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316 THE LEADER. [No. 419, Aprii, 3 ^ 185...
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THE ORIENT. CHINA. Thb detailed accountB...
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AGRICULTURAL WAGES IN KENT. WhUiE we are...
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ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS'- A most dre...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Indian Revolt. ——?¦—Ifrm Intelligenc...
was originally built for and used as a zenana , an enclosed residence , -with a . court-yard in the centre , in which the stump of a . tree was still standing ; and off this open space were the rooms in which the massacre took place . The plaster of the walls -was still lying bout in patches , but I could not detect any trace of blood . Sits of cloth and of -women's dresses were still visible amid the rubbish ; but there were none of the more painful tokens of tbe dreadful tragedy which had been enacted where we stood . There is reason to believe that the writing on the plaster , the purport of which you know , did not exist when Havelock ' s force entered the place . I have spoken with officers who examined tbe walls and every scratch in the sides of the
rooms , and they declare that the appeal to vengeance which is attributed to one of the wretched victims was not to be seen immediately after we returned to Cawnpore , and that it had been traced on the wall by some person who visited the place subsequently . As there was nothing left of the house but a heap of broken bricks and plaster and some few stumps of brick pillars , we walked a few paces further to the well in rear of the house , into which the bodies of the slaughtered women and children were thrown by the murderers . It js now bricked over , and there only remains a small circular ridge of brick marking the wall of the well , which was not more than nine or ten feet across . Beneath rest the mangled remains of our poor countrywomen and their little ones , and standing there we could well realize the hearts of
strength of that indignation which steels the our soldiers against the enemy . "Within a few feet of 1 the well , ' surrounded by a small wooden paling , there stands a stone cross on a flat slab , on two courses of masonry , the inscription on which tell 3 its story : —* In memory of the women and children of her Majesty ' s 32 nd Regiment , who were slaughtered near this spot on the 16 th of July , a . d . 1857 . Thi 3 memorial was erected by twenty men of the same regiment , who were passing through Ca-wnpore , November 21 st , 1857 . ' This inscription is engraved on the upright part of the slab , which is in the form of a Maltese cross , within a circle of stone . In the quadrants of this circle are inscribed , in red letters and in the old English character ? I believe in the Besurrection of the Dead . '"
, There are some other inscriptions similar to that supposed to be written by a woman on the walls of the house of massacre , but they seem to be equally unreliable ; and Mr . Russell speaks of " a good deal of doggrel writing of various kinds" on the walls of Wheeler ' s entrenched buildings , and on those of the bungalows on the line of march .
THE ALLEGED MUTILATIONS . The Father of One of the Indian Sufferers' writes i » the Times to rebuke what he describes as " the mawkish assertion" that no mutilations or indignities were committed by the Sepoys in the early days ^> f the revolt . He states ;—" My daughter wrote some time ago that it wul never be known in England the extent of the sufferings and misery and the fearful deaths of the victims in India ; some had their throats cut with panes of glass , others fearfully mutilated , others—women—suffered worse than death . ' I have just had a letter from a
friend this morning , of which I give you an extract : — An old friend of ours has her two oldest friends returned without noses or ears . She says they are cheerful , but miserable objects , and their sufferings were acute . ' This ia only one out of many statements which I have received , sadly confirming the early letters received from India detailing the horrible atrocities and mutilations which had been perpetrated on innocent women and children by our deceitful and treacherous Sepoys . The fact ia , that these atrocities have been so fearful and revolting that the sufferers have hidden themselves from public gaze , rather than let them be known . " . , . , * Another letter has appeared in the same paper to similar effect . LUCKKOW HEROES . Mr . A . D . Home , Burgeon of the 90 th Regiment , mentions in a letter to Colonel Napier , Military Secretary to General Outrom , the heroic conduct of three privates ( Holliwell , 78 th Highlanders-, M'Manus , 5 th Fusiliers } and Ityan , lat Madras Fusiliers ) , who , on the 26 th of September , wore shut up with him in a house at Lucknow surrounded by the enemy .
316 The Leader. [No. 419, Aprii, 3 ^ 185...
316 THE LEADER . [ No . 419 , Aprii , 3 ^ 1858 ,
The Orient. China. Thb Detailed Accountb...
