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AN 


J 


LIVES    OF     INDIAN 


OFFICERS. 


BY 

Sir  J?^W.   KAYE. 


IN   TWO    VOLUMES— Vol.  11. 


NBW    EDITION. 


LONDON : 
W.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO.,   13,  WATERLOO  PLACE, 

PALL   MALL,  S.W. 


1889. 
{Aii  rights  reserved,) 


# 


S//i  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1800— iSaa 


in  his  native  town.  He  had  gone  out  to  India  poor,  and 
he  had  returned  rich,  whikt  still  in  the  very  prime  of  his 
life.  He  had  returned  to  take  a  distinguished  part  in  public 
affairs,  with  thirty  or  forty  years  of  good  life  and  of  good 
ser\'ice  still  remaining  in  him.  It  was  a  natural  and  a  laud- 
able ambition  that  he  should  seek  to  represent  his  native 
town  in  the  great  imperial  Parliament,  and  to  do  for  it  and 
its  people  all  the  good  that  lay  in  his  power  j  so  he  canvass- 
ed the  borough  and  its  dependencies  in  the  Hberal  interests, 
and  in  18 18  was  duly  returned.* 

The  success  of  Joseph  Hume  was  great  encouragement 
to  the  youth  of  Montrose.  He  had  taken  his  first  start  from 
a  very  humble  beginning,  and  he  had  risen  solely  by  the 
force  of  his  own  personal  energy.  Might  not  others  do  the 
same  ?  Moreover,  the  success  of  Joseph  Hume  was  some- 
thing more  than  an  encouragement  to  the  young  men  of 
the  borough.  It  was  an  assistance  to  them.  He  had 
become  an  influential  member  of  the  Court  of  Proprietors 
of  East  India  Stock,  and  he  had,  therefore,  'interest  at 
the  India  House.*  It  must  be  admitted  that  for  very 
many  years  what  was  familiarly  called  '  borough-monger- 
ing,*  was  the  main  cause  of  so  many  doughty  young  Scots 
finding  their  way  into  the  Indian  services.  Practically, 
this  was  a  happy  circumstance.  At  all  events,  it  bore 
good  fruit.  But  for  this,  the  Company's  army  might  have 
been  wanting  in  that  muscular  sinewy  strength  imparted 
to  it  by  a  constant  recruiting  from  the  middle  classes  of 

*  The  Montrose  Burghs  then  included  Montrose,  Brechin, 
Arbroath,  Ben'ie,  and  Aberdeen.  Mr  Hume  had  previously  repre- 
sented Weymouth  in  Parliament. 


i&oo— 20.J  THE  BURNES  FAMILY.  3 

the  North.  The  Scotch  member,  in  esse  or  in  posse, 
may  have  thought  about  nothing  but  his  seat ;  but  it  was 
often  his  good  fortune  '  to  entertain  angels  unaware,'  and 
to  count  among  the  happy  circumstances  of  his  life  that 
he  had  '  sent  to  India  *  a  Malcolm,  an  Ochterlony,  or  a 
Munro. 

Some  of  these  happy  circumstances  were  recalled  with 
pleasure  and  with  gratitude  at  the  close  of  a  well-spent  life 
by  Mr  Joseph  Hume.     Of  one  of  them  I  am  now  about  to 
write.      In  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  cenmry  there 
dwelt  at  Montrose  a  family  bearing  the  name  of  Bumes. 
The  family  was  of  the  same  stock  as  that  from  which  had 
sprung  the  inspired  ploughman  of  Ayrshire,  though  the  two 
branches  of  the  family  were  pleased  to  spell  their  names 
after  different  fashions.     The  grandfather  of  Robert  Bums, 
the  poet,  and  the  grandfather  of  James  Burnes,  writer  to 
the  signet,  burgess  of  Montrose,  and  head  of  the  family  of 
which  I  am  now  writing,  were  brothers.     In  the  first  year 
of  the  century,  James  Bumes  married  a  daughter  of  Adam 
Crlegg,  chief  magistrate  of  Montrose,  and  in  due  course  had 
fourteen  children,  nine  of  whom  lived  to  be  adults.     Of 
these  nine  children  the  four  eldest  were  sons.  The  first- 
bom  was  named  James,  after  his  father  5  the  second  Adam, 
after  his  maternal  grandfather  5  the  third  Robert  j  and  the 
fourth  Alexander,  after  whom  called  I  know  not,  but  there 
could  have  been  no  better  name  for  one  who  was  destined 
to  do  great  things  in  the  countries  watered  by  the  Indus 
and  bounded  by  the  Caucasian  range.     He  often  used  to 
say,  in  later  days,  that  he  found  his  name  a  help  to  him. 
[n  Afghanistan  he  was  always  known  as  '  Sekunder  Bumes,' 


4  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [i8a>-aa 

and  Sekunder  (Alexander)  has  been  a  great  name  in  that 
part  of  the  world  ever  since  the  great  days  of  the  Greek 
occupation. 

Mr  James  Bumes  was^  I  have  said^  a  burgess  of  Mont- 
rose. He  was  a  man  greatly  respected  by  the  townspeople^ 
both  for  his  integrity  and  ability^  and  he  came  to  be  provost 
of  the  borough,  and  recorder  or  town-clerk.  For  many 
years  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  local  politics  of  the  place, 
and  there  were  few  places  in  which  local  politics  occupied 
so  much  of  the  time  and  the  thoughts  of  the  good  people 
of  a  country  town.  The  influence  of  Provost  Bumes  was, 
of  course,  great  in  the  borough.  It  was  no  small  thing  for 
a  candidate  for  the  representation  of  Montrose  and  its 
dependencies  to  have  the  Bumes  interest  on  his  side.  He 
was  not  a  man  to  forsake  his  principles  for  gain  5  but  there 
was  no  reason  why,  with  four  stout  clever  boys  pressing 
forward  for  employment,  and  eager  to  make  their  fortunes, 
he  should  not  endeavour  to  turn  his  influence  to  good 
account  for  the  benefit  of  his  children.  He  was  very  useful 
to  Mr  Hume,  and  Mr  Hume,  in  turn,  was  well  disposed  to 
be  useful  to  the  family  of  Bumes.  In  truth,  the  tide  of 
liberal  politics  was  somewhat  high  and  heady  at  that  time ; 
and  even  the  children  of  the  worthy  burgess's  household 
were  no  indifferent  observers  of  passing  events,  but  had  their 
bursts  of  political  excitement  like  their  elders.  The  acquittal 
of  Queen  Caroline  produced  as  great  a  fervour  of  exultation 
in  that  distant  seaport  town  as  it  did  in  Westminster  or 
Hanunersmith  5  and  one  of  the  Bumes  boys,  who  had  at  a 
verv  early  age  habituated  himself  to  keep  a  diary,  then 


i8ao.]      EARLY  DA  YS  OF  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  5 

recorded  in  its  pages :  '  November  14,  1820.  News  came 
of  the  rejection  by  the  House  of  Lords  of  the  Bill  of  Pains 
and  Penalties  against  the  Queen.  No  schooling  on  account 
of  it  •  •  •  November  15.  A  most  brilliant  illumination 
took  place  in  Montrose  and  the  surrounding  neighbourhood, 
on  account  of  the  glorious  triumph  the  Queen  had  obtained 
over  her  base  and  abominable  accusers.  Many  devices  were 
exhibited,  one  in  the  Town-haU  with  a  green  bag  all  tat- 
tered and  torn  5  in  another  window,  a  figure  of  the  Queen, 
ymth  the  word  ''  Triumphant,"  and  above  it  ''C.  R."  The 
display  of  fireworks  was  unlimited.  Two  boats  were  burn- 
ed, and  some  tar-barrels,  and  upon  the  whole  it  did  great 
credit  to  Montrose.* 

The  vmter  of  this  journal  was  Alexander  Bumes,  the 
third  surviving  son,  then  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  a  student 
in  the  Montrose  Academy,  the  head-master  of  which,  Mr 
Calvert,  had  something  more  than  a  local  reputation  as  a 
distinguished  classical  scholar  and  a  highly  successfiil  teacher 
— ^as  men  taught  in  those  da)'s  with  the  book  in  one  hand 
and  the  scourge  in  the  other.  He  was  a  clever,  in  some 
respects,  perhaps,  a  precocious  boy ;  and  had  learnt  as  much 
in  the  way,  bom  of  classics  and  of  mathematics,  as  most  pro- 
mising striplings  of  his  age.  He  had  read,  too,  some  books 
of  history,  and  a  few  of  the  masterpieces  of  English  poetry. 
He  belonged  to  a  debating  society,  and  was  not  altogether 
unskilled  in  disputation.  Like  other  high-spirited  boys,  he 
had  taken  part  in  conflicts  of  a  more  dangerous  character 
than  mere  conflicts  of  words,  and  fought  some  hard  battles 
with  the  boys  of  the  town.     Altogether,  though  not  to  be 


6  5/i?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1820. 

accounted  a  prodigy,  he  was  a  youth  of  high  spirit  and  good 
promise,  and  had  in  him  some  of  the  stuff  of  which  heroes 
are  made. 

But  I  can  find  nothing  in  the  record  of  Alexander 
Bumes*s  early  life  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  bent 
of  his  mind  towards  foreign  travel  was  then  in  any  way  dis- 
cernible. What  httle  I  can  find  in  his  papers  rather  bean* 
the  other  way.  I  have  before  me  a  collection,  in  his  own 
f^Titing,  of  the  speeches  he  delivered  at  the  '  Montrose 
J  uvenile  Debating  Society,*  the  thesis  of  one  of  which  (pro- 
posed by  himself)  is, '  Whether  reading  or  travelling  is  most 
advantageous  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  ?  *  To  this 
the  'juvenile  debater  *  replied  :  *  My  opinion  on  the  present 
subject  is,  that  reading  is  the  most  advantageous  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge.'  And  then  he  proceeded  to  illus- 
trate this  opinion,  by  reading  to  the  meeting  an  interesting 
extract  from  the  recently  published  travels  of  the  African 
traveller,  Belzoni.  Having  done  this,  he  said  :  '  Now,  to 
have  it  in  our  power  to  amuse  ourselves  any  night  we  please 
with  the  book  which  contains  all  these  disasters,  without 
the  labour  which  has  been  encountered,  shows  in  the 
clearest  light  the  advantages  derived  from  that  most  delight- 
ful and  pleasing  amusement,  reading.*  This  is  charmingly 
illogical.  The  young  debater  forgot,  in  his  enthusiastic  ad- 
miration of  the  book  that  had  given  him  so  much  pleasure, 
that  there  could  have  been  no  '  reading  *  in  this  case  if 
there  had  been  no  '  travelling.*  Certainly  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  cite  a  more  unfortunate  illustration  of  the 
views  of  the  juvenile  speaker.  It  is  possible  that  when,  in 
ifter  life,  he  came  to  gather  up  his  ideas  a  little  more  com- 


f  820— 91. j  EARL  Y  DA  YS. 


pactly^  he  bethought  himself  of  the  mistake  he  had  made^ 
and  remembered  that  it  is  an  essential  condition  to  the 
*  acquisition  of  knowledge  *  from  books  of  travel  like  Bel- 
zoni*s^  that  there  should  be  Belzonis  to  write  them. 

Neither,  indeed,  is  there  anything  to  indicate  that  the 
desires  of  yoimg  Alexander  Bumes  at  that  time  turned 
towards  a  life  of  military  adventure  in  the  eastern  or  the 
western  worlds.  Of  the  hundreds  of  cadets  who  year  after 
year  went  out  to  India  at  that  time  in  the  service  of  the 
East  India  Company,  only  an  exceptional  few  were  moved 
by  any  impulses  of  their  own  to  enter  the  Indian  army. 
The  choice  was  commonly  made  for  them  as  a  matter  of 
convenience  by  their  parents  or  guardians ;  and  the  case  of 
Alexander  Bumes  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The 
success  of  Mr  Hume  was  that  which  decided  the  choice  of 
the  worthy  burgess  of  Montrose,  for  it  afforded  at  once  a 
great  encouragement  and  a  material  aid.  The  eldest  hope 
of  the  Burnes  family,  James,  was  destined  for  the  medical 
service — that  service  in  which  Mr  Hume  had  so  rapidly 
made  a  fortune — and  was  pursuing  his  studies  in  London, 
with  a  view  to  an  Indian  career.  Adam,  the  second,  was 
training  for  the  law  in  his  native  burgh.  And  Alexander, 
-by  the  assistance  of  Mr  Himie,  was  to  be  provided  with  a 
cadetship,  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  take  up  the  ap- 
pointment. When,  therefore,  the  young  student  was  within 
a  few  weeks  from  the  completion  of  his  sixteenth  year,  he 
was  sent  up  to  London  in  a  Dundee  smack  j  and  having 
arrived  there  on  the  14th  of  March,  1821,  he  was  on  the 
following  day  introduced  by  Mr  Hume  to  Mr  Stanley 
Clerk,  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Directors,  and  was  told 


8  Sm  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [iSai. 


that  his  name  had  been  duly  entered  for  a  cadetship  of  in- 
fantry on  the  establishment  of  Bombay.  He  spent  two 
months  in  Liondon^  studying  \mder  the  well-known  Oriental 
professor,  Dr  Gilchrist,  and  watched  over  by  Mr  Joseph 
Hume,  who  gave  him  good  advice  of  all  kinds,  and  acted 
as  his  banker  \  and  then  on  the  i6th  of  May — ^his  birthday 
— he  attended  at  the  India  House  and  formally  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance. 


It  was  a  matter  of  pleasant  family  arrangement  that  the 
eldest  brother,  James  Burnes,  who  had  been  appointed  an 
assistant-surgeon  on  the  Bombay  establishment,  should  sail 
in  the  same  vessel  with  Alexander  5  so  they  embarked 
together,  early  in  June,  on  board  the  good  ship  Sarah,  Of 
this  voyage  there  are  abundant  records  in  the  young  cadet's 
journal,  many  passages  of  which  exhibit  considerable  discern- 
ment of  character,  and  no  slight  powers  of  description.  But 
it  must  suffice  here  to  state  that,  after  an  vmeventfiil  voyage, 
the  Sarah  arrived  at  her  destination,  and  that,  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1821,  these  two  young  Montrosians  found  them- 
selves on  the  beach  of  Bombay,  with  very  little  money  in 
their  pockets,  and  with  very  slender  interest  j  but  with  stout 
hearts;  clear  heads,  and  that  determination  to  make  for  them- 
selves careers  in  the  public  service  which,  in  the  days  of  the 
East  India  Company,  carried  so  many  members  of  our 
middle  classes  in  India  straight  on  to  fortune  and  to  fame. 

The  brothers  were  soon  separated.  On  the  13  th  of 
November,  James  Burnes  was  gazetted  to  do  duty  as  an 
assistant-surgeon  with  the  Artillery  at  Maloongah.     Four 


x32r.]  FiRST  YEAR  IN  INDIA, 


days  before  this>  Alexander*8  name  had  appeared  in  Greuera^ 
Orders,  by  which  he  was  posted  to  do  duty  with  the  ist  Bat- 
talion of  the  3rd  Regiment  of  Native  Infantry  at  Bombay. 
On  the  19th,  he  recorded  in  his  journal  that  he  had  '  com- 
menced his  military  career,*  and  appeared  on  parade.    From 
that  day  he  made  steady  progress  in  his  profession.     He 
applied  himself  sedulously  to  the  cultivation  of  the  native 
languages.     He  had  continued  on  board  ship  the  studies 
which  he  had  commenced  under  Dr  Gilchrist  in  London, 
and  now  he  supplemented  his  literary  pursuits  by  making 
and  steadily  adhering  to  the  rule,  to  converse  with  his  native 
servants  only  in  Hindostanee  5  and  on  the  8th  of  December 
he  wrote  in  his  journal :  '  Ever  since  I  ordered  my  servants 
to  address  me  in  Hindostanee  I  find  my  improvement  very 
great,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  there  is  no  method  more 
effectual  in  acquiring  the  language  than  the  one  I  am  at 
present  pursuing,  for  it  unites  the  theoretical  and  the  prac- 
tical.    Having  migrated  from  my  own  country,  and  being 
rather  of  a  curious  and  searching  disposition,  I  have  begun 
to  gain   as   much  information  concerning  the  manners, 
customs,  laws,  and  religions  of  this  people — a  study  not 
only  amusing  and  interesting,  but  highly  instructive;  for 
what  is  it  that  makes  a  man,  but  a  knowledge  of  men  and 
manners  ?  *     There  was  nothing  which  a  man  might  not 
achieve  in  India,  who  thus  set  himself  to  work  in  the  right 
way.     There  was  proof  of  this  even  then  before  the  young 
'  unposted  ensign.'     He  had  carried  out  with  him,  as  most 
young  men  carry  out,  letters  ol  introduction  to  the  Governor 
and  other  influential  people  of  the  Presidency.    The  Go- 
vernor at  that  time  was  Mr  Mountstuart  Elphinstone,  whose 


lo  Sm  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1821. 


kindness  and  affability  of  manner  won  the  heart  of  the  young 
soldier  at  once.    'The  Governor/  he  wrote  home  to  his 
family  at  Montrose,  '  received  us  with  great  politeness,  and 
invited  us  to  the  most  splendid  filte  I  had  ever  beheld,  and 
did  not  behave  in  a  "  How  do  ?  '*  manner,  but  was  extremely 
affable  and  polite,  which,  among  a  party  of  a  hundred,  and 
for  the  most  part  generals  and  great  men,  was  a  great  deal. 
...  A  few  weeks  ago  a  grand  public  ball  was  given  to  Sir 
John  Malcolm,  on  his  leaving  India,*  to  which  I  had  the 
honour  of  receiving  an  invitation  j  but  where  it  came  from 
I  know  not.     It  was,  if  anything,  grander  than  Mr  Elphin- 
stone*s  fSte,  and  held  in  a  house  built  for  the  purpose,  about 
the  size  of  the  old  Council  House  at  Montrose,  illuminated 
with  lamps  fi*om  top  to  bottom.*     There  must  have  been 
something  in  all  this  greatly  to  inspire  and  encourage  the 
young  Scotch  subaltern,  for  Malcolm  himself  had  risen 
from  the  same  small  beginning,  and  now  his  name  was  in 
every  man*s  mouth,  and  all  were  delighted  to  do  him 
honour.     What  might  not  any  young  Scot,  with  the  right 
stuff  in  him,  do  in  India  ?     In  all  directions  there  was  en- 
couragement and  assurances  not  likely  to  be  thrown  away 
upon  a  youth  of  young  Burnes*s  lively  imagination.     A 
Montrose  man  had  sent  him  out  to  India  j  an  Edinburgh 
man  was  now  at  the  head  of  the  Government  of  Bombay  j 
a  Glasgow  man  was  Governor  of  the  Madras  Presidency  j 
and  now  the  son  of  an  Eskdale  farmer  was  receiving  the 
plaudits  of  all  classes  of  his  countrymen,  and  returning  for 
a  while  to  his   native  land,  a  successful  soldier  and   a 
successful  statesman,  amidst  a  whirl   of  popularity  that 
*  See  ante^  Memoir  of  Sir  John  Malcolm,  vol  i.  page  304. 


i82i-a2.]  FIRST  YEAR  IN  INDIA,  u 


might  have  fully  satisfied  the  desires  of  the  most  ambitious 
hero  in  the  world. 

But  to  yoimg  Alexander  Bumes  the  encouragements  of 
the  future  were  not  greater  than  the  consolations  of  the 
present.  'I  like  the  coimtry  amazingly,*  he  wrote  to 
Montrose,  'and  as  yet  am  not  at  all  desirous  of  a  return  to 
my  own  land.  Here  I  have  everything  to  be  wished  for — 
plenty  of  time  to  myself,  a  gentlemanly  commanding 
officer,  and  several  very  pleasant  brother-officers.*  But  he 
added,  for  thoughts  of  home  were  still  pulling  at  his  heart, 
'  how  dearly  should  I  like  to  see  little  Charley  or  Cecilia 
trudging  into  my  canvas  abode — ^but,  ah !  that  is  far  beyond 
probability.  However,  I  may  yet  see  Charley  in  India,  for 
he  seems  a  boy  made  for  it.* 

Thoughts  of  active  service  soon  began  to  stir  his  mind. 
There  was  a  prospect  of  a  war  with  China,  and  the  young 
soldier  was  eager  to  take  part  in  it.  'There  has  been  a 
most  dreadful  disturbance,'  he  wrote  to  his  parents,  on  the 
30th  of  April,  1822, '  between  the  powers  of  China  and  the 
East  India  Company  within  these  few  months  5  so  all  trade 
between  these  countries  is  now  at  a  stop,  and  nothing 
seems  more  inevitable  than  war,  for  it  is  in  everybody's 
mouth,  and  every  person  is  anxious  to  go.  I  hope  I  may 
be  sent.  If  I  am  not  sent  along  with  my  regiment,  I  shall 
certainly  volunteer  5  for  if  a  man  does  not  push  on  he  will 
never  see  service,  and,  of  course,  will  never  be  an  officer 
worth  anything.  What  will  the  poor  old  maids  of  Montrose 
do  for  want  of  tea  ?  *  But  the  excitement  passed  away. 
There  was  no  war.  And  so  young  Alexander  Burnes  fell 
back  peacefiilly  on  his  Oriental  studies,  and  with  such  good 


18  5/i?  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [x8aa 

success,  that  at  the  beginning  of  May,  1822,  he  went  up 
for  an  examination  in  Hindostanee,  and  found  that  he 
passed  for  an  interpretership.  'I  was  so  delighted,*  he 
wrote  in  his  journal, '  that  I  could  scarcely  contain  myself.* 
A  fortnight  before,  he  had  been  posted  to  the  2nd  Battalion 
of  the  nth  Regiment  of  Native  Infantry,  but  as  the  inter- 
pretership of  that  regiment  was  not  vacant,  he  applied, 
without  success,  to  be  removed  to  another  corps.  Any  dis- 
appointment, however,  which  he  might  have  felt  about  this 
was  soon  removed  by  the  necessities  of  action  j  for  a  few 
days  afterwards  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  Poonah,  which 
a  few  years  before  had  been  the  capital  of  the  Peishwah, 
and  was  still  in  the  bloom  of  its  historical  associations.  It 
was  with  no  common  interest  that  he  repeatedly  visited  ,the 
battle-field  of  Khirkee.  '  The  plain  where  the  cavalry  of 
the  Peishwah  charged  I  galloped  over,*  he  wrote  in  his 
journal, '  and  I  can  scarcely  imagine  a  better  place  for  cavalry 
to  act  than  this,-  for  scarcely  a  nullah  intersects  it.'  * 

The  time  passed  very  pleasantly  at  Poonah.  '  It  is  a 
most  delightftd  place,*  he  wrote, '  and  I  like  the  Deccan 
amazingly.  I  have  joined  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the  nth 
Bomba>  Native  Infantry,  which  in  point  of  discipline  is  not 
surpassed  by  any  regiment  in  the  service.  ...  In  point  of 
officers  there  was  never,  perhaps,  a  more  gentlemanly  and 
pleasant  set  of  men  assembled  together  in  an  Indian  Native 
CJorps — ^in  a  word,  I  have  got  into  a  regiment  that  delights 
me,  and  naturally  makes  my  time  pass  delightfiiUy.  .  .  .* 
Governor  Elphinstone  was  then  at  Poonah,  contributing  by 
his  hospitalities  to  the  general  happiness,  and  stimulating 

*  See  anUf  Memoir  of  Mountstuart  Elphinstone^  vol.  L 


iSaa— 33.]  AT  POONAH.  13 

the  youth  of  the  station,  by  his  example,  to  deeds  of  heroic 
sportsmanship.  Here  yoimg  Bumes  fleshed  his  maiden 
spear  during  a  hog-hunt  of  three  days*  duration.  Here,  too, 
he  began  the  study  of  the  Persian  language.  '  I  have  been 
strenuously  advised  to  begin  Persian,*  he  wrote  to  his  friends 
at  Montrose, '  as  it  will  improve  my  Hindostanee,  and,  per- 
haps, add  greatly  to  my  future  prospects  in  India ;  so  I 
have  commenced  it.'  And  he  prosecuted  the  study  with 
such  good  effect,  that,  after  a  few  months,  he  was  able  to 
derive  intense  gratification  from  the  perusal  of  the  Persian 
poets.  Before  the  end  of  the  month  of  September  he  thus 
pleasantly  reported  his  progress :  '  My  bedroom  is  small, 
and  brings  often  to  my  recollection  my  old  little  closet  in 
the  passage,  for  as  it  is  my  study  I  spend  a  great  deal  of 
time  in  it,  and  have  managed  to  scribble  pieces  of  poetry  on 
its  walls  also  5  but  they  are  now  of  a  different  language, 
for  I  have  got  quite  enamoured  of  Persian  poetry,  which  is 
really,  for  sound  and  everything,  like  a  beautifid  song — 
instead  of  Lallah  Rookh  in  the  English,  I  have  got  a  Lai- 
lah  Rookh  in  the  Persian — at  least  a  much  more  beautiful 
poem.* 

In  December  the  regiment  quitted  Poonah  en  route  for 
Surat.  At  Bombay,  where  they  halted,  Alexander  Bumes 
again  made  a  push  for  an  interpretership,  and  this  time 
with  good  success;  for  on  the  7th  of  January,  1823,  his 
name  appeared  in  General  Orders,  gazetted  as  interpreter 
of  the  1st  £xtra  Battalion,  which  happened  to  be  posted  at 
Surat.  He  was,  with  one  exception,  the  only  ensign  in  the 
Bombay  Army  who  held  such  an  appointment.  This  was 
great  promotion  3   but  in  the  following  year  a  brighter 


14  S/If  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1833. 


prospect  still  expanded  before  the  young  soldier.  On  the 
general  reorganization  of  the  army,  by  which  each  battalion 
was  converted  into  a  separate  regiment,  with  a  separate 
regimental  statF,  Lieutenant  Bumes,  then  little  more  than 
eighteen  years  old,  was  offered  the  regimental  adjutancy. 
The  offer  excited  him  greatly,  and  he  wrote  :  '  Behold  your 
son  Alexander  the  most  fortunate  man  on  earth  for  his 
years!  Behold  him  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  Burnes  of 
the  2ist  Regiment,  on  an  allowance  of  from  five  hundred 
to  six  hundred  rupees  a  month.'  The  appointment  had 
been  offered  to  him  by  his  friend  Colonel  Campbell.  '  He 
did  not  think,'  wrote  Burnes  to  Montrose,  '  that  I  would 
accept  the  situation,  for  my  life  in  India  has  been  so  much 
devoted  to  study,  that  he  conceived,  and  correctly  too,  that 
I  was  aiming  at  some  political  situation.  I  soon  unde- 
ceived him,  by  telling  him  that  I  found  my  abilities  greatly 
turned  to  that  direction,  but  that,  nevertheless,  I  was  ready 
for  anything  else.  .  .  .  No  man  in  his  sound  senses  would 
refuse  a  situation  of  fifty  or  sixty  guineas  a  month.*  * 
The  breaking  up  of  the  old  regiment  was,  however,  a  source 
of  no  little  grief  to  him,  and  a  like  feeling  prevailed  among 
all  the  best  officers  in  the  army.  '  I  could  little  tolerate 
this,*  said  Burnes,  'for  I  had  become  in  a  great  degree 
attached  to  the  men  5  but  I  less  regretted  it  as  my  brother- 
officers  were  all  to  accompany  me.'  This  re-organization 
gave  a  blow  to  the  discipline  of  the  whole  army,  from 
which  it  never  recovered. 

*  In  this  letter  Alexander  Burnes  again  urged  his  father  to  send 
out  his  brother  Charles  in  the  army,  and  undertook  to  guarantee  th^ 
payment  of  all  expenses. 


1823.]  STUDYING  THE  LANGUAGES.  15 

From  the  journals  which  he  kept  in  this  year,  a  lively 
impression  may  be  gained  of  the  young  soldier*s  state  of 
mind.  A  conviction  was  growing  upon  him  that,  notwith- 
standing early  backwardness,  there  was  some  good  cultivable 
ground  in  his  nature,  and  that  some  day  he  would  make 
for  himself  a  name.  He  had  conceived  a  desire  to  visit  other 
Eastern  countries,  and  was  assiduously  studying  their  lan- 
guages. Like  many  others  at  that  dangerous  period  of 
dawning  manhood,  he  was  haunted  with  strange  doubts 
concerning  both  his  material  and  spiritual  being,  and  fancied 
that  he  was  doomed  to  die  young  and  to  lapse  into  unbelief. 
There  are  few  earnest  inquiring  minds  that  have  not  been 
subjected  to  that  early  blight  of  scepticism-  A  few  passages 
from  his  diary  will  illustrate  all  these  mental  and  moral 
phases.  '  July  24.  ...  I  find  it  frequently  the  case  that 
dull,  or  rather  middling,  boys  at  school  shine  more  in  the 
woilt  than  those  who  are  always  at  the  head,  and  exquisite 

scholars I  am  the  only  illiterate  man  in  my  family 

— all  professions  but  me.  Never  mind — quite  content. 
A  soldier's  life  permits  of  much  spare  time,  which  I  am 
improving.*  '  September  2.  I  reckon  three  years  more 
will  make  me  a  Persian  scholar,  and  five  more  will  give  me 
a  tolerable  knowledge  of  Arabic.  Before  many  more 
months  elapse,  I  purpose  making  a  visit  to  Persia,  and,  if 
possible,  Arabia  5  that  is  to  say,  if  my  circumstances  will 
allow,  as  I  feel  confident  of  remaining  amongst  the  in- 
ferior class  of  linguists  if  I  do  not  go  to  the  country.* 
'  September  3.  I  have  been  ruminating  on  the  probability 
of  accomplishing  the  above  project,  and  if  I  continue  saving 
Jo  rupees  a  month,  as  I  do  at  present,  I  may  in  time  ac- 


i6  S//e  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  '        . 

cumulate  something  5  but  it  is  so  expensive  studying,  that 

that    keeps   me   from    saving    what    I    ought I 

expect  to  reach  the  height  of  preferment  in  this  service, 
and   only  think  my  short  Hfe  will  hinder  me  from  it/ 

'  September  4 If  a  speedy  return  to  my   native 

land  (say  ten  years)  be  not  effected,  I  can  entertain 
little  hopes  of  living  to  an  aged  man.  In  constitution  I 
may  be  robust,  in  body  I  am  very  weak,  slender,  and  ill 
made,  and  if  it  be  true,  as  I  have  often  heard  them  say,  '*  I 
was  bom  before  my  time."  This  they  tell  me,  and  as  my 
grandfather's  house  was  the  place  of  my  birth,  I  begin  to 
think  so.  If  this  is  the  case^  it  accounts  for  my  shape. 
I  was  very  small  when  bom,  and,  indeed,  so  much  so,  that 
they  baptized  me  three  days  after  my  birth,  that  I  might 
not  die  nameless,  which,  according  to  superstitious  people, 
\&  bad.  I  am  different  from  all  around  me.  I  dislike  all 
gynmastic  and  athletic  exercises.  I  like  argument  much — 
^  jolly  party  only  now  and  then  5  much  study,  and  am  very 
partial  to  history,  but  dislike  novels  extremely,  even  Scott's. 
My  abilities  are  confined,  but  as  my  mind  expands  they 
seem  to  improve.  I  was  very  dull  at  school,  and  reckoned 
a  dolt.  I  ought  not  to  have  been  a  soldier,  although  I 
glory  in  the  profession,  for  I  am  too  fond  of  pen  and  ink.' 
'  September  21.  I  have  of  late  been  deeply  pondering  in 
my  own  mind  the  strange  opinions  I  begin  to  imbibe  about 

religion,  and  which  grow  stronger  every  day Would 

to  Grod  my  mind  were  settled  on  this  truly  important  sub- 
ject !  Could  I  be  convinced  fully  of  it,  I  would  not  believe 
in  a  future  state,  but  it  is  an  improbable  thing  to  imagine 
God  has  made  man  gifted  with  reason,  after  his  own  image. 


i84i41  REGIMENTAL  LIFE,  17 


and  yet  to  perish.  It  is  raadness  to  dream  of  it.  My  ideas 
may  be  very  barbarous,  but  I  do  not  see  that  a  man's  hap- 
piness can  be  increased  by  his  knowing  there  is  a  tribunal. 
....  I  lead  a  happy  life,  much  more  so  than  the  generality 
of  my  companions,  but  I  entertain  different  ideas  of  religion 
daily,  and  am  afraid  they  will  end  in  my  having  no  reli- 
gion at  all.  A  fatalist  I  am,  but  no  atheist.  No,  nor  even 
a  deist.  No — what  shall  I  call  it  ? — a  sceptical  blockhead, 
whose  head,  filled  with  its  own  vanities,  imagines  itself  more 
capable  than  it  is.*  '  October  16.  My  second  year  in  India 
being  now  on  the  eve  of  completion,  I  think  it  full  time  to 
remit  money  to  my  father  in  Europe  5  consequently  sent  a 
hoondee  to  Bombay  for  246  rupees  to  Messrs  R.  and  Co., 
which,  with  former  remittances,  makes  up  a  sum  somewhat 
short  of  a^jo.  This  I  have  desired  to  be  transmitted  home 
to  my  father  directly,  or  to  J.  Hume,  Esq.,  M.P.,  for  him. 
......  I  am  thinking  within  myself  how  very  grati- 
fying this  will  be  to  my  father,  who  could  not  certainly 
expect  much  from  me,  and  particularly  at  present,  when  I 
am  on  reduced  allowances.* 

The  power  of  gratifying  this  laudable  desire  to  remit 
money  to  his  family  in  England  was  well-nigh  checked  at 
the  outset  by  what  might  have  been  a  serious  misadventure, 
for  which  he  would  have  long  reproached  himself.  In 
those  days  there  was  still  a  good  deal  of  gambUng  in  the 
army,  and  in  a  luckless  hour  young  Burnes  was  induced  io 
play  at  hazard.  He  thus  records  the  incident  in  his  journal : 
'  October  17.  "I  have  lost  a  day.**  This  day  my  feelings 
were  put  more  to  the  test  than  any  other  day  during  my 

existence.     G.  and  H.  called  in  upon  me  in  the  morning, 
VOL.  II.  a 


i8  5/^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1823. 

and  as  we  are  all  very  fond  of  cards,  it  was  proposed  by  G. 
to  play  at  hazard.  I  declined,  on  the  plea,  first,  of  its 
being  daytime  5  and  secondly,  on  its  being  too  much  of  a 
gambling  game  for  me.  The  first  I  gave  up,  being  master 
of  the  house,  and  in  the  second  I  yielded,  provided  the 
stakes  were  low.  A  quarter  of  a  rupee  was  proposed,  and 
we  got  on  very  well  for  some  time,  till  G.,  beginning  to 
lose,  went  very  high.  This  induced  me  also.  I  lost  1500 
rupees,  and  it  was  on  the  increase  every  turn  up  of  the 
cards.  It  was  proposed  at  this  time  (it  being  past  the 
difiner-hour)  to  give  up  after  our  rounds.  H.  and  G. 
played,  and  I  reduced  it  to  about  800  rupees.  My  turn 
came,  and  I  lost.  I  was  upwards  of  1000  rupees  in  arrear. 
G.  proposed  once  more.  I  agreed.  I  gained  from  H. 
and  G.,  and  when  it  came  to  my  turn  I  owed  joo  rupees. 
I  dealt  out  the  cards.  G.  gave  me  a  card,  and  went  jo 
rupees  on  ten  cards  at  table,  and  lost  350  rupees.'  The 
upshot  of  the  game  was,  that  Burnes  regained  his  money, 
and  found  himself  with  a  balance  of  13  rupees  in  his  favour- 
But  he  had  won  much  more  than  this.  '  I  have  got  such 
a  moral  lesson,*  he  added,  '  that  I  never  intend  handling 
cards  at  a  round  game  for  some  time,  and  I  am  ashamed  of 
myself,  and  shall  ever  be  so.  ^'IVe  lost  a  day.**  I  could 
scarcely  place  the  cards  on  the  table,  I  got  so  nervous.  No 
wonder.  I  had  at  that  time  lost  my  pay  for  half  a  year.  Had 
I  lost  I  joo  rupees,  where  would  my  prospects  of  sending 
money  to  my  dear  father  have  been  ?  What  is  more  than 
all,  these  gamblings  derange  my  head  and  prevent  me 
bestowing  proper  attention  on  my  Persian  studies.* 

He  gambled  no  more  after  this,  but  continued  to  apply 


1824—25.]  ON  THE  GENERAL  STAFF,  19 


biniself  steady  V  to  the  study  of  the  native  languages  and 
to  his  military  duties ;  and  he  soon  made  rapid  progress  in 
his  profession.  In  1825  there  were  threatenings  of  war 
with  the  Ameers  of  Sindh.  There  had  been  a  repetition 
of  those  border  forays  which  might  have  resulted  in  the 
devastation  of  Cutch,  and  a  British  force  was  equipped  for 
the  coercion  of  the  marauders.  To  this  force  Alexander 
Burnes  was  attached  as  Persian  interpreter,  and  he  was 
afterwards  appointed  to  the  Quartermaster- (reneral's  de- 
partment, which  permanently  removed  him  from  the  sphere 
of  regimental  duty.  Writing  from  Bhooj  to  his  early  friend 
and  patron,  Joseph  Hume,  in  July,  1825,  he  gave  the 
following  account  of  his  condition  and  prospects  :  *  '  You 
must  yourself  be  well  acquainted  with  the  present  state  of 
India  to  the  eastward,  and  I  can  give  you  no  more  favour- 
able   accounts   regarding   the  Bombay   Presidency,  as    a 

*  This  letter  was  written  primarily  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  Sir  David  Ochterlony,  which  Mr  Hume 
had  sent  to  the  writer.  As  illustrative  of  a  passage  at  p.  593,  vol.  i. 
(Memoir  of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe),  the  following  may,  perhaps,  be 
read  with  interest :  *  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  letter  of 
August,  1824,  enclosing  one  to  Sir  David  Ochterlony,  and  beg  leave 
to  express  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  my 
behalfl  I  took  the  earliest  opportunity  to  forward  it  to  the  General, 
but  his  unfortunate  quarrel  with  the  Government  regarding  the 
propriety  of  reducing  Bhurtpore  has  given  him  enough  to  do,  and 
fully  accounts  for  no  answer  being  received.  Sir  David  is  much 
regretted,  and  -it  seems  to  be  the  general  opinion  that  it  was  a  very 
impolitic  measure  to  abandon  the  campaign  when  so  overwhelming 
an  army  was  encamped  before  the  fort.  Our  misfortunes  in  1805, 
when  under  the  walls  of  Bhurtpore,  are  still  fresh  in  the  recollection 
of  the  natives,  and  this  has  given  them,  if  possible,  additional  pre- 
sumption.' 


20  S/J?  ALEXANDER  BURXES.  W^i^ 

cessation  of  hostilities  at  Burmah  can  only  be  the  signal 
for  a  declaration  of  war  with  the  Ameers  of  Sindh,  our 
north-western  neighbours.  I  can,  perhaps,  inform  you  of 
some  particulars  which  may  prove  interesting  regarding 
this  and  the  adjacent  province  of  India.  About  four  or 
^\Q  years  ago  the  nobles  of  Cutch  called  in  the  British 
Government  to  assist  them  in  deposing  their  Rao  (King), 
who  had  rendered  himself  very  odious  by  the  most  wanton 
cruelty.  Their  request  met  with  the  approbation  of  our 
Government ;  the  Rao  was  deposed,  and  his  son  raised  to 
the  musnud,  with  a  Regency  of  five  persons,  of  which  the 
British  Resident  is  one.  A  subsidiary  force  of  two  regi- 
ments was  established,  and  the  Cutch  Durbar  agreed  to 
pay  half.  In  April,  1825,  a  body  of  marauders  invaded 
the  province  from  Sindh,  but  they  were  not  entirely  natives 
of  that  country,  many  of  the  discontented  of  this  province 
having  joined  them.  Be  it  sufficient  to  say  that  there  was 
little  or  no  doubt  of  their  having  received  great  support 
from  Sindh.  They  plundered  the  whole  of  the  country 
around  Bhooj,  and,  from  the  insufficiency  of  our  force, 
actually  cut  up  six  hundred  of  the  Rao*s  horse  within  four 
miles  of  camp.  There  being  little  doubt  but  that  Sindh 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  some  time  elapsed  before  any 
attempt  was  made  to  dislodge  them,  it  being  considered 
nrudent  to  wait  the  arrival  of  troops.  Another  native 
reg'ment  and  some  regular  cavalry  have  been  added  to  the 
brigade  j  and  Captain  Pottinger,  the  Resident,  has  just  told 
me  that  a  letter  has  arrived  from  our  agent  at  Hyderabad 
mentioning  tiie  march  of  a  division  of  the  Sindhian  army, 
chiefly  composed  of  Beloochees^  and  amounting  to  four  or 


x8as]  ON  THE  GENERAL  STAF:'\  21 

five  thousand  men,  and  every  hour  confirms  the  report.  A 
third  treaty  with  this  nation  may  be  patched  up,  but  a  war 
is  inevitable  ere  long,  and  the  want  of  officers  and  troops 

will  be  the  cause  of  much  expense  to  the  Company 

I  am  proud  to  say  that  the  same  good  fortune  which  I  had 
at  the  commencement  of  my  career  seems  still  to  attend 
me,  and  that  the  late  disturbances  in  Cutch  have  elevated 
me  from  the  regimental  to  the  general  Staff,  having  been 
appointed  Quartermaster  of  Brigade  to  the  Cutch  Field 
Force.  If  you  were  to  inquire  of  me  how  this  has  come 
about,  I  could  not  tell  you,  for  I  hardly  know  myself. 
The  Brigadier  of  the  station  (Colonel  Dyson)  sent  for  me 
while  I  was  acting  Adjutant  in  April  last,  and  asked  me  if 
I  would  become  his  interpreter  and  Staff,  vacating  my  own 
acting  appointment  under  the  hope  of  Government  con- 
firming his  nomination.  As  I  was  only  an  Acting  Adjutant, 
I  consented,  and  fortunately  I  am  confirmed  in  one  of  the 
appointments,  which  makes  my  pay  and  allowances  400 
rupees  a  month.  I  should  have  liked  the  interpretership, 
but  as  the  Staff  is  400  rupees  alone,  I  am  very  fortunate, 
and  have  every  probability  of  retaining  the  situation  for  a 
long  time,  although  it  is  only  styled  a  temporary  arrange- 
ment. If  Sindh  is  invaded,  an  officer  in  the  Quartermaster- 
GeneraFs  department  has  a  grand  field  opened  to  him. 
My  pecuniary  concerns  are  thus  in  a  very  thriving  way.  I 
have  already  sent  home  5^250,  and  have  more  at  my  com- 
mand. I  am  sS^oo  better  off  than  any  of  my  shipmates, 
whose  letters  of  credit  were  in  general  five  times  the 
amount  of  mine,  but  then  I  have  been  very  fortunate.  I 
am  not  indebted  in  any  way  to  the  Governor,  and  the 


22  5/i?  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1825. 


Commander-in-Chief  has  deprived  me  of  both  Quarter- 
mastership  and  Adjutancy,  when  recommended  both  times 
by  the  Commanding  Officer,  and  the  latter  time  by  a 
Lieutenant-Colonel  even.  I  must  confess  that  chance 
must  have  done  much  for  me  against  such  opposition,  but 
I  am  also  greatly  indebted  to  Colonel  Leighton,  who  has 
always  stood  by  me/ 

In  a  later  letter  the  story  is  thus  resumed  :  '  I  continued 
my  study  of  the  languages,*  he  wrote  to  an  old  schoolfellow 
in  the  West  Indies,  'and  mastered  the  Persian,  which 
brought  me  to  the  notice  of  Government,  and  I  was 
selected  from  the  army  to  be  Persian  interpreter  to  a  field 
force  of  eight  thousand  men,  under  orders  to  cross  the 
Indus  and  attack  the  territory  of  Sindh,  which  is  situated 

at  the  delta  of  that  great  river The  force  to  which 

I  was  attached  did  not  advance  5  the  campaign  terminated 
in  182J5  but  during  its  continuance  I  had,  in  the  absence 
of  other  duty,  devoted  my  time  to  surveying  and  geography, 
and  produced  a  map  of  an  unknown  track,  for  which  Go- 
vernment rewarded  me  by  an  appointment  to  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Quartermaster-General — the  most  enviable 
line  in  the  service.  It  removed  me  for  good  and  all, 
before  I  had  been  four  years  in  the  service,  from  every 
sort  of  regimental  duty.  I  advanced  in  this  department 
step  by  step,  and  was  honoured  by  the  approbation  of  my 
superiors.  In  1828  they  raised  me  to  be  Assistant-Quarter- 
master-General of  the  Army,  and  transferred  me  to  head- 
quarters at  Bombay,  on  a  salary  of  eight  hundred  rupees  a 
month.  There  I  met  Sir  John  Malcolm,  of  whom  you 
may  have  heard.     I  knew  him  not,  but  I  volunteered  tci 


1825—29.]    IN  THE  POLITICAL  DEPARTMENT.  23 

explore  the  Indus  from  where  it  is  joined  by  the  Punjab 
down  to  the  ocean,  and  thus  delighted  the  men  in  author- 
ity. I  started  at  the  end  of  1829  on  this  hazardous  under- 
taking, and  after  I  had  got  half  through  it,  was  recalled 
by  Lord  Bentinck,  as  it  would  have  involved  political 
difficulties  at  the  moment.  I  did,  however,  so  much,  that 
I  blush  to  sound  my  own  praises.  The  substantial  part  of 
them  is,  that  they  have  removed  me  entirely  to  the  diplo- 
matic line,  as  assistant  to  the  Resident  in  Cutch,  which  is 
a  foreign  state,  in  alliance  with  the  British,  close  on  the 
Indus.  It  is  difficult  to  draw  a  parallel  between  European 
and  Indian  situations  \  but,  if  one  is  to  be  made,  I  am  what 
is  called  Secretary  of  Legation,  and  on  the  high  road, 
though  I  say  it  myself,  to  office,  emolument,  and  honour. 
I  have  now  briefly  sketched  out  my  career.  My  pursuits 
are  purely  literary,  and  confined  to  investigating  the  anti- 
quities of  Asia  and  the  wonders  of  this  people.  I  have 
been  tracing  the  magnanimous  Alexander  on  his  Quixotic 
journey  to  these  lands  5  and  I  shall  set  out  at  the  end  of 
1830  to  traverse  further  regions,  which  have  been  untrod- 
den since  the  Greeks  of  Macedon  followed  their  leader. 
Being  an  accredited  agent  of  the  Government,  I  have  their 
support  in  all  these  wanderings  5  so  you  see  that  I  have 
hung  the  sword  in  the  hall,  and  entered  the  Cabinet  as  a 

civilian My  great  ambition,*  he  said,  '  is  to  travel. 

I  am  laying  by  a  few  spare  rupees  to  feed  my  innocent 
wishes,  and  could  I  but  have  a  companion  like  you,  how 
doubly  joyous  would  I  roam  among  the  ruins  of  the  capitol, 
the  relics  of  classic  Athens,  and  the  sombre  grandeur  of 
Egypt!     These,  and  all  the  countries  near  them,  are  in 


24  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1829—^ 

my  mind's  eye^  I  think,  I  dream  of  them  3  and  when  I 
journey  to  my  native  land,  my  route  will  traverse  them  aJl. 
I  purpose  landing  at  Berenice  on  the  Red  Sea,  and,  follow- 
ing the  Nile  in  its  course  across  from  classic  to  sacred 
lands,  cross  the  plains  of  Syria  and  Mount  Sinai  5  thence, 
by  Asia  Minor  to  the  Hellespont  and  Greece,  Italy,  and 
merry  France  5  and  last  of  all  to  my  native  Scotia.  I  have 
enough  of  the  good  things  of  this  life  to  start  on  this  pro- 
jected tour,  when  my  ten  years  of  service  are  out — that  is, 
on  the  31st  of  October,  18,31.* 

But  it  was  ordained  by  Providence  that  his  journeyings 
should  be  quite  in  a  different  direction.  In  the  early  part 
of  1830,  a  despatch  arrived  at  Bombay,  from  the  Board  of 
Control,  enclosing  a  letter  of  compliment  from  the  President, 
Lord  Ellenborough,  to  Runjeet  Singh,  the  great  ruler  of 
the  Punjab,  together  with  a  batch  of  horses  that  were  to  be 
forwarded  to  his  Highness  as  a  present  from  the  King  of 
England.  It  was  necessary  that  the  letter  and  the  horses 
shoidd  be  forwarded  to  Lahore,  under  the  charge  of  a  British 
officer.  Sir  John  Malcolm  was  at  this  time  Governor  of 
Bombay.  He  was  full  of  enterprise  and  enthusiasm  5  he 
had  himself  been  a  great  traveller ;  and  he  was  the  one  of 
all  others  to  appreciate  the  achievements  and  to  sympathize 
with  the  aspirations  of  such  a  man  as  Alexander  Bumes. 
He  accordingly  recommended  the  young  Bombay  Lieu- 
tenant for  this  important  duty,  and  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment readily  endorsed  the  recommendation.  But  although 
the  man  had  been  chosen,  and  chosen  wisely,  there  was 
much  discussion  respecting  the  manner  of  the  mission  and 
its  accompaniments,  and  very  considerable  official  delay. 


T830.]  MISSION  TO  LAHORE,  25 

*  It  is  part  of  Sir  John  Malcolm's  plan  for  the  prosecution 
of  my  journey/  wrote  Burnes  to  the  family  at  Montrose,  in 
September,  1830,  ^that  I  quit  Bombay  before  the  Govern- 
ment make  any  arrangements  for  my  voyage  up  the  Indus 
to  Lahore.*  In  these  days  we  know  every  foot  of  the  ground, 
and  such  a  journey  as  Burnes  was  about  to  undertake  belongs 
only  to  the  regions  of  common-place  5  but  when  Burnes,  at 
this  time,  wrote  about '  the  noble  prospects  which  awaited 
him  in  being  selected  for  a  delicate  and  hazardous  duty,*  he 
by  no  means  exaggerated  the  fact.  He  was  emphatically 
the  Pioneer,  and  he  had  to  cut  and  clear  his  way  through 
briary  difficulties  and  obstructions  which  have  long  since 
disappeared.  He  was  not  merely  sent  upon  a  complimentary 
mission  to  the  ruler  of  the  Punjab  5  he  was  directed  also  to 
explore  the  countries  on  the  Lower  Indus,  and  to  this  end 
he  was  intrusted  with  presents  to  the  Ameers  of  Sindh.* 

*  If  I  were  writing  history,  not  biography,  I  should  comment 
upon  the  error  of  this.  As  it  is,  I  cannot  resist  quoting  the  following 
from  a  minute  of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  recorded  in  October,  1830  : 

*  The  scheme  of  surveying  the  Indus,  under  the  pretence  of  sending 
a  present  to  Runjeet  Singh,  seems  to  me  highly  objectionable.  It  is 
a  trick,  in  my  opinion,  unworthy  of  our  Government,  which  cannot 
fail,  when  detected,  as  most  probably  it  will  be,  to  excite  the  jealousy 
and  indignation  6f  the  powers  on  whom  we  play  it.  It  is  just  such  a 
trick  as  we  are  often  falsely  suspected  and  accused  of  by  the  native 
Princes  of  India,  and  this  confirmation  of  their  suspicions,  generally 
unjust,  will  do  more  injury,  by  furnishing  the  ground  of  merited 
reproach,  than  any  advantage  to  be  gained  by  the  measure  can  com- 
pensate. It  is  not  impossible  that  it  may  lead  to  war.  I  hope  that 
so  unnecessary  and  ruinous  a  calamity  may  not  befall  us.  Yet,  as 
our  officers,  in  the  prosecution  of  their  clandestine  pursuits,  may 
meet  with  insult  or  ill  treatment,  which  we  may  choose  to  resent, 
that  result  is  possible,  however  much  to  be  deprecated.'  The  sagacity 


26  5/y?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1831. 


But  the  Ameers  were  mistrustful  of  our  designs.  They  be- 
lieved that  Burnes  had  come  to  spy  the  nakedness  of  the 
land.  With  all  the  clearness  of  prophecy,  they  saw  that 
for  the  English  to  explore  their  country,  was  some  day  for 
them  to  take  it.  So  they  threw  all  sorts  of  impediments 
in  the  way  of  Burnes*s  advance.  *  We  quitted  Cutch,*  he 
wrote  to  Sir  John  Malcolm,  'on  the  20th  of  January, 
183 1,  and  encountered  ever}'  imaginable  difficulty  and 
opposition  from  the  Ameers  of  Sindh.  They  first  drove 
us  forcibly  out  of  the  country.  On  a  second  attempt  they 
starved  us  out.  But  I  was  not  even  then  prepared  to  give 
up  hopes,  and  I  ultimately  gained  the  objects  of  pursuit  by 
protracted  negotiations,  and  voyaged  safely  and  successfully 
to  Lahore.*  After  he  had  once  entered  the  Punjab,  his 
journey,  indeed,  was  quite  an  ovation.  '  My  reception  in 
this  country,*  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  on  the  last  day  of 
July, '  has  been  such  as  was  to  be  expected  from  a  Prince 
who  has  had  so  high  an  honour  conferred  on  him  as  to 
receive  presents  from  our  gracious  Sovereign.  Immediately 
that  I  reached  his  frontier  he  sent  a  guard  of  horsemen  as 
an  honorary  escort,  and  announced  my  arrival  by  a  salute 
of  eleven  guns  from  the  walls  of  the  fortresses  I  passed. 
But  what  is  this  to  the  chief  of  Bahwulpore,  lower  down, 
who  came  all  the  way  to  Cutch  to  meet  me,  and  with 
whom  I  had  an  interview,  announced  by  eighty  guns  ? ' 
The  mission,  which  had  reached  Lahore  on  the  i8th  of 
July,  quitted  it  on  the  14th  of  August ;  and  Burnes  pro- 
of this  is  undeniable  ;  but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  Burnes  was  in  no 
degree  responsible  for  the  policy  here  denounced*  He  had  only  to 
execute  the  order  of  the  Government. 


1831.]       WITH  THE  GOV,'GENERAL  AT  SIMLAH.  27 

ceeded  to  Simlah,  to  give  an  account  of  his  embassy  in 
person  to  the  Govern or-Greneral,  who  was  then,  with  his 
secretaries,  residing  in  that  pleasant  and  salubrious  retreat. 

Lord  William  Bentinck  received  the  young  traveller 
with  characteristic  kindness,  and  listened  with  the  deepest 
interest  to  the  account  of  his  adventures.  He  listened  to 
the  account,  not  only  of  what  the  young  Bombay  Lieu- 
tenant had  done,  but  also  of  what  he  desired  to  do.  Before 
he  had  started  on  this  journey,  Burnes  had  cherished  in  his 
heart  the  project  of  a  still  grander  exploration — ^the  explor- 
ation which  was  eventually  to  achieve  for  him  fame  and 
fortime.  'I  have  a  vast  ambition,'  he  wrote  from  the 
banks  of  the  Jheelum  to  the  '  old  folks  at  home,*  '  to  cross 
the  Indus  and  Indian  Caucasus,  and  pass  by  the  route  of 
Balkh,  Bokhara,  and  Samarcand,  to  the  Aral  and  Caspian 
Seas,  to  Persia,  and  thence  to  return  by  sea  to  Bombay. 
All  this  depends  upon  circumstances  ^  but  I  suspect  that 
the  magnates  of  this  empire  will  wish  to  have  the  results  of 
my  present  journey  before  I  embark  upon  another.*  He 
was  right.  But,  having  communicated  the  results  of  this 
journey,  he  found  the  Cabinet  at  Simlah  well  prepared  to 
encourage  another  enterprise  of  the  same  character,  on  a 
grander  scale.  '  The  Home  Government,*  he  wrote  to  his 
sister,  on  the  23rd  of  September,  1831,  'have  got  fright- 
ened at  the  designs  of  Russia,  and  desired  that  some  intelli- 
gent officer  should  be  sent  to  acquire  information  in  the 
countries  bordering  on  the  Oxus  and  the  Caspian  j  and  I, 
knowing  nothing  of  all  this,  come  forward  and  volunteer 
precisely  for  what  they  want.  Lord  Bentinck  jumps  at  it, 
invites  me  to  come  and  talk  personally,  and  gives  me  com- 


23  S/I^  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1832. 

fort  in  a  letter.'  'I  quit  Loodhianah/  he  said,  a  few  weeks 
later,  'on  the  ist  of  January,  1832,  and  proceed  by  Lahore 
to  Attock,  Caubul,  Bameean,  Balkh,  Bokhara,  and  Khiva, 
to  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  from  thence  to  Astracan^  If  I 
can  but  conceal  my  designs  from  the  officers  of  the  Russian 
Government,  I  shall  pass  through  their  territory  to  England, 
and  visit  my  paternal  roof  in  the  Bow  Butts.* 


After  a  few  more  weeks  of  pleasant  sojourning  with  the 
vice-regal  court,  Alexander  Burnes  started  on  his  long  and 
hazardous  journey.  He  received  his  passports  at  Delhi 
two  days  before  Christmas,  and  on  the  3rd  of  January, 
£832,  crossed  the  British  frontiers,  and  shook  off  Western 
civilization.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  young  assistant- 
surgeon,  named  Gerard,  who  had  already  earned  for  him- 
self a  name  by  his  explorations  of  the  Himalayahs,  and  b) 
two  native  attaches, — the  one,  Mahomed  Ali,  in  the 
capacity  of  a  surveyor  5  the  other,  a  young  Cashmeree  Ma- 
homedan,  educated  at  Delhi,  named  Mohun  Lai,  who 
accompanied  him  as  moonshee,  or  secretary.  Traversing 
again  the  country  of  the  '  five  rivers,*  and  making  divers 
pleasant  and  profitable  explorations  'in  the  footsteps  of 
Alexander  the  Great,*  in  the  middle  of  March  the  travel- 
lers forded  the  Indus,  near  Attock,  took  leave  of  their  Sikh 
friends,  and  became  guests  of  the  Afghans.  There  were 
at  that  time  no  jealousies,  no  resentments,  between  the  two 
nations.  The  little  knowledge  that  they  had  of  us,  derived 
from  the  fast-fading  recollections  of  Mr  Elphinstone*8 
mission,  was  all  in  our  favour  5  and  we  in  our  turn  believed 


1832.]  CENTRAL-ASIAN  TEA  VELS.  29 

them  to  be  a  cheerful^  simple-minded,  kind-hearted,  hos- 
pitable people.  Along  the  whole  line  of  country,  from 
Peshawur  to  Caubul,  which  cannot  now  be  even  named 
amongst  us  without  a  shudder,  the  English  travellers  were 
welcomed  as  friends.  From  the  Afghan  capital,  Burnes 
wrote  on  the  loth  of  May,  1832,  to  his  mother:  'My 
journey  has  been  more  prosperous  than  my  most  sanguine 
expectations  could  have  anticipated  -,  and,  instead  of  jealousy 
and  suspicion,  we  have  hitherto  been  caressed  and  feasted 
by  the  chiefs  of  the  country.  I  thought  Peshawur  a  de- 
lightful place,  till  I  came  to  Caubid :  truly  this  is  a  Para- 
dise.' His  fine  animal  spirits  rose  beneath  the  genial 
influences  of  the  buoyant  bracing  climate  of  Afghanistan. 
How  happy  he  was  at  this  time — ^how  full  of  heart  and 
hope — may  be  gathered  from  such  of  his  letters  as  reached 
his  friends.  With  what  a  fine  gush  of  youthfid  enthusiasm^ 
writing  to  the  family  at  Montrose,  to  which  his  heart,  un- 
travelled,  was  ever  fondly  turning,  he  describes  his  travel- 
life  on  this  new  scene  of  adventure.  ' .  .  .  .  We  travel 
from  hence  in  ten  days  with  a  caravan,  and  shall  reach 
Bokhara  by  the  first  of  July If  the  road  from  Bok- 
hara to  the  Caspian  is  interrupted  by  war,  of  which  there 
is  a  chance,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  pass  into  Persia,  and  in  that 
event  must  bid  farewell  to  the  hope  of  seeing  you,  as  I 
must  return  to  India.  The  countries  north  of  the  Oxus 
are  at  present  in  a  tranquil  state,  and  I  do  not  despair  of 
reaching  Istamboul  in  safety.  They  may  seize  me  and  sell 
me  for  a  slave,  but  no  one  will  attack  me  for  my  riches. 
Never  was  there  a  more  humble  being  seen.  I  have  no 
tent,  no  chair  or  table,  no  bed,  and  my  clothes  altogether 


30  SIJ^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1832 


amount,  to  the  value  of  one  pound  sterling.  You  would 
disown  your  son  if  you  saw  him.  My  dress  is  purely 
Asiatic,  and  since  I  came  into  Caubul  has  been  changed  to 
that  of  the  lowest  orders  of  the  people.  My  head  is  shaved 
of  its  brown  locks,  and  my  beard,  dyed  black,  grieves — as 
the  Persian  poets  have  it — for  the  departed  beauty  of  youth. 
I  now  eat  my  meals  with  my  hands,  and  greasy  digits  they 
are,  though  I  must  say,  in  justification,  that  I  wash  before 

and  after  meals I  frequently  sleep  under  a  tree,  but 

if  a  villager  will  take  compassion  upon  me  I  enter  his  house. 
I  never  conceal  that  I  am  a  European,  and  I  have  as  yet 
found  the  character  advantageous  to  my  comfort.  I  might 
assume  all  the  habits  and  religion  of  the  Mahomedans, 
since  I  can  now  speak  Persian  as  my  own  language,  but  I 
should  have  less  liberty  and  less  enjoyment  in  an  assumed 
garb.  The  people  know  me  by  the  name  of  Sekundur, 
which  is  the  Persian  for  Alexander,  and  a  magnanimous 
name  it  is.  With  all  my  assumed  poverty,  I  have  a  bag  of 
ducats  round  my  waist,  and  bills  for  as  much  money  as  I 
choose  to  draw.  I  gird  my  loins,  and  tie  on  my  sword  on 
all  occasions,  though  I  freely  admit  I  would  make  more 
use  of  silver  and  gold  than  of  cold  steel.  When  I  go  into 
a  company,  I  put  my  hand  on  my  heart  and  say  with  all 
humility  to  the  master  of  the  house,  '^  Peace  be  unto  thee," 
according  to  custom,  and  then  I  squat  myself  down  on  the 
ground.  This  familiarity  has  given  me  an  insight  into  the 
character  of  the  people  which  I  never  otherwise  could  have 
acquired.  I  tell  them  about  steam-engines,  armies,  ships, 
medicine,  and  all  the  wonders  of  Europe,  and,  in  return,  they 
enlighten  me  regarding  the  customs  of  their  country,  its 


1832.]  FIRST  VISIT  TO  CAUBUL.  3^ 

history,  state  factions,  trade,  &c.,  I  all  the  time  appearing  in- 
different and  conversing  thereon  "pour  passer  le  temps/*  . '.  . 
The  people  of  this  country  are  kind-hearted  and  hospitable  j 
they  have  no  prejudices  against  a  Christian,  and  none  against 
our  nation.  When  they  ask  me  if  I  eat  pork,  I  of  course 
shudder,  and  say  that  it  is  only  outcasts  who  commit  such 

outrages.     God  forgive  me !  for  I  am  very  fond  of  bacon, 

• 

and  my  mouth  waters  as  I  write  the  word.  I  wish  I  had 
some  of  it  for  breakfast,  to  which  I  am  now  about  to  sit 
down.  At  present  I  am  living  with  a  most  amiable  man, 
a  Newab,  named  Jubbur  Khan,  brother  to  the  chief  of 
Caubul,  and  he  feeds  me  and  my  companion  daily.  They 
understand  gastronomy  pretty  well.  Our  breakfast  consists 
of  pill  aw  (rice  and  meat),  vegetables,  stews,  and  preserves, 
and  finishes  with  fruit,  of  which  there  is  yet  abundance, 
though  it  is  ten  months*  old.  Apples,  pears,  quinces,  and 
even  melons  are  preserved,  and  as  for  the  grapes,  they  are 
delicious.  They  are  kept  in  small  boxes  in  cotton,  and  are 
preserved  throughout  the  year.  Our  fare,  you  see,  is  not 
so  bad  as  our  garb,  and  like  a  holy  friar,  we  have  sackcloth 
outside,  but  better  things  to  line  the  inside.  We  have, 
however,  no  sack  or  good  wine,  for  I  am  too  much  of  a 

politician  to  drink  wine  in  a  Mahomedan  country 

I  am  well  mounted  on  a  good  horse,  in  case  I  should  find 
it  necessary  to  take  to  my  heels.  My  whole  baggage  on 
earth  goes  on  my  mule,  over  which  my  servant  sits  super- 
cargo 5  and  with  all  this  long  enumeration  of  my  condition, 
and  the  entire  sacrifice  of  all  the  comforts  of  civilized  life, 
I  never  was  in  better  spirits,  and  never  less  under  the  influ- 
ence of  ennui I   cannot   tell  you   how  my  heart 


32  S/I^  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1832. 

leaps,  to  see  all  the  trees  and  plants   of  my  native   land 
growing  around  me  in  this  country.* 

When  Burnes  and  his  companions  quitted  CaubuJ,  the 
Newab  Jubbur  Khan,  who  had  hospitably  entertained 
them,  and  had  endeavoured  to  persuade  them  to  protract 
their  sojourn  with  him,  made  every  possible  arrangement 
for  the  continuance  of  their  journey  in  safety  and  comfort, 
and  bade  them  '  God  speed  '  with  a  heavy  heart.  *  I  do 
not  think,*  said  Burnes,  '  I  ever  took  leave  of  an  Asiatic 
with  more  regret  than  I  left  this  worthy  man.  He  seemed 
to  live  for  every  one  but  himself.*  He  was  known  after- 
wards among  our  people  by  the  name  of  '  the  Good 
Newab  j*  and  the  humanity  of  his  nature  was  conspicuous 
to  the  last. 

Having  quitted  Caubul,  the  English  travellers  made 
their  way  to  the  foot  of  the  Hindoo-Koosh,  or  Indian  Cau- 
casus, and  traversed  that  stupendous  mountain-range  to 
Koondooz,  Kooloom,  and  Balkh.  This  was  the  route 
explored  by  those  unfortunate  travellers  Moorcroft  and 
Trebeck,  of  whom  Burnes  now  found  many  traces,  and 
whose  sad  history  he  was  enabled  to  verify  and  authenticate. 
It  was  a  relief  to  the  young  Englishman  to  find  himself  in 
the  territory  of  the  King  of  Bokhara,  whose  evil  reputation 
had  not  been  then  established.  '  As  we  were  now  in  the 
territories  of  a  king,*  he  naively  recorded  in  the  history  of 
his  journey,  '  we  could  tell  him  our  opinions,  though  it  had, 
perhaps,  been  more  prudent  to  keep  them  to  ourselves.* 

After  a  sojourn  of  three  days  at  Balkh,  which  had  many 
interesting  and  some  painful  associations,  for  it  had  been 
the  capital  of  the  ancient  Bactrian  kingdom,  and  a  little  wav 


x83a.]  A  T  BOKHARA.  33 

beyond  its  walls  was  the  grave  of  Moorcroft,  Burnes  and 
his  companions  made  their  way  to  the  city  of  Bokhara, 
which  they  reached  on  the  27  th  of  June.  There  they  re- 
sided for  a  space  of  nearly  four  weeks,  receiving  from  the 
Vizier  all  possible  kindness  and  hospitality.  ^Sekundur/ 
said  he  to  Burnes  on  his  departure,  '  I  have  sent  for  you  to 
ask  if  any  one  has  molested  you  in  this  city,  or  taken  money 
from  you  in  my  name,  and  if  you  leave  us  contented?  *  I 
replied  that  we  had  been  treated  as  honoured  guests,  that 
our  luggage  had  not  even  been  opened,  nor  our  property 
taxed,  and  that  I  should  ever  remember  with  the  deepest 
sense  of  gratitude  the  many  kindnesses  that  had  been  shown 

to  us  in  the  holy  Bokhara 1  quitted  this  worthy 

man  with  a  full  heart,  and  with  sincere  wishes  (which  I 
still  feel)  for  the  prosperity  of  this  country.*  The  Vizier 
gave  authoritative  instructions  to  the  conductors  of  the 
caravan  with  which  Burnes  was  to  travel,  and  to  a  Toorko- 
man  chief  who  was  to  accompany  it  with  an  escort,  to 
guard  the  lives  and  properties  of  the  Feringhees,  declaring 
that  he  would  root  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth  if  any 
accident  should  befall  the  travellers  3  and  the  Kixig  of 
Bokhara  gave  them  also  a  firman  of  protection  bearing  the 
royal  seal.  It  is  instructive  to  consider  all  this  with  the 
light  of  after-events  to  help  us  to  a  right  understanding  of 
its  significance. 

From  Bokhara  the  route  of  the  travellers  lay  across  the 
great  Toorkoman  desert  to  Merve  and  Meshed,  thence  to 
Astrabad  and  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  3  thence  to  Teheran, 
the  capital  of  the  dominions  of  the  Shah  of  Persia,  from 

which  point  Burnes  moved  down  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  toek 
VOL.  II,  3 


34  S/I^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1833. 

ship  there  to  Bombay,  and  afterwards  proceeded  to  Calcutta. 
The  stoiy  has  been  told  by  himself,  with  an  abundance  of 
pleasant  detail,  and  is  too  well  known  to  need  to  be  re- 
peated. Summing  up  the  whole,  he  says  of  it,  in  a  few 
striking  words,  'I  saw  everything,  both  ancient  and  modem, 
to  excite  the  interest  and  inflame  the  imagination — Bactria, 
Trans-Oxiana,  Scythia,  and  Parthia,  Kharasm,  Khorasan, 
and  Iran.  We  had  now  visited  all  these  countries  :  we  had 
retraced  the  greater  part  of  the  route  of  the  Macedonians  3 
trodden  the  kingdoms  of  Poms  and  Taxiles,  sailed  on  the 
Hydaspes,  crossed  the  Indian  Caucasus,  and  resided  in  the 
celebrated  city  of  Balkh,  from  which  Greek  monarchs,  far 
removed  from  the  academies  of  Corinth  and  Athens,  had 
once  disseminated  among  mankind  a  knowledge  of  the  arts' 
and  sciences  of  their  own  history,  and  the  world.  We  had 
beheld  the  scenes  of  Alexander's  wars,  of  the  rude  and 
savage  inroads  of  Jengis  and  Timour,  as  well  as  of  the 
campaigns  and  revelries  of  Baber,  as  given  in  the  delighful 
and  glowing  language  of  his  commentaries.  In  the  journey 
to  the  coast,  we  had  marched  on  the  very  line  of  route  by 
which  Alexander  had  pursued  Darius,  while  the  voyage  to 
India  took  us  on  the  coast  of  Mekran,  and  the  track  of  the 
Admiral  Nearchus.' 

At  Calcutta,  Alexander  Burnes  laid  before  the  Governor- 
General  an  account  of  his  journey,  accompanying  it  with 
much  grave  discourse  on  the  policy  which  it  was  expedient 
for  the  British  Government  to  pursue  towards  the  different 
states  which  he  had  visited.  The  result  was  exactly  what 
he  wished.  He  was  sent  home  to  communicate  to  the 
authorities  in  England  the  information  which  he  liad  ob- 


1833-]  HOMEWARD-BOUND.  35 


tained.  All  this  was  truly  delightful.  Never  in  the  midst 
of  his  wanderings  in  strange  places,  and  among  a  strange 
people,  had  he  forgotten  the  old  home  in  Montrose,  and 
the  familiar  faces  of  the  household  there  j  never  had  his 
heart  ceased  to  yearn  for  the  renewal  in  the  flesh  of  those > 
dear  old  family  associations.  He  liked  India  ^  he  loved  his 
work,  he  gloried  in  the  career  before  him  5  but  the  good 
home-feeling  was  ever  fresh  in  his  heart,  and  he  was  con- 
tinually thinking  of  what  was  said  and  thought  in  Mont- 
rose. And  in  most  of  our  Indian  heroes  this  good  home- 
feeling  was  kept  alive  to  the  last.  It  was  not  weariness  of 
India  J  it  was  not  a  hankering  after  England.  It  was 
simply  a  good  healthy  desire  to  revisit  the  scenes  of  one's 
youth,  to  see  again  the  faces  of  one's  kindred,  and  then, 
strengthened  and  refreshed,  to  return  with  better  heart  for 
one's  work. 


On  the  4th  of  November,  1833,  Burnes  landed  at  Dart- 
mouth, and  wrote  thence  to  his  mother  that  he  could 
scarcely  contain  himself  for  joy.  On  the  6th  he  was  in 
London,  with  his  brothers,  David  and  Charles  j  dining  in 
the  evening  with  the  Court  of  Directors,  who  had  oppor- 
tunely one  of  their  banquets  at  the  London  Tavern.  Before 
the  week  was  out,  he  was  in  a  whirl  of  social  excitement ; 
he  was  fast  becoming  a  lion — only  waiting,  indeed,  for  the 
commencement  of  the  London  season,  to  be  installed  as 
one  of  the  first  magnitude.  '  I  have  been  inundated  by 
visits,*  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  *  from  authors,  publishers, 
societies,  and  what  not.     I  am  requested  to  be  at  the  Geo- 


3T  S/ie  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1833. 

graphical  Society  this  evening,  but  I  defer  it  for  a  fortnight, 
when  I  am  to  have  a  night  to  myself.  .  .  .  All,  all  are 
kind  to  me.  I  am  a  perfect  wild  beast. — '^  There's  the 
traveller,**  "There*s  Mr  Burnes,"  "There's  the  Indus 
Burnes,*'  and  what  not  do  I  hear.  I  wish  I  could  hear 
you  and  my  father,  and  I  would  despise  all  other  compli- 
ments.' '  I  am  killed  with  honours  and  kindness,'  he  said, 
in  another  letter, '  and  it  is  a  more  painful  death  than  starv- 
ation among  the  Usbeks.'  In  all  this  there  was  no  exag- 
geration. The  magnates  of  the  land  were  contending  for 
the  privilege  of  a  little  conversation  with  '  Bokhara  Burnes.' 
Lord  Holland  was  eager  to  catch  him  for  Holland  House. 
Lord  Lansdowne  was  bent  upon  carrying  him  off  to  Bowood. 
Charles  Grant,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Control,  sent 
him  to  the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Grey,  who  had  long  con- 
fidential conferences  with  himj  and,  to  crown  all,  the 
King — ^William  the  Fourth — commanded  the  presence  of 
the  Bombay  Lieutenant  at  the  Brighton  Pavilion,  and  list- 
ened to  the  story  of  his  travels  and  the  exposition  of  his 
views  for  nearly  an  hour  and  a  half. 

The  account  of  the  interview,  as  recorded  in  his  journal, 
is  interesting  and  amusing :  '  Well,  I  have  been  an  hour 
and  twenty  minutes  with  William  the  Fourth,  and  eventful 
ones  they  have  been.  It  is  not  likely  that  I  shall  have 
many  interviews  with  royalty,  so  I  may  be  prolix  in  this, 
the  first  one.  From  the  Castle  Square  gate  I  was  taken  to 
Lord  Frederic  Fitzclarence,  who  led  me  to  the  Chinese 
Hall,  where  I  sat  for  twenty  minutes  till  the  King  transacted 
his  business  with  Sir  Herbert  Taylor.  "  Take  a  book,"  said 
Lord  Frederic,  "  from  the  shelf  and  amuse  yourself  j  "  and 


1833.]  INTERVIEW.  WITH  THE  KING,  37 

one  of  the  first  I  pulled  down,  was — what?     ^'Burnes' 
Justice."     This  was  ludicrous — ^was  it  but  justice  that   I 
should  see  the  King,  or  what  ?    "  Mr  Burnes,"  cried  a  page. 
I  passed  through  two  rooms ;  a  large  hall  was  thrown  open, 
and  I  stood,  hat  in  hand,  in  the  presence  of  King  William. 
"  How  do  you  do,  Mr  Burnes  ?  I  am  most  glad  to  see  you  ; 
come  arid  sit  down — ^take  a  chair — there,  sit  down,  take  a 
chair."     The  King  stood  but  I  sat,  as  compliance  is  polite- 
ness.    There  was  rio  bending  of  knees,  no  kissing  of  hand, 
no  ceremony  j  I  went  dressed  as  to  a  private  gentleman.    I 
expected  to  find  a  jolly-looking,  laughing  man,  instead  of 
which,  William  looks  grave,  old,  careworn,  and  tired.    His 
Majesty  immediately  began  on  my  travels,  and,  desiring  me 
to  wheel  round  a  table  for  him,  he  pulled  his  cjiair  and  sat 
down  by  mine.     Hereon  I  pulled  out  a  map,  and  said  that 
I  hoped  his  Majesty  would  permit  me  to  offer  the  explana- 
tion on  it.     I  began,  and  got  along  most  fluently.     I  told 
him  of  the  difficulties  in  Sindh,  the  reception  by  Runjeet, 
&c.,  but  William  the  Fourth  was  all  for  politics,  so  I  talked 
of  the  designs  of  Russia,  her  treaties,  intrigues,  agencies, 
ambassadors,  commerce,  &c.,  the  facilities,  the  obstacles 
regarding  the  advance  of  armies — I  flew  from  Lahore  to 
Caubul,  from  Caubul  to  Bokhara  and  the  Caspian,  and  I 
answered  a  hundred  questions  to  his  Majesty.     The  King 
then  got  up,  took  me  to  a  large  map,  and  made  me  go  over 
all  a  second  time,  and  turning  round  to  me,  asked  a  great 
deal  about  me  personally.     "  Where  were  you  educated  ?  " 
'fin  Scotland,  Sir.'*     '^What  is  your  age?"  ''Twenty- 
eight,  please  your  Majesty."     *'  Only  twenty-eight !   What 
rank  do  you  hold  ?  "  I  replied,  that  I  was  only  a  Lieutenant 


38  S/I?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1833. 

in  the  Army,  but  that  my  situation  was  political.     '*  Oh, 
that  I  know.     Really,  sir,'*  commenced  the  King,  "  you 
are  a  wonderful  man )  you  have  done  more  for  me  in  this 
hour  than  any  one  has  ever  been  able  to  do  5  you  have 
pointed   out   everything   to   me.     I    now  see   why   Lord 
William  Bentinck  places  confidence  in  you  j  I  had  heard 
that  you  were  an  able  man,  but  now  I  know  you  are  most 
able.     I  trust  in  God  that  your  life  may  be  spared,  that  our 
Eastern  Empire  may  benefit  by  the  talents  and  abilities 
which  you  possess.     You  arc  intrusted  with  fearful  inform- 
ation :  you  must  take  care  what  you  publish.     My  ministers 
have  been  speaking  of  you  to  me,  in  particular  Lord  Grey 
You  will  tell  his  Lordship  and  Mr  Grant  all  the  conversation 
you  have  had  with  me,  and  you  will  tell  them  what  I  think 
upon  the  ambition  of  Russia.  ...  I  think,  sir,  that  your 
suggestions  and  those  of  Lord  William  Bentinck  are  most 
profound  j  you  will  tell  Lord  William,  when  you  return  to 
India,  of  my  great  gratification  at  having  met  so  intelligent 
a  person  as  yourself,  and  my  satisfaction  at  his  Lordship's 
having  brought  these  matters  before  the  Cabinet.     Lord 
Grey  thinks  as  I  do,  that  you  have  come  home  on  a  mission 
of  primary   importance — second   only  to   the   politics   of 
Russia  and  Constantinople.  .  .  .  Lord  Grey  tells  me  that 
you  have  convinced  him  that  our  position  in  Russia  is  hope- 
less."    So  continued  King  William.     I  felt  quite  overcome 
with  his  compliments.     He  then  made  me  run  over  my 
early  services,  wondered  only  I  was  not  a  Lieutenant-Col- 
onel if  I  had  been  an  Assistant-Quartermaster-General, 
added  that  he  saw  sufficient  reason  for  employing  a  man  of 
my  talents  in  the  highest  situation,  and  again  hoped  tl\at  f- 


1833]  LITERARY  LABOURS.  39 

might  be  spared  for  my  country's  good.  I  replied  to  the 
King  that  I  considered  it  a  high  honour  to  have  had  such 
confidential  communication  with  his  Majesty.  He  stopped 
me,  and  said  that  "  I  have  been  quite  unreserved,  for  I  see 
and  know  you  deserve  it.  I  could  say  many  things  to  you,** 
&c.  &c.  I  have  no  more  time  to  write.  The  King  wore 
a  blue  coat  with  the  ribbon  of  the  Garter,  and  a  narrow  red 
ribbon  round  his  neck,  to  which  a  cross  was  suspended. 
*'  Good  morning,  sir  j  I  am  truly  happy  to  have  seen  you. 
You  don't  go  to  India  yet,**  &c.  &c.  I  took  my  departure, 
and,  while  threading  the  passages,  a  page  ran  after  me  by 
desire  of  the  King,  to  show  me  the  Palace  j  but  I  had 
seen  it.' 

He  was  now  hard  at  work  upon  his  book.     He  had 
written  many  lengthy  and  valuable  official  reports  j  but  he 
had  little  experience  of  literary  composition  for  a  larger 
public  than  that  of  a  bureaucracy,  and  he  was  wise  enough 
to  discern  that  the  path  to  popular  favour  must  be  very  cau- 
tiously trodden.     Mistrusting  his  own  critical  judgment,  he 
submitted  portions  of  his  work,  before  publication,  to  some 
more  experienced  fi*iends,  among  whom  were  Mr  James 
fiaillie  Fraser  and  Mr  Mountstuart  Elphinstone.     The  lat- 
ter, not  oblivious  of  his  own  early  throes  of  literary  labour, 
read  the  manuscript — painfully,  in  one  sense,  owing  to  the 
failure  of  his  sight,  but  with  the  greatest  interest  and  delight. 
'  I  never  read  anything,'  he  wrote  from  his  chambers  in  the 
Albany  to  Alexander  Bumes,  '  with  more  interest  and  plea- 
sure J  and  although  I  cannot  expect  that  every  reader  will  be 
as  much  delighted  as  I  have  been,  yet  I  shall  have  a  bad 
opinion  of  the  people's  taste  if  the  narrative  is  not  received 


40  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1833. 


with  general  favour.*  But  although  Mr  Elphinstone  be- 
stowed these  general  praises  on  the  work,  he  was  fain  to  do 
his  young  friend  good  service  by  honestly  criticizing  the 
work  in  detail.  '  I  have  made  my  remarks,'  he  wrote,  *  with 
the  utmost  freedom,  and  the  more  so,  because  I  hope  you 
will  not  pay  any  attention  to  them  when  unsupported,  but 
will  be  guided  by  the  opinion  of  people  who  know  the 
taste  of  this  town,  and  who  are  familiar  with  criticism  in 
general  literature.  I  must  premise  that  many  of  my  objec- 
tions are  founded  on  general  principles,  and  may,  therefore, 
often  be  brought  against  passages  which  in  themselves  may 
be  beautiful,  but  which  lack  the  general  effect  to  which 
you  ought  always  to  look.  The  first  of  these  principles  is, 
that  a  narrative  of  this  kind  should  be  in  the  highest  degree 
plain  and  simple.'  The  reader  who  has  perused  the  preced- 
ing Memoir  of  Mr  Elphinstone,  may  remember  how,  in  the 
preparation  of  his  own  book  of  travels,  he  had  steadfastly 
adhered  to  this  critical  tenet  5  but  whether  naturally,  or 
against  nature,  I  do.  not  undertake  to  say.  My  own  impres- 
sion is  that  he  had  brought  his  native  instincts  and  appeten- 
cies to  this  state  of  critical  subjection  after  sore  trial  and 
hard  conflict,  and  that  he  spoke  with  the  authority  of  a  man 
who  had  wrestled  down  some  besetting  temptations.  For 
naturally  he  was  ardent,  enthusiastic,  imaginative;  and 
when  he  first  began  to  write  for  the  public,  he  might  have 
given  way  to  the  exuberance  which  he  afterwards  deprecated, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  pruning-knife  of  his  friend  Richard 
Jenkins.  Critically,  he  was  doubtless  right  5  but  when  he 
continued  thus  to  enlarge  upon  the  paramount  duty  of  sim- 
plicity, perhaps  he  did  not  suiHciently  remember  that  a 


1833]  LITERARY  LABOURS,  41 

'  fastidious  public  *  may  be  a  small  one.     '  To  gain  the  con- 
fidence and  good  will  of  his  reader/  he  said,  '  a  traveller 
must  be  perfectly  unaffected  and  unpretending.     His  whole 
object  must  seem  to  be  to  state  what  he  has  seen  in  the 
countries  he  has  visited,  without  claiming  the  smallest  supe- 
riority over  his  reader  in  any  other  description  of  knowledge 
or  observation.     For  this  reason,  every  unusual  word,  every 
fine  sentiment,  every  general  reflection,  and  every  sign  of 
an  ambitious  style,  should  be  carefully  excluded/     A  hard 
lesson  this  for  a  young  writer  j  and  there  was  much  more 
of  the  same  kind  j  sound  and  excellent  advice,  altogether 
past  dispute,  and  in  accordance  with  the  best  critical  canons. 
But  Mr  Elphinstone  lived  to  see  these  severe  literary  doc- 
trines utterly  set  at  nought  by  a  younger  race  of  writers — 
lived  to  see  a  *  fastidious  public  '  take  to  its  heart  Eothen, 
as  the  most  popular  book  of  travels  ever  published  in  modern 
times. 

Nor  was  the  only  pruning-knife  applied  to  the  exuber- 
ance of  the  young  writer  that  which  was  wielded  by  the 
experienced  hand  of  such  chastened  writers  as  Mr  Elphin- 
stone, the  official  knife  was  also  applied  to  the  manuscript 
in  the  Secret  Department  of  the  India  House.  This  was, 
doubtless,  in  a  literary  sense,  disadvantageous  to  the  book  j 
but,  after  undergoing  these  ordeals,  it  came  out  under  the 
auspices  of  Mr  Murray  j  and  Bumes  had  the  honour  of  pre- 
senting a  copy  to  the  King  at  one  of  his  Majesty's  levees. 
'  I  know  all  about  this,'  said  the  good  natured  monarch, 
mmdfid  of  Bumes's  visit  to  him  at  Brighton.  The  book 
was  an  undoubted  success.  It  was  well  received  by  the 
cntics  and  by  the  public,  for  not  only  was  there  something 


42  S/ie  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1834. 

geographically  new  in  it,  but  something  also  politically 

suggestive.      The    Russo-phobia   was    gaining   ground   in 

England.     There  were  many  who  believed  that  the  time 

was  fast  approaching  when   the   Sepoy  and   the   Cossack 

would  meet,  face  to  face,  some  where  in  Central  Asia.     It 

was  a  great  thing,  therefore,  just  in  that  momentous  epoch, 

that  some   one  should  appear  amongst  us  to  whom  the 

countries  lying  between  the  Indus  and  the  Caspian  were 

something  more  than  places  on  the  map.     As  the  depository 

of  so  much  serviceable  information,  Bumes  was  sure  to  be 

welcome  everywhere.     There  was  much,  too,  in  the  man 

himself  to  increase  the  interest  which  his  knowledge  of  these 

strange  countries  excited.     He  was  young   in  years,  but 

younger  still  in  appearance  and  in  manner.     When  he  said 

that  he  had  been  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  in  India,  Lord 

Munster  said  to  him,  '  Why,  that  must  have  been  nearly 

all  your  life.*     There  was  a  charming  freshness  and  naivete 

about  him — the  reflection,  it  may  be  said,  of  a  warm,  true 

heart,  in  which  the  home  affections  had  never  for  a  moment 

been  dormant.     The  greatest  happiness  which  his  success 

gave  him  was  derived  from  the  thought  that  it  would  give 

pleasure  to  his  family,  and  might  enable  him  to  help  them. 

He  had  striven  in  vain,  and  his  father  had  striven  also, 

through  Sir  John  Malcolm  and  others,  to  obtain  a  cadetship 

for  his  brother  Charles  j   but  now  this  great  object  was 

readily  obtainable,  and  the  young  man,  who  had  been 

waiting  so  long  for  this  promotion,  received,  as  a  just  tribute 

to  his  brother,  an  appointment  in  the  Bombay  Army,  which 

others'  influence  had  failed  to  procure  for  him. 

He  remained  at  home  until  the  spring  of  1835  5  ^^^ 


1834]  RETURNING  TO  INDIA,  43 

then^  with  mingled  feelings  of  hope  and  regret^  he  set  his 
face  again  towards  the  £ast.^  His  sojourn  in  £ngland  had 
been  attended  by  so  many  gratifying  and  flattering  circum- 
stances^  that  to  one  of  his  impressionable  nature  it  must 
have  been  a  continual  delight  from  the  first  day  to  the  last. 
Among  other  honours  bestowed  on  him  of  which  I  have 
not  spoken^  it  may  be  recorded  here  that  he  received  the 
gold  medal  of  our  Geographical  Society,  and  the  silver 
medal  of  the  Greographical  Society  of  Paris,  and  that  he  was 
nominated,  without  ballot,  a  member  of  the  Athenaeum 
Club— an  honour  which  has  been  described  as  the  '  Blue 
Riband  of  Literature.*  In  Paris,  too,  the  savans  of  that 
enlightened  city  received  him  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as 
our  own  people.  It  would  have  been  strange  if,  at  his 
early  age,  his  head  had  not  been  somewhat '  turned  *  by  all 
this  success.  But  if  it  caused  him  to  set  a  high  value  on  his 
own  services,  it  caused  him  also  to  strain  his  energies  to  the 
utmost  not  to  disappoint  the  expectations  which  had  been 
formed  of  him  by  others.  A  little  youthful  vanity  is  not  a 
bad  thing  to  help  a  man  on  in  the  world. 


When  Bumes  returned  to  Bombay,  he  was  ordered  to 
rejoin  his  old  appointment  as  assistant  to  the  Resident  in 
Cutch.     In  the  course  of  the  autumn  he  was  despatched  by 

*  He  went  out  overland  in  charge  of  despatches  from  the  India 
House,  and  proceeded  from  Suez  to  Bombay  in  the  Hugh  Lindsay 
(pioneer)  steamer,  from  which  vessel  he  sent  intelligence  to  Sir 
Charles  Metcalfe  that  Lord  Heytesbury  had  been  appointed  Govem- 
OF'General  of  India. 


44  S//e  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [xZ^ 

Colonel  Pottinger  on  a  mission  to  Hyderabad^  the  capital 
of  the  Ameers  of  Sindh.  *  I  am  doomed,*  he  wrote, '  to 
lead  a  vagabond  life  for  ever  j  but  all  this  is  in  my  way,  and 
I  am  in  great  spirits.*  But  neither  were  his  habits  of  so 
vagrant  a  character,  nor  the  necessities  of  his  work  so  en- 
grossing, as  to  prevent  him  from  thinking  and  writing  about 
what  has  since  been  called  the '  Condi tion-of-India  Question.' 
He  was  very  eager  always  for  the  moral  elevation  of  th6 
people,  and  he  spoke  with  some  bitterness  oi  those  who 
looked  upon  India  merely  as  a  preserve  for  the  favoured 
European  services.  '  Do  not  beheve,*  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
*  that  I  wish  to  supersede  Europeans  by  unfit  natives.  I 
wish  gradually  to  raise  their  moral  standard,  now  so  low,  for 
which  we  are,  however,  more  to  blame  than  themselves. 
Men  will  say,  "  Wait  till  they  are  ready."  I  can  only  reply, 
that  if  you  wait  till  men  are  fit  for  liberty,  you  will  wait 
for  ever.  Somewhere  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  of  days  of 
yore,  you  will  find  this  sentiment,  which  is  mine :  "  Will  a 
man  ever  learn  to  swim  without  going  into  the  water  ?  ** ' 
After  insisting  on  the  duty  of  encouraging  education  by 
providing  profitable  employment  for  the  educated  classes, 
and  declaring  that  we  should  thus  soon  cover  the  country 
with  educated  and  thinking  people,  he  continued  in  this 
letter  from  Hyderabad  :  '  There  is  nothing  here  that  I  cannot 
support  by  history.  Tacitus  tells  us  a  similar  tale  of  our 
own  ancestors,  among  whom  Agricola  sowed  the  seeds  of 
greatness.  That  accomplished  historian  speaks  of  the  super- 
stitions of  the  Britons — of  the  ferocity  of  the  hill  tribes — of 
the  degeneracy  of  those  who  had  been  subdued — of  the  want 
of  union  which  had  led  to  it — of  the  alacrity  with  which  they 


1836.]  THE  COMMERCIAL  MISSION,  45 

paid  their  tribute,  &c.  &c.  Change  the  name  of  Briton  to 
Indian,  and  what  have  we  but  a  sketch  of  this  country  under 
our  present  rule  ?  And  who  are  we  ?  The  descendants  of 
those  savages  whom  Agricola,  by  new  and  wise  regulations, 
educated — ^we  who  are  now  glorious  throughout  the  world.* 
And  again,  a  few  months  later,  he  wrote :  '  I  look  upon 
the  services,  one  and  all,  as  quite  subservient  to  the  great 
end  of  governing  India  5  but  I  seldom  meet  with  any  one 
who  looks  upon  India  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  place 
for  those  services,  which  is  to  me  so  monstrous,  that  I  have, 
like  Descartes,  begun  "  to  doubt  my  own  existence,  seeing 
such  doubt  around  me.**  *  He  spoke  of  this  with  righteous 
indignation,  but  there  was  a  tinge  of  exaggeration  in  his 
words  5  and  he  spoke  somewhat  too  strongly  even  with 
reference  to  those  times  when  he  said  that, '  instead  of  raising 
up  a  glorious  monument  to  our  memory,  we  should  impover- 
ish India  more  thoroughly  than  Nadir,  and  become  a  greater 
curse  to  it  than  were  the  hordes  of  Timour.* 

But  his  services  were  now  about  to  be  demanded  by  the 
Government  in  a  more  independent  position.  Lord  Auckland 
had  proceeded  to  India  as  Governor-General.  He  had  met 
Bumes  at  Bowood,  had  been  pleased  with  his  conversation, 
and  had  formed  a  high  opinion  of  the  energy  and  ability  of 
the  young  subaltern.  When,  therefore,  the  first  rude  scheme 
of  a  pacific  policy  in  the  countries  beyond  the  Indus  took 
shape  in  his  mind,  he  recognized  at  once  the  fact  that  Bumes. 
must  be  one  of  its  chief  agents.  So  the  Cutch  Assistant 
was  placed  under  the  orders  of  the  Supreme  Government, 
and  directed  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  undertake  what 
was  described  at  the  time,  and  is  still  known  in  history,  as  a 


46  5/^  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1836. 


•  Commercial  mission*  to  Caubul.     Commerce,  in  the  voca- 
bulary of  the  East,  is  only  another  name  for  conquest.     By 
commerce,   the  East   India    Company  had    become   the 
sovereigns  of  the  great  Indian  peninsula;  and  this  com- 
mercial mission  became  the  cloak  of  grave  political  designs. 
Very  soon  the  cloak  was  thrown  aside  as  an  encumbrance, 
and,  instead  of  directing  his  energies  to  the  opening  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Indus,  the   institution  of  fairs,  and  the 
opening  of  the  new  commercial  routes  through  the  Afghan 
and  Beloochee  countries,  Alexander  Bumes  gave  up  his 
mind  to  the  great  work  of  check- mating  Russia  in  the  East. 
'In  the  latter  end  of  November,  1836,  I  was  directed 
by  the  Governor-General  of  India,  the  Earl  of  Auckland,  to 
undertake  a  mission  to  Caubul.     Lieutenant  (now  Major) 
Robert  Leech,  of  the  Bombay  Engineers,  Lieutenant  John 
Wood,  of  the  Indian  Navy,  and  Percival  B.  Lord,  Esq.,  M. 
B.,  were  appointed  with  me  in  the  undertaking.    The  objects 
of  Government  were  to  work  out  its  policy  of  opening  the 
river  Indus  to  commerce,  and  establishing  on  its  banks  and 
in  the  countries  beyond  it  such  relations  as  should  contribute 
to  the  desired  end.     On  the  26th  of  November  we  sailed 
from  Bombay,  and  sighting  the  fine  palace  at  Mandavee  on 
the  6th  of  December,  we  finally  landed  in  Sindh  on  the  13  th 
of  the  month.     Dr  Lord  did  not  join  our  party  till  March.* 
Such  is  the  first  page  of  a  book  written  some  years  afterwards 
by  Sir  Alexander  Burnes,  in  which  he  tells  the  story  of  this 
visit  to  Caubul,  stripped  of  all  its  political  apparel.    Neither 
in  its  commercial  nor  its  scientific  aspects  was  it  wholly  a 
failure.*     Burnes  drew  up  a  report  on  the  trade  of  the  Indus, 

*  Lord  Auckland,  it  shoidd  be  stated,  received  this  as  %  legacy 


1836.]  GOVERNOR-GENERAL  OF  CANADA.  47 

and  Wood  wrote  an  excellent  paper  on  its  navigation  ;  but 
events  were  developing  themselves  even  faster  than  the  ideas 
of  the  travellers;  and  commerce  and  science,  though  not 
wholly  forgotten,  soon  dwindled  into  second-rate  affairs. 

Lord  Auckland  was  not  an  ambitious  man — quiet, 
sensible,  inclined  towards  peace,  he  would  not  have  given 
himself  up  to  the  allurements  of  a  greater  game,  if  he  had 
not  been  stimulated,  past  all  hope  of  resistance,  by  evil  ad- 
visers, who  were  continually  pouring  into  his  ears  alarming 
stories  of  deep-laid  plots  and  subtle  intrigues  emanating 
from  the  Cabinet  of  St  Petersburg,  and  of  the  wide-spread 
corruption  that  was  to  be  wrought  by  Russian  gold.  It  was 
believed  that  the  King  of  Persia  had  become  the  vassal  of 
the  great  Muscovite  monarch,  and  that  he  had  been  insti- 
gated by  the  Government  of  the  Emperor  to  march  an 
army  to  Herat  for  the  capture  of  that  famous  frontier  city, 
and  for  the  further  extension  of  his  dominions  towards  the 

from  Lord  William  Bentinck,  with  whom  Bumes  had  been  in  com- 
munication in  India,  and  in  correspondence  during  his  residence  in 
England.  Whilst  at  home,  Bumes  had  ceaselessly  impressed  on  the 
King's  ministers,  as  well  as  on  the  Directors  of  the  Company,  the 
importance  of  not  neglecting,  either  in  their  commercial  or  their 
political  aspects,  the  countries  beyond  the  Indus  ;  and  some  of  his 
letters,  written  at  this  time,  give  interesting  accounts  of  his  interviews 
with  Lord  Grey,  Mr  Charles  Grant,  Lord  Lansdowne,  and  other 
statesmen,  on  this  favourite  subject.  In  one  letter  to  Lord  William 
Bentinck,  he  wrote  that  Lord  Grey  took  a  too  European  view  of  the 
question,  and  considered  it  chiefly  *  in  connection  with  the  designs  of 
Russia  towards  Constantinople  ; '  whilst  Lord  Lansdowne,  having 
*  a  mind  cast  in  so  noble  a  mould,  looked  with  more  interest  on  the 
great  future  of  human  society  than  on  our  immediate  relations  with 
those  countries. 


48  S/I?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  \y&yj. 


boundaries  of  our  Indian  Empire.  The  attack  upon  Herat 
was  a  substantial  fact ;  the  presence  of  Russian  officers  in 
the  Persian  territory,  as  aiders  and  abettors  of  the  siege  of 
Herat,  was  also  a  fact.  The  dangers  which  were  appre- 
hended were  essentially  very  similar  to  those  which  had 
alarmed  us  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  and  which 
had  caused  the  despatch  of  Mr  Elphinstone's  mission  to  Af- 
ghanistan. But  there  were  some  circumstantial  differences* 
Not  only  had  the  Russian  power  taken  the  place  of  the 
French  in  the  great  drama  of  intrigue  and  aggression, 
but  another  actor  had  appeared  upon  the  scene  to  take  the 
leading  business  at  Caubul.  There  had  been  a  revolution, 
or  a  succession  of  revolutions,  in  Afghanistan.  The  Sud- 
dozye  King,  Shah  Soojah,  whom  Elphinstone  had  met  at 
Peshawur,  was  now  a  pensioner  in  the  British  dominions, 
and  the  Barukzye  chief.  Dost  Mahomed,  was  dominant  at 
Caubul. 

This  was  the  man  who,  in  the  autumn  of  1837,  ^^' 
comed  the  English  gentlemen  to  his  capital.  'On  the 
20th  of  September,*  wrote  Burnes  in  his  published  book, 
'  we  entered  Caubul,  and  were  received  with  great  pomp 
and  splendour  by  a  fine  body  of  Afghan  cavalry,  led  by  the 
Ameer's  son,  Akbar  Khan.  He  did  me  the  honour  to 
place  me  upon  the  same  elephant  on  which  he  himself 
rode,  and  conducted  us  to  his  father's  court,  whose  re- 
ception of  us  was  most  cordial.  A  spacious  garden  close 
to  the  palace,  and  inside  the  Balla  Hissar  of  Caubul,  was 
allotted  to  the  mission  as  their  place  of  residence.  On  the 
2ist  of  September  we  were  admitted  to  a  formal  audience 
by  Ameer  Dost  Mahomed  Khan,  and  I  then  delivered  to 


1837.]  DOST  MAHOMED.  49 


him  my  credentials  from  the  Governor-General  of  India. 
His  reception  of  them  was  all  that  could  be  desired.     I  in- 
formed him  that  I  had  brought  with  me  as.  presents  to  his 
Highness,  some  of  the  rarities  of  Europe  j  he  promptly 
replied  that  we  ourselves  were  the  rarities,  the  sight  of 
which  best  pleased  him.'     But  neither  the  presents  nor  the 
promises,^which  Bumes  was  allowed  to  make  to*  the  Af- 
ghans, were  of  a  character  that  could  much  gratify  them. 
The  fact  is,  that  we  sought  much,  and  that  we  granted 
little.     Dost  Mahomed  was  at  this  time  greatly  perplexed 
and  embarrassed.     Alarmed  by  the  attitude  of  the  Sikhs 
on  the  one  side,*  and  of  the  Persians  on  the  other,  he 
looked  to  the  English  for  support  and  assistance  in  his 
troubles.     But  weeks  passed  away,  and  weeks  grew  into 
months.     The  English  gentlemen  remained  at  Caubul,  but 
he  could  extract  no  comfort  from  them  5  and,  in  the  mean 
while  a  Russian  agent  had  appeared  upon  the  scene,  less 
chary  of  his  consolations.     *  To  the  East,'  said  Bumes,  ^  the 
fears  of  Dost  Mahomed  were  allayed  j  to  the  West  they 
were  increased.     In  this  state  of  things  his  hopes  were  so 
worked  upon,  that  the  ultimate  result  was  his  estrangement 
from  the  British  Government.* 

It  was  our  policy  to  secure  the  good  offices  of  the  Ameer, 
and  it  was  the  duty  of  Alexander  Burnes  to  accomplish  the 

*  Whilst  Bumes  and  his  companion  had  been  moving  onward 
from  Sindh  to  Afghanistan,  through  Beloochistan  and  the  Punjab,  the 
Sikhs  and  Afghans  had  been  fighting  for  Peshawur.  In  May  a  great 
battle  was  fought  at  Jumrood,  in  which  the  Sikhs  were  victorious. 
The  disturbed  state  of  the  cotmtiy  had  delayed  the  progress  of  the 
Mission. 

