THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 2, Issue 79, 26 March 1859, Page 3

THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA.

(From the Times Correspondent.) Valley of Chumba, Himalaya, Oct. 2. I am on my way to Simla, which I hope to reach in a few days, and thence I shall proceed by way of Agra and Meerut to join the Head-quarters camp, which will be formed at Allahabad- on the 10th, so that I may accompany the troops on their March into,.Oude, and witness the opening of the cold weather campaign in that turbulent and refractory province. It is most probable that the troops assembled at Allahabad will cross the river at that place, and commence operations at Soraon and Pertabghur. You will receive from Bombay and Calcutta much more recent intelligence than I can communicate foi* some time to come; but no very important events are likely to arise till after the date of my arrival at Allahabad. 'Likely,' however, is a word singularly inapplicable to the course of events in India. At the present moment we have received news up here which I cannot but regard as sinister arid ominous. The 10th Punjaub Infantry are reported to have marched off with all their arms for Dera Ismael Khan, in the hope of inducing some of their countrymen to join an insurrectionary movement. Should this be an isolated instance of disaffection on the part of the many Sikh battalions in our pay, arising from some sudden pique or the influence of evil" counsels, there is little to fear. If it should be an overt act of a great conspiracy — which' appears to me most improbable — it is impossible to exaggerate the danger. Our empire in India, is, indeed, in a desperate case should the Sikhs, who are now fighting our battles in every district where an enemy to our rule can be found, turn traitors ere the mass of the reinforcements from England can reach us. There is reason to believe that mischief has been brewing at Dera Ismail Khau sinca the discovery of the plot which occasioned such excitement in the .North-Western Provinces a few weeks ago. It would appear as if Brigadier Chamberlin's investigations into the origin of this plot had led him to the knowledge of facts which he considered of a dangerous character, for it is only within the last few day3 that a column consisting of Blount's troop of Horse Artillery, a wing of the 7th Fusileers, a squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards, and some 300 Sikh infantry, marched from Lahore to strengthen the place, which is mainly important because it commands the Indus (on the right bank of which it is situated), and, further, that it contains the magazine of the whole of the Punjab Irregular Force. All over India the Sikh nation and tiie Punjabees, composed of Hindoos and Mahomedans, are giving evidence of their courage and devotion to our rule. Each day we hear of actions in which Sikh police and Punjab regiments have defeated the rebels, and it would be deplorable indeed if we were suddenly forced to withhold our confidence from those gallant soldiers, and to exercise that surveillance over them which is requisite in the case of mercenaries who may become enemies at any moment. There is no use in disguising the fact that the great number of these Punjabee battalions excited serious apprehensions in the minds of many who were, however, forced to admit their existence to be a necessary evil. Our Frankensteins had created a monster on whose fidelity and devotion wo mu&t rely in hope and trustfulness, whose aervices were as great as his strength. Those who are acquainted with Lord Clyde's views will admit that he was among those who shared in the apprehensions so justly caused by our forced reliance on such a gathering of Oriental races — the most warlike of the East — who had many traditions of recent glory and the memories of late defeat ; the knowledge of Afghanistan, of the passes of Cabool, fresh in their minds, great lust of gold, and all the fickleness and subtlety of the Asiatic. - It is remembered that these fierce soldiers even afc Delhi were fond of recalling the stories of the great battles in which they in vain sought to destroy the supremacy of our arms, and that they were in rude jocosity, wont to say, — 'We fought against you 10 years ago, and you beat us ; now we are fighting for you : in 10 years, more or less, we may once more be fighting against you.' During the late campaign they fought side by side with our best troops, and were foremost in rnany^of our desperate assaults. Iv a former letter I have told you of their strength, which cannot be less now than 80,000 horse and foot. It would be unjust in the very highest degree to assume now that any considerable portion, or even any appreciable portion of those troops are disaffected, but the Delhi regiment is known to have- been troublesome on several occasions. The Malwa Sikhs of one corps have notoriously conspired against us, and the question which might arise, 'What would you do in case all ths Punjabees revolted ?' is one to which, as matter of pure hypothesis, we should be prepared \u f ;h an answer. In the Dera Jat, of which Dera Ismail Khan may be regarded as the capital, there are, ' unfortunately, the three Punjab frontier batteries organized by Lord Dalhousie, consisting of 18 pieces of artillery in very completo order; but this is the only force of guns actually in their hands. The strength of Europeans in the Punjab is about eight battalions of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and some 54 field guns ; but further south the country is almost denuded of British soldiers. In any case we shall require to manage the Sikhs with great tact, particularly when the time comes for reducing the battalions under arms to a peace establishment. I am told that an occurrence at Umballa the other day gave great offence to these irascible warriors. The Eajah of Putteeala's wife presented him with a son, on which occasion there were great rejoicings, and the sounds of the salute fired on the ocoaeion alarmed the officer on duty at Umballa, who thought that the Sikhs had risen, and in that belief turned out the European guard, marched them to the posts occupied by detachments of a Punjabee regiment, and forced them to deliver up their arms. At the moment I write a telegraphic despatch has been received by one of my companions, Colonel Tombs, dated Meerut, September 26, informing him that half of his troop has been ordered to Delhi, and requiring him to go down to Meerut without a .moment's delay; The 9th Lancers are on their way fr»m TTmbalia down country, and their presence will probably insure the safety of the main trunk road for the time. Specific news I have none, except of such small significance as to possess no interest for the English public. The Queen has not yet been.

