The Press.
London, England, 1858-04-03 00:00:00

THE PRESS, APRIL 3,185 S.

They are in despair, quarrelling among themselves,
anxious to accept any terms, and ready to slink away to
hide in their own homes. Such is the view expressed
also by Sir James Outram, whoae position at the Alum-
bagh gives him the means of knowing the truth as far as
it can be known to any Europeau, and such seems to be the
secret belief even of the chief.
It is said, also, that the presence of the Governor-
General at Allababad has reference to a project for
the easier pacification of Oude by offering terms to
the great landholders. "I am assured," writes the
Times correspondent, "that a proclamation will be
speedily issued promising life, perhaps estates, to ail
who lay down their arms before a certain day."
Jung Bahadoor complains that our Gov, rnment
vacillate between fighting and treating. The intelli•
gence from the rest of Bengal is on the whole satis-
factory, There are still large bodies of insurgents
in different places, but they are mere marauding
rabble. The Calpee rebels are the most organised
body, and though still in force, 1,000 strong, are too
well watched to effect any dangerous diversion
against Cawnpore. The Nana, with 2,000 men on
the other side of the Ganges, is said to be most
anxious to put himself at their head, but the strictest
watch is kept upon the banks of the river. The intelli-
gence from Lucknow that "the English ladies,
prisoners with the Queen, are reported to be alive
and well treated," probably refers to the families
reported to have been surrendered by Maun Singh.
It appears that Mr. Osborne, opium agent at Bustee,
Goruekpore, reported the safety of the families
named, saying Mrs. Duhan and her children had
arrived in safety at his house, and the remainder
were on the road. " They were nor, and by last
accounts are still in Lucknow alive, but closely im-
prisoned. Messages have been received from Mrs.
Orr, saying she hoped to get out, but the difficulty
was to save her and her child together."

In addition to the list of European families men-
tioned as having been preserved by Maun Singh, the
Friend of India says :
Many of the European residents in Oude at the com-
mencement of the mutinies are unexpectedly making their
appearance. One after another those given up for dead
are appearing as if from the grave. But a short time
since Captain Hearsay reached in disguise Loha Ghent
in the Kumeon district. Silica the massacre at Sects-
pore that officer bad been concealed in the Oude Send by
a zemindar. Mr. Brand and a sergeant-major are said to
be following Captain Hearsay, and are expected daily at
the Pitora Ghent. Mr. Gonne, C.S., and Captain Hast-
ings, who were of the party, are known to have died of
fever—the one in August and the other so late as
December.

In Central and Southern India matters are pro-
gressing most satisfactorily. Saugor is relieved, and
Jhansi was about to be attacked. The country is
being quieted rapidly, and the convergence of the
different columns upon Cawnoore must in a short
time complete the destruction of the Calpee rebels.
The Punjsub, too, happily remains quiet. "It is
important," writes the Times correspondent, " that
the Punjaubees remain quiet" :
I have seen a letter from Sir John Lawrence, in which
he intimates that the danger is passing, bnt there are even
now only 6,414) Enropeans in the Punjaub—the regiments
being terribly weak, and should the population rise the
enemy will he found very different from the cowardly
sepoys. It has been no slight advantage during the
mutiny that the Affghans have remained go et. lam in-
formed, on authority the Foreign•offtce would respect, that
the " men round Host Mohammed," or, in other word-3,
his sons, were eager to make a descent upon Peshawur,
to regain their ancient province. It is nearly certain that
had they come every Tilussultuan in the Punjaub would
have sprung to arms, and we should have lost the province.
The Ameer, however, not only refused his consent, but
•ook measures to render his refusal final. He said the
British had observed the last treaty, had cleared Herat,
had sent him arms, and had asked nothing in return.
Captain Lumsden therefore remained in safety at Cabal,
and the Punjaub is ours.

