was its Editor, and according to a Calcutta Reviewer, "the whole picture of Anglo-Indian society at this period was a very bad one, and society must have been very bad to have tolerated Hicky's Gazette." Personal slander comprised a large portion of the newspaper. Even Warren Hastings the first Governor-General and the dignitaries of the Supreme Court were severely aacked, while Colonels, missionaries and beautiful young ladies just arrived for the marriage mart were all mercilessly dealt with. Of course there was no press law to deal with the Editor of the first newspaper, and the attempt to punish him was more summary. In one of the issues of his paper, the Editor thought it "a duty incumbent on him to inform his friends in particular, and the public in general, that an attempt was made to assassinate him last Thursday morning between the hours of one and two o'clock by two armed Europeans aided and assisted by a moorman." No doubt Mr. Hicky had a narrow escape, but we do not know what became of him subsequently and his Gazette. However, we find that during the administration of Lord Cornwallis another paper had sprung up, the India Gazette, which had a more favourable opinion to give of contemporary Anglo-Indian society. It congratulated its readers on the fact that the "pleasures of the bottle and the too prevailing enticements of play were now almost universally sacrificed to the far superior attractions of female society." In politics, we are told the paper was "not merely strongly Whiggish," but "approached to the radical party," and that it was distinguished for its general gentlemanlikeism"! In 1794 a third newspaper, called the Indian World, was started by an Irish-American named William Duane. Mr. Duane had published in his paper a number of improper and intemperate articles, and the way in which he was dealt with by the Government of Sir John Shore would be amusing were it not despotic. On the 27th December, 1794, Mr. Duane was requested by Capt. Collins, the Private Secretary to Sir John Shore, to call at

THIRD SERIES. VOL. VII.

B

Government House.

Mr. Duane thought it was an invitation to breakfast at the Governor-General's table, as he was about to leave the country. He was prompt in answering the summons, and when he met Capt. Collins in Government House the following conversation ensued:

Capt. Collins: I am glad you are so punctual, Mr. Duane.

Mr. Duane: I generally am, Sir; I hope the GovernorGeneral is well.

Capt. Collins: He is not to be seen, and

Mr. Duane: I understood I was invited by him.

Capt. Collins: Yes, Sir, but I am directed by the Governor-General to inform you that you are to consider yourself a state prisoner.

A number of soldiers at a given signal burst upon the scene, and with drawn bayonets surrounded Mr. Duane, who saw through an open door the Governor-General and two members of the Supreme Council sitting on a sofa.

Mr. Duane: I did not think, Sir John Shore, or you, Sir (turning to Capt. Collins), could be so base and treacherous as to proceed or even to think as you do

Capt. Collins: Silence, sir-(To the soldiers) Drag him along, you pig-eating scoundrels.

Mr. Duane: You are performing the part of Grand Vizier now, my little gentleman, and those are your mutes. Calcutta is become Constantinople, and the GovernorGeneral the Grand Turk.

Under strict guard, strongly armed, Duane was kept in Fort William for three days, and then taken on board an armed Indiaman, and conveyed to England, where he was set free without a word of information or explanation. It is said that the Court of Directors "highly approved" of this summary proceeding.

During the administration of the Marquis Wellesley, Sir John Shore's successor, certain restrictions were for the first time imposed on the liberty of the press. In 1799, when the Marquis happened to be in Madras, he wrote privately

