The Indian Congress at Allahabad has broken up without demanding
more than half the members of the future Legisla- tive Council, and an unlimited right of raising volunteer regi- ments; but the sittings were marked by a suggestive incident. Rajah Siva Persad, a man of character and an experienced official, while supporting the prayer for a partially elected Legislature, condemned strongly the seditious pamphlets to which Lord Dufferin had alluded in his recent speech, and which, it is said, are now distributed very widely. He was immediately howled down, and was compelled to leave the remainder of his speech unfinished. The outbreak appears to have been instinctive, and reveals the true temper of the meeting. It should be added in fairness, however, that the pamphlets probably appear less treasonable to Indians than to European readers. Bengalees, like Irishmen, employ exaggeration as a method of pointed expression, and no more believe their own charges against officials, than Irish ex- tremists believe theirs against the "base, bloody, and brutal Balfour." They will call a Commissioner all the names in a language singularly rich in invective, and be greatly honoured, nevertheless, if he shakes hands with them.
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