The Press.
London, England, 1857-08-15 00:00:00

INDIA.

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

RESISTANCE OF DELHI.-SPREAD OF THE

REBELLION.
TnE following telegraphic messages in antici-
pation of the mail have been received in town
during the week :
TRIESTE, Wednesday.

The steamer Bombay arrived here this day at
eleven o'clock a.m., having made the passage in 118
hours from A lexandria.
The dates of this intelligence are from Bombay to
the 14th of July; from Calcutta to the sth of July ;
from Ceylon to the 14th of July ; and from Hong
Kong to the 24th of June.
Delhi had not fallen up to the 27th of June.

The rebels had made several desperate sorties, but
each time had been repulsed with great slaughter.
The city was reported to be full of sick and wounded,
and the cholera was prevalent. Reinforcements had
begun to reach the British camp.
Farther mutinies are reported from several
districts.
The Bombay and Madras armies continue firmly
loyal.
The Punjaub remains quiet.
At Sirsa, General Van Cortlandt had attacked and
completely defeated the insurgents, inflicting heavy
loss upon them.
General Woodburn's column had crushed the re-
bellion at Aurungabad.
The Simoom had arrived at Calcutta with the sth
Fusiliers.

T HE PRESS, AUGUST 15,1857.

Colonel Hartley's force was to reach Delhi to day, having
reached Lassonli at the last account. _ _ _

Several ressalahs of Punjaub horse have been despatched
from Lahore, and are now on their way to join the force
before Delhi.

R. MONTGOMERY, Judicial Commissioner.
The men of Major Knatchbull'a battery have been dia.
armed at Meean Moer.

(From the Lahore Chronicle Extra, Jane 29).
Judicial Commissioner's Office,
Lahore, June 29.
It is reported from army head quarters that the muti-
neers made several attacks on our pickets on the 27th, but
were repulsed with loss, there being but trifling casualties
on our side. The rains appeared to have set in. The
bridge at Baghput has been broken, and the river has now
become swollen by the rains.
Intelligence has been received from Peshawar that
the 10th Irregular Cavalry has been disarmed at Nowsheta.
A. considerable body of Jowanah horse have reached
Lahore on their wayto Umballah. . _

The number of irregular horsemen despatched from
Lahore during the last month is fully equal to the strength
of three regiments.
R. MONTGOMERY, Judicial Commissioner.

(From the Lahore Chronicle Extra, June 30.)
Judicial Commissioner's Office,
Lahore, June 30.

Some further brief details have been received by tele-
graph of the skirmishes which occurred before Delhi on
the 27th.
It is stated that our artillery did great execution, while
the killed on our side did not exceed twelve. Lieutenant
Harris, of the 2nd Fusiliers, was wounded, and Lieutenant
Chalmers, of the Guides, slightly.
A letter received from Delhi, from the political agent at
Bhurtpoor, dated the 22nd, states that all was well at Luck-
now and at Allahabad up to the last advices ; and at the
latter station it is stated that the mutineers were very
severely dealt with by the Sikh regiment stationed there.
The letter further mentions that a large force of Europeans
was collected at Benares, which will, doubtless, have moved
upwards ere this.
It is reported that the mutineers of the Gwalior Con-
tingent are endeavouring to coerce the Maharajah, but
their ultimate intentions are not known.

Further details have been received of the action at
Delhi on tho '.:3rd, on which occasion the efforts of the
mutineers were more determined than on any previous
one. It is said that their dead at the close of the day
were counted by hundreds, their aggregate being estimated
at not less than 1,000. The gardens and buildings out•
side of the city, in which they had sheltered themselves
and given us much annoyance, have been taken posses•
sion of by us; and it is said that, since the above date,
they have in a marked manner evinced less boldness in
their attacks than heretofore.
R. MONTGOMERY, Judicial Commissioner.

Camp before Delhi, June 24.
I am sorry it is not in my power to give you any news
front this quarter. Yesterday the enemy attacked us in
great force from the Subjee Mundee side, and fought most
desperately the whole day long. They had a strong posi.
tion in a village and among the garden walls. Our loss
has been great for us, but the loss of the mutineers has
been very considerable. We have been quiet today ; how
long it will last it is impossible to say. Ever since the
day we have arrived here have the troops been more or
less knocked up by exposure to sun and fatigue, &c., but
the men, notwithstanding, keep up their truly British
spirit, and it is surprising how cheerfully all endure this
harassing work, and how manfully, through God's blessing,
we have repulsed every one of their desperate attacks. We
have now been here sixteen days. A small portion of the
reinforcements arrived yesterday, and Brigadier Chamber•
lain came in, I hear, to-day.--From the Delhi Gazelle
Extra, June 27.

The head•gnarters of the 9th Irregular Cavalry reached
Umhallah on the morning of the 25th instant, and is ex-
pected to be at Delhi by the 30th.—Ibid.
The let Regiment Punjanb Cavalry reached Ferozepore
on the 25th, and marched again on the 20th en route to
Delhi.—lbid.

