The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-14 00:00:00

THE BENGAL ARMY.

In the uninterrupted discussion of the discipline
and go-feral state of the Bengal Army to which its
mat'ily 1113 given occasion frequent allusion has
been mah by Indian officers to the opinions of
ti-metal Jacob, the distinguished officer whose ser-
vices in ,Slinde first made himlKnown to the public
at low,>, and who is now left in chief command not
only of the admirable corps of cavalry which is
called after him, but of the division which still ra-
inains in Pefsia. to insure the evacuation of Herat.
The opinions c.-1 General Jacob were embodied in a
pamphlet publishedsome years since, and now not
,easily obtained in
.Englan.d. We believe that we
Xll afford useful information for the intelligent
discussion of the Indian question by republishing
this pamphlet, which,,with the suppression only of
a fm— passages respecting the bygone controversy
with .3ir C. Napier, is to follows
" Let u 4 inquire what really are the defects and wants
of the ...native army of Bengal, and the best methods of
remedy 'In?: and supplying them. Let the officers of the
Bengal army apply themselves fairly and honestly to the
task of , 'eform, where reform is really needed, and let
them not latter themselves, as too often is the case, that
they have remedied a defect when they have only con-
cea'ed it, or denied its existence ; of l sores must be laid
opsn with an unsparing hand, and the caustic be freely
applied, before' they can be properly healed ; let not the
patient chink th * surgeon an enemy because he gives pain.
" For myself, .1 shall endeavour to write exactly as if
I were myself an' officer of the Bengal army ; my judg-
ment may be erron •eons and my opinions unsound, but my
motives are undo, sLtedly good : they are the wish hon-
estly to servo my hoe'. masters and my country, and to
benefit, in my humble capacity, the service to which I
am proud to belong. I have served altogether 23 years,
have never been abet m t from my duty, and have long
commanded a native c, wps of high repute. During the
course of my service I hay,ve seen a good deal of the Ben-
gal army, and, have convt. 'r.aed much with its officers.
" With the opportanit,'W and experience abovemen-
tinned, my observations anul opinions may be useless and
unsound, bat they cannot ju'atly be deemed presumptu-
ous or hasty.
" The most serious faults wilting in and peculiar to
the Benzal army appear to me ,to be as follows
" 1. The absence of the high.fest moral tone and of a
simple and 'rigorous Anglo.Sa xlims honesty in dealing
with Asiatics on the part of Engh's h officers of the army
of Thogal.
2. The want of power placed' in the hands of regi-
menial commanding officers ; the -want of confidence
reposed in, and support afforded to' Ahem, by the Com-
mander-tn-Chief and by Government.
" 3. The most pernicious system of drawing pay by
companies direct from the divisional paymaster, instead
of by rci.;inient?, which again tends to bring regiMental
eninivaialers in contempt, and to reduccs their power and
usefulness.

".4. The most defective system of commanding offs.

cen' meAiiekr.

"5. The entire absence of a proper confidence between
the offic rs and the native soldiers,

" G. The most pernicious practice of attending to the
caste of native soldiers, thereby frequently excluding
fro,n oar ranks the best material for soldiers and enlisting
the very worst.

"7. The very bad and fatally injurious system of pro
motion existing with respect to native officers and sol

