The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-07 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE TIMES.

Sir L—Amongthe many conjectures made respect-
ing .the cause of the Bengal mutinies an assertion
has more than once,appeared, stated in pretty pod.-
Live terms, that it is the inefficiency of the ofhcers
and their want of sympathy with the natives under
them which have led to the deplorable results the
papers now teem wilt • It is not simply to refute
this assertion that I now write, b4cause events have
already proved its fallacy. It has now come to
light that the mutiny is, in fact, an insurrection,
foinent"d by the de p-laid intrigues of 'those who
have suffered by recent acts (Atrictly just and legal
of themselves) of the Indian Goverment, and
springing from convictions which no amount of
popularity in regimental officers could have com-
bated or neutralised the effects of. It is not, the,
fore, I repeat,.so much to refute the above asser-
tion that I address you as to offer a few ob3erva-
tions on a fact I am ready to admit,—the want of
sympathy. between British officers and the Sepoys
under them,—and to leave you and your readers
to decide whether such a want of sympathy is cre-
ditable, or the reverse, to the former.
In the "good old days," when the pagoda tree
bore fruit and the voyage from' England to India
was a business of six to eight months, the "Com-
pany's servant" settled himself down in his Presi-
dency as in his future home. He ate, he drank,
and was merry, and when sated with the rough
companionship of his niessraxtes (for a precious
rough set were our. forefathers) he looked about for
domestic_ enjoyment ; becau e English ladies
were in those days few and far between, he hetook
-himself, in nine cases out ten, to the buns of the
land, an .I in their arms furgot more and more the
ties that should bind him to his home, the restric- •
tions that should be ob-erved by a gentleman, and
the duties that are imperative on the Christian.
Sir, picture to •you3elf an Indian of the old
school. He is lolling on his sofa or on two chairs,
arrayed in shirt and pyjaulai aline (though it be
long past noon), under a punkha, close to .a tatty,
a hooka in his mouth, a jorum of .brandy-and-water
in his hand, and his " beebee" by his side or
squatted on the floor, with a host of her native re-
lative?,- and a rising brood of calf-skin-coloured
children 'around. _ _

Let the_ years p iss, and look at the Indian officer
again through the medium of the _overland passage,
the medium of quick and frequent intercourse with
his mother country. He may b© dissipated, deep
in his-taitor's boAs—but he is au Englishman in
appearance, though of the fast sort ; and he would
just as soon think of congregating with jackals as
passing the livelong clAy with Nauch girls and their
relations. _ _

It is easy to see that the first specimen must be
the favourite among the natives, but whether it be
desirable to gain native affection by returning .to
such a happy state it must remain for society and
the public to decide.
• I have.illustrated, of course, extreme cases; but
a mean would give, I. suspect, a result morelavt,ur-•
able to the Indian officer of '1857 tl'iat the one of
1817. Men now go out to India with
,some ednca-
tion ; even cadets who come out direct pass some
examination ; while among those who have been
through Aduiscombe and Chatham, as well as
among members of the civil servicP, persons will be
found of acquirements second to none. This was
not the case in former years. Our forefathers were
for the most part coarse and uneducated. The sol-
dier could drink, swear, and fighf, and the. civilian
was a mere tradesman. And, though the rough-
and-ready style of their arts may excite admiration
in some, I do not believe they possessed a jot
more &ID energy than their more polished succes-
sors.

