The Hero of Multan; the Peacemaker among wild Afghan Tribes; the true Friend of India the earnest Christian. BY HENET MOERIS, (Madras C.S., Retired.) Author of “ Anglo-Indian Worthies : The Governors-General of India f Sfc FIRST EDITION, 3,000 COPIES S. P. C. K. PRESS, YEPERY Anna, i ■ PUBLICATIONS FOE INDIAN EEADEES The Governors-General oe India, First Series: By Henry Morris, M. C. S. (Ketirecl) 8vo. 145 pp. 4 As. Post- free, 5 As. Contains sketches of the lives of Warren Hastings, Lord Cornwallis, Sir John Shore, Marquis Wellesley, the Earl of Minto, ana the Marquis of Hastings, with portraits. Interesting personal details are given, such as are not usually found in histories. Anglo-Indian Worthies: By Henry Morris, Madras C. S. (Retired.) 8vo. 160 pp. 4 As. Post-free, 5 As. Full clotli, gilt title, 8 As. Lives of Sir Thomas Munro, Sir John Malcolm, Lord Metcalfe, Mountstuart Elphinstone, James Thomason, Sir Henry Lawrence, Sir James Outram, Sir Donald Macleod and Sir Bartle Frere, with portraits. Eminent Friends of Man ; or, Lives of Distinguished Philanthropists. 8vo. 158 pp. 4 As. Post-free, 5 As. Full clotli, gilt title, 10 As. Sketches of Howard, Oberlin, Granville Sharp, Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, Pounds, Davies of Devauden, George Moore, Montefiore, Livesey, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and others; with remarks on what might be done in India. Some Noted Indians of Modern Times. 8vo. 164 pp. 4 As. Post-free, 5 As. Martin Luther, the Great European Reformer. 8vo. 109 pp. 24 As. Post-free, 3 As. The state of religion in Europe in the time of Luther is described ; a full account is given of his undaunted efforts to bring about a reforma¬ tion, the greater need of a similar change in India is shown, and Luther is held up as an example. 15 Illustrations. Statesmen of Recent Times. 8vo. 192 pp. 8 As. Post- free, 94 As. Accounts are given of the leading Statesmen in the great countries of the world ; as Gladstone, Salisbury, Bismark and others. Special notice is taken of those interested in India. In all 182 are mentioned, with 122 portraits. Baba Padmanji. An Autobiography. 8vo. 108 pp. 24 As. Post-free, 3 As. An interesting account by himself of this popular Marathi author, describing his conversion from Hinduism to Christianity. Picture Stories of Noble Women. 4to. 50 pp. 24 As. Post-free, 3 As. Account of Cornelia, Agrippina, Padmani of Chittore, Lady Jane Grey, Ahaliya Bai, Mrs* Fry, Princess Alice, Miss Carpenter, Maharani Surnomayi, Pandita Ramabai, Miss Nightingale, and Lady Dufferin. The Queen Empress of India and Her Family. 43 pp. 3 As. Post-free, 34 As. Her early life; marriage; widowhood ,• children; progress in India during her reign; traits of character and lessons from her life. With 27 illustrations, and a coloured portrait of the Empress. <9 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/sirherbertedwardOOmorr v.v.v.v.w.v.v.v.v/.w/.v.v SIR HERBERT EDWARDES, A CHRISTIAN HERO. BY* HEYEY MOREIS, (Madras C.S., Retired.) Author of “ Anglo-Indian Worthies 44 Governors-General of India <£c. FIRST EDITION, 3,000 COPIE8. ■§vt ct 6 r a s : THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETY. S. P. C. K. PRESS, YEPERY, l 8 95- # *- / SIR HERBERT EDWARRES. .A OHBISTIA1T HERO. “ Righteousness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs of Solomon. No more appropriate passage could be placed as a motto at the head of a sketch of Sir Herbert Edwardes’ Life than the above, for it accurately describes his ideal of the policy which England ought to adopt in its government of India. He is best known as the youthful warrior who, at a critical moment, helped materially to keep the Panjab in English hands ; but he himself considered that his truest claim to remembrance lay in his successful efforts for the peaceful administration of a turbulent people. Though a soldier by profession, and sometimes obliged to lay down the pen for the sword, the greater part of his Indian service was passed in civil employ and in the midst of the people. Herbert Benjamin Edwardes came.of an old Shropshire family, which had once been Welsh, his ancestors having come from Wales into the border county of Shropshire. He was the second son of the Rev. Benjamin Edwardes, the clergyman of Frodesley, near Shrewsbury, in which village he was born on November 12, 1819. His parents died when he was still an infant, and he was brought up under the care of an uncle and aunt, for the latter of whom he entertained a peculiar affection. During his boyhood he went to school at Richmond in Surrey, not many miles from London, and, as a young man, attended lectures at King’s College, London. He there made the acquaintance of several who afterwards distinguished themselves in literature or in law, and as they went to the great Univer¬ sities of England to prosecute their studies, this led him to feel a strong desire to share the same