The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-05 00:00:00

INDIA AND CHINA.

By extraordinary express, in anticipation of the
Overland Mail, we have received our letters and
papers from Calcutta, Bombay, and China. The
Calcutta and China despatches arrive by this mail
in consequence of the wreck of the Alma, the mail
carried by that vessel having been placed on board
the Ellora, which arrived at Marseilles on Sunday.
The dates are Bombay, June 4 ; Calcutta, May 17 ;
and Hong-Kong, May 5.

SAUGOR, MAY 27.

All India appears to be moved with indignation at
the fiat of the Viceroy, releasing the Nawab of
Furruckabad. Go where you will, from veterans or
cadets, from old unimpulsive civilians and gentle
hnmane women, you hear but one strain of alarm
and lament, that this conspicuous bloodshedder has
been exempted from the law made by a clemency
which embraced the wellbeing of worlds—" By
man shall his blood be shed." The Nawab of Fur-
ruckabad has been released, red with the blood—
Lord Canning himself owns that he is convicted of
that monstrous guilt—of 62 Christians : English-
men, Englishwomen, English ladies, and dear Eng-
lish children. The wretch has been let loose on
the world, free to repeat his crimes, if he should
ever find an opportunity in any of those patches of
territory which approach and surround our dwell-
ings, which are not counties of British India. The
Nawab of Furruckabad is released from death ! re-
leased from transportation, released from every
penalty of our law ! Surely there is only one man
in the whole British empire who acknowledges the
magnitude of the criminal's guilt, and discerns no
extenuating circumstances.
The discontent, amounting in fact to actual
mutiny at Meerut, Allahabad, and elsewhere, with
respect to the claim for bounty, appears to be sub-
siding. The impression of the soldiers, who in
asserting ideal rights, forgot their loyalty and obe-
dience, is that they have intimidated their superiors,
and have carried their point ; and as none have
been punished for insubordination, either the de-
mand must be granted or the mutiny is only
deferred—and even if it is granted, there will soon
be some other pretext for getting up a clamour and
a claim. There must be very little ingenuity
among the malcontents of the Indian army, if they
cannot easily get up a cry to prove their legitimate
title to 20 rupees a head quite as specious as that
which Lord Clyde has considered worthy of serious
examination at Meerut. The law, it is certain, can-
not wipe off the old bond as far as bounty is con-
cerned, and make it binding in the matter of pensions.
The Crown either succeeds to the engagements of the
Company or it does not. If it does, the malcontents
are fighting for even less than a shadow. If it does
not, there is not an old soldier in the Company's
army who can claim a fraction of pension from the
Crown. Soldiers of Royal regiments enlisting from
the home service to the Indian service arc of course
in a totally different position. They contract a
specific engagement de novo. They relinquish their
boon of returning to Europe which is their right
for a valuable consideration. They give a quid pro
quo, which they were not bound to give by any pre-
vious engagement or precontract. With the
esreaietncom-
pany's recruits it is quite different. He bartered a
year or two agoaa m certainoneyn s
idt
termco of
servitude ;
e and, in India,
w
deia,
on fixed pay, for r
on the death of his employer, he declares the con-
tract void, and demands to tear the bond, in order
that he may get the same money, and sign the
same bond again. According to this view of the
case it would have been the pleasantest way of
making money in the world to enlist as a recruit the
day before John Company's demise, and a few hours
afterwards to ignore the pretensions of John Com-
pany's heir, who demands that the contract should
be fulfilled. The Crown is in fact both the master
and the heir of the East India Company, and in
either of these relations is entitled to the servie: s
of the soldier without paying the price of the arti-
cle in the shape of bounty twice over. We may be
thankful that there Was none of this discontent
while the war with the sepoys was at its height.
There are no enemies of any mark in Cenfral India
any more; but the predatory bands still infest the
country here and there. A few days ago the dakh
runner, or postman, was stopped by a band of this
description, and the rebels cutoff his nose and one
ear. Cholera prevails to a frightful extent in the
Banda district; but it has not assailed the Euro-
pean reglrnent or community. Two of the band,
however, of the 19th Madras Native Infantry have,
I regret to add, fallen victims to this scourge.
The troops at Saugor-12th Lancers, 43d, Royal
Artillery, Mein's troop, and others—have a far