THE MUTINY IN INDIA.

Colonist, Issue 56, 4 May 1858, Page 3

THE MUTINY IN INDIA.

By the last mail was received a little book with this title,, by a former editor of the Delhi Gazette, which we now review, feeling that all

: connected with the great, and at present revolutionised, Indian Empire, will be read with interest by our subscribers. The author styles' himself "a former' Editor of the Delhi Gazette," and as the manager of the literary department of that newspaper, lias doubtless had mnny opportunities of watching the gathering of the events which led to such fearful disasters. He says:': — ■• ; ;- .. '. • : . . , ■ . " Mutinies among the native troops of India in the British service have oftentimes occurred within .the present century, but never before on so grand a scale, or with such an extensive organisation." : • * ♦ * "Tt is the ashes of the de:id, says a popular French poet, which create a fatherland; hut with the genuine Hindoo, the fatherland extends no farther than the boundaries of his natal Tillage. He has a keen interest in all that exists or vegetates within those narrow limits, and would freely hazard his life in defence of his neighbour's ox, or ass, or anything that is liia t I"1*1 beyond that line, he lias no sympathies or concern, except on one point alone, and that is the purity of bis caste. This is the only bond which binds together the many millions of the Hindoo race, but, unlike Alexander's knot, it can neither be untied nor severed. Thus, although it would be vain to look for love of: country, according to European notions, an 1 equally powerful, if not a stiil greater, motive for combined and enthusiastic action pervades the breast of every believer in Brahma." " His caste is literally his god: it is all that he liveg for now, —-all that he relics upon for an hereafter. His religion is wholly ceremonial. He ejaculates the name of ' Ram,' whether for prayer or thanksgiving; be reveres the holy water from, the sacred streams of the Ganges or the Jumna; he makes his htimble offering at a favorite shrine, of a handful of common flowers, and his mind is at rest, for he has fulfilled his outer religion. But there is also an inner and mysterious faith, which is bis real conception of the religious idea, and that is expressed by the word .' Caste.' There' are certain things he cannot do, certain things he cannot, touch or taste, without becoming unclean, without losing his caste: and the loss of caste implies the rupture of all family ties, the severance.of the closest and dearest bonds of kindred. \ The out-caste is an alien in his own home: he is; despised and deserted by his wife, abandoned by his children, loathed and reviled by his kinsmen, and, finally, thtut out of the community. No nian. will give, him his daughter to wife. _ His favorite child will refuse to give him bread or water. His neighbours shrink from him with horror, as if he was some foul leprous thing. His hearth is left desolate, his household gods are broken, he is al6ne and a wanderer on the face of the earth." The sepoy at first was considered deficient in personal courage, and utterly destitute of that steadiness and respect for discipline upon which our own army has achieved such wonders. No sooner, however, was it discovered that when commanded by British officers they behaved as well as our own soldiers, than they were lauded to the skies, their pay and allowance increased, and their whims and prejudices scrupulously respected. "No wonder, then, that they became inflated with an idea of their vast importance, and considered themselves the real masters of the State. Their self-complacency gradually over-stepped all bounds; and, like all mercenary armies, they threatened to become more formidable to their employers than to the enemy.- The most experienced of the Indian statesmen for some time past, has perceived,; and denounces the folly of honoring them too far. The late Mr. Thoraason, the I/eutenant-Govemor of the North-West Provinces, was so fully prescient of the day, that one day, as a native sentry saluted him, he turned to his companion and said, 'There stands our future enemy.' Lord Hardinge, too, is reported to have declared to a friend, before he started to assume the Government of India, that he had no apprehension about any enemy he was likely to encounter ex-1 cept the Bengal Arhiy. Lord Metcalfe is known to have entertained considerable uneasiness of mind as to the permanence of British supremacy in the East, and once made the humorous remark, ' that some fine morning all the Europeans in India would get,up with their throats cut.'" , ... • ; . The revolution which in all its sanguinary and , horrible phases has drunk so much of the blood of our gallant countrymen and dear countrywomen; which thus far has sacrificed so many of them to death and pollution, which has caused their heroism to draw many asilentteiir from all manly feeling hearts; reading at a distance their- wondrous achievements, when broken down by disease,-their devotion to each other* and their determined protection of ladies Who; it:mayrbe, 'until then had never known a trial, and yet many of whom suffered such horrors as never man heard of, is supposed to have commenced in the following manner :—r " A man of low caste, employed in the Artillery arsenal at Dumdum—so rims the tale— one day asked a,Brahmin, soldier to allow him to drink some water out of his lotah (a small vessel, of brass used for dra.wiug and contaiuing water.) The Brahmin declined, on the ground that his lotah would' be rendered uncl&an by the: touch of the thirsty and low caste man. ' You are very particular about;your caste to-day,' rejoined the other, with a sneer, ' but you don't .mind biting .cartridges that are made up with animal fat.' The Brahmin, in an agony, of shame and terror,: inquired the .meaning of this startling accusation, and was informed that the rart.ri.lgos given out for the new English: rifles were.inadeup from pig's or bullock's fat. The story spread with the rapidity of fire, in a stackyard, and the credulous sepoys, both Hindoo uml Mahomedau,!readily believed that a covert attempt was being made to undermine their respective religions.: It is needless to insist upon the absurdity of the ■ idea: they were convinced, of its'truth, and could hot be persuaded that,, although the cartridge paper might be glazed, it wus not jireased. In every regiment there is always a certain number of chattering raischiefm&kers,, who .obtain a sort of importance by seeing further through a millstone than their •neighbours.-.. These fe'lows were, of course, delig'.ited 'with the semblance of an excuse for their mysterious nods, shrugs, and words of dark meniiiig. They pounced upon the fable! of the cartridges like vultures upon carriou, and served it up in all quarters with various embel-j lishments. ' The first consequeuce was a refusal on the part cf the 19ih N. 1., stationed at Ber■Jurmpore, ~to make use of the new cartridges. It, so happened indeed that the cartridges which were actually eriven nut tA tlwm wownfiU

