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Leader (1850-1860), 16th October 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12, JOURNAL OF AN ENGLISH OFFICER IN INDIA. ...

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      1092 The Leader. '[No. 447, October 16, ...

      1092 THE LEADER . '[ No . 447 , October 16 , 1858 .

      Journal Of An English Officer In India. ...

      JOURNAL OF AN ENGLISH OFFICER IN INDIA . Journal of an English Officer in India . By Major North , 60 th Rifles , Deputy Judge Advocate-General , and Aide-de-Carap to General Havelock , & c . Hurst and Blackett . Br May , 1857 , Major North was at Calcutta , enjoying a considerable sense of insecurity , when the news arrived of the Meerut outbreak . His own cores was at that station , nine hundred miles off , ; and he started to join it in company with the headquarters of H . M . 84 th Regiment , via Itancegunge , Benares , Allahabad , and Cawnpore , at which last At

      place they were to relieve Sir Hugh Wheeler . Allahabad they fell in with General Havelock , who was preparing the Allahabad moveable column with the same object . They passed and were again overtaken by him at Arrahpore . Here they heard of the Cawnpore tragedy of June 2 S , and here Major North volunteered into the 7 Sth Highlanders . At Futtehpore , before which a smart action took place , the Major was tossed by a wounded bullock and severely contused . He wasj & oon on his legs again , bore a part in the battle near Kullianpore , and reached the ruins of the station at Cawnpore on the 17 th July . Here he describes what he saw , and his feelings :-

      —Tortured by the fierce thirst for revenge , and penetrated by the sense of their suffering , strange -wild feelings awoke within us , Panting , eager , maddened , we sped onwards to the dreary house of martyrdom , where theur blood was outpoured like water ; the clotted gore lay ankle deep on the polluted floor , and the long tresses of silken hair , fragments of female wearing apparel , hats , boots , children ' s tiny boots and toys , were scattered about in terrible confusion . And this was the work of twelve thousand Sepoys who , under their leader Nana Sahib , abandoned the position of Cawnpore when the faces of the avengers appeared over the ridges of Gullianporc . Of Wheeler and his position at Cawnpore he speaks feelingly : —

      Had one regiment only , like any of those which compose this band of HavelOck ' s , been present here with Sir Hugh Wheeler , he might have made a stand till the arrival of relief . Poor victim of hope deferred , as much as of infernal treachery , he had been led to believe that reinforcements would have been sent to his aid by the 15 th of June . Relying on this fatal relief he selected the buildings nearest to the direct road from Allahabad , from whence the relieving troops were expected to advance . Hence his exposed position . What eager agonised looks must have been turned to that road as day after day swept past and reinforcements came not , and the hopes of the slender , overtasked garrison became fainter and fainter , while bodily strength wasted away , and , in addition to the savage foe , hunger also glared upon them . What wonder that reason tottered , and

      credulity awoke and whispered of the Nana s foregone hospitality , the intimate relations which had originally subsisted between him and the beleaguered few , and his incapacity to betray trust reposed in his honour . On the 18 th of September , the army of Havelock and Outram filially left Cawnpore for the relief of Lucknow , where they arrived , with a loss of five hundred and fifty wounded men and sixty officers , and minus a garrison of two hundred and fifty left in the Alumbagh , on the 25 th and 20 th of September . Hero the author resigned the post of Deputy Judge-Advocate , and adopted that of instructor in cartridge-making . Ho shared the perils and miseries of the Lucknow blockade , and , on the relief by Lord Clyde , finally loft the Baillio guardhouse on the 21 st of November .

      As pnzo agent he had ohargo of riches , the mere muster-roll of which would make the mouth of a Sidonia to water , although tiicy could hardly purchase lum an extra pound of sugar , or a candle , when his much-prized stock of throe was exhausted . Tlioy consisted of money , precious stones , ivory , silver , copper , and other metals , besides a vast , quantity of linen infinitely valuublo for hospital purposes . The extent of those riohos may bo guessed from tho fact , that on the relief ho had " to look after no less than one hundred and eighteen ammunition boxes of tho king ' s treasure , and tho orown jewels , besides eight barrels of precious stones , ultogothor occupying thirty-six carts and tumbrils . "

      Tho lino of retreat—for wo oan hardly call it tho march—from tho Alumbagh to Oawnporo , though tho army was certainly in possession of tho spolia "opima , wns so encumbered , and Sir Colin ' s foroo so small , tlfat tho author was ' not oven allowod a European guard for all this poporty . To tho honour of all oonoorued , lot us add , no accomplished his task with only one cavalry sorgpunt , and a sergeant ' s party of Sikhs , and , crossing tho

      Cawnpore bridge of boats on the 29 th of November under fire , regained the small encampment which was all we could call our own at that once splendid station . Here his health soon gave way . He had for some time , been supporting physical by mental energy , and when the latter ceased to play , the former gave way , arid he was obliged to return home on sick leave , -bearing with him the public thanks of the Governor-General in Council , and the honourable mention of Sir James Outram .

