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    with their swords , and then rushed through the infantry lines shouting that the holy war was begun , th at they had killed one Feringhee , and inviting the infantry to join and finish the work by killing all the remaining Englishmen , and plundering the Treasury . It was the old plan , which has succeeded so often , of the bolder ruffians shedding blood to begin the excitement , and hoping to c < mmife the whole of their comrades beyond all possibility of recal or hope of forgiveness . This plan has often succeeded , but on this occasion it failed . There must have been a large proportion of good men in the regiment to have kept them in the right path , but I cannot but attribute the happy result almost entirely to the force and influence of Lieutenant Charles Elliot ' s character . He was well known , he was respected and beloved , but he was also feared . The mutinous gunners finding the infantry would not join them , took possession of the two guns , but the English officers , who by this time had arived at the scene of action , assembled the infantry Sepoys , surrounded the ^ native gunners , and arrested them all , with the exception of one who escaped . Lieutenant Charles Elliot tried the seventeen prisoners under one of the summary Acts passed last year , and hanged all seventeen of them on the morning of the 22 nd , in the presence of their comrades . The wretched murderers shouted their war cry of "I > een ! Deen ! " and addressed frantic appeals for rescue to their brethren ; but all went off without an attempt at interference . Elliot made the Sepoys naarch round the gallows in slow time , and then harangued them with good effect . The only men whom he had on the ground on whom he had the slightest reliance were seventy-live police Sowars ; and on them no implicit reliance could be placed . A large number of the Sepoys were of the genuine Pandy breed ; and there had , undoubtedly , at several periods since the mutinies began , been meetings and consultations among them as to what side they should take .

    But although Charles Elliot had thus shown that , under all difficulties and deficiencies , he was determined to vindicate the honour of Government , and to administer stern and exemplary justice at all hazards , I regret to say that not a man has yet been sent to support him . General Whitlock , an oldfashioned officer of the drill-sergeant school , declined to make a detachment from his force , as it was no longer made applicable to the purposes of the Nagpore province , and he has marched off to Jubbulpore . We . will watch him , and see what his exploits are . in that quarter . But little can be hoped from a general who could , in so heartless a manner , abandon a gallant officer surrounded by dangers , but sustaining the dignity of Government by the mere audacity and coolness of his bearing . Arrangements will , I trust , be made for sending him a sufficient force from Nagpore with as little delay as possible . Troops are expected soon from Hyderabad . E . V .

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    THE ECLIPSE . Great were the expectations indulged in b y the non-scientific public as to what they were to see on Monday during the nearly total eclipse of the sun ; deep was the disappointment felt by all ( in London , at least ) when the celestial show was over . The day opened beautifully ; but , between eleven and twelve o'clock , heavy clouds muffled the sky and totally obscured the sun . Nevertheless , crowds of persons went out into the parks , to Hampstead Heath , to the gardens of the Crystal Palace , and to other open spaces in and neur London , while several scaled the heights of the Victoria Tower at the new Houses of Parliament , the Monument , and various elevated buildings , and there patiently awaited the wonders which had been promised them . But everything was enviously shut out from view by the clouds . As one o ' clock approached , there was indeed an obvious dimness , but not a greater obscurity than that winch generally precedes a thunderstorm . Tho only thing unusual in the effect was a certain dead , cadaverous , ashy look about the clouds , which seemed flatter and nearer than they ordinarily do . Those who watched very closely caught a momentary glimpse- of the sun at the height of his obscuration , when the clouds parted for a brief interval . The effect was very beautiful , the dark bulk of tho moon being edged at one part with a silver fringe , the only portion of the eun then uncovered . But this revelation was so fugitive that a vast number of persons missed it altogether , and groat was tho chagrin of those who had Built largely on tho faith of astronomical promises . ~ - ~ jj ! ho-truth-is ,. fts ~ thQ ^ : wne «^^ matters tho scientific gentlemen have us laymen aF a di »« iidvantage . Thoy may toll ua anything beforehand , nnd wo dare not contradict thorn ; but we must confess that our recollection of tho extremely tame resul ^ to tho popular apprehension , of the oclipso of July 28 , 1851 , made us fool somewhat sceptical as to the grand promises that woro made in connexion ¦ with , the event of laat Monday . The Timva , in its leading columns , well sketches tho anticipations and the disappointments of tho day s—

