considered the struggle between the reformers and anti-reformers as a struggle between liberty and oppression throughout the world: between justice and injustice, and between right and wrong. He publicly avowed that in the event of the Reform Bill being defeated, he would renounce his connection with England. His Persian weekly, the Mirat, did not, however, favourably consider the national aspirations of Greece. Muhammadan sympathy with the Turks may have been to some extent responsible for this attitude sto Greece.

We now pass on to the Raja's Indian polical opinions. Our politics are sure to be tinged by our attitude towards British rule in India. It is therefore necessary to know what the Raja thought of British rule in India in his day. In his autobiography he writes :

"......I proceeded ou my travels, and passed through different countries, chiefly within, but some beyond, the bounds of Hindoostan, with a feeling of great aversion to the establishment of the British Power in India. When I had reached the age of twenty, my father recalled me, and restored me to his favour; after which I first saw and began to associate with Europeans, and soon after made myself tolerably acquainted with their laws and form of government. Finding them generally more intelligent, more steady and moderate in their conduct, I gave up my prejudice against them, and became inclined in their favour, feeling persuaded that their rule, though a foreign yoke, would lend ginore speedily and surely to the amelioration of the native inhabitants ;......'

He concluded his "Final Appeal to the Christian Public" "by offering up thanks to the supreme Disposer of the events of this universe, for having unexpectedly delivered this country from the long-continued tyranny of its former Rulers, and placed it under the government of the English,-a nation who not only are blessed with the enjoyment of civil and political liberty, but also interest themselves in promoting liberty and social happiness, as well as free inquiry into literary and religious subjects, among those nations to which their influence extends."

But Rammohun gave to Muhammadan rule also its due meed of praise by mentioning in what respects it was superior to British rule. He wrote in his "Appeal to the King in Council" against the Press Regulation :--

"Your Majesty is aware, that under their former Mohammadan Rulers, the natives of this country enjoyed every political privilege in common with Mussulmans, being eligible to the highest offices in the State, entrusted with the command of armies and the govcrnment of provinces and often chosen as advisers to their Prince, without disqualification or degrading distinction on account of their religion or the place of their birth. They used to receive free grants of land exempted from any payments of revenue, and besides the highest salaries allow ed under the Government, they enjoyed free of charge large tracts of country attached to certain offices of trust and dignity, while natives of learning and talent were rewarded with numerous situations of honour and emolument. Although under the British Rule, the natives of India, have entirely lost this political consequence.......", &c.

Some of the contents of the earlier numbers of the Sambad Kaumudi may be given here:

No. I.--An appeal to the Government for the establishment of a school for the gratuitous instruction of the poor but respectable Hindus.

No. II.-Humble address to the Government soliciting the extension of trial by jury to Mofussil, Zilla and Provincial Courts of Judicature.

No. III.-An appeal to the Government to relieve the Hindu community from the inconvenience consequent upon there being only one Ghaut for the burning of dead bodies whereas an immense space of ground has been granted for the burial of Christians.

Appeal to Government for the prevention of the exportation of the greatest part of the produce of rice from Bengal to foreign ports.

Appeal to Government to enable the middle class of native subjects to avail. themselves of the treatment of European physicians.

Appeal to the Calcutta Magistrates to resort to rigorous measures for relieving the Hindu inhabitants of Calcutta from the serious grievance of Christian gentlemen driving their buggies amongst them and cutting and lashing them with whips, without distinction of sex or age, while they quietly assembled in immense numbers to see the images of their deities pass in the Chitpore Road, when many of them through terror and consternation caused by the lashing inflicted on the spectators, fell down into drains, while others were trampled under foot by the crowd. Raja Rammohun Roy believed that a free Press is one of the best safeguards of liberty. This conviction found expression in his petitions against the Press Regulation (1) to the Supreme Court, and (2) to the King in Council. The Press ordinance prescribed that thenceforth no one should publish a newspaper or other periodical without having obtained a license from the Governor-General in Council, signed by the Chief Secretary. The memorial submitted to the Supreme Court "may be regarded as the Areopagitica of Indian History. Alike in diction and in argument, it forms a noble landmark in the progress of English culture in the East."

