 lavie, who act as his assessors, and give opinions 
 on points of native law. These officers also exer- 
 cise a direct judicial power, as sudder aumeens. 
 In this character they try causes of limited 
 amount, referred to them by the judge. They 
 may further, at the discretion of the judge, hear 
 appeals from the moonsiffs. If the assistance of 
 the two native law-officers is found insufficient, 
 other natives may be appointed to the office of 
 sudder aumeen, according to the wants of the 
 
 service. 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 179 
 
 service. Further, each court has, or had (for 
 considerable changes are in progress), one or more 
 European officers, denominated registrars, in- 
 vested with authority to try causes of a certain 
 class, remitted to them by the judge, and, in cer- 
 tain cases, to hear appeals. It has been proposed 
 to abolish the office of registrar ; to create a num- 
 ber of special sudderaumeens, or native judges, of 
 higher rank than previously existed ; and to assign 
 to them the duty of determining suits for much 
 larger sums than generally fell under the cogni- 
 zance of the registrars, as well as that of hearing 
 appeals from the ordinary sudder aumeens. This 
 proposal has been, to a certain extent, acted upon, 
 and the trial of cases in the first instance is now 
 almost wholly in the hands of native judges, their 
 power of jurisdiction being increased to an amount 
 which very few causes in India exceed. 
 
 Above the zillah or district courts were the 
 provincial courts, whose authority, as their name 
 implies, extended over a wider circuit. They had 
 an original jurisdiction from the point where that 
 of the zillah court stopped, extending to a much 
 higher amount, and they also heard and decided 
 appeals from the courts below. It is proposed 
 gradually to abolish these courts. 
 
 Superior to these is the court of Sudder De- 
 wanny and Nizamut Adawlut. To this court are 
 referred all cases in which the judges may differ 
 
 n 2 from 
 
180 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 from their law officers ; it has the power of call- 
 ing for and revising the proceedings of any of the 
 courts, and may suspend from office the judges of 
 the provincial and zillah courts. Suits of large 
 amount are sometimes tried originally in this 
 court, but its jurisdiction is chiefly appellate. Its 
 decision is final in all cases, except where the 
 decree appealed against is for a larger sum than 
 £5,000, in which case an appeal lies to the King 
 in council. There was formerly a single court of 
 Sudder Dewanny and Nizamut Adawlut for the 
 presidency, consisting of five judges ; but it has 
 been determined to confine the jurisdiction of this 
 court to the lower provinces, and to establish 
 another for the western provinces, consisting of 
 three judges. 
 
 The system of judicature in Madras does not 
 essentially differ from that of Bengal before the 
 late changes ; but the zillah courts may try ori- 
 ginal causes to any amount, and suits of any 
 amount may be appealed to the King in council. 
 In Bombay, the judicial arrangements are nearly 
 similar. But there are certain peculiar regula- 
 tions, in which three different modes are pointed 
 out by which the court may avail itself of native 
 assistance. 
 
 The law administered in these courts is chiefly 
 contained in the regulations passed by the respec- 
 tive governments. In suits regarding succession 
 
 and 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 181 
 
 and inheritance, as well as marriage, caste, and all 
 other religious usages and institutions, the deci- 
 sions are governed by the Mahometan law with 
 respect to Mahometans, and the Hindoo law with 
 respect to Hindoos, as expounded by the Mahome- 
 tan and Hindoo law officers of the court. The plead- 
 ings are in writing, and consist, 1st, of the Plaint, 
 which ought to state precisely the matter of com- 
 plaint and the amount sought to be recovered ; 
 2dly, the Answer; 3d]y, the Reply ; 4thly, the 
 Rejoinder. If the plaintiff or defendant have omit- 
 ted any thing material to the suit in the plaint or 
 answer, one supplemental pleading of each kind, 
 but no more, is admitted. The pleadings may be, 
 at the option of the parties, either in Persian, Ben- 
 galee, or Hindostanee. The witnesses are exa- 
 mined viva voce in open court, and the evidence 
 reduced to writing in one of the languages just 
 mentioned. The causes are conducted by native 
 pleaders, called vakeels. They draw the plead- 
 ings and examine the witnesses, but it is not cus- 
 tomary for them to address the court. Some of 
 these pleaders are said to display considerable 
 acuteness ; but the situation is not considered a 
 respectable one, except in the superior courts. 
 The vakeels are appointed by the respective 
 courts, and are liable to be punished for mal- 
 practices, by fine or dismissal. The fees of these 
 officers are regulated by law, but the principle of 
 remuneration appears extraordinary. The vakeel 
 
 receives 
 
182 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 receives a per-centage upon the amount claimed, 
 which the suitor is obliged to deposit in court 
 before the pleader does any act. At the close of 
 the suit the amount is paid over to the vakeel, 
 subject to certain deductions, at the discretion of 
 the court, where the case has not been fully pro- 
 ceeded in. On the first 5,000 rupees the vakeel 
 is allowed five per cent. On sums exceeding that 
 amount, a diminished per-centage is allowed, up 
 to 80,000 rupees, beyond which the vakeel's fee 
 is fixed at 1,000 rupees, which it is in no case to 
 exceed. Among the reforms which will, in all 
 probability, be introduced in the practice of Indian 
 judicature, a better method of remunerating the 
 services of the pleader may be anticipated. The 
 duties which he is called upon to perform, when 
 the amount in litigation is large, may often be 
 less difficult and less laborious than those which 
 devolve upon him when the sum contended for is 
 comparatively small. To reward him munificently 
 in the former case, and scantily in the latter, is 
 offering a premium upon idleness and negligence 
 in the conduct of causes of small amount. 
 
 A great part of the duties which in this country 
 are performed by attornies, are in India executed 
 by agents, designated mookhtars ; but these per- 
 sons are not recognized by the court, nor are 
 their charges admitted to form part of the legal 
 costs of suit. 
 
 The administration of the criminal law in Ben- 
 gal 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 183 
 
 gal (with the exception of those duties termed 
 magisterial) was originally confided to the pro- 
 vincial courts. Inconvenience having been found 
 to arise from this arrangement, a new set of func- 
 tionaries were appointed, under the title of com- 
 missioners of revenue and circuit, to whom t|)e 
 entire criminal jurisdiction was transferred. This, 
 however, was found to answer no better than t{ie 
 former plan, and it was thought necessary to 
 make provision for relieving the commissioners 
 from their duties as criminal judges, and to invest 
 with that character the judges of the zillah courts. 
 The functions of magistracy which had been pre- 
 viously exercised by the zillah judges, have, by 
 the new arrangement, been transferred to the col- 
 lectors. The Court of Sudder Dewanny and Niza- 
 mut Adawlut is, in criminal as in civil matters, the 
 highest authority. It is empowered to grant miti- 
 gation or remission of punishment ; and no sen- 
 tence of death, transportation, or perpetual impri- 
 sonment, is to be carried into execution without a 
 previous revision of the trial by this court. In 
 Madras, the zillah judges and assistant judges try 
 minor offences: the circuit duties are performed 
 by judges of superior rank. It was proposed also 
 to invest the sudder aumeens with limited powers 
 as criminal judges. In Bombay, the criminal law 
 is administered by session judges, and judges of 
 the Sudder Court make an annual circuit of in- 
 spection, 
 
184 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 spection, with all the powers to revise and correct 
 the proceedings of the judicial officers which were 
 formerly exercised by the Court of Circuit. The 
 collectors exercise a limited judicial authority in 
 criminal cases. 
 
 P Criminal justice in Bengal is administered upon 
 tj?e principles of the Mahometan law, of course 
 considerably modified by the force of European 
 opinion. In Bombay, the authority of the Maho- 
 metan law is renounced, and a written code sub- 
 stituted. The same plan has either been adopted, 
 or is proposed for adoption, in Madras. 
 
 The use of the Mahometan law throws con- 
 siderable power into the hands of the Moslem law 
 officer of the court. When the whole of the evi- 
 dence has been taken, he delivers his futwah or 
 decision. This includes both the law and the 
 fact; the futwah declaring whether or not the fact 
 is proved, and what the Mahometan law is upon 
 the subject. If the law officer finds the fact 
 proved, and the judge agrees with him, the sen- 
 tence is carried into execution, if it fall short of 
 death, transportation for life, or perpetual impri- 
 sonment. If the judge dissent, the whole trial 
 must be referred to the Sudder. If the law offi- 
 cer finds the fact not proved, the prisoner is forth- 
 with released, unless in extraordinary cases where 
 the judge sees reason to suspect something im- 
 proper, and takes on himself the responsibility of 
 
 remitting 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 185 
 
 remitting the case. Notwithstanding the large 
 discretion thus entrusted to the native officer, it is 
 said that he rarely attempts to give his judgment 
 without indirectly trying to discover the impres- 
 sion of the judge. But with all this habitual de- 
 ference in the native officers, the position of the 
 European judge, under the circumstances in 
 which he is placed, does not appear the most dig- 
 nified. 
 
 The power of the inferior officers of the court 
 appears to have been further increased by a prac- 
 tice alleged to have been rendered necessary by 
 the pressure of business. In the heavier class of 
 offences tried before the Court of Circuit, the evi- 
 dence was always delivered in the hearing of the 
 judge; but in the trial of misdemeanors, and 
 smaller offences, this wholesome practice is dis- 
 pensed with. The evidence is previously taken 
 down, and then the witnesses and prisoner are 
 brought before the judge, who puts such further 
 questions as he thinks necessary. 
 
 The Mahometan law of India renders the testi- 
 mony of two witnesses necessary to conviction. 
 It requires also direct testimony to the fact charged 
 as a criminal offence. The Mahometan law offi- 
 cers, however, contrive to evade this, even in the 
 gravest cases. In a case involving the punish- 
 nishment of death, the Moolavie will sometimes 
 convict on circumstantial evidence only, but will 
 
 state 
 
186 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 state in his futwah that the extreme sentence is 
 barred by the want of direct testimony ; and the 
 prisoner will escape death, but be subjected to a 
 minor punishment. This mixing up of the de- 
 grees of evidence with the measure of punish- 
 ment is excessively absurd. The punishment 
 which the law denounces may be too severe for 
 the particular case, and if so it ought to be miti- 
 gated. But the mitigation should take place upon 
 proper grounds. The degree of guilt can have 
 nothing to do with the degree of evidence. A light 
 degree of criminality is a ground for a light mea- 
 sure of punishment. An insufficient degree of evi- 
 dence is a ground for exemption from punishment 
 altogether. The man is either guilty or not guilty. 
 There is no middle stage. If guilty, he ought to 
 be punished according to his deserts ; if not guilty, 
 he ought to be acquitted. The law requires di- 
 rect testimony, and declares that conviction can- 
 not lawfully take place upon any thing short of 
 it. But when direct testimony is not to be had, 
 (and considering how cheaply evidence may be 
 purchased in India, it is seldom wanting where 
 any one has an interest in obtaining it), such is 
 the laudable zeal of the Mahometan interpreters 
 for inflicting punishment, that rather than be dis- 
 appointed, they will violate the commands of their 
 own law. Yet they have a conscience in their ini- 
 quity ; they will not put a man to death whom 
 
 their 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 187 
 
 their law declares innocent, as far as human judg- 
 ment can extend ; but they will punish him by 
 fine and imprisonment. His life shall be spared, 
 but his liberty and his purse are trifles. It is not 
 intended to discuss the question, whether or not 
 conviction should take place upon circumstantial 
 evidence alone : all that is meant is to lay down 
 the principle, that the existence of doubt is a 
 ground for acquittal, not for the infliction of a 
 moderated punishment. The Mahometan asses- 
 sors doubt, yet they strike— with some shew of 
 moderation, indeed, but (according to their own 
 belief) in the dark, as to whether the blow is 
 merited or not. They will not do a great wrong; 
 but they feel no reluctance to inflict a small 
 one.* This specimen is not calculated to impress 
 us with a very high reverence for Mahometan 
 morality and jurisprudence. 
 
 The rules which in the Mahometan code govern 
 the reception or rejection of evidence, are remark- 
 ably capricious. In capital cases, the testimony 
 of slaves is inadmissible, and some arguments 
 might be brought forward to shew the reasonable- 
 ness of the disqualification ; but the Mahometan 
 
 law 
 
 * Two men were playing at cards, and one of them, who 
 suspected he was cheated, seized a fork, and with it pinned his 
 antagonist's hand to the table, saying, " Sir, if you have not 
 the knave of trumps under your hand, I beg your pardon." 
 This is something like the conduct of the Mahometan lawyers; 
 except in the politeness with which the random punishment 
 was inflicted. 
 
188 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 law does not reject the evidence of slaves be- 
 cause it is likely to be unduly influenced by fear, 
 but because " their state of bondage precludes 
 them from exercising any act of authority, which 
 the delivery of evidence is considered to be." The 
 exclusion of slaves, therefore, is not the dictate of 
 legislative prudence, but a mere point of taste and 
 etiquette. The testimony of women is rejected: 
 and as reason can say nothing in favour of such a 
 rule, tradition steps in and pleads the example of 
 the prophet and of his two immediate successors. 
 In minor cases, the testimony of women may be 
 received, but the evidence of two women is only 
 equivalent to that of one man. If the accused 
 person is a Mussulman, the witnesses against him 
 must be of the same faith. The testimony of in- 
 fidel subjects, with regard to each other, is admis- 
 sible, whatever variety of belief they may profess ; 
 it is also good against an infidel stranger ; but the 
 evidence of the latter is invalid, except against 
 one of his own countrymen. Persons of infa- 
 mous character are not improperly disqualified as 
 witnesses, and certain very close relations, either 
 of consanguinity or social position, constitute 
 grounds of incompetency. The absurdity of many 
 of these exceptions to testimony is obvious, and 
 their inconvenience is equal to their absurdity. 
 The British Government has, however, shewn to- 
 wards them a tenderness that is remarkable, con- 
 sidering 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 189 
 
 sidering that the Mahometan faith is not pro- 
 fessed by more than an eighth part of the people. 
 Such rules could not be endured, but they have not 
 been directly abrogated. It has been provided, 
 that if the evidence of a witness shall be declared 
 inadmissible on any ground which shall appear 
 unreasonable, the judge shall nevertheless take 
 the examination of the witness. At the con- 
 clusion of the trial the Mahometan law officer 
 shall state what would have been the sentence if 
 such evidence had been admissible, and the judge 
 is to pass sentence accordingly ; but if the convic- 
 tion is found to rest exclusively on the excepted 
 evidence, the case is to be referred to the superior 
 tribunal. It is not easy to see the advantages of 
 this circuitous method of getting rid of the con- 
 sequences of inconvenient and absurd rules of 
 evidence. 
 
 The Mahometan law prefers confessions to all 
 other evidence, and the native police neglect no 
 means of obtaining that which the law regards as 
 so desirable. Under the Mahometan government, 
 torture was resorted to for this good end. The 
 British Government, of course, does not counte- 
 nance such a practice, but frequent instances of 
 its use have come before the tribunals. Some of 
 the tortures employed are too horrible and revolt- 
 ing to be described. It has been found extremely 
 difficult to suppress these practices, the native 
 
 officers 
 
190 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 officers having such an appetite for confessions, 
 that even where the most ample proof exists, they 
 will endeavour to extort them. The judges en- 
 deavour to correct the evil, as far as possible, by 
 receiving these confessions with great caution. In 
 Madras, they were formerly required to be attested 
 by two witnesses totally unconnected with the 
 police ; but the native officers, whose aptitude for 
 mischief appears to be altogether marvellous, con- 
 trived to select, as witnesses, those individuals to 
 whom the duty was peculiarly inconvenient. 
 Some of those persons, in order to avoid being 
 called upon again, had recourse to the ready 
 expedient of perjury, and swore, with great cool- 
 ness, that they knew nothing about the confes- 
 sions which were given in their presence. The 
 original rule was then rescinded, and all police 
 officers above the rank of a common peon were 
 admitted as competent witnesses. The conse- 
 quences of this may readily be conceived. 
 
 In speaking of the existing state of law and 
 police in India, we speak of merely temporary 
 arrangements — of a system doomed, at no very 
 distant period, to yield to another. The late Act, 
 after recognizing the expediency of a general sys- 
 tem of judicial establishments and police through- 
 out the entire country, directs the appointment 
 of a commission, to inquire into the jurisdiction, 
 power, and rules of the existing courts of justice 
 
 and 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 191 
 
 and police establishments ; into all existing forms 
 of judicial procedure ; and into the nature and 
 operation of all laws, civil or criminal, written or 
 customary, prevailing in any part of the country, 
 and affecting any class of inhabitants, European 
 or native. The results of these inquiries are to be 
 embodied in reports, in which the commissioners 
 are to suggest such alterations and improvements 
 as they shall deem advisable. The Governor 
 General in Council may give special instructions 
 as to the inquiries to be made and the places to 
 be visited, which the commissioners are to regard, 
 and to make special reports upon such matters as 
 may be required. The commission issues from 
 the Governor General in Council, and the mem- 
 bers are recommended by the Court of Directors, 
 with the approbation of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners. Such other persons may be included as 
 the Governor General in Council shall think fit, 
 provided the entire number does not exceed five. 
 The commissioners are to receive salaries, according 
 to the highest scale of remuneration given to any 
 of the officers or servants of the Company, below 
 the rank of members of council. 
 
 Viewed in connexion with the appointment of 
 the fourth member of council at the seat of govern- 
 ment, this provision is a most important one. The 
 British Legislature evidently contemplated the 
 complete recasting of the institutions of India. 
 
 A measure 
 
192 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 A measure affecting the interests of so many mil- 
 lions of people, possesses an importance before 
 which all ordinary legislation sinks into insigni- 
 ficance. From the days of Justinian, no labour 
 so difficult, or fraught with such important conse- 
 quences, has been undertaken ; and whether, like 
 the volume of Roman jurisprudence, it shall be 
 destined to descend to the end of time, a monu- 
 ment of legislative genius and sagacity ; or, like 
 some less fortunate codes of modern creation, dis- 
 appear within a brief period after its promulga- 
 tion, must depend on the character of those to 
 whom its execution is committed. The project is 
 a grand one, whatever its success. 
 
 As the task allotted to the law commissioners 
 is by no means easy, the qualifications required 
 for its performance are not few. A compre- 
 hensive and accurate knowledge of human na- 
 ture ; an acquaintance with the principal codes 
 of law which have prevailed in the world, and 
 with the manner in which they have operated ; a 
 familiarity with the writings of the ablest jurists, 
 and with the principles of moral evidence ; an 
 intimacy with the local peculiarities, usages, and 
 modes of thought of the people whom their labours 
 are intended to benefit; strong logical faculties, 
 matured by habitual exercise ; great industry and 
 great caution ; these are some of the qualifications 
 which are indispensable. All of them can scarcely 
 
 be 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 193 
 
 be expected in an individual, but by a judicious 
 selection the whole may be secured within the 
 number prescribed by the Act. A perfect freedom 
 from prejudices of every kind will be essential to 
 a due discharge of the duty required of the com- 
 missioners, especially from such a prejudice in 
 favour of preconceived theories, as prevents even 
 ingenious and strong-minded men from seeing 
 more than half of any question ; and from two pre- 
 judices which divide between them the mass of 
 mankind— the prejudice in favour of every thing 
 that exists, and the opposite, equally foolish and 
 perhaps more mischievous prejudice, in favour 
 of every thing that is untried. Possessed of all 
 these qualifications, the framers of a code of law 
 for India must not be in too much haste. Every 
 thing that is important requires to be matured by 
 the operation of time ; and legislation is one of 
 the most important works to which the human 
 mind can apply its powers. 
 
 In the performance of this work, care must be 
 taken to avoid the error formerly committed, of 
 entrusting too much to native intelligence and 
 discretion. The lawgivers which India has been 
 accustomed to revere have no claim to our favour- 
 able consideration, except that which they derive 
 from their influence over the conduct and opinions 
 of so many millions of people. This, however, is 
 not to be disregarded ; and we must beware of 
 
 o attempting 
 
J94 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM;. 
 
 attempting too hastily to assail any principles 
 which are interwoven with the habits of the peo- 
 ple, even though it might appear to us that we 
 could substitute better. We are now, it might 
 be hoped, in little danger of entertaining a blind 
 admiration for the barbarous oracles of Hindoo and 
 Mussulman law ; we are, perhaps, more likely 
 to err on the other side, by regarding our own 
 views of what is right or what is expedient, as 
 adapted for universal application, and thus to 
 be induced to force upon India a system of law 
 which she is not prepared to receive, and which 
 is but ill calculated to work for her benefit. We 
 shall commit an error of this kind, if we assume 
 that the natural rights of mankind cannot lawfully 
 receive any modification from natural and local 
 circumstances. Natural rights ought to be re- 
 spected ; but it must be shewn, that the persons 
 on whose behalf they are claimed are in a con- 
 dition to exercise them, before they can be pru- 
 dently conceded. The infant, the idiot, and the 
 lunatic, are subjected to restraint. This restraint 
 is not imposed from the love of tyranny, but for 
 the good of the persons over whom it is exer- 
 cised ; and multitudes may sometimes be in a 
 condition, where to entrust them with all which 
 wild, but mistaken philanthropy would claim 
 for them, would be to involve them in certain 
 ruin, and suspend for ages their progress in 
 
 improvement. 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 195 
 
 improvement. With India we must probably 
 be content to follow the example of the Grecian 
 legislator, who affirmed that he had given his 
 countrymen not the best laws that could be 
 framed, but the best that they could bear. We 
 must be careful also not to mistake for natural 
 rights those which are not such. We constantly 
 hear the institutions of society condemned, for 
 violating natural rights in cases where nature 
 certainly has given no rule. For instance, the 
 law of primogeniture is frequently declared to 
 be a violation of the law of nature. It would be 
 extremely difficult, however, to show that nature 
 has given any law on the subject ; and if she had, 
 it might be presumed that that which has pre- 
 vailed most generally would be the true one. It 
 is not meant here to offer any opinion on the ad- 
 vantages or disadvantages of the law of primoge- 
 niture, but only to contend, that in this and a 
 multiplicity of other cases, where nature has been 
 supposed to speak, she is in truth silent, and has 
 left the matter in question to the decision of hu- 
 man prudence. 
 
 But we must guard in the next place against 
 an error of a different kind. A very active and 
 ingenious body of legislators in our own day deny 
 that man has any natural rights at all. They 
 would decide every thing upon the principle of ex- 
 pediency. They estimate the human feelings at 
 
 o 2 nothing 
 
196 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 nothing. They even despise the intuitive judgments 
 of the human reason, and would dismiss every prin- 
 ciple of morals and of legislation which does not 
 present itself as a deduction of the understanding. 
 Like most philosophic exclusives, these legislators 
 are inconsistent with themselves. They assume a 
 single principle, that all legislation should be de- 
 signed to promote M the greatest happiness of the 
 greatest number." The principle is both absurd 
 and dangerous. If it be just, then, in a country 
 where seven-twelfths of the people had one inte- 
 rest, and the remaining five-twelfths another, the 
 governing powers should legislate for the benefit 
 of the former, regardless of the latter. The ab- 
 surdity becomes more apparent when the sacri- 
 fice is of five to seven ; but the hardship and 
 cruelty would be just the same if the numbers 
 were ninety-nine to one. But the principle as- 
 sumed as the basis of utilitarian legislation, is 
 not only mischievous, but it is inconsistent with 
 the avowed design of its defenders. They will 
 leave nothing to feeling or intuition. The under- 
 standing is to be supreme, and no man is to main- 
 tain any thing which he cannot support by a 
 formal argument. The sense of justice, the feel- 
 ing of benevolence, are rejected as insufficient 
 guides. All moral principles must be squared to 
 the rules of expediency. The question, Why 
 must I do what is just ? would by most men be 
 
 thought 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 197 
 
 thought an unreasonable one, since in morals, as 
 in every other branch of human enquiry, there 
 must be an ultimate point, beyond which we 
 cannot proceed. But to the expounders of the 
 philosophy of utility, the question would not 
 appear a strange one : they would answer, be- 
 cause, by observing the rules of justice you will 
 promote the greatest happiness of the greatest 
 number. But, surely, the enquirer is not bound 
 to stop here, any more than at the former point. 
 He may demand, why am I bound to promote the 
 greatest happiness of the greatest number ? To 
 this the advocate of utility would, probably, an- 
 swer, by an appeal to the selfish feelings ; be- 
 cause, by doing so, you will stand the best chance 
 of promoting your own happiness. But the ob- 
 jector might still demur : he might say, instances 
 continually occur in which I may promote my 
 own benefit by violating those rules which, you 
 say, are essential to the good of the community : 
 why should I not avail myself of such oppor- 
 tunities, and despise those laws which you admit 
 have no better foundation than that of general ex- 
 pediency? You have removed all other sanctions, 
 why should I be stopped by this ? To such inter- 
 rogatories but one answer could be given— the 
 majority have the physical power, and they will 
 compel you to obey the laws of the community, 
 or punish you for your disobedience ; and thus 
 
 the 
 
198 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 the reasoner will leap at once from the theory of 
 Priestley and Bentham to that of Hobbes. It is 
 clear, then, that what is called " the greatest 
 happiness principle," so far from being able to 
 support the entire fabric of law and morals, is 
 unable to support itself; so far from being able to 
 give a tone to the moral feelings of the commu- 
 nity, it cannot exist but through the influence of 
 moral feelings derived from some other source. 
 The great distinctions of right and wrong exist 
 independently of any calculation of consequences; 
 and happy it is that they do so, for human pru- 
 dence would afford but a sorry substitute. The 
 mistakes of the wisest and best-intentioned, prove 
 the incompetency of the understanding of man to 
 decide on the best means of promoting his own 
 happiness, or that of his species. 
 
 The work of legislation will never be properly 
 performed, if any single principle is assumed as 
 its basis. There must be a compromise among 
 various principles, or the system will never work 
 harmoniously. 
 
 The principle of attachment to ancient insti- 
 tutions is one which is powerfully operative 
 among every people, except under very peculiar 
 circumstances. Men yield obedience more rea- 
 dily to that which is old than to that which is 
 new. Innovation is always attended with some 
 danger : and it is not only dangerous to shock 
 
 the 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 199 
 
 the feelings of men with regard to that which has 
 the sanction of time and custom, but the expe- 
 riment when made is seldom successful. Laws 
 and institutions, transplanted from one country to 
 another, rarely work smoothly or beneficially. The 
 cessio bonorum of Scotland is not attended by the 
 rich crop of vices which have arisen round the insol- 
 vent system of England. The United States of 
 America afford the only instance in modern times, 
 where laws which had grown out of the circum- 
 stances of one country have been successfully 
 applied to the government of another. But in 
 this case the people, as well as the laws, derive 
 their origin from the English, and carried with 
 them across the Atlantic a large portion of Eng- 
 lish thought, feelings, and manners. In India, 
 inhabited as it is by different races of people, it is 
 not necessary, and it will not be prudent, to en- 
 force, in all particulars, a perfect uniformity of 
 law. The law of inheritance is one which must 
 be treated with much forbearance. The Hindoo 
 has one law, the Mahometan another, the Eng- 
 lishman a third, and these may all be recognised, 
 and each party protected in that principle of 
 succession which he possibly deems important. 
 There are other points in which compliance with 
 customs, and even with prejudices when they are 
 harmless, may be necessary. The evils of a con- 
 trary practice have been too often exemplified, 
 
 but 
 
200 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 but never more strikingly than by the fate of Jo- 
 seph of Germany, who, by violent and ill judged 
 attempts to enforce what he believed to be neces- 
 sary reforms, and to establish uniform institutions 
 throughout his dominions, defeated his own pur- 
 poses, kindled the flame of rebellion among those 
 whose principle was implicit obedience, and died 
 despairing and broken-hearted, the victim of his 
 own precipitation and obstinacy. 
 