without scruple or hesitation, and some that had been left in store by the 7th N.I. But they were in no mood to listen to reason, nor did the remonstrances and explanations of their European officials avail to bring them to their sense?. Colonel Mitchell had, therefore, no alternative but to coerce them by a demonstration of force. He accordingly ordered a general parade for the morning of the 25th February, and drew up the refractory regiment in a position that was commanded ._ by a Europem regiment and a battery of guns. He~'*hen ordered them to ground their arms —-an order-which they promised to obey so soon as the Europeans and the artillery were withdrawn from the ground. Unwilling to have resort to firce except as a last resource, Colonel Mitchell gave the'desired orders, and'the sspoys instantly laid down their arms. They were afterwards marched down ,to Biirrackpore, and being there disbanded on the 3rd of April, were turned adrift to carry their grievances and discontent to every station in the upper provinces." .-. . Similar acts of insubordination occurred. At length large portions of the army revolted, and Delhi was taken by the mutineers; but while these blood-thirsty sepoys were attacking the town a noble instance of self-devotion was being given by British officers in the magazine. The arsenal of Delhi was, perhaps, the largest in India, stored with vast numbers of heavy guns and a large simply of firearms, percussion-caps, and other warlike materiel. It also contained a powder-magazine, but the principal- one was situated near the cantonments, fully two miles beyond the city walls. "On the morning of that day (the llth May), between 7 and 8 a.m., Sir Theonhilns Metcalfe came to my house, and requested that I (Lieut. G. Forrest) would accompany him to the magazine, for the purpose of having two. guns placed on the bridge, so as to prevent the mutineers, from passing over. On Sir Th. Metcalfe alighting from his buggy, Lieut. Willoughby and I accompanied him to the small bastion on the river face, which commanded a full view of the Bridge, from which1 we could distinctly Bee the mutineers marching in open column, headed by the cavalry, and the Delhi side of the bridge was already in possession of a body of cavalry. On Sir Th. Metcalf observing this, he proceeded with Lieut. Willoughby to see if the city gate was closed against the mutineers. However, the step was needless, as the mutineers were admitted directly to the palace, throusfh which they passed cheering. On Lieut. Willoughby's return to the magazine, the gates were closed and barricaded, and every possible arrangement that could be made was at once commenced. Inside the gate leading to the park were placet! two 6pounders, double-charged with grape, one under acting Sub-conductor Crow and Sergeant Stewart, with the lighted matches in their hands, and with orders that if any attempt were made to force that gate, both guns were to be fired at once, and they were to fall baclc on that part of the magazine in which.Lieut;. Willoughby and I were posted. The principal gate of the magazine was similarly defended by two guns, with the chevaux defrisee 'laid down.on the inside. For the further defence of this gate and the magazine in its vicinity, within sixty yard 3of the gate, and in front of the office, and commanding two cross roads, were three 6-pounders and one 24-pounder howitzer, which could be so managed as to act upon any part of the magazine in that neighbourhood. After all these guns and howitzers had been placed in the several positions above named, they were loaded with double charges of grape. The next.step taken was to place arms in the hands of the native establishment, which they most reluctantly received, and appeared to be in a slate not only of excitement, but also of insubordination, as they refused to obey any orders issued by the European, particularly the Mussulman portion of the establishment. After the above arrangements had been made, a train was laid by Conductors Buckley, Scully, and Sergeant Stewart, ready to be fired by a preconcerted signal. So soon as the above arrangements :had been made, guards from the palace came and demanded possession of the magazine in the name of the king of Delhi, to which no reply was given.

