The Republic
August 1857
OPINION
Never in our time, never probably in any time, came such news upon England as the first full story of the outbreak in India. It came with terrible, not unnatural, exaggeration. England was horrified by the stories of wholesale massacres of English women and children; of the most abominable tortures, the most degrading outrages inflicted upon English matrons and maidens.
Not only may it be said that defective organization is the key to the whole position in India, but the grossly deteriorated and neglected state of the regimental organization is but an example of defective system in other branches of the public service.
The more the facts of the outbreak are considered, the more they show that - to put the case in the strongest terms - the insurrection could not have taken effect if the British officers had not connived at it by default. At Meerut, the Sepoys numbered about 2000; and it is difficult to understand how they could have accomplished their crime - murdering their officers, burning down cantonments, marching off to Delhi and taking possession of it - when in that same station there were 2500 European soldiers. The only excuse would be, that the Europeans were so stationed as not to be effectually brought to bear upon the Native troops.
The Spectator
June 1, 1857.
The profound hypocrisy and inherent barbarism of bourgeois civilization lies unveiled before our eyes, turning from its home, where it assumes respectable forms, to the colonies, where it goes naked. Did they not, in India, to borrow an expression of that great robber, Lord Clive himself, resort to atrocious extortion, when simple corruption could not keep pace with their rapacity? While they prated in Europe about the inviolable sanctity of the national debt, did they not confiscate in India the dividends of the rajahs, who had invested their private savings in the Company's own funds? While they combated the French revolution under the pretext of defending "our holy religion," did they not forbid, at the same time, Christianity to be propagated in India, and did they not, in order to make money out of the pilgrims streaming to the temples of Orissa and Bengal, take up the trade in the murder and prostitution perpetrated in the temple of the Juggernaut? These are the men of "Property, Order, Family, and Religion."
Karl Marx,
The New-York Daily Tribune.
22 July, 1857.
NATIONAL NEWS
Analysts Sound Alarm About U.S. Economy
Some financial analysts warn that the times of prosperity this country has enjoyed since the end of the Mexican-American War and the discovery of gold in California could come to a sudden end. They point to several warning posts they say support their claim:
The decision of British investors to remove funds from U.S. banks, which has raised questions about overall U.S. economic soundness;
The fall of grain prices because of the end of the Crimean War and Russiaís re-entry into global grain markets;
Russia's underselling of U.S. cotton on the open market;
The piling up of manufactured goods in warehouses, which has led to layoffs in major cities;
Recent railroad failures, indicating an over-built status of the American railroad system.
Gold from California is pouring into the economy and causing an inflation of the currency. Especially worrisome is the massive amount of land speculation that has been going on which is heavily dependent on continued growth of the railroad industry and new rail routes.
WORLD NEWS
Indian Mutiny: The Empire Strikes Back
British Seek to Retake Delhi
British forces on the march towards Dehli
After reeling from initial violence that left hundreds of European soldiers and civilians dead in Meerut and Dehli, British forces have regrouped and now seek to reclaim lost territory. To counter the insurgency in northern central India, army reinforcements have been rushed from Rangoon, Ceylon and the Madras Presidency in South India. Other relief has come from the Punjab and northern cantonments, where there are British regiments and relatively reliable native units.
From the beginning of its counterstrike, the British have regarded taking Delhi as particularly important for symbolic and strategic reasons. If it is not soon retaken, it is feared the Punjab and Northwest provinces might be encouraged to join the revolt.
The 75th (Stirlingshire) Highlanders and the 1st and 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, which were posted near the hill station of Simla, reached Umbala on May 23 to stage an assault on Delhi. Those units were joined by the 9th Light Cavalry and 60th Rifle regiments and a squadron of the 4th Irregular Cavalry, as well as two troops of the Horse Artillery, to make up two brigades under the command of Major General Sir Henry Barnard. From Meerut came a column consisting of one wing of the 60th Rifles, two squadrons of the 6th Dragoon Guards, 50 troopers from the 4th Irregulars, two companies of native sappers and Scott's battery of 18-pounders -- all under the command of Colonel Archdale Wilson.
