The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-14 00:00:00

'AULETTES. REPORTS

(From the Times.)
Ou the 29th of March last a mutiny broke out in
the 34th Regiment of Native Infantry at Barrac:k-
pore. A S,poy, by name Mungul Pandy, rushed
into the parade-ground, shouting out, "Come out,
men ! come out, men !—you have sent me out, why
don't you follow me ?" He went on calling upon
the men "to turn out, as they would have to bite
the cartridges," shouting, " Come out, Sepoys !
come out for your religion 1" and telling the bugler
"to sound the asetubly." He carried a loaded
musket, and appeared ready to fire on anybody
who approached him. This went on about a hun-
dred yards from the quarter-guard, who saw and
heard him. The native officer in command of this

guard allowed him to go on, and remained a sullen.
spectator. The man levelled his musket, and
wounded. Sergeant-Major Hewson, who imme-
diately called out to the officer to turn out the
guard and seize him. But the officer made ex-
cuses, gave no orders, and the guard did not stir.
The man then fired at Lieutenant Baugh, who ap-

preached to seize hith, and the Lieutenant's horse
fell. Sergeant Hewson then rushed on the muti-
neer with his drawn sword, but was knocked down
by a blow from the butt-end of a musket behind
him, the striker of which, returning with blood
upon him, was simply told by the native officer
"to change his pantaloons." Other Sepoys now
joined, and beat the sergeant on the ground. Four
of the quarter-guard wanted to seize the mutineer,
but the native officer kept them back, saying, " if
you kill the man you will be hung." The colonel
in command of the regiment then made his appear-
ance on the spot, and ordered the native officer to
turn out his guard, which he at last did ' • but they
only advanced six or eight paces, and returned, the
native officer telling the colonel that none of the
men would go because the mutineer was a Brahmin.
Upon which the colonel, "consideringit useless, and
asacrifice of life, to order aEuropean officer with the
guard to seize him, I left the guard, and reported the
mat er to the Brigadier." After an interval,
Major-General Hearsay rode up, put himself at
the head of the quarter-guard, and commanded the
guard and officer to follow him. They did so, and
as they approached the mutineer shot himself. The
native officer was hung by order of Court-martial
for connivance in the mutiny. Seven companies
of the regiment were disbanded by order of the
Governor-General in Council.
But now follows an inquiry into the origin of the
mutiny, and the conduct of another officer, and
that a European one,—viz., the Colonel of the
regiment,—is looked into. It appears that Colonel
Wheler had, besides the military charge which his
country gave him, invested himself with another
office—viz., that of a Christian missionary. He
is questioned on the subject by the Governor and
Council, and he answers with perfect frankness—
" During the last 20 years, I have been in the
habit of speaking to natives of .all classes, Sepoys
and others, making no distinction, since there is
no respect of persons with God, on the subject of
our religion, in the highways, cities, bazaars, and
villages (not in the lines and regimental bazaars).
I have done this from a conviction that every
converted Christian is expected or rather com-
manded by the Scriptures to make known the
glad tidings of salvation to his lost fellow-crea-
tures." He is then asked whether the Sepoys he
has tried to convert include his own Sepoys ; and
he replies quite openly, that " he acts on the broad
line which Scripture enforces, which is to speak
without reserve to every person, and has no doubt,
—indeed, is quite certain—he has often in this
way addressed Sepoys of his own regiment." The
Colonel then lays down what he considers to be
Gospel doctrine, which is very much what would
be found in one of Mr. Simeon s skeleton sermons.
He speaks of himself, too, as a preacher, for he
talks of the natives "whom he has addressed,
whether individually or collectively." In short,
he describes himself as a Christian missionary,
and he moreover thinks that every " convened
Christian" ought to be a missionary, and try to
convert the heathen, and that is the principal thing
which ho ought to think about. In " temporal
matters" he is ready to obey " the orders of his
earthly superior, but in spiritual things he must
obey his Heavenly superior." He expects to
" suffer persecution" for this view of duty, and to
"be brought before rulers and kings," but, as that
is the lot of all true Christians, he rejoices in it.
He even " takes shame to himself for having mani-
fested such coldness in his Master's coldness."
