§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, there had appeared in the morning papers within the last day or two a communication from Calcutta, to the effect that the whole of the Native Army in India was to be abolished, not only the remnant of the mutinous Army of Bengal, but the two loyal Armies of Madras and Bombay. The mischievous-ness of such an impression getting abroad could not be too broadly stated. Of course the friends and relatives of the thousands of officers who had read the statement would be in the utmost alarm; the officers themselves in India must have received it not only with alarm but with indignation, and there must be great agitation among the troops. He could not believe for a moment that any old Indian, unless his brains were paralyzed by a sun-stroke, would believe that a handful of Europeans would be able to rule two hundred millions of people in India except through their good will and with the assistance of a Native force. He could not believe, therefore, that there was any foundation for the assertion that was made, and he believed his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for India would be glad of the opportunity of making a statement on the subject. As to the second part of his question, the officers to whom these returns related happened to be in this country with their regiments, and the returns were prepared, but unhappily they required the formality of going through the Adjutant General's office at Bombay. His impression was that they would comprise the cases mentioned by the hon. Baronet (Sir James Fergusson). He would therefore beg leave to ask the Secretary 1165 of State for India, Whether there is any and what foundation for the statements in a part of the newspaper press of the last few days, that the Native Regular Army of India is to be abolished, including the Armies of Madras and Bombay, whose recent loyalty and efficiency have been of such vital importance to British interests; and, when the Returns ordered by the House, of the services of the Bombay Regular Cavalry, and the Returns of all Officers recommended for brevets or honours during the late mutiny, will be laid upon the table of the House?
§ MR. TORRENSsaid, that reverting to the subject of the question of the hon. Baronet (Sir J. Fergusson) he wished to remind the House that in the month of October last the right hon. Gentleman had authorized the publication of a despatch from the Governor General of India, which adverted in enthusiastic terms to the conduct of Sir Robert Hamilton and Colonel Durand. Sir Robert Hamilton had returned to this country in 1857, with the intention of retiring from the service; but when the mutiny broke out he resumed his post in Central India, and gave the greatest assistance to the Government in putting down that mutiny. The services of Sir Robert Hamilton had, moreover, been acknowledged by both Houses of Parliament, and the Earl of Derby in the other House, and the noble Lord, the Member for King's Lynn, in that House, in conjunction with the present Lord Lyveden, had borne testimony to his great merits. The House, however, would hardly believe that, eminent as had been the services of Sir Robert Hamilton, they had yet received no substantial recognition at the hands of Her Majesty's Government, and the Sovereign had not been advised to requite them with any mark of her royal favour. He hoped, therefore, that some explanation would be afforded on the subject.