The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1858._
s'

into consideration, the Governor-General authorized
Major Barrow, the Political Agent and Special
Commissioner at the head-quarters camp, to make

the Amethie chief a liberal offer. He was informed
that if he presented himself and made his submis•
sion either to the Chief Commissioner or to the
Commander-in-Chief, the Government would gua-
rantee him his estates " the same as they were at
the period of annexation ;" but that his fort must
be surrendered, his guns given up, and his followers
disarmed. Copies of the proclamation and amnesty
were annexed that the Rajah might make their
contents known to his followers. A stated period,
giving ample time for the receipt of those docu-
ments, for consideration, and for his reply, was
given to the Rajah.
Whatever may be the reasons—and there are
none which can be suggested without offence to the
Administration—for the scanty supply of copies of
the proclamation, it is sure that our officers have
felt the want of those documents very greatly. It
can scarcely be imagined that the servants of the
Crown have deliberately set themselves in opposition
to the expressed intentions of the Crown, and have
sought to render the gracious intentions of the Queen
of no avail. And yet it is certain that from all
quarters complaints have been made of the want, or
rather of the absence, of copies of the proclama-
tion. The Commander-in-Chief was not fur-
nished with any when he crossed into Oude,
nor for some days afterwards were any sent to
him; indeed, I am not satisfied that he has any
now. Very few were sent to Major Barrow, the
Special Commissioner of Revenue with the head-
quarters. Captain Chamberlain, at Bungurmow,
has had none at all ; and I believe other officers have
been in similar case. It is true that the necessity
imposed on the Governor-General of keeping the
nature of the proclamation secret till it was suffi-
ciently.promulgated was a bar to the preparation
of copies which would have been in the hands of
natives. That necessity principally arose from his
Excellency's desire that the Oude rebels should not
know beforehand of the long term of grace accorded
to them, but the moment the Ist of November was
at hand the proclamation should have been fur-
nished to all the officers, civil and military, at out-
posts or in command over the country, and distri-
buted broadcast in thousands. It has, indeed, been
asserted that the temper of some of the officers of
the Government, old, valued, and distinguished
servants of the defunct Company, is opposed to the
largeness of the amnesty, and that they have by
their words and expressions evinced their repug-
nance to its provisions. But those words and ex-
pressions could not be accompanied by overt acts
without bringing on the perpetrators the heavy
official punishment which their conduct in standing
between the Throne and its subjects, and prevent-
ing the exercise of the highest prerogative of the
Crown, merited—the severest official punishment
and censure. It will be credited with difficulty that
a very distinguished officer of the Government,
whose rank, in the councils of the Indian empire is
of the very highest, actually suggested to one of
the officers charged with the pacification of Oude
that he should not send the proclamation till he
had battered down the forts of the chiefs ; and yet
he did so. Had a military officer so far contra-
vened the orders of his superior, nothing could
save him from disgrace and the loss of his commis-
sion. The Queen's orders were that every rebel
chief should on submission receive the benefits of
the amnesty, which were--to -be made known to
him by the proper officer. The suggestion of the
Queen's servant was that the officer, before he

obeyed the Queen's orders, was to disobey them,
and when he had done what he was riot to do he
was to do that which made the amnesty an insult,
a mockery, a delusion, and a: snare. A more dis-
graceful suggestion could scarcely have been made
to a man of honour ; one more ruinous to our reputa-
tion, more hurtful to our faith, certainly could not
be imagined. Perhaps the Governor-General never
heard of it, but the facts I have stated are not the
less true.