Mutineers intercepted and engaged the Meerut units some 15 miles from Delhi near a village named Ghazi-ed-din, but the mutineers were routed and kept at a safe distance. On June 7, Wilson's Meerut column moved up to Alipore with Barnard's two brigades from the north and attacked sepoy insurgents at Baduli-ke-Serai, five miles from Delhi. The mutineers had established an artillery battery at Baduli-ke-Serai, but a bayonet charge by the 75th Highlanders overran the position on June 8. The combined British columns, took the strategically important Delhi Ridge, extending from the Flagstaff Tower south to the house of the late Rajah Hindu Rao which overlooks the city. This army has been joined by other units arriving from the hill stations north of Delhi and the Punjab, many of whom have covered the distance of more than 500 miles in a record 22 days.
June 23, which marked the 100th anniversary of Robert Clive's victory at the Battle of Plassey and the completion and consolidation of the British East India Company's control over India, was a difficult day for the British. On this day, local folklore had it, the British Raj would be driven from the subcontinent. In what may have been an attempt to fulfill that prophecy, the sepoys launched a particularly savage attack on the ridge. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, the British won the day, however, driving the attackers back to their Delhi ramparts.
Adding to the difficulties of the British was Barnard's sudden death on July 5 from cholera, which has taken a heavy toll on many of the ridge defenders. Major General Thomas Reed replaced Barnard, but he also has become too ill to command and has been replaced. Given the temporary rank of major general, Archdale Wilson takes command of a force now consisting of 4,023 infantrymen, 1,293 cavalrymen, and 1,602 artillerymen and engineers -- a total of 6,918 effective troops.
In searing heat that sometimes reaches 140 degrees, the British continue to hold off repeated efforts by the mutineers to retake the ridge. Intelligence reports reaching the British suggests a growing schism between Muslim and Hindu mutineers in Delhi. But whatever disputes may have divided the sepoys, retaking a fortified Delhi, whose forces far outnumber the British, will not be an easy task.
My India Journal
By Republic Correspondent T. Sawyer
4 July -- Back home, my countrymen are celebrating Independence Day. It seems especially ironic that on this day I find myself among soldiers of the very nation America defeated to win its liberty. I am at the fort in Allahabad. Colonel Neill arrived here on 11 June and led operations that quickly pacified the city. Neill is a God-fearing man, stern and hard-swearing, strong and masterful. He has the genuine admiration of his men. After several days of pestering, he finally agrees to speak with me briefly.
He tells me that like other outposts, the native infantry here brutally revolted on 6 June, murdering most of their officers - including seven young cadets just arrived from England. Joined by hundreds of the town's inhabitants, they proceeded to break open the city's prison, plundered the shops, tore down the telegraph wires, destroyed the railway lines and sheds, bombarded the railway engines, and massacred any natives they could find who had converted to Christianity.
Upon his arrival, Neill was equally brutal in his reprisal. He bombarded the city into submission and retook a bridge captured and held by the rebels. Any captured natives suspected of being in the slightest way complicit in the mutiny have been summarily executed. Shortly after my arrival, I spoke with one lieutenant who said proudly, "Every day ten or a dozen niggers are hanged. Their corpses hung by twos and threes from branch and signpost all over town."
I comment on the hundreds of natives I saw hanging from trees on our final approach to Allahabad. "God grant I may have acted with justice," Neill replies. "I know I have with severity, but under all the circumstances I trust for forgiveness."
Neill tells me he has dispatched toward Cawnpore three hundred men of the Madras Fusilers under a Major Renaud, accompanied by four hundred Sikhs, a small force of irregular cavalry and two guns. Renaud's orders are to encourage the inhabitants to return to their villages, and to "instill confidence into all of the restoration of British authority." All places along the way where rebels have been harbored are to be attacked and destroyed.
During our conversation, I also discover he is no great fan of Brigadier General Havelock, who reached Allahabad with his force shortly after the column I marched with arrived. Neill believes he is the man who should lead the main assault against Cawnpore. Instead, he will remain in command here while Havelock moves forward. Although Neill and Havelock are cordial during their interactions, there is a definite air of tension between them.
