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    868 _______ THE LEADER. * [No. 390, Sept...

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    The Indian Revolt. As Interesting Docume...

    " Albert-gate , Sept . 7 , 1857 . " My Lord Mayor , —I have received from the £ meror the following despatch : — "' I send you 1000 ? . sterling as my personal subcription in favour of the officers and soldiers so cruelly fflicted in India . I also send you 4002 ., the result of he subscription of the Imperial Guard . We have not orgotten the generous subscription of the Queen and of he English people at the time of the inundations . ' Receive , my Lord Mayor , the assurance of my high consideration . " F . D . Persigntt , Ambassador of France . " I send herewith an order for 14001 . sterling . "

    The following telegraphic despatch has been received from Colonel Phipps by the Lord Mayor . It is dated Balmoral , September 9 th : — " You may announce subscriptions to the Fund for the Indian Sufferers of 1 O 00 / . from the Queen , 300 ? . from the Prince Consort , and 100 / . from theDuchess of Kent . " Lord Falmerston has subscribed 100 / . It is a pity that this intimation did not arrive before the announcement of the French Emperor ' s subscription , and that the donation of our rich Prince Consort should be lOOf . less than that of the Imperial Guard . The country , however , is rousing itself ; and meetings in aid of the fund have been held at Bath , Coventry , Dorchester , Liverpool , and Norwich , at which subscriptions were inaugurated .

    The committee appointed at the meeting held at the Mansion House on the 25 th ult ., for the purpose of collecting funds , met again on Wednesday , when a letter from the Secretary of the East India , Company was read , in which it was stated that the Company had " given instructions to the G-overnment of India to adopt measures for the immediate relief of sufferers whether connected with the public service or not . " It was agreed that a meeting should be called without delay , with a view of modifying the previous resolutions in such a way as to enable the committee to give relief to sufferers by the rebellion who have arrived in England . A . young English lady of nineteen writes thus from Murree , Punjab , on the 27 th of June : —

    " Thank Sod , we are all still in good health and safety , though , we had a fright this morning , of which I must tell you . I was in my own room , in the large house , about half-past seven o ' clock in the morning . I ¦ was saying my prayers and the ayah was getting nay bath ready , when I heard her say , ' Oh , I -wish you would make haste—I would you had done ! ' When I had finished , I got up , and asked her what she meant . She said that my aunt had sent word for me to dress

    as quickly as possible , and that the Sepoys were on guard all round the compound ; that our guard was under arms , and that they did not know what it was for , but that Juggernaut , our jemander , was stopped on his way do-wn to the bazaar , and told nobody was to go outside their own compound . Ha came back and told Aunt L this , and declared his readiness to go anywhere , or do anything , she told him . She bade him go and . try to hear what was the matter . He found out that some of the

    mutineers from Peshawur were coming across tho hills to go into CaBhmere , and that there was reason to believe that they were in the bazaar here , trying to raise the people . Mr . Baltze , Mr . MacNabb , and Captain Bracken , with a guard , went ta the bazaar , but could not discover these men , but I am afraid there is no doubt they are here . "We tried to stop them in Huzara , and sent two companies of Sikhs against them , but we have not heard what has become of them . The mutineers' favonrite time for attacking us is in church , and as tomorrow ia Sunday it will be an . anxious day . Tho people are grown so impudent they go about shouting , ? Sahib togue he raj hogue , ' i . e . ' The reign of the English is over . ' We have eight men of Major Lumsdeu ' s

    regiment to guard us ; they are such fine fellows , we feel quite proud of them . They are called' Guides •* their uniform is tho colour of the ground , so that they cannot easily bo distinguished . They are fighting splendidly before Delhi . When Aunt L and I went out into tho verandah , these men were loading their muskets and sharpening their bayonets , and looking not a little pleased at tho prospect of a row . * Aunt said to ono , c If these mutineers como up to this houac , shall you lot any of them escape ? ' The man smiled grimly , and said , 4 Not one . ' X did not feel at all frightened , 1 am glad to say , though it was enough to make ono fear when ono

    knows how they cut tho ladies at Delhi into pieces before each other's ores ; and as for tho poor children , they act them in the burning sun with nothing on thoir heads , and gave them no water , till they wont mad ! It makes mo so ferocious to think of it , I long to go and fight tho -wretches rnyaelf . Thoy say our men fight like heroes . Some English hid themselves for some days in a moaquo at Delhi , At last tho Sepoys told them that if they would como out thoir lives should bo spared . Thoy did ; and ono lady said , ' You may kill mo if you ¦ will glvo my child a little wator . ' Thoy took her child from her and killed it , and then took all tho rest to tho Palace , - where thoy wore murdered boforo tho Kini ? .