VOL.  ir.  4 


50  S/Ii  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1837-38. 

object.     Left  to  himself  he  would  have  done  it.     He^  who 
best  knew  Dost  Mahomed^  had  mosi  faith  in  him.     The 
Ameer  was  eager  for  the  British  alliance^  and  nothing  was 
easier  than  to  secure  his  friendship.    But  whilst  Bumes  was 
striving  to  accomplish  this  great  object  at  Caubul^  other 
counsels  were  prevailing  at  Simlah — that  great  hotbed  of 
intrigue   on   the  Himalayan  hills — ^where  the  Governor- 
General  and  his  secretaries  were  refreshing  and  invigorating 
themselves,  and  rising  to  heights  of  audacity  which  they 
never  might  have  reached  in  the  languid  atmosphere  of 
Calcutta.     They  conceived  the  idea  of  reinstituting  the  old 
deposed  dynasty  of  Shah  Soojah,  and  they  picked  him  out  of 
the  dustof  Loodhianah  to  make  him  a  tool  and  a  puppet,  and 
with  the  nominal  aid  of  Runjeet  Singh,  who  saw  plainly 
that  we  were  making  a  mistake  which  might  be  turned  to 
his  advantage,  they  determined  to  replace  the  vain,  weak- 
minded  exile,  whom  his  country  had  cast  out  as  a  hissing 
and  a  reproach,  on  the  throne  of  Afghanistan.   It  is  enough 
to  state  the  fact.     The  policy  was  the  policy  of  the  Simlah 
Cabinet,  with  which  Bumes  had  nothing  to  do.     It  was 
rank  injustice  to  Dost  Mahomed.     It  was  rank  injustice  to 
Alexander  Bumes.     The    young  English  officer,  who  had 
been  twice  the  guest  of  the  Barukzye  Sirdars  of  Caubul, 
who  had  led  them  to  believe  that  his  Grovemment  would 
support  them,  and  who  had  good  and  substantial  reason  to 
believe  that  they  would  be  true  to  the  English  alliance,  now 
found  that  he  was  fearfully  compromised  by  the  conduct  of 
his  official  superiors.     He  left  Caubul,  and  made  his  way 
to  Simlah  3  and  it  is  said  that  the  secretaries  received  him 


1838.]  AT'SIMLAIL  51 

with  eager  entreaties  not  to  spoil  the  'great  game*  by 
dissuading  Lord  Auckland  from  the  aggressive  policy  to 
which  he  had  reluctantly  given  his  consent. 

This  was  in  the  summer  of  1838.     Even  if  the  young 
Bombay  officer  could  have  spoken  with   'the  tongue  of 
angels,*  his  words  would  have  been  too  late.     What  could  he 
do  against  a  triumvirate  of  Bengal  civilians — the  ablest  and 
most  accomplished  in  the  country'?    It  is  true  that  he  had  an 
intimate  acquaintance,  practical,  personal,  with  the  politics 
of  Afghanistan,  whilst  all  that  they  knew  was  derived  from 
the  book  that  he  had  written,  from  the  writings  of  Mount- 
stuart  Elphinstone,  and  from  another  book  of  travels  written 
by  a  young  cavalry  officer  named  Arthur  ConoUy,  of  whom 
I  shall  presently  give  some  account  in  this  volume.     But 
they  had  had  the  ear  of  the  Grovernor-Greneral  whilst  Burnes 
had  been  working  at  Caubul  5  and  so  their  crude  theories 
prevailed  against  his  practical  knowledge.      He  was  not, 
however,,  a  man  of  a  stubborn  and  obstinate  nature,  or  one 
who  could  work  out,  with  due  ministerial  activity,  only  the 
policy  which  he  himself  favoured'.     It  is  the  sorest  trial  of 
official  life  to  be  condemned  to  execute  measures,  which 
you  have  neither  recommended  n  >r  approved,  and  then  to 
be  identified  with  them  as  thouga  they  were  your  own. 
But  every  good  public  servant  miist  consent  to  bear  this 
burden  with  all  becoming  resignatk  n  and  humility.     The 
State  could  not  be  efficiently  servec ,  if  every  subordinate 
servant  were  to  assume  to  himself  thi;  right  of  independent 
judgment.     Burnes  would  have  supported  Dost  Mahomed 
from  the  first,  but  when  it  was  decreed  that  Shah  Soojah 


52  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1838. 

shoula  be  supported,  Barnes  endeavoured  to  reconcile  him- 
self to  the  policy,  and  did  his  best  to  render  it  successful.* 
What  his  views  were  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
letter,  which  he  wrote  to  Sir  John  Hobhouse,  in  December, 
1838:  'The  retreat  of  the  Persians  from  Herat  has  been 
to  us  all  most  gratifying  intelligence,  but  the  subsequent 
proceedings  of  the  Shah  raise  up  in  my  mind  the  strongest 

*  From  Simlab  he  wrote  on  the  loth  of  September,  1838,  say- 
ing :  *  I  implored  the  Government  to  act.  His  Lordship  lauded  me 
for  my  abilities,  &c.,  but  thought  I  was  travelling  too  fast,  and  would 
do  nothing.  Matters  got  worse  hourly.  Letters  from  Russian 
agents,  promising  everything  to  the  Afghan  chiefs,  fell  into  my  hands. 
I  founded  on  them  further  remonstrances  at  the  supineness  of  Govern- 
ment ;  their  eyes  were  opened  ;  they  begged  of  me  to  hold  on  at 
Caubul  if  I  could  ;  but  I  knew  my  duty  better  to  my  country,  for 
meanwhile  Russian  good  ofBces  had  been  accepted  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  British,  and  I  struck  my  flag  and  returned  to  India,  saying  : 
**  Behold  what  your  tardiness  has  done  I  "  You  might  think  disgrace 
would  follow  such  proceedings:  far  from  it — they  applauded  my 
vigour,  and  twenty  thousand  men  are  now  imder  orders  to  do  what  a 
word  might  have  done  earlier,  and  two  millions  of  money  must  be 
sunk  in  what  I  offered  to  do  for  two  lakhs  !  How  came  this  about  ? 
Persia  has  been  urged  by  Russia  to  attack  Herat  and  invade  India. 
Poor  Dost  Mahomed  is  afraid  of  the  Sikhs  on  one  side,  and  of  Persia 
on  the  other.  Russia  guaranteed  him  against  Persia,  and  thus  he 
clung  to  her  instead  of  us.  Sagacity  might  have  led  him  to  act  other- 
wise, but  he  was  placed  in  difficult  circumstances,  and  we  augmented 
his  difficulties.  In  the  dilemma  they  asked  my  views.  I  replied  : 
**  Self-defence  is  the  first  law  of  nature.  If  you  cannot  bring  round 
Dost  Mahomed,  whom  you  have  used  infamously,  you  must  set  up 
Shah  Soojah  as  a  puppet,  and  establish  a  supremacy  in  Afghan- 
istan, or  you  will  lose  India."  This  is  to  be  done,  and  we  have 
drawn  closer  to  Runjeet  Singh,  who  has  feathered  his  nest  in  our 
dilemma,  and  kept  all  his  Afghan  country,  under  our  promise  of 
support. 


1838.]  HIS  OPINIONS  OF  THE  CRISIS.  53 


donbt  of  our  having  brought  his  Majesty  to  reason^  or  done 
aught  but  to  postpone  the  evil  day  for  a  time.  The  fron- 
tier fortress  of  Afghanistan — Ghorian — is  still  garrisoned  by 
Persian  troops^  and  besides  a  messenger  on  the  part  of  the  Shah 
now  at  Cahdahar  and  Caubul,  the  Russian  officer^  Captain 
Vicovitch,  is  at  Candahar,  and  has  already  distributed  10,000 
ducats  among  the  chiefs  who  have  called  out  their  retainers, 
and  are  now  on  their  route  to  invest  Herat.  The  Russian 
declares  on  all  occasions  that  Mahomed  Shah  will  return, 
and  that  the  money  he  distributes  is  not  Russian  gold,  but 
that  of  the  Shah  5  and  further,  that  if  Herat  falls  into  their 
hands,  the  Russians  will  then  lead  the  Afghans  to  the  At- 
tock  (Indus).  After  the  gallant  defence  made  by  Herat,  it 
might  not  appear  at  all  possible  that  the  chiefs  of  Candahar 
should  capture  it  with  their  rabble  band  3  but  still  I  have 
some  apprehensions,  as  well  from  the  reduced  and  dilapid- 
ated state  of  Herat  itself,  as  from  its  being  now  about  to  be 
invested  by  Afghans.  In  their  wars,  victory  is  decided  by 
defection.  The  mmister  of  Herat  is  unpopular,  and  he  will 
not  be  Sible  to  rouse  the  courage  of  his  people  by  their 
fighting  against  the  enemies  of  their  religion,  as  were  the 
Sheeah  Persians.  On  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Herat,  I 
wrote  at  <xice  to  Lieutenant  Pottinger,  sending  him  20,000 
rupees,  and  telling  him  "  to  draw  on  me  for  such  a  simi  as 
is  indispensable  to  place  the  waUs  of  Herat  in  a  state  of  re- 
pair, and  relieve  its  suffering  inhabitants  from  want,"  and  I 
have  received  the  Governor- Greneral*s  sanction  to  send  liim 
a  lakh  of  rupees  3  but  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  letter  I 
will  point  out  that  we  ought  to  make  much  larger  sacrifices 
than  this,  and  as  Lord  Auckland  does  not  as  yet  know  of  the 


54  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1838. 

•  ^^ 

extent  of  this  new  Russian  intrigue,  I  shall,  without  hesita- 
tion, cash  any  bill  from  Herat  for  money  expended  as  I 
have  stated.  Till  I  received  very  precise  accounts  of  Vico- 
vitch's  proceedings,  I  could  not  unravel  the  object  of  his 
intrigue,  but  I  have  had  a  practicalproof  of  it  within  this  week 
from  the  chief  of  Khelat,  the  first  ruler  we  shall  encounter 
on  our  way  to  Candahar,  and  through  whose  territory  is 
the  great  Pass  of  Bolan.  To  an  invitation  sent  to  this  per- 
son to  co-operate  with  us,  from  Lord  Auckland^  Shah 
Soojah,  and  myself,  he  tells  me  that  he  is  a  friend,  and  will 
do  all  that  is  wished,  but  that  he  wants  certain  territories 
restored  to  him  3  that  he  supports  the  Shah  only  to  oblige 
us,  and  that  the  chief  of  Candahar  had  offered  him  a  part 
of  the  Russian  gold  now  and  hereafter  to  side  wfth  him. 
As  an  alliance  between  Candahar  and  Khelat  is  perfectly 
out  of  the  question,  and  Mehrab  Khan*s  (the  chief  is  so 
called)  pretensions,  if  allowed  to  take  root,  would  involve 
serious  embarrassment,  I  have  plainly  told  him  that  he  is 
either  to  be  a  friend  or  a  foe,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that 
all  will  go  right  with  him.  But  it  is  not  the  small  chief- 
ship  of  Khelat  or  its  petty  politics  that  would  lead  me  to 
trouble  you  with  an  introduction  of  them.  What  is  to  be 
said  to  a  regular  train  of  proof  now  brought  to  light  of 
Russian  intrigue  from  Khelat  to  Kokund,  or  fi*om  the  sea 
to  the  northern  portion  of  Cashmere !  It  is  clear,  and  ap- 
pears to  me  imperative  on  the  British  Grovemment  to  spare 
neither  expense  nor  labour  to  supplant  this  growing  in- 
fluence. It  is,  therefore,  with  every  satisfaction  that  I  see 
the  Grovemor-G^eneral  resolved  upon  carrying  through  his 
measures,  even  though  Herat  be  relieved,  for  we  can  have 


1838.]  HIS  OPINIONS  OF  THE  CRISIS,  55 

no  security  for  the  future  without  rearing  a  solid  fabric 
westward  of  the  Indus.  Our  policy  there  for  the  last  thirty 
years  has  been  so  supine  and  full  of  reserve^  that  we  have  to 
thank  ourselves  only  for  the  evils  that  have  accumulated. 
It  is  not  fitting  in  me  to  say  things  of  what  might  have  been 
so  easily  done  by  us  in  Caubul  and  Candahar  last  year^  since, 
however  much  the  loss  of  that  opportimity  is  to  be  regretted, 
the  basis  of  the  present  war  is  self-defence,  the  first  law  of 
nature.  On  that  stable  ground  the  Grovemment  can  and 
must  defend  its  measures,  and  if  sympathy  and  faction  united 
raise  up  a  party  to  side  with  Dost  Mahomed  Khan,  they 
may  paint  with  much  colour  the  hardship  of  his  case  (and 
it  is  a  very  hard  one),  but  all  faction  must  sink  before  the 
irrefragable  evidence  that  our  Indian  Empire  is  endangered 
by  a  further  perseverance  in  our  late  and  inert  policy.  But 
supposing  our  plans  for  placing  Shah  Soojah  on  the  throne 
.  of  his  ancestors  to  succeed,  it  is  evident  that  we  shall  have 
a  strong  imder-current  of  intrigue  to  work  up  against,  and 
that  Russia  will  now  add  to  her  former  means  of  intriguing 
tnrough  the  Persians  in  Afghanistan,  the  unseated  rulers  of 
Caubul  and  Candahar.  All  our  ener^es  will,  therefore,  be 
called  forth,  for  I  consider  Persia  to  be  as  much  subject  to 
Russia  as  India  is  to  Britain,  and  we  must  make  up  our 
minds  to  oppose  her,  face  to  face,  on  the  Afghan  frontier. 
My  journey  to  Bokhara  in  1832  served  to  convince  me  that 
Russia  had  ulterior  designs  eastward,  which  I  expressed  as 
firmly  as  I  believed,  but  it  was  not  the  policy  of  the  day  to 
check  them,  I  did  not  think  that  her  progress  and  intrigues 
would  have  been  so  rapid  as  they  have  been,  and  I  then 
believed  that  we  might  have  injured  Russia  in  these  countries 


56  5//?  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1838. 

by  giving  encouragement  to  the  Indus  commerce  and 
founding  fairs,  but  all  these  hopes  are  now  vain,  without 
the  display  of  physical  power  aiding  our  moral  influence. 
I  have  urged  Lord  Auckland  to  fortify  Herat  on  the  prin- 
ciples  most  approved  by  engineers.  I  will  give  the  same 
advice  with  reference  to  Candahar  when  it  falls  to  us,  and  I 
hope  in  the  course  of  a  month  to  have  received  from  the 
chief  of  Northern  Sindh  (to  whose  Court  I  am  accredited 
as  Envoy)  the  fortress  of  Bukkur.  The  grand  line  of  route 
will  thus  be  in  our  hands,  and  at  Caubul  itself  we  shall  have 
a  strong  government  by  supporting  the  Shah,  and  a  good 
pledge  for  his  continued  friendship  in  the  British  officers  we 
have  placed  in  his  service.* 

When  it  was  determined  by  Lord  Auckland's  Govern- 
ment that  a  great  army  should  be  assembled  for  the  invasion 
of  Afghanistan  and  the  restoration  of  Shah  Soojah  to  the 
throne  of  Caubul,  the  army  was  to  march  by  the  way  of  the 
Bolan  Pass,  through  the  country  ruled  by  the  Ameers  of 
Sihdh,  and  Bumes  was  to  be  sent  forward  to  make  all 
necessary  arrangements  for  the  passage  of  our  army  through 
those  little  known  and  difficult  regions  to  Candahar.  If 
he  had  formed  any  expectation  of  being  vested  with  the 
supreme  political  control  of  the  expedition,  and  afterwards 
of  representing  British  interests  at  the  Court  of  Shah  Soojah> 
they  were  not  unreasonable  expectations.  But  Mr  Mac- 
naghten  was  appointed  '  Envoy  and  Minister  *  at  Caubul, 
whilst  Captain  Burnes,  in  the  vice-regal  programme  having 
no  assured  place,  was  to  be  employed  as  a  wayside  emissary. 
But  the  sharpness  of  his  disappointment  was  mitigated  by 
the  receipt  of  letters  announcing  that  the  Queen  had  taken 


1838.]  NEW  HONOURS.  57 

his  services  into  gracious  consideration,  and  had  made  him 
a  Kgight,  with  the  military  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
This  sent  him  about  his  work  with  better  heart,  and  he 
brought  all  his  energies  to  bear  upon  the  important  duty  of 
smoothing  the  road  for  the  march  of  the  army  of  the 
Indus,  and  the  procession  of  the  restored  Suddozye  monarch 
into  the  heart  of  the  country,  which  never  wanted  him, 
and  which  he  was  wholly  incompetent  to  govern. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  gratifying  circumstances  which 
raised  his  spirits  at  this  time.  He  found  that  the  policy 
which  he  would  have  worked  out  in  Afghanistap,  though 
thwarted  by  the  Simlah  Cabinet,  had  found  favour  in  high 
places  at  home.  Lord  Auckland  himself  frankly  acknow- 
ledged this,  and  generously  afforded  Bumes  full  license  to  en- 
joy his  victory.  '  I  enclose  a  letter  from  the  Grovernor-General 
himself,*  wrote  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sir  Alexander  Burnes, 
from  Shikarpore,  on  the  4th  of  December,  'which  is  a 
document  very  dear  to  me,  and  ^hich  I  told  Lord  Auck"- 
land  I  prized  as  high  as  the  honours  themselves.  The  fact 
is,.  I  have  been  playing  the  boldest  game  a  man  ever  dared. 
I  differed  entirely  with  the  Govemor-Greneral  as  to  his 
policy  in  Afghanistan,  told  him  it  would  ruin  us,  cost  the 
nation  millions,  when  a  few  lakhs  now  would  keep  off 
Russia.  They  would  not  be  guided  by  me,  and  sent  me  a 
laudatory  wig  (reprimand),  and  as  sure  as  I  had  been  a 
prophet,  my  predictions  are  verified.  Russia  is  upon  us, 
and  the  Home  Government  has  pronounced  me  right  and 
his  Lordship  wrong !  This  is  the  greatest  hit  I  have  made 
in  life.  Seeing  how  they  had  mismanaged  all  things,  they 
asked  my  advice  j  but,  like  all  timid  politicians,  they  ran 


58  Slid  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1838. 


from  one  extreme  to  another.  An  army  was  necessary, 
but  not  so  large  an  army.  However,  I  told  Lord  Auck- 
land I  should  do  all  I  could  to  work  out  his  views,  and 
am  doing  so.  The  declaration  of  war  you  will  see  in  the 
papers,  and  how  much  has  come  out  of  my  mission  to 
Caubul.'  * 

At  this  time  Burnes  was  employed  on  a  mission  to  the 
Ameers  of  Sindh,  with  the  object  of  smoothing  the  way  for 
the  advance  of  the  British  army,  which  was  to  march,  by 
way  of  the  Bolan  Pass,  to  Candahar  and  Caubul.  It  was 
not  work  that  could  be  accomplished  without  some  harsh- 
ness and  injustice  3  and  there  are  indications  in  his  corre- 
spondence that  he  did  not  much  like  the  course,  which  he 
was  compelled  to  pursue,  in  dealing  with  Meer  Roostum 
of  Khyrpore,  from  whom  the  cession  of  Bukkur  was  to  be 
obtained.  But  he  had  a  natural  taste  for  diplomacy,  and 
the  issues  of  success  sometimes  so  dazzled  his  eyes,  that  he 
did  not  see  very  clearly^  the  true  nature  of  the  means  of 
accomplishment.  'I  have  been  travelling  to  Khyrpore,' 
he  wrote  to  Percival   Lord,  on  New  Years-day,   1839, 

*  The  following  is  the  text  of  Lord  Auckland's  letter  :  'Simlah,. 
Nov.  5,  1838. — ^My  dear  Sir, — ^I  cordially  congratulate  you  on  the 
public  proofs  of  approbation  with  which  you  have  been  marked  at 
home.  My  private  letters  speak  in  high  terms  of  your  proceedings 
at  Caubul,  and  I  may  in  candour  mention  that  "upon  the  one  point 
upon  which  there  was  some  difference  between  us — the  proposed  ad- 
vance of  money  to  Candahar — opinions  for  which  I  have  the  highest 
respect,  are  in  your  favour.  I  do  not  grudge  you  this,  and  am  only 
glad  that  a  just  tribute  has  been  paid  to  your  ability  and  indefatigable 
zeal.  The  superscription  of  tins  letter  will,  in  case  you  have  not 
received  direct  accounts,  explain  my  meaning  to  you. — Yours,  very 
&ithfully,  Auckland.' 


1838-39.]    NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  MEHRAB  KHAN,         59 

'  treaty-making  on  a  great  scale^  and,  what  is  welJ,  carry- 
ing all  before  me.  I  have  got  the  fortress  of  Bukkur  ceded 
to  us  on  our  own  terms  (which  are,  that  we  are  to  hold  it 
now  and  during  war) — ^the  Khyrpore  State  to  place  itself 
imder  British  protection  5  and  a  clause  has  been  inserted  in 
my  treaty  paving  the  way  for  the  abolition  of  all  tolls  on 
the  Indvis  !  Huzza  !  See  how  old  Roostum  and  his 
minister  (the  Boree,  as  you  christened  him)  have  cut  up. 
You  did  not  expect  such  a  chef-d'oeuvre  as  this,  which  is  a 
fit  ending  to  the  Caubul  mission,  since  by  Bukkur  the 
Macedonians  bridled  the  neighbouring  nations.  All  these 
great  doings  happened  at  Christmas,  and  I  wanted  your 
hilarious  tones  to  make  the  enjoyment  of  the  day  com- 
plete.* 

There  was  other  work,  too,  for  him  at  this  time — other 
treaties  to  be  thrust  down  the  throats  of  the  Sindh  Ameers. 
Higher  up,  along  the  line  of  our  advancing  army,  Mehrab 
Khan  of  Khelat  was  to  be  brought  to  terms.  Biimes,  who 
was  officially  *  Envoy  to  the  Chief  of  Khelat  or  other  States,* 
was,  of  course,  sent  forward  to  negotiate  the  desired  treaty, 
and  to  obtain,  from  the  Chief,  supplies  for  the  troops  who 
were  passing  through  his  territory.  But  they  had  already 
devastated  his  coimtry  5  there  was  no  grain  to  be  had,  and 
all  the  food  that  could  be  supplied  to  our  army  consisted  of 
some  ill-fed  sheep.  '  The  English,*  said  Mehrab  Khan  to 
Bumes,  'have  come,  and  by  their  march  through  my 
country,  in  different  directions,  destroyed  the  crops,  poor  as 
they  were,  and  have  helped  themselves  to  the  water  that 
irrigated  my  lands,  made  doubly  valuable  in  this  year  of 
tcarcity.*     *  I  might  have  allied  myself,*  he  added,  *  with 


6o  Sm  ALEXANDER  BUENES.  [1839. 

Persia  and  Russia  5  but  I  have  seen  you  safely  through  the 
great  defile  of  the  Bolan^  and  yet  I  am  unrewarded.'  The 
reward  he  sought  was,  that  he  might  be  relieved  for  ever 
from  the  mastery  of  the  Suddozye  kings  5  but,  instead  ot 
this,  it  was  made  a  condition  of  any  kind  of  peaceable 
negotiation  with  him,  that  he  should  pay  homage  to  Shah 
Soojah  in  his  camp.  Reluctantly  bowing  to  the  hard 
necessity,  he  consented,  and  the  treaty  was  sealed.  The 
English  undertook  to  pay  him  an  annual  subsidy  of  a  lakh 
and  a  half  of  rupees,  in  return  for  which  he  was  to  do  his 
best  to  obtain  supplies  for  us,  and  to  keep  open  the  passes 
for  our  convoys.  Burnes  saw  clearly  that  he  had  to  deal  in 
this  instance  with  a  man  of  great  shrewdness  and  ability. 
He  was  warned  by  the  chief  that  the  expedition  on  which 
the  English  had  embarked  had  the  seeds  of  failure  within 
it.  'The  Khan,*  wrote  Burnes  to  Macnaghten,  'with  a 
good  deal  of  earnestness,  enlarged  upon  the  undertaking 
the  British  had  embarked  in  5  declared  it  to  be  one  of  vast 
magnitude  and  difficult  accomplishment^  that  instead  of 
relying  on  the  AfFghan  nation,  our  Grovernment  had  cast 
them  aside,  and  inundated  the  country  with  foreign  troops  j 
that  if  it  was  our  end  to  establish  ourselves  in  Afghanistan, 
and  give  Shah  Soojah  the  nominal  soviereignty  of  Caubul 
and  Candahar,  we  were  pursuing  an  erroneous  course  5  that 
all  the  Afghans  were  discontented  with  the  Shah,  and  all 
Mahomedans  alarmed  and  excited  at  what  was  passings 
that  day  by  day  men  returned  discontented,  and  we  might 
find  ourselves  awkwardly  situated  if  we  did  not  point  out 
to  Shah  Soojah  his  errors,  if  the  fault  originated  with  him, 
and  alter  them  if  they  sprung  from  ourselves  3  that  the  chief 


x839.]  THE  INVASION  OF  AFGHANISTAN.  6i 


of  Cauoul  (Dost  Mahomed)  was  a  man  of  ability  and  re- 
source, and  though  we  could  easily  put  him  down  by  Shah 
Soojah  even  in  our  present  mode  of  procedure,  we  could 
never  win  over  the  Afghan  nation  by  it.*  Truer  words 
than"  these  were  seldom  spoken  3  and  often,  doubtless,  as 
events  developed  themselves  in  Afghanistan,  did  Bumes 
think  over  the  warnings  of  that  ill-fated  Khelat  chief. 

How  the  British  army  entered  Afghanistan,  how  Dost 
Mahomed  was  driven  out  of  the  country,  .how  the  people 
for  a  while  sullenly  acquiesced  in  the  revolution,  which  was 
accomplished  by  the  force  of  British  bayonets  and  the  in- 
fluence of  British  gold,  are  matters  which  belong  to  history. 
The  further  we  advanced,  the  more  difficult  became  the 
solution  of  the  question,  'What  is  to  be  done  with  Sir 
Alexander  Bumes  ?  *  At  cme  time  there  was  some  thought  of 
his  going  to  Herat,  but  this  was  abandoned.  On  the  i8th 
of  June  he  wrote  from  Candahar  to  one  of  his  brothers, 
saying:  'In  possession  of  Candahar,  the  affairs  of  Herat 
flrst  engaged  our  attention,  and  I  was  nominated  to  proceed 
there  with  guns  and  money  to  make  a  treaty.  After  being 
all  ready  to  go,  Macnaghten  announced  his  intention  of 
going  back  to  Simlah,  and  suggested  my  going  on  to 
Caubul  to  take  charge  of  the  mission.  When  he  went,  I  at 
once  chose  to  go  to  Caubul,  for  the  policy  of  Grovernment 
in  Herat  affairs  I  do  not  like.  A  King  at  Caubul  and 
another   at   Herat   are   "two  Kings  at  Brentford,"   from 

• 

which  I  foresee  serious  evils.  I  wished  them  to  put  all 
under  Shah  Soojah,  but  after  Stoddart  had  been  eje'cted, 
young  Pottinger  allowed  himself  to  be  apologized  to  for 
their  threatening  to  murder  him,  and  the  opportunity  was 


63  S/R  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1839. 

lost.  The  wretches  have  again  quarrelled  with  Pottinger, 
and  cut  off  a  hand  of  one  of  his  servants  5  but  this  also  is 
for  the  present  made  up,  and  Major  Todd  starts  to-morrow 
for  Herat,  and  I  predict  can  do  nothing,  for  nothing  is  to 
be  done  with  them.  Kamran  is  an  imbecile,  'and  the 
Minister,  Yar  Mahomed,  is   a   bold  but  doubtful   man. 

The  King  and  I  are  great  friends,  but  I  cannot 

shut  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  he  has  nothing  in  common 
with  the  chief  pf  Caubul.  But  he  is  legitimate,  and  that 
is  a  great  point  3  and  we  are  to  keep  him  on  the  throne,  so 
that  I  think  things  will  go  much  better  than  is  generally 
believed.* 

Shah  Soojah  was  restored  to  the.Balla  Hissar  of  Caubul, 
and  Sir  Alexander  Burnes  settled  down  into  a  most  ano- 
malovis  and  unsatisfactory  position.  He  had  no  power  and 
no  responsibility.  He  gave  advice  which  was  seldom  taken, 
and  he  saw  things  continually  going  wrong  without  any 
power  to  set  them  right^  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  any 
more  unpleasant  situation  than  that  which  for  more  than 
two  years — during  the  latter  part  of  1839,  ^^*^  ^  through 
1840  and  1841 — ^he  occupied  at  the  Court  of  Caubul.  If, 
at  that  time,  he  had  not  been  sometimes  irritable,  and 
sometimes  desponding,  he  would  have  been  more  or  less 
than  a  man.  He  had  been  taught  to  believe  that  Mac- 
naghten  had  been  sent  only  for'  a  little  space  into  Afghan- 
istan, to  be  soon  removed  to  a  higher  office,  and  then  that 
he  himself  would  be  placed  in  the  supreme  direction  of 
affairs.  But  month  after  month — ^nay,  year  after  year — 
passed,  and  there 'was  no  change  3  and  Burnes  began  to 
write  somewhat  bitterly  of  the  good  faith  of  the  Governor- 


1839]  AT  CAUBUL.  63 


Greneral,  and  to  contrast  his  conduct  with  the  soft  words  of 
the  man  who  had  spoken  so  kindly  and  encouragingly  to 
him  on  the  '  couch  at  Bowood.'  His  correspondence  at 
this  time  reflects,  as  in  a  glass,  a  mind  altogether  unsettled, 
if  not  discontented.  He  wanted  active,  stirring  work  3  and, 
save  on  rare  occasions,  there  was  little  or  none  for  him. 
He  was  disappointed,  too,  and  perhaps  somewhat  embittered 5 
for  a  great  crop  of  honours  had  resulted  from  this  invasion 
of  Afghanistan.  Sir  John  Keane  had  been  made  a  Peer, 
and  Mr  M acnaghten  a  Baronet  3  and  Burnes  thought  that 
his  just  claim  to  further  distinction  had  been  ignored.  He 
might  have  been  reconciled  to  this,  for  his  own  honours  were 
of  very  recent  growth,  if  the  Grovernor-Greneral  had  placed 
him  in  a  position  of  dignity  and  responsibility.  But  there 
was  really  nothing  to  be  done  for  the  PoUtical  Second-in- 
command.  It  was  at  one  time  discussed  whether  he  might 
not  be  appointed  '  Resident  at  Candahar  5'  but  this  scheme 
was  abandoned ;  and  at  last  Burnes  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  his  special  mission  to  receive  three  thousand 
rupees  a  month  for  the  mere  trouble  of  drawing  the  money. 
There  was  not  one  of  his  correspondents  to  whom  he 
unburdened  himself  so  freely  as  to  his  friend  Percival  Lord 
(then  employed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bameean,  near 
the  Hindoo-Koosh),  to  whom  he  wrote  freely,  alike  on 
Afghan  politics  and  on  his  own  personal  position.  A  few 
illustrative  extracts  from  this  correspondence  may  be  given 
here :  '  Caubul,  November  2,  1839.  ^  ^^^e  been  expecting 
to  hear  fix)m  you  on  this  astounding  intelligence  from 
Turkistan.  I  have  letters  from  Nazir  Khan  Oollah  that 
leave  no  doubt  of  the  Russians  having  come  to  Khiva,  or 


64  S/Id  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1839. 

being  on  the  road  there.  Have  they  ulterior  views  or  not  ? 
Is  Herat  their  end,  or  Bokhara?  It  is  evident  that  your 
presence  is  required  at  Bokhara,  but  that  cannot  be  m  the 
present  distracted  state  of  the  country  j  native  agency  must 
be  employed,  and  more  than  spies.  Macnaghten  has,  there- 
fore, resolved  on  sending  Mahomed  Hoosein  Karkee  to  tell 
the  King  that  his  proceedings  in  not  answering  our  letters, 
in  threatening  our  cossids,  in  fearing  Shah  Soojah,  are  all 
wrong,  with  much  other  matter  of  that  kind.  The  officials 
you  will  get  all  in  due  time,  but  this  is  to  give  you  notice 
that  Karkee  is  coming  to  you  to  get  his  final  instructions. 
He  is  a  clever  fellow,  and  has  killed  his  pig  ^ith  the  Dost 
and  the  King  of  Persia,  so  there  is  no  fear  of  his  taking  their 
part.  He  may  be  bribed  by  Russia,  but  that  we  cannot 
help,  and  it  is  but  right  to  give  the  King  of  Bokhara  a  chance. 
I  wish  to  God  you  could  go  yourself,  and  I  know  Lord  A. 
wishes  it,  but  he  declares  that  the  country  is  not  safe,  and 
that,  after  Stoddart's  fate,  he  has  a  great  reluctance  to  put 
our  officers  in  what  the  Field-Marshal  would  call  a  false 
position.  I  for  one  believe  in  all  the  reports  of  the  advance 
of  Russia.  Of  course  her  fifty  regiments  may  be  but  ten ; 
but  we  had  better  look  out,  seeing  the  Dost  is  loose,  and 
Herat  with  its  walls  unprepared.  As  a  precautionary 
measure,  the  Bombay  column  will  be  halted  after  Khelat 

is  settled,  till  w^  see  what  turns  up '  '  November  10. 

Old  Toorkistanee  as  you  are,  you  seem  to  be  quite  quiescent 
about  the  Russian  movement  in  Orgunje,  and  do  not,  I 
imagine  fi-om  your  silence,  believe  it,  but  I  assure  you  it  is 
a  serious  business.  I  have  a  letter  from  Herat  twenty-seven 
days  old  confirming  it,  and  giving  particulars  about  the 


I839-]  LETTERS  TO  DR  LORD,  .  65 

Vizier,  Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  being  tampered  with  by  the 
Russians,  all  of  which  seems  to  have  been  concealed  from 
Todd.  I  am  most  anxious  to  hear  further,  and  have  sent  a 
Hindoo  on  to  Khiva  itself,  who  will  pass  through  your  camp 
in  a  day  or  two.  I  have  letters  from  London  explanatory 
of  Vicovitch*s  death,  which  Count  Nesselrode  writes  to 
Lord  Palmerston  was  annoying  them,  as  the  Russian  Go- 
vernment had  blamed  Simonich,  and  not  Vicovitch ' 

'  November  22.  Here  is  a  curious  anecdote  for  you  3  let  me 
have  your  opinion.  A  couple  of  years  before  our  mission 
arrived  at  Caubul,  Vicovitch  (the  true  Vicovitch)  came  to 
Bokhara,  called  at  Ruheem  Shah*s  relative's  house,  and 
asked  him  to  send  letters  to  Masson  at  Caubul  for  MM.  Al- 
lard  and  Vetura.  The  King  of  Bokhara  took  offence  at  Vico- 
vitch's  presence,  and  the  Koosh-Begee  sent  him  off  sharp. 
So  the  letters  were  never  sent.  This  shows  an  earher  inten- 
tion to  intrigue  on  the  part  of  Russia  \  but  how  came 
Masson  not  to  report  this,  and  if  he  reported  it,  how  came 
he  to  give,  years  afterwards,  twenty-one  reasons  for  Vicovitch 
not  being  what  he  was?  I  cannot  unravel  this.  I  once 
spoke  of  this  before  to  you,  and  to  no  other  man '  '  De- 
cember 13.  How  can  I  say  things  go  wrong?  Sheets  of  fools- 
cap are  written  in  praise  of  the  Shah*s  contingent,  and,  as 
God  is  my  judge,  I  tremble  every  time  I  hear  of  its  being 
employed  that  it  will  compromise  its  officers.  You  cannot, 
then,  imagine  I  would  ever  advocate  a  weak  and  yet  undis- 
ciplined corps  garrisoning  Bameean.  Your  remark  about 
employing  Afghans  in  Koonee  and  Khyber,  as  you  may 
well  imagine,  agrees  with  my  own  views,  but  I  am  not  the 

Bnvoy.    I  see  European  soldiers  sent  to  look  after  Khyberees, 
VOL.  II.  5 


66  S//^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1840. 

and  as  well  might  they  be  sent  after  wild  sheep.  I  see, 
what  is  worse,  Craigie*s  corps  sent  after  the  disaffected  at 
Koonee,  when  they  are  not  yet  drilled,  and  when  Afghans 
are  quite  up  to  the  work.  From  all  this  I  see  that  Shah 
Soojah  never  can  be  left  without  a  British  army,  for  his  own 

contingent  will  never  be  fit  for  anything *  '  January  7, 

1840.  I  will  send  you  a  letter  from  Lord  Auckland  to  me, 
wishing  again  to  make  me  Resident  at  Candahar,  but  not 
to  go  there  unless  it  '  pleased '  nie.  I  replied  to  Macnaghten 
that  this  useless  correspondence  had  been  going  on  since 
August,  and  it  was  high  time  to  do  what  had  been  proposed 
— to  give  me  Resident's  pay.  Imprisoning  rupees  and 
reading  are  now  my  engagements,  and  I  have  begun  the 
year  with  a  resolution  of  making  no  more  suggestions,  and 
of  only  speaking  when  spoken  to.  I  do  not  say  this  in  ill 
humour — quite  the  reverse.  A  screw  from  Machiavelli 
supports  me.  "  A  man  who,  instead  of  acting  for  the  best, 
acts  as  he  ought,  seeks  rather  his  ruin  than  his  preserva- 
tion *' '  '  Jan.  IT.  Lord  Auckland  took  a  step  in  sending 

an  army  into  this  country  contrary  to  his  own  judgment, 
and  he  cares  not  a  sixpence  what  comes  of  the  policy,  so 
that  he  gets  out  of  it.  All  the  despatches  plainly  prove  this  -, 
and  Macnaghten  now  begias  to  see  his  own  false  position, 
suggests  remedies,  and  finds  himself  for  the  first  time  snubbed 
by  the  very  Governor-General  whose  letters  have  been 
hitherto  a  fulsome  tissue  of  praise.  The  Envoy  sees  that 
Russia  is  coming  on,  that  Herat  is  not  what  it  ought  to  have 
been — ours,  and  his  dawning  experience  tells  him  that,  if 
not  for  us,  it  is  against  us.  What  says  Lord  Auckland  ?  "  I 
disagree?  with  you.     Yar  Mahomed  is  to  be  conciliated. 


1840.]  LETTERS  TO  DR  LORD,  67 

Russia  is  i&iendly  to  England^  and  I  do  not  credit  her  advance 
on  us,  though  she  may  have  an  expedition  agaiast  Khiva, 
I  wonder,"  adds  his  Lordship  to  the  Envoy,  **  that  you  should 
countenance  attacks  on  Herat  contrary  to  treaty**  (who  made 
that  treaty  ?  Macnaghten !)  5  "  that  you  should  seek  for 
more  troops  in  Afghanistan.  It  is  your  duty  to  rid  Afghanis- 
tan of  troops.  *  *  All  very  fine,  but  mark  the  result — calamity, 
loss  of  influence,  and  with  it  loss  of  rupees.  In  these 
important  times,  what  occupies  the  King  and  this  Envoy  ? 
The  cellars  of  his  Majesty*s  palace  have  been  used  as  powder- 
magazines  to  prevent  a  mosque  being  ''desecrated.**  They 
would  have  been  put  in  the  citadel,  but  his  Majesty  objected, 
as  they  overlooked  his  harem  !  This  objection  dire  necessity 
has  removed>  and  to  the  citadel  they  have  gone.  Read  the 
enclosures,  and  see  what  is  said,  of  Colonel  Dennie*s  occu- 
pying, not  the  palace,  but  a  house  outside,  held  formerly 
by  sweepers  and  Hindoos!  From  this,  in  the  midst  of 
winter,  though  Brigadier,  he  has  been  ejected)  but  he 
declares  before  God  that  it  shall  be  the  Grovernor-Greneral 
alone  who  turns  him.out.  These  are  the  occupations  of  the 
King  and  Envoy.  See  what  Sir  W.  Cotton  says  of  it.  In 
Persia,  in  Egypt,  in  Muscat,  the  guests  of  the  Sovereigns 
occupy  palaces,  and  Shah  Soojah  declares  he  will  resign  his 
throne  if  he  be  so  insulted — ^insulted  by  the  contamination 
of  those  men  who  bled  for  him  and  placed  him  where  he 
is.  What,  my  dear  Lord,  do  I  mean  by  all  this  ?  Ex  uno  disce 
omnes.  Be  silent,  pocket  your  pay,  do  nothing  but  what 
you  are  ordered,  and  you  will  give  high  satisfaction.  They 
will  sacrifice  you  and  me,  or  any  one,,  without  caring  a 
straw.     This  does  not  originate  from  vice,  I  believe,  but 


68  S/ie  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1832. 


from  ignorance.  Drowning  men  eatch  at  straws,  and  when- 
ever anything  goes  wrong,  other  backs  must  bear  the  brand. 
An  expose  of  the  policy  from  the  day  we  were  bound  hand 
and  foot  at  Lahore,  tiU  Shah  Soojah  threatened  to  resign 
his  throne  because  of  the  cellars  of  his  palace  being  occupied 
by  munitions  of  war  when  Russia  was  on  the  Oxus,  would 
make  a  book  which  all  future  diplomatists  could  never  in 
blunder  surpass 5  but  why  should  if  be  otherwise?  The 
chief  priest,  ere  he  started,  asked  if  Khiva  were  on  the  Indus ! 
Bah !  I  blame  the  Grovernor-General  for  little  \  if  he  is 
a  timid  man,  he  is  a  good  man.  W.  hoodwinked  him  about 
Caubul  when  I  was  here  5  another  now  hoodwinks  him. 
The  one  cost  us  two  millions,  the  other  will  cost  us  ten. 
His  Lordship  has  just  written  to.  me  to  give  him  my  say  on 
public  matters.  Am  I  a  fool  ?  He  does  not  want  truth  j 
he  wants  support,  and  when  I  can  give  it  I  shall  do  so 

loudly)  when  I  cannot,  I  shall  be  silent *  'Jan.  26. 

They  have  been  at  me  again  to  write  "  on  the  prospects  of 
the  restored  Grovernment,"  as  I  think  I  told  you  before.  I 
am  no  such  gaby.  If  they  really  wanted  truth,  I  would 
give  it  cordially,  but  it  is  a  cniming-in,  a  coincidence  of 
views,  which  they  seek ;  and  I  can  go  a  good  way,  but  my 
conscience  has  not  so  much  stretch  as  to  approve  of  this 

dynasty.     But,  mum — let  that  be  between  ourselves ' 

'  Feb.  18.  The  Envoy  is,  or  pretends  to  be,  greatly  annoyed 
at  my  being  left  out  of  the  list  of  the  honoured,  and  has 
written  four  letters  on  it  5  three  to  me,  and  one  to  NicoLson. 
I  am  not  in  the  least  surprised.  Every  month  brings  with 
it  proofs  of  Lord  A.'s  hostility  or  dislike.     Serves  me  right. 


184a]  PRIVATE  CORRESPONDENCE,  69 


I  ought  never  to  have  come  here,  or  allowed  myself  to  be 
pleased  with  fair  though  false  words.  As  a  sample,  look ; 
they  burked  the  paragraph  on  me  in  Sir  John  (Baron) 
Keane*s  despatch  because  I  was  a  political.  Next  fight  at 
Khelat,  the  paragraph  on  the  political  Bean  is  printed.  I 
bide  my  time,  and  I  may  be  set  down  as  highly  presumptuous^ 

but  if  I  live,  I  expect  to  be  a  G.C.B.  instead  of  a  C.B. * 

'  February  28.  You  tell  me  to  accept  the  Readency  at 
Candahar  5  it  is  well  I  refused  it.  The  Court  of  Directors 
have  officially  sanctioned  it,  and  Lord  Auckland  says  I  am 
to  have  Resident's  pay,  but  to  be  Political  Agent !  Did  you 
ever  ?  However,  my  refusal  had  gone  in,  backed  by  Mac- 
naghten,  and  they  make  me  Resident  at  Cauhul,  but  I  expect 
nothing  from  them  afler  such  base  ingratitude.  The  reasons 
why  I  refused  Candahar  were,  that  I  should  be  as  dependent 
there  as  here,  with  a  certainty  of  collision  in  Herat  affairs, 
over  which  I  was  to  have  ''some  control."  Now  I  could 
not  have  had  that  without  making  my  silence  my  dishonesty, 
and  I  resolved  on  '*  biding  my  time"  here.  I  have  heard 
no  more  of  the  Shah*s  move  to  Candahar ;  it  is  necessary 
on  many  accounts  5  but  it  may  not  take  place  on  that  ac- 
count   '  'March  4.  There  is  no  two  days*  fixity  of  purpose 

— ^no  plan  of  the  fiiture  policy,  external  or  internal,  on  which 
you  can  depend  a  week.  The  bit-by-bit  system  prevails. 
Nothing  comprehensive  is  looked  to  5  the  details  of  the  day 
suffice  to  fill  it  up,  and  the  work  done  is  not  measured  by 
its  importance,  but  by  being  work,  and  this  work  consists 
of  details  and  drawing  money.  We  are  in  a  fair  way  of 
provmg  all  Mr  Elphinstone  said  in  his  letter  to  me,  and  I 


70  5/i?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1840 

for  one  begin  to  think  Wade  will  be  the  luckiest  of  us  all  to 
be  away  from  the  break-down  5  for,  unless  a  new  leaf  is 
turned  over,  break  down  we  shall.* 

Though  condemned  thus  painfully  to  official  inactivity, 
the  restless  spirit  of  Alexander  Burnes  was  continually 
embracing  all  the  great  questions  which  the  antagonism  of 
England  and  Russia  in  Central  Asia  were  then  throwing 
up  for  practical  solution.  He  had  made  up  his  own  mind 
very  distinctly  upon  the  subject.  He  somewhat  exaggerated 
the  aggressive  designs  of  Russia ;  but,  starting  from  such 
premises,  he  was  logically  right  in  contending  that  our  best 
pohcy  was  to  strengthen  ourselves  in  Afghanistan,  and  not 
to  endeavour  either  to  oppose  by  arms  or  to  baffle  by 
diplomacy  the  progress  of  the  Muscovite  in  Central  Asia. 
There  were  other  British  officers,  however,  in  the  Afghan 
dominions  at  that  time,  who,  thinking  less  of  Russian 
aggressiveness  and  more  of  Central  Asian  provocations,  felt 
that  much  good  might  be  effected  by  peaceful  mediation — 
especially  by  the  good  work  of  endeavouring  to  liberate  the 
Russian  subjects,  who  had  been  carried  off  into  slavery  by 
the  man-stealers  of  those  barbarous  States.*  It  remained 
for  a  later  generation  to  endorse  these  views,  and  to  believe 
that  England  and  Russia  might  act  harmoniously  together 
in  Central  Asia  in  the  interests  of  universal  humanity. 
Very  steadfastly  and  persistently  did  Burnes  set  his  face 
against  them.  His  own  opinions  were  stated  most  emphat- 
ically in  letters,  which  he  addressed  to  Sir  William  Mac- 

*  I  touch  but  cursorily  on  this  subject  here,  because  it  will  be 
illustrated  more  fiilly  in  subsequent  Memoirs  of  Arthur  ConoUy  and 
D'Arcy  Todd. 


1840.]  RUSSIA  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA,  71 


naghten  in  this  year :  '  I  have  just  received  your  very  inter- 
esting letter  of  the  13th/  he  wrote  to  the  Envoy,  on  the 
1 6th  of  April,  'with  its  enclosure,  an  extract  from  the  Go- 
vernor-Grenerars  letter  regarding  the  designs  of  Russia.  I 
now  feel  somewhat  at  ease  since  his  Lordship  has  become 
cognizant  of  the  real  state  of  affairs  on  our  frontier,  as  we 
shall  no  longer  be  acting  on  a  blind  reliance  that  the  expe- 
dition to  Khiva  was  small,  and  would  be  unsuccessful,  when  it 
is  an  army  composed  of  the  61ite  of  their  empire,  and  has 
made  good  its  lodgment  on  the  delta  of  the  Oxus.  Afler 
the  Punic  faith  which  Russia  has  exhibited,  I  confess  I  was 
astonished  to  see  Lord  Clanricarde  put  trust  in  what  Count 
Nesselrode  told  him  of  the  strength  of  the  Russian  force, 
and  you  may  rely  upon  it  that  we  are  better  judges  of  what 
Russia  is  doing  in  Turkistan  than  our  ambassador  at  St 
Petersburg,  and  I  hope  the  correctness  of  all  our  information 
from  first  to  last  will  now  lead  to  the  most  implicit  reliance 
being  hereafter  placed  upon  it.  One  correspondent  may 
exaggerate  and  distort,  but  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  falsev- 
hood  to  be  consistent  -,  and  of  inconsistency  we  have  had 
none,  the  cry  being  that  Russia  has  entered  Turkistan  with 
the  design  of  setting  up  her  influence  there,  and  that 
(whether  her  ruler  or  ministers  admit  it  or  not)  her  object 
is  to  disturb  us  in  Afghanistan.  European  intelligence 
confirms  all  this  5  and  with  a  failing  peculiarly  her  own, 
Russia  has,  for  the  present,  left  the  Turkish  question  to  be 
settled  by  England  and  France,  and  even  in  her  generosity 
agreed  to  open  the  Black  Sea.  "Timeo  Danaos  et  dona 
ferentes."  Firmly  impressed  with  these  views,  they  tincture 
ell  my  thoughts  and  opinions,  and,  in  consequence,  lead  me 


7a  5/^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1840. 

to  hope  that  our  every  nerve  will  be  strained  to  consolidate 
Afghanistan,  and  that  nothing  of  any  kind,  political  or 
military,  may  take  place  beyond  the  passes.  Had  we  force 
sufficient,  the  occupation  of  Balkh  might  not  be  a  bad 
military  move,  and  one  which  would,  in  truth,  show  "  an 
imposing  attitude;*'  but  with  Russia  at  Khiva,  and  negoti- 
ating for  the  residence  of  a  permanent  ambassador  at  Bok- 
hara, we  shall  at  once  precipitate  a  collision  with  her  by 
such  a  step,  and  with  our  present  force  I  consider  it  hopeless, 
even  if  our  rear  were  clear,  which  it  is  not.  The  attitude 
of  the  Sikhs  towards  us  is  that  of  undisguised  hostility,  and 
on  both  our  front  and  rear  we  have  cause  for  deep  reflection 
— I  will  not  say  alarm,  for  I  do  not  admit  it  5  we  have 
only  to  play  the  good  game  we  have  begun,  and  exhibit 
Shah  Soojah  as  the  real  King,  to  triumph  over  our  difficul- 
ties. The  security  from  that  triumph,  however,  is  not  an 
advance  to  Turkistan,  but  first  a  quieting  of  our  rear,  and 
redress  of  grievances  at  home.  You  will  guess,  then,  what 
I  think  of  any  of  our  officers  going  in  any  capacity  to 
Turkistan,  to  Khiva,  Bokhara,  or  Kokund.  I  regarded 
Abbott's  departure  to  Khiva  as  the  most  unhappy  step  taken 
dunng  the  campaign,  and  his  language  at  Khiva,  which 
will  all  be  repeated  to  Russia,  places  us  in  a  position  far 
more  equivocal  than  Russia  was  placed  in  by  Vicovitch 
being  here.  We  had  no  ground  of  complaint  against  Dost 
Mahomed  (till  he  joined  our  enemies),  and  two  great  Euro- 
pean powers  merely  wished  for  his  friendship  5  but  Russia 
has  at  Khiva  just  grounds  for  complaint,  and  still  Captain 
Abbott  tells  the  Khan  that  he  must  have  no  communication 
witli  Russia,  but  release  her  slaves,  and  have  done  with  her. 


x840.]  RUSSIA  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  73 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  Russia  has  extensive  trade  pass- 
ing through  Khiva,  and  that  the  proclamation  of  war 
declares  that  the  object  of  the  expedition  is  to  redress  the 
merchants  for  exactions.  Is  England  to  become  security 
for  barbarous  hordes  some  thousands  of  miles  from  her 
frontier?  If  not.  Captain  Abbott's  promises  and  speeches 
must  compromise  us.  I  observe  you  proceed  on  the  sup- 
position that  Russia  wants  only  her  slaves  released,  but  this 
is  one  of  ten  demands  only,  and  instead  of  our  language, 
therefore,  being  pertinent  on  that  head,  that  we  insist  on 
her  relief,  it  means  nothing,  for  Captain  Abbott  tells  us  that 
the  Khan  had  offered  to  release  them  all,  and  I  know  that 
the  King  of  Bokhara  has  made  a  treaty  to  that  effect, 
and  acts  up  to  itj  for  Captain  A.  likewise  confirms  the 
information  frequently  reported,  that  the  King  there  is 
bought  by  Russia.  We  have  in  consequence,  I  think,  no 
business  in  Khiva,  and,  however  much  we  may  wish  it, 
none  in  .Bokhara.  The  remaining  State  is  Kokund,  and 
we  shall  know  the  probable  good  of  a  connection  with  it. 
In  my  letter  to  A.  Conolly,  1  enclosed  some  "observations 
on  sending  a  mission  to  Khiva,'*  but  I  did  not  then  discuss 
the  policy  of  the  King.  I  merely,  in  reply  to  Conolly 's 
request  for  hints,  pointed  out  the  difficulties  of  the  road 
and  of  communication  when  there.  But  my  first  question 
is  the  cui  bono  of  this  mission  in  a  political  point  of  view  ? 
In  a  geographical  one,  no  one  can  doubt  its  high  expediency. 
What  are  we  to  get  from  it  ?  Nothing,  I  see,  but  to  attach 
to  ourselves  just  and  deserved  reproach  for  interfering  with 
Russia  in  ground  already  occupied  by  her  merchants,  and 
ground  far  beyond   our  own  line   of   operations.     The 


74  S/I^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [18^ 

measure  will  irritate  Russia,  who  will  at  once  march  on 
Balkh  to  assert  her  just  position,  as  she  calls  it,  in  Central 
Asia)  and  then,  indeed,  the  Governor-Grenerars  surmises 
will  be  proved.    It  will  give  uneasiness  to  "  all  surrounding 
States,  and  add  difficulty  to  the  game  which  we  have  to 
play."  But  one  very  serious  obstacle  to  all  interference  with 
Turkistan  has  apparently  been  overlooked.     Russia  is  not 
engaged  alone  in  the  enterprise.    She  has  her  ally  of  Persia, 
and  ambassadors,  too,  to  seek  the  release  of  the  Persian 
slaves.     Are  we  prepared  to  insist  on  this,  and  reconstruct 
the  whole  fabric  of  society  by  marching  back  some  two  or 
three  hundred  thousand  slaves?     If  not,  our  proceedings 
are  neither   consonant  with  humanity  nor  the  rights  of 
nations ',  and  if  they  are,  the  only  chance  of  success  is  to 
leave  Russia  alone,  or  to  aid  her  with  a  military  force  5  the 
former  the  only  judicious  course  for  us  to  pursue.     I  have 
been  thus  earnest  on  this  very  momentous  question  from 
the  anxiety  which  I  feel  to  see  our  cause  flourish,  and  our 
good  name  preserved.     It  is  not  the  question  of  Lord  or 
Conolly  going.     That  is  a  mere  trifle,  which  does  not  call 
for  a  moment's  consideration.     I  believe  the  deputation  of 
any  one  to  Turkistan  at  this  time  to  be  a  serious  error.     If 
it  is  to  be,  I  shall,  of  course,  do  all  I  can  by  information, 
and  by  getting  good  people  to  assist  the  officers  sent  5  but  I 
hope  you  will  excuse  my  beseeching  you  to  weigh  the  step 
well  before  it  is  taken.     Rely  upon  it,  the  English  Cabinet 
can  alone  settle  this  question,  and  it  must  be  at  London  or 
St  Petersburg,  and  not  at  Kokund,  Bokhara,  or  Khiva,  that 
we  are  to  counteract  Russia.     Let  us  crown  the  passes. 
Let  an  engineer  be  forthwith  sent  to  map  them,  and  let 


1840.]  RUSSIA  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA,  75 

grain  (as  you  have  just  proposed)  be  stored  behind  them  at 
Bameean.  Let  alarm  be  allayed  by  our  not  appearing  to 
stir  overmuch  J  for  Caubul  is  the  place  for  the  corps 
d'arm^,  and  not  Bameean^  which  should  be  its  outwork, 
and,  as  such,  strengthened.  We  should  have,  done  with 
dealing  with  the  Oosbegs,  for  it  is  time.  In  Khiva  we 
have  our  agent  detained.  At  Bokhara,  poor  Stoddart*s 
captivity  reflects  seriously  upon  our  character,  and  damages 
it  here  5  while  in  Kokund  I  see  no  possible  good  likely  to 
flow,  even  from  the  most  splendid  success  attending  the 
agent,  and,  on  the  contrary,  much  chance  of  evil.* 

Some  three  or  four  weeks  after  this  letter  was  written, 
Macnaghten  orally  proposed  that  Burnes  himself  should 
proceed  on  a  mission  to  the  Russian  camp.  Burnes  replied 
that  he  would  go  if  he  were  ordered  5  and  after  the  inter- 
view, having  thought  well  over  the  matter,  he  wrote  on 
the  same  evening  a  letter  to  the  Envoy,  saying :  *  With  re- 
ference to  our  conversation  this  morning,  when  I  stated  my 
readiness  to  proceed  to  Greneral  PerofFski*s  camp  with  ala- 
crity, if  the  Govemor-Greneral  would  but  grant  to  me  cre- 
dentials and  powers  to  act  as  stated  in  Lord  Palmerston*s 
letter — i,  e.  to  tell  the  Russian  General  if  he  sought  to  sub- 
vert the  political  influence  of  the  Khan  of  Khiva,  after  due 
reparation  had  been  made  to  him,  and  did  not  withdraw 
his  force.  Great  Britain  would  consider  Russia  in  the  light 
of  an  enemy — another  view  of  the  subject  has  since  struck 
me — ^Will  you,  as  the  representative  of  the  British  nation, 
grant  to  me  such  credentials  and  powers  ?  Lord  Auckland 
requested  you  to  communicate  with  the  Russian  General  by 
a  messenger,  but  the  interests  of  the  public  service  have 


76  S/J?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [184a 


pointed  out  to  you  the  propriety  of  deviating  from  such  in- 
structions in  so  far  as  to  send  an  officer  instead  of  a  messen- 
ger. With  the  explicit  views,  then,  of  the  British  Cabinet 
transmitted  officially  to  you  by  the  Governor-Greneral,  do 
you  feel  yourself  authorized  to  draw  up  credentials  em- 
powering me  to  go  as  far  as  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Fo- 
reign Affairs  has  gone  ?  If  so,  I  am  ready,  without  awaiting 
the  Grovernor-General's  reply,  to  undertake  the  mission,  as 
I  then  see  in  it  a  chance  of  gaining  the  ends  of  our  Govern- 
ment without  risking  any  httle  reputation  I  may  have.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  merely  mean  to  convey  to  Greneral 
Peroffeki  a  hope,  or  request  by  letter,  that  he  wiU  lot  ex- 
ceed the  Emperor's  instructions,  this  will  be  but  th  *■  duty 
of  a  courier,  and  as  my  personal  insight  would  thus  fell  be- 
low zero,  I  have  no  desire  to  undertake  the  journey  5  though 
even  then,  as  I  have  reported  to  Conolly  and  yourself,  I 
will  proceed  there,  if  you  are  of  opinion  it  is  desirable,  and 
you  think  I  can  advance  the  public  interests.  If,  however, 
you  do  not  feel  yourself  authorized  to  grant  to  me  the  powers 
which  seem  necessary,  your  letter  of  to-day  to  Lord  Auck- 
land may,  perhaps,  draw  such  credentials  from  his  Lordship, 
and  if  so,  I  shall  hold  myself  in  readiness  on  their  arrival 
here  to  follow  Conolly  to  the  Russian  camp,  taking,  if  pos- 
sible, the  Oxus  as  my  route,  by  which  I  could  reach  Khiva 
with  great  expedition,  and  to  political  objects  add  a  know- 
ledge of  that  river,  now  so  important  to  us.' 

But  before  there  was  any  necessity  to  bring  this  question 
to  the  point  of  practical  solution,  intelligence  was  received 
at  Caubul  which  consigned  it  to  the  limbo  of  vanities  and 
abortions.     Another  mission  had  proceeded  to  the  Russian 


i840.]        RE-APPEARANCE  OF  DOST  MAHOMED,  77 

camp — ^a  mission  from  Heaven  in  the  shape  of  that  great 
white  enemy,  which  was  destined  at  a  later  date  to  put  our 
own  armies  to  confusion.  Peroflski's  legions  were  arrested 
by  the  destroying  snow,  and  decimated  by  pestilence  and 
famine.  This  source  of  inquietude  was,  therefore,  removed, 
and  Bumes  was  again  driven  back  into  inactivity.*  The 
summer  passed  quietly  over  his  head,  but  the  autumn  found 
him  and  all  his  countrymen  at  Caubul  in  a  state  of  extreme 
excitement.  Dost  Mahomed  was  again  in  arms  against  the 
Feringhees,  who  had  driven  him  from  his  country.  He 
was  coming  down  from  the  regions  beyond  the  Hindoo- 
Koosh,  raising  the  tribes  on  the  way,  and  calling  on  the 
children  of  the  Prophet  to  expel  the  usurping  unbelievers. 
A  British  force  was  sent  into  the  Kohistan,  under  the  com« 
mand  of  Sir  Robert  Sale  5  and  Burnes  went  with  it  in  chief 

*  When  men — especially  men  of  active  habits — ^have  veiy  little 
to  do,  they  are  frequently  disturbed  by  small  troubles,  which,  at 
times  of  greater  activity,  would  pass  imnoticed.  At  this  period 
Bumes  was  greatly  irritated  by  some  comments  on  Affghan  af- 
fairs in  the  Calcutta  and  Agra  papers.  With  reference  to  a  letter 
in  the  Agra  Ukkbar,  which  had  reflected  on  some  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Dr  Lord,  Bumes  wrote  to  his  friend,  saying  :  *  I  think 
that  a  simple  letter  under  your  name  calling  the  man  a  cowardly 
slanderer  and  a  villain,  or  some  such  choice  word,  would  be  a  good 
mode  of  rebutting  him.*  As  if  trath  were  to  be  established  by  calling 
men  hard  names  I  In  another  letter  Bumes  wrote  to  Lord  :  *  You 
have  a  viper  in  your  Artillery  named  Kaye,  who  writes  in  the  Hur- 
karUy  &c.  &c.  The  viper  referred  to  is  the  writer  of  this  book.  I 
had,  as  a  young  man,  perhaps  a  little  too  fond  of  my  pen,  emphat- 
ically protested  against  our  entire  policy  in  Afghanistan,  and  pre- 
dicted its  speedy  collapse — ^which  prediction,  in  the  first  flush  of 
success,  my  countrymen  in  India,  with  few  exceptions,  were  wont  to 
deride. 


78  5/y?  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [184a 


political  control  of  the  expedition.  How  badly  everything 
fared  with  us  at  the  first  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  the  latter  wrote  to  the  Envoy,  saying  that  there  was 
nothing  left  for  our  troops  but  to  fall  back  on  Caubul,  and 
there  to  concentrate  all  our  strength.  This  was  on  the  2nd 
of  November — a  day  of  evil  omen  ;  for  then  Bumes's  days 
were  numbered  by  the  days  of  a  single  year.  He  saw  the 
last  victorious  charge  of  the  Ameer  5  he  saw  our  troops  fly- 
ing before  him  3  he  saw  his  friends  and  associates,  Broadfoot 
and  Lord,  fall  mortally  wounded  from  their  horses  j  and  he 
himself  narrowly  escaped.  This  was  but  the  darkest  hour 
before  the  dawn.  On  the  following  day  Dost  Mahomed 
surrendered  himself  to  the  British  Envoy,  and,  instead  of  a 
formidable  enemy,  became  a  harmless  State  prisoner.  Then 
the  spirits  of  Burnes  and  of  his  associates  at  Caubul  began 
to  rise.  Writing  a  few  weeks  afterwards  to  one  of  his 
brothers,  he  said  :  *  Caubul,  November  24,  1840.  I  have 
been  too  much  occupied  these  two  months  past  to  write  to 
you,  and  though  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  crown  our 
efforts  with  success,  and  to  permit  me  to  play  a  prominent 
part,  I  have  yet  to  mourn  the  loss  of  two  very  dear  friends, 
Dr  Lord  and  Lieutenant  Broadfoot.  How  I  escaped  un- 
scathed God  only  knows.  I  have  a  ball  which  fell  at  my 
feet,  and  of  three  political  officers,  I  have  alone  lived  to  tell 
the  tale.  Make  no  parade  of  these  facts.  My  interview 
with  Dost  Mahomed  Khan  was  very  interesting  and  very 
affectionate.  He  taimted  me  with  nothing,  said  I  was  his 
best  friend,  and  that  he  had  come  in  on  a  letter  I  had  writ- 
ten to  him.  This  I  disbeHeve,  for  we  followed  him  from 
house  to  house,  and  he  was  obliged  to  surrender.     On  that 


1840.]  DOST  MAHOMED  PENSIONED,  79 


letter,  however,  I  hope  I  shaU  have  got  for  him  an  annual 
stipend  of  two  lakhs  of  rupees  instead  of  one.  On  our 
parting,  I  gave  him  an  Arab  horse ;  and  what  think  you 
he  gave  me  ?  His  own,  and  only  sword,  and  which  is 
stained  with  blood.  He  left  this  for  India  some  fourteen 
days  ago,  and  is  to  live  at  Loodiana.  In  Kohistan  I  saw  a 
failure  of  our  artillery  to  breach,  of  our  European  soldiers  to 
storm,  and  of  our  cavalry  to  charge  j  and  yet  Grod  gave  us 
the  victory.  And  now  Kumick  Singh  is  dead,  and  Now 
Nihal,  the  new  ruler  of  the  Punjab,  killed  while  attending 
his  father's  funeral  by  a  gate  falling  on  him,  Shere  Singh 
reigns  in  his  stead.  Read  the  prediction  in  my  Travels, 
vol.  i.,  pp.  298-9,  second  edition,  on  this  head.  If  we  could 
turn  over  a  new  leaf  here,  we  might  soon  make  Afghanistan 
a  barrier.  You  regret  about  my  name  and  the  Russians. 
Nine-tenths  of  what  is  attributed  to  me  I  never  said,  but  I 
did  say  the  Russians  were  coming,  and  that,  too,  on  31st  of 
October,  1839,  and  come  they  did  5  and  Lord  Auckland 
would  never  believe  it  till  March,  1840!  He  heard  from 
London  and  from  Khiva  of  the  failure  simultaneously,  and 
they  wonder  why  we  did  not  hear  sooner.  We  have  no  mail 
coaches  here,  and  hence  the  explanation.  From  Orenburg 
to  London  is  eighteen  days  5  from  Bokhara  to  Caubul  is 
thirty.  We  have  no  intelligence  yet  of  a  second  expedition, 
and  I  hope  none  will  come.  The  state  of  Afghanistan  for 
the  last  year  wiU  show  you  how  much  reason  we  had  to 
fear  the  Czar*s  approach.* 

After  this  the  horizon  was  clear  for  a  little  space,  and 
there  was  a  lull  in  the  political  atmosphere.  But  with 
the  new  year  came  new  troubles.     There  was  a  crisis  at 


8o  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1841. 

Herat  5  and  the  tribes  in  Western  Afghanistan  were  rising 
against  the  King  and  his  supporters.     With  these  things 
Bumes  had  httle  to  do  in  any  active  capacity.     He  wrote 
letters  and  minutes,  and  gave  advice,  clearly  seeing  that 
everything  was  going  wrong.  '  I  am  now  a  highly  paid  idler,* 
he  wrote  to  one  of  his  brothers,  *  having  no  less  than  3  joo 
rupees  a  month,  as  Resident  at  Caubul,  and  bemg,  as  the 
lawyers  call  it,  only  counsel,  and  that,  too,  a  dumb  one — 
by  which  I  mean  that  I  give  paper  opinions,  but  do  not 
work  them  out.'    He  had,  however,  become  more  contented 
with  his  lot.     He  ceased  to  chafe  at  what  seemed,  for  a 
time  at  least,  to  be  inevitable  5  and  enjoying,  as  best  he 
could,  the  blessings  of  the  present,  he  looked  forward  to  a 
future,  then  apparently  not  very  remote,  when  his  energies 
might  find  fi-eer  scope  for  action,  for  it  was  believed  that  a 
higher  official  post  would  soon  be  found  for  Macnaghten. 
He  was  in  excellent  health  at  this  time,  and  his  fine  animal 
spirits  sparkled  pleasantly  in  all  his  letters  to  his  friends. 
On  the  1st  of  April  he  wrote  to  Montrose,  saying :  *  We 
had  no  sooner  got  Dost  Mahomed  Khan  into  our  power 
than  Herat  breaks  with  us,  and  the  Punjab  becomes  a  scene 
of  strife.     Out  of  both  contingencies  we  might  extract  good 
— real,  solid  good  5  we  may  restore  the  lost  wings  of  Af- 
ghanistan,   Herat    and   Peshawur,    to   Shah   Soojah,  and 
thus   enable   him  to   support   himself,  free  us   from  the 
expense  of  Afghanistan,  and  what  would  be  better,  with- 
draw our  regular  army  within  the  Indus,  leaving  Caubul  as 
an  outpost,  which  we  could  thus  succour  with  readiness. 
...  I  lead,  however,  a  very  pleasant  life,  and  if  rotundity 
and  heartiness  be  proofs  of  health,  I  have  them.     My  house 


1841.]  HIS  LIFE  AT  CAUBUL,  81 

I  taboo  at  all  hours  for  breakfast,  which  I  have  long  made 
a  public  meal.  I  have  covers  laid  for  eight,  and  half  a 
dozen  of  the  officers  drop  in  as  they  feel  disposed  every 
morning,  discuss  a  rare  Scotch  breakfast  of  smoked  fish, 
salmon  grills,  devils,  and  jellies,  puiF  away  at  their  cigars  till 
ten  (the  hour  of  assembly  being  nine),  then  I  am  left  to 
myself  till  evening,  when  my  friend  Broadfoot  (who  is  my 
assistant)  and  I  sit  down  to  our  quiet  dinner,  and  discuss 
with  our  Port  men  and  manners.  Once  in  every  week  I 
give  a  party  of  eight,  and  now  and  then  I  have  my  intimates 
alone,  and  as  the  good  river  Indus  is  a  channel  for  luxuries 
as  well  as  commerce,  I  can  place  before  my  friends  at  one- 
third  in  excess  of  the  Bombay  price  my  champagne,  hock, 
madeira,  sherry,  port,  claret,  sauteme,  not  forgetting  a  glass 
of  cura9oa  and  maraschino,  and  the  hermetically  sealed  sal- 
mon and  hotch-potch  (veritable  hotch-potch,  all  the  way 
frae  Aberdeen),  for  deuced  good  it  is,  the  peas  as  big  as  if 
they  had  been  soaked  for  bristling,  I  see  James  Duke  is 
an  alderman  of  London  5  he  will  be  Lord  Mayor,  and  then 
all  the  smacks  of  Montrose  will  flee  to  London  with  fine 
young  men  for  his  patronage.  A  Duke  and  a  Mayor ! 
These  are  wonderful  changes,  but  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  he  is 
said  to  be  a  real  good  fellow,  and  deserves  his  prosperity.  I 
remember  he  used  to  sit  before  us  in  the  Kirk,  and  in  his 
hat  were  written,  *'  Remember  the  eighth  commandment 
and  Golgotha,**  so  he  will  be  a  terror  to  evil-doers  assuredly. 
•Bravo,  say  I.  I  wish  I  were  provost  mysel*  here ;  I  would 
be  as  happy  as  the  Lord  Mayor.* 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  enforced  inactivity  of  which 
Alexander  Burnes,  at  this  period  of  his  career,  so  often 

VOL.   II.  6 


82  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [184X. 

wrote^  was  in  one  sense  greatly  to  his  advantage.  It  often 
happens  that  men  who  lead  very  active  and  stirring  lives 
tail,  in  the  midst  of  their  day-to-day  excitements^  to  take 
that  just  view  of  surrounding  circumstances  which  they 
v^ould  have  taken,  with  more  leisure  on  their  hands  and 
better  opportunities  of  far-reaching  observation.  We  cannot 
'  see,  as  from  a  tower,  the  end  of  all,'  when  we  are  wrestling 
with  a  crowd  at  its  base.  Burnes,  as  a  looker-on,  saw 
clearly  and  distinctly  what  Macnaghten  did  not  see — that 
we  were  interfering  a  great  deal  too  much  in  Afghanistan, 
and  that  the  best  thing  for  the  restored  monarchy  would  be 
that  we  should  take  less  trouble  to  support  it.  After  an 
outbreak,  fatally  mismanaged  by  the  Western  Ghilzyes,  he 
wrote  to  Major  Lynch,  in  June,  saying  :  '  I  am  not  cogniz- 
ant of  all  which  you  relate  regarding  affairs  in  your  quarter, 
but  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  I  am  one  of  those  altogether 
opposed  to  any  further  fighting  in  this  country,  and  that  I 
consider  we  shall  never  settle  Afghanistan  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  And  this  opinion,  which  I  have  so  long  held, 
I  am  glad  to  see  has  been  at  length  adopted  in  Calcutta, 
and  will  be  our  future  guide.  As  regards  the  Ghilzyes,  in- 
deed, immense  allowances  ought  to  be  made  for  them  5  they 
were,  till  within  three  generations,  the  Kings  of  Afghanistan, 
and  carried  their  victorious  arms  to  the  capital  of  Persia.  It 
is  expecting  too  much,  therefore,  to  hope  for  their  being  at 
once  peaceful  subjects.*  And  again  on  the  ist  of  August, 
to  another  correspondent :  '  Pottinger  undertakes  an  awful 
risk  in  China.  M'Neill  ought  not  to  go  to  Persia  3  he  de- 
serves Constantinople,  and  I  hope  will  get  it.  Lord  Auck- 
land will  not  pardon  poor  Todd,  and  here  again  I  predicted 


1841.]  PREDICTIONS  OF  EVIL,  83 

failure  there,  and  am  scowled  at  for  being  a  true  prophet  j 
but  certes,  if  Herat  has  gone  over  to  Persia  we  are  in  a 
greater  mess  than  ever,  but  I  hope  the  return  of  our  ambas- 
sador to  Persia  will  set  all  this  right.  For  my  part,  I  would 
send  no  one  to  Persia  or  to  Herat  5  I  would  withdraw  all 
but  two  brigades  within  the  Indus,  and  these  I  would  with- 
draw, one  in  next  yeaJ»,  and  one  in  the  year  after  next,  and 
leave  the  Shah  to  his  own  contingent  and  his  Afghans,  and 
I,  as  Envoy,  would  stake  my  character  on  this — ^We  shall 
be  ruined  if  this  expense  goes  on/ 

At  last,  in  this  autumn  of  1841,  news  came  that  Sir 
William  Macnaghten  had  been  appointed  Governor  of 
Bombay;  but,  even  then,  there  were  reports  that  some 
veteran  political  officer  would  be  sent  up  from  the  Provinces 
to  occupy  his  seat.  It  was  a  period  of  distressing  doubt 
and  anxiety  to  the  expectant  minister.  In  the  midst  of  his 
perplexities,  he  was  wont  to  seek  solace  in  his  books.  His 
favourite  author  was  Tacitus,  in  whose  writings  he  read 
lessons  of  wisdom,  which,  he  said,  were  of  infinite  service 
to  him  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  Some  extracts  from 
the  journal,  which  he  kept  in  this  year,  will  show  how,  in 
the  enforced  inactivity  of  his  anomalous  position,  he  gathered 
knowledge  from  his  library,  which  he  might,  some  day,  he 
thought,  turn  to  good  account.  At  all  events,  such  studies 
diverted  his  mind  and  alleviated  the  pains  of  the  suspense 
to  which  he  was  condemned :  '  Caubul,  August  13.  Read 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  books  of  the  Annals  of 
Tacitus.  What  lessons  of  wisdom  and  knowledge — how 
the  human  mind  and  its  passions  are  laid  bare !  I  drink  in 
Taatus,  and,  perhaps,  with  the  more  relish,  that  his  lessons 


84  S/I^  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1841. 

are  of  practical  use '     '  August  19.    Horace  Walpole*s 

letters,  how  inimitable !  He  is  only  surpassed  by  Byron, 
of  all  letter-writers  I  have  read  3  yet  Walpole's  detaib  of 
trifles,  and  trifling  on  details,  are  inimitable.  I  have  got  a 
grand  edition,  and  eke  out  the  six  volumes,  that  I  may 

enjoy  it  all  to  my  full *    'Aug.  24.  Reading  Sir  Sidney 

Smith's  Hfe.     It  supports  an  opinion  of  mine,  that  all  great 

men  have  more  or  less  charlatanerie '     '  Aug.  26.  This 

is  assuredly  one  of  the  idle  stages  in  my  life.  I  do  nothing 
for  the  public,  unless  it  be  giving  advice,  but,  as  I  have 
none  to  perform,  unless  it  be  to  receive  my  3  joo  rupees  a 
month.  At  Bhooj,  in  1829, 1  had  similar  idleness,  and  I 
improved  myself.  Again,  in  1835,  ^  ^^  similarly  situated, 
and  since  May,  1839,  ^  ^^^®  \it&CL  so  circumstanced  here. 
I  conclude  that  my  pay  is  assigned  to  me  for  past  conduct 
and  duties  5  however,  as  my  Lord  Auckland  is  about  to 
depart,  I  have  little  chance  of  being  disturbed  in  my 
lair  in  his  day  5  it  may  be  otherwise.  To  study  Tacitus  is 
as  pleasant  as  to  write  despatches *  '  Sept.  i.  An  ex- 
pression from  Macnaghten  to-day  that  Shah  Soojah  was  an 
old  woman,  not  fit  to  rule  his  people,  with  divers  othei 
condemnations.  Ay,  see  my  Travels,  and  as  far  back  as 
1831 — ten  years  ago.  Still  I  look  upon  his  fitness  or  unfit- 
ness as  very  immaterial  3  we  are  here  to  govern  for  him, 
and  must  govern '  'Sept.  10.  Somewhat  contem- 
plative. This  is  certainly  an  important  time  for  me.  Of 
supersession  I  have  no  fear,  but  those  in  power  may  still 
keep  Macnaghten  over  me,  and  much  as  he  objects  to  this, 
it  enables  Lord  Auckland  to  move  off,  and  evade  his  pro- 
mises to  me.     Alas !  I  did  not  believe  my  first  interview 


i84i.'j  SELF-COMMUNINGS.  85 


with  the  long^  tall^  gaunt  man  on  the  couch  at  Bowood 

was  to  end  thus *     '  Sept.  22.   The  Envoy  is  afraid  of 

the  King's  health.  A  native  predicts  his  death  5  he  is  not 
long-lived,  I  plainly  see.  If  he  dies,  we  were  planning  the 
modus  operandi,  I  offered  to  go  to  Candahar,  and  bring 
up  the  new  King  Timour,  and  I  predict  he  will  make  a 
good  ruler.  I  question  myself  how  far  I  am  right  in  avoid- 
ing correspondence  with  Lord  Lansdowne,  Mr  Elphinstone, 
and  all  my  numerous  friends  in  England,  or  even  with 
Lord  Auckland  ;  yet  I  believe  I  am  acting  an  honest  part  to 
Macnaghten  and  to  Government,  and  yet  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other,  I  fear,  thank  me  j  yet  it  is  clear  that  if  I  had 
carried  on  a  hot  correspondence  with  Lord  Auckland,  as 
he  wished  me,  I  must  have  injured  Macnaghten,  and  had 
I,  in  this  correspondence,  evaded  those  points  on  which 
his  Lordship  was  interested,  I  should  have  injured  myself 
in  his  eyes,  and  consequently  as  a  public  servant.  In  after 
days  I  hope  to  be  able  to  applaud  my  own  discretion  in 
this  my  difficult  position  5  but  I  may  fail  altogether  by  my 

honesty,  though  I  have  always  found  it  the  best  policy * 

'  Sept.  24.  I  have  read  with  great  relish  and  enjoyment 
the  first  volume  of  Warren  Hastings's  Life,  and  with  great 
admiration  for  the  man,  founded  on  his  many  virtues  and 
noble  fortitude,  and  that,  too,  on  the  evidence  of  his  letters, 

and  not  his  biography '     '  October  16.  I  seem  hourly 

to  lose  my  anxiety  for  power  and  place  5  yet  away  with 
such  feehngs,  for  if  I  be  worth  anything,  they  ought  to 
have  no  hold  of  me.  I  have  just  read  in  Guizot's  Life  of 
Washington  :  "  In  men  who  are  worthy  of  the  destiny  (to 
govern),  all  weariness,  all  sadness,  though  it  be  warrantable. 


86  Sm  ALEXANDER  BURNES,  [1841. 

is  weakness ;  their  mission  is  toil ;  their  reward,  the  success 
of  their  works  5  *'  but  still  in  toil  I  shall  become  weary  if 
employed.  Will  they  venture,  after  all  that  has  been  pro- 
mised, and  all  that  I  have  done,  to  pass  me  over  ?  I  doubt 
it  much  'y  if  so,  the  past  will  not  fix  a  stain  on  me,  and  the 
future  is  dark  and  doubtful.  I  have  been  asking  myself  it 
I  am  altogether  so  well  fitted  for  the  supreme  control  here 
as  I  am  disposed  to  believe.  I  sometimes  think  not,  but  I 
have  never  found  myself  fail  in  power  when  unshackled. 
On  one  point  I  am,  however,  fiilly  convinced,  I  am  unfit 
for  the  second  place  3  in  it  my  irritation  would  mar  all 
business,  and  in  supersession  there  is  evidently  no  recourse 
but  £ngland.  I  wish  this  doubt  were  solved,  for  anxiety 
is  painfid.  One  trait  of  my  character  is  thorough  serious- 
ness 'y  I  am  indiiFerent  about  nothing  I  undertake — in  feet, 
if  I  undertake  a  thing  I  cannot  be  indifferent.* 

The  anniversary  of  his  arrival  in  India  came  round. 
Twenty  years  had  passed  since  he  had  first  set  his  foot  on 
the  strand  of  Bombay.  Seldom  altogether  free  from  super- 
stitions and  presentiments,  he  entered  upon  this  31st  of 
October,  1841,  with  a  vivid  impression  that  it  would  bring 
forth  something  upon  which  his  whole  future  life  would 
turn.  '  Ay !  what  will  this  day  bring  forth  ?  *  he  wrote  in 
his  journal,  '  the  anniversary  of  my  twenty  years*  service  in 
India.  It  will  make  or  mar  me,  I  suppose.  Before  the 
sun  sets  I  shall  know  whether  I  go  to  Europe  or  succeed 
Macnaghten.*  But  the  day  passed,  and  the  momentous 
question  was  not  settled.  Then  November  dawned,  and 
neither  Burnes  nor  Macnaghten  received  the  desired  letters 
from  Calcutta — only  vague  newspaper  reports,  which  added 


i/l4i.]  INSURRECTIONS  IN  AFGHANISTAN.  87 

new  fuel  to  the  doubts  and  anxieties  of  the  expectant 
Envoy.  'I  grow  very  tired  of  praise,*  he  wrote  in  his 
journal,  '  and  I  suppose  that  I  shall  get  tired  of  censure  in 
time/  This  was  his  last  entry.  There  was  no  more  either 
of  praise  or  of  censure  to  agitate  him  in  this  world.  Already 
the  bitter  fruit  of  folly  and  injustice  had  ripened  upon  the 
tree  of  Retribution,  and  the  nation  which  had  done  this 
wrong  thing  was  about  to  be  judged  by  the  '  eternal  law, 
that  where  crime  is,  sorrow  shall  answer  it.'  The  Afghans 
are  an  avaricious  and  a  revengefid  people.  Our  only  settled 
policy  in  Afghanistan  was  based  upon  the  faith  that  by  grati- 
fying the  one  passion  we  might  hold  the  other  in  control.  So 
money  was  spent  freely  in  Afghanistan.  We  bought  safet}*^ 
and  peace.  But  when  it  was  found  that  this  enormous  ex- 
penditure was  impoverishing  our  Indian  £mpire,  and  that 
the  Afghans  were  still  crying  '  Give — ^give !  *  we  were 
driven  upon  the  impopular  necessity  of  retrenchment,  and 
it  ceased  to  be  worth  the  while  of  the  people  to  tolerate 
our  occupation  of  the  country.  First  one  tribe  and  then 
another  rose  against  us;  and  at  last  the  people  at  the 
capital  began  to  bestir  themselves.  Already,  on  the  ist 
of  November,  were  the  streets  of  Caubul  seething  with 
insurrection,  and  the  house  of  Sir  Alexander  Bumes  was  in 
the  city  perilously  exposed  to  attack.  His  Afghan  servants 
told  him  that  he  was  in  danger,  and  exhorted  him  to  with- 
draw to  the  cantonments.  He  said  that  he  had  done  the 
Afghans  no  injury  5  why,  then,  should  they  injure  him  ? 
He  could  not  think  that  any  real  danger  threatened  him, 
and  he  retired  to  rest  at  night  with  little  fear  of  the  results 
of  the  morrow.     Little  fear    T  should  write,  of  his  own 


88  Slli  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1841. 

persoDal  safety  j  but  he  saw  with  sufficient  distinctness  that 
a  great  national  crisis  was  approaching.  When,  on  that 
evening,  his  moonshee,  Mohun  Lai,  who  had  accompanied 
him  for  many  years  in  his  wanderings,  warned  him  of  the 
approaching  danger,  he  rose  from  his  chair,  and  made  what 
to  his  faithful  assistant  appeared  an  '  astonishing  speech,'  to 
the  effect  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  English  to  leave 
the  country.*  But  he  could  not  be  induced  to  adopt  any 
precautions.  He  said  that  if  he  sent  for  a  guard  to  protect 
his  house,  it  would  seem  as  though  he  were  afraid. 

•  I  give  Mohun  Lal*s  own  words,  which  are  all  the  more  inter- 
esting for  the  eccentricities  of  the  phraseology  :  *  On  the  1st  of 
November,*  he  wrote  to  Mr  Colvin,  private  secretary  to  the  Governor- 
General,  *  I  saw  Sir  Alexander  Bumes,  and  told  him  that  the  con- 
federacy has  been  grown  very  high,  and  we  should  fear  the  conse- 
quence. He  stood  up  from  his  chair,  sighed,  and  said,  he  knows 
nothing  but  the  time  has  arrived  that  we  should  leave  this  country/ 
In  a  letter  to  Dr  James  Bumes,  there  is  a  similar  statement,  with  the 
addition  that,  upon  the  same  night,  an  Afghan  chief,  named  Taj 
Mahomed,  called  upon  Bumes,  to  no  purpose,  with  a  like  warning : 
*  On  the  first  of  November  I  saw  him  at  evening,  and  informed  him, 
according  to  the  conversation  of  Mahomed  Meerza  Khan,  our  great 
enemy,  that  the  chiefe  are  contriving  plans  to  stand  against  us,  and 
therefore  it  will  not  be  safe  to  remain  without  a  sufficient  guard  in 
the  city.  He  replied  that  if  he  were  to  ask  the  Envoy  to  send  him  a 
strong  guard,  it  will  show  that  he  was  fearing  ;  and  at  the  same  (time) 
he  made  an  astonishing  speech,  by  saying  that  the  time  is  not  far 
when  we  must  leave  this  country.  Taj  Mahomed,  son  of  Gholam 
Mahomed  Khan,  the  Douranee  chief,  came  at  night  to  him,  and 
informed  what  the  chiefs  intended  to  do,  but  he  tumed  him  out  under 
the  pretended  aspect  that  we  do  not  care  for  such  things.  Our  old 
friend,  Naib  Sheriff,  came  and  asked  him  to  allow  his  son,  with  one 
hundred  men,  to  remain  day  and  night  in  his  place,  till  the  Ghilzyc 
affair  is  settled,  but  he  did  not  agree.' 


1841.]  LAST  DA  YS.  89 


So  Alexander  Bumes  laid  himself  down  to  rest  5  and 
slept.  But  with  the  early  morrow  came  the  phantoms  of 
new  troubles.  Plainly  the  storm  was  rising.  First  one, 
then  another,  with  more  or  less  authority,  came  to  warn 
him  that  there  was  *  death  in  the  pot.'  The  first,  who 
called  before  daybreak,  was  not  admitted,  and  Bumes  slept 
on.  But  when  the  Afghan  minister,  Oosman  Khan,  came 
to  the  house,  the  servants  woke  their  master,  who  rose  and 
dressed  himself,  and  went  forth  to  receive  the  Wuzeer.  It 
was  no  longer  possible  to  look  with  incredulity  upon  the 
signs  and  symptoms  around  him.  The  streets  were  alive 
with  insurgents.  An  excited  crowd  was  gathering  round 
his  house.  Still  there  might  be  time  to  secure  safety  by  flight. 
But  vainly  did  Oosman  Khan  implore  Burnes  to  accompany 
him  to  the  cantonments.  He  scorned  to  quit  his  post ;  he 
believed  that  he  could  quell  the  tumult  5  and  so  he  rejected 
the  advice  that  might  have  saved  him. 

That  the  city  was  in  a  state  of  insurrection  was  certain ; 
but  it  appeared  that  a  prompt  and  vigorous  demonstration 
on  the  part  of  the  British  troops  in  cantonments  might 
quell  the  tumult  5  so  he  wrote  to  Macnaghten  for  support, 
and  to  some  friendly  Afghan  chiefs  for  assistance.  It  was 
then  too  late.  Before  any  succour  could  arrive,  the  crowd 
before  his  house  had  begun  to  rage  furiously,  and  it  was 
plain  that  the  insurgents  were  thirsting  for  the  blood  of  the 
English  officers.  From  a  gallery  which  ran  along  the 
upper  part  of  the  house,  Bumes,  attended  by  his  brother 
Charles,  and  his  friend  William  Broadfoot,  addressed  him- 
self to  the  excited  mob.  They  yelled  out  their  execration 
and  defiance  in  reply,  and  it  was  plain  that  no  expostula« 


90  SIR  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1841. 

tions  or  entreaties  could  turn  them  aside  from  their  purpose. 
The  enemy  had  begun  to  fire  upon  them^  and,  hopeless  as 
retaliation  and  resistance  might  be,  there  seemed  to  be 
nothing  left  to  the  English  officers  but  to  sell  their  lives  as 
dearly  as  they  could.  Broadfoot  was  soon  shot  dead.  Then 
the  insurgents  set  fire  to  £urnes*s  stables,  rushed  into  his 
garden,  and  summoned  him  to  come  down.  All  hope  of 
succour  from  cantonments  had  now  gone.  Still  he  might 
purchase  his  own  and  his  brother's  safety  by  appealing  to 
the  national  avarice  of  the  Afghans.  He  offered  them 
large  sums  of  money  if  they  would  suffer  him  to  escape. 
Still  they  called  upon  him  to  leave  off  firing  and  to  come 
down  to  the  garden.  At  last  he  consented,  and  the  brothers, 
conducted  by  a  Cashmeree  Mussulman,  who  had  sworn  to 
protect  them,  went  down  to  the  garden;  but  no  sooner 
were  they  in  the  presence  of  the  mob  than  their  guide 
cried  out,  ^  Here  is  Sekimdur  Burnes !  *  And  straightway 
the  insurgents  fell  upon  them  and  slew  them. 

And  so,  on  the  2nd  of  November,  1841,  fell  Alexander 
Burnes,  butchered  by  an  Afghan  mob.  He  was  only 
thirty-six  years  of  age.  That  he  was  a  remarkable  man, 
and  had  done  remarkable  things,  is  not  to  be  doubted.  He 
was  sustained,  from  first  to  last,  by  that  great  enthusiasm^ 
of  which  Sir  John  Malcolm  has  spoken,  as  the  best  security 
for  a  successful  Indian  career.  He  was  of  an  eager,  im- 
pulsive, romantic  temperament ;  but  he  had  a  sufficiency 
of  good  strong  practical  sense  to  keep  him  from  running 
into  any  dangerous  excesses.  He  had  courage  of  a  high 
order  5  sagacity,  penetration,  and  remarkable  quickness  of 
observation.     It  has  been  said  of  him  that  he  was  unstable. 


1841.]  HIS  CHARACTER.  91 


that  his  opinions  were  continually  shifting^  and  that  what 
he  said  on  one  day  he  often  contradicted  on  the  next.  The 
fact  is,  that  he  was  singularly  unreserved  and  outspoken, 
and  was  wont  to  set  down  in  his  correspondence  with  his 
familiar  friends  all  the  fleeting  impressions  of  an  active  and 
imaginative  mind.  But  on  great  questions  of  Central- 
Asian  policy  he  was  not  inconsistent.  The  confusion  was 
in  the  minds  of  others,  not  in  his  own  mind.  He  had 
strong  opinions,  which  he  never  ceased  to  express,  so  long 
as  it  was  possible  to  give  them  practical  effect  5  but,  over- 
ruled by  higher  authority,  and  another  course  of  policy 
substituted  for  that  which  he  would  have  pursued,  he  con- 
sented to  act,  in  a  ministerial  or  executive  capacity,  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  great  object  of  national  safety  which  he 
believed  might  have  been  better  attained  in  another  way. 
When  he  found  that  his  views  were  not  the  views  of  the 
Government  which  he  served,  he  offered  to  withdraw  from 
the  scene  in  favour  of  some  more  appreciative  agent  5  but 
he  was  told  that  his  services  were  needed,  so  he  consented 
to  work  against  the  grain.*     I  have  already  expressed  my 

♦  Bumes  often  stated  fliis  very  distinctly  in  his  correspondence, 
and  was  very  anxious  that  it  should  be  clearly  known  and  remem- 
bered. I  give  the  following,  from  a  letter  written  at  the  end  of 
1^39)  because  it  is  one  of  his  most  emphatic  utterances  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  contains  also  a  passage  on  his  increased  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, written  in  a  more  solemn  strain  than  the  general  bulk  of  his 
correspondence  :  *  All  my  implorations  to  Government  to  act  with 
promptitude  and  decision  had  reference  to  doing  something  when 
Dost  Mahomed  was  King,  and  all  this  they  have  made  to  appear  in 
support  of  Shah  Soojah  being  set  up  !  But  again,  I  did  advocate  the 
setting  up  of  Shah  Soojah,  and  lent  all  my  aid,  name,  and  know- 
ledge to  do  it.     But  when  was  this  ?    When  my  advice  had  been 


92  5//?  ALEXANDER  BURNES.  [1841. 

belief  that  in  so  doing  he  did  what  was  right.  Doubtless^ 
he  had  his  failings,  as  all  men  have.  But  he  died  young. 
And  I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  if  his  life  had  been  spared, 
he  would  have  attained  to  much  higher  distinction  5  for  all 
that  he  lacked  to  qualify  him  for  offices  of  large  responsi- 
bility was  a  greater  soberness  of  judgment,  which  years 
would  almost  certainly  have  brought.  As  it  was,  few  men 
have  achieved,  at  so  early  an  age,  so  much  distinction,  by 
the  force  of  their  own  personal  character,  as  was  achieved 
by  Alexander  Burnes. 

rejected,  and  the  Grovemment  were  fairly  stranded.  I  first  gave 
opinions,  and  then  asked  leave  to  withdraw ;  but  Lord  Auckland 
proved  to  me  that  it  would  be  desertion  at  a  critical  moment,  and  I 
saw  so  myself ;  but  I  entered  upon  the  support  of  his  policy  not  as 
what  was  best,  but  what  was  best  under  the  circumstances  which  a 
series  of  blunders  had  produced.  To  have  acted  otherwise  must  have 
been  to  make  myself  superior  to  the  Governor-General,  and  I  saw 
that  I  had  a  duty  to  my  country,  ill  as  the  representatives  of  that 
country  in  India  had  behaved  to  me,  and  I  bore  and  forbore  in  con- 
sequence. My  life  has  been  devoted  to  my  country  ;  like  creeping 
things,  I  may  have  in  the  outset  looked  only  to  personal  advantages, 
but  persons  have  long  since  given  place  to  things  ;  I  now  feel  myself 
at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  with  an  onerous  load  upon  me — ^the  holy  and 
sacred  interests  of  nations  ;  and  much  as  men  may  envy  me,  I  begin 
sometimes  to  tremble  at  the  giddy  eminence  I  have  already  attained. 
In  some  respects  it  is  indeed  not  to  be  envied,  and  I  only  hope  that 
no  passion  may  turn  me  from  the  path  I  tread,  and  that  I  may  feel 
the  awful  responsibility  which  I  have  brought  upon  myselfl* 


93 


CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY. 

[born  1807.— died  X842.] 

IF  the  reader,  who  has  followed  me  through  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  remembering  what  I  have  written 
about  the  characters  and  the  careers  of  Alexander  Bumes 
and  Henry  Martjm,  can  conceive  the  idea  of  a  man  com- 
bining in  his  own  person  all  that  was  excellent  and  loveable 
in  both,  and  devoting  his  life  to  the  pursuit  of  the  objects 
which  each  in  his  turn  sought  to  attain,  the  image  of 
Arthur  ConoUy  will  stand  in  full  perfection  before  him. 
For  in  him  the  high  courage  and  perseverance  of  the  ex- 
plorer were  elevated  and  sublimed  by  the  holy  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  apostle.  Ready  to  dare  everything  and 
to  suffer  everything  in  a  good  cause  5  full  of  faith,  and  love, 
and  boundless  charity,  he  strove  without  ceasing  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men  3  and  in 
little  things  and  in  great,  in  the  daily  interests  of  a  gentle 
life,  in  which  the  human  affections  were  never  dormant, 
and  in  the  stem  necessities  of  public  service,  which  for  the 
honour  of  the  nation,  for  the  good  of  the  human  race,  and 
for  the  glory  of  the  religion  which  he  professed  and  acted, 
demanded  from  him  the  surrender  even  of  that  life  itself. 


94  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1807— aa. 

manifested  all  the  noblest  self-abnegation  of  the  Hero  and 
the  Martyr. 

Arthur  Conolly  was  the  third  of  the  six  sons  of  a  gentle- 
man^ who,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
went  out  to  India,  made  a  rapid  fortune,  and  returned  to 
spend  it  in  ease  and  comfort  at  home.  Hs  was  born  in 
Portland-place,  London,  in  the  year  1807 ;  and  received  his 
education  at  Rugby.  He  was  not  much  happier  there  than 
was  Henry  Martyn  at  the  Truro  Grammar  School.  Shy 
and. sensitive,  and  of  a  nature  too  refined  to  cope  success- 
fully with  the  rough  realities  of  public  school  life,  he  was 
not  happy  there  5  and  he  often  spoke  in  after-life  of  the 
sufferings  he  endured  at  '  Mother  Bucknell's.'  In  good 
time,   however,    deliverance    came.*     He    was    removed 

♦  That  all  this  made  a  strong  impression  on  his  mind — ^an  im- 
pression which  was  never  effaced — ^may  be  gathered  from  a  passage 
in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  brothers  in  184O1  with  refer- 
ence to  the  education  of  a  son  :  *  I  don't  feel  anxious  to  hear,'  wrote 
Arthur,  *  that  he  has  been  sent  to  England  for  his  education  \  for, 
judging  by  the  majority  of  young  men  who  are  driven  through  our 
schools  and  colleges  from  their  earliest  youth  upwards,  the  system  of 
turning  boys  out  from  the  affectionately  constraining  influences  of 
their  own  homes,  as  soon  as  they  can  run,  does  not  produce  the  most 

desirable  fruits Under  his  first  instructors,  a  boy  works  rather 

from  fear  than  from  esteem,  and  is  prevented  from  thinking  for  him- 
self, whilst  the  religion  which  should  be  his  mainspring  is  performed 
before  him  as  a  task  for  mornings  and  evenings  and  twice  o'  Sundays. 
Societies  of  little  boys  certainly  teach  each  other  the  meannesses  whidi 
they  would  learn  at  home,  and  as  for  the  knowledge  of  the  world,  on 
which  so  much  stress  is  laid,  it  is  commonly  got  by  young  men 
through  channels  which  greatly  diminish  the  value  of  the  acquisition. 
These  opinions  would  make  me  retain  a  son  as  long  as  possible  under 
what  Scripture  beautifully  terms  'Uhe  commandment  of  his  father 


1832—23.]  GOES  OUT  IV  INDIA.  95 

from  Rugby  in  1822,  and  sent  to  the  Military  Seminary  of 
the  East  India  Company.  His  father  had  large  *  interest 
at  the  India  House,*  especially  with  the  Marjoribanks 
family  ^  so  in  due  course,  one  after  the  other,  he  sent  all  his 
boys  to  India. 

