follies, and misfortunes of mankind." The above words apply in every sense to him who now governed India.

It appears to have been the custom of the preceding Governors - General to clothe their persons with barbaric splendour, in slavish imitation of the Oriental princes. Lord W. Bentinck, who set at nought this frivolity, was charged by the Anglo-Indian community with lowering the prestige of the British Raj.* Victor Jacquemont, who travelled in India during this rule, has left us very valuable and interesting accounts of his experiences. Struck with the singlemindedness, and deeply impressed with the philanthrophic motives of the Governor-General, the Frenchman exclaims: Oui! la domination de l'Angleterre est desormais un bienfait pour l'Inde.

We shall here briefly allude to some of the most important reforms introduced by Lord William Bentinck. The scope of Lord CornIntroduces wallis' reforms was to a large extent frustrated

reforms.

by the deliberate and systematic ostracism of the natives of India from all posts of honour and responsibility. One of the greatest drawbacks of the British rule is that it affords but little scope for native talents and aspirations. Lord William Bentinck, unlike his predecessors and many of his successors, saw things from an Indian point of view, and made provision (as far

Le

Le

* Mais je ne pense pas que sa manière d'etre habituelle, simple et enusi compromettre l'Empire Britannique dans l'Orient. Gouverneur-general de l'Inde n'est pas un prince Asiatique. nature de son pouvoir est differente."-JACQUEMONT'S "Voyage dans l'Inde," tome premier.

The private life of Antoninus, as recorded by Gibbon, has a strong analogy to that of Bentinck. "The native simplicity of his virtue was a stranger to vanity or affectation."

as the prejudices of those days permitted) for the admission of the Indians into the subordinate judicial and executive services. The principles he advocated obtained a full recognition in the charter of 1833, but only to be pigeon-holed. During the renewal of the charter, Parliament empowered the Governor-General in Council to legislate for India, and added a fourth member Macaulay, to it, "who was to be an English jurist of reputa- ber. tion, and the office was rendered illustrious by the genius and labours of Macaulay."

the first

law mem

of suttee.

The horrid custom of suttee, or self-immolation Abolition of widows on the funeral pyres of their deceased husband, was made illegal by a regulation passed in 1829. For the first time we find an Indian exerting himself strenuously for the moral regeneration of his own native land. Ten or twelve years earlier, Ram Mohun Roy-of whom we shall have to speak again and again—had begun a crusade against this inhuman practice. (Heber's "Journal," vol. i., p. 58.

tional re

We shall attempt to describe later on the Educa achievements of Macaulay and other English- formers. men under the auspices of the philanthropic ruler who now presided over the destinies of the Indians.

Metcalfe,

of the

Sir Charles Metcalfe's brief administration Sir C. will be always remembered for the liberation liberator of the press. We cannot find a more appropriate press. place for calling attention to the invaluable observations of our great Anglo-Indian diplomatist and statesman-observations which an Ellenborough or a Dalhousie of a later period might have done well to lay to heart: "Several ques- His metions have lately occurred in which our interests declaraand those of other powers and individuals are at variance, and in the decision of which we are

morable

tion.

likely to be more biassed by regard for our own benefit unless we make JUSTICE ALONE the guide of our conduct. In all these cases the right on our part to come to the decision apparently beneficial to our interests seems to be doubtful. The Christian precept, 'Do as you would be done by,' must be right in politics as well as in private life; and even in a self-interested view we should, Í believe, gain more by the credit of being just and liberal to others than by using our power to appropriate to ourselves everything to which we could advance any doubtful pretension.' If India enjoyed a brief respite for seven years, during which a benevolent ruler was sowing the blessings of peace, she must now pay dearly for it. The bugbear of a Russian invasion has haunted us since the foundation of our Eastern Empire. The very idea that the rich prize should Auckland ever be snatched from his hands is sufficient to General, throw the Englishman into paroxysms of wild dismay and consternation. An excited and of Russo- morbid imagination began to read the intrigues and sinister designs of the Muscovite czar everywhere in Central Asia; it was high time we should anticipate him. As a preliminary step, we attempted to force a puppet king on a reluctant people. But of 15,000 British soldiers who, assured of victory, penetrated into the heart Annihila of Afghanistan, only one survivor returned to forces. tell the tale. Six centuries earlier an English sovereign had tried a similar experiment on another hardy and patriotic race of mountaineers, with what success we will not say.