 There may, however, be practices so obviously 
 wrong and extensively mischievous, as to merit 
 no toleration. These must be dealt with on other 
 principles. Antiquity and prescription must not 
 be allowed to violate the common rights of man- 
 kind. Practices which outrage the great princi- 
 ciples of justice and benevolence must be re- 
 trenched with an unsparing hand. Man is en- 
 dowed by his Creator with certain rights, and no 
 government can be justified in permitting these 
 to be invaded with impunity. Oppression must 
 not be supported because it has prevailed from 
 time immemorial. The innocent and the weak 
 must be protected from wrong, though that wrong 
 be offered under the sanction of antiquity, and 
 even enforced by superstition. Government have 
 already acted upon these principles, and they will 
 not go back. 
 
 The principle of utility, though it has been 
 abused, must not be altogether rejected. Utility- 
 is 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 201 
 
 is an insufficient basis for moral science ; but it 
 affords a very good test of the quality of both pri- 
 vate and public acts. A law which produces 
 more misery than it prevents is clearly a bad one. 
 In many cases the path of the legislator is not 
 marked out by that higher species of law which 
 he, in common with all mankind, is bound to re- 
 verence. Thus left to himself, he must look to 
 probable consequences, and deducing a rule where 
 otherwise he would be left without one, he must, 
 to the best of his ability, strike a balance of good 
 and evil, and preserve as much as may be of the 
 former, with the smallest possible alloy of the 
 latter. The deductions of human prudence are, in- 
 deed, but too often fallacious; but in the absence 
 of any other guide it cannot be dispensed with. 
 
 The promotion of peace should be an important 
 object with every legislator. This principle is, in 
 some degree, connected with the first and the 
 last, already adverted to ; but it is of sufficient 
 importance to merit distinct mention. Peace is 
 an important instrument for securing to society 
 much of good that cannot be obtained without it. 
 But the legislator should not view it merely as 
 an instrument : he should regard it as an end ; 
 and in all the institutions which he is called upon 
 to frame, should keep its promotion steadily in 
 view. Its preservation is one of the great pur- 
 poses for which civil society exists. 
 
 The 
 
202 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 The principles enumerated may receive some 
 illustration from a subject already mentioned— the 
 inheritance of property. The peace of society 
 requires that some rule should be laid down ; the 
 law of nature (the second principle) gives none. 
 The legislator must, therefore, frame one as well 
 as he can with reference to other principles. Uti- 
 lity suggests the adoption of that which is best 
 calculated to promote the prosperity of the commu- 
 nity. The law of primogeniture tends to promote 
 the accumulation — that of equal division, the dis- 
 persion of wealth. In England, real property 
 descends according to one rule, personal property 
 according to the other ; and perhaps this is as be- 
 neficial an arrangement as could be adopted, tend- 
 ing, as it does, to check undue accumulation on 
 the one hand, and minute subdivision on the 
 other. But it is a matter of merely prudential 
 arrangement, and circumstances may render it 
 expedient, in some countries, to adopt a different 
 course. India may be one of them. Custom has 
 there laid down different rules for different classes 
 of people, and there may be no sufficient reason 
 for departing from them, especially as their pre- 
 servation will, in all probability, tend to the pre- 
 servation of peace. This is a case for the exercise 
 of the discretion of the legislator; but where any 
 great moral law interposes a sanction or a prohi- 
 bition, he has no option. He cannot change the 
 
 eternal 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 203 
 
 eternal distinctions of right and wrong, and he 
 must not legislate in disregard of them. 
 
 But he is thus bound only as to the principles 
 of his laws. Justice must be upheld, but by what 
 means must be left to the sagacity of the legisla- 
 tor. The principle of right interferes not with those 
 provisions which regulate the administration of 
 the laws ; and those are the best which will pro- 
 mote the ends of justice most completely, and 
 with the least amount of attendant inconvenience. 
 Some regard must, however, generally be paid to 
 existing systems. Where a people have been long- 
 accustomed to one mode of administering justice, 
 they will generally look with some distrust upon 
 any other. This, however, scarcely applies at all 
 to India. All the existing courts have been intro- 
 duced by the English, and consequently within 
 a very short period of time. Even within that 
 period they have been subjected to various changes, 
 and consequently the people cannot be supposed 
 to have formed any very deep-rooted attachment 
 to them. They prefer English courts to those with 
 which they were cursed under their native princes, 
 because the latter were as inefficient for good and 
 as potent for evil as was possible ; but their con- 
 fidence is in the integrity of their rulers, and would 
 readily be given to courts differently modified, if 
 sanctioned by the same authority, and made 
 equally or more beneficial in their operation. As 
 
 far, 
 
204 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 far, therefore, as the arbitrary arrangements for 
 the administration of justice are concerned, the 
 legislator will have little prejudice to contend 
 with. He should therefore strike boldly at the 
 root of existing evils, and not shrink from a mea- 
 sure of sweeping change, if it be called for by the 
 state of the country. In every age, however, 
 there are some prevailing opinions which pass 
 current upon the mere strength of clamour, and 
 which the enlightened legislator must carefully 
 examine previous to adoption. In our own day, 
 there are some errors afloat on the subject of the 
 administration of the law, which like most popu- 
 lar errors are mixed with a small portion of truth, 
 from which they derive their plausibility and cur- 
 rency. There are two assertions which are con- 
 stantly repeated by a certain class of reasoners, or 
 non-reasoners,with such a degree of confidence as if 
 they were self-evident truths, and at the same time 
 with such an assumption of sagacity as if they were 
 new discoveries. These are, that the administra- 
 tion of justice should be cheap, and that it should 
 be speedy. These assertions cannot be met by a 
 flat denial ; but a little examination will shew, 
 that in the unqualified manner in which they are 
 advanced, they are calculated to lead to conse- 
 quences rather mischievous than beneficial. The 
 promise of cheap justice is very tempting ; but 
 then we ought to be sure that the promise will be 
 
 fulfilled. 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 205 
 
 fulfilled. If instead of cheap justice we only get 
 cheap law, we shall have small occasion to rejoice. 
 If disputes could be decided without any expense, 
 it might be well : but lawyers will not take the 
 trouble of studying the law for the mere pleasure 
 of administering it ; and having studied it, they 
 will not give their time and labour, either in 
 deciding causes or in preparing them for decision, 
 without remuneration. The amount of remune- 
 ration will, in a great measure, determine the 
 amount of talent, information, and even of inte- 
 grity, that shall be brought to the task. If higher 
 emoluments can be commanded by talent in any 
 other profession, talent will not find its way into 
 the law ; and no man will consume his days and 
 nights in the acquisition of legal knowledge, if 
 his reward is to be altogether inadequate to his 
 labour. Integrity, it was observed by one of the 
 witnesses before the Parliamentary Committee, is, 
 in some sense, " a purchaseable article." He is 
 most likely to preserve it who is removed from 
 temptation. If a judge or a legal practitioner be 
 but indifferently paid, he may think it not worth 
 while to keep a conscience : but when his emo- 
 luments are large, and their continuance depen- 
 dent upon his good conduct, his interest and his 
 duty draw the same way. To place the judge 
 above temptation, and even above suspicion, is 
 indispensable. But this will not be sufficient, 
 
 unless 
 
20G THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 unless the advocates and agents who are required 
 in the conduct of suits are sufficiently rewarded. 
 We see in our own country, that the higher class 
 of attornies are the more respectable, not only in 
 point of circumstances, but in point of character. 
 The lower part of the profession are at once a dis- 
 grace and a scourge to the country. In India it 
 appears to be the same. The vakeels in the supe- 
 rior courts are respectable ; in the inferior they 
 are not. As a general rule, to keep men respec- 
 table, you must keep them above want ; you may- 
 pay judges at a cheap rate, but their quality will 
 be proportioned to their price ; and stupid, igno- 
 rant, and corrupt judges are always dear enough. 
 Under no system of law can professional advice and 
 assistance be altogether dispensed with. You may 
 have that, too, at any price ; but if you would secure 
 ability, knowledge, industry, and faithfulness, 
 you must offer such terms as will command these 
 qualities. The course of justice, then, cannot be 
 very cheap : the charges necessary to secure its 
 purity must ever prevent its being so. If law be 
 rendered very cheap, it will be inefficient and cor- 
 rupt. Instead of affording protection, it will be- 
 come an instrument of oppression and wrong. 
 Much has been said of the advantages of placing 
 law within the reach of the poor. For the most 
 part, they are much happier in keeping out of it ; 
 and it seems to be forgotten, that where the par- 
 ties 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 207 
 
 ties are in different circumstances, the rich man is 
 generally the plaintiff and the poor man the de- 
 fendant. The former is sometimes deterred from 
 proceeding by the apprehension that he may gain 
 nothing but a bill of costs. Take away this fear, 
 and actions will be multiplied to an enormous 
 extent. Is it necessary, in India, to stimulate 
 the litigious propensities of the natives ? 
 
 The other demand, that justice should not only 
 be cheap but speedy, must, like its fellow, not be 
 conceded without some considerable qualification. 
 There must be sufficient time for bringing the 
 case properly before the court ; sufficient time for 
 hearing it calmly and deliberately, and sufficient 
 time for weighing and considering its merits; and 
 afterwards, if the parties are dissatisfied, sufficient 
 time for consideration on appeal, or, if necessary, 
 for a new trial. Complaints of the law's delay 
 are so ancient and universal, that we may almost 
 conclude that a considerable portion of delay is 
 inevitable. Even this, like the expense of law, 
 is not without its counterbalancing advantages. 
 It affords time for accommodation, and disposes 
 men to accede to it. If this be not enough to jus- 
 tify, it is something to extenuate the evil of delay. 
 In many cases, time will enable a defendant to 
 meet the claim of his creditor which he could not 
 satisfy if pressed at once. Men frequently say 
 one thing whilst they intend another ; and when 
 
 creditors 
 
208 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 creditors cry out for speedy justice, they mean 
 speedy judgment and execution. 
 
 The question of the employment of natives in 
 judicial situations occupied a considerable share 
 of the attention of the late Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee. It is attended with considerable difficul- 
 ties. The notorious want of moral principle in 
 the natives generally, is a formidable objection to 
 their employment in judicial services beyond all 
 others, while the impossibility of providing a suf- 
 ficient number of Europeans to perform them, 
 scarcely leaves a choice on the subject. The 
 question has been settled, in point of fact, by the 
 extensive jurisdiction which has been bestowed 
 upon the native judges. This having taken place, 
 there is no going back. Whatever courts may 
 be established, and whatever the modes of prac- 
 tice, the judicial functions must be exercised to a 
 great extent by natives. No people should be 
 regarded as unimprovable, and it may be hoped, 
 that a better state of moral feeling may in time 
 prevail in India. In the mean while, all that can 
 be done to secure the integrity of the native 
 judges must be attended to. They ought to be 
 remunerated, not only fairly but liberally. None 
 should be appointed but men respectable in point 
 of character as well as of talent and attainments, 
 and their proceedings should be subjected to the 
 vigilant superintendence of Europeans. It has 
 
 been 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 209 
 
 been suggested, that it might be desirable to be- 
 stow upon them pensions, after a certain period 
 of service. Perhaps this might be made an in- 
 strument of securing their good conduct. The 
 salary might be a moderate one, but the pension 
 on retirement considerable : the latter to be en- 
 tirely forfeited in case of misconduct. In the 
 event of the death of a judge before the period 
 allowed for retirement, a sum proportioned to his 
 length of service might be paid to his heirs, sub- 
 ject to the same conditions as those of the pension. 
 It is certain that it will at present not be easy to 
 secure the purity of native judges, and whatever 
 promises to promote this end deserves considera- 
 tion. It has been assumed by many, that the 
 way to raise the character of the natives will be, 
 to treat them with confidence. This conclusion 
 seems to be scarcely warranted by experience. 
 Undoubtedly, one of the most effectual modes of 
 weakening the principles of an honest and ho- 
 nourable man, is to treat him with unjust sus- 
 picion. He becomes degraded in his own esti- 
 mation, in proportion as he perceives himself to 
 have fallen in that of others, and one power- 
 ful restraint upon his conduct is removed. But, 
 though the withholding confidence may impair the 
 character of an honest man, it may be doubted 
 whether the bestowal of confidence will raise the 
 character of a dishonest one. At all events, the 
 
 p experiment 
 
210 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 experiment is a hazardous one. Confidence, too, 
 though it may be dissembled in such a case, can- 
 not be felt. It is, as Lord Chatham observed, "a 
 plant of slow growth;" and when, for a succes- 
 sion of years, nothing has appeared but deception 
 and chicane, credulity itself cannot believe that 
 sincerity and straightforwardness should arise at 
 a moment's notice. Confidence, however, or the 
 appearance of it, has been yielded. The step 
 has been taken, and cannot be recalled. But we 
 must not be too sanguine in the belief, that our 
 confidence will not be in many cases abused. 
 
 In placing the law of India on a permanent 
 footing, the conflicting jurisdictions of the King's 
 and the Company's courts must be accommo- 
 dated. The Supreme Court appears to be, in 
 many respects, ill adapted for the country, and 
 some of its modes of procedure to be ill adapted 
 to promote the ends of justice in any country. 
 That a man who has reason to believe himself out 
 of the jurisdiction of the court, should be liable to 
 be arrested, and carried several hundred miles, to 
 answer in an action which may turn out to be fri- 
 volous, or even groundless, is a grievance which 
 ought not to continue for a single month. The 
 aversion of the natives to the Supreme Court has, 
 probably, as much of prejudice as of rational ob- 
 jection ; but there is certainly enough in some of 
 its proceedings to j ustify the feeling. The Supreme 
 
 Court 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 211 
 
 Court ought not to be permitted, and in all pro- 
 bability will not be permitted, to exist according 
 to its present practice and constitution. It might, 
 perhaps, be incorporated with the general system 
 of the courts of the country in such a way as to 
 become a useful appendage to them. What that 
 system will be must at present be vain to antici- 
 pate. 
 
 The first thing necessary will be to provide suf- 
 ficient courts of primary jurisdiction. Under the 
 system hitherto prevailing in India, there have 
 been courts of different grades, rising above one 
 another in the amount on which they could adju- 
 dicate. This system is radically vicious, and its 
 evil tendency is forcibly exposed by Mr. Mill. 
 He says: " Another objection of mine to the 
 courts of India is, that they have been esta- 
 blished upon the principle of one sort of courts 
 for sums of small amount, another sort for sums 
 of higher— the best tribunals for the highest sums, 
 the worst tribunals for the lowest; declaring, 
 in fact, that more care is due to prevent wrongs 
 done to the rich than wrongs done to the poor." 
 This is an error into which legislators are very 
 apt to fall. The sum in dispute is small, and 
 they refer it to an inferior judge ; but the diffi- 
 culty of adjudicating properly with regard to a 
 small sum, may be as great as with regard to a 
 large one. A claim for 100 rupees may be beset 
 
 p 2 with 
 
212 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 with many difficulties, both as to law and fact ; 
 a claim for 10,000 may be very plain with regard 
 to both. It is obviously unreasonable to assign 
 the difficult and complicated case to the inferior 
 judge, merely because it involves only a small 
 sum, and the plain case to a more competent 
 judge, because the sum claimed is a large one ; and 
 it is not less invidious than unreasonable. All 
 causes, whatever be the value of the matter in 
 dispute, should come before the same judge. The 
 sum in question may be a trifle : but justice is 
 not a trifle, and justice should be dispensed to 
 the poor man as well as to the rich. 
 
 All petty courts should be forthwith abolished, 
 and respectable judges, with adequate pecuniary 
 advantages, appointed to preside in the courts of 
 primary jurisdiction. To secure impartiality, no 
 judge should be fixed in any particular district. 
 A local judge never can be impartial. Even if his 
 intentions are good, he in many cases must be- 
 come a partizan, in spite of himself. By long 
 residence, he becomes intimately acquainted with 
 many of the persons who must appear before him, 
 either as parties to suits or witnesses. If the dis- 
 trict be neither large nor populous, he will in no 
 great length of time be acquainted almost with 
 every person in it, and it will be impossible to 
 keep his mind free from prepossessions and pre- 
 judices. If the judges must be local, they should 
 
 be 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 213 
 
 be removed from one district to another at inter- 
 vals. But it would be much better that a plan 
 should be adopted somewhat similar to the Eng- 
 lish circuits. A number of judges might be assigned 
 to a given division of the country, which should 
 be subdivided into a number of circuits. At stated 
 and convenient periods the judges should visit the 
 circuits, to administer justice, care being taken 
 that no individual judge went the same circuit too 
 frequently. The courts should be opened at va- 
 rious places, so as to diminish, as much as pos- 
 sible, the distance which parties and witnesses 
 would have to travel, and thus to cut off one 
 important source of expense. It is absolutely 
 necessary to the pure administration of justice, 
 that the judges, of the primary courts should be 
 ambulatory. Even in our own country, where the 
 means of publicity are so great, and the checks 
 on the bench so numerous, the system of Welsh 
 judicature was, on account of its localization, 
 found to be fraught with such a mass of abuse, as 
 to call for its abolition by the Legislature. 
 
 In each division there might be a judge of ap- 
 peal, who should always be a European. Mr. 
 Mill's view of the functions of an appellate judge 
 appears to be the correct one. He should, in no 
 case, hear new evidence, which is, in fact, to re- 
 try the cause. Upon the view of the pleadings 
 and evidence, he should either confirm, vary, or 
 
 reverse 
 
214 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 reverse the decree of the court below ; or if he 
 think that evidence has been improperly rejected, 
 he should send back the case for a fresh hearing. 
 
 Further, there might be one superior court of 
 appeal for the whole of the British possessions in 
 India. Mr. Mill has shewn the importance of 
 such a court, in securing uniformity in the law, 
 and the advantages which would result from plac- 
 ing it at Calcutta. But he would do away with 
 intermediate appeals, and in this point the sound- 
 ness of his views is open to doubt. If all appeals 
 went at once to the highest court, the judges must 
 be very numerous, or the court would be over- 
 loaded with business. By interposing the first 
 appeal, this inconvenience would be avoided. 
 Many cases would stop there, and the judges of 
 the highest court would have sufficient time to 
 give proper attention to those that came before 
 them. Mr. Mill's opinion, that one judge is pre- 
 ferable to a plurality, will probably not find many 
 supporters. The judges should sit together in 
 number not less than three. Mr. Mill alleges, 
 that the time which they would consume in talk- 
 ing of the case would be saved if only a single 
 judge sate. This may be true ; but it is surely 
 important, and more especially so in a tribunal of 
 the last resort, that causes should receive due con- 
 sideration. It is more important that they should 
 be decided justly, than that they should be de- 
 cided 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 215 
 
 cided quickly. Possibly the supreme courts might 
 be incorporated with the high court of appeal ; 
 but, however constituted, the judgments of this 
 court should be final. The appeal to England 
 should be abolished. There can be no reason to 
 doubt that justice can be secured in India ; and if 
 so, why should either persons or papers traverse 
 half the world in search of that which may be had 
 at home ? 
 
 It has been proposed to give the European judges 
 a concurrent jurisdiction with the native judges. 
 It would surely be better to confine their atten- 
 tion to appeals and applications for new trials. If 
 it be desirable to endeavour to raise the character 
 of the native judges, they ought not to be brought 
 into immediate comparison with Europeans. The 
 time of the European judges, too, would, in all 
 probability, be sufficiently occupied by appeals. 
 
 The proper mode of paying the judges gives 
 rise to a question of some importance, but regard- 
 ing which there is little ground for difference of 
 opinion. They should receive adequate salaries, 
 and neither depend wholly or in part upon fees. 
 Where a judge is paid by fees, there is a door 
 opened to abuses of the worst description. Among 
 other results, the decision of such a judge is always 
 in favour of the plaintiff, if he can find a decent 
 pretext for it. It may be true, that he may get 
 no more in one case than in the other; but he 
 
 indirectly 
 
216 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 indirectly promotes his interests by tempting 
 suitors into his court. 
 
 The modes of procedure before the Court of 
 Primary Jurisdiction cannot be expected to vary 
 much from those which are now in use. The 
 pleadings appear to be reduced to as much sim- 
 plicity as they are capable of; and if they are 
 frequently defective, in consequence of being 
 prepared by ignorant persons, the only proper 
 remedy is to provide for the people a better set 
 of legal advisers. The practice of oral pleading 
 would throw great power into the hands of the 
 judge; and with native judges, especially, this is 
 not expedient. The privilege which it has been 
 proposed to concede to the judge, of determining 
 what witnesses should be called, would enable 
 him to give any judgment he pleased, and pre- 
 serve at the same time an appearance of decency. 
 To avoid the existing evil, and the still greater 
 evil which would result from the proposed remedy, 
 the courts of India must be assisted by respect- 
 able legal practitioners, competent to the duties 
 required of them. Whether they should unite the 
 two characters of attorney and advocate, or whe- 
 ther these two classes should be kept distinct, 
 may be best determined on the spot. Their fees 
 should be regulated, and they should certainly 
 not be paid as the vakeels at present are, by a 
 per-centage on the amount in dispute. It will 
 
 be 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 217 
 
 be important to render them amenable for their 
 conduct, and at the same time to free them from 
 slavish dependence upon the native judge. With 
 this view, they should be removable only by the 
 Judge of Appeal. Due provision should be made 
 for the admission of none but men of competent 
 knowledge in the law, and of respectable charac- 
 ter. As nothing tends more to promote litigation, 
 and its consequent misery, than a herd of unprin- 
 cipled and starving lawyers, it might be desirable 
 to limit the number of these officers. There 
 should be no more than are likely to obtain a live- 
 lihood ; at the same time they should be suffi- 
 ciently numerous for the transaction of business 
 without confusion or delay, to ensure the advan- 
 tages of competition, and to give the client a rea- 
 sonable choice. 
 
 The administration of the criminal law might 
 be placed in the same hands as that of the civil 
 law. There seem no good reasons for dividing, 
 and there are some for uniting them under one 
 jurisdiction. The European judges should, how- 
 ever, keep a vigilant eye upon the conduct of the 
 natives, in the exercise of their criminal, as well 
 as their civil authority, and the punishment of 
 death should never be inflicted except with the 
 sanction of the highest court. The gaol deliveries 
 should be frequent. In civil matters, a slight delay 
 is of small importance; but to subject an inno- 
 cent 
 
218 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 cent man to unnecessary imprisonment is a serious 
 evil. As the judges would not, like those of Eng- 
 land, be required to sit in banco, they might be 
 almost constantly upon circuit, and the time be- 
 tween committal and trial need in no case be a 
 long one. 
 
 Englishmen are naturally attached to the mode 
 of trial by jury, and their attachment is natural 
 and just. Trial by jury is, perhaps, the best pro- 
 tection which human sagacity ever devised against 
 that worst species of tyranny which invades the 
 rights of mankind, under the mask of law. Its 
 indirect effects in maintaining the love of justice 
 and freedom among a people, and in diffusing a 
 pure and elevated public spirit, are scarcely less 
 beneficial ; and with these views, from which few 
 Englishmen will dissent, we must be desirous to 
 see trial by jury extended to every part of the do- 
 minions subjected to British sway. It has been 
 proposed to extend it to India ; but is India pre- 
 pared to receive and benefit by it ? There is, as 
 has been observed, " a great want of the mate- 
 rials necessary to compose tribunals at all resem- 
 bling English juries." It is admitted, that there 
 will be some difficulty in finding a sufficient num- 
 ber of natives qualified in point of integrity to 
 undertake the judicial office. Can there, in such 
 a society, be any hope of getting an honest and 
 impartial jury? In striking a jury, no great selec- 
 tion 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 219 
 
 tion can be used. It must be made up from a 
 certain class taken almost indiscriminately. Trial 
 by jury is an admirable institution ; but it sup- 
 poses a high tone of moral sentiment diffused 
 among the people, and, admirable as it is, it has 
 scarcely answered any where as an instrument of 
 justice, except in Great Britain and the United 
 States of America. In France, it is a decided 
 failure. In India, besides being inexpedient, it 
 would be highly unpopular. Where men are to- 
 tally absorbed in self, they will feel annoyed at 
 being called from the care of their own business 
 to attend to that of others without reward ; this 
 would be felt as a grievance, and they would, no 
 doubt, endeavour to remedy it by selling them- 
 selves to the party best able to purchase. The 
 power entrusted to native judges will require to 
 be carefully guarded. But it is possible to give 
 a judge, who is a paid officer, a direct interest in 
 doing right. A jury must, in a great degree, be 
 irresponsible, and the Hindoos are not in a con- 
 dition to be trusted with irresponsible power. 
 
 An institution bearing some resemblance, though 
 a distant one, to a jury, has long existed among 
 the Hindoos under the name of a punchayet. 
 This is a body composed of private individuals, 
 originally five, but now varying in number, to 
 whom disputes are referred by the consent of the 
 parties, and in some cases the Company's courts 
 
 have 
 
220 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 have availed themselves of its use. The natives 
 have no partiality for officiating on these tribu- 
 nals. They are not willing, said the Bengal Go- 
 vernment in 1827, " to sacrifice their time with- 
 out remuneration, for the benefit of their neigh- 
 bours or for the public good. They know that 
 their award will, in all human probability, make 
 one of the parties their enemy, and they are too 
 well aware of the character of their countrymen, 
 to doubt that the first mark of such enmity would 
 generally be an accusation, whether just or un- 
 founded, that they had given such award under 
 the influence of partiality or corruption." Con- 
 siderable solicitation is generally necessary to 
 overcome this reluctance, and this is not unfre- 
 quently enforced by the more powerful advocacy 
 of presents. The proceedings of punchayets are, 
 as might be expected, exceedingly disorderly, 
 and their decisions give little satisfaction. They 
 are either distinguished by gross negligence, or if 
 any interest is excited, it is of an improper cha- 
 racter, arising from the fact of each individual 
 member regarding himself, not as a judge to de- 
 cide according to truth and equity, but as an ad- 
 vocate who is to do the best for the person who 
 has retained him. Their conduct as jurors would, 
 doubtless, be similar. They would either let the 
 judge think for them, in which case their attend- 
 ance would be useless, or each man would fight 
 
 for 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 221 
 
 for his particular client, which would be mis- 
 chievous. When India is qualified to appreciate 
 the invaluable blessing of trial by jury, and to use 
 it well and wisely, it ought to be conceded ; till 
 then, it is charity as well as wisdom to withhold 
 it. Whenever the period of introducing it may 
 arrive, it should be upon the English principle of 
 requiring unanimity in the verdict. This is a secu- 
 rity against corruption, because it is more easy to 
 corrupt a part than the whole ; it is a security for 
 full examination, because difference of opinion, if 
 it exist, cannot be removed without discussion ; 
 it is, in a certain degree, a security for a just 
 decision, because, in the interchange of opinion 
 imposed by the necessity of discussion, the influ- 
 ence of discrimination and integrity will be con- 
 siderable. Trial by jury, where unanimity is not 
 required, deserves not the name. In no country 
 is the institution thus deprived of one of its limbs 
 of any value. In India especially, the decision 
 of a mere majority of jurors could command no 
 respect, and the verdict might almost as well be 
 made to depend upon the toss of a rupee. 
 
 The language in which a large portion of the 
 proceedings of the courts in India are transacted 
 is the Persian — not the language of the country, 
 but introduced by those who subjugated it. It is 
 a language, however, very generally studied and 
 understood by the educated classes, and on this 
 
 account, 
 
222 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 account, probably, has hitherto deserved the pre- 
 ference which has been given it. If superseded, 
 as it perhaps ultimately will be by the English, 
 the process must be very gradual. Until the lat- 
 ter language is as well understood as the former, 
 great inconveniences would arise from its intro- 
 duction, causing, among others, the exclusion of 
 native pleaders from practice. For many reasons 
 we must be desirous of extending the use of our 
 native tongue; but this, like many other good 
 ends, must not be urged with too much precipi- 
 tancy. 
 
