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    No. 411, February 6, 1658.] THE LEADER. ...

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    THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAX. THE ...

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    Special Letters From India. (From A Mili...

    John Malcolm , Mountstuart Elphinstone , Sir Henry Russell , General Low , and Sir Robert Hamilton , for the proof of these allegations . But as our supremacy became every dav more surely established and acknowledged , the immediate obvious necessity for reliance on native agency rapidly diminished , until the stream of home patronage , which grows with what it feeds upon , has at length filled the whole country with English gentlemen to be provided for , and with apparent functions to be performed . The mass of European idlers and nonentities in the civil and military services don ' t certainly add to the physical strength of England in India , while they lower the native ideal

    detract from her moral strength , standard of English ability and honour , and introduce an element of insolence , contempt , and tyranny , which is most dangerous to our power , and derogatory to our national reputation . The same great vice pervades our entire system ; an unnatural and degrading rule of exclusion is manifest in all our establishments ; appointments for Englishmen are multiplied ; and young Englishmen without any peculiar qualifications are placed in minor positions , the duties of which could be fulfilled in a much more efficient manner by natives , with the great advantage of their improvement in knowledge , in self-respect , and in attachment to British interests .

    But our reputation has suffered of late years , by derelictions in a still more fatal direction . The Duke of Wellington made a well-known declaration in 1802 : " I would rather sacrifice Gwalior , or any frontier , ten times over , in order to preserve our character for scrupulous good faith . " We have not preserved our character for good faith . Within the last twelve years especially , we have made several summary extinctions of sovereignties and annexations of territory , most doubtful in their legality according to the strict letter of treaties and of

    the law of nations , and in their obvious spirit and tendency manifestly significant of our decreasing regard for the honour and interests of our native allies . Of course each of the cases alluded to must be judged upon its own merits ; but that a great change has come over the spirit of our policy , since all powerful opponents have disappeared from the scene , will be seen from a very cursory reference to historical facts . And it cannot be doubted that this change has spread great terror and dissatisfaction among all the classes interested in the stability of the native principalities . 1820

    During the stormy and busy period from 1800 to , we respected all existing rights , rewarded liberally our own allies , and showed the fullest consideration for the dignity of our conquered enemies and the interests of their adherents . When Tippoo Sultan ' s monarchy fell with Seringapatam , we took a third of the conquered dominions as our share , we made a good bargain with the Nizam for his third of the territory , but we erected the remainder , which was in fact nearly the whole of the original Mysore country , into a principality for the representative of the ancient Rajahs ; and we agreed with the Nizam to * nake a handsome and becoming provision for Tippoo ' s large family . But of late years , although an ample share of land yielding upwards of six lakhs of rupees

    per annum was conceded to us by the Nizam for this express purpose , the Supreme Government and the Home authorities have made several plans for the gradual reduction and ultimate extinction of the allowances to Tippoo ' s descendants ; and in a despatch on this subject from the Court of Directors which was published in all the newspapers about a year ago , as if calculated to gain universal approval , it was plainly stated that the Mysore family must be prepared to ' mingle with the people , ' that the stipends would all bo gradually diminished , and after a certain number of lives , would bo entirely withdrawn . Of the vicious nature of the system of hereditary stipends , so burdensome to the State , and eo demoralizing : to the recipient , there can be no quostion ; it is most objectionable in principle and in

    practice . But why hns the opportunity in this case , as in many others , been lost of introducing that powerful consorvutivo element , private property in land ? Thirty or foi ; ty yours after Tippoo ' s deuth , and at a distance of fifteen hundred miles from Mysore , there could have been no necessity for keeping the Princes , brought up from childhood under our tuition , in custody or in surveillance . In the possession of landed estates , which might once for all havu boen conferred on the head of the family or of the Hovorul branches , the Princes would have been attached to a safe locality , and established in un honourublo and useful position , instead of being condemned to un idle and discontented existence in Calcutta .

