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Leader (1850-1860), 26th September 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 12, 824 ^ SlE l >Ii'tEJA. - .BTB!B: [Kcv^ga^...

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    • . ^ jf^T /T\ OKhft ^ r-v ^J* •* MLJ i flP'^^V ©<%" tf[ j% <\^ ^s^ >^^ J^ £^/ J\P J£ \ s 4 ' " r^• jgp (&~ ) » ^"^ ^—' SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1857
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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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      824 ^ Sle L >Ii'teja. - .Btb!B: [Kcv^Ga^...

      824 ^ SlE l > Ii'tEJA . - . BTB ! B : [ Kcv ^ ga ^ SBHTiEMBBB ^ ej 1867 ; .

      ¦Noticces To" Correspondents. [T Is Impo...

      ¦ noticCeS to" correspondents . [ t is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing td a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quiteindependeut of the merits of the communrca-• tion . Ko notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . W hatevei is intended for insertion must lie authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily forpiu > hcation , but as a guarantee of his good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

      . ^ Jf^T /T\ Okhft ^ R-V ^J* •* Mlj I Flp'^^V ©≪%" Tf[ J% ≪\^ ^S^ ≫^^ J^ £^/ J\P J£ \ S 4 ' " R^• Jgp (&~ ) » ^"^ ^—' Saturday, September 26, 1857

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      Satuhdat, September 26, 1857.

      SATUHDAT , SEPTEMBER 26 , 1857 .

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      ty nblit-malts *

      Phere Is Nothingso Revolutionary, Becaus...

      Phere is nothingso revolutionary , because tbcreis ¦ nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain . to keep ' things fixed when allthe -worldis by the very-Jaw of its creation , in eternal progress . —Db . Abnols

      The Calcutta Memorial. It Has Never Been...

      THE CALCUTTA MEMORIAL . It has never been our practice to sanction attacks upon public men simply on tlie ground that they belong to a particular class , or have been unfortunate in their administration . Every line which , appeared in our columns during the Crimean -war testified to our desire to avoid unjust reflections upon the unpopular ministers , Lord Abebdeien and the

      Duke of Newcastle . Especially have we refrained , upon all occasions , from reckless invective against men who , like Lord Cannin g , occupy responsible positions in times of confusion and calamity , and whose duties have to he performed in the midst of sudden alarms and even actual dangers . But it is impossible to resist the conclusion that , as Governor-General of India , Lord Canning stands convicted of indifference or

      incapacity . The case against him rests , not upon suspicion , but upon absolute evidence . We shall be careful to discard all merely insinuated or suggested accusations , although there are some which certainly « all for explanation . These may be put without prejudice in the form of questions . Was Lord Canning upon arriving in India ; warned by Lord Dalhousie that the Bengal army was in a state of

      dangerous disaffection , and that ten thousand additional European troops with able commanders should , be immediately sent for ? Have copies been kept of any letters addressed so early as 1856 to the , Governor-General Supreme and Supreme Council of Calcutta pointing out the necessity of instant precautionary measures ? Who remonstrated with Lord Canning against the supine indifference with which he looked on while the

      sacred cake was passed from hand to hand among myriads of soldiers ? If thes , e points can be explained there are others thatcannQt . Without exaggerating the importance , ofi the Calcutta Memorial , wo may say , that , tiO j our own knowledge , it represents the feelings and views of a very influential class , cpmpos , ed pf merchants and others , in ^ eccesied -... in , the good government , of India ,, and . likely ( to be well informed . These persona ; , coniplahv in point of fact , that in , spite of pren > oni 7

