The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-08 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPT.. 8, 1857.

We may now 1)ok for fresh telegraphic accounts
from India, at almost any hour. There arc many
points of the deepest intere; t and almost of vital
importance on which information is anxiously anti-
cipated by the nation. The proceedings of General
HAVEL^CK and his gallant troops are, perhaps, of
the'greatest moment. At the last dates, after the
re-occupation of Cawnpore, he ins pursuing the
miscreant NENA SAHIB and his bloodthirsty gang
to their stronghold at Bithoor. It was necessary
to come to a short, sharp, and decisive
reckoning with that doubled dyed traitor and
assassin. If he were permitted to rest with im-
punity while the rescuers of Cawnpore proceeded
to the relief of Lucknow, a dangerous body
would remain in the rear, ready to take advantage
of any combination of circumstances that might
arise. Cawnpore might again fall into the handi
of the rebels, and Colonel NEILE, and the party
of nearly 300 British soldiers advancing t) effect
a junction withFlAvELocK, would probably be cut
oft' to a man. These are considerations of no ordi-
nary magnitudes which render the destruction of
Bithoor the first work to be accomplished.
But this is by no means an easy task. An en-
trenched and fortified position, defended by at
least five times the number of its assailants, has
to be stormed, and the garrison, for so they may
be termed, dispersed. Any check, any serious
delay will, so far as the relief of Lucknow is can-
certaed, be almost tantamount to a defeat. In
order to avert a calamity of the most fearful cha

racter, the work must not only be thoroughly
. , but 'speedily accomplished. Time will defeat the
famishing garrison of Lucknow, and the many
women and children who have sought re-
fuge there, as surely as the most deci-
sive success of the rebels. Better perhap3 that
they should die with arms in their hands, and
boldly fighting, than be treacherously butchered
after a capitulation, as were the ill-fated soldiers
and refugees at Cavrupore. Lucknow was but
some 50 or 60 miles from the position of Have-
lock, but great difficulties impeded his advanc©
and the time might well pass awaya ib epfloarcee htehe couldlead his troops to the rescuA, n
be-
leaguered garrison in a situation of o,,,plrative

safety.
Great anxiety must also be entertained respect-
ing the fate of Agra. There the fugitives were
far more numerous than at any other'

place within the disturbed district 4. Sevc-
ral thousands of our countrymen and country-
women were dependent on the shelter it afforded,
and the protection of its gallant garrison. The
•' daring attack which they made on t'le rebels,
Although partially unsuccessful, through a series
of casualties, probably prevented a regular assault
-which might have terminated fatally for all the
- "E‘u glish party—non-combatants as well as coin-
-batantg. But we know not whether the original
intention of the mutiukrs may again be acted on,
or what may be the results thereof.
We can ocarcely anticipate that Delhi has as

yet been captured, and the insurrection crushed
at its very fountain and origin. Our scanty
army could scarcely do more than maintain their
position before its walls until the arrival of ade-
quate reinforcements, which could scarcely have
arrived in sufficient force, to warrant a general
assault before the time of the transmission
of the mails. The people look forward,
then, with thrilling and intense excitement

