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*Wall ount the at the st old out 1204 TH...
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SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE FROM INDIA. We ar...
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ACCIDENTS ANJ> SUDDEN DEATHS. A third-cl...
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IRELAND. The Mayo Elkction. — Mr. Ousele...
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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 Kevolt. ¦ —* ' Tdhe Fulness O...
Manro * s Wall , mount the steps at the back of the gunshed , and fire down on the mutineers , who , being unable to touch , them , would soon be cut up ; "but it could not be done for want of cartridges , and he also remarked , that had a few blue lights been thrown in , the men would have been shot down in a quarter of an hour , for they could not have lived under such a fire , and thus the risk been spared ! We owe our lives to their firing half an inch too much elevation to their guns , or every man of us had been shot . Well , dear S ., what do you think ? Millar ' s name was not even at first mentioned -with the others , though Colonel Macdougall , Murray , Uoyd , and others , have complimented him on his bravery , and he has quite von a name amongst the men . It is not cheering to the soldier who lives and cues for laurels , is it ? Millar , being a surgeon , might have gone to the rear without dishonour ; but he nobly m ^^ fe «' r ^^ __ .-- * . * ^ " 1 _ j _ . -i * t m * "^ - « ¦ - -
risked his life and purse for success . This is the stuff to make a Havelock ! and raethinks the Victoria Cross might be worse placed than on his breast . We have talked about it amongst ourselves , I assure you , and as you knew and liked him so much , I thought it would give you pleasure to hear of his gallant conduct in this affair . Fred . Legrave behaved gallantly , and was the first to step to the front to charge the guns . We have four or five to blow away from guns presently . After two or three battles , we shall do , and never trust blacks again . Millar has started a sleeping party at the top of his house . They have a battery of rifles , guns , muskets , revolvers , and dogs , that will astonish the natives , if the 16 th Scinde Horse and Bengal Cavalry join the hill tribes . A battery of European artillery comes to-morrow , and a company of the Queen ' s 4 th . I shall volunteer for the ' Avenging Angel '—the army that will assemble here , and sweep Bengal .
*Wall Ount The At The St Old Out 1204 Th...
1204 THE k j ^^ _ ¦ ¦ ¦ r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ " ^^^^ Mi ^^ MMBH ^ BMMHB ^ MHMHKMMMMH M
Special Correspondence From India. We Ar...
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE FROM INDIA . We are at length enabled to present a series of special letters from the heart of India written by a British officer on the field of contest , which reflect the real opinion of the highest civil and military classes . Our correspondent is an old and valued collaborateur , and the letters we shall continue to publish will show that he commands the best information , and is capable of appreciating , with rapidity and precision , every event as it arises . Nagpore , November 10 , 1857 .
The map of India will show you what a central position this large city occupies in the peninsula ; and the course of events within the last six months has proved it to be as critical and influential a position politically as it is locally central . Here the two great languages of Central and Western India ^ the Mahratta and the Oordoo meet and partially coalesce , and nearly all the races of Hindostan , the Deccan , and the Carnatic are to be found either settled in trade or in the public service , or following in the train of the large brigade of Madras troops . For with the exception of two or three small detachments of one or two companies on the banks of the Nerbudda , this has been for years
the advanced post of the Madras army . Here then , if anywhere , the contagion of the mutiny would first have affected that large body of native troops who have hitherto proved themselves so worthy of reliance . The Madras army has always been kept in a state of stricter discipline than the Bengal army , and its ranks are in a great measure recruited from humbler and more tractable ranks of the population . But more than one-third of its numbers is composed of Mussulmans , and a good proportion of these are what is called ' ashraff , ' or nobly born , men of respectable families , wlio formerly , according to their traditions , could aspire to posts of the greatest distinction in the service of the Nabobs and Rajahs of the
Deccan , Mysore , and the Cnruatic ; and we must never forget the mutiny at Vellore . Our great mistake in almost every department of the Government and administration of India has always been the notion that the natives were a cold , spiritless race , who cared for nothing but the satisfaction of their daily wants , and who were almost entirely devoid of ambition , national feeling , and attachment to their ancient princes and nobles . From sheer want of sympathy our Government has been purely doctrinaire , unable to believe that a well-arranged and well-intended system could ever fail to produce the desired result , and forgetting that no machine can ever be stronger than its weakest point . Our weakest point has been caused by tho deluge of lishmenwho
young ignorant Eng , -m the lust of patronage has sent forth in a stream , increasing steadily during tho last quarter of a century . This had led to the establishment of tho ' damned nigger' system in overy department , civil and military . Boys just emancipated from school , who care for nothing but beer , billiards , and ' baccy , ' whose very ignorance of their language and customs makes them dislike and despise their native subordinates , arc placed in charge of companies of Sepoys ; and the Sepoys are told , and tho world ia told , that tho native troops tan do nothing without their European officers . The fact is that the Sepoys , like all troops , will not fight without leaders , and tho European ofllcera are tho only loaders they have ; tho so-called native officers , the Subahdars and Jemadars , are for the
most part old worn-out men , and even in the Bombay army , where promotion by seniority is not the rule as it was in the late Bengal army , and as it is in a slightly modified form in the Madras army , the native officers are not men calculated by any superiority of social rank , erudition , or distinction , to command the respect or obedience of their men . They have all sprung from the ranks , and they have at once too little and too much influence with the common Sepoys—too little from their — _ * j 4 ^ _ - '— . — -
