Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/49

 Revenue functions were kept distinct from judicial. Native jurists were sparingly employed, and only in cases of trifling importance. There was general dissatisfaction. The arrears of work were scandalous: the demoralization of the suitors was a natural consequence. To the honour of the Directors it must be said that in 1824 they wrote urgently recommending the larger employment of native functionaries and of the Pancháyat, or Council of Village Elders, in civil cases. Lord Amherst declared himself heartily in favour of the principle, but urged that as much had been done as could safely be attempted in Bengal. Separate Supreme Courts were established for the North-West—an important step in judicial decentralization. In Madras Sir Thomas Munro had meanwhile taken more courageous steps to train and to employ native judges. Native juries also were made a part of the system; but unfortunately those who were summoned felt it a grievance to have to attend. In Bombay Elphinstone's splendid success in the codification of laws and rules forms a landmark in Anglo-Indian administration. There, too, the more elastic system was adopted and native co-operation enlisted.

The truth is that every great Anglo-Indian, at this time, had his own convictions and preferences as to the proper lines of reform. Some believed in the possibility of reverting to native principles of jurisprudence and of making the Pancháyat the Court of Elders in the village community—an important