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The immediate cause of the Indian mutiny, as set forth in the official correspendence
Source: JSTOR Primary Sources , 01-01-1857
Contributed by: Crawshay, George
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/60229514

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ТНЕ ІММЕЮТАТЕ САОЗЕ

ОҒ

ТНЕ І№ОТАМ МОТІМҮ,

АВ ВЕТ ҒОВТН І№ ТНЕ

`ОҒЕҒІСІАІ СОБКВЕЗРОХОЕХСЕ.

ВУ СЕО. СВАУМЗНАҮ, ЕЅ$0).

Т МАҮОВ ОҒ ФАТЕВНЕАр.
А 1ОТОВЕ РЕШУЕВЕО АТ ТНЕ МЕОНАМІОВ ІХ8ТІТОТІОМ, #АТЕВНЕАр, ОЖ
ҮТЕОМЕВОрАУ ЕУНХІХ@, ХОУЕМВЕВ 4тн, 1857.

«Тог Оапшіпр, Һав вһоула гопдһоиӱ ФҺә әтеабәвӱ сошгаре, Һә ргеаевӱ

аһу, апа ө дтеабевһ гөвопгсев,”—Гогӣ Раїтегвіоп аб Ње Мапгіоп
Ноизе, опетћет 8.

ТОХООК: ЕКҒІХСНАМ ҮУШВОХ, ВОЎАІ, ЕХСНАХСЕ,

праек

| {й (МЕАЗІТ
| ОР ВВІСТО.
ВВА.

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Newcastle-upon-Tyne :

Printed at the Journal Office, Grey Street,

by Andrew Carr.

£
a!

X m / (À i GES f- /#
v

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“In general the English have paid very great attention
to the jurisprudence and civil legislation of India, as the funda-
mental principle of their Indian government is to rule that country
according to its own laws, customs, and privileges ; while, on the
contrary, the other European powers that once had obtained a firm
footing in India, formed alliances with, and attached themselves by
preference to, the Mahometan. sovereigns of the country. By this
simple but enlightened principle in their Indian poliċy and ad-
ministration, the English have obtained the ascendency over alt
their rivals or opponents, and have become complete masters of the
whole of this splendid region.”—FREDERICK VON SCHLEGEL. Lec-
tures on the Philosophy of History, 1828.

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LECTURE.

Mr. J. B. Prockter having been called to the chair,

in the course of a brief address, said that they could not but
respect the Mayor for the trouble he took in obtaining and
giving information on matters of public importance, aud the
interest he took in the affairs of this rising country.
The Mayor of Gateshead.—Ladies and gentlemen, my
friend, Mr. Prockter, has been kind enough to say that he
gave me credit for taking an interest in the affairs of this
rising country. Iam afraid that the interest which I take
arises from the painful feeling that possibly this is a falling
country. The mutiny of the Bengal army isa great danger
in itself ; but, in my opinion, it is a less danger than that
arising from the ignorance of the people of England as to its
causes. Ihave made it my duty to inquire into those causes,
and my object to-night is to explain what they are. I have
found no difficulty whatever in ascertaining them, I have
only had to make reference to certain official documents which
were laid before the House of Commons in July of this year;
the information contained in which is so clear, that I hold it
to be impossible for two men to look one another in the face,
after reading thom, and so much as express a doubt as to
what has been the cause of these disasters. You have
heard probably something about greased cartridges. What I
shall state to you to-night will show that, whatever other
causes of disaffection there may be in India, there are no
sound reasons for the belief that this mutiny would have oc-
curred, unless there had existed in the mind of the
Hindoo a panic or belief that his religion was to be inter-
fered with, and that this was to be done.by means of the
greased cartridge. That you may understand the case,
it is necessary, before I commence an examination of
the official documents, that I should say a few words as to
the nature of caste, and what is meant by losing caste in
B

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2

India. This is indeed very necessary, as it is often

spoken of at present in the most flippant and care-
less manner. Itis gravely alleged, asa chief fault of the
East India Company, that they have made it a rule of govern-
ment to respect the religion of the Hindoos ; and people talk
of abolishing caste, as if it were the simplest matter in the
world ! We in England talk of losing it; but that is a
misuse of words by which we are misled as to what
losing caste means in India. When we use the ex-
pression, we only mean that a man falls from a higher to
a lower station ; consequently we apply the phrase to the
country whence we got it in the same trivial sense. Caste
is not even a Hindoo word, but a Portuguese word, signify-
ing race. Losing caste #n India is equivalent to excom-
munication in a Roman Catholic country, or rather to what
excommunication was in the old days of the Roman Catholic
Church, when it carried with it the penalties of contempt
and persecution in this world, and damnation in the next.
The division into castes is not confined to India, but existed
among other ancient nations; and a Hindoo, when he
commits an act by which he loses caste, does not fall
from a higher caste to a lower, —he does not, from a Brahmin,
become a Sudra, but is shut out from all fellowship with
any Hindoo. A man who loses his caste loses his home ;
his family and friends cannot speak or sit with him. He be-
comes a most miserable being during his life on this earth,
and in his own belief is condemned to perdition in the
next. This dreadful penalty falls upon the Hindoo in
consequence of offences equivalent to the mortal sins of the
Roman Catholic Church. Many offences may be committed
not entailing this penalty; but there are some for which no
forgiveness can be hoped. Ofthese some are moral, and
some ceremonial observances. In this respect the Hin-
doos are like the Jews of old. There are some few obser-
vances of a ceremonial character, the violation of which
stands upon the same level in the minds of the people
as moral sins. Amongst these the most prominent
are the prohibitions as to food. The eating of any-
thing forbidden is defilement. The cow is the sacred
animal of the Hindoos,—the pig is alike unclean to
Hindoos and Mussulmen. Grease of cows and pigs,
strikes at both, and for the Hindoo to put such sub-
stance to his lips is to commit one of the mortal sins ;
any Hindoo will rather suffer death than submit to it;
and an order to do so is one which could no more be obeyed