to the tidings that may arrive under the
heads of Bithoor, Luckuow, Agra, Delbi,
and many other, districts, into which, although
hitherto comparatively tranquil, the rebellion may
have made progress.
The Home Government have done much, but
have their exertions been Adequate to the terrible
exigencies of the case ? They have already
despatched some 25,000 soldiers, and at least
10,000 more are under orders. In addition to
this nearly 5,000 disciplined men have been ad-
stracted from their original destination in China,
and as many more will probably be spared from
the Cape, Ceylon, and otherstations. But more will
be required, if merely to keep up the forces
in India at their present strength, and c3unter-
balance the inevitable " wear and tear." Not
only the chances of war, but of disease in so trying
a climate, must thin our ranks, and greatly re-
duce the numbers of fighting men available for
sex vice against the traitorous mutineers and their
sanguinary allies. We must, therefore, maintain a
large reserve at home to supply the necessary
draughts, and the manner in which that can be
achieved is a problem, on the due solution whereof
the safety, honour, and welfare not only of the
Anglo-Indian Empire, but of the United King-
dom, greatly depends.
Besides, it is not in India only that troops are
wanting. We must not forget China, and the
claims which it possesses on our attention. If
5,000 men wero required in the spring,
we should now be prepared to send at
least double that number. But how can this
be done ? Surely every nerve must be
strained to the uttermost, and all considera-
tions of X s. D. placed in abeyance, in. order to
meet suitably the imperative demandi on our
resources. We can bear the expense, and it
must not be spared in such a cause.
We are, it appears, recruiting actively. Sacond
battalions are to be aided to no less than 15
different regiments, practically doubling their
strength. Others are to have their numbers
increased. to the full complement of 1,000.
rank and file, in place of 840 men on their present
establishments ; and 15 regiments of militia are
to be embodied. By these means 30,000 to 35,000
soldiers will be raised in lieu of those who have
already been dispatched, or who aro under orders
, for India.

It is is the latter case that of the
militia—that the proceeding seems to be altogether
inadequate. Why restrict the number to fifteen
regiments, or 15,090 bayonets It would be
well to call out every regiment, .and thus provide
the beat possible means of recruiting the regular
army. We have already had abundant evidence
of the readiness of those brave fellows to
meet any emergency that may, arise. We
have not the slightest hesitation in saying
that nine-tenths of their numbers would
be ready to volunteer not only for service in our
colonies, and thus liberate the troops by which
they are at present garrisoned, but even for India
itself if their services were required. They are
organised and disciplined, and far better than any
raw roc,ruits -that could be obtained. The
militia is a trump card in the hands of the Go-
vernment, and under the existing emergency it
should be played without hesitation, and without
too nice a calculatiOn as to the cost. The best
news that cm reasonably be hoped for will
net relieve us from the necessity of making
every possible eff)rt, for months, or more
probably years to come. Long before the Proro-
g.tion of Parliament we suggested that powers
should be taken to permit Mditia Regiments
volunteering for the purpose to serve in our own
Colonies. The suggestion was then disregarded,
but we believe Lord PALmens.rox would now re-
joice had an act been passed similar to that which
was in operation during the late Russian War.
"My Lords" should also be stimuleed to
break through the red-tapist fetters by which ships
of war are prevented from being made available
as transports. If the Admiralty regulations could
be disregarded, if the routine could once be
broken through, a great saving of expense would
be effected, and, what is of far greater impoit
ante, tlie service performed ior the best possible
manner. But from Sir-CA. 1145., WOOD we ex-
pect nothing. No matter 'what may be the exi-

gency, he will not disencumber himself of a single

precedent, however musty, or overstep in the
slightest degree the beaten path. If anything is
t) be done, it must emanate from Lord PALMER.
STON. He has sufficient energy and power to
establish new precedents,. and the country
expectS that he will manfully discharge his
duty. He is not only the head of the Go-
vernment and the party justly responsible
to the nation, but also the one in whom con-
fidence is reposed, and who should now prove
himself deserving of the disinterested and generous
support which ha received from all classes on the
occasion of the late appeal to the country.
We cannot conclude without referring to a
rumour that has been circulated in Paris, but

