The Sun.
London, England, 1829-10-24 00:00:00

THE INDIAN ARMY.

(From the Morning Chronicle.)
We have seen letters from parts of India remote
from each other, all breathing the same spirit of dis-
content. We subjoin a letter from an officer in the
\ladras army to a near relative, which may be taken
as speaking the sentiments of the body. Though
the proper seat of the discontent at present is Ben-
gal, yet in every part of India the military watch
the movements of the Bengal army with deep inte-
rest. In the subjoined letter it is said, " the mili-
tary in Bengal are openly encouraged by Lord Com-
bermere in sending in representation after represen-
tation." If such be the general impression, it would
he odd if the military were to be backward in their
representations. Whatever may be thought cf the
order of the Court of Directors as to the Batta, we
confess we are utterly at a loss to understand how
Lord Combermere should have conceived himself, in
the situation which he held, justified in allowing
himself to be identified in so open a way with the
opposition to the measure. His conduct must give
a character of peculiar difficulty to those who have
the settlement of the affair. It is a very different
thing to receive representations from Radical Re-
formers, when you have an army officered by the
aristocracy at your back, and to receive representa-
tions from the only men, in a population of a hun-
dred millions, who have arms in their hands. Die
position in which Lord William Bentinck is placed
is peculiarly difficult. The worst part of the busi-
ness is that matters have proceeded so far, that to
yield now will look like weakness ; and we all know
that concession, under such circumstances, not un-
frequently enlarges the views of throe tow horn it is
made. We wish the Company well out of the affair.
" May 2, 1819.
" Mr. Lushington is said to be going home imme-
diately, disgusted by the decision against him by the Court
of Directors in David Hill's case. He is not popular.
. . . . Do not laugh at me when I say, that
should any crisis call for a di,play of energy and fidelity
on the part of the Indian army, its present f clings will
show themselves in a manner that will more than dismay
our Honourable Masters. Thu native soldiery are di,-
gusted equally with, if not more than, the officers. I 3:n
not writing at random, and under the influence of tempo-
rary personal disgust. Last night I witnessed a precious
scene of mutiny and disorder, occasioned by a late Gene-
ral Order of Government. The spirit is gradually begin-

. • _
ning to show itself. . . . . . . . The
native services are almost the only situations worth a
military mm trying for, except those at the top of the
ladder. The late order from the Court of Directors, pro-
hibiting the giving of political situations to military men,
is most unjust, and it is hoped will not be attended to. It
is indeed hard if almost the only opening left for the exer-
tion of talent is to be shut out. God wot, the civilians
have too many unfair advantages over the military already.
I fancy the time is almost arrived when the Company will
strike the long-meditated blow of taking possession of the
Nizim's country. The city of Hyderabad itself has muti-
nied, and murdered (with the assistance of the Arabs in
it) a small party of our troops. The Arabs have re-
fused to quit the city, and are supported by all the inha-
bitants, and the Nizam's eldest son in secret. A refe-
rence has been made to Calcutta by Mr. Martin (good
cautious man !), and the answer must be the signal for
bloodshed. . •

" 26th May.—Another Order from the Court of Di-
rectors has come out, actually reducing two Lieutenants,
one Ensign, and two companies in each regiment. They
have, at the same time, elven the empty rank of Brevet-
Colonel to a number of Colonels Commandant, thus brib-
ing the higher ranks to countenance the tyranny exercised
over the lower ones. The native promotion is alsa stopped
for the next three years, to the great discontent of the
Sepoys. The Medical Department is Bengal have sent a
most spirited remonstrance both to Lord W. Bentinck and
to the Court of Directors, in consequence of the restric•
tions that have taken place among them. Their Madras
brethren intend following their example. The military in
Bengal are openly encouraged by Lord Combermere in
sending in representation after representation. We Ma-
drassers have been so often kicked that we only growl.
But the fart is, that the service is not worth a eur,e now,
except for those at the very top. We are losing the few
paltry advantages that were left us."