      There is as little expression of opinion upon Indian or military topics in the volume , before us as attempt at word-painting . The Major had too much to do during the progress of the Allahabad movable column to look after anything but military matters , and is clearly too much of a soldier to confer with or enlighten the British public about these . The opinions he does offer mostly coincide with those that many other men of standing have published on the subjects of the mutiny ' and the war . He delivered his opinion , as long ago as the 21 th of July , 1 S 57 , that the entire population of Oude was against us , and that the annexation of that province was at the bottom of all .

      Nothing ( he says ) can exceed the virulence of the old Sepoys against us , and , compared with them , the armed people of Oude are mild as sucking-doves . The Sepoys , in fact , fought with halters round their necks , while the Oudeans , hostile as they were , fought for the most part only as the vassals of feudal chiefs or upstart zemindars . The lax state of discipline ( he says again ) observed in the native army , coupled with the annexation of Oude , has mainly led to rebellion . A native array should be allowed to number only one-third of our forces , and the strictest discipline should be maintained by officers , whose sole interest should be in their several regiments .

      Although quite agreeing with the author with respect to the bearing upon _ thc rebellion of our relaxed discipline and of the annexation of Oude , we can hardly sec how— - knowing as he must the system that prevails in the India Service , and the changes that the British Horse Guards are most likely to'introduce into . it—he can venture upon , the hope that the sole interestof officers should be in their respective regiments . He must know , we imagine ,

      that heretofore the great object of nearly every officer has been to get detached or staff appointment as soon as practicable , for the very natural reasons that such * appointments bring not only the probability of " earlier honour than the company officer may hope for , but also the certainty of _ increased emoluments arid higher recognised position . Regimental duties have been , under the old regime , to some extent neglected by men whose influence at Leadenhall-street made it worth their while to

      study for stalTappointments , and discipline has been relaxed by such as had no hope , as well as by those who had no ambition and no real industry or love of the profession . ITor mere regimental pay , without the stimulus of hope or ambition , such men as have honoured their country in the present war will not be found ready to tempt coups dc soldi and cholera . There will soon be some difficult cards'to play about the Indian army , for the evil of this restlessness of regimental officers'is widely recognised . The authorities at . home will , in all probability , be glad enough to avail themselves , if peace ensues , of the pretence it will offer to confer military appointments of value upon Queen ' s officers from home , and to withdraw those of tho native army from political agencies they now enjoy , substituting , of

      courso , nominees of influential people hero . Then wo may expect heartburning , jealousy , bittcrncssot spirit , and indifference indeed , unless , as before said , wo draw our officers for India from a lower grade of socioty , perhaps from the ranks themselves . Without reference , howovor , to these or suchlike questions of policy , wo oan heartily rocommond tho gallant officer ' s pagos to our readers . Ilis simple and unaH'colcd narrative , written in fragments during tho campaign , is free from all truoo of literary artifice It reveals in every page tho man of feeling , and , if other proof be wanting , hit ) resignation of the well-paid ana nearly sinecure judges !) ip for tho fearful office of practical cartridge-maker general , sneaks volumos ojsowhoro , in addition to what has already been published , for his bravery and devotion .

      Curiosities Qf Literature. By P'Israoll,...

      Curiosities qf Literature . By P'Israoll , Son . Vol . II . ( Routlodgo and Co . ) -rNo ono will fool otbonviso thnn grateful to Messrs . lioutlcdgo for tho rapidity with which they are pushing forward tho publication of thoso . volumes , so full of ourtous and instructive matter . Wo may notice that the iaauo la in a cheap form , and there - foro tho work is nccoaslblo to u wido circle of roadors .

      A Life Of Linn/Eus. A Life Of Linnaeus. ...

