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 subject,
_ 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, than
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, punching
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

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