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8

by a Hindoo than could be an order toa Roman Catholic

regiment to feed their horses with the holy water. I
will not allow this to rest upon my word, I will put in evi-
dence: the whole hinges upon this. Col. Sykes, the first
witness whom I shall call, was the Chairman of the Bast
India Company last year. He has spent the greatest
part of his life in India ; there is no authority higher than
his. In a letter to the Times, dated October 8th, Colonel
Sykes, after showing that the Sepoys are willing to make
many concessions, proceeds to explain that there are
points which they cannot concede, and to attempt to
exact which must bring about such results as we have
seen. He states —
“After the perusal of the above memorandum it will very
naturally be asked what more could be desired or expected from native
soldiers, and what possible cause or causes can there be to drive such
men into mutiny—into the vengeful massacre of their European
officers—into an utter recklessness with respect to their immediate and
future personal interests, involving the loss of employment and the
loss of provision in old age, of their liberal pensions from Government
—and into exposing themselves to the risk of a direful retributive
vengeance. There must, then, be some fatal, imperative, and irresisti-
ble obligation to produce such results. Sir, any one but a sciolist in
ii R T
the knowledge of Asiatic beliefs, customs, and usages, replies that
external bodily defilement is removed by ablutions and oblations, but

offender to excommunication and degradation, than which death is

preferable, for his parents, his brothers, and his friends, can neither
eat nor smoke with him, nor let him drink out of their water yessels.
He is become an out-caste. Heis condemned to contempt in this
world, and his soul is damned ın the next. Now, itis very lamentable
that in this age of reason such stern obligations should be accepted by
human beings, and be operative ; but they exist,—there they are as
great facts. So itis lamentable that hostile religions should exist;
but there they are, and always have been—great facts which produced
the conflicts of the Homoousians and the Homoiousians in our early
church, Bartholomew’s Eve, De Montford’s bloody doings at Carcas-
sone, Anabaptist atrocities at Munster, our Smithfield fires, Irish
massacres, and, even in those days, threatened bloodshed at Belfast,
Nor are alimentary laws of modern origin. We find that the Egyp-
tians could not eat with the sons of Jacob because “ that was an abo-
mination to the Egyptians ;” the Jews equally were debarred by their
usages from eating with the Gentiles, as is attested by St. Peter's
vision of the sheet full of animals, and the command, ‘“ Rise, kill, and
eat,” and St. Peter’s reply of “Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten
anything that is common or unclean.” Acts x, 11—15, and at verse
28, St. Peter adds, “ Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a
man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another
nation.” With such precedents in our own Sacred Volume, we can
the more readily understand the food obligations of the Hindoos,
which, however, have, no doubt, increased in stringency with the
growth of Brahminical influence since the Christian era.”

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5

These religious scruples were in existence in the time

ofAlexander the Great. They are much older than the
days of Menu; are so old that nobody knows their origin.
If you put four or five thousand years down for their anti-
quity, it may not be far from the mark ; and, when we con-
sider that these observances are regarded as of the most
stringent character, and are of such antiquity, itis easy to
see that they must have become so fixed in the minds of
the people as not to be easily removed. … Nor is there any
reason why they should be, since it does not hurt anybody
else, if a man wishes to abstain from certain kinds of food.

There has been published a letter from a Highlander

of the 78th Regiment, in India, which had been out one
night burning villages. The story he tells is painful to read,
` and I wish to enter to-night into no details of atrocities
either on one side or the other. I merely tell you that he
went amongst the flames, and succeeded in rescuing a few
poor people, who would otherwise have perished in them.
He rescued a female, an old man, and a child or two. He
then says :—
“I wentin at the other end of the village and came across a woman
about twenty-two yêars old. She was sitting overa man that, to all
appearance, would not see the day out. She was wetting his lips with
some siste. The fire was comiug fast, and the others all round were
in flames. Not far from this I saw four women, I ran up to them,
and asked them to come and help the sick man and woman out, but
they thought they had enough to do, and so they had, poor things;
but, to save the woman and the dying man, I drew my bayonet, and
told them if they did not I would kill them. They came, carried
them out, and laid them undera tree. I left them. To look on, any
one would have said that the flames were in the clouds. When I
went to the other side of the village there were about one hundred
and forty women and about sixty children, all crying and lamenting
what had been done. The old woman of thatsmall family I took out
came, and I thought she would have kissed the ground I stood on. I
offered them some biscuit I had for my day’s rations ; but they would
not take it ; it would break their caste, they said. The ‘assemble’
sounded, and back I went, with as many blessings as they could pour
out on anything nearest their heart.’

These poor perishing creatures, naked and faint, would

not take the food offered to them, when “it would break
their caste !” This will be new to you, but these things are
not unknown to any man connected with India. The East
India Company always understood this, and this has been
the one thing by which they have been enabled to maintain
their: power. India never could have been acquired at all
if it had not been a settled point that the feelings of the

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9

It was a matter of belief, a suspicion in their minds,

that constituted the danger. They had been told by
the Hindoos working in the arsenal at Calcutta, that
the cartridges had been so greased, and the thing for the
Government to do was to deal with their minds so as to

remove the suspicion. In a letter to the Times, Major-

General Tucker actually says :—
“Tf the recommendation addressed by me, under the authority
of the then Commander-in-Chief to the Government of India in 1858,
had not been most culpably disregarded, the existing disaffection
among the native troops would never have arisen—not, at least, as
connected with the greasing of cartridges ; for in that year, when some
rifle ammunition was sent out to India from this country, and certain
experiments in connexion with it were ordered, occasion was taken in
my office urgently to recommend to the Government, that, “in the
greasing composition nothing should be used which could possibly offend
the caste or religious prejudices of the natives !” That recommendation
was addressed under my signature as Adjutant-General to the Military
Secretary of the Government ; it must obviously have been entirely
disregarded.”
He adds :—

“T do not presume to say with whom specifically the blame of

this most culpable neglect may rest,—only investigation can settle that
point ; but I conceive that either the Military Secretary or the officer
presiding in chief over the Ordnance Department in Calcutta is, one
or both, the party implicated. As far as I can learn with accuracy at
this distance, tłhe ferment existing arose, first, from the glaring error of
greasing cartridges in the Calcutta arsenal, after the English receipt,
with tallow 3 and, secondly, in issuing to the native troops, similarly
greased cartridges, sent out direct from England, but which ought, of
course, only to have been issued to the European troops. Itappears truly
wonderful that it should not have occurred to any of the authorities
in Calcutta, charged with the issuing of these cartridges, that tallow
made of the fat of all kinds of animals, a filthy composition at the best,
would seriously outrage the feelings and prejudices of all the native
troops, whether Moslems or Hindoos. My humble opinion is, that the

section 2, Military Regulations). Grease composed of mutton fat and

wax. Will not your present instructions make the Sepoys suspicious about
what hitherto they have not hesitated to handle? Fresh orders are solicited in
reply.”

