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August 25, S85& j T H E LEABE U. 819
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INTH/S DEPARTMENT, AS ALL OPIXIOJfS, HOW...
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ITALY FOR THE ITALIANS. QTo the Editor o...
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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Transcript
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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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The Independent States Of India. (Conclu...
Dr Donald Butter makes mention of three brothers who held zeraindarees assessed at an annual revenue of 10 , 000 * ., but , as they kept up an armed force of 9000 men , they were never molested . Another possessed lands taxed at 15 0001 . a ye , but he too retained in his service a thousand matchlock me . n , with whom he twice defeated the revenue collectors , fleeing afterwards into the jungle until he had made his peace . " The decrease of revenue , " says the gentleman
whom we have already quoted , " is chiefly owing to the formation of a limited number of talooqs , in place of the very numerous petty zemindarees of which the country formerly consisted . The Arails , caring of course nothing for the interests of their successors , were easily bribed to transfer estates from peaceful and inoffensive persons to already powerful Talooqdars . Many villages were also conquered by the sword , and forcible possession taken of them . "
" An A mil , or Chucklidar , is vested with full magisterial powers in the district over which he presides . lie is treated with many of the honours peculiarly appertaining to royalty , whose representative he is . The dunga , or kettle-drum , is beaten before him , and , on his leaving his camp , the thunder of cannon announces bis departure . His power is almost despotic . He regulates disputes , settles the land revenue , summons the Zemindars to his presence , and , in case of their refusal to do so , enforces his orders bv sending
troops to attack their forts , lie punishes whomeyer he pleases ; and , although the right to transfer zemindarees from the real owner to any of his own favourites , or friends , is not recognised by the state , he arrogates this stretch of power , and others of a like nature , to himself . No one inquires after his actions ; his word is law in the elaqua confided to his charge , and whenever he commits himself the Durbar never hesitates at accepting a douceur as hush-money , if they know anything about it—which is highly improbable . "
Any person may become a Chucklidar , or farmer of the revenue , if he have means to make the nuzzerana , or offerings , expected by the Wuzeer ; and , according to Sir Herbert Maddoek , these may amount to 170 , 000 / . Not unfrequently the Lueknow bankers farm several large districts , appointing agents to collect the revenue . But it also happens that a chuckla is bestowed upon
some mean fellow , who retains the appointment until the downfal of his patron , with whom he probably shared the spoils . Mhus the Nawab AH Bux was originally an attendant upon Nautch g irls , and the Nawab Ameenood-Dowlah was a fiddler—his sister being a Nautch girl , raised to the ambiguous dignity of royal concubine , and invested with a jnghirc , or military fief , which her brother manaeed in her name .
An Amil may at any time be suddenly removed from office , and this uncertainty of tenure naturally increases his anxiety to amass wealth while there is yet time . Tho man who to-day exercises absolute sway over thousands and tens of thousands of human beings may to-morrow be the inmate of a prison , and " subjected to blows , starvation , and all the tortures the fertile brain of a disappointed Mussulman can conceive . The horrors of being hoisted high into the air , tied up in a bag , and then suddenly dropped on rough ground , of being buried in filth , and of undergoing other ingenious modes of torture , full frequently to tho lot of the Chucklidar who fails to pay up the revenue . "
One general system of extortion and oppression pervades the whole kingdom . u A wealthy native travelling through thecountry is never at a loss for bearers to carry his palankeen , or Coolies to bear his traps . The peasant is taken from the plough , and the villager from amongst his children , to be made an unwilling carrier of u heavy load , and no reward is g iven to tho poor bcyarec for his time lost and the labour performed . If , after trudging over a spuco of several miles , he receives a miserable pittance of parched grain ( a
kind of pulse on which horses are fed ) , or a single pice , he may deem himself fortunate . " Gang robberies are still very common , notwithstanding the exertions of the king ' s troops under European commandants . Captain " Weston ' s corps alone captured 2 <>() desperate ruffians during tho three years 1849 , 1850 , and 1851 . Homicide- is hardly regarded ns a crime . A dispute takes place about a boundary line , and numbers on either s ' ule engage in deadly conflict with sword and spear , and club and matchlock . Innumerablo forts , too , arc scattered through tho jungle , and those- enn only
be taken after being regularly battered in breach . It is surely unnecessary to multiply instances of this nature . What has been said of Oude might be applied with nearly equal truth and force to the Nizam ' s dominions , or to any other independent state in India . It will , indeed , be a joyful day for the peoples of Hindostan when the prediction of the old " Lion of the Punjab" is fully
brought to pass . Earnestly gazing on a map of the Peninsula in which the British territories were marked by their characteristic lines of red colour , the venerable chief prophetically exclaimed , with a sigh , as he passed his hand over the broad sheet , " Sub lull ho jega "— " the whole shall certainly become red . " It is truly a consummation devoutly to be wished for , in the best interests of humanity , truth , and civilisation , as well as for the perfect security of our present dominions .