Later in the day, I speak with Havelock. The old man gives me a choice - I can remain here at Allahabad or I can march with his forces toward Cawnpore. I find Captain Bond and as we sit together and eat our dinner rations, he tells me his orders are to march with Havelock. I decide to continue on as well. I must admit my decision is also influenced by an outbreak of cholera in the fort that so far has claimed the lives of twenty-eight men. Better to die quickly in the field than to be taken by disease.
7 July -- Havelock decides he can tarry no longer. Our force is an assorted collection of about 1,000 British troops from four different infantry regiments, less than 150 Sikhs, six guns, a detachment of native irregulars, and no more than 20 volunteer cavalry composed of officers whose regiments had mutinied, shopkeepers whose premises had been burned, and indigo-planters whose workmen had run away -- in short, all who are willing to join.
Before we depart, Havelock addresses us. "Soldiers. There is work before us. We are bound on an expedition whose object is to restore the supremacy of British rule and avenge the fate of British men and women."
We move out during the stifling heat of the overcast afternoon. Our march across the plain stirs up clouds of thick yellow dust. Behind the column follows the inevitable, seemingly endless straggling crowd of animals and carts, servants and camp-followers, both men and women that always accompany an Indian army on the march. Later, when the dark clouds overhead burst and the rain comes pouring down, the line of march becomes so distended that as darkness falls, Havelock calls a halt. We have covered little more than eight miles and take shelter in a steaming mango grove while we wait for the tents to come up.
8 July -- Bugles call us from our tents at four. We march another eight miles.
9 July -- This day we make about twelve miles.
10 July -- We make about another twelve miles, tramping past swamps and the blacked ruins of huts now further defaced by weather stains and mold. The unpleasant smell of neem trees is heavy in the air and we are surrounded by the croaking sound of frogs, the hum of insects and the shrill piping of cicadas. The going is very slow; but even so, many of the men, and most of the younger recruits, can't keep up with the rest. "In a way," Bond says to me, "it is a good thing that we know that Cawnpore has fallen. I don't think we would have been any good if we had had to hurry to save it."
On both sides of the line of march are scenes of devastation, as every building or object which indicated the spread of British civilization has been destroyed. Even the milestones lay smashed by the roadside or tossed into paddy fields. Hanging from the trees, their legs eaten away by pigs, are scores of bodies strung up by the men of Renaud's column, whose commander seems to be inclined to hang as many natives as he possibly can.
That evening in camp, spies come to Havelock and report that a huge force under Nana Sahib is advancing down the Grand Trunk Road toward Renaud's position. "We'll need to quicken our march and catch up with Renaud before Nana Sahib reaches him," Havelock says.
This will mean continual day and night marching for a while. Perhaps I should have remained in Allahabad after all.
TO BE CONTINUED
ENTERTAINMENT
Music: Brahms Hoping To Hit Gold With Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
HAMBURG - Germany. Johannes Brahms looks uncomfortable while discussing his latest concerto. "I am only experimenting and feeling my way," he says almost defensively. Despite this, his latest composition shows some maturity lacking in his earlier efforts.
The Piano Concerto in D minor didnít start out as a concerto at all. Brahms admitted he struggled greatly with the workís instrumentation, as he originally conceived it as a sonata for two pianos. Seeking a better and fuller sound, Brahms orchestrated the work, transforming it into a symphony. However, he found this also unsatisfactory - deciding he had not sufficiently mastered the nuances of orchestral color to sustain a symphony. He claimed to have gotten the idea to make it a piano concerto from a dream. The transformation from symphony to concerto has taken several years. As he seeks a venue to unveil his concerto to the public, Brahms hopes the hard work pays off.
It could be a tough sell, however - especially in his German homeland. Brahms has been composing steadily throughout the 1850s, but his music had evoked divided critical response. In fact, his works have been labeled old-fashioned by the 'New German School' whose principal figures include Liszt and Richard Wagner. To his credit, Brahms refuses to openly feud with his fellow musicians. In fact, Brahms said he admires some of Wagner's music and admires Liszt as a great pianist.
Our Must Read List
TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS. By THOMAS HUGHES.
