imprisonment of Mr. Long. If it were necessary to the ends of truth and justice that the translator should be punished, it is surely not less so that the original author should come in for his share of the penalty? If the libel has done any mischief, it is amongst the natives: and if the prosecution of Mr. Long were justifiable, the planters are bound, by parity of reasoning, to follow up the prosecution against the real offender. The whole force of our administrative power being now engaged in endeavouring to draw the natives into our system, by showing them how much superior it is to their own, so favourable an opportunity of exhibiting to them its justice, magnanimity, and freedom, should not be thrown away.—Home News.
This prosecution is a piece of childish revenge. The Indigo Planters have failed in their attempt to mislead the home public, or shake the firmness of the Home Government: as they seek and find in the passions of the non-official community of Calcutta the means of striking one of a body of men who have been mainly instrumental in enlightening the British nation respecting their relation with the ryots. It has hitherto been a common lament that the rulers of India know so little of the native mind, so little of the undercurrents of native society. But all who have sought to exercise influence of India have striven to increase knowledge of that kind. Missionaries procure at the earliest moment new Hindoo refutations of Christianity; and Governors and Councillors, from the Marquis of Hastings to Mr. Wilson, have assiduously collected native criticisms from their measures. And if the incorporation of India with the empire is to be real and fruitful, if India is to profit by the enlightened judgment of the British Parliament and the humane concern of the British nation, then it is necessary that the feelings and opinions, and even the errors and prejudices of its people, should be known in England. We have not yet stated how Mr. Long's publication was disposed of. Only 202 copies were distributed, and the purpose for which they were issued may be gathered from a glance at the names of the persons to whom those sent to England were addressed. If all Calcutta were impanelled as a jury, the verdict would not persuade the English public that a gentleman, bent on slandering and vilifying a wealthy and powerful class of his countrymen, would send a "foul and filthy" libel to the Rev. Baptist Noel and the Earl of Shaftesbury; or plan a caricature of Indian rural
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