The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-30 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. 30, 1857.

The capture of Delhi has completely changed
the character of the Indian rebellion. As we
have already stated, its very neck has been
broken, and we have only the scattered fragments,
the disjecta membra to deal with. The Brum-
magem Emperor, who has sought safety in flight,
can no longer be appealed to, nor can vast pro-
Bes be made on his behalf to the disaffected to
induce them to shake off their allegiance, prove
unfaithful to their salt, and turn the British
weapons with which they were armed against
British soldiers. The incentive to mutiny has
been removed. None will henceforward commit
themselves to what is manifestly a losini, cause.
So long as Delhi remained in the hands of the
rebels—so long as the octogenarian King occu-
pied the musnud,. something could be said by the
might be swallowed by their ere-
tempters that
dulona dupes. But that phantom has vanished,
and the wavering loya'ty of the malcontents who
have not already hopelessly comrni'tA them-
selves will be strengthened and confirmed, a,id
they will be quite ready to atone for their vacilla-
tion by a display of extraordinary
z3al and
activity against those with whom, under other
circumstances, they would have been quite will-
ing to co-operate.

The capture of Delhi has thus a double im-
portance ; it is " twice blessed," not only for
what it has accomplued, but for what it mi
prevent. We cannot, of course, regard it as the

conclusion of the contest. There is arduous work
yet to be performed before the pacification of

India is completely established. Wandering bands
of marauders threatening detached settlements,
desperate men, who know that their atrocities
have placed them beyond the pale of mercy, must
be hunted out and effectually destroyed. But
he forces at this moment available, to say nothing
of the powerful reinforcements that may daily be
expected, will be quite sufficient for the purpose.
Their opponents, torn by internal disunion will
scarcely venture to make head in any district ;
and should they do so, without any of the sinews
of war, without money, artillery, or commissariat,
their convulsive efforts will be brought to a speedy
conclusion. We now know what we have to deal
with, and can take our measures accordingly.
Would that we were not trammelled by an incom-
petent Governor-General, and an effete Council.
They are now the most formidable opponents to
the complete subjugation of India.
The great effort must, however, be forthwith
made. Many of the rebels, men fighting with
ropes about their necks, and precluded from the
slightest hope of quarter, have made their escape
from Delhi. This could not well have been pre-
vented. All our forces were required for the
assault. The rear of the rebels was open, and it
would have been impossible, without further rein-
forcements, to have intercepted the fugitives, and
cut them off in detail. It has been stated that
General Wnsorr was desirous of postponing the
grand onslaught until he could have commanded
the passage of the river, so as to have made the
operation complete ; and it is more than hinted
that it was owing to orders from Calcutta that he
was obliged to force on the crisis before he had
adequate means to make the destruction de-
cisive. But we shall not at present speculate
on these matters. We are too thankful
for the triumph that has been achieved to criticise
too closely any alleged shortcomings on the part
of the General. We shall, however, learn more
fully the true etate of the case, and be prepared
to deal with the facts when they are fully under-
stood.

It is to be hoped that the fugitive sepoys from
Delhi may not move in the direction of Lucknow
or Agra. Such a course. is not very probable,
but it is possible, and every possible precaution
should be taken against any surprise in these
directions. Every English heart is still
looking anxiously for the relief of the
non-combatants who have sought shelter and
protection in these quarters, and it would indeed
be considered a truly deplorable catastrophe, if
any repetition of the Cawnpore Massacres should
occur in either place. We may, however, hope
that those who have displayed so much unflinching
gallantry and determination will not be found
wanting in any emergency that may arise. And
there is no doubt that the conquerors of Delhi
will dispatch sufficient forces t) track the
footsteps of the fugitive mutineers, and to
prevent them from doing anything that requires
time to perfect. They may do something by
surprise, but that is all. They cannot venture
on anything leading to protracted operations.

The Gaucherie's of the Calcutta Council must
also be checked. We have had too much of the
ill-timed leniency of Lord CANNING, and the
mischievous interference of Mr. J. P. GRANT,
with Generals HAVELOCK and NEILL. Cawn-
pore was the last place where the PedauVc
civilian should have been permitted to play his
" fantastic tricks.' There the blood of English
women and E )glish children had been recklessly
shed, under circumstances of the most fiendish
atrocifY: %nil 'tar", rpl juStka should
have been administered to every person who
participated in these horrible outrages. But
Mr. J. P. GRANT interposed—strove to gain a
character for pseudo-philanthropy at the expense
of those who had borne the brunt of the encounter,
and hazarded their lives for the rest ,ration of peace.
These proceedings must, as we have already de-
clared, be strictly investigated and fully answered,
and the possibility of similar mischief be prevented
at the earliest possible opportunity. If India be
left in the hands of the military authorities, it
will speedily be pacified. If Lord CANNING and
Mr. J. P. GRANT be suffered to act as " wet
blanket," damping the spirits of our soldiers, the
contest may be protracted for an indefinite period.
It is for the Government and People of Greet
Britain to say whether such untoward results shall
be sanctioned or tolerated.

