LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM.
[ro THE EDITOR Or TUE " SPECTATOR."] you allow me, as a Hindu interested in the proposed establishment of the National Anthem in India, to put forth a reply to an article which has lately appeared in your valuable journal reflecting upon the character of the Indian people ? To the first Argument adduced, that " without a radical modifica- tion of the tune," the Anthem would not be agreeable to the musical taste of India, the best answer is,—(I) That the tune and measure of the Anthem are intimately allied to a corre- sponding Indian tune and measure ; and (2), that the Indian people are at present greatly pleased with it, even when sung is English. May we not infer from this that the whole country will be still more pleased, when its words are sung in the vernacular languages P The writer's second argu- ment is, that "the spontaneous adoption" by the people of India of what he quaintly calls " a hymn to the Queen," would be the only true evidenoe of their desire to possess a National
Anthem. But did the Indian people ask " spontaneously " for tho present system of higher education, which Lord Macaulay and other British statesmen obtained for them, and which they now appreciate as an inestimable boon Did they ask in 1859 for the Queen's Proclamation, which they have ever since fondly cherished and treasured as their " Magna Charta,"—" the key- stone of their liberty P"
Again, did they ask " spcintaneously " for the visit of the Prince of Wales to their country in 1874? Yet what people more loyal and delighted than they, when his Royal Highness, following the counsel of a far-seeing statesman, converted "the dream of his life " into a reality by his visit to Hindustan ? Do not these instances point to the conclusion that the Indian people, who had but a melancholy history prior to the establish- ment of British Supremacy in their country, are only too glad to receive with heart-felt gratitude the many good things which England, who may be said to have nursed them in the ways of freedom and prosperity, offers them from time to time; and need it be shown that among these good things would be the gift of a universal National Anthem, which the Indian people, con- sisting as they do of such a variety of races, could never originate among themselves Lastly, the writer asks, " What do the gentlemen concerned expect to gain from their effort P" Does this question need a reply ? The benefits are manifold, and cannot be distinctly enumerated in the compass of a letter like this. But, in brief, I may point to two great results which would assuredly follow : —(1), A National Anthem throughout India would supply the various races inhabiting it with the common medium of express- ing their " Rajabhukthi," i.e., their reverential love towards their Empress ; and (2), a joint appeal to Heaven for the con- tinued safety and happiness of their gracious Sovereign would strengthen the link that happily unites Great Britain and India, and would intensify in both countries feelings of fraternity and
end late of Inspector Customs, Madras.
Inner Temple, November.
[We publish our correspondent's letter, as he is a native, but it makes no impression on our minds. We do not believe in manured loyalty, and cannot forget that the Sepoys, when in mutiny, often marched against ,us with their bands playing "God Save the Queen."—Ea. Spectator.]
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