The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-06 00:00:00

MILITIA.

The Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia, under
the command of Colonel the Duke of Richmond,
was asked to give 75 volunteers to the Line on
Wednesday last, and, as usual with this regiment,
gave more than the quota, 86 men having passed
for service. At Dover, last summer, the regiment

was requested to give to the Line 17 per cent. on its
strength, when it gave 20 per cent.
The Glamorganshire Light Infantry assembled
for training at Cardiff on Friday last. On the same
day the Artillery mustered at Swansea.
The North York Rifle Militia, under the com-
mand of the Duke of Leeds, the colonel of the
regiment, assembled at Richmond, Yorkshire, on
Friday last for 21 days' training. The regiment
numbers nearly 500 men.
The 4th West York Militia assembled at Leeds
on Friday last for 21 days' training.
The Ist Somerset Militia assembled yesterday
(Tuesday) for 21 days' traininc, and exercise, under
Lieut.-Colonel Phipps, at Taunton.
The Inverness Highland Light Infantry assem-
bled on Friday last, under the command of Lieut.-
Colonel the Hon. Simon Fraser, son of Lord Lovat.
The regiment will be exercised for three weeks.
The Royal Anglesey Light Infantry Regiment of
Militia were dismissed to their homes on Saturday,
October the 2d, having completed their 21 days'
training at Beaumaris. The regiment was inspected
on the 28th of September by Lieut.-Colonel Laye,
of the 24th Regiment, who complimented their
commander, Colonel Williams, upon the very sol-
dierlike appearance of the men under arms, their
steadiness in battalion, and quickness in light in-
fantry movements. The conduct of the men during
the training has been excellent.
The East Suffolk Militia (Artillery), under the
command of Colonel Adair, mustered yesterday
(Tuesday) at the depot at Ipswich for the usual
period of training.
The West Suffolk Militia, under the command of
Colonel Earl Jermyn, M.P., have assembled at Bury
St. Edmund's for a month's training.

THE REORGANISATION OF THE
INDIAN ARMY.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
SIMLA, AUG. 16
•

Towards the close of last November the Court of
Directors forwarded from the military department
a despatch to the Governor-General, authorising
him to appoint a commission of military officers of
the three Presidencies, and of such Queen's officers
as had Indian experience, " as soon as circumstances
might permit, to assist in forming wise conclusjons
on the most important subject which must soon
press for decision—the proper organisation of the
army in India," and, at the same time, suggesting
as heads of inquiry for the commission, first the
propriety of raising corps each in a prescribed dis-
trict, where alone they should be recruited. Next,
should corps be composed of troops or companies of
separate castes, or should the castes be mixed up in
the regiment ? Should Europeans, i. e., English,
form a component part of native regiments ? Would
it be expedient to enlist natives of other tropical
countries, and, if so, in what way should they be
distributed ? Whether the grades of native officers
should be abolished, and each company provided
with a British sergeant and corporal instead ? In
case the grades of native officers be retained, whe-
ther the system should not be assimilated to that
of Madras and Bombay ? The best organisation
for separate military police corps ; the powers of
commanding officers ; the drilling and training of
cadets ; the system of punishment ; staff employ-
ment of officers in its relation to regimental effici-
ency. were also indicated as heads of inquiry. These
inquiries were:to include infantry, regular and irre-
gular, cavalry ditto, artillery, sappers and miners,
and the propriety of composing the artillery and
engineers of mixed natives and Europeans, or of
Europeans exclusively. The Commissioners were
also expected to give their opinion as to the pro-
portion of natives to Europeans, and the result of
their labours was to be laid before the Commander-
in-Chief, after which the Governor-General was to
furnish the Directors with his careful review of the
measures to be taken for the maintenance and orga-
nisation of the army. The date of this document
proves the completeness of the misapprehension and
the greatness of the delusion under which the Hon.