:*f Immediately after this the subadar of the guard on duty at the magazine informed Lieut. Willonghby and me that the kjng of Delhi had sent down word to the mutineers that he would without delay send scaling-ladders from the palace for the purpose of scaling the walls, and which shortly after arrived. On the ladders being erected against the wall, the whole of our native establishment deserted us, by climbing up the sloped sheds on the inside of the magazine, and descending the ladders on the outside; after which the enemy appeared in great number on the top of the walls, on whom we kept up ■;an incessant fire of grape, every round of which told well as long as a single round remained. Previous to the natives deserting us. they hid the principal pouches, and one man in particujar, Kurreem Buksh, a durwan, appeared to keep up a.constaiit communication with the enemy on the outside, and kept them informed of our-situation. Lieut.: Willoughby was so annoyed at this nian's conduct, that he gave me an order to shoot him should he again approach the gate.

" Conductor Buckley, assisted only by myself, loaded and fired in rapid succession the several guns above detailed, firing at least four rounds from each gun, and with the same steadiness as if standing on parade, although the enemy were then some hundreds in numbers, and kept up a continual fire of musketry,on us, within forty or fifty yards. After firing the last round, Conductor Buckley received a'musket-ball in his arm, above ihe elbow, which has since been extracted ; I, at the same time, was struck in the left, hand by two musket-balls, which disabled me for the time. It was at this critical moment that Lieut. Willoughby gave the order for firing the magazine, which: was at once responded to by Conductor Scully firing the several trains. Indeed, from the. very commencement, he evinced bis gallantry by volunteering his services for blowing up the mag izine, and remained true to his.trust tor the last moment. As B'ton as the explosion took place, such as escaped from beneath the ruins, and'none escaped unhurt, retreated through the sally port on the river face. Lieutenant Willoughby and [ succeeded in reaching the Cashmere gate. Lieut. Raynor and Conductor Buckley have escaped to this station (Meerut)." ••

It is supposed that 500 of the insurgents perished on this occasion. The gallant Willoughby himself subsequently fell into the hands of some villager?, who, without pity for the grievous injuries ; he had already received, iuhumanly put him to death. .

Wi>ile a portion of the mutineers were thus engaged, others spread through the city, massacring the Christian inhabitants, and even

and murder Mr. Berresford, the manager, with his wife and five children, whose throats they slowly severed with broken glass.

