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Leader (1850-1860), 16th July 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 10, LATEST INDIAN INTELLIGENCE. It is stated...

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      Pushed After It. I Appealed Person Ne Pr...

      * aiamiS § the prisoners at once 1 Let hlgjfrcaate arrogance , Tjeathenism , and hatred to the Gospel furnish the reply . 3 f they do believe in " them , let them show that the Soodras with their version of the Queen ' s proclamation *> n their lips , arid the Dewan ' s proclamation ¦ in their hands , are actuated by no other motive than self-defence and the maintenance of the public peace .. Let them furnish some solution of the difficulty which must force itself on the minds that so manycatechists and others liave in one week become the enemies of society and the perpetrators of-so ' many crimes . Let them point to one « vert act against the pulblic peace which has heenproved against them , one Soodra s house which they have Irarnt , one Soodra ' s tope wMch they have denuded of its fruit , or one bazaar which they have plundered . The real offence against the laws of the country which the Soodras can prove against the Shanars , and which they have assumed the power to punish , is the wearing of the upper cloth by the women , and the wearing of either the doth or jacket by the men .

      Allow me here to observe that the ancient laws of Travancore prescribe for each caste its peculiar style oi dress , of jewels , of sandals , of umbrellas , of houses , of employment , and of duties to the state . The style of dress prescribed to the Shanar and all other inferior classes of people , is a coarse cloth tied round , but no higher than the waist , and to hang no lower than the knee , and to be worn alike by men and -women . If , the men desire a headdress , it ' must be a cadjan leaf bound round like a -fillet arid tied behind . These laws , though still observed to a very visible extent by all classes , yet for many years past have been allowed to be disregarded to some extent by large bodies of the " lower orders / ' and may lor any pretext that suits the Government be revived at any time , as the law on dress is at present .

      9 . The missionaries have not at any time encouraged the Shanar women to wear the upper clotb . The reason ¦ for this is that the women require no encouragement , modesty and the love , of decency 'being a sufficient inducement . There are those who maintain that there is no necessity for Shanar -women to wear the upper cloth as they are allowed by Government to wear a jacket JBut this allowance is no argument against the necessity of the upper clotb , as the jacket is not a convenient garment , and cannot be made by the majority of them , as ¦ they have neither scissors nor needles . At best it makes them look like gawky girlsj and is regarded as & badge cjdegradation .. It suits them well , however , out of doors , . as a full dress when covered with the upper cloth . Their Jove of decency , and their not having" been interfered

      receive co ' mplairits fbr all and against all , not excluding Government officials Neither nature not fortune , Mr . Editor , has designed me for a politician , so I cannot pretend even to suggest a remedy , for the political and social disorganisation of the country ; yet I cannot help thinking that the infusion of Enrdpean blood into the body politic would produce a more healthy and vigorous action . As for the social aspect of the question , what is required , and what must be obtained , is full liberty to the Christian population with regard to dress and all matters connected -with their advancing civilisation , or in other words , the same liberty in these respects as the Christians enjoy in the neighbouring territory of Tinnevelli . Surely the Queen ' s proclamation guarantees so much to them , if rightly interpreted in the light of English law arid English liberty . But -who i 3 there here to protect their rights , and to see see to it that they are not robbed of them t > y a combination of high caste prejudice and mob violence ? 11 . The missionaries in Travancore have more than enough to do to maintain their equanimity , and verily their " patience hath her perfect work . " We are often jaied in body and mind whilst contending with the oppression , injustice and cruelty committed by officials , who purchase office and " make hay while the sun shines . " We have hitherto borne the whole in silence , hoping and hoping oh that matters would improve , but our hopes in this respect are disappointed , and our patience nearly exhausted . The state of things is becoming more hopeless year by year . The resident himself acknowledges that the country is in a worse condition now than it was years ago , when he first entered on his appointment . We are aware that it is the general lot of complainers to get into bad odour . This has deterred us in some measure from making our complaints to be heard by the public at large . At the same time we are more and more convinced that our policy of keeping silent has effected no good , therefore we say , let those who will blame us , if from this time forth we " cry aloud and spare not . " Were it not for the success which God has been pleased to grant us , I for one would have left . Travancore : years ago , and sought some other field of labour less cumbered with thorns and briars and less infested with reptiles . To leave now , however , is morally impossible . To do so would be , humanly speaking , to expose the Christian population to certain destruction . They would have no more chance of safety than a flock of unprotected sheep in sight of a hungry pack of wolves . But let them , under the shield of British protection , be defended from oppression , and civil and religious righfs ' granted them , and with the blessing from above , they will progresa in civilization and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour , Jesus Christ . ' ^ Yours truly , Santhapooram , near Nagercoil , Eben . Lewis . May 7 tb . 1859 .