In a long and descriptive letter, which vividly
realizes the scenes which the writer witnessed, the
Times "Special" Correspondent (Mr. Russell) gives
us much gossip of interest. He bad left Calcutta on
4th February, for Cawnpore. Stopping en route at
Allahabad, he gives a singular fact illustrative of the
disturbed state of the country and of the inadequacy
of our means to put down rebellion promptly The
Governor General, Lord Canning, was at that date
(Feb. 10kb) encamped at Al alkabad:—

His Excellency lives in an ordinary general's tent, and
all the principal officers attached to the machinery of
State which he has carried with him are under canvas.
The very day before we arrived the report of a cannonade
was heard in the Governor's camp about noon, and soon
after intelligence arrived that a chief at the other aide of
the Ganges, near Suraon, had proclaimed his independence
and had ordered a salvo to be fired by his guns in honour of
his raj. The Governor General has not a man to send to
chastise this insolence, nor can he give any active support
to Mr. Mayne, who is struggling to maintain the civil
authority at Suraon.

Arrived at Cawnpore, where the head-quarters of our
army was stationed preparatory, to moving upon

Lucknow, the first thing that strikes him is the
enormous number of natives in our service and the
prodigious number of animals in attendance on such
a small fragment of our force :
There were, indeed, no less than 55,000 or 60,003 camp
followers, servants, bullock-drivers, elephanykeepers,
grass-cutters, syces, and camel men attached to this force
anti as yet what I have seen gives me not the faintest'
idea of the impedimenta, animate and inanimate, of as
Indian army.
Sir Colin Campbell does not appear to encourage
this system of impedimenta in his own personal
arrangements :
Certainly the t.lininander-in-chief does net set an ex
ample to his officer: by any extravagance in baggage. He-
lives in a small subalt rn's tent, and his chief of the stuff
is equally moderate. I believe his excellency's perionnet
is contained in a coupet of small portmanteaus, and during
this short campaign ho has slept on the ground among his
men on more than one occasioa without cover of any sort.
He is apparently in excellent health, although his la•wura
are arduous and incessant, as ho and his chief of the staff•
manage all the details connected with the disposition of
his force, and to a great extent dispense with the usual
services of adjutant-general and quartermaster-general.

Mr. Russell, in visiting the scene of that fearful
massacre which yet lives in the m,imory of all, de-
scribes the house as now • in ruins

The house in which it took place is now in ruins; it
was pulled down to clear the ground for the guns of the
tote de pont across the Ganges, and the very outline of the
walls is scarcely traceable. It was originally built for and
used AS a zenana, an inclosed residence, with a courtyard
in the centre, in which the stump of a tree was still stand-
ing; and off this open space were the rooms in which the
massacre took place. The plaster of the walls was still
Ding about in patches, but I could not detect any trace
of blood. Bits of cloth and 3f women's dresses were still
visible amid the rubbish ; but there were none of the more.
painful tokens of the dreadful tragedy which had bee►k
enacted where we stood.

The well into which the slaughtered women anti
children were thrown is covered in, and there only-
remains a small circular ridge of brick marking; the
wall of the well :

Within a few feet of " the well," surrounded by a small
wooden paling, there stands a stone cross off a flat slab,
on two courses of masonry, the inscription on which.
tells its story :

In memory of the women and children of her Majesty'r.Sthid4
Regiment, who were slaughtered near this spo6 on the 1,41 k of
July. A.D.11357. This memorial was erected by twesiay men,
of the same regiment, who were passing through Coioues.r.e.
November 2let, 1837.

This inszription is engraved on the nprig.it part of the
siab, which is in the form of a Mahew cross, within a.
circle of stone. In the quadrants of this circle are in-
scribed, in red letters and in the old English character,,
" I believe in the Resurrection of the Dead."

The authenticity of the writing upon the walls of the
Assembly room is doubted

I have spoken with officers who examined the wally„
and every scratch in the sides of the rooms, and they de-•
clare that the appeal to vengeance which is attributed to
one of the wretched victims was not to be seen immediately•
after we returned to Cawnpore, and that it had been traced
on the wall by some persou who visited the place subse-
quently.