What happened after the flight of the ladies from the flagstaff tower, has been thus related by an officer of the 38th N.l.:—" As I brought up the rear, our men fell in column in order; but as we retired, they streamed off right and left by hundreds into the bazaar, till at last the colonel and I found ourselves with the colours. j and a handful of men. We intended to make for a ford by the powder-magazine; but, our men shewed that they were no longer under control, J took the colours, and made for their lines. The colonel and. I followed. We sounded the assembly, and there was a great hubbub. We implored the men to fail;in, but they stood still and declined. The colonel went among them, and begged they would shoot him if they wished it. They vowed they had no ill feeling against us. It was here I saw the last of poor Holland (since safe). His horse had not been i ridden all day ; it came from his bungalow. 1 heard Holland exclaim, ' Which way did the ladies and carriages go?' Some one replied, ' The Kurnaul road ;' and I watched him canter across the parade-ground to the bridge by the1 Company's garden. If I had had a wife or child, o:rany one belonging to me-in.the carriages, I might have done the same ; but, as it was, 1 dismounted, patted Gibraltar with'a kind of presentiment of evil, and sent him to my bungafow, and walked disconsolately into our quarter : guardi The colonel did the same; somehow the idea of flight did not occur to usi I got my bed down from the bungalow anl my kitj and went for some dinner. , Then our men Commenced urging us to escape, but we refused, and I fell asleep. I awoke, and.my bearer entreated me to go, and said that the ruffians were coming from the city. Peile was also in the quarter-guard. We each took one of the colours, and got as far as the door, but the men closed on us, and jerked them out of our hands. Firing commenced behind us, and the satisfaction of being shot by one's own troop 3is small. I met the colonel in the doorway, «md, seizing him by the wrist, forced him along over the parade ground to the bridge by our butts. It was quite dark. We reached it untouched, and scrambled on till we fell exhausted by a tree. Soon the moon rose, and cantonments in a blaze threw a glare on the colonel's scales; my scabbard flashed, and white clothing looked like snow. ; We. crouched like hares, and thus passed all that fearful night, uowr running forward, now hiding in hollows and gaps, as voices seemed in our track. We kept parallel to the road which leads to the guldens, crossed the canal by a ford, and drank as perhaps we never drank before. The poor colonel was terribly exhausted; we had had nothing all day. Day broke, we were under a tree, and the col )»el tore the scales off his coat and hid them in the bushes. We perceived a broken-down mud hut at a little distance. Into this we crept and lay down;.-.while there, as the sun rose, we perceived a party of sepoys and others "advancing towards us ; they seemed to search the bushes, and the sun glittered on their arms. I cocked my pistol mechanically, but after two barrels I had no more ammunition. The colonel had not even his sword. I remember saying, ' Oh, colonel, death is better than this horrible suspense.' The sepoys turned towards the river, as ,if thinking that we had taicen the ford, and disappeared. Some Brahmins discovered us as they came to work, one took us to the village, and pur us in a tope (clump of trees), white he got us chuppafees (bread) and milk, L On. the way MX Marshall, the auctioneer and merchant, met us. After giving us food* our Brahmin friends took us over a ford of a branch of the Jumna, and concealed us in the long junglegrass on the other side. While there another came to me and said a party of fugitives like ourselves were in the giass at a little di.ttince. I followed, and he led me some two miles, when I found a party of hid es and othe s concealed. (The party that had escaped from the munguard.) They had passed much such a night as we did, with one narrower escape. As tuey lay concealed some mm passed and sxvv a riband or a bottle, and saying, ' Oh, they have been here, evidently,' went on. They came to the same ford, and while concealed he^rd me described by my eyeglass, sent for me, and thus we happily met. We could not stay in the grass, so that evening started, the Brahmins conducting us to a ford over the Jumna. We travelled some two or three miles up the stream before reaching it. Our hearts failed, and no wonder where ladies were concerned, as we looked at the broad swift river. It was getting dark, too. Two natives went across. We watched them anxiously wade a considerable portion of the river; then their heads alone appeared above water. It was our only chance of life, and our brave ladies never flinched. It was so deep that where a tall man would wade a short man would be drowned. I thought it was all over when, on reaching the deep water with Mrs. Forrest on my left arm, a native supporting her on the other side, we were shot down the river ; however, by desperate efforts and the assistance of another native, we reached the b,mk in safety. I fcw.im back once more for another of our paity, and so ultimately we all got safe over. It was a brave feat fjr our -ladies 'to do. We passed another wretched qight,-suffering fearfully from cold, and crouching close to e<ich other for warmth ; there was no noise but the chattering of our teeth. Next morning we were discovered and led to a tope, where again the Brahmins temporarily proved our friends, but they turned us out hhonly afterwards with news that there were sowars behind and sowars in front. We turned wearily to the left, to fall into the hands of the Goojurs These ruffians gradually collected an I with a wild howl set upon iis. Our arms had been under water and useless, and they were fifteen to one. They disarmed us and proceeded biutally to rob and strip us. I think a fakir here saved our lives. On we toiled all day in a burning sjn, with naked feet and sk ns peeling and blistering in the burning wind. How the ladies stood it is marvellous, yet they never murmured or flinched, or distressed us by a show of terror. We were taken to a large Brahmin village that night and concealed in a fakit's hut. We were there three days, and I trust hereafter handsomely to reward our benefactors.1 While here we sent in a letter in French to Meerut asking for assistance. It seemed not to come, and from Bhekia we were taken to Hurchundpore at the request of an old zemindar, who had heard of our whereabouts, and treated us royally. He was a German by birth, .an old man of eighty or ninety, and nownative in dress, language, Ac. —not in heart or religion. He sent us up clean stuff for clothes, and gave us something like civilised fjod again. That eveuinof thirty sowars (troopers), under Lieutenants Gough and Mackenzie, who volunteered for the service in answer to our letter, vnAn in nn/4 ~.« »..:.««! 11.... 1......,.;^... _. __ c

death. The old man provided carts for us, and at 10 p.m. the day week of our escape from Delhi we reached .Meerut.". , ;,