    The family of Tippoo nppenrH to bo entitled to a permanent provision in some shape or other , by ovory dictuto of compassion mid justice , for , as boforo mentioned , our Government uccopted of a valuable consideration from its ~ aHiea ~ for ~ the-r © xpre « s ~ rpurpo 8 e » -of ^ undortuking--thiB charge . Any plun for attenuating those stipends at each ( succession , and for ultimately extinguishing them , would bo moat iniquitous ; and the recommendation that the Princes should loam to ' ininglu with the people , ' sounds to the native our like a cruol mockery . Nor is this no unreasonable . Do wo in Europe oxpoct tho scions of a Royal lino , however ephemeral its power may have boon — a Murat , or a B . ouuluirnuta—to ' mingle with tho people ? ' Than is it to bo supposed that In a country like India in a ycry inferior etuto of civilization , such a

    recommendation will be received with complacency or recognized as considerate and honest advice ? I do not doubt the upright intentions of the Home Government , but I do consider this case as one illustration of the change induced in our political views by forty years of supremacy , and of the scanty sympathy w hich the illustrious and unfortunate princes and nobles of India have received of late years . Between 1817 and 1820 , when the great general pacification of India took place , we were not ashamed to make compromises and concessions even in the midst of our greatest triumphs . After driving the most active and enterprizing of the Mahratta chieftains , Holkar , out of every part of his dominions into the Punjab , where his army might have been completely destroyed with

    ease , we concluded peace with him on moderate terms , restoring him his capital and the greater part of his territory , and leaving his honour and his independence nndiminished . Ameer Khan of Touk , a soldier of fortune and partisan of Holkar , with no hereditary pretensions or powerful connexions , whom we might have crushed , or set aside and pensioned , without exciting any extensive ill-feeling , was confirmed and secured in all his recently acquired possessions , yielding upwards of eight lakhs of rupees per annum , and some districts added as a mark of the good-will of the Honourable Company . By numerous similar settlements , evincing a generous and friendly consideration both for ancient rights and for the new interests which had sprung up on the ruins of the Mogul Empire , much influence was gained by the Company and much opposition disarmed .

    When the last of the Peishwas , after the sh ort war brought on by his own unexampled treachery , surrendered himself to Sir John Malcolm , a course was adopted , to spare , as much as possible , the pride of the Mahrattas , and to leave the Sirdars of the Deccan a national centre for the preservation of their old customs and former dignity . A part of the immense territories lately under the sway of the Peishwas was erected into an independent principality for the Rajah of Sattara , the representative head of the Mahratta Empire . When Rajah Appah , Sahib of Nagpore , having forfeited all claim to further forbearance by his continued hostile intrigues against our power , was deposed , the grandson of Rughojee Bhousla the Second , who fought against us at Assaye and Argaum , was placed on the Musnud of Nagpore , and thus all existing interests in that quarter were conciliated . In all our treaties of peace we exacted

    ample indemnity for our war expenses , accessions of revenue to support our increased establishments , and guarantees for , our future undivided supremacy ; but , at the same time , the prudent and far-seeing policy was observed , of not driving the conquered princes and nobles of India to- despair by utter confiscation , or by such excessive reduction of their revenues as would render impossible the support of their accustomed and decent state , and of their relations and hereditary vassals , and impair the efficiency of their administrations . The native principalities were then regarded as forming a most essential and valuable place of refuge for ambitious and warlike characters , and for those numerous families of hereditary official reputation , who , under our system of rule , must inevitably have sunk into obscurity , poverty , and discontent—have become either beggars or conspirators .

    " I am decidedly of opinion , " said Sir John Malcolm , " that the tranquillity , not to say security , of our power will be hazarded in proportion as the territories of native princes and chiefs fall under our direct rule . " " It appears to mo , " said Mountstuart Elphinstone , " to be our interest , as well as our duty , to use every means to preserve the allied Governments . Tho period of our downfal in India will probably be hastened by every increase of our territory and subjects . " " I consider the extinction of a native state , " said Sir Henry Russell , " a nail driven into our own coffin . "

    What a contrast to the counsel of these veteran Indian administrators and statesmen was the bold declaration of Lord Dulhousie , after one year ' s experience in tho oflico of Governor General : —" I take this fitting opportunity of recording my strong and deliberate opinion , that in the exercise of a wise and sound policy the British Government is bound not to put aside or neglect such rightful opportunities of acquiring territory or revenue , as in « y from time to time , present

    themselves . " This is not the place to discuss the justice of tho annexation of the Punjab , Sattara , Jhansi , Nagpore , and Oudc , * whioli all took place undor Lord Dalhousio ' s tenure of office : wo are concerned at present only with tho policy of such acquisitions , with tho effect thereby produced on tho public opinion of India , and in particular with the sliaro which these repeated ' acquisitions of J ^ UHy ^ JjL ™^ conflagration of 1857 . I will pursue this subject in my no . \ t . —Yours , cic , IS . V . * Tho prosent wrltor ia thoroughly well acquainted with tho circunifltiincea of tho two lust cases , Nagpore and Oudo , and is qulto propnrod to prove that both were effected iu flagrant defiance * of tho" general law of nations , and of tho particular treaties entered into with those states , and that both annotations wore also aulllcd by disgraceful spoliation of private property .