      tpry , signs , the Sepoy conspiracy , was allowed to ,, creep over Bengal like a cloud , in the , night . Is that false or true , ? , They add , that , notf only were . no measurea taken to prevent the : outbreak , ' but , ^ 0 , thing , fwas . . ' done , . to arm the au ^ ip , rjtJ 9 B with the rne , anB ( iQf ,, i ; epi ; e 8 s ^ on , A ^ i # Vy ; , P 9 fl WJqg W , « W o £ mpre th , ^ hui w 4 ; Wi u » fl » 4 . ° a , wfta & upcl to ^^^ ft ^ t ^^ o ^ m ^ frJa ^ W ^ pMt ^ r ^ i ^ ed Pj ^ V WW * ifiPft an 4 i , w ^ b * tfli S hiet ; . afc ^ ppn ^ RWWW * W' * $$$ IVP ^ M i | q ^) pQpg ( j % © i ^ Jieatpj ^ < $ jan insurgent ; army ,, j . ; pejhj ,

      the great repository of Ordnance ; Cawnpore ^ a vast milary depot ; Allahabad , the barrier fortress between the Upper and Lower Provinces , were destitute of European garrisons . The storm broke over the North-West . A reasonable amount of apprehension , described in official sneers as a panic , was aroused at Calcutta , and the inhabitants petitioned for leave to incorporate themselves as a voluuteer force . Permission was refused . Xet , within a few weeks , Lord Canning found himself

      compelled to retract his refusal , and the Volunteer Corps constituted the safety of Calcutta . Next , the Europeans represented the imprudence of maintaining an armed native body-guard which , at any moment , might annihilate the local government of India . They were rebuked as the promoters of mischievous alarm . But of course they were right , and the Governor-General at

      length found it necessary to cease talking about confidence , and to deprive his praetorians of the power to burn and ravage the capital of British India . Not , however , before the events at Dinapore and Arrah had convinced Lord Canning that , to the massacres of Meerut and Cawnpore might be added the assassination of a Supreme Council and a Right Honourable Yiscount .

      His Lordship acted with a sovereign contempt of public opinion . To silence that opinion , and to screen himself , he put in force the Gagging Act , under which a number of able and moderate journals written in English , and one and all English in their spirit , were confounded with the spawn of Oordoo papers and broadsheets brimful of Mahratta . lies . Lord Canning , therefore , has to contend against two insurrections ; that of the Sepoys ,

      which others foresaw , and which he , perhaps , might have prevented , and that of the European mind in , India , which he has himself provoked , and which wilL result ^ not in viov lence , but if there be any sense or vigour in the Government or th « nation , in bis , supersession and recall . Prom ; .. Calcutta , Bombay , Madras , Singapore , Moulmein , Hangoou , and other ports in the Company ' s territories , petitions are announced imploring the British Cabinet to save . India from Lord Canning . It

      is difficult to conceive under what Oriental influences he lias acted . The first place where a mutiny broke out was at Berhampore , not mpre than a hundred au ' d twenty miles from Calcutta ; and Berhampore was the last place at which a total disarmament of the native troops was effected I ¦ ¦ The revolt or the lOfch Regiment took place in February .. ; It . was-. a merely local , affair , said the Governor- General ; but while Mr . Vernon Smith was tell * - ing the Houbo of Commons that ' the late

      disaffection had been completely ! put 1 an- end to , ' sixty -one regiments were iriaing . in rebel ? - lion , with batteries of artillery ,, and eorps of sappers and miners . . Successive explosions were heard , and the fire ran slowly towards Meerut , the principal military station of the North-We & t . ' An imbecile old , man who hud been fifty years in the service was left , in command ; and , naturally , the mutiny broke out with painful . results . Nothing was . done eyen to . get rid of the * imbecile old man , ' and the llohilcund xohels wore' thirty hours .

      crossing the * Qiuigev .- under his > eyea > ; arid tliOBQ of his twelve hundred European troopsj besides artillerymen . ; ., I Not ( V shot was fired . Lord // Cannj ^ g was ; still ,.. confident ; ,,, Theu came : . theMognl ptfoi ( jla , mntion-, nfc De-Lhi , where * nine , $ ngh > hvo 0 n . had . b . qpn > leftin olwrgo : o £ « , vast ; ars © na , L . BelU ^ tlipweverj . wafi . betteii . de ^ fended , , tban Allahabad ^ where , tliew » , | vuiBr ai park i of , . guns ,, with , forty thousand , muskets' / m ^ dy . # >? ,, fthe . i lnu ^ eers ,, had . ithejHmarauedi t h « t w ; av , w 4 th , wfeja ajinglciJSjuroiiftan within * hfl i -waJlB , , iThtfee & upBidud ,, one , cpirlpany . of foofc

