The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

there were the Rev. Mr. Fisher and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Lowis Major and Mrs. Robertson. Tucker, the clothing agent, , was shot through the head when looking through a loophole. I have just seen the servant's deposition taken at Gha zeepore. It appears that the fugitives moored their boats near Cawnpore, their boatmen ran away, the gentlemen gave the villagers money to induce them to get more men, instead of which they told Nana, who sent conveyances for them, confined them in the Assembly-rooms, and when Brigadier-General Havelock beat his troops and took hie guns he had the whole party butchered. He is reported to have said h e could now die happy, as he had killed 1,000 " Feringliees," and I fancy he has com pleted about that number, including the Christians at Cawnpore and the Futtehghur refugees (in all about 150, including those who fled early in June). A 'deserter of the 10th Native Infantry, a sepoy, was seized at Ghazeepore, riding Swetenham's horse. He said that Captain Bignell was with a zewindar in Gude ; so suppose he is the only surviving officer of those with the rekiment. Ensign Byrne, who went out with Captain Bignell, has not since been heard of. Mr. Lindsay died from exposure at Cawnpore. Irwin and family have not been heard of since leaving the Gwalior Contingent. Coke aud Reed are doing good service with their corps before Delhi. Thompson is a mounted volunteer with Havelock. Law and \Villows are in the hills; Martineau at Delhi or Usnballah. N.B.—Brevet-Captain Law is since reported killed before Delhi. NANA SAHIB'S PROCLAMATION. A translation of a proclamation posted up by Nana Sahib at Cawnpore has come to hand. Detailing the attempt to Christianise the natives, the Nana goes on to say : While in this country these counsels were being adopted in England the Vakeel of the Sultan of Roum sent news to the Sultan that thousands of European soldiers were being sent for the purpose of making Christians of all the people of Hindostan. Upon this the Sultan issued a firman to the King of Egypt to this effect : Yon must deceive the Queen Victoria, for this is not a time for friendship, for my Vakeel writes that thousands of European soldiers have been despatched for the purpose of making Christians the army and people of Hindostan. lu this manner, then, this must be checked. If I should be remiss, then how can 1 show my face to God ; and one day this may come upon me also, for if the English make Christians of all in Hindi). stan they will then flx their designs upon my country. When the firman reached the King of Egypt he prepared and arranged his troops, before the arrival of the English army at Alexandria, for this is the route to India. The instant the English army arrived the King of Egypt opened guns upon them from all sides, and destroyed and sunk their ships, and not a single soldier escaped. The English in Calcutta, after the issue of the order for the cartridges, and when the mutiny had become great, were iu expectation of the arrival of the army from London ; but the Great God in his omnipotence had beforehand put an end to this. When the news of the destruction of the army of London became known, then the governorgeneral was plunged in grief and sorrow and beat his head. Printed by order of the Peiswhar Bahadour. The following fragment is from a letter written by a young officer at Barrackpore to his mother : Barrackpore, Aug. 8. The mutineers of Dinapore—the 7th, Bth, and 40th Native Inftintry—are in full march fur this place and expected in seven c.r eight days, haying overpowered the small force sent against them, consisting of 145 of her Majesty's 10th Foot, 100 other Majesty's 37th, and 130 Sikhs ; and although our fellows fought splendidly 93 only have escaped. The mutineers number about 4,000 men. We shall meet them with her Majesty's 53rd, her Majesty's 35th, her Majesty's '29th, and about eigh'een guns, cavalry and sappers. All the prisoners taken are to be " hanged instanter." We are very " jolly indeed, and only want troops from home." THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26, 1857. We have luckily about 1,500 Europeans with two battens in and about Benarcs, Some zemindars of Oude have come forward and offered assistance, which will perhaps be accepted. We have an in trenehment at the old fort at Rajgbant, and it is pronounced by engineers and others to be impreg- nable if protected by two or three companies of Europeans with guns well placed. We are putting the old fort at Chutier in a state to stand a siege, and we have provisions there fur two months. From an officer in the 50th-Madras Native In fantry : Camp, Ghooty, Aug. 4. My dear —, You will be rather surprised to see ..he direction at top, unless a notice in the Indian Gazette has caught your eye, which would inform you of the fact that the 50th Madras Native Infantry forms part of a moveable column, under Brigadier- General Whitlock, for field service wherever required, and as at present the whole of Central