Mr. Cobbett's Remarks on Our Indian Empire and Company of Trading Soverigns

Angebote / Angebote:

Excerpt from Mr. Cobbett's Remarks on Our Indian Empire and Company of Trading Soverigns: Reprinted From the Register of 1804 to 1822 [In the Political Register, of the late Mr. Cobbett, there are many articles and passages upon the subject of "our Indian Empire, " upon the numerous grievances of the native people, and upon the negligence, rapacity, and dishonesty attending the government of East Indians by Englishmen in power. Some of those articles and passages are here reprinted. Both Parliament and people, in this country, seem to get less and less worthy of respect in proportion as they fancy themselves more and more civilised and intelligent. Sir Philip Francis once said in the House of Commons, when speaking of the disposition to lean upon foreigners, - "A base, corrupt, and abject people, when once they are properly frightened, will submit to any thing." The Royal Speech, proroguing Parliament, on the 28th ult., was delivered by commission, and not in person. In that speech her Majesty has been advised "to express (to the Lords and Gentlemen) her confidence that, on their return to their several counties, they will employ that influence which so justly belongs to them to promote the welfare and happiness of her loyal and faithful people." But what real "influence' does either of these two bodies now possess? If the present state of things had existed forty years back, there would have been members of each House to insist upon having public meetings in all their "counties, " and to call on the nation at large to protest against that sort of rule which has brought us, at last, to what is now seen and felt with universal horror. Instead of which, our representatives have only been dismissed for the time, because not wanted, to be summoned back when again wanted, and then only to vote more taxes. The last dreadful Indian wars, the former cruel Chinese war, the degrading Burmese and Don Pacifico wars, the unhallowed Crimean expedition, followed up by the quarrel and breach with the Persians: all these have been tolerated by these Lords and Gentlemen. Nay, while we are "not at war with the Emperor of China, " we are, along with an Indian revolution, in actual and deadly strife with a Chinese governor and his province, that strife being led on by men of a Sect the most remarkable for its hostility to the rights of the labouring people of England, the Unitarians. The performances of this last session, and the scenes at the close of it, were, perhaps, the most characteristic of all that has ever happened. With an unfinished, and possibly spreading war at Canton, with mutiny, and the most harrowing murders throughout a large part of India, with a whole great "Empire" there, threatening, by revolt, to expel us, we saw a Divorce Bill produced to Parliament, under the name of "a great boon, " and, to all appearance, expressly intended to give Peers, Judges, Members, Bishops, and newspapers something to wrangle over, and to distract them from other matters on which the most anxious attention ought to have been kept hourly fixed. - Editor, Sept., 1857.] About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.