Now, we have not the slightest objection to
Colonels of Regiments being religious men, but the
question is—is a Colonel of a Regiment a mission-
ary ? Is that his office ? We do not think it is.
Colonel Wheler. takes it for granted that every
Christian in India is cotnmanded by the Bible to
preach the Gospel to the natives, and that if he
does not do th-s he disobeys Goi and perils his own
salvation. That is what his letter comes to—every-
body is a missionary. It is not an office which seine
Christians have and others have not, an office
which Christian communities give to particular per-
sons ' • but it is an office which belongs to every
Christian as such. But this has never been the
teaching of any Christian communion we know of.
Church of England, Methodists, Baptists, Inde-
pendents, all consider the missionary office as one
to which the individual is appointed by the reli-
gious society to which he belongs. Indeed, it stands
to reason that a person who undertakes such an
important office, and one which so deeply involves
the interests of Christianity, should be in some re-
sponsible connexion with a Christian community.
Apart from political caution or care for our Ind an
Empire, it is not for the interests of Christianity
itself, we say, that anybody who chooses shoull
consider himself a preacher of the Gospel to the
heathen. The Christian community is missionary,
but that is quite a different thing from saying that
every individual in it ought to be, still leis that
he is bound to be, a missionary. The community
is missionary by representation—it deputes the task
to particular persons.
So much for the Colonel's argument, that because
he is a Christian he is obliged to be a missionary,
and to preach to every native he sees. But there
is another consideration. A Colonel of a Regiment
is not in a position, according to our compact with
India, to be a missionary. We must respect
rights, and not attempt to be religious at the cost
of plain justice. We tell the Hindoos that as a
Government we do not interfere in the least with
their religion, and that is the tenure on which we
hold India. But it is practically quite inconsistent
with such an argument as this that persons holding
high- official appointments, and having command
over bodies of natives, should turn missionaries. It
may be said that you must distinguish between the
missionary and the Colonel, or the General or the
magistrate ; but, practically speaking, sush a per-
son does use his official position as a means of reli-
gious influence, and the purpose of conversion. He.
cannot help it. If he is a Colonel or a General he
must teach or preach, and argue with the benefit
of that official weight attaching to him, and his
Sepoys will naturally suppose that his official power
will be felt favonrahly or unfavourably by them
T. i; may possibly be the case, and he may I el-)
according as they comply with his persuasion or not.
in fact, make any difference ; but that will natur-
ally be their idea, and, if it is, they hive a right to
complain, because the apprehension and suspicion
of such a thing is in itself an evil. The combina-
tion of the two functions is a source of alarm to
them. They do not know whether the Colonel will
not " spite" them for their assistance to the
preacher. The union of the two offices, then,. is
contrary to our fundamental compact with the
natives.
We beg to be understood as saying nothing what-
ever against the work of the legitimate and appointed
missionary in India. We do not t Wok t hat his offi re
leads to any misunderstanding or complaint on the
part of the natives ; and, if it did, as a Christian
country we must take the risk of it. But the dis-
tinction is as plain as it is just. If a Colonel of a
regiment thinks he has a decided call for the mis-
sionary life, by ail means let him obey it, but do
not let him hold his colonelcy. Had Colonel
Wheler twenty years ago left the army and devoted
himself to the work of converting the natives no-
body could have said a word against him, because a
man has certainly a right to select the employment
for which he thinks himself most fitted ; but he had
no right to be missionary and colonel•too—to as-
sume the preacher's office and still retain the mili-
tary one. It is impolsible to say what mischief
such a confused and fanatical idea of duty as he has
shown has done. Here is a mutiny which, if not
the first, is among the first mutinies. The 34th
Regiment is known to have inoculated other regi-
ments. This is stated in the minutes of the Indian
Council. Who can tell, then, how much this oned
man's froward and impertinent zeal has done,
how much it may have contributed to the whole
outbreak?