" Another fakir, safely conveyed to Meerut a little child he had picked up; somewhere in the jungle. It was. too young, to give any account of itself, or of its parents, and must, soon have perished from want and exposure, had not this good Samaritan been moved to pity by it,3'tears. !In general, huwever, it must be admitted that i the villagers treated the fugitives with wanton cruelty. Not content with robbing-them-of their arms and money, they stripped off their j dothe3, which were useless to themselves, and I oftentimes added wounds and blows to.insult. In one village a child's socks were found with !.the feet still in them, cut off while the infant was yet alive. In another a man was apprehended and hanged, who boasted that he had violated an English lady, and then cut off her breasts and-killed her. Auother dragged out a lady from beneath a bridge where she was'eh-' deavouring to conceal herself, and! conducted himself towards her with similar barbarity: There, were, indeed, a few exceptions. Une lady and her child wheie protected for many weeks by an old man, who removed them from village to village,' as each hiding-place became suspected and,dangerous. Some of the zemi^ d.n-s, or landed proprietors, likewise exhibited consider able humanity; but in most cases: our unhapjy countrymen experienced but little .mercy or kindness from the ; natives,—r?the j women shewing no more humanity than the men. . . :..."■';■■. .\ "■'. .. ~ ■.. ./ At Simla we find that a complete panic seized upon many Europeans living there ; a rumour got afloat that the Goorkah batallion had revolted, when off bolted officers holding, good pay and high appointments; without wait-: ii)g for a verification of the rdporfc $ off started J young and old ladies, unbonneted, and some without shoes * many walking 18 and '20 wiles, \\h) before could hardly cross their room; some of the previously weak-and helpless^ who would have tcouted the idea of not sleeping on a ; bed; bivouacked' on, the open ground, the bare earth for a pillow; and as for the stout-hearted gentle*; men who took active part in this needless flight, they, we ..think, were amply repaid; by the following which appeared in % local newspaper:—^-, ' ■'" "Notice. ... \ .' ;•_ "' : " On Wednesday, the 15th July, the. ladies' ofSimlah will hold a meeting at Rose Castle, for the purpose of consulting about -the best measures to be taken for the protection of the gentlemen. '■',"' . •' The ladies beg to inform those who sleep in the khuda: that they sincerely compassionate their. Bufferings, and ate now preparing pillows for them- stuffed with the purest white feathers. Should they feel inclined to attend the meeting they will then be presented to them. '.. . "Rest, warriors, rest. . " Clementina Bricks. . "4th July, 1857." / • .',..;-;;.; Bit before we pass too severe a judgment on the "fngitivi. S to Dugshaie, justice demands that we should bear in mind the horror excited by the terribe tidings from the pains by every post. Even in our owu happy land who. is there that did not shudder with affright when he first read of the cruelties. committed by the sapoys, in such statements as this :—» " They (the sepoys at Delhi) took forty-eight females, mist of them girls of from ten to fourteen, many delicately nurtured ladies,—-violated them, and kept them for the base purposes of the heads of the insurrection for a whole^ week. At the end of that time "they made Uisjn IJ9trip themselves, and gave them up to the lowest of the people, to abuse in broad daylight in the streets- of D-d hi: They then commenced: the work of torturing them to death, cutting off their bie.sts, fingers, aud noses, and leaving them to die., One lady was three days dying. They fl tyed the face of another lady, and made her walk naked through the street. Poor Mrs. •■■ -■•, the wife of an officer in the regiment, at Meeiut, was soon expecting her conhnenient. They violated her, then ripped her up, and, fairing from her the unborn child, cist it and her into the flames. Nu European man, woman, or child lus had the slightest mercy shewn them. I re.illy cannot tell you the fearful cruelties those demons have been guilty of — cutting off tie ftiigers and toes of little children, I joint by joint, in sighc- of their parents, who were reserved for similar treatment afterwards." If we who are thus far removed from the scene of these most humble atrocities, tremble over the narrative of such fiendish acts, what must have been .the exciled state of feeling on the pait of those living there, and who from time to tinu* looked upon some wounded friend, heard, may be, of a broiher or sister cruelly murdered, or from the irembtiig lips of some 1 unhappy being, just, perhips, dragged from the i furnace of this revoit, listened to the fiendish a'rocities perpetrated upon youth and innocence. I They knew not how soon it mi^ht occur that ' their own houses would be nudedesdate; their former confidence in the natives was dissipated as a wrea'h of smoke ou a windy day; every coloured man had become an object of distrust. It was like unto the first sens it ion of an <atthquake, which shatters instantly, and fur ever, one's implicit reliance upon the stability of the earth.. The Vegetarian Moral of the Mutiny-. —The Leader thinks that the vegetarians and total abstainers are deprived of one of their best arguments by the horrible events in India. " Who that has endure 1 a lecture on the immoital virtues of the crystal fluid and physiological effects of green stuff, has not heard ho v it mollifies the character, and inspires humanity with a saintly moderation ? Who has not been told of the meek Hindoo and the soher Mahomedan ? Well, we see at last what these rice-eating and water-drinking fellows are. How the honey, herb, rice, butter,' curd, and sugar-eating, and milk-and-Water drinking rab- . be have revelled in blood ! How the chival- ' rous nobles who slay their maidens at .the approach of pollution have tossed naked English girls into the streets to be outraged, tortured, and tiampled to death 1 They must not kill a rat, sn.ike, or a flea, but give them a* thousand white women and children, and the water-chi.ikors will become worse than canni-' bals. Veii:y, there miibt he no further allusion to India by the disciples of Porphyry. They -must nut say again, ' Look at the' Hindoo who eats rice and drinks water; he would not willingly harm an insect, and establishes hospitals for superannuated cows;' or, 'Mark how the Moslem, who drinks wafer, will not tread upon a piece of paper, lest the name of Grod should be written upon it.' He has trampled xipon the image of God itself, and we hive no intention of arguing that he would have fo*en a less brutal coward lud he fed ou flesh and inebriated himself with brandy instead of bhang. All we ins'st on is, that a va^t number of vegetarian and total abstinence fa.llao.es will be exploded,

