The Press. — London, England, 1858-07-17 00:00:00

678 yittraturt. The Chaplain's Narrative of the Siege of Delhi. By John Edward Wharton Rotton, M.A. London : Smith and Elder. Day by Day at Lucknow. By Mrs. Case. London : Bentley. THESE two volumes are by no means " graphic," in the sense in which that overworked expression has of late become familiar to us. To purely literary merit they have little or no claim, and all the interest they possess is derived from the surpassing importance of the events to which they relate. Yet it may be doubted whether they do not convey, in some respects, a truer im pression of the fearful and unparalleled scenes of last year in India than works distinguished by more practised ability and greater technical knowledge. At any rate they give us one side of the picture which no mere rapid generalization, however brilliant, can adequately display, and which those who have been most fiercely engaged in the struggle are perhaps least likely to place on record. They describe the feelings and ideas of non-combatants. The soldier who sees the gun he has pointed clear its lane of dead, or wipes his bloody sabre as he rides back to camp, feels that he is avenging the comrade who has fallen beside him, or those still nearer and dearer whose faces glow in his memory and "give the battle to his hands," and he knows he is doing all that it is possible for him to accomplish. The excitement of the moment may carry him through the more repulsive features of the scene, and the splendour of victory may obscure the havoc of the contest. But for non-combatants no such feeling is possible. Their portion is anxiety, not unmixed with danger. The sharp rattle of musketry, the whizzing of shells, and the heavy boom of cannon-shot bring to their minds little but suspense, as hour after hour passes away without tidings of the fight that rages afar, or such tidings only as the killed or wounded that testify to its severity. And when day succeeds to day, and each one dimi nishes alike the food that sustains life and the brave men who defend it—while shot and shell without and wasting disease and hunger within work their worst upon all bulwarks, both mate rial and physical—strong indeed must be the courage which never falters, and firm the faith which, unrefreshed by active resistance, can steadfastly look forward to the coming day of deliverance. But this is war—not its pomp and circum stance, but its sternest and most prosaic aspect — the reverse of that brilliant tapestry that figures in gazettes and despatches ; and it is an aspect which, if we wish to realize fully the nature of the contest now proceeding in India, we cannot afford to ignore. We may thrill with ad miration over the narratives of newspaper cor respondents, and triumph in the slaughter of the rebels who have shaken our empire ; but it is as well that we should learn at what cost we do all this ; and that cost we can only understand— that deep drain of moral as well as material re sources—from such books as these, where the loss of the enemy figures only in the most general terms, while the sufferings and deaths on our own side, and the miseries and privations of the survivors, are given in their rawest and most ap palling detail.— Mr. Rotton adds his testimony to that of those who believe that the mutiny was the result of a widespread and deeply-laid scheme, which was only anticipated by the outbreak at Meerut. Ile was chaplain at Meerut at the time, per formed service at church on the fatal 10th of May, and remained at his post till the 27th, when the detachment of troops from that station marched out to take the field. lie was present at the battle of the llindun-bridge, the first occasion on which our troops were exposed to the rays of that sun which has since struck down so many of them. Mere, he says, some men were induced to drink out of vesselsprovided by the enemy, the water in which contained a strong corrosive poison—a circumstance we do not re collect to have seen elsewhere recorded. From this point begins his narrative of the siege. It rather confirms than adds to our pre vious knowledge of the subje ct , _ so far as respects the military operations. That the season was THE PRESS, JULY 17, 1858. the worst for living in tents, that the parade ground of Delhi was one of the unhealthiest places in India, and that, on the whole, the English, from their small numbers, became rather the besieged than the besiegers,—are cir cumstances of which no one .who watched the progress of the struggle could fail to be aware. But the specialty of Mr. Rotton's volume con sists in his testimony, not to the reckless valour of our men when actually under fire—of that we hardly require to be reminded; but in his com memoration of their steady constancy and endurance under privation, not indeed of food, but of the almost equally necessary rest ; of the fortitude with which suffering was endured, and the spirit of religious earnestness which alike inspired effort in the field and resignation on the deathbed. From these pages we learn that Havelock was by no means the only man in India who united fervent piety with military zeal; and the experience of one who was