This Memorial proving fruitless, Rammohun and his co-adjutors appealed to the King in council. Says Miss Collett :-

"The appeal is one of the noblest pieces of English to which Rammohun put his hand. Its stately periods and not less stately thought recall the eloquence of the great orators of a century ago. In a language and style for ever associated with the glorious vindication of liberty, it invokes against the arbitrary exercise of British power the principles and traditions which are distinctive of British History."

This Memorial, too, proved unavailing. The Privy Council declined to comply with the petition.

A new Jury Act came into operation in the beginning of 1827. On August 18th, 1828, Rommohun wrote to Mr. J. Crawford and entrusted to him petitions against the Act for presentation to both Houses of

Parliament, signed by Hindus and Mohammedans. He thus concisely stated the grounds of grievance :—

"In his famous Jury Bill, Mr. Wynn, the late President of the Board of Control, has by introducing religious distinctions into the judicial system of this country, not only afforded just grounds for dissatisfaction among the Natives in general,, but has excited much alarm in the breast of every one conversant with political principles. Any Natives, either Hindu or Mohamedan, are rendered by this Bill subject to judicial trial by Christians, either European or Native, while Christians, including Native converts, are exempted from the degradation of being tried either by a Hindu or Mussulman juror, however high he may stand in the estimation of society. This Bill also denies both to Hindus and Mohamedans the honor of a seat in the Grand Jury even in the trial of fellow Hindus or Mussulmans. This is the sum total of Mr. Wynn's late Jury Bill, of which we bitterly complain."

Rammohun went on to suggest a possibility" which is by no means so remote now as when he wrote ":-

Supposing that 100 years hence the Native character becomes elevated from constant intercourse with Europeans and the acquirement of general and political knowledge as well as of modern arts and sciences, is it possible that they will not have the spirit as well as the inclination to resist effectually any unjust and oppressive measures serving to degrade them in the scale of society? It should not be lost sight of that the position of India is very different from that of Ireland, to any quarter of which an English fleet may suddenly convey a body of troops that may force its way in the requisite direction and succeed in suppressing every effort of a refractory spirit. Were India to share one-fourth of the knowledge and energy of that country, she would prove from her remote situation, her riches and her vast population, either useful and profitable as a willing province, an ally of the British empire, or troublesome and annoying as a determined enemy.

"In common with those who seem partial to the British rule from the expectation of future benefits arising out of the connection, I necessarily feel extremely grieved in often witnessing Acts and Regulations passed by Government without consulting or seeming to understand the feelings of its Indian subjects and without considering that this people have had for more than half a century the advantage of being ruled by and associated with an enlightened nation, advocates of liberty and promoters of knowledge."

The letter quoted above is remarkable for the far-sighted glance into the future which it reveals. Here in germ is to be found the national aspiration which is now breaking forth into demands for a greater measure of self-government than the people at present enjoy. Rammohun's English biographer observes that

"The prospect of an educated India, of an India approximating to European standards of culture, seems to have never been long absent from Rammohun's mind; and he did, however vaguely, claim in advance for his countrymen the political rights which progress in civilization inevitably involves. Here again Rammohun stands forth as the tribune and prophet of New India."

The Select Committee of the House of Commons, which was appointed in February, 1831, and reappointed in June to consider the renewal of the Company's Charter invited him to appear before it.

Rammohun declined this request but tendered his evidence in the form of successive "Communications to the Board of Control." The first of these dealt with Revenue. The Raja appears here as the champion of the rack-rented ryot. While the Zemindars or landholders had been greatly benefited by the Permanent Settlement of 1793, while their wealth and the wealth of the community had generally increased, the poor cultivator was no better off. The remedy he asked for was in the first place the prohibition of any further rise in rent, and secondly-rents being now so exorbitantly high as to leave the ryot in a state of extreme misery,-a reduction in the revenue demanded from the Zemindar so as to ensure a reduction in the ryot's rent. The decrease in revenue he would meet by increasing taxes upon luxuries or by employing as Collectors lowsalaried Indians instead of high-salaried Europeans. It may here be incidentally observed that nearly three-quarters of a century ago, when education was in a backward condition, Raja Rammohun Roy considered Indians fit for the duties of Collectors. He also considered them well qualified to discharge all judicial duties.