" 8 The entire absence of a proper discipline through-
out the native part of the Bengal army.
"Ample proof of the first-mentioned fault is found in
proceedings towards mutineers—in the late orders to the
Berigel army regarding Courts of Request, &o.—in dis•
cloeuree which have been made regarding gambling af-
fair., banking transactions, &c., too notorious to require
detailing, and too extensive and numerous to be attribut-
able tie causes affecting individuals only. These proofs are
public and patent to all men.
"Tee defect being admitted, where shall we look for
the cause and the remedy? One cause appears to me to
consist in the lowering of the English character by in-
isibly adcpting Asiatic habits, manners, and feelings,
the A riglo.Sexon becoming partly merged in the Hinder).
This is xtensively the case in the army of Bengal.
" Pnen the moment a young officer sets foot in the
Bengal presidency he is perpetually reminded that every
English idea and habit is the sure mark-of a griffin (that
is, of a fool). He must not go out in the sunshine ; he
must travel in a palki, instead of on horseback; he must
be punkaed and Wined, and God knows what else; he
must have a kbansamaun, a kidmatgar, a sinter bearer
and bearers, and a host of other servants, one for his pipe,
another for his umbrella, another for his bottle, another
for his chair, &e., all to do the work of one man, and
which work would be done by one man in the case of
a Deniably griffin. Ry all theca people the youth is
called Ghureeb purwar' " khoodabund,' &c..
" This state of affairs bewilders the new comer, till,
resigciee himself to his fate, he becomes accustomed to
it, and gradually loses part of the manliness of the
Anglo-Saxon character. With the external luxurious
and lazy habits of Hindostan he imperceptibly adopts
some of Oriental morality.
" An )ttier cause is the difficulty existing in obtaining
furlough to Europe, which, if removed, would effect a
wonderful improvement in the tone of Indian society ;
this cause, although of great importance, is, of course,
not in collar to Bengal, but common to all India.
"Tee remedy is evident—let it be the fashion to be
English. It is a fallacy to suppose that the climate
ceetpela to be otherwise. There aro faults enough I sup-
pose in the European society of the Western Presidency,
but assuredly it i 3 ten times more English than that of
Bengal, yet the climate is no better than that of the
latter.
" Let the griffin have no more than two body servants
at most ; let him have no one in his service who will not
do suns work as his master bids him do ; if the Hindoos
ohj:ct to such service, there are plenty of Mussulaaans
ready, willing, and able to take their places, and with
no more prejudices than a Christian.
" Let the young man never enter a palki, but go about
on the back of his pony; let him not fear the sun ; it
may tan his cheeks, but it will not hurt him.
"It is your effirninate gentlefolk, who live in dark
houses, artificially cooled with a dozen Hindooe at work
with fans and flappers to beat the lies off them, who
suffer by exposure, not the hardy young Englishman,
wh e it not intemperate, soon becomes acclimatised, and
the mere readily so the less he regards the sunshine,
which is healthy enough in moderation ; experto crede.
" Lot him, in short, while studying the character of
the natives of India as deeply as possible, and making
ites - 1 completely acquainted with their habits, thoughts,
fey l,ngs, modes of expression, &a., endeavour himself by
all means in his power to remain a thoroughly English
gentleman. As he succeeds in doing so he will assuredly
succ.:ed in commanding the respect and regard of every
naive around him. All our power in India rests on
this. We may lay it down as an absolute certainty that
the mil ions of natives which a handful of Englishmen
govern in this vast continent will not consent to bo go-
verned by a handful of their equals. Our power con-
sists in our being essentially different from them, and in
their belief in our moral superiority only. The only thing
which can endanger the existence of this power is the
destruction or weakening of that belief.
"Tee state of the body will often affect the mind ;
habits and manners will act on and be reacted on by
by morals and religion.
" Let us, then, be English in all things, to the utmost
of our power, internally and externally, in religion and
iu morels, in habits and in feelings, allowing absolute
freedom of opinion and fair play to all men, and all will
be well.
" Time second evil is notorious, it has been frequently
remarked on, its existence is everywhere acknowledged,
and its effects are lamentable. Tne commanding officer
of a regiment in the Bengal army is almost powerless
for good, he is allowed to do nothing, his men are almost
taught to despise him, and in many instances of late
years the Sepoys have been allowed and encouraged to
ferward written complaints against their commanders
(Frees to army head-quarter. What can be worse than
this ? It is utterly destructive of all military discipline
and eolilierlike pride.
"The third and fourth mentioned evils are closely
connected with the second. In the Bengal army the
practice prevails of each commander of' a company
drawing pay for that company himself separatley,
direct from the divisional paymaster ; so that the peen.
niary transactions of the regiment are carried on in a
great measure independently of the comtnanding offi-
cer, aid often without his knowledge, as, for ex
a•aplu, has appeared in some late disclosures regard-
ng banking transactions, wherein the officers command-
ng companies appear to have made arrangements with
divisional paymasters for the recovery by regular instal-
ments of payments on account of various banking trans-
actioue without the commanding officers of the regiments
kaoeing anything of the matter.- All these also tend to
reduoo the useful power of regimental commandants and
mak them be despised.
, 31\s/ tth regard to messes the et of affeira is very
&eerie reei.neets no mess exists ; the maintaining
not only not made compulsory, hut even where
ob,l6,,sc..u:aintitincd it is optional with officers whether
with tleewooridtt or not ; such a state of affairs is fraught
neeptences—it breaks a regiment up
into eeparate
It parties,also lessens and
gives rise to all manner of
ezone the power and good influence
of the•eemreanding in an extraordinary degree.
It takes away much of the support which a commander
q c I y and impercTtpibrblyper
pride
es from all well-disposed
effie ere , who have
theirb noble profes-
eiere. and it enables others who may
ill-disposed to
wet :t Ti.ischief unperceived, until itasy
effects became ap-
peree „ in the bad state of the reelmeidee
hands
;, ofttl theai
y
Tfie remedy for a'l these evils is in the
hi
Genteel der-in-Chief and of Government ; pr.
coal.
mender of a regiment be systematically and a
ei
euppo,ited in the exercise of his legitimate
ei
powers ; let
there }:owes be a 3 ample at . possible every
l
regarding regimental affairs, let a'l turn, centre, and rest
on him ; and with these full powers make him responsible
that all goes on well. If it do not, displace him from his
coeiinaud. Let there be a reeimental paymaster to whom
the company officers send their muster rolls, and whose
duty it, is to draw the pay of the regiment, under the
ante ,e i'y of the regimental commander.
i• Let the mess be a public institution, to belong to
is ciernpuleory on all officere. Let the commandieg
?ftl?ere be held responsible that it be con-hinted with due
red prorer regard to economy, cemfort, and propriety,
and gine them full power to enforce such a state of things.
The' eis nothing new in these rules ; they exist with the
litedpieat effects in the other armies of India, and would
/ee. ecrelly advantageous to that of Bengal.
" The fifth evil is notorious, and is plainly proved by
mon deserting their officers in the field, by frequent mu-
tinies, Ace., where nothing has been known by the officers
of what was going on until it resulted in open resistance

This defect has lately been to some extent remedied.