PETTY, LARCENY, AND CO.; ORTWENTtf SHILLINGS IN THE POUND.

(Fi-ain Household Words.) ■ ---■ The • firm of Petty, Larceny,- and Co., the great haberdashers, is a monument.of remarkable trading.skill. It has been es- . tablished more than a century.1 Old Petty . retired with a colossal fortune, and .Young Petty, the old Petty of the present firm, was member of Parliament for a cotton district. Some of the Larcenies havebeen at the bar, and one is a ■ very high dignitary in the Church, while he who stands in the place of the old original Larceny,' -and manages the business, has the reputation of being one of the smartest traders in thecity of London. The,first stone of their prosperity was laid by the purchase of job . lots, or goods sold at- a sacrifice. - They found a mine of wealth under their feet, and they did not neglect to work it. . They got a double reputation: one for always being ready with cash for. goods to any extent, the other for always selling goods 30 per cent, under, the market price.' They always paid 20s. in the pound, but it was, ibr 409. worth of goods, and that, my simple friend, is a very different thing from buying 403. worth of goods, and paying 205.. ibr . them. In the first instance you are a keen.'; trader, buying at a discount of ijO percent..; in the second, you are a worthless,- broken scamp, paying 20s. in the pound. You, who possess a mathematical head, cannot probably find much difference in the two things, bat act upon your conviction and see the result. You, a3 the payer of the despised 10a. in the pound, the payer of £,1 for £2, shall enter one of our palatial receptacles .of merchandise in company with Mr. Larceny, the payer of 20s. in the pound, the buyer of two pounds for one. Not kn assistant in the place, not a.head oi a department, but what will be at the humble service of Mr. Larceny, ready to throvr at his feet the rich cashmeres of India, the soft sables of the North, .the costly fabrics of the South,. perfumes of Araby the Blest, jasper, onyx,. and all • precious stones. Let him take them at his own price, and upon his own terms. Now comes your turn, my simple friend, and the rich full stream of commerce does not flow so freely at your feet. Will you be kind enough to give your name? They cannot find exactly what you want, although your desires are not extravagant. You fancy yoit heard your name going down a pipe, and you were right.- Will you have the goodness to step down to the counting house ? You step down and Bee a managing " clerk. Another time they will be most happy, &•',. You have learned the difference, my simple friend, between paying 10s. for a pound and buying a pound for 10s. .