The "intrenchments" of Cawnporr, so gallantry
defended by Wheeler, presented a melancholy spec-
tacle:—

The position, if such it can be called, consists of two,
lofty one-storied buildings, intended, I believe, to be bar-
racks, divided into many rooms, with outward doors opts-
ing into corridors. There are two deep wells near these
parallelograms, which are at the distance of 104) yards or
so from each other, an I three detached outhouses no the
flanks. These buildings are surrounded by the remains
of a miserable trench, formed by casting up the earth dug
from the soil out on a slope towards the enemy. There
is no ditch whatever; the trench could never have been
six feet deep, and as the enemy were all round the station,
these open trenches were enfiladed opon all sides. The
severity of the fire was excessive. Every square yard of
the walls is perforated by oannen-shot. the roofs are knocked
to pieces, and in places have tumbled in en mane. No
part of Sebastopol—not even excepting the range of bar-
racks behind the Great Redan—is more battered and
shaken than the barracks at Cawnpore. In one small
space I counted seventy-three shotholes, most of which
were through and through the walls. The party walls•
were perforated and battered in the same manner. It was-
a wonder how any one could live inside for an hour.
one angle of a room was written in pencil, " Below this.
mark young Wheeler was killed by a cannon-ball, which
took off his head. His blood and brains are spattered on.
the wall below." Scraps of music-books and fragments of
women's dresses still lie among the tiles, bricks, and filth.
with which the floors are covered.

In another room the well-known appeal to vengeance.
written on the wall is yet visible. It is on the larger
building in the corridor, between the fourth and fifth.
doors, facing to the south, on the side opposite the
doors :

Countrymen and women, remember the 13th of July, 1957
Your wives and families are here, misery and at the dispook
of savages, who has ravished both young and old. Oh!
chill, my child! Countrymen, revenge!
-

Mr. Russell dismisses this iuscription also as an
imposition :
This is an evident imposition, and is the workof the same
or or a s.m lar hand, in all probability, which penned the

1111411.1111.111111
strikes him is the
aur service and the
attendance on such
1,000 or 60,003 camp
t, elephant•keeper;,
ttached to this force ;
me not the faintest
inanimate, of au
?ear to encourage
his own personal
does net set an ex
nee in baggage. He-
his chief of the stuff
ccellency's
nantcaus, and during-
te ground among his
ut cover of any sort.
Llthough his la•murs
tie chief of the staff
,1 the disposition of
•nse with the usual
ermaster-general.
to of that fearful
n.amory of all, de-
s :
is now in ruins; it
for the guns of the
• very outline of the
tginally built for and
ce, with a courtyard
tree was still stand-
! rooms in which the
the walls was still
of detect any trace
i's dresses were still
:re none of the more.
dy which had beets
.ered women and
a, and there only-
brick mark*. thin
rounded by a small
miss Ns a flat slab,
ccription on which.
of her Majesty'r■ iled?
i epos on the 1,41 k of
ected by tweikey men,
through Catoues.re,
Iprii.it p.m of the
teas cross, within a.
P this circle are in-
Eogiish character,,
Dead."
n the walls of the
tamined the walla;,
rooms, and they de-•
hich is attributed to
)e seen immediately•
t it had been traced
ted the place subse-
ore, so gallantry
melancholy spec--
A, consists of two,
believe, to be bar-
mtwaddoors opts-
ep wells near these
ce of 104) yards or
oirthortses no the
?cl by the remains
ug up the earth dug
h ...Lamy ThArft

ins, riition on the wa'ls of Cie house where the slaughter
took place after tlaveloc s's vet ,ry. ft nee I not be said
that nu atrocities ur mas ace• a had taken place at Cawn-
pore at the time and up to the date of Wheeler's evacua-
tion, and the da.es prove the tabehoo 1 of the inscription,
which is intended to convey the impression that it was
written by one of the women who were in the place. lam
therefore inclined to think that the inscription on the
walls of the house where the subsequent slaughter occurred
was an imposition also, inasmuch as it was not seen by
any of those who first examined every inch of the walls ;
and it is scarcely pos,,ible that any woman in such a scene
of massacre could have calmly traced with firm hand the
words which fur the first time were visible upon the walls
long after Havelock's advance.