advantages, for he 2 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. was of a retiring disposition, and much inclined to reading and study. As this, however, was contrary to the wishes of his guardians, he made an application to Sir Richard Jenkins, one of the Directors of the East India Company, who gave him a cadetship in the Bengal army, and he left England for Calcutta in October, 1840, at the age of one-and-twenty, rather older than men usually entered the Indian Army in those days. Ensign Edwardes reached Calcutta in January, 1841, and was posted to the 1st Bengal Fusiliers, which was then stationed at Kurnal. He proceeded leisurely up country, and at length joined his regiment. Being anxious to qualify himself for staff employ, and to enter the political department, he industriously studied Persian, Hindustani, and Hindi, in all which languages he passed an examina¬ tion, and subsequently qualified as Interpreter. His regiment was afterwards moved to Sabathu, a pleasant hill station, not far from Simla. He did not confine his studies only to the acquisition of languages, but directed his atten¬ tion particularly to the reading of Indian history, and the study of Indian politics, concerning which he freely gave his opinion in a series of letters to the Delhi Gazette under the signature of C( Brahminee Bull.” These letters attracted considerable comment, and, being anonymous, were attributed to various distinguished officers and writers, no one imagining at first that their author was only a subaltern with scarcely five years’ experience. Captain, afterwards Sir. Henry, Lawrence was much struck by the ability of these letters, which led to his acquaintance with Mr. Edwardes, and to his obtaining employment for him under himself. This was followed by a long and constant friendship between two kindred spirits, the younger ever looking to the elder with reverential affection, calling him “ the father of his political life.” 'Sabathu being in the vicinity of Simla, Mr. Edwardes often visited the latter delightful place. While there, he was introduced to Sir Hugh Grough, then Commander-in-chief of the Indian army, and was appointed in 1845 an aid-de- camp on his personal staff. In this capacity Mr. Edwardes SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 3 served through, the first Sikh war, and was present at the battles of Mudki and Sobraon. At the former battle, while carrying an order of the Commander-in-chief, he was severely wounded in the thigh. The final victory placed the whole of the Panjab in the possession of the English army, and Sir Henry Hardinge, the Grovernor-Greneral, being unwilling to annex it to the English dominions, placed the whole state, with the exception of one district which he retained under the government of a council of Sikh nobles, with Dhuleep Singh as their Maharajah, assisted by an English protectorate. Colonel Henry Lawrence was appointed' Resident at Lahore with unlimited authority in all matters of internal administration. An entirely new life was now opening for Mr. Edwardes. Passing through Simla on his way to Lahore, Colonel Lawrence invited him to be one of his assistants, and the Commander-in-chief’s permission having been willingly accorded, he proceeded to the capital. It was no slight honour to be selected as one of the personal assistants of Henry Lawrence. Himself a man of integrity and enthu¬ siasm, he was not only admired, but loved, by those with whom he associated. His grand aim at this juncture was to influence the Sikh nobility for good, and to win them over to his own high ideal of the art of governing. He wanted to avoid what was afterwards proved to be inevitable—the withdrawal of power from them. All his assistants were picked men, animated by the same high aims and noble enthusiasm. At first they lived together, more like a happy family party; but, one by one, they were dispersed through¬ out the Panj&b in separate charges. In those early days Mr. Edwardes was the first assistant to the Resident, and acted as his private secretary. For several months they lived in the same house and even slept in the same room. This close intimacy led them to know each other well; and a few words in a private letter show the estimation in which Colonel Lawrence held his young companion. “ Edwardes has left me;” he wrote. “ We have now been five months together in close fellowship, the last three months even sleeping in the same room. Taking him all in all,, bodily 4 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. activity, mental cultivation, and warmth of heart, I have not-met his equal in India.” In August 1846 there were difficulties in Kashmir. A petty sirdar had rebelled against the authority of Golab Singh, who had been made Maharajah of that country, and Colonel Lawrence deputed Mr. Edwardes to proceed to Jamu to assist the Maharajah, and to endeavour to put down the rebellion. He was successful