ment. The figures in the Blue Books would frighten Babbage. They have given us a dozen headaches. But the less abstruse matters discussed require previous knowledge to enable the reader to separate the chaff from the grain-to appreciate the sound sense of a Colonel Alexander or Grant, and the nonsense of a Sir W. Cotton or a Sir E. Perry. For instance; Sir E. Perry is an able English Judge and an enlightened reformer; but he made holiday trips into the interior, and therefore presents himself as personally acquainted with the wants of India. Himself unversed in any Indian language, he would introduce English into Courts where the judge alone understands it, where the mass never can do so, where the smattering that may be attained by a few attorneys or others would give them an unfair influence were such a proposal carried into effect. Sir Erskine's proposed re-distribution of the army and transfer of it to the Crown was, however, an interference of a different sort, involving a more immediate danger. He would have better evinced his wisdom by showing more modesty in the discussion of a question so foreign from all his previous pursuits. With respect to Sir W. Cotton, one anecdote will express our views regarding his Parliamentary evidence. Being asked on Committee by Lord Gough whether men of the Concan" are not so peculiar with regard to their castes?" he replied, "No, they are not; but now we get Bengal men of a caste that we prefer very much, called the Purdesee' caste; if they had any caste before they came to us, we never heard of its interfering in discipline." We much doubt whether either the gallant interrogator or respondent knows what is the caste of the Concan men, or even whether they are Hindus or Mahommedans. They certainly do not know that "Purdesee means foreigner, and that the Bombay "Purdesee" is simply the Brahmin and Rajpoot of the Bengal army. Indeed they are entered as such, to the number of 6928 in Mr. P. Melvill's Table, at page 11, of his second examination. In a previous essay we have afforded some information relating to all branches of the Indian army. We profess here to offer few new facts; but, with the aid of the mass of evidence before us, to correct some errors, and to sketch the present and past condition of the army, and also to point out many points in which its efficiency may be improved without increasing its expense. Costing now eleven millions a year, or little short of half the revenue of the country, the army cannot be increased without risk of bankruptcy. Reform and adaptation, not numerical increase, then, are required. Reform in the French rather than in the English fashion; not in pipe-clay details, but in arms, accoutrements, and drill; above all, in tone and morale. In putting not only the right sort of soldier of all ranks and creeds in the right place, and giving him an object and a motive for simple duty, but offering him inducements to zeal and exertion. In short, to substitute to a certain extent, rewards for merit, in lieu of for old age. sarily be desultory, and will even the interests of many. Our remarks must necestouch the prejudices and They will, therefore, not be popular; but we trust they may be useful. We have vainly sought for exact detailed states, at different periods, of the Indian army, in Blue Books, in histories, in army lists, as also from private sources. Captain Rafter quite misleads his reader. He gives two European regiments, instead of three, to each Presidency, though a third was raised a twelvemonth before his book was published. He calls all the Engineers "Royal Corps." INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION. 369 What he means by "twelve regiments of irregular infantry" and "sixteen of local militia" in Bengal, we are at a loss to imagine. The expression, "militia," smacks of his book being a "get up" in Paternoster Row. Unfortunately we have no militia in India. All are mercenaries-the most faithful in the world, but still mercenaries. The men who fought against us under Mahratta and Sikh banners are now our trusty soldiers. They are ours to the death, so long as we keep covenant with them. Their salt is their country and their banner. We cannot expect and do not deserve more: we have done little to induce personal attachment in sepoys or in any other class. The time, we hope, is coming, when both will have greater reason than at present to fight for love of our supremacy. The evidence before Parliament has scarcely assisted us more than Captain Rafter has done; we have puzzled ourselves for very many hours over the Blue Book figures and tables, but have not succeeded in reconciling the statements of the different authorities or even the evidence of the same individual at different times. We have, therefore, concocted a table for ourselves, which will be found on the other side of the page. BB Tabular Statement of the Army of India in January 1856, including all and Irregular Corps officered from the Line; also Of the 6215 officers, 782 are medical. Invalid officers are not included, but simply those on the strength of regiments. Police Battalions and Police Horse are not included, but only corps included in Army Lists. The one weak corps of Cutch Horse is counted with the two strong regiments of Scinde Horse as a total of three average corps. In the same way two |