He approved of the settlement in India of a few model landlords from England, but was careful to stipulate that they should not be drawn from the lower classes. This is not the place to criticize the Raja's views on this subject; but it seems open to grave doubt whether a European landed aristocracy for India would have been on the whole beneficial to the people of this country. He concluded with an earnest appeal "to any and every authority to devise some mode of alleviating the present miseries of the agricultural peasantry of India."

It admits of no doubt that the condition of the proprietors of land has improved under the system of permanent assessment. But the Government seems at present to believe that that system has resulted in loss of revenue to the State. It is, therefore, important to quote the Raja's opinion on this subject.

The amount of assessment fixed on the lands of these provinces at the time of the Permanent Settlement (1793), was as high as had ever been assessed, and in many instances higher than had ever before been realized by the exertions of any government, Mohamedan or British. Therefore the Government sacrificed nothing in concluding that settlement. If it had not been formed, the landholders (Zemindars) would always have taken care to prevent the revenue from increasing by not bringing the waste lands into cultivation, and by collusive arrangements to elude further demands; while the state of the cultivators would not have been at all better than it is now. However, if the Government had taken the whole estates of the country into its own hands, as in the ceded and conquered provinces and the Madras Presidency, then, by allowing the landholders only ten per cent. on the rents (Malikanah), and securing all the rest to the Government, it might no doubt have increased the revenue for a short time. But the whole of the landlords in the country would then have been reduced to the same wretched condition

as they are at present in in the ceded and conquered Provinces of the Bengal Presidency or rather annihilated, as in many parts of the Madras territory; and the whole population reduced to the same level of poverty. At the same time, the temporary increase of revenue to Government under its own immediate management would also have soon fallen off, through the misconduct and negligence of the revenue officers, as shown by innumerable instances in which the estates were kept khas, i.e., under the immediate management of Government."

"Besides, Government appropriates to itself an enormous duty on the transit and exportation of the produce of the soil, which has, since the period of the Perpetual Settlement, increased to a great amount from the exertions of the proprietors in extending and improving cultivation, under the assurance that no demand of an increase of revenue would be made upon them on account of the progressive productiveness of their estates."

The Raja contrasts the effects of the permanent and periodical systems of assessment in two statements.

"By a comparative view of the revenues of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, from the period of the Perpetual Settlement, it appears that, in the thirty-five years, from 1792-93 to 1827-28, there was a total increase on the whole amount of the Revenue of above 100 per cent. (101-71), and that this increase has been steady and progressive up to the present time;......"

"By a comparative view of the revenue of the old British territory in Madras, it appears that during the same period of thirty-five years (i. e., from 1793 to 1828) there was an increase of only about 40 per cent., (40′15) on the total amount of the whole revenue. That the increase during the first 17 years was 43 per cent.; that in the next 8 years the increase was only about 34 per cent; and that in the last 18 years there has been a decrease of 2.15 per cent."

In an appendix he urged the Imperial utility of the policy of fixing a maximum rent to be paid by each cultivator, "that their rents already raised to a ruinous extent, might not be subject to further increase." His advocacy of this policy is so statesmanlike that no apology is needed for quoting his views on the subject. To recognise the indefeasible rights of the ryots in the soil would make them loyal to the power that secured them and

"ready to rise in defence of it, as a militia or in any other shape that might be required; so as to secure the British rule in a foreign and remote empire, alike from internal intrigue and from external aggression, without the necessity of keeping on foot an immense standing army at an enormous cost. This consideration is of great importance in respect to the natives of the upper and western provinces, who are distinguished by their superior bravery, and form the greater part of the British Indian army. If this race of men, who are by no means deficient in feelings of personal honor and regard for family respectability, were assured that their rights in the soil were indefeasible so long as the British power should endure, they would from gratitude and self-interest at all time be ready to devote their lives and property in its defence.

"The saving that might be effected by this liberal and generous policy, through the substituting of a militia force for a great part of the present standing army, would be much greater than any gain that could be realized by any system of increasing land