< The Secretary to the Government of India to the Adjutant-General of the

Army, Meerut. |
““ (Telegraphic.) “ Calcutta, January 29, 1857.
“In reply to your message of the 28th, the existing practice in greasing
cartridges for rifles may be continued, if the materials are mutton fat and wax.
Further orders will be given, and explanations will follow by post.”—Blue
Book, page 18. ! |
Nore.—These clearly indicate that on January 80th the suspicion
as to the cartridges had not reached Meerut,
C

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10

Government of India should have insisted on learning with whom

„ rested the blame of the grave errors committed. And the facts of the
case having been ascertained, a frank explanation should have been
issued for the information of the native troops. By such a course the
European officers would have been armed with a truthful and candid
explanation ; whereas now, in fact, the officers themselves do tot in
general know exactly how or in what manner the greasing process
originated.”

This course of the Government bore its legitimate fruit :

suspicion was not removed but strengthened.

_ On February 3rd the new cartridges were shewn to

the men, and they objected to the paper :—

Captain Boswell to the Major of Brigade.

“ Barrackpore, February 4, 1857.
“ S1R,—I have the honor to report that in obedience to instruc-
tions contained in a note of yesterday’s date, from the Brigadier com-
manding the station to the address of officers commanding regiments at
the station, I yesterday afternoon at a parade of the wing under my
command, had fully explained to the men of the wing that the car-
tridges for the new rifles were’ to be made up exactly like the five
produced on parade, and of the same paper as that sent with the car-
tridges, and that the Sepoys would dip the cartridges themselves in
Wax and oil before using them.
“T took the cattridges into the ranks, and showed them to the
men (having one broken open) ; and upon my asking several of the
men, here and there in the ranks, if they could see anything objec-
tionable in them, and their reply, made in the most ciìvil but soldier-
like manner, was that the paper was not the same as that used for the
old cartridges, and 'that they thought there was'something in it.
' “T deem it my duty to report this circumstance for the informa-
tion of the Brigadier Còmmanding, as I imagine there will be no diffi-
culty in substituting the ol cartridge paper for that made use of in
the édnstrůction ofthe new cartridges.
I have, &c.

“N, €. BOSWELL, Captain Commanding Left

Wing 2nd Grenadiers.”
[Blue Book, page 14.

An inquiry was made on the 6th, the result of which

was communicated on the 8th to the government at Calcutta
by Major-General Hearsey :—
“ Major-General Hearsey to the Deputy Adjutant General of the
Army.

“ Bairaekpore, February 7, 1857.

“Srm, —With reference to my official letter to your addrëss,
Gated the 24th ultio, I have now the honor to forward, for submis-
'sion to the Government, the proceedings of a special Court of Inquiry

taining from the evidence ofa selected portion of the 2nd Native Grena-
‘dier Regiment the cause of their continued objection to the paper of
which the new rifle cartridges are composed. :

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11

“2. A perusal of the several statements and opinions. recorded .

in these proceedings clearly establishes, in my judgment, that a most
unreasonable and unfounded suspicion has unfortunately taken posses-
sion of the minds of all the native officers and Sepoys at this station,
that grease or fat is used in the composition of this cartridge paper;
and this foolish idea is now so rooted in them, that it would, I am, of
opinion, be both idle and unwise even to attenpt its removal,
“8. I would accordingly beg leave to recommend for the consi-
deration of Government, the expediency (if practicable) of ordering this
rifle ammunition to be made up of the same description of paper which
has been hitherto employed in the magazines for the preparation of
the comnion musket cartridge, by which means: this groundless sus-
picion and objection could be at once disposed of.
“I have, &c.
“J. B. HEARSEY, Major-General, Com-
manding Presidency Division.
[Blue Book, page 13.1]

The paper was of a yellow colour, glazed, and had the

appearance of being greased, and Maior-General Hearsey, as
a sensible officer, who did not wish to offend the soldier on a

matter of no consequence, recommended a change of paper,

passages :—
with a view to remove suspicion. I cannot read all the evi-
dence that was taken on this inquiry, but give some

“ Byjonath Pandie, Sepoy, 5th Company, 2nd Grenadier Regi-

ment, appears in Court, and voluntary states as follows :—
“ Q. Were you on parade on the evening of the 4th instant, when
the new cartridges were shown to the men of the regiment ?—4. I wa».

“Q. Did you make any objection to the mateyials of which those
cartridges were composed 2—4, I felt some suspicion in regard to the
paper, it it might not affect my caste.

“Q. Wha’ reason have you to suppose that there is anything in

the paper which would injure your caste ?—A. Because it is a new

haye not seen before.

description of paper of which the cartridges are made up, and which I

report. ,
“Q. Have you ever seen, or heard from any one, that the paper
is composed of anything which is objectionable to your caste #—A, I
heard a report that there was some fat in the paper ; it was a bazaar

Pa Q., Ave these the cartridges and paper which you examined on
parade (the paper and cartridges shown to the witness) #—A. Yes,”
“ Chaud Khan, Sepoy, 7th Company, 2nd Grenadier Regiment,
voluntarily states as follows :— ,
“Q. Do you object to the paper of which the new cartridges were
made, now lying before the Court ; and if so, on what grounds 1—4,
E have no objection to the bullet powder ; it is only the paper which
I have doubts about, which appears to be tough, and on burning it it
smėlls as if there was grease in it. i :
“Q. Were you present when a piece of the paper was burnt,
and when 4. On the evening of the 4th instant apiece of the cart-
ridge paper was dipped in water and afterwards burnt. Whenburn-
ing it made a phizzing noise, and smelt as if there was grease in it.

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14

to wonder at anything. The biting of the cartridge

was necessary when the old flint and steel firelock
was in use; but, since the substitution of the percussion
musket for the old firelock, cartridge biting had been
unnecessary. Major Bontein, at Dum Dum, on March 2nd,
writes to the Government :—

“ Permit me to quote the regulation as it now stands :—

“ * The firelock bheing at the word ‘prepare to load’ placed on
the ground six inches in front of the body, and held at the full extent
of the left arm, the recruit receives the order ‘load ;” upon which the
regulation says, first bring the cartridge to the mouth, holding it ‘ be-
tween the forefinger and thumb, with the ball in the hand, and bite
off the tap, elbow close to the body.”
“ The above regulation is at present in force, but I would sub-
mit that the practice of biting the cartridge is a mere remnant of the
platoon exercise introduced in the days of the flint and steel firelock,
when the musket being brought to the right side with the left hand,
for the purpose of priming, it was almost impossible to use the cart-
ridge without the aid of the teeth.”