 To lay down scientific and just rules of evidence 
 for the guidance of the courts, and to frame a sys- 
 tem of conveyancing adapted to the country, will 
 be two important and most useful labours. The for- 
 mer will be a comparatively simple task, as there 
 is little reason for varying the rules of evidence in 
 any country. In criminal proceedings, the inter- 
 rogation of accused persons, and other odious 
 practices, sanctioned by the codes of some coun- 
 tries, though happily not by the law of England, 
 should be carefully avoided, and the wise and 
 humane maxims which among us have passed into 
 axioms, that " every man should be presumed 
 to be innocent until he is proved guilty," and that 
 " it is better that ten guilty persons should escape 
 than that one innocent man should suffer," should 
 be steadily kept in view. In civil cases, although 
 
 the 
 
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 223 
 
 the disqualifications of witnesses should not be 
 unnecessarily multiplied, the parties to the suits 
 should be rigorously excluded. Their examination 
 would be productive of nothing but abundance of 
 perjury ; and in the courts of India it will be un- 
 necessary to offer a bounty on the fabrication of 
 false testimony. The supply will be quite suffi- 
 cient without it. 
 
 To frame a judicious system of conveyancing 
 will be a work of greater difficulty, and will 
 require a most intimate and minute acquaintance 
 with the nature of Indian tenures, so widely dif- 
 fering from those of Europe, and of our own coun- 
 try espcially. In matters of evidence, an English 
 lawyer of enlarged mind and knowledge would 
 be the best guide ; in conveyancing, he would 
 probably be the worst. The subject must be 
 approached with extreme caution, and informa- 
 tion must be sought with the most sedulous care ; 
 for it is a fact, that notwithstanding a large part 
 of India has been so long subject to our rule, we 
 are yet but imperfectly acquainted with the nature 
 and conditions of landed tenures in that country. 
 A system of registration will, in all probability, 
 form part of the new law. In some countries — in 
 our own, for instance— the advantages of such a 
 plan are very doubtful, and a large portion of the 
 community regard its evils as greater than its bene- 
 fits. But where fraud is of such constant occur- 
 rence 
 
224 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 rence as in India, there will be little security for 
 property without it. The attendant evil will not 
 be so great as in a nation of higher feeling and 
 greater refinement ; but whether great or small, 
 it is one which, under the present circumstances, 
 must be submitted to, in order to avoid something 
 worse. 
 
225 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
 In India, the great source from which the finan- 
 cial wants of the state are supplied is the land 
 revenue. The modes of its collection and admi- 
 nistration are various. One of these modes is 
 distinguished by the name of the zemindary sys- 
 tem. Under this system may be classed all those 
 cases in which any portion of land beyond that of 
 a village is rated at a certain sum in the gross, 
 and the payment of that sum undertaken by an 
 individual, usually called a zemindar. He, of 
 course, collects from the actual cultivators the 
 sums necessary to make up the amount for which 
 he is accountable. Occasionally the office of 
 zemindar is exercised, not by an individual, but 
 by a small number of persons. In some cases, 
 parties claim the office by hereditary right; in 
 others, it is held only for a term, sometimes a very 
 short one. In extent the variations are not less 
 considerable, ascending from two villages to an 
 entire district, and even a whole province. In 
 the lower provinces of Bengal the zemindary sys- 
 tem is universal ; all the zemindars are recognized 
 
 Q as 
 
226 REVENUE. 
 
 as hereditary, and the amount to be levied upon 
 each is fixed in perpetuity. 
 
 The ryotwar system derives its appellation from 
 the class of persons who are immediately subject 
 to it. Ryot is the specific name of the tiller of 
 the soil, and under this system he makes his pay- 
 ment directly to an officer of the Government. 
 The ryotwar system admits of two varieties. 
 According to one, a sum is assessed upon each 
 ryot for the whole of what he cultivates ; by the 
 other, which was introduced by Sir Thomas 
 Munro, each field is separately assessed, and the 
 payment of the ryot is made up of the sums spe- 
 cially charged upon the several portions of land 
 which he has in cultivation. 
 
 Between the two systems already described 
 stands a third, which has been called the village 
 system. As the name implies, each village under 
 this mode of assessment is rated at an aggregate 
 sum, and an individual is held answerable for the 
 amount. The choice of the person whose duty it 
 is to make up and pay over to the officers of 
 Government the amount of the assessment, is not 
 regulated by any uniform principle. In some 
 cases, particular individuals or families claim a 
 right to the office ; in others, the agents are chosen 
 by the village ; in others, again, they are selected 
 by the Government. 
 
 The Madras presidency is partly under zemin- 
 
 dary 
 
REVENUE. 227 
 
 dary settlement and partly under a ryotwar assess- 
 ment. In Bombay all the three systems are in 
 operation. 
 
 The importance of the land revenue renders 
 the mode of collection a point of considerable con- 
 sequence, it being, of course, desirable to transfer 
 the largest amount into the public treasury with 
 the least possible inconvenience to those from 
 whom it is drawn. Some observations will here- 
 after be made upon the various systems which 
 have been resorted to with this view ; but it will 
 be proper previously to advert briefly to the other 
 sources of Indian revenue. 
 
 These are the monopolies of salt, opium, and 
 tobacco ; — the inland transit duties, originating 
 under native rule, but retained, for the most part, 
 in a modified form, by the British Government ; — 
 the customs, under which head are included the 
 duty on saltpetre and the monopoly of carda- 
 mums ;— a number of minor imposts, sometimes 
 called sayer duties; — the duties included under 
 the term abkaree, comprising those on spirituous 
 liquors, intoxicating drugs, and some other ar- 
 ticles ; — the town duties, formerly applied to local 
 improvements, but now merged in the general 
 revenue ;— the wheel-tax, levied upon hackerys, 
 carts, buggy s, &c. ; — the post-office, and the 
 stamp-duties. 
 
 The monopoly of Salt exists in Madras and the 
 q 2 lower 
 
228 REVENUE. 
 
 lower provinces of Bengal. The Company make 
 advances to a description of persons called Mo- 
 lunghees, who are the manufacturers. In Bengal 
 the salt is disposed of by auction at monthly 
 sales ; and the price, on an average of three years, 
 has been found to be about 288 per cent, above 
 the original cost and charges. In Madras the salt 
 is sold at a fixed price, which does not exceed 
 one-fourth of the average price in Bengal ; but it 
 is said that the profit derived from it is greater, 
 the cost of production being comparatively small. 
 Various objections have been taken to this 
 source of revenue, and one of them is certainly not 
 undeserving of consideration. It cannot be de- 
 nied that a regulation which, for the mere purpose 
 of revenue, adds enormously to the price of an 
 article which must be regarded as a prime neces- 
 sary of life, is an evil of no small magnitude. But 
 those who urge this are bound to shew how the 
 same amount of revenue could be raised less inju- 
 riously. It is quite clear that it must be raised 
 by some means. The wants of the state must be 
 provided for, and an annual deficiency of upwards 
 of a million and a-half sterling, which would result 
 from the abolition of the salt monopoly, could not 
 be supplied with any degree of certainty from new 
 sources. Upon this ground the Company have 
 been permitted, notwithstanding the extinction of 
 their commercial character, to retain this and a 
 
 few 
 
REVENUE. 229 
 
 few other branches of trade, which they possess 
 exclusively. The objection, grounded on the sim- 
 ple allegation of the generally odious character of 
 monopoly, is unworthy of notice. An enlightened 
 legislature will not be influenced by mere words. 
 It is not enough to say, that this or tha* branch 
 of revenue is derived from monopoly, to warrant 
 its condemnation. The proper questions are- 
 is the monopoly practically injurious, and will 
 the state of the revenue afford the diminution 
 which will result from its abolition ? If the an- 
 swer to either of these questions be in the nega- 
 tive, the mere term monopoly must not be 
 allowed to have any weight. An excise regula- 
 tion has been suggested as a substitute ; but the 
 expanse would be much greater than under the 
 present system, and the protection to the revenue 
 much less. If the same amount were to be raised, 
 the charge to the consumer could not be reduced ; 
 and if he were to pay as much in the shape of 
 excise duty as he now pays in another form, it 
 would be difficult to shew how he would be bene- 
 fited. It has been said that a cheaper supply 
 could be obtained by importation from the coasts 
 of Coromandel and Malabar, Ceylon, the Gulph 
 of Persia, and even Great Britain ; but then it 
 must be subjected to a custom-house duty, for 
 the purpose of securing the revenue. If the state 
 can spare the revenue, let the trade be thrown 
 
 open ; 
 
230, REVENUE. 
 
 open ; if it cannot, the importation must be so 
 regulated as not to interfere in any way with its 
 interests. 
 
 The situation of the producers of salt has been 
 represented as very lamentable ; but on this point 
 the evidence is in some degree conflicting. Mr. 
 Tucker, a high authority, places them " among 
 the worst-conditioned of our native subjects, from 
 climate, situation, and the nature of their labour." 
 Mr. Holt Mackenzie takes a different view of their 
 condition, which he " believes to be generally 
 better than that of the general cultivators of the 
 country." Between the opinions of two gentle- 
 men, having enjoyed the means of personal obser- 
 vation, it would be arrogant to attempt to decide. 
 If the more gloomy view be the correct one, it 
 may be desirable, on that ground, to discontinue 
 the manufacture of salt, except in the most favour- 
 able situations, and to supply the deficiency by 
 importation, due care being taken that the reve- 
 nue is protected, and also that those persons 
 thrown out of employment should not sustain 
 permanent injury. It deserves notice, also, that 
 some prejudices exist in favour of Bengal salt, 
 though inferior to the produce of other countries. 
 Peculiarity of taste and superstitious feeling com- 
 bine to sanction these prejudices. 
 
 Opium affords another source of revenue which, 
 like salt, is branded with the name of monopoly. 
 
 As 
 
REVENUE. 231 
 
 As in this case it cannot be pretended that the 
 article monopolized is a necessary of life, or even, 
 generally speaking, conducive to human com- 
 fort, justly understood, there is less room for de- 
 clamatory appeals in favour of freedom, and less 
 to excuse the placing a large amount of revenue 
 in jeopardy for the sake of a political experiment. 
 The monopoly exists throughout the whole of In- 
 dia ; but the opium is principally raised in the 
 provinces of Bahar and Benares, which are pecu- 
 culiarly favourable to its cultivation. The Com- 
 pany make advances to the cultivator of the 
 poppy, and when the opium is made, it is de- 
 livered into their warehouses ; but the Company 
 do not export it. It is disposed of to merchants 
 by public auction ; thenceforth the trade is per- 
 fectly open, and most of the commercial houses in 
 Calcutta are engaged in it. Very little is con- 
 sumed in India, and, as has already been inti- 
 mated, the larger portion finds its way to China. 
 This source of revenue has been considerably af- 
 fected by the opium introduced from Malwa and 
 other places. To conciliate the natives of central 
 India, the monopoly has been in some degree re- 
 laxed, and opium passes through the British ter- 
 ritories on payment of transit duties, or by issuing 
 a permit or license in consideration of a certain 
 sum, which enables opium, belonging to the par- 
 ties who obtain it, to pass without interruption. 
 
 Tobacco 
 
232 REVENUE. 
 
 Tobacco is, perhaps, a less unobjectionable ar- 
 ticle of monopoly, which in this case is partial ; 
 but as far as it extends its operation appears to be 
 injurious. It places beyond the reach of the larger 
 class of consumers an article which is much desired, 
 and the use of which is said to be beneficial to them 
 under their local circumstances. The protection 
 against smuggling is very inefficient, and great 
 outrages are occasionally committed by those en- 
 gaged in the illicit trade. 
 
 The Post Office is in almost all countries a mo- 
 nopoly. India is an exception to this rule. The 
 present mode of conveying the mail is by runners, 
 who travel at the rate of about four miles an hour. 
 In some parts of the Deccan, a horse post has 
 been tried, and in one instance a light carriage. 
 The nature of the country is at present unfavour- 
 able for the use of these improvements ; but as it 
 advances in prosperity, the importance of rapid 
 and certain modes of communication will be- 
 come apparent, and the means will doubtless be 
 provided. The post is yet little used by the na- 
 tives, and the revenue derived from it is trifling. 
 
 Transit Duties form a source of revenue of very 
 old standing in India. They were levied by the 
 native princes, though not precisely under their 
 present system ; and even the great zemindars 
 assumed, with or without authority, the power of 
 collecting duties on merchandize passing through 
 
 their 
 
REVENUE. 233 
 
 their zemindaries. This was, of course, produc- 
 tive of great evil and vexation, which the British 
 authority gradually endeavoured to correct. The 
 reform was begun in Bengal, Bahar, and Benares: 
 by Regulations bearing date 1793 and 1795, all 
 internal duties which had been collected by indi- 
 vidual landholders and farmers were abolished. 
 In the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, the same 
 plan was followed on their acquisition, and all 
 collections were regulated by specific enactments. 
 But no uniform system was adopted : one method 
 being pursued in the Ceded and Conquered Pro- 
 vinces, another in Benares, and a third in Ben- 
 gal, Bahar, and Orissa. These various systems 
 continued to prevail until 1810, when a general 
 revision took place, and all those provinces were 
 placed under one law. In Delhi, however, the 
 duties continued to be collected very much ac- 
 cording to the native plan, to as late a period as 
 the year 1823, except that they were collected on 
 account of Government. In that year the general 
 system was extended to Delhi. In the territories 
 conquered under the administration of the Mar- 
 quis of Hastings, the same system has been esta- 
 blished with some modifications : in those ob- 
 tained from the Burmese, it is understood that 
 there are no transit duties. In Madras, the sys- 
 tem is uniform, and the old duties have been en- 
 tirely abolished. In Bombay, the old duties still 
 
 continue 
 
234 REVENUE. 
 
 continue to be levied. In the native states, though 
 the British influence prevails, we, of course, have 
 no direct power to interfere with the internal ma- 
 nagement of their revenues. With Oude, a com- 
 mercial treaty concluded by Lord Cornwallis is 
 still considered to be in force. By that treaty 
 the Government of Oude is bound to admit Bri- 
 tish goods at certain fixed duties, and the British 
 Government not to levy more than two-and-a-half 
 per cent, on the piece-goods of Oude. In some 
 other instances, special agreements have been 
 made with petty chiefs, and compensation given 
 them on condition of their relinquishing the tran- 
 sit duties. But in most of these cases it has sub- 
 sequently been found desirable to procure the an- 
 nulment of these agreements, there being good 
 reason to believe that the native princes took the 
 compensation and levied the duties as usual. 
 
 The transit duties are generally levied ad valo- 
 rem. The officers by whom these duties are col- 
 lected are usually natives; and it is suspected that 
 the sums levied upon the trader much exceed the 
 amount which finds its way into the coffers of 
 Government. These duties are, undoubtedly, a 
 great inconvenience and impediment to trade, and 
 it is upon the internal trade of India that they 
 weigh most oppressively ; but the amount of the 
 evil cannot be estimated in money. At every 
 stage, goods are liable to examination : and thus, 
 
 where 
 
REVENUE. 235 
 
 where no additional duty is to be levied, addi- 
 tional trouble and vexation are incurred. The 
 trader is placed, in a great degree, at the mercy 
 of a set of rapacious underlings, whose forbearance 
 he will naturally be disposed to purchase with 
 something more than they could lawfully demand. 
 Sometimes, no doubt, the trader and the revenue 
 officer find it convenient to promote their personal 
 interests at the expense of the state. These du- 
 ties are certainly not productive in any reason- 
 able proportion to the amount of the burden im- 
 posed upon the subject. They tend to introduce 
 considerable inequalities in the price of commo- 
 dities in different parts of the country, and have, 
 in fact, almost every characteristic of vicious tax- 
 ation. The means of dispensing with them alto- 
 gether has long occupied the attention of the 
 authorities at home ; but unfortunately the amount 
 of revenue cannot be spared, and an eligible sub- 
 stitute is not readily found. An increase of the 
 sea customs has been recommended, but the pro- 
 ductiveness of such a measure may be doubted. 
 It is clear, however, that the transit duties form 
 an injurious bar to the commercial advancement 
 of India, and that they should be abolished as 
 early as prudence will admit. 
 
 The Customs, a source of revenue to which al- 
 most all governments apply, of course partake of 
 the good and the evil which characterize the same 
 
 mode 
 
236 REVENUE. 
 
 mode of taxation in other countries, and will 
 therefore need no particular remark. One or two 
 other branches of revenue are, however, occasion- 
 ally mixed up with this. Of these, the revenue 
 derived from Saltpetre is rather of the nature of 
 of an excise duty. It is confined to Tirhoot alone, 
 the right in other places having been transferred 
 to the zemindars. The Government claim a share 
 in the produce (said to be a quarter), which is 
 valued in money. Cardamums, in Malabar, are 
 regarded as a royalty. They are an indigenous 
 mountain produce, and it is believed that the only 
 care bestowed in the cultivation is burning the 
 trees around. A farmer takes the farm in the ag- 
 gregate, paying for it at a certain rate per candy, 
 according to the amount of produce he calculates 
 upon being able to realize. He also pays the 
 mountain proprietor his share of one-half in money 
 at the price at which he farms the produce from 
 Government. The collection is farmed to the 
 highest bidder, to whom the cultivator is bound to 
 deliver his whole produce, and with a view to his 
 protection the Government directs that he shall 
 receive about two- thirds of the market price. This, 
 however, the contractor finds various means of 
 evading ; for native ingenuity, when stimulated by 
 avarice, is great. The quantity of cardamums 
 raised is not considerable. 
 
 The term " Sayer duties" seems to have been 
 
 applied 
 
REVENUE. 237 
 
 applied with a most convenient latitude of mean- 
 ing ; and any tax which could not readily be re- 
 ferred to any other class, has been placed among 
 the " Sayer duties." Mr. Stark says, that "the 
 term sayer is very often used without meaning 
 any thing more than that the thing spoken of is a 
 duty." If this be correct, the epithet might be 
 dispensed with without much inconvenience. It 
 appears that Lord Cornwallis meant by "sayer 
 duties" the irregular collections made by native 
 officers. When the permanent settlements were 
 made, these duties were abolished, and less ex- 
 ceptionable means of raising a revenue resorted 
 to. In Madras, the transit duties are frequently 
 called sayer duties, when spoken of in the reports 
 of officers ; and all collections from inconsiderable 
 sources are in the accounts brought under the 
 general term sayer. In Bengal, the pilgrim tax, 
 when it existed, was included under this head. 
 Colonel Sykes says, that "sayer, in its origin, is 
 a Sanscrit word, meaning market;" that in the 
 Deccan, this source of revenue is divided into 
 two great heads, the first denominated mohturfa, 
 which embraces taxes on shops, trades, &c. ; the 
 other ballooteh, which comprehends taxes upon 
 the fees in kind received by the village artizans 
 from the cultivators, and upon their enam (rent- 
 free) lands when they hold them. In one in- 
 stance, the per-centage upon bad coins was found 
 
 to 
 
238 REVENUE. 
 
 to be included under the head Sayer. This is 
 one of those numerous contrivances by which the 
 ingenuity of native financiers sought to enhance 
 the returns to the treasury without alarming the 
 people by an increased assessment. It is usually 
 called " sherusteh butta, or customary per-centage 
 on the difference between the coin in which the 
 lands were originally assessed, and the coin in 
 which the cultivators paid their taxes." When 
 they paid in inferior coin, such a per-centage was 
 reasonable enough, but when in the current coin 
 it certainly ought not to have been levied. Yet in 
 the village accounts of the Deccan this appears as 
 a permanent charge, although the cultivator pays 
 in the Government rupee ; and if he pays in any 
 inferior coin, he has to pay the per-centage upon 
 that particular coin, according to the bazaar rate. 
 Besides this, a number of extra cesses prevail in 
 the Deccan, amounting in the whole to about 
 sixty, and from three to twenty are found in the 
 same village. These are, however, under the 
 authority of Government ; but it seems probable 
 that a large part of the amount never reaches its 
 hands, but is diverted to the benefit of district 
 and village officers. " Most of these cesses," 
 says Colonel Sykes, " profess to bear directly on 
 the land : such as those for grain, forage, ropes to 
 Government, dry grain to Ramooses, havildars, 
 gossawees, and the meeras' tax, and tax for sugar. 
 
 Others, 
 
REVENUE. 239 
 
 Others, which originally fell upon trades, such as 
 those for skins, shoes, wool, blankets, oil, &c. 
 &c, are no longer derived from their legitimate 
 sources, but fall upon the cultivator. Other 
 cesses are for milch cattle, fowls, mango-trees, 
 pumpkin-beds, ghee or butter, sour milk, fowls, 
 and fruit ; all these extra cesses are called put- 
 tees. Some of them involve personal labour, such 
 as those for cutting grass furnished gratis to Go- 
 vernment for fire-wood ; for dinner-plates, made 
 up of leaves ; for monsoon great coats, made of 
 wicker-work and leaves, and for sticks to pound 
 rice with. The rabta mahr is in lieu of personal 
 service. Some of them in their name indicate 
 their temporary character, such as the Eksallee, 
 or for one year ; yet they have been continued 
 ever since. There are many others ; the shadee 
 puttee, or marriage cess at Angur, amounts to 
 nearly twelve per cent, upon the whole revenue. 
 That could only have been for a passing event, 
 yet it has been continued." These extraordinary 
 imposts are productive of great inconvenience, and 
 easily abused to purposes of oppression. The 
 attention of Government has been called to the 
 subject, and a revenue survey was begun, the 
 object of which was to measure the lands accu- 
 rately, to assess them according to their produc- 
 tive powers, as far as consistent with individual 
 rights, on which many of these cesses depend and 
 
 merge, 
 
240 REVENUE. 
 
 merge, all that could be abolished in the land tax. 
 It might be well to purchase the rights of indivi- 
 duals, where they stand in the way of improve- 
 ment. The jastie puttees, a name given to mis- 
 cellaneous cesses, not falling on the produce of 
 either land or trade, have been abolished through- 
 out all the territories which have been acquired 
 since 1813. 
 
 To the duties falling under the term Abkaree, 
 which consist principally of those upon intoxicat- 
 ing liquors and drugs, there can be little objec- 
 tion. They are levied partly by a fixed tax upon 
 the drugs and liquors and partly by a license to 
 retailers. The collections are very minute, and 
 in some instances the licenses stipulate for daily 
 payments. 
 
 The Town Duties are levied upon certain articles 
 on their being brought into the cities and chief 
 towns, either for store or consumption. Among 
 the articles are, rice, wheat, barley, ghee, oil, 
 sugar, molasses, tobacco, betel-nut, charcoal, fire- 
 wood, salt, opium, piece-goods, shawls, rose-water, 
 spirituous liquors, pepper, wax-candles, salt- 
 petre, and spices. But the Regulations vary, 
 and some articles liable to duty under one 
 Government are exempted under another. The 
 amount also varies considerably. In Bengal 
 these duties originally formed part of the general 
 revenue. While Mr. Adam acted as Governor- 
 general, 
 
REVENUE. 241 
 
 general, the Government, supposing that it had a 
 surplus revenue, appropriated the town-duties to 
 local purposes, such as improvements in the 
 streets, roads, bridges, and other public works. 
 Since that period, however, this application of the 
 funds derived from the town-duties has ceased, 
 and they have been brought back to their original 
 destination. In Madras, the town-duties are con- 
 sidered as forming part of the sayer, and it does not 
 appear that either there or in Bombay they were 
 ever applied otherwise than to general purposes. 
 These taxes are liable to the same objections as 
 the transit-duties, and where the amount levied 
 is considerable, they must be felt as severe local 
 burdens. They are certainly opposed to all en- 
 lightened principles of finance ; but the necessity 
 of the state is paramount in its claim, and any 
 measures for their abolition must be taken with a 
 due regard to the security of the revenue. 
 
 On the wheel-tax the information to be obtained 
 is very scanty. It seems to be confined to Bom- 
 bay, and as far as it applies to carts is repre- 
 sented to be injurious and oppressive. The 
 amount derived from it is probably small ; and if 
 it be in any degree an impediment, either to agri- 
 culture or trade, it may be desirable to abolish it, 
 and to supply the deficiency from some less objec- 
 tionable source. 
 
 Stamp-duties were first imposed in Bengal in 
 
 r 1797, 
 
242 REVENUE. 
 
 1797, when legal proceedings were subjected to 
 them. In 1824 the principle of the English law 
 was adopted. Instruments now required to be 
 stamped are contracts, deeds, conveyances, leases, 
 powers of attorney, policies of insurance, bills of 
 exchange, promissory notes, bail bonds, and legal 
 proceedings generally. Bills under twenty-five 
 rupees, and receipts under fifty, are exempted. 
 In Madras the stamp-duties were established in 
 1808, but were in a great measure confined to 
 legal proceedings. In 1816 they were extended 
 to bonds, bills of exchange, and receipts, as well 
 as to deeds, leases, and mortgages. In Bombay 
 stamp-duties were established in the year 1815. 
 
 The question of stamp-duties in India must be 
 decided in a great degree upon general principles. 
 If they are moderate, they appear to be, for the 
 most part, a source of revenue as little exception- 
 able as most others. With regard to that class 
 which are required on the transfer of property, 
 and on various commercial transactions, the pay- 
 ment of the duty is not without an equiva- 
 lent, in the increased security afforded to the 
 parties against forgery and fraud ; which, by the 
 imposition of stamp-duties, are rendered more 
 difficult of perpetration and more easy of detec- 
 tion. Instances of their utility in this respect 
 might be adduced in our own country. In India, 
 where the danger is much greater, the additional 
 
 security 
 
REVENUE. 243 
 
 security must be proportionately more valuable. 
 An inquiry was instituted by Sir Thomas Munro, 
 while governor of Madras, to ascertain the effect 
 of this class of stamp duties, and the judges re- 
 ported, that the use of stamped paper had con- 
 siderably checked the forgery of deeds and other 
 documents. Stamp duties, however, can only be 
 defended when they are of moderate amount. 
 When raised beyond this point, they press se- 
 verely both on the agricultural and commercial 
 interests, and seriously impede the prosperity of 
 a country. 
 
 The stamp duties on law proceedings may be 
 differently judged, according to the light in which 
 they are viewed. On the one hand, they tend to 
 discourage litigation, an important object in India ; 
 on the other, their expense may, in some cases, 
 amount to a denial of justice. It is no easy mat- 
 ter to strike a just balance between the good and 
 the evil likely to arise from their retention or aban- 
 donment. Perhaps a middle course would be the 
 wisest — to reduce, but not altogether to abolish 
 them. But in the determination of this and all 
 similar questions, the possibility of the state 
 sparing any part of its revenue must be an impor- 
 tant element ; and if none can be spared, or a pro- 
 ductive substitute cannot be found for the tax 
 proposed to be abolished, it will, of course, how- 
 ever undesirable, be necessary to retain it. 
 
 r 2 A curious 
 
244 REVENUE. 
 
 A curious instance of native ingenuity, success- 
 fully applied to the perpetration of fraud, is to 
 be found in the evidence of Mr. Stark :— In one 
 of the courts of the interior some mock suits were 
 instituted, the proceedings in which were charged 
 with a stamp duty of small amount. The parties 
 contrived to alter the stamps to a higher value ; 
 and, after carrying on their litigation for a certain 
 period, they adjusted their dispute without a decree 
 of court, and claimed repayment of the stamp du- 
 ties, which they actually received, to the full 
 amount of the forgery. 
 
 The mode of distributing stamps in India is 
 much the same with that adopted in this country. 
 The stamp vendors receive their supply from the 
 collector ; the vendors give security for the stamps, 
 and distribute them to the parties by whom they 
 are required, receiving a per-centage on the sales. 
 
