The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-27 00:00:00

THE INDIAN MUTINY.

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Times :

Since the appearance of the admirable letter
signed "M. P. in your issue of the 2d inst., ano-
ther mail from India has arrived, bringing us in-
telligence of the rapid spread and outbreak of
mutiny over a great porton of the North-West
provinces of the Bengal Presidency, as well as in
Central India. We also know that wherever the
native soldiers of the Bengal army had not broken
out in open revolt they were objects of suspicion
and mistrust, and that at several stations their offi-
cers had much difficulty in persuading them not to
desert their colours,

What tidings the next mail may bring of the sap-
presiion or further spread of this mutiny is, of
course, matter of conjecture. One thing, however,
may now be assumed to be very clear—namely,
that the immediate danger to the maintenance
of our power in India is one of our own crea-
tion, and that is the na'ive army ; for it must be
borne in mind that this revolt is not confined
to the tro.ps of the line only, but has extended
to the irregulars also. I think it may also be
assumed that there is another cause of danger
which, if not removed without further delay,
threatens the ruin of our Indian empire as surely,
though not as suddenly, as the native army, and
that is the anomalous constitution and complex
system by which India is governed.
The two evils, then, that we have to deal with
and to remedy are the Indian native army and the
constitution and form of our government over the
vast territories and numerous hordes of Hindostan,
the Punjab, Scinde, and Burmah.
The suggestions of " M.P." are in my opinion
alike sound and of a practical nature, and ought to
b 3 adopted and acted upon without any loss of
time ; but there are other most important consi-
dei ations to be weighed in forming this native
army, and I venture to supply what appears to be
wanting in the plan proposed. I hold that it is of
imperative necessity to reorganise and reconstruct
this army almost simultaneously with the suppres-
sion and total extinction of the revolt :

1. Abrndon the old custom of forming regiments
of Hindoos and Mahomedaus promiscuously, and
keep them distinct and wholly separate.
2. Crase to fill the ranks of the Hindoo army
with Brahmins and Rajpoots, and recruit among
the lower castes and various tribes from all parts
of India, keeping each regiment, however, of a par-
ticular caste and race.

3. Divide tba MahomPdan portion of the army
into an equal number a separate regiment 3 of
Soonies and of Shee-ks.

4. Give to every native regiment 10 European
non-commissioned officers, besides its proper com-
plement of commissioned officers, and no longer
permit cadets to be drilled by natives.
5. Tho Hindoo and Mahomedan regiments should
always be kept apart, and never located at_the same
stations, nor within a short distance of one
another.
In offering these additional suggestions I am
somewhat influenced by the conviction that the
prePent revolt is chiefly the work of Mahomedani,
who have cleverly and dexterously availed them-
selves of the state of chronic revolt under which
the Bengal army has long been labouring, and
have successfully aroused the sensitive Hindoo to
a belief that his religion was endangered.
I will not stop to argue in detail my reasons for
arriving at this conclusion, but will content myself
with observing that I am supported in this view
by the letter of an Agra correspondent, dated the
3d of June, which appeared in your
paper of the
13th inst,, and also by the Eng/islorban,
the lead-
ing daily paper in Calcutta. The rendezvous, be
it remembered, is the Mahomedan city of Delhi,
the King proclaimed as the restored Sovereign. of
India is the Mogul, and the command of the re-
volted troops is usurped by a Mahouledati.
No thinking or observant person who has any
knowledge whatever of the Hindoo and Mahome-
dan can for a moment believe that it is the Hindoo
who has urged on or influenced the Mussulman ;
yet we find the two coalescing and acting well to-
gether in their revolt against the English authority,
with results, however momentary, yet all in favour
of the Mahomedan.

Many are of opinion that it is inopportune to
discuss at present the question of a radical and
complete change in the government of our mighty
Indian empire, but I believe that if it be not
uow discussed and settled, it will be a hopeless
task to attempt to arouse the attention of the
public to the subject at any other time of
peace and quiet. The consideration of this ques-
tion cannot in any way embarrass our authorities
in sending out to India all the material assistance
required completely to crush this mighty revolt so
long foreseen by all but officials and those in high
authority.
Thus the home Government having no official
intimation of the danger which threatened the very
existence of our power in the East, and there hav-
ing been no direct evidence of what was notorious
throughout India—viz., the mutinous tendency of
its native army—Lord Dalhousie was aupported