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    536 THE LEADER. [No. 428, June "5, 1885.

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    LETTERS FROM CHINA. {From a Private Corr...

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    The Indian Keyoli. A Large Mass Of. Inte...

    your views . . . . We accordingly have to inform you that , on receiving communication of the papers now acknowledged , the Court of Directors passed the following resolution : ' —

    " ' Resolved , —That , in reference to the despatch from ihe Secret Committee to the Governor-General of India , dated the 19 th nit ., with the documents therein alluded to , and this day laid hefore the ^ Court of Directors , this court desires to express its continued confidence in the Governor-General , Lord Canning , and its conviction that his measures for the pacification of Oude and the other disturbed districts in India , will be characterized ty a generous policy , and by the utmost clemency that is found tobe consistent -with the satisfactory accomplishment of that important object . ' "

    THE GENERAL SITUATIONMr . Russell ,-writing to the Times from Lucknow , on April 5 th , says : — " It must be confessed that our position here , so far as it relates to the general attitude of the British army in India , is not , at £ rat sight , very satisfactory . Sir Colin Campbell is thought by some to be guilty of great neglect because he is not covering the country with flying columns , and . bis conduct is reviving old Indian traditions against him . We are actually , it is said , at this moment in danger of having our communications with Cawnpore interrupted at any time , for the enemy are reported to be at Hurha , -within two miles of the road between Bunnee and the Ganges , and we hear that some 14 , 000 men are assembled

    at Bitowlie , which is situated on a loop of the Gogra , due east of Buraech . 'Why does not Sir Colin go out and thrash these fellows ? ' 5 a the angry demand of all civilians , and of some soldiers . Well , it is probable that Sir Colin Campbell thinks that in the first place his troops would never be able to inflict such punishment on the enemy as would prevent their assembling in another place , and that the efforts of the Chiefs will disperse these people . He may object to exposing his soldiers in useless forays , or he may be devisingsome grand scheme of general suppression . It is useless to deny that , whatever may be the causes of the delay , and whatever may be even its effects , there is one point of view in which its consequences appear deplorable , and that is to be

    taken from the financial side of the question . Our transport costs about 10 , 000 ? . per diem . The possession of India , will soon become dear , indeed , if this army , with its prodigious stores and its nomad population , its flocks aad herds devastating the country—the paralysis of its presence—as to be maintained in a state of inactivity . And what if , after ajl , this inactivity should be but * the prelude to an inevitable hot-weather campaign ? For my own humble part , I . am of opinion that no valid consideration connected with our position or movements is neglected or overlooked , by the Commander-in-Chief , and that he is now acting , or rather is held inactive , under the pressure of questions with , the nature of which we are not acquainted , and winch it would be futile to pretend at present to investigate .

    " The conduct of Maun Singh , is calculated to give rise to serious suspicions . Here * we have news that this man , who long ago promised to come in to Sir James Outram and make his submission , is about to go to Allahabad to meet Jung Bahadoor , his friend and councillor . He goes at a time when he is , according to his own account , suspected by the enemy and surrounded by them at his fortress of Shahguivj . Such i 3 the purport of the letter which lie sent in to Lucknow . And yet he goes to Allahabad , where the Governor-General is receiving Jung Bahadoor ! In the same letter he tells Sir James Outram that' the people and the cliiefs of Oude are against us to a man , ' and bigs us to send a force to Shahgunj to deliver him .

    " Tlie Moulvie , Ahmed Oollah Shah , has collected 3000 men and three guns at Barree , on the road to Kyrabad , and is plundering the small zemindars . Hux Pershaud , Chuckledar of Kyrabad , has also assembled a body of troops to resist any attempt to establish the civil power in his district , and he has been joined by some of the talookdars of the surrounding country . " The reader will compare for himself these statements and remarks with the later facts published above . TIIE NATIVE ItEIQN AT LUCKNOW . The Hurkaru describes the state of affairs during the short native reign in Lucknow

    " A son of Wajid Alee , a boy of ten , waa nominally king , but hia mother acted as regent , and bIic again was directed by her paramour , Mummoo Khan . The chief civil appointments were bought by their holders , who amasBed lakhs , but declined to receive salaries till the English were expelled . The eunucha of the Palace were the principal military leaders , and universal pillage appears to have been the order of the day . One Mussumut Abbassee farmed the brothels of the city , for which he paid 60 , 000 rupees , and the civil and criminal courts , for which he paid 18 , 000 rupees . " BIUCJADIKR WAT ^ rOtE ' s TtEPCLBE .

