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A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF POLITICS, LITERATURE AND NEWS.

EDWARD WHELAN)

Chis is true Liberty, when Free-born flen, having to advise the Pablic, man speak free——wuRiPrDes.

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oie Te CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1857. —— - = ae ecm ana nanan : SO ny nna i oo a si ;

For Sale,

TT AT valuable piece of PROPERTY fronting on Kent Street, and nearly opposite the residence of the Hon. George Coles. Application to be made early to Mr. Bensamin Davies, or to

the subscriber, Charlottetown Royalty, Feb. 9. Sw CHARLES WELSH.

7ENO LET, the HOUSE and premises now oceupied by Robert'A. Strong, corner of Great George and Kent Streets.

Possession will be given on the Ist of May next. Apply to Feb. 9, 1857. THOMAS DAWSON.

For Sale, TIF leasehold interest in a FARM of 100 acres of land, on Township No. 22. There is a good Dwelling House and Barn, with other out-houses on the premises. About 35 aeres of the above are cleared and ina high estate of cultivation; the remainder is thickly

‘covered with Firewood and Fence Poles. Near the house is a

beautiful Spring and a capital Well of water. Any quantity of Marsh Mad for manure can be obtained on the front of the farm. Apply te Joun or Anprew Bett, New Mills, Hope River. Feb. 2, 1857. 4i ANDREW BELL. Business Stand at Summerside for Sale. HE subscriber offers for sale his present property situated at thé above place, near the pablic wharf. As a Business Stand it is ansarpassed by any that may be offered to the pub- jie fur some time to come. It is ape situated, and com- mands a splendid prospect of the beadtifal harbor of Bedeque, the Straits of Northumberland, and the Province of New Brunswick in the distance. Much might be said of this pro- tty in regard to business facilities, being within four or five trode sail of Shediac—the terminus of the Railway, which will be in operation early next Spring—and connected with the latter port by means of regular Sailing Packets, and with Charlottetown by mail and stage conveyance, makes it one of the best’ business stands now offered to the public. Tt will be sold in one, two, or three lots to suit purchasers. Early ‘ hication is necessary. Apply to the Honble. P. WALKER, Charlottetown, or to the subseriber on the premises. Summerside, Feb. 2, 1837. tf P. M. POWER.

GREAT BARGAINS. FEW BE SOLD, that very desirable and beautifally situated COTTAGE, nearly opposite the Hon. C. Young's residence, and now oceupied by W. K. Clark, Esqr., having a front on PitzRoy-street of 84 fect, and 75 fect on Prince-street, with a large BACK BUILLD- ING, now used as a Cubinet-maker’s shop. This property, if not sold by the First of Marcu next, will then be sold in Lots to suit parchasers. AISO, TO LEASE, For a numer of years, as may be agreed upon, that large new two story DWEELLING HOUSE with SHOP complete, situated in Water-street, opposite the residence of R. (one. worth, Esqr., and now oecapied by thesubscriber. Possession given on the first day of May next. For further particulars upply to the subseriber on the premises. iveors 2, 1857. TIOMAS WILLIAMS.

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Wheat County! OR SAF, a FARM at Nail Pond, Lot 1, consisting of 50 acres, more or lees, fronting on the Gulf shore, with the ex- caption of 10 acres all under cultivation, and well fenced with cedar fencing all round. There is a public road runs through the centre of the farm, and a good Dwelling House on the premises; with a brook of water running threugh the property, a short distance from the House. Possession given immediately. It is underlease fur 999 years at the rate of 1s. per acre. Application tu be made tu Cus. i’ aALMen, Esq , or to Caseampec, Noy. 20, 1856. G. M. RYDER & Co. Dwolling House and Land noar Charlotte- town for Salo. Fok SALE, the newly built and commodious Dwelling House in Charlottetown Reyalty, late the residenee of the Hon. Charles Hensley, tegether with cighteen acres of Land adjoining. The Dwelling House contains—Dining Room, Drawing Koom and Study; two Kitchens, with Store-redms, &c.; and Nine Bed rooms. There is also Stables, Coach-house, Root-house, Pump, &e.,on the premises. The dis- tance from Charlottetown is rather less than one mile Also to let from year to year, or for a term of years, as agreed upon, several Pasture Lots ia Charlottetown Royalty, near the above Dwelling llouse. For Ter-ns of Sale and Lease apply to the subscriber at the Attorney General’s Office, Colonial Duildiag, Charlottetown. July 30. JOSEPH NENSLEY.

