Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-25 00:00:00

LETTERS FROM INDIA.

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Altoa„ •---__
-"z3•3 OP THE REBELLION IN INDIA.
txtitk
" kito3l A Ltr CETI IVRITTAN lir A REUDEXT IN

CALCUTTA.

: t.lillt,
August 7, 1857.
'llleer. I wrote you last affairs are getting in a bad state
tettet6 tilie rebellion is eztending, and coming hl,m• the°
Ilie i,„,4 eUtta,
41tti,i'le 13aellity where I cannot any longer say we are secure.
of our government has-so emboldened the
1,411 13'
that °Pertly and without attempt at concealment,f
r.442ttUs,„l things -Wm .plotting An immense concourse o
t,r04:6--Tn-ag-misst°rfaatells lc
ojrotlslyhsaaaya
e "I the assemble in the town. The.
'tieil ~ lu to deal with suchllipeeroeplies, and
.the Legi.lative
no law whi.ch e.m
kk °Lev eh
le
*kite. "clare the law to be quite sufficient for all our
,n'itelsio ~. er snarl, natives who are caught
lii)lasnunnisu.,geven
.nog their 40 fort, counting and measuring
414 •
r bearings from various points, if btroeught'oefore
silkild itit% 04°, cannot be punished, but must be admonishedare
-clecrt • I° Fort William all sorts of vagibonds
hh. -
°atioil wltvstder abou-, endeavouring to open comm. i a Lord ;I' the Xing of Oude
blB4,lllthia444lll,l°g.doe-s not like. sevderitie;hnteordoes he like to
it; thus he has
arid ,141P10ra".7 hould do,. unless. r,
di ale co hm '0 proclaim martial war, because all Calcutta
b:0-zletefi„,ti-in•Yi around has been. for somemith
tleh-blit to h. of cuurse he refusesman openly
i.B
aftertime
-•oo ' e is 1 '
Itmee • h 'lll discovered in some treasonable correspor-
oshes chl to be reprimanded 7 14° rco wa3 to have stabsed him after breakfast one
tissrllg tor ~, 9 gets a severe 'R''' -ning, a reproof, but neith.r.
hlg (1,,, '"glng. Two men were,. caught:in the act of
-eett flag'w,ll ihe colours in Fort William and hoisting the
fort for 13000holy. Prophet;
,trocpsxwothllle
bull, ifceearyooufr _
;it" °l the this was to have been the
g met to make a dash at the
h.Ntitin•rtulg from L ard aCanning the order for th_;,
mutiny among the European
k'e 43, which was done this blessed morning. w
' 4,
which Ittio„,,d .. escapsd one very dangerous period, the
the Mo-
-44•11re • '‘n feeivilof the Bucker Fed ; but
odeNl 16
al) • it 1 entire days, and such
%NI ,11 Proaching, lasts ten
190
b,11.813es of people are fiock'rg here, I feel cer•
but fight for
i .per y ii-11t have int simply a row, a ,
°t•t• t•
"ver ; and G dalone knows how we shall get ou
thiii krol e ?
talk of sending every woman .nd
Plititt!tArd be: tn re is a o
ttii• .130, on P
m' • at as for any useful measures of pre-
Litia 1,,,.. r au'horities do not dream of .
them. Our
„'" g ri,"' a Measure fo ced down Lord Canning 's ' throat,
-5414 loreeat have thrown every discouragement they
unitlslintl.ta waY The wealth and respectability ofthe
%so 9 ha •
14,4,, after undo formed a fine body
f onubbing as infantry,
kw got 041""°rgoing all sorts o s
left, the other 000 odd
~, log i,,, Y Borne 550 bayonets godly
;!'r 111 back Government Government now would most
late-; we
'I& ht 7e4, our
make much of us ; but it is tooth for
for
i. rs r our own houses and neighbourhoods—not
44t • As f le „ -r turnin_
to bear arms,
g out some 3,000 men fit
.c a
-sis mot t b • will be f too energetic -tire 0 e thought of , it ar
i, •
11:411:,148,,, tbe country cannot be worse Berhampore,
- l'il b "'dee off, with• large and ill disposed popnlati"n,
4,;.. tit 0 e . a. (gte f P ray in rebellion. At the Raneegupg
Title ° the r .1 ' e te-
stLollt-riss-at'vntY. we hear cf a small army of invasion.
./re and Alla-
-140,,-"4 are o„,.are being destroyed. Cawnp .
fotmeral gavelmio• own once more—at least, the ruins of them.
ee . _ock marched from the former p
*oh to:4 1, gnA place with a
5,.. s s. '''' raerl—had some very severe fighting, and
as
Qe°l4,ll •43? to with' sight of Lucknow, when he
.w .
1,4 ed b...
_.
knees in
odds
sea llow ~/. sic
and overwhelming. to retire ,
,;',ll,eil bay God help the garrison there, fearfully
and
!It ',geerii„,"l easuslities, sickness, and hunger, _
___
4,,,;'11' 41, 41nong them near 200 women and chil.e
l';;41k11. 611belieapital of the North West Provinces, .1
tpit.l ged. Patne, With the entire provision
reeed;l4 for a year, is I fear gone before now. T e
poz., Cora
Stud of Ilissar, Karuntadee, Blum, and Ghazee-
'he ooe all a
a q -estroyed, and the horses scattered loose over
th° kitlllt,?• A.t Delhi we learn our beseiging force is cut
Lek e(Vrounded, and, unless the Punjaub force be with
jtrabs
elfi, will be, destrod. We can only h
gather a te
,peY
foe
comfort from the Madras troops coming here;_
I°tie sox, 11,13 posed to be staunch, if not, we are dished and
lk Ice, it •,....
sae at best a silly idea sending for them at
befog the,,,°,ue knows the temptations which will be laid
ktfliera is no
to rise and massacre us.
'tder i 4° USe i my all d• g to the horrors of rape,
/011 d 13.ut d a - u in- l t l enacted—
gat e
,er, sco which have been a ° Y
ee kl LI the papers, and the English press has

