The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-10 00:00:00

THE INDIAN MUTINY.

"Further papers" (No. 5) relating to the In-
dian Mutiny have been just laid before Parlia-
ment and printed. These papers cover a space
of some 100 pages, and consist exclusively of
formal letters from the Governor-General of India
to the Court of Directors of the East India Com-
pany, enclosing copious local details of events
already known, the dates of the narratives ex-
tending from the 15th of August to the 7th of
October last.
We gather from a perusal of these papers,
that it was found necessary repeatedly to censure
the Commissioner of Patna for the meagreness
and unsatisfactory nature of his reports and
the repeated non-fulfilment of his reiterated
promises to furnish detailed information of import-
ant acts and events, many of which are to the pre-
sent hour unexplained ;" for his keeping the Go-
vernment completely in the dark as to the grounds
and intentions of some acts of a very questionable
nature, and for his general gross inattention to the
directions of the Lieutenant-Governor to keep him
au courant of every event of moment. The Col-
lector of Chuprah was censured for quitting his
post unnecessarily, and for the exhibition of
a discreditable degree of pusillanimity The
rising at Patna on the 3d of July is thought to
have been of a purely religious character
the cry of " Deen, deen," was raised, and the
property of the Catholic mission was destroyed,
but was nothing stolen or removed. The Burkun-
danzes (in the Burdwan division) are stigmatised
as hopeless cowards, utterly useless for protective
purposes. The Sikhs of Soree behaved remarkably
well, and volunteered their aid most freely and
gallantly. It is stated that at Patna a plot was
life for months before the revolt, and that money
was distributed and men regularly paid to excite
the people to fight " for religion and the Padi-
shah of Delhi," while the letters found in Peer
Ali's house disclosed an organised Mussulman
plot to re-establish Mussulman supremacy and
to overthrow the British Government. The Patna
rising was directed (as it is thought) from Oude.
On the 30th of June the Lieutenant-Governor sub-
mitted to the Government a proposal for the im-
provement of the police of the lower (Bengal) pro-
vinces, and on the 17th of July his minute was
(in the district of Behar) partially carried out. In
the Patna division there was a "religious" diffe-
rence between the Mahomedans and Sepoys a 3 to the
day for the outbreak of the revolt, the Dinapore
mutineers wishing for Sunday, and the Mahome-
dans for Friday, their own sacred day, which latter
was selected. The abandonment of the out-
stations in the Behar division (in the last week of
August) under instructions from the Commissioner
of Patna, Mr. Taylor, was strongly disapproved,
and censured as " disgraceful" by the Government,
and it is further stigmatised in these papers as an
" unfortunate, unnecessary, ill-judged, and per-
haps disastrous step." In the case of Gya, it was
" utterly without excuse or palliation," and the
Commissioner was at once instructed to revoke
his orders. Mr. Taylor was, in the sequel, removed
from his post. The courage and good conduct of
Messrs. Money and Hollings at Gya ate warmly
acknowledged. The gallant defence of the garrison
of Arrah comes in for a fair share of notice ; it is
of course anticipated by past reports. Captain
Sissmore's strange flight from Chytbassa, which
was then left to the protection of the Rajah, is de-
nounced as " derogatory and unnecessary," so
much so that his services were placed at the dis-
posal of the Commander-in-Chief, and he subse-
quently resigned his civil appointment. The Rajah
of Doemraon, in spite of his protestations, is lcokei
upon as a " time-server," and he was to be clo_ely
watched.

On the 16th of August a fellow calling himself
the " Bishop of Bagdad," but whose real name is
Sped Hossein Shubber, was lodged in the gaol of
Calcutta. His letters and paper 3 proved that he
was connected with the ex-King of Oude and his
Minister Ali Nukke3 Khan. Tha prisoner forth-
with prayed the Government to inquire into his
case. A large sum of money, with trinkets, was
found on his person. The Mahomedan Associa-

t:en at Calcutta behaved admirably during the
late Moburrutn, and forwarded a loyal address
ti Government at its close. Mr. Horne, the col-
lector and magistrate of Azimghur, has been cen-
sured for his want of energy in allowing the bead
station to be insulted for days by a rabble of armed
insurgents. Ho was to bo replaced by a better man.
There isa short correspondence between the Govern-
went of India and the Company on the subject of
the late press law, which the Company appears to
have approved without entering into the general
question of the freedom of the press in India. The
late Etucessc s at Delhi and Lucknow aro briefly
alluled to in a despatch of the 7th of October, as
to be noticed in the " Military Department." Such

are a few of the more S. ali+-2nt features of these

papers, which generally refer to matters of local
detail.

MESSRS OVEREND, GURNEY, c 47 CO.

(Front the limes' City Artiale.)
The following has been received from Messrs.
Overend, Gurney, and Co.:—

" Lombard-street, Deo. 9.

Sir,—The observations in your City Article this day
relating to our house render it incumbent on us to
make a reply, and we are glad of the opportunity of
doing so as most unfounded misrepresentations have
been in circulation upon the subject.
" We may state, then, briefly that we did not ask the
Bank for any more than we absolutely required on the
12th ult. to meet the extraordinary demand arising from
the failure of Messrs. Sanderson and Co., under a very
excited state of the money-market, and concurrently
with it an enormous drain for Ireland. The amount
quoted is considered beyond the sum taken.
" As to our applications having been made at different
times of the day, this arose simply from the continu-
ance of the demand upon us.
" There is no truth in our having stated that we had
been to the Bank in vain ;' but, in reply to a question
wade by a banker who called on us at the time, we stated
we had not got an answer to our second application.
This was caused by the Governor being in committee.
"As to the insinuation that we have added to the
paper, it is absurd to suppose we shoul I do anything so
contrary to our interest ; but we may state confidently
that we have exerted ourselves to the utmost to render
every assistance in our power throughout the crisis to
support public credit.
" We remain, yours respectfully,
" OVEREND, GURNEY, AND CO.