Arthur,  in  the  first  instance,  was  designed  for  one  of 
the  scientific  branches  of  the  Indian  Army,  and  was  sent, 
therefore,  to  the  Company's  Military  Seminary.  But 
whilst  at  Addiscombe,*  an  offer  having  been  made  to  him 
of  a  commission  in  the  Bengal  Cavalry,  he  accepted  it, 
or  it  was  accepted  for  him.  He  left  the  military  semin- 
ary on  the  7th  of  May,  1823,  and  on  the  i6th  of  Jime 
he  quitted  England  in  a  vessel  bound  for  Calcutta.  There 
was  so  much  of  incident  crowded  into  the  latter  years  of  his 
life,  that  it  is  necessary  to  pass  briefly  over  the  chapter  of 
his  boyish  years. 

The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  for  India  was  the  Company's 

and  the  law  of  his  mother,"  even  if  his  home  were  in  England,  that 
he  might  be  kept  mispotted  from  the  world,  which  is  the  great  thing 
for  the  happiness  of  this  life  as  well  as  for  the  next'  And  he  added  : 
*  I  hope  he  is  learning  to  read  and  write  Hindustani,  if  not  Persian. 
He  will  find  such  knowledge  of  immense  advantage  to  him,  if  he  ever 
comes  out  here  ;  and  if  he  does  not,  an  induction  into  Oriental  idioms 
will  enrich  his  mother  tongue.' 

*  As  this  is  the  first  mention,  in  the  pages  of  this  work,  of  the  old 
Military  Seminary,  near  Croydon,  which  was  once  the  nursery  of  so 
many  heroes,  I  should  not  have  passed  over  it  without  notice,  if  I  had 
not  thought  that  it  would  receive  fitter  illustration  in  the  Memoir 
which  next  follows.  Arthur  ConoUy  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
an  *  Addiscombe  man,'  as  he  never  completed  the  course  of  educa- 
tion, but  went  out  to  India  with  what  was  called  a  ^  direct  appoint- 
ment' 


96  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [182^-84. 

ship  Grenville,  which  carried  Reginald  Heber,  then  newlj 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Calcutta^  to  his  diocese.  In  those 
days,  the  first  voyage  to  India  of  a  young  writer  or  a  young 
cadet  often  exercised  an  important  influence  over  his  whole 
after-career.  Life-long  friendships  were  often  made  or 
abiding  impressions  fixed  upon  the  mind  by  the  opportuni- 
ties of  a  life  on  board  ship.  It  was  no  small  thing  for  a 
youth  of  sixteen,  ardent,  imaginative,  with  a  vast  capacity 
for  good  in  his  nature,  to  sit  daily  at  the  feet  of  such  a  man 
as  Bishop  Heber.  The  Bishop  has  recorded,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  the  fact  that  when  he  was  studying  the  Persian  and 
Hindostanee  languages,  '  two  of  the  young  men  on  board 
showed  themselves  glad  to  read  with  him.'  Arthur 
Conolly  was  one  of  the  two.  But  he  derived  better  help 
than  this  from  his  distinguished  fellow-passenger.  The 
seed  of  the  Word,  which  then  came  from  the  Sower's 
hand,  fell  upon  good  ground  and  fructified  a  hundred-fold. 
In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  Heber  wrote,  some  five  weeks  after 
the  departure  of  the  Grenville :  '  Here  I  have  an  attentive 
audience.  The  exhibition  is  impressive  and  interesting,  and 
the  opportunities  of  doing  good  considerable.'  Among 
his  most  attentive  hearers  was  young  Arthur  Conolly,  who 
took  to  his  heart  the  great  truths  which  were  offered  to  him, 
and  became  from  that  time  rooted  and  grounded  in  the 
saving  faith. 

The  first  years  of  his  residence  in  India  did  not  differ 
greatly  from  those  of  the  generality  of  young  military 
officers,  who  have  their  profession  to  learn  in  the  first  in- 
stance, and  in  the  next  to  qualify  themselves  for  independent 
emplojnrnent.     He  was  attached,  as  a  cornet,  to  the  6th 


1824—29.]  OVERLAND  TO  INDIA,  97 

Regiment  of  Bengal  Cavalry,  and  in  1824  and  the  two  fol- 
lowing years  was  stationed  first  at  Keitah,  ard  then  at  Lo- 
hargong.  In  1825  he  obtained  his  lieutenancy  j  and  in 
1827  he  fell  sick,  and  was  compelled  to  obtain  a  furlough 
to  England  on  medical  certificate. 


After  a  year  and  a  half  spent  in  Europe,  he  was  suffici- 
ently recruited  to  think  of  returning  to  India.  In  those 
days,  it  was  the  ordinary  course  for  an  officer,  '  pennitted 
to  return  to  his  duty,*  to  take  a  passage  in  a  sailing  vessel, 
steering  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  What  is  now 
called  somewhat  inappropriately  the  Overland  Route,  was 
not  then  open  for  passenger-traffic  \  and  if  it  had  been,  it 
would  not  have  held  out  much  attraction  to  Arthur  Conolly. 
He  desired  to  return  to  India  really  by  the  Overland  Route 
— ^that  is,  by  the  route  of  Russia  and  Persia ;  and,  as  he  has 
himself  declared,  '  the  journey  was  undertaken  upon  a  few 
days*  resolve.*  '  Quitting  London,*  he  has  recorded  in  the 
published  account  of  his  travels,  'on  the  loth  of  August, 
1829, 1  travelled  through  France  and  the  North  of  Germany 
to  Hamburg,  and  embarking  on  board  a  steam^vessel  at 
Travemunden  on  the  ist  of  September,  sailed  up  the  Baltic 
and  the  Gulf  of  Finland  in  four  days  to  St  Petersburg.' 
Such  is  the  first  sentence  of  the  two  volumes  of  travels  which 
Arthur  Conolly  has  given  to  the  world.  From  St  Peters- 
burg he  travelled  to  Moscow,  and  thence  onwards  to  Tiflis, 
whence  he  journeyed  forward  across  the  Persian  frontier  and 
halted  at  Tabreez. 

It  was  his  original  intention,  after  having  reached  that 

VOL.  II.  7 


98  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [i82^-«a. 

place^  to  strike  down  thence  to  the  shores  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  there  to  take  ship  for  Bombay.  But  the  spirit  of 
adventure  within  him  grew  stronger  as  he  proceeded  on 
his  journey,  and  he  determined  to  explore  at  least  some 
portions  of  Central  Asia.  There  was  little  known,  in  those 
days,  about  Afghanistan.  He  might  do  good  service  by 
acquiring  information  respecting  the  countries  lying  be- 
tween Persia  and  India,  and  it  suited  his  humour  at  that  time 
to  make  the  effort.  It  was  the  enterprise  of  the  English- 
man more  than  anything  else  which  carried  him  forward 
in  those  early  days.  He  was  very  young  when  he  started 
on  his  journey.  He  had  numbered  only  twenty-two 
years ;  but  he  had  courage  and  self-reliance  of  the  highest 
order  5  and  ever  as  he  went,  the  desire  to  see  more  impelled 
him  forward  to  new  fields  of  adventure.  Perhaps  there 
was  even  then  obscurely  taking  shape  within  him  some  pre- 
visions of  the  *  great  game  in  Central  Asia,'  which  he  after- 
wards believed  it  was  the  especial  privilege  of  Great 
Britain  to  play. 

The  winter  was  spent  pleasantly  at  Tabreez,  where  the 
British  Mission,  of  which  Sir  John  Macdonald  was  then 
the  chief,  was  located  5  and  in  the  early  spring  of  1830, 
having  received  good  encouragement  and  offers  of  valu- 
able assistance  from  the  minister,  he  made  his  prepar- 
ation for  a  march  to  Teheran,  from  which  place  he  pur- 
posed to  attempt  a  journey,  either  by  way  of  Khiva,  Bok- 
hara, and  Caubul,  or  through  Khorassan  and  Afghanistan, 
to  the  Indus.  '  I  had  the  good  fortune,*  he  said, '  to  engage 
as  my  companion  Syud  Keramut  Ali,  an  unprejudiced,  very 
clever,  and  gentlemanly  native  of  Hindostan,  who  had  re- 


1830.]  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  DESERT  99 

« 

sided  many  years  in  Persia,  and  was  held  in  great  esteem  by 
the  English  there.  I  had  afterwards  much  reason  to  con- 
gratulate myself  upon  haring  so  agreeable  a  companion^  and 
it  was  chiefly  owing  to  his  assistance  that  I  safely  completed 
my  journey.' 

Starting  from  Teheran  on  the  6th  of  April,  the  travel- 
lers made  their  way  through  Mazenderan  to  Astrabad, 
which  they  reached  before  the  end  of  the  month.  There 
Conolly  determined  to  attempt  the  route  to  Khiva.  '  Think- 
ing it  necessary/  he  said, '  to  have  a  pretence  for  our  journey, 
I  assumed  the  character  of  a  merchant ;  the  Syud  was  to 
call  himself  my  partner,  and  we  purchased  for  the  ELhiva 
markets  red  silk  scar&,  Kerman  shawls,  fiirs,  and  some  huge 
bags  of  pepper,  ginger,  and  other. spices.*  This  he  after- 
wards confessed  was  a  mistake,  for  as  he  did  not  play  the 
part  of  a  merchant  adroitly,  the  disguise  caused  suspicion  to 
alight  upon  him.  What  befell  the  travellers  among  the 
Toorkomans,  Conolly  has  himself  narrated  in  the  first 
volume  of  his  published  narrative — ^how  they  crossed  the 
Goorgaon  and  the  Attruck  rivers,  and  rode  into  the  desert 
with  their  pretended  merchandise  on  camel-back  5  how 
they  fell  into  the  hands  of  thieves,  who,  under  pretence  of 
protecting  them,  robbed  them  of  all  that  they  had  got  j  how 
they  narrowly  escaped  being  murdered,  or  sold  into  hopeless 
captivity  j  and  how  at  last  they  obtained  deliverance  by  the 
opportune  arrival  of  a  party  of  Persian  merchants,  with 
whom  they  returned  in  safety  to  Asterabad.  He  went 
back  re  irifectd,  but  he  had  spent  nearly  a  month  among 
the  Toorkomans,  and  had  penetrated  nearly  half  way  to 
Khiva,  and  seen  more  of  the  country  than  any  European 


loo  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [183a 


had  seen  before,  or — ^with  one  exception,  I  believe — ^has 
ever  visited  since. 

After  a  brief  sojourn  at  Asterabad,  Arthur  Conolly,  at- 
tended by  Keramut  Ali,  travelled  to  Meshed,  by  the  way  of 
Subzawur  and  Nisharpoor.  At  the  holy  city  he  was  detained, 
money-bound,  until  the  middle  of  September,  when  he 
started,  in  the  trail  of  an  Afghan  army  under  the  command 
of  Yar  Mahomed,  for  Herat,  the  Afghan  city  which  after- 
wards became  so  celebrated  in  Eastern  history.  Upon  all 
with  whom  he  was  associated  there  the  young  En^ish 
officer  made  a  most  favourable  impression.  Another  young 
English  officer — Eldred  Pottinger — who  visited  the  city 
some  years  afterwards,  found  that  Arthur  Conolly 's  name 
was  great  in  Herat,  and  4iiat  many  held  him  in  affectionate 
remembrance.  '  I  fell  in,'  says  the  former  in  his  journal, 
referring  to  the  year  1838,  'with  a  number  of  Oaptain 
Conolly*s  acquaintances.  Every  person  asked  after  him, 
and  appeared  disappointed  when  I  told  them  I  did  not 
know  him.  In  two  places,  I  crossed  Mr  Conolly's  route, 
and  on  his  account  received  the  greatest  hospitality  and 
attention — indeed,  more  than  was  pleasant,  for  such  liber- 
ality required  corresponding  liberahty  upon  my  part,  and 
my  funds  were  not  well  adapted  for  any  extraordinary 
demand  upon  them.  In  Herat,  Mr  Conolly's  fame  was 
great.  In  a  large  party  where  the  subject  of  the  Europeans 
who  had  visited  Herat  was  mooted,  ConoUy's  name  being 
mentioned,  I  was  asked  if  I  knew  him,  and  on  replying, 
'^  Merely  by  report,"  Moollah  Mahomed,  a  Sheeah  MooUah 
of  great  eminence,  calling  to  me  across  the  room,  said, 
*  You  have  a  great  pleasure  awaiting  you.     When  you  see 


1830.]  A  T  HERA  T, 


ici 


him^  give  him  1117  salutation^  and  tell  him  that  I  say  he  has 
done  as  much  to  give  the  English  nation  fame  in  Herat  as 
your -ambassador,  Mr  Elphinstone,  at  Peshawur,"  and  in 
this  he  was  seconded  by  the  great  mass  present.' 

This  was  truly  a  great  distinction  for  one  so  young ; 
and  it  was  earned,  not  at  all  as  some  later  travellers  in 
Mahomedan  countries  have  earned  distinction,  by  assuming 
disguises  and  outwardly  apostatizing,  but  by  the  frankest 
possible  assertion  of  the  character  of  a  Christian  gentleman. 
Moreover,  he  appeared  before  the  Heratees  as  a  very  poor 
one.  He  did  not  go  among  the  Afghans  as  Elphinstone 
had  gone  among  them,  laden  with  gifts  5  but  as  one  utterly 
destitute,  seeking  occasional  small  loans  to  help  him  on 
his  way.  Yet  even  in  these  most  disadvantageous  circum- 
stances, the  nobility  of  his  nature  spoke  out  most  plainly  j 
and  the  very  MooUahs,  with  whom  he  contended  on  behalf 
of  his  religion,  were  fain  to  help  him  as  though  he  had  been 
one  of  their  sect.  He  had  many  warm  disputations  with 
these  people,  and  they  seem  to  have  honoured  him  all  the 
more  for  bravely  championing  his  faith.  Young  as  he  was, 
he  felt  that  our  national  character  had  suffered  grievously  in 
the  eyes  of  the  people  of  the  East  by  our  neglect  of  the 
observances  of  our  religion.  '  I  am  sure,'  he  said,  *  the  bulk 
of  the  Mahomedans  in  this  country  do  not  believe  that  the 
Feringhees  have  any  real  religion.  They  hear  from  their 
friends,  who  visit  India,  that  we  eat  abominations,  and  are 
never  seen  to  prayj  and  they  care  not  to  inquire  more  about 

lis It  is,  therefore,  greatly  to  be  desired  that  such 

translations  of  our  Scriptures   as  may  invite   their  study 
should  be  sent  among  these  people,  in  order  first  to  satisfy 


I02  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1830-31. 

them  that  we  have  a  religion^  and  secondly  that  they  may 
know  what  our  religion  is  j  in  order  that  they  may  learn  to 
respect  us>  which  they  do  not  now,  and  gradually  to  regard 
us  with  kindlier  feelings ;  for  until  they  do,  we  shall  in 
vain  attempt  to  propagate  the  Grospel  among  them;' 
and  then  he  proceeded  to  discourse  very  shrewdly  and  in- 
telligently on  some  of  the  principal  errors  which  had 
been  committed  by  our  people  in  their  efforts  to  propagate 
the  Christian  faith — Errors  principally  arising  from  our 
ignorance  or  disregard  of  the  national  characters  of  those 
whom  we  had  endeavoured  to  instruct  in  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel. 

From  Herat,  Arthur  Conolly  proceeded,  by  the  route 
of  Ghirisk,  to  Candaharj  and  thence  by  the  vall^  of 
Pisheen,  in  which  he  halted  for  some  time,  to  Quettah^  and 
through  the  Bolan  Pass  to  the  country  of  the  Ameers  of 
Sindh.  He  then  journeyed  to  Bahwulpore  and  across  the 
great  Indian  Desert,  to  the  British  frontier,  which  he  crossed 
in  the  month  of  January,  1831.  At  Delhi  he  met  the 
Govemor-Greneral^  Lord  William  Bentinck^  to  whom  he 
gave  an  account  of  his  wanderings,  and  afterwards  dropped 
down  to  Calcutta  by  the  river  route.  At  the  Presidency  he 
drew  up  an  interesting  paper  on  the  subject  of  the  *  Over- 
land Invasion  of  India,'  which  he  printed  in  one  of  the 
Calcutta  journals,  and  afterwards  appended  to  his  published 
travels.  In  those  days,  a  paper  on  such  a  subject  showing 
any  real  knowledge  of  the  countries  traversed  was  a  novelty  j 
but  it  was  reserved  for  a  later  generation  to  discern  the  large 
amount  of  sagacity  that  informed  it. 

During  the  greater  part  of  this  year  Conolly  was  em* 


1831—33]    SLA VE'DEALING  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA,  103 

ployed  in  arranging  the  information  which  he  had  collected 
in  the  course  of  his  travels — work  in  which  he  was  assisted 
by  Mr  Charles  Trevelyan,  then  a  young  civilian  of  high 
promise^  who  drew  up  some  joint  reports  with  him,  which 
appear  to  have  been  prepared  partly  at  Delhi  and  partly  at 
Meerut,  from  which  latter  place  the  young  cavalry  officer 
went  to  Kumaul.  Even  at  that  time  it  was  plain  that  no- 
thing had  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  the  traveller's 
mind  as  the  knowledge  which  he  had  obtained  of  the 
abominable  man-stealing,  slave-dealing  practices  of  the 
Toorkoman  tribes,  and  the  misery  which  this  vile  trade  in- 
flicted upon  the  people  of  Central  Asia.  He  saw,  too, 
under  what  strong  provocation  Russia  was  labouring,  and 
how  impossible  it  was,  with  any  show  of  reason  and  justice, 
to  deny  her  right  to  push  forward  to  the  rescue  of  her  en- 
slaved people,  and  the  chastisement  of  the  States  which 
had  swept  them  off  and  sold  them  into  slavery.  '  The  case 
of  these  people,'  he  said,  '  is  deplorable,  and  in  the  midst 
of  that  laudable  sympathy  which  has  b6en  excited  in  this 
country  for  the  condition  of  slaves  in  general,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  wretched  captives  who  languish  in  the 
steppes  of  Tartary  will  have  their  share,  although  their  situ- 
ation be  unhappily  beyond  the  hope  of  relief  5  and  however 
important  it  may  be  to  check  the  dangerous  ambition  of  a 
too  aspiring  nation,  humanity  will  be  inclined  to  wish  suc- 
cess to  the  Russian  cause,  were  it  but  to  put  a  period  to  a 
system  so  replete  with  barbarity  as  the  trade  in  captives  at 
Khiva.*  He  was  far  in  advance  of  his  age  when  he  wrote 
in  this  strain ;  for  it  was  not  the  fashion  in  those  days,  or 
indeed  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  afterwards,  to 


I04  CAPTAIN  A ftTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1833. 

look  upon  Russia  as  any  other  than  an  unscrupulous  ag- 
gressor, driven  onward  by  lust  of  conquest,  and  eager  to 
contend  with  England  for  the  mastery  of  Hindostan. 

But  the  ardent  philanthropist  was  only  a  regimental 
subaltern.     It  was  soon  time  for  Lieutenant  Conolly  to 
return  to  his  military  duties,  so  he'  rejoined  his  regiment; 
and,  after  a  while,  at  Cawnpore,  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  famous  missionary  traveller,  Joseph  Wolff.     '  They  took 
sweet  counsel  together,  and  they  walked  in  the  House  of 
the  Lord  as  friends.'     With  what  deep  emotion  has  Wolff 
recorded  his  recollections  of  that  meeting !     *  From  Delhi,* 
he  says,  '  I  passed  to  Agra,  and  thence  to  various  places 
until  I  reached  Cawnpore.     Hbrb  I  met  with    Lieu- 
tenant  Conolly.'     The  words  are   printed  in  Wolffs 
book  in  capital  letters,  as  I  have  printed  them  here.     '  When 
I  travelled  first  in  Khorassaun,  in  the  year  183 1,'  he  con- 
tinues, ^  I  heard  at  Meshed  by  the  Jews,  that  an  English 
traveller  had  preceded  me  there,  by  the  name  of  Arthur 
Conolly.     They  described  him  as  a  man  yirho  lived  in  th^ 
fear  of  God  and  of  religion.     The  moment  I  arrived  he 
took  me  to  his  house,  and  not  only  showed  me  the  greatest 
hospitality,  but,  as  I  was  at  that  time  short  of  money,  he 
gave  me  every  assistance  in  his  power — and  not  only  so— he 
revised  my  journal  for  me  with  the  most  unaffected  kindness. 
He  also  collected  the  Mahomedan  Moollahs  to  his  house, 
and  permitted  me  not  only  to  discuss  with  them  the  subject 
of  religion,  but  gave  me  most  substantial  aid  in  combating 
their  arguments.     Conolly  was  a  man  possessed  of  a  deep 
Scriptural  knowledge  5  a  capital  textuary.     Various  enemies 
are  always  found  to  attack  the  lone  missionary.     Nobly  and 


1833]  CONOLLY  AND  WOLFF.  105 


well  did  this  gallant  soldier  acquit  himself  in  the  church 
militant^  both  in  deeds  of  arms  and  deep  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  Christ.'*  What  Arthur  Conolly  on  his  part 
thought  of  his  friend  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter  written 
by  him  shortly  after  his  departure  from  Cawnpore.     '  Wolff 

*  A  friend  who  was  then  at  Cawnpore,  writing  to  me  of  this 
period  of  Conoll/s  histoiy,  says  :  ' .  .  .  An  acquaintance,  which 
ripened  into  mutual  regard  and  esteem,  b^[an  in  an  odd  way,  and 
was  improved  by  an  odd  man.  I  was  very  much  charmed  with  his 
singing,  and  he  was  taken  with  my  playing,  on  which  he  made  the 
discovery  that  he  had  never  been  taught,  and  I  had  never  learnt  notes  ; 
and  while  I  was  indebted  to  an  enthusiastic  bellows-blower  in  Chich- 
ester Cathedral,  who,  for  sixpence  a  week,  allowed  me  to  operate  on 
the  old  organ  therein,  and  used  to  predict  no  end  of  future  fame,  he, 
too,  had  been  encouraged  by  some  old  nurse  to  believe  that  he  was  a 
cherub,  and  would  beat  Braham  yet.  The  odd  man  was  Joseph 
Wolff.  ....  When  Wolff  paid  Conolly  a  visit  at  Cawnpore,  I  was 
a  good  deal  with  them,  and  joined  in  their  laughter.  Yes,  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  laughing.  Wolff  was  both  untidy  and  uncleanly,  and 
yet  not  unwilling  to  be  reformed,  and  so,  at  or  before  breakfast,  ran 
the  lesson.  From  Arthur  Conolly  to  him  :  "  Peer  Moorshid,  have  we 
put  on  the  clean  stockings  ?  "  Then  next,  "  Have  we  used  the  sponge 
and  chillumchee  ? "  (basin.)  To  all  of  which  Wolff  would  make 
good-himioured  reply,  adding,  *  *  Truly  ye  are  all  sons  of  Eezak  I  "  Yet 
there  was  real  love  in  that  laughing.  Wolffs  love  and  admiration  of 
Arthur  Conolly  were  unboimded.  He  could,  too,  break  out  into 
lofty  discourse,  and  Arthur  Conolly  held  his  own  with  him.  I  never 
can  forget  one  Sabbath  conversation  on  the  Jews,  protracted  till  it 
was  time  for  us  all  to  go  to  church  together,  when  Wolff  preached  on 
the  subject — ^The  Jews,  think  how  great  were  their  privileges  ;  Chris- 
tian Englishmen,  think  how  great  are  your  privileges.  When  Wolff, 
in  after  years,  went  to  Bokhara,  and  spoke  of  Arthur  Conolly  as  his 
"moreed" — as  I  confidently  recollect  he  did,  though  I  cannot  lay 
hold  of  the  narrative — ^I  feel  assured  his  mind  often  went  back  to  those 
days  at  Cawnpore. 


io6  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  \A^ 

has  left  us,'  wrote  the  young  Christian  enthusiast  on  the 
19th  of  February,  1833,  '  and  has  taken  with  him  the  esteem 
and  best  wishes  of  all  who  knew  him.  As  you  will  shortly 
see  him  in  Calcutta,  I  need  not  enter  into  much  detail  of 
his  sayings  and  doings  here,  but  let  me  again  assure  you 
that  he  is  neither  crazy,  vain,  nor  fantastical,  bnt  a  simple- 
minded,  humble,  rational,  and  sound  Christian.  His  chief 
desire  is  to  preach  to  all  people,  Jesus  Christ  crucyied,  the 
Grod,  and  only  Saviour  of  mankind :  he  is  naturally  most 
anxious  that  his  own  brethren  should  turn  to  the  light  that 
has  shone  upon  him,  and  therefore  he  seeks  them  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth  where  God's  wrath  has  scattered  them, 
but  ever  as  he  goes,  he  proclaims  to  the  Mahomedan,  and 
to  the  idolater,  the  great  object  of  his  mission.  On  his 
opinions  concerning  the  personal  reign  of  our  Saviour  on 
earth  during  the  Millenniiun,  I  am  not  qualified  to  pass 
judgment,  but  I  believe  he  has  chiefly  formed  them  upon  a 
literal  interpretation  of  the  yet  to  be  fulfilled  prophecies, 
especially  those  contained  in  the  72nd  Psalm  and  the  60th 

Isaiah And  after  all,  though  he  is  most  decided  in 

his  creed,  he  says :  "  I  am  no  inspired  prophet,  and  I  may 
err  in  my  calculations  and  conclusions,  but  the  book  from 
which  I  deduce  them  cannot  be  wrong — search  into  its 
meanings,  as  you  are  commanded,  with  prayer  and  humble 
diligence,  and  then  decide  according  to  the  understanding 
that  God  has  given  you  5  I  ask  not  that  you  should  accept 
my  words,  but  that  you  should  inquire  diligently  into  those 
which  contain  the  assurance  of  a  blessing  to  those  who  read 
and  keep  them,"  Rev.  i.  3.  If  this  be  madness,  I  wish  he 
would  bite  me.     In  his  English  discourses,  Wolff  labours 


1833]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  BUR NES,  107 

under  ignorance  of  idioms  and  select  expressions^  and  finds 
difficulty  in  well  embodying  and  connecting  the  thoughts 
that  crowd  upon  him,  yet  it  is  always  a  pleasure  to  hear 
him,  for  often  when  struggling  with  the  words  of  a  big 
sentence,  he  throws  out  a  few  thrillingly  beautiful  expres* 
sions  that  give  light  to  the  rest,  and  at  times  it  is  quite 
wonderftil  how  he  rises  with  the  grandeur  of  his  theme,  and 
finds  an  uninterrupted  flow  of  fine  language.  He  was  very 
clear  and  forcible  in  his  exposition  of  the  jist  Psalm,  and 
the  pth  of  Acts,  and  the  Sunday  morning  before  he  left  us,  he 
preached  a  homily  upon  Paul's  address  to  King  Agrippa, 
which  we  all  felt  to  be  sublimely  beautiftil  throughout. 
....  Judging  by  the  benefit  we  have  reaped  firom  his 
conversation  here,  we  may  hope  that  he  will  be  made  the 
means  of  doing  much  good  wherever  he  goes..  You  will 
be  delighted  with  his  company  in  private  society,  for  he  is 
full  of  varied  and  most  interesting  anecdote  j  but,  above  all, 
I  hope  you  will  hear  him  when  he  appears  to  the  greatest 
advantage  in  the  pulpit,  for  understanding  the  Hebrew 
meanings  of  words  in  Scripture,  he  throws  new  light  upon 
passages  that  are  familiar  to  us,  but  chiefly  he  preaches 
truth  yrom  the  heart,  and  therefore,  generally,  to  the  heart.' 
At  Cawnpore,  Arthur  Conolly  corresponded  with  Alex- 
ander Bumes,  who  had  accomplished  his  great  journey, 
and  was  then  reaping  his  reward.  Conolly  had  been  the 
first  to  acquire  and  to  place  on  record  the  much-needed 
information  relating  to  the  country  between  India  and  Per- 
sia^ but  he  had  been  slow  to. make  his  appearance  before 
the  English  public,  and  the  Bombay  officer  had  been  rising 
into  eminence,  whilst  his  comrade  of  Bengal  was  still  al- 


io8  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1833. 


most  unknown.  Conolly  rejoiced  in  the  success  of  his 
brother-traveller,  and,  without  the  slightest  tinge  of  jealousy 
upon  his  feelings,  wrote  to  congratulate  Bumes  on  his 
achievements.  '  Although,'  he  wrote  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1833,  'I  may  be  one  of  the  last  to  congratulate  you  upon 
the  happy  accomplishment  of  your  journey,  I  beg  you  not  to 
rank  me  amongst  the  least  sincere,  for  I  really  compliment 
you  upon  the  resolution  which  has  carried  you  through  the 
most  difficult  as  well  as  the  most  interesting  part  of  Central 
Asia,  and  trust  that  you  will  derive  as  much  honour  and 
benefit  from  your  travels,  as  we  doubtless  shall  instruction 
and  amusement.  I  meant  to  write  to  you  at  Bombay^  but 
hearing  that  you  were  coming  round  to  Calcutta,  I  de- 
termined there  to  address  my  congratulations,  and  some 
remarks  upon  certain  matters  in  which  you  are  interested. 
First,  I  owe  you  an  explanation  of  a  circumstance  which, 
if  I  did  not  describe  it,  might  possibly  induce  you  to  enter- 
tain what  was,  I  believe,  the  Governor-Greneral's  opinion — 
that  I  wished  feloniously  to  appropriate  your  valuable  survey 
of  the  Indus.  When  in  Calcutta,  I  drew  up  for  his  Lord- 
ship a  map  of  the  countries  lying  between  the  Arras  and 
Indus,  the  Aral  and  Indian  Ocean,  which,  being  compiled 
at  the  Surveyor-General's  office  from  the  best  authorities, 
contained  the  Indus  as  laid  down  by  you.  In  this  I  sketched 
my  route  from  Meshed  to  Buhawalpore,  correcting  the 
error  that  appeared  in  my  protraction  by  the  Bukkur  of  your 
map.  When  I  had  written  out  my  journal  for  the  press,  I 
wrote  to  head-quarters  to  know  whether  I  might  send  a 
copy  of  the  above-mentioned  map  to  England  to  be  pub- 
lished with  my  book,  and  I  especially  begged  to  know 


x833.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  BURNES,  109 

whether  there  existed  objections  to  my  using  that  portion 
of  it  which  had  been  copied  from  your  survey.  I  addressed 
myself  to  my  relation^  Mr  Macnaghten,  the  secretary,  and 
our  mutual  friend  Trevelyan  answered  for  him,  in  a  note 
which  I  am  sure  he  will  not  object  to  my  enclosing.  In 
consequence  of  its  contents,  I  sent  home  to  the  Greographi- 
cal  Society,  in  London,  as  much  of  the  map  as  embraced 
my  route,  copying  into  it  from  your  survey  a  hit  of  the 
river  about  Bukkur,  so  as  to  place  that  point  correctly,  and 
mentioning  that  I  had  so  done ;  there  anticipating  that  a 
full  and  correct  copy  would  be  furnished  me  for  my  book. 
I  wrote  a  preface  to  the  last,  in  which  I  offered  you  my 
poor  thanks  for  the  benefit  I  thought  to  borrow  from  your 
labours.  Objections  were  made  at  the  Surveyor-General's 
office  to  completing  the  map  without  specific  instructions 
from  head-quarters.  I  wrote  for  these,  and  the  Grovemor- 
Greneral  bdng  up  the  country,  I  was  occupied  in  alternate 
correspondence  with  his  Lordship's  and  the  Vice-Resident's 
secretaries  for  about  two  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
it  was  notified  to  me  that  I  might  use  every  part  of  the 
map  in  question  except  that  part  which  had  been  laid  down 
by  you.  I  had  then  only  to  regret  that  I  had  lost  so  much 
time  in  consequence  of  his  Lordship's  opinion  not  having 
been  correctly  ascertained  in  the  first  instance,  and  to  can- 
cel that  part  of  my  preface  which  made  mention  of  you. 
In  this  particular  instance  I  could  not  see  much  danger  of 
acting  wrong,  as  I  was  informed  that  Government  would 
very  shortly  publish  a  map  containing  all  the  latest  inform- 
ation 5  but  I  would  in  no  case  have  borrowed  information 
from  you,  had  I  thought  that  you  would  object  to  my 


110  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1833. 

doing  so  with  due  acknowledgment  of  my  obligations.  I 
do  not  now  apprehend  that  you  will  hold  me  guilty  of  any 
evil  intention^  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should  explain  the  cir- 
cumstance^ and  beg  your  excuse  for  any  -error  with  which 

you  may  deem  me  chargeable I  have  before  me 

your  long  and  kind  letter^  dated  on  the  Ravee,  January  26, 
1832,  since  when  you  have  made  a  grand  tour.  You  were 
right  in  supposing  that  I  would  willingly  have  under- 
taken such  a  trip  with  you,  but,  as  you  so  well  foresaw, 
there  were  several  objections  to  my  doing  so.  The  notes, 
for  which  you  so  politely  thanked  me,  were,  I  fear,  too 
slight  to  have  served  you  much,  but  they  were  heartily  at 
your  service,  as  are  all  those  which  I  have  collected  for 
publication.  Permit  me  to  offer  you  these,  with  the  sketch 
of  my  route,  and  the  slightly  altered  country  through  which 
it  runs.  The  map  which  contains  it,  you  will  get  at  the 
Surveyor-General's  office,  and  my  relation,  Mr  Macnaghten, 
now  Political  Secretary,  will  procure  for  you  a  copy  of  the 
roughly-printed  pages  which  I  sent  home  for  Mr  Murray 
to  publish.  From  them  you  may  glean  a  few  particulars 
which  will  enable  you  to  prove,  or  to  complete,  some  of 
your  notes,  and  I  beg  that  you  will  make  the  freest  use  of 
all.  'Tis  late  to  thank  you  for  the  good  wishes  and  kind 
encouragement  contained  in  your  precedingly-mentioned 
letter,  but  you  have  not  been  travelling  upon  post  roads» 
and  must,  therefore,  accept  my  present  acknowledgments. 
Several  untoward  circumstances  have  conspired  to  keep  me 
without  the  pale  of  the  Sirkar's  patronage,  and  my  wisest 
plan,  I  believe,  would  be  to  fold  up  my  carpet  of  hope,  and 
betake  myself  to  a  quiet  whiff*  at  the  pipe  of  resignation. 


x834— 35-1  POLITICAL  EMPLOYMENT.  in 


but  I  am  at  heart  too  much  of  a  vagabond  to  do  this^  and 
trust  yet  to  pitch  a  tent  among  some  of  our  long-bearded 
friends  of  the  mountains.* 

But  these  anticipations  of  continued  neglect  were  goon 
falsified.  In  1834^  Lieutenant  ConoUy  went  with  his 
regiment  to  Mhow,  and  soon  afterwards  he  was  transferred 
to  that  great  outlet  for  the  energies  of  aspiring  young 
soldiers^  kept  down  by  the  seniority  sjrstem — ^the  Political 
Department.  He  was  appointed  an  assistant  to  the  Go- 
vernor-General's agent  in  Rajpootana.  He  was  consoled 
at  the  same  time  by  receipt  of  intelligence  from  England 
assuring  him  that  his  book  had  been  published^  and  had 
been  well  received  by  the  critics  and  by  the  public.  Burnes 
sent  him  some  cuttings  from  the  literary  journals  to  show 
how  well  his  fellow-traveller  had  been  reviewed — an  atten- 
tion which  Conolly  gratefidly  acknowledged  in  a  letter, 
which  is  interesting  on  many  other  accounts.  Writing 
from  the  Sambhur  Lake,  May  30,  1835,  he  said:  'Pray 
accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  your  welcome  letter  of  the 
nth  instant,  containing  Monsieur  D*Avega*s  secret  and 
confidential  notice  of  the  honours  designed  for  us  by  the 
Greographical  Society  of  Paris.  I  must  endeavour,  in  my 
letter  of  thanks  to  this  liberal  and  enlightened  body,  to 
atone  for  not  having  at  first  presented  a  copy  of  my  book 
to  theip.  It  was  very  kind  of  you  to  do  this  for  me,  accord- 
ing to  the  hint  by  which  I  could  not  otherwise  have  pro- 
fited, and  I  have  to  thank  you  for  this  friendly  act  as  one 
of  a  series  for  which  I  am  your  debtor.  I  did  not  answei 
your  London  letters,  because  you  talked  of  returning  to  the 
East  immediately  J  but  you  may  be  sure  that  I  was  much 


112  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1835. 

gratified  by  the  periodical  notices  of  my  work,  which  you 
were  so  good  as  to  send  me.  They  came  like  rays  of  siun 
shine  after  a  cloud !  There  could  be  little  doubt  of  your 
success  \  but  as  it  has  been  hardly  equalled,  I  may  ofier  you 
my  congratulations  upon  it.  I  think  you  did  right  in 
declining  the  Secretaryship  to  lus  Majesty's  Embassy  in 
Ir4n,  because  Mr  £lphinstone  advised  you,  and  I  hope 
that  he  saw  a  better  field  for  you  in  Caubul  or  Bokhara. 
The  attention  of  the  home  authorities  has,  after  a  long 
dream,  been  awakened  to  the  state  of  their  politics  in  Persia, 
and  the  appointment  of  Lord  Heytesbury  to  the  Grovemor- 
Generalship  induces  me  to  believe  that  British  interests 
will  no  longer  be  neglected  in  Central  Asia.  Your  fortune, 
of  course,  is  not  dependent  upon  the  retention  or  abolition 
of  what  is  termed  the  non-interference  system  with  regard 
to  our  foreign  affairs  5  you  may  speedily  rise  here  to  a 
higher  station  than  the  one  above-mentioned,  but,  for  my 
own  part,  I  would  rather  be  secretary  of  Embassy  in  Persia 
than  the  greatest  magnate  in  any  part  of  this  consunUng 
clime.  It  does,  indeed,  try  both  body  and  mind.  I  speak 
feelingly  on  this  subject  just  now,  for  I  am  living  in  a  tent 
on  the  border  of  the  famed  Salt  Lake  of  Sambhur,  ceded 
to  us  after  the  Joudpore  war,  in  order  that  Lord  William 
might  be  styled  "  the  fountain  of  grace  and  bounty."  As 
assistant  to  the  Governor-General's  agent  in  Rajpootana,  I 
am  residing  here  in  the  joint  capacities  of  Hakim  and 
Bunneeah,  and  as  everything  is  yet  in  confusion  and  ruin, 
1  am  as  hardly  worked  and  as  badly  fed  as  Sancho  was  in 
Barrataria.  The  last  advices  from  Loodianah  state  that 
Runjeet  was  about  to  close  with  the  Afghans.     I  fear  that 


1835-38]  RETURN  TO  ENGLAND,  113 

he  will  get  the  better  of  them  somehow  or  other.  Shah 
Soojah  is  in  the  Sikh  camp.  I  hear  the  Maharajah  has 
promised  to  make  him  King  of  Peshawur.  Thus  far  may 
the  troops  of  the  Royal  Cyclops  advance  their  standards, 
but  they  will  not  be  able  to  hold  ground  farther  west :  so 
thinks  my  esteemed  friend  S}iid  Keramut  Ali,  who  has 
lately  returned  from  Caubul,  and  who  gives  me  very  in- 
teresting accounts  of  the  state  in  which  he  left  the  Caubul 
Sirdars.  The  Syud  advised  Jubbar  Khan  to  send  his  eldest 
son  to  India  for  an  English  education.  Captain  Wade  dis- 
covered a  political  mystery  lying  deep  under  this  specious 
pretext,  and  after  some  quarrels  which  occurred  in  con- 
sequence, my  friend,  as  the  weakest  party,  went  to  the 
wall.  I  hope,  however,  to  be  able  to  show  that  all  the 
differences  had  rise  in  mistakes.  He  at  present  stands 
condemned  upon  an  ipse  dixit,  according  to  the  equitable 
S3r5tem  by  which  whites  judge  blacks.  I  have  requested 
my  Calcutta  agent  to  send  you  a  copy  of  my  book — a  com- 
pliment which  I  could  not  sooner  pay,  and  which  I  hope 
you  will  accept  as  a  mark  of  my  high  esteem.* 

In  the  performance  of  his  political  and  other  duties, 
Arthur  Conolly  worked  on,  until,  in  the  month  of  January, 
1838,  he  obtained  a  ftirlough  to  England.  He  did  not  go 
home  because  he  was  sick,  or  because  he  was  weary  of 
Indian  life,  but  because  he  was  drawn  thither  by  the  attrac- 
tions of  one  to  whom  he  had  given  the  best  affections  of 
his  heart.  He  had  ever,  in  words  which  I  find  in  one  of 
his  own  letters,  with  reference  to  the  character  of  a  friend, 
a  great  besoin  (T aimer — and  he  had  found  one  worthy  to 
fill  the  void.     He  had  met  in  India  a  young  lady,  the 

VOL.    II.  8 


114  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1838. 


daughter  of  a  man  in  high  position  there,  a  member  of  a 
noble  family  5  and  he  had  given  to  her  all  the  love  of  his 
warm,  passionate  nature.  But  she  had  returned  to  England 
with  her  parents  5  and  so  he  followed  thither,  believing,  as 
he  had  good  reason  to  believe,  that  their  reunion  would  soon 
be  followed  by  their  marriage. 

They  met  again,  under  her  father's  roof  5  and  for  a  while 
he  was  supremely  happy.  But  the  fond  hopes  which  he 
had  cherished  were  doomed  to  bitter  disappointment.  The 
blight  which  fell  upon  the  life  of  Henry  Martyn  fell  also 
upon  the  life  of  Arthur  Conolly.  The  whole  history  of  it 
lies  before  me  as  written  by  himself,  but  it  is  not  a  history 
to  be  publicly  related.  There  was  no  fault  on  either  side. 
Nothing  more  is  to  be  said  of  it  than  that  it  was  God's 
will.  And  no  man  ever  bowed  himself  more  resignedly 
or  reverentially  to  such  a  dispensation.  He  had  been 
resolved  for  her  sake  to  sacrifice  his  career  5  never  to  re- 
turn to  India,  but  to  go  into  a  house  of  business — ^to  accept 
any  honourable  employment,  so  that  he  might  not  take 
her  from  her  family  and  her  home.  But  when  this  hope 
was  unexpectedly  prostrated,  he  turned  again  to  the  career 
which  lay  before  him,  and  went  back  into  the  solitude  of 
public  life.  He  went  back,  chastened  and  subdued,  fidl  of 
the  deepest  love  for  the  one,  and  of  boundless  charity  for 
the  many;  not  at  all  exasperated,  not  at  all  embittered, 
but  with  a  softer  and  more  loving  heart  than  before  j  with 
an  enlarged  desire  to  benefit  the  human  race,  and  a  stronger 
faith  in  the  boundless  mercy  of  God.  The  refined  tender- 
ness and  delicacy  of  his  nature  could  be  fittingly  expressed 
only  by  the  use  of  his  own  words.     I  know  nothing  more 


i«38.]  NEW  ASPIRATIONS.  115 

beautiful — nothing  more  touching — than  his  letters  on  this 
subject.  The  entire  unselfishness  of  his  nature  was  manifest 
in  every  word  that  he  spoke^  up  to  the  time  when,  the 
betrothal  ended,  he  said  to  her  whom  he  had  lost,  that, 
although  there  was  cause  for  sorrow  on  both  sides,  there 
was  none  for  reproach  on  either  j  that,  with  Gk>d*s  comfort, 
he  should  not  fail  to  find  happiness  in  single  life,  especially 
if  he  could  feel  assured  of  God*s  restoring  hers  5  and  con- 
jured her  to  look  up  and  be  herself  again,  for  the  sake  of 
all  those  who  must  grieve  if  she  did  not,  and  ever  to  feel 
that  she  had  his  fiill  and  undying  esteem,  his  unpresuming 
friendship,  and  his  unceasing  prayers.  It  was  all  over. 
Thenceforth  Humanity  became  his  bride,  '  and  airy  hopes 
his  children.' 

Happily  for  him,  there  was  something  in  the  great 
world  of  becoming  magnitude  to  fire  his  imagination,  to 
absorb  his  thoughts,  and  to  invite  him  to  energetic  action. 
The  contemplated  invasion  of  Afghanistan  was  at  this  time 
occupying  the  minds  of  those  members  of  the  Cabinet 
whose  duty  it  was  to  shape  our  policy  in  Asia,  as  seen 
both  from  our  Western  and  our  £astem  dominions.  The 
information  of  any  intelligent  Englishman  who  had  actually 
visited  the  countries,  or  any  part  of  the  countires,  which 
were  about  to  become  the  scene  of  our  operations,  was, 
therefore,  eagerly  sought.  Alexander  Bumes  had  returned 
to  India,  leaving  behind  him,  however,  some  rich  Oriental 
legacies ;  and  it  was  no  small  thing  in  such  a  conjuncture, 
for  a  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Aii^irs,  or  a  President  of 
the  India  Board,  whose  experiences  did  not  lie  much  in  that 
direction,  to  be  able  to  converse  with  a  British  officer  who 


ii6  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLL  K  f  X838. 

had  visited  Herat — ^the  famous  frontier  city  to  which  the 
Persians  were  laying  siege.    Whether  Arthur  Conolly  were 
altogether  the  kind  of  man  best  suited  to  their  purpose 
may  admit,  perhaps,  of  a  doubt.     They  may  have  thought 
him  a  little  over-enthusiastic — a  little  too  wild  and  vision- 
ary.   But  sober-minded  practical  men  were  not  very  likely, 
in  those  days,  to  make  such  hazardous  journeys  as  Arthur 
Conolly  had  made.     The  man  who  did  these  things  had 
necessarily  a  dash  of  romance  in  his  nature,  and  you  might 
be  sure  that  he  would  not  expound  his  views  in  a  very 
cold-blooded  manner.     One   thing,  however,    must   have 
satisfied  them.     He  was  delighted  with  the  idea  of  an 
advance  into  Afghanistan.     Seeing,  as  he  did,  in  the  dis- 
tance such  grand  results  to  be  obtained  by  British .  inter- 
vention, he  did  not  scan  very  narrowly  the  means  to  be 
immediately  employed.    His  view  of  the  matter  was  rathei 
that  of  a  grand  Anti-slavery  Crusade,  than  of  a  political 
movement  intended  to  check-mate  the  designs  of  another 
great  European  power.     He  grasped,  in  very  singleness  of 
heart,  the  idea  of  a  band  of  Christian  heroes  entering  the 
remote  regions  of  Central  Asia  as  Champions  of  Humanity 
and  Pioneers  of  Civilization.    Full  of  this  thought,  he  drew 
up  a  memorandum  for  the  Home  Government,  in  which 
he  expounded  his  views,  saying :  '  Now  both  the  Russians 
and  Persians  have  the  most  legitimate  plea  for  invading 
Toorkistan,  especially  Kharasm,  where  numbers  of  their 
countrymen  are  held  in  abject  slavery — a  plea  last  to  be 
disallowed  by  England !     How,  then,  can  we  frustrate  the 
designs  of  ambition  which   our  rival  will  so  speciously 
cover?     Possibly,  by  persuading  the  Oosbegs  themselves  to 


1838.]  CENTRAL  ASIAN  POLICY,  117 

do  away  with  the  grievance  which  gives  the  Russians  and 
Persians  a  pretext  for  invading  them.  Let  the  British 
Government  send  a  properly  accredited  Envoy  to  Khiva, 
in  the  first  place,  and  thence,  if  advisable,  across  the  Oxus, 
at  once  to  explain  our  present  acts  in  Afghanistan,  and  to 
try  this  only  open  way  of  checking  a  Russian  approach, 
which  will  entail  far  greater  trouble  upon  us.  Since  the 
last  Russian  Embassy  to  Bokhara,  the  ruler  of  that  king- 
dom has  actually  exerted  himself  to  suppress  the  sale  of 
Russians  in  his  territory,  and  nearly  all  the  Muscovite 
people  who  remain  enslaved  in  Toorkistan  are  now  in 
Kharasm.  Nothing  but  fear  can  have  induced  the  Ameei 
of  Bokhara  to  heed  the  Czar's  remonstrances,  and  argu- 
ments which  have  proved  so  effectual  with  him  should  not 
fail  with  the  Khan  of  Khiva,  in  the  event  of  the  latter 
chiefs  being  brought  to  see  the  danger  of  Russo-Persian 
invasion  nearer  and  greater  than  he  has  been  accustomed 

to  consider  it The  King  of  Bokhara  would  seem 

prepared  to  meet  us  half  way  in  our  commercial  advances. 
"When  Sir  A.  Burnes  was  at  his  capital,  ''the  Vizier," 
writes  that  officer,  "  conversed  at  great  length  on  subjects 
of  commerce  relating  to  Bokhara  and  Britain,  and  expressed 
much  anxiety  to  increase  the  communication  between  the 
countries,  requesting  that  I  myself  would  return  as  a 
trading  ambassador  to  Bokhara.*'  A  similar  desire  for  an 
improved  trade  with  us  was  repeated  to  Mr  Wolff,  the 
missionary,  when  he  visited  Bokhara.  The  advantages  of 
the  commerce  which  his  neighbour  encourages  cannot  be 
unknown  to  the  Khivan  Khan,  and  few  representations 
should  be  needed  to  convince  the  latter  chief  that  he  might 


,  i8  CAPTAIN  AR  THUR  CONOLL  Y,  [1838. 

make  his  desert  capital  a  still  greater  trade  mart  than 
Bokhara,  through  the  facility  that  the  river  Oxus  offers 
him.' 

To  remove  the  not  unreasonable  pretext  for  Russian 
advances  in  Central  Asia,  Arthur  Conolly  proposed  that  the 
British  authorities  should  negotiate  with  the  principal 
Oosbeg  chiefs,  and  represent  to  them  that  if  they  would 
undertake  to  restrain  the  Turcoman  tribes  from  carrying  off 
into  slavery  the  subjects  of  Russia  and  Persia,  the  British 
would  use  their  influence  with  the  Governments  of  those 
countries  to  persuade  them  to  fix  their  boundaries  at  limits 
which  would  inspire  our  Government  with  confidence,  and 
insure  peace  to  the  Oosbegs  themselves.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  treating  with  Russia,  he  contended  that  we  should 
best  consult  our  interests  by  basing  all  our  arguments  on 
the  one  broad  principle  of  hvunanity.  '  It  might  not  be 
amiss,*  he  wrote,  'frankly  to  put  it  to  the  Court  of  St 
Petersburg  whether  they,  on  their  part,  will  not  desist  from 
a  jealousy  which  is  injuring  us  both,  and  many  people  con- 
nected with  us.  Whether,  ceasing  from  an  unworthy 
policy,  which  seeks  to  keep  alive  a  spirit  of  disaffection 
among  the  thoasands  whom  it  is  our  high  aim  to  settle  and 
enlighten,  they  will  not  generously  unite  with  us  in  an 
endeavour  peaceably  to  abolish  rapine  and  slavery  5  to  make 
safe  trade  roads  to  their  own  possessions  near  Toorkistan  j 
and,  in  the  words  of  their  servant.  Baron  Mejendorf,  ''  de 
faire  germer,  et  d*etendre  dans  cette  partie  de  TAsie,  les 
bienfaits  de  la  civilisation  Europeenne.**  Let  us  direct,'  he 
added,  '  the  vast  means  prepared  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  greatest  possible  end,  and  while  we  are  in  a  position  to 


i8q8.]  RUSSIA  AND  ENGLAND,  119 

f peak  with  eiFect,  endeavour  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the 
grand  beneficial  influence  that  we  ought  to  exercise  over 
the  long-neglected  tribes  of  Western  Asia !  Suppose,  how- 
ever, that  the  above  great  project  should  entirely  fail  j  that 
at  the  very  outset  the  Oosbegs  should  reject  our  anti-slaveiy 
suggestions,  or  the  Russians  haughtily  decline  our  inter- 
ference, would  our  labour  be  lost  ?  By  no  means.  The 
cost  of  our  mission  would  be  well  exchanged  for  increased 
knowledge  of  countries,  in  which,  sooner  or  later,  we  shall 
be  obliged  to  play  some  part,  and  for  more  positive  notions 
than  we  now  possess  of  the  danger  against  which  we  have 
to  provide  j  while  it  is  probable  that  though  the  Oosbegs 
might  desire  to  be  left  to  fight  their  own  battles  with  the 
Russians  and  Persians,  they  would  accept  overtures  of  a 
generally  amicable  nature  from  us  that  might  have  some 
way  for  the  extension  of  our  commercial  relations  beyond 
Afghanistan,  which  we  hope  to  settle.' 

These  were  suggestions  not  to  be  lightly  regarded,  at  a 
time  when  the  designs  of  Russia  in  the  East  were  disturb- 
ing the  serenity  of  the  English  Cabinet,  and  a  British  army 
was  about  to  march  into  Central  Asia.  There  might  be 
more  ardour  and  enthusiasm  in  Arthur  ConoUy  than  were 
likely  to  recommend  him  to  official  men  5  but  there  was  a 
good  substratum  of  sound  sense  at  the  bottom  of  his  recom- 
mendations, and  the  authorities  were  not  disinclined  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  services  of  a  man  so  eager  to  do  any- 
thing and  to  suffer  anything  in  so  great  a  cause.  At  first, 
they  were  minded  to  send  him  directly  from  England  to 
Toorkistan,  with  credentials  from  the  Home  Government  j 
but  afterwards  they  determined  only  to  recommend  such  a 


I20  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1839. 

mission  to  the  Goveraor*(xeneral,  and  therefore  they  sent 
him  to  India  with  letters  to  Lord  Auckland,  and  with 
s^joo  in  his  pocket  for  the  expenses  of  his  journey.  He 
was  to  travel  by  the  way  of  Vienna,  Constantinople, 
Armenia,  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  acquire,  as  he  went, 
information  that  might  be  useful  to  his  Government,  and 
smooth  the  way  for  his  future  operations  on  the  banks  of 
the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes. 


On  the  nth  of  February,  1839,  Arthur  Conolly  left 
London,  and  made  for  the  Austrian  capital.  There  he  had 
an  interview  with  the  great  minister  and  arch-diplomatist, 
Mettemich,  to  whom  he  explained  in  detail  our  Central- 
Asian  policy,  and  thereby  removed  some  erroneous  impress- 
ions which  had  been  made  upon  his  mind.  It  happened, 
also,  that  at  that  time  an  envoy  from  the  Shah  of  Persia 
(Hoossein  Khan  by  name)  was  halting  at  Vienna  on  his 
way  to  England.  It  was  obviously  a  great  thing  that 
Conolly  should  hold  frequent  communication  with  the 
Elchee,  and  it  was  desirable,  at  the  same  time,  that  it 
shovdd  be  as  little  formal  and  ceremonious  as  possible.  So 
the  English  officer  quartered  himself  at  the  hotel  where  tne 
Persian  minister  was  residing,  and  they  soon  established 
familiar  intercourse  with  each  other.  This  Hoossein  Khan 
appears  to  have  been  a  shrewd  fellow,  with  some  sense  of 
humour  in  him.  At  one  of  the  interviews,  the  details  of 
which  Conolly  afterwards  noted  down,  the  English  officei 
hmted  that  the  Persian  minister  was  prejudiced  against  Mr 
M'Neill.     '  Not  at  all,*  said  Hoossein  K-han.     '  We  have 


1839]  DISCUSSIONS  WITH  THE  PERSIAN  MINISTER,  m 

always  been  the  best  of  friends.  He  has  lived  at  my  house 
for  days  together.  Indeed,  I  owe  him  my  highest  appoint- 
ment. When  it  was  proposed  to  send  me  as  Envoy  to 
England,  M'Neill  represented  that  I  had  not  rank  enough. 
''Why/*  replied  the  Shah,  "Hoossein  Khan  is  of  a  very 
ancient  family.  He  is  Adjutant-Greneral,  and  he  is  my 
foster-brother.  Moreover,  we  received  the  other  day  Mr 
Ellis  from  your  Crown.  Now,  1*11  engage  that  the  Sove- 
reign of  England  has  at  least  three  hundred  subjects  equal 
in  station  to  Mr  Ellis,  whilst  I  have  not  ten  equal  to 
Hoossein  Khan.**  "  Your  Majesty  forgets,**  said  M'Neill, 
"that  Mr  Ellis  was  a  Privy-Councillor."  "Very  well,** 
said  the  Shah,  "we  will  add  this  dignity  to  Hoossein 
Khan's  titles,**  and  I  was  made  a  Preevy-Koonsillah  from 
that  day.'  * 

The  case  was  well  argued  upon  both  sides,  but  with  no 
result.  The  Persian  was  as  tenacious  of  his  opinions  as  the 
Englishman ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  had  a  way  of 
stating  the  case  in  favour  of  his  master,  which,  if  not  always 
truthfril,  had  a  very  plausible  appearance  of  truth.  It  is 
instructive  to  see  the  different  glosses  which  two  men  can 
put  upon  the  same  event,  as  seen  from  the  sides  of  their 
respective  nationalities.  Thus  the  well-known  story  of  the 
seizure  of  the  British  Courier,  which  did  so  much  to 
embitter  our  relations  with  Persia,  as  seen  from  the  Persian 
side,  was  rather  a  wrong  suffered  by  them  than  a  wrong 

•  This  conversation  really  took  place  between  Mahomed  Shah 
and  Major  Rawlinson,  who  conveyed  to  the  royal  camp  at  Nishapoor 
Mr  McNeill's  protest  against  Hoossein  Khan's  appointment  as  minis- 
ter to  England. 


IM  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1839. 

done  to  the  English.  '  The  Shah  never  thought,'  said  the 
Persian,  '  of  injuring  India.  He  went  to  Herat  to  chastise 
rebels  who  continually  murdered  or  sold  his  own  subject<i. 
Then  comes  your  £lchee  and  prohibits  pimishment  and 
redress,  and  when  he  finds  his  representations  unheeded 
(how  could  the  Shah  prefer  them  to  the  cries  of  his  own 
people  ?),  he  intrigues  with  the  Prince  of  Herat,  sends  a 
messenger  there  secretly,  and  when  this  fellow  is  caught 
returning  in  Afghan  clothes,  like  a  spy  as  he  was,  and  was 
seized  as  anybody  in  any  country  would  have  been  in  such 
circumstances,^  his  short  imprisonment  is  magnified,  his 
interested  statements  are  taken  in  preference  to  the  testi- 
mony of  respectable  men  who  were  lookers-on,  and  knew 
everything,  and  we,  who  had  a  right  to  be  the  complain- 
ants, are  made  to  appear  the  party  in  fault.'  Again,  taking 
a  comprehensive  view  of  the  whole  question,  Hoossein 
Khan  said  :  *  You  talk  of  our  acting  against  your  interests, 
and  our  own  real  interests  5  but  are  we  ever  to  sacrifice 
what  we  think  to  be  ours,  to  your  notions  for  us,  or  to  your 
precautions  for  yourselves  ?  The  question  of  Persian  policy 
lies  in  a  small  space,  and  the  sooner  it  is  reduced  to  its 
essence  the  better.  We  are  situated  between  you  and 
Russia,  being  weaker  than  either  of  youj  we  therefore 
want  support  firom  one  or  the  other.  If  you  will  give  it, 
good  5  if  not,  we  must  just  take  to  those  whom  we  like 
least,  and  make  the  most  of  them,  whether  it  pleases  you 

*  The  Duke  of  Wellington  is  said  to  have  observed,  that  if 
he  had  been  in  the  Shah's  place  he  should  have  hanged  Mahomed 
Ali  Maafee  as  a  spy ;  and  nothing  is  more  probable  than  that  he 
wouJd. 


i839.]  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE,  laj 

or  not.  The  Shah  will  never  give  up  his  claims  upon 
Afghanistan :  why  should  he  resign  what  he  can  take  with 
ease,  purely  to  soothe  a  fear  of  the  British  Government  ? 
The  whole  country  up  to  Caubul  was  ready  to  submit  to 
him  when  he  left  Herat,  and  will  prove  so  whenever 
he  advances  his  standard  again.  You  misinterpret  his 
Majesty's  generosity  in  retiring  at  your  request,  and 
think  you  gained  your  wish  by  sending  troops  to  Karrak  j 
you  encourage  revolt  in  the  South  j  does  it  not  strike  your 
acute  penetration  that  we  can  play  the  last  game,  if  need 
be,  in  Hindostan  ?  We  can  j  and  if  you  provoke  us  too  far, 
we  will.'  To  this  Conolly  replied :  '  Your  admissions  now 
go  far  to  justify  our  proceedi^igs  in  Afghanistan.  Your 
very  threat  of  using  your  political  influence  against  our 
repose  in  India,  is  quite  reason  enough  for  us  to  prevent 
your  establishing  it  any  nearer,  by  the  fair  way  that  your 
hostile  conduct  has  opened  to  us.'  If  this  was  an  empty 
threat  that  the  Persian  uttered,  not  a  clear  declaration  of  the 
settled  policy  of  his  Grovemment,  it  is  certain  that  we  did 
not  wait  very  many  years  to  see  how  effectually  it  could  be 
converted  into  a  fact. 

From  Vienna,  Arthur  Conolly  made  his  way  to  Con- 
stantinople. There  most  propitiously  it  happened  that  he 
found  an  Envoy  from  Khokund — one  of  the  very  Oosbeg 
States  which  he  desired  to  wean  from  their  inhuman  habits. 
The  chiefs  of  Central  Asia  had,  and  still  have,  unbounded 
faith  ia  the  Sooltan.  They  believe  that  his  power  is  un- 
limited, and  that  he  can  rescue  them  from  all  their  difficul- 
ties and  dangers.     As  I  write,  the  Khan  of  ELhokund  has 


124  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1839. 


an  Envoy,  if  not  two,  at  Constantinople.*  To  Conolly,  this 
circumstance  of  the  presence  of  the  Khokundee  at  the 
Ottoman  capital  was  one  of  happy  augury  j  and  he  deter- 
mined to  turn  it  to  the  best  possible  account.  So  he  soon 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Envoy,  and  began  to  expound 
to  him  his  views  of  the  situation  in  Central  Asia.  '  One  of 
the  Shah's  pretexts  for  invading  Herat,*  he  observed,  '  was 
that  the  people  of  that  State  used  to  carry  off  his  subjects 
into  slavery  5  but  this  plea  was  proved  false  by  his  reflising 
to  accept  our  guarantee  to  Kamran*s  promise  that  such 
should  not  again  occur.  I  don*t  think  that  there  were 
many  real  Heratees  engaged  in  thb  work,t  The  Hazarehs 
perhaps  did  it  occasionally,  in  concert  with  the  Toorkomans, 
and  it  was  against  the  latter  tribes  that  the  Shah  of  Persia 
should  have  directed  his  arms,  if  he  wished  to  put  down  the 
evil,  as  his  father.  Abbas  Mirza,  did  at  Serria.  People  say 
that  there  are  now  in  Khiva,  Bokhara,  and  other  parts  of 
your  country  up  there,  as  many  as  thirty  thousand  Persians 
taken  one  time  or  other  from  the  villages  and  high  road  of 
Iran  by  the  Toorkomans.  Is  it  so  ?'  '  Thirty  ?'  was  the 
reply,  with  a  hearty  laugh  5  '  thirty !  say  a  himdred  thousand, 
or  two,  if  you  will  5  we've  no  end  of  those  scoundrels ; 
upon  our  parts,  we  find  them  very  useful.*  '  And  other 
people  also?  Russians  !  have  you  many  of  those  ? '  'We 
haven't  many,  nor  the  Bokhara  people  either  j  at  Khiva 

♦  Written  in  1865. 

+  He  had  afterwards  too  much  reason  to  change  his  opinions  on 
this  point.  In  fact,  Yar  Mahomed,  the  Heratee  minister,  was  one  of 
the  greatest  slave-dealers  in  Central  Asia. 


1839]   DISCUSSIONS  WITH  TUB  KHOKUND  ENVOY,    t^% 

there  are  a  great  many/  '  What  do  they  do  there  ?  *  asked 
Conolly.  '  They  do  everything  5  work  in  the  field — ^work 
in  the  houses.*  ^We  English,  perhaps  your  Excellency 
knows,  do  not  approve  of  slavery  at  all.  Our  Grovernment, 
the  other  day,  gave  forty  millions  of  ducats  to  buy  oflf  the 
slaves  of  its  own  subjects.'  '  How  ?  What  do  you  mean  ?  * 
asked  the  astonished  Envoy.  'Why,  in, former  times, 
many  English  subjects,  possessed  of  estates  in  foreign  pro- 
vinces of  England,  had  been  the  owners  of  negro  slaves, 
who  used  to  till  their  lands  for  the  cultivation  of  sugar, 
spices,  &c.  Now  the  rule  in  England  itself  is,  that  no  foot 
which  touches  its  dust  can  remain  for  a  moment  longer 
enslaved  against  its  will.  The  free  people  at  home  all  cried 
io  the  throne  that  no  English  subjects  should  have  a  slave 
anywhere,  so  the  Government,  not  to  be  imjust,  bought  oflf 
all  the  negroes  from  its  own  people,  and  declared  them 
free  for  ever.'  *  You  wish  men  not  to  be  slaves  of  each 
other,  but  only  hundxigan  khoda,  slaves  of  God.  Good  for 
you,  if  you  do  well.  Our  habits  are  diflferent.'  'Yes,* 
said  Conolly,  'as  I  learned  in  my  endeavours  to  reach 
Khiva.' 

A  few  days  afterwards  Arthur  Conolly  again  visited  the 
Envoy,  and  plunged  deeply  into  the  politics  of  Central 
Asia;  the  depths  which  he  sought  to  fathom  ever  being 
those  in  which  he  touched  with  his  foot  the  abominations 
of  that  vile  traffic  in  human  flesh,  which  he  was  eager  to 
root  out  from  the  land.  They  talked  about  the  complica- 
tions that  had  recently  arisen — of  the  movements  of  the 
Persians,  the  Russians,  and  the  English,  and  of  the  dangers 
which  beset  the  Oosbeg  States.     The  Envoy  asked  what 


126  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1839. 


was  to  be  done — ^what  was  to  be  the  remedy.  This  was 
the  opportunity  which  Conolly  desired.  '  I  have  no  certain 
remedy/  he  answered;  'but  there  is  one  which  may  be 
tried.  The  Russians  will  invade  Khiva^  and  take  other 
Oosbeg  States,  on  the  ground  that  they  have  a  right  to 
liberate  their  people  enslaved  among  you.  We  could  not 
say  a  word  against  this,  nor  would  we  5  for,  to  be  frank 
with  you,  if  any  of  our  people  had  been  in  the  condition 
that  theirs  are,  we  should  long  ago  have  done  what  they 
threaten  to  do.  You  must  send  every  Russian  slave  out  of 
your  territories,  and  never  capture  any  more.'  'We  and 
the  Bokharians  have  not  many  Russians,'  said  the  Envoy; 
'  but  the  Khiva  Khan  wouldn't  find  it  easy  to  do  what  you 
propose.  He  has  a  great  many.'  '  How  many  ? '  '  More 
than  a  thousand,  certainly.  There's  only  one  way  in  which 
I  can  see  a  likelihood  of  your  plan  being  accomplished,  by 
the  Russians  buying  all  their  people.  They  are  dispersed 
among  many  masters ;  so  the  Khan  could  not  give  them 
up  if  he  wished.'  *I  don't  think  the  Russians  would 
condescend  to  this,'  returned  Conolly.  '  Perhaps,  however, 
an  arrangement  might  be  made,  if  you  promised  never  to 
capture  any  more.  What  would  it  cost  to  buy  the 
thousands  you  speak  of  ? '  '  Not  less  than  fifty  or  sixty 
thousand  ducats.  Perhaps  you  would  buy  the  whole,  and 
make  the  Russians  a  present  of  them.  This  would  not  be 
a  great  thing  after  your  millions  of  ducats.'  '  Well,  we'll 
discuss  all  practicable  means  when  the  plan  is  agreed  to. 
And  the  Persians !  Will  you  let  them  go  also,  and  cease 
from  your  forays?'  'Oh,  you  must  not  think  of  the 
Persians,'  rejoined  the  Envoy,  'in  such  an  arrangement 


1839]    DISCUSSIONS  WITH  THE  KHOKUND  ENVOY,    127 

There  are  too  many  of  them  by  hundreds  of  thousands. 
Besides^  we  want  them.  For  the  Russians^  perhaps^  we 
might  come  to  an  arrangement.'  *  Sooner  or  later,  me- 
thinks,*  said  Conolly,  'you'll  be  obliged  to  satisfy  both 
nations  on  this  score  \  but  it  isn't  for  me  to  dictate  positively 
on  the  matter.  The  question  in  all  its  bearings  concerns 
you  much  more  than  it  does  us.  We  and  the  Russians  are 
people  likely  to  quarrel^  if  we  come  near  each  other  in  the 
East.  We,  please  God,  are  well  able  to  wage  war  with 
any  nation,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  but  we  don't  want  to 
quarrel  with  any  people,  because  war  is  inhuman  and  ex- 
pensive, and  because  it  interrupts  commerce,  which  is  the 
source  of  our  great  strength.  For  this  reason  we  wish  to 
keep  the  Russians  at  a  distance  \  the  best  way  of  doing  so 
is  to  be  strong  and  independent  (for  this  reason  we  are 
building  up  the  Afghans),  and  we  don't  make  big 
professions,  so  we  shall  not  make  big  promises.  Here* 
(showing  Burnes's  map)  'is  our  position,  there  is  yours j 
you  see.  that  we  are  far  enough  from  you  to  prevent 
your  entertaining  the  slightest  apprehension  of  our  power, 
though  we  are  not  so  far  that  we  cannot  d  ^  you  good  in 
several  ways.  We  should  like  to  confer  with  you  about 
the  means  of  removing  Russia's  pretext  for  coming  farther 
on  in  your  direction.  Hear,  all  of  you,  what  we  have  to 
say,  and  adopt  what  you  like.  If  you  like  none  of  our 
suggestions  regarding  other  powers,  you  can  open  and  keep 
open  a  friendly  intercourse  with  the  English  Government, 
and  draw  close  in  commercial  dealings  with  our  people  of 
Hindostan,'  '  Very  good !  very  good  ! '  replied  the  Envoy  j 
'  write  to  your  ministers,  and  we  will  see  the  end.     I,  for 


128  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1839, 


niy  part,  will  engage  that  you,  or  any  other  (English) 
Envoy,  shall  go  safely  up  there  and  back.* 

Again  and  again  the  Envoy  pressed  Conolly  to  wait 
until  he  himself  had  received  from  the  Sooltan  his  orders 
to  depart,  that  they  might  travel  to  Khokund  together  j  but 
the  English  officer  pleaded  the  instructions  of  his  own  Go- 
vernment, and  declined  the  invitation.  In  truth,  he  had 
already  made  a  longer  halt  at  Constantinople  than  was  con- 
sistent with  the  wishes  of  the  authorities  in  England,  who 
censured  him  for  his  delay.  But  he  had  been  doing^good 
work.  His  conferences  with  the  Envoy  from  Kiiokund 
had  done  much  to  detach  that  worthy  from  the  grasp  of 
Russian  diplomacy,  which  would  have  had  it  all  its  own 
way,  if  Conolly  had  not  been  at  Constantinople  to  exercise 
that  benign  influence  which  few  men  could  resist.  He 
parted  on  the  best  possible  terms  from  the  Oosbeg  agent, 
carrying  with  him  all  sorts  of  friendly  assurances  and  some 
pledges ;  and  on  the  22nd  of  August  he  left  Constantino- 
ple, en  route  to  Baghdad,  intending  to  reach  Samsoun  as  the 
first  stage  in  his  journey.  But  learning  that  the  road  thence 
to  Diarbekir  was  infested  with  bands  of  plimderers,  and 
scarcely  passable,  he  landed  at  Trebizonde,  and,  by  the 
Consul's  advice,  proceeded  to  Erzeroum,  where  he  arrived 
early  in  September.  Afler  a  halt  of  two  days,  he  resumed 
his  journey,  furnished  with  letters  for  his  safe  protection  to 
the  authorities  of  the  province,  and  before  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber— having  passed  a  week  at  Baghdad  en  route,  where  he 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  Major  Rawlinson — ^he  had 
reached  Bushire  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  Major  Hennell, 
the  British  Resident,  not  having  immediately  at  his  com- 


X839-]  ARRIVES  AT  CALCUTTA,  xsg 

— 

mand  a  Grovemmeiit  vessel^  sent  Conolly  forward  in  a  fast- 
sailing  merchant-ship  to  Bombay,  which  plaa)  he  reached 
on  the  13th  November,  1839. 

From  Bombay  he  made  his  way  to  Calcutta,  saw  the 
Governor-General,  expounded  his  views,  and  received  the 
confidences  of  Lord  Auckland.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  propitious  than  the  conjuncture.  There  was  a  bright 
flush  of  success  over  all  our  policy  in  Afghanistan.  In  Ar- 
thur Conolly's  words,  we  had  to  all  outward  seeming  '  built 
up  the  Douranee  £mpire '  again.  We  had  accomplished  a 
great  revolution.  The  de  facto  ruler  of  Afghanistan  was 
beaten  and  a  fugitive.  The  nationality  of  the  country  was 
stunned  and  bewildered  by  the  roar  of  the  British  guns. 
More  than  all,  the  great  magician,  who  had  accomplished 
this  mighty  change,  was  a  near  relative  of  Conolly  himself. 
The  £nvoy  and  Minister  at  the  Court  of  Shah  Soojah-ool- 
Moolk  was  his  cousin,  William  Macnaghten,  about  soon  to 
have  the  prefix  of  Sir  to  his  name — ^a  name  not  to  be  men- 
tioned without  a  respectful  and  a  tender  regret,  for  he  was 
a  brave  and  an  able  man,  who  sacrificed  his  life  in  the 
service  of  his  country.  The  Governor-Greneral,  therefore, 
had  no  very  difficult  part  to  play.  As  the  Home  Govern- 
ment had  left  it  to  him  to  find  a  field  of  adventure  for  Ar- 
thur Conolly,  Lord  Auckland  also  in  his  turn  left  it  to  the 
representative  of  British  interests  in  Afghanistan  to  indicate 
the  particular  service  on  which  his  enthusiastic  relative 
might  most  advantageously  be  employed. 

So  Conolly  proceeded  to  Caubul,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1840  was  immersed,  breast-high,  in  the  troubled  stream  of 
A%han  politics.    What  was  then  stirring  in  his  warm  heart 

VOL.   II.  o 


I30  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1839. 

and  in  his  active  brain  may  be  gathered  from  the  letters 
which  he  addressed  to  an  old  and  very  dear  friend — a  man 
high  in  place  and  deservedly  high  in  honom*.     I  do  not 
know  why^  in  such  a  work  as  this^  designed^  however  feeble 
the  execution^  to  do  honour  to  the  great  Indian  services^  I 
should  not  write,  in  this  place^  the  name  of  one  who  was 
for  many  years  among  the  brightest  of  their  ornaments. 
The  beloved  friend  to  whom  Arthur  Conolly  poured  out 
his  heart  more  freely  than  to  any  other  correspondent^  was 
Thomas  Campbell  Robertson,  a  member  of  the  Bengal  Civil 
Service,  who  at  this  time  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
North- Western  Provinces,  and  Provisional  Grovemor-Gen- 
eral  of  India.     He  had  risen  to  this  high  station  aflera 
blameless  career  of  more  than  thirty  years  of  benefic^t 
work,  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  many  depart- 
ments of  the  service.     With  a  largeness  of  official  zeal, 
which  ever  kept  him  in  the  fixjnt  rank  of  his  contempo- 
raries, he  combined  a  genuine  love  of  European  literature, 
which  was  a  source  of  unfailing  refreshment  to  him  in  his 
non-official  hours,  and  made  him  a  delightfril  companion 
to  the  cherished  few  whose  intercourse  he  sought.     He  had 
ever  a  high  sense  of  justice — of  that  justice  which  has  its 
root  in  a  generous  and  sympathizing  nature — ^and  he  groaned 
in  bitterness  of  spirit  over  the  inroads  of  that  new  faith 
which,  during  the  later  stages  of  his  career,  tended  towards 
the  absorption  of  the  native  principalities  and  the  subversion 
of  the  ancient  aristocracy  of  India.     Few  members  of  the 
enlightened  service  to  which  he  belonged  had  larger  or 
sounder  views  of  Indian  policy ;  but  a  physical  infirmity, 
which  crept  upon  him  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  debarred  him 


1840.]  THOMAS  CAMPBELL  ROBERTSON,  ijr 

from  taking  his  right  place  in  the  public  eye  among  the 
Indian  statesmen  of  his  generation^  at  a  time  when  the 
services  of  Indian  statesmen  were  in  great  national  request. 
And  I  am  not  sure  whether  his  good  old-school  opinions^ 
which  he  had  lived  to  see  disowned  by  a  new  race  of  civil- 
ians, did  not  help  to  keep  him  in  the  background.  Nothing, 
at  all  events,  could  convince  him  that  such  was  not  the 
case. 

There  were  circumstances  of  a  domestic  nature  which 
caused  Mr  Robertson  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  young  Cavalry  officer,  and  which  bound  Arthur 
ConoUy  to  the  veteran  civilian  in  bonds  which  at  times  may 
have  been  very  painful  to  him,  but  which  he  would  not 
have  severed  for  the  world.  I  have  said  that  what  was 
stirring  in  the  soldier's  warm  heart  was  freely  communicated 
to  his  friend,  who  well  knew  all  his  sorrows.  No  one  could 
understand  better  than  Mr  Robertson  the  yearning  desire 
for  continual  excitement  which  at  that  time  was  gnawing 
Arthur  Conolly's  breast  5  no  one  could  appreciate  better  the 
full  foilce  of  every  word  he  wrote — ^its  tenderness,  its  gener- 
osity, its  consideration  for  another — when  after  much  that, 
profoundly  touching  as  is  the  interest  of  it^  I  cannot  bring 
myself  to  make  public,  he  proceeded  to  say :  '  Those  feelings 
have  more  force  with  me  than  ever  now,  because  I  am 
about  to  undertake  a  journey,  which  is  not  without  risks  to 
life,  and  if  mine  should  end  in  Tartary,  I  would  not  have 
her  fancy  it  shortened  or  carelessly  ventured  in  consequence 
of  my  disappointed  love  for  her.  You  will  be  able,  if  ne- 
cessary, to  explain  that  the  cause  I  go  upon  is  one  which 
every  man  must  be  proud  and  eager  to  peril  his  life  foi 


132  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1840. 

the  noblest  in  which  he  could  fall  \  and  you  may  without 
hesitation  assure  her^  that  I  have  regained  a  cheerful  rnlnd^ 
and  only  hope  that  the  same  unfailing  spirit  of  goodness 
who  has  surrounded  me  with  objects  to  make  life  a  great 
blessing  will  give  her  the  best  gifls  of  earthy  and  make  her 
eternally  happy  in  heaven^  where  all  separations  and  dis- 
quietudes will  be  healed.  I  meant  but  to  say  a  few  words 
on  this  subject  when  I  began  it^  and  yet  after  a  whole  sheet 
was  not  half  satisfied  with  what  I  have  written.  You  will 
divine  my  thoughts  more  clearly  than  I  have  expressed  them^ 
and  will  forgive  my  prolixity.  It  was  like  your  kindness  to 
answer  for  my  motive  in  halting  at  Constantinople.  I  only 
got  reproof  for  setting  aside  Talleyrand's  motto,*  but  I  act- 
ed honestly,  and  the  more  the  politics  of  Toorkistan  open 
upon  us,  the  more  am  I  satisfied  that  my  conduct  was  wise. 
I  trust  that  I  shall  prove  it  by  gaining  all  that  you  kindly 
wish  me  to  obtain  on  the  Jaxartes.  Many  thanks  i<cx  jaai 
offer  of  Baber's  Memoirs,  but  I  have  already  provided  myself 
with  a  copy.  It  will  indeed  be  interesting  to  read  the  his- 
tory and  thoughts  of  this  great  man  in  the  land  of  his  birth. 
You  ask  for  my  sentiments  on  Afghan  affairs  as  modified 
by  personal  observation.  After  I  had  ended  my  late  jour- 
ney through  the  country  from  Sukkur  to  Jellalabad,  I  sub- 
mitted the  impressions  which  I  had  noted  on  the  way  to 
Sir  William  Macnaghten,  who  is  the  person  best  qualified 
to  judge  and  correct  them.  I  consider  the  move  into  this 
country  unavoidable  and  politic  5  but  did  /  not  think  so,  I 
would  exclaim  against  the  faintest  thought  of  going  back 
again.    The  recent  hesitation  is  hkely  to  embarrass  greatly 

*  *  Surtout,  monsieur,  point  de  z^e.' 


i84o.]    CORRESPONDBNCE'WITH  MR  ROBERTSON.      133 


if  not  to  ruin  us,  whereas  if  we  resolutely  and  literally  set 
ourselves  to  consolidate  the  nationality  of  the  Afghans  and 
to  get  them  good  government,  we  shall  after  some  years  gain 
a  full  return  for  our  money,  and  see  that  we  have  been  the 
instruments  of  incalculable  good.  I  feel  very  confident 
about  all  our  policy  in  Central  Asia,  for  I  think  that  the 
designs  of  our  Government  there  are  honest,  and  that  they 
will  work  with  a  blessing  from  God,  who  seems  now  to  be 
breaking  up  all  the  barriers  of  the  long-closed  £ast,  for  the 
introducticHi  of  Christian  knowledge  and  peace.  It  is  deeply 
interesting  to  watch  the  effects  that  are  being  produced  by 
the  exertions  of  the  European  powers — some,  selfish  and 
contrary  ;  others,  still  selfish,  but  qualified  with  peace  and 
generosity  J  all  made  instrumental  to  good.  See  the  French 
in  Africa,  the  English,  Austrians,  and  Russians  on  the  fios- 
phorus,  forcing  the  Turks  to  be  Europeans  under  a  shadow 
of  Mohammedanism,  and  providing  for  the  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  the  fairest  and  most  sacred  countries  in  the  world. 
Will  you  turn  aside  when  you  go  home  at  the  end  of  next 
year  to  see  *'  those  blessed  acres  which  Our  Saviour  trod?" 
Syria,  it  seems,  is  to  revert  to  the  Porte.  If  so,  and  the 
new  Sultan  acts  up  to  the  "Hatti  Scherifs"  (Khat-e-Shereef) 
which  he  published  soon  after  his  accession,  the  now  eager 
desire  of  the  Jews  to  return  to  the  Holy  Land  of  their  fathers 
will  find  speedy  gratification.  Did  you  attentively  read 
that  Khat-e-Shereef  ?  If  not,  it  may  interest  you  to  peruse 
the  copy  which  I  enclose.  It  has  been  considerably  finger- 
ed, for  I  have  been  concocting  from  it  an  address  which  we 
hoped  Shah  Soojah  would  adopt  j  but  his  Majesty,  I  regret 
to  say,  ran  a  cold  eye  over  the  production,  and  said  it  was 


134  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184a 

much  too  refined  for  his  lieges  3  that  they  had  too  much 
wind  in  their  heads  already^  and  that  he  would  consider 
of  something  brief  and  more  suited  to  their  cur-like  under- 
standings. This  is  not  quite  the  mood  for  an  Afghan  re- 
generator.  Sir  William  Macnaghten  deals  very  tenderly 
with  him,  and  probably  this  brings  him  round  to  points 
which  our  impatient  desire  for  reform  would  overleap.  If 
the  Envoy  had  a  carte  blanche  at  the  Calcutta  treasury,  and 
could  say,  "  I'll  give  your  Majesty  so  much  to  do  so  and  so,'* 
we  should  get  on  better  and  faster,  but  Lord  A.  already  be- 
gins to  ask  when  the  Shah  will  be  able  to  keep  himself, 
while  the  King  answers  that  proposal  with  "  Give  me  time 
to  see  what  my  means  really  are,"  and  looks  anxiously  out 
for  members  of  his  body  politic  to  which  he  may  apply  the 
screw.  You  and  Sir  James  Camac  must  back  Sir  WiUiam 
against  the  easy-going  secretaries,  who,  quietly  entrenched 
within  the  Ditch,  rave  about  economy,  and  sententiou<dy 
recommend  prudence.  If  we  treat  the  Toorkistan  question 
liberally,  we  shall,  I  think,  secure  the  great  position  which 
we  have  now  gained,  and  make  our  jealousy  of  Russian  ad- 
vance in  this  direction  the  means  of  purifying  and  enriching 
to  our  future  advantage  the  whole  of  Oosbeg  Tartary.  You 
will  have  heard  that  my  route  has  been  changed,  and  that  I 
and  Major  Rawlinson  are  to  proceed  in  the  first  instance  to 
the  head-quarters  of  General  Per-owsky,  or  -ofisky,  there  to 
see  that  he  does  not  exceed  the  Emperor's  declarations,  and 
I  hope  quietly  to  commence  the  arrangement  which  it  is 
proposed  to  base  upon  Kokund.  You  saw  the  "  instructions  " 
issued  to  me  for  my  missi  on  to  the  latter  state,  and  probably 
guessed  that  I  followed  the  usual  practice  of  Envoys  in 


xa|6.]  THE  SCHEME  ABANDONED.  13^ 

drawing  them  up  for  myself.  I  am  very  glad  that  yuu  ap- 
proved of  their  tenor.  Sir  James  Camac  has  also  written 
his  approval  of  this  mission^  and  comforted  me  with  expres- 
sions like  yours  for  the  jobation  that  I  got  from  home  for 
delaying  at  Constantinople.  His  honour,  moreover,  very 
kindly  sent  me  a  pubHc  acknowledgment  that  my  labours  in 
this  journey  were  esteemed,  the  which  I  add  to  the  papers 
now  forwarded  to  please  my  brother,  who  thinks  more 
about  me  than  I  deserve.  Lord  Auckland  also  wrote  very 
kindly  to  me.* 

It  had  been  arranged  tHat  Captain  Conolly  and  Major 
Rawlinson  should  proceed  together  to  the  Russian  camp  at 
Khiva,  but  the  i^ure  of  General  Peroffski's  expedition  had 
caused  this  plan  to  be  abandoned ;  and  Lord  Auckland  was 
growing  more  and  more  distrustful  of  the  benefits  of  extend- 
ing the  '  great  game  *  all  over  Central  Asia.  Eager  for 
action  as  Conolly  was,  the  folding  up  of  a  scheme  which, 
according  to  his  perceptions,  embraced  nothing  less  than  a 
grand  Anti-slavery  Confederation,  was  a  heavy  disappoint- 
ment to  him.  '  I  was  greatly  disappointed,'  he  wrote  to  the 
same  dear  old  friend  at  the  end  of  May, '  when  Lord  Auck- 
land's prohibitory  letter  arrived,  for  I  had  set  my  heart  upon 
this  nobly-stirring  employment,  and  when  the  chance  of  it 
seemed  removed,  I  felt  the  blank  that  a  man  must  feel  who 
has  a  heavy  grief  as  the  first  thing  to  fall  back  upon  ^  but 
then^  this  very  sorrow  operated  to  compose  me,  showing 
that  I  ought  to  sit  loose  to  lesser  disappointments.  Now 
things  look  promising;  but  the  Govemor-Greneral  is  so 
anxious  to  get  off  without  embarking  in  anything  new,  that 
he  may  put  a  second  veto  upon  it,  at  least  on  onward 


136  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLV.  [184a 


progress.  I  send  you  my  Toorkish  notions^  contained  in 
two  letters  to  Lord  Auckland^  with  a  continuation  of  the 
proceedings  of  which  I  inflicted  a  first  part  upon  yoiu 
Please  send  all  on,  when  perused,  to  my  brother  William 
at  Saharunpore,  under  frank.  I  am  ashamed  of  the  first 
page  now  that  I  read  its  murmuring  tenor,  but  it  is  dark, 
and  just  post-time,  and  you  will  forgive  my  groans.  I  never 
utter  them  to  anybody  else.  I  hope  to  hear  from  you  be- 
fore we  start.  Write  me  your  sentiments  on  my  Toorkistan 
policy.  Macnaghten  will  forward  them  after  me,  and  it 
will  be  both  a  satisfaction  to  hear  fi*om  you  and  a  benefit 
to  hear  your  suggestions.  You  need  not  care  to  write 
freely,  for  I  am  sure  you  will  write  nothing  to  offend  the 
Ooroos,  should  your  letter — which  is  not  probable — ^fall 
into  their  hands.  I  am  sure  that  extended  liberality  is  the 
policy.     If  you  agree  with  me,  back  the  scheme.' 

Upon  this  great  question  of  the  extension  of  our  di- 
plomacy in  Toorkistan,  the  highest  authorities  were  divided. 
Sir  Alexander  Burnes  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  scheme, 
as  one  involving  extraordinary  risks  j  *"  but  Sir  W.  Macnagh- 

*  The  letters  of  Bumes  to  Dr  Lord,-  in  1840,  are  full  of  emphatic 
protests  against  this  expedition.  During  the  preparation  of  the  pre- 
ceding Memoir,  I  noted  down  a  number  of  passages  illustrative  of  his 
opinions  upon  this  subject,  from  which  I  take  the  following  as  suffi- 
cient for  the  purpose  :  *  March  26.  Arthur  ConoUy  has  gone  to  Jd- 
lalabad.  He  is  flighty,  though  a  very  nice  fellow  :  he  is  to  r^^enerate 
Toorkistan,  dismiss  all  the  slaves,  and  looks  upon  our  advent  as  a 
design  of  Providence  to  spread  Christianity.  **  Khiva  is  subdued  by 
Russia,"  said  I.  "  Bokhara  is  her  ally,  and  Kokan  not  inimical,  if 
not  friendly.  How,  then,  is  the  league  to  be  formed,  and  how  are  you 
to  get  two  hundred  thousand  Kuzzilbash  slaves  given  up  for  nothing? 
It  must  be  done.     Yes,  with  the  wand  of  a  Prospero  III"'    *  April 


1840.]  NEW  PLANS,  i^ 

ten  had  imbibed  some  of  the  enthusiasm  of  his  earnest- 
minded  relative^  and  had  consented  to  impress  upon  the 

5.  But  what  will  you  say  to  the  astounding  announcement  that  Arthur 
ConoUy  and  Major  Rawlinson  are  to  go  to  Kokan  ?  It  seems  mighty 
civil  to  take  all  the  work  out  of  you,  and  send  another  to  reap  the 
honours.  The  Agra  sajrs  I  am  to  go  to  Turkistan  with  General  Salei 
but  I  have  not  heard  a  word  of  it,  and  have  my  little  wish  to  do  no- 
thing of  the  kind  as  to  the  Kokan  journey.  I  replied  to  the  Envoy 
that  it  would  be  found  a  tough  job,  and  I  thought  would  only  irritate 
Russia  the  more,  that  Bokhara,  Kokan,  and  Khiva  were  all  now 
under  Russia's  grasp,  and  what  could  we  do  there  ?  That  as  to 
Bokhara,  indeed,  a  mission  there  might,  if  it  would  be  received,  avail 
us  as  letting  us  publish  our  views.'  '  April  15.  I  told  you  that,  if  an 
opportunity  offered,  I  would  have  my  say  on  this  crotchet  of  ConoUy 
going  to  Kokan,  and  with  my  **  observations  "  I  said  to  Macnaghten 
that  you  were  a  little  startled  at  *'  being  superseded  towards  Kokan 
by  ConoUy,"  as  I  thought  it  the  most  delicate  way  to  convey  my 
coincidence  with  your  views.  I  received  his  reply  yesterday,  and 
send  it,  as  it  also  concerns  you  on  other  points.  The  Envoy's  logic 
is  very  bad.  ConoUy,  it  is  true,  applied  to  go  to  Khiva  whUe  in 
England,  and  Sir  J.  Hobhouse  referred  the  matter  to  the  Governor- 
General  for  consideration.  When  he  got  to  Constantinople  he  met  a 
Kokan  agent,  and  so  much  was  he  taken  that  he  stopped,  and  refer- 
red to  England  the  propriety  of  bringing  an  Oosbeg  agent  to  London, 
and  pointed  out  the  advantages  of  an  alliance  with  Kokan.  For  this 
he  got  a  wig  for  delaying  at  Constantinople,  and  the  wig  he  gave  me 
to  read.  How,  after  this,  Macnaghten  can  bring  himself  to  beHeve 
that  *' ConoUy  has  express  instructions  from  the  home  authorities  to 
be  employed  in  that  quarter  "  (Kokan),  I  know  not  Never  you 
mind,  the  journey  is  not  feasible  ;  and  if  it  is,  the  cut  bono  is  not  ap- 
parent, and  I  should  be  sincerely  sorry  to  see  you  employed  on  it 
....  Since  ConoUy  received  my  "  observations,"  I  have  not  heard 
from  him,  but  Ferris  writes  that  "  ConoUy  appears  bent  on  taking 
the  trip  to  Kokan."  *  *May  13.  There  is  something  new  :  Kokan 
pronounced  impracticable,  and  ConoUy  going  on  a  mission  to  the 
Russian  camp,  consequent  on  instructions  from  Lord  Auckland  to 
address  General  Perofiski.    The  plan  was  matured  when  I  was  at 


138  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  I1840. 

Governor-General  the  advantages  that  might  ensue  from 
ConoUy's  mission  to  Kokund.  Whilst  the  question  was 
still  in  abeyance^  about  the  middle  of  July>  the  latter  wrote 
to  Major  Rawlinson^  at  Candahar^  saying,  '  Spite  of  all  the 
encouragements  to  persevere  that  Todd's  letters  from  Abbott 
and  Shakespear  afford,  Burnes  persists  in  believing  that  all 
interference  in  Toorkbtan  on  our  part  has  been  and  will 
be  ''  insanity."  *'  Our  rear,"  he  says,  '^  is  not  secure  enough." 
Then  make  it  more  so.  Bat  don't,  for  this  imperfect  rea- 
son, give  up  as  lost  the  important  ground  in  front,  upon 
the  independence  of  which  from  Russian  control  depends 
your  retaining  the  necessary  footing  that  you  have  gained 

Pughman,  and  sent  out,  cut  and  dry,  to  me,  saying  that  I  was  the 
man  to  go,  but  I  could  not  be  spared,  and  my  health  had  not  been 
very  good  I  1  I  struck  all  out  about  my  health,  and  offered  to  go  at 
once  ;  to  prevent  all  mistakes,  however,  I  wrote  to  the  Envoy  offici- 
ally, and  as  my  letter  will  explain  much,  I  send  it  and  his  re(dy.' 
'  May  26.  Of  the  Khivan  expedition  tmder  Conolly  I  have  nothing 
new  to  communicate,  further  than  that  Rawlinson  and  he  are  pre- 
paring, and  their  start  is  to  be  regulated  by  the  arrival  of  a  Khhran 
Elchee  (God  save  the  mark  I)  inA  Candahar.  I  think  they  cool  upon 
it,  but  perhaps  I  am  wrong,  and  you  shall  hear  further  particulars  in 
my  next'.  . .  'June  13.  Conolly  having  been  beaten  out  of  Kokan..  . 
has  chalked  out  for  himself  a  mission  to  Bokhara  to  release  Stoddait, 
but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  entertained.  He  will  stand  a  fair  chance 
of  keeping  Stoddart  company  if  he  goes,  but  it  is  very  disgraceful  we 
can  do  nothing  to  release  Stoddart.*  *  August  26.  A.  Conolly  now 
sa3rs  he  will  start  on  Friday,  but  what  he  goes  for  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  say,  seeing  that  Shakespear  states,  in  his  last  de^)atch^ 
that  the  Khan  of  Khiva  had  given  up  to  him  all  his  Russian  prisoners, 
and  that  he  was  about  to  start  with  them  for  the  first  Russian  fort ; 
if  so,  what  is  A.  Conolly  to  do  ?  I  would  not  mind  betting  he  will 
never  go  at  all,  and  if  he  goes,  how  is  he  to  get  on  with  this  con* 
federacy  forming  ahead  ?  * 


1840.]  NE IV  PLANS,  130 

in  Afghanistan.  Our  endeavour  to  form  a  peaceful  and 
just  confederation  of  the  Oosbeg  powers  for  the  preservation 
of  their  independence^  cannot  commit  us  in  any  way,  while 
the  knowledge  gained  in  the  endeavour  (supposing  a  failure, 
which  i  do  not)  will  better  enable  us  to  resort  to  the  ultima 
ratio,  if  the  Ooroos  should  force  such  an  appeal  upon  us.  I 
was  much  gratified  by  a  perusal  of  Shakespear*s  letter  5  it 
shows  him  to  be  a  man  of  ready  apprehension  and  sound 
sense,  and  has  given  Sir  William  a  very  favourable  idea  of 
his  capacity,  which  he  will  not  fail  to  report  to  the  Govern- 
or-General. I  shall  be  glad  to  think  that  I  have  such  a 
fellow-labourer  in  the  field,  if  I  am  sent  to  any  part  of  it, 
which  appears  more  than  ever  probable,  though  not  yet 
positive — ^though  I  have  no  end  of  regret  that  we  did  not 

start  at  once  for  the  Jaxartes  together I  think  it 

must  end  in  my  going  to  Khokund,  probably  tnd  Khiva, 
with  the  Envpy  thence,  Yakoob  Bai,  with  whom  I  have 
established  great  croneyism,  in  order  that  I  may  communi- 
cate Sir  William's  last  instructions  to  Shakespear.  Perhaps 
I  may  come  round  by  Bokhara,  if  the  Ameer  relents  upon 
the  last  forcible  appeal  that  Sir  William  is  about  to  make  to 
him  through  two  Sahibzadehs,  whom  Shah  Soojah  sends 
with  a  letter  recapitulating  all  that  he  and  his  allies,  the 
English,  have  done  to  disabuse  the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful  of  unjust  notions  and  unnecessary  apprehensions, 
religious  and  political,  and  of  all  the  insults  and  injuries  that 
the  said  allied  Governments  have  received  in  return  5  briefly 
ending  with  a  request  to  know  whether  he  is  considered  a 
fiiend  or  enemy,  and  begging  to  be  the  medium  of  a  similar 
question  from  the  English  Government,  who,  considering 


140  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1840. 


the  long:  detention  of  their  Envoy,  Colonel  Stoddart,  infra 
their  dis*y  will  expect  his  honourable  release  as  the  first 
sign  of  any  friendly  disposition  that  the  Ameer  may  ieel 
towards  them,  and  require  explanation  of  his  conduct  in 
thus  treating  their  Ambassador  and  missives.  I  should  have 
mentioned  this  first,  but  my  brain  has  got  muddled  with 
much  copying  and  original  scribbling,  this  being  a  very  busy 
day,  and  John  *  having  shirked  clerk's  work  for  the  organ- 
ization  of  more  Jan-Bazes.* 

That  the  mission,  which  he  so  longed  to  undertake,  was 
a  perilous  one,  was  not  to  be  disguised.  Captain  Abbott 
had  gone  to  Khiva,  and  had  fought  for  his  life.  Colonel 
Stoddart  had  gone  to  Bokhara,  and  had  been  thrown  into 
hopeless  captivity.  The  liberation  of  poor  Stoddart  was 
one  of  the  many  benevolent  objects  which  ConoUy  hoped 
to  accomplish  by  his  embassy.  It  was  with  much  grief 
and  disappointment,  therefore,  that  he  saw  the  efforts  of 
our  Government  to  obtain  the  release  of  their  ofiicer 
limited  to  the  despatch  of  a  letter  from  Shah  Soojah  to  the 
Ameer  of  Bokhara.  Even  this  was  a  slow  process.  '  At 
last,'  wrote  ConoUy,  on  the  24th  of  July,  to  Major  Raw- 
linson, '  we  have  got  the  letter  to  the  Ameer  of  Bokhara, 
through  the  Shah's  dufter  (office),  and  the  two  Sahibzadehs 
propose  starting  with  it  to-morrow,  which  their  calendar 
shows  to  be  a  remarkably  fortunate  day.  May  their  errand 
be  successful !  Poor  Stoddart's  health  was  drunk  last  night 
at  the  Ghuzni  anniversary  dinner,  among  absent  English 
friends,  after  a  briefly  eloquent  speech  by  Sir  Alexander, 

*  His  brother,  John  ConoUy,  who  was  an  attach^  to  the  Caubal 
Mission. 


184a]  LETTERS  TO  MAJOR  RA  WLINSON.  14X 

who  concluded  by  exprcssing  a  hope  that  if  the  last  of  Sir 
William  Macnaghten*s  amicable  endeavours  to  bring  the 
Ameer  to  reason  should  fail^  our  gallant  and  unfortunate 
countryman  would  be  released  from  captivity  by  Baron 
Bokhara,  You  may  imagine  the  accent  and  energy 
with  which  Bumes  thundered  out  the  two  last  words,* 
Then^  after  a  detailed  accoimt  of  other  uproarious  incidents 
of  the  anniversary  dinner^  he  wrote,  with  characteristic 
delicacy  of  feeling :  '  I  felt  very  much  ashamed  of  myself 
when  my  Ghibre  lad  handed  me  my  cap  and  whip  5  and 
I  thought  as  we  rode  home,  in  the  loveliest  of  calm  nights, 
how  very  much  English  gentlemen  let  themselves  down  by 
these  vulgar  outbreaks.  I  remain  in  uncertainty  about  the 
Toorkistan  journey.  I  must  go  at  last,  and  if  so,  I'll  write 
all  the  scientific  parts  of  my  researches  to  you,  that  you 
may  add  learned  notes  to  them.*  A  few  days  afterwards  he 
wrote  again  to  the  same  correspondent,  saying  :  '  If  I  ever 
cool  my  parched  brow  in  the  Jaxartes,  1*11  drink  a  goblet 
of  its  waters  to  the  extension  of  your  shadow  in  every  di- 
rection. You've  a  great  game,  a  noble  game  before  you, 
and  I  have  strong  hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  steer 
through  all  jealousy,  and  caprice,  and  sluggishness,  till  the 
Afghans  unite  with  your  own  countr3niien  in  appreciating 
your  labours  for  a  fine  nation*s  regeneration  and  advance- 
ment. These  are  not  big  words,  strung  for  sound  or  period. 
I  didn*t  know  that  I  could  well  express  my  desire  more 
simply,  certainly  not  when  writing  at  a  long  canter  to  reach 
the  post-bag  ere  it  closes  for  the  night.  I*ve  been  render- 
ing English  into  Persian,  and  Persian  into  English,  till 
I   feel  quite  addled^  and  every  half  hour  brings  one  of 


142  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1840. 

