The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JULY 18,1857.

the nation will have to bear the consequences
of its folly and its neglect. What steps it may
evr le against those who
ha, it were needless to

e,nt.
wore

assured that if the
,t may happen, the

will la; in ,iii humour
have brought about
.tious made to the
'ELITILLE on Monday
ireetors must have

were deceiving the

country by the Statements they put forth.
For what does his Lordship declare ? Why,
that in 1850—when they were (hiving the late
Sir CHARLES NAPIER from the command of
their army for asserting (falsely as they
alleged) that it was effected largely by a thirst
of mutiny, and taking the measures necessary
tc• prevent an outbreak—the discipline of that
army was, in point of fact, of the worst descrip-
tion. Tile grossest overt acts of mutiny had
been committed, and so bad was the condition
of the army known to be that his Lordship
was entreated not to give utterance to the facts
in public, as it was extremely undesirable that
foreign nations should be made acquainted with
the real state of affairs. The late Sir CIIAIILES
NAPIER was thus insulted—disgraced as far as
the acts of such men could disgrace him—and
hurried prematurely to his grave; and all for
stating what now appears to have been the
simple truth, for doing that which ho was im-
peratively bound to do in order to avert the
dreadful catastrophe which has now befallen
us, arid which for the time he warded off.
In the whole range of English history we
know of nothing so shameful as this. Talk of
the British Bank Directors and their conceal-
ments, why they were nothing, by Lord MEL-
viLLE's account, ii the consequences only be
considerel, to the concealments of the East
India Directors. In that case the loss of a
few hundred thousand pounds, and the ruin
of a few dozen families, was the worst that
could take place. But in the present instance
the loss in money will have to be counted in
millions, the loss in lives will have to be
reckoned in thousands, and the loss in
prestige, in any case, will be incalculable.
Any worse contingency we pray may be averted ;
but it will not be averted if the country con-
tinues to intrust the destinies of India to the
men by whom alone the crisis has been
brought about Already, indeed, may be seen
symptoms of a disposition to turn the state of
affairs to the purposes of jobbery rather than
to resort to any hearty efforts to insure the
speedy arrival in India of the troops that are
being sent out. While the Government has to
supply soldiers, the Directors have to engage
shins for them ; and Lord ELLENDOROUGH told
the Lords on Tuesday evening the kind of ships
they were taking up. Instead of all the fastest
vessels procurable, they were, he said, engaging,
among others, a parcel of old tubs notorious fn.
their slow-sailing qualities. One of them, he
said, to his knowledge never used to progress
at above the rate of four knots an hour. We
do not know whether the practice of the Com-
pany is as it used to be, to make the contracts
a perquisite of the Directors, for the benefit of
themselves and their friends ; but, if so, it will
not be surprising if their troop-ships, like
everything else they send to India, from
steamers to stationery, be at once the most
costly and the most worthless of their kind.
Meantime, it may be as well to point
out the effects of the crisis, present and pos-
sible, to the nation at large. At present, then
we have thirty-two regiments in a state of open
revolt, besides artillery ; while the rest of the
Bengal army is utterly incapable of being de-
pended on, and is as likely as not to rise upon
us at any moment. In many cases the officers
and their families have been murdered, and
in others they have been driven forth with
insult scarcely preferable to death. The Trea-
sury of Delhi has been plundered, besides an
endless number of smaller local treasuries.
The amount that fell into the hands of the
mutineers at Delhi was about seven hundred
thousand pounds, and the arsenal and its con-
tents were worth about a million more. What
the amount of money seized by them else-
where may be it is impossible to say. But we
shall not be far wrong if at the very least we

