On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
bellion , an d ' that the people of Dude should rather heregarded with indulgent consideration than made tlie ol ) jects of a penalty exceeding ia extent and in severity almost any which has been recorded in history as inflicted upon a subdued nation . Other conquerors , when they Lave succeeded in overcoming resistance , have excegtecl a fow persons as still deserving of punishment , but have , with a generous policy , extended their clemency to the great body of the people . You . have acted upon a different principle : you have- reserved a few as deserving of special favour , and you . have struck , with , what they -will feel as the severest of punishment , the mass of the inhabitants of the country . "We cannot but
think that the precedents from which you have departed ¦ will appear to have been conceived in a spirit of wisdom superior to that which appears in the precedent you lave made . We desire that you will mitigate in practice , the stringent severity of the decree of confiscation you have issued against the landholders of Oude . We desire to see British authority in India rest upon the willing obedience of a contented people . There cannot be contentment where there is general confiscation . Government cannot long be maintained by any force in a country where the whole people is rendered hostile by asense of wrong , and , if it were possible so to maintain it , it would not be a consummation to be desired . "
Lord Caixning's Proclamation was accompanied by a letter from the Governor-General to the Chief Commissioner of Oude dated March 3 rd , and explaining the manner iu which the directions are to fee carried into effect . The Proclamation is here described as having , reference to the chiefs and inhabitants , of Oude only , and not to the Sepoys- The document proceeds : — " The Governor-General has not considered it desirable that this proclamation should appear until the
capital is either actually m our hands , or lying ' at our mercy . Ha believes that any proclamation put forth in Oude in a liberal and forgiving spirit would be open to misconstruction and capable of perversion , if not preceded by a manifestation of our power ; and that this would La especially the case a . fe Lucknow , whieh r although it has recently been the scene of unparalleled heroism and daring , and one of the most brilliant and successful feats of arms which . British India has ever witnessed , is still 8 adnloualy represented by the rebels as being beyond cmpower to take or to hold . . ...
" It Tvill be for the Chief Commissioner , in communication-with , his Excellency the Coinmander-in-Chief , to determine tbe moment at which the proclamation shall be published , and the manner of disseminating it through the province ; as also tbe mode in which those who may surrender themselves under it shall be immediately and for the present dealt with It is clear that the same treatment will not be applicable to all who may present themselves . Among these there may beaome who have been continuously in arms against the Govern meat and have shown inveterate opposition to the last , but who are free from the suspicion of having put to
death or injured Europeans who fell in their way . To these men their lives are guaranteed , and their . honour ; that is , in native acceptation , they will neither be transported across- the sea nor placed in prison . Probably , tbe most easy and effectual way of disposing 1 of them , in the first instance , will be to require that they shnll reside in Lucknow under surveillance , and in charge of an officer appointed for that purpose . Their ultimate condition and place of residence may remain to- be determined hereaf ter , when the Chief Commissioner shall be able to report fully to the Governor-General upon the individual character and past conduct of each .
" There will be others , who , although they have taken up arms againBt the Government , have done so less heartily , and upon whom , for other causea , tho Chief CcnimisBioner may not seo reason to put restraint . These , after surrendering their arms , might l > e allowed to go to their homes , with such security for thuir peaceable conduct as tbe Chief Commissioner may think proper to require . One obvious security will be that of making it clearly understood by them , that tho amount of favour which they shall hereafter receive , and tho condition in which they shall bo re-established :, will bo in part dependent upon their conduct after dismissal .
" There will probably be a third class , loss compromised by nets ; of past hostility to the Government , in whom the Cbiof Commissioner may seo reason to rep ' enough of confidence to justify their services being at once enlisted on . the side of order , towards the maintenance of which in their respective districts they might bo culled upon to organize a . temporary police . " Tho foregoing remarks apply to tho talookdars and chiefs of tho province . As regards their followers who may make submission with them , these , from their numbers , must of necessity be dismissed to their homes , But , before this is . done , their names and places of residence should be registered , and they should rccuivo a warning that any disturbance of the poaco or rosiBtanca of authority which may occur in thoiu neighbourhood will be viaited v not upon tho individual oUVndera alone , but hy heavy flues upen tho villages . " I am to obflervo Unit tho Governor-General wifthen tho Chief Commissioner to conuidor what hits been nbovo written aa suggestions rather than instructions . " Tho Govauior « Gancral does not intend that aav
overture shall at present be made to tlie mutineers ; But , as the voluntary surrender of some of these is contemplated , certain directions are given as to the mode of dealing with such cases : — " The sole promise which can be given to any mutineer is that his life shall' be spared ; and this promise must not be made if the man belongs to a regimeut which has murdered its officers , or if there be other nrimCi fuels reason to suppose that ho liad been
implicated in any specially atrocious crime . Be 3 ond the guarantee of life to those who , not coming within the above-stated exception , shall surrender themselves , the Governor-General cannot sanction the giving of any specific pledge . Voluntary submission will be counted in mitigation of punishment ; but nothing must be said to those who so submit themselves , which shall bar the Government from awarding to each such measure of secondary punishment as in its justice it may deem fitting . "
A Court of Directors of the East India Company was held ( according to the Globe , for the meeting was not public ) on Monday , when & vote strongly expressing tho confidence of the Court in Lord Canning was passed—it is said , unanimously .