in his mission. The rebel chief surrendered, and was brought to Lahore. During the absence of Colonel Lawrence at Kashmir with the object of establishing Golab Singh in his new possessions, Mr. Edwardes was left in charge at Lahore, and distinguished himself by his tact in appeasing a religious tumult in that city. Those early days of political training soon past away. Eriends were soon to be scattered all over the Panjab. One of the party, looking back to that time, exclaimed in very familiar language, “What days those were! How Henry Lawrence would send us off to great distances ; Edwardes to Bannu, Nicholson to Peshawar, Abbott to Hazara, giving us a tract of country as big as half of England, and giving us no more instructions than these, f Settle the country; make the people happy; and take care there are no rows V ” Bannu was an Afghan valley on the right bank of the Indus. It was inhabited by a turbulent and intractable people. The revenue was in arrears. Even the old Lion of the Panjab, Banjit Singh, had been unable to exact obedience, and what was still more necessary to him was tribute. To Mr. Edwardes was entrusted in February 1847, the formidable task of dealing with the inhabitants of this fair, but inhospitable, valley. His plan was to enlist the prejudices of the Muhammadans against those of the Sikhs. With the small force that was allotted to him, he persuaded the people to dismantle the four hundred petty forts which dotted the valley, erected one strong fortress, and made a road through the country. Then he set himself to work to administer justice and to collect the revenue. Boundary disputes had to be mastered and settled. A chief who had tyrannized over the people was SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 5 deposed. Three exiled chiefs were restored. The people, seeing that their new ruler was in earnest for their welfare, rallied round him, and he was enabled truthfully to say that the valley of Bannu, which had for twenty-five years defied the Sikh arms, had in three months been subjugated with¬ out a shot having been fired. When afterwards he wrote an account of that time in his book, A Year on the Panjdb Frontier , he said that his object was to put on record a victory which he remembered with more satisfaction than he helped to gain before Multan—the bloodless conquest of the wild valley of Bannu. One day—it was April 22, 1848, Mr. Edwardes was sitting in his tent at Dera Fateh Khan on the Indus, surrounded by Beluchi zamindars, trying a case, when the trial was interrupted by the sound of hurried steps, and a messenger hastily entered, bearing a letter-bag crimsoned with blood. It was directed to General Cortlandt at Bannu, but, seeing that something urgent had happened, he opened the packet and read the despatch. Having read it, he quickly went on with his work, thinking what he should do, but determined to show how calmly an Englishman can act in a case of emergency. The bag contained a letter scrawled in pencil by Mr. Vans Agnew, who, with Lieutenant Anderson, had been attacked, and though Mr. Edwardes did not then know it, murdered at Multan by order of the Dewan MuliAj. The trial over, he set resolutely to work to give what help he could. He collected levies. He gave warning to General Cortlandt to come to his assistance. He stirred up the loyal Nawab of Bhawulpore. By sheer doggedness and persistence he won two hard-fought battles over the troops of Mulr&j, one at Kinyeri on June 18, and the other at Saddusam on July 1. He kept Mulraj cooped up in his fortress at Multan ; and, as he himself expressed it, he kept him at bay, like a terrier barking at a tiger. Though only a lieutenant in the army, he thus did good service to the cause of England, for Mulraj’s rebellion was. merely the prelude to a revolt of the whole Sikh nation. The provincial rebellion became a national uprising. A large British army took the field later on. The fortress of 6 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. Multan was eventually taken on January 22, 1849 ; and Lieutenant Edwardes served with the besieging' army, and negotiations with Mulraj were carried on through him when the latter was compelled to surrender. Two severe battles concluded the second Sikh war, which was followed by the annexation of the Panjab and its government by British officers. The Sikh people and soldiery from coura¬ geous foes became staunch friends and loyal subjects of England. Mr. Edwardes was anxious, when the strain of war was over, to return to England; but, at the request of his friend Sir Henry Lawrence, now returned to Lahore to take part in the government of the country, he remained a few months for the purpose of completing the official business connected with Bannu and Multan. The strain, however, was too much for him, and he was so prostrated by an attack of fever that he was obliged to go. He reach¬ ed England on January 27, 1850. He was