    According to the full accounts of this disaster , published yesterday , the atfuir would seem to hnvc been dreadfully mismanaged . The Brigadier , it is said , did not make the slightest recotmoituance , but At once led hie men up to the fort , which was discovered to be surrounded by a ditch nnd high walle thickly

    it is added , they were placed ia a position where they were of little use . There were not three hundred of the , enemy in the fort ; and under these circumstances it is not to be wondered at that public feeling in India should be very strong against Brigadier Walpole , and should express a wish to see him brought to a court-martial . Still , it would be well to withhold any positive opinion till after we have seen , his own account . He is said to have had little previous experience in warfare . Mr . Russell writes : —

    loopholed , whence the enemy poured a deadly fire of musketry , at the same time keeping themselves entirely out of harm ' s way . It was not until too late that the General ordered up the guns , and even then ,

    " At the very moment that the Sikhs and the 42 nd were desperately clambering up the walls of the fortj helping each other by hand and leg and firelock , and just as they were getting at the enemy , they were recalled , and in their retreat they suffered as much as in the attack . It is stated that there was a passage where the cavalry could have got in , but that they were not permitted to make the attempt . The men were furious at the repulse , and clamoured loudly to be led to the assault . The Sikhs had lost "Willoughby , and Cope was wounded . The 93 rd had lost Adrian Hope . The 42 nd left the bodies of Bramley , Douglas , and many gallant comrades behind them . In the middle of the fight Adrian Hope , ever regardless of his own life where

    the lives of his soldiers were concerned , rushed to the wall of the fort to withdraw the men . His aide-de-camp , Butter , said to him , ' The fire is very hot , General . ' As he spoke , the Brigadier fell , shot from above through the neck , shoulder , and lungs , He said , ' They have done for me—remember me to my friends , ' and died in a few seconds . At the funeral , which was most affecting , the 93 rd wept like children for their beloved Colonel . There was not a dry eye in Bramley ' s company as his body was borne to the grave . His body and that of Douglas were recovered by the most daring gallantry ,

    which will not , I trust , go unrewarded . When the men retired , Simpson , the quartermaster-sergeant of the regiment , hearing that two officers were left on the ground , rushed out to the ditch of the work , and , seizing the corpse of poor Bramley , brought it in on his shoulders . He next started out and recovere * the body of Douglas in the same way , and then , undeterred by the incessant fusilade of the enemy , this gallant soldier again and again renewed his labours , and never ceased till he had carried in the bodies of five more of his comrades . Two men were killed in attempting to imitate this noble soldier . Does he not well deserve the Victoria Cross ?"

    536 The Leader. [No. 428, June "5, 1885.

    536 THE LEADER . [ No . 428 , June " 5 , 1885 .

    Letters From China. {From A Private Corr...

    LETTERS FROM CHINA . { From a Private Correspondent ?) Canton , April 12 , 1858-Stjkely the time lias arrived for the mingling of all things on earth—the time when the Triton shall lie down with the Tartar , finding him to he a lamb ; and the remotest places , which have been for centuries sacred from intrusion , shall become common as Cheapside . At all events , it looks * very like it when your own correspondent sits down to write to you , as I now do , in what a few weeks ago > vas tlic private chapel of the Canton Tartar General ' s yamun , and under the shadow , so to speak , of a large black slab covered with the fine flowering characters of that old Tmarian language which has been mother of so many tongues , when au active Japanese ko , or personal servant , belonging to a friend , brings , for my cheroot ., a lighted Chinese joss-stick which he has received out of a mysterious p lace , from an Indian misttee , or cook , who unites Ariaa with Portuguese blood , —and Then , ia order to take up my pen , I lay down , not a yellow volume relating to Buddha and Confucius , the genii of the place , but a review article treating of the Scottish philosophers Dr . Thomas Brown and Sir William Hamilton . And if to us

    these things appear a little strange , what must they be to the Cantonese ? It is very amusing to penetrate into the remoter parts ot this city . Foxylooking dogs glance at the foreign devil , give a yelp of terror , and bolt in all haste ; little children tremblingly hasten to give the greeting Chin-chin , but speedily finding they are not devoured , venture to utter the insulting term Fankqui ; and ancient women look out of their bleared eyes in mute amazement at having lived to see the day . This yamun is a place worthy of the Thousandand-One Talcs . It is so constructed that it is

