ve ee 
 
 INDIA REFOR ™M 
 
 % 
 
 NATIVE RIGHTS, 
 
 THE PROCEEDINGS OF 
 
 wep neh Te 
 
 WIELD IN 
 
 THE WESTMINSTER FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE 
 
 ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1857. 
 
 LONDON: W. TWEEDIE, 337 STRAND. 
 
Cine 
 
 A Pustic MEETING on the subject of Ivp1A Rerorm and Na- 
 TIVE Riauts was held at the Friends’ Meeting House, West- 
 minster, on Thursday Evening, November Sth. 
 
 Matcoim Lewtn, Esq., late second Judge of the Suddr Court 
 of Madras, having been called to the Chair amid loud cheers, said 
 that the object of the Meeting was not to cast censure upon any 
 one, nor to enter into a political disquisition on the present or 
 future Government of India: the object was, to bring the natives 
 of India before the Meeting in their true character, and to shew 
 that they were objects of great and humane consideration. (Hear 
 hear.) Whatever crimes may be attributable to the natives of India 
 in this revolt, they are at any rate entitled to justice, as every 
 man was. (Hear, hear.) But he proposed to shew, that for what 
 they had actually done they were entitled to something more than 
 mere justice. It was not to be lost sight of that our own people 
 received, in many instances, protection from the natives of the 
 country at great personal risk ; and he had a letter in his pocket 
 from a major of cavalry at Lucknow, dated September 15th, in 
 which he informed him that he and his family, and several other 
 officers, were safely deposited in the house of a native, where they 
 remained for a fortnight, until they had other means of protection. 
 It would be as unfair to deduce the character of the natives of 
 India from the atrocities committed during the revolt, as it would 
 be to take the character of the people of London from the Newgate 
 Calendar. (Cheers.) At the onset of the revolt, 16,000 prisoners 
 were released from the gaols. Of these, as many as two-thirds 
 were persons nominally sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment, 
 but in reality to perpetual imprisonment; for on failure to pro- 
 vide bail for good conduct at the expiration of their sentence, they 
 still continued in prison. These Dacoits were hereditary robbers, 
 whom the Government had never been able to put down. Their 
 proceedings were marked by great atrocity, and there was no 
 crime which they would hesitate to commit for the discovery of 
 property. Torture with these men was a main instrument of ope- 
 ration. To such men, and to a few infuriated soldiers, writhing 
 under the indignity of irons, which had been put upon their legs, 
 may for the most part be ascribed the atrocities which they all 
 equally deplore, and alike condemn. Such atrocities form no 
 part of the natural character of the Indians. That they would 
 with us revolt at them is proved by the Meetings held to 
 sympathize with the sufferers, and to provide funds for their 
 relief. (Hear, hear.) His attention had been attracted to a 
 newspaper—the ‘ Weekly Dispatch”—in which the following 
 beautiful passage occurred, as delineating the character of the 
 Hindoo— 
 
 ‘A nation of rice-eaters! Two hundred millions of vegeta- 
 rians! A vast continent of teetotalers, with whom personal puri- 
 fication, denial of carnal comforts, scrupulous castigation of epicu- 
 
(3) 
 
 rean appetency, is a fanaticism, an infatuation. What a seed-bed 
 for the faith of Him who knew not where to lay His head; whose 
 meat and drink it was to do His Father’s will! Look at the 
 inner nature of the Hindoo; get below the surface of his formal 
 life, deep down to his permanent instincts. Only sensual where 
 priestcraft inculcates it as a duty; fawning and false solely from 
 the oppression of successive tyrants; a pilferer from the betters 
 who have stripped him, and under whose rule no property has 
 been secure; treacherous because himself so systematically cheated 
 and betrayed; cruel and callous to the cries of misery, solely 
 because the savage Asiatic tyrants set over him know no mercy, 
 and superstition makes him mad: you have to look under all these 
 accidents of history to get at his real nature. Who more devoted 
 to his master, more affectionate to his family, more susceptible of 
 attachment? See how he loves the children of his Sahib; how 
 they love him ; with what a reverential chivalry he regards the 
 lady of his lord. How gentle, patient, submissive, long-suffering. 
 In his normal state how humane, kind, and tender. How strong 
 are his domestic ties, how attached to order, peace, and contented 
 industry. When the sulphurous cloud of this mutiny shall have 
 rolled away, we shall discover ten thousand heroic deeds of gene- 
 rosity, forgiveness, and tender humanity, done by poor natives 
 towards their conquerors and alien rulers, which have no parallel 
 in European rebellions. How many fugitives concealed, wretched 
 sheltered, prisoners rescued, naked clothed, and hungry fed! 
 fTow many have perilled life to save the hunted Feringhees ; how 
 many communities of villages even have risked the conflagration 
 of their homes to defend the footsore wanderers whom they know 
 only as infidels and tax-masters! Nay, how many even of the 
 Sepoys have been compelled to leave us only in self-defence, be- 
 cause we had failed to hold our own, or to protect them against 
 the consequences of resisting what, in the excitement and violence 
 of revolt, might well seem a successful insurrection, in which all 
 who helped the pale stranger against his country and his faith 
 would perish by the sword of the cruel native Rajah! Were we 
 to seek for a nation over the wide world wherein the gentle and 
 contemplative self-denying spirit of the Gospel, with its Eastern 
 customs, and imagery, and character, and life, would take easy 
 and natural root, we know not where we should turn so soon as to 
 the plains of Hindoostan.” 
 
 It might happen that some gentleman might be present whose 
 experience as a resident in India equalled his own—who, like 
 himself, might have brought up a family in India, and had the 
 same opportunity of acquainting himself with the true character 
 and genius of India. If there was sucha person present, he would 
 challenge him to deny the correctness of these relations. He 
 would now allude to the causes of the revolt. These might be 
 briefly summed up in the hatred of the people, which, so far from 
 
(3 3) 
 
 being confined to the military force of the country, was diffused 
 over all their empire; and it was plain that this hatred had only 
 wanted the opportunity to develope itself in something more sub- 
 stantial than mere feeling. (Cheers.) An English gentleman, 
 writing to him in April last from India, said— 
 
 “Only yesterday I heard the bitterest hatred of the English 
 expressed in the most unmeasured terms, contemptuous and indig- 
 nant, by one of the first natives here; this by a man of singular 
 power of intellect, speaking and writing many languages with 
 equal facility, and, on account of his intellectual attainments, 
 lately noticed by the Government. ‘The word of the English,’ 
 said he, ‘ was formerly, as it were, engraved upon granite: now itis 
 written in water. So long as it was politic to keep faith with the na- 
 tives, who could be more observant of your faith than you English ? 
 Now that you have the country at your feet, you have fairly 
 thrown off the mask. You may not believe me, but I swear I 
 would lay down my head this minute (suiting the action to the 
 word) if I could one whit raise my countrymen from their present 
 condition. Itis the repose of a corpse, dead, degraded: there is 
 no need to conceal it, we hate you, and you deserve it.’ This is no 
 historical Thucididean speech, but word for word, as nearly as I 
 I can recollect what he said; and I believe it fairly represents the 
 feelings of the natives towards us, and I for one echo his words, 
 we deserve it.” 
 