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FAXUAT valuable Building in Queen-street, known as the

CITY DRUG STORE, together with the land upon which it is erected. The premises are at present leased, from year to year, and will be sold subject to such lease. This valuable property is too well known to need further de- scription.

—ALSO— Five hundred acres of valuable WILDERNESS LAND, in one block, situate on Township No. 49. This tract is situate on the boundary line of the Township, and runs to the Pis- quid River — is well watered and covered with timber trees, incipally hardwood, and worthy the attenion of speculators. Sor articulurs, apply to W. H. POPE. Charlottetown, Dec. 15, 1856. (all papers tf.)

Liverpool to Charlottetown direct. t EGULAR TRADER, A 1, Clipper Ship ** MAJESTIC ;”’ thoroughly pprined and néwly metalled under the inspection of the owner at Liverpool; E. Nowian, Commander ; ready for Freight the 15th Fairy ill be despatched the Ist April. Ilas superior accommodations for Cabin Passengers. A con- tinuance of patronage solicited. For particulars please apply to Messrs. D. Cannon, Son & ©o., 52 South Castle-street, Liverpool ; or W.W. LORD & Co., Feb. 2, 1857. HG, 5i. Charlottetown, P. E. I.

London to Charlottotown direct. A’ usual, a first elass SHIP will sail as above on the let of April, 1857. For Freight, &c., apply to KEAL & ROBERTS, 3, Road Lane, London; or to Feb, 2,1857. 6i DANIEL J. ROBERTS, Ch. Town.

Literature.

BLUE-EYED FLORENCE, Blue-eyed Florence! where art thou ? With thy radiant baby-brow,

And thy voice of silvery tone,

And thy smile—an angel’s own ? Place upon thy father’s knee

Well l hao? was dear to thee ;

He is toiling far away,

And hath vanished many a day Sinee he crossed home's cottae-sill ; As his love remembered still?

Blue-eyed Florence ! it was bliss Every morn to claim thy kiss ; Feel from my world-weary heart Dross and earthiness depart. Sharer in thy love so bright, With a flash of heavenly light ; Listen while thy mother smiled, ‘to thy questions, darling ehild ! Puzzling to the wisest brain ; Will that bliss return again ?

Brightest of the rosy band

In sweet childhood’s fairy land ! Joes remembrance ever stray

To thy father, far away ?

Dost thou, when a thought of him Comes thy sunny joy to dim, Sometimes with a moistening eye, Throw thy doll and play-things by ? Is his name upon thy tongue

When the morning hymn is sung ?

Ah! it is a grievous wrong

We should parted be so long ; That thy carol, like a bird,

Must by other ears be heard, Singing some quaint nursery air, In thy little rocking-chair.

Others mark thy budding charms, Others toss thee in their arms ; While thy father, sad and lonely, Sees thee in a night-dream only.

Blue-eyed Florence! when I meet Little children in tte street, Closely do I hunt for traces

Of thy beauty in their frees ;

For thy gladness of sunny bean, And thy hair of golden gleam ; For thy burst of mirth unbounded, And thy temples, fair and rounded ; Por thy motion, liké a linnet,

And thy lavgh, with music in it; And [ bless them if | find

Aught recalling thee te mind.

ms » my >

(From Blackwood’s Magazine for December, ¥856.) OUR INDIAN EMPIRE.

( Continued.)

