brokers in London as equal to the best American. The want of proper attention in the curing has been a great obstacle to its arriving in a marketable state in England after a long East Indian voyage. Tobacco, like hay, must undergo a heating to be fit for use, and the slightest particle of green vegetable matter left in the tobacco heats on the voyage, destroys the delicate flavour of the leaf, and even rots it. Experiments are now making at Bombay in the curing process'. Grain is one of the staples of Bengal; the total quantity of grain exported from Calcutta to countries beyond the three Presidencies amounted, during the thirty-five years, ending 1829-30, to 12,366,571 bags; for the latter years the export has been on the increase, averaging 600,000 bags a year, and of this quantity Mauritius has of late taken nearly one-half, for instance in 1828-29, 332,756 bags. Great Britain has received, during the whole thirtyfive years, 1,730,998 bags; and the export to France is yearly increasing. It would be tedious to particularize all the varied and valuable products of India, whether in reference to ginger, cardamoms, lacdyes, camphor, drugs, oils— essential and non-essential-timber, hemp, grain, &c. &c., all of which form important items in the trade of England; suffice it to say, that nature's choicest treasures are lavished in superabundance on the British possessions in Asia; and if man remains in 1 The duty on East India tobacco might, without loss to the revenue, be reduced from 2s. 9d. to 2s. at least. poverty and destitution, while the riches of the earth are at his feet, and require only to be gathered, he has no right to arraign the wisdom and beneficence of his Creator. When we reflect that there are the almost innumerable multitude of 100,000,000 British subjects ready and eager to receive our manufactures if we will only receive their produce, whether cotton, sugar, coffee, tobacco, saltpetre, &c., it seems almost insanity to think that we only carry on a commerce of 5,000,000l. value with such a vast, rich, and civilized territory. Under a just system the British Commerce with India ought to be 50,000,0007. a year, yielding employment, wealth, and happiness. to myriads upon myriads of the human race, making the trackless ocean a connecting link instead of a separating boundary between both hemispheres, and giving unto maritime trade that steadiness and permanence which it is always void of when cramped and checked by fiscal laws and exactions. CHAPTER V. THE PRESS-EUROPEAN AND INDIAN-CIRCULATION OF THE JOURNALS-STATE OF EDUCATION AT BENGAL, MADRAS, AND BOMBAY NUMBER OF COLLEGES-SCHOOLS AND PUPILS, &c. THE PRESS. The mighty engine which has effected such an extraordinary revolution among the inhabitants of the earth, and which by its powerful operation and almost unseen influence prevents any just parallel being drawn between ancient and modern nations, is being extended with sure and certain steps in British India, unshackled by stamp duties, undepressed by taxes on paper or on advertisements, and unimpeded by penalty bonds and securities, devoid of all censorship, and practically free for every legitimate purpose which a good citizen can require. The state of the press will be seen by the following authentic and official returns. BENGAL. In 1814, there existed but the Calcutta Government Gazette. In 1820, there were in addition to the foregoing, the Bengal Hurkaru, (Messenger) the Indian Gazette; the Calcutta Journal; and the Monthly Journal. The following was the return for the year 1830. 1. Calcutta Gov. Gazette. 2. Bengal Hurkaru. 3. Indian Gazette. 18. Columbian Press. 19. Bengal Chronicle. 4. Calcutta Monthly Journal. 21. Indian Magazine. 5. John Bull. 6. Asiatic Observer. 7. Quarterly Oriental Review. 8. B. Indian Mil. Repository. 9. Unit. & Christ. Miscellany. 10. Trifler. 11. Oriental Mercury. 12. Calcutta Monthly Miscel. 15. Bengal. 16. Weekly Gleaner. 17. Scotsman in the East. 22. Literary Gazette. By a recent calculation the following is the number and circulating state of the Calcutta press. Proportions of Classes who subscribe to the daily papers at In addition to the foregoing, several English newspapers and journals have been established in the provinces, viz. the Meerut Observer, Meerut Universal Magazine; Cawnpore Examiner, Cawnpore Omnibus, Cawnpore Free Press, Central India Free Press, the Delhi Gazette, the Agra Acbar; the Mofussil Acbar, &c. &c. Of the daily English newspapers, the Bengal Hurkaru may be taken as an example; it is as large |