been most liberally furnished with all that which their
Indian "brethren dare not publish, for fear of the new
gagging act.
August 9, 1857.
After I had written thus far the Shannon has come in
from China with Lord Elgin and a nice reinforcement, and
she brings us a promise of the loan of the whole China
force, not before we wanted it. We shall therefore, I trust,
not be exterminated this time. Up the country matters do
not improve ; every available European has been sent to the
railway terminus, Raneegunge, with 2,000 Madras troops,
to disperse an army of disbanded Sepoys. There is said to
be another collector at Brrhampore, but the Queen's 35th
should dispose of that if not fettered by orders. The pros-
pect in Calcutta is lively ; the gun trade most active
among the native population, and 1 cannot trust myself to
mention the quantities of lead and copper caps I have eeen
passing, under the eyes of tte police, into the worst parts
of the town.

Still, with all this, and a great deal m're, before his
eyes, Lord Canning will not have the natives coerced in
any way. If more eLergy is riot blilwn, by next mail you
will hear ore of two things —a vigilance committee a la
California, or a mutiny among the European troops. May
God in his mercy avert eitter-; but both the e and the
European inhabitants are thoroughly exasperated.
J— keeps her courage up nobly among the funkers,
men and women, who surround her ; the children are
quite well, and, barring colds from standing eentry in
wet nights, I am well.

EXTRACT FROM A LtTTER FROM CALCUTTA, DATED AUGUST 2.

Almost all business is at. a standstill, and the only
news we have is about tee mutiny, s hieh is daily assuming
more formidable proportions. and will continue to do so
unt 1 the arrival of some 25,000 men from home. The
sooner they come the better, and right well may they
avarga th'e death and horrors to which our poor defence-
less men, women, and children, have been enhject This
is no time for mistaken leniency—there is rio use treating
an Asiatic as you would an European The Sepoys have
been petted too much by former authorities ; let us have a
man like the late Sr C. Napier as Commander in-Chief,
and &really able Governor-Gene-al, and then we may hope
to see England's brightest jewel restored to something like
itr former eplendour. A nigger is like a dog; pet him, and
he'll bite you; thrash him-wAt, -and he'll do what he's told.
Asiatics are accustomed to be ruled by fear, and love will
never have any influence' on them. 'the c)untry has
retrogaded fifty years at least—many thanks to Lord
Cannirg and his advisers—nor have our military men come
out in strong colJurs, with a few brilliant exfeptions. We
must have at once a different mcde of legislation, and a
new person in command, Lord Canning hat shown
himself throughout utterly imbecile and incompetent.'
What can you think of a man who has invariably pooh
poohed all idea of danger until it bas ac ually broken out;
Rho refuses to dis rm Sepoys who have not revolted until
the very last moment, when they are on the point of
rising; who allows his wife openly to pity the "poor dear
Sepoys ;" who declines and ridicules the offer of the
citizens of Calcutta to become volunteers, until he finds
they are actually necessary, when he accepts their offer
with such a bad grace as to disgust them all ; who, when a
large deputation of genticmAn wait upon him to request
that he will allow the sth Fusiliers t 3 stop'an hour at
Dinapore to disarm the regiments there, refuses to do
so until the consequence is a regular outbreak ; who
declin s to prevent the sa'e of fire arms to native, until
all are dis;osed of ; who accepts, declines, and again
accepts, when too late, the offer of the ruler of Nepaul ;
who, when everyone is congratulating himself that we
shall at all events have 5 000 of the ChineFe troops to
save India from being lost entirely, quietly writes to Lord
Elgin to say that 1,500 will be enough, and allows the rest
to go on to Chins, and the country go to the dogs ? What
can you .think of a man who gags the English press
because it exposes his unfitness ; who dallies and puts off,
and has no foresight, no system, no great views ; who
cannot make up his mind, and who can scarcely do a
single thing worthy of his name and of the position which
he fills? Such is the general (Onion here of George,
Lord Canning, at present governor of 150 millions of
people. The sooner he goes home to the Post-olce again
the better.

