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EECREATIONS 
 
 AN INDIAN OFFICIAL 
 
LO'DOX : PKINTED 
 MvrjT/flWOODE ANU CO., SE^V-STREK VyUAttF! 
 AND TARLIAMEST STREET 
 
EECEEATIONS 
 
 AN INDIAN OFFICIAL. 
 
 LIEUT.-COLONEL G. B. MALLESON, 
 
 GUARDIAN TO H.H. THE MAHAKAJA UF MYSORE : 
 AUrHOU OF 'THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH IS INDIA.' 
 
 'Homines amplius ocnlis qiiam auvibus creel u nt ; longum iter e^t 
 per ^liL-ceptii, ln-ti\e et efticnx per exempla.' &i:si-\\\. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 L N G .M A N S, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 1872. 
 
x 
 
 ^p) 
 
liTscribcb tg ptrmission: 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HOK THE EARL OF DERBY, 
 
 M'lTH 
 
 imSPECT AND GRATITUDE. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The conditions of life in England are so different from 
 the conditions of life in India, that I should not be 
 surprised if the title 'Recreations,' applied to the 
 literary labour of this book, were gently cavilled at. 
 And yet no other title would represent so accurately 
 the circumstances under which its contents were 
 written. ' In Europe,' if I may be allowed to quote 
 from my own reflections in another work — ' in Europe, 
 where there is so much to tempt a man into the sun- 
 shine and open air; where the streams invite the 
 angler ; the slopes of the mountains, the botanist ; the 
 forests, the sportsman ; and where the merry laugh and 
 innocent smiles of the daughters of the land invite all, 
 it must require the virtue of a St. Anthony to persevere 
 regularly in indoor studies.' But in India, where the 
 climatic conditions do not allow a man to bask too 
 long in the sunshine ; where the streams do not, except 
 
Tiii FREFACE. 
 
 in a few favoured localities, invite the angler ; where 
 the botanist and the sportsman cannot always command 
 fields for their enthusiasm ; and ■v\here the daughters 
 of the land lead a life of seclusion, the necessity for 
 indoor occupation is almost absolute. Of all such 
 occupations, literary study is to me the most seducing, 
 apd in it I have ever found recreation of the most 
 consolatory character. To the mind of a man capable 
 of appreciating the great qualities of his contem- 
 poraries, there is, I think, much that is ele^■ating in the 
 jittcm})t to present to the world a life-portrait of those 
 by whose side and under whose orders he has served ; 
 to show them struggling with difficulties but little 
 known in England, controlling the wild tribes on the 
 frontier, whilst striving to educate a population com- 
 jwsed of diverse races, winning victories by force of 
 cliaracter and power of dealing with men, and holding- 
 fast, amid all the storms of fortune, to their ideal of 
 right and justice. The attempt tojjaint such a picture 
 has been to me a recreation, which, whilst never inter- 
 fering with the disj)Osal of official business, or with 
 jiarticipation in field sports, when the opportunity to 
 indulge in them presented itself, has, more than any 
 other occupation, sweetened my hours of exile. 
 
 Of the characters treated in this volume, three — 
 Lord Lawrence, Sir Bartle Frere, and Sir Vincent 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 Eyre — are living. This has been suggested to me as 
 an objection. ' Why not,' it has been urged, ' wait till 
 they are dead, before you give the story of their lives 
 to the world.' T am very much mistaken if I fail to 
 give a conclusive answer to this query. Leaving out 
 of consideration — though it is not without weight — 
 the possibility that I might precede to the silent tomb 
 the gentlemen whose lives I have studied, I would ask 
 attention to the fact, that the events I have recorded 
 have been performed out of Europe. Eor the period 
 of the performance of those deeds, the actors were, so 
 far as related to the politics of England, to all intents 
 foreigners. Their lives glided by in the sandy plains 
 and jungles of India, remote from the gaze of their 
 countrymen, uncheered by the intellectual social life of 
 which they read, and for which doubtless they often 
 sighed. Occasionally, indeed, a great event, such as 
 the Indian Mutiny, called a passing attention to the 
 deeds by which their names were illustrated, but, ex- 
 cept in rare instances, the interest thus excited was 
 only momentary. They were, in very deed, foreigners 
 in all that concerned Europe. Is it because, though 
 thus foreigners, they were of English blood, that they 
 must die before the story of their lives in India can 
 be told to their countrymen ? 
 
 Again, it is permitted to write contemporary history. 
 
x FREFACE. 
 
 Mr. Kinglake has written, and is writing, a history of 
 the Crimean War. Sir John Kaye has written, and 
 is writing, a history of the Indian Mutiny. But, if 
 we analyse these histories, what are they ? Tliey are 
 the records of the actions of Englishmen, the majority 
 of them still living, during two or three years of their 
 lives. In what respect does the principle of recording 
 the history of three years of the life of a living man 
 differ from the principle of recording the history of 
 his whole Indian career? If it be said that in neither 
 case can the whole truth be told, I reply that it is 
 during; the lifetime of the actors that a conscientious 
 historian is best able to tell the whole truth. This 
 axiom has been put with great force by Sir John Kaye 
 in the preface to the second volume of his great work. 
 He says : ' It has often been told me, in reply to my 
 inquiries, " Yes, it is perfectly true. But these men 
 are still living, and the truth cannot be told." To 
 this my answer has been : " To the historian all men 
 are dead." If a writer of contemporary history is not 
 prepared to treat the living and the dead alike, to 
 speak as freely and truthfully of the former as of the 
 latter, with no more reservation in the one case than 
 in the other, he has altogether mistaken his vocation, 
 and should look for a subject in prehistoric times.' 
 This ruling applies with equal force to contemporary 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 biography. I can truly ayer that were the three living 
 subjects of my sketches not living, I should publish 
 those sketches as they nov7 stand, ' without one comma 
 more, or one comma less.' 
 
 All the papers contained in this volume were written 
 in India. That on Lord Lawrence appeared origi- 
 nally in ' Blackwood's Magazine,' three months after 
 he had left Calcutta. The sketch of the career of the 
 ancestor of Dyce Sombre first saw the light in an 
 Indian newspaper, the ' Madras Mail.' The others, 
 with the exception of the paper on Sir Bartle Frere, 
 were contributed to the ' Calcutta Review ' at intervals 
 between 1867 and 1869. The sketch of Sir Bartle 
 Frere's career was written in 1867, immediately after 
 he had ceased to be Governor of Bombay, and had 
 left India. It was intended for an English Magazine, 
 but it did not appear at the time. I feel a peculiar 
 pleasure in being at last able to place before the 
 English public the career of a statesman in every way 
 so worthy of their esteem. 
 
 With respect to the papers on Akbar and Madhajee 
 Sindia, I have only to state that, whilst the first calls 
 attention to the sound principles of administration by 
 which the greatest of all the Mogul Sovereigns of India 
 was guided, showing that he, the Mogul, was, in every 
 respect, immeasurably in advance of his European 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 contemporaries, the second sketches the mode in which 
 it was possible during the second half of the last 
 century, for a very able Mahratta to obtain supremacy 
 in India. It is, I think, indisputable that, had the 
 life of Madhajee been spared for ten years, the Eng- 
 lish would have had to fight the battle for empire under 
 far less favourable conditions than those by Avhich the 
 campaigns of Lake and Wellesley, against the suc- 
 cessor of Madhajee, were characterised. 
 
 The story of the ancestor of Dyce Sombre may be 
 interesting as showing how, under native rule, it was 
 possible for a degraded adventurer of European birth, 
 possessing neither conscience, nor courage, nor real 
 ability, to attain a very high position. 
 
 G. B. ]M. 
 
 London: Dc<:ciiihcr 2, 1871. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACE 
 
 LoED Lawrence : 
 
 Part I. — The Tkainino . . . .1 
 
 Past II.— The Tkial . . .56 
 
 Part III. — The Ceowning of the Edifice . .132 
 
 The Peinciples of Akbae . . . 219 
 
 SiE Vincent Etee ..... 249 
 
 Madhajee Sindia ..... 330 
 
 Sib Baetle Feebe ..... 388 
 
 Dyce Sombee's Ancestoe .... 438 
 
 Index . ...... 461 
 
RECREATIONS of an INDIAN OFFICIAL. 
 
 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 PART I. 
 
 THE TRAINING. 
 
 John Lawrence was born at Richmond, in York- 
 shire, on March 4, 1811. His father, who was a man 
 of great natural ability and considerable force of 
 character, had proceeded in early life to Bombay in 
 the suite of one of the commanders-in-chief; had 
 joined on his arrival one of H.M.'s regiments as a 
 gentleman volunteer ; and had, not long after, obtained 
 a commission. He bore a part in most of the 
 struggles in which the British were engaged on that 
 side of India; behaved with conspicuous gallantry at 
 the battle of Sedaseer, and at the capture of Sering- 
 apatam, where, being then only a lieutenant, he 
 commanded one of the storming-parties formed of 
 volunteers. Of this party all the officers but himself 
 were killed, and he was severely wounded in two 
 places. For this service, but after the delay of a 
 
2 LORB LAU HENCE. 
 
 yeai', Mr. Lawrence was promoted to a company in 
 H.M.'s 19th Foot, and was for some years quartered 
 in Ceylon. In 1815, at the time of the Waterloo 
 campaign, he was a lieutenant-colonel in command of 
 the Vetei'an Battalion, and governor of Ostend. Had 
 he obtained promotion early in life, he would probably 
 have gained considerable distinction, but most of his 
 service was performed as a subaltern ; and the morti- 
 fication arising from long-delayed promotion, the effects 
 (jf climate and wounds, all contributed to break down 
 Ins health, and compelled him to retire from active 
 service some time about 1821. He died in 1835, at 
 the age of seventy-two years. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence had twelve children, 
 eleven of whom grew up, and eight are still living. 
 John was the sixth son. The eldest son died when he 
 Avas but a cliild, and the four elder brothers beins out 
 ill the world, John was, when very young, a kind of 
 companion to his father, accompanying him in his 
 walks, and listening to the stories of his Indian career. 
 In 1823, being then twelve years old, he was sent to a 
 school at Londonderry. He remained there, however, 
 but two years ; then, returning to England, completed 
 the first portion of his education at a school at Bath. 
 He had jiist attained the age of sixteen when an East 
 India Director, an old friend of his father, offered him 
 an appointment in the Indian Civil Service. But the 
 l)oy was bent on following his father's career. Three 
 of his elder brothers had already gone to India as 
 
THE TRAINING. 3 
 
 soldiers, and he had made up his mind that, if he went 
 at all, he would go out in the same profession. The 
 opportune return of his brother Henry on sick leave 
 from India induced him to change his decision. Henry 
 pointed out to him the immensely superior advantages 
 of a civilian's career — the vast field for the exercise of 
 energy and ability offered by that branch of the Indian 
 service. He illustrated his argument by reference to 
 himself, his slow promotion, his inferior pay, the 
 absence of all prospect as an artillery officer. His 
 arguments, supported by those of his father, and 
 responded to by the strong common-sense of the lad, 
 were successful, and John Lawrence went to Hailey- 
 bury. 
 
 The decision was undoubtedly wise. Yet, judging 
 from after events — from some of those, more especially, 
 in 1857, the result of which depended upon the decision 
 of the moment, and to which we shall allude in their 
 proper place— we have no hesitation in affirming that 
 an excellent soldier was thereby lost to his country, 
 and that the honour which the career of Sir John 
 Lawrence has brought to the Indian Civil Service, 
 would have been reflected with not less lustre, had 
 opportunity offered, by his achievements at the head 
 of a British army. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence remained two years at Haileybury. 
 He passed, indeed, the necessary examinations within 
 the first twelve months of his entrance into that 
 college, but he was compelled to remain there longer, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 LOUl) LAlVItENi:!:. 
 
 under the operation of the rule which laid down 
 eighteen years as the minimum age at which a student 
 could pass out. Although far from being an idle lioy, 
 Mr. Lawrence did not avail himself to the full of the 
 opportunities offered him for securing a good edu- 
 cation. He worked by fits and starts, was fond of 
 athletic sports, and especially delighted in walking 
 across country with a friend. He had, however, read 
 a good deal in a desultory way, particularly history 
 and biography, and was considered well-informed for 
 his age. In his second Haileybury term he obtained 
 a prize in history, and a prize in the Bengallee lan- 
 guage ; in his third term he was second in political 
 economy, and again in the front rank in Bengallee ; 
 in his fourth he gained the gold medal for law, a third 
 Bengallee prize, and was returned as ' highly dis- 
 tinguished ' in other departments. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence left Haileybury in ^lay 1829, beinu 
 the third of his term for the Bengal Presidency ; but 
 he delayed his departure from England till the follow- 
 ing September, in order to enjoy on his way out the 
 society of his brother Henry, who was returning to his 
 ])ost of lieutenant in the Bengal Artillery. Mr. Law- 
 rence has (jften been heard to speak in after years of 
 the great advantage he derived from the presence of 
 his elder brother in England at this critical period of 
 his life — of the encouragement to exertion, the sound 
 and rational advice, strongly enforced by good exam- 
 ple, with which Henry was always ready, though 
 
THE TRAINIXG. 5 
 
 careful never to press it either with needless or tedious 
 persistency. * 
 
 Mr. Lawrence landed in India on February 9, 1830, 
 and remained ten months in Calcutta. During this 
 period he was frequently ill, and imbibed consequently 
 so great a distaste for the country that an offer of 
 lOOZ. per annum would probably have taken him home 
 again. At last, however, he passed his examinations, 
 and was reported qualified for the public service. He 
 had selected the Upper Provinces in preference to 
 Bengal as the scene of his future action, and was, at 
 his own request, appointed to the Delhi territory, then 
 a part of the border districts of the North-West Pro- 
 vinces. The time allowed for joining was six months ; 
 but Mr. Lawrence, travelling by palanquin, performed 
 the distance, upwards of 900 miles, in eighteen days. 
 This was then considered an extraordinary perform- 
 ance ; although, in the present day, the space between 
 Calcutta and Delhi, by a more circuitous route, may 
 be traversed in sixty hours ! 
 
 At the time of Mr. Lawrence's arrival at Delhi, 
 that division of the country was considered to offer, in 
 many respects, the best school for a young civilian.. 
 It was under the direct control of a resident and 
 chief-commissioner and a commissioner. The political 
 jurisdiction extended all over Rajpootana, the vast 
 but somewhat wild and barren territories of many 
 Rajpoot chiefs, besides all the country lying between 
 the rivers Jumna and Sutlej. In this latter area were 
 
6 LORB LAWSESCE. 
 
 five British districts, forming a tolerably compact 
 division; but all the rest of the country was par- 
 celled out amongst different chiefs, mostly, especially 
 to the northward and eastward, Hindus or Sikhs, pro- 
 minent amongst whom were the Rajahs of Puttialla. 
 Jheend, Khytul, and Nabha. 
 
 The young civilians were, in those days, employed 
 in various duties, sometimes in listening to the com- 
 plaints of the tillers of the soil and the poorer inhabit- 
 ants of the towns, at other times in negociating with 
 the chiefs of huge fiefs. They thus acquired expe- 
 rience in dealing with men, a thorough acquaintance 
 with all the details connected with the tenure of land, 
 and an insight into the customs and practices of the 
 various orders and classes of native society. But 
 these were not the only opportunities for obtaining 
 knowledge of this nature. In those days many of the 
 chiefs about Delhi still possessed in that city houses 
 and gardens, to which they constantly resorted, 
 partly to pay their respects to the representative of 
 British power, partly to enjoy the pleasures and luxu- 
 ries of social life. There were also living in Delhi, as 
 permanent residents, old men of rank and family, who 
 had served in some capacity or other in the Mahratta 
 wars — men who had been employed in an irregular 
 fashion under Sir Arthur Wellesley and Lord Lake — 
 men who used to be fond of telling stories of those 
 interesting days, and to whom the names of Mr. Set on, 
 the first resident. Sir Charles Metcalfe, Sir David 
 
THE TMAININO. 7 
 
 Ochterlony, and Sir John Malcolm, were as household 
 words. The intercourse of the British officials with 
 men of this character and experience, the visiting 
 them and the receiving visits in return, the patient 
 listening to their inexhaustible stock of anecdotes 
 relating to the past, tended greatly to the cordial good 
 feeling between both races characteristic of those 
 times. To the young civilian, alike willing and able 
 to read the books of character thus open before his 
 eyes, the lesson was one of incalculable importance, 
 full of influence on his subsequent career. 
 
 Among those who more especially delighted in the 
 opportunity thus afforded them of acquainting them- 
 selves with the character and feelings, so far as it was 
 possible thus to ascertain them, of their native fellow- 
 subjects, Mr. Lawrence was conspicuous. It is im- 
 possible to enter here into the details of those early 
 days, interesting and instructive as they are. But 
 more stirring events beckon us forward, and our 
 space is limited. We must content ourselves with 
 the bare statement of the facts, that for the first four 
 years of his residence at Delhi Mr. Lawrence held, 
 under the Resident, the ofiice of assistant-judge, 
 magistrate, and collector of the city and its environs, 
 embracing an area of 790 square miles, and containing 
 a population of 506,689 souls. At the end of this 
 apprenticeship — which, as may be imagined, was no 
 light one — Mr. Lawrence was selected for the charge 
 of the northern division of the Delhi territory, the 
 
8 L(mi) LAWRENCE. 
 
 chief civil station of which was Paniput, twenty miles 
 from -the large and important military cantonment of 
 Kurnaul. Paniput has on three several occasions 
 been the battle-ground on which the possession of 
 India has been decided. On November 5, 1556, the 
 illustrious Akbar defeated Hemu Adili, the Prime 
 Minister of Mohammed Shah Sur Adili, and recovered 
 the empire of his father Humayun ; on February 13, 
 1739, the army of Mohammed Shah, King of Delhi, 
 was utterly routed by the Persian invader, Kadir 
 Shah; and again, on January 6, 1761, Ahmed Shah 
 Abdali utterly defeated the Mahrattas under Sudaseo 
 Kao Bhao and Wiswas Rao. Whether the traditions 
 of these jfierce encounters may have nourished a mar- 
 tial disposition among the children of the soil on which 
 they took place, or whether other causes may have 
 contributed to the feeling, this at least is certain, that 
 the inhabitants of Paniput have the character of being 
 turbulent, disaffected, and difficult to manage, beyond 
 those of any of the towns and districts in the neigh- 
 bourhood. The district itself possesses an area of 1,832 
 square miles, and a population of more than 486,000. 
 Mr. Lawrence acted in charge of this difficult jjart of 
 the country for two years. During the greater part 
 of this period he was the only officer in the district. 
 It was in bad order when he came to it, and the re- 
 fractory classes were more than ever inclined to show 
 themselves worthy of their reputation. But Mr. Law^- 
 rence was not intimidated by their manifestations. 
 
THE TRAINING. 9 
 
 He threw himself heart and soul into his work, and, 
 supported thoroughly by his commissioner, he brought 
 the district, at the end of two years, into the most 
 perfect order. This had scarcely been accomplished 
 when the appointment itself became permanently 
 vacant. But here the rules of red-tape intervened. 
 Mr. Lawrence, who had not been considered too 
 young to bring the district into order whilst the 
 allowances of the acting appointment alone were avail- 
 able, was pronounced to be far too junior to draw the 
 full salary attaching to the permanent charge. He 
 consequently reverted to his substantive office of as- 
 sistant-magistrate and collector of Delhi, whilst the 
 district which he had brought into order was made 
 over to a civilian of long standing, who, having failed 
 as a judge, was therefore considered qualified to under- 
 take a far more difficult duty ! 
 
 During his charge of this district Mr. Lawrence 
 may be said to have completed his training as a civil 
 officer. It was a difficult school, it is true, but in after 
 life he had no reason to regret the severe apprentice- 
 ship. It facilitated all his subsequent labours, no 
 matter how varied or how onerous. It made him 
 thoroughly acquainted with the duties of administra- 
 tion, alilie of a large town and an important agricul- 
 tural district; it brought him in contact with the 
 lower, as had Delhi more especially with the higher, 
 orders of the community. Of the criminal classes and 
 their habits he had obtained during this charge a large 
 
10 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 experieuce. Coming daily into contact with the 
 various agricultural races of that part of India, he had 
 acquired a thorough knowledge of the peculiarities of 
 the tenure of land, the circumstances of Indian agri- 
 culture, canal and well irrigation, as well as of the 
 habits, social customs, and leading characteristics of 
 the people. During this period of two years, in fact, 
 Mr. Lawrence had, with the aid only of native subor- 
 dinates, marked off boundaries between village lands, 
 regarding which sanguinary feuds had gone on for 
 generations; he had superintended the collection of 
 the revenue, had charge of the treasury, sought out 
 and brought to justice numbers of great criminals, 
 managed the police, and, under the humble designation 
 of magistrate and collector, had been the pivot upon 
 which the whole of the administration revolved. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence did not remain long in his inferior 
 position at Delhi. Three months after joining he was 
 jjromoted to the grade of joint-magistrate and deputy- 
 collector of the southern division, but appointed to act 
 • as magistrate of the city of Delhi itself. After acting 
 for six months in that capacity, he joined his substan- 
 tive appointment in the southern division. Here he 
 obtained great experience of the Menas and Mehwatties, 
 tribes of Mohammedans converted from Hinduism in 
 the reign of Aurungzebe, and who are plunderers and 
 thieves by profession. These curious races yet retain 
 many of their old Hindu customs and traditions. Of 
 nothing are they fonder than of discoursing of the 
 
THE TRAINING. 11 
 
 glories and pleasures of the days, when, to use an old 
 adage of that part of the country, ' the buffalo belonged 
 to him who held the bludgeon.' To add to the diffi- 
 culties of such a charge, a severe drought affected 
 the Upper Provinces, increasing greatly the sufferings 
 of the people. But notwithstanding this — notwith- 
 standing, also, the predatory and warlike character of 
 the race, and the absence from the district of a single 
 soldier — so excellent were Mr.\ Lawrence's arrange- 
 ments, that crime did not much increase during the 
 season of suffering, nor was any violent outbreak 
 attempted. 
 
 After administering this district for eighteen months, 
 Mr. Lawrence was specially selected to be settlement 
 officer of Etawah, situated on the left bank of the 
 Jumna, adjoining Agra and Mynpoorie. This district 
 had suffered much from the drought to which we have 
 alluded, and its landed tenures were In considerable 
 disorder. Mr. Lawrence lost no time in taking up his 
 appointment. The district was then being surveyed 
 in a scientific manner ; the boundaries were distinctly" 
 laid down, and minute enquiries were instituted, in 
 conjunction with the collector, as to the degree and the 
 extent of relief to be afforded to the sufferers from the 
 drought by the temporary suspension of the land-tax. 
 Upon Mr. Lawrence himself, assisted by native offi- 
 cials, devolved the labour of superintending the de- 
 tailed field-measurements on which the revised set- 
 tlements were to be founded. This arduous labour, in 
 
12 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 an almost tropical climate, succeeding as it did tlie 
 unceasing exertions of eight years in Delhi and its vici- 
 nity, tried too severely his constitution. In Septem- 
 ber 1839 he was taken seriously ill of jungle fever, 
 and for nearly a mqnth his life was in great danger. 
 At one time, indeed, he was given up, but he rallied ; 
 and, assisted by the great care and attention of two 
 young military friends and a brother civilian, who 
 nursed him by turns, he so far recovered as to be able 
 to bear the fatigue of being carried into a boat and 
 sent off to Calcutta. There again he had a relapse ; 
 but, recovering from that also, he proceeded to Eng- 
 land, on February 28, 1840, on a furlough of three 
 years. 
 
 Before those three years had nearly expired, impor- 
 tant events had taken place in India. On November 2, 
 1841, there broke out in Cabul that insurrection which 
 inflicted so terrible a stain upon our arms, which 
 changed the policy of our empire, and which led some 
 of the foremost of our Anglo-Indian statesmen to 
 despair, for a time, of the fortunes of British India. 
 During the entire period of this catastrophe Mr. Law- 
 rence was in Europe ; but before he returned, the good 
 vessel of the State, tossed long and fiercely by the 
 waves, had weathered their fury, and was once more 
 riding in peaceful waters. The calm, too, was of a 
 far more healthy nature than had been the deceitful 
 repose of the time prior to the outbreak. We were) 
 again within our frontier, and, whatever danger might: 
 
THE TliAIXiyO 13 
 
 threaten us, we could at least mass all our resources to 
 meet it on our own ground. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence left England to return to India by 
 the overland route on October 1, 1842. During his 
 absence he had travelled a great deal, and had also 
 suffered for some time from an illness so serious as to 
 induce his medical advisers to doubt whether he would 
 ever be able to stand the trying climate of India. 
 However, he recovered and went out, though not 
 alone. Before his departure, he had taken the most 
 important and, for himself, the happiest step of his 
 whole career, by marrying a lady who, in the labours, 
 the dangers, and the triumjjhs that followed, was, in 
 the fullest sense of tlie terms, his helpmeet, his solace, 
 and his friend. Arriving with his wife at Bombay in 
 the first week of November of that yeai-, Mr. Law- 
 rence found that a war had broken out in Bundelkund, 
 and that the direct route to the North-West was thus 
 barred to him. He accordingly took the road to Au- 
 rungabad, and thence, via EUichpore and Nagpore, 
 through what was then a very rough country, unat- 
 tended by servants, to Allahabad. On his arrival 
 there, he found his prospects of employment very un- 
 satisfactory. The troops had, indeed, returned from 
 Affghanistan, but the country was overburdened by 
 the plethora of officials whom the late calamity had 
 summoned out from Europe. At length, however, 
 after a series of acting appointmetits, one of which was 
 in his old station of Paniput, Mr. Lawrence, more 
 
14 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 fortunate than most of his contemporaries, settled down 
 as magistrate and collector of Delhi. This was at the 
 end of 1844, just two years after his return from Eng- 
 land. In both of these charges Mr. Lawrence found 
 that considerable improvements had been effected since 
 he had left them ; more particularly in the condition 
 of the agricultural classes. He always attributed this 
 improvement to the settlement of the land-revenue for 
 a long term of years on favourable conditions to the 
 proprietors and cultivators of the soil, and to the im- 
 petus which had thus been given to agriculture. 
 
 But whilst Mr. Lawrence was actively engaged on 
 the scene of his earliest labours on Indian soil, events 
 were hatching, destined in their future to affect alike 
 his fortunes and the fortunes of his adopted country. 
 On December 11, 1845, the long-threatened invasion 
 of the Sikh army took place. Under the command 
 of Eaja Lall Singh and Tej Singh, the army, 50,000 
 strong, on that day poured across the Sutlej, not far 
 from our frontier station of Ferozepore. With the 
 exception of orders having been issued to hold the 
 troops at Meerut, Delhi, Umballa, and at other 
 stations on the frontier, in readiness for immediate 
 movement, not a single preparation had been made to 
 receive them, and India seemed at their mercy. But 
 the same Providence which filled the hearts of their 
 leaders with timidity and distrust, had given boldness 
 and daring, such as in the face of an European enemy 
 would have amounted to rashness, to the generals of 
 
THE TRAINING. l/j 
 
 the English army. The first and chiefest credit for 
 the victorious issue of the campaign is due to the 
 officer commanding at Ferozepore, General John 
 Littler. This officer had under his orders but one 
 European regiment, four or five native corps, and a 
 few guns. The Sikh army, crossing the Sutlej 50,000 
 strong, threatened his station. Littler at once con- 
 sulted commanding officers of regiments. They gave 
 him, in the sense of risking nothing, the most prudent 
 advice. They recommended him to throw up all sorts 
 of impromptu defences, to keep his troops behind these, 
 and to hold Eerozepore till he should be relieved by a 
 British army. Littler listened to them, thanked them, 
 and determined to adopt a course exactly opposite. 
 Early next morning he marched out at the head of his 
 4,000 men, took up a position opposite the Sikh army, 
 and offered them battle. The result proved his 
 thorough knowledge of Asiatics. The Sikhs, astounded 
 at his boldness, and suspecting that he must possess 
 resources of which they knew nothing, declined the 
 combat, and moved on to Ferozeshuhr. A few days 
 later the advance-guard of the Sikh army was repulsed 
 at Moodkee by Sir H. Hardinge ; and on the 21st and 
 22nd, a junction having been effected on the morning 
 of the 21st with Littler, a desperate and hotly-con- 
 tested battle ensued, which terminated in the repulse 
 of the Sikhs at all points. Our army, however, was 
 in no condition to pursue them ; and they took up a 
 frcsl'. position on the river Sutlej, within our own 
 
](i LORD LAWliEXCE. 
 
 territory, in front of the little village of Sobraon, and 
 commenced to fortify it strongly. 
 
 Whilst these events had been occurring, Mr. Law- 
 rence had remained at Delhi. His labours, however, 
 had been more than doubled by the warlike operations 
 to which we have alluded. It had happened that the 
 Governor-General, Sir H. Hardinge, on his way up 
 country, had passed through Delhi in the November of 
 that year, and had made the acquaintance of Mr. 
 Lawrence. It was the constant habit of Sir H. Har- 
 dinge to accompany Mr. Lawrence in his rides about 
 the interesting ruins of the imperial city. During 
 these rides subjects connected with the administration 
 of the country were discussed, and, amongst other 
 things. Sir H. Hardinge consulted his comj)anion on 
 the subject of irrigation, then attracting a good deal of 
 attention, and with reference to which Mr. Lawrence 
 liad had some experience during the drought of 1837. 
 When, a few weeks later, the Sikh war broke out, 
 Mr. Lawrence became at once busily engaged in col- 
 lecting carriage for the army in the field, and in sending 
 (m to it supplies. After the battle of Ferozeshuhr, 
 which was regarded all over India almost as a drawn 
 battle, our supplies of ammunition, great and small, 
 were I'educed to so low an ebb as scarcely to be equal 
 to the necessities of another fight. In the great 
 magazine of Delhi, of so sad a celebrity in after years, 
 the work of casting bullets and making up cartridges 
 went on night and day. But the great difficulty was 
 
TEE TRAINING. 17 
 
 to secure a supply of carriage. The country had been 
 to some extent denuded of this important necessary, 
 and the harsh treatment to which the owners of carts 
 had in some cases been subjected, the insufficient pay- 
 ments that had been made, and the terror of the enemy 
 which had reached Delhi, rendered those who remained 
 unwillinff to come forward. It was then that Sir H. 
 Hardinge made a personal appeal, in his own hand- 
 writing, to Mr. Lawrence to use every possible effort 
 to aid the army in this crisis. Mr. La^vxence nobly 
 responded. By his personal influence, by judicious 
 treatment, by good but moderate and certain payment, 
 he succeeded in collecting five thousand carts. These, 
 laden with commissariat and ordnance stores, were 
 despatched with all haste to the army, which they 
 reached in sufficient time to be made available for the 
 operations which ended in the crowning defeat of the 
 enemy at Sobraon, and the occupation of Lahore. 
 
 In those days the city of Delhi — the resistance of 
 which for more than four months to our arms is of 
 recent recollection — was nominally held by two weak 
 corps of native infantry and a battery of native 
 artillery. Throughout that life-struggle on the Sutlej, 
 this city, the possession of which had so often been 
 considered decisive of the fate of India — a city con- 
 taining within its walls upwards of 150,000 inhabitants, 
 more than half of whom were Mohammedans, a portion 
 of it occupied by the titular king, the descendant of 
 Baber and of Akbar, and by his dissolute court — was 
 
 c 
 
18 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 as quiet and secure .as any part of India, though scarcely 
 two hundred miles from the seat of war. Mr. Law- 
 rence, attended by a single native orderly, was in the 
 constant habit of patrolling its streets, passing through, 
 alike, its most crowded thoroughfares, its dirtiest lanes, 
 and its most unfrequented alleys. The inhabitants had 
 been acquainted with him for years ; they knew liis cha- 
 racter, his fearlessness, his prompt and quick decision. 
 Those qualities were sufficient to overawe them. 
 
 In his evidence, given before the House of Commons 
 some years later. Lord Hardinge stated that it was his 
 experience of Mr. Lawrence's qualities in 18-45-46 that 
 first fixed his attention upon him, and induced him a 
 little later to offer him an important political appoint- 
 ment. In the times that were coming upon him, the 
 Governor-General had need of the best officers the 
 Services of India could produce ; and it may be stated, 
 without fear of contradiction, that never in India was 
 the faculty of selection exercised with greater discern- 
 ment than on this occasion by Sir H. Hardinge. 
 
 Meanwhile Sobraon had been fought, Lahore occu- 
 pied. Cashmere and Jullundliur annexed, and peace 
 proclaimed. Cashmere was, indeed, sold to Kajah 
 Goolab Singh for a million of money, but Jullundhur 
 and the hill-tracts adjacent were destined to remain 
 permanently annexed to British India. Those adjacent 
 tracts comprehended Kangra, Xoorpore, jSadown, 
 Kuloo, Spiti, and Lehoul, jright up to the confines of 
 Thibet. To administer this country, inhabited by A'arious 
 races — the warlike Sikhs of the plain and the hardy sons 
 
THE TRAINING. 19 
 
 of the mountain, many of them Rajpoots, never before 
 subjected to the sway of a European, but governed 
 by their own people, and taught from infancy to regard 
 the Sikh as the coming race of Asia — Sir 11. Hardinge 
 selected the officer whose energy had stood him in such 
 stead in the terrible days of December and January. 
 On March 1, 1846, Mr. John Lawrence received a 
 summons to repair to Umritsur to see the Governor- 
 General, preparatory to taking charge of the newly- 
 acquired trans- Sutlej territory. 
 
 In the present day, when a class of politicians lose 
 no opportunity of exalting the advantages of native 
 rule, and of dwelling upon the preference evinced for 
 it by the natives themselves, the spectacle offered by 
 the cession of the Jullundhur Doab to the British, by 
 its transfer from native to foreign rule, may perhaps be 
 looked back to with some sort of curiosity. Certainly 
 in no part of India could the experiment have been 
 made with less likelihood of its resulting favourably to 
 the foreig-ner. Of all races in India the Sikhs were 
 the most martial, the most independent, and, never 
 before having met with reverses, the least likely to 
 renounce all at once the hopes of empire, which had 
 become with them a faith. Yet to gather what their 
 social condition had been and what it became — how 
 they fared under their own people and how under the 
 British, to which, after some experience, they showed 
 the greatest attachment under trying circum.stances — 
 we have but to point to the leading features of the 
 
 c 2 
 
20 LORD LAWREyCE. 
 
 public policy by which their connection with the 
 British was signalised. 
 
 For three years, from 1846 to 1849, Mr. Lawrence 
 was Commissioner of the Jullundhur Doab and the 
 adjacent hill-territories. The principal reforms which 
 he introduced during that period we will refer to in 
 the order in which they took place. The first was the 
 substitution of the payment of the land-tax in cash for 
 its payment in kind, as had been the practice, in many 
 instances, under the Sikh rule. It is true that, before 
 this change had been tried, the agricultural classes 
 dreaded its introduction, and some of them did not 
 hesitate to express their dislike of it to the Commis- 
 sioner. But Mr. Lawrence, after listening patiently 
 to their remonstrances, pointed out to them that the 
 new system would work to their advantage ; that 
 their assessments would be fixed and certain, calculated 
 on the area of land in cultivation, instead of being 
 dependent on the caprice of collectors or overseers. 
 Still, clinging to their ancient customs, they pleaded 
 against the experiment being tried ; but Mr. Lawrence 
 was too confident in the soundness of his views to give 
 ■way to solicitations founded only upon prejudice. He 
 caused a rough settlement of the province to be made, 
 and then assessed each landowner according to his 
 possessions at an equitable rate, considerably lighter in 
 the main than that which had obtained under Sikh 
 rule. The agriculturists, assured by this system of 
 the entire possession of their crops, found that they 
 
THE TRAINING. 21 
 
 were able to realise by the public sale of them in the 
 markets of the country a sum sufficient to leave them, 
 after paying all the demands of the State, a far greater 
 surplus than they had enjoyed under the old system. 
 The relief to the people by this one transaction was 
 calculated at from 15 to 30 per cent, on each man's 
 payments, whilst the treasury received nearly if not 
 quite as much as formerly. The difference had found 
 its way, under the old system, into the pockets of 
 the farmers of revenue, who sold off the products of 
 the land, and accounted for their receipts months and 
 sometimes years afterwards. The agriculturists were 
 not slow in admitting the great advantage thus accruing 
 to them. 
 
 Another and a most important reform was in the 
 administration of justice. Under the Sikh rule there 
 had been no written law. The unwritten penal code 
 contained but two penalties, fine and mutilation ; 
 imprisonment was unknown ; and there was scarcely 
 any crime which might not be atoned for by a fine. 
 Disputes regarding property were generally adjudicated 
 upon by private tribifinals ; but, as a rule, the people 
 were the slaves of the farmers of the revenue. So 
 lone; as the remittances to Lahore were regular and 
 satisfactory, these farmers were but rarely called upon 
 to account for the authority they exercised over life and 
 property. 
 
 We have already pointed out the mode in which 
 this system of arbitrary and all but irresponsible rule 
 
22 LORD 'LAWRENCE. 
 
 — this imperium in imperio — was jDut a stop to by IMr. 
 Lawrence. He supplemented this great work by 
 bringing justice to the door of the people. By means 
 of his assistants, selected from the civil and military 
 services alike, he gave the artisans of the towns, the 
 agriculturists, and the small landowners, a prompt and 
 efficient remedy for any injustice perpetrated against 
 them. He introduced a system of penal law, taken, 
 indeed, from the English system, but simplified so as 
 to suit the uncultivated comprehensions of the people 
 over whom he ruled. These plain and simple rules, 
 modified and added to according to the results of ex- 
 perience, were afterwards formed into a code, which, 
 translated into the Punjaubee language, enabled every 
 man to understand the nature of the rules to which he 
 was bound to conform, and the penalty that would be 
 enforced for any infraction of the law. 
 
 We are thus able to see how the two great blessings 
 of a fixed and moderate assessment of the soil, and a 
 prompt and sure system of justice, succeeding an as- 
 sessment neither fixed nor moderate, and a system of 
 justice neither prompt nor sure, should naturally 
 incline the hearts of the people towards British rule. 
 Still more was this likely to result when the Sikhs 
 found these reforms accompanied by others — by the 
 introduction of material improvements, of which 
 their old rulers had never dreamed. Thus, Govern- 
 ment monopolies, hitherto weighing with crushing 
 power upon trade, were abolished ; the excise system 
 
THE TRAINING. 23 
 
 was readjusted on a sensible plan ; roads were made, 
 bridges were built, and a police system introduced, 
 having for its object the maximum of efficiency com- 
 bined with the minimum of interference. 
 
 We have said that Mr. Lawrence held the office of 
 Commissioner of the Jullundhur district for three 
 years. But during that period several additional 
 duties were likewise thrust upon him. Twice was he 
 summoned to Lahore to act for and to assist his 
 brother in the very difficult task of effecting, through 
 the Sikh Durbar, a thorough reform of the fiscal 
 system of the Sikh territories — a system based upon 
 isolation, high preventive duties, and an excise levied 
 on all articles, fatal to the development of the resources 
 of the country, and ruinous to the finances of the State. 
 It is no disparagement to the memory of the illustrious 
 Sir Henry Lawrence to state that he depended in a 
 great degree for the moulding of the measures neces- 
 sary to carry out these reforms on the experience and 
 ability of his brother John. The means by which 
 they were effected partake of the marvellous. Lahore 
 was the only place in the Punjaub occupied by British 
 troops ; the people were still jealous of their indepen- 
 dence. And yet the wonderful spectacle was presented 
 of a few British officers riding over the country, re- 
 surveying and re-assessing the lands, attended only by 
 a few native horsemen raised in the Punjaub itself I 
 All this time, too, the Sikh Durbar, under whose 
 orders they were nominally acting, was secretly engaged 
 
24 LORD LAWRESCE. 
 
 in f)lotting for the restoration of the Maharanee, and 
 the complete expulsion of the British from the country. 
 
 For his services when acting for and assisting his 
 brother at Lahore, Mr. Lawrence twice received the 
 thanks of the Government of India ; and when, at the 
 end of 1847, his brother was forced to leave for Europe 
 on a longer period of absence on account of his health, 
 it was generally believed that the acting appointment 
 would be given to him. But Mr. Lawrence had 
 previously expressed in more than one letter to Lord 
 Hardinge his indifference for the acting appointment 
 of Resident of Lahore. That nobleman, therefore, 
 nominated Sir Frederick Currie, a member of his 
 Council, and who had previously been Foreign Secre- 
 tary, to the post. 
 
 Almost one of the first acts of the acting; Commis- 
 sioner was the deputation to Mooltan of the two 
 officers whose murder by the troops of Moolraj led to 
 the second Sikh war. It is probable that the out- 
 break at Mooltan would never have occurred, or that 
 it would have been promptly suppressed, had Messrs. 
 Agnew and Anderson marched thither with the 
 Durbar troops, and familiarised themselves with the 
 officers and men. No people are more impressionable 
 than the Asiatics, over none is a moral supremacy 
 sooner attainable by the display of qualities which they 
 admire the more in others from not possessing them 
 themselves. It is almost certain that had Messrs. 
 Agnew and Anderson accompanied the Sikh soldiers, 
 
THE TRAINING. 25 
 
 most of whom, by the by, were hill-men, to Mooltan, 
 they would have acquired over them such a mastery 
 that the conspirators would not have dared to attack 
 them, or, attacking, would have been repulsed. This, 
 at least, was the opinion expressed at the time by 
 Mr. Lawrence, who considered, moreover, one of the 
 envoys as not well fitted for the part he had to play. 
 As it was, the two officers proceeded by water, the 
 men by land. They met a few miles only from 
 Mooltan. The men had had no time to become ac- 
 quainted even with the persons of the foreign envoys 
 when the attack upon the latter took place. Under 
 the trying circumstances that followed, they were 
 easily suborned from their duty towards those of whom 
 they knew nothing. The result is well known. Our 
 officers were murdered ; and Moolraj, with the secret 
 encouragement of the Sikh Durbar, raised the standard 
 of revolt, and thus precipitated the insurrection which, 
 ever since the occupation of Lahore by the British, 
 had been fomented and encouraged by many of the 
 nobility of the Punjaub who had been apparently most 
 friendly to our rule. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence was of opinion that the immediate 
 march of a few British troops on Mooltan would have 
 nijjped the plans of the conspirators in the bud ; and 
 there can be no doubt as to the soundness of this view. 
 'J'he success of Lieutenant Herbert Edwardes's raw 
 levies against the troops of Moolraj in the field shows 
 how much might, at an early period, have been effected 
 
2G LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 by a hantlful of Europeans and a few guns. But the 
 question was left to be decided, not by common-sense, 
 but by military red-tape.* Red-tape, being comfort- 
 ably housed in the Himalayas, decided that it was too 
 hot to move troops under canvas at that season of the 
 year. The insurrection, therefore, was allowed to 
 gather head, and, before our troops could be massed, 
 had assuined a most formidable strength. 
 
 ^Ve pass over the military events which followed — 
 the checkered fortunes of the troops who besieged 
 Mooltan, the doubtful victory of Chillianwalla, the 
 crowning mercy of Goojrat — and proceed to dwell 
 upon the ordeal to which was subjected that province, 
 which had been detached, less than three years before, 
 from the kingdom of the Sikhs, and which during that 
 period had been subjected to British rule, as understood 
 and administered by Mr. Lawrence. 
 
 That officer had not returned many days to his 
 district before he received intelligence of the murder 
 of the two British officers at JMooltan. The force at 
 JuUundhur itself then consisted of one European and 
 four native regiments, a battery of artillery, and some 
 irregular horse. There were, besides, other native 
 corps or detachments at various points of the province, 
 but no more Europeans. There were also two local 
 
 * The GoYernor-General in Council to the Secret Committee, dated 
 May 11, 1848: — 'The reply of the Commauder-in-Chief has just been 
 rccoived by us. His Excellency is strongly opposed to the movement 
 of British troops at this season upon Mooltan; and intimates his opinion 
 that, as a military operation, it is highlj' inexpedient, if not impracti- 
 cable' 
 
THE TRAINING. 27 
 
 corps of militai-y police, the 1st and 4th Sikhs — one 
 composed of pure Sikhs, the other of hill-Rajpoots. 
 These last were the only troops under the control of 
 the Commissioner. The others were under the sole 
 orders of Brigadier H. M. Wheeler, an officer of the 
 Company's army, highly considered for his energy and 
 strength of will, and who in after years obtained a 
 melancholy celebrity as the commander of the ill-fated 
 garrison of Cawnpore at the time of the mutiny. But 
 Mr. Lawrence had never been accustomed to trust 
 implicitly to the number of the troops in his province, 
 however capable their commander. 
 
 When the intelligence of the events at Mooltan 
 reached him, and he noticed that those events were 
 not followed up by prompt action — -or indeed, except 
 on the part of Lieutenant Edwardes, by any action at 
 all — he felt convinced that work of the most serious 
 character would be cut out for him. JuUundhur, 
 though annexed for three years to the British territories, 
 was still, in the blood and feeling of its population, 
 a Sikh province. Although the great mass of the 
 people had recognised the advantage of the reforms 
 introduced by Mr. Lawrence, there were still in the 
 villages many disbanded soldiers, who looked back 
 regretfully to the times when they were virtually 
 masters of the country, and could lord it over the 
 people. The successful revolt of Moolraj could not 
 long be without eifect upon these mischief-making 
 elements of Sikh society, especially if religious 
 
28 LORD ZAWBEKCK 
 
 fanaticism were to bring its strong influence to bear 
 upon their minds, by urging them to strike a blow for 
 that reformed faith, the adherence to which had made 
 the Sikhs a nation. The crisis came fully as soon as 
 Mr. Lawrence had anticipated. In the month of May, 
 Bhaee Maharaj Singh, a gooroo or priest, a well-known 
 man in the country, began to collect several hundred 
 followers on the north of the Beas, close to the British 
 frontier. Mr. Lawrence, in concert with the Brigadier, 
 at once caused all the fords by which he could cross 
 into JuUundhur to be carefully guarded. At the 
 same time troops were sent after him from Lahore. 
 The Bhaee, alarmed for his safety, retreated towards 
 Jung ; but before the Lahore troops could arrive, he 
 was attacked and defeated by the Kardar of the place, 
 Meah Sahib Dyal, a staunch supporter of the British, 
 and totally defeated. His followers who escaped 
 slaughter at once dispersed. 
 
 The abortive result of this premature movement 
 enabled ]\Ir. Lawrence to complete his measures for 
 securing the province in the event of a further out- 
 break. The delay in the operations against Mooltan 
 fa%oured the machinations of the conspirators and 
 disafi^ected all over the country, and rendered the 
 ])Osition of ]\Ir. Lawrence one of peculiar difficulty. 
 In the month of August, one Bam Singh, son of a 
 Rajpoot chieftain named Vizier Shama, the hereditary 
 Vizier of Noorpore, a small hill -state which Bunjeet 
 Singh had absorbed many years before, assembled a 
 
THE TRAINING. 29 
 
 body of men at a spot commanding the entrance into 
 tlie Kangra hills, and attacked and killed several sub- 
 ordinates in the customs department at Hajeepore. 
 On this outrage becoming known, Mr. C. H. Saunders, 
 one of Mr. Lawrence's assistants, in pursuance of 
 instructions previously given him by his chief, made a 
 requisition on the military authorities for some troops, 
 and went in pursuit of the insurgents. Major Fisher, 
 who commanded these troops, took the strong fort of 
 Shahpore, occupied by the enemy, and drove them out 
 of the country. Reinforced, however, by some Pathan 
 levies, they returned, and, taking up a position on a 
 narrow hill about a mile and a half south of the town 
 of Noorpore, began to collect supplies from the sur- 
 rounding country. But by this time Mr. Lawrence 
 had arrived at Noorpore. He at once urged Brigadier 
 Wheeler to attack the enemy's position. ' It will be a 
 great object,' he wrote, 'to attack the insurgents as 
 soon as possible.' At the same time, to prevent their 
 escape, he wrote to Major Fisher, recommending him 
 to watch the outlets by which they could retire. Had 
 the troops been entirely at his disposal, he would have 
 acted according to the dictates of his own convictions, 
 and have attacked the enemy on the moment. But 
 he had with him only a few Sikhs of the local corps, 
 and unfortunately the Brigadier had expressly for- 
 bidden the officer commanding at Noorpore to detach 
 any troops from that place. 
 
 Six days elapsed before the regular troops could be 
 
so LORD LAWREKCE. 
 
 assembled at Noorpore. Meanwhile Mr. Lawrence, 
 and the officers who gradually joined him, enjoyed 
 many opportunities of reconnoitering the enemy's 
 position, though at the risk, often encountered, of 
 being fired upon. At last he could wait no longer. 
 On the morning of the 1 9th the position was attacked 
 by the Sikh local corps, which had come uji from 
 Hooshiarpore under Major Hodgson, four hundred 
 Eajpoots sent to our aid by the Eajahs of Mundee and 
 Chumba, and the troops of the regular army under 
 Major Fisher. The result was never doubtful. Ram 
 Singh and his followers were driven with some loss 
 I'rom the heights ; much captured property was re- 
 covered ; and some British subjects, whom he had held 
 in confinement, were released. Some few of the insur- 
 gents, owing to the density of the jungle, effected their 
 escape ; and amongst these, unfortunately, was the 
 rebel leader himself. Mr. Lawrence and his assistant, 
 ]\Ir. Barnes, were present at the attack with the Raj- 
 poots referred to. Indeed the operations were carried 
 out under the advice of the former. 
 
 But other parties from outside still continued to 
 threaten the tranquillity of the country. The people 
 f)f Jullundhur were quiet and loyal, content with the 
 English rule. Some of the nobles of the province 
 had, as we have seen, sent their retainers to assist us. 
 But the defection of Shore Singh on September 13, 
 followed as it was by the raising of the siege of 
 INIooltan ; the rebellion of C'hutter Singh, his alliance 
 
THE TRAINING. 31 
 
 ■with the Amir of Cabul, and the generally believed 
 idea of his alliance with the Maharajah of Cashmere ; 
 the pressing letters sent by these men and by Moolraj 
 to the Sikh army and the Sikh population, urging 
 them to rise and fight for their faith — all these cir- 
 cumstances created some excitement among the people 
 generally, and gave to every discarded placeman, 
 every discontented official,. and every fanatic, an excuse 
 for conspiring against the British. Notwithstanding 
 the ill success of the attempts of Maharaj Singh and 
 of Ram Singh, risings continued to take place in the 
 Baree Doab, the tract of country between JuUundhur 
 and Lahore. These were promptly put down by 
 Brigadier Wheeler and the JuUundhur troops. But 
 in the following month Mr. Lawrence received infor- 
 mation that the fort of Pathankote, not far from 
 Noorpore, in British territory, had been attacked by 
 about a thousand insurgents, collected in the Baree 
 Doab and in the territories of Maharajah Goolab 
 Singh, and having with them six guns. Pathankote 
 was garrisoned by but fifty Sikhs and a few police. 
 Mr. Lawrence at once hastened, with all the men he 
 could raise, by forced marches, in the direction of 
 Xoorpore. But he had only arrived at Mackerian, on 
 his way thither, when he learned that the enemy, 
 alarmed at demonstrations made against him, had 
 retired from Pathankote and retreated to Deenanuggur, 
 within the territories of the Sikh Durbar. But Mr. 
 Lawrence was determined to make them repent their 
 
32 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 audacity. Kequesting Major Simpson with six com- 
 panies of the regular army, and Major Ferris with the 
 Kangra hill local corps, to take up such a position as 
 would effectually cut off their retreat, he marched 
 from Mackerian on the night of November 25 with 300 
 Sikhs,* 100 horse, and two guns, the whole commanded 
 by Major Waller. Marching all night, he crossed the 
 Beas and entered the Punjaub territories, whither the 
 insurgents had retired. He came upon them between 
 six and seven o'clock in the morning, just one hour too 
 late to find them all asleep ; but, noticing the smallness 
 of Mr. Lawrence's party, they turned out to fight. A 
 few rounds of grape, however, dispersed them. Their 
 escape would have been impossible had the Kangra 
 hill-corps taken up the position that had been assigned 
 it. This, however, it failed to do, and the bulk of the 
 enemy escaped by the ford it should have guarded. 
 The district was, nevertheless, cleared of them for the 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence hoped that by staying for a few days 
 at Deenaiiuggur he might at once arrest some of the 
 leaders of the insurrection, and pacify the district. 
 But his difficulties seemed to increase every day. By 
 this time, in fact, several of the hill- chiefs, seduced 
 from their allegiance, had thrown off the mask and 
 
 * Mr. Lawrence, in his account of these events, thus reports ; — 'The 
 Sikh corps, though knowing they were going against Sikhs, evinced the 
 greatest spirit and alacrity.' These men -nere raised in the viUngcs 
 of the JuUundhur Doab, and expressed the sentiments of tlieir fellow- 
 villagers. 
 
THE TltAINIlSG. S3 
 
 pronounced in favour of the rebellion ; whilst from 
 every village, from every corner of the Puujaub, 
 JuUundhur alone excepted, the old soldiers of the 
 Khalsa vrere flocking to the standard of Chutter 
 Singh. Encouraged probably by the attempt made 
 against Pathankote, and believing that. their success 
 would rouse the Sikhs of the JuUundhur Doab in 
 their favour, the E,ajah of Muhlmore, the representa- 
 tive of the Katoch Rajahs, and the Rajah of Jeswun, 
 lower down in the hills, rose in revolt, raised levies, 
 and seized some Indian officials in the British service. 
 In this crisis the action of Mr. Lawrence was prompt 
 and vigorous as usual. He at once despatched Mr. 
 Barnes, with half the Kangra hill-corps, to attack the 
 Rajah of Muhlmore, ordering the other half to follow 
 the next day. Whilst Mr. Barnes should be thus em- 
 ployed, he proposed to march himself, with four horse- 
 artillery guns, 500 men of a Sikh local corps, two com- 
 panies of the 71st N.I., and 70 horse, by Hajeepore, on 
 Umb. This he did : but on reaching Umb he heard 
 that the insurrection was gathering head, that the 
 Jeswun Rajah had been joined by the Bedee of 
 Oonah, and that the roads leading through the passes 
 beyond Umb had been entirely destroyed. Notwith- 
 standing this disheartening intelligence, Mr. Lawrence 
 never for a moment forgot that, in fighting against 
 Asiatics, the one way to victory is to move forward. 
 He pushed, therefore, all the more resolutely on. 
 Well it was that he did so. On reaching Dungoh, 
 
 D 
 
34 LORD LAWMEN CE. 
 
 one march beyond Umb, he learned that the Rajah of 
 Duttarpore, another hill-rajah, whom he had hitherto 
 believed faithful, had also joined the revolt, and had 
 driven our policemen from the fort of Dungoh. 
 Instantly Mr. Lawrence moved against that fort. 
 This boldness had the desired effect. The enemy 
 evacuated the fort and fled. Pursued by our men, 
 many were taken, amongst them the son of the Rajah 
 of Duttarpore. Mr. Lawrence, always averse to harsh 
 measures, and anxious only to stifle the rebellion in 
 the bud, made use of the capture of the son to procure 
 the surrender of the father. One of the heads of the 
 rebellion was thus lopped off. It soon became clear 
 to him, moreover, that the hill-people had taken no 
 willing part in the insurrection. ' The heads of the 
 villages,' he reported, 'joined us on the line of march, 
 the majority declaring that they had neither joined in 
 the insurrection, nor allowed their people to do so ; 
 others saying that those who had joined had been 
 forced into the act.' This conviction of the friendly 
 feeling of the people only strengthened him in his de- 
 termination to attack the real rebel, the Rajah of 
 Jeswun, on the morrow. 
 
 On December 2 the fight took place — our men, 
 composed entirely of Punjaub soldiers, advancing in 
 two lines, one against the fort of Kliurote, the other 
 against the main force of the enemy, who occupied a 
 hill above Umb. Both attacks succeeded : the fort of 
 Kliurote surrendered without much resistance ; whilst 
 
THE TMAIXING. 25 
 
 the enemy on the hill, after a desperate resistance, 
 gave way and fled. This defeat so intimidated the 
 third head of the rebellion, the Bedee of Oonah, the 
 Sikh high priest, that he fled, accompanied by only 
 sixty followers. Mr. Lawrence was urgent to follow 
 him, but could not overcome the caution of the mili- 
 tary authorities. On the same day Oonah was occu- 
 pied, and the Rajah of Jeswun surrendered himself a 
 prisoner. Whilst Mr. Lawrence was thus successful 
 in the lower part of the Kangra hills, his assistant, 
 Mr. Barnes, had not been less so in the northern 
 tracts. With a wing of the Sikh corps, commanded 
 by Lieutenant Gordon, he had completely defeated the 
 Kajah of Muhlmore, and had occupied his palace the 
 following day. On December 4 tranquillity reigned 
 in every corner of the Kangra hills and in the Jul- 
 lundhur Doab. 
 
 It is never very difficult in India, with strong bat- 
 talions at one's command, to put down a rebellion in a 
 native province. But the question assumes an aspect 
 altogether different when the chief civil authority in 
 the province, with only a handful of native troops at 
 his disposal, has to improvise all the measures neces- 
 sary for meeting risings at distant and even opposite 
 points; when, in addition to his civil duties, he is 
 called upon to exercise also the functions of general, 
 of organiser, of chief commissary ; when, in addition to 
 this, he has to soothe the population, to feel the pulses 
 of the chieftains, to insure by his own confident bearing 
 
 T> 2 
 
36 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 the loyalty of all those of the subject race with whom 
 he may be brought in contact ; when, too, unable 
 to act over the entire province with the handful of 
 regulars at his disposal, he has to depend, to combat 
 Sikhs, upon Sikhs raised in his own territory and 
 under his own auspices. This is no easy task ; this 
 is a work that tests the stuff of which a man is made ; 
 that is a programme to which neither the mere 
 bookworm nor the epauletted booby would ever be 
 equal ; it is a labour requiring not only nerve but 
 brains, not only courage but prescience, not only 
 confidence in one's self, but the ability to inspire con- 
 fidence in all around one. It needs energy of mind, 
 quickness and readiness of thought, activity of body, 
 power to endure fatigue, capacity to grasp in a moment 
 the main points of the matter in hand, to press on 
 steadily to the end to be achieved without being led 
 away by subordinate details, however urgent they may 
 be deemed by others. It was a task requiring the 
 exercise of all these qualities that devolved upon Mr. 
 Lawrence in the second half of that month of Xovem- 
 ber 1848. His position, then, was of the most critical 
 importance. Mooltan was holding out against the 
 British ; the veterans of the Sikh army rallied to the 
 standard of the two Eajahs, Chutter Singh and Shere 
 Singh, had advanced to the banks of the Chenab, and 
 were threatening Lahore ; the Aifghan cavalry, 
 making common cause with the Sikhs, had occupied 
 Peshawur, and was advancing upon Attock ; nearly 
 
THE TRAIN IXG. 37 
 
 every Sikh chieftain of note or ability in the service of 
 the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh had given in his ad- 
 hesion to the leader of the insurgents ; from his eyrie 
 in Jummoo, Maharajah Goolab Singh, the most astute 
 amongst the followers of Govind, was eagerly watching 
 the course of events, ready, there can be no doubt, to 
 take part against us should fortune frown on our 
 arms. This was the position of events. The scale was 
 evenly balanced. All the troops we could bring into 
 the field were fully occupied in other portions of the 
 Punjaub. Even the bulk of the brigade intended to 
 guard Jullundhur had been moved under its general 
 from that province into the Baree Doab. What if, 
 under such circumstances, Jullundhur itself had risen ? 
 It is not easy to calculate the consequences of a suc- 
 cessful insurrection in that province. The necessity 
 to reconquer it would have been the least of the evils 
 to which such an event would have given birth. The 
 rise of Jullundhur would have crippled the movements 
 of the army operating against Chutter Singh, and, in all 
 probability, M'ould have decided Goolab Singh to take 
 part with our enemies. Our communications mth the 
 cis-Sutlej territories would have been risked, our native 
 allies in those parts would" have been sorely tempted, 
 Lahore itself would have been in danger. From such 
 consequences the British Government was saved, not 
 by its resources in men and material, not by the num- 
 ber of its troops, nor by the successful strategy of its 
 commanders in the field, but by the energy, courage, 
 
38 LOBD LAWEElSiCE. 
 
 forethought, and activity of the Commissioner of the 
 province, Mr. John Lawrence. 
 
 ' The Sikhs,' wrote that gentleman, in his own 
 simple and modest style, when reporting to the Resi- 
 dent the suppression of the revolt, ' attacked Pathan- 
 kote on the 19th. On the 24th the Jeswun Eajah 
 and the Bedee rose in the lower range of the hills. 
 About the same time the Muhlmoree Eajah, in the 
 upper range, also rebelled. The General was absent 
 from the territory, and I and my assistant were neces- 
 sarily obliged to act on our own responsibility to a con- 
 siderable extent. By the 3rd of the ensuing month, 
 or within thirteen days, peace and order have been 
 restored throughout the territory by the capture or 
 dispersion of the insurgents. This result has been 
 effected with little loss of life, and hardly any expense 
 to Government. Had we not thus promptly acted, I 
 am convinced that the rebellion would have assumed a 
 formidable aspect, and have cost blood and treasure to 
 suppress. Many who had every intention of joining 
 against us were paralysed by our movements, and the 
 good intentions of the well-disposed were confirmed.' 
 
 Yes, indeed ! Had he not thus promptly acted, the 
 history of the second Punjaub war might have told a 
 different tale. Yet such is the peculiarity of our na- 
 tional temperament, so little do we regard an issue 
 not recommended to our notice bv blood-sheddinsr and 
 slaughter, that whilst the unskilliil movements of one 
 military commander in this war have been chronicled 
 
THE TMAINIXG. 39 
 
 with a minuteness that leaves nothing to desire, the 
 skilful and successful campaign of Mr. Lawrence in 
 JuUundhur, conceived and carried out in strict accord- 
 ance with the truest military principles, because ac- 
 complished ' with little loss of life, and hardly any 
 expense to Government,' has been scarcely noticed. 
 Not the less remarkable, however, was the skill that 
 caused the loss of life to be so small — not less worthy of 
 being recorded the results of that exercise of splendid 
 energy, aided by the soundest judgment ! 
 
 Thenceforth, throughout the campaign, tranquillity 
 reigned in the trans- Sutlej territories of the British. 
 The presence of the one man who had struck down 
 rebellion on its first appearance, sufficed to preserve 
 order and loyalty in the most recent acquisition of the 
 East India Company. Assured by this tranquillity on 
 their flank, and by it of freedom from hostile inter- 
 vention on the part of the Maharajah of Cashmere, our 
 military leaders were enabled, after a desperate con- 
 test, to pursue their plans to a triumphant conclusion. 
 
 The Punjaub, placed by the victory of Goojrat at 
 the feet of Lord Dalhousie, was by him annexed — 
 rightly and wisely annexed. He had really no alter- 
 native. It was impossible to restore the country to 
 the minor Maharajah. The plan of ruling through 
 the Sirdars had resulted in a rebellion which tested 
 all the resources of the Anglo-Indian Empire. It was 
 clear that, so long as the shadow of power should be 
 left to the Khalsa, its members would intrigue to 
 
40 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 recover the substance. Upon us would have devolved 
 tlie necessity of maintaining bloated armaments, more 
 expensive than the military occupation of the country, 
 far more likely to lead to bloodshed. On the other 
 hand, there was the example of the Jullundhur Doab 
 to show, that it was possible to reconcile the people to 
 our sway, and that the possession of an administration 
 founded upon the purest principles of justice, free 
 from the tyranny of the sword, and the exactions of 
 native middlemen, would come soon to be esteemed by 
 the people as more than a compensation for the govern- 
 ment of their feudal lords. Those lords had appealed 
 to the arbitrament of the sword. It had condemned 
 them ; justice and humanity made it imperative that 
 thenceforth the conquered country should be adminis- 
 tered no longer in the interest of the few, but for the 
 benefit of the great mass of the people. 
 
 The fiat then went forth, and with it the announce- 
 ment of the system on which the new province should 
 be governed. There was to be a Board of Adminis- 
 tration, composed of three members. 
 
 A Board no doubt is, as a rule, a cumbrous and 
 awkward machine. The unity and decisive action 
 which emanates from the mind of a single individual 
 of great ability will certainly produce greater results 
 in an equal time. But the difficulty in Lord Dal- 
 housie's mind was to find such a man, due regard beino- 
 had also to the claims and interests of those wlio had 
 liitherto borne the most prominent part in our relations 
 
THE TRAINIKG. 41 
 
 ■witli the province. By administering tlie country by 
 means of a Board, Lord Dalhousie conceived that he 
 would unite the political and military ability of Sir 
 Henry Lawrence with the administrative knowledge of 
 detail and experience which two able civilians would 
 supply. It was with this view he appointed Sir H. 
 Lawrence president of the Board, and Mr. C. Mansel 
 and Mr. J. Lawrence members. The President had 
 special charge of the political duties, Mr. Mansel of 
 the police and judicial, and Mr. John Lawrence of the 
 revenue and finance. On all important matters, how- 
 ever, the President and members were wont to meet 
 and consult — the majority, in the case of a difference 
 of opinion, carrying the day. Mr. Lawrence had not 
 asked for a seat at this Board — indeed he had expressed 
 a desire to be allowed to retain his old post as Com- 
 missioner of the trans-Sutlej territory ; but he was in- 
 formed that his services were required for the Punjaub, 
 and, with the devotion to duty that characterised him, 
 he submitted. 
 
 The account of Mr. Lawrence's connection with the 
 Board of Administration, and of his subsequent career 
 as Chief Commissioner, to be at all satisfactory, would 
 require an article to itself. We must content ourselves 
 here, unwillingly, with touching only on the details 
 of leading interest. As member of the Board consti- 
 tuted in 1849, he repeated on a larger scale the admin- 
 istrative reforms which he had previously accomplished 
 in JuUundhur. Prior to the rebellion, the Council of 
 
42 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 Kegency, established after the first Sutlej campaign, 
 had been content to patch up the system, never very 
 good, and then greatly deteriorated from its original 
 plan, of Euujeet Singh ; to effect improvements in the 
 details of that system, without violently disturbing its 
 general framework. But the oppressive system which 
 had, perforce, been tolerated by Sir H. Lawrence, 
 when he was no more than adviser to the old Council 
 of Regency, however it might be patched and amended, 
 could not possibly be adopted as their own by the 
 British authorities, burdened with all the responsibility 
 of a ruling power. The work of the Board, then, was 
 to destroy at once all that was iniquitous in the old 
 system, replacing it simultaneously by a scheme of 
 legislation which our experience at Jullundhur had 
 proved to be well adapted to the genius and the in- 
 terests of the people. 
 
 The Board commenced their proceedings by dividing 
 the newly acquired territories into circles, at first four 
 in number, but afterwards increased to five, each under 
 a commissioner and the usual statf of subordinate 
 officers. They then set about the various measures 
 demanding immediate attention. These were, the pro- 
 teciicm of eight hundred miles of frontier within a few 
 miles of hardy and fanatical tribes, who, in one sense of 
 the expression, ' neither feared God nor regarded mai. , ' 
 the maintenance of internal peace ; the reorganisation 
 of the administrative system ; the reform of the system 
 of taxation and of excise; the raising of a police force ; 
 
THE TRAINING. 43 
 
 the establishment of civil discipline ; the repression of 
 violent crime ; the freedom of commerce, the fostering 
 of agriculture, the development of the national re- 
 sources ; and last — but perhaps the most important of 
 all, and entirely dependent on the nature of the new 
 system, and the spirit in which it might be accepted 
 by the people — the foundation of a national life, dif- 
 ferent to the life of the past, all over the country. 
 
 Such was the programme of the Board. Nobly and 
 energetically did they carry it out. The details we 
 have no space to describe; but inasmuch as they 
 interest alike the statesmen of Europe and the states- 
 men of India, we trust they may yet, before long, find 
 their way into print. It must suffice here to state, 
 that out of the Sikhs themselves a frontier force was 
 formed, which is justly considered the elite of the 
 native army of India ; which has distinguished itself 
 in a hundred fights on the frontier ; which was faithful 
 among the faithless, and the soldiers of which emulated 
 their European comrades in the terrible days of 1857 ; 
 which has borne the British flag triumphantly in China 
 and in Abyssinia ; which, as an auxiliary force. It Is 
 impossible to surpass. Internal peace was maintained 
 by enforcing a general disarmament, by raising an 
 effective police from among the people themselves, but 
 mainly by bringing justice to the doors of the people, 
 by giving them, in exchange for their old feudal sys- 
 tem, terribly oppressive to the poor, a system which 
 made all men equal before the law. The incidence of 
 
44 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 taxation was made lightei', whilst it was scarcely less 
 productive. The lands of the various districts were 
 surveyed, and assessed on an equitable system. Trade 
 was made free, and the incidence of the excise greatly 
 lessened. Jails were built. A simple code of justice 
 was introduced. Roads were made, and great works 
 begun upon canals. So great, so various, and so sen- 
 sible to the people were the reforms effected, that when, 
 on February 4, 1853, the Board was dissolved, its 
 members made over to their successor a people, the 
 great mass of whom had in very deed changed their 
 * swords into ploughshares, and their spears into prun- 
 ing-hooks ; ' who, from having been the most martial, 
 the most independent, and the most turbulent of all 
 the nations south of the great ranges to the north, 
 dictating the law even to their own sovereigns, had 
 become the most peaceable, the most pliable, the most 
 contented ! 
 
 Why was the Board dissolved ? Why, in the ar- 
 rangements that followed, was Mr. Lawrence preferred 
 to his brother ? Both these questions have given rise 
 to much misrepresentation. It has been asserted, that 
 whilst Sir Henry wished to maintain the influence of 
 the aristocracy, Mr. Lawrence laboured to raise the 
 yeomen and peasantry at the expense of the nobles. 
 But this by no means represents the exact state of the 
 case. The great difference between the two brothers 
 was caused by the opposite views held by each as to 
 the mode of dealing with the great fief-holders, and 
 
THE TRAINING. 46 
 
 generally -with the lands which paid no revenue to the 
 State under the Sikh government. In his sketch of 
 the career of Sir Henry Lawrence, Mr. Kaye has 
 j)roduced a letter, written by Sir Henry, in which he 
 affirmed that there existed between himself and his 
 brother a difference on the question of the annexation 
 of the Punjaub, and on the mode of dealing with 
 native princes. But whatever might have been his 
 views, Mr. Lawrence was never consulted regarding 
 that annexation by Lord Dalhousie, nor did he ever 
 express an opinion regarding it, partly out of deference 
 to his brother's views, partly because he really did 
 doubt the justice of the act ; but when questioned as 
 to its feasibility, Mr. Lawrence said that with resolu- 
 tion and prompt action it was feasible — and on this 
 Lord Dalhousie decided to annex. 
 
 But the main question between the two brothers 
 was the other. Sir Henry regarded the balancing of 
 the income and expenditure of the province as alto- 
 gether a secondary consideration ; the support of the 
 great fief-holders, in their untaxed condition, and even 
 the increase of their possessions by lands free from 
 taxation, being the first — both being in accordance 
 with the custom of Sikh rule. But Mr. Lawrence 
 arffued that the resources available from taxation 
 would not allow us to maintain a native system of 
 government, together with the expensive English sys- 
 tem which we had introduced. Whilst Sir Henry 
 Lawrence desired to maintain the chiefs and native 
 
46 LORD LAWllEKCE. 
 
 gentry to a much greater degree in the possession of 
 all the fiefs and grants which they held for service of 
 every kind— some of it real, some nominal, some re- 
 ligious, and some charitable — Mr. Lawrence argued 
 that, as it had devolved upon us to reduce the land- 
 revenue, to abolish transit, import, and export duties, 
 as well as cesses and the like, we were forced, to meet 
 the loss of revenue thus caused, to curtail the claims 
 and privileges of the upper classes. The services 
 upon which those claims and privileges were founded, 
 and which, rmder the Sikh rule, the chiefs were bound 
 to render, were, under the English administration, no 
 longer required, and establishments for that purpose 
 were no longer necessary. Those chiefs could afford, 
 therefore, to pay their share of the revenue ; or, should 
 they object to that, to relinquish lands granted for 
 service no longer necessary or called for. Under 
 liunjeet Singh, as in most native States, he argued, 
 grants of this nature were not hereditary, nor even 
 held during life, but were subject to the sovereign's 
 ])leasure, and were constantly undergoing change. 
 Many instances might be adduced in which grants 
 were resumed by Runjeet Singh himself as suddenly 
 as they had been bestowed. The practical difficulty of 
 continuing them, subject to no taxation, decided the 
 question in Mr. Lawrence's mind. How is it possible, 
 he asked, for us to maintain the large staff of civil and 
 military officers considered necessary for the service of 
 the Pnnjaub, in addition to the charges on account of 
 
THE TRAINING. 47 
 
 public -works, and to pay for them from the revenues 
 of the province, if those best able to contribute their 
 quota are exempted on sentimental grounds unknown 
 to their native rulers ? 
 
 It was this difference of opinion which split up the 
 Board of Administration. Disagreeing on a point so 
 vital, it was impossible that the two brothers should 
 continue, with advantage to the country, members of 
 the same administration. The time, too, had arrived 
 when, in the opinion of the Governor-General, the 
 machinery of a Board should make way for the rule of 
 a single mind. At this crisis both the brothers, feeling 
 the incompatibility of their working togetlier, almost 
 simultaneously tendered their resignations.* 
 
 Lord Dalhousie, whose sympathies in this conflict 
 of opinion had always been with the younger brother, 
 accepted the resignation of Sir Henry ; and in February, 
 1853, Mr. John Lawrence was gazetted Chief Com- 
 missioner of the Punjaub. 
 
 A writer, one of those earnest men who made their 
 own way in India, and whose career since 1846 was 
 
 * Tlie actual facts detailed were as follows : — Sir Henry suggested 
 to his brother that he should ask for the Residency of Hydrabad, then 
 vacant, as their remaining together in the Board would be attended 
 with unpleasantness to both. Mr. Lawrence expressed his willingness 
 to go there if he were sent, and wrote in this sense to the private 
 secretary of the Governor-General. Sir Henry wrote also to LorsJ Dal- 
 housie, expressing his opinion that it would be for the interests of the 
 State if the Board were dissolved, and a single Chief Commissioner 
 appointed in its place. Lord Dalhousie accepted the principle by 
 Dominating Mr. Lawrence as Chief Commissioner. Sir Henry was 
 appointed agent to the Governor-General in Rajpootana. 
 
48 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 passed in the Punjaub, and who throughout was one 
 of the most trusted officers of the two brothers — we 
 allude to Sir Herbert Edwardes — has thus tersely and 
 vividly described the results of the five years' tenure 
 of the office of Chief Commissioner of the Punjaub by 
 Mr. Lawrence : — 
 
 ' This post of Chief Commissioner,' he wrote, ' lasted 
 more than five years. Four of them were spent in 
 perfecting the organisation of the civil government, 
 and in improving the military and jDolitical relations of 
 the frontier. They were years of Plerculean labour, 
 not only to the Chief Commissioner, but to every man 
 under him, high or low. Alone in responsibility, alone 
 in power, John Lawrence bent the full force of his 
 character and energies to the elaboration of a complete 
 machine. Sure never coachman sat firmer on the box, 
 or held reins tighter, drove straighter, or lashed his 
 team more unflinchingly to speed, in this weary world 
 (jf man-driving and evil roads I Alas for the toil and 
 the sweat ! Alas for the kicking, and jibbing, and 
 panting, and mud-flying everywhere ! Alas for the 
 ceaseless cracking of whips ! Alas for the friction of 
 hearts I But we need only pity the rulers — the whites. 
 Well was it for " the darkies " — the people. We 
 doubt if India has ever seen a province with a civil 
 government so strong, so simple, so wise, so moderate, 
 so pure, so good to live under, as that of the Punjaub. 
 Honour, all honour to coachman John ; and honour, 
 tco, to the team who pulled the coach.' 
 
THE TRAINING. 49 
 
 What he did iu those four first years may thus be 
 (briefly summarised. Having at his disposal the fron- 
 tier force already alluded to, he succeeded, after many 
 struggles on their part, in conciliating those frontier 
 tribes who had always been regarded as untamed and 
 untameable. Since the annexation of the Punjaub they 
 had continued the raids which under the Sikh rule 
 had been habitual to them. But they met with such 
 a reception at the hands of the frontier force, that 
 many of them renounced their vocation of plundering, 
 and took to the cultivation of land. It was impossible 
 to secure to those eight hundred miles of frontier 
 perfect immunity from attack, nor did the conviction 
 of our superiority dawn all at once upon races whose 
 ancestors from time immemorial had lived by the 
 plunder of the dwellers in the plains. But by degrees 
 they became convinced. Some took to agriculture ; 
 others entered our military service, in which they 
 showed themselves unsurpassed as soldiers; others 
 again, entered into agreements with our political offi- 
 cers. The work took time ; but even in 1857, when 
 we were beset by troubles, we found those border- 
 warriors a source of strength rather than of weakness ; 
 for from the fastnesses of their hills Ifcame many of 
 those gallant soldiers by whose aid the sepoy rebellion 
 was put down. 
 
 Nor was he less fortunate in his external policy. 
 By the weight of his influence he prevented a fratri- 
 cidal contest, just then about to break out, for the 
 
 B 
 
50 LORB LAWRENCE. 
 
 government of Bahawulpore, a Mohammedan State 
 bordering upon Mooltan, and situate between the 
 Great Desert and the Indus. A disturbance in Cash- 
 mere, caused by an attack made by Goolab Singh 
 upon his nephew, was not allowed to make itself felt 
 beyond the territory governed by the former. His 
 alliance as the representative of the British nation was 
 solicited by envoys from more distant countries. In 
 the autumn of 1854, an envoy from the Khan of 
 Khokan arrived to beg his aid against the Russians, 
 who had then lately occupied a tract of country on 
 the river Jaxartes or Seer. Mr. Lawrence, whilst 
 treating the envoy with great consideration, gave him, 
 with the consent of Lord Dalhousie, an answer similar 
 to that which, many years later, he gave, as Viceroy, 
 to the envoy from Bokhara. This answer was to the 
 effect that it was not the intention of the British 
 Government to interfere actively in the affairs of other 
 States. But he received a more important embassy 
 from the great Amir of Cabul, Dost Mahomed. The 
 rupture of relations between our Government and that 
 potentate, which had been a natural result of the part 
 taken by him against us in the second Sikh war, had 
 been healed, mainly by the able measures taken to 
 that end by Colonel Herbert Edwardes, then Commis- 
 sioner of Peshawur. In consequence of this restoration 
 of amicable intercourse, the favourite son and intended 
 successor of the Amir, Sirdar Hyder Khan, came, in 
 the beginmng of 1855, to Peshawur, to meet the Chief 
 
THE TRAINING. 51 
 
 Commissioner. A treaty was the result of the inter- 
 view that followed. Its actual contents were unim- 
 portant, inasmuch as they merely bound the contract- 
 ing parties to respect one another's possessions, and 
 not to interfere in them — the Amir also engaging to 
 be the friend of our friends and the enemy of our 
 enemies. They assume, however, another character, if 
 we regard them as expressing the one strong ineradi- 
 cable determination of the AfFghan mind to contract 
 no engagement which might bring our troops, under 
 any pretext, into their country. The Amir was ready 
 enough to profess himself the friend of our friends and 
 the enemy of our enemies, so long as we did not insist 
 upon assuming a similar position with regard to him- 
 self — so long, in fact, as we did not insert any clause 
 which might give us the shadow of a right to interfere 
 in his country. Those who argue so flippantly in the 
 present day as to the expediency of our sending ofiicers 
 to train the Affghan troops for their imaginary contest 
 with Eussia, would do well to recollect that the AflF- 
 ghans themselves would by no means consent to such 
 a measure ; that the very proposition would create 
 suspicions so great as to throw them into the hands of 
 the Russians ; that the one condition of friendship and 
 alliance with them is absolute abstention from all 
 interference in their affairs. Of this Mr. Lawrence 
 had afterwards the fullest proof in the beginning of 
 1857, when he met the Amir himself at Peshawur, 
 and, under instructions from the Governor- General, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 ])roposed to send a British officer to Cabul as resident. 
 Dost Mahomed then informed the Chief Commissioner 
 that he would never agree to such a proposal; that 
 his consent to it would cost him the support of all his 
 nobility, and very likely his position in Affghanistan ! 
 
 By intrusting to the native officials in the interior 
 of the districts a considerable extent of authority in 
 police and judicial matters, by rendering generally 
 justice as prompt and effective as was practicable, and 
 by a vigorous and careful system of supervision, con- 
 tentment and satisfaction with the administration of 
 the country were created. The people flocked to the 
 courts, and exhibited a deep respect for the officers 
 v,ho were placed over them. The decrease in heinous 
 crime was very remarkable, and the country became 
 generally peaceful and secure. In 1856 the foun- 
 dations were laid of an educational system, which 
 has since borne good fruit. The police, too, was 
 placed on a more efficient footing. In the Public 
 Works department, presided over, under the Chief 
 Commissioner, by the illusti-ious Engineer whose tri- 
 umphant expedition to Magdala has excited the admi- 
 ration of Europe, the great lines of communication, 
 commenced under the Board, were brought to comple- 
 tion ; branch lines were likewise opened out in several 
 directions. A railway scheme, connecting Lahore 
 ^vith Mooltan and Delhi, was devisfed, and has since 
 been carried out. The new Baree Doab Canal was 
 nearly completed, whilst others were improved, en- 
 
THE TEAININO. 53 
 
 larged, and regulated as a source of income. The 
 electric telegraph was laid down over all the great 
 lines of the country ; rural posts, for the conveyance 
 of letters, were everywhere established ; hospitals and 
 dispensaries were built, the conservancy and drainage 
 of great towns undertaken, arrangements for forest 
 conservancy entered into ; all this in addition to the 
 public buildings required for civil and military pur- 
 poses. The public buildings alone did not come under 
 the supervision of Mr. Lawrence. As regards all the 
 others, though the plans may have been drawn up by 
 subordinates, his was the deciding fiat — his the keen 
 glance that scrutinised the bearings of every proposal 
 — his the resolute will which, when a plan had once 
 been decided upon, insisted on its being carried out 
 promptly and efficiently, without deviation from the 
 course laid down — -his, above all, the inspiring pre- 
 sence, dreaded by those only who felt that time and 
 opportunity had been neglected, and that the conse- 
 quences of that neglect they would have to bear. 
 
 To the financial system, conducted, under Mr. 
 Lawrence, first by Mr. Edmonstone, and afterwards 
 by Mr. Macleod, it is necessary to devote a few words. 
 Since the annexation, 234,000Z. had been taken off 
 direct taxation ; custom duties, except those on certain 
 drugs passing the Kangra frontier, had been entirely 
 abolished ; excise duties had been restricted to three 
 articles — spirits, salt, and drugs ; effective measures had 
 been taken to restore the salt-revenue, fallen into the 
 
54 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 hands of middlemen, whilst rendering its incidence on 
 the people lighter and equable.* The other sources 
 of revenue were stamps, post-office, canal-water rent, 
 tribute, and miscellaneous. In 1857 the revenue, the 
 incidence of which on the people had been greatly- 
 lightened, had so increased in elasticity in consequence 
 of the greater wealth and security of the population, 
 that its returns were but little less than at the period 
 of annexation; whilst, without counting the regular 
 troops and the cost of military buildings, the surplus 
 of income over expenditure was 37,974/. — a result the 
 more satisfactory when it is recollected that, in the 
 course of that year, 539,995/. were spent on military 
 works, and in extraordinary expenditure. 
 
 With the notice of this satisfactory result we must 
 conclude the account of the peaceful period of Mr. 
 Lawrence's administration of the Punjaub; its success 
 had been most marked. With the most difficult fron- 
 tier in Asia to protect and manage, he had maintained 
 peace, had suppressed every hostile movement of the 
 border-tribes, and had gradually brought home to the 
 minds of the wild marauders that their own interests 
 required them to live at peace with the British. 
 Within the borders tranquillity had been maintained to 
 an extent before unknown. Mr. Lawrence had, at 
 the same time, extirpated highway robbery, suppressed 
 Thuggee, and rooted out infanticide; he had built 
 jails, to reform as well as to punish; he had freed 
 
 * The monthly cost to the poor man did not exceed three farthings. 
 
THE TRAINING. 55 
 
 trade, made roads, improved and dug out canals ; he 
 had brought justice to the door of the poor man, and 
 happiness to his hearth ; he had founded institutions, 
 making free provision in case of sickness for all who 
 required it. In a word, strong in his force of will, in 
 his determination to succeed, he had thrown all his 
 energies into his duty, inspired others by his example, 
 and thus so governed the new province that, when the 
 crisis did come, the latest opponents of our power 
 proved the supports upon which we could most firmly 
 lean for safety. 
 