He further says :—

<“ I would suggest that, at the third motion of the order, ‘ pre-
pare to load,’ the left hand, instead of holding the musket at the full
extent of the arm, should, after placing it on the ground in front of $
the body, slip up and seize the rifle at the brass band, or tip to the
stock ;'it will then bein a position to meet the right hand, which con-
veys the cartridge from the pouch, to tear off the cartridge-paper in
płace of using the teeth, and (at the fourth motion of the word * load,’
when the right hand seizes the head of the ramrod) to return to the
centre part of the stock; ready to throw up the firelock into the í cap-
ping position’ at the sixth command of the platoon exercise. The
above suggestion I offer with every deference to the judgment of
superior experience. Z do not, in the least, intend to consult the caprice
of the native soldier ; my motive is an increase of efficiency.”

Mark the concluding passage, that the substitution of

tearing for biting the cartridge would be an increase of
efficiency. Major Bonten dared not offer his.suggestion
to Lord Cannimg on the ground of sparing the religious
feelings of the Sepoys. The Government at Calcutta
could not resist Lieut,-Colonel Hogge and Major Bontein,
and issued this order :—

“This mode the Governor-General in Council is disposed to

think will be an improvement, and should his Excellency concur, his
Lordship in Council requests that early instructions may be given to the
several depots of instructions, n0t making any allusion whatever to thé
Biting of the cartridge, but drawn up in such a way that they may ap-
pear to be independent of anything laid down in previous regula-

“The Governor-General in Council considers that it would be

best to make the alteration before any objection is raised, and, there-
fore, requests his Excellency’s early attention to the subject.

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15

< Instructions have been issued confidentially to the depot of

instruction at Dum Dum, to defer the use of ammunition pending the
reference to his Excellency.—I am, &c.
“R. J. H. BIRCH, Colonel.”
[Blue Book, page 35.]

Major-General Hearsey, writing on the same day, the

5th March, to the Government, says :—

“ The new mode of loading may be considered asa part of the

intended drill for a new weapon about to be introduced into the service,
and not as a concession emtorted by discontented men.”

He adds :—

“ We shall thus be keeping our word with the Sepoys, and, at the

religious scruples.” :
same time introducing a better plan of loading with reference to their

This order of the 5th of March was concealed from

the Sepoys. The order was not acted upon.
I have gone in point of date, beyond other events of
very great consequence. On the 26th February, occurred

the conduct of Government at this juncture everything

depended. The men at Berhampore were only 100 miles
further up the Ganges, and the alarm which commenced at
—
Barrackpore had spread there. The inquiry held on the
6th, at Barrackpore, clearly showed that the Sepoys ob-
jected to cartridges of a certain paper and colour. The
mutiny occurred at Berhampore, on the 26th, upon this
very point. Here I must read you a document of

Says:—
some length, viz. the petition of the 19th Regiment
for mercy, first giving you the Governor-General’s ad-
mission that they had stated the facts correctly. He

“ Upon the whole, the petition contains a fair account of what

took place on the occasion of the outbreak, the main points being
borne out by the evidence at the Court of Inquiry.”—Minute of the
Governor-General in Council of March 27th, page 50, Blue Book.

“ Petition to the Major-General Oommanding the Division, inclosed

by Colonel Mitchell.

AT
“ (Translation.) “ March 2nd.
“ Hitherto this regiment has’ been always obedient in every way,
and marched and halted wherever ordered, without question of any
sort. For the last two months or more it bas been rumoured that
new cartridges have been made in the magazine at Calcutta, on the
paper of which bullock’s or pig’s fat was spread, and thatit waus the
intention of Government to coerce the men to bite them. On this
account we were very much afraid on the store of our religion. The
Colonel on hearing this assembled the native’ officers, and told them
that on the arrival of the new muskets he would make such arrange-

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16

ments as would satisfy them ; that is to say, that such grease as was
necessary should þe prepared before the Sepoys by the Pay Havildars
of companies ; with this we were perfectly satisfied. After some time
some fresh stores arrived from Calcutta, and on the 26th of this month
we reeceivd orders on the following day to fire fifteen rounds of blank
cartridge per man ; at 4 o’clock in the afternoon the cartridges were
received at the bells of arms and inspected by us; we perceived them
to be of two kinds, and one sort appeared to be different from that
formerly served out. Hence we doubted whether these might not be
the cartridges which had arrived from Calcutta, as we had made none
ourselves, and were convinced that they were greased. On this account,
and through religious scruples, we refused to take the caps.”

Bear in mind, that if the men /ad a design and A

wanted to fight they would not have refused to take the
caps. It goes on :—

“At half-past 7 o'clock, the Colonel, accompanied by the Adju-

jutant, came upon parade, and very angrily gave orders to us,saying, ‘ If
you will not take the cartridges I will take you to Burmah where
through hardship you will all die. These cartridges are those left be-
hind by the 7th Native Infantry, and I will serve them out to-morrow
morning by the hands of the officers commanding companies’. He
gaye this order so angrily that we were convinced that the cartridges
were greased, otherwise he would not have spoken so. The same
night, about a quarter to 11, shouts of various kinds were heard, some
said there’s a fire, others that they were surrounded by Europeans,
some said that the guns had arrived, others that the cavalry had ap-
peared. In the midst of this row the alarm sounded on a drum, then
from fear of our lives the greater number seized their arms from the
khotes.”

