SIR, No. I. RETRIBUTION-DELHI. IN considering the great Indian question, we ought, as a practical people, to direct our attention first to that part which demands an immediate solution. This clearly is the reconstruction of the Bengal army. That army has collapsed, and must be reinstated without delay in some form or other. It is no gradual process of progressive improvement which we have now on hand. The time has gone by for that. The Bengal army lies before us in a state of fusion, and must be recast in a new mould. It may be some consolation for all we have gone through to remember that this opportunity is worth a great deal. The Bengal army had been formed on the scale required to keep at bay the Mahrattas, the Nepaulese, and the Sikhs. We were then one among several Powers struggling for supremacy. When this had been secured, we were left with a much larger army than was necessary to hold India in subjection. The revenue was consumed in unproductive military expenditure, leaving no surplus for those works of improvement which belong to a state of peace. Owing to various causes the discipline of the Bengal army had become relaxed to a dangerous degree; and such were the real difficulties of the subject and the strong professional prejudices with which every proposed change was met, that an escape from this false position seemed to be indefinitely postponed. At this point an unexpected stroke came from the hand of the Almighty. The Bengal army has ceased to exist. We have a golden opportunity of reconstituting that army on a safe, efficient, and economical footing, and of gradually revising the armies of the other Presidencies according to this improved model, with the final result of converting an annual deficit into an annual surplus, and of developing the abundant resources of India by a state of assured peace, improved administration, and well executed public works. The first point is, the retribution that ought to be exacted. This is a practical question of the utmost importance in its bearing upon all our plans. Human nature itself has to be vindicated; the feeling of the personal inviolability of the English race in India has to be restored,* and the righteous *Before the operations which resulted in the suppression of Thuggee commenced, a number of Thug leaders discussed in council whether they should exer |