 The land assessment and the minor taxes that 
 have been enumerated make up the amount of 
 Indian revenue. A change of taxation is, in any 
 country, a matter of difficult arrangement. Men 
 are very glad to be relieved from imposts which 
 they have been accustomed to pay, but very un- 
 willing to submit to any new burdens in the place 
 of them. In India the force of habit is stronger 
 than in any other part of the world, and the love 
 of money the universal passion. But for the un- 
 toward operation of these circumstances, a gene- 
 ral 
 
REVENUE. 245 
 
 ral revision of the whole system of taxation would 
 be a most desirable measure, tending alike to the 
 improvement of the revenue and the relief of the 
 people. Taxation in India is decidedly unequal. 
 A large class of persons are totally exempt from 
 direct taxation, and that the class most capable of 
 bearing it — the great capitalists. Mr. Sullivan 
 says : — " The meanest labourer in the Madras 
 territories pays a certain proportion of his earn- 
 ings as an income-tax ; but the capitalist, who 
 derives an income of £30,000 or £40,000 from 
 trade, pays no direct tax." It is not easy, by 
 any mode of taxation, to reach such persons. 
 Nothing in the shape of a land tax can extend 
 to them, because they have no land. A tax on 
 property seems almost the only method by which 
 they could be made to contribute to the exigen- 
 cies of the state. Such an impost, judiciously 
 regulated, may indeed be regarded as the fairest 
 of all modes of taxation, as every man is made to 
 contribute in proportion to his ability. In any 
 country, however, it will incur somewhat more 
 than the average amount of unpopularity which 
 must attend all modes of revenue. In England 
 its inquisitorial nature is considered at variance 
 with our free institutions. In India this charac- 
 teristic of a property tax would be objected to on 
 different grounds. The natives would be averse 
 to an exposure of the amount of their wealth, not 
 
 because 
 
246 REVENUE. 
 
 because they felt the inquiry as an invasion of 
 their freedom, but from a fear of exposing them- 
 selves to fresh demands ; and from that expert- 
 ness in artifice and concealment which seems an 
 essential part of the native character, they would 
 undoubtedly succeed in keeping out of sight a 
 considerable portion of the property that ought to 
 be submitted to taxation. The measure would 
 excite great discontent and, perhaps, not be very 
 highly productive. It would undoubtedly be 
 evaded to a considerable extent; yet something 
 ought, if possible, to be done, to render the bur- 
 den of taxation more equal. The subject, how- 
 ever, demands an unusual degree of caution. The 
 people of India are, as Mr. Sullivan observes, 
 " extremely impatient of any new taxation;" and, 
 " a new tax is a very delicate thing." 
 
 Whether, therefore, it will be practicable to as- 
 sist the state, and relieve the poorer classes by any 
 modification of the established system, is doubtful. 
 But, however that may be, it is certain that, in a 
 country so entirely agricultural as India, the land 
 must be looked to as the great source of revenue. 
 The mode in which this revenue is derived bears 
 but little resemblance to what in Europe is un- 
 derstood by a land tax. It rather partakes of the 
 nature of rent. The state may, in fact, be re- 
 garded as the owner of the soil, and the assess- 
 ment levied on the cultivators as the landlord's 
 
 share 
 
REVENUE. 247 
 
 share of the produce. The various modes which 
 have been resorted to for the purpose of securing 
 this share, have been already briefly explained ; 
 but it will now be necessary to enter into their 
 merits somewhat more at large. 
 
 The origin of these modes must be sought for in 
 a very remote period of time : it is, consequently, 
 involved in great obscurity. It is clear, however, 
 that long previous to the Mahometan conquests, 
 the produce of the land, whether taken in money 
 or in kind, was understood to be shared in certain 
 proportions between the cultivator and the Go- 
 vernment. There were thus originally only two 
 parties concerned in the land, those who actually 
 tilled it, and the Government or its representa- 
 tives. The class of cultivators appears to have 
 been divided into those who were invested with 
 hereditary rights of occupancy, and those who 
 were not. In a country of such extent, divided 
 into different kingdoms, inhabited by people speak- 
 ing different languages, and distinguished by pe- 
 culiar customs, some minor diversities might pos- 
 sibly exist; but the great distinction of here- 
 ditary and non-hereditary cultivators appears to 
 have existed universally. 
 
 The latter class are distinguished, both in Ben- 
 gal and Madras, by names equivalent to the 
 phrase 'stranger cultivators;' and they are some- 
 times called * migratory ryots.' For the purpose of 
 
 securing 
 
248 REVENUE. 
 
 securing the revenue, it has been customary for 
 the Government to call in the aid of such persons 
 to occupy the inferior fields which the hereditary 
 cultivators had left unoccupied. In other cases, 
 they hold as tenants of the hereditary occupiers, 
 either from year to year, or under some special 
 agreement. Under the Madras Presidency, some 
 of these persons seem, by the lapse of time, to 
 have acquired rights of a superior kind. Having 
 been permitted for several generations to occupy 
 certain lands, chiefly those unirrigated in the 
 southern peninsula, which were neglected by the 
 higher class of cultivators, they have succeeded in 
 establishing a prescriptive claim. It is under- 
 stood, however, that the right thus claimed is not 
 transferable by sale or otherwise. 
 
 The superior class of cultivators are distin- 
 guished in some parts of India, by a name which 
 signifies ' cultivating their own,' and in others they 
 are denominated 'ancients.' These hold directly 
 of the Government, and their right to the land 
 which they occupy is perpetually subject to the 
 payment of the demands of the public revenue. 
 The payment was made in various ways : some- 
 times directly to the Government ; but more ge- 
 nerally the duty of receiving and accounting for it 
 to the State had, when the British dominion was 
 acquired, become hereditary in certain families, 
 and with the heads of those families the State 
 
 contracted 
 
REVENUE. 249 
 
 contracted for its dues. The persons who thus 
 became contractors for the revenues were of vari- 
 rous ranks and degrees of wealth, from a rajah to 
 a chief cultivator ; but all distinctions were con- 
 founded under the general name zemindar, which 
 was indiscriminately applied to them ; a name 
 which strictly means a landman, but which the 
 British somewhat rashly concluded to be per- 
 fectly correspondent with their own term land- 
 lord, as meaning proprietor. There is the best 
 evidence to believe that this was an error ; that 
 the zemindar was not the owner of the soil, but 
 with a few exceptions the hereditary steward of 
 Government, or contractor for its revenue. From 
 this stewardship or contract he derived a certain 
 profit, generally amounting to about ten or fifteen 
 per cent. ; and when, from any cause, his services 
 were declined by the Government, a sum equal 
 to what he thus derived from the collection was 
 paid to him as a compensation. 
 
 Confusion has arisen with regard to the rights 
 of the zemindars, from their having been them- 
 selves cultivators, which, from the lowest to the 
 highest, they generally were. But, unless the 
 claim of Government on their own fields had been 
 remitted, they would be obliged to account for 
 the amount of revenue assessed upon them, as 
 well as for that assessed upon their neighbours. 
 
 To this system there might be, and undoubt- 
 edly 
 
250 REVENUE. 
 
 edly were, exceptions. In particular instances, 
 in the Northern circars, we found great chief- 
 tains bound only to pay a certain tribute to the 
 supreme authority, which the latter was content 
 to receive without recognizing the rights or the 
 obligations of any class under the zemindars. 
 These persons inhabited a hill country, not very- 
 easy of access, and still further protected from 
 invasion by a climate deadly to the inhabitants of 
 the plains. They appear at all times to have 
 been, in a great degree, independent, and, as was 
 observed by a witness before the Committee of the 
 House of Commons, to have regarded the Su- 
 preme Government much as the Scottish chiefs 
 did the earlier kings of Scotland. They are at 
 present well reconciled to the British Govern- 
 vernment; but, except in the payment of tribute, 
 there is hardly any communication between the 
 supreme and the subordinate authorities. 
 
 If the view which has been taken of the nature 
 of the zemindary right be correct, the permanent 
 settlement, which originated with the Govern- 
 ment of Lord Cornwallis, was based upon erro- 
 neous principles as to the nature and extent of 
 that right. This is the more extraordinary, as in 
 the discussions which took place previous to the 
 settlement, a sound and just view of the subject 
 seems to have prevailed. It was admitted, that 
 the cultivator had a right to the soil so long as 
 
 he 
 
REVENUE. 251 
 
 as he paid the public assessment, which was held 
 to have been fixed beyond the power of the ze- 
 mindar. It was acknowledged that the zemin- 
 dar had no right of absolute property in the land 
 itself, and there was no proof " of the existence 
 of such right discernible in his relative situation 
 under the Mogul Government in its best form." 
 Yet the Bengal Government proceeded to recog- 
 nise the zemindars as the actual proprietors of the 
 land, and to transfer to their keeping, and surren- 
 der to their mercy, the rights of all other persons, — 
 rights far more generally admitted and respected, 
 than the right of the zemindar to collect and pay 
 over the revenue of Government. The right of 
 the ryot appears, as expressed by one witness, to 
 be " the greatest right in the country," and " a 
 right which never seems to die." The zemindars 
 have, in many cases, been in a state of constant 
 change. But the right of the ryot is believed to 
 be inalienable. He may quit his land for any 
 period of time, and the cultivation may be as- 
 sumed by others ; but if he or his heir return 
 and reclaim the land, he has only to come to a 
 compromise with the party in possession for the 
 value of the crop on the ground, and his inheri- 
 tance is restored to him immediately. 
 
 The permanent zemindary settlement was a fa- 
 vourite plan of Lord Cornwallis, and undoubtedly 
 originated in benevolent intentions. Its effects, 
 
 however, 
 
252 REVENUE. 
 
 however, have not been such as its projectors an- 
 ticipated. It was felt, and declared to be " the 
 duty of the ruling power to protect all classes of 
 the people, and more particularly those who from 
 their situations are most helpless;" but the inte- 
 rests of all parties, except of the zemindars, were 
 unfortunately sacrificed. 
 
 By the permanent arrangement, the amount of 
 the payment to Government, .which had previ- 
 ously been variable, was fixed in perpetuity. But 
 while the Government thus excluded itself from 
 any prospective increase of revenue, by limiting 
 its own demand upon the zemindar, it did not 
 protect the cultivator from oppression, by limit- 
 ing the demand of the zemindar upon him. A 
 provision was indeed made, that puttahs or leases 
 should be granted ; but this was, in fact, annihi- 
 lating the rights of the superior class of culti- 
 vators, who had an hereditary title to their land, 
 and reducing them to the condition of the inferior 
 class, who possessed no hereditary right of occu- 
 pancy. The zemindar was elevated from the situ- 
 ation of a revenue agent to that of a landlord. 
 He was enjoined to grant leases, but he might de- 
 mand whatever terms he pleased, and obtain the 
 best that he was able. He even acquired a power 
 to dispose of rights far more ancient, and in the 
 eyes of the people more venerable than his own, 
 and might, to use the words of the Home Govern- 
 ment, 
 
REVENUE. 253 
 
 ment, " oust even the hereditary ryots from the 
 possession of their lands, when the latter refused 
 to accede to any terms of rent which might be de- 
 manded of them, however exorbitant." The local 
 government had anticipated, that the reciprocal 
 wants of the zemindars and cultivators would 
 compel them to enter into just and equitable ar- 
 rangements ; but these flattering expectations 
 were not realised, and it is almost impossible not 
 to feel some surprise that they should have de- 
 ceived the good and able men by whom they were 
 indulged. The reciprocity, as Lord Hastings ob- 
 served, is by no means clear. It indeed resem- 
 bles some other projects of alleged reciprocal ad- 
 vantage, of which it has not unjustly been said, 
 that the reciprocity is all on one side. The ze- 
 mindar wants cultivators ; but in the language of 
 Lord Hastings, " he wants them upon his own 
 terms, and he knows that if he can get rid of the 
 hereditary proprietors who claim a right to terms 
 independent of what he may vouchsafe to give, he 
 will obtain the means of substituting men of his 
 own ; and such is the redundancy of the cultivat- 
 ing class, that there will never be a difficulty of 
 procuring ryots ready to engage on terms only 
 just sufficient to secure bare maintenance to the 
 engager/' The existence of such a state of things 
 justified his Lordship in affirming that, " if it were 
 the intention of our Regulations to deprive every 
 
 class 
 
254 REVENUE. 
 
 class but the large proprietors, who engaged with 
 Government, of any share in the profits of the 
 land, that effect has been fully accomplished in 
 Bengal." This was not, indeed, the intention of 
 the originators of the permanent zemindary set- 
 tlement ; but it has unhappily been the result of 
 their measures. 
 
 In a very few instances some protection was 
 afforded to the ryot. In the Twenty-four Pergun- 
 nahs, previously to the introduction of the perma- 
 nent zemindary settlement, a detailed measurement 
 of the district was made, and a record prepared, spe- 
 cifying the rates to which the public demand on 
 the cultivators was limited, " the settlement being, 
 in fact, ryotwar," and " the zemindars having only 
 the right of collecting what was so settled." Un- 
 der this system the ryotwar estate has, in many 
 cases, become a property of considerable value ; 
 and had the same protection been extended uni- 
 versally, the same effect, modified by local cir- 
 cumstances, would have taken place. But in- 
 stead of endeavouring to extend this system, the 
 few regulations which seemed to offer some shew 
 of security to the cultivator, were in time replaced 
 by others. Under the Rules of 1793, the form of 
 engagements between the cultivator and zemindar 
 was subjected to the approbation of the collector. 
 This check, in 1812, was dispensed with. At 
 first the zemindars were restricted from fixing the 
 
 land 
 
REVENUE. 255 
 
 land revenue payable by the ryot for any period 
 exceeding ten years. This prohibition was sub- 
 sequently removed, and doubts having arisen as 
 to the construction of the Regulation, another was 
 passed, explaining that the intent of the former 
 provision was " to declare proprietors of land 
 (meaning the newly-created proprietors, the ze- 
 mindars) competent to grant leases, even to per- 
 petuity." It is possible that such a permission 
 might ultimately have worked beneficially for a 
 portion of the hapless ryots ; but this chance was 
 barred by the addition of the following very impor- 
 tant words : f? and at any rate which they may 
 deem conducive to their interests." 
 
 The introduction of middle men into the collec- 
 tion of rent or revenue always tends to the injury 
 and oppression of those on whom the burden ulti- 
 mately rests. This system was acted upon to a 
 considerable extent ; and though in direct contra- 
 vention of the law, was tolerated, and finally sanc- 
 tioned by a provision of indemnity. The rajah 
 of Burdwan, the greatest zemindar under the Ben- 
 gal Government, his annual contribution amount- 
 ing to several hundred thousand pounds sterling, 
 distributed his charge into a number of divisions,, 
 upon each of which he assessed a fixed sum in 
 perpetuity, always exceeding that for which he 
 himself was liable ; and upon condition of the 
 perpetual payment of this increased reserved sum, 
 
 he 
 
256 REVENUE. 
 
 he granted the hereditary collection of the land 
 revenue in each division to a new class of sub- 
 zemindars, whom he created for the purpose. 
 Many of these sub-zemindars followed their mas- 
 ter's example, by splitting their own primary divi- 
 sions into secondary ones, and assessing each with 
 a taxed sum in perpetuity, always exceeding that 
 which they were required to pay to the head 
 zemindar. The process of subdivision did not 
 stop even here ; for several of these zemindars of 
 the third class divided the portion of the collec- 
 tion which fell to them, upon the same principle 
 as their superiors had done, always taking care 
 that the amount they received was greater than 
 that which they had to pay, and thus a fourth 
 order of zemindars came into existence. The 
 actual contributor to the revenue is thus removed 
 five degrees from the Government to whom he 
 ought to look for justice, and from whose paternal 
 regard he might even hope for some reasonable 
 indulgence. Between him and his final creditor 
 stand four intermediate ones, each armed with the 
 authority of the law ; three of them anxious but 
 to secure their stipulated amount of profit, and 
 the fourth only to wring from the cultivator the 
 last anna. His situation may be readily con- 
 ceived ; and it has been stated by a gentleman of 
 the Bengal Civil Service, that " in no part of the 
 country have the ryots been more oppressed than 
 
 in 
 
REVENUE. 257 
 
 in this zemindary." The oppression was so gross 
 as at last to call for the interposition of the Euro- 
 pean officers, to put a stop to the system of 
 demanding from the ryots the most exorbitant 
 rates, and ejecting them from their possessions 
 if they refused to agree to them. That the de- 
 mands of Government are sometimes light, while 
 those made upon the cultivator are ruinously 
 oppressive, will appear from a fact connected with 
 this zemindary. The Rajah of Burdwan was at 
 one period distressed for money, and sold a por- 
 tion of his estates. He has since repurchased 
 that which he parted with ; and several other 
 estates, upon which he pays yearly forty lacs of 
 rupees, which Mr. Fleming, formerly of the Ben- 
 gal Civil Service, has heard him acknowledge is 
 not half of what he collects. It never could have 
 been the intention of Government to increase the 
 old zemindary allowance often or fifteen per cent, 
 to above one hundred, yet this has been the effect 
 of the permanent settlement upon this plan. The 
 case of the Rajah of Burdwan is not a solitary 
 instance. Mr. Holt Mackenzie produced before 
 the Commons' Committee of 1832 a statement, 
 shewing the aggregate Government demand on 
 various estates within certain districts of Bengal, 
 farmed by the Court of Wards, on account of 
 minor and other disqualified zemindars, the rent 
 paid by the farmer, and the profit accruing to the 
 
 s ward. 
 
258 REVENUE. 
 
 ward. The result shews a profit on the whole of 
 rather more than a hundred per cent. If some 
 portion of this vast overplus were appropriated to 
 recruit the sinking revenue and the remainder 
 permitted to remain in the pockets of the cultiva- 
 tors, both the state and its subjects would be 
 greatly benefited. This, however, cannot take 
 place, on account of the existing settlement. It 
 must be recollected, that this income is not to be 
 regarded as the rent of a landlord, but the profit 
 of a collector. Never was service so magnificently 
 requited by any Government as the collecting the 
 revenue in India under the permanent settlement. 
 
 One estate, particularized in Mr. Mackenzie's 
 paper, is situated in the Twenty-four Pergunnahs, 
 where, as has been already mentioned, the settle- 
 ment was made upon a detailed measurement. 
 On this property the share of the Government is 
 6,625 rupees, that of the zemindar 1,976. The 
 profit here, though veuy ample, falls far short of 
 the average. Of course, there are other instances 
 in which it is very much above the average. One 
 of these is in the district of the Jungle Mehals, 
 where the Government revenue is 3,654 rupees, 
 and the zemindar's profit no less than 16,023. 
 
 That the great excess of the receipts of the 
 zemindars over the amount of their payments to 
 Government has been in a great degree occa- 
 sioned by extortion from the cultivators, cannot 
 
 admit 
 
REVENUE. 259 
 
 admit of doubt. But this, though a very influen- 
 tial cause, has not been the sole one. The per- 
 manent settlement was made in a state of great 
 ignorance on the part of Government as to the 
 real amount of the land revenue payable by the 
 cultivators; and in consequence the zemindar's 
 payment was in many instances fixed at a sum 
 quite inadequate. In addition to these causes, a 
 third may be found in the further occupation of 
 land since the settlement. The advantages to be 
 derived from this source were surrendered by the 
 Government as imprudently as unreasonably ; for 
 it must be borne in mind, that the Government 
 was the real landlord, and by this proceeding gave 
 away a beneficial right to persons who had no 
 lawful claim to it. 
 
 In Madras, one of the evils of the system has 
 been in a great degree avoided, by conforming to 
 a proposal made by Lord Teignmouth, with re- 
 gard to Bengal, but which unfortunately was not 
 there adopted. That nobleman suggested the 
 propriety of fixing the maximum rates, payable by 
 the cultivators to the zemindar, at those actually 
 assessed when the permanent settlement was in- 
 troduced. Even this was, perhaps, hardly going 
 far enough, inasmuch as it gave the sanction of 
 Government to all existing cesses, however illegal, 
 and many such had been introduced by the en- 
 croaching avarice of the native collectors of the 
 
 s 2 revenue. 
 
2G0 REVENUE. 
 
 revenue. But it fixed a limit, beyond which the 
 zemindar could not legally carry his claim, and 
 thus raised a barrier against the introduction of 
 further abuses. Fortunately for the cultivators of 
 Madras, a maximum of contribution was there 
 laid down, by which the sum demandable by the 
 zemindar was restricted to the amount of the rates 
 levied on the cultivated land in the year preceding 
 that of the permanent limitation of the zemindar's 
 payment to the State. The village accounts gene- 
 rally afforded sufficient evidence of these rates ; 
 but where they were not ascertainable, the case 
 was decided by reference to the rates payable for 
 other lands of the same description and quality. 
 The consequence was, that the cultivators in Ma- 
 dras were provided with means of defending their 
 rights in the courts of law, to which they have 
 frequently resorted with success. In Bengal, un- 
 fortunately, these rights were not thus ascertained 
 and recognized, and the power of the zemindar 
 was unlimited. 
 
 The zemindary system was not only continued 
 and rendered permanent where it had previously 
 existed, but in some instances was introduced 
 where a different system had prevailed. In Ma- 
 dras, and in a great portion of the provinces of 
 Bahar and Benares, there were associations of 
 cultivators, holding their lands sometimes in seve- 
 ralty, sometimes on a joint common tenure. With 
 
 regard 
 
REVENUE. 261 
 
 regard to these, two courses were open, and the 
 respective Governments differed in their views as 
 to the more eligible. The one was to introduce 
 a stranger to the office of zemindar, the other to 
 invest with it some of the inhabitants of the vil- 
 lage. The latter plan was adopted by the Govern- 
 ment of Bengal, the former by that of Madras, 
 and both have been productive of inconvenience. 
 Under the Bengal system, the office of zemindar 
 was sometimes imposed upon an individual against 
 his will. He was made liable for the payment of 
 that w T hich was due from others as well as from 
 himself: and as no distinction was made between 
 the ancient rights of possession, and the newly- 
 acquired, and often reluctantly accepted ones, 
 attached to the collection of the revenue, his 
 ancient inheritance was liable to be brought to 
 sale by the default of others. Sometimes the 
 ruin produced by individual defalcation was 
 more extensive, as when it happened that the ze- 
 mindary was held in common by the cultivators ; 
 a dispute between the coparceners might throw 
 the payment of the revenue into arrear; and in 
 such a case, the whole of the joint property — 
 the right in the soil, as well as the zemindary 
 right— the rights of those who had contributed 
 their due proportion to the revenue, as well as of 
 those who had committed default— might be passed 
 into new hands by virtue of a sale under the 
 
 orders 
 
262 REVENUE. 
 
 orders of Government. The following case, illus- 
 trative of the consequences of this system, is given 
 in Mr. Campbell's able paper on the subject. 
 
 " A very extraordinary instance of this kind 
 occurred in 1834, in the case of the 'Tuppa of 
 Muneer,' a zemindary held by a community of 
 Rajpoots, assessed with a jumma of 13,514 ru- 
 pees, payable into the public treasury. Two only 
 of this body, from some dispute with the rest, re- 
 fused to pay up a small portion of this sum due 
 from their fields, and an arrear consequently ac- 
 crued to the extent of 1,014 rupees. The others 
 offered payment of the sum due on account of 
 their more extensive fields to the amount of the 
 remaining balance of 12,500 rupees; but as the 
 regulations for the permanent settlement do not 
 provide for any summary mode of adjusting such 
 disputes, and on any arrear accruing hold the 
 entire zemindary responsible, prohibiting most 
 rigidly a division so long as such arrear is due ; 
 this tender was necessarily refused by the collec- 
 tor, who proceeded to sell the entire zemindary 
 for the arrear due actually by only two of the co- 
 parceners. It produced at first 99,000 rupees ; 
 but as it was discovered that the purchaser was 
 one of the community, all of whom, though not 
 actually such, are, in the eye of the law, con- 
 sidered defaulters, and therefore excluded by the 
 Regulations from making a purchase of what the 
 
 code 
 
REVENUE. 263 
 
 code deems their own property, this first sale 
 was cancelled, and the zemindary being put up 
 again was bought by a low-caste stranger for 
 50,000 rupees. The Rajpoot zemindars upon this 
 instituted a suit in the Provincial Court to annul 
 the second sale, and obtained a decree declaring 
 it illegal ; but the Company's Supreme Court at 
 Calcutta, on appeal, upheld the second sale, upon 
 the ground of a balance having actually been due 
 from the zemindary. To this decision the Raj- 
 poots still refused submission ; and Mr. Melville, 
 whose duty it became to enforce it, submitted to 
 the Bengal Government, whether its character in 
 the province for consideration in enforcing its 
 dues was not deeply involved on the occasion ; 
 adding, that himself as judge, and the collector, 
 Mr. Barlow, felt reluctant to be instruments to 
 carry into execution a measure which they con- 
 ceived to be severe upon a large body of here- 
 ditary and respectable zemindars, and at variance 
 with the mild and liberal spirit of the Govern- 
 ment they had the honour to serve. As the best 
 means of obviating this, he suggested that the 
 Government should obtain, by negotiation, the 
 surrender of the zemindary from the second pur- 
 chaser, and this was at last effected by the Go- 
 vernment paying to him no less a sum than 
 2,06,987 rupees, whence deducting his purchase- 
 money of 50,000 rupees, there remained a sum of 
 
 rupees 
 
264 REVENUE. 
 
 rupees 1,56,987. On payment of their respective 
 proportions of this immense sum, the original 
 Rajpoot zemindars were allowed to resume pos- 
 session of their fields, and this indulgence was 
 extended even to those who were unable to pay 
 their proportion to this large capital, on their 
 consenting to pay to Government interest at six 
 per cent, on their several proportions of it, as an 
 additional assessment on their lands for ever." 
 
 This extraordinary transaction scarcely requires 
 comment ; but it receives a very proper and spi- 
 rited one from Mr. Campbell. He says : "To 
 recover an arrear of only 1,014 rupees due actually 
 by two persons alone, against whom, under the 
 regulations of the permanent settlement, no 
 means could be taken to enforce it individually, 
 the whole property, both in the land revenue and 
 in the land itself, of the entire community (the 
 rest of whom had repeatedly tendered their dues), 
 was here brought to sale by public auction. The 
 court of highest jurisdiction in Bengal, bound 
 apparently by the same regulations, confining 
 responsibility to the entire community, to the ex- 
 clusion altogether of individual rights, seem even 
 to have been obliged to uphold this act of injus- 
 tice, and when the Government found it impos- 
 sible to overlook it, as brought to their notice 
 by their officers, who declined to be made the in- 
 struments of such a proceeding, they were con- 
 strained 
 
REVENUE. 265 
 
 strained to put into the pocket of a speculator at 
 auction no less a sum than 1,56,987 rupees, which 
 immense amount, or its equivalent, being equal to 
 twelve years' land revenue, they actually took out 
 of the purses of their own cultivating zemindars, 
 most of whom owed them absolutely nothing, and 
 of whom two alone owed them only the trifling 
 sum of 1,014 rupees, or not so much as one-hun- 
 dredth part of that exacted." 
 
 If any further comment be necessary, it is fur- 
 nished by the effect of the transaction upon the 
 people, which is thus stated : 
 
 " The feelings of the people on this occasion, 
 as represented by the officer deputed by Govern- 
 ment to negotiate for the surrender of the zemin- 
 dary by the intrusive purchaser, who did not 
 venture to approach his new speculation, deserve 
 notice. ' Muneer,' says he, ' may contain 8,000 
 or 10,000 Rajpoot youths ; but the question of 
 sale unfortunately did not find its limits here. 
 There were, probably, 60,000 ready to make com- 
 mon cause with them.' One of the coparceners, 
 with a tone to which this officer's ears had never 
 been accustomed, demanded, ' If Government are 
 determined to sell our lands, why dishonour the 
 caste by a sale to a goo turn? Our chief is the Ra- 
 jah of Buleah, and he is a rich man ;' and it was 
 added, that the whole of these village zemindars 
 ' seemed to have lost their natural civility of man- 
 ner, 
 
266 REVENUE. 
 
 ner, common respect to the European officers, and 
 proper feelings of honesty to Government, from 
 some extraordinary and unintelligible interpre- 
 tation of the Regulations which were only de- 
 signed for their safety."" 
 
 Such are the results of legislating without a pro- 
 per regard to established usages and institutions. 
 
