Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/155

 the Marquis, Mr John Adam officiated as Governor-General, it was a bad time again for journalists. Buckingham, having wielded his pen against Dr Bryce, a Government official, was ordered by the Governor-General to quit India within two months; and after his embarkation Arnot was shipped off in the next vessel leaving for England. To be sent home then was the punishment inflicted on Anglo-Indians if they conducted any newspapers in a way to offend Government; and the question that puzzled the authorities was, how to deal with Eurasians and English-speaking natives if found guilty of a similar offence. To send them to England at the expense of the East India Company was not to be thought of. Mr Adam met the difficulty by passing the Press Act, and getting it approved by the Supreme Court. Rammohan Roy, backed by Dwarkanath Tagore and some clever barristers, tried to prove that the Act was illegal. But the judges remained firm in their decision. An appeal was then made to the Sovereign, but it was of no effect.

Lord William Bentinck had a desire to give the Press its liberty; but, through ill-health, he had to leave India before conferring on it the boon intended, and it was reserved for his successor, Lord Metcalfe, to repeal, with the assistance of Lord Macaulay, the obnoxious Act that had been passed against the Press by Mr John Adam.

Fourth.— The Calcutta Public Library was established through the joint endeavours of European and native gentlemen. This was a godsend to the young men of the “new school.” They went to the library regularly, and read to their hearts’ content. One of them, Peari Chand Mitra, got employed there; and his connection with this institution helped him afterwards to higher positions. The library was, on the completion of Metcalfe Hall in 1842, removed there, and Metcalfe