 These great merits were not unrecognised at the 
 time. In February 1856 the Governor-General under 
 whom he had so long served bade a final farewell 
 to India. Before his departure Lord Dalhousie had 
 offered to ask for Mr. Lawrence either a baronetcy 
 or a K.C.B.-ship. Mr. Lawrence, however, was not 
 an ambitious man. His means were but moderate, 
 and he had no desire to leave a barren title to his 
 son. He therefore expressed his preference for a civil 
 Knight-Companionship of the Bath. With this he 
 was invested in the beginning of 1856. 
 
 Here we must for the moment leave him, to refer, 
 at no distant period, to the causes of that great move- 
 ment which, bursting suddenly upon India, submerged 
 our northern provinces, that portion only excepted of 
 which Sir John Lawrence was the ruler. Then, too, 
 shall we set ourselves to demonstrate how it was that 
 the Punjaub weathered the storm. 
 
66 LORD LAWMEXCE. 
 
 PART II. 
 THE TEIAL. 
 
 Peobablt in no province or district in India was 
 there a fairer promise of peace, improvement, and in- 
 ternal tranquillity than in the Punjaub at the begin- 
 ning of 1857. Thanks to the energetic though strictly 
 defensive policy of the able administrator in whose 
 hands, since the beginning of 1853, the sole direction 
 of affairs had been placed, untrammelled by councillors 
 below, and unfettered by restrictions above him, the 
 long line of frontier, regarded for so many years by the 
 marauding tribes of the passes beyond it as a legiti- 
 mate field for their predatory excursions, had been for 
 the time entirely tranquillised. The year 1856 had, 
 indeed, witnessed some very daring attempts on the 
 part of these marauders to re-assert their ancient au- 
 thority. The Muhsood Wuzeerees, in particular, had 
 perpetrated an extraordinary number of raids ; the 
 tribes on the western border had given trouble ; the 
 Bozdars had been singularly active ; yet the retribu- 
 tion exacted for the robberies perpetrated by these 
 wild borderers had been so prompt and effectual — the 
 
THE TRIAZ. 57 
 
 power of the British to punish, to an extent quite 
 balancing the advantage gained by the wrong-doer, 
 had been so strikingly evinced — that the tribes in 
 general had entirely ceased from offending, and at the 
 beginning of the new year the most exposed roads on 
 the frontier were safely traversed by the peaceful 
 trader. 
 
 Tranquillity within the province was even much' 
 more assured. Ever since the general disarming of 
 the population in 1849-50, the members of the mili- 
 tary class among the inhabitants had been gradually 
 adapting themselves to agricultural life. The abolition 
 of transit duties, and of all import and export taxes 
 between the Punjaub and the other portions of British 
 territories in Hindustan, the making of roads and the 
 opening out of canals, had had the effect of greatly 
 increasing the area of cultivated lands, and of affording 
 to a far greater number than before the means of an 
 honest and peaceable livelihood. The great majority 
 of that class, by constant disuse of arms, had to a great 
 degree ceased to be lovers of war. At the beginning 
 of 1857 they had especial reason to be satisfied. The 
 harvest had been abundant and the market had been 
 good ; prosperity was widely spread ; the taxes were 
 light ; there were no grievances ; no desire for change ; 
 the Government was tolerant and popular, and its chief 
 had, by his sympathy with the people, no less than by 
 his strong and decided character, impressed the minds 
 of all with the belief that in him they had a ruler as 
 
58 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 willing as he was able, and as able as he was willing, 
 to protect and befriend them. 
 
 There were, at the same time, other causes which 
 contributed to the fair promise of prosperous tranquil- 
 lity held out by the Punjaub at the beginning of 1857. 
 During the course of his long and unbroken connection 
 with that province. Sir John Lawrence had enjoyed 
 abundant opportunities of filling many of the posts 
 under him with officers in whom he had confidence, 
 and whom he had selected solely from his belief in 
 their fitness. It is true that some of the most distin- 
 guished civil officers in the Punjaub had been brought 
 into it by Sir Henry Lawrence, and constituted there 
 the disciples of a school which acknowledged him as 
 their leader. But the loyalty of these gentlemen to 
 their departed friend and chief not only did not lessen, 
 but in some instances strengthened, the fervour which 
 they brought to the discharge of their duties under his 
 brother. Many of them, indeed, felt a deep-rooted 
 regard for the one, second only to the strong affection 
 by which they were bound to the other ; whilst all had 
 been trained to look upon the rigid discharge of their 
 duties to the State as a part of that great command- 
 ment which has authoritatively been declared to be the 
 complement of the greatest of all. 
 
 The able men thus at the disposal of Sir John Law- 
 rence had been severally posted by him to the localities 
 in the performance of the duties of which each would 
 find the best field for the exercise of his talents. Thus, 
 
THE TRIAL. 59 
 
 •whilst the Lahore division was under the firm and able 
 direction of Mr. A. A. Eoberts, there were also at that 
 capital two gentlemen who had been long associated 
 ■with the Chief Commissioner, and on whose abilities 
 he had learned, though in a different manner with 
 respect to each, to rest with a secure confidence. One 
 of these, Mr. Robert Montgomery, formerly his col- 
 league in the Board, filled at that time the post of 
 Judicial Commissioner of the province, exercising in 
 that capacity a eontrol over the administration of jus- 
 tice throughout the country, and ever ready to bring 
 the weight of his strong and decided counsels to bear 
 upon the deliberations of his chief in all matters con- 
 nected with administration. The other, Mr. Donald 
 Macleod, the Commissioner of Finance, had been en- 
 dowed in a peculiar degree with the power of influ- 
 encing men's minds, without men perceiving that they 
 were influenced. His was the mild and persuasive 
 manner, his the unrufiled temper, the imperturbable 
 presence of mind, which, apparently yielding at the 
 outset, almost always succeed in convincing an oppo- 
 nent ; his the benevolent heart that sought to win over 
 a negligent oflScer to the proper discharge of his duties 
 rather than dismiss him from his post — that endea- 
 voured to find excuses even for those that sinned the 
 most. This large-hearted philanthropy was far, howr 
 ever, from acting as a hindrance to Mr. Macleod's 
 usefulness as a public ofiicer ; on the contrary, his in- 
 fluence was the greater for it, especially among the 
 
60 LORD LAWBENCE. 
 
 natives ; and Sir John Lawrence, who was well aware 
 of this, felt in how great a degree the presence of Mr. 
 Macleod at Lahore constituted a tower of strength to 
 his administration. 
 
 It would be impossible to leave Lahore vnthout 
 alluding to the two other officers who occupied at this 
 time the most confidential positions about the person 
 of the Chief Commissioner — his civil and military sec- 
 retaries. The first of these, Mr. (now Sir Richard) 
 Temple, was not indeed in the Punjaub at the begin- 
 ning of 1857. Having held for three years the office 
 of Civil Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, Mr. 
 Temple had taken advantage of the bright promise of 
 tranquillity prevailing throughout the country to make 
 a brief visit of six months' duration to his native land. 
 His departure would always have been a subject of 
 regret, for Mr. Temple was not only master of a style 
 remarkable for its vigour and lucidity of arrangement, 
 but he had gained the reputation, which his subsequent 
 career has shown to have been fully justified, of jjos- 
 sessing great energy, untiring industry, and adminis- 
 trative qualities of a very high order. He was devoted 
 to his chief, and was honoured in return by that chiefs 
 entire confidence. His absence from the scene of his 
 labours, though, as we have said, always a subject of 
 regret, seemed likely to be less felt in the quiescent 
 attitude by which the dawning of the year 1857 was 
 characterised. His temporary successor. Captain 
 James, was one of the most rising of the civil officers 
 
THE TRIAL. CI 
 
 of tlie province, and in him Sir John Lawrence pos- 
 sessed a secretary worthy of his entire confidence. 
 The military secretary of the Chief Commissioner, 
 Major (now Major-General) J. D. Macpherson, had, 
 at the time of which we are writing, filled that position 
 for about five years. He, too, was a man of great 
 energy and quick decision. He possessed, in addition, 
 a simple directness of manner, sound views regarding 
 military arrangements, and the power of impressing 
 those views upon others. Above all, he was an honest 
 man. "Whatever might have been the opinions of his 
 chief, not for worlds would he have altered or concealed 
 his own, had he thought it for the public interests that 
 they should be made known. 
 
 Of all the divisions of the province, the most im- 
 portant was that administered from Peshawur. The 
 charge of this division had been assigned, therefore, to 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Edwardes, C.B. Long 
 previous to 1857, this officer had gained a reputation 
 which had made his name a household word in India. 
 Rising originally by the exercise of literary abilities, 
 he had shown, when the opportunity came, that those 
 abilities were accompanied by great practical power. 
 His marvellous achievements in 1848 — when at the 
 head of a rabble whom he had disciplined, and whom 
 he had so attached to his person that they were ready 
 to follow him to the world's end, even to fight against 
 their own countrymen — excited in the highest places 
 in India an admiration which found an echo all over 
 
C2 LORD LAWREXCE. 
 
 Europe, and especially in France. It is not too mucli 
 to say that the daring of Lieutenant Edwardes helped 
 to save the empire in 1848. By shutting up Moolraj 
 in his fort, he delayed the outbreak of the Sikh nation 
 till the cold weather, when we were better prepared to 
 meet it. But for that action on his part, the leaders 
 of the Sikh revolters would have repossessed them- 
 selves of a great part of the country, and would have 
 enjoyed the opportunity of cutting up our troops in 
 detail before an army could have been assembled to 
 oppose them. It is hard to imagine where, under such 
 circumstances, the battle for empire would have been 
 fought, but most certainly it would not have taken 
 2)lace in the Punjaub. 
 
 A worthy companion of Edwardes, in some respects 
 even a more remarkable man, was the Deputy-Com- 
 missioner of the Peshawur division, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 John Nicholson. Tall in person, strong in body, pos- 
 sessing a piercing glance, and endowed with a manner 
 which, whilst it commanded obedience, did not repel 
 affection, Nicholson was born to be a leader of men. 
 He had served in the Affghanistan war, and had been 
 taken prisoner at Ghuzni. Many stories, not yet 
 given to the world in print, are told by those who 
 knew him well, of the dauntless energy and unyielding 
 resolution which, even in those early days, character- 
 ised the young oflScer. Subsequently to the first Sikh 
 war, in which he was engaged with his regiment, he 
 was appointed, in conjunction with Captain Arthur 
 
THE TRIAL. 63 
 
 Broome, to discipline in the English fashion the levies 
 of the Maharajah Goolab Singh of Cashmere. Shortly 
 afterwards he entered the political service, gained the 
 repeated thanks of the Punjaub Government for the 
 energy and activity he displayed in 1846-7, and in the 
 troublous times of 1848. At the close of that year, 
 and in 1849, he served as political officer to the army 
 of the Punjaubj taking part in all the actions which 
 ensued. After the annexation he was placed in charge 
 of the wild tribes on the western frontier of the Pun- 
 jaub, and there his talents found full opportunity for 
 their display. Those rude borderers, who had refused 
 till then bodily obedience to any mortal man, gave in 
 to John Nicholson. So completely did he combine 
 power of will with those peculiar qualities, so rarely 
 possessed, which steal the understandings as well as 
 the hearts of men, that orders, which, had they been 
 issued before his time, would have been disobeyed or 
 evaded, were regarded by the uncivilised races under 
 his rule as the inspired utterances of a superior being, 
 and were carried out unhesitatingly. Such a man on 
 the frontier was worth an army of ten thousand men. 
 Sir John Lawrence well knew his value. He has 
 often been heard to say, that of all the men with whom 
 he has come in contact in the course of his career, 
 there was not one who, in lofty conceptions, in firm- 
 ness of will, in power of impressing others, in quick 
 decision, and in all those manly qualities which con- 
 tribute to form that rare combination, a man of 
 
64 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 genius and a man of action, ever approached John 
 Nicholson. 
 
 It is not necessary that we should enter at length 
 into a description of the other officers who filled, at 
 the beginning of 1857, principal positions in the 
 Punjaub. In the course of our narrative we shall 
 have more than one occasion to allude to the good 
 services rendered by many. Some account, however, 
 of those officers whose services were most prominent 
 — and to whom, in connection with the action of the 
 Chief Commissioner, we shall have most frequently to 
 refer — seems desirable at the outset, if only that we 
 may present to our readers, before the rise of the 
 curtain, those to whom the chief parts in the drama 
 about to be acted were allotted. To complete the 
 clearing of the ground necessary to an unbroken 
 narrative of events as they followed, we propose now 
 to devote a few paragraphs to the elucidation of the 
 position and numbers of the troops occupying the 
 province at the time of which we are writing. 
 
 In the beginning of 1857 there were in the Punjaub, 
 between Kurnaul and Peshawur, nearly 36,000 native 
 troops of the regular army, of all arms, including 
 artillery, cavalry, and infantry. With the exception 
 of a few Punjaubees, about 2,000 in number, these 
 ^vere all men from Oudh, Bahar, and other parts of 
 Hindustan. Besides these, guarding the frontier, 
 ■\vere 13,430 irregular troops, cavalry and infantry, 
 supported by 9,000 police levies. Of the entire 
 
THE TRIAL. 65 
 
 number of these two divisions less than one-fourth 
 were Hindustanis, the remainder Punjaubees of the 
 best description. Of the total native force in the 
 Punjaub, amounting to 59,656 men, perhaps 20,000 
 were natives of that country, whilst nearfy 40,000 
 came from Hindustan. 
 
 The European force consisted of eleven regiments 
 of infantry, one of cavalry, and about 2,000 artillery, 
 constituting a total number of nearly 10,500 men. 
 Of this force, however, more than one-half was msissed 
 at the extremities of the province, there being three 
 regiments of infantry in the Himalayas, and three, 
 with some artillery, at Peshawur. Of the seven 
 principal fortresses, three — viz. Lahore, Govindgurh, 
 and Mooltan — were held by Europeans ; four, Phillore, 
 Attock, Kangra, and Noorpore, by natives. The 
 chief arsenal, that of Ferozepore, was at a station held 
 by European infantry ; the second was at Phillore, 
 guarded by native infantry. The European troops 
 were thus distributed : at Peshawur, two regiments 
 of infantry, the 70th and 87th, two troops of horse- 
 artillery, five companies of foot-artillery, and two light 
 field batteries ; at Nowshera, one regiment of infantry, 
 the 27th Foot; at Lahore, one regiment of infantry, 
 the 81st, two troops of horse-artillery, and four com- 
 panies of foot-artillery ; at Govindgurh, a company of 
 foot-artillery ; at Ferozepore, one regiment of infantry, 
 the 61st, two companies of foot-artillery, and one 
 light field-battery ; at Mooltan, a company of foot- 
 le 
 
06 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 artillery ; at 'Sealkote, one regiment of infantrj', the 
 52ncl, one company of foot-artillery, and a horse light 
 field-battery ; at Eawul Pindee, one regiment of 
 infantry, the 24th Foot; at Umballa, one regiment 
 of cavalry, the 9th Lancers, and two troops of horse- 
 artillery ; at Dugshaie, one regiment of infantry, the 
 1st Fusiliers; at Kussowlie, the 75th Foot; at 
 Sabathoo, the 2nd Fusiliers ; at JuUundhur, the 8th 
 Foot, and a troop of horse-artillery. In addition to 
 this, one regiment, the Bombay Fusiliers, came into 
 the Punjaub from Sinde, in detachments, at different 
 periods between the 17th June and the end of July. 
 We should do but scant justice to this part of our 
 subject were we to omit to state that the brigade at 
 Peshawur was under the orders of Brigadier Sidney 
 Cotton, a gallant, high-spirited soldier, a great fa- 
 vourite with the troops, and ever ready to sacrifice to 
 the public good his own pretensions to command in the 
 field. Brigadier Stuart Corbett, a j)lain, straightforward 
 soldier, commanded the brigade at Lahore. The senior 
 officer in the Punjaub, Major-Genei-al Peed, C. B., 
 commanded the Peshawur division. Next in authority 
 to him was Major-General Gowan, who filled a 
 similar office at Lahore. 
 
 Thus, at peace without, and tranquil within — 
 occupied by about 60,000 troops of all arms, and 9000 
 military police — its civil districts presided over by 
 some of the ablest men in the country, and its military 
 divisions commanded by selected officers — the whole 
 
THE TRIAL. 67 
 
 watched by the keen glance of the illustrious civilian 
 who had so entirely identified himself with the province 
 — whence was danger to come to the Punjaub ? No- 
 thing in the shape of such danger could be foreseen in 
 1856, for it did not then exist in any composite form. 
 The surface was quiet all over India. The annexation 
 of Oudh had been accomplished without provoking an 
 audible murmur from the people, and without con- 
 vincing the Home authorities, notwithstanding the 
 strongly-expressed opposite opinion of Lord Dalhousie, 
 of the necessity of adding one English soldier to the 
 army. The Persian war, undertaken at a distance 
 from the shores of Hindustan, was drawing to a close, 
 its operations having been marked by events creditable 
 to the soldiers alike of India and of England. No 
 sign foreboding disaster was visible. Every quarter 
 presented the appearance of a permanent and enduring 
 prosperity. - 
 
 And yet beneath the horizon of this glittering 
 brightness there lay a dark cloud, growing ever 
 blacker and blacker, daily becoming more and more 
 charged with the noxious vapour, the emission of which 
 was to signalise 1857. The native soldiery, always 
 proud of their position and of their numbers, had not 
 witnessed without emotion of a peculiar character the 
 various changes which had occurred during the twenty 
 years preceding that date. By their prowess, as they 
 thought, England had been delivered from AfFghan- 
 istan ; by their daring, three great provinces, one 
 
 F2 
 
68 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 of them the germ of an empire — Sinde, the Punjaub, 
 and British Burma — had been added to our dominions. 
 They believed these things ; they had been taught to 
 believe them by their officers and the Government. 
 But simultaneously with the gradual adoption of this 
 belief they witnessed likewise the power which for a 
 century had been exercised by their officers, gradually 
 transfeiTed to the central bureau of the Commander- 
 in-chief. By degrees, in fact, they began to see that 
 a petition sent direct to head-quarters was able to 
 prevail against and to overturn the discij)line exercised 
 by their own officers. 
 
 With the pride engendered by these gradual reve- 
 lations there was mingled a suspicious dread of the 
 science which Western enterprise had just introduced 
 into their land. Steamers, railways, telegraphs, whilst 
 astonishing them as to the means — which they, igno- 
 rant, were unable to comprehend — of their progression, 
 had given birth in their minds to an undefined dread 
 as to the eifect which these changes, so marvellous, so 
 rapid, to them so difficult to explain, might work upon 
 themselves. 
 
 Whilst their minds were yet thus under the pre- 
 dominating influences of a pride unduly exalted and a 
 suspicion vaguely excited, the whisper spread through 
 their ranks that it was intened to attack their religion ; 
 that, to eifect this purpose, recourse would be had, not 
 to any overt process, but to that underhand and mys- 
 terious agency which, by an art seemingly magical, 
 
THE TRIAL. 69 
 
 had already roused their dread to the full as much as 
 it had excited their surprise. The greatest care, it 
 •was murmured amongst them, had been taken to con- 
 vert them in spite of themselves ; to force them, by 
 depriving them of their Hinduism, to become suddenly 
 Christian; and this not by missionary enterprise or 
 any outward display of force, but in the ordinary per- 
 formance of their ordinary duty. The instrument se- 
 lected to carry out this conversion was a new cartridge, 
 said to be greased with cow's fat and hog's lard, the act 
 of biting which would entail the loss of their caste, and, 
 with it, the dethronement of their religion. 
 
 This idea, which, so far as it related to the actual 
 manufacture of greased cartridges, was founded on truth, 
 acted as a lighted match applied to a powder magazine. 
 Instantly there was a blaze. Combinations not to 
 use the new cartridge were formed in every regiment. 
 Each day's post carried letters from the sepoys of one 
 regiment to their brethren in another, full of details as 
 to the new weapon intended for"the destruction of their 
 souls. Suspicion, aroused by the discovery, became 
 more and more alive to the smallest acts on the part of 
 the authorities, themselves still ignorant of the im- 
 pending danger. To the sepoys, the suspense which 
 followed their first discovery, and the issue to them, 
 not indeed of greased cartridges, but of others of the 
 familiar pattern — though wrapped, unfortunately, in 
 paper of a different colour — must have seemed almost 
 insupportable. It gave them time, however, to organise 
 
70 LORB LAW HENCE. 
 
 — to come to a general conclusion on no account to use 
 any cartridges that might be issued to them. 
 
 Such being the resolution at which they had arriyed, 
 no long period, in the ordinary course of events, could 
 elapse before they came into contact with their su- 
 periors. The crisis was not delayed. Commencing 
 in February by an outbreak at Berhampore, in Bengal 
 proper, it was followed by an explosion at Barrackpore, 
 and finally culminated, on May 10, in the insurrection 
 of Meerut and the capture of Delhi. 
 
 With the exception of Umballa, at which station a 
 disinclination to use the new cartridges had been 
 shown during tlie month of April, the native troops 
 istationed in the Punjaub had not evinced, up to this 
 period, by any outward sign, the smallest inclination 
 to make common cause with their countrymen to the 
 eastward. Sir John Lawrence, however, had been no 
 inattentive observer of the events that had occurred 
 during the earlier months of the year. Not indeed that 
 he, more than any one else, divined the extent to 
 which the disaffection would eventually spread. He 
 liad a right to suppose that the Government of India, 
 so soon as it had traced the disaffection in question 
 up to a certain cause, would endeavour by all the 
 means at their command to remove the ill feeling. 
 And when they, not however till the middle of Feb- 
 ruar)', telegraphed instructions to the musketry schools 
 at Umballa and Sealkote to prohibit the use by the 
 sepc>ys of the obnoxious cartridges, and subsequently 
 
THE TJRIAL. [n 
 
 declared their belief that further danger had been re- 
 moved by the disbanding of the 19th N.I., and by the 
 punishment meted out to Mungul Pandy^he, distant 
 from the spot, concerned in the laborious exercise of 
 the administration of his own province, might be ex- 
 cused for believing that the Governor- General and 
 Commander-in-chief of the day had reasons for their 
 confidence sufficient to override the vague fears which 
 still continued, notwithstanding, to agitate his mind. 
 Sir John Lawrence believed in his heart that the 
 Hindustani sepoys were somewhat disaiFected ; but he 
 was not the less aware that the national disposition 
 was, although uncertain, in the main easy and pliable ; 
 and that, whilst it was always possible that the sepoys 
 might show their discontent by some overt act, they 
 were yet specially amenable to the influence of tact 
 and delicate handling. From the scene of the first out- 
 break in Bengal he was too distant to judge, from the 
 demeanour of the sepoys, how far the means adopted 
 Jiad attained the required end. Nothing was to be 
 inferred from the behaviour, in no respect differing" 
 from ordinary custom, of the Hindustanis in his own 
 province. On his own Punjaubees he could place, he 
 knew well, the fullest reliance. 
 
 The incessant labour of mind and body which had 
 devolved upon Sir John Lawrence during his eleven 
 years' continuous service in the Punjaub had not been 
 without eifect upon his constitution, and he had been 
 compelled, since his appointment as Chief Commis- 
 
72 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 sioner, to spend a portion of each hot season in the 
 hills of Murree. He had adopted this course with the 
 less hesitation, because that station is but forty miles 
 from Rawul Pindee, itself one of the most central 
 positions in the Punjaub, whence he was able to 
 exercise a more immediate control over the several 
 divisions of the province than Avas possible even from 
 Lahore. In the early part of 1857 he had, however, 
 contemplated taking a run into Cashmere, which he 
 had never seen ; and it was in the hope that events 
 might so calm down as to permit him to take this 
 relaxation that he left Lahore for E-awul Pindee in the 
 month of April. 
 
 On his way to E.awul Pindee, Sir John Lawrence 
 stopped for a few days at the military station of Seal- 
 kote. An incident of his visit there, which has given 
 rise to extraordinary misstatements and to the most 
 delusive conclusions, may here be mentioned. One of 
 the Chief Commissioner's objects in remaining at all at 
 Sealkote was to ascertain, so far as was possible, the 
 feelings of the native troops on duty at that station — ■ 
 it being the headquarters of a school of musketry. 
 Attending this school were detachments of different 
 Hindustani regiments, and one detachment from a 
 Punjaub corps belonging to the frontier force. Sir 
 John took an early opportunity of being present at the 
 practice of these detachments with the new musket 
 (the Enfield), and, as far as concerned the Hindustani 
 troops, he could not discover from their manner or 
 
THE TRIAL. 73 
 
 demeanour that anything was wrong. Private inquiry- 
 led to the same result. But from the men of the 
 Punjaub corps with whom he personally conversed, he 
 heard a strong expression in favour of the new musket, 
 and no objection to the cartridge, though he parti- 
 cularly alluded to it. Their favourable expression was 
 based upon the superiority of the new musket for 
 mountain warfare. Sir John wrote accordingly de- 
 tailing the conclusion formed from his inspections, 
 to the Governor-General, Lord Canning. He could 
 scarcely have imagined at the time that this ex- 
 pression of an opinion regarding the soldiers of the 
 force under his own orders — an expression fully justi- 
 fied by the result — would be converted by party male- 
 volence into an approval of the issue, to the disaffected 
 regiments of the line, of the fatal greased cartridges. 
 
 From Sealkote the Chief Commissioner proceeded to 
 Kawul Pindee. He had scarcely arrived there, how- 
 ever, when the account of the mutiny at Meerut and 
 the seizure of Delhi was flashed to him by the tele- 
 graph. It took him by surprise, indeed, but it was a 
 surprise which nerved him to immediate action. His 
 first care was to telegraph his advice — advice repeated 
 in his letters — to the Commander-in-chief to march at 
 once, with all the troops at his disposal, upon Delhi. 
 The military advisers of General Anson did not concur 
 in this respect with the Chief Commissioner of the 
 Punjaub. They brought numberless professional rea- 
 sons, each of them doubtless based upon some excellent 
 
74 LOBB LAWRENCE. 
 
 military principle, to prove that it would be madness 
 to march in the direction of Delhi. Fortunately, 
 however, for India, the instinct of Mr. Lawrence 
 found a readier echo in the mind of the Commander- 
 in-chief than did the counsels of his advisers. Sum- 
 moning from the hills all the_ European troops whom 
 he could collect, he marched at once towards Delhi ; 
 and though he died on the way, his successor was able 
 to reap the fruits of his decision, and, by the victory of 
 Budlee-ka-Serai, impart to the wavering levies of our 
 allies fuller confidence. 
 
 To Lord Canning himself, Sir J. Lawrence tele- 
 graphed advice of the energetic character suited to the 
 emergency. At the distance from Calcutta at which 
 he was, it was impossible that he could do more ; and 
 the advice itself was not less valuable, and not less 
 intrinsically sound, because the same ideas had pre- 
 sented themselves to others besides himself. It is less 
 to his advice, however, than to his action, that we 
 would desire to refer. There he was, forty miles from 
 the Murree hills, in an excellent position doubtless 
 whence to regulate all the movements in the Punjaub, 
 and especially on the frontier, but at a distance from 
 the great scene of contest in Hindustan. The news of 
 the insurrection had come upon him with all the sur- 
 prise and suddenness of an earthquake. What, then, 
 was his first action ? 
 
 On the eastern bank of the river Sutlej, their 
 territories contiguous to those of the British, and in 
 
THE TRIAL. 75 
 
 one direction approaching a limit not very distant from 
 Delhi -itself, ruled the two Sikh chieftains of Puttialla 
 and Jheend. The former was the greatest in wealth 
 and authority among the Sikhs, and the latter came 
 second only to him in position and power. Seeing at 
 a glance the influence which these chieftains would be 
 able to exercise on the progress of events. Sir John 
 Lawrence lost not a day in calling upon them, and 
 upon others of smaller note, as feudatories of the 
 British, to arm their contingents, and to employ them 
 to support British authority. " Never,' we quote from 
 the Punjaub Administration E.eport for 1866-58 — 
 ' never was an appeal more nobly responded to. The 
 Bajah of Jheend was actually the first man, European 
 or native, who took the field against the mutineers. 
 He openly declared at once that he should decide with 
 the British' under whom he had lived happily for fifty 
 years.' The Maharajah of Puttialla, the Rajahs of 
 Nubha, of Khylore, and of Kupportullah, and, indeed, 
 with two exceptions — the Rajah of Busahie and the 
 Nawab of Bahawulpore — all the tributary chieftains 
 in the Jullundhur Doab and the cis-Sutlej states, 
 followed his example, and in a very brief time the 
 country between Delhi and the Sutlej was effectively 
 held by the contingents of these native princes for the 
 English. The victory of Budlee-ka-Serai — a conse- 
 quence, as we have seen, of Sir John Lawrence's 
 advice to General Anson — came just at the right time 
 to confirm the loyal feeling o|.^the chiefs, and to give 
 
76 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 to their retainers confidence as to the result of the 
 campaign. 
 
 Having thus promptly and successfully made every 
 possible arrangement for the preservation of English 
 interests in the vicinity of the scene of action. Sir J. 
 Lawrence turned his thoughts to the not less pressing 
 necessity comprehended, in the first instance, in the 
 securing of the Punjaub itself from the action of the 
 mutinous troops ; in the second, in making fast the 
 doors of our frontier against the wild border tribes and 
 the one powerful nation immediately beyond it. 
 
 On leaving Lahore en route to Eawul Pindee, Sir 
 John had left behind him the two principal Commis- 
 sioners, Messrs. Montgomery and Macleod, and his 
 military secretary, Lieut. -Col. Macpherson. The news 
 of the Meerut outbreak, and its first results at Delhi, 
 reached Lahore on May 12. Almost simultaneously 
 with its arrival, Captain Richard Lawrence, a brother 
 of the Chief Commissioner, and who commanded two 
 police battalions and some police cavalry at that station, 
 received a hint from a moonshee (native clerk) of the 
 Thuggee department, serving under his orders, that 
 the sepoys of the garrison were infected with a mutin- 
 ous spirit. Captain Lawrence immediately imparted 
 this intelligence to Colonel Macpherson, who, impressed 
 with its importance, at once waited upon Mr. Mont- 
 gomery, and suggested to him that the native troops 
 should be forthwith rendered powerless for mischief by 
 being deprived of their percussion-caps. The news of 
 
THE TRIAL. 77 
 
 tlie Meerut outbreak and its consequences would 
 certainly, he argued, reach the native lines within the 
 next thirty hours ; the importance of being beforehand 
 with the sepoys was therefore self-evident. Mr. 
 Montgomery felt the full force of Colonel Macpherson's 
 argument. At a consultation which took place imme- 
 diately after this interview. Captain Richard Lawrence 
 suggested the stronger measure of the immediate dis- 
 arming of the troops. It was imagined, however, that 
 a proposal so decided and so sweeping would not meet 
 the concurrence of the Brigadier ; and it was finally 
 resolved that Mr. Montgomery and Colonel Macpher- 
 son should proceed to that officer's quarters to propose 
 to him simply that the sepoys should be deprived of 
 their percussion-caps. This course was followed. 
 
 Brigadier Corbett was a plain, straightforward, 
 downright soldier. The proposition made by Mr. 
 Montgomery found in him therefore a willing listener. 
 He only doubted whether it might not be advisable to 
 take a more decided course. He determined however, 
 in the first instance, to think well over it. A few 
 hours later he came to the conclusion at which Captain 
 Kichard Lawrence had arrived before him, and wrote 
 to Colonel Macpherson that he was determined to act 
 thoroughly and disarm the sepoys. This determination 
 was undoubtedly quickened by the information imparted 
 to Captain Lawrence, that the. sepoys of the garrison 
 were of one mind with their Meerut brethren.* 
 
 * This account is based upon the official reports printed in the Blue- 
 books. 
 
78 LORD LAWEENCE. 
 
 A prompt opportunity fortunately presented itself. 
 A parade of the whole brigade had been ordered for 
 the following morning for the purpose of hearing read 
 out to it the Grovernor-General's proclamation re- 
 garding the outbreak at Barrackpore. No change was 
 made in any of the arrangements made for this pur- 
 pose ; but no sooner had the reading of the order 
 ceased, than, by a simple manoeuvre, the native troops 
 were brought face to face with the guns — European 
 infantry on either flank. The order to pile arms was 
 then given and obeyed. Thus, by a simple movement 
 involving no bloodshedding, the capital, with its vast 
 stores, its treasure, its fort, its commanding position, 
 and the immense prestige attaching to its peaceful re- 
 tention, was rendered secure. Three thousand native 
 troops known to sympathise with the mutineers, and 
 to be prepared to cast in their lot with them, had laid 
 down their arms before 500 men and twelve guns. 
 Not only had Lahore been saved, but the danger re- 
 sulting from their presence in the province had been 
 lessened by four-fifths. To complete his work, and to 
 render the fort of Govindgurh secure against attack, 
 Mr. Montgomery despatched thither the same evening 
 a company of the 81st Foot in native pony-carts. 
 They reached it in time to make the fort secure 
 against any possible attempt of the mutineers. 
 
 The measures adopted at Ferozepore, a station but 
 fifty-four miles from Lahore, and noteworthy as being 
 the seat of the principal arsenal in the Punjaub, were 
 
THE TRIAl. 79 
 
 neither so prompt, so well-considered, nor so success- 
 ful. The news of the events at Delhi reached that 
 place also on the twelfth, and a general parade of the 
 troops followed equally on the morning of the 13th. 
 But there ended the consonance with the course fol- 
 lowed at Lahore. Instead of resolving to disarm the 
 native troops, it was determined only to march them 
 out of the station. The consequences were bloodshed 
 and disorder, the firing of chapels, mess-houses, and 
 bungalows, and an attempt on the magazine. Never- 
 theless order was at length restored, one native regi- 
 ment was disarmed, and though the other succeeded in 
 escaping, it lost several of its men in its flight, whilst 
 others threw away their arms to escape the more 
 readily. ' Unfortunately,' adds the Secretary to the 
 Chief Commissioner, in his report, ' errors did not end 
 here ; for when at a date subsequent to the above oc- 
 currences ' (those just recorded), ' the tenth Light 
 Cavalry were disarmed, their horses were not taken 
 away. When, however, the taking of the horses was 
 insisted on at last, the troopers had a full opportunity 
 of concocting their plans for an outbreak ; for the 
 order about the horses, instead of being kept secret, 
 was formally copied, and circulated in the regimental 
 order-book.' 
 
 The magazine and arsenal of Ferozepore were, how- 
 ever, secured. Nor were the British less fortunate in 
 being able to obtain possession of the Phillore maga- 
 zine. General Barnard, who commanded the division 
 
80 LOUD LAWRENCE. 
 
 of which Phillore formed one of the military posts, on 
 hearing of the occurrences at Delhi, had at once tele- 
 graphed to the authorities at JuUundhur to arrange 
 for the safety of the arsenal. Brigadier Hartly, who 
 *!ommanded there, at once despatched a company of 
 the 8th Foot and some artillery to take possession of 
 it. This they successfully accomplished, and thus 
 happily were secured to the English the two places 
 whence they were enabled to draw the materials where- 
 with to take Delhi.* 
 
 Whilst thus, by the energy of some of his lieute- 
 nants, and despite the mismanagement of others, 
 Lahore itself, Grovindgurh, the strongest place in the 
 Punjaub, the two great arsenals, and the country 
 lying between the Sutlej and the revolted city, had 
 been secured. Sir John Lawrence himself^ still at 
 Eawul Pindee, was anxiously engaged in communica- 
 tion with his frontier officers, first, for the safety of 
 the province on that side ; afterwards, for the concen- 
 tration of our European force in such a manner that, 
 after having rendered revolt within the frontier next 
 to impossible, it might add its weight to that of the 
 handful of men then about to besiege more than 
 double their own number in the city of the Mogul. 
 For a right understanding of the exact progress of the 
 Chl^ef Commissioner's efforts in this direction, and their 
 results, we must transport ourselves to Peshawur. 
 
 * ' To show the immense importance of this arsenal, together with 
 that of Ferozepore, it is sufficient to observe that from them were de- 
 rived the means of taking Delhi.' — Mr. Temple's Eeport, May 25, 1868. 
 
THE TRIAL. 81 
 
 We have already stated, that in the beginning of 
 the year 1857 perfect peace reigned in the Peshawur 
 valley. Not only were the border-tribes quiescent, 
 but so good an understanding prevailed between our 
 Government and the great Amir of Cabul, that, under 
 instructions from the late Governor-General, Lord 
 Dalhousie, an embassy, composed of Major and 
 Lieutenant Lumsden and Dr. Bellew, had been per- 
 mitted by him to proceed to Candahar. Independ- 
 ently of the troops belonging to the Punjaub Field 
 Force proper, there were then at Peshawur and its 
 vicinity about 2,800 European troops, eighteen guns, 
 and a mountain-battery. The Hindustani troops 
 numbered about 8,000. The Peshawur brigade was, 
 as we have stated, under the immediate command of 
 Brigadier Sidney Cotton ; but the divisional comman- 
 der. General Reed, had likewise his headquarters at 
 that station. In civil charge of the frontier was 
 Lieut.-Col. Herbert Edwardes. Closely associated 
 with him, in public life as in private friendship, was 
 the Deputy-Commissioner, Lieut.-Col. John Nicholson, 
 who had just then been transferred from Bunnoo. 
 
 On the night of May 11, a message, addressed to 
 no one in particular — flashed off probably after the 
 mutineers had mastered the city — announced to the 
 authorities at Peshawur that ' sepoys from Meerut had 
 arrived at Delhi that morning, and were burning the 
 houses and killing the Europeans.' The neixt morn- 
 ing, a more authenticated telegram from the Brigade- 
 
 G 
 
S2 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 Major at Meerut informed them that the native troops 
 were in open mutiny, whilst the Europeans were under 
 arms defending the barracks. On the receipt of this 
 last intelligence, Nicholson at once proposed to his 
 chief the formation of a movable column of picked 
 troops to put down mutiny in the Punjaub. Edwardes 
 agreed, and the two civil officers at once made their 
 way to the Brigadier, and laid their proposition before 
 him. To it Brigadier Cotton gave his cordial assent, 
 and procured that of the Major-Gen eral. It was then 
 arranged that, in anticipation of the approval of the 
 Chief Commissioner, the Guide Corps should be moved 
 from Murdan to Nowshera, there to join the 27th 
 Foot. At the same time the 55th N. I. was to be 
 marched to solitude at Murdan^; whilst the 64th N. I., 
 notorious for many years for its mutinous tendencies, 
 was to be broken up into three detachments, and sent 
 to the frontier outposts. 
 
 Amongst the officers on the frontier who constituted 
 the strong supports of the Chief Commissioner, and 
 who shared all his confidence, we have hitherto for- 
 borne to mention one who, whether we regard his 
 daring courage, the confidence with which he inspired 
 his troops, his soldierly abilities, or his unselfish and 
 retiring nature, possessed all the qualifications of a 
 hero. If there was one point in the character of 
 Brigadier Neville Chamberlain which excited his 
 friends to anger, it was that he took no thought of his 
 reputation. However brilliant were his achievements, 
 
THE TRIAL. 83 
 
 he would tell in his despatches the most unvarnished I 
 tale, and, so far as he could help it, would let the ' 
 world hear no more. He cared as little in fact for the 
 reputation which is based upon newspaper articles as 
 for an honour not spontaneously bestowed. He would 
 as soon have laid himself out for the one as have 
 toiled for the other. His code, indeed, was one of the 
 simplest. He brought his best abilities to the per- 
 formance of his duties, and never looked that a service 
 should be rewarded, which he considered the nation 
 had a right to claim at his hands. 
 
 Neville Chamberlain commanded the Punjaub Ir- 
 regular Force, consisting of three light field-batteries, 
 one garrison company of artillery, five regiments of 
 cavalry, six of infantry, and the Guide Corps, which 
 combined both. When the telegram, from Meerut 
 reached Peshawur, he happened to be at Koh^t, thirty- 
 one miles distant. The Peshawur authorities proposed 
 at once to invite him to a council of war, to deliberate 
 on the line to be adopted. This was accordingly done, 
 and, on May 13, Chamberlain arrived at Peshawur. 
 
 Meanwhile the Chief Commissioner had received at 
 Rawul Pindee, by telegraph, an account of the con- 
 clusion at which the three oflScers had arrived at their 
 first meeting. He instantly replied by expressing his 
 full approval of their proceedings. As, however, it 
 was believed at that time, not by him alone, but by 
 every man of note in the country, that the recapture 
 of Delhi would be an affair of but little difficulty, if 
 
 02 
 
84 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 the siege were vigorously pushed at the outset, he for- 
 warded to the Commander-in-chief a copy of the 
 resolutions at which the three officers had arrived, 
 with a request that he would confirm them. This was 
 necessary, as the Chief Commissioner did not possess 
 the power to order any movement of the European 
 garrisons of the Punjaub on his own authority. So long 
 as the Commander-in-chief should be within reach of 
 communication, it was clear that all references must be 
 made to him. Whilst, therefore, on this occasion, he 
 expressed by telegram his warm approval of the for- 
 mation of such a column as that proposed, he informed 
 Colonel Edwardes that the scheme had been sent to 
 the Commander-in-chief with the view to obtain his 
 sanction thereto. He apprised him at the same time 
 of the successful disarming of the troops at Lahore. 
 
 This reply of the Chief Commissioner reached 
 Peshawur the very morning that Neville Chamberlain 
 arrived at that place from Kohat. It at least assured 
 the members of the council of war about to assemble 
 of the thorough appreciation of their chief, with refer- 
 ence alike to the character of the revolt and to the 
 means by which it was to be encountered and sup- 
 pressed. At 11 o'clock they met, and, after a short 
 discussion, came to the following conclusions: 1st, 
 That the command of the entire force in the Punjaub 
 should be assumed by General E-eed, in close com- 
 munication with the Chief Commissioner, whose head- 
 quarters he should join ; 2nd, that a movable column 
 
THE TRIAL. 85 
 
 of thoroughly reliable troops should be formed at once 
 at Jhelum ; 3rd, That the fort of Attock should be 
 secured; 4th, That a levy should be made of one 
 hundred Path^ns, under Futteh Khan, a tried soldier, 
 to hold the Attock ferry ; 5 th, That Brigadier Cham- 
 berlain should be sent to confer further with the Chief 
 Commissioner ; 6th, That Lieut.-Colonel Nicholson 
 should be deputed as political officer with the movable 
 column. These proceedings were at once reported by 
 telegram to the Chief Commissioner ; and, in writing 
 more full details. Colonel Edwardes suggested the 
 speedy enlistment of troops from among the frontier 
 tribes, to fill the gaps likely to be created by the de- 
 fection of the Hindustani troops, infantry as well as 
 cavalry. 
 
 Never has it fallen to the lot of any public man to 
 hold a position requiring more delicate handhng and 
 more quick decision than that occupied at this moment 
 by Sir John Lawrence. Once assured that our troops 
 were on the road to Delhi, that the rulers of Jheend 
 and Puttialla had taken up arms on our behalf, his 
 greatest danger lay at Peshawur. Fortunate was it 
 for the empire that he had gone to Kawul Pindee, 
 within easy distance of the post of danger and difficulty, 
 and whence he could learn daily the events which had 
 occurred but a few hours before. Able as were his 
 lieutenants, he had taken a wider view than any one 
 of them. He had arrived, within a few hours of the 
 receipt of the fatal news from Meerut, at the con- 
 
86 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 elusion that the entire native army was tainted. One 
 of his first acts had been to warn the Commander-in- 
 chief regarding the troops at Umballa, and to recom- 
 mend their immediate disarming, as othermse it would 
 be equally dangerous to take them to Delhi or to 
 leave them at Umballa. The conviction which prompted 
 him thus to tender his advice to the Commander-in- 
 chief had not reference simply to regiments stationed 
 at Umballa. It might be necessary, he felt, to carry 
 out the process of disarming in all the Hindustani 
 regiments. It was clear to him, from the proceedings 
 of the council of war at Peshawur, that, whatever 
 might be the individual opinions of some of its mem- 
 bers, they did not as a body take a full view of the 
 danger to be apprehended. They had recommended, 
 indeed, the formation of a movable column of picked 
 troops, but they had forgotten apparently that Pesh- 
 awur would thereby lie exposed to the mercy of the 
 Hindustanis. Sir John Lawrence at once perceived 
 this omission. It was incumbent upon him, in the 
 situation he occupied, to take into consideration every 
 possible eventuality, and to be prepared for it. No 
 one was more profoundly convinced than he of the 
 importance of holding Peshawur. Great stress has 
 been laid upon the assertion that, at a subsequent 
 period, he expressed an opinion in favour of the retire- 
 ment of our troops behind the Indus. But, in point of 
 fact, he never said or wrote anything of the kind. 
 What he did write, taking, as was his custom, a wide 
 
THE TRIAL. 87 
 
 view of every possible contingency, was simply this : 
 that in case our army were to retire from Delhi — a 
 contingency always possible, in the opinion of many 
 probable, and certain, if it did happen, to cause a 
 general uprising of the Sikh nation — it would be neces- 
 sary for our troops to cross the Indus and concentrate 
 at Lahore ; that, in anticipation of such a move being 
 eventually necessary, the women and children of 
 British regiments should be at once sent across that 
 river, so as to leave our troops free for whatever action 
 might be required. These expressions comprise all 
 that Sir John ever gave utterance to, regarding re- 
 tirement from Peshawur ; and we make bold to assert, 
 that whether we regard the opinion he formed from a 
 military standpoint, or submit it to the test of pure 
 common sense, it will bear the ordeal. He wished to 
 place it in the power of the chief military authority to 
 concentrate the greatest number of troops on the de- 
 cisive point of the scene of action. The preliminary 
 measure was simply proposed as a measure of pre- 
 caution, such as would enable the troops at Peshawur 
 to act promptly and on the shortest notice. 
 
 But at the time of which we write. Sir John had no 
 thought of authorising a retirement from Peshawur. 
 On the contrary, he deemed it so absolutely essential 
 that that important district should continue under the 
 charge of a man upon whom he could thoroughly rely, 
 that whilst he confirmed all the other proceedings of 
 the council of war — whilst he authorised General Keed 
 
88 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 an(J Brigadier Chamberlain to come to Rawul Pindee, 
 )8Q,d even telegraphed the same evening for Colonel 
 Edwardes to join him there— he refused his consent to 
 the clause which would have authorised Nicholson to 
 join the movable column ; he refused it, because he 
 deemed his presence then at Peshawur necessary for 
 the safety and preservation of the place. More than 
 that, before Colonel Edwardes left Peshawur for 
 Rawul Pindee, he received the Chief Commissioner's 
 authority to raise a thousand horse from the Khans 
 in the Derajat — a number which, two days later, he 
 doubled. 
 
 The first act of the Chief Commissioner, after the 
 arrival of Colonel Edwardes and his companions at 
 Rawul Pindee, was to submit to the Commander-in- 
 chief by telegraph the names of three officers from 
 whom a selection might be made for the command of the 
 movable column. The names sent in were Brigadier 
 Sidney Cotton, a most valuable officer, but whom it 
 was difficult to spare from Peshawur; Brigadier Cham- 
 berlain, in every respect excellent, and whose command 
 of the frontier force suggested him for this particular 
 service; and Colonel Nicholson, untried in command, 
 but possessing all the qualities of a leader of men. 
 The Commander-in-chief promptly telegraphed back his 
 selection of Brigadier Chamberlain, and conferred upon 
 him for the purpose the rank of Brigadier-General. 
 
 Meanwhile at Peshawur affairs were approaching a 
 
THE TRIAL. 89 
 
 crisis. The news of the events had Delhi had begun 
 to be whispered amongst the natives, and had even 
 reached the ears of the frontier chiefs. To these it 
 had already appeared that the contest would assume a 
 more than doubtful aspect, even at Peshawur itself. 
 They showed this impression in a manner not to be 
 mistaken. Colonel Nicholson applied to those known 
 to be most friendly to aid him to raise the levies author- 
 ised by the Chief Commissioner ; he received, how- 
 ever, but scant assistance. Of the two thousand men 
 authorised, he was unable to collect one hundred. It 
 was clear that, in the eyes of these men, the position 
 occupied by the British was full of peril. The Sepoys 
 with their arms appeared stronger than the men who 
 allowed them to retain those arms. 
 
 Brigadier Cotton and Colonel Nicholson had, up to 
 this moment, adopted every possible defensive measure. 
 The treasure had been removed to the fort, a European 
 garrison placed within it, the Residency rendered 
 capable of resisting an attack. But in times such as 
 those of which we write, purely defensive measures 
 only encourage an enemy, especially if that enemy be 
 Asiatic. The events at Peshawur formed no exception 
 to this rule. In proportion as our defensive arrange- 
 ments progressed, the conduct of the Sepoys became 
 more and more pronounced, their disaffection more 
 clear. Treasonable communications were intercepted, 
 and when, on May 21, Colonel Edwardes returned to 
 
so LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 Peshawur, he found the state of affairs ' gloomy to a 
 degree.' 
 
 Gloomy enough were they, indeed. The movable 
 column, composed of the 27th Foot, the Guide Corps, 
 and some regiments of Sikhs, hereafter to be noticed, 
 had ah'eady marched, and the European force at Pesh- 
 awur and its vicinity had thus, and by other minor 
 movements, been reduced to little over 2,000 men. On 
 the other hand, there were in the station five regiments 
 of native infantry, one of light cavalry, and two of 
 irregular cavalry, composed in an overwhelming pro- 
 portion of Hindustanis. Of these it was known that 
 four regiments, three of infantry and one of cavalry, 
 were deeply tainted with disaffection. There was 
 another mutinous regiment, the most mutinous of all, 
 at the three frontier outposts ; and another, quite un- 
 reliable, at Murdan. Everything showed that an out- 
 break was impending. But even were it not imme- 
 diately to break out, the fact of having upon our 
 frontier a mutinous army of our own soldiers, threaten- 
 ing ourselves, was positively to invite attack from the 
 wild borderers beyond it, convinced that our hour was 
 at hand. 
 
 There was, however, a material difference between the 
 situation of Peshawur and that of other stations where 
 Sepoys had been disarmed, which lent quite another 
 aspect to the act of disarming there. In the neighbour- 
 hood of other stations the population had been long 
 
THE TRIAL. 91 
 
 accustomed to our rule ; it had become unwarlike and 
 mercantile; the interests of the majority of its members 
 were identified with, and were dependent on, our own. 
 Except in the rare cases of a newly-acquired country 
 like Oudh, or the vicinity of a disappointed and wealthy 
 intriguer as at Cawnpore, it required only the presence 
 of a small body of European troops to disarm the 
 sepoys, and at the same time to be free from the im- 
 mediate fear of any overt act of hostility on the part 
 of the people. But it was far otherwise at Peshawur. 
 There we were in the presence, in the immediate 
 vicinity, of an enemy with whom we had been for 
 seven years in continual warfare ; whose depredations 
 had been suppressed to a great extent by the efforts of 
 the very sepoys now rising against us, and who had it 
 in their power now, by accepting the friendship offered 
 by those sepoys, to cause us incalculable injury, to 
 harass the movement of our columns, to render the 
 defence of the frontier a matter of great difficulty, the 
 despatch of troops to Delhi impossible. This was the 
 consideration, doubtless, which inspired the local com- 
 manders at Peshawur with an unwillingness, at the 
 outset, to break with the sepoys ; this the reason which 
 weighed mainly with Sir J. Lawrence, when, in his 
 wise forethought for the future, he conned over the 
 line of conduct it would be necessary for him to adopt 
 in the double event of a repulse from Delhi and a 
 rising on the frontier, and which, finally, determined 
 
92 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 him to authorise that policy of boldness, which, in all 
 difficult circumstances, is the safest and the best. 
 
 Colonel Edwardes returned to Peshawur on May 21, 
 armed with full authority from the Chief Commissioner 
 to assume the responsibility of directing the disarming 
 of the native troops. It was indeed time for vigorous 
 measures, for the aspect of the independent borderers 
 betokened rather an impression on their part that it 
 was soon to be all over with las, and there was little 
 doubt but that even the semblance of a temporary 
 triumph on the part of the sepoys would enlist them 
 amongst our enemies. That very same day Colonel 
 Edwardes received intelligence of the revolt of the 55th 
 N.I. The news of this would, he felt sure, be speedily 
 conveyed to the sepoys at Peshawur, and would pro- 
 bably invite them to immediate action. This decided 
 him. He saw that it was necessary to act, and to act 
 on the moment — to use the powers entrusted to him, 
 and, breaking finally with the sepoys, to make a bold 
 appeal to the martial instincts of the border-population. 
 He therefore proposed to Brigadier Cotton that three 
 regiments of sepoys and one of regular cavalry should 
 be paraded and disarmed at daylight the following 
 morning, leaving the least doubted regiment of sepoys 
 and the two corps of irregular cavalry, not entirely 
 tainted, to perform the duties of the station. Brigadier 
 Cotton entered cordially into the arrangement. The 
 troops were paraded the next morning, and manoeuvred 
 so as to bring them under the guns of the artillery in 
 
THE TRIAL. 93 
 
 front, and the musketryrrange of the European in- 
 fantry on either flank, whilst border-levies, arrived 
 from Kohat, moved on their rear. They were then 
 ordered to lay down their arms. They obeyed without 
 the smallest hesitation. 
 
 Thus passed from Peshawur, from India, its greatest 
 danger. The demeanour of the border chiefs on the 
 occasion afforded the strongest proof of the success of 
 the policy adopted, of the danger which most certainly 
 would have resulted had the sepoys resisted the order. 
 Some of these chiefs were in Peshawur at the time. 
 They accompanied the Commissioner as he proceeded 
 to the parade-ground ; but their hearts were not with 
 him. They had before refused their levies, and now 
 they came 'to see which way the tide would turn.'* 
 But no sooner had the disarming been successfully 
 accomplished than these very men became the loudest 
 in their congratulations; their numbers on the parade- 
 ground multiplied exceedingly. They were convinced 
 that the victory was not to be to the sepoys ; they 
 resolved to cast in their lot with the English. Thence- 
 forth recruits flocked in from beyond the border. By 
 one bold act we discarded our sepoys, to find, from 
 amongst the ranks of former enemies, soldiers better, 
 braver, more trustworthy, the representatives of a 
 manlier type of the human race. 
 
 Brigadier Cotton followed up his successful disarming 
 of the great majority of the native garrison of Pesh- 
 * Colonel Edwardes's Beport. 
 
94 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 awur by sendiBg a force to subdue the revolted 55th 
 N.I. at Murdan — a service, thanks to the daring of 
 Colonel Nicholson, who was present as political officer, 
 successfully accomplished. A few days later the three 
 detachments of the mutinous 64th N.I. were disarmed 
 at the outposts. Other happily conceived measures 
 completed the arrangements for securing the frontier. 
 Thus the armed inhabitants were formed into a militia, 
 and gained to our cause by good pay ; the property of 
 deserted sepoys was allowed to be appropriated by the 
 captors ; and the best feeling was cultivated with the 
 heads of the tribes supposed to be at variance with us. 
 A sort of enmity was thus established between the 
 sepoys and the borderers ; whilst such was the effect 
 of the revival of our prestige, that one morning three 
 hundred offenders of the MuUikdeen tribe, which had 
 been in disgrace and under blockade, marched from 
 their hills into cantonments, armed to the teeth, saying 
 they had come to fight for us and to be forgiven. 
 Colonel Edwardes at once accepted their services, and 
 they became the nucleus of one of the new Punjaub 
 regiments. This movement was independent of, and 
 additional to, the successful efforts at recruiting made 
 all along the border. 
 
 To Sir John Lawrence this making fast the main 
 door of his province, to a great degree by the aid of 
 Punjaubees, was a matter of very great satisfaction. 
 It was not only that the safety of the frontier was 
 secured, but that the troops raised in the Punjaub 
 
THE TRIAL. 95 
 
 might be depended upon. One part of India, and that 
 the part possessing a population the most warlike and 
 the most enured to arms, — the part, too, in which he 
 exercised paramount authority — was with us. This 
 was now beyond a doubt. The sepoys of the regular 
 army, powerful as they were in numbers, and still ripe 
 for mischief, had lost much of their prestige ; the few 
 Hindustanis in the regiments of the Punjaub Irregular 
 Force could be weeded out without difficulty ; whilst 
 in the loyalty and goodwill of the population Sir John 
 possessed the means of raising such a force as would 
 enable him to spare a proportion of his European 
 garrison to aid in striking at the heart of the rebellion 
 still vaunting itself in Delhi. He had never, from the 
 first moment, lost sight of this great object. The 
 Guide Corps, cavalry and infantry, had been despatched 
 on the first note of alarm, by forced marches to Delhi, 
 and had accomplished the five hundred and eighty miles 
 that intervened in twenty-one days. No sooner had 
 the safety of the frontier been assured, and the trust- 
 worthiness of the Punjaubees ascertained, than other 
 similar movements were directed. Sir J. Lawrence 
 sent the 4th Sikhs from Hazara, the 1st Punjaub 
 Infantry from Bunnoo, the 1st Punjaub " cavalry and 
 two squadrons of the 2nd and 5th, All these arrived 
 at Delhi before the end of July. At the outset of the 
 canipaign, the European troops stationed at Umballa 
 and in the Himalayas, and who constituted nearly one- 
 third of the entire European force which, we have 
 
90 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 spoken of as garrisoning the Punjaub, had been sent to 
 Delhi. These were soon after followed by a wing of 
 the 8th Foot from Jullundhur, and a wing of the 61st 
 from Ferozepore. The force that remained did not 
 exceed 7,000 men, and to these were entrusted the forts 
 of Lahore, Govindgurh, and Attock, the two arsenals 
 of Ferozepore and Phillore, the Peshawur valley, and 
 such important positions as Sealkote, Rawul Pindee, 
 and other stations. In the actual state of things in the 
 Punjaub, with very many native regiments not yet 
 disarmed, and others, though disarmed, requiring to be 
 watched, it was impossible, at the moment, to weaken 
 still further the European force in the province. 
 Until, therefore, the movable column should have done 
 its work, the Chief Commissioner was forced to have 
 recourse to other measures in order to assist our army 
 before Delhi. These showed alike the magic of the 
 influence he had acquired over the native princes, and 
 his power of moving the population. The first was evi- 
 denced not less by the manner in which the chiefs of 
 Puttialla, Jheend, and Nubha had come forward to aid 
 us, than by the conduct of the ruler of Cashmere, 
 Goolab Singh, and of his son, Rumbheer Singh. 
 Goolab had agreed, on the requisition of Sir John, to 
 furnish us with an auxiliary force of 2,000 men. He 
 died, however, before those troops had set out. But 
 his successor, Rumbheer, at once expressed his willing- 
 ness to adhere to the arrangement. The contingent 
 therefore, numbering 2,200 men, afterwards reinforced 
 
THE TRIAL. 07 
 
 to 3,000, left Cashmere in July, Captain Richard 
 Lawrence accompanying it as political agent, and 
 arrived in time to render good service at Delhi. But 
 we derived from this aid even more political advantage 
 than material strength; for it demonstrated very 
 clearly that the Maharajah of Cashmere, who bore to 
 the north-east of the Punjaub relations similar to those 
 which the rulers of Puttialla and Jheend bore on the 
 south-east, was decisively on our side. 
 
 Even greater advantages in a political point of view 
 were reaped from the friendship which had been 
 cemented by the Lahore Government with the ruler 
 of Cabul. We have already mentioned that, at the 
 beginning of the year, the two brothers Lumsden and 
 Dr. Bellew had been sent to Candahar in the character 
 of envoys. Scarcely had they arrived there when the 
 mutiny broke out. At once the war-party in Cabul 
 urged the Amir, Dost Mahomed, to action, pointing 
 out to him the facility with which Peshawar could be 
 recovered. At this crisis Colonel Edwardes re-opened 
 negotiations with Cabul. These renewed in the mind 
 of the Amir the impression as to the non-aggressive 
 character of our policy which the interview held in the 
 beginning of the year with Sir J. Lawrence at Pesh- 
 awur had then stamped upon it. He Rejected, then, 
 the advice of his fanatic councillors, and sent letters 
 ' expressing, with striking Oriental "phrase, his sympa- 
 thy with our disasters and his fidelity to our cause.' 
 The moral effect of this loyal conduct was very great 
 
 H 
 
98 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 all along the border. It was the more striking, as we 
 had in former years grievously sinned against this man, 
 sending an expedition to drive him from his throne, 
 and shuUing him up for some years as a prisoner in 
 Loodhiana. But he had been much struck with the 
 simple straightforwardness which characterised the 
 Punjaub policy ; he saw, too, that we were in earnest ; 
 he knew our resources ; and he probably judged that a 
 collision with us, even when we were embarrassed with 
 our sepoys, would scarcely procure for him any mate- 
 rial advantage. 
 
 In addition to the contingent furnished by the Ma- 
 harajah of Cashmere, and to the troops already men- 
 tioned. Sir J. Lawrence hastened to despatch to Delhi 
 new levies as fast as they could be raised. Thus, 
 learning that artillerymen were greatly wanted in the 
 besieging camp, he sought out all the old Sikh gunners 
 who had fought against us in 1858-9, and sent off 300 
 of them at once. To the same destination he des- 
 patched 1,200 Muzbee Sikhs to serve as pioneers. 
 These men were at the time working as labourers on 
 the Baree Doab canal. They constituted, in the main, 
 the pioneer force which was so useful after our troops 
 penetrated into Delhi. We may add that the corps 
 formed of these men rendered subsequently efficient 
 service in China, and has recently covered itself with 
 glory in Abyssinia. One of his lieutenants, Mr. 
 Montgomery, likewise raised and sent off a body of 
 cavalry which served to form the nucleus of Hodson's 
 
THE TRIAL. 99 
 
 Horse. One siege-train had been despatched in May 
 from Lahore. Sir John sent off another of first-class 
 calibre from the arsenal of Ferozepore, in the month 
 of July, under the escort of a Belooch battalion fur- 
 nished by Mr. (now Sir Bartle) Frere, then Chief 
 Commissioner of Sinde. An irregular force, under 
 General Van Cortlandt, of a thousand men was sent 
 to reconquer and occupy the Delhi districts to the rear 
 of the besieging army. A newly-raised corps of Pun- 
 jaubees was likewise sent to Meerut to enable the 
 authorities at that station to despatch part of the 
 European regiment at that station to Delhi. Thus, 
 even in those early days, the Punjaub had contributed 
 to make available for the siege of Delhi five battalions 
 of European infantry, one regiment of cavalry, a large 
 body of artillery, seven battalions of Punjaub infantry, 
 three regiments of Punjaub cavalry, a corps of pio- 
 neers, a contingent of Sikh artillerymen, two siege- 
 trains, and auxiliary corps from Puttialla, Jheend, 
 Nabha, Cashmere, and minor rajahs, amounting to 
 8,000 men. 
 
 To enable him to contribute thus largely to the 
 force before Delhi, Sir J. Lawrence had proceeded 
 rapidly, after the safety of the frontier had been as- 
 sured, in raising new Punjaubee levies to fill the place 
 of the Hindustanis who had been disarmed. On 
 May 13, four native regiments had been deprived of 
 their arms at Lahore ; on the 14th, two at Ferozepore, 
 one of which, however, mutinied and fled to Delhi ; on 
 
 h2 
 
100 LOTtI) LAWRENCE. 
 
 the 22ncl, four at Peshawur; on the 23rcl, one regi- 
 ment had been destroyed in its mutinous flight from 
 Murdan ; on the 26th, one was disarmed at Nowshera : 
 on June 10 — thanks to the vigour, energy, and self- 
 reliance of one man. Major (now Major-General) Craw- 
 fiird Chamberlain, then commanding the 1st Irregular 
 Cavalry — two Hindustani regiments had been dis- 
 armed; and, on the 15th, the last remaining corps at 
 Umballa submitted to the same fate. The account of 
 these disarmings, combined ivith the proneness of the 
 officers of the native army to believe in the loyalty of 
 their own men so far as to permit them to retain their 
 arms, provoked outbreaks at other stations. Thus, on 
 June 7 and 8, four regiments mutinied in the Jullun- 
 dhur Doab, and fled to Delhi ; on July 7 the 14th N. I. 
 broke out at Jhelum, only, however, to be crushed by 
 the European force which the Chief Commissioner 
 had sent down from Rawul Pindee to disarm them ; 
 on the 9th, a vang of the 9th Cavalry and the 46th 
 N. I. mutinied at Sealkote, and committed some 
 murders. They were, however, nearly all destroyed 
 by Nicholson, who, to intercept them, made the 
 famous flank-march from Umritsur to the Trimmoo 
 Ghat — upwards of forty miles — with H.M.'s 52nd 
 Foot," and a battery of artillery under Major (now 
 Brigadier-General) Bouchier. The same fate met the 
 disarmed 26th X.I., who murdered their commanding- 
 officer on July 30, and attempted to escape to Delhi. 
 On August 1 9 the 10th Light Cavalry went off from 
 
THE TRIAL. 101 
 
 Ferozepbre to Delhi; and, on the 28th, the 51st N.I., 
 though deprived of their arms, mutinied at Peshawur, 
 but met with condign punishment. The other regi- 
 ments were all disarmed by the movable column on 
 the following dates : on June 25, two in the JuUun- 
 dhur Doab; on July 7, one and part of another at 
 Rawul Pindee ; on July 8, one at Umritsur ; on the 
 12th, one at Hooshyaspore ; on the 14th, one in tlie 
 Deraj^t ; on the 15th, one at Umballa. Of the 36,000 
 Hindustani troops who were in the Punjaub at the 
 beginning of the year, just one-half had broken out 
 into open mutiny; of these a considerable number had 
 been destroyed, but some had escaped to Delhi. Of 
 the remaining moiety, 13,000 had been disarmed with- 
 out resistance, and 5,000 had remained firm in their 
 allegiance. The 13,000 disarmed men constituted an 
 encumbrance, over which, as had been shown by the 
 examples of the 26th and 51st N.I., it was necessary 
 to keep guard. For this purpose the presence of 
 other troops was necessary. It is not too much, then, 
 to assert, that although 5,000 out of the original 36,000 
 remained faithful, the effect of the disaffection of the 
 others was to diminish the power of the Punjaub 
 sarrison for active service to at least the extent of the 
 full number of its native troops. 
 
 To supply the gap thus created the Chief Commis- 
 sioner's energies were directed at a very early period 
 of the crisis. For although the actual disarming and 
 mutinies took place at intervals between May 1 3 and 
 
102 LOBD LAWRENCE. 
 
 August 15, Sir John Lawrence had, from the first, 
 ceased to place the smallest reliance upon any of the 
 Hindustanis, and had contemplated the necessity of 
 replacing them by men raised in his own province. 
 We propose now to relate the measures to which he 
 had recourse for this purpose. 
 
 It had become clear to the Chief Commissioner, 
 about May 17, that the native troops in the Punjaub 
 might be depended upon. He had then under his orders, 
 serving as infantry or as organised military police, 
 eighteen battalions of Punjaubees. He at once di- 
 rected the raising of four additional companies to each 
 battalion, intending that these additional troops should 
 form the nuclei of new regiments. At the same time 
 he called in all the men on furlough, and directed that 
 aU the Sikhs who had been enlisted into the Hindus- 
 tani regiments should be drafted from those regiments 
 and formed into a separate battalion. The enrolments 
 for the four additional companies progressed very 
 rapidly; and no sooner had they been completed, than 
 the same number of companies were separated from 
 the original battalion and constituted a separate corps, 
 its numbers being raised as quickly as possible up to 
 960 men. In this manner eighteen new battalions of 
 infantry were speedily raised. Of these, eight were 
 completed in June, seven in August, two in Sep- 
 tember, and one subsequently. An additional Goorkha 
 regiment was raised in May, 1858. Additions were 
 made in June, 1857, to the Guide Corps of 200 men. 
 
Tim TRIAL. ■ 103 
 
 and to the police of 5,592. Besides these, there were 
 raised, mostly in June, July, and August, 1857, levies 
 of 9,700 horse and 9,600 infantry. No difficulty was 
 experienced in raising these levies. All classes, ex- 
 cept the Sikhs from the Manjha — the portion of the 
 Punjaub of which Lahore and Umritsur are the great 
 cities — and who hesitated till after the fall of Delhi, 
 flocked to our standards. There was a want rather of 
 horses than of horsemen, whilst the men who came for 
 that service were unsurpassed in all the qualities of 
 light cavalry soldiers. It has been officially computed 
 that the total number of Punjaubees actually raised 
 by the Chief Commissioner for service during the 
 mutiny amounted to 47,351.* Of these, 34,000 were 
 raised in 1857. These were used to replace the 36,000 
 men of the old army, all but 5,000 of whom had failed 
 us. There remained yet 13,000 of the old force to be 
 watched — a necessity which hampered considerably 
 the movements of our Europeans. Many of the new 
 troops were at first retained in the Punjaub. By 
 doing this, the Chief Commissioner was enabled to re- 
 inforce the army before Delhi with old and well- 
 seasoned soldiers. 
 
 But whilst thus engaged in taking efiectual mea- 
 
 * These numbers are the result of a most carefully made return. 
 But, besides these, if we calculate the native contingents, amounting to 
 about 8,000 men, the Punjaubees who had belonged to Hindustani re- 
 giments, and who remained faithful, and the recruits who flocked to 
 other corps in Hindustan, the total number supplied by the Punjaub 
 could not have been short of 80,000 men. 
 
104 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 sures to raise such a force as would supply the void 
 made by the defection of our native army, Sir J. 
 Lawrence was not the less intent upon carrying out 
 those other important measures necessary for the safety 
 of the country. Prominent amongst these were the 
 measures necessary for the organisation and progress 
 of the movable column. It will be recollected that 
 this column was originally organised at Peshawur on 
 May 13, and that, a few days later. Brigadier Cham- 
 berlain had been appointed to command it. It was 
 originally to have consisted of H.M.'s 27th Regiment 
 from Nowshera, the 24th Foot from Eawul Pindee, a 
 proportion of European artillery, the Guide Corps, the 
 4th Sikh Regiment, the Kumaon battalion composed 
 of Goorkhas, the 1st Punjaub Infantry from Bunnoo, 
 the 2nd from Dehra Ghazee Khan, and the 5th, also 
 from Bunnoo. The cavalry were to be formed of the 
 16th Irregulars from Rawul Pindee, a wing of the 
 2nd Punjaub Cavalry from Kohat, and the Mooltan 
 Hoi'se from Dehra Ishmael Khan. The various 
 members of this force had not, however, assembled at 
 Wuzeerabad before it was weakened by the recall of 
 the 27th Foot to Peshawur, in consequence of the 
 threateoing aspect of affairs in that station subsequentlj- 
 to May 1 7 ; and by the despatch to Delhi of the Guide 
 Corps, the Kumaon battalion, and the 4th Sikhs. To 
 supply the vacancies thus caused, so as to fit the column 
 for active operations. General Chamberlain arranged 
 with the Chief Commissioner that it should be aug- 
 
THE TRIAL. 105 
 
 mented by the troops from Sealkote, consisting of 
 H.M.'s 52nd Foot, the European artillery, the 35th 
 N.I., a wing of the 17th Irregulars, and a wing of 
 the 9th Cavalry. Thus strengthened, the column 
 marched into Lahore on the 3rd June. Here it dis- 
 armed the mutinous 8th Cavalry, and, after halting for 
 a week, resumed its march, via Umritsur, for JuUun- 
 dhur, where the weakness of the Brigadier of that dis- 
 trict in declining to disarm the troops had caused much 
 anxiety to the authorities. The column reached 
 Umritsur on the morning of the 10th, in time, indeed, 
 to secure that important city against the machinations 
 of the Jullundhur mutineers, but not in time to aid in 
 the repression of a revolt, encouraged to break out by 
 the weakness of the military authorities, and not pur- 
 sued after it had- broken out. Thence it marched 
 quickly in the direction of Jullundhur. But before it 
 reached that place an important change had taken place 
 in its command. Colonel Chester, Adjutant-General 
 of the army, had been killed in the action of Budlee- 
 ka-Serai, before Delhi, on June 8. General Cham- 
 berlain was at once appointed to succeed him. The 
 question then arose, who was to succeed General 
 Chamberlain ? It was a question of great moment, 
 pregnant with vast consequences, and its solution lay 
 with the Chief Commissioner of the Punjaub. Sir 
 John had then but recently returned to Lahore. Posi- 
 tive authority to appoint any one in particular indeed 
 he had not. But the Commander-in-chief was dead. 
 
106 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 His acting successor was at Bombay. The acting 
 Commander of the forces had just reached Calcutta, 
 with which city all communication was cut off: there 
 was actually no authority on the spot superior to his 
 own. A weak governor would, under such circum- 
 stances, have allowed himself to be overborne by the 
 military authorities. There were, possibly, not wanting 
 men who counselled General Gowan, become by Ge- 
 neral Reed's departure for Delhi the senior officer in 
 the Punjaub, to declare the province to be under 
 military law. But if that were t^e case, General 
 Gowan had too great a regard for duty, too entire a 
 confidence in the great civilian under whom he was 
 serving, to listen to any such advice. The Chief 
 Commissioner had impressed his spirit upon all with 
 whom he had come into contact, and it was to his 
 large experience and tried strength of character that 
 the authorities, military as well as civil, turned to 
 STuide them into smoother waters. 
 
 Sir John Lawrence, then, cut off from all commu- 
 nication with Calcutta, felt that he was called upon to 
 save the Punjaub at all hazards — to act as if he were 
 dictator. He was the more strengthened to follow this 
 course by the knowledge that he had sufficient autho- 
 rity for whatever he might do. The last telegram re- 
 ceived from Calcutta before communication had ceased 
 altogether, had conveyed to him the promise of Lord 
 Canning's support in every measure he might think 
 necessary for safety. 
 
THE TlilAL. 107 
 
 Thus virtually dictator, and suddenly called upon to 
 appoint to the command of the movable column the 
 officer whom he might consider the very best qualified 
 in such an emergency. Sir John Lawrence was true to 
 his own convictions and to his strong sense of duty. 
 He took John Nicholson, a regimental captain, though 
 a lieutenant-colonel in the army, and made him 
 brigadier-general. It was a bold, an unprecedented 
 act— an act which he well knew would cause much 
 jealousy and ill-feeling. The officers seniorto Nicholson, 
 one of whom at |east was most capable, could not but 
 feel aggrieved at being thus superseded by an officer 
 for many years in civil employ. But Sir John be- 
 lieved he had but one duty — to appoint the best 
 man. He believed Nicholson to be the best man : 
 it would have been contrary to his nature to appoint 
 any one else. Though Nicholson had been but little 
 heard of as a military combatant in actual warfare, he 
 had assisted in many campaigns, and he was known to 
 Sir John to be accustomed to deal with men, and to be 
 endowed with the gift of gaining over them a rare 
 mastery. He was known to possess, too, a character 
 resolute to inflexibility — a genius as competent to 
 devise as quick to execute. The result fully justified 
 the selection. In the course of a few months Nichol- 
 son gained a reputation as a military leader far more 
 real, well-founded, and enduring than the reputation 
 of any other soldier engaged in the suppression of the 
 mutiny. But for this man Delhi would not have 
 fallen ; and yet — noble example of our bureaucratic 
 
108 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 system !— Delhi scarcely had fallen when there came 
 from Sir Colin Campbell an order to revoke his ap- 
 pointment. The act, however, was Sir John Law- 
 rence's own. He it was who took upon himself the 
 responsibility of a nomination which was the main 
 cause of the taking of the rebellious city. With this 
 point, however, is connected another question, the 
 dealing with which entailed even greater responsibility 
 upon the Chief Commissioner, and called for the 
 highest exercise on his part of the virtues of self- 
 denial and self-reliance. 
 
 By the third week of July the effective European 
 force in the Punjaub, including the trooj)s with the 
 movable column, the sick, and the convalescent, had 
 fallen to about 5,200 men. Of these, perhaps 1,500 
 were sick and convalescent.* Of the fifteen new 
 Punjaub regiments, five had been completely disci- 
 plined, and during the month eight more were reported 
 ready for service. But there still remained 13,000 un- 
 armed sepoys to be watched, and, in addition, 5,000 
 still armed, and believed to be faithful, but whose 
 loyalty would not, in all probability, be proof against 
 any re\erse to our arms. The movable column under 
 Nicholson had meanwhile done good work in disarmino- 
 regiments at Jullundhur, and among its own body, and 
 had cut up the Sealkote mutineers at Trimmoo Ghat. 
 The work of disarming in all other parts of the pro- 
 vince had been completed. The movable column was 
 
 * Half of the English troops at Peshawar were iick. 
 
THE TRIAL. 109 
 
 therefore so far free in that it had no overt enemies to 
 combat. It was still necessary, however, to overawe 
 malcontents, and to present visibly to the eyes of the 
 population that the Chief Commissioner still possessed 
 a force ready instantly to override any opposition that 
 might threaten. 
 
 This was the more necessary, because, in the latter 
 part of July, the long delay of our army before Delhi 
 had not been without its effect upon the minds of men 
 in the Punjaub. We have already alluded to the 
 unwillingness evinced by the Manjha population to 
 enlist in our service. This unwillingness had existed 
 from the first; but the feeling which caused it- — the 
 doubt in our ultimate success — was now spreading. 
 In the East, during a time of danger and excitement, 
 it is impossible to stand still. If a man or a nation 
 does not advance, he falls back. In August, the 
 authorities in the Punjaub were in the position in 
 which it was necessary to make a choice between the 
 two courses. Untoward rumours had arrived from 
 the direction of the Jumna Doab and from Bengal ; 
 our army lay stationary before Delhi ; in the Punjaub 
 we were holding our own indeed, but in a great 
 measure by means of Punjaubees. The idea, then, 
 had begun to steal over the minds of a great portion 
 of the population, that our success at Delhi was not, 
 after all, so certain, and that, if we were not successful 
 there, they would find themselves in alliance with the 
 losing side. 
 
110 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 Such was the state of feeling rising in the Punjaub, 
 and known to the Chief Commissioner to be rising, 
 when he received a communication from General 
 Wilson, commanding our forces before Delhi, an- 
 nouncing that unless he were largely reinforced from 
 the Punjaub he would not be able to hold his position, 
 much less to assault the city. In the face of the 
 continual reinforcements received by the rebels from 
 Bareilly, Neemuch, Jhansie, and Mhow, the troops 
 hitherto sent by Sir J. Lawrence had done no more 
 than enable the besieging General to maintain his 
 position. He no longer entertained hopes of any help 
 from below. From the Punjaub, and thence alone, 
 could he look for assistance ; if that were not forth- 
 coming he must abandon the siege. That, at least, 
 was the programme he laid before the Chief Commis- 
 sioner. 
 
 The effective force of Europeans at Sir John 
 Lawrence's disposal, deducting the sick and convales- 
 cent, had, as we have said, been reduced at this period 
 to 3,700 men, a force not more than sufficient to 
 maintain order in the Punjaub, even when the majority 
 of the Punjaubees were on our side. But Sir John 
 had now to consider ^vhether the risk was greater that 
 the 18,000 Hindastanis still in the Punjaub, and 
 possibly the Punjaub itself, would be tempted, by the 
 further departure of European troops, to rise — or that 
 the maintaining these troops in the Punjaub might 
 cause the retreat of our army from Delhi, and, with it. 
 
THE TRIAL 111 
 
 the entire loss of our prestige, and the consequent 
 desertion of all our native soldiers. Now Sir John 
 had from the very first moment indicated Delhi as the 
 heart of the rebellion — as the place which must at all 
 hazards be recovered. He had pressed the movement 
 against Delhi on General Anson when that able officer 
 was opposed by all his military advisers ; he had 
 continued to press it equally on his successors,* and 
 to protest against any retrograde movement. Every- 
 thing, in his opinion, depended upon, the operations 
 before Delhi. Peshawur would have been a light 
 sacrifice to insure the concentration of all our forces 
 for such an object. And now, when he was asked to 
 decide which risk he would run — the risk of rebellion 
 in the Punjaub, or retreat from Delhi— he felt he 
 could not hesitate, but that, at all costs, the great 
 principle of warfare must be rigidly enforced — the 
 concentration of all our means on the decisive point of 
 the scene of action. 
 
 It is true that he did not arrive at this decision 
 hurriedly, or without full and patient consultation 
 with his advisers — without examining the state of 
 ajffairs from every possible aspect. From this circum- 
 
 * Lord Granville stated in the House of Lords that Sir J. Lawrence 
 ' was willing to make terms with the King,' implying thereby, whilst 
 the King was yet in Delhi. But no such implication can be deduced from 
 Sir J. Lawrence's action. The King offered to negotiate, proposing to 
 surrender the place into our hands. Sir J. Lawrence, in reply, ex- 
 pressly stipulated that the King should first quit the city, and should 
 prove himself guiltless of Christian blood. He would not, for a 
 moment, that our efforts to take the city should be relaxed. 
 
112 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 stance have arisen some misconceptions. No one was 
 so thoroughly acquainted with the exact state of the 
 Punjaub as the Chief Commissioner. Those able men 
 whose advice he asked could not have been, and were 
 not, so completely cognisant of all the ramifications of 
 native thought and feeling as himself. On his shoulders. 
 
 Do ' 
 
 too, lay all the responsibility of a decision on which 
 depended the fate of an empire. There is no doubt 
 but that at this conjuncture some of the most trusted 
 councillors of the Chief Commissioner were urgent in 
 their advice to send more troops to Delhi. That was 
 precisely the advice which Sir J. Lawrence himself 
 would have given had he too been only a councillor. 
 But there is a vast difference between a subordinate' 
 tendering advice and a responsible officer arriving at 
 a decision. Men with military instincts had doubtless 
 fixed upon Delhi as the strategic point which was the 
 key of the military position. But so likewise had Sir 
 John before any one else. He was now called upon 
 to decide, not simply whether the troops before Delhi 
 should be reinforced, but whether, to reinforce them, 
 he should risk the safety of a province upon whose 
 quiescent attitude the safety of the empire depended. 
 He was called upon for this decision at a time when 
 18,000 Hindustanis were still at large within its 
 limits — when doubts were spreading as to our ability 
 to succeed — when the least repulse would, he knew 
 \\ell, have converted into determined foes, not only the 
 population of the Punjaub, but many of the troops 
 
THE TRIAL. 113 
 
 who were then fighting bj the side of the British. It 
 was to do that which no great general will ever 
 commit himself to except under the direst necessity — 
 to deliver a battle, defeat in which must be absolute 
 ruin. It was to risk the retention of the Punjaub, 
 and with that the lives of all in the Punjaub, on the 
 result of the operations before Delhi. No one knew 
 the feelings, the hopes, the secret aspirations of dis- 
 affected men amongst the Punjaubees so well as he. 
 No one, therefore, could be so competent a judge of 
 the actual position. 
 
 He came after some reflection to the determination 
 to brave that danger, to encounter that risk — to send 
 all his available troops to Delhi, leaving the Punjaub 
 unprotected. Some of those who advised him to this 
 decision have, after the lapse of years, claimed for 
 themselves the credit of its having been arrived at. 
 Perhaps if they were to place on the other side of the 
 account the bad advice which they also tendered, and 
 which was not followed, they would admit that tire 
 balance was not altogether in their favour. But even 
 in this case the credit is not their due. The decision 
 was solely the decision of Sir John Lawrence. He 
 received advice from many ; he balanced probabilities, 
 he contrasted the risks, and he came — slowly, perhaps, 
 but very decidedly — to the conclusion that less danger 
 would be incurred by denuding the Punjaub of troops 
 than by leaving the position before Delhi uncertain for 
 the want of those troops. It was upon his shoulder 
 
 I 
 
lU LORD LAWliENCE. 
 
 not upon the shoulders of his councillors, that the 
 responsibility rested. Whatever credit may be due to 
 them for holding an opinion which he also shared, and 
 for pressing it upon him, he alone is entitled to the 
 credit, as he alone would have been responsible for the 
 blame, if blame there had been, of the decision. 
 
 ^Ye have said that Sir John arrived perhaps slowly 
 at that decision. Had it been otherwise he would 
 have been less entitled than he now is to the admi- 
 ration of his fellow-countrymen. The dangers attend- 
 ing either determination were so evenly balanced — • 
 they were seen so vividly by Sir John himself — that it 
 was impossible for him to arrive on the moment at a 
 definite conclusion. The decision which he came to 
 was undoubtedly correct, but it was, notwithstanding, 
 within a very little of ending in a catastrophe. 
 