    scarcely possible to find one ' s way in it during the day , and utterly hopeless to do so at night . Its backbone is a scries of magnificent sheds , adorned with paint and carving , supported on large wooden pillars , extending 1 for at least a quarter of a mile , and the floor brokon every twenty yards by platforms and low , broad staircases , l ^ roin this central lino there branch out buildings and sheds of nil

    variety , great and little , open and closed ; and among these there are scattered , in the most unexpected places , huge trees and small gardens crowded with bamboos . Here the Commissioners live , and here are quartered some six . or seven hundred En * , lish and French troops . Luxuries abound , but they are served in a rude way . Brandy-and-water is drunk out of teacups , excellent soup is ladled out with p hina basins , and undeniable wax candles an . pear in black bottles . Everything is irregular and " anomalous . War lias never been , proclaimed and yet we have taken , the city . The city has been taken , yeb we are not in possession , of it . Our troops occupy the yamun , yet no one knows where any one lives , and every one Loses his way . It is a place for surprising occurrences of every kind , and where I accidentally met an old

    schoolfellow that I believed had been drowned off Balaklava . Generally speaking , the city of Caaton is an imposition-. its houses are miserably small and wretchedly crowded together ; but the yamuns and halls of learning are really wonderful places . They all bear marks of neglect and decay , having been constructed when the city , and indeed the entire country , was in a-much mote flourishing condition than it is at present . Truly literature has " been , largely acknowledged at some time or other by tlie Cantonese ; vast buildings , and quiet , umbrageous retreats have been provided for it , and these haye been undisturbed , except / by bats and learned mandarins , uutil our | bomb-shells dropped in and our troops awoke the long silent echoes .

    But I am not going to describe Canton at present . Our present position to in ifc ^ which is far fro m satisfactory , is a much more important matter . Whatever may be thought of the origin of the quarrel with Canton , mercy and common sense ought to have induced us to treat it in . a more decisive and English , way than we have done . It may be laid down as an axiom , that every governing power represents tlie general character of those it rules . When a people are Unable to throw off a rule which has great faults , it is absurd and criminal to help them to do so without establishing 1 a foreign , rule- ; because ,

    otherwise , having nothing better to fall back upon , they suffer the . horrors of anarchy , and sometimes revolution , to no special end whatever . On the other hand , it is equally if not more criminal fora foreign power to interfere , as Russia did in Hungary , with the revolutionary party in any state ; for men are slow to revolt ; they only do so under great provocation , and revolution is tlie safety-valve of a state . While , then , it would be a serious crime in the European authorities in China to assist the Imperialists against the rebels , it is scarcely less improper in them to overthrow the mandarin rule without substituting their own . When

    Canton was taken , the majority of its inhabitants expected foreign rule . Having failed in their attempts to meet us in war and terrify us b y assassination , they sank into a depth of submission proportionate to their previous height of presumption . Many of them were very glad at the discomfiture of the mandarins ; and all tlie rebels of the south looked eagerly forward to the establishment of foreign rule , in the expectation of being able to do what now they cannot , however willingnamely , to lay down their arms , and betake

    themselves to peaceful industry , without incurring the risk of seeing- their wives violated and their children butchered in cold blood . The little I have seen of high mandarins inclines me to think that many of them , are men of great learning , intelligence , and humanity , but they are extremely inaccessible ; they know lit lie of the methods by which the people are " squeezed , " and the Chinese complain , in their figurative way , that there arc as many evil demons round the mandarins as there arc devils round the habitations of the dead .

    However , instead of undertaking to govern the city , the plenipotentiaries acknowledged Pihkwei as their equal , and left him with fulL power , except in matters relating to foreigners . I had the pleasure of an audience with this functionary , and he struck me as likely to be a mere puppet in the hands of others . He is in bad health , is nearl y seventy years old , and appears rather stupid . His power over the Chinese is very Limited , or else he docs wot exercise it as lie ought ; for ho lias failed to prevent the enforcement of the decree prohibiting Chinese boats from going to Hong-Kong , and ho allows the most of his officers to remain at Fatshan , where they arc out of our power , are intriguing ftga » us , and are collecting large bauds of Braves . The consequence of this imperium in itnjwio is

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1858, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05061858/page/8/