The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-04 00:00:00

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- The Cgicial Journal of Naples of the 28th states
that on the preceding day the Post-office authorities
seized five sacks of copper money coined in the name of
"Francis Bourbon" (the ex-Sing of Naples) and which
had been sent from Rome by the Messageries. The ad-
dress of the person for whom they were intended was
marked upon them.

The French Government will probably purchase
the Fames() palace at Rome, which, it will be remembered,
belongs ;to Francis 11, In fact, negotiations have com-
menced.

This Day,
between S and B. E. M. D. F. C. I. 3.
9 a.m.
——
Nairn 29.86 42 41 E. 4 9 r. 4
Aberdeen ...
Leith ..
Berwick 29'73 46 44 E.N.E. 2 7 o. 3
Portrush
Shields
Galway 2913 . 45 43 N. E. I 1 b. 1
Scarborough 29'69 43 42 N.W. 3 9 r. 3
Liverpool 2918 44 43 W.N. W. 3 9 0. 2
Valentia
Queenstown 29 87 41 40 N. 3 9 t. 1
Yarmouth 29'79 44 43 W. 3 7 m. 4
London 29 82 46 43 W. 2 9 0.
Cover 29'83 50 47 S.W. 3 7 o. 2
Portsmouth
Portland
Ptymonth
Penzance
EXPLANATION.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced

EXPLANATION,—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced
to 32 deg at mean sea level ; each 10 feet of vertical rise
causing about 1-100th of an inch diminution, and each 10
dew above 32 deg causing nearly 3-100ths increase. F•
Exposed thermometer in shade. M. ➢Moistened bulb (for
evaporation and dew-point). D. Direction of wind (true—
not magnetic). F. Force (1 to 12—estimated). C. Cloud
(1 to 9). I. Initials :—b , blue sky; c., clouds (detached) ;
f., fog. ; h., hail ; 1., lightning ; m., misty (hazy); 0.,
overcast (dull) ; r., rain ; s., snow ; t., thunder. A letter
repeated augments—thus, r.r., much rain. S. Sea disturb-
ance (1 to 9).

WIND AND WEATHER
Ayr, N.E. ; dull
Belfast, N.N.E.; wat
Birmingham, N.W.; dull
Boston, S.W.; fine
Bradford, W.; dull
Brighton, W. ; dull
Bristol, W.N.W.; fine
Cardiff, W. ; fine
Cork, N.E.; fine

REPORT, THIS DAY, 9 A.M,
Darlington, N.W. ; dull
Deal, W., moderate
Doncaster, N.W.; rain
Dublin, W.N.W. ; fine
Dundee, W. ; dull
Limerick, calm ; fine
Manchester, W. ; fine
Sheffield, S.S.W. ; fine
Waterford, W. ; fine