Sir  William's  comprehensive  requests  in  a  pencil  note.' 
The  month  of  August  dawned  auspiciously^  and  the 
clouds  soon  began  to  disappear.  On  the  4th  he  wrote^  in 
the  highest  spirits^  to  Major  Rawlinson^  at  Candahar^  saying : 
'  Hip,  hip,  hurrah !  I  do  believe  that  I  am  fairly  going  now, 
so  accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  congratulations.  J  re- 
ceive them  with  a  pang  of  real  regret  .that  you  are  not 
going  with  me  5  but  Todd  bids  me  be  comforted  with  the 
thoughts  of  your  realized  important  elevation,  so  1*11  utter 
no  vain  words.  Nothing  can  be  done  ahead,  unless  Afghan- 
istan is  properly  settled,  and  I  have  confident  hope  of  your 
being  highly  instrumental  to  this  desirable  end.' 

The  fact  was  that  help  had  come  to  him  from  an  unex- 
pected quarter.  His  old  friend  Syud  Zahid,  the  Khokund 
£nvoy,  with  whom  he  had  discussed  the  politics  of  Toork« 
istan  in  Constantinople,  had  written  him  a  letter  reminding 
him  of  their  past  acquaintance,  stating  that  it  had  sufficed 
to  keep  him  out  of  the  hands  of  Russia,  and  adding  that  he 
had  been  to  Khiva,  where  he  had  seen  Richmond  Shakes- 
pear,  but  that  he  had  hoped  to  hear  from  Conolly  at 
Meshed.  Sir  William  Macnaghten  lost  no  time  in  sending 
a  translation  of  this  letter  to  the  Governor-Greneral,  observ- 
ing: 'The  evidence  which  this  letter  affords  of  the  im- 
portance that  Syud  Zahid  continues  to  attach  to  th« 
friendship  of  the  British  Government,  in  that  he  has  had 
opportunity  of  consulting  with  the  Court  of  Khiva  about 
the  results  of  manifested  intentions  of  Russia  towards 
Toorkistan,  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  judged  very  satisfac- 
tory by  his  Lordship  in  Council.  Syud  Zahid  shows  that 
he  waited  a  whole  month  at  Meshed  in  the  hope  of  hearing 


l<Mo.  J  THE  NE  W  MISSION. 


»43 


from  Captain  ConoUy,  who  gave  him  to  expect  that  he 
himself^  or  some  other  British  officer,  would  be  appointed 
to  join  him  on  the  Persian  frontier,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ceeding with  him,  vid  Khiva,  to  Khokund  5  and  the  stress 
that  he  lays  upon  his  sacrifice  of  Russian  offers  for  the  sake 
of  English  connection,  is  so  strong,  that  I  am  of  opinion  we 
should  no  longer  hesitate  to  show  our  sense  of  his  friendly 
overtures,  especially  since  it  appears,  from  a  private  letter 
from  Lieutenant  Shakespear  to  Major  Todd,  that,  judging 
from  my  former  notifications  of  an  intention  to  depute 
Captain  Conolly  and  Major  Rawlinson  to  Khokund,  he  had 
spoken  at  Khiva  of  the  expected  arrival  there  of  the  two 
officers  in  company  with  the  Khan  Huzrut*s  Envoy  to  this 
place.* 

The  precise  objects  of  the  mission  were,  as  officially 
noted,* the  establishment  of  a  correct  impression,  at  every 
place  which  Conolly  might  visit,  of  British  policy  and 
strength,  as  it  bore  upon  Asia  and  on  Europe  (with  refer«- 
ence  especially  to  our  interference  in  Afghanistan),  the 
strengthening  of  amicable  arrangements  with  the  chief 
Oosbeg  powers,  which  had  shown  a  friendly  disposition 
towards  us,  and  endeavouring  to  persuade  them  to  help 
themselves,  and  enable  us  to  help  them,  by  doing  prompt 
justice  to  their  enemies,  and  forming  an  agreement  with 
each  other  to  prevent  or  to  redress  future  injuries  done  by 
any  one  party  among  them  to  Russia,  so  as  to  deprive  the 
latter  power  of  all  pretext  for  interfering  with  their  inde- 
pendence. Either  at  Khiva  or  Khokund,  Conolly  was  to 
learn  the  result  of  Shah  Soojah*s  mission  to  Bokhara  to 
obtain  the  release  of  Colonel  Stoddart   If  by  the  influence 


144  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184a 

thus  exerted^  or  by  other  means^  the  Ameer  should  be  in« 
duced  to  exhibit  a  decided  disposition  to  atone  for  his  past 
conduct^  and  to  resume  friendly  relations  with  us  and  the 
Afghan  King^  Conolly  was  authorized  to  return  to  Afghan- 
istan viSk  Bokhara.  Otherwise^  his  course  was  to  be  regu- 
lated by  circumstances. 

The  general  scheme  of  the  mission  having  been  settled 
and  the  detailed  instructions  issued — ^which^  after  the 
manner  of  diplomacy  generally,  were  drafted  by  Conolly 
himself — preparations  were  made  for  the  journey,  not  the 
least  of  which  was  the  selection  of  a  fitting  Afghan  Envoy 
to  accompany  the  British  officer.  This  gave  rise  to  some 
ridiculous  intrigues  and  complications,  which  Conolly 
described  with  much  humour  in  his  correspondence.  One 
candidate  for  the  office  was  said  to  be  '  a  dreadfully  modest 
and  downcast  man,  who  had  never  been  heard  of  out  of 
the  Shah*s  chambers,  and  his  Majesty  confessed  that  he 
was  chiefly  meritorious  as  a  candle-snuffer.  So  he  was  set 
aside  5  *  and  at  last  the  choice  settled  on  one  Allahdad 
Khan,  of  the  Populzye  tribe,  whom  Conolly  described  as 
'  a  scrubby-looking,  sallow  little  man,  with  a  scant  beard 
and  a  restless  eye,  which  seems  to  indicate  all  the  disposi- 
tion of  intrigue.*  Spoken  of  by  the  Shah's  minister,  who 
had  said  that  Allahdad  Khan  was  *  such  an  intriguant  that 
it  would  take  three  hundred  Cashmerees  to  make  another 
such  one.*  '  So  perhaps,*  said  Conolly,  '  I  read  his  visage 
by  the  false  light  of  the  latter  old  defamer*s  report  (he 
never  has  a  good  word  for  mortal  but  himself,  or  some  one 
in  whom  he  is  peculiarly  interested),  and  shall  find  the 
Khan  a  good  representative  of  the  Afghan  monarch,    I 


1840.]  SELECTION  OF  AN  AFGHAN  ENVO  V.  145 


have  shaken  hands  with  him  ^  fast  friends  and  fellow- 
workers  for  the  great  end  that  lies  before  us.  Our  de- 
parture,' he  added,  '  has  been  delayed  for  another  week.  I 
am  sorry,  and  yet  on  some  accounts  glad,  for  it  will  enable 
me  to  cram  a  little  more  useful  knowledge  for  the  route, 
and  to  take  leave  of  my  many  friends  in  waiting.  Perhaps 
also  I  may  get  my  long  coming  kit,  in  which  are  many 
things  which  I  desire  for  the  approaching  voyage.* 

At  last,  everything  was  ready  for  a  start  5  and  on  the 
22nd  of  August  Conolly  wrote  to  Rawlinson  at  Candahar : 
*  We  are  just  on  the  wing,  and  I  shall  make  the  best  of  my 
way  to  the  two  capitals  for  which  I  carry  credentials. 
Shakespear  has  really  done  wonders,  and  if  we  can  follow 
up  the  good  impressions  which  he  and  Abbott  have  made, 
if  the  British  Government  will  give  pecimiary  aid,  we  may 
keep  the  Russians  out  of  Toorkistan  altogether,  and  bring 
about  a  fine  order  of  things  there  for  every  party  concerned  j 
and  I  only  wish  again  that  you  were  to  be  of  the  party  to 
accomplish  it  5  but,  as  I  said  before,  you  occupy  a  high  and 
useful  station,  and  can't  be  at  two  places  at  once.  If  the 
British  Government  would  only  play  the  grand  game — 
help  Russia  cordially  to  all  that  she  has  a  right  to  expect — 
shake  hands  with  Persia — get  her  all  possible  amends  from 
the  Oosbegs,  and  secure  her  such  a  frontier  as  would  both 
keep  these  men-stealers  and  ravagers  in  wholesome  check 
— take  away  her  pretext  for  pushing  herself  in,  letting  her- 
self be  pushed  on  to  the  Oxus  -,  force  the  Bokhara  Ameer 
to  be  just  to  us,  the  Afghans,  the  other  Oosbeg  States,  and 
his  own  kingdom.  But  why  go  on,  you  know  my — at  any 
rate  in  one  sense — enlarged  views.     Inshallah!  the  expe- 

VOL.^  II.  10 


146  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1840. 

diency — nay,  the  necessity,  of  them  will  be  seen^  and  we 
shall  play  the  noble  part  that  the  first  Christian  nations  of 
the  world  ought  to  fill.*  This,  however,  was  only  a  f^ 
start.  September  found  him  still  at  Caubul,  ^bothered 
and  detained  3  *  but  on  the  3rd  he  reported  that  he  was  at 
last  fairly  oiF— 'King's  and  Company's  and  Oorgunjee 
men,'  commencing  their  first  march. 

It  happened  that  at  this  time  great  events  wiere  taking 
shape  in  Afghanistan.    The  deposed  Ameer  of  Caubul,  who 
had  for  some  time  been  an  exQe  and  a  fugitive,  was  now 
returning  to  the  land  of  his  fathers  and  raising  the  tribes  of 
the  Hindoo  Koosh  in  a  last  despairing  effort  to  recover  his 
lost  dominions.    A  slender  detachment  of  troops,  principally 
of  Shah  Soojah's  army,  posted  at  Bameean,  was  threatened  by 
the  advancing  levies  of  the  ex- Ameer,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  send  a  regiment  of  the  Company's  troops  to  reinforce  them. 
They  started  fi*om  Caubul  at  the  very  time  of  Conolly's 
departure  5  so  he  accompanied  them,  and  was  present  in 
Brigadier  Dennie's  action  with  Dost   Mahomed  and  the 
Wallee  of  Khooloom  on  the  i8th  of  September.     The 
victory  then  gained  cleared  the  way  for  the  advance  of  the 
British   Mission  5    so   Conolly   and  his  party  pushed  on 
through  the  country  of  the  Hazarehs,  without  any  remark- 
able adventures  by  the  way.     Ever  as  he  went  there  rose 
up  before  him  fi*esh  evidences  of  the  ubiquity  of  the  detest- 
able traffic  in  human  fiesh,  which  it  was  the  darling  object 
of  his  soul  to  suppress.     'The  articles,'  he  vn-ote  in  his 
journal,  'which  the  Hazarehs  and  Imauk  take  to  market 
are  men  and  m  oTwew,  small  black  oxen,  cows,  sheep,*  &c.  &c. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  Maimunah  he  found  that  slaves 


1840.]  JOURNEY  TO  KHIVA,  147 


were  the  representatives  of  value  in  that  part  of  the  country. 
One  man  offered  him  a  good  horse  in  exchange  for  a  pony 
and  a  young  male  slave.  When  Conolly  asked  him  if  he 
were  not  ashamed  of  dealing  in  God*s  creatures^  he  apolo- 
gized by  saying  that  he  did  not  mean  a  slave  in  the  fleshy 
but  the  money-value  of  a  slave — *  showing,*  said  Conolly, 
'  that  men  are  here  a  standard  of  barter,  as  sheep  are 
among  the  Hazarehs.* 

There  was  a  war  then  raging  between  the  Imauks  and 
the  Hazarehs,  which  greatly  increased  the  difficulties  and 
the  dangers  of  the  journey,  but  after  some  adventures, 
Conchy  and  his  companions  reached  Merv,  which  is  the 
head-quarters  of  the  slave-trade  of  Toorkistan.  Here  the 
things  which  he  saw  filled  his  soul  with  measureless  com- 
passion, and  excited  the  keenest  indignation.  And  he 
suffered  all  the  more  in  the  presence  of  so  much  iniquity, 
because  he  felt  that  he  was  condemned  to  silence.  '  I 
have  found  it  necessary,*  he  said,  '  to  repress  even  the  ex- 
pression of  our  sympathies  for  the  strangers  who  are  so 
unhappily  enslaved  in  this  country,  for  the  interference  of 
Abbott  and  Shakespear  for  the  release  of  the  Russian  cap- 
tives has  given  rise  to  an  idea,  which  has  spread  like  wild- 
fire through  Toorkistan,  that  the  English  have  come 
forward  as  deliverers  of  all  who  are  in  bondage  there — a 
notion  which,  grateful  as  it  may  be  to  our  national  reputa- 
tion, required  to  be  corrected  by  all  who  come  to  Oosbeg 
Tartary  in  any  poHtical  character,  lest  it  should  excite  the 
enmity  of  slave-owners  against  all  our  efforts  for  good 
among  them,  as  well  as  increase  the  unhappiness  of  the 
enslaved.    To  you,  however,  I  may  mention  that  the  state 


148  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1840. 


of  affairs  here  is  pitiable  in  the  extreme^  and  such  as  to 
make  every  Englishman  who  witnesses  it  moist  earnestly 
reprobate  the  idea  of  our  consenting  to  its  continuance  for 
the  sake  of  any  political  contingency  whatever.'  Deter- 
mined^ as  he  said^  to  examine  into  all  the  sins  of  the  place, 
he  rode  into  the  slave-market,  and  saw /enough  to  shame 
and  sicken  the  coarsest  heart.'  Slaves  of  both  sexes  and 
all  ages  were  exposed  for  sale,  and  intending  purchasers 
were  going  about  from  one  group  to  another,  ^handling 
them  like  cattle.'*     But  other  feelings  than  these  were 

*  To  this  ConoUy  adds  :  'Judge  only  from  the  following  note. 
As  we  came  out  from  visiting  the  Bai  (governor),  a  party  of  Zekkah 
Toorkomans  unceremoniously  entered,  bearing  three  blackened  skulls 
upon  the  point  of  lances,  and  leading  thirty  bound  persons  from 
Kelat-i-Nadier,  who,  with  thirty-six  horses,  had  been  recently  cap- 
tured m  a  chupao.  When  they  had  reported  the  success  of  their  ex- 
pedition, these  bandits  gave  the  governor  two  men  and  two  horses 
for  his  share,  excusing  themselves  from  paying  the  full  proportion  of 
one  in  ten,  on  the  plea  that  they  had  lost  or  injured  some  of  their 
own  horses.  They  then  presented  the  heads  of  their  victims,  and 
having  received  five  tillas  for  each,  received  orders  to  parade  them 
through  the  bazaar,  it  being  market-day,  where  I,  an  hour  afterwards, 
saw  them  again  hung  by  the  beards  to  a  pole.  Determined  to  examine 
into  all  the  sins  of  this  place,  which  had  been  reported  by  my  serv- 
ants, I  ordered  my  horse  when  the  market  was  warm,  and  riding 
through  every  comer  of  it,  saw  enough  to  sicken  and  shame  the 
coarsest  heart.  The  camel  and  horse  fair  was  conducted  on  level 
spots  outside  the  streets  of  standing  shops  in  which  the  necessaries  of 
life  were  displayed  among  a  few  luxuries  by  the  resident  traders.  At 
the  doors  of  many  of  these  shops  females  of  different  ages  under  that 
at  which  they  could  no  longer  be  recommended  for  their  personal  at- 
tractions, were  placed  for  show,  tricked  in  good  clothes  put  on  them 
for  the  occasion,  and  having  their  eyes  streaked  with  antimony  to  set 
off  their  countenances.    Others  past  their  prime,  with  children  of  poor 


1840.]  THE  SLAVE  MARKETS.  149 

• 

raised  by  the  sight  of  the  desolate  grandeur  of  the  ruins  of 
Merv.  His  eager  imagination  grasped  the  idea  of  its 
restoration  to  its  pristine  glories  5  and  lie  exclaimed  :  '  Shall 
we  not,  some  of  these  days,  exert  the  influences,  which 
our  grand  move  across  the  Indus  has  gained  for  us,  to  make 
Merv  once  more ''  a  King  of  the  Earth,'*  by  fixing  its  borders 
in  peace  between  the  destructively  hostile  parties,  who  now 
keep  up  useless  claims  to  it,  and  by  causing  the  desolate 
city  to  rise  again,  in  the  centre  of  its  national  fruits,  as  an 
emporium  for  commerce,  and  a  link  in  the  chain  of  civil- 
izing intercourse  between  Europe  and  Asia  ?  * 

'  Our  route  from  Merv  to  Khiva,*  wrote  Conolly  in  his 
report,  'struck  into  that  taken  before  us  by  Shakespear. 
From  the  canal  beyond  the  Murghab,  at  which  we  halted 
to  lay  in  water,  we  marched  seventeen  miles  north  to 
camp  in  the  desert.     In  the  first  ten  miles  were  visible  in 

appearance,  were  grouped,  males  and  females  together,  in  comers  of 
the  streets,  and  handled  like  cattle ;  and  I  saw  small  mud  pens,  a 
little  above  the  height  of  a  man,  enclosed  on  all  sides,  into  which  in- 
tending purchasers  take  either  male  or  female  captives  that  they 
fancy,  for  the  purpose  of  stripping  them  naked  to  see  that  they  have 
no  bodily  defects.'  So  inveterate  were  these  slave-dealing  propensi- 
ties among  the  Khivans,  that  even  the  Envoy  who  accompanied 
Conolly  on  the  part  of  the  Khan  Huzrut,  was  carrying  on  a  little 
quiet  traffic  on  the  road.  *  Every  defenceless  person,*  wrote  Conolly, 
*  who  can  be  used  for  labour,  is  carried  off  to  the  insatiable  markets 
of  Tartary.  We  were  followed  by  a  small  kafilah  of  slaves  from 
Maimiinah,  consisting  of  Sheah  Huzarehs  and  Soonee  Imauks  of  all 
ages,  from  five  to  thirty,  and  we  actually  discovered  that  the  children 
of  this  lot  had  been  purchased  on  a  speculation  by  our  colleague,  the 
Elhivan  Envoy,  while  towards  us  he  was  reprobating  the  practice  as 
irreligious  and  impolitic,  and'  expressing  hypocritical  hope  that  it 
would  soon  cease  out  of  all  their  countries.' 


I50  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1840, 

all  directions  the  ruins  of  former  little  castles^  about  which 
lay  broken  bricks  and  pottery.  After  the  first  two  miles 
we  found  thin  drift-sand  lying  here  and  there  upon  the  hard 
clay  plain,  but  there  was  none  to  signify,  even  to  the  end 
of  the  stage  ^  and  it  may  be  inferred  that  if,  after  so  many 
yedrs  of  abandonment,  so  little  sand  has  been  collected 
here,  the  annual  drift  in  time  of  ftdl  habitation  and  tillage 
would  not  be  left.  Next  day  we  marched  eighteen  miles 
north  to  the  single  well  of  Tereh,  the  road  generally  over 
sand,  which  laj^  half-hoof  deep  upon  the  hard  plain,  though 
occasionally  we  had  to  pass  deep  beds,  gathered  loosely 
upon  this  foundation.  Every  now  and  then  a  patch  of  the 
hard  soil  appeared  quite  bare,  and  we  could  observe  here 
and  onwards  to  the  Oxus,  that  in  soil  of  this  description  are 
set  the  roots  of  nearly  all  the  bushes  and  shrubs  which 

cover   the  surface  of  the  wilderness The  sixth 

march  of  twenty  miles,  over  similar  sandy  and  undulating 
plains,  took  us  to  Tukt — a  spot  from  which  this  road  is 
named — ^marked  by  a  broad  b'felt  of  bare,  loose  sand-hills, 
which  rise  over  each  other  towards  the  centre  from  the 
length  of  twenty  to  eighty  feet,  and  serve  as  reservoirs  for 
the  snow  and  rain-water  that  fall  upon  them.  We  foxmd 
holes  about  three  feet  deep,  dug  at  the  bases  of  the  most 
sheltered  sand-hills,  containing  a  foot  or  more  of  filtered 
and  deliciously  sweet  water,  and  it  was  only  necessary  on 
draining  a  hole  to  scoop  a  little  more  sand  ft-om  its  bottom, 
and  to  wait  a  while  for  a  fresh  supply  to  rise  into  it.*  The 
seventh  march  carried  him  on  fifteen  miles  with  the  same 
excellent  supply  of  water.  The  eighth  took  him  the  same 
distance  to  the  '  broad  dry  bed  of  the  Oxus,*  in  which  he 


x€4o— 4I-]  AT  KHIVA. 


151 


encamped  'amongst  reeds  and  jungle-wood,  near  the  left 
bank  of  the  actual  river,  where  the  stream  was  six  hundrea 
and  fifty  yards  broad,^  flowing  in  eddies,  witb  the  dirty 
colour  of  the  Ganges,  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  and  three- 
quarters  an  hour.  A  noble  stream,*  he  added,  '  but,  alas ! 
without  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  boat  upon  it.'  He 
looked  in  vain  for  traces  of  tivilization,  and  grieved  over 
their  absence. 

The  beginning  of  the  new  year  (1841)  found  him  at 
Khiva,  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  ruler  of  that  place,  the 
'  Khan  Huzrut,*  who  was  then  absent  from  his  capital  on 
a  hunting  excursion.  On  the  return  of  the  Khan,  he 
received  the  English  Envoy  with  becoming  courtesy  and 
respect.  Conolly  described  him  as  a  dignified  and  gentle- 
man-like person,  about  fifty  years  of  age,  gentle  in  his 
manners,  kindly  and  affable  in  his  address,  with  a  low 
pleasant  voice,  and  a  habitual  smile  upon  his  face.  In  the 
presence  of  such  a  man  Conolly  soon  felt  himself  at 
ease,  and  several  lengthened  conferences  took  place  in  the 
Khan*s  tent.  Conolly  spoke  in  Persian,  and  the  Khan  in 
Toorkish,  and  a  native  official  interpreted  between  them 
The  Khan  was  altogether  in  a  warlike  frame  of  mind,  and 
not  a  little  boastful  jn  his  speech.  *  He  was  determined, 
he  said,  '  to  punish  the  Khokundees  5  and  as  to  the  Persians 
and  the  Russians,  let  them  come.'  When  Conolly  pointed  out 
the  danger  of  this,  he  said :  '  If  the  Persians  obtain  European 
aid  to  invade  me,  I  will  employ  your  aid  to  repel  them.* 
The  British  Government,'  replied  Conolly,  '  will  doubtless 
do  its  utmost  in  every  case  to  prevent  the  borders  of 
Kharasm  from  being  broken  up ;  but  it  cannot  take  part 


152  CAPTAIN  AR THUR  CONOLL  Y.  [1841. 

against  any  of  your  Majesty's  enenfiies  who  may  come  with 
a  just  ground  for  invasion.*  'What  just  ground/  asked 
the  Khan;  *  can  the  Persians  assert  r  *  *  One,'  replied 
ConoUy,  *  which  no  third  Daticn  can  disallow — ^that  your 
Majesty's  subjects  carry  off  their  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, and  sell  them  like  four-footed  beasts/  Bat  nothing 
could  persuade  the  Khan  Huzrut  that  any  real  dangers 
beset  him.  He  was  obdurate  and  unimpressionable;  and 
even  when  ConoUy  told  him  that,  in  the  event  of  a  Persian 
advance  into  Toorkistan,  the  whole  slave  population  would 
rise  against  him,  he  still  smilbd  at  the  picture  that  was 
placed  before  him. 

It  was  doubted  in  the  Council  Chamber  of  Calcutta 
whether  Arthur  ConoUy,  in  these  conferences  with  the 
Khan  Huzrut,  had  diplcwnatically  played  his  part  weU. 
But  diplomacy  and  philanthropy  are  too  often  divorced.  It 
was  said  that  British  influence  at  Khiva  was  '  based  on  his 
(the  Khan's)  looking  on  ps  as  helpers  to  get  out  of  diffi- 
culties he  does  see.  If  we  point  out  and  preach  about 
difficulties  he  does  not  see,  he  will  think  we  create 
them.*  But  whatever  may  be  the  soundness  of  this — and 
in  good  truth  I  do  not  dispute  it — on  the  whole,  perhaps, 
it  is  pleasant  to  think  of  that  eager,  ardent  humanity  which 
would  not  suffer  him  fcM*  a  moment  to  forget  the  foul 
traffic  in  human  flesh,  which  was  the  shame  of  the  Oosbeg 
States,  and,  as  he  believed,  of  every  nation  that  passively 
permitted  it.  But  it  was  plain  that  Arthur  ConoUy  was 
drifting  into  danger ;  and  one  who  was  at  the  same  time 
his  relative,  his  dear  friend,  and  his  honoured)  oolitical 
chief,  wrote  to  him  in  the  hope  of  saving  him.     '  1  nave 


1841J  RESIDENCE  AT  KHIVA,  153 

told  you,  in  several  of  my  late  letters,*  wrote  Sir  "Wliliam 
Macnaghten,  '  that  I  feared  yoilr  zeal  would  lead  you  into 
difficulties,  and  I  have  implored  you  not  to  attempt  too 
much  either  in  the  cause  of  Policy  or  Humanity.  In- 
veterate habits  are  not  to  be  got  rid  of  by  any  sudden 
exertioQ  of  diplomatic  skill.  You  are  considered  as  being 
a  great  deal  too  high  in  your  language  and  too  visionary 
in  your  views.  You  must  adapt  yourself  to  the  sober  and 
imambitious  tone  of  the  Council  Board.*  And  then  came 
an  extract,  to  the  eflfect  indicated  above,  from  the  letter  of  a 
member  of  the  Supreme  Council.  But  Macnaghten's 
letter  never  reached  Arthur  ConoUy.  By  what  process  it 
came  into  my  hands  I  know  not  5  but  it  lies  before  me  as 
clean  and  as  little  travel-stained  as  if  it  had  been  written 
yesterday  in  Belgravia. 

During  his  sojourn  here,  ConoUy  wrote  a  long  and 
interesting  letter  to  Major  Rawlinson,  in  which  he  said : 
'  I  have  resumed  my  communications  to  Sir  J.  Hob- 
house,  lest  I  should  be  thought  sulky  at  the  hard  blows 
sent  to  me  from  Cannon-row,  since  the  days  in  which  I 
experienced  his  great  kindness  there.  I  feel  comforted 
under  these  severities  by  a  conviction  that  I  acted  honestly 
and  by  a  strong  notion  that  I  acted  rightly,  which  is  not 
saying  a  very  great  deal  for  myself,  since  it  is  natural  that 
a  moderate  capacity  which  has  had  its  attention  directed  to 
a  subject  for  several  years  should  form  a  more  extensive 
view  of  it  than  the  mind  of  the  greatest  genius  upon  whom 
it  comes  in  all  its  cotnplications  with  suddenness.  Sir 
J..H.,  though  fiery  and  somewhat  resolved  in  his  first 
opinions,  is  a  generotis-hearted  and  just  man,  and  when  at 


154  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1841. 


the  end  he  sees  that  the  Secret  Committee  has  been  too 
rigid,  he  will,  I  doubt  not,  cause  all  possible  amends  to  be 
made.  If  this  consummation  should  not  reward  my  submis- 
sion, I  must  just  close  the  account,  as  the  Khan  does  that 
of  his  troubles,  by  placing  against  the  balance — Kismut! 
Some  rabs  have  been  inflicted  which  don't  heal,  but  leave 
scars  on  the  heart  that  go  to  a  longer  settling  day.  Those 
who  give  concise  verdicts  should  remember  this  before  they  . 
accuse  a  man  of  anything  approaching  to  deception,  as  some 
confidential  clerk  did  in  my  case  with  three  flourishes  of  a 

goose-quill  ere  stepping  into  his  omnibus  for  Putney 

I  shall  be  anxious  to  know  how  Sir  Alexander  (Bumes) 
treats  this  matter.  He  judged  the  missions  of  Abbott  and 
Shakespear  to  be  measures  of  "perfect  insanity  j  '*  but  now 
they  have  been  productive  of  much  good  result,  I  trust 
that  he  will  see  the  expediency  of  "  going  ahead  *'  to  make 
the  most  of  the  work.  Or  will  he  say  that  the  Ides  of 
March  are  not  yet  past,  and  still  hook  on  a  caution  to  my 
impatient  wheels  ?  I  do  believe  that  but  for  Burnes's 
*'  khabburdar  '*  (take  care)  to  Lord  Auckland,  I  should  ere 
this  have  taken  measure  of  the  Jaxartesj  but  when  he 
succeeds  to  the  ministerial  chair  at  Caubul,  he  will  see 
much  farther  over  the  Hindoo  Koosh  than  he  can  be 
expected  to  do  in  a  seat  which  gives  him  no  reins  to  hold, 
and  I  shall  look  for  his  patronage  of  my  largest  plan.  You 
will  see  that  in  my  letter  to*  Sir  William  I  have  taken  the 
liberty  of  quoting  your  opinion  as  well  as  Todd*s  about  the 
supposed  sanction  to  the  advance.  .1  have  done  this  in 
self-defence,  lest  it  should  be  made  to  appear  that  I  have 
marked  Khokund  as  a  point  on   the  face  of  the  earth 


i84i.]  RESIDENCE  AT  KHIVA,  155 

which  I,  Arthur  ConoUy,  must  reach,  be  it  for  good  or 
be  it  for  evil.  It  really  is  not  so.  I  have  already  given 
reasons  enough  to  you  for  wishing  to  proceed  \  but  I  will 
cheerfully  go  to  any  one  of  the  cardinal  points  that  remain^ 
if  the  authorities  that  be  so  order  my  steps.  I  don't  imder- 
stand  Lord  Auckland's  revoke^  unless  the  question  has 
become  a  duel  between  the  political  chief  of  Caubul  and 

the  political  secretary  m  Calcutta Our  mission 

was  to  Kiiiva  and  Khokund  3  the  despatch  does  not  men- 
tion the  first  place  with  a  limitation,  and  the  Envoy's  loving 
friends  display  suph  an  indefinite  acquaintance  with  the 
country  beyond  the  Hindoo  Koosh,  in  which  troops  were 
to  be  placed  to  prevent  the  spreading  of  false  rumours, 
that  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  their  communications  that 
they  did  not  mean  us  to  go  the  whole  hog,  if  such  a  simile 
may,  without  offence,  be  applied  to  aMahomedan  coimtry.' 

*  Men  who  think  at  all  about  the  events  which 

cast  their  shadows  before  them,'  wrote  Conolly,  in  con- 
clusion, '  must  foresee  such  questions.  Is  it  fair,  is  it  politic, 
to  send  one  of  their  agents  half-a-dozen  vague  expressions 
which  make  him  a  stammerer  where  he  should  be  decided, 
instead  of  manfully  summing  up  the  contingencies,  and 
saying  in  such  and  such  case  we  would  do  so  and  so,  and 
you  may  give  assurance  to  this  extent  ?  The  Khan  Huzrut 
will  be  in  in  a  few  days,  and  I  shall  be  able  to  discover 
what  he  thinks  of  the  demands  for  hostages.  I  don't 
anticipate  his  making  any.  difficulty.  It's  quite  in  the 
Tartar  way,  and  occasionally  affords  a  convenient  mode  of 
providing  for  troublesome  members  of  the  Royal  Family. 
His  Majesty  of  Khiva  must  now  know  pretty  well  that  the 


156  CAPTAIN  AR THUR  CONOLL  Y.  [i8 *!. 

Emperor  would  not  kill  or  maim  his  lease  of  pledges  in 
the  event  of  a  quarrel,  so  they  would  be  no  more  than 
resident  ambassadors.  The  Czar  might  indeed  send  such 
persons  to  Siberia  on  their  chiefs  offending  j  but  perhaps 
the  Khan  Huzrut  would  not  care  much  about  their  banish- 
ment, and  they  themselves  would  probably  have  no  great 
choice,  so  long  as  they  got  plenty  of  tea,  which  abounds 
in  all  Russia.  Indeed,  according  to  Captain  Cochrane, 
Siberia  is  an  exceedingly  pleasant  place.  But  what  shall 
we  say  for  Russia's  return  to  the  barbarism  out  of  which  she 
has  been  striving  in  so  many  ways  to  grow  ?  Unless  Count 
Nesselrode  abaildons  the  point  of  the  treaty,  he  will  be 
compared  to  the  cannibal  woman  of  New  Holland,  who, 
after  having  been  restrained  from  the  evil  propensity  of  her 
girlish  days,  and  made  to  educate  a  whole  colony  of  white 
children  with  the  utmost  tenderness,  fell  sick  beyond  phy- 
sician's healing,  and  was  told  that  she  might  eat  anything 
she  took  a  fancy  to,  when  she  with  dying  accents  expressed 
a  longing  for  the  arm  of  a  young  baby.  Give  a  dog  a  bad 
name,  and  you  know  the  consequence.  We  do  our  worst 
to  prevent  the  intellectual  advance  of  the  Russians  by 
abusing  them.* 

Authentic  intelligence  of  the  traveller  here  halts  a  little. 
That  ConoUy  was  in  Khiva  in  the  first  week  of  January, 
1 841,  and  that  he  then  believed  that  his  departure  would 
not  be  much  longer  delayed,  is  certain.  The  statement  of 
the  Akhond-Zadeh,  Saleh  Mahomed,  the  accuracy  of  which, 
80  far  as  it  goes,  is  generally  admitted,  supplies  no  dates. 
But  he  says  that  he  remained  at  Khiva  with  Captafn  Conolly 
seven  months  -,  that  Conolly  then  sent  him  to  Caubul  with 


1841.]  DEPARTURE  FROM  KHIVA,  157 


despatches  j  and  that  when  he  returned  to  Khiva  the  Eng- 
lish gentleman  had  gone  on  to  Khokund.  At  the  latter 
place  he  received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Stoddart,  written  at 
the  request  of  the  Khan  of  Bokhara,  inviting  him  to  that 
city.  This  letter  must  have  been  written  before  July,  for 
on  the  7th  of  that  month  Colonel  Stoddart  wrote  to  Major 
Rawlinson,  saying :  '  Conolly  is  not  yet  here  from  Khokund, 
nor  have  my  messengers  to  him  yet  returned.  They  con- 
veyed the  orders  from  Caubul,  and  an  invitation  from  the 
Ameer  to  return  by  this  route.*  *  At  what  time  this  letter 
reached  him  is  uncertain  5  and  there  is  some  doubt  respect- 
ing the  date  at  which  he  entered  Bokhara.  In  one  of  his 
last  letters  from  that  city,t  he  said :  ^  The  Kiian  treacher- 
ously caused  Stoddart  to  invite  me  here  on  his  own  ImanuU 

*  Captain  Grover  sajrs  :  *  Encouraged  by  the  kind  and  courteous 
terms  in  which  the  Ameer  granted  his  request,  Captain  Conolly,  after 
much  trouble,  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  permission  of  the  King  of 
Kokan,  Mohammed  Ali,  which  was  only  granted  on  condition  that 
he  went  round  by  Tashkend,  so  that  he  might  not  become  acquainted 
with  the  road  the  Ameer  would  have  to  follow  to  reach  Kokan. 
After  many  difficulties,  in  consequence  of  the  state  of  the  country, 
Captain  Conolly  succeeded  in  reaching  Djizakh,  where  the  governor 
informed  him  that  the  Ameer  was  at  Hodjend.  He  hastened  there, 
expecting  a  kind  reception  ;  the  Ameer  had,  however,  already  left 
that  town,  and  Captain  Conolly  overtook  him  at  a  place  called  Meh- 
ram.  The  Ameer  being  informed  of  Captain  ConoUy's  arrival, 
ordered  his  immediate  attendance.  He  was  conducted  to  a  tent  with- 
out a  carpet,  where  he  was  allowed  to  remain  two  hours  unnoticed. 
An  order  then  came  from  the  Ameer  that  he  was  to  go  to  the  Naib, 
Abd-ool  Samet  Khan,  who  accompanied  the  army  j  ^nd  this  man 
was  ordered  to  convey  him  immediately  to  Bokhara,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  9th  of  November,  1841.* 

t  Given  entire  at  page  164  rf  seq. 


158  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1841. 

nameh ;  and  after  Stoddart  bad  given  him  a  translation  of 
a  letter  from  Lord  PalmerstoL,  containing  nothing  but 
friendly  assurances,  which  be  could  have  verified  with  our 
entire  consent  at  the  Russian  Embassy,  he  pent  us  both  up 
here  to  pay  him,  as  a  kidnapper,  for  our  release,  or  to  die 
by  slow  rot.* 

I  have  always  conceived  that  this  happened  a  little 
before  Christmas,  1841,  because  at  the  end  of  February 
ConoUy  wrote  that  he  had  been  seventy-one  days  in  con- 
finement. But  the  Russian  Colonel  Boutenefi^,  who  was 
at  Bokhara  at  the  time,  in  an  official  report  to  his  Govern- 
ment, says :  '  Colonel  ConoUy  was  arrested  on  his  arrival 
here  in  October  last,  and  all  his  effects  were  sold  in  public; 
with  him  was  imprisoned  for  the  second  time  Lieutenant- 
Colonel' Stoddart.  The  Emir,  however,  before  their  arrest, 
promised  me  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  accompany  me 
back  to  Bokhara.'* 

Notwithstanding  this  high  authority,  I  am  still  disposed 
to  think  that  Conolly  was  not  thrown  into  prison  before 
the  third  week  of  December.  Saleji  Mahomed  said  that 
he  reached  the  Bokhara  frontier  about  the  middle  of 
December,  and  was  then  told  that  two  days  before  his  ar- 
rival the  EngHsh  gentlemen  had  been  seized  and  confined. 
And  one  of  Conolly's  own  servants  distinctly  stated  that 
his  master  was  not  imprisoned  until  after  the  arrival  of 
intelligence  of  the  November  outbreak  at  Caubul.  For 
now  all  Afghanistan  was  in  a  blaze.  The  '  great  game ' 
had  exploded.  The  Afghans  had  risen  as  one  man  against 
their  deliverers.  Sekundur  Burnes,  who  had  visited  Bokhara 
*  Mitchel's  *  Russians  in  Central  Asia.' 


i84a0  CAPTIVITY  I/^  BOKHARA.  159 


some  years  before^  had  been  killed^  and  all  his  countiymen 
were  m  deadly  peril.  What,  then,  could  the  Feringhees, 
who  were  plainly  at  their  last  gasp,  do  either  to  liberate 
Stoddart  and  Conolly,  or  to  avenge  their  deaths  ?  So  it 
happened  that  about  the  time  when  Sir  William  Mac- 
naghten  was  slain  by  the  hand  of  Akbar  KLhan,  his  kins- 
man, Arthur  Conolly,  was  cast  into  hopeless  and  most 
miserable  captivity. 


January  passed,  and  February  passed,  and  there  were 
occasional  gleams  of  hope,  and  the  captives  bore  up  right 
manfully,  in  spite  of  all  their  sufferings.  Conolly  contrived 
to  save  some  sheets  of  Russian  paper  and  apparently  a  reed 
pen,  with  which,  in  very  small  characters,  he  kept  a  record 
of  what  passed.  The  journal  is  so  interesting,  that  I  give  the 
principal  part  of  it.  The  following  are  the  entries  of  January 
and  February :  '  January  2, 1842.  Allahdad  Khan's  servants 
arrived  from  Karshee  :  they  were  brought  up  to  the  court 
outside  the  wall  of  our  prison,  with  his  horses  and  baggage, 
and  in  the  evening  they  were  sent  down  to  the  town,  to  our 
late  residence,  we  were  assured,  but  we  had  no  opportunity 
of  verifying  the  statement.  We  learned  from  our  guardians 
that  the  Walee^s  man,  MooUa  Shums,  had  been  brought 

back  with  A.  Khan's  people,  but  let  go  again 8th.  The 

brother  of  the  Topshee-Bashee,  who  felt  pity  for  us,  told 
me  in  confidence  that  Akhond-Zadeh,  Saleh  Mahomed, 
was  confined  without  his  servants  in  the  Topshee-Bashee's 
office,  and  that  he  remained  very  ill ;  also  that  a  messenger 
had  been  sent  out  as  far  as  Kara-Kool  to  meet  him  and  to 


i6o  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  \\Ux 

take  away  his  letters.  Grot  intelligence  conveyed  by  the  ola 
man  to  the  Akhond-Zadeh  that  we  were  in  prison  near 

him 29th.  A  humble  friend  of  Stoddart*s^  ''Long 

Joseph/'  [  ]  to  the  Ameer,  very  boldly  and  kindly  came 

on  somQ  pretence  to  the  Topshee-£ashee*s  house,  and  looking 
in  upon  us,  said,  hastily,  "  All  the  Afghans  have  been  given 
their  head."  We  judged  that  he  meant  our  servants,  who 
had  been  in  prison  and  dismissed,  though  our  guardians  and 
the  Topshee-Bashee  said  that  our  people  remained  in  our 

late  residence 3  ist.  This  morning  a  Mehrum  came  to 

desire  that  we  would  minutely  describe  the  city  and  castle 
of  Caubul,  and  also  give  an  account  of  Herat.  Allahdad 
Khan  drew  a  plan  of  the  first  place  j  Stoddart  was  named 
as  the  one  who  best  knew  the  second,  but  the  Mehrum  did 
not  take  his  account  of  it.  We  next  day  learned  that  he 
had  been  sent  to  the  Akhond-Zadeh,  who  had  drawn  a 

large  plan  of  his  native  city February  9th.     Moolla 

Nasir  came  to  ask  if  we  had  seen  the  Peacock  Throne  of 
India.  As  every  lettered  Asiatic  should  know  that  Nadir 
Shah  carried  that  throne  away  to  Persia,  and  Moolla  Nasir's 
manner  was  pointedly  kind,  we  judged  that  the  question  he 
had  been  sent  to  ask  was  merely  a  pretence,  and  that  the 
Ameer  desired  an  opening  for  a  return  to  proper  treatment 
of  us:  Stoddart,  therefore,  gave  him  this,  by  speaking  of 
his  position  here  as  British  Agent,  and  expressing  regret  that 
he  had  not  been  able  to  relieve  the  Huzrut's  mind  from  the 
doubts  which  he  seemed  to  entertain  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment's friendship.  We  showed  the  sad  state  of  our  clothes 
(Stoddart  had  been  obliged  to  put  aside  his  shirt  in  conse- 
quence of  the  roofs  having  leaked  over  him  the  night  before). 


1842.]  PRISON  JOURNALS,  161 


and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  Ameer  would  soon  improve 
our  condition.  But  we  both  spoke  cheerfully,  that  the  King 
might  not  think  we  entertained  resentment  for  his  treatment 

of  us 13th.  Last  day  of  A.  H.  1257.  At  sunset  Allahdad 

Khan  was  taken  away  from  us  5  the  Topshee-Bashee  first 
said,  to  his  office,  afterwards  to  the  Dustan  Kanchee*s  house. 
The  old  [  ]  afterwards  told  us  that  the  Akhond- 

Zadeh  had  been  removed  also  to  the  Dustan  Kanchee*s,  but 
we  have  doubts  regarding  both  statements,  for  the  accounts 
which  our  keepers  give  of  my  late  colleague's  quarters  vary, 
and  a  servant  of  Colonel  Stoddart's,  who  had  been  sent  to 
the  Russian  Ambassador's  openly  with  a  book,  and  was  said 
to  have  been  detained  at  the  same  Prime  Minister's  house, 
came  back,  after  twenty-five  days,  with  his  back  cruelly 
scored  by  the  heavy-stick  flogging  in  practice  here,  to  say 
that  he  had  been  confined  all  the  time  in  the  "  Kenneh- 

khameh,"  or  Bughouse   of  the  gaol ijth.  A  boy 

Mehrum  came  with  one  of  my  thermometers  to  ask  how 
much  cold  there  had  been  in  the  night,  stating  that  it  had 
been  observed  to  the  mark  of  four  degrees  below  zero. 
We  mentioned  that  we  had  been  unable  to  sleep  all  night 
for  the  cold.  This  day  "  Long  Joseph  "  gallantly  darted 
into  our  room,  and  carried  off  a  note  which  we  had  written 

to  Colonel  BoutenefF  to  inform  him  of  our  situation 

1 6th.  ''  Long  Joseph"  having  won  a  servant  of  the  Topshee- 
Bashee's^  conveyed  to  us  a  note  from  the  gaoler.  I  sent  it 
to  him,  Stoddart  writing  to  Government  through  Sir  J. 
M'Neill.  We  hoped  from  MooUa  Nasir's  visit,  and  that  of 
the  page  who  brought  my  thermometer,  that  the  Ameer 
was  relenting,  but  nothing  has  since  occurred  to  favo  ir  this 

VOL.   II.  II 


i62  CAPTAIN  AR  THUR  CONOLL  Y.  [184a. 

idea;  on  the  contrary^  the  chief  womd  appear  to  find 
pleasure  in  his  servants*  accounts  of  our  discomforts^  which 
may  be  imagined  from  the  fact  that  we  have  now  been 
seventy-one  days  and  nights  without  means  of  changing  or 
washing  our  linen^  which  is  hanging  in  filthy  tatters  from 
our  persons.  The  Topshee-Bashee,  who  looks  in  upon  us 
every  seven  or  eight  days,  replies  to  our  entreaties  for  an  im- 
provement in  this  respect,  that  our  state  must  be  well  known 
to  the  Huzrut,  whose  mind  retains  thoughts  of  the  greatest 
and  least  matters,  and  that  nothing  can  be  said  to  his  Majesty 
about  us  till  he  opens  the  subject.  The  Topshee-Bashee 
has,  I  believe,  been  as  kind  to  us  as  he  has  dared  to  be. 
We  have  had  quite  enough  firing  and  food  throughout  the 
cold  season  we  have  passed  in  his  house,  and  continue,  thank 
God,  in  good  health !  We  sometimes  think,  from  the 
Ameer *s  keeping  back  Said's  and  the  Akhond-Zadeh*s 
packets,  that  he  must  have  received  the  Grovernor-General's 
communication,  and  that  he  is  acting  big  in  irritation  at 
not  having  been  answered  from  the  English  throne  5  but  it 
is  impossible  to  form  certain  conclusions  from  his  conduct, 
for  it  is  very  often  influenced  by  caprice,  which  is  not  very 
far  from  madness.  We  hope  that  all  is  well  in  Afghanistan, 
and  that,  soon  as  the  Hindoo-Koosh  roads  become  open, 
the  Ameer  will  receive  some  communication  which  will 
induce  him  to  properly  treat  or  dismiss  us.  We  beg  that 
Grovernment  will  convey  its  sentiments  to  the  Ameer  in 
Persian,  as  he  will  not  take  our  word  for  what  is  written 
in  English  any  longer  than  it  suits  him ;  and  also  that  no 
allusion  may  be  made  to  the  above  details,  for  if  the  King 
knew  that  we  were  able  to  send  intelligence  he  might  treat 


i84a-]  PRISON  JOURNALS,  163 

us  worse,  and  perhaps  kill  everybody  about  us.  The 
Russians  propose  to  go  about  No-roz.  We  kept  Colonel 
fioutenefF  informed  of  our  proceedings  up  to  the  date  of  our 
seizure,  and  if  he  should  reach  £urope  ere  our  release  he 
may  be  able  to  enlarge  this  abstract,  which  is  necessarily 
very  imperfect.  I  took  the  accounts  of  my  mission  in 
English  up  to  the  time  of  our  leaving  Khokund  from 
Augustin,  who  kept  the  whole  in  Greek.  My  memoranda 
or  his  may  be  recovered.  Augustin  •  is  a  very  honest  and 
worthy  man.  Having  myself  no  money,  and  thinking  that 
Stoddart  was  about  to  be  sent  away  immediately,  I  took 
from  Naib  Abdool  Sammud  three  thousand  tillas,  which  he 
wished  to  have  invested  in  Company*s  paper.  The  greatest 
part  of  this  remained  in  Augustin's  hands  when  we  were 
seized.  My  Afghan  servants  have  all  behaved  well.  I 
reported  that  Shah  Mahomed  Khan,  Adum  Khan,  and 
Mousa,  with  one  of  Allahdad  Khan's  men,  were  completely 
stripped  in  the  Ameer's  camp  when  they  carried  our  letters 
to  his  Majesty  annoimcing  our  coming  from  Khokund. 
None  of  their  property  was  restored  to  them.  My  notes 
from  Khiva  to  Khokund  and  this  place  were  in  charge  of 
my  faithfrd  servant  (formerly  Shakespear*s),  Gool  Maho- 
med :  perhaps  he  was  able  to  preserve  them.  In  the  portion 
not  made  up,  for  every  minute  of  progress  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  yards  is  to  be  allowed,  the  pace  of  my  horse, 
where  not  otherwise  noted,  having  been  calculated  at  four 
miles  per  hour.  In  my  observations  of  the  sun's  meridional 
altitude,  the  lower  limb  was  always  taken.*  * 

*  On  one  side  of  the  paper  containing  the  above  were  written  the 
following  notes : 


i64  CAPTAIN  AR THUR  CONOLL  F.  [1842. 

In  the  second  week  of  March^  Arthur  Conoll7*8  powen 
of  physical  endurance  gave  way.  Fever  seized  upon  him, 
and  believing  that  his  days  were  numbered,  he  wrote  to  his 
brother  John  at  Caubul,  saying  :  '  From  our  Prison  in  the 
Bokhara  Citadel,  1 1  th  of  March,  1 842.  This  will  probably 
be  my  last  note  hence,  so  I  dedicate  it  to  you,  who  now, 
alas  !  stand  next  to  me.  We  both  dedicate  everjiiung  we 
feel  warmest  to  William,  whom  may  God  bless  in  all  be- 
longing to  him,  for  his  long  and  untiring  brotherly  affection 
to  us  all.  Send  my  best  love  to  Henry  and  to  all  our  dear 
sisters.  This  is  the  eighty-third  day  that  we  have  been 
denied  the  means  of  getting  a  change  of  linen  from  the 

'  Bokhara,  February  28,  1842. 
*  To  the  Secretary  of  the  Government  of  India,  &c. 

*  Sir, — The  Governor-General  in  Council  will  be  informed  by  the 
accompanying  abstract  how  far  my  position  here  [and  that  of  Captain 
ConoUy]  has  been  sacrificed. 

*  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c.  &c. 

*C.  Stoddart. 

*  P.S.  This  is  left  open  for  the  perusal  of  the  Envoy  and  Minister 
at  Caubul.' 

The  words  in  brackets  were  erased  by  Conolly. 


*  My  dear  John, — Keep  all  friends  informed  of  my  health,  and 
don't  let  them  be  disturbed  by  rumours. 

*  Yours  affectionately, 
*A.  C 

*  Bokhara,  February  28,  1842. 

*  My  dearest  Jane, — Best  love  to  you  all.  Say  something  very 
kind  for  me  to  all  at  Chilham.  .  .  .  Kind  remembrances  to  all.  Don't 
Delieve  all  you  hear  or  may  hear. 

*  Your  ever  affectionate  brother, 

'Charles  Stoddart. 

*  To  Miss  Stoddart,  Norwich.' 


1842.]  FE  VERS  TRIG  KEN.  165 


rags  and  vermin  that  cover  us  \  and  yesterday,  when  we 
begged  for  an  amendment  in  this  respect,  the  Topshee- 
Bashee,  who  had  before  come  occasionally  to  our  host  to 
speak  encouragingly,  set  his  face  like  a  flint  to  our  request, 
showing  that  he  was  merely  a  vane  to  the  withering 
wind  of  his  heartless  master,  and  could  not  help  us  thus, 
so  that  we  need  not  ask  him  to  do  so.  This,  at  first, 
astonished  and  defeated  us  5  we  had  viewed  the  Ameer*s 
conduct  as  perhaps  dictated  by  mad  caprice  5  but  now, 
looking  back  upon  the  whole,  we  saw  instead  that  it  had 
been  just  the  deliberate  malice  of  a  demon,  questioning  and 
raising  our  hopes,  and  ascertaining  our  condition,  only  to 
see  how  our  hearts  were  going  on,  in  the  process  of  break- 
ing. I  did  not  think  to  shed  one  warm  tear  among  such 
cold-blooded  men,  but  yesterday  evening,  as  I  looked  upon 
Stoddart's  half-naked  and  nail-lacerated  body,  conceiving 
that  I  was  the  special  object  of  the  King's  hatred,  because 
of  my  having  come  to  him  after  visiting  Khiva  and  Kho- 
kimd,*  and  told  him  that  the  British  Government  was  too 

•  It  has  been  said  that  Conolly  had  no  authority  to  go  beyond 
Kokund,  and  that  he  brought  all  his  troubles  on  himself  by  exceeding 
his  instructions.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  Full  permission  for  the 
journey  was  granted  by  the  Supreme  Government.  *  As  in  the  present 
aspect  of  affairs/  wrote  the  Chief  Secretary  (Dec  28,  1840)  to  Sir 
William  Macnaghten,  '  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  continue  the 
restriction  which  had  at  first  been  imposed,  the  Governor-General  in 
Council  authorizes  you  to  permit  Captain  Conolly  to  proceed  from 
Khiva  to  Khokund,  if  he  should  think  it  expedient,  and  if  he 
finds  that  he  can  do  so  without  exciting  serious  distrust  and  jealousy 
at  the  former  place.  In  his  personal  intercourse  with  the  Khan  of 
Khokund  he  will  be  guided  by  the  instructions  which  have  been 
issued  prescribing  the  purport  of  his  written  communications.    Cap- 


i66  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1842. 

great  to  stir  up  secret  enmity  against  any  of  its  enemies^  I 
wept  on  entreating  one  of  our  keepers^  the  gunner*8  brother^ 
to  have  conveyed  to  the  Chief  my  humble  request  that  he 
would  direct  his  anger  upon  me,  and  not  further  destroy, 
by  it,  my  poor  brother  Stoddart,  who  had  suffered  so  much 
and  so  meekly  here  for  three  years.  My  earnest  words  were 
answered  by  a  **  Don't  cry  and  distress  yourself;  '*  he  also 
could  do  nothing.  So  we  turned  and  kissed  each  other,  and 
prayed  together,  and  then  said,  in  the  words  of  the  Kokun- 
dees,  "  My-bish  !  "  Let  him  do  as  he  Hkes !  he  is  a  demon, 
but  God  is  stronger  than  the  devil  himself,  and  can  certainly 
release  us  from  the  hands  of  this  fiend,  whose  heart  he  has, 
perhaps,  hardened  to  work  out  great  ends  by  it  j  and  we 
have  risen  again  from  bed  with  hearts  comforted,  as  if  an 
angel  had  spoken  to  them,  resolved,  please  Crod,  to  wear 
our  English  honesty  and  dignity  to  the  last,  within  all  the 
filth  and  misery  that  this  monster  may  try  to  degrade  us 
with.  We  hope  that,  though  the  Ameer  should  now  dis- 
miss us  with  gold  clothing,  the  British  and  Afghan  Govern- 
ments will  treat  him  as  an  enemy ;  and  this  out  of  no  feel- 
ing of  revenge.  He  treacherously  caused  Stoddart  to  invite 
me  here  on  his  own  Imanut-nameh  3  and  afler  Stoddart  had 
given  him  a  translation  of  a  letter  from  Lord  Palmerston, 
containing  nothing  but  friendly  assurances,  which  he  could 
have  verified,  with  our  entire  consent,  at  the  Russian  Em- 
tain  Conolly  may  in  such  a  journey  find  increased  means  of  using  an 
useful  influence  at  Bokhara  for  the  release  of  Colonel  Stoddart,  and 
his  Lordship  in  Council  need  not  add  that  he  would  wish  every  such 
means  to  be  employed  with  the  utmost  earnestness  and  diligence  for 
that  purpose.' 


1842.]  CRUELTIES  OP  THE  AMEER,  167 


bassy,  he  pent  us  both  up  here,  because  we  would  not  pay 
him  as  a  kidnapper  for  our  release,  to  die  by  slow  rot,  if  it 
should  appear  that  he  might  venture  at  last  to  put  us  alto- 
gether out  of  the  way.  We  hope  and  pray  that  God  may 
forgive  him  his  sins  in  the  next  world  5  but  we  also  trust 
that  some  human  power  will  soon  put  him  down  from  his 
oppressive  throne  at  this  capital,  whence  emanates  the  law 
by  which  the  Khivans  harry  and  desolate  the  roads  and 
homes  of  the  Persians.  He  wishes  every  soul  to  crouch 
before  him,  and  not  breathe  God's  air  freely  without  his 
leave,  nor  dare  to  be  happy  or  at  ease.  For  instance  (and 
we  are  at  the  fountain-head  of  police  report),  a  poor  wretch, 
confined  without  food  for  three  dajrs  and  nights  in  the  Bug- 
house, an  infernal  hole  used  for  severe  imprisonment,  said 
incautiously,  on  being  taken  out,  that  he  was  alive  and  well. 
"  He  is,  is  he  ?  *'  said  the  Ameer,  on  the  report,  *'  then  put 
him  in  for  three  ^y%  and  nights  more.**  Again,  the  other 
night  fifty-six  grooms  assembled  at  a  house  outside  the  city, 
to  make  merry  on  pilau  and  tea,  with  money  liberally  given 
by  one  of  the  Oosbeg  men,  Rahman  Kool  Tosh-aba,  to  his 
head  groom,  who  acted  as  master  of  the  feast  5  they  were 
convicted  of  having  got  together,  so  all  that  the  police- 
master  could  seize  received  seventy-five  blows  each  on  his 
back  with  a  heavy  thorn  stick  5  and  because  one  man  un- 
complainingly bore  his  punishment,  which  was  inflicted  on 
all  before  the  King,  he  had  him  hoisted  for  seventy-five 
more,  saying,  '*  He  must  have  been  struck  softly.**  '^  But 
what  was  the  crime  in  this  innocent  meeting  of  poor 
grooms  ?  **  we  asked  our  gaolers.  *'  Who  knows  ? — he  is  a 
King,  and  gave  the  order.'*     The  master  of  the  entertain- 


i68  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  \\l^ 


ment  stood  with  his  dagger  against  some  thirty  policemeD, 
till  he  was  felled  by  a  stone  thrown  at  his  head>  to  let  all 
who  could  escape;  for  this  heavier  offence  he  was  con- 
demned to  be  thrown  from  a  part  of  the  citadel  wall,  which 
gives  a  culprit  a  chance  of  escape  with  only  the  fracture  of 
a  limb^  because  it  has  a  slope ;  he  threatened  to  pull  down 
with  him  any  who  should  approach  the  brink  to  throw  him 
off,  and,  leaping  boldly  down,  came  to  the  ground  with 
whole  bones,  and  lives,  let  us  hope,  for  many  a  happy  meet- 
ing yet  with  his  friends  in  this  now  oppressed  city.  This  is 
how  the  Ameer  would  treat  such  ambassadors  as  he  dares 
insult,  who  do  not  bend  reverently  enough  before  him  j  but 
the  days  for  such  despotism  are  passing  quick^  and  he  must 
himself  be  made  to  go  down  before  the  strong  spirit  of 
western  civilization.  Stoddart  has  asked  me  to  put  on 
paper  my  notions  as  to  the  measures  that  should  now  be 
adopted  for  the  settlement  and  independent  happiness  of  the 
Central  Asian  States  3 — ^here  they  are,  briefly  and  finely  ^ 
those  of  a  man  born  and  bred,  thank  God !  in  Protestant 
£ngland,  who  has  seen  Russia,  Persia,  and  Afghanistan,  and 
all  the  three  Oosbeg  States.  Turn  out  the  horrible  Wuzeer 
Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  who  has  sold  twelve  thousand  men» 
women,  and  children,  since  he  obliged  the  Persians  to  retire 
from  Herat,  and  buy  out  Kamran's  family  from  that  princi- 
pality. Kamran  himself  forfeited  all  his  kingly  right  here 
by  his  letter  to  the  Khan  Huzrut  of  Khiva,  which  the  latter 
chief  gave  me  in  return  for  my  frank  communication  to 
him,  and  which  I  sent  to  Sir  William  Macnaghten.  Thus 
will  be  gained  the  only  point  from  which  the  Afghan  na- 
tion can  lend  its  weight  to  the  preservation  of  peace  and  the 


1842.]  AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  NA  TION,  169 

advancement  of  civilization  in  Toorkistan,  protect  its  v;reakest 
subjects  from  being  stolen  or  sold  away,  and  properly  guard 
its  own  and  India's  frontier.  Next,  let  Pottinger  come  in 
attendance  upon  Shah  Soojah's  heir-apparent^  Shahzadah 
Timour,  with  a  few  thousand  select  Afghan  horsemen  of 
both  the  tribes,  half  Douranee  and  half  Ghilzye,  to  blow 
down  the  gate  of  the  citadel,  which  unjustly  imprisoned  us, 
against  the  rights  of  all  nations,  except  those  the  Oosbegs 
profess.  The  Ameer  scomfrdly  says  that  the  Afghans  and 
English  are  one  people  j  let  him  feel  that  they  really  are  so 
in  a  good  cause.  I  really  do  believe  that  if  Shahzadah  Ti- 
mour were  to  return,  after  such  a  proceeding,  to  assume  the 
actual  exercise  of  government  at  his  father's  capital,  taking 
back  with  him  all  real  Afghans  now  enslaved  in  Toorkistan, 
whose  orthodoxy,  according  to  the  Soonees,  is  unquestionable, 
and  who  might  easily  be  collected  for  a  friendly  offering, 
the  Afghans  would  so  thoroughly  like  him  and  understand 
us,  that  every  English  and  Indian  soldier  might  be  with- 
drawn to  Hindostan.  Let  the  Shah-i-Shah  of  Persia  at  the 
same  time  write  these  few  words  to  the  Court  of  the  faith- 
ful at  Bokhara,  sending  copies  of  his  letter  by  friendly  and 
high  ambassadors  to  Khiva  and  Khokund :  **  I  want  all  my 
enslaved  subjects  who  are  not  wiUing  to  remain  in  Bokhara, 
and  I  am  now  coming,  in  reliance  upon  the  only  God  of 
justice,  to  free  them,  and  to  destroy  the  law  of  thy  Moofte- 
hed,  by  which  people  who  pray  towards  the  same  Kebla  are 
sold  as  cattle."  Let  Mahomed  Shah  lithograph  this,  and 
send  a  copy  to  be  stuck  up  at  every  mosque  where  his 
authority  or  influence  can  reach,  in  Persia,  Afghanistan,  and 
Tartary.    This  writing  will  tell  the  Ameer  that  his  king- 


J70  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1842. 

dom  has  been  weighed  and  found  wanting  5  it  will  do  much 
to  soften  and  liberalize  Mahomedan  feeling  wherever  it  is 
read  \  and  if  the  Persian  nation  are  informed  that  it  comes  to 
them  recommended  by  English  sympathy,  they  will  dismiss 
all  irritation  of  mind  that  was  caused  by  our  checking  their 
military  career  at  Herat.  I  feel  confident  that  this  great 
and  most  necessary  measure  of  Persian  emancipation  may 
be  effected  at  once,  without  shedding  one  drop  of  blood.  I 
never  uttered  a  word  of  hostility  against  the  Ameer,  dther 
at  Khiva  or  Khokund  5  but  now  I  am  authorized  to  show 
how  I  thought  the  rulers  of  these  States,  who  both  hate  him, 
may  be  made  to  end  or  lessen  their  own  foolish  enmity  by 
his  removing  from  between  them.  Let  the  Shah  of  Persia 
send  a  firman  to  Syud  Mahomed  Zahed,  Kurruck  Kojeh  at 
Khokund,  whom  he  knows,  saying  :  ''  Tell  the  Khan  Huz- 
rut  of  Khokund,  who  I  am  hapi^  to  find  does  not  deal 
in  my  people,  that  I  am  about  to  liberate  all  those  oppressed 
men  and  women  who  are  unwillingly  detained  as  slaves  in 
Bokhara.  I  don't  want  that  country  j  and  if  you  will  send 
Lushkur  Begglerbeggee,  or  Mahomed  SherefF  Atalik,  with 
the  Khokund  army  about  the  same  time  to  Samarcand,  my 
prime  minister  shall  make  it  over  to  him  by  treaty,  as  the 
capital  of  Mawarulneh.  I  shall  give  up  Merve  to  the  Khan 
Huzrut  of  Khiva,  to  be  made  the  capital  of  Kharasm,  on 
condition  of  his  doing  all  he  can  to  restore  and  content  my 
unfortunate  people,  whom  his  tribes  have  carried  off  during 
my  wars  in  other  directions.**  The  best  Oosbeg  troops  are 
mere  rubbish  as  opponents  to  Persian  regulars  and  cannon, 
and  they  all  know  it.  Allah  Kouli  Khan  is  the  best  and 
most  sensible  man  in  his  country,  and  he  will  remain  quiet 


184a.]  AN  APLEAL  TO  THE  NATION.  171 

while  Mahomed  Shah  comes  against  Bokhara^  if  Shake- 
spear  can  be  empowered  to  tell  him  that  this  is  a  reform 
which  must  be  effected^  and  which  Persia  is  determined  now 
to  effect^  with  the  consent  of  England  and  Russia.  Shake- 
spear  can  mediate  between  the  Khan  Huzrut  and  Mohamed 
Shah  for  the  gentle  emancipation  of  those  who  may  wish 
to  return  home  in  the  next  four  or  five  years^  or  to  settle  in 
the  fine  waste  land  of  Merve^  and  perhaps  Mahomed  Shah 
may  give  to  Allah  Kouli  Khan  the  very  large  colony  of 
Merve  handicraftsmen  now  settled  here^  who  really  yet  long 
for  the  home  of  their  fathers  j  this,  and  my  securing  to  the 
Khokan  frontier  up  the  Oxus  to  Balkh,  perhaps  leaving  the 
Khan  of  it  his  easy  tributary,  would  make  him  agree  to  all 
that  the  Afghans  need  for  the  formation  of  their  frontier 
fi-om  Persian  Khorassan  to  the  Oxus.  England  and  Russia 
may  then  agree  about  immutable  frontiers  for  Persia,  Af- 
ghanistan, Mawarulneh,  and  Kharasm,  in  the  spirit  which 
becomes  two  of  the  first  European  nations  in  the  world  in 
the  year  1842  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  God  incarnate  of  all  peace 
and  wisdom.     May  this  pure  and  peaceable  religion  be  soon 

extended  all  over  the  world ! March  12.  I  beg  that 

fifty  tillas  may  be  given  to  Tooma  Bai,  the  servant  who  will 
convey  this  to  Long  Joseph.  (Let  the  utmost  caution  be 
used  always  in  mentioning  their  names  while  this  Ameer 
lives  or  reigns.)  As  for  Long  Joseph,  I  don*t  know  what 
reward  to  propose  for  him.  He  has  risked  his  life  for  us  in 
the  most  gallant  manner,  as  few  men  would,  except  for  a 
brother  3  and  he  is  a  noble  fellow.  I  feel  sure  that  Govern- 
ment will  forgive  me  for  not  being  able  to  make  an  ac- 
count of  my  stewardship  during  my  Toorkish  mission,  and 


ITS  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [184a. 

that  it  will  use  every  exertion  to  get  free  and  to  reward  alL 
who  have  suffered  with  me^  but  remained  alive.  Allahdad 
Khan  had  some  four  hundred  tillas  in  cash  when  he  was 
brought  backj  besides  his  baggage  and  horses.  Akhond- 
Zadeh^  Saleh  Mahomed^  has  served  too  well  to  make  it 
necessary  for  me  to  recommend  him.  I  trust  that  Grod  has 
preserved  his  life.* 

Thus  ever,  as  he  lay  rotting  in  his  noisome  cell,  he  for- 
got his  own  sufferings  and  his  own  sorrows,  and  all  the 
great  sympathy  and  compassion  of  his  nature  expended 
themselves  on  the  woes  of  others.  Not  only  in  all  this  is 
displayed  that  tender,  loving  thoughtfulness  for  his  com- 
pamons  in  misfortune,  which  made  him  ever  eager  to  leave 
behind  him  a  record  of  the  claims  of  those  who  had  done 
good  and  faithful  service  and  suffered  for  their  fidelity,  but 
he  strove  mightily  to  make  his  djdng  voice  heard  in  right- 
eous condemnation  of  the  cruelty  which  condemned  so 
many  of  his  oppressed  brethren  to  hopeless  slavery.  For  to 
Arthur  ConoUy  all  men  were  brethren,  and  it  was  a  solace 
to  him  to  think  that  his  death,  which  then  seemed  to  be 
close  at  hand,  might  give  power  to  his  words,  and  that  if 
his  utterances  could  but  reach  those  to  whom  they  were 
addressed,  he  might  yet  accomplish  that  which  had  so  long 
been  the  object  of  his  life.  But  he  had  other  consolations. 
'  Stoddart  and  I,*  he  wrote  at  the  end  of  this  long  letter, 
'  will  comfort  each  other  in  every  way  till  we  die,  when  may 
our  brotherhood  be  renewed  in  heaven,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour.  Send  this  assurance  to  all  our  friends,  and  do 
you,  my  dear  John,  stand  on  this  faith.  It  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  enable  a  man  to  bear  up  against  the  trials  of  thii 


1842.]  PRISON  JOURNALS,  17s 

hfe,  and  lead  him  to  the  noolest  state  of  existence  in  the 
next.     Farewell !  Farewell !  * 

He  thought  that  this  letter  would  be  his  last,  but  his  re- 
lease, by  the  gate  of  Death,  was  not  so  near  as  then,  in  the 
restlessness  and  agony  of  a  burning  fever,  it  seemed.  The 
paroxysms  passed  away,  and  left  him,  though  very  weak, 
on  the  way  to  the  recovery  of  such  health  as  was  possible 
amidst  all  the  noxious  influences  of  that  miserable  dungeon  5 
and  he  soon  again  resumed  his  journal.  On  the  22nd  of 
March  he  wrote :  '  Our  last  note  from  this  prison,  dated 
28th  ultimo,  was  written  for  Shah  Mahomed  Khan  to  take 
to  Caubul.*  Apparently  he  could  not  get  off  with  it  till 
about  a  week  ago.  The  Naib,  to  whom  he  applied  for 
money  for  his  travelling  expenses,  first  required  to  see  both 
our  names  written  in  English  on  the  back  of  the  note,  as  if 
he  had  been  led  to  doubt  whether  we  were  still  alive.  He 
then  made  Ismael,  one  of  his  people,  who  can  read  English 
characters,  copy  from  a  spelling-book,  in  which  Stoddart 
had  noted  the  Persian  meaning  over  different  words :  "  So 
am  I  to  go,  lam  to  go  in,  so  do  ye,**  inducing  us  to  guess  that 
he  antidpated  the  Ameer's  sending  us  away  in  his  charge, 
and  finally  he  refused  aid  to  Shah  Mahomed  Khan,  who 

•  There  is  something  not  very  intelligible  in  this,  as  it  is 
obvipus  that  ConoUy  had  written,  at  considerable  length,  on  the 
iith  and  12th  of  March.  The  journals,  which  are  now  printed 
entire — as  fiir,  at  least,  as  they  are  recoverable — are  written  in 
very  minute  characters  ;  in  many  places  they  are  defaced  by  damp 
and  attrition,  so  that  it  has  been  a  task  of  difficulty  to  decipher 
them.  It  happens  that  this  part  of  the  manuscript  is  remarkably 
distinct,  or  I  might  have  thought  that  there  had  been  some  error  in 
transcribing  it. 


174  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184a. 

borrowed  ten  tillas  elsewhere,  and  started  with  a  caravan. 
Shah  Mahomed  Khan  has  throughout  behaved  vexy  well, 
and  will,  I  hope,  be  especially  provided  for.  Our  business 
here  has  been  chiefly  conducted  by  Stoddart*s  faithful  serv- 
ant, Ibraheem,  a  lad  of  Herat,  who  has  raised  a  claim  to 
be  particularly  taken  care  of.  On  the  4th  of  March,  Fu- 
toollah  Beg  sent  word  that  the  Naib  had  taken  away  his 
letter  for  Teheran  and  given  it  to  Nooroollah  Khan  (a  Per- 
sian lad  of  good  family,  formerly  a  pupil  of  Stoddart's), 
who  was  about  to  return  to  Persia  by  the  same  caravan — 
an  uncalled-for  act  of  interference,  for  which  we  did  not 
thank  our  military  acquaintance,  but  we  felt  assured  that 
FutooUah  Beg  would  not  be  allowed  to  suffer  from.it. 
After  sending  a  page  with  my  thermometer  on  the  i  jth 
ultimo  (February),  to  ask  how  much  cold  it  indicated,  as 
detailed  in  my  last  letter,  the  Ameer  took  no  notice  of  us 
till  the  13th  of  this  month,  when  he  sent  the  gold  chro- 
nometer which  I  had  given  him,  to  show  that  its  chain  was 
broken,  and  to  ask  if  we  could  repair  it — a  pretence,  the 
Topshee-Bashee  said,  to  ascertain  what  state  we  were  in. 
We  had  both  become  ill  a  few  days  before  from  a  sudden 
cold  change  of  weather  and  the  discomfort  of  filthy  cloth- 
ing 5  and  I,  who  had  given  in  most  to  the  sickness,  owing 
to  anxiety  of  mind  regarding  the  many  persons  whom  I 
had  been  the  means  of  bringing  into  the  Ameer's  t3rrannous 
hands,  was  lying  weak  in  bed  with  fever  when  the  last 
page  came.  The  Topshee-Bashee,  who  for  some  time 
spoke  encouragingly  about  changing  our  clothes,  had  by 
this  time  caused  us  plainly  to  understand  that  he  neither 
dared  himself  to  amend  our  position  in  this  respect,  nor 


184a.]  PRISON  JOURNALS,  175 

even  to  represent  it  to  the  Ameer.    He  now  tried  to  save  us 
by  telling  the  page  that  I  had  been  confbed  to  my  bed 
eight  days,  and  by  remarking  upon  the  wretched  state  of 
our  apparel  after  eighty-five  days'  and  nights'  wear.     I 
showed  the  Mehrum  that  Stoddart  had  been  obliged  to 
cast  away  all  his  under-clothing,  and  was  suffering  much 
from  cold   on  the  chest.      I  experienced  hope  that  the 
Ameer  would  take  some  pity  upon  us^  and  especially  upon 
such  of  my  late  travelling  companions  and  people  as  might 
be  suffering  under  his  displeasure.     The  page  said  that  he 
would   make  a  representation   if  the  Huzrut  questioned 
him  5   and  he  afterwards   told   the  Topshee-Bashee  that 
on  the  Ameer's  doing  so,  he  had  stated  that  tbe  King's 
last-come  slave,  Kan-All  (ConoUy),  had  been  very  ill  for 
eight  or  nine  days  5   to  which  the  Huzrut  had  replied : 
'*  May  he  not  die  (or  I  suppose  he  won't  die)  for  the  three 
or  four  days  that  remain  till  his  going."   We  thought  from 
this  that  the  Ameer  proposed  to  send  us  away  with  the 
Russians,  who  were  said  to  be  preparing  to  depart  after  the 
No-rox.     Nothing  else  has  since  transpired  regarding  our- 
selves j   but  through  the  indefatigable  Long  Joseph,  we 
have  learnt  the  following  items  of  intelligence  about  our 
friends.     On  the  13  th  instant  Ibraheem  wrote :  '  With  re- 
gard to  Caubul,  he  quite  at  ease ;  thirty  thousand  persons 
(rebels  ?)  have  been  slaughtered  there.  Allahdad  Khan,  the 
Akhond-Zadeh  EusofF  Khan  (Augustin),  the  Jemadar,  and 
Meer  Akhor,  with  Bolund  Khan,  Kurreem  Khan,  and  Gool 
Mahomed,  remain  in  the  black-hole  of  the  gaol  5  Mahomed 
All  and  Sum  mud  ELhan  are  gone  to  Caubul  3  Mohanmied 
Meer  Akhor  "  (the  man  formerly  in  Dr  Gerrard's  service. 


17$  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184a, 


enslaved  ten  years  ago^  whom  I  ransomed  at  Khiva  by  order 
of  Government)  '^  has  become  your  sacrifice  3  the  rest  are 
dispersed.     All  the  papers,  except  the  books,  have  been 
burned,  and  by  the  Ameer's  order,  Nazir  Khan  (Nazir 
Khira-Oollah)  has  brought  the  remainder  of  the  property 
for  two  hundred  tillas."    In  the  next  three  days  Ibraheem 
sent  word  that  Augustin,  Bolund  Khan,  Kurreem  Khan, 
and  Gool  Mahomed  had  been  released — news  for  which 
we  sincerely  thanked  God :  their  sufferings,  poor  fellows, 
in  that  horrible  dungeon  must  have  been  great.     We  de- 
sired Long  Joseph  to  keep  quite  away  from  them  for  some 
days,  judging  it  probable  that  they  would  be  closely  watched, 
only  sending  them  word  to  keep  a  good  heart,  and  to  stand 
fast  till  after  the  departure  of  the  Russians,  with  whom  it 
was  possible  that  we  might  be  sent,  and  we  remain  ignorant 
of  the  fate  of  the  other  prisoners.  Long  Joseph's  information 
of  the  29th  January,  ''  that  all  the  Afghans  had  been  given 
their  head,'*  must  have  referred  to  the  Soonee  Mahomedan 
servants  of  my  party,  between  whom  and  the  Sheeahs  of 
Caubul  and  Herat  a  religious  distinction  was  apparently 
made.     Our  suspicions  regarding  the  worse  treatment  of 
Allahdad  Khan  and  the  Akhond-Zadeh  were  but  too  well 
founded  3  the  reasons  for  it  do  not  yet  appear.     On  the 
23rd  we  were  made  further  happy  by  the  verbal  intelligence 
of  Long  Joseph,  that  Allahdad  Khan  and  the  rest  of  our 

people  had  been  released 24th.    This  forenoon  the 

Topshee-Bashee,  coming  to  see  us,  said  with  a  cheerful 
manner:  ^^Sewonchee — reward  me  for  glad  tidings.  I 
represented  your  great  want  of  clothes,  and  proposed  to 
buy  shirts  and  trousers  for  you  from  the  bazaar^  but  the 


iZ42.]  PRISON  JOURNALS,  177 

Huzrut  said :  '  They  won't  wear  bazaar  clothes  5  in  three 
or  four  days  1*11  give  them  dresses  of  honour  and  dismiss 
them.*  And  the  Huzrut  asked  Meerza  Juneid  which  road 
would  be  the  best  for  you  to  travel  by,  saying :  '  They  can- 
not now  go  in  that  direction'  (apparently  meanmg  Caubul). 
Meerza  Juneid  replied  that  the  route  by  Persia  would  now 
be  the  best.  After  which  the  Ameer  spoke  graciously  about 
you.  He  said  that  Kan-Ali  was  a  well-informed  person, 
that  the  Meerza  represented  that  he  had  conversed  very 
little  with  Kan-Ah,  but  that  Stoddart,  of  whom  he  had 
seen  much,  was  a  man  instructed  upon  all  matters.*'  We 
doubted  the  Topshee-Bashee's  having  dared  to  make  a  re- 
presentation of  himself  regarding  us.  And  the  old  guardian 
mentioned  afterwards  that  Meerza  Juneid  had  come  to  his 
brother's  office.  Probably  desiring  to  know  whether  I  was 
better  or  worse  in  health  since  the  13  th,  the  Ameer  sent 
Meerza  Juneid,  in  his  capacity  of  physician,  to  make  in- 
quiries on  this  head  from  the  chief  gunner,  when  our  friend 
took  the  opportunity  of  telling  what  the  Ameer  had  said 
about  us,  in  the  hope  of  its  being  repeated  to  us.  We  set 
but  little  store  on  the  King's  gracious  expressions,  for  he 
spoke  almost  in  the  same  words  about  us  to  Meerza  Juneid 
on  the  very  day  that  we  were  seized  5  but,  connecting  this 
report  with  the  other  recent  ones  regarding  us,  and  with 
the  fact  of  his  having  let  A.  Khan  go,  we  hope  that  the 
Ameer  is  disposed  to  get  quit  of  us  by  some  peaceable  way. 
What  he  said  about  the  difficulty  of  our  going  to  Caubul 
must  have  been  a  blind  to  his  auditors,  if  he  had  heard  the 
news  which  Ibraheem  wrote  on  the  13th.    [  ] 

as  if  they  expected  our  speedy  release a  7th.  The 

VOL.  II.  12 


178  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1843. 

page  who  had  brought  the  chronometer  on  the  I3th^  came 
this  morning  with  a  parcel  of  my  medicines  to  desire  that  I 
would  describe  their  properties.  We  felt  at  a  loss  how  to 
interpret  this  visit,  as  I  had,  on  our  first  being  brought  to 
this  prison,  given  an  account  of  the  said  medicines,  and 
my  labels  remained  on  most  of  the  bottles ;  but  I  wrote 
fresh  descriptions  for  the  page,  whom  the  Ameer,  perhaps, 
sent  to  ascertain  our  condition  without  taking  pains  to  satisfy 

his  curiosity  delicately 28th.  Meerza  Ismael  Mehrum 

came  this  morning  with  some  more  of  my  medicines  to  desire 
that  I  would  note  the  proportions  in  which  they  should  be 
given,  as  the  labels  only  mentioned  in  what  diseases  they 
were  used.  He  said  that  the  Huzrut  would  now  show  us 
favour,  and  our  keepers '  .  .  .  . 

A  portion  of  the  journal  here  seems  to  be  missing,  but 
on  that  same  day  (March  a8)  Conolly  wrote  a  letter  to  his 
brother  John,  in  which  he  again  implored  him  to  do  all 
that  was  possible  to  protect  and  reward  his  servants  and 
followers.  In  that  letter  he  expressed  some  little  glinmier- 
ing  of  hope  that  the  exertions  then  being  made,  honestly 
and  strenuously,  by  the  Russian  Mission,  might  be  crowned 
with  success.  'We  have  been  comforted  by  intelligence 
that  the  Ameer  has  released  Allahdad  Khan^  and  all 
my  people  from  the  gaol  into  which  he  so  unjustly  and 

cruelly  confined  them t  The  Ameer  has  lately  been 

talking,  we  hear,  of  sending  us  away,  and  though  we  do 

*  The  Caubul  Envoy. 

+  The  passages  omitted  are  repetitions  of  the  recommendations 
on  behalf  of  his  followers,  already  given  in  his  letter  of  March 
II — 12. 


1B42.]  PROSPECT  OF  RELEASE.  179 

^— ^^  -^— ^— ^^-^^       ■       II  

not  set  much  store  by  his  words^  we  think  it  possible  he 
may  give  us  to  the  Russian  Mission,  who  are  about  to  de- 
part  I  wrote  you  a  longish  letter  on  the  nth  of 

this  month,  when  I  was  in  a  high  state  of  excitement,  from 
fever  and  several  nights  of  sleepless  anxiety.  The  burden 
of  it  was  an  entreaty  to  the  last  effect  regarding  my  poor 
people,  and  a  hope  that  the  British  Government  would 
seize  the  opportunity  which  the  Ameer's  faithlessness  had 
given  them  to  come  forward  with  Persia  to  put  him  down, 
and  give  his  country  to  Kharasm  and  Khokund,  on  con- 
dition of  the  entire  suppression  of  the  Persian  and  Afghan 
slave  trade  in  Toorkistan.  If  that  paper  (which  I  shall 
endeavour  to  recover)  should  reach  you,  compress  its  words 
into  this  purport  and  destroy  it,  reserving  my  last  good 
wishes  for  the  friends  to  whom  I  addressed  them,  thinking 
that  I  might  not  live  much  longer.  I  am  now,  thank 
€rod,  almost  well  in  health  again,  and  the  news  regarding 
our  people  has  set  my  mind  at  rest.  Stoddart,  also,  who 
was  suffering  awhile  from  severe  cold,  is,  I  rejoice  to  say, 
convalescent.  We  are  both  in  a  very  uncomfortable  state, 
as  you  may  imagine,  having  been  ninety-nine  days  and 
nights  without  a  change  of  clothes  j  but  we  are  together. 
Stoddart  is  such  a  friend  as  a  man  would  desire  to  have  in 
adversity,  and  our  searchers  having  missed  the  little  Prayer- 
book  which  Greorge  Macgregor  gave  us  (tell  him),  we  are 
able  to  read  and  pray,  as  well  as  to  converse  together.  God 
bless  you,  my  deai  John.     Send  my  love  to  everybody.* 

The  journal  is  resumed  on  the  5th  of  April.  At  this 
time  the  officers  of  the  Russian  Mission  were  preparing 
for  their  departure,  and  Colonel  BoutenefF  was  still  making 


i8o  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [1843. 

honourable  efforts  to  obtain  the  liberation  of  the  English 
gentlemen.  Among  the  final  demands  which  he  made  was 
one  for  *'  permission  for  Stoddart  and  ConoUj  to  return  witn 
him  in  accordance  with  the  promise  made  by  the  Ameer." 
But  the  answer  given  to  this  was,  that  the  Englishmen  nad 
presented  a  letter  to  the  Ameer  saying  that  their  Queen 
desired  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  Bokhara,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  he  had  himself  written  to  the  Queen,  and, 
on  receiving  an  answer,  would  despatch  them  both  direct 
to  England.'  *  Vague  tidings  of  these  good  Russian  edbrts 
reached  the  prisoners  in  their  dungeon,  but  soon  all  hope 
of  release  was  gone.  '  April  5.  A  note  received  this 
morning  fi*om  Ibraheem  informs  us  that  the  Jemadar  and 
Meer  Akhor  were  only  released  yesterday  from  the  terrible 
dungeon.  He  adds  that  they  were  much  depressed  by  their 
imprisonment,  and  that,  like  the  rest  of  our  men  who  remain 
in  the  city,  they  have  to  support  themselves  by  begging. 
There  has  been  a  little  difference  between  the  verbal  reports 
which  Long  Joseph  sent  us  through  Tooma  Bai  and  those 
which  Ibraheem  has  written.  I  thought  that  Gool  Ma- 
homed and  Xurreem  Khan  had  gone  on  the  28th,  and  I 
wrote  a  note  for  them  addressed  to  my  brother  John,  in 
which  I  begged  him  to  destroy  a  letter  which  I  had  written 
to  him  on  the  nth  of  March,  if  it  should  reach  Caubol. 
Ibraheem  now  writes  that  they  propose  departing  in  three 
days  hence  with  Ibraheem  Candaharee,  another  young  man 
in  my  service  who  has  behaved  very  well,  and  they  request 
me  to  give  them  a  letter.  We  have  resolved,  therefore,  to 
send  this  journal  by  their  hands,  and  I  take  the  opportunity 

•  Mitchel. 


184a.]  PHISON  JOURNALS,  i8i 

of  explaining  that  my  letter  of  the  nth  of  March  was 
written  when  I  was  very  ill  with  fever.     Thinking  that  he 
might  possibly  be  sent  away  without  me  on  the  departure 
of  the  Russians  (as  they  had  brought  a  request  for  his  dis- 
missal), or  that  we  might  be  otherwise  separated,  Stoddart 
had  begged  me  to  give  him  a  memorandum  of  my  opinions 
regarding  the  policy  to  be  pursued  towards  these  States,  and 
I  wrote  off  a  hasty  summary  of  these  notions  which  were 
cunning  in  my  head,  with  many  things  that  I  was  anxious 
to  say  about  my  unfortunate  servants  and  to  my  friends, 
when  under  excitement,  which  must  have  made  my  ex- 
pressions very  wild  and  incoherent.     I  hoped  that  the  paper 
containing  them  remained  in  the  hands  of  Long  Joseph  j 
but  he,  misunderstanding  our  instructions,  instead  of  keep- 
ing it,  gave  it  to  Eusoffee-i-Roomee  (Augustin),  who  ap- 
parently went  off  with  it  at  once  to  Caubul.     When  I  got 
better,  I  drew  up  for  Stoddart  the  memorandum  which  he 
had  asked  for,  and  which  he  now  decides  on  forwarding. 
It  is  written  in  a  more  calm  and  less  indignant  tone  than 
the  letter  aforesaid,  but  allowance  must  be  made  for  the 
brevity  and  freedom  of  the  propositions,  for  we  were  so 
liable  to  be  interrupted  and  discovered,  that  I  could  only 
pen  my  opinions  by  snatches,  and  paper  is  a  scarce  article 
with  us.     Part  of  the  paper  also  is  a  repetition  of  what  I 
wrote  some  time  ago  to  Sir  William  Macnaghten.     When 
I  came  here,  Stoddart  did  his  utmost  to  put  me  forward  -, 
but  now,  as  long  as  the  Ameer  detains  him,  I  shall  refer  to 
him,  as  the  accredited  British  agent,  every  commxmication 
on  business  that  the  Ameer  may  make  to  me,  whether  we 
•hould  be  together  or  separated.     He  well  knows  all  the 


i82  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1843. 


people  here^  and  the  dignity  of  our  Government  is  safe  in 
his  hands.  We  have  heard  that  the  Russians  are  about  to 
depart,  and  that  they  take  their  enslaved  people  with  them, 
but  we  cannot  get  at  the  truth  of  this  statement.  Report 
also  says  that  the  Ameer  will  march  with  his  army  seven  or 
eight  days  hence.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  is  preparing 
for  an  early  move  j  but  though  Tashkend  and  Khokund  are 
named  as  his  points  of  attack,  it  is  not  certain  that  he  will 
go  eastward.  This  is  the  hundred  and  seventh  day  of  our 
confinement,  without  change  of  clothes  5  but  the  weather 
having  become  warmer,  we  can  do  without  the  garments 
that  most  harboured  the  vermin  that  we  found  so  distressing, 
and  we  are  both  now,  thank  Grod !  quite  well.  We  trust 
that  our  friends  will  be  informed  of  our  well-being.  We 
have  desired  all  our  servants,  except  Ibraheem  (who  remains 
behind  to  keep  up  correspondence),  to  return  to  their  homes 
as  soon  as  their  strength  enables  them  to  travel,  begging 
them  to  make  their  way  anyhow,  and  to  rest  assured  that 
everything  due  will  be  made  up  to  them  on  their  reaching 
Caubul.  I  gave  some  of  my  people  notes  on  Caubul  instead 
of  pay  in  cash :  these  bills  may  have  been  taken  from 
them  5  if  so,  I  hope  that  their  words  will  be  taken  for  the 
sums  due  to  them.  Hoossein,  a  carrier,  whom  I  put  on 
the  escort-list  at  the  pay  of  twenty  rupees  per  mensem, 
instead  of  one  of  the  dismissed  Indian  troopers,  lost  two 
ponies  when  I  sent  him  from  Khokund  with  Mousa  Adum 
Khan,  and  Shah  Mahomed  Khan,  and  Allahdad  Khan*s 
man,  Himeefa,  to  announce  our  coming  to  the  Ameer. 
The  last  persons  lost  everything  belonging  to  them,  and 
they  are  all  entitled  to  reward,  moreover,  for  the  risk  they. 


1842.1  PRISON  JOURNALS.  183 

ran  on  that  service.  Allahdad  Khan  had  three  or  four 
hundred  tillas  in  his  bag  when  brought  back  from  Kaishee : 
probably  this  has  been  appropriated  by  the  Ameer  with  my 
colleague's  horses,  arms,  &c.  Allahdad  Khan  behaved 
very  firmly  in  refusing  to  allow  that  he  was  the  servant  of 
a  Feringhee  servant,  as  the  Ameer  wished  him  to  do,  and 
did  justice  both  to  the  dignity  of  his  royal  master  and  to 
the  policy  of  the  British  Government  in  Afghanistan.  I  beg 
that  his  conduct  may  be  mentioned  to  Shah  Soojah,  and  I 
trust  that  all  his  losses  will  be  made  up  to  him  ^  but  if  the 
preparation  of  the  account  is  left  to  him,  he  will  make  it 
a  very  large  one,  and  part  of  the  settlement  may,  perhaps, 
be  deferred  till  it  is  decided  whether  or  not  the  Ameer  is  to 
be  called  upon  for  repayment.* 

A  trusty  messenger  was  found  to  convey  these  writings 
to  Caubul,  and  then  a  new  journal  was  conmienced.  'When 
our  last  packet  was  despatched,*  wrote  Conolly  in  the  same 
minute  characters,  '  we  deemed  it  not  impossible,  from  the 
Ameer's  expressions,  which  had  been  reported  to  us,  that  his 
Majesty  designed  to  send  us  away  with  the  Russian  Mission. 
Our  keepers  rather  inclined  to  the  idea  that  Huzrut  would 
dismiss  us  about  the  same  time  by  the  route  of  Persia,  and 
the  Topshee-Bashee*s  old  brother  talked  seriously  about  per- 
forming a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  city  of  Meshed  in  our 

company. April  13.   We  heard  that  the  Russians  had 

been  dismissed  with  presents  of  honour,*  that  Khodiyar 
Beg,  Karrawool-Beggee,  ranking  as  captain  or  commander 

*  This  tallies  with  the  report  of  Colonel  Bouteneff,  who  says 
that  the  khelats  were  received  by  the  Russian  Mission  on  the  I2t]i  of 
April. 


i84  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184& 

of  one  hundred^  had  been  attached  to  Colonel  Bouteneflf  as 
the  Ameer*s  Envoy  to  St  Petersburg,  and  that  the  Huzrot 
had  promised  to  promote  him  to  the  grade  of  Tok-Suba, 
commander  of  one  thousand,  privileged  to  bear  a  cow-tail 
banner  on  his  return  after  the  performance  of  good  service. 
The  Ameer's  own  arrangements  were  said  to  be  completed, 
and  the  direction  of  it  certainly  to  the  eastward.  An  Envoy 
from  Khokund,  who  arrived  two  days  ago,  was  not  re- 
ceived, but  was  told  to  go  about  hi&  own  business  wherever 
he  listed.  Our  informant  mentioned  at  the  same  time  that 
the  last  Envoy  from  Khiva  had  been  dismissed  a  fortnight 
before  with  extraordinary  honour,  aU  his  servants  getting 
dresses.  We  now  also  learned  that  the  heir  of  the  Koon- 
dooz  Chief  had  sent  an  Envoy  to  the  Ameer,  who  had 
ordered  one  of  his  officers,  a  Khojeh,  styled  Selina  Aghassi^ 
to  accompany  that  agent  to  Koondooz  on  his  return.  It 
was  thought,  we  were  tcdd,  that  the  Koogeh  of  Balkh  would 
endeavour  to  take  Koondooz  on  Meer  Morad's  death,  and 
the  heir  may,  in  this  apprehension,  have  been  alert  to  put 
himself  under  the  Ameer*s  protection.  This  morning  the 
Ameer  showed  the  Topshee-Bashee  an  especial  mark  of 
favour  by  sending  him  a  loaf  of  refined  sugar  from  the 
palace.  Towards  evening,  bis  Majesty  rode  four  miles  to  a 
place  of  pilgrimage,  and  on  his  return  at  night  had  the 
Topshee-Bashee  up  to  give  him  some  orders.  Early  next 
morning  (the  14th)  the  Ameer  marched  out  to  the  sound 
of  his  palace  kettle-drums  and  trumpets,  leaving  us  in  the 
filthv  clothes  which  we  had  worn  for  one  hundred  and 

m 

fifteen  days  and  nights !  We  said  to  the  gunner's  old 
brother,,  when  he  mentioned  the  Ameer's  having  departed. 


1842,3  PRISON  JOURNALS.  185 


''Then  the  Meshed  caravan  apparently  stands  fast."  "  No/* 
was  his  reply  5  *'  please  God  it  will  go  soon.  I  asked  the 
Topshee-Bashee  last  night  if  nothing  had  been  settled  about 
you,  and  he  replied,  '  When  the  Russians  got  out  a  march 
or  so,  the  Dustan  Kanchee  will  make  a  petition  about 
them,  and  they  will  be  dismissed.'  *'  The  old  man  also 
remarked,  probably  from  what  he  had  heard  his  brother 
say,  that  the  Ameer  had  expressed  himself  to  the  effect  that 
he  knew  the  Russian  Elchee  was  led  to  get  us  in  order  to 
make  a  boast  of  having  procured  our  release,  which  made 
it  seem  as  though  Colonel  Bouteneff  had  been  endeavouring 
to  obtain  our  dismissal.  Our  old  keeper  persisted  for  some 
dajrs  in  assuring  us  of  his  belief  that  our  immediate  dis- 
missal was  designed,  and  on  the  i8th  said  that  he  was  going 
down  into  the  city  to  seek  out  my  Dewan  Beggee,  Eusoff 
Khan  (Augustin),  to  set  his  mind  at  ease  about  us  j  he  re- 
turned, saying  that  he  had  been  referred  from  place  to  place 
without  finding  Eusoff  Khan,  or  any  of  our  people,  but 
that  one  Meer  Hyder  and  another  shopkeeper  of  his  ac- 
quaintance, had  assured  him  that  they  were  all  in  the  town, 
and  that  four  or  five  of  them  were  in  the  habit  of  coming 
occasionally  at  night  to  a  certain  quarter  to  hear  books  read. 
We  had  thought  the  Gunners  might  have  received  orders 
to  collect  some  of  our  people  in  order  to  our  respectable 
dismissal ;  but  knowing  that  all  our  men,  except  Ibraheem, 
had  left  Bokhara,  we  concluded  that  the  Topshee-Bashee 
had  made  use  of  his  old  brother  to  deceive  us,  in  order  to 
keep  us  hopeful  and  quiet  for  another  period,  as  he  said 
nothing  about  changing  our  clothes,  and  kept  himself  quite 
aloof  from  us,  which  he  would  hardly  have  done  had  he 


i86  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [184a. 

believed  what  he  reported  in  the  Ameer's  name.  Just 
before  the  Ameer's  departure,  we  heard  that  a  British 
Elchee  had  arrived  at  Merve  on  his  way  hither.  We  could 
get  no  further  accounts  of  the  said  Elchee,  but  judged  that 
it  might  be  Shakespear  on  his  way  to  Khiva.'  .  •  .  [De- 
faced.] 

'  From  the  4th  to  the  7th  of  May,'  continues  the  prison 
journal,  '  the  palace  drums  and  trumpets  were  continually 
sounding  for  intelligence  that  Khokund  had  been  taken 
after  a  faint  endeavour  at  resistance  under  the  famed 
Khokund  General  Guda  £ai  5  that  the  latter  had  been  taken 
prisoner,  and  that  the  rebellious  town  had  been  given  up  to 
plunder,'  &c.  .  .  .  [Defaced.]  *  On  the  morning  of  the 
1 8th,  however,  Selim  Beg,  the  one-eyed  Mehrum  who  was 
sent  at  the  end  of  last  January  to  ask  us  about  the  castles 
of  Caubul  and  Herat,  arrived  direct  from  the  Ameer,  an- 
nouncing that  Khokund  had  been  taken  late  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  nth.  The  city,  he  reported,  had  been  de^ 
fended  awhile  by  Mahomed  Ali  Khan's  Subaz  regular 
infantry — ^probably  some  of  the  citizens  in  the  fort — ^in 
skirmishing  with  whom  the  Naib  had  been  led  into  the 
battle  which  the  Huzrut  had  turned  into  so  great  a  victory 
by  ordering  all  his  army  on  to  the  support.  A  great  many 
of  these  soldiers,  he  said,  had  been  killed  by  the  Naib's 
men,  and  the  Bokharians  poured  into  the  city,  but  the 
Ameer,  on  entering  the  Khan's  Palace  after  sunset,  had 
stopped  plundering,  and  proclaimed  peace  to  all  who  would 
be  quiet,  and  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  high  and  low  of 
the  place.  The  Khan  and  his  brother  were  reported  miss- 
ing.    This  news  was  followed  on  the  22nd  by  intelligence 


184a.]  PRISON  JOURNALS.  187 

that  the  brothers  had  been  taken  and  brought  in^  and  that 
the  Ameer  had  put  them  both  to  death  in  cold  blood, 
together  with  the  Khan*s  son  and  his  maternal  uncle,  while 
he  had  given  all  persons  in  the  city  of  KJbokund,  not 
natives  of  the  place,  a  week  in  which  to  settle  their  affairs 
and  depart  to  their  several  countries.  On  the  24th,  some 
of  the  Ameer's  officers  were  named  as  having  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  Grovemments  of  Khokund,  Tashkend,  and 
[  ],  and  it  is  said  that  his  Majesty  intended  to  march 
back  to  Bokhara  after  the  despatch  of  another  week's  busi- 
ness. We  had  expressed  to  our  old  guardian  a  wish  to  get 
some  money  from  Meshed,  with  which  to  reward  him  for 
his  kindness,  and  to  get  him  privately  to  buy  us  a  few  neces- 
saries in  the  event  of  our  further  detention,  and,  liking  the 
idea,  he,  on  the  19th  instant  (May),  brought  secretly  to  see 
us  his  son-in-law  Budub,  employed  as  a  caravan-bashee 
between  Bokhara  and  the  Holy  City,  who  agreed  to  act  as 
agent  in  the  business  afler  another  week.  Inquiring  the 
news  from  Budub,  we  heard  that  Kamran  was  said  to  be 
confined  in  Herat  by  Yar  Mahomed  Khan — that  the 
English  remained  as  before  at  Candahar  and  Caubul — and 
that  four  Elchees,  English,  Russian,  Persian,  and  Turkish, 
had  gone  together  to  Khiva,  each  displaying  his  national 
flag,  and  told  the  Khan  Huzrut  that  he  had  the  choice  of 
quietly  giving  up  plundering  and  slave-dealing,  or  of  meet- 
ing the  Shah  of  Persia,  who  had  assembled  a  large  army  for 
the  redress  of  his  people,  and  waited  for  their  report  in  order 
to  decide  upon  his  movements.  Akousi  Khan  was  said  to 
have  expressed  himself  willing  to  give  up  all  Persia's  slaves 
:s  the  course  of  two  years,  and  to  keep  peace  for  the 


i88  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [184a. 

future,  if  the  Shah  would  be  a  good  neighbour  to  him, 
while  he  had  sent  to  Merve  a  positive  prohibition  against 
Alamanee,  and  he,  Budub,  mentioned  that  he  had  himself 
met  the  Khan  Naib,  a  relation  of  the  [obscure],  carried  off 
last  year  from  Mondooran,  on  his  way  back  to  Meshed. 
Budub  added  that  [  ]  the  Jew  was  with  the  £nglish 

Elchee,  whom  he  described  as  a  young,  tall  man  5  he  con- 
cluded, therefore,  that  England  and  Russia  bad  decided  to 
come  forward  together  to  effect  a  complete  settlement  of 
Persia's  claims  upon  Toorkistan,  associating  in  the  design 
the  Khalifah  of  Room  as  the  man  who  can,  with  the  high- 
est right,  denounce  to  these  tribes  the  inhuman  practices  for 
which  they  pretend  to  have  a  religious  warrant.  The  news 
made  us  very  glad.  Our  old  friend  now  informed  us,  on 
the  authority  of  his  Afghan  acquaintance,  Meer  Hyder,  that 
all  our  people  had  left  Bokhara  on  hearing  that  they  had 
been  inquired  about.  This  made  it  seem  as  though  the  old 
man,  at  any  rate,  had  treated  us  fairly  in  his  former  account 
Perhaps  the  Topshee-Basbee  wanted  to  find  EusofiT  a  pro- 
vince, in  order  to  question  him  about  the  Elchee  from  that 
place,  said  to  have  come  with  the  other  three  from  the 
west.  Possibly  the  Ameer  really  did  mean  to  send  us  away 
at  the  time  of  his  marching,  but  deferred  to  do  so  on  hear- 
ing that  we  had  no  servants  left  here,  or  from  one  of  his 
incalculable  caprices.  I  had  noted,  in  a  detailed  report  of 
our  proceedings  after  leaving  Khokund,  which  when  we 
were  seized  I  was  waiting  the  Ameer's  permission  to  despatch 
by  a  courier  to  Caubul,  an  expression  which  the  Naib  heard 
his  Majesty  had  uttered  in  his  camp  after  my  arrival,  to  the 
effect  that  he  would  g^ve  the  English  a  few  rubs  more,  and 


184a.]  PRISON  JOURNALS.  X89 

then  be  friends  with  them  again.  Though  we  were  not  sure 
that  the  Ameer  had  so  spoken^  the  plan  seems  one  hkely  to 
be  entertained  by  an  ignorant  and  weak  man,  anxious  to  give 
an  imposing  impression  of  his  greatness  and  confidence  3 
and  to  it  I  partly  attributed  the  ungraciousness  of  my  public 
reception  incamp^  though  I  was  the  Naib*s  honoured  guest  5 
the  failure  of  the  Huzrut  to  recover  the  horses  and  the 
property  of  my  servants,  which  had  been  plundered  «t  his 
outposts,  when  bringing  letters  to  him,  and  the  hauteur 
with  which,  at  the  first  joint  reception  of  Stoddart  and 
myself  here,  he  caused  it  to  be  signified  to  us  that  as  in  old 
times  there  had  been  friendship  between  the  Mussulmans 
and  infidels,  there  existed  no  objection  to  the  establishment 
of  firiendly  relations  between  the  states  of  Bokhara  and 
England  j  but  that  the  Huzrut  desired  to  know  whether 
we  (the  English)  had  been  travellers  all  over  Toorkistan 
to  spy  the  land  with  a  view  to  take  it,  as  we  had  taken 
Caubul,  or  for  other  purposes  j  and  wished  all  our  designs 
to  be  unveiled,  in  order  that  if  they  were  friendly  they 
might  become  apparent,  and  that  if  hostile  they  might  still 
be  known.  The  Government  of  India,  knowing  what 
communications  it  has  sent  to  Bokhara,  will  be  able  to 
judge  the  Ameer*s  conduct  better  then  we  can. 