 That nothing but opportunity was long wanting was clear to 
 him, from a letter lately received from India, dated in September 
 last, in which the writer, one of the most intelligent and one of 
 the most influential men in India, remarks—‘‘ Not the least im- 
 portant causes of the revolt is the growing distrust of the power of 
 England. The idea broached in Parliament, of drawing for 
 troops on India for the Crimean war took intelligent natives by 
 surprise; and the Chinese and Persian expeditions, undertaken 
 simultaneously, were looked upon as involving the nation ina com- 
 plication of difficulties. No doubt the causes you mention had 
 their share, the Oude annexation in particular; and one account 
 states, that no fewer than forty thousand men of the Bengal army 
 came from that province.” Among the annexations which took 
 place in India, Nagpore stood forward as the most prominent one. 
 In that case the power of adoption was set aside, and an insult 
 was cast over the Hindoo population of India. It was not merely 
 an insult. By refusing the adoption, the Government stood be- 
 tween the prince in the performance of the most sacred right of 
 his religion. The performance of the Shradda was the most sacred 
 right of the Hindoo religion, and the refusal of the adoption pre- 
 vented the performance of a duty which the Hindoo considered 
 essential to his salvation. Without going further into the subject 
 of annexations, he would remark how deeply the feeling had been 
 evinced in the case of those States which had been annexed. Nana 
 
eo) 
 
 Sahib himself was an example; the State of Jhansi was another, 
 where all the Europeans were massacred. (Hear, hear.) In the 
 case of Nagpore there was an insult passed upon all the native 
 princes of India: the jewels of the Ranees were not only taken 
 from them, but they were advertised for public auction by the 
 Government in the newspapers of India. A French gentleman, 
 writing to him on that subject from Chandernagore, one who had 
 been resident upwards of thirty years in India, remarks—“ With- 
 out reckoning the Nagpore and Oude affairs, Lord Dalhousie is 
 very guilty. When you think of the jewels of Nagpore, which were 
 snatched from him then, and sold in Calcutta, one experiences a 
 feeling of disgust. The preventing the adoption of a son to the 
 King of Nagpore was the greatest blunder Lord Dalhousie could 
 make, for he was attacking the greatest families in their existence. 
 It is a greater mistake than Oude.” He would now allude to the 
 impressions entertained by the natives generally on the subject of 
 conversion, and of our interference with their religion. He did 
 not pretend to say whether our interference had been well or ill 
 judged ; but he would state the impressions which had arisen 
 among the natives as to the object of that interference, and which 
 he believed had made them mad, not only with hatred to our per- 
 sons, but to Christianity itself. The Missionary, Anderson, of the 
 Free Scotch Church, describes the feeling opposed to Christianity 
 in these words :— 
 
 «‘There is no house where Christianity is not exposed: the dis- 
 gust with which all classes of the community look upon Chris- 
 tianity is very strong and prevalent at present. We have all heard 
 of the late Meeting: under what feeling did the great men of the 
 Hindoos, the men who could speak English, and had come much 
 in contact with the Europeans, and were supposed not to have the 
 same prejudices and narrow views as the common people—what 
 
 _ were the feelings which they shewed in that place? Hvery one of 
 them, the most educated of them to the least educated, from the 
 highest caste man to the lowest Pulle, manifested a bitter spirit 
 of enmity against Christianity. Though people of all castes were 
 brought together at that time, there were no fightings about caste. 
 Though Brahmins and all the lower castes were mixed together, 
 there was a living sympathy among all the people that were there: 
 the same spirit filled all their hearts, and out of the fulness of their 
 hearts their mouths poured out curses and blasphemies against 
 Christianity. From a single family up to the whols nation the pre- 
 vailing spirit in the Hindoo at present is enmity against Chris- 
 tianity. There is an enmity in each family, and there is a national 
 enmity and a universal enmity filling the breast of every man 
 and woman of every rank and caste among the Hindoos: yea, the 
 whole nation is moved from its very bottom, and filled with om- 
 placable hatred, and bent upon the utter destruction of Chris- 
 
 tianity.” 
 
hs) 
 
 No man was more competent to judge than this gentleman. ~ 
 Although a zealous proselytiser, he was deservedly respected by all 
 as an honest man. The natives, well knowing that he was bent 
 upon their conversion, still flocked to him, from their knowledge 
 of the fact that he was not connected with the Government. This 
 led him to offer an observation on the subject of the view in which 
 Missionaries were regarded by the people. He believed that 
 where Missionaries stood aloof from the Government their la- 
 bours were most effective; and he had a letter before him at this 
 moment, from a native of India, in which the opinion was openly 
 expressed that the labours of the Missionary, coupled with educa- 
 tion and good government, would lead to the fall of Hindooism. 
 So far back as the time of Swartz, they knew that Hyder Ali, 
 when his distrust was so great in the faith of the Government, that 
 he refused to treat with it, offered to transact any business with it 
 through the intervention of Swartz, and “amidst his cruel and de- 
 solating career, he gave orders to his officers to permit the vene- 
 rable padre to pass unmolested, and to shew him respect and 
 kindness ;” adding, “he is a holy man, and means no harm to my 
 Government.” This fact would be found stated in the Dean of 
 Salisbury’s Life of Swartz. If such sentiments could animate a 
 Mussulman, with a natural antipathy to the Christian, how much 
 more were they likely to actuate the Hindoo, the main principle 
 of whose creed was perfect toleration. Had the Government of 
 India stood aloof from proselytism, and allowed the Missionaries to 
 stand alone, it was scarcely possible to doubt that Christianity 
 would have made more progress than it has in India. (Hear, hear.) 
 he number of real converts in India was, it was to be feared, 
 very few, and the conversion of nearly all of those who had 
 adopted the Christian religion might be ascribed to temporal be- 
 nefit. 
 
 The natives of India justly took offence with the Government, 
 on the grounds that it did not keep faith with them in matters of 
 religion. They hear of orders being sent out to that country to 
 prohibit all interference with their religion: simultaneously they 
 read the speech of the Chairman of the East-India House, in 
 which directly the contrary is expressed. A native, writing to him 
 (Mr. Lewin) on the subject, after reading Mr. Mangles’ speech 
 in the House of Commons, “that he had no doubt whatever that 
 Providence had been pleased to place the magnificent empire of 
 India in our hands in order that in due time we might be the in- 
 struments of converting the inhabitants to Christianity,” says— 
 ‘Several natives came to me shortly after the arrival of the mail, 
 with the paper in their hands, and remarked that the Court of 
 Directors. were playing a double game, pretending, in their 
 despatches to India, to set their faces against Government prose- 
 lytism, while at home they openly profess this object.to’ be their 
 
een) 
 
 desire and duty.” But the Government of Madras went beyond 
 this. They refused to allow special trains to run on Sundays, not 
 in order to comply with the fourth commandment, but because 
 they were required to convey the natives to their religious festi- 
 vals. The orders on this subject were shewn to him by Sir James 
 Melvill, at the India House, and the Madras Government were 
 remonstrated with for using such an argument, but that Govern- 
 ment had not chosen to bend to the home authorities. He would 
 now refer to two other subjects—the Hindoo law of re-marriages 
 and the law of inheritance on conversion to Christianity. (Cheers. ) 
 