AUIilVAL Or PASSENOEttS FHO 3 I INDIA . The Peninsular and Oriental Company ' s steamship Colombo , Captain J . S . Field , arrived at Southampton on Monday morning , with tlie Calcutta and China mails . " We read ia the daily papers : — " On the arrival of the Colombo hi dock , the Mayor ( Mr . Alderman John White ) , and other members of the Local Relief Committee .-went on board as usual , and ten several cases of persons requiring relief were presented to then- notice . A committee of passengers had been
formed on board during the voyage , which had inquired into each case , and a statement of the respective circumstances of the persons in question was drawn up and handed to the local authorities , signed by Captain field , in the name of tlie Colombo Committee . One case was that of a lady who had been a schoolmistress in Luckuow for twenty-five years , and another was a major who had lost 75 , 000 rupees by the mutiny . The local committee awarded to each of the ten persons 10 £ ., and -will forward the particulars of their cases to the Metropolitan Committee for the dispensation of the Indiau Mutiny Fund . "
Untitled Article
MR . LAYAllI * ON IXDIA . The promised lecture by Mr . Layard on the subject of his Indian experiences was delivered on Tuesday evening at St . J-iraes ' s Hall , Piccadilly . The hall was crowded ; many members of Parliament Avere present , and Lord Bury occupied tho chair . . Mr . Layard commenced by expressing bis belief that the people of England did not know the truth with respect to the Indian revolt ; that , in fact , the truth had "been studiously concealed from them . When persons , at the commencement of the rebellion , asked what had caused it , they were told that the Indians liad risen
against us simply because we had treated them with too much * kindness . However , he had never heard of nations rising- for such a reason , and he looked upon calamities of this nature as great retributions of Providence . He had been to India , and had judged for himself ; but he did not wish to cast any blame on tbe gentlemen of the civil service in our Eastern empire . lie believed a more noble race of men did not exist ; but lie blamed a S 3 'stem . While the fight for the government of India is going on at home , we arc running the risk of having nothing at all to govern . He had spoken with many natives in India on the subject of the origin of the mutiny , and they said that God had deserted us because we had
become unjust , oppressive , and immoral . From the north of India to the south , the rovolt extended ; everywhere tho natives arc opposed to our rule . Ilolkar and Scindia . had , it was true , been faithful to us ; but their subjects had risen against us . The soldiery of India come from the people , and are not divided from them . The rebellion , therefore , was the act of ' the people . Mr . Laynrd believed that tho question of the greased cartridges had been the pretext for tho revolt ; tho Per . siun war the opportunity ; annexation the chief cause . When ho wns nt Benares , he saw a number of easays written by pupils at school , tho subject hAng tho origin of tbe mutiny , and it was singular that every one of them assigned , as among the principal causes , the annexation policy of England , and the treatment of tho native * lhe
. annexation of Ourle was in direct violation of a troaty . As in the ease of Kuasin , with regard to Poland , Ottdo would bang like a millstone about tho neck of lbiiglnnd . We had also bohaved with grout injustice in the " ceded districts" of tho Deccnn , Nngporo , &c . It was aaul that tho natives preferred our rule to that of their own princes ; bufc had tho people of n -singlo independent state risen agninst their ruler ? Wo had gone on annexing till wo had a territory ho largo that wo , could not govern it . Wo had conftacntnd tho estates of landowners and of tho native religious bodies ; and our police and judicial systems hud been marked by terrible abUHoa . Mr . Layard said ho had perused documents of undoubted authority , ia which , ( ho use of torture , opnrcs-1 , and bribery wns described u » rife among tho native < population . Having reud various pnpera setting ibrth
these facts , he observed-that nearly every one of the statements had been corroborated by Mr . llalliditv , the Deputy-Governor of Bengal , almost the highest authority there , in a miiiutc'hu prepared some year and a hid fa ^ o ; Mr . Layard continued :: — " He had received , within the last few hours , a letter from an English gentleman , who was examined before the committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the system of torture in the Madras Presidency , and be would trouble them only with a short extract . ' You ask me , ' said the writer , ' whether anything has been done -to put an . end to this horrible torture . I am sorry to say nothing whatever lias been done in the nia-ttw . ' " Organized bands of bludgeon-mcu are kept fur the