to Sir Alfred Clarke in Calcutta as follows: "I shall take an early opportunity of transmitting rules for the conduct of the whole tribe of editors; in the meantime, if you cannot tranquilize this and other mischievous publications, be so good as to suppress their papers by force and send their persons to Europe." This threat was immediately put into action. The following rules soon saw the light: (1) Every printer of a newspaper to print his name at the bottom of the paper. (2) Every Editor and proprietor of a paper to deliver his name and place of abode to the Secretary to Government. (3) No paper to be published on a Sunday. (4) No paper to be published at all until it shall have been previously inspected by the Secretary to the Government or by a person authorized by him for that purpose. (5) The penalty for offending against any of the above regulations to be immediate embarkation to Europe. Since the publication of these rules, a close watch was kept over the press. In 1801, the Editor of the Calcutta Gazette was ordered not to publish anything relating to the army unless it had previously appeared in the Government Gazette. In 1811, the proprietors of all presses in Calcutta and its dependencies were directed "to cause the names of the printers to be affixed to all works, papers, advertisements, etc., printed at or issuing from those presses on pain of incurring the displeasure of Government." In 1812 all advertisements, excepting those relating to sale, purchase, hire and notices in general, were ordered to be submitted to Government for inspection. In the succeeding year, the restrictions were made even more rigorous, and the following new rules were framed : 1. That the proof sheets of all newspapers, including supplements and all extra publications, be previously sent to the Chief Secretary for revision. 2. That all notices, handbills, and other ephemeral publications be in like manner previously transmitted for the Chief Secretary's revision. 3. That the titles of all original works proposed to be published be also sent to the Chief Secretary for his information, who will thereupon either sanction the

publication of them or require the work itself for inspection as may appear proper. 4. The rules established on the 13th May, 1797, and the 6th August, 1801, to be in full force and effect, except in so far as the same may be modified by the preceding instructions. In or about the year 1816, the propriety of making the press free was constantly debated by the members of the Supreme Council. The annihilation of all other European powers in India had emboldened the Government to discuss the advisability of taking such a step. At last, in 1818, the censorship was abolished, and the following new rules were substituted: The Editors of newspapers are prohibited from publishing any matter coming under the following heads, viz.: 1. Animadversion on the measures and proceedings of the Honourable Court of Directors or other public authorities in England connected with the Government of India, or disquisitions on political transactions of the local administration, or offensive remarks levelled at the public conduct of the members of the Council, of the Judges of the Supreme Court, or of the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. 2. Discussions having a tendency to create alarm or suspicion among the native populations of any intended interference with their religious opinions or observances. 3. The republication from English or other newspapers of passages coming under any of the above heads or otherwise calculated to affect the British power or reputation in India. 4. Private scandal and personal remarks on individuals tending to excite dissension in society. The Court of Directors, however, did not approve of the measure, and submitted a despatch to the Board of Control ordering the censorship to be re-established, but the Board is said to have never returned the despatch.

The restrictions imposed on the press reduced the newspapers of the day to mere receptacles for colourless advertisements, innocent extracts from English papers, shipping arrivals, details of balls and fêtes, and republications from the Government Gazette. Soon there came upon the

journalists of the day a feeling of revolt, and Mr. Buckingham, the Editor of the Calcutta Journal, took the lead by criticising the conduct of the authorities. In 1819, Mr. Buckingham was warned for attacking Mr. Elliot, Governor of Madras, and for insinuating that the Madras Government tried to check the circulation of the Calcutta Journal. Mr. Buckingham, however, continued to write boldly, though he was continually warned for trespassing on the dangerous ground of criticism. In November, 1821, Mr. Buckingham wrote as follows in the course of an article on the freedom of the press: “Such is the boon of a free press in Asia, with which the world has rung for the last three years, and the praise of those who knew not what awaited it, is not even yet at an end. Such is the salutary control of public opinion on supreme authority and the value of a spirit, to be found only in men accustomed to indulge and express their honest sentiments." This paragraph called forth the ire of the bureaucracy in India, and the members of the GovernorGeneral's Council resolved upon the deportation of Mr. Buckingham. But the Marquis of Hastings had publicly declared that a good Government had nothing to fear from public criticism, and he overruled the decision of his council. Mr. Buckingham, however, was not permitted to remain long in the country. On a subsequent occasion he offended Bishop Middleton by the publication of a letter on the duties of Chaplains, and Mr. Buckingham was informed that "if he continued this course of conduct, his license to reside in India would be at once annulled, and he would be required to furnish security for quitting the country at the first convenient opportunity." Mr. Buckingham again set the rules at defiance. When it was announced that a "tyrannical" Madras Governor was to hold office for a further term of one year, he published his paper with a mourning border. He was at once deported from the country by Mr. John Adam, who succeeded Lord Hastings temporarily.

The Court of Directors considered deportation a bad