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" Albert-gate , Sept . 7 , 1857 . " My Lord Mayor , —I have received from the Emperor the following despatch : — "' I send you 1000 ? . sterling as my personal subscription in favour of the officers and soldiers so cruelly afflicted in India . I also send you 400 / ., the result of the subscription of the Imperial Guard . We have not forgotten the generous subscription of the Queen and of the iEnglish people at the time of the inundations . ' " Receive , my Lord Mayor , the assurance of my high consideration . " F . D . Pbrsigny , Ambassador of France . u I send herewith an order for 1400 / . sterling . "
The following telegraphic despatch has been received from Colonel Phipps by the Lord Mayor . It is dated Balmoral , Septemher 9 th : —" You may announce subscriptions to the Fund for the Indian Sufferers of 1000 / . from the Queen , 300 / . from tlie Prince Consort , and 100 / . from the Duchess of Kent . " Lord Palmerston 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 1 O 01 . 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 Government 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 modif ying 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 God , we are all still in good health and safety , though we had a fright this motning , 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 my bath ready , when I heard her say , ' 0 b , 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 wejre 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 down to the bazaar , and told nobody was to go outside their own compound . He 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 Peahawur were coining across the hills to go into Cashmere , and that there was reason to believe that they were in the bazaar here , trying to raise the people . Mr . Baltze , Mr . MaoNabb , and Captain Bracken , with a guard , - went to the bazaar , but could not discover these men , but I am afraid there h 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 . Tho mutineers'
favourite time for attacking us is in church , and as tomorrow iB Sunday it will be an anxious day . Tho people are grown so impudent they go about shouting , ' Sahib togue ho raj hogue , ' i . e . l The reign of the English is over . ' Wo have eight men of Major Lumsden's regiment to guard us ; they are such fino fellows , wo f eel quite proud of them . They are called' Guides ; ' their uniform is the colour of tho ground , so that they cannot easily be distinguished . They are fighting splendidly before Delhi . When Aunt L and I wont out into
the verandah , these men -were loading their muskets and sharpening their bayonets , and looking not a little pleased at tlw prospect of a * row . * Aunt said to one , 1 If these mutineers come up to this house , shall you let any of thorn escape ? ' Tho man smiled grimly , and said , 4 Not one . ' I did not feel at all frightened , I am glad to say , though it waa enough to make one fear when one knows how they cut tho ladies at Delhi into pieces before each other ' s eyes ; and as for tho poor children , they set them in tho burning sun with nothing on their
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 Eifles got 1600 rupees ; they quite deserve it , but when thev get into the city what a ' loot' there will be with all tiiose 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 . Bobertson , prisoner , made a regular trial , English fashion , and hanged him . And at Allyghur 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 Jubbulpore , on July 17 th , remarks that " even ladies are getting quite hardened ; " and adds , " I really think I did feel pleasure in seeing hundreds of the rebels killed at and Meerufc . "
Lieutenant A . K . E . Hutchmson , Bheel agent and Political Assistant to the Governor-General at Bhopawur , Indore , made a sudden flight from his station to Inderpore tinder the influence of a false alarm that Holkar had proved faithless . He thus re lates the adventures encountered by himself and others on . their road : — "I hoped to reach Para at nightfall , where I had ordered nay servants to meet me . We travelled all day , which was , most 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 f or the night at the hut 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 . We got off again , and reached Jabwa early on the 5 th inst ., and received a kind welcome from the younc
Kajab , who assigned us one of his palaces for onr residence , and sent us dinner from his own table . We passed six dreary days her « , without clothes or books , or any news . However , I - wa 3 soon assured that Holkar had not turned against us , and I at once resolved to return to Indoro or Bhopawur . On the 8 th , the young Rajah received , a letter from Holkar , threatening vengeance should any insult be offered us , and telling him that lie had detached a party for our escort ; this party arrived on the 10 th inst . On tho 12 th , we left Jabwa under the escort of Holkar ' s troops . "
An escape from Indore is vividly sketched by one of the party , the wife of a medical man , who writes : — " After turning back from the Simrole road , we 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 , we had nothing but the ground to lie on , and had no food . Soon wo wont on again till daybreak , when wo came to a village where tho men bought some sweetmeats , and somebody ' s servant ( few had any servants with them ) made some cakes of conrao flour . Halted till eight a . m ., went on to Tuppa Bungalow , found somo brandy that Mrs . Magniac had forgotten to take away when she was there a month or so