welcomed with enthusiasm. Englishmen appreciated his promptitude and courage. He received the thanks of Parliament. The Court of Directors struck a medal specially in his honour, and presented it to him. But, perhaps, the honour which he himself most valued was the approval of the greatest authority in the art of warfare at the beginning of the present century, the Duke of Wellington, who gave him a private interview and expressed to him his personal ap¬ probation. Major Edwardes had a tenderer and more personal object in desiring at this time to return to England. He had for several years cherished a strong attachment to Miss Emma Sidney, the daughter of a gentleman residing at Richmond. They were married on July 9,1850, and, during the remainder of his. life, this happy pair formed another instance of the sweetness and purity of domestic life in India founded on mutual attachment and love. While at home on furlough Major Edwardes wrote a book giving a spirited account of his work in Bannu and his campaign against Mulraj, called, A Year, on the Panjab Frontier, which was written in the valley of Pestiniog, North Wales, one of the most beautiful spots in the United Kingdom, and a striking* SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 7 contrast in retirement and peacefulness to the lovely Afghan valley where the scenesrecorded in the volume were enacted. In the following year Major Edwardes returned to India accompanied by his wife, and the second scene of his experience in civil administration commenced. He found himself appointed Deputy Commissioner of Jullundur, the Commissioner under whom he was to serve being Mr., afterwards Sir Donald, McLeod, for whom he entertained’ the purest admiration and affection. The district of Jullundur was situated in the south-east of the Panj£b, and was a fertile territory nestling at the base of the giant Himalayas. He heartily entered into his work, constantly moving about the district in tents, and, when he was leaving after fifteen months’ residence, he was able to write “ there is not a corner of it which I do not know, not a road which I have not travelled, not a cluster of villages which I have not visited, not an official of whom I have not taken the measure. The good and evil of it all is in my heart, and having swept and garnished it with great labour, I was just beginning to furnish it with improvements.” Mr. McLeod was a man who was known to say what he really meant, and his words on Major Edwardes’ leaving the district were of very strong praise. I regard Edwardes,” he wrote to the Chief Commissioner, u as a loss altogether irreparable—regarding him as the very best and most unexceptionable officer I have as yet been brought in contact with. It is not his ability that I admire so much as his weight of character and high tone and principles altogether. There is not a corner of the district where his impress has not been already felt, and always in the most salutary manner.” In April, 1853, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General, ordered Major Edwardes to Hazara, a wilder disrict and one where a strong hand was just then required. It was a hill country, with beautiful scenery, but a difficult people, on the frontier of Kashmir. He was there only six months, and was then, according to the usual vicissL tude of Indian life, ordered to a. more important and ten times more arduous post—the valley of Peshawar. This 8 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. appointment was promotion to him. He was now a Com¬ missioner. The wild tribes in the neighbouring mountains as well as the inhabitants of the Peshawar valley thoroughly trusted and also feared the new Commissioner. He under¬ stood them, and they understood and obeyed him. The supreme importance of the post was fully appreciated by Lord Halhousie, who, on informing him of his appointment, wrote, “ Holding it, you hold the outpost of the Indian empire.” The principal service which, in his early days there, Colonel Edwardes performed at Peshawar, was the negotiation of a treaty with Host Muhammad Khan, the Amir of Kabul. Nothing struck him more forcibly, on his having thoroughly mastered his work and the English position in that Afghan valley, than the strained relations between Host Muhammad and the Government of India. The fact is neither had forgotten the unhappy Afghan War. The sting of it still remained. Colonel Edwardes was anxious to do his best to relieve the strain and to ex¬ tract the sting. With the full permission and approval of the Governor-General, he entered into friendly relations with the Amir, and induced him to enter into a treaty with the Government, in order, as he himself expressed it that, according to an old English proverb, “ bygones should be bygones.” Host Muhammad so heartily en¬ tered into the spirit of the idea that he despatched his eldest son Ghulam Haidar Khan to represent him at Pesha¬ war, and