"Lord Dufferin presents his compliments to Mr. Bradlaugh, and, well knowing that even his bitterest opponents are ready to recognise not only Mr. Bradlaugh's ability, but also his perfect sincerity, uprightness and honesty of purpose, he takes the liberty of addressing him in reference to a lecture which Mr. Bradlaugh delivered in the Tyne Theatre at Newcastle on the subject of our Indian Empire. In that lecture, though Mr. Bradlaugh did not refer to Lord Dufferin in unduly harsh or unfriendly terms, he did certainly misrepresent both the words and the tenor of his Calcutta speech. This probably arose from the fact of the Times correspondent having only telegraphed those parts of the speech with which he himself especially sympathised. Under these circumstances, Lord Dufferin has taken the liberty of sending Mr. Bradlaugh a full copy of the speech as it was delivered. The statements in Mr. Bradlaugh's lecture to which Lord Dufferin particularly objects are:—First, that Lord Dufferin has misrepresented the avowed views of the Congress and its supporters. He can assure him that he has not done so. Mr. Bradlaugh may be quite certain that, before saying what he did, Lord Dufferin took every precaution to verify his references, and that the proceedings of the Congress and of the Committees whose conclusions the Congress adopted, were precisely what he described. It is true, at the last meeting, thanks to the friendly warnings which Lord Dufferin had given, the attitude and suggestions of the Congress were much more reasonable and moderate.
"The second statement in Mr. Bradlaugh's address to which Lord Dufferin objects, is where he says that Lord Dufferin asserted that these Congresses were seditious. Again he begs to assure Mr. Bradlaugh that he never, either directly or by implication, gave utterance to such an opinion. He has always referred to the Congress in terms of sympathy and respect, and treated the members with great personal civility. What he criticised was the distribution, amongst an ignorant population, under the auspices of some ill-advised persons who were not even natives, but with the authority of the Congress, of pamphlets which were calculated to excite the hatred of the people against her Majesty's Government in India.
"Mr. Bradlaugh also seems to imply that Lord Dufferin has opposed himself to the native demands for a reform in the Civil Service. So far from this being the case, before the Congress even put forward any such suggestions, Lord Dufferin had appointed a Commission, with Sir Charles Aitchison (one of the most liberal-minded men that have ever been in India) as chairman, and some leading natives as members, to propound a scheme for the larger admission of natives into the higher ranks of the Civil Service. This Commission has recommended that over 120 offices now closed to natives should be thrown open to them.
"However, if Mr. Bradlaugh will only read Lord Dufferin's speech, Lord Dufferin thinks he will see that it is conceived in a totally different tone and spirit from that which Mr. Bradlaugh has himself imagined, and he may tell Mr. Bradlaugh in confidence—though, of course, he would desire that it should remain unknown to anyone else—that he himself has been doing his very best to forward such a reform of the Provincial Councils in India as Mr. Bradlaugh appears to advocate. In further illustration of his position, Lord Dufferin may mention that Mr. Yule, the gentleman who acted as chairman of the last Congress at Allahabad, was present on the occasion on which Lord Dufferin delivered the speech which Mr. Bradlaugh has criticised, and, at its conclusion, went out of his way to thank him for it as being calculated to do the very greatest good.
"Mr. Bradlaugh has also fallen into an error in considering that Lord Dufferin's speech is likely to cause embarrassment to Lord Lansdowne. It was intended, on the contrary, to produce the very opposite effect, and to smooth Lord Lansdowne's way for him; and it is in this light that both Lord Lansdowne himself and his friends regard it; for it is obvious that Lord Dufferin having undertaken the disagreeable task of pointing out the extravagances into which the Congress was being insensibly led, there will remain to Lord Lansdowne the agreeable duty of inaugurating whatever concessions it may be possible to make.
"In conclusion, Lord Dufferin hopes Mr. Bradlaugh will understand what perhaps is not readily appreciated by those who have not lived in India; namely, that the Government of India is perpetually fighting, on behalf of the great masses of the population, against the encroachments and usurpations of what may be called the specialised interests; for, unlike almost all other Governments, it is unconnected by ties of prejudice or self-interest with any particular class or section of the community it governs.
"Lord Dufferin is quite satisfied that Mr. Bradlaugh will forgive him for troubling him with this short letter of explanation.
"British Embassy, Rome.
"7th February, 1889."