 ' When,' wrote ]Mr. Temple in the report relating 
 to the mutiny, ' week after week and month after 
 month passed away and the rebellion was not put 
 down, the Punjaubees then began to think that the 
 British power could hardly recover from the repeated 
 shocks it was sustaining. The accumulating odds 
 against us seemed insuperable. When detachment 
 after detachment of Europeans went out of the Pun- 
 jaub and none came in; Avhen the success of the 
 mutineers reached through the land ; when cantonment 
 after cantonment in Hindustan was destroyed and 
 deserted by its soldiery, who rushed to Delhi ; when 
 incendiary letters arrived figurati\ely indicating the 
 
THE TRIAL. IIS 
 
 position of the British in India, and saying that 
 " many of the finest trees in the garden have fallen>" 
 that "white wheat had become very scarce, and country 
 produce very abundant," that "hats were hardly to be 
 seen, while turbans were plentiful," — then the Pun- 
 jaubees began to feel how utterly isolated we were, 
 and how desperate was our cause. Their minds passed 
 from confidence to doubt, then to mistrust, and then to 
 disaffection. This last symptom had begun to set in 
 when Delhi feU.' 
 
 Yes ; and if Delhi had not fallen ! If our assault, 
 as seemed advisable to some of those about the general 
 commanding, had been followed by a retreat even after 
 a lodgment had been made at the Cashmere Gate ! or 
 if, in the daily contest that followed for the possession 
 of the city, the enemy, gathering heart, had driven us 
 back to our position outside the iavm ! — where, under 
 such circumstances, had been the Punjaub, where its 
 gallant chie^ where its European population ? Con- 
 tingencies such as these had been considered by Sir 
 John Lawrence, and it was in the face of them that 
 he decided to act the boldest, the most unselfish part 
 — to risk all on success before Delhi, and to reduce 
 the chances of failure to their lowest, by sending not 
 only his best troops, but the man whom he esteemed as 
 a soldier more highly than any other man in India to 
 command them. The result vindicated his prescience. 
 The arrival of the movable column gave General 
 Wilson the strength he desired ; but an assault would 
 
 *i2 
 
116 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 not even then have been attempted had not that mov- 
 able column been commanded by John Nicholson.' 
 
 The dejDarture of the movable column for Delhi 
 towards the end of July left in the Punjaub hardly 
 more than 4,000 Europeans of all arms, including 
 those sick and unfit for duly. Of these, three regi- 
 ments were in the Peshawur valley, but so reduced by 
 sickness that for the active work of a campaign they 
 could not muster more than 1,000 bayonets ; one regi- 
 ment held Lahore ; one, sent by Mr. Frere, with great 
 self-denial, from Sinde, held Mooltan and Ferozepore ; 
 and one furnished detachments to hold Rawul Pindee, 
 Umritsur, and JuUundhur. From the regiment at 
 Lahore, the 24th Foot, between 200 and 300 men 
 were taken, to form with 400 Punjaubees and some 
 mounted levies a column which, for all practical 
 purposes, should be stUl movable. These indeed con- 
 stituted the only troops available for such a purpose, 
 for the rest were absolutely required to watch, in the 
 case of Peshawur, the frontier ; in other cases, the dis- 
 armed native troops. They were but a feeble resort in 
 case the news of the further diminution of the European 
 force should kindle into a flame the feelings to which 
 our continued perilous position every day added consist- 
 ency and strength. 
 
 The fears entertained by the Chief Commissioner 
 
 ' ' The Chief Commissioner does not hesitate to affirm that without 
 John Nicholson Delhi could not have fallen.' — Mr. Secretary Temple's 
 Mutiny Eeport. 
 
THE TRIAL. 117 
 
 that something of this sort might ensue were quietly 
 realised. General Nicholson's force crossed the Sutlej 
 on July 30. Early in September a conspiracy was 
 discovered in the hills near Murree and in lower Hazara 
 just in time to prevent its being carried out. The in- 
 habitants of that part of the country are nearly all 
 Mohammedans. Though in general well affected to 
 our rule, and infinitely preferring it to that of the 
 Sikhs from which we had rescued them, the spectacle 
 of Delhi so long defying our power, of the province 
 emptied of its European garrison, tempted them 
 beyond their power of control. The opportunity to 
 strike a blow for their independence was not to be 
 foregone. All their preparations were accordingly 
 made ; the date on which the rising was to take place 
 was fixed upon. Provided that Delhi did not fall by 
 September 10, the Hazara Avas to rise. 
 
 It is curious that not only the population of the 
 district named were aware of the plot, but some of the 
 servants of the oflScers at Murree were consenting 
 parties thereto. The favourite orderly of the Assist- 
 ant Commissioner had assigned to himself the duty 
 of presenting the chiefs of the conspiracy with his 
 master's head, and there is little doubt but that he 
 would have attempted it. The secret was, however, 
 divulged by one of the petty chiefs of Hazara— 
 whether to save himself, or because, perhaps, he 
 doubted the success of the plot, may not be accurately 
 known. This at least is certain, that he sent his wife 
 
118 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 to inform Lady Lawrence, who was then at Morree, 
 that unless Delhi were to fall within a week, there 
 would be a general rising in Hazara. Lady Lawrence 
 lost no time in con\eying the information to Mr, 
 I'jdward Thornton, the Commissioner of Rawul 
 Pindee, and to the officials at Murree. These at once 
 took measures to baffle the conspirators. It was 
 quickly discovered that the statement was true ; but 
 by the timely arrest of the leaders, terror was struck 
 into the rank and file, and no outbreak took place. 
 The fact, however, is noteworthy, as showing that the 
 deliberations of the Chief Commissioner prior to the 
 despatch of his last available troops to Delhi, were not 
 unnecessary. Those deliberations were the result of 
 the knowledge he possessed, that the denuding of the 
 province of British troops would encourage the dis- 
 affected, and would, if not checked by success at 
 Delhi, ultimately rouse the whole country. 
 
 His convictions on this head were still more 
 strongly justified a few days later. On the evening 
 of September 14, the very day of the delivery of the 
 assault upon Delhi, ' a Mohammedan official of the 
 ])Ostal department arrived at Lahore from Goghaira, 
 came before the Chief Commissioner, and reported, 
 with somewhat of a malicious twinkle of the eye, that 
 all the wild and predatory tribes inhabiting the jungle 
 country between Lahore and Mooltan had risen.' ' 
 Questioned further, he declared that the number of 
 
 ' Panjaiib Military Eeport, p. 16. 
 
TEE TRIAL. 119 
 
 insurgents amounted to 125,000 men. This statement 
 was of course exaggerated, but it seemed to the Chief 
 Commissioner to be, nevertheless, tolerably certain 
 that a rising of a formidable character had taken 
 place. He knew the inhabitants of that part of the 
 country to be a wild, pastoral race, strong of body, 
 impatient of control, and likely to listen to the tales 
 of designing men. At the moment they had indeed 
 but few arms, but they were contiguous to the inde- 
 pendent state of Bahawulpore, which, alone almost of 
 the native states bordering on the Punjaub, had dis- 
 played an unfriendly, if not a hostile spirit, ever since 
 the outbreak of the mutiny. It seemed to Sir John 
 to be on that account only the more necessary to act 
 on the moment, in order to crush an insurrection 
 which delay must make formidable. Within three 
 hours, therefore, of receiving the message we have ad- 
 verted to, one company of European infantry, 200 
 Sikh cavalry, and three guns, were despatched in the 
 direction of the headquarters of the insurgents. It 
 was a small force, but the celerity with which it was 
 despatched compensated for its paucity of numbers 
 and caused them to be enormously multiplied in the 
 eyes of the native population. The fact that thej' 
 were sent at all, utterly inadequate as they were to 
 meet the enemy had he advanced to encounter them, 
 showed a confidence in ourselves which had a won- 
 derfully depressing effect upon the insurgents. In- 
 stead of making the forward movement which alone 
 
120 LORD LAWnENCE. 
 
 could have insured the success of their plan, they took 
 refuge, on learning the advance of our men, in the 
 almost impenetrable jungles which constituted their 
 normal habitation. Fully impressed with the necessity 
 of using every effort to crush this rebellion at once. 
 Sir John, by no means content with the movement 
 of the small body of troops he had already sent, ex- 
 hausted all his energies to bring up others to support 
 them. His utmost efforts could not collect more than 
 1,500 men of all sorts. With these, however, he in- 
 sured the submission of the disaffected country. 
 
 This was the last attempt on the part of any of the 
 tribes inhabiting the Punjaub to revolt against our do- 
 minion. We may be pardoned, then, if for a few 
 minutes we dwell upon the manner in which it was 
 met. What other man in India, we may ask, on 
 being informed that 125,000 men had risen in insur- 
 rection close to his capital, would have sent 300 men, 
 two-thirds of whom were natives, to move against 
 them ? Yet it may be confidently asserted that the 
 despatch of those 300 men caused the collapse of the 
 rebellion. Their numbers were not known to the 
 enemy — they were therefore multiplied enormously ; 
 the insurrection Avas ' scotched,' and retired into the 
 jungles to be ' killed.' If, on the other hand, the 
 Chief Commissioner had acted as cold-blooded pru- 
 dence would have counselled — if he had waited to 
 draw together a force really sufficient to meet the 
 rebels — it is scarcely possible to exaggerate the dan- 
 
THE TRIAL. 121 
 
 gers to which he would have been exposed. The 
 rebellion, unchecked, even at first unopposed, would 
 have gathered head, would have received fresh acces- 
 sions from every part of the province, would possibly 
 have culminated in a general insurrection overwhelm- 
 ing Lahore in its onward progress. It did not 
 attain this magnitude solely because Sir J. Lawrence 
 sent out 300 men to oppose it ; not, indeed, because he 
 considered that nmnber adequate for the purpose — he 
 knew well it was not ; but because, thoroughly con- 
 vinced of the advantage of moral force in Asiatic war- 
 fare, he knew that an advance of any number, how- 
 ever small, would paralyse the rebels. He sent 300 
 men, because he had no more that could be spared — 
 just as, if his circumstances had been more straitened, 
 he would have sent a hundred, or even fifty. 
 
 "We have stated that this rising was the last at- 
 tempt against the British power in the Punjaub. 
 The fact that it occurred at all, so soon too after 
 the threatened insurrection in Hazara, showed conclu- 
 sively that a spirit of disaffection had possessed the 
 minds of a large portion, principally the Mohammedan 
 portion, of the people of the Punjaub ; that they 
 believed our last hour to be at hand. It was the 
 opinion of the Chief Commissioner, that if the fall of 
 Delhi had been delayed some time longer, or if any 
 misfortune had happened to our army before the place, 
 this belief in the decadence of the fortunes of England 
 would have become general, and we should have had 
 
122 LORD LAWREKCE. 
 
 to rely upon our own soldiers alone. But Sir John's 
 foresight and selfnegation, his promj^titude and de- 
 cision, averted the chances of any such result. By 
 sending the bulk of the movable column to Delhi, 
 with Nicholson as its commander, by himself so ap- 
 pointed, he took the steps which made the fall of Delhi 
 possible. It was this, and this alone, that enabled 
 General Wilson to detach a force under that same 
 Nicholson to destroy the enemy in the field of Nuz- 
 zufgurh ; this, and this alone, that induced him, 
 contrary to the counsel of some of his advisers, to risk 
 an assault upon Delhi. In this assault again it was 
 Nicholson — Nicholson of the Punjaub — who was the 
 leading and guiding spirit ; he -who, struck down by a 
 mortal wound after he had forced the Cashmere gate, 
 sent from his dying bed the loudest and deepest remon- 
 strances against retiring — for retiring was talked of. 
 All these aids, so powerful in their working, so es- 
 sential to success, without which we must have failed, 
 may be clearly traced to the abnegation of the man, 
 who, occupying then the most important position in 
 the country, dwelling amongst a race whom delay or 
 ill-success would have roused into deadly enmity, 
 decided to strip his own province of all the troops 
 really available for movement, to send them to the 
 decisive, point of the war, retaining only a number 
 barely sufficient to garrison his strongholds and guard 
 his magazines. Who, then, can deny that to this man, 
 primarily, the fall of Delhi is due ? Who can deny that 
 
THE TRIAL. 12S 
 
 tlie master of that ship, the safety of which was near 
 imperilled, even whilst he kept his own crew on board, 
 mainly contributed to the safety of the entire fleet, 
 because, setting aside all selfish considerations, he sent 
 almost all his own sailors to destroy the fire-ship that 
 was making .havoc among the other vessels of the 
 squadron ? If it be true that the peculiar character of 
 a nation is most forcibly illustrated by the action under 
 difficult circumstances of her foremost sons, then in- 
 deed has England peculiar reason to be proud of the 
 man who saved the Punjaub, who contributed so much to 
 the fall of Delhi ! Never, we may say, were the English 
 virtues of calm and cool courage, quick decision, 
 unselfish devotion to the accomplishment of a great 
 public end, more conspicuously displayed than during 
 the five months succeeding May 13, 1857, by Sir 
 John Lawrence. Those qualities constituted a beacon 
 even to the best and most capable of his lieutenants, 
 an example to all who came in contact with him, or 
 who heard of his doings, an impassable barrier to the 
 designs of traitors. Give what credit we may to the 
 other members of the Commission, and many of them 
 deserved nobly of their country, he was the key-stone 
 of the arch : he pulled the strings of every negotiation ; 
 to his quick and prompt decision the suggestions of all 
 those about him were subordinated. None knew 
 better than he when to slacken the rein, when to make 
 an ofiScer aware that the most trivial act had not 
 escaped him. To Montgomery, Macleod, and Koberts, 
 
124 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 at Lahore; to Edwardes at Peshawur; to Chamber- 
 lain and Nicholson at the head of the column ; to 
 Barnes at Umballa; to Lake at Jullundhur, and to 
 some others, he gave almost imchecked liberty of 
 action, for none knew better than he, that if left to 
 themselves they would exert all their energies to 
 weather the storm. But he retained, nevertheless, in 
 his own hands the power to mould and to direct all 
 their efforts to one common end, so that the action of 
 one district should be as far as possible harmonious 
 with the action of the district nearest to it ; and that 
 thus, when the time for a combined movement should 
 arrive, the several parts of the machine, each more or 
 less dependent on the other, should be found in work- 
 ing order. 
 
 From the date of the complete reoccupation of 
 Delhi by our trooi^s, September 20, the anxieties of 
 the Chief Commissioner regarding the safety of the 
 Punjaub were at an end ; for although the Goghaira 
 rebellion lingered for a few days later, it was never 
 afterwards formidable. The dangers to which a little 
 more delay in delivering the assault would have given 
 birth, disappeared after tlie successful capture of the 
 rebel city, and the fidelity of the population became 
 thereby more than ever firmly riveted. It was still 
 necessary, however, to continue the work, till then so 
 successfully carried on, of raising and disciplining 
 levies to reinforce the columns which were sent after 
 the fall of Delhi to complete the resubjugation of the 
 
THE TRIAL. 125 
 
 country. In this respect the Chief Commissioner's 
 efforts did not relax one whit, and he soon found that 
 the success of our arms had the effect of attracting the 
 Sikhs of the Maujha — -who had, l;ill then, for the most 
 part held aloof — to our standards. But other and not 
 less important duties speedily devolved upon him. A 
 principal consequence of the recapture had been the 
 transfer to the territories already under the Chief 
 Commissioner of the Punjaub of the district of which 
 Delhi was the capital, constituting an extent of 13,975 
 square miles containing two and three quartef mil- 
 lions of population, who paid to the State an annual 
 revenue of 800,000/. He had, in fact, to undertake 
 the work of reconstructioui 
 
 After the capture of Delhi, the general commaixding 
 the besieging forces had not at once replaced the city 
 under civil jurisdiction, but had consigned it to the 
 care of a military governor. But it was soon found 
 that every consideration prompted the expediency of 
 reorganising within it that civil administration which 
 the siege had interrupted. This was accordingly 
 done, and in the early part of 1858, the city resumed 
 much of the appearance by which it had been before 
 characterised. Meanwhile the petty chiefs who had 
 sided with the King, and lastly the King himself, 
 were brought to a fair and patient trial. Never, 
 perhaps, after so treacherous a revolt, was there 
 evinced a greater absence of bloodthirstiness and 
 desire for vengeance. The districts of Delhi were 
 
l-'(5 LOED LAWRENCE. 
 
 brought under the operation of that code which had 
 proved so successful in the Punjaub — the civil police 
 machinery was restored, the customs' lines were re- 
 established, the education machinery reorganised ; and 
 whilst fines, and in some instances confiscations of pro- 
 perty, were enforced upon notorious rebels, those who 
 had remained faithful were proportionately rewarded. 
 Following the example given when the Punjaub was 
 annexed, one great measure of precaution was strictly 
 enforced. The entire population was disarmed. Be- 
 fore the month of April, 1858, 225,000 stand of arms, 
 besides forty cart-loads not enumerated, were- de- 
 livered up to the police. So effectual were these 
 measures, that in his report of the first six months' 
 administration, the Chief Commissioner was enabled 
 to state that order reigned in the Delhi territory — an 
 order, too, obtained not after the fashion of Warsaw ! 
 
 We have now endeavoured to illustrate, faintly and 
 feebly we are well aware, the part played by Sir 
 John Lawrence in the eventful drama of 1857. By 
 his countrymen at the time he was universally re- 
 garded as the statesman who had saved not only the 
 Punjaub, but Upper India — as the one man of whose 
 conduct it might be said, that it evinced a thorough 
 acquaintance with his position and the means at his 
 disposal, and an energy that would make the most of 
 every point capable of being turned to his advantage. 
 After the lapse of eleven years, the general opinion 
 of the public has confirmed this verdict. Subjecting 
 
THE TRIAL. 127 
 
 Sir Jolin Lawrence's conduct during that critical 
 period to the most crucial of all tests, it is difficult, we 
 might even say impossible, to point the finger to one 
 single act of importance, and say, ' This or that might 
 have been better done.' At this distance of time, his 
 action on the spur of the moment appears to be exactly 
 the action which would have resulted from long con- 
 sideration. We see him quick, cool, collected, at 
 the outbreak of the mutiny, drawing his resources to 
 himself, feeling the temper of the frontier tribes, yet 
 not hesitating to send some of his most reliable troops 
 to Delhi — urging the independent chieftains to evince 
 by prompt action their loyalty to the State — indicating 
 to the Commander-in-chief the vulnerable point in the 
 enemy's position. We see him looking the danger 
 boldly in the face ; and, contemplating the possibility 
 of simultaneous action on the part of the borderers and 
 the sepoys, secretly determining the measures to be 
 adopted in the case, and only in the case, of that then 
 not improbable contingency. Having, by his influence 
 with the independent chiefs, secured his communica- 
 tions with our army before Delhi, we see him turning 
 his attention to Peshawur, where, by bold action, and 
 in concert with his lieutenants, he replaces the dis- 
 carded sepoys by the wild borderers whom they had 
 been drilled to oppose, and rallies to the British 
 standard more than 40,000 troops of a better quality 
 than those we had lost. The frontier difficulty is no 
 sooner solved than we see him engaged in the double 
 
123 LORD LAWREyCE. 
 
 labour — most difficult with the means at his disposal — - 
 of putting down the sepoys in the Punjaub, and re- 
 inforcing our troops before Delhi. Of the former, 
 18,000 are destroyed, 5,000 remain faithful. Then, 
 although the action would cost him the flower of his 
 troops, and expose the Punjaub to imminent peril, 
 leaving him but 4,000 European troops, of whom 
 1,500 were sick and invalids, for the whole province, 
 we see him resolving to send the last available man 
 to Delhi — deeming, and rightly deeming, that as the 
 fall of that place was all-important, everything should 
 be risked to assure it.' 
 
 To render success as certain as possible, we see him 
 taking from his military civilians the man whom he 
 knew to be equal to any duty, however arduous, though 
 he was but a regimental captain, and sending him, as 
 commander of those reinforcements, to Delhi. 
 
 When, after- these troops had departed, and the 
 Punjaub, had been left, as it were, to take care of itself 
 — for the 2,500 available Europeans were scarcely suf- 
 ficient to guard the frontier and the magazines — he 
 is suddenly informed that an insurrection of 125,000 
 
 ' The following ;meedote can be vouched for : Impatient at the slow 
 progress made by our troops, and strongly impressed with the idea that 
 the fate of the empire depended upon the early fall of Delhi, Sir Jolin 
 said one day to Rajah Tej Singh, the most influential of all the Punjaub 
 chiefs, ' I think I ought to go there myself.' Tej Singh looked at him 
 for a few minutes, and then said with emphasis : ' Sahib, send the best 
 ma,n you have, or any number of them, but don't go yourself. So long 
 as you Btay here, all will go well ; but the moment you turn your back, 
 no one can say what deyilry may not take place.' 
 
THE TMIAL. 129 
 
 men has broken out in the vicinity of Lahore, how do 
 we see him meeting the difficulty ? Does he abandon 
 his garrisons, mass his troops, summon the wild bor- 
 derers to his assistance ? Far from it. Still cool, de- 
 termined, prompt, he sends out, on the instant, the 
 one company of Europeans that could be spared, 
 backed by a few artillerymen and 200 horse. Of all 
 his actions in the mutiny, not one is grander than that 
 — not one betokens more surely the real greatness of 
 the man, the possession of the capacity to see, the de- 
 cision to act, the knowledge that, in war, promptitude 
 and daring are worth battalions of soldiers, and make 
 and unmake kingdoms. 
 
 We say then, advisedly, that the verdict — the uni- 
 versal verdict — of his countrymen at the time is more 
 than confirmed by the sedate study, eleven years latei', 
 of the events upon which that verdict was founded. 
 Sir John Lawrence of the Punjaub must ever stand 
 out as one of the foremost characters of Anglo-Indian 
 history — as the self-made, hard-headed, strong-willed, 
 conscientious, consistent man, who, tried in all circum- 
 stances, was ever found equal to all. It is impossible 
 always to avoid contemporary jealousy. But, in the 
 case of Sir John Lawrence, jealousy, though as ram- 
 pant as ever, has been unable to lay hold of any pro- 
 minent point of his career, and say, ' For that at least 
 he has been praised beyond his deserts.' To such 
 shifts, indeed, has that jealousy been reduced, that it 
 
 K 
 
130 LORD LAWREKCE. 
 
 lias been fain to concentrate all its venom upon one 
 single sneer — to impute it as a crime to this self-made 
 man thai he was really the hewer and architect of his 
 own fortunes, and not rather ' the accident of an acci- 
 dent,' ' the tenth transmitter of a foolish face.' It is 
 sufficient to say of such a sneer, that it stamps the 
 mental calibre of those who make it ; it adds to the 
 sympathy felt by every generous heart for the illus- 
 trious civilian, who 
 
 rose 
 Without one art that honour miglit oppose. 
 
 England was not neglectful of the services rendered 
 in 1857-8. Sir John Lawrence was created a 
 G.C.B. in 1857, and a baronet, with a pension of 
 2000/. per annum, the year following. The Punjaub, 
 aggrandised by accession of territory, was in 1858 
 transformed into a lieutenant-governorship under the 
 man who preserved it. Sir John, however, did not 
 hold his new title long. The incessant work of 
 previous years had told ujDon him ; the labours of 
 1857-8 brought matters to a climax. In 1858 he 
 occupied himself in reconstituting all that the mutiny 
 had shaken or overthrown, and in remedying evils which 
 the outbreak had revealed. Having done this, he left 
 India, never intending to return to it. 
 
 Here, for the present, we leave him. Still not idle, 
 for he was appointed at once a member of the Indian 
 Council; still active, energetic, charitable, he settles 
 down to fill the role of a country gentleman, happy in 
 
THE TRIAL. 131 
 
 his family, happy in the esteem of his fellow-country- 
 men, —happy in the new spheres of usefulness that con- 
 stantly opened out to him, — happy more especially in 
 this, that, though settled in England, it was still in 
 his power to be useful to India. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 THE CEO^YNING OF THE EDIFICE. 
 
 The principal events of the viceregal career of Sir John 
 Lawrence by no means represent the vast importance 
 of that career alike to the governing and the governed. 
 For in India the great and perhaps altogether the 
 most difficult part devolving ujiona Governor-General, 
 especially in matters of foreign policy, is not to incite, 
 but to restrain. This was emphatically the case during 
 the five years which have just passed away. The 
 oreat merit attaching to the administration of Sir John 
 Lawrence appears to us to lie in the fact that he 
 secured for the empire five years of prosperity and 
 cif nearly unbroken peace, and that he took full advan- 
 tage of that peace and that prosperity to carry out the 
 great works initiated by his predecessors, to initiate 
 others of scarcely less magnitude, and to place the 
 tenure of land in provinces long subject to arbitrary 
 and despotic rule on a sound and satisfactory basis. 
 But for the peace which he, with two slight exceptions, 
 maintained, he could not have accomplished any of 
 these great undertakings. His internal policy bears 
 thus to his foreign policy the relation that effect bears 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 133 
 
 to cause. It is the latter, then, that in the first instance 
 we must be prepared to consider. 
 
 No clear or distinct view can be taken of the foreign 
 policy of Sir John Lawrence unless we connect it with 
 the reappearance of Russia as an Asiatic Power. 
 Whatever may be the merits or demerits of Sir John's 
 policy, that policy has been decided upon and carried 
 out with a full knowledge that Russia has been and is 
 making rapid strides in the conquest of Central Asia 
 — that she has occupied Samarkhand, and is marching 
 by the route which Alexander followed when he aimed 
 at the Indus. The policy adopted by Sir John Law- 
 rence has been variously described according to the 
 views and inclinations of those who have written or 
 spoken of it. By those who believe that it is the 
 destiny of England to move onwards — that a long con- 
 tinuance of the status quo will be the signal for the 
 decline of her power — it has been stigmatised as a 
 policy of inglorious and fatal inaction. By others, 
 who believe in its wisdom, it has been spoken of alike as 
 a policy of ' masterly inactivity,' and as a policy of 
 ' defence and not defiance.' Now this is a most im- 
 portant question. It is not too much to say that the 
 future of British India depends upon the policy we 
 may adopt with reference to the action of Russia in 
 the East. The system initiated by Sir John Lawrence 
 has, it is true, given India already five years of peace 
 and material prosperity. But if that system be a 
 wrono- system — if it be clogged with all those inherent 
 
V'i LORD LAWRENCK 
 
 Aices to which its enemies are constantly drawing 
 attention — if it be inglorious to the British name, and 
 fatal to British interests — if it has sunk us to the 
 lowest depths in the estimation of the people of Central 
 Asia and onr own subjects and tributaries, as its oppo- 
 nents say it has, then it will be impossible to deny 
 that those five years of prosperity have been dearly 
 purchased, and that a continuance of the system must 
 end in our ruin. It is thus, we repeat, a most im- 
 ])ortant question — a question that demands the most 
 careful consideration. Before, then, we pronounce an 
 ()j)iuion on the policy adopted by Sir John Lawrence, 
 we propose to review very briefly the progress made 
 by the Russians. Proceeding, then, upon the idea that 
 the progress of Russia in Central Asia has for its 
 ultimate object an attack upon British India, we shall 
 proceed to enquire as to the courses we might have 
 adopted, which we might adopt still, to check them ; 
 and to examine in some detail the system inaugurated 
 and steadily pursued by Sir John Lawrence. 
 
 The Cabul expedition of 1839-41 had been under- 
 taken to act as a counterpoise to the supposed aggres- 
 sive designs of Russia upon that country. Although 
 that expedition resulted in defeat, disgrace, and loss of 
 prestige to us — a loss of prestige which the occupation 
 of Cabul by Generals Pollock and Xott in 1841 did 
 not entirely remove — yet for many years after its con- 
 clusion but little was heard of the designs of Russia in 
 the East. There can now be no doubt that, whatever 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 135 
 
 hopes may have been entertained by the Emperor 
 Nicholas prior to 1839 on the subject of an eastward 
 extension of his empire, he abandoned or suspended 
 them subsequently to that period, deeming, possibly, 
 either that the time had not arrived when a blow for 
 the possession of Hindustan could be struck with suc- 
 cess, or that the previous possession of Constantinople 
 would increase tenfold the resources at his disposal for 
 striking such a blow, and would in itself be more easily 
 attainable. His efforts in an easterly direction were 
 confined, therefore, to breaking down the barrier pre- 
 sented by the heights of the Caucasus, by the subju- 
 gation of the race of warriors by whom those heights 
 had till then been held and defended. 
 
 These efforts were continued with greater or less 
 vigour till the breaking out of the Crimean war. On 
 the whole the Russian attacks were not very success- 
 ful. The strongholds of the Caucasus were held by 
 the mountaineers, and in many a sharp contest the 
 illustrious Schamyl could boast that he had put the 
 Russian legions to flight. The Russians, on their 
 part, accounted for their scanty success by alleging the 
 dislike of their generals to bring to a speedy conclusion 
 a war at once so profitable to themselves and so fruit- 
 ful in appointments' to those concerned in it. Under 
 the actual circumstances it was regarded by Europe 
 without jealousy, being looked upon rather as a means 
 of affording a convenient exercise-ground for the 
 
136 LORD LA WHENCE. 
 
 Russian army, than as being likely to open out new ^ 
 fields of aggrandisement. 
 
 In 1854 the Emperor Xicholas, deceived by the 
 aspect of affairs, and holding too cheaply the position 
 acquired by the Emperor he regarded as a -parvenu, 
 struck his blow for Constantinople. It failed. But, 
 though it failed, the results of the war were not alto- 
 gether disastrous to Russia. The capture of Kars 
 more than balanced, in the minds of the people of 
 Persia, Arabia, and Central Asia, the effect of the loss 
 of Sebastopol. From the peace negotiations the 
 Russians drew still greater advantages. Whilst the 
 representatives of the French Emperor exhausted 
 courtesy and compliment to make of the enemy with 
 whom they had been so lately contending a sure and 
 fast friend, England, incapable of looking beyond 
 Europe, abandoned the trans- Caucasian provinces to 
 the mercy of Russia, and left to that Power an un- 
 checked and uncontested supremacy in the waters of 
 the Caspian. 
 
 The results of this policy soon made themselves 
 abundantly manifest. Freed by the peace of Paris 
 from the Crimean war, abandoning avowedly her de- 
 signs upon Turkey, Russia almost as avowedly declared 
 her intention thenceforth to labour at extension in the 
 direction of the south-east. Nearly simultaneously 
 with this denii-ofEcial avowal, about 150,000 troops 
 were hurled against the passes of the Caucasus. 
 
 This time there was no mistake. The troops were 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 137 
 
 inured to war; the generals had been tried in the then 
 recent campaign of the Crimea, and the mot (Tordre 
 had been passed from St. Petersburg that there was to 
 be no playing at soldiers. Under such circumstances 
 the result was never for a moment doubtful. Less 
 than three years after the conclusion of the peace of 
 Paris, Schamyl was a prisoner, the strongholds of the 
 Caucasus had been stormed, and the mountaineers who 
 had so long bidden defiance to Russia, to avoid sub- 
 mission to the conqueror, had fled from their native 
 homes, and sought refuge in the dominions of the 
 Sultan. 
 
 All this time Russia had been gradually, almost 
 impalpably, working her way across those low undu- 
 lating plains which lie between the Alatan range 
 and the river Seer or Jaxartes. Creeping up gradu- 
 ally to the banks of this river, she prepared in 1863, 
 or, as Prince GortschakofF declares, she was forced 
 by circumstances, to make a spring beyond it. The 
 Khanate of Khokand, with a population of three 
 millions, was tlie first object of her attack. The 
 capture of the important city of Chemkend brought 
 her into collision with the troops of Bokhara— a colli- 
 sion which resulted in the defeat of the latter and the 
 capture of Tashkend. For the moment Russia was 
 satisfied with these conquests ; but in 1866 the war 
 was renewed, the town of Khojend, the key of the 
 Jaxartes, captured, and the Khanate of Khokand 
 entirely subdued — one-half of the conquered country 
 
138 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 being at once incorporated by the conqueror, the re- 
 maining moiety placed under the administration of a 
 native chief, dependent upon Russia. 
 
 That country had now become the nearest neighbour 
 to Bokhara. Under the pretext of protecting his re- 
 cently acquired territories, the newly appointed com- 
 mander, General Kaufmann, established a fortified 
 post at a point almost within reach of Samarkhand. 
 This constituted a challenge which the Amir of 
 Bokhara could not refuse without sacrificing his in- 
 dependence. He accepted it and was beaten. The 
 consequence has been the occupation of both Samark- 
 hand and Bokhara by the Russian troops. By the 
 latest accounts the Russian outposts were within two 
 hundred and sixty miles of Balkh. The distance by 
 road from Balkh to Peshawur via Cabul is less than 
 four hundred miles. The events of the last few years, 
 the aggressive Russian policy which has for the 
 moment culminated in the capture of Bokhara, has 
 reduced the distance between the British and Russian 
 outposts to less than seven hundred miles. 
 
 This, at least, is the actual numerical distance, but 
 practically it is much less. For the districts of Balkh 
 and Kunduz, which lie between Bokhara and the 
 frontier of Afl^ghanistan, would follow without a 
 struggle the fortunes of Bokhara. The invader who 
 possessed Bokhara M'ould have little difficulty in esta- 
 blishing himself in all the countries which were tribu- 
 tary to, or dependent on, that kingdom. Practically, 
 
THE CMQWNIKG OF THE EDIFICE. 139 
 
 then, the only country between the Russian outposts 
 and the British frontier which would offer opposition 
 to the foreign invader is the country bounded on the 
 north by the Hindoo Koosh, on the east by the 
 Suliman range, on the west by Khorassan and Persia, 
 on the south by Beloochistan — and that is the country 
 known as Affghanistan. 
 
 This consideration invests Affghanistan with very 
 great importance, and imposes upon us the necessity of 
 reviewing the affairs of that country during the past 
 four years, with special reference to the action taken 
 by the late Viceroy of India in dealing therewith. 
 
 Six months before Sir John Lawrence assumed the 
 government of India, Dost Mahomed, the able ruler 
 whose firm and energetic character had imposed his 
 will on the people of Affghanistan, and whose stern 
 justice had gained their confidence, died at Herat. He 
 was succeeded by his third surviving son. Shir Ali 
 Khan, then forty years of age. This succession was 
 at once recognised by Sir William Denison, then 
 acting as Governor-General, pending the arrival of 
 Sir John Lawrence. 
 
 We will not complicate the story of the events that 
 followed by the introduction, more than we can avoid, 
 of names foreign to an English ear. It will suffice to 
 state that, although all the brothers of the new Amir 
 acknowledged at the time the validity of the act by 
 Avhich he succeeded his father as ruler of Affghanistan, 
 many months did not elapse before, one after another. 
 
140 LOUD LAWREXCE. 
 
 they rose in rebellion against him. The contest that 
 followed may be said to have raged without any 
 material intermission from the month of April 1864, 
 three months after the arrival of Sir John Lawrence 
 in Calcutta, to the month of December 1868. It 
 has therefore been conterminous with the rule of Sir 
 .John Lawrence. In fact, during the entire period of 
 his holding the office of Viceroy, AfFghanistan — the 
 only important kingdom between our frontier and the 
 Russian outposts — has been subjected to all the horrors 
 of a despei'ate and bloody civil war. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary for us to state more than 
 the result of this war. Shir Ali Khan at first suc- 
 ceeded in striking a severe blow at the rebels by de- 
 feating them in the decisive battle of Kugbbaz on 
 June 6, 1865. But the loss of his favourite son in 
 this battle ' clouded all the joy of victory,' and plunged 
 the Amir in such a state of lethargy that for months 
 he paid no attention to his affairs. In this state he 
 remained at Candahar, indifferent to all around him ; 
 not roused to action even by the intelligence that his 
 enemies, regathering heart and reinforced by levies 
 from Turkistan, were marching upon Cabul, and that 
 his own friends were falling off from him on every side. 
 But at last, when his lethargy had seemed to have 
 attained the condition almost of confirmed lunacy, the 
 news of the occupation of Cabul by tlie rebels excited 
 him to action. He levied troops, marched towards Ca- 
 bul, occuijied Kelat-i-Ghilzi and Ghuznee, and then 
 
THE CROWNIKG OF THE EDIFICE. 141 
 
 advanced to meet the Turkistan army. On May 10 
 he assaulted it with great vigour in its intrenchmeuts 
 at Shekhabad. Though several times repulsed, he re- 
 turned again and again to the assault, and it is stated 
 his perseverance was on the point of being crowned 
 with success when his Caiidahar followers suddenly 
 went over to the enemy. This decided the battle, and 
 Shir Ali fled towards Ghuznee, followed only by 500 
 horsemen. 
 
 The result of this defeat was to place upon the throne 
 of Aifghanistan the eldest brother of Shir Ali, Maho- 
 med Afzul Khan, then about fifty-six years old. Shir 
 Ali, however, by no means acquiesced in his elevation. 
 JFleeing to Turkistan, he managed to levy a force of 
 about 24,000 men, and with this threatened to march 
 upon Cabul. But his nephew, the son of the Amir 
 in actual possession, vnth a true military instinct de- 
 serving of success, advanced against the vanguard of 
 the invading army, separated by a day's march from 
 the main body under Shir Ali. He encountered it on 
 September 13, 1867, at Killa AUadad, and completely 
 defeated it. Shir Ali, utterly disheartened, fled into 
 Turkistan. 
 
 But his brother, Mahomed Afzul, did not long sur- 
 vive his victory. He died on the 7th October following 
 it. Nor, although the next brother in order of birth, 
 Mahomed Azim Khan, succeeded to the supremacy, 
 did he hold it long. In January 1868 Shir Ali left 
 Turkistan for Herat, advanced on Candahar in the 
 
142 LOUD LAWRENCE. 
 
 month of June following, and was received by the 
 people as a deliverer. On August 21 the Bala 
 Hissar was stormed by his generals, and he Avas pro- 
 claimed ruler of Affghanistan. He himself shortly 
 took up his residence in the capital, and the most 
 recent accounts inform us that he has succeeded in 
 inflicting upon the only remaining adversary possessed 
 of power and influence a complete and crushing over- 
 throw. Indeed, the next claimant to the throne has 
 since taken refuge on British territory. All the au- 
 thorities combine in believing that the power of Shir 
 All may now be regarded as firmly established in 
 Afi^ffhanistan. 
 
 The five years' civil war in that country has thus 
 resulted in consolidating the power of the chieftain 
 originally nominated as the successor to Dost Maho- 
 med, and in either ridding the country of his rivals, or 
 in satisfying the feudal lords of their incapacity for the 
 office of supreme ruler. The Shir Ali of 1869 is thus 
 stronsrer, more influential, more to be dreaded as an 
 enemy or lo be courted as an ally, than the Shir Ali 
 of 186-4. It is requisite for British interests that the 
 ruler of Affghanistan should be strong, that he should 
 possess a dominant influence over his nobles, and that, 
 fulfilling these conditions, he should be friendly to us. 
 Now, apparently, those conditions have been fulfilled. 
 Shir Ali is strong and influential. It is for us now to 
 enquire whether the policy of Sir John Lawrence to- 
 wards Affghanistan in her nearly five years of anarchy 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 143 
 
 and civil war lias been of such a nature as to make it 
 the interest of the ruler of AfFghanistan to be our 
 friend or our enemy. 
 
 For, in whatever light we may regard the progress 
 of Russia in Central Asia, this is the all-important 
 consideration. With a friendly Power on the Hindoo 
 Koosh, occupying the mountainous country interve- 
 ning between that range and our frontier, any inva- 
 sion of India by Kussia could have but one result. 
 We do not believe that any other result would ensue 
 if that Power were gained over for the moment by 
 Kussia ; yet undoubtedly such an alliance would enor- 
 mously increase our difficulties. It is our interest, 
 therefore, so to act with reference to AfFghanistan 
 that the ruler and people of that country may be 
 brought to regard their interests with respect to Russia 
 as identical with our own, as governed by the same 
 principle, and standing or falling according as they 
 may or may not be identified the one with the other. 
 
 Now, to secure this great result, it is obvious that 
 the first end which it should be the aim of our 
 policy to accomplish is to instil into the minds of 
 the Affghans complete confidence as to the purity of 
 our intentions. It is essential that they should be abso- 
 lutely certain that under no circumstances will we 
 be tempted to advance our present frontier, to annex 
 one rood of their territory. So long as the faintest 
 suspicion is implanted in their minds that we intend to 
 repeat, even on the smallest scale, the policy of 1839, 
 
144 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 they will continue to distrust us. They will judge us 
 according to our acts. We may protest as much as 
 we like about the purity of our intentions, and those 
 intentions may be as pure as the driven snow, but if 
 we advance even a mile beyond our present frontier, 
 confidence will be impossible. We have already 
 shown' that when, in February 1857, in obedience to 
 the instructions of the Governor-General of the day, 
 Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner of the 
 Punjaub, met the Amir, Dost Mahomed Khan, at 
 Peshawur, the Amir distinctly refused to allow an 
 English embassy to proceed to Cabul, stating that the 
 fact of his sanctioning such a scheme would most 
 certainly undermine even his great influence with his 
 chiefs. He added that nothing lay more at the heart 
 of the AfiPghans than that we should abstain from ail 
 interference in their internal affairs, and that nothing 
 would more surely rouse the nation as one man than 
 any such interference. He with difficulty consented 
 to allow a mission to proceed to Candahar ; and it is a 
 fact that, during their residence in that city, the 
 officers of the mission were in imminent dang-er of 
 their lives. The Affghans, in fact, recognise our 
 present frontier as our rightful frontier ; but nothing 
 would so surely convince them of our intention to 
 extend it as any move, even the slightest, material or 
 diplomatic, in the direction of Central Asia. 
 
 This being the case, we will now proceed to examine 
 [' Vide Part I. p. 52. 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 145 
 
 the policy of ^,Sir John Lawrence during those five 
 years. We shall take the opportunity of adverting 
 specially to the temptations by which he was assailed, 
 by which, in all probability, his successor will still be 
 assailed, to act otherwise — to act, in fact, in a manner 
 which, by identifying us with one or other of the rival 
 parties, would force us to interfere in the internal 
 aifairs of the country. 
 
 When Sir John Lawrence assumed the viceroyalty 
 of India, British interests were represented at the 
 Court of Cabul, in accordance with the treaty of 1857, 
 by a native agent. After Sir William Denison had 
 recognised Shir Ali, that Amir transmitted to our 
 Government, through our native agent, the following 
 propositions :- — 
 
 (1) That he should be furnished with six thousand 
 muskets. 
 
 (2) That his eldest son might be alluded to in 
 correspondence as the Heir- Apparent. 
 
 (3) That a certain Mohammedan, who had been sen- 
 tenced in Calcutta to seven years' transportation for re- 
 ceiving stolen property, and whose brother was a high 
 official at the Court of Cabul, should be pardoned. 
 
 These propositions were brought to Peshawur by 
 our native agent in person, accompanied by a chief in 
 the confidence of the Amir. Our Government refused 
 the muskets, but granted the two other conditions. 
 Our agent did not then return to Cabul, but remained 
 
 L 
 
146 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 at Peshawur, leaving the British agency at the capital 
 in charge of a munshi or secretary. 
 
 When the civil war broke out the strictest instruc- 
 tions were given by the Grovernor-General that whilst 
 in no case an asylum should be refused to political 
 refuo-ees, yet that care should be taken to prevent the 
 hatching of any plots in our territory against the 
 existing Government. In fact, the principle was to 
 be enforced of combining hospitality to men who had 
 been unfortunate with the strictest loyalty towards 
 the actual Government of our neighbour. This prin- 
 ciple was strictly acted upon throughout the war. 
 
 When, in the beginning of 1866, aifairs began to 
 look bad for Shir Ali, and his son, Meer Ibrahim, was 
 actually being besieged in the Bala Hissar, the mun- 
 shi attached to the British agency^was sounded by 
 that prince as to the probability of Shir Ali obtaining 
 material aid from the British. The question was put 
 in the most astute and diplomatic manner. Meer 
 Ibrahim assumed that the force then besieging Cabul, 
 and which had been raised in Turkistan, was secretly 
 supported by the Amir of Bokhara and the Russians ; 
 and he asked whether that circumstance would not 
 induce the British Government to come to the aid 
 of Shir Ali. The munshi prudently replied that his 
 instructions did not allow him to discuss the question. 
 He transmitted it, however, to the British Com- 
 missioner at Peshawur. A few days later and Shir 
 All's cause was apparently lost for ever. The 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 147 
 
 munshi, at an audience to which he had been summoned 
 by the victorious brother, congratulated that prince 
 on the part of the British Government on his success. 
 This act on his part was at once disavowed by the 
 Governor-General, who thus wrote : ' It should be our 
 policy to show clearly that we will not interfere in the 
 struggle ; that we will not aid either party ; that we 
 will leave the AfFghans to settle their own quarrel ; and 
 that we are willing to be on terms of amity and good- 
 will with the nation and their rulers de facto.'' Sir 
 John did not, at this period, regard the cause of Shir 
 Ali as lost. 
 
 About the* same time the chief of the family of the 
 late Shah Soojah, on whose behalf we had entered 
 AfFghanistan in 1839, applied to the Government of 
 India for a loan to enable him to endeavour to recover 
 possession of that country, or, in default of that, for 
 permission to undertake an expedition for that purpose 
 whilst he still remained a British pensioner. He based 
 this request on the rumour which had reached him 
 that our treaty with the ruler of Affghanistan had 
 lapsed. It is almost needless to state that this petition 
 was not listened to by the Government of India. The 
 heir of Shah Soojah was, amongst other things, 
 informed that any interference on his part, or on the 
 part of any member of his family, in the internal 
 affairs of Affghanistan, would lead to the cessation of 
 his pension. 
 
 Meanwhile, the cause of Shir Ali having been 
 I. 2 
 
148 LOUD LAWREKCE. 
 
 apparently lost — that prince having fled to Turkistan 
 — and Mahomed Afzul Khan having obtained complete 
 possession of Affghanistan, Candahar and Herat for 
 the moment excepted, the munshi in charge of the 
 British agency at Cabul was authorised to present 
 himself to that prince, and to offer him the usual 
 congratulations. Encouraged probably by this, Ma- 
 homed Afzul wrote to the Governor- General to notify 
 his accession to power, and to express a hope that the 
 British Government would continue to manifest towards 
 himself the friendship it .had formerly shown to his 
 father. The reply of the Governor-General was 
 characterised by the same determination not to embroil 
 his Government in the internal affairs of Aflfghanistan, 
 by which his previous minute had been marked. He 
 expressed hia sorrow for the calamities which had 
 befallen the great house to which the Amir belonged, 
 and the wish of himself and his Government that the 
 country should constitute itself under the strong rule 
 of a representative of that house. But he added that, 
 having already recognised Shir Ali, who still maintained 
 his position in Candahar and Herat, it would be in- 
 consistent with the fame and reputation of the British 
 Government to cancel its recognition of that prince. 
 He concluded by stating that if the course of events 
 should bring the whole of AflTghanistan under the 
 sway of Mahomed Afzul, he would be at once re- 
 cognised as de facto ruler by the British Govern- 
 ment. 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 149 
 
 It would not appear that this letter was altogether 
 satisfactory to the Amir, for we find him during the 
 year, either by himself or through his brother, en- 
 deavouring to press his claims upon the British 
 Government. First he strove to cast all the blame 
 of the recent proceedings upon Shir Ali. When the 
 Governor-General declined to act as arbiter in such 
 a case, he then held before the British agent the 
 certain prospect of a Russian invasion of AflPghanistan. 
 To this the Governor-General replied that Russia 
 and England being friends, Russia would certainly 
 not attack a country allied with the British. In the 
 course of the following winter Shir Ali was defeated 
 and fled to Herat. Thereupon Mahomed Afzul again 
 renewed his application to the Government of India. 
 In complete accordance with his previous policy, Sir 
 John Lawrence, after expressing his sorrow for the 
 continued dissensions in Affghanistan, stated that so 
 long as Shir Ali held Herat he must recognise him 
 as ruler of that district, but that he was equally 
 prepared to recognise Mahomed Afzul as ruler of 
 Cabul and of Candahar. He also proposed to replace 
 the munshi by a Mohammedan gentleman of rank. 
 This was carried out a little later in the year, 
 although, in consequence of the death in the interim 
 of Mahomed Afzul, the agent was accredited to his 
 successor, Mahomed Azim Khan. 
 
 "When, after a brief struggle, Mahomed Azim was 
 overthrown, and Shir Ali, on September 11, 1868, 
 
150 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 made a victorious entry into Cabul, the policy of the 
 British Government continued to he regulated by the 
 same cautious and guarded principles. The Amir 
 himself expressed no dissatisfaction at the recognition 
 accorded to his rivals when they actually had possession 
 of the kingdom, but repeatedly urged his strong desire 
 to renew friendly relations with the British Govern- 
 ment. On one or two occasions, indeed, he complained 
 that we had not assisted him in his contest for empire, 
 and had shown him no sympathy in his misfortunes. 
 But these complaints were of a sentimental and in- 
 formal character. They were invariably accompanied 
 by references to the friendship that had of late years 
 so happily existed between the two Governments, and 
 by emphatic declarations that he had never swerved 
 from that friendship, nor looked to any other Power 
 for support. To prove the truth of these assevera- 
 tions, and to cement still further a good under- 
 standing between the Governments, he gave the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjaub to understand, 
 that it would be to him a matter of great pleasure 
 if the Viceroy would accord him an interview on the 
 frontier. 
 
 To a wish so freely and so spontaneously expressed 
 Sir John Lawrence at once responded, and a letter 
 from the Viceroy to that effect was despatched to 
 Cabul. But before it reached its destination the face 
 of affairs in that capital had altered. It had become 
 clear that Shir Ali would have to fight one more 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 161 
 
 battle before he could consolidate his authority. 
 Once again recruited in Turkistan, the nephews of 
 the Amir were marching on Cabul from the westward, 
 and his presence was indispensable to ensure their 
 repulse. He felt he could not, at such a crisis, make 
 a journey to Peshawur without risking his recently 
 acquired authority. He therefore was compelled, 
 unwillingly, to decline the interview.^ The negoti- 
 ations which preceded it brought about, howeverj a 
 better understanding than had before existed between 
 Shir Ali and the British Government ; whilst the 
 events of the preceding five years satisfied him that 
 under no temptation would that Government avail 
 itself of the internal feuds prevailing in Afighanistan 
 to advance beyond its own frontier, or to do more, 
 whilst those feuds continued, than recognise the de facto 
 ruler of AfFghanistan, whoever he might be. 
 
 This, then, was the policy, the generous and common- 
 sense policy, pursued towards Afighanistan during the 
 five years when Russia was pushing her conquests 
 towards the south-east, and whilst Afighanistan was 
 torn with anarchy. This was the policy pursued, in 
 spite of taunts from the party of action that it was 
 an inglorious policy, in spite of opinions expressed by 
 
 ' This interview, the reader may remember, actually took place a 
 few months later with Lord Lawrence's successor. Lord Mayo, with 
 that tact and courtesy for which he is so remarkable, conducted it to a 
 successful issue ; and, under his auspices, our relations with Affghanistan 
 promise to be placed upon a most friendly and secure basis. 
 
152 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 men acquainted with the India of twenty years ago 
 that it was a feeble policy. Many and various have 
 been the alternatives proposed. Some have advocated 
 the extension of our own frontier, and the occupation 
 of the valleys of Khost and Khnrrum, a position which 
 would virtually command Cabul. Others, again, have 
 insisted that we should supply Shir Ali with European 
 officers, guns, small arms, ammunition, and a large 
 subsidy. Others, that we should accredit a European 
 envoy to the Court of Cabul. Others, that we should 
 establish, at any cost, a dominant position at Cabul, 
 so as, by diplomatic means, if possible, to bring about 
 a quasi-protectorate of the country ; to cover our 
 western frontier by the occupation of Quetta; to 
 recover our lost ground in Persia, by sending our 
 capital into that country, and drilling and officering 
 her armies. In fact, the burden of all the amendments 
 to the course adopted by Sir John Lawrence is that 
 we should interfere, in some shape or other, in the in- 
 ternal affairs of Affghanistan. 
 
 Now, the principle of Sir John Lawrence's policy 
 has been non-interference. Knowing, from the mouth 
 of the late Amir, Dost Mahomed, the shrewdest and 
 most experienced Asiatic ruler of the present century, 
 how bitterly the princes and people of Affghanistan 
 would resent any interference in the internal affairs of 
 their country, that the very suspicion of such inter- 
 ference would reawaken long-buried animosities, and 
 would annihilate all confidence in the disinterested- 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 153 
 
 ness of our motives. Sir John Lawrence has tried the 
 effect of an honest and loyal conduct, announced to 
 the Affghans beforehand, and steadily adhered to 
 under all circumstances, and in spite of every tempt- 
 ation to act differently. The civil war consequent 
 upon the death of Dost Mahomed had been predicted 
 by that Amir himself, and foreseen by everyone 
 familiar with the past history of the country. But no 
 one could foresee (it has only recently been indicated 
 at all certainly) which of the rival candidates would 
 obtain the supremacy. It is easy to see, then, what a 
 store of troubles we should have laid up for ourselves 
 if we had assisted any one of the contending parties 
 during their desperate struggle. If, for instance, we 
 had sent material aid to Mahomed Azim when Shir 
 Ali was a refugee in Turtistan, that aid might indeed 
 have enabled Mahomed Azim to repulse, for the 
 moment, the attack made upon him by his brother, 
 but it would have shown him to the Affghans as a man 
 resting upon the support of infidels, and this alone 
 would have sufficed to ensure his fall ; it would have 
 invested the name of Shir Ali with a halo of popu- 
 larity, and have had the certain effect of turning the 
 eyes and hearts of the people of Affghanistan towards 
 Russia as their deliverer. The same effect would 
 have been produced had we assisted any one of the 
 brothers. It would have cut off the possibility of 
 friendship between the Affghans and ourselves. Any 
 such interference, in fact, would have recalled vividly 
 
154 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 to the minds of the Affghans the days of Shah Soojah. 
 Nor, if we had only deputed a British envoy, would 
 their suspicions have been excited to a less degree. 
 For no maxim has become more familiar to Asiatic 
 minds than this — that the arrival of an envoy is but 
 the prelude to the despatch of an army ; nor would 
 the Affghans have failed to recall the fact that the 
 peaceful mission of Burnes was followed, after a very 
 short interval, by the warlike preparations of Sir John 
 Keane. 
 
 Sir John Lawrence, moreover, had no great faith in 
 the stability of character or capacity for ruling of any 
 of the sons of Dost Mahomed. The eldest, Mahomed 
 Afzul, showed himself, during the brief period of his 
 rule, utterly incapable of controlling the nobles or of 
 conciliating their support. He was devoted to the 
 forbidden pleasures of the wine-cup, and devoid of all 
 real capacity. The second son, Meer Azim, by his 
 oppressive exactions and tyranny, managed, in a few 
 months, to alienate all classes from his rule. The 
 third son, Shir Ali, the reigning Amir, is a man of no 
 steadiness of character ; he is liable to sudden impulse, 
 and is a slave to his caprices. The lethargy, amount- 
 ing almost to insanity, into which he fell after his 
 first victory, lost him for the time the kingdom ; 
 whilst his subsequent harshness towards his ablest 
 followers drove them to conspire against him. It is 
 true he is for the moment victorious, and, the country 
 being exhausted by a five years' contest, the chances 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 165 
 
 are in favour of the permanency of his rule. But we 
 have seen how he, when seemingly crushed, rose again 
 from the dust; and, considering the number of 
 brothers and nephews who still decline to recognise 
 his supremacy, no one dare predict that he may not be 
 hurled from power as rapidly as he gained it. Look- 
 ing to these chances, to his character, to the character 
 of his brothers, the conclusion seems unavoidable that 
 the British Government would have been mad to iden- 
 tify itself with the cause of any one of them. 
 
 What, we may ask now, has been the result of the 
 policy actually pursued — the policy of non-inter- 
 ference ? It has certainly gained for us the confi- 
 dence of the AfFghan people. They cannot help ad- 
 mitting that, at a period when every temptation was 
 offered to us to do what we liked in their country, we 
 have scrupulously adhered to our engagements. They 
 are convinced that we are satisfied with our present 
 frontier ; that our professions of a disinterested regard 
 for their independence and friendship are so far sin- 
 cere, in that we look upon their iadependence as the 
 best guarantee for the safety of our own frontier, and 
 their friendship as the surest mode of hindering and 
 defeating any designs that Russia may harbour against 
 ourselves. 
 
 Whilst our policy of non-interference has thus been 
 appreciated by the Afighans, from the three Amirs 
 who have by turns ruled in Cabul during the last 
 five years to the mountaineer to whom freedom is 
 
156 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 life, it has not less benefited ourselves. Instead of 
 squandering our resources, as we must have squan- 
 dered them had we interfered, they have been 
 zealously hoarded. All the possible routes by which 
 an invading army could enter the Punjaub have been 
 carefully scanned, and the position of our arsenals, 
 magazines, and fortresses has been regulated accord- 
 ingly. Lahore, which, in the course of the current 
 year,' will be in direct railway communication with 
 Calcutta, and — except for a space of 161 miles — with 
 Bombay likewise, will be joined also to the Indus and 
 Peshawur. The campaign of last October in Hazara 
 showed how quickly a force could be concentrated for 
 mountain warfare on the frontier, even without a 
 railway, and the completion of the line from Lahore 
 to the Indus will render this still more easy. We 
 have, besides, on the frontier, troops inured to fight- 
 ing in the passes ; we have mountain-trains and mule- 
 batteries ; we have men acquainted with every inch of 
 the country. These men, these troops, these bat- 
 teries, are ready for action on the ground which they 
 know, and which an enemy must pass over before he 
 can invade Hindustan. Every one of these advan- 
 tages would have been lost by interference in the affairs 
 of Affghanistan. 
 
 Even if we were prepared to sacrifice the friendship 
 of the Affghans, and to extend our frontier by occu- 
 pying the valleys of Khost and Khurrum, we should 
 still lose by the arrangement. We should greatly 
 
 • 1869. 
 
THE CROWNING OF TEE EDIFICE. 157 
 
 extend a frontier already 800 miles in length ; we 
 should plunge into an enormous expenditure for new 
 cantonments and new forts ; our native troops would 
 not appreciate the long absence from their families 
 thus entailed upon them ; and, though we might com- 
 mand Cabul, our troops would be positively cut off 
 from employment on those other invading lines, which, 
 under such circumstances, a Russian enemy would 
 probably take. 
 
 In another manner, likewise, our resources have 
 been greatly husbanded. Sir John Lawrence's policy 
 of non-interference has secured peace and prosperity to 
 the empire. The full extent of the advantages thus 
 reaped by the people of Hindustan, and by the Eng- 
 lish and foreign traders dwelling in the country, will 
 be more fully detailed when we come to discuss his 
 internal administration. It will suffice here to indicate 
 that if we had become embroiled in a frontier war, not 
 only would internal reforms and the construction of 
 remunerative public works have been postponed, but 
 confidence would have fled from the bazaars and the 
 money markets, the Government would have been 
 driven to borrow at high rates of interest, the value 
 of all property would have fallen, and encouragement 
 would have been afforded to all the plotters and dis- 
 contented in the country. 
 
 We may then not unreasonably conclude that a 
 policy which has given the country five years of 
 almost unbroken peace, which has succeeded in 
 
168 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 convincing the most suspicious nation in Asia of the 
 sincerity of our non-aggressive professions, and has 
 thus given cause to that nation — itself the only inde- 
 pendent barrier between us and the Russian outposts 
 — to feel that in case of an attack from the north they 
 can identify their cause and their interests with our 
 own — we may, we say, conclude that such a foreign 
 policy, tested by its results, has been a prudent policy 
 — a j)olicy which, far from lowering the status of 
 England, has immeasurably raised it in the eyes of 
 the people of Central Asia. 
 
 The policy displayed towards AflPghanistan will ap- 
 pear the more sound when we recollect the opposite 
 policy pursued towards the peoples of Central Asia 
 during the same period by Russia. In 1864 the Khan of 
 Khokand sent an envoy to the Governor-General, de- 
 manding aid against the Russians. To entertain such an 
 idea would have been madness, for Khokand is watered 
 by the Jaxartes, and was conterminous with the Russian 
 frontier. The Khan was accordingly informed by 
 letter that his country was too distant to be aided, and 
 he must look to his own resources for the maintenance 
 ■of his power. In 1866 Khokand had virtually ceased 
 to exist as an independent Power. The next country 
 on the route to India is Bokhara. The Amir who 
 ruled it was, in the same year, brought into hostile 
 collision with Russia, and was defeated. He then 
 applied to us for aid, though reluctant to do so in 
 consequence of the base murder, nearly thirty years 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 160 
 
 before, of our envoys Stoddart and ConoUy, a murder 
 yet unavenged. But if we could not aid Khokand, 
 neither, for the same reasons, could we assist Bokhara. 
 We could do neither without embroiling ourselves in 
 the affairs of Central Asia, without engaging in a war 
 with Russia, a war in which all the advantages would 
 be on the side of our enemy. We were compelled, 
 therefore, to refuse the assistance asked for. Since 
 that period Bokhara has virtually succumbed. We 
 could not aid those Powers, on account of their distance 
 from our frontier, by reason of the fact that their pre- 
 servation was not necessary to our welfare, and be- 
 cause, likewise, if we had been foolish enough to waste 
 the resources of Hindustan to save them, we probably 
 should not have succeeded. But it is far otherwise 
 with Affghanistan. That country is on our frontier ; 
 it is our advanced post ; we dare not allow it to fall 
 into the hands of Russia. Who can believe, then, 
 that, with the examples of Khokand and Bokhara 
 before it on the one hand, and the proofs, the positive 
 proofs, of our non-absorbing policy on the other, 
 Affghanistan would hesitate as to the side on which, in 
 the event of a Russian invasion, she would cast the 
 weight of her power ? 
 
 For the benefit of those who may care to note the 
 precise opinions of Sir John Lawrence himself on the 
 subject of our frontier policy, we extract a passage 
 from the speech he made on the occasion of the fare- 
 well dinner given to him by the civil and military 
 
160 LOMB LAWRENCE. 
 
 services in Calcutta, in which he fully expressed his 
 own views on this important question : — 
 
 ' I have been taunted,' he said, ' with maintaining a 
 policy of inaction and supineness, and with indifference 
 to the progress of events in Central Asia. I empha- 
 tically deny the allegation. I have very carefully 
 watched all that has gone on in these distant countries. 
 It is true that I have resolutely set my face against 
 any proposal which, in my judgment, appeared to have 
 a tendency to draw the Government of India into 
 active interference in the affairs of Central Asia. I 
 feel sure that it will prove, unless circumstances change 
 entirely, a cardinal error if we take such a step. Such 
 interference must, sooner or later, involve us in hos- 
 tilities there, either with the people or with their 
 enemies — probably with both. Our true policy is to 
 avoid such complications ; to consolidate our power in 
 India; to give to its people the best government we 
 can ; to organise our administration in every depart- 
 ment on a system which will combine economy with 
 efficiency ; and so to make our government strong and 
 respected in our own vast territories. On the western 
 frontier we should be especially strong and ready, but 
 without interfering in the internal concerns of the 
 adjacent hill tribes, except when it becomes necessary 
 to do so, in order to maintain peace and security. 
 Active interference in the complications of Central 
 Asia would almost certainly lead to war, the end of 
 which no one could foresee, and which would involve 
 
THE CMOWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 161 
 
 India in heavy debt, or necessitate the imposition of 
 additional taxation, to the impoverishment of the 
 country, and to the unpopularity of our rule. On the 
 other hand, by standing fast as long as may be possible 
 on our own border, we can be ready to meet invaders 
 with advantage. Invasion may never come, but if it 
 do come, it should find us well prepared to repel it. 
 If we send agents into remote countries where the 
 government is rude, and the people bigoted and law- 
 less, we subject them to iU-treatment and insult, which 
 we must be prepared to punish by force of arms. I 
 know how strong and how admirable is the spirit of en- 
 terprise and devotion which would prompt hundreds of 
 my countrymen cheerfully to incur such risks ; but we 
 must look to the national consequences that may result, 
 and I for one cannot say that they justify sanction to 
 such undertakings.' 
 
 The great merit we claim for the foreign j)olicy of 
 Sir John Lawrence with respect to AfFghanistan is 
 this : that, without wounding the national pride of 
 that suspicious people, whilst even soothing their sus- 
 ceptibilities, and holding firm throughout to the pledged 
 word of the British Grovernment, he made it abundantly 
 clear to them that, in the event of an invasion from the 
 north, their independence as a nation is bound up -with 
 the cause of the British ; that only by a faithful ad- 
 herence to their alliance with us will they be able to 
 preserve that independence intact. "We are ourselves 
 satisfied, and we think the candid reader who has 
 
 M 
 
162 ZOMD LAWMENCE. 
 
 followed us so far will admit, that under none of the 
 alternati\e plans favouring interference, diplomatic or 
 otherwise, in the affairs of the Affghans, would such a 
 result have been possible. 
 
 We have devoted so long a space to the explanation 
 of the foreign policy of Sir John Lawrence on our 
 north-west frontier, not only because that policy has 
 been, as it were, the key to his internal administration, 
 but because we are confident that the retirement from 
 office of one so firmly pledged to that policy, with 
 vi'hom it was a conviction not to be shaken, will give 
 encouragement to the party of action to renew their 
 efforts. We must now turn for a brief period to the 
 consideration of the working of that policy on other 
 points of the empire. 
 
 When Sir John Lawrence arrived in Calcutta in 
 January 1864, he learned that an envoy had been 
 despatched by his predecessor to the Government of 
 Bhootan, a mountainous country lying to the north 
 of the extreme eastern possessions of British India, in 
 order to negotiate for the cessation of the frequent 
 kidnapping of British subjects carried on by the 
 Bhootanees on the frontier. Three months later, 
 intelligence arrived that the mission had failed, that 
 our envoy had been grossly insulted in open durbar, 
 and only allowed to depart on the condition of signing 
 a treaty whereby a portion of the British territory 
 adjacent to Bhootan should be made over to that 
 country. 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 163 
 
 This was a result always to be expected from the 
 despatch of a mission to a barbarous or semi-civilised 
 nation. The envoy is always liable to be killed, as 
 were Stoddart and Conolly at Bokhara; to be im- 
 prisoned, as were Mr. Rassam and his fellow-captives 
 in Abyssinia ; or to be grievously insulted, as were 
 Mr. Eden and his companions in Bhootan. Any one 
 of these results entails on the Government employing 
 the envoy very serious consequences. They must 
 either put up with humiliation and disgrace, or they 
 must go to war. Those who are so clamorous in 
 favour of the despatch of a European mission to Cabul 
 would do well to remember the contempt that was 
 heaped upon us by the inhabitants of Central Asia 
 for failing to avenge the deaths of Conolly and Stod- 
 dart, and the expense, trouble, and in one case the 
 loss of life, entailed by the expeditions to Bhootan and 
 Abyssinia. 
 
 "VYith respect to Bhootan, Sir John Lawrence ex- 
 hausted every expedient to avoid hostilities, and at the 
 same time to redeem British honour. He suspended 
 the annual payments or rents theretofore made on 
 behalf of certain lands at the foot of the Bhootan 
 range held by the British Government, declaring those 
 lands to be forfeited ; and he gave the Bhootan durbar 
 three months to consider whether they would comply 
 with the terms of which the insulted envoy had been 
 the bearer, faiUng which, further measures would be 
 taken. 
 
 M 2 
 
1(J4 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 The Bhootan Government continuing indifferent to 
 the threats of the Governor-General, and offering no 
 satisfaction or apology, Sir John La^vrence was forced, 
 towards the close of the year, to carry into execution 
 the alternative he had announced. He accordingly 
 sent a force into the country in four columns, to occupy 
 the four points commanding the fertile ranges whence 
 the Bhootanees drew their supplies. The occupation 
 had been successfully accomplished, and the expedition 
 triumphantly concluded, when the commander of one 
 of the columns allowed himself to be driven by a con- 
 temptible force of the enemy from the position he 
 occupied. This mishaf), however, only delayed the 
 day of reckoning. In a few months the recaptured 
 post was stormed at the point of the bayonet, and 
 before the end of the year the Bhootanees, dispirited 
 and humbled, had agreed to all our terms, had restored 
 the treaty they had forced from our envoy, and had 
 given material guarantees for their good behaviour for 
 the future. From these material guarantees, consist- 
 ing of the low lands which supplied them with food, we 
 agreed to return them a certain percentage of the 
 produce in money, to enable them to live. By this 
 arrangement, which was ignorautly carped at at the 
 time, we retained in our hands the power of at any 
 moment bringing them to their senses by stopping 
 their supplies. We should here state that so deter- 
 mined was the Governor-General to leave in the hands 
 of the Bhootanees no trophies of their temporary 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 165 
 
 triumph over our troops, that, against the advice, it is 
 said, of more than one member of his Council, he in- 
 sisted on the restoration of the guns, which had been 
 abandoned by our soldiers in their retreat from De- 
 wangiri. When military red tape seemed to magnify 
 the difficulties attendant upon the carrying out of this 
 course, he wrote with his own hand a letter to the 
 officer commanding our most advanced party — an 
 officer whom he knew well, and upon whose energy 
 and daring he felt he could rely — and authorised him 
 to act. An advance was at once made, and in a few 
 days the guns were restored. 
 
 On no other point of our enormous frontier has any 
 decided political action been called for during the 
 past five years. In British Burma, however, an op- 
 portunity has been offered of carrying out on a smaller 
 scale, and on a less important frontier, the principle of 
 non-intervention by which the policy on our north- 
 west frontier has been characterised. In 1866, two 
 years after Sir John Lawrence had assumed his office, 
 a rebellion broke out in Mandalay, the newly built 
 capital of the independent Burman Empire. This re- 
 bellion was headed by two of the King's sons. They, 
 with their followers, suddenly surrounded the Summer 
 Palace, and put to death the Crown Prince, with two 
 other princes and one of the ministers found therein. 
 The King, for whom the same fate was intended, had 
 made a timely escape on foot, accompanied by some of 
 his queens, to the large palace within the city walls. 
 
166 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 The success of the rebels was, however, but temporary. 
 Their first act was to besiege the city palace, but the 
 arrival of a body of loyal troops compelled them to 
 raise the siege. They then seized the royal steamer, 
 and proceeded in it to within eighty miles of the 
 British frontier, hoping to raise fresh troops. Being 
 attacked en route by two Burmese steamers which had 
 just arrived from Rangoon, they continued their course 
 into the British territory, and surrendered to the 
 British Chief Commissioner, Sir Arthur Phayre. It 
 is a curious illustration of the anarchy which underlies 
 all Eastern despotism, that the son of the murdered 
 Crown Prince, on his father's death, took up arms at 
 once, not against the murderers, but against the King, 
 hoping, doubtless, to reap some profit from the general 
 confusion. He was, however, after some time, de- 
 feated, captured, and finally, on the failure of an 
 attempt to release him, executed in 1867. Our agent 
 at the Court of Ava, Captain Sladen, succeeded in 
 rescuing from the same fate others who had been un- 
 plicated in the revolt. The King of Burma had been, 
 apparently, so far sensible of the loyalty of the con- 
 duct of the British Government during the insurrection 
 that, in November 1867, he acceded to a proposition, 
 repeatedly and vainly urged up)on him by Sir A. 
 Phayre, and again pressed upon him by that able 
 officer's successor, Colonel Fytche, to reduce all the 
 frontier duties to a uniform rate of five per cent., and 
 to abolish all royal monopolies, except those on earth- 
 x)i), timber, and precious stones. He at the same time 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 167 
 
 gave his sanction to the deputation of Captain Sladen 
 and other officers to the Chinese frontier, to endeavour 
 to reopen the trade between China and Burma, esti- 
 mated some years ago at half a million sterling, but 
 now quite extinct. In both these instances the conduct 
 of the King has been questionable. He has not ad- 
 hered to the commercial treaty, almost all the old mo- 
 nopolies having been retained. The expedition under 
 Captain Sladen left, indeed, Mandalay for Bhamo 
 in a royal steamer on January 13, 1868. It reached 
 Bhamo in due course, and after a vexatious delay of a 
 month proceeded to Pousee, within eight miles of the 
 frontier Shan town of Mauwye. Here all sorts of 
 obstacles were placed in the way of its further pro- 
 gress. These, however, having been overcome, the 
 party advanced through the Shan states to Momein, 
 their journey through these states resembling an 
 ovation. At Momeiu they remained a month and a 
 half. We might pause, had we time, to dwell for a 
 brief space on the tempting description of this town 
 and the surrounding country, given by one of the non- 
 official members of the expedition. But we must con- 
 fine ourselves to state, that the prospects of the renewal 
 of the trade are described as being most encouraging, 
 provided only that the opposition of the Burmese 
 authorities can be overcome. The expedition has just ' 
 returned to Rangoon,' rich at least in experience, and 
 sanguine as to the future. 
 
 On the extreme west of our possessions in India, in 
 
 > 1868-9. 
 
168 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 the Persian Gulf, some complications have indeed 
 ensued, but they have one and all been brought to a 
 satisfactory termination, thanks to the loyal policy of 
 our Government. The threatened raid by the Waha- 
 bee Amir on our ally the Imaum of Muscat, has 
 yielded to the attitude taken up by the British Resi- 
 dent, Colonel Felly ; and though it may be said that 
 Muscat has passed through two revolutions during that 
 period, one of its sovereigns having been murdered and 
 the other dethroned, our relations with it were sus- 
 pended only for the period when the complicity of one 
 of its temporary sovereigns in the murder of his 
 predecessor and father was generally believed. Our 
 alliance with that state has for its object the protection 
 of commerce and the suppression of piracy and the slave 
 trade in the Gulf. These objects have been steadily 
 adhered to. Indeed, so lately as 1867, some important 
 chiefs who had engaged in a predatory attack on a 
 neighbouring province were punished by heavy fines, 
 and the forced surrender of all their armed boats. It 
 may be truly asserted that never was British supre- 
 macy in the Persian Gulf more recognised than at the 
 present moment. The operations against the slave 
 trade have been distinguished by equal activity, the 
 Sultan of Zanzibar having, under the auspices of the 
 British Government, taken the most stringent measures 
 for its suppression. 
 
 We have described at some length the more salient 
 points of the foreign policy of the past five years ; 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 169 
 
 because, we repeat, the foreign policy of Sir John Law- 
 rence has been the key to his internal administration. 
 By this we mean that the reforms he accomplished 
 in the administration of the country would have been 
 impossible had he followed any of the aggressive lines 
 of policy which were thrust upon him from so many 
 and such influential quarters. 
 
 Prominent amongst those administrative reforms may 
 be mentioned the settlement of the land tenure 
 question in the important provinces of Oudh and the 
 Punjaub. Sir John himself evidently regarded this 
 settlement as the crowning measure of his viceregal 
 career. At the public dinner given to him prior to his 
 departure from Calcutta he thus alluded to the subject : 
 ' It is,' he said, ' a source of much satisfaction to me to 
 feel that the important questions connected with the 
 tenure of land in Oudh and the Punjaub have been 
 brought to a settlement.' That settlement was a 
 source of satisfaction to Sir John because it was a 
 means of blessing to hundreds of thousands of our 
 native fellow-subjects. We do not propose to enter at 
 any length upon a subject which has been the cause of 
 acrimonious controversy. The object we have in 
 view will be better attained by a recital of the bare 
 facts, leaving it to the unprejudiced reader to draw his 
 own conclusions therefrom. With regard to Oudh 
 those facts may thus be briefly stated: — 
 
 When, in 1858, the capture of the city of Lucknow 
 had placed the province of Oudh at the feet of Lord 
 
170 LORD LAWMENCE. 
 
 Canning, that nobleman, to punish the large landowners 
 for their rebellion, authoritatively declared that they 
 had forfeited their title to the soil. In order, how- 
 ever, to establish in the province a landed aristocracy 
 holding directly from the British Crown, Lord Canning 
 subsequently restored the confiscated estates, for the 
 most part, to the ancient holders, called talukdars, but 
 upon the entirely new tenure of direct and complete 
 dependence on the British Crown. In this way the 
 act of confiscation, intended originally as a punishment, 
 became the means of attaching the talukdars of Oudh 
 to the British Government. 
 
 When, towards the close of 1858, the greater part 
 of the talukdars hnd tendered their submission to the 
 British Government, and received back their estates. 
 Lord Canning: set himself to devise such a settlement 
 as would secure the property to the talukdars, and at 
 the same time preserve the village occupants from 
 extortion. In the first instance, what is called a 
 summary settlement was made, to be in force for three 
 years, by which time, it was hoped, the regular settle- 
 ment might be effected. All the subordinate riehts in 
 the land were reserved to be dealt with by the regular 
 settlement. 
 
 It so happened, however, that the Chief Com- 
 missioner of Oudh for the time being, anxious to calm 
 the minds of the talukdars, fearful lest the reservation 
 of any rights whatever might breed discontent and 
 mistrust, believing too that the summary settlement 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 171 
 
 had been conducted with the greatest possible care 
 and in accordance with the principles laid down by- 
 Lord Canning, on the completion of that settlement in 
 six months, declared it to be final ; he declared, that is 
 to say, that no one should be considered to have any- 
 right in the soil of Oudh whose title had not been 
 recognised under the summary settlement. It could 
 not but happen, and it did actually happen, that a 
 settlement intended only to be temporary, carried out 
 in the brief period of six months, and suddenly on its 
 completion declared to be permanent, should perpetrate 
 some injustice. But it was declared to be law, and 
 the reason for not reopening it for a rehearing of un- 
 doubted claims was thus summarily stated by the Chief 
 Commissioner : ' The Chief Commissioner cannot see 
 the use of giving the village proprietors hopes of a re- 
 hearing at next settlement, if, after having then ascer- 
 tained, what everyone knows already, that they are 
 the rightful proprietors of the soil, we are to tell them 
 that our policy will not permit us to recognise their 
 claims.' The question lingered, unsettled, during the 
 remainder of Lord Canning's incumbency of office, and 
 Lord Elgin died before any formal decision had been 
 arrived at. The matter was, in fact, still pending 
 when Sir John Lawrence arrived in Calcutta as 
 Viceroy. 
 
 Sir John early directed his attention to the subject. 
 He found that while Lord Canning had conferred 
 large rights on the talukdars, he had expressly stipu- 
 
172 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 lated that all existing rights should be respected. It 
 appeared clear to him that this stipulation would fail 
 to be carried out if those whom he regcarded as here- 
 ditary tenants were, by a stroke of the pen, deprived of 
 their hereditary rights, and placed in the position of 
 tenants-at-will. It appeared to him, in fact, that it 
 would be a monstrous injustice. Almost the first 
 question he put to the Chief Commissioner had for its 
 object to ascertain what measures had been adopted for 
 the preservation of the rights of the hereditary tenants. 
 To this question the Chief Commissioner replied, in 
 the first instance, Ijy stating that the tenants in ques- 
 tion had only a sort of modified right, which the taluk- 
 dars would not object to maintain ; but, about three 
 weeks later, he wrote to say that his former letter had 
 been founded on a mistake, for he had ascertained that 
 the status of hereditary tenant was unknown in the 
 province of Oudh — that, in fact, no such rights existed. 
 Upon this reply, Sir John Lawrence, not satisfied that 
 any sufficiently searching enquiry had been made on 
 the subject, and convinced that the previous action of 
 the Oudh administration had prevented any claimants 
 from coming forward, directed that provision should be 
 made for the ' imjiartial heaiing of all such claims.' 
 
 Such was the beginning of what is known as the 
 Oudh controversy. It originated, we have seen, in a 
 determination on the part of Sir John Lawrence to do 
 justice to all classes, to slur over the claims of none. 
 Many hard things were said of him at the time ; but 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 173 
 
 if we reflect that all he ordered was ' enquiry ' — enquiry 
 as to the validity of certain rights — we shall be unable 
 to resist the conclusion that he was most unjustly 
 abused. For either the enquiry was necessary, or it 
 was unnecessary. If it was necessary, that is at once 
 a justification for having entered upon it ; if unneces- 
 sary, then the views of those who opposed him would 
 receive by its failure the stamp of indisputable correct- 
 ness. One thing at least is clear, that it would have 
 been highly unjust to adjudicate regarding the claims 
 of thousands without full and sufficient enquiry. 
 
 We do not propose to follow, step by step, the 
 course of the enquiry ; it will suffice if we state the 
 result. 
 
 It was ascertained beyond a doubt that whilst, under 
 the old regime, the power of the landlord was absolute 
 — the tenant possessing no power of appeal against 
 enhancement of rent — yet that, practically, fixity of 
 tenure very generally ruled with respect to a certain 
 class of tenants. These were the descendants of ex- 
 proprietors, the clansmen of the talukdars. Brahmins, 
 and Rajpoots, and long-established and substantial 
 cultivators. But although these classes enjoyed for 
 the most part hereditary privileges, it was made abun- 
 dantly clear that these privileges were based in no way 
 upon the law of the land, but were due to the favour 
 of the landlord and to the custom of the country. At 
 the same time, it had to be taken into consideration 
 that, under its native sovereigns, the province of Oudh 
 
174 LOUD LAWRENCE. 
 
 was subject to continual anarchy, and it appeared 
 legitimate to conclude that privileges long enjoyed, 
 though only by the favour of the landlord, in an almost 
 lawless society, ought now, when an order-enforcing 
 rule was inaugurated, to be secured by law to those 
 who had enjoyed them. This, at least, was the view 
 taken by Sir John Lawrence, and he determined that, 
 so far as lay in his power, justice should be done to all 
 classes. 
 
 It was not, however, tUl the middle of 1867, and 
 after much recrimination on the part of the advocates 
 of the taliikdars, that the matter was finally settled. 
 In the beginning of 1866 a new Chief Commissioner 
 had been appointed to the province, and by the exer- 
 tions of that gentleman a settlement was arrived at on 
 the following terms : 1st, That no new rights were to 
 be created by the Government of India ; 2nd, That 
 the privileges heretofore allowed as an indulgence to 
 all cultivators who had once been proprietors of lands 
 should be confirmed and placed on a legal footing. It 
 was, moreover, declared that all cultivators should be 
 entitled to consideration on account of improvements 
 made by them, if any attempt were made by the land- 
 lord to oust them or raise their rents. 
 
 This, then, was the result which Sir John Lawrence 
 obtained for the cultivators of Oudh, by his energy, 
 persistence, and strong sense of justice, in spite of the 
 opposition of the servants of his own Government, and, 
 for a long time, of the taliikdars themselves. It was 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 175 
 
 a result which ensured the goodwill of the poorer 
 classes and the tranquillity of the province, which pre- 
 served to men who had once held, and, under the 
 anarchical native government of Oudh, been dispos- 
 sessed of, large properties, the smaller privilege of still 
 renting a portion of those ,lands at a fixed rate, not 
 liable to enhancement, and made them free in their own 
 persons from all fear of ejectment; which promoted 
 the best interests of the land, by securing to all culti- 
 vators, even to the tenants-at-will, compensation for 
 the improvements they might effect in the land held by 
 them from the landlord. This last security constitutes 
 undoubtedly the groundwork of a system advantageous 
 alike to landlord and tenant, to the land and to the 
 Government, and which might be advantageously 
 extended over the country. It seems certain that but 
 for his energetic action and determined perseverance 
 one-fifth of the cultivators of Oudh, the ex-proprietors, 
 would have been reduced to the status of tenant-at-will, 
 and no encouragement whatever would have been held 
 out to cultivators of any class, liable as they were to 
 enhancement of rent or ejectment, to spend any por- 
 tion of their hard-earned gains in the improvement of 
 their holdings. The policy of Sir John Lawrence, 
 whilst confirming to the talukdars the rights guaran- 
 teed to them by Lord Canning, has given new life and 
 fresh energy to the cultivators of Oudh, and has, at 
 the same time, renewed and refreshed their soil. 
 