B 3 the occasion what it will, and the speaker
who he may, India must be the topic. Even at
an annual dinner for an hospital—from the dinner
and the hospital, too—the speakers must start for
India. We are thoroughly glad of this. Nothing
can secure justice to India but such an occupation
of people's minds in England with it, as compels
them everywhere, and at all times, to speak " out
of the abundance of their hearts." At agricultural
meetings, school meetings, social science meet-
ings, mechanics'-institute meetings, and, on Mon-
day last, even at the Tauntcn and Somerset Iles-
pital dinner, the speakers must advert to India.
No less a person than the Colonial Secretary, a
member of the Cabinet, being member for the
Borough also, nine, to a certain extent, throw
aside official reserve, and utter opinions which, we
may presume, are shared by his colleagues.
Mr. LABOITOHERE paid a just tribute to the
decision and promptitude of Lord ELGIN, in has-
tening to Calcutta with his China troops ; he did
not omit to mention that it was " without
waiting for orders," and to mention it evidently
with praise. It is, indeed, the men who can
act, and take their orders afterwards, who can
burst routine and assume responsibility, that we
want on foreign stations. It was partly the feel-
ing that we have not too many men abroad who
will act on the merits of a case, and let techni-
calities take care of themselves, which made the
nation so determined to support Sir JOHN Bow-
RING, and Lord PALMERSTON for supporting him.
If we are to hold our own in contact with the
savage and the half-civilised, assuredly it must be
done by men like Lord ELGIN, who will follow our
OLIVES, WARRENS, and HASTINGS in that read.-
ness to act on the decisions of their own judgment,
leaving the result to justify them. The Colonial
Secretary also justly commended the Governors of
Ceylon, the Mauritius, and the Cape, for what
they had respectively done in sending reinforce-
ments. Those from the Mauritius had, no doubt,
the happiest effect in quieting the first risings of
"a mutinous temper in the Bombay Presidency.
The Cape, we should have thought, would have
been adverted to with more qualified commenda-
tion ; if, at least, as is commonly understood,
Sir GEORGE GREY was unwilling at first to
spare the troops. Of the conduct of the colonists
at. the Cape it was impossible to speak too highly ;
they having subscribed their p rsonal service, by
very intentionsiigbt.
volunteering to do gariison duty. Duty which,
welttriuss,t,hoiswejus however,
sour
the very
of Government-,
which all were curious to learn from a Cabinet
Minister. That it intended to pit down the
mutiny, and to re-establish our authority in
India ; that it had acied with vigour in sending
out troops since it realised the danger, we were

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY

already well assured. But what are to be the
next steps ? What is to be done, as the country
is gradually swept of vagabond Sepoy bands, and
restored to something like order ? Are things to
be hushed up ? And are we to go on with the
triple system of Government ? Mr. LAIIOI7OHICAB
would seem to answer these latter two questions
in the negative ; the former of the two at least.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said distinctly, " He acknow-
ledged that it was the duty of Government not
only to put down this rebellion and to establish
law and order, but to look closely into the came by
which it had beer produced, and to examine nar-
rowly the circumstances of the Indian Govern-
ment, not only in its military organisation, but in
the civil administration of the affairs of that
country."

If, then, our Colonial Secretary may be trusted,
we are to deal honestly with the question of the
condition and government of India. Government
will institute inquiries which clearly point to a
re-construction of both the Army and the Civil
Service—and both are equally needed. If this
be only said because the temper of the country
demands it, that is something ; the temper of
England in regard to India is what will determine
ultimately the fate of India ; since no Minister
can neglect it. We would not, however, indulge
such a suspicion. Unless evidence appear to the
contrary, we can conceive no reason why Lord
PALMERSTON should not address himself to the
great duty of renovating our entire Indian policy
and administration. He is hardly answerable for
the long story of past misrule ; but he would
incur the reproach of all coming generations, if,
with such an opportunityof making radical changes
in our Indian system as no Minister ever had
before, he declines to avail himself of it. The
Company and their Legislative Council and Civil
Service, have, together with their native army,
broken down altogether. The Calcutta Govern-
ment has incurred the dislike and contempt of all
classes, Native or European, in India, while the East
India Board and the Board of Control at home
have become jointly, at least, whatever their sepa-
rate virtues, the laughing-stock of all men of busi-
ness or of administrative ability. Lord PAL-
MERSTON has a carte blanche, if he like to use it.
Not a hand in England, except their own, wilt be
held up for the East India Company ; and every-
body not in the Covenanted Civil Service would feel
but too happy to aid in kicking the Company out
of India. Lord PALMERSTON has the best possible
opportunity to cancel the Company for ever, to
put the 10,0001. per annum spent on its Direc-
tors' salaries into the Indian Exchequer, and to
make her Gracious Majesty Queen VICTORIA the
' first Sovereign of India in name as well as in fact.
The result, however, would be more than a nomi-
nal one. A responsible Minister for India, ap-
pointments closely scanned by Parliament, and
Indian doings debated with intense interest, will
change the whole course of things. Publicity,
both in England and Calcutta, is the first grand
step towards Indian Reform.
We should add, that Mr. LABOT:TOHEEt'S Tory
colleague for Taun%on told the guests some good
home-truths, not as blaming specially the present
Government of India, but the whole course of
Indian Government. After a hundred years of
our rule, and an enormous expendit are, the popu-
lation were, he said, in a state very little removed
from that in which they were under the most
corrupt and cruel member of the House of TAMKR-
LANE. He did not hesitate to say that our rule
in India. had been used as a screen to protect the
natives from the contamination of Christianity 1
On the authority of Bishop Heim, he could
state that. by the express order of the Company's
Government, native Christians were prohibited
from holding office, and none admitted to it but
Mussulmacs and Hindoos ! I Joii COMPANY will
hear some plain truths next session. He had
better shrive himself and give up the ghost

quietly.
On Wednesday, another member of the Go-
vernment, the Earl of HARROVIBY, at an agri-
cultural meeting, in giving his opinions also on
the Indian business, gave utterance to similar
views with those of Mr. LABOUCLIERII on the
future government of India, at least so far as to
aeknowledge that it must come under the consi-
deration of the Government as soon as the mutiny
was fairly suppressed. Unless, therefore, Cabinet
Ministers are dealing in clap-trap, we may reason-
ably hope that the Ministry does intend to grap-
ple with the great question of Indian Reform.

THE BERKELEY PEERAGE.

EVENIING OCTOBER 30, 1857.