August 25, S85& J T H E Leabe U. 819
August 25 , S 85 & j T H E LEABE U . 819
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Inth/S Department, As All Opixiojfs, How...
INTH / S DEPARTMENT , AS ALL OPIXIOJfS , HOWEVER EXTEEUE , ABE ALLOWED AN EXPRESSION . THE EDITOR * ECES 3 . » aiLY HOLDSHIVSEI . K RESPONSIBLE yOH NOSE . !!
Italy For The Italians. Qto The Editor O...
ITALY FOR THE ITALIANS . QTo the Editor of tlie Leader . ) Sir , —May I be permitted to ask the " Believer in Italy for the Italians , " of what utility can it be to invite Italian patriots to make their profession de fui , and expose the programme of their future revolution to the eyes of England ? Are " the wishes and feelings of the Italians" to be consulted in the future reorganisation of the peninsula ? * . Should England co-operate with European diplomacy to indicate what changes shall take place in Italy , " the wishes and feelings of the Italians" will not be taken into consideration , and an " Italy for the Italians" becomes a term of derision similar to that mockery so bitterly felt by Naples in 1799 , Sicily in 1812 , Genoa in 1814 , Lombardy and Venice in 1815 . Piedmont and Naples in 1 S 2 O-21 , and the whole of Italy in 1848 . Lord Westmoreland may defend the interests of the Lombard refugees at Vienna—Austria still sequesters and hangs , while England is silent ; Mr . Gladstone may write letters on Naples , while Lord Aberdeen accepts their dedication—still the people of Naples are beaten and tortured , and England is idle ; Lord Palmerston may declaim against the imbecility and inhumanity of the Papal Government—Pius IX . still reigns , and with him the branded assassin Nardoni , who bears the mark of infamy on his shoulder , assisted by Antonelli , the worthy nephew of the notorious brigand Gasparoni . The sympathy of English statesmen expends itself in mere words , and these are all that English modern diplomacy has hitherto offered in favour of Italy .
Now that the Italian question begins to claim some attention , Italians are called to enrol themselves as mercenaries to fight for Turkish independence , while the independence of Italy still remains a plaything in the hands of Austrians , Jesuits , and Bourbons . Thus , by a masterstroke of political hypocrisy , Christians are to be freed from the Mussulman yoke , and therefore Italians , mere Helots under the most degrading despotism , are expected to cry . Hurrah ! for the defenders of European liberty and civilisation !
Let ua not , therefore , hear of " Italy for the Italianp , " if English diplomacy and Eng lish official generosity arc to take any part in her affairs , for , believe me , sir , it will be a mockery and a snare for that unjustly oppressed people . England will act towards Italy cis may best suit her own interests , and would to God she may discover in time that her true interest is to side with . " the wishes and feelings of the Italians . " But if a revolution must solve the destiny of Italy , it will not be easy to answer the " Believer . " In the history of nations , a revolution has never been
preceded by a written programme , nor have its objects been exactly defined , People are not revolutionists by design , but by necessity ; when , therefore , inexorable necessity urges a nation to revolt , the explosion of popular indignation is often caused by unforeseen circumstances , and frequently loads to unforeseen conclusions . Far , therefore , from tho erroneoxis opinion provident in England that Mnzzini and his secret society , or any other sectarian organisation , directed or could control an Italian revolution , you may be assured that in 1848 the national will spoke energetically for Nationul Independence before the Muzzininns , or any other sectarian , uttered a word .
