By the last accounts from Madras, it appears that RUNJEET
SINGH had not been defeated by the Affghans ; but that, on the contrary, his assailants, the Sikhs, had been driven back. It is to be hoped that the last report is the true one. The Bengal Hurkaru publishes the reply of Sir CHARLES MET- AL FE to an address from the inhabitants of Calcutta on the subject of the liberty of the press. Sir CHARLES ridicules the idea that the British Government in India would be endangered by promoting a free discussion. The following passage from this document will show the excellent spirit that pervades it- " I look to the increase of knowledge with the hope that it may strengthen our empire; that it may remove prejudices, soften asperities, and substitute a rational conviction of the benefits of our Government ; that it may unite the people and their rulers in sympathy ; and that the differences which separate them may be gradually lessened, and ultimately annihilated. Whatever, how- ever, be the will of Almighty Providence respecting the future Government of India, it is clearly our duty, as long as the charge is confided to our hands, to execute the trust, to the best of our ability, for the good of the people. The promotion of knowledge, of which the liberty of the press is one of the most efficient instruments, is manifestly an essential part of that duty. It cannot be that we are permitted by. Divine authority to be here merely to collect the revenues of the country, pay the establishments necessary to keep possession, and get into debt to supply the deficiency. We are, doubtless, here for higher purposes ; one of which is to pour the enlightened knowledge and civilization, tbe arts and sciences of Europe, over the land, and thereby improve the con- dition of the people. Nothing surely is more likely to conduce to these ends, than time liberty of the press. Those who object to it are further bound to show that it is not salutary for the Government and its functionaries to have the check of a free press on their conduct, and that the exercise of arbitrary power over a restricted press is preferable to the control of the laws over a free one ; assumptions which cannot be maintained."
We hope that Lord AUCKLAND will act on these truly en- lightened and beneficent principles of government.
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