possessing no personal claims to respectful consideration , too much from their prejudices and predilections being identical with those of the common Sepoys , in whose ranks their oavii brothers and sons are serving ; so tliat in a time of temptation and excitement they can do nothing but follow the multitude , with whose objects they cannot but sympathize , or , should the feeling of duty be paramount , devote themselves and die with the European officers . Resist the tide they cannot , and but seldom , it is said , have tho native officers of the
mutinous regiments been able to preserve their rank in the rebels' camp ; they have had to give way to leaders chosen for their prowess or intelligence . The ' damned nigger' delusion and the lust of patronage , in defiance of facts and experience , have persuaded our rulers that there is no such thing as a native gentleman in existence—no possibility of our inducing anv native to qualify himself for the position of a really trustworthy officer of rank over the native soldiery . There are several stereotyped objections , besides , to any admission of natives to such posts ; but they are really unworthy of notice in the presence of the total arid final
smash of the Bengal army on the ' damned-nigger ' -andbeer-and-biiliard-Ensign system . The break-down , after all , has been in the European officers . They liave proved themselves , throughout the late mutinies , to be utterly useless as a part of the regimental establishment ; They showed themselves to have no commanding or restraining power over their men , and they were invariably up to the last moment utterly ignorant of their men ' s intentions or views . They had , in fact , nothing in common with them , no influence over them . The native officers , for the reasons already detailed , were equally useless , and as unwilling to give information as the European officers were unable to obtain it . The fact is , that the European officers—with the exception of about
two or three in each regiment , of whom tho commanding officer is occasionally one—are in the Madras and Bombay armies now as they were in the late Bengal army , perfect nonentities , with hardly any duties or responsibilities , and no inclination to discharge even those . In the field of battle , in active service , they feel themselves called upon for exertion ; they have a motive and an object , and they behave as English gentlemen always do . The duty , however arduous , is usually for the regimental officers simple and straightforward . The Sepoy understands them , and they understand the Sepoys under such circumstances , and they learn to appreciate their
respective good qualities . There are good men among the officers of the Indian army , as all may see in those who are brought forward aud placed in positions of activity and responsibility ; but ordinary regimental duty , without authority or the possibility of useful action , which oppresses all alike , from the colonel bound by the fetters of routine and centralization , down to the ensign whose ignorance and instinctive dislike of ' blacks ' hand him over to beer and billiards , must be demoralizing and depressing beyond all other spheres of existence . And it is so . Hundreds of promising boys are ruined by it in body and soul .
And , after all , even setting aside for the moment the grand explosion and collapse of the Bengal army , what earthly excuse lias- there ever been for this deluge of young E uropean officers , who have destroyed the selfrespect , alienated the affections , and washed the spirit out of ovir Sepoys ? Our local and , as they are called , irregular regiments , both cavalry and infantry , are quite equal in appearance and steadiness on parade to the average of regiments of the line with tho full complement of European officers , and have always proved themselves quite equal in their conduct under fire . The irregular cavalry regiments of the Hyderabad contingent , who are better paid than the majority of such corps , are far superior in appearance and for all practical purposes to
any of our regular native cavalry corps , and costs , man or man , less than a third of the expense of the regular regiments . Does anyone suppose that twenty European oflicoi a add to tho physical strength of a native corps ? Wo see from the fate of the Bengal army how much they add to the influence and authority of Government over the men , and the same faults , in a not much mitigated , form , may be seen by any observant and independent looker-on in the Madras and Bombay armies also . Lot me in a few words sum up my recommendations . Only two or three selected and well-qualified officers
should bo placed in each native battalion , and tho commandant should bo supreme . General Jacob , whoso pamphlets I am glad to seo have not escaped notice at home , long ago enforced , with considerable clearness and point , that with a system of publicity , open durbar , or ordorly room , and reports to superior authority , a commandant cannot bo trusted with too much or too summary authority . If his reports nud returns prove hid incorrigible incapacity or injustice , send him ba « k to ordinary regimental duty . In the Queen ' s regiments serving in India , and iu tho Company ' s artillery and European infantry , thcro is quite n
wide enough , field for selection ; and officers will soon , commence to qualify themselves , if prospects of command , emolument , and promotion are held out to them For Heaven ' s sake don ' t let the twenty-five new Sikh regiments raised by Sir John Lawrence in the Punjab be spoiled- by deluging them with the broken-down officers of the Bengal infantry . I am sorry for them ; I don ' t blame them so much as the system which had been established by four generations of Bengal officers and Bengal Sepoys ; but they have broken down with the
system , and with the system they ought to disappear With the regimental system they ought to disappear as regimental officers . A vast number of them are doinogood service on the staff , in civil employ , with the irregular regiments before mentioned , and ' in European regiments ; but as to the remainder , let them be pensioned , or made bishops , or anything else that is ornamental and harmless ; but let them never again be placed in charge of men whom they never understood , never liked , and never commanded . E B
Accidents Anj> Sudden Deaths. A Third-Cl...