 In Madras, the course adopted was in an equal 
 or a greater degree at variance with the feelings 
 of the people, and the consequences were not 
 more happy. In the Northern Circars, indeed, 
 there was an ancient aristocracy, to whom the 
 people looked up as their hereditary superiors, 
 and through whom the Supreme Government could 
 most conveniently realise its revenue. But in the 
 other districts to which the permanent settlement 
 was extended, a novel and not very happy at- 
 tempt was made to create an aristocracy by pub- 
 lic auction. A cluster of villages, called a mootah 
 or zemindary, was put up to sale, and the highest 
 bidder became the new hereditary zemindar or 
 moohtahdar, the terms being synonimous. The 
 Government revenue had been previously assessed, 
 not upon each field, nor upon each village, but 
 upon the whole mootah or zemindary, and for this 
 the new speculator in nobility was held account- 
 able. There was under this system no bond of con- 
 nection between the cultivators and the purchasers 
 of the zemindary right, who were totally uncon- 
 nected 
 
REVENUE. 267 
 
 hected with the land. They were monied men, 
 desirous of elevating themselves by their wealth 
 into the rank of Rajahs. Parvenus are prover- 
 bially haughty and overbearing ; and it is repre- 
 sented, and may readily be believed, that the ryots 
 suffered considerable annoyance from these specu- 
 lators. In consequence, however, of the provi- 
 sion made on their behalf, they frequently suc- 
 ceeded in vindicating their rights, and were gene- 
 rally, in the course of time, emancipated alto- 
 gether from the dominion of the newly-created 
 zemindars, most of whom gradually failed, and 
 with their families became involved in distress. 
 
 The zemindars generally appear to have been 
 distinguished by improvidence and want of thrift. 
 In Madras, they are represented as having mis- 
 managed their zemindaries so completely, that in 
 the Northern Districts only one remained in a pros- 
 perous condition, their zemindaries having been, 
 for the most part, transferred to the Government 
 officers as security for the payment of the reve- 
 nue, and that they might be retrieved from the 
 disorder into which they had fallen. In the Com- 
 pany's jaghire, in 1826, the zemindaries were re- 
 duced to 651 villages, paying a fixed jumma of 
 2,97,940 rupees; while lands had reverted to Go- 
 vernment to the extent of 1,217 villages, paying a 
 revenue of 4,88,960 rupees. In the Salem dis- 
 trict, a similar result followed. In the Dindigul 
 
 district, 
 
268 REVENUE. 
 
 district, the zemindary settlement was introduced 
 in 1804-5 ; but in 1806-7 the lands, with scarcely 
 any exception, reverted to the Government. In 
 this district, however, the failure is ascribed to 
 over-assessment. In Bengal, the sales in the years 
 1796 and 1797 extended to zemindaries assessed 
 at the sum of SiccaRupees 14,18,765; in 1797 and 
 1798, to others assessed at the still larger amount 
 of Rupees 22,74,076; and in 1815 it was esti- 
 mated, that " probably one- third, or rather one- 
 half, of the landed property in the province of 
 Bengal may have been transferred by public sale, 
 on account of the arrears of revenue." Since that 
 time the number of sales has diminished ; but in 
 some years it is still considerable. 
 
 These sales afford some evidence that the ze- 
 mindars have not been greatly benefited by the 
 present of the right in the soil made to them by 
 the Government. Their unthriftiness has pre- 
 vented their profiting by it. But it has not been 
 the zemindar alone who has suffered from the 
 sale. By a very extraordinary regulation under 
 the Bengal Presidency, the sale of a zemindary 
 for arrears cancelled all existing engagements be- 
 tween the zemindar and the cultivator, and left 
 the purchaser at liberty to demand what terms he 
 pleased. He was required, indeed, to conform to 
 the local rates ; but as these were unascertained, 
 the limitation was a dead letter. By a subse- 
 quent 
 
REVENUE. 2G9 
 
 quent regulation, the purchaser was invested with 
 a summary power of ejecting any of the culti- 
 vators. This power was at a later period with- 
 drawn ; but it continued for twenty- two years, 
 and was exercised to a frightful extent. Even in 
 the regulation which put an end to this grievance, 
 it is laid down as M a general and fundamental 
 principle of the revenue system" in Bengal, that 
 the public sale of the zemindar's tenures for ar- 
 rears annuls all engagements derived from him or 
 his predecessors. This is not only a hardship 
 upon the ryot, but operates as a direct discourage- 
 ment to improved cultivation. 
 
 The permanent settlement has rendered little 
 substantial benefit to the zemindar; it has, in a 
 great degree, annihilated the rights of the ryots ; 
 but to one class of people its operation has been 
 highly beneficial— it has materially promoted the 
 interests of the followers of the law. Within two 
 years after the permanent settlement was esta- 
 blished in Bengal, thirty thousand suits which 
 had arisen from the difficulties created by that 
 settlement were depending in the district of Burd- 
 wan alone. The sale of the single Rajpoot ze- 
 mindary of Muneer, already mentioned, gave rise 
 to 1,060 law-suits. The foundations of all rights 
 having been violently broken up, litigation in con- 
 sequence multiplied and abounded. The courts 
 were choked up with business, the amount of 
 
 which 
 
270 REVENUE. 
 
 which the most indefatigable exertions of the 
 judges were inadequate to reduce. What is called 
 the permanent settlement may, indeed, be re- 
 garded, in Bengal especially, as having unsettled 
 every thing, and settled nothing but the Govern- 
 ment assessment. 
 
 Notwithstanding these obvious evils, attempts 
 have been made to repeat the unsuccessful expe- 
 riment of a permanent settlement, by extending it 
 to the western provinces. These were, in the first 
 instance, frustrated by the objections of Mr. R.W. 
 Cox and Mr. Henry St. George Tucker, who were 
 appointed commissioners for carrying the plan into 
 effect. It is remarkable that both these gentlemen 
 were advocates for the system ; but on being de- 
 puted to superintend its establishment in an un- 
 tried spot, they perceived that objections existed 
 to its introduction, and these they had the manli- 
 ness and candour freely to point out. But, not- 
 withstanding their representations, the Bengal 
 Government persisted in its determination to in- 
 troduce the permanent settlement ; and the com- 
 missioners, finding their views thus at variance 
 with those of the supreme authority, felt them- 
 selves called upon to resign. The Home Govern- 
 ment appear to have taken a view of the subject 
 more just, calm, and statesman- like, than that of 
 the local Government, and, in the words of Mr. 
 Sullivan, " uniformly evinced, throughout the 
 
 whole 
 
REVENUE. 271 
 
 whole correspondence on this grand question, fully 
 as strong an anxiety that the rights of individuals 
 should not be infringed, as that the interests of the 
 State should not be compromised by a premature 
 discussion." A termination was put to the pro- 
 posed extension of the system in 1817, when the 
 Board of Control and the Court of Directors, after 
 ample discussion, finally agreed upon the follow- 
 ing points : — 
 
 " That the system of 1793, though originating 
 in the most enlightened views and the most bene- 
 volent motives, and though having produced con- 
 siderable good, has, nevertheless, been attended 
 in the course of its operation with no small portion 
 of evil to the people, for whose happiness it was 
 intended. 
 
 " That the same views and motives which dic- 
 tated the original introduction of the permanent 
 settlement twenty-five years ago, would not, after 
 the experience which had been had of it, justify the 
 immediate introduction of the same system into 
 provinces for which a system of revenue adminis- 
 tration is yet to be settled. 
 
 " That the creation of an artificial class of inter- 
 mediate proprietors between the Government and 
 the cultivators of the soil, where a class of inter- 
 mediate proprietors does not exist in the native 
 institutions of the country, would be highly inex- 
 pedient. 
 
 " That 
 
272 REVENUE. 
 
 " That no conclusive step ought to be taken 
 towards a final settlement of the yet unsettled 
 provinces, until it shall have been examined, and, 
 if possible, ascertained by diligent research and 
 comparison of collected testimonies, as well as by 
 accurate survey of the lands to be settled, how far 
 the principle of a system, which would bring the 
 Government into immediate contact with the great 
 body of the people, can be practically and usefully 
 applied to them." 
 
 This decision was dictated by a sound policy. 
 The attempt to create a landed aristocracy was, 
 from first to last, based upon erroneous views. 
 Had it been practicable, it could not be effected 
 without the destruction of a mass of private rights, 
 which it was the duty of the law to protect, in- 
 stead of subverting. The observations of Mr. 
 Campbell on this point are just and convincing. 
 " In India," says he, " where the only aristocracy 
 connected with the land are the mere hereditary 
 farmers-general or contract-agents of the Govern- 
 ment, and the soil itself is invariably occupied by 
 a numerous class of petty proprietary cultivators, 
 it was obviously impracticable to introduce the 
 European theory of landlord and tenant without 
 an infraction of individual rights. It never ought 
 to have been, nor can it now even justly be made 
 a question for consideration or decision, whether 
 in India it be politic to give the preference to 
 
 great 
 
REVENUE. 273 
 
 great or to small holders of land. The law and 
 usage of the country have immemorially and irre- 
 vocably determined the right in the soil to be 
 vested in particular classes. Whatever may be 
 the extent or value of such right, the smallest, 
 no less than the greatest, tenure should be held 
 inviolably sacred ; and the rights of millions of 
 field proprietors to hold on defined terms, directly 
 of the State, never can be abrogated for a mere 
 theoretical improvement in the administration of 
 the land revenue, without an act of the most 
 sweeping confiscation ever hazarded by a civilized 
 government. It was clearly the duty of a just 
 government anxiously to protect all existing rights ; 
 and, by defining its demand on the possessor of 
 each tenure holding immediately of the State, to 
 maintain every class in its respective situation, 
 and to ensure the benefit of any remission or re- 
 duction in its land revenue to those who pay it, 
 instead of allowing it to be intercepted by its 
 intermediate revenue contractor, the zemindar." 
 
 But had there been no previous rights in the 
 way, the attempt, suddenly to call into existence 
 an aristocracy, whose claims were based neither 
 on property nor ancient usage, would have failed. 
 The plan, indeed, was no where distinguished by 
 even the semblance of success, except in the dis- 
 tricts where the zemindar's authority was conti- 
 nued in its ancient line ; and in these cases that 
 
 t part 
 
274 REVENUE. 
 
 part of the plan which subjected the zemindar's 
 right to sale, in case of default, was productive of 
 the most serious mischief. Some sales which took 
 place in the Ganjam district, by which the rights 
 of an ancient family there were transferred to some 
 foreign purchasers, led to an actual rebellion. 
 Troops were employed to suppress it ; but ulti- 
 mately Government entered into a negociation, 
 by which the zemindary was restored to the family, 
 and the disturbances immediately ceased. Under 
 the native powers it was not the practice to sell 
 the zemindar's right. Government sometimes as- 
 sumed the temporary collection of the revenue, 
 and sometimes transferred it to some other mem- 
 ber of the zemindar's family. The zemindar him- 
 self was subject even to corporal punishment, but 
 his right was never brought to sale. The enforce- 
 ment of such a system consequently outraged the 
 feelings of all classes where the institution was an- 
 cient ; and the description of persons whom the 
 sales frequently introduced to the exercise of the 
 zemindary authority, was little calculated to allay 
 the feelings of irritation excited by the forcible ex- 
 pulsion of an old family. The best of them were ca- 
 pitalists, who entered on the office of zemindar in 
 the spirit in which they embarked in a mercantile 
 speculation, and whose only object was, of course, 
 to make the largest profit upon their outlay. They 
 were often unacquainted with the habits, the feel- 
 ings, 
 
REVENUE. 275 
 
 ings, the wants, and even the language of the 
 cultivators — were frequently non-resident — in 
 which case their interests and those of the people 
 were entrusted to agents no better informed than 
 themselves. But there were purchasers who were 
 destitute even of the recommendation of commer- 
 cial respectability. It is represented, that ban- 
 yans, money-lenders, menial servants of Euro- 
 peans, vakeels, and other retainers of the courts 
 of law, seized the opportunity of elevating them- 
 selves in society, by purchasing into this new 
 aristocracy; and in what manner the unlimited 
 power of a zemindar would, in such hands, be 
 exercised, need not be pointed out. It is suffi- 
 cient merely to state the fact, to shew how com- 
 pletely the lofty designs of Lord Cornwallis were 
 frustrated. He never contemplated the formation 
 of a landed aristocracy out of the very dregs and 
 refuse of society ; yet this was, in some degree, 
 the effect of his favourite measure, and for such 
 consumers as these have the producers of agricul- 
 tural wealth been divested of their rights, and de- 
 prived for ever of the power of accumulation. 
 
 It was observed by the local Government in 
 1821, that, " looking to the character and conduct 
 of many of the zemindars in Bengal, it might 
 well be questioned whether the rent drawn by 
 them from their zemindaries was less a tax upon 
 the country than if the amount were collected on 
 
 t 2 the 
 
276 REVENUE. 
 
 the account of the Government." This is put 
 more cautiously, and with more deference to the 
 zemindars than the circumstances of the case war- 
 rant. The matter is too clear to admit of question. 
 It is beyond all doubt that the revenue drawn by 
 the zemindars on their own account is as much 
 a tax as if it were collected for Government. It 
 is equally certain that it is far more oppressively 
 levied than it would be in the hands of Govern- 
 ment. And this vast revenue is generally ex- 
 pended as worthily as it is obtained. It goes, 
 according to Mr. Thackeray, almost entirely to 
 feed the idle and unproductive — footmen, peons, 
 dancing-girls, and Brahmins ; it is wasted in silly 
 and ostentatious display, in tasteless and debasing 
 luxury, in superstitious benefactions, and in vice. 
 Thus the grinding process to which the laborious 
 cultivator is subjected, ends in ministering to the 
 appetites of the idle and depraved. 
 
 No country under such a system can be either 
 wealthy or prosperous, and in the provinces where 
 it exists the permanent settlement will long con- 
 tinue to operate as a serious check upon the pro- 
 gress of improvement. In other countries, the 
 landlord takes an interest in the improvement of 
 his property. In India, this feeling appears to 
 be unknown among those who have been impru- 
 dently invested with the rank and authority of 
 landlords. Mr. Newnham, when examined be- 
 fore 
 
REVENUE. 277 
 
 fore the Committee of the House of Commons in 
 1832, was asked, " Has the zemindar any such 
 property in land as ever induces him to invest ca- 
 pital in the improvement of it ? Are there any 
 instances of a zemindar building houses for the 
 ryots, or advancing money for irrigation or fen- 
 cing?" The answer was: " Many persons advo- 
 cate the zemindary cause by alleging outlay of 
 capital ; but it is seldom more than a mere cur- 
 rent loan, repayable at a very high interest, or, 
 which is worse, the repayment in commodity at a 
 very much lower price than the market price ; but 
 as for any permanent outlay of capital in digging 
 wells and making tanks, I fear that there are very 
 few instances of zemindars laying out capital in 
 that way. The great improvements in the coun- 
 try take place from the junction of the ryots in 
 different labours ; at least I have seen them mak- 
 ing bridges across rivers, sinking wells, making 
 watercourses from tanks, or collections of water, 
 and undertaking many important works of that 
 kind." The same gentleman thus speaks of the 
 condition of the ryots as affected by the system 
 under which they live, in answer to a question 
 relating to their means of cultivating their lands : 
 " I fear that borrowed capital is the general cha- 
 racter of the ryot ; but where he is in full posses- 
 sion of his rights and privileges, and has security, 
 there you will find that capital in his possession, 
 
 and 
 
278 REVENUE. 
 
 and it is shewn both in his own comforts and in 
 the goodness of his farming stock ; for instance, 
 there is a material difference between a pair of 
 half-starved inferior-sized bullocks, which are pro- 
 bably not worth eight rupees the pair, and another 
 man ploughing with a pair of fine bullocks, for 
 which he gives from twenty to twenty-five rupees 
 each." Improvement cannot be effected without 
 capital, nor can it be carried to any great extent 
 if that capital be furnished on terms extortionate 
 and oppressive. The zemindary settlement is, in 
 this point of view, as objectionable as in every 
 other. It tends to retard the increase of public 
 wealth, no less than to destroy the individual 
 comfort of the cultivators. 
 
 The permanent settlement extends to the pro- 
 vinces of Bengal, Behar, Orissa, and Benares, 
 with the exception of Cuttack. Under the Ma- 
 dras presidency its general failure has consider- 
 ably reduced its limits, Government having, in 
 many cases, repurchased the tenure. In addition 
 to the greater portion of the five Northern Circars, 
 it is reported to extend to about a third of the 
 Salem and Chingleput districts ; to the Pollams 
 scattered through several provinces to the north- 
 ward, westward, and southward of Madras ; to a 
 few insulated portions of the Dindigul districts, 
 supposed to fall short of a tenth of the whole ; 
 and a small part of the southern division of Arcot, 
 
 consisting 
 
REVENUE. 279 
 
 consisting of some of the Company's ancient lands 
 near Cuddalore. No part of the territory subject 
 to the Presidency of Bombay was ever under the 
 permanent settlement. 
 
 It has been seen that the attempt to introduce 
 this system into the Western Provinces was de- 
 layed, in the first instance, by the objections of 
 the commissioners, Mr. H. St. George Tucker and 
 Mr. R. W. Cox (which, however, were directed not 
 against the principle but the time and local circum- 
 stances of its application), and that it was finally 
 suspended by a solemn decision of the home autho- 
 rities. A large portion of these provinces was 
 brought under a form of the zemindary system some- 
 what resembling that of the permanent settlement, 
 but limited to a term of years. This temporary 
 settlement was made with a class of persons called 
 (as in the lower provinces) proprietors. It is ad- 
 mitted, however, by one of the warmest advo- 
 cates of the plan, that "the first settlement" was 
 " made, in very many instances, to the exclu- 
 sion of those who were supposed to be the pro- 
 prietors, and the lands let to farmers." He adds, 
 indeed, " but still, in a very great many cases, 
 those supposed to be the proprietors were in posses- 
 sion, and paying revenue to the Government." 
 
 What degree of care was taken to ascertain the 
 correspondence of this supposition with the fact is 
 not stated ; but the gentleman from whose evi- 
 dence 
 
280 REVENUE. 
 
 dence the passage just quoted is extracted, appa- 
 rently did not think it necessary that any great 
 labour should be devoted to the enquiry, as in a 
 subsequent part of his evidence he says, " I do 
 not think it at all necessary to enter into a minute 
 examination of rights and claims in every case, 
 because, according to my experience, that would 
 be endless; but you should do that only in cases 
 where rights are set up, and where a call is made 
 for enquiry." It would seem, indeed, that this 
 was the system acted on ; as another witness, Mr. 
 Newnham, says, " Those who came forward as 
 zemindars were recognized as zemindars ; and in 
 the villages in which zemindars had not been 
 forthcoming, or withheld from engagement, agree- 
 ments were made with farmers who had power of 
 collection." And on being asked, " What in- 
 ducement could any person who was a zemindar 
 have for not coming forward ?" He answers, 
 " Because he had the responsibility of a revenue 
 without any profit, where the assessment was too 
 high." And it is afterwards stated, that in cer- 
 tain territories " it was as high as it could be with 
 any sort of justice." Yet there were persons found 
 where the lawful zemindar concealed himself, to 
 render themselves accountable for this heavy as- 
 sessment—calculating, of course, upon some per- 
 sonal advantage, which could only be realised by 
 extracting from the ryots something beyond that 
 
 amount 
 
REVENUE. 281 
 
 amount, which was as large " as it well could be 
 with any sort of justice." Had the permanent 
 settlement taken place, this rapacious intruder 
 would have become the lord of the soil. As it is, 
 there has been quite enough of confusion and mis- 
 chief, and sales have taken place which are inex- 
 plicable both in their nature and their results. It 
 seems altogether uncertain whether or not any 
 property was acquired under the zemindary set- 
 tlement ; if any, it appears equally doubtful what 
 it is ; and the rights conveyed by the sales which 
 took place are shrouded in mystery. The follow- 
 ing questions and answers extracted from the exa- 
 mination of Mr. Holt Mackenzie, 1832, are too 
 important and instructive to admit of abridgment : 
 " Q. The Committee are informed, in the dis- 
 tricts about Bareilly, and the neighbouring dis- 
 tricts, leases for three years were granted to per- 
 sons called zemindars, and instances occurred of 
 rent running in arrear in that short period, and of 
 sales having taken place of some beneficial inte- 
 rest that the zemindar under those circumstances 
 was supposed to possess ; are you aware of it ? — 
 A. Such sales took place extensively in many of 
 the districts ; and in all, more or less, in which 
 the printed Regulations were in force. The tenure 
 sold was sometimes the same with that of the 
 Bengal zemindars. In other cases, the persons 
 recorded as responsible for the Government reve- 
 nue 
 
282 REVENUE. 
 
 nue clearly stood forward as the mere representa- 
 tives of a community. In some, though standing 
 in that relation originally, they contrived to secure 
 for themselves exclusively the profit arising out of 
 the settlement with Government ; and generally, 
 though there might be some coparceners, the two 
 or three who came forward had their names re- 
 corded by our collectors, and stood upon the Go- 
 vernment books as if they were the only zemin- 
 dars, while they were merely members of a large 
 community, having equal rights. 
 
 " Q. Whenever they fell in arrear, you sold 
 them all ? — A. Nobody can tell what was sold in 
 such cases. It is a puzzle to this day to say what 
 was sold. 
 
 V Q. What state of things has been produced 
 by those proceedings ? — A. Great confusion has re- 
 sulted ; the purchasers generally claiming to have 
 acquired a complete property in the villages sold, 
 according to the Bengal rules relative to joint 
 estates ; and I am afraid that the same thing has 
 occurred in Behar, and still more in Benares, where 
 there are many village communities of whom the 
 persons who appeared upon our books were the 
 mere representatives. Mr. Duncan, indeed, pre- 
 pared special rules for Benares that ought to have 
 preserved the inferior holders ; but unhappily his 
 system was confounded very much with the Ben- 
 gal system : and I believe that the courts have 
 
 ruled 
 
REVENUE. 283 
 
 ruled that the sale of a village for Government 
 arrears due by one recorded as a proprietor, abso- 
 lutely conveyed to the purchaser all the rights of 
 property in that village. 
 
 V Q. What has been the effect of this?— A. In- 
 finite mischief. Greater injustice, indeed, no Go- 
 vernment ever inflicted upon a country." 
 
 Such a state of things could not, of course, be 
 permitted to continue. In the Western Provinces, 
 the process of sale has latterly been nearly sus- 
 pended. In 1821, a special commission was ap- 
 pointed to enquire into the sales that had taken 
 place, and into the rights of all persons and classes 
 in the villages sold. Subsequently, similar powers 
 were extended to the Revenue Commissioners, who 
 were authorized to set aside sales in all cases of 
 hardship, giving compensation to bond Jide pur- 
 chasers, and to annul illegal and fraudulent sales 
 without compensation. It was further intended 
 to form a settlement based upon a careful census 
 and survey ; but these have proceeded slowly. 
 
 To remedy the evils arising from delay, the late 
 Governor General recommended the renewal on a 
 summary revision of existing engagements at an 
 enhanced jumma, and for protracted periods. In 
 the event of this proposal being approved, he sug- 
 gested the following principles as the ground- 
 work of proceeding — that the extended leases 
 should not fall short of fifteen, nor exceed twenty 
 
 years 
 
284 REVENUE. 
 
 years— that the detailed survey should go on dur- 
 ing this period preparatory to a settlement on the 
 more accurate data which it would furnish— that 
 the arrangement should be optional, the collectors 
 proposing it to the landholders, leaving them per- 
 fectly at liberty to adopt the alternative of abid- 
 ing the result of the detailed settlement at the 
 most early period at which it might be in the 
 power of Government to effect it, in preference to 
 the certainty of being subjected to one uniform 
 demand only for a definite period. 
 
 Whether this or any other plan be adopted, two 
 points should be carefully kept in view — to pre- 
 judice no existing right, and to create no new one. 
 The scenes which have been acted in a part of the 
 unsettled provinces must not be repeated, and no 
 labour must be thought too great to ascertain the 
 precise nature of all existing tenures. 
 
 Some popular disturbances, which took place 
 in the Western Provinces, and especially at Ba- 
 reilly, have been ascribed to the non-fulfilment of 
 the intention of extending the permanent settle- 
 ment to those provinces. Looking to the spot in 
 which these commotions occurred, and recollect- 
 ing the facts stated in the evidence of Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie, some doubt will naturally arise as to the 
 alleged cause. Mr. Trant, indeed, who assigns 
 this cause, at the same time admits that the dis- 
 turbances arose, in the first place, out of the impo- 
 sition 
 
REVENUE. 285 
 
 sition of a police tax. Mr. Fortescue, who does 
 not deny that they had some connection with the 
 postponement of the permanent settlement, con- 
 siders the wish for that settlement to have been 
 confined to the zemindars. He believes, more- 
 over, that there were other causes operating (as 
 Mr. Trant admits), and inasmuch as the distur- 
 bances were connected with the non-introduction 
 of a permanent settlement, he looks upon them to 
 have been instigated and fomented by those who 
 had an especial interest in the subject. This ap- 
 pears to be the most natural and probable so- 
 lution of the matter, and being corroborated on 
 one important point by the testimony of an adver- 
 sary, it may be regarded as the true one. 
 
 In the permanently settled provinces, we have 
 committed ourselves too far to be able to retrace 
 our steps ; but in all future proceedings sound 
 policy seems to dictate the discouragement of the 
 zemindary system in any shape, as far as is con- 
 sistent with rights established by immemorial 
 custom, or sanctioned by positive law. It is a 
 bad system for the cultivator — it is equally bad 
 for the Government. It has been suggested, that 
 under a zemindary system the rights of the ryots 
 might be ascertained and protected. This, how- 
 ever, would be to combine two systems instead 
 of adopting one ; and as one of the recommenda- 
 tions of the zemindary plan is its apparent sim- 
 plicity 
 
286 REVENUE. 
 
 plicity and facility of application, such an appen- 
 dage to it as the proposal implies, can scarcely 
 find favour in the eyes of those who regard it as 
 an instrument for collecting the revenue with the 
 smallest portion of trouble. But if the rights of 
 the ryots be admitted (and they are clearer than 
 the rights of any other persons in India), on what 
 principle can we justify the withdrawing from 
 them the natural protection of Government ? 
 
