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Leader (1850-1860), 22nd May 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 495

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      threatened from both sides by the enemy , and with , little prospect of permanent relief for several weeks to come . ¦ ¦ ' : The operations of Sir Hugli Rose in . ISundelcimd , although resulting in the capture , of Jhansi and a movenicnt—somewhat ambiguously rep orted—upon Calpcc , have obviously not broken up the enemy ' s organization , for the escaped Ranee is said to have put herself at the head of a kirge force ^ and to have advanced to engage the British brigadier . Should

      she offer battle , we have no doubt hut that Sir Hugh Rose will be glad to exchange a campaign of countermarching for an engagement in which he may hope to effect his great object , the complete rout of the rebel army , without wearing out his men by perpetual and almost aimless trajects across an Asiatic territory , with the hot season rapidly coming on . Still , with , the population restless ,: and immense armed- multitudes at large , it is futile to hope that Sir Hugh Rose will " 'be enabled , for some weeks , so to co-operate witli Sir Colin Campbell txs to afford him that assistance -which failed when the

      garrison , of Lucknow retreated across the Oude frontier . Brigadier Walpole , however , had marched northwards , and , after the combined attack—by himself , by Brigadier Coke , and by the Commander- ' in-Chief—upon Barcilly , there will Toe an army in the field competent to break into columns and to follow up the enemy , so far as the influences of the season will permit . These speculations , however , niast be qualified by the remark , that the general proportion of our force , in . relation to that of the rebels , is lamentably small , and we regret that the home Government finds it necessary to reserve the main body of its reinforcements until tlic end of June . Every commander in India needs -urse'ritTv to have his

      hands strengthened—Sir Colin Campbell , Walpole , Scaton , and Coke iu Roluleund , liosc in Bundelcund , Roberts at Kotnh ., Whitelock on the Cliirkaree and . Bandali road , cast of Jhansi and north of Calpee , L ' ugard at Azimghur , Grant at Fyzabad , Maxwell at Etawah , Evans among the Bheel hills , with the commanders at Allahabad , Benares , and Patna , and others elsewhere , who , witli limited forces , have tu deal with a scattered aggregate of at least a hundred , thousand men , with the population in many localities sullen , with hostile garrisons in possession of strong though isolated citadels , and

      with an enemy whose power of locomotion is incalculably superior to that of any European force . It appears a settled point that we have not at our disposal in . India the ' means of putting down tlic revolt . We may beat the enemy when in collision in the field , but we have virtually um *\ v Mnhrnttaand Pimlaree suppression upon our hands . This work , we believe , will never ba brought to its completion by the mere application of force ; we must reconquer ¦ w hat we have lost , as we originally conquered it , by moral as well as physical inliiiences , by enlisting the sympathies of the people , and holding out

      inducements to loyalty . " Yet there is much to be done , and that is the immediate task in hand , by guns , cavalry , and infantry . The rebellion , though dislocated and crushed in parts , still disturbs an expanse of country stretching from Azimghur on the Oude borders to a point beyond Kotah in the Rajpoot territories , and from Calpcc up the complicated line of road and water communication to Barcilly . A powerful Gwalior force , the great . Hardily concentration , a second concentration ; it Calpee , the Koiah contingent , the rebels around Pyzabud and Azhnghur , and tlic

      separate army of Ivoer Sing , contributing a most formidable total , and apparently supplied in abundance with every necessity of ' warfare , arc contending with infinite art and spirit for possession of the country . Their losses in artillery , stores , and men arc undoubtedly severe , but some mysterious agency replenishes their camps , and their' fund of rnoney and provisions scorns inexhaustible . On the other hand , the British sustain continual losses lor which they arc not compensated by reinforcements , and which dcnrly pay for the , ' iictual