Messrs. Petty, Larceny, and Co. thrive apace, and suck up in their vortex many spiritless businesses of the same kind in the neighbourhood. ■ They buy up "a pile of buildings; they cover with their warehouses half a street. Sometimes it happens in the course of trade that complications arise- between principal and agent, consigner and consignee, buyer'und seller; the money market' is tight, cash" is scarce, and a few thousand pounds' worth of goods is sold, in consequence, at a sacrifice much more alarming than usual. What makes matters • worse is, that Messrs* Petty, Larceny's cheque, which though dishonorable was never dishonored, does hot find its way to the rightful owner, the agent employed in the matter having put a finish to dishonest proceedings by an act of embezzlement". This brings the transaction into open court, and some virtuous' counsel,1 whose wholesome indignation has been paid for as per brief delivered, does not hesitate to stigmatise the conduct of Messrs. Petty, Larceny, and Co. as immoral and dishonest, to call a sacrifice a downright robbery,'job lots nothing but stolen goods, and-to say that the receiver is as bad as the- thief. Poor fellow ! he knows when he utters the last sentiment that his law is the reverse of sound, and that he is the veriest stump orator that ever Btood in a court of justice. Perhaps he is thinking of some miserable fence, or marine store dealer, whose limited capital, want of enterprise, and wretched habitation, under the constant surveillanceof the.police, render him in the eyes of the law a receiver in every respect as bad as the thief; but the splendid pile of warehouses that bears the name, of - Messrs. Petty, Larceny, and Co. can never be the receptacle of any goods but what have been bought in a respectable manner, and under the law of supply and demand. • When Mr* Larceny leaves his business; about five in the afternoon, the policeman jon the nbeat runs to open the door of his carriage; which he certainly would not do fbr a man that was obnoxious to the law.*

, Some people, there may be,\vho gossip 1 about the story in the city, and, like good members of society, as they are, profess a moral repugnance to any man who stoops to make money by such dishonest practices; but their words'lose something of their weight when we, find them, in a few day* .afterwards, in Mr. Larceny's private counting house, with a piece of coloured paper in their hands, evidently torn froni a banker's cheque book. Sundry old ladies and highly respectable mothers profess to be greatly shocked when they read the account in the newspapers, and exclaim, •" What an immoral place Messrs. Pettyi .Larceny's shop must be for the young men!" But if we lounge towards the shop in question, about three o'clock on a July afternoon, we shall find the same ladies in great.force seated on 'the short backed chairs, and asking the attendants to shew them " gome of those stolen, ahem, tha,t is, remarkably cheap goods that they have to sell." When Mr. Larceny goes into the 1 markets on the. next occasion, his friends 1 cluster round him more attentively than i ever, probably from joy that so dear a friend 1 has not been 'rudely snatched from them. Society does not turn its back;upon Mr. Larceny i' far from it, its doors are'-always open to";any man who .can send his own lU^L-r^nn tn ]rnnn\r of iVinm "Pr.iar.rlo ni\ oil

