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Leader (1850-1860), 1st August 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page unpag., Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      VOL . VIII . No . 384 ,. ] SATURDAY AUGUST 1 , 1857 . rMOB { BBga ™ gJgEg "

      Untitled Article

      ¦ ¦ V " fTI HE intelligence from India is indeed ominous , A and the intelligence in this country scarcely yet rises to the level of the necessity . From the facts which have siuce been brought forward we can now comprehend something of the scope of the conspiracy , for such evidently it was—long

      prepared , comprehensive , and if it had succeeded , fatal to our power in India . At present the conspiracy does not appear to have extended beyond Bengal . Most probably it has had slight , if any , ramifications in Madras , none perhaps in Bombay . It would be very rash to assuine the negative with regard to some of the foreign states neighbouring on Bengal , or even emissaries from states not so near . There

      was to have been an outbreak in Calcutta . The King of Oude and his minister have been arrested and consigned to Tort William . In the meanwhile the mutiny has spread . Regiments in Calcutta and Barraokpore have been disarmed , and at other places regiments have either been disbanded or have deserted . The mutinous force is nowestimateel at 50 , 000 , which , we presume , is exclusive of the merely disarmed and ' disappeared' soldiers . Polhi has not been

      taken , but , on the contrary , it has -within its walls , or close by encamped outside the town , a force of 30 , 000 . Our own force , 3000 or 4000 strong , has repelled sorties , but without a siege train- —which was cut off by a mutinous movement before the previous mail—it was totally inadequate to make any attempt at storming . The telegraph , whose despatches are all that we have yet bad , while we write , declares that the Bengal army has ceased to exist—a statement that must be received ' with a

      gram of salt . ' In the meanwhile , however , efforts were made to recruit regiments in the Punjab ; and urgent despatches wore sent to intercept the British force on its way to China , Every post was strengthened as much ns possible . Sir Patkiok Grant and Sir Coijn Campbell had been added to the Government j Sir Patiuck being called to Calouttn , which acorns - — - 1 % ^ * --- ¦ - — _ - ~_ —r v — * - * v * v vv mhp ~ ^ rr «^ rw t * ^ r * ^™ ^ w

      trow some facts to have bocojno now tho point of the greatest anxiety . And naturally so . Hero arc tholargest amount of resident British j and although m many rcspeots Bombay 1 ms become more important , the loss of Calcutta , oven for a time , would millet a frightful * moral blow upon our power in Jndio . . At presont it is ovident that tho British forces , or the native forcos that remain faithful to

      our flag in the Bengal Presidency , are not equal to sustain our power in that Presidency . We turn , then , to see the view which Government takes of this intelligence , and what is the effect of the Parliamentary intervention invoked by Mr . Disraeli . He did not wait for the mail , and indeed he presented a view which was to a certain extent independent of the fortnight ' s news , though his position would have been strengthened by the

      receipt of it . A great part of his speech was comparatively of little value . He insisted that the outbreak was not a mere military mutiny , but a ' national revolt ; ' he computed two hundred Princes as likely to defect from allegiance to our rule ; and represented the whole course of reforms as threatening to denationalize the Hindu and the Mussulman , and hence to render British government alarming and odious . He finished this somewhat discursive

      a . nd not altogether apposite view with a mere motion for ' papers . ' As it was only a ' fishing motion , ' he ran a chance of catclung notlxing j and so it turned out . He asked for two papers—a letter by Sir Charles James Napier to the Duke of Wellington on the organisation of the Bengal army , and a communication of some kind by General Anson to Lord Canning on the recent condition of the Bengal army . But the paper by Napiek relates to the defence of the frontier , not to the organisation of the Bengal army , and it is not

      suitable for publication . The other letter is declared by Mr . Vebnon Smith to be non-extant—at least ho says he has not found it . But the answer on this subject looks more evasive than precise ; and it is generally believed that sucb a paper does exist . In the course of his speech—winch contained many points worthy cf consideration by tho public , Mr . Disraeli recommended two measures : —tho issue of a proclamation in India by the Qujsen , bringing her in closer connexion with her Hindoo subjeots , and declaring Ihat their rights should be sustained , their grievances examined )

      and tho immediate issuo of a Royal Commission , to inquire into tho wholo state of India , its dofoots of . organisation , and its griovancos , Ministers mot those propositions by a kind of compromise . They havo virtually ptomised , through Mr . VernonSmitw , a thorough reorganisation oi the Bengal army ; and , indeed , to use a vulgarism , it is senroely , conceivable that oven official persona ' should' bo . au , ch .. foola * as to reconstruct the army oa tho veij . jpriiiipijllos whioh havo conduced to its prosont alarnil ^' . disruption ! Having . in . view tho state of Delhii . and' tho , diversion of the siogo train ,