    __ " All tho insurgents who are wounded by our Knfield rifles aro immediately killed by thoir comrades , as tho Knfleld riflo is discharged by tho objectionablo cartridge , so tho xn « n who nro wounded by it havo lost casto . Tho

    Sepoys come out to fight with , ladies' dresses on ; 13 it not revolting ? They also come out loaded with money , which our men take as soon as they kill them . One man of the Rifles got 1600 rupees ; they quite deserve it , but when they get into the city what a 'loot' there will be with all those jewellers' shops ! They will be like madmen ; the officers cannot control them when they take a city by storm . " The same young lady , writing on the 29 th of June , says : — " Sunday passed off quietly ; the soldiers went off to church fully armed , and sentries were all round it ; it looked warlike to see soldiers at church with loaded muskets .

    "The most impertinent thing of all was done at Bareilly , where the Sudder Ameen ( a native judge ) took our judge , Mr . Robertson , prisoner , made a regular trial , English fashion , and hanged him . And at AUyghur they put a wretched Sepoy on horseback and called him the General Sahib , ' and forced the English officers and civilians to salute him ! Just wait till we have twenty more European regiments in this country , and then -won't we pay them off for their impudence !" Another lady , writing from Jubbtilpore , on July 17 th , remarks that " even ladies axe getting quite hardened ; " and adds , "Ireally think I did feel pleasure in seeing hundreds of the rebels killed at and Meerut . "

    Lieutenant A . K . E . Hutclunson , Bheel agent and Political Assistant to the Governor-General at Bhopawur , Indore , made a . sudden flight from his station to Inderpore under the influence of a false alarm that Hollar had pxoved faithless . He thus relates the adventures encountered by himself and others on their road : — " I hoped to reach Para at nightfall , where I had ordered my servants to meet me . We travelled all day , which was , moat fortunately , cool . At two . p . m . we halted to rest . As we started two men came from the village Charawna to inquire who -we were . Our servants said we were Parsee merchants going to Baroda . On we went again , and at eight p . m . we were startled

    by the news that a party of horse and foot had just arrived from Amjheera for our capture . At this terrible news all Mrs . S 's servants deserted her , but ours remained with us . Dr . Chisholm and myself determined to keep watch , and to defend ourselves to the last . We passed a terrible night ; but God had mercy upon us and brought us deliverance from our enemies ; for during the night the Bheels ( we were in the Jabwa territory ) gave the alarm to the nearest station , and daylight saw a party of horse from Para , under Soojan Singh , who rescued us and took us to Para ; however , to satisfy the Amjheera people , he insisted on our showing what property we had . Our carts were accordingly searched . I ordered a horseman to go to Jabwa , and to

    acquaint the chief with our situation ; we went on to Para . At four p . m . a deputation arrived from Jabwa to escort us to that place . The head man of a village where we halted gave us his own dinner , and we started again at ten p . m ., escorted . by one hundred Bheels . We rested for the night at th « Jint of a liquor vendor . Early in the morning , I overheard the Bheels talking among themselves in a most murderous strain . I jumped up , and awoke the people , telling them it was time to start . Wo got off again , and reached Jabwa early on the . 5 th inst ., and received a kind welcome from the young

    Rajah , who assigned us one of hi 3 palaces for onr residence , and sent us dinner from his own table . We passed six dreary days here , w knout clothes or books , or any news . However , I was soon assured that Holkar had not turned against us , and I at onco resolved to return to Indore or Bhopawur . On the 8 th , the young Rajah received a letter from Holkar , threatening vengeance should any irtault be offered us , and tolling him that he had detached a party for our escort ; this party arrived on tho 10 th inat . On tho 12 th , we left Jabwa under the escort of Holkar's troops . "

    An escape from Indoro is vividly sketched by one of the party , the wife of a medical man , who writes : — " After turning back from the Simrole road , wo struck to tho eastward across country roads and went on without stopping- till about midnight , when wo halted for an hour or so ; of course , ire had nothing but the ground to lie on , and had no food . Soon we went on again till daybreak , when wo camo to a village where tho men bought some sweetmeats , and somebody ' s servant ( few had any servants with thorn ) made some cakes of coarse flour . Halted till oiglit a . m ., wont on to Tuppa Bungalow , found aomo brandy that Mrs . Magniac had forgotten to take awny when sho was there a month or so

    boforo ; had . curry , rice , and grilled fowl , but scarcely time to eat it , as tho people reported an enemy on before On and on till near midnight ; halted near a village some two hours ; again journeyed onwards till daybreak , when wo camo to a villugo , and thoy told ua ao confidently an cnomy v « 8 near that a gun was sent on , and all preparations wero made to forco our way . fortunately , no ono appeared , and about seven a . m . wo met two olephants , aont out by tlio political agent of Schoro , Major Rickarda . At nino a , m . reached a bungalow ; found t « a , broad-nnd-buttor , and grapoa , sent out by tho same kind person , curry and rico , two knivea and forks and spoons , among aomo eighteen hungry people . Our party ,