proclaimed. Tantia Topee and the Nana Sahib are still free. No details of General Mitchell's great success over the former have yet reached us, but we know that all the guns so injudiciously left at Jalar. Patun have been recaptured, and that the enemy are once more 'in utter disorder, and thoroughly dispirited.' Much of this success is no doubt due to the foresight of Sir R. Hamilton, whose talents and ability have been strikingly displayed during all the operations in Central India. If, indeed, the Bafety of India depends on the ability of the servants of the Government, or on the courage of our own race, I should have little fear for any contingency that might arise now or at any future period, but it must be remembered that, great as may be the British power in India, it is only so lon<; as its exercise i 3 consonant with the feelings of the people of India ; for I hold that, weak as those myriad millions are in physical resources, in moral courage, in mental vigour, and in true independence of spirit, it Avould be quito beyond our strength to hold India by armed force* "Were it possible to do so, it would be financially impossible, and even as it is the cost of the military operations which have taken place will astonish the nation when the bill is presented for payment. We must learn — and I fear the lesson has not yet been taught, and that it will be unwillingly learnt by many — to conciliate the affections, as I believe we have gained the respect, of the people. Eespect for our rule may be independent of regard for ourselves. The manifestation of a hostile and contemptuous spirit engendered in the late contest, "the study of revenge — immortal hate," must bo counteracted by all the powers of Government. How can we expect the Gospel to prevail in India so long as we set at defiance all its precepts of charity, forgiveness and mercy P What hope can there be of convincing the natives of the purity, morality, and heavenly origin of the Clmstian faith', so long as the Indian press is breathing lire and sword against the people of India, and reviling the Government because it does not permit a dragonade against the Hindoo and Mahomedan ? There are some here who seem to think that we, the English in India, are the bearers of the Ark of the Covenant, and that our mission is to smite the Canaanite hip and thigh from the morning to the setting of the sun ; to go forth and spare not ; to hurl down every idol, and to force every Mahomedan — he has no idol to overthrow— to abjure his faith ; but Heaven has not given us power for this mission, nor did we come into the land proclaiming ourselves the chosen people of the Lord, who were to deprive the heathen of his inheritance. Others there are whose brains have been affected by Thomas Carlyle, and who preach a Puritan crusade, who believe that Oliver Cromwell was the true type of an Indian Legislator, and who would apply to all our subjects the same receipts which had such singular success in converting the people of Ireland at Drogheda and elsewhere from Roman Catholicism to the faith of the Old Testament. But these are theorists who are only mischievous in "so far as their hallucinations may be taken by the people as exponents of the feelings and policy of the English Government. Let us proclaim to the people of India that we are a Christian people, but let us not act as if we were ancient Jews. Lot us tell them that we are determined, so long as we wield the sovereign power, to recognise the claims of the Christian faith to equality and protection, and to secure the freedom of its professors, but let us not violate our faith, our professions, and our treaties, by arming those who are willing to go forth and preach with the power and authority of State officials. Let us also give a. heavy blow and great discouragement to those who seem to have imbibed the worst part of the spirit of Orientalism, and who speak as if Anglo-Saxonism meant tyranny, despotism and contempt of right. I tremble for the effect that may be produced on those young Englishmen who may arrive during this frenzy in this country to act as its judges or its administrators. There are some voices raised, but they are little heard in the tumult, against the insolence, the cruelty, and the folly to which many of our countrymen have been urged by the sanguinary excesses of the contest in which they have been engaged. The 'griff' will now be indoctrinated in a school whose lessons are very different from those taught in Anglo-Indian society before the mutiny and the rebellion. He will hear natives spoken of almost universally as 'niggers,' with prefixes of strong adjectives, referring to the supposed future state of 'darkies' and 'pandies.' He will be taught that the height of his ambition should be 'to make a good bag, 1 which is the specific name used on all occasions for killing a good many of the enemy — that mercy is 'snivelling white p&ndyism,' and that 'potting a pandy' is one of the highest and purest enjoyments of which Christians are or ought to be capable. He will learn that the "nigger" is a being incapable of feeling either gratitude or affection, that, it is preposterous to speak of him as a fellow man, that he iB not entitled to participate in the equal administration of justice, that he ought to have a distinct code of his own, framed, ifc is to be presumed, on different principles, and the orgumenium baculinum is the only ratiocinatory process he can appreciate. Of such doctrines I dread the influences and the consequences, but I give you chapter and verse, printed passages from newspapers, for each, and for much worse, and if called upon I shall do so , In my next lettei I—this1 — this is now closed in obedience to cries of "The dak runner is going" — I shall return to this subject, and to others more pleasing, I hope, if less important.