affrays which constantly occur ; and these men preven t the proper administration of justice . Perjury is constantly committed in the law courts , and it is difficult to obtain redress for the natives . Indeed , perjury-lias become the rule instead of the exception ; and justice is generally defeated . This state of things had been greatly aggravated within the last twenty years—in fact , since the reckless policy of annexation had begun . Bribery is constantly resorted to in the law courts , and the excessive pressure of taxation has destroyed tho native gentry , . so that " only two things afpreseiit exist — Government and poverty ; " Mr . Layard denied that the people of India are ungrateful ; During the mutiny , natives had often imperilled themselves to save
Europeans who . had behaved kindly to them . " Neither was it . true , as had been stated , that the more the -natives mix in English society , the more ferocious they become . It had been said that IN " ana Sahib—that unparalleled villain—understands the English language weir , and has mixed in the best English society . That is not true . Kana Sahib is a low vulgar Brahmin , cannot speak a single word of English , and never mixes with our people . " The system , of teaching in India has not been such as to suit the character of the race . Another cause of the rebellion was our interference with the religion and customs of the natives , and the abolition of the law of adoption . Mr .-Layard did not believe that missionary exertions had done the least injury . On the
contrary , he had always found tho missionaries respected by . ; the natives ; and a Scotch minister had told him that they would goon well enough ' . if . the Government would leave them alone . One of the subjects of complaint on the part of the natives was Lord Dalhousie ' .-j breach of faith with regard to the five per cent ., loan . Even Nana Sahib had ottered t « save all who fell into his power except those -who had been connected with Lord Dalhousie . ltuvcrtin" - to the alleged atrocities , Mr . Laj-ard said he ° been unable to authenticate a ' single case , and that Mr . llussell , of the Times , had added his . testimony to the same effect . That gentleman had also said it was certain that the five hundred Christians in Luck now had not been molested . On the other hand , however , our soldiers ( as he knew from personal experience ) had , on several occasions , acted with the utmost sarngeuess to the nativesand he
; appealed to his gallant countrymen in India , to the men of England , to his countrywomen , and to the Members of Parliament ho saw around him , to oppose thia spirit of revenge . "If the people of Kugland were ruled as tho people of India had been ruled , government would be impossible . It had been stated that nothing loss than forty thousand victims would satisfy . England , tiurely , that was not the suntimiuit of a Christiau people . " The King of Delhi had been subject to the grossest indignities ; and the children .. if his women had been killed or separated from their mothers . "He would not touch on tho subjects of the day which had been made the more questions of party . Tlio treatment the Indian question is receiving in the Jlouse of Commons ia unworthy the British Legislature , l ' God ' s sake , let us forgot party , when the . welfare of millions is at stake . No doubt we should reconquer India . It was impossible for the native soldiers to hold
out against the skill of our Generals and tlie -bravery of our troops . But in conquering them wo mwat do them juBtice , And , if ever we lost India , it wonUl bo no disgrace to uh to leave it prosperous and happy , aad ( if we could effect it by our example ) ho would a « lii , Christian . " Mr . Layard But down amidst much nppluu-i ' , and loud cries wore raised for Mr . Bright ( who was present ); but Mr . Wilner Gibson informed tho meeting that tlie member for Birmingham had been interdicted , l > y l » rf medical advisers , from addressing popular ohsohiMies for the present .
A vote of thanks waa then moved by Lord Khury to Mr . Layard , seconded by Mr . Milner Gibson , and curried uuaiiiinouuly ; and , uftor tho usual vote tu the chairman , tho meeting separated .
Untitled Article
MR . COMMISSIONER YUIT . An interesting iiorLra . it of the lute CoimuiHsioiior at Cuutouis given by tlie Chinese correspondent of the Times . We subjoin one or two passages ot his elaborate letter , which is dated from Calcutta river , whither he had followed Veil , II o writes : ~ - ^ " I have been nlmt up for many days with ///<¦ great Chinaman of th « present day . Veil must bo henviftor ono oC tho men of Chinese hiBtory . Ho in thu uccontl
Untitled Article
462 THE LEADER . [^ ^ 25 , ^ 1 ^ 15 ^ 1885 .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), May 15, 1858, page 462, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2242/page/6/
-