As it is, there are difficulties enough in our way.
The copies which have been furnished are written
in a fashionable• Court Ordoo, which the common
people in Oude will scarcely understand, full of
Persian words and fine phraseology. It is as if
Sir Bulwer Lytton were to euphrasise to the deni-
zens of St. Giles. We have heard that when the
document was read in the fort of Amethie the
people ridiculed it, and that they laughed at our
promises. In fact, they have heard such breath-
ings of fire and slaughter for the last 12 months
that they cannot give credence to this sudden
spirit of forgiveness. They fear to drink the waters
of this new found well of mercy. Besides, they well
know that we never forgive murder or condone the
shedding of blood. Under native rule it was com-
mon to pay fines to escape from punishment for
murder, as in olden times at home. In Runjeet
Singh's territories there was it scale according to
which life might be taken at certain rates, and a
man might enjoy the luxury of killing—just as one
may now beat his policeman—if he could pay for
I it. Our rule has changed all that, and our law is
blood for blood. The Sepoys who are conscious of
crime, around whose hearts there is the brazgn wall
which forbids the words of mercy to enter, and
who grow pale at the very thoughts of submission,
leavening the whole mass, inspire them with dis-
trust' and dread, and exercise a powerful influence
over their comrades, and not only them, but the
chiefs into whose service they have entered.
While we were waiting at Beylah a bridge was
prepared across the Saae for the passage of artil
lery close to our camp, and spies were sent out to
report on the state of the Fort of Ametliie. It was
reported that there were 30 guns mounted in the
place, and that the garrison consisted of 5,000
sepoys and matchlockmen, who were all ready to
fight. The ammunition was served out to the bat-
teries, and there were loud promises to stand by
their guns to the last on the part of the artillery.
men. We heard many stories of solemn ceremonies,
oaths, and military sacraments to bind the garrison
to a desperate resistance, and all the politicals but
Major Barrow seemed confident that there would
be a fight before the place fell.
The force of which Lord Clyde took the more im-
mediate command by his presence at Beyla consisted
only of 3,000 of all arms, composed as follows :
Head-quarters of No. 3 Field Battery, Royal Artil-
lery, 2 guns, 63 officers and men ; 23d Company
Royal Engineers • head-quarters Carabineers, 217
officers and men; 1-131.'s 54th, 501 rank and lie ;
a Wing of the sth Fusiliers, 247 rank and file ; na-
tive artillery, 65; Engineers, 78 ; cavalry, 724 ; and
infantry, 1,130. At l)eolie there is an outpost with
two guns, 28 Pathan Horse, 68 of H.M.'s 54th, and
245 Oudo Police Infantry. At Leowlie there are
two guns, 50 Pathan Horse, 51 of H.M.'s 54th, and
208 of the Ist Sikh Infantry. There were also two
heavy guns, and some 10 and 8-inch mortars and
cohorns. The column under Wetherell, at Rampore
Russea, was of about the same strength. That ad-
vancing under Sir Hope Grant by Pursaideporc
from Sultanpore was stronger. So that the whole
of the three corps, when united, would rather ex-
ceed 12,000 men (hors% foot, and artillery); provided
in all points with pontoon -trains, heavy guns, mor-
tars, field batteries, and horse artillery, each column
a perfect little army in itself. In order to give the
Rajah every fair play no attempt was made to ap-
proach his fortress till the time came for his reply,
and no move was made in his direction except by a
party of the Carabineers, who went within 10 miles
of the-place to escort Captain Thompson in his mis-
sion to distribute the proclamation and to disarm
the people. The latter seemed for the most part
well disposed towards us.
The general unfriendliness of the natives in the
districts wherein our military operations have been
conducted is unquestionable. Information has never
been willingly or promptly afforded to our officers.
When given it was extracted by bribes, and then
it is not always trustworthy, as the Military Train
found to their cost the other day near Jugdespore.
On all sides, in every part of India, our generals
complain of want of information, of want of sym-
pathy, of Unfriendliness. Supplies are to be had
because there is money to pay for gam, but it is
always incumbent on our officers to march with
enormous qUantities of provisions, the carriage of
which absorbs all the transport of the country, and
paralyzes traffic. In fact, transport is hero, as in
the Crimea, one great difficulty. Only the trained,
intelligent, and able officers who are at the head of
this Commissariat, and. who carry on its duties in
the field, could meet and overcome the obstacles
which beset them at every path. As an instance
of the derangement produced by this unhappy con-,
test, just take this one fact. Allahabad is 120 miles
from Cawnpore. There is a railway between the
two cities ; the great stream of the Ganges flows
past the wallS of each, and they are further con-
nected by the Grand Trunk Road ; but wheat is sold
at Cawnpore for 22 seers or 441 b the rupee, while
at Allahabad it is sold for 201 b. to 221 b. the rupee—
j ust double the price that it is 120 miles off. By the
recent operations the navigation of the Ganges from
Futtehghur has been set free, and' it may be now
considered open from Cawnpore down to Allahabad
also, but most of the country boats have been col-
lected to serve bridges or have been destroyed.
to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy.
All the evils produced by this state of things is
attributed to us by the people in their usual undis--
criminating way. They lay all the blame of high
prices and troubled markets on the shoulders of
the Government instead of on those of their
rebellious countrymen. In Oude there is for
some cause or other a settled passive antipathy
to us. One of Sir Hope Grant's officers, Major
Hunie, in his recent operations at Derriabad,
reports in his despatch—" Great difficulty was ex-
perienced in obtaining any intelligence from the
neighbouring villages, the entire population being
apparently friendly
to the rebels." Around Per-