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2Z6 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. / /...
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ENGLISH ENTERPRISE IN INDIA.* LORD ELGIN...
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* Rural JL{fo in Uonnnl, Illustrative of...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Political And Otriuu. Novels.* As May Bo...
inadvertently blind . Mr . Howitt possesses a subtle and justly discriminating mind , which has enabled him , in the present instance , to enter with clearness and perspicuity into the details of the political crisis which agitated the period about which he writes- Of . course the author possesses the advantage of the superior enlightenment of the present day , to assist him in diving with greater depth and judgment into the sources of the universal calamity , violence , and discontent which stain the annals of that age of comparative ignorance and intolerance . Mr . Howitt ; has not been slowr in availing himself of this advantage ; and the result is a novel which , for the soundness of its principles , and its treatment of the great national abuses which at the time almost paralysed the nation , and aroused the eiffantic spirit of reform , that caused such uneasiness
to the members of both Houses of the English Legislature—must be admitted into the foremost ranks of our political romances . If there is a fault to be found with this work , it is its evident tendency to tediousness and dryness . There is , in fact , so much space consumed ' , in the discussion of the principal topics of reform , and the different interests enlisted for and against it , that the novelist has completely lost sight of the thread of his story , and the necessity of concentrating the attention of the reader around the principal nersonages connected with it . Indeed , it was not till towards tlie > end of the second volume that we became conscious of any particular interest in the development of the several characters and incidents ; theni however weconfess to have been fully rewarded for our perseverance in wading- patiently through the heavier portions : and . from this point our sympathies were not allowed to flag
during a single chapter . The hero of this book is -Philip Stanton , son of Hugh Meynell Stanton , a man of true Christian fortitude , who sacrifices his worldly prosperity to the integrity of his principles , and dies , poor and neglected , at the commencement of the first volume . Philip commences his career as private tutor in the family of Sir Huldicote Peters , with whose daughter , Paulina , he has . the misfortune to beconie enamoured , which circumstance ultimately leads to his expulsion from the Hall . He then rushes headlong into the spirit of the tiines , becomes a zealous reformer , and is hailed by the suffering masses as their great deliverer , the true " man of the people / ' In this character lie soon has to acknowledge the bitter truth of the instability of popular favour ; from the idol of the public he speedily becomes their execration . For the reasons of this change , together with the particulars of his imprisonmeiit , release , and ^ ultimate triumph over all his enemies , the reader will do well to consult the novel itself .
In compiling- a novel , embracing all the principal historical peiv son ages that figured in the troublous reign of Charles I ., the author of Ilohnby Slou . se has drawn upon himself a comparison by Which he must necessarily suffer . In our opinion ( and we believe in that of most people also ) , only-one novelist has succeeded in placing before the public a true portraiture of one of the greatest men that ever adorned the annals of English history . For ourselves , we confess that our earliest impressions of Oliver Cromwell , his capacious intellect , his genius and his foibles ^ hav e , been , next to the important biography by JMr . Thomas Carlyle , received through the medium of that prince of novelists , the inimitable Scott . In the present day , any romancist following in the track of that eminent writer , and reproducing under different colouring those historical impersonations be to
for which he is so justly celebrated ^ must content submit himself to an ordeal in the shape of public criticism , from which it is next to an . impossibility that he should escape unscathed . Mr . Melville has boldly challenged this , ordeal ; and though we cannot compliment him by placing his production upon a level with . any one of his great predecessor's , yet it possesses sufficient individual merit to entitle it to the respect of all who peruse it . The latter portion of JECohnby House is decidedly the best ; the interest becomes more sustained , the language more free and elevating , and the termina tion fully justifies us in excusing the author . fox * a little ^ ediourfness at the commencement . G-reymove is a simplo but interesting story , carrying with it a
pure and healthy moral . The author has , doubtless , intended \ t as a warning 1 to parents on either side ; who , marrying into a rank ; of life above their o \? n sphere in society , are induced to'relinquish' the management and-education of their offspring , in consideration of future advantages liberally hold out to them , into the hands of their aristocratic i'ol « tives , who , thereupon , consider it an act of duty to roar them up in . litter detestation of the more plebeian circle to which tlieir immediate progenitors belong . In this state of affairs , should events yet hidden in futurity compel the return of the offspring under the guardianship of its natural protectors ( a contingency which the author has fully realized in the present story ) , the result can only be misery to all parties involved . This book is well written throughout , and we can heartily recommend all who peruse its pages to con by heart the lesson therein prepared .
2z6 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. / /...
2 Z 6 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . / / ¦ [ Mabch ¦ 1 . 0 ; I 860 .
English Enterprise In India.* Lord Elgin...