      twith for many years , accounts fbr the practice of the Christian women covering their persons . The same feeling and the same noninterference account for it also among- the heathen Shanar women , to "which must be added the custom of wearing it unmolested "by hundreds of the latter , for six months in the year , in the province of Tinnevelli . Though , the liberty of ¦ wearing a jacket was conceded'by the Government years ago to the Christian women , the present tyranny of high caste prejudice will not allow them even this . It is torn © fi" their persons , and they are told that they must have nothing above the waist . You will see that this is also the intention of the Government , fbr no exemption is made in the Dewan ' s proclamation in favour or Christians , and no allusions to former ' proclamations in reference to their wearing the jacket ; the complaint is against jshanar ' women who cover their bosoms . Ifc is too bad 'that Christian women who can afford to dress with

      decorum , who wish tp do so , and who have been for years in the habit of doing so , should now be compelled to return tp a , state of barbarism , and that merely to gratify the caste vanity of those who hate the Gospel with all its civilizing effects . Hundreds of these women are educated , and scores of them obtain their livelihood by making " pillow lace / ' which has become celebrated in India , is -worn by ladies of the highest rank , and procured a Bronze Medal from the Great Exhibition of 1861 , and a subsequent one from the Madras Exhibition . I commend these women to the kind consideration and Christian sympathy of ladies in England , who rejoice at their mental , moral , and social elevation , and would plead on their behalf with those ladies that they would advocate their cause , arid aid in procuring for them , from high charters full liberty to dress in such a manner as bents the modesty and decorum enjoined and promoted by the Gospel which they have embraced .

      10 At the commencement of the present disturbance the Rev . Messrs . Russell , Abbs , aha Bnylis , waited on the resident to request Ills interference for its imme-¦ diate suppression , and for the protection of Christian people against the wrongs inflicted on them . The interview , however , aa might have been expected , has pro ^ duced no good results . They were told that " the Shanar -women wore violating 1 a law of the country In wearing the upper cloth , that they have only themselves to blame and must bear the consequence . " To whom then are the poor people to look for succour , and how long and to -what extent shall their oppressors be allowed to triumph over them ? There is no one In Travancoro to reach out ¦

      the hand to help them . All that the missionaries can do is to write on their behalf . This they have done , but to no good effect . The resident sends copies of their letters to the Dewan and there the matter rests as far as I * la concerned . Their lectors , except in nu'e instances , do not meet with the common civility of acknowledgement . . Jn the present state of affairs the flrst'thljig required Sb an absolute prohibition , for n while , of all prosecutions , am the appointment by the Madras Government of an Buropean magistrate to examine , into the whole , affair . * nto done , and to prevent the recurrence In future of « w ««» awKiftcpftO . scenes , let Englishmen be appointed «*» 5 SS ! " 2 S f po 1 ^? * « ughoui ! the country , nnd the Appeal - < Cw 1 j . be preolOedoTerby anEpgUshJudgfo , with authority

      S3s Xflji* Jl Ead Eb. [Ffo- 4s6. July 1&...

      S 3 S XflJi * JL EAD EB . [ ffo- 4 S 6 . July 1 & 1859-

      Latest Indian Intelligence. It Is Stated...

      LATEST INDIAN INTELLIGENCE . It is stated , in the Calcutta Phoenix of June 3 , that the conduct of the dissatisfied European soldiers has been excellent , and at' most stations they were foremost in doing honour to her Majesty ' s birthday . They now " quietly await the result of an appeal to Parliament . On the 24 th of May the Governor-General held his first levee as Viceroy of India . The Bishop of Calcutta , with the archdeacon and the clergy of tho metropolis , read an address to the Queen , congratulating her Majesty on the pacification of the country , and expressing " the views of the clergy upon the relation of the government of this country to its subjects in a religious point of view . The bishop then congratulated Lord Canning on the honours with Which his labours had been recently rewarded , and hoped that he might long live to enjoy them . The governor-general , in reply , stated that the address should be duly forwarded to the Secretary of State for India , and thanking the clergy for the congratulations addressed to himself and his government , concluded -with an expression of gratitude for the •? steady introduction of peace over the whole of the vast empire . " In tho evening there was a ball at Government House . . The FAcenix says Lord Canning intends to leave ) Calcutta in September next for a tour in the northwest provinces . The Englishman is informed that the Governor-General in Council has refused to allow missionaries to visit native jails at stated hours , unless sent for by any native . To act otherwise would be "to turn the machinery of justice and civil government to religious purposes , " and cause it to be said that wo have " under the pretence of administering justice , made it a method of conversion . " The Englishman estimates the Patna opium crop this season at 18 , 000 chests . The Calcutta volunteer guards , have been disbanded , and the Governor-General , on the lat inst ,, addressed a complimentary letter to the Consul-Goneral of the United States at Calcutta , conveying the thanks of Government for the assistance rendered by the American residents . The disbandraent was not looked m > oa with satisfaction by the Europenn inhabitants .

