THE REBELLION IN THE INDIAN ARMY:

WHAT ARE ITS CAUSES?

Ir is now a hundred years since the great battle of Plassy decided the British supremacy in India. This decisive engagement was fought by Clive June 23, 1757: the English lost only fifteen of their European troops, and fifty of their native sepoys in killed and wounded, but the results were most important. It humbled and utterly defeated their proud and cruel foe, Seraj ood-dowla; it more than regained their former footing in Bengal ; and it avenged the never to be forgotten horrors of the Black Hole" in Calcutta. Since this date our authority in the East has extended with a rapidity that has no parallel in the history of the world, and in which the pious observer will devoutly acknowledge the gracious designs of the Supreme Ruler " putting down one and setting up another." When we were within a month of completing the first century of our supremacy in India, an unexpected and severe check was experienced. Those on whom the

Government depended to conquer foreign foes and repress internal commotion rose and brutally murdered the officers whom they had solemnly sworn to obey. The bloody tragedy enacted at Meerut on sabbath evening, May 10th, was followed by the unchecked march on Delhi, anciently the imperial city of India. Here dark and bloody deeds, not yet fully disclosed, were perpetrated, the recital of which will shock the civilized world. The intelligence of these terrible occurrences produced the profoundest sensation throughout India. Since then events have succeeded each other with alarming rapidity; but as some details of the progress of revolt were given in a former letter, and others are furnished in one accompanying this, I need not enlarge. Surely it becomes us all to acknowledge in this day of calamity our dependance upon God, and to humble ourselves under his mighty hand. "In the day of adversity consider,”—is a divine direction.

Many persons, anxious to form a just judgment of the stirring events of this great crisis, will ask-Have the native soldiers any just ground of complaint against their English masters? Have they been goaded by injustice and oppression to take this terrible revenge? Certainly not! No person acquainted with the facts of the case, and having the smallest regard for the truth, would describe the condition of the sepoy as one of hardship. The error of the Government has been on the other side. It has over indulged the sepoy, and he has become like a spoiled child. On such a question, however, the opinion of an humble Missionary may not appear to merit much attention; but the deliberate statement of the ex-Governor General of India, in an able state-paper, in which he reviewed the events of his remarkable administration, will be regarded by all impartial persons as decisive. His language is : "The position of the native soldier in India has long been such as to leave hardly any circumstance of his condition in need of improvement." In harmony with this is the testimony of Sir Henry Lawrence, the chief Commissioner of Oude,-a most able and energetic public officer, who has acted with distinguished ability since these troubles began. In a most suitable and stirring appeal addressed to the native troops at Lucknow, after the intelligence of the massacre had been received, he said, No other Government in the wide world treats its soldiers as the

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Company does every village, every community proclaims this fact;" and he added, that only the week before, in that very city, "300 men were called for, and 3,000, clamorous for service, eagerly rushed forward to partake of the bounty of Government." When the tidings of the munity reached the Punjab, a proclamation was made that the Government would entertain any number of Seikhs that might offer themselves, and thousands at once enrolled themselves under the banners of the Company. All this shows that the sepoys are not hardly or unjustly dealt with. It is clear that oppression has had nothing whatever to do with this fearful outbreak; and to patriotism the sepoys are entire strangers.

Different opinions are entertained as to the cause of this general revolt, and it is possible that something not yet known may be disclosed in the future; but one thing is always involved in the explanations offered, and it is remarkably worthy of attention. The brahmins are afraid that their caste is going, and that christianity is destined to prevail. Strangely enough, they suspect the Government of a design to destroy their ancient faith by craft and force. How was it to be accomplished? And what was the evidence that this was the intention of the ruling power? The Government was anxious to introduce a new rifle, much superior to the old one, but involving the use of a new style of cartridge. These cartridges were said by evil minded persons to be dipped in cow's grease for the Hindoos, and in swine's fat for the Mussulmans; and as every sepoy in loading would have to bite the greased cartridge, when once his lips had touched the paper, his caste, honour, religion, would be all gone; he would be degraded for this world, and ruined for the world to come. Such was the story, and though entirely without foundation it was readily and generally believed. The reader will be surprised to learn that not a single one of the new cartridges has been issued to a native soldier; but this is distinctly stated in a circular issued by the government. The suspicions of the native troops were wholly groundless; but this apparently trivial circumstance is generally regarded as the principal cause of the revolt.