ENGLISH ENTERPRISE IN INDIA . * LORD ELGIN , in the able address he lately delivered to the students of the University of Glasgow , d \ volt with much force uponthe opening offered to the educated intelligence of the British Bmpirt ) , in thoaq distant dependencies whoro wo are not bo much settlors as masters . Ho told his audience that , great ' as are the opportunities afforded by tho colonies proper , a much larger field is
presented by those possessions in which we are , at present , merely the rulers of so many millions of a semi-barbarous indigenous population— -a field both of personal profit and public utility ; for the Englishman who turns his steps to these parts , of the national dominion , has not only the opportunity Of acquiring independence for himself , but , whilst obtaining that , may greatly improve the condition of the people amongst whom he settles , and consolidate the power of his ' sovereign . Lord Elgin has here touched a question which is every day assuming a greater importance . On the one hand , the struggle for educated employment at home becomes harder every day ; the excess of those seeking it raises the standard of qualifications required , and reduces the remuneration offered ; on the other , the great chance for the permanency of our rule— -at all tablein the tern
events , for its continuing to be at all profi — _ Eas Hemisphere , is now recognised to consist in a larger iniiux of English capital and intelligence . Of course that influx will not be an unmixed good ; some men will takeadyantage of their strength and superiority to . -oppress the native population by which-they are surrounded ; but under any circumstances , there will be but few such taskmasters , and-the greater the number of Englishmen in the settlement the . less will be that oppression . Grant even , that but few of them have an adequate appreciation of the duty they owe-to the poor creatures and to their own country , the innate humanity of the Englishman , and his desire to see those-at all dependent upon him happy and comfortable , will lead the majority to' follow- the course which the dictates of a sound policy would recommend .
In such an influx of English settlers-, to whom it promises competence , if not immense fortunes , lies the great hope of India . Hitherto the country has been . comparatively sealed to all save the members of the two services , who , scattered here and there over immense tracts , have been completely unknown to the great mass of the population . The poor cultivators have known the collector or judge , whose residence , is--perhaps fifty miles from their village , only by the' native officials , who , under cover of the power given them by him , have made their .-appearance only to plunder and oppress . No man , however earnest and able , can do much by himself for the social elevation or even protection of a million of human beings ; and as it is impossible for the Government to multiply its officials , ?—¦ and , however multiplied , their , very position disables them from
learning the real wants and giving the requisite aitr to the people— - the duly prbspect of . rescuing the ... latter from , the ¦ oppression of their richer fellow-countrymen lies in the controlling influence of independent . British settlors . \ At present the . condition of the Hindoo cultivator is a most deplorable ona . He is the yictitff of the accumulated exactions of all his niore powerful countrymen . He is fleeced by the zemindar , and again by his agents and servants ; then by the money-lender , from whom -he has to obtain the means of cultivating his land and subsisting until his crop is gathered ; then by the police agents , and in fact by every person w | ho has the slightest opportunity of aiding or injuring him . The Hindoo is undoubtedly , as our Irish and French libellers proclaim , oppressed ; but the oppressors are bis own countrymen , and his
chance of relief lies-in the increase of his white masters . How Air this is the case is evidenced by the results in that small part of India in which Englishmen have settled . We do not of course speak of . the little European communities which nestle together at the capitals of the presidencies : barristers and merchants can do little as individuals amongst the masses who coni ' pnse the population of Calcutta , Bombay , or ' Madras , and are too busily engaged even to think of trying it . But in those portionsof Bengal in which the much abused indigo planters have located themselves , the people have been materially benefited . Some may have abused their strength , but the majority have not forgotten to aid the poor peasant whilst -seeking their own profit , It is but a short time , it must be remembered , since India was opened even to them ,. and their-efforts
are still hindered and difficulties thrown in their way b y the Government . The obstacles still opposing : the acquisition of land , or rendering it a very hazardous investment , interfere much with the fixity of tho planter ' s operations , and make him look rather Jo a great immediate profit than to a permanent income . l . Jut tho general good influence of the planter in tho present day is attested as well by the evidence of independent witnesses , such as the author of the book before us , as by tho reports of the Government officers . Ho protects the ryot against the exactions he would otherwise be subjected to from the zemindar or his , agents ; frees him , to some extent , front the grasp of the moneylender , and is even a protection against that most dreaded body , tho native police . In many casos the villagers have found in tho planters a refuge from starvation , and some of tho more liberal minded have , at great expense , founded and maintained schools and hospitals . The ryot indeed is robbed in his dealings with
tho planter , but that the hitter cannot help . Ho is obliged to employ rifl his managers and assistants natives , nnd every one of tliom will haye his dustoree , just as West-ond servants will have tlieir perquisites from tradesmen . If , is no use forbidding the agents to receive or the peasants to pay it . They know that if they do not pay thej r will sooner or later suffer , as it is quite out of the power of one man to see that they do not . Bo his knowledge of tho language ever so good , what can ho do ?—the solitary European upon an ixuligo plantation' embracing within its area a population of one hundred thousand , or oven twice or thrice that number . Tho indigo planter doos what one man can do , whoso chief nim , of course , is his own profit . He must wait until ho cun obtain a supply of-jjjnropean . assistants before ho oiin hqpo to suppress the injustice perpetrated in his name to have taken the indigo planter as an illustration of what has boott done for the improvement of the people by settlors who belong
* Rural Jl{Fo In Uonnnl, Illustrative Of...
* Rural JL { fo in Uonnnl , Illustrative of Anglo-Indian Suburban Life , £ ett < jrB flrom un , Artist in India , to his Siefcore In England . Illustrated with one hundred and eUfcy-sljc Engravings . 1 voj . London : W . 'JPlmoko p and Co .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1860, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10031860/page/16/
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