India, and at good part of the Nizsm's dominions, are in a highly disturbed state, the where we are going to and the when we may return are scarcely worth speculating on. All we know is that we are bound for Kurnaul, where the rendezvous of the column is, and, when collected, we are first of all to clear the country round about of the Rohillas—precious hard work but very little fighting, as these gentry generally prefer to run away to live to rob another day—fighting, unless for plunder, being quite out of their line. This done, we move on to Secunderabad, where there have been disturbances, and from thence, in all probability, north, to co-operate with the Bombay field force in the soni.hern Mahratta country; so you see we are in for a pretty long campaign, if campaign it can be called. We marched from Bangalore on the morning of the 23rd, and arrived here (102 miles) this morning. We move on to- morrow towards Kurnaul, which we are to reach on Saturday by a forced march. The force with us at presen consists of a squadron of her Majesty's 12th Lancers three guns, anu a troop of native horse artillery We are to be joined at Kurnaul by the right wing of the 74th Highlanders, a squadron of the 3rd Light Cavalry (natives), a squadron of the sth Light Cavalry (also natives), two guns, field battery (Euro pean), and 500 irregular horse. We are to have another European, and two more native, infantry regiments as soon as they can be sent to join us, so we shall be a pretty little force of about 2,500 in fantry, 1,000 cavalry, and five guns—rather a small proportion of artillery, certainly, but more cannot be spared at present. Our men are in high feather, and greatly delighted at the prospect of active ser vice, particularly as they hope to have a chance of polishing off the mutinous Bengalese. It is rather amusing to hear them talk about them—they seem to despise them so thoroughly—the old men telling long yarns of where they had met them on service, and of course, according to their own account, the Wave Madra.sees always took the lead. . . . . Our colonel is certainly the best officer I ever saw. We are rather cocky at the selection of our regiment, as we did not expect it, having just finished a long march—but a good name at head quarters did :• for us. Kurnaul, Aug. tith. We arrived here this morning all well, and found the squadron of the sth Light Cavalry, and two guns (with something else illegible in the letter', already here. The 3rd Cavalry come in a day or two, but the 74th Highlanders not under ten days. As this part of the country is to all appearance tolerably quiet, I don't think we shall wait for them, but push on at once for llyderabad, where we may certainly expect work, as both the Nizam and his Prime Minister have warned the Resident that they have no power to restrain the people. If we arrive in time for the said row, the force there will be the 3rd European Regiment (900 strong), two-thirds of the 12th Lancers (about 500), and 14 guns (European) ; 6 native infantry regiments, 9 native horse artillery guns, and about 600 or 700 native cavalry—with which force, of course, we should have it all our own way ; but 1 fear some of the native cavalry are not to be depended upon, being all Mussulmans. PRIVATE LETTERS. We have received several private letters by this mail. The following is from a civil officer of high rank in Calcutta, and is remarkable as showing the state of feeling at Calcutta : . Calcutta, August 7th. The dreadful state of affairs in India is such as to appal tl e stoutest heart, and surely to make every believer in God thankful for the humblest lot, when he sees what troubles and sorrows may fall on those who live in ease and plenty. I refer you to the public papers for an account of our situation. They can hardly exaggerate the present difficulties and gloomy prospects with which we are afflicted. There are few persons less subject than myself to low spirits, but of late I have found it impossible to sleep for more than two or three hours together, and have risen before day to read the Word of God till calm and peace were restored! Benares, Sept. 24th. The following will, if not already known, be in teresting to you and to your readers. It was re ceived by the last mail from Benares. It is very satisfactory, inasmuch as it shows that Benares was quite secure and had nothing to fear from the Dinapore mutineers : REUGEES FROM, DELHI. The Colombo, bringing the passengers and heavy portion of the last Calcutta mail, arrived at South ampton on Thursday. Many of the passengers were refugees from Delhi, Lucknow, and other parts of Oude. Fortunately they started from those places at the commencement of the mutinies. The language of their husbands was, " Get out of the country with the children as soon as you can, and never mind us.' Many of them have never heard anything of their husbands since. Some of the ladies escaped nearly naked, lived in the jungle for days with their infant children, starving, anti rarely able to get a handful of rice to satisfy the cravings of hunger. Few villagers