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Leader (1850-1860), 11th December 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 25, INDIA. Lett-ems from Bombay bring tho ex...

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      Notes On Indian Progress. From The Darjc...

      thPir application-for arms has imposed most unsatisfactory conditions . The police regiment , consisting ririncipaUy of Ghoorkas , Nepaulese , and Lessehas , raised by Dr . Campbell at Darjeeling , 900 strong , have neither arms nor uniforms . M r Thomas Login , the Government engineer , is busy ' in the neighbourhood with his surveys and operations for the road from the Ganges to Dar" ^ It is feared the Supreme Government will refuse to lay down the telegraphic line to Singapore . via Ran goon , which is much to be regretted , as , both on Indian and English accounts , communication with that gate of the far East is most desirable . Much of the trade of India is with China .

      It is lamentable to see that a considerable number of the European overseers of the Department of Public Works are corporals and privates in the army , who are t aken from the r anks of the army and returned to it , as occasion serves , and who want the energy and rewards of civil life . The necessity for increasing the staff of overseers in Tndia is evident , and yet there are persons , who contemplate the extension of the military system instead of encouraging the immigration of individuals by whose means the

      Government would obtain the same independent resources as in England . A good foreman would rise , become a sub-contractor , and in time a contractor , and might make a fortune , while the private or corporal lias scarcely the prospect of the rare prize of a quartermastership or a lieutenant ' s commission . Really , the organisation of the Public Works Departments throughout India will require the care of Sir Proby Cautley , and the sooner he is created 1 resident of the Board of Works for India the better .

      Two of these assistant-overseers are announced as dismissed and returned to the ranks in one Gazette . The new church at Trevandrum in Madras is rather expensive for an Indian church , as with fitting it will cost G-LOl . ; the Government grant : s

      The Government have directed the formation ' a library of Oriental works in the North-West Provinces from the books confiscated at Lucknow and elsewhere—a very laudable design—but the libraries of the British Museum , Dublin , Oxford , Cambridge , Edinburgh , and others at home might have been thought of . Suah a measure of encouragement to Oriental literature , which is now receiving greater attention , woule not have been untimely or unprofit-Thc head pupils of the Government school at Ajmere have formed a fund of two hundred subscribers of ll . each to establish an Oordoo and Hindoo newspaper . We hope it will be in Koman

      As a specimen of the boasted Court documents of Bengal a nntive decree of the Sudder Pewanny Adawlut of Moorshedabad has been exhibited before the Indigo Planters' Association . Tins cumbrous Bengalee scrip was extended to the length of 2 T > feet- It is not wonderful that the Association are converted to the system of employing English in the law-courts . We must chronicle , as a stop in progress , the abolition of the expensive Calcutta iWadrussah , which now turns out a few Arabic scholars , who are not wanted , and the funds of which will be available for the purposes of education . There will be no want of training for Mahometan priests without the Madrussah .

      The attention of the Indian Governments has been called to gangs of Arabs and gipsies who prowl about the country and kidnap women to sell them into slavery . General Jacob 1 ms just punished a gang whom he caught near Jacobabad . The Santlml jungles have been opened up by roads , so that there is every prospect of the district boing brought under tho domain of civilisation .

      M Of Eohilcundin Honour Of His At Nihtno...

      M of Eohilcund No . ^ SJ ^ TPgOB ^ -gJlJLg ^ THE LEAD ER . 1361

      India. Lett-Ems From Bombay Bring Tho Ex...

      INDIA . Lett-ems from Bombay bring tho explanation of tho confused telegrams of last week . Ton tin Topee s army , which is described as consisting of biuhnnshos and mutinous Sepoys was rapidly dwindling away . Ho himsolf is surrounded in the Nizam ' s dominions , and suing for terms 5 ao that tho rebellion in Central India may bo considered to bo virtually suppressed , as the people gonorally are very well affected towards us . It is said that his life will bo spnrod . Lord Clyde was in motion to execute liia plans for tho reduction of Oudo . Towards tho ond of October ho was advancing on , Shunkorporo , to attack Beni Madho , by foav of whom a largo number of the Zemindars in Oudo are restrained from making their peace with us . Eenl Madho . has a fprco of 14 , 000 men and ton guns , and commands tho support of Foograj Singh Nazlm , With 9000 mon . It ia calculated that Henl Madho would

      have no diflHouHy in raising his foroo to 2 o , OOO mon Should ho think It adviaablo to defend himsolf in his entrenched junglo at Shunkorporo . That position is ono of groat strength . Whllo tho Connnandor-ln-Chlof advances on Bonl Madho ' s fortified seat , tho Futtohghur