2'he Punjab and Delhi in 1857. By the Rev. J.
Cave Browne, M.A., Assistant-Chaplain, Bengal
Presidency. 2 vols. Blackwood.
Probably few national events have given the
world so many goodly volumes as the Indian
mutiny. The circumstances themselves were so
startling and tragic, transporting us suddenly as it
were back to the earlier ages of civilisation, the
actors and sufferers were so closely united to us,
the admiration and sympathy called forth by their
heroism and their trials were so fervent and sincere,
the indignation excited by the conduct of the
enemy so deep and universal, that all relating to
the Indian catastrophe assumed an immediate inte-
rest. The English public read with avidity the
I details of that memorable struggle, the records of
individual exploits and escapes, and the narratives
of those who had formed part of the avenging
army. It was long before the supply exhausted
the demand, but at length the volumes grew
fewer as the deadly struggle passed away, and
for a considerable period we have heard no
more of works on the Indian mutiny. The volumes
before us, notwithstanding their numerous prede-
cessors, can scarcely fail to attract attention. They
give a clear and connected account of the events of
1857 in the Punjab and Delhi, and the means by
which, under Providence, the country was pre-
served. The master-minds who, fortunately for
the nation, held the posts of authority in the
Punjab, were not men to shrink from sudden re-
sponsibility or yield to timid vacillating counsels.
Had Sir John Lawrence and his immediate asso-
ciates acted with less promptness and sagacity,
there is no doubt that the whole Punjab
would have been in a bleze of rebellion that
would have been hard indeed to quench.
Fortunately they were equal to the occasion, and
the Punjab was saved, though at how imminent
a risk, only those who had full and accurate infor-
mation of the state of the country, knew. The
author, who was assistant chaplain in the Bengal
Presidency, was on the spot when the formation of
the Punjab moveable column was determined on,
and at once volunteered to be its chaplain, which
arduous and dangerous post brought him subse-
quently to the walls of Delhi. His narrative relates
entirely to the course of events in the Punjab and
at the siege, and although he expresses a fear that
this limitation may deprive it of more vivid inte-
rest, yet in some degree it increases its value, by
giving us a complete picture of one part of the
subject, and enabling the reader the better to
follow the chain of events and to comprehend their
connection. The work originated in a journal kept,
in camp, which afterwards appeared in Black•
wood's Magazine, and whose accuracy attracted
notice in India. After a time the author was
induced to enlarge and connect these notes,
and the kind assistance he received from many
quarters in furnishing him with corroborative
details, has easily enabled him to do so. Various
reasons have delayed its appearance, but this
is scarcely to be regretted, since the work is
less likely to be overlooked in the crowd of
similar volumes. "It should be borne in mind,"
says the author in his preface, " that the events of
which the Punjab was the scene, poble as they
,Were, seem in their very success lass thrilling, less
appalling in their character, than those which
marked the course of the mutiny in other parts of
India. Even the fires of Meerut and the bloodshed I
of Delhi, in the month of May, dwindle into com-
parative insignificance beside the flames of Cawn-
pore and the massacre in its " slaughterhouse" two
months later. The siege of Delhi, too, with all its noble
toil and struggle, and endurance, and its assault of
unparalleled boldness, lacked somewhat of the deep,
absorbing human interest which will ever centre
in the beleaguered garrison of Lucknew. Nor
had the column which swept the Punjab, from
the Indus to the Jumna, the opportunity of vie-
ing in glorious deeds with the army with which
Sir Hugh Rose so gallantly recovered Central
India." Yet the Punjab was not without its heroes ,
or its scenes of thrilling interest, as those who ,
read these pagei will readily acknowledge. Cum-
mencing with the anxious and unsettled state of ,
feeling which in many quarters marked the open- ,
ing of 1857, the author speedily brings us to the
catastrophe of Meerut. After giving the de-
tails of the outbreak, he asks, as many have
asked before, why the progress of the mutineers
towards the fated city was not checked, and la-
ments the mismanagement which rendered the
forces on the spot comparatively useless. " The
sepoys have come in from Meerut, and are burning
everything. Mr. Todd is dead, and, we hear,
several Europeans. We must shut up."
Such was the last message telegraphed from
Delhi on the fatal 11th of May. We may guess its
effect on the receivers. A few hours later fugitives
reached Illumaul telling the horrors of the Delhi
massacre and the suspension of all further commu-
nication. At Lahore, the political capital of the
Punjab, " peopled by hereditary soldiers," and
surrounded by native regiments, the news might
well strike terror. Sir John Lawrence, Chief
Commissioner, was absent, and on Mr. Montgomery,
Judicial Commissioner, the responsibility devolved.
His opinion, in which all his advisers concurred,
was that nothing but a prompt, vigorous course
could save the city. But during the day their
measures were hastened by the discovery of a deep
laid conspiracy to seize the fort, free the gaol pri-
soners, and massacre the Europeans. The plan of
the natives was, during the relief of the native
guard in the fort, to take advantage of the time
when both wings of the regiment were in the fort
together, rush on the officers, overpower the small
body of Europeans, and fire a building close by as
a signal to their comrades in the town. It must be
remembered that the force of Europeans altogether
was very small. It is manifest that such an emer-
gency was not to be trifled with,andßrigadierCorbett,
who was immediately consulted, in spite of the de-
murs of too credulous officers, resolved on the bold and
unprecedented step of disarming the whole of the
native troops on the station. How this desperate
move was effected we leave the author to tell in
his own words:—