Colonel Mitchell had previously sent an order for

horses and artillery to be there in the morning with a view
of coercing the men, who were to be made to bite the
cartridge. The men heard of this, and flew to arms. The
narrative proceeds :—

“Between 12 and 1 o’clock the 11th Irregular Cavalry, and the

guns with torches, arrived on the parade with the commanding officer,
which still more confirmed our suspicions of the cartridges being
greased, inasmuch as the commanding officer appeared to be about to
carry his threat into execution by force. We had been- hearing of this
sort of thing for the last two months or more, and here appeared to
be the realization of it. On this the Colonel called all the Native
officers, and said to them very angrily, ‘lhis is a very bad business ;
we don’t fear to die and will die here.” Then the Native officers, in
the most respectful manner, represented to him, the Sepoys are fools,
whereas you have sense and judgment ; do not at this time speak so
angyily, for this is a matter affecting their religion, and that is no
slight thing. Please to send the artillery and cavalry away. The
Colonel agreed to this and sent each officer with his Native officer to

sented that all men value their religion, and we believe we shall lose
caste by biting the cartridges ; and on seeing the artillery and cavalry

mma

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18

In this critical month of March, they had laid before

tance, that biting the cartridges should ke dispensed with :

a few days before they had learnt of the outbreak at
Berhampore. Government could not refuse to abolish the
biting of the cartridges, yet could not allow the order
not to bite them to be read at the head of every regi-
ment, and at the same time disband the 19th Regiment.
What they did do was to keep secret the concession,
and publicly to disband. The disbanded Sepoy is reduced
to beggary and starvation. The news spread all through
India. The order disbanding them was read at the head of
every regiment. The Sepoys heard nothing at all about
the not-biting, but all of the biting of the cartridge, and,
consequently, a panic spread that the Government was
determined to make them, at all costs, bite the cartridges,
or disband them, as it had done the 19th. (Applause)
The 19th Regiment was removed to Barrackpore, to be dis-
banded in the face of all the regiments that could be gathered
from far and near. But, two days before the 19th got there,
a mutiny of the 34th Regiment had broken out at Barrack-
pore, because the 19th was to be disbanded. The 84th
was the regiment which Lieutenant-Col. Wheeler was en-
deavouring to convert to Christianity. Youmayimagine the
effect of a Protestant Colonel denouncing the Roman
Catholic religion to a Roman Catholic regiment. Two

a man hitherto of good character, appeared in a state of

religious frenzy before the lines, shooting at every one near
till he was arrested. He was tried and hung, of course.
The man was in no plot, but simply excited by the fear of
the greased cartridges. There was a general indisposition
on the part of the men to arrest him, and the consequence
was that another man was tried and hung for not arresting
him. An inquiry was ordered into the state of the regi-
ment, and the result was an order condemning the Colonel
and disbanding the regiment.
It has been said that the mutiny was the result of a
“Mahommedan conspiracy.” That, 4f it were so, would
not alter the facts just stated; but the Blue Book proves
the contrary. The question for us to` consider is what
drove the mento do what they did? All the officers of
the 84th Regiment examined testify that they would trust
the Sihks and Mahommedans of the regiment : their evi-
dence is thus summed up at the conclusion of the inquiry :

anem SEa amami mmi pmm

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19

: “ April 17th. '

“The Court, upon the additional evidence before them, adhere
to their former opinion, viz. :—
“< That the Sikhs and Mussulmans of the 34th Regiment Native
Infantry are trustworthy soldiers of the State, but that the Flindoos
generally of that corps are not trustworthy.’
“C. GRANT, Brigadier, President.
“E. AMSINCK, Brevet Colonel, Member.
“C. S. REID, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel, Member,
“H. W.MATTHEWS, Major, Member.
“ W. A. COOKE, Major, Member.
“ GEO. N. GREENE, Captain,
Conducting the Proceedings.
“J. B. HEARSEBY, Major-General,
[Blue Book, page 148.] Commanding Presidency Division.

On May the 4th, Lord Canning issued a general

order disbanding the 34th Regiment. Now I told you be-
fore that the order abolishing the biting of the cartridge
had not been read to the regiments, but that the general

heađ of every regiment. In the same way, Lord Canning

directed that the order of May 4th disbanding the 84th
should be read at the head of every regiment. But I can-
not say that did any harm, because by the time it could
have been read there were no regiments to read it to. On
May 4th, the very date on which the 84th was ordered to
be disbanded, and the order of disbandment ordered to be
read to every regiment of the service, at that very date, a
letter was written from Lucknow with the news of a mutiny
there.’ All this time, ever since the disbandment of the
19th Regiment at the end of March, the disbanded Sepoys
had been on the road, and by this time the panic as to the
cartridges, which in January had been confined to the
neighbourhood of Calcutta, had spread from one end to the
other of the Bengal Presidency. At Lucknow, on May 4th,
the following despatch was written :—
“ The Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Oude to the Secretary
to the Government of India.

“ S1R,—I am directed to report, for the information of the

Governor-General in Counci), that on the 2nd instant the 7th Oude
Regiment, stationed seven miles from the Lucknow Cantonments,
refused to bite the cartridge when ordered by its own officers, and
again by the Brigadier. It was ordered to parade on the 4th. On the
3rd several symptoms of disaffection appeared. At 4P.. the Brigadier
reported itin a very mutinous state. Instantly, a field battery, a wing
of Her Majesty’s 32nd, one of the 48th and 71st Native Infantry, and
of the 7th Cavalry, the 2nd Oude Cavalry and 4th Oude Infantry,
marched against it. The regiment was found perfectly quiet ; formed
line from column at the order, and expressed contrition. But when

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20

the meñ saw guns drawn up against them, half their body broke and
fled, throwing down their arms. The Cavalry pursued and brought up
some of them. The arms were collected and brought away, and tHe
Regulars were withdrawn. The disarmed 7th were directed to return
to their lines, and recall the runaways. They were informed by Sir
Henry Lawrence, that Government would be asked to disband the
corps ; but that those found guiltless might be re-enlisted.”
I have, &c.,
“GEORGE COUPER.”
[Blue Book, page 209.]

On the 5th March the biting had been abolished ! Can

anything go beyond that ? The men of Oude two months
after the date of that order are ordered “ to bite,” and there-
upon. Lord Canning says, in his Minute of May 10th :—

<“ This despatch from the Chief Commissioner in Oude reports

the outbreak of a mutinous spirit in the 7th Regiment of Oude Ir-

EHEN
em. Infantry and their refusal to use the cartridge furnished to

It was no unconscious man who altered the minute

word of the despatch “bite” unto the word of similar dimen-
sions “use.” He continues :—
“I see no reason in the tardy contrition of the regiment for
hesitating to confirm the punishment of all who are guilty. I would,
therefore, support the Chief Commissioner at once. ,I think it better,
however, that the disbandment, to whatever length it may be carried,
should be real.”

Now mark the concluding paragraph t

“It appears that the revised instructions for the platoon exer-
cise, by which the biting of the cartridge is dispensed with, had not
come into operation at Lucknow, when the event took place. Expla-
nation of this should be asked.”—Blue Book, page 210.

Not one word is there in this book in answer.

Mr. Dorin, Member of Council, says :—

“ The biting of the cartridge can only have been an excuse for
mutiny, since I presume it is certain that no new rifles or greased car-
tridges have been served out to this local corps.”

