“It was on the 10th of the present month [May] that the outburst of the mutinous spirit took place in our own neighborhood,—­at Meerut.  The immediate cause was the punishment of eighty-five troopers of the 3d Light Cavalry, who had refused to use the obnoxious cartridges, and had been sentenced by a native court-martial to ten years’ imprisonment.  On Saturday, the 9th, the men were put in irons, in presence of their comrades, and marched off to jail.  On Sunday, the 10th, just at the time of evening service, the mutiny broke out.  Three regiments left their lines, fell upon every European, man, woman, or child, they met or could find, murdered them all, burnt half the houses in the station, and, after working such a night of mischief and horror as devils might have delighted in, marched off to Delhi en masse, where three other regiments ripe for mutiny were stationed.  On the junction of the two brigades, the horrors of Meerut were repeated in the imperial city, and every European who could be found was massacred with revolting barbarity.  In fact, the spirit was that of a servile war.  Annihilation of the ruling race was felt to be the only chance of safety or impunity; so no one of the ruling race was spared.  Many, however, effected their escape, and, after all sorts of perils and sufferings, succeeded in reaching military stations containing European troops. * * *

“From the crisis of the mutiny our local anxieties have lessened.  The country round is in utter confusion.  Bands of robbers are murdering and plundering defenceless people.  Civil government has practically ceased from the land.  The most loathsome irresolution and incapacity have been exhibited in some of the highest quarters.  A full month will elapse before the mutineers are checked by any organized resistance.  A force is, or is supposed to be, marching on Delhi; but the outbreak occurred on the 10th of May, and this day is the first of June, and Delhi has seen no British colors and heard no British guns as yet. * * *

“As to the empire, it will be all the stronger after this storm.  It is not five or six thousand mutinous mercenaries, or ten times the number, that will change the destiny of England in India.  Though we small fragments of the great machine may fall at our posts, there is that vitality in the English people that will bound stronger against misfortunes, and build up the damaged fabric anew.”

So far the letter from which we have quoted.—­It was not until the 8th of June that an English force appeared before the walls of Delhi.  For four weeks the mutineers had been left in undisturbed possession of the city, a possession which was of incalculable advantage to them by adding to their moral strength the prestige of a name which has always been associated with the sceptre of Indian empire.  The masters of Delhi are the masters not only of a city, but of a deeply rooted tradition of supremacy.  The delay had told.  Almost every day in the latter half