gorgeous East; when, under the auspices of a liberal, enlightened, and responsible government, its mighty resources will no longer be diverted into private channels; the prizes in its wheel no longer be predestined by family patronage to individual aggrandisement, but thrown open to general competition; and India herself, freed from the "grinding" under which she has so long suffered, shall be allowed to
wear her plumed
And jewelled turban with a smile of peace.[1]
But, however strange this ignorance or indifference may be, with respect to the politics and commerce of the East, it is still more so with reference to its military transactions, and the extent and character of its warlike resources. English readers, in general, seem satisfied with knowing that there is an army of black fellows called Sepoys, who, they have some vague idea, are dressed in silks and satins, armed with pop-guns and daggers of lath, and who go to war, like the Pope's soldiers, with umbrellas over their heads in wet weather.
They are astonished, however, when they hear that this army numbers upwards of 300,000 men of all arms; that it is one of the best drilled and disciplined forces in existence; that it has undergone the greatest fatigues,
- ↑ The measure lately before Parliament has taken at least a half-step towards this "consummation," by withdrawing the patronage of the "Civil Service" from the Court of Directors. Why it should still leave in their hands that of the "Military Service" can only be accounted for by the old vulgar prejudice that, when a young man is good for nothing else, he is best fitted for the Army.