Major-General Low says :—

“TI cannot say with much precision all that ought, in my opinion
to be done by orders of the Government, especially as it appears to
me, that probably the main body of this regiment, in refusing to bite
the cartridges, did so refuse, not from any feeling of disloyalty or
disaffection towards the Government or their officers, but from an
unfeigned and sincere dread, owing to their belief in the late rumours
about the construction of those cartridges, that the act of biting them
would involve a serious injury to their caste and to their future respec-
tability of character. Jn short, that if they were to bite these car-
tridges they would be guilty of a heinous sin in a religious point of
view.?”-—Blue Book, page 211. :

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Major-General Low, admitting that the men refused to

bite the cartridges because they would be guilty of a heinous
sin, would punish them for refusing !
Mr. Grant, in his minute, says :—
“TI agree with my honourable colleague, General Low, in
thinking it probable that the main body of these men may have
refused to bite the cartridges, not from any feeling of disaffection, but
from an unfeigned dread of losing caste, engendered by the stories
regarding cartridges, which have been running like wildfire through
the country lately. Sepoys are, in many respects, very much like
children, and acts which, on the part of European soldiers, would be
proof of the blackest disloyalty, may have a different significance,
when done by these credulous and inconsiderate, but generally not
ill-disposed beings. These men, taken from the late Oude army, can
have learned as yet little of the vigour of British discipline ; and,
although there can be no doubt that the cartridges which they refused
to bite were not the new cartridges for the Enfield musket, which, by
reason of the very culpable conduct of the Ordnance Department, have
caused all this excitement ; yet it may be presumed, that they were
the first cartridges that these men were ever required to bite in their
lives. Also, there is no saying what extreme mismanagement there
may have been on the part of the Commandant and Officers in the origin
of the affair ; the mere fact of making cartridge-biting a point after it
had been purposely dropped from the authorized system of drill, merely
for rifle practice, is a presumption for any imaginable degree of perverse
management.” —Blue Book, page 212.

Nevertheless Mr. Grant condemns the Sepoy to dis-

bandment!- Whilst these events were occurring in Oude,
vthe like was taking place at Meerut. In the first instance,
seventeen recruits at Meerut were dismissed the service
for refusing to use the cartridge, and complaints were sent
from head-quarters to Meerut that those men had not been
sufficiently punished :—

“ Docket af a Letter dated May Bth, 1857, from the Adjutant-General

of the Army to the Secretary to the Government of India.

“ To prevent vague and exaggerated accounts of the mutinous

conduct of some of the troops at Meerut, intimates that eighty-five
out of the ninety men of the 3rd Light Cavalry armed with carbines
having refused to receive the cartridges tendered to them, the Com-
mander-in-Chief has ordered the trial of the whole of them by general
court-martial, and a squad of artillery recruits (seventeen in number)
having also refused they were at once summarily dismissed by the
officer commanding the artillery at the station, a punishment which the
OCommander-in-Chief considers to be incommensurate to the, offence, and

his Bacellency has caused the authorities concerned to be informed that

the recruits should have been instantly placed in confinement in view to
their trial by court-martial.” —Blue Book, page 175. ;

there What
were oordered
in a few daysthe? cartridge;
to use Ninety of 85
therefused
troops !
They were tried by court martial, and condemned to im-

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22
EKEN

pisent in irons for ten years.* (Cries of “ shame.” )

his was on the 9th of May. On the 10th May the
rest of the regiment.rose in revolt, broke open the gaol,
liberated their comrades and 1,200 felons besides. From
that time everything was confusion, and rebellion was
enacted from Calcutta to Lahore. A gentleman in this'room
wrote these words in the Morning Herald, of 22nd Au-

“Once put forth your hand, and touch what the Asiatic con-
siders the ark of his honour, and you will have precisely what Russra
REQUIRES, scenes like those of the Vellore Mutiny, enacted from Calcutta

But the story of infatuation is not yet completed.

I must call your attention to the conduct of the Indian

28th— (recollect the expressions of March 5th with regard to

the biting of the, cartridge, “a mere change of drill, with no
appearance of concession to discontented men”)—mark now
the conduct of the Indian Government when the Sepoys had
risen in revolt. On May 28th, a circular is issued recounting

* “I have (observes Col. Sykes) no hesitation in saying, from my

personal knowledge of the classes of men constituting the Bengal army,
that a similar and equally sudden revolt might have occurred at any time
in the last hundred years had the same dangerous religious chord been
touched by rough and imprudent hands, as has been done, recently, and this,
too, although there had not been a missionary in India.. It will be observed
from the Parliamentary papers that the first uneasy feeling about the greåásed
cartridges was manifested in January ; regiments mutinied and were disbanded
in March and April, and without indications of combined hostile feelings
against their European officers; and it was not until the 10th of May at Meerut,
after the 85 troopers had been condemned en masse to ten years’ imprigonment
in irons, with hard labour, as felons, for refusing to use suspected cartridges,
that the Sepoys, for the first time in a hundred years, in combination, lifted their
hands in exasperation against their officers to massacre them. Z%e shock of
the punishment was electric throughout 80,000 men ; each Sepoy made the
troopers case his own-—it was resistance or supposed degradation, and, from
that moment, a Bengal Sepoy was not to be trusted. * * * I mustprotest
against the doctrine that a Sepoy army is not to be trusted for the future. Only
respect their religious prejudices and keep faith with them, and you ensure
fidelity. It is physically impossible that our small islands with their population
of 28 millions can afford a perennial supply of troops to keep in subjection 181
millions of people, dispersed over an area of 1,466,576 square miles. * *
It is attributed to the Sepoys that they are using the greased cartridges
against us, and consequently their objection to them is a subterfuge. The fact
is, they have neither the Enfield rifle nor the greased cartridges, but are using
‘ Brown Bess’ and the usual musket ammunition. Lastly, the public should
know that the original phases of the military revolt haye passed away, and that
we haye now to contend with a Mahommedan conspiracy, ramifying throughout

implacaþble enemies.” ;
India, and that the Sepoys are merely tools in the hands of our ancient and

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23

what the Government Aad: done to quiet the minds of the

Sepoys, when the following information is for the first time
given :—
“ An alteration was also made (in March) in the platoon exercise
by which the ends of the cartridges were no longer to be placed in the
mouth.”

