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Jgo. 393, October^:j8&7.] iiilLJlDER, 94...
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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. Anornsr Targe Mass Of...
used their lances and tulwars in probing into the straw . Of course it was not long before I was discovered . I was dragged out by the hair of . the bead and exhibited to tie view of the natives , who had congregated round , when all kinds of abusive epithets were applied to me . Bully Singh then commenced a inarch , leading me from village to village , exhibiting me , and the rabble at my heels hooting at and abusing me . " After passing through each , bis men used to stop and tell me to kneel , and then to ask Bully Singh if they were to decapitate me . His usual reply was , ' Not yet ; take him on to the next village . ' I in this manner passed through three villages , and was then
taken to his own house . I was led into the court-yard and put into the stocks ; this was about nightfall . During the night , I beard angry -words pass between Bully Singh and his brother . I could not exactly make out -the particulars , but T remember his brother telling him to beware of what he was doing , and that his acts of this day would perhaps recoil upon himself . However , the result of the quarrel . proved in every way beneficial to me , for , about three in the morning , Bully Singh came to me himself , directed my release from the stocks , asked me if I should not like to have something to eat and drink , and his bearing towards me was entirely changed and different from what it had been .
• ' The following morning , a party made their appearance , headed by a villain named Jaffir Ali , whom I recognized as the person who shot poor Lieutenant Ritchie the previous day , and also fired at me . Of this he made a boast to B . ully Singh when he saw me , and asked Bully Singh to make me over to him , and that he would burn me alive . He was told , in reply , that I would be delivered over to no person , and to quit the place . This rascal said my kismutJi ( fate ) was very
good . "I remained at Bully Singh ' s ten clays , during-which time I had no reason to complain of the treatment received ; but this I mainly attributed to the interference of his brother on my behalf . On the tenth day , a Mr . Pippy sent a dawgab , with an elephant and an escort , to take me to him . I was glad of the opportunity , and willingly accompanied the party ; but it was not without some trouble and a good deal of persuasion that the dawgah induced Bully Singh to let me go . "
Sergeant Busher ultimately arrived in safety at Ghazeepore . The mutiny at Indore is vividly described by a lady , the daughter and wife of soldiers , who writes from Mhow on August 5 th : — " As we retreated over the plain , we saw the smoke of the burning bungalows , and for some time heaTd heavy firing , the shot from , the enemy ' s guns passing close among us ; mercifully , not a soul was hit . I kept continually looking back to see that was safe . Of course , I could but be truly thankful that our lives were spared ; but 1 confess I felt keenly with the mortification of being compelled to leave without our troops having made a good stand . As to fear , that was far less
present with me than vexation and disgust at the conduct of the wretched cowards who were our sole reliance . With one hundred European soldiers we should have held the place . Often had I felt and said , when the circle of insurrection was closing around us , and when Borne were discussing the dangers of our position and the propriety of the ladies being sent away , that would never yield while thererwa 3 the slightest hope of holding our ground , and that as far as my feelings went , I would rather my husband should remain at his post , at whatever risk of life , than desert , run away ( or whatever you may call it ) , unless we were unsupported or overpowered by numbers;—whatever alarm I might feel , I should neither submit to the ignominy of flight (
unless under those circumstances ) , nor leave my husband -without knowing what might happen . . . . . I gave M the account of our three days and three nights of wandering , with little rest and not much food , no clothes to change , burning sun , or deluges of rain ; but and I , perhaps , could bear these things better than others , and suffered less . When wo heard the poor famishing children screaming for food , we could but thank God that ours were not with us , but M Engla , We found kind frien ( ls hcre . ! a ™ m Mts . r- ' s clotheseverything we hud being
, gone . l no destructive wretches , after wo left Indore , commenced doing nil the damage they could—cutting up carpets with their tulwars , smashing chandelier ? , marble tables , slabs , chairs , & c ; they even cut oiit the cloth Tl x > ¦ ° f ° UT cnrri"gcs » hacking up the woodwork , iiio Keaidcncy is uninhabitable , and almost nil have ost everything . I might have saved a few things in uioi ^ ur and a half that elapsed between the outbreak ami our retreat , but I had bo relied on some of our deicncters , an < i feit g 0 seCuroof holding on , that flight never « or a moment occurred to me .