Lord

Governor

1836-42.

Symptoms

phobia.

First Afghan war.

tion of the

Lord Ellenbor

Never had such a disaster befallen us in Asia. ough, 1812- Belief in the invincibility of British arms, which had so often acted as a charm, now vanished.

44.

Kaye's "Lives of Indian Officers," vol. ii., p. 169.

tion of re

for the
recovery
of the fatal

At any cost, at any sacrifice, our "prestige" Expedi
must be recovered, our reputation retrieved. The tribution
-conquest of Afghanistan followed as a matter of
course. But this alone was not deemed sufficient prestige.
for the vindication of the national glory. The
Bala Hissar, "the noblest building of its kind in
Central Asia," was blown up, and for three days
Cabul was given over to pillage.* Strange to
say, we had to restore to the Afghans the same
ruler with whom we had been at blood-feud.
The first Afghan war cost India 20,000 lives and
fifteen millions sterling. A later generation,
which should have grown wiser by past experi-
ence, has, by a curious destiny, been again seized
with an infatuation which has been to India

". . . The direful spring of woes unnumbered.”
I shall a tale unfold, "whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood;
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres ;
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine."

ation of

Sinde.

The vainglorious Governor-General, intoxicated with success, now began to look around for some fresh field of renown. Pretexts for another war were easily found. If the lamb in question had The spolinot polluted the water, some one of his ancestors had, and this was deemed a sufficient excuse for his destruction. Had not the ameers of Sinde · murmured against the forced passage of British troops through their territories? Had they not

* Marshman's "Hist. of India," vol. iii., p. 228.

+"Last year I referred to the enormous expense of the Afghan warabout £15,000,000-the whole of which ought to have been thrown on the taxation of the people of England, because it was a war commanded by the English cabinet for objects supposed to be English."JOHN BRIGHT (1859).

The above equally applies to the late Afghan war,

violated the sacred principles of free trade by refusing to open the Indus to navigation? Even Lanoye, one of the blindest apologists of England's wrongdoings in India, is constrained to admit that "three successive treaties in ten years, always VIOLATED by the ENGLISH and always religiously OBSERVED by the AMEERS, had prepared their country for this subjugation.”—(“L'Inde Contemporaine." Introduction xxxv., ed. 1858.) We need not, however, quote the Frenchman. The Conqueror of Sinde himself unblushingly observes: "We have no right to seize Sinde, and yet we shall do so, and a very advantageous, useful, and humane piece of rascality it will be." The Beloochees were not the people to part with their independence on easy terms. A bloody engagement was fought, in which our "enemies" lost 5000 men. "On that day," exclaims Sir C. Napier, "NO QUARTER WAS ASKED OR GIVEN. The treasures and valuables of Hyderabad were seized, which, of course, became prize-moneythe lion's share, £70,000, finding its way right into the pockets of Sir Charles. Major Outram, who was Resident in Sinde when the war broke out, rejected with scorn his share of the booty (£3000), and the sum was distributed among charitable institutions in India ;-his sense of honour revolted at the iniquitous proceedings of Lord Ellenborough and Sir C. Napier. This brave and chivalrous soldier's "commentary" on the conquest of Sinde will as much attest his The gallant moral grandeur as his famous march to Lucknow his military genius. Henry Lawrence and Elphinstone also expressed their burning indignation. The seizure of Poland by Russia was mercy itself compared with the wonton spoliation of Sinde.

"Bayard."

It was a fortunate circumstance that a distin