DISTRESSING AND ALARMING STATE OF THE

INDIAN ARMY.
(rnou A CORRESPONDENT.)

Cawaroaa, FEB. 28, 1829.—1 hasten. to give you the
earliest information respecting the unhappy state of things
on this side of India. It was impossible for any man to
return to this country with a greater share of popularity in
his favour than Lord Bentinck ; and within a •few short
months we loathe his very name. He has lent himself to
measures which Lord II :stings openly declared he would
rather resign his government than do-:--he has dared,
without assigning any feasible reason, to insult the whole
of the Bengal army, and rob them, and the Medical Officers
in particular, of what were their just rights—he has, in
short, deprived the army of half their established allowance,
by placing the stations, notorious for being the most ex-
pensive in Bengal, on " Half Batta ;" he has deprived the
Medical Officers—a class of officers whose services are the
must responsible and laborious of all others--of the whole
of their medicine allowance.
You nitiA be well aware, as well as I ens paint
out to you, that the territories watered by the Ganges alone
embrace a population of thirty millions' of souls, or twice
that of Great Britain. History furnishes no example of so
extensive and populous a nation continuing long subject to
another, placed at so immense a diatance, asid with a popu-
lation so much inferior. Government cannot here repose
on an opinion that the strength of the governing body is
physically competent to enforce obedience. The distance,
the climate, and the limited number of Europeans in this
country, prevent us from supporting a military force capable
of opposing the natives in case they rose en masse. Those
native troops who have fought and Wed in our cause are,
nevertheless, taken from the mass of the inhabitants, imbued
with the same prejudices, animated by kindred sentiments,
and exposed to all the causes which may eventually excite
a general feeling of discontent; and this feeling, I can as-
sure you, has already got abroad:
'Fbe permanence of a Government thus circumstanced
must, therefore, unquestionably rest on an opinion that it
is a wise and beneficent one, and that it is for the general
interest to submit to its authority. Is this the case ? But
a people whose calculating habits render them uncommonly
clear-sighted where their own interest is concerned, can-
not easily be either deceived or satisfied in this particular.
To appear good, the Government must really be so; and
that not merely in our view of it, but in their's also. Of
the great mass of the natives, one-twelfth are Mahome-
dans, the remains, I may say, of the ruling power of
whose authority we have superseded, and who may be
considered as very generally disaffected, and willing to
seize the first favourable opportunity of regaining the as-
cendancy of which they have been dispossessed. The
Hindoos constitute the rest of the population ; but these,
although willing to submit to the authority of Europeans,
can never he brought to assimilate with them. Keeping
these principles in view, it must appear to the most casual
observer, that the arrangements actually adopted by our
beloved and gracious Governor are wisely calculated to

heighten the -disaffected spirit which is creeping abroad.—
Already the Native Officers have heard the complaints of
the British Officers, and, ever alive, as I before mentioned,
to their own interest, they have naturally concluded that
they will participate equally in this vile breach of faith and
justice.'
We came out to this country under the full conviction
that our pay and allowance would, come what might, never
be infringed on—that they would be considered inviolate,
awl an honourable compensation for exiling ourselves from
our kindred and friends to drag on a solitary and dreary
existence in the burning plains of Hindoostan. The
whole army have come forward en masse, and remonstrat-
ed against the injustice and cruelty practised on them ; and,
unless redress is given, before you get this, in all proba-
bility, the Country will be in open rebellion : for what can
they do without the military in such a country as this?
And this my Lord Bentinck will learn to his cost, if he
does not take care. Herewith I send a copy of two or
three of the remonstrances, f just to give you an idea of
the state of things, and that what I have mentioned is
really the case. Surely, if the Company were in such a
wretched condition, they ought net to come on the poor
military roan, and, above ail, on the medical officer,
whose duties in this horrid climate are severe in the
greatest degree. Night and day, in sickness or in health,
he is expected to attend on all who call for him, and on
his shoulders rest the care of the lives of upwards of

