THE NUWAB OF TONK.
for himself or for the Government of which he is the head. He merely decrees that the Prince is unworthy, and that the next heir must take his place, with all his prerogatives and all his liability for their exercise, the deposed Prince residing for the rest of his life outside his hereditary domain. Less than this it would be impossible to do, just as it is impossible to declare war which shall not be war, for no punishment less than depo- sition is possible for reigning princes. The Viceroy could no more suspend a guilty Prince than a Revolution could, and for the same'reason—that 'order would be impossible while the restoration impended, and while every reformer dreaded the vengeance to 'which he would be exposed from the restored regime. "Judicial inquiry is equally impossible, for no man would give public evidence against his prince, who again in all' human probability has done nothing of which a judge could take cognizance,. has perhaps merely looked pleased when his Premier laid before him a plan of confiscation or murder. What did Charles IX. do that would convince the Court of Queen's Bench of his complicity in the massacre of St. Bartholomew ? Who is to say what passes between a Nuwab and his Vizier, to estimate the legal value of a hint whispered in the ears of the Resident, or to cross-examine the great native officials who adinit'by silence or by a smile that a charge against their master is true ? Cavour might as well have asked for " evidence " that l''rancis was a tyrant, before march- ing upon Gaeta. The Viceroy's best information in such Oases will often be the statement of a man who would be Instantly murdered if it were even suspected that he had ven- tured to make one. The Viceroy must, from the necessity of things, either do nothing, that is, must help the Prince to "comitrit crime With impunity, or act as he would act if he sus- pected 'treachery -against the Empire, that is, rely on the intelligence of his agents, on secret information—such as the Tliissions whiela Mr. Grant Duff rather imprudently men- lionellin the debate, at the risk, we fear, of his friends' lives ==ktifrint- his own conscientious judgment as to the proba- liffitThiitiet make up his mind in secret, and act, if action iithibidtible, strongly, silently, and at once. Suppose a Ifdliab, aware °Hifi ientence, resolved on a general massacre -of the whites! They would all be dead in twelve hours. It is, of course, to be regretted that such a power must be com- mitted to a fallible "human being, but there is absolutely no 'kelp for it, except to abandon the control which alone justifies tire in'InaiPhiiiing the authority of the Princes. If we forbid 'their siiiiie&s to punish them, we must punish them ourselves, and punish in the only manner which can secure to those subjectri the justice which but for us they would secure to themselves, namely, the dismissal of their tyrant. We must, in fact, trust the Viceroy, just as we trust a Judge to make an - honest charge.
• Let us just apply these principles to the case of the Nuwab of Tonk. This person was the grandson of a Mussulman freebooter, who once assisted us, and was rewarded by a Principality ; he was known as a harsh and bigoted, but not inefficient ruler, and was engaged in 1867 in a quarrel with his greatest Hindoo noble, the Thakoor of Lawa. Suddenly information reaches the Viceroy, Lord Lawrence, a man familiar with native princes, that the Thakoor's Dewan or Premier has been invited to Tonk, has accepted the invitation, and has, with a group of attendants, been treacherously put to death. Clearly, if any allegation calls for inquiry that allegation does ; for as we forbid private war, we are bound to see that it is not waged upon one side alone. The Viceroy accordingly selected the ablest diplomatists he could think of, men well acquainted with Tonk, to investigate the matter, and they declared that to the best of their judgment and information the Nuwab was guilty, an opinion subsequently confirmed by an Officer who, inquiring after the Nuwab had been removed, received of course a great deal more testimony. They held that he had invited the Thakoor's advisers to Tonk with the intention of killing them, and had successfully carried out his intention, one, as it happened, very familiar to his house. The Viceroy studied their reports, submitted them to his Council, and finally, with an undue anxiety to avoid precipitation, forwarded them to the Secretary of State in England. All the Councillors and the Secretary of State agreed with Lord Lawrence that it was contrary to common-sense to imagine that a body of guests invited by the Nuwab could be killed by his officers without his consent, that he was responsible, and that he must be deposed ; and he was deposed accordingly, to be succeeded by the next heir, with the approval of all honest men in Tonic. It is alleged that he never saw the reports, but no Sovereign ever does see the reports of the Envoys residing in his capital, nor is it possible when absolute Sovereigns are concerned to allow them to be heard in their own defence. An Oriental Sovereign so challenged does not argue ; he raises his standard ; or if his power is too slight for that he flatly denies the allegation, and woe to the witness who contradicts him It is not by questioning the Sovereign that we ascer- tain even in Europe whether he designs war or peace, but by studying the patent facts and any secret information upon which our diplomatists can lay their hands, and so also it is in the East. The deposition of a native prince is a political act to be justified or condemned upon political grounds, not to be submitted like a seizure for smuggling to a regular Court of Justice. No such Court could accept evidence which may be nevertheless conclusive, or be induced to sanction orders which nevertheless are essential to the defence of all against the oppressions of one. The Viceroy must act on his own conscience in the interests of the people, and his deci- sion, even if he is recalled for giving it, must be accepted as final.
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