Tempo:
23s 1844.
Hira Singh guided by Pandit Jalla,
his
preceptor.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
chap, viii
Hira Singh had,- in his acts and successes, surpassed the general expectation, and the manner in which affairs were carried on seemed to argue unlooked-for abilities of a high order; but the Raja himself had little more than a noble presence and a conciliatory address to recommend him, and the person who directed every measure was a Brahman Pandit, named Jalla, the family priest, so to speak, of the Jammu brothers, and the tutor of Dhian Singh's sons. This crafty and ambitious man retained all the influence over the youthful minister which he had exercised over the boyish pupil on whom Ranjit Singh lavished favours. Armies had marched, and chiefs had been vanquished, as if at the bidding of the preceptor become councillor. His views expanded, and he seems to have entertained the idea be administered agreeably to the customs of the tribe or province to which the deceased belonged; and very frequently, when the only litigants are subjects of one and the same foreign state, it is expediently made over to the sovereign of that state for adjudication, on the plea that the rights of the parties can be best ascertained on the spot, and that every ruler is a Tenderer of justice. In the present instance the imperfection of the International Law of Europe may be more to blame than the Government of India and the legal authorities of Calcutta, for refusing to acknowledge the right of an allied and friendly state to the property of a childless rebel; to which property, moreover, no British subject or dependent preferred a claim. Vattel lays it down that a stranger's property remains a part" of the aggregate wealth of his nation, and that the right to it is to be determined according to the laws of his own country (Book II, chap, viii, §§ 109 and 110); but in the section in question reference is solely had to cases in which subjects or private parties are litigants; although Mr. Chitty, in his note to § 103 (ed. 1834), shows that foreign sovereigns can in England sue, at least, British subjects. The oriental customary law with regard to the estates and property of Jagirdars (feudal beneficiaries) may be seen in Bernier's Travels (p. 181), and it almost seems identical with that anciently in force among the Anglo-Saxons with reference to 'nobles by service', the followers of a lord or king. (See Kemble's Saxons in England, i. 178, &c.) The right of the Government is full, and it is based on the feeling or principle that a beneficiary has only the use during life of estates or offices, and that all he may have accumulated, through parsimony or oppression, is the property of the state. It may be difficult to decide between a people and an expelled sovereign, about his guilt or his tyranny, but there can be none in deciding between an allied state and its subject about treason or rebellion. Neither refugee traitors nor patriots are allowed to abuse their asylum by plotting against the Government which has cast them out; and an extension of the principle would prevent desperate adventurers defrauding the state which has reared and heaped favours on them, by removing their property previc s to engaging in rash and criminal enterprises.
Hira Singh guided by Pandit Jalla,
his
preceptor.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
chap, viii
Hira Singh had,- in his acts and successes, surpassed the general expectation, and the manner in which affairs were carried on seemed to argue unlooked-for abilities of a high order; but the Raja himself had little more than a noble presence and a conciliatory address to recommend him, and the person who directed every measure was a Brahman Pandit, named Jalla, the family priest, so to speak, of the Jammu brothers, and the tutor of Dhian Singh's sons. This crafty and ambitious man retained all the influence over the youthful minister which he had exercised over the boyish pupil on whom Ranjit Singh lavished favours. Armies had marched, and chiefs had been vanquished, as if at the bidding of the preceptor become councillor. His views expanded, and he seems to have entertained the idea be administered agreeably to the customs of the tribe or province to which the deceased belonged; and very frequently, when the only litigants are subjects of one and the same foreign state, it is expediently made over to the sovereign of that state for adjudication, on the plea that the rights of the parties can be best ascertained on the spot, and that every ruler is a Tenderer of justice. In the present instance the imperfection of the International Law of Europe may be more to blame than the Government of India and the legal authorities of Calcutta, for refusing to acknowledge the right of an allied and friendly state to the property of a childless rebel; to which property, moreover, no British subject or dependent preferred a claim. Vattel lays it down that a stranger's property remains a part" of the aggregate wealth of his nation, and that the right to it is to be determined according to the laws of his own country (Book II, chap, viii, §§ 109 and 110); but in the section in question reference is solely had to cases in which subjects or private parties are litigants; although Mr. Chitty, in his note to § 103 (ed. 1834), shows that foreign sovereigns can in England sue, at least, British subjects. The oriental customary law with regard to the estates and property of Jagirdars (feudal beneficiaries) may be seen in Bernier's Travels (p. 181), and it almost seems identical with that anciently in force among the Anglo-Saxons with reference to 'nobles by service', the followers of a lord or king. (See Kemble's Saxons in England, i. 178, &c.) The right of the Government is full, and it is based on the feeling or principle that a beneficiary has only the use during life of estates or offices, and that all he may have accumulated, through parsimony or oppression, is the property of the state. It may be difficult to decide between a people and an expelled sovereign, about his guilt or his tyranny, but there can be none in deciding between an allied state and its subject about treason or rebellion. Neither refugee traitors nor patriots are allowed to abuse their asylum by plotting against the Government which has cast them out; and an extension of the principle would prevent desperate adventurers defrauding the state which has reared and heaped favours on them, by removing their property previc s to engaging in rash and criminal enterprises.
©
2026
Lehal.net