Mr. John Lawrence, Chief Commissioner of the Panj&b, as the highest authority in that Province, went to meet the * heir apparent, and, with Colonel Edwardes, signed the treaty on March 30, 1855. Nearly two years afterwards, a similar treaty was signed by Host Muhammad himself, who visited Peshawar for the purpose in January, 1857. He faithfully kept the treaty, and the benefit of it was felt, almost immediately, for he remained true as steel during the great stress of the Sepoy Mutiny. The Afghans, though eager to pour down on the Panjab through the Khyber Pass, were kept back by his strong will. It was like closing the door to India and placing one’s back against it, with a trusty friend behind. SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 9 Early in 18 57, Mrs. Edwardes was obliged to return to England owing to ill-health; and her husband obtained leave to accompany her to Calcutta to see her off. She left on March 23; 1857. He bitterly felt parting with her, and fretted under the unusual quiet of his home. We just quote one passage from a letter to her on his return to Peshawar; just to show the affectionateness of his character and as an example of how truly marriages contracted by mutual love ennoble a man. “ In this great desolate house/’ he wrote, “ your books lie about where you last laid them, and our mutual words seem hanging entranced in the air, and coming back on me like echoes. It is both sad and sweet. It is like the thorn that they say the nightingale leans on.” He returned from Calcutta rather slowly, visiting old friends on the way, among others his friend and father, Sir Henry Lawrence, at Lucknow. He had scarcely got back to Peshawar before the Mutiny began, and then he was only too glad that Mrs. Edwardes was absent, and safely out of the way of peril and alarm. “ At this sad time,” he wrote to her, (( how thankful I am that you are in harbour. . . It has made my heart so light amid these cares, and enabled me to think more for others.” Amidst the first flush of excitement occasioned by the Mutiny, Colonel Edwardes maintained the purest calm. His dear friend, Colonel John Nicholson, the Deputy Commissioner, was living with him. As they then held the frontier post of India, all eyes were turned on them. Civil and military authorities moved hand in hand, and worked harmoniously together. The native regiments were disarmed. The wild tribes in the De'raj&t hastened to their standard. Levies of rough, but trusty, allies were made. The whole Panjab remained tranquil, and efficient help was given by it to the army battling for very life around Delhi. Sir John Lawrence and his able lieutenants upheld the honour of the English name throughout the Province, and no one had a more difficult and delicate post or did more excellent service than Colonel Edwardes. There was, at one time, a talk of giving up Peshawar to Dost Muhammad Khan. The Chief Commissioner inclined 10 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. to it. Colonel Edwardes thoroughly opposed it. At length the brief message from the Covernor-Ceneral was flashed to Lahore, by Madras and Bombay, “ Hold on to Pesha¬ war to the last.” Peshawar has ever since been kept as the strong frontier city of the Indian Empire. When the exciting events of the past few months were settling down, Colonel Edwardes, as so many others did, felt the re-action. The strain had been too much for him, and his health gave away. He could not obtain leave of absence just then, however; and there was abundance of work to occupy him, and also to increase the ill-health from which he was suffering. Among other duties, he was summoned by the Chief Commissioner to assist him, and Ceneral Neville Chamberlain with his counsel in plans for the re-organization of the native army intended for the consideration of the Covernment. While these were in progress, he was for the time at the hill-station of Murree. When, this duty was completed, he returned Peshawar ; but it was weary waiting, for his own health and anxiety for the health of his absent wife imperatively demanded a change of climate. At length leave was granted and he left for England by the steamer from Bombay on May 23, 1859. He had been at Peshawar six years, and the last two had been the most trying and harassing in all his Indian experience. He was able to place on record that he had never known so little crime or so much good will on the frontier as during" the first four years of his charge ; and now, on closing his services on the frontier and on making a final retrospect of his time there, he is able to write :—I feel how much we owe to Cod for His goodness to us here. How good a work has been accomplished in blotting out the animosities of the Cabul war, and how richly was the peace-making policy repaid in the crisis of 1857 ! What a happy opportunity has thus been afforded of getting jageers and rewards for all the faithful chiefs of the border. These are wholesome results of labour, which by Cod’s favour I can now look back to ; and I should suppose that these five and a half years have been the most useful of my life, as they ought indeed to be.” SIE HERBERT EDWARDES. 