    including some European sergeants and telegraph signallers , and thre e children , -was thirty-two in number At five p . m ., weat on . Halted at midnight for about two or three hours , and reached Sehore at eight a . m . Kind welcome , change of clothes , and a good breakfast ; this was Saturday , the 4 th . Halted Sunday made some clothes , and bought a few necessary articles . Monday , the 6 th , went on at five p m . halted at midnight for two hours ; on till nine a . m then halted for the day under a large tree—rain incessant on till midnight , ivHen the rain forced us to halt- took shelter in a native shed ; fires dried our clothes a little

    at dawn on again through the rain . At one village had a small sugar ball each and some milk , and at another some parched pulse ; on and on through most lovely scenery till sunset , when we reacted the Nerbudda crossed over , reached Hoosingabad at about eight pm ' and were distributed among the different persons here ' Our lot threw us to some very kind , people , a Mr . and Mrs . Gordon , of the Madras 28 th . Hot water , grilled chicken , and such a night ' s rest ! Since our arrival another party of fugitives from Augur , some twenty-five persons , have come . How long we all stay here , and where we next go , is most uncertain . "

    Pbe following 13 an extract of a letter written by Major Macdonald , commanding the 5 th Bengal Irregular Cavalry , after the attack upon him and his brother officers , in which Sir Norman Leslie was murdered : — " Two days after my native officer said he had found out the murderers , and that they were three men of my own regiment . I had them in irons in a crack , held a drumhead court-martial , convicted , and sentenced them to be hanged the next morning . I took on my own shoulders the responsibility of hanging them , first , and asking leave to do so afterwards . That day was an awful oue of suspense and anxiety . One of the prisoners was of a very high caste and influence , and

    this man I determined to treat with the greatest ignominy , by getting the lowest caste man to hang him . To tell you the truth , I never for a moment expected to leave the hanging scene alive ; but I -was determined to do my duty , and well knew the effect that pluck and decision bad on the natives . The regiment was drawn out ; wounded cruelly as I was , I had to see everything done myself , even to the adjusting the ropes , and saw them looped to run easy . Two of the culprits -were paralyzed with fear and astonishment , never dreaming that I should dare to hang them without an order from Government . The third said he would not be hanged , and called on the Prophet and on his comrades to rescue him . This was an awful

    moment ; an . instants hesitation on my part and probably I should have had a dozen of balls through me ; so I seized a pistol , clapped it to the man ' s ear , and said , with a look there was no mistake about , ' Another word out of your mouth , and your brains shall be scattered on the ground . ' He trembled , and held his tongue . The elephant came up , he was put on his back , the rope adjusted , the elephant moved , and he was left dangling . I then had tlie others up , and off" in the same way . And after some time , when I had dismissed the men of the regiment to their lines , and still found my head on my shoulders , I really could scarcely believe it . " Subjoined are extracts from letters from Lieutenant-Colonel Edwardes , C . B ., written at Peshawur , and dated from June 21 st to July 6 th : —

    " As yet we have made no impression on Delhi . General Reed ' s , or rather General Barnard ' s force was too weak to besioge Delhi , and has had to stop and wait for reinforcements just as General Whiah had at Mooltan . The rebels far exceed him in numbers and in gans . The numbers are of little consequence , for disorganized fragments of rebel regiments never can contend successfully with the serrieel battalions of a well-appointed nrrny led by English officers . But it is a serious matter to havo 160 pieces of artillery ( taken out of our own magazine ) playing upon our camp . Engagements tako place every two or three days , and wo are easily victorious in tho open field . The enemy loses hundreds in every skirmish , and tho heaps of dead are

    re-plundered by our soldiers of all the plunder they had secreted round their waists . Wo lose very few men or oflicers . But wo don't get into Delhi , and the delay damages our reputation , and encourages tlio belief , artfully disseminated by the Bralimins and Moollaha , that ' all prophecies agree that tho English rule is now to end ! ' So tho deluded people rise hero and there , add to tho anarchy and confusion . We trust that 20 , 000 soldiers aro now embarking from England , but they cannot reach till September , and you mny judge what has to be endured and done during tho intervening months . There novor v « s anything a hundredth part so serious in

    India before . This post , so far from being more arduous in future , will bo rnoro secure . Events hero have taken a wonderful turn . During peneo Peshawur waa an incessant nnxioty . Now it ia tho strongest point in India . Wo havo struck two groat blows— " wo have disarmed our own troops , and raised levies of all the peop of tho country . Tho troops are confounded ; they calculated 011 being backed by tho people Tho pco )» lo » ' ° delightod , and a bettor feeling has sprung up botween thorn and ua in this enlistment than has ever been obtained before . I Imvo also called on my old country , tho l > er «_ U , and it is quite delightful to

    868 _______ The Leader. * [No. 390, Sept...

    868 _______ THE LEADER . * [ No . 390 , September 12 , 1857 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 12, 1857, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12091857/page/4/