tem ™ ? T ° r tlloy are now iu 8 Ome anxiety , as the « 2 ° M Uulkar t fl troo P fl ia vcr ^ uncertain , and he 0 . 2 , ? T ^ t 0 Contro 1 thom- On tho morning of tho senZ y . imft e » ned , because llclkar sent no iiichuWVi * - wmle his troops were firing upon tho Residcncv ) he ? H n m ' havo beou connivance on hia part ; but his «» «? 8 'iya that nU hi 3 tro ° P mutinied , and that nanZ ^ W " in as erciit danger as ours . His Vakeel « m > wl y escaped Lbeing flhot by eom « of tho infantry
as they were rushing past Holkar ' s palace towards the Residency . The Vakeel attempted a remonstrance upon their going without orders from the Maharajah , when instantly several muskets were levelled at him , and he was asked what he wa 3 saying . He readily replied , 'I was only saying that you should take plenty of ammunition ! ' Upon hearing this , they lowered their arms and passed on . " The progress of affairs at Azimghur is thus described by Mr . Edward Frederick Venables , Deputy Magistrate at that place : ¦—" Since I last wrote , I have held Azimghur in spite of all the rebels . We have bad three fights . The last was the best . It came off on the 18 th of Julv . The rebels
had been collecting for fifteen days , and for the last three or four daj's had been corning nearer and nearer , with the avowed object of plundering Azimghur . On the morning of the 18 th , they were not a mile off , so at noon we marched through the city to meet them . Our force consisted of a hundred and sixty Sepoys and a hundred irregular cavalry or Sowars , one six-pounder , and eight men to work it . This gun was an old one that had been put up to fire every day at noon . I rigged it out with a new carriage , made shot and grape , and got it all in order . With my gun I kept the fellows in front in check , but there were too many of them . There were from 2500 to 3000 fighting men , armed with matchlocks and swords , and many thousands who had come to
plunder . They unflanked us on both sides , and the balls came in pretty fast . Men and horses were killed by my side , but , thank God ! I escaped unhurt . "We retired through the city to our entrenchments , followed by the enemy . They made several attacks , coming up every time within a hundred yards , but they could not stand the grape . At five p * mc they made their last attempt , but a lucky shot I made with the gun sent them to the rightabout . They lost heart , and were seen no more . We killed from a hundred and fifty to two hundred of them , our own loss being eighteen killed and
wounded , and eight horses . All their wounded and a lot of others were cut up during their retreat by the rascally villagers , who would have done thesame to us had the day gone against us . Our victory was complete . Not a house in Azimghur was plundered , and the whole of the rebels have since dispersed . Please God , as soon as I hear of Lucknow being relieved , I'll "be after them again . They have paid me the compliment of offering five hundred rupees fox my head . People give me more credit than I deserve . To hold Azimghur , it only required nerve and common sense . However , I have letters from all quarters congratulating me . "
He has : ilso been specially commended by the Governor-General . Since the date of this letter , Mr , Venables has been compelled to retire upon Ghazeepore , owing- to the mutiny of the 12 th Irregulars . A singular anecdote showing the faithfulness of the 73 rd Bengal Native Artillery , one of the very few regiments in that Presidency which have not revolted , is contained in a letter from an officer belonging to the body , who writes from Jelpigoree , on July 30 th : — " Information was brought us by a faithful Sepoy that two men had been to him , regretting that they could not get up a party to attack the officers at mess ; they expressed themselves as ready to do so if they could induce three more to join them . Our informant promised to join them . The next day , they got their party augmented to six , and made their arrangements for that
very evening ; they were to have a boat waiting on the river , which runs , close under ' the messhouse , to make a dash at the officers while at dinner , jump into the boat , and escape into Bhotan . They dared not trust them-Belves on this side , as the regiment would net join them . We heard all this just as we were going to a grand entertainment given by our regiment to tlie Irregular Cavalry . We thought it better to go , and we therefore went . We remained three hours in the midst of them all , knowing that some few were contemplating our murder in the evening . Up to tbis time we had had no opportunity of consulting as to what was to be done ; in fact , nothing was settled till I mounted my horse , and went down to the lines in a tremendous storm of rain . 1 had the whole party arrested . They were taken up by Sepoys , guarded by them all night , and packed off by them in a boat next morning for Calcutta . "
Some ominous anticipations with respect to the Hindoo labourers at the Mauri tiuR arc put forth by the Paris Spectatcur ( formerly tho AssemlltTe Nationals ) , which bases its opinions on accounts which it has received from tho island , dated to the 20 th of August . According to the Paris correspondent of the Times , the Spectateur states : — " The news of the Indian insurrection had caused grent excitement in the island , and some of the letters
express uneasiness as to tho disposition of tlie large body of Hindoos employed on tho uugar plantation . Tho IJJJrd Kcgimcnt , which garrisoned the island when intelligence of tho Bengali mutiny arrived , wus embarked immediately , and its departure wns followed by a certain agitation nmong the ¦ Coolie * . According to tlio Spectatcur , proclamations wcro seized , and some prieats were arrested for preaching massacre nnd pillngo . A strong feeling of alarm was growing up , when it was relieved by tlio arrival of tho 4 th Regiment from tho