      Mr . Veknon Smith has acutely discovered the inexpediency of placing the artillery in Native hands . Ministers assent to the issue of a commission , but it must be under the authority of the Goveroor-General ; must not supersede him ; and must be instructed to investigate only particular grievances . The compromise indicates a policy of shortcomings —the very thing that would be most fatal in India . Better abandon Bengal than attempt to trim in tlie measures for retaining it .

      Remarkably enough , no further announcements have been made respecting the despatch of continuous reinforcements , although the news evidently calls for larger supports than any which have been contemplated on the receipt of the previous mail . The Emperor of the French in a few daya will leave his somewhat unsettled kingdom , with ! ' the preparations for trying the Italian assassins and the endless intrigues of Paris , to enjoy a brief visit to Osborne ; and it is said that lie comes in great part charged to reassure our own gracious Sovereign of his fidelity to the English alliance—our emergency in India notwithstanding , —and of his readiness to

      counteract our old foe of the Crimea . This is kind of his Majesty ; the more so Bince the alliance of the Princess Charlotte of Belgium with the Archduke Maximilian of Austria , —wedded by her father King Leopold in the presence of our Prince Consort and the head of the Saxje Goburq family , —indicates a tendency of German alliances not peculiarly favourable to the supposed views of France .

      In pursuing , even into the cradle of Gotha , tho lost ramifications of the subject of India , we have been diverted from China , where our troops are gettiog on , at least as well as could l > e expected . ' The countrymen of Wellington hi c fortunately succeeded iu two actions over the y linese , whoso fleet is said to have been ' destroyed . Among domestio measures tl Jew Bill , for various reasons , still has the greatest political importauqo . It stands in a very curious position , —one that strengthens tho Independent party as distinguished from tho liberal Government ; find ., during tho wock , it has almost threatened a new

      combination of the Liboral' Government Yrith'bb& . combination of the Liboral' Governmciu ^ witWto-Tories against tho object of Lord , Ep x «^ jJ ^^' - own Jew Bill and tho real W ^ f ^^ pm ^ y Baron Lionjul j > jh Rotjisohh . 1 ) , bav ^^^ C ^ pTOd ^ the stewardship of tho GJu'Kom ltf $ &bap / - yFff ' propoaod and acoondod on Tuesdayy ^ sT ^ Qjiuiol' for the City of London , and rc-qlocta ^ wjm ^ i ^ " % ^ slightest opposition . The elector ^ j&w $ / VqM . " * v - ' ' < Is * ' : -

      Untitled Article

      jpA ^ aasr . POLITICAL AND LITERARY REVIEW .

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      ( Sonttnts : ____„ tenn T « £ 4-jim T ^»\« t Tyf \ ni : w _ Vlaa 733 Latfcer Pootry 739

      Untitled Article

      REVIEW OF THE WEEK- »•*<>« Imperial Parliament 722 Election Committees 725 Mr . Charles Dickens and the " Edinburgh Review" 723 State of Trade 727 Accidents and Sudden Deaths 727 Ireland 727 Ttie Orient ... 727 America • 727 Continental Notes ... 728 Oar Civilization 729

      Gatherings from tlio Law and Police Courts 730 Miscellaneous 730 Postscript .. 731 OPEN COUNCILM . JJedru Hoi 1 in and the French Government 733 PUBLIC AFFAIRSThe Indian Revolt 732 I

      New Epoch in India A Court Party 734 Responsible Government 76 * Emperor ' s Evidence 735 Trial by Ja ^ vry , " 35 Sir Fitzroy Kelly ' s Opinion on the Bertolacci Case .... 736 LITERATURE - Summary 737 l'hc Journal of Thomas Kaikes 738 Adventures of the Resolute 739

      -Day THE ARTSThe Jerrold Performances 740 Theatrical . and Musical Notes ...... 740 The Gazette , 74 t COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS — City Intelligence , Markets , &c 741

      Untitled Article

      ^ S ^^ S ^ S ^^^ S ^ S ^^ & ^ &S ^ S ^ S ^ S ^^ o £ 0 u . r 3 pir 1 tualnatu . re . "—Humboldt ' s Cosmos .

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 1, 1857, page unpag., in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2203/page/1/