1,000 souls. To give you an idea of justice—from a
Judge of Circuit, in the receipt of 50,000 sicca rupees
a year, 5,000 have been take away; from an Assistant_

4' I can assure you, on the beat authority, that the cor-
respondence carried on by native troops since the promul-
gation of the infamous order alluded to has been immense ;
however, the Honourable Comt may think to stop their
t The betuPtutsbere alluded tc, appeared yesterday.
a jut:— ply three rupees a month.
mouths by increasing

Surgeon in charge of a corps, whose pay and al-
lowances amounted to 6,500 sonat rupees a-year, 3,00 t)
have been taken away. Is this justice, I would ask ? The
Company may rely on it, that as they are the first to break
their faith, so theylwill be the first to repent of it. I may
just tell you, that 400 rupees a month are allowed to the
officer (no matter of whit rank) in immediate command
of a corps; an Asiistant-Surgeon, however, is put in charge
of a corps, and does not get a pice,t although he does the
duty of full surgeon, who would draw, were he present,
upwards of 400 rupees fur performing the same duty.

t The Governor-General is pleased to intimate that Ac-
sistant-Surgeons in charge of corps shall be allowed 60
rupees a month extra ; and if, as is not unfrequently the
case, they have charge of two corps (2,000 men), they shall
draw palker allowances of thirty rupees a month,—Vide
Government Order•, Ncv.•mber 28, 1828.

WESTMINSTER SESSIONS, OCT. 93.

TURQUAND V. MASLIN.

In this case the defendant appealed against
conviction of Sir R. Birnie, on several informations
laid against him by Mr. Turquand, the land coal-
meter for the county of Surrey, charging the defend-
ant with using 18 coal-sacks of a less size than men-
tioned in the Act of Parliament.
The CHAIRMAN confirmed the conviction.
Charles Slear, a young man of good connec-
tions in life, was convicted of defrauding Mr. John
M. Dodge, solicit,r, of NorthumberlAnd-street,
Strand, of a banker's cheque on Messrs. Coutts and
Co., value 101.
The Court deferred sentence until the decision of
another case, in which the prisoner is concerned.
Sarah Leghorn was charged with obtaining 125.,
on the lOt'h of September, from the Commissioners
of St. George, Hanover-square, by falsely pretend-
ing that she was settled in that parish, whereas she
well knew that her-settlement was at St. Saviour's,
South wark.—A verdict of Not Guilty was recorded.
William Jones, James Jones, and Phrehe Jones,
were charged with disinterring and removing a dead
body from the burial-ground of St. John, the Evan-
gelist, on the 16th of October last.
The Jury found all three prisoners Guilty.
The CHAIRMAN sentenced the two male prisoners
to six, and the female prisoner to three months' im-
prisonment and hard labour.

MYSTERIOUS DE A.TH of MRS. PHILLIPS.

Yesterday Mr. Charles Phillips, accompanied by
Mr. Phillips, of Finchley, husband of the lady whose
death from poison has occasioned such deep and
melancholy interest, and also by Mr. Cullington, a
solicitor, appeared at this office before the sitting
Magistrate, Mr. Mrisnum.., respecting a report of
an application made by Mr. Cox, solicitor for the
executors of the deceased lady, to Mr. HALLS on
Wednesday, which repert appeared in this journal on
Thursday.
Mr. C. Phillips, holding the Times paper of that
day in his hand, addressed Mr. Minshull, and
said he appeared before him in consequence of a re-
port which appeared in that journal, and which pur-
ported to contain the sahstance of what had passed
before Mr. Halls on Wednesday, when a conversa-
_ _

t!on took place between the Magistrate and Mr.
Cox the solicitor, relating to the death of Mrs.
Phillips, late of Finchley. Mr. C. Phillips was
not present when that conversation took place, but
from what he could learn he was enabled to state,