 The observations of Sir Thomas Munro on 
 the question are replete with sound vigorous 
 sense. He says, " If in place of lowering the 
 assessment and letting landed property rise in the 
 natural way, we want to have great landlords 
 raised at once where none exist, and for this pur- 
 pose create zemindars and turn over to each of 
 them some hundreds of ryots, we should commit 
 a gross injustice ; because we should enable the 
 zemindar in time to degrade the ryots from the 
 rank of tenants in chief to that of tenants at will, 
 and often to that of mere cultivators or labourers. 
 We say that we leave the ryots free to act and to 
 make their own terms with the zemindars or ren- 
 ters, and that if they were wronged the courts 
 will protect them. We put them out of sight, 
 deliver them over to a superior, and then we tell 
 them that they are free to make their own terms, 
 and that there are courts to secure their rights. 
 But with what pretence of justice can we place them 
 
 under 
 
REVENUE. 287 
 
 under any set of men, to make terms for their pro- 
 perty, and to defend it against them in courts of law ? 
 They have no superior but Government ; they are 
 tenants in chief, and ought not to be obliged to 
 make terms except with Government. But it is 
 said that the zemindar does not infringe their 
 rights, because he has no authority to demand 
 more than the dues of Government, as regulated 
 by the usage of the country, and that if the par- 
 ties be left to themselves things will find their 
 proper level. They will find the level which 
 they have found in Bengal and several dis- 
 tricts under this Government, and which the 
 weak always find when they are left to contend 
 with the strong. The question is, whether we are 
 to continue the country in its natural state, occu- 
 pied by a great body of independent ryots, and 
 to enable them, by a lighter assessment, to rise 
 gradually to the rank of landlords, or whether we 
 are to place the country in an artificial state, by 
 dividing it into villages or larger districts among 
 a new class of landholders, who will inevitably, 
 at no distant period, by the subdivision of their 
 new property, fall to the level of ryots ; while 
 the ryots will, at the same time, have sunk from 
 the rank of independent tenants in chief to that 
 of sub-tenants and cultivators. It is, whether 
 we are to raise the landholders we have, or to 
 create a new set, and see them fall." The actual 
 
 working 
 
288 REVENUE. 
 
 working of the system in Madras is described in 
 another part of the minute from which the last 
 quotation is made. " There is no analogy what- 
 ever between the landlord of England and his 
 tenants, and the moohtahdar or new village zemin- 
 dar of this country and his ryots. In England 
 the landlord is respected by the farmer as his 
 superior ; here a zemindar has no such respect, 
 for the principal ryots of most villages regard him 
 as not more than their equal, and often as their 
 inferior. He is often the former potail, or head 
 ryot of the village ; but he is frequently some 
 petty shopkeeper, or merchant, or some adven- 
 turer, or public servant out of employ. Which- 
 ever of these he is, he has usually very little pro- 
 perty. He has none for the improvement of the 
 village ; but, on the contrary, looks to the village 
 as the means of improving his own circumstances. 
 The ryots, by being placed under him, sink from 
 the rank of tenants of the Government to that of 
 tenants of an individual. They are transferred 
 from a superior, who has no interest but in their 
 protection and welfare, to one whose interest it is 
 to enlarge his own property at the expense of 
 their's; who seeks, by every way, however unjus- 
 tifiable, to get into his own hands all the best lands 
 of the village, and whose situation affords him 
 many facilities in depriving the ancient possessors 
 of theirs. The ryots are jealous of a man whose 
 
 new 
 
REVENUE. 289 
 
 new power and influence they have so much to 
 fear. They frequently combine, in order to keep 
 down the cultivation, and force him, for their own 
 security, to give up the village. And hence it 
 has happened, that on the one side the opposition 
 of the ryots, and on the other the oppression of 
 the new zemindar, have, in many instances, caused 
 villages which were flourishing, and moderately 
 assessed, to revert to the circar, from inability to 
 pay their assessment." Never, indeed, were good 
 intentions so lamentably frustrated as they have 
 been by this system ; and to attempt to make it 
 universal throughout our Indian possessions, might 
 shake the security of our empire. The system is 
 radically vicious. Where, however, it already 
 exists we must tolerate it ; but it would be a 
 most fatal error, as all experience shews, to en- 
 deavour to extend it. Again, quoting the words 
 of Sir Thomas Munro, when speaking of the effects 
 produced by the forcible introduction of this sys- 
 tem : " Such an innovation would be much more 
 fatal to the old rights of property than conquest 
 by a foreign enemy ; for such a conquest, though 
 it overthrew the Government, would leave the 
 people in their former condition. But this inter- 
 nal change, the village revolution, changes every 
 thing, and throws both influence and property 
 into new hands. It deranges the order of society ; 
 it depresses one class of men for the sake of rais- 
 
 u ing 
 
290 REVENUE. 
 
 ing another ; it weakens the respect and authority 
 of ancient offices and institutions ; and the local 
 administration, conducted by their means, is ren- 
 dered much more difficult. It is time that we 
 should learn that neither the face of a country, its 
 property, or its society, are things that can be 
 suddenly improved by any contrivances of our's, 
 though they may be greatly injured by what we 
 mean for their good ; that we should take every 
 country as we find it, and not rashly attempt to 
 regulate its landed property, either in its accumu- 
 lation or division ; that whether it be held by a 
 great body of ryots, or by a few zemindars, or by 
 a mixture of both, our business is not with its 
 distribution, but with its protection ; and that if 
 while we protect, we assess it moderately, and 
 leave it to its natural course, it will, in time, flou- 
 rish, and assume that form which is most suitable 
 to the condition of the people." 
 
 The observations of the same distinguished per- 
 son on the general principles which should guide 
 those who undertake the high task of improving 
 the condition of India, are no less just and in- 
 structive : " We are now," he says, " masters of 
 a very extensive empire, and we should endeavour 
 to improve and secure it by a good internal admi- 
 nistration. Our experience is too short, to judge 
 what rules are best calculated for the purpose. It 
 is only within the last thirty years that we have 
 
 begun 
 
REVENUE. 291 
 
 begun to acquire any practical knowledge ; a 
 longer period must probably elapse before we can 
 ascertain what is best. Such a period is as nothing 
 in the existence of a people ; but we act as if this 
 were as limited as the life of an individual. We 
 proceed, in a country of which we know little or 
 nothing, as if we knew every thing, and as if 
 every thing must be done now and nothing could 
 be done hereafter. We feel our ignorance of Indian 
 revenue and the difficulties arising from it: and 
 instead of seeking to remedy it, by acquiring more 
 knowledge, we endeavour to get rid of the diffi- 
 culty by precipitately making permanent settle- 
 ments, which relieve us from the troublesome task 
 of minute or accurate investigation, and which 
 are better adapted to perpetuate our ignorance 
 than to protect the people. We must not be led 
 away by fanciful theories, founded on European 
 models, which will inevitably end in disappoint- 
 ment. We must not too hastily declare any rights 
 permanent, lest we give to one class what be- 
 longs to another. We must proceed patiently, 
 and as our knowledge of the manners and cus- 
 toms of the people and the nature and resources 
 of the country increase, frame gradually, from 
 the existing institutions, such a system as may 
 advance the prosperity of the country, and be 
 satisfactory to the people. The knowledge most 
 necessary for this end is that of the landed pro- 
 
 u 2 perty 
 
292 REVENUE. 
 
 perty and its assessment ; for the land is not only 
 the great source of the public revenue, but on its 
 fair and moderate assessment depend the comfort 
 and happiness of the people." In another place, 
 Sir Thomas Munro adverts to the mistakes which 
 have been committed, in a manner which should 
 operate as a warning against indiscreet zeal for 
 the future : " Our great error in this country , 
 during a long course of years, has been too much 
 precipitation in attempting to better the condition 
 of the people with hardly any knowledge of the 
 means by which it was to be accomplished, and, 
 indeed, without seeming to think that any other 
 than good intentions were necessary. It is a dan- 
 gerous system of government, in a country of 
 which our knowledge is very imperfect, to be con- 
 stantly urged by the desire of settling every thing 
 permanently, to do every thing in a hurry, and, in 
 consequence, wrong ; and, in our zeal for perma- 
 nency, to put the remedy out of our reach. The 
 ruling vice of our government is innovation ; and 
 its innovation has been so little guided by a 
 knowledge of the people, that, though made after 
 what was thought by us to be a mature discussion, 
 must appear to them as little better than mere 
 caprice." Such observations, which would scarcely 
 at any time be unseasonable, are peculiarly de- 
 serving of notice in an age, the ruling vice of 
 which is that which Sir Thomas Munro ascribes 
 
 to 
 
REVENUE. 293 
 
 to the English authority in India—innovation. 
 The great error of concluding that laws and insti- 
 tutions which produce good effects in one country, 
 will, therefore, produce good effects in all other 
 countries, must be carefully avoided ; and if it be 
 necessary to bear this in mind with regard to that 
 which has been tried, though under different cir- 
 cumstances, the necessity is still more imperious 
 with reference to systems altogether untried, and 
 which have not the sanction of even a partial or 
 local experience. If we would benefit the people 
 of India, we must legislate for them as they are, 
 and not as theorists conceive they ought to be. 
 We must respect their local usages and institu- 
 tions, wherever they are not productive of positive 
 evil ; and even where they are, they must be 
 removed with a gentle hand. The general habit 
 of the people is submission to authority, and it 
 will be our own fault if they learn a different les- 
 son. If we are content to derive a moderate reve- 
 nue from the land, and to abstain from all inter- 
 ference with existing rights, except to protect 
 them, the people will advance in wealth and hap- 
 piness, and the British dominion take root in 
 their interests and feelings. But if fanciful 
 schemes, concocted in the closets of speculators 
 and sciolists, framed with an ostentatious disre- 
 gard of local peculiarities, claiming an universal 
 applicability, and, like a patent medicine, " war- 
 ranted 
 
294 REVENUE. 
 
 ranted to keep good in any climate/' are imposed 
 upon a people little addicted to novelty, in place 
 of the institutions to which they have been accus- 
 tomed, which have grown with the growth of the 
 nation and become part of its very essence, dis- 
 content, disgust, and confusion will be inevitable, 
 and the final results may be such as no friend, 
 either to India or England, can wish to contem- 
 plate. But while we discourage such a mischie- 
 vous activity, we must not take refuge in indolence 
 and supineness. It is at once our interest and 
 our duty to settle nothing permanently till it can 
 be settled in a manner satisfactory to the people ; 
 but it is also our interest and our duty to spare 
 no labour that may be necessary to enable us to 
 acquire that minute knowledge of Indian institu- 
 tions which is indispensable to a satisfactory settle- 
 ment. Of two plans we must not give the prefe- 
 rence to one solely on the ground of its involving 
 less trouble than the other. Nothing must be 
 left to chance or accident, nor must the preserva- 
 tion of any class of rights be suffered to depend 
 upon the clamorous violence with which they may 
 happen to be urged. The weak, as well as the 
 strong, the silent as well as the loud, the ignorant 
 as well as the informed, must be protected ; and 
 as we must not be parsimonious of labour, so 
 neither must we be impatient of the consumption 
 of time. The work to be accomplished is not that 
 
 of 
 
REVENUE. 295 
 
 of a day or a year, and provided no time is wasted, 
 it will, if well done, be done sufficiently early. 
 
 By an adherence to such rules, we may guard 
 against the recurrence of evils similar to those the 
 existence of which there is reason to lament under 
 the permanent settlement. To correct those evils 
 which have already arisen is a less direct and a 
 far more difficult task. It has been justly said, 
 that " the practical difficulty of adjusting the 
 relation of the zemindar and the ryot, after an 
 assignment to the former of all he can gain by the 
 destruction of the latter, is of the most serious 
 nature." Yet it must be remembered that the 
 fault was with the Government and not with the 
 people, and therefore the former is bound to do 
 all within its power to mitigate the evils which it 
 cannot entirely remove. Little of a general nature 
 can be done, but something may be accomplished 
 in detail ; and this the Home Government have 
 evinced a disposition to perform, manifesting that 
 laudable regard to the interests of the people 
 committed to its care, and that accurate percep- 
 tion of the true nature of those interests, which 
 from the commencement of its rule have been the 
 leading characteristics of the policy of the Com- 
 pany. It has hitherto been judged inexpedient 
 to interfere, so long as the zemindar is punctual 
 in fulfilling his engagements with the Govern- 
 ment ; but the Home Authority has directed, that 
 
 in 
 
296 REVENUE. 
 
 in the event of arrears accruing, and a sale being 
 deemed necessary (except in cases where the 
 sacrifice on account of purchase money would be 
 very great) the zemindary tenure should be bought 
 on the part of the Government, and a settlement 
 made on the ryotwar principle. Under the Ben- 
 gal presidency this instruction has not been acted 
 upon to any extent. Under the Madras presi- 
 dency, it has been already stated, that a large por- 
 tion of the country, formerly settled under the 
 zemindary tenure, has reverted to Government. 
 
 The purchase and resumption of the rights 
 imprudently conceded to the zemindars is un- 
 doubtedly the least exceptionable method of 
 remedying the evil of their existence ; but a serious 
 objection lies against it, arising from the outlay of 
 money required to carry it into effect to any con- 
 siderable extent. For this reason Mr. Campbell 
 suggests that it would be desirable, without chang- 
 ing the existing law rendering the zemindary te- 
 nure saleable for arrears, in practice to suspend its 
 operation, and on an arrear, accruing, to attach and 
 continue the attachment of the land revenue, and 
 to introduce a ryotwar field assessment. This 
 plan may, probably, be adopted with some be- 
 nefit where the purchase of the right by Govern- 
 ment is impracticable or inexpedient ; but as the 
 suspension of the zemindars' right would be only 
 temporary, it does not appear very easy to see 
 
 how 
 
REVENUE. 972 
 
 how we should be legally justified in interfering 
 between the ryots and himself, except upon the 
 principle that extreme evils justify the appli- 
 cation of extreme remedies, which, if acted upon, 
 might carry us much farther than Mr. Campbell's 
 proposal. Whenever the zemindars' right can be 
 altogether annihilated (except in cases of ancient 
 claim), this course will be preferable. The mis- 
 chief arising from a sale to any private purchaser 
 need not be dwelt upon. The elevation of low men 
 to the possession of power, extending even to op- 
 pression and extortion ; the consequent insecurity 
 of all previous engagements, and other evils at 
 once occur to the mind, and attest that the prac- 
 tice ought not to be continued. Two other sug- 
 gestions by Mr. Campbell deserve consideration. 
 One is, that in future, if the zemindary tenure 
 should in any case be sold to a private purchaser, 
 materially to modify that harsh and oppressive 
 rule, which renders voidable all engagements be- 
 tween the cultivators and the former zemindar. 
 He proposes that this should be the exception in- 
 stead of the rule, and that all engagements except 
 those which should be found to have originated in 
 collusion or fraud, should be maintained. The jus- 
 tice of this proposal is too obvious to require argu- 
 ment to enforce it, and as it would not injuriously 
 affect any existing rights, it is difficult to dis- 
 cover any valid objection to it. 
 
 The 
 
298 REVENUE. 
 
 The second suggestion relates to the office of 
 village accountant. Mr. Campbell regards it as 
 a great error of the permanent settlement, that 
 this office has been suffered either to fall into dis- 
 use, or to be held entirely subject to the zemin- 
 dars. It was the duty of this officer, after the 
 rates payable by the cultivators had been ad- 
 justed, to register them as the recorder of the Go- 
 vernment, for the mutual guidance of the payers 
 and receivers. In 1816-17, some measures were 
 taken for the reform of the office ; but Mr. Mill 
 represents them as not having succeeded. Mr. 
 Campbell thinks it of the highest importance that, 
 in the permanently settled districts, it should be 
 efficiently restored, and that the holders of it 
 should be emancipated from the control of the 
 zemindars, and declared the servants of Govern- 
 ment exclusively. 
 
 Throughout a large portion of India, the inhabi- 
 tants are associated in communities constituting 
 villages, each village having its officers of diffe- 
 rent classes, and the whole community being- 
 united by various common ties. The advantages 
 of this institution are described by Sir Charles 
 Metcalfe with extraordinary beauty and eloquence 
 in the following passage from one of his able mi- 
 nutes : 
 
 " The village communities are little republics, 
 having nearly every thing that they want within 
 
 themselves, 
 
REVENUE. 299 
 
 themselves, and almost independent of any fo- 
 reign relations. They seem to last where nothing 
 else lasts. Dynasty after dynasty tumbles down, 
 revolution succeeds to revolution, Hindoo, Patan, 
 Mogul, Mahratta, Siek, English, are all masters in 
 their turn ; but the village communities remain the 
 same. In times of trouble they arm and fortify 
 themselves : a hostile army passes through the 
 country : the village communities collect their cat- 
 tle within their walls, and let the enemy pass un- 
 provoked. If plunder and devastation be directed 
 against themselves, and the force employed be 
 irresistible, they flee to friendly villages at a dis- 
 tance ; but when the storm has passed over they 
 return and resume their occupations. If a country 
 remain for a series of years the scene of continued 
 pillage and massacre, so that the villages cannot 
 be inhabited, the scattered villagers nevertheless 
 return whenever the power of peaceable possession 
 revives. A generation may pass away ; but the 
 succeeding generation will return. The sons will 
 take the places of their fathers ; the same site for 
 the village, the same positions for the houses ; the 
 same lands will be re-occupied by the descen- 
 dants of those who were driven out when the vil- 
 lage was depopulated ; and it is not a trifling 
 matter that will drive them out, for they will often 
 maintain their post through times of disturbance 
 and convulsion ; and acquire strength sufficient to 
 
 resist 
 
300 REVENUE. 
 
 resist pillage and oppression with success. This 
 union of the village communities, each one form- 
 ing a separate little state in itself, has, I conceive, 
 contributed more than any other cause to the pre- 
 servation of the people of India, through all the 
 revolutions and changes which they have suffered, 
 and is, in a high degree, conducive to their happi- 
 ness, and to the enjoyment of a great portion of 
 freedom and independence. I wish, therefore, 
 that the village constitutions may never be dis- 
 turbed, and I dread every thing that has a ten- 
 dency to break them up." 
 
 The political views embodied in the above ex- 
 tract are as souifd as the language in which they 
 are clothed is picturesque and forcible. A system 
 which, through successive and protracted scenes 
 of war and rapine, preserves the elements of pro- 
 perty and civilization for the reconstruction of the 
 social edifice in calmer times, has strong claims on 
 the protection of an enlightened and paternal go- 
 vernment ; and it is gratifying to find such senti- 
 ments entertained by the statesmen of India. The 
 principle of corporations is one admirably adapted 
 to stability, and though a certain class of political 
 reasoners may take a different view, the stability 
 of social institutions will ever be regarded by the 
 reflecting as an object which it is one of the first 
 duties of a legislator to secure. A corporation or 
 an associated community like an Indian village 
 
 may 
 
REVENUE. • 301 
 
 may be dispersed by accident; but it is not 
 thereby destroyed. When its members come to- 
 gether again each man knows his place, and each 
 man falls into it as a matter of course. The effects 
 of a convulsion thus scarcely outlast the convul- 
 sion itself; whereas a long period must elapse, 
 and many failures probably take place, before a 
 number of individuals accidentally thrown to- 
 gether in a disorderly manner, could be formed 
 into a tolerably regulated society. 
 
 It is not surprising that the village system of 
 India should have been regarded as furnishing fa- 
 cilities for the realization of the land revenue, and 
 that it should, in consequence, have been em- 
 ployed as an instrument for the purpose. The 
 experiment has been made in various parts of 
 India. 
 
 Through a large part of the territories under the 
 presidency of Bombay the village system pre- 
 vails, and the Government settlements are made 
 with the head man of the village, called the po- 
 tail or pateel, and some well-informed reporters 
 bear a favourable testimony as to its success. In 
 Madras, it failed entirely. It was introduced into 
 the provinces under that Government about the 
 year 1808, and the plan pursued was in conside- 
 ration of a stipulated sum to be paid to Go- 
 vernment, to surrender for a term of years the 
 collection of the revenue to the village cultivators 
 
 themselves, 
 
302 REVENUE. 
 
 themselves, or to such of them as would enter into 
 the contract, or in the event of a general refusal 
 to the head of the village alone. As the sum pay- 
 able to Government was fixed, all advantage to 
 be derived during the term from the extension of 
 cultivation to waste lands was transferred to the 
 contractors. In a few instances, the greater num- 
 ber of the ryots in a village joined in the lease, 
 but generally a few only became parties to it. 
 The result is thus stated : 
 
 " The inferior ryots were shut out from all 
 immediate communication with the Government 
 officers, oppressed by their more powerful brethren 
 the renters, who in good seasons pocketed all the 
 profits, and in bad cast upon them, by extra as- 
 sessments, or saddling them with waste land, the 
 greater burden of the leases, so that at the expi- 
 ration of the ten years the village generally re- 
 turned into the hands of Government in a lamenta- 
 ble state of impoverishment ; and in some districts, 
 particularly in Bellary, in a state, as described by 
 Mr. Chaplin and Mr. Thackeray, of absolute bank- 
 ruptcy." 
 
 It is clear that the practical result of the village 
 system in the Madras territories, was little else 
 than the establishment of a zemindary system 
 under another name ; and the village system of 
 collecting the revenue appears to have a direct 
 tendency to ; degenerate into this. It appears, 
 
 indeed, 
 
REVENUE. 303 
 
 indeed, next to impossible to preserve it from 
 the vices of the zemindary system ; and the sin- 
 gle advantage to be placed against this very 
 serious disadvantage is the upholding the ge- 
 neral system of village association. Another ad- 
 vantage has, indeed, been claimed for it, the 
 collection of the revenue at a trifling expense ; 
 but it is surely better to incur some increase of 
 expense, in order to ensure a due apportionment 
 of the general burden, and to protect the poorer 
 and weaker members of the community from being 
 oppressed by the richer and stronger. If Govern- 
 ment puts the individual ryots out of the pale of 
 its protection, and recognizes only communities 
 or the heads of communities, it is almost impos- 
 sible but that the weak should, in many instances, 
 receive injustice at the hands of the strong. The 
 head of a community must occasionally have the 
 opportunity of advancing his own interests at the 
 expense of those of his fellow members, and it 
 cannot be doubted that he will very frequently 
 have the will. Even where all the cultivators in 
 a village are parties to the contract with Govern- 
 ment, justice cannot be regarded as secured, for 
 communities often act with gross injustice towards 
 individual members. In Delhi the representative 
 of the village is chosen by the inhabitants ; and 
 though this may be viewed as a safeguard, it 
 requires more knowledge than we possess, as to 
 
 the 
 
304 REVENUE. 
 
 the mode of election and various other points, to 
 enable us to say with confidence that jobbing is ex- 
 cluded, and that by this system of collection every 
 man pays his share, and no man pays more. These 
 observations, of course, apply only to the introduc- 
 tion of the village system as a general one. There 
 may be instances where the habits of the people 
 are so associated with it, and run so strongly in 
 its favour, that it would be in the highest degree 
 unwise to substitute any other. Where it already 
 exists and works well, there it may and ought to 
 be preserved. But it should be fully ascertained 
 that the report of its good operation does not pro- 
 ceed exclusively from those who have a special 
 interest in upholding it. The most judicious 
 advocates of the plan propose to combine with it 
 an individual assessment, which is, in fact, to 
 graft it upon the ryotwar system. But the only 
 effect of superinducing the village upon the ryot- 
 war plan would seem to be, to ensure a just 
 assessment, but to leave to chance the realization 
 of a just payment. The village records, indeed, 
 if properly kept, would afford evidence of what 
 ought to be paid ; but it is difficult to see why 
 an aggrieved ryot should be compelled to have 
 recourse either to a court of law or to a collector 
 for redress, when, by the adoption of a simpler 
 and more efficient mode of revenue administration, 
 he might be spared the necessity of appealing to 
 
 either. 
 
REVENUE. 305 
 
 either. The village institutions are most valuable, 
 forming, as it were, the frame-work of the social 
 system ; but, except in particular cases, it will 
 be better to place the revenue under the im- 
 mediate care of the state and its servants. It is 
 to be lamented, that in matters of taxation the 
 consciences of men are seldom very delicate : every 
 man endeavours to shift as much of the burden as 
 possible from his own shoulders to those of his 
 neighbour. It cannot be doubted that this feeling 
 exists in India quite as strongly as in the rest of 
 the world ; and it seems reasonable that men 
 should not be left to decide for one another where 
 the danger of deciding unjustly is so great, but 
 that the state should relieve them from this ha- 
 zardous responsibility, and preserve to itself a 
 power which, as between one subject and another, 
 it has no temptation to abuse. 
 
 The great principle to be observed in any mode 
 of settlement is, to offer as little violence as pos- 
 sible to the habits and feelings of the people. Wher- 
 ever these do not stand in the way— wherever there 
 is room for the exercise of a free choice, there can 
 be no doubt at all that the ryotwar system is 
 that which is best calculated to secure the cultivator 
 from oppression — best calculated to promote in- 
 dustry, order, and independence— best calculated 
 to advance the general prosperity of the country, 
 and best calculated to protect the pecuniary inte- 
 
 x . rests 
 
30G REVENUE. 
 
 rests of the Government. That it is generally 
 most consonant to the feelings of the people, is 
 certain. Mr. Sullivan relates an instance which 
 occurred in the province of Coimbatore. The 
 principal native officer on his establishment was 
 rewarded for his services by a grant of revenue. 
 The revenue had previously been paid with the 
 utmost punctuality; but upon the grant being- 
 made to this man, the people stopped payment. 
 The man on whom the grant had been bestowed 
 appealed to Mr. Sullivan for assistance, to realize 
 his claim. His interference produced an expla- 
 nation of the cause of non-payment, which, it 
 appeared, was not attributable to inability, or to 
 any personal dislike to the individual who had 
 obtained the grant, but solely to the aversion 
 which the people felt to pay the Government 
 demand through any intermediate channel. On 
 being spoken to by Mr. Sullivan, they complained 
 of the hardship and disgrace to which they had 
 been subjected, in being deprived of their right 
 to pay their revenue direct to the Government 
 officer. 
 
 It is equally certain that the ryotwar system is 
 the only one by which all individual rights can 
 be protected — indeed the only one by which they 
 can be ascertained. And thus, unless a portion 
 of the rights of the people — probably the most 
 valuable rights of the most valuable class of the 
 
 people, 
 
REVENUE. 307 
 
 people, are to be regarded as unworthy of notice, 
 a ryotwar settlement must be the basis of any 
 other. Mr. Hill's observations upon this subject 
 are much to the purpose ; of course, the settle- 
 ment of which he speaks is such a one as it would 
 become a just and upright government to make. 
 He says : " You can no more form a zemindary set- 
 tlement without a ryotwar one, than you can write 
 a correct hand without spelling, although in either 
 case you may be unconscious of the subsidiary 
 operation. The ryotwar settlement is an essential 
 part of the zemindary one. If the officers of the 
 Government do not make settlements with the 
 ryots, the zemindar must ; and therefore the ob- 
 jections that are taken against a ryotwar settle- 
 ment will not be obviated by the substitution of 
 the other, except in as far as those objections 
 apply to the ryotwar settlement being executed 
 by the officers of Government." 
 
 It is, indeed, obvious that there are but three 
 courses that can be taken: the first is, to make 
 an engagement for the realization of a certain 
 revenue, without any regard to existing rights. 
 This course no honest government can take, ex- 
 cept in ignorance. The second is, previously to 
 ascertain all existing rights, and then to make an 
 engagement with an individual or a few indivi- 
 duals, the contracting parties being required to 
 respect the rights which have been previously 
 
 x 2 ascertained 
 
308 REVENUE. 
 
 ascertained and recognized. By this, all the 
 labour and expense which by some are regarded 
 as constituting formidable objections to the ryot- 
 war system, are incurred in the first instance, 
 while the benefits to be derived from them are 
 placed in danger. The contractor may respect these 
 rights, if he is disposed (though a conscientious 
 contractor in India is not an every-day character), 
 or if the holders of the rights have the means of 
 compelling him and the inclination to use them. 
 But why should acknowledged rights be enjoyed 
 upon so fragile a tenure ? Why, after so much 
 time and labour have been spent in inquiring into 
 them, should they not be placed under the imme- 
 diate protection of the Government ? The third 
 course, therefore, is the only one by which the full 
 advantages of the inquiry can be obtained — that 
 which makes the ryotwar system, not a part of the 
 plan adopted by Government but the whole of it ; 
 and this is the more simple, as well as the more 
 efficacious method. It is clear, however, that when 
 any other system is forced upon us by custom, 
 prejudice, or any other cause, the ryotwar method 
 must still enter into it, unless we are willing to 
 incur the hazard of inflicting gross injustice. 
 