The circular ends thus :—

“The above information is furnished for the use of officers in

command of stations, regiments, or detachments, and they are hereby
ordered to circulate it, and make it understood amongst all under their
command, officers and men, without delay.
“Every means is to be taken to do this effectually and imme-
diately, both formally on parade, and privately in the quarters of

contents.”
every corps. And commanding officers are hereby directed to spare
no pains to make their men, each Sepoy individually, fully aware of its

There is no talk now of avoiding the appearance of

concession to discontented men. Å singular factis revealed
in this circular :—

army.” :
“From communications lately received by the Government, it
seems that misapprehension regarding the cartridges ¢s noż confined
to the Native troops. Some officers appear to believe that cartridges of
the new kind, or made of unusual materials, hayé been issued to the

The circùlar adds :—

“ This is quite erroneous. No cartridges for the new musket»

and no cartridge made of a new kind of paper, have at any time been
issued to any regiment of the army, nor is it the intention of Govern-
ment that any should be issued.”—Blue Book, page 340.

Aftet this let me read to you a document of the fatal

date of May 4th :—

“ The Adjutant-General of the Army, to the Secretary to the Govern-

ment of India.

“ Head-Quarters, Simla, May 4, 1857.

“ S1rR,—Referring to previous correspondence regarding the
target practice of the Native detachments at the several rifle depots,
the Commander-in-Chief considers it will be satisfactory to the Right
Honorable the Governor-General in Council to learn that at all three
depots the practice has been commenced, and that the men ofall
grades have unhesitatingly and cheerfully used the new cartridges.”

Now for the distinction between “The Army” and

“ Any Regiment of the Army.”
“TIn communicating this information to his Lordship, I am to
beg you will be good enough to add that a confidential circular has
been addressed to officers commanding regiments, enjoining upon them
1
to take every precaution in their power to prevent the depot mén, .
1

upon their rejoining éheir corps, being subjected to any taunting or

_— OCėPTI N

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ill-usage from their comrades with reference to their having used the
Enfield rifle cartridges at the depots. |
! “I have, &c.
“ C. CHESTER, Colonel.”
[Blue Book, page 270]

On May 14th, ten days after, proceeds the following

from the same quarter :—
“ Adjutant General’s Office, Head Quarters,
Simla, May 14, 1857.
“ S1R,—The Commander-in-Chief desires that all firing for drill
or target practice purposes shall be suspended until further orders.
“ It is to be thoroughly explained to the men, that the sole
object of this order is to soothe their minds, now so excited, and also
to remove the possibility of their being supposed by their comrades
at other stations, or by the people at their homes, to be using any
objectionable cartridges.
“ I have, &c.
“ C. CHESTER, Colonel,
[Blue Book, page 44.] “ Adjutant-General of the Army.”

whether greased or ungreased, torn or bitten :—

General Orders by the Commander-in-Ohief.
“ Head Quarters, Umballah, May 19, 1857.
“ The Commander-in-Chief on the 14th of May issued an order,
informing the Native army that it had never been the intention of the
Government to force them to use any cartridges which could be ob-
jected to ; that they never would be, either now or hereafter. His
object in publishing that order was to allay the ewcitement which has
been raised in their minds, although he felt there was no real cause for
it. Hehopes that this may have been the case; but he still perceives
that ¿łe very name of greased cartridges causes agitation, and he has been
informed that some of those Sepoys who entertain the strongest attach-
ment and loyalty to the Government, and are ready at any moment to

would not believe that they were not in some way or other contami-
nated by its use. The rifle introduced into the British army is an im-
provement upon the old musket, and much more effective; but it
would not be of the sanie advantage in the hands of the Native army

the Government kave affirmed that the cartridges are perfectly harm-
less, he is satisfied that they would not desire to persist in the use of
them if the feelings of the Sepoys can be thereby calmed. Flis Excel-
lency therefore has determined that the new cartridges shall be dis-
continued. He announces this to the Native army, in the full confi-
dence that all will now perform their duty free from anxiety and care,
and be prepared to stand and shed the last drop of their blood, as they
have formerly done, by the side of the British troops, and in defence
of their country.”—Biue Bool, page 357.

The last thing I have to lay before you is an attempt

vainly made by the Lieut.-Governor of the North-Western
Provinces to save India. Agra, the capital, is between

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Delhi and Lucknow, and the very centre of the disturbed

district. Mr. Colvin, the Lieutenant-Governor, was one of
the most eminent and excellent men of the Indian civil
service. Since the event I am about to detail he is
dead. For good men, in such stations and in such times,
there is a peculiar malady—a broken heart :—
“ The Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces to the Go-
vernor-General of India in Council.
“ (Telegraphic.) “ Agra, May 24. 7 ?.M.
“On the mode of dealing with the mutineers, I would stre-
nuously oppose general severity towards all. Such a course would, as
we are unanimously convinced by a knowledge of the feeling of the
people, acquired amongst them from a variety of sources, estrange the
remainder of the army. Hope, I am firmly convinced, should be held
out to all those who were not ringleaders or actively concerned in mur-
der and violence. Many are in the rebels’ ranks because they could
not get away ; many certainly thought we were tricking them out of
their caste ; and this opinion is held, however unwisely, by the mass of
the population, and even by some of the more intelligent classes. Never
was delusion more wide or deep. Many ofthe best soldiers in the army,
amongst others of its most faithful section, the Irregular Cavalry, show
a marked reluctance to engage in a war against men whom they believe
to have been misled on the point of religious honor. A tone of general
menace would, I anı persuaded, be wrong. The Commander-in-Chief
shouid, in my view, be authorized to act upon the above line of policy ;
and when means of escape are thus open to those who can be admitted
to mercy, the remnant will be considered obstinate traitors even by
their own countrymen, who will have no hesitation in aiding against
them. I request the earliest answer to this message. ‘T'he subject is
of vital and pressing importance.”—Blue Book, page 331.

On May 25th he issued the following proclamation :— `

“ Soldiers engaged in the late disturbances who are desirous of
going to their own homes, and who give up their arms at the nearest
Government civil or military post, and retire quietly, shall be per-
mitted to do so unmolested.

“ Many faithful soldiers have been driven into resistance to Go-

vernment only because they were in the ranks and could not escape
from them, and because t¢/hey really thought their feelings of religion
and honor injured by the measures of Government. This feeling was
wholly a mistake, but it acted on men’s minds. A proclamation of
the Governor-General now issued is perfectly explicit and will remove
all doubts on these points. Every evil-minded instigator in the dis-
turbance, and those guilty of heinous crimes against private persons,
shall be punished. All those who appear in arns against the Govern-
men, after this notification is known, shall be treated as open enemies,”
—Blue Book, page 332.