      suecesses obimncd . The tule of casualties ufc Luckiiow proves to have been serious , and at Ivotuii , at , Jhansi m the Salpootra hills , at Aziin- 'hur , JJyKiibjHl , and Puttelighur , officers and men ' have been lulling in considerable numbers . To say the truth , our Indian army is wearing away , and tho ducats we inflict upon the enemy searedy correspond to the rate , at which we purchase them ' . No doubt n gradual subsidence of the revolt is visible , ami althoug h in some district its popularity , it , may be loured , is increasing , the steady clisloit-iiu , 'of ' Ihis enemy fr (> in 1 | , ( . Un'tllicd places which they havo occupied tor months must , in course of time , result

      in a fixed military tenure on the part of the British Government . But the energies of the rebellion , added to the vis inertias of millions whose apathy may or may not be construed into hostility , have unquestionably deranged the calculations of the Commander-in-Chief . Hose , Roberts , and Whitelock , whose heavy columns were to have swept the insurrection into Oude last March , were still , inthe middle of April , actiner upon their respective lines

      with separate campaigns before them . On the other hand , the pacification , of Oude was progressing favourably , the capital and its contiguity having been settled . What effect , had been produced by Lord Canning ' s proclamation has yet to be reported . The Indian journals up to the 24 th of April were evidently unacquainted with , the document , and their remarks up to that date were purely inferential .

      The general purport of the intelligence from India would not be unsatisfactory if we were convinced that the necessary exertions would be made at home at the proper time , to strengthen the hands of Sir Colin Campbell , and to arm him with such an amount of force that , while operating without cessation against the rebels , he might ¦' encourage the Government to restore , with the Least possible delay , the lenient authority of the Civil Courts .

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      THE CENSUHE DEBATE . If there was faction in . the movements which preceded the debate on Mr . Card-well ' s motion , there has been still more party bitterness in the debate itself . Scarcely-a member of the House of Commons has spoken since Friday week without forcing into his speech matter more or less irrelevant , arising from his consciousness that India was being made the battle-ground of the Conservatives , the Whigs , and the . independent Liberals , and from his total or partial acquiescence in the general sentiment . Prom this charge Lord" John ' Russell ' must in fairness be excepted . Whatever his motives may

      be , he has the decency not to lietray them . We wish the wirac could be said , bOtr . Bright . ' Earnest in purpose and pure in his political morality , Mr . Bright appeared , nevei-thelcss , to-act in some degree under the influence of strong , and almost vindictive personal considerations , and his attack upon Lord John Russell was not less unjustifiable than his appeal to the most factious instincts ' ' and interests of the Liberal party . Those who stand highest in Parliament , have , at this crisis , descended from I heir superior level to light with vulgar weapons .

      and from both the Opposition and lreasury benches clouds of sarcasms and invectives have arisen , eclipsing India , Lord Elicnborough , and Lord Canning . We soc in t his only an additional proof of the difficulty which must meet any attempt to govern the British Indian Empire through the direct agency of the House of Commons , and of the improbability . that any actual legislation , transferring the "power of the Company to the Crown , will take place before next year . It must be conceded that much of the embarrassment arises from the

      false positions occupied by political parties . The Conservatives arc in ollice at tlic head of a minority , and to keep them in necessitates an artificial and unnatural st rain upon the independent benches , the pica being that the Whigs must be starved into a surrender . This has been tlic ground of nearly all the apologies set forth by the liberal opponents of Mr . Card well ' s rosoluiion , and it has been made free use of by the Government section . Now , we are no partisans of Lord l ' uluicrston . When lie left oflice we hoped not soon to see him again in a ministerial capacity ; but we must protest against setting up any individual as a bugbear to frighten members of Parliament from an honest vote . It

      would have been more creditable to tho House of Commons had it refrained from so many demonsU'atkms of personal feeling . With all this piu'ty spirit there has been a confusion of parties . The old finnily'Whigs have reconciled their Montagu and Capulct ; but , simultuiieously , the ' friends nail followers' of Sir Robert Peel have had their schism . Sir James Graham takes one side ., Mr . Gnrdwd . 1 another ; iMt \ Sidney Herbfrt and Mr . Gladstone are believed to have held opposite opinions , and the chief of the connexion , Lord Aberdeen , has held aloof IVoui the quest km iilLogcLluir . Thus , while the Whites are once more amalgamating , the lV'cliies uiw rent inlo sections , . lint this is not the only schism . The , independent Liberals who , hist week , cohered for a niomr . nl ., nre galloping abroad like ; the six horses which tore Duinieu to pieces , and , between them , they uro likely to inflict the