It so happened that the gay world of Mean-Meer, in the
enjoyment of a fancied security, had selected that evening
(12th May) for a large ball, which was to be given by the
station to the officers of her Majesty's 81st Regiment. The
discovery of this conspiracy made some of the authorities
sugge,t the postponement of the ball; but it was wisely
overruled, as any such change might have led the Sepoys
to infer the detection of their plot. So the ball took place;
but it could scarcely be said of it as of the far-famed ball at
Brussels which preceded the battle of Waterloo, that—
" All went merry as a marriage bell,"
for, not to mention an air of anxiety and gloom which the
most light-hearted of the votaries of Terpsichore could not
altogether shake off, the room itself betrayed signs of pre-
paration—
" For in each corner

The eye on strange objects fell ;
There arms were piled,"

and every officer knew where to find his weapon in case of
need. The evening, however, passed over undisturbed,
and dancing was kept up till two in the morning, when the
scene changed, with short interval, from the ball-room to
the parade-ground.

Never had such a parade been held before. The whole
brigade of all arms, European and native, were turned out,
avowedly, to hear the general order for disbanding the
seven companies of the 34th Native Infantry at Barrackpore ;
really, to enact a drama which for originality and boldness
of design, was without precedent in the annals of Indian
history. Anarkullee sent forth all her leading civilians to
witness it ; and their eager faces betokened the keen anxiety
with which they watched its issue. The troops were thus
drawn up :—On the right were the two troops of horse
artillery ; next to them came six companies of H.M. 81st ;
then the native infantry regiments in their order—the 16th,
26th, and 49th ; with the Bth Native Cavalry on the left.
The general order was read at the head of each native regi-
ment ; the word was then passed for the native regiments
to change front to the rear. While they were occupied in
this manoeuvre H.M. 81st also changed front, and marched
round, left shoulders forward, so as to present a line along
the new face of the native corps, the artillery beyond and
behind them also moving round, and loading as they went,
unobservedly by the sepoys. Then came the critical mo-
ment. Lieutenant Mocatta, adjutant of the 26th Light
Infantry, advanced and read an address explaining to the
sepoys that the mutinous spirit which pervaded so many
regiments down country made it necessary to adopt measures
not so much for the peace of the country, which the British
could maintain, as for the sake of preserving untarnished
the name of regiments whose colours told of so many
glorious battle-fieds ; and that it had been, therefore, de-
termined by the brigadier to take from them the opportu-
ni yof ruining their own characters, should designing
malcontents 'attempt to involve them in mutiny and its
ruinous consequences. The order was they given to "pile
arms." A slight hesitation and delay were perceptible
among the 16th Grenadiers, to whom the order was first
given • but it having been previously arranged that while
the address was being read to the Sepoys, the 81st should
form into subdivisions and fall back between the guns, the
16th found themselves confronted not by a thin line of
European soldiers, but by twelve guns loaded with grape,
and port-fires lighted. The clear voice of Colonel Reuny,
"Eighty-first, load I" and the ominous ring of each ram-
rod, as it drove home its bell clirtridr::e, carried conviction
to the heart of the waverers—they sullenly piled arms; the
49th N. T., and the portion of the 26th Light Infantry
followed the example, while the Sth Cavalry unbuckled
and dropped their sabres.

A company of the 81st now advanced, collected the arntlsl
piled them in carts brought for the purpose, and escorted
them to barracks. Thus were some 2,500 native soldiers
disarmed in the presence of scarcely 600 EuropeT3m , and
marched off to thtir lines comparatively harmless.'
Lahore was saved, and, as the writer observes,
gm
ae
n
that bold stroke was the first move i
h seized,
which saved the Punjab. ~With Lahore '
the fort mastered, the Eureav Punjab
troops
have gone,
and powerless, the whole
e.„ s surrounded
Thankful in.
and perhaps all India, for a
time.
eimßrowne expresses
deed may we be, as Mr. a
himself, that the Lahore brigade,Cv at so imminent
raand of one so fitted to
a crisis, was under the command
He was happy, says
cope with the emergency...,incihat rarest courage which
the author, in
officials and the fear of
responsibility:
ornissikb itl ihtey , censure
possessing
Mr, Montgomery he found
in
an able coadjutor. The interference of inexpe-