Cape . But this corps , we are told , has just been summoned m its turn to India , and the situation of the twenty thousand Europeans , chieOy French or of French extraction , who are thus left , wth onl y two companies of infantry to protect them , among two hundred thousand Hindoos and emancipated negroes , excites the very serious apprehensions of the Speclateur , which considers the peril immense , and perhaps imminent , and suggests , as an effectual precaution , against it , a French garrison at Port Louis as long as the wai in India lasts . The Spectateur foresees no objection to this plan that might not easily be Tefuted , but abstains from insisting on it , merely reminding England that if , from the neglect of a precaution easily taken , dhasters occurred to the European population of the Mauritius similar to those lately witnessed in India , there are thousands of French families who would never forget it . "
Further subscriptions for the Indian sufferers hare been collected , and meetings held , at Dublin ( where Lord Gough was one of the speakers ) , Leeds , Derby , Doncaster , BUandford , Worcester , Cheltenham , Dorchester , Newport ( Monmouthshire ) , Aberdeen , York ,. Leamington , Southport , Kingston , Nottingham , Ludlow , Hungerford , Gloucester , Lewes , Queenborough , Stonehouse , Liverpool , Sheffield , Exeter , Seaford ( Sussex ) , Taunton , Cambridge , Wrexham , Totnes , Wells , Dudley , Neweastle-upooi-Tyne , and several of the metropolitan districts . A few of the inhabitants of Regent-street , in order to show their sympathy -with the movement , have made a collection from house to house in that street , and have handed to the Lord Mayor the sum of 616 ? . 11 s . as the result . At the Kingston meeting , Sir George Cornewall Lewis made a long speech , in the course of which hesaid : —
" I do not suppose that from one end of the country to the other a single voice has been raised in favour of our submitting to the resistance w Inch has been made to our legitimate authority , yet let us put an hypothetical case , and ask what would be the condition of India if w & were to withdraw from the country and leave it in the power of the Sepoys . " ' The Chancellor of tlie Exchequer here read extracts from a letter of a native which was published in the papers a few weeks ago , showing that , since Delhi had been in the liands of the mutineers , every species of oppression had been practised ; that the shopkeepers and citizens curse the mutineers from morning to evening ; that workmen starve , and widows cry in their huts , & c . He then continued : —
"Now I can hardly conceive a more sinking picture of anarchy , of confusion , ' of injustice , and of rapacity than is penned in these few lines ; and we may hence judge to what we should leave India if the protecting power of the English Government were withdrawn ; for be it observed that India has fox centuries past been governed by foreigners . It ia long since the people have been ruled by native princes , and it is merely a question with them whether the Government should "be transferred from the English to the Mussulman invaders , who preceded our rule . The struggle which is going on in India is not , in my opinion , to be regarded simply as a
struggle of the English against the Mahomedans and the Hindoos , nor is it the struggle of Christianity against Mahomedanism and Ilindooism ; but it is the contest of civilization against barbarism . ( Hear . ') It is an attempt of the European Government to introduce just and equitable rule among a great Oriental population . ( Applause . ) If the account could be made up between England and India , and the balance struck of the benefits which England has derived from India , and the benefits which India has derived from England , I cannot doubt it would be found that the preponderance would lie in favour of India and against England . " Other speeches having been delivered ,
" Ihe Chancellor of the Exchequer expressed the satisfaction with which he heard so eminent an authority as Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Hastings [ one of the speakers ] state his opinion that no advantage would be derived from a precipitate assault upon Delhi , and that the ultiinutc reduction of the town might be considered a matter of certainty , with the appliances and resources of civilized nations . lie would not say one word which would seem in any way to deprecate criticism , either in public meetings or in Parliament , upon the conduct of the present Government of Iudin . They would bo prepared at the proper season to defend their conduct , and to show that they had used ali proper means for maintaining tho legitimate authority of the Crown in India .
and for defending the lives and properties of its subjects . " A meeting of the Lou Jan Committee was held last Saturday sit tlio Mansion House , at which the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : — " 1 . The object , of this committco ia to relieve , as far as may be practicable and iicccnsury , the distress caused by the mutinies in India . — 2 . In ho doing , cure should bo taken not to supersede tho assistance which ought to be given by tlie Government , by lliu established widows * and orphans' funds , or by tlie relations of tlio sufferers , but to -supplement it to tho cxtenUo -which it falls short of a jiiHt measure of relief- —» . Compensation for loBsen , as such , will in no case be given . —4 . Subject to tho
Jgo. 393, October^:J8&7.] Iiilljlder, 94...
Jgo . 393 , October ^ : j 8 & 7 . ] iiilLJlDER , 941
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 3, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03101857/page/5/
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