THE ORIENT . CHINA . Thb detailed accountB from China by the overland mail do not contain any very important additions to the teleirraphio summaries published last week ; but a few items of gossip may be hero set down . " Mokh , the Tartar 'GeneTO ;'' irayrthe- ^ Wenrf-oAG f Atna , Ji-dwirous , otflBcer .- > taining the casualties among hia followers , assembled about six hundred of tliem the othor day , without , in the first place , giving notice to the allied commissioners . This being deemed suspicious , Mokh . was placed under arrest , and tbo men ' s bowo , arrows , « nd other equipage , taken away from them . On a promise not to offend In A similar manner , the arrest was taken off . Reports of an intended attack on the guards liaving reached the commissioners , Pih w « a called on to advise what courao should be pursued towards the saiicy braves ; and though the measures taken have , partially alloyed anxiety , tho
A despatch from Marseilles , bringing the intelligence from Canton down to the 14 th of February , states that the Governor and the Tartar General were in prison on a suspicion of treason , and that , for the same reason , Yeh had been sent to Calcutta . " The Chinese merchants , " it is added , " will not transact any business with the Europeans . The squadrons will proceed to Pekin , which is now considered as an indispensable measure . The admirals have interdicted all foreign civilians from sleeping in Canton . Divers are employed in endeavouring to save the money sunk in the Ava . " EGYPT . The King of Abyssinia has sent a special embassy to the Pacha of Egypt , accompanied by magnificent presents .
intention of removing the body of Marines and 59 tbs from the old Consoo-house , in the rear of what was Old China-street , indicates a fear that the announcement of the re-establishment of tranquillity' is somewhat premature . " A combined expedition of Mandarin junks and English gunboats has been sent to scour the Fatshan , Hamilton , and Moneypenny creeks , for pirates . Captain Edgell , in conjunction with a Chinese Mandarin , would continue , it was announced , to send out similar expeditions until the whole of the adjacent waters are safe to traders . Pib , tbe Governor of Kwang-tung , has issued a notification to the effect that he has " consulted about an harmonious arrangement with the two nations of Great Britain and Great France , " and that the people may resume their usual occupations without fear . Another proclamation enjoins the people not to carry war instruments , nor to assemble in rank and file , nor to create disturbances . The Bishop of Victoria has been visiting Canton , and preaching to the troops .
Agricultural Wages In Kent. Whuie We Are...
AGRICULTURAL WAGES IN KENT . WhUiE we are directing so much , attention to the ' great social evils' of large towns , and unveiling the miseries of the Spitalfields weavers and the East-end working classes , it may be as well to give a glance towards those more distant regions of the country which walled-up cockneys are apt to regard as the homes of peace , plenty , and prosperity , bat in which misery and crime are as rife as in the midst of cities . The position of the agricultural labourer has not received the amount of attention which it demands . We have all been more or less bamboozled by the idyllic impositions of Protectionist writers , who nave represented the tillers of the soil as a race of ideally happy mortals , the jovial denizens of the Elysiums which they cultivate and adorn ; and it is only now and then that the veil is lifted . When it is lifted , however , we see the true English labourer as he was represented years ago in Punch — a gaunt , worn , hungervisaged man , sitting in the wretched liut he calls his home , and not seldom sallying forth , in his blind and ignorant revenge , torch in hand against the ricks of those who profit by him , but from whom he derives so little in return . We find that the Will Fern of Dickens ' s Christmas story may be taken as the type of the whole race ; and that when noble lords and honourable gentlemen reward some poor wretch with a sovereign for half a century of service , they hestow unconsciously a paltry crown upon a life-long martyrdom . A letter which we have received on this subject
places the condition of the Kentish labourer in the strong light of facts . Our correspondent writes as follows : — Minster , Thanet , March 24 . Sir , —As you occasionally examine , and sometimes prescribe for , tbo blotches in our social system , and as some of a class are discussing how to live on 300 / . a year , allow me to show you bow human beings are existing in a country which wo are told is teaching nations how to live—a country boasting a high state of civilization and a pure Christianity . When we are talking about social progress , wo find beings worse fed than tho beasts of the field , and this in a parish in one
of tho fairest spots in Kent , amidst a superabundance of human food , where the living of tho vicar is more than 800 / . a year , and containing some of the largest and most-highly cultivated farms in tho country . Amid all this plenty , tho agricultural labourer ' s -wages are but 12 s . per week } and ono family that I know of , containing in nil seven persons—viz ., tho man , his wife , and five girls—has to exist on thia small sum . How it i » done , the man ' s own talo will too clearly explain : —" For weeks 1 have nothincr but broad for myself , wife , and
family { fordayrrhl ^ lTa'dTirfdoa-buro' -fewBwede-turnips which I have picked up . I am In regular work , and wnlk about two miles and a half to it ovory morning—which is thirty miles there and home weekly . I pay for rent , Is . 10 ( 1 . ; coals , Is . Od . ; soap , 4 d . ; 7 gallons of bread , nt lid . pdr gallon , fls . fid ; cniuUoe , 4 d . : total , 10 b . 2 d ., leaving only Is . lOil . for Bugnr , ton , coffee , butter , choose , and moat , which I rnroly tnate . I have a highway rate ucoount brought in , but I cannot pay it . However , my wife and fumily shnll pick otonos eff tho Oelde to tho amount , if tho parish or eurvoyors
will allow them to do so . " The above are plain fo-T and I could show you the family . The man nevei enn ? plains , and the above was drawn from him . For « . " sake of humanity , I should think his name will k ! placed on the Excused List for Highway Rate- for it * cruel to tax such men to keep up carriage roads and to ask such a man for a poor-rate seems to me an inault to one ' s feelings . If this man had no work , and could obtain none , he could have an ' Order for the House , ' wherefe , and his family would cost the parish 1 / . 48 . 61 n » week for maintenance , and his children would be taught ' The bold peasantry of England * are being starvedl into a better world , where the rich man is to meet them . If the rich man believes this , I wonder he doea not trv and make this world more supportable for the slowly starved labourer . Yours truly , — R . Bubb .
