Lord Abinger said "That no action could be brought against the Government of India for the exercise of their prerogative, and the only mode of redress therefore left was that stated by the noble lord, a Select Committee of Inquiry. He was surprised that the House, who were said to be the guardians of the lives, the liberties, and properties of the people, could hear one clause of the petition read without instantly affording the petitioner the means of redress. The petitioner stated that he was banished from India himself, and that the license or copyright of his journal was taken from him and co-proprietors without compensation, and presented as a gift to the son-in-law of one of the members of the Government. Could the House endure this statement without endeavouring to ascertain its truth? Not only was he banished, but the most valuable part of the property he left behind him was also taken from him without consideration. If these statements were proved, the Government of India deserved the reprehension of the House and the country, for punishing a man without trial. Without giving him the opportunity of defending himself, they transported him and destroyed his property; and then the only answer they gave him was, that it was given to his friend, Dr. Muston. He was unwilling to use any harsh terms, but this conduct was not only oppressive but corrupt."

In a letter of Sir Edward West, addressed to Mr. Buckingham from Bombay, through Sir Charles Forbes, dated October 1, 1827, when all the facts of Mr. Buckingham's case were fully known, the original of which letter has been shown to Lord John Russell, is the following remarkable testimony to the utility of Mr. Buckingham's writings in India:

"Severe and unmerited as have been your sufferings, you have the consolation of having effected, in the judgment of all unprejudiced persons, more good for India than any other individual, without exception."

Lord John Russell said "I am, of course, in possession of all the facts which were laid before the Committee, and I am prepared to state, that having listened attentively to all that transpired in the Committee, my opinion of the hardships suffered by Mr. Buckingham is, instead of being weakened, materially strengthened by the experience and knowledge I have thus acquired. For my own part,

having had an opportunity of reading all those articles published in Mr. Buckingham's Journal which were particularly found fault with by the Indian Government, I can undertake to say, that there is not one of those articles, although they must all have been written and inserted in the hurry inseparable from the publication of a daily paper, which not only does not reflect the slightest stain on the character of the writer, but are such as would do honour to any man possessing an honest zeal for the welfare of the community in which he lived, and such as there is every reason to believe were written and published with a perfect conviction, on the part of the author and publisher, that he was serving the cause of truth, and was therefore entitled to the thanks of his fellow-subjects, and the approbation of a wise and benevolent Government."

Lord William Bentinck, on taking the chair at a public meeting held in London, said "In accepting the office to which I have been appointed as chairman of the present meeting, it will not be necessary for me to address you at any length on the subject of Mr. Buckingham's claims, because I shall be followed by many gentlemen, fully competent to discharge this duty. But there is one point of some importance to the question, on which no one present can speak with the same knowledge or authority, perhaps, as myself(Hear, hear). The situation which I have recently filled as Governor-general of India, enables me to speak from personal experience as to the state of feeling in Calcutta on Mr. Buckingham's case. I did not arrive in India till some time after Mr. Buckingham's departure and at that period all the excitement produced by the measures of Government towards that gentleman was over, and public feeling had been calmed down so as to enable the Indian community to form as just and impartial an opinion on the whole case as on any matter of past history. I can assure you, then, that even at this period, and under those most favourable circumstances for forming an accurate judgment, a deep feeling pervaded the public mind generally, as to the injustice with which Mr. Buckingham was treated (Hear, hear); and with very few exceptions—such as must indeed occur in almost every case-the people of India generally were of opinion that Mr. Buckingham's was a case of great and unexampled hardship (Cheers). In bearing this testimony to an important truth, I do not do so as the partizan of Mr. Buckingham, whose acquaintance I have very recently made. But I do so as the

friend of justice, my attachment to which alone brings me here this day (Hear, hear, hear)."

Never, perhaps, in the history of the world, was there so remarkable an instance as this, of a man being treated almost like a felon, with ruin, insults, and indignities heaped on his devoted head, at the same time that the highest testimonies that England and India could furnish were borne to his merits and public usefulness. It was enough to break the heart of the strongest man, and much less than this has driven many an unfortunate victim to self-destruction. But Mr. Buckingham still bore up against it all, and persevered under the consciousness of right, and a strong sense of duty to his country and to mankind.