 Great difference of opinion might be allowed as to the propriety 
 of these laws. It appeared to him, that if a foreigner took pos- 
 session of a new country, he was not bound to overset the laws of 
 that country, even though they might differ in principle from his 
 own, nay, even though they should be religiously opposed to his 
 own. (Hear, hear.) He would say nothing of infanticide and of 
 the suttee, as it appeared to him that the large mass of the people 
 of India agreed with us on those two questions. It was far otherwise 
 in the case of the re-marriage of a Hindoo widow and the change of 
 - inheritance consequent on conversion. A French gentleman, writing 
 to him from Chandernapore, remarked—‘‘ What is it to a trading 
 Company whether a Hindoo widow re-marry or continue a widow ? 
 
 The change in the law of inheritance clearly tended to the sub- 
 version of the Hindoo religion. The Hindoo law and Hindoo 
 custom throughout the country do not recognise the division of 
 ancestral property between the several members of the family. 
 The property of a Hindoo family belonged to the religion as much 
 as to the family itself; and no convert was allowed to take his share 
 out of it under any circumstances. In case of conversion to ano- 
 ther religion by any one of the members of a Hindoo family, his 
 share became the property of those who remained in their old 
 faith. When we first legislated on these subjects —when our power 
 was so ill-confirmed that we were obliged to bend to the native 
 customs and laws, in order to conciliate their support—we passed 
 laws, declaring that all suits between Hindoos should be de- 
 cided according to the Jaws and customs of the Hindoos ; and the 
 Regulations of 1802 were acted up to until wethought ourselves 
 strong enough to supplant the native customs and religion by our 
 own. Whatever might be the merit of our recent enactments, it 
 was plain that we had violated our faith towards the natives of the 
 country, and we have effected radical changes which were not de- 
 manded by the voice of the people. (Cheers.) He would now 
 offer a word or two on the treatment which the natives had re- 
 ceived at our hands, as also on their qualifications for employment 
 in the public service. If they referred to the men who had had 
 the largest experience of the natives of India, and men who had 
 made themselves most eminent by their abilities, namely, Munroe, 
 
 Strachey, Sir John Malcolm, and Holt M‘Kenzie, they found an 
 
(ey 
 
 unanimous sentiment in favour of their fitness for any office in the 
 State. (Hear, hear.) They also found that each of these gentle- 
 men alludes, in express terms, to the debasing character of our 
 treatment of them, and the injustice of shutting them out from all 
 lucrative and honourable employment. (Hear, hear.) With the 
 experience before them of the eminent natives who had occupied a 
 high position—with the fact before them that the judicial and 
 revenue administrations were carried on by the means of natives— 
 that nota penny could be collected except through them—that 
 ninety-three per cent. of the civil suits that were decided in India 
 were decided by them—that they had the power at the present 
 time, on their own judgment alone, to decide original suits to an 
 unlimited amount, and on their own authority to sentence to 
 stripes and imprisonment,—with all these facts before them, it 
 could not but excite surprise, that while performing the offices of 
 Englishmen, they should be debarred from the equality of English- 
 men. (Cheers.) The 87th Section of the Charter Act declared 
 “all offices open to all persons without distinction of caste, colour, 
 or creed.” This was a wise measure, and, had it been carried out 
 as was intended by the framers, it can be little doubted it would 
 have proved a grand step towards creating an interest in the people 
 to preserve Our empire. But it was of no use to give an elegibi- 
 lity to men to enter the civil service, when a voyage to England 
 was made necessary as a preliminary. He would but say a few 
 words regarding the Government of India, which had been most 
 disastrous. They took possession of Oude on the grounds of mis- 
 government. A short time before the annexation of Sattarah, the 
 East-India Company presented the Rajah with an honorary sword, 
 on the grounds of his having managed the country to the satisfac- 
 tion of the Government. Here were two opposite cases. In the 
 one they sacrificed a Rajah for misgovernment: in the other they 
 refused to allow even good government to save a native prince. 
 (Hear, hear, and laughter.) The object, it was plain, in both cases, 
 was the same—gain. (Cheers.) Of the effect of our annexa- 
 tions on the feeling of the country towards us, an opinion 
 may be formed, from the sentiments addressed to me by a 
 native of India (whose influence extends far beyond the Pre- 
 sidency in which he resides), in a letter dated in 1856, when 
 the annexation of Oude was as yet incomplete. He says, 
 “Tt is right I should refer to the general feeling of the na- 
 tives, in consequence of the late supercessions regarding the adop- 
 tion of heirs, and the dispossessing of the Zemindars, whose pro- 
 perty is immediately bought up by the Government, by a mere 
 nominal payment, which bad feeling will certainly be increased if 
 the succession to the Nawaubship of the Carnatic is set aside (it 
 has been set aside) in defiance of the many treaties with the East- 
 India Company guaranteeing its continuance in the family of the 
 present claimant. The kingdom of Tanjore has just been seized ; 
 
oe) 
 
 Oude, Hyderabad, and Travancore are threatened with the 
 earliest convenient absorption; and the princes and nobility of the 
 country are in a fair way of general extinction, till India will have 
 no more than two classes—the English Government and the 
 Ryots.” Of the remorseless manner in which the annexations were 
 made, an opinion may be formed (as well, also, of our gratitude to- 
 wards aman, who alone, of all the princes of India, remained faithful 
 to us, when all the others were arrayed in arms against us) from 
 the Minute of General Low, the British resident at Oude, dated 
 January 21, 1842 :—‘ Adverting to the exaggerated rumours of our 
 adversities in Affghanistan, and of their supposed effects, such ru- 
 mours rendering it desirable to shew to the native community that 
 the confidence of the Oude Government in our stability remains 
 unabated. I thought it desirable to make use of my personal in- 
 fluence with the King of Oude to induce him to lend a conside- 
 rable sum of money to the Government. He declared, in an 
 earnest and cordial manner, that it gave him great pleasure to 
 carry my- wishes into effect. The total sum lent by him, to relieve 
 the British Government from the pressure of the Affghan war; 
 was forty-six lacs of rupees.’ In another Minute, General Low 
 states, ‘that, during the Nepaul war, the King of Oude lent us, 
 free of all cost, 300 elephants. The aid thus obtained for conveying 
 our artillery, ammunition, tents, &c., in our mountain warfare, was 
 of immense value to us, and of a kind which it was totally out of 
 our power to obtain in any other manner, or from any other 
 quarter.’ Comment is here unnecessary.” Were they to test the 
 merits of the two Governments, they would find, on comparison, 
 that their own misgovernment was far more palpable than that 
 of any native prince of India. They had uprooted the native 
 institutions of the country ; they had destroyed the most eflicient 
 police that the world ever saw; they had carried on their revenue 
 and police administration by means of torture. Mr. Halliday, 
 the present Deputy-Governor of Bengal, in his Minute dated 
 April 13, 1856, says— | 
 