We believe that matters are even worse than this in Somersetshire , where labourers are sometimes paid no more than ten shillings a week . How are ' the bone and sinew of the land' to be ruaiu tained in healthy vigour on such starvation wages as these ? The truth is that they are not so main . tained , as the recruiting sergeant will tell you . We are constantly obliged to reduce the height and breadth of chest of our soldiers of the Line ; and even tbe picked regiments of the Foot Guards are no longer the giants that they were . Unhealthy occupations in over-large towns , and starvation wages in the country , are reducing- the English race to an inferior physical condition ; so that , independently of considerations of humanity , we are all interested on national grounds in the removal of those social diseases which sap our strength . In a further communication from Mr . Bubb , we
read : — I have this morning had ocular proof of what I Lad previously stated in respect to the food , and oral evidence of the hard lot of the labourer and his family . The cottage is clean and tidy , the children clean and healthy . I asked them whether they had had any meat for dinner that day . Their answer was , "No ; but we have had some suet pudding , and a nice lot of bread . " 1 saw the very small stock of butter and sugar , and the man stated that he was troubled at times to get work , and sometimes could not . If the eldest girls were boys , he should be better off , as they could then go out to work . Oftentimes he has nothing from breakfast to supper—that is , breakfast in the morning before he proceeds to work , and supper when he returns in the evening .
It strikes me that our social system must be in a very rotten state to admit of such cases ; for why should a man with five girls be less fortunate than one with five boys ? As the wife very aptly said , "We could not help their being girls instead of boys . " It has also occurred to me as something out of order to hear labourers , when out of employ just before the hoeing season , say : " If we can only get a nice shower to make the weeds grow , we shall have plenty of work . " And it is the weeds that benefit the labourer , as abundance or scarcity of corn only affects him in a very slight degree , as his wages vary according to tho price of wheat—with this difference , that they como down sooner than they are raised .
I have often been struck , in winter time , to heat labourers wishing the roads were blocked up -witlj snoff to get a job ! So that weeds and snow-storms benefit the labourer , liut is it not radically wrong that such things should be , and willing labourers almost starving amid superabundance of food ? Wo have visiting Guardians to inspect tho in-door rate receivers . « a not high timo we had < w * -Guardians to sou tuai , utserving poor arc not being gradually ground intoeannr Whoso duty ia it to see to theso things ?
Accidents And Sudden Deaths'- A Most Dre...
ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS' - A most dreadful calamity occurred early on S « nd « morning in Bloomsbury . Between two »» d ^^ 5 a . m ., a policeman , in passing through G . lber -strce j thoroughfare running from Mnsouin-street , and jacw by Groat Russell-street—observed some smoke msuhj from tho ground floor of No . 20 , tho lower por- of wmc house was used as a carpenter ' s shop , while «» J"t « second floors wore let as private apartments . 1 e mim loudly at tho door , but in another minuto the am burst forth , and , before tho engines or cscnpt « J arrive , the retreat of tho people in tho uppoi i «' ™ house was cut off . Tho inhabitants of the Hrst o . however—a man named Eastwood , his wife , « "f " children—escaped , half dressed , by means of ft wu and , ahortly afterwards , tho flro-osenno « " » ««« »•• " nt flcuty . was-expflricnccaJ » v . iai ! H ^ B » Ul"I I ^ X Jrdii . B- <) of tho 7 road being ffreatly narrowed by ttio senJ ^ JJf - Borne now buildings opposite ; and , owin « to J / its services wore of no avail . Two funiihos iQ « iiJi « rf tho second floor-ono named Smith , tho other n * m Hodgcr , and counting in all fifteen P « w ° ™\ " ™ Zy of arrival of tho ilre-cscnne , one of tlio Smlt is- * D ) fiftcon-appoarod at tho window , nnrt propavoa to J" * out . Tho pooplb below called to lilm not « J » J assuring him that ho would bo anveclj but » i himself from tlio window , and received such sim *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 3, 1858, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03041858/page/4/
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