The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

THE KOLAPORE MUTINY.

Some full details of this affair have come to hand.
It appears that the letters directing the rising were
intercepted. A moonshee drawing a salary of 151. a
month from Government was one of the principal
instigators of the massacre of his masters. A letter
from Belgaum, August 11, says :
I attended the court•martial on Sheik Hainan, a greater
rogue than the moonshee. He appears to have directed
his letters in English. I saw the letters written inside in the
native character, and also the English translation, to the
effect that everything was in readiness here. Several
leading men in the town and in the native regiments (no
names) were ripe for the insurrection. Tho plan for
taking the fort, making the commander prisoner, and
cnttinl. the throats of all Christians, was also laid out. The
English were a parcel of fools, and did not " smell the rat."
There were many other subjects discussed in the epistles,
but the pith I have given you, and if these hail not
been intercepted we should not have been in the laud
of the living.

August 13.

Today most exciting event; have happened. Two men
have been sentenced to death, and are to be blown away
from guns to-morrow. The moonshee's trial came to a
close today, when he was found guilty. Another man, a
nerdassie, was tried by a clurt-martial at the artillery mess
room. The chief witness was the adjutant of one of the
regiments, and his testimony was corroborated by the
jemadar. This man, it seems, had come to try and incite
the sepoys to insurrection, and the jemadar, a havildar, and
Naick. directly they were aware of his intentions,infortned
the adjutant, who accompanied theme to the lines, when
they hid him in a hut behind a plain deal door with chinks
in it. They then introduced the perdassie, and tho
adjutant took down on paper the mutinous conversation.
Under such circumstances the rascal was, of cotese,
convicted, and to-morrow will meet the fate he deserves.
I read the translations of the moonshee's letters, three in
number. Liko those of the perdassie, their plans were
all arranged as nicely as possible. One was to the Monlvie
of Poona!), telling him the English were quite in ignorance
as to what was going on. Ile also wrote to Kolapore, and
the mutiny in that place is attributed to hint. S— has
been indefatigable in getting evidence and keeping spies.

984

It was entirely through his means that these letters were
intercepted. These are indeed exciting times. God grant
all may be well yet in Bengal, and that no such insurrection
may break out here !
THE MASSACRE AT CAWNPORE.

Two affecting letters, in the form of a diary from
the 27th May to the Ist June, from a lady who was
murdered at Cawnpore, have been published this
week. There is something exquisitely touching in
the tone of gentle sweetness and patient endurance
pervading them :

Cawnpore, May 27.

... . It is a sad history. We are living in awful
realities, and we cannot see the end of them We were
apparently sale and quiet here till the :list, when the 2nd
Cavalry began to show symptoms of uneasiness, and
intelligence was given that a rising of the native troops
was hi contemplation that night. Mr. H—, the magis-
trate and collector, brought his wife and children in to u
in the afternoon, and we agreed all to remain together.
Up to this time, no suspicion having been entertained of
the troops' loy, ilty, no preparations for defence had been
made. Now, however, all were astir. The general (Sir
Hugh Wheeler) telegraphed to Lucknow for succour, the
European barrack at the depot was assigned as a rendez•
veils, and some families went there for safety. We,
however, determined to remain at our house until further
alarm were given; but Colonel E— said he would go
and sleep i❑ the midst of his men, to show that he had
confidence in them; so we had only Mr. H— to stay
with us. Presently, about eleven o'clock at night, he was
called away to make some arrangement, so we thought it
scarcely right to remain here alone. Accordingly we took
our little unconscious children out of their beds, and with
the ayahs ntf we set in the carriage to the European
barracks. There we found a number of refugees, in a
state of great alarm of course, but for the most part com-
posed and resigned. It was a night of fearful suspense, yet
it passed away without any disturbance, and I had the hap.
piness of seeing my husband in the morning alive and well.
The next day ( Friday) was one full of agony and dread,
and the night was more than poor human nature, un-
assisted, could endure. When my husband left me that
night to go to his post I never expected to see him alive
again, fur some of his men had been overheard wildly
t tlking of mutiny and murder, and had made a proposal
to destroy their officers. Colonel E— himself had fully
made up his mind that a death-stroke would be given, yet
he flinched not an instant in the performance of his duty,
lam happy to say. We were preserved for that night
again. I could scarcely believe that my husband's voice
a eluded outside the tent—for we had now arranged for a
tent just outside the barrack for ourselves. After that
miserable night the Saturday following seemed like
heaven, for we went to our house and spent the day
quietly there—at least with strah quietness as was possible
with the most terrible rumours coming in throughout the
day, and reviving all our saddest apprehensions. Of course
we returned to the depot at night, and fur the first time
since our move exhausted nature would be attended to, and
I fell asleep for some pours, and for a time shut out all
the horrid realities of oar situation. All Sunday was
pretty quiet. The Eed came off that day and the next,
when it was expected that an outbreak would occur. It did
not so, however, and on Monday morning our minds were
amnewhat reassured by ell the Mussulmans of the Ist
11-giment coming in a bcdy, according to custom, to salaam
to Colonel E— after their prayers, and they expressed
their intentions of fidelity, &c., all of which are very well,
but not to be depended on now•a•days. We returned to
those melancholy night quarters. Oh ! such a scene. Men,
officers, women, and children, beds and chairs, all mingled
togeth r inside and outside the barrack; some talking or
even Duelling, some very frightened, some defiant, others
despairing. Three guns in front of our position end three
behind, and a trench in course of formation all round.
Such sickening sights these for peaceful women, and the
miserable reflection that all this ghastly show is caused
not by open foes, but by the treachery of those we have fed
and pampered, and honoured and trusted in for so many
years. Oh! I cannot dwell upon the harrowing thoughts.
I am going to despatch this to Calcutta, to be sent
through our agents there, that you may know our situation.
fly dear little child is looking very delicate; my prayer is
that she may be spared much suffering. The bitterness
of death has been tasted by us many, many times during
the last fortnight, and, should the reality come, I hope we
may find strength to meet it with a truly Christian coo
rage. It ia not hard to die oneself, but to see a dear child
suffer and perish, that is the hard, the bitter trial, and the
cup which I must drink should Gad not deem it fit that
it should pass from me. My companion, Mrs. H--, is
delightful ; poor young thing, she has such a gentle spirit,
so unmurmuring, an desirous to meet the trial rightly, so
unselfish and sweet in every way. Her husband is an
excellent mat), and of course very much exposed to danger,
almost as notch as mine. She has two children, and we
feel that our duty to our little ones demands that we should
exert ourselves to keep up health and spirits as much as
possible. There is a reverse to thin sad picture. Delhi
may be retaken in a short time. Aid may come to us, and
all may subside into tranquillity once more. Let us hope
for the beat, do our duty, and trust in God above all things.
Should I be spared, I will write to you by the latest date.
long as we can live in our house during the day we
gruffer but litle comparatively, but we may be shut up at
any time. We must not give way to despondency, fur at
the worst we know that we are in God's hands, and lie
does not for an instant forsake us. He will be with us in
the valley of the shadow of death also, and we need fear no
evil. God bless you.

Cawnpore, June 1.

For the chimes of this reselling you, I send a few lines
via Bombay that you may have the latest news of uv. The
revolt has spread since I wrote last. Ltawab, Allyghur,