 ““ The village police are in a permanent state of starvation: they 
 are all thieves and robbers, or leagued with thieves and robbers ; 
 insomuch that when any one is robbed in a village, it is most 
 probable that the first person suspected will be the village watch- 
 man. It is even a question whether an order issued throughout the 
 country to apprehend and confine them would not do more to put 
 a stop to theft and robbery than any other measure that could be 
 adopted. The administration of justice is little better than a lot- 
 tery.” } 
 
 The Torture Commissioners, appointed by the Government to in- 
 vestigate the question in Madras, say— 
 
 ‘“‘The police establishment has become the bane and pest of 
 society, the terror of the community, and the origin of half the 
 misery and discontent that exist among the subjects of the Go- 
 
C 10) 
 
 vernment. Corruption and bribery reign paramount throughout 
 the whole establishment ; violence, torture, and cruelty are the 
 chief instruments for detecting crime, implicating innocence, or 
 _extorting money.” In their despatch to the Government of India, 
 dated March 13th of the present year, the Court of Directors 
 say— 
 
 “‘ That the police in India has lamentably failed in accomplish- 
 ing the ends for which it was established is a notorious fact: that 
 it is almost useless for the prevention, and sadly inefiicient for 
 the detection of crime is generally admitted.” 
 
 The modes of torture in Madras described by the Commissio- 
 ners are as follows :— 
 
 “‘ The kittee, an instrument applied to the fingers, causing ex- 
 cruciating pain. The anunthal, bending the body towards the 
 feet, putting a heavy stone on the back, and exposure to the sun. 
 Putting pepper and chillies in the eyes. Twisting women’s 
 breasts. Fastening in a cocoa-nut shell upon the navel the 
 poollay insect, causing great torment. Nipping the flesh with 
 pincers, searing with hot irons, dipping people in wells till they 
 are half suffocated. These cruelties and others, of which decency 
 forbids the mention, producing permanent injury and loss of 
 limbs, are occasionally persevered in till death ensues.” 
 
 It is unnecessary to go further into this part of the subject, as 
 those who desire further information, whether as regards Madras 
 or Bengal, would find it in the blue books recently published by Par- 
 liament. The result of our rule in India, according to the official 
 records of the Government, was, that anarchy prevailed in all de- 
 partments. The community dreaded the policeman more than the 
 thief, and the Courts of Justice more than the midnight robber. 
 Instead of applying to the local authorities for redress, it was well 
 known that luttauls, or bludgeon-men, were systematically kept in 
 pay by the planters as instruments of justice. The rebellion took 
 all by surprise, which was a sufficient proof that it was not con- 
 fined to the military alone. (Cheers.) There were at least 300 
 civil servants scattered over the province of Bengal. To each of 
 these was attached a numerous native establishment, not one of 
 whom gave the slightest warning of what was coming to pass. 
 But the natives themselves did give a warning. They passed 
 chuppaties through the different villages of the country. The 
 intent of this proceeding was perfectly well known to them, and 
 thousands of them were able to enlighten the Government, had 
 they chosen to do so. A proceeding of that kind was nothing 
 new in India; and had there been but one person about the Go- 
 vernment of any real experience in the country, there would have 
 been no difficulty in putting a right interpretation upon it. (Hear, 
 hear.) But instead of going to the bottom of the matter, the 
 whole was treated with an arrogant feeling which disdained the 
 inquiry which such a proceeding obviously called for. (Cheers. ) 
 
( il) 
 
 His attention had been attracted by a speech recently made by 
 Lord Shaftesbury, in which the atrocities in India had been re- 
 ferred to as if they were unparalleled in the history of the world ; 
 and his Lordship supposed that a delicacy had been exhibited in 
 exposing those atrocities, and that there had not been a sufficient 
 call for vengeance and punishment. He would not use the tu quoque 
 argument, since the crimes committed at other times would not 
 affect the character of the criminals in these. But his Lordship 
 assumes that the rebellion was wholly of a military character. 
 He asserted that it was not a nation rising for its independence, 
 nor for the integrity of its religion. He said, ‘‘ Have you found 
 in any one instance a national, or even a symptom of a national 
 rising?” In answer to this, he (Mr. Lewin) would refer briefly 
 to a recent communication from Dr. Duff, who wrote as fol- 
 lows :— 
 
 ““T am a very long resident in this country, and, having been 
 in a position to hear the true sentiments of the natives (who nei- 
 ther feared me nor required any thing from me) towards our Go- 
 vernment and ourselves, I have been long aware of their hatred 
 towards both, and that opportunity alone was wanted to display it 
 as they have now done; and where it has not been shewn, rest 
 assured it is only from fear or interest, and when they did not re- 
 cognise opportunity. Now, in the face of these, and scores of 
 other substantially similar statements from all parts of the North- 
 west and Central India, what becomes of the lullaby declarations 
 of those who would fain persuade the British public, that nowhere 
 among the general, civic, or rural population of India does there 
 exist any feeling of ill-will, or discontent, or disaffection towards 
 the British or their Government. All such unqualified declara- 
 tions I do most solemnly regard as a gigantic (I do not say 
 wilful) imposition on the British people; an imposition which, if 
 not timeously exposed or abandoned, is sure to prove as fatal to 
 the re-establishment and perpetuity of British supremacy, as it is 
 in itself gigantic. Ifthe seeds of a deadly disease are lurking— 
 though it may be but partially developed—in the very vitals of the 
 constitution, and if the existence of these, in spite of obvious symp- 
 toms and warnings, be deliberately ignored, what can we expect, 
 except that, one day or other, they will break forth into a raging 
 virulence, which all the art of the most skilful physician can nei- 
 ther mitigate nor arrest. 
 
 ‘It is supposed that the people of the country do not sympa- 
 thize with the Sepoys, nor join in their bloody deeds. This ought 
 to be corrected, for every hand is uplifted against the man who 
 has a white face. Those villagers who used to throw themselves 
 at my feet in May, come out in June with swords and guns, and 
 all sorts of weapons, to take away my life. I dare not go into 
 the quietest district without a guard of soldiers, nor sleep without 
 a sentry at my door.” 
 