The revenues of every country fluctuate from year to year, both in the mass and in detail ; and this is especially the ease with India at present, owing to the recent aeqnisitions of territory there. Accordingly, in our exposition of its finances, we have not adhered to the exact items of any particular year’s budget. Our figures are approximative merely, being designed to convey to the reader a gencral idea of the Indian finances, without plunging him into a host of wearisome and perplexing details. What cannot fail to strike the mind, and perhaps excite the curiosity of even a cursory reader of the preceding statemcnt, is the widely diferent nature of the Indian taxes from those customary in Europe. A land-tax, for instance, yielding more than half of the entire revenue, is something strange to us in Europe, ——£0 is a salt-tax yielding three millions, and an opiam tax yielding four and a half millions; while the trifle derived from the customs and excise (not two millions in all), and the total absence of ineome-tax, house-tax, &c., are arrange- ments equally novel and enviable. To understaud these peculiar features of Indian finance, one must understand the people and country. When we find the great mass of the people eating nothing but maize or rice, and wearing nothing but a cotton rag round their middle, the impotency of excise or customs will be apparent, and the regrettable necessity for a salt-tax will be better understood. When we find throughout Iudia a general absence of large fortunes and a wealthy middle-class, it becomes obvious that a tax on property would be out of piace. And, finally, the remark- able adherence of the people to ancient practice, and their unconquerable aversion to direct taxation, are facts which solve the rest of the mystery, and show that in continuing the taxative system which we found in operation in India, we acted not only from necessity, but on the whole for the best. In succeeding to the empire of India, we found no tabula rasa whereon to write what we pleased, but a taxa- tive system which in its general features had been in operation for two thousand years. ‘The very slowness of our progress to supremacy,—ineorporating at intervals here a district and there a provinee—prevented the adoption of any com- prehensive scheme founded on European notions of ad- ministration. And in this fact lies the key to our success. For had we, instead of falling in with the customs and spirit of the country, presumptuously introduced a new system fubricated according to our English ideas of administrative perfection, we should have sheeked so many prejudices, and mfringed so many rights, that the empire of India would have crumbled under our grasp.

When the British first began the work of administration

in their Indian territories, the most novel and perplexing)

featare that presented itself to them was the relation of the Government and people to the soil. The great mass of the population are entirely dependent for support upon the land. The means of existence are easily procurable in India : the warmth of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the simple | wants of the people, combine to make living a much easier | thing there than with us. There are there no poor-rates, by which with us the prosperous are made to support the | destitute; but the Jand, to the cultivation of which the masses have fiom time immemorial devoted themselves, is! (speaking generally) regarded as 2 vast raw material for the |

