even a scarcity of workmen; twelve field labourers were formerly to be had for less than one rupee a day, now half that number could not be had at that rate of wages. A cabinet-maker' was glad to obtain eight rupees a month for the exercise of his skill, now he readily obtains 16 or 20 rupees for the same period. I need not go through the other classes of handicraftsmen, or labourers, all have risen in a like proportion; and as to the price of food, it is sufficient to state one article as a criterion-rice, the staff of life in Bengal, was wont to be sold at eight annas (half a rupee) per maund (82lbs.); its price has increased four-fold, being now averaged at two rupees per maund. It is an indication of a rising country, when the wages of labour are on the increase, and the prices of all commodities. The most miserable districts of India, are those where shells are the sole coins, and the price of grain almost nominal. In fine, a new order of society has sprung into existence that was before unknown, the country being heretofore divided between the few nobles, in whose hands the wealth of the land was concentrated, and the bulk of the people, who were in a state of 'that a cultivator entertains a labourer for every plough, and pays him wages, on an average, one rupee per mensem, and in some districts, not half a rupee per mensem;' this was at a period when not one third of the land of a zemindary was cultivated, whereas now there is frequently not an acre on an estate untilled. 1 The wages of a Hindoo carpenter at Calcutta may be estimated at 6d., of a Chinese at 2s., and of the lowest European, 6s.per day. abject poverty; from the latter have arisen a middle rank, which will form the connecting link between the government and the mass of the nation. The advantages to be derived from this change are incalculable ;—whenever such an order have been created, freedom and prosperity have followed in their train. Do we need example? Look at England after the Norman conquest, when the people were serfs, and the feudal barons were the very counterparts of the India zemindars; but watch the progress of society up to the eighth Henry, when wealth became more equally diffused; and continue the view to the present day, when the power of the middle ranks has become so paramount, by reason of the mass of wealth and intelligence concentrated in their ranks. The country of the foaming Guadalquiver is a melancholy illustration of a nation possessing but two ranks of society, where the most beggarly Asturian, who can support a bare existence without mental or bodily labour, claims the rank of an Hidalgo, and strongly reminds one of the lazy proud 'Suwars,' so admirably delineated by Bishop Heber, in his highly interesting work. Look at Hungary and other places, where the peasantry are sold with the soil; in fact, in every country where there have been only two extremes of society, mental and bodily despotism have supervened. The East India Company's government have broken through that curse, -they have annihilated a feudalism which has ever marked an age of barbarism. It is true, that society has been levelled; that the slavish dependence of the low, upon the high caste, has been severed; and millions of human beings are now, for the first time, learning to know their own worth, to be conscious that, by industry, talent, and integrity, they may elevate themselves to the foremost rank of society; and redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled,' the meanest Indian peasant may hurl defiance at any petty tyrant, who, from the insolence of office, alleged hereditary rights, or domineering Brahminical priesthood, may still foolishly think to retain longer in subjection a submissive people, who had, alas! too long licked the dust of the earth. In the language of Bishop Heber to the supreme Government, in 1825- It is my earnest prayer to that good Providence, who has already made the mild and just, and stable government of British functionaries productive of so much advantage to Hidoostan, that he would preserve and prosper an influence which has been hitherto so well employed; that he would eventually make our nation the dispenser of still greater blessings to our Asiatic brethren; and in his own good time, and by such gentle and peaceable means as only are well pleasing in his sight, unite to us in community of faith, of morals, of science, and political institutions, the brave, the mild, the civilized, and highly intelligent race, who only in the above respects can be said to fall short of Britons.' APPENDIX. Rates of Pensions payable to European Officers and Soldiers and their Widows from Lord Clive's Fund. The following Scale of Pensions for Non-commissioned Officers and Private Soldiers was established by the Court's Resolution of the 14th of April, 1819, communicated to Government of Bengal in the Court's Despatch, dated 21st July, 1819, and published in General Orders, dated 5th February, 1830. All serjeants having actually served 21 years, whereof the last eight years in the capacity of serjeants, to be allowed ls. a day, over and above the pension derivable from Lord Clive's Fund. All serjeants having served 14 years, and discharged on account of debilitated constitutions, to be allowed 1s. a day. All corporals and privates discharged at their own request, after 21 years' service, to be allowed Is. a day. All corporals and privates discharged as unfit on account of broken constitutions, having served 14 years, to be allowed 9d. a day. If wounded and totally unable to contribute to earn a livelihood, after 21 years' service, to be allowed 1s. 10d. If wounded, but able to contribute to earn a livelihood, after 21 years' service, to be allowed 1s. 4d. a day. If wounded and unable to contribute to earn a livelihood, after 14 years' service, to be allowed 1s. 6d. a day. If wounded, but able to contribute to earn a livelihood, after 14 years' service, to be allowed 1s. a day. If rendered totally unable to earn a livelihood from wounds, under 14 years' service, to be allowed 1s. 3d. a day. If wounded, but able to contribute to earn a livelihood, under 14 years' service, to be allowed 9d. a day. No soldier is entitled to the benefit of the Regulations under 21 years' service, unless his discharge contain a recommendation for pension from the Government under which he may have served. A. BRYCE, Military Fund-Office, East India House, 28th February, 1832. |