eluding some European sergeants and telegraph signallers , and three children , was thirty-two in number At five p . sr ., went 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 Sundav made some clothes , and bought a few necessarv articles . Monday , the € th , went on at five r m halted at midnight for two hours ; on till nine a . at then halted for the day under a large tree—rain incessant on till midnight , when 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 lovel v scenery till sunset , when we reached the Nerbudda crossed over , reached Hoosingabad at about eight p m ' and were distributed among the differe nt persons here ' Our lot threw us to some very kind people , a Mr . and Mrs . Gordon , of the Madras 28 tlu 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 . " '
The following is 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 oa my own shoulders the responsibility of hanging them first , and asking leave to do so afterwards . That day was an awful one of suspense and anxiety . One of the prisoners was of a very high caste and influenceand
, this man I determined to treat with tie greatest ignominy , by getting the lowest caste man to hang him . To tell you tlie 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 had 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 lianged , and called on the Prophet and on his comrades to rescue him . This was an awful
moment ; an instant s 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 ropo adjusted , the elephant moved , and ho was left dangling . I then had tlie others up , and off in tho same way . And after some time , when I had dismissed tlie 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 Edwardcs , 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 besiege Delhi , and has had to stop and wait for reinforcements just as General Whish had at Mooltan . The rebels far exceed him in numbers and in guns . Tho numbers are of little consequence , for disorganized fragments o rebel regiments never can contend successfully with the serried battalions of a well-appointed army led by English officers . But it is a serious matter to have 150 pieces of artillery ( taken out « f our own magazine ) playing upon our camp . Engagements take place every two or three days , and we are easily victorious in tho open field . The enemy loses hundreds in evory skirmish , and tho heaps of dead arc re-plundered by our soldiers of all tho plunder they had secreted round their waists
. Wo lose very few men or officers . But wo do n ' t get into Delhi , and the delay damages our reputation , and encourages tho belief , artfully disseminated by the Brahmins and Moollahs , that ' prophecies ag ree that the English rule is now to end ! ' So tho deluded people rise here and there , and add to tho anarchy and confusion . We trust that 20 , 000 soldiers are now embarking from England , but they cannot reach till September , and you may judge what lias to be endured and dono during the intervening months . There never wna anything a hundredth part so serious in India before . This post , so far from being more arduous in future , will bo more secure . Events hero liavo taken 11 wonderful turn . During peaco Pesliawur wn » an incessant nnxioty . Now it is tho strongest point in India . Wo have struck two groat blows—wo havo disarmed
before had curry , r ico , and grilled fowl , but Bcarcely time to eat it , as tho people reported an enemy on befo re On and on till near midnight ; halted near a village some two hours ; again journeyed onwards till daybreak , when we camo to a village , and they told us so confidently an enomy was near that a gun was sent on , and all preparations woro made to force our way . Fortunately , no one appeared , and about seven a . m . we met two elephants , sent out by the political agent of Sohoro , Major Kicknrds . At nine a . m . reached a bungalow ; found tea bread-and-butter , and grapos , aent out by the samo kind person , curry and rice , two knives and forka and spoons among some eighteen hungry people . Our party , inl
our own troops , nn < l raised levies of all tlio people of the country . Tho troops aro confounded ; tlioy calculated on being backed by tho people . The pcoplo nro dolightcd , and a bettor feeling has sprung up l > otween thorn nnd us in thia enlistment than has cvor been obtained boforo . I hnyo also called on my old country , tho Derag&t , and it is quite delightful to
h « ads , and gave them no water , till thoy went mad 1 It makes mo so ferocious to think of it , I long to go and fight the wretches myself . They say our men fight like heroes . Some English hid themselves for somo days In a mosque at PelbJ . At last the Sepoys told them that if thoy would como out their lives should bo spared . They did ; and one lady said , ' You may kill mo if you Will give my child a littlo water . ' Thoy took her child from her and killed it , and then took all tho rest to the Palace , where they were murdered before tho King .
_ " AH the insurgents who aro wounded by our Enficld rifles aro immediately killed by their comrades , na tho Bnfield riflois discharged by tho objectionable cartridge , 80 the m « n wlio are wounded by it havo lost caste . Tho
Untitled Article
868 TJ ^__ I ^_ AjnBj ^ ^ [ No ^ SgO , September 12 , 1857 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 12, 1857, page 868, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2209/page/4/
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