Company were labouring in reference to the nature
of the revolt in India. In November, 1857, before
Lucknow was relieved, or the Gwalior Contingent
defeated, or Oude or Rohilcund wrested from the
rebels, the Directors are calmly considering the
question which they think " must soon press for
decision,"—the reconstruction of the Bengal army.
They saw nothing more in the raging rebellion
than " the mutiny of the native army of the Pre-
sidency," and although they were wise enough to
defer the appointment of the commission to
" when success shall by the blessing of Divine
Providence have attended your efforts," they
evidently thought the period very near at hand.
It may be readily imagined_ that the Governor-
General found it impossible to form a commission
of the kind. Officers of experience and ability had
their hands full of their more particular duties, and
cannot even now be spared from their posts. After
some delay, which was most likely unavoidable,
and of deliberation, which was commendable, Lord
Canning, in April, 1858, resolved that the commis-
sion was an impossibility, and he therefore decided
to intrust Colonel Durand, who had been the Resi-
dent at Indore up to the outbreak; and is generally
considered-to be an officer of ability and judgment,
with the task of obtaining in writing from eminent
and experienced public servants, civil and military,
their opinion on each head of the inquiry, a copy
of which was to be forwarded to each of them for
consideration. Colonel Durand, under instructions
from the Governor-General, issued a circular on the
21st April, 1858, in which Lord Canning says,—
" The main features of the result and the general
and financial considerations which the issue of this
unparalleled mutiny entail are of themselves suffi-
cient to prescribe the point to which practically the
attention of the home Government must first be
directed, that point being the strength and compo-
sition of the European army which must be perma-
nently maintained in India, as the broad and fixed
basis of our power and security." With this view
the fifth paragraph, of the directors' despatch, which
refers to the proportion .of Europeans to natives,
is recommended first, as being likely to simplify
the whole subject. Accompanying this despatch
each officer addressed has received the following
circular, which is, however, only the first of a
series
"Questions having reference to Paragraph 5 of Despatcb.
No 235, of the 25th of November, 1857, Military Depart-
ment, from the Court of Directors.
" 1. What is the number of European troops of each arm
now serving in , and what is their distribution ?
"2. What is the number of European troops of each arm
you deem necessary for , and what should be
their ordinary distribution ?
"3. What is the number of native troops of each arm
now serving in , and what is their distribution ?
" 4. What is the number of native troops you deem ne-
cessary for , and what should be their ordinary
distribution ?

"5. What proportion of native troops now serving in
are regulars, irregulars, and police corps ? Of
what races are they composed, and in what proportion do
the races occur ?
"6. What proportion of your proposed establishment of
native troops should be regulars, irregulars, and police ?
"7. What proportion should the European bear to the
native troops in ? and state the ratios both in-
clusive and exclusive of police corps.
• "8. What proportion should the European bear to the
native troops in India generally ? and state the ratios as
affected by the inclusion or exclusion of native police corps?
"9, Is there adequate barrack accommodation for the
European troops now serving in ? and state its
amount.

" 10. Would additional barrack accommodation have to
be provided in for the strength of European
troops you deem necessary, and to what extent ?
" 11. 'What proportion of the European force should be-
long to her Majesty's regular army, and what portion should
be composed of troops raised for service in India ?
"'l2. Under the supposition that additional corps of Eu-
ropeans have to be raised for service in India, how would
you officer t
hem ?
_ _ _

" 13. Under the supposition that a considerable increase
take place in the number of corps raised for service in India,
and that they are officered from the officers of the mutinied
battalions of the Bengal army, will this accession of senio-
rity promotion corps create any greater embarrassment in
juxtaposition with the purchase promotion system than
what now accrues from the existence of the Royal Artil-
lery, Royal Engineers, Royal Marines, and the three Indian
armies, m all which corps and armies seniority promotion
is the system.

" 14.' The feasibility of raising corps of foreign merce-
naries, such as Tartars, Chinese, Malays, Dyaks, Africans,
Madagascarenes, &c., being assumed, would you consider
that the proportion of European to native and foreign mer-
cenary troops could, with safety to our power aid supre-
macy in India, be modified from the ratio stated in reply to
questions 7 and 8 ? If so, to what extent ?
There are separate series referring to the reor-
ganisation of the infantry., of the cavalry, of the
artillery, and of,-the engineers. When Colonel
Durand began his labours an order had just been
issued for the formation of four very large regi-
ments of European dragoons, and an intention ex-
isted of retaining the disarmed regiments' of light
cavalry which had not mutinied. Sir John Law-
rence and Sir J. Cotton protested against such an
act, and declared that those regiments were, if
possible, worse than the corps which had openly
mutinied. Colonel Durand therefore recommended
that, instead of four large regiments with such
auxiliaries, there should be 10 new regiments of
450 sabres each, to be raised at home of moderate
standard, and the plan is now under the considera-
tion of Government. India will thus be made
tolerably independent of her Majesty's cavalry in
case they should be wanted at home or elsewhere,
and I believe the Governor-General and the Com-
mander-in-Chief concur in the views of Colonel
Durand's memorandum.