 The ryotwar system is the ancient one of a large 
 part of India. Col. John Munro gives an account 
 of it as he found it existing in Travancore, which 
 shews its correspondence with that prevailing in 
 
 the 
 
REVENUE. 309 
 
 the Company's territories. In that province it 
 appears that a survey was made many years ago, 
 which is the foundation of the assessment of the 
 land revenue. Every ten or twelve years a fresh 
 survey took place, in which alterations were made, 
 according to the lands brought into cultivation, or 
 those fallen into disuse. The original survey com- 
 prehended the whole of the country, whether 
 cultivated or waste ; the occasional surveys took 
 cognizance of the cultivated lands only. Every 
 field which yielded revenue was inserted in the 
 survey with the name of its proprietor. It ap- 
 pears that a variety of tenures existed, but that 
 no difficulties arose from this source. At the 
 commencement of every year, an account was 
 opened with every individual ryot ; the lands he 
 held, with their assessments, were entered, and 
 the several payments which he made in the course 
 of the year were also noted down, and receipts 
 given for them. The beneficial effects of the 
 system were, in a considerable degree, frustrated 
 by the extreme corruption of the officers engaged 
 in carrying it into effect. Colonel Munro says, 
 " The system of the revenue management was so 
 exceedingly defective, and the revenue servants 
 were so very corrupt, that large balances of land 
 revenue stood almost always in the accounts against 
 the several districts, although, on examination, it 
 was found that the ryots or the inhabitants had 
 
 generally 
 
310 REVENUE. 
 
 generally paid up their rents with punctuality." 
 With that mixture of indolence and rapacity which 
 universally characterizes native governments, the 
 officers appear to have been suffered to enjoy the 
 fruits of their dishonesty for a time — but only for 
 a time: when the Rajah's government found it- 
 self at a loss for funds, instead of demanding ac- 
 counts from its unprincipled servants, it had re- 
 course to a more ready expedient ; some pretext 
 was devised for the general confiscation of the 
 property of these persons — an expedient which, 
 like the zemindary system, saved trouble. No 
 sound opinion can, of course, be formed from the 
 practical working of any system under such a go- 
 vernment. But from peculiar circumstances, it 
 became necessary for the resident, Colonel Munro, 
 to assume the direction of the internal adminis- 
 tration, when he took the opportunity of introduc- 
 ing such changes as were necessary in the various 
 departments of government; after which, the 
 land revenue was materially improved, and the 
 assessment generally punctually paid. 
 
 In some parts of the territories under the Bom- 
 bay presidency, a modified form of the ryotwar 
 system is adopted. The collector settles the de- 
 mand against each ryot ; but the collection of it 
 is vested in the potail or head of the village. In 
 other parts the ryotwar system exists in its pure 
 form. It was objected by a witness before the 
 
 Committee 
 
REVENUE. 311 
 
 Committee of the House of Commons in 1832, 
 that this system was subject to two disadvan- 
 tages; that " it enables the cultivator to conceal 
 lands under cultivation without the risk of his 
 neighbour informing against him;" and that " it 
 enables him also, in case the Government officers 
 are disposed to fraud, in collusion with them to 
 diminish the revenue." These two objections are 
 substantially one. A cultivator may, in some 
 cases, evade the payment of a part of that which 
 he ought to pay. This is an objection which will 
 apply to almost every mode which human inge- 
 nuity can devise for the collection of any tax. 
 Taxes have always been more or less evaded, and 
 always will be. Under the zemindary system — 
 under any system by which revenue is farmed, 
 there may perhaps be less evasion than when it is 
 collected by the immediate agents of Govern- 
 ment. The chance of evading payment may be 
 small, when the private interest of an individual 
 is operating to quicken his vigilance in detect- 
 ing the evasion. But the advantage here will 
 be a private and not a public one. Payment 
 will be enforced, but not for the benefit of the 
 Government. That portion of the revenue which, 
 in ordinary circumstances, would be withheld by 
 the person liable to its payment, will, under a 
 system of farming, be extracted from him only to 
 be deposited in the pocket of the contractor ; and 
 
 it 
 
312 REVENUE. 
 
 it must be a matter of the most perfect indiffe- 
 rence to the state, whether the sums which it 
 ought to realize but does not, are withheld in the 
 first instance, or whether they are intercepted in 
 any intermediate stage. But under a vigilant and 
 well-regulated system of revenue management, 
 the amount lost by evasion need not be large. If 
 care and attention be withdrawn, no system will 
 work effectually; but if these be not wanting, 
 that system which is least harassing to the culti- 
 vators who have to pay, will be found quite as 
 productive as any other to the Government which 
 has to receive. 
 
 Under the Bengal presidency, a detailed ryot- 
 war system has been tried in Boglepoor. It was 
 introduced in consequence of abuses arising out 
 of the zemindary system. It was effected under 
 the superintendence of Mr. Ward, who was de- 
 puted to that district to repress the encroach- 
 ments of zemindars on lands to which they had 
 no just claim. It is represented that Mr. Ward's 
 arrangements have been attended with good re- 
 sults, and have afforded great satisfaction to the 
 people. 
 
 But it is perhaps under the Madras presidency 
 that the effects of the ryotwar settlement can be 
 most justly appreciated. Between the years 
 1792 and 1801, we obtained from various sove- 
 reigns a vast accession of territory in this quarter. 
 
 We 
 
REVENUE. 313 
 
 We here found the ryotwar system established, 
 and it does not appear that any other was ever 
 known. The cultivators paid their contributions 
 immediately into the treasury of the state, without 
 the intervention of middle men of any kind. A 
 part of the new territory was placed under the 
 charge of Colonel Read. The system pursued 
 by him proceeded upon the following principles ; 
 a settlement with each individual cultivator— the 
 reservation to Government of the right to any 
 increase of revenue derivable from the extension 
 of cultivation to the waste — the fixing and re- 
 cording a specific sum as the maximum payable on 
 each field and each tract of unoccupied land, and 
 where the revenue was payable in kind, the com- 
 mutation into a money assessment. The surveys 
 necessary to carry this plan into operation were 
 executed with various degrees of care and ability, 
 but nowhere were they so systematically and ably 
 conducted as in the ceded districts under the 
 superintendence of Sir Thomas Munro. The 
 opportunity, however, of forming a judgment of 
 the merits of the plan from actual experience, 
 was in a great measure lost by the determination 
 of the Government to adopt a different one, which 
 for some reasons was supposed to be more in 
 accordance with the judicial system then recently 
 introduced. In consequence the ryotwar mode of 
 settlement was abolished, except in a few dis- 
 tricts, 
 
314 REVENUE. 
 
 tricts, and the village system substituted. It 
 has been already seen that this entirely failed ; 
 the effect was only to introduce a zemindary sys- 
 tem under another name, and the fate of the 
 experiment was quickly sealed by the ruin which 
 it occasioned. The Home Government urged the 
 abandonment of a plan which was as much at 
 variance with the interests of the revenue as of 
 the community, and as soon as circumstances 
 would admit, the local government complied. 
 In some instances the village settlements were 
 annulled as based in fraud ; in others there had 
 not been time to introduce them, and after a 
 few years they every where came to a natural 
 termination, by the expiration of the term for 
 which they were granted. The ryotwar system 
 was in consequence reverted to, and in the ar- 
 rangements made for carrying it into effect, care 
 was taken to guard against any errors that might 
 formerly have been committed. The present 
 form of the ryotwar settlement under the Madras 
 presidency may be regarded as a modified one, 
 inasmuch as the potail, or head of the village, is em- 
 ployed in its collection. The following account of 
 the practical working of the plan will be accept- 
 able to those who take an interest in the subject. 
 
 *1 In the spring of each year, every native col- 
 lector, of whom there are generally ten or twelve 
 under the European officer in charge of a large 
 
 province, 
 
REVENUE. 315 
 
 province, makes the circuit of his district, to 
 ascertain the fields which are occupied, and the 
 individual holding the highest tenure in each. 
 He then allows the poorer ryots to relinquish any 
 fields they may not desire longer to retain, and 
 grants these or other unoccupied or waste fields, to 
 such other ryots as desire newly to extend their 
 cultivation. 
 
 " The settlement itself is not begun by the Eu- 
 ropean collector until towards the harvest, when 
 the native collector of each district, with his dis- 
 trict accountant, is in the first instance summoned 
 to meet him. The records of the district ac- 
 countant shew the result of the native collector's 
 previous circuit through the villages of his dis- 
 trict. The quantity of land in each village, with 
 its assessment, is ascertained ; that portion of it 
 which the ryots have agreed to cultivate is dis- 
 tinguished from the rest, and the reduced field 
 survey assessment on it, after the usual deduc- 
 tions in favour of those who have the revenue 
 alienated to them, or remitted in their favour, 
 forms the native collector's estimate of the pro- 
 bable settlement of the land revenue for the 
 season. He then affords personal explanations as 
 to the general state of the several villages in his 
 district, and the local causes of those changes 
 which are observable in the accounts compared 
 with those of former years. 
 
 "This 
 
316 REVENUE. 
 
 "This preliminary having been completed, the 
 village accountants are next summoned to attend 
 the European collector. Their more detailed 
 accounts shew how far the several ryots have 
 completed the engagements into which they have 
 entered with the native collector, and what fields 
 of the land agreed to be cultivated have been 
 left waste. The causes of these alterations are 
 minutely investigated and explained, and the 
 records of the village accountants are checked by 
 information obtained from their competitors or 
 other sources. 
 
 V The collector's native establishment then pre- 
 pare from their data a separate account for every 
 individual ryot, specifying the name of each 
 field, whether irrigated, unirrigated, or garden- 
 land, cultivated by him, or at his risk and 
 charge, its number in the survey accounts, and 
 its assessments, with the alienations, or remissions 
 (if any) in his favour. This account also ex- 
 hibits the ryot's stock, the number of his cattle, 
 sheep, &c. ; that also of the persons of his family, 
 male or female, the extent of land exempted from 
 revenue cultivated by him, invariably on very 
 easy terms ; and his actual payments to the 
 Government for many years past. These, which 
 are called the rough ryotwar accounts, form the 
 basis of the European collector's final settlement ; 
 and when any discussion arises with a particular 
 
 ryot, 
 
REVENUE. 317 
 
 ryot, they enable the collector to decide the point 
 at issue without delay, for they contain, in fact, 
 a summary revenue history of each individual 
 contributor. 
 
 " These accounts having been prepared for each 
 ryot, the whole of the cultivators themselves, in 
 eight or ten villages, are ultimately summoned at 
 the same time to the collector's presence. Here 
 the account of each man, and the deductions (if 
 any) made in his favour, are compared in detail 
 with his own personal information by the collec- 
 tor's native establishment : any items in it to 
 which objections are started, are examined, dis- 
 cussed, and if erroneous corrected. It is here 
 that the frauds of the village accountants are de- 
 tected, by the envy, jealousy, or honesty of one 
 ryot pointing out the favours improperly granted 
 to his neighbour. The objections of the ryots, if 
 ill founded, are overruled by the explanations of 
 the head of the village, the village accountant, or 
 the other cultivators in the same village, or by 
 the exhortations of the inhabitants of the neigh- 
 bouring villages also present ; for these persons 
 never hesitate voluntarily to interfere, and to re- 
 primand such as start unfounded objections ; and 
 a ryot who obstinately demurs for hours to the 
 laboured and authoritative reasoning of the col- 
 lector's native establishment, will often give way 
 at once to the voluntary arguments of his fellows, 
 
 whose 
 
318 REVENUE. 
 
 whose explanations are perhaps better adapted to 
 his capacity, and whose opinion being more dis- 
 interested, no doubt carries with it more weight. 
 But if the ryot's objections are valid, he always 
 persists in appealing to the collector himself. The 
 details of every ryotwar settlement must devolve 
 on the native servants. The presence of the 
 European officer is, no doubt, useful to super- 
 intend the whole ; but it is chiefly requisite, in 
 order to afford, on the spot, to every discontented 
 ryot, this facility of instant access and immediate 
 appeals, which affords the best check against 
 either fraud or oppression in the course of the set- 
 tlement. The collector, if a judicious revenue offi- 
 cer, seldom has occasion to decide such questions 
 himself; he soon learns to distinguish amongst 
 the ryots assembled, which are those universally 
 respected throughout the country for their good 
 conduct, impartiality, and sound sense ; and his 
 call upon them for an opinion, invariably given 
 publicly without any previous preparation, whilst 
 it silences all complaint, relieves the officer of 
 the Government from the odium of deciding ques- 
 tions in which its interests may often be involved. 
 "All discussions with the ryots having thus been 
 terminated, the puttah or lease, and its counter- 
 part, are drawn out, and the former having been 
 sealed by the collector, the whole of the ryots in 
 each village are called before him. Every man 
 
 here 
 
REVENUE. 319 
 
 here separately exchanges engagements with the 
 Government, to the number of 60,000 or 70,000 
 in some provinces, and receives from the Euro- 
 pean collector's own hands his lease, accompanied 
 by the betel leaf, &c, the usual seal of all native 
 compacts. If any ryot still objects to the terms 
 of his lease, he declines to receive it, and the 
 grounds of his objection are here formally dis- 
 cussed, and finally decided by the collector in 
 open public audience. 
 
 " In each village its head or potail, the chief of 
 the police, is also invariably the village collector 
 on account of Government. He realizes from 
 each individual ryot the amount of the govern- 
 ment revenue as the instalments fall due, and re- 
 mits it to the native collector of the district, also 
 vested with magisterial powers similar to those of 
 a justice of the peace, whence it is forwarded to 
 the European collector, uniting in his person the 
 superintendence of both the revenue and police 
 departments over the entire province." 
 
 Such is the mode of proceeding adopted in those 
 parts of the territories under the Madras presi- 
 dency subject to the ryotwar system, and it 
 appears to possess many advantages. Among the 
 most important may be reckoned the intercourse 
 which it ensures between the European servant of 
 the Government and the contributors to the reve- 
 nue, and the publicity which attends this inter- 
 course. 
 
320 REVENUE. 
 
 course. It may be doubted, however, whether 
 there may not be danger, that deference to the 
 individual opinion of natives may be carried some- 
 what too far. The points which arise for deter- 
 mination must, indeed, generally be such as a 
 stranger in the country, however acute, accom- 
 plished, and laborious, must be less competent to 
 decide than natives, if integrity be secured ; but 
 the state of Indian society is so universally cor- 
 rupt, that it can be scarcely possible to obtain 
 an honest opinion, even where there is no appa- 
 rent motive to dishonesty. At the same time, it is 
 not possible to devise a system better calculated 
 to elicit the truth than to hear all that can be 
 said ; but the collector, after all, should not attach 
 too much importance to the testimony or the 
 opinion of any individual, but exercise his discri- 
 mination, in endeavouring to extract the truth 
 from the discordant statements with which he is 
 assailed. 
 
 The ryotwar system is applicable to any part of 
 India where custom, prejudice, or positive law 
 does not exclude it. Where different tenures 
 exist, the settlement should be made with the 
 holder of the highest, but he should be required 
 to produce satisfactory evidence of his right. 
 Where lands are cultivated by several ryots in 
 common, on equal joint co-tenure, the names of 
 all should be inserted in the lease, and the share 
 
 held 
 
REVENUE. 321 
 
 held by each distinctly specified. The claims 
 upon the revenue itself can occasion no difficulty, 
 except in ascertaining them. When ascertained, 
 if the claim be to a partial remission, it will be 
 admitted in the settlement ; if to a total exemp- 
 tion, there will be no occasion for any settlement 
 at all. 
 
 The objections which have been urged against 
 the ryotwar system are principally two : that it 
 subverts the established order of society by re- 
 ducing all classes to the lowest level, and that it 
 is more expensive than any other system for the 
 administration of the land revenue. The first is 
 obviously groundless. The system recognizes all 
 existing rights, and protects them all in their pro- 
 per order. It does not, like the zemindary sys- 
 tem, create rights which never existed, and sacri- 
 fice all old rights to the new. The highest tenant 
 of the Government, whoever he may be, and by 
 whatever name distinguished, is admitted to settle- 
 ment ; and if there are a number holding equal 
 rights in common, they are all admitted. So far, 
 therefore, from subverting the established order 
 of society, the system preserves every man in his 
 proper place ; and instead of levelling, it upholds 
 all distinctions which it finds in existence. 
 
 The objection, based on the alleged increase of 
 expense, is more plausible, but equally fallacious. 
 Under the ryotwar system, the expense of realizing 
 
 y the 
 
322 REVENUE. 
 
 the revenue stands prominently forward, without 
 disguise or concealment. Under the zemindary 
 and village systems, the actual sacrifice on the 
 part of Government is placed out of sight. In the 
 Bengal settlement the Government supposed that 
 it was paying for the collection of the revenue 
 about ten or fifteen per cent. It is now actually 
 paying about one hundred per cent. ; and thougli 
 a portion of this is undoubtedly derived from 
 extortion, yet some considerable part might, under 
 a better system, have been appropriated by Go- 
 vernment without doing wrong to the cultivators. 
 Under the zemindary system the net amount, after 
 these monstrous deductions, appears as the gross 
 amount of the land revenue, and the trifling- 
 sum necessary for the remaining establishments 
 of Government appears as the entire charge of col- 
 lection. The village system, in proportion as it 
 approaches the zemindary, partakes of its evils 
 and its fallacies. Whereas, by the ryotwar settle- 
 ment, while the entire sum raised from the land 
 appears as revenue, the amount is subject to the 
 deduction of the entire expense of collection, which 
 appears as undisguised as that on which it is a 
 charge. To compare systems so different, in the 
 sweeping manner in which the comparison is some- 
 times made, is obviously most unfair. Mr. Lewin, 
 whose experience referred to Malabar and Canara, 
 in answer to the question, " Is the collection of 
 
 the 
 
REVENUE. 323 
 
 the revenue, under the ryot war system, very ex- 
 pensive in detail?" answered, " No, I think not; 
 very cheap, I should imagine. I believe it is cal- 
 culated at five per cent., or not even so much; 
 but it would be extremely difficult to make a cor- 
 rect calculation, because the revenue officers and 
 the police officers perform the same duty." This 
 calculation may not, in all cases, be borne out by 
 fact ; but if the charges exceed five per cent., there 
 is no reason to believe that they reach the esti- 
 mated zemindary profit of fifteen per cent., and it 
 is beyond the possibility of doubt, that they can- 
 not be placed in comparison with the actual zemin- 
 dary profit of a hundred per cent. If the two sys- 
 tems are to be compared in point of expense, they 
 ought to be compared fairly ; and if they are, the 
 overwhelming advantages of the ryotwar settle- 
 ment will be evident. Yet, after all, the question 
 of expense is a secondary one : it is subordinate to 
 those which refer to the maintenance of ancient 
 rights, the promotion of general prosperity, and 
 the securing justice to all, by constant and vigi- 
 lant European superintendence. If the expense of 
 the ryotwar system were somewhat greater than 
 that of the zemindary, instead of being almost in- 
 credibly less, it would still deserve to be prefer- 
 red, on account of its beneficial effects. 
 
 Of all the modes of realizing a revenue from land, 
 the ryotwar is the best, and land must doubtlessly 
 
 y 2 continue 
 
324 REVENUE. 
 
 continue to be the great source of revenue in India. 
 A good deal of discussion has taken place on the 
 nature of the Government claim upon the land — 
 whether it ought to be regarded in the character 
 of a rent or of a tax. The question is not per- 
 haps of any great importance— certainly of no prac- 
 tical importance. Political economists may split 
 hairs in determining the precise limit between 
 two payments, the effects of which upon the payer 
 are precisely similar ; but though their intellec- 
 tual ingenuity may be highly gratifying to them- 
 selves, the probability of its being beneficial to 
 mankind is small indeed. The claim of Govern- 
 ment upon the land of India appears certainly 
 strongly to resemble rent ; but a land-tax in any 
 country must bear the same resemblance. If in 
 England, or any country under similar circum- 
 stances, the Government were to impose a very 
 small additional charge upon the land, it is pos- 
 sible that the occupier would pay it out of his 
 profits. But if the charge were a heavy one this 
 would be impossible, and it would operate to di- 
 minish the landlord's rent. The claim of Govern- 
 ment would thus operate precisely like the claim 
 of a mortgagee, or any other incumbrancer of 
 landed property. The more he took the less would 
 there be for the landlord ; and it is possible to 
 conceive the amount of the demand of Govern- 
 ment increased until the right of the landlord 
 
 would 
 
REVENUE. 325 
 
 would be worth nothing. The answer given by 
 a very ingenious and able writer, to a question 
 proposed under the authority of the Board of Con- 
 trol, does not appear perfectly satisfactory. The 
 question asks, " How far the land revenue, whe- 
 ther received by Government or through an inter- 
 mediate person, resembles or differs from the rent 
 of land, or resembles or differs from a tax imposed 
 by law ?" and the answer is, that " the land re- 
 venue in India, as generally assessed, differs from 
 rent only in respect to amount, according as it is 
 less or more than what exists after the cost of cul- 
 tivation is replaced." It is added, that " when a 
 fixed proportion of the produce was taken as re- 
 venue, it was a tax of the nature of tythe in 
 England." Now it seems extraordinary that a 
 payment in kind should be a tax, and that the 
 commutation of the charge into money should 
 convert it into rent. Notwithstanding tythe is 
 adverted to as invariably a tax, yet when com- 
 muted, upon the principle laid down, it becomes 
 rent. In many parts of the world the landlords 
 receive their revenue in kind; because from local 
 causes they can obtain it in no other way. In 
 this case, upon the principle just quoted, these 
 persons would not draw rent, but impose a tax. 
 It would seem more correct to regard the culti- 
 vator and landlord as partners ; the former bring- 
 ing to the partnershij) his labour and his capital 
 bl& when 
 
326 REVENUE. 
 
 when he has any, though where such a system 
 prevails, the cultivator is often so poor that the 
 landlord is obliged to advance seed to sow the 
 ground. The landlord brings to the partnership 
 his land, and the profits of the enterprize are 
 divided according to a given arrangement. The 
 introduction of a money payment relieves the 
 landlord from trouble, and secures him, in some 
 degree, from the risk of loss arising from bad 
 management ; and it gives to the occupier the 
 advantage of all the profit which he can make 
 upon the landlord's share beyond the stipulated 
 payment. Such an arrangement is therefore ge- 
 nerally beneficial to all the parties interested. It 
 is beneficial in the case of tythe as in any 
 other ; but it is not more so, the main difference 
 between the claim of the tythe-holder and the 
 claim of the landlord, being that the former is 
 limited by law, and the latter is not. The tythe- 
 holder, in fact, to the extent of his right, stands 
 in the place of a landlord, and whatever might be 
 taken from the claimant of the tenth part, would 
 be transferred to the pocket of the claimant of 
 the other nine. The mere renter of land will, in 
 ordinary cases, never obtain more than the price of 
 his labour, and a fair interest for the capital which 
 he invests. The surplus produce, either in money 
 or in kind, will pass into other hands, and to him 
 individually it matters nothing, whether into the 
 
 hands 
 
REVENUE. 327 
 
 hands of a Government collector, of a landlord, 
 or of a tythe-holder, whether it be divided be- 
 tween two of them or distributed among all three. 
 Upon principles of state policy, the question may 
 be worth discussing, but not as respects the indi- 
 dual cultivator, whose only interest is to avoid 
 paying too much. Between rent and a tax upon 
 land, therefore, there is no difference but in name. 
 The two charges are exactly alike, and resemble 
 several others which pass by different names. 
 Where there is but one species of claim upon the 
 land, the surplus produce flows into a single 
 channel — where there are two or more it is di- 
 vided. 
 
 The really important question for the Indian 
 cultivator is as to the amount of his assessment. 
 If that be moderate, he may feel perfectly un- 
 concerned whether it is called by one name 
 or another. That it should be moderate, is 
 desirable, not more for his individual benefit, 
 than for the general prosperity of the community. 
 An extravagant assessment, like an exorbitant 
 rent, will rarely be realized ; and it needs no 
 argument to shew that a body of insolvent cul- 
 tivators is inconsistent with national prosperity. 
 If they are kept one step above this state— just 
 able to defray the demands of the Government, 
 but enjoying little and accumulating nothing — 
 the best that can be looked for will be that the 
 
 country 
 
328 REVENUE. 
 
 country should be stationary. But it is not 
 desirable that any country should remain station- 
 ary ; and India, especially, is yet too far removed 
 from a state of general prosperity to allow her to 
 take her station where she is, and decline to 
 advance further. The ryots are said to be gene- 
 rally improvident, but nothing makes men so 
 improvident as extreme misery. By improving 
 their condition, we shall impart to them the 
 desire of improving it still further. By enabling 
 them to acquire property, we shall give them the 
 means of effecting improvements and extending 
 the productive powers of the soil. By giving 
 them the power and the inclination to consume, 
 we shall afford a stimulus to manufacturing and 
 commercial industry, and thus increase the means 
 of employment and multiply the resources of the 
 country. By leaving in the hands of the ryot 
 some portion of the surplus produce of the land, 
 we shall elevate his character, and in time per- 
 haps call into existence such a class of men as 
 the permanent zemindary system was intended to 
 create, but failed of creating—men deriving an 
 income from the land, and in consequence ac- 
 quiring a certain place in society. The ryot 
 " cultivating his own," has a claim to this at our 
 hands. He has a heritable interest in the soil — 
 his title is much more ancient than ours, and has 
 survived through every variety of change and 
 
 convulsion. 
 
REVENUE- 329 
 
 convulsion. Justice and policy coincide in re- 
 quiring that he should be treated with liberality. 
 The evils of over-assessment are of course 
 greater in India, where few of the cultivators 
 possess any capital, than they would be in a coun- 
 try differently situated in this respect. In any 
 country it would produce considerable distress. 
 In India its effect must generally be utter ruin 
 and destitution ; and as the evils are greater, so 
 the danger of incurring them is more imminent. 
 In England, not only do landlords sometimes 
 demand too much, but tenants agree to pay it, 
 notwithstanding the latter have always some 
 capital, and to a considerable extent a choice of 
 farms. In India the cultivator holds himself 
 attached to the land which his forefathers have 
 cultivated for many generations, and rather than 
 forego the possession of it, he will be tempted 
 into engagements which it is impossible for him to 
 fulfil. As such engagements must end in dis- 
 appointment on the one side and ruin on the 
 other, it is clearly for the benefit of both parties 
 that they should not be formed. But the only 
 effectual preventive will be moderation on the 
 part of Government. More must not be de- 
 manded than is reasonable, or the consequence 
 will be that less will be obtained. We must not 
 indulge the fallacious belief, that by increasing 
 our assessments we shall insure a proportionate 
 
 increase 
 
330 REVENUE. 
 
 increase of our receipts. Swift has observed, that 
 in political arithmetic two and two do not always 
 make four, and this is not less true now than it 
 was in his day, and certainly not less applicable 
 to India than to all other countries. Some dis- 
 appointment will, under any assessment, continue 
 to be experienced in realizing the claims of Go- 
 vernment upon the small ryots; property from 
 the injurious laws of succession being frequently 
 divided into such minute portions as to render the 
 payment of any revenue scarcely possible. The 
 cause of this evil is of too delicate a nature to be 
 hastily dealt with, and it is probably one of those 
 inconveniences to which we must be content, for 
 a time at least, to submit. 
 
 Colonel Colebrook suggested the redemption 
 of the land revenue as a measure calculated to 
 benefit the people ; and he stated that in Ceylon 
 the system had been in operation for ten or twelve 
 years past with good effect, the people in some 
 provinces having been allowed to redeem the 
 whole of their rents above a tenth. He added, 
 that the returns from those districts shewed that 
 the revenue had increased rather than diminished, 
 notwithstanding the redemption of the assess- 
 ment, a tenth being now as productive as a fourth 
 or a third formerly was, an effect which he 
 ascribes to new land being brought into cul- 
 tivation. Captain Duff recommends a similar 
 
 measure, 
 
REVENUE. 331 
 
 measure, and there can be little room for dif- 
 ference of opinion as to its advantages. But it 
 is quite clear that, however desirable, it cannot be 
 effected without capital, and Indian cultivators 
 have for the most part no capital. When they 
 have amassed any (and by a judicious course of 
 proceeding on the part of Government that time 
 may arrive,) the subject may be revived, and its 
 details will then become interesting matter of 
 enquiry. One point is clear — the redemption 
 must be effected by the ryot, or the association 
 of ryots who claim right in the land. A stranger 
 must not be permitted to redeem the revenue, as 
 such a permission would introduce all the evils of 
 the permanent zemindary system under another 
 form. 
 