      guarantee at Benares three months ^ jfter the public had lost confidence in the Bengal army . When Xucknow and Cawnpore were threatened , and while there was yet time to save the thousand victims-of Nena Sahib ' s butchery , a force of Ghoorkas might have kept the ground until K ^ velock arrived

      but , because their co-operation was accepted by an unauthorized commander , Lord Cannin g would not accept it . He ordered the Ghoorkas off the British territory . When they were off , he invited them back a ^ ain . Meanwhile , the Subahdar ' stank at Cawifpore was filled with the naked bodies of murdered Englishwomen and children .

      The government of secrecy and unity otherwise , despotism — established by the Gagging Act at Calcutta , is far more dangerous to the British power in India than the garrison of Delhi . " Our Generals , " snid Lord Noeth , " may frighten the enemy ; all I knowis that they frighten me . " Lord Cakntno frightens us . He might have put Dinapore

      and Arrah out of clanger by causing a regiment to halt three hours on its passage by river to the Upper Country . He might have allowed a diversion by the Nepaulese army in favour of Cawnpore . He might also have been responsible 3 by refusing to disarm his body-guard for a general massacre in Caleuttn . It is a fearful thing to contemplate—unlimited discretion and almost ¦ unlimited

      fatuity . Overrating himself and underrating the dangers of the country , what guarantee have we that Lord Canning is the man to whom should be entrusted the conduct of that gigantic struggle by which , if by auything , the English arc to regain the supremacy of India ? The curse of the nation is that . ik > guarantee is required from men in

      responsible situations . We insist as little upon qualifications as upon guarantees . Grenernl A _ nson was an ensign with the baggnge guard at Waterloo , and we made'him Commander ^ . in-Chief-an Ind ia ; -Fame' gathered by field-days in HydePark ha 8 been permitted to supersede great Indian reputations —Outiiam and Lawiience are no competitors of An son and Canning . The favourites

      may break down it is true ; but British nepotism is ingenious . To satisfy the public ( which is easily satisfied ) , a board of old Peninsulars will sit , and whitewash every one concerned . But we are anticipating . We have not yet made head against the rebellion , and if the feeble Government at-Calcutta should bend to the blast , it may at ; length be thought necessary by the nation at home that personal vanity should give way to imperial interests , and that India should be saved , even at the risk , of offence to Yiscount Canning and Mr . Yebnon Smith ;

      The Non-Ltecruiting Sergeant. " The War ...

      THE NON-ltECRUITING SERGEANT . " The War Office and the Horso-Ghiards lmve need now -of all their wits ; and of tlio quickest use ; oi ' them , " says the Times ; and our powerful contemporary prints one of its most spirited papers , the whole drift of which is , to . show that while the country needs m soldier's to : confront its enemies and to

      clmstise those who have ihilicbcd atrocious wrongs upon our conntrymeniaiid couilfci'ywoincn in India ,, the spirit . of-. the' nation itself is thoroughly , roused , and menaro offering in all directions ! for , jmilitaryisei > vic < y- It is not ' only , ! the ^ Tlitnes * iwhiclu'Toceiveavlbfctnrs IVom youngx . men inqkuig . ; erery conceivable sug- * gesfiioki . tio ( facilitate ' th o Bcrvico of our in « Tihaodiili , the afniy jlithei'Ho » se ; Ouftrds itsiO ^ , ' ' the WaTiDepiirtnidntjinndi ' imtny indi y i ( lnals who ,, are ; < siippoapd . itm ; possess ; ipoliticiil or officjali influence , d-ocoiVo : lcttora , of . 4 hc' name kiadi i Thai columns'of » bho ¦ ( ffivwa' -teem with propoeala fromi ¦ f 'A /<" S 7 oiang > . > Englislmwiv / *; jA ;'

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 26, 1857, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26091857/page/12/