    " At eleven , all the devoted sons of science were to be conscious of an envious shade stealing over the broad face of day . As time wore on , this was to thicken into a darkness that could be felt ; and , by the time that nothing was to be seen of the sun but a faint ring of light , the birds were to be going to roost , the cows were to come prematurely to be milked , the ' sky was to descend , ' and all nature was to suffer an astronomical illusion . The few that had telescopes or patience to observe phenomena , of which all the most interesting were to occur within three minutes , were to see haloes , and ' Bailey ' s beads , ' ' rose-coloured protuberances , ' and waves " of many-coloured light chasing one another over the earth , and indicating the approach of total darkness . There are times when science is master of the occasion , and when we humble journalists have nothing to do but to open our columns to all sorts of minute and confident predictions . We surrendered our judgment and our columns to people who insist , of course , on knowing more about it than we ourseives ,- and told our readers what they were to expect if all was as it should be . Well , the 15 th of March came , and eleven o'clock came , and twelve , and one o'clock . The lawyers turned out in Temple-gardens with bits of smoked glass and operaglasses , and some fifty thousand other people sought their extempore observatories . But the sun would not show , he would not shine , and by consequence would not be eclipsed . It was dark , indeed , but so it had been on Sunday , and so it had been on Saturday , and on many another day very recently . Here and there , some one with good eyes or strong faith declared he saw the sun like a half-moon or a ring ; but few knew even in what part of the heavens the prodigy was supposed to be occurring . The general conclusion was that an eclipse of the sun was so much like an ordinary London sun and London day that it was wished astronomers would have the goodness to tell us oh what days the sun would not be eclipsed , and to describe the extraordinary phenomena of a sun actually shining without the interposition of any foreign substance between him . and us . So much for the promise held out to us by the almanack-writers . " True , the astronomers could not know that the day would be cloudy ; but , in London , the amount of darkness was so slight that it is difficult to believe that the striking phenomena promised would have been witnessed , even had the atmosphere been in the most favourable condition . The best that can be said of the eclipse , as far as the metropolis is concerned , is tHat it caused several persons to make holiday , and developed a faculty of imagination in many individuals who are not commonly endowed with that gift . We have heard of an old lady who saw everything that Mr . Hind had promised—flashes of many-coloured light , Bailey ' s beads , and all—by eleven o ' clock in the morning , thus anticipating the commencement of the eclipse by about an hour . The special ' eclipse reporter' of the Times gives a picturesque account of the aspect of things from the summit of the Victoria Tower . The air there was very cold and damp , and these qualities increased towards the time of the greatest obscuration : — " From about half-past twelve , the growth of the obscurity was rapid and palpable . Every minute , London seemed enveloped more and more in an unnatural gloom —neither dawn nor evening . Every minute , as the spectator moved round the battlements of the Tower and overlooked London from each of its four sides , he could notice the increase of gloom , and miss some conspicuous strucf-ure from among the great mass of edifices beneath him . The Monument and St . Paul ' s went among the first , the huge bulk of the latter waning into a darkish mass , and then losing itself amid the general gloom , exactly us a dissolving picture fades from view . On the south side of the water , tho dome of Bethlehem became almost indistinct with that of the great metropolitan cathedral , and at last the whole of Lambeth gradually resembled a level dark-looking mass , like a tract of bog land seen from a distance . Buckingham Palace early lost its individuality , and it was difficult to distinguish its massive form from tho dark-looking grass of the Park In which it stood . As tho time of the greatest obscuration approuchod , tho gloom deepened and deepened in proportion , and with it tho stillness of ( ill around grow more and more heavy and observable . One o ' clock struck , and as it struck tho darkness seemed to us to bo groatcst and moat soloinn . Lambeth Puluce could just bo distinguished on one side , and Westminster Abboy and ( but very dimly ) tho Westminster Hospital on tho other . Tho Horde Guards could not bo distinguished in Parli « n » ont-strcof , « nd both the Nelson column and St . Martin ' s church were for a timo invisible in tho thick-looking air ; only tho towers of tho old Abboy and tho spires of tho Now Housos were at all distinctly visiblo for a minute or so , and on them tho llaTknosslfiuHno off " o " c"ro"f' § e " orn 1 tTg"tO"incronBO- 'botlrtlioirsizo and distance from tho spectator . Almost directly after tho period of tho greatest obscuration was passed tho very rapid return of light could bo distinctly marked aa building after building scorned to creep forth again into oxistonco . " At about tvvtinty-flve minutes past one , a slight break in tho clouds ullowod tho sun to bo scon for u moment . Tho shadow of tho moon was then full upon It , tho sun Itself appearing like a young crescent moou