      Pine Arts.

      PINE ARTS .

      The Second Report On The National Portra...

      The second report on the National Portrait Gallery has been , issued . It appears that within the last year some important changes , dictated by experience , have been imported into the rules by which the trustees are governed . These now stand as follow : —1 . The trustees , in either making purchases or receiving presents , will look to the celebrity of the person represented rather than to the merit of the artist . They will attempt to estimate that celebrity without any b ias to any political or religious party . Nor will they consider great faults and errors , even though admitted on all sides , as any sufficient ground for

      excluding any portrait which may be valuable as illustrating the civil , ecclesiastical , or literary history of the country . 2 . No portrait of any person still living , except only of the reigning Sovereign , and of his or her Consort , shall be admitted . 3 . No portrait of any person deceased less than tea years shall be admitted , unless all the trustees in the kingdom , and riot incapacitated by illness , shall either at a meeting , or by letter , signify their approbation . 4 . No portrait shall be admitted by donation , unless three-fourths , at least , of the trustees present at a meeting shall approve it . 5 . No modern copy of an original portrait shall be admitted . 6 . The number of three shall be a quorum at

      anymeeting of the trustees . In the first report the trustees gave the list of thirteen donations as offered and accepted . Up tp the present time that list may he continued as follows :- —14 . General Wolfe , 1723—1759 ; James Stuart , surnamed « Athenian Stuart , '' 1713—1788 ; William Petty , Earl of Shelburne , afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne , 1737—1805 ; Admiral Boscaven , 1711 ^—1716 ; the JRight Hon . Sir James Macintosh , 1765—1832 ( painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence , presented by K . J . Macintosh , Esq ., June , 1858 ); Robert Burns , 1759—1796 ;? John Kemble , 1757—1823 ; Mrs . Siddons , 1755—1832 ; John Keats , 1795 —1821 ; President Forbes of Cullodea , 16 S 5—1747 ; Dr . Edward Jenner , 1749—1823 ; Dr . Nathaniel Hooke , died 1764 ; Sir Charles Bell , 1774—1842 . But besides these donations , each of a single

      portrait , the trustees desire specially to mention another , in -which many portraits are comprised . Her Majesty' Government have offered to the collection , and the trustees have . with thanks accepted , the great picture of the House of Comtnons at the opening of the first reformed Parliament , in January , 1833 , as painted by Sir George Hayter , and as recently secured to the nation by a vote of the House of Commons . This picture , vhiah , exclusive of the frame , measures seventeen feet by ten , contains nearly four hundred portraits , including , with the strangers represented at the bar , all the principal

      statesmen of the time , and cannot fail , when exhibited in a good situation , to attract great public interest . The trustees have only to regret that the very limited space of their temporary and far from convenient apartments has precluded the immediate reception of this valuable picture , which , therefore , although in due form accepted , remains for the present , at their own request , in the charge of her Majesty ' s Government . The purchases made up to May , 1858 , were stated in the last report of trustees as amounting to twenty-two . They have nowincreased to forty-four .

      It will bo seen from the preceding statements that the portraits now in charge of the trustee ? , whether by gift or purchase , and ranged on the walls of the temporary apartments assigned to them at 29 , Great George-street , Westminster , ore now seventy in number . But from the very inadequate accommodation which those apartments afford , ifc has been found impossible in the arrangements of the pictures to attempt any kind of classification or chronological , order . Under all the circumstances ennumerated , the t rustees flatter themselves that the Administration and the Parliament may deem their progross satis ? factory , and may lie disposed to continue their liberal support to this undertaking by the yearly grant of 2 , 0002 .

      That literature and the fine nrts do not always go hand in hand , may be proved now by the pedestal of Lord Olive ' s statue in Whitehall . On tho tjido towards the street there are three incriptions ;—1 . By JBaron Marochetti , soulpsit . 2 . To be erected by subscription . S . Erected by order of a committee of subscribers . We can only imagine that theso legends were inscribed at different times ; and such is , we believe , the case , with a view to satisfy public curiosity . Mr . MCacllso ' s splendid cartoon , forty-threefcot by twelve , fox a picture of Wellington and Bluoher at " Lq . Belle Alliance , is now on chow , to the members of the peer ' s house and other favoured individuals , in the Royal Gallery at tUo New Palace * , West ) * minster , where it occupies the panel destined fox the future fresco . The figures are , we und « ustanar nearly of life-size , and comprise , besides tlie two

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 16, 1859, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16071859/page/10/