Melodious thunder swells and rolls,
And from that mass of human souls
Bursts forth—because those men afar
Were slaughtered in a bloody war—
"Thanks to the living God!"

EUROPEAN MUTINY IN INDIA.

I AM a merchant in a flourishing way of business,
and within the past ten years I have sat
for a borough in Parliament. Five-and-twenty
years ago I was a private soldier in the Bengal
Horse Artillery. I, therefore, feel that I have
a right to say something touching the recent
mutiny of the late East India Company's
regiments serving in Bengal.

I am not about to defend the men, but to
state a few facts that may possibly extenuate
the offence of which they have been guilty.

The bulk of the English journals that have
commented on this important question have
either not comprehended it, or else, in a praiseworthy
spirit of loyalty, have been led to
indulge in expressions undeservedly harsh.

Now, what is the question? It is this. Had
the Government the right, by a stroke of the pen,
to transfer a large body of troops from the
service of the East India Company to that of
the Crown, in the same way that live stock
is frequently sold with an estate? Had
Parliament the right? I deny the right,
and I am not ashamed to say that had I been
serving in my old brigade when "the order"
went forth, I should have stated quietly and
calmly what I am now about to state; and
if I had not been listened to, I should have
joined those who refused to obey the roll call.

"Then you would have been a rebel!" some
testy old gentleman or inconsiderate young man
may exclaim.

Listen! As soon as I became of age I was
entitled to several thousand pounds, which were
duly handed over to me, on demand, by the
executors of my late father's will. (My father
was an opulent corn-factor in the north of
England. He died leaving fifty thousand pounds
to be divided amongst his ten children, of whom
I was the fifth son.) I was not very long in
"running through" my patrimony, and perpetrated
many acts of folly, of which I have since
duly repented. My means of living exhausted,
I became a perfect nuisance to my relations; for
my habits were such that, as soon as I was
possessed of money, I spent it in taverns. At
length they denied me admittance to their
houses, and took no notice of me when they saw
me in the streets. With a few sovereigns in
my pocket (a donation from one of my sisters, on
the condition that I would leave my native
town), I came to London to seek employment.
Whilst thinking, in various public-houses, what
employ I might be really fit for, my sister's gift
dwindled away, till I was left with only ninepence.
In that frame of mind which generally
attends upon persons in the circumstances I have
described, I was passing the Horse Guards,
when my attention was attracted by a placard

on the walls. It was headed: " Wanted, for the
East India Company's Horse Artillery, a few
Young Men." As soon as I had read the placard
I made up my mind to enlist, and go to India.
As I am about six feet two in height, and was
not at all bad looking, I dare say I might have
been admitted into the Blues or the Life
Guards. But, I would have perished rather than
iiave done so, for in all probability I should have
been recognised, some day or other, by those who
had known me in the days of my prosperity;
and had the truth come to the knowledge of my
sisters, for whom I had a great affection, it
would have pained them exceedingly to hear
that I was a private soldier.

I sought the sergeant to whom reference was
made in the placard, and, that very afternoon, I
took "the shilling," and became, to every intent
and purpose, a soldier in the East India Company's
service. What was really the oath I took, I know
not; but, whatever it was, it was what it has
always been regarded, as—so far as serving as a
soldier was concerned—a matter of form. My
compact was to serve in the East, and not elsewhere.
To serve the king in the East: that is to
say, to fight the enemies of the British Government,
I should have had no objection; but to
serve the king generally, to go to the colonies
if required, or be brought back with a regiment
to England, I would not have undertaken upon
any consideration, for the reasons I have already
assigned.

On my arrival in India I was " drafted,"
and sent up the country to Meerut, where I
joined the brigade. To my joy, as well as to my
surprise, I found that the bulk of the men were
well-informed, respectable persons. Many of
them had, like myself, enjoyed a position in the
middle class of society, and had received a good
education. Some few were the sons of baronets,
and we had more than one aristocrat in the
ranks. I say it, without any intention to offend
the brave soldiers who serve the Crown, that
the great body of the Company's army was
composed of men of a very superior stamp to the
great body of the royal army. I do not mean
to say that intelligent and educated men are not
to be found in the royal army, but that they are
not so commonly found—nothing like it—as
in the late Company's European army, and more
especially in the artillery.

I had not been very long with the brigade
before several men who belonged to my troop
were selected to fill sundry appointments which
became vacant. One, became a cattle sergeant;
another, went into the commissariat department;
another, into the barrack department; another,
into the Surveyor-General's department; and so
on. These appointments were not only well
paid, but they rendered the men who held them
extremely comfortable. Each man had a
bungalow to himself, could afford to keep a pony
and a couple of servants, and, what is more,
marry, and have his little family about him.
These were the prizes which were open to all
men serving in the ranks of the East India
Company's European army. (There were no