 In the Punjaub, a similar policy, though starting 
 
176 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 frorn an opposite point, has been pursued. It had 
 happened that when the first regular settlement was 
 made in the Puujaub, as soon as possible after the 
 annexation of that province, the rights of the here- 
 ditary tenants had been recognised with the full con- 
 sent of the landlords. But, meanwhile, under the 
 fostering rule of the British, the value of land in- 
 creased, and by degrees the old landlords came forward 
 tft claim the right to the absolute disposal of their own 
 lands. The question culminated in 1868. The claims 
 of the landlords were supported by many of the 
 officials of the Punjaub, and there can be little doubt 
 that if they had been brought forward twenty years 
 earlier, they would in many cases have been sub- 
 stantiated. But it appeared to Sir John Lawrence 
 and to those who thought -with him, that it would be 
 highly unjust to disturb a settlement which had lasted 
 for twenty years, which had guaranteed certain rights 
 to the occupier, and on the faith of which the occupier 
 had made those improvements in the land which had 
 so greatly augmented its value. The landlord him- 
 self had spent no money on the land. Under the 
 Sikh rule, and at the time of annexation, he regarded 
 the question of occupancy as a question of minor im- 
 portance. It was only after we had guaranteed to the 
 cultivator, with the landlord's consent, a right of 
 permanent occupancy under certain conditions, and 
 after the fulfilment of those conditions, that the land- 
 lord came forward and preferred claims to the absolute 
 
THE CMOlVXiyG OF THE EDIFICE. 177 
 
 disposal of the laud. The landlord, in fact, previously- 
 careless and indifferent, came forward to claim the 
 right of reaping the fullest advantage from the labour 
 of his tenants, and from the money spent by them on 
 the land. Because Sir John Lawrence resisted this 
 monstrous demand- — because he showed himself de- 
 termined to continue to the cultivators the rights 
 guaranteed to them — he was charged with a design to 
 sweep the landlords from the face of the earth. It is 
 clear, we think, from the foregoing brief narrative, 
 that such a charge could only have been preferred 
 from a non-appreciation of the point at issue. Sir 
 John made no attack upon the landlords ; he simply 
 defended the cultivators, the thews and sinews of the 
 country, from being reduced to the position of serfs ; 
 he protested against their being handed over en masse to 
 the tender mercies of the landlords, after having- for 
 twenty years enjoyed a certain limited right in the 
 soil. According to his position, the status of the 
 landowners was not worse than at the time of the 
 annexation, whilst that of the cultivators has been 
 greatly improved. For our parts, we cannot too 
 much admire the firmness and sense of justice which 
 successfully resisted the very serious and retrograde 
 attempt to reintroduce the worst evils of the feudal 
 system into our frontier province. That Sir John 
 had no hostility to landlords as landlords is proved by 
 the fact that almost the last act of his Government 
 was to place in the hands of the talukdars of Oudh the 
 
 N 
 
178 LOUD LAWRENCE. 
 
 easy means of eiFectiug improvements in their property, 
 and to restrain, in the interest of the whole body, the 
 power unadvisedly granted to the head of a family, of 
 alienating his whole property for the benefit of un- 
 worthy favourites. 
 
 His action with respect to the land was not confined 
 to Oudh and the Punjaub. Before he left, a Bill was 
 Avith his sanction introduced into the Council to grant 
 to the cultivators in the Xorth-West the power of 
 effecting improvements in their holdings, and to insure 
 them compensation for such improvements in the 
 event of their being ejected. In the present state of 
 the law, no tenant, even in times of drought and 
 distress, has the power even to sink a well without 
 obtaining first the express permission of his landlord. 
 
 Amongst other principal measures by which the 
 administration of Sir John Lawrence has been strongly 
 marked, we may mention irrigation works, military and 
 other works, railways, telegraphs, the cultivation of 
 cotton, sanitation, education, and the elevation of the 
 poor. To these, as well as to his financial policy, we 
 shall now briefly refer. 
 
 Perhaps in no country in the world is there a greater 
 absolute necessity for irrigation works than in India. 
 There are, all over the country, vast tracts of soil 
 )iatura]ly arid, intersected by no river, and dependent 
 for their power to produce a crop upon the regular 
 downfall of the periodical rains. In the event of a 
 deficient fall of rain, or of its early cessation, the 
 
THE CMOWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 179 
 
 inhabitants of these districts are reduced to distress, 
 often even to famine. Visitations of this nature, when 
 they have come, have led to the most terrible ca- 
 lamities. The loss of revenue to the state thereby 
 caused, great as it has sometimes been, sinks into utter 
 insignificance when contrasted with the enormous 
 amount of mortality, of suffering, and of misery which 
 has resulted from them. Of late years, the impos- 
 sibility of entirely warding off such results, after the 
 rainfall has proved deficient, has become apparent, 
 and Government has been forced to seek for other 
 means of providing beforehand against the chances of 
 such deficiency. Such means obviously suggested 
 themselves in irrig-ation. Before the time of Sir John 
 Lawrence, the necessity for introducing a scheme of 
 this nature throughout the country had never, ap- 
 parently, been fully appreciated by the Government 
 of India. It is true that under the rule of Lord 
 Dalhousie the Ganges canal had been completed and 
 brought into operation. The Ganges canal, however, 
 even if its construction had been as correct as in some 
 respects it was faulty, would have benefited only one 
 narrow strip of the country, and that not the part of it 
 in which artificial irrigation was most required. In 
 point of fact, however, owing to the nature of its con- 
 struction, the benefits derivable from the Ganges 
 canal are as yet only to be attained in a small pro- 
 portion. The Jumna canal, the work of the Moguls, 
 is very useful to the districts through which it passes , 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LOUD LAWliUAX'K 
 
 but to those alone. In the Punjaub, the Baree canal, 
 the work of iSir John Lawrence when Chief Com- 
 missioner of the province, has been fruitful of ad^ 
 vantage to the cultivating classes. But these were 
 isolated cases. Before the time of the viceroyalty of 
 Sir John Lawrence no organised system of irrigation 
 for the whole country had been decided upon. 
 
 It is only fair to those who preceded Sir John to 
 state that in their time the subject had been thoroughly 
 discussed, and the ground cleared for action. It hap- 
 pened, moreover, that, about the time of his assuming 
 power, the influential parties who had long and noisily 
 advocated the formation of private companies to under- 
 take great works of irrigation, suddenly collapsed. 
 The Orissa Irrigation Company, the commencement 
 of whose operations had been heralded as the founda- 
 tion of a new era, an era which should welcome the 
 introduction of British capital into the country, sud- 
 denly confessed that the small amount of British 
 capital with which they started had been exhausted, 
 and that, unless the Government would assist them 
 with funds, they must stop their works. No true 
 friend of the people of India ever regarded this col- 
 lapse as a subject for real regret. It is obvious that so 
 important a matter as the supply of water to millions 
 should not be left to the mercies of a joint-stock 
 company hungry for dividends. No scheme would 
 more surely lower the people to the position of bond- 
 holders to men who could give or refuse the first 
 
THE CJROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 181 
 
 necessity of life. The collapse of the supporters of 
 so-called British enterprise was therefore in more ways 
 than one an advantage. It cleared the ground for the 
 action of Government, and it helped that Government 
 to the resolution to retain a question so important 
 and so vital in its own hands alone. 
 
 The action of Sir John Lawrence in the matter 
 was likewise further stimulated, by the terrible famine 
 which occurred in Orissa in the year 1865-6. To his 
 personal responsibility for .the terrible results of that 
 famine we shall refer further on. It must suffice to 
 state here that if there ever was a spectacle which 
 would have induced a Government to seek out, as 
 promptly as possible, some means of providing for a 
 deficiency of the rainfall, it was the spectacle of nearly 
 three-quarters of a million of human beings dying from 
 starvation, dying before the very eyes of the Govern- 
 ment, without it feing possible for that Government 
 to save them from a fate so terrible. 
 
 But, whatever may have been the intentions of his 
 predecessors, whatever may have been the stimulating 
 action by which he was influenced, the credit of de- 
 vising, partially carrying out, and leaving for his 
 successor to finish, a grand scheme for generally irri- 
 gating the country, and thus rendering future famines 
 impossible, belongs entirely to Sir John Lawrence. 
 After a long correspondence with the Home Government 
 he at length succeeded in forcing his views upon the 
 Secretary of State, and he did not rest till he^ ob- 
 
182 LORD LAWHEKCE. 
 
 tained the sanction of that high official, first, to extend 
 irrigation to every part of India liable to seasons 
 of drought ; secondly, to carry out the necessary Avorks 
 by the direct agency of Government ; and, thirdly, to 
 provide, by loans, all sums required to meet the outlay 
 in excess of the amount available from the surplus 
 revenues. 
 
 To caiTy out his scheme a separate branch of the 
 Public Works Department has been organised, large 
 additions have been made to the establishment of 
 engineers, and the most careful discrimination has 
 been exercised as to the part of the country to which 
 the operations should extend. 
 
 It would be tedious to follow, step by step, the 
 course pursued by the new department in all its 
 branches. At the end of three years we find the 
 arrangements completed for cutting a new canal to 
 water the arid country between Agra and Delhi ; 
 liohilkhund surveyed for irrigation purposes, repairs 
 and improvements being carried out in the Ganges 
 and Western Jumna canals without any interference 
 with their actual power of supply ; a new canal de- 
 signed for the tracts of country west of the Jumna 
 canal ; a remodelment of the Baree Doab canal pro- 
 jected ; a project considered for utilising the waters of 
 the Beas, the Chenab, and the Indus; arrangements 
 completed for intersecting the province of Oudh by 
 canals, to communicate on the one side with eastern 
 Rohilkhund, on the other with the North-Western 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 183 
 
 Provinces, and uniting -with the canals of Tirhoot. 
 Arrangements have likewise been considered for esta- 
 blishing lines of navigable canals, communicating 
 with one another, on the whole series of works pro- 
 jected in Oudh, the North-West Provinces, and the 
 Punjaub. In this manner continuous canal com- 
 munication will eventually be established along a 
 length of more than eight hundred miles. 
 
 Nor have the other parts of India been omitted. 
 Arrangements are greatly advanced for the purchase 
 from the Irrigation Company of the works commenced 
 in Orissa, and projected on the river Soane ; several 
 great works have been carried out in Bombay ; an 
 extension of the canals derived from the Godavery, 
 Kistnah, and Pennair rivers, in the Madras Pre- 
 sidency, has been projected ; works have been restored 
 in Mysore, and commenced in the Central Provinces ; 
 whilst in the well-watered provinces of Bengal and 
 British Burma, arrangements have been made for the 
 erection of embankments to secure the country from 
 the river floods. All over our Indian possessions, in 
 fact, the foundations have been laid of a system of 
 which it has been truly said that it will be hereafter 
 regarded as among those which have been most fruitful 
 of good to this great country, and with respect to 
 which it will be remembered that it was only possible 
 to lay those foundations because the resources of the 
 country were not squandered and wasted in useless 
 wars, but were wisely husbanded to be spent for the 
 
184 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 permanent benefit of the people whom Providence has 
 placed under British rule. 
 
 If we turn now to military woi'ks, we shall see the 
 same vigour and energy, the same determination to 
 produce useful rather than showy results, by which 
 the irriffation scheme is characterised. At seven of 
 the principal stations in India new barracks for the 
 troops of two and three storeys have been erected ; at 
 almost every other station they have been planned or 
 are in progress. These barracks have been designed 
 on one uniform plan, the object being to procure for 
 the men the maximum amount of light, air, comfort, 
 and, consistently with the usages of military life and 
 the requirements of military discipline, of space like- 
 ■\vise. They do not consist merely of sleeping-rooms ; 
 the ground-floors — in India the coolest floors, and 
 always salubrious in the daytime- — being designed 
 as recreation-rooms, workshops, prayer-rooms, &c. 
 The recreation-rooms are provided with newspapers, 
 books, billiard and bagatelle tables, and with innocent 
 diversions of every kind. Nothing, we are confident, 
 has tended so much to the improved health of the 
 soldier as the erection of these fine barracks supplied 
 with the rooms we have described. The soldier has 
 work, reading, recreation, everything a reasonable man 
 can require, without, unless he be on duty, exposing 
 himself to the rays of the tropical sun. Outdoor 
 amusements are equally available whenever they can 
 be enjoyed with impunity. Arrangements have been 
 
THE CRQWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 185 
 
 made likewise for lighting up all these barracks with 
 gas — in itself a most appreciable boon for men obliged 
 to turn in at an early hour. In some barracks this 
 reform has already been carried out. 
 
 Nothing proved more fatal to the lives of our 
 women and children during the mutiny than the want 
 of some fortified place to which they could repair on 
 the first signal of alarm. Few who recall to mind the 
 terrible catastrophe of Cawnpore will fail to imagine 
 how different would have been the fate of our country- 
 women had a stronger place been open to receive them 
 than the two thatched barracks, in the midst of an 
 open plain, to which they actually repaired. There 
 are none, then, we may safely affirm, who will not 
 rejoice to learn that, under the auspices of Sir John 
 Lawrence, the recurrence of such a catastrophe has 
 been rendered impossible. At almost all the stations 
 occupied by British troops, especially at those in the 
 vicinity of railway stations, small fortified posts have 
 been planned, to which the sick, the women, and the 
 children can betake themselves during an emergency. 
 At larger stations, containing magazines or important 
 stores, these fortified posts assume to a greater extent 
 the character of a regular fortification. 
 
 Other important buildings, such as new powder 
 manufactories, adapted to the improvements efifected in 
 that article, bullet manufactories, tanneries, and even 
 in some instances quarters for officers, have been 
 built or planned. An arrangement, originally intro- 
 
186 LORD LAW HENCE. 
 
 duced by Lord Strathnairn, for employing European 
 soldiers on road-making in the Himalayas, Las likewise 
 been carried out, to the great benefit of the troops, 
 whose remarkable health and good conduct whilst so 
 employed are unique in the history of India. 
 
 Amongst the civil works to which great prominence 
 has been attached during the past five years we may 
 especially mention the roads in Eajpootana and Central 
 India, the improvements eifected in the prisons, in the 
 navigation of the Hooghly, and in the Calcutta port ; 
 the encouragement given to the plan for bridging the 
 Hooghly, the sanction to the project for tunneling the 
 Indus at Attock, and the erection of lighthouses on 
 the eastern part of the Bay of Bengal. The question 
 of river embankments, already referred to, is included 
 under this head. And it deserves to be remarked that 
 all the works that have been accomf)lished, including 
 the non-productive military works, have been pushed 
 on when there was every temptation to a Governor- 
 General to economise, when our finances were at a low 
 ebb, and when even the Secretary of State endeavoured 
 to persuade the Government to slacken their energies 
 in this particular. But Sir John knew too well the 
 great need of India in this respect to listen to delay. 
 Everything has therefore been pushed on with the ut- 
 most haste consistent with efficiency of workmanship. 
 
 We turn now to the railways. In this department, 
 the main credit that can accrue to any Viceroy must 
 be due to the vigour and energy with which the works 
 
THE CROWXIKG OF THE EDIFICE. 187 
 
 iii progress may be advanced, and the sagacity he may 
 evince in determining the direction which new lines 
 ought to talie. The railways in India are provided 
 lor by a capital subscribed by the public, but on which 
 interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum is 
 guaranteed by the Government. This system had 
 been found in some respects inconvenient, and under 
 the rule of Lord Canning an attempt had been made 
 to substitute for it a system of subsidies. But the 
 difficulties of raising money in this way were found so 
 great that in 1866 a return was made to the guarantee 
 system, and this will doubtless remain undisturbed 
 for the future. Under the operation of this system, it 
 will devolve upon the Government to provide the 
 interest of the money laid out on all the lines for 
 several years to come. Only when the profits of any 
 line exceed five per cent, will any attempt be made by 
 that line to reimburse the Government for the sums 
 thus advanced. The great lines in India are, however, 
 so remunerative that the reimbursement in full will be 
 merely a miestion of time. The system, too, has this 
 advantage, in that it enables Government to exercise 
 a certain control over the several companies, the want 
 of which, in a country like India, might have led to 
 serious complications. It must be admitted, however, 
 that this control is not so complete as might be desired. 
 The principal events connected with tlie railway 
 administration of Sir John Lawrence may thus be 
 stated: — In 1865, 116 miles of the Great Indian 
 
188 LORD LAWRENCi:. 
 
 Peninsula line, connecting Bombay with Calcutta, 
 were opened. There were, in 1869, only 161 miles of 
 roadway between the metropolis of India and its chief 
 port on the western coast, and in the following year 
 the whole line was made available for railway-traffic ; 
 in 1865, the line connecting Lahore with Mooltan, 
 208 miles in length, was opened. to the public; in 
 August 1867 the line, 223 miles in length, con- 
 necting Allahabad with Jubbulpore ; in 1867, 54 
 miles, and in 1868, 120 miles, of the Delhi railway, 
 were opened, thus connecting by rail Calcutta and 
 Umballa, a distance of nearly 1,200 miles. In the 
 course of 1870 this line was extended to Lahore 
 and Mooltan, thus uniting Calcutta to the most im- 
 portant fortress on our north-western frontier. In 
 1867 Cawnpore was joined by rail to Lucknow, 
 whilst before Sir John left India a chord line of the 
 East Indian railway, joining the main line on the 
 northern side of the Eajmahal Hills, was partially 
 opened. The Eastern Bengal railway, leading to- 
 wards the sanitarium of Darjeeling, and to the rich 
 tea-countries of Assam and Cachar, has likewise been 
 authorised to extend its line to a distance of forty-fi^ e 
 miles. The railway connecting Calcutta with the 
 new port of Canning has been taken over by the 
 Government. 
 
 To the many projects discussed we have not space 
 to refer. Under the instructions of the Secretary of 
 State, received in 1867, a line connecting Benares 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 189 
 
 with Oudh and Rohilkhund was sanctioned, and the 
 operations on it have already commenced. On the 
 recommendation of the Government of India, this line 
 has been likewise extended to AUygurh, a station 
 on the East Indian Railway. Sanction has also been 
 accorded to the construction of a line connectins 
 Calcutta and Lahore with Peshawur. The advisa- 
 bility of this line in preference to others which were 
 proposed was questioned at the time. Sir John him- 
 self was strongly in favour of completing, in the first 
 instance, the connection between Mooltan and the 
 great seaport of Kurachee, by constructing a railway 
 from the former place to Kotri on the Indus, right 
 through the province of Sinde. He argued that it 
 was far more necessary to open out a land-locked 
 province like the Punjaub to the sea than to construct 
 a railway which could never pay — which would only 
 be useful in the event of Russian aggression. He did 
 not believe in the probability of Russian aggression, at 
 least for many years to come, and he thought it would 
 be wiser, in the first instance, to attempt to develope the 
 resources of the noble province he had so long ruled 
 over, and the extent of which no one knew so well as 
 himself. But those who see in every action of Russia 
 a settled design to invade Hindustan carried the day, 
 and the Secretary of State gave the preference to the 
 frontier line, stipulating that this line was to be the 
 property of the Government. The operations upon it 
 have already begun. 
 
100 LORD LAWREXCE. 
 
 We have made no allusions to the series of noble 
 bridges spanning rivers beside which, in breadth, in 
 depth, and in volume of water, the finest rivers of 
 Europe assume the proportions of streams. We well 
 recollect how it was confidently asserted, before 
 railways were introduced into India, that it would 
 be impossible to erect bridges over the Ganges, the 
 Jumna, and the Soane, especially over the latter, 
 with its extreme breadth in the rainy season, and its 
 constantly shifting sands. There are now three 
 magnificent bridges over the Jumna, and one over the 
 Soane. There has been no reason yet for spannino- 
 the Ganges ; but an attempt will shortly be made to 
 bridge her principal arm, the Hooghly, near Calcutta, 
 and there can be no doubt of its success. In every 
 part of India the art of the engineer has asserted its 
 triumph over the obstacles of nature. 
 
 This, of course, would have happened under any 
 Governor-General, and we only allude to it by the 
 way. For Sir John Lawrence, however, and un- 
 dividedly for him, we claim the merit of carrying out 
 a great and most necessary reform in the system of 
 railway travelling, affecting the health, the comfort, 
 and convenience of the poorer millions of our native 
 fellow-subjects. Prior to his arrival in India, the 
 harsh treatment and want of consideration for the 
 third-class passengers had been most marked. The}- 
 were huddled into their carriages as cattle are huddh d 
 into their pens, with this diiference only, that in the 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 191 
 
 case of the natives, no care was taken to ascertain 
 -whether the carriages could hold all the number thrust 
 into them. The Government of India had no power 
 actively to interfere in such a matter, such subsidiary 
 arrangements being left by law in the hands of the 
 railway company. The urgent remonstrances of Sir 
 John Lawrence had, however, very great weight ; and 
 by the introduction of a new class of carriage called 
 the intermediate class, inferior to the second and 
 superior to the third, which cannot be overcrowded, 
 the comfort of natives travelling by rail has been 
 greatly increased. 
 
 To sum up. During Sir John's five years' incum- 
 bency of office 1,556 miles of railway have been opened, 
 and about thirty millions of capital have been spent ; 
 the number of passengers has increased from a little 
 over nine millions per annum to nearly fourteen 
 millions. In 1863 the gross earnings came to 
 ],720,OOOZ., the net receipts to 780,000/.; in 1868 
 they had swollen respectively to 4,487,112/. and 
 2,337,300/., whilst the net annual payments had been 
 reduced in the same period from 1,400,000/. to 
 800,000/. In fact, everything connected with the 
 railways speaks of efficiency and progress. 
 
 Turn we now very briefly to the improvements 
 effected in forest management. These may be said 
 to date from the month of March 1864, when rules 
 were for the first time laid down for the management 
 of all forest business under the Government of India. 
 
192 LOUD LAWRENCE. 
 
 The necessity for forming a separate department in 
 connection with forest management had been proved 
 by the enormous consumption of wood required by the 
 railway in the upper provinces for fuel, and by the 
 very sensible diminution of the supply in consequence. 
 The most energetic measures were required to introduce 
 a scientific system for the planting of young trees to 
 supply the places of those that had been cut down, 
 and to organise a regular method of supply. For this 
 purpose an inspector-general of forests was appointed ; 
 trained foresters have been imported from Europe ; 
 permission has been granted to officers on leave to 
 study forestry in Europe, and young men have been 
 sent from England to the Continental forest schools 
 to be trained for employment in India, a plan which 
 the Government of India has requested may be con- 
 tinued annually. At the same time, young men 
 inured to the climate have been apprenticed ia this 
 country. 
 
 If the progress during the last five years has not 
 been so rapid as might have been expected, and if the 
 financial results have not, as yet, fully realised the 
 expectations of the authorities, it must be remembered 
 that the more accessible forests had been indented 
 upon to so great an extent that, when the new de- 
 partment commenced its labours, they were much 
 impoverished, and that it will be necessary to nurse 
 them for some years to come. The principles of forest 
 management were, moreoverj new to all, and had to be 
 
TEE CROWNINO OF THE EDIFICE. 193 
 
 learned ah initio. The foundations of a successful 
 system have, however, been laid, the principles of 
 forest management are better understood, and the 
 necessity of exercising a control over the forest re^ 
 sources has been generally acknowledged. It only 
 requires the exercise of the same judgment and energy 
 on the part of the forest officers, and of patience on 
 the part of the authorities, to secure in a few years a 
 forest revenue that shall be by no means contemptible, 
 and a supply of wood for all purposes such as may be 
 considered p^^^cally inexhaustible. 
 
 The telegrapl^is another of those great depart- • 
 ments in which the progress during the past five years 
 has been unprecedented. In this case, moreover, the 
 progress has not been the result of the advancing 
 prosperity of the country, but is the consequence of 
 the care and attention paid to the department by the 
 Government. When Sir John arrived in Calcutta, 
 perhaps no other department was in so unsatisfactory 
 a condition as this ; when he left, no department was 
 more efficient. The change has been made noiselessly, 
 without any show of introducing a grand reform ; it 
 has followed the simple practical measures of reform 
 introduced by Sir John Lawrence. The success of 
 those measures is but another proof of the plain prac- 
 tical bent of his mind, of the directness of his purpose, 
 of his preference of the useful to the showy. 
 
 The improvements during the last five years may 
 thus be summed up. Whilst the increase in the length 
 
 o 
 
194 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 of lines comprises only 505 miles, the total length of 
 wire has risen from 11,661 to 22,567 miles, or nearly 
 double. The cumbrous tariff, which varied with the 
 distance to be travelled over, has been replaced by a 
 simple system, according to which a message can be 
 carried from one end of India to the other for one 
 rupee, or two shillings ; the average time of transmis- 
 sion has been greatly reduced ; practical facilities have 
 been oflFered to the public for sending messages to 
 any part of the world ; whilst the errors in the delivery 
 of Indo-European messages has fallen from 38 per 
 cent, in 1863, to 3 per cent, in 1868, at the same time 
 that for Indian messages they do not average more 
 than 1 per cent. 
 
 The civil war in America had given a great stimulus 
 o the cultivation of cotton in this country, and great 
 efforts had been made by the mercantile community 
 and others to induce the cultivators of the soil to apply 
 all their energies to the improvement of the Indian 
 crop. Many facilities had also been afforded by the 
 Government for the experimental sowing of the best 
 sorts of foreign seeds in various soils. The result of 
 these experiments was duly reported to the Secretary 
 of State. But it appeared in the course of time that 
 something more was required; that it would be de- 
 sirable to constitute a link between the cultivator and 
 the purchaser, and so to systematise the transactions 
 between both. In a vast country like India it is 
 always difficult to find out what is doing in every part 
 
THE CROWyiXG OF THE EDIFICE. 196 
 
 of it, and communication between districts is often so 
 uncertain that it is possible that abundant crops of the 
 same article should prevail in parts of the country 
 not very distant the one from the other, without the 
 inhabitants of either being aware of it. To remedy 
 this defect — -to bring the principal lands where cotton 
 was cultivated under the survey of one mind — Sir 
 John Lawrence appointed a Cotton Commissioner for 
 the Central Provinces and the Berars in 1866. This 
 appointmenj; proved so useful in its results, that two 
 years later the cotton-fields of the North-West 
 Provinces were brought under the superintendence 
 of the same gentleman. Sir John Lawrence has been 
 sometimes accused of being hostile to the mercantile 
 interests of the country. Yet we see him here giving 
 his sanction to an appointment which, more perhaps 
 than any other, opened out opportunities of legitimate 
 enterprise to the merchant, and which foiled the plans 
 of the speculator. Those who have had any experience 
 of the extent to which gambling in cotton was carried 
 on in the earlier days of the civil war in America, how 
 many fortunes were gained and lost in the speculation, 
 will scarcely regret that Sir John should have, by the 
 appointment we have referred to, limited the action of 
 the mere speculator, and, whilst encouraging that of 
 the legitimate trader, have insured to the cultivator 
 some share in the benefits of a rising market. 
 
 It may with truth be affirmed, that prior to the 
 arrival of Sir John Lawrence in India its sanitary 
 
 2 
 
196 LOBB LAWRENCE. 
 
 condition had been entirely neglected; the country- 
 had been left, in that respect, without legislation. The 
 consequences of this neglect were an utter unconcern 
 on the part of high as well as low respecting a matter 
 of vital importance to the lives of all. In the me- 
 tropolis itself, the markets, the hospitals, the con- 
 servancy arrangements, had reached a condition below 
 which it was difficult to fall. Nor was this all. 
 In one of the principal hospitals of the city the spec- 
 tacle had been allowed to pass unnoticed of a naked 
 lunatic chained to a post in the very centre of the 
 building, among the wretched sick, whose agonies 
 were further disturbed by his unchecked bowlings. 
 
 These and similar horrors had been passively suf- 
 fered, without, apparently, one single effort having been 
 made to bring about a better order of things. The very 
 Sailors' Home, the only place in the town in which our 
 seafaring countrymen could find a decent refuge, was 
 situated in the worst part of the town, surrounded by 
 dens of panders and prostitutes, of drink and de- 
 bauchery, to whose owners licences had been granted 
 to carry on their infamous trade. But Sir John 
 had not been two months in India before he laid the 
 foundation-stone of a better system. He established a 
 new Sailors' Home in the best part of the town, — the 
 money being provided partly by private subscriptions, 
 to which he contributed munificently ; partly by the 
 proceeds of the sale of the old Home ; partly by a grant 
 from Government. He directed the formation in the 
 
THE CROWNING OF TRE EDIFICE. 197 
 
 three Presidencies of Sanitary Commissions for the 
 special object of searching out abuses such as those we 
 have described, and proposing measures for their reform. 
 These Commissions, existing in one form or another 
 during his tenure of office, have been indirectly of the 
 greatest advantage. Possessing no executive power, 
 they have nevertheless brought to the notice of the 
 authorities evils which had long been unchecked — a 
 state of insanitation affecting Europeans as well as 
 natives which had even been fostered. At their sug- 
 gestion a scientific examination of the drinking water 
 at all the stations has been instituted, and this has 
 already borne abundant fruit. It has been proved 
 beyond a doubt, that the carelessness prevailing as to 
 the use of water for drinking purposes had been a 
 prolific — perhaps the most prolific — cause of disease. 
 Every sanitary question is now forwarded for their 
 opinion, and the fruits of their counsel has been mani- 
 fested in the decrease of sickness and mortality, alike 
 in the barrack and in the jail, in the town and in the 
 cantonment. 
 
 Another important subject to which his peace policy 
 afforded him leisure to turn his attention is the education 
 of the masses. It has been stated, and we believe it 
 to be true, that the increased grant on this account 
 during his tenure of oflSce amounted to about 50,000/. 
 per annum. We have not space to state in detail all 
 that he accomplished in this respect. It will sufiice if 
 we indicate the direction in which his efforts tended. 
 
198 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 It was his great wish, in this as in all other acts of his 
 rule, to reach the masses of the people. None knew 
 better than he, from bitter experience in bygone days, 
 how those masses are tyrannised over, alike by the 
 landlord and the petty trader. Uncultured and un- 
 educated, they commence their course of life in bondage 
 to the former, and end it loaded with the chains of debt 
 to the latter. From such a vassalage no amount of 
 legislation could raise those poor men. It was edu- 
 cation alone that could elevate their condition, physical 
 as well as moral, and it was to education accordingly 
 that he had recourse. 
 
 Nor was this advantage confined only to the men. 
 Female education was subsidised first in the Punjaub, 
 and afterwards in the other provinces of the empire. 
 Perhaps of all measures aflfecting the permanent good 
 of the higher class of the natives of India this is the 
 most important. So long as the wives of opulent 
 landlords and rich merchants remain uneducated, so 
 long will the husbands make no effort at .all to break 
 the bonds of obsolete customs. In an Indian house- 
 hold the wife is all-powerful. Though she may not 
 appear in public, she pulls the strings which regulate 
 the conduct of the husband. He dare not attempt any 
 strange course, or adopt any new device, without 
 consulting her and obtainiog her approval. Even 
 though he may have renounced for his own part the 
 superstitions of Hinduism, he is always careful, when 
 he returns to the threshold of his house, to conform to 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 199 
 
 its rites and tenets^ This it is which has made the 
 progress of the European reformer in India so slow ; 
 but it may be accepted as an undoubted fact, that if 
 the wives were once gained, the husbands would only 
 be too glad to follow. 
 
 Acting, we do not doubt, on this conviction. Sir 
 John Lawrence has encouraged, as far as he could, the 
 cause of female education. In 1864 he authorised a 
 grant of 800Z. a-year for that purpose in the Punjaub. 
 This grant was increased the following year by another 
 of 1,000/. ; but the attention of the oi3&cers concerned 
 was drawn to the necessity of endeavouring rather to 
 lead than to drive, of acting quietly and unostenta- 
 tiously, and, in no case, of exercising their influence to 
 cause an official pressure upon the natives such as they 
 could not resist. In 1867 a circular was addressed to 
 all local governments and administrations on the subject. 
 In this the Supreme Government declared it to be 
 unadvisable for it to assume the entire responsibility 
 of initiating and carrying out measures for this object, 
 but announced at the same time its readiness to grant 
 liberal assistance, to an indefinite extent, to any scheme 
 based on the general co-operation of the native com- 
 munity. This offer was eagerly accepted by most of 
 the local governments and administrations, and efforts 
 were made, in the first instance, to provide normatl 
 schools for female teachers. In the following year the 
 sum of 1,200/. per annum for five years was placed 
 at the disposal of each of the local governments to 
 
200 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 establish such schools in the three presidency towns. 
 The work is at least well started, and requires now 
 only to be vigorously maintained. 
 
 Whilst female education has been pushed on in this 
 manner, every other branch of the department has felt 
 the effect of the energetic influence at the head of the 
 Government. The department has been reorganised 
 all over India ; a branch has been introduced into 
 Burma ; scholarships have been sanctioned, and great 
 efforts have been made to induce the people to interest 
 themselves in a cause fraught with so much benefit to 
 themselves and to their children. 
 
 Amongst other matters of prominent interest which 
 have been pushed forward during the past five years, 
 but for separate comment on which we have no space, 
 we may mention : — the reorganisation all over the 
 country of the police ; the establishment of charitable 
 dispensaries and civil hospitals in British Burma ; the 
 complete reorganisation of the subordinate judicial 
 department ; the establishment of a Chief Court of 
 Justice in the Punjaub, and the appointment of 
 Recorders in Burma, a Judicial Commissioner in 
 Sinde, and Government law-officers in various parts of 
 the country ; the organisation of a system of meteoro- 
 logical observations along the coast of the Bay of 
 Bengal and at the port of Calcutta. The list is by 
 no means exhausted ; many other reforms have been 
 carried out, which, though in themselves important, 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 201 
 
 may perhaps be regarded as possessing minor interest 
 for the general public. 
 
 We proceed now to notice the financial operations 
 of Sir John Lawrence's administration. During this 
 period of his rule, whilst the revenue has increased by 
 about five millions sterling,' the expenditure has been 
 augmented only by four' This, in itself, may be 
 regarded as a satisfactory result ; but it will be seen 
 to partake very much of that nature, when we state 
 that the increase of expenditure has consisted in a 
 great degree of an increase of salaries, consequent on 
 the fact that the value of every article of necessity in 
 the country has greatly increased. The sound basis 
 on which the financial condition of the country rests 
 may be inferred from the fact that, after charging the 
 whole expenditure for barracks, irrigation works, 
 special fund works, new transport ships, and the con- 
 struction of the India House in London, against the 
 ordinary revenues, there has been a net deficit of 
 little more than two millions and a quarter. But the 
 expenditure for the past three years on account of 
 irrigation and special fund works has alone reached 
 nearly two and a half millions ; whilst the construction 
 of Indian transport ships has amounted to more than a 
 million ; the payments on account of the India House 
 to nearly half a million ; and upwards of four millions 
 six hundred thousand pounds have been spent in the 
 five years on account of barracks. All these consti- 
 tuted extraordinary expenditure. Deducted from the 
 
202 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 grand total, they would leave 6,300,000/. as the 
 amount constituting the excess of income over ordi- 
 nary expenditure in the five years just elapsed. 
 
 "We do not propose to enter into a detailed account 
 of the financial measures introduced during this Vice- 
 royalty, mainly because, for these, the Finance 
 Minister, not the Viceroy, is directly responsible. We 
 will merely indicate the opinions entertained by Sir 
 John Lawrence on several of the propositions that 
 were discussed. A large party, for instance, advocated 
 the expediency of imposing taxes which would reach 
 all alike, their imposition being apportioned according 
 to the consumption of each, rich as well as poor. In 
 the eyes of these men, an increase of the salt tax and 
 an imposition of the tobacco tax have found the great- 
 est favour. But in the East salt is an article of the 
 first necessity to the poor man, and tobacco is his 
 solitary luxury. Ground down in many parts of 
 India by his landlord, compelled to unremitting 
 labour to support his life and the lives of those de- 
 pendent upon him, the increase of taxation upon 
 articles so necessary, the first to his existence, the 
 second to the enjoyment of the few minutes of relaxa- 
 tion open to him, would, it seemed to Sir John Law- 
 rence, have legalised oppression of the kind least to be 
 borne. He knew these men well ; he had seen the 
 difficulties against which they had to struggle, the 
 privations to which they were subjected, and he deter- 
 mined to protect them against a legislation ruinous to 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 203 
 
 them, ruinous, therefore, to the best interests of the 
 country. It appeared to him that the imposition of 
 such taxes was not justified by a solitary political 
 consideration. For, whilst these wretched peasants 
 were staggering along under a load of taxation such 
 as nearly bent them to the earth, the wealthier middle 
 classes, thriving under our rule and because of our 
 rule, were absolutely untouched. They did not con- 
 tribute a single stiver to the general revenues of the 
 country, and only in the large cities were they 
 assessed in a small amount for the payment of the 
 police who protected their persons and their property. 
 It was upon these men, in the opinion of Sir John 
 Lawrence, that any new taxation ought to fall. He 
 always contended that for India the perfection of direct 
 taxation was an income tax, attended with exemptions 
 below a certain income. It was his opinion that the 
 incidence of this tax should be extremely light, but 
 that its machinery, adapted to the people, should be 
 working, so that, in the event of pressure, or in times 
 of emergency, it could be increased at once to the 
 desired extent. During his incumbency of office, 
 however, the experiment in the form he would have 
 preferred was not attempted. 
 
 We think we have now exhausted the list of the 
 principal measures which his firm maintenance of 
 peace enabled Sir John Lawrence to carry out during 
 his five years' tenure of office. But for that peace all 
 those great measures of irrigation, military and remu- 
 
204 LORD LAWREKUE. 
 
 nerative public works, the education and elevation of 
 the poor, the protection accorded to the cultivators, 
 the opening out of new lines of railways and tele- 
 graphs, the encouragement of cotton cultivation and 
 sanitation, would either not have been attempted, or 
 they would have obtained a very much smaller degree 
 of attention. Any effort made to extend the frontier 
 of the empire in the north-west would most decidedly 
 have claimed the undivided attention of the Grovernor- 
 General and his Council. They would have had no 
 time to attend to internal improvements. What is 
 of even more consequence, they would have had no 
 money. The carrying out of the least in magnitude 
 of the schemes of the advocates of action — -the occupa- 
 tion of the valleys of Khost and Khurrum — could not 
 have been accomplished at a smaller annual rate than 
 two millions sterling. The money thus spent in five 
 years would more than have swallowed up the amount 
 laid out in great works of irrigation, railways, tele- 
 graphs, and the others we have enumerated. The 
 uncertainty consequent on a state of war would have 
 penetrated likewise to all the marts of India, and 
 would have given encouragement to the disaffected 
 everywhere. It would, whilst increasing our expen- 
 diture, have diminished our revenue. And, we may 
 ask, for what ? The answer is plain. To bring about 
 a state of affairs on the frontier less secure, less 
 durable, in every respect less satisfactory, than that 
 which now exists. And to accomplish this result we 
 
TRE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 206 
 
 should have sacrificed all that internal material pro- 
 gress which we have endeavoured to describe. 
 
 It IS not that Sir John Lawrence was ever nes- 
 lectful of the honour of his country. The policy of 
 his predecessor forced him into the necessity of chas- 
 tising the insolence of the rulers of Bhootan, and most 
 thoroughly did he lower their pride. He was a warm 
 advocate of, he assisted so far as lay in his power, that 
 expedition into Abyssinia which, carried out b y a Tory [ /S<«^ 
 Govern ment, remains a monument of splendid fore- / /r^ " 
 sight and masterly handling. Even towards the close 
 of his career as Viceroy, he directed an expedition 
 against some of the tribes on our frontier, which might 
 have led, which all engaged in it hoped would lead, 
 to a repetition of the Umbeyla campaign — that is, to 
 hard fighting and much loss. But in this Sir John 
 displayed his usual prudence. He made our force 
 so strong that the enemy were paralysed, and fell 
 back without fighting, giving in to all our demands. 
 It surely argues a greater conviction of our supremacy 
 in the mind of an enemy when he yields without 
 fighting, than when, as at Umbeyla, he makes constant 
 and repeated assaults on our position, deeming himself 
 in those wild regions our equal. The after conse- 
 quences of that campaign, almost bloodless though it 
 was, cannot be doubted. Those who best know the 
 frontier, civilians as well as soldiers, declare that its 
 effect on the offending tribes cannot fail to be lasting. 
 
 It has been our object in the foregoing narrative to 
 
206 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 show the uses which Sir John Lawrence made of the 
 peace which he maintained. No account of his vice- 
 regal career would, however, be complete without 
 some reference to the great calamity by which the 
 country was visited in the early part of it. We allude 
 naturally to the famine in Orissa. Into the details of 
 it we shall not enter. It will suffice merely to state 
 that Orissa is a province on the eastern coast of the 
 Bay of Bengal, under the administration of the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of the province of that name. To- 
 wards the close of 1865, the press and the missionaries 
 had declared that famine, or at least great scarcity, was 
 inevitable in Orissa, and had pressed upon the local 
 government the necessity of importing grain. The 
 members of the local government did not, however, 
 believe in the famine, and being most of them 
 pseudo-political economists, they pinned their faith 
 in the axiom that a demand would always create a 
 supply. No arguments could shake their faith in 
 this great doctrine, although, having spent all their 
 lives in Bengal, they must have been aware that for 
 eight months of the year the south-west monsoon 
 rendered very precarious all traffic with Orissa by sea, 
 whilst the rains prevented communication for four 
 months by land. Sir John Lawrence, who by no 
 means shared their opinions, felt a vague sort of anxiety 
 on the subject, notwithstanding the assurances of the 
 local government, based upon reports from the spot. 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 207 
 
 that his fears were groundless. At last the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor himself visited Orissa. He returned 
 in the month of March 1866, and reported to the 
 Supreme Government that there was no prospect of 
 famine ; that there would be local scarcity and distress ; 
 but that to meet this special measures of relief had 
 been carried out ; that there was no necessity even for 
 advancing money to the Orissa Irrigation Company ; 
 and that the natural fluctuation of prices had been 
 sufficient to attract food to the districts in which it was 
 scarcest. 
 
 This opinion, formed on the spot by the functionary 
 responsible for the condition of the province, was of so 
 decided a nature as to permit Sir John Lawrence and 
 his councillors to proceed to Simla, free from any very 
 great anxiety with respect to Orissa. But they had 
 scarcely reached that place before Sir John's doubts 
 returned, and he again mooted the question of the im- 
 portation of grain. Letters in the various newspapers, 
 which appeared about this time, aided to shake his 
 confidence in the information he had received from the 
 Lieutenant-Governor. His anxiety, however, was 
 not shared by his councillors. These saw, on the 
 one side, the vague and instinctive fears of the 
 Governor-General, who had never visited the pro- 
 vince, and who personally knew nothing of it; on 
 the other, the positive assurances of the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, who had recently visited the province, and 
 
208 LOMD LAWRENCE. 
 
 who was receiving daily reports from the officers in 
 . it. The result was, that the views of the Lieutenant- 
 Governor were sustained. 
 
 Those views were held by the Lieutenant-Governor 
 up to the moment when it became impossible to doubt 
 the famine, and when it was too late to throw in grain 
 in any quantities. Up to June 10, the Lieutenant- 
 Governor had persisted that there would be no famine, 
 and yet famine was even then in the land. ,The fact 
 was, the Supreme Government was misled, undesign- 
 edly of course, by the ruler of the province in which 
 the famine occurred, and who had given them all along 
 the most positive assurances, based upon personal 
 knowledge, that the famine was a myth. If we con- 
 demn Sir John for not acting on his instincts, we 
 must affirm the proposition that no Governor is 
 justified in accepting the reports of his subordinates. 
 The fears based upon his instincts by Sir John were 
 not felt by any of his colleagues. Had he acted ar- 
 bitrarily, had he overridden his Council, he would 
 have acted in direct opposition to the opinions of all 
 the men of special experience in the country — and 
 yet the event showed that he would have acted rightly. 
 There is no doubt that had he stood alone, with no 
 colleagues whom it was incumbent upon him to con- 
 sult, he would have so acted. This was felt so strongly 
 in England that it drew from Lord Cranbourne the 
 remark that the Governor-General would have done 
 better had he had no Council. This opinion will be 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 209 
 
 endorsed by all who have paid any attention to the 
 unsatisfactory mode in which the cumbrous machine 
 of Governor- General and Council worked during the 
 five years of Sir John Lawrence's incumbency. 
 
 The fact is, that the Supreme Council in India 
 requires in the Governor-General rather a master than 
 a colleague. , It has, however, been too much the 
 tendency of recent legislation to place the Viceroy and 
 his councillors more on a level of equality. This plan 
 has not been found to answer badly when the Governor- 
 General has been a nobleman, supported by a power- 
 ful political party at home; but under plain John 
 Lawrence, who had risen from the same level as them- 
 selves, who had risen so high above them all, it caused 
 oppositions and dissensions such as were felt far beyond 
 the circle of the Council itself. It was just the sort 
 of opposition that woidd have been looked upon as 
 natural if Sir John Lawrence had been the immediate 
 successor of "Warren Hastings. Like that illustrious 
 Governor-General, he, too, was brought into contact 
 with men who, springing from the same level, though 
 outstripped in the race, too much regarded themselves 
 as his equals. Men who base their opinions upon the 
 experience acquired by themselves in a long career in 
 India are always unwilling to resign or to modify, 
 those opinions in deference to convictions foundfd upon 
 the similar experience of another. And as in India there 
 are at least two schools of thought holding principles 
 in every respect opposite the one to the other, it follows 
 
 P 
 
210 LORD LAWJRENCE. 
 
 that when the disciples of these opposite schools meet 
 at the same council board there can be no common 
 ground between them, their principles being ab radice 
 opposed. When the Governor-General belongs to 
 one of these schools, and some of his councillors to the 
 other, the difficulties of unanimity are increased. It 
 has often been said that Sir John Lawrence is the 
 last Anglo-Indian Viceroy. It may be so ; and in- 
 deed, if ever there should arise from the ranks of the 
 noble Indian services a statesman whose merits shall 
 entitle him' to sit in the seat of Hastings and of 
 Lawrence, we can well believe that he himself would 
 jiause, and weigh, and ponder, ere he committed him- 
 self to accept a position which would most surely 
 expose him to the half-hearted support — nay, even to 
 the strenuous opposition — of some of those, at least, 
 with whom he would be called upon to sit in council. 
 
 If physiognomy afford any insight into character. 
 Sir John Lawrence is one of the highest order 
 of nature's nobility. It is impossible to look at that 
 square head, those deep-set eyes, the capacious fore- 
 head, the kindly smile lending an air of graciousness 
 to features in themselves stern and rugged, with- 
 out being greatly impressed in his favour. It is a 
 head which expresses power, sincerity, deep convic- 
 tions, thorough earnestness of purpose. This feeling 
 is immensely strengthened when you enter into con- 
 versation with him. His views may not, indeed, be 
 always your views, but they evidently express the 
 
TUB CMOWKIKO OF THE EDIFICE. 211 
 
 deep convictions of the speaker, and they are invariably- 
 supported by reason and argument. If the subject be 
 India, you see how completely he is acquainted with 
 every detail connected with its political situation— the 
 position of the native princes, of the army^ of the 
 frontier ; how thoroughly all the arguments offered in 
 opposition to his own policy have been examined ; 
 what a deep conviction there is in the mind of the 
 speaker as to the correctness of the course which 
 he, after long consideration, has adopted. You see 
 before you, in fact, a most honest, conscientious, 
 and able Indian statesman, possessing greater ex- 
 perience of the mode of governing Asiatics than any 
 living man ; you find him provided with a reason — and 
 though you may not agree with it, it is always a solid 
 reason — for the line of conduct he has pursued in every 
 particular; and you rise from your interview im- 
 pressed with a conviction of his knowledge and sin- 
 cerity, satisfied that you have been talking with one 
 of the grandest men that ever lived — with one to whom, 
 looking at his entire career, posterity will " assign one 
 of the loftiest pedestals in the temple of fame. 
 
 As a politician and an administrator, we believe Sir 
 John Lawrence will always be regarded as one of the 
 greatest men India has ever trained. Socially — and 
 it is this which has made him so many enemies — he 
 did not always raise himself to the level of his position 
 — that is to say, with the best will in the world he 
 made social mistakes such, as those to whom they 
 
 p 2 
 
212 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 referred rarely pardoned. He forgot men's names and 
 faces ; he shook hands with the wrong man, and gave a 
 distant bow to him to whom he should have been cor- 
 dial. He did not mix with the crowd at his parties, but 
 generally spent the evening in talking with anyone who 
 had the assurance to address him. The fact is, he dis- 
 liked large parties ; he was naturally shy and reserved, 
 and he was too glad to allow people to do exactly as 
 they liked under his roof But these social mistakes 
 were never forgiven — nay, in some cases they were 
 treasured up against him to the hour of his departure. 
 Then, again, although he was the most liberal of men 
 — although he entertained munificently, and spared no 
 expense in his household arrangements — although the 
 amount expended in charity was enormous — yet his 
 refusal to give a cup to the races, and some mistakes 
 made by the members of his earlier staff, of which he 
 himself had no knowledge, gave to the grumblers and 
 cavillers an opportunity of which they eagerly took 
 advantage. The mistakes alluded to were remedied at 
 the earliest opportunity bj' a change in the personal 
 staff, but their effect long survived. The solid armour 
 of Sir John's own character was not, indeed, really 
 penetrated by any of the darts by which be was as- 
 sailed. That armour was proof against the most for- 
 midable attack ; it could not be injured by weapons, 
 sharply pointed though they might be, hurled ' by 
 the feeble hand of Priam.' But there were many such 
 Priams. 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 213 
 
 It is strange that the greatest enemies of Sir John, 
 himself a civilian, should exist in the ranks of the 
 covenapted Civil Service. As a body, these grudge 
 him alike the opportunities he has enjoyed and the 
 honour he has gained. They are heartily glad that he 
 has gone. This feeling is strong in Bengal proper, 
 but it exists, in greater or less intensity, all over the 
 country. We can only attribute it, on the whole, to 
 the jealousy entertained by men generally of those 
 who rise from their own level to a superior position, 
 of which we have in England a striking example in 
 the malignity with which the literary world has at- 
 tacked the career of Mr. Disraeli. In the case of Sir 
 John Lawrence it is perhaps not remarkable that the 
 members of his own service who have shown towards 
 him the least sympathy are, in some cases, men whom 
 he has himself advanced, and advanced in spfte of the 
 public opinion hostile to their claims. 
 
 In the ranks of the army Sir John has many more 
 admirers than in the body of the service to which he 
 belonged. It is not that he has gone out of his way 
 to do anything for the army. On the contrary, per 
 haps no previous Governor-General has endeavoured 
 so much as he to divert the higher political appoint- 
 ments to the Civil Service. This has been keenly 
 felt. It has not, however, been resented in a paltry 
 spirit. On the contrary, even those who have seen 
 the claims of inferior men preferred to their own have 
 
214 LORD LAWREXCE. 
 
 done full justice to the conscientious motives of the 
 Governor-General. They have recognised his absolute 
 right to decide in such matters according to his own 
 convictions of what was befitting, rather than accord- 
 ing to their fancies. And even when they have per- 
 sonally suffered, they have not failed to admire the 
 determination to act according to his own lights, with- 
 out favour or affection, which has been one of the 
 most marked characteristics of Sir John Lawrence's 
 career. They have detected, moreover, in all his 
 actions, that quick coup d'ceil, that power of acting on 
 the moment, of grasping a plan embracing many 
 simultaneous operations, which so strongly marks a 
 great military commander. His strong sense of justice 
 has not less commended itself to their admiration ; and 
 they have appreciated to the full that superiority to 
 petty routine which has prompted him to ask the advice 
 of a junior officer, surrounded though he might be 
 by tlie dullest mediocrities in the country. 
 
 By the native landowners Sir John, though, really 
 their greatest benefactor, was not appreciated. They 
 regarded all his efforts to educate and raise the status 
 of the cultivators as attacks upon themselves. They 
 did not correctly appreciate the fact that to improve 
 the condition of the masses was indirectly to benefit 
 themselves. They adopted, therefore, that shibboleth 
 so common among Anglo-Indians, ' "What has he done 
 for us?' and although he had in reality given them 
 peace and prosperity — although he had taxed them but 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 215 
 
 lightly — although he had opened out to the best 
 amongst them opportunities of public service — yet, 
 because he had refused to tax the masses to their 
 advantage, they replied, ' Nothing,' and condemned 
 him. 
 
 It is necessary to a complete conception of the cha- 
 racter of the late Viceroy that we should allude to ona 
 particular feature of it which is not generally known 
 We refer to the manner in which he regarded the criti 
 cisms of the public. We do not hesitate to assert that 
 Sir' John was extremely sensitive to the attacks of the 
 press. This is easy to account for. He had not been 
 trained in that rough public life through which an 
 English statesman has to hew his path. As a young and 
 rising civilian the press had never referred to him but to 
 praise him. As Chief Commissioner of the Punjaub he 
 had been held up by the press to the public as a pattern 
 administrator. After the terrible events of 1857, the 
 English press vied with the Anglo-Indian in en- 
 deavouring to do him honour. It was only after he 
 had become Viceroy, after he had reached the highest 
 point to which a subject could rise, that the tone of 
 the Indian press changed. Then he was attacked; 
 then he was loaded with abuse ; then the merit of his 
 past achievements was rudely plucked from him ; then 
 he was told that it was not he who had saved the 
 Punjaub in 1857, but his subordinates in spite of him. 
 These attacks were made, it is true, after he had 
 refused to tax the masses rather than the rich ; after 
 
216 LORD LAWRENCE. 
 
 he had expressed his determination to protect the 
 coolie labourer against ill-usage from his employer, the 
 planter; after he had pronounced against an aggressive 
 policy in the north-west, and in favour of a limited 
 measure of tenant-right in Oudh. Sir John felt these 
 attacks, and winced under them ; they annoyed and 
 vexed him, but not one of them affected his policy. 
 No prospect of their cessation, and of a torrent of 
 praise in their stead, altered a single measure in 
 favour of which his convictions had been enlisted. 
 Nothing more, perhaps, intensified the hostile feeling 
 to him on the part of those to whose interests he 
 would not subordinate his policy, than his practical 
 indifference to public abuse. 
 
 And yet, notwithstanding this, when the day ar- 
 rived for his departure from the country in which he 
 had served with so much honour — which he had been, 
 under Providence, the means of saving in 1857 — a 
 feeling of compunction seemed to steal over very many 
 for the manner in which they had opposed him in his 
 viceregal office. Some few, indeed, held as much aloof 
 as they could consistently with the position they occu- 
 pied, preferring to make their court to the rising sun ; 
 but the heart of the mass of the European population 
 turned towards him with affection and reverence. The 
 hearty cheers which greeted him as he stepped on 
 board the vessel that was to convey him to the steamer 
 told him that he had earned the respect which was not 
 to be bought, that all calculations of self-interest had 
 
THE CROWNING OF THE EDIFICE. 217 
 
 given way to a reverence for the honest sincerity by 
 which his rule had been characterised. Calcutta has 
 seldom echoed back a more enthusiastic cheer than that 
 which responded to the generous call of the new Vice- 
 roy as the yacht upon which his predecessor stepped 
 was unmoored. There were few dry eyes on the 
 landing-place ; there were few who did not feel that a 
 greatness, purely Anglo-Indian — a greatness in which 
 they as Anglo-Indians could sympathise, in which 
 they had a share — had departed from them. 
 
 This, we are confident, was no transitory feeling. 
 It will increase with every year of his absence. Never 
 will the memory of his long and varied career be for- 
 gotten. It will serve for ever as an example to those 
 whom he left behind — to those who may follow him — 
 an example to do their duty. And if, in the course of 
 time, either by changes which cannot now be foreseen, 
 or by a departure from that sure and steady line of 
 policy with which his name will ever be associated, our 
 north-west frontier should become the seat of war, or 
 the fate of India should depend upon the result of a 
 battle at Candahar, at Herat, or on the Hindoo Koosh, 
 the thoughts of all will recur to the memory of the 
 Anglo-Indian civilian under whose rule our resources 
 were husbanded, our position maintained though not 
 extended, and who was able, in the five years of his 
 viceroyalty, to lay the foundation of a system of 
 advancement, moral as well as material, such as can- 
 not fail to knit together, and ultimately to unite, the 
 
218 LOBD LAWRENCE. 
 
 interests of the two branches of the great Aryan race, 
 and to open out to the people of Hindustan a prospect 
 of general education and enlightenment such as will 
 give them knowledge, and with knowledge power — -the 
 surest guarantees against the oppression under which 
 they and their forefathers have been ground down for 
 centuries. 
 
219 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 (Weitten in 1867.) 
 
 Of the many theusands who visit every year the city 
 of Agra, of the hundreds of thousands who poured into 
 it last November ' to witness the splendours of the vice- 
 regal reception, held, if not in the ancient halls of the 
 Moguls, yet on the plains which surround their whilom 
 capital, there must have been some at least to whose 
 imaginations the past, speaking out from marble tombs 
 and deserted palaces, appealed with a force more than 
 sufficient to drive away even the gorgeous spectacle of 
 the present. There were few, we will hope, so un- 
 imaginative upon whose spirits the aspect of bygone 
 grandeur, so plainly visible in the great buildings of 
 Agra and its vicinity, did not make some impression. 
 To a large majority of yearly visitors, indeed, in a 
 greater or less degree, as they survey the splendid 
 ruins of Futtehpore Sikree, or the marble halls of the 
 magnificent palace in the Fort, whence the edicts of 
 the Emperor gave law from Affghanistan on the north- 
 west to the extremities of Bengal to the eastward, 
 whence he ruled Cashmire and administered even 
 some portions of the Dekkan, this question must 
 always present itself: ■' Who were these great sove- 
 ' 1866., 
 
220 TRE PRINCIPLES OF AEBAR. 
 
 reigns, these mighty monarchs, whose names are still 
 household words amongthe Mohammedans of Hindustan, 
 and the greatness of whose conceptions is evident to 
 us by these magnificent monuments, by these splendid 
 palaces, at which we, natives of another continent, 
 claiming for ourselves almost a monopoly of civilisa- 
 tion, can gaze only with mixed wonder and delight? 
 Who and what were these men? What means did 
 they employ to conquer, to administer, to raise these 
 lasting monuments of their sway ? ' 
 
 Who were these men? Who, at least, was the 
 chief est and greatest amongst them ? The answer is 
 to be found in the very name of the city in which the 
 idea first occurs to the enquirer. Agra is but the old 
 Hindu designation of the once capital of the empire 
 of the Moguls. Under their dynasty it received an- 
 other and a more significant name — a name that told 
 the world who he was that had made it great, who had 
 raised it from the lowly position of a Hindu village to 
 the proud elevation of capital of Hindustan. That 
 name was Akbarabad, the city of Akbar — of Akbar, 
 the glory of the Moguls. 
 
 It is not our intention, on this occasion, to enter 
 into a history of the place which Akbar thus de- 
 lighted to honour — though that is a task which has 
 never yet been attempted, and which loudly calls for a 
 historian— nor do we propose even to offer a detailed 
 account of the exciting events of the reign of that 
 great monarch, each of them demanding long and 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAB. 221 
 
 patient investigation. Be it rather ours to examine 
 the system which succeeded so well with him person- 
 ally, to glance at the principles by an adherence to 
 which he built up, in a few years, a mighty empire — 
 an empire which he transmitted intact to his son, and 
 which he fondly hoped would descend as a complete 
 inheritance to his latest posterity. 
 
 We are the more encouraged to take this view 
 because it is beyond question that, whether we regard 
 the liberality of his views, his love of justice, his care 
 for his subjects, none of the monarchs who reigned 
 over Hindustan ever approached Akbar ; because like- 
 wise if we compare him with contemporary European 
 sovereigns, he gains immensely by the comparison. 
 So highly indeed are his elevation of mind, his freedom 
 from prejudice, his grand conceptions considered even 
 in the present day in the West, that his system of 
 administration has been referred to as that which his 
 English successors to the empire of Hindustan ought 
 to study and follow. ' Those who rule in India,' 
 wrote to us not long since an illustrious statesman, 
 ' should take lessons from Alexander and Akbar.' 
 
 JeeUal-ood-deen Mahomed Akbar, the grandson of 
 Baber and seventh in descent from Tamerlane, eldest 
 son of the Emperor Humayun and his wife Hamya- 
 Benou-Begum, was born on October 14, 1542, at Amer- 
 kot in the valley of the Indus. It was as an exile, 
 tad amid the inhospitable sands of an arid desert, that 
 he first saw light. His father Hiunayun, though he 
 
222 THE miKCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 had succeeded peacefully to the inheritance of Baber, 
 had, after ten years of almost constant warfare, finally 
 succumbed, in 1540, to the superior strategy and 
 influence of Shir Khan Sur, and, having been defeated 
 in a decisive battle on the Ganges near Canooj, had 
 fled for his life to Lahore. Humayun, however, was 
 doomed to experience the truth of the apophthegm that 
 gratitude is but a sense of favours to come. It has 
 but little respect for the past. A fugitive and help- 
 less, all chance of recovering power seeming impossible, 
 lie found himself everywhere -an unwelcome guest. 
 From Lahore he fled to Sinde, thence, after some 
 fruitless attempts to possess himself of Bukkar and 
 Sebwan, to Jodhpore in Central India. Repulsed 
 liere, and fearing to be delivered up to the great anta- 
 gonist of his family. Shir Shah, he attempted to make 
 his way to Amerkot, a fort in the eastern desert of 
 Sinde. The horrors that attended his march to that 
 place can scarcely be exaggerated. ' Before he quitted 
 the inhabited country,' says Elphinstone, ' the vil- 
 lagers repelled all approaches to their water, which was 
 to them a precious possession ; and it was not without 
 a conflict and bloodshed that his followers were able to 
 slake their thirst.' But in the desert itself they had 
 to endure greater sufierings than these. Sometimes 
 it was absolute want of water, sometimes it was the 
 attack of enemies. Exhausted and debilitated, suffer- 
 ing the horrors of thirst in all their terrible reality, 
 one by one his followers succumbed. When at last he 
 
 » 
 
THE rRIKCIPLES OF AKBAR. 223 
 
 came in sight of Amerkot but seven of his party re- 
 mained alive. Even then he was haunted by the fear 
 that the chief of that place, who was a Brahmin, would 
 refuse him admittance — a refusal which, in his case, 
 would have been equivalent to death in its worst form. 
 The reply, however, was happily favourable, and he 
 was saved. 
 
 Not many weeks after his arrival Jeellal-ood-deen 
 Mahomed Akbar was born. So straitened were his 
 father's fortunes that, instead of the costly presents to 
 his friends, customary on the birth of an heir to the 
 house of Timour, he distributed amongst them his 
 solitary possession, one pod of musk, accompanying the 
 gift, however, with the significant wish that like the 
 odour of that perfume, so might his son's fame be 
 diffused throughout the world.' 
 
 It can well be imagined that the youth of one so 
 highly bred, and born in circumstances so lowly, should 
 be indeed stormy. The delights of ruling, once en- 
 joyed, could never in those days be lightly given up ; 
 and even Humayun, abandoned by all but his Hindu 
 protector, still dreamed of the palaces of Delhi and the 
 lost sceptre of Hindustan. The thirteen years that 
 followed the birth of Akbar were thus years of in- 
 cessant warfare. The young prince may truly be said 
 to have been bred up in arms. He was scarcely three 
 years old when he was exposed to a hostile fire under 
 the walls of Cabul. Thrice, before he had lived ten 
 
 ^ Elphinstone 
 
224 THE PMINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 years, was he the prisoner of his uncles, bitterly hostile 
 to his father apd to himself. But freeing himself in 
 1551, after the final defeat of his uncle Camran in that 
 year, he joined his father, placed himself under his 
 orders, and finally accompanied him in that triumphant 
 march which, commencing at Cabul in January 1555, 
 and culminating in June with a great victory over 
 Secundur Sur at Sirhind, terminated in the autumn 
 in the capture of Delhi, and the restoration of 
 Humayun to his ancestral throne. A few months 
 later Humayun died, and his newly recovered terri- 
 tory, still bleeding from the contests for its possession, 
 devolved upon his son Akbar, then but a few months 
 over thirteen years old. 
 
 When this event occurred Akbar was in the Punjaub. 
 He had been sent thither shortly after the defeat of 
 Secundur Sur at Sirhind — a battle in which he had so 
 distinguished himself, and so greatly by his example 
 animated his soldiers, that, it is said, ' they had for- 
 gotten that they were mortal.' There had accom- 
 panied him, nominally as his second in command, but 
 really as his tutor and adviser, Behram Khan, a 
 Turcoman by birth, distinguished for his talents, and 
 whose fidelity to the cause of the legitimate repre- 
 sentative of the House of Timour had been proved 
 upon many a battle-field. On hearing of the death of 
 Humayun, Akbar at once assumed all the ensigns of 
 royalty. He founJ, however, that he had entered at 
 best upon a disputed inheritance. Almost simul- 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 225 
 
 taneously with his accession to the throne, there came 
 the news of the loss of Cabul and a great part of 
 Affghanistan ; scarcely later, the startling intelligence 
 reached him that Hemu, the Hindu general of the 
 last representative of the House of Siir, had taken 
 Agra and Delhi, and was preparing to consummate his 
 victories by a march into the Punjaub. Behram Khan, 
 however, was equal to the occasion. Accompanied by 
 the youthful Emperor, himself eager for the contest, 
 he marched in the direction of Delhi, encountered 
 Hemu at Paniput — the second great battle of that 
 name — utterly defeated and took him prisoner. After 
 the battle we meet with a striking trait in the character 
 of the young prince. Behr3,m had doomed Hemu to 
 death, and he wished that the prince should earn the 
 title of ' Champion of the Faith,' by striking the first 
 blow at one whom he deemed an infidel. But Akbar 
 refused to strike a wounded enemy. He was deaf 
 alike to the persuasions as to the entreaties of his 
 general. And it was with a grief which his tender 
 age prevented him from showing more openly that he 
 beheld the irritated Behrslm strike off the captive's 
 head with his own hand, exclaiming as he did so, ' Ill- 
 timed compassion will lose you an empire.' 
 
 We must bestow but a cursory notice on the military 
 achievements that followed, singling out those only for 
 special notice which serve to cast some ray of light on 
 the character of our hero. The defeat of Hemu had 
 restored to Akbar the cities of Delhi and Agra, and 
 
 Q 
 
326 THU PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 had left him leisure to turn his undivided attention to 
 the troops of Secunder Sur, then threatening liim in 
 the Punjaub. A campaign of eight months sufficed 
 to quell this uprising, to deprive the insurgent leader 
 of his strongest fortress, and to force him to retire to 
 Bengal, to which the House of Svlr considered that 
 they possessed a hereditary right. During this period, 
 however, the virtual ruler was Behram Khan. Akbar 
 was still too young to take upon himself administrative 
 functions, and he deemed it still prudent to submit 
 himself to the counsels of one who was at least devoted 
 to his dynasty and to his person. Nor can it be de- 
 nied that the severe, stern, and resolute sway of 
 the Turcoman nobleman was eminently adapted for 
 troublous times. When, however, by the submission 
 of the country, a merciful and consolidating policy had 
 become desirable, and the counsels and conduct of 
 Behram still ran on in a course of stern and vindictive 
 cruelty — when Behram himself, ignoring the rising 
 intellect of the young prince, still continued to treat 
 him as a dependent and a nonentity — the cry of the 
 country to be rid of a policy of severity and seques- 
 tration found an involuntary echo in the inmost thoughts 
 of its monarch. Akbar, however, was pre-eminently 
 of a noble and generous disposition. Behram had ad- 
 hered to his father in all his calamities ; he had bound 
 his fortunes to his own when his green youth pre- 
 vented the possibility of his making head alone against 
 the storms that threatened him. Even at this time he 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAH. 227 
 
 did not doubt that the very faults which called forth 
 the complaints of his nobles were the result of a too 
 great zeal, for his dynasty. Soon, however, he came to 
 find that he would have to choose between his people 
 and his minister. The persecution of private indi- 
 viduals, their banishment, often even their death, at 
 the instance, often by the sole orders, of Behr^m, caused 
 a mistrust and discontent amongst the people, which 
 even Akbar would soon have found it difficult to allay. 
 Not even the most intimate friends of the kinjr were 
 safe against the minister's vengeance. Behram in fact 
 was virtually king, exercising his authority in a manner 
 that tended to alienate the affection of the people from 
 the rule of the Moguls. Once convinced of the 
 dangerous tendencies of his minister's administration, 
 Akbar felt that it was necessary for him to act 
 promptly. He accordingly proceeded unexpectedly 
 to Delhi, and issued an edict announcing his resolution 
 to govern henceforth by himself, and enjoining on all 
 the great officers of the empire to obey no orders but 
 his own. Behrslm, on his part, sensible of his helpless- 
 ness in such a position, endeavoured first to mollify the 
 king. But Akbar felt that it was better for him to be 
 no longer connected with one who had so long enjoyed 
 the sweets of power, and who had so misused its posses- 
 sion. He answered Behr^m's submissiveness, there- 
 fore, by an exhortation to him to retire from power, 
 and to seek, in a pilgrimage to Mecca, forgetfulness of 
 the troubles and fatigues of a political career. 
 
 a 2 
 
228 TRE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 The sequel of this episode gives us another insight 
 into that particular feature of Akbar's character which 
 tended so much to his success. Behram appeared to 
 comply with the requisition, but, proceeding towards the 
 Punjaub, raised the standard of revolt. Akbar marched 
 against him, totally defeated him, and pursued him 
 with such vigour that he was forced to throw himself 
 on the mercy of the Emperor. In those old days — 
 days in which stern retribution was considered to be 
 the right, almost the duty, of the conqueror; when 
 bloddshedding amongst competitors for power was a 
 normal state of affairs — an ordinary man would have at 
 once rid himself of so valiant a rebel. He indeed who 
 should have sentenced him to simple death without 
 torture or deprivation of sight would have been con- 
 sidered merciful. But Akbar was no ordinary man. 
 He abhorred the shedding of blood in itself, still more 
 especially deliberate slaughter, and his heart was sen- 
 sible to noble and generous impulses to a degree that 
 is uncommon even in this civilised nineteenth century. 
 He could not endure the idea even of wounding the 
 amour propre or of lowering the pride of one who, 
 though he had slighted his orders and defied his autho- 
 rity, had once been his guardian and his friend. In- 
 stead, therefore, of receiving Behram as a conquered 
 enemy, he met him as his old comrade — as one whom 
 he delighted to honour. He sent his nobles to receive 
 him, seated him on his right hand, and bestowed upon 
 him a dress of honour. Having proved his own ability 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 229 
 
 and felt his power, he no longer even hesitated to offer 
 him employment and honours. Behr^m, however, 
 wisely reverted to the idea of a pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 He was accordingly honourably conducted to Guzerat, 
 but when about to embark thence for Arabia he was 
 stabbed by an AiFghan, whose father, years before, had 
 been killed by his orders. 
 
 With the removal of Behr^m from office there began 
 the real contest for empire rather than the reign of 
 Akbar. He was then scarcely eighteen years old, but 
 he had been raised in the best of schools — the school of 
 adversity. His personal appearance must have been 
 very prepossessing. He is described as strongly built 
 and handsome, delighting in the chase and manly exer- 
 cises, but never so happy as when an occasion presented 
 itself to indulge in acts of generosity and benevolence. 
 His manners were most fascinating, and he always com- 
 ported himself as a monarch. From prejudices, even 
 from religious prejudices, he was absolutely free. To 
 his love of justice and the means he took to enforce it 
 we shall refer further on. 
 
 His task after the death of Behram was no light 
 one. Even then he was little more than chiefs among 
 his nobles. Succeeding as he did to an empire won by 
 force of arms, there was then no check but the power 
 of the strongest to the action of individual ambition. 
 The idea of services rendered, of personal acts of 
 valour, the consciousness likewise of abilities, all 
 tended to hold out to a man in those days of despotism 
 
230 TUB PRINCIPLES OF AEBAR. 
 
 illimitable visions of power. Akbar thus found that, 
 even in the ranks of his own victorious army, there 
 were men who needed the lesson he had given to Beh- 
 ram before they would be content to acknowledge 
 him as the master whom they were bound to obey. It 
 took him seven years to read them this lesson — so in 
 fact to found his authority that his simple^af should 
 be regarded as a decree that must be carried out. 
 Many were the contests with rebellious nobles and 
 corrupt administrators within that period ; but it was 
 not less the clemency of the king after each victory 
 than his energy, his valour and activity during the 
 campaign, that tended to his ultimate success. Mag- 
 nanimity on the part of a conqueror appeals with 
 irresistible force to those instincts from which there are 
 few natures so base as to be absolutely free. But at 
 the age of twenty-five he was in reality master. Then 
 it was that he determined to attempt the execution of 
 the scheme that had been long maturing in his mind — 
 a scheme prompted by a noble ambition — the desire of 
 consolidating the various kingdoms of Hindustan into 
 one great empire, so governed by sound and equal 
 laws that a contented people would always be ready to 
 rise up as one man against a foreign invader. For 
 such a task there has seldom been born one more quali- 
 fied than Akbar. An instinctive sense of right added 
 to a profound judgment, a liberality based upon the 
 truest kind of charity, a consummate knowledge of 
 character, and a power of influencing others, combined 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 23i 
 
 with activity, courage, and great military ability to fit 
 him for the work of conquering and consolidating an 
 empire. 
 
 The first step was to establish his authority in the 
 territories he had acquired. This, we have seen, he 
 accomplished. The second, to conquer the ancient 
 dominions of the crown — to make them solid, compact, 
 and self-adhering. With this object in view he first 
 turned his arms to the great country of the Kajpoots — 
 Kajpootana — with the rulers of parts of which— notably 
 with the Rajah of Jaipore, who hunself, his son, and his 
 grandson held commands in the imperial army — he was 
 in alliance. Oodypore alone had the hardihood to resist 
 his army. But though Chittore, the then capital, was 
 stormed, the Rana himself, and, after his deaths his 
 gallant son, Hana Pertab, refused submission to, and 
 alliance with, the Emperor. All the other states of 
 Rajpootana, however, recognised his authority. That 
 once recognised, attachment to his person and his 
 dynasty always succeeded. The reason was that his 
 enlightened principles followed in the track of his 
 army. No sooner had opposition to his authority 
 ceased, than the wise laws insuring justice and tolera- 
 tion to all healed the wounds which conquest had 
 opened, and reconciled populations to his sway. He 
 knew no respect of persons. The Hindu had an equal 
 chance with the Mohammedan for the great offices of 
 state. The gorgeous temple stood side by side with 
 
232 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBA±.. 
 
 the graceful mosque — monuments of his toleration. 
 Nay, to sufjh an extent did he carry his wise liberality 
 that when, in pursuance of policy, he married two 
 Eajpoot princesses, the daughters of the Rajahs of Jai- 
 pore and Meywar, he built for their use, within the 
 fort of Agra, an edifice in the style and architecture of 
 the Hindus, adorned with the emblems which they 
 held sacred and suited for the performance of their 
 worship. To avoid, however, giving occasion of offence 
 to his Mohammedan subjects, the building was de- 
 signed so as in its exterior to have all the appearance 
 of a mosque. 
 
 The tone of the government of Akbar at this period, 
 and the manner in which it was regarded by the 
 Hindus themselves, is best illustrated by a letter 
 which one of the princes of Rajpootana addressed to 
 his great-grandson, Aurungzebe, on the occasion of 
 the imposition by the latter of a religious tax — the 
 Jezia, or poll-tax on infidels, which Akbar had 
 abolished. 'Your royal ancestor, Jeellal-ood-deen 
 Akbar,' wrote the Hindu prince, ' whose throne is 
 now in heaven, conducted the affairs of this empire for 
 fifty years with firmness and justice, watching over 
 the tranquillity and happiness of all classes of his 
 subjects, whether they were followers of Jesus, of 
 Moses, or of Mohamed ; whether they were Hindus, 
 or materialists, or believers in accident or chance. 
 All enjoyed, to the same degree, his favour and pro- 
 tection ; and thence it is that the various populations 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAE. 233 
 
 under his rule, in gratitude for his paternal care, have 
 decreed to him the title of " Benefactor of Mankind,'" 
 When we reflect that this letter, written by one of an 
 opposite belief to that of Akbar, was addressed, many- 
 years after his demise, to the bigoted great-grandson 
 in whose eyes it must have appeared the strongest 
 condemnation of his ancestor, we cannot refuse our 
 belief in the genuine feeling which prompted it, or in 
 the reality of the sentiments it ascribes to the great 
 Emperor. Can we too not gleam from it this great 
 lesson, illustrated as it is by the careers of the tolerant 
 great-grandfather and his fanatical descendant — the 
 last of whom imperilled and lost for his descendants 
 by that unyielding fanaticism all that the first had 
 gained for them by his liberality — that the twin 
 sisters, tolerance and charity, are the true foundations 
 on which alone can rest an edifice that is to endure ? 
 
 Most certainly in the case of Akbar this broad and 
 liberal policy bore rich fruits. The admission of 
 Hindus — strangers in race and alien in religion — to 
 the command of his armies, to the government of his 
 provinces, concurrently with Mohammedans, acquired 
 for his government the confidence of the entire Hindu 
 community. To the Eajah of Jaipore, Man Singh, 
 Akbar was indebted for some of his most brilliant 
 triuinphs. It was a Hindu minister, Todar Mull, 
 who introduced that financial system which bears his 
 name. Under his adviCe, Akbar lightened the burdens 
 that weighed upon agriculture ; he abolished the capi- 
 
234 TEE PRINCIPLSS OF AKBAR. 
 
 tation tax upon the Hindus, a tax upon meetings for 
 the performance of religious ceremonies, and very 
 many otlier imposts that pressed more especially upon 
 the poorer portion of the population. But the Emperor 
 did more even than that. Finding that great hardship 
 resulted to the agricultural interests, as well as loss to 
 the revenue, from the absence of a fixed principle upon 
 which to levy the land-tax, he, after the most careful 
 enquiry, took the average of the rates of collection for 
 the ten years between the fifteenth and twenty-fourth 
 year of his reign, and fixed that as a permanent settle- 
 ment for the ten years to come. On all his oflScers he 
 enjoined strict integrity, justice, and consideration. 
 His instructions to his collectors of revenue, on whose 
 judgment and discretion so much was depending, 
 deserve to be recorded : — ' The collector must consider 
 himself (we extract from the Institutes of Akbar, a 
 work compiled under the Emperor's direction by his 
 able minister Abool Fazil) ' the immediate friend of 
 the husbandmen, be diligent in business, and a strict 
 observer of truth, being the representative of the chief 
 magistrate. He must transact his business in a place 
 to which everyone may find easy access, without re- 
 quiring any go-between. . . . His conduct must be 
 such as to give no cause for complaint. He must 
 assist thp needy husbandmen with loans of money, and 
 receive payment at distant and convenient periods. 
 When any village is cultivated to the highest degree 
 of perfection, by the skilful management of the head 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AEBAH. 235 
 
 thereof, there shall be bestowed upon him half a biswah 
 out of every beegah of land, or some other reward pro- 
 portionate to his merit. . . . Let him learn the cha- 
 racter of every husbandman, and be the immediate 
 j)rotector of that class of subjects. . . . Let him pro- 
 mote the cultivation of such articles as will produce 
 general profit and utility, with a view to which, he 
 may allow some remission from the general rate of 
 collection. ... In every instance he must endeavour 
 to act to the satisfaction of the husbandman.' We 
 might make more extracts to the same purport. 
 Throughout his Institutes, indeed, there breathes the 
 same spirit — an emphatic love of justice, a desire for 
 the welfare, not of one particular class only of his 
 subjects, but of the entire people — a determination to 
 lighten, as much as possible, the burden of taxation, 
 to eliminate from it every element of, or excuse for, 
 oppression, thus welding the people into one great 
 family, to each member of which was accorded perfect 
 liberty of conscience, entire freedom of action within 
 the limits of the laws. 
 
 But Akbar's great scheme comprehended some- 
 thing much more than the enforcement of rigid 
 justice, and the assurance of complete tolerance to his 
 subjects. He encouraged literature, the arts, and 
 sciences. Every labour which depended upon intelli- 
 gence met with his full and hearty support. He 
 appears to have felt that the great and certain end of 
 education was to free mankind from every sort of pre- 
 
236 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 judice. His intimate friend Feizi, a Mohammedan, 
 devoted himself to the study of Hindu literature and 
 science, to an enquiry into every branch of the know- 
 ledge of the Brahmins. The same nobleman translated 
 the four Gospels into Persian. Akbar received and 
 honourably treated at his court Christian missionaries. 
 A Christian priest, called Padre Fardbattin, was 
 invited thither expressly to undertake the instruction^ 
 in the Greek language of some Mohammedan youths. 
 Schools of every sort were encouraged, devoted mth 
 admirable impartiality to Hindu and Mohammedan 
 literature, and to these the youth of both religions 
 were invited, to receive ' education according to their 
 circumstances and particular views in life. ' The Court 
 itself was a rendezvous for men famed for their accom- 
 plishments and literary knowledge. 
 
 It was impossible for Akbar, however, to devote, 
 during the first twenty years of his reign, as much 
 leisure as he could wish to the development of the arts 
 and sciences. He had before him that task without 
 which he believed his work — the great work of his 
 lifetime — would be incomplete — the welding into one 
 empire of all the peoples of Hindustan. Many of the 
 earlier years of his reign therefore were spent in war- 
 fare. To enter into the details of this warfare is not 
 necessary for our purpose ; it will suffice if we give 
 only the results. In 1573 he conquered Guzerat. 
 Three years later he proceeded against the descend- 
 ants of the Affghan family of Shir Shah Sur in 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKSAS. 237 
 
 Bengal. Here, after a desperate contest, he succeeded 
 in establishing his government in 1577 ; but it was 
 not till 1592 that he definitely annexed that rich pro- 
 vince to the empire. In the interval he had crushed 
 the rebellion of his brother, Mirza Hakim, in Cabul — 
 extending, as was his wont, on its conclusion, pardon 
 to the revolted prince — and had succeeded in conquer- 
 ing Cashmire, even then known as the Paradise of 
 Hindustan. Soon after he was engaged in a terrible 
 conflict with the inhabitants of the Eusafzie country, 
 who gave him more trouble than all his other oppo- 
 nents. In the course of the campaign his army met 
 with some most severe checks, and several of his most 
 valued oiEcers were slain ; amongst them Kajdh Bir 
 Bal, so well known to posterity for his wit and conver- 
 sational powersi whose loss was severely felt by the 
 Emperor. In the end, these daring mountaineers 
 were humbled, though never absolutely subdued. 
 From 1587 to 1592 he was engaged in establishing 
 his authority in the basin of the Indus, in West 
 Affghanistan and its immediate dependencies. Finally 
 he turned his arms against those kingdoms of the 
 Dekkan which had rejected his overtures and refused 
 to submit to his authority. His lieutenants, however, 
 were handled so severely in this campaign thab the 
 Emperor was compelled, in 1599, to repair in person 
 to the spot ; the fall of Ahmednugger, soon after his 
 arrival, and of Aseergurh some months later, broke 
 up all the plans of the enemy, and enabled the 
 
238 THE PRINCIILES OF AKBAR. 
 
 Emperor to return triumphantly to Agra in the spring 
 of 1601. 
 
 Thus then was completed the outer shell of the 
 Empire of Akbar. All Hindustan, from Cashmire to 
 beyond the Nerbudda, from Assam to the Suleyman 
 range, obeyed his law. With the exception of the 
 Dekkan, his empire may be said to have been consoli- 
 dated in 1592. This monarch, whose justice, whose 
 wisdom, whose care for his people, have passed into a 
 proverb, had then the opportunity for which he had 
 striven so long — the opportunity of so promoting the 
 happiness of his people, of so instructing his nobles, of 
 so clearly demonstrating to all the advantages of his 
 system, that the empire, foimded on a basis so solid, 
 might endure to his latest posterity. 
 
 Undoubtedly he did accomplish great things. An 
 admirable system of justice, a contented population, 
 entire religious freedom, an unstinted support of the 
 arts and sciences, with a view to their being employed 
 for the development of the country, an universal 
 system of education, free and open to all, irrespective 
 of religion or creed ; these were undoubtedly great 
 blessings — blessings which the European nations of 
 that day were far from enjoying. Compare Akbar 
 with his European contemporaries. Compare the 
 enlightened Mohammedan of Hindustan, who shrank 
 from blood and executions, with the sovereigns of our 
 own England, who lived during the same period. 
 Compare him with the ferocious Henry VIII., the 
 
THE PRINCirLES OF AKBAR. 239 
 
 selfish and ambitious regents, Somerset and North- 
 umberland, with bloody Mary ! Contrast the uni- 
 versal tolerance of Hindustan with the fires of 
 Smithfield ! Even Elizabeth herself would suffer by 
 the comparison. The decapitation of Essex stands 
 in no favourable light by the side of the pardon of 
 Behram, while the feeling which prompted the death 
 of the Queen of Scots could never have arisen in the 
 spirit of the man who condoned the rebellion of his 
 brother. Look again at France, for fifty years of the 
 same period under the despicable government of the 
 most contemptible of men — the three last sovereigns 
 of the House of Valois ; at Spain, then the leading 
 state of Europe, crushed and trampled upon by the 
 brutal bigotry of Philip the Second ! What a con- 
 trast do the two names present ! Had the enlightened 
 Akbar succeeded .to the throne of Charles V., who can 
 doubt that that great country would have taken a 
 foremost place in all that nourishes the vitality and 
 tend^ to the advancement of a nation ; that she would 
 never have known the degraded position to which she 
 has now fallen ? 
 