A remarkable document from a Mahomedan
subadar of the native police, and professing to give
go account of the causes of the mutiny, has been
published this week. The paper is translated from
the native ordoo by Capt. Rattray, chief of the Sikh
police battalion.

The writer traces the first symptoms of revolt as
far back as 1833, when certain sepoy regiments were
sent into Cabal, where the climate was so sever?
that the men were not only compelled to leave of
their daily ablutions, but to wear sheepskin coats, by
each of which acts they lost caste. The consequence
was that when they returned to Hindostan none of
their fellow soldiers would consort with them.
The writer gives in detail the difficulties attendant
on the caste scruples of the Hindoo soldiery ; and in
the end it comes to this, that "one Hindoo won't
eat from the hand of another unless they happen to
be brothers or cousins." Nor is it to be supposed
that this is mere theory. It is the practical, every-
day operation of high-caste principles.
1-I,dajut Ali then details the different orders of the
army which from time to time have encroached
note or less upon the scruples of caste, end in the
end gave rise to the belief that it was the wish of
Government to do away with all caste—such as com-
pelling all prisoners to mess together in gaol, on
which account each prisoner and his relatives be-
came " disaffected "; the compelling all new recruits
to serve wherever they should be required :
When the old sepoys heard of this order they were
much frightened and displeased. " lip to this day those
men who went to Affghanistan have not been readmitted
theireaste; how are we to know where the English may
not force as to go? They will be crderiug us next to go to
London."

And lastly the orders for the Sikhs and Mahome-
dans to cut off their beards, an act the most repug-
nant to the feelings of the natives.
The missionaries, in their impressive preachings
afzainst the shutting up of wom3n, the circum-
cision of children, ttc., caused " great fear " in the
minds of all:

They said among themselves, " If the Government
insists upon our acting up to these orders, what next shall
we nut he compelled to do against our customs and
religion?" To talk over this matter many persons of both
religioxs auentbled in Calcutta. The missionaries of the
31ofussil also spoke to the same effect to the villagers, so
that all, more or less, became alarmed for their religion
and displeased with the Government, for they thought the
inksionaries dared not give such orders without the con-
sent of the Government.

The annexation of Oude, in addition to these
Imaginary grievances, " caused universal dissatisfac-
tion throughout the army, and from that time it de-
termined upon mutinying." There wanted but one
spark to set the train on fire, and that was afforded
by the introduction of the new rifle with the gieased
cartridge:—

A Kalassie from Fort William went to the sepeys who
were on duty at the fort, and told them that the cartridges
of the new rifle were made up with the fit of cows arid
pig., and that if they bit these cartridges they would lose
all caste. On bearing this great suspicion seized their
hearts; the Brahmins especially objected to touch these
cartridges. but were told that the Government would force
them. When they saw the cartridges they said, "if we
touch these cartridges we shall lose caste ; so how caa we
put our teeth in them?" About this time the men at
Dnm•Bum wrate letters to all the other regiments in the
service. From reading these letters the whole army were
induced to believe that the time was come when the Go-
veruunent intended to for,.e them all to Christianity. All
this was told me by the regiments at Dinapore.
The general spread of the mutinous spirit he
attributes in some degree to the commanding officers
themselves :

Many commanding officers to my knowledge reported
their regiments all right, when they knew that there were
discontent and bad feeling in the ranks, and, to my belief,
fur the sake of the name of their respective regiments,
concealed the real state of their regiments until at length
the sepoys took to murdering their racers.
After summing up these remits, and casually
noticing the evils of promotion by seniority and not
by merit among the native off.cerg, H edajut Ali
recommends in future a correction of these abuses,
a native army of mixed caste, and declares his
opinion of the men of Hindostan to be as foilows
I beg to state that in my opinion the natives of. Hin-
dostan are only tittel fir militia or police, for this s mile