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—On Monday, as the Im-
perial ya•At La Reines Hortense was passing the Royal
Victoria Yacht Chub Ryde, on its departure to
Havre with its Imperial fr.-ight, a salute was fired from
the battery of the club. From some defect in sponging
the piece, a portion ot fire was left in the bore, and on
the introduction of the following cartridge an explosion
took place, shattering the right arm of the gunner in
such a manner that amputation at the shoulder was
sabstquently considered necessary. The signalman of
the club had the thumb of his left hand over the vent,
and the limb was blown partly off by the expbsion.
The name of the gunner is Jacob Harbour, and that of
the signalman Edward Petty. A sum of 701. has been
already subscribed for the sufferer Harbour ; and at a
meeting ot the committee on Tuesday night it eras re-
solved to appropriate 25/. from the funds of the club for
the same purpose.

A thick blue-book contains the rep ,rt 3 of the
inspeaors of various convict prisons. The most
_ _

interesting of these is that which refels to Penton-
vale. It appears that one of the prisoners stabbed
his officer Ns ith a shoe-knife, and that 522.offences
were reported, of which 41 were dismissed. Of
1,054 prisoners confined last year 809 were not
punished at all, a satisfact3ry proof that the gene-
ral conduct of the prisoners was good. Two pri-
soners e4caped, it is supposed through the assist-
ance of an officer, who was dismis3el in conse-
quence. About 530 of the prisoners we're trans-
ferred to other prisons during the year, and 558
remained at Pentonville on the 31st of December,
1856. The total expenses of the prison, exclusive
of buildings, amounted to 14,6951., reducsd by
sundry receipts and by the labour of prisoners
to 13,3111. The deaths in the prison were at
the rate of 4.2 per mille, and co attempt at
suicide occurred. The system of teaching remains
the same as before, and the results are satis- ,
factory. Phe statistics prove that mere "educa-
tion" is net to be received either as a panacea or
preventive of serious crime, as it is plainly a two-
edged sword, which cuts both ways, for evil and for
good, according to the religious principles and moral
habits of the possessors. In short, the greater the
crime the higher will often be found the degree of
education. The degree of education is higher in
convicts (reports the chaplain) than in ordinary
criminals. Experience shows that of 1,000 convicts
released from this prison 200 will relapse into crime,
with less success than before ; 3CO will abandon
crime as a bad speculation, and. because their skill
in thieving is pretty well lost ; 400 will bona fide,
and from principle and choice, adopt a good course
of life, and become useful members of socie'y ; and
100 will break down into permanent invalids, and
end their days in a workhouse. Taking 1,000
prisoners sentenced to transportation for life, it
is calculated that 113 can neither read nor write,
135 can read a little, 291 can both read and write
imperfectly, 380 can read well, and 81 are of su-
perior education. Of another 1,000 prisoners, about
15 or 16 appear to have been liberally educated and
emplo,yed, 40 to 52 to have been clerks, shopmeu,
and bagmen, 26 to 71 servants, and 317 to 388
tradesmen and mechanics. The report on Milbank
prison shows that 2,765 prisoners were disposed of
last year, 832 remaining et the close thereof. The
(reduced) expenses of the prison amounted to
29,6751. 'Of 2,259 convicts whose educational
status is recorded, only 243 were totally ignorant.
At Parkhurst prison 638 prisoners were disposed of
last year, and the cost was 11,1401, At Portland,
2,387 prisoners were disposed of, and the expense
amounted to 52,161 i. The conduct of the prisoners
as a body, has been good, and they are more patient
under labour. At Portsmouth, 1,636 prisoners
were disposed of, and the expense was 31,0351. At
Dartmoor, 1,517 prisoners were disposed of, and
the expense was, 34,4541. Lastly, at Chatham
prison, 677 prisoners were disposed of, and the
expense amounted to 36,3501.

Country lYlarketz,,.

MANCHESTER—Aua. 13.

At this day's market there was a fair atten lance, and
a moderate amount of business was transacted in wheat
and flour at the extreme currency of last week. Oats and
oatmeal were both inquired for, and the former improved
in value id per 451bs. Beans same as last week. Indian
corn is per qr. cheaper. There has boon a continuance of
heavy rain during the week.