}

not such am absolute property there as with us. In truth, landed property in India confers a right rather to the rent than to the soil itself’; and any sale of land, while transfer- ring the rent, cannot dispossess the cultivators. As long as the cultivators pay the rent, there can be no “ evictions,” neither cau the proprietor interfere to defraud the tenant of the benefit of the improvements he has effected, ‘This is the general rule, and is what shoudd Le universally ; unfortunately in some districts, especially Lower Bengal, our ignorance of Indian usages led us to establish an order of things by which the rights.of the people have been permitted to be infringed to a most regrettuble extent. So much for the relation of the cultivators to the soil. The relation of the Proprietors to the land opens to us fresh novelties, There are different kinds of proprietorship. First, there is the Zemindaree teuure, or large-property system, where a large extent of ground is owned (or rather its rents drawn) by a single indi- vidual,—or by two or three joiut-owners, who make no division of the estate, but simply draw fractioual portions of the rent; and these Zemindars hold their properties ou con- dition of paying a certain amount of laud-revenue to the Goverament. Secondly, there is the Kyotwaree system, by which the cultivator is likewise the proprietor ;,or rather, under which there is no middleman or quasi-proprietor between’ the peasant and the Government, and the former pays rent in the form of Jand-tax directly to the latter. Thirdly, there is the Putteedaree or village-community system,—the most interesting of all, but which requires a word of explanation. Although the people of India are almost entirely devoted to agricultural and (but in a much lesser degree) to pastoral pursuits, there is not a rural population in our sense of the word. The habitants are not seattered over the face of the country, but are always massed together in towns and villages; and to each village a certain district is attached. This circumjacent district is owned by and allotted amongst the members of the yillage- community,—not now equally, indeed ; for under every form of society, save those supposed to exist in Utopia, it is found that perpetual equality is impossible, nd that Jand, like everything else, tends to accumulate in the hands of the able and industrious, and to mel away from the lazy or stupid. Moreover, in many of these yiliage-communities, there exists a species of oligarchy, composed of one or more leading families, evidently the descendants of conquerors or dominant interlopers in ancient times, who are now the quasi-propric- tors, and draw the rents of the village-lands. In thes: Putteedaree distriets, the owners, though themselves culti- vators, seldom cultivate the whole of their respective portions : the remainder, parcellvd into ‘allotments, is let to the “common herd” of ryots resident in the village,—and partly also to ryots who belong to other villages, and who (unlike the resident ryOts) are mere tenants-at-will, because havingyne settlement ” in that community. Hach cultivator bears his share in the Government assessment of the village- district, whieh is eoliected by the Potail or head of the com- munity, with whom alone the Government deals,—the com- munity being ultimately liable for the default of any of its tnembers,

Such are the three modes of Land-settlement in India, The Ryotwaree system prevails in Madras and Bombay, the YZeminudaree in Bengal Proper, aud the Putteedaree in the north-western provinces, Mach hs its peculiar defects and udvantages. ‘The defect of the Ryotwaree system is, that when bad seasons or other calamities visit the lands, then

remi:sion, and not only remission, but actual assistance from the Government, becomes necessary to keep the ryot froin ruin, and to enable him to labour effectively for the future : all which requires an amount of minute superintendence, by upright aud zealous men, such as it is imyapible for any Government to afford. Otherwise the Ry@™aree system would be the most perfect of any. he other two systems, while not possessing some of the advantages of the Ryotwaree tenure, at least escape its great defect; because they bring into play an intermediate class, having a permanent interest in the soil, whose profits enable them to accumulate capital and lay it out in aid of the ryots when necessary. Such a class is the Zemindars, and also the Potails and members of the village-communities. The latter or Puttecdaree system, though not universally adoptable, appears’to us the best ; for, while relieving the Government of much trouble, and. leaving each community «to manage its own affairs, under it the right of the cultivator is recorded,and respected, so as to prevent rack-renting on the part of the proprietors. The Zemindaree system has not prevented rack-renting ; and moreover, the valuation of land having been permanently fixed in Bengal, and not liable to revision at intervals of years as is the ease elsewhere, the Government unduly loses thereby. It must be allowed, however, that a much greater extent of land has been brought into cultivation under the Zemindaree system than under the others; so that if the Government has been a loser, there has at least been an important accumulation of capital in private hands, Every traveller is struck with the thriving aspect of the Bengal districts where this system prevails. The jung!e has eutirely disappeared ; and a man may go for miles in any direction east and vorth of Calcutta, and see plains succeeding to plains where there is not one digahk of unproductive soil. And it has been asked—* Is it fair to say that all these results are independent of the Perpetual Settiement ?’* Not all of them, certainly, but many of them are so; for the provinces where that settlement was introduced were the most thriving in India—they have enjoyed nearly a century of unbroken peace—their natural fertility is remarkable, | and they can dispense with the costly system of artificial irrigation,