or which wa cannot believe that there is the
slightest foundation. It is said that " the Eng-
lish Government is about to open recruiting
offices in. several of the German Princi-
palities; as well- as in the United States,
to raise reinforcements for its army in
India." " The wish may be father to the
thought ;" but there is but little prospect of such
an attempt being made. It could not be with-
out the sanction of Parliament, and no minister
would dare to bring forward such a proposi-
tion. Should
.he do so, his tenure of offim
would be but of brief duration. We have
had already quite enough of German pots.
We should far rather spare some of those
already amongst us, than bring more to mono-
polise the benefits that ought to be given to
true-hearted subjects of Queen VICTORIA. The
establishment of the foreign brigades was
one of the greatest mistakes committed
during the late war. It disgusted the nation,
and the favouritism subSequently
materially enhanced the annoyance so naturally
entertained. The United Kingdom can fight its
own battles without calling in the aid of beggarly
foreign
mercenaries, who think that foEngland is
,only to be valued for its money," and whose
only desire
is to take all they can get and
keep grumbling. We will resist the invasion
to the uttermost. Bettcr make every effort than
resort to so ditereditable a proceeding, while we
have English, Irish, and Scotch, ready and willing
to flock to our standardß, and to avenge their
butchered brethren and violated sisters. W©
want no German aid—n,
],angry claimants
on our resources. There is but •
one
thing that could reconcile the country to
such a course, and that is, that every German now
in the British dominions eiould depart from our
shores to engage themselves in the process of re-

crafting. How cordially would we speed these
exports from England on their journey, and how
heartily would we desire that "we might ne'er
see their like again."

Remember what this difficulty really is that we
are now called upon to cope with in Hindostan.
The outbreak has been correctly described as a
Military Mutiny rather than a General Insur-
rection.

But it is a military mutiny of from 80,000 to
100,000 men altogether. It is the mutiny of a
vast army distributed in very nearly one hundred
different stations, over a gigantic country a
country almost as gigantic geographically as
Austria, Prussia, and France united. It has been
recently calculated, in a timely brochure by
General BRIGGS, that while the territorial
possessions of those three great European
powers blended together would give a total area
of not less than 566,431 square miles, inhabited
by a population of 87,864,978 in the aggregate
—Bengal and the Western Provinces (the actual
scene of this Mutiny !) present an area of just
513,016 square miles, inhabited by a population
of absolutely as many as 93,188,065 altogether !
So that while we describe the late movement as a
Mutiny—rather than an Insurrection— we
.must remember that it is a Mutiny so enor-
mous, so sudden, and so disastrous as t b
be literally, .we believe, without any parallel.
As to the dimension of the Mutiny, we have
already stated it to be in round numbers the
simultaneous revolt-of very little short of 100,000
fighting men—SikhS and Ghoorkhas, Hindoos and
Mussulmans. Before the movement began, the
Native, or otherwise the Sepoy Army of Bengal,
comprised within it,---Eleven Regiments of Light
Cavalry, Four Troops•of Horse Artillery, Tiff)
Battalions of Foot Artillery, Seventy-four Regi-
ments of Infantry. Together with Twenty-three
Regiments of Irregular Cavalry, Twenty Corps
miscellaneous, and Seven Battalions of Sikh Infan-
try. Added to which were several minor native
contingents admirably skilled and disciplined.
The signal for the disbandment of this magni•
ficent force was of an insignificance absolutely
ridibulous. It was the casual and spiteful remark
of, a workman (classic) employed upon the maga-
zine at the artillery station of Dam Datu, near
Calcutta. The vagabond ' had been sc)rnfully
refused a_ draught of water—upon the :core of
caste—by a Sepoy of the Second Native Infantry.
Whereupon quoth the artisan to the sollier with
a sneer—" You'll soon lose your case, as
you'd have to bite cartridges covered with the
fat of pigs and cows !" The poisonous seed
was dropped in .that one flippant remark into a
rank soil ready for its reception. It was multi-
plied, and it was sown broadcast over the land—
over all Bengal and the Western Provinces—over
a region of more than 500,000 square miles, with
a population very little short of 100,000,000. It
got abroad among the Sepoys of that army of from
80,000 to 100,000 men, that, first of all, the
balls of the Enfield rifles (then coming into use),
and afterwards the thin glazed cartridges served
out with the weapon to those who han-
dled it, were really, as the malignant
classic had said at Dam Dum, greased with a filthy
unguent the mere touching of which would be a
contamination to the true believer, t.) the high-
caste Hiudoo, to the Rajpoots and the Brahmins !
The times of indignation smouldered on fro:n
January (when that incilent took place at the ar-
tillery station near Calcutta) to the 31 of April,.
when the 19 r,h Native Infintry was disband° I f
mutiny at Bxrraelcp-ore. Another month elapsed :
when ou the sth -of May another regiment
had to be no less summarily disbanded—
this time, the 34th Native lufantry, comprising,
seven companies—again at Barrackpore.