This proclamation was immediately disavowed by Lord

Canning, and Mr. Colvin’s anticipations realized.

I have to thank you for the attention which -you have

given to these weary details. I dared not have stated that
the mutiny of the Bengal army had been caused by these
cartridges, unless I adduced the evidence. Isit not astonish-
ing that you should come here in the month of Novem

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26

ber to hear these facts from me? In the month of July

all this was laid before Parliament. I have only given you
a portion of the evidence; every part of itis to the same
effect. It stares at you from every page of these volumes
—“ the cartridge, the cartridge, the cartridge,” the cry of
the dying Sepoy !* There are 650 members in the House
of Commons; there is a House of Lords, and a Press, the
instructor of the country. Mr. Disraeli assured the House
of Commons the rise and fall of empires was not an affair of
greased cartridges—drawing men’s minds away from the con-
templation of the truth in the outset. The Dukeof Cambridge,
at Sheffield, the other day said that “70,000 men had mu-
timied nobody knew why ;” Lord Shaftesbury more recently
has said, these men had no wrong to complain of, and put for-
ward none. You have read the report of the public meeting in
Newcastle, as well as of the speeches of the members of par-
liament there, and of statesmen from end to end of the king-
dom, and yet not a word of the case,as set forth in
the official documents, have they acquainted you with.
I do not say that there are not other causes of dis-
affection in India. There are other grievances which
have turned men’s minds against us; but t/s mutiny
we would not have had but for the greased cartridges.
(Applause). Isit not dreadfulto think thata large portion
of the world should be plunged into bloodshed, misery, and
ruin from such a cause ? Can “perverse management” equal
this in any page of the history of the world? I know
of none like it! To think that the carrying out of a
point of discipline (of no consequence whatever to us)
should have shaken this empire! I declare that, as an
Englishman, I am ready to sink into the ground with shame
when I think of these things. (Applause). But the more
shame do I feel that my countrymen should be ignorant of
them. There isa conspiracy to prevent you knowing the truth
The government has the London Press in its hands, with few
exceptions. The English people, instead of inquiring them-
selves, trust to it, not suspecting that it may be worked by
men whose object is to deceive them. Thus it becomes
possible that these documents may be published and people
know nothing about them. The fimes can publish in one
column the letter of Colonel Sykes, explaining the thing
so clearly that there can be no misapprehending:it, and in

* Orders were given to interrogate the wounded at Delhi as to the

cause of mutiny, the universal answer was “ the cartridge, the cartridge, the
cartridge.” Itwas stated in the Zmes that the Sepoys killed allof their own
number who were wounded with the Enfield cartridge.
"t Colonel Sykes and General Thompson are the only exceptions.

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another column a leading article telling the people that

the Sepoys had no cause of complaint, knowing perfectly
well that the anonymous article would be believed, and the
authenticated statement of Col. Sykes disregarded. (fear,
hear). Some time ago, in London, I saw an extraordinary
machine. It was a talking machine. It had the form ofa
man, and lips that moved. The inventor sat behind a
screen and played on notes like a piano. The machine
spoke four languages, and sung songs. It isthe type ofthe
Englishman of the present day, with the finger of the Times
behind him, playing on his organs. These things could
not have been possible but for the cry “Don’t enquire.”
We are told not to enquire till the proper time has come.
When the “proper” time does come, all that will be neces-
sary will be to sacrifice the Bast India Company. The people
will be made to believe they are discharging their duty by
abolishing the Bast India Company. Now, upon that point
they are as much misled as they are with regard to
the cause of the mutiny. It would take another lecture
to go into this folly. Since the institution of the Board of
Control by Mr. Pitt, the governing power has not been in
the hands of the Bast India Company, but of the Board of
Control, which is simply an àlias for Prime Minster.
The really responsible parties are the Board of Control,—
in point of fact, the government of England. These men
having accepted these acts, have become responsible for
them. I have no hope that anything I can say will
have any effect on the course of affairs in India. I
only hope that it may awaken some of you to a sense
of your duties. For these things there can be no remedy,
save by the old-fashioned process of impeachment. When
anything wrong is done, it is always said you must change
the system. IfI found my cashier robbing me, and I were
to believe the mischief would be remedied by changing the
system, how long do you think I should be in getting into
the Gazette f A man ofbusiness dismisses or prosecutes
a faithless clerk. Why not pursue the same course in the
affairs of the nation? Because, being slaves in heart, you
cannot realize to yourselves that you are the principals, and
the Prime Minister and Government your servants. You
bow down before the Minister as the Hindoo bows down
before Juggernaut. A nation that cannot understand that
its duty and its safety require that a clear case of delin-
quency on the part of its servants, whether that delinquency
arises from gross incapacity, wilful neglect, or treachery,
should be met with retribution on the heads of the offenders,
has ceased to be a community of men.

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POSTSCRIPT.

Since delivering this Lecture I have obtained that

information as to the circumstances of the outbreak at
Meerut which is not given in the official documents.

The substance of it is, that the Sepoys were not

themselves alarmed about the cartridges—but begged
that the issue of them might be temporarily deferred,
on the ground that the intensity of the religious panic,

prevailing at that time throughout Bengal, would sub-

ject them to contumely, and expose them to the danger
of loss of caste, in case they were known to have used

them in any way. It was not attempted to enforce the

biting at Meerut, as in the case of Lucknow, but the
perfect truth of the statement of the Sepoys is attested

by General Anson’s own order of May 19th; “the very

name of greased cartridges causes agitation.”
The mutiny at Meerut was the direct consequence of

his order of May 4th, issued with perfect knowledge of

the existence of that state of things, as will be seen on

referring back to it.

General Anson was informed from Meerut, by Com-

pany's officers, that mutiny would probably follow’ the

attempt to enforce that order. Themen having in vain
begged for time to be given, to allow agitation to subside,

refused to receive the cartridges. They were tried by

court martial, and their petition for delay was put in
evidence. All who had served above three years were
condemned to ten years’ imprisonment; all who had
served less, to five years. The irons were fixed upon
them at a parade of the troops, three hours being occupied

by the process, and they were then marched to gaol.

General Anson, the Commander-in-Chief, was in the

Royal Army, as was also his subordinate in command at
Meerut.

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