'  On  the  19th  (May)  the  Topshee-Bashee  paid  us  a  visit 
of  a  few  moments,  after  keeping  away  for  two  months. 
He  mentioned  that  a  man  with  a  name  like  Noor  Mohum« 
nud  had  come  three  or  four  days  before  from  Persia,  bring- 
ing a  load  of  things  for  Stoddart,  of  which  the  Dustan 
Kanchee  had  forwarded  a  list  to  the  Ameer — ^probably  the 
articles  which  should  have  accompanied  Lord  Palmerston's 


190  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1841. 

letter.      The  Huzrut^  the  Topshee-Bashee    said^  would 

doubtless^  on  his  return^  be  gracious  to  us^  and  give  us  fine 

robes  of  honour^  and  treat  us  even  better   than   before. 

About  sunset  on  the  23rd,  as  Stoddart  and  myself  were 

pacing  up  and  down  a  small  court  of  twenty  feet  long, 

which  encloses  our  prison,  one  of  the  citadel  door-keepers 

came  and  desired  us  both  to  sit  down  in  a  comer  >  we 

complied^  wondering  what  would  follow,  and  presently  saw 

heads  peering  at  us  from  the  adjoining  roofs,  when  we 

understood  that  the  Ameer*s  heir,  a  youth  of  seventeen, 

had  taken  this  way  of  getting  a  sight  of  the  Feringhee 

Elchees.     We  must  have  given  him  but  a  poor  impression 

in  the  remains  of  our  clothes,  and  with  heads  and  beards 

uncombed  for  more  than  five  months.     On  the  23rd, 

Tooma  £ai  was  accosted  by  a  man  named  Makhzoom, 

known  to  Stoddart,  who  gave  him  a  token,  and  a  note 

written  in  such  bad  grammar  as  scarcely  to  be  understood, 

in  which  he  said  one  Juleb  arrived  lately  from  Khiva, 

mentioned  that  he  saw  Pottinger  Sahib  there,  and  another 

person  named  Mooza  having  come,  bringing  a  letter  from 

Pottinger  Sahib,  who,  he  says,  is  at  KLhiva,  with  the  Elchee 

of  Mahomed  Shah.    We  tried  to  get  the  said  letter,  but  on 

the  26th  heard  from  Mikhroun  that  the  messenger  would 

not  give  it  up.     They  had  heard,  they  told  him,  that  we  had 

been  made  away  with,  and  would  wait  till  the  return  of 

the  Huzrut,  in  whose  camp  they  had  a  friend  who  could, 

with  certainty,  satisfy  their  fears,  and  certainly  communicate 

with  us,  and  thought  that  Mooza  might  possibly  be  one  of 

my  late  servants,  who  went  from  this  on  leave  with  my 

dismissed  Hindostanees,  but  he  did  not  understand  half  the 


1842.]  PRISON  JOURNALS.  191 

sign  which  I  sent  him.  We  consoled  ourselves  for  the 
delay  by  attributing  it  to  the  caution  of  our  trusty  agent 
Ibraheem,  who  knowing  Mikhroun  not  to  be  a  man  of 
solid  character  like  "  Long  Joseph,"  would  desire  to  put  as 
little  of  our  business  as  possible  into  his  hands.  Our  new 
agent's  aid  did  not  slacken,  for  he  wrote  us  another  note  to 
say  that  a  man  had  come  bringing  a  letter  which  Shah 
Mahomed  Khan  had  despatched  after  his  arrival  at  Caubul, 
the  which  he  also  insisted  on  keeping  till  the  Huzrut*s 
return,  and  that  one  of  the  men  from  Khiva  was  about  to 
return  thither.  We  then  sent  him  a  packet,  containing 
nearly  the  preceding  journal  and  the  notes  belonging  to  it, 
to  be  forwarded  by  the  latter  messenger  to  the  English 
£lchee  at  Allah  Kouli  Klhan*s  Court,  and  begged  him  to 
remain  quiet,  letting  the  other  comers  have  their  own  way. 
All  the  men  named  by  him  must  have  been  careless  to  let 
him  learn  so  much  of  their  business,  and  knowing  the  cau- 
tiousness of  Afghans,  and  that  the  Ameer  has  news- writers 
at  Caubul,  we  beg  that  all  my  released  people,  as  well  as 
Allahdad  KJian's  servants,  may  be  enjoined  not  to  name  a 
single  person  who  befriended  them  or  us  here,  or  to  allude 
to  the  coming  and  going  of  Cossids  between  Afghanistan 
and  Bokhara.' 

This  is  the  very  last  record,  in  my  possession,  in  the 
hand-writing  of  Arthur  ConoUy  himself.  But  I  have  an 
autograph  letter  from  Colonel  Stoddart,  dated  May  28, 
1842,  the  last,  perhaps,  firom  those  brother-prisoners  which 
ever  reached  the  outer  world.  In  this  Stoddart  speaks, 
with  some  detail,  of  the  war  between  Bokhara  and 
Khokund,  and  concludes  his  letter  by  saying :  '  No  change 


192  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  \jlI^ 

has  taken  place  in  our  treatment,  though  hopes,  so  long 
found  to  be  deceitful,  are  held  out  to  us,  on  the  return  of 
the  Chief,  said  to  be  about  to  take  place  very  soon.'  And 
a  week  or  two  afterwards  the  Ameer  returned,  flushed  with 
conquest,  from  the  war  against  the  Khokundees ;  and  one 
of  the  first  acts  by  which  he  celebrated  his  victoiy  was  the 
execution  of  the  English  captives. 

The  last  scene  of  this  sad  tragedy  is  believed  to  have 
been  performed  on  the  17th  of  June.  It  has  been  described 
by  different  persons.  I  am  still  inclined  to  think  that  the 
most  trustworthy  story  is  that  of  the  Akhond-Zadeh  Saleh 
Mahomed,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made  in 
this  narrative.  He  said  that  he  derived  his  information 
from  one  of  the  executioners,  and  that  he  had  seen  the 
graves  of  the  murdered  men.  On  that  17  th  of  June,  1843, 
it  is  said,  they  were  taken  out  of  their  miserable  dungeon 
and  conducted  into  an  open  square,  where  a  multitude  of 
people  were  assembled  to  witness  the  execution  of  the 
Feringhees.  With  their  hands  bound  before  them,  they 
stood  for  some  time,  whilst  their  graves  were  made  ready 
for  them.  Stoddart  was  first  called  forth  to  die.  Cxying 
aloud  against  the  tyranny  of  the  Ameer,  he  knelt  down, 
and  his  head  was  cut  off  with  a  huge  knife.  Then  ConoUy 
was  told  to  prepare  himself  for  death  5  but  life  was  ofiered 
to  him,  if  he  would  abjure  Christianity  and  adopt  the 
religion  of  Mahomed.  To  this  he  is  said  to  have  replied 
indignantly,  '  Stoddart  became  a  Mussulman,  and  yet  y^^ 
have  killed  him.  I  am  prepared  to  die.'  Then  he  knelt 
down,  stretched  forth  his  neck,  and  died  by  the  hand  of  the 
executioner. 


1B49.I  HIS  DEATH.  193 


Another  version  of  the  closing  scene  is  this.  When 
Joseph  Wolff,  afterwards,  moved  more  than  aught  else  bv 
the  strength  of  his  love  for  Arthur  Conolly,  journeyed  to 
Bokhara  to  learn  the  history  of  his  fate,  if  dead,  or  to 
endeavour  to  rescue  him  from  captivity,  if  alive,  he  was 
told  that '  both  Captain  Conolly  and  Colonel  Stoddart  were 
brought  with  their  hands  tied,  behind  the  ark,  or  palace  of 
the  King,  when  Colonel  Stoddart  and  Captain  Conolly 
kissed  each  other,  and  Stoddart  said  to  Mekram  Saadut, 
"  Tell  the  Ameer  that  I  die  a  disbeliever  in  Mahomet,  but 
a  believer  in  Jesus — that  I  am  a  Christian,  and  a  Christian 
I  die.**  And  Conolly  said,  '*  Stoddart,  we  shall  see  each 
other  in  Paradise,  near  Jesus."  Then  Saadut  gave  the  order 
to  cut  off,  first  the  head  of  Stoddart,  which  was  done  5  and 
in  the  same  manner  the  head  of  Conolly  was  cut  off.* 

And  so  Arthur  Conolly,  pure  of  heart,  chastened  by 
affliction,  the  most  loving  and  unselfish  of  men,  passed  out 
of  great  tribulation  with  his  garments  washed  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb. 


It  must  be  admitted  that  some  uncertainty  still  obscures 
the  death  of  Arthur  Conolly  and  his  companion  in  mis- 
fortune. It  has  been  contended  that  the  sacrifice  was  not 
consummated  until  the  year  1843.  Dr  Wolff,  after  all  his 
explorations  and  inquiries  on  the  spot,  was  for  some  time 
in  a  state  of  incertitude  as  to  the  date  of  their  execution, 
and  at  last  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  they  were  butchered 
in  the  early  part  of  1843.     'On  my  arrival  at  Teheran,* 

be  said  in  his  publbhed  book,  *  Colonel  Shiel  asked  me 
VOL.  II.  13 


194  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  {O^ 


whether  Colonel  Stoddart  and  Captain  Conolly  had  been 
put  to  death   in   1259  of  the   Hejirah  (1843),  or  1258 
(1842).*     I  told  him  that  the  Naib  had  said   1259,  but 
that  twenty  months  had  elapsed  between  the  time  of  my 
arrival   and   their   execution.     I  told   him   on   a  second 
occasion  that,  according  to  this  calculation^  the  execution 
was  in  1258  (1842),  to  which  he  agreed.     On  leaving, 
however,  for  Tabreez,  Abbas  Kouli  Khan  and  myself  had 
some  conversation  on  this  subject^  and  he  then  said,  ''I 
made  most  accurate  inquiries  pursuant  to  my  official  in- 
structions.    You  may  depend  upon  it  that  the  information 
I  have  obtained  about  their  execution  is  more  correct  than 
your  own.     Stoddart  and  Conolly  were  put  to  death  eleven 
months  before  your  arrival.'*    He  then  said,  emphatically, 
*'  They  were  put  to  death  as  the  Naib  told  you  at  the  first, 
in  the  year  12595  not  I2j8."    And,*  adds  Dr  WolflF,  'as 
it  is  certain  that  Shakespear's  note,  with  the  letter  of  Lord 
EUenborough,  arrived  before  their  execution,  the  informa- 
tion of  Abbas  Kouli  Khan,  and  the  first  official  statement 
of  the  King  and  Abdul  Samut  Khan,  is  correct/     But  that 
which  Dr  Wolff  here  says  is  'certain,'  is  anything  but 
certain.     If  Lord  Ellenborough*s  letter   to  the  Khan  of 
Bokhara,  which  bears  date  October  i,  1842,  was  received 
before  the  death  of  Stoddart  and  Conolly,  it  is  certain  that 
they  were  not  executed  in  June.    But  the  principal  author- 
ity for  this  statement  appears  to  have  been  one  Hadjee 
Ibrahim  (a  brother  of  Abdul  Samut  Khan),  of  whom  it  is 
said  that  *  cunning  and  knavery  were  depicted  in  his  very 

*  The  year  1258  commenced  Feb.  ii,   1842.     See  anUy  page 
161  • 


1843.]  QUESTION  OF  DATES,  195 

look.'  This  man  told  Dr  WolfF  that  '  ConoUy  came  with 
letters  from  the  Ambassador  at  Caubul.  He  was  put  in 
prison.  Then  a  letter  came  from  the  Sultan.  The  Ameer 
cast  it  away  with  disdain^  and  said,  ''  The  Sultan  is  half  a 
Kafir.  I  want  a  letter  from  the  Queen  of  England.**  Some 
time  after  a  letter  arrived  from  the  Sirkar  of  Hind  (the 
Governor- General).  'This  letter,'  said  he,  with  a  sneer, 
'stated  that  Stoddart  and Conolly  were  '*  innocent  travellers.^' 
Upon  which  the  Ameer  was  so  angry  that  he  put  them  to 
death  j  and  I  have  this  account  from  my  brother,  Abdul 
Samut  Khan.'  In  Lord  Ellenborough's  letter  the  prisoners 
were  described  as  *  innocent  travellers.*  But  as  the  Bok- 
hara authorities  were  naturally  anxious  to  justify  the 
execution  of  the  prisoners,  and  as  the  official  repudiation  of 
them  by  the  Governor-General  placed  them  before  the 
Ameer  in  the  position  of  spies  and  impostors,  there  was  an 
evident  purpose  in  representing  that  the  letter  had  been 
received  before  their  death. 

I  am  not  inclined  to  accept  such  interested  authority, 
in  the  *face  of  all  conflicting  evidence  which  points  to  the 
date  already  indicated.  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace 
anything  written,  either  by  Conolly  or  Stoddart,  of  a  later 
date  than  the  28th  of  May,  1842.  The  British  Army  of 
Retribution,  under  General  Pollock,  was  at  Caubul  up  to 
the  1 2th  of  October  in'  that  year,  so  that  later  letters 
might  have  been  received  by  our  people,  if  they  had  been 
despatched  to  them  from  Bokhara.  But  on  the  morning 
of  the  1 6th  of  September  Major  Rawlinson  met  one  of 
Stoddart's  servants  near  Caubul,  and  the  man  informed 
him  that  he  had  come  from  Bokhara,  where  his  master 


196  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1849. 


had  been  executed  shortly  before  his  departure.  There  is 
reason  also  to  believe  that  the  Ameer  caused  his  English 
prisoners  to  be  put  to  death  very  soon  after  his  return  from 
the  expedition  against  the  Khokundees^  and  this  certainly 
took  place  in  the  early  part  of  June^  184a.  The  evidence, 
indeed^  was  sufficiently  strong  to  convince  the  Grovemment, 
both  of  the  Queen  and  the  Company^  that  Death  scored 
the  names  of  their  officers  from  the  Army  Ldsts  on  that 
miserable  17  th  of  June. 


POSTSCRIPT.      ARTHUR   CONOLLT*S    PR4YBR-B00K. 

In  the  journal  from  which  I  have  quoted  so  fireely  in 
the  foregoing  Memoir^  mention  is  made  of  the  little 
Prayer-book  given  by  George  Macgregor  to  Arthur  Ck>nolly, 
which  had  been  so  great  a  comfort  to  the  prisoners.  This 
little  book^  which  has  been  almost  miraculously  preserved, 
served  a  double  purpose.  Spiritually  it  yielded  consolation 
to  them  in  their  affliction^  and  materially  it  received  frx>m 
day  to  day,  along  its  margins  and  on  all  its  blank  pages> 
a  record  of  the  prison-life  of  the  captives.  '  Thank  Grod/ 
wrote  Conolly,  in  one  place, '  that  this  book  was  left  to 
me.  Stoddart  and  I  have  found  it  a  great  comfort.  We  did 
not  fully  know  before  this  affliction  what  was  in  the  Psalms, 
or  how  beautiful  are  the  prayers  of  our  Church.  Nothing 
but  the  spirit  of  Christianity  can  heal  the  wickedness  and 
misery  of  these  coimtries.'  And  in  another  place :  '  De« 
siring  that  the  circumstances  of  our  last  treatment  at 
Bokhara  should  become  known,  and  conceiving  that  t 


184X.1  THE  PRA  YER-BOOK  JOURNAL.  197 


record  made  in  this  book  has  a  better  chance  of  preserv- 
ation than  one  made  upon  loose  paper,  I  herein  note  the 
chief  occurrences  since  my  arrival.' 

Many  of  the  entries  in  this  interesting  journal  are 
identical  with  those  which  constitute  the  journal-letters, 
already  quoted,  which  Arthur  Conolly  wrote  to  his  brother 
John.  But  the  Prayer-book  supplies  an  important  omis- 
sion relating  to  the  date  and  circumstances  of  the  first 
seizure  and  imprisonment  of  Stoddart  and  Conolly.  The 
record  commences  with  this  retrospective  statement :  '  On 
the  loth  of  November,  1841,  Stoddart  joined  me  at  the 
Naib's,  and  on  the  19th  we  removed  thence  to  a  good 
house,  given  to  us  by  the  Ameer,  in  the  city,  where  we 
were  well  entertained  for  a  month.  At  our  first  audience, 
the  Ameer  expressed  his  resolve  to  send  Stoddart  away 
immediately,  and  to  keep  me  as  British  Agent,  seeming 
only  to  hesitate  a  little  on  account  of  the  non-arrival  of  a 
reply  to  his  letter  to  the  Queen  3  but  we  at  this  time  re- 
ceived friendly  intimations  that  we  were  both  distrusted, 
and  the  Chief,  after  sounding  us  by  different  questions  as 
to  the  way  by  which  I  should  go,  decided  to  keep  us 
both  awhile.  We  had  four  or  five  interviews  with  the 
Ameer  that  month,  in  all  of  which  he  cross-examined  me 
and  Allahdad  Khan  about  the  object  of  our  journey  to 
Khiva  and  Khokund,  and  expressed  impatience  for  a  reply 
to  his  letter  to  the  Queen — once  proposing  that  I  should 
go  home  wA  Russia  to  ascertain  why  it  had  not  been  sent. 
.....  Towards  the  end  of  November  reports  came  that 

Shah  Soojah  had  been  deposed  at  Caubul, and 

that^  in  a  word,  our  infiuence  in  Afghanistan  had  been 


198  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [x84S. 

quite  destroyed.  The  Ameer  questioned  us  about  these 
rumours  5  we  could  only  express  doubt  of  their  truth.  But 
they  evidently  gained  hold  of  his  Majesty's  mind^  and 
encouraged  him  to  think  that  we  had  been  cut  off  from 
our  support  5  for  after  summoning  us  to  Court  on  the 
2nd  of  December^  he^  after  a  loose  and  querulous  complsunt 
that  our  policy  was  not  clear^  suddenly  attacked  me  about 
our  missions  to  Khiva  and  Khokimd,  saying,  in  an  over- 
bearing and  contemptuous  manner,  he  perfectly  understood 
that  the  object  of  our  dealing  with  those  states  was  only  to 
incite  them  to  enmity  against  him  3  but  that  we  must  not 
think,  because  we  had  got  five  or  six  Afghan  houses^  that  we 
could  play  the  same  game  here,  for  that  Toorkistan  could 
not  bear  it.  I  replied  that  the  English  Grovemment  never 
urged  underhand  war^  that  it  was  able^  please  God,  to 
encounter  any  enemy  in  its  own  strength,  and  that  where 
it  designed  hostility,  it  woidd  declare  the  same  openly^ 
but  that  it  had  from  the  first  really  entertained  towards  his 
Majesty  the  fi-iendly  desires  which  it  had  through  every 
channel  professed.  The  Ameer  on  this  accused  me  of 
talking  big,  said  he  would  imprison  me,  and  then  an  army 
might  come  and  see  what  it  coidd  do.* 

It  appeared,  however,  at  the  time,  that  this  was  an  idle 
threat.  The  English  gentlemen  received  assurances  firom 
different  quarters  that  the  Ameer  had  only  designed  to 
sift  them,  and  that  he  was  satisfied  with  the  result. 
Friendly  messages  came  asking  them  about  the  time  and 
manner  of  their  departure.  On  the  loth.  Colonel  Stod- 
dart  received  a  despatch  fi*om  Lord  Palmerston,  the  contents 
of  which  were  made  known  to  the  Ameer>  who  again 


t«4X.]  THE  PRA  YER'BOOK  JOURNAL,  199 


expressed  disappointment  that  there  was  no  letter  from  the 
Queen.  '  On  the  19th,'  continues  the  record  in  the  Prayer- 
book^  '  the  Ameer  summoned  Stoddart  and  myself  to 
Court,  and  talked  long  and  graciously  with  us  about  the 
continued  bad  rumours  from  Caubul.  As  we  were  leaving 
the  citadel,  a  Mehrum  came  after  us  to  say  that  the  King 
had  heard  that  I  possessed  a  very  superior  watch,  and  that 
his  Majesty  would  like  to  see  it.  I  went  home  and  re- 
turned alone  with  my  gold  M*Cabe  chronometer,  which 
on  a  second  mterview  I  presented  to  his  Majesty.  He 
graciously  accepted  it,  and  for  some  time  conversed  with 
me  very  kindly  about  the  superiority  of  English  manufac- 
tures.* These  favourable  appearances,  however,  were 
deceptive.  On  the  foUowing  day  they  were  told  to  fix 
a  period  at  which  they  woxild  guarantee  the  receipt  of  an 
answer  to  the  Ameer's  letter,  or  else  provide  ransom-money 
to  the  amount  often  or  twenty  thousand  tillahs,  in  which 
case  they  would  receive  safe  conduct  across  the  Oxus. 
Otherwise  they  could  only  look  for  imprisonment.  'We 
answered,'  wrote  Conolly  in  the  Prayer-book, '  that  although 
we  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  fullest  letters  were  on  the 
road,  we  could  not  undertake  to  say  positively  when  they 
would  arrive,  that  we  did  not  understand  upon  what  point 
the  mind  of  the  Ameer  required  to  be  satisfied,  but  that  if 
the  assurances  his  Majesty  desired  could  be  had  either  from 
Persia  or  from  Caubul,  we  thought  that  they  could  be  obtained 
in  the  course  of  two  months.  We  said  that  we  were  not 
authorized  to  give  money  for  our  release^  and  woidd  not 
consent  to  do  so,  as  that  would  be  tantamount  to  an  acknow- 
ledgement that  we  had  committed  crime  against  the  Ameer, 


200  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY,  [184a. 

whereas  we  had  only  been  the  bearers  of  kind  commo- 
nications  from  the  British  Government ;  and  we  begged 
him  to  be  good  enough  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  letter 
which  the  English  Minister^  Lord  Palmerston^  had  an^ 
nounced  the  Gfovemor-Greneral  would  write  to  bis  Majesty.' 
But  this  reply  was  not  satisfactory^  and  on  that  d^ — the  20tb 
of  December — at  sunset,  they  were '  ccmducted  to  the  house 
of  the  Topshee-Bashee,  or  master  gunner  of  the  citadel/ 
where  they  were  '  confined  together  in  a  small  room,  where 
the  brother  and  the  nephew  of  the  Topshee-Bashee  slept 
to  guard  them.*  This  removes  ail  doubt  with  respect  to 
the  accuracy  of  the  previous  statement  that  Stoddart  and 
Conolly  were  cast  into  prison  m  the  third  week  of  De- 
cember. 

This  record  contains  also  the  following  narrative  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  first  attempt  made  to  induce  Conolly 
to  apostatize.  It  happened  on  the  evening  of  the  27th  of 
December :  *  The  Meer-shub  came  down  to  our  room  with 
the  Topshee-Bashee,  and  ordered  me,  in  a  rough  manner, 
to  take  off  my  coat  and  neckcloth.  We  thought  he  had 
been  sent  to  put  me  \.o  death,  and  Stoddart,  who  knew  him, 
conjured  him  to  say  what  was  intended.  He  replied  that 
nothing  was  designed  against  either  of  our  lives,  but  that  I 
had  incurred  the  Khan  Huzrut*s  displeasure,  and  that  in 
this  case  clothes  like  mine  were  out  of  place.  Then  causing 
me  to  go  on  disrobing,  till  I  stood  in  my  shirt  and  drawers, 
he  called  for  a  torn  and  stinking  sheepskin  cloak  and  a 
cotton  girdle  cloth  to  match,  which  he  made  me  put  on, 
and  departed,  telling  Stoddart  that  he  might  remain  as  he 
was,  for  that  he  and  his  clothes  were  all  right.     When  tb* 


l«4T— 43-]         3n«5  PI^A  YER'BOOK  JOURNAL.  aoi 

doors  of  the  house  had  been  barred  for  the  nighty  we  heard 
a  knocking  without,  and  the  Topshee-Bashee  presently 
came  into  the  room,  bearing  his  axe  of  office,  and  after  a 
tew  moments  of  serious  silence  turned  to  me,  and  asked  if 
I  would  become  a  Mussulman,  and  remain  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  favour  at  Bokhara.  We  both  thought  that  he  had 
been  sent  to  announce  death  as  the  alternative  5  therefore, 
to  avoid  argument,  by  which  he  might  hope  to  persuade 
me,  I  told  him  most  decidedly  that  my  religion  was  a 
matter  between  me  and  my  God,  and  that  I  would  suffer 
death  rather  than  change.  All  the  world  knew,  I  said, 
that  a  forced  profession  of  Mahomedanism  was  null,  and 
that  Colonel  Stoddart  had  consented  to  repeat  the  Kulna  at 
a  time  when  his  character  was  not  rightly  understood  here, 
solely  to  avoid  bloodshed  and  disorder  5  but  that  I  had 
come  to  Bokhara  on  the  invitation  of  the  Huzrut,  against 
whom  I  had  committed  no  fault,  and  that  there  must  be 
no  more  of  this  work.  The  Topshee-Bashee  seemed  to 
assent  to  what  I  had  said,  and  told  me  that  the  proposal 
Jiad  not  come  from  the  Ameer,  but  that  a  certain  person 
had  suggested  it  to  him.  I  said  I  was  glad  to  hear 
that,  but  begged  him  distinctly  to  understand  that,  come 
from  whence  it  might,  nothing  should  induce  me  to  ac- 
cept  it* 

This  little  Prayer-book  contained  also  Arthur  Conolly's 
will.  He  was  very  anxious  that  all  his  debts  should  be 
paid,  and  that  his  servants  and  followers,  who  had  shared 
the  perils  of  his  journey,  should  be  provided  for  from  the 
residue  of  his  estate.  He  thought  also,  with  tenderest 
compassion^  of  some  more  helpless  dependents^  saying; 


202  CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  CONOLLY.  [1841-42. 

'  Among  my  private  servants  is  a  negro  whom  1  tansomed 
at  Khiva.  I  beg  my  brother  John  to  keep  him^  or  to: 
get  him  into  some  other  service,  in  case  of  my  death. 
Mohamed,  the  Afghan  boy,  whom  I  was  obliged  to  buy, 
as  reported  in  one  of  my  letters  to  Sir  William  Macnaghten 
from  Khiva,  is  a  willing  lad,  and  I  hope  some  Englishman 
will  take  him  into  service,  if  he  escapes  hence  to  Caubul. 
He  has  a  mother  at  Herat,  but  were  he  to  be  sent  back  in 
the  Ameer's  time  he  would  only  be  sold  again.  .  .  .  There 
is  an  old  man  in  London  known  to  Mrs  Orr,  and  to  Mr 
Allen,  the  publisher  of  Leadenhall-street,  to  whom  I 
intended  to  give  half-a-crown  weekly  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  I  send  home  a  year's  allowance,  and  Mrs  Orr  pro- 
mised me  the  pittance  should  not  fail.  In  the  event  of  my 
death,  pray  let  his  allowance  be  continued  to  him  by  some 
of  the  family.  He  is  a  worthy  old  man.*  He  then  be- 
thought himself  of  many  far-off  friends,  to  whom  he  wished 
to  send  his  affectionate  remembrances.  'A  great  many 
valued  friends,'  he  wrote, '  to  whom  I  should  like  to  ex- 
press my  love,  come  to  mind  5  but  I  cannot  now  par- 
ticularize them.  If  you  meet  Henry  Graham  of  the  Bengal 
Engineers,  and  Mansell  of  the  Civil  Service,  remember  me 
most  kindly  to  them  \  also  Robert  Farquharson  and  Pany 
Woodcock;  Robertson,  late  Governor  of  Agra,  and  our 
mutual  friend  of  the  same  name  in  the  13  th.  Write  also 
my  best  remembrance  to  Mr  Mack,  late  of  the  Russian 
Mission,  and  thank  him  for  his  letters  to  me  from  Meshed. 
I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  name  Mr  Marjoribanks  at 
the  head  oi  the  list.  He  well  knows  my  grateful  attach- 
ment to  him.*    And  so  to  the  last,  in  the  midst  of  his  own 


1841—42.]  THE  PR  A  ^HR'BOOIC.  203 

fiufferings^  he  was  loving^  and  compassionate^  and  thought- 
fill  for  others.     Self  had  been  utterly  crucified  within  him. 


The  little  book  in  which  the  preceding  entries  were 
made  found  its  way,  after  Arthur  ConoUy's  death,  into  one 
of  the  bazaars  of  Bokhara,  whence  it  was  recovered  by  a 
Russian  prisoner,  who  consigned  it  to  Greneral  IgnatiefF, 
when  the  mission  under  that  officer  visited  Bokhara  in 
1858.  On  returning  to  the  Russian  frontier  and  proceeding 
to  Orenburg,  the  Greneral  intrusted  the  little  book  to  the 
care  of  Major  Salatzki,  a  member  of  his  mission,  with  the 
view,  originally,  of  its  presentation  to  the  Greographicai 
Society  of  Great  Britain.  But  when  it  was  subsequently 
discovered  that  the  notes  were  of  a  personal  rather  than  a 
scientific  character,  it  was  rightly  considered  that  it  would 
be  a  more  appropriate  gift  to  the  family  of  the  deceased 
owner.  So  one  day  in  1862 — twenty  years  after  Arthur 
Conolly's  death — it  was  left  at  the  door  of  his  sister,  Mrs 
Macnaghten,  in  Eaton-place. 


904 


MAJOR  ELDBJSD  POTTINGER. 

Cbosn  i8xi.— died  X843.] 

THE  father  of  Eldred  Pottinger  was  an  Irish  gendemaa 
— Thomas  Pottinger,  of  Mount  Pottinger,  in  the  county 
of  Down,  who  married  Charlotte,  the  only  child  of  James 
Moore,  another  Irish  gentleman,  whose  place  of  residence, 
however,  was  for  the  most  part  in  the  Danish  capital.  This 
lady  had  many  and  great  accomplishments,  and  strong  liter- 
ary tastes,  which  might  have  borne  good  fruit,  but  that 
death  cut  short  her  early  promise  5  she  passed  away  fix)m 
the  scene,  after  a  few  years  of  wedded  happiness,  leaving 
behind  her  an  only  son,  the  subject  of  this  Memoir. 

Eldred  Pottinger  was  born  on  the  12th  of  August,  181 1. 
He  was  scarcely  two  years  old  when  his  mother  died.  But 
ne  seems  to  have  inherited  from  her  a  love  of  letters  and  a 
readiness  in  the  acquisition  of  languages,  which  was  very 
serviceable  to  him  in  later  days.  He  was  docile,  and  in  all 
things  quick  to  learn  5  but  it  was  soon  apparent  that  there 
was  a  sturdiness  of  character  and  a  love  of  enterprise  in  him, 
which  rendered  it  more  likely  that  the  tendencies  of  his 
manhood  would  be  towards  a  life  of  strenuous  action  than 
to  one  ot  studious  repose.    His  father  took  a  second  wite. 


x8ix— as]  EARLY  TRAINING.  aoj 

and  little  Eldred^  after  a  time^  went  to  live  with  his  step- 
mother^ who  in  due  course  had  children  of  her  own.  But 
Eldred  was  ever  to  her  as  her  own  son^  and  he  loved  her 
tenderly  as  a  mother.  He  was  very  affectionate  and  very 
sociable^  and  often>  when  his  father  was  absent  in  his  yacht, 
the  pleasant  companionship  of  the  boy  was  a  source  of 
comfort  to  Mrs  Pottinger  never  to  be  forgotten.  It  is  an 
undiscriminating  injustice  that  makes  step-mothers  the  hetes 
noires  of  domestic  history.  The  'injusta  noverca*  is  in  real 
life  a  rarer  personage  than  is  commonly  supposed.  At  all 
events,  the  relationship  at  Moimt  Pottinger  had  nothing 
that  was  not  beautiful  about  it  No  distinctions  were  ever 
recognized  there.  The  gentleness  and  tenderness,  the  for- 
bearance and  self-denial,  of  young  Eldred  towards  his  little 
brothers  and  ^ters  is  still  gratefiilly  remembered  5  and  I 
am  assured  by  one  of  the  latter,  that  not  until  she  had  nearly 
reached  the  age  of  womanhood  was  she  aware  that  Eldred 
was  not  her  own  brother. 

High-spirited  and  adventiirous  as  he  was,  he  was  very 
tractable,  and,  save  in  one  particular,  seldom  got  himself 
into  any  boyish  scrapes.  He  was  very  fond  of  playing  with 
gunpowder  5  and  once  very  nearly  blew  himself  up  together 
with  his  brother  John.  His  military  instincts  were  even  then 
developing  themselves,  for  nothing  delighted  him  more  in 
his  play-hours  than  to  erect  mimic  fortifications,  and  to  act 
little  dramas  of  warlike  attack  and  defence.  One  of  these 
last  had  nearly  a  tragic  termination  j  for  having,  in  execution 
of  some  warlike  project  or  other,  heaped  up  a  number  of 
heavy  stones  on  the  crest  of  the  garden  wall,  some  of  them 
fell  upon  and  well-nigh  killed  an  old  man  or  woman  who 


»o6  MAJOR  BLDRRD  POTTWGER.  [i8^ 

was  seated  on  the  other  side.  But  though  forward  ever  m 
active  adventure^  he  was  by  no  means  an  inapt  or  inattentive 
scholar^  and  he  pursued  his  studies  in  his  fatlier's  house, 
under  a  private  tutor,  with  very  commendable  success.  It 
happened,  however,  that,  on  one  occasion,  when  in  his 
fourteenth  year,  he  fell  out  with  his  preceptor  on  some  point 
either  of  discipline  or  of  learning,  and  the  tutor  threatened 
him  with  personal  chastisemenL  The  high  spirit  of  the 
boy  could  not  brook  this,  and  he  declared  that,  if  the  threat 
were  carried  into  execution,  he  would  run  away  and  seek 
his  fortune  in  some  remote  place.  The  time,  indeed,  had 
passed  for  home  teaching.  The  instincts  of  young  Eldred 
turned  towards  foreign  travel  and  military  adventure.  He 
delighted  to  peruse  the  records  of  great  battles,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  of  all  the  books  which  he  read  in  his  youth, 
the  one  which  made  the  deepest  impression  upon  him  was 
Drinkwater's  narrative  of  the  si^e  of  Gibraltar.  For  a 
youth  of  this  temper,  it  seemed  that  the  Indian  Army  opened 
out  a  field  admirably  calculated  to  develop  his  powers.  So 
a  nomination  was  obtained  for  him  to  the  Company's  military 
seminary  at  Addiscombe. 

[I  went,  not  long  ago,  with  a  very  dear  fiiend,  to  Addis- 
combe. The  ploughshare  had  passed  over  it.  It  no  longer 
exists  \  no  longer  exists  as  it  was  in  the  old  days  of  Pitt  and 
Jenkinson  5  no  longer  exists  as  it  was  when  it  flourished  as 
a  great  nursery  of  Indian  captains.  All  the  old  associations 
and  traditions  have  been  materially  effaced  by  the  despoiling 
hand  of  speculative  builders.  But  a  sort  of  moral  odour 
of  Indian  heroism  still  pervades  the  place,  for  the  desolators 
have  named  aU  the  new  roads  and  villas,  which  have  cut 


X866.J  ADDISCOMBB.  907 

the  old  place  to  pieces,  afler  such  men  as  Canning  and 
Outram,  Clyde  and  Lawrence.  I  thank  them  for  this. 
But  it  was  a  sad  sight  still  to  see  the  utter  obliteration  of 
all  that  has  twice  been  memorable  in  our  history — ^memor- 
able in  the  days  of  the  Rolliad,  and  again  in  the  best  days 
of  our  Indian  history.  With  the  former  such  a  work  as 
this  has  little  or  nothing  to  do.  But  the  Company's  Mili- 
tary Seminary  at  Addiscombe  was,  in  its  time,  a  remark- 
able institution,  and,  in  spite  of  all  its  defects,  it  sent  forth 
many  remarkable  men.  It  was  established  first  as  a  training- 
school  under  civil  government.  Lord  Liverpool's  house 
near  Croydon  became  an  academy  self-contained.  But  after 
a  while  it  expanded  into  a  cluster  of  barracks  and  study-halls, 
and  the  mUitaiy  governor  occupied  the  '  mansion.'  It  has 
the  proud  distinction  of  having  sent  forth  the  finest  race  of 
Engineer  and  Artillery  officers  that  the  world  has  ever  yet 
seen — ^men  whose  pre-eminent  merits  have  been  recognized 
by  such  heroes  as  Hardinge  and  Napier  and  Clyde,  who, 
having  risen  from  the  other  service,  were  at  least  not  preju- 
diced in  fevour  of  the  Company's  corps.  There  were  many 
grave  errors  in  the  system — ^very  grave  they  were  in  my 
time  J  *  but  there  is  scarcely  an  Addiscombe  cadet  now 
living  who  does  not  look  back  with  affectionate  remembrances 
to  the  years  which  he  spent  in  those  barracks  and  study-halls, 
and  who  does  not  admit,  in  spite  of  much  which  his  mature 
reason  condemns,  that  he  grew  there  in  knowledge  and  in 
manliness,  and  passed  out  with  the  making  of  a  first-rate 

•  After  that  time,  some  of  the  graver  errors  were,  I  believe, 
remedied.  I  hope  that  I  had  something  to  do  with  the  reform.  At 
all  events,  I  tried. 


fto8  MAJOR  BLDRED  POTTINGBR.  [tW^ 

officer  in  him.  If  it  were  only  for  the  friendships  which  I 
formed  there — some  of  which  death  only  has  severed^  whilst 
others^  after  the  lapse  of  a  thkd  part  of  a  century,  are  as 
green  as  they  were  in  our  youth — ^there  are  very  few  years 
of  my  life  which  I  would  less  willingly  suffer  to  slide  out 
of  the  calendar  of  the  Past. 

That  the  civil  and  military  services  of  the  East  India 
Company,  from  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Hailey- 
bury  College  and  the  Addiscombe  Seminary,  increased 
greatly  m  general  efficiency,  is  a  bare  historical  feet.  Men 
such  as  Elphinstone  and  Metcalfe,  Malcolm  and  Munro, 
were  independent  of  such  aids.  I  speak  of  the  general  mass 
of  the  Civil  and  Military  services  of  the  Company.  And  il 
it  had  been  only  for  the  fine  sense  of  comradeship  which 
these  institutions  developed,  they  would  have  greatly  en- 
hanced the  efficiency  of  the  Services.  Men  who  have 
known  each  other  in  youth,  and  have  kindred  associations, 
work  together  with  a  heartiness  of  zeal  less  rarely  engendered 
between  strangers  who  have  reached  the  same  point  by 
different  paths.  And  even  where  contemporary  limits  are 
passed,  and  there  is  no  personal  knowledge,  there  Is  often 
association  through  common  fiiends,  a  traditionary  fenuliarity 
with  character  and  conduct,  and  a  general  feeling  of  clanship, 
which  are  almost  as  potent  as  actual  acquaintance  in  the 
fiesh.  It  is  certain,  also,  that  these  institutions,  which  sent 
forth  many  accomplished  scholars  and  men  of  science,  did 
much  to  improve  the  general  character  of  Anglo-Indian 
society,  by  imparting  to  it  a  literary  tone,  which  had  been 
scarcely  apparent  before.  The  teachings  of  Empson  and 
Malthus,  Le  Bas  and  Jones,  of  Cape  and  Bordwine^  Bissett 


1825—27.-]  ADDISCOMBE. 


2og 


and  Straith,  and  in  the  important  departments  of  Onejital 
literature,  Ouseley,  Williams,  and  Eastwick  in  one  institution, 
Shakespear  and  Haughton  in  the  other,  all  bore  their  good 
fruit  5  and  among  those  good  fruits  was  a  greater  softness  of 
manner,  which  developed  itself  in  an  increased  regard  for 
the  feelings  of  the  natives  of  the  country.  Indeed,  these 
seats  of  learning,  with  all  their  fiiults,  were  laden  with  much 
good  to  the  two  Services,  and  I  cannot,  now  that  they 
have  passed  into  traditions,  refuse  them  a  few  words  of 
affectionate  regret.] 

Eldred  Pottinger  was  but  fourteen  when  he  went  to 
Addiscombe.  Young  as  he  was,  he  took  a  good  place  in 
his  class.  But  he  was  esteemed  among  his  comrades  rather 
as  an  active,  mMily,  courageous  boyj  very  honourable, 
truthfid,  trustworthy,  and  staunch.  Even  in  his  childish 
days,  it  had  been  observed  that  he  could  keep  a  secret  better 
than  most  grown  people.  He  was  sure  to  keep  it  if  the 
interests  of  others  were  concerned.  When  he  was  at  Addis- 
combe he  committed  a  grave  academical  offence.  The 
story  has  been  variously  told  to  me,  and  I  am  afraid  that 
the  balance  of  evidence  is  not  much  on  the  side  of  the  more 
favourable  version  of  it.  It  is  traditionary  in  his  family  that 
he  invented  a  new  kind  of  shell — said  to  have  been  some- 
thing very  clever  for  a  youngster  of  his  years — and  that  he 
exploded  it  one  day  to  the  consternation  of  the  authorities, 
and  very  probably  to  the  extreme  peril  of  his  comrades. 
But  his  Addiscombe  contemporaries  believe  that  he  was 
moved  to  this  exploit  less  by  a  love  of  science  than  by  a 
love  of  mischief,  and  that  in  reality  he  merely  charged  an 
old  shell  with  gunpowder,  and  fired  it  from  a  mortar  in  the 

VOL.  II.  14 


310  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1837-57. 

college  grounds.  Fortunately^  the  question  is  one  wluch 
it  is  not  material  to  decide.  There  was  as  much  good 
promise  in  the  mischief  as  there  would  have  been  in  the 
scientific  ardour  of  the  young  artilleryman ;  and  it  is  far 
more  important  to  note^  that  though  others  were  inplicated 
with  him,  Grentleman-Cadet  Pottinger  took  upon  himself 
all  the  responsibility  of  the  breach  of  college  rules,  and 
tried  to  bear  all  the  punishment.  It  well-nigh  cost  him  his 
commission  5  but  nothing  would  induce  him  to  give  up  the 
names  of  those  who  were  associated  with  him  in  the  af&ir  of 
the  shell. 

After  the  usual  period  of  two  years  spent  at  Addis- 
combe,  Eldred  Pottinger  went  up  for  his  final  examination, 
and  came  out  as  a  cadet  of  Artillery.  He  selected  the 
Bombay  Presidency,  because  his  uncle.  Colonel  Henry  Pot- 
tinger, was  fast  rising  to  distinction  under  that  Grovemment 
Having  joined  the  head-quarters  of  his  regiment,  he  devoted 
himself  very  assiduously  to  the  duty  of  mastering  professional 
details  both  military  and  scientific.  In  the  knowledge  of 
these  he  made  rapid  progress;  and  in  due  course  was 
appointed  quarter-master  of  a  battalion.  Having  served 
thus,  for  some  time,  on  the  Regimental  Staff,  he  was,  through 
the  good  offices  of  his  uncle,  who  then  represented  British 
interests  in  Sindh  and  Beloochistan,  appointed  to  the 
Political  Department  as  an  assistant  to  his  distinguished 
relative.*     Though  he  had  at  no  time  any  great  amount  of 

*  There  is  an  anecdote  current  respecting  this  period  of  Eldred 
Pottinger's  service,  which  is  worthy  of  narration,  tixough  I  do  not 
vouch  for  the  absolute  correctness  of  the  words  in  which  it  is  here 
narrated.    One  day,  Eldred  appeared  before  his  unde  in  a  great  state 


1837.]  FIRST  YEARS  IN  INDIA.  an 


Oriental  book-learning,  he  had  a  considerable  colloquial 
knowledge  of  the  native  languages,  which  he  improved 
under  his  uncle*s  superintendence.  But  an  eager  longing 
for  active  employment  had  taken  possession  of  him,  and 
there  was  that,  in  the  poHtical  atmosphere  at  the  time, 
which  rendered  it  likely  that  the  coveted  opportunity  would 
soon  present  itself.  And  it  soon  came.  Events  were  taking 
shape  in  the  countries  between  India  and  Persia,  which 
made  it  a  matter  of  no  small  importance  to  the  British  Go- 
vernment in  the  East  that  they  should  obtain  accurate  in- 
formation relating  to  all  that  was  passing  in  Afghanistan  > 
and  as  Eldred  Pottinger  was  willing  to  penetrate  that  country 
as  an  independent  traveller,  his  uncle  the  Resident  was  well 
disposed  to  accept  the  offer.  It  was,  in  truth,  precisely  the 
kind  of  service  which  the  adventurous  spirit  of  the  young 
artilleryman  was  most  eager  to  embrace  5  and  so  he  went 
forth,  full  of  hope  and  expectancy,  as  one  loving  danger 
and  excitement  for  its  own  sake,  and  longing  to  be  of  service 
to  his  coimtry  3  but  moved  little  by  personal  ambition,  for 
he  had  none  of  the  vanity  of  youth,  and  self-seeking  was 
far  from  him.  His  enthusiasm  was  of  a  sturdy,  stubborn 
kind.     It  cannot  be  said  that  he  had  much  imagination  j 

of  excitement,  declaring  that  he  had  been  grossly  insulted  by  a  native 
— a  hoFsekeeper,  or  some  other  inferior  person— on  which  Henry 
Pottinger,  amused  by  his  young  relative's  earnestness,  said,  smilingly, 
to  him,  *  So,  I  suppose  you  killed  him,  Eldred  ? '  *  No,'  replied  the 
young  subaltern  ;  *  but  I  will,  imde.*  Thinking  that  this  was  an  in- 
struction fix)m  higher  authority,  he  was  quite  earnest  in  his  declaration. 
It  need  not  be  added  that  the  joke  exploded,  and  that  the  retributive 
hand  was  restrained. 


aia  MAJOR  ELDRRD  POTTINGER.  [1837. 


but  he  had  something  still  better,  an  abiding  sense  of  his 
duty  to  his  countiy. 


He  started  in  the  disguise  of  a  Cutch  horse-dealer,  and 
journeyed  onwards  towards  Caubul,  with  a  most  unostenta- 
tious retinue,  and  attracted  little  attention  as  he  went.  The 
route  which  he  took  was  that  of  Shikarpore,  Dehra  Ismael 
Khan,  and  Peshawur.  At  Caubul  he  determined  to  push 
his  way  on,  through  the  difficult  country  inhabited  by  the 
Imauk  and  Hazareh  hordes,  to  Herat,  the  famous  frontier 
city  of  Afghanistan,  assuming  for  this  purpose  the  disguise 
of  a '  Syud,*  or  holy  man,  from  the  lower  part  of  the  country. 

Here  his  adventures  commenced.  He  was  eager  to 
explore  this  rugged  and  inhospitable  hill-country,  knowing 
well  the  dangers  of  the  route,  but  knowing  also  the  im- 
portance of  obtaining  correct  information  relating  to  it 
'  As  I  had  made  up  my  mind,*  he  wrote  in  his  journal, 
'  against  the  advice  of  the  few  acquaintances  I  had  in 
Caubul,  and  there  was  some  suspicion  that  Dost  Mahomed 
would  prevent  my  proceeding  to  Herat,  on  quitting  the 
place  I  gave  out  that  I  was  going  out  with  Syud  Ahmed 
to  see  the  defile  of  the  Logur  River.  Afler  dark  I  lefl  the 
house  on  foot,  having  some  days  previously  sent  the  horses 
to  a  caravanserd,  and  thence  ordered  those  I  intended  taking 
to  join  me  at  the  bridge,  where  my  guide  also  met  and 
escorted  us  to  his  house  at  Vizierabad,  a  few  miles  from  the 
city/ 

He  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he  fell  in  with  a  man 
who  had  known  Sir  Alexander  Burnes,  and  who  strongly 


1837.]  yOURNRY  TO  HERAT.  213 


suspected  that  Pottinger  was  a  Feringhee.     '  We  here  met 
a  traveller  from  the  opposite  direction,'  he  wrote  in  his 
journal,  '  an  acquaintance  of  my  guide,  who  had  been  a 
pack-horse  driver  with  the  kafila,  which  Sir  A.  Bumes  ac- 
companied to  Balkh.     He  was  struck  by  the  fiiss  my  guide 
was  making  about  me,  and  appeared  to  discover  me.     He 
joined  us,  and  commenced  talking  of  the  ^'  Feringhees'*  and 
''Sekundur  Bumes."     He  told  me  that  officer  had  em- 
ployed him  to  collect  old  coins  at  Balkh,  and,  praising  his 
liberality,  gave  me  several  hints  that  he  expected  I  would 
be  equally  so,  and  give  him  a  present     But  to  all  I  turned 
a  deaf  ear,  and  would  not  be  recognized,  though  I  listened 
with  all  complacency  to  his  stories,  and  chimed  in  with  the 
usual  explanations  in  his  pauses,  so  that,  as  his  acquaintance 
would  give  him  no  information,  he  finally  took  leave  of  us, 
evidently  in  much  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  sur- 
mise.'    A  few  days  afterwards  he  was  again  suspected.     A 
Kuzzilbash  asked  him  whence  he  came— if  fi*om  Lucknow. 
*  I  feared,'  said  Pottinger,  'he  had  been  there,  so  said  *^  from 
near  Shahjehanabad  5 "  upon  which  he  informed  me  that 
Lucknow  was  a  very  fine  city,  and  the  only  place  in  India 
which  the  Feringhees  had  not  taken  5  that  he  had  never 
been  there  himself,  but  knew  a  person  who  had.     Seeing 
him  pause  for  an  answer,  I  replied  that  he,  doubtless,  was 
right  J  that  I  myself  had  the  honour  of  being  acquainted 
with  a  SjTud  whose  friend  had  been  to  Lucknow.'  * 

But  a  far  more  serious  difficulty  awaited  him  in  Yakoob 
Beg's  country.     This  man  was  a  noted  Hazareh  chief,  who 

«  These  and  all  the  following  extracts  are  from  the  unpublished 
journals  of  Eldred  Pottinger. 


214  MAJOR  ELDRBD  POTTINGER.  [183^ 

was  wont  to  levy  black  mail  upon  all  travellers,  and,  if  it 
suited  his  purpose,  to  sell  them  off  into  slaveiy.  He  was 
not  a  bad  man,  after  his  kind,  but  he  was  surrounded  and 
influenced  by  a  crew  of  unscrupulous  ruflSans,  and  Pottinger 
and  his  companions  were  for  some  time  in  danger  of  losing 
either  their  liberties  or  their  lives.  Detained  for  several 
days  in  Yakoob  Beg*s  fort,  the  young  English  oflficer  was 
rigorously  examined,  and  was  often  at  his  wits*  end  to 
answer  the  questions  that  were  put  to  him.  Of  the  dangers 
and  difficulties  by  which  he  was  surrounded  he  has  given 
an  interesting  account  in  his  journal.  '  The  chief,'  he  says, 
'  was  the  finest  Hazareh  I  had  seen,  and  appeared  a  well- 
meaning,  sensible  person.  He,  however,  was  quite  In  the 
hands  of  his  cousin,  an  ill-favoured,  sullen,  and  treacherous- 
looking  rascal.  I,  by  way  of  covering  my  silence>,  and 
to  avoid  much  questioning,  took  to  my  beads,  and  kept 
telling  them  with  great  perseverance,  no  doubt  miuch  to 
the  increase  of  my  reputation  as  a  holy  personage.  Syud 
Ahmed  did  the  same  to  cover  his  ignorance  of  the  Sheeah 
forms.  This  turned  the  conversation  on  refigious  subjects, 
and  I  found  that  these  people  knew  more  than  we  gave 
them  credit  for,  and  though  on  abstruser  points  I  could 
throw  dust  in  their  eyes,  yet  on  the  subject  of  every-day 
duties  I  was  completely  brought  to  a  stand-still  by  my  ig- 
norance of  the  Sheeah  faith,  and  fear  lest  I  should,  by  men- 
tioning Soonee  rules,  cause  a  discovery.  Sjoid  Ahmed  was 
equally  puzzled,  and  felt  in  fiill  the  false  position  I  was  in, 
and  the  want  of  a  skilful  and  clever  aid  to  take  the  brant 
off  my  shoulders.  Hoosain  did  all  he  could,  but  he  was 
too  distant  to  prompt  me,  and  by  several  blunders^  or 


t837.]  DANGERS  ON  THE  ROAD.  215 

rather  iuappropriate  attempts  of  his  to  support  me,  I  was 
regularly  floored,  and  at  last  had  to  declare  that  I  had  not 
a  proper  knowledge  of  these  things.  I  had  been  a  soldier 
and  had  not  studied,  but  would  do  so  now.  The  confusion 
I  showed,  and  the  ignorance  of  some  of  my  answers,  raised 
the  suspicion  of  the  chiefs  cousin,  who,  on  one  of  the  party 
asking  if  the  Feringhees  had  not  conquered  all  Hindostan, 
said:  *^Why,  he  may  be  a  Feringhee  himself.  I  have 
always  heard  that  the  Hindostanees  are  black,  and  this  man 
18  fairer  than  we  are.**  I  am  sure  we  must  all  have  shown 
signs  of  confusion  at  this.  For  my  own  part,  I  felt  my 
cheeks  tingle,  and  my  presence  of  mind  fast  filing  me, 
particularly  as  the  whole  assembly  turned  towards  me.  I 
had,  however,  no  time  for  observation,  and  found  I  must 
say  something  for  myself.  Hoosain  had  at  once  commenced 
a  vigorous  denial,  in  which  he  was  joined  by  the  Caubul 
merchant ;  yet  the  chief,  a  shrewd  fellow,  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  them,  and  evidently  appeared  to  think  there  was 
some  truth  in  it;  and  the  multitude,  ever  prone  for  the 
wonderflil,  were  already  talking  of  the  Feringhee  in  no 
very  complimentary  terms,  scarcely  one  paying  attention  to 
my  defenders.  I,  therefore,,  addressing  the  chie^  said  that 
such  inhospitality  had  never  before  been  heard  of;  that  here 
I  had  come  as  a  pilgrim  trusting  to  his  aid;  that  I  had 
chosen  an  unfrequented  and  barren  road  because  inhabited 
by  the  Mussulmans,  in  preference  to  the  easier  road,  as  it  is 
well  known  the  A%han  people  treat  them  well,  and  only 
tyrannize  over  the  sect  of  Ali,  the  lawful  Caliph ;  that  in 
India  there  were  Moguls,  Pathans,  and  all  sorts  of  people 
from  cold  climates;  that^  truly,  much  of  it  was  hot^  but  that 


2i6  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINQMR.  [1837. 

^M^>^    <■■■■■  ■■■  ■■■■■»■  ■  M^IM ^^— ^■^■^»^^^— ^W^mJ^— ^^M^^l^^i^^— ^^^^^ 

parts  were  cold  to  the  norths  and  snow  always  lay  on  the 
mountains^  and  that  if  he  asked  my  friends^  they  would  tell 
him  that  I  was  a  Kohistanee  and  a  true  belieTer.  The 
chief  appeared  satisfied  with  this^  and  turned  his  attention 
to  Syud  Ahmed  and  the  others^  who  were  all  talking 
together  at  the  top  of  their  vcHces }  and  the  multitude,  on 
finding  me  speak  as  others  did,  and  that  I  had  no  mon- 
strosity about  me,  as  they  doubtless  fancied  a  Feringhee 
should  have,  had  gradually  turned  their  attention  to  those 
who  made  most  noise;  and  I,  having  succeeded  in 
satisfying  the  demand  for  an  answer,  was  glad  to  be  silent. 
My  companions,  however,  carried  their  explanations  too 
far,  and  the  accuser,  besides  being  obliged  to  make  an 
apology,  was  taunted  and  badgered  so  much,  that  even  a 
much  less  rancorous  man  would  have  been  irritated  and 
vowed  vengeance,  and  seeing  that  my  attempts  to  quiet 
them  only  added  to  his  anger,  I  was  obliged,  to  bold  my 
peace.  It  being  now  sunset,  the  chief  get  up  and  said; 
"  I'll  not  prevent  you  fi'om  saying  your  prayers ;  as  soon  as 
I  have  finished  mine,  I  will  return/*  We  immediately 
broke  up,  and  set  to  performing  the  necessary  ablutions^ 
and  then  commenced  prayers.  I  had  no  taste  for  this 
mockery,  and  not  considering  it  proper,  never  before  having 
attempted  it,  was  rather  afraid  of  observation.  I  fortunately, 
however,  by  the  aid  of  Hoosain,  got  through  pr€^)erly,  at 
least  unremarked,  and  then  had  recourse  to  the  beads  till 
the  rest  had  finished.  Syud  Ahmed,  however,  got  into  a 
scrape ;  the  Caubulee  detected  him  as  a  Soonee,  but  he 
was  pacified  on  Hoosain  acknowledging  that  the  other  was 
but  a  new  convert  going  to  Meshed  for  instmction.' 


1837.]  DANGERS  ON  THE  ROAD,  vif 

Days  passed  5  Pottlnger  and  his  companions  were  still 
detained  j  so  they  began  to  meditate  flight.  The  operation^ 
however,  was  a  hazardous  one,  and  it  seemed  better  to  wait 
a  little  longer,  in  the  hope  of  receiving  the  chiefs  permis- 
sion for  their  departure.  Meanwhile,  there  was  no  little 
danger  of  the  real  character  of  the  party  being  discovered, 
for  their  baggage  was  subjected  to  a  search,  and  many  of 
the  articles  in  Pottinger  s  possession  were  such  as,  if  rightly 
understood,  clearly  to  divulge  his  European  origin.  Among 
these  was  a  copy  of  Elphinstone's  Cauhul,  which  puzzled 
them  greatly.  '  On  the  6th,*  wrote  Pottinger  in  his  journal, 
*  the  chief  had  evidently  an  idle  day — ^he  came  before  break- 
fast, and  afterwards  coming  a  second  time,  examined  our 
loads.  There  was  a  small  tin  can  with  medicines  in  it, 
which  attracted  his  attention  ^  but  the  danger  of  it  was 
escaped  by  saying  we  were  merely  transporting  it.  The 
printed  books  were  at  first  passed  over,  but,  being  unwatch- 
ed,  one  of  the  meddlers  hanging  about  took  Elphinstone's 
Cauhul  up,  and  happened  to  open  at  a  print.  We  were 
nearly  floored  at  once,  the  whole  party  declaring  it  was  an 
idol.  Hoosain,  however,  swore  that  it  was  not,  and  that 
the  houses  of  Kuzzilbasbes  in  Caubul  were  full  of  such 
pictures.  A  small  parcel  of  reeds  next  struck  their  atten- 
tion, and  they  woulJ  not  rest  satisfied  till  opened,  when 
they  foimd  some  pencils  and  a  pair  of  compasses,  which  I 
had  tied  there  to  preserve  their  points.  They  were  lost  in 
astonishment,  and  when  I  said  the  compasses  were  for  the 
study  of  astronomy,  a  pursuit  which  the  Persian  sect,  for 
the  purposes  of  astrology,  pay  much  attention  to,  I  was 
ourprised  to  find  it  was  in  the  Hazareh  estimation  a  forbid* 


8x8  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [183?. 

den  science.  However^  a  few  names  and  assertions  got  us 
over  that.  The  hangers-on  had,  in  the  mean  time,  got  hold 
of  a  note-book  of  mine,  in  which  was  a  catalogue  of  generic 
terms  in  English,  and  the  equivalents  in  Persian  and  Pushtoo. 
This  puzzled  them  greatly,  and  the  party  being  joined  by  a 
neighbouring  chief,  the  brother-in-law  of  Meer  yakoob, 
and  a  Syud,  both  of  whom  could  read,  there  was  a  general 
examination  of  the  writing,  and  no  explanation  would  satisfy 
them )  at  last,  tired  of  guessing,  they  gave  it  up  and  retired 
.  .  .  The  chief  asked  me  how  I  would  like  to  live  with 
him,  and  on  my  replying  that  if  in  the  summer  I  found  it 
so  cold,  what  would  I  do  in  the  winter,  he  said,  *'  Such  a 
delicate  person  as  you  would  die  in  a  week.  It  is  only  we" 
(pointing  to  his  miserable  half-starved  clansmen)  '*  who  can 
stand  the  cold.'*  The  chief  here  made  a  slight  mistake 
(from  judging  by  himself,  I  suppose)  :  he  was  certainly  a 
well-fed,  hearty-looking  fellow,  who  could  have  stood  or 
given  a  buffet  with  a  right  good  will.  As  for  the  others, 
they  were  melancholy  anatomies,  apparently  made  but  to 
prove  in  what  misery,  brutality,  and  ignorance  the  human 
kind  can  exist.  The  half-clothed  barbarians  of  Southern 
Asia  have  an  idea  that  all  persons  of  fair  complexion  most 
be  delicate,  while  we  in  general  attribute  delicacy  to  a  dark 
skin.  Their  poor — from  the  want  of  clothing — expose 
their  bodies  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weather,  and  it  be- 
comes tanned,  and  consequently  they  think  it  a  mark  of 
hardiness,  while  their  wealthy  and  great,  always  covered 
and  housed,  retain,  in  a  great  measure,  their  lightness  of 
colour.  Hence  it  is  considered  the  badge  of  delicacy  and 
effeminacy.' 


1837.]  CHEERLESS  PROSPECTS,  219 

His  prospects  were  now  anything  but  cheering.     His 
companions  were  taken  ill^  and  there  seemed  to  be  too 
much  reason  to  apprehend  that  he  would  be  detected  and 
imprisoned.    Another  source  of  disquietude  was  the  extreme 
dislike  of  his  honest  truthful  nature  to  the  imposture  which 
he  was  compelled  to  act.     *  In  the  evening,*  so  he  wrote  in 
his  journal,  'Hoosain  was  also  taken  iU  with  intermittent 
fever,  and  Syud  Ahmed  fancied  that  he  had  a  relapse.     I 
was,  therefore,  more  alone  than  usual,  and  at  the  time  I 
should  have  avoided  reflection  j  but  I  was  obliged  to  review 
the  actions  of  the  day,  which  had,  indeed,  followed  so  fast 
upon  each  other,  that  I  had  not  a  previous  moment  to  con* 
sider  the  results.     Now  that  I  looked  back>  well  knowing 
the  imposition  I  had  been  practising,  I  could  not  conceal 
from  myself  the  true  state  of  the  case,  and  that  a  discovery 
had  really  been  made ;  but  that  hitherto  good  fortune  had 
saved  us.     For  the  barbarians  were  not  certain  in  their  own 
mind,  though  a  grain  more  evidence  or  the  speech  of  a  bold 
man  would  probably  have  decided  the  afiair.     I  also  felt 
my  total  incompetency  to  meet  them  alone,  from  my  in- 
adequate knowledge  of  their  language  and  customs  \  and, 
as  people  in  my  situation  generally  do,  I  blackened  my 
prospect  a  great  deal  more  than  it  deserved.'     Thus  he 
meditated  for  a  while  \  but  he  was  a  man  naturally  of  a 
cheerfiil  and  sanguine  nature,  so  he  cast  away  imavailing 
anxieties,  and  fortified  himself  for  the  work  before  him. 
'  At  last,'  he  continued,  *  finding  that  I  could  do  nothing,  I 
judged  it  better  to  join  Hoosain's  servant  in  an  inroad  on 
our  provision-bag,  which  he  was  very  vigorously  undertak- 
ing, than  pursue  such  bootless  ruminations.'     And,  indeed^ 


aflo  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1837. 

as  he  said^  his  prospects  were  not  so  bad  as  they  seemed ; 
for,  on  the  following  day,  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  August, 
the  Hazareh  chief  yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  the  strangers 
and  suffered  them  to  depart  in  peace.    They  had  scarcely, 
however,  recommenced  their  march,  when,  to  their  dismay, 
they  were  summoned  back  again.     What  followed  may 
best  be  told  in  Pottinger's  own  words.  It  must  be  premised 
that  he  had  propitiated  Yakoob  Beg  by  the  gift  of  a  de- 
tonator gun.     '  We,  congratulating  ourselves  on  getting  off, 
were  gladly  climbing  the  rocky  glen  which  led  down  to 
the  castle,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
when  we  were  aware  of  several  men  running  after  us  at 
speed  and  shouting  for  us  to  turn  back.    We  had  no  choice 
left,  so  obeyed.     I  never  saw  such  a  change  come  over  a 
party,  particularly  as  the  slave-dealers  were  let  go,  and  we 
alone  called  back,  the  messengers  specifying  that  the  chief 
wanted  me.     I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  was  to  be  de- 
tained, and  certainly  was  too  annoyed  for  further  talk  j  it, 
however,  struck  me  the  chief  might  want  a  turnscrew  or 
bullet-mould,  and  I  left  Syud  Ahmed  behind  to  unload  the 
pony,  and,  if  he  could  find  them,  send  them  after.     For 
this  purpose  we  halted  opposite  the  strangers*  hut,  and  left 
our  cattle.     Hoosain  and  I  having  made  this  arrangement, 
and  charged  the  others  to  be  cool,  with  as  much  unconcern 
as  we  could  muster,  proceeded  on  alone.     We  had  got 
then  within  a  few  yards  of  the  esplanade  in  front  of  the 
castle  where  the  chief  was,  when  we  heard  a  shot,  and  then 
a  shout  of  exultation.     What  this  meant  we  could  not 
make  out  5  but  whatever  it  was,  it  had  the  efiect  a  good 
shout  always  has  of  raising  my  spirits,  and  I  felt  that  it 


1837.1  ARRIVE  AT  HERAT.  ^n 

would  have  been  a  great  relief  to  give  so  joyfiil  a  hurrah 
myself  j  but  as  I  thought^  we  reached  the  open  space,  and 
a  few  yards  took  us  within  speaking  distance  of  the  chiefs 
who,  in  answer  to  "  Peace  be  unto  you,"  replied,  *'  You 
may  go  now, — ^I  don*t  want  you  5  I  only  sent  for  you  to 
make  the  gun  go  oS,  but  it  is  gone  off."  I  turned  to  be 
off  too,  wishing  him  most  devoutly  a  passage  to  Tartarus, 
but  Hoosain  had  been  too  seriously  frightened  to  let  him  go 
off  so  quietly,  and  burst  out  into  so  eloquent  an  oration  that 
he  perfectly  delighted  me,  and  astonished  the  Hazarehs. 
He  asked  the  chief,  among  other  things,  "  Do  you  expect 
that  we  are  to  return  from  Herat,  if  you  choose  to  send 
every  time  your  gun  misses  fire  ? "  He,  in  fact,  quite  over- 
threw the  chief  by  his  heat,  and  that  worthy  only  appeared 
anxious  to  get  out  of  reach  of  such  a  tongue.' 

Without  much  further  adventure,  the  travellers  reached 
Herat  on  the  i8th  of  August,  having  been  twenty-six  days 
on  the  road,  eight  of  which  were  da)rs  of  detention.  Soon 
after  their  arrival  they  narrowly  escaped  being  carried  off 
and  sold  into  slavery.  '  On  our  first  arrival,*  wrote  Pottin- 
ger  on  the  20th  of  August, '  we  went  about  unarmed  j  but 
happening  to  go  to  the  Musula,  a  building  about  eight  hun- 
dred yards  firom  the  gate  of  Muluk,  built  by  Growhur  Shah 
Begum,  the  wife  of  Shah  Rook  Sooltan,  as  an  academy, 
without  the  walls,  we  were  very  nearly  carried  ofi^  by  the 
people  who  live  near  it  in  a  rendezvous  for  slaveholders. 
We  were  only  saved  by  Syud's  Ahmed's  presence  of  mind, 
who,  on  being  questioned,  said  we  had  come  with  a  party 
to  a  neighbouring  garden  to  pass  the  day,  and  that  our  com- 
panions were  coming  afler  us.     On  this  they  went  off,  and 


899  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1837. 

we  made  the  best  of  our  way  back  to  the  city^  with  a  finn 
resolution  never  again  to  venture  out  without  our  arms  \  and 
it  is  a  rule  every  one  should  follow  in  these  countries,  unless 
attended  by  an  armed  escort.  However,  in  any  case,  a 
sword  should  always  be  carried,  if  not  by  yourself,  by  an 
attendant.  So  universal  and  necessary  is  the  custom,  that 
the  Moolahs  always  travel  armed  even  with  an  army.' 

At  this  time.  Shah  Kamran,  the  reigning  Prince  of  He- 
rat, with  his  Wuzeer,  Yar  Mahomed,  was  absent  from  his 
capital,  on  a  campaign  in  the  still-disputed  territory  of  Seis- 
tan.  On  the  17th  of  September  they  returned  to  Herat, 
and  all  the  population  of  the  place  went  forth  to  greet  them. 
They  had  scarcely  arrived,  when  news  came  that  Mahomed 
Shah,  the  King  of  Persia,  was  making  preparations  for  an 
advance  on  Herat  3  and  soon  it  became  obvious  that  the 
Heratees  must  gird  themselves  up  to  stand  a  siege.  Yar 
Mahomed  was  a  base,  bad  man  5  but  he  was  not  a  weak 
one.  He  was  a  man-stealer,  a  slave-dealer  of  the  worst 
type  J  a  wretch  altogether  without  a  scruple  of  conscience 
or  an  instinct  of  humanity.  But  he  was,  after  his  kind,  a 
wise  statesman  and  a  good  soldier )  and  he  threw  himself 
into  the  defence  of  Herat  with  an  amoimt  of  vigour  and 
resolution  worthy  of  a  hero  of  a  higher  class.  Shah  Kam- 
ran was  little  more  than  a  puppet  in  his  hands.  To  this 
man,  Pottinger,  in  the  crisis  which  had  arisen,  deemed  it 
right  to  make  himself  known.  The  fall  of  Herat  would 
manifestly  be  an  event  injurious  to  British  interests.  He 
was  an  artillery  officer,  skilled  in  the  use  of  ordnance,  and 
knew  something  of  the  attack  and  defence  of  fcnrtified 
cities,  from  the  lessons  of  Straith  and  Bordwine.     Might  he 


i837-]  AT  HERAT,  S23 

not  be  of  some  use  in  this  emergency  ?  The  first  step  to  be 
taken  was  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  Yar  Mahomed.  So 
he  went  to  his  quarters.  '  He  received  me,'  wrote  Pottin- 
ger, '  most  graciously  j  rose  on  my  entrance,  and  bade  me 
be  seated  beside  himself.  He  was  seated  in  an  alcove  in 
the  dressing-room  of  his  bath.  As  it  is  not  customary  to  go 
empty-handed  before  such  people,  I  presented  my  detonat- 
ing pistols,  which  were  the  only  things  I  had  worth  giving. 
After  this  interview  I  went  about  everywhere  boldly,  and 
was  very  seldom  recognized  as  a  European.  A  few  dajrs 
afterwards,  I  paid  a  visit,  by  desire,  to  the  King.*  From  this 
time,  the  disguise  which  had  sat  so  unpleasantly  upon  him 
— ^which  had,  indeed,  been  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  his  hon- 
esty and  truthfulness — ^was  abandoned.  He  was  under  the 
protection  of  the  King  and  the  Wuzeer,  and,  save  by  their 
authority,  no  man  dared  to  molest  him. 

£ldred  Pottinger  was  the  least  egotistical  of  men.  He 
was  provokingly  reticent  about  himself  in  all  the  entries  in 
his  journal.  In  some  men  this  might  have  been  traced  to 
caution  5  for  his  papers  might  have  fallen  into  hands  for 
which  they  were  never  intended.  But,  in  him,  it  was  sim- 
ply the  modesty  of  his  nature.  It  is  not  to  be  gathered, 
from  what  he  has  written,  in  what  manner  the  Wuzeer  of 
Herat  and  the  young  English  officer  first  became  friends 
and  allies,  or  what  was  the  exact  character  of  the  relations 
established  between  them.  Yar  Mahomed  was  far  too  as- 
tute a  man  not  to  see  clearly  that  the  presence  of  an  English 
officer  in  the  besieged  city  might  be  turned  to  profitable  ac- 
count J  whilst  Pottinger,  on  his  part,  saw  before  him  a  grand 
opportunity  of  gratifying  the  strong  desire  which  had  glowed 


SS4  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1837. 


within  him  ever  since  he  was  a  child.  The  Persians  invested 
Herat,  and  his  work  began.  It  need  not  be  said  that  the 
young  artilleryman  held  no  recognized  position^  either  of  a 
military  or  a  political  character.  He  was  merely  a  volun- 
teer. But  there  were  Russian  engineers  in  the  Persian 
camp )  and  there  was  never,  perhaps,  a  time  when  a  litde 
European  skill  and  knowledge  were  more  needed  for  the 
direction  of  the  rude  energies  of  an  Oriental  army.  There 
was  much  in  the  mode  of  defence  which  excited  Pottinger  s 
contempt ;  much  which  also  evoked  his  indignation.  The 
following  passage  from  his  journal  illustrates  both  the  want 
of  humanity  and  the  want  of  wisdom  they  displayed :  '  I 
have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  recount  the  number  of 
heads  that  were  brought  in  daily,  nor  indeed  do  I  know.  I 
never  could  speak  of  this  barbarous,  disgusting,  and  inhuman 
conduct  with  any  temper.  The  number,  however,  was  al- 
wa3rs  in  these  sorties  insignificant,  and  the  collecting  them 
invariably  broke  the  vigour  of  the  pursuit,  and  prevented 
the  destruction  of  the  trenches.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
great  terror  was  inspired  by  the  mutilation  of  the  bodies, 
amongst  their  comrades  j  but  there  must  have  been,  at 
least,  equal  indignation,  and  a  corresponding  exultation  was 
felt  by  the  victors  at  the  sight  of  these  barbarous  trophies 
and  the  spoils  brought  in.  From  the  latter,  great  benefit 
was  derived,  as  it  induced  many  to  go  out  who  otherwise 
never  would  have  gone  out  willingly  3  great  benefit  was  de- 
rived from  the  arms  and  tools  brought  in  on  these  occasions  j 
but  though  the  Afghan  chiefe  fully  acknowledged  and  felt 
the  value  of  proper  combination  for  this  purpose,  they  were 
too  irregular  to  carry  through  any  arrangement.     It  always 


x837.]  THE  SIEGE  OP  HERAT.  225 

appeared  to  me  desirable  that  every  sortie  should  consist  of 
three  distinct  bodies  :  one  of  unencumbered  light  troops  to 
break  in  on  and  chase  off  the  attackers^  the  second  body  to 
be  kept  together  as  a  reserve  to  support  the  first  in  case  of 
a  cheeky  but  not  to  follow  them  farther  than  to  a  position 
sufficiently  advanced  to  cover  the  third  party,  which  should 
be  armed  with  strong  swords  or  axes,  and  be  ordered  to 
destroy  the  works  and  carry  off  as  many  tools  or  arms  as 
possible  on  the  return  of  the  sortie.  If  successful,  the  prize 
property  should  be  equally  divided  and  given  to  the  men  on 
the  spot.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  all  the  sorties  were 
made  with  swords  alone,  and  that,  though  many  slight 
wounds  were  given,  very  few  men  were  killed  outright  5  and 
that  the  Afghans,  having  apparently  exhausted  the  stimulus 
that  carried  them  on  at  first,  or  wanting  confidence  in  their 
weapons,  never  once  attempted  to  meet  the  Persian  reserves, 
the  first  shot  from  which  was  invariably  the  signal  for  a 
general  retreat.* 

Affairs  were  obviously  now  in  a  bad  way  5  and,  three 
days  before  Christmas,  Yar  Mahomed,  not  knowing  what 
to  do,  sought  the  young  English  officer's  advice.  *  Mirza 
Ibrahim,'  wrote  Pottinger  in  his  journal,  'the  Wuzeer's 
private  secretary  (I  may  call  him),  came  to  talk  quietly  over 
our  prospects.  I  suggested  that  some  one  should  be  sent  to 
the  Persian  camp  to  sound  the  chiefs,  and  I  would  go  with 
him ;  and  he  told  me  no  Afghan  would  venture,  and  that 
no  Sheeah  would  be  trusted  5  but  he  would  see  what  the 
Wuzeer  said.  It  was  our  idea  at  this  time  that  the  city 
must  eventually  fall.  All  hopes  of  diversion  until  the  equi- 
nox had  failed.     For  my  own  part,  I  could  not  understand 

VOL.  II.  15 


2fl6  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGBR.  [1838. 

what  kept  the  Persians  back.    The7  had  an  open  breach, 
and  no  obstacle  which  would  have  checked  British  troops 
for  a  single  moment.     The  Afghans  were  badly  armed,  and 
their  fire  of  small-arms  could  easily  have  been  kept  down, 
while  the  scattered  and  desultory  exertions  of  a  few  swords- 
men against  a  column  could  have  availed  little.     The  Per- 
sians, however,  had  begun  scientifically^  and  in  their  wisdom 
did  not  comprehend  what  was  to  be  done  when  the  enemy 
held  out  after  they  had  established  themselves  on  the  coun- 
terscarp.    Their  practice  under  our  officers  did  not  go  fur- 
ther, and  in  this  unheard-of  case  they  were  at  a  loss,  and 
the  European  officers  still  with  them  did  not  appear  to  have 
influence  enough  or  skill  enough  to  direct   the  attacks 
further.* 

The  new  year  found  the  siege  still  dragging  "wearily  on, 
and  the  Afghans  within  the  walls  wondering  how  it  hap- 
pened that  they  continued  to  hold  out.  Not  expecting, 
however,  that  this  state  of  things  could  last  much  longer^ 
the  Shah  and  his  Minister  again  bethought  themselves 
of  sending  Pottinger  as  a  negotiator  into  the  Persian  camp. 
On  the  19th  of  January,  the  young  English  officer  had  a 
lengthy  interview  with  Kamran,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  King  instructed  Pottinger  with  respect  to  the  language 
— strange  language,  half  entreaty  and  half  threat — ^which 
it  was  desirable  to  address  to  the  Persian  monarch.  But  a 
day  or  two  afterwards  the  King  withdrew  his  sanction  to 
the  proposed  negotiation,  and  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the 
first  week  of  February  that  Pottinger  set  forth  on  his  mission. 
The  story  is  thus  told  by  himself:  'On  the  8th  of  Februaiy 
I  went  into  the  Persian  camp.    I  took  leave  of  the  Wuzeer 


X838.]  THE  SIEGE  OF  HERAT.  2^7 


in  the  public  bath  of  the  city.  He  was  in  company  with 
the  Arz-Beg7,  Ata  Mahomed  Khan,  the  Topshee-Bashee, 
Nujeeb  Allah  Khan,  and  his  private  Mirza  (i.  e,  secretary), 
sitting  at  breakfest  on  the  floor  of  the  bath.  Not  one  of 
the  party  had  a  rag  of  clothing  on  him  except  a  cloth  round 
their  waists,  while  their  servants,  officers,  and  messengers 
from  the  ramparts  stood  round  armed  to  the  teeth.  At 
the  same  time  the  temperature  of  the  Humman  was 
so  hot  that  I  burst  into  a  profuse  sweat  on  entering,  and  it 
was  so  overpowering  that  I  would  not  sit  down  or  join 
in  their  meal,  but  hurried  off  as  quickly  as  I  could.  The 
Wuzeer  b^ged  me  to  tell  Hadjee  Aghasy,  the  Persian 
Wuzeer,  "  that  ever  since  he  had  been  honoured  by  the 
title  of  sou,  and  the  Hadjee  had  assumed  that  of  his  father, 
he  had  been  most  desirous  of  showing  his  filial  affection,  and 
had  endeavoured  to  do  so,  but  the  Hadjee,  in  a  most  un- 
patemal  manner,  had  brought  the  Shah-in-Shah  with  an 
army  to  besiege  Herat,  and  he,  by  his  salt,  was  bound  to 
stand  by  his  old  master  5  if,  however,  they  would  return  to 
Persia,  he  would  follow  and  show  his  obedience  as  a  son 
to  the  Hadjee  and  a  servant  to  the  Shah-in-Shah  5  and 
further,  whatever  might  be  his  own  wish,  the  Afghans 
would  never  surrender,  nor  dare  he  propose  such  a  thing 
to  them.  That  they  had  heard  of  the  bad  treatment  the 
Afghans  who  had  joined  Mahomed  Shah  met  with, 
and  that  they  and  he  were  aU  frightened  by  that  from 
joining  his  Persian  Majesty."  I  then  left  the  city  by  the 
gate  of  Kootoob  Chak,  accompanied  by  a  small  party  who 
went  with  me  to  within  musket-shot  of  the  village  of 
Baharan,  on  the  west  of  the  town^  which  the   Persian 


228  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  -[189I. 

picquets  occupy  at  night.  Having  left  the  Afghans^  who 
stood  watching  my  progress  and  shouting  their  good  wishes, 
I  pursued  my  way,  accompanied  by  Syud  Ahmud,  to  the 
Kasid,  whom  I  had  mounted  on  a  baggage-pony.  The 
village  was  unoccupied,  and  we  had  to  push  on  through 
twisting  narrow  lanes,  bounded  by  high  mud  walls,  and  I 
every  moment  expected  a  bullet  from  some  sentinel,  as  we 
were  approaching  in  a  manner  calculated  to  excite  suspidoxL 
The  Afghan  and  Persian  plunderers  having  frequent  skir- 
mishes amongst  these  gardens,  all  the  walls  had  breaches 
made  so  as  to  favour  the  approach  or  retreat  of  men  on 
foot  passing  these  gaps.  I  kept  a  good  look-out,  and  for- 
tunately I  did  so,  as  through  one  I  observed  the  Peraans 
running  to  occupy  the  road  we  were  following.  I  there- 
fore stopped,  and  made  Syud  Ahmud  wave  his  turban,  fiwr 
want  of  a  better  flag  of  truce.  The  Persians,  on  this,  came 
towards  us  in  a  most  irregular  manner,  so  much  so,  that  if 
twenty  horsemen  had  been  there,  the  whole  picquet  might 
have  been  cut  off.  Some  were  loading  as  they  ran,  and  one 
valiant  hero,  who  came  up  in  the  rear,  after  he  had  ascer- 
tained who  we  were — ^to  prevent  danger,  I  suppose — ^loaded 
his  musket  and  fixed  his  bayonet.  They  were  a  most 
ragged-looking  set,  and  from  their  dress  and  want  of  beard 
looked  inferior  to  the  Afghans.  They  were  delighted  at 
my  coming,  and  the  English  appeared  great  favourites  with 
them.  A  fancy  got  abroad  that  I  was  come  with  proposals 
to  surrender,  and  made  the  great  majority  lose  all  conmiand 
of  themselves  at  the  prospect  of  revisiting  their  coimtry  so 
soon.  They  crowded  round,  some  patting  my  legs  and 
others  my  horse,  wlule  those  who  were  not  successful  in 


X838.]  SPPORTS  A  T  NEGOTIA  TION.  229 


getting  near  enough,  contented  themselves  with  Ahmud 
Shah  and  theKasid,  the  whole,  however,  shouting :  '^Afreen ! 
Afreen !  Khoosh  Amudyd  3  Anglish  humisheh  Dostani 
Shah-in-Shah !"—'' Bravo !  Bravo!  Welcome.  The  Eng- 
Ksh  were  always  friends  of  the  King  of  Kings !  '*  The 
officer  who  commanded  the  picquet  was  ia  Major.  He  had 
been  under  Major  Hart,  and  knew  all  the  English  in  Persia, 
and  when  Yar  Mahomed  was  a  prisoner  in  Mushud  he 
had  been  in  charge  of  him,  so  we  were  soon  friends.  He 
told  me  he  had  charge  of  this  post  during  the  day,  but  that  at 
night  he  went  to  the  trenches,  and  that  two  himdred  men 
A^ere  sent  to  this  point  to  relieve  him  j  he  invited  me  into 
his  quarters,  which  were  in  a  howze  (covered  reservoir)  ; 
the  basin  had  been  filled  up,  and  it  now  made  a  very  nice 
guard-room.  I  told  this  man  that  I  had  a  message  for 
Mahomed  Shah  from  Kamran  Shah,  and  he  apologized  for 
having  to  delay  me,  saying,  that  as  I  was  a  soldier  I  must 
be  aware  that  discipline  required  I  should  first  be  taken  to 
the  Major-General  commanding  the  attack  5  moreover,  I 
learnt  he  belonged  to  the  Russian  regiment,  and  that  I 
was  to  be  taken  before  Samson  KJban.  We  only  stopped 
in  the  Yavur's  (Major's)  quarters  till  a  kallyan  was  pro- 
duced, and  as  I  did  not  smoke,  the  others  were  hurried 
over  their  pleasure,  and  we  resumed  our  way  to  General 
Samson's  quarters  i  the  way  lay  through  gardens  and  vine- 
yards, in  which  not  even  the  roots  of  the  trees  or  shrubs 
were  left.  Samson  received  me  very  civilly,  taking  me  for 
an  Afghan,  and  was  a  good  deal  surprised  at  finding  I  was 
a  European.  He  sent  for  tea  and  kallyans,  and  after  par- 
taking of  the  tea.  sent  me  on  to  camp  in  chaige  of  the 


330  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGBR.  [1838. 


Yavur.  News  of  my  arrival  had  reached  the  camp  befcne 
I  didj  who  or  what  I  was  no  one  knew^  but  the  report 
went  abroad  that  I  was  the  Moojhtehed  of  Herat  (a  tide 
only  used  by  Sheeahs,  and,  therefore,  quite  out  of  place 
with  regard  to  Herat),  and  that  I  had  brought  the  submis- 
sion of  Kamran  to  Mahomed  Shah*s  terms  5  the  whole  of 
the  camp,  therefore,  crowded  to  meet  us.  As  we  advanced, 
the  crowd  got  denser,  and  in  the  main  street  of  the  camp 
we  would  have  been  stopped  by  the  pressure  if  the  escort 
had  not  taken  their  iron  ramrods  and  laid  about  them,  by 
aid  of  which  discipline  we  reached  the  tents  of  Hadjee 
Aghasy,  the  Persian  Wuzeer.  I  was  received  with  con- 
siderable civility  as  an  envoy  from  the  town,  and  after  the 
usual  salutations  the  Hadjee  asked  my  business.  I  told 
him  I  was  an  English  traveller,  that  H.M.  Shah  Kamran 
had  sent  me  with  a  message  to  Mahomed  Shah,  that 
Wuzeer  Yar  Mahomed  Khan  had  chaiged  me  with  a 
message  to  his  Excellency,  and  that  I  had  brought  letteis 
from  the  Government  of  India  for  Colonel  Stoddart,  which 
had  been  brought  into  the  town,  and  the  Afghan  Grovero- 
ment  had  permitted  me  to  take  to  Colonel  Stoddart.  I 
further  said  I  wished  to  see  Colonel  Stoddart  immediately, 
as  I  believed  the  letters  were  of  importance.  To  this  he 
assented,  and  said  that  with  regard  to  the  message  for  the 
King  he  would  request  orders.  I  then  proceeded  to  Colonel 
Stoddart's  tent,  who  I  found  in  the  greatest  astonishment 
possible,  as  his  servants,  taking  up  the  general  report  of  my 
rank,  had  announced  me  as  the  Moojhtehed  of  Herat.  He 
had  been  undressed,  and  pulling  on  his  coat  to  do  hcmour 
to  the  high  dignitaiy,  gave  me  time  to  enter  his  tent  before 


1838.]  IN  THE  PERSIAN  CAMP.  231 

he  could  get  out,  so  we  met  at  the  door,  where  he  over- 
whelmed me  with  a  most  affectionate  Persian  welcome,  to 
which  I,  to  his  great  surprise,  replied  in  English.  No 
one  who  has  not  experienced  it  can  imderstand  the  pleasure 
which  countrymen  enjoy  when  they  thus  meet,  particularly 
when  of  the  same  profession  and  pursuing  the  same  object. 
We  had  hardly  got  rid  of  the  crowd  who  accompanied  me, 
and  got  seated,  when  one  of  Hadjee  Aghasy's  servants 
arrived  and  summoned  me.  He  was  rather  impertinent, 
interrupting  our  conversation  to  hasten  us,  and  as  he  paid 
no  attention  to  my  answers  that  I  would  pay  the  Hadjee  a 
visit  as  soon  as  I  had  drunk  my  coffee,  it  became  necessary 
to  tell  Jiim  plainly  the  longer  he  stayed  the  more  delay 
would  occur,  as  I  should  not  make  any  preparation  to  move 
while  the  tent  was  occupied  by  strangers.  He  was,  there- 
fore, obliged  to  leave.,  I  was  anxious  to  delay  my  visit  as 
long  as  possible,  as  I  ^nded  the  Hadjee,  who  is  a  keen 
debater,  would  enter  into  long  arguments  in  no  way  con- 
nected with  the  points  at  issue,  and  I  was  anxious  to  make 
the  most  of  my  time  and  see  how  the  tide  of  politics  was 
running.  It  must  be  recollected  that  I  was  an  Afghan 
emissary,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  British  politics.  I 
had  calculated  on  the  Persians  making  this  a  plea  to  pre- 
vent my  communicating  with  Colonel  Stoddart,  and  had, 
therefore,  brought  the  Kasid  (courier)  to  insure  the  letters 
reaching  him,  but  my  unexpected  appearance  and  language 
had  taken  Hadjee  Aghasy  by  surprise,  and  he  unthinkingly 
allowed  me  to  go  where  I  was  nearly  a  free  agent.  When 
I  was  ready.  Colonel  Stoddart  accompanied  me  to  the 
Hadjee*8  tents.    After  we  were  seated,  and  the  usual  com- 


233  MA70R  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

piiments  passed^  the  Hadjee  asked  me  to  tell  him  mj 
message  to  the  King  of  Kings  from  Prince  Kamran^  and 
his  own  one  from  Yar  Mahomed.  I  replied  that  the 
message  from  the  Afghan  King  was  to  the  Persian  King, 
and  I  could  not  deliver  it  to  any  one  else  y  that  regarding 
his  own  message,  probably  a  smaller  niunber  of  auditors 
would  be  desirable.  Assenting  to  this,  he  ordered  the  tent 
to  be  cleared.  One  young  man  sat  a  little  longer  than  the 
rest,  evidently  wishing  to  remain.  The  Hadjee,  who  was 
apparently  excessively  bilious  and  out  of  temper,  no  sooner 
saw  this  than  he  attacked  him  with  abuse,  and  his  breath 
being  expended  without  satisfying  his  rage,  he,  no  longer 
able  to  speak,  spat  after  the  offender,  who  slunk  out  of  the 
tent  pale  and  frightened  with  the  storm  he  had  witlessly 
raised.  The  Hadjee,  a  small  thin  man,  twisted  himself 
into  a  thousand  contortions,  and  anything  but  dignified.  I 
delivered  my  message,  and  though  we  talked  until  past  four 
o'clock  on  the  subject,  we  did  not  get  any  nearer  an  agree- 
ment. The  Hadjee  would  not  listen  to  the  Afghan  pro- 
posals, as  might  have  been  and  was  expected,  nor  would 
his  proposal  have  suited  the  Afghans.  During  the  visit  he 
called  for  our  last  map  to  prove  that  the  British  allowed 
Herat  to  be  a  Persian  province.  Burnes*s  map  was  in  con- 
sequence produced  (with  the  names  of  places  written  on  it 
in  Persian)  j  it,  however,  proved  the  Hadjee  wrong.  He 
was  very  indignant  at  this,  and  said  the  British  Government 
had  never  told  him,  and  asked  Colonel  Stoddart  (who^ 
when  the  tent  was  cleared,  had  been  asked  to  stay)  why  he 
had  not  heard.  Colonel  Stoddart  replied  that  he  had  no 
instructions  which  would  explain  the  pointy  but  he  would 


1838.]  IN  THE  PERSIAN  CAMP.  233 

refer  the  case  to  the  Envoy  at  Teheran  5  however,  he  was 
not  himself  aware  the  British  Government  had  ever  received 
ofEcial  information  from  the  Persian  Government  of  Herat 
being  annexed  to  that  State,  while  a  branch  of  the  Sudozay 
monarchy,  which  family  the  British  Government  had 
acknowledged  (in  conjunction  with  Futteh  Ali  Shah)  as 
sovereign  in  Afghanistan,  still  held  possession  of  and 
claimed  it.  The  Hadjee  told  both  Colonel  Stoddart  and 
myself,  on  going  away,  that  Mahomed  Shah  would  send 
for  us  loth  in  a  few  minutes.  We  had  scarcely  got  back 
to  Colonel  Stoddart*s  tent  when  the  Shah*s  messenger 
arrived.  We  accompanied  him  across  the  esplanade  5  in 
front  of  the  King's  tent  a  large  working  party  was  employed 
in  carving  stone  shells  out  of  the  grave-stones,  which  they 
appeared  tolerably  expert  at.  Around  the  Shah*s  tents  was 
the  usual  serai-purdah,  or  screen,  about  eight  feet  high,  of 
red  canvas.  We  entered  by  a  narrow  door,  and  found  the 
Shah  seated  almost  immediately  opposite  us  in  a  European 
arm-chair,  under  the  fly  of  a  large  double-poled  tent.  He 
was  plainly  dressed  in  a  shawl  vest,  with  the  black  Persian 
cap  on  his  head.  His  personal  servants  stood  at  the 
opposite  end  of  the  diagonal  of  the  tent,  with  heads  bent 
and  arms  folded.  The  Shah  heard  Kamran*s  message,  and 
replied  to  it  by  stating  his  complaints  against  Herat,  and 
added  he  was  determined  to  take  it.  He  never  would  be 
satisfied  tiU  he  had  a  garrison  in  the  citadel.  At  first  he 
spoke  with  much  dignity,  and  he  made  the  most  of  the 
just  grounds  of  complaint  which  he  had.  Finally,  however, 
he  talked  himself  into  a  passion,  and  said  Kamran  was  a 
treacherous  liar.  After  an  audience  of  half  or  thr^e-quarters 


234  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTING ER.  [1838. 


of  an  hour,  we  were  given  permission  to  leave.  In  the 
evening  a  tremendous  storm  set  in,  attended  with  sleet  and 
rain ;  this  continued  all  night.  In  the  morning  of  the  9th 
it  still  continued ;  about  noon  the  sleet  and  rain  changed  to 
snow,  and  it  continued  till  dark,  when  the  clouds  broke, 
and  it  began  to  freeze  hard,  which  continued  all  night,  and 
next  day,  the  loth.  The  bad  weather  on  the  9th  prevented 
my  return  to  the  city,  so,  after  breakfast  on  the  loth,  I 
mounted,  and  riding  out  by  the  flank  of  the  Persian  line,  I 
returned  to  the  city,  the  gate  I  came  out  at,  and  so  avoided 
the  points  where  hostiUties  were  going  on.  On  my  coming 
back  the  whole  town  was  in  a  ferment.  What  they  had 
expected  I  do  not  pretend  to  know,  but  from  the  instant  I 
entered  the  gate  I  was  surrounded  by  messengers  requesting 
information.  I,  however,  referred  them  all  to  the  Wuzeer, 
and  went  there  myself.  After  a  short  interview,  I  was 
summoned  by  a  messenger  from  the  Shah.  His  Majesty 
having  seen  my  return  with  his  glass,  was  awaiting  my 
arrival,  anxious  to  hear  Mahomed  Shah*s  message.  When 
he  had  heard  it,  he  replied  by  a  gasconading  speech,  in 
whicl^  he  abused  every  one.  During  the  storm  on  the  9th 
the  Afghans  mustered  to  sortie,  trusting  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather  would  make  success  rest  on  cold  steeL  How- 
ever, on  account  of  my  being  in  the  camp  they  gave  up 
their  intention.  It  was  a  great  pity,  as  a  powerful  sortie 
at  this  period  of  the  siege  would  have  had  a  great  effect  on 
the  after  negotiations  which  took  place,  while  the  Persians 
had  an  idea  the  Afghans  were  much  reduced.' 

So  negotiation  having  failed,  the  siege  went  on,  but 
with  very  little  result  on  the  one  side  or  the   other. 


/838.]  THE  SIEGE  CONTINUED.  235 

Although  Mahomed  Shah  had  used  sueh  high  language, 
he  was  really  well  inclined  to  come  to  terms,  and  he  thought 
it  expedient  that  it  should  be  known  in  Herat  that  if  the 
Heratees  would  admit  his  rights  of  sovereignty,  he  would 
hold  them  in  abeyance,  and  abandon  the  idea  of  planting  a 
Persian  garrison  in  the  place.  Above  all  things,  he  wished 
them  to  get  rid  of  the  Englishman,  and  in  future  to  negoti- 
ate for  themselves.  Only  a  few  days  had  elapsed,  therefore, 
before  a  Persian  envoy  appeared  in  Herat.  The  incident 
is  thus  narrated  by  Pottinger  in  his  journal :  '  On  the  12th, 
the  Persian  officer  whom  I  first  met,  Yavur  Agha  Jan,  was 
sent  in  by  the  Persians  to  try  and  talk  the  Afghans  over. 
He  had  instructions  to  represent  how  much  better  it  would 
be  for  them  to  settle  their  differences  between  themselves 
than  call  in  the  infidels  3  the  man  was  also  instructed  to 
say  that  warning  should  be  taken  from  our  conduct  in  India, 
where  we  had  pretended  fiiendship  and  trade  to  cover  our 
ambition,  and,  finally,  by  such  deceit,  had  mastered  all 
India.  The  Yavur  was  taken  up  into  the  citadel  and  pre- 
vented from  communicating  with  any  one  of  the  eunuchs, 
either  Hadjee  Firoz  Khan  or  Wuly  Khan  being  always 
with  him.  The  Persian  fire  did  not  in  the  least  diminish 
on  account  of  their  envoy.  Indeed,  it  could  scarcely  have 
done  so  without  stopping  altogether.  In  the  evening  we 
had  another  snow-storm,  which  lasted  all  night.  In  the 
morning  (February  13th)  the  whole  country  was  covered : 
but  at  sunrise  a  thaw  commenced,  accompanied  by  sleet, 
which  finally  changed  to  rain,  that  lasted  till  three  in  the 
afternoon,  when  it  cleared  up,  and  the  garrison  sent  out 
the  Yavur  with  promises  calculated  to  decdve,  but  stipu- 


236  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [183J. 

lating  that,  as  the  Persians  were  the  stronger,  they  should 
retire  a  short  distance,  as  a  proof  that  they  really  intended 
peace.  .  .  .  The  Yavur  confidently  assured  the  Afghan 
chiefs  that  Mahomed  Shah  had  no  wish  to  interfere  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  their  country  5  he  wanted  them  to  supply 
his  armies  with  soldiers  as  they  had  done  Nadir  5  his  aim 
in  the  present  expedition  was  not  Herat,  but  India  j  that  it 
behoved  them  as  Mahomedans  to  support  the  Persian  King  j 
that  he  would  pay  them  liberally,  and  lead  them  to  the 
plunder  of  India  and  Toorkistan.* 

It  happened,  however,  that  nothing  came  of  these 
overtures.  There  was  mutual  distrust.  The  Afghans 
especially  declared  that  they  had  no  faith  in  the  Persians, 

•  Under  this  date  (February  13),  Pottinger  records  that  he  ob- 
tained some  money  on  the  preceding  day  from  a  merchant,  in  a  man- 
ner very  honourable  to  the  British  character.  *  As  I  was  sending  oflF 
a  cossid  last  night,*  he  wrote,  *  a  Candahary  trader,  whom  I  had  never 
before  seen,  came  and  requested  me  to  give  him  an  order  on  Canda- 
har,  offering  to  pay  me  gold  here.  Being  in  want  of  money  I  accepted 
his  offer,  and  gave  him  a  note  to  Major  Leech,  of  the  Bombay 
Engineers,  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine,  requesting  him  to  pay  the 
amount,  explaining  to  the  man  that  I  was  not  certain  if  Major  Leech 
were  in  Candahar  or  not,  and  if  not,  he  must  follow  him.  Though 
the  man  couldn't  imderstand  a  word  of  English,  and  no  one  but  my- 
self in  Herat  could  read  the  note,  he  implicitly  trusted  me,  for  he 
had  learned  from  the  Hindoos  and  others  that  I  was  an  English 
officer.  I  found  a  great  change  in  my  position  for  the  better  when  it 
became  known  that  I  was  in  the  British  service,  and  not  an  impostor 
personating  a  European  ;  for  in  general  the  genus  Feringhee  is  ex- 
pected to  wear  a  cocked-hat,  tight  pantaloons,  and  a  feather.  There 
are  other  distinguishing  marks  also  fancied,  but  they  are  not  agreed 
to  by  all,  while  the  above  three,  as  far  as  I  could  discover,  are  uni- 
versally  allowed ;  I  therefore  mention  them  alone.' 