upon the best authority, that of Mr. Cox himself,
that the report in question was not only greatly ex-
aggerated, but that part of it had never taken place
at all. Air. Phillips then drew the attention of the
Magistrate to the following passage contained in the
report. " Mr. Cox.—The executors felt that when
the case was brought to Bow-street, it would have
met with the fullest investigation. 'I hey would
hare put the matter in a train of inquiry themselves,
had it not been taken up by the parish officers. Mr.
Phillips, the husband of the deceased, appeared at
first willing that the inquiry should take place, and
afterwards threw every obstacle in the way." Now
(continued Mr. Phillip), if my client had, as is im-
puted to him here, thrown every obstacle in the way
of inquiry,—if that insinuation were true,—he would
indeed be liable to the severest censure; but, know-
ing that it was perfectly unfounded, and finding
that statement published in so respectable a news-
paper as the Times, he directed his solicitor, Mr.
Cullington, who is now present, to call upon Mr.
Cox, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the
words imputed to him were correctly reported. The
reply of Mr Cox was, that he not only never ut-
tered the words ascribed to him, but that, on the
contrary, he believed, and knew, that Mr. Phillips
was most anxious, from first to last to promote the
enquiry. Having received this unequivocal denial
from Mr. Cox himself, it was deemed expedient, on

the part of Mr. Phillips, to refute, in the most pub-
lic manner, so gross and scandalous an attack upon
his character.

The Reporter of the Times here declared that
the report was faithfully given.
Mr. Cullington then came forward, and said he
had waited upon Mr. Cox with the report in ques-
tion, and that, gentleman bad declared to him that
he never made use of the words respecting Mr.
Phillips having thrown every obstacle in the way of
inquiry ; on the contrary, he believed Mr. Phillips
was always anxious to have the matter investigated.
The Reporter of the Times declared that his re-
port was faithfully given, and added his disbelief
that Mr. Cox had given the contradiction imputed
to him.
Mr. Cullington declared that Mr. Cox had em-
powered him to give an unqualified contradiction to
that passage in the report to which allusion had
been made. . . . . .

Vv
Mr. I.lllNsitum observed, that perhaps the better
way would be to let the matter rest where it was.
Mr. C. Phillips was quite satisfied to do so. He
wished, however, to repeat, on the part of his client,
Mr. Phillips, that he was most willing and anxious
that an investigation should take place, in order that
the guilt, if any, should be fixed upon the proper
party. Mr. Phillips felt, however, that if witnesses
were brought forward, those witnesses ought to be
examined upon oath, and he (Mr. C. Phillips) ap-
pealed to Mr. Minshull, as a lawyer and a magi-
strate, to say whether this course was not only le-
gal, but according to the invariable practice of all
criminal proceedings,
Mr. MINIM LL agreed that all charges affecting
individuals must be made on oath. The magistrate
then repeated that he wished the matter to rest
where it was.
Mr. C. Phillips, his client (Mr. Phillips), and
Mr. Cullington, then retired, but returned in a few
minutes, having been met by Mr. Cox, who, hear-
ing of what had taken place in his absence, re-
quested the parties to return with him to the magi-
strate, in order that he might explain the part which
he had taken in the matter.
The reporter for the Times asked Mr. Cox whe-
ther the passage of the report referred to was not
substantially correct ?
Mr. Cox replied that the passage was certainly
correct in substance, although the words were not

those which he uttered.
Mr. Cullington—Did you not tell me that ycu
never used the words, and that in fact you meant
the reverse ?
Mr. Cox—l told you what I said to Mr. Halls,
and I now repeat it; I said that Mr. Phillips had
expressed a willingness for inquiry, but that willing-
ness was not followed up, inasmuch as Mr. Phillips
had not adhered to his former candid determination.
My assertion now, that the passage in the report
was substantially correct, is not inconsistent with the
explanation I have just given.
The Reporter for the Times—Am Ito understand,
gr. Cox, that you admit the report to be stibs!an-
daily true ?
Mr. Cox—kost certainly. It is as correct as any
report can be given under such circumstances.
The parties then withdrew.

A marriage is not considered respectable at
Geneva unless it be mule known to the ditterent friends
and acquaintance of the parties a year before it takes pine.