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      A DUEL UNDER THE EMPIRE . Evehy one has not ; iced , more or less , the gradually increasing importance assumed by the French army since the Coup d'Etat j but no one has been surprised . Indeed , it is rather worthy of remark that the Pnctorians have been so cautious and so slow in their advances . The present regime was established in pursuance of a compact with them . Various prices were paid , from'half a million francs down to a bottle of champagne and a sandwich ; but , of course , officers and men had " expectations ;" and , to their credit be it said , they havo not urged their claims unreasonably .

      However , we liavc now come to a period "when the military element threatens to assume insolent proportions . Already there is a General , Minister of the Interior ; Iherc arc military ambassadors and military prefects ; we have had military addresses nearly leading to n collision between France and England ; and people still talk vaguely of the possibility of a declaration of war taking place by military acclamation . All this has had a very natural result . The soldiery have become more insolent and reckless j and civilians have begun to look up-oii them with increased dislike uivd jealousy . The anecdote of M . dc Talleyrand lias boon often recalled with pleasure . "We call pi'lchi whoever is not military , " said an officer to lum . " And we call military whoever is not civil , " was the reply . Several recent incident have laid burn the profound demoralization of llie army . The murders of Captain . l . ) ohu : mt , considered to be so much in accordance with the , sp irit ; of the army that a free pardon was exacted lrom , the Wmporor ; tho cowardly assassination of a comrade by M , < le Mercy , also ' condemned to death , and now expecting his ut : u . 'c . The other day , an olllocr happening to loam

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      same mutilatioa upon the cause they are supposed to represent . The metropolitan members moved in one direction , the midland in another , and the representatives of scattered boroughs were each , like the pig in the fable—running to and fro so fast that he could not be counted . If the truth must be said , the explanation of this anarchy is a reproach upon the Legislature . In point of fact , that political "body has few or no opinions of any kind on Indian subjects . With perhaps five or six exceptions—including the heads of parties on both sides , and Mr . Bright—no one appears to have a clear Idea -of tlie scope or influence of

      Lord Canning ^' s Proclamation , of British , policy generally in Oude , or of the course in future to be pursued . Heiuced to its literal meaning , the doubt lias been whether it is not too soon to ' turn . out Lord Derby ' s .. Government , whether the Whigs have been punished enough , wLether , if a new ministry were formed , its leaders would repent them of the error of their ways , and turn from the exclusiveness of which Mr . Headlam had complained . Some Liberals have been convinced that tlie time has not yet come for a change ; others , that three months in opposition having reunited Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell , the iron

      is hot and should be struck ; but who hare , asked themselves whether , apart from these questions , the treatment , of Lord Canning has been just in a private , or politic in a public sense ? Yet this ¦ was the only point at issae . We have avast Indian empire to maintain , and the problem submitted by Mr . Cardwell was" one to be solved by opinion , and not by passion . Passion , however , is at the head of the forces , and the victory—had any victory been gained- —would have been one of . selfishness , 'which , enlisted in its favour all the honest sinerity on . either side .

      The immorality of faction ' appears' to have rooted itself in the new House of Commons , and much of the evil ¦ ' maybe imputed to the spirit with which the candidates went to the hustings at tlie last general election . The issue then raised in the country vras personal , as is the issue now raised in Parliament ; and for much of that personality , vitiating every motive of tlie Legislature , Lord Palmerston and his friends are responsible . They did their worst when they appealed to the country . and the late political storm in Westminster was of- '¦ their own creation . Inconvenient as another

      general election would at this moment have been , it mi g ht have had its good results if an effort could have been made with zeal and integrity , by those who influence' public opinion , to secure the return of as many candidates as possible upon purely political grounds , irrespective of all personal pretensions , or partv views whatever .

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      No . 426 , Mat 22 , 1858 . ] THE LEADER . 495

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1858, page 495, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2243/page/15/