The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-01 00:00:00

4A MI . 1r - TFT"^--•Pr.-4"."""*"."711.111rWall."1""""rign.1111 , - (#. 4 40f4fr./....; ;X • . r , r • - t .. . . I % , t b t ..... . t r t 06 $ I . , . „ , • ' 'I i !1 0 t + '.• , : I S tr j I 1 LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1857. No. 222.—V0L. V. Vress. LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1857. AMID the mass of rubbish uttered by the Ministers and their organs upon the subject of India, the magnificent speech delivered by Mr. DISRAELI on Monday last stands out in bold relief. The Right Hon. Gentleman has won for himself the most distinguished position as an authority upon Indian affairs by the accu rate knowledge he displayed of the nature of the crisis we are involved in ; of the causes from which it sprang, and the proportions which under Ministerial mismanagement it seems probable it may reach ; while finally he pointed out with unerring sagacity the only course by which it can effectually be met and effectually mastered. The speech of Monday night will be accepted by the country as the most com prehensive and masterly exposition of Indian . Dr fices as the Bengal soldiery have made until maddened by the ill-usage, not only of them selves, but of their fellow men. The atro cities that have been committed show how fierce is the hatred that has been engendered against us, and that the contest really is not one between the Sepoys and their officers, but between the natives and the whites. All this, however painful, it was necessary to point out, because it was impossible to devise a remedy for the disease till the causes of it should have been clearly set forth. It may suit the pur pose of Ministers to say that this was un patriotic, for it must naturally be their object to depreciate a speech which tells so damagingly against themselves. But this has always been the contemptible expedient of a guilty Govern ment. As little weight is to be attached to the objection made by some to Mr. DIS RAELVS speech that the disclosures in it were indiscreet, as showing to foreign nations the true nature of the struggle in which we are engaged. Foreign nations, we may relyjupon it, are neither blind nor,deaf. They are not depen dent upon speeches in the House of Commons for the information they receive. Indeed, the very same papers which are the loudest in urging this objection are themselves the first to pro claim that the conspiracy against us has been long known on the Continent, and that it is Russia who has been the prime mover of the whole affair. We wish that we could discover in the course pursued by the Government any dis position to act upon the truly noble and patriotic principles laid down by Mr. DISRANLI. We wish that we could see any intention manifested of conciliating the feelings we have outraged, and soothing down the nation alities we have provoked. We wish that we could perceive any likelihood of the vengeance to be taken on the mutineers being accom parried by an equally rigid dismissal from the LATEST EDITION. service of the Government of those through whose misconduct the crisis has been finally brought about. If the Sepoys are to be con demned, as of course they must be, for their violence, we should be glad to see some steps taken to punish also the officials by whose disregard of their religious feelings, ac cording to the Government's own account, that violence was caused. If the affair be one of greased cartridges, then what penalty can be too great to inflict upon those by whom such cartridges were directed to be given out? But besides this there are the other points to meet on which Mr. DISRANLI so forcibly dwelt. We have not only to satisfy the natives that no further attempts shall be made upon their religion, but we must convince them also that we are prepared to abandon henceforth the system of confiscating their principalities and estates. If the Government does not do this we can tell them that their attempts to restore order will meet with signal failure ; and that, no matter what news their telegraphs may from time to time bring them, the end of all will be utter ruin and disgrace. They may confine the King of DUDE and his Minister, but they will have made no impression upon 'mong the natives which -•s of the King any establish a the the people be only as wellaffeeted to us as Ministers and the Directors state. Why, then, do the Europeans at Calcutta pay enormous sums for guns and revolvers, and enrol them selves in self-defence ? Wherefore is all this work made about the outbreak, if it be con fined to the Sepoys' ranks, and if all the rest of the people are tranauil and well dis posed towards our rule? The Government, however, both here and in India show conspi cuously by their acts that, however desirous they may be of blinding Parliament and the public, they do not themselves believe the tale that they put forth. They know as well as we do that if the natives generally were loyal, they need trouble themselves very little about what a few thousand mutinous Sepoys could do. They are aware that without aid and without sympathy from the people they could