    No. 411, February 6, 1658.] The Leader. ...

    No . 411 , February 6 , 1658 . ] THE LEADER . 125

    The Marriage Of The Princess Royax. The ...

    THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAX . THE ADDRESSES . ' ; The newly-married couple received the congratulatory addresses from the City of London , the Commissioners of Lieutenancy for the City , the corporation of Birmingham , and the Fishmongers'Company , last Saturday at Buckingham Palace , in the Yellow-Drawing Room . To the address from the City of London to the Prince , his Royal Highness returned the subjoined answer : — " My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen , —I am most grateful for the congratulations , good wishes , and affectionate feelings conveyed in your address on behalf of the Corporation of this great metropolis . I sincerely rejoice to find that an alliance so dear to my heart meets with the cordial sympathy of the citizens of London , and it is to me a source of equal satisfaction to form , through this alliance , a still closer connexion with this enlightened country and kindred people . "

    The Princess thus replied to the address to herself : — " My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen , —Your very kind address calls for my warmest acknowledgments . I especially thank you for alluding to the heavy debt of gratitude I owe to my royal parents . To sbow myself at all times worthy of their past tender solicitude , and to emulate their example , will through life be the object of my ambition . It cannot but afford me the greatest satisfaction to find in the sentiments expressed by you an

    additional and important proof that an alliance formed with a view to my happiness and in accordance with the choice of my heart meets with the joyous approbation of my beloved native country , to which I shall ever remain faithfully and devotedly attached . Whilst I confidently follow my beloved husband to a distant country , where the esteem and love which he so deservedly enjoys will be a security for my kind and cordial reception , your assurance that you will sometimes think of me when departed will lessen the pangs of separation . "

    His Royal Highness ' s reply to the Commissioners of Lieutenancy was as follows : — " The Princess and myself receive with the greatest pleasure . the congratulations of the Lieutenancy of the City of London on our happy union . That this union should further cement the mutual good feeling and alliance of the friendly nations is an aspiration in which we both most heartily join . " The Prince and Princess also received deputations from the manufacturers of Birmingham and the Staffordshire Potteries , bringing with them some exquisite specimens of the art manufactures of the respective districts , as presents to the bride and bridegroom . Several other addresses were received on Monday . THE DEPARTURE .

    The core of sadness in the heart of wedding festivity is the inevitable parting ; and how much more painful than in ordinary cases must that parting be when it is not merely for a provincial or continental tour , succeeded by a residence at no great distance from the home which the bride leaves , but when it is a veritable departure from the country of the daughter ' s birth—a cessation of all regular intercourse between her and her parents , her brothers ., sisters , and friends—a setting suil for a foreign land , for friends who are strangers , and habits which are alien ! Such were the conditions under which the Princess Koyal , on Tuesday , loft England for her new home , there to assume the weight and gravity of wedded life in the tendercst flush of girlhood . Pageantry in part disguised , but could not altogether conceal , the pathos of the separation .

    The melancholy of the occasion was heightened by gloomy weather . The day was bitter cold ; leaden clouds mufflod tho heavens from the horizon to the zenith ; and towards noon snow full thickly . Shortly before a quarter to twelve o ' clock—the hour fixed for departure—a military escort assembled in tho court-yard of Buckingham Palace . On . the Princess appearing , and entering the open carriage hi which she was to be conveyed to the railway-station , it was plainly visible that she hail suffered painfully from tho parting with her mother . She was of course greeted with licarty cheers , which sho heartily acknowledged . The Queen and tho younger children came out into the balcony , and watched the procession of carriages and cavalry until it dwindled in

    thedim and snowy distance Passing along tho Mall , by Stafford House , and down Cleveland-row , tho cortiyo onterod Pull-mall . Up to Trafalgar-square , there were not many Hugs , and but tow spectators ; Uutr A'ou ^ thu-uoigUbourhood , oLVCl > uring . 7 . crusaJ ( Mh . Q railway station , there waa a perfect oathodrul aislo of banners , while shouting crowds put a soul of warmth and geniality into the wintry atmosphere . Tho church liclls , also , made a joyous clangour , and . tho windows were ulivu with faces . At Tcmplo-bar —which was eiHiruHted , with English and Prussian flags , honddicj shiolds , medallions , and valedictory sentences—tho Lord Mayor and Sheriffs , in their state carriages , were in waiting , accompanied by a guard of honour of tho City Artillery Company . Tho

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 6, 1858, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06021858/page/5/