The" vast improvement of late years in the tone
of the C ,mpany's service, in the style of its mem-
bers, and especially among its military officers, has
been universally remarked and commented upon.
And it is.strange that people should now seek in
that very improvement the source of evils so dire-
ful as these murderous mutinies. Yet such is the
fact, and these comnaentaters do indirectly desire
the British officer in India to retrograde in these
times of improvement, to divest himself of English
ideas-and habits, and to relapse into the disgusting
condition I have above endeavoured t) depict of an
" Old Indian."
It is unfortunate that advancement and improve-
ment and closer connexion with a pe)ple among
whom our lot is east cannot go hand in hand ; but
it is not the less a fact The Hindostanee, be he
Mussulman Or be be Hindoo, is a creature to whom
change is unknown ;-lie is a perfect fixture.' and as
lines springing frOfrotha point, and not parallel, di-
verge more the more they extend, so after years
wilt place a wider gulf between this peculiar peo-
ple and the English who rule over them, and to
tax the latter with ire fticiency for results which the
Almighty alone can govern is unjust to the last de-
gree.
From these remarks, imperfectly as they are
wo:ded, is it not easy to sLe that the volcano which
has now burst forth must have exploded in the
common course of events ? When we first took
India, or, more historically speaking, when we first
conerienced to reign there as masters, tardy com-
munication with England una nglicised the minds of
our officials. We gave in to the natives. We
adopted in a Measure their habits, their idea, their
dress. We never thought of educating them. They
uneducated us. But when theirresistibla advance-
ment of later years el read into the laud, when edu-
cati n, lade by lit le, forced its way into those
realms of ignorance and conceit, there remained to
the darkened Hindoo or the bigoted Mussulman
but one of two cours-ls-t i become a convert him-
self, or to get rid of the instruments of conversion. .
As regards the Hindoo, this will be re tddy under-
stood when it is known that the " Shastras?"
Hindoo Scriptures, are not confined to religious
Subjects, but are a code embodying the entire
Hindoo system of astronomy and geography ;
that there is scarcely a passage in our exposition of
those sc'ences which does not utterly refute the
" Slristras ;" and that therefOre to teach that the
earth is a globe, that' it is divided into so many
continents, that it revolves around the sun, or that
an eclipse is occasioned by the shadow of a heaven-
ly body, is as much to strike at the root of the Hin-
don faith as denying the existence of the Messiah
would be to call in question the Holy Bible. In
proof of this assertion I have only to point out the
notorious fact, that the educated portion of the
Bengal race consists at present of men who are of
no religion,-,that .is, of no revealed or traditional,
religion, but either Deists or *Materialists. These
gentlemen adopt partly the European dress, driVe
about in gay carriages or gigs, drink freely of cham-
pagne, and partake, anathema maranatha, of beef-
steak and oyster since ! • The recent rapid increa-e
of this class must have long ago struck the bigoted
uneducated Hindoo with appr,:hensions of the aps
proaching downfdl of Hintlooisme and when, in
addition, it is borne in mind that the GoVernment
of India, determined to deal. evenhanded justice to
all classes of its subjects, recently passed a law re-
scinding the Hinds() law which deprives a convert
from Hindooism of all succession t r heredit pro-
perty, and thus released him from the talons of the
Brahminical prieetho)d, it is not difficult to under-
stand that every Brahmin in the country was ripe
fur an effort to check the inevitable iinpending fall
of his religion. -
As regards the Mussulman, he who does not
know that the followers of this perseasion have
ever to a man burned with hatred-against us knows
little of that, portion of our Indian subjects. So
bitter is this enmity that it is matter of wonder it
has not long ago overcome the want of unanimity
for which Orient'' ,ls are not (-1, and, instead of burst-
ing forth in some-grand explosion, has contented
itself hitherto with afew frantic but limited emeutes,
as in the case of the Moulavies in Bengal and the
Moplas in Madras.
S.) far we deal with facts ; beyond this is mere
conjecture, which inquiries already set on font in
India will establish or refate ; and these conjec-
tures rar.ge themselves thus :
From the time of his first subjection to the Bri-
tish rule the Mahomedan, like a wounded tiger in
his lair, or a baffled spider in his web, has lain
smouldering away, so to say, with fiendish hate,
and a fierce longing fur revenge, strengthened*. by
the deep enmity towards all other creeds taught
him by his faith. Forming, however, but a portion
of the populaeion of India, and having ages ago
rendered himself odious to the Hindoo, from whom
no co-operation could be hoped 'for, he. has re-
mained comparatively tranquil, biding his time—
watching how long the Christian and the Hindoo
would residiceqtuietly together. After an interreg-
nums former does nothing but scrape
together rupees and acquire territory—the neces-
sity fur ameliorating what we possess getting irre-
sistible —the first move in the right direction is
taken by the aboiitOn of Suttee. The Mussulman
we cati fancy pricking up his ears at this, but for
so horrible a rate t)iere are few advocates among
the Hindoos, and the measure passes quietly. It is
Government from all connexion with the villarious
followed after some years by the withdrawal of
idolatries of Juggernauth.and of Gyajeo. - This pro-