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    your views . , . ' . . We accordingly liave to inform you j that , on receiving communication of the papers now ac- knowledged , the Court of Directors passed the following resolution :- — " ' Resolved , —That , in reference to the despatch from the Secret Committee to the Governor-General of India , dated the 19 th ult ., -with , the documents therein alluded to , and this day laid before 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 by a generous policy , and by the utmost clemency that is found to be consistent with the satisfactory accomplish . to ent of that important object . "' THE GENERAL SITUATION . Mr . Russell , ' writing to the Times from Iiucknow , on . April 5 th , ' says :- * — " It must be confessed that ourposition here , so far as it relates to th e general attitude of the British army in India , is not , at first sight , very satisfactory . Sir Colin Campbell Js thought by some to be guilty of great-neglect because he is not covering the country with flying columns , and his 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 those fellows ? ' is 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 devising some grand scheme of general suppression . It is useless to deny that , what ever 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 , 0007 . per diem . The possessio of India will soon become dear , indeed , if this army ¦ with its prodigious stores and its nomad population , its flocks and herds devastating the country—the paralysis of its presence—is to be maintained in a state of in activity . And what if , after all , fhis inactivity should be but the prelude to 'an inevitable hot-weather cam paign ? 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-la- Chief , and that he is now acting , or rather 5 s held inactive , under the pressure of questions with the nature of which we . are not acquainted , aiid which 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 Out ram and make his submission , is about to go . tc Allahabad to meet Jung Bahadoor , his friend and councillor . He goes at a time when lie is , according to his own account , suspected by the enemy and surrounded by them at his fortress of Shahgunj . Such is the purport of the letter which he 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 chiefs of Oude are against us to a man , ' and begs us to send a force to Shahgunj to deliver him . " Th « Moulvie , Ahmed Oollali Shall , lias collected 3000 men and three guns at Barree , on the road to Kyrabad , and is plundering the small zemindars . Iiitx Pershaud , Chuckledar of Kyrabad , has also assembled a body of troops to resist any attempt to establish the civil power in his district , and ho has been joined by some of the talookdars of the surrounding country . " The reader will compare for himself these statements and remarks with tlio later facts published above . THE NATIVE REIGN AT L . UCICNOW . The Uurkartt describes the state of affairs during the short native reign in Lucknow . " A son of Wajid Alee , a boy of ten , was nominally king , tut his mother acted as regent , and she again was directed by her paramour , Mummoo Khan . The chief civil appointments were bought by their holders , who amassed' lakhs , btit declined to receive salaries till the English were expelled . The eunuchs of the Palace were the principal military leaders , and universal pillage appears to have been the order of the day . On < Mu&sumut Abbasseo farmed the brothels of the city , foi which he paid 60 , 000 rupees , and the civil and crirniua ' courts , for which he paid 18 , 000 rupees . " BIUGADIKIt WALPOLB ' s KBFUJLSE . According to the full accounts of this disaster published yesterday , the atfajr would seem to lmv < been dreadfully mismanaged . The Brigadier , it ii said , did not make the slightest reconnoissance , but a onco led his men . up to tho fort , which was diecov « re < to bo surrounded by a ditch and high walls tUickh

    : i : I - - n , - - 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 , it is added , they were placed m 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 Wai pole , 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 liave had little previoxis experience in warfare . Mr . Ilussell writes : — " At the very moment that the Sikhs and the 42 nd were desperately clambering up the walls of the fort , helping each other by hand and leg and firelock , and just as they were getting at the enemy , they were recalled , arid " 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 Siklis 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 , fevr seconds . At the funeral , which was most affecting , ' . the 93 rd-wept like children for their beloved Colonel . t 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 da-ring gallantry , T which will not , I trust , gounrewarded . When the men v retired , Simpson , the quartermaster-sergeant of the regi-, ment , hearing that two officers were left on the ground , " rushed , cnit to the ditch of the work , and , seizing the 1 corpse of poor Brauiley , brought it in on his shoulders . He next started out and recovered the body of Douglas ^ in the same way , aud 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 sol-. dier . Does he Hot-well deserve the Victoria Cross ?"