The frontiers of the Punjab and of Assam are so
very unhealthy that the Government of India can-
not afford to place Europeans in the stations which
gaard them. It will be necessary, therefore, to
employ natives for the service of such field batteries
as may be required along those frontiers, or, in
other words, to - have some few batteries of native
artillerymen.' But, with that exception, all our

guns must be in the hands of Europeans, and it
is recommended that the 12 battalions of the Bengal
establishment shall be assimilated to the Royal
Artillery as to grade and strength of officers, and
that each battalion shall be raised to 1,000 strong.
But they must be kept up to the strength decided
upon, whatever it may be. Will it be credited that
at the outbreak of the mutinies the English artil-
lerymen were 600 under the strength they were
three or four years previously ? But there are
other things more important than the reconstruction
of our army. The good government of India, the
happiness, welfare, and civilisation of her, people,
are more important, for until those objects be to
some extent effected, our armies will be but as
ropes of sand to fasten this great empire to our
chariot wheels. The weight of our armour will
crush us in time if we ever stand ready for battle.
I have not knowledge or ability sufficient to enable
me to deal with the weighty matters of legal
reform, of revenue settlements, of taxation, of local
government, of religion, and of language, which
are discussed more often than they are understood;
but at some future period I shall express such
opinions as I can form—quantum valeant—without
fear, favour, or affection. •

MARLEBON_E COUNTY COURT, Oct. 5,

(Before J. L. Adolphus, Esq.)

SAMPSON V. MAGER.-SINGULAR BETTING CASE.

Mr. Williams, of Edward-court, appeared for the
defendant.

This was a very singular action to recover £1
155., the amount of a bet laid by the plaintiff in
the proportion of 2 to 6 upon the result of some
races at Egham, in August last. The plaintiff is a
gentleman's servant, given to sporting, and the de-
fendant is a licensed victualler, carrying on business
in Chapel-street, Paddington. The defendant stood
in the double relation of stakeholder and the per-
son making the bet. In the early part of August
the plaintiff, who was a visitor at his house, induced
the defendant to lay the odds of 6 to 2 against a
horse rejoicing in the august name of King-at-Arms
that it could not win a certain race at Egham. The
defendant laid the bet, upon the understanding that
he was laying what is called " the market odds,"
which is ruled by Tattersall's. He subsequently
discovered that 6 to 2 was not " the market odds,"
and sent back the plaintiff's money to his house by
a little girl, with an intimation to the plaintiff that
the bet was " off." The plaintiff was not at home
when the money was left, and itovas therefore con-
fided to the care of his landlord, Mr. James Small.
When the plaintiff reached home the money was
tendered to him, but he told Small he would not
have it, and that he might do as he liked with it.
Small not wishing to be the depository of money
that did not belong to him, took it back to the
defendant. The plaintiff was in the house the next
day, when the defendant tendered him the money,
which he declined to accept. The defendant then
laid the money on the counter, and said to the
plaintiff, "If you leave it there, you do so at your
own risk." The money was, however, left on the
counter, and taken up by a man whose name did
not transpire, and the evidence went to show that
it *as handed over to a third man, a betting man,
named Charles Hall. In cross-examination it came
out that 30s. out of 355. belonged to Hall—and
was, in fact, his money.
Mr. Williams, for the defence, submitted that the
plaintiff could not recover, on the ground that this
was a betting transaction ; that the defendant
returned the money to the landlord and the plain-
tiff, and that he might have had it if he had chosen ;
and, thirdly, that as to 30$. of it, he could not
recover, as it was not his money.
His Honour held that the money was not recover-
able, as the bet was declared off. He thought it
strange that no question had been asked Hall as to
his receipt of the money. That was a suspicious
circumstance, and very unsatisfactory to him. He
was of opinion that the defendant had pursued an
improper course in leaving the money on the coun-
ter to be taken up by any one who chose to do so.
As, however, 30s. of the amount was not the monies
of the plaintiff, he could not recover more than the
balance which had not been proved to have come
to his hands. His judgment would, therefore, be
for 6s. only