11 Soon after liis return to England his services were reward¬ ed by his Queen by the bestowal of knighthood, and we are thus enabled to call him henceforward Sir Herbert Edwardes. His health demanded complete rest; but this he was unable to obtain, and refused to seek. At the re¬ quest of the family of Sir Henry Lawrence, he undertook the labour of writing the life of that noble man, and the materials were so abundant that it took much time and pains even to arrange them. He was also busily engaged in addressing various meetings on Indian subjects and especially on the favourite topic which then engaged his mind—the duty of a fearless Christian policy in the Govern¬ ment of India. A trip to Germany and Switzerland failed to restore his health, and an injudicious application of certain medicinal waters did him much harm, and, in fact, brought on a serious illness, from which he was a long time recruiting, and from which, perhaps, he never entirely recovered. Though relaxation and rest were so absolutely essential, he felt that the real scene of work for him was the Panjab and not England, and, therefore, when he received the offer of an appointment in one of the most healthy parts of the Panjab, he considered it right to accept it, and to return once more to the land he knew and loved so well. The appointment was that of Commissioner of Umballa and Governor-GeneraLs Agent for the Cis-Sutlej states. Sir Herbert and Lady Edwardes left England in .January, 1862; and, after a pleasant stay at Calcutta with old friends, they reached Umballa on March 8. This district was certainly most pleasant and beautiful. There was an abundance of useful work to be done, and there was in it a delightful place for residence during the hot weather on one of the lower spots of the Himalayas. Notwithstanding these advantages, Sir Herbert missed the freer and more unre¬ strained life among the frontier tribes, to which he had been accustomed, and the greater liberty of former non-regula¬ tion days and habits. The principal public event of his sojourn thereof three years was the trial of the Wahabi conspirators and the unravelling of the plot which they 12 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. had for sometime been secretly weaving against the peace and security of British India. During his stay in the district of Umballa, the sudden death of Lord Elgin, with whom he had the advantage of several interviews, occurred, and his old and intimate friend, Sir John Lawrence, was appointed to the splendid, but most trying, position of Viceroy. Towards the close of the hot weather, Sir Herbert and Lady Edwardes were staying with the Viceroy at Simla, when a very tragic event occurred in the accidental death, by a fall down a precipice, of Sir Alexander Lawrence, Sir Henry Lawrence’s eldest son, the shock of which accelerated and increased an attack of fever that prostrated Lady Edwardes. For several weeks she hovered between life and death, and her recovery seems, under God, to have been due to the tender and careful nursing, and unremitting attention, of her husband. Ou her recovery it was decided that, not only for her sake, but for his, they should return to their native land. On the first day of the New Year 1865, they quitted Kussowli for England. It was hoped at one time that Sir Herbert Edwardes might eventually succeed to the only high appointment which, as he said, he cared for, that of Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjab; and there has been placed on record in his biography a peculiarly generous and manly letter to Sir John Lawrence, in which, on an occasion when it was about to become vacant, he pleaded that, if any idea of offering it to him were enter¬ tained, it might be given to Mr., afterwards Sir Donald, McLeod, a man for whom he had the deepest affection as well as the highest admiration. It was given to Mr. McLeod, and afterwards, when there was a prospect of the post being again vacant owing to that esteemed states¬ man’s illness, it was offered to him; but he was in too delicate a state of health to accept it. Sir Herbert and Lady Edwardes travelled to England slowly, remaining on their way at several places on the Continent of Europe, so that they did not reach England till the month of May. They lived at first at Eastbourne on the south coast of England, where he occupied himself SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 13 diligently in writing the Life of Sir Henry Lawrence, which, as previously stated, had been entrusted to his charge, and which he had been obliged, much to his regret, to lay aside owing to the engrossing nature of his official duties in India. It may here be mentioned that he