EXTRACT OF A PRIVATE LITTER PIM ONE CF TIIE FIRST

MCRCANTILE FIRMS IN CALCUTTA.

Lord Canning and his councillors are most lamentably
in want of precaution and energy ; every measure has
been used too late to prevent mischief; a deep, settled,
and intense disgust is felt by all. In Calcutta, measures of
precaulior, after most culpable delay, had been taken. He
further adds—The immense importance of preserving
Calcutta frcm even the smallest outbreak, on account of
the injurious effect on the neighbouring districts that
would follow, ought to induce Lord Canning to preserve
here an attitude of great force. He says farther—We are
safe here with ordinary precaution. May God grant it!
But these precautions must be taken. and I feat they are
not adequate.. Dear Cohn, I write to you not to trouble
you with my anxietieq, which would be useless, but to beg
you to enforce on the directors, if you can, the positive
necessity that stringent orders should be sent out for more
positive measures f precaution being taken in Calcutta.
Lord Canningt is not' 'equal to the emergency ; more firm-
ness, more severity is required, for the naives to believe
that we are not weak, of which every act of leniency or
forbearance is believed to be a proof.

B A RRACKPORE.

Burackpore, Ac g: 6, 1857

I mite while a great panic exists not only here, but to
a pait.ful degree in Calcutta, in consequenni of the
Mahomedans having to celebrate one of their greatest
feasts for two or three days, commencing to thy It is
feared that they will rise from their fanatical state of mind
about dur reign having ceased, and that they will produce
their concealed arms and murder us. Troops are to be
stationed in different parts of Calcutta. The Volunteer
Guard are obliged to remain permanently as soldiers, and a
sharp look out is to be kept
Affdrs are getting worse in this country. and I have
little doubt that we shall have our turn in this place,,for
we have only 200 men of the 35th. with 50 sailors, as I
have said, and it is manifest that the rebels are working
their way towards Calcutti. At Raneegunge. which is
about 100 miles from here, and the to minal station of
the railway which unites it with Calcutta, there is great
anticipation of a shine. Last night 150 r..,ikhs and a few
men of the Calcutta wing of our regiment went down
there to preserve the teleraph and railway lines, the des-
truction of which have been at,empted by the Sepoys and
disaffected villagers.
At Calcutta every, cue is now alarmed at the awful
position which we are placed in, and in which we must
remain until we have an army large enough to sweep every
rebel from the country. A great mny Madras sepoys
arrived in the Hooghly yesterday, but the experiment o°
using them for our defenee is consid- red very generally a
dangerous one. The Governor's body enard, numbering
200 or 300, and consisting of picked fighting sepoys,
delive ed up th,cir arms yesterday cf their own accord ;
but they knew that guns would ba pointed at them if they
did not.

FROM A VOLUNTEER IN GENERAL ,VAVELOCR.B C )RPE4

Camp, Cawnp.-,re, July 22, 1857.

I have been to see the place where the poor women and
children were imprisoned, and afterwards butchered It
is a small bungalow close to the road. There were all sorts
of articles of women and children's clOthing Ladies'
hair, evidently cut off with a sword, back combs, &c.
There were also parts of religious books. Where the mas•
sacre took place it is c...vered with blood, like a butcher's
slaughter-house. One would fancy that nothing could be
worse than this, bat in the well at the back of the house
are the bodies and limbs of the poor things • I looked
down, and saw such a sight as I hope never to see again.
The whole cf the bodies were naked, and the limbs had
been separated. I thought of the two poor Mrs. and
the three poor girls, and felt very sad. By all accounts,
the women were .so ill treated, that death —even such a
death— must have been welcome to th m. I will not enter
into more details. I have told yon enough to cause you
to make allowance if I write savagely. I have looked
upon death in .very form, but I could not look down that
well again.