      A LIFE OF LINN / EUS . A Life of Linnaeus . By Miss Bright-well , of Norwich . ' .. ' .. ¦ Van Voorst . Opposite to the river front of Chelsea College has newly risen out of a swamp and unsightly marsh lands , drained , till of late only , by primitive ditches , one of the ornaments of the metropolis , connected with the northern bank of the Thames by as han dsome a bridge as any which crosses our noble river . As we loiter along the newly made gravel walks of Battersea Park , and admire the flowers , following the stream upwards , two stately cedars stand out in bold relief onthe . oppositebank , westwards of the hospital . Those cedars mark the site of the ] 3 otanieal Gardens at Chelsea , the first garden in Great Britain which was laid out according to the system

      of a young Swede , who visited . London m 1730 , and whom the older and celebrated naturalists of the day openly accused of " confounding all botany . " The curator of those gardens at this time was a practical man , whose Gardener ' s -Dictionary has made the name of Philip Miller familiar to most of us . Unlike Sir Hans Sloane , who viewed the innovations of the-young stranger with suspicion and dislike , and all but snubbed him , notwithstanding his being the bearer of a letter of introduction to him from the celebrated Bocrhaave , which any one may still sec in the British jMuseum , and which is alilce honourable to the writer and the bearer , Miiier showed him every attention , supplied him with , inany rare plants , and forwarded the objects of his journey by every means in his power . Amongst other naturalists who welcomed Linnaeus to our

      shores—for the young Swede was no other than the great botanist himself—were Dr . Shaw , the Oriental traveller , and the celebrated Dillonius , whose History of Mosses and . Corals is st ill a text book on . those branches of natural history . Dillcnius had been as much opposed , to the " innovations" Lihnceus as any mau , and when . the latter presented to him his letters of introduction at Oxford , he treated him with all but rudeness , using the words , we have quoted , to a friend present on the occasion — " , this is thc . young man who confounds all botany . " liinnseus did not understand English , but the similarity in sound of the obnoxious word to the Latin confundere gave him a clue to the meaning , and before he left Oxford he took occasion to seek

      an explanation . Upon this , Billenius took him to his library and showed him a sheet of the Geneva Pluntanan , -which Gronovius had forwarded to him from Holland . It was marked in sundrv places with notes of query . Wlutt signify those marks ? " asked Liniuaus . " They signify all the false genera of plants in your book , wasitne reply . This challenge led to nn explanation , in whicti Linnsous proved his accuracy in every instance , ine result was an entire change on the part of Dulemus , who afterwards detained Linnccus with him a nwntn ; and found so much satisfaction in his company , that no kept him ulwavs in close converse , scarce leaving mm an hour to himself . At last he parted from him uit tears in his eves , after making him the oiler to stay am share his salary , which would have sufuced for tliem

      both . But if scientific men , with all the prejudices ot scientific men to be overcome , became thus tarcmy converts to the novel classification ol plants , it was not so with the foil' sex . Linmcus had cast aside a barbarous Latin jargon , and substituted m its plnct an easy and descriptive nomenclature , and the oiu " conjuration of hobgoblins , " as Kousscuu has happily termed the former , Imcl . by his moans become extinct , and tho delightful study ol botany thus rendered attractive by the substitution ol inoro appropriate names for herbs and garden llotycra , oocamo a new source of rational enjoyment Dy no easy and pleasant ni « I hod introduced by Juin , wiuc » brought this delightful study within tho -attainment of nlP who loved ? t , nnd the fair sex wero amongst

      hia earliest converts . Lady Ann Monson In London , nnd Mrs . Dhicklurno ¦ at Oxford , wore among this number , and ho had a iih » enthusiastic admirer in Misa Jano Colikm ol Aineiira , who was introduced to hia nolico by one of his -em » . spondontfl , na tho only Indy then known to bo »« w """" " !* acquainted with tuo-Llnnnan system . Sho hail ¦ uiuw and doscribod four hundred plant * , according io " method , wtitg linnllsh terms . Pleased with the ii voi nnd Intorost thus lmmlfuatod , 1 . lnnrous neknowlcilgo u u sonao of them by preserving the mimes of two oi . w » ladies in tho vegetable kingdom ; nnd among other * 11 denominated two bomitlful plants , Mousonlft mm w » ° Indeed , it may truly bo said that , previous to Li" ; ncou 8 , tho forms of iiiiinmls and plants wore ueiliia clasailiod nor amuigod so as to mout tho wmus w

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 16, 1858, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16101858/page/12/