The great moot point respecting the Zemindaree system is the manner in which it affects the ryots or peasavtry. Some able men maintain that the peasantry of: Dengal “ cannot be | said to be more miserable than the peasantry of any other | part of the world ;”* while others, with at Jeast equal show of’ reason, maintain the reverse. These latter urge, “ that | although many classes in Benga), more especially artisans, |

jshopkecpers, gardeners and money-dealers, have prospered | | under our rule, the peasantry have been raised but little from | pane ancient state of degradation ; aud in some districts they

have been reduced to a condition which is practically) pauperisin.” t One of the latest and most competent writers | on this point takes this latter view, and adds—* The low. condition of the cultivators is borne out by the contined pre- | valence of the crime of dakoity, or robbery by gangs, with |

| government and police, amd yet predatory. erimes eanaot be

checked, the cause must lic in the misery and desperation ef a large class of the community, At least this aust be evideat to men fawiliar with, and accustomed to analyse, the workings of Government.”* We observe from the last Overland mail that the missionaries in Caleutta have peti- tioned the Governor-General for a commission of inquiry into the matter; and as the missionaries have a profound ac- quaintance with the people, and are the ouly elass to whom the peasantry will speak openly,and also as they are, as a rule, strong supporters of the Government, We anticipate that their peryer will be granted. Goverumeat can

with the obligation to secure rightand justice for its subj

And certainly, if there be oppression, it exists in tion to the wich, and even to the cnactmenis, of the Lnalian Go. vernment, ‘The “ perpetual settlement,” as made by Jord Cornwallis, provided that the ryots should not pay higher rents than the Perguannah rates,—d. ¢., the customary though variable rates of rent on particular soils and produée, pre- vailing in the distriet,—and that beyond theyent they should pay nothing. “ Those laws,” says Mr. Robiuson, “ are-still ou the statute-book,- hough, to the great detriment of the country, they have not, the want of sufficieut machinery, and sufficient knowledge in the carly admiuistrators, been carried out.” In truth, in the carly part of our Iudian administration, we were but groping. And it could not be

otherwise; for the country, the language, and the habits of

the people were ulike strange to us ; and, moreover, owing to the long prevalence of aiverse circumstances, we found the native municipal institutions and territorial usages in some measure obscured, aud the population themselves in an ab- normal condition:

Waving premise] these things, let us. now behold the Ad- ministrative System of British India,—the wighty fabrie of power which we have reared upon the Lndian piains, and which holds together an empire which extends everywhere from the Himalayas to the sea.

We have scen that one-half of the net revenue of India is absorbed by its military establishients, A vast host of nearly 350,000 fighting men is maintained to guard this ew- pire of a huadred and fifty million souls from internal troubles or external attack. OF this force, forty-four thousand are pure British troops, while the remainder are Sepoys or native troops. The main body of this army is massed in, or ever ready to move towards, the Penjab and north-western pro- vinees, as this is the quarter where offeusive or defensive movements will be most required. The British troops are the salt of our vast Indian army. ‘They ave to it what Alexander's serried Macedonians were to his more numerous array of spirited but unsteady Asiati¢s, The most. over- powering odds or the most dreadful cannonade will hardly make British troops recoil. They may be excelled as regards flash and edan, but for solidity, bottom and a courage that never wavers, they are incomparable. Hence their great value as a nucleus to an Asiatic host, which is constitutionally more liable to sudden panies. But drilled and Jed as it is by British officers, our Sepoy army is second only to the best Kuropean troops. Its composition is remarkab'e. Natives of all parts of India—of all tribes—of all castes, are to be found in its ranks. The races who most stoutly opposed us—Nohillas, Rajpoots, Ssikhs, Mahrattas—now muster most numerously uader our banners. Indeed this is a part of our policy ; and so, when an enemy is defeated, or a province annexed, the native troops, iustead of being per- mitted to wander about in predatory bands, are furnished with congenial and well paid eniployment ia the service of the Company. Our Tadisn army, however, is not a mere engine of war. Rightly considered, it will be secon to bea powerful instrument for leavening with Muropean ideas the mass of the people. A permanent body of above $00,000 men, exclusiv@ of the host of camp-followers, all of then with relatives and friends, many of them with familics, cannot fail to spread widely the glimmering of new ideas they have acquired from contact with the Europeans, 20d although such influence may be but feeble, continued from year to year, irom generation to generation, it mast tell visibly ut last