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Other things must, however, be taken into account.. Discipline has not for some time past been maintained; and neither armies nor churches can answer the end for which they are designed without strict discipline. An army without it is a lawless rabble; and a church destitute of it would soon become more like a synagogue of Satan than a church of the Redeemer. Another thing too is very important to notice, for it has had largely to do with originating the present rebellion. Brahminism predominates in the Bengal army; and brahmins, like their father the devil, are everywhere and always bent on mischief. They live, move, and have their being in an element of deceit and malice. Competent judges have stated that of all castes the brahmin is the one most unfitted for a soldier." A medical officer who had many years experience in a regimental native hospital, makes the following observations: The brahmin is inferior in strength of constitution, and is less capable of enduring fatigue than the Mussulman or lower caste Hindoos. He is curning, scheming, and deceitful; and his unlimited influence over the inferior castes renders his powers of mischief unbounded. From the day that the brahmin enters the army, he looks upon his regiment as a sort of respectable alms house, where he is to live a life of gentlemanly ease, throwing upon the lower castes every duty that may appear to him arduous or disagreeable; whenever there happens to be a detachment ordered on command, inclement weather, or frequent parades,

the hospital is crowded with brahmins, who resort thither for the purpose of evading duty. The faithful European soldier when in hospital is put under stoppages, but the skulking brahmin eats in idleness the bread of the state, doing nothing in return. At the end of sixteen years' nominal service, if the brahmin be not a money-lender, or be not impelled by some other strong inducement to remain with his corps, he starves himself with a perseverance and tenacity of purpose that no European could endure, feigns night blindness, lumbago, deafness, or burns his lips and fingers that the new skin may appear like leprous spots: he is too often successful. The native invalid establishment swarms with impostors. Brahmins are also found in many regiments far exceeding the number limited by Government. Many others enlist under fictitious castes. Many of the finest men dare not enlist in native regiments on account of the persecution they would have to endure. This great preponderance of brahmins is one of the chief causes of discontent in our native army." These remarks were published in the Friend of India before the fatal 10th of May, and are therefore the more worthy of attention. It is well known that brahmins have been the principal actors in all the mischievous doings of the past few weeks. The knowledge of this is important, as it suggests a sweeping change that must be made so soon as these troubles are over. The Government must with a strong hand destroy the preponderance of brahminism in their native army, or they will prove unworthy of their trust.

It is right to add, that another explanation of this tremendous outbreak has been offered, perfectly compatible however with what has been said about the neglect of discipline and the influence of the brahmins. It is, that the sepoys have been incited to rebellion by emissaries in the pay of a foreign power. Clearly abundant evidence is furnished that a general rising was projected, having for its object the overthrow of the Government, and the murder of all the Europeans in India; but that any other power should have been a party to so diabolical a plot, I am as yet reluctant to believe. Granting that Russia has done much mischief in Asia as well as in Europe, and that most Indian politicians look with apprehension at the machinations of the Northern power, I can hardly think it right, on bare suspicion, to publish statements not warranted by facts: but time will clear up some things that at present appear strange and mysterious.

Let us learn in this day of darkness and gloom to acknowledge our dependance upon God. He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." And he can over-rule this fearful outbreak, in ways that we little anticipate, to the enlargement of his kingdom in this idolatrous land. In him let us trust and not be afraid. And let the disquietudes of the present state endear to us the blessed hope of being for ever with the Lord. No ruthless foe can invade that happy home which we hope soon to enter, and no deeds of violence will ever be known in that blissful abode. Scenes like those of the past few weeks may well lead the christian to sigh and say, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest."

Cuttack, June 13, 1857.

J. BUCKLEY.

REMINISCENCE OF MY GRANDFATHER.

VERY pleasant are the emotions excited by visiting places endeared by early associations and relative connections. Such were the feelings with which the writer visited Loughborough, the place of his nativity, and perambulated its streets during the late Association. Retaining a tolerably distinct recollection of what the town was fifty-seven or sixty years ago, he saw what, indeed, is obvious to a stranger, that a great part of it has been built, or greatly altered within that period. The houses in Swan Street, in which he lived sixty years ago, were generally thatched, like some specimens which yet remain about the Fishpool Head; and just beyond, on the Ashby Road, was a considerable sand bank, a favourite play place for children, called the cock-pit bank, taking its name from a small amphitheatre called the cock-pit, which had been built and furnished with a sodded middle and rising seats all round for the semi-barbarians of that age to enjoy the ignoble sport of cock-fighting.

