The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-09-30
The sepoys.


The Sepoys.
..v,x.rv Of the south Side Democrat, In
~. comments on an article Of the Dispatch DIE
.asor,ns the expression of sympathy with the Sc
-. .fer expressing his doubts Of the actual hap
waning Of the sepoy atrocities, says: 1--WE tthe De
noratl do hold that the outrages ofa hundred years
~ torture and misruls furnish strong palliation
for snv retrbutive atrocities the part of the poor
victims"
The sepovs themselves never pretended any such
pa,,iaton a. that offered by their American ad'o-
Gates. The worst and most oppressive perion Vi
British rule In India passed away long ago. s""
new generation has since come upon inc SISSY
The senoys say tina, the CREASED cartridges "e'e
tha rasson Of their revolt, and the conVcHoh '"A.
the British intended TO subvert their reiis'"u -
estahlish Christianity. This rs the pa'''"'',"'
.,a ,ha on,v equalization" which they themselves
,fY.r for the horrid crimes committed ps 'h's0
s.,>oor vict,msr such as the ravishing OF women
az t,-,;,o them to march, Invested OF their CLOTH
80 ,,. mcokery of a savage crowd, through
.ae-,.n;nal streets of cities then suhecting them
% the most horrible degradation, winding up oy
cutting of their breasts, and suffering them 10
h,ssd "a death, in the mean time cutting of the
angers Of their children at the joints, and burning
them before the eyes of their mothers In one case
a number of the 'peor victims" having disaoieu
snd pinioned prisoner, subjected his vile oelofe
his eyes to the most unspeaksble indignlties 'hen
cut her open, and removing an UNBORN ohiiu' h""e
II. mangied fragments about the fathers neck ;
I'm, os the heads of his other children and adoed
them to the bloody necklace, before they reiie'ea
Abe unhappy man of his agonies by putting al enu
to his life In another instance child was COM
pelied TO drink the blood Of its parent.
In another mart of its article, the Democrat
,ay,. its "only regret about this matter, arises
from the improbability of the final triumph OF the
insurgepts-the disease seems hopeless, out We
trust the patient may get repeated doses oil the
same pogerfu medicine, until the desired erect Is
produced." We feel sure that by repeated doses
of the same powerful medicine" our Petersburg
contemporary would not countenance the atrocious
manner in which the Sepoys have hitherto carried
on the contest. Their powerful medicine now
ever when they have tried it on any SUBJECTS
save women and children and defenceess captives-
has proved perfectly harmless. One British soldier
has proved more than match for five OF the cruel
wretches. Possibly Great Britain may fail for year
10 recover her lost ground, but. we cannot concur
with our Petersburg contemporary in regretting
that her eventual triumph is certain. On the con
trsry we rejoice both for the sake of civilization
and the lnuueUCe OF SUCH itsut upon tiiS NoueS
of order and authority everywhere, that the sue
cess of these insurgents is about as hopeless "a
would be a similar rebellion in our own country.
II seems TO us that, whatever position others may
take. the natural instincts of the South should
teach her with which of the parties in this contest
70 sympathize On this point we ask the attention
of our contemporary, than whom none is more vi
ci,ant and devoted in the maintenance of South
,ha frnD 3
letter published in the National Intelligencer and
written by an American clergyman, who some time
ago returned home from a seventeen years resi-
dence in India as q missionary. After giving his
opnon that the mutiDy is clearly a halommeda,
movement, in which the Hindoos have only sub
ordinate place, just so far their pride and pre-
iudice against the English rule, shall make them
for the time, forget the more than te'fod sereylte
Of the eight hundred years Of Mahommedan rule
aehtch preceded IL, the writer says:
I have often felt surprised and almost vexed a
the disposition shown in some places in our coun
try rather to sympathize with the native mutt
neers than with the English in the struggle
This has so often made ME think of the Saviour
prayer at the crucifxion, "Father forgive them fol
they know not what they do"
Suppose. for illustration, that three-fourths o
the colored men in the United States had re
ceiyed the best drilling in military tactics tina
West Point could give them, and had abundanc,
of arms and all military stores in their possession
and were led on aided by two hundred thous
and Turks or Tartars, in our Southern States here
with an avowed, sworn determination to max
every white face pale in death, and establish
Turkish government over what was left, when no
one white face left; and the white people of tn
South, without months warning or preparation
thrown unaided into such a struggle; and then sup
pose the people of England and our Northern State
TO sit cooly at home criticisng the seventies prac
81, FL
their circumstances and the character of the enc
mics with whom they had to contend; would tina
he the kind of sympathy the required? Ant
sure am that the difference between the govern
ment now exercised over our country and tina
which would be exercised by Turkish or Tarta
dynasty is not greater than that between the Bri
fish in India and that which would succeed it, wer
this mutiny successful.