that the Governor-general selects from the military service military men for civil stations, it is a practice objected to, and for which he is obliged to assign reasons. Unless some strict

provision or check shall exist in future as now does exist, the Governor-general will of course be at liberty to exercise his patronage as he might see fit, without any control.

In point of fact, is it your belief that any real control is exercised over the appointments in India of the commissioners, judges of circuit, members of the courts of revenue, and of other Boards; in short, of the detail of the patronage in that country? -I conceive that the patronage in that country is carried on as prescribed in the manner I have already stated, by the regulations, and if there were not the check that now exists, which I conceive the Governor-general is perfectly aware of, he might exercise it to a large and imperious extent.

The government of the Anglo-Indian empire is one founded on an opinion arising out of our moral rectitude as well as physical force, and whatever weakens it, tends therefore to the diminution of our power in the East; in the preceding sketch may be perceived, the existence of present benefit, as well as future advantages, and the positive danger to both countries by rash and crude plans of fancied perfection being urged for adoption at this eventful crisis. Unlike European governments, the East India Company's administration has been in general in advance of the intelligence of the people; the increasing vigilant control of Parliament, the fast-growing influence of public opinion in England and in India, and the omnipotence of the press in both countries, will from time to time suggest, and enable the authorities to carry into effect, such improvements as may be safely, and with a prospect of permanent benefit enacted,

remembering always that governments are not like a forge nail, struck out at a single heat of the iron, but like the oak tree, which grows from year to year, while the more extended its age, the deeper and deeper become its roots. To the corporation of the East India Company, headed and directed by such statesmen as Wellesley, Clive, and Hastings, we are indebted for the acquisition and present progressive state of India, and to the adoption of sound and comprehensive measures, the good and the wise still look for the amelioration of Hindostan, and the preservation of the ministerial balance of power in Britain.

CHAPTER III.

THE FINANCIAL AND MONETARY SYSTEM OF BRITISH INDIA; PRODUCE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OF THE OPIUM, SALT, AND LAND REVENUE; DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF LAND REVENUE, AND AGGREGATE TAXATION; EXPENDITURE AND DEBT OF THE THREE PRESIDENCIES, WITH THE SURPLUS, OR DEFICIT REVENUE OF EACH SINCE 1814; THE BANK OF BENGAL; INDIAN DEBT; PROPORTION HELD BY EUROPEANS AND NATIVES, &c.

THE prosperity of a nation is materially dependent on a just system of finance, the leading principles of which are, that every individual shall contribute to the maintenance of a government in proportion to the property he possesses, in order to protect him from domestic tyranny or foreign aggression, and

that every individual contributing a quota shall have a voice in regulating its disbursement. As the comparative advantages of direct and indirect taxation are now deservedly engrossing a large share of public attention, and the financial system of Great Britain and of our possessions in India is materially different, it will be necessary to enter into some detail, in order that the Indian mode of finance may be more thoroughly understood and appreciated.

The history of most ancient states show that direct taxation, or in other words, taxation on property, has been the foundation and main stay of their revenue systems; in England the principle has been progressively departed from since the reign of William III. until now, out of nearly 50,000,000l. taxes levied annually in the United Kingdom, almost 40,000,0007.1 are raised on the consumption of the necessaries and comforts of life. In India the ancient system of direct taxation has not been changed, the land continuing, as it has been from time immemorial, the grand fund of supply to the government, as will be seen by the proportions of the Indian revenue derived from different sources in 1831-32, the latest year in which the returns have been laid before Parliament complete :

1 The volume which I have written on the Taxation of the British Empire' will show the effects of high taxes on articles of general consumption; especially in connection with the contraction of the currency, which took place in 1819.

Now, in making this division, I have given in the second column several items, which will detract from its amonnt when examined. The tax levied upon opium is paid indirectly, it is true, by the Chinamen who consume it in the celestial empire, but in reality

the tax falls on the land which grows the poppy, for were there no tax levied, the amount now paid by the Chinamen would go into the pockets of the Hindoo landed proprietors, thus we reduce the 6,600,000l. to 5,200,000l.; and when we consider how nearly salt, stamps, judicial, mint, and postoffice receipts are direct taxes, the large proportion of the latter will be apparent. The gross revenues of the Three Presidencies during the fifteen years, ending 1828-29, were as follows::

Bengal, 196,121,9837.; Madras, 82,042,9671.; Bombay, 30,986,9701.-Total, 309,151,9207.

Revenue and Charges of British India for 1831-2.—(Latest

I have prepared this table from the accounts laid before Parliament in May, 1834, in order to show, in a connected view, the sources of revenue in British India, and the mode in which it is expended. The table being prepared from different returns, I should state that the Bengal revenue is in sicca rupees, being in the proportion of 100 to 106 of the Madras and Bombay rupees: in the total column I have converted the whole into sterling at 2-7 rupees, which is nearly the bullion value and rate of exchange of the coin.