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Leader (1850-1860), 24th July 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20

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      New Books On India. Notes On The Revolt ...

      editorship , but the latter is in a great ; measure spoiled b y an external application of eloquence . Not that Mr . Cooper has always been , unsuccessful . He sometimes attains the lofty march , of language he is always striving after . If he -would refrain from attempting to be Gibbonian he might make a p leasant and powerful writer . His present subject is most interesting . We have all heard of the wonderful ' exertions of Lawrence and others , in the Punjaub—by which . India , if it eveT was in danger of being lost , was certainly saved . But we hare not yet had an accurate account of the crisis ; and no one is better qualified than Mr . Cooper , from opportunities of information , to give it to us . it appears that at Meean Meer

      There was a Bound of revelry "b y night on the 12 th of May , when the news of the massacre at Meerut and Delhi arrived . Whilst the dancers , oppressed by the consciousness of coming disasters , yet conscious that no excuse for a panic must be given , were endeavouring to feign pleasure and festal excitement , Mr . Montgomery was conferring with Brigadier Corbett on the first step in that brilliant and rapid course of repression and reorganization to which , so much is due . We cannot find space to quote the description : of the first disarmament ; and , indeed , prefer to pick out here and there little bits which snow the kind of colour in which this

      Punjaub tragedy is coloured . Mr . Cooper , whilst often using grandiloquent expressions such as " Cholera , the Moloch of the East / 3 sometimes strikes off very good ones :- — " The state of the country around began to exhibit a gjloomy change of aspect . Everywhere the veneer of European civilization was peeling off . ' * Nothing can better paint the position of things in India immediately after the outbreak . Then a good anecdote admirably suggests the Homan character of the countrymen who were charged to defend our interests . Sir John Lawrence is at whist , and receives a message asking for advice from the Commander-in-Chief . His answer

      - —* ' When in doubt , win the trick . Clubs are trumps s not spades . " Can anything be better . Sir John seems to have counted too enthusiastically on support from England at the outset of the mutiny : — " Already from every quarter English soldiers are pouring into India , * ' said he , in a proclamation last June twelvemonth , just when the first effective reinforcements weire starting on their tedious voyage round the Cape . Mr . Cooper represents the feeling in India when he says : —" Tea thousand men overland , then , were worth one hundred thousand round the Cape . " Mr . Cooper seems to derive a stern pleasure from describing the numerous executions which necessarily took place in this struggle to keep down a sanguinary insurrection : —

      A . Subadar Major of the 51 st had been captured and hanged , boasting that he had been a rebel for more than a y « ar , and that the English rule -was at an end . On this man ' s person were found nine hundred rupees . He inquired what was to be done with his money % having , ho doubt , in his mind some testamentary disposition to make , and revolving therein the question as to residuary legatees . He was informed that after deducting 84 rupees , the price of the gallows on which he was to swing , the balance would be credited to the State . If we had space we should certainly quote the animated account of the panic at Simlah , but we must reserve ourselves for the following tragic scene . The curtain rises at Umrit . sur .:

      —Ten by ten the sepoys were called forth . Their names having been taken down in succession , they were pinioned , linked together , and marched to execution ; a firing party being in readiness . Every phase of deportment was manifested by the doomed men , after the sullen fring of volleys of distant musketry forced the conviction of inevitable death : astonishment , rage , frantic despair , the most stoic calmness . One detachment , as they passed , yelled to the solitary Anglo-Saxon

      magistrate , aa he Bat under the shade of the police station performing hia solemn duty , with his native officials around him , that he , the Christian , would meet the same fate ; then as they passed the reserve of young Sikh soldiery , who were to relieve the executioners after a certain period , they danced , though pinioned , insulted the Sikh religion , and called on Gvngajee to aid them ; bat they only in one instance provoked a reply , which was instantaneously checked . Others again petitioned to be allowed to make one last " salaam" to the Sahib .

      About 160 having been thus executed , one of the executioners swooned away ( he was the oldest of the firing party ) , and a little respite was allowed . Then proceeding , the number bad arrived at two hundred and thirty-seven { when the district officer was informed that the remainder refused to come out of the bastion , where they had been imprisoned temporarily a few hours before . Expecting « ruth and resistance , preparations

      were made against escape ; but little expectation was entertained of the real and awful fate which had fallen on the remainder of the mutineers : they had anticipated , by a few short hours , their doom . The doors were opened , and , behold ! they were nearly all dead ! Un « consciously , the tragedy of Holwell ' s Black Hole had been re-enacted . No cries had been heard during the night , in consequence of the hubbub , tumult , and shouting of the crowds of horsemen , police , tehseel guards , and excited -villagers . Forty ^ five bodies , dead from fright , exhaustion , fatigue , heat , and partial suffocation , were dragged into light , and consigned , in common with all the other bodies , into one common pit , by the hands of the village sweepers .