Camp before Delhi, June 21.
About our two attacks, yesterday and the day before—
the second was made early in the morning. They plied
us with round shot, but halted as soon as we began to
advance. Our reports from the city to day are much
better; they are said to be disheartened, and deserting in
great numbers, and to wish to make overtures. They say,
"What's the use of going out to tight? they always get the
best of it." W e certainly did them considerable damage
in the attack on the 19th—the ground was horrid to
look at. - _ -

We shall have 400 more Europeans two days hence, and
a few dais later another reinforcement.
Our supports are coming from Ferozepore, Jullundur,
and Lahore. . .

Colonel Becher's wound in the arm is not serious, and
he will be fit for work in a few days.
We are sorry to learn, from later letters, that on the
19th the Nnsserabad mutineers, with some (said to be six)
guns, contrived to get in rear of oar position, and created
great confusion. They were of course driven hack with a
heavy loss of killed and wounded and two guns, but our
loss was also severe, and when we consider that common
precaution would have averted this loss, we feel bound to
state that there must be great incompetency somewhere ;
and the sooner the valuable lives of our brave soldiers are
intrusted to other care the better. The losses we have to
deplore are Colonel Yule, H.M.'s oth Lancers, Captain
Alexander, 3rd Mr. Humphrey, and ten men killed;

Colonel Becher,

and several others

wounded.
If our brave men, the heroes of our country, are to be
made targets of after this fashion we see no policy in de-
laying the assault. It would surely be better to loss
them and gain the city of Delhi, and the punishment
of the traitors within it, than to lose them and gain—
two guns !
The wing of her Majesty's 61st Regiment reached
Loodiana on the morning of the 19th en route to Delhi,
and expect to join Head-quarters' Camp on the 22nd;
the men all in good health and spirits—anxious to have a
charge Against the enemy. The wing is armed with the
Enfield rifle, with which, they say, they can make good
practice at 100 yards; they are dressed in dust-coloured
The force at General Barnard's disposal (says the
Bombay Times) has doubtless been inadequate for the
reduction of the place, but as important reinforcement*
must have joined his camp long before this, we enter•
tain a confident hope that our next advices will announce
the fall of the place. Meantime the force has not been
idle. Animated by the courage of despair, the mutineers
have made the most desperate sorties, but ever with the
same result. They have been driven back into the city
with terrible loss on every occasion, to find eventually,
as we trust, their tomb within its walls. Our columns
contain ample details of these several actions, and to
attempt to summarise them here would swell our epitome
to an inconvenient length.
General Van Cortlandt, who is marching upon Jhanst
and Hisser with the Buttianah Irregular Force, has had
two engagements with the rebels in the neighbourhood of
Sirsa, defeating them in each instance with severe loss.
The last action was a very decided one, and the rebels fled
in disorder, leaving 200 men dead upon the field, besides
many prisoners in our hands. The troops of the Bikanir
Rajah, 2,700 men of all arms, have joined General Cort-
landt's force, though what reliance can be placed on these
men remains to be seen. Major-General Nicholson's
moveable column was at Jullandur at the date of our last
advices, vii Lahore.
The whole Punjaub remains quiet, thanks to the ener-
getic conduct of the Commissioner and the men in com-
mand. Many of the disarmed native regiments have
begged the restitution of their weapons, and to be led.
against Delhi; but it would be madness, after what has
transpired, to listen to such prayers. The men may be
loyal in their present mood, but, in the presence of an.
example such as that offered now at Delhi, would yield to
the dangerous influence to a certainty.
Of the whole country of Rohilcund, Futtehgbur (Fur-
ruckabad) was the last station to rise. The sepoys of this
corps do not appear to have offered any violence whatever
to their officers, but a most melancholy rumour prevailed
in Allshabad on the 23d inst. as to the fate of the unhappy
fugitives after they left the place. We (Bombay Times)
take it from the Englishman of the 29th ult.:—
Did the report of the massacre reach you of the Futtehghnr
fugitives? It surpassed in atrocity all that has hitherto been
perpetrated. 132 Europeans, men, women, and children, is fifty
boats, left Futtehgbur for this place.
They were all the non-military residents of the place. On
arrival at Rhitoor the Nana Sahib fired on them with the artil-
lery the Government alloweci him to keep; one round sho t
struck poor Mrs. —, and killed her on the spot. The boats
were then boarded, and the inmates landed and dragged to the
parade ground at Cawnpore, where they were first fired at, and
then literally backed to pieces with tulwars. Report says not
one escaped.
lihitoor is a little place a few miles to the north of
Cawnpore, and we sadly presage a confirmation of this
intelligence, in view of the state of matters in that neigh-
bourhood. A bloody reckoning will surely be exacted of
these fiends in human shape.
At Mhow the 23rd Bengal Native infantry have mutinied „
The number of Europeans slain is at present unknown,
but it is said to be four. The officers are holding a for-
tified square in the place, where the ladies and all the
other Europeans have taken refuge. If the 3rd Nizam's
Cavalry prove staunch, they will soon be relieved, as Cap-
tain Orr was within fifty miles of Mhow some days ago.
We know little of the state of matters at Indore, beyond
the fact that the two regiments of the Maharajah Holkar
have openly mutinied, and proceeded with the Bengal regi-
ments towards Ctljein, on their way, as is supposed, to
Delhi. The Maharajah seems to be in no way implicated
in this business, but to have acted with the same good faith
that has characterised the conduct of the Gwalior Prince.
A Gomashta, who left Cawnpore on the 18th, has
written from Allahabad to the effect that Sir Hugh Wheeler
was not only holding his ground but would probably
continue to do so, as the insurgents were quarrelling
among themselves, and many of them had dispersed. This
man mentions that the Mahratta chief of Bittore and
other rebels had put to death nearly two hundred Euro-
peans, including above a hundred fugitives from, he says,
Nynee Tal, but more likely from Futtehghnr. Sir Hugh
Wheeler, having been annoyed by a gun brought against
him by the insurgents, sent out a party of twenty men
to spike it. This they nut only suoceeded in doing, but
killed a good many of the enemy besides.---Phierrix,
June 30th.

