The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-18 00:00:00

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CALCUTTA, DATED

SEPTE3II36IL 15.

" I have but little to tell you in the way of news here.
The army is in a state of geeat irritation and sullen dis-
content about the half-batta question. They do not yield
a jot of their position that public faith has been broken
with them, and not without sufficient reason. They
blame the Board of Controul even more than their own
dishonest masters, because the agreement of 1795-6 with
the agents of the army in England, and which prevented
at the time an universal mutiny from breaking out, was
virtually concluded, and indeed sealed in all its details by
the then President of the Board, Mr. Dundas, and Mr.
Pitt, the Premier, an ex-officio member ; the Directors
having been put completely on one side. Surely nothing
can have been more imprudent or less statesman-like than
Lord William Bentinck's conduct in the whole of this
affair. He seems to have been so eager to carry the mea-
sure of reduction into effect as to have lost sight of ordi-
nary discretion. However resolute in executing the
orders he had received, he should at least from prudence,
and to allay irritation, if determined net to imitate
the wholesome disobedience of all his predecessors,
have thrown a decent reluctance, instead of affronting the
Commander-in-Chief, and offending the whole army, by
waving all ordinary forms of decorous delay, and issuing
the orders without ever consulting Lord Combermere at
all. His Lordship's eagerness, indeed, seduced him to go
beyond the letter of his instructions. This more particu-
larly refers to the corps of artillery, consisting, horse and
foot, of ten regiments. The artillery, therefore, is in a
state of peculiar excitement, and the members of it are
influential, both from superior education, and their being
diffused all over the stations of the army. In respect to the
hurry of carrying the orders for half batta into effect, I
should notice to you the peculiar severity that arose from
that circumstance. A general relief was going on, and
would have been completed by the end of January : the
orders were issued on the 29th of November, to have effect
from the Ist January, at the four ' condemned stations.'—
This exactly intercepted many unfortunate corps already
on the march, some coming to Barrackpore from Kur-
naul, 1,000 miles cr more, and sorely suffering in purse
and person by such a march. It is impossible to convince
any plain man that this severity was uct. designed by Go-
vernment,—a severity which, as the Commander-in-Chief
justly said, would have been avoided by the more natural
delay of a reference to hint, then in the upper provinces,
or by his pointing out its especiml cruelty. In addition to '
all this, the Governor has interpreted all references on
doubtful constructions of his half batta orders, invariably
in the most harsh and unfavourable manner. All officers
of full batta corps at half batta stations, arriving and join-
ing their corps, have been declared entitled only to half,
although the wording of the orders had professed to con-
template corps, and not individuals; and althou;1), at any
rate, it would have looked kind and considerate to Ove
people the benefit of any doubt, even in so hard a case.—
Then, to complete the measure of discontent, the Military
FinanceCommittee,consisting of a field officer from each pre-
sidency, has been encouraged to recommend to Government
an extension of half-batta to the whole army,—a measure
never contemplated even by the authorities at home.
Colonel C. sf the Madras army, and Colonel F. of the
Bombay, contrived on this—and, indeed, contrive on all

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possible occasions—to otft.yOONfiv4y,J7ang m. ml cc,
:Major C. ; and, as Colonel C.li Sladrac arqs"non,_
mice of thtlGovernor-General's, and aultpcs,si i hay „
touch influence laser him, the gratsitous and odious recom-
mendation of putting the wiled° army en half-hatta
ascribed by the public to Lord William Ilistinck
—how truly, the parties best know; het at all ev,:nts it
is difficult to imagine any thing more unwise than the
agitation of such a project at such a moment. Anetia r
circumstance has much offended the Commander-in-Chief,
and added to the irritation of the artillery,--a redectiett
of two troops and companies in each cavalry
and infantry regiment. A reduction of officers or
of men, in case of nesessity, cannot be helped, nor
does this form any reasonable ground of blame ; but
want of attention to peculiar circumstencee, which niche
be pointed out by the experience of the Staff, and breath-
less, heedless haste, are most blameable. The reduction;
in the strength if the army have chiefly affected the native
portion of it. Our Sepoys were just beginning to rover
their good humour, soured by several circumstances too
well known to need repetition. This sweeping reduction,
amounting to one-fifth part of the whole native cavalry
and infantry of the army, throws back as supernumeraries
four officers and twenty non-commissioned officers in every
regiment. You know how slow promotion is with these
people, and of what value these little prizes are under our
exclusive system in regard to the natives; not only were
the individuals immediately concerned vexed and disap-
pointed, but at the very least an equal number of earls
grade next below expectants of promotion, and in par-
ticular some scores of the old patient Sepoys, whose hopes
of preferment are indefinitely retarded. The mere especial
caution was required in this matter, because the Sepoys,
like their countrymen in general, are ereatnree of Lactic,
and custom, and from the nature and history °four Indian
army constantly progressive, such a thing as reduction of
regular commissioned and nottseommissioned officers had
been hitherto unknown. One immediate effect of this
measure, I fear, has been to postpone the abolition of that
long-continued disgrace to our administration, the homing
of widows, the only plausible objection to which was the
dissatisfaction it might have caused among the Hindu
soldiery. A year ago this objection was a mere bug-hear.
The Governor-General was then told so by numbers of
experienced persons whom he consulted; hut many of
those same individuals now consider that the abolition
would be hazardous in the dissatisfied state of the Sepoys,
who are, like the mere peasantry of most conntries, simple
creatures, and might, in their present state of excitement,
he worked upon by designing and discontented priests,
faqueers, and foreign emissaries, with more effect when
they are suffering from novel and 'eerie ordinances."