« . ) 
 
 Now, Dr. Duff was a gentleman with whose character he was 
 very well acquainted. He (Mr. Lewin) had resided in India for 
 many years during the time that gentleman was there, and, though 
 not of his communion, he could bear testimony to the zeal of his 
 ministry, and to his high character asa man. But if Dr. Duff’s 
 tertimony were not sufficient, the testimony of Mr. Anderson, 
 already quoted, would set the matter at rest. Were that not 
 enough, the memorial of the Missionaries, addressed to the Su- 
 preme Government of India, “On the condition of the population 
 of Bengal,” would fill up the gap. The Missionaries, as stated 
 by Lord Canning in his Minutes, ‘after drawing a painful and 
 lamentable picture of the condition of the rural population of 
 Bengal, of the violence, injustice, and oppression to which they 
 are exposed, and of the sullen discontent, and even hatred, to- 
 wards their rulers, which has been engendered in them, express a 
 desire that a Commission may be appointed to inquire into the 
 causes of this state of things.” Lord Shaftesbury asks, ‘‘ Who, 
 then, were the mutineers, and from whom arose this fugitive rebel- 
 lion?” and answers, “It arose from a monster of our own crea- 
 tion: it arose from an army, pampered, flattered, and under- 
 worked.” It was possible, in Madras, that a mutiny might take 
 place without the inhabitants of the country being apprised of it 
 beforehand, because there was not that communication between 
 the military and the civil population which exists in Bengal. In 
 Bengal it is part of the condition of the Sepoy service that the 
 Sepoy shall have a portion of the year to spend with his family, 
 and, in consequence, there was a closer union between the civil 
 and military population ; and there could not be the least doubt 
 in the mind of any one who had experience of India, that an 
 event, such as the Indian revolt, could not take place unless the 
 whole country had made common cause. The demands for 
 vengeance and justice, on the part of Lord Shaftesbury, appeared 
 to him to be unbecoming in a man who was perpetually reminding 
 them of the requirements of Christianity. (Cheers.) It appeared 
 to him (Mr. Lewin) that it would bave been far more appropriate 
 had Lord Shaftesbury, instead of exciting the popular passions— 
 instead of saying, ‘‘ An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” 
 appealed to the text, “‘ Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
 you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and_ persecute 
 you.” (Cheers.) Lord Shaftesbury said, “ Again I maintain 
 that, in the sense of humanity, justice, complete justice, must 
 be done to the full, if it be only to check the feeling that is ra- 
 pidly growing up.” Now, it was needless to pursue this subject. 
 The passions of men’s minds and hearts were already worked up to 
 a high pitch of excitement; and it was to allay, if possible, the 
 call for indiscriminate punishment, which almost amounted to 
 a national frenzy, that this Meeting was convened, and that he 
 had consented to take part in its proceedings. (Hear, hear.) The 
 
(a3 }) 
 
 accounts received from India of the destruction of a large portion 
 of the rebels would seem to indicate that justice had already been 
 satisfied, and that the time has arrived when we should rather 
 seek to find a cause for mercy, than a motive for punishment. 
 Lord Shaftesbury said, ‘ Justice, I maintain, must be satisfied. 
 Every principle of policy, every principle of religion, requires it. 
 It is the greatest policy, in the sense of humanity, that justice 
 should be fully exercised.” Had the wealth and title of Lord 
 Shaftesbury been held out to him as the reward of uttering such a 
 speech, he solemnly declared that he would not have uttered i. 
 (Cheers.) After some further remarks of a general character, 
 Mr. Lewin concluded by thanking the audience for the attention 
 with which they had listened to his address. 
 
 Mr. JoneEs moved the first Resolution, which was as follows :— 
 
 “‘ That whilst the Government is called upon to punish the authors 
 of the atrocities lately committed on our countrymen, country- 
 women, and helpless children, in India, justice demands that full 
 inquiry be made in order to separate such heinous criminals from 
 other persons who, though they may not have been wholly inno- 
 cent of resistance to the authority of the Government, have been 
 far less guilty.” 
 
 After some general introductory remarks, he proceeded to denounce 
 that portion of the English press, headed by the Times, which had sought 
 to hound on the people of this country against India, and the purport 
 of whose articles was, that a war of vengeance should be waged against 
 the inhabitants. In an illustrated paper, the contest in India had been 
 presented to the world as a contest between lions and tigers, the moral 
 of which was, that a war of extermination had been entered upon: and 
 in another publication, the Christian Queen of England was represented 
 as in the act of wreaking vengeance on her own subjects in India, 
 (Hear, hear.) Was that the attitude in which the Christian people of 
 England wished to be presented in relation to India? (Cries of 
 No, no.) If the character of their Christianity had been truly repre- 
 sented by these publications—it their religion, instead of being one of 
 peace and mercy, was but the embodiment of vengeance and slaughter 
 —he could have no hesitation in declaring that the people of India 
 would be fully justified in any attempt to overthrow British power in 
 that country. (Cheers.) ‘The newspapers to which he alluded did not 
 represent the true feeling of the country. They found that they had 
 gone too far in their demands for vengeance, and there was now a cer- 
 tain degree of moderation visible in their tone. (Hear, hear.) There 
 had been a cry for stern justice, which might signify more than was ex- 
 pressed ; and Lord Shaftesbury, he grieved to say, had joined in that 
 cry. He (Mr. Jones) would advocate justice too; but it should be that 
 high kind of justice which recognised mercy, and which, having taken 
 all the circumstances of the revolt into account, and made allowances 
 for the frailty of human nature, would arrive at a temperate and unim- 
 passioned decision, (Hear, hear.) They should not make the English 
 temperament the basis by which they would judge the Indian character; 
 and when they came to talk of justice—of that ‘stern justice’? which 
 was now demanded—they should remember the services which, on 
 
( ale) 
 
 former occasions, the Sepoys had rendered to British interests in India. 
 If the Sepoys had acted with abominable cruelty—if they had committed 
 crimes at which humanity shuddered—Englishmen should bear in mind 
 the fact, that they themselves had made them the instruments of atro- 
 cities at which the blood ran cold ; and that, under English command, 
 they bad learned lessons of vengeance, in the destruction of life and pro- 
 perty, which they could not have been expected to forget. (Hear, hear.) 
 He denied that the atrocities of the recent revolt were, as had been 
 asserted, without parallel in the history of modern times. They had all 
 heard of the atrocities committed by British soldiers in Spain; nor need 
 he remind them of the immolations in Algeria by the French, with 
 whom they had now fraternized. (Cheers.) Let it not, then, be said 
 that the atrocities of the Hindoos stood alone, and that, in consequence 
 of them, they were driven beyond the pale of civilization. Not only 
 had they fought for England, but they had suffered from England. 
 (Cheers.) There had been a violent and needless interference with many 
 of the most cherished laws and customs of the people, as stated by the 
 previous speaker, and annexations of territory had taken place, which 
 could not fail to provoke their anger and resentment. Our policy in 
 India had been characterized by the most grievous injustice. (Hear, 
 hear.) When our power in the country was weak, we shaped our 
 measures in accordance with it: when we became strong, we thought of 
 nothing but spoliation and aggression: and Lord Dalhousie, acting in 
 Opposition to some of the wisest men in India, seemed to have brought 
 that policy to the culminating point. (Hear, hear.) By the annexation 
 of Oude the inhabitants had been subjected to great suffering. Not 
 merely was the country divided and broken up, and the native autho- 
 rities set aside, but a Commission was appointed to examine into the 
 validity of the deeds by which the nobility held their lands, and thus 
 confusion and discontent were created. Such a course of policy was not 
 the less objectionable because it was carried out in a distant country. 
 What would be injustice in England would be also injustice in India ; 
 and if a Commission, such as that to which he had alluded, were insti- 
 tuted here, they would have an insurrection, in the midst of which, it 
 is not-unlikely, would be found Lord Shaftesbury himself. (Cheers and 
 laughter.) When they knew thata large portion of the native troops— 
 the Sepoys—were drawn from Oude, they should not be surprised that 
 these troops were foremost in the insurrection. Having detailed many 
 of the grievances to which the people of India had been subjected, Mr. 
 Jones concluded, amid loud cheers, by calling on the Meeting to ratify 
 the spirit of the Resolution, which would separate justice from vengeance, 
 and protect the innocent while punishing the guilty. 
 