The intelligence from Hong Kong is np.to the
24th June. No further operations had taken place
beyond the capture of the Chumpu fort, about five
miles below the Bogue. General Astiburnham had
arrived, and Lord Elgin was daily expected.

LETTERS TO OFFICERS IN INDIA.--Many persons
who have friends and relatives amongst the officers
of Indian regiments that have mutinied, and been
disbanded and dispersed, are at a loss how to address
their letters. If the whereabouts of the officer is not
accurately known, they should still continue to men-
tion the number and name of the regiment, and also
the Presidency to which it belonged.

800

Yittraturt.

Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James

Fox. Edited by Lord John Russell. Vol.
IV. London : Bentley.
POOR Charles Fox ! So brilliant a man and so
famous a Whig deserved better than that his
fragments should be tossed to the world in
the reckless manner of the present publica-
tion. Between the abortive efforts of ,the late
Lord Holland and Mr. John Allen, and the
meagre attempt of Lord John Russell in this
work, there is no biography of Fox at all; and
it reads oddly to see the caution printed on
the fiy-leaf—" The author of this work gives
" notice that he reserves to himself the right
"of translating it." We should like to be told
who is the author of the patchwork?
The last volume is the worst executed of
the four. It has no table of contents, the
pages are not headed, there are no elucidatory
notes, and there is no final index to the entire
publication ! Lord John Russell, wo have no
hesitation in saying, is the worst editor of
books that ever came under our critical notice.
His lordship says:—
- - -

Political employments still more absorbing than those
of the late Lord Holland have hitherto prevented my doing
more than publishing the collections made by Lord Holland
and Mr. Allen, with such comments as I thought essential,
and with the assistance of some valuable notes furnished
me by a friend, in illustration of the letters to Lord
Holland published in the third volume. I shall endea•
your, in a separate form, to place in a connected narrative
the relation of Mr. Fox's political career, and an account
of his times. In that manner the great events of his
life will be prominently set forth, and Ins publics policy
fully discussed.
Lord John Russell is now sixty-five years of
age, and the notion that the noble member
for London, with a Reform Bill to provide for,
could possibly undertake a new life of Fox,
after his failure in this instance, is utterly
ridiculous. It appears that, some time ago,
it was asserted in our contemporary the A the-
rueum that it might be necessary for " some one
" else to present a consecutive view of the life
" of the most eloquent of the Whig statesmen,"
and it seems that Lord John Russell is not
ready to part with that responsibility. " Some
one else " must be a bad biographer, if his
work would not be better finished than the olla
podrida now before us for review.
Fox, though deservedly condemned as a
politician by many, has always been a favourite
character with Englishmen. Of all our
famous statesmen, none had so much human-
heartedness. Violent in views and vehement
in speech, he was gentle and generous, " a man
" made to be loved." His life was a brilliant
series of unsuccessful struggles, in which he
displayed extraordinary talents in atoning for
extravagant errors. It is as a man, as a social
character, as a shining figure, variously en-
dowed with qualities seemingly opposite in
their nature, that Fox has gained such post-
humous celebrity. Most of his qualities, we
think, are traceable to the sparkling Burgundy
blood of the Lennox family which foamed and
mounted in his veins. His father was a coarse
type, and had nothing of the ideal in his na-
ture; his mother (Lady Georgiana Caroline,
eldest daughter of the second Duke of Rich-
mond) had much romance in her character,
and her sisters were also women of remark-
able qualities. Hee next sister, Emilia, mar-
ried the first Duke of Leinster, and was mother
of Lord Edward Fitzgerald; and the youngest
sister, Lady Sarah, was near being the wife of
George 111., and was mother of the con lueror
of Scinde and the historian of the Peninsular
war.

We think, also, that a comparison between
the portraits of Charles James Fox and those
of his mother's family in the early part
of the last century would show that phy-
sically Fox was a Lennox. When a young
man Charles Fox had a singularly swarthy
appearance; he had great black eyebrows,
and his nickname in the caricatures was
" Niger." His face, complexion, and some of
the indolent, pleasure-seeking parts of his
character recall the memory of Charles If.,
and also of the Duke of Monmouth. Fox, we
auspect, had in early life ()ilea thought of the
fame of Bolingbroke, and we surmise that he
wished to realise such a character as Hoary