And yet he was unwearied. Finding a return to Hindostan impossible, and desiring to employ the information he had acquired for the benefit of his fellow-subjects at home and abroad, after a tour through the chief districts of England and Scotland for preliminary observation of the public feeling and amount of interest in reference to India, he established "the Oriental Herald," which, from 1824, he continued to conduct till 1829, availing himself of every means to spread information, and arouse discussion respecting that country through every open channel and in every accessible spot, with a view of awakening the people to a sense of the importance of our Eastern possessions, and the benefits that would accrue to both lands by a better system of intercourse with them. In this enterprise he sunk not less than £6,000; the remnant of his property, added to subscriptions raised for the purpose. "And if to this," observes he, in his own outline of his eventful life, "be added the uninterrupted application of every faculty, every thought, and every moment of my time, through good report and through evil report, by day and night, in sickness and in trouble, as well as in vigorous health and comparative tranquility, when persecuted by enemies, sneered at by false friends, and discouraged by the anxious fears and apprehensions of real ones, I believe I may truly say, that, whether as regards the application of money or of labour, no cause was ever more resolutely or more undeviatingly adhered to, through every opposing circumstance, than this has been by me."

The "Sphynx," a political paper, and the "Athenæum," a journal

To this journal Mr. Buckingham devoted a legacy of five thousand rupees,

chiely devoted to Literature, Science, and the Arts, and now everywhere known, were also established by Mr. Buckingham: after which he made a second and more extensive tour through England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the view of stirring up the mercantile and manufacturing interests, ere the then approaching expiration of the Company's Charter, to seek a free trade with India and China, and procure a revision of the laws and institutions of the country under the Company's rule. On this occasion he visited every town of any size or importance connected with mercantile, manufacturing, or shipping affairs; enduring immense fatigue, incurring considerable expense, depriving himself of home and domestic enjoyments, and encountering the fiercest opposition and the most virulent abuse. At the same time he commenced a series of Lectures on the Oriental Lands, which attracted crowded audiences, and secured attention to his principal subject, when, in its turn, it became his theme. He succeeded in addressing, during four years of almost incessant journeying, not less than a million of persons; and formed upwards of two hundred associations in different towns, composed of the most influential residents in each, who bound themselves to use their labour, their money, and their united influence, to throw both India and China open to the free intercourse and enterprise of British subjects.

These lectures were perhaps among the most popular ever delivered in England, commencing in London, within a few yards of the East India House, in the great room of the City of London Tavern, where they were attended by crowded audiences of the principal merchants of the metropolis. They were continued in Liverpool, Manchester, and all the sea-ports and towns of England, Scotland, and Ireland, wherever audiences could be collected to hear them. The first course at Liverpool yielded a net profit of 807. sterling after all expenses were paid. To this Mr. Buckingham added 207., and paid in the round sum of 1007. to the bank of Samuel Hope and Co., at Liverpool, as the first donation toward a fund for advocating free trade, in all commodities and with all nations, but especially opposing the

bequeathed to him by a Mr. Becher, in India, whom he had never seen or heard from before; but who had left it in his will, as a tribute of respect to Mr. Buckingham's public character and principles, and of gratitude for the benefit he believed his writings to have produced in that country.

renewal of the East India Company's commercial monopoly; and thus formed the nucleus of a fund of several thousand pounds, subsequently contributed by the merchants, shipowners, and corporation of Liverpool, which was liberally expended in promoting in various ways the object which Mr. Buckingham's lectures were intended to accomplish.

In this way, throughout the four years of Mr. Buckingham's public labours, not less than 10,000l. was raised by him in different parts of the kingdom from the proceeds of his lectures alone; 507. a night being frequently received, and on some occasions exceeding 1007.; and though he never received the slightest pecuniary assistance from any incorporated League or Association, but, on the contrary, contributed to them all-the entire earnings of these four years was freely devoted to the carrying forward the great work in which he was engaged; and which, but for this zeal and expenditure, would not, in all probability, have been accomplished for another twenty years at least.

Towards the close of these lectures, in 1832, Mr. Buckingham was invited to become the representative of the town of Sheffield, where he had been wholly unknown until his public appeals on the subject of India won him the general favour of its inhabitants. Without canvassing for a single vote, possessing any local interest, having any personal acquaintance in the place or its neighbourhood, or being subjected to any expense, the motto of his election banner being "Free Trade and no Slavery," he was returned triumphantly to Parliament; and in this position, which he continued six years to occupy, he originated and carried successfully several measures of public good. Among these may be mentioned the virtual abolition of impressment and substitution of a general registry of seamen, with the adoption of other means calculated to advance their welfare,* and prevent the destruction of life and property at sea by intemperance and shipwreck; the relief of authors and publishers from half the heavy tax paid by them in their compulsory gifts of eleven copies of each of their works to the public

"There is not a British seaman in any part of the world where our bannered cross is flying, who would not gladly give a month's pay to 'The Sailor's Friend;' the great, the eloquent, the down-trodden, yet still unconquered and victorious advocate for the abolition of flogging and impressment."-Ebeneze Elliot, the Sheffield poet.