X838.I  THE  SIEGE  OF  HERAT,       .  637 

but  that  if  the  latter  would  place  their  affairs  in  the  hands 
of  Colonel  Stoddart,  the  Heratees  would  delegate  the 
power  of  peace-making  to  Pottinger,  and  so  a  satisfectoiy 
issue  might  be  attained.  Meanwhile^  the  siege  was  con- 
tinued, with  no  very  material  results  5  and  the  young  Eng- 
lish officer  was  constantly  present  on  the  works,  advising 
the  Wuzeer  or  other  leading  chie&,  and  assisting  them  as 
much  by  his  resolute  example  as  by  his  professional  skill. 

But  he  did  not  disguise  from  himself  that  his  position 
was  one  of  much  difficulty  and  delicacy,  and  he  doubted 
sometimes  not  only  whether,  as  an  officer  of  a  Government 
which,  at  that  time,  was  a  neutral  power,  he  ought  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  defence,  but  also  whether  his  presence 
at  Herat  might  not  really  be  prejudicial  to  the  Afghans. 
*  It  might  be  alleged,*  he  wrote, '  from  my  having  a  com- 
mission in  the  Indian  Army,  that  I  was  a  secret  agent  for 
Government,  whereas  I  was  a  free  agent.  Government 
having  most  liberally  given  me  a  carte  blanche  as  to  leave 
and  action,  in  return  for  which  I  offered  to  lay  before  it 
my  acquisitions  in  geography  and  statistics  5  and  I  was  very 
apprehensive  that  my  actions  might  be  disapproved  of,  and 
I  should  not  have  remained  in  Herat  but  for  the  pressing 
invitations  of  the  Herat  Government,  which  used  the  argu- 
ment so  persuasive  amongst  themselves,  viz.  "  that  a  guest 
should  not  leave  his  host  at  the  approach  of  danger,  but 
help  him  through  it,  so  as  to  congratulate  him  at  the  end 
on  his  escape.**  *  Moreover,  he  felt  that  his  Afghan  friends 
were  not  altogether  free  from  suspicion  that  his  presence  at 
Herat  might  not  be  quite  accidental,  and  that  the  English 
had  a  covert  design  to  possess  themselves  of  the  Afghan 


238  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  \ja^ 

countiy.  One  passage  in  Pottinger*s  journal^  which  bean 
upon  this  subject^  is  worth  quoting,  for  it  shows  the  mixed 
feelings  with  which  at  that  time  the  anticipated  interference 
of  the  £ngHsh  in  the  affairs  of  Afghanistan  was  regarded: 
*  On  the  I  jth  (of  April)  I  was  invited,  in  walking  through 
the  works,  to  stop  in  an  Afghan  officer's  quarters.  He 
fancied  the  £nglish  wished  to  take  Afghanistan  preparatory 
to  attacking  Persia  and  Russia,  and  his  gasconading  as  to 
what  the  Afghans*  prowess  would  be  when  they  were  em- 
ployed by  us  was  quite  overpowering.  With  a  great  deal 
of  trouble,  I  explained  to  him  that  the  £nglish  had  no  wish 
to  extend  their  frontier  5  they  merely  wished  to  be  let  alone, 
and  instead  of  wanting  the  Afghans  to  plunder  and  attack 
their  neighbours,  they  wanted  them  to  stay  quietly  at  home 
and  eat  the  produce  of  their  own  fields.  After  considering 
a  little,  my  acquaintance  replied  that  it  was  very  fine  and 
proper,  but  an  impossibility,  '*  for  we  won't  let  each  other  do 
so.  No  Afghan  in  power  will  elbow  another  out  of 
power  to  possess  wealth,  lest  it  be  used  to  remove  him 
from  his  situation  5  and  all  the  Alekozyes  here  have  merely 
come  from  necessity.  We  were  turned  off  our  land  at 
Candahar  by  the  Barukzyes.  We  have  there  of  hereditary 
lands  quite  sufficient  to  make  us  wealthy  and  influential  j 
if  we  could  get  them  back  we  would  return  to-morrow, 
and  until  we  can  we  must  live  here  by  plundering  others." 
I  suggested  that  if  the  British  Grovemment  intarfered  it 
would  of  course  endeavour  to  bring  about  a  settlement  of 
these  claims,  though  such  matters,  being  of  an  internal 
nature,  it  did  not  appear  proper  a  foreign  Grovemment  should 
interfere.     He  interrupted  me  testily,  saying :  '*  What  is  thtf 


iJJjS.]  EXPLANATIONS.  839 

nse  of  talking  ?  If  you  interfere  in  one  point,  you  must  in 
all,  for  no  one  will  act  till  you  do,  and  it  is  nonsense  talk- 
ing of  advice  and  persuasion.  Your  Vakeels  and  E^chees 
will  and  can  do  nothing  with  us  till  you  frighten  us. 
March  ten  or  fifteen  regiments  to  Kelat,  and  then  tell  the 
Sirdars  what  you  want  done  and  they  will  obey  implicitly  j 
till  then,  no  one  will  fear  you.**  * 

But  there  were  times,  also,  when  the  young  English 
officer  was  necessitated  to  defend  his  country  from  the 
imputation  of  weakness  and  insignificance  in  comparison 
with  the  power  of  other  European  States.  It  falls  to  the 
lot  of  all  our  isolated  countrymen  in  remote  Eastern  regions 
to  be  called  upon  to  disabuse  men*s  minds  of  strangely 
erroneous  impressions  of  the  geography  and  the  politics  of 
the  Western  world  5  and  the  entries  in  their  journals  which 
relate  to  these  explanations  are  not  among  the  least  inter- 
esting of  such  records.  How  Eldred  Pottinger  combated 
the  ignorance  of  his  Afghan  friends  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following :  *  On  the  i6th  the  Persians  fired  firom  the 
two-gun  battery  at  the  gate  of  Kooshk  all  day,  and  damaged 
the  parapets  about  the  gate  a  good  deal.  A  small  party 
assembled  at  Sooltan  Kiian*s  post,  opposite  the  Karadaghy 
attack,  to  see  the  firing.  The  conversation  turned  upon 
Europe.  Sooltan  Khan  is  a  very  inquisitive,  sharp  person 
for  his  rank,  and  knows  more  than  Asiatics  generally  do 
regarding  Europe.  He  had  been  reading  of  Napoleon,  and 
bad  heard  from  the  Persians  that  the  Russians  had  defeated 
him,  and  conquered  all  Europe  but  England.  After  a  good 
deal  of  trouble,  I  succeeded  in  making  my  auditors  under- 
stand that  Napoleon  had  been  Emperor  of  the  French 


24t>  MAjOIi  RLDRRD  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

oation  5  that  that  nation  had  been  tyrannized  over  by  its 
sovereigns  until  they  rose  up  and  overturned  the  monarchy ; 
that  great  disturbances  and  excesses  had  taken  place^  and 
that  the  whole  of  Europe  had  combined  to  check  the 
people  and  restore  the  monarchy  5  that  in  the  ensuing  war 
Napoleon's  talents  had  saved  his  country  as  Nadir  did  Persia ; 
and^  finally^  in  the  same  manner^  he  had  been  chosen 
Emperor,  and  had  beaten  the  whole  of  Europe  but  England, 
which  had  only  been  saved  by  the  impossibility  of  getting 
to  it,  our  ships  having  swept  the  ocean,  and  completely 
prevented  an  enemy  approaching  our  shores  5  that  the  war 
had  thus  raged  for  many  years,  and  Napoleon,  being  dis- 
pleased with  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  resolved  to  dethrone 
him,  in  pursuance  of  which  he  marched  the  greatest  part  of 
his  army  into  Russia,  but  the  Russians,  having  burnt  the 
capital  with  all  its  stores,  left  the  French  monarch,  at  the 
beginning  of  winter,  under  the  necessity  of  retracing  bis 
steps  or  starving,  and  that  in  the  bitter  cold  of  the  Russian 
winter  his  army  had  perished.  The  other  European  nations, 
as  soon  as  they  found  the  French  army  destroyed,  rose  up 
and  attacked  the  Emperor,  and  he  was  obliged  to  succumb 
to  the  universal  combination,  particularly  as  many  in  France 
itself  opposed  him.  That  so  far  from  France  being  a  province 
of  Russia,  it  was  a  far  more  powerful  Government,  and  had 
a  much  larger  and  more  effective  army  than  any  European 
nation  whatever.  In  the  numerous  disputes  and  con- 
versations I  had  with  well-informed  natives,  I  always  made 
It  a  rule  to  give  them  as  much  information  as  I  possessed 
myself,  and  I  studiously  avoided  any  attempts  to  underrate 
the  power  of  any  nations  in  opposition  to  the  English. 


1838.]  INCIDENTS  DURING  THE  SIEGE.  241 

When  such  attempts  were  made  as  regards  England  by  the 
Europeans  in  the  service  of  Persia  and  others,  and  the 
natives  requested  me  to  answer  them,  or  taunted  me  for 
not  replying,  I  generally  contented  myself  by  remarking 
that  if  England  were  so  powerless  and  insignificant  as  repre- 
sented, it  was  curious  that  people  should  take  so  much 
trouble  to  decry  its  power,  in  comparison  with  the  power- 
ful states  mentioned  3  that  every  one  thought  the  best  of 
his  own  country^  and  results  were  all  that  could  be  judged 
by/* 

The  monotony  of  the  siege  was  now  and  then  broken 
by  some  exciting  incidents,  which  Pottinger  has  detailed  in 
his  diaiy  with  the  unadorned  accuracy  of  a  soldier*^  pen. 
The  following  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole, 

•  Another  sample  of  this  kind  of  conversation  may  be  given  in  a 
note  :  *  He  *  (a  Persian  messenger)  *  amused  me  much  by  the  manner 
in  which  he  dilated  on  the  immense  extent  of  Russia,  and  the  number 
of  its  arms,  which  he  contrasted  with  England.  After  a  more  than 
usually  high-flown  description  of  Russia,  he  turned  to  me  and  said  : 
**  You  know  that  in  comparison  with  Russia  there  is  no  use  speaking 
of  England.  It  is  only  forty  parsangs  wide,  and  sixty  parsangs  long 
{i.e,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  and  two  hundred  and  forty) ;  it  has 
got  no  army  ;  all  its  wealth  is  derived  from  shopkeeping ;  and  it 
keeps  its  position  by  pa)dng  money  to  other  Governments."  I  did 
not  reply  till  the  worthy's  volubility  ran  him  out  of  breath,  when  I 
remarked  that  the  size  of  England  or  the  number  of  its  armies  were 
of  but  little  consequence^  whether  it  had  ten  soldiers  or  ten  lakhs  was 
immaterial,  for  every  one  knew  that  no  State  in  the  world  ever 
attempted  any  act  of  importance  in  opposition  to  England,  and  that 
only  a  few  years  ago  the  disapproval  of  the  English  Government, 
when  mentioned  to  the  Russian  Government,  had  been  sufficient  to 
stop  the  march  of  the  Russian  Army  on  Teheran,  and  to  preserve 
the  King  of  Kings  from  becoming  a  vassal  of  that  empire.' 

VOL.  II.  i6 


242  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1838. 

and  it  derives  an  additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  it 
exhibits  the  danger  to  which  the  young  Englishman,  ever 
in  the  front,  was  continually  exposed:  'April  18.  Tke 
Wuzeer  ordered  the  Afghans  to  cease  firing,  and  sit  down 
under  cover  5  they,  however,  though  beaten  with  the 
musketry,  drew  their  swords,  brandished  them  above  their 
heads,  shouting  to  the  Persians  to  come  on.  As  might 
have  been  expected  in  such  a  storm  of  musket-balls,  this 
bravado  caused  several  casualties.  Several  men  received 
bullets  through  the  hands  and  arms.  One  fellow,  more 
foolhaidy  than  the  rest,  kept  brandishing  his  huge  Afghan 
knife,  after  the  others  had  complied  with  repeated  orders 
to  sheathe  their  weapons,  and  had  the  knife  destroyed  by  a 
bullet,  which  struck  it  just  above  his  hand.  I  had  gone 
down  to  the  spot  to  see  the  mine  sprung,  and  was  sitting 
on  the  banquette  with  the  Wuzeer  and  a  party  of  chie6, 
who,  while  he  was  preparing,  were  bantering  the  man 
whose  knife  was  broken,  and  who  came  to  beg  a  sword 
instead,  when  a  bullet  came  in  through  a  loophole  over  my 
head,  and  smashing  a  brick  used  for  stopping  it,  lodged  in 
Aga  Ruhyia's  lungs,  who  was  standing  opposite,  one  of  the 
splinters  of  the  brick  at  the  same  time  wounding  him  in  the 
face.  The  poor  fellow  was  a  eunuch  of  Yar  Mahomed's, 
and  was  always  to  be  seen  wherever  any  danger  was  3  he 
died  in  two  or  three  days.  I  had  been  but  the  moment 
before  looking  through  the  clods  on  the  top  of  the  parapet, 
with  my  breast  resting  against  the  loophole,  watching  the 
Persians,  who  were  trying  to  establish  themselves  in  the 
crater  of  the  mine,  and  the  Afghans  in  the  counterscarp, 
who  were  trying  to  grapple  the  gabions  and  overset  them, 


1838.]  NEGOTIATIONS  RENEWED,  243 

SO  that  the  scene  was  very  interesting,  and  I  had  not  sat 
down  with  the  chiefs  until  Dyn  Mahomed  Khan  actually 
pulled  me  down  by  my  cloak,  to  listen  to  the  jokes  passed 
on  the  man  who  had  his  knife  destroyed,  and  thus  I  escaped 
Aga  Ruhyia's  bullet.* 

And  here  the  story  of  this  memorable  siege  enters 
another  phase,  and  new  interests  are  awakened.  The  English 
Minister  at  the  Persian  Court,  accompanied  by  Major  D'Arcy 
Todd,  an  officer  of  the  Bengal  Artillery,  of  whom  some 
account  appears  in  the  third  volume,  was  now  in  the  camp 
of  the  besiegers  3  and  it  was  soon  manifest  that  negotiations 
would  be  reopened  for  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
differences  between  Persia  and  Herat.  On  the  evening  of 
the  very  day  on  which  Eldred  Pottinger  had  thus  narrowly 
escaped  death,  news  came  that  D'Arcy  Todd  was  seeking 
admittance  within  the  works.  '  In  the  evening,*  wrote 
Pottinger,  '  the  Persians  at  No.  2  attack  announced  that  an 
Englishman  wanted  to  come  in.  The  Afghans  received 
the  announcement  with  peals  of  abuse,  fancying  it  was 
some  of  the  Europeans  in  the  Persian  service.  After  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  a  Persian  note  was  sent  in,  saying  that 
Major  Todd,  the  Naib  of  the  English  Ambassador,  had 
arrived  in  the  Persian  trenches,  and  wanted  entrance,  and 
begged  the  person  who  might  receive  the  note  to  inform 
Yar  Mahomed  Khan.  As  soon  as  the  Wuzeer  received 
the  note  he  sent  it  to  me,  and  I  immediately  joined  him. 
The  greater  number  of  chiefs  were  assembled  in  the  upper 
fausse-braie  of  the  west  side  near  the  breach.  On  my  arrival 
I  was  much  disappointed  at  not  seeing  any  European,  as  I 
fully  expected  to  have  met  Major  Todd.     The  Wuzeer, 


244  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1838. 


making  room  for  me  on  the  charpoy  where  he  was  sitting, 
laughingly  remarked:  ''Don't  be  angry 5  I  have  thrown 
ashes  on  it,  and  blackened  its  face  myself.*'  I  begged  for 
an  explanation,  and  learned  that  he  had  sent  back  word 
that  the  A%hans  neither  wanted  the  Turks,  the  Russians, 
nor  the  English  to  interfere  5  they  trusted  to  their  swords, 
and  at  that  hour  of  the  evening  they  wouldn't  let  the  Shah- 
in-Shah  in  himself;  moreover,  at  that  point  no  person 
should  enter;  but  if  the  English  Naib  would  go  m  the 
morning  to  the  south-e^^^t  angle  he  would  be  let  m.  I  was 
much  annoyed,  and  told  him  he  had  probably  prevented 
the  English  Ambassador  interfering,  and  he  excused  himself 
by  saying  that  he  acted  so  to  make  the  Persians  think  he 
was  not  solicitous  for  the  English  to  interfere.' 

This,  however,  was  mere  gasconading,  for  which  the 
Afghans  of  Herat  had  an  unquestionable  genius :  and  on 
the  following  day  the  British  emissary  was  received  with  all 
honour.  Pottinger*s  account  of  his  reception  is  interesting : 
*I  was  sitting  with  the  Wuzeer  in  Hadjee  Firoz  Khan's 
mosque,  in  the  citadel,  when  the  head  [of  a  Persian]  was 
brought  up  and  the  report  made  of  the  fight,  and  as  it  was 
the  point  that  Major  Todd  had  been  directed  to  enter  by, 
I  feared  they  would  not  let  him  in,  so  went  down  myself, 
and  just  arrived  in  time,  as  the  Afghans  told  him  to  keep 
away  till  the  evening.  The  fact  was,  the  explosion  of  the 
mine  had  cut  off  the  retreat  of  several  of  the  Persian  miners 
without  destroying  the  place  they  were  in.  The  Afghans 
were,  therefore,  digging  away  on  one  side  to  make  prisoners 
of  them,  and  the  Persians  were  doing  so  on  the  other  side 
to  release  their  comrades,  they  themselves  working  hard  for 


1838.]  NEGO  TIA  TIONS  RENE  WED,  245 


the  same  purpose.      My  arrival  was  most  opportune  to 
persuade  the  Afghans,  who  thereon  ceased  firing,  and  all 
hostilities   above  ground,  but  nothing  would  induce  the 
miners  to  be  quiet  3  their  blood  was  up,  and  digging,  they 
insisted,  was  not  fighting,  so  the  point  had  to  be  yielded  j 
and  as  soon  as  I  ascertained  that  it  was  really  Major  Todd, 
he  was  told  to  come  in.     Futteh  Mahomed  Khan,  who 
was  an  old  acquaintance  of  Major  Todd*s,  invited  him  into 
the  tent,  and  had  tea  made,  according  to  custom.     He 
detained  us  till  the  fausse-braie  was  filled  up  by  a  strong 
body  of  men,  who  were  thrown  in  for  the  edification  of  a 
Persian  who  accompanied  Major  Todd.     Without  this,  the 
crowding  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  to  see  the  Fering- 
hee  was  sufficient  to  have  astonished  any  person.     Major 
Todd  was,  I  fancy,  the  first  European  who  ever  appeared  in 
costume  in  Herat,  and  the  cocked-hat,  epaulets,  &c.  &c., 
caused  great  admiration.    In  narrow  streets  a  small  number 
of  persons  appears  very  great,  so  the  crowd  to-day  appeared 
tremendous,  particularly  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  houses 
along  the  Hne  of  streets  followed  were  mounted  on  the 
roofe  to  see  the  procession.     Major  Todd  was  sent  in  by  the 
British  Minister  to  offer  the  mediation  of  the  British  Go- 
vernment between  Persia  and  Herat,  and  to  announce  that 
Mahomed  Shah  having  requested  this  interference.  Shah 
Kamran's  consent  was  all  he  now  required.     Shah  Kamran 
was  delighted  with  the  offer,  and  told  Major  Todd  to  re- 
quest the  British  Envoy  to  act  as  his  plenipotentiary,  and 
whatever  arrangement  was  decided  on  by  him  the  Herat 
Grovemment  would  sanction  ;    moreover,  he  begged  Sir 
fohn  McNeill  would  come  into  the  city  and  talk  affairs 


246  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 


over  with  him.  After  Major  Todd  left  the  presence  of 
the  Shah,  his  Majesty  took  off  his  cloak,  and  sent  it  hy 
Yar  Mahomed  Khan  to  Major  Todd — 2l  mark  of  the 
highest  consideration  in  the  A%han  territories,  and  one  but 
seldom  paid.  A  horse  was  also  given ;  but  Major  Todd 
was  as  anxious  not  to  accept  presents  as  the  Afghans  were 
to  make  them,  so  he  would  not  wait  for  the  horse,  not- 
withstanding they  set  about  cutting  away  the  parapet  of 
the  fausse-braie,  and  making  a  ramp  up  the  counterscarp  to 
get  the  nag  out.' 

On  the  same  evening — sooner,  indeed,  than  the  most 
sanguine  had  dared  to  expect — Sir  John  M'Neill  sought 
admittance  into  the  beleaguered  city.  There  had  been  a 
meeting  of  chiefs,  which  Pottinger  had  attended^  and  the 
discussions  had  been  of  a  more  than  commonly  warlike 
character,  when  tidings  arrived  that  the  British  Minister 
was  coming.  'The  assembly,'  wrote  Pottinger,  'had  just 
broken  up,  when  a  man  came  in  to  say  that  the  British 
Minister  had  arrived  at  the  edge  of  the  ditch  and  wanted  en- 
trance. The  man  was  not  sent,  and  had  only  heard  the 
report,  and  ran  on  to  be  the  first  with  good  news.  As 
he  could  not  give  any  intelligence  we  disbelieved  him,  and 
were  composing  ourselves  to  sleep,  when  the  real  messen- 
ger arrived,  with  notes  fi*om  his  Excellency  for  Yar  Ma- 
homed and  myself.  I  immediately  went  down  to  the  south- 
west angle,  while  Yar  Mahomed  sent  to  collect  some  chie6 
to  receive  the  guest  with  proper  honour.  On  reaching  Futteh 
Mahomed  Khan's  post,  I  found  Sh*  John  M'Neill  had  just 
entered  the  fausse-braie.  The  chief,  who  was  Kamran*8 
ambassador  to  Teheran,  knew  Sir  John,  and  having 


1838.]  NEGO  TIA  TIONS  RENE  WED.  247 

ceived  much  kindness  from  him,  no  sooner  heard  of  his 
Excellency's  arrival  than  he  went  and  brought  him  into  the 
fortifications,  so  almost  the  first  person  met  at  the  post  was 
the  Envoy.  After  sitting  a  short  time  with  Futteh  Khan 
we  proceeded  to  the  city.  We  met  Dyn  Mahomed  Khan 
on  the  way  to  Futteh  Khan's  post  to  welcome  the  Envoy, 
and,  accompanied  by  him,  proceeded  to  the  gate  of  the 
citadel,  where  Yar  Mahomed  met  us,  and,  after  embracing 
the  Envoy,  led  him  to  his  quarters.  Here  the  greater  part 
of  the  night  was  spent  in  discussing  the  Persian  and  Afghan 
propositions  J  after  which  Sir  John  M'Neill  accompanied 
me  to  my  quarters.  When  I  lay  down  the  day  had  dawned, 
and  I  was  a  good  deal  surprised  on  awaking  at  half-past  six 
to  see  the  Envoy  already  up  and  busy  writing.  At  seven, 
according  to  engagement,  I  sent  to  let  the  Wuzeer  know 
that  his  Excellency  was  ready  to  receive  him.  Yar  Ma- 
homed was  asleep  when  the  message  arrived,  but  they  awoke 
him,  and  he  joined  us  in  a  short  time  with  a  whole  posse  of 
chiefs.  On  my  meeting  him  at  the  door,  he  asked  me  was 
it  customary  for  our  Ministers  not  to  sleep  at  night,  declar- 
ing that  he  had  scarcely  closed  his  eyes  when  he  was  told 
Sir  John  M'Neill  was  waiting  for  himj  and  further  re- 
marked :  "  I  do  not  wonder  your  affairs  prosper,  when  men 
of  such  high  rank  as  your  Minister  Plenipotentiary  work 
harder  than  an  Afghan  private  soldier  would  do  even  under 
the  eye  of  the  Shah."  Yar  Mahomed  brought  a  message 
to  Sir  John  from  Shah  Kamran  inviting  him  to  an  inter- 
view, and  his  Excellency  immediately  proceeded  to  the 
citadel,  where  he  had  a  long  interview  with  his  Majesty, 
who    placed  everything    at  his    disposal,   and    promised 


248  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

to  agree  to  everything  he  decided  on,  and  gave  him  the 
fullest  powers  to  negotiate  with  the  Persians.     After  the 
interview,  the  British  Minister  was  requested  to  partake  0! 
the  Afghan  hospitality,  and  in  the  afternoon  his  Excellency 
left  the  city  and  the  armistice  ceased.     The  breaches  being 
open  and  practicable,  and  the  garrison  making  no  efforts  t: 
stop  them,  the  Persian  fire  was  not  resumed,  and  every 
thing  remained  quiet.*     Yar  Mahomed  was  a  shrewd  man 
though  a  bad  one,  but  he  seldom  said  a  shrewder  thing 
than  that  set  down  in  the  above  extract  from  Pottinger. 
Truly  is  it  no  wonder  that  our  affairs  prosper,  when  men  of 
the  highest  rank,  far  away  from  the  eye  of  their  sovereign, 
work  as  hard  as  a  common  soldier  in  the  presence  of  the 
Shah.     It  is  by  conscientious  laboriousness  of  this  kind— 
this  duty-doing  for  duty's  sake,  so  little  understood  by 
Asiatics,  that  we  owe  our  prodigious  successes  in  the  East. 
But  this  visit  of  the  British  Minister  was  of  no  avail 
All  our  efforts  at  negotiation,  breaking  down  under  the  cha- 
racteristic insincerity  of  the  Persians,*  failed  j  and  the  siege 
dragged  wearily  on — all  through  the  months  of  April  and 
May  and  June.   Now  and  then  a  new  interest  was  awakened 
by  pretences  of  Russian  mediation,  which  were  productive 
of  no  results.     The  language,  at  least,  of  Yar  Mahomed  in 
this  case  was  dignified  and  becoming.     He  said  that  if  the 
first  offer  of  mediation  had  come  from  the  Russians  it 
might  have  been  accepted  by  Herat,  but  that  having  ad- 
mitted the  arbitration  of  the  British  Ambassador,  it  would 

*  Compare  with  this  statement  the  opinions  expressed  by  Major 
Todd,  page  336. 


1 838.]  FUTURE  NEGO  TIA  TIONS,  349 

not  be  right  that  he  should  turn  to  the  representatives  of 
another  country. 

It  would  demand  the  space  of  a  volume  to  narrate  in 
detail  the  incidents  of  this  protracted  siege.  Throughout 
many  long  months,  the  young  English  artilleryman  was 
the  life  and  soul  of  the  defence.  But  there  were  many 
great  advantages  on  the  side  of  the  Persians,  and  at  last, 
towards  the  end  of  June,  the  Heratees  were  almost  at  their 
last  gasp.  Yar  Mahomed  was  beginning  to  despond,  and 
his  followers  were  almost  in  a  state  of  prostration.  Food 
was  scarce  5  money  was  scarce.  There  was  a  lack  of  every- 
thing, but  of  the  stubborn  courage  which  continued  to 
animate  and  sustain  the  solitary  Englishman.  On  the  2  jth 
of  June,  the  Persians  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  carry  the 
place  by  assault  3  but  Yar  Mahomed  was  incredulous  of 
danger.  'The  Wuzeer,*  wrote  Pottinger  in  his  journal, 
'  would  not  take  warning,  remaining  quietly  at  his  quarters, 
which  deceived  the  garrison,  and  made  many  think  that 
the  signs  of  the  assault  were  illusory.  Indeed,  most  of  the 
men  had  gone  to  sleep,  when  suddenly  the  report  of  two 
or  three  guns  and  the  whiz  of  a  rocket  in  the  air  was  heard. 
The  enemy  immediately  opened  a  heavy  fire,  but  the  mus- 
ketry was  feeble  :  it  gradually,  however,  became  more  sus- 
tained, and  the  roar  of  the  cannon  on  all  sides  was  continued. 
The  Wuzeer,  on  the  first  alarm,  repaired  to  the  gate  of 
Mulick  with  a  small  body  of  men  as  a  sort  of  reserve.' 
He  soon  found  that  the  peril  was  imminent  j  and  then  '  the 
Wuzeer  mounted  and  went  by  the  gate  of  Kandahar  to  the 
Fausse-braie,  sending  orders  for  different  chiefs  to  go  to 


2SO  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1838. 

the  aid  of  those  on  the  summit  of  the  breach.  In  spite  of 
all  advice,  and  even  entreaty,  his  own  party  was  allowed  to 
struggle  on  in  advance,  and  he  arrived  nearly  alone.  Sool- 
tan  Mahomed  Khan  at  the  same  time  arrived  on  the  ram- 
part to  his  brother's  assistance,  and  gave  him  most  opportune 
aid.  The  Wuzeer  and  his  party,  arriving  at  the  traverses 
about  a  third  of  the  way  from  the  end  of  the  upper  Fausse- 
braie,  foimd  the  men  retreating  by  twos  and  threes,  and 
others  going  off  with  the  wounded :  these  were  stopped. 
The  Wuzeer,  however,  was  alarmed.  At  first,  he  sat  down 
about  half  way,  whence,  after  some  trouble,  those  about 
him  insisted  on  his  going  on  or  sending  his  sou.  He  chose 
the  former,  and  sent  the  latter  to  the  gate  of  Kandahar  to 
stop  stragglers  and  skulkers  and  attend  to  orders.  The 
Wuzeer  himself  then  went  on  past  two  traverses,  to  the  last 
one  held  by  the  garrison  5  but  on  finding  the  men  at  a 
stand-still  and  insensible  to  his  orders  or  entreaties  to  fight, 
he  turned  back  to  go  for  aid.  The  moment  he  turned,  the 
men  began  to  give  way.  He  made  his  way  to  the  first 
place  he  had  sat  down  at.  There,  by  showing  him  the 
men  retreating  and  the  evident  ruin  that  must  follow,  he 
became  persuaded  to  stop.  Then  they  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing him  back  to  the  first  traverse,  which  having  but  a  nar- 
row passage,  his  people  and  those  about  could  turn  back 
those  who  were  coward-like  retreating.  From  this  he  sent 
for  aid  5  but  foolishly,  in  spite  of  all  advice,  again  allowed 
the  men  to  go  on  by  twos  and  threes,  so  that  they  did  non 
thing.  At  last,  a  Sooltan  arrived  with  about  fifty  men, 
when,  on  a  short  consultation,  it  was  resolved  to  send  him 
down  into  the  lower  Fausse-braie,  to  push  along,  that  while 


1838.J  THE  GRAND  STRUGGLE.  251 

those  on  the  rampart  were  ordered  to  attempt  an  attack 
down  the  breach,  those  on  the  Fausse-braies  on  the  east 
side  should  push  on  the  other  flank  of  the  Persian  column. 
Pursuant  to  this,  Yar  Mahomed,  after  much  entreaty  and 
even  abuse,  advanced  the  third  time,  and  finally  ventured 
past  the  last  traverse,  where,  seeing  the  men  inactive,  he 
seized  on  a  large  staff,  and  rushing  on  the  hindermost,  by 
dint  of  blows  he  drove  on  the  reluctant.  Some,  crowding 
up  in  narrow  parts,  seeing  no  escape,  wildly  jumped  over 
the  parapet  and  ran  down  the  exterior  slope,  and  some 
straight  forward  5  the  people  on  the  other  side  making  their 
rush  at  the  same  time.  The  Persians  were  seized  with  a 
sudden  panic  j  abandoning  their  position  they  fled  outright 
down  the  exterior  slope  and  out  of  the  lower  Fausse-braie  j 

after  which  the  business  ceased The  Wuzeer  did 

not  behave  so  well  as  expected  j  he  was  not  collected,  nor 
had  he  presence  of  mind  to  act  in  combination;  the  Urz- 
begy  was  greatly  frightened,  and  did  much  harm  by  un- 
nerving the  Wuzeer,  who  with  difficulty  could  be  prevented 
from  following  his  suggestions,  to  leave  the  Fausse-braie 
and  muster  the  men  in  the  city.  The  defenders — the  peo- 
ple about  * — abused,  and  several  times  had  to  lay  hold  of 
the  Wuzeer  and  point  to  him  the  men,  who  turned  as  soon 
as  he  did.  At  last  he  got  furious,  and  laid  on  as  before- 
mentioned,  without  even  knowing  whom  he  struck.  The 
alarming  state  of  things  at   this  point,  and  the  frequent 

•  By  *  those  about  him,*  here  and  in  the  preceding  page,  the 
reader  is  to  understand  Eldred  Pottinger.  It  is  known  that  he  seized 
Yar  Mahomed  by  the  wrist,  dragged  him  forward,  and  implored  him 
to  make  one  more  effort  to  save  Herat. 


252  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

messages  for  aid,  put  in  motion  nearly  half  the  garrison  and 
all  the  chiefs  of  distinction,  so  that  when  the  business  was 
over,  men  came  pouring  in  so  as  to  fill  the  upper  Fausse- 
braie  3  but  the  men  appointed  for  the  defence  of  the  Fausse- 
braies  were  so  panic-struck,  that  they  took  advantage  of  the 
watch  being  temporarily  removed  from  the  gates  to  ab- 
scond, and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  garrison  could  be  procured  to  defend  the 
point.' 

It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  Heratees  owed  it  to  the 
young  Englishman  that  Herat  did  not  at  this  timie  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Persians.  But  this  can  be  gathered  only 
incidentally  from  Pottinger's  journal.  Two  days  afterwards 
I  find  him  thus  expressing  his  astonishment  at  the  result 
'  A  man  arrived  from  Kurookh  5  he  said  he  had  left  a  de- 
tachment of  six  thousand  Orgunjees,  who  only  waited  for 
orders  to  foray,  or  even  attack  the  Persian  outposts  5  I  was 
surprised  to  find  my  share  of  the  business  of  the  25th  had 
reached  Kurookh.  The  moment  the  man  arrived,  he  seized 
and  kissed  my  hands,  saying  he  was  rejoiced  he  made  so 
great  a  pilgrimage.'  But  it  was  not  all  fame.  The  great 
things  which  had  been  done  by  the  individual  gallantry  of 
this  one  English  gentleman  increased  the  difficulties  of  his 
position.  It  was  soon  plain  that  the  Heratees  really  wished 
to  get  rid  of  him.  The  entries  in  his  diary  show  the  per- 
plexities in  which  he  was  placed  :  '  July  8th.  Had  a  visit 
from  the  head  Jews,  to  thank  me  for  my  interference,  and 

found    that  they  were  still  in  fear The  Persians 

wrote  to  Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  that  they  would  give  up 
Herat  to  the  Wuzeer,  if  he  would  but  send  Kamrao  and 


1838.]  NEGOTIATIONS.  253 


me  to  them  as  prisoners  5  I  told  him  he  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  tell  me  to  go,  and  J[  would  go  to  them  of  myself,  if 
they  said  that  was  all  they  wanted.  He  appeared  to  per- 
fectly understand  the  deceitful  nature  of  the  offering.  25th. 
The  Wuzeer  received  a  letter  from  Hadjee  Abdool  Mahomed 
in  the  Persian  camp,  upbraiding  him  for  joining  with  infi- 
dels against  Islam,  and  for  holding  on  by  the  skirt  of  the 
English,  from  whom  he  could  never  receive  any  advantage  j 
that  they  would  flatter  him  and  give  money  as  long  as  suited 
their  interest,  as  they  do  in  India,  and  when  they  had  made 
a  party  in  the  country  and  knew  all  its  secrets  they  would 
take  it  for  themselves  j  that  the  Government  found  such 
was  what  they  wanted  to  do  in  Persia,  but  had  on  the  dis- 
covery prevented  it  by  turning  them  away  5  and  that  until 
the  Envoy  of  these  blasphemers — myself — ^was  also  turned 
out  of  the  city,  they  would  not  allow  the  Mooshtuhid  to 
venture  into  the  city.  A  note  to  the  same  effect  was  re- 
ceived from  the  Wuzeer*8  brother,  with  the  addition  that 

the  Russian  Envoy  would  not  send  his  agent  till  I  left. 

July  6th.  In  the  morning,  the  Afghans  had  a  consultation 
of  what  they  would  answer.  At  last  it  was  resolved  the 
Wuzeer  should  write  in  answer,  that  the  Englishman  is  a 
stranger  and  guest,  that  he  had  come  to  the  city,  and  in  the 
present  state  of  affairs  the  Afghans  could  not  think  of  turn- 
ing him  out  of  the  city  5  for  in  the  distracted  state  of  the 
country  he  could  not  arrive  in  safety  in  his  own  country, 
and  if  anything  happened  to  him  it  would  be  a  lasting  dis- 
grace to  the  Afghan  name,  and  as  a  guest  he  must  go  or 
•tay  according  to  his  own  pleasure  3  moreover,  the  Wuzeer 
wrote  that  he  did  not  hold  out  in  expectation  of  aid  from 


254  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

the  English,  that  he  had  no  wish  to  join  that  state  against 
Persia  (Iran),  from  his  connection  with  which  he  had  no 
wish  to  tear  himself,  but  that  the  Persians  would  give 
him  no  choice,  but  surrendering  or  fighting,  which  he  did 
from  necessity  and  not  from  being  so  absurd  as  to  wait  for 

aid  from  London. August  6th.  In  the  evening,  when 

the  Persians  had  gone,  went  to  the  assembly.  The  Wuzeer 
told  me  that,  the  whole  business  being  upon  me,  the  Per- 
sians made  a  point  of  obtaining  my  dismissal,  without  which 
they  would  not  treat.  They  were  so  pressing  that  he  said 
he  never  before  guessed  my  importance,  and  that  the  Af- 
ghan envoys,  who  had  gone  to  camp,  had  told  hi  mi  they  had 
always  thought  me  one  man,  but  the  importance  the  Per- 
sians attached  to  my  departure  showed  I  was  equal  to  an 
army.  The  Afghans  were  very  complimentary,  and  ex- 
pressed loudly  their  gratitude  to  the  British  Government,  to 
the  exertions  of  which  they  attributed  the  change  in  the 
tone  of  the  Persians  5  they,  however,  did  not  give  the  de- 
cided answer  they  should  have,  but  put  the  question  off  by 

saying  I  was  a  guest August  30th.  The  movement  of 

the  Persians  is  spoken  of  with  increased  positiveness,  but  no 
certain  intelligence  could  be  procured,  notwithstanding  the 
Afghans  were  grumbling  at  the  delay  of  the  English,  and 
Yar  Mahomed  himself  was  one  of  the  agitators  of  this  feel- 
ing, he  giving  out  in  public  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  Eng- 
lish Government  intended  to  drop  the  connection,  that  it 
wanted  merely  to  destroy  the  Persian  power,  and  did  not 
care  if  the  Herat  power  was  at  the  same  time  rooted  up. 
All  sorts  of  absurd  rumours  were  rife ;  but  a  very  general 
opinion,  originating  from  the  Persian  zealots,  was  that  the 


1838.]  RETREAT  OF  THE  PERSIANS.  255 

British  and  Russian  Governments  were  in  alliance  to  destroy 
Mahomedanism  and  partition  off  the  country,  dividing  India 
from  Russia,  between  them.* 

Soon  after  this,  the  siege  was  raised.  The  Persians, 
moved  by  their  repeated  failures,  and  by  the  demonstration 
made  by  the  British  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  struck  their  camp, 
and  Herat  was  saved — saved,  as  we  may  believe,  imder 
Providence,  by  the  wonderftd  energy  of  the  young  artillery- 
man, who  had  done  so  much  to  direct  the  defence  and  to 
animate  the  defenders.  We  shall  never  very  accurately 
know  the  ftill  extent  of  the  service  which  Eldred  Pottinger 
rendered  to  the  beleaguered  Heratees  5  and  for  this  reason 
(as  I  have  before  said),  that  the  extreme  modesty  of  the 
journal,  which  lies  before  me,  has  greatly  obscured  the 
truth.  He  was  at  all  times  slow  to  speak  of  himself  and  his 
doings  5  and  it  can  be  gathered  only  inferentially  from  his 
narrative  of  the  siege,  that  he  virtually  conducted  the  oper- 
ations of  the  garrison.  That  the  Persians  believed  this  is 
certain ;  and  it  is  equally  clear  that,  although  Yar  Mahomed 
and  other  Heratee  chiefs,  being  naturally  of  a  boastftil,  vain- 
glorious character,  endeavoured  to  claim  to  themselves  the 
chief  credit  of  the  victory,  the  people  in  the  surrounding 
country  knew  well  that  it  was  to  the  personal  gallantry  of 
the  young  Englishman  that  they  owed  their  salvation  from 
the  Persian  yoke.  But  he  was  himself  greatly  surprised  at 
the  result,  and  when  the  siege  was  over  declared  it  to  be  the 
strangest  thing  in  the  world  that  such  a  place  and  such  a 
garrison  could  have  held  out  for  so  many  months  against 
the  whole  Persian  army,  aided,  if  not  directed,  by  European 
officers^  and  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  the  personal 


2S6  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1838. 

presence  of  the  Shah.  In  an  elaborate  report  upon  Herat, 
which  he  drew  up  nearly  two  years  afterwards,  he  said :  '  It 
is  my  firm  belief  that  Mahomed  Shah  might  have  carried 
the  city  by  assault  the  very  first  day  that  he  reached  Herat, 
and  that  even  when  the  garrison  gained  confidence,  and 
were  flushed  with  the  success  of  their  sorties,  he  might  have, 
by  a  proper  use  of  the  means  at  his  disposal,  taken  the  place 
in  twenty-four  hours.  His  troops  were  infinitely  better 
soldiers  than  ours,  and  twice  as  good  troops  as  the  Afghans. 
The  non-success  of  their  efforts  was  the  fault  of  their  gener- 
als  The  men  worked  very  well  at  the  trenches, 

considering  they  were  not  trained  sappers,  and  the  practice 
of  their  artillery  was  really  superb.  They  simply  wanted 
engineers  and  a  general  to  have  proved  a  most  formidable 
force.' 

There  was  now  a  season  of  repose  for  Herat,  but  it 
was  the  repose  of  utter  prostration.  The  long-protracted 
siege,  and  the  exactions  which  had  attended  it,  had  reduced 
the  people  to  a  condition  of  unexampled  misery.  The  re- 
sources of  the  state  were  exhausted  3  the  people  were  starv- 
ing ;  and  Yar  Mahomed  was  endeavouring  to  recruit  his 
finances  by  the  old  and  cherished  means  of  slave-dealing. 
In  this  crisis  Pottinger  put  forth  all  his  energies  a  second 
time  for  the  defence  of  Herat.  By  obtaining  from  his 
Government  advances  of  money  he  was  enabled  to  restore 
both  trade  and  cultivation,  which  had  been  well-nigh  sus- 
pended, and  thus  large  numbers  of  people,  who  had  emi- 
grated in  despair,  were  induced  to  return  to  their  homes. 
The  ascendancy  which  he  thus  obtained  enabled  him  to 
exert  his  influence  for  the  suppression  of  the  horrible  traffic 


i83»-39-l      PROTECTION  OF  THE  HEEATEES.  as? 

in  human  flesh — ^good  work,  in  which  he  was  aided  by 
Colonel  Stoddart,  who  remained  for  some  time  at  Herat 
with  him.  But  these  and  other  humane  efforts  for  the 
protection  of  the  people  were  distasteful  in  the  extreme  to 
Yar  Mahomed,  and  a  few  months  after  the  raising  of  the 
siege  the  English  officers  were  openly  insulted  and  outraged. 
Colonel  Stoddart  quitted  Herat  for  Bokhara  in  the  month 
of  January  ^  and  Pottinger,  after  the  insults  he  had  received, 
would  have  gone  also,  but  he  was  earnestly  implored  by 
Shah  Kamran  to  remain,  and  he  knew  that  it  was  the  wish 
of  his  Government  that  he  should  not  quit  his  post. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  Government  of  India  were 
equipping  the  Army  of  the  Indus,  and  maturing  their 
measures  for  the  restoration  of  Shah  Soojah  to  '  the  throne 
of  his  ancestors.*  Their  first  manifesto  was  put  forth  on  the 
1st  of  October,  at  which  time  intelligence  of  the  retreat 
of  the  Persians  from  before  Herat  had  not  reached  Lord 
Auckland.  At  the  end  of  this  manifesto  there  was  a  noti- 
fication distributing  the  agency  by  which  our  diplomatic 
operations  in  Afghanistan  were  to  be  conducted,  and 
Lieutenant  Eldred  Pottinger  was  then  appointed  senior 
Political  Assistant  to  the  Envoy  and  Minister.  But,  afler 
a  little  while,  news  came  that  the  siege  had  been  raised, 
and  another  public  announcement  was  put  forth,  declaring 
that  although  the  British  Government  regarded  the  retreat 
of  the  Persians  as  a  just  cause  of  congratulation,  it  was  still 
intended  to  prosecute  with  vigour  the  measures  which  had 
been  announced,  'with  a  view  to  the  substitution  of  a 
friendly  for  a  hostile  power  *  in  Afghanistan,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  a  permanent  barrier  against  schemes  of 

VOL.   II.  17 


258  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1839-40. 

aggression  on  our  North-Westem  Frontier.  And  then  the 
Governor-Greneral  proceeded  to  render  honour  to  £ldred 
Pottinger  in  these  becoming  terms :  *  The  Right  Honour- 
able the  Governor-Greneral  is  pleased  to  appoint  Lieutenant 
Eldred  Pottinger,  of  the  Bombay  Artillery,  to  be  Political 
Agent  at  Herat,  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  Envoy  and 
Minister  at  the  Court  of  Shah  Soojah-ool-Moolk.  This 
appointment  is  to  have  effect  from  the  9th  of  September 
last,  the  date  on  which  the  siege  of  Herat  was  raised  by  the 
Shah  of  Persia.  In  conferring  the  above  appointment  on 
Lieutenant  Pottinger,  the  Governor-Greneral  is  glad  of  the 
opportunity  afforded  him  of  bestowing  the  high  applause 
which  is  due  to  the  signal  merits  of  that  officer,  who  was 
present  in  Herat  during  the  whole  of  the  protracted  siege, 
and  who,  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  danger  and  dif- 
ficulty, has  by  his  fortitude,  ability,  and  judgment,  honour- 
ably sustained  the  reputation  and  interests  of  his  country.' 

So  Eldred  Pottinger  continued  to  dwell  at  Herat  until 
September,  1839,  ^7  which  time  Major  D*Arcy  Todd  had 
arrived  on  a  special  mission,  of  which  mention  is  made  in  a 
subsequent  Memoir.  Pottinger  then  made  his  way  by  the 
route  of  Bameean  to  Caubul,  where  he  found  the  Britidi 
Army  encamped,  and  the  British  Embassy,  under  Mae- 
naghten,  established.  After  a  brief  residence  there,  he 
quitted  the  Afghan  territory,  and  went  down  to  meet  the 
Governor-General  in  the  Upper  Provinces  of  India.  He 
was  warmly  welcomed  by  Lord  Auckland,  who  received 
with  the  liveliest  interest  the  information  with  which  be 
was  laden,  and  would  have  heard  with  warmer  admiratioa 
his  narrative  of  the  stirring  scenes  in  which  he  had  been 


1840—41]    POLITICAL  AGENT  IN  THE  KOHISTAN,       259 

engaged^  if  he  had  spoken  more  of  himself  and  his  actions. 
He  was  of  course  invited  to  join  the  Government  circle  at 
dinner  3  but  nothing  was  known  of  his  arrival  until  the 
guests  were  assembling  in  the  great  dinner-tent.  Then  it 
was  observed  that  a  '  native,'  in  the  Afghan  costume,  was 
leaning  against  one  of  the  poles  of  the  tent  3  obviously  a  shy, 
reserved  man,  with  somewhat  of  a  downcast  look  3  and  the 
Government-House  Staff  looked  askance  at  him,  whispered 
to  each  other,  wondered  what  intruder  he  was,  and  sug- 
gested to  each  other  that  it  would  be  well  for  some  one  to 
bid  him  to  depart.  But  the  '  some  one  *  was  not  found  5 
and  presently  the  Governor-Greneral  entered,  and  leading 
his  sister.  Miss  Eden,  up  to  the  stranger,  said,  '  Let  me  pre- 
sent you  to  the  hero  of  Herat.'  And  then,  of  course,  there 
was  a  great  commotion  in  the  tent,  and,  in  spite  of  etiquette, 
the  assembly  burst  into  something  like  a  cheer. 

Then  Eldred  Pottinger  went  down  to  Calcutta  and  re- 
mained there  for  some  time,  during  which  he  drew  up 
certain  valuable  reports  on  Herat  and  the  adjacent  country. 
In  the  mean  while.  Major  Todd  was  doing  the  work  of  the 
Political  Agency,  to  which  Pottinger  in  the  first  instance 
had  been  appointed,  and  it  was  not  thought  expedient  to 
disturb  the  arrangement.  So  another  post  was  found  for 
the  young  Bombay  Artilleryman,  and  the  year  1841 
found  him  again  serving  in  Afghanistan.  He  had  been  ap- 
pointed Political  Agent  on  the  Turkistan  frontier,  and  his 
head-quarters  were  in  Kohistan,  or  the  country  above  Cau- 
bul,  where  he  dwelt,  with  a  small  staff  of  officers  and  a 
native  escort,  in  what  was  known  as  the  Lughmanee 
Castle. 


26o  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1841. 

As  the  autumn  advanced,  Pottinger  saw  most  clearly 
that  there  was  mischief  in  the  air ;  that  the  measures  of  re- 
trenchment, so  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Kohistanee 
as  of  other  chiefs,  were  fast  relaxing  the  only  hold  which 
we  had  upon  their  forbearance.  The  tie  which  bound  them 
to  us  was  the  tie  of  gratified  avarice.  But  now  our  great 
system  of  bribery  was  beginning  to  collapse.  When  Pot- 
tinger knew  what  had  been  done,  he  scented  the  danger  at 
once,  and  he  wrote  several  letters  of  earnest  remonstrance 
to  Sir  William  Macnaghten.  '  In  September,'  wrote  Pot- 
tinger, '  the  Envoy  sent  several  back  5  not  understanding  the 
reason  why,  I  remonstrated  with  him,  and  he  then  informed 
me  that  he  was  ordered  by  Government  to  mak^  retrench- 
ments, and  that  it  had  been  resolved  to  dimiinish  the  gro» 
amount  of  pay  to  the  military  throughout  the  country  by 
one-third.  Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this  I  wrote  as 
strongly  as,  it  appeared  to  me,  became  my  situation,  to 
the  Envoy,  and  pointed  out  the  danger  likely  to  accrue 
from  irritating  the  minds  of  people  in  a  province  so  sur- 
rounded by  rebellious  districts,  and  particularly  the  grosB 
breach  of  public  faith  which  would  be  committed  if  this 
measure  were  carried  into  effect  throughout  the  Kohistan, 
and  begged  he  would,  at  least,  spare  the  chiefs  installed  last 
year  (1840).  The  Envoy  replied  that  he  could  not  help  the 
reduction,  as  his  orders  were  peremptory,  but  he  informed 
me  that  the  chiefs  who  were  advanced  under  our  knowledge 
during  the  past  year  should  be  considered  as  excused.*  Day 
afler  day  appearances  became  more  threatening.  It  was 
plainly  necessary  to  do  something.  If  we  could  not  any 
longer  purchase  the  submission  of  the  chie&,  we  mig^t 


1841.]  Ji/S/NGS  IN  THE  KOHISTAN.  261 


overawe  them  by  a  display  of  force.  So  Pottinger  went  to 
Caubul,  and  urged  upon  the  Envoy  the  expediency  of 
sending  an  expedition  into  the  Nijrow  country,  and  ^  getting 
rid  of  some  of  the  most  dangerous  of  our  enemies.*  To 
this  Sir  William  Macnaghten  was  averse.  '  He,  however, 
wrote  Pottinger,  ^referred  me  to  General  Elphinstone,  and 
told  me  that  if  the  General  would  consent,  he  would.  On 
visiting  the  General,  I  found  that  he  had  received  such  re- 
ports of  the  country,  that  he  would  not  permit  an  expedi- 
tion without  further  information  5  whereupon  I  offered  to 
take  any  officers  the  General  might  select  and  show  them 
the  country,  as  my  presence  in  the  Kohistan  was  necessary. 
I  returned  there  before  anything  was  determined.* 

During  the  early  part  of  October,  the  Kohistanees  re- 
mained outwardly  quiet  5  but  day  after  day  brought  new 
rumours  of  coming  insurrection,  which  Pottinger  duly  re- 
ported to  head-quarters.  But  both  Macnaghten  and  Burnes 
said  that  they  could  see  no  grounds  of  alarm — no  cause  for 
suspicion.  ^  Notwithstanding,'  said  Pottinger,  ^  by  the  end 
of  the  month  my  suspicions  were  so  aroused,  that  I  felt  it 
my  duty  to  recommend  that  hostages  should  be  demanded 
from  the  Kohistanee  chiefs.  To  this  measure  the  Envoy 
reluctantly  consented,  and  I  only  succeeded  in  procuring 
them  by  the  end  of  the  month,  when  everything  betokened 
a  speedy  rupture.*  The  enemy  were  then  gathering  around 
him  5  and  though  many  of  the  chiefs  came  to  him  with 
professions  of  friendship  and  offerings  of  service  on  their 
lips,  he  clearly  saw  the  necessity  of  strengthening  his  posi- 
tion and  taking  precautions  against  a  sudden  attack.  But  it 
was  necessary,  at  the  same  time,  to  veil  his  suspicions,  and 


262  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1841. 

therefore,  as  he  said,  his  defensive  operations  were  restricted 
to  half-measures. 

It  has  already  been  told  how  on  the  second  day  of 
November  the  storm  burst  furiously  over  Caubul.  It  soon 
swept  into  the  Kohistan.  On  the  morning  of  the  third,  it 
was  plain,  from  the  number  of  armed  men  that  were  gather- 
ing round  the  Lughmanee  Castle,  that  the  crisis  was  dose 
at  hand.  The  chiefs,  however,  still  professed  friendship, 
and  clamoured  for  rewards.  Pottinger  then  told  the  princi- 
pal men  that  if  they  would  render  the  service  required  from 
them  they  should  have  not  only  rewards,  but  dresses  of 
honour  from  the  King.  They  appeared  to  be  satisfied,  but 
said  it  was  necessary  that  this  should  be  explained  to  the 
petty  chiefs  who  were  in  the  adjacent  garden.  On  this, 
Pottinger  sent  out  his  Assistant,  Lieutenant  Rattray,  to 
commune  with  them.  Soon  conscious  that  foul  play  was 
designed,  Rattray  was  about  to  leave  the  assembly,  when 
he  was  shot  down.  A  friendly  Afghan  had  run  to  the 
castle  to  apprize  Pottinger  that  treachery  was  around  him. 
'He  had  scarcely  made  me  comprehend  his  meaning,* 
wrote  Eldred,  '  as  he  spoke  by  hints,  when  the  sound  of 
shots  alarmed  us.  The  chiefs  with  me  rose  and  fled>  and 
I  escaped  into  the  castle  through  the  postern-gate,  which 
being  secured,  I  ran  on  the  terre-plain  of  the  ramparts,  and 
thence  saw  Mr  Rattray  lying  badly  wounded  about  three 
hundred  yards  distant,  and  the  late  tenderers  of  service 
making  off  in  all  directions  with  the  plunder  of  the  camp. 
Before  I  was  master  of  these  facts,  a  party  of  the  enemy 
crossing  the  field  observed  Mr  Rattray,  and  running  up  to 
him,  one  put  his  gun  to  his  head  and  despatched  him^ 


1841.1  RISINGS  IN  THE  KOHISTAN  263 


whilst  several  others  fired  their  pieces  into  different  parts  of 
his  body.' 

And  now  what  was  to  be  done  >  The  enemy  were 
^warming  around  him  ^  and  those  of  his  own  people,  who 
remained  faithfid  among  the  faithless,  were  few.  Captain 
Codrington  was  then  with  Pottinger  in  Lughman,  bul  his 
regiment  was  three  miles  off,  at  Charekur.  The  alarm, 
however,  had  been  given  j  and  in  the  course  of  the  after- 
noon, young  Haughton,  the  Adjutant  of  the  Ghoorkhas,  a 
gallant  soldier,  who  has  well  fulfilled  the  promise  of  his 
youth,  appeared  with  two  companies  of  the  regiment,  and 
then  Codrington,  mustering  what  men  he  could,  made  a 
sortie  and  joined  him.  There  was  then  some  sharp  fight- 
ing, and  the  gardens  were  cleared.  By  this  time  night 
was  falling.  It  was  the  duty  both  of  Codrington  and 
Haughton  to  return  to  Charekur ;  but  they  left  Pottinger 
some  sixty  men,  which  made  up  his  entire  garrison  to  a 
hundred,  all  the  ammunition  at  his  disposal  amounting  to 
<Mily  fifteen  rounds  a  man.  But  his  friends  of  the  Ghoorkha 
regiment  promised  to  bring  him  fresh  suppUes  and  new 
reinforcements  of  men  on  the  morrow  \  so  he  determined, 
with  God*s  will,  to  maintain  his  post. 

But  it  was  not  so  ordained.  The  attempted  relief  failed. 
Codrington  sent  out  four  companies  of  the  Ghoorkhas  and 
a  six-pounder  gun  5  and  if  the  gallantry  of  the  young 
officers,  Haughton  and  Salisbury,  could  have  insured 
success,  the  desired  succour  would  have  been  conveyed  to 
the  Lughmanee  Castle.  But  the  enemy  were  numerous, 
and  some  of  our  troops  were  young  and  impetuous.  The 
detachment  was,  therefore,  compelled  to  fall  back  with 


264  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1841. 

heavy  loss.  Salisbury  was  killed^  and  Haughton  was 
obliged  to  take  back  the  remains  of  his  disheartened 
party  to  Charekur.  '  On  perceiving  the  retreat,'  wrote 
Pottinger,  'I  concluded  Captain  Codrington  would  not 
again  attempt  to  relieve  me,  and  as  I  had  no  anununition  be- 
yond the  supply  in  the  men's  pouches,  I  determined  to 
retreat  on  Charekur  after  dark  5  but  the  better  to  hide  my 
intention,  ordered  grain  to  be  brought  into  the  castle.* 

By  wise  arrangements,  which  eluded  the  vigilance  of 
the  enemy,  Pottinger  with  a  few  followers  contrived  to 
make  good  his  retreat  to  Charekur,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  night.  He  had  scarcely  thrown  himself  into  that  place, 
when  the  enemy  began  to  rage  furiously  against  the  people 
of  the  King  and  his  supporters.  The  time  for  negotiation 
had  passed  3  so  Pottinger,  divesting  himself  of  his  political 
character,  took  command  of  the  guns,  and  prepared  to 
resist  the  insurgents. 

The  little  garrison  had  stout  hearts,  and  they  fonght 
manfully,  making  frequent  sorties  against  the  enemy,  but 
prevailing  not  against  the  crowds  that  were  gathering 
around  them.  In  one  of  these  sorties  Pottinger  was 
wounded  by  a  musket-shot  in  the  leg  5  and  soon  afterwards, 
Captain  Codrington,  who  commanded,  was  killed.  Then 
young  Haughton  took  the  command,  and  against  fearfiil 
odds  performed  feats  of  heroic  gallantry,  which  won  the 
admiration  and  perhaps  excited  the  not  ungenerous  envy  of 
his  disabled  comrade.* 

*  After  the  death  of  Captain  Codrington,  wrote  Pottinger  in  his 
Budeeabad  report,  the  enemy  were  *  repulsed  with  loss  fix>m  the  bar- 
racks, when  Mr  Haughton,  on  whom  had  devolved  the  commandt 


1841.]  DEFENCE  OF  CHAREKUR,  265 


There  was,  however,  an  enemy  which  it  was  impossible 
to  resist.  The  Uttle  garrison  held  out  manfully  against 
vastly  superior  numbers,  but  they  were  perishing  from 
thirst.  The  insurgents  had  cut  off  their  supplies  of  water, 
and  there  was  no  hope  for  them.  Reduced  to  this  strait, 
they  were  summoned  to  surrender.  The  condition  to  secure 
their  safety  was  that  Christians  and  Hindoos  alike  should 
accept  the  Mahomedan  faith.  '  We  came  to  a  Mahomedan 
country,'  answered  Pottinger,  ^to  aid  a  Mahomedan  sove- 
reign in  the  recovery  of  his  rights.  We  are,  therefore,  within 
the  pale  of  Islam,  and  exempt  from  coercion  on  the  score 
of  religion.*  They  told  him  that  the  King  had  ordered  the 
attack,  and  he  replied,  '  Bring  me  his  written  orders.  I  can 
do  nothing  without  them.* 

But  the  thirst  was  destroying  them.  The  last  drop  of 
water  had  been  served  out  3  and  when  they  endeavoured  to 
steal  out  in  the  night  to  obtain  a  little  of  the  precious 
moisture  from  a  neighbouring  spring,  the  enemy  discovered 
them  and  shot  them  down  hke  sheep.  There  was  feilure 
after  failure,  and  then  the  disciplined  fighting  men  became 
a  disorganized  rabble.  The  few  that  remained  staunch  were 
very  weak,  and  they  had  but  a  few  rounds  of  ammunition 

followed  up  the  success  and  drove  the  enemy  back  by  a  sortie  far 
beyond  the  gardens  occupied  in  the  morning,  and  maintained  the 
ground  despite  the  incessant  attacks  of  the  enemy,  who  did  not 
desist  till  dark.*  And  again  :  *  On  the  9th,  the  enemy  blew  up  a 
part  of  the  south-west  tower,  owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  guard. 
Before,  however,  the  enemy  could  profit  by  the  breach  and  the 
panic  of  our  men,  Mr  Haughton  rallied  the  fugitives,  and  leading 
them  back,  secured  the  top  of  the  parapet  with  a  barricade  of  board 
and  sand-bags.' 


266  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1841. 

in  their  pouches.  With  this  little  body  of  Ghoorkha  troops, 
Pottinger  and  Haughton^  having  taken  counsel  together, 
determined  to  fight  their  way  to  Caubul.  The  story  of  thdf 
escape  shall  be  told  in  Pottinger *s  own  words :  '  On  the 
1 2th/  he  wrote,  'after  dark,  Mr  Haughton  ordered  out  a 
party  to  cover  the  water-carriers  in  an  attempt  to  get  water. 
The  Sepoys,  however,  left  the  ranks  to  supply  themselves, 
and  dispersed  on  being  fired  at ;  in  consequence,  the  water- 
carriers  failed  in  their  object.  A  sortie,  consisting  of  two 
companies,  under  Ensign  Rose,  was  then  ordered:  one 
company  separated,  and  the  men  left  their  officers  in  search 
of  water  5  the  other  company,  under  Mr  Rose  himself  fell 
on  a  post  of  the  besiegers,  and  put  every  man  of  it  to  deatL 
They,  however,  became  unaccountably  panic-struck  (lest 
the  enemy  should  come  down  in  force),  and  fled  back  to 
the  barrack.  Mr  Rose,  being  left  nearly  alone,  was  obliged 
to  return  without  gaining  his  object.  Mr  Haughton  having 
apprized  me  of  these  circumstances,  and  that  the  corps  was 
nearly  disorganized  fi-om  the  privations  it  had  suffered^  the 
otter  inefficiency  of  the  native  officers  (who  had  no  sort 
of  control  over  the  soldiers),  the  exhaustion  of  the  mcQ 
fi-om  constant  duty,  the  total  want  of  water  and  proinaoDS, 
I  considered  that  one  only  chance  of  saving  any  portion  oi 
the  regiment  was  a  retreat  on  Caubul,  and  though  that  was 
abundantly  perilous,  I  entertained  a  hope  that  the  most 
active  men,  who  were  not  encumbered  with  wives  and 
children,  might  reach  it  in  safety.  Mr  Haughton  coincided^ 
but  lest  the  enemy  should  hear  of  our  intention,  we  resolved 
that  the  men  should  not  be  informed  till  paraded  for  starting. 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  ijth^  Mr  Haughton  discovered 


t84X. J  HE  TREA  T  FROM  CHAREKUR.  267 

amongst  the  Punjab  artilleiymen  two  men  who  had  deserted 
from  that  body  a  fewdajrs  previous^  and,  while  apprehending 
them,  the  Jemadar  of  artilleiy  snatched  a  sword  from  a 
bystander,  and  before  aid  could  be  given  cut  down  and 
severely  wounded  that  officer.     He  then,  followed  by  the 
artillerymen,  and  the  greater  number  of  the  Mahomedans 
in  the  castle  (barracks),  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity, 
ran  off  at  the  same  time.     This  caused  such  a  tumult,  that, 
at  first,  I  feared  the  enemy  had  attacked  and  were  driving 
our  men  from  the  walls  5  under  this  impression  I  had  myself 
hurried  to  the  main  gate,  but  found  on  arrival  that  Dr  Grant 
had  secured  that,  and  rallied  the  men.     The  native  officers 
immediately  gathered  round  with  many  of  the  Sepoys,  to 
assure  me  of  their  fidelity;  but  the  latter  were  evidently 
disorganized,  which  may  be  judged  of  firom  the  feet  of  their 
having  plundered  the  treasure  and  Captain  Codrington's 
quarters  the  moment  I  lefi:  them,  and,  in  face  of  the  enemy's 
fire,  pulled  down  the  officers*  boxes  which  had  been  piled 
up  as  traverses  to  cover  the  doorways,  broken  them  open, 
and   piUaged  them.     In  the  evening  (Dr   Grant  having 
previously  spiked  all  the  guns  with  his  own  hands),  we 
marched  out  of  the  barracks  by  the  postern.     The  advance 
was  led  by  myself  (as  Mr  Haughton,  who  accompanied  me, 
was  unable  to  do  more  than  sit  on  his  horse),  Dr  Grant 
brought  out  the  main  body,  and  Ensign  Rose,  with  the 
quartermaster-sergeant,  brought  up  the  rear.     I  found  it  to- 
tally impossible  to  preserve  any  order  after  leaving  the  gate, 
and  in  vain  attempted  leading  the  men  to  besiege  a  building 
generally  occupied  by  the  enemy  after  nightfall,  so  that  we 
might  cover  the  exit  of  the  main  body  from  the  barracks ; 


268  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1841. 


and  it  was  not  without  much  dilSiculty  I  eventually  succeeded 
in  halting  the  men  about  half  a  mile  from  the  barracks,  till 
Mr  Rose,  with  the  rear,  closed  up.  Dr  Grant,  however, 
was  missing,  and  was  never  afterwards  seen.  After  this  we 
proceeded  in  a  disorderly  crowd  along  the  road  to  Sinjitdereh, 
on  which  I  knew  we  should  soonest  find  water.  At  die 
first  place  we  did  so ;  a,  great  delay  took  place,  and  I,  widi 
•  the  advance,  suddenly  found  we  were  separated  from  the 
main  body,  but  after  some  search  I  rejoined  them.  Below 
Sinjitdereh  we  were  obliged  to  leave  the  road,  lest  alann 
should  be  taken,  and  were  considerably  delayed  before  we 
found  the  road  again  on  the  other  side  of  the  village.  On 
reaching  Istalif  we  were  obliged  to  do  the  same  thing,  when 
finding  very  few  men  inclined  to  push  on,  and  that  I  was 
getting  exhausted  with  the  pain  of  my  wound  and  ^tigue, 
I  determined  pushing  on  with  Mr  Haughton,  and  trying  to 
reach  Caubul  before  daylight.  Neither  of  us  was  capable 
of  the  exertion  or  of  sustaining  the  fatigue  consequent  on 
the  slow  movements  of  the  regiment  3  we,  therefore,  rode 
on,  but  having  no  guide,  we  got  into  so  many  difiSculties, 
that  day  was  breaking  when  we  reached  the  range  of 
mountains  about  half  way  between  Charekur  and  Caubul, 
where,  at  Mr  Haughton's  advice,  our  horses  and  selves  beiog 
quite  exhausted,  we  halted  in  a  deep  and  dry  ravine.  Our 
other  companions  were  a  Sepoy  of  the  regiment,  my  English 
writer,  and  the  regimental  bunya.  In  the  forenoon  we 
were  alarmed  by  firing  in  the  mountains  above  us,  but 
otherwise  we  passed  the  day  undisturbed.  At  dusk  we 
resumed  our  route.  Being  prevented  by  watch-fire  attempt- 
ing to  gain  the  high  road,  we  followed  a  sheep-path  over 


i84i.]  THE  Y  RE  A  CH  CA  UBUL,  26Q 

the  mountain  into  the  plain  of  Altifat,  which  we  crossed, 
avoiding  the  castle  of  that  name,  and  leaving  the  main  road  j 
from  that  plain  crossed  the  remaining  range  of  hills  by  a 
footpath  descending  into  the  Caubul  plain  behind  the  lake, 
round  the  southern  end  of  which  we  took  our  road,  intending 
to  cross  the  cultivated  land  to  cantonments  by  the  back  of 
the  Shah's  garden  at  Kila-boleno.  Where  we  should  have 
branched  off,  I  missed  the  turn,  and  as  we  were  within 
the  enemy's  sentinels  I  feared  to  attract  observation  by 
turning  (when  I  discovered  my  mistake)  5  this  obliged  tne 
to  make  for  Deh- Afghan,  intending  to  try  that  road,  but 
on  reaching  that  we  found  the  place  occupied,  and  ourselves 
so  urgently  challenged  by  the  sentinels,  that  we  were  obliged 
to  pass  on  to  the  city,  which  having  gained  without  inter- 
ruption, we  pursued  owr  way  through  the  lanes  and  h2a2i2x 
along  the  river-bank  till  we  gained  the  skirts  of  the  city, 
where  we  found  a  picket.  We  had  nearly  passed,  when 
we  were  observed  and  called  on  to  stop,  and  as  we  did  not 
do  so,  several  pursued  us,  but  as  the  horses  gained  on  them, 
they  fired,  and  we  received  a  volley  firom  the  now  aroused 
picket,  fortunately  without  any  injury,  and  a  few  hundred 
yards  &rther  carried  us  to  our  own  entrenched  cantonment, 
which  we  found  besieged.  My  woimd  had  become  so 
painful  and  irritated  from  want  of  dressing  and  exertion, 
that  I  was  obliged  to  keep  my  bed  for  some  time.* 

I  have  sufiered  Eldred  Pottinger  to  tell  his  own  story, 
but  one  incident  omitted  firom  the  narrative  must  be  told 
here  to  complete  the  recital.  When  they  were  not  far  from 
Caubul,  Haughton  feehng  utterly  exhausted  from  pain,  loss 
of  blood,  fatigue,  and  want  of  food,  implored  Pottinger  to 


270  MAJOR  RLDRBD  POTTINGER.  [1841. 

leave  him  to  die  and  to  save  his  own  life.  Pottinger  said 
that  he  would  die  with  his  comrade,  but  that  he  would 
never  desert  him  ^  and  after  resting  awhile,  both  contrived 
to  struggle  on,  and  were,  almost  miraculously,  saved. 


When  Eldred  Pottinger  reached  Caubul,  he  was  com- 
pelled, for  some  time,  to  nurse  his  wounds ;  but,  before  long, 
the  great  crisis  of  the  insurrection  brought  him  again  to  the 
front.  Sir  William  Macnaghten,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  British  Mission,  was  slain  by  Akbar  Khan  ;  and  every 
man  in  camp  then  felt  that  Pottinger  was  the  man  above 
all  others  to  rescue  the  English  from  the  difficulties  which 
hemmed  them  in  as  with  a  ring  of  fire.  It  was  on  the 
23rd  of  December,  1841,  that  the  Envoy  was  killed.  On 
the  25th,  Pottinger  wrote  to  Major  Macgregor,  who  was 
Political  Agent  at  Jellalabad : 

'Caubul,  December  25,  1841. 

'My  dear  Macoreoor, — We  have  had  a  sad  Comedj 
of  Errors,  or  rather  tragedy,  here.  Macnaghten  was  called 
out  to  a  conference  and  murdered.  We  have  interchanged 
terms  on  the  groimd  he  was  treating  on  for  leaving  the 
country  3  but  things  are  not  finally  settled.  However,  we 
are  to  fall  back  on  Jellalabad  to-morrow  or  next  day.  In 
the  present  disturbed  state  of  the  country  we  may  expect 
opposition  on  the  road,  and  we  are  likely  to  suffer  much 
from  the  cold  and  hunger,  as  we  expect  to  have  no  carriage 
for  tents  and  superfluides.  I  have  taken  charge  of  the 
Mission.     Mackenzie,  Lawrence,  and  ConoUy  are  all 


i84i.]  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  MISSION.  971 


The  first  two  I  fear  for.     The  latter  is  qmte  safe.    The 
cantonment  is  now  attacked. 

'Yours,  verjr  truly, 

'Eldbed  Pottinobr.' 

Pive  days  afterwards  he  wrote  to  Captain  Mackeson,  at 
Peshawur — disguising  the  language  of  his  letter  in  French, 
and  signing  his  name  in  Greek,  because  there  were  those  in 
the  enemy's  camp  who  could  read  English : 

'Cantoxmements  k  Cabool,  30^  de  D^cembre,  1841. 

*MoN  CHBB  Mackbson, — J*ai  eu  le  plaisir  de  recevoir 
votre  lettre  du  12"**  au  feu  Envoy6.  Notre  situation  ici  est 
des  plus  dangereuses.  L*Enyoy6  etait  tu6  k  une  conference, 
qui  avait  lieu  hors  d'ici,  le  23  de  ce  mois.  Quand  je  prenais 
charge  je  trouvais  qu*il  avait  engage  du  part  du  gouveme- 
ment  de  quitter  Afghanistan,  et  de  donner  hostages  pour 
que  le  Dost  soyait  mis  en  liberty,  aussi  que  pour  pr^limin- 
aires  il  avait  rendu  le  Balla  Hissar  et  les  forts  qui  dominent 
ies  cantonnements.  Ces  acts  et  le  manque  des  vivres 
faisaient  les  cantonnements  untenable,  et  les  quatre  officiers 
militaires  sup^rieurs  disaient  qu*il  fallait  resumer  le  traits 
au  lieu  de  forcer  une  marche  retrograde  sur  Jellalabad. 
Nous  avons  aujourd'hui  finis  les  termes  du  traits,  et  nous 
esp^rons  partir  d'ici  demain  ou  apr^s  demain.  De  leur 
promesses  je  m*en  doute,  malgr6  que  les  ordres  ont  ^t^ 
expddi^  pour  que  nos  troupes  quittent  Candahar  et  Ghizny. 
11  fsait  que  vous  tenez  ouvert  le  Khyber,  et  que  vous  soyez 
pr6t  nous  aider  le  passage;  car  si  nous  ne  sommes  pas 
prot6g^^  il  nous  serait  impossible  faire  halte  en  route  pour 


979  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1841. 

que  les  troupes  se  refraichissent.  sans  laquelle  j*ai  peur  qa'ik 
sclent  desorganises. 

'Votre  ami, 

'EXSpeS  EToTTtfycp. 

'Apres  aujourd'hui  j*6crirai  mon  nom  en  lettres 
Grecques.  Lorsque  le  Cossid  vous  remettra  cette  lettre 
vous  lui  donnerez  trois  cent  rupees/ 

It  is  hard  to  say  what  Eldred  Pottinger  suffered  when 
he  found  himself  compelled  to  negotiate  with  the  enemy 
for  the  surrender  of  Caubul  and  the  evacuation  of  the 
country.  He  vehemently  opposed  himself  to  the  weak 
policy,  which  had  been  agreed  upon  before  he  was  placed 
in  the  direction  of  affairs.  He  protested  j  he  remonstrated; 
but  all  in  vain.  The  military  authorities  had  determined 
that  they  could  fight  no  longer,  and  that  there  was  nothing 
to  be  done  but  to  make  an  ignominious  retreat  from  the 
coimtry  which  they  had  so  proudly  invaded.  The  explana- 
tion of  the  circumstances  which  at  last  compelled  him, 
sorely  against  the  promptings  of  his  own  courageous  heart, 
to  negotiate  with  the  Afghan  chiefs  for  a  safe-conduct,  is 
on  record.  '  We  received,*  he  wrote,  in  a  report  to  Go- 
vernment drawn  up  at  a  subsequent  period,  '  a  tender  fix)m 
Mahomed  Oosman  Khan,  offering  to  escort  the  army  to 
Peshawur  for  the  sum  of  five  lakhs  of  rupees,  as  had  been 
offered  him  (he  said)  by  Sir  W.  Macnaghten.  At  the 
same  time,  letters  from  Captains  Macgregor  and  M ackeson 
were  received,  urging  Sir  William  to  hold  out,  and  inform- 
ing us  of  the  reinforcements  which  were  on  their  way  from 


1842.]  THE  CAPITULATION,  273 


Jndia.  The  information  from  the  city  showed  that  feuds 
were  running  high  there,  and  that  Shah  Soojah  ap- 
peared to  be  getting  up  a  respectable  party  for  himself. 
When  I  informed  General  Elphinstone  of  these  facts, 
he  summoned  a  council  of  war,  consisting  of  Brigadier 
Shelton,  Brigadier  Anquetil,  Lieut.-Colonel  Chambers, 
Captain  Bellew,  and  Captain  Grant.  At  the  Major- 
GJeneral's  request  I  laid  the  above-mentioned  facts,  and  the 
enemy*s  tenders,  before  these  officers,  and  also  my  own 
opinion  that  we  should  not  treat  with  the  enemy,  because 
— firstly y  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  enemy  were 
deceiving  us  5  secondly,  I  considered  it  our  duty  to  hold 
aloof  from  all  measures  which  would  tie  the  hands  of  Go- 
vernment as  to  its  future  acts  j  and  thirdly,  that  we  had  no 
right  to  sacrifice  so  large  a  sum  of  public  money  (amount- 
ing to  nineteen  lakhs)  to  purchase  our  own  safety — or  to 
order  other  commanding  officers  to  give  up  the  trusts  con- 
fided to  them — for  it  was  especially  laid  down  by  writers 
on  international  law,  that  a  General  had  no  authority  to 
make  any  treaty,  unless  he  were  able  to  enforce  the  con- 
ditions, and  that  he  could  not  treat  for  the  future,  but  only 
for  the  present.  The  council  of  war,  however,  unanimously 
decided  that  remaining  at  Caubul  and  forcing  a  retreat 
were  alike  impracticable,  aud  that  nothing  remained  for 
us  but  endeavouring  to  release  the  army,  by  agreeing  to 
the  tenders  offered  by  the  enemy  5  and  that  any  sum,  in 
addition  to  what  had  already  been  promised  by  Sir  William 
Macnaghten^  if  it  tended  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  army, 
woiud  be  well  expended,  and  that  our  right  to  negotiate 
on  these  terms  was  proved  by  Sir  William  Macnaghten 

VOL.  II.  18 


274  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  {i^h 


having  agreed  to  them  before  his  assassination.  Under 
these  circumstances,  as  the  Major-General  coincided  with 
the  officers  of  the  council,  and  refused  to  attempt  occupy- 
ing the  Balla  Hissar,  and  as  his  second  in  command,  who 
had  been  there,  declared  it  impracticable,  I  considered  it 
my  duty,  notwithstanding  my  repugnance  to  and  disproval 
of  the  measure,  to  yield,  and  attempt  to  cany  on  a  n^otia- 
tion.  For  the  reasons  of  the  military  authorities  I  must 
refer  you  to  themselves.* 

In  a  letter  of  a  more  private  character,  addressed  to 
Captain  Macgregor,  our  Political  Agent  dt  Jellalabad,  Pot- 
tinger  thus  stated  the  necessities  which  had  driven  him  to 
work  out  the  capitulation,  however  distasteful  to  his  indivi- 
dual manhood .  '  There  are  many  points,*  he  wrote,  *  that  my 
character  requires  me  to  explain,  particularly  that  we  con- 
tinued our  negotiations  with  the  enemy  in  direct  opposition 
to  my  advice,  and  that  we  were  prevented  from  going  into 
the  Balla  Hissar  by  the  obstinacy  of  Brigadier  Shelton,  who 
declared  the  attempt  impracticable.  The  General  (Elphiii- 
stone),  from  his  illness,  was  incapable  of  making  up  his 
mind,  and  the  constant  assertion  of  the  impossibility  by  his 
second  in  command,  outweighed  the  entreaties  of  the  ^ 
Envoy  when  alive  (who  was  always  afraid  to  commit  him- 
self in  military  matters)^  and  of  mine  afterwards  j  and  a 
retreat  on  Jellalabad  was  the  only  thing  they  would  hear 
of  5  and,  notwithstanding  that  I  pointed  out  the  veiy 
doubtful  character  of  any  engagement  we  might  make  with 
the  heads  of  the  insurgents,  and  the  probability  they  could 
not  make  it  good,  and  begged  that  they  would  spare  uft  the 
dishonour  and  guard  the  loss  which  any  negotiation  must 


1842.]  THE  CAPITULATION.  275 

entsfil.  In  a  council  of  war  held  at  the  Greneral*s  house — 
Shelton^  Anquetil,  Chambers,  Grant,  and  Bellew  present 
— every  one  voted  to  the  contrary  5  so,  seeing  I  could  do 
nothing,  I  consented.  At  the  time  we  had  but  two  courses 
open  to  us,  which,  in  my  opinion,  promised  a  chance  of 
saving  our  honour  and  part  of  the  army.  One  was  to 
occupy  the  Balla  Hissar,  and  hold  it  till  spring.  By  this 
we  should  have  had  the  best  chance  of  success.  The  other 
was  to  have  abandoned  our  camp  and  baggage  and  encum- 
brances, and  forced  our  way  down.  This  was  perilous  but 
practicable.  However,  I  could  not  persuade  them  to 
sacrifice  baggage  5  and  that  was  eventually  one  of  the 
chief  causes  of  our  disasters.  You  may  conceive  my 
anxiety  to  have  this  properly  made  known  to  Government.* 
But  when  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  of  that  honour- 
able resistance  which  Pottinger  so  persistently  counselled, 
when  the  nobler  and  the  manlier  course  was  impossible  to 
him  in  the  face  of  this  great  military  defection,  Eldred 
Pottinger  conceived  it  to  be,  as  doubtless  it  was,  his  duty 
to  do  his  best  to  extricate  his  countrymen  from  the  perils 
which  environed  them.  He  had  no  special  power  or 
authority,  which  the  military  chiefs  would  have  acknow- 
ledged, had  he  endeavoured  to  overrule  their  decision. 
He  did  not,  by  the  death  of  the  Envoy  and  Minister,  suc- 
ceed to  the  plenipotentiary  chair.  He  was  simply  an 
'  Assistant-Political,'  of  no  very  long  standing  in  the  depart- 
ment ;  he  was  only  a  Lieutenant  of  Artillery  3  all  his 
weight  in  those  wretched  councils  was  derived,  therefore, 
from  his  brave  deeds  j  and  those  were  times  when,  though 
there  were  lome  noble  hearts  among  our  people  at  Caubul, 


27<b  MAJOR  ELD  RED  POTTINGER.  [184a. 


a  great  depression  had  come  upon  the  Many^  and  simple 
manliness  was  not  potential  for  the  preservation  of  the 
honour  of  the  nation.  If,  then,  those  were  times  when  the 
young  Artilleryman  thought  that  an  appeal  might  be  made 
to  the  Army  against  the  decree  of  the  military  leader,  he 
soon  felt  that  it  was  better  to  suppress  the  heroic  aspira- 
tion. There  was  nothing,  indeed,  left  for  him  but  to 
endeavour  to  save  his  country  from  worse  disasters  than 
had  already  befallen  it.  So  he  bowed  to  the  decision  of 
the  military  chiefs. 

'  As  soon  as  this  was  decided  upon,'  he  wrote  after- 
wards, '  I  commenced  negotiating.  The  enemy's  first  de- 
mand (on  complying  with  which  they  promised  to  agree 
to  the  terms  we  offered  on  the  25th)  was,  that  we  should 
settle  with  the  Hindoos  they  brought  forward  regarding 
the  payment  of  the  money  the  Envoy  had  promised, 
i.e.  which  the  Council  of  War  had  decided  should  be  paid. 
*  *  *  I  would  willingly  have  avoided  the  payment  of 
such  5  but  the  enemy,  by  stopping  our  supplies,  obliged 
me  to  suffer  the  imposition,  as  the  military  authorities 
were  urgent  to  prevent  a  renewal  of  hostilities,  cost  what 
it  might.  These  sums  were  promised  in  the  name  of  Sir 
William  Macnaghten,  by  his  agent  (the  Naib  Ameer),  to 
the  different  chiefs,  to  bring  about  a  treaty  and  support  it 
when  formed.  Major-General  £lphinstone  recollected  the 
Envoy  having  informed  him  of  his  having  authorized  the 
agent  to  make  the  promises,  as  also  did  Captain  Skinner.' 
So   the    name    of   'Eldred   Pottinger,   Major,'*  was 

•  He  had  been  promoted  to  a  brevet  majority,  and  created  a 
Companion  of  the  Bath,  for  his  services  at  Herat. 


1842]  THE  RETREAT,  277 

attached  to  the  Treaty  5  and  on  the  6th  of  Januar}',  184a, . 
the  British  army  was  under  arms  to  march  out  of  Caubul. 
But  the  escort,  which  the  Afghan  chiefs  had  promised  for 
the  protection  of  the  conquered,  had  not  been  sent.  '  The 
military  authorities,  however,'  wrote  Pottinger,  in  the  report 
above  quoted,  'refused  to  wait 5  and  notwithstanding  my 
advice  to  the  contrary,  marched  out  of  our  entrenchments.* 
There  was  nothing  but  death  before  them  5  for  the  snow 
had  fallen  heavily,  and  the  wretched  Hindostanee  soldiers 
could  not  bear  up  against  the  rigours  of  the  Northern 
winter.  Pottinger  clearly  foresaw  this,  and  endeavoured  to 
impress  upon  the  military  authorities  the  importance  of 
so  clothing  the  Sepoys  as  to  resist  the  severities  of  the 
winter,  and  enable  them  to  escape  the  destructive  bitings  of 
the  frost.  ^  Major  Pottinger  *  (it  is  narrated  by  Sir  Henr)' 
Lawrence)  '  told  us  that  when  the  retreat  was  decided  on, 
and  no  attention  was  paid  to  his,  Lawrence's,  and  ConoUy's 
advice,  to  concentrate  in  the  Balla  Hissar,  he  urged  the 
officers  to  have  all  the  old  horse-clothing,  &c.,  cut  into 
strips  and  rolled  roimd  the  soldiers'  feet  and  ankles  after  the 
Afghan  fashion,  as  a  better  protection  against  snow  than  the 
mere  hard  leather  of  shoes.  This  he  repeatedly  urged,  but 
in  vain,  and  within  a  few  hours  the  frost  did  its  work. 
Major  Pottinger  said  that  there  was  not  an  Afghan  around 
them  who  had  not  his  legs  swathed  in  rags  as  soon  as  the 
snow  began  to  fall.* 

Then  came  that  memorable  retreat  through  the  dreadful 
snow,  of  which  history  has  but  few  parallels.  The  Afghans, 
whom  there  was  no  one  to  hold  in  restraint,  swarmed  down 
upon  our  unhappy  people,  and  massacred  them,  benumbed 


278  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1842. 

and  helpless  as  they  were^  almost  without  resistance.  At 
last^  the  Barukzye  chiefs  Akbar  Khan^  who  had  slain  Sir 
"William  Macnaghten^  appeared  upon  the  scene^  and 
promised  to  escort  the  remnant  of  the  Army  safely  to  the 
British  frontier,  if  three  hostages  were  given  up  to  him  as  a 
guarantee  for  the  evacuation  of  our  outposts  in  other  parts 
of  the  country.  Brigadier  Shelton  and  Captain  Lawrence 
were  named  5  but  Shelton  refused  to  go  5  so  Pottinger 
offered  to  take  his  place,  and  the  ofier  was  accepted. 
George  Lawrence  and  Colin  Mackenzie  were  his  companions. 
From  that  time,  in  the  early  part  of  January,  to  the 
September  of  the  same  year  (1842),  Eldred  Pottinger  re- 
mained a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Akbar  Khan.  All  the 
circumstances  of  this  memorable  captivity  are  well  known, 
for  there  are  few  who  have  not  read  the  interesting  journals 
of  Vincent  Eyre  and  Florentia  Sale.  It  is  sufficient  to  write 
briefly  of  this  period  of  suffering.  From  the  middle  of 
January  to  the  middle  of  April  the  prisoners  were  confined 
in  the  fort  of  Budeeabad.  There  Pottinger  drew  up  for 
Government  an  elaborate  report  of  the  circimostances,  so 
far  as  he  was  himself  connected  with  them,  of  the  rising  in 
the  Kohistan  and  of  the  subsequent  Caubul  capitulation, 
from  which  document  I  have  quoted  freely  in  the  course 
of  this  narrative.  From  Budeeabad  they  were  removed  to 
a  fort  ori  the  Loghur  river,  a  few  miles  from  Caubul,  where 
they  enjoyed  comparative  comfort  and  freedom.  Although 
a  prisoner,  and  as  such  incapable,  in  a  strict  sense,  of  official 
action,  he  was  still  recognized  both  by  captive  and  captor  as 
the  responsible  political  authority,  and  was  in  frequent 
communication  both  with  Akbar  Khan  and  with  Greneral 


184a. J  IN  CAPTIVITY,  279 

Pollock  respecting  the  terms  of  a  mutual  surrender  of 
prisoners.  It  was  natural  and  right  tliat,  in  such  circum- 
stances^ Pollock,  who  was  advancing  with  his  Army  of 
Retribution  upon  Caubul,  should  have  been  suspicious  of 
overtures  made  by  the  enemy  through  a  prisoner  who  was 
completely  at  his  mercy.  And  it  is  curious  to  observe  in 
the  correspondence  between  the  old  and  the  young  soldier, 
how  two  brave  and  honourable  men,  regarding  from  dif- 
ferent stand-points  this  matter  of  negotiation,  looked  with 
very  different  eyes  upon  the  same  manifestations.  Pollock 
could  not  but  regard  the  murderer  of  the  British  Envoy  as  a 
blood-stained  criminal  with  whom  it  was  sore  distress,  and 
indeed  almost  humiHation,  to  treat  upon  anything  like 
equal  terms.  But  Pottinger,  who  had  lived  too  long  in 
intimate  relations  with  the  Afghans  to  feel  very  sensitive 
on  this  score,  told  the  Greneral  that  his  communications  to 
the  Sirdar  were  considered  most  offensive,  and  deprecated 
the  tone  of  Pollock's  letters.  It  was,  undoubtedly,  a  diffi- 
cult conjuncture,  for  many  believed  that  if  Akbar  Khan  were 
driven  to  despair,  he  would  in  revenge  massacre  the  prisoners. 
But  General  Pollock  judged,  and  judged  rightly,  that  the 
bolder  and  more  defiant  the  attitude  which  we  assumed, 
the  greater  would  be  the  safety  of  the  prisoners  3  for  m 
Afghanistan  every  man's  hand  was  against  his  neighbour, 
and  it  was  certain  that  there  would  be  found  those  whose 
interest  it  would  be,  for  their  own  sake,  to  side  with  the 
English  who  were  advancing  upon  the  capital. 

It  was  at  this  period,  in  the  summer  of  1842,  when 
Pottinger,  Troup,  and  Colin  Mackenzie  were  separated 
6pom  the  other  prisoners,  and  in  the  immediate  custody  ui 


28o  SfAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [184a. 


Akbar  Khan,  that  an  incident  occurred  so  characteristic  oi 
Pottinger's  indomitable  courage,  that  no  record  of  his  Ufe 
would  be  complete  without  its  recital.  The  bills  which  he 
had  drawn  upon  India  for  the  purpose  of  extricating  the 
British  Army  from  the  toils  that  surrounded  them,  after 
the  military  leaders  had  determined  to  retreat,  were  re- 
pudiated by  the  Government.  When  intelligence  of  this 
reached  the  leading  Afghan  Sirdars,  they  were  exceedingly 
wroth,  and  they  determined  that  Pottinger  should  be  com- 
pelled to  draw  fresh  bills  upon  his  Government.  The 
chiefs  who  assailed  him  were  Ameenoollah  Khan,  who  had 
instigated  the  murder  of  Burnes  3  Mahomed  Shah  Khan, 
Akbar's  father-in-law,  who  was  the  very  main-spring  of  the 
insurrection  5  and  another  of  some  note.  Suddenly  enter- 
ing the  cell  in  which  the  three  Englishmen  were  confined, 
they  told  Pottinger  that  his  bills  had  been  protested,  and 
with  fierce  and  insolent  menaces  told  him  that  he  must 
immediately  sign  others.  At  first  he  tried  to  persuade 
them  of  the  inutility  of  such  an  act,  as  the  new  bills  would 
meet  with  the  same  fate  as  the  old.  They  would  not  ac- 
cept the  plea,  and  renewed  their  threats  j  so  he  turned  a 
grim,  stern  face  upon  them,  and  said,  '  You  may  cut  off  mj 
head  if  you  will,  but  I  will  never  sign  the  bills.'  The  chieft 
took  counsel  witli  each  other,  and  hastily  leaving  the  room 
went  to  Akbar  Khan,  who  was  in  an  apartment  above,  and 
asked  what  was  to  be  done.  But  that  chief  knew  too  well 
the  kind  of  man  with  whom  he  had  to  deal  to  attempt 
personal  violence,  which  was  certain  to  have  no  effect  in 
inducing  him  to  swerve  from  his  resolution.* 

♦  Whilst  in  this  tower,  Pottinger,  learning  that  there  wm  i 


1842.]  THE  RESCUE,  281 

To  the  bold  front  which  Eldred  Pottinger  assumed, 
when  tidings  came  that  Greneral  Pollock  was  advancing 
victoriously  upon  Caubul,  the  captives  owed  it  mainly,  under 
Providence,  that  they  finally  obtained  their  release.  From 
the  neighbourhood  of  Caubul  the  captives  were  carried  off 
to  Bameean.  As  briefly  told  by  the  historian  of  the  war, 
there  is  something  almost  ludicrous  in  the  confidence  dfthis 
little  band  of  Englishmen.  For  we  are  told  that,  at 
Bameean,  '  they  deposed  the  governor  of  the  place,  and 
appointed  a  more  friendly  chief  in  his  stead.  '  They  levied 
contributions  on  a  party  of  Lohanee  merchants  who  were 
passing  that  way,  and  so  supplied  themselves  with  funds. 
And,  to  crown  all.  Major  Pottinger  began  to  issue  pro- 
clamations, calling  upon  all  the  neighbouring  chiefs  to  come 
ii^  and  make  their  salaam )  he  granted  remissions  of  revenue  j 
and  all  the  decent  clothes  in  the  possession  of  the  party 
were  collected  to  bestow  as  khelats  (dresses  of  honour).* 
And  there  was  wisdom  in  this  5  for  so  true  is  the  old  adage, 
'  Possunt  qui  posse  videntur.'  * 

The  account  of  these  proceedings,  which  Pottinger  has 

supply  of  powder  stored  in  it,  proposed  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  when  Akbar  Khan  and  some  of  the  leading  chiefs  were 
in  the  upi>er  rooms,  to  set  fire  to  a  train  and  blow  up  the  place, 
the  Englishmen  taking  their  chance  of  escaping  disguised  in  the  con- 
fusion. But  his  more  prudent  companions  protested  against  the 
scheme. 

*  Hiis  services  as  chief  political  officer  with  the  Caubul  prisoners 
were  highly  appreciated  by  those  who  shared  his  captivity,  and  they 
subscribed  to  present  him,  after  their  release,  with  a  testimonial,  which 
he  never  lived  to  receive.  But  it  was  requested  by  the  subscribers, . 
who  one  and  all  mourned  his  decease,  that  it  might  be  kept  as  an 
heirioom  in  his  family. 


283  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER,  [1842. 

officially  recorded,  is  of  the  most  inornate  character  5  but  as 
such,  so  characteristic  that  I  am  induced  to  insert  it.  No 
man's  reputation  ever  owed  less  to  his  own  utterances. 
He  was  quite  incapable  of  a  flourislu 


'to  major-oeneral  pollock^  c.b.^  commanding  in 

afghanistan. 

'  Caubul — Camp  Racecourse,  September  21,  1842. 

*  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  report  my  arrival  in  your 
camp,  and  beg  to  lay  before  you  the  following  statement 
of  the  measures  we  had  recourse  to  at  Bameean  to  effect 
our  release.  On  the  loth  of  this  month,  Syed  Moortiza 
Kashmeeree,  an  agent  of  Ali  Reza  Khan  Kuzilbash,  arrived 
in  Bameean  :  he  had  received  from  Moonshee  Mohun  Lai 
verbal  assurances  that  all  those  who  would  engage  in  effect- 
ing our  release  should  be  handsomely  rewarded^  and  that  a 
pension  should  be  paid  to  himself  and  Saleh  Mahomed 
Khan,  who  commanded  the  Afghan  regiment  sent  to  escort 
the  prisoners  to  Toorkistan.  Syed  Moortiza  brought  uigent 
letters  from  the  Kuzilbash  chie&  to  their  clansman,  Saleh 
Mahomed,  and  having  gained  over  his  brother,  Mahomed 
Sadig  Khan,  paid  him  fifty  out  of  a  hundred  rupees  which 
had  been  furnished  by  Moonshee  Mohun  Lai,  and  carried 
him  along  with  himself.  They  alighted  at  the  dwelling  of 
Mahomed  Turym  Beg,  the  chief  of  the  Bameean  Tajiks, 
and  Syed  Moortiza  thence  sent  Mahomed  Sadig  to  speak 
with  Saleh  Mahomed  j  the  result  was,  an  interview  between 
Syed  Moortiza  and  Saleh  Mahomed,  when  the  latter  de- 


X842.J  THE  RESCUE,  283 


clared  that  he  would  only  consent  to  treat  with  myself  and 
the  other  English  officers. 

*  Saleh  Mahomed  then  had  an  interview  with  me,  and 
afterwards  Captains  Lawrence,  Johnson,  and  myself  had  a 
meeting  with  him  and  Syed  Moortiza,  in  which  we  agreed 
to  give  him  a  present  of  twenty  thousand  rupees,  and  to 
continue  to  him  the  command  of  his  regiment  on  his  present 
salary  of  one  thousand  rupees  a  month,  granting  him  a  fuD 
pardon  for  all  past  offences,  and  that  we  should  sign  a  paper 
to  this  effect.  Having  so  far  discovered  the  sentiments  of 
Saleh  Mahomed  Khan,  we  brought  him  to  Major-Greneral 
Shelton,  and  laid  before  that  officer  and  Colonel  Palmer 
the  plap :  both  these  officers  declined  affixing  their  signa- 
ture to  any  such  paper,  lest  they  should  implicate  themselves 
with  Mahomed  Akbar  Khan,  whereupon  we  consulted  with 
Major  Griffiths  and  the  rest  of  the  prisoners,  and  resolved 
to  attempt  the  plan  at  all  risks,  and  that  if  we  found  it  were 
an  attempt  to  overreach  us,  we  should  try  to  seize  the  wea- 
pons of  the  guard,  and  hold  out  in  the  forts  till  succour 
arrived. 

*  As  soon  as  this  arrangement  had  been  completed,  we 
sent  off  Syed  Moortiza  to  Mir  Mowhib  (chief  of  the  Fow- 
lady  Hazarehs),  to  invite  his  aid,  and  he  came  the  next  day, 
i.  e.  the  12th,  whereupon  Naib  Zoolfikar,  the  governor, 
sent  a  message  to  say  he  was  willing  to  join  us,  and  I  re- 
quested, as  a  mark  of  his  friendship,  he  would  send  arms 
for  our  party,  which,  however,  he  did  not.  The  Mir  Ak- 
hor  Ahmed  Khan  also  received  a  letter  ordering  us  to  be 
inarched  into  Toorkistan,  but  Saleh  Mahomed  Klian  refused 
to  obey  the  oraer  to  start  that  day,  as  the  men  wanted  pay. 


a84  MAJOR  ELD  RED  POTTINGER,  [184a. 


I  received  a  letter  from  Naib  Zoolfikar^  offering  service,  and 
replied  by  requesting  arms  to  be  sent.     As  he  did  not  send 
any,  nor  show  any  friendly  feeling,  but  was  said  to  be  con- 
sulting with  Ahmed  Khan  to  attack  us,  I  gave  an  order  to 
Dyn  Mahomed  Khan,  the  former  governor  of  Bameean  (on 
the  part  of  Khan  Shireen  Khan),  to  assume  the  government, 
employed  men  to  frighten  the  Mir  Akhor  by  telling  him 
(as  if  from  friendship)  we  had  resolved  to  seize  him,  and 
promised  the  three  companies  a  gratuity  of  four  months' 
pay.     These  steps,  jomed  to  the  arrival  of  Mir  Kelb  Ali  of 
Besewt  to  join  us,  had  the  desired  effect  j  the  governor  sent 
his  brother  to  proffer  service,  and  the  Mir  Akhowr  fled, 
carrying  off  the  Ghilzie  firelock-men  with  him.     On  the 
15  th,  news  of  the  van  of  the  British  troops  having  advanced 
was  received,  and  the  Naib  Zoolfikar  came  in,  and  person- 
ally visited  us,  on  my  saying  I  would  go  and  see  him  if  he 
did  not  come  to  me.     I  could  not  persuade  him  to  give  us 
arms,  but  as  it  appeared  imprudent  to  turn  him  into  an 
enemy,  I  directed  Dyn  Mahomed  Khan  to  hold  the  order 
I  had  given  him  in  abeyance  till  the  conduct  of  Naib  Zool- 
fikar might  be  further  developed.     On  the  15  th,  I  received 
a  note  from  Mirza  Shahjy,  informing  me  of  the  defeat  of 
the  Afghan  troops  at   Jugduluk,  and  our  advance  firom 
Ghuzni,  also  that  the  Kuzilbash  tribes  had  risen  in  Caubd, 
which  determined  us  to  march  the  next  day. 