      One sepoy only was too much wounded in the conflict to suffer the agony of being taken to the scene of execution . He was accordingly reprieved for Queen's evidence , and forwarded to Lahore , with some forty-one subsequent captures , from ITmritsur . There , in full parade before the other mutinously disposed regiments at Meean Meer , they all suffered death by being blown away from the cannon ' s mouth . The execution at Ujnalla commenced at daybreak , and the stern spectacle was over in a few hours . Thus , within forty-eight hours from the date of the crime , there fell "by the law nearly 500 men . All the crowds of assembled natives , to whom

      the crime was fully explained , considered the act ¦ ' righteous" but incomplete ; because the magistrate did not hurl headlong into the chasm the rabble of men , women , and children who had fled miserably with the mutineers : they marvelled at the clemency and the justice of the British . A tumulus has been erected over the grave ( already called moofnidgar , or rebels' hole , by the people of the vicinity ) , and it can be seen from a great distance ; as it is on the high road , travellers ask and ponder over the tale I Hereafter the " rebels' grave" wul be imprinted in tall capitals over the masonry in Persian , Goormoofchi , and English .

      " There is a well , " says Mr . Cooper , energetically , " at Cawnpore , but there is also one at Ajn ^ la ! " This is . one of tlie expressions that adorn his pages : they are disfigured by suck others as the following , apropos of 'the ; electric telegraph : — " But for " God's lightning , ' (?) simultaneity had been added to spontaneity , and the empire was not worth a week's purchase . " " General Nicholson had adopted a centrical position . ' * These are more important matters than at first sight appear . They suggest at first that the writer'is chiefly occupied in Ending rhetorical phrases instead of arranging and criticizing his facts . However , this does ' not appear to be so . The volume is trustworthy , and we recommend it as indispensable to a right comprehension , of the glorious stand made for the interests and the honour of England iu the Punjaub .

      The interest of the greater part of Mr . Itaikes ' s voliime is more local . It deals chjelly with the vicissitudes of Agra during the rebellion , ; but contains , of course , the usual chapter on the " Character of the Revolt "— " Out future relations with the princes and people of India , " & c . —with which we shall not at present interfere . Mr . Railces had been summoned from the Punjaub to take his scat as a Judge of the Suddcr Court at Agva just one year before the outbreak . He asserts of the

      North-Western Provinces : — " The mass of the people were quiet and as contented as any semi-barbarian people can be with a strong Government . Not a whisper of treason , rebellion , or disaffection ^ vas heard : agriculture and commerce were thriving , population increasing , when on this busy working scene broke the revolt ; . " Disastrous news soon thickened round A-gra after the 12 th of May , for at that date also does this narrative begin . Here is a sketch of Mr . Colvin in . one of his difficult positions : —

      Colvin addressed the 8 rd Europeans first , telling- them to feel no distrust of their native fellow-soldiers , -whom they should consider brothers in arms —( our honest fellows looked as if they -would nevertheless like to have a sliot at their brothers ) . Ho added , the rascals nt Delhi have killed a clergyman ' s daughter , and if you should have to meet them in the field you -will not forget tiiis . Then came tho Bepoys' turn . The Lieutenant-Governor said , that he fully trusted them , naked them to come forward if they had any complaints to make , and offered to discharge on tbe spot any man who wished to leave his colours . Prompted by their officers to cheer , the sepoys set up a yell ; they looked , however , with a devilish scowl at us all .

      Here is a specimen from Sic Henry Lawrence ' s correspondence : — ' Wo are pretty jolly , but if tho Coinmn . nder-in-Chief delay much longer ho may have to recover Cawnpore . Lucknow , and Allahabad ; indeed nil down to Calcutta" Wo are in a funny position . "While wo are entrenching two posts in tho city , wo are virtually besieging four regiments ( in a quiot way ) with three hundred Europeans . Not very pleasant diversion to my civil duties . I am daily in tho town four milos olF for some

      boors , but reside in cantonments guarded by the eenti / men we are besieging ! " . B « aue-_ A little scene at Agra explains by what qualities Europeans are enabled to maintain the ascendant over Asiatics : — ^ "uant The men imagined that an attack was intended and ran in all directions , carrying their arms , and threaten ing to shoot any one who came near them . My vouno friend , Lieutenant Williams , who had left our garrisoJ atCandaharee Bagh to reconnoitre , met some of these men , who began loading their muskets , vociferatin e and abusing him . Placing his hand in his breast , he told them to fire ; on this they slunk away abashed and most of them eventually gave up their arms on reach mg cantonments . « acu-Mr . Colvin has been so much criticized that it is as well to know what manner of niau he reaLIv was : — '