ACCIDENTS ANJ > SUDDEN DEATHS . A third-class train from Liverpool ran , a few daj-s ago , into another train in One of the tunnels on the Stour Valley line . Both trains were moving in the same direction at the time , or the consequences might have been worse ; but , as it was , the collision was sharp . Sixteen or eighteen persons were hurt—rsome very considerably . The line is generally so admirably managed that this is the first accident which has taken place in the tunnels since the opening of the rail five years ago . Trains are not allowed to enter the tunnels unless it has been ascertained by telegraph that the line is clear through ; but on tlie present occasion there is some disagreement of statement between the officers at the two ends of the tunnel as to "whether a message had been sent , authorizing the third-class train to proceed .
For some time past , * certain alterations have been going on in the East Bute Dock , Cardiff . The water was accordingly turned out of the dock , and the inner gates of the lock were taken away , as it was considered that they were not strong enough for the pressme of the water . Another pair was ready to be placed there ; but , a few days ago , a large portion of the eastern wall gave way , carrying with it the foundation , the tramway , and a quantity of iron ore which was alongside . No one appears to have been hurt . The ground , until recently , was a marsh ; and this , combined with the withdrawal of the support given by the water , seems to have led to the accident .
A singular death , though not unlike one which-we recorded a few weeks ago , has taken place at Carlisle . John Pattinsoii , a brazier and tinsmith , became very much embarrassed , and last Saturday he was arrested in the market-place by a County Court officer . He appeared greatly agitated , and , after a vain endeavour to arrange matters , was taken off to gaol . In accordance Svith his request , he was conveyed through a very private part of the town . Suddenly he dashed away , ran down a street with a field at the end , leaped a gate , and made for the river Eden , which flows at the further extremity of the field . The officer followed , and saw the fugitive jump into the stream . A man on the opposite bank shouted out some directions to Pattinson how to proceed ; but in another moment he was carried away by the current , and drowned .
A large chimney , one hundred and twenty feet high , in connexion with the Ouse Chemical Works at Howdcn-dyke , nearllowden , fell into the vitriol chamber of the establishment last Saturday evening , causing a great destruction of property , the loss of seven lives , and severe injury to four persons .
Ireland. The Mayo Elkction. — Mr. Ousele...
IRELAND . The Mayo Elkction . — Mr . Ouseley Higgins , who contested Mayo at the last general election , and was beaten by the exertions of Fathers Conway and Kyanfor which services to the Church they are about to be prosecuted , ns the reader already knows—has issued an address intimating that he will not again stand for the borough . " If tho battle could be fought constitutionally , " ho writes , " there would bo no doubt as to the result ; " but ho has received so many proofs that the same illegal acts would be again resorted to in order to defeat him , that he docs not foci warranted in subjecting tho electors nnd himself ' to the dangerous and wearisome ordeal . ' It is thought that Lord John Brown will bo the man favoured by the clcttors .
Tiual vow Slandkk . —Mr . George Strcvcns , nephew of the Mrs . Kelly who was mysteriously murdered last April twelvemonth , has brought an action in the Dublin Court of Exchequer against Mr . Christopher Campion , an attorney who for many years ucted as the legiil adviser of the murdered woman , und who was residing ia her house when the- crime was committed . Tho ollcnco imputed to Mr . Campion is that ho hna publicly used words implying that Mr . StrflvoiiH wan concerned in tho murder . Both this plaintiff and tho defendant were arrested at tho time under suspicion ; but they woio discharged , and tho uiurderor . s hnvo never been found out . Tho action is not yet completed .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 19, 1857, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19121857/page/4/
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