'  On  the  1 6th  we  marched  to  Topchi  Bala,  and  encamped 
with  the  castles  in  our  front,  so  that  we  could  occupy  them 
if  need  be.  On  the  morning  of  the  17  th  I  received  a  letter 
from  Sir  Richmond  Shakespear,  informing  me  that  he  had 
reached  Sir«i-Cheshmeh  with  six  hundred  and  ten  Kuzilhasb 


iSda.]  THE  RESCUE,  2<»5 


horse,  to  our  aid.  We  immediately  crossed  the  Kaloo  Pass, 
and  marched  to  the  castle  of  Mir  Morad  Beg,  near  the  foot 
of  the  Hajykek  Pass,  where  we  were  joined  by  Sir  Rich- 
mond Shakespear  with  the  Knzilbash  horsemen,  who  had 
marched  ninety  miles  from  Caubul  over  that  mountainous 
coimtry  in  two  marches.  The  i8th,  being  supplied  with 
seventy-seven  horses  by  the  Kuzilbash,  and  twelve  by  the 
Hazarehs,  we  managed  to  march  to  Gurdendewal;  at 
that  place  we  learned  that  a  body  of  horse  and  foot  ^m 
the  Shekhali  and  Ghorebund  districts  had  marched  on  Kaloo 
to  intercept  us.  On  the  19th,  with  the  same  assistance  as 
before,  we  marched  to  Thikaneh,  where  we  heard  that  the 
pass  of  Sufeyd  Khak  was  occupied  by  the  Afghans,  intend- 
ing to  check  us.  Sir  R.  Shakespear  immediately  wrote  to 
request  that  the  British  officer — ^who,  report  also  told  us, 
was  advancing  in  that  direction — ^would  occupy  the  pass, 
and  to  say  we  would,  if  opposed,  hold  out  in  some  of  the 
castles  about  till  reHeved.  On  the  morning  of  the  20th  we 
marched,  and  found  the  cavalry  of  Sir  R.  Sale's  detachment 
at  Kote  Ashroo,  and  his  infantry  holding  the  heights,  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  joining  his  camp  at  Urghendeh,  whence 
I  proceeded  with  Major-Greneral  Nott's  camp,  and,  remain- 
mg  there  during  the  night,  joined  yours  this  morning.  I 
have  given  the  Hazareh  chie&  who  joined  us  at  first,  remis- 
sions on  their  revenue,  and  on  our  march  back  I  paid  for 
the  necessary  suppHes  to  the  party,  by  orders  on  the  revenue, 
to  the  amount  of  the  supplies  furnished.* 

'  In  concluding  this,  I  venture  to  request  your  support- 

*  Some  passages  relating  to  the  services  of  certain  chieft  are 
omitted. 


a86  MAJOR  BLDRBD  POTTINGER.  [184a. 


ing  the  steps  I  have  taken,  and  recommending  them  to 
Government,  and  trust  that  my  assuming  the  powers  of  a 
political  agent  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case  may  be 
pardoned,  for  I  believe  in  no  other  way  would  the  release 
of  our  captives  have  been  achieved,  though  I  could  with 
ease  have  effected  my  own  escape.  With  regard  to  the  pen- 
sion of  a  thousand  rupees,  the  prisoners  have  agreed  to  pay  the 
amount  if  Grovemment  consider  it  too  large,  but  considering 
that  the  man  was  then  in  receipt  of  that  sum  monthly,  and 
that  he  may  be  obliged  to  flee  the  country  if  the  Barukz^es 
regain  power,  I  trust  you  will  not  consider  it  too  large  a 
sum  to  recommend  the  payment  of. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

^£ldred  Pottinobr  (Major).' 


But  when  Greneral  Pollock's  army  marched  back  tri- 
umphantly to  the  British  Provinces,  it  was  a  matter  of 
official  necessity  that  the  conduct  of  Major  Pottinger,  who 
had  signed  a  treaty  for  the  evacuation  of  Afghanistan,  and 
had  drawn  bills  to  a  large  amount  on  the  British  Grovemment 
in  payment  to  the  enemy,  should  be  submitted  to  investiga- 
tion. A  Court  of  Inquiry  was  therefore  held,  over  which 
Mr  Greorge  Clerk  *  presided,  and  of  which  the  members 
where  Sir  Hany  Smith,  Adjutant-General  of  Queen's 
Troops  5  General  Lumley,  Adjutant-General  of  the  Bengal 
Army  5  Colonel  Monteath,t  who  had  distinguished  himself 

•  Now  (1867)  Sir  George  Clerk,  G.C.S.L,  K.C.B.,  Member  of 
the  Council  of  India. 

t  Now  Sir  Monteath  Douglas,  K.C.B. 


X843-]  THE  COURT  OF  INQUIRY.  287 

in  the  defence  of  Jellalabad ;  and  Colonel  Wymer,  an  old 
Bengal  officer,  who  had  also  done  good  service  in  Afghan- 
istan. The  inquiry  commenced  on  Sunday,  the  ist  of 
January,  1843.  Extracts  from  several  official  documents, 
including  the  Budeeabad  Report,  were  read,  but  the  only 
oral  evidr  ace  taken  was  that  of  Pottinger  himself.  Some 
question*  were  put  to  him  regarding  events  previous  to  the 
death  of  Jir  William  Macnaghten,  to  which  he  replied  that 
his  opinions  differed  so  much  from  those  of  the  Envoy  that 
there  was  very  little  confidential  intercourse  between  them. 
He  said  that  when  he  assumed  charge  of  the  Mission,*  he 
was  ignorant  of  very  much  that  had  taken  place  before  the 
death  of  the  Envoy  $  and  when  he  was  asked  what  course 
he  pursued  when  he  became  aware  of  existing  circumstances, 
he  replied  :  '  I  waited  upon  Greneral  Elphinstone  to  ascer- 
tain his  views,  and  applied  for  an  officer  to  assist  me  in 
taking  charge  of  the  late  Envoy's  office.  At  that  interview 
with  the  General  (several  officers  of  rank  being  present),  it 
was  decided  that  if  nothing  were  heard  regarding  the  En- 
voy by  a  certain  time,  we  should  abandon  our  position  at 
Caubul  and  march  upon  Jellalabad.  I  reconunended  that, 
at  any  rate,  a  decided  course  should  be  adopted  :  that  we 
should  either  take  possession  of  the  Balla  Hissar,  or  retire  at 
Once  upon  Jellalabad,  waiting  for  no  further  communication 
with  the  enemy.  In  the  afternoon  I  was  again  in  consult- 
ation with  the  Greneral,  the  officers  attached  to  the  Staff 
being  present.     A  letter  was  received  at  that  time  from  the 

*  Being  asked  why  he  assumed  charge,  he  said  that  not  only  was 
he  senior  officer  of  the  Mission,  but  that  he  '  was  especially  requested 
by  General  Elphinstone  to  take  charge.' 


283  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1843 

enemy,  containing  overtures  ^hich  the  Greneral  said  were 
the  same  as  those  to  which  the  finVoy  had  agreed,  with  the 
exception  of  four  additional  clauses.  To  take  this  letter  into 
consideration,  the  Greneral  sent  for  General  Shelton,  Briga- 
dier Anquetil,  and  Colonel  Chambers.  I  may  add  that  this 
letter  was  accompanied  by  a  note  from  Captain  Lawrence, 
acquainting  us  for  the  first  time  with  the  death  of  the  En- 
voy. I  should  also  mention  that  Sir  Williani  Macnaghten, 
some  time  previously  to  his  death,  had  told  me  that  his  let- 
ters from  Covemment  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  induce 
him  to  believe  that  although  going  into  the  Balla  Hissar 
was  probably  our  best  course,  still,  if  we  remained  there 
throughout  the  winter,  we  would  in  spring  have  eventually 
to  force  our  way  down  to  Jellalabad ;  that  he  thought  Gro- 
vernment  would  be  glad  of  what  had  occurred,  as  forming 
a  pretext  to  shake  off  its  connection  with  the  countiy.  Re- 
membering this  observation  of  the  Envoy's,  I  did  not  oppose 
taking  into  consideration  the  enemy*s  letter,  but  as  it  con- 
tained terms  to  which  we  could  not  agree,  a  proposal  was 
made  to  the  enemy  to  discuss  the  matter  the  next  day,  and 
it  was  further  notified  to  them  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
omit  or  alter  the  objectionable  clauses,  which  were— calling 
upon  us  to  give  up  our  treasure,  the  ladies,  our  cannon,  and 
the  arms  in  store.  The  next  morning  I  received  a  letter 
directed  to  the  Envoy  from  Captain  Macgregor,  at  Jellala- 
bad, and  Captain  Mackeson,  at  Peshawur,  to  the  effect  that 
reinforcements  were  on  their  way  from  India,  which,  setting 
my  mind  at  rest  as  to  the  chance  of  being  abandoned, 
decided  me  to  recommend  the  course  described  in  my 


1843.]  THE  COURT  OP  INQUIRY,  289 


official  despatch,  dated  the  ist  of  February,  to  the  addrea 
of  the  Secretary  to  the  Government.' 

When  questions  were  put  to  him  regarding  the  bills,  he 
replied  :  '  In  the  Council  of  War  it  was  decided  that 
nineteen  lakhs  should  be  paid  to  the  Afghan  chiefs,  on  the 
understanding  that  they  were  to  give  their  aid  in  making 
the  treaty,  and  in  escorting  the  troops  safely  to  Peshawur. 
Fourteen  lakhs  of  this  sum  of  money  had  been  previously 
promised  to  the  above  chief,  bv  Sir  William  Macnaghten's 
agent,  in  his  name,  for  the  same  purpose  \  and  five  more 
lakhs  were  added  by  the  Council  of  War,  for  the  purpose 
of  purchasing  Mahomed  Othman  Khan's  escort  to  Peshawur. 
I  objected  to  the  whole  of  this  outlay,  but  being  overruled 
by  the  consentient  voices  of  the  rest  of  the  Council,  I  sub- 
sequently, as  the  agent  of  the  Council  of  War,  drew  the 
bills  in  the  usual  ofiicial  form  on  the  Indian  Government.  In 
the  first  instance,  the  bills  were  made  payable  to  the  Afghan 
chiefe,  perfectly  understanding  that  they  were  only  payable 
on  the  safe  arrival  of  the  Army  at  Peshawur,  but  the  Hin- 
doos refiised  to  negotiate  the  bills  in  this  form  :  they  were 
consequently  returned,  and  I  was  then  directed  by  the 
General  to  draw  them  out  in  favour  of  the  Hindoos,  which 
was  done,  agents  of  the  Hindostanees  being  warned,  at  the 
time  of  receiving  the  bills,  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  were  drawn.  It  is  also  necessary  to  add  that,  shortly 
afterwards,  when  the  news  of  the  destruction  of  the  Army 
reached  Caubul,  the  Government  agent  at  that  place.  Lieu- 
tenant John  Conolly,  expressly  warned  the  Hindoos  that 
the  conditions  on  which  the  bills  were  granted  having  been 

VOL.  II.  Z9 


990  MAJOR  ELDRED  POTTINGER.  [1843. 

infringed,   payment  would   certainly  be   refused  by  Go- 
vernment.    Lieutenant  Conolly*s  report  upon  this  head  to 
Government  is,  I  believe,  before  the  Court  j  and  he  in 
formed  me  personally  that  he  had  so  reported^  and  that  he 
warned  the  people/ 

The  Court  assembled  again  on  the  2nd  of  January, 
when  General  Shelton,  who  had  been  second  in  command 
at  Caubul,  and  Captain  George  Lawrence,*  Sir  William 
Macnaghten's  secretary,  were  examined.    Greneral  Shelton, 
when  asked  if  Pottinger  coincided  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Council  of  War,  that  the  Army  should  retire  on  Jellalabad, 
said :  *  To  the  best  of  my  recollection  Major  Pottinger  did 
not  coincide.'     The  evidence  of  Captain  Lawrence  related 
principally  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the  biUs  upon 
Government  were  drawn.     The  Court  then  decided  that 
no  further  evidence  was  necessary.      The  menGibers  then, 
beginning,  according  to  rule,  with  the  jimior  member  of  the 
Court,  expressed  their  opinions — ^and  these  opinions  varied 
— as  to  the  official  competency  of  Major  Pottinger  to  draw 
such  bills — not  with  respect  to  lus  conduct  in  drawing  them. 
The  final  decision  of  the  Court  was  what  every  one  felt  in 
his  inmost  heart  that  it  must  be.     It  only  shed  fresh  lustre 
on  Eldred  Pottinger's  reputation.     'The  Court,*  it  stands 
on  record,  '  cannot  conclude  its  proceedings  without  exr 
pressing  a  strong  conviction  that  throughout  the  whole 
period  of  the  painful  position  in  which  Major  Pottinger 
was  so  unexpectedly  placed,  his  conduct  was  marked  by  s 
degree  of  energy  and  manly  firmness  that  stamps  his  cha- 
racter as  one  worthy  of  high  admiration.' 

•  Now  General  Sir  George  Lawrence,  K.S.L 


1843.J  LAST  DA  YS. 


291 


Then  Eldred  Pottinger  went  down  to  Calcutta;  and 
after  a  brief  residence  there,  determined  on  a  visit  to  his 
family  in  Europe.  During  his  residence  at  the  Presidency, 
as  I  well  remember,  the  attempts  to  lionize  him  were  very 
unsuccessful.  Everybody  was  struck  by  the  extreme  mo- 
desty of  his  demeanour.  He  was  shy  and  reserved,  and 
unwilling  to  speak  of  himself.  The  impression  which  he 
made  upon  society  generally  was  not  favourable.  He  did 
not  realize,  either  in  his  person,  his  conversation,  or  his 
manner,  their  ideal  of  a  youthful  hero,  and,  therefore, 
thoughtless  people  were  disappointed.  But  to  the  more 
thoughtful  few  he  appeared  to  be  precisely  the  kind  of 
man  from  whom  such  good  deeds  as  had  made  him  famous 
were  to  have  been  expected.  Heroism  takes  many  shapes. 
In  Eldred  Pottinger  it  took  the  shape  of  a  sturdy  and  in- 
domitable perseverance — a  courage,  great  in  resistance  to 
apparently  overwhelming  odds;  but  there  was  nothing 
impetuous,  nothing  showy  about  iU  And  in  all  these 
respects  the  personal  aspect  and  demeanour  of  the  man 
represented  his  inward  qualities. 

What  he  might  have  done,  had  it  pleased  God  to  give 
him  length  of  life,  can  only  be  conjectured  j  but  even  then 
he  was  neaily  approaching  the  close  of  his  earthly  career. 
His  uncle.  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  was  then  at  the  head  of 
the  British  Mission  in  China.  Moved  by  feelings  of  affec- 
tion and  gratitude,  Eldred  resolved  to  pay  his  distinguished 
relative  a  visit ;  and  during  this  visit,  in  a  disastrous  hour, 
he  caught  the  Hong-Kong  fever,  and  on  the  15th  of 
November,  1843,  a  career  of  the  brightest  promise  was  cut 
short  by  untimely  death.     It  has  been  said  that  his  life 


993  MAJOR  BLDRED  POTTINGER.  [1843. 

was  embittered  and  his  health  impaired  by  the  neglect — 
if  it  were  only  neglect — ^with  which  he  had  been  treated 
on  his  return  to  India  by  Lord  Ellenborough^  whose  pre- 
judices against  the  Afghan  Politicals  were  strong  and  deep. 
I  know  not  how  this  was.  It  little  matters  now.  The 
verdict  of  no  ruler  of  a  day  can  avail  anything  against  the 
national  judgment.  The  romance  of  Indian  History  has 
few  more  interesting  chapters  than  the  story  of  Eldred 
Pottinger — the  Defender  of  Herat. 


293 


MAJOR  DARCY  TODD. 

[born  x8o8.— died  1845.] 

ELLIOTT  D'ARCY  TODD  was  born  on  the  28th 
of  January,  1808,  in  Bmy-street,  St  James's.  He 
was  the  third  and  youngest  son  of  Mr  Fryer  Todd,  a  York- 
shire gentleman,  of  good  family  and  fortune,  who,  seeking 
to  increase  his  store  by  speculation,  had  the  ill  fortune  to 
reduce  it.  The  undertakings  in  which  he  embarked  were 
wholly  unsuccessful,  and  when  little  D*Arcy  was  three 
years  old,  his  home  was  broken  up  and  swept  away  by  the 
tide  of  misfortune,  and  it  devolved  on  others  to  provide 
for  the  education  of  Mr  Todd*s  children.  It  happened 
fortunately,  that  there  were  those  who  were  both  willing 
and  able  to  undertake  the  charge.  Mr  Todd  had  married 
Mary  Evans — ^known  in  our  Hterary  history  as  the  '  Mary  * 
of  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  5*  and  her  brother,  Mr  William 

*  Coleridge  was  acquainted  with,  and  attached  to,  her  from  a 


294  MAJOR  jyARCY  TODD.  [i8ii, 

£vaDS^  held  an  important  office  in  the  home  service  of  the 
East  India  Company.*  He  was  very  much  attached  to 
little  D'Arcy  5  and  when  he  took  upon  himself  the  charge 
of  the  boy^s  education^  he  did  so  with  the  assured  belief 
that  the  seed  would  fall  upon  good  soil,  and  that  there 
were  in  him  the  making  of  both  a  good  and  a  great  man. 

very  early  period  of  his  life — even  from  the  days  when  he  was  a  blue- 
coat  boy  at  Christ's  Hospital.  Years  afterwards,  she  sometimes 
visited  him,  with  her  children,  at  Highgate,  where  I  often  myself  saw 
him  when  a  child,  and  sat  upon  his  knee.  In  a  letter,  which  he 
wrote  in  1822, 1  find  this  reference  to  his  early  love  :  *  Neither  awake 
nor  asleep  have  I  any  other  feelings  than  what  I  had  at  Christ's  Hos- 
pital. I  distinctly  remember  that  I  felt  a  little  flush  of  pride  and 
consequence — jbst  like  what  we  used  to  feel  at  school  when  the  boys 
came  running  to  us  :  "Coleridge  I  here's  your  friends  want  you; 
they  are  quite  grand ;  "  or,  **  It  is  quite  a  lady  " — ^when  I  first  heard 
who  you  were,  and  laughed  at  myself  for  it  with  that  pleasurable  sens- 
ation that,  spite  of  my  sufferings  at  that  school,  still  accompanies 
any  sudden  reawakening  of  our  schoolboy  feelings  and  notions.  And 
oh,  firom  sixteen  to  ninete^i  what  hours  of  paradise  had  Allen  and  I 
in  escorting  the  Miss  Evanses  home  on  a  Saturday  .....;  and 
we  used  to  carry  thither,  of  a  simimer  morning,  the  pillage  of  the 
flower-gardens  within  six  miles  of  town,  with  sonnet  or  love-rhyme 
wrapped  round  the  nosegay.  To  be  feminine,  kind,  and  genteelly 
(what  I  should  now  call  neatly)  dressed,  these  were  the  only  things 
to  which  my  head,  heart,  or  imagination  had  any  polarity,  and  what 
I  was  then  I  still  am.' — Compare  also  the  following  :  'About  this 
time,  he  (Coleridge)  became  acquainted  with  a  widow  lady,  whose 
son,  said  he,  '*  I,  as  upper  boy,  had  protected,  and  who  therefore 
looked  up  to  me,  and  taught  me  what  it  was  to  have  a  mother.  She 
had  three  daughters,  and  of  course  I  fell  in  love  with  the  eldest 
From  this  time  to  my  nineteenth  year,  when  I  quitted  school  for 
Jesus,  Cambridge,  was  the  era  of  poetry  and  love." ' — GUnuuCs  Ufi 
0/  Coleridge, 

*  Mr  Evans  was  'Baggage  Warehouse  Keeper,*  an  office  cH 
some  importance  in  the  old  commercial  days  of  the  Company. 


i8n— 23.]  CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH, 


295 


Almost  from  hi$  cradle,  D*Arcy  had  evinced,  in  his  childish 
actions^  the  kindling  of  that  martial  enthusiasm  which  after- 
wards so  unmistakably  developed  itself.  It  is  remembered 
that,  when  only  two  or  three  years  old,  he  would  march 
about  the  house  drumming,  and  would  convert  all  the 
chairs  in  the  nursery  into  soldiers,  or  cannon,  or  other  in- 
signia of  war.  In  due  time,  however,  he  was  sent  by  his 
uncle  to  school — ^first,  to  a  preparatory  seminary,  kept  by 
Miss  Dawes,  at  Tumham  Green,  and  afterwards  to  an 
academy  at  Ware,  in  Hertfordshire,  where,  although  he 
developed  no  great  amount  of  precocious  genius,  he  made 
good  progress,  and  took  a  respectable  place  in  the  school. 
He  was  alwajrs,  indeed,  fond  of  reading,  and  the  books  in 
which  he  most  delighted  were  books  of  adventure,  illus- 
trative of  self-help  and  self-reliance,  or  those  which  were 
largely  tinged  with  the  glowing  imagery  of  the  East.  '  I 
have  been  reading  Robinson  Crusoe  and  the  Tales  of  the 
Genii,*  he  wrote  to  his  brother  Frederick,  when  he  was  ten 
years  old.  '  They  have  amused  me  very  much.  I  hope 
that  you  love  reading  as  I  do,  and  also  that  you  remember 
what  you  read.' 

From  the  year  1 818  to  1822,  D'Arcy  Todd  resided  with 
his  uncle  in  London,  and  attended  a  school  in  Poland-street. 
In  the  latter  year,  Mr  Evans,  who  had  good  interest  with 
the  Court  of  Directors,  obtained  an  Addiscombe  cadetship 
for  his  nephew,  who  jomed  the  Company's  Military  Semi- 
nary when  he  had  just  completed  his  fourteenth  year.  He 
was  at  that  time  a  very  little  fellow,  and  he  was  commonly 
called  'little  Todd.*  But,  young  as  he  was,  he  passed 
through  Addiscombe  with  credit  to  himself,  and  obtained 


296  MAJOR  aARCY  TODD.  [1893-34. 

a  commission  in  the  Artillerj.  He  was  much  esteemed  bjr 
the  professors  and  masters  of  the  coll^e«  and  beloved  by 
his  fellow-students.  The  progress  which  he  made  had 
greatly  delighted  his  uncle.  '  D* Arcy  continues  to  get  on 
at  Addiscombe/  wrote  Mr  Evans,  in  March^  1823,  'be- 
yond anything  I  could  have  expected.  He  is  now  high  in 
the  second  class — a  very  unusual  progress  at  his  age.  He 
is  an  excellent  draughtsman,  and  well  skilled  in  mathe- 
matics. I  expect  great  things  of  him  when  he  arrives  in 
India.* 

He  passed  his  final  examination  in  December,  1823. 
A  few  weeks  afterwards  he  sailed  for  India,  on  board  the 
Duchess  of  Athol.  In  the  fiery  month  of  May,  young  D* 
Arcy  Todd,  then  little  more  than  sixteen  years  old,  landed 
at  Calcutta.  It  has  been  a  happy  circumstance  in  the 
lives  of  many  young  officers  in  the  Bengal  Artillery  that 
their  first  glimpses  of  military  life  were  caught  at  the  great 
head-quarters  station  of  Dum-Dum.  There  were  then,  and 
many  years  afterwards,  stationed  there  an  unbroken  succes- 
sion of  Christian  men,  whose  care  it  was  to  preserve  finom 
evil  the  inexperienced  youngsters  who  joined  the  regiment* 
Young  D'Arcy  Todd  fell  into  their  good  and  kindly  hands  j 
and  we  soon  find  him  writing  thus  seriously  to  his  brother : 
'  I  hope  you  think  sometimes  about  death,  for  it  must  come, 

*  Foremost  amongst  these  was  the  late  General  Powney,  of  the 
Bengal  Artillery — ^better  known  to  his  brother-officers,  both  at  Dum- 
Dum  and  in  Fort  William,  as  *  Major  Powney  * — ^a  man  of  much 
Christian  piety  and  great  kindliness  of  heart,  hospitable  and  courteoiis» 
who,  both  by  precept  and  example,  led  many  young  officers  into  the 
saving  paths  of  truth. 


i824— as.]  FIRST  DA  YS  IN  INDIA,  297 

* 

and  will  seize  you  when  you  least  expect  it,  if  you  are  not 
prepared  to  meet  that  Saviour  who  died  for  you  5  tor  it  will 
be  too  late  on  our  death-bed  to  begin  to  repent.  Do  not 
call  me  a  Methodist,  my  dear  brother,  for  speaking  thus  to 
an  elder  brother,  but  I  love  you  so  much  I  cannot  help 
speaking  to  you,  as  I  have  been  spoken  to  whilst  I  have 
been  here  5  for,  when  I  arrived  at  Dum-Dum,  I  met  an  old 
friend  of  the  name  of  Cookson,  whom  I  formerly  knew  at 
Addiscombe.  He  asked  me  to  his  home,  where  I  met  a 
clergyman  of  the  name  of  Craufurd,  who  taught  me  that 
the  paths  of  sin  are  unhappiness^and  misery,  and  that  the 

paths  of  righteousness  are  happiness May  God  bless 

and  sanctify  with  his  presence  our  meeting,  and,  short  as  the 
time  will  necessarily  be,  let  it  remind  us  that  short  is  the 
space  between  the  present  and  that  when  we  shall  stand 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.*  And  again :  '  You  well 
know,  my  beloved  brother,  I  would  willingly,  and  with 
delight,  pursue  many  a  long  and  weary  journey  in  hope  of 
embracing  you.  My  heart  fails  me  when  I  think  of  our 
approaching  meeting,  my  brother,  the  being  nearest  and 
dearest  to  me  on  earth,  whose  love  I  prize  more  than 
my  hps  or  my  pen  could  •express.  "  And  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  soul  of  Jonathan  was  knit  with  the  soul  of  David, 
and  Jonathan  loved  David  as  his  own  soul."  This,  dearest, 
expresses,  I  think,  what  we  feel  one  towards  the  other. 
Oh,  that  the  Lord  may  bless  that  love  which  exists  be- 
tween us,  and  perfect  it  in  that  blessed  abode  where  part- 
ings shall  be  no  more.* 

At  Dum-Dum,  D'Arcy  Todd  remained  until  the  rain} 
season  of  1825,  when«  all  his  beloved  friends  having  pre- 


9^  MAJOR  EfARCY  TODD,  [1825-37. 

ceded  him  to  the  Upper  Country,  he  was  glad  indeed  to 
see  his  own  name  in  orders  for  a  march  northward.  He 
was  posted  to  a  company  of  Foot  Artillery  at  Cawnpore} 
but  he  had  served  with  it  only  a  little  while,  when  it  was 
ordered  to  Bhurtpore  to  take  part  in  the  operations  of  that 
great  siege  which  has  made  its  name  Vinous  in  lustoiy. 
There,  for  the  first  time,  he  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
stern  realities  of  actual  warfare.  On  the  i8th  of  Janoaiy 
the  great  Jat  fortress  was  carried  by  the  British  troops.  'I 
went  round  the  ramparts  directly  after  the  storm,'  wrote 
the  young  artilleryman  to  his  brother,  'and  to  me,  who 
had  scarcely  ever  seen  a  dead  body  before,  the  sight  was 
most  horrible.*  The  work  done,  the  battery  to  which  be 
was  attached  was  ordered  back  to  Cawnpore ;  and  there, 
for  a  time,  young  D*  Arcy  Todd  found  a  home  in  the  house 
of  Major^  and  Mrs  Whish,  whose  society  was  as  pleasant 
as  it  was  profitable  to  him. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  (1826),  Second-Lieutenant 
Todd  was  posted  to  the  Horse  Artilleiy ;  but  on  his  pro- 
motion in  November,  1827,  to  the  rank  of  First-Lieatenant, 
he  was  attached  to  a  battalion  of  Foot.  These  changes 
are  always  ruinous  to  the  finances  of  a  young  ofiicer,  and 
D*Arcy  Todd,  who  had  been  anxious  to  remit  money  to 
England  for  the  use  of  his  sisters,  was  sorely  disquieted  bj 
the  heavy  expenditure  which  it  was  necessary  to  incur  for 
the  purchase  of  uniforms  and  equipments.  He  determined, 
therefore,  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  Commander-in-Cluef, 
m  the  hope  of  being  re-posted  to  the  mounted  branch  of 
^.he  regiment.     'Thus  far  will  I  go,  and  no  further,'  he 

*  Afterwards  Sir  Samson  Whish,  K.C.B.,  the  captor  of  Moaltan. 


x897— 28.J  SUBAL  TERN  LIFE, 


299 


wrote  to  his  brother.  *  If  this  attempt  fails,  I  shall  renew 
(I  hope  contentedly)  my  duties  in  the  Foot,  and  leave  the 
direction  of  my  affairs  to  the  hand  of  imerring  wisdom, 
feeling  assured  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
those  who  fear  the  Lord.*  And  not  very  long  afterwardu 
he  obtained  what  he  sought,  for  he  was  appointed  to  a 
troop  of  Horse  Artillery  stationed  at  Muttra.  'From 
what  I  have  observed  of  the  different  services,'  he  wrote, 
'  I  now  say  that  I  would  rather  be  in  the  Horse  Artillery 
than  any  service  in  the  world.'  He  was  very  happy  at  this 
time,  for  he  was  domiciled  with  friends  who  were  both 
pious  .and  intellectual,  and  in  their  society  time  passed 
pleasantly  away.  *  I  have  abimdance  to  occupy  both  mind 
and  body,'  he  wrote  to  a  member  of  his  family  in  1828, 
'  from  six  in  the  morning  to  eleven  at  night.  I  divide  the 
day  regularly,  and  endeavour  each  hour  to  have  a  fixed 
employipent.  Adam,  my  favourite  Christian  author,  says, 
**  Have  a  work  to  do  daily,  with  a  will  to  do  it,  and  a 
prayer  on  it,  and  let  that  work  be  God's."  I  meet  the 
Lewins  every  morning  at  half-past  eight,  when  we  read 
and  pray  together.  We  then  breakfast  5  after  which  we 
separate  to  our  several  studies  until  two  p.m.,  when  we 
read  Russell's  Modem  Europe  till  four  p.m.  Then  we 
dine ;  after  which  we  separate  tUl  half-past  six,  when  we 
read  Milner's  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ — an  admir* 
able  work.  We  separate  at  nine — Shaving  read  and  prayed 
together.  In  the  hospital  and  school  of  the  troop  we  have 
also  a  wide  field  for  exertion,  to  the  glory  of  God.' 

In  November,  1838,  Lieutenant  Todd  went  down  to 
Calcutta  to  be  present  at  the  marriage  of  one  of  his  sisters  | 


300  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1898-19. 

but  though  he  moved  with  all  possible  despatch^  he  was  too 
late  for  the  ceremony.     He  was  cheered^  however,  by  the 
thought  of  meeting  a  beloved  brother,  from  whom  he  bad 
for  some  time  been  separated.    The  claims  of  his  profesdoo, 
at  that  busy  period  of  the  year,  rendered  the  intercomse 
between  the  brothers  only  too  brief.     In  January,  1829, 
D'Arcy  Todd  rejoined  the  Horse  Artillery  at  Kumaulj  but, 
shortly  after  his  arrival,  ill  health  compelled  him  to  proceed 
to  the  Hills.     In  this  illness  he  derived  the  sweetest  com- 
fort from  the  ministrations  of  his  friend,  James  Abbott,  of 
the  Artillery — one  whose  life  has  since  been  a  career  of 
romantic  adventure,  brightened  by  heroism   of  the  true 
stamp.    *My   dearest  of  friends,   James   Abbott^'  wrote 
D' Arcy  Todd  to  his  brother, '  was  unceasing  in  his  brotheriy 
attention.     He  never  left  my  bedside.     Oh !  the  goodnes 
of  God  in  giving  me  such  a  friend  to  smooth  my  pillow 
and  to  cheer  me  by  his  presence.     He  is  the  dearast  friend 
of  your  brother.     From  the  time  we  left  Bhar — the  foot 
of  the  Hills — he  attended  me  on  foot  until  we  arrived 
herej    and  when   he   departed    my  heart  was  agonized.' 
No  man  ever  made  more  or  ^ter  friends  than  D*Arc]r 
Todd — a  blessing  for  which  he  was  profoundly  th}^n)rih1. 
In  another  letter,  he  wrote :  *  Indeed,  as  to  friends^  I  have 
been  wonderfully  blessed  3  for,  when  I  look  back  upon  the 
time  spent  in  this  country,  it  appears  to  me  that  eveiy  one 
I  have  met  has  become  a  kind  friend,  and  when  I  look 
within  to  see  such  unworthiness,  it  is  really  wonderftd.* 

From  this  illness,  by  God*s  blessing,  he  recovered  per- 
fectly 3  and  he  returned  with  renewed  zeal  to  his  regimental 
duties.    In  his  leisure  hours  he  cultivated  poetij  and  paint- 


1831—33]  ^^^  PERSIAN  APPOINTMENT.  301 

iDg ;  but^  after  a  while^  he  began  to  think  that  he  might 
more  profitably  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  native 
languages.  '  Having  been  nearly  eight  years  in  the  country,' 
he  wrote  in  183 1,  'without  being  on  speaking  terms  with 
the  natives^  I  have  at  last  determined  to  conquer  the  lan- 
guages/ He  had  no  very  definite  object  in  view  5  but  he 
addressed  himself  most  earnestly  and  assiduously  to  the 
work,  and  made  considerable  progress,  especially  in  his 
study  of  Persian.  And  it  was  not  long  before  his  industry 
was  amply  rewarded.  The  weakness  of  Persia,  and  the 
manifest  designs  of  more  powerfiil  (European)  States,  had 
suggested  to  the  British  Government  the  expediency  of 
doing  something  to  arrest  what  seemed  to  be  the  approach- 
ing downfall  of  her  independence.  So,  in  1832-33,  large 
supplies  of  arms  and  accoutrements  were  forwarded  to  the 
Shah  for  the  use  of  his  army  5  and,  in  the  latter  year,  it 
was  determined  to  send  out  a  party  of  officers  and  non- 
commissioned officers  to  drill  and  disciphne  the  Persian 
army.  Among  the  officers  Selected  for  this  duty  was  Lieu- 
tenant D'Arcy  Todd,  whose  especial  duty  was  said  to  be 
the  instruction  of  the  Persian  gunners  in  the  use  and  man- 
agement  of  artillery,  after  the  European  fashion. 

The  appointment  was  gratifying  to  him  in  the  extreme. 
I  look  upon  it,'  he  wrote  in  April,  1833,  'as  a  grand  open- 
ing for  the  development  of  whatever  may  be  within  me. 
Is  it  not  strange  that  I  should  have  been  studying  Persian 
for  the  last  twelve  months,  without  any  definite  object  in 
view  ?  If  I  receive  five  or  six  hundred  rupees  a  month,  I 
shall  think  the  situation  well  worth  the  trouble  of  traveUing 
so  far  for  it  3  but  it  is  not  the  cash  I  think  most  about,  it  is 


308  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1833. 

a  grand  opening  from  the  apathetic  and  dull  roatine  of 
Indian  life.  There  will  probably  be  a  good  deal  of  fighting, 
and  abundance  of  opportunity  of  displaying  the  stuff  a  man 
is  made  of.  Oh !  that  Fred  were  to  be  my  companioo. 
Wonderful  are  the  ways  of  Providence.  In  the  morning 
we  rise^  and  before  evening  our  prospects^  our  hopes,  oar 
fears,  receive  new  impulses  and  new  features.  What  a  scene 
is  opening  before  me !  * 

A  little  while  afterwards  he  wrote  fi*om  Calcutta,  saying : 
*  The  excitement  caused  by  the  first  communication  regarding 
my  appoinment  to  Persia  is  fast  wearing  away,  and  I  am 
now  able  to  view  all  matters  connected  therewith  in  a  quiet, 
sober  light  5  the  glare  of  romance,  the  lightning  flash  of 
novelty,  the  bright  gleams  of  warm  anticipation,  have  all 
passed  away,  or  rather  have  been  softened  down  and  mellowed 
by  the  pencillings  of  truth  3  the  picture  still  remains  in  all 
its  breadth  and  colouring.  Lord  William  Bentinck  is  indifier- 
ent  to  the  concerns  of  Persia,  and  takes  but  little  interest  in 
anything  connected  with  that  country.  Hme  will  show 
whether  this  be  wise  policy  or  not.  Lieutenant  Bumes, 
the  traveller,  a  very  intelligent  and  pleasant  man,  is  living 
with  Trevelyan,*  at  whose  house  I  am  now  staying.  He 
has  lately  travelled  through  Persia,  and  kindly  gives  me 
every  information  in  his  power.* 


During  five  years  D' Arcy  Todd  dwelt  in  Persia,  instruct- 
ing the  Persian  artillerymen  in  the  details  of  his  profesnon, 
and  instructing  himself  in  the  politics  of  the  country  and 
•  Now  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  K.C.B 


1833—34]  WITH  THE  PERSIAN  ARMY.  303 

the  adjacent  territories.  The  letters  which  he  wrote  to  his 
brother,  during  this  period,  give  an  animated  picture  of  his 
life  in  Persia.  'The  first  news  that  greeted  us  on  our 
arrival  at  Bushire,*  he  wrote  in  December,  1833,  'was  the 
intelligence  of  Abbas  Mirza*s  death.  No  official  report  has 
as  yet  been  received  here  announcing  this  event,  but  it  is 
everywhere  believed,  and  is,  I  have  no  doubt,  /rwe — ^too  true 
for  us.  There  are  three  courses  before  us :  we  shaU  either 
retrace  our  steps  to  India  (which  people  seem  to  think  the 
most  probable),  or  march  to  Tabreez  vid  Shiraz  and  Ispahan, 
or  re-embark  for  Bussora,  and  thence  proceed  by  the  way 
of  Baghdad.  .  .  .  The  country  is  in  a  dreadful  state  of 
disorder  and  insecurity,  and  we  have,  I  think,  but  little 
prospect  of  prosecuting  our  journey  through  Persia  without 
loss  of  property,  if  not  of  life.  .  .  .  Bushire  is  the  most 
miserable-looking  place  that  can  possibly  be  conceived. 
From  the  harbour  the  view  is  almost  pretty,  but  when  you 
land,  the  marks  of  desolation,  miseiy,  and  misrule,  are  visible 
on  every  spot.  Plague  and  famine  have  depopulated  the 
town :  out  of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  which  it  con- 
tained twelve  months  ago,  there  are  not  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  remaining.*  In  Februaiy,  1834,  still  writing  from 
Bushire,  he  said  :  *  At  last  we  are  on  the  eve  of  departure, 
and  we  hope  to  make  our  first  march,  of  about  a  mile, 
this  afternoon.  .  •  •  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the 
annoyances  of  making  a  first  march  in  Persia  3  it  is 
bad  enough  in  India,  but  here,  where  the  servants  are 
f*!w  and  bad,  and  the  people  independent,  obstacles 
are  thrown  in  the  way  at  every  step.  .  .  .  The  ex- 
penses of  travelling  are  enormous;  we  have  only  been 


304  MAJOR  jyAUCY  TODD.  [1894. 


able  to  procure  mules  at  double  the  usual  rate  of  hire. 
Every  servant  must  be  mounted^  and  the  expense  of  feed* 
ing  animals  on  the  road  is  more  than  th^  are  worth.  I 
have  five  horses,  only  two  of  which  are  for  my  own  riding; 
the  others  are  for  servants^  who  would  not  move  an  inch 
without  being  provided  with  a  horse !  No  man,  woman, 
or  child  walks  in  Persia.  I  have  only  one  horse  of  anj 
value,  but  he  is  a  beautiful  creature,  Ilderim  by  name,  a 
Nedjee  Arab  of  the  Kohilan  tribe.  I  gave  for  him  three 
hundred  dollars,  equal  to  about  six  hundred  and  fifty 
rupees.  I  can  depend  upon  him  in  the  hour  of  need,  and 
I  do  not  regret  the  purchase.  .  .  .  Unless  I  receive  com- 
pensation, I  shall  be  ruined,  and  there  are  but  faint  hopes 
of  our  receiving  anything  beyond  our  five  hundred,  wbidi 
will  cover  about  half  of  our  expenses  in  this  country.' 

At  the  end  of  March  he  arrived  at  Teheran,  and  on  the 
24th  of  April  he  wrote  :  *  We  left  Bushire  on  the  14th  of 
February,  and  arrived  here  on  the  28th  of  last  month :  thii 
is  my  first  opportunity  of  sending  a  letter,  or  you  shonld 
have  heard  from  me  before.  Our  journey  was  anything 
but  a  pleasant  one  3  the  mountains  between  Bushire  and 
Shiraz  were  covered  with  snow,  and  the  passes  were  difiicult 
and  dangerous  3  however,  a  few  mules  and  horses  were  oar 
only  casualties.  We  were  often  fifteen  hours  on  hone- 
back,  with  no  rest  and  little  food  3  but  the  health  and 
spirits  of  the  detachment  seemed  to  improve  as  we  over- 
came our  difficulties.  •  .  .  Since  our  arrival  at  Teheran  we 
have  had  the  honour  of  an  audience  with  his  Majesty  the 
Shah-in-Shah,  the  centre  of  the  Universe,  &c.  &c.^lie 
appeared  to  be  greatly  pleased  with  the  show  we  made,  and 


1834]  ^2^  TEHERAN,  305 

£rom  his  royal  lips  fell  all  manner  of  kind  and  gracious 
words.*  A  month  afterwards  he  wrote  :  '  The  old  King  has 
lately  had  several  severe  attacks  of  illness^  and  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  he  will  die  suddenly.  Great  commotion  in 
every  city  and  town  of  Persia  will  be  the  immediate  con- 
sequence. Last  Sunday  it  was  reported  here  that  he  was 
no  more.  The  price  of  everything  rose  in  half  an  hour. 
Some  shops  were  plundered,  and  many  were  closed.  We 
are  obliged  to  lay  in  a  store  for  men  and  cattle,  for  if  the 
King  were  to  die,  nothing  would  be  procurable  for  days. 
In  the  tmnult,  the  English  would  not  be  molested — ^at 
least  this  is  the  impression,  but  as  the  populace,  in  their 
ignorance,  fancy  that  we  have  innumerable  chests  of  gold 
in  our  possession,  I  do  not  think  it  unlikely  that  they  will 
attack  the  Envoy's  palace,  round  or  in  which  most  of  us 
are  residing  j  we  are  therefore  prepared  for  the  worst.  .  .  . 
I  have  found  one  in  Persia  with  whom  I  can  hold  sweet 
converse  on  the  things  that  belong  to  our  everlasting  peace. 
Dr  Riach  has  lately  arrived  from  England  with  despatches, 
and  he  is  to  be  attached  to  the  Envoy  in  Persia.  I  find 
in  him  a  delightftd  companion ;  his  heart  is  deeply  imbued 
with  religion,  and  I  trust  that  whilst  we  are  together  we 
may  be  the  means  of  strengthening  and  comforting  each 
other.  I  felt  very  lonely  before  his  arrival.  There  is 
scarcely  one  in  the  country  with  whom  I  have  a  thought 
or  feeling  in  common.  Suddenly  and  unexpectedly  one 
has  appeared.'  In  August  he  again  wrote :  '  I  consider 
the  Persian  appointment  as  sheer  hmnbug  >  the  climate  is 
the  only  desirable  thing  in  the  countxy.    The  people, 

especiallv  the  people  about  Government,  are  a  lying,  deceit* 
VOL.  u^  "  20 


3o6  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1835 

ful^  procrastinating,  faithless  race^  with  whom  to  hold  any 
communication  can  only  be  a  source  of  disgust  and  disap- 
pointment. I  would  never  have  left  Cawnpore  had  I 
known  what  I  now  know  of  the  prospects  of  an  officer  in 
Persia.*  He  had  begun  to  discover  that  he  was  officially 
in  a  strange  and  anomalous  position.  He  did  not  know 
what  it  was  his  duty  to  do^  and  the  Persian  authorities 
seemed  reluctant  to  define  the  functions  and  responsibilities 
of  the  British  officers.  This  perplexed  and  annoyed  Todd 
and  his  comrades  3  and  was  for  some  time  a  frequent  source 
of  complaint.* 

But  there  was  soon  some  stirring  work  to  interest  him. 
The  King  of  Persia,  Shah  Futteh  Ali,  died,  and  then  ensued, 
according  to  custom  in  those  countries,  all  the  troubles  of 

*  The  position  of  the  English  officers  at  the  Persian  head-qnarten 
was  always  very  embarrassing,  as  they  were  only  recognized  by  the 
Persian  Government  in  the  quality  of  instructors,  and  were  not  allow- 
ed to  interfere  with  the  interior  economy  of  the  r^ments  to  which 
they  were  attached,  nor  exercise  any  of  the  functions  of  command. 
In  the  provinces,  however,  the  local  governors,  being  independent  of 
court  influence,  and  caring  little  for  the  jealousies  of  the  native  com- 
manders, sometimes  conferred  much  more  extensive  powers  on  tbe 
British  officers  attached  to  their  service ;  Major  Farrant,  for  instance^ 
having  had  full  authority  over  the  cavalry  corps  at  Zenjan,  and  Major 
Rawlinson  having  been  placed  in  military  command  of  the  province 
of  Kermanshah.  In  former  times,  Abbas  Mirza  had  always  placed 
the  British  officers  in  real  command  of  his  troops,  and  Majors 
Christie,  Hart,  and  Lindsay,  had  thus  often  led  the  Persians  to  battle 
against  the  Russians ;  and  in  the  same  way,  in  1835,  ^he  latter'officer, 
who  had  now  become  Major-General  Sir  Henry  Bethune^  was 
intrusted  by  the  Shah  with  full  authority  over  the  expeditionary 
force  sent  to  the  south  of  Persia  ;  but  these  were  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule. 


i83S-]  J^^A  TH  OF  FUTTEH  ALI  SHAH.  337 

succession.  Todd's  own  account  of  the  immediate  effects 
of  this  event  is  of  some  historical  interest.  Writing  on  the 
22nd  of  February,  183  j,  he  said  :  '  On  the  23rd  of  October 
old  Futteh  Ali  Shah  breathed  his  last  in  the  palace  of  Huft- 
dust,  at  Ispahan  j  the  event  was  unexpected,  for,  although  the 
King  had  been  for  some  years  in  an  infirm  state  of  health, 
his  constitution  seemed  of  late  to  rally  in  a  wonderful  man- 
ner, and  it  was  thought  that  the  taper,  although  flickering, 
would  continue  to  shed  its  faint  and  feeble  light  for  many 
a  year.  His  favourite  Queen,  the  Taj-ud-Dowlah  (Crown 
of  the  State),  was  with  him  when  he  died  3  he  had  given 
audience  in  the  morning  to  some  nobles  who  were  pro- 
ceeding to  Shiraz  with  a  force,  in  order  to  oblige  the  Firman- 
Firma  to  pay  up  his  arrears  of  revenue,  and  his  last  in- 
junctions were  that  the  money  collected  should  be  given  to 
satisfy  the  claims  of  the  soldiery.  This  unusual  act  of 
justice  and  liberality  was  the  last  which  Futteh  Ali  per- 
formed J  he  retired  to  the  ante-room  and  fell  into  a  quiet 
slumber,  from  which  he  never  awoke.  He  had  for  many 
years  past  contemplated  the  approach  of  death,  and  had 
fixed  upon  the  spot  where  his  mortal  remains  should  rest, 
within  the  precincts  of  the  shrine  of  "  Fatimeh  the  Im- 
maculate "  (a  sister  of  Imaum  Reza,  not  Fatimeh,  the 
daughter  of  Mohammed),  whose  mausoleum  at  Koom, 
next  to  that  of  her  brother  at  Meshed,  is  considered  the 
most  holy  place  in  Persia,  and  is  the  resort  of  multitudes 
of  pious  pilgrims,  who  enrich  wjth  their  offerings  the  sanctu- 
ary and  its  attendant  priests.  Futteh  Ali  had,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  the  most  valuable  of  his  jewels  with  him  ^ 
the  great  diamond,  called  from  its  splendour  the  '^  durya-i- 


3o8  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1835. 


uoor  **  (sea  of  light),  placed  in  a  casket  at  the  foot  of  his 
bed,  was  the  last  object  he  beheld  before  his  eyes  closed  is 
the  sleep  of  death.  The  disorder  which  ensued  when  the 
frail  thread  which  bound  together  the  disorderly  spirits 
about  the  royal  camp  was  broken,  may  be  imagined ;  the 
event  was  at  first  kept  secret,  but  this  could  not  last  long, 
it  was  whispered  in  the  palace,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours  the  news  of  the  King's  death  spread  over  the  city. 
The  disturbances  which  followed,  and  the  events  which 
occurred  at  this  period  in  Ispahan,  have  been  variously  re- 
lated.* 

'  When,*  continued  Todd,  with  more  immediate  refer- 
ence to  himself  and  his  comrades,  'the  intelligence  of 
Futteh  Ali  Shah*s  death  reached  Tabreez,  the  British  de- 
tachment were  encamped  at  the  town  of  Elhoi,  eighty- 
eight  miles  north-west  of  Tabreez,  employed  in  drilling 
four  regiments  of  infantry  and  some  artillery.  We  had  been 
engaged  in  this  duty  for  about  a  month,  and  had  in  the  fint 
instance  formed  a  camp  on  the  frontier  of  Turkey,  near  the 
Turkish  frontier  town  of  Byazeed.  Mahomed  Mirza, 
Abbas  Mirza*s  eldest  son,  was  immediately  proclaimed  at 
Tabreez  King  of  Persia,  by  the  name  of  Mahomed  Shah,  and 
our  small  force  marched  without  loss  of  time  to  that  place. 
Amongst  a  progeny  of  several  hundred  Princes,  there  were 
of  course  many  competitors  for  the  throne  5  and  it  was  said 
that  three,  the  Governor  of  Fars,  the  Governor  of  Mazan- 
deran,  and  the  Governor  of  Teheran,  had  each  proclaimed 
himself  King.  We  prepared  for  an  immediate  advance 
upon  the  capital,  notwithstanding  the  near  approach  <rf 
winter.     Our  Envoy  had  been  authorized  by  Grovemment 


1835]  MAHOMED  SHAH  MADE  KINo  309 

to  assist  Mahomed  Shah  by  every  possible  and  available 
means.  The  new  King's  treasury  was  empty,  but  Sir  John 
Campbell  came  forward  with  the  requisite  sum  j  warlike 
preparations  went  on  with  amazing  rapidity  5  troops  were 
assembled  from  all  quarters  \  and  in  the  course  of  a  very 
short  time  after  the  intelligence  of  Futteh  All's  death 
reached  Tabreez,  a  respectable  force  (for  this  country)  of 
six  regiments  and  twenty-four  guns  was  put  in  motion  to- 
wards the  capital.  In  the  mean  time  we  learnt  with  cer- 
tainty that  the  Zil-i-Sultan,  Prince  Governor  of  Teheran,  a 
man  infamous  for  his  vices  and  notorious  for  his  weakness 
of  mind,  had  declared  himself  Kmg,  and  had  placed  the 
crown  upon  his  head.  The  late  King's  treasury,  said  to  be 
immense,  and  jewels,  had  fallen  into  his  hands  $  and  of  the 
former  he  distributed  large  siuns  in  military  preparations  to 
oppose  the  claims  of  his  nephew.  He  did  not,  however, 
anticipate  the  active  measures  which  had  been  taken  In  the 
north.  We  approached  within  five  or  six  marches  of 
Teheran  without  meeting  with  the  slightest  opposition :  on 
the  contrary,  our  numbers  were  augmented  at  every  step. 
Mahomed  Shah  was  ever3rwhere  acknowledged  as  King, 
and  the  chances  of  opposition  seemed  to  diminish  as  we  ap- 
proached the  capital.  The  Zil-i-Sultan  was  not,  however, 
wholly  inactive.  A  force  of  four  or  five  thousand  men 
with  seven  guns  and  fifty  swivels,  was  despatched  against 
us,  under  the  command  of  Imaum  Verdee  Mirza,  one  of 
the  Zil's  half-brothers.  This  force  advanced  boldly  until  it 
came  within  one  march  of  our  camp,  and  then  retreated 
before  us,  keeping  at  the  same  respectful  distance.  After 
trifling  for  a  few  days  in  this  manner,  whilst  we  were  ad- 


310  MAJOR  L^ARCY  TODD.  [1835. 

vancing  at  the  rate  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  miles  a  day,  Imaum 
Verdee  Mirza  deserted  the  cause  of  his  brother,  and  came 
into  our  camp,  his  safety  having  been  guaranteed  by  the 
Russian  and  English  Envoys.  His  train  of  artillery,  am- 
munition, swivels,  &c.,  were  given  into  our  hands  the  next 
day  5  his  cavalry  swelled  our  numbers,  and  the  rest  of  his 
followers  dispersed !*'  A  second  force,  accompanied  by  a 
much  larger  train  of  artillery,  advanced  fi:om  the  city,  but 
gave  themselves  up  without  firing  a  shot.  So  much  for 
Persian  bravery !  In  the  mean  time,  the  Zil-i-Sultan  was 
seized  and  confined  to  his  palace  by  one  of  the  nobles  io 
Teheran,  and  the  gates  of  the  city  were  thrown  open  to 
receive  Mahomed  Shah.  We  did  not,  however,  enter  the 
palace  for  some  days :  the  astrologers  could  not  fix  upon  an 
auspicious  hour  for  the  royal  entry,  and  we  therefore  pitched 
our  camp  near  the  garden  palace  of  Negaristan,  in  which 
the  Ring  took  up  his  temporary  abode.  Thus  ended  our 
first  bloodless  compaign  !  ....  In  former  days  this  farce 
would  have  been  succeeded  by  a  tragedy — ^heads  would 
have  been  lopped  off  by  the  hundred,  and  eyes  would  have 
been  plucked  out  by  the  bushel — vide  Aga  Mahomet's 
conduct  fifty  years  ago :  but  the  young  King  has  behaved 
on  the  present  occasion  admirably  j  his  late  opponents  have 
been  dealt  with  in  the  most  lenient  manner,  and  many  of 
them  have  in  consequence  become  his  staimch  friends  and 
supporters.* 

But  there  was  still  the  old  sore  of  which  the  English 
officer  had  so  frequently  complained.  The  Government  of 
the  Shah  had  assigned  to  him  no  well-defined  position,  and  he 
did  not  clearly  know  the  right  character  of  his  duties,  or  the 


i83S.]  HIS  POSITION  WITH  THE  ARMY,  311 


full  extent  of  his  responsibilities.  In  a  letter  to  his  friend, 
Mr  Trevelyan,  dated  May  25,  1835,  I^*Arcy  Todd  clearly 
set  forth  all  the  difficulties  he  experienced.  '  I  am  the  only 
officer/  he  wrote,  'left  at  head-quarters  with  the  Colonel, 
but  my  situation  with  the  Artillery  is  exceedingly  ill  defined, 
and  the  duty  I  perform  is  disagreeable  to  myself,  and  of  no 
benefit  to  the  Government.  In  order  to  give  you  some 
idea  of  the  difficulties  which  are  to  be  overcome  in  getting 
the  situation  of  a  British  officer  defined  by  the  Persian  Go- 
vernment, I  will  extract  a  few  pages  from  my  journal, 
written  after  an  interview  with  the  Kaim-Makam,  by  which 
you  will  see  how  business  is  carried  on  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  The  extract  will  be  a  long  one,  but  as  it  contains 
a  sketch  of  the  man  by  whom  the  destinies  of  Persia  are  at 
present  swayed,  I  cannot  help  believing  that  it  will  not  be 
altogether  uninteresting  to  you :  "  The  Kaim-Makam  has 
been  for  some  time  past  promising  to  place  me  in  a  situation 
in  which  I  might  do  something  towards  fulfilling  the  ends 
for  which  I  came  to  this  country.  I  have  been  detained  at 
Teheran  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  being  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  Artillery,  but  week  after  week,  and  month 
after  month,  has  passed  away,  and  I  am  at  the  present 
moment  (March  18,  1835)  precisely  in  the  situation  in 
which  I  found  myself  on  my  arrival  at  Teheran  twelve 
months  ago — employed  in  doing  nothing.  I  went  this 
morning  with  Colonel  Pasmore  and  Dr  Riach  to  visit  the 
Kaim-Makam,  in  order  that  something  might,  if  possible, 
be  defined,  and  that  I  might  know  whether  it  was  the  wish 
or  intention  of  the  Persian  Government  to  assign  me  any 
employment  or  not.     Although  the  minister  himself  had 


3"  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  \t^^ 

settled  the  time  and  place  for  our  conference,  we  were  bf 
no  means  certain  of  finding  him.  The  old  fox  has  the 
greatest  dislike  to  enter  into  any  subject  connected  with 
business,  and  shuts  himself  up  as  carefully  from  the  public 
gaze  as  the  Grand  Lama  himself.  Notwithstanding  it  is 
said  that  he  is  the  best  man  of  business  in  the  country, 
when  he  gives  his  attention  to  the  matter  before  bun,  there 
is  perhaps  no  door  in  the  world  from  which  more  disap- 
pointed suitors  and  deferred  suits  are  turned  away  than  the 
door  of  the  Kaim-Makam.  This  minister  is  considefed  bj 
the  Persians  as  a  man  of  first-rate  ability  and  of  sound  judg- 
ment :  he  does  not  bear  so  high  a  character  amongst  those 
Europeans  who,  from  intercourse  with  him,  have  had 
opportunities  of  forming  a  correct  opinion  of  his  merits; 
and  it  is  said  that  in  no  public  act  of  his  life  has  he  displayed 
the  qualities  which  are  ascribed  to  him  by  his  countr3rmeiL 
In  balancing  the  two  accounts,  it  is  allowed  that  Mirza 
Abul  Kasim  possesses  great  natural  ability,  aided  by  an 
excellent  memory,  and  that  he  is  extensively  acquainted 
with  the  literature  of  Persia;  his  cunning  is  that  of  the 
^father  of  all  foxes,*  and  his  long  career  as  a  minister  in  the 
old  Court,  and  under  the  heir-apparent,  has  given  him  a 
readiness  in  the  despatch  of  business,  when  it  pleases  him, 
which  would  render  him,  if  it  were  not  neutralized  by  his 
laziness,  one  of  the  most  useful  and  efficient  ministers  that 
Persia  could  have.  His  moral  character  is  on  a  level  with 
that  of  his  countrymen — ^the  most  degraded  of  all  d^raded 
people.  After  some  delay,  and  after  traversing  sundry  long, 
dark,  winding  passages,  we  gained  admittance  to  the  minis- 
terial den.     We  found  him  sitting  in  a  comer  with  one  of 


X83S-]  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  MINISTER.  313 


the  Princes^  apparently  settling  some  business.  His  appear- 
ance was  that  of  a  man  who  had  been  drunk  or  asleep  for 
a  week^  or  stupi£ed  with  excessive  watching.  As  soon  as 
the  thickness  of  his  vision  permitted  him  to  recognize  us> 
and  his  scattered  senses  give  him  an  inkling  of  our  business^ 
he  made  Excuses  to  the  Prince^  and  retired  with  us  to 
another  comer  of  his  sanctum^  half  glad  to  escape  the  settle- 
ment of  one  affair^  half  sony  to  be  obliged  to  give  his  atten- 
tion to  another.  The  exterior  of  the  Kaim-Makam  is  not 
prepossessing.  He  is  a  man  of  middling  stature^  very  corpu- 
lent, with  a  countenance  strongly  indicative  of  his  cunning- 
small  eyes,  ill-formed  nose,  and  the  lower  part  of  his  face 
expressive  of  sensuality,  the  whole  physiognomy  set  off  by 
a  ragged,  scanty  beard,  and  an  ill-trimmed  moustache.  We 
had  no  sooner  seated  ourselves,  and  were  expecting  to  enter 
upon  business,  than  we  were  interrupted  by  a  man  who 
brought  a  large  bundle  of  papers  for  the  minister's  seal  \  one 
by  one  they  were  thrust  into  his  hand,  and  he  looked  over 
—  I  will  not  say  perused — each,  somewhat  in  the  manner  of 
a  person  examining  a  piece  of  paper  to  see  whether  it  was 
clean  or  not.  The  Kaim-Makam's  mode  of  looking  over 
papers  is  peculiar.  He  takes  the  letter  in  one  hand,  keeping 
it  open  with  his  forefinger  and  thumb,  and  places  the  mid- 
dle of  it,  where  he  knows  the  mutluh  to  commence,  close 
to  his  right  eye,  and  then  gradually  draws  it  up  until  he 
comes  to  the  end  of  it :  this  does  not  occupy  more  than  a 
few  seconds ;  the  paper  is  then  thrown  down,  and  he  snuf- 
fles out  an  opinion,  or  a  decision,  or  generally  a  cause  for 
delaying  the  settlement  of  the  affair.  Ever  and  anon  he 
was  interrupted  in  this  occupation  by  some  message,  or  by 


3^4                              MAJOR  EfARCY  TODD.                        [1835. 
• 

some  of  his  dependents  whispering  important  intelligence 
in  his  ear :  the  interruption  seemed  to  be  a  relief  to  him, 
and  whilst  one  of  his  friends  was  thus  communicating  con- 
fidentially to  him,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  wash  himself. 
A  small  bottle,  about  the  size  of  a  vinegar-cruet,  was  brought 
filled  with  rose-water  5  a  little  of  this  was  placed  in  the 
palm  of  his  hand,  and  thence  conveyed  to  his  face  and 
beard  3  the  operation  was  repeated  once  or  twice,  and  his 
morning  ablutions  were  finished.  In  the  mean  time  we 
were  sitting,  like  Patience  on  a  monument,  watching  for  a 
favourable  moment  to  thrust  in  a  word  or  two  on  the  sub- 
ject of  our  own  affairs  j  but  whenever  there  appeared  to  be 
a  chance  of  succeeding,  some  letter  or  message  wais  brought, 
and  we  were  thrown  back  into  our  first  position.  In  the 
midst  of  this  scene,  a  beautiful  little  child,  about  six  yean 
old,  was  introduced,  bearing  a  note.  This  was  a  son  of  All 
Nuckee  Mirza,  late  Governor  of  Karbeen.  The  child  walked 
up  to  the  Kaim-Makam  with  all  the  gravity  of  a  grey-beard, 
and  presented  his  note,  which  was  to  complain  that  he  bad 
been  stopped  at  the  gate  of  the  city  by  a  sentinel  stationed 
there,  and  to  request  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  go  out 
of  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  air  with  his  nurse. 
The  child,  being  of  royal  blood,  was  of  course  placed  in  the 
highest  seat,  and  the  little  fellow,  when  seated,  returned 
the  compliments  which  were  paid  him  with  the  utmost 
propriety  and  decorum.  No  bearded  child  could  have 
behaved  himself  better.  The  old  Kaim-Makam  pretended 
the  greatest  affection  towards  him,  kissing  and  slobbering 
him  over  like  a  bear  licking  its  whelp.  The  K.  M.  wa» 
not  a  little  glad  of  having  this  excuse  for  neglecting  businea 


X83S-J  ^  FRUITLESS  INTERVIEW,  315 

for  a  few  minutes.  Soon  after  the  entrance  of  the  child,  a 
messenger  arrived  from  the  King,  desiring  the  minister's 
immediate  attendance  upon  his  Majesty.  Perhaps  this  was 
a  manoeuvre  on  the  part  of  the  K.  M.  himself  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  the  visitors  and  petitioners  who  had  collected  around 
him.  The  King's  commands  were,  of  course,  to  be  obeyed, 
and  after  some  time  he  got  up,  and,  bowing  to  the  grown- 
up Prince,  who  had  sat  all  the  while  in  his  solitary  comer, 
left  the  room,  having  appointed  us  a  meeting  in  the 
Shubistan  (a  part  of  the  palace)  after  he  had  waited  on  the 
King.  Thus  ended  the  first  scene  of  our  finitless  drama ! 
When  we  thought  we  had  given  the  Kaim-Makam  time  to 
settle  his  business  with  the  King,  we  repaired  to  the  Shubis- 
tan in  search  of  the  old  fox.  There  we  found  him  seated 
at  his  breakfast,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  had  not  been  near 
the  royal  presence.  He  was  surrounded,  as  usual,  by  a  host 
of  people,  some  of  them  the  principal  officers  of  the  Court, 
others  his  attendants  and  sycophants.  Before  him  were  two 
or  three  bowls,  containing  stewed  feet  and  other  dainties 
on  which  he  was  gorging.  For  full  half  an  hour  did  the 
Prime  Minister  of  Persia  descant  on  the  merits  of  stewed 
feet,  the  courtiers  submissively  chiming  in  with  their  oracle, 
and  praising  the  dainties  before  him.  Once  or  twice  he  put 
questions  to  Dr  R.  on  the  important  subject  of  stewed  feet, 
inquiring  whether  they  were  wholesome,  as  he  thrust  them 
wholesale  down  his  ungodly  throat.  He  did  not,  however, 
gain  much  satisfactory  information  on  the  point,  and  con- 
tinued to  lick,  and  pick,  and  chew,  until  he  felt,  like  the 
boa-constrictor  with  the  horns  of  an  antelope  sticking  out 
of  bis  jaws,  that  he  had  eaten  enough.     We  found  that 


3i6  MAJOJR  LfAJRCY  TODD.  [1135. 

there  was  no  room  for  business  in  a  mind  stufied  with 
thoughts  and  recollections  of  stewed  feet  Seyeral  times  in 
attempt  was  made — after  the  breakfast  "was  removed— to 
bring  our  subject  on  the  tapis,  but  it  invariably  fidled.  The 
two  Topshee-Bashees  (commandants  of  artilleiy)  had  been 
sent  for ;  one  of  them,  Sohrab  Khan^  of  the  Irak  ArtiDerf, 
was  present;  the  other,  Hajee  Iskunder  Khan,  of- die 
Azerbijan  Artillery,  had  come,  but  had  slunk  away  aguo 
when  we  entered  the  room«  'That's  Todd  Sahib,  is  it?' 
snivelled  out  the  Kaim-Makam.  'Todd  Sahib,  you  nrast 
have  charge  of  the  ArtiUeiy,  and  you  must  drill  them  weU. 
Sohrab  Khan  I  you  must  attend  to  what  Todd  Sahib  says 
to  you;  mind,  you  must  be  very  particular.     Todd  Sahib! 

you  must *     Here  the  oration  was  broken  oflF  by  the 

entrance  of  somebody,  or  by  some  other  subject  presentiiig 
itself  to  the  mind  of  the  speaker;  perhaps  some  fond"  recol- 
lection of  stewed  feet  came  across  him  at  the  moment 
However,  Todd  Sahib  and  his  concerns  were  consigned  to 
oblivion.  We  trifled  away  about  an  hour  in  this  manner. 
Every  now  and  then  there  was  a  grunt  about  Todd  SahU, 
but  it  died  away  with  a  cough,  or  into  a  blow  of  the  nose. 
At  the  end  of  an  hour  the  K.  M.  appeared  suddenly  to 
remember  that  he  had  been  called  for  by  the  King,  and  be 
accordingly  rose  to  depart ;  but  before  leaving  the  room  he 
came  up  to  our  party,  and  declared  that  everything  should 
be  settled.  Todd  Sahib  was  brought  forward,  and  was 
asked  what  he  wanted.  I  endeavoured  to  explain  what 
degree  of  authority  would  enable  me  to  carry  on  the  duties 
of  the  Artillery,  and  disclaimed  any  wish  to  interfere  with 
the  peculiar  authority   of   the  two  Topshee-Bashees  in 


18350  TROUBLES  OF  MAHOMED  SHAH.  317 


matters  unconnected  with  drill  and  discipline.  'Well» 
then^*  said  the  Kaim-Makam^  ^  Sohrab  Khan,  you  are  to 
attend  to  what  Todd  Sahib  says  to  you  j  mind  you  must 
be  very  particular.'  I  explained  that,  without  a  distinct 
and  written  order  from  the  minister  himself  defining  my 
situation,  difficulties  without  number  would  present  them- 
selves at  every  step.  '  Tell  me,  then,'  said  the  K.  M. — 
'  tell  me  exactly  what  things  are  to  be  under  you,  and  what 
undei  the  Topshee-Bashees.*  The  question  was  an  embar- 
rassing one,  for  this  is  the  very  point  which  is  of  all  the 
most  knotty.  I  said  a  few  words,  and  the  conversation 
then  turned  upon  the  nature  and  extent  of  Colonel  P.'s 
authority  over  the  Persians  \  this  was  also  an  intricate  sub- 
ject, and  ended,  after  ten  minutes*  talk,  where  it  began. 
At  last  it  was  arranged  that  Colonel  Pasmore  should  draw 
up  an  order  defining  my  situation,  and  that  this  should  be 
submitted  for  the  Kaim-Makam's  approval.  This  was  the 
result  of  our  day's  labour.  The  minister  walked  off  to  the 
King,  and  we  were  left  not  one  step  advanced  since  the 
morning." ' 

Shortly  after  the  accession  of  Mahomed  Shah  to  the 
throne  of  Persia,  the  Prime  Minister  was  seized  by  order  of 
the  King,  and  put  to  death.  One  of  the  many  rumours 
assigned  for  this  summary  proceeding  was  that  the  Minister 
had  been  In  correspondence  with  Russian  Agents  respecting 
a  scheme  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Shah's  Government. 
Groundless  or  not,  his  suspicions  would  not  suffer  his 
Majesty  to  feel  secure  on  his  throne.  To  strengthen  his 
position,  he  banished  from  Teheran  to  Azerbijan  all  the 
sons  and  grandsons  of  Futteh  Ali  Shah,  thus  diminishing 


3i8  MAJOR  LfARCY  TODD.  [1^35. 

the  number  of  probable  intriguers.  The  outbreak  of 
cholera  at  the  capital  followed  closely  on  these  events,  and 
the  Court  with  the  army  were  removed  to  a  village  on  the 
slope  of  the  mountains  which  separate  Irak  from  Mazan- 
deran.  Here  the  Persian  Commandant  of  Artillery  died  of 
the  pestilence  which  was  raging.  '  When  the  King  heard 
of  his  death/  wrote  Todd  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  dated 
Teheran,  31st  July,  1835,  '^®  ^^^t  me  2l  finnan,  placing 
the  control  of  all  matters  connected  with  the  Artilleiy  in 
my  hands,  until  a  Persian  ''fit  for  the  situation  "  should  be 
appointed.  He  will  have  to  wait  some  time  before  he  finds 
such  a  person.  If  a  man  like  the  late  Commandant  is  ap* 
pointed,  I  shall  give  up  all  hopes  of  making  mjrself  useful 
in  my  profession  so  long  as  I  remain  in  the  country.'  On 
the  general  subject  of  the  cholera,  Todd  had  written  a  few 
days  before :  '  The  cholera  is  a  new  disease  in  this  countiy, 
and  the  alarm  which  it  creates,  fi'om  the  fatal  rapidity  of 
its  efiects,  is  scarcely  less  than  that  which  is  felt  on  the 
approach  of  the  plague.  The  people  fled  with  one  accord 
from  the  infected  spot.  Men  with  their  wives  and  children 
and  effects  were  seen  scattered  over  the  plain^  hunying 
away,  Hke  the  family  of  the  patriarch's  nephew,  fix>m  the 
doomed  city.  The  King,  with  the  officers  of  his  Couit, 
were  amongst  the  first  who  fled.  His  example  was  fd* 
lowed  by  multitudes,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  the 
city  was  Hterally  emptied  of  its  inhabitants.  But  the  dis- 
ease followed  in  their  track,  and  in  every  village  and 
encampment  in  the  vicinity  of  Teheran  hundreds  daily  fell 
victims  to  its  ravages.  The  King  at  first  established  hi* 
Court  at  a  village  about  eight  miles  firom  the  city,  delight- 


1835—36.]        APPRENTICED  TO  DIPLOMACY,  3^9 

fully  situated  on  the  slope  of  the  mountains  which  separate 
Irak  from  Mazarideran.  He  soon  collected  round  him  a 
host  of  people,  civil  and  military,  and  his  crowded  encamp- 
ment threatened  to  become  as  infected  as  the  place  from 
which  he  had  fled.  A  number  of  fatal  cases  appeared  in 
the  circle  of  his  immediate  attendants,  and  he  became 
alarmed  for  his  own  safety.  I  joined  him  with  the  Artil- 
lery on  the  3rd  of  the  present  month  j  the  next  day  he 
directed  the  troops  to  separate,  and  a  few  days  afterwards 
went  himself  with  only  a  few  attendants  to  a  small  village, 
at  some  distance  higher  up  in  the  mountains,  where  he  has 
remained  ever  since.  I  selected  what  I  deemed  a  healthy 
spot  for  the  Artillery  encampment,  and  I  thank  God  that 
for  the  last  two-and-twenty  days  we  have  not  had  a  single 
case  of  cholera.* 

But  better  prospects  were  now  opening  out  before  him. 
Mr  Henry  Ellis  was  appointed,  for  the  third  time,  British 
Ambassador  at  the  Court  at  Teheran.  He  soon  perceived 
that  D'Arcy  Todd  had  capacities  which  required  a  wider 
sphere  for  their  fiiU  development  than  the  military  routine 
work  on  which  he  was  engaged  3  and  he  determined,  there- 
fore, to  employ  him  in  the  diplomatic  service,  as  soon  as  a 
fitting  opportunity  should  arrive.  On  the  5th  of  January, 
1836,  Todd  wrote  to  his  brother,  saying :  '  Since  the  day  of 
Mr  Ellis's  arrival  he  has  kept  our  pens  and  brains  constantly 
at  work.  I  have  written  some  quires  of  foolscap  during 
the  last  three  months,  in  the  shape  of  memoranda,  memoirs, 
•plans,  and  public  letters  on  the  subject  of  the  emplbyment 
of  the  British  detachment,  and  the  improvement  of  the 
Persian  army.     My.  pen  has  done  me  good  service,  as  you 


3ao  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  \x%^ 

will  leani  by  the  sequeL  My  tongue  also  has  not  been  want* 
ing.  I  shall  now  throw  off  all  affectation  of  modesty^  for  I 
am  writing  to  old  Fred^  and  give  you  an  idea  of  my  stand- 
ing in  the  opinion  of  Mr  Ellis.  I  had  from  time  to  time 
received  hints  of  the  satisfaction  which  the  Ambassador  in- 
variably expressed  with  my  communications  on  the  subject 
of  Persia^  both  written  and  verbal.  Yoa  will  understand 
this  when  I  tell  you  that  the  Acting  Secretaiy  of  Legation, 
Dr  Riach^  is  my  very  particular  fiiend.  A  few  days  ago, 
his  Excellency  summoned  me  into  the  Palace  Garden,  and 
informed  me  that  he  had  at  length  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  our  connection  with  Persia  was  worse  than  nseleaa^  that 
Afghanistan  was  the  field  for  our  exertions,  that  we  shoold 
connect  ourselves  closely  with  that  country^  that  he  lud 
written  a  letter  to  Lord  Auckland,  his  intimate  fiiend, 
strongly  pressing  the  necessity  of  sending  a  Political  Agent 
to  be  stationed  at  Caubul,  and  recommending  no  greater  or 
no  less  a  personage  than  your  little  brother,  Elliott  D'ArcTx 
as  an  officer  whose,  &c.  &c.,  eminently  fitted  him  for  that 
important  situation !  The  announcement,  as  you  may 
imagine,  astounded  me.  I  will  pass  over  the  flattering 
sensations  which  fluttered  through  the  crimson  piece  of 
flesh  under  my  left  ribs.  I  looked  the  Ambassador  fuU  in 
the  face,  and  when  I  found  that  he  was  not  joking,  I 
stammered  out  a  few  lame  expressions  of  the  gratification 
which  I  felt  at  finding  that  I  had  attained  so  high  a  place 
in  his  good  opinion.  What  think  you.  Master  Fred,  of  my 
being  Political  jigent  in  Caubul  ?  I  do  not,  of  course, 
expect  that  the  prospect  which  has  been  thus  opened  upon 
me  will  be  realized.     Better  interest  and  higher  talents  will 


t8s6.1  BRIGHTENING  PROSPECTS,  321 

be  in  the  field  against  me,  but  I  feel  certain  that  Mr  Ellis's 
recommendation  will  be  of  service  to  me,  and  that  I  shall 
not  have  to  return  to  regimental  duty  on  my  leaving  Persia. 

One  of  the  papers  which  gave  so  much  satisfaction 

to  Mr  Ellis  was  a  lengthy  article  of  fifty  pages  on  Burnes's 
Military  Memoir  on  the  countries  between  the  Caspian 
and  the  Indus,  in  which  I  took  the  liberty  to  handle  some- 
what roughly  the  opinions  and  reasoning  of  the  intelligent 
and  emterprising  ''traveller."  A  few  evenings  ago,  Mr 
Ellis  ....  desired  me  to  draw  up  a  paper  on  the  subject 
which  he  might  send  to  England  as  a  despatch.  These 
golden  opinions  are  worth  something  5  but  I  am  tired  of 
writing  about  myself,  my  affairs,  and  my  prospects.*  But 
in  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  May,  Mr  Ellis  returned 
to  England,  and  for  some  few  months  after  his  departure 
Todd  was  re-employed  on  the  not  very  congenial  work  of 
drilling  the  Persian  Artillery.*  Two  months  passed  away, 
and  the  8th  of  July  he  wrote  to  his  brother,  saying :  *  I 
have  heard  nothing  yet  of  the  effect  of  Mr  Ellis's  letter  in 
my  favour  to  Lord  Auckland.  You  remember  the  subject 
— Afghanistan!     I  am  sick  of  Persia,  and  long  to  be  re- 

*  Tn  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  some  years  after- 
wards by  Todd  to  James  Outram,  one  feature  of  artilleiy  practice  in 
Persia  is  amusingly  represented  :  *  This  reminds  me  of  an  answer 
given  to  me  by  Mahomed  Shah's  Wuzeer — one  Meerza  Mahomed,  a 
great  oaf.  I  had  been  superintending  some  artillery  practice  at 
Teheran.  A  jackass  having  been  placed  as  the  target,  I  remonstrated 
against  the  cruelty  of  putting  up  one  of  God's  creatures  as  a  mark, 
when  wood  or  canvas  would  answer  every  purpose.  The  Wuzeer 
replied  :  "  On  my  eyes  be  it  I  I  will  stick  up  a  pony  next  time  1 " 
As  if  I  had  specially  pleaded  the  case  of  jackasses  ! ' 

VOL.  II.  21 


332  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  Li9s& 

leased  from  the  thraldom  of  mj  present  situation.  Should 
the  Company  agree  to  the  pensions  for  length  of  senrioe-* 
^i8o  after  twenty  years — ^what  say  you  to  our  joinii^ 
pensions^  and  settling  down  as  two  old  bachelors  in  some 
quiet  part  of  £ngland,  or  making  a  location  in  Van  Die- 
men's  Land  or  the  Canadas  ?  If  Grod  spares  my  life,  I 
shall  lay  down  my  sword  with  the  most  heartfelt  satisfac- 
tion at  being  able  to  leave  a  trade  which  I  detest.' 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year^  1836,  Todd  was  residing  at 
Tabreez,  in  the  capacity  of  Military  Secretary  to  General 
Bethune^  who  then  conmianded  the  legions  disciplined  \f^ 
the  English  officers.  *  My  last  was  dated  Teheran^  October 
4th/  he  wrote  on  the  24th  of  November^  'since  which 
time  I  have  transferred  my  body  to  the  delightful  capita] 

of  Azerbizan We  have  a  large   society  here  for 

Persia We  have^   besides  others^   Major-General 

Bethune^  who  has  appointed  me,  as  I  think  I  have  men- 
tioned, his  Military  Secretary.*  On  Christmas-di^  he 
wrote  again,  saying :  *I  have  jxist  been  ordered  by  the  Am- 
bassador to  undertake  a  difficult  and  somewhat  dangerous 
journey  into  one  of  the  wildest  parts  of  Persia,  on  my  way 
to  Teheran.  I  hope  to  leave  Tabreez  the  day  after  to- 
morrow, and  shall  not  arrive  at  the  capital  in  less  than  fif^j 
days.  My  journey  is  an  honourable  one,  and,  if  carried 
through,  will  bring  me  to  the  notice  of  Grovemment.  Mr 
M'Neill*s  choice  of  me  for  this  journey  is  not  a  little  flat- 
tering. .  .  .  My  route  will  be  vrA  Ardebeel,  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian,  Ghilan,  and  Roodbar,  to  Kazveen,  where  I 
come  into  the  main  road.  One  of  the  dangers  of  the  trip 
is  the  plague  raging  in  the  vicinity  of  Ardebeel,  but  I  trust 


f  S37- J  TRA  VELLING  IN  PERSIA .  323 


that  God  wiU  protect  me.'  In  the  third  week  of  February 
he  reached  the  capital^  and  wrote  thence  on  the  3rd  of 
March :  *  I  left  Tabreez  on  the  27th  of  December,  and 
proceeded  through  Karadagh  and  the  fine  district  of  Mish- 
keen  to  Ardebeel.  This  place  is  celebrated  as  being  the 
cradle  of  the  SufFavean  dynasty,  and  the  tomb  of  some  of 
its  monarchs.  *  It  was  once  a  place  of  pilgrimage.  The 
tombs  of  Sheikh  SufFee-ud-Deen,  of  Sultan  Hyder,  and  of 
Shah  Ismael,  were  once  contained  in  a  magnificent  shrine, 
at  which  thousands  of  pilgrims  came  to  pay  their  devotions, 
and  upon  which  millions  were  spent  in  honour  of  the  de- 
parted saints  and  heroes,  the  glory  of  Persia,  as  they  are 
now  the  reproach.  Time,  and  neglect,  and  violence  have 
done  their  worst  upon  the  resting-place  of  the  Suffees. 
Little  remains  of  the  dwelling  of  the  dead  save  the  earth  in 
whose  bosom  they  are  sleeping.  The  buildings  and  courts 
must  have  been  of  inmiense  extent,  fi'om  the  gatewajrs, 
which,  though  reft  of  their  beauty,  have  not  yet  mingled 
with  the  dust.  One  of  these,  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  present  entrance,  still  displajrs,  in  the  style  of  its 
architecture  and  the  colour  of  its  ornaments,  the  taste  and 
skill  of  its  architect.  A  wretched  court-yard,  surrounded 
by  ruins,  and  filled  with  hundreds  of  nameless  tombs,  l^ads 
to  the  sanctuary.  Three  domes  of  different  size  and  shape 
cover  what  remains  of  the  tombs  of  the  Suffees.  A  large 
hall,  which  still  retains  evidence  of  the  richness  of  its  former 
decorations,  is  the  vestibule  oi  some  small  inner  chambers 
which  contain  the  ashes  of  Sufiee,  Hyder,  and  Ismael. 
They  were  once  concealed  by  gold  and  silver  screens,  which 
have  been  borrowed  by  succeeding  monarchs,  or  stolen  by 


324  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  ^iSj;. 

unbelieving  visitants.  Everything  about  the  place  breathes 
of  wretchedness  and  neglect.  One  of  the  domes  coven 
what  must  once  have  been  a  magnificent  apartment,  round 
the  walls  of  which  were  arranged  the  vessels  of  china  used 
by  the  SufFavean  monarchs,  or  presented  as  offerings  to  the 
shrine.  A  remnant,  about  a  hundred,  of  these  occupy  the 
centre  of  the  apartment,  and  bear  the  marks  of  antiquity, 
and  of  being  the  genuine  manufacture  of  China.  The 
libiary,  once  filled  with  the  rarest  and  most  valuable 
books,  has  shared  the  fate  of  the  building.  Few  remain, 
and  those  few  but  of  little  value.  The  Russians,  when 
they  visited  Ardebeel,  took  away  a  great  number  for  the 
purpose  of  translation,  under  the  promise  of  returning  them, 
but  the  promise  remains  yet  unfulfilled.  The  town  of 
Ardebeel  tells  the  usual  Persian  tale  of  decay,  and  dirt,  and 
depopulation.  The  plague  has  raged  there  during  the  last 
two  years :  half  of  the  inhabitants  have  been  swept  o£^  and 
the  remainder  look  squalid  and  wretched.  Ardebeel  b,  at 
present,  the  royal  prison-house.  Twelve  of  the  sons  and 
grandsons  of  Futteh  Ali  Shah  are  confined  in  the  fortress, 
which  was  constructed  some  years  ago,  after  the  European 
system,  by  Colonel  Monteith.  Amongst  the  prisoners  are 
the  Zil-i-Sultan,  who  placed  himself  upon  the  throne  at 
Teheran  after  the  death  of  the  late  King,  and  Hussan  Ali 
Mirza,  the  blinded  brother  of  the  late  lilrman-Blrma  of 
Shiraz.  The  prisoners  are  tolerably  comfortable  in  their 
cages,  so  far  as  food  and  clothing  are  concerned,  and  they 
may  thank  their  stars  that  they  wear  their  heads  upon  their 
shoulders,  for  had  any  other  Kajjar  than  Mahomed  Shah 
been  upon  the  throne,  they  would,  long  ere  this,  have  gone 


1837.]  FROM  TABREEZ  TO  TEHERAN.  325 

the  waj  of  all  rebellious  or  ambitious  Persian  Princes.     I 
stayed  nearly  a  fortnight  at  Ardebeel,  being  detained  by  a 
constant  succession  of  snow-storms^  during  which  it  was 
impossible  to  move.     The  weather  was  dreadfully  cold,  the 
thermometer  falling  at  night  below  zero,  but  I  did  not,  on 
the  whole,  pass  an  unpleasant  fortnight.     I  was  the  guest 
of  the  Prince- Grovernor,  a  very  nice  Httle  boy,  brother  to 
the  King,  and  was  treated  with  the  greatest  kindness  and 
hospitality.     From  Ardebeel  I  proceeded  to  Adina  Bazaar, 
near  the  plains  of  Mogan,  skirting  in  my  way  the  whole 
of  the  Russian  frontier,  and  returned  by  nearly  the  same 
route  to  the  village  of  Nameen  (near  Ardebeel),  thence, 
after  crossing  the  range  of  mountains  to  the  eastward  of 
Ardebeel,  I  followed  the  course  of  the  Astara  river  to  its 
embouchure.     From  Astara  to  Enzellee,  my  route  for  four 
days  was  on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian,  the  waters  of  which 
wetted  my  horse's  feet  nearly  the  whole  of  the  time.     On 
my  right  were  the  fine  forest-clad  hills  of  Talish,  which 
stretch  down  to  the  very  edge  of  the  sea.     The  scenery  was 
most  picturesque,  as  you  may  suppose,  for  mountains,  and 
forests,  and  sea,  will  always,  when  united,  form  the  pictur- 
esque.    I  had  not  time  for  sketching,  save  here  and  there 
when  something  remarkable  presented  itself.     One  of  the 
finest  objects  on  my  route  was  the  mountain  of  Sevalan, 
twenty  miles  to  the  west  of  Ardebeel.     Its  height  is  about 
twelve  thousand  &et  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  it  stands 
upon  a  base  which,  at  the  distance  of  twenty  miles,  em- 
braces a  third  of  the  circle.     The  body  of  a  saint,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  lived  prior  to  the  Mahomedan  invasion, 
18  to  be  seen  on  the  summit  of  the  mountain  in  a  wonder- 


326  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1837. 

fill  state  of  preservation^  and  the  spot  is  a  place  of  pilgrimage. 
We  have  some  fine  moimtains  in  Persia  and  its  vicinity^ 
but  few  to  be  compared  with  the  hoary  peak  of  Sevalan. 
The  province  of  Ghilan  is  similar^  in  its  climate  and  scenery, 
to  Mazanderan,  of  which  I  gave  you  a  description  last  year. 
I  visited  Ghilan  in  the  most  &vourable  season^  and  did  not 
suffer  from  the  effects  of  its  climate,  which  in  summer  and 
autumn,  is  deadly,  from  the  prevalence  of  marsh  fevers.  It 
deserves  its  name,  which  is  a  compound  of  Gil  (mud),  the 
whole  country  being  one  great  marsh.     There  are  no  made 
roads,  in  consequence  of  the  wise  Persians  fearing  that  con- 
structing a  highway  would  facilitate  the  advance  of  a  Rus- 
sian force.     One  was  commenced  between  Resht  and  the 
sea-coast,   but,  before  two   miles  had   been    completed, 
peremptory  orders  arrived  from  Teheran  to  stop  the  wori^. 
I  never  knew  what  mud  was  before  my  visit  to  Ghilan. 
The  pathways  which  are  intended  to  connect  the  villages 
run  through  mulberry-forests  and  rice-fields,  the  mnd^  which 
is  the  soil  of  the  country,  being  two  or  three  feet  deep,  and 
often  fathomless.     The  ponies  of  the  province  are  the  onty 
animals  that  can  flounder  effectually  through  this  fifth  ele- 
ment 5  all  other  quadrupeds  fairly  give  in,  and  refuse  to 
move  after  wading  through  a  mile  or  two.     Ghilan  is  the 
richest  province  comparatively  in  Persia,  being  one  large 
silk  garden,  and  it  might  be  made  to  yield,  without  oppresfr- 
ing  the  people,  an  immense  revenue  5  but  a  bad  Govern- 
ment has  well  seconded  the  efforts  of  plague  and  cholera 
to  destroy  this  really  fine  country,  and  Ghilan  is  in  the 
same  depopulated  and  disorganized  state  as  the  rest  of 
Persia.     Between  Resht  and  Kazveen  (where  I  came  apoo 


1837.1  DIPLOMA  TIC  EMPLO  YMENT,  327 

the  high  road  between  Teheran  and  Tabreez),  I  passed  over 
a  range  of  mountains  covered  with  snow  from  four  to  forty 
feet  deep.  You  will  set  me  down  as  a  Munchausen^  but 
really  the  snow  was  very  deep,  and  I  was  eight  hours  in 
riding  eight  miles  through  it.  I  arrived  at  this  place  on 
the  1 8th  of  last  month,  and  have  ever  since  been  fully 
emplo3red  in  writing  reports,  mapping,  &c.  I  have  no 
plans  for  the  future,  and  know  not  where  I  shall  spend  my 
summer.' 

The  year  1837  ^^^  ^'^  ^^  resident  at  Teheran,  in  his 
military  capacity  j  but  he  was  steadily  preparing  himself 
all  the  time  for  employment  in  the  political  branch  of  the 
service,  and  at  last  the  opportunity  came.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  correspondence  of  this  year  carry  on  the 
story  of  his  life:  'Teheran,  September  3,  1837.  By-the- 
by,  you  will  have  seen,  ere  this,  that  his  Majesty  has  con- 
ferred the  local  brevet  of  major  on  the  officers  serving  in 
Persia.  We  receive  no  increase  of  pay,  but  as  formerly  all 
the  officers  who  were  made  local  field-officers  in  Persia 
were  paid  as  such,  we  are  about  to  address  a  memorial  upon 
the  subject  to  the  authorities  in  India.  This  local  rank  is 
not  of  much  use,  but  there  is  something  in  a  name,  not- 
withstanding what  the  Bard  of  Avon  has  said  regarding  it. 
There  is  a  possibility,  although  remote,  that  *'  I  may  be 
sent  to  £ngland  on  duty."  I  shall  do  my  best,  you  may 
be  sure,  to  effect  this,  for  although  I  could  not  remain  at 
home  more  than  a  few  months,  I  feel  that  it  would  be  of 
great  service  to  me  in  every  respect,  and  the  prospect  of 
embracing  you  under  such  happy  circumstances  is  indeed 
delightful You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  have 


328  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [i8ju. 

received  a  complimentary  letter  from  Lord  PalmerBton,  in 
consequence  of  my  reports  regarding  the  frontier.     I  have 
sent  home  lately  some  other  maps  and  papers  which  may 
be  of  use  to  me.*     '  Teheran,  December  26.   The  Secret- 
ary of   Legation,   Colonel   Sheil,  has  gone  home  with 
despatches,  and  will  be  absent  probably  nearly  a  year.  Yoa 
will  be  glad  to  hear  that  Mr  McNeill  has  appointed  me  to 
act  for  him,  and  has  done  so  in  a  very  flattering  manner,  as 
you  will  perceive  in  perusing  the  copy  of  his  letter  to  me 
on  the  occasion,  which  I  have  sent  to  our  beloved  mother. 
The  appointment  will  not  give  me  anything  in  a  peconiaiy 
point  of  view  -,  indeed,  it  is  possible  that  I  may  lose  my 
Persian  allowances  whilst  employed  with  the  Mission ;  but 
you  must  be  aware  that  the  honour  of  the  thing  is  great, 
and  that  my  being  selected  for  such  a  situation  ma^  be  of 
great  use  to  me  in  my  future  prospects.     My  g^reat  ambi- 
tion is  to  have  political  employment,  either  in  India  or 
in  these  countries,  and  I  have  now  made  the  first  step 
towards  my  aim  and  object.'     This  new  appointment  gave 
him   abundant   occupation.      After   some    two    or  three 
months'  experience  of  its  duties,  he  wrote  to  his  brother, 
saying:   'This  Acting   Secretaryship  of   Legation   is   no 
sinecure.     The  other  day  I  wrote  forty-eight  pages,  fools- 
cap, of  Persian  translations,  and  had  time  for  my  ordinary 
reading,  French  and  English.     Now  I  call  that  a  good 
day's  work.     What  say  you?     I  have  now  twenty  long 
letters  before  me,  and  heaps  of  Persian  papers  for  trans- 
lation, and  all  this  must   be  done  within  the  next  four 
days,  and  French  lessons  and  walking  exercise  must  not  be 
discontinued.     Read  Lockhart's  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 


1838.]  THE  SIEGE  OF  HERAT.  329 

and  then  grumble  at  want  of  time^  if  you  dare.  So  you 
believed  the  story  of  the  Epic  poem !  Fancy  a  Secretary 
of  Legation  writing  an  Epic !  Why,  I  should  be  turned 
out  before  I  could  look  round  me.  I  must  confess,  in  your 
private  ear,  that  there  are  some  loose  scribbled  sheets  be- 
tween the  leaves  of  my  blotting-book,  but  they  look  very 
little  like  poetry  in  their  present  state.' 

The  next  year  found  the  Persian  Government  and  the 
Persian  army  busied  with  the  siege  of  Herat,  and  on  the 
8th  of  March  Todd  wrote  with  reference  to  that  event, 
and  to  the  views  held  by  the  British  Grovernment,  that  the 
possession  of  Herat  by  Persia  would  make  a  dangerous 
opening  for  Russian  intrigue  in  the  direction  of  India: 
'This  is  a  strange  country!  A  country  inhabited  or 
peopled  by  wandering  tribes,  who  infuse  their  errant  spirit 
into  every  living  thing  that  sets  the  sole  of  its  foot  within 
the  territories  of  the  Great  King.  From  this  exordium 
you  will  conclude  that  I  am  flapping  or  pluming  my  wings 
for  a  flight,  and  thou  art  right,  my  most  sapient  Fred.  The 
month  of  March  being  under  the  sign  Pisces,  the  finny 
tribe,  both  great  and  small,  are  preparing  for  migration  to 
hotter  or  colder  climates,  and  I,  being  an  odd  fish,  must 
follow  in  the  track  of  my  betters.  I  might  here  give  you 
an  appropriate  sketch  of  the  system  pursued  by  the  several 
tribes — ^Toorks,  Turcomans,  and  Kuzzilbashes — of  these 
parts,  but  you  will  be  in  a  hurry  to  know  where  I  am  going. 
Perhaps  to  England,  you  will  say  to  yourself  j  but  you  are 

out  there.     Guess  again  \  but  I  see  it*s  of  no  use 

On  the  frontier  between  Persia  and  Afghanistan  lieth  the 
city  of  Herat^  a  place  which  for  centuries  past  has  been 


330  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1838. 

a  bone  of  contention  between  the  two  States.  Mahomed 
Shah,  immediately  on  coming  to  the  throne,  declared  his 
intention  of  marching  against  the  place,  which  he  asserted 
belonged  to  Persia,  and  was  now  in  rebellion  against  its 
lawful  sovereign,  his  royal  self.  In  1836  he  made  a  cam- 
paign to  the  eastward,  but  the  cholera  and  the  Turcooums 
obliged  him  to  return  to  his  capital,  without  having  efiected 
his  object.  Last  year  he  collected  a  large  army,  and  went 
on  the  same  errand.  The  fortress  of  Ghorian  was  delivered 
into  his  hands  after  a  ten  days'  si^^,  and  on  the  2i8t  of 
November — ^I  like  to  be  particular — he  sat  down  befixe 
Herat.  The  Heratees  gave  him  a  warm  reception,  making 
nightly  sorties,  in  each  of  which  the  Persians  lost  six  to  a 
dozen  men,  and  sending  out  large  parties  of  horse  to  iloter- 
cept  supplies,  carry  off  stragglers,  &c.  The  "walls  proved 
tougher  than  his  Majesty  had  anticipated,  and  after  expend- 
ing ten  or  twelve  thousand  shot  and  shells  w^ithout  pro- 
ducing the  slightest  effect,  the  siege  was  turned  into  an 
imperfect  blockade,  two  of  the  five  gates  of  the  town  being 
open,  and  the  inhabitants  holding  free  and  unintemipted 
communication  with  the  surrounding  country^  whilst  the 
Shah  was  shut  up  in  his  camp,  round  which  a  wall  had 
been  built.  In  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  our  Goven- 
ment  suddenly  discovers  that  the  fall  of  Herat  into  the 
hands  of  the  Persians  would  be  injurious  to  our  interests  in 
the  £ast,  as  affording  an  outpost  to  Russian  intrigue  in  the 
direction  of  India.  The  wiseacres  might  have  made  the 
discovery  ages  ago,  for  the  subject  was  pretty  often  dinned 
into  their  ears  3  but  no,  they  go  to  sleep,  and  allow  things 
to  proceed  to  extremities  until  the  eleventh  hour.     How* 


1838.J  THE  SIEGE  OF  HERA  T.  331 


ever,  they  have  at  last  bestirred  themselves^  and  Mr  M'Neill 
is  about  to  proceed  to  the  scene  of  operations,  to  mediate 
between  the  contending  powers,  and  to  put  a  stop,  if  possi- 
ble, to  further  hostilities.  The  whole  of  the  orchestra  will 
not  accompany  the  leader  of  the  band,  but  the  acting 
second  fiddle  must,  of  course,  be  in  attendance,  and  I  am 
preparing  to  start  from  this  in  about  four  days,  with  Mr 
McNeill  and  Major  Farrant,  who  is  acting  as  his  private 
scratchitary.  We  take  four  sergeants  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
Persians,  armed  and  mounted,  in  case  we  should  meet  with 
some  of  the  roving  bands  of  Turcomans  who  infest  the 
road  between  Shahrood  and  Herat.  As  I  have  no  hanker- 
ing after  a  pastoral  life,  I  hope  that  you  will  not  next  hear 
of  me,  or  from  me,  tending  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the 
Turcomans.  They  sold  Joseph  WoliF  for  a  greyhound  pup 
and  ^ye  rupees,  but  his  teeth  were  the  worse  for  wear, 
whereas  mine  are  as  sound  as  a  four-year-old*s,  and  I  fear 
they  would  ask  for  me  a  heavier  ransom.  The  journey 
ought  not  to  occupy  more  than  twenty-five  days.  The 
weather  is  delicious,  and,  barring  the  Turcomans,  I  look 
forward  to  a  very  pleasant  and  interesting  trip.  And  now 
for  a  word  in  your  ear.  Should  Mr  M.  wish  to  commu- 
nicate with  Lord  Auckland,  who  is  now  in  the  north  of 
India,  it  b  possible  that  I  may  be  sent  across  with  despatches, 
and  then — then,  O  Fred  the  magnanimous  !  what  countries 
shall  I  not  see?  Look  at  the  map  again,  and  tell  me 
whether  you  would  not  Hke  to  be  with  me  5  but  first  read, 
if  you  have  not  read  them,  Burnes*s  Traveli,  Arthur 
Conolly's  Journey  Overland  to  India;  a  dear  friend  of 
mine  is  that  said  Arthur  ConoUy,  now  a  sincere  Christian^ 


33a  MAJOR  D'ARCY  TODD.  [iS^ 

and  one  with  whom  I  have  had  much  sweet  fellowship:* 
£lphinstone*8  Cdubul,  Forster*8  Travels,  1798.  I  shoald 
also^  for  many  reasons  which  must  be  apparent  to  jon, 
much  like  to  see  Lord  Auckland^  and  I  could  not  do  so 
under  better  auspices  than  as  the  bearer  of  despatches,  and 
I  may  say  (though  I  say  it  myself),  as  the  possessor  of  some 
information  that  would  be  useful  to  him.  But  all  this 
may  be  a  castle  in  the  air ;  but  I  am,  and  ever  have  been, 
fond  of  constructing  chdteaux  en  Espagne.  This  move  was 
only  determined  on  yesterday,  but  I  find  that  I  should  have 
had  a  journey  at  any  rate,  for  Mr  McNeill  tells  me  that 
he  had  intended  sending  me  to  Herat,  to  endeavour  to  bring 
the  Shah  to  reason,  but  that  the  day  before  yesterday  he 
received  letters  from  India,  which  made  him  decide  on 
going  himself  Diplomacy  is  a  strange  trade,  Fred,  bnt, 
the  more  I  see  and  understand  of  it,  the  more  I  like  it,  for 
the  machinery  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  one  behind  the 
scenes,  and  our  policy  certainly  tends  to  the  amelioration  of 
the  state  of  uncivilized  man,  at  least  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  although  our  object  is  certainly  of  a  different  stamp.' 
'March  loth.  We  start  this  afternoon,  and  I  am  in  the 
midst  of  preparations  for  the  march.  You  have  seen  the 
first  day  of  a  march  in  India,  and  can  fsaicy  the  present 
state  of  things  around  me.  Packing  and  paying !  Ducats 
and  tomauns  galloping  off  by  hundreds.  Pistols,  swords, 
guns,  ammimition-belts,  &c.,  in  beautiful  confusion  around 
me,  with  a  fine  background  of  half-packed  boxes,  dansi 
and  omeedwars!     I   cannot — how   can   I? — collect  mv 

*  I  cannot  trace  in  the  correspondence  of  either  the  place  where 
they  met.    It  was  at  some  up-country  station — ^probably  Cawnporei 


1838.]  BEFORE  HERA  T.  333 


senses  for  a  rational  letter,  so  you  must  just  take  what  you 
can  get,  and  be  thankful.  I  must  defer  writing  to  our 
dear  mother  until  I  am  on  the  journey,  and  we  shall 
despatch  messengers  to  Teheran  constantly.* 

Of  the  march  to  Herat,  and  of  the  first  investment  of 
that  place,  Todd*s  letters  give  an  animated  description.  He 
tells  the  story  from  without  the  walls,  as  Eldred  Pottinger 
tells  it  from  within  5  and  it  is  curious  to  note  that  two 
officers  of  the  Indian  Artillery — one  from  Bengal  and  the 
other  from  Bombay — ^were  at  the  same  time  in  the  camps 
of  the  two  contending  forces :  '  We  arrived  without  let  or 
hindrance  on  the  6th,*  wrote  Todd  on  the  i  ith  of  April, 
'  hdxmg  accomplished  the  journey — seven  hundred  miles — 
in  twenty-six  days.  You  have  some  idea  of  the  country  we 
passed  through,  and  being  well  acquainted  with  the  rate  of 
inarching  in  India,  will,  I  think,  give  us  credit  for  our  expe- 
dition. We  had  sixty  laden  mules  with  us  throughout  the 
journey,  and  for  the  last  four  or  five  marches  were  accom- 
panied by  a  train  of  five  or  six  hundred  camels,  bringing  pro- 
vbions  to  camp.  We  only  made  one  halt,  and  that  was 
chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  indisposition  of  the  Elchee. 
Our  last  march  into  camp  from  Ghorian  was  forty  miles, 
and  we  had  several  other  tough  ones  of  thirty-two,  thirty- 
six,  forty,  and  fifty  j  but  our  cattle  behaved  well,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  horses  left  on  the  road,  dead  or  dead 
lame,  we  effected  our  advance  without  loss.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  much  I  enjoyed  the  journey  5  the  weather  was 
delightfiil,  and  the  country  was  new  to  me,  in  some  parts 
unexplored  by  Europeans.  I  have  mapped  the  whole  route 
carefully,  and  shall  send  the  result  of  my  labours  through 


334  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1838. 