The people of Italy hate foreign domination : this is a fact known to the whole world . The people of Italy will not have- a Popo who is at the same time pope and king : this is also well known . The people of Italy desire to be governed , and not trampled on by brute force ; and nothing could prevent their attaining those just rights but tho sh ameful European
system , which is upheld under the pretence of maintaining the balance of power . Independence and nationality are not poetical ideas which could be easily set aside , nor is the hatred of the Italians towards the Pope unreasonable . The Papacy , with its assumed character of universality has made Italy the field where foreign ambition , under the cloak of religion , has fought for dominion , -feoreign and papal rul e are , therefore , synonymous , and the emancipation of Italy can only be effected by the expulsion of the first , and the destruction of the temporal power of the second .
Independence means a free selection , either of one government or of several bound together , which have at heart the welfare of the country and of the people governed . Italians , as a cultivated , practical , and rational people , will choose that form of government only which , with the least possible change , will be able to develop the greatest advantages in the shortest time , so as to augment the natural resources of the country , and finally restore her politically , socially , and materially to that grandeur to which , as an important European nation , she has a right to
aspire . Some will ask , what will be the form of government chosen ? Assuredly none with the present sovereigns . The monarchy of Savoy , the only state in Italy where a king has kept his word , the only asylum of free thought , affords the clearest proof that the Italian people , to be rendered happy in 1848 , only required honest and enlightened rulers . Had Ferdinand II ., Leopold II ., and even Pius IX ., acted uprightly , Italy would not now be threatened with a new bloody and mortal struggle . Sovereigns have been dishonest ; can the people be reproached foi being disaffected ? Kings cannot be trusted on theii oath ; are we then to be astonished that the people axe revolutionists ?
What the people of Italy may do after so many hopes have been so cruelly disappointed , it is impossible for us to say , removed as we are from the enormities arising from the blind suspicions and blind punishments of a brutal despotism . The cry of an oppressed multitude that shakes off the yoke may be " Freedom" as well as " Vengeance , " and if in the hour of triumph , they commit excesses , who is to blame if not the governments , who have condemned them to brutality and ignorance ? Still , with all these threatened dangers , if any reasonable I tab' an be asked to choose between a constitutional monarchy and the actual degradation of his country , none but a madman or an Austrian
disguised as a Mazzinian would prefer the latter . True , there are Mazzinians , but it would be nonsense to identify Mazzini or his proselytes with the whole of Italy . Mazzini , who in England has been regarded as the soul of the Italian party , is but as a grain of sand in the great movement which agitates the Italian mind throughout the Peninsula ; and Mazzini would be a traitor to bis country if , to identify himself as the leader of the future revolution , he should endeavou r to prolong the present degradation of Italy . But he has not the power ; and , even if he had , I feel convinced he is too heartily an Italian to obstruct ameliorations which would enable his opinions to be more freely discussed throughout Italy .
Italians may differ in opinions , but these differences do not blind them to the necessity of uniting against foreign domination , despotism , aud papal rule . If they are yet divided as to the ultimate object of their wishes , they perfectly agree as to their immediate needs—war to foreign oppressors—emancipation from clerical and jesuiticalj misrule—liberty for every single part so as to be consistent with the welfare of the whole country—development of national resources—and constitution of Italy into one
nation . When these objects are realised under any form of government , then Constitutionalists , Republicans , and Clericals will be free to discuss , write , and print , even as they are now wisely permitted to do by the Government of Piedmont , without fear or illegal opposition . Polemical squabbles could then do no harm ; they would simply indicate the danger or advantage of further change . Without freedom of discussion there can be no liberty , and despotism alone suppresses the manifestation of contending opinions , in order to make the absolute will of one which
rule the many . The discordant princip les agitate every free country , far from causing weakness , constitute strength ; for , in tho constant shock of opposing doctrines and ideas , tho nation learns to distinguish the true from the false , until tlio convictions of the majority , which are generally tne wisest , finally predominate . According to tnew considerations , perfect concord would bo d «"" " * liberty and to the world , for as Se neca says , iota hujus mundi concordat ex discordus cimatat . I most Binec-rely concur . . . sorvant 1 am , Sir , your obedient £ r ™<^ August 2-1 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 25, 1855, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25081855/page/15/
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