 He must have been no ordinary man who, thus 
 virtually making himself master of Hindustan — for he 
 can scarcely be said to have inherited it — so fashioned 
 his own conduct, so impressed his ideas upon those 
 about him, that he brought it to the pitch of excellence 
 we have described, so greatly, so far greatly, in 
 advance of his European contemporaries. In reading 
 
240 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 the account of the results of his administration, and in 
 perusing those Institutes inspired by his spirit and his 
 genius, it is impossible for us not to give our full 
 and free consent to the opinion already referred to, 
 nor to say, ' Not India only, but every country in 
 the world, should be ruled on the principles of Akbar.' 
 And yet we are forced to admit that the vast fabric 
 which he raised, beautiful in so many points, possessing 
 in itself such varied perfections, wonderful if we regard 
 it, as we ought, as the work of a despotic sovereign 
 three hundred years ago, contained nevertheless within 
 itself the certain germ of failure. We allude not to 
 the vast extent of empire. Adding immensely as this 
 did, especiajly in that rude age, to the difficulty of 
 l^ie ruler, it was not the fatal worm which gnawed 
 at the very root of the mighty fabric. If we admit 
 that the principles of Akbar were based on the soundest 
 ideas of humanity and justice; that he did, indeed, 
 insure the happiness of his subjects ; that he en- 
 couraged institutions which, if persisted in, would have 
 roused their better instincts, we must still admit that 
 there was one thing wanting, and that the want was fatal 
 as well to the excellence as to the success of the 
 system. The fault was this — that he himself was the 
 keystone of the arch which he had raised. Take 
 away the keystone, and all the materials, rich and 
 valuable as they were, lost at once their coherent 
 power. The weak point of the system, in fact, was 
 this-^that everything centred in Akbar ; that though 
 
TSE PlilNCIPLES OF AKBAR. 241 
 
 SO long as he survived to control and carry it out it 
 succeeded admirably, it was liable to succumb and 
 fall witb his demise. In a word, it was not in the 
 power of this Akbar to decree that he should be 
 succeeded by a second Akbar — ^by a man equal to him- 
 self in liberality, in love of justice, in the power of 
 influencing his fellow-men. Granting that his prin- 
 ciples were the principles which the governing power 
 in Hindustan ought always to follow, yet his system 
 provided no security that they would be carried out by 
 his successors. His subjects, in fact, possessed no 
 guarantee, no certainty of belief, that on his death 
 oppression would not take the place of justice, or that 
 liberality and order would not be displaced by bigotry 
 and misrule. It was, as we have said, a system that 
 centred and was bound up in the life of Akbar. 
 
 Some idea of this must have flitted occasionally 
 before the mind of the great sovereign of Hindustan 
 before he quitted the scene in which his own bene- 
 ficence had reaped triumphs and victories so rare. 
 The affection and partiality of a parent could not 
 have entirely blinded his eyes to the vicious pro- 
 pensities of the son who was destined to be his suc- 
 cessor, to whose care he would have to resign those 
 numerous peoples whose material interests he himself 
 had watched so tenderly. More than once a rebel 
 against the paternal authority, pardoned, as Akbar 
 was wont to pardon all enemies, Selim had neverthe- 
 less continued to show such an absolute viciousness of 
 
242 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAM. 
 
 temperament that even his friends could not contem- 
 plate his succession without dismay. "When he ordered 
 a man who had offended him to be flayed alive, to the 
 horror of his father, Akbar might well ask himself 
 whether such a man could fit in. as the keystone of his 
 arch, as the supporter and maintainer of his system. 
 The result showed how fatal was the defect inherent 
 in that system. Although under his immediate suc- 
 cessors, Jehangire and Shah Jehan, the empire which 
 he virtually founded maintained, in a great measure, 
 its outward form of grandeur, yet the government of 
 his great-grandson, the bigoted Aurungzebe — himself 
 in all his conceptions the very opposite of Akbar — 
 dea;lt it a blow from which it sickened and died. We 
 might even go further with respect to its internal 
 advancement. That indeed ceased with Akbar. 
 
 When, therefore, we are told that India ought 
 to be ruled on the principles of Akbar, we ought to 
 beware of confounding the immortal principles which 
 it was his glory to initiate three hundred years ago 
 with the system which, it seems, it was impossible for 
 him to avoid. Though we may admire ever so much 
 those principles, we should take heed ere we called 
 even for an Akbar — -with the system indispensable to 
 an Akbar — to put them into action. Under the cir- 
 cumstances of such a rule, viewed even in its most 
 favourable light, the country may indeed attain tem- 
 porarily to a very high degree of prosperity, its 
 material interests may be well cared for, the intel- 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 243 
 
 lectual life of its people may be fostered and stimulated, 
 but it is impossible that the system can last. Sooner 
 or later the inevitable hour will arrive when sensuality 
 and tyranny take the place of government and just 
 administration to such an extent that the last state of 
 the people becomes even worse than the first. It was 
 the system of which Akbar was but an accident that 
 led to those devastating wars which ravaged India for 
 a hundred years — which impoverished her people, 
 threw her back in the scale of civilisation, until in the 
 beginning of the nineteenth century she was far behind 
 the nations whom she had immeasurably surpassed in 
 the seventeenth. 
 
 Far be it from us to affirm that Akbar himself was 
 responsible for such a result. It was his glory that, 
 in spite of the despotic system which was then inevit- 
 a,ble, he laid the foundations of his government so 
 firmly that, though they were often shaken, sometimes 
 much loosened, his dynasty continued to rest upon 
 them for nearly a hundred and sixty years after his 
 death.* The system, however, is incompatible with 
 human progress. It failed in Europe as much as it 
 failed in Asia. It ruined the Stuarts of England 
 and the Bourbons of Erance. In Hindustan it led by 
 certain steps to the predominance of the strongest and 
 the government of the sword. ' 
 
 Need we contrast such a government with that 
 
 * Elphinstone dates the extinction of the Mogul empire from the 
 third battle of Paniput, in 1761. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE PMINCIPLES OF AKJBAR. 
 
 under which we are all living — -a government which, 
 however it may fall off in some respects, at least offers 
 to the people the material advantages presented by 
 that of Akbar, whilst it is free from the death-warrant of 
 an ephemeral existence ? Is not the certain conviction 
 that such blessings as universal toleration, an equal 
 administration of justice, perfect equality in the eye of 
 the law, a discriminating taxation, are not dependent 
 upon the life of one man, but are fixed and settled 
 institutions which governors cannot arbitrarily alter — 
 is not such a conviction a real boon and a solid conso- 
 lation even to those who would naturally prefer a 
 native dynasty? We know that a very eminent 
 European writer, who, travelling in the disguise of an 
 Asiatic, associated with Asiatics on terms of equality, 
 and who thus came to hear and to learn their real 
 sentiments, has lately told the world that the natives 
 of India would prefer a bad native to the best Euro- 
 pean government. It is possible that ttiis may be so. 
 It is probable, we think, that among the ignorant and 
 the bigoted, the superstitious and the unlettered, some 
 such idea may prevail. But it is impossible that it 
 can have any locus standi amongst those who, avail- 
 ing themselves of the advantages which education 
 has placed within their reach, have studied the history 
 of their country. These cannot but see that a system 
 which requires an Akbar to be its prop possesses no 
 inherent or permanent vitality. It is not every year 
 that an Akbar comes into the world. It is but once 
 
THE PRINCIFLE8 OF AKBAR. 245 
 
 in a thousand years that such a man is born on the 
 footsteps of a throne. Can the advantage of being 
 governed by such a prince, great as he was un- 
 doubtedly, be weighed in the balance against the two 
 centuries of misgovernment that followed his demise ? 
 
 It is not perhaps surprising that those who have 
 had no personal experience of misgovernment, and but 
 little of oppression — who have never suffered from 
 the exactions of military license, or from the ruthless 
 tyranny of court favourites — should point to the reign 
 of Akbar as an indication of the sort of governor 
 which Hindustan,' if left to itself, would produce. But 
 it is impossible to base any sound argument on the 
 administration of but one man out of many. We 
 cannot sever the man from the system. That system 
 gave India Akbar, but it gave it also Aurungzebe, and 
 the successors of Aurungzebe. It is certain that the 
 effect of the measures of Aurungzebe was to loosen 
 the bonds of union which the wisdom and liberality 
 of Akbar had knit together to form his empire. It 
 is too a remarkable fact, and one which we must never 
 lose sight of, tending as it does to show the retrograde 
 and debasing effect of despotism on the human mind, 
 that the bigotry of Aurungzebe endeared him far more 
 to his Mohaminedan co-religionists than did the liberality 
 of Akbar ; and that even in the present day it is the 
 memory of Aurungzebe the persecutor, far more than 
 that of Akbar the beneficent, which Mohammedan 
 writers delight to honour. 
 
246 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 We admit, indeed we glory in admitting, that there 
 was much, very much, in the conduct and the senti- 
 ments of Akbar that is worthy of the earnest attention 
 of the present rulers of Hindustan. Many of his 
 precepts they have already literally followed. In this 
 respect, indeed, they may be regarded as his legiti- 
 mate successors. Far more than any of the native 
 sovereigns who came after him have they endeavoured 
 to emulate his liberality, his toleration, his encourage- 
 ment of education, his hatred of tyranny and oppres- 
 sion. In some respects they may not have acted up 
 to the greatness of his mighty conceptions. An im- 
 partial observer, noting what he did and what they 
 have attempted, could not fail to be struck with the 
 fact that, whereas Akbar was able, within a very short 
 period of his reign, to conciliate the complete con- 
 fidence and regard of his Hindu subjects, those feelings 
 with respect to the English have been but of slow 
 and tardy growth. Nor is this difference to be ex- 
 plained by the assertion that in the case of Akbar 
 it was a native governing natives. Akbar in Hin- 
 dustan was almost as much a foreigner as we are. 
 ' Of all the dynasties that had yet ruled in India,' 
 writes Elphinstone in his account of the reign of 
 Akbar, ' that of Tamerlane was the weakest and most 
 insecure in its foundations. The houses of Ghazni 
 and Ghor depended on their native kingdom which 
 was contiguous to their Indian conquest; and the 
 slave dynasties were supported by the continual in- 
 
THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 247 
 
 flux of their countrymen ; but, though Baber had 
 been in some measure naturalised in Cabul, yet the 
 separation of that country under Camran had broken 
 its connection with India, and the rival of an Affghan 
 dynasty turned the most warlike part of its inhabitants, 
 as well as of the Indian Mussulmans, into enemies. 
 The only adherents of the House of Tamerlane were a 
 hody of adventurers, whose sole bond of union was their 
 common advantage during success.' How was it then 
 that this foreigner, with his body of adventurers to 
 support him, succeeded in that particular point in 
 which we have so generally failed, viz., in conciliating 
 the affection of the people ? We believe that the 
 reason simply was, that he did not give all the offices 
 in the state to that body of adventurers. He had, on 
 the contrary, Hindus to command his armies and to 
 govern his provinces. He made as little distinction on 
 account of nationality as of creed. Had a satrap mis- 
 governed a province in his time, as the late Rajah of 
 Mysore misgoverned Mysore in our own, Akbar would 
 undoubtedly have displaced that Rajah, but he would 
 have sent a Dinkur Rao to succeed him. It would 
 thus have been impossible to misconstrue his motives, 
 or to accuse him of lust of territory or of tyranny. It 
 is true that we profess to be animated by the same 
 motives ; that we declare it to be our sole object to 
 educate the natives of this country to self-government ; 
 it is a fact that by slow but gradual steps they are 
 being admitted to the higher offices of the state. And 
 
248 THE PRINCIPLES OF AKBAR. 
 
 we coBscientiously believe, however it may seem to 
 some who may think our steps too slow, too uncertain, 
 sometimes even retrograde, that this is the real ten- 
 dency of our government. The result depends 
 mainly, if not entirely, on the progress made by the 
 people of Hindustan. We cannot doubt that one 
 great reason which prompted Akbar to confer the high 
 offices of state upon Hindus was on account of the 
 greater ability, the stricter integrity, that they dis- 
 played. But the world is advanced much now since 
 the days of Akbar. The successors of the adventurers 
 who followed Clive are better administrators than the 
 adventurers who followed the son of Humayun. It 
 is for the people of Hindustan to point the moral. Let 
 them show themselves in all things capable ; let them 
 cast aside those prejudices which weigh them down 
 with the weight of ignorant ages ; let them show them- 
 selves as enlightened as the most enlightened monarch 
 of Hindustan, and it is certain that they will then no 
 longer have to complain that India is not, even in this 
 respect, governed on the principles of Akbar. 
 
249 
 
 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 (Whitten in Mabch 1867.) 
 
 Theeb are few who would deny that when, in his 
 romantic interview with Sidonia at the roadside inn, the 
 youthful Coningsby expressed his opinion that the age 
 of adventurers was past, he simply gave utterance to the 
 prevailing sentiment of the age, to a conviction deeply 
 implanted in the minds of the nation of which he was 
 supposed to be a member. Certaitily nine hundred and 
 ninety ^nine men out of every thousand would have been 
 prepared to endorse the remark. Not so, however, 
 with the reply which that observation called forth from 
 Sidonia. The apophthegm that ' adventures are to the 
 adventiirous,' would seem to the prosaic Englishman of 
 the nineteenth century terribly out of date. It would 
 at once take his mind back to the more stirring periods 
 of European history, to the times of tilt and tourna- 
 ment, of Cavalier and Roundhead, or to that last out- 
 burst of poetic enthusiasm — the forty-five. "Were it 
 possible even for his mind to turn to that great Eastern 
 land, in which for so many years the adventurers of 
 Europe found a congenial field, it would only be to 
 reiflect that, with the suppression of European rivals. 
 
250 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 and the establishment on the ruins of the Mogul and 
 Mahratta empires of the order-loving and order- 
 enforcing British authority, the power of individual 
 action must have been greatly compressed, and the 
 chances of ' adventure ' become indeed few and far 
 between. From the majority of our countrymen the 
 reply of Sidonia, therefore, would have met more 
 criticism than approval. 
 
 We are certain, nevertheless, that that reply evinced 
 a profound knowledge of human nature. Adventures 
 are still to the adventurous. The man who is con- 
 tent to spend his energies in amassing wealth, or in 
 purely literary labour, will probably descend to his 
 grave without one incident in his career likely to touch 
 the heart or to rouse the sympathies of a community. 
 It is equally possible that the active duties of an active 
 life may have little effect upon some natures ; that, 
 though placed among stirring scenes, a man may content 
 himself with the bare performance of his duties, with- 
 out caring to step one inch beyond them. Some may 
 not feel the capacity, others not possess the inclination, 
 for adventure. But there are few who have lived 
 many years in India who will deny that, sooner 
 or later, the opportunity for adventure will present 
 itself; that, when it does come, though some may 
 allow it to pass, there are others within whose breasts 
 the old fire of English chivalry still "burns strongly and 
 brightly, and who spring forward eagerly to seize and 
 to use it. The events even of the last ten- years have 
 
Sm VINCENT EYRE. 261 
 
 abundantly proved that adventures are still to the ad- 
 venturous. 
 
 If we were to seek a period during which more than 
 in any other in the last few years the truth of this 
 apophthegm might be illustrated, we should take the 
 period of the Indian mutiny. It would need but a 
 very cursory examination of the history of that period 
 to elicit the fact that the men who had distinguished 
 themselves before, who had shown themselves ad- 
 venturous on former occasions, came forward to a man 
 to increase their previous reputation and' to add to their 
 old honours. We need but mention the names of the 
 Lawrences, of Outram, of Chamberlain, of Mcholson, 
 of Havelock, and of the subject of this sketch^ — amid 
 many others — to show the truth of this assertion. 
 Others again, to whom no opportunity had been 
 granted before, eagerly seized it when it came. The 
 exploits of all of these have never been known, pro- 
 bably never will be known, to the world. Deeds of 
 great coolness and daring, performed under most trying 
 circumstances in isolated places, have been to a certain 
 extent overshadowed by the more striking achieve- 
 ments of the leaders of our armies. To the Govern- 
 ment of India the credit is due that in many, we believe 
 in most, cases, the daring and able men who have so 
 distinguished themselves have been sought out and 
 rewarded. The history of their achievements has, 
 however, to be sought for in the reports -which lie 
 buried in the archives of Government offices. Were 
 
252 SIM VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 these unearthed and examined, and the stories of 
 personal adventure carefully extracted, there is more 
 than one Government servant, now mixing quietly and 
 unostentatiously with his fellows, whom the public 
 would mark out as a hero. 
 
 It is scarcely possible — at least it would require 
 more time and leisure than we have at our command — 
 to seek out the services of such men. The time may, 
 and we hope wiU, come when it may be otherwise. 
 We need scarcely repine at the delay, inasmuch as it 
 affords us the opportunity of presenting to the public 
 a sketch of the career of those whose great deeds are 
 known and acknowledged, but with regard to whose 
 personality — to the promise of which the performance 
 was the fulfilment — the pubKc is in utter ignorance. 
 This is a task which in the case of military men is 
 comparatively easy. Their deeds are written in the 
 public despatches, and in the published journals of 
 contemporaries. The Blue Book is a safe guide to a 
 fair and impartial decision. And, supplemented, as 
 this often is, by personal knowledge and the experience 
 of living comrades, it becomes possible to draw up a 
 narrative at once full, accurate, and connected, without 
 the necessity of diving into the dusty pigeon-holes of 
 record offices. 
 
 Of all the adventurous acts of those stirring years 
 1857 and 1858, there was not one that entailed more 
 responsibility on its projector, that was more prudently 
 yet more daringly conducted, or the failure of which 
 
SIE VINCENT ETRE. 263 
 
 would have produced graver consequences, than the 
 march to the relief of Arrah by Major Vincent Eyre. 
 Its success changed at once the aspect of the cam- 
 paign. To use the words of Sir Cecil Beadon, then 
 Secretary to Government, it ' virtually suppressed 
 rebellion in Shahabad.' ' If acts of devotion to one's 
 country,' wrote Sir James Outram to Major Eyre in 
 1857, ' entitle to the cross, then surely the devotion 
 you displayed at Arrah to your country, and the 
 advantage that resulted to the country from that act, 
 ought to secure it to you of all men.' Yet, although 
 this great achievement is not forgotten, the chief actor 
 in it would seem to have been lost sight of. In the 
 shower of rewards lately poured out, his name at least 
 has not appeared. He himself has retired from the 
 service; his active military career has apparently 
 closed for ever. Still with India, with the victories of 
 1857, with the first great act which checked the 
 success, and dealt a fatal blow to the machinations 
 of the till then triumphant insurgents, must his name 
 ever be connected. If he has not obtained the full 
 meed of reward to which that victory entitled him, the 
 fault is not his. He has still the consolation of feeling 
 that by his bold march and prudent daring he saved 
 the lives of thousands, and enabled the Government, 
 assured by his conduct of the safety of Bengal and 
 Behar, to turn every energy to the suppression of the 
 mutiny in the North-West. We have alluded to the 
 estimate formed of Major Eyre's conduct on that 
 
254 Sm VINCENT ETRE. 
 
 occasion by Sir James Outram. It is, however, in- 
 teresting to know that this was but the crowning act 
 of an adventurous career ; that it was, if we may so 
 speak, the consequence of his antecedents ; that the 
 Eyre of Arrah was but the development of the Eyre 
 of Affghanistan. That our readers may see and judge 
 of this development, that they may note the early 
 promise, matured subsequently by mental training, till 
 opportunity, presenting itself in 1857, was eagerly 
 seized at and used to so great an end, we purpose 
 devoting a few pages to a sketch of his career. 
 
 Vincent Eyre was born on January 22, 1811. He 
 was descended from the Eyres of the Peak, a very old 
 Derbyshire familyj noted for its loyalty to the Crown 
 during revolutionary periods. His direct ancestor, 
 Colonel Thomas Eyre, commanded a body of horse at 
 Marston Moor, and is described in the family records 
 as having thrice encountered Oliver Cromwell in single 
 combat, forcing his retreat, and dying of wounds then 
 received. 
 
 Eyre was educated at the Royal Grammar School, 
 Norwich, under the Rev. Dr. Valpy, of classic fame. 
 Among his school contemporaries who have since 
 become distinguished (though several years his senior 
 in age) were Rajah Brooke of Borneo, Sir Archdale 
 Wilson of Delhi, and the ill-fated Colonel Stoddart of 
 Bokhara. 
 
 In December 1828, having completed his course in 
 the Military College at Addiscombe, he received his 
 
SIR VINCENT EYME. 255 
 
 commission as second lieutenant in the Bengal Artil- 
 lery, and landed in Calcutta on May 21, •1829. 
 Among his fellow- passengers were Dr. Marshman, 
 the great Serampore missionary, and Ensign Lugard, 
 now better known as Sir Edward, the Under-Secretary 
 of War. Lord W. Bentiack was then Governor- 
 General of India, and rigid economy was the order of 
 the day. The fiat had just gone forth for extensive 
 reductions in the Artillery, whereby Eyre found 
 himself, on arrival, a supernumerary on the regi- 
 mental list, with the very dreariest prospects of pro- 
 motion. 
 
 Those were, indeed, depressing times for young 
 oiEcers who felt an interest in their profession. From 
 the close of the first Burmese war and capture of 
 Bhurtpore in 1826 to the beginning of the AflPghan 
 campaign in 1838 — a period of twelve years — there 
 reigned (with a few unimportant exceptions) an in- 
 terregnum of profound peace, during which a cloud 
 of despondency hung over the armies of India. Eco- 
 nomy had, in fact, been carried to a pernicious excess, 
 and operated, along with other causes, with evil.efiect 
 on the esprit de corps of both officers and men. To 
 young officers of ardent temperament a prolonged ad- 
 herence to regimental duty, under such circumstances, 
 seemed little better than an utter stagnation of exist- 
 ence ; hence arose that almost universal longing and 
 striving for staff and civil employ, whereby many 
 regiments came soon to be deprived of their best 
 
256 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 officers, for whose scientific and general attainments 
 a demand had been created by the necessities of the 
 public service in the Revenue Survey and other civil 
 departments of the state. But, although some such 
 tempting opportunities of escape from regimental ennui 
 and thraldom offered themselves to Eyre, he preferred 
 to stick by his corps, finding a sufficiency of useful 
 and profitable occupation in his books and professional 
 pursuits, as well as in watching over the welfare of his 
 European soldiers, a sphere of duty wherein he ever 
 continued to feel a peculiar interest. 
 
 In 1831 it was his good fortune to make the ac- 
 quaintance, afterwards ripening into intimacy, of 
 Henry Lawrence, then a captain of Artillery, and 
 commencing that useful public career which carried 
 him onwards from the humble office of revenue sur- 
 veyor to be Governor-General of India elect. They 
 first H^et at the death-bed of an intimate friend and 
 brother officer, who had been brought up with Law- 
 rence as a foster-brother, and who, had he survived, 
 bade fair to emulate the greatness and goodness of the 
 latter. 
 
 At the close of the same year, while cruising off the 
 Sandheads in a pilot schooner, Eyre had a narrow 
 escape from foundering in a hurricane, the dismasted 
 vessel being lifted, by a happy combination of wind 
 and waves during the spring-tide, over a dangerous 
 reef into deep soundings, just when its destruction had 
 seemed inevitable. 
 
Slli VIKCJENT EYRE. 257 
 
 On promotion to first Lieutenant in 1837, Eyre 
 was posted to the Horse Artillery, with which he 
 served until summoned in 1840 to proceed to Cabul 
 as Commissary of Ordnance, for which post he had 
 been specially recommended by the Commandant of 
 Artillery to Lord Auckland's Government. 
 
 The Affghan war had just passed successfully 
 through its first stage. Our victorious troops held 
 the country they had won, in trust for the legitimate 
 ruler. Shah Shoojah, whom we had reinstated from 
 his exile at Loodiana. A new force, organised by 
 " English officers, was in course of construction, where- 
 with to maintain the puppet king upon his throne, 
 after the contemplated withdrawal of the British army 
 of occupation. The dethroned sovereigi. Dost Maho- 
 med, unable to keep the field against the latter, had 
 surrendered himself to our Envoy at Cabul; and, 
 although occasional signs of discontent and latent dis- 
 affection were still apparent among tribes and amidst 
 localities long characterised by turbulence and misrule, 
 sanguine hopes were entertained that the Affghan 
 nation at large, making a virtue of necessity, would 
 become more and more alive to the advantages of a 
 settled government, under the sovereign we had re- 
 stored to them, and of a permanent alliance with so 
 powerful a neighbour as British India. 
 
 As every petty chief in Affghanistan possessed his 
 fortified stronghold, consisting usually of four lofty 
 and substantial mud walls, flanked by strong bastions, 
 
 s 
 
258 SIE riNCBNT EYRE. 
 
 well-pierced with loopholes for marksmen, and capahle 
 of resisting field artillery, it was deemed advisable to 
 maintain always in readiness for immediate service, in 
 the chief arsenal at Cabul, a small movable siege- 
 train of iron 9-pounder guns for breaching purposes. 
 These, together with mortars, ammunition, and mis- 
 cellaneous military stores, carried on half a hundred 
 wheeled-carriages, a thousand camels, and eighteen 
 elephants, constituted Eyre's charge on the line of 
 march from Ferozepore to Cabul, his escort consisting 
 of a regiment of native infantry, and a detachment of 
 Her Majesty's 13th Foot. Accompanying the convoy 
 were General Elphinstone, proceeding to take up his 
 command of the troops in Affghanistan, and sundry 
 officers of his staff, including the since famous Henry 
 Havelock, just appointed Persian Interpreter. 
 
 Ferozepore was at that time our most advanced 
 military station in the North- West, and Henry Law- 
 rence, as political officer in the Cis-Sutlej States, made 
 it his head- quarters. He was assuredly the right man 
 in the right place for such a crisis as was then at hand, 
 and had recently given evidence in an admirably 
 written tale, entitled ' The Adventurer in the Punjaub,' 
 not only of high literary ability, but also of a practical 
 insight into the character of our Sikh neighbours, 
 which was just then as rare as it was valuable, and 
 which he was fortunately in a position to turn to the 
 best account. Eyre obtained from him much useful 
 information for future guidance, and lieard him for the 
 
SIS VINCENT BYEE. 259-' 
 
 first time broach that great scheme for establishino- an 
 asylum in the hills for the children of British soldiers, 
 with which the name of Lawrence has since become 
 enduring] y associated. 
 
 The Punjaub territory, across which Eyre's route 
 lay, had changed rulers five times within the past 
 eighteen months; only one month having elapsed since 
 the seizure of power by the existing usurper. Shir 
 Singh, an illegitimate son of the famous old lion, Run- 
 jeet, A large and formidable disciplined army of Sikh 
 soldiers, backed by a powerful artillery, occupied the 
 neutral ground between the British force in AfFghan- 
 istan and its basis of operations in North-Western 
 India; but, fortunately for us, that army, although 
 ambitious in the highest degree to try conclusions with 
 the British, was just then too busily occupied with its 
 own domestic quarrels to avail itself of the tempting 
 opportunity to obstruct our line of communications. 
 
 Nevertheless, the false and hazardous nature of our 
 military position beyond the Indus was becoming 
 daily more and more evident to the most ordinary 
 observers, nor was it without serious forebodings of 
 coming disaster that men saw the command of our 
 forces in that quarter handed over to a crippled sexa- 
 genarian officer, who had been thirty years out of 
 employ, and whose corporeal infirmities alone, what- 
 ever might be his supposed qualifications, so palpably 
 unfitted him for a post requiring the fulness of men- 
 tal and bodily vigour. It is but fair to admit that 
 
 s 2 
 
260 SIS VINCENT EYME. 
 
 General Elphinstone was a chivalrous and high-minded 
 gentleman, possessed of many very excellent qualities 
 of head and heart, which, if called prominently into 
 play at an early period of Ms life, might have secured 
 him a career of honour and renown. It was, however, 
 his evil destiny to prove himself the Sabinus of the 
 British army in Affghanistan, while it was reserved 
 for Mahomed Akbar Khan, the fugitive son of the de- 
 posed ruler, to enact to the very life the part of 
 Ambionix, the Gaul, as described by Caesar 'De Bello 
 Gallico V.,' and very recently by his Imperial bio- 
 grapher, Napoleon III., in book III., chapter viii., of 
 his ' Life of Csesar.' 
 
 Passing the deposed Amir, Dost Mahomed Khan, 
 en route to his place of exile in Calcutta, the convoy 
 reached Cabul on April 28, without misadventure, 
 though the difficulty attendant on the transit of heavy 
 iron siege-guns and their impedimenta, through a long 
 succession of rugged mountain passes, possessing no 
 regular carriage-road, imposed no trifling amount of 
 exertion and fatigue on the troops, who were obliged 
 to bring manual labour to the task wherever the 
 narrow defiles proved so precipitous as to be insur- 
 mountable for draught cattle. 
 
 The new career upon which Eyre now entered, in a 
 country so full of interest as Affghanistan, possessing 
 the advantage of an European climate, and peopled by 
 races whose sturdy independence of manner and of 
 character offered an attractive contrast to those of 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 261 
 
 India, was hailed by him as a most agreeable escape 
 from the heat and monotony of the latter country. 
 Many of his most cherished friends had preceded him 
 thither, and were holding posts of trust and responsi- 
 bility. Among them were d'Arcy Todd, the envoy at 
 Heerat ; Colonel Stoddart, at Bokhara ; Arthur 
 ConoUy, at Kokan ; and Richard Maule, in Kohistan. 
 The latter was the first to welcome him at Cabul, 
 having ridden seventy-five miles for that purpose 
 through a wild and unsettled country, disguised as an 
 Affghan. Maule and Eyre had been friends from 
 early boyhood, had passed through Addiscombe to- 
 gether, and had been shipmates to India. When 
 Eyre planned a house for himself at Cabul, he arranged 
 that one select corner of it should be set apart as 
 ' Maule's room,' to be ever available for his friend on 
 the shortest notice. In building this house Eyre's 
 chief difficulty had been to find qualified masons for 
 the purpose; that class being monopolised by the 
 Department of Public Works for Government pur- 
 poses, Ojc day, however, to Eyre's surprise, a 
 common kitciten servant, who had accompanied him 
 from India, volunteered his services as head mason, 
 and promised to provide competent builders among 
 the Indian camp-followers, if intrusted with the super- 
 intendence of the work. Eyre consented to give him 
 a trial, and the arrangement turned out a perfect 
 success. Before winter set in the house was fit to in- 
 habit, and was admitted to be one of the best built in 
 
262 SIS. VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 Cabul. Yet, among the whole of these volunteer 
 masons, hardly a man had been bred to that particular 
 work, an example of the natural versatility of our 
 Hindu subjects when encouraged by circumstances to 
 shake off, for the nonce, the trammels of caste and 
 custom. 
 
 About this time news reached Cabul from Bokhara 
 that Eyre's old school-fellow. Colonel Stoddart, who 
 had proceeded thither from Persia on a mission of 
 mercy to mediate with the king for the release of 
 Russian captives, and had, by his plain speaking, 
 excited the anger of that capricious tyrant, had con- 
 trived to make his peace, and been restored to liberty 
 and outward favour. Sir W. Macnaghten was anxious 
 that he should avail himself of this favoui'able oppor- 
 tunity to escape from so hazardous a position; but 
 Stoddart felt honourable scruples about leaving his 
 post without direct instructions from the English 
 Foreign Office to which he owed primary allegiance. 
 Puring this propitious interval. Eyre found means, 
 through a Jewish Moollah of Cabul, to open a corre- 
 spondence with his early friend, who replied in a 
 cheerful strain, confident that the long hoped-for 
 letter of recall would soon arrive to enable him to 
 depart with honour from the scene where he had al- 
 ready suffered so much, and where he was destined 
 soon to yield up his life. 
 
 As chief of the Ordnance Commissariat in Affghan- 
 ista'n, the responsibility devolved on Eyre of providing 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRH. 263 
 
 and maintaining a sufficient supply of the material of 
 war for the efficient equipment, on a war footing, of 
 the British army of occupation and of the Shah's local 
 forces. The chief arsenal was in course of erection at 
 Cabul, on a spot which had been selected hy the au- 
 thorities, before Eyre's arrival, in a small fortified 
 enclosure adjoining the entrenched cantonment ; whilst 
 dependent upon it for supplies of guns, ammunition, 
 small arms, tools, implements, camp equipage, and 
 miscellaneous articles of equipment, were the garrisons 
 of Candahar, Ghuznee, Jellalabad, Kelat-i-Gilzee, and 
 their respective outposts. The Delhi magazine, 800 
 miles distant, being the nearest source of supply, and 
 itself mainly dependent on the arsenal of Port William, 
 900 miles farther, the expense of transport on camels 
 of such heavy articles as shot, shell, and small arm 
 ammunition, was prodigious, and contributed to render 
 war in that distant region a most ruinous pastime. 
 
 Moreover, as our forces in Affghanistan were liable 
 at any time to find themselves cut off by the Sikhs from 
 their base of operations in India, it was desirable to 
 make provision for such a crisis by storing up in the 
 Cabul arsenal a large reserve supply, calculated for, 
 at least, two years' consumption. -The country itself 
 could be depended on to yield but little in the shape 
 of a local supply of military stores, although Eyre's 
 attention was, from an early period, directed to ascer- 
 taining its capabilities in that respect, urged thereto, on 
 the score of economy, by repeated letters from the 
 
204 SIR VINCENT EYIIE. 
 
 ^Military Board of Fort "William. Eyre accordingly 
 spared no pains to make himself acquainted with the 
 natural resources of the country, and to render them 
 available for the military requirements of the State,, 
 bat his labours in that direction were curtailed, and 
 all difficulties solved in a manner not less summary 
 than unexpected. 
 
 On November 2, 1841, the Cabul insurrection burst 
 forth with the suddenness of a volcano, though not 
 without the usual premonitory symptoms of such 
 catastrophes; but the tale is too well known to need 
 repetition. The delay, however, of one week, or even 
 of one day, might have made a wonderful difference 
 in th.e results which followed ; for November 3 had 
 been fixed for the departure of the envoy to take up 
 his new appointment as Governor of Bombay, and 
 General Elphinstone, who had tendered the resignation 
 of his command, was to have accompanied him. In 
 such case tlie chief political authority would have de- 
 volved on Sir A. Burnes, who would have immediately 
 occupied the Residency, and have thus escaped assassi- 
 nation in the city where he had fixed his abode ; whilst 
 Brigadier Shelton would have succeeded, as senior 
 officer, to the temporary command of the troops ; and 
 both men were better qualified to shine as principals 
 than as seconds in their respective spheres of action. 
 The youthful fervour and ambitious spirit of Burnes 
 liad chafed with ill-disguised impatience under the 
 control to which he had so long been subjected, and it 
 
Sm VINCENT EYRE. 265 
 
 was believed by his friends that he merely bided his 
 time to remedy much that he viewed with disappro- 
 bation both in the policy and practice recently pursued, 
 and whereof he had been an unwilling, though neces- 
 sary, agent. Shelton, with all his faults of temper, 
 was undoubtedly a brave, skilful, and energetic officer, 
 and would probably have acted with that promptitude 
 and decision, the want of which in poor Elphinstone 
 led to such disastrous results. What a field for useless 
 conjecture is presented by the supposed contingency 
 of just a few hours' delay in the outbreak, and the 
 altered consequences to Central Asian politics and to 
 British Indian history of a successful stand at Cabul 
 and a suppression of the insurrection ! 
 
 But it was otherwise ordered. The crisis found us 
 utterly unprepared. Mars was reposing on his laurels, 
 unconscious of the net that had secretly been cast 
 around him. An early winter of unusual severity had 
 set in, and, in all the fancied security of external peace 
 and a submissive, if not friendly, population around 
 him, the envoy had denuded Cabul of his best troops. 
 These, under the gallant Sale, had started for their 
 winter quarters at Jellalabad, with what seemed the 
 easy tasli before them of punishing, ew route, some re- 
 fractory Gilzies who had occupied the Khoord Cabul 
 pass, as their best mode of protesting against what 
 they, perhaps truly, deemed an act of injustice, 
 whereby they had been deprived of their customary 
 stipends as keepers of the Eastern passes — a measure 
 
266 SlJi VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 of unwise economy to which the envoy had been driven 
 by the repeated calls of the Indian Government to re- 
 trench expenditure. 
 
 Sale encountered a" more vigorous opposition than 
 he had expected, but forced the j)asses, and, having 
 patched up a hollow truce with the Gilzies, eventually 
 lodged his troops in safety behind the walls of Jella- 
 labad ; not however without an effort of General 
 Elphinstone to recall him to Cabul, where his aid had 
 meanwhile become urgently needed. But it was too 
 late, for, encouraged by the outbreak at the capital, 
 the whole country had risen in arms. 
 
 On receiving the order of recall. Sale summoned a 
 council of war at Gundamuck, who decided that a 
 return through the passes under existing circumstances 
 was impracticable, and poor Elphinstone was left to 
 battle with the difficulties of his position as best he 
 could. 
 
 These were increased tenfold by the appalling fact 
 that no sufficient supply of provisions had yet been laid 
 in, and that even the existing supply was stored in a 
 detached fort, affording no secure shelter, being open 
 to attack from neighbouring strongholds, and difficult to 
 defend as an outpost against the overwhelming num- 
 bers that suddenly threatened the entrenched canton- 
 ment on all sides. Still further to complicate the 
 poor General's embarrassments, while yet in doubt as 
 to the possibility of successfully maintaining his own 
 position, which combined all imaginable disadvantages 
 
SIB VINCENT BYMi:. 267 
 
 for defence in such an emergency, he was called upon 
 to divide his force for the protection of the king, who 
 occupied the Bala Hissar, or royal citadel, about 
 two miles distant ; and thus it happened that Captain 
 Nicholl, the senior artillery officer at Cabul, and who 
 commanded the noble old 1st Troop 1st Brigade of 
 Bengal Horse ArtUlery, got separated with four of 
 his guns and two-thirds of his men from the maia 
 force in the cantonment, where officers, men, and guns 
 were most cruelly needed. His senior subaltern. 
 Lieutenant Waller, remained in the latter with two 
 guns, but being disabled by a severe wound in the very 
 first day's'fight, the onus of artillery command devolved 
 upon Eyre, who thenceforth took the lead in all active 
 operations of that arm, both in the field and around the 
 extensive lines of defence ; his only available subaltern 
 being Lieutenant Warburton, commanding the Shah's 
 Native Artillery, consisting of 80 Punjaubees, of doubt- 
 ful fidelity. These men, with the exception of about 
 3X) English Horse Artillery gunners belonging to 
 "Waller's field guns, constituted the whole artillery 
 force for defending an enceinte comprised within 4,000 
 yards of low parapet. 
 
 Heretofore, anticipating no enemy, no guns had 
 been mounted on the works ; but not a moment was 
 now lost by Eyre in placing every available gun ii 
 the best flanking position, ready for immediate service. 
 The six iron 9 pounders,. which had accompanied him 
 from Delhi, now came into most opportune usCj and, 
 
268 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 together with three 24-pounder field-howitzers, one 
 12-pounder ditto, and three 5|- inch mortars, formed 
 the entire artillery reserve at hand. Henceforward, 
 Eyre scarcely knew what it was to rest. Day and 
 night, his whole time was actively occupied, either in 
 superintending the fire of the batteries, or in regulating 
 the duties of his own department, which had now be- 
 come excessively heavy, or in heading the two Horse 
 Artillery guns in the numerous sallies against the 
 enemy. It was necessary that he should be literally 
 ubiquitous ; and, so far as the issues of the struggle 
 depended on the artillery, there was assuredly no cause 
 for despondency. 
 
 The insurrection was inaugurated, as usual, on such 
 occasions, with murders and assassinations on all sides. 
 Isolated British officers, political and military, were 
 the first victims. Burnes, Broadfoot, Rattray, and 
 Maule fell at their respective posts during November 
 2 and 3. Eyre felt Maule's death most keenly, for 
 they had been almost as brothers from boyhood. Colin 
 Mackenzie, then a Captain and Assistant Political, 
 narrowly escaped a similar fate, but, aided by a small 
 native guard, he heroically defended his quarters in 
 the heart of the city against an armed multitude, until 
 the night of the 3rd, when, seeing no hope of relief, 
 he succeeded, by a marvel, in withdrawing to can- 
 tonments with the greater part of his men, and was 
 thus spared to bear a conspicuous part in the coming 
 struggle. 
 
Sm VIKCENT EYRE 2ti9 
 
 Looking back on those eventful times, when the 
 name of Colin Mackenzie first became familiar as a 
 household word to Englishmen, and recollecting his 
 varied claims to notice as a soldier, linguist, and an 
 Indian diplomatist of the genuine heroic type, and 
 how favourably his nobility of character and chivalrous 
 bearing impressed all, even the Affghans, with whom 
 he came in contact, we cannot but marvel and lament 
 that a man of his mark, so obviously qualified for 
 high political employ among impressible oriental races, 
 should have fallen short of that eminence, for which, 
 in early life, he seemed so surely destined. 
 
 Nothing, perhaps, testifies more clearly to the craft 
 wherewith the people of Cabul had succeeded in lulling 
 the British with a false security, than the unsuspect- 
 ing manner in which, up to the very last, so many of 
 our public officials had domesticated themselves in the 
 heart of that city. But it is probable that all their 
 efforts to dislodge the British army from its entrenched 
 position would have been as unsuccessful there as at 
 Candahar and Jellalabad, but for the early loss .of the 
 Commissariat fort, vyith its whole stock of provisions, 
 on which the troops were well known to be dependent. 
 Eyre, in his narrative of military operations at Cabul, 
 fully describes the blunders and mishaps through which 
 this important post was sacrificed, and adds : — 
 
 ' It is beyond a doubt that our feeble and ineffectual 
 defence of this post, and the valuable booty it yielded, 
 was the first fatal blow to our supremacy at Cabul, and 
 
270 SIR VINCENT BYRE. 
 
 at once determined those chiefs, more particularly the 
 Kuzzilbashes, who had hitherto remained neutral, to 
 join in the general combination to drive us from the 
 country.* 
 
 It is unnecessary that we should dwell upon the de- 
 tails of the desperate struggle of our troops to maintain 
 their position after the failure of their supplies, further 
 than they serve to illustrate the subject of our memoir. 
 Mere passive resistance to the attacking foe was now 
 out of the question. In order to eat, it was necessary 
 to sally forth and fight day by day. Wherever rations 
 for man and beast were likely to be found within 
 reasonable bounds, thither a raid was directed, and 
 generally with a successful result. Bat, inasmuch as 
 such stores were invariably laidfip in fortified strong- 
 holds ivith lofty mud waHls and flanking bastions pierced 
 for musketry, and courageously defended by excellent 
 marksmen, these adventurous expeditions, even when 
 most successful, were fruitful of disaster, in the loss of 
 valuable lives they occasioned. 
 
 Some of those forts required to be breached with 
 Eyre's iron guns before an entrance could be effected, 
 and his gunners were often shot down in battery by an 
 unseen foe while so employed. On several occasions 
 the enemy turned out in immense force to oppose the 
 troops on the open plain, when Eyre invariably volun- 
 teered to lead the two Horss Artillery guns into ac- 
 tion, and contributed his full share to the successes 
 then gained — successes which, had the final' issue of 
 
SIE VINCENT EYRE. 271 
 
 the struggle been equally trlumpbant, would perhaps 
 have been deemed worthy of record among the brilliant 
 deeds of British arms in the East. 
 
 Subsequently, when General Pollock re-conquered 
 Cabul, his chief engineer (now Sir Frederic Abbot) 
 niinutely surveyed the scene of operations, and thus 
 reported thereupon to Government : ' One glance at 
 the accompanying plan is sufficient to show the extreme 
 faultiness of the position. The cantonment appears to 
 have been purposely surrounded by difficulties ; indeed, 
 a stranger might suppose that many of the mud-forts, 
 approaching so closely to the walls, must have been 
 built for the express purpose of besieging it.' 
 
 At length, on November 22, while assisting with 
 some artillery to drf^B^the enemy out of the walled 
 village of Beymaroo, whence s^ipplies had often been 
 obtained, Eyre was severely wounded by a rifle ball, 
 and disabled from further service in the field. On the 
 following day occurred a serious disaster to our arms, 
 which proved decisive of the fate of the Cabul force. 
 Brigadier Shelton, after failing in an attempt to dis- 
 lodge the enemy, who had turned up in great force on 
 the neighbotiring heights of Beymaroo (which position 
 commanded the cantonment), found himself compelled 
 to make a movement of retreat, leaving one gun in 
 their hands. This, however, was soon re-captured by 
 a party of our troops who gallantly rallied for the pur- 
 pose, and had reinforcements been then promptly 
 poured out from cantonments, the day might have been 
 
272 SIR VIXCENT EYRE. 
 
 retrievecl ; but, unhappily, no such vigour being dis- 
 played, the enemy returned to the charge in increased 
 numbers, and with renewed energy ; a prolonged and 
 desperate conflict ensued, and our troops, finding them- 
 selves exposed to a deadly fire from concealed skir- 
 mishers, suddenly lost confidence, broke their ranks, 
 and fell back in disorder down the hill, dui-ing which 
 movement the unlucky Horse Artillery gun, being 
 overturned on rough ground, was abandoned to its 
 fate, and the Afi^ghans obtained a fatal triumph. 
 
 Meanwhile, Eyre lay stretched, helpless and anxious, 
 on his bed. It was the first time that the guns had 
 eone into action without an officer at their head. On 
 that day Serjeant Mulhall, a trusty and skilful subor- 
 dinate, commanded them in the field, as the presence 
 of Lieutenant Warburton was necessary within the 
 lines to keep due control over his native artillerymen, 
 as well as to direct the fire kept up from the guns in 
 position. As the tide of battle swayed to and fro. 
 Eyre could distinctly hear the defiant and often exul- 
 tant shouts of the AflFghans, sometimes approaching so 
 near as to excite intense uneasiness. The troops had 
 been absent from 2 a.m. till 1 P.M. About this time 
 the door of Eyre's room flew open, and Colin Macken- 
 zie rushed in, his pale and haggard look sufficiently 
 announcing a tale of disaster. His faint and exhausted 
 appearance excited apprehensions that he must be 
 wounded, and, on opening his coat, a bullet dropped 
 out, which had struck his shoulder, fortunately without 
 
SIR VIl^CENT EYRE. 273 
 
 penetrating the bone, thougli he felt its effects for 
 several days. Eyre afterwards learned from eye- 
 witnesses of the scene how bravely his friend had 
 acquitted himself throughout the trying scenes of the 
 day. But for further particulars we must refer to the 
 sixth chapter of Eyre's book, wherein he has endea- 
 voured to render justice to all concerned. His criti- 
 cisms on the battle are unfavourable to the tactics of 
 Brigadier Shelton, and seem to represent faithfully the 
 general impression produced on those present, and to 
 be borne out by the acknowledged principles of modern 
 warfare. But, however that may be, it must be ad- 
 mitted that the brigadier was inadequately supported 
 during the crisis of the action, when a prompt despatch 
 of reserve troops from the entrenchment might have 
 turned the tide in his favour, and that he cannot justly 
 be held responsible for a failure which he strove so 
 bravely, though ineffectually, to avert. 
 
 But, despite of this disastrous check to British arms, 
 the troops might doubtless have held fast their position 
 through the winter, save for the ever-pressing neces- 
 sity of taking active offensive measures to procure 
 supplies. Hence arose the important question whether 
 to abandon the entrenchment and occupy the Bala 
 Hissar with the king, or to enter into negotiations 
 with the Affghan chiefs for a safe retreat from their 
 country under the most favourable terms procurable. 
 Unfortunately, the latter alternative was adopted. 
 The impossibility of providing for the safe transport of 
 
274 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 the sick and wounded naturally operated as a bar to 
 the bolder though desperate course, which had been 
 more than once suggested, of a winter retreat, at all 
 hazards, through the passes of Jellalabad. 
 
 Accordingly, on December 11, the British envoy, 
 accompanied by his three assistants, George Lawrence, 
 Colin Mackenzie, and Trevor, sallied forth, in accord- 
 ance with a previous arrangement, to meet the leading 
 chiefs on the open plain. Pre-eminent among the 
 latter was Mahomed Akbar Khan, son- of the deposed 
 ruler — a man of fierce though noble aspect, and of a 
 resolute but crafty spirit, naturally embittered against 
 the English, who had driven himself and family into 
 exile, and who at that moment held his father and wife 
 as hostages in Hindostan. 
 
 The meeting, though sufficiently discordant in its 
 elements, passed off amicably, and the terms of a treaty 
 were agreed upon, whereby the envoy bound his 
 Government to withdraw entirely from Affghanistan, 
 and to restore the banished Amir, the first step to 
 its fulfilment being the suspension of hostilities, and the 
 immediate withdrawal of the detachment of British 
 troops from the Bala Hissar. The latter measure was 
 accordingly effected on December 13 and 14, though 
 not without some manifestation of treachery on the 
 part of the chiefs, and some consequent loss of life. 
 
 The chiefs next demanded the immediate evacuation 
 of all the forts around the cantonment garrisoned by 
 the British. Most of these had been secured with a 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 2TB ■ 
 
 heavy sacrifice of valuable lives, but were now surren- 
 dered for the sake of obtaining, in return for the sacri- 
 fice, a prompt supply of provisions, which had become 
 most urgently needed by the famishing troops and 
 camp-followers. 
 
 On the 22nd affairs took a new turn. Mahomed 
 Akbar made secret proposals to the envoy, which 
 seemed to offer a tempting door of escape from present 
 difficulties and from further humiliations. The chiefs 
 had already shown a disposition to evade some of the 
 conditions of the treaty, and to impose others still 
 harder of acceptance, and the aspect of affairs seemed 
 altogether so desperate that the envoy was beguiled 
 into acceding to a private interview with Mahomed 
 Akbar for the purpose of arranging a scheme, whereby 
 he hoped to sow division among his enemies, and re- 
 trieve past misfortunes. The sequel is well known. 
 The unhappy envoy was entrapped, and assassinated 
 by Mahomed Akbar's own hand, on the very scene of 
 the interview, and almost within sight of the garrison. 
 Lawrence, Mackenzie, and Trevor were carried off to 
 the city — which the latter did not reach alive, being 
 cut down by some of the fanatics who thronged the 
 road — and thus terminated this ill-omened attempt to 
 outwit the wily chiefs of Cabul. The final catastrophe 
 was fast drawing nigh. 
 
 Sir William Macnaghten had exercised special powers 
 which died with him. Eldred Pottinger, the hero of 
 Herat, was the next senior surviving political oflBcer,' 
 
 T 2 
 
376 SIM VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 and, therefore, the responsible head of the mission. 
 At the general's urgent desire he reluctantly consen- 
 ted to become the medium of communication with the 
 treacherous chiefs, although still disabled from, a severe 
 wound received at Charakar at the beginning of the 
 insurrection. Eyre devotes an interesting chapter to 
 the heroic defence of that outpost, and to the adven- 
 turous escape of Pottinger and Haughton, both ot 
 vrhom, though grievously maimed and crippled by 
 wounds, contrived to make their way safely to head- 
 quarters through 130 miles of a rugged and hostile 
 country. On arrival in cantonments they were taken 
 by Eyre to his own house, and carefully tended through- 
 out the remainder of the struggle. 
 
 Notwithstanding what had so recently occurred, 
 negotiations were renewed with the chiefs, who de- 
 manded fresh hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty. 
 Pottinger in vain protested against any treaty what- 
 ever. A council of war decided that no other course 
 remained. What followed is too remarkable to omit. 
 Four married hostages, with their wives and children, 
 having been required by the chiefs, certain officers 
 were invited in an official circular to undertake the 
 risk. The following were the replies, as given by 
 Lady Sale, in her Journal : ' Lieutenant Eyre said, it 
 it was to be productive of great good, he would stay, 
 with his wife and child. The others all refused to risk 
 the safety of their families. One said he would rather 
 put a pistol to his wife's head and shoot her; and 
 
SIB VINCENT ' EYRS. 277 
 
 another that his wife should only be taken at the point 
 of the bayonet ; for himself he was ready to perform 
 any duty imposed on him.' 
 
 On this passage the ' Naval and Military Gazette * 
 thus commented : ' Channing, in his eloquent and 
 philosophic analysis of the character of Napoleon, has 
 felicitously defined three orders of greatness, in the 
 last of which he assigns a place to the great conqueror 
 of Europe. Following the spirit of that great thinker, 
 we cannot but recognise in Lieutenant Eyre's noble 
 reply a higher tone of feeling than can be traced in 
 the answers of either of his gallant comrades. There- 
 fore, while we may award to the latter niches In the 
 same order with Napoleon, our acquiescence in the sen- 
 timents of Dr. Channing leads us to hail in Lieutenant 
 Eyre's conduct on this occasion the lineaments of that 
 Jirst order — moral greatness — through which the soul 
 defies all peril, reposes an unfaltering trust in God in 
 the darkest hour, and is ever ready to be offered upon 
 the altar of his country or of mankind.' 
 
 Then came the retreat, with its attendant horrors, 
 rivalling those experienced by the French in their 
 winter march froni Moscow. Eyre's wound was still 
 intensely painful, and incajjacitated him from mounting 
 a horse without assistance. To quote his own words : 
 ' Deep snow covered every inch of mountain and 
 plain with one unspotted sheet of dazzling white, and 
 so intensely bitter was the cold as to penetrate and 
 defy the defences of the warmest clothing.' The ther* 
 
278 sm VINCENT EYRK 
 
 mometer stood at several degrees below zero ; and men's 
 beards were coated with icicles. There was a mingled 
 multitude of 4,500 fighting-men (including 700 Euro- 
 pean soldiers) and 12,000 native camp-followers, with 
 their women and children. Their route lay through the 
 Khoord Cabul pass, * a truly formidable defile, about 
 five miles from end to end, shut in by lofty hills, 
 between whose precipitous sides the sun, at this season, 
 could dart but a momentary ray.' There, half con- 
 cealed behind rocks and bushes, eager hordes of armed 
 Gilzies lay in ambush for their prey. The scene that 
 ensued may be more easily imagined than described. 
 The treachery of the chiefs was but too evident. 
 Perched securely on high, the foe defied all attempts 
 to silence or dislodge them. It was necessary to run 
 the gauntlet of their fire ; and not less than 3,000 souls 
 perished in the attempt. 
 
 Eyre and his family, consisting of wife and a little 
 boy, emerged safely from the gorge ; the latter, being 
 strapped to the back of a faithful Affghan servant on 
 horseback, had a very narrow escape, owing to the 
 horse falling and throwing them both oiF when in the 
 very middle of the pass. To crown the misfortunes of 
 the day, snow began to fall, and thousands had to pass 
 the night without shelter, food, or fire. Only four 
 small tents were saved, under which some of the 
 women, children, and wounded found refuge. Eyre and 
 Lieutenant Mein sat up all night in attendance on 
 their dying friend Sturt, of the Engineers, who had 
 
SIM VINCENT EYRE. 279 
 
 been mortally wounded in the pass. At her husband's 
 side his youthful bride also kept watch with them. 
 She was the daughter of the gallant Sale, and well 
 worthy of such a sire. To assuage Sturt's burning 
 thirst, Eyre and Mein were obliged to wander, alter- 
 nately, through the camp in search of fire to melt a 
 cupful of snow, and often before they could regain the 
 tent the contents had frozen again into a hard mass. 
 Sturt did not survive the night, and was buried at 
 early dawn. Mein's disinterested devotion, to- his 
 wounded friend in hurrying back to save him at the 
 risk of his own life, and dragging him through the pass 
 under the enemy's fire, was justly extolled by Sir 
 Kobert Peel in Parliament, who quoted the scene 
 verbatim from Eyre's book. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mahomed Akbar, like a vulture watch- 
 ing his prey, scanned every movement of the force 
 from the neighbouring heights. Shortly after the 
 retreat commenced, he had demanded that Pottinger 
 and two other officers should be given up as hostages, 
 and prompt compliance had been yielded. B.ut still 
 he was not satisfied. The ladies, married families, and 
 wounded officers were next required to be made over 
 to his care, an assurance being given to the general, 
 that by such a mark of confidence alone co^'ld the 
 chiefs be induced to provide for the wants of the 
 force, and to restrain their followers from acts of 
 hostility^ 
 
 The general himself, in a memorandum which he 
 
280 SIS VINCENT EYJRE. 
 
 subsequently drew up, thus explains his own motives : 
 ' I complied with his wish, hoping that as, from the 
 very commencement of negotiations, the sirdar had 
 shown the greatest anxiety to have the married people 
 as hostages, this mark of trust might elicit a corre- 
 sponding feeling in him.' 
 
 Eyre, on receiving a verbal order to prepare for the 
 departure of himself and family, sought the general, 
 in order to hear it from his own lips. The poor 
 general was greatly distressed, but, warmly pressing 
 his hand, urged him to mount and be off, as the escort 
 sent by Mahomed Akbar was impatient to start ; so 
 there seemed to be no alternative. Mahomed Akbar, 
 although suspected of treachery, was then professedly 
 our ally, with whom a treaty existed. Hostilities were 
 therefore at end, so far as he was concerned. It was 
 pretended, on his behalf, that the Gilzie chiefs on the 
 previous day exerted themselves in vain to restrain 
 their followers. Captain Nicholl now commanded the 
 artillery in person, and Eyre felt that his own presence 
 could no longer be of any service to the force. His 
 obvious duty was to obey the general's wishes at all 
 hazards; he therefore departed with the new batch 
 of hostages, consisting of seven officers, ten ladies, 
 and twenty-two children. Among them were Ladies 
 Macnaghten and Sale. Counting, then, seven officers 
 left behind at Cabul, and three made over on the march, 
 the chiefs had now gained possession of seventeen 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 281 
 
 British officers, nominally as hostages for the fulfilment 
 of the treaty. 
 
 We have already alluded to General Elphinstone 
 as the Sabinus of the British force in Cabul. It has,^ 
 indeed, been often remarked that history repeats 
 itself; but we know of no instance more remarkable 
 than the perfect historical parallel between the oc- 
 currences of 1841-2 in Affghanistan, and those de- 
 scribed in Book V. of Caesar's Commentaries ' de Bello 
 Gallico.' First, there was the sudden insurrection of 
 the Gauls, just as the Eomans were settling in their 
 Avinter quarters; their leader, Ambionix, an exact 
 prototype of Mahomed Akbar in sayage and success- 
 ful duplicity. Ifext, the Roman general Sabinus, 
 another Elphinstone for indecision, entering into pre- 
 cisely the same sort of hollow treaty with Ambionix 
 as did the English general with Mahomed Akbar, 
 Next, the protest of Cotta (Eldred Pottinger), before 
 the council of war, ovenruled. Finally, the retreat 
 with a cumbersome train of baggage and extended line 
 of troops; the general's misplaced confidence in 
 Ambionix ; tJie attack on his front and rear in a nar- 
 row valley ; the confusion of the Romans from want 
 of proper arrangements ; their desperate though fruit- 
 less valour; Sabinus (Elphinstone) seeking a con- 
 ference with Ambionix (Mahomed Akbar) in order to 
 save the troops; his treacherous detention, and the 
 final annihilation of his army. On the other hand, we 
 have the ' illustrious ' garrisons of Cicero and Labienusi 
 
282 SIM VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 represented by those of Sale and Nott, maintaining 
 their isolated posts firm and undaunted against all op- 
 position ; signalising themselves on all occasions by a 
 similar display of patience, skill, and valour, until at 
 length relieved by the advance of Caesar (Pollock) 
 with his overpowering army, under whose auspices all 
 previous disasters were amply retrieved, and the 
 Roman invincibility satisfactorily re-established. 
 
 As Eyre's narrative has now been long out of print, 
 and the attention of our countrymen has begun once 
 more to be directed towards the regions of Central 
 Asia and the rapid extension of the Russian power in 
 that quarter, we have deemed it not altogether inop- 
 portune to refresh the memories of our readers with 
 some of the most striking particulars of this old and 
 overtrue tale, which, just a quarter of a century ago, 
 was perused with thrilling interest by all the civilised 
 world. 
 
 Eyre and his associates in misfortune remained as 
 captives in the hands of Mahomed Akbar during eight 
 and a half months. Eyre occupying his leisure in 
 recording, on such scraps of paper as he could collect, 
 the strange and stirring incidents which he had wit- 
 nessed, while yet they were fresh in his own memory 
 and in the minds of his fellow-captives, from whom, 
 as well as from such public and private documents 
 as had been saved and were within his reach, he in- 
 dustriously gleaned many important and interesting 
 particulars. His chief object in these labours was to 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 283 
 
 place, as fax as in him lay, the whole unvarnished 
 truth before the British public at the earliest prac- 
 ticable opportunity. He thus wrote to a friend : ' I 
 feel well assured that the more my statements are 
 sifted, the more clearly will their truth be established 
 in all essential points. Heaven knows I would give 
 my right hand that such events as I have described 
 had never occurred ; but, having occurred, why should 
 I conceal them ? Is the loss of an army nothing ? 
 Can our national interests be advanced by glossiiig 
 over such unheard-of calamities and disgrace ? ' In 
 another letter he thus expresses himself: ' I wrote my 
 narrative because it was at the time very doubtful 
 whether any of the chief actors would survive, and I 
 felt an anxious desire that, should we perish in capti- 
 vity, the public might be able to judge properly of the 
 respective merits of all concerned. I can boldly assert 
 that there is not a sentence which I do not believe to 
 be strictly true.' 
 
 Perhaps few narratives written under such circum- 
 stances have so well stood the test of time,l or have 
 met more general and lasting approval. We have 
 little doubt that honest old Gascoignes the poet, who 
 underwent some similar experiences in his youth 
 during the wars in the Low Countries in the sixteenth 
 
 1 On one occasion, during his visit to Europe in 1855-6, Eyre hap- 
 pened to he looking over the bookshelves of a bookseller's shop in Paris, 
 ■when he suddenly came upon his o'wn work, translated into Erench. 
 It is impossible to imagine a more pleasing surprise to an author than 
 such a discovery. 
 
284 sir;, VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 century, very accurately expresses Eyre's feelings in 
 regard to his volume on Cabul in the following stanza 
 from the poem entitled ' the Fruites of War ' : 
 
 Go, little booke ! God graimt thou none offende, 
 
 For so meant he who sought to set thee forth, 
 And when thou commest where soldiers seem to wend, 
 
 Siibmit thyselfe as writte but little worth. 
 Confesse withal that thou hast bene too bolde 
 
 To speak so plaine of haughtie hartes in place, 
 And say that he which wrote thee coulde have tolde 
 
 Full many a tale of blouds that were not base. 
 
 The story of the captivity was appended to Eyre's 
 narrative in the form of a journal, and may still 
 be read with interest. We must content ourselves 
 with a few of the more prominent episodes. On the 
 fourth day after their surrender to Mahomed Akbar 
 they were joined by the general himself, with 
 Brigadier Shelton and Captain Hugh Johnson, and 
 learned with profound dismay and grief that the re- 
 mainder of the force had been gradually shot down in 
 the passes, the chiefs having played them false even to 
 the end, notwithstanding all the concessions that had 
 been made. It was evidently Mahomed Akbar's game 
 to "hold his captives as trump cards wherewith to 
 extort from the British Government better terms for 
 himself and country than he could well hope to obtain 
 by any other means at his disposal. Hence they 
 found themselves, on the whole, well treated, although 
 their anxieties were kept alive by the fact that a small, 
 though influential, section existed among the Gilzie 
 
sin riNCENT EYME. 285 
 
 chiefs who made no secret of their inclination to put 
 the whole party to death; and whose debates on this 
 momentous subject were often carried on in tones 
 sufficiently loud to be overheard by their intended 
 victims. 
 
 Their first place of confinement was the fort of 
 Buddeeabad, in the district of Lughman^ a stronghold 
 of one of these same Gilzie chieftains, having walls 
 twenty-five feet high, and lofty flanking towers, sur- 
 rounded by a faussebraye and deep ditch. Here they 
 remained three months, during which they were al- 
 lowed to exchange letters with their friends in Jella- 
 labad, where Sale still maintained his defensive po- 
 sition. On February 19 they were alarmed by a 
 violent rocking of the earth, accompanied by a loud 
 subterranean rumbling sound; the lofty parapets 
 around them fell in with a thundering crash; the 
 dwelling-house waved and tottered like a ship at sea, 
 and all within it simultaneously rushed out into the 
 central courtyard, to find their terror-stricken Affghan 
 keepers upon their knees, ejaculating loud jirayers to 
 Allah for protection. It seemed as though the last 
 day had arrived. Eyre had a narrow escape from 
 being crushed to death by a mass of the wall, under 
 which he chanced to be standing while tending his 
 horse, which he had been permitted" to retain. 
 
 The same earthquake levelled in a few seconds the 
 walls of defence which Sale's force had, with continuous 
 labour, repaired and strengthened at Jellalabad. But 
 
286 Sm VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 the Affghans were unprepared to take advantage of 
 the chance thus offered. On April 9 tidings reached 
 the captives that Mahomed Akbar's camp had been 
 surprised by Sale, and his force completely routed, and 
 on the following day they were hurried off towards the 
 mountains, after a sharp debate among the chiefs on 
 the expediency of destroying them at once. 
 
 Poor General Elphinstone, in his already shattered 
 state of health, could ill bear up under the fatigues 
 and privations he had to undergo, and died at Tezeen 
 on April 23, ' a happy release for him,' says Eyre, 
 ' from suffering of mind and body. Deeply he felt 
 his humiliation, and bitterly regretted the day when he 
 resigned the home-born pleasures of his native land to 
 hazard the reputation of a proud name in a climate and 
 station for which he was physically unfit.' 
 
 The body was forthwith forwarded by Mahomed 
 Akbar to General Pollock (by that time at Jellalabad) 
 for honourable interment — a tribute of respect to a 
 fallen foe highly creditable to the Affghan chief. 
 
 On the following day Captain Colin Mackenzie was 
 despatched on a mission to General Pollock, taking 
 with him the first portion of Eyre's narrative. After 
 perusal by General Pollock^ it was forwarded by the 
 latter to Lord EUenborough's private secretary, and 
 eventually to England for publication. Colin Mac- 
 kenzie's journeys to and fro proved full of peril, for, 
 although disguised as an Affghan and escorted by a 
 well-known and popular sort of Rob Roy, or freebooter, 
 
SIS VINCENT EYRE. 287 
 
 named Buttee, in the pay of Mahomed Akbar, whose 
 knowledge of that wild mountainous country and its 
 still wilder inhabitants stood him in good stead, he was 
 in frequent and imminent dunger of discovery and 
 consequent death from parties of wandering Gilzies, 
 whom they unexpectedly encountered, and who per- 
 sisted in being unpleasantly inquisitive regarding the 
 suspicious-looking traveller, with his face and form so 
 closely muffled up in the folds of his turban and large 
 sheepskin cloak, leaving his eyes scarcely as visible as 
 those of the roughest Skye terrier, and whom it was 
 necessary to palm off as a sick chief of Peshawur sent 
 by Mahomed Akbar under Buttee's escort to his 
 native place. One glimpse of the white skin beneath 
 his wide Affghan trousers (which he found it next to 
 impossible to prevent from" rising above his knee) 
 would have been his death-warrant. But Heaven 
 protected him. 
 
 The propositions whereof he was the bearer were, 
 that the British general should treat with Mahomed ■ 
 Akbar as the acknowledged head of the Affghan 
 nation ; that there should be an exchange of prisoners, 
 including all on each side ; that the British should 
 retire from Affghanistan; and that General Pollock 
 should pay down a handsome douceur in money. In 
 case of these arrangements being effected, Mahomed 
 Akbar would be glad to enter into an alliance, offen- 
 sive and defensive, with the British. This, however, 
 was only his public message, but, in secret, Mackenzie 
 
288 Sm VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 had been desired to ascertain if a private arrangement 
 could not be made, to the effect that General Pollock 
 should ensure an amnesty to Mahomed Akbar and his 
 followers for the past, and that the British Government 
 should bestow on him a large jagheer. In this case 
 he would willingly assist Pollock in reconquering 
 Affghanistan. 
 
 Mackenzie returned from his mission on May 3, 
 without having opened any prospect of release for the 
 captives, although the negotiation, as far as it went, 
 had been of a friendly nature. He was immediately 
 despatched a second time with more moderate pro- 
 posals, but again returned with an equally ineffectual 
 result. On May 23 Mahomed Akbar removed all his 
 captives from the Zauduk valley to a fort in the 
 vicinity of Cabul. Here Mackenzie had nearly died 
 of typhus fever, the result of his recent fatigues and 
 exposure. Mahomed Akbar selected Major Colin 
 Troup as his next envoy, and he was absent in that 
 capacity from the 10th to the 27th of July, but brought 
 back no definite reply. Pollock was, in fact, busy in 
 preparing for an advance on Cabul, with stringent 
 instructions from Lord Ellenborough to proceed with 
 his military preparations without reference to any 
 negotiations. Meanwhile, typhus fever and dysen- 
 tery spread alarmingly among the captives, and, on 
 August 7 Captain John Conolly breathed his last. His 
 brother, the celebrated Arthur Conolly, had but re- 
 cently been decapitated at Bokhara, after having been 
 
sin VINCENT EYRB. 289 
 
 confined at the bottom of a dry well, in company with 
 Colonel Stoddartj for eighty days, without change of 
 raiment. 
 
 On August 23 nine officers of the Ghuznee garrison 
 joined the Cabul captives. Among them was the 
 brave young Nicholson, destined to a brilliant career 
 in the Punjaub, and a hero's death sixteen years later 
 in the moment of victory at Delhi. He now became 
 Eyre's messmate, and beguiled the hours with ani- 
 mated details of the scenes he had witnessed during 
 the ineffectual defence of that fortress ; with him, too, 
 was Dr. Thomas Thomson, since risen to eminence 
 as a botanist and a traveller. On August 25 all 
 were hurried off towards Bameean, eii route to Koo- , 
 loom in Ozbeg Tartary, with a threat held out that 
 they would be sold into bondage on arrival. Eyre 
 and Mackenzie were both at this time too ill to travel 
 on horseback, and were packed into a pair of panniers 
 to balance each other on each side of a camel, a mode 
 cf travelling for invalids which their miserable ex- 
 perience on that memorable journey did not enable 
 them to recommend for general adoption, except in 
 cases where the penalty of torture has been incurred. 
 
 They had a strong escort, consisting of some 400 
 Affghan soldiers, deserters from the British service, 
 under one Saleh Mahomed, their former subadar. 
 Their route lay over the steep mountain-passes of 
 Suffed Khak, Oonai, Hajeeguk, and Kaloo, the latter 
 attaining an altitude of 13,400 feet, whence Eyre 
 
 u 
 
290 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 describes the view as ' presenting a boundless chaos 
 of barren mountains, probably unequalled in wild ter- 
 rific grandeur.' The valley of Bameean, beyond the 
 Indian Caucasus, was reached on September 3. 
 
 And now, at the very time when hope began to 
 yield to despair in all their breasts, and a life of 
 wretched slavery seemed their inevitable lot, aid came 
 from an unexpected quarter, and their speedy deliver- 
 ance was at hand. Eyre thus tells the story in a 
 letter to a friend in Calcutta : — • 
 
 'On Sunday, September 11, Saleh Mahomed, 
 having received a positive order from Mahomed 
 Akbar for our immediate march to Kooloom, our 
 desperate condition induced Pottinger to tempt him 
 with the offer of a bribe for our release. Captain 
 Johnson volunteered to be agent in the matter, and 
 found him more accessible than was expected. This 
 man had hitherto kept aloof from every attempt at 
 friendly intercourse with the prisoners, towards whom 
 his manner had been invariably haughty and his 
 language harsh. Great, therefore, was our astonishment 
 to learn that he had been seduced from his allegiance 
 to Mahomed Akbar and bought over to our side. 
 
 ' Meanwhile, the rapid advance of the two English 
 armies upon Cabul, and the probable defeat of Ma- 
 homed Akbar, led us to expect that chief's arrival 
 among us as likely to happen at any moment. It was, 
 therefore, necessary to be prepared against any sudden 
 surprise. The Hazaret chiefs in the vaUey were 
 
Sm VINCENT EYRE. 291 
 
 sounded and found favourable to our scheme. The 
 men composing our guard were gained over by a 
 promise of four months' pay. A new governor was 
 set up over the Hazaret province by Major Pottinger, 
 the existing governor being too much in Mahomed 
 Akbar's interests to be trusted. 
 
 ' On September 16 the country was considered 
 sufficiently safe to admit of our setting out on our 
 return towards Cabul. We had only proceeded a few 
 miles when a messenger met us with news of General 
 Pollock's victory over Akbar, which cheering intelli- 
 gence was shortly afterwards confirmed by a note fronj 
 Sir Richmond Shakespear, who was hastening to our 
 assistance with 600 Kuzzilbash horsemen. On the 
 I7th we recrossed the Kaloo pass, and encamped 
 about three miles from its base. "We had been here 
 about two hours, when horsemen were descried de- 
 scending the pass of Hajeeguk. Instantly Saleh Ma- 
 homed's men were on the alert and formed up in line. 
 Judge of our joy when the banner of the Kuzzilbash 
 was distinguished streaming in the air, and imagine, 
 if you can, with what emotions of delight and gratitude 
 we eagerly pressed forward to greet our gallant 
 countryman. Sir Richmond Shakespear, who soon 
 came galloping up to where we stood. For the first 
 jtime after nine miserable months of thraldom we felt 
 the blessedness of freedom. To God be all the glory, 
 for He alone could bring it to pass ! ' 
 
 There was still some danger that Mahomed Akbar 
 V 2 
 
292 SIS VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 might intercept their flight, but at Shakespear's 
 suggestion, Pollock despatched Sale's brigade to meet 
 them at Kot-Ashroo, All doubt was then at an end ; 
 they were once more under the safeguard of British 
 troops, who lined the heights of Suffed Khak, and who 
 raised hearty cheers of welcome as the procession 
 threaded the pass ; among them most conspicuous 
 rode the gallant Sale, with his long-lost wife and 
 daughter by his side. 
 
 On the 21st Pollock's camp at Cabul was reached, 
 where the Horse Artillery guns fired a salute in 
 honour of the event, and thus happily terminated the 
 tragedy of the Cabul insurrection. 
 
 The events of those days have still such a thrilling 
 interest for British readers that we have been tempted 
 to linger perhaps too long over that portion of Eyre's 
 career in. connection with which his name first became 
 familiarly known. It was his strange destiny to' 
 witness the ' Alpha ' and ' Omega ' of the downfall 
 of the old sepoy army ; for it is now generally admitted 
 that the first seeds of the mutiny of 1857 were sown 
 in the Cabul campaign. In allusion to this, Kaye, in 
 his ' Sepoy War,' declares : ' The charm of a century 
 of conquest was then broken. The sepoy regiments, 
 no longer assured and fortified by the sight of that 
 ascendant star of fortune which once had shone with 
 so bright and steady a light, shrunk from entering the 
 passes which had been the grave of so many of their 
 comrades. It was too true ; the Seiks were tampering 
 
Sir VINCENT eyhe. 293 
 
 with their fidelity. Brahmia emissaries were en- 
 deavouring to swear them with holy water not to 
 advance at the word of the English commander. 
 Nightly meetings of delegates from the different 
 regiments were held, and perhaps we do not even now 
 know how great was the danger.' 
 
 Before leaving Ca'oul, Eyre, through a strange 
 accident, recovered his friend Maule's Bible, on the 
 flyleaf of which the owner had thus written, as if 
 prophetically, two days before his rnurder : ' In case 
 of my death I wish this book to be sent to my mother, 
 or nearest living relative.' No Mohammedan will 
 knowingly destroy the Word of God, and it is 
 remarkable that Arthur Conolly's Prayer Book, 
 wherein he had entered a touching record of his 
 Bufferings and aspirations in the well at Bokhara, was, 
 after the lapse of many years, left at the door of his 
 sister's house in London by a mysterious foreigner, 
 who simply left word that he came from Russia, but 
 of whom no trace could be discovered after a most 
 diligent search. 
 
 Returning with Pollock's force to India, Eyre was 
 posted to the new troop of Horse Artillery, raised to 
 replace the old first troop, first brigade, which had 
 perished in the Affghan passes, and with whose services 
 at Cabul he had been so intimately associated. In his 
 public report to the commandant of the Artillery 
 regiment. Eyre, speaking of the siege, thus writes: 
 ' The gunners, from first to last, never once partook 
 
294 SIR VINCENT BYRE. 
 
 of a full meal or obtained their natural rest : of tlie 
 hardships and privations undergone it wovild be difficult 
 to convey an adequate idea. Throughout the last 
 struggle all eye-witnesses concur in testifying to their 
 stubborn valour.' 
 
 While attached to the new troop at Meerut, Eyre 
 originated what is believed to have been the first 
 ' soldiers' club ' ever established, having for its object 
 the suppression of drunkenness by providing for the 
 soldier, when off duty, the means of sober and suitable 
 recreation and refreshment. For this purpose Eyre 
 hired a house conveniently situated to the barracks, 
 which, with the aid of his brother officers and of small 
 monthly subscriptions from the members, he fitted up 
 with suitable furniture, and supj)lied with books, 
 magazines, and popular games, and where tea, coffee, 
 and other harmless beverages could be obtained when 
 wanted. It soon became popular among the men, and 
 contributed greatly to the reduction of crime amongst 
 them. The value of such clubs has now been generally 
 recognised. 
 
 On the news reaching India that Joseph Wolff w&s 
 on the point of starting to Bokhara to ascertain the 
 fate of Stoddart and ConoUy, and wanted some officer 
 to accompany him, Eyre at once offered his services ; 
 but his letter failed to reach Wolff in time ; it will, 
 however, be found in the published memoirs of that 
 enterprising though eccentric Jew missionary. 
 
 Eyre remained with his troop until December 1844, 
 
SIS VINCENT EYRE. 295 
 
 when he was appointed by Lord Ellenborough, ever 
 prompt to seek out promising officers and to reward 
 good service, commandant of artillery in the new 
 Gwalior Contingent, raised after the dispersion of 
 Sindia's Mahratta army in the battles of Maharajpore 
 and Punniar. The new force consisted of four bat- 
 teries of native field artillery, one battery of garrison 
 artillery, two regiments of irregular cavalry, and 
 seven regiments of native infantry ; the whole forming 
 a, very complete and serviceable brigade. All the 
 English officers being picked men, the Gwalior Con- 
 tingent soon acquired a reputation for the highest 
 efficiency of which native troops were susceptible; and, 
 as an instance of the loyal and soldierly spirit existing 
 among them up to a late period, it is worthy of record 
 that Eyre's artillery twice volunteered for foreign 
 service, expressing their readiness to proceed either to 
 Persia or Burmah, and received the thanks of Govern- 
 ment, conveying ' the satisfaction with which the 
 Governor-General in Council has learnt the soldierly 
 spirit evinced by these men.' Their prowess and pro- 
 fessional efficiency were, however, destined to be tested 
 in a very undesirable and unexpected fashion during 
 the sepoy war of 1857-58, by which time a lament- 
 able change had 'come over the spirit of their dream;' 
 for, led on by General E,am Singh, a chivalrous old 
 Rajpoot subadar of Eyre's artillery, the Gwalior Con- 
 tingent succeeded in turning General Wyndham's 
 flanks at Cawnpore, obliging him to retreat with great 
 
296 Sm VINCENT EYRE, 
 
 loss, and it was generally admitted that their triumph 
 on that occasion was mainly due to the accurate fire of 
 their guns. 
 
 Shortly after Eyre's arrival at Gwalior his sym- 
 pathies were enlisted on behalf of the Portuguese 
 native Christians, of whom numbers had been thrown 
 out of employ by the disbandment of the Mahratta 
 force, wherein they had served as non-commissioned 
 officers, buglers, and drummers, but who had been 
 suddenly reduced, with their families, to destitution. 
 Eyre made a strong appeal to the public on their 
 behalf, which met vnth an immediate response. A sum 
 exceeding 600Z. was received from various parts of 
 India, and, with this amount in hand. Eyre conceived 
 and carried out the bold project of establishing a small 
 Christian colony in the valley of Deyra Dhoon at the 
 base of the Himalayan range, and three hundred miles 
 from Gwalior. 
 
 The scheme met with liberal support from the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces 
 and other high functionaries. Lands were forthwith 
 purchased, and forty families, numbering 120 souls, 
 left Gwalior for the land of promise, under the guidance 
 of Father Felix, a worthy Italian monk of the Fran- 
 ciscan order, who volunteered his services. Contrary 
 to general expectation, these poor men, on arriving at 
 their destination, set to work with a good will at the 
 novel task of building and ploughing. They found 
 all the necessary materials ready prepared. To each 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRK 297' 
 
 family forty begahs (about fourteen acres) of land 
 were assigned, besides a plough and yoke, a pair of 
 bullocks, a cow, two pigs, one sheep, and a small stock 
 of fowls. In a wonderfully short space of time a neat 
 little village sprang up, with its church and school- 
 room ; and Father Felix proved himself just the man 
 to gain all hearts, and to stimulate his flock to exertion. 
 Before many weeks had passed he thus wrote : ' Nous 
 avons determine, de commun sentiment, de nommer 
 cette nouvelle colonic, ou pays, " Eyre-town." Je 
 vous prie done de ne pas vous y opposer.' 
 
 But Eyre did oppose it, suggesting instead the name 
 of " Esapore,' or the ' Abode of Christians,' which was 
 adopted accordingly. 
 
 For about three years the little Christian colony 
 struggled on under his fostering care, during which 
 the colonists kept up a brisk fire of correspondence 
 with Eyre, appealing to him in all their troubles and 
 difficulties. Unfortunately, the climate proved less 
 salubrious than was expected. During certain months 
 a malarious fever prostrated their strength, and a 
 murrain destroyed a large portion of their live stock, 
 although they still continued to eke out a decent sub- 
 sistence from the produce of their fields, and by the 
 sale of eggs, poultry, and butter to the residents of the 
 neighbouring hill sanatarium of Mussoorie. Eventually, 
 owing to the continuance of the above causes, they 
 gradually found it more advantagfeous to transfer 
 themselves permanently to the hills, and thus the scene 
 
298 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 of their early labours became in process of time a 
 flourishing tea-plantation in other hands. But the 
 great object had been meanwhile gained of perma- 
 nently rescuing the Christian families from destitution, 
 and the example set of the practicability of forming 
 such colonies led, ere long, to the establishment of 
 another in a more salubrious locality, which it is be- 
 lieved still flourishes. 
 
 About this time Henry Lawrence's great scheme 
 for a hill asylum for soldiers' children assumed a 
 definite form, and he paid Eyre the compliment of 
 placing his name on the ' committee of reference.' 
 
 They had for some time past corresponded on the 
 best mode of overcoming the difficulties attendant on 
 any attempt to render the asylum available for the 
 children of our Roman Catholic soldiers, who formed 
 so large a proportion of our European army in India, 
 and whose claims to impartial consideration Eyre had 
 strenuously advocated, not without some practical 
 effect, although, as might be expected, there was a 
 strong party utterly opposed to any concession. 
 
 In addition to his artillery duties. Eyre carried on, 
 for several years, those of executive engineer of the 
 Gwalior Division, and the pretty Gothic freestone 
 church, whose tall pinnacled tower still gives a home- 
 like character to the British cantonment near Gwalior, 
 was of his design and execution. The interior suffered 
 considerable damage from the mutineers in 1857, who 
 destroyed all the coloured glass and woodwork, a very 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 299 
 
 fine organ, and a remarkably handsome carved-stone 
 pulpit, turning up also the encaustic tiles of the floor. 
 In 1854, Eyre was selected to accompany the Maha- 
 rajah Sindia on his "travels in the North- West, and 
 thus witnessed the opening of the Ganges Canal, 
 meeting there his friend Henry Lawrence for the last 
 time, who spoke with intense disapproval of the annex- 
 ation policy then in fashion, and did not conceal from 
 Eyre his apprehensions that danger would soon accrue 
 from it and find us unprepared. 
 
 In May 1855, in consequence of failing health, Eyre ■ 
 proceeded on sick leave to England. There he soon 
 drew public attention by two lectures, at the Royal 
 United Service Institution and before the British 
 Association, on the subject of metallic boats and float- 
 ing pontoon w:aggons for naval and military purposes. 
 As the Crimean war was then in progress, his sug- 
 gestions attracted the notice of Government, who 
 twice deputed officers of both services to vdtness Eyre's 
 experiments, and with favourable results on both occa- 
 sions. 
 
 Early in February, 1857, Eyre returned to Calcutta. 
 He found people just beginning to feel uneasy re- 
 garding certain incipient symptoms of disaffection 
 among the sepoys. The Maharajah Sindia of Gwalior 
 chanced to have just arrived on a visit to the Governor- 
 General, and closely questioned Eyre as to the opinions 
 entertained in England about the seizure of Oudh. 
 This was delicate ground, but Eyre replied that it was 
 
SOO Sin VINCENT EYRK 
 
 a subject upon which our public men were not agreed, 
 and that, while many approved, a large party viewed it 
 with regret, as tending to disturb the minds of native 
 princes. Whereupon the Maharajah with great ani- 
 mation exclaimed, ' Ah ! that is the truth, they reason 
 rightly.' Just a year previous Eyre had chanced to 
 find himself seated at a table (Tkdte in England, next 
 to a very intelligent young native gentleman from 
 Lucknow, who initiated a discussion on the same 
 subject, and stated his confident belief that, ere twelve 
 months should elapse, the whole of Oudh would be in 
 open insurrection. It is not unlikely that this well- 
 informed prophet may have been the since notorious 
 Azimoollah. 
 
 Having been posted to a horse field battery at 
 Thyet Myo, in Burmah, Eyre proceeded by sea to 
 join it, and on March 20 reached his destination, three 
 hundred miles up to the river Irrawady. By that 
 time news had come from Bengal of mutinous outbreaks 
 in the native regiments at Berhampore and Barrack- 
 pore. Two months later a telegram summoned Eyre 
 with his battery to Calcutta, to assist in suppressing 
 the mu iny which had burst out with terrific violence 
 at Meerut an( Delhi, and was spreading like'wildfire 
 over the North- West Provinces. On the night of 
 June 14 Eyre found himself once more anchored off 
 Calcutta. On that very day his old friends of the 
 Grwalior Contingent had followed the fatal example 
 
SIS VINCENT EYRE. 301 
 
 ■set by the regular army, and had risen against their 
 English oiBcers, many of whom fell victims. 
 
 On landing the next morning in Fort William, 
 Eyre found symptoms of alarm amounting almost to 
 panic pervading the European community. In fact, 
 a clergyman, with his wife and family, had actually 
 taken refuge on board the ' Tubal Cain ' during the 
 previous night, in expectation of a rise among the 
 natives. Within the fort itself he found the town 
 major employed in swearing in volunteers, and pre- 
 paration making to hang a state prisoner, in the ex- 
 King of Oudh's employ, who had been detected in 
 tampering with the sepoys of the garrison. Next 
 morning, however, the prisoner effected his escape 
 from under the very noses of his European sentries, 
 and the King of Oudh himself was arrested. On June 
 17 Sir Patrick Grant arrived from Madras as com- 
 mander-in-chief, and while passing Eyre's ship re- 
 ceived three cheers from the artillerymen. It was a 
 favourable omen that he should be thus greeted on 
 arrival by the identical company of Artillery which 
 had been mainly instrumental in suppressing the 
 Barrackpore mutiny in 1824. 
 
 Aftet several days of uncertainty. Eyre transferred 
 his men and guns on July 10 to the ' Mutlah ' flat, in 
 tow of the * Lady Thackwell ' river steamer, with orders 
 to proceed to Allahabad. Their battery horses had 
 been left behind in Burmah, to follow when oppor- 
 tunity offered. Meanwhile, many tragical e.vents had 
 
302 SIS VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 been occurring in the North-West, especially at 
 Jhansi, Neemuch, Fyzabad, Cawnpore, Allahabad, 
 and Bareilly, where mutiny and massacre had been the 
 order of the day, although the energy displayed by 
 John and Henry Lawrence in the Punjaub and in 
 Oudh appeared to have in some degree stayed the 
 progress of the insurrection. But the fate of India 
 seemed trembling in the balance. 
 
 On July 25, while approaching the military station 
 of Dinapore, the steamer picked up an English gen- 
 tleman from a small boat, who announced that the 
 three native regiments there had risen in mutiny at 
 2 P.M. on that day, and presently a bend of the river 
 presented the dismal spectacle of burning houses in 
 the distance. At 6 p.m. Eyre landed to offer his 
 services to General Lloyd, and, at his desire, dis- 
 embarked three guns until those despatched in pursuit 
 of the mutineers should return. On the following day 
 came sad tidings from the neighbouring station of 
 Segowlee, that Major Holmes, commanding the 12th 
 Irregular Cavalry, who had been most successful in 
 his efforts to maintain order in that district, had been 
 murdered, together with his wife, by some of his own 
 men. Mrs, Holmes was that same daughter of Sir 
 Robert Sale who, as Mrs. Sturt, had been Eyre's 
 companion in captivity at Cabul. 
 
 Re-embarking his guns. Eyre proceeded up the 
 Ganges to Buxar, which he reached at 3 P.M. on the 
 28th. Here he was informed that the Dinapore 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRB. 303 
 
 regiments, having crossed the river Soane, were he- 
 sieging the civilians of Arrah, in a house which had 
 been, with fortunate foresight, fortified and provisioned 
 by Mr. Vickars Boyle, a civil engineer. The mu- 
 tineers were led by Baboo Koonwar Singh, of Jugdes- 
 pore, a brave old Rajpoot chief of good family, great 
 energy of character, and extensive influence, who had 
 now assumed the title of Rajah, and had drawn towards 
 his banner the whole fighting population of Behar^ a 
 province which supplied the sepoy army with some of 
 its best soldiers. It was then suspected, and has since 
 been well ascertained, that Koonwar Singh had been 
 for months past carrying on an active correspondence 
 with the disaffected regiments scattered over the Lower 
 Provinces, and, had not his daring schemes been 
 prostrated at an early period, the whole of Bengal 
 and its dependencies would soon have been in a 
 blaze of mutiny and rebellion, frpm Benares to Chit- 
 tagong ; and who can say what might then have been 
 the issue ? 
 
 At Buxar was a valuable Government stud, and 
 about thirty miles higher up the river was a branch 
 stud at Ghazeepore, on the opposite bank, where also 
 was stationed a strong native regiment held in check 
 by only one weak company of the 78th Highlanders. 
 Eyre at once saw the importance of preventing the 
 Dinapore mutineers from crossing the river, and as 
 Lord Canning had recently telegraphed to Patna ex- 
 pressing great anxiety for Ghazeepore, Eyre steamed 
 
304 SIR VINCENT ETHE. 
 
 up thither to land a couple of guns under his only 
 subaltern. 
 
 In exchange for this timely aid, the officer in com- 
 mand at Ghazeepore allowed Eyre to take twenty-five 
 Highlanders, with whom he forthwith returned to Buxar, 
 greatly to the relief of the stud officers and other 
 English inhabitants of that place. It most fortunately 
 happened that, in the brief interval, the ' James Hume ' 
 steamer had arrived at Buxar to take in coal, having 
 on board 160 of H.M.'s 5th Fusileers under Captain 
 L'Estrange. To that officer Eyre at once despatched 
 a note, proposing that they should join forces for an 
 immediate attempt to relieve Arrah. L'Estrange 
 promptly replied in the affirmative, stipulating only 
 that Eyre should send him a written order to that 
 effect, taking on himself the whole responsibility. 
 
 This Eyre did not hesitate to do, and, in like manner, 
 made himself formally responsible for the detention of 
 the two Government steamers. 
 
 Early on the morning of July 30, guns and troops 
 were disembarked, and arrangements made for a march 
 to A.rrah, distant about 48 miles to the east. At the 
 same time, the ' James Hume ' was despatched to 
 Dinapore with a letter to General Lloyd, informing 
 him of the intended movement and inviting his co- 
 operation. The field force thus extemporised con- 
 sisted of three guns with 40 artillerymen; 154 of 
 H.M.'s 5th Fusileers, with six officers, two assistant 
 surgeons, and seventeen volunteers, one of the latter 
 
SIE VINCENT EYBE. 305 
 
 \ 
 
 being the joint-magistrate of Ghazeepore, Mr. J. H. 
 Bax, and three officers of the Stud. The twenty-five 
 Highlanders were left behind with orders to return to. 
 Ghazeepore by the first opportunity. Eyre appointed 
 as his staff officer, Captain the Hon. E. H. Hastings, 
 a most fortunate selection, as it proved, for his in- 
 defatigable exertions, zealously backed by the other 
 Stud officers and volunteers, contributed largely to the 
 success of the expedition. The knowledge of the dis- 
 tricf possessed by Mr. Bax, his coolness and deter- 
 mination, together with bis influence with the natives m 
 procuring carriage, rendered his presence with the force 
 of ho small advantage. 
 
 ' By 5 p. M., everything was ready for a start. The 
 guns were drawn by bullocks, taken, together with 
 their native drivers, direct from the plough. The 
 reserve ammunition, and commissariat supplies were 
 drawn on common country carts, and through Mr. 
 Bax's exertions four elephants were contributed by 
 the Dumrao Rajah, for conveying tents and bedding. 
 It was the rainy season, and the roads were very 
 heavy; so that the poor bullocks, unused to such 
 labour, moved provokingly slowly, and frequent halts 
 were necessary to enable laggards to close up ; hence 
 it was break of day ere the first encamping ground, at 
 Nyah Bhojpore, was reached. At the twelfth mile, a 
 mounted spy, in the service of Koonwar Singh, was 
 intercepted, and was brought in wounded. This 
 proved that the enemy were on the alert, and that 
 
 X 
 
aoe SIM VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 circumspection was necessary. The march continued 
 till the night of the 31st, when the discovery of more 
 liostile scouts operated as a caution to halt till day- 
 break. 
 
 On August 1, when near Shahpore, the dismal 
 tidings came from Dinapore that a detachment of 400 
 men, which had been sent from that station for the 
 relief of Arrah, had fallen into an ambuscade near that 
 town, and been driven back with the loss of half their 
 number. Eyre, however, resolved to push on and 
 strike a blow to restore whatever prestige might have 
 been lost. Four miles farther on, a bridge had been 
 cut through and rendered impassable for guns ; but 
 after an hour's detention the damage was sufficiently 
 repaired, and the force bivouacked for the night out- 
 side the village of Goojrajgunje, posting a strong 
 guard to protect the bridge, beyond which a picket of 
 the enemy was known to be posted. 
 
 At daybreak on Sunday, August 2, the force again 
 advanced, and had just cleared the village, when 
 bugle notes were heard sounding the ' assembly ' in a 
 wood which bounded the view about a mile ahead, and 
 through which lay the direct road to Arrah. We 
 quote Eyre's own account of what followed, as pub- 
 lished in the appendix to the third edition of Gubbins' 
 book on the ' Mutiny in Oude,' where it has lain 
 buried long enough, and whence we are desirous of 
 exhuming it : — ' Eyre halted his force to reconboitre. 
 The enemy now began to show themselves in what 
 
Sm VINCENT EYRE. 307 
 
 seemed overwhelming force. Not content with oc- 
 cupying the wood to our front, large bodies were seen 
 to extend themselves along the woods on either flank, 
 with the evident intention of surrounding the little 
 force opposed to them. To bring matters to an issue. 
 Eyre drew up his force on the open plain, and offered 
 battle. The three guns opened fire to the front and 
 flanks, causing the enemy to screen themselves as 
 much as possible behind broken ground. From this 
 • they opened a heavy fire of musketry, aud Eyre or- 
 dered forward skirmishing parties of the 5th Fusileers 
 to retaliate. The superiority of the Enfield rifles now 
 became apparent. Galled by their accurate fire, the 
 enemy gradually fell back to the shelter of the woods. 
 Meanwhile, Eyre directed the full fire of his artillery 
 on the enemy's centre, with the view of forcing a pas- 
 sage through the wood. They scattered themselves 
 right and left, leaving the road clear, and under cover 
 of the Enfield rifles, the guns and baggage were 
 promptly moved forward and pushed through the wood 
 before the enemy could again close his divided wings. 
 Emerging from the woods, the road became an ele- 
 vated causeway, bounded on either side by inundated 
 rice-fields, across which the baffled enemy could only 
 open a distant fire. Finding their intentions thus 
 frustrated, they hurried back to intercept the force at 
 Beebeegunge, distant about two miles ahead, where 
 they had effectually destroyed a bridge, and com- 
 pletely commanded the approaches to it by breast- 
 
 X 2 
 
308 SIJi VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 works, and from the houses of the village. Eyre 
 again halted his force to refresh the men and cattle, 
 within a quarter of a mile of the bridge, and sent out 
 scouts to search for a ford across the river Bunas, 
 which separated him from the enemy. No ford was 
 discovered ; and as it was plainly impossible to eifect a 
 passage over the bridge. Eyre determined on making 
 a flank march to the nearest point of the railway em- 
 bankment, distant only one mile, along which there 
 was a direct road to Arrah. This movement was for - 
 a time masked by the guns, which opened a brisk fire 
 upon the village, while the infantry and baggage 
 pushed forward in the new direction. But, no sooner 
 did the enemy discover the manoeuvre, than they 
 hastened in great numbers to intercept the force at the 
 angle of a thick wood which abutted on the railway. 
 En route, Eyre discovered a ford, but as his force 
 had already passed it, he proceeded, followed up pretty 
 closely by a large body of infantry and cavalry, being 
 raw levies of Koonwar Singh ; while the three muti- 
 neer regiments pursued a course parallel to his own 
 on the opposite side of the stream. On reaching the 
 railway, it became necessary to halt the force and 
 assume a defensive attitude, until the mutineers could 
 be dislodged from the wood, from which they opened 
 a very galling musketry fire. For a whole hour the 
 force was hotly engaged at a great disadvan- 
 tage, owing to the abundant cover which screened 
 the enemy. Twice, during this period, the muti- 
 
iSIS VINCENT EYJRE. 809 
 
 neers, seeing the guns left almost without support 
 (L'Estrange's infantry being occupied in skirmishing), 
 rushed impetuously upon them, and were driven back 
 by discharges of grape. At this juncture, Hastings 
 brought word to Eyre (who, having no subaltern, was 
 obliged to remain with the guns), that the 5th 
 Fusileers were losing ground, and that our position 
 was becoming critical. Eyre, therefore, resolved on 
 trying what a charge of bayonets would do, and de- 
 spatched Hastings with an order to L'E strange to that 
 effect. Unable immediately to find L'Estrange, 
 Hastings at once collected every available man, and 
 himself most gallantly led them on; L'Estrange 
 promptly joining on learning the order which had 
 been given. Rushing forward with a cheer they 
 cleared the deep stream (now confined within narrow 
 banks), at a bound, and charged impetuously on an 
 enemy twenty times their own number. Taken com- 
 pletely by surprise, the mutineers fell back in the 
 utmost disorder, the guns opening fire upon their 
 retreating masses, and in a few minutes not a man of 
 them remained to oppose the passage of the force. 
 Thenceforward an open road was available, which 
 skirted the railway to within four miles of Arrah, 
 where, a little before nightfall, the force was com- 
 pelled to halt .by an impassable torrent. The night 
 was employed in endeavouring to bridge this over, by 
 casting into the stream large piles of bricks, that had 
 been collected on the bank by the railway engineers, 
 
310 SIS VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 by which means the stream was narrowed sufficiently 
 to allow the construction of a rude sort of bridge 
 formed from country carts, over which the guns and 
 baggage marched, without further opposition, into the 
 station of Arrah, and the relief of the beleaguered 
 garrison was accomplished. After their defeat at the 
 railway, the mutineers and Koonwar Singh had fled 
 back with precipitation to Arrah, to remove their 
 valuables to the jungle stronghold of that chief at 
 Jugdespore.' 
 
 Among the slain were sepoys of nine diiFerent regi- 
 ments ; a sufficient proof that, in this action. Eyre's 
 small force encountered, besides the Dinapore regi- 
 ments, a formidable number of other trained soldiers 
 of the regular army. We may remark here, eii passant, 
 that the scene of Eyre's action on the banks of the 
 Bunas, is the identical spot where Major Munro, on 
 October 12, 1764, first encountered the troops of 
 Shooja-ood-dowlah, following them up from thence to 
 Buxar, where he so signally defeated them in a pitched 
 battle on the 23rd of that month. 
 
 Eyre continues : — ' The relief of the garrison proved 
 to have been most opportune, for their position had 
 been so effectually mined, that a few hours' delay must 
 have ensured their destruction. They numbered six- 
 teen European civilians, and fifty of Rattray's Sikh 
 police. The position, which they had so miraculously 
 defended against the three mutineer regiments, aided 
 by Koonwar Singh's levies, was a small upper-roomed 
 
SIM VINCENT BYRE. 811 
 
 house of substantial masonry belonging to Mr. Boyle, 
 district railway engineer, by whose skill it had been 
 fortified, and provisioned, in anticipation of some such 
 crisis. But the strongest position is of little avail where 
 stout hearts and an efficient leader are wanting to de- 
 fend it, and, in the present case, such hearts and such 
 a leader were forthcoming. To Mr. Wake, as civil 
 magistrate of Arrah, who possesses in a rare degree 
 some of the highest qualities of a soldier, no less than 
 to the unflinching fortitude with which his able efforts 
 were supported by his brave associates, may be attri- 
 buted the salvation of the garrison. During eight 
 days and nights they were incessantly harassed, and 
 so closely watched that not a loophole could be ap- 
 proached with safety. At one period their water 
 failed, and they owed their supply to the prompt 
 energy of the Sikhs, who, in one night, contrived with 
 most inefficient tools, to dig a well on the ground-flooi- 
 twenty feet deep, whereby abundance of good water 
 was ' obtained. During the last three or four days 
 their position had been rendered doubly perilous 
 by the fire of some guns of small calibre, which the 
 enemy had mounted within fifty yards of the house, 
 the walls of which were perforated by their balls in all 
 directions. The defence of Arrah may be considered 
 one of the most remarkable feats in Indian history.' * 
 
 * Mr. G. 0. Trevelyan, in the fourth chapter of ' ComBetition Wallafi,' 
 thus truly and graphically deserihes the Eyre of Arrah : ' The English 
 troops at Buxar were certainly a mere handful. But there was a man 
 
i 
 
 312 .S-ZiJ VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 Although martial law had been proclaimed in this 
 district. Eyre left the execution of justice in the hands 
 of the civil authorities, except in the case of certain 
 native officials who had transferred their services to 
 Koonwar Singh, and had been taken prisoners in arms 
 against the State. These men were tried by drum- 
 head court-martial, composed of the judge, the magis- 
 trate, and two captains, Eyre himself presiding over 
 
 there who was neither a novice nor a pedant, neither a young soldier 
 nor an old woman. Wherever hard knocks had been going on within 
 the last twenty years^and during that period there was no lack — 
 Vincent Eyre had generally managed to come in for a liberal allowance. 
 In the Affghan war, the roughest of schools, he had learned to preserve 
 an equal mind in arduous circumstances. When the intelligence of the 
 outbreak, travelling with the proverbial speed of bad news, reached the 
 station of Buxar, Eyre at once made up his mind to march, without 
 waiting to hear whether an expedition had started from Dinapore. 
 Perhaps he was unwilling to leave the fate of the garrison entirely 
 dependent on tlie energy and promptness of General Lloyd. Perhaps 
 he thought that a good thing like the relief of Arrah would bear doing 
 twice over. His force consisted of a hundred and fifty and four English 
 bayonets, twelve mounted volunteers, and three field-pieces with their 
 complement of artillerymen. The distance to be traversed was fifty 
 miles as the crow flies ; and, as the waters were out over the face of the 
 country, and the population was in a state of open hostility, the march 
 proved long and formidable. On the way Eyre received tidings of the 
 reverse sustained by Dunbar's detachment. It seemed foolhardy in- 
 deed to advance to the attack of an enemy who had just cut to pieces a 
 force twice as strong as his own. But, according to his view of the 
 matter, this consideration did not in any wise affect the result of his 
 reasoning. His axiom was that Arrah must be relieved. There was 
 no one else now left to do the business, so of necessity it fell to him. 
 He had not many soldiers, and would be glad to have more. He did 
 not share the sentiment of King Henry at Agincourt. He would have 
 been glad to see at his back a thousand or two of those men at Alder- 
 shott who did no work that day. But, as he had only a few, he must 
 perform the work with those few. So on he went, nothing doubting." 
 
SIS VINCENT EYRE. SI?, 
 
 (the court, and, being found guilty, were hanged as an 
 example. The inhabitants of the city and its environs 
 were ordered to deliver up their arms in camp with- 
 in forty-eight hours, and long before that time had 
 elapsed, a pile of 7,000 miscellaneous arms had been 
 collected and broken up. 
 
 But, although the chief object of the, expedition 
 from Buxar had now been accomplished, there was 
 important work still remaining to be done. Koonwar 
 Singh, with a large body of mutineers and armed 
 retainers, had fled to his stronghold at Jugdespore, 
 distant about sixteen mUes from Arrah, in the heart of 
 a dense jungle. Captain L'Estrange, in reporting to 
 army head-quarters, truly stated : — ' The difficulty 
 attending the enterprise was, by universal report, very 
 gfeat. The roads were represented as being (at this 
 season of the year) almost impassable ; and the position 
 of Koonwar Singh and his followers was deemed, by 
 all who had any knowledge of the country surrounding 
 him, as being inaccessible.' He added, ' under all the 
 circumstances, a feeling of doubt, if not of apprehen- 
 sion, as to the success of our expedition, might easUy 
 have pervaded troops less. confident than ours were, in 
 the judgment, talent, and courage of our leader.' 
 
 Eyre, having been reinforced by two companies of 
 Her Majesty's 10th Foot and 100 of Rattray's Sikhs 
 from Dinapore, marched from Arrah on August 11, 
 passing over his late battle-field en route, where the 
 marks of bullets on the trees bore ample evidence to 
 
314 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 the fierceness of the conflict. Next day, about 1 1 a.m., 
 the enemy were found in strong position, having a 
 river in their front, the town of DuUoor in their centre, 
 partially protected by earthworks, and in their rear 
 the formidable belt of jungle which covered the ap- 
 proach to Jugdespore. An advanced picket occupied 
 the village ^f Narainpore, whence they were soon dis- 
 lodged. The enemy's right was greened behind 
 broken ground and low jungle, until the near approach 
 of Captain Patterson's skirmishers drew forth their fire, 
 whereupon Eyre opened upon them with grape, causing 
 them to rise in confusion ; when a timely forward 
 rush, accompanied by a loud cheer from the men of the 
 10th Foot, drove them panic-stricken into DuUoor and 
 the adjacent jungle. Meanwhile, L'Estrange and 
 Scott with the 5th Fusileers, assisted by a field- 
 howitzer, held in check the enemy's left, consisting of 
 Koonwar Singh's irregulars, horse and foot ; these now 
 simultaneously gave way, and a hot pursuit ensued, 
 terminating only at Jugdespore itself. The enemy, as 
 they retreated through the jungle, maintained a dropping 
 fire on their pursuers, and abandoned two field-guns 
 en route. Koonwar Singh had barely time to effect 
 his escape in the direction of Sasseram, leaving his 
 stronghold in our hands. 
 
 Eyre followed him up ten miles as far as Peroo, 
 when he received from Dinapore an order of recall to 
 join General Outram, who had meanwhile arrived thus 
 far in progress to take up his command for the relief of 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. SW 
 
 Lucknow. Before leaving Jugdespore, Eyre, in order 
 more thoroughly to destroy Koonwar Singh's prestige 
 among the natives, blew up the palace and principal 
 buildings, where he had established a manufactory of 
 arms and ammunition, and had laid up large stores of 
 provisions, and which, therefore, offered a tempting 
 rendezvous for malcontents in such dangerous times. 
 Koonwar SinghJ^nt his course towards Rewah, with 
 the ultimate intention of proceeding to Delhi ; but 
 evenlually crossed into the Doab and thence to Oudh, 
 where he carried on a desultory warfare for several 
 months, until forced by the successes of the British 
 arms in all quarters to retire to his native jungles, 
 pursued by Sir Edward Lugard. In crossing the 
 Ganges he received a mortal wound and perished 
 miserably, though stout-hearted and defiant to the 
 last. 
 
 On August 21, the gallant little Arrah field force 
 was finally dispersed, having terminated its brief and 
 adventurous career in a campaign of three weeks' 
 duration, fruitful in important consequences to the 
 Grovemment of British India. When this force was 
 first improvised by Eyre at Buxar, on his own 
 responsibility, the entire province of Behar was in open 
 insurrection, having proclaimed Koonwar Singh as their 
 Kajah and ruler ; the civilians of Arrah were besieged 
 by the mutinous regiments of Dinapore without a hope 
 of relief; our river communication between Bengal and 
 the Upper Provinces was in danger of being interrupted 
 
316 Sm VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 — a danger which imperilled the very existence of 
 Havelock's small isolated force in the Doab; and 
 Bengal itself showed symptoms of a general rising. 
 "What a change had Eyre's little campaign effected ! 
 Arrah relieved; the Dinapore mutineers twice defeated 
 and dispersed; Koonwar Singh in full flight to the 
 North-west ; the district of Shahabad restored to order 
 and tranquillity; and the route of the Ganges open 
 for the safe transit of our steamers and troops. 
 
 On the night of August 20, Eyre was suddenly 
 awakened from slumber to find the companions of his 
 recent toils and successes standing round his bed to 
 offer him the parting tribute of their esteem and grati- 
 tude. The feelings of the Arrah garrison had been 
 embodied in some spirited verses by Dr. Halls, which 
 that gentleman proceeded to read aloud whilst Eyre 
 sate up in bed, half wondering whether the whole was 
 not a pleasing illusion of the fancy. But three rounds 
 of hearty cheers with wliich the interview terminated 
 sufficed to assure him of the reality. 
 
 On August 19, General Outram thus encouragingly 
 addressed Eyre : — ' I have only time to thank you for 
 your very interesting letter of the 5th instant, which I 
 have sent privately to the Governor-General. The 
 official goes to-day to the Commander-in-chief officially. 
 Both will, I am sure, most highly appreciate your 
 glorious little campaign. What a refreshing contrast 
 to the bungling that has prevailed elsewhere ! Your 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE, 317 
 
 successes enable me to dispose of troops, who otherwise 
 must have been detained here, and especially am I re- 
 joiced that your troop is rendered available for even 
 more important services. At Benares I shall have 
 the pleasure of meeting you, when we can both talk 
 over the measures I have in contemplation.' 
 
 So highly indeed did Outram estimate Eyre's ser- 
 vices, that he even recommended that they should be 
 rewarded by the Victoria Cross, in the following 
 terms : — ' In viewing the steady resolve of Major Eyre 
 to effect the relief of Arrah, the perseverance with 
 which he pursued his object, and the gallantry with 
 which he led his small force to victoiy, even against 
 such overwhelming numbers, I respectfully submit 
 that Major Eyre established a special claim to dis- 
 tinction, and earnestly solicit His Excellency the 
 Commander-in-chief to bestow on that officer the 
 Victoria Cross.' And to Eyre himself he wrote, as we 
 have already recorded : — * If acts of devotion to one's 
 country entitle to the Cross, then surely the devotion 
 which you displayed at Arrah to your country, and 
 the advantage that resulted to the country from that 
 act, ought to secure it to you of all men.' 
 
 It arose from no lack of appreciation of Eyre's 
 services that the Commander-in-chief withheld the 
 Cross, considering a Companionship of the Bath the 
 more suitable reward. Congratulatory letters poured 
 in upon Eyre from all quarters, including the highest 
 
318 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 Government officials,* and the Governor-General in 
 Council conveyed to him officially his special thanks, 
 accompanying them with an expression of ' admiration 
 for the zeal, judgment, and resolution with which 
 Major Eyre and his little force encountered and over- 
 came the formidable obstacles opposed to them.' 
 
 It was to be expected that, under Outram's com- 
 mand, Eyre would not long remain idle. Accordingly, 
 on the advance from Allahabad to Cawnpore, he was 
 entrusted with a small expeditionary force to intercept, 
 and, if possible, destroy, a formidable party of insur- 
 gents from Oudh, who, with 400 men and four guns, 
 had crossed the Ganges to operate in Outram's rear, 
 and cut off his communications with Allahabad. 
 Eyre's force consisted of 100 infantry of Her Majesty's 
 5th Fusileers, 50 of Her Majesty's 64th Foot, and 
 two guns ; and he was joined in the wood by 40 of 
 the 12th Irregular Horse. Marching by night, the 
 town of Khoondun-puttee was reached a little before 
 daybreak. The villagers reported the rebels to be 
 
 * ' Although,' wrote Mr. — now Sir — Cecil Beadon to Eyre, ' I have 
 not the honour of being known to you, I wiU venture to claim your 
 forgiveness for the liberty I take in expressing the gratitude and admi- 
 ration which, in common I suppose with every Englishman, I feel for 
 the prompt decision with which you resolved upon effecting the relief of 
 the Arrah garrison, and organised a force for the purpose, and for the 
 admirable skill and bravery with which you and your little army with- 
 stood, and completely routed, an overwhelming force of the rebels, and 
 finally effected your object with comparatively little loss.' The expres- 
 sion of ' gratitude and admiration ' from one who was Foreign Secretary 
 to the Government, indicates most clearly the feeling of intense relief 
 which Eyre's victory produced in Wovemment circles. 
 
sin VINCENT EYRE. 319 
 
 near at hand, if not actually within the walls of the 
 jplace ; their boats being moored about a mile off. 
 Eyre therefore ordered the cavalry to gallop ahead to 
 guard the gates of the town, and should the rebels have 
 fled, to pursue them to their boats, and hold them in 
 check until the infantry and guns should come up. 
 
 All turned out exactly as had been foreseen, for 
 the rebels, hearing of Eyre's approach, had already 
 begun to retire in hot haste to the river, and the 
 cavalry, pursuing, reached the bank just in time to 
 prevent the boats leaving their moorings. On the 
 arrival of the infantry and guns. Eyre gave immediate 
 orders to board, and an obstinate resistance was made, 
 terminating in a desperate attempt on the part of the 
 enemy to blow up the boats with all therein ; failing 
 to effect which, they threw their guns overboard and 
 precipitated themselves into the river, where they were 
 destroyed by discharges of grape from the guns, and a 
 fusilade from the infantry, none so much as asking for 
 quarter, and only three of the whole number escaping 
 alive. Thus Outram's instructions were fulfilled to 
 the v«ry letter. 
 
 Another large party of marauders from Oudh, who 
 had landed about four miles higher, taking warning by 
 the fate of their companions, abandoned their project, 
 and re-embarked before Eyre's cavalry could intercept 
 them. The blow thus decisively struck was considered 
 by Outram to have ' prevented a general insurrection 
 in the Doab,' and in forwarding Eyre's despatch, he 
 
320 SIS VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 wrote : — ' I now consider my communications secure, 
 which otherwise must have been entirely cut off 
 during our operations in Oudh, from which evils, having 
 been preserved by Major Eyre's energy and decision, 
 that officer and the detachment under his command 
 are, I consider, entitled to thankful acknowledgments 
 from Government, which, I am confident, will not be 
 withheld. His reputation as a successful leader had 
 already been so well established, that I purposely se- 
 lected him for this duty, in the perfect confidence that 
 he would succeed.' This elicited a further recognition 
 from the Governor-General in Council. 
 
 Outram, having joined forces with Havelock on Sep- 
 tember 16, Eyre exchanged his light field-guns for 
 heavy iron 18-pounders drawn by bullocks and ele- 
 phants, and rendered further good service on the 
 advance to Lucknow, which took place immediately 
 after. On the death of Brigadier Cooper on Septem- 
 ber 26, while forcing a passage through the city for 
 the relief of the beleaguered garrison. Eyre succeeded 
 to the command of the Artillery Brigade, which he 
 continued to hold until the final capture of the city by 
 Lord Clyde, in March 1858, Shortly after joining 
 the Lucknow garrison, he was prostrated by brain 
 fever, brought on by exposure and fatigue, and owed 
 his life to the tender care of Martin Gubbins and 
 his wife. 
 
 Subsequently, he took part, as Brigadier of artillery 
 and cavalry, in all the active operations of the force. 
 
SIR VINCENT EYRE. 821 
 
 and was repeatedly mentioned honourably in the de- 
 spatches of Havelock and Outram, the latter styling 
 him in one of his despatches as 'the gallant Brigadier 
 Eyre, whose victories at Arrah and Jugdespore have 
 already given him an European reputation.' 
 
 During the final siege of Lucknow, Eyre's artillery 
 was mainly instrumental in repelling an attempt of 
 the enemy's cavalry and infantry to break through the 
 position at Alumbagh, which, if successful, must have 
 exposed Lord Clyde's flank and rear to their attacks, 
 besides intercepting his communications Avith Cawn- 
 pore. The affair was, however, for certain reasons best 
 known to the Head-quarter Staff, hushed up as un- 
 worthy of notice; and, what is stranger still, when 
 Sir Archdale Wilson, commanding the artillery at 
 Lucknow, sent in his final despatch, making honour- 
 able mention of Eyre and his artillery subordinates at 
 Alumbagh, it was brought back by a staff officer with 
 an order for its erasure, as ' the Alumhagh had nothing 
 to do with LucknowJ' 
 
 Nevertheless, by a strange inconsistency, when Eyre 
 and Colonel Turner were ordered to proceed to join 
 their new appointments, a complimentary order was 
 published to the army at Lucknow wherein it was 
 stated : — ' His Excellency parts from them with the 
 greatest regret, and takes the opportunity of testifying 
 tlie high opinion he entertains of them. They have 
 been specially retained with this force till now, in con- 
 
 T 
 
3-2-2 SIJi VINCENT EYHK 
 
 sequence of that opinion.' Still, even this could 
 scarcely make amends to Eyre for the total omission 
 of his name from the final despatch, which mentioned 
 by name almost every other artillery officer who had 
 so much as pointed a gun. The generous-minded 
 Outram, ever disdainful of injustice, afterwards re- 
 monstrated against the omission, and wrote to Eyre 
 as follows : — ' I was as much disappointed as you could 
 be on seeing the Commander-in-chiefs despatch in 
 print to find no acknowledgment was made of the 
 services of the troops at Alumbagh, and especially of 
 yourself.' 
 
 But, whatever mortification Eyre suffered thereby, 
 he was amply compensated by a letter from Outram 
 himself, who thus expressed his feelings on the close of 
 the campaign, wherein they had been so long associated 
 together : — ' 1 avail myself of one of the few leisure 
 moments allowed me to thank you for the able, zealous, 
 and invaluable service you have rendered me ; to give 
 utterance to the strong feelings of admiration with 
 which I regard you as a man, a soldier, and an officer ; 
 and to assure you of the warm aflPection I bear to you 
 as a friend. Your future career I shall continue to 
 watch with deep and affectionate interest, and if at 
 any time, or in any manner, I can be of the slightest 
 service to you, I shall esteem it alike a personal 
 favour and an honour to be jiermitted to aid you. 
 But you are now far above the necessity for help from 
 anyone, for you have well and fairly earned the highest 
 
SIS VINCENT EYRE. 323 
 
 position the service affords, and doubtless will obtain 
 it when opportunity offers.' 
 
 Thus terminated Eyre's active services in the field. 
 His remaining years in India were passed in compara- 
 tive seclusion at the gunpowder agency of Ishapore — 
 where he twice received the thanks of the Secretary of 
 State for India — and latterly in the more laborious and 
 important post of Inspector-General of Ordnance in 
 Calcutta. During his residence here. Eyre warmly 
 advocated in the editorial columns of the Friend of 
 India, the establishment of military colonies in the 
 Himalayan mountains, and found a supporter of his 
 views in Sir Hugh Rose. The subject has very 
 recently been taken up in England by Dr. F. Mouat, 
 and been ably handled in two lectures delivered at the 
 Royal United Service Institution, at which Eyre pre- 
 sided by special invitation. 
 
 He also took occasion while at Ishapore to give a 
 practical demonstration, in the presence of Lord Can- 
 ning and Sir Hugh Rose, of the adaptability for 
 military purposes in India of the metallic floating 
 waggons, on which he had lectured when in England, 
 for pontoon purposes on the rivers of India. Two of 
 these waggons being lashed together, were launched 
 on the Hooghly, and found capable of floating a nine- 
 pounder field-gun and its full proportion of gunners. 
 Such was the impression made on the minds of the 
 Grovernor-General and Commander-in-chief, that he 
 was at once appointed President of a special Pontoon 
 
 V 2 
 
324 sm VINCENT EYEE. 
 
 Committee, which entered thoroughly into the subject, 
 and whose report, it was hoped, would ere now have 
 led to some remarkable practical results in the re- 
 organisation of our pontoon system for army purposes 
 in India. 
 
 On the establishment of the ' Outram Institute,' at 
 Dum-Dum, to commemorate that great and good man's 
 services by carrying out his own benevolent views for 
 the welfare of the British soldier in India, Eyre was 
 selected as President of a Committee for the practical 
 development of the scheme, which, under the auspices 
 and leadership of the Rev. Mr. Norman, may be said 
 to have eclipsed all other attempts of a similar kind 
 theretofore made ; although the example has since 
 been followed with remarkable success in other mili- 
 tary stations. 
 
 He was selected by Lord Canning as a member of 
 the Army Amalgamation Commission in 1861, and it 
 is now well known that, had the suggestions of that 
 Commission been attended to by Sir Charles Wood, 
 that minister would have saved himself and his country 
 from the shame and trouble brought upon both by the 
 incessant complaints, wherewith every subsequent year 
 has teemed, of injustice and bad faith; — complaints 
 which have at length wrung some tardy concessions 
 from his successor. 
 
 In the spring of 1863, the state of his health having 
 obliged Eyre to repair to England, he became a Major- 
 Greneral on the full pay retired list, and his active 
 
SZB VI2fCiNT EYME. 3S5 
 
 career in India having thus terminated, he was recom- 
 mended by Sir Hugh Eose to the Home Government 
 for further honours. These, however, have not yet 
 been conferred, although backed by the Governor- 
 General in Council, and by the Home Council of 
 India ; neither has his name been included in the list 
 of good service-pensions, for which he was equally 
 eligible with other retired officers of artillery, who 
 have received that reward, and whose services cannot 
 be said to have surpassed those we have here recorded. 
 Nor, to the universal surprise of the Indian public, as 
 evinced in many a newspaper article no less than in 
 conversation amongst military men, was the Knight- 
 hood of the Star of India conferred upon the man who 
 had contributed far more than most recipients of the 
 honour to maintain the connection of India with Eng- 
 land. 
 
 England, indeed, sometimes acts strangely in such 
 cases. She makes heroes of officers who leave their 
 posts during an action ; she bestows prize-money upon 
 men who were hundreds of miles from the place of 
 capture, whilst those by whose daring effijrts and 
 brilliant victories ia the vicinity, that capture was 
 made possible, are left unrewarded; she showers with 
 an indiscriminate hand crosses and decorations ; whilst 
 an action which in any other country in the world 
 would have raised its originator to high command and 
 great honours, which in France was regarded as the 
 brilliant action of the mutiny campaign, is in England 
 
826 SIR VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 rewarded with a decoration,*siich as is ordinarily given 
 to military men for the most ordinary services.* 
 
 Of all men in the world, however, Vincent Eyre can 
 best afford to remain undecorated. His deeds need no 
 adventitious prop, no tinsel ornament either to support 
 or to commend them to his fellow-countrymen. They 
 speak for themselves to contemporaries, as they will 
 speak to posterity. The neglect which he has expe- 
 rienced will only cause those actions to be enquired 
 after, which stamped his name on the history of a 
 crisis during which the British power was brought 
 down to a lower ebb than it had ever kno^vTi before. 
 It will never be forgotten that it was Vincent Eyre, 
 who first dealt the most fatal and deadly blow to the 
 rebellion, at whose hands the mutineers first received 
 a retribution as prompt as it was efl^ective. That 
 successful march to Arrah acquires greater lustre from 
 the fact, that it followed immediately upon the defeat 
 of double the number of European soldiers under 
 another leader ; that it was made in the face of men 
 trained in our school, whose hands were yet red with 
 the victory they had achieved over a larger force, who 
 knew that with the defeat of Eyre they would gain 
 possession of Behar — would be in a position to march 
 upon Bengal. Looking at men as they are, we may 
 well assert that there are few who would have taken 
 upon themselves the responsibility at which Eyre so 
 
 * Two months subsequently, in May 1867, General Eyre was nomi- 
 natod Knisht Commander of the Star of India. 
 
SIR VINCENT EYEE. 327 
 
 eagerly clutched. There was no tarrying, no delay, 
 no telegraphiftg for instructions, no sheltering himself 
 under the wing of others. On the contrary; not only 
 did he show himself able to think and act at the same 
 moment — one of the highest attributes of a man, — but 
 he was ready to take all responsibility — the respon- 
 sibility of everyone joining his force — upon his own 
 shoulders, — to give orders in writing, — to do anything, 
 in fact, to insure movement and action. When we 
 think how rare such qualities are in the world ; — that 
 other men, who from interest or from their official po- 
 sition, obtained a factitious reputation during the 
 mutiny, showed when brought into action that they 
 possessed them not, — we must the niore honour the 
 man who- not only possessed but used his great gifts to 
 such purpose — to the saving of British interests in 
 India. For, however much in these days of peace and 
 security some people may be inclined to undervalue 
 the effect of the great success of Arrah, this we know 
 for a fact, that at the time it was regarded as the 
 turning point of the mutiny, as the death-blow to 
 rebellion in Behar, as so strengthening the hands of 
 Government, as to enable it to turn its undivided 
 attention to affairs in the North-west. What if Eyre 
 had not succeeded? Where then would have been 
 Havelock? Where the beleaguered garrison of Luck- 
 now ? In Tvhat a position would have been the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, with the whole country between 
 ' "~^abad and Calcutta in insurrection? Who can 
 
328 SlJt VINCENT EYRE. 
 
 doubt that Ghazeepore would have gone, that Patna 
 would have gone, that Calcutta itself would have been 
 sorely threatened ? It was not possible, indeed, that a 
 Lloyd or a Hewitt should have occupied the place of 
 an Eyre. Men of that calibre are not the adventurous 
 to whom alone adventures are possible. It needed for 
 such an expedition a leader who laughed at responsi- 
 bility when it might affect his action ; who was cool, 
 determined, resolute; who possessed the brain to 
 contrive, the nerve to carry out, his daring plans. 
 Such leaders are rarely met with now-a-days, — but 
 such an one the Arrah field force possessed in Vincent 
 Eyre. 
 
 The warm personal feelings which we entertain to- 
 wards the subject of this sketch, knowing as we know 
 how much there really is to admire in his character, 
 have prompted us to the task — the pleasing and 
 inspiring task — of laying his deeds, just as he accom- 
 plished them, before the readers of this ' Review.' * 
 We have done this, of design, barely, almost nakedly. 
 We have avoided everything but a recital of facts as 
 they occurred, preferring to our own comments, the 
 comments of such men as Lord Canning, Sir James 
 Outram, Sir Cecil Beadon, and others whose testimony 
 cannot be doubted. We have given the simple outline 
 of a career of a British officer in India, commencing 
 in the steady performance of his duty; he himself aiding 
 that performance by constant study ; and culminating 
 
 * This article appeared in the ' Calcutta Review' for March 1867. 
 
Sm VINCBNT BYRE. 829 
 
 in an expedition and a victory, both of which testified 
 to the excellence of the seed sown, to the fertility of 
 the soil in which it had taken root. How true indeed 
 is the apothegm, that a life of preparation will not fail 
 of glory ; — how still more true, if possible, the maxim 
 that the opportunity will not fail the man, if the man 
 only fit himself for the opportunity. 
 
330 
 
 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 (Weitten in 1869.) 
 
 The Mahratta power, raised to such a height by 
 Sivajee, seemed as if it were about to melt away under 
 the rule of his dissolute and incapable successors. 
 His son Sambajee, taken prisoner by the Moguls, 
 after a disastrous reign of nine years' duration, was 
 put to death with the most excruciating tortures in the 
 presence of Aurungzebe in 1-689. His son, again, 
 Saho Rajah, a prisoner at the time, was released on the 
 death of Aurungzebe^ only to find his claims to the 
 headship of the Mahrattas disputed by his cousin, 
 Sivajee, son of Rajaram. Thenceforth there were two 
 parties and two dynasties amongst the Mahrattas. 
 The elder or legitimate branch established itself at 
 Sattara, and from it is descended, by Hindu law, that 
 prince whose claims to the throne of Sattara have been 
 so much canvassed within the memory of the present 
 generation. The other branch fixed upon Kolapore, 
 about sixty-five miles south-by-east of Sattara, now' 
 the capital of a district of the same name, lying in the 
 Concan, partly below the Syhadree range and partly 
 in the elevated land mthin the Ghauts. Here, in 
 
THE FIRST SINDIA. 331 
 
 1760, died the last lineal descendant of Sivajee; but 
 there still remain, in quasi-independent sovereignty, 
 the descendants by adoption of that once dreaded 
 conqueror. 
 
 The representative of the elder branch, Saho Rajah, 
 was content to live a life of ease and pleasure, even to 
 acknowledge himself a vassal of the Mogul, leaving 
 his State aifairs to be managed by his chief minister, 
 who from the time of Sivajee was called the Peshwa. 
 In 1714, Balajee Biswanath, a Brahmin, was ap- 
 pointed to that office, receiving at the same time a 
 grant of the pergunnah of Poona, and the fort of 
 Poorendur. He, by his intrigues and ability, con- 
 trived to concentrate all the real power in his own 
 hands, leavingto the Rajah the title only of sovereignty. 
 He made Poona the real seat of power, the centre of 
 all authority ; and, what was of equal importance to 
 him, he caused the office of Peshwa to be made here- 
 ditary in his family. 
 
 Amongst the dependants of Balajee Biswanath were 
 two men who were destined to become founders of 
 dynasties which exist to the present day. These were 
 Mulharjee Holkar and Ranajee Sindia. The latter, 
 the descendant of a decayed Rajpoot* family of 
 Kunnierkheer, a village fifteen miles east of Sattara, 
 had been reduced to such a state of poverty, that he 
 had entered the service of the Peshwa as slipper- 
 bearer. It is related, and the story is jealously pre- 
 * Grant Duff, vol. i. p. 480. 
 
332 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 served by the family, that, when in this capacity, a 
 circumstance, trifling in itself, led to his being em- 
 ployed on higher duties, and, in this way, to his 
 further advancement. One day, when Bajee Kao, 
 who had succeeded to the office of Peshwa on the 
 death of his father in 1 720, came, after a long audi- 
 ence, from the presence of Saho Kajah into the ante- 
 room, he found his slipper-bearer lying on his back, 
 fast asleep, with the slippers clasped with both hands 
 to his breast. It appeared to the Peshwa that a man 
 who could be so careful in small things was likely to 
 be zealous and faithful in matters of greater moment. 
 He accordingly promoted him from the menial office 
 he had till then held, to be a trooper in his body- 
 guard. His rise was rapid. The administration of 
 Bajee Rao was signalised by almost unremitting war- 
 fare. Again the Mahrattas became the terror of the 
 declining empire of the Moguls. Bajee Rao ravaged 
 Guzerat, conquered Malwa, and a portion of Bundel- 
 kund ; then, after a brief sojourn in his own territories, 
 he marched to the gates of Delhi, surrounded the 
 Nizam, who was advancing to the assistance of the 
 Emperor, and compelled him to sign a convention 
 constituting him Viceroy of Malwa. Again he 
 marched into the Dekkan, and returning thence di- 
 rected his steps to the North-west, when, on April 28, 
 1740, he died, leaving a name which is still recollected 
 with pride by the descendants of the warriors he so 
 often led to victory. 
 
EXPLOITS OF HIS FATHER. 833 
 
 In all these expeditions Ranajee Sindia took a 
 prominent part. We hear of him in 1725 so far 
 advanced in rank, as to be looked upon as one of the 
 leaders of the army. In that year deeds were granted 
 to him, to Holkar, and to Udajee Powar by the 
 Peshwa on the part of Saho Eajah, to levy Chonth* 
 and Surdeshmukhee,^ and to retain half the Mokapa,^ 
 for the payment of their troops. At Delhi, in 1736, 
 when the moderation .of the Peshwa was attributed by 
 some of the Emperor's courtiers to fear, an,d a body of 
 eight thousand men came to attack the Mahrattas, it 
 was Mulharjee Holkar and Ranajee Sindia who fell 
 upon this body with their daring horsemen, killed and 
 wounded upwards of six hundred, and captured two 
 thousand horses and one elephant. In the action with 
 the Nizam in February 1738, which compeUed him to 
 remain within his lines and afterwards to agree to the 
 convention of which we have already spoken, Kanajee 
 Sindia was one of the three principal officers who led 
 the Mahratta troops into battle. To the treaty made 
 in 1743 with 'Mahomed Shah by Balajee Kao, the 
 eldest son arid successor of Bajee Rao, Holkar, Sindia, 
 and Peelajee .Tadow were securities for the Peshwa, 
 declaring that should he recede from the engagement 
 
 * Chouth, a fourth^ part of the revenue. 
 
 f SwdeshmukMe, an exaction levied by the Mahrattas on the 
 Mogul territories, and formally recognised by Mahomed Shah, 'as a 
 right of 10 per cent, upon the whole revenue of six Subahs (provinces) 
 of the Dekkan. 
 
 J Mokapa, equal to 6S per cent, of thevrhole revenue. 
 
334 MABHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 he had contracted, they would quit his service. At 
 the time of his death, about the year 1759, Ranajee had 
 come to be regarded as one of the most powerful and 
 trusted servants of the Peshwa. 
 
 At this time Kanajee Sindia possessed in jaghir 
 nearly half Malwa, with a revenue of sixty-five and a 
 half lakhs of rupees. Under his successor, of whom 
 we are now about to speak, these possessions developed 
 into the kingdom of Gwalior, but Ranajee himself 
 held them only as a dependant of the Peshwa. 
 
 Ranajee Sindia left behind him five sons — three by 
 ]Meenah Bai, a woman of his own tribe, to whom he 
 was married in the Dekkan ; and two by a Rajput 
 woman of Malwa. Of these two only one survived 
 him. This was Madhajee Sindia, the founder of the 
 real greatness of the family. 
 
 Madhajee did not, however, immediately succeed to 
 the chiefship. Though greatest in ability, he was 
 youngest in order of birth, and he was not born in 
 wedlock. It does not appear that he ever attempted 
 to dispute the more legitimate claims of his brothers. 
 Of these, the eldest, Jyapa, was, on his father's death, 
 at once confirmed in his jaghir ; the other two, with 
 Madhajee, received important commands under the 
 Peshwa. 
 
 The ten years that elapsed between 1750 and 1760 
 witnessed the elevation of the Mahratta power to its 
 highest point of prosperity. From the first of those 
 dates, Immediately after the death of Saho Rajah in 
 
THE MAHRATIA WARS. 385 
 
 1749, Poona had become the virtual capital of their, 
 empire. The successor of Saho, Kam Rajah, agreed, 
 soon after his accession to the throne of Sivajee at 
 Sattara, to transfer all real power to the Peshwa, 
 retaining only the nominal sovereignty over the pos- 
 session of his ancestors. He remained, in fact, by the 
 actual deed of his grandmother, Tara Bai, and the 
 tacit consent of the Peshwa, a close prisoner in the 
 fort of Sattara till the death of the former in 1761. 
 But even after that till his own death sixteen years 
 later, though not in actual confinement, he was still 
 kept a prisoner at large. 
 
 The action taken by the Mahrattas in the period 
 between 1750 and 1760 may be divided into two dis- 
 tinct branches. The Peshwa himself acted in the Dek- 
 kan and on the western coast ; his brother, Ragunath, 
 and his lieutenants, Holkar, Sindia, and others, acted 
 in Hindustan. The action of the Peshwa himself may 
 be first briefly summarised. His chief contests were 
 with the Nizam. At first, when the latter was 
 strengthened by the French under Bussy, the hitherto 
 unconquered squadrons of the Mahrattas recoiled 
 before French discipline and French valour, and it 
 seemed as though by a bold effort Mohammedan supre- 
 macy might have been again asserted in the Concan. 
 But discord and division prevented all real concert in 
 tlie councils of the Nizam, and a peace on equal terms 
 was agreed upon. Later, after Bussy had been re- 
 called by the well-meaning but inexperienced and 
 
336 MADHAJEE 8INDIA. 
 
 obstinate Lally, the Mahi'attas were able to extend 
 their conquests. In 1760, a treaty was signed with 
 the Nizam, by which territory valued at an annual 
 revenue of sixty-two lakhs of rupees was ceded. This 
 territory included Ahmednugger, the province of 
 Beejapore, and the greater part of the province of 
 Ahmedabad. In this campaign, 1759, the army of 
 the Peshwa was commanded by his cousin Sudaseo 
 Bhao, of whom we shall hear something further on. 
 It had likewise been strengthened by the accession of 
 the corps of Ibrahim Khan Gardee, a Mohammedan, 
 who had been trained under Bussy, and whose know- 
 ledge of artillery was far in advance of that possessed 
 by the Mahrattas. 
 
 In the North-west, during the same period, the 
 lieutenants of the Peshwa had achieved even greater 
 triumphs. In 1751, Sufdar Jung, Viceroy of Oudh 
 and Vizier of the Emperor Ahmed Shah, found him- 
 self compelled to call in the aid of the Mahrattas, to 
 assist him in putting down the Rohillas, by whom he, 
 unassisted, had been defeated. Mulhar Rao Holkar, 
 Jyapa Sindia, and Sooraj Mull, the chief of the Jats, 
 joined him with a large portion of their forces, and 
 completely defeated the Rohillas. As a reward for 
 these services, several districts of Rohilcund were 
 assigned to them to plunder. 
 
 From this they were recalled to assist the Peshwa 
 in his operations against the Nizam; but, in 1753, 
 Holkar and Sindia received a pressing summons from 
 
aOLKAR PLUNDERS DELHI. 837 
 
 Ghazee-ud-deen, the Commander-in-chief of the im- 
 perial army, who was engaged in a contest for power 
 with Sufdar Jung, the Vizier, by whom he had been 
 raised to his dignity. 
 
 For six months Delhi had been in a state of anarchy. 
 Every night the streets were deluged with blood by 
 the contending parties. To political fury was added 
 the bitterness of religious hatred, for Sufdar Jung was 
 a Shiah, and Ghazee-ud-deen was the champion of the 
 Sunis. Before the Mahrattas could arrive, however, 
 Sufdar Jung had given up the contest and retired to 
 Oudh. On his retirement Ghazee-ud-deen caused a 
 relative of his own to be appointed Vizier, and went, 
 aided by the Mahrattas, to attack Sooraj Mull, chief 
 of the J&ts. "Whilst engaged in this attack, the Em- 
 peror marched out to observe, and, in case of a favour- 
 able conjuncture, to attack him. Whereupon Holkar, 
 without consulting anyone, marched against the em- 
 peror's camp, threw it into confusion, plundered the 
 baggage, and took possession of Delhi. Ghazee-ud- 
 deen, who joined him there, then deposed Ahmed Shah, 
 put out his eyes, and raised to the throne a grand- 
 son of Jehandah Shah, by the title of Alumgeer II. 
 
 After this, satiated with plunder, the Mahrattas 
 retired. But in 1756, the ambition of Ghazee-ud-deen, 
 who had constituted himself Vizier, urged him to 
 attempt, by an act of treachery, the recovery of the 
 provinces of Lahore and of Mooltan, which had been 
 severed from the Delhi empire eight years before by 
 
338 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 Ahmed Shah Doorani. Successful for the moment, 
 he only provoked the vengeance of Ahmed Shah, who, 
 marching at once from Cabul, not only recovered the 
 Punjab, but sacked Delhi and Muttra. He then 
 returned to Cabul, leaving a Kohilla, Nujeeb-ud-dowla, 
 as Vizier. But no sooner had Ahmed Shah retired 
 than Ghazee-ud-deen recommenced his intrigues, and 
 again invoked the assistance of the Mahrattas. 
 
 Then followed the most brilliant campaign in which 
 that nation of warriors had ever been engaged. The 
 Peshwa detached his brother Ragunath Rao * to the 
 north-west, and he, summoning Holkar and Sindia 
 and other chiefs to his aid, marched on Delhi (1758). 
 Delhi was taken almost without a blow, and Ghazee- 
 iid-deen was reinstated as Vizier. At this crisis, 
 when nothing more seemed to remain for him to do, 
 Ragunath received a tempting invitation from Adina 
 Beg, who had revolted against the Viceroy appointed 
 by Ahmed Shah, to march on and take possession of 
 the Punjab. He marched accordingly, and defeated, 
 in a pitched battle, the Affghan Governor of Sirhind, 
 moved without opposition on Lahore, of which he took 
 possession in the month of May, and then occupied 
 the whole of the Punjab, which was evacuated by the 
 Dooranis without a battle. Leaving the government 
 to Adina Beg, supported by a body of Mahrattas, 
 Ragunath bimself returned to Poona. But Adina 
 
 * In the English accounts of the history of this period, Eagunath 
 Eao is generally styled Eagoba. 
 
SUDASEO COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 339 
 
 Beg dying soon after, the government devolved upon 
 Shahjee, a relation of Sindia. 
 
 On Kagunath's return to Poona from the dazzling 
 campaign which brought a new and distant province 
 under the Mahratta yoke, he was met with remon- 
 strances on the part of the prime minister, Sudaseo, 
 on account of the heavy expenses he had incurred 
 without adequate return. This was the first victorious 
 expedition undertaken by the Mahrattas, which had 
 not only brought no money inl^o the treasury, but had 
 not paid its own expenses. In the course of his 
 remonstrances, Sudaseo made some allusion to the 
 profitable results of his own campaign in the Dekkan. 
 This enraged Eagunath to such a degree that he 
 offered to change places with his cousin, and take 
 charge of the home administration, whilst Sudaseo 
 should become commander-in-chief. Sudaseo at once 
 agreed to the proposal. This exchange, at a critical 
 moment, of a man trained in civil employ for a tried 
 soldier, had a most disastrous influence on the cam- 
 paign that followed. 
 
 Sudaseo set out in the first instance against the 
 Subadar of the Dekkan. This prince, no longer sup- 
 ported by the French, and weakened by the loss of the 
 artillery corps under Ibrahim Khan Grardee, trained 
 by Bussy, and whom the Mahrattas had enticed into 
 their service, was entirely out-manoeuvred, and worsted 
 in a combat which had aU the importance of a battle, 
 in the beginning of 1760. In consequence of this, the 
 
 z 2 
 
340 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 Subadar sued for peace, but he obtained it only by 
 the surrender of the important fortresses of Dovvlu- 
 tabad, Sewneree, Asseergurh, and Bijapore, the city 
 of Ahmednuggur, and other districts yielding a total 
 annual rental of sixty-two lakhs of rupees. The 
 treaty, however, had scarcely been concluded, when 
 intelligence reached the Peshwa that Ahmed Shah 
 Abdali, marching from Cabul, had recovered the Pun- 
 jab, and having out-mana3uvred Duttajee Sindia, had 
 crossed the Jumna, and attacked and completely de- 
 feated that chieftain at Rudber, near Delhi, leavipg 
 Duttajee himself and his brother Juttobah dead on the 
 field of battle, and with them two-thirds of the army. 
 Madhajee Sindia, Avho fought gallantly in the action, 
 managed to escape. Jyapa had previously been assas- 
 sinated ; Tookajee had died ; this action, therefore, left 
 Madhajee the sole surviving son of Ranajee Sindia. 
 His nephew, Junkajee, son of the eldest brother, 
 Jyapa, still remained the head of the family — a position 
 he had occupied ever since the death of his father.* 
 Mulhar Rao Holkar, who had formed the advanced 
 guard of the combined Mahratta force, on hearine of 
 this disaster, had retreated precipitously to Secundra, 
 
 * In stating that Juttobah, the youngest brother, was killed at the 
 battle of Rudber, we have followed Grant Duff. Malcolm records that 
 he died at Kamber near Deeg, but whether before or after the action 
 he does not state. Kasi Eai Pundit only mentions Duttajee as having 
 been killed on that occasion, but no subsequent mention is made of 
 Juf-obah : he probably fled from the field and died of his wounds, for 
 nothing more is heard of him. 
 
CAMPAIGN AGAINUT AHMED SHAH. Jiil 
 
 destroying one of the enemy's convoys on his way. 
 Here, however, he had been surprised by a party of 
 AfFghans, completely defeated, and had fled to the 
 camp of the Peshwa on the river Manjera. 
 
 On receiving these tidings, Sudaseo Bhao, flushed 
 with his recent victory over the Subadar, obtained 
 the Peshwa's permission to set out to repair the 
 losses sustained, and to strike a great blow for the 
 entire conquest of Hindostan. Everything seemed to 
 favour this project. The Mahratta power was at its 
 zenith ; the Mogul empire, a prey to internal dissen- 
 sions, would most certainly succumb to a well-delivered 
 blow; nor, powerful as was Ahmed Shah Abdali, 
 was he, with good management, an adversary to be 
 really feared, for he fought for plunder rather than 
 conquest, and his previous invasions had shown that 
 he sought rather to be the king-maker than himself 
 the sovereign of Hindostan. 
 
 On receiving from the Peshwa the charge of the 
 direction of the expedition against Ahmed Shah, the 
 first act of Sudaseo was to obtain the permission of 
 the same high authority that his son, Wiswas Bao, 
 then seventeen years old, should accompany the force 
 as its nominal commander. This was strictly in ac- 
 cordance with Mahratta custom. He then set out, 
 accompanied by the representatives of the principal 
 Mahratta families, who, not having gained for them- 
 selves quasi-independent sovereignties, were content 
 to follow the fortunes of the Peshwa. As he neared 
 
342. • MABHAJBE SINBIA. 
 
 the Chumbul, he was joined by the heads of the great 
 Mahratta houses, since famous in the history of Hin- 
 dostan. There came to him Mulhar Rao Holkar, 
 Junkajee Sindia, and his uncle Madhajee, Dummajee 
 Guickwar, Jeswant Rao Powar, Appajeee Rao Attow- 
 lay, Antajee Mankesir, Govind Punt Bundelay, and 
 others, at the head of considerable forces. By the 
 mediation of Mulhar Rao Holkar, moreover, .Sooraj 
 Mull, chief of the powerful tribe of the Jats, joined 
 him with 30,000 men. As he passed through Raj- 
 pootana and the district adjacent, the Rajpoots flocked 
 to his standard. There was scarcely a Hindu chief, 
 however exalted or however low his rank, who did 
 not consider the cause of the Mahrattas his own, and 
 exert himself to aid it by all the means at his 
 disposal. It ought to be mentioned that his own 
 force, originally 30,000 strong, of whom two-thirds 
 were the flower of the Mahratta cavalry and the 
 remaining 10,000 a picked corps of artillery and in- 
 fantry under Ibrahim Khan Gardee, was thus increased 
 to about 90,000 regular troops. Including camp- 
 followers, the numbers with him have been variously 
 estimated at from 200,000 to 500,000 men. 
 
 But a short time elapsed, however, before Su- 
 daseo Bhao showed very clearly not only his in- 
 competency to direct operations in the field, for that 
 might have been supplied, but his utter ignorance of 
 the art of managing mankind. It happened that on 
 this occasion, the Mahratta camp presented a striking 
 
LUXURY OF THM MAHRATTA8. 348 
 
 contrast to the camps of previous days. Then, all 
 that was not necessary had been discarded ; tents had 
 been rarely seen ; it had been the object of the Mah- 
 ratta warrior to take all that he required with him on 
 his horse's back, and, due consideration having been 
 had to the purpose for which the horse was required, 
 the burden had ordinarily been but a light one. But 
 on this occasion the Mahratta victors seemed to have 
 taken from the Moguls, whom they had defeated in 
 the Dekkan, an example which threatened to change 
 the character of their movements. Their tents were 
 costly, magnificent, and numerous ; the dresses of the 
 chiefs and officers were made of the richest material ; 
 not only they, but many of the soldiers, had their 
 families with them, and the amount of baggage made 
 the army of the Bhao more resemble a Mahratta force 
 returning with its booty after a successful campaign 
 than any camp previously known to Mahratta story. 
 These impedimenta interfered greatly, one and all, 
 with the movements of the army. 
 
 At the first council of war held after the arrival of 
 Sooraj Mull, that wary and experienced chieftain 
 pointed out these defects to Sudaseo. He told him 
 that though his army might be more expeditious than 
 the troops of Hindostan, it was not equal in that 
 respect to the Affghans : he advised him, therefore, to 
 leave the women, the children, the baggage, many of 
 the followers, and even the heavy artillery, in the for- 
 tresses of Gwalior or Jhansie ; or should that arrange- 
 
■'Ai MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 inent not be approved of, he offered to place at his dis- . 
 posal any one of the three fortresses of Deeg, Combeir, 
 or Bhurtpoor, for the purpose, and to join him himself 
 with every available man. This sage advice was 
 strongly supported by Mulhar Rao Holkar, and the 
 other chiefs of the Mahrattas who had recently come 
 in contact with the troops of Ahmed Shah. But the 
 Bhao would not listen to it. On the contrary, priding 
 himself on his birth as a Brahmin, and on his elevated 
 position, he reproached Mulhar Rao with having out- 
 lived his activity, and Sooraj Mull with giving advice 
 fit for a Zemindar like himself, but utterly unsuited to 
 the consideration of one so much his superior. This 
 conduct very much disgusted all the chiefs, but the 
 sense of the necessity for union prevailed, and they 
 submitted to the decision of their commander, although 
 so great was the suspicion shown by Sudaseo with 
 respect to Sooraj Mull, that he placed a body of 
 troops to prevent his escape from the camp. 
 
 The Mahrattas then advanced upon Delhi and laid 
 siege to it. The city, after a brief defence, surrendered. 
 The capital of the Moguls had thus easily fallen into 
 the hands of their new r^^■als for empire, and Su- 
 daseo Bhao was anxious to signalise the capture of 
 ho important a place by proclaiming Wiswas Rao, the 
 son of the Peshwa, Emperor of Hindostan. It was 
 believed by the INIohammedan ^.^iieftains, who had 
 grown great and powerful under the Mogul dynasty, 
 that this step would certainly follow the entry into the 
 
THEY ENTER DELHI. i'AB 
 
 Imperial city. It would_ have been a bold, but if fol- 
 lowed by decided military actioj;!, a sagacious, and, 
 probably, a successful course. It would have drawn 
 a strong line of demarcation between the Hindus and 
 Mohammedans, and, as the former had then recently 
 beep rapidly rising in importance, whilst the latter had 
 been falling in the same proportion, that alone would 
 have constituted a valid reason for its adoption. It 
 certainly would have animated the Mahrattas, Eajpoots, 
 J^ts, and other Hindu followers of the Bhao, with 
 a spirit such as the prospect of a great end to be at- 
 tained — and to be attained only by the exercise of 
 the highest qualities of our nature — alone can 
 bestow. That he entertained it, showed that the 
 Bhao understood all the importance of such a move ; 
 but that he delayed it, until after he should have con- 
 quered the Abdali, demonstrated not less certainly 
 that he lacked the power of seizing an opportunity, of 
 striking at the moment when to strike doubles the 
 force of the blow — a talent rarely bestowed except 
 upon men of the very highest capacity. 
 
 He entered Delhi, however, in great triumph: 
 seized upon a great part of the royal effects he found in 
 the palace ; stripped off the silver ceiling of the Dewan- 
 i-Am, the value of the metal of which alone amounted 
 to seventeen lakhs of rupees, and despoiled the peacock 
 throne. Against these acts both Holkar and Sooraj 
 Mull strongly protested. They were fatal to the policy 
 which alone could justify the invasion of the Mahrat- 
 
346 MADHAJEE 8INDIA. 
 
 * 
 
 tas, who appeared thenceforward before the people of 
 Hindustan, not as a nation fighting for empire, but 
 rather as depredators bent mainly upon plunder. The 
 protests, however, were disregarded, and Sooraj Mull, 
 with the concurrence of Holkar and other disaffected 
 chiefs, quitted the camp, and returned with all his 
 troops to Bhurtpore. 
 
 This disaffection little affected the Bhao, as, contrary 
 to his true policy — to the only policy which had a 
 chance of succeeding, the uplifting of the national 
 standard of the Hindus — he had at the time entered 
 into negotiations with the Shuja-ud-dowla, the Nawab 
 Vizier of Oudh, and the most powerful of the Mo- 
 hammedan nobles. But this chieftain was too politic 
 to entertain proposals from men whom he knew to be 
 the necessary enemies of his race, and whose victory 
 must be fatal to Mohammedan supremacy. Rather than 
 that, he compounded his quarrel with his rival Ghazee- 
 ud-deen, and entered into confidential relations with 
 Ahmed Shah. The better to deceive the Mahrattas. 
 he continued, nevertheless, his correspondence with 
 the Bhao. 
 
 Up to this time Ahmed Shah had remained en- 
 camped at Anoopshahr, on the frontiers of Oudh. But 
 on being assured of the co-operation of Shuja-ud-dowla, 
 he broke up his camp and marched, though it was the 
 middle of the rainy season, to Shahdera, on the banks of 
 the Jumna, opposite the city of Delhi. He had with 
 him 28,800 horse in 24 regiments, each 1,200 strong; 
 2,000 camels, each carrying 2 musketeers, armed with 
 
THEIR FALSE MOVES. 347 
 
 zumburucks, or pieces of a very large bore ; 40 pieces 
 of heavy artillery, and several swivel guns. His 
 RohiUa ally, Nujeeb-ud-dowla, brought to the field 
 20,000 KohiUa infantry, 6,000 horse and some rockets ; 
 Doondy Khan and Hafiz Rahmat Khan, 15,000 Eo- 
 hilla infantry, and 4,000 horse ; Shuja-ud-dowla 2,000 
 horse, 1,000 foot, and 20 pieces of cannon. These, 
 with other minor detachments, brought up the numbers 
 of the army to 41,800 horse, 38,000 foot, and between 
 70 and 80 pieces of cannon.* The Jumna being still 
 swollen, Ahmed Shah was prevented from at once 
 crossing to attack the Mahratta army. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Bhao, still neglectful of his true 
 policy, and still hopeful to gain Shuja-ud-dowla, de- 
 clared Mirza Jewan Bukht, son of the Emperor Shah 
 Alum, to be Emperor of Delhi, and Shuja-ud-dowla 
 to be his Vizier ; then, leaving a garrison in Delhi, he 
 marched against Kunjpoora on the Jumna, about sixty 
 miles above Delhi, then garrisoned by about 10,000 
 Eohillas. His object was to secure a place by which 
 he might safely cross the river, and fall upon the 
 Dooranis.f He succeeded in storming this place 
 about the beginning of Octobei*. Instead, however, of 
 
 * These figures are taken from Kasi Eai's narrative, who writes : — 
 ' This I know to have heen precisely the state of the Musealman army, 
 having made repeated and particular enquiries before I set it down, 
 both from the muster-office and from those by whom the daily pro- 
 visioiis were distributed.' He adds : — ' But the numbers of irregulars 
 who accompanied those troops were four times that number ; and their 
 horses and arms were very little inferior to those of the regular Dooranis' 
 
 t So called after their leader, who changed his title of ' Abdali ' 
 into that of ' Doorani.' 
 
S48 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 at once seizing the advantage he had gained, he left a 
 garrison in the place, and returned to Delhi. Ahmed 
 Shah took advantage of this mistake. He left his en- 
 campment with his whole force on the 17 th, and marched 
 to Baghput, about twenty miles above the city, where he 
 had been told he would find a ford. He spent three days 
 in searching for it, the Bhao leaving him all the time un- 
 molested. At last, having found it, he began to cross 
 on the 23rd, and completed the operation on the 2.5th, 
 before the Mahratta leader knew even that he had en- 
 tertained the idea. Making the most of his advantage, 
 he marched at once in the direction of the Mahrattas. 
 
 The Bhao, as soon as he could realise the startling- 
 fact, returned to his camp at Kunjpoora. But here he 
 found himself assailed by two opposite advisers. Mul- 
 har Rao Holkar, Avith the true instinct of a Mahratta 
 leader, pressed upon him the expediency of adopting 
 purely Mahratta tactics ; of hovering on the flanks and 
 rear of the enemy with his cavalry, of cutting off their 
 supplies, of devastating the country in front, in rear, 
 and all around them. Such tactics, he urged, must in 
 the end exhaust the resources of an enemy far from 
 his own country, who meditated rather a raid than a 
 serious conquest, and must leave him, famished and 
 debilitated, an easy prey to an army which would have 
 all its resources at its back. On the other hand, Ibra- 
 him Khan Gardee, with all the pride of an artillery- 
 man, trained in the then new and successful school of 
 warriors of Europe — of an artilleryman, who, when 
 
THEY ENTRENCH THEMSELVES. 349 
 
 serving under Bussy, had seen the grand army of the 
 Peshwa dispersed by successive rounds fired from 
 guns served by Frenchmen in the manner he had 
 learned from them — strongly advised the Bhao to 
 assume an entrenched position, from which he could 
 use his guns to the greatest advantage. The dispute 
 between them became so warm that Ibrahim Khan 
 threatened to turn his guns upon Holkar, if his advice 
 were not followed. The Bhao, who hated Holkar, and 
 who had imbibed a more than superstitious reverence 
 for artillery trained after the European model, decided 
 ultimately upon following the advice of his Mohammedan 
 councillor, and gave orders accordingly to retreat on 
 Paniput, there to dig an entrenched camp for his army. 
 
 This order was obeyed, and, followed closely by, 
 Ahmed Shah, the Mahrattas retired to the walled 
 town of Paniput, and began at once to throw up en- 
 trenchments. The army encamped amounted to 
 55,000 cavalry, 15,000 infantry, and 40 guns. Of 
 the several bodies of cavalry, the largest, consisting of 
 10,000 men, was furnished by Junkajee Sindia, with 
 whom was his uncle, Madhajee. In numbers, then, 
 Ahmed Shah possessed a considerable advantage, but 
 there can be little doubt that the composition of the 
 cavalry and artillery of the Mahratta force was far 
 superior to that of the corresponding branches of the 
 Doorani army. 
 
 That army halted about five miles distant from the 
 position taken up by the Mahrattas at Paniput, and 
 
350 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 began likewise to throw up abattis and other entrench- 
 ments. Skirmishes now took place daily, mostly to 
 the advantage of the Dooranis. An attempt made 
 by the Bhao to cut off his enemy's supplies, though at 
 first promising success, failed, because it was not fol- 
 lowed up with vigour. For three months did the 
 skirmishes continue. By degrees the superior numbers 
 of the Dooranis made themselves more and more felt. 
 At last they succeeded in hemming in the Mahratta 
 camp on every side, and, wasting the country all 
 around, in preventing it from receiving supplies. They 
 succeeded, in the end, in reducing it to the condition 
 to which Mulhar Rao Holkar had looked forward to 
 reducing the Dooranis. Throughout this period, the 
 conduct of Ahmed Shah v(ras that of a skilful and 
 prudent leader. His Hindustani allies were constantly 
 pressing him to give a general assault ; but he replied 
 always to the effect that it was necessary to have more 
 patience, for that every day would render the enemy 
 more surely his prey. 
 
 The Mahrattas were now reduced to a state of 
 distress so great that it could be borne no longer ; and 
 the Bhao, who up to this moment had still trusted to 
 his negotiation with Shuja-ud-dowla, became con- 
 vinced at last that it was necessary to hazard the 
 fortunes of the campaign and the glory of the Mahratta 
 Empire on a single battle. His mind once made up, 
 he directed his whole energy to carry the plan to a 
 successful issue. 
 
BATTLE OF PANIPUT. 351 
 
 One hour before daybreak, on January 6, 1761, he 
 moved out with his whole force. He commanded the 
 centre in person, Wiswas E.ao, the son of the Peshwa, 
 being at his side. On the extreme left was posted 
 Ibrahim Khan Gardee, with the main body of the 
 infantry. Sindia held the extreme right, and next to 
 him was Holkar. The artillery covered the whole 
 line. In this order they advanced boldly, with every 
 sign of the determination of desperate men, towards 
 the camp of the Dooranis. 
 
 Ahmed Shah, on his side, was not negligent. In- 
 telligence of the movements of the Mahrattas had been 
 conveyed to him as soon as they were descried by his 
 scouts. He at once ranged his men in order of battle, 
 and, with true military sagacity, did not allow them to 
 wait the attack, but advanced to meet the enemy. 
 His Vizier, Shah Wali Khan, commanded the centre, 
 with which were the AfFghans; the Rohillas under 
 Doondy Khan and Hafiz Eahmat Khan, supported by 
 some Persian troops, were on the right ; whilst on the 
 extreme left the Rohillas under Nujeeb-ud-dowla, and 
 the troops of Shuja-ud-dowla, were supported by a 
 chosen body of Affghans. It will be noticed that 
 whilst Ahmed Shah composed his centre of the troops 
 upon whom he could most rely, he strengthened both 
 his wings by detachments of the same quality. He 
 himself took up a position in rear of the army, over- 
 looking the field. 
 
 Upon the result of the battle now about to ensue it 
 
352 MABHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 depended whether the main course in which events 
 had run for the previous five hundred and sixty years 
 should or should not be completely turned aside ; 
 whether the yoke, which the Mohammedan chiefs of 
 various families had imposed during that period on the 
 indigenous population of India should still remain 
 fixed, or be broken off for ever ; whether, in fact, the 
 rule of India should contihue in the hands of the 
 descendants of its foreign conquerors, or revert to 
 those of the Hindu children of the soil. For to this, 
 in spite of the vacillating conduct of the Bhao, it had 
 come at last; though, thanks to that vacillating conduct, 
 he had lost the advantages which an earlier profession 
 of the real point at issue would undoubtedly have 
 secured for him. It Mas a contest for empire between 
 the Mussulman and the Hindu. 
 
 The battle began, about an hour after sunrise, by a 
 furious and well-sustained attack by the left wing of 
 the Mahrattas, under Ibrahim Khan Gardee, upon the 
 right wing of the enemy, composed mainly of Rohillas. 
 The contest here was very fierce, and raged with 
 doubtful fortune for about three hours. Almost 
 simultaneously with the first shock of attack, the Bhao 
 charged the centre of the enemy's army with great 
 impetuosity. Success seemed to shine upon him. 
 He pierced through the main body of which it was 
 composed, completely ' breaking them as he did so. 
 Only about 400 horse, and a few zumburuck-bearing 
 camels, rallied about the Vizier, who had himself 
 
BATTLE OF FAINPUT. 353 
 
 dismounted to fight ou foot. This small body of men 
 alone stood between the Bhao and complete victory ; 
 for, the centre once completely pierced, nothing could 
 have saved the Dooranis. It wanted but a continu- 
 ance of that onward movement which had, till then, 
 carried all before it. 
 
 But it was not made. Whilst the Vizier himself 
 believed the battle lost, and sent to both his wings for 
 aid, the Bhao apparently did not see that its issue was 
 in his hands. One more charge and it was gained. 
 Instead of charging, his men halted to fire, and during 
 that halt events occurred which restored the lost for- 
 tunes of the Dooranis. 
 
 For, whilst the events we have recorded were pro- 
 gressing on the centre and right of their army, the 
 troops on its left were not the less threatened by the 
 flower of the Mahratta army, under Sindia and Holkar. 
 Here, if anywhere, the Mahrattas might hope for 
 victory.; for the name of Mulhar Rao Holkar was 
 famous over India, and the energy of the representa- 
 tives of the house of Sindia had made itself felt on 
 many a contested field. And, in truth, never did 
 the chiefs of that famous house more distinguish them- 
 selves than on this day. But Mulhar Eao — ^whether 
 it was that this tried warrior had been so disgusted 
 with the treatment he had received from the Bhao, 
 that he determined not to exert himself, or whether he 
 had a secret understanding, as some have asserted, 
 with the enemy, this at least is certain, that he dis- 
 
 A A 
 
354 MABMAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 played a cautious reserve such as he had never shown 
 before on the field of battle. Nevertheless, thanks to 
 the daring valour of Sindia's warriors, the battle was 
 maintained with at least equal advantage on the 
 right wing of the Mahrattas. 
 
 At noon the state of affairs was nearly as follows. 
 On their left wing, the Mahratta troops under Ibrahim 
 Khan Gardee had gained a decided advantage over 
 the enemy, yet not so great as to be in any way 
 decisive ; on their right, the balance of advantage 
 was also on the side of the Mahrattas ; in the centre, 
 the Bhao had gained a very decided superiority. For, 
 although the Doorani Vizier had sent to his two 
 wings for aid, none could thence be spared, for those 
 wings were themselves hard pressed ; he had indeed 
 rallied some fugitives, encouraged by the unaccount- 
 able halt made by the Bhao, and he had sent pressing 
 messages to Ahmed Shah: unless these should be 
 promptly responded to, any forward movement on the 
 part of the Bhao must be his ruin. We can easily 
 see, with both wings gradually pressed back, what 
 must have been the certain result if the Bhao had 
 only succeeded in breaking through the few men that 
 still constituted the centre of the army. 
 
 It was just at this time, when the intelligence 
 that the battle was going against "him reached Ahmed 
 Shah, that great prince showed liimself, in this 
 decisive ilioment, well worthy of his reputation. He 
 first despatched a body of horse to turn the fugitives 
 and stragglers ; he then ordered 4,000 men to charge " 
 
BATTLE OF PAXIPUT. 855 
 
 Ibrahim Khan Gardee, who was pressing his right 
 flank very hard ; whilst 10,000 were sent to support 
 the centre, and not to support it only. Their leader 
 received strict orders to charge the Mahrattas in close 
 order, sword in hand, at full gallop. Instructions 
 were also sent to the Affghan cavalry on the left 
 wing, which was maintaining its ground better than 
 the others, to charge the flank of Bhao at the s^e 
 time that the others should attack him in front. 
 These orders were executed to the letter. The effect 
 was what it must always be, whenever a body in 
 repose is attacked by a body in swift and rapid motion. 
 The Mahrattas, indeed, made a gallant resistance. 
 Wiswas Eao, the son of the Peshwa, was terribly 
 wounded, and could not sit his horse ; he continued, 
 nevertheless, to animate his men from the back of an 
 elephant. The Bhao, still on horseback, fought like a 
 common soldier at the head of his own men. But all 
 would not do. He had missed his great opportunity. 
 He could not expect the Fortune with which he had 
 dallied for more than two hours to grant him a second 
 chance on the very same day. The Dooranis, on 
 the contrary, were resolved to make the most of theirs. 
 For more than an hour after their powerful attack, the 
 Bhao and his followers made head against the enemy. 
 After that, every minute their defence became weaker. 
 Not only was it that the lighter frames of the Mah- 
 rattas were less capable of sustaining continued fatigue 
 than those of the northern horsemen, but these latter 
 
?.."6 MABIIAJEE SIXDIA. 
 
 were continually reinforced by the fugitiyes from the 
 first attack. At length they could bear it no longer ; 
 they gave way and fled in confusion, closely and hotly 
 pursued. No victory could be more complete. It 
 has been computed that of the entire occupants of the 
 Mahratta camp at Paniput, including women and 
 children, and amounting to 500,000, nearly all were 
 destroyed ; nearly all the prisoners taken were mur- 
 dered in cold blood, and the Hindu chronicles relate 
 that in the Doorani camp on the following morning 
 eveiy tent, with the exception of those of the Shah 
 and his principal oflScers, had heads piled up before 
 the door. Wis\yas Rao died of his wounds. Junkajee 
 Sindia, severely wounded and taken prisoner, was 
 murdered in camp, in pursuance of the machinations 
 of Nujeeb-ud-dowla who hated all his race ; Ibrahim 
 Khan Gardee, also wounded and taken prisoner, was 
 treated by Ahmed Shah with insolence and cruelty, so 
 much so that he died seven days after ; the dead body 
 of the Bhao was found upon the field of battle.* 
 ]\lulhar Rao Holkar, Dummajee Guickwar, and some 
 other chiefs fled from the field of battle and escaped. 
 
 * This, at least, is the general belief. But many years after, a man 
 made his appearance who declared himself to be the Bhao. The 
 mystery, which excited great interest at the time, has never been cleared 
 up ; many believing him to be the Bliao, others regarding him as an 
 impostor. The supposed Bhao was confined for many years in the fort 
 of Chunar, but was released by order of Warren Hastings, in 1781. 
 He died soon after at Benares. He left a manuscript history of his 
 life behind him, which would have aided to clear up the truth of his 
 claims, but it was not taken proper care of by the English Resident to 
 whom it had been entiiisted, and was destroyed by vermin. 
 
