The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-22 00:00:00

THE BOMBAY MAIL.

We have received by extraordinary express, in
anticipation of the Overland Mail, our letters and
papers from Bombay down to the 27th ult. The
following is from the Bombay Gazette of the 26th
ult.:—

The items of China news which reached us by
the last mail are but; slight. There is an impression
that the authorities at Pekin are now prepared to
receive all the ministers in a friendly manner, and
that there is no intention to throw difficulties in
their way, at least so far as their mission is con-
cerned. Notwithstanding, however, such assur-
ances and promises from the Chinese, whose word
we may now take for what it is worth, we are
evidently on the threshold of a war with that
country. The death of our countrymen, and the
hope of victory for our flag, clearly point to a
struggle with China such as shall end in humiliat-
ing her, and ple6cing our commercial relations
on a sure and permanent footing. There is no
room for negociat ions, and therefore we must
obtain peace by fighting for it. We are in the war,
and we must go through it, demanding not more
" military glory," but more effectual securities
than we should have been content with before we
had spent a shilling or shed a drop of blood.
An application has already been made to the
Indian Government for about 15,000 troops, and
we believe a few European regiments have already
been despatched to China. Her Majesty's 67th
Regiment is under orders for China ; it will be
followed by the 99th, in which the vacancies
caused by the number of soldiers that have taken
their discharge are likely to be filled before it
starts, so that it will be raised to its proper strength-
About 300 men have volunteered from one militia
corps for this regireent. Recent events have un-
fortunately reduceid our military resources to such
an extent that it would scarcely be a wise mea-
sure to remove the European regiments from the
country, unless the it places can be speedily sup-
plied by troops Srom England. There is not much
scope here for raising troops by voluntary enlist-
ment from among the East Indian European popu-
lation.

Rumours have recently been circulating in Bom-
bay to the effect that some of the native regiments
are likely to be employed on field service. This
would be a good. opportunity for testing their de-
votion to the service; but it is hardly to be supposed
that the men will regard a journey to a distant land
in any other light than that of a temporary banish-
ment from the country. The Sikh and Goorka re-
giments in the North-West may be depended on, as
they took up a decided position on the side of
order and loyalty throughout the late dis-
turbances; but it would be well to ascertain the
feelings of the mon. before taking steps to get them
off to China. There is a solitary example of a
Bengal regiment volunteering for service in China
in the 70th Native Infantry, the men of which
towards the close of 1857 were re-armed and des-
patched to that country, where they gave every
satisfaction to their officers. The Bengal army has
ceased to exist, the remnant of it having just been
disposed of by the disbandment of nearly all the dis-
armed corps and portions of corps that kept aloof
from the rebels. We do not know if in the case of
the Goorkas and Sikhs their employment on foreign
service constitutes a condition of their enlistment ;
but we think that if sufficient inducement were
placed before them, they would not, perhaps, hesi-

tats to go to China.
It is difficult to say what has taken the Governor
General of Eastern Siberia to the mouth of the Peiho;
but the fact that he is to be followed by no less than
four Russian gun boats is certainly no indication of
peaceful intentions. It is almost certain that
Russian agents are travelling in the interior, for it
is stated that the Russians exchanged ratifications