The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

THE WEEK.

THE capture of Delhi is a solid satisfaction. That little army which for
nearly four weary months had tenaciously held its ground with indefati-
gable perseverance in the face of the rebel stronghold, at last took the
initiative, and in a fortnight won the prize. The effect of this success
must be great in India. It will be enormous throughout Europe. Our
troops have done the State a signal service, and have acquired the
utmost honour for themselves. The credit of the siege and of the
capture belongs entirely to them. No succour from England reached
their camp. The " Army of Relief," which did not sail till August, was
still at sea in September, and it is to the skill, the valour, and the per-
severance of the officers and men in India, that we owe not only the
capture of Delhi, but the positive preservation of our Eastern empire.
Whatever may be the event of this war, the heroism and constancy of
our troops will shine on the page of history, for never did the British
army stand higher in point of military glory than at present.
That they should derive fresh confidence and new vigour from
this glorious result of their past labours is natural. The fall of Delhi
will stimulate every English soldier in India, as it must depress every
rebel in arms against us. By its capture the balance of acquisition
and resource is once more in our favour, for, including all that has been
lost by us in territory and treasure, yet with a view to resources what
has been lost by the rebels in losing Delhi, is more in point of perma-
nent value and present means than all our losses put together. An
enormous arsenal, vast stores of arms:and ammunition, with parks of
artillery, and, above all, a head-quarters stronghold, have been wrested
from them by a force numerically their inferior, and after sustaining
unmoved and unwearied their desperate assaults day and night for
nearly four months. Yet we must not forget that if Delhi prove
such a loss to the rebels, numerically so strong, a fortiori may it prove
not only a gain, but something more, an anxiety, to us numerically so
weak. For with that small army, we must remember, General Wiesos
has to hold and ;protect a large city, peopled, among others, by many
thousand fanatics, who only want the opportunity to give him trouble
with impunity. We cannot conceal from ourselves that his position is
at best hazardous. It will not do to comfort ourselves with a brilliant
analogy or a pointed antithesis. The necks of the rebels, we fear, are
not yet broken. The rebel troops fought too desperately at Delhi, and
retreated in too much order for that to be fairly asserted. Besides,
their loss during the siege was but trifling, and this important fact
will go far to explain the desperate tenacity with which they clung to
their ground for the last six days of the great struggle. Now, if they
join the Gwalior rebels and attack Agra, or retreat into Oude, they will
give us more trouble yet. Meanwhile, without glancing at all at
ulterior operations, we have the capture of Delhi as a great fact to
rejoice over. It has restored the prestige of our arms, and it has
shown to the world that the British soldier of to-day has lost neither
the valour nor the perseverance of his ancestors, and that in whatever
position ho is placed, in his keeping may be safely reposed the honour
and interests of his country.
With respect to the rest of India the general intelligence is not so
satisfactory. We see symptoms of the spread of mutiny throughout
the Bombay army. The diiks are stopped between Lahore and
Moulton, and this causes us much apprehension, for this route is 300
miles from any body of rebels in the field, and yet the act of stopping
the diik is essentially the act of a rebel. A common marauder
rarely commits this crime; but it is the first and immediate aim of a
rebel. Then, again, the whole of Southern Bengal is in arms, a revolt
has broken out in Assam, and in point of fact one or two new elements
have been brought into play against us, for besides the partial suc-
cesses of rebels in Lower Bengal, and the critical position of Patna
Benares, and Allahabad, the Government of Calcutta exhibit a disposi-
tion to damp the ardour and fetter the exertions of our generals. This
will never do. We rely, and justly, upon the skill of our generals, and
upon the courage and perseverance of their troops, and they must not
be hampered in their movements. On one occasion we find a Mr.
SAMUELLS, a civil servant, ordering Captain RATTRAY, against his military
opinion, to attack a body of rebels outside Gya. Captain RATTRAP
protested, but was compelled to act, and what was the consequence ?
The rebels outflanked his small force, entered Gya iu his rear, plun-
dered it, and marched out again with impunity. Again, we find Mr.
GRANT, at Benares, desiring General NEILL, at Allahabad, not to act
upon martial law, and preventing the infliction of a just sentence upon
all mutineers caught with arms in their hands. SVe are not disposed
to advocate sanguinary views, and it is just possible that any prisoners
General NEILL had in keeping were very innocent persons, but that
spirit of interference with military law and with the actions of our
generals must be put down if we wish to see this rebellion crushed.
We are ready to admit that the rebels pursue a system of terrorism to
some extent. They exist by a requisition of person and property,
therefore everything that weakens that system weakens their means;
and though the adoption of moderation may sap it on one side, yet per-
severance in attack pulls it down on the other; and hence our
generals must have fair play, or the sooner we give up the contest the
better for our reputation.
The relief of Lucknow after the capture of Delhi forms
the next great object of the campaign. From the length of time
General OUTRAM took to reach Cawnpore, from the 2nd to the 17th of
September, eight days more than he anticipated, we may infer what
will be the difficulties of the advance to Lucknow. Then again the
united forces of HAVELOCK and OUTItAII are not numerically