 Mr. R. N. Fow er, in seconding the Resolution, expressed the regret 
 with which he witnessed the inhuman call for vengeance by a portion of 
 the press of this country. That call he repudiated as unchristian and 
 impolitic; and he believed it would not find an echo in the hearts of 
 the English people. (Hear, hear.) A question had been raised in the 
 House of Commons and in the country, as to whether this was a mili- 
 tary revolt or an insurrection. The Government, in order to shift the 
 blame as much as possible from themselves, maintained that it was a 
 mere military revolt. So far as appearances went, the revolt, he be- 
 lieved, did not spread beyond the army, and was very much confined to 
 the Bengal army ; but he apprehended there were circumstances which 
 would prove that the people sympathized with the troops which had re- 
 
( ) 
 
 volted. (Hear, hear.) It was remarked by Mr. Macaulay—now Lord 
 Macaulay—that India must be governed in India, and that native ma- 
 gistrates had more power in their hands than could possibly be pos- 
 sessed by English functionaries. This he believed was the fact; and in 
 the future Government of India he trusted that it would be remembered 
 and acted upon. (Cheers.) As to the religious feelings of the natives, 
 which were very strong, he contended that the Government ought to 
 respect them; but, at the same time, they ought to allow every facility 
 for Missionary operations. (Hear, hear.) He demanded that full justice 
 should be done to India, both for the sake of that country and for the 
 sake of England, for they were both bound up together. (Hear, hear.) 
 His own opinions were not unfavourable to the Company, but he feared 
 aggression had continually gone on; and while this policy was pursued 
 they must expect to be engaged in wars. (Hear, hear.) Now it was 
 not by wars that they could improve India. (Hear, hear.) If they de- 
 sired to develope the resources of the country, which were all but illi- 
 mitable, they must turn their attention to great public works, such as rail- 
 ways and canals. (Hear, hear.) He regretted the part which Lord 
 Shaftesbury, so long devoted to philanthropic projects, had taken, in re= 
 lation to the revolt, the horrors of which they all equally deplored. 
 (Cries of Hear, hear.) Assuming that the Sepoys were as bad as 
 they had been represented to be, they should still recollect that they 
 were men, and that they had not experienced in their hearts the civi- 
 lizing influences of that faith which their rulers professed. (Hear, hear.) 
 In conclusion, he trusted that the Christian feelings of Englishmen 
 would lead them to declare, that, much as they lamented the horrors 
 which had been perpetrated in India, they desired to see justice in 
 mercy enforced, so that they might carry out the will of Him who came 
 to promote peace on earth and goodwill amongst the children of men. 
 (Cheers. ) 
 
 Mr. Dawss read a leading article from the Times in 1847, which took 
 a view of Indian affairs diametrically opposed to that which they were 
 advocating now, and declared he would rather be the meanest pauper 
 in the workhouse, than be the owner, and have,the large revenue, of the 
 Times, with the guilt upon his soul of hounding on the people to blood- 
 shed. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Resolution was then put, and carried unanimously. 
 
 The Rev. CHARLES STOVEL moved the next Resolution— 
 
 “That, in discriminating between the innocent and the guilty, and 
 in estimating the degree of guilt in the offenders, it is due to 
 those who merely deserted the Government through fear, to in- 
 quire how far their loyalty has been compromised by the inability 
 of the Government to afford them protection in consequence of 
 measures which denuded the country of European troops, and 
 left the inhabitants at the mercy of the insurgents, to whom this 
 insecurity offered a tempting opportunity for revolt.” 
 
 He expressed his belief that the steps taken by the Meeting would go 
 but a short way in providing a remedy for the evils under which India 
 suffered: and had he been previously aware that such was the case, he 
 would not have attended. He had heard the description of the injustice 
 done by the British Government to India. It was his impression that 
 the little facts adduced had diverted their minds from the other state- 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 ments that had been kept back ; and he was convinced that these facts 
 did not give a fair impression of the extent of the sinfulness perpetrated 
 by England on the Indian soil. Upon England now devolved the 
 solemn responsibility of reconstructing that state of society in India 
 which had been all but broken up; and he trusted that, in undertaking 
 that heavy task, such reforms would be introduced, and such effective 
 changes made, as would save the new structure from the dangers of 
 fresh convulsions. (Hear, hear.) He believed that, even in Delhi, there 
 was a large number of persons belonging to what, in England, they 
 called the ‘‘ middle class,’? whose opinions ought not to be despised in 
 the future government of India, and upon whom they could rely in 
 maintaining such reforms in the laws as the condition of the country 
 demanded. (Hear, hear.) Their great object at present should be, to 
 see that the mutiny was effectively put down, and with as much 
 humanity as was consistent with the re-establishment of order; and he 
 believed the task was in the hands of men who would accomplish it. 
 The sooner it was accomplished the better. (Hear, hear.) But let them 
 have no revenge, for revenge did not belong to Christian men. (Cheers.) 
 He was not an advocate for war: he was a man of peace; but he con- 
 tended that the outbreaks of society ought to be put down; and, in 
 putting them down, they should use the most direct means. When they 
 came hereafter to deal with India, they should not present justice to the 
 people at the point of the bayonet: that weapon should then be laid 
 aside, and such a course adopted as would be maintained more by the 
 strength of its own equity than by military force. (Hear, hear.) He 
 felt convinced that the British Government had not done its duty in de- 
 veloping the resources of India. These resources might be increased 
 sevenfold in seven years. With regard to religion in India, he main- 
 tained that it should be perfectly emancipated from state control; tor it 
 was monstrous that funds should be granted by the Government for 
 temples wherein idols were worshipped: it was monstrous that the Go- 
 vernment should, at the same time, support both Juggernaut and Jesus. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Mr. RicwarpD Smitu seconded the Resolution. which was adopted. 
 
 Masor Ortiey Retired List, Madras Army, moved the third 
 Resolution— 
 
 ‘That, in awarding punishment where crime is proved, mercy calls 
 on the ruling powers to take into due consideration any extenu- 
 ating circumstances, if such there may be, whether consisting in 
 provocation received in the violation of religious scruples, or 
 in injury inflicted through oppression or injustice, either sanctioned 
 or accidental. 
 
 “That it ought to be kept in prominent view that the barbarous 
 crimes recently perpetrated are the acts of a comparatively small 
 number, and repugnant to the Indian character, as shewn by long 
 experience. 
 