      ** AnAa the English were at bav Mr . Colvin expected much from his subordinates but he had a heart to feel for theii sufferings . He could not bear to give up station after station to anarchy , neither could he quietly see his trusted friends and officers butchered like sheep . The struggle consumed him "The wrath of God is upon us , " he exclaimed , "if , Ve retire into the Fort . " ^ Att answer to many caLumnies is contained in the following anecdote : —

      I must describe the conduct of tbe Britsh soldier in the day of sickness and pain . For weeks that the ladies watched over their charge , never was a word said by a soldier which could shock the gentlest ear . When all was over , and when such of the sick and wounded as recovered were declared convalescent , the soldiers , in order , as they expressed it , to show their gratitude for the kindness of the ladies ,, modestly asked permission to

      invite their nurses and all the gentry and society of Agra to an . entertainment in the beautiful gardens of the Taj . There , under the walls of the marble mausoleum , amidst flowers and music , these rough veterans , all scarred and mutilated as they were , stood up to thank their countrywomen who bad clothed , fed , and visited them when they were sick . Every lady in Agra was ready to join in this good work , and hot one of them but will bear testimony to the delicacy of feeling and conduct , as well as the hearty gratitude , of these brave ¦

      men . ¦ . - . . : ¦ ... ¦ . ¦ . . ¦;• ¦ We will conclude our extracts from this interesting diary by the following description of the deserted palace of the Nawab of l ? urruckabad , who had been executed for murder : — A fine palace , full of every luxurious appliance , mirrors , chandeliers , lustres , pictures , books , and furniture , suddenly deserted—not a Iiuman creature left—save one or two withered hags , in tlie Zenana ; cats , parrots , pet dogs , clamorous for food . Outside , in the shady terraces and summer-houses , and round the family

      mausoleum , wandered animals in quest of water or food , nylghai ( blue-deer ) , barasingha ( twelve-horned deer ) , and other pet deer ; on the wall a little black puppy yelping , aud a dog howling piteously ; in the poultryyard geese shut up , and making a frightful noise ; at the stables grain for seven horses ready steeped and in separate portions , but the horses pawing , looking round , and starving , with food in their sight ; monkeys , cockatoos , and an elephant , who had broken loose , and was helping himself to food—formed one of the strangest yet saddest pictures I ever saw .

      Mr . llaikes ' s volume is rich in such quotable matter ; and its only defect , as we have hinted , is the fragmentary way in which the facts are strung together and the allusive tone in which they are often treated . Like Mr . Cooper ' s work , however , it is a genuine book ; ami we arc certain will form part of every good Indian library .

      716 The Leader; [No. 535, Jiti* 24 1858 ...

      716 THE LEADER ; [ No . 535 , Jiti * 24 1858 i————¦— " * ¦ = — = J—l-J ^ - - ¦ ' —; i *

      Coins, Currency, And Banking. A Treatise...

      COINS , CURRENCY , AND BANKING . A Treatise on Coins , Currency , and Banking , with Observations on the Bank Act of 1841 , and on the ltcportu of the Committees of the House of Lords and of the J / ovsi of Commons on the ISanh Acts . My Henry Nicholas Senly , Esq . Longman and Co . Persons who arc not deep in the theory of exchange —who have not mastered Lord Overstone ' s -works , or gone gono through n . course of Ricardo or Mill , or taken a plunge into the Bank Charter buttle , or waded through a Blue Book on a monetary

      ci'isisrarc npt to imagine that such studies require some training in reasoning and methods of investigation . Writers who have voluntarily devoted themselves to these abstruse and repulsive questions me supposed to " scorn delights aiul lovo laborious dnys , " to glory in mental clibrt , and to have a relish lor difficulties of all kiuds . A little attention to the subject , and a slight perusal of the mass of works on tho currency which every season adds to our national library , would probably chaugo this opinion . Tho curronoy p hilosopher , aa a rule , is " born , i" > made . " lie is an inspired being , generally pro-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 24, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24071858/page/20/