get neither money, nor ammunition, nor shelter, nor food. They know that at the mandate of each magistrate the culprits would be fallen upon by the zemindars, and speedily brought in, whether alive or dead. But the the notion be to notorious and patent - facts. But nobody is taken in by them ; they do not even deceive themselves. They know as well as we do that Mr. DISRAELI'S view of the crisis is the true one. and their own version of it is the reverse. They are not blind themselves, nor can they blind the people of England to the fact that the outbreak is in reality the result of long misgovernment, and that the mutineers are the exponents, not merely of the military, but, which is far more important, of the national discontent. prezieublve KIM 1.1.121,31.G11.) c.e.p•losvay. aa affairs, and stamps Mr. DisasEr.t as the states- that public feeling among the natty man, who comprehends the crisis and the alone gives to the efforts of the K policy it demands. particle of effect. They may est The Ministerial theory of spontaneous corn- censorship, but they will have done buation Is one that will not find ready accept, to Ow that irritation which the DV anoe among Men of sense. The flames of of India do not create, but only exprei mutiny do not spread in the manner those may disarm whole regiments. but I in Bengal have done without some adequate not by that means put an end to the I cause. Masses do not make such sacri- feelings that prevail. On the contr Rannal getlaiPry have made until will only add fuel to the fire by attempt to palm upon the English public a story so absurd, only tallies with their conduct from first to last. Blind they were in the outset, and now they are attempting to blind others when they can no longer deceive thetaselves. They still cling to the hope that in the chap- ter of accidents something favourable turn up. As Lard ELLEN/1011011GB j 1111417 : 2 111 they resemble the ostrich, which, putting ILI head into the sand, imagines that it is safe. They aver that it is nothing but a military mutiny, because that affords the solution most consistent with their credit, however opposed I ENGLISH WHIGS AND IRISH PRIESTS. Asotrr the time of the late Dissolution some extraordinary rumours were circulated amongst a portion of the Conservative body. It was said that if Lord PALMERSTON obtained an English majority, the Ministry would seek out for some means of cutting the intimate con nection which has for many years subsisted between the English Liberals and the Irish Roman Catholics. Various statements, of a novel c:iaraeter, were made on this subject; and it cannot be denied that they produced electioneering effect. At Dublin, for example, the Conservative majority would have been large but for some sections of the Conser vatives being influenced by the belief that " PALM ERSTON was a thorough Protestant " statesman ;" and acted upon many influence. Into the question testanism, or the ut' Premier, we shall • to fix attention on in England 9. similar belief Conservative gentl of 0 N . Lion of thefAlt..l4 l / 4 4, utter indiffilie not now enge• 1. n the fact w . r 1 r r,e, • Aft ",,?. 4 1. 111". 4 f:44 N nothing newspapers press. They Lt they will 10 mutinous On the contrary, they wil llv _to the fire by sending thousands of well-trained soldiers to infect their native villages with their exasperation against our rule. Finally, they may make themselves the laughingstock of Europe by plaintive denunciations of Russian intrigues ; but so long as they fail to remove from our native army, and our native allies, and our native subjects in India every valid cause of discontent, they will have neglected the only mean by which such intrigues can be ren dered harmless. The Government may speak, write, or act as they may, but to this they will have to come at last. There is but one mode of restoring peace and confidence to India, and that is by following 1 the course, whether through the agency of a Royal Commission or otherwise, that Mr. DISRAELI in his admirable speech proposed. Those who maintain that the disaffection is confined to the Sepoys, and that the civil population are with us to a man, would really prove, if their theory were true. that the Government and their agents in India are much greater imbeciles than the speech of Mr. DISRAELI sufficiently indicated. For, if all the rajahs, and zemindars, and people, are with us, what possible difficulty can the Indian Government have in putting down this revolt? For every thousand Sepoys who refused obedience to us, they could in that case raise ten thousand at a moment's notice to take their place. From Delhi to Calcutta there are millions of inhabitants belonging to races which have always been inured to arms. They may not have the advantage of drill, but there is no need of drill to fit them for the work required. If, therefore, their loyalty can be relied on, what on earth does the Go vernment of India mean by troubling us with its wills for European soldiers and its tele granhic alarms ? There are men enough within its reach to raise ten armies from, if STAMPED ....SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED -FIVEPENCE: