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74 breaking faith with themselves. There is reason, however, to believe that the measure was unfavourably regarded by the Bengal Army and the classes from which it was recruited. That army was, to a large extent, a hereditary body. The existing Sepoys regarded the future position of their sons with as much anxiety as their own. Sir Henry Lawrence, writing early in May, 1857, reported that the enlistment oath 'for general service' was frightening the Sepoys and deterring the Rájput recruits. It is possible that this, among other topics, was urged on the Sepoys by the propagandists of disaffection as a ground for the belief that their privileges, caste and religion were not as secure as heretofore. The uneasiness of the native army may have been increased by the rumour that the Government contemplated a large addition to the Sikh troops in their employ, and would thus become, to some degree, independent of the army, by which hitherto its Empire had been extended and sustained.

A source of chronic danger existed in the personnel of the Bengal Army. It was mainly recruited from districts in Oudh, in which Bráhmans and Rájputs form the bulk of the fighting population. The men were of fine, stalwart physique, such as a commanding officer naturally selects as promising material. The orders of Government, accordingly, which had from time to time enjoined the necessity of composing regiments of diverse castes and classes, had been too generally overlooked. The son stepped proudly and