The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-05 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 5,1857.

least, was frank in a Minister with despatches
in his pocket telling a talc of the spread of
massacre and mutiny unequalled in the records
of modern times.

Again, upon the 29th of June, when the
seizure of Delhi and its ,concomitant horrors
were announced, Lord CaLksvi LLE deprecating
our exhibiting " any unnecessary alarm,"
Mr. VERNON Small indignantly denied
that our empire was "at all imperilled." Nay,
ho even expressed his " satisfaction " that
" the outrage " had occurred at Delhi ; for he
observed, with that prescience for which he is
so pre-eminent, " it is notorious that Delhi
" may be easily surrounded, and that, if we
" cannot reduce the place by force, we can by
" famine !" and then, regretting that the mail
had left a day or so too soon " to enable him
" to apprise the House that the Fort (?) of Delhi
" had been razed to the ground," blandly re-
marked, " I do not believe that any danger
" does exist, further than that any outbreak
" may happen periodically in India, from faint-
" tieism or other causes." And thus did the
Government meet this terrible rebellion with
promptitude and decision. They cannot
screen themselves behind the " want
of intelligence ;" if they do, their ex-
cuse will be their crime. Facts, long
concealed from us, had as long been known
to them. They knew that incendiaries, spread
all over India for months, were striving to
kindle the flames of rebellion in every corner
of the empire. Acts of open insurrection had
been perpetrated, mutiny and rebellion had
broken out, a general massacre of Europeans
had taken place, and yet this vigorous Govern-
ment of ours could arrive at no definite con-
viction, and, instead of providing for the secu-
rity of the lives of our brothers and sisters,
speculated in perfect inactivity upon their
chances of success. These " vigorous " Mi-
nisters continued to doubt till the mischief was
not only certain, but to some extent irre-
parable. They held their usual Cabinet
Councils twice a week ; they dawdled over
the public business with creditable skill, and
pooh-poohed the Indian revolt as an impotent
fanatical impulse.
Oh ! but it is said, this was " a prudent in-
action " A prudent inaction ! What a position
for a Government where neglect is prudence,
and where it is necessary to be indolent ! But
they cannot even escape behind this quibble.
It was not from prudence they acted, but
from a want of sagacity to compare cause and
effect, to judge of the present, and to discern
the future from the past.

At length, when the petty policy of conceal-
ment could no longer be sustained, the tio-
vernment, awake at last to the preservation of
their places as much as to the critical position
of our army in India, became inspired with the
necessity of decisive measures. They resolved
to make a display of force, and ordered that
the remaining " reliefs" in England should at
once embark and proceed to their destination!
There was no selection of swift vessels, no
chartering of steamers ; nothing out of the
ordinary routine. Old tubs were taken up, the
troops were leisurely put on board, and the ships
despatched in a south-west wind, to knock about
the chops of the Channel for a fortnight. Even
then, as regarded any future measures, not a
step was taken in advance. No military
authority was consulted upon the position of
the British troops in India, in the very pro-
bable event of the whole country rising. No
ioquiries were made as to the capabilities of
defence possessed by the different head-
quarter forts and military posts No de-
cision was arrived at as to the real amount
of force required. Nothing was done, every-
; thing was put off; when they should have acted,
they talked, and, like Mr. Micawber, waited for

something to " turn up." Lord PALMERSTON
saw " no necessity " to put fresh troops under
orders for India, or to call out the Militia,
unless the " next mail " brought worse news ;
and when the next mail at last made its
appearance, it was again " the next" ►which
would obviate all necessity for trouble or ex-
pense, and certainly bring us " satisfactory
intelligence." As to despatching troops across
the Isthmus of Suez, that was both " inconve-
nient and expensive.'• And so on for weeks
did this "vigorous" Government, with an appal-
ling hazard searing them in the face, content
themselves with measures as inefficient as
they were ridiculous, and systematically con-
tinue to depreciate the real dangers enveloping
our empire.
And this ►was the promptitude and the
decision with which they met the crisis, to say
nothing of the sagacity ►which failed to foresee
it ! It is impossible to offer any excuse or
apology iu justification of their conduct. The
resources of the country were ample, the spirit
of the nation was aroused, the temper of Par-
liament liberal, and the Opposition were eager
to give every possible aid to vigorous and
decisive measures ; for it was not a party
question, but one ►which involved the honour
and the glory of England. It was the duty of
Ministers, ►we maintain, and public opinion
supports us, to have provided iu May, if not
earlier, for what they could not fail to ob-
serve would be required. And yet nothing
was done, no advantage was taken of the
opportunity. And we do not hesitate to say
that to this wicked neglect must be attributed
many of the terrible disasters which have oc-
curred, and will yet happen; for if those
troops despatched in August had been sent in
May and June they would have reached Cal-
cutta in July, or soon after, and ►would have
saved many a noble life whose heart's best
blood now soaks into the soil of Hindostan.
Upon the earliest opportunity Lord DERRT,
Lord ELLF.NBOROOOH, and Mr. DISRAELI sug-
gested that the Militia should be called out and
embodied, and urged upon the Government
that this was not a mere mutiny of troops
not "an affair of greased cartridges,"
but an organised and terrible revolt, which
might threaten our existence in India. But
while Lord PALMERSTON saw no necessity for
calling out the Militia, the CHANCELLOR of
the EXCHEQUER declared that the rebellion
was only "a sudden impulse," and Mr. VERNON
SMITH assured us that the obnoxious car-
tridges had been withdrawn, and that India
by the " next mail " would be " tranquillised."
As if the withdrawal of a piece of greasy paper
could pacify a province organised in con-
spiracy against our rule, and aided by 100,000
armed men, who, with all the fury of fana-
ticism and revenge, panted for the butchery
and plunder of our fellow-countrymen and
their families !

Unless the country be prepared to
accept the word of the Government in
their own favour, we apprehend that no
justification or excuse they can offer for
the lamentable indifference they displayed iu
the earlier stages of this catastrophe—when a
little of that foresight and vigour it is their
boast exclusively to possess would have
checked the rebellion in the bud—will be
accepted by an indignant people when the time
for inquiry arrives. The Ministers either de-
spised advice, and, deficient in foresight, ex-
hibited a want of penetration and judgment
indispensable to the advisers of .the
Crown, or they were conscious of the
state of affairs, foresaw the events likely to
happen, and yet wickedly persisted in depre-
ciating the danger. In either case they stand
convicted, on the one hand of ignorance, in-
capacity, and presumption, and on the other
of the most unparalleled indifference and the
most criminal neglect.