The contagion spread then with frightful rapi-
dity—with what rapidity we all but too vividly
remember. It extended on the 10th of May to
the 11th and 26th Native lef intry, and to the
Sd Light Cavalry at Meerut. The mutineers
marched upon Thlhi, and there the whole Sepoy
garrison revolted—the 38th, 54th, and 74th NA-
give Infantry, and with them the 31 company of
the 7th battalion of artillery. There and then it was
that the most sublime occurrence that has illumined
• the darkness of this horrible catastrophe in Bengal
transpired—when Lieutenant WILLOUGHBY, the
Commissary of Ordnance, unable himself to pro-
tect his charge, fired the magazine of gunpowd3r
with his own hand; thereby blowing up himself,
and with himself a crowd of th 3 ruin la rebel,
who had hastened there to take possession of it !
From that heroic, but lamentable day, the fate of
the Bengal Army was decided. Scarcely 3 months
had sped by, before it was scattered to the winds.
Regiment after regiment revolted—at Faroz2p ire,
at Peshawar, at Utnballah, at Agra, at Lucknew,
at Benares, at Allahabad, at Cawnpore, at Mool-
,tan, at Gwalior, at Bundlecund. An army of at
least 80,000 had, as such, by the middle of July
wholly disappeared. Here and there the mutineers
collected together in desperate and formid-
able bodies having their stronghold from
the first at Delhi ! But in Delhi it is
believed that since the 12th of May there
has never at any time, been gathered together
within its walls more than 15,000 of these re- l
volted soldiers ! The largest force yet heard of
outside the walls bearing the banners of the
Mutiny being that under the silk-dad Rufll to
NENA. SAHIB the great Gentleman Black-
guard of the Demonstration. Frightful as the
outbreak is,, therefore, in its character, it presents,
after all, no very appalling difficulties to a
really gifted Military Commander—one who
is both bold in . assault and skilled in
strategy. Resolution,, promptitude, concen-
tration—these are the' first requisites for the
carrying out the grand work of Retribution.
Every mutineer found with arms in his hands
should die the death. Delhi must, of course, be
taken : but when taken, it .must at once, as a
penalty and as an example, be razed to its
foundations. I

COURT CIRCULAR.

BALHORA.L , SEPT 6.

Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince o.)nsort drove
yest rlay to Birkhall, proceeding thence up Gen
H•r Royal Hie) ss the Ducheis of Kent and Llrd
ani Lnly Jarn33 Murray were inclulei in the dinner
party in the evening.

DaTatehes were received at the C.,lonial-offile yeßter
day from the Governors of the North American P.o.
vince3, the Lord High Con•nigi;oner of the lonian
Islands, and the Governor of the Falk!and Islands.

- The Marquis of Lansdowne shortly leaves Bowood-
park, Wilts, on a tour.
The Right lion. Sir George Grey is the Secretary of
State remaining in town-to transact the urgent businers
of State, during the absence of his colleagues from tiro
metropolis:

The Earl and Countess of Malmesbury have been rn
tPrtaining a select party at Achnacary, in the Highlands.
Some stags have been killed, but grouse are nearly ex-
tinct on Lochiers moors, chiefly in consequence of the
burning of the heather, which has been universal on this
estate.

, L;rd and Lady Dunsany, Admiral Ryder Burton,
and Mr. and Lady Henrietta Riddell have arrived at
Tunbridge-welh.
The BAop of Montreal (Dr. Falforci) has arrived in
England, and is proceeding on a visit to his brother at
Statt.ird. The right rev, pr• late has not been in this
country since he left for Canada immediately after his
consecration in 1850. Bishop Fulford was formerly
rninihter of Cut zln-Aroet Chapol, Mayfair and rplain
to the 10,to Duchess of Gloucester.