ITS EFFECT ON MADHAJEE. 357 
 
 We have been particular in detailing the history of 
 the campaign of which the battle of Paniput was the 
 crowning incident, because, although apparently un- 
 connected with the rise of the house of Sindia, its 
 result greatly affected the fortunes of that family. 
 Had the Mahrattas proved victorious at Paniput, 
 there can be no doubt whatever that the following day 
 Wiswas Rao, or his father, Balajee Bajee Rao, would 
 have been proclaimed Emperor of Hindustan ; Junka- 
 jee would have remained head of the house of Sindia, 
 and succession would have continued in a direct line 
 from him, to the exclusion of the illegitimate but 
 more able Madhajee ; and who can say what position 
 Junkajee and his successors would have occupied 
 under the government of a prince who would himself 
 have aspired to regard all the provinces of Hindustan 
 as constituting one empire subject to himself? The 
 defeat of Paniput had a material effect, then, on the 
 fortunes of the house of Sindia. Though the imme- 
 diate results of it were to despoil that family of its 
 possessions, and to cut off all the members of the 
 family save one illegitimate offshoot; yet, in the end, 
 all these apparent misfortunes proved advantageous ; 
 they were the discipline which led to its greatness. 
 The power which it ultimately acquired, overshadowing 
 that of the Peshwa himself — the position it maintained 
 in the early part of the present century, and which 
 enabled it to dispute for the empire of India with 
 the British — may all be traced to the defeat at Paniput. 
 
358 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 At that battle, it is only recorded of Madhajee, that 
 he commanded there under his nephew Junkajee, and 
 that they both signalised themselves by their valour. 
 The distinguished part taken by Sindia's contingent 
 in that famous battle has been already noticed. Not- 
 withstanding the lukewarm support of Mulhar Rao 
 Holkar, who left the field before, the action had been 
 irrevocably decided, the two chiefs of Sindia not only 
 lost no ground, but maintained their position on the 
 right with advantage, until the complete defeat of the 
 centre of the INIahratta army left them exposed to 
 destruction. The defeat was so crushing that it 
 involved with it the immediate overthrow of the wings 
 as well. Junkajee, wounded, was, as we have seen, 
 taken prisoner ; but Madhajee formed one of the 
 throng of fugitives. He was mounted on a fine 
 Dekkany mare, which had carried him throughout the 
 action, and he trusted to her speed to escape. But 
 the mare had been engaged in desperate exertions for 
 about nine hours, and was already fatigued. She 
 obeyed nevertheless the indications of the rider's hand, 
 and exerted herself to take him out of the reach of the 
 enemy. Her fine shape had, however, been marked 
 by an AfFghan trooper, and Madhajee had scarcely 
 cleared himself from the ruck when he turned round 
 and saw himself followed by a man, mounted on a 
 strong, ambling, and apparently fresh animal, bent 
 evidently on pursuing him. In vain did Madhajee 
 exert all the arts of a well-skilled horseman to evade 
 
MADHAJEE'S FLIGHT. 359 
 
 the pursuit. In vain did he endeavour, when some 
 distance ahead, to rest his mare ; whenever he turned 
 his head, his eye rested on the same trooper, going at 
 the same steady pace, and his gaze fixed upon him- 
 self. At last his mare could go on no longer. En- 
 deavouring to clear a ditch, she fell into it, Madhajee 
 falling with her. Before he could recover himself, the 
 AfFghan was upon him, and striking at him with his 
 battle-axe, caught him on the knee, and felled him to 
 the earth with a wound which deprived him for ever 
 after of the use of his right leg. Where he fell, there 
 was he left to lie, the Affghan being content with 
 stripping his person of some ornaments, and taking 
 away the mare. Incapable of moving, Madhajee was 
 found there some hours after by a water-carrier, also 
 one of the fugitives, who placed him upon his bullock, 
 and carried him towards the Dekkan.* 
 
 The news of the disaster at Paniput crushed for a 
 time the Mahratia confederacy to the dust. To the 
 Peshwa, Balajee Bajee Kao, who had been long ailing, 
 it was the final award of destiny. He survived the 
 intelligence but a few days. His eldest son, Wiswas 
 Kao, had perished. The succession devolved, there- 
 
 * Malcolm, from whom this story is taken, adds, that the Madhajee 
 used to relate that the circumstance of the flight and pursuit made so 
 strong an impression upon him, that he could not for a long time sleep 
 without seeing the Affghan and his clumsy charger pacing after him and 
 his fine Dekkany mare. He further states that the service of the water- 
 carrier was gratefully rewarded ; he was raised to high commands in 
 the army, and afterwards loaded with favours. 
 
360 MABHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 fore, upon the next in order of birth, Madho Rao 
 Bullal, then in his seventeenth year. 
 
 To the wars with the Subadar of the Dekkan, and 
 the disputes for supremacy at the Court of the Peshwa 
 ■^^■hich followed, we propose to allude only so far as 
 they affect the fortunes of Madhajee. It will suffice 
 if we mention that during the first four years of his 
 reign, the difficulties with which the new Peshwa, 
 then a minor, had to contend, were caused by the 
 ambition of his uncle, Ragunath Rao, who was too 
 anxious to draw into his own hands all the power of 
 the State. The penetration and tact of Madho Rao, 
 however, foiled all his plans. 
 
 On arriving at Poona, wounded and lamed for life, 
 after the disastrous day of Paniput, Madhajee applied 
 to be recognised as the chief of the house of Sindia. 
 That house had, indeed, lost all its possessions in 
 Hindustan and Malwa by the issue of the battle, but 
 in those days that which was lost one day might be 
 regained the next, and it was certain that with Mad- 
 hajee at its head, the reputation of the house of Sindia 
 would not be long in recovering, and more than 
 recovering, the lusti'e it had lost. His ^pretensions 
 were opposed on two grounds : the one, because he 
 was illegitimate ; the other, because there still sur- 
 vived a grandson of Ranajee, the son of Tookajee, 
 brother to Madhajee by the same mother. The claims 
 of this lad, whose name was Kedarjee, were advocated 
 by Ragunath Rao, who suggested that Madhajee 
 
iris FIRST STEPS TO GREATNESS. 861 
 
 should act only as guardian during the minority of Ms 
 nephew. But Madhajee very justly pointed out that 
 the objection which barred the succession to himself, 
 barred it equally to his nephew ; that nephew being 
 the son of his own brother and illegitimate like him- 
 self. The Peshwa, Madho Rao, recognised the force 
 of this argument, and, notwithstanding the strong 
 opposition of his uncle, conferred the headship of the 
 family upon Madhajee. The opposition offered by 
 Ragunath Rao was never forgotten by Madhajee. 
 
 Madhajee was appointed, in the first instance, to 
 command the household troops of the young Peshwa. 
 His first employment after obtaining this office ap- 
 pears to have been as commandant of one of the 
 divisions of the army sent by the Peshwa into Malwa 
 in 1764. In this campaign he laid the foundation of 
 the means for attaining to future greatness. ' He 
 had succeeded,' says Malcolm,* ' to all those assign- 
 ments of lands made to his father to pay the troops of 
 the family ; and both in Central India and in Hindu- 
 stan, Rajah after Rajah was laid under contribution, and 
 district after district added to the territory he governed 
 in the name of the Peshwa ; and although the share 
 of the latter in these possessions was only nominal, his 
 commands were made the pretext for exactions and 
 conquests from which his own territories were not 
 exempt, for Madhajee took full advantage of the dis- 
 
 * Malcolm's Central India, vol. i. p. 121. 
 
362 MADIIAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 sensions that occurred in Poona after the death of 
 Balajee, to usurp, as far as he could, the rights and 
 lands of the head of the empire to the north of the 
 Nerbudda.' 
 
 This expedition into Malwa in 1764 must not be 
 confounded, as it has been by some writers, with a 
 later expedition under Visajee Krishna into Hindustan, 
 for a purpose hereafter to be described. From the 
 first expedition we find Madhajee returned to Poona in 
 1766, occupying still the office of commandant of the 
 household troops of the Peshwa, and possessing con- 
 siderable influence at the Court of Poona. An event 
 just then occurred which put that influence to the test. 
 In 1766, Mulhar Rao Holkar died. His demise was 
 followed almost immediately by the death of his 
 grandson, Mallee Rao. Eagunath Rao, then all- 
 powerful at the Peshwa's court, and who was actually 
 in command of the army in the field, supported the 
 Dewan of the deceased prince in an endeavour to 
 eifect an arrangement by wliich the widow of his late 
 son, Koondee Rao, the famous Ahalya Bai, would 
 have been dispossessed of her inheritance, and the 
 power of the Holkar family materially reduced. The 
 generous mind of the youthful Peshwa revolted against 
 the perpetration of such an injustice, and he found a 
 strong supporter in Madhajee and in Janoojee Bhonsla, 
 both of whom positively refused to act against Ahalya 
 Bai, if any attempt were made to coerce her. Ragu- 
 nath Rao accordingly gave in, and the administration 
 
OTHER RESULTS OF PASIPUT. 363 
 
 of Ahalya Bai afforded a spectacle of enlightened rule, 
 such as the natives of India can refer to with pride, 
 and which contrasts favourably with the rule of many 
 European princes even of our own time. 
 
 Nothing very materially affecting the fortunes of 
 Madhajee occurred till the year 1760, when we find 
 him in command of 15,000 horse, forming a division 
 of the array which,'underYisajee Krishna, the quarter- 
 master-general of the Mahratta armies, was destined 
 to march into Hindustan, and avenge the defeat of 
 Paniput. The occasion was singularly propitious. 
 The battle of Paniput, fatal as it had proved at the 
 time to the Mahrattas, had been scarcely less so to 
 the representative of the house of Timour, the Empe- 
 ror Shah Alum. The victory had benefited Ahmed 
 Shah Abdali, and his allies, Nujeeb-ud-dowla the 
 Rohilla, and Shuja-ud-dowla the Vizier of Oudh, 
 But Ahmed Shah, laden with plunder, had long since 
 returned to Cabul. Of the two others, Shuja-ud- 
 dowla had engaged in hostilities against the English, 
 had been beaten at Buxar, and after losing some of 
 the districts of his province, had been recognised by 
 that people as Vizier of the Empire. He had since 
 remained principally in his province. The other, 
 Nujeeb-ud-dowla, had taken up his position at Delhi, 
 there to govern in the name of the Emperor. His 
 position, however, gave him no real power; he was 
 dependent mainly on the Rohillas ; the Emperor, then 
 absent with the English, chafed under his supremacy. 
 
364 MADHAJEE SIKDIA. 
 
 and he was engaged in constant affrays with the Jats 
 and roving bands of Mahrattas, some of whom had 
 even the audacity to threaten Delhi. The intelligence 
 of the approach of a grand army of the same warriors 
 under Visajee Krishna threw Nujeeb-ud-dowla into 
 dismay ; in vain he attempted to negotiate. 
 
 There was a man in the Mahratta army, who had 
 fled from Paniput, and who saw that the time had now 
 arrived to recover almost all the power and influence 
 then so fatally lost. That man was Madhajee Sindia. 
 This chieftain not only by virtue of his position took a 
 high place in the councils of the Commander-in-chief, 
 but by reason of his character he directed the entire 
 policy of the campaign. Visajee would have treated, 
 but Madhajee would not. Whilst negotiations in the 
 true Oriental style were pending, Nujeeb-ud-dowla 
 died. 
 
 It was deemed advisable in the Mahratta camp to 
 take advantage of this incident to conquer and ravage 
 the country of the Rohillas, even to threaten Shuja-ud- 
 dowla and Oudh, before making any attempt upon 
 Delhi. The result showed the wisdom and prudence 
 of this policy. The Emperor Shah Alum, anxious to 
 be rid for ever of the family of Nujeeb-ud-Dowla, 
 whose son, Zabita Khan, had taken his father's place 
 at Delhi, determined to leave the English, and throw 
 himself under Mahratta protection ; whilst Shuja-ud- 
 dowla was made to feel that his security depended 
 upon his abstaining from all interference. Even the 
 
MADHAJEE ENTERS DELHI. 365 
 
 English in Bengal anticipated for a moment that they 
 might have to contend, in the infancy of their power 
 in that Presidency, with the full force of the Peshwa. 
 But for them the contest was postponed. 
 
 The Emperor Shah Alum, escorted by Madhajee 
 Sindia, entered the city of his ancestors in the month 
 of December 1771. The Mahrattas then, secure of 
 the capital, poured into Rohilcund. The attempts 
 made by the hereditary chieftains of that province 
 were futile. The country was nearly entirely overrun. 
 To save the remainder from subjugation, the Rohillas, 
 in the month of June 1772, concluded a treaty with 
 Shuja-ud-dowla, the Vizier of Oudh, and the only re- 
 maining representative of independent Mohammedan 
 authority in Hindustan. But before this alliance pro- 
 duced any practical result, an event occurred which 
 changed for a time the position and prospects of the 
 Mahratta protectors of the Emperor Shah Alum. 
 
 On November 18, 1772, the Peshwa, Madho Eao, 
 died. Narain Rao, his brother, who succeeded him, 
 sent orders to recall the army from Hindustan, but 
 before they could be carried out, Narain Eao himself 
 had fallen a victim to a murderous conspiracy. The 
 ofBce of Peshwa then devolved upon his uncle, the 
 famous Ragunath Rao, the enemy of Madhajee, Soon 
 after his accession, the main army under Madhajee ar- 
 rived from Hindustan, having left, however, a portion 
 under the Commander-in-chief and Tookajee Holkarto 
 maintain Rohilcund. This portion had to meet a con- 
 
366 MADMAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 spiracy formed by the Emperor Shah Alum to emanci- 
 pate himself. In a pitched battle, fought near Delhi 
 in December 1772, the Emperor was defeated, and was 
 forced to submit to the terms imposed upon him by the 
 conquerors ; the principal of which was the appoint- 
 ment of the Peshwa as his Commander-in-chief. The 
 Mahrattas then returned to Poona. 
 
 The whole of the reign of E-agunath was signalised 
 by internal contentions and foreign wars. Madhajee 
 took advantage of the first of these to consolidate his 
 power, and to obtain a firm possession of the lands he 
 had by various methods acquired, especially those north 
 of the Nerbudda. He did not come in contact with 
 the new Peshwa after his accession to power in 1773, 
 imtil the month of May 1774 — a period when the 
 2)ower of Ragunath was waning, and when he appeared 
 to be in as great danger from the intrigues of his in- 
 ternal enemies as from the open opposition of Nizam 
 Ali. It formed, however, no part of Madhajee's plan 
 to countenance the pretensions of the Mohammedans 
 of the Dekkan and, accordingly, he gave openly on this 
 occasion all his support to the Peshwa ; but at the 
 close of the same year, the affairs of Pagunath seemed 
 desperate. As a last resource, he had begun to nego- 
 tiate with the English through the Resident at Poona. 
 His downfall now appeared certain. To precipitate 
 it, Madhajee Sindia and Tookajee Holkar suddenly- 
 declared against him, and on November 27 marched to 
 attack, and, if possible, to take him prisoner. Ragu- 
 
AIMS AT SOVEREIGNTY. 867 
 
 nath, however, was apprised of their movements in 
 sufficient time to retreat to Guzerat. Here he con- 
 cluded a treaty with'the English, by which he ceded 
 to that nation Bassein, Salsette, and other important 
 districts, in exchange for an agreement to supply him 
 with material aid in men and mioney. Thenceforth 
 the history of Ragunath is linked with that of the rise 
 of British power in the Western Presidency. 
 
 To understand the policy of Madhajee at this and 
 subsequent periods, the reader must bear in mind the 
 circumstances of his position, and the great end to 
 which all his efforts were directed. Madhajee was 
 bent on founding a dynasty — a kingdom, compact and 
 powerful, which should devolve naturally on his suc- 
 cessors. To this end all his thoughts, all his energies, 
 all his actions were directed. The Peshwas, the 
 Holkars, the Bhonslas, the Rohillas, the Moguls, the 
 English, were treated by him with friendliness or hos- 
 tility, solely according to the view he took of their 
 desire and their ability to aid or to threaten him in 
 this great plan. He had no personal animosities — 
 he never indulged in revengeful feelings ; everything 
 would be forgotten and forgiven, if he thought the 
 offender were able to be useful to him, even indirectly. 
 Hence it was that he was at one moment on friendly 
 terms with the Peshwa, at another at open war with 
 him. In a word, he marked out a great object to be 
 attained; — he marked the road leading to that object, 
 and no temptation induced him to swerve a hair's 
 
308 MABITAJEE SINBIA. 
 
 breadth from following it. This was the secret of his 
 success. It is a course, in fact, which a man of really 
 lofty feelings could scarcely follow : but it is one, 
 nevertheless, which, with time, with health, and with 
 patience, must invariably lead to worldly success. 
 Fortunate is it for mankind that there is something 
 beyond mere worldly success — something more en- 
 during even than the complete attainment of human 
 ends, to be striven for on this earthly sphere. ' Thy 
 success ! ' writeS/. Carlyle in immortal words, ' If the 
 thing is unjust, thou hast not succeeded.^ 
 
 No thought of this nature stopped for a single in- 
 stant the ambitious career of Madhajee. Although 
 llagunath Rao had been declared Peshwa, and had 
 been generally acknowledged as such, {the widow of the 
 murdered Xarain E.ao had, a few iaonths after her 
 husband's death, given birth to a miile child, and on 
 this infant the hopes of the most powerful of the Mah- 
 ratta families were concentrated. Prominent amoncfst 
 those who supported his interest was the famous Nana 
 Furnawees, the ablest of the Mahratta statesmen of the 
 period. Between these fimiilies and Ragunath, Mad- 
 hajee held at this period an apparently neutral position, 
 being secretly allied with the former, but desirous to 
 instil confidence into the breast of Ragunath until he 
 could break with him with an effect that might be 
 decisive. He had attempted this, as we have seen, in 
 concert with Holkar, in November 1774, but had 
 failed. His failure, however, only caused him to re- 
 
HIS SUCCESS AGAINST TSE ENGLISH. 369 
 
 assume the mask, and he had assured Kagunath of his 
 friendly intentions. He continued to maintain this 
 doubtful attitude, whilst the negotiations between 
 E,agunath and the Bombay Presidency, and the alterr 
 cation regarding those negotiations between that 
 Presidency and Warren Hastings, continued: but 
 when, in 1776-77, the cause of Kagunath appeared 
 irretrievably lost, he openly united with Nana Fuma- 
 wees. Ragunath, with a few followers, threw himself 
 into the arms of the English, who, under the command 
 of Colonel Egerton, shortly succeeded by Colonel 
 Cockburn and Mr. Carnac, were advancing upon 
 Poona. Madhajee and the Nana thus found them- 
 selves in open opposition to the British nation. 
 
 Their first experience of this warfare was, strange 
 to record, favourable to the Mahrattas. The slow and 
 ill-concerted measures of the English, caused partly by 
 divided counsels, partly by the natural incapacity of 
 their commanders, gave Madhajee ample time to as- 
 semble a very sufficient force of tried and chosen war- 
 riors to oppose them. By a great show of strength 
 and by skilful manoeuvres, he so cowed the spirit of the 
 English invaders, that nearly three thousand British 
 troops, aided by a considerable native contingent, not 
 only retreated before some 25,000 Mahrattas, but 
 destroyed their heavy guns and burnt their stores, so 
 as to be able the better to conduct that retreat in 
 silence and in safety. The retreat, however, was 
 quickly discovered, and was followed up with vigour 
 
 B B 
 
370 MABHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 and energy. The English were attacked all the way 
 to Wargaum ; their loss, especially in officers, being 
 particularly heavy. At Wargaum, deeming further 
 retreat impossible, they sued for terms. They were 
 granted, but they were of a shameful and humiliating 
 nature. The negotiators not only yielded all the ac- 
 quisitions ceded by Eagunath, but gave up, in addition, 
 the revenues of other districts ; they agreed to coun- 
 termand the advance of other troops from Bengal, and 
 they bestowed upon Madhajee the English share of 
 Baroach, and a present of 41,000 rupees. A more 
 disgraceful treaty was never signed by a British pleni- 
 potentiary. Our commanders were spared the further 
 disgrace of giving up their ally, Ragunath, as that 
 chief surrendered privately to Madhajee. From this 
 date — January 14, 1779 — may be reckoned the un- 
 questioned rule of Madho Rao Narain, son of the 
 murdered Narain Rao, as Peshwa. 
 
 By the conclusion of the treaty of Wargaum, not 
 less than by the events leading to it, Madhajee ob- 
 tained an immense accession of power and influence. 
 To his bold and judicious conduct, the success, thus 
 far, of the campaign, was attributed by his countrymen. 
 It gave him a locus standi in the Mahratta confederacy, 
 such as neither Holkar, nor Nana Furnawees, nor even 
 the Peshwa, could claim. By it the foundations of 
 the house of Sindia were fixed so firmly as to justify 
 all his ambitious expectations, and to make him feel 
 assured of the ultimate result. Thenceforth till his 
 
THEY RETRIEVE THEIR LOSSES. 371 
 
 death he occupied, not nominallyj but in very deed, 
 the first place among hia countrymen. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Government of India, directed by 
 the firm hand and iron will of the illustrious Warren 
 Hastings, determined to wipe out, as speedily as pos- 
 sible, the stain inflicted upon the British name by the 
 convention of Wargaum and the events preceding it. 
 A force under Colonel Leslie had been previously 
 despatched to co-operate with the little army, which, 
 under Mr. Carnac and Colonel Cockburn, had been 
 defeated by Madhajee. But Colonel Leslie was as 
 unfit for the task of commanding a force as his Bombay 
 comrade, and frittered away in trifles time which might 
 have been employed with eflect. He was consequently 
 speedily replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Goddard. This 
 able officer assumed the command in October 1778, 
 and at once directed his course to the south-west. It 
 is worthy of remark that, among all the Native States 
 through which he passed, he received real and effectual 
 support only from the little principality of Bhopal, 
 then and ever afterwards the firm ally of the British. 
 On January 30, he arrived at Burhanpore in the 
 Bombay Presidency, and here he first received con- 
 tradictory accounts of the events at Wargaum. This 
 made him only push on, and in twenty days he reached 
 Surat, a distance of 300 miles, by this celerity avoiding 
 a body of 20,000 Mahratta horse, sent to intercept 
 him.* From Surat he hastened to Bombay to concert 
 * Grant Diiff. 
 s B 2 
 
372 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 measures with the Council of that Presidency. At 
 first negotiations were opened with the several Mah- 
 ratta chiefs. But whilst these were pending there 
 broke out that war with Hyder Ali, which, from the 
 outset to its close, tried to the utmost the resources of 
 the Madras Presidency, and reduced that Government 
 to its greatest straits. Shortly after it had broken 
 out, a correspondence between that famous leader, the 
 Mahrattas and the Subadar, Nizam Ali, was dis- 
 covered — all pointing to an alliance for the destruc- 
 tion of the British. Upon this, Goddard, then ap- 
 pointed a Brigadier-General and invested with full 
 powers, crossed the Taptee, and invaded the territories 
 of the Peshwa (January 1780). 
 
 Meanwhile, Madhajee had been pursuing his am- 
 bitious designs. In order to bring into existence a 
 counterpoise, which, though not sufficient to over- 
 whelm himself, might yet prevent too great a deve- 
 lopment of supreme authority on the part of Nana 
 Furnawees, he connived at the escape of E.agunath 
 Rao, when on his way to life-imprisonment at Jhansie. 
 At the same time he opened secret negotiations with 
 the English, Hyder Ali, and the Subadar, intending 
 naturally to throw in his lot with that party by which 
 he might conceive his own interests would best be 
 advanced. The hostile movements of Goddard forced 
 him, however, to take a side, and joining with him 
 Tookajee Holkar, he prepared to do battle for his 
 nominal master, Madho Rao Narain, Peshwa. 
 
MADHA^ES AS A GENERAL. 373 
 
 lie still maintained, however, a friendly communi- 
 cation with the English, hoping to keep them inactive 
 till the rains should fall. But he had to deal with a 
 man who was proof against evasions, and who was 
 resolved to bring the question of peace or war to a 
 decisive issue. Madhajee's proposals all tended to the 
 concentration in his own person of the supreme autho- 
 rity at Poona. Goddard, not considering such an 
 arrangement desirable, resolved, if possible, to bring 
 about an action. On April 3, accordingly, he at- 
 tempted to surprise his enemy's camp near Baroda. 
 But Madhajee, though really surprised, drew off his 
 troops with consummate skill, and suffered little prac- 
 tical loss. A second attempt, made on the 19th of the 
 same month, was even less suocessfid, Madhajee 
 skilfully avoiding an action. By this line of conduct 
 he effectually gained his end — the prolonging of hos- 
 tilities until after the commencement of the rains. 
 He lost, however, almost immediately afterwards, the 
 fortress of Gwalior, then reputed impregnable, but 
 which succumbed to the skill and daring of Captain 
 Popham in August of that year.* Unable to pursue 
 his operations against Sindia in the interior, Goddard 
 transferred his operations to the coast, and laid siege to 
 Bassein. On December 10 he defeated the Mahratta 
 force sent to relieve it, and the place surrendered on 
 
 * A detailed account of Major Popham's movements, from the pen of 
 the late Major William Stewaxt, G-ofernor-General's agent at Benares, 
 appeared in the extinct 'Benares Magazine' about twenty years ago. 
 
374 MABHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 the following day. Other operations, with varying 
 fortunes, ensued, no great success, however, being 
 attained, and the army on one occasion, April 23, 
 1781, suffering a defeat. These operations gave 
 Madhajee the opportunity he coveted, of planting his 
 own power firmly in Central India. General Goddard 
 at last perceived that, by confining his attack upon the 
 Mahratta possessions to those districts farthest from 
 the possessions of Sindia, he was in reality playing 
 the game of the man, who, whilst he was the mainstay 
 of the Mahratta power in the field, cared nothing 
 regarding the nation at whose expense his own pos- 
 sessions were extended. A resolution was accordingly 
 arrived at to attack Sindia in his own territory. 
 
 The attempt was first made by a British force under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Carnac. The operations of Mad- 
 hajee, on hearing of this movement, stamp him as a 
 military genius of no common order. Learning that 
 Colonel Carnac's force was small, he resolved to over- 
 whelm it before it could be reinforced. He hastened 
 at once with a large body of troops in the direction of 
 Seepree, but, too late to save that place, he came up 
 with Carnac at Seronje, and surrounded him. The 
 English force was reduced to great straits by famine. 
 Added to this a cannonade of seven days' duration 
 made considerable havoc in its ranks. Feeling that a 
 further continuance in his position would inevitably 
 lead to his destruction, Carnac resolved to retreat, 
 having previously sent to the nearest division of British 
 
IS DEFEATED. 375 
 
 troops earnest requests for reinforcements. For 
 seventeen days the retreat continued, our troops being 
 followed up and harassed by Madhajee. But on the 
 eighteenth day, the Mahratta chieftain, for the first 
 time in his hfe, allowed himself to be completely out- 
 witted. As the only means of escape. Colonel Carnac, 
 at the dead of night, on March 24, attempted to sur- 
 prise his enemy. His movement was entirely suc- 
 cessful. Madhajee was completely defeated, and forced 
 to give up the pursuit. A few days later. Colonel 
 Carnac was joined by a force under Colonel Muir. 
 Madhajee, however, with the energy and spirit of a 
 true Mahratta, soon recovered from his mishap; and 
 by his superiority in cavalry he speedily reduced the 
 English force to a state of inactivity. A few months 
 later, Madhajee, perceiving that he had everything to 
 lose from a contest carried on within his own territory, 
 concluded a treaty with Colonel Muir, by which he 
 bound himself to neutrality, agreed to exercise his 
 good offices to bring about a general peace, recovered 
 all his territory except the fortress of Gwalior, and 
 obtained from the English a promise to recross the 
 Jumna.* 
 
 This treaty was concluded just at the right time for 
 the interests of Madhajee. The Government of India 
 was, for many reasons, anxious to conclude the war with 
 the Mahrattas, to prevent it from attaining the pro- 
 
 * Grant Duff, to whom we are indebted for these details.. 
 
376 MADHAJEE 8INDIA. 
 
 portions of a deadly struggle for existence. The 
 defection of Madhajee from the confederacy was hailed, 
 therefore, by them with the liveliest satisfaction, and 
 prepared them to show towards that chieftain a con- 
 sideration such as, under other circumstances, would 
 undoubtedly have been denied him. Nothing could 
 have more advanced the views of Madhajee at this 
 conjuncture than a recognition of him on the part of 
 the English as an independent prince. Besides the 
 great moral advantages flowing from that recognition, 
 it would give him that of which he then stood greatly 
 in need ; it would give him time ; time to consoli- 
 date his conquests, to give them a compact form, to 
 gain for himself an independent footing amongst the 
 several rulers of Hindustan ; time, moreover, to watch 
 the opportunity for recovering, free from any inter- 
 ruption on the part of the English, the stolen fortress 
 of Gwalior. That fortress the English had made over, 
 after its capture, to the Rana of Gohud, to be by him 
 held solely on the condition of good behaviour. It 
 required but a little arrangement on4he part of Mad- 
 hajee to bring about the apparent infraction of a con- 
 dition so easy to set aside. 
 
 But, before he attempted this, he had been a con- 
 senting party to that treaty of Salbye, between the 
 Peshwa and the English, which restored peace to every 
 part of India but the Carnatic. Mr. Hastings was 
 urged to the conclusion of this treaty by the doubtful 
 fortunes of the struggle between Hyder Ali and the 
 
SEASON'S OF iriS POLICY. a77 
 
 coast army, and by the fear lest a man so ambitious as 
 Madhajee might influence the Mahratta nation to cast 
 in its lot with the great adventurer of Mysore. Nana 
 Furnawees was anxious for peace, not less on account 
 of the presence of English troops in the Mahratta 
 territories, than of jealousy of the increasing power of 
 Madhajee ; whilst Madhajee himself, after long hesi- 
 tation, after coquetting with Hyder Ali, and even 
 obtaining the sanction of the Nana to a plan for the 
 invasion of Bengal, came to the conclusion, for reasons 
 already stated, that peace with the English would, for 
 the moment, best advance his interests. The treaty 
 of Salbye, whereby, in addition to the former territories 
 secured to him, he obtained the cession of Baroach^ 
 promised him after the capitulation of Wargaum, had 
 scarcely been signed, when he realised the wisdom of 
 the course he had followed. The signature took place 
 on May 17, 1782 : the treaty was ratified on June 6 
 following, and was exchanged with the Peshwa on 
 February 24, 1783. In the interval between the first 
 signature and the-final exchange, events had occurred 
 at Delhi which opened out to Madhajee Sindia a pro- 
 spect, the realisation of which had ever been one of 
 his fondest hopes, and had, nearly twenty years earlier, 
 led to the campaign which ended on the fatal field of 
 Paniput. 
 
 Ever since the retreat of the Mahrattas to their own 
 country in 1773, the Imperial Government had been 
 carried on under the auspices of Mirza Nujjuf Khan, 
 
378 MADHAJEE SINBIA. 
 
 the leader of the anti-Rohilla party in the state. His 
 rule had, on the whole, been vigorous and successful. 
 He had made the voice of the descendant of Timour 
 once more respected at home and abroad, and under 
 his energetic sway the empire seemed likely to attain a 
 position such as it had not occupied since the death of 
 Aurungzebe. But on April 22, 1782, Nujjuf Khan 
 died. His death was the signal for anarchy and 
 intrigue, for divided factions and contending rivals. 
 This was the opportunity for which Madhajee had been 
 longing. It seemed to him that the occupation of 
 imperial Delhi, with the connivance of the English, 
 opened out to him better prospects than an alliance ivith 
 Hyder Ali, for the destruction of that nation. And 
 when, towards the close of 1782, he received from 
 Warren Hastings an assurance that the English would 
 n'ot interfere with his plans on Delhi, he made up his 
 mind, and at once put in action the means he had so 
 plentifully at his command. 
 
 Whilst these intrigues were pending, he made 
 himself, in the first instance, secure in his own ac- 
 knowledged dominions. To protect them the more 
 effectually, he contrived a quarrel with the Rana of 
 Gohud, and forced him to surrender Gwalior, — the 
 English, occupied after the death of Hyder with his 
 son Tippoo, not caring to interfere. Everything 
 having been placed upon a footing of order in bis own 
 territory, he caused himself, by means of his intrigues 
 with one of the contending factions at Delhi, to be 
 
BECOMES SUPREME AT DELHI. 379 
 
 invited to that city in the name of the Emperor. The 
 timely assassination of one of the leaders of the con- 
 tending factions made Madhajee arbiter of the situation. 
 Meeting the imperial court near Agra, he accompanied 
 it to Delhi, where, refusing for himself and for the 
 Peshwa the office highest in name and in repute — that 
 of Amir ul Amrah, or prime minister — he accepted 
 for the Peshwa that of Vicegerent of the empire, and 
 for himself that of Deputy to the Peshwa ; thus, at 
 the same time, acknowledging his fealty to the chief 
 of the Mahrattas, whilst retaining in his own hands 
 alike the power and the right to exercise it. From 
 this period till the defeat of the armies of Doulut E,ao 
 Sindia, by Lord Lake in 1802, the imperial districts 
 of JSTorthern India were, some brief intervals alone 
 excepted, administered and governed by the Mahrattas, 
 acting in the name of the imprisoned Emperor. 
 
 Eor the five years following Madhajee's assumption 
 of power at Delhi, he was engaged in a continued 
 struggle to maintain it. It was scarcely to be supposed 
 that the Mohammedan factions would acquiesce tamely 
 in his elevation. The country, moreover, was ex- 
 hausted, and the necessity for raising a certain amount 
 from its inhabitants did not increase his popularity. 
 The Rajpoots, the J^ts, the Sikhs, and some of his 
 own followers, too, disputed his supremacy. Yet 
 Madhajee was resolved not lightly to resign the im- 
 perial power. He enlisted two battalions of regular 
 infantry under a foreign adventurer, named De Boigne, 
 
380 MADHAJEE SINDIA. 
 
 and as opportunity offered, he largely increased this 
 force and added greatly to its efficiency.* He im- 
 proved likewise the irregular troops, enlisting amongst 
 them not only Rajpoots, but Mohammedans, and or- 
 ganising them on the basis of a disciplined force. His 
 own energy and force of character not only inspired 
 his men, but supplied even the losses occasioned by 
 the treachery and misconduct of some of his adherents. 
 Thus, after the battle of Jeypore, lost by the desertion 
 of his regular infantry, Madhajee lost not a moment 
 in securing his strong places, and, effecting a junction 
 with a considerable force of Jats, sent a fresh army 
 into the field under Rana Khan and De Boigne. 
 Though this army was defeated near Agra on April 
 24, 1788, Sindia so far rallied it as to meet the enemy, 
 and completely beat them on June 18 following. The 
 
 * Grant Duff, quoting from General Palmer's despatches, thus notes 
 the growth of De Boigne's two battalions : — ' The most important of all 
 the changes introduced by Sindia was the well-organised regular force, 
 which he, about this time, raised, by axigmenting the two battalions of 
 De Boigne into a brigade, which was subsequently, at different periods, 
 increased to three brigades. A brigade consisted of eight battalions, of 
 seven hundred men each. Attached to every brigade there were 500 
 horse, and to each battalion five pieces of artillery — two six-pounders, 
 two three-pounders, and a howitzer. To provide for the regular pay- 
 ment of these troops, he made over assignments of land to the charge 
 and management of De Boigne ; to whom he allowed two per cent, upon 
 the net revenue, independent of his regular pay, which was Rs. 10,000 
 a month. A select body of irregular infantry was attached to De 
 Boigne's force. . . The augmentation of De Boigne's army was gradual, 
 as was his train of artillery, which consisted at last of vipwards of 200 
 pieces of artillery, of different calibres. . . His officers were Europeans 
 of all nations, many of them British, and men very respectable by 
 birth, education, and character.' 
 
CONSOLIDATES HIS POWER. 381 
 
 Moguls, under the ferocious Ghulam Kadir, committed 
 after this event those terrible atrocities upon the un- 
 happy descendant of Timour and his family, as well as 
 upon the inhabitants of Delhi, which have made his 
 name for ever infamous in history. His triumph was 
 shortlived. On October 11, Delhi was occupied by 
 Eana Khan and De Boigne, and a few days later 
 Madhajee himself seated the blinded Shah Alum on 
 his recovered throne. His power and authority were 
 subsequently confirmed and consolidated by a great 
 victory obtained by his army on June 25, 1790, over 
 Ismael Beg, the last remaining Mohammedan noble 
 possessing sufficient power and influence to interfere 
 with his ambitious views. A second victory over 
 Ismael Eeg's allies, the Rajpoots, was gained on Sep- 
 tember 12, in the following year; and Madhajee, sen- 
 sible of the expediency of conciliatiag rather than 
 driving to extremity that warlike people, granted them 
 peace on easy terms. 
 
 In the first war with Tippoo, 1790-92, Madhajee 
 took no part. He was strongly of opinion that com- 
 plete victory in such a contest would only be advan- 
 tageous to the English, from whom a violent and 
 persistent enemy would thus be removed, whilst the 
 maintenance of Tippoo at Mysore was by no means 
 inconsistent with Mahratta interests. He condemned, 
 therefore, strongly the conduct of Nana Furnawees in 
 aiding the British on such an occasion. He continued, 
 then and subsequently, to consolidate his own authority 
 
382 MADHAJEE SINBIA. 
 
 in Hindustan, to meet the open efforts of Tookajee 
 Holkar and the secret efforts of Nana Furnawees to 
 overthrow him, and to prepare against any attack from 
 the North-west, constantly threatened as it was by 
 the grandson of the Abdallee. He found, however, 
 in the course of time, that, having placed his dominions 
 in Hindustan on a footing of tolerable security, the 
 best, and indeed the only efficacious mode of thwarting 
 his Mahratta rivals, was to proceed direct to Poona. 
 Could he become the minister of the Peshwa as well 
 as the holder of the power of the Mogul, what a vista 
 would open to him ! He would then wield a power 
 such as neither Aurungzebe nor Sivajee with all their 
 efforts had ever attained. To unseat Nana Furnawees, 
 always plotting against him, and to occupy his place, 
 became then the fixed and settled purpose of his mind. 
 For no lighter purpose would he have left his terri- 
 tories in Hindustan and Central India, the seat of his 
 real power. But the end he projjosed to himself was 
 so vast, so full of promise, so magnificent, that it seemed 
 to him worth while to encounter even a dangerous 
 risk. He set out for Poona, and marching slowly, 
 ready at any moment to retrace his steps, he reached 
 that city on June 11, 1793. 
 
 There was naturally an ostensible reason for his 
 journey. He was to invest the Peshwa with the in- 
 signia of the office of Vicegerent of the Mogul Empire, 
 conferred upon him by the Emperor. This he did, 
 despite the secret opposition of Nana Furnawees, with 
 
GAINS INFLUENCE AT POONA. 383 
 
 great pomp and ceremony.* His secret object, how- 
 ever, was to gain the young Peshwa, Madho Eao 
 Narain. This, too, despite of the opposition, open as 
 well as secret, he would, had he lived, undoubtedly 
 have accomplished. Everything seemed to favour his 
 purpose. Whilst at Poona he received intelligence 
 of the complete defeat of the fast adherent and sup- 
 porter of Nana Eurnawees, Tookajee Holkar — a defeat 
 by which the army of that rival chieftain was almost 
 entirely destroyed ; he learned too of the capture of 
 Ismael Beg, his sole Mohammedan adversary. He 
 found, in fact, that he wielded, unchecked, the whole 
 power of Northern and Western, and a great part of 
 Central Hindustan. The spirit of the young Peshwa, 
 too, chafing long under the austere guardianship of 
 the Nana, inclined, more and more every day, to the 
 genial warrior, who encouraged him in his aspirations 
 after the sports of the field and the pleasures of the 
 chase. Notwithstanding all the efforts of his prime 
 minister, the youthful Peshwa would, there is every 
 
 * Sir John Malcolm informs us that when he came to Poona, Mad- 
 hajee dismounted from hie elephant at the gates of the city, placed 
 himself in the great hall of audience below all the hereditary nobles of 
 the State ; and when the Peshwa came into the room, and desired him 
 to be. seated with others, he objected on the ground of being unworthy 
 of the honour, and, untying a bundle that he carried under his arm, 
 produced a pair of slippers, which he placed before Madho Eao, saying : 
 ' This is my occupation ; it was that of my father.' Madlajee, at the 
 moment he said this, took the old slippers the Peshwa had in use, and, 
 wrapping them up carefully, continued to hold them under his arm ; 
 after which, though ' with apparent reluctance, he allowed himself to be 
 prevailed upon to sit down.' 
 
384 MADHAJEE SINBIA. 
 
 reason to believe, have been gained over, and Madhajee 
 would have attained a position never before approached 
 by any Mahratta, when he was attacked by fever and 
 died. His death took place on February 12, 1794, in 
 the vicinity of Poona. He had no children, nor had 
 he made any adoption. He had, however, expressed 
 a wish that his grand-nephew, Dowlut Rao, grandson 
 of his co-illegitimate brother, Tookajee, might succeed 
 to his possessions ; and this wish, after some opposition 
 on the part of his widow, was carried into effect. 
 
 The sketch we have given of the career of the real 
 founder of the house of Sindia is but a bare and 
 meagre outline. To fill it up as it should be filled 
 up would be an interesting task, but it would require 
 much labour and many articles. Rather than submit 
 to the delay which the preparation for such labour 
 would necessarily involve — rather, in fact, than indefi- 
 nitely postpone all notice of the most illustrious of the 
 Mahratta chieftains — we have deemed it advisable to be 
 content, in the first instance, with the outline alone. 
 "We have been the more inclined to this course, because 
 we are certain that none but students of Indian 
 history have any but the most cursory knowledge of 
 Madhajee, and because we believe, therefore, that the 
 publication of this'' brief notice will draw attention to 
 a subject regarding which little is generally known. 
 When we call to mind the position of the present re- 
 presentative of the house of Sindia, his high charac- 
 ter amongst Asiatic rulers, the transcendent services 
 
HI8 CHARACTER. ' 385 
 
 rendered by Hm during the mutiny ; when we reflect 
 that he, the most powerful representative of the Mah- 
 ratta warriors, was faithful among the faithless — that, 
 possessing the power greatly to annoy us, he incurred 
 risk and danger of no common character to befriend 
 and to assist us, there are few thoughtful men who will 
 not care to know something of the founder of the 
 family, something of the man,' the rise of whose power 
 was synchronous with that of our own. In the modern 
 and more true acceptation of the term, Madhajee 
 Sindia may not be considered entitled to a niche 
 among the statues of really great men. But compare 
 him with his Asiatic contemporaries, and he towers 
 above them all. He was a greater warrior, a greater 
 statesman, far more generous and liberal, than Hyder 
 All of Mysore ; he had none of the cruelty or the 
 habitual and senseless perfidy of Nizam Ali of Hydera- 
 bad ; amongst the Mahrattas not a single man ap- 
 proached him : he was infinitely more far-sighted than 
 all of them. Alone amongst his countrymen of that 
 day he foresaw the necessities of the English position, 
 the life-struggle that must ensue between them and 
 the native princes. Whilst, in the first Mahratta war, 
 he had displayed no mean qualities as a general, his 
 experience of the English had convinced him that to 
 beat them it was necessary to concentrate against 
 them all the resources of Hindustan. Bearing this 
 in mind, he refused to aid them in their contests with 
 
 c c 
 
386 MADHAJEE SINBIA. 
 
 other native princes, however little sympathy he may 
 have felt for the latter ; for he well knew that each such 
 single contest would make it more difficult for the re- 
 maining independent princes to ward off the inevitable 
 blow. At one time of his life he seriously contem- 
 plated the formation of a general alliance with Hyder 
 and Nizam Ali against the English ; and it is evident 
 that he was diverted from this solely by a sense of the 
 insecurity of his own position, and by the necessity 
 under which he lay, in the first instance, to consoli- 
 date his power. After his experience of the first 
 Mahratta war, he carefully avoided any premature or 
 single contest with our countrymen. When his power 
 had been consolidated in Hindustan, he still felt the 
 uselessness of embarking in a life -struggle, so long as 
 he had the doubtful support of the Peshwa, and the 
 open opposition of his minister and feudatories. To 
 prevent that — to secure unity of action in the North- 
 East and the West — he made that journey to Poona, 
 which ended, at the moment of its brightest promise, 
 in his death. There is no room to doubt but that the 
 great object of his latter life was to bring about a 
 general league against the English, before the power 
 of the latter should be too firmly consolidated. Look- 
 ing at this policy by the light of later events, who will 
 say that, in a Mahratta point of view, it was unsound 
 or unwise ? 
 
 In other respects, Madhajee Sindia was at least on 
 a par with the best of his contemporarie He could 
 
SIS FAULTS. 387 
 
 read and write well, was a practised accountant, and 
 weU versed in revenue matters. He was generous, 
 liberal, and just. His habits and tastes were simple. 
 He had no great vices ; and if he was apt to give way 
 to passion, it was a fault which he must share with 
 many to whom the opportunity of profiting from the 
 great lessons inculcated by the Gospel has been 
 liberally vouchsafed. 
 
 e e a 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 We recollect to have heard Indian statesmen spoken 
 of as men who, whilst they can write an admirable 
 minute, are unable to make a very ordinary speech ; 
 who are rather good writers of despatches than men 
 of action ; and who seem to regard the mere writing 
 of such despatches as the end and aim of work, with- 
 out any regard to the business which they were in- 
 tended to accomplish. Now, whilst we are willing to 
 admit that there is truth and force iu this description, 
 that, in fact, it does apply to the second order of Indian 
 officials, we emphatically deny that it delineates the 
 characteristics of the Indian statesman of the first 
 rank. To take only those of our own day, for ex- 
 ample, who would assert that such a description is 
 applicable to Lord Metcalfe, Lord Lawrence, Sir 
 George Clerk, Lord Napier of Magdala, Sir Herbert 
 Edwardes, or General Nicholson ? These were all 
 men — and the list is not exhausted — who really com- 
 prehended the lofty positions in which they were placed, 
 who looked upon writing merely as the means whereby 
 great ends were to be accomplished, and whose repu- 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 389 
 
 tation rests upon the basis of their accomplished actions, 
 rather than upon their faultless minutes. That there 
 is a tendency in India to fall into the error charged 
 generallyj as we have said, upon all Indian statesmen, 
 we admit. And it is brought about, we believe, in this 
 wayj — There are two roads to promotion to the highest 
 administrative offices in India ; the one lies through 
 the secretariat, the other through administrative work 
 performed in the districts, in close contact with the 
 natives of India. Now, it may be safely asserted, as 
 a rule, that the tendency of training on the first road 
 is to narrow the mind, to exaggerate the importance 
 of mere writing, to regard the composition of mi- 
 nutes as the end of statesmanship ; the tendency of 
 the second training is directly contrary: whilst the 
 first rears clerks, the second turns out statesmen. 
 
 The training on the second road is, in fact, so 
 thorough, so practical, that, when entered upon by 
 an intellect of the first order, it cannot fail to pro- 
 duce not only a statesman, but a statesman capable 
 of standing the severest test. This has been re- 
 peatedly illustrated. When Lord Metcalfe returned 
 from his successful governpient of Canada, the late 
 Lord Derby expressed his surjirise that the country 
 did not at once insist upon his beiag made Prime 
 Minister. Lord Lawrence is another case in point. 
 Not less confidently can we adduce the names of 
 General Nicholson — equally great as a civilian and a 
 soldier — of Sir Herbert Edwardes, of Lord Napier of 
 
390 SIR BAHTLE FRERE. 
 
 Magdala. These were men trained, not in bureaux, 
 but amongst the people. They were men who, to 
 natural abilities, added the knowledge gained by actual 
 experience, by mixing with the various classes amongst 
 whom their lot was cast. When called to govern, they 
 came to the post armed from head to foot. Their 
 armour had not, indeed, been veneered by the glittering 
 varnish of routine, but it had been tried in the real 
 fight, and, so tried, it enabled them to make way even 
 against the darts of adverse fortune. 
 
 The principle we have laid down is not new. It is 
 one which has been recognised all over lie world. Sir 
 John Malcolm, if informed, when visiting a district, 
 that the officer in charge of it could write an excellent 
 report, was in the habit of replying : ' Can he tell me 
 the haunts of the tigers and deer in his district ? If he 
 cannot do that, it is clear that he knows little of the 
 people.' Lord Boliugbroke, in his immortal essays, 
 dwells repeatedly on the same points. ' Genius,' he 
 says, ' without the improvements at least of experience, 
 is what comets once were thought to be — a blazing- 
 meteor, irregular in his course, and dangerous in his 
 approach ; of no use to any system, and able to destroy 
 any. Mere sons of earth, if they have experience 
 without any knowledge of the history of the world, are 
 but half scholars in the science of mankind. And if 
 they are conversant in history without experience, 
 they are worse than ignorant, they are pedants, 
 always incapable, sometimes meddling and presuming. 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 391 
 
 The man wlio has all three is an honour to his country 
 and a public blessing.' 
 
 Amongst those who have illustrated this truth, we 
 cannot recall one whose career more merits to be 
 studied than does that of Sir Bartle Frere. Of all the 
 men who have ever belonged to the Civil Service of 
 India, we have never heard of one who United more 
 completely in his person the knowledge and faculty of 
 dealing with men, the fruits of his Indian experience, 
 with the large views, the conciliatory and persuasive 
 manner, the capacity for affairs, which, born with him, 
 ripened with his growth to mabhood. He was not 
 favoured by a single adventitious aid in his struggle 
 through life. Not one sensational opportunity offered 
 itself to his clutch. Even in the great mutiny, the 
 part which he had to play, noble and self-denying as it 
 was, most beneficial to the general welfare, was lost 
 sight of in the glare and glitter of military triumphs. 
 Yet though ' no blaze of bonfires, no ;,trumpet-tongues 
 of leading articles,' announced his achievements to 
 the world, those achievements were, not the less, in 
 the highest sense of the word, glorious. It is his pride, 
 and a proof also of the statesmanlike tone of his mind, 
 that he has been a successful administrator, a valued 
 and confidential councillor, and, again, a farsighted 
 and successful Grovernoi*. This result we believe to be 
 due to the working of experience in dealing with men on 
 a clear and well-prepared intellect. His Indian training 
 was not bureaucratic. His intellect thus escaped the 
 
392 SIS BAETLB FRERE. 
 
 danger of shipwreck on a rock fatal to so many. The 
 naturally capacious mind, unfettered by questions of 
 red tape and routine, accustomed itself then, in the 
 arena of active life with which it was occupied, to ex- 
 pand still wider. In all the vicissitudes of his career 
 he never separated himself, in sympathy, from the 
 interests of those with whom he was brought so con- 
 stantly in contact. And it is worthy to be recorded 
 that he owed his great popularity with the natives of 
 India not less to this, than to that complete abnegation 
 of self which was a very principle of all his actions. To 
 many, not natives of India, there appeared something 
 strange in this self-negation, or rather, of this absence of 
 any idea of self-interest or self. To the mass of men, his 
 competitors and rivals, it seemed so strange, so new, so 
 unaccountable, that they did not believe it. In what- 
 ever he did, however simple and natural it might 
 really be, they endeavoured to discover an arriere 
 pensie. The question has frequently been put, ' What 
 can be Frere's object in doing this ? ' when in reality 
 there was no other object but the simple one patent to 
 the world. To these men, the idea of a man of ability 
 not being self-seeking, either in an open or roundabout 
 way, was simply incomprehensible ; and as it was clear 
 that the object of their wonder was not the first, they 
 grasped at the conclusion that he must be a subtle 
 edition of the second. Their minds could not realise 
 the simple truth that there could be an able man who, 
 though he might place before him as an axiom of life 
 
Sm BARTLE FRERE. 393 
 
 that God's will should be done on earth, and the best 
 things done in the best manner for the good of the 
 majority, should yet regard the carrying out of that 
 axiom as the ' all in all ' of his existence, satisfied only 
 that the work should be done, and without a thought 
 or care regarding self in the performance. Yet such 
 a man, emphatically, is Sir Bartle Frere, and it is 
 because he is such a man that his career presents so 
 many points worthy of study. 
 
 Though Sir Bartle Frere had, from his landing in 
 India, to fight his own way, unaided, to the front rank, 
 he had still hereditary claims to distinction. The fifth 
 son of Mr. Edward Frere, belonging to a family settled 
 in Norfolk and Suffolk since the time of the Conquest,* 
 he was nephew to Mr. Hookham Frere, the friend of 
 Canning and the Wellesleys, a writer in the Anti- 
 Jacobin, and known as one of the wittiest men and 
 best conversationists of the day. At the age of twelve 
 years young Frere was sent to King Edward the 
 Sixth's Grammar School at Bath, then kept by 
 the B.ev. James Pears, rector of Charlcomb, and a 
 friend of Wilberforce. At this time he knew a little 
 Latin, a little French, and was well up in the fairy 
 lore prevalent in the wild part of Wales in which he 
 had been bom. He had perused with avidity all the 
 books of travel upon which he could lay hand, as well 
 as Don Quixote and Shakspeare. At the Grammar 
 
 * His grandfather, M.P. for Norwich, had been Paley's rival at 
 Cambridge for the senior wranglership in 1763. 
 
394 SIS BARTLE FBERE. 
 
 School lie was thorouglily well grounded in his studies: 
 indeed the thoroughness of this grounding manifested 
 itself in a very remarkable manner. Nominated to 
 Haileybury in 1832, he had the mortification to find 
 himself last but one in the entrance examination, a 
 mortification which must have been enhanced in his 
 eyes by the fact that amongst his competitors were 
 many young men who had distinguished themselves 
 at Eton and at Shrewsbury, and whom he could 
 scarcely hope to pass in the race of learning. Yet 
 so excellent had been his grounding, so great was his 
 perseverance, and so superior his natural powers, that 
 at the close of the first term he had gained the position 
 of second on the list. In the following term he 
 changed that position for the first, and this he never 
 afterwards lost. 
 
 It testifies to the spirit and enterprise of the young 
 civilian that, on learning he had been appointed to the 
 Bombay Presidency, he at once applied to proceed 
 thither by the overland route. In the present day, 
 and, indeed, since 1843, that route has been the 
 regular mode of communication with India. But in 
 1834 it had not even been established. There were 
 no steamers beyond Malta, no recognised mode of 
 transit across the desert, none from Alexandria to 
 Cairo. Even had the traveller arrived safely at Suez, 
 he would have been utterly at a loss how to proceed 
 thence to Aden and Bombay. But Mr. Frere's ap- 
 plication, though it betokened love of enterprise, 
 
Sm BARTLE FRERE. 396 
 
 savoured not at all of rashness. He had heard that 
 the then Governor-General, Lord William Bentinck, 
 had written to the home authorities proposing to 
 send a new steamer, recently built for the Indian 
 service, to Suez, to meet there any adventurous 
 persons coming from England, so that the feasibility 
 of the much-questioned overland route might thus be 
 decided. Great was the astonishment of the East 
 India Directors -to find, foremost amongst these ad- 
 venturers, the newly appointed writer — the first of his 
 term at Haileybury. Grave were the doubts as to 
 whether so unprecedented an application should be 
 granted. By the interest, however, of Mr, Butter- 
 worth Bayley, who had a hereditary regard for Mr. 
 Frere's family, the necessary sanction was accorded ; 
 and, armed with this, Mr. Frere left Falmouth for 
 Malta in the month of May, 1834. 
 
 At Malta Mr. Frere stayed some weeks with his 
 uncle, Mr. Hookham Frere. His intimate friends 
 have often heard him speak of this visit as a very 
 bright spot in his existence. He found his uncle 
 surrounded by a few affectionate friends, but otherwise 
 with little companionship beyond his books. It was no 
 ordinary pleasure to the young civilian, just starting 
 in life, to listen to ' the old man eloquent,' as he dis- 
 coursed of his early recollections of Pitt, and Burke, 
 and Fox, and rolled out stories of the schoolboy days 
 of Canning and the WeUesleys. Here, too, Mr. Frere 
 became acquainted with the adventurous traveller. 
 
396 SIS BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 Dr. Wolff, -who, in addition to amusing him by his 
 vivid descriptions of Central Asia, aided him in his 
 studies in Arabic, pronouncing him, finally, 'fit to 
 scold his way through Egypt.' 
 
 From Malta Mr. Frere proceeded in a Greek bri- 
 gantine to Alexandria, and met there four gentlemen, 
 acquaintance with one of whom he had made at Malta, 
 and who were also bound for India. In company with 
 these gentlemen he made his way, in spite of many 
 difficulties, to Cairo. But here no tidings regarding 
 the steamer could be obtained.* The travellers deter- 
 mined, accordingly, to find their own way to Cossier. 
 They took the route of Thebes and Upper Egyj)t, 
 struck across, on camel back, from Kenne to Cossier, 
 and thence proceeded in open boats to Yambo, Jedda, 
 and Mocha, learning nothing regarding the missing 
 steamer at any of these places. From Mocha they de- 
 termined to proceed in an Arab ' buggalow,' convey- 
 ing pilgrims to Surat. It was little to them that the 
 crew were entirely Arab, and that the ' buggalow ' 
 was wholly destitute of conveniences, for they had 
 left all their servants at Cossier, and after quitting 
 that place had been forced to cook for themselves — 
 excellent training, by the way, for the modern Anglo- 
 Indian. The ' buggalow ' proved a very safe vessel, 
 and though she ran short of provisions and nearly 
 starved our travellers, she landed them safely at 
 Bombay on September 23, 1834, after a voyage of 
 
 * She did not proceed further than Ceylon. 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 397 
 
 nineteen days. Here, however, Mr. Frere's difficulties 
 only commenced. He had to prove his identity. The 
 idea of a young civilian proceeding to India by the 
 overland route appeared more startling to the author- 
 ities in Bombay than it had seemed to the Court of 
 Directors. For a servant of Government to sail down 
 the Red Sea in an open boat exposed to the terrible 
 heat of August and September, and to cross the 
 Arabian Sea in an Arab buggalow during the mon- 
 soon month, was a circumstance entirely without 
 oflBcial precedent in the then quiet annals of the 
 Bombay Presidency. The officials then in power 
 might indeed have divined that such an adventure 
 presaged the arrival amongst them of one whose in- 
 tellect was too keen to allow his action to be fettered 
 by the bands of routine. But they could not com- 
 prehend the love of enterprise which had prompted 
 the undertaking. 
 
 The real work of life now began for Mr. Frere. 
 First, he had to pass an examination in the Hindustani . 
 language. This he successfully accomplished within 
 three months of his landing, following it up by ac- 
 quiring the Mahratta and Guzerat languages. This 
 result achieved, and his love of adventure having been 
 stimulated rather than restrained by the incidents of 
 his journey from England, he asked Lord Clare, then 
 Governor of Bombay, to send him to Belgaum, as he 
 had heard much of the bison shooting there ! But 
 Lord Clare demurred to compliance with a request 
 
398 SIR BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 which probably seemed to him to partake too much 
 of a passion for field sports. He replied that he 
 thought it better for Mr. Frere to go to Poena, 
 where, under Mr. Mills, a most distinguished revenue 
 officer, he should have every facility for learning his 
 vt'ork.' Nor was this the only blight his early hopes 
 were destined to receive. On his arrival at Poona, he 
 found himself the third supernumerary to a principal 
 collector, who, besides the supernumeraries, had his full 
 establishment of four regular assistants. Under these 
 circumstances he was scarcely surprised at beiag 
 assured, by the first civilian he met after his arrival at 
 Poona, that it was clearly impossible he could gaiu a 
 step of promotion for ten years ! It may be encour- 
 aging to others to note, that notwithstanding these 
 drawbacks at starting, in spite of the fact that he had 
 then a longer list of men above him than has ever 
 been before a young civilian, he reached the summit 
 of promotion in about thirty-three years, in the natural 
 course of things. This, too, without any adventitious 
 aid ; for it is a fact that the request to go to Belgaum, 
 to which we have adverted, was the first and last 
 request he ever made with regard to any appointment 
 or position for himself. 
 
 Though the work at Poona was of a very elementary 
 kind, there was plenty to occupy the young civilian. 
 The city and the people were, too, a source of infinite 
 interest. For the city was the ancient capital of the 
 Peshwas, and almost every elderly man in it had lived 
 
SIR BAJRTLE FRERE. 399 
 
 under their rule, and remembered Mountstuart Elphin- 
 stone and Sir John Malcolm. Unrestrained inter- 
 course with such a people could not fail to have a deep 
 effect on an intelligent mind. 
 
 At that time Mr. Williamson Ramsay was the sole 
 Revenue Commissioner of the Bombay Presidency. 
 In the early part of 1835, his assistant, Mr. Goldsmid, 
 had been deputed to inquire into the land assessment 
 of Indapore. Mr. Goldsmid soon ascertained that the 
 system of collection of revenue had been marked by 
 great cruelty and oppression; and, as the inquiry 
 promised to be of an intricate nature, he begged that 
 Mr. Frere might be sent to assist him in its prose- 
 cution. The request was granted, and a new life at 
 once opened before Mr. Frere. With Mr. Goldsmid 
 as his companion, he completely studied every nook 
 and corner of the district in which they were em- 
 ployed, living during the rains in temples or houses 
 for wayfarers, or in a tent roughly thatched over. 
 This was the way to a real acquaintance with the 
 people. Coming daily in contact with them in their 
 own homes, he had opportunities of seeing them as 
 they were, of diving into the depths of their character, 
 and probing the latent thoughts of their hearts. For 
 one destined to govern the country of which these 
 people constituted the rural population, no training 
 could have been so efficacious. 
 
 i Subsequently succeeding Mr. Goldsmid as assistant 
 to the Revenue Commissioner, he travelled over every 
 
400 SIS BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 part of the Bombay Presidency, the Southern Mahratta 
 country alone excepted, and in the course of these 
 rambles arose opportunities to indulge in that passion 
 for sport which had prompted Mr. Frere's early re- 
 quest to Lord Clare. He joined in the lion-hunting, 
 which was then still to be had in Kattyawar, besides 
 the more ordinary sport of hog-hunting, tiger, bear, 
 bison, and sambur shooting in the jungles of the Con- 
 can and Candeish. We recollect well to have heard 
 how the late Sir James Outram used to speak of his 
 first meeting with Mr. Frere, at the close of an ex- 
 citing boar chase ; and there are many still living who 
 can testify to the cool courage he displayed in these 
 expeditions against the rival monarchs of the forest. 
 It was often remarked that with increasing danger he 
 displayed a more than corresponding increase of nerve 
 and coolness. 
 
 But it was not all sunshine. Mr. Frere had not 
 been long in Candeish before he was laid low by 
 severe jungle fever. He recovered. But — and it 
 may be a consolation to many a weakly recruit to 
 learn — on recovery he was told by the ablest medical 
 officers in Bombay, that it would be useless for him to 
 attempt to stay in India, as his constitution could not 
 stand the climate. Few men probably have gone 
 through more mental and bodily work in India than 
 the gentleman to whom that information was imparted ! 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, to lay down a general 
 rule of life in India suitable to every constitution ; but 
 
Sm BARTLE THERE. 401 
 
 there can be little doubt that Mr. Frere owed his 
 subsequent excellent health and capacity for work in 
 a trying climate to his active habits, his capacity to 
 dovetail his love of horse exercise and sport with 
 mental occupation. An early riser, he was able to 
 return from his morning ride with a freshened zest for 
 the day's labours. 
 
 For five years Mr. Frere was engaged in assisting 
 the Revenue Commissioner to reform the assessment of 
 other provinces besides the Dekkan. We have already 
 stated that Mr. Goldsmid had, in the course of his 
 enquiries, discovered that in the collection of revenue 
 great cruelties had been perpetrated : we may be par- 
 doned, then, if we briefly refer to the events which had 
 led to so unsatisfactory a state of affairs, and the nature 
 of the remedy applied. 
 
 The territories conquered from the last Peshwa, 
 Bajee Rao, in 1818, did not at first experience the full 
 benefit of their transfer. Prices fell, and the rough 
 assessments fixed by those who succeieded Mr. Mount- 
 stuart Elphinstone had borne with undue severity on 
 the people. Unable to pay their assessments, and 
 reduced by the processes instituted for their enforce- 
 ment to great misery, the peasantry had allowed their 
 lands to go out of cultivation, and had abandoned them- 
 selves to despair. Their wretched condition had been 
 rendered still more wretched by the conduct of the 
 native subordinates of the Government, who, under the 
 pretext of collecting the revenue, had filled their own 
 
 D D 
 
402 ,5-/^ BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 pockets by means of a tyranny which did not stop short 
 of torture. It will easily be believed that, under these 
 circumstances, the blessings of British rule were not 
 fully appreciated by the people of the Mahratta country. 
 Yet this state of things continued unredressed, and 
 under the implied sanction of the British Government, 
 from 1819 to 1834, a period of fifteen years. "We do 
 not affirm that attempts had not been made to remedy 
 the disorder, but these had all failed, principally, we 
 believe, because the Government of the day had not 
 apprehended the principle that to sacrifice an assess- 
 ment which few could pay, in favour of a smaller 
 assessment within the means of all, was a policy as 
 financially sound as it was politically just. Mr. 
 Goldsmid and his associates, notably amongst whom 
 was Captain, now Sir George, Wingate, however, did 
 proceed upon that principle. They proposed to intro- 
 duce a system based upon a low assessment, careful 
 surveys, and fixity of tenure. Sir Robert Grant, 
 then Governor of Bombay, 'than whom,' to use an 
 expression publicly made three years ago by Sir B. 
 Frere, ' a more able statesman or larger hearted 
 philanthropist has never been at the head of the 
 Government of any Presidency,' sympathised with 
 these views, and charged Mr. Ramsay, the Revenue 
 Commissioner, to carry them out. The task of pre- 
 paring a plan for the survey and settlement of the 
 Government lands was deputed by that oflScer to Mr. 
 Goldsmid, who was aided by Captain Wingate and 
 
Sm BARTLE FRERE. 40S 
 
 Mr. Frere. The plan they drew up, based on the 
 largest and most philanthropic principles — the plan of 
 recognising existing rights and conferring them where 
 they did not exist ; of fixing a separate assessment for 
 each property, however small, and recognising in the 
 occupant of that property at the time of settlement the 
 actual owner, with complete liberty to ' sell, mortgage, 
 transfer, or use it for any purpose whatever;' of fixing 
 the first assessment for thirty years, but declaring the 
 right of the occupant to the land to be permanent, 
 subject only to the payment of the assessment ; of 
 allowing every occupier on the close of each year to > 
 give up to the State any portion of his property, subject 
 to a previous intimation of his intention so to act ; and, 
 above all, of rating the assessment according to the 
 actual value of the land — ^this plan, we say, was accepted 
 and carried out. To Mr. Goldsmid, aided by Captain 
 Wingate and Mr. Frere, fell the task of showing how 
 these general principles were to be practically applied 
 in Indapore, the first district of which the assessment 
 was revised. 
 
 The system has since been extended throughout the 
 whole of the Bombay Presidency and Sinde, and into 
 the neighbouring provinces of Berar and Mysore, 
 and everywhere the results have been marvellous. 
 ^ A contented and independent population, cultivated 
 lands, the punctual payment of assessments, an im- 
 proved system of agriculture — these were the material 
 consequences. But there was another, even higher 
 
 T. 1, 2 
 
404 SIS BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 and better. For the first time since their country had 
 been brought under British rule, the people felt and 
 acknowledged the benefits to themselves that resulted 
 from the connection. 'From being the most wretched, 
 depressed set in the Dekkan,' wrote Mr. Frere to 
 Mr. W. Ramsay in 1849, in a letter read before 
 the Committee of the House of Commons by Sir 
 George Wingate in 1858, 'they have become thriving, 
 independent fellows, thoroughly grateful for what 
 has been done for them.' To have co-operated in 
 bringing about such a result was something to stir 
 the heart of a man zealous to perform his duty, bent 
 above all things to see that, under all circumstances, 
 the work of the Government was done, and done in 
 the best possible way. 
 
 In other respects the five years thus spent consti- 
 tuted no bad school for a man of intellect and ability. 
 The acquaintance then formed with natives, the con- 
 versations with respect to points especially calculated 
 to bring out their character, the daily association, con- 
 nected often by friendly and sympathising intercourse, 
 could not but add greatly to the knowledge of all 
 others most useful to a statesman, the knowledge of 
 men. To a man of Mr. Frere's nature such knowledge 
 was invaluable. But a change in his position now 
 awaited him. In 1842 General Sir George Arthur 
 was appointed Governor of Bombay. The gentleman 
 whom he had selected as private secretary died on the 
 voyage out, and, on the advice of the late Sir George 
 Anderson, Mr. Frere was appointed to succeed him. 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 405 
 
 The office of Private Secretary to a Governor or 
 Viceroy in India is far more important than its desig- 
 nation would seem to imply. Of all the advisers of 
 the Governor, the Private Secretary is the most con- 
 fidential. And as it generally happens that the 
 Governor comes to India unacquainted practically 
 with the country and its people, he is forced at first to 
 depend for accurate information regarding the several 
 points connected with both on the gentleman whom he 
 may nominate to this post. It follows that to fulfil 
 with the highest satisfaction the duties of this office, 
 the private secretary should be a man of character 
 and tact, well acquainted with the country and its 
 people ; that he should be accustomed to deal with men, 
 ready with his pen, accessible, and courteous. It is 
 scarcely too much to say that, upon the efficiency of 
 his private secretary, depend often the comfort, and 
 even the credit, of the governor. 
 
 Reversing the arrangement, we may also say that 
 few schools are more beneficial to an Indian official 
 than connection with a tried English statesman. Such 
 a connection cannot fail to give to the neophyte a 
 wider view of the political arena, a deeper conception 
 of the fitness of things, to prevent the gradual glissade 
 of the mind dawn to a narrow local groove, than which 
 nothing can be more fatal to the attainment of really 
 statesmanlike ideas. In Sir George Arthur Mr. Frere 
 met a man of high character and ability, great ex- 
 perience, and accustomed all his life to deal with 
 
408 SIR BAJRTLE FBERE. 
 
 men. After a distinguished service in the army. Sir 
 George Arthur had filled the post of Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Honduras in troublous times; from 1823 to 
 1837 he administered the government of Van DIemen's 
 Land, and from that date till 1841 he had filled the post 
 of Lieutenant-Governor and Commander of the Forces 
 in Upper Canada. His conduct during the rebellion 
 was of material service to the British cause ; indeed, it 
 so gained the approval of his superiors on the spot, and 
 of the home government, that when his command was 
 abolished by the union of the two provinces, he was 
 requested to remain for some months in the adminis- 
 tration of his former government. He acceded to the 
 request, upon the express stipulation that for the 
 service so rendered he should receive no emolument 
 whatever. In 1842 he was, as we have seen, sent to 
 Bombay as governor. 
 
 The year following Sir George Arthur's arrival in 
 Bombay witnessed an event which, in its long and 
 troubled course, tried to the utmost his capacity for 
 dealing with men. In 1843 Sir Charles Napier con- 
 quered Sinde, and that province was annexed by Lord 
 Ellenborough to British India. Now there was in 
 Bombay a large and influential party, comprising the 
 leaders of the Civil Service, and a great many soldiers, 
 prominent amongst whom was the late Sir James 
 Outram, by whom that annexation and the battles that 
 led to it were condemned as unjust, unnecessary, and 
 immoral. There ensued then a controversy extremely 
 
SIB BARTLE FRERE. 407 
 
 bitter, conducted with very great warmth and asperity 
 on both sides, and which, besides, was of so personal a 
 nature that it had the eiFect of dragging into the one 
 camp or the other almost every person of note and 
 weight in India. The Governor- General himself was 
 regarded by the anti-annexationists as a particeps cri- 
 minis, whilst, perhaps unconsciously for that very 
 reason, almost the entire civil service of India took up 
 the cudgels for Major Outram. Under such circum- 
 stances it argued very great tact, judgment, and dis- 
 cretion on the part of Sir George Arthur, that he, on 
 the very edge of the crater, was not dragged into the 
 flames ; that he maintained throughout a dignified 
 attitude of neutrality, preserving to the last the esteem 
 of Sir Charles Napier, and the respect of Sir Charles 
 Napier's opponents. It may be well conceived that, 
 to accomplish such a result was beset with difficulty. 
 Sir George Arthur was in constant communication 
 with Napier, had to keep him supplied with officers, 
 with stores, and with the thousand and one necessary 
 adjuncts of a military expedition. But here his 
 own experience came into action. His military service 
 in Egypt, in Holland, in the West Indies, in Van Die- 
 men's Land, and in Canada, enabled him to compre- 
 hend at a glance all that was wanted. He threw his 
 best energies into the cause; and whilst the partisans 
 of Major Outram could find no fault with his action. 
 Lord Ellenborough and Sir C. Napier evinced their 
 appreciation of his firmness in supporting the re- 
 
408 SIS BARTLE FJRERE. 
 
 quirements of the Supreme Government with respect 
 to Sinde.* 
 
 As Sir George Arthur's private secretary Mr. Frere 
 was naturally his confidant in all the measures taken 
 during that eventful period. It is scarcely possible to 
 imagine a better school for the ripening of the pre- 
 viously acquired experience. Here was an experienced 
 English administrator face to face with a great local 
 difficulty. How did he meet it? Whilst all the 
 men about him made this difficulty the signal for a 
 display of partisan feeling, he dealt with it with tact, 
 determination, and success. He, in a word, acted as 
 a statesman, and not as a partisan. Up to this time 
 Mr. Frere had gathered his experience from the 
 natives of India, but to watch from the recesses of 
 Government House the mode in which an English 
 statesman dealt with a case so delicate and yet so 
 difficult as that of the Sinde controversy, gave him an 
 insight into a different world, and, we may be sure, 
 left a deep impression behind it. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Frere married the second daughter of 
 Sir George Arthur, and in the following year took his 
 furlough to England, visiting Malta en route, and 
 travelling thence through Italy, Switzerland, and 
 Germany. He returned to India after an absence of 
 eighteen months. The year following his return he 
 was selected for a post worthy of his abilities — 
 
 * So highly was Sir George Arthur esteemed by the Home Ministry, 
 that the provisional appointment of Governor- General of India, in the 
 event of anything happening to Lord Hardinge, was conferred upon him. 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 409 
 
 that of Resident at Sattara. The position was, in 
 many respects, peculiar. The ex-Rajah of Sattara, Per- 
 tab Singh, a descendant from Sivajee,had been convicted 
 of many oiFences against the paramount power in India, 
 and, on his refusal to agree to certain conditions ten- 
 dered for his acceptance by the British GoTernment as 
 the price of forgiveness, had been removed from power 
 and exiled to Benares. His place at Sattara was 
 then occupied by his brother, Appa Sahib, known also 
 as Shahjee. It was to the court of this brother that 
 Mr. Frere was deputed as Resident, in succession to 
 Colonel Outram. 
 
 But Mr. Frere had scarcely taken up his office be- 
 fore there ensued new complications, requiring the 
 exercise of great tact and discrimination to overcome. 
 Towards the close of the year 1847 the ex-Rajah, 
 Perti,b Singh, died, leaving no male issue, but having 
 adopted, it was asserted, his cousin, Bala Sahib Sena- 
 puttee, as his heir. The adoption, however, had not 
 been, and never was, recognised by the British Go- 
 vernment. It served, nevertheless, to keep alive the 
 pretensions of Bala Sahib amongst the partisans of the 
 ex-Rajah. On April 5 following, the Rajah, Appa Sahib, 
 died. He, too, left no natural heirs, but, during his 
 last illness, he had nominated as his adopted heir and 
 successor Venkajee Rajey, also a member of the 
 family. As the first article of the treaty of September 
 25, 1819, engaged the British to cede in perpetuity the 
 district called Sattara to the '- Rajah, his heirs and suc-> 
 cessors,' without any limitation as to the meaning to 
 
410 SIS BARTLE FEERE. 
 
 be attached to the words ' heirs and successors,' it fol- 
 lowed that Venkajee Eajey became, on the death of 
 Appa Sahib, lawful Eaja of Sattarah. So, at least, 
 thought the Eesident, Mr. Frere. It soon transpired, 
 however, that the Grovernment of India did not share 
 these views, but that they considered that the Sattara 
 states had lapsed to the paramount power, in conse- 
 quence of the failure of heirs lawfully begotten. Mr. 
 Frere, on his side, regarded annexation on such 
 grounds as a distinct breach of the treaty of 1819. 
 But he had no power, as representative of the British 
 Government at Sattara, to impose his own ideas upon 
 his superiors in authority. So strongly did he feel, 
 nevertheless, upon this point, that he addressed a letter 
 to Lord Falkland, then Governor of Bombay, suggest- 
 ing that Captain Grant Duif, who signed the treaty, 
 and Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bom- 
 bay at the time of its signature, should be appealed to 
 for their opinion as to the construction to be placed on 
 the first article. When Mr. Frere proposed this re- 
 ference he was not aware that both the gentlemen 
 referred to had already expressed their opinion that the 
 annexation of Sattara would be a distinct violation of 
 the treaty they had themselves made mth the ex-Rajah, 
 twenty-eight years previously.* His letter, too, was 
 written and sent in after the publication of the annex- 
 
 * Their opinion was, however, known to the Governor-General, and 
 to the- majority of the Court of Directors, before they expressed their 
 approval of the annexation. 
 
SIR BARTLE FREEH. 411 
 
 ation edict of the Government of India, and the ap- 
 pointment of Mr. Frere himself as commissioner or 
 chief administrator of the province. His remonstrance, 
 therefore, militated against his own interests ; for as 
 commissioner, he would occupy a position far more 
 responsible than as resident or envoy. But the motto 
 ' Be just and fear not ' has always commended itself to 
 Mr. Frere. throughout his career. It was his belief 
 that adherence to our engagements required the recog- 
 nition of their adoption, and he wrote accordingly.* 
 His -letter, however, met no favourable recognition 
 from the Supreme Government. Indeed, it was re- 
 garded as so inopportune, that but for the Governor of 
 Bombay, Lord Falkland, who, though differing from 
 Mr. Frere on the subject of annexation, had a high 
 opinion of his ability and a great trust in his judgment 
 and nerve, he would have been removed from his 
 commissionership. Happily this extreme measure was 
 not resorted to. The people of Sattara were then in 
 a. position similar to that of the subjects of the Peshwa 
 in 1819, audit would have been a matter of everlasting 
 regret had they, at the period of their transfer to 
 British rule, been deprived of the services of the man 
 who had been instrumental in reconciling those sub- 
 jects to our sway. Mr. Frere remained, fortunately, 
 commissioner of Sattara, and succeeded in introducing 
 
 * A gentleman calling on Mr. Monntstuart Elphinatone in 1869 
 happened to mention Mr. Frere's name. ' Ah,' said the old statesman, 
 ' tell me about him ; he "is a man after my own heart.' 
 
412 Sin BARTLE FREBE. 
 
 into it that revenue system which had answered so 
 admirably in other parts of the country. 
 
 For nearly two years and a half did Mr. Frere con- 
 tinue to govern Sattara. Into the details of his ad- 
 ministration it ^is unnecessary to enter. It will be 
 sufficient to observe that if, 'at the moment of the 
 absorption of the province by the paramount power, 
 the people doubted for an instant regarding their 
 future, the doubt lasted but for that instant. There 
 was no such misery of transition as that felt for 
 fifteen years by the ex-subjects of the Peshwa. Not 
 in vain had Mr. Frere studied the people in their 
 villages, their jungles, at their festivities. The know- 
 ledge thus acquired, directed by a sympathising nature 
 and a keen intellect, bore its fruit at once. The 
 change, far from rousing the people into dislike, com- 
 mended itself alike to their affections and their interests. 
 The system has been since steadily pursued, and the 
 inhabitants of Sattara have remained as well affected 
 to the British Government as those of the most re- 
 motely conquered province in the country.* 
 
 * The first tunnel ever made in India was made by Mr. Frere when 
 at Sattara. 
 
 There was a fertile valley the other side the town of Sattara, from 
 which it was separated by a mountain spur — a portion of the Qthkt 
 ridge — over which there was a track (no road) ; and round the base of 
 which a tedious, and circuitous, and ill-made road wound. 
 
 At the time of the Eajah of Sattara's death, the natives subscribed a 
 sum to be devoted to a memorial of him ; and, at the instance of Mr. 
 Frere, this sum was spent in making a short tunnel through the nar- 
 rowest portion of the hill. 
 
 A tablet at the entrance mentions the object with which it was made. 
 And the only condition bargained for by the native subscribers was, 
 
SIS CASTLE FRERS. 413 
 
 In December 1850 Mr. Frere was promoted 'from 
 Sattara to the higher office of Ch^pf Commissioner of 
 Sinde. This province, conquered, as we have h9,d' 
 occasion to state, by Sir Charles Napier in 1843, had 
 been confided to the charge of that famous soldier by 
 Lord Ellenborough. For four years Sir Charles 
 Napier continued to govern the province. Whatever 
 may have been asserted by his political opponents re- 
 garding the morality of the conquest, there never has 
 been the smallest question as to the manner in which 
 Sir Charles Napier carried out the duties entrusted to 
 him. Energetic, painstaking, indefatigable, a stern 
 lover of right and justice, the conqueror of Sinde con- 
 trived not only to instil into his subordinates a right 
 conception of the nature of the work he wished to be 
 performed, but to inspire them likewise with a portion 
 of his own spirit in the performing of it. His instru- 
 ments were rough and ready, but admirably adapted 
 for his purpose. He would have no expensive ma- 
 chinery, no men on large salaries signing their names 
 to work done by their subordinates. He chose rather 
 to select from the officers of the native regiments 
 which had aided him in his conquest, those who showed 
 the brightest promise ; and these he invested with the 
 powers necessary for the performance of civil duties. 
 It was an admirable' experiment — afterwards. partially 
 followed by Lord Dalhousie in the Punjib and Oudh 
 
 that it should be made lofty enough to allow of an elephant, with a 
 howdahonafiddllhis trappings, to go through ! Trhich condition "was 
 complied with. 
 
414 Slli BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 with striking success. In Sinde, superintended by 
 the still active and clear-headed governor, bent on 
 making the administration of his province successful, 
 its effect was wonderful. In four years the province, 
 which had ever been regarded as the most misgoverned 
 and oppressed of all the provinces of India, ranked 
 with the best governed and best administered of the 
 whole. This had been accomplished by the following 
 means. In the first place, Sir Charles Napier so dis- 
 tributed his troops as to maintain a firm military grasp 
 of the country, in order thus to prevent the possibility 
 of disturbance during the introduction of the new 
 system. His next care had been to establish an 
 efficient police. In this his eflForts were wonderfully 
 successful, and the Sinde police came to be regarded 
 as the model police for the whole country. He then 
 secured the adherence of the chiefs and large land- 
 owners by making absolute the security of their 
 estates. Not less careful for the lower classes, he 
 caused the assessments on the cultivators to be light- 
 ened, and eager to improve trade, he devised a system 
 whereby traders were exempted from imposts. Besides 
 all this he laid down the germs of an excellent canal 
 system, and settled the principles upon which a good 
 revenue and judicial system for the province should be 
 established. In fact it may be asserted, without any 
 disparagement to the successors of Sir Charles Napier, 
 that there are few great improvements which have 
 been introduced into Sinde up to the present day, of 
 
SIR BARTLE FEERE. 415 
 
 whlijh the idea did not originate with him. Those 
 successors have had the merit, and it is a great one, 
 of carrying out his ideas, but the germ of them will be 
 found in the conceptions of the first great administrator 
 of the province. 
 
 Few men probably held in greater admiration the 
 organising genius of Sir Charles Napier than did Mr. 
 Frere. He did justice to it, and he was prepared to 
 nurture to maturity the seedlings his predecessor had 
 planted. Of all the qualities which characterised the 
 new Chief-Commissioner not one was more striking 
 than his utter absence of self-love in his performance 
 of duty. Placing a great end before him, his only care 
 was to see that the end was properly arrived at. Thus 
 he was ever ready to listen to capable men, to receive 
 their suggestions, to weld, as it were, all the intellect 
 of the province into the Government machine. It 
 was one of the results of the policy of the conqueror of 
 Sinde, that the institutions which had suflSced for the 
 province in 1844 required further development in 1851. 
 To this end Mr. Frere applied all his powers. In 
 Upper Sinde, on the suggestion of General John 
 Jacobj who during the preceding five years had had 
 charge of the Sinde frontier, and was thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the capabilities of the ground, he en- 
 larged the Bigarree Canal. But before recommending 
 the scheme for adoption he visited the part of the 
 country for which the improvement was destined, and 
 saw that to carry it out, to deepen and widen the 
 
416 Sm BARTLE FREME. 
 
 canal, could not fail to benefit the people, to give them 
 the means of fertilising their fields, and thus to make 
 them to a great extent independent of the seasons. It 
 was his policy to encourage great works which might 
 be useful to the people and remunerative to the Govern- 
 ment. The roads of the province, the harbour of 
 Kurrachee, and ultimately railroads, received at his 
 hands the most prompt attention. The harbour of 
 Kurrachee, as it now is, was mainly his own work ; 
 for though Sir Charles Napier had marked the spot 
 as one which was destined to become the outlet of the 
 Punjaub, it was left to Mr. Frere to carry out the 
 design, to make a harbour sufficiently capacious to 
 receive large ships, and to place the steam navigation 
 of the Indus on a thoroughly efficient footing. 
 
