he English
character. Lord Ripon was the mechanical mouthpiece of this sect, and
there can be no doubt whatever that no Governor-General or Viceroy of
India ever did so much harm in so short space of time. He and his school
tried their utmost to persuade the natives that what they want is 'Home
Rule'--that panacea for all the evils of modern life which is likely to
entail so many new burdens and trials upon us. The natives of India
never suspected, until Lord Ripon strove to impress it upon them, that
Home Rule is indispensable to their happiness. They are perfectly well
aware that if our hold upon the country is ever relaxed, there will be
nothing but chaos all through the land,--internecine wars, rebellions,
and massacres, such as marked the history of India until our rule became
well established there. Lord Ripon closed his eyes to all
this--_doctrinaire_ at heart, he could see nothing but his own
crotchets. The native, he declared, must have local self-government. But
Baron Huebner found that the people did not understand or desire this
much vaunted contrivance. The native, he says, 'refuses to be elected by
his equals. He wishes to be chosen by his superiors, and his superiors
are the English officials, represented in this case by the district
officer or magistrate. In the North-Western Provinces, this opposition
was so strong that the Supreme Government have been obliged, much
against their own views, to give to the Governor of those Provinces the
power of constituting the municipalities.' The sentimentalists may try
to develop the 'native mind' as they please, but they will never
persuade Hindoos or Mussulmans to trust their own countrymen as they
trust us. We have a reputation among them for fairness and for justice
which no native would ever aim to deserve, although he is not incapable
of understanding and admiring it. An East Indian of any race or religion
will never speak the truth if he can possibly help himself, but he has a
certain respect for the man who can and does. No doubt, the very
earnestness, with which we seek to dispense equal justice among all
classes, is a stumbling-block in our path, and always has been so. The
native likes to deal with a judge who will wink at perjury, and who is
not above taking a bribe. Yet the Englishman is everywhere trusted. 'If
proof were needed,' says Baron Huebner, 'to show how deeply rooted among
the populations is English prestige, I would quote the fact that
through