particular point which I am endeavouring to bring before the House; and
they seem to fancy that it does not much matter what shall be the form
of government in India, since the population of that country will always
be in a condition of great impoverishment and much suffering; and that
whatever is done must be done there, and that after all--after having
conquered 100,000,000 of people--it is not in our power to interfere for
the improvement of their condition. Mr. Kaye, in his book, commences the
first chapters with a very depreciating account of the character of the
Mogul Princes, with a view to show that the condition of the people of
India was at least as unfavourable under them as under British rule. I
will cite one or two cases from witnesses for whose testimony the right
hon. Gentleman (Sir C. Wood) must have respect. Mr. Marshman is a
gentleman who is well known as possessing a considerable amount of
information on Indian affairs, and has, I presume, come over on purpose
to give his evidence on the subject. He was editor of a newspaper which
was generally considered throughout India to be the organ of the
Government; in that newspaper, the _Friend of India_, bearing the
date 1st April, 1852, the following statement appears:--

'No one has ever attempted to contradict the fact that the
condition of the Bengal peasantry is almost as wretched and
degraded as it is possible to conceive--living in the most
miserable hovels, scarcely fit for a dog-kennel, covered with
tattered rags, and unable, in too many instances, to procure more
than a single meal a-day for himself and family. The Bengal ryot
knows nothing of the most ordinary comforts of life. We speak
without exaggeration when we affirm, that if the real condition
of those who raise the harvest, which yields between
3,000,000_l_. and 4,000,000_l_. a-year, was fully
known, it would make the ears of one who heard thereof tingle.'