kerns, Penal: Servitude's, Hulks, Queen's I Benches, Old Baileys,, /Bankruptcy Courts, and lastly workhouses, were never-built, for men like Mr. Larceny. It is the fools who suffer, while the rogues thrive. [third-class bankrupts, with certificates suspended for two years, with protection refused for six months; transported felons and oakum pickers of various degrees, become what they are, that Larceny House may have its much admired stone facade, designed by Bubble Walling, Esq, F.S.A., that Mr. Larceny's mansion in Huckaback-,, square may be adorned with the latest Rubenses, Rafkelles, and Correggios, and that Larceny Park, Richmond, Surrey, may be one of the great landscape features , of the country. Such is the brazen image of 20 shillings in the pound, before which men fall down and worship. If anyone doubts how much better it.is to sin than to be sinned against, let him look at a commercial adventure of a different stamp. ; We have heard a good deal of the fraudulent debtor. We know his picture pretty well by this time. He never keeps a cashbox. He makes away with stock in a mysterious manner, and ;his furniture is always "settled, on his wife. He' has been insolvent once* a bankrupt once, and he has compounded with his creditors several times.. Ho is, of course, a great scamp because he cannot pay 20 shillings in the pound. But has ever any one looked calmly and, dispassionately into his conduct to see whether there is any substratum of honesty underlying the surface of his character? ■ Has; any one ever tried to discover the original char'actef <rf his misfortunes, I beg pardon, his rogueries ? Are hi^ creditors aware when they are sO loud in their complaints against him, that in many cases his numerous failings spring out of the one original insolvency, because he was weak and' considerate enough to f rant fraudulent preferences and rettew old ebts? Are they aware that they have been supplying him with goods and money for many years, at an enormous profit and interest, that act as an insurance against risk, and make ten shillings in the pound a remunerative dividend ? I am -afraid not. He may walk about in a leaky shoe and a battered hat, but he is always assumed to have a snug competency put on one side in a/quiet way. If he is really fraudulent, the law has provided for his punishment in ■a/very peculiar manner. He.goes before •a Bankruptcy Commissioner with a balancesheet and a variety of accounts which, as far as totals are concerned, are made to agree, with.each other, with wonderful accuracy, and the said commissioner knowing nothing of figures/ and ascertaining from the official assignee that he has not been too fraudulent to. provide for the. expenses of the court, does not. see any good that can arise ,to the estate from further delay, and grants a common certificate or license to trade, as, a .matter of course. If, on the other hand, he is; r -notfraudulent but unfortunate, and flies to the j sanctuary, of the court under the pressure .of unavoidable loss and misfortune, having tallowed the commercial, whirlwind to over- ; take him before providing payment for the; .shelter as the act directs, he will find surly j ■officials, a severe Draconian judge, and, in all probability, a suspension of certificate. Woe upon him if at any time, under the influence of pressure, a sense of honor, or of Increased facilities of trade, he has given what, the law calls a fraudulent preference; he will then find to his cost how much more it is in the eye of justice to give ■than to: receive. He will suffer for his ill-; advised, though well intentioned, act, whita . the receiver of the benefit-—the fraudulent /Creditor—will walk away respected and •unscathed, in all the immaculate invulnerability of 20 shillings in the pound. The; fraudulent creditor is a person that does '; not come so prominently before us. He rdoes not. stink in the nostrils of commerce, for his.cheques are always paid, and he • never had a bill sent back in his life. He ; is an' oily man, who has made many bad 1 debts during his commercial life, and who • always seems, to extract nourishment from 'them. He has generally been very badly .- treated by the fraudulent debtor, but,1 while : the latter has scarcely a bed to lie . down upon, the fraudulent creditor manages ..to-keep a good balanc.e at his. banker's; .';He! seldom attends, and will never take the i tfhair,;at a meeting of creditors. .When-an! .Arrangement,is fproposed, he always de-clines,-at present, to come in. *He has < scruples and objections, and he takes time :to consider. He likes to be treated with •individually. God forbid that he should foe the means of carrying the affair to the , Bankruptcy -Court, and injuring others; but he does not think that there; has been 4 fair / statement rendered, and he would rather lose the whole of his debt, ill as he can afford it, than accept a dividend less than the estate ought to pay. He holds put firmly, and \?hen others get 10s., he gets 155.; when others get 155., he gets .. 20s. i Failing this, he. stands over until the debtor begins trade again, and then he ad- , vances his claim upon the' new estate, to . the injury of the new creditors. He is one of the-most obstructive and'dishonest men In trade,; and yet who would refuse his ac^ , ceptance for £5000 ? It may be that the , 20s. in the pound,1 with Which the bill will be paid, will be very dirty shillings, shil*-' .lings that ought to be in the pockets of ,-other .people, but they fulfil the conimer-' ; cial requirements as to weight, and the code ~of trading morality exacts noother condition. ~; : If, I have shocked the political economist .. jby exhibiting any irreverence for the laws ; , regulate the operations of commerce, ■~; Jhe [theory of trade, exchange, markets,: .^supply and demand, I humbly apologise. i.. ; :My purpose was, not to question the dog- .• T mas of .economical science, but to put my ..jfinger, upon some of the moral blots in ~ vcommerce, and to ask. that those who are 1 1 always crying out aloud for purification' Ji ;Sh,o.uid, not strain at a bankrupt gnat and' . . c , swallpw a felonious camel. " , .-.'\ '"'■

On Januaiy 14th, the Indian Mutiny Relief Fund had reached the sum of £320 000.