It was perhaps natural that in a land of
caste the compatriots of the rulers should become--as Lord
Lytton said--a kind of "white Brahmanas"; and it was certain
that, as a matter of fact, the pride of race and the possession
of western civilisation created a sense of superiority, the
display of which was ungraceful and even dangerous, when not
tempered by official responsibility. This feeling had been
sensitive enough in the days of Lord William Bentinck, when the
class referred to was small in numbers and devoid of influence.
It was now both more numerous, and--by reason of its connection
with the newspapers of Calcutta and of London--it was far
better able to make its passion heard.
During Lord Ripon's sympathetic administration the great outburst
occurred against the Ilbert Bill in 1883. We are face to face with a
similar phenomenon to-day, when we see the European Associations--under
the leadership of the _Madras Mail_, the _Englishman_ of Calcutta, the
_Pioneer of_ Allahabad, the _Civil and Military Gazette_ of Lahore, with
their Tory and Unionist allies in the London Press and with the aid of
retired Indian officials and non-officials in England--desperately
resisting the Reforms now proposed.
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