 The redemption of the land revenue at present 
 calls for no minute consideration. But what are 
 our prospects as to the revenue itself, is a ques- 
 tion of immediate and pressing interest. Of late 
 years there has been a slight improvement in the 
 revenue derived from the lower provinces of the 
 Bengal presidency — but for the permanent set- 
 tlement there would have been a very great one, 
 as has occurred in the western provinces. In the 
 Madras and Bombay territories the revenue has 
 declined, owing to fall of prices, unfavourable 
 seasons, and other causes. There has, indeed, 
 been a general fall of prices throughout the East ; 
 
 but 
 
332 REVENUE. 
 
 but this can scarcely be regarded as remarkable, 
 seeing that the same effect has been taking place 
 throughout the world. As has been observed, 
 it is in the provinces under the Madras and 
 Bombay presidencies that the evil has been most 
 severely felt. The evidence which has been 
 brought forward on the subject throws little 
 light upon the matter, and the speculations of 
 political economists cannot be expected to throw 
 much more. The witnesses whose evidence bears 
 most directly upon the point are Lieut. -Col. 
 Barnewall and Lieut. -Col. Sykes, both highly 
 intelligent men. The former, in answer to the 
 question, " To what circumstances do you attri- 
 bute the fall in value of agricultural produce ?" 
 says, " To the altered condition of the country, 
 and to the large establishments maintained by 
 the Guicowar government and other states being 
 reduced. This has caused a less demand, while 
 a state of internal peace prevents all extra 
 demand. Nearly the whole of the population 
 has become agricultural, and the supply of grain 
 so far exceeds the consumption, that there had 
 been a glut in all the markets for one or two 
 years in the provinces on the western side of 
 India before I left it. The effects of importations 
 of cotton cloths from England had greatly 
 lowered manufactures, and commerce was also 
 languid." The coincidence between this state 
 
REVENUE. 333 
 
 of things and that which has occurred at 
 home is striking. The reduction of establish- 
 ments and a state of universal peace have been 
 attended with the same results in India as here. 
 This process political economists have often un- 
 dertaken to explain, but have never yet succeeded. 
 Its existence is, indeed, a bitter satire on the pre- 
 vailing systems ; as, according to them, the state 
 described ought to be one of extraordinary pros- 
 perity. The destruction of the home manufacture of 
 cotton cloths ought not, on the same principles, to 
 create any inconvenience ; yet it evidently appears 
 to sensible and unprejudiced observers to be one 
 of the elements of the mass of misery. The fact 
 is, in spite of the assertions of the fashionable 
 school of political economy, that a period of tran- 
 sition from high to low prices is always a period 
 of general and intense suffering. Colonel Sykes 
 appears at a loss to account for the great fall of 
 prices ; and he admits it — unlike the spinners of 
 cobweb systems of political economy, who profess 
 to be ignorant of nothing. Colonel Sykes's atten- 
 tion was called to a statement of Sir John Mal- 
 colm, in his account of Central India, " that the 
 sudden cessation of war, and the return of the 
 population to peaceful habits and the cultivation 
 of the land, had both diminished the number of 
 consumers and greatly increased the number of 
 producers," to which Sir John attributed a very 
 
 remarkable 
 
334 REVENUE. 
 
 remarkable fall in prices in certain provinces; and 
 Colonel Sykes was asked, " Can the fall of prices 
 in the Deccan be attributed to a similar cause?" 
 He answers, that if such were the cause, there 
 would necessarily appear a much larger extent of 
 cultivation upon the returns than formerly, but 
 that, on the contrary, the breadth of cultivation 
 had diminished. This is an extraordinary fact, and 
 it ought to be mentioned, that Colonel Sykes's 
 opinion is the result, not of a random guess, but 
 of a deliberate inquiry. It is probable, that one 
 part of the theory of Sir John Malcolm is appli- 
 cable to the case — the number of producers is not 
 increased, but the number of consumers is dimi- 
 nished. To exist, men must consume agricultural 
 produce, more or less, but a very small consump- 
 tion will sustain life ; and if from any cause a large 
 portion of the people are compelled to reduce 
 their consumption to the lowest degree, it re- 
 quires not the taper of philosophy to shew that 
 the producers must suffer. The land goes out of 
 cultivation because the produce, cannot be sold ; 
 yet there are vast numbers who would be glad to 
 purchase, but they want the money. The culti- 
 vator finds it difficult to sell enough to procure a 
 sufficiency to supply his own necessities and to 
 meet the claims of Government, and in many 
 cases he finds it impossible ; while the consumer, 
 or he who ought to be a consumer, perishes for 
 
 want, 
 
REVENUE. 335 
 
 want, or prolongs a wretched existence upon an 
 insufficient supply of that food which the producer 
 cannot sell, and therefore discontinues to raise. 
 Whatever may be the cause of this unhappy state 
 of things, it cannot, at all events, without the 
 most palpable folly, be ascribed to " the pressure 
 of population against the supply of food." 
 
 It is generally difficult, and often impossible, to 
 trace with accuracy the precise causes of national 
 distress. The most fatal mistakes are in conse- 
 quence committed, and remedies are applied which 
 aggravate instead of abating the evil. The dis- 
 eases which assail the springs of national pros- 
 perity require to be treated with extraordinary 
 caution. Nostrums for removing them always 
 abound ; but their alleged virtues should be very 
 strictly scrutinized before they are adopted. In 
 our own country, from the period of the termi- 
 nation of the war, we have been continually try- 
 ing experiments for the removal of the distress 
 which followed that event, and they have all failed. 
 We are therefore entitled to conclude, that all we 
 have hitherto done is wrong, though what is right 
 is by no means so apparent. In India, the state 
 of things being much less complicated and arti- 
 ficial than here, we might suppose that the same 
 degree of difficulty would not be found, yet we 
 are, in truth, nearly as much in the dark with re- 
 gard to the distress existing in that country, as to 
 
 that 
 
336 REVENUE. 
 
 that which we have to lament in our own. There 
 are one or two leading principles which we may 
 adopt with a pretty strong confidence that we are 
 right; and at present, perhaps, neither practical 
 experience nor theoretical speculation can help 
 us beyond them. 
 
 In the first place, the assessment on the land, 
 as has already been recommended, should be mo- 
 derate. It must be conformed, in some degree, 
 to the altered circumstances of the times, and the 
 motives to such a course, arising from its justice 
 and policy, are corroborated by the obvious im- 
 possibility of succeeding in a contrary one. The 
 amount of receipt must clearly be limited by the 
 capacity to pay, and an attempt to extract too 
 much will defeat its own object, and end in dis- 
 appointment, ruin the cultivator, and throw still 
 more land into waste. Moderation in the claims 
 of Government is therefore indispensable, and 
 care should be taken, not only that the State does 
 not press injuriously upon the subject, but, as far 
 as possible, that those persons who stand between 
 the State and the subject do not promote their 
 personal interests at the expense of both. 
 
 It seems tolerably certain also, that in the pre- 
 sent state of India, the advice of those authorities 
 in economical science, who recommend giving a 
 stimulus to consumption rather than to produc- 
 tion, is the sounder and more beneficial. The 
 
 desire 
 
REVENUE. 337 
 
 desire to consume is, of course, vain without the 
 power to acquire. But in a country where land is 
 sufficient and labour abundant, the power should 
 not be wanting. The great impediment to an in- 
 creased consumption of European goods in India is 
 the difficulty of procuring a return. The interests 
 of Europe and Asia are thus identical, and an in- 
 creased demand in the West for the commodities of 
 the East, would be equally beneficial to both parts 
 of the world. To promote this, all duties which 
 press heavily and unequally on the produce of 
 East-Indian industry should be abolished. Our 
 fellow-subjects in one part of the globe should not 
 be sacrificed to our fellow-subjects in another, nor 
 even to those at home ; still less ought they to be 
 sacrificed to strangers. Called, as we have been, 
 to administer the government of a populous and 
 mighty empire, with which we have no natural 
 connexion, it is a solemn duty to exercise the 
 extraordinary power we have acquired, so as to 
 advance the best interests of the people over 
 whom we rule. We must regard them not as 
 aliens, but as countrymen, separated from us by 
 distance, but entitled to receive the same degree 
 of consideration, and the same impartial protec- 
 tion from the Supreme Government as ourselves. 
 Whatever commercial advantages are enjoyed by 
 their competitors, either at home or in the colo- 
 nies, should be conceded to them. If the one 
 
 z class 
 
338 REVENUE. 
 
 class is subject to taxation, the other should be 
 subject to it also in the same, but not in a greater 
 degree. If the industry of one is favoured by 
 protection, so should that of the other. The dif- 
 ferent circumstances existing in different parts of 
 the same empire, may require variations in the 
 laws ; but commercial jealousies, and commercial 
 inequalities arising out of those jealousies, must 
 not be tolerated among fellow-subjects. To re- 
 move them is an act not of grace and favour, but 
 of justice. 
 
 There are some internal charges upon trade 
 which operate as discouragements to consumption, 
 and which should therefore be abolished as soon 
 as the state of the revenue will appear to justify 
 it. The transit duties are both injurious and 
 vexatious ; and since they are eminently fertile in 
 fraud and chicane, their abolition would be as 
 beneficial to morality as to commerce. 
 
 As the decline in the revenue has not hitherto 
 been great, and as the deficiency in one part of 
 our territories has been made up in another, there 
 is every reason to hope that, by a moderate assess- 
 ment, and a judicious financial system, aided by the 
 concession on the part of the United Kingdom of the 
 just claims of India, any permanent diminution of 
 revenue may be averted ; that prosperity may re- 
 vive in those provinces where it has declined ; the 
 land again be brought into cultivation, and the 
 
 people 
 
REVENUE. 339 
 
 people placed in circumstances of ease and con- 
 tentment. From the introduction of European 
 capital, skill, and enterprize, much may be ex- 
 pected. Their beneficial effects will not be con- 
 fined to the parts of India open to European resi- 
 dents; they will be extended to all in a greater 
 or less degree. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to point out how closely 
 the prosperity of India is connected with that of 
 England. In the present advanced state of com- 
 mercial intercourse, prices have a tendency to 
 equalize themselves all over the world, and a rise 
 or fall in one country, will almost invariably act 
 upon every other. Consequently, whatever acts 
 beneficially upon the great interests of England, 
 will have the same effect upon India, which par- 
 taking in the prosperity of the protecting country, 
 will repay the benefit with ample interest. 
 
 The subject of currency is a delicate one; but 
 in seeking for the probable causes of the decline 
 of prices, it is impossible to exclude its conside- 
 ration. In the Deccan, the facts connected with 
 this branch of enquiry (as stated by Colonel Sykes) 
 appear so anomalous and extraordinary, as to 
 defy all attempts at reasoning upon them. In the 
 , Western Provinces, Mr. Mackenzie appears dis- 
 posed to regard the fall of prices as owing to a 
 diminished supply of silver. This might arise 
 from various causes ; and it is a question of some 
 
 z 2 interest, 
 
340 REVENUE. 
 
 interest, how far the state of other countries has, in 
 this respect, operated upon India. 
 
 The quantity of the precious metals possessed 
 by any country must be influenced by various 
 other causes besides the will of the Government. 
 The nature of the circulating medium, and the 
 state of the coinage, are matters of purely le- 
 gislative arrangement. In India, the rupee, as 
 is well known, is the coin in which accounts are 
 kept, and which is the principal medium of ex- 
 change ; but rupees of different values circulate 
 in the different provinces, and the propriety of 
 continuing these varieties, or putting an end to 
 them by the establishment of a uniform currency, 
 has been of late much discussed. A few observa- 
 tions on the subject may not be misplaced in the 
 present chapter. 
 
 The rupees current within the territories in- 
 cluded under the old Bengal presidency, are two, 
 the Calcutta sicca rupee, and the Furruckabad 
 rupee ; the standard of both is the same ; but the 
 sicca rupee weighs about 192 grains troy (176 
 silver); the Furruckabad 180 grains (165 silver). 
 In the Madras and Bombay territories, the rupee 
 in circulation corresponds very nearly, if not en- 
 tirely, with the Furruckabad rupee. There is 
 another description of rupee which, though now 
 an ideal coin, must be noticed, because it is still 
 recognized in military accounts. Previously to 
 
 the 
 
REVENUE. 341 
 
 the regulations by which the present currency of 
 Bengal was established, the rupees were distin- 
 guished by the year in which they were struck. 
 After circulating for a few years they became de- 
 preciated, whether they had lost weight or not, 
 and were reckoned sonat rupees, or rupees of 
 years. To put an end to this, it was determined 
 that in future all rupees should bear the same 
 date ; but, for reasons the validity of which it is 
 unnecessary to discuss, the pay of the Bengal 
 troops continued to be reckoned in the Sonat, or 
 depreciated rupee. 
 
 The circulation of the rupee of each presidency 
 is confined to the territories subject to it. In all 
 other places it is received only as bullion; and, 
 except at the mints, is not a legal tender. To 
 obviate these inconveniences, it has been pro- 
 posed to establish a uniform coinage throughout 
 the British dominions in India. Nothing would 
 have a greater tendency to facilitate commercial 
 operations ; and whatever has this effect, tends to 
 the advancement of a nation in wealth and pros- 
 perity. Now that the whole of our Indian pos- 
 sessions have, for legislative purposes, been placed 
 under one government, the proper time for esta- 
 blishing a uniformity of coinage seems to have 
 arrived. It would be thought a strange arrange- 
 ment, if one species of coin circulated exclusively 
 in the English counties north of the Trent, another 
 
 in 
 
342 REVENUE. 
 
 in the counties south of that river, and a third in 
 Wales— if the silver coin, which commanded every 
 species of commodity at Bristol, should become 
 useless to the traveller on his arrival at Cardiff, 
 and he should consequently be subjected to the 
 inconvenience of seeking out a money-changer, 
 and to the loss arising from the transaction which 
 would be necessary to enable him to obtain a sup- 
 ply of the necessaries of life. Custom only can 
 reconcile us to a similar state of things in India. 
 
 If the currency be rendered uniform, as it ought 
 to be, a question arises as to the value of the 
 circulating rupee. It has been urged that the 
 Madras rupee is the most extensively circulated, 
 and that the new coin should be equivalent to 
 it. The propriety of this decision has been ques- 
 tioned by a very eminent authority, who asks why 
 the sicca rupee should not be adopted. In sup- 
 port of this it is urged, that the public debt is con- 
 tracted in the sicca rupee ; that the sicca rupee is 
 the coin of the settled territory, where the intro T 
 duction of any other would subject Government to 
 the alternative of either sustaining a serious loss, 
 by receiving its revenue in a coin nominally the 
 same, but actually of inferior value ; or of commit- 
 ting an apparent breach of faith, by demanding 
 from the zemindars a larger number of rupees than 
 they had been accustomed to pay, and thus also 
 unsettling all existing contracts between them 
 
 and 
 
REVENUE. 343 
 
 and the ryots ; that the sicca rupee is the esta- 
 blished currency of the most opulent and most 
 commercial portion of our Indian possessions ; and 
 that, within a period of thirty years, nearly as 
 great an amount has been coined and issued of 
 the sicca rupee as of all the other coins of British 
 India taken collectively. These points demand 
 serious consideration ; and they would almost 
 seem to determine the question in favour of the 
 sicca rupee, especially as it does not appear that 
 any inconvenience could arise from its introduc- 
 tion into the Madras and Bombay territories. In 
 these, instead of nominally increasing the assess- 
 ment, the Government would have the more gra- 
 cious task of making an apparent reduction. In 
 other respects, the operation in those provinces, 
 as far as any effect at all would be produced, would 
 be beneficial. Under either plan, some small diffi- 
 culty might arise in the payment of the army — 
 and this is a matter not to be tampered with. It 
 has been stated, that in Bengal the pay of the 
 troops is reckoned in the sonat or depreciated 
 rupee ; but it is, of course, issued in the sicca 
 rupee, calculated at the rate of 104 7 sonat to 100 
 sicca. If the sicca rupee were adopted for general 
 circulation, the old system might be preserved. 
 If the Madras rupee were preferred, as that is 
 about 62- per cent, inferior to the sicca, while the 
 sonat is calculated at only A\, this difference 
 
 must 
 
344 REVENUE. 
 
 must be noticed and accounted for. Here, how- 
 ever, a real difficulty occurs. It has been sug- 
 gested, that if we give the Bengal army the 
 advantage of the 2 per cent, difference between 
 the value of the sonat and the Madras rupee, the 
 troops of the other presidencies would expect the 
 same. And this seems an addditional reason for 
 preferring the sicca rupee ; for though the troops 
 of Madras and Bombay might feel some disap- 
 pointment at receiving a smaller number of rupees 
 than heretofore, yet the same thing must have 
 occurred to the Bengal troops when the new rupee 
 was substituted for the old depreciated one ; and 
 the difficulty might, perhaps, be surmounted in 
 the same way, by keeping the accounts according 
 to the Madras and Bombay rupee, and making 
 payment in the sicca. The sonat rupee being 
 regarded as equivalent to that of Furruckabad, 
 and this latter differing little in value from the 
 rupees of Madras and Bombay, the Bengal troops 
 would have an advantage — but this they have now. 
 Whether or not they ought to retain it — whether 
 the advantage should be withdrawn from them or 
 extended to the other presidencies — or whether 
 they should, in this respect, remain precisely as 
 at present, are questions open to discussion, but 
 which do not affect that relating to a uniform cur- 
 rency. The evils arising from the present com- 
 plexity of coins and currency have been felt and 
 
 lamented 
 
REVENUE. 345 
 
 lamented by military men, among whom may 
 be mentioned Sir Robert Scott and Sir Henry 
 Worsley. 
 
 It has been proposed to extend the uniformity 
 of coinage to gold and copper ; and though of less 
 importance, this seems a necessary consequence 
 of establishing a uniform silver currency. The 
 sicca rupee appears, on the whole, the best 
 adapted for the latter purpose, and it has the 
 additional advantage of a very near approach to 
 that of Great Britain. This has been pointed out 
 by Mr. St. George Tucker, and he has suggested 
 that the assimilation might be made complete, 
 and the sicca rupee, by a very slight alteration, 
 converted into a two-shilling piece, it now ex- 
 ceeding two shillings only by the fraction D. 566. 
 
( 34G ) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH INTERESTS 
 AND AUTHORITY. 
 
 The British entered India as traders. They 
 were compelled to exchange the operations of 
 commerce for the labours of war. Success at- 
 tended their military career, and renewed provo- 
 cations urged them to continue it. Victory has 
 followed victory, and conquest been accumulated 
 upon conquest, until the dominion of Britain 
 embraces the larger portion of India, and its 
 influence extends over the whole. To look back 
 upon the achievements of our countrymen, can- 
 not but be gratifying to our national sympathies ; 
 to look forward to the probable fate of that em- 
 pire, which their skill and courage raised from 
 such small beginnings, is a duty which is imposed 
 upon us by a regard to our national honour, as 
 well as to the integrity of the British dominions. 
 
 The stability and permanency of our power may 
 be endangered either from within or from without. 
 Our first attention must naturally be directed to 
 our own subjects* From their hostility, if pro- 
 voked, our greatest danger would arise ; on their 
 
 attachment, 
 
MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH INTERESTS. 347 
 
 attachment, if secured, our safety may be firmly 
 based. To acquire the confidence of the people 
 over whom we rule, and having acquired, to pre- 
 serve it, must be the grand objects of our policy. 
 The only way to effect these desirable objects, is 
 to place the people as much as possible at their 
 ease. A nation naturally judges of its govern- 
 ment by the degree of good which it enjoys under 
 its sway, and appears to derive from it. The 
 majority of every nation, too, regard principally 
 the time that is passing over their heads, and are 
 little disposed to sacrifice present to prospective 
 advantages. From this cause, all changes of 
 which the inconveniences are immediate, and 
 the benefits remote, are unpopular, and nowhere 
 more so than among a people like that of India, 
 constitutionally averse to change. When the 
 inconvenience, which is to be the price of the 
 alleged improvement, is certain, while the bene- 
 fit is contingent, the dislike will be greatly 
 increased ; and if the mighty fabric of British 
 dominion in the East should either prematurely 
 moulder away or fall with a sudden shock, its 
 decline or destruction will probably originate in 
 rash and injudicious attempts to introduce a state 
 of things presumed to be better than that existing, 
 but for which the natives are unprepared, and 
 which consequently, instead of being a step in 
 advance will in effect be a step backward. In 
 
 India 
 
348 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH 
 
 India we must leave European prejudices behind 
 us, if we would retain possession of the country ; 
 and while our most anxious thoughts and our 
 most strenuous exertions are devoted to the pro- 
 motion of its substantial interests, we must lay 
 aside that mania for improvement, which in the 
 West is not unattended with evil, and in the 
 East must be regarded as the sure precursor of 
 convulsion and ruin. Prudence is not less neces- 
 sary than good intention. The improvement of 
 the state of the people must be effected in their 
 own way if it be effected at all. Enthusiastic 
 politicians will endeavour to effect this at once, 
 and they will undervalue the silent, but cer- 
 tain operation of time : yet time is one of the most 
 powerful agents in forming the character and 
 fixing the destinies of nations. Its effect is 
 strikingly exemplified in British India. In those 
 parts which have been longest subjected to our 
 rule, our power is most firmly established. The 
 people and the government have become more 
 habituated to each other, and our authority is 
 more cheerfully recognized from a perception of 
 the benefits which it has conferred. 
 
 One element of security will be found, in the 
 exchange of habits of war and rapine, for the cul- 
 tivation of the arts of peace ; and in proportion 
 as we protect and advance the interests of agri- 
 cultural, commercial, and manufacturing indus- 
 try, 
 

 INTERESTS AND AUTHORITY. 349 
 
 try, shall we promote the stability of our rule. 
 The military adventurer may expect to benefit by 
 a state of tumult and anarchy ; but from such a 
 state the industrious classes have nothing to hope, 
 and every thing to dread. To give industry a fair 
 field for exertion, is then to uphold the existing 
 authority ; and this is a consideration well worthy 
 the attention of the Legislature of Great Britain, 
 who, alone, have the power of removing from the 
 industry of India the burdens which at present 
 bear it down. 
 
 But while the arts of peace are treated with 
 favour, we must be prepared for the opposite state 
 if it should become necessary. Looking to this 
 contingency, the Indian army becomes an object 
 of vast importance. It has been said, that our 
 dominion in India has been gained by the sword, 
 and that it must be maintained by the sword. 
 The first of these propositions it will be needless 
 to discuss ; the second cannot be admitted without 
 some qualification. If our dominion were merely 
 that of the sword, its tenure could not be regarded 
 as otherwise than very uncertain, inasmuch as the 
 sword, though wielded at our command, is substan- 
 tially in the hands of those whom we are to coerce. 
 The same view seems to have dictated the opi- 
 nion, that we are in a situation unparalleled in the 
 history of the world — retaining possession of a 
 conquered country by means of a native army. 
 
 But 
 
350 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH 
 
 But it is wrong to suppose that our dominion de- 
 pends solely upon the army. Many governments 
 have been established by force; but few have 
 ever maintained their dominion by such means. 
 Still less do governments rest upon the phantom 
 "public opinion." Governments for the most 
 part exist, because they have been accustomed to 
 exist. When the people are rendered happy, 
 they are, undoubtedly, more secure ; but obedi- 
 ence is more the result of habit than of any thing 
 else. An old government, unless very feeble or 
 very oppressive, is generally pretty secure, and 
 every year may thus be regarded as adding some- 
 thing to the strength of ours in India. But no 
 government can afford to be despised, and with 
 such an extent of territory as we possess, a large 
 portion of it being of very recent acquisition, 
 and in the midst of a people among whom we 
 are comparatively strangers, a numerous and ef- 
 fective army cannot be spared. Our dominions 
 are not assailable from without only. Within their 
 circle are portions of territory under the rule of 
 native powers — nominally allies, indeed, but for 
 the most part, to be regarded as hollow friends. 
 The formidable alliance formed some years since 
 to drive us from India, shews the feelings with 
 which we are regarded by the old Mahometan 
 authorities ; and though their power is now broken 
 and destroyed, we must not imagine that their 
 
 hostile 
 
INTERESTS AND AUTHORITY. 351 
 
 hostile feeling towards us is abated. We must, 
 therefore, at all times be prepared to defend our- 
 selves. The knowledge that we are so prepared 
 will be the best security for our safety and the 
 general peace. With regard to those states, there 
 can be little reason to doubt that our influence 
 over them must be that of fear. It is important, 
 therefore, to ascertain how far our native troops 
 are to be depended upon. In this respect, the 
 very absence of the loftier qualities of the military 
 character may be considered to be in our favour. 
 To the love of country — to those high and chivalric 
 feelings of loyalty and patriotism which elevate 
 the soldier into the hero, they are strangers. They 
 are undoubtedly pure mercenaries, and would as 
 readily fight for one master as for another. We 
 have consequently nothing to apprehend from the 
 operation of feelings which do not exist ; and we 
 must not conclude, that because they are deficient 
 in the more graceful and noble characteristics, 
 they are therefore wanting in the coarser qualifi- 
 cations of the military character. They have 
 generally behaved well in the field ; and, like 
 other soldiers of fortune, their fidelity may be 
 relied on as long as we make their interest coin- 
 cident with it. The importance of securing this 
 is manifest ; and, on the whole, the adherence of 
 the native soldier may be commanded with tole- 
 rable ease. He serves for pay, and his pay should 
 
 be 
 
352 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH 
 
 be good, and discharged with as much regularity 
 as possible. Like all his countrymen, he is 
 under the influence of deep prejudices, and his 
 prejudices must not be treated with insult. 
 Though mercenary and prejudiced, he is docile 
 and obedient, especially under mild treatment; 
 and he should, therefore; meet from the Euro- 
 pean authorities generally, and from his officers 
 in particular, consideration and kindness. The 
 habits of military life naturally beget an attach- 
 ment between the soldier and his officer, unless 
 there be great faults on one side, or on both. 
 The manner in which European officers have 
 spoken of the sepoys, and the attachment which, 
 in some instances, the latter have shewn for their 
 officers, prove that the feelings which are so de- 
 sirable for the benefit of the service, may exist in 
 an army constituted like that of India. 
 
 We may conclude, then, that our Indian army 
 would be found efficient against an enemy either 
 from within or from without. Happily, there is 
 but little probability of their being tried against 
 either. Our old antagonist, France, is not in a 
 condition to contest with us the dominion of the 
 East, and it must be long before her circum- 
 stances so far alter as to enable her to enter into 
 such a contest with any prospect of success. 
 From other quarters there is nearly as little to 
 apprehend. The frontier of our dominions is 
 
 singularly 
 
INTERESTS AND AUTHORITY. 353 
 
 singularly unassailable, considering the extent of 
 territory ; the country, of which a part is sub- 
 jected to our direct rule, and the whole to our 
 influence, being in a great degree secured by 
 nature from external attack. The sea rolls around 
 a large portion of it ; mountains, affording few 
 passes, and desert countries scarcely passable at 
 all, bound the rest. Russia has been regarded with 
 some apprehension, and she may possibly be well 
 disposed to add India to her vast empire ; but 
 Russia would perhaps find it no easy task to 
 transport and maintain the vast armies which 
 would be necessary to give even a chance of suc- 
 cess. It would occupy too much space to enter 
 into a discussion of the various routes which 
 might be adopted, and of the facilities afforded by 
 each. The friendship of Persia, if not indispen- 
 sable to our security, is at least an auxiliary to 
 it, and with that country our relations are alto- 
 gether amicable. A minister has long resided 
 there accredited by the Indian Government ; but 
 either from the importance of the mission, or from 
 some other cause, his place is in future to be 
 supplied by one appointed directly by the British 
 crown. But, at present, we need not Persia to 
 stand between Russia and India. Russia has 
 quite enough to occupy all her energy and all her 
 capacity for intrigue in a quarter more dear to 
 her ambition than India. The incorporation of 
 
 2 a Turkey 
 
354 MEANS OF SECURING BRITISH INTERESTS. 
 
 Turkey with her dominions, is now the object to 
 which she is willing to sacrifice every other. This 
 achieved, she might turn her eyes further east- 
 ward. At present, however, it is gratifying to 
 know that the British empire in India is in such 
 a state of security, as must disarm every fear, 
 and leave its rulers at perfect liberty to devote 
 an undivided attention to the advancement of the 
 happiness of the people. 
 
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