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    charging even their stipulated reretme to tafbyerumeut , fcnd . reduced thefr families to want . 3 . Daring the " last wars which the

    British Government were obliged to undertake , against neighbouring Powers , it is well known that the great body of natives of wealth and respectability , as well as ^ the l&iidholders of consequence ,

    offered up regular prayers to the objects of their worship for the success of the British arras , ' from a deep conviction that , under the sway of that nation , their improvement ,, both ¦ mental and social , would be promoted , and their lives , religion and property be secured . Actuated by such feelings , even in those

    critical tiines , which are the best test of the loyalty of the subject , they voluntarily came forward with a large portion of their property , to enable the British Government to carry into effect the measures necessary for its own defence ; considering the cause- of the British as their ovvnj and firmly believing that on its success their own happiness and prosperity depended , **; ' . ' .

    4 * It is' manifest -as the light of day , that the general subject of observation , and the constant and familiar topic of discourse among the Hindoo commuuity of Bengal , are the literary and political improvements which are continually going on in the state of the country under the present system of government , and a comparison between their present auspicious prospects and their hopeless condition under their former rulers .

    Under these circumstances your Lordship cannot fail to be impressed with a full conviction , that whoever charges the natives of this country with disloyalty , or insinuates aught to the prejudice of their fidelity and attachment to the British Government , must either be totally

    ignorant of the affairs of this country and the feelings and sentiments of its inhabitants , as above stated , or , on the contrary , be desirous of misrepresenting the people and misleading the Government , both here and in England , for unworthy purposes of his own .

    Your memorialists must confess that these feelings of loyalty and attachment , of which the most unequivocal proofs stand on record , have been produced by the wisdom and liberality displayed by the British Government , in the means adopted for the gradual improvement of their social and domestic condition , by the establishment of colleges , schools and other beneficial institutions in this

    city i among which , the creation of a British Court of Judicature , for the more effectual administration of justice , deserves to be gratefully remembered .

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    A proof of the natives of India being more and , more attached to the British rule , in proportion as they experience from it the blessings of just aiid liberal treatment , is , that the inhabitants of

    Calcutta , who enjoy hi manjr respects very superior privileges to those of then fellow subjects , in other parts of the country , are known to be in like , measure more warmly devoted to the existing Government : nor is it at all wonderful

    they should m loyalty be not at all inferior to British-born subjects , since they feel assured of the same civil and religious liberty which is enjoyed In England , without being subjected to such heavy taxation as presses upon the people there . Hence the population of Calcutta , as well &s the value of land iti this citv .

    have rabidly increased of late years ; notwithstanding the high rents of houses , and the deafness of all the necessaries of life compared with other parts of the country ; as well as the inhabitants being subjected to additional taxes , and i \ ho liable to the heavy costs necessarily incurred in case of suits before the Supreme Court . ¦ j

    Your Lordship may have learned from the works of the Christian Missionaries , and also from other sources , that ever since the art of printing has become generally known among the natives of Calcutta , numerous publications have been circulated in the BengalJee language , which i by introducing free

    discussion among the natives , and inducing them to reflect and inquire after knowledge , have already served greatly to improve their minds and ameliorate their condition . This desirable object has been chiefly promoted by the establish - ment of four native newspapers , two in the Bengallee and two in the Persian

    language , published for the purpose ot communicating to those residing in the interior of the country , accounts ofwhatever occurs worthy of notice at the presidency or in the country , and also the interesting and valuable intelligence of what is passing in England and in other parts of the world , conveyed through the English newspapers or other channels .

    Your memorialists are unable to discover any disturbance of the peace , harmony and good order of society , that has arisen from the English press , the influence of which must necessarily be confined to that part of the community

    who understand the language thoroughly ; but we are quite confident that the publications in the native languages , whether in the shape of a newspaper or any other work , have none of them been calculated to bring the Government of

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    56 Ititetligence ^ ltestrictioii s on the Press in Tndm .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1824, page 56, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2520/page/56/