proceeded with the greater part of this labour of love, but his early death prevented him from finishing it, and it was completed by another hand. This was much to be deplored, as the account of that distinguished man’s life suffered by its not being presented to the world in its entirety by one person, he being the one who most resembled Sir Henry in his thoughts, experience, and tastes. Sir Herbert and his wife had not been very long in England, when new and unwonted duties occupied their time and attention. When Lady Lawrence returned to India soon after her husband had been appointed Viceroy, she entrusted her children to the care of one of his sisters.. This sister having unexpectedly died, Sir Herbert and Lady Edwardes were requested to undertake this responsible charge in order to obviate the necessity for Lady Lawrence’s immediate return to England. They kindly responded to the call, and, leaving Eastbourne, they removed to South- gate, where they took care of the six children of Sir John Lawrence, who expressed his immense satisfaction at this arrangement. This arduous care was not of long duration, however, for before the first year had expired, his health had so much declined that his medical attendant insisted on his going to a milder climate for a season. He removed to the Isle of Wight. In the following March he suffered from a severe attack of pleurisy, and, although he rallied for a few months, he never recovered strength. He was strong enough, however, to go for a change to Scotland, where he thoroughly enjoyed the quiet and relaxation, and the exquisite scenery of that beautiful land. On Sir Herbert Edwardes 5 return to London in November, he was still very weak, but even the physicians who attended him did not apprehend any immediate danger. Notwithstanding this great prostration, however, the end seemed to come suddenly to those who were anxiously and 14 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. tenderly watching and nursing him. On December 23, severe hemorrhage occurred, and in a few hours he gently sank to his rest. No surprise was expressed, when told that he was leaving earth and her whom he had loved best upon it. He had so long served and followed his Lord and Saviour that his heart was full only of Him. His last record¬ ed words were :—“ I am quite happy. I love God. I trust entirely to Jesus. I put full confidence in Him, and I could not do more if I lived a thousand years.” There is no need to say that Sir Herbert Edwardes was a decided and consistent Christian. His whole life declared this. He was thoroughly open and outspoken in his con¬ victions. His personal religion was quite free from all conventualism and cant. He had not enjoyed the inestim¬ able advantage and happiness of being brought up in the midst of a decidedly religious family; but he had, early in his public career, been brought into contact with Sir Henry Lawrence and other likeminded men, from whom he imbibed the principles which, by the grace of Hod, became a part of his character, purifying and strengthening it. During the period when he dwelt much in tents and was cut off from intercourse with European society, he saw much of Moslems and of Sikhs, he had much time for quiet thought, and he was struck by the vast superiority of Christianity over other religious beliefs ; but this did not prevent him from regarding those who held them with the tenderest charity and consideration. He was one who earnestly desired to see a Christian Government always act in a Christian way. The clear clarion tones of a decidedly Christian policy rang out from his lips with no uncertain sound. It was re-echoed and, at the same time, softened by Lord Lawrence and Sir Donald McLeod, and the principles of the Panjab policy are now well-known. Sir Herbert Edwardes was also very anxious that the Bible should be made a text-book in Government schools. We cannot here enter into the question at length. It will suffice to give Sir Herbert Edwardes’ view in his own words:—To the Bible and Christianity, he wrote, “ England owes the soundness of her social heart, the God- SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. 15 fearing manliness of her sons, the excelling- purity of her daughters, the happiness of her homes, the loyal yet un- enslavable character of her people; and that progressive prosperity which marks the nation that, as a rule, honours and is 4 honoured by God. Yet this same England has forbidden her own religion to be taught in the Government schools of India, and withheld the Bible.” Holding these views, Sir Herbert Edwardes was a hearty supporter of Christian missions. His speech at the Anni¬ versary Meeting of the Church Missionary Society in May, 1860, formed quite an epoch in the history of that Society. He took a leading part in the establishment of the mission at Peshawar. Directly the late Colonel Martin mentioned the subject to him, he took it up warmly. A