 ‘¢ The preservation of the lives of many of our contrymen, on several 
 late occasions, by the spontaneous exertions of natives, at their 
 own great risk, is the strongest proof of this fact, and is convincing 
 evidence that the general massacre of Europeans was not the 
 prevailing object of the insurrection.” 
 
 He begged to express his gratification that a Meeting had: been called 
 
Ca) 
 
 for the purpose of endeavouring to put a stop to proceedings in India— 
 butcheries perpetrated by British soldiers and others—which must bring 
 indelible disgrace on the British character. In the name of justice and hu- 
 manity he would denounce the perpetrators of those butcheries ; and he 
 called upon the country to reprobate the conduct of all who had been 
 guilty of unnecessary bloodshed, or cruelty of any other kind. (Cheers.) 
 Yielding to no man in his detestation of the atrocities which had been 
 committed against Europeans, he would yet ask whether, when ‘ the 
 sufferers in India”? were spoken of, some consideration should not be 
 accorded to the sufferings of the natives of that country, who had been 
 brought under a system of, nominally, ‘‘ martial law,’’ but, in reality, 
 relentless and undiscriminating vengeance—a vengeance preached, under 
 one euphemism or another, from, alas! how many pulpits on the day 
 of so-called ‘‘ humiliation !’? (Hear, hear.) It was indeed with mingled 
 feelings of horror and disgust that he had read the published notices 
 of several of the sermons preached on that day. Many of the speeches 
 delivered at Meetings held “for the relief of the Indian sufferers’ had 
 also been of the most truculent description. In one,of them, in parti- 
 cular, alayman having ventured to express his hope that, in the hour of 
 victory, our soldiers would be able to “restrain their feelings ”’ (in other 
 words, to refrain from unjust deeds of blood and rapine), a Reverend 
 Gentleman had thought it his duty to reprove the sentiment, urging 
 that ‘‘the present was the time for vengeance: the time for mercy 
 was not yet come.”’ The mercy of such ‘ ministers of peace ”’ appeared 
 to be the temperance of the satiated glutton. ‘‘ Feast us to our heart’s 
 content with ‘vengeance’ (though some Book says that does belong 
 elsewhere), and, lo and behold, we will beclement.”? Such was the sub- 
 stance of their cry! They would become excessively forgiving, so soon 
 as they had left no one to be forgiven beyond their blood-polluted 
 selves. (Hear, hear.) But in the present state of most minds in this 
 country, the less said about ‘‘ mercy,” perhaps, the better. If there 
 was one word that he would have altered in the ably-drawn up Reso- 
 lution he had just, quite unexpectedly, been invited to propose, it was 
 the word ‘‘ mercy,”’ for which he would have substituted ‘‘ justice ;”’ 
 for justice, the commonest justice, demanded, he considered, that 
 every thing pressed for in that Resolution should be done, (Hear, hear.) 
 It might be well to glance at the nature of the tribunals under sentence 
 of which (when any tribunals at all had been resorted to) lite had 
 already so unsparingly been taken. ‘‘ Military law’”’—at least as ad- 
 ministered to the natives of India—was fraught in its working with 
 oppression ; a fact which had forced itself so painfully on his attention 
 many years back, that, in a numerous series of letters, published 
 in the Madras Spectator in 1838 and 1839, he had felt it his duty to 
 point out the imperative necessity of an amelioration of the system, if 
 justice, and not merely convictions, were the object to be attained. 
 The native tried by a court-martial knew, of course, nothing of 
 English modes of judicial investigation,—nothing of the language in 
 which the proceedings were recorded. Arrayed against him as prose- 
 cutor (the prisoner himself being totally undefended and unassisted) 
 was an influential European official (the Judge-Advocate), who had, in 
 limine, prepared the charge against him, and who, finally, at the termi- 
 nation of the inquiry, was closeted with the Court, as its ‘‘legal ad- 
 viser,” while the Court was arriving at its finding and sentence,—the 
 prisoner having, in the mean time, been removed to the guard-room. 
 Lastly, the native prisoner (and here a specially strong emphasis should 
 
( {8 ) 
 
 be laid on the word “ native’’) was, to the end of time, (at least such 
 was the practice in the Madras Presidency), denied a copy of the pro- 
 ceedings on his trial :—whereas every European tried by a general court- 
 martial (‘‘or any one on his behalf”’) was, whether acquittal or con- 
 viction had ensued, entitled, after the lapse of a reasonable fixed period 
 from the close of the trial, to demand to be supplied with such a docu- 
 ment ;—a most important guarantee for justice, and one which the 
 chairman of that very Meeting, in his generous efforts on behalf of the 
 6th Madras Light Cavalry, had repeatedly, but vainly, striven to ob- 
 tain for the native,—who obviously required it still more than the Euro- 
 pean. (Hear, hear.) But ‘ military law,’’ even as administered to the 
 natives of India, was equity itself as compared with ‘martial law,’ as 
 proclaimed by the Supreme Government; and “martial law,’’ as pro- 
 claimed by the Supreme Government, was Utopianjustice and hu- 
 manity, as contrasted with the course which appeared to have, in prac- 
 tice, been pursued. (Hear, hear.) To allude fora moment to the 
 “¢ greased cartridges.”” This was a point to which he attached far more 
 importance than many did. A letter written by a lady at Meerut, before 
 the outbreak, and which had been publishedin one of the papers, went 
 to prove that the 3d Bengal Cavalry had earnestly petitioned against 
 these offensive cartridges; andit seemed extremely probable that, had 
 not the reasonable prayer of that petition been rejected, the horrors 
 which England, and still more, if possible, unhappy India,thad had to 
 deplore, would never have occurred. (Hear, hear.) After dwelling in 
 terms of strong reprobation on the putting to death of untried indivi- 
 at Peshawar, by orders transmitted by electric telegraph, on the 
 mere report of a spy; on the firing “without questions asked ” 
 (i.e. without challenging) on all natives approaching an encamp- 
 ment near Allahabad ; on the sending out parties of soldiers from Alla- 
 habad to hang all natives who might be found upon the roads (!); on 
 the setting fire, the same morning, to the houses of natives at the same 
 station, and firing grape-shot on the inmates when rushing out to save 
 their lives; on the un-English invention by which intense mental and 
 bodily agony had been studiously made, by the officer in command at 
 Cawnpore, to precede the infliction of death; and on other examples 
 of the rathless manner in which the natives of this country had been 
 treated ;—the speaker called upon the Meeting to repudiate these acts, 
 and ‘all such”? acts, as alike unwarrantable in themselves, discredit- 
 able in the eyes of Europe, and calculated justly to incense the much- 
 wronged people of India. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. F. W. CuxEsson, in seconding the Resolution, said that he 
 thought it was of the highest importance that the Meeting should im- 
 press upon the Government the duty of developing the resources of 
 India to a far greater extent than had ever yet been attempted. He be- 
 lieved that our greatest security against future revolt was to be found 
 in making the trade between England and her Indian possessions more 
 and more profitable, so that the two countries would be united by those 
 bonds of mutual self-interest which would far more surely main- 
 tain British supremacy in the East than the 100,000 English 
 bayonets which the Times had proposed to despatch as a permament 
 resident force. (Hear, hear.) We had shamefully neglected the com- 
 mercial interests of India; and he referred to the question of cotton 
 supply as anillustration. Owing to our neglect of India in this respect, 
 we were almost altogether dependent for our cotton upon the slave pro- 
 