    of some two or three days old . The light he gave at this moment was pale ana watery , and the substance of the moon seemed of a dull pewtery colour . Beyond this glimpse , which only lasted for a minute , nothing more was seen , and only the rapid increase of natural dayli ght showed that the sun was not eclipsed for ever . " We cannot but think that this gentleman overstates the effects ; and surely his imagination played him a trick when he wrote that " hills about Kew and Fulham , were not to be mistaken for anything but hills . " He might as well have spoken of mountains on Salisbury-plain . The weather was equally unfavourable at all the towns at which the eclipse was to be visible . Air . John Yeates , F . R . G . S ., writing to the Times , from Fotheringay Castle-mound , Northamptonshire , says : " There was nothing like intense darkness during the eclipse ; I have seen more gloom in a thunderstorm . Bystanders prognosticated rain ; but it was the shadow of a rapidly declining day . At twelve o ' clock a lady living on the farm suddenly exclaimed , ' The cows are coming home to be milked ! ' and they came , all but one ; that followed , however , within the hour . Cocks crowed , birds flew low or fluttered about uneasily , but every object far and near was well defined to the eye . A singular broadway of light stretched north and south for upwards of a quarter of an hour ; from about 12 . 54 to 1 . 10 P . M . " All the phenomena of an annular eclipse , how ever , were visible at this locality , and Bailey ' s beads were perfectly plain on the completion of the annulus . These ' beads' are described by Mr . Yeates as appearing * ' on the upper and under sides of the moon , and occupying fully three-fourth 3 of her circumference . " Mr . James Glaisher , writing to the Daily News from Oundle , states , with respect to the aspect of things at one o'clock : — " The gloom at this time was very great . Birds were wildly flying here and there , as in great agitation , but some continued singing without interruption . Between lh . lm . and lh . 2 m . the greatest gloom was experienced ; but at no time was it difficult to read at the ordinary distance , and throughout there existed no necessity to suspend any employment . The sky was too generally overcast , and the day too raw and ungenial , to detect any of the more delicate effects of light and shadow . With the exception of the greatest gloom , which occurred for a minute or two about one o ' clock , the surrounding aspect of the country was only in accordance with the general character of the day , as shortly after one the sky became uniformly overcast , and a fine rain fell , continuing till the end of the eclipse , and precluding all chance of further observations . The sudden increase of light after the great gloom was rapid and remarkable . "

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    AFFRAY WITH THE DUBLIN POLICE . The state entry of the new Viceroy into Dublin on Friday week was marked by a horrible act of ferocity on the part of the police . A large number of the students of Trinity College were collected inside the railings , and for some time had amused themselves by pelting the police and passengers with lircworks , rotten eggs , and oranges . The fireworks caused the horses of tha mounted constables to rear a great deal , and it is asserted by the officers , but denied by the students , that stones were concealed in the oranges . However , H would seem that some of the police were struck und slightly injured , while others had their huts snatched from their heads and conspicuously displayed as trophies . At length , a largo body of mounted police , wearing moustaches , und dressed , it is said , in u semi-continental uniform , was paraded in front of the Cullege gates , and suddenly attempted to rido down some young gentlemen -who were seen laughing , and whom they struck violently on the hoad with their staves . Colonel Browne , one of tho Commissioners of Police , hitherto groutly respected , now arrived , and was loudly cheered by all . Tor a time , ho convened in a friendly wny with some of tho students within the gates , and requested ftiom to retire ; but thoy refused , and required llmttke » oUce » uouUl bo moved backward , us they were tho original cause of tho bud feeling . The negotiations then terminated , und tho pelting recommenced . Culonel lirowno wao struck more than once , though it in thoug ht accidentally ; but ho suddenly rodo forward , took oirhlfl hut , repented tho Kiot Act from memory , rocnlkU tho troop of Scots Groya , which hud just loft for thu barracks , and , it is said , requested tho commanding onlcer to nssujt in charging tho youths within tho mils . Tho officer , according to report , said , with a smile , " Wliftt urn I to charge ? la it a parcel of lads liku those i However , ho drew up his nion immediately fronting t ' gnta ;^ nmi ~ a-drmdfiJ-8 ouiio- « Uortly ... Jullow . cd ., , _ . „ " Colonel Browne , " suyu Lho account in tlio Insn pnpora , " gavo orders to tlioliorso police , who , to « H Jntunts and purposes woro in this instance ilrugoous , to clear the epuco inside tho railings , but ' only lo * l ( t 0 t ' flat of tlialr swords . ' With a too evident willingness to obey , tlioy . dashed into tho epucc , which , us it wttfl within tho college limits , thoy hud clearly no ritf lit w ontor , und out about them mercilessly wllh their drawn sabres , inflicting wounds whiou were in too many >»"

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    272 THE LEADER . [ No . 417 , March 20 , 1858 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 20, 1858, page 272, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2235/page/8/