estimate the loss already caused by the
plunder of money, arms, and stores, and by
the destruction of public and private property,
for which the State will have eventually to
make compensation, at six millions sterling.
Before the of is over, it will probably have
reached nearly twice that sum. Then, of
course, the revenue for the present of the
whole of the disturbed provinces' will be
utterly lost, which, with the falling off in the
Customs duties, will be some millions besides.
The military operations undertaken for the
suppression of the revolt, including the trans-
port of troops and stores from England, and
largesses to the native soldiery who may re-
main stanch to us, will not, under the most
favourable circumstances, be less than fifteen
millions sterling more. Supposing, therefore,
everything to go on as fa-oourably as can be
expected, the whole loss to the nation incurred
through the misconduct or incompetence of
the Directors will probably not be less than
thirty millions sterling, if it do not exceed that
sum. I❑ the meantime, their paper is utterly
unsaleable in India; the native capitalists are
drawing out their money from the Govern.
ment banks ; and there are tidings of commer-
cial failures on every side. These thirty
millions will, therefore, have to be paid most
likely by the people here.
But if, through the delays or jobbery of the
India-house, the reinforcements required eo
urgently should not arrive in time, there is no
knowing what the final issue to England may
be. Every day's delay will make the task of
rule during the revolt more arduous because
every day it lasts it will more widely spread.
The sight of successful rebellion is a danger-
ous one in any country, but most dangerous
is it among a people like thos3 of Hiudostan.
The more subservient a nation are by habit to
those in authority over them the more fero-
cious are they when the restraining hand is
removed. There is no one who shows such
vindictiveness as a revolted slave. Nor, we
a►e sorry to say, has the conduct of our
countrymen been i❑ all instances such as to
confirm the idea of the natural superiority of
our race. More dastardly specimens of dis-
graceful panic have seldom been exhibited
than the accounts of the conduct of the
officers at Simla and some other places dis-
close. The only chance then of safety lies in
action immediate, resolute, and swift. Neither
men nor money must be spared. Every man
and every million now is worth ten men and
ten millions a year hence. The appointment
of Sir COLIN CAMPBELL is excellent ; but
without a fitting man at the helm in India
the measure will be incomplete. Lord CAN..
SING may be well adapted for ordinary times,
but it requires special knowledge and special
capacity to meet and master a crisis l►ke this.
In Lord Eusimonouon alone do we see a man
equal to the emergency, and that Noble Earl
only could we behold with unmixed satisfac-
tion intrusted with the task. Then would
England be in a position to combat success-
fully the dangers by which she is surrounded
in the East, and then we might rely upon it,
if the separate and mischievous powers of the
Directors were suspended, that this most
serious crisis would be surely and promptly
overcome.

THE WHIGS AND " SPIRITUAL
INTIMIDATION."

ONE of the best jokes of the day is the affected
horror of the \Vhig party at the novel fact of
" spiritual intimidation " in Ireland. Let
dicers lad at gaming, let fast young men
talk against dissipation, but let not the Whigs,
in the face of notorious facts, overdo their
horror at the bare idea of an Irish popular
election being carried by the " intimidation "
of Roman Catholic clergymen. Have they
forgotten the memorable contests in Longford,
and Louth, and Carlow, and twenty other
counties besides ? Are they ignorant of the
means by which certain Irish ALP.'s in the
last twenty years have been elected to the
Senate? When we hear of the Whigs:railing
at " spiritual intimidation," we are forced to

rentually decide to take
we so geat)k misled it,
Iticimte. ut we Feel 1
olit houl . )iappfxt that
Copt` i of th .' 'se Teal ins w
a' trOiing wi tholite who
tk
la dash., 'lllq ,revelati
[mire of Lord by aord Al
ight show that the Di
nown all along thit they

Fi

think of the piety of the venerable Dr.
CANTWRLL.
We are assured by those who are acquainted
with the sister country that the interference
of the Roman Catholic clergy in electioneering
has usually lost the Conservatives nearly fifteen
seats, counting thirty on a division. Or, in other
words, if the Roman Catholic gentry, middle
Musses, and independent electors at large,
were allowed to choose candidates without
the interference of a " tribunitian clergy," the
Conservative ranks would be largely reinforced.
The Whigs, it cannot be denied, have used
the priests for electioneering purposes. The
brothers, and cousins, and other relatives of
the Whig priests, swarm in the public offices.
Great official patronage in Ireland and the
Colonies has been gained by Ithe priests
taking to the platform, and working at the
polling-booths in the style that would gratify
Mr. CopeocK. The Whig aristocracy sanc-
tioned the system. They even acquiesced in
their immediate political connection in Ire-
land being ousted from the representation of
several seats which for generations had been
filled by eminent Whigs. There are now no
Boyles, no Ponsonbys, no Butlers, no Grattans
returned by the popular constituencies in
Ireland. The priests chose gentlemen of
another stamp, and the Whigs approved of
their doing so.
And now, when an Irish " Independent
party " wished to cut the telegraphic wires
between the Reform Club and the Irish priests,
the Whigs raise a cry of horror at " spiritual
intimidation," which they themselves have
connived at and fostered for years. A great
cry has been made about the conduct of the
priests at the Mayo election. We know
nothing of the local polities of that county,
but we can easily understand how Colonel
HIGGINS was a most unpopular candidate at
the last election. Against his personal cha-
racter we have not a word to say ; but, after
the manner in which the Gallant Colonel
pledged himself to the Independent party,
and after his apparent disregard of his
political promises, it is no wonder that the
Gallant Officer was a distasteful candidate in
Mayo, where Roman Catholic feelings are of an
intense kind. The Roman Catholics pre-
ferred the Conservative candidate Captain
PALMER, one of the Balaklava heroes, to
Colonel HIGGINS. They acted on the prin-
ciple of choosing an avowed political adver-
sary rather titan a hollow friend; and it is
evident that Colonel HIGGINS was regarded as
a political renegade, with what amount of
justice we cannot undertake to say.
We shall wait with much curiosity to see
whether the Whigs will be consistent in repu-
diating "the spiritual intimidation," by which
they have gained so many votes in late years.