Ca) 
 
 duce of the United States; and that country really possessed a monopoly 
 of the markets of the world. (Hear, hear.) The imports of American 
 cotton into this country have increased from 1,018,361 bales in 1842, 
 to 1,784,388, in 1852; while the imports of East-India cotton, which 
 amounted to 254,881 bales in 1842, had actually decreased to 213,183 
 in 1852. There could be no doubt that these deplorable results were 
 occasioned by misgovernment, on the part of the Hast-India Company. 
 On this point he would quote one from many striking facts which had 
 been published by General Briggs. ‘‘In Guzerat,’”’ said the gallant 
 gentleman, ‘‘ 746 pounds of clean cotton may be raised on seven acres 
 of land, giving 106 pounds per acre. The land-tax on the same is 5/. 12s., 
 being 16s. per acre. This cotton, estimated at 23d. per pound, which is 
 40 per cent. more than its value at Dharwar, will sell for 10. 1s. ; from 
 which if we deduct 16s., we have scarcely more than 25 per cent. of the 
 whole produce to pay the expenses of cultivation, and for the return of 
 interest on capital, while the Government receives 75 per cent. of the 
 whole produce as the tax.”? (Hear, hear.) He believed that if the Go- 
 vernment were to construct great public works in India they would not 
 only immeasurably increase the prosperity and contentment of all 
 classes of the people, but would succeed admirably in a financial point 
 of view. (Hear, hear.) The western road from Madras has already re- 
 duced the cost of transit from 63d, to 13d. per mile. The works for the 
 improvement of irrigation in the same Presidency, which have cost in 
 fourteen years the sum of 55,0001. only, have realized 70 per cent. profit 
 to Goverment, besides all the profits derived by private individuals. 
 The Jumna Canal cost 90,000/., and produces a revenue of 25,000/. 
 (Hear, hear.) These were but afew facts gleaned from a multitude 
 which he might quote; and to his mind they served to prove, that if 
 we would construct and encourage in India works of internal improve- 
 ment and industrial enterprise—if we would open up the great rivers 
 of India, lay down railroads, and dig out canals, where railroads and 
 canals are needed—if we would make the cultivation of opium give 
 place to the growth of cotton—if we would look for our revenue to be 
 paid by a great and prosperous community, rather than to be ground 
 out of the wretched Ryot in the shape of an oppressive land-tax, or a 
 still more odious salt-tax ;—if, in brief, we would give to our Indian 
 fellow-subjects good government, just laws, and the practice as well as 
 the theory of Christianity, British rule in India would be established on 
 a foundation far more durable than that ofthe greatest empire sustained 
 by the sword alone. (Cheers.) 
 
 Dr. HopGK1n moved the fourth Resolution— 
 
 “That it is the duty of England, as a Christian country, to repress 
 the spirit of vengeance now generally excited, and to bear in 
 mind, that punishment without proof, severe and cruel in its 
 kind, and confounding the innocent and the guilty in its exe. 
 cution, can only tend to degrade our national character to the 
 level of those whose atrocities we condemn. 
 
 ‘* That, on the contrary, in seeking to restore peace and tranquillity 
 to India, now distracted by rebellion, both policy and religion 
 enjoin that the aim of England must be to recognise the inalien- 
 able rights of the natives, in common with our own, and to pro- 
 vide, that whilst all classes are concerned in the establishment 
 and maintenance of the Government, the people may be pro- 
 tected from the abuse of power; that they may be free by their 
 
« 20") 
 
 just obedience, and the magistrates honourable by their wise ad- 
 ministration. The general recognition of these opinions, in Eng- 
 land, would be hailed with acclamation in India, and the standard 
 of revolt would soon be deserted.”’ 
 
 In supporting the Resolution, he expressed his regret that the Rev. 
 C. Stovel had left the room before all the Resolutions had been pro- 
 posed, as he believed that the one which he had to move contained in 
 itself the substance of the reforms which that gentleman desired. With 
 respect to the first portion of the Resolution, little need to be said. 
 Even those who did not agree with him, and with the members of the 
 Society to which he belonged, in believing all war was inconsistent with 
 the precepts of our Saviour, must, nevertheless, condemn as un-Chris- 
 tian the acts of our.own soldiers on such occasions as the sieges of 
 Badajos and San Sebastian. (Hear, hear.) Yet the language of the 
 press was calculated to excite to the repetition of similar atrocities. He 
 believed that these efforts to stimulate the spirit of vengeance were oc- 
 casioned by the desire to diminish the difficulty of raising recruits for 
 the army ; and he could but rejoice in the existence of that difficulty. 
 In speaking to the second part of the Resolution, he referred to the recent 
 excellent work of Bruce Norton, which was in accordance with much 
 that had been stated by the Chairman, and he recommended it to general 
 perusal. He urged the impolicy ofthe cry for severity; and cited the 
 example of one of the oldest revolts recorded in history. When Reho- 
 boam, in reply to the appeal of his people, took the counsel of the 
 young men, and said his father had chastised them with whips, but that 
 he would chastise them with scorpions, ten tribes revolted from his 
 rule. (Hear, hear.) In like manner our Indian fellow-subjects, to 
 whom the vindictive policy of this country must be known, would be 
 excited to a more general and obstinate revolt. On the other hand, by 
 recognising the principles embodied in the Resolution, the intelligent 
 portion of the Indian community would be conciliated to allegiance, 
 and, instead of the Indian Government being obliged to, gag the press, 
 it would become the powerful agent of diffusing those sentiments by 
 which order would be restored, and loyalty to our authority be pro- 
 moted. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Joun DickKINson, Jun., seconded the Resolution. He declared that 
 he attended the Meeting, not knowing what the character of it would 
 be, for the sole purpose of raising his voice against the indiscriminate 
 punishment of the Indian people. (Cheers.) He was heartily delighted 
 to find that some of the most resolute protests against the atrocities of 
 British soldiers in India had come from military men. (Hear, hear.) 
 Most of the English community in India had suffered either in person 
 or property by the revolt; and, on that account, some allowance should 
 be made for their exasperation against those engaged in it. It was cer- 
 tainly the duty of those who had not come in contact with the mutiny 
 to soothe and calm down that feeling. If England wished to retain 
 India, they should begin a new course of policy, by acknowleding that, 
 in many respects, they had not governed the country well. (Hear, 
 hear.) Of this they might be certain, they could not hold India by a 
 continuance in that policy which had been hitherto enforced. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Resolution was then adopted. 
 On the motion of Dr. HopGxK1n, seconded by Masor OTT ey, a 
 
 cordial vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the Meeting 
 separated.