Tom Brown's Schooldays is part novel, part education theory, but it is a great read. To watch Tom grow from young boy to troublemaker to responsible, caring young man ready for Oxford, is a moving experience. The cast of characters around him ensure that he gets into all sorts of scrapes along the way, and the portrait painted of the great Dr. Thomas Arnold is one of a very intelligent, strong, yet caring man who quietly goes about the business of turning Tom into a young man worthy of praise.
It is true that this book contains possibly the worst opening chapter in all of English literature, but get past that and you'll discover something quite special. The rest of the book describes in incredibly sentimental terms a young boy's education at Rugby. The best part however, concerns the fabulous character that Thomas Hughes created in the bully Harry Flashman. Flashman is the perfect counterpoint to Tom. He is a complete rogue who cheats, lies and drinks.
AURORA LEIGH. By ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
This first-person narrative written in blank verse has enjoyed brisk sales, despite being panned by most critics. One reviewer was especially harsh: "The negative experience of centuries seems to prove that a woman cannot be a great poet. Mrs. Browning's poem is open to criticism in all its three component parts, of fable, manners, and diction."
While we agree Aurora Leigh isn't perfect, we do think it deserves a look. The story follows the heroine's childhood and youth in Italy and England, her self-education in her father's hidden library, and her successful pursuit of a literary career. Initially resisting a marriage proposal by the philanthropist Romney Leigh, Aurora later surrenders her independence and weds her faithful suitor, whose own idealism has also since been tempered by experience. Aurora's career, Romney's social theories, and a subplot concerning forced prostitution elicit the author's vivid observations on the importance of poetry, the individual's responsibility to society, and the victimization of women.
Most importantly, Aurora Leigh works as a formidable reminder to contemporary poets that the novel is taking over and poets must make sure that they are writing in the spirit of the age.
BARCHESTER TOWERS. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE
This is the second in Trollope's Barchester series, which was begun in The Warden. While this work is inferior to its predecessor, it is still a fun romp. Old Bishop Grantly has died, and into the vacuum left by his demise -- to the horror of some of the inhabitants of Barchester -- steps his replacement Thomas Proudie, and his formidable wife. Along with the Proudies comes the Bishop's chaplain, the oily Mr Slope, and the stage is soon set for a titanic struggle for supremacy in the diocese between Mr Slope and Mrs Proudie. This forms the heart of the novel, but Trollope added into this delightful dish some new and fresh ingredients. Dr Stanhope and his family are called over from Italy, and of particular note are the portraits Trollope draws of his second daughter, the fascinating Madeline Neroni, and Dr Stanhope's feckless charming son Bertie. Eleanor Harding returns from The Warden and her romances within the book form a major part of the plot
THE TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS; or Geology in its Bearings on the two Theologies, Natural and Revealed. By HUGH MILLER.
This last work of Hugh Miller is, as its title declares, an attempt to reconcile the revelations of science with the Scriptural cosmogony. An argument upon this topic coming from a man at once so devout and so scientific, demands respectful attention from the public, and even if it fails to convince the holders of opposite theories, it does not shrink, through weakness, from any conflict with its adversaries. As a contribution to science, and as a clear and calm statement of fixed facts, verified by personal observation, it is, like all of Mr. Miller's works, of great value.
The tragic interest which attaches to it as the last utterance of a mind which has added so much to the scientific and literary wealth of the last few years, deepens more and more as the reader turns each page, thanks to Millerís unflagging enthusiasm for laborious research. The last proofs were sent to the publishers only the day before the authorís suicide.
Several chapters of The Testimony of the Rocks possess an epic grandeur of movement in accordance with their theme, and unfold their thought with a steadiness of purpose admirably befitting the stately march of the creative eons they portray. And by way of contrast with this, we have chapters of scientific detail, in which the structure of a tiny leaf or of some pa1aozoic shell is dwelt upon with loving tenderness, and painted for us with the most delicate faithfulness. Mr. Miller possessed to a degree perhaps never surpassed that rare power of vision which can adapt itself equally well to the vast and the minute, the distant and the immediate, can see at the same moment the creation of a world and the unfolding of the flower-bud.