Miscellaneous. INDIAN APPOINTMENTS.

Colonist, Issue 8, 17 November 1857, Page 4

Miscellaneous. INDIAN APPOINTMENTS.

We take the following remarks from the Englishman (Calcutta paper), of 22nd August, on the appointment of Ameer Ally, a Mahomedan, to the post of an AssistantCommissioner :— "We know not why such an office has been conferred on a Mahomedan, and that too at a time like the present, except it be for both or one of the following reasons: First, to convince his co-religionists, at the risk though it be, of the measure being construed into a confession of weakness and fear, that nothing that they have done or might do will cause the Government to withdraw its confidence from them, and hence that their utmost endeavours to bring about such a result must only end in disappointment;—or, secondly, to secure the good offices of a man supposed to have influence with his class, in conciliating the disaffected, and keeping true to our interests all such as have not yet turned against us.

"It may be that Ameer Ally is a most respectable man, and we are inclined to be-

lieve that he has earned for himself this character: but it must not be forgotten that he is, albeit his respectability, a Mahomedan; and this consideration alone ou_ht to be sufficient to impress upon our Rulers the necessity of using extreme caution in the choice of men intended to fill positions of trust and authority, in which they.might inflict upon us serious injury, if disposed so to do. " We are none of us so ignorant as not to know what the Mahometans really are. As a class they are fawning and obsequious, and stand in the very first rank, as regards professions of loyalty to the Ruling Power. But beneath this, tljeir "disguise of outward appearance, lies hidden, pride, cruelty, treachery, and a spirit of deep-rooted and deadly enmity against Christians in general and against our Rule in particular; an enmity which no favor can soften, much less subdue, and which nothing but a firm belief in our invincibility can even restrain within due bounds. Let our power be threatened; let circumstances but tend to throw a doubt upon its further continuance; and what then? the qualities which they had hitherto so carefully kept out of view will suddenly appear, and a whole host of full-grown Traitors and Rebels will start up as if by magic power, and fill the land with a wail of woe by their multiplied perfidies and barbarities.

" If called upon to substantiate what we have stated, we have only to appeal to recent events as furnishing ample materials for that purpose. Who, we would ask, is the Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel" forces ? A Mahomedan, who was the principal native commissioned officer in the Cavalry corps, which took the initiative in the wide-spread revolt which has followed. Who is the Prime Minister of that Archtraitor, the King of Delhi ? A Mahomedan, who was also high in the Judicial office under the Government he is now seeking to subvert. Who is the Minister next to him in rank ? A Mahomedan, who was also high in the Judicial service of the Government. Who betrayed Mr.. Tucker, the Sessions Judge of Furruckabad, into the hands of the rebels, and, having done so, sat in mocking judgment over him, and finally sentenced him to die a felon's death ? Again a Mahomedan, one high in office, and one, too, who was indebted for his advancement to the very man he so ungratefully singled out as a victim on whom to practise a special act of perfidy. Who by his false representations allayed the fears of the European residents of Bareilly, and dissuaded them- from seeking safety by flight, which they were about to do, and in less than 48 hours after, having matured all his plans, presented himself at the head of the insurgent bands, breathing destruction and slaughter to the ' Europeans; those miserable dupes of his treachery; and putting to death every man woman or child that had the misfortune tofall into his hands; and then having caused himself to be proclaimed King of Bareilly, issued a Royal proclamation, making it a capital crime to harbour or conceal the hated Kaffirs, or in any way to afford them succour or aid? Once again a Mahomedan, —one who had spent his best days in the service of the State, and who had been allowed to retire on a double pension, viz., his own and his father's (he and his father had both been Principal Sudder Ameens), the latter pension having been continued to him after his father's death as a mark of uncommon favor.

"More examples' of a like nature may be given, but these are su-rely sufficient, and much more than sufficient, to enable us to say whether a Mahomedan may or may not still be trusted. Is he worthy of any confidence at all, much less of greater confidence than we have yet been accustomed to repose in him ? To this there can be but one answer, viz., in the negative. Such at least must be the answer of the independent public. But what do those in. authority say ? By the selection of a Mahomedan to an office such as that to which Ameer Ally has been appointed, they answer in the affirmative.: they say, practically and emphatically—yes!!! Can it indeed be possible? It is all but beyond belief!"'