meeting of the European residents was held on December 9, 1853, for the purpose of commencing the mission, Colonel Edwardes presiding, and the tone of this meeting, and the spirit,in which this enterprise was begun, will be apparent from the following quotations from his speech. “The British Government,” he said, “ has wisely maintained a strict neutrality in religious matters, and Hindus and Muhammadans, secure of our impartiality, have filled our armies and built up our empire. It is not the duty of the Government, as a Govern¬ ment, to proselytize India. Let us rejoice that it is not; let us rejoice that pure and impure motives, religious zeal and worldly ambition, are not so lamentably mixed up. The duty of evangelizing India lies at the door of private Christians ; the.appeal is to private effort, private zeal, and private example. . . I say plainly that I have no fear that the establishment of a Christian mission at Peshawar will tend to disturb the peace. We may bo quite sure that we , are much safer if we do our duty than if we neglect it, and He who has brought us here with His own right arm will shield and bless us, if, in simple reliance on Him, we try to do His will.” These noble words resounded throughout the Panjab and throughout the whole land. The mission was started; it held on its even way in troublous times; and it still flourishes in perfect safety and efficiency. 16 SIR HERBERT EDWARDES. Sir Herbert Ed war des entertained tbe deepest sympathy for the people of the Panjab. Having lived so long among them, he jocularly called himself half a Panjabi and half an Englishman. “ Some of the happiest days of my life,” he once exclaimed, ee have been passed amongst that people, and if G-od has been pleased to put honour upon me to render any measure of usefulness to my countrymen in that land, it has been solely through the instrumentality of those good, kind, and noblemen, the people of British India. I say they are a people who will respond to our kindness; I say their humanity is a great humanity; I say they have warm hearts, and can return gratitude for kind¬ ness, and that they are impressible to every kind act you like to bestow on them.” With these sweet words on our lips we close this sketch of the life of a very able public officer and a sincere well-wisher of India’s impressionable people. PRINTED AT THE S. P. C. K. PRESS, VEPERY, MADRAS— 1895. Pice Papers on Indian Reform, f Anna each. 1. Love of Hoarding and Jewelry. 2. Marriage and Shraddha Expenses. 3. Supposed and Real Causes of Disease. 4. Patriotism : False and True. 5. Management of Infants. 6. Debt, and How to Get Out of it. 7. The Purdah ; or the Seclusion of Indian Women. 8. Caste : its Origin and Effects. 9. Astrology. 10. WHAT HAS THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DONE FOR INDIA ? 11. Who wrote the Yedas ? 12. Manava-Dharma Sastra. 13. The Bhagavad Gita. 14. The Science of the Hindu Sastras. 15. Fevers: Their Treatment, and Prevention. 16. Cholera and Bowel Complaints. 17. Animal Worship. 18. Early Marriage, its Evils and Suggested Reforms. 19. Duty to a Wife. 20. The Fruits of Hinduism. 21. Indian Widows and what should be Done for them. 22. The Advantages of Female Education. 23. Hindu and Christian Worship Compared. 24. Hindu Pilgrimages. 25. Charity : False and True. 26. The Two Watchwords—Custom and Progress. 27. The Value of Pure Water. 28. Charms, Mantras and other Superstitions. 29. Nautches. 30. Importance of Cleanliness. 31. How to have Healthy Children. 32. How TO BRING UP CHILDREN. 33. How to take Care of the Sick. 34. Eclipses. 35. Family Prayer. 36. Giving Abuse. 37. Shraddhas. 38. Karma or Fate. 39. The Fatherhood of God. 40. The Brotherhood of Man. 41. Hindu and Christian Ideals of Piety. 42. Prayaschitta. 0 I 0 i I ® ® ® ® ® ® ® ® i I I ® i ® ® ® ® ® ® i ® ® ® ® 0 ® ® ® ® I i 0 0 ® The Anna Library 1 Anna, each. Mostly with Numerous Illustrations. 0 ® ® $ i 0 ® I I 0 0 0 Indian Fables. 48 pp. Picture Fables. 48 pp. Choice Pictures and Stories. 48 pp. Pictures and Stories eor the Young. 48 pp. St. Augustine, the greatest Early Christian Writer. Columbus, the Discoverer oe America. 48 pp. Palissy the Potter. 48 pp. Peter the G-reat, Czar oe Russia. 48 pp. William Carey. 48 pp. George Stephenson, the Founder oe Railways. 48 pp. Story oe Dr. Livingstone. 48 pp. Story oe Dr. Duef, by A. L. 0. E. 56 pp. Thomas Arnold, the Model English Teacher. 48 pp. General Garfield. 48 pp. ISTeesima : the True Patriot of Japan. 48 pp. India in Yedic Times. 88 pp. Picture Stories oe the Ancient Greeks. 48 pp. Pictures and Stories of the Old Romans, 48 pp. Pictures and Stories oe Wild Beasts. 48 pp. Stories oe Monkeys, Elephants and some other Beasts. Pictures and Stories of Birds. 48 pp. Snakes, Crocodiles, and other Reptiles. 48 pp. Fishes and Whales. 48 pp. Curious Little People : a Description of Insects. 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