      and Shahjehanpore brigades of the army move eastward , the first clearing the country along the left bank of the'Ganges ' . down to theCawnpore andLncknow road , and the second asveeping the north-eastern face of Oude in the direction of Lucknow . It is hoped that by these movements the enemy may be compelled to stand and fight , when the result of one or two battles would doubtless decide the # reat body of landowners in our favour . ¦ ¦¦ ' ¦' -. •* Queen Victoria ' s Proclamation to the " princes , chiefs , and people of India , " announcing that her Majesty had assumed the Government , with the title of Empress of Hindostan , was read in Bombay on the . 1 st of November , from a platform erected on the steps of the Town-hall . The civil , military , and naval officers of Government , having met the Governor , a procession was formed . On

      arriving at the platform , a flourish of trumpets was blown , and the Royal Proclamation was read in English and Mahratti . At its conclusion , the royal standard of England was unfurled , the bands struck up " God save the Queen , " and a royal salute from the ramparts of Fort George proclaimed that Victoria I . had assumed the sovereignty of India . The cheers from the platform were taken up by ten thousand voices from the crowd . In the evening the whole town was illuminated ; the scene was one of great splendour . All classes of the communitv seemed to vie with each other in their demonstrations of loyalty . Copies of the Proclamation were distributed , as well as of a supplementary one by the Governor-General . The native population have numerously signed a most satisfactory memorial to the Queen , expressive of gratification that her Majesty has assumed the sovereignty of India . all treaties

      The Royal Proclamation announces that and engagements made with Indian princes are to be scrupulously maintained . There is to be no extension of our territorial possessions ; the right and desire to impose our religious convictions upon the natives are renounced , while all under authorities are strictly charged and enjoined to abstain from all interference with the religious belief of others ; and to all who have not committed murder , or -who have not sheltered murderers knowing them to be such , there is the announcement of unconditional pardon , if the rebels will return io their homes and peaceful pursuits . Nothing could be more dignified or more becoming the British Crown than such a Proclamation . It is the foundation of all future government in India . The Commander-in-Chief is still at Poona ; the Governor varying his residence at the Presidency by an occasional trip to Malheran .

      The New Alphabet For India. The Persian ...

      THE NEW ALPHABET FOR INDIA . The Persian running-hand is , as is well known to all Indians , hard to decipher , and by no means such that he that runs may read . Some may think that it is called Shikastah , or " the broken , " because he that attempts to read it will rend the collar of patience and break the strings of perseverance . India was long afflicted with tho curse of this inscrutable character , and only-greybearded munshis , who in learning it had forgotten all else , could penetrate its mysteries . At length time , the great mediciner , produced the decree which swept it , for ever it is to be hoped , from the offices of the , Siihibifn i'Ah ' slufn , that is , of the English gentlemen , and from general use . Unfortunately , the same decree substituted

      a dozen curses for the ono defunct , in prescribing the use of the vernacular dialects . Of these the Urdii is the least formidable , being a very mild approach to the terrible Shikastah . The written character of the Hindf , however , compensates amply for all that is gained by the comparative facility of the Urdu . It is called the Kaitln , from the Kayasths , or writing class of natives , who uso it , and who , if they can read what thoy write , must bo men of extromely subtle parts . Tho difficulty of tho Kait ' hi , again , is barely equal to that of the written character in the south of India , where the Tclugu , Kanareso , and Tamil rejoice in a system of scratches which can bo made revoltingly obscure . All these howevermust hide their diminished heads before

      , tho Mod , or letter character of tho Marathi . This ingenious mode of torment is said to have been invented by ono Himar Pant in the ond of the eighth century , A . » ., who , if ho was really sensible of tho miseries ho w « 8 about to inflict by it on a largo family of mankind , must , indood , have been a fiond in human shape . Some ingenious porsons , with moro imagination than etymological truth , have supposed thoname Mod to come from a word signifying " an ant , " and to imply that tho character is such as if ants , escaping from an inky grave , had run over the paper and blotted and scrawled its fair surface . and the odious Mod