rienced officials, hundreds of miles from the soene
of action, with the conduct of such men in such
. emergencies, inspires an almost equal sense of
indignation and absurdity. The Sepoys, as Mr.
Cave Browne declares, conferred inestimable bene-
fibtytedcontost
fits on India by cutting the telegraph wires, and
thus saving men like Sir John Lawrence from
halfwho s oneither
well
being hampered by a constant reference to those
judge.itutio n orAceirictuwmasst,aneacye
says the
writer, the Governer-General seemed to insist on
being consulted, forgetting that it must take three
months before an answer could be received con-
cerning questions which must be settled within as
many days, questions, moreover, with which Lcird
Canning, a stranger in India, and a council who were
unfamiliar with the province, Were quite unfitted to
deal. For instance, with regard to the negotiations
with the King of Delhi, Sir John Lawrence has been
unjustly treated. "Even Sir John Lawrence,"
said Lord Granville in the House of Lords, " was
willing to make terms with the King ; but Lord
Canning, a civilian, had the courage to take upon
himself the responsibility of absolutely refusing
these propositions." Whereas the case was as fol-
lows :—On the sth of July Sir John Lawrence
.received the first intelligence of the King's pro-
posal. Ile at once despatched his instructions,
which were conditional, and which soon brought
the transaction to nothing, as the King could not
fulfil his promises. Two months later came an offi-
cial letter from Calcutta with general instructions
with regard to future overtures, without reference
to the case in point, the accounts of which had
possibly not reached Calcutta. Yet it is from this
general direction as to future movements that Lord
Granville draws the inference of Lord Canning's
superior generalship. The following instance will
show how red-tapeism suryived even the horrors
of the mutiny :
On the parade-ground of the 34th N.I. at Barrack-
pore, on the 29th March, Captain Baugh had been cut down
by. the fanatic Mungul Pandy, and the guard refused to
seize the mutineer ; a sepoy, a Mohammedan, Sheik Pultoo,
sprang to the rescue of his officer, and saved his life. Gen.
Hearsey, who witnessed the whole, on the spot promoted.
Sheik Pultoo to the rank of havildar, and reported to Go-
vernment that he had done so. Whit was the consequence ?
an official censure from Col. Birch, Military Secretary to
the Government. The General had exceeded his authority;
how did he dare to assume such power ? The ordinary
routine—a court of • inquiry—a formal investigation of
the circumstances, though performed in the presence
of the General and the whole station—a formal re-
commendation was necessary ; and, if satisfied, Government
would then reward the sepoy 1 Such a course, at such a
moment, could only set up generals and commanding-
officers as a laughing stock to the whole sepoy army.
Of the siege of Delhi, the author, who was
present, gives a full and interesting account,
rendering due honour to the heroism which so
greatly distinguished it. His remarks on the origin
of the mutiny, which he wisely traces to several
combined causes, are well worthy of careful perusal.
While he is always ready to render honour to offi-
cial or military ability, he is too clear•sighted not
to perceive the instances in which mismanagement
or divided counsels hampered the action of the
Europeans and assisted the enemy. His own pro-
ceedings he keeps entirely in the background,
although attached ito a column which effected
so much, he could scarcely have remained in-
active. His remarks on the unavoidable nature of
the frequent wholesale executions, as coming from
a minister of the Gospel, may have just weight with
some who have shrunk from the severity. No
one who has passed through them, says he, will for a.
moment regard them otherwise than as acts not
only of retributive justice, but of stern necessity.
The escape of any Europeans was indeed surpris-
ing. " When the mutiny broke out, the Bengal
Presidency contained less than 20,000 European
soldiers, with above ten times that number of native
troops ; the intruding dominant race were not in all
above a quarter of a million, while the races they
had conquered and ruled numbered nearly one
hundred millions." This calculation refers to the
Bengal Presidency only. Well might Sir John
Lawrence--whom none can accuse of exaggerating
danger—exclaim, " When I look back on the
events of the last four months, I am lost in astonish-
ment that any of us are alive. But for the mercy
of God we must have been ruined." As a clear and
authentic record of so momentous a struggle, this
work possesses great value. It is written with
simplicity, sense, and feeling, and a hearty admira-
tion for those deeds of heroism which in the day of
danger and disaster made England proud of her
sons.