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    LETTDRS FROM CHINA . ( From a Private Correspondent . ) . Canton , April 12 , 1858 . Surely the time has arrived for the mingling of all tilings on . eartll—the time when the Briton shall lie dowii with the Tartar , finding him to be a lamb ; and the remotest places , which have been for centuries sacred from intrusion , shall become common as Oheapsi'de . 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 was the 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 an active Japanese ko , or personal servant , belonging to a friend , brings , for my cheroot , a lighted Chinese joss-stick which lie has received out of a mysterious place , from an Indian mis tree , or cook , who unites Ariau with . Portuguese blood , —and vhen , in 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 of this city . Foxylooking dogs glance at the foreign devil , give a yelp of tenor , ana bolt in all haste ; little children tremblingl y hasten to give the greeting Chin-chin , but speedily finding they are not devoured , venture to utter the insulting term iTankqui ; and ancient women look out of their bleared eyes in mute amazement at having lived to see the day . This yamuu is a place worthy of tho 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 largo wooden pillars , extending for at least a quarter of a mile , and the floor broken every twenty yards by platforms and low , broad staircases . 3 ? roin this central line there branch out buildings and sheds of all

    variety , great and little , open and closed ; and among these there are scattered , ia the most unexpected places , huge trees and . small gardens crowded with bamboos . Here the Commissioners live , and here arc quartered some six or seven hundred Eaw . 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 china basins , and undeniable wax candles ap . pear ia black bottles . Everything is irregular and anomalous . "War has never been proclaimed and yet we liave taken the cjfcy . The city has been taken , yet we are not iu 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 Canton is an imposition : its houses are miserably small and wretcheqly 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 more flourishing condition than it is at present . Truly literature has been

    largely acknowledged at some time or other by the Cantonese ; vast buildiuejs , and quiet , umbrageous retreats have been provided for it , and these lave been undisturbed , except by bats and learned inandarins , until ourjj . bomb-shells dropped in and our troops awoke the long silent echoes . But I am not g oing to describe Canton at present . Our present position yn it , which is far from satisfactory , is a much more important matt civ '" 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 tlian we have done . It may be laid down as an axiom / that every governing power repvesents the general eh aracter of those it rules . When a people arc unable to throw off a rule which has great faults , it is absurd and criminal to help ' .-them , to do so / without establishing : 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 for a foreign power to interfere ., as llussia did in Hungary , with the revolutionary party in any state ; for

    men are slow to revolt ; they only do so tinder great provocation , and revolution is the 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 Avas taken , the majority of its inhabitants expected foreiga rule . liaving failed in their attempts to meet' us in war and terrify us by 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 the 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 thorn arc men of great learning , intelligence , and humanity , hut they arc cxtrciuuly inaccessible ; tlicy know little of the methods l ) y which the people are " squeezed , " and the Chinese complain , in their figurative way , that there are as many evil demons round the mandarins as there are devils round the habitations of the dead .

    However , instead of undertaking to govern the city , the plenipotentiaries acknowlcdgcdrihkwei as their equal , and left him with full power , except in matters relating to foreigners . I had tho p leasure of an audience with this functionary , and lie struck me as likely to be a mere puppet in tho hands ot others ^ He is in bad health , is nearly seventy years old , and appears rather stupid , llis power over the Chinese is very limited , or else he docs not exercise it as he ought ; for he has failed to prevent the enforcement of the decree prohibiting Chinese boats froiu going to Hong-Kong , and he allows the most of his officers to remain at Fatshivn , where they are out of our power , are intriguing against us , and arc collecting large bands of Braves . . The consequence of this imverinm in bnjicrio is

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    536 THE LEAD . E R . pSTo . 428 , Jttne 5 , 1885 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1858, page 536, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2245/page/8/