 The policy pursued on the frontier may be described 
 in one word — it was a policy of justice. If the 
 Beloochees attacked a village in our territories, com- 
 mitting murder and lifting cattle, it was not con- 
 sidered expedient to adopt the Franco- Algerian system 
 of burning, in revenge, unoffending villages on their 
 side. The retribution demanded was simply the 
 punishment of the malefactors — of the men who had 
 committed the outrage. The result of this policy has 
 been that the popular sympathies, which were formerly 
 entirely against the law, have completely changed to 
 agreement with the law ; and this not only in the case of 
 important national matters, but likewise of family 
 hereditary blood feuds — not only within the border, but 
 beyond it. 
 
SIB SARTLE FRERK 417 
 
 The effects of his efficient administration were quickly 
 manifest. The trade of Kurrachee increased greatly ; 
 European merchants came to settle there. To the 
 people prosperity was assured by the fixing of a regular 
 settlement on the plan which had given so much satis- 
 faction in the Dekkan, viz. by reserving to them pro- 
 prietary rights and fixity of tenure. The population, 
 almost entirely Mohammedan, and numbering upwards 
 of two millions, expressed their satisfaction with our 
 rule, and Sinde figured as one of the thriving provinces 
 of the Empire. 
 
 But an unlooked-for event was about to test "these 
 appearances. In the early part of 1856 Mr. Frere 
 paid his second visit to England, this time on account 
 of his health. During that absence Lord Canning had 
 succeeded Lord Dalhousie as Governor-General, and 
 the little Persian war had broken out and been brought 
 to a conclusion. On his return in March 1857, Mr. 
 Frere found another danger looming in the future. He 
 heard everywhere of the strange excitement which 
 pervaded the minds of the sepoys generally, especially 
 those of Bengal, on the subject of greased cartridges. 
 As many of the Bombay native regiments received 
 recruits from the province of Oudh, the necessity of 
 maintaining a careful watch over the conduct of the 
 men of the native army had already presented itself to 
 the authorities in Bombay. Still, up to the time of 
 Mr. Frere's return, in March 1857, no overt act of 
 mutiny had been committed, nor indeed had anything 
 
 E £ 
 
418 SIS BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 transpired to indicate that any such act was in con- 
 templation. The air, however, was charged with 
 rumours, and it was evident, that, in Lower Bengal 
 especially, mistrust ruled powerfully in the native mind. 
 When Mr. Frere left Bombay to return to his charge 
 in the beginning of May, the surface, however, still 
 remained unbroken. 
 
 Scarcely, however, had he set foot in Kurrachee, 
 when he received a telegram conveying an account of 
 the revolt of May 10, at Meerut. Mr. Frere at once 
 comprehended the magnitude of the crisis. He, at 
 least, did not regard the emotions called forth by this 
 glaring act of mutiny ' as a passing and groundless 
 panic' He realised, at a glance, the fact that a crisis 
 had arrived which would test to the utmost the re- 
 sources of the Empire. What then did he do ? Taking 
 a rapid survey of the position all over India, he saw 
 that the fate of the country must depend upon the 
 attitude of the Punjaub. Should the warlike inhabit- 
 ants of that province declare against the British, it 
 seemed to him that all the North-western provinces of 
 India must be lost. Reasoning thus, he asked himself 
 how he, as Commissioner of Sinde could best aid in 
 j^reventing such a catastrophe. He had with him two 
 weak European regiments — one of them little more 
 than half its normal strength — a troop of horse artillery, 
 four native regiments, two battalions of native ar- 
 tillery, the Sinde Horse, and the mutinous 6th Bengal 
 Cavalry. With such a force, composed of such 
 diverse materials, the question he had to decide was 
 
silt BARTLE FEERE. 419 
 
 this. Supposing that the mutiny at Meerut should 
 merge into a general uprising of the entire popu- 
 lation, how could he, having only the two Euro- 
 pean regiments, the horse artillery, and the Sinde 
 Horse to depend upon, effectually overawe the native 
 regiments, keep in subjection the two millions of 
 Mohammedans, and yet serve the general interests 
 of British India? Mr. Frere solved this difficult 
 question in a manner in which few, in that day, would 
 have dared to meet it. Only a few hours after the 
 receipt of the telegram, announcing the revolt at 
 Meerut, Mr. Frere, acting upon his own responsibility, 
 without awaiting a reply from the Government of 
 Bombay — for even an hour's delay might have had 
 fatal results — ordered off his strongest regiment, the 
 Bombay Fusileers, to Mooltan ! As for the popu- 
 lation, Mohammedans though they were, he, in his own 
 fearless way, dared to trust them : the weak regiment 
 it was necessary to keep, to act in case of a rise of the 
 sepoys or to guard the frontier. 
 
 Of all the acts of Mr. Frere's official life, not one 
 shows more strongly the firmness and strength of his 
 character than this despatch of his only strong Euro- 
 pean regiment to the Punjaub. Endowed by nature 
 with a gentle disposition, and a most coui-teous and 
 winning manner, no man can be more daring, more 
 determined, than he. As for responsibility and routine 
 when they might interfere with the carrying out of 
 the line of action he might deem essential to the 
 
 ■ B 2 
 
420 Slli BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 public good, he knows not what they mean. In the 
 case we have cited we see, too, a remarkable example 
 of his adherence to his most cherished maxim, that the 
 best thing should be done in the best way, without 
 thought or care of self. An ordinary man would have 
 thought he had done well, if, with the means at his dis- 
 posal, he could save his own province. Even an average 
 man would have considered it necessary to obtain the 
 sanction of the Bombay Government before he denuded 
 his province of Europeans. But Mr. Frere knew 
 that no one could so accurately judge his own position 
 as himself. He knew that the Bombay Government, 
 with the cares of other provinces on its shoulders, 
 would be inundated with telegrams. He was re- 
 sponsible for the safety of his province, and he assumed 
 the responsibility of risking that safety to aid in the 
 preservation of the Empire. Mool tan, garrisoned mainly 
 by native troops, was one of the keys of India. Mr. 
 Frere risked Sinde to secure that key, and he suc- 
 ceeded. The corps he sent from his own province 
 held Mooltan, and Ferozepore, during the worst days of 
 the revolt. The whole history of the mutiny does not 
 record a deed of more sublime self-denial. 
 
 Under such circumstances, indeed, boldness is syno- 
 nymous with success. Though he did risk his pro- 
 vince to aid in saving the Empire, he did not lose his 
 province. Though, in the course of the autumn, 
 outbreaks did occur at the three larger stations in 
 Sinde, they were suppressed on the spot, >vithout 
 
SIB BAETLE FSERE. 421 
 
 external aid. The military police, established by Sir 
 C. Napier, behaved on every occasion with tried 
 fidelity and zeal. Not a mutineer escaped capture. 
 Nor, in their trial, was the law, as it existed before 
 the mutiny, in a single instance altered or strained. 
 The mutineers were tried by regular courts, composed 
 entirely of native officers, and full justice was meted 
 out to them without any extraordinary measures of 
 severity. 
 
 These revolts having been suppressed, even in- 
 deed whilst they were being suppressed, the whole 
 resources of Sinde were placed at the disposal of the 
 Empire. Additional European troops were despatched 
 to the Southern Mahratta country, and the 1st Be- 
 loochee regiment to the Punjaub.* But not only her 
 troops, but her rivers, her canals, her deserts even, were 
 made available for the general purpose. In a word, 
 there was an infusion of self-denial throughout all the 
 departments of the province. 
 
 These services were recognised in England. In 
 18^8, Mr. Frere received the thanks of both Houses 
 of Parliament for his services in Sinde. The proposal 
 of these thanks in the House of Lords was accompanied 
 by a circumstance which could not fall to be gratifying 
 to him. The proposer of the vote. Lord Panmure, 
 
 * When the 1st Beloochees -were sent away from Kurrachee, Mr. Frere 
 wrote to Lord Elphinstone that ' when the head and heart were threat- 
 ened,' the extremities must take care of themselves.' He sent them otf, 
 though, had he looked to his own interests only, he would have been 
 only too glad to keep them at Kurrachee. 
 
422 SIR BAMTLE FRERB. 
 
 was naturally but little acquainted with the details of 
 Mr. Frere's services of twenty-four years, and he made 
 therefore but a cursory allusion to them. It was then 
 that Lord Falkland, a nobleman who seldom took a 
 part in debate, rose in his place, and bore testimony to 
 the value of the services he had known and appreci- 
 ated. It was the best of all testimonies, the testimony 
 of the heart. In the following year, Mr. Frere was 
 nominated a Civil Knight Commander of the Bath, 
 and, on this occasion, the Prime Minister, the late 
 Earl of Derby, moved a second vote of thanks to the 
 recipient of the honour in his warmest manner and 
 his happiest style. 
 
 In 1859, Sir Bartle Frere was nominated a member 
 of the Supreme Council of India. He at once left 
 Sinde, and reached Calcutta during the winter of 
 1859-60. It is a very remarkable fact — a fact that 
 cannot have failed to impress itself on those who have 
 watched his career — that Sir Bartle Frere has always 
 taken up a new appointment at a critical period. It 
 was so at the time of the settlement of the Dekkan ; it 
 was so when he was nominated Secretary to Sir George 
 Arthur ; it was so when he was sent to Sattara ; 
 scarcely less so when promoted to Sinde ; much more 
 so when he returned to that province in 1857. His 
 nomination to the Supreme Council formed no ex- 
 ception to the rule. Probably never since the mutiny 
 had affairs in Calcutta worn so critical an aspect as 
 that by which they were marked in 1859-60, and 
 
Sm BAETLE FUEHE. 423 
 
 during the two years that followed. Sir Bartle Frere 
 arrived in Calcutta to find the imperial finances in 
 terrible disorder, showing an annual deficit of three 
 millions, and the ruling powers hopelessly at sea as to 
 the best mode of meeting it; he found the military 
 expenditure greater by one-half than it had been before 
 the mutiny, and still increasing ; he found the three 
 communities — the official, the European non-official, 
 and the native — all on the worst terms one with the 
 other, divided on all important questions, and especially 
 so on the subject of the financial difficulty ; he found 
 Lord Canning at the height of his unpopularity, de- 
 nounced by the organs of local European opinion as 
 the real author of the deficit ; he found the army in as 
 bad a state as it well could be, the European portion 
 of the Company's troops dissatisfied, and the native 
 portion in a state of semi-disorganisation. In a word, 
 at the time of his arrival, India was in the worst 
 throes of a crisis. The mutiny had been put down, 
 but chaos had supervened. 
 
 We regret that our space will not permit us to do 
 more than give a general view of the line of conduct 
 adopted by Sir Bartle Frere at this conjuncture. But, 
 indeed, the general view is all that is necessary to 
 make us thoroughly understand and appreciate the 
 character of the man. In fact, in such a crisis as 
 that which we have noted, with all the elements of 
 society in disorder, a noble character constitutes a 
 greater power than ability, however eminent, based 
 
424 Slli BARTLE FREBi:. 
 
 upon ideas which are neither great nor loftj. A 
 mere member of the Supreme Council, however able he 
 might have been, could of himself have effected little. 
 The pivot upon which the government machine moved 
 was the Viceroy. Now, mere abilities were not suffi- 
 cient to win Lord Canning. He had seen undoubted 
 talent collapse under difficult circumstances. But 
 that which abilities could not do, character did eifect. 
 Sir Bartle Frere had not been long in Calcutta, as 
 the colleague in Council of the Viceroy, before he 
 became his most trusted counsellor; consulted upon 
 every point ; and his advice alway cherished. From 
 that time to the date of Lord Canning's departure 
 from India in 1862, he occupied this position. Lord 
 Canning's was a very trusting character. There was 
 something about him noble and chivalrous to an extent 
 in these days rarely witnessed. No one more than 
 he appreciated a gentleman. If there was one fault 
 in a man he could not forgive it was meanness, or, to 
 speak more correctly, the smallest divergence from 
 the narrow footpath of honour. Open opposition, 
 when he believed it to be based upon sincere motives, 
 he cared not for: he even appreciated the sincerity 
 that prompted it. The writer has personal knowledge 
 of this, for he, too, during the mutiny, attacked Lord 
 Canning's Government in a pamphlet, which, had it 
 been published in Prussia, would have procured for 
 him confinement for life in Spandau, but which, 
 written as it was in sincerity and good faith, with the 
 
sin BARTLE FRERK 425 
 
 sole view of rousing the attention of the Home 
 authorities to, what the writer considered, the laxity of 
 the system pursued in the crisis of the mutiny, drew 
 from Lord Canning no expression of displeasure. On 
 the contrary, it caused him to watch the career of the 
 writer, to test him in difficult employments, and, 
 finally, when satisfied that public spirit alone had 
 prompted his action, to accompany the advice which 
 he gave him with the kindest expressions of his con- 
 fidence. Such was the man with whom Sir Bartle 
 Frere was associated in the government of India from 
 1859 to 19,092,. 
 
 The measures adopted to raise India from the slough 
 of despond in which she had sunk to an apparently 
 hopeless extent may thus be briefly noted. First as 
 to finance. Two months before Sir Bartle Frere arrived 
 i^ Calcutta, Mr. James Wilson had landed in India 
 with the avowed intention of evolving order out of 
 chaos. In the process of time he stated his plans. 
 From some high officials in India these plans met with 
 the most determined opposition. But Sir Bartle Frere 
 from the first gave Mr. Wilson a hearty and loyal 
 support ; not indeed, as he said, that his schemes were 
 not free from difficulty and even risk, but because he 
 considered that difficulty and that risk ' as nothing com- 
 j)ared with the certain ruin of drifting into bankruptcy 
 by remaining as we arc.' In his speeches on the occa- 
 sion of the introduction of this measure he took upon 
 himself his full share of the responsibility attending it ; 
 
426 &IR BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 and it may be safely affirmed that by his example and 
 expressed confidence-i— Lord Canning at the time being 
 absent from Calcutta — he conciliated, in favour of Mr. 
 Wilson's scheme, many who would otherwise have 
 opposed it. His difficulties were greatly increased by 
 the fact that the Governor of Madras protested openly 
 against the measure. But, on the other hand, the 
 Governor of Bombay, Sir George Clerk, though he 
 regarded the imposition of an income tax as unneces- 
 sary, gave it, when it had been decided upon, his most 
 loyal support. Still, it required the presence in Coun- 
 cil of a man of tact and determination, ready to sacri- 
 fice himself, in case of need, to the public service, to 
 carry the bill through. 
 
 In the autumn of 1860 the lamented death of Mr. 
 Wilson cast upon Sir Bartle Frere for a time the duties 
 of the financial department. In this capacity he had to 
 superintend the reform of the military expenditure, 
 entrusted to a commission the soul of which was Sir 
 George Balfour. The nature of the services of this 
 commission may be best attested by the fact, that they 
 resulted in an annual saving of three millions, whilst its 
 members, and especially its president. General Balfour, 
 received from Lord Caiming, and afterwards from Lord 
 Elgin, the warmest commendations. To the commission 
 Sir Bartle Frere gave his undeviating support, and 
 it may be said that he was its firmest prop. The 
 difficulties it had to encounter can scarcely be over- 
 stated. 
 
SIR BARTLE FRERE. 427 
 
 To Mr. Laing, Mr. Wilson's successor, Sir Bartle 
 Frere accorded likewise his cordial support. And when, 
 after holding office for six months, that gentleman was 
 forced by ill-health to return to England, Sir Bartle 
 Frere resumed the vacated position, and contributed by 
 his tact and energy to pass into law those remedial 
 measures which, inaugurated originally by Mr. Laing, 
 restored an equilibrium to the Indian exchequer. 
 
 But perhaps the practical turn of Sir Bartle Frere's 
 mind was best evidenced in the attempts which he made 
 to smooth away the differences existing between the 
 various classes of the community in Bengal. There 
 can be no question now that those differences arose 
 partly from the view entertained by one section of the 
 community, that its members were, as a race, superior 
 to those of the other section ; and that, under no circum- 
 stances, should the members of the superior race be 
 insulted by having to submit to the jurisdiction of the 
 inferior, and partly from the high-handed proceedings 
 of the local governments with respect to those whom 
 they regarded as aggressors on the rights of the natives. 
 Now, it was a very strong axiom with Sir Bartle Frere, 
 that all men were equal before the law. He held a 
 very decided conviction that a man was entitled to 
 honour, not on account of his colour, his purse, or his 
 caste, but solely with reference to the mode in which 
 he might discharge the duties devolving upon him as a 
 member of society or as a public servant. But in a 
 period of excited national feeling it was difficult to 
 
428 SIS BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 enforce such views. He did not, however, the less man- 
 fully assert them. His house, during the whole of his 
 residence in Calcutta, was the neutral ground where the 
 representatives of both parties could meet. To no one 
 was admittance denied. Here, listening to all patiently, 
 he formed his own opinion deliberately, and to that 
 opinion, whatever it might be, he gave utterance in the 
 Council of India. It has often been observed that, in 
 the long run. Englishmen are not unjust. The truth of 
 this axiom was exemplified in the instance of Sir Bartle 
 Frere. His impartiality, the breadth of his views, his 
 earnestness, his love of truth for its own sake, speedily 
 made their way. Gradually he acquired the confidence 
 of all parties, and, that confidence once gained, it was 
 comparatively easy to mitigate the extreme feeling on 
 either side, and to inspire a belief in the impartiality 
 and love of justice characterising the proceedings, 
 relative to the many points in dispute, of the Govern- 
 ment of India. 
 
 The question of the reform of the army was not 
 one of those with which it devolved upon Sir Bartle 
 Frere to deal. To Lord Strathnairn, the Commander- 
 in-chief, he gave, however, his fullest support in the 
 measures which he adopted to root out the e^'il spirit 
 to which we have adverted, and which was seething 
 when he assumed command of the army. In the great 
 question of the amalgamation of the Indian army with 
 the British, Sir B. Frere's voice was always raised to 
 ensure that a measure so unexpected and so novel 
 
Sm BARTLE FRERK 429 
 
 should be carried out with the least possible injury to 
 the interests of the officers concerned. 
 
 Of the later measures of Lord Canning's adminis- 
 tration — those, for instance, which opened out waste 
 lands to the settler, which encouraged the irrigation 
 of lands, and which tended to the encouragement of 
 self-government in the minor Presidencies, — Sir Bartle 
 Frere was the constant supporter. We boldly assert 
 that to him is it mainly due that the feeling with re- 
 gard to Lord Canning changed during the last two 
 years of his reign from dislike to veneration. The 
 truth is that Sir Bartle Frere was never on the stilts. 
 He was absolutely free from the pride of office, or the 
 vanity of selfish ambition. He never thought of him- 
 self. With the idea before him of bringing about the 
 best results, no matter from whom the advice or the 
 idea might emanate, he could not imagine that he was 
 derogating from his high position when he asked the 
 opinion of non-official men regarding matters which 
 constituted to them the business of their lives. He felt 
 that there was good in all men, and in all genuine ideas 
 of men, and that nothing was so likely to promote the 
 public benefit than to induce men of different opinions 
 to explain their views fairly and openly to one another. 
 These convictions acted upon by Lord Canning ac- 
 count for the marked and decided reaction of Indian 
 public opinion in his favour during the two last years 
 of his reign. 
 
 In the month of March 1862, Lord Canning was 
 
430 SIS SARTLE FEERE. 
 
 succeeded as Viceroy by the Earl of Elgin. Lord 
 Canning had scarcely left before Sir Bartle Frere was 
 appointed to succeed Sir George Clerk as Governor of 
 Bombay. The accompanying extracts froni Canning's 
 letters with reference to that high office cannot fail 
 to be interesting, inasmuch as they express the real 
 sentiments of the man with whom he had been for 
 more than two years associated in the government of 
 India, who had been deeply impressed by his views, 
 and who felt for him a deep regard near akin to that 
 which had united the father of the one and the uncle 
 of the other- — George Canning and Hookham Frere 
 — in the early days of the century. 
 
 Lord Canning, on the 6th of April, 1862, wrote thus, 
 whilst on his homeward voyage : — ' I have barely 
 time for one line, but it must be written. I have 
 just seen in the Overland Mail your appointment 
 to Bombay. ... I do not know when I have 
 i-ead anything with such unmixed pleasure. It has 
 given me a fillip, and a new start in the- interest for 
 India which I carry away with me. God grant you 
 health and strength to do your work in your own 
 noble spirit.' 
 
 In the same sympathising spirit he wrote his last 
 letter from Alexandria : — ' I did not say half of what 
 was ia my mind when I wrote from Aden. I do hope 
 that now that you have got the chief burden to bear 
 on your own shoulders, you will take more care of 
 yourself, and not run risks from overwork. It will be 
 
SIS BARTLE FRERE. \ 431 
 
 inexcusable if, with the help of Poona and Maha- 
 bleshwur, you do not so husband yourself as to be able 
 to work out your full line of usefulness. I wish Lady 
 Frere had overtaken me (as she threatened to do). I 
 should so like to congratulate her.' This was his last 
 letter. We will not weaken the effects of the parting 
 words of that noble spirit by any comments of our 
 own. 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere was now Governor of Bombay. 
 To recount in full detail the history of his adminis- 
 tration of that Presidency would require a paper 
 devoted solely to that subject. A few of its salient 
 acts may, however, be referred to. 
 
 The first we would notice is Education. To en- 
 courage this Sir Bartle Frere devoted all the energies 
 of his mind. He did a great deal, but we are bound 
 to add that he could not have accomplished one-half of 
 that which he did accomplish but for the warm interest 
 Lady Frere also took in the subject. Following the 
 example of her mother, who had been the first lady occu- 
 pying the position of wife of the Governor who showed 
 a deep interest in the education of native ladies, Lady 
 Frere devoted herself to the cause with all the ardour of 
 her nature. The times in which she lived enabled her 
 to do more than Lady Arthur had been able to effect. 
 To her example and exertions may be attributed the 
 great advance made during her husband's five gears' 
 rule, in the civilisation and education of the female 
 community of Bombay. She it was who first opened 
 
432 SIR BARTLE FMERE. 
 
 the doors of Government House to the female relatives 
 of the Parsees and other native gentlemen of the Presi- 
 dency. She it was who visited them in their own houses, 
 endeavouring to convince them of the advantages which 
 must accrue from the adoption of a more liberal 
 training. Nor were her labours fruitless. In respect 
 of female education Bombay is greatly in advance of 
 the other Presidencies of India. 
 
 Amongst other great works undertaken by Sir Bartle 
 Frere we may mention the building of the Dekkan 
 College, the Poona Engineering College, the Elpliin- 
 stone College, and the Sassoon College ; during his 
 tenure of office the Bhore Gh^t, the TuU Ghat Incline, 
 and the Ahmedabad railways were opened, the ram- 
 parts surrounding Bombay were pulled down, and a 
 municipality was organised. 
 
 The establishment of the municipality in the year 
 1865 was the commencement of a new era for Bombay. 
 It became the means of reducing the annual mortality 
 from an average of 35-04 per .thousand, in 1864, to an 
 average of 19"20 per thousand, in 1868. 
 
 The census taken in the year 1865 gave extraordi- 
 nary results regarding the population of Bombay. It 
 established that in point of population Bombay was 
 the second city in the British Empire, ranking next to 
 London, and being equal to two Manchesters. It 
 was shown that in its most crowded parts the people 
 were four times as crowded as in the most crowded 
 parts of London ; that in whole districts of the town 
 
SIS bahtle frere. 433 
 
 no children were reared, owing to epidemics consequent 
 upon overcrowding and want of air. It was in con- 
 sequence of these discoveries that the municipality was 
 established. Its working has been, as we have seen, 
 most beneficial to sanitation. According to the latest 
 returns, Bombay is the most healthy city, next to Dub- 
 lin, in the British Empire. 
 
 It was the fate of Sir Bartle Frere that in his govern- 
 ment of Bombay, as in his other scenes of action, he 
 was destined to meet a crisis. But this time it was 
 a crisis caused by the overtrading and overspeculation 
 of the commercial community — a crisis, the effects of 
 which he was as powerless to prevent as to mitigate. 
 Had the American war lasted but one year longer, it 
 is not improbable that the commercial prosperity of 
 Bombay would have been placed upon a durable basis. 
 But it was not to be. Even before the crisis came. Sir 
 Bartle Frere had done all in his power to remedy the 
 evils arising from the worst features of speculation. He 
 passed the Cotton Frauds' Act and the Time Bar- 
 gains' Bill, both strongly opposed by a portion of the 
 mercantile and official community — yet both alike re- 
 quired to prevent the further spread of a great scandal 
 — and as early as the 16th November, 1864, he issued 
 a Government notification, warning officers of Govern- 
 ment against share speculations. The panic and the 
 crash did come in 1866; but such things have come 
 under all governments and in all parts of the world, 
 
 r F 
 
434 SIR BAHTLE FRERE. 
 
 and for their coming no sane man has ever yet held 
 a government responsible. 
 
 But Sir Bartle Frere was Governor of Bombay to 
 govern the natives of that Presidency ; and we boldly 
 affirm that none of his predecessors understood natives 
 better, and not one was more appreciated by them. 
 
 It was his great object to legislate in their interest ; 
 to open out to them legitimate paths of ambition, and 
 thus to wean them from the intrigues in which their 
 forefathers indulged, and in which an openhanded 
 policy of confiscation had tended to confirm them. 
 We recollect well meeting a few months ago one of 
 the ablest natives in the country, one of those who 
 had been decorated by Lord Canning for his eminent 
 services in the mutiny. The first question, after the 
 usual greetings, asked by this gentleman was after 
 Sir Bartle Frere. This having been replied to, he 
 expressed his regret that India was about to lose one 
 who had shown so well his capacity to govern her 
 children, and who, he said, in the most critical period 
 subsequent to the suppression of the mutiny, had 
 proved himself ' the right hand of Lord Canning.' 
 
 In addition to the other qualities we have mentioned. 
 Sir Bartle Frere possesses that of being a pleasing 
 and impressive public speaker, and an admirable de- 
 bater. He could take a native audience by storm, nor 
 was he less effective when, almost unsupported, he 
 pleaded in Calcutta for the government measures, in 
 opposition to the tried eloquence of the judges of the 
 
Sm BARTLE FRBRE. 435 
 
 Supreme Court. "We have heard it stated against 
 him that he oftener promises than performs. But we 
 do not hesitate to say that this charge is based solely 
 upon the hope that rises irrepressible in the breast of 
 the Indian officer. Possessing a warm heart and a man- 
 ner that always charms. Sir Bartle Frere is, no doubt, 
 always unwUling to wound the feelings of those who 
 apply to him for appointments. In numberless cases 
 the applicant has mistaken the kindness that would 
 soften the abruptness of a refusal into a sort of con- 
 sent, and has loudly expressed his anger when he has 
 found his expectations' unfulfilled. It is very difficult 
 indeed to deal with such gentlemen. A distinguished 
 official once remarked to us: 'If you are civil to 
 applicants, and yet give them nothing, they call you 
 insincere ; if you are plain and downright, they stigma- 
 tise you as a bear.' 
 
 Very imperfectly have we given this sketch of the 
 career of one of our foremost Indian Statesmen ; pro- 
 bably, taken altogether, the ablest man that ever 
 came to India in the civil service. It is curious that, 
 great as has been his success in India, it is in the 
 ranks of his own service alone that the greatness of 
 the qualities that led to it is not fuUy admitted. The 
 fact is, that men trained in the Indian groove, and 
 ■v^ho have not risen above the prejudices of their train- 
 ing, are unable to appreciate that union of qualities 
 which enables a man to sympathise at one and the 
 same time with the native and the settler, and to gain 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 SIS BARTLE FREEE. 
 
 golden opinions from both. The great principle of 
 one law for all, independently of caste or creed, has 
 been the guiding-star of Sir Bartle Frere in his varied 
 employments, and from this straight and narrow path 
 he has never swerved a single inch. To encourage 
 commerce to the utmost, yet to enforce the same 
 justice on the two great classes of Her Majesty's 
 subjects in India ; to foster private enterprise, and yet 
 to see that the rights of the children of the soil were 
 scrupulously maintained, have been objects of which 
 he has never lost sight. The result is shown in the 
 universal esteem and affection with which he is re- 
 garded in India. 
 
 His career even up to the point which it has at 
 present reached will no doubt act as an incentive to 
 many to go and do likewise. It is something to have 
 accomplished, that thus starting in India without a 
 friend, he should have gained the entire confidence oi 
 180,000,000 of natives, and the warm affection of his 
 own countrymen ; that he should have filled some of the 
 most important offices in India, stopping short only ot 
 the highest. Whether he is destined to exercise once 
 again a prominent influence on the affairs of the great 
 country of Hindustan, this at least is certain, that his 
 name will ever be linked with the history of the period 
 of the lowest depression of British fortunes, and with 
 the measures that tended to re-establish them in that 
 country, and that the children and children's children 
 of the present generation will learn to bless the name 
 
SIM BAHTLE FRERE. 437 
 
 of him who, for the thirty-three years he was with 
 them, showed himself emphatically one of them, whose 
 heart ever sympathised with distress, whose natural 
 characteristic it has always been to judge his fellow- 
 men — not by their birth, their fortune, or their patents 
 of nobility, but by the spirit which animates them 
 in their pursuits — by the earnestness, the energy, the 
 fidelity, they bring to bear in the performance of their 
 duties. 
 
438 
 
 DYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 
 
 When the French settlements in Bengal were broken 
 up by the capture of Chandernagore in 1757, the mem- 
 bers of the French detachments scattered over the pro- 
 vince found themselves under the necessity of either sur- 
 rendering to the English, or of entering the service of 
 the princes of the country. Amongst those who fol- 
 lowed the latter course was the serJeant of a detach- 
 ment stationed at Dacca. The real name of this man 
 was Walter Eeinhard. He was a native of Strasbourg, 
 a carpenter by trade, and had come out to India in 
 that capacity in 1754-5. His first station had been 
 Chandernagore. Almost immediately after his arrival 
 there he changed his profession of carpenter for that 
 of soldier, by entering the military service of the 
 Company of the Indies. Being a man of some mark, 
 he speedily rose to the grade of serjeant. From his 
 gloomy disposition and frowning features he soon 
 received from his comrades the nickname ' Sombre.' 
 The epithet stuck to him, and, after his entry into the 
 service of the native princes, he was never known by 
 any other. 
 
 It would not appear that for the two or three years 
 
DYCJE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 439 
 
 follo-wing the adoption of this course Sombre rose 
 above a very humble grade. He seems to have 
 wandered from one petty prince to another, changing 
 service without much profit to himself. In the year 
 1760 he found himself, in this way, in the employ of 
 the Nawab of 'Pumea, in an inferior position, and, 
 apparently, with no prospects before him. But there 
 then occurred one of those crises which make oppor- 
 tunities for adventurers. On July 2 of that year, 
 Meerun, the son of Meer JafBer, Nawab Nazim of 
 Bengal, was struck dead by lightning when in pursuit 
 of Sombre's master, the Nawab of Pumea. The death 
 of this prince rendered it necessary to select another 
 heir for the debauched and incapable Meer Jaffier ; 
 and, after many intrigues, his son-in-law, Meer Kassim, 
 was nominated to that important office. But this 
 selection, far from satisfying the ambition of Meer 
 Kassim, instigated him to new schemes of self-interest. 
 Having been permitted to proceed to Calcutta, for the 
 avowed purpose of arranging with the Council regard- 
 ing the payment of sums said to be due to the Anglo- 
 Indian Government, he seized the opportunity to treat 
 for the deposition of Meer Jaffier, and the immediate 
 transfer to himself of supreme power. He found the 
 members of the Council, bound as they were to Meer 
 Jaffier by the most solemn engagements, extremely 
 impressionable to his silvered arguments. It was 
 speedily arranged that in return for the cession to the 
 East India Company of the districts of Midnapore, 
 
440 DYCE aOMBRE'S ANCESTOR. 
 
 Burdwan, and Chittagong, and for a present to the 
 members of Council of twenty lakhs of rupees, to be 
 paid on the occasion of the investiture of himself, or 
 shortly afterwards, a pretext should be assigned for 
 deposing Meer JafEer, and for transferring the govern- 
 ment of the province to Meer Kassim. ' In accordance 
 with this plan, Meer Jaffier was worked upon to resign, 
 and upon his yielding to pressure, Meer Kassim was 
 nominated Nawab Nazim of Bengal. 
 
 But the new ruler was a man of far shrewder cha- 
 racter and of a more resolute nature than his father- 
 in-law. To great energy, very considerable ability, 
 and an indefatigable industry, he joined a cold, vin- 
 dictive, unscrupulous disposition, utterly careless of 
 the means, so long only as he could obtain his end. 
 He disliked the English with all the intensity of bitter 
 and brooding hatred. He had good reason. He had 
 bought his sovereignty from them at their own price ; 
 and although, to pay them the bribe which alone had 
 induced them to acquiesce in his elevation, he had 
 exhausted all his resources in the way of raising money, 
 he still found himself unceasingly subjected to the 
 irritating pressure caused by the interference in his 
 administration of the agents of the Company, and by 
 the right they assumed to dictate to him on every 
 occasion the line of policy he must adopt. Meer 
 Kassim had seen the evil effects of this interference in 
 the time of Meer Jaffier, and he determined to leave 
 no stone unturned to put an end to all pretext for it in 
 
DYCE SUMBRE'S ANCESTOR. 441 
 
 the time to come. To be farther from the English — 
 to be distant alike from their espionage and their in- 
 terference — he removed the seat of his government 
 from Moorshedabad to Monghyr. Here, after having 
 paid off all his obligations to the Company, he began 
 to form a standing army. He had witnessed the ad- 
 vantages derivable from European discipline, and he 
 well knew that, without it, no native army would 
 stand for a moment against the English. He, there- 
 fore, sought out European adventurers, particularly 
 Frenchmen and other foreigners, of whose dislike to 
 the English he had knowledge. He invested these 
 persons with high rank in his army, and gave them a 
 recognised position at his court. Many wandering 
 outcasts, eager for service and adventure, flocked to 
 his standard, and amongst them came the Alsatian, 
 Reinhard, under his then universally recognised name 
 of Sombre, or Sumroo. Sombre soon attracted the 
 attention of the Nawab by his assiduity and perse- 
 verance, and by the care he took to place the troops 
 under his charge on an effective footing. He was, in 
 consequence, soon appointed to the command of a 
 separate brigade. 
 
 Pursuing steadily the course he had marked to 
 himself, Meer Kassim had, by the end of the year 
 1762, established his revenue system on a profitable 
 basis, had set up a large foundry for casting cannon, 
 and had trained and armed in the European fashion a 
 force of 25,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, and a corps 
 
442 LYCE SOMBRE' 8 ANCESTOR. 
 
 of excellent artillery. But it was at this time that the 
 great cupidity of the Company's agents induced them 
 to resort to measures of a most unjust and arbitrary 
 character towards Meer Kassim and his subjects. The 
 cheeks of every Englishman must tingle as he reads 
 the account of the policy adopted by the leading men 
 amongst his countrymen in India a century since. 
 The authorities of Calcutta, to enrich themselves, had 
 passed an enactment whereby goods destined for Euro- 
 peans descended the river free of transit duty, whilst 
 those imported by natives were heavily taxed. This 
 exemption acted most hardly on the people of the 
 country generally, and especially on that portion of it 
 governed by the Nawab. Such was the oppression 
 resulting from this shameful system that whole districts 
 were becoming impoverished, and the entire trade of 
 the country disorganised, whilst, as a natural conse- 
 quence, the revenues of the Nawab were steadily 
 diminishing. Under these circumstances, Meer Kassim, 
 anxious to preserve his independence, even to make 
 considerable sacrifices for that end, and at the same 
 time to prevent the entire undermining of his resources, 
 arranged an interview with Governor Vansittart. At 
 this interview he put forward the extremely moderate 
 proposition, that whilst the natives should pay twenty- 
 five per cent., the English should only pay nine, on all 
 goods passing his boundaries. Mr. Vansittart, satis- 
 fied that under this scale an immense advantage would 
 stiU accrue to the English, accepted it at once. But 
 
BTCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 443 
 
 the Council at Calcutta, more greedy of gain, refused 
 to ratify it, insisting that the trade carried on by the 
 Englisb should be subject to no duty whatever — the 
 article of salt alone excepted — and upon this they 
 expressed a willingness to pay a duty of two-and-a- 
 half per cent. The Nawab, naturally incensed at the 
 grasping nature of this demand, well aware likewise 
 that it would entail his utter and absolute ruin were he 
 to accede to it, replied by the legitimate exercise of 
 an act of sovereign power. He abolished all import 
 duties whatever, and established free trade through- 
 out his territories. 
 
 This bold and prudent measure — for even if judged 
 by the result, an immediate overthrow was preferable 
 to the lingering torture to which the policy of the Cal- 
 cutta Council would have subjected him — and perfectly 
 within the competence of the Nawab to order — ^roused 
 all the worst passions of the corrupt clique reigning in 
 Calcutta. For want of a better reason, they declared 
 that their own trade was affected by the new edict, and 
 that the Nawab possessed not the power to issue laws, 
 which though nominally applicable to his own terri- 
 tories, really affected their trade. They sent two of 
 their members, Messrs. Hay and Amyatt, to inform 
 the Nawab of their opinion on this point. Whilst 
 these gentlemen were with him at Monghyr, intelli- 
 gence reached the Nawab, that Mr. Ellis, a notoriously 
 violent servant of the Company, was making prepa- 
 rations to take possession of his city of Patna. Still 
 
444 DYCE SOMBRE' 8 ANCESTOR. 
 
 unwilling to have recourse to hostilities, and hoping so 
 to strengthen the garrison of Patna as to deter Mr. 
 Ellis from attacking it, as well as to retain possession 
 of a guarantee against a sudden and treacherous attack, 
 he at once ordered off a strong body of troops to Patna; 
 and, whilst detaining Mr. Hay as a hostage, requested 
 Mr. Amyatt to proceed to Calcutta to represent the 
 cruel position in which the measures of Mr. Ellis had 
 placed him. But before Mr. Amyatt could return to 
 Calcutta, matters had reached a crisis. Mr. Ellis, be- 
 lieving that Messrs. Hay and Amyatt had left Mon- 
 ghyr, and inferring, or seeming to infer, that their 
 departure left him free to act as he pleased, moved 
 against Patna on June 24, and attempted to surprise 
 the city, before the reinforcements sent by Meer Kas- 
 sim could reach it. He so far succeeded, that he ob- 
 tained possession of the town, with the exception of a 
 stone building within it and the citadel. Instead of 
 attempting these, he returned to his camp to breakfast, 
 whilst the Europeans dispersed to plunder. The 
 Nawab's troops meanwhile evacuated the remainder of 
 . the city, and retreated towards Monghyr. They had 
 not, however, marched more than a few miles, when 
 they met the reinforcements which had been sent by 
 the Nawab, headed by an Armenian in his service, 
 named Markar, who, hearing that two strong places 
 still held out, and that the English had dispersed to 
 drink and plunder, determined to attempt the recovery 
 of the city. He effected this with great gallantry. 
 
JOYCE SOMBBE'S ANCESTOB. 445 
 
 charging and capturing the English guns that were 
 posted at the gate of the town, scattering the panic- 
 stricken infantry, and pursuing them to their factory, 
 to which he laid siege. Mr. Ellis, finding it after a 
 few days untenable, abandoned it, and, crossing the 
 river, commenced a movement towards Chupra, hoping 
 to gain Oudh. But the Nawab had no sooner heard 
 of the recapture of Patna, than he despatched Sombre 
 with his brigade to Buxar to cut off the English 
 should they retreat from their factory, whilst Markar 
 should follow them. With an enemy thus in front and 
 rear, harassed by the rains which had just set in, the 
 case of the English detachment seemed hopeless. The 
 resources to which alone they might have trusted, those 
 of daring and energy, appear to have been con- 
 spicuously wanting. Their only hope of security lay 
 in making a daring onslaught on one of the divisions 
 of the enemy's army. But, instead of doing this, they 
 waited to be attacked. And although on this occasion 
 (July I, 1763), they displayed their wonted bravery 
 in the field, they were overpowered by numbers, and, 
 after having lost their commanding ofiScer, Colonel 
 Carstairs, and eight other officers, proposed to surren- 
 der. The offer was accepted, and they were conveyed 
 prisoners to Patna. 
 
 This brought matters to a crisis between the Nawab 
 and the English. The latter, who had been, it will be 
 recollected, bribed by Meer Kassim to consent to the 
 deposition of Meer Jaffier, now accepted other bribes 
 
446 BYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 
 
 from Meer Jaffier to consent to his reinstation at the 
 expense of Meer Kassim. As the ally of Meer Jaffier, 
 also, they bound themselves to expel his rival. It is 
 not necessary to give a full detail of the campaign. 
 Never did native troops fight better, or with a more 
 earnest desire to exterminate the foreigners, than on 
 this occasion. But, on July 17, Meer Kassim's army 
 was repulsed on the banks of the Adjee river by a 
 force under Lieut. Glenan, and, on the 19th, it was de- 
 feated, after a most obstinately contested battle at 
 Kutwah, by Major John Adams. Here the battle was 
 long doubtful, and for a considerable time seemed 
 to favour Meer Kassim. Victory indeed was in his 
 grasp, but the jealousy his native commandants had for 
 one another prevented that concert so necessary to 
 success, and enabled the English co*nmander to make 
 a movement that proved decisive. On the 24th, 
 Moorshedabad was occupied by Meer Jaffier, and, on 
 August 2, a decisive, and for a long time very doubt- 
 ful, battle was fought between the main armies of the 
 belligerents. In the beginning of this battle the 
 brigade commanded by Sombre occupied a prominent 
 position. It was, however, handled in a manner indi- 
 cating rather a desire to save the lives of the men com- 
 posing it than to destroy the enemy. Certainly, had 
 Sombre shown the same energy as a general which he 
 afterwards displayed as an assassin, the British power 
 in Bengal might have been temporarily extinguished on 
 the field of Gheriah. As it was, though occupying a 
 
DYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 447 
 
 prominent position, he forbore to make a movement, 
 which, when the left of the English had been broken, 
 would probably have decided the day. Instead of 
 this, he moved his brigade out of fire, and then used it 
 only to prevent the defeat from becoming a rout. It 
 may here be observed that, by his contemporaries. 
 Sombre was always described as a man whose object 
 was directed rather to save the lives of his troops than 
 to employ them so as to gain a battle. • He was 
 always,' wrote an English officer of that day, ' remark- 
 able for his excellent retreats. He made it a rule in 
 every action to draw out his men in a line, fire a few 
 shots, form a square, and retreat,' — a line of conduct 
 which made it easy for him to boast, as to the ■ end of 
 his life he was in the habit of doing, that he had never 
 lost a single gun. 
 
 After the victory of Gheriah, the English gradually 
 advanced along the course of the river. On August 1 1, 
 thanks to the treachery of a deserter, they succeeded 
 in driving the Nawab's army from a strong position 
 on the Oodwah Nullah ; and on October 1 they occu- 
 pied Monghyr. The fall of this last place seems to 
 have irritated Meer Kassim beyond all power of con- 
 trol, and, combined as it was with other misfortunes, 
 which, like that at Monghyr, he attributed to treachery, 
 to have determined him to take the terrible revenge of 
 slaughtering the prisoners held by him in Patna. He 
 accordingly issued orders for their massacre. But, to 
 their honour be it recorded, all his native generals 
 
448 BYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 
 
 refused to obey, observing that ' they were soldiers and 
 not assassins.' The Nawab did not conceal his rage. 
 At this moment Sombre offered his services. They 
 were gladly accepted, and to this European was en- 
 trusted the task of massacring his fellow-Europeans. 
 So, on October 5, Sombre, on the pretext of giving the 
 European prisoners an entertainment, sent to them for 
 the loan of their knives and forks. These were at 
 once given up. He then proceeded with two com- 
 panies of his brigade to the house in which they were 
 confined. Having surrounded this house, he sent fot 
 Messrs. Ellis, Hay, and Lushington. On their ap- 
 proach, accompanied by six other gentlemen, they 
 were, on an order from Sombre, cut to pieces, and 
 their bodies thrown into a well. The sepoys then 
 ascended to the roof of the house, which had a square 
 court in the centre, and poured down a concentrated 
 and continuous fire on the Europeans assembled there. 
 Those who escaped this fire took shelter in the inner 
 rooms. Here, however, they were attacked by the 
 sepoys left below. The English, arming themselves 
 with bottles, bricks, and pieces of furniture, defended 
 themselves with all the energy of despair. It is said 
 that the sepoys were so struck with their gallantry, that 
 they requested arms might be furnished them, as th^y 
 were soldiers and not executioners ; but that Sombre 
 struck down those who objected, and compelled the 
 others to continue their work until all were slain. 
 Captain Broome, from whose excellent history of the 
 
BYCE SOMBBE'S ANCESTOR. 449 
 
 Bengal army the account of tlie massacre has been 
 mainly taken, adds : ' Neither age nor sex were spared, 
 and Sombre consummated his diabolical villany by the 
 murder of Mr. Ellis's infant child.' Upwards of fifty 
 civil and military officers, and a hundred European 
 soldiers, perished on this occasion. One officer. Dr. 
 FuUarton, who had gained the esteem even of Meer 
 Kassim, had been withdrawn from the garrison the 
 previous day ; and four Serjeants who had been sent to 
 the Nawab in a boat overpowered the crew and escaped. 
 But of the occupants of the house at the tiine of the 
 assault not one was saved. 
 
 The massacre, which in one respect surpassed in 
 horror that of Cawnpore in 1857, in that the director 
 of it was a European, was the turning point in the 
 fortunes of Sombre. From that moment he could 
 expect but one fate from the English. Thenceforth 
 his life was a purgatory. He constantly carried about 
 with him poison, determined to die rather than fall 
 into the hands of those between whom and himself 
 there was a sea of blood. His action of October 5 
 drew him nearer, on the other hand, to the Nawab. 
 But the fortunes of the Nawab were now on the 
 wane, Patna was captured by the English on Novem- 
 ber 6, and Meer Kassim, accompanied by Sombre 
 and a respectable force of all arms, took refuge in 
 the territories of the Nawab Vizier of Oudh. 
 
 The Vizier, Shuja-ud-Dowla, one of the heroes 
 of Paniput, received Meer Kassim with great apparent 
 
 G G 
 
450 DYCE SOMBSE'S ANCESTOR. 
 
 cordiality. At an interview, held at Allahabad, lie 
 expressed his admiration of his troops, drawn up in 
 review order under Sombre, and gave him hopes of 
 espousing his cause. Meer Kassim was presented the 
 same day to the Emperor, Shah Aulum, who gave 
 him the same flattering assurances. But all this time, 
 and previously, the Emperor and the Vizier had been 
 in correspondence with the English and Meer Jaffier, 
 and had even congratulated them on their successes. 
 They had no fixed intention, therefore, of making 
 common cause with Meer Kassim. But so persuasive 
 were the arguments of the latter, so vividly did he 
 paint the ambition and unscrupulousness of the Euro- 
 pean invaders of their common country, that he suc- 
 ceeded in bringing over the Emperor and the Vizier 
 to his views, on the sole condition that" before they 
 openly declared against the English, he should, with 
 his own troops, bring the revolted Bundelas to sub- 
 jection. This, with his disciplined brigades, he easily 
 accomplished; and then a joint attack against the 
 English was organised. In the beginning of April 
 1764, the combined forces of the Emperor, the Vizier, 
 and Meer Kassim crossed the Ganges, and advanced 
 towards Patna. They arrived before this city on 
 May 2, and found the English and the troops of 
 Meer Jaffier, the whole commanded by Captain Carnac, 
 in a strong position covering it. The allies at once 
 determined to attack this position. Their plan was 
 weU conceived, and by a portion of their troops, the 
 
BTCE SOMBRE' 8 ANCESTOR. 451 
 
 RoMUas and tlie men of Oudh, admirably sustained. 
 But tlie want of finn resolution displayed by Meer 
 Kassim, and the backwardness of Sombre, who, after 
 exchanging volleys with the English, withdrew his 
 brigade out of shot distance, combined to render the 
 efforts of the others fruitless, and the attack was 
 repulsed. Negotiations were then opened between the 
 belligerents, but as the English demanded, as an 
 indispensable preliminary, the surrender to them of 
 Meer Kassim and of Sombre, they came to nothing, 
 and the allies, moving northwards, took up a position 
 at Buxar. 
 
 Whilst here, Meer Kassim, finding himself unable to 
 continue to pay his troops, sent for Sombre, and, having 
 stated this, requested that he would make over the arms 
 and accoutrements of his men, as well as the guns, to 
 an officer whom he named. Sombre was, in fact, relieved 
 from his command. But this adventurer was not the 
 man to give up anything he could hold by force. The 
 state of Meer Kassim's finances had long been known 
 to him, and he had already entered into a secret engage- 
 ment, with the Vizier of Oudh. He at once, then, 
 boldly declared that the arms, and accoutrements be- 
 longed to those who had them in possession, and that 
 he was resolved to keep them. Immediately striking 
 his camp, he took up a position in that of Shujali ud- 
 Dowla. Here, on October 23, the combined force was 
 attacked by Major Munro at the head of between 7,000 
 and 8,000 men. The brigades of Sombre and Madoc, 
 
 Q e 2 
 
452 DYCE SOMBRE S ANCESTOR. 
 
 occupied the centre of the Nawab's line, and they 
 fought for a time with great resolution. Alarmed, 
 however, at the repulse of the cavalry under Meeah 
 Issah, and their dispersion consequent upon the death 
 of that leader, Sombre, true to his resolution never to 
 leave a gun on the field, drew ofi" with Madoc at a 
 very critical moment, and thus enabled the English to 
 gain a complete victory. After this defeat the Vizier 
 opened out fresh negotiations with the English. The 
 latter, however, still demanded the preliminary sur- 
 render of Meer Kassim and Sombre. It was scarcely 
 in the Vizier's power to surrender the first, for, after 
 having been plundered of all that still remained to 
 him, he had been placed the day before the battle on 
 a lame elephant, and turned out of the camp.* But 
 Sombre was still with him, and was, next to himself, 
 the most important man in his camp. He commanded 
 those brigades which, if they had done little for him, 
 were capable of effecting a great deal against him. 
 To proceed against Sombre by open violence was, 
 therefore, impossible, but there were other methods of 
 getting rid of him. One of these the Vizier did not 
 hesitate to suggest to the English. He proposed to 
 invite Sombre to an entertainment, and to have him 
 there assassinated in the presence of anyone whom 
 the English leader might depute to witness the deed. 
 The proposal, it need scarcely be stated, was refused. 
 
 * He died in extreme poverty at Delhi, June 6, 1777, his last shawl 
 teing sold to pay for his winding sheet. 
 
DYCE SOMBME'S ANCESTOR. 453 
 
 Meanwhile Sombre, ever with an eye to his own 
 interests, had observed the discontent of the Vizier, 
 and his disinclination to carry on the war, and had 
 consequently already entered into secret negotiations 
 with the J^ts. The war, however, was prolonged till 
 August 1765 ; the position of Sombre, during the 
 whole of that interval, being one of entire indepen- 
 dence- But at length it became necessary for the 
 Vizier, humiliated by repeated defeats, to get rid of 
 him at any cost, if only to enable him to make peace 
 with the English. He therefore sent him his dis- 
 missaL As this dismissal, however, was unaccom- 
 panied by any payment of arrears. Sombre was little 
 disposed to attend to it. He at once moved upon the 
 place occupied by the Begum of Oudh and her family, 
 took possession of it, and made the payment of every 
 rupee due to himself and his soldiers the price of their 
 liberation. He then moved off with his force, and 
 entered, as an auxiliary, into the service of the Jats. 
 
 Of the career of Sombre with the Jats there is no 
 record. It is only known that after a short time he 
 quarrelled with their leader, and moved into the ter- 
 ritories of the E.ajah of Jyenugger. Here, however, he 
 did not stay long, but, resuming his intercourse with 
 the J^ts, again joined them, and remained with them 
 as long as they could pay him. It was whilst in 
 their service that he purchased a dancing-girl of Delhi, 
 by name Zerbonissa, afterwards so notorious as the 
 Begum Sombre. She was a woman of great talent. 
 
454 BYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 
 
 vast influence over all with wliom she came in contact, 
 and utterly without scruple. In cleverness, adroitness, 
 and ability to seize an opportunity, she was unmatched 
 even in those days. Her courage was considerable. 
 There is nothing to show, however, what sort of 
 influence it was which she exercised over Sombre. 
 He, though nominally in command of a force of three 
 battalions of infantry, two hundred horse, and fourteen 
 guns well mounted and horsed, appears often to have 
 been in great danger from his own men. Sir W. 
 Sleeman asserts that these were in the constant habit 
 of placing him under arrest, torturing him, and even 
 threatening his life. From another account we learn 
 that he lived in constant dread of being delivered up 
 to the English : that his life, therefore, was a perfect 
 purgatory ; that he carried poison about his person to 
 prevent his ever falling alive into the hands of the 
 British. However this may be, it is certain that he 
 kept his men well together and commanded a consider- 
 able influence. This is evident from the high value 
 set upon the retaining of his services by native princes. 
 He could always name his own price. When tired of 
 service with the Jats, for the second time, after their 
 defeat at Bursana, he accepted an invitation from the 
 Court of Delhi, then represented by the Mirza Nujjuf 
 Khan. This was in 1776. Nujjuf Khan was more 
 than once invited to deliver up his bloodstained 
 lieutenant to ,the English, but his feelings of honour 
 made him proof against all their offers. Indeed, to 
 
DYCE SOMBRE'S ANCESTOR. 4eo 
 
 such an extent did lie carry this refusal, that when, in 
 1777, the English pressed their alliance upon him — 
 an alliance much coveted and of great prospective 
 advantage to himself — naming as their main condition 
 the surrender of Sombre, he still honourably refused* 
 It was about this time that the Court of Delhi made 
 to Sombre the gift of the principality subsequently 
 known — from the name of the place were Sombre 
 fixed his residence — as Sirdhana. This territory, es- 
 timated as yielding an annual rental of six lakhs of 
 rupees, was nominally granted for the payment of the 
 troops under Sombre's command ; biit, upon his death, 
 it passed to his widow, the slave girl Zerbonissa, whom 
 he had married, as guardian for his son by another 
 concubine, Aloysius E,einhard, otherwise known as 
 Zuffer Yah Khan, and though at one time she lost it 
 by the fortune of war, she subsequently recovered, and 
 held it till her death, on January 29, 1836. 
 
 Sombre himself died the year succeeding that in 
 which he received possession of his fief. It is stated 
 that this event occurred May 4, 1778, peaceably, in 
 his camp, not far from Delhi. Thus this adventurer, 
 starting in life as a carpenter, then becoming a soldier, 
 then an assassin, died, in the service of the Emperor 
 of Delhi, in the peaceable possession of a principality 
 yielding 60,000Z. per annum. His rise is a proof of 
 how easy it was for a man of no great ability, but 
 who possessed the one quality of boldness, added to an 
 utter absence of scruple and principle, to rise in those 
 
456 BYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 
 
 turbulent days. Sombre had no merits, scarcely even 
 that of animal courage. Major Polier, writing from 
 Delhi to a friend at Belgaum in 1776, a time when 
 Sombre was. in the Imperial service, gives the follow- 
 ing graphic description of his character :• — ' As to his 
 capacity and character,' he writes, ' Sombre is illiterate 
 to the full extent of the word ; he can neither read 
 nor write, but, when necessary, makes his mark. He 
 is, however, versed in the Persian and Moorish tongues, 
 both of which he speaks fluently and accurately 
 enough. He is, as may be judged from his conduct 
 at Patna, of a cruel and merciless disposition, several 
 instances of which he has given in the exercise of what 
 he thought justice and authority, but which could not 
 be called by any other name than murderous and 
 bloody acts. As to the fair side of his character, he 
 is a plain man, both in his dress, equipage, and way of 
 life : not disowning or attempting to conceal his mean 
 origin, and the humble state in which he had formerly 
 been. His principal merit is his prudence. It is that 
 which has hitherto kept his party entire and unbroken 
 in the several engagements in which he has been. . . . 
 He is much afraid of the English ; he dreads their 
 very name, and not without reason. This makes him 
 keep ever on his guard; no person can enter or 
 approach his camp without having been stopped or 
 examined ; in short, his whole deportment shows he is 
 under apprehensions lest be should be seized and de- 
 livered up. . . . He has entirely adopted the manners 
 
DYCE SOMSBE'8 ANCM8T0R. 457 
 
 and customs of the country. He wears the Mogul 
 dress, has a zenanah, and has absolutely dropped all 
 thoughts of returning to Europe.' 
 
 In submitting the character of this adventurer to a 
 critical examination, it is difficult to discover in it one 
 redeeming quality, unless we deem such the strength 
 of will which enabled him to bend circumstances, 
 however apparently hostile, to his own personal ad- 
 vantage. He was not, as we have said, even brave ; 
 and the prudence to which Major Poller refers, which 
 enabled him to keep his little force together, was 
 generally shown by retiring from the field at the very 
 crisis of a battle, whenever the result of the battle 
 appeared to him to be at all uncertain. Such pru- 
 dence was far from advantageous to the cause Sombre 
 was paid to uphold, 'and is scarcely entitled to com- 
 mendation. The cold-blooded cruelty which induced 
 him to propose the assassination of the English pri- 
 soners at Patna, and to superintend in person that 
 murderous deed, stamps him as the possessor of a heart 
 and a conscience alike callous and incapable of feeling. 
 Probably in this, as in all else he attempted, his 
 motive was simply self-aggrandisement. By that deed 
 he became a master-spirit in the eyes of Meer Kassim. 
 He scrupled as little to cast aside Meer Kassim when 
 that prince was no longer able to be useful to him ; 
 and, after that, he chose his service according as the 
 nature of it might afiect his fortunes. All his actions 
 were prompted by one and the same motive; the 
 
458 BYCE SOMjBRE'S ANCESTOR. 
 
 determination to push hiraself forward. To attain this 
 end he cared nought as to who might be his employer. 
 He succeeded. But what was the secret of his success? 
 Simply this. Any man, with an iron will, and no 
 conscience or scruple, who, setting before him a pre- 
 determined end, bend^» all his energies to attain xt, 
 turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, 
 deterred by no inner feeling from crime, is almost 
 certain to attain his goal. Happily for mankind, not 
 only are such men rare, but even their success is 
 accompanied by circumstances which make it the 
 reverse of attractive to the multitude. Sombre, the 
 carpenter, the common soldier, did indeed obtain pos- 
 session of property yielding 60,000?. a year before he 
 arrived at the age of fifty ; but at what a cost ? Not 
 only had he earned the horror of his countrymen by 
 the deeds of blood through which he had waded to 
 attain his position ; but, ever since the bloody deed of 
 Patna, that is, for fifteen years, he had lived in hourly 
 terror of being betrayed, carrying poison about his 
 person, and guarding the approaches to his domicile. 
 Is it possible to imagine an existence more wretched ? 
 Further — scarcely is the estate gained, scarcely is he 
 the confirmed possessor of the prize for which he 
 toiled, than he dies — he dies leaving behind him an 
 infamous name, a name devolving ultimately upon a 
 descendant,* whose aberrations of intellect, brought 
 
 * As above recorded, Sombre left behind bim a son, Aloysius Eein- 
 hard, alias Zuffer Yah Khan. This son died, leaving a daughter, 
 
BYCE SOMBRE' S ANCESTOR. 459 
 
 into prominence by the wealth he inherited, and the 
 temptations to which, by that wealth, he was exposed, 
 sentenced him to an existence even more miserable 
 than death. Never was there a more striking example 
 of the sins of the father being visited on the third and 
 fourth generations! The career of Sombre, then, 
 rightly understood, adds one proof to many others that 
 success so called, when obtained by means at which 
 morality and religion alike revolt, is not really success ; 
 it is simply the raising of the individual to a dizzy and 
 temporary height that his fall may be greater — the 
 warning more unmistakable. 
 
 Sombre was buried at Agra. There, in the ancient 
 EiOman Catholic burial ground, near the large houses 
 in the civil lines, may his tomb still be seen. It 
 bears the following inscription . in the Portuguese 
 language : — 
 
 ' AGVI TAZO WALTER KEINHAED, MOEEEO 
 AOS 4 DE MATO, NO ANNO DE 1778.' 
 
 (Here lies Walter Keinhard, died on the 4th of May, 
 in the year 1778.) 
 
 Juliana, who, adopted by the Eegam Zerbonissa, eventually married 
 Mr. George Dyce, Commandant of the Begum's forces. Of this mar- 
 riage there were two daughters and a son. The latter, Mr. David 
 0. Dyce, known as Dyce Sombre, married, it is well known, in England. 
 fine of the daughters married Major Troup of the Bengal Aimy, the 
 other the Baron Solaroli. 
 
INDEX 
 
 AT)V 
 
 ADVENTUEE, opportunities of, 
 in India, 251 
 
 Affghanistan, civil war in, 140 ; 
 our interests with reference to, 
 143 ; state of, in 1840, 257 ; in- 
 surrection breaks out in, 264 
 
 Afzul Khan, defeats Shir Ali, 141 ; 
 dies, 141 
 
 Alimed Shah Abdali, his campaign 
 against the Mahrattas, 346 ; 
 hems them in, 349 ; engages at 
 Paniput, 351 ; gains the battle, 
 355 
 , Akbar, estimation of, 221 ; his 
 birth, 223 ; his valour, 224; de- 
 feats Hemu at Paniput, 8, 225 ; 
 his clemency, 227 ; his behaviour 
 , to B^hram, 228 ; description of, 
 229; establishes his authority, 
 231; tone of government of, 
 232 ; his great toleration, 233 ; 
 his encouragement of literature, 
 236 ; conquers Cashmere and 
 the Dekkan, 237 ; the basis of 
 his empire, 238 ; comparison of, 
 with his European contempo- 
 
 « raries, 238 ; germ of failure in 
 system of, 240; contrast between 
 lus system and the British, 244 ; 
 great virtues of his system, 246 ; 
 how he succeeded where we 
 faU, 246 
 
 BUR 
 
 Akbar, Mahomed, tride Mahomed 
 Akbar. 
 
 Arthur, Sir G-eorge, appointed 
 Governor of Bombay, 404 ; pre- 
 vious career of, 406 ; prudence 
 he displayed, 407 ; nominated 
 provisional Governor-General, 
 note, 407 
 
 Asiatics, their character, 24 
 
 Aurangzebe, in many respects a 
 contrast to Akbar, 246 ; vene- 
 ration for, 245 
 
 Azim Khan, Mahomed, succeeds 
 to supremacy in Afghanistan, 
 141 
 
 BEHEAM, aids Akbar, 226 ; re- 
 volts, 227 ; is defeated and 
 pardoned, ' 227 ; revolts again, 
 228 J death of, 229 
 
 Bhaee, Maharaj Singh, defeated, 
 28 
 
 Board of Administration, appointed 
 in the Punjaub, 40 ; its mem- 
 bers, 41 ; its proceedings, 
 42 ; reasons for its dissolution, 
 44 
 
 Boyle, Mr. Vickars, foresight of, 
 303, 311 
 
 Burma, rebellion in, 166 ; our 
 policy in, 166 
 
462 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CAB 
 
 OABTJL, the insurrection breaks 
 out at, 12 ; reasons for expe- 
 dition to, 134; terrors of retreat 
 from, 278 
 
 Canning, Lord, his policy in Oudh, 
 170; nobility of nature of, 424 ; 
 his letters to Sir Bartle Frere, 
 430 
 
 Carnae, Colonel, outwits Madhajee, 
 375 
 
 Cashmere, annexed and sold, 18 
 
 Chamberlain, Brigadier Neville, 
 his character, 82 ; arrives at 
 Peshawur, 83 ; appointed to 
 command moveable column, 88; 
 nominated Adjutant-General, 
 104 
 
 Colony, Christian, established by 
 Eyre in the Himalayas, 296 
 
 Coningsby, his conversation -with 
 Sidonia, 249 
 
 Corbett, Brigadier S.,his character, 
 66 ; his wise energy, 97 
 
 Cotton, Brigadier S., liis character, 
 66 ; consents to form a move- 
 able column, 82 ; disarms the 
 Sepoys at Peshawur, 92 ; and 
 the 65th N.I., 94 
 
 Cotton cultivation. Sir J. Law- 
 rence's policy on, 194 
 
 Currie, Sir Prederick, is nomi- 
 nated to act as Kesident of 
 Lahore, 24 
 
 DALHOTJSIE.Lord, annexes the 
 Punjaub, 39 ; governs it by 
 means of a Board, 40 ; appoints 
 Mr. Lawrence Chief Commis- 
 sioner of the Punjaub, 47 
 
 Delhi, its area and population, 7 ; 
 its condition in 1846, 17 
 
 Dost Mahomed, his opinion re- 
 garding a British embassy to 
 Cabul, 52 ; his splendid con- 
 duct during the mutiny, 97 ; 
 dies, 139 
 
 EDUCATION, Sir John Law- 
 rence's policy on, 197 ; Lady 
 Prere's interest in, 431 ; Sir 
 Bartle Frere's policy on, 431 
 
 Edwardes, Herbert, his success 
 against Mdolraj, 25 ; his opinion 
 of Mr. John Lawrence, 48 ; his 
 character, 61 ; in charge of the 
 frontier, 81 ; resolves to disarm 
 the sepoys at Peshawur, 92 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, compared with 
 Akbar, 239 
 
 Elphinstone, Gr«neral, his charac- 
 ter, 260 ; compared to Sabinus, 
 260, 281 ; dies, 286 
 
 Eyre, Sir Vincent, his adventurous 
 career, 253; his family, birth, 
 education, 254 ; first experiences 
 of India, 255 ; sticks to his 
 regiment, 256 ; is posted to the 
 Horse Artillery, 257 ; arrives in 
 Cabul, 261 ; corresponds with 
 Colonel Stoddart, 262 ; impor- 
 tant nature of his duties, 263 ; 
 the command of the artillery 
 devolves on, 267; is severely 
 wounded, 271 ; anxious moments 
 for, 272 ; agrees to remain as a 
 hostage, 276 ; opinion on the 
 conduct of, 277 ; becomes a 
 hostage, 280 ; his reasons for 
 writing, 283 ; confined at Bud- 
 deeabad, 285 ; his story of his 
 release, 290 ; returns to India, 
 
 293 ; originates a soldiers' club, 
 
 294 ; appointed to the Gwalior 
 Contingent, 295 ; establishes a 
 colony in the Himalayas, 296 ; 
 proceeds to England and returns, 
 299 ; his curious conversation 
 with Sindia, 300 ; his experience 
 of the Calcutta panic, 301 ; is 
 ordered up-couutry, 301 ; decides 
 to attempt to relieve Arrah, 304 ; 
 attacks the enemy, 307 ; defeats 
 them, 309 ; relieves Arrah, 311 ; 
 recalled by Outram, 315; his 
 campaign in Oudh, 318; com- 
 mands Artillery Brigade at 
 
INDEX. 
 
 463 
 
 FEE 
 
 JTJL 
 
 Lucknow, 320; treatment he 
 receives, 321 ; Outram's testi- 
 mony, 322 ; subsequent Indian 
 career, 323; remarks on his 
 career, 325 
 
 FEEOZEPOEE, incapacity ex- 
 hibited at, 79 
 
 Finance, Sir John Lawrence's 
 policy on, 201 
 
 Forests, Sir John La-wrence's 
 policy on, 192 
 
 Frere, Sir Bartle, his self-denial, 
 116 ; chief characteristic of, 392; 
 family descent of, 393 ; training 
 of, 394 ; early proof of love of 
 enterprise, 395 ; his jonrney to 
 India, 396 ; arrival at Bombay, 
 and first application to Lord 
 Clare, 397 ; mode in which he 
 learned his experience, 399 ; 
 results of his work, 403 ; ap- 
 pointed Private Secretary to the 
 Governor, 404. Value to him 
 of the position, 408 ; marries, 
 409 ; appointed Resident at 
 Sattara, 408 ; difficult position 
 devolving upon him, 409 ; his 
 noble remonstrance, 410 ; effect 
 of his rule on Sattara, 412; 
 nominated Chief Commissioner 
 of Sinde, 413 ; follows out Sir 
 C. Napier's ideas, 415 ; what he 
 effected, 417 ; his position when 
 the mutiny broke out, 418 ; his 
 noble self-denial, 419 ; remarks 
 upon it, 419 ; his services recog- 
 nised, 421 ; appointed Member 
 of the Supreme Council, 422 ; 
 his soothing influence on trou- 
 bled waters, 424, 427 ; his in- 
 fluence on Lord Canning's popu- 
 larity, 429 ; appointed Governor 
 of Bombay, 429 ; summary of 
 the results of his rule, 431-435 ; 
 love and esteem for him on the 
 part of the natives, 436 ; his in- 
 
 fluence ever exerted for their 
 good, 437 
 Frere, Lady, great interest of, in 
 education, 431 
 
 eASCOIGlSE, extract from writ- 
 ings of, 284 
 Goddard, General, appointed to 
 retrieve the disaster of War- 
 gaum, 371 ; surprises Madhajee, 
 373 
 Government, English, in India, 
 points of resemblance between, 
 and Akbar's system, 244, 246 
 
 HAEDINGE, Sir H., repulses 
 the Sikhs, 15 ; his first ac- 
 quaintance with Mr. Lawrence, 
 16 ; his appeal to Mr. Lawrence, 
 17; his evidence before the House 
 of Commons, 18 
 
 Hastings, The Honoura-ble E. 
 H., appointed staff-oflicer 
 by Eyre, 302 ; his gallant con- 
 duct, 309 
 
 Henry VIII. compared with Ak- 
 bar, 238 
 
 Hnmayuu, vicissitudes of life of, 
 222 
 
 rSTITUTES of Akbar, the, 
 extracts from, 234 ; the spirit 
 of, 235 
 Irrigation, Sir J. Lawrence's policy 
 on, 170 
 
 JAIPOEE, Eaja of, devotion of, 
 to Akbar, 233 
 Jheend, Eaja of, first in the field 
 
 against the mutineers, 75 
 Jullundhur, annexed, 18 ; the or- 
 deal it went through, 26 
 
464 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 KAS 
 
 KASSIM, Meer, buys from the 
 English the Nawabship of 
 Bengal, 439 ; resents their in- 
 terference, 439 ; forms a stand- 
 
 i ing army, 440 ; shameful treat- 
 ment of, by the English, 442 ; his 
 revanche, 443 ; is defeated at 
 Kutwah, 446 ; at Gheriah, 446 ; 
 takes refuge with the Nawab of 
 Oudh, 449 
 
 Koonwar Singh, character and 
 motives of, 303 ; flees to Arrah, 
 310; escapes to Sasseram, 314; 
 is killed, 315 
 
 LASD TENURE, in Oudh, 170 ; 
 in the Punjaub, 176 
 Lawrence, Lord, his birth; enters 
 Haileybury, 3 ; sets out for 
 India, 4 ; is sent to Delhi, 5 ; 
 loses his appointment there, 9 ; 
 experiences among the Meh- 
 watties, 10 ; nominated settle- 
 ment officer of Etawah, 11 ; 
 proceeds to Europe, 12 ; marries, 
 and returns, 1 3 ; again sent to 
 Delhi, 14 ; fresh intercourse 
 with Sir H. Hardinge, 16 ; his 
 response to Sir H. Hardinge's 
 appeal, 17 ; appointed to the 
 trans-Sutlej territory, 19 ; prin- 
 ciples of his administration, 20, 
 21 ; his aid to his brother, 23 ; 
 wonderful results of his admi- 
 nistration, 23 ; receives the 
 thanks of Government, 24 ; his 
 opinion on our policy in 1848, 
 25 ; his own prompt action, 26 ; 
 defeats Bhaee Maharaj Singh, 
 28 ; proceeds against Earn 
 Singh, 29 ; defeats him, 30 ; 
 moves.on Noorpore, 31 ; defeats 
 the rebels at Deenanuggur, 32 ; 
 Moves on Umb, 33 ; entirely puts 
 down the insurrection, 35 ; his 
 conduct justified, 36 ; extract 
 from his report to Government, 
 37 ; is appointed Member of the 
 
 LAW 
 
 Board of Administration, 41 ; 
 reasons for his difference with 
 his brother, 44-47 ; is ap- 
 pointed Chief Commissioner of 
 the Punjaub, 47 ; summary of 
 his administration, 49 ; his 
 policy with respect to Affghan- 
 istan, results of his internal 
 administration, 54 ; is nomi- 
 nated K.C.B., 55; character of 
 the men at his disposal, 58 ; 
 his first apprehension of the 
 mutiny, 70 ; proceeds to Eawul 
 Pindee, 72 ; his action at Seal- 
 kote, 72 ; hears of the mutiny 
 at Meerut, 73 ; his first action, 
 73 ; incites the native Rajas to 
 action, 75 ; approves the for- 
 mation of a moveable column 
 84 ; his policy discussed, 86 
 despatches troops to Delhi, 95 
 also from Cashmere, 96 ; levies 
 fresh troops, 98 ; disarms the 
 disaiFected, 100; his reliable 
 force, 102 ; appoints John Ni- 
 cholson Brigadier-General, 107 ; 
 his critical position, 109 ; his 
 decision. 111; the true story of 
 his communication with the 
 King of Delhi, note, 111 ; the 
 credit of the decision aU his 
 own, 113; learns that an im- 
 portant insurrection has broken 
 out, 119; his prompt action, 
 119; reflections on it, 120 ; 
 review of his conduct, 121 ; 
 continues to levy troops, 124; 
 restores order at Delhi, 125 ; 
 summary of his measures, 126 ; 
 the verdict of his countrymen, 
 129; is made a Baronet and 
 G.C.B,, 130 ; leaves India, 130 ; 
 his Afifghanistan policy, 145; 
 its results, 155 ; his speech on 
 the subject, 160; merit claimed 
 for the policy, 161 ; condition 
 of affairs on arrival at Cal- 
 cutta, 162 ; he sends a force 
 against Ehootan, 164; its re- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 405 
 
 LAW 
 
 MAN 
 
 suits, 165 ; policy in Burma, 
 167 ; in the Persian Gulf, 168 ; 
 his land tenure policy in Oudh, 
 169 ; in the Punjaub, 176 ; his 
 irrigation policy, 178; his 
 policy on military works, 184 ; 
 on places of refuge, 185; on 
 civil -works, 186 ; on railways, 
 187; on forests, 192; on tele- 
 graphs, 193 ; on the cultivation 
 of cotton, 194; on sanitation, 
 196 ; on education, 197 ; on 
 other points of internal policy, 
 200 ; on finance, 201 ; his peace 
 policy, 204 ; his part in the Orissa 
 famine, 206 ; comparison of his 
 position to that of Warren 
 Hastings, 209 ; portrait of, 
 211; his mistakes, 212; popu- 
 larity of, with the civil service, 
 213; with the army, 213; with 
 native landowners, 214; eflect 
 of newspaper attacks on, 215 ; 
 his departure from India, 216 ; 
 the character which will survive 
 him, 217 
 
 Lawrence, Lady, is informed of a 
 conspiracy at Murree, 118 
 
 Lawrence, Henry, his influence on 
 his brother, 3 ; appointed Pre- 
 sident of the Board of Adminis- 
 tration, 41 ; reason of his differ- 
 ence with his brother, 44-47 ; 
 appointed to Eajpootana, note, 
 47 
 
 Lawrence, Lieut.-Colonel, sketch 
 of his career, 2 
 
 Lawrence, Captain Eichard, his 
 practical advice at Lahore, 76 ; 
 commands the Cashraerians at 
 Delhi, 97 
 
 L'Estrange, Captain, agrees to 
 place his force at Byre's dis- 
 posal, 304 ; his gallantry, 309 ; 
 his report to head quarters, 
 313 
 
 Littler, General, his great strategy, 
 15 
 
 MACKENZIE, Colin, heroically 
 defends himself, 268; his 
 chivalrous character, 269 ; goes 
 on a mission, 286 ; again, 288 
 
 Macleod, Mr. Donald, his charac- 
 ter, 68 
 
 Macnaghten, Sir William, his ad- 
 vice to Colonel Stoddart, 262 ; 
 is assassinated, 275 
 
 Macpherson, Major J. D., his cha- 
 racter, 61 ; his good conduct in 
 the mutiny, 76 
 
 Madhajee Siudia, his birth, 334 ; 
 escapes from Eudbeer, 340 ; 
 his flight from Paniput, 358 ; 
 is recognised head of the house 
 of Sindia, 360; succeeds to his 
 father's lands, 361 ; is virtual 
 commander-in-chief of thePesh- 
 wa's army, 364 ; occupies Delhi, 
 365; consolidates his conquests, 
 366 ; his policy, 367 ; baffles 
 the English, 369; forces them 
 to conclude a convention, 370 ; 
 his skilful retreat from Goodard, 
 373 ; his campaign against Car- 
 nac, 374 ; is outmanoeuvred, 
 375; concludes a treaty with the 
 English, 375 ; his views, 376 ; 
 is virtual master of the North- 
 west, 379 ; his ambitious pro- 
 jects, 382; proceeds to Poona, 
 382 ; gains the Peshwa, 384 ; 
 dies, 384 ; reflections on his 
 character, 385 
 
 Mahomed, Akbar Khan, holds a 
 meeting with the British envoy, 
 274 ; assassinates him, 27o ; 
 makes further demands on the 
 English, 279 ; compared to Ani- 
 bionix, 281 ; is defeated by 
 Sale, 286 ; makes overtures to 
 Pollock, 287 
 
 Malcolm, Sir John, his opinion on 
 Indian training, 390 
 
 Mansel, Mr. C, appointed Member 
 of the Board of Administration , 
 41 
 
 H H 
 
466 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 MAE 
 
 Mary, Queen, compared with Ak- 
 bar, 23fl 
 
 Meah, Sahib Dyal, defeats the 
 rebels, 28 
 
 Mehwatties, their customs and 
 traditions, 10 
 
 Menas, their customs and tradi- 
 tions, 10 
 
 Mission, results of, to semi-bar- 
 barous countries, 163 
 
 Moguls, the, who were they 1 219 
 
 Montgomery, Mr. Robert, his cha- 
 racter, 58 ; his vigorous action 
 at Lahore, 76 ; saves the fort of 
 G-ovindgurh, 78 
 
 Moolraj, troops of, murder two 
 British officers, 24 ; revolts, 25 ; 
 effect of his revolt on the Sikhs, 
 27 
 
 Mooltan, British officers murdered 
 at, 24 ; delay in proceeding 
 against, 28; siege of, raised, 
 30 
 
 Murree, conspiracy at, discovered, 
 117 
 
 "VTAPIEE, Sir Charles, conquers 
 Vi Scinde ; excellence of his 
 administrative system, 413; is 
 the real author of the prosperity 
 of Scinde, 414 
 Nicholson, Lieut.-Colonel John, 
 his character, 62 ; proposes the 
 formation of a moveable column, 
 82 ; at Cabul, 289 
 
 OODYPORE, Eana of, resists 
 Akbar, 231 
 Orissa, Sir J. Lawrence's part in 
 
 the famine in, 206 
 Outram, General, his letters to 
 Eyre, 316, 317, 320, 322; his 
 operations, 320 
 
 PAITIPUT, the battles occurring 
 there, 8 ; the area and the 
 population of the district, 8 ; 
 battle of, 352 
 
 Peshawur, peculiarity of position 
 
 of, 91 
 Peshwa, origin of the, 331 
 Philip II. of Spain, compared with 
 
 Akbar, 239 
 Phillore, arsenal at, saved, 80 
 Places of refuge, Sir John Law- 
 rence's policy on, 185 
 Policy, Sir J. Lawrence's Peace, 
 
 justified, 159, 204 
 Pottinger, Eldred, assumes Mac- 
 
 naghten's duties, 276 ; compared 
 
 to Cotta, 281 
 Punjaub, state of, in 1857, 66 ; 
 
 distribution of troops in, 64 ; 
 
 its change of rulers, in 1841, 
 
 259 
 Puttialla, Raja of, acts vigorously 
 
 against the mutineers, 75 
 
 pAGONATH RAO, makes a 
 XL campaign, 338 ; becomes 
 
 prime minister, 339 
 Railways, Sir John Lawrence's 
 
 policy on, 187 
 Ranajee Scindia, account of, 331 ; 
 
 death, 334 
 Red tape, its baneful influence 
 
 in 1848, 26 
 Russia, her reappearance as an 
 
 Asiatic power, 133; her policy 
 
 prior to the Crimean war, 13o ; 
 
 effect of the capture of Kars, 
 
 136 ; attacks Khokhand, 137 ; 
 
 and Bokhara, 138 ; the country 
 
 between frontier of, and India, 
 
 139 
 
 SALE, General, forces the passes, 
 266 ; defeats Mahomed Akbar, 
 286 
 Saleh Mahomed, is bought by the 
 
 hostages, 290 
 ^nitation. Sir J. Lawrence's po- 
 licy on, 196 
 Sattara, notice of, 330; its lapse 
 to the British explained, 408 
 
INDEX. 
 
 467 
 
 SEC 
 
 ZEE 
 
 Secretary, Private, qualifieationa 
 of, 405 
 
 Sepoys, the, their reasoning, 67 
 
 Shakspear, Sir Richmond, re- 
 leases the Cabul hostages, 291 
 
 Shelton, , General, character of, 
 265 ; beaten at Beymaroo, 271 ; 
 juatifioation of, 273 
 
 Shir Ali Khan, becomes ruler of 
 Afighanistan, 139 ; gains the 
 battle of Kughbaz, 140.; his 
 lethargy, 140 ; is defeated, 141 ; 
 recovers his throne, 142 ; his 
 propositions to the British 
 Government, 145 
 
 Sidonia, his conversation with 
 Coningsby, 249 
 
 Sikhs, the, invade India, 14; de- 
 ceived hy Littler, 16 ; repulsed 
 at Moodkee and Perozshuhr, 15 ; 
 character of, 19 ; their first 
 experience of British rule, 20 ; 
 wonderful results of that rule, 
 23 ; feeling of the villagers, note, 
 32 
 
 Sladen, Captain, is deputed to the 
 Chinese frontier of Burma, 167 
 
 Sobraon, fortified by the Sikhs, 
 16 ; battle fought at, 18 
 
 Sombre, lineage of, 438 ; early 
 career of, 439 ; takes service 
 under Meer Kassim, 441 ; is 
 sent to Buxar against the 
 English, 445 , makes prisoners 
 of them, 445 ; his conduct at 
 Gheriah, 447 ; murders the 
 English prisoners, 448 ; his 
 backwardness in the field, 451 ; 
 leaves Meer Kassim, 451 ; his 
 backwardness again, 452 ; his 
 conduct fbwards the Nawab, 
 453 ; takes service with the 
 J4ts, 458 ; account of his inner 
 life, 454; receives large pro- 
 , perties, 455 ; dies, 455 ; moral 
 of his career, 457-459 ; the 
 family he left, 458, note. 
 
 Sombre, Begum, her origin, 463 ; 
 her character, 464 ; inherits 
 
 , Sombre's property, 466 ; her 
 adopted descendants, 468, note. 
 
 Sooraj Mull, disagrees with the 
 Bhao, 343 ; quits the camp, 
 346; 
 
 Statesmen, Indian, how they are 
 made, 391 
 
 Stoddart, Colonel, his honourable 
 scruples, 262 
 
 Sudaseo's Bhao, commands the 
 Peshwa's army, 336 ; becomes 
 commander-in-chief, 339 ; en- 
 ters upon the campaign against 
 Ahmed Shah, 349 ; is hemmed 
 in by Ahmed Shah 349 ; en- 
 gages at Paniput, 352 ; is de- 
 feated, 356; his problematical 
 death, 356 and note. 
 
 TEJ SINGH, commands the 
 Sikh Army, 14 ; his remark 
 
 to Sir J. Lawrence, 14 
 Telegraphs, Sir J. Lawrence's 
 
 policy on, 193 
 Temple, Sir E., his characteristics, 
 
 60 ; his opinion on the crisis, 
 
 114 
 Trevelyan, Mr. G. 0, his opinion 
 
 of Eyre, noU, 312 
 
 MB, Engagements at, 33 
 
 II 
 
 Y ALOIS, Sovereigns of the 
 House of, compared vnth 
 Akbar, 239 
 
 WAKE, Captain, his share in 
 the defence of Arrah, 311 
 Wargaum, the Convention of, 370 
 Works, Sir J. Lawrence's policy 
 on military, 184; civil, 186 
 
 ZEEBONISSA, a dancing-girl, 
 453 ; married to Sombre 466 ; 
 inherits his property, 456 
 
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