Assuredly there is no cause to inquire why were the former days better than these, except a very low standard of morals and high church pretensions are the measure of excellency. Within the last fifty years many can testify that even in England, there has been much progress in true religion and civilization. Barbarous sports and their abettors, like wild beasts, have been extirpated or chased into solitude by an advancing population embued with the decent and ennobling observances of religion.

About the beginning of the present century I believe, a great part of Loughborough passed from its noble proprietor, Earl Moira, into the hands of numerous small owners, which has no doubt greatly contributed to its improvement. A little before that time the writer remembers being raised in the arms of his father to see the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., who had been received by the infantry volunteers, with Earl Moira at their head, in his progress from Castle Donington Hall.

After the Association, desirous of still further renewing an acquaintance with the scenes of childhood, I visited Barrow, my mother's native place, a village three miles S.E. of Loughborough, and famous as the birth-place of Bishop Beveridge, and still more for the excellent lime which is there obtained in great abundance. This lime has the quality of hardening under water, which renders it especially valuable for building bridges, cisterns, piers, &c. In these lime quarries are sometimes found valuable specimens of geological petrefactions. With this village I have been acquainted from. my earliest recollections, as there, with my mother, I visited her parents. From these associations beyond all others, the place is endeared to my memory. They give to it a kind of sacred interest, and more to me than classic ground, ise ground over which frequently traversed my mother. Deeply interesting too is the recollection of that placid, patient old man, John Hull, my grandfather; who, though quite blind before I knew him, was, and continued to be for many years, the clerk and sexton of the parish church. The duties connected with these offices he discharged with conscientious carefulness until the infirmities of age prevented, and in a manner so satisfactory, that at this day the aged inhabitants say they have never been better performed. A considerable part of the time of my acquaintance with him he was a widower, but though thus desolate, and by his blindness

secluded in a measure from society and from the world around him, he was generally placid and cheerful. His official duties were to him not only a means of subsistence, but of what in his circumstances was almost more important, a means of bodily and mental occupation.

The house in which he had lived I had no difficulty in finding, as there things are more stereotyped than in the town, and, by the kindness of the present occupant, I once more sat in the old house, and distinctly recognized the place where, before the present century, I was accustomed to stand between the knees of the good old man, and read to him out of the New Testament, and wonder by what mysterious faculty he could correct me when I was wrong. In the course of Divine Providence being removed to a considerable distance, it was only at intervals of years that I had the pleasure of visiting my aged relative. In one of these visits feeling anxious to know the ground of his hope of a better life to come, it was no small satisfaction to find that he was no mere formalist, depending on a regular and sober life for acceptance with God, but that he looked for the mercy of God unto eternal life, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. This assurance I had as the result of a rather lengthened but very pleasant conversation, which I introduced, not without considerable effort from a feeling of awe for the venerable old man. To this indeed I was probably somewhat emboldened from the knowledge that he had before predicted that John would be a preacher, a prediction which he lived to know was verified by John's preaching in the village before the erection of our little chapel there, and afterwards in the chapel, when the beloved predictor was invited to attend. From this however he excused himself by the plea that as it was a place with which he was unacquainted he should be troublesome to somebody to direct him; it is not unlikely too that there might be the unavowed feeling that this would be unpleasing to his church acquaintance. He is now gone and all that generation, and left us for a little while to accomplish as a hireling our day, and then be gathered to our people. A part of our service should be with pious reverence to perpetuate the memory of our righteous predecessors, that our children may be stimulated to follow ancestors that are passed into heaven. By these recollections we should be profitably reminded of the constant changes attendant on the flight of time. In a few years only how great the changes effected in places and persons. Every succeeding generation effects alterations on the habitations of their predecessors, which are upon the whole no doubt improvements, and show the marks of progress towards perfection; but they obliterate former traces, and in a short time make them forgotten. Time, as a rapid stream, is ever flowing on and bearing one generation after another beyond the sight, and soon beyond the remembrance of the living. A few only by diligent improvement of gifts and graces are favourably remembered beyond their own short day of life. This honour is especially connected with a course of righteousness and an earnest endeavour to serve their generation according to the will of God. Many cannot be distinguished for great and splendid achievements, but all may be good and useful in the sphere of their movement. Occasions of distinction do not occur to all, or they pass by unnoticed and unimproved, but opportunities of usefulness attend the most common walks of life. To improve these in an honourable measure great talents are not necessary, nor even sight or hearing, but honest intention and conscientious endeavour.