/upon the native community,

The sword and the pen together rule mankiud, Along with the Army must go the Civil Service. . This also con- stitutes a numerous body ; and, like the army, its composition presents a spectacle of a lange body of natives, filling the lower posts and supplying the menial or mechanical ageney, headed by a comparatively small number of Kuropeans. Before describing the Civil Service, we must explain the difference between the Regulation and non-Regulation pro- vinces of our Indian empire. The former, consisting of our older territories, are governed by regularly enacted and pub- lished laws, comme:cing with.the Cornwallis code. These provinces are administered exclusively by the Civil Service,

and no exceptions can be made in revenue or judicial matters,

to the strict letter of the law. The. non-Regulation pro- vinces are those acquired m more reveut times (since the beginning of the century), to which the regular code has not been applied, and which are governed simply by instructions from the Governor-General, Officers of the Army,.as well as members of the Civil Service, are eligible for administra- tive appointments in these latter territories (which include the Puujab, Scinde, Oude, &e.); and in these the spirit. of the law is more regarded than the letter, so that exceptioual cases arc more easily met than in the Regulation provinces, We may also explain that of the two classes of which ihe Civil Service is composed-— namely, the Covenanted and U.- covenanted—the former and much higher class are nominated at first by the Company (é. ¢., Court of Directors), and are trained In and sent eut from HKnugland; while the Un- covenanted members are appointed by the Government of

| India, and cousist priucipal'y of natives, though containing

also a considerable number of Muropeans and hal(-castes, t At the top of the pyramid of the Civil Service stands the Supreme Government, aud the subordinate Governments of Madras and Bombay. with their respective councils, scere- tariats, boards, &e. “Then come the judyes, magistrates and collectors of the various districts. with their “ assistants” —all belonging to the covenanted service, or tu officers taken from the army for civil duties; then deputy-mavistrates and col.

* An Account of the Land-Revenue of British India. By FP. H. Robin- son, late Member of the Board of Kevenuc, Nurth-west Provinces: Ll’. 33. Londen: 1856.

7 ibid.

} The Europeans in the uncovenanted serviee are of two Casses—

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r é ; sdeeisneai of which into the means of support every fal open violedee, in spite of great improvements in the police, ees Sepeinerere ghekhd pint epincanases ine — —- - “ws 7 ¢ ‘ A . - . or Ci g@, uve acquire some EXpericnce © cont ar ay { Alliance Life and Fire Insurance Company of he 7% oo Phe Souraror law or usae? of India bas from }and constant attention to 18. Now, this crime has entirely eventually Ubtubied Goverunieet em] loys it avaber ele Giidh hee LONDON Is e ne ancient times established a species of Tenant-right, disappeared in the North-west Proviuces since the new) lately begun to seek for these highly respestable andl w.'t-paid appotut- oe ESTABLISHED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT 1324, cea “< which mre ne ean be Sead of his | sctilement, which secured to the cultivating ryots moderate | ments,— yi in sa of commissioned offer rs, — bs: a qotsia ae ° bie se . \ ground as jong us he pays the renft—and this rent is no} “ir rents, Lt is evident that where there is a regular appontuucnts in the Company’s regular services. The Native omeove- Ca ital Five Williens Sterling hitrs j wee . > jand lair reuls, 4.8 ove ou | Manted servants are principaliy drawn fiom the class of individuals or i] Pp ; a ia »° ; arbitrary thing, but is regulated by what 18 called ed I Se | ccinnereene ' families attached to our service, and who have made it their profersiva Apr. i. CHARLES YOUNG, Avent for P. ELI. gunpab Fates,” or rates usual iu the district. Thus land is | * Caloutta Review. f Caleutta Coirespondent of the Times, Oct. 13. ' from yeuti.’—Campheli’s Modern India, p. 200-1 . . ™ x , at