      But Mor , " ant , " is a Persian word , is Mardthf , from a Sanscrit root , which signia . es " to twiat or break . " Mod , therefore , in Mardthf , corresponds in sense to Shikastah in Persian , and hopeleBsly illegible as it is . sinks into utter insignificance in that respect when compared with tho MaVwarf and SIndhi . Concerning those latter scrlbblinga many strange tales art told , as of ft pleasant gontloman who , having received a letter announcing something undecipherable that had happened to his eon , wont through tho ceremony of lamenting for his decease In the morning , and gave a fUte

      in honour of his nuptials at night , not knowing whicl of the two events had occurred . The above is a verj frigid and tame account of some of the difficulties whicl attend what may be called the Inshsi i Har Karan , o : general correspondence in India . Now as life ,, leisure and vision are all limited , it does seem an utter absurdity to hesitate about the adoption of an easy substitute for the abominable scrawls used by the natives . The English alphabet , property adapted to express the Indian letters , is that substitute , and to " Indophilus "

      is due the gratitude of all parties for recommending it . This is not a question as to the disuse of the Indian languages in business transactions and official proceeding ^ . Such a proposal would be preposterous ; hut it is simply a suggestion for an alteration which would be as convenient and beneficial to the natives as to ourselves . We are well aware , indeed , of the difficulty attending all such changes ; but , in the mean time , we give to the proposal of "Indophilus " our heartiest good wishes and support . ' —Homeward Mail .

      The Indian Character. Go Where You Will ...

      THE INDIAN CHARACTER . Go where you will over that vast continent the leading features are exhibited ; want of method aad of a thought of consequences . The rajah allows mud huts to be built against the walls of his palace , and drives out occasionally with his silver harness tied together with pieces of rope . Inside his- dwelling you will see the cushions of a costly sofa thrown on the filthy floor to serve as pillows for the domestics—a silver spittoon on a cracked table of malachite—a self-acting piano ready to crumble at a touch from the ravages of white ants : —a magnificent oil painting hung up by the side of an eighteenpenny print , and both equally valued by the possessor . I have seen the Rajah of Bhurtpore riding about in a new

      carriage made by one of the first London makers , from which , he had scraped off all the varnish , for the some what sensible reason , by-the-by , that none of hi-European friends would ask for the loan of it ; . The Nabob of the Carnatic , who had received an English education , paid a very high price for a picture of what ina 3 * be termed his coronation , painted by Lewis . The whole of his principal courtiers were introduced in the painting , and as , of course , there were a couple of factions amongst them , it occurred to the weaker party that considerable satisfaction might be had if the eyes of

      the victorious set were put out—on canvas . The scheme was approved of and carried into effect , and the Nabob , when showing the picture some time afterwards , which was hung up in hia throne-room , roared with delight as he pointed out to his English guests that the snulilated Ministers had taken their revenge by boring holes in turn through the eyes of the opposite party . In every condition of life the same rule of recklessness holds good-The soldier will light his fire if permitted close to the powder magazine ; the sailor would willingly lash the helm , and go to sleep whilst the ship is afloat . —Correspondent of the Star .

      Sarawak. The Special Committee Of The Li...

      SARAWAK . The special committee of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce , appointed to consider the communication from the East India and China Association respecting the territory of Sarawak , have issued a report in which they state that they have confined their inquiries to the question , . What are the commercial advantages which , would accrue to this country from our possession of Sarawak ? They recommend that a petition should be forwarded to tho House of Commons , praying for a full inquiry into the whole subject , and that a memorial should be addressed to the Earl of Derby , praying his lordship not to tako any steps committing the country to the acquisition of , or granting a protectorate to , Sarawak without full parliamentary inquiry . A correspondent of the Times makes tho following suggestion : — "The East India Company and thoTIudson ' s I 3 ay Company began as small mercantile companies , and attained to groat dominion . Thoy were chartered by tho Crown . Why should not tho merchants of London , Manchester , Liverpool , and Glasgow who wish Sarawak to be secured Tor England charter themselves as ' Tho Borneo Company , Limited ? ' Thoy could do so under the Joint-Stock Companies Act . And why should they not attain to as great dominion in tho Eastern Arohipolago as if thoy wore chartered , at tho outset , by tho Crown ? It need not be long boforo thoy made tboir own terms with tho Government at homo . "

      A Hebrew Journal.—Tho Language In Which ...

      A Hebrew Journal . —Tho language in which ( he Law of Mosoa was written five thousand years ago is being made tho instrument for convoying tho moat recont news of the day in a amall town of Eastern Prussia . A Hebrew gazette is being publishod at Lyok , on the Russian frontier . Its name is f /< maf / t / id—Anglico , Th Sneaker—and its aim is to give Information of current events to tho very numerous Jmvfl of Kuseia and Poland . Those people , although tho Gorman—or rather , a corrupt dialoot of Southern Gorinauy—is their vernacular tongue , yot invariably prefer rending and writing in the language of their forefathers .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1858, page 25, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11121858/page/25/