present at moments when, if ever, truth is wrung from the heart by extremity of suffering, and when hypocrisy ceases to be any longer availing, proves that not a few men in the British army were able to look forward to the death which they might at any moment encounter, not only with the physical courage of the veteran soldier, but with the calmness of the Christian hero. For the chaplain's description of individual cases we refer the reader to his pages, but the following extract, instar omnium, will place in a clear light the nature of the moral feeling by which our officers were animated. It refers to the night before the final assault of the city : Some little time after the departure of the members of the Council of War to their respective camps, I chanced to drop into the tent of a friend, and found myself in the midst of a knot of men seated and absorbed in conversa tion. The subject of conversation was the meeting which had been assembled at eleven o'clock a.m., and ell that was said at it which might be told without a breach of con fidence, was canvassed freely. The thoughts, first of one and then of another, were given. Every man present, except myself, was to take part iu the assault; many of them were maimed, and had wives and children. Great, therefore, were the claims of affection upon these. Per haps, it may be asked, with the prospects before them, what were the words of those men, and what the impres sion which their manner made upon you ? These were questions concerning which I myself felt curiosity and concern, as I sat in that tent more as a hearer than a speaker, and rather as au observer than as one desirous of attracting attention towards myself. These men seemed to realize fully the solemnity of the coming struggle, which might now engage them at any hour. Yet were they not downhearted or melancholy ; still less were they light and trifling. A lively sense of the country's expectation of them to do their duty, and a determination on their part to do it without favour or partiality to them selves, were the most conspicuous features of the conver• sation and the company. There was here the absence of all vaunting, and in the place of it was the sobriety of reason, and the inflexibility of Anglo-Saxon purpose and courage. And from what I both saw and heard in that tent, taken in connection with the conviction, which spon taneously sprang up in my own mind, that only dm reality of their sentiments had been expressed by the speakers, I went away impressed with an increase of respect for human nature. I saw that, with all its usual selfishness, it could be thoroughly unselfish, and was so on the present occasion. We have sometimes heard doubts cast upon the story of Lieutenant Hills's heroism, and those who believed it have at any rate been led to imagine that it was little more than a display of undoubted, but still useless, courage. We are glad to find that so sober and trustworthy an authority as Mr. ltotton confirms in every par ticular the account previously given, and shows that the gallant act was the result of genuine presence of mind exerted for a worthy object. The enemy's cavalry having been treacherously brought in by a picquet consisting of a portion of the 9th Irregulars, had managed to get within the camp, and had actually ridden over the guns, which were ordered at once to open upon them : Second Lieut. Hills, in obedience to the orders which he had received, was straining every effort to get his guns into action, but only succeeded in having one unlimbered, when the enemy were upon him. The thought now occured to him that by charging the insurgents single-handed he might oc casion a commotion, and so give his men time ti load the gun. Simultaneously with the thought he made a rush, with all the impetuosity of desperation, at the enemy's front rank, cut down the first man he met with, and had given a second a severe wound in the face, when two sowers, or native troopers, charged him. At one and the same moment their horses came in contact with young Hills' charger, and the latter with its rider was sent flying. Such was the force of the fall, that Hills escaped two cuts which were made at him ; one of which laid open his jacket just below the left arm, without injury however to his person. He lay for a moment, and the enemy passed on ; supposing, I posume, that he was slain. Presently he rose and looked about for his sword, which he discovered lying about ten yards from the place where he bad fallen. Scarcely was the lost sword found and secured, tha n three of the enemy again returned to the attack ; two on hurseleick, and the third on foot. The youthful soldier had again to struggle for life : the first man who approached hinadie succeeded in wounding and dropping from his horse; the second charged him with a lance, which was cleverly turned aside, and an awful gash in return inflicted on the face and head of the assailant. Lieutenant Hills thought he had despatched this opponent, but, wounded as he was, the man came up for a second time, but only to have his head completely broken. The third and most formidable foe was yet to come: he was young and active, and un wearied by previous effort ; whereas, Lieutenant Hills was weak with exertion and panting for breath, and moreover, his cloak, by some means, in these successive frays bad fastened tightly round his throat, almost to suffocation. Nothing daunted, he entered afresh upon the conflict, and made a blow with his sword at the enemy—a blow which was unfortunately turned. The rebel now seized the hilt of the Artilleryman's sword, and succeeded in twisting it out of the owner's grasp. At this juncture it came to a hand-to•hand fight; the Englishman with his fists, punchi ng the head of the native, and the native trying to wound his gallant foe with the sword, but without success. Somehow, young Hills fell, and Major Tombs came up just in time to succour his junior, by despatching, as he thought, the mutineer with a pistol-shot. The following fact, which, so far as we remem ber, has not been previously noticed, shows the nature of the enemy with whom we have still to contend : Some fresh evidences of treachery within camp were detected on Sunday, August the 16th. It appeared upon examination that the ordnance charges were found have been tampered with, to such an extent that our artillery practice could not be depended upon : sometimes our guns carried too far, while at others the shot fell very short of the proper range. Moreover, the guns would sometimes flash as often as three or four times, and once I heard of a piece of artillery flashing as many as seven times before it would discharge. We were at a loss to account for this phenomenon ; but at length the discovery was made. Some of the gun lascars had been sympathizing with the rebels, and iu consequence of this sympathy, they had been altering the charges so as to make our fire harmless; they had also filled the vent of the guns with powdered glass: by this last means, the enemy'having the benefit of the signal flash. had ample time to escape ; while, when rapid fire on our part was necessary, our operations were hampered and delayed, and our plans often completely frustrated. But Mr. Rotton's book is calculated to serve another purpose besides the record of the harass ing struggles which the British army had to sustain, and the unconquerable resolution with which they were met. By recording these struggles, and the patience and self-denial which were so uniformly exerted, they form what ought to be an effectual protest against the neglect with which the exertions of that army were subse quently treated. Justice has not been done to the army of Delhi. Explain it how you take what legal distinction you please between the goods of revolted subjects and the goods of invaded enemies, nothing can root out of the minds of our soldiers the conviction that, humanly speaking, their stanchness and valour saved India, and that their portion of the salvage ought handsomely to mark our sense of the debt thus incurred. The permission of indiscriminate plunder, though it would have solved all diffi culties on this head, would have caused the small invading force to be hopelessly absorbed in the intricacies of the city, and placed them at a terrible disadvantage with their swarming foes. This danger it was necessary, at whatever sacri fice, to obviate : As an inducement to obedience, and likewise as a re ward for good and valiant behaviour, the General assured his troops that whatever property might be capture& should be disposed of and divided for the benefit of all engaged in this warfare, fairly and according to established rule and precedent. This order was published on the 7th September. Months passed away, and no notice was taken of it by the Supreme Government, in the shape of objection or com plaint; until, as a wind-up for the old year, and something with which to commence the new one, the Governor- General in Council, under advice of the law officers, aced an objection to the army possessing prize money, and de clares he will give batta instead. But how much? The force had been nearly six months in the field ; and, sr; cordingly, Lord Canning says, it shall receive six lumps batta, in recognition of its arduous labours and patient. endurance : of both which qualities his lordships affect► a due appreciation, while giving this evidence of it. As soon as the substitution of bolts for prize-money was made known, a wag of a private soldier wrote up on the watts of the palace of Delhi, "Dela i taken and India recunquered for thirty Air rupees and ten aaaas I" Such was the bitter irony of the common soldier of England, expressed in the form of comment on the actions of his Governor-General—a comment no less just than pungent. Recent events, and the inevitable fickleness of the public mind, have already thrown the siege of Delhi far back in our memory ; and we are therefore rejoiced to see a worklice this, which iacovered I fallen. •ed, tha n ;two on tidier had proached lis horse; cleverly on the thought s he was, have his trmidahle and un- Hills was noreover, frays had itfocation. Ilia, anti )w which the hilt Nisting it 111111 e to a punching round his 'Somehow, st in time tight, the remem- ows the still to imp were red upon id ti have r artillery i our guns y short of rometioaee I heard of tea before nt for this IL =