The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-25 00:00:00

to tea ify to the world the sense we entertained of the
services of Our Crimean heroes. The hour in which we
then met cannot be looked back to without feelings of
eroo.ion even at this time, for on the morning of that
very day news had arrived of the rplendid charge at
Ba'aklava, and at the moment we were aesernbled was
fought in the Crimea the immortal battle of Inkermann.
We 'l and nobly did the citizen,' of Glasgow then respond
to th l call made on their patriotism and their liberality ;
for 45,0091. was raised in this city and its neighbour-
hood for relief of the sufferers, abd Glasgow took its
el.ice next to Londni in the 2. c of British generosity.
But urgent as was the uecessity which then existed for
relief to the sufferer', pressing as was the call upon the
charity and beneficence of our countrymen, it was as
nothing to that which now ex sls Zion war was waged
far from our own shores ; its chine h errors were known
only to our enemies, and the ruia+ of •Sebastopol attest
t this day what those horrors w. re. We had then to
relieve only the wilows and orphans of the warriors who
fled fallen in the conflict, but now t'ie case is very dif-
ferent. War in its most terrible and appalling form has
now approached our own dominions, the richest pro-
vinces of our empire have be.n devastated by the horrors
at owe of civil strife and s rv.le revolt, and they have
reached not only the armed warrior but the pacific
sit zee. I will not le trrow up your feelings by repeat-
ing in this place the heartrendiaz accounts
,which have
thrilled the whole civilized world of the sufferings of
our countrymen and county r./omen in India. I wish
rather to imprestrupon thiri-ine.etine, and through it, if
posqi'ole, urn the country, that this revolt was as-un-
justifiable in its origin as it has been atrocious in its pro
green. It is in vain to speak of the greased cartridges ;
the revolt was organised by the Mahomedans years
before the greased cartridges were heard of. The greased
cartridge was a mere device to delude the Sepoya. We
must not confound the military mutiny-of the Brahmins
and Mairomelans with the glerious ,effrrte—with some
of which all must sympathise—of patriotic virtue, in
other countries and in former days, for national indepen-
dence. Tee revolt has, in no sense been a national
movement ; it was undertaken for no national purpose ;
even yet it is not joined in, or sympathised -with, by the
great body of the people. It is the work of a licentious
soldiery, spoiled by indulgence, panting for rapine, and
teeming with le -t, and of those alone. It has all the
features of such an outbreak of the worst passions', of
humanity. Its first step was to liberate 11,000 ruffians, in
different places, frum prison ; its next, to dishonour and
massacre all the women who bad surrendered on the
faith of capitulation; its last, to toss infants in the air
and catch them on tho points of bayonets. I read of no
such exploits as these in the annals of Tell, of Alfred, of
Wallace, or Bruce. I read in them of many victories gain-
ed in the field, of many etsuggleserustained in the breach,
but of no massacring of women or children in the dun-
geon. Ido not stand here to justify all the acts of our
Indian Administration. Some of them may be open
to objection, and will be fitly dealt with by
history. But that our Government, upon the whole;
has been a blessing to Hindostan--suhject as it has been
in all ages to foreign rule, and never capable either of
self-government or self-defence and that its overthrow
would be the greatest misfortune which could befal its
inhabitants is decisively proved by the facts that the
industrial produces of the country have been increased
70 per cent. since it fell under British protection ; that
our exports to i.: now exceed 10,000,000/. a-year, quacle
ruple whet they were in 1800, and that our rule over it
has hitherto bean maintained by less, on aq average,
than 40,000 European troops of every denomination,
distant 14,000 miles from Great Britain, who were, till
this outbreak occurred, willingly obeyed by 180,000,000
Asiatics. Such facts are utterly inconsistent with any
other supposition but that it has ruled in the interests
and affections of the great body of the people. To
what, then, arc we to ascribe this savage outbreak,
which has tilled every heart throughout the civilised
world with horror ? Simply to this, that it is the usual
effect of undue indulgence to armed men to beget licen-
tiousness. I cannot think that Providence will yield up
the beautiful realm of Hiodostan to the dominion of
Nana Sahib. I see a guarantee for our ultimatesuccess
in the glorious stand made by our countrymen against
over whelming odds in so many quarters of the country ;
I see a guarantee for it in the enduring fortitude of our
countrywomen which has equalled all recorded of Spar-
tan or Roman heroism, What shall we say to the heroic
daughter of an heroic sire who shot 5 ruffians dead wi tad
her own hand, with her revolver, before she fell a vici,im
to the fury of numbers? What of the hero who, with'
his own hand, fired the magazine at Delhi ? What of
the nob'wHarelock and his b end of heroes, who in less
than three- weeks have mareleol 15,0 wiles under a burn-
ieg sun, fought six pitched battles, with numbers in every
instance five to one, taken 64 guns, avenged themaseacre
of Cawnpore, and I t' ust ere this relieved the brave de-
fenders of Luoknow ? (Applause) Britain may well
be proud of that invincible brigade Of our own regi-
ment, the 78th, I shall let the Bombay Times speak :
" The heroic Havelock, with the brave Highlanders,
under God, has saved Ind'a." Toe 78th and the 64th
British Regiment,
have, however, only added another to the many laurels
w adorn their brows, but the Madras Futi-
le ehrisch already
albeit new to fame, and the
Sikh' a
battalions, so lately our foes, have shown that they
are worthy to share in the glories of that band of heroes.
Willoughby, Lawrence, Wheeler, Havelock, Nichol-
son—your names will never be forgotten in English
history, and at the recites of your exploits the hearts of
our children and our children's children will throb long
after the flames of the Indian revolt have been ix-
tinguished in blood, and our star of peace has again
risen upon the earth. (Loud applause.) Among the
many heartstirring occurrences which have already
signalized this memorable war these is one which
is not only interesting at the present time, but
I trust we may regard as ominous of the future. When
the 64th, with the Madras Fusileers and a battalion
of Sikhs, were painfully toiling, under an Indian
sun, between Allahabad and Cawnporo, a
din was heard—a cloud of dust was seed to
arise behind them—and the rearguard faced about and
drew up across the road to resist the attack, as they
supposed, of a fresh enemy, y What were their trans-
putts when, on a nearer approach., the plumes of the
Highlanders were seen emerging through this cloud, and
the well-known notes were herd on the bagpipe, "The
Campbells are c nning I" (Loud applause.) Yes, gen-
tlemen, the Campbells are earning ; and I trust that
when their noble leader, Sir Celli' Campbell, draws the
sword which has been presented to him by the citizens
of Glasgow, and rejoins the Highland Division, from which
he Was separated in tears on the shores of the Crimea,
he will strike a blow which shall resound. through Europe
and Asia, and teach the worl. I that, wide as is the extent
of the British empire, and vast the sphere of British
beneficence, as terrible is the stroke of British justice,
when indulgence has been met by treason and kindness
by cruelty." (Loud and protracted applause )