were willing to assist them, and many of those who were willing were afraid to do so. Not the least interesting refugee on board the Colombo 939 was a little dog. It had escaped from Delhi by faith fully following its mistress and her children. It was with difficulty anything could be gleaned from the passengers, 80 loth were they to talk about the horrors from which they had providentially escaped, and so rejoiced did they seem at once more looking upon • the peaceful shores of Old England. Some of them give a frightful picture of the state of Calcutta and the interior provinces of India. The persons in the employ of the Peninsular and Oriental Company had more than once sought shelter on board the com pany's steamers, the guns of which were shorted, and on board which armed watches were kept night and day. At Ceylon all the Europeans troops had left for the Bengal Presidency, and none but sepoy and Malay soldiers are lett at Point de Galle and Colombo. The Malay soldiers are eager to fight the sepoy mutineers, whom they cordially hate. INDIA RELIEF FUND. The country responds freely to the call for its aid is favour of the houseless orphans, widows, and general sufferers by the rebellion in India. Resolutions expressing the deepest s3mpathy are everywhere passed, and the most active measures taken to seaare liberal subscriptio - s. At Taunton, Newbury, Sheffield, Devonport, Tam" brtb, Yaraiouth, Bristol, Birming ham, Edin burg' ~ Chris teburch, Huddersfield, Halifax, Bedford, Jersey, Exeter, Warminster, Lincoln, Stoke upon-Trent, Selby, Bradford, Sheffield, Weston. super• Mare, and Islington, influential meetings have been held, and though various opinions are expressed as to the origin of the rebellion, the general feeling of the public is unmistakeably against the apathy of the Government, and in favour of a searching inquiry at some future time. At MANCHESTER the Earl of Wilton moved the first resolution, and expressed his opinion that— Whatever might be the causes of the present unhappy state of things in India, and whatever opinions might be entertained as regards the warnings previously received, the wars with neighbouring States and consequent with. drawal of troops from the Presidencies, the consideration of these questions :must for the present give place to the duty of strengthening the hands of Government in the prevention of further outrages. At GLASGOW, Sir A. Alison moved the first resolu tion, and in the course of his adthess touched briefly upon the cause of the rebellion : It is in vain to speak of the greased cartridges; the revolt was organised by the Mahomedans years before the greased cartridges were heard of. The greased cart ridge was a mere device to delude the sepoys. We must not confound the military mutiny of the Brahmins and Mahomedans with the glorious efforts—with some of which all must sympathise—of patriotic virtue, in other countries and in former days, for national independence. The revolt lies in no sense been a national movement ; it was undertaken for no national purpose ; even yet it is not joined in, or sympathised with, by the great body of the people. It is the work of a lict ntious soldiery, spoiled by indolgeuce, panting for rapine, and teeming with lust, anti cf those alone. At SUNDERLAND Mr. G.Hudson, M.P.,put the origin of the mutiny in a new light : The rebellion (he said) was created by the Musanlrnans, who had induced the sepoys to throw off their allegiance from a belief that England was receding from her high position and could no longer avenge herself or assert her rights. He knew it to be a fact that the accounts of the Crimean war, and of our disasters there, had been circu lated among the sepoys with are avidity that was perfectly marvellous. No sooner had a paper been received than it was translated from the English into the Hindoo language, and the natives were taught to believe, in their ignorance, that those descriptions cf the position of our army in the Crimea were proofs that they might venture upon the course they had now taken. At King's Lynn, Isleworth, Waltham Abbey, Windslr, Eton, Maidstone, and, indeed, in every town and county throughout the kingdom have meetings been held. We are happy to be able to announce that the Sublime Porte has instructed its ambassador in London to forward to the Lord Mayor the sum of LOOM. as his donation to the Fund for the Relief of the Sufferers by the Mutinies in India. The im portance of this expression of sympathy from the acknowledged bead of the Mahomedan religion will be at once perceived. The London committee for taking steps for afford ing relief to the sufferers in India met on Wednes day in the Egyptian-hall, Mansion house. They formed themselves into a Relief Committee, a Finance Committee, and a Correspomknoe Com mittee, for carrying out a scheme for the distributiin of the fund. THE PORTRAIT of the late distinguished Bishop Illomfield is to be placed in the town hall at Bury. Subscriptions for this object have been handsomely commenced by the Marquis of Bristol, Earl Jermyn, and Lord Arthur Hervey.