Mr  M'Neill  to  the  Foreign  Office,  having  received  encoor- 
agement  from  that  quarter  as  an  inducement  to  my  exertiom 
in  improving  the  geography  of  this  part  of  the  world.  I 
believe  I  have  mentioned  to  70U  that  my  sketches  of  Ma^ 
auinderan^  Ghiian,  and  the  Russian  frontier,  -were  approved 
of  by  Lord  Palmerstou/  and  lithographed  at  the  Quarter- 
master-Grenerars  office.  We  did  not  come  by  the  ws^  of 
Meshed^  but  striking  off  the  high  road  at  Mezenoon,  ooe 
march  beyond  Abbassabad,  passed  through  the  hills  of  60- 
meesh  to  Toorsheez,  and  thence,  leaving  Toorbut  Hyderee 
to  the  north,  to  KhafF,  or  rather  Rovee,  there  being  nosucb 
town  as  KhafF,  which  is  the  name  of  a  district.  From  Ro- 
vee  to  Ghorian,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles,  there  is  no  habit- 
ation, and  water  (brackish)  only  in  one  or  two  places.  I 
have  been  astounded  by  the  fertility  and  capability  of  some 
of  the  tracts  of  country  we  have  passed  over.  Nothing  can 
be  finer  than  the  plains  and  valleys  between  Toorsheez  and 
KhafFj  and  the  valley  of  the  Herirood,  between  Ghorian 
and  Herat,  is  one  of  the  richest  in  the  world.  Innumerable 
villages,  now  indeed  ruined,  but  still  attesting  the  feitiHt7 
of  the  soil,  are  seen  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  scattered  over 
a  plain  of  vast  extent,  every  foot  of  which  bears  the  mark 
of  cultivation."  ''Well,  here  we  are,'  continued  Todd,  'en- 
camped within  two  thousand  two  hundred  yards  of  Herat 
Nothing  that  I  had  previously  heard  gave  me  the  sli^test 
idea  of  the  strength  of  the  place,  which,  if  defended  bj 
artillery,  I  should  pronounce  impregnable  to  a  Persian  army. 
It  has  now  held  out  for  five  months,  and  the  Shah  does  not 
appear  to  have  advanced  one  step  towards  gaining  posseasion 
of  the  place.     His  batteries  have  knocked  ofiF  some  of  the 


1838.]  BEFORE  HERAT.  335 

apper  defences,  but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  effect  a 
breach,  which,  indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  do  with  brass 
twelves  and  sixes  ^  and  although  an  assault  by  escalade  is 
talked  of,  there  seems  to  be  no  chance  of  the  place  falling, 
unless  a  famine  should  oblige  the  besieged  to  surrender,  and 
this  is  not  very  likely,  as  the  Heratees  have  laid  in  provisions 
for  two  years!  The  place  is  invested  at  last 3  but  until 
within  the  last  month  three  out  of  the  five  gates  were  open, 
and  the  inhabitants  enjoyed  free  and  uninterrupted  com- 
munication with  the  surrounding  country.  Our  visit  to  the 
scene  of  operations  gave  great  offence  to  the  Shah,  who  did 
all  in  his  power,  but  without  effect,  to  prevent  our  reaching 
camp,  knowing  that  Mr  McNeill's  only  object  could  be  to 
induce  him,  by  promises  or  threats,  to  raise  the  siege.  Our 
reception  in  camp  was  cold  in  the  extreme,  all  the  usual 
compliments  and  civilities  were  omitted,  and  a  hint  was 
given  that  any  Persian  who  visited  the  English  would  be  a 
marked  man.  We,  consequently,  found  ourselves  in  quar- 
antine! A  day  or  two  after  our  arrival,  however,  Mr 
McNeill  demanded  an  audience,  to  present  a  letter  from 
Queen  Victoria.  This  could  not  be  reftised,  and  we  were 
ushered  into  the  presence  in  style.  On  this  occasion  Mr 
McNeill's  talents  and  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  Persians 
carried  the  dayj  the  Shah  was  relieved  from  his  fears  for 
the  moment,  as  the  topic  of  Herat  was  not  introduced,  and 
when  we  took  our  leave  he  had  been  talked  into  good  hu- 
mour. Thus  the  ice  has  been  partly  broken  3  and  although 
our  Persian  fiiends  still  keep  aloof,  from  fear  of  the  Shah*8 
displeasure,  the  road  to  friendly  communication  has  been 
opened.     I  have  no  hopes  that  the  Shah  will  be  induced  to 


336  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [183I 

raise  the  siege  by  fair  words  on  our  part,  but  it  is  yet  to  be 
seen  whether  he  will  risk  the  chance  of  going  to  war 
with  us,  by  obstinately  persisting  in  his  present  plans  of 
£astern  conquest.  I  am  more  than  ever  satisfied  of  the 
importance  of  keeping  him  within  his  present  boundaiy,  and 
of  preventing  his  taking  possession  of  Herat.  Rusua  is  al- 
ready at  work  in  Afglianistan.  Our  Grovemment  has  been 
for  many  years  fast  asleep,  and  unless  "we  new  take  some 
decided  steps  to  arrest  the  advance  of  Russian  intrigue  to- 
wards the  Indus,  we  shall  awake,  when  too  late,  to  find  the 
paw  of  the  Northern  bear  upon  our  shoulder.  Having 
seen  Herat,  and  the  country  in  its  vicinity,  I  can  understand 
its  being  called  the  **  key  of  India.'*  The  Shah's  camp  is  a 
filthy  nest  of  all  possible  abominations,  so  we  have  pitched 
our  tents  at  some  little  distance  fi'om  it,  on  a  rising  ground 
in  the  vicinity,  from  whence  we  have  a  fine  view  of  the 
fortress.  There  is  no  fear  of  our  being  molested  by  the 
Afghans,  who  are  here  called  the  enemy ;  but  I  am  not  so 
sure  of  the  rabble  surbaz,  who  are  in  a  wretched  state  fiom 
want  of  provisions,  and  are  maddened  by  the  opposition  thej 
have  met  with.  There  is  little  firing  from  either  side,  but 
the  trenches  are  occasionally  attacked,  and  the  Persians  are 
always  the  sufferers  ^  the  average  daily  loss  on  the  part  of 
the  besiegers  may  not  be  more  than  five  or  six  men.  Yon 
must  excuse  my  writing  more  in  detail  at  present ;  some  of 
my  reasons  must  be  apparent  to  you,  when  I  mention  that 
my  letter  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  before 
reaching  you.* 

In  the  Memoir  of  Eldred  Pottinger  all  the  drcumstanoei 
of  the  siege  of  Herat  have  been  so  fully  set  forth,  that  I  need 


M 


1838.]  WITH  THE  PERSIAN  ARMY.  337 

not  again  recite  them.  During  a  part  of  the  time  occupied 
by  the  investment  of  the  place,  Todd  was  in  the  Persian 
camp ;  and  he  was  employed  by  the  English  Minister,  Mr 
M'Neill,  to  negotiate  with  the  Heratees.  He  was  the  first 
English  officer  who  had  ever  been  seen  by  them  in  full 
regimentals,  and  it  is  recorded  of  him  that  when  he  entered 
the  city  *  a  vast  crowd  went  out  to  gaze  at  him.  The  tight- 
fitting  coat,  the  glittering  epaulettes,  and  the  cocked-hat,  all 
excited  unbounded  admiration.  The  narrow  streets  were 
crowded,  and  the  house-tops  were  swarming  with  curious 
spectators.  The  bearer  as  he  was  of  a  message  firom  Ma- 
homed Shah,  announcing  that  the  Persian  sovereign  was 
willing  to  accept  the  mediation  of  the  British  Government, 
he  was  received  with  becoming  courtesy  by  Siiah  Kamran, 
"who,  after  the  interview,  took  the  cloak  fi-om  his  own  shoid- 
ders,  and  sent  it  by  the  Wuzeer  to  Major  Todd,  as  a  mark  of 
the  highest  distinction  he  could  confer  upon  him.*  '  I  was 
sent  into  the  town,*  wrote  Todd  himself,  '  by  Mr  McNeill, 
with  the  permission  of  the  Shah,  to  endeavour  to  open  ne- 
gotiations. I  found  the  Herat  Government  willing  to  listen 
to  anything  that  the  British  Minister  might  propose^  and  to 
him  they  gave  fiill  authority  to  act  as  mediator  5  but  the  Per- 
sians have  been  playing  their  usual  dirty  game,  shufHing  and 
shirking,  and  eating  their  own  words,  so  that  at  present 
there  seems  to  be  but  little  probability  of  matters  being 
satis^ctorily  arranged.  Curious  reports  have  been  afloat 
of  armies  marching  from  the  eastward  to  the  assistance  of 
the  Heratees,  and  in  consequence  of  these  reports  the  Per- 
sians have  firom  time  to  time  seemed  anxious  to  put  an  end 
to  the  business  by  entering  into  an  equitable  treaty ;  but  no 
VOL.  ir.  22 


S38  MAJOR  LfARCY  TODD.  [i8^ 

dependence  can  be  placed  on  their  wordsy  and  the  ShahsdH 
lingers  here^  in  the  hope  of  i tarving  out  the  beneged.   I 
believe  he  has  given  up  all  expectation  of  taking  it  bgr 
storm  'y  his  batteries  have  failed  to  effect  a  pracrticable  breadi, 
and  his  soldiers  have  lost  even  the  little  heart  they  had  tt 
the  commencement  of  the  siege.     I  could  not  have  bdier- 
ed  it  possible  for  him  to  subsist  an  army  of  at  least  thiitj- 
five  thousand  men  for  six  months  before  this  place  |  \f^ 
he  has  done  so  somehow  or  other,  and  he  may  be  able  to 
procure  provisions  for  some  time  longer.     Even  the  amas- 
ing  fertility  of  this  country  does  not  explain  the  mysteiy  of 
how  and  whence  these  provisions  are  procured.    In  die 
mean  time,  our  Government  appears  to  have  folded  iti  arm 
over  its  breast  in  quiet  or  stupid  indi£ferenoe  to  the  ftte  of 
the  key  of  India.' 


The  attempted  negotiation  &iled;  and  the  siege  wm 
continued.  Soon  afterwards,  D'Arcy  Todd  was  sent  bf 
Mr  McNeill  to  convey  despatches  to  the  Grovemor-Genenl 
of  India,  and  to  inform  him  more  fully  than  ^xrritten  doco- 
ments  could  what  was  the  actual  condition  of  ailaiis.  'I 
am  now  under  sailing  orders,*  he  wrote  on  the  8th  of  Mi^i 
'  and  I  shall  weigh  anchor  in  the  course  of  a  few  dayi^ 
charged  with  despatches  for  Lord  Auckland.  I  hope  to 
find  his  Lordship  at  Simlah,  which  vdll  shorten  the  Indim 
part  of  my  trip  considerably.  The  route  which  I  now 
contemplate  is  that  which  leads  through  Candahar,  Cauboli 
Peshawur,  Attock,  and  thence  through  the  Punjab  to  Loodis- 
nah,  whence  Simlah  is  distant  only  a  night's  or  a  couple  of 


<838.]  JOURNEY  TO  SIMLAH,  339 


nights*  d^k  (tappM).  I  shall  travel  as  an  EDglishman^  bu' 
in  the  dress  of  an  Afghan,  without  luggage  or  other 
encumbrances,  save  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  on  the  horse  I  ride. 
This  mode  I  believe  to  be  the  best  in  evexy  respect.  All 
the  difficulties  that  Europeans  have  encountered  in  these 
countries  have  arisen  from  their  foolishly  endeavouring  to 
personate  natives.  The  success  they  have  met  with  in  this 
has  generally  been  about  as  great  as  Chinamen  would  meet 
with  in  attempting  to  personate  Englishmen  on  the  strength 
of  a  tight  pair  of  breeches!  We  are  now  pretty  well 
known  in  Afghanistan.  Burnes  is  at  Caubul,  Leech  (an 
Engineer  officer)  at  Candahar,  and  Pottinger,  of  the  Bombay 
Artilleiy,  has  been  in  Herat  for  the  last  eight  months. 
With  Runjeet  our  relations  are  becoming  every  day  more 
intimate,  and  in  his  country  an  European  is  hailed  as  a 
friend.  I  do  not,  of  course,  expect  to  accomplish  the 
journey  before  me  without  encountering  difficulties,  and 
perhaps  some  dangers  5  but  these  are  to  be  met  with  in  all 
the  various  paths  of  life,  and  are  only  to  be  overcome  by  a 
judicious  use  of  the  means  which  may  be  placed  within  our 
reach  by  the  Sovereign  disposer  of  events.  The  only 
queetion  to  be  considered  in  danger  or  difficulty  is,  are  we 
in  the  path  of  duty  ?  If  this  can  be  answered  satisfactorily, 
we  can  have  no  ground  for  apprehension.  I  have  often 
described  Simlah  to  you.  A  thousand  associations  are 
connected  with  it  in  my  mind,  and  I  look  forward  with 
varied  feelings  to  revisiting  scenes  in  which  I  have  spent 
some  of  the  happiest  moments  of  my  life.  The  circum" 
stances  under  which  I  shall  revisit  these  scenes  will  be 
gomewhat  altered,  for  I  feel  that  I  have  almost  lived  a  life 


i 


3^o  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  {x^ 


during  the  last  eight  years,  and  that  the  days  of  youth  aie 
numbered  with  the  past  This  is^  perhaps,  a  melancholy  le- 
flection^  but  it  is  a  wholesome  one ;  but  I  ^U  not  now  follow 
it  out  in  all  its  bearings.  I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  fiiggiDg 
work  at  this  place,  both  mental  and  bodily,  and  my  health  has 
not  been  so  good  as  usual.  A  disagreeable  attack  of  dysentery 
kept  me  very  low  for  some  days,  but  I  have  now  nearty  re- 
gained my  former  strength  3  indeed,  I  am  better  than  ever. 
I  have  reason  to  thank  Grod  that  this  attack  oocorrea  when 
medical  assistance  was  within  reach.  I  am,  however,  my- 
self half  a  doctor,  having  been  thrown  of  late  years  so  much 
on  my  own  resources.  In  Persia  a  man  is  most  helpkss 
unless  he  has  some  knowledge  of  the  use  of  medidnes,  and 
I  have  been  obliged  to  take  my  degree.  I  am  afiraid  to 
enter  into  the  subject  of  Herat  and  its  afiairs,  or  I  shall  have 
to  write  a  folio,  and  you  may  not  feel  interested  one  strnr 
in  the  matter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Heratees  still  hold 
out  most- gallantly,  making  sorties  nearly  every  night,  and 
never  failing  in  their  object.  On  these  occasions  the  Peisiav 
are  invariably  the  sufferers,  and  it  is  believed  that  several  of 
their  gims  have  been  carried  off  from  their  batteries  and 
upset  into  the  ditch,  the  A^hans  not  being  able  to  dn^ 
them  into  the  town.  I  mentioned  in  my  last  that  I  thought 
the  place  a  strong  one,  but  I  had  no  idea  of  its  real  strei^ 
until  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  defences.* 

The  Govern or-(5eneral  and  his  Secretaries,  at  this  time, 
were  at  Simlah.  There  Todd  met  Lord  Auckland,  who 
saw  at  once  that  in  the  approaching  struggle  in  Afghanistan, 
the  young  Artillery  officer  was  a  man  whose  services  might 
be  tunicd  to  good  account.     'I  left  the   Persian   camp 


1838.]  A  T  SIMLAH.  341 


before  Herat  on  the  22nd  of  May/  he  wrote  to  his  brother, 
from  the  hill-station,  in  July,  'and  after  a  very  interesting 
journey  of  about  sixty  days,  viA  Candahar,  Caubul,  Peshawur,  , 
and  the  Punjab,  I  arrived  without  accident  at  this  place  on 
Friday  last,  the  20th.  People  tell  me  that  I  have  made  a 
very  rapid  journey — ^a  feet  with  which  I  am  pretty  well  ac- 
quainted, knowing,  as  I  do,  the  difficulties  and  detentions 
and  dangers  whieh  a  traveller  must  meet  with  in  the 
countries  which  I  have  lately  traversed.  I  find  that  I  have 
arrived  here  in  the  very  nick  of  time.  The  attention  of 
all  men  in  India  has  been  directed  to  the  state  of  affairs  in 
the  ooimtries  between  the  Indus  and  the  Caspian,  and  I 
have  been  able  to  lay  before  Government  my  stock  of  in- 
formation. A  rupture  with  Persia  seems  to  be  unavoidable, 
and  we  are,  at  last,  about  to  establish  our  influence  .  in 
Afghanistan  on  a  solid,  and  what  will,  I  believe,  be  a  lasting 
basis.  Shah  Soojah,  the  ex-King  of  Caubul,  who  has  for 
many  years  past  been  our  pensioner  at  Loodianah,  is  to  be 
reinstated  in  the  kingdom  by  us,  and  as  the  measure  is  con- 
sidered of  great  importance  to  our  interests,  we  are  ''  to  go 
the  whole  hog,"  and  insure  its  complete  success  by  every 
means  in  our  power.     I  cannot  now  enter  into  particulars. 

Lord  Auckland  has  asked  me  to  enlist,  and  as  I  do 

not  see  any  prospect  of  returning  to  Persia  under  existing 
circumstances,  I  have  accepted  the  offer,  but  I  know  not  in 
what  capacity  I  shall  be  employed.  I  am  not  even  aware 
whether  civil  or  military  duties  will  be  allotted  to  me.  I 
trust  the  former,  as  I  am  heartily  sick  of  drilling  recruits.* 
In  August,  he  wrote  again  on  the  same  subject,  saying : 
*  You  will  be  anxious  to  know  what  are  my  plans  for  the 


343  MAJOR  lyARCY  TODD,  [it^ 

future.  I  have  given  up  all  idea  of  returning  to  Persia; 
indeed^  it  seems  probable  that  our  mission  and  detachment 
have  left  that  counby  ere  this,  for  by  the  letters  received 
to-day,  I  learn  that  Mr  McNeill  had  left  the  Persian  camp 
before  Herat,  and  was  at  Meshed  on  the  26th  of  June,  od 
his  way  to  Teheran.  A  rupture  had  taken  place  with  tbe 
Persian  Grovemment,  and  our  Envoy  withdrew  firom  camp 
with  the  intention  of  quitting  the  country.  I  might  hare 
had  tbe  command  of  Shah  Soojah's  Artillery  (1000  rupees 
per  mensem),  or  the  Brigade  Majorship  of  our  own  Artilkfj 
(two  troops  and  three  companies)  going  with  the  expedition ; 
but  military  glory  has  lost  its  charms  for  me,  and  I  hare 
adhered  to  the  intention,  expressed  in  my  last  to  yau,  of 
obtaining,  if  possible,  an  appointment  in  the  Political  Depart- 
ment. 1  believe  that  Mr  Macnaghten  will  go  as  the  chief 
political  character,  with  several  assistants,  of  whom  Buines 
will  be  the  first,  and  your  humble  servant  the  second.  This 
is  all  I  know  about  it.  My  allowances  will,  I  fiuicy,  be 
about  1000  rupees  per  mensem,  perhaps  something  lea,  but 
this  I  care  little  about  3  the  department  is  a  good  one— 
indeed,  the  best  in  India — and  if  a  man  exerts  himself  he 
must  get  up  the  tree.* 

So  when  the  famous  Simlah  Manifesto  of  October  i, 
1838,  published  to  the  world  a  declaration  of  war  againtt 
the  de  facto  rulers  of  Afghanistan,  and  the  official  arrange- 
ments for  the  conduct  of  the  Caubul  Mission  'were  com- 
pleted. Captain  D'Arcy  Todd  was  gazetted  as  Political  As- 
sistant and  Military  Secretary  to  the  £nvoy  and  Minister  at 
the  Court  of  Shah  Soojah,  the  restored  King  of  CauboL 


1839J  WITH  SHAH  SOOJAHS  CAMP,  343 

His  letters,  written  on  the  march  with  Shah  Soojah*s  camp^ 
and  after  his  arrival  at  the  frontier  city,  afford  a  lively  Idea 
of  the  feelings  with  which  he  regarded  the  opportunity  be- 
fore him.   '  Larkhana,  Upper  Sindh,  March  1 1,  1839.    ^^^ 
can  have  no  conception  of  the  state  of  worry,  annoyance, 
and  fatigue  in  which  I  was  kept  during  our  march  of  five 
hundred  miles  to  Shikarpore,  which  place  we  reached  on 
the  22nd  of  Januaiy,  and  after  our  arrival  there,  until  Mr 
Macnaghten  joined  the  mission  and  assumed  charge.     I 
feel  sick  at  the  remembrance  of  that  period  of  my  life. 
There  were  about  twenty-two   thousand  persons  in  our 
camp,  including  the  force  and  followers  of  his  Majesty, 
and  of  this  crowd  I  had  political  charge,  without  a  single 
assistant.     From  daylight  to  midnight  I  was  employed  in 
listening  to  complaints,  settling  disputes,  answering  chits, 
attending  to  applications,  and  suffering  annoyances  of  every 
conceivable  description.     All  this  time  I  was  exceedingly 
unwell,  and  living  upon  tea  and  physic.     I  determined  not 
to  give  in  so  long  as  I  had  strength  to  speak  or  to  hold  a 
pen  \  80  I  struggled  against  pain  and  weariness  and  weak- 
ness, and  fought  the  battle  of  mind  against  matter  to  the 
last.     Another  week  would,  I  think,  have  killed  me.     I 
remember  one  day  being  fairly  floored,  and,, ''  albeit  un- 
used to  the  melting  mood,**  when  no  human  eye  was  upon 
me,  I  sat  down  and  wept  both  long  and  bitterly.     You 
may  fuiey  from  this  the  state  of  my  nerves I  ar- 
rived here  a.  few  days  ago,  and  am  now  a  member  of  the 
Ck>nmiander-in-Chief 's  family  party.    As  yet  I  have  found 
my  situation  a  very  pleasant  one.     Sir  John^  is  a  fine, 

•  Sir  John  Keane. 


344  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD,  [iZ^ 

soldier-like,  gentlemanly  man,  and  I  get  on  veiy  well  with 
bim.     We  march  to-morrow  for  Candahar.' 

The  Army  of  the  Indus  reached  Candahar  in  April,  and 
Shah  Soojah  was  proclaimed  King  of  Caubul.     So  fas  there 
had  been  little  beyond  a  grand  military  promenade.    The 
Barukzye  Sirdars  had  determined  to  make  their  stand  at  a 
point  nearer  to  the  capital.    The  road  betwes^  Candahar 
and  Caubul  was  known  to  Todd,  who  laid  down  the  route 
for  the  information  of  Sir  John  Keane.     It  has  been  said 
that  he^supplied  inaccurate  topographical  intelligence  |  that 
the  route  which  he  furnished  misled  that  commander  in 
one  most  important  respect.     Todd  is  said  to  have  spoken 
of  Ghuzni  as  a  place  of  no  great  strengtli ;  and  to  have  con- 
veyed an  impression,  if  he  did  not  actually  state,  that  it 
might  easily  be  carried  without  the  aid  of  a  siege  train. 
The  route  was    published  some  years  afterwards  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     It  is  there  open 
to  all  the  world.     A  similar  report  was  given  by  lieaten- 
ant  Leech,  of  the  Bombay  Engineers.     Perhaps  neither  the 
Artillery  nor  the  Engineer  officer  calculated  on  such  an  ad- 
vantage being  given  to  the  enemy  as  the  halt  at  Candahar  j 
but  even  after  the  capture  of  Ghuzni,  Sir  John  Keane  pro- 
nounced it  a  '  sheU  of  a  place.*     Tradition  declares  that  he 
used  another  word,  more  significant,  if  more  coarse. 

In  the  preceding  Memoir  the  stoxy  of  Herat  has  been 
brought  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  year  1839. 
Yar  Mahomed  was  then  holding  fast  in  his  hand  the  sword 
of  a  two-edged  policy,  and  warily  watching  the  turn  of 
events  for  his  opportunity  to  strike.  It  was  his  game  to 
receive  from  the  English  all  that  he  could  extract  from 


x839.]  THE  MISSION  TO  HERAT,  345 

them;  but  at  the  veiy  time  when  the  Government  and 
people  of  Herat  were  being  saved  from  ruin  and  starvation 
by  our  subsidies,  the  Minister  was  quietly  making  overtures 
both  to  the  Barukzye  Sirdars  and  the  Persian  Court  to 
unite  with  them  in  a  combined  effort  for  the  expulsion 
of  Shah  Soojah  and  the  Feringhees.  But  when  the 
British  Army  appeared  at  Candahar,  and  there  was  small 
hope  of  a  national  resistance,  Yar  Mahomed  was  among 
the  first  to  congratulate  the  restored  monarch.  The  time, 
therefore,  was  held  to  be  propitious  for  the  despatch  of  a 
special  Mission  to  Herat.  The  first  design  had  been  to 
intrust  the  embassy  to  Sir  Alexander  Bumes,  but  seeing 
clearly  that  it  was  far  more  likely  to  result  in  failure  than 
in  success,  he  was  reluctant  to  imdertake  an  office  so  laden 
with  perplexities  and  embarrassments.  Eldred  Pottinger 
had  been  appointed,  permanently.  Political  Agent  at  Herat ; 
but  this  was  intended  as  an  extraordinary  mission,  and  not 
in  supersession  of  his  powers  5  and  now  Todd  was  invited 
to  accept  the  office,  and  he  did  accept  it,  saying  that  he  had 
small  hope  of  success,  but  that  he  would  do  his  best  for  the 
Government  which  he  served. 

So  in  June  Major  Todd  started  for  Herat,  accompanied 
by  Captain  Sanders,  an  Engineer  officer  of  high  repute, 
who  was  afterwards  killed  in  the  battle  of  Maharajpore ; 
and  by  Lieutenant  James  Abbott,  of  the  Artillery,  who, 
above  all  others,  perhaps,  was  the  friend  to  whom  the  soul 
of  D* Arcy  Todd  clave  with  the  greatest  fondness.*     It  was 

*  lieatenant  (now  Major-General)  C.  F.  North  and  Assistant- 
Suigeon  Login,  afterwards  Sir  John  Login,  also  formed  part  of  the 
mttsion. 


>|6  MAJOR  UARCY  TODD.  [z8^ 

his  duty  to  contract  engagements  of  friendahip  with  Shah 
Kamran,  offensive  and  defensive^  and>  with  the  aid  of 
Sanders  and  Abbott^  to  strengthen  the  defences  of  the  place 
at  the  expense  of  the  British  Grovenunent.  For  the  fint 
few  months  everything  appeared  to  proceed  prosperously^ 
and  Todd  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  mission  was  received  either  by  the  King  or  the 
Wuzeer.  He  had  become  personally  acquainted  with  both 
during  the  siege^  and  had  written  to  his  brother,  saying  : 
'I  was  much  pleased  with  what  I  saw  of  the  Afghans 
during  my  visit  to  the  town.  The  Wuzeer,  Yar  Mahomed 
Khan,  who  is  the  de  facto  governor,  is  a  shrewd,  intelligent 
man,  cruel  and  rapacious,  it  is  said,  as  a  governor,  but  pos- 
sessing an  abundance  of  that  cool  courage  ixrhich  is  the 
first  requisite  in  a  commandant  of  a  besi^ed  fortress. 
Kamran  is  said  to  have  stupified  his  intellect  by  the  halntaal 
use  of  intoxicating  drugs,  but  he  was  certainly  wide  awake 
during  my  conference  with  him,  and  he  struck  me  as  bong 
a  remarkably  sharp  old  fellow — he  must  now  be  upwards 
of  seventy ;  however,  he  has  got  a  very  bad  character,  and 
perhaps  deserves  it.*  And  now,  on  his  second  visit  to 
Herat,  he  wrote  to  the  same  correspondent  in  a  cheerful, 
though  not  in  an  over-confident  strain  :  '  Herat,  October 
lo,  1839.  ^  wrote  to  you  hova,  Candahar,  I  think,  that  I 
was  about  to  proceed  as  Envoy  from  the  Grovemor-Genend 

to  Herat I  received  my  present  appointment  under 

very  flattering  circumstances,  such  indeed  as  to  make  a 
youth  (don't  laugh ;  you  can't  see  any  grey  hairs)  like  my- 
self very  vain.  As  yet  I  have  succeeded  in  the  object  of 
my  mission,  which  was  to  report  on  the  state  of  affairs  here^ 


1839-40]  AT  HERAT,  ^  347 

and  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  friendship  and  alliance  with 
Shah  Kamran  ^  but  the  maze  of  politics  here  is  very  intri- 
cate, and  our  relations,  notwithstanding  my  treaty,  are  not 
on  a  very  solid  basis.*  'Herat,  November  ao,  1839.  ^ 
have  received  a  most  kind  and  flattering  letter  from  the 
£nvoy  and  Minister  at  Caubul,  who  tells  me.  that  the  Go- 
vernor-General intends  to  appoint  me  permanently  to  He- 
rat, and  that  some  other  situation  is  to  be  found  for  Pottin- 
ger.  Amongst  other  things,  Mr  Macnaghten  writes :  '*  J 
should  say  that  you  will  receive  a  salary  ci  at  least  2000 
rupees  per  mensem,  and  as  the  office  is  certainly  a  most 
distinguished  one,  and  forms  a  connecting  link  between 
£uropean  and  Asiatic  politics,  I  should  hope  that  you  will, 
upon  the  whole,  like  the  arrangement.**  I  should  think 
so !  You  will,  dearest  Fred,  agree  with  me  that  I  am  a 
very  fortunate  fellow.' 

He  had  not  been  many  months  at  Herat,  when  he  re- 
ceived the  distressing  intelligence  of  his  &ther*s  death. 
With  what  sentiments  it  inspired  him,  may  be  gathered 
from  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  brother  on  the  23rd  of 
February,  1840.  '  My  public  associations,*  he  said,  'leave 
me  but  little  time  to  brood  over,  or  even  to  think  o(  my 
private  sorrows.  I  live  in  a  whirl  of  constant  employment 
and  interruption^  and  my  public  duties,  as  they  are  highly 
responsible,  occupy  my  thoughts  night  and  day,  to  the  ex- 
clusion, I  fear,  of  much  that  is  of  still  higher  importance. 
Such  is  the  eflect  of  "  things  that  are  seen  **  on  the  mind 
and  feelings,  unless  our  spiritual  eyes  are  enlightened  by  the 
grace  of  Grod.  I  have  placed  myself  in  a  &lse  position  by 
grasping  at  '*  the  high  places  '*  of  the  world — a  world  which 


348  MAyOU  DARCY  TODD.  [1840. 

fn  my  better  hours  I  know  to  be  worthless  and  transitory. 
Fred^  pray  for  me  \  There  are  some  awfiil  passages  of 
Scripture  against  those  who  are  in  my  condition.  I  have 
preached  to  others^  and  have  prayed  for  others,  and  yet  I 
feel  myself  a  castaway.  Do  not  imagine  that  these  t]K)aghts 
often  pass  through  my  mind.  If  they  did  so,  I  should 
awake  from  my  slumber  of  death.  My  life  is  one  of 
neglect  of  spiritual  things,  and  hardness  of  heart.  Having 
eyes,  I  see  not.  Having  ears,  I  hear  not.  All  this,  dearest 
Fred,  wiU,  I  know,  give  you  exquisite  pain,  and  I  perhaps 
should  not  write  it,  but  I  cannot  help  my5el£  These  re- 
flections— but  they  are  not  reflections,  they  are  only  expres- 
sions— shoidd  send  me  to  my  knees,  but  I  cannot  pn^. 
There  were  days  when  I  could  have  given  advice  to  one 
similarly  situated,  but  those  days  are  gone,  never,  I  fear,  to 
return.  All  is  dark  before  me.  The  tvorld  and  the  world's 
love  have  swallowed  up  the  past  and  the  present.     The  ear 

of  com  has  been  closed  by  thorns,  and  its  future But  I 

cannot  go  on  with  this  subject,  and  yet  to  turn  to  any  other 
seems  to  be  profanation  of  mind  and  spirits.  May  God 
bless  you,  dearest  of  brothers,  in.  the  narrow  path,  and  so 

shall  your  life  and  your  death  be  blessed Do  not 

believe  one  word  of  what  you  may  see  in  the  newspapers 
about  our  little  party  at  Herat.  Our  situation  is  pleasant, 
and  we  are  quite  as  safe  as  people  who  walk  down  Oxford- 
street  in  a  thunder-storm.* 

At  this  time,  the  difficulties  which  were  to  assail  him 
had  not  developed  themselves.  '  All  is  quiet  here,*  he  wrote 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1840.  *  We  are  on  the  best  possible 
ternLQ  with  the  authorities  of  the  place,  and  I  believe  that 


1840.]  DIFFICULTIES  OF  HIS  POSITION.  349 

Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  who  is  the  de  facto  ruler  of  the 
country,  is  beginning  to  understand  that  honesty  is  the  best 
policy  J  but  I  have  had  no .  easy  task  of  it  to  keep  my 
ground,  and  to  prevent  the  Wuzeer  committing  some  very 
foolish  and  ruinous  act.  My  views  on  a  point  of  the  utmost 
importance  differed  essentially  from  those  of  the  Envoy  and 
Minister  at  Caubul,  and  I  felt  certain  of  going  to  the  wall, 
but  the  Governor-Gteneral  has  taken  my  view  of  the  case, 
and  my  task  is  now  comparatively  a  light  one.     This  is 

itrictly  between  ourselves Some  time  ago  I  deputed 

James  Abbott  on  a  friendly  mission  to  the  Khan  or  King 
of  Khiva.  An  opening  was  offered  me,  so  I  took  advantage 
of  it  on  my  own  responsibility,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that 
the  Govemor-Greneral  has  approved  of  the  measure.  James 
Abbott  was  well  received  by  the  Khan,  and  has  been  em- 
ployed as  a  mediator  between  Khiva  and  Russia,  the  troops 
of  the  latter  being  on  their  march  towards  the  Kiian*s  capital. 
James  Abbott  will  probably  have  to  proceed  to  St  Peters- 
burg !  I  cannot  guess  what  the  powers  that  be  will  think 
of  this  bold  step,  but  I  have  done  my  best  to  defend  it.* 
But  this  letter  had  not  travelled  many  miles  towards  its 
destination,  before  the  writer  had  good  cause  to  discard 
altogether  the  belief  expressed  in  it  that  Yar  Mahomed  had 
begun  to  understand  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  The 
proofs  of  the  Wuzeer's  treachery  were  now  patent  at  Herat. 
He  had  written  in  the  name  of  Shah  Kamran  a  letter  to  the 
King  of  Persia,  saying  that,  although  the  English  gentlemen 
were  tolerated  for  the  sake  of  the  money  which  they  were 
freely  spending,  all  the  hopes  and  wishes  of  his  master  centred 
'n  the  asylum  of  Islam,  or,  in  other  words,  that  he  was  the 


3SO  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1840. 


vassal  of  Persia.  This  letter  was  given  in  March  by  the 
Persian  Government  to  our  representative  j  and  before 
April  was  many  days  old  a  copy  of  it  was  in  Todd*s  hands.* 
It  had  now  become  only  too  manliest  that  the  o£Bce 
which  D*Arcy  Todd  held  was  one  which  demanded  not 
only  high  courage  and  resolution  in  the  representative  of 
the  British  Government  at  that  semi-barbarous  Court,  bnt 
also  consununate  tact,  and  a  temper  cool,  patient,  and  for- 
bearing. It  was,  indeed,  a  post  in  which  success  was  so 
difficult  of  attainment,  that  Bumes,  as  before  said,  ambi- 
tious as  he  was,  and  little  fearful  of  responsibility,  dedined 
it.  The  nominal  ruler  of  the  place.  Shah  Kamran,  was  s 
puppet  in  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous  Minister^     Perhaps 

*  '  In  the  month  of  January,  1840^  up  to  which  time  the  advinoes 
to  the  Herat  Government  and  people  exceeded  the  amount  of  ta 
lakhs  of  rupees,  and  when  king^  chiefs,  and  people  were  equaDj 
saved  from  starvation  by  British  aid,  a  letter  was  addressed  by  Shah 
Kamran  to  Mahomed  Shah  of  Persia,  declaring  hims^  to  be  the 
fiuthful  servant  of  the  Shah-in-Shah  (Persian  King),  thai  he  merdy 
tolerated  the  presence  of  the  English  Envoy  from  expediency^  althotigk^ 
4o  give  him  his  due,  he  was  by  no  means  niggardly  in  the  expenditure 
of  money  f  jewels ,  &c,  and  that  his  (Shah  Kamran's)  hopes  were  in 
tiiie  asylum  of  Islam.  This  letter  was,  in  March,  1840^  sent  by  the 
Persian  Minister  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sheill,  H.B.M.  Chaxg6 
d*  Affaires  at  Erzeroom,  in  reply  to  the  demand  by  the  British  Go- 
yemment  for  the  restoration  of  Ghorian  to  Herat  Letters  were,  at 
the  same  time,  addressed  by  the  Wuzeer,  or  his  brother,  to  the 
Russian  Ambassador  at  Teheran,  requesting  that  a  Russian  agent 
should  be  immediately  sent  to  Herat.' — Memorandum  by  the  late  Sir 
John  Login.  This  was  by  no  means  the  first  act  of  treacheiyof 
which  Yar  Mahomed  had  been  guilty.  He  had  commenced  his  in- 
trigues with  Persia  almost,  as  Todd  said,  before  the  ink  was  diy  in 
wMch  our  treaty  with  Shah  Kamran  had  been  written. 


x840.]  TREACHERY  OF  YAR  MAHOMED.  351 


there  was  not  in  all  Asia  a  worse  man  than  Yar  Mahomed, 
or  one  with  whom  it  was  more  difficult  for  an  honourable 
high-minded  Christian  officer  to  contend.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that,  after  his  own  fashion,  the  Wuzeer  conducted 
his  negotiations  on  behalf  both  of  Herat  and  of  himself 
with  remarkable  ability.  His  one  object  was  to  turn  to 
profitable  financial  account  the  presence  of  the  British 
Mission  at  Herat.  He  was  treacherous  and  avaricious  to 
an  excess  even  beyond  the  ordinary  limits  of  Afghan 
treachery  and  avarice.  All  this  was  now  apparent  to  Major 
Todd.  But  he  knew  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  Grovem- 
ment  which  he  served  not  to  precipitate  a  rupture  with  the 
Heratee  Grovernment.  Our  Government  had,  indeed,  con- 
doned the  offences  of  the  unscrupulous  Minister,  hoping 
almost  against  hope  that  he  might  some  day  see  the  wisdom 
of  honesty,  and  recognize  the  English  as  his  best  fi*iends. 
Yar  Mahomed  knew  that  he  had  been  found  out ;  so  he 
redoubled  his  exertions  to  simulate  fiiendship,  ever  ob- 
taining for  each  specious  proof  of  good  service  some  sub- 
stantial recognition  from  the  Treasury  of  the  men  he  hated. 
There  was  a  perennial  drain  upon  our  resources  to  strengthen 
the  defences  of  Herat,  perhaps  for  the  use  of  our  enemies  $ 
and  ever  and  anon  some  exceptional  circumstances  arose  to 
afford  a  pretext  for  new  exactions  from  the  wily  Heratee 
Minister.* 

♦  Take,  for  example,  the  following  from  Login^s  Memorandum, 
which  has  afforded  matter  for  a  previous  note  :  *  On  being  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  lenient  consideration  with  which  he  had  been 
treated  by  the  Government  of  India,  Yar  Mahomed  professed  an  ex- 
treme desire  to  give  some  convincing  proof  of  his  devotion  to  the 


352  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD,  [18401 

From  bad  to  worse  \  from  worse  to  worst ;  so  passed 
the  conduct  of  the  unscrupulous  Minister  j  until^  in  Novemr 
ber^  1840,  the  patience  of  the  British  Agent  was  well-nigh 
exhausted.  '  During  the  past  months*  he  wrote  to  Sir  W. 
Macnaghten,  in  November^  'the  most  aggravated  and 
absurd  reports  of  the  advantages  gained  by  Dost  Mahomed 
Khan,  the  Kohistanees,  and  Beloochees^  over  our  troops, 
and  of  the  weakness  of  our  position  in  Afghanistan,  had 
acquired  ready  credence  in  Herat.  Urgent  and  repeated 
demands  for  extra  assistance  in  money  have  been  made  li]r 
the  Wuzeer  and  others,  but  without  effect.*     The  oppor- 

British  Government,  and  proposed  an  immediate  attack  upon  the 
fortress  of  Ghorian,  then  in  the  hands  of  the  Persians.  Trustiog  to 
his  sincerity  in  this  instance,  he  was,  some  time  afterwards,  permitted 
to  make  the  attempt,  and  upwards  of  two  lakhs  of  Company's  nq>eei 
were  advanced  by  the  British  Envoy  to  enable  the  Wuzeer  to  equip* 
force  for  the  purpose.  After  every  preparation  had  been  made  for 
surprising  Ghorian,  Yar  Mahomed,  on  the  most  frivolous  pretext^ 
evaded  doing  so,  and  although  no  direct  proof  against  him  was  ob- 
tained, the  strongest  circumstantial  evidence  supports  the  genenl 
belief  that  he  at  the  time  wrote  to  the  Ggvemor  of  Ghorian  ^at  the 
English  urged  him  (the  Wuzeer)  to  attack  Ghorian,  but  that  he  (the 
Governor)  need  be  under  no  apprehension  I  This  occurred  in  the 
months  of  June  and  July,  1840,  after  advance  to  the  amount  of  at 
least  nineteen  lakhs  of  rupees  had  been  made  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Herat  Government.* 

*  By  this  time  orders  had  been  issued  by  the  Supreme  Govern- 
ment of  India  not  to  expend  any  more  money  on  Herat.  See  the 
following  extract  from  a  Government  letter  to  Sir  W.  H.  Macnag^ten, 
dated  September  21,  1840  :  *  You  are  aware  that  his  Lordship  in 
Council  does  not,  on  the  events  which  have  recently  occurred  at 
Herat,  see  any  immediate  necessity  for  the  British  Government  to 
break  off  its  relations  with  the  Government  of  Shah  Kamran,  nor, 
were  the  measure  fully  warranted  by  those  events,  would  his  Lordship 


S840.]  NEW  DIFFICULTIES.  353 

tuD'tv  has  been  thought  favourable  for  attempting  to  work 
on  our  fears  5  and  a  foray  on  Candahar  was  seriously 
discussed^  and  I  believe  ultimately  decided  upon,  by  the 
Minister  and  his  advisers,  letters  having  been  received  by 
him  from  the  city  dwelling  on  the  weakness  of  its  garrison, 
and  inviting  him  to  make  the  attempt.  The  extravagance 
of  the  Wuzeer  about  this  time  involved  him  in  debt  to  a 
considerable  amount  \  and  finding  that  I  was  not  disposed 
to  advance  more  money  than  had  been  sanctioned  by  Gro- 
vemment,  he  endeavoured  to  obtain  my  consent  to  his 
chappowing  the  Persian  territory.     Failing  in  this,  he  pro- 

in  Council  think  it  desirable  that  such  a  rupture  should  occur  at  the 
present  time  ;  but  while  his  Lordship  in  Council  has  resolved  to  act 
upon  the  view  here  stated,  upon  which  he  hopes  to  have  an  early- 
opportunity  of  communicating  with  you  more  at  length,  he  at  the 
same  time  does  not  consider  it  to  be  requisite  or  expedient  to  incur 
further  expense,  under  existing  circumstances,  in  adding  to  the 
strength  of  the  Herat  fortress.  In  placing  Herat  in  a  better  state  of 
defence  than  that  in  which  it  stood  before  the  commencement  of  the 
si^e  in  1837,  and  in  the  very  liberal  aid  which  has  been  afforded  to 
the  Herat  authorities  and  people,  we  have  assuredly  abundantly  satis- 
fied eveiy  claim  upon  our  national  gratitude  and  honour.  His  Lord- 
ship in  Council  would  very  decidedly  prefer  to  lay  out  whatever 
funds  he  might  otherwise  have  felt  himsdf  authorized  in  employing 
in  strengthening  Herat,  on  the  construction  of  a  tenable  and  compact 
fortress  in  the  immediate  neighbourhpod  of  Candahar,  upon  the  plan 
sketched  by  Major  Thomson  and  Lieutenant  Durand,  which  has  been 
oftlcially  communicated  to  you.  He  is  anxiously  awaiting  a  further 
professional  report  on  the  advantage,  practicability,  and  cost  of  acting 
upon  those  suggestions,  and  it  occurs  to  him  that  the  services  of  Cap- 
tain Sanders,  who  is  understood  to  have  proceeded  to  Caubul  (unless 
those  of  any  other  officer  can  be  used  more  conveniently),  may  be 
made  very  usefully  available  towards  procuring  the  necessary  inform- 
ation on  this  p<Hnt' 

VOL.  II.  23 


354  MAJOR  D'ARCY  TODD,  [1840. 


posed  to  foray  some  of  the  districts  nominally  subject  to  hu 
own  authority  5  and  at  Lengthy  discovering  the  futility  of  at- 
tempting to  obtain  money  from  me  on  these  pretences,  he 
thought  that  by  giving  publicity  to  his  intention  of  attacking 
Candahar,  he  might  intimidate  me  into  purchasing  his  for- 
bearance. The  enterprise  was,  I  believe,  resolved  coi  5  and 
though  the  timely  surrender  of  Dost  Mahomed  Khan  cansed 
this  project  to  be  laid  aside  for  the  time,  it  was  not  fiiUy 
abandoned.*  In  truth,  Yar  Mahomed  was  only  waiting 
for  another  opportunity  to  renew  his  efforts  at  extortion, 
and  an  opportunity  soon  came.  There  were  symptoms  of 
a  state  of  feverish  unrest  in  Western  Afghanistan.  Tlie 
Douranee  tribes  were  breaking  into  rebellion.  It  then 
became  Yar  Mahomed*s  game  to  foment  the  popular  discon- 
tent.^ He  sent  emissaries  among  the  disaffected  tribes, 
urging  them  to  open  resistance  of  the  foreign  yoke  j  and  at 
the  same  time  he  continued  his  intrigues  with  the  Persian 

*  *  In  January,  1841,  when  the  disaffected  Douranees  in  Zeouii- 
dawar  had  laid  that  district  under  contribution,  and  had  sent  exagger* 
ated  reports  of  their  power  and  prowess  to  Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  he 
again  opened  communication  with  the  Persians,  sent  a  large  depata- 
tion,  under  a  confidential  agent,  to  the  Persian  Ansef  at  Meshed,  and 
urged  him  to  assist  in  an  attack  on  Candahar  while  snow  prevented 
communication  between  that  city  and  CaubuL  As  the  opportunity 
appeared  favourable  to  mark  his  opinion  of  this  glaring  breach  of 
treaty,  the  presence  of  a  large  force  in  Upper  Sindh  enabling  him  to 
do  so  with  greater  effect,  Major  Todd  determined  to  suspend  the 
monthly  allowances  (twenty-five  thousand  Company's  rupees)  to  the 
Herat  authorities  until  the  pleasure  of  Government  were  known,  and 
he  accordingly,  on  the  ist  of  February,  notified  this  intention  to  the 
Wuzeer.' — Sii'  John  LogiiC s  Memorandum. 


I840.J    MISSIONS  OF  ABBOTT  AND  SHAKESPEAk,        355 


authorities  at  Meshed,  invitiug  them  to  comlnne  with  him 
in  an  attack  gq  Candahar  whilst  the  communications  with 
Caubul  were  cut  off  by  the  snow. 

All  this  was  soon  known  to  Todfl.  He  saw  plainly  the 
objects  at  which  the  astute  Wuzeer  was  aiming,  and  he  was 
determined  to  thwart  the  machinations  of  his  unscrupulous 
opponent.  Often  have  our  political  officers,  at  the  remote 
Courts  of  semi-barbarous  potentates,  found  themselves  sur- 
rounded by  a  surging  sea  of  difficulty  and  danger,  without 
any  succour  at  hand  but  that  to  be  derived  from  their  own 
cool  heads  and  their  own  brave  hearts.  But  never,  perhaps, 
was  an  English  officer  surrounded  by  so  many  difficulties 
as  now  surrounded  the  British  agent  at  the  Court  of  Shah 
Kamran  of  Herat.  Yar  Mahomed  hated  D' Arcy  Todd,  be- 
cause he  wais  a  humane,  high-minded  English  gentleman, 
who  set  his  face  steadfastly  against  that  abominable  system 
of  man-stealing  and  trading  in  human  flesh,  which  was  so 
rife  in  all  parts  of  Central  Asia,  and  from  which  Yar  Ma- 
homed himself  derived  a  large  profit. ^And  here  I  must 

[iause  iot  a  little  space,  to  speak  of  the  great  work  which 
Todd  accomplished,  on  his  own  responsibility,  in  rescuing 
the  Russian  prisoners  from  the  hands  of  the  Khan  of  Khiva. 
It  was  one  of  the  compensations  of  the  earlier  part  of  his 
residence  at  Herat,  that  his  beloved  friend  James  Abbot 
was  stationed  there  also ;  and  that  they  took  sweet  counsel 
together.  Abbot  was  an  enthusiast  for  good,  running  over 
with  ardent  humanity,  and  there  was  no  possible  service  on 
which  he  could  have  been  employed  so  grateful  to  his 
telingSf  as  one  which  promised  to  enable  him  to  liberate 


356  MAJOR  D'ARCY  TODD,  [1840-41. 

from  cruel  bondage  the  '  prisoner  and  the  captive*  of  a 
Christian  nation.^  How  it  fared  with  him  he  has  himsdi 
told,  in  a  book  which  it  is  difficult  to  read  without  ddight 
and  admiration.  'When  the  Russians  were  adyanciDg 
upon  Khiva/  wrote  Todd,  some  time  afterwards,  'I  de- 
spatched on  my  own  responsibility,  first.  Captain  Jam^ 
Abbott,  and  afterwards  Sir  Richmond  (then  Lienteoant) 
Shakespear,  to  gain  information  regarding  a  most  interesting 
country  never  before  vi^ted  by  an  Englishman,  and  to 
endeavour,  by  persuading  the  Khan  Huzrut  to  release  the 
Russian  captives  in  his  dominions,  to  take  away  the  only 
just  ground  of  oflence  against  Khiva  on  the  part  of  Rosna. 
I  am  not  aware,*  he  added,  and  in  the  truthfolnesi  oi  the 
words  there  was  bitter  significance,  *  of  any  other  object  of 
unmixed  good  which  has  resulted  firom  the  iU-fiited  expe- 
dition (into  Afghanistan),  and  I  claim  the  credit  of  this,  as 
having  originated  it  on  my  own  responsibilitj,  and  without 
reference  to  higher  authority.' 

As  the  new  year  dawned,  the  difficulties  and  perjJeii- 
ties  which  so  long  had  environed  Todd  as  the  re^omiUe 
chief  of  the  Caubul  Mission,  were  obviouslj  thickening 
around  him.  Yar  Mahomed  was  continually  preasiiig  for 
more  money.  He  had  first  one  scheme,  then  another,  for 
which  he  required  a  subsidy.  Every  scheme  was,  of  ooune, 
as  represented  by  the  Wuzeer,  to  be  wonderfully  advan- 
tageous, in  its  fulfilment,  to  the  British  Grovemment.  Bnt 
Todd  saw  clearly  that  the  coin  thus  disbursed  firom  our 
Treasury  was  far  more  likely  to  be  expended  on  some  pro- 

*  A  previous  reference  is  made  to  this  in  one  of  Todd's  letta% 

ante,  page  349. 


l«4i.]  INTRIGUES  OF  YAR  MAHOMED,  357 


jects  hostile  to  our  people.  In  fact^  the  crafty  and  cupidi- 
nous  Minister  had  from  the  very  first  been  cheating  and 
defrauding  us.  He  knew  that  this  had  on  more  than  one 
occasion  been  detected  and  exposed,  but  subsequently  con- 
doned \  and  he  believed  that  there  were  no  possible  lengths 
of  forgiveness  and  conciliation  to  which  we  would  not  go 
rather  than  that  the  connection  between  England  and  Herat 
should  be  severed.  It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  he 
should  have  proceeded  to  new  heights  of  audacious  intrigue. 
The  opportunity  was  favourable  to  him,  for  our  communi- 
cations were  interrupted  by  the  snow  ^  so  he  sent  a  mission 
to  the  Persian  authorities  at  Meshed,  proposing  to  them  to 
unite  with  the  Heratees  in  an  attack  on  the  English  at  Can- 
dahar.  But  whilst  he  was  playing  this  game,  he  was  flat- 
tering and  cajoling  the  English  officers,  and  endeavouring 
to  persuade  them  that  he  was  their  fast  fHend  and  faithful 
ally.  He  wanted  at  this  time  a  large  sum  of  money,  and 
be  had  a  scheme  on  hand  whereby  he  thought  he  might 
obtain  it.  There  had  been,  fix)m  the  commencement  of 
our  relations  with  Shah  Kamran,  some  talk  of  introducing 
into  Herat  a  contingent  of  troops  under  British  officers — a 
project  which  Todd  had  ^ivoured — and  now  Yar  Mahomed 
declared  his  willingness  to  admit  a  British  brigade  into  the 
valley  of  Herat  on  the  immediate  payment  of  two  lakhs  of 
rupees  and  a  large  increase  of  our  monthly  contribution. 
Todd  called  for  a  substantial  proof  of  the  Wuzeer's  sincerity,* 

*  '  As  a  test  of  his  nncerity  in  this  instance,  Major  Todd  required 
that  the  Wuzeer*s  son.  Sirdar  Syud  Mahomed  Khan,  should  proceed, 
in  the  first  i^ce,  to  Ghiresk,  there  to  await  the  orders  of  our  Govern- 
ment,  and  to  escort  the  troops  to  Herat  should  the  arrangement  be 


I 


358  MAJOR  D'ARCY  TODD.  [iftfi 


but  Yar  Mahomed  refused  compliance  with  the  denumd« 
It  was  obvious  that  there  was  no  intention  on  his  part  to 
perform  the  engagement  5  tliat  the  money^  if  obtamed, 
would  be  expended  in  hostilities  against  us^  for  his  intrignei 
both  with  the  Persians  and  with  the  rebellious  tribes  in  Af- 
ghanistan were  known  to  the  officers  of  the  British  Misdon; 
so  Todd  refused  to  advance  the  required  money^  and  stopped 
the  monthly  allowance.  On  this  Yar  Mahomed  declared 
that  he  must  have  the  money^  or  that  the  British  MisdoD 
must  depart  from  Herat. 

Shah  Kamran  had  long  been  seriously  alarmed  for  the 
lives  of  the  English  gentlemen.  He  had  told  an  officer  of 
the  Mission  that  but  for  his  intervention  they  would  all  have 
been  murdered  and  their  property  piUaged.*  That  thii 
might  any  day  happen  was  still  only  too  probable.  What, 
then^  was  it  best  in  such  circumstances  to  do  ?  If  the  officers 
of  the  British  Mission  were  murdered  at  Herat,  it  would  be 

approved  of|  and  that  from  the  date  of  his  arrival  there  the  advance 
of  money  should  be  paid,  and  the  increased  allovrance  commenced.' 
— Sir  John  Logics  Memorandum, 

*  This  was  Dr  Login,  who,  in  the  Memorandum  befoie  quoted, 
says  :  *  On  one  occasion,  in  August,  1840^  so  general  was  the  belief 
of  our  intended  seizure,  that,  in  conversation  with  Shah  Kamran,  hii 
Majesty  took  an  opportunity  to  mention  it,  and  desired  that  we^ 
Sahiban  Inglish^  should  be  under  no  apprehension,  as  he  was  our 
friend,  but  that,  had  he  not  protected  us,  not  a  Feringhee  would  have 
been  left  alive.  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  con^ude  by  asking 
whether  he  did  not  deserve  credit  for  behaving  difTerendy  to  o 
from  what  the  Ameer  of  Bokhara  had  to  Stoddart  Sahib?  In 
reply,  I  thanked  his  Majesty  for  his  kindness,  but  said  that  we 
were  under  no  apprehension  ;  that  we  were  conscious  of  haTii^ 
done  only  good  to  Herat,  and  that  we  feared  no  ill  that  could 
be^  us.' 


l84i.]  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  MISSION,  359 


necessary  to  despatch  a  British  force  thither  to  chastise  the 
murderers,  and  most  embarrassing  political  complications 
would  have  arisen.  It  appeared,  therefore,  to  D'Arcy  Todd 
that,  in  the  interests  of  his  Government,  his  best  and  wisest 
course  was  to  withdraw  the  Mission.  So^  on  the  9th  of 
February  he  departed }  and  a  few  days  afterwards  he  had 
reached  the  confines  of  the  Afghan  territory. 

In  an  oificial  letter  to  Macnaghten,  after  speaking  of  the 
6iendly  mission  to  Persia,  Todd  summed  up  the  last  com- 
plications which  had  clustered  about  him,  by  saying :  '  There 
was  but  one  opinion  in  Herat  of  the  real  object  of  Fyz 
Mahomed  Khan*s  mission  to  Meshed  3  indeed,  the  Wuzeer 
himself  tacitly  admitted  that  he  had  been  led  to  renew  his 
intrigues  with  the  Persians  by  the  fears  which  he  entertained 
of  our  ultimate  intentions  $  and  although  this  was  not  true, 
as  I  know  almost  to  a  certainty  that  the  measure  was  a  mere 
...  to  extort  money,  I  could  not  but  regard  it  as  a  mani- 
fest breach  of  treaty.  I  believe  that  my  superiors  would 
view  it  in  the  same  light  5  and  having  been  warned  "  not 
to  fall  back  into  unprofitable  profiiseness,**  I  did  not  feel 
myself  authorized  to  make  the  large  advances  required  by 
the  Wuzeer,  without  the  promise  of  an  adequate  return. 
An  immediate  payment  was  required,  and  on  my  refusing 
to  accede  to  this  demand,  unless  convinced  that  the  money 
thus  advanced  would  not  be  employed  against  us,  I  was  told 
that  I  could  not  be  allowed  to  remain  longer  at  Herat. 
Previous  to  the  discussion  mentioned  in  the  third  and  fourth 
paragraphs  of  my  letter  dated  the  2and  ultimo,  I  had  ascer- 
tained that  the  Topshee-Bashee  and  his  associates  had  been 
instructed  to  intimate  this  to  me  in  the  event  of  my  refusing 


360  MAJOR  UARCY  TODD.  [1841, 

to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  Wuzeer^  who^  at  tlie 
time,  was  ignorant  of  my  intention  to  propose  the  adnussion 
of  British  troops  into  the  citadel  orterritoiy  of  Herat.  Even 
this  proposition  would  have  been  agreed  to,  had  I  consented 
immediately  to  pay  the  Wuzeer's  debts,  and  to  furnish  him 
with  the  means  of  undertaking  a  campaign  against  the  ly- 
munnees,  the  Seistanees,  or  the  Oosbegs  of  Maimoonah; 
but  a  pledge,  such  as  the  presence  of  the  Wuzeer's  son  at 
Ghiresk,  was  required  for  its  fiilfiknent,  and  this  was  refused 
on  a  frivolous  pretext.     At  the  time  of  the  rupture  which 
was  thus  forced  upon  me,  I  had  no  possible  reason  to  believe 
or  even  to  hope,  that  our  differences  with  Persia  were  nearer 
adjustment  than  they  had  been  for  the  last  two  years.    On 
the  7th  of  December,  the  date  of  my  latest  letter  (mm 
Trebizonde,  our  relations  with  Persia  still  remained  in  an 
unsettled  state ;  and  up  to  the  19th  of  that  month  nothing 
had  been  heard  at  Tabreez  of  the  probability  of  the  return  of 
our  Mission.     Even  from  Lord  Palmerston's  letter  to  H^ 
Mirza  Aghassee,  of  November  2  ist,  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  Persian   Government  was  inclined    to  fulfil  the 
principal  condition,  namely,  the  evacuation  of  Ghorian,  on 
which  a  reopening  of  friendly  intercourse  between  the  Go- 
vernments of  Great  Britain  and  Persia  was  to  depend.    My 
departure  from  Herat  may  appear  to  you  unnecessarily  pre- 
cipitate, and  it  is  possible  that  I  might  have  remained  for  a 
few  days  longer,  but  had  I  done  so  I  should  have  exposed 
the  officers  of  the  Mission  to  certain  insult  and  danger,  and 
thus  have  prevented  the  possibility  of  a  future  amicable  ad- 
justment of  our  differences  with  the  Herat  GovemmeDt. 
The  Wuzeer  had  latterly  been  constantly  in  a  state  of  in« 


1841.]  DEPARTURE  FROM  HERAT,  361 

toxicatioDj  and  the  project  of  seizing  as  and  plundering  our 
proper^  was  seriously  discussed,  by  himself  and  his  drunken 
associates,  as  the  readiest  mode  of  replenishing  his  coffers.' 
To  a  private  friend  he  wrote  about  the  same  time,  de- 
scribing his  departure  from  Herat :  *  We  left  Herat  on  the 
9th  instant,  made  our  first  regular  march  on  the  13th,  and 
arrived  safely  at  Ghiresk  on  the  21st,  with  the  greatest  part 
of  our  property.  We  have  had  a  dangerous  and  most 
fatiguing  journey.  .  .  .  Lieutenant  North,  of  the  Bombay 
Engineers,  and  Dr  Log^,  are  with  me,  all  well.*  A  few 
days  afterwards  he  wrote  to  his  brother :  *  We  have,  indeed, 
had  a  most  providential  escape  from  the  hands  of  Yar  Ma* 
homed,  who  was  urged  by  his  confidential  advisers  to  seize 
and  plunder  us  5  and  our  journey  to  this  place,  with  nearly 
the  whole  of  our  property,  was  almost  miraculous.  There 
were  certainly  not  five  persons  in  Herat  who  believed  that 
we  should  reach  our  destination  in  safety.*  But  it  was  not 
Yar  Mahomed*s  game  at  this  time  to  excite  the  further  an- 
ger of  the  English,  but  rather  to  allay  that  which  he  had 
already  roused.  He  thought  that  by  unlimited  lying  he 
might  persuade  us  that  it  was  all  a  mistake ;  that  the  Eng- 
lish gentlemen  had  misunderstood  him,  and  had  causelessly 
taken  offence.  Our  English  money  was  too  useful  to  him 
to  be  readily  forgone,  so  he  addressed  to  Todd  a  long  letter 
of  feigned  friendship,  b^inning  with  these  words  :  '''  Thou 
departedst,  and  my  assembly  was  broken  up  !  My  assembly 
and  my  heart  were  alike  broken  up  by  thee  !  **  O  brother 
of  my  soul !  my  heart  is  torn  in  pieces  by  separation  from 
you.  I  had  formerly  believed  that  the  bonds  of  brotherhood 
between  us  could  never  be  dissolved.     What  has  happened 


363  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1841. 

that  you  have  thus  quickly  ^ven  up  my  brotherhood,  and 
destroyed  the  fruit  of  yx>ur  own  toll  ?  I  had  not  pictured 
this  in  my  dreams  or  in  my  imagination.'  And  then,  after 
an  elaborate  attempt  at  self-justification,  he  concluded  bj 
saying,  with  that  unblushing  mendacity  for  which  he  was 
so  Infamously  distinguished :  *  So  long  as  I  live  I  am  your 
brother  and  your  servant,  and  I  care  not  if  my  life  is 
sacrificed  to  you  in  the  path  of  fiiendship.  Let  your  mind 
be  perfectly  at  ease  on  this  aooount.  Point  out  to  me  what- 
ever service  you  may  deem  me  worthy  o^  that  I  may  strive 
with  my  life  to  perform  it.  At  this  time  the  confidential 
Mirza  Bazvory  is  sent  to  the  presence  of  his  Excellency  the 
Envoy  and  Minister,  in  order  to  explain  from  first  to  last 
all  tiiat  has  taken  place.  If  I  deserve  punishment,  chastise 
me  $  and  if  I  am  worthy  of  kindness,  let  it  be  displayed  to- 
wards me.  In  brotherhood,  however,  I  have  one  complaint 
to  make  against  you.  O  my  brother  and  friend,  why  was 
this  departure  and  this  haste  ?  I  can  never  forget  it  unless 
you  yourself  write  to  me  the  reason  of  this  predpitamy 
in  your  departure.  You  might,  at  least,  have  spoken,  and 
have  weighed  the  pros  and  cans  of  the  matter,  and  then 
have  gone.  Now,  wherever  you  may  be,  Crod  is  with 
vou.* 

If  it  happened  that  Yar  Mahomed,  beneath  whose  eveiy 
word  of  friendship  the  bitterest  enmity  was  then  festering, 
ever  learnt  in  what  manner  the  sudden  departure  of  his  an- 
tagonist was  visited,  he  must  have  felt  that  he  was  more 
than  revenged.  Todd  knew  that  he  had  done  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  best  for  the  honour  and  the  interests  of  hit 
country,  and  calm  reflection  did  not  cause  him  to  mistmit 


1841]  ANGER  OF  LORD  AUCKLAND,  363 


the  soundness  of  the  judgment  he  had  exercised.  If  he 
had  any  misgivings^  it  was  on  the  score  of  the  patience  and 
forbearance  he  had  exercised  under  insults  and  provoca- 
tions of  the  worst  kind.  So  little^  indeed^  at  this  time 
did  Todd  apprehend  that  he  could  be  blamed  for  what  he 
had  done^  that  bethinking  himself  as  to  whether  the  treat-* 
ment  of  the  British  Mission  might  not  necessitate  some 
armed  intervention  at  Herat>  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  would  devolve  upon  him  to  superintend  the  operations  of 
the  army  so  employed.  '  Should  an  expedition  against  He- 
rat^* he  wrote^ '  be  determined  on^  it  is  possible  that  I  may 
be  sent  as  Political  Agent  with  the  force.  Indeed^  unless 
Sir  William  goes  in  person^  I  should  hardly  think  that  any 
one  else  would  be  sent.' 

But  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks  the  truth  became 
apparent  to  him.  Lord  Auckland  was  exasperated  by 
Todd's  withdrawal  from  Herat.     He  wrote  that  he  was 

y 

'writhing,'  under  his  ^vexation  5  and  though  ordinarily  a 
calm,  unexcitable  man,  it  was  plain  that  he  had  lost  bis 
temper,  and  cast  aside  his  habitual  moderation.  'Lord 
Auckland,'  wrote  D'Arcy  Todd,  in  April,  1841,  'on  receiv- 
ing intelligence  of  my  quitting  Herat,  without  waiting  for 
my  account  of  the  circumstances  which  led  to  that  event 
— ^without  one  word  from  me  in  explanation  or  defence  of 
the  measure — directed  a  letter  to  be  written  to  Sir  W. 
Macnaghten,  condemning  in  the  most  unqualified  and  un- 
measured terms  the  whole  of  my  proceedings  connected 
with  the  rupture — removing  me  from  the  Political  Depart- 
ment, and  ordering  me  to  proceed  to  India  immediately 
and  join  my  own  branch  of  the  service.'     In  other  words. 


36*  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1841. 


Todd  was  summarily  dismissed  £rom  political  employment, 
and  thus  outwardly  disgraced  in  the  eyes  of  his  country- 
men.* 

The  decision  of  the  Governor-Greneral  wounded  him 
deeply.  As  he  passed  through  Afghanistan^  on  his  way  to 
Caubul,  his  mind  was  rent  by  distracting  thoughts  of  the 
degradation  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by  Liord  Auck* 
land  and  his  Council.  But  there  was  at  least  one  drop  of 
sweetness  in  the  bitter  cup  of  his  affliction ;  for  his  official 
chief.  Sir  William  Macnaght^i,  wrote  to  him  that  his 
^  conduct  had  been  as  admirable  as  that  of  Yar  Mahomed 
had  been  flagitious.  And  so/  he  added,  *  I  told  the  Grover- 
nor-General.*  In  the  second  week  of  June,  Todd  was  at 
Caubul 5  and  he  wrote  thence  to  his  brother,  sajring ;  'This 

*  '  I  am  writhing  in  anger  and  in.  bitterness,'  he  wrote  to  Sir 
William  Macnaghten,  '  at  Major  Todd's  conduct  at  Herat,  and  have 
seen  no  course  open  to  me  in  regard  to  it,  but  that  of  discarding  and 
disavovring  him,  and  we  have  directed  his  dismissal  to  the  provinces. 
What  we  have  wanted  in  Afghanistan  has  been  repose  under  an  ex- 
hibition of  strength,  and  he  has  wantonly  and  against  all  orders  done 
that  which  is  most  likely  to  produce  general  disquiet,  and  which  may 
make  our  strength  inadequate  to  the  calls  upon  it'  The  meaning  of 
this  is  not  very  clear.  The  lepose  which  had  before  been  sought  was 
not  under  'an  exhibition  of  strength,'  but  under  an  exhibition  of 
weakness — the  weakness  that  submits  to  insults  and  yields  to  exac- 
tions ;  and  strength  or  weakness,  it  was  becoming  '  inadequate  to  the 
calls  upon  it ;  *  for  *  that  blister  Herat,'  as  Sir  Jasper  Nidiolls  called 
it,  was  drawing  out  our  treasure  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  arrest  the  drain  upon  our  resources.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  indicative  of  weakness  than  the  manner  in  which  we  had 
so  long  consented  to  reward  with  lavish  gifts  of  money  the  often- 
exposed  treacheries  of  the  most  unscrupulous  Government  in  the 
world. 


x84i.]  ANGER  OF  LORD  AUCKLAND.  565 

afHiction — for  it  is  an  afHiction  to  be  held  up  to  the  scorn 
of  men  as  a  demented  coward — ^was  doubtless  intended  for 
wise  and  merciful  purposes^  and  I  will  endeavour  to  look 
upon  it  as  a  message  of  love.  I  have  set  up  many  idols 
and  have  worshipped  them  with  mad  devotion,  but  they 
have  been  thrown  down  before  my  fece  by  an  invisible 
hand ;  and  I  have  been  taught  that  God  will  not  brook  a 

rival  in  the  heart  of  man The  final  decision  of 

Lord  Auckland  arrived  about  ten  dajrs  ago.  His  Lordship 
is  not  to  be  moved,  and  I  see  clearly  it  would  not  be  of 
the  slightest  use  attempting  any  further  explanation  or' 
deprecation.  Both  have  been  already  offered  in  a  manner 
and  to  an  extent  that  would  have  moved  a  heart  of  stone.* 
But  before  I  leave  this  subject  of  British  relations  with 
Herat,  of  which  so  much  has  been  written  in  this  and  in 
the  preceding  Memoir^  I  must  give  one  more  extract  from 
Todd's  correspondence,  in  which  are  succinctly  set  forth 
the  benefits  which  the  principality  derived  from  our  con- 
nection, the  return  which  we  met  with  for  our  humane 
endeavours,  and  the  extreme  provocations  which  Todd  had 
suffered  long  before  he  threw  up  the  game.  *  In  the  course 
of  six  months  from  the  raising  of  the  siege,*  he  wrote  in 
a  long,  confidential  letter  to  James  Outram,  '  Herat,  if  left 
to  itself,  would  have  been  either  in  possession  of  the 
Persians  or  the  abode  of  jackals.  At  this  crisis  our  gallant 
countryman,  £ldred  Pottinger,  came  forward  and  saved  the 
country  from  the  fate  which  seemed  inevitably  to  await  it. 
By  advancing  money  to  the  Government,  he  had  a  fair  plea 
for  interfering  in  a  matter  on  which  the  very  existence  of 
the  State  depended,  and  he  exerted  himself  strenuously 


366  MAJOR  LtARCY  TODD,  [r^. 

and  nobly  to  put  an  end  to  the  horrible  traffic  \  and  bj 
lending  sums  to  the  trades-people  and  cultivators,  the  few 
people  that  remained  were  kept  together,  and  the  work  of 
restoration  was  commenced.  Smce  our  arrival  here  we 
have  gone  on  with  this  work^  and  althongh  a  great  deal  of 
money  has  necessarily  been  expended,  the  result  has  cer* 
tainly  been  satisfactory.  During  the  last  eight  months  the 
population  has  been  more,  than  trebled.  Thousands  of 
families,  who  had  fled  across  the  frontier  to  Meshed, 
Mymoona,  and  other  places,  have  returned  to  their  homes. 
A  third,  if  not  a  half,  of  the  culturable  land  of  the  valley  ii 
under  tillage,  and  the  harvest  promises  to  be  a  most  abnnd* 
ant  one.  Trade  and  commerce  are  gradually  reviving. 
Taxes  and  duties  of  all  kinds,  save  on  foreign  goods,  have 
been  remitted.  The  people  are  beginning  to  feel  confidence 
in  the  present  tranquil  state  of  things.  The  fortificatiosu 
are  undeigoing  extensive  repair  and  improvement  under 
the  superintendence  of  Captain  Sanders.  Nearly  all  the 
destitute  of  the  city  are  employed.  In  fact^  there  is  a 
reasonable  hope  that  in  the  course  of'  a  very  few  yens 
Herat  will  attain  a  degree  of  prosperity  which  it  has  not 
known  since  the  days  of  Hajee  Fervoz.  Notwithstanding 
these  measures  of  friendly  assistance  on  our  part^  the  posi* 
tion  which  we  have  held,  and  indeed  still  hold  at  Herat,  if 
highly  precarious  and  embarrassing.  Our  very  liberality 
has  been  suspected  to  cover  some  sinister  design,  and  our 
intentions,  because  they  are  honest,  have  been  misunder- 
stood and  misrepresented  by  a  people  whose  policy  is 
always  crooked,  and  who  judge  of  others  by  themselves. 
Yar  Mahomed  Khan,  the  de  facio  ruler  of  the  country,  ii 


1841.]  ffIS  POLICY  A  T  HERA  T,  367 


an  able  man,  but  he  is  surrounded  by  a  set  of  creatures 
who  delight  to  plaj  upon  his  fears  and  his  fancy  by  lies 
and  exaggerations,  and  who  have  driven  him  more  than 
once  into  a  foolish  and  dangerous  line  of  policy,  from 
ivhich  I  have  had  considerable  difficulty  to  persuade  him 
to  retrace  his  steps.  The  seizure  of  the  Douranee  chiefs 
at  Caubul  was  certainly  justifiable,  perhaps  politic,  and 
even  imperative,  but  the  distorted  accounts  of  it  which 
reached  this  place  led  the  Wuzeer  to  believe  that  he  should 
meet  with  the  same  fate,  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  our 
professions  towards  himself,  and  to  make  overtures  to  the 
deadly  enemy  fh)m  whom  we  had  but  lately  saved  him. 
Having  in  my  possession  the  most  convincing  proofs  of  his 
treachery,  I  thought  that  Government  would  deem  the 
opportuiiity  a  favourable  one  for  annexing  Herat  to  the  do- 
minions of  Shah  Soojah,  and  I  strongly  advocated  the 
measure.  This  was  in  October  last.  On,  however,  attent* 
ively  reconsidering  the  question  in  all  its  bearings,  and  there 
appearing  to  be  symptoms  of  an  attempt  to  organize  a 
religious  combination  against  us  in  these  countries,  I  saw 
reason,  a  few  days  after  the  first  blush  of  the  affair,  to 
change  my  opinion,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
should  not  break  with  the  Government  of  Herat  on  the 
ground  of  the  Wuzeer*s  late  treachery,  but  that  we  should 
rather  endeavour  to  allay  the  suspicions  which  he  had  been 
Jed  to  entertain  of  our  ultimate  designs,  and  to  give  him, 
if  he  needed  it,  some  convincing  proof  of  our  honest  and 
friendly  intentions.  I  cannot  here  enter  into  the  details  of 
what  passed  immediately  subsequent  to  my  discovery  of 
Yar  Mahomed  Khan's  faithlessness.     The  Mission  seemed 


363  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD,  11841. 

more  than  once  on  the  eve  of  removing  or  of  being 
removed  from  Herat,  but  we  continued  to  hold  on  until 
the  final  decision  of  his  Lordship  was  received  rq^ardiog 
the  policy  to  be  pursued  towards  this  State.  Tlusy  which 
reached  us  about  a  month  ago,  is  decidedly  pacific,  and  I 
am  now,  therefore,  doing  all  in  my  power  to  give  confi- 
dence to  the  Minister,  and  to  prevent  his  entering  into 
schemes  which  would  be  ruinous  to  himself  and  hurtfiil  to 
us.  This,  indeed,  I  have  been  doing  for  the  last  ii\t 
months,  but  being  uncertain  of  the  view  which  his  Lord- 
ship would  take  of  the  case,  I  felt  that  I  mi^ht  be  acting  at 
variance  with  the  wishes  of  GovenmienU  This  caused 
me  much  painful  anxiety  and  apprehension.  My  position 
was  rendered  still  more  embarrassing  by  the  prevalence  of 
reports,  which  reached  us  almost  daily,  of  an  intended 
advance  against  Herat  finom  Candahar  in  the  spring.  1 
could  not  deny  the  possibility  of  such  a  hostile  movemeot 
being  made,  for  the  Envoy  and  Minister  bad  strongly  dis- 
approved of  my  ''  second  thoughts,"  and  had  waroily  advo- 
cated the  annexment  of  Herat  to  Caubul.  I  could  only 
state  my  ignorance  of  the  intentions  of  Government 
However,  we  kept  our  ground,  and  now  that  I  am  in  pos- 
session of  the  views  of  Lord  Auckland  my  task  is  com- 
paratively easy.*  But  it  has  been  shown  that  it  was  not 
easy  both  to  sustain  the  honour  of  the  nation  and  to 
please  Lord  Auckland.  Todd  chose  the  former  altmmatite* 
and  officially  perished. 


At  this  time,  it  was  his  intention  to  proceed  to  Boi^aad 


1841-42.]    HIS  RETURN  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY,  369 


by  the  Bombay  route  j  but  he  afterwards  changed  his 
mind^  and  went  down  to  Calcutta^  which  he  reached  early 
in  November.  There  he  had  the  rmspeakable  pleasure  of 
meeting  his  dear  friend  James  Abbott.  He  had  prepared 
a  memorial  to  the  Court  of  Directors,  to  be  transmitted  to 
them  through  the  Governor-General,  and  he  hoped  by  a 
personal  interview  to  move  the  heart  of  Lord  Auckland — 
but  he  did  not  succeed.  'I  have  been  admitted  to  an 
audience  with  the  Governor-General,*  he  wrote  on  the 
13th  of  November,  'and  have  seen  most  of  the  people  in 
authority.  His  Lordship  received  me  with  kindness,  and 
expressed  regret  at  what  had  occurred,  but  did  not  give 
me  an  opportunity  of  explaining  fully  the  motives  under 
which  I  had  acted  at  the  period  of  my  leaving.  I  have 
been  assured,  and  I  believe  the  assurance,  that  every  possi- 
ble facility  will  be  afforded  me  of  speedily  adjusting  my 
accounts.  The  officials,  high  and  low,  have  been  exceed- 
ingly civil  to  me.* 

The  New  Year  dawned,  and  ever  affectionately  mind- 
^  fill  of  absent  friends,  D*Arcy  Todd  wrote  to  his  brother 
and  sister:  'Although  this  is  the  2nd  of  the  month  (Jan- 
uary), my  New  Year's  greeting  is  not  less  sincere  or 
heartfelt  than  if  it  had  been  penned  on  the  ist  day  of  the 
New  Year.  May  eveiy  blessing  attend  you  and  yours, 
my  dearest  Jane,  throughout  this  and  every  succeeding 
year  of  your  earthly  pilgrimage.     A  poet  has  said  :        « 

*  "  As  half  in  shade,  and  half  in  sun, 

This  world  along  its  path  advances, 
May  that  side  the  sun's  upon 
Be  all  that  e'er  shall  meet  thy  glances." , 

VOL.  II.  24 


370  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [184a. 

I  will  not^  however^  express  so  extravagant  a  wish^  though 
I  love  you  well  enough  to  desire  that  jour  cap  of  J07  may 
be  ever  fidl  to  overflowing,  and  that  jour  lot  maj  be 
always  cast  m  pleasant  places.  But  I  know  that  such  is 
not,  and  cannot  be,  the  experience  of  one  looking  to  a 
'*  better  land/*  and  I  pray  that  your  joy  may  be  the  J07  of 
one  who  feels  that  brighter  and  more  enduring  things  are 
in  store  for  her,  and  that  your  sorrows  (light  as  th^ 
may  be)  may  be  the  sorrows  of  one  who  knows  that  it 
is  but  for  a  moment.  I  shall  ever  look  back  to  the  few 
days  we  were  together  as  the  happiest  and  brightest  of  my 
life.' 

A  month  afterwards  he  wrote  to  the  same  beloved 
correspondent  that  he  had  received  no  answer  to  his  me- 
morial. But  a  great  trouble  had  fallen  upon  the  nation  \ 
and  in  the  contemplation  of  the  national  calamities  he  soon 
forgot  his  own.  'No  answer,*  he  wrote  on  the  and  of 
February,  *  has  as  yet  been  sent  to  my  memorial,  but  the 
receipt,  by  the  authorities  at  home,  has  been  acknowledged. 
I  expect  the  whole  matter  has  been  referred  to  the  new 
Governor-General  (Lord  EUenborough)  $  but  how  petqr> 
how  insignificant  does  the  subject  of  my  individual  wroogi 
appear,  when  we  think  of  the  terrible  scenes  that  have 
lately  taken  place  in  Afghanistan,  or  attempt  to  peer  into 
the  future.  I  cannot  write  calmly  on  this  subject ;  I  find 
it  impossible,  as  yet,  to  think  calmly  of  it ;  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  this  awfiil  calamity  has  really  fallen  upon  ns, 
or  to  realize  what  we  know,  with  but  too  painful  a  cer- 
tainty, has  happened.  Of  course  I  have  given  up  all  thought 
of  going  home  5  every  soldier  must  now  be  at  his  post    1 


\ 


x842.]     A  UDIRNCR  WITH  LORD  RLLRNBOROUGH.         371 

should  wish  to  be  as  near  the  North -West  Frontier  as  pos- 
sible.* 

On  the  28th  of  February  the  new  Governor-General 
arrived  5  and  D' Arcy  Todd  began  to  hope  that  he  might 
meet  with  justice  from  one  who  brought  a  fresh  eye  and 
an  unprejudiced  understanding  to  the  consideration  of  his 
case.  But  the  times  were  unpropitious  for  the  investigation 
of  individual  wrongs  5  and  Lord  EUenborough,  with  his 
strong  military  sympathies^  had  small  love  for  the  political 
service.  So^  little  light  gleamed  from  this  quarter  $  and 
in  the  middle  oi  March,  D*Arcy  Todd  was  compelled  to 
acknowledge  that  all  hope  was  at  an  end.  *  I  have  seen 
Ix>rd  EUenborough/  he  wrote.  '  At  the  first  public  levee 
his  Lordship  addressed  me,  and  said  that  he  was  acquainted 
with  my  case,  but  that  he  had  not  leisure  at  present  to 
enter  into  it.  At  a  formal  audience  on  Thursday  last, 
although  he  received  me  kindly  and  cordially,  he  told  me 
he  could  give  me  no  hope  of  immediate  re-employment  in 
the  political  department,  and  advised  me,  as  a  friend,  to 
rejoin  my  regiment.  I  am  therefore  going  out  to  Dum- 
Dum  in  a  day  or  two.  All  will  doubtless  be  ordered  for 
the  best,  and  1  would  cheerfully  and  thankfully  acknow- 
ledge the  hand  of  God  in  all  that  befalls  me.  To  show 
how  much  Lord  EUenborough  knew  of  my  affairs,  I  may 
mention  that  he  asked  me,  amongst  other  things,  whether 
I  had  been  much  amongst  Mahomedans,  and  whether  I  had 
ever  been  to  Persia  j  how  I  had  got  to  Herat,  and  whether 
I  remained  there  after  the  retreat  of  the  Persians  in  1838  !  * 

*  I  well  remember  the  amused  look  on  Todd's  face  when, 
coming  straight  to  me  from  Government  House,  he  told  me  that 


372  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [184a. 

On  my  answering  these  strange  questions^  I  was  told  to 
give  a  statement  of  my  services  to  the  private  secretary.  I 
represented  that  every  particular  would  be  found  stated  in 
my  memorial^  and  asked  whether  his  Lordship  had  received 
that  document  ^  the  answer  was^  No  !  So  much  for  his 
Lordship's  being  well  acquainted  with  my  case.  I  hare 
taken  his  Lordship's  advice,  and  have  jcnned  1x17  oxnpany 
at  Dum-Dum.  Now  that  I  know  the  ivorst,  it  may  prove 
the  lest.  Now  that  all  hope  of  being  re-employed  in  the 
Political  Department,  or  any  other  department^  save  my 
own,  has  vanished,  I  feel  happy  and  contented.  Doubdess, 
all  has  been  ordered  for  my  good,  and  I  would  recognize 
the  hand  of  a  merciful  God,  of  an  all-wise  fHend,  in  all  that 
has  befallen  or  may  befall  me/ 

So  he  joined  the  battalion,  to  which  he  stood  posted,  at 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Artillery  at  Dumi-Dum,  and  sob- 
sided  into  the  quietude  of  regimental  life.  No  man  ever 
descended  more  gracefully  than  he  did.  He  took  command 
of  a  company  of  artillexymen,  and  entered  into  all  its  pro- 
fessional details  with  a  minute  conscientiousness,  which 
showed  that  he  thought  nothing  beneath  him  that  lay  in 
the  path  of  mihtary  duty.  He  was  perfectly  resigned,  and, 
except  to  one  or  two  chosen  friends,  he  never  spoke  of  the 
injustice  that  had  been  done  to  him — ^never  repined  or  mnr- 

the  Governor-General  said  he  knew  all  about  his  case^  and  asked 
him  if  he  had  had  much  intercourse  with  Mahomedans,  'as  if  he 
thought  that  the  Persians  and  Afghans  were  Christians.*  Of  comse 
Lord  EUenborough  had  no  such  thought,  but  Governors-General  are 
obliged  sometimes  to  say  that  they  know  all  about  that  of  which  they 
know  nothit^. 


y84a.]  ^  T  DUM'DUM.  373 


nmred  at  his  lot.  He  was  very  modest  and  unassuming  in 
liis  demeanour  5  and  it  would  have  been  hard^  indeed,  for 
any  one  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  privilege  of  familiar 
intercourse  with  him,  not  to  regard  him  with  affectionate 
admiration.  He  was  right  when  he  said  that  all  was  for  the 
best )  for  abundant  solace  soon  came  to  him  from  an  uner 
pected  quarter ;  and  he  was  happier  than  he  ever  was  before. 
Some  years  previously,  a  blight  had  fallen  on  his  life,  as  it 
fell  upon  the  lives  of  Henry  Martyn  and  Arthur  ConoUy ; 
and  he  now,  therefore,  wrote  to  his  sister,  in  answer  to  a 
suggestion  that  he  might  be  happier  if  married :  *  No,  dear- 
est Jane,  there  never  will  be  any  one  whom  I  may  call 
mine,  beyond  those  who  are  already  so.  I  am,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  a  childless  widower.  Let  this  be  our 
last  allusion  to  the  subject.  I  thought  Frederick  might 
have  told  you  the  story,  with  the  heads  of  which  he  is  ac- 
quainted. The  wound  is  an  old  one,  but  is  still  tender  to 
the  touch.' 

But,  by  the  beginning  of  August,  he  had  discovered  that 
all  this  was  a  mere  delusion.  His  heart  now  belied  the 
words  that  he  had  written,  and  he  was  eager  to  recant : 
'  Dearest  sister,  what  will  be  your  surprise,  after  what  I  have 
said  to  you  on  the  subject  of  love  and  marriage,  to  hear 
that  I,  your  brother  D'Arcy,  am  about  to  be  married  ? 
Many  considerations  have  kept  me  silent  on  the  subject  for 
some  time  past  5  these  shall  be  explained  to  you  when  we 
meet,  and  they  may  form  a  chapter  in  the  romance  of  life. 
Marian  Sandham,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  surgeon  of 
H.M.*s  1 6th  Lancers,  and  grand-daughter  of  dear  old  Mr 
Fisher,  our  Senior  Presidency  Chaplain,  is  the  dear  gtrl  who 


374  MAJOR  EtARCY  TODD.  [184ft 

yesterday  promised  to  be  mine.  I  have  long  known  her, 
and  yesterday  she  confessed — ^but  I  will  not  now  tell  joo 
how  or  what  she  confessed.  We  are  to  be  married  in  about 
a  fortnight !  She — how  shall  I  describe  her,  or  with  what 
shall  I  commence  ?  Yon  will  find  in  her  a  worthy  sister. 
She  is  a  child  of  Grod,  and  one  of  the  sweetest  of  God*s 
children.  Her  age  is  little  more  than  twenty  —  a  fev 
months.  She  came  to  this  country  about  six  months  agoj 
but  I  cannot  go  on.*  And  again^  on  the  15th  of  Aognst, 
he  wrote :  *  1  told  you  in  my  last  that  I  had  long  known 
Marian.  Dining  the  last  six  months  I  have  had  constant 
opportunity  of  seeing  her ;  the  matter,  therefore,  has  not 
been  lightly,  or  hastily,  undertaken,  and  I  believe  that  the 
blessing  of  God  will  be  with  us.  .  .  .  Although  it  was 
only  ten  days  ago  that  she  consented  to  be  mine,  we  have 
agreed  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  delay  the  ceremony  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Her  father  is  about  to  leave 
Calcutta,  and  we  are^  of  course,  anxious  that  he  should  be 
present.  Monday,  the  22nd  of  this  month,  has  therefbie 
been  fixed  upon  as  the  happy  day.  I  cannot  hope  that  yon 
will  be  present,  but  I  know,  however,  that  you  will  be  pee* 
sent  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word;  we  shall  have  your 
prayers  and  your  sweet  congratulations.* 

On  the  22nd  he  wrote  again,  saying :  '  Dearest  Jane, 
this  is  my  wedding-day !  At  six  o'clock  this  afternoon  the 
ceremony  will  be  performed  which  makes  Marian  mine, 
and  gives  you  another  sister.  I  am  sure  you  will  look  upon 
one  another  and  love  each  other  as  sisters  j  you  aiie  wcMthy 
the  one  of  the  other,  and  I  cannot  pay  you  a  higher  com- 
pliment ;  but  this  is  not  a  time  for  paying  compliments;  the 


t843.]  MARRIslD  LIFE.  375 

word  sounds  harshly.*  And  then^  a  week  after  the  marriage 
he  wrote  to  the  same  sister  :  *  I  did  expect,  by  God's  bless- 
ing, to  be  happy  ^  but  I  am  a  thousand  times  happier  than 
I  expected  to  be.' 

There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  this  was  the  very  hap- 
piest time  of  his  life.  I  have  seen  it  recorded  of  him  that 
his  remaining  years  were  embittered  by  a  sense  of  the  injus- 
tice that  had  been  done  to  him  3  but  as  I  was  at  this  time 
m  almost  daily  communication  with  him,  I  may  say,  with 
the  force  of  more  than  conjecture  or  hearsay  authority,  that 
act  a  feeling  of  bitterness  was  left  in  his  mind.  It  is  byt 
little  to  say  that  he  was  resigned.  He  was  the  most  serene, 
the  most  contented,  the  most  cheerful  of  men,  in  a  society 
which  numbered  at  that  time  several  married  ^milies,  hav- 
ing within  them  the  best  elements  of  happiness,  which  were 
in  constant  intercourse  with  each  other  of  the  most  friendly 
and  pleasurable  kind.  There  are,  besides  myself,  some  still 
living  who  look  back  with  the  most  affectionate  recollec- 
tions to  those  years  at  Dum-Dum,  when  D'Arcy  Todd  and 
his  Marian  were  winning  all  hearts  by  their  gentle  and  en- 
dearing ways.  In  the  enjoyinent  of  such  home  pleasures 
as  were  then  beneficently  vouchsafed  to  him,  he  felt  that  he 
could  live  down  official  injustice  and  neglect.  Assuredly  it 
did  not  much  matter,  for  he  enjoyed,  in  full  and  overflow 
ing  abundance,  the  respect,  the  admiration,  and  the  affec 
tion  of  his  brother-officers  j  and  the  verdict  of  the  Public 
had  been  pronounced  in  his  favour. 

As  he  had  now  abundant  leisure  at  his  disposal,  and  he 
had  always  strongly  developed  literary  tastes,  D'Arcy  Todd 
thought  that  he  might  turn  his  experience  to  account  in  the 


376  MAJOR  D'ARCY  TODD.  \iZ^ 


preparation  of  a  book  containing  a  description  of  the  coun- 
tries he  had  visited^  and  a  narrative  of  the  events  in  which 
he  had  been  concerned.  He  was  moved  not  only  by  his 
literary  aspirations  to  address  himself  to  the  work  of  author- 
ship^ for  such  a  work  would  indirectly  have  been  a  vindi 
cation  of  his  fair  fame.  But  this  could  not  have  been  done 
by  a  Government  servant  without  the  consent  of  Govern- 
ment, so  he  wrote  to  Lord  EUenborough's  Private  Secre- 
tary,^ saying :  *  I  have  contemplated  for  some  time  past 
publishing  a  work  on  Persia  and  Afghanistan^  where  I  have, 
as  you  know,  spent  eight  or  nine  years  of  my  life.  As, 
however,  my  means  of  obtaining  information  on  subjects  of 
public  interest  have  been  chiefly  derived  from  sources  con- 
nected with  the  official  situations  held  by  me  in  those 
countries,  I  am  doubtful  as  to  how  far  I  may  give  publicity 
to  the  facts  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  and  the  reflections 
to  which  they  have  naturally  given  rise  in  my  own  mind. 
I  hope  that  as  the  events  of  the  late  campaign  beyond  the 
Indus  have  now  become  matter  of  history,  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  give  to  the  world  all  I  know  on  the  subject, 
having  been,  as  it  were,  behind  the  scenes  fi-om  the  time 
when  the  expedition  was  first  projected,  an  actor  in  some 
of  the  principal  events  in  Afghanistan  up  to  the  period  of 
the  outbreak  at  Caubul,  and  not  an  inattentive  observer  of 
what  has  since  occurred.  I  am  the  more  anxious  to  publisb 
a  work  of  this  kind,  as  the  views  which  induced  me  to 

*  Captain  H.  M.  Durand,  of  the  Bengal  Engineers,  now  Colond 
Durand,  a  member  of* the  Supreme  Council  of  India.*  He  had 
served  with  distinction  in  Afghanistan,  and  was  on  intimate  tenns 
with  Todd. 


1843I  APPOINTED  TO  A  COMPANY.  %77 

withdraw  the  British  Mission  from  Herat  in  February, 
1 841,  were  shamefully  misrepresented  by  one  of  the  lead<- 
ing  Indian  journals,  to  the  detriment  of  my  character  in 
the  eyes  of  all  to  whom  I  was  unknown.  The  Govern- 
ment of  India  allowed  these  falsehoods  to  remain  uncontra- 
dicted— indeed,  gave  the  weight  of  its  authority  to  them  by 
removing  me  from  political  employment  for  acting  on  my 
own  responsibility  in  a  matter  wherein  I  had,  to  use  the 
words  of  Lord  Auckland  when  speaking  to  me  upon  the 
subject,  done  all  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  and  for  what 
I  believed  to  be  the  interests  of  Government.  I  was,  at  the 
time,  of  course  obliged  to  remain  silent  j  but  up  to  the 
period  oi  Lord  Auckland's  departure,  I  was  led  to  believe 
that  I  should  be  re-employed,  and  I  therefore  heeded  little 
what  had  been  said  or  written  on  the  subject  of  my 
removal  from  office,  which  I  was  given  to  understand 
would  be  but  temporary.  These  hopes  were,  however, 
disappointed,  and  since  the  present  Grovernor-Greneral  has 
been  at  the  head  of  affairs,  his  Lordship's  time  has  been 
too  much  occupied  to  intrude  my  claims  or  services  upon 
his  notice.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  time  has  now 
arrived  when  I  may  with  benefit  to  myself  make  use  of 
the  information  I  have  collected,  and  I  shall  feel  much 
obliged  by  your  ascertaining  how  far  I  may  be  permitted 
to  do  so.* 

In  December,  1843,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  a  company  in  the  Upper  Provinces,  and  was  compelled, 
with  sorQ  regret,  to  turn  his  back  upon  Dum-Dum.  '  I 
was  quietly  sowing  my  last  peas  and  beans,'  he  wrote, 
•  when  the  intelligence  reached  mc.  In  leaving  Dum-Dum, 


378  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1844. 

we  almost  felt  as  if  we  were  leaving  home.  I  had  never 
been  before  so  much  attached  to  a  place.  Indeed,  in  former 
years  I  had  looked  upon  my  dwelling-place  merely  as  the 
ground  on  which  my  tent  was  pitched.  The  change  ii 
easily  accounted  for,  and  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  the' sub- 
ject.* In  the  course  of  the  following  March  he  was 
appointed  to  a  Horse  Field  Battery  at  Delhi,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded with  his  beloved  wife  to  the  imperial  city.  But  he 
was  now  disquieted  by  thoughts  of  Marian's  foiling  health, 
and  as  the  hot  weather  came  on  he  was  compelled  to  make 
arrangements  for  her  residence  in  the  hills.  He  obtained  a 
month's  leave  and  accompanied  her  thither,  observing  that 
he  might  have  obtained  '  sick  certificate  *  for  himseli^  bat 
that  he  wished  to  be  able  to  rejoin  his  post  at  a  day's  notice, 
for  stirring  times  were  at  hand. 

Again  the  peace  of  India  was  to  be  broken.  The  Sikh 
legions,  no  longer  restrained  by  the  strong  hand  of  Rnnjit 
Singh,  for  some  time  dominated  the  State,  and  at  last  diqr 
rose  to  such  a  height  of  lawlessness  that  they  threatened  to 
invade  the  British  fi-ontier,  and  to  stream  down  in  a  heavy 
flood  of  conquest  and  rapine  to  the  sack  of  Delhi  and  the 
pillage  of  Calcutta.  Averse  to  war  and  bloodshed,  and  re- 
solute not  to  kindle  into  activity,  by  any  signs  of  intended 
aggression  from  the  British  side  of  the  frontier,  the  iU-snp- 
pressed  hostility  of  our  dangerous  neighbours.  Sir  Hemy 
Hardinge,  who  had  succeeded  Lord  EUenborough  as  Go- 
vernor-General of  India,  was  quietly  massing  his  troops  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Sutlej,  but  outwardly  only  for 
peaceful  exercise.  At  this  time  the  high  military  character 
of  D' Arcy  Todd  was  recognized  by  the  bestowal  upon  hiin 


iS4S0  "^HB  FIRST  SIKH  WAR.  379 

of  that  great  object  of  regimental  ambition^  a  troop  of  Horse 
Artillery.  It -was  the  troop,  too,  with  which  he  had  served 
as  a  subaltern  3  so  the  appointment  would  have  gratilied 
him  greatly,  if  any  earthly  solace  at  such  a  time  could  have 
touched  his  heart.  But  he  was  grieving;  then  for  his  beloved 
wife,  whose  mortal  ailments  made  his  life  one  of  painful 
anxiety  $  and  he  was  not  to  be  cheered  by  any  professional 
success.  ^ 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  December  all  hope  had 
passed  away,  and  at  noon  Marian  Todd  was  with  the  angels. 
'  The  hand  of  Grod  is  heavy  upon  me,'  he  wrote  on  that 
day  to  his  brother  j  '  but  I  believe  that  such  an  affliction 
cannot  spring  from  the  dust.  Pray,  pray  fervently  for  your 
deeply  afflicted  brother.  She  fell  asleep  a  few  minutes 
after  noon.*  But  it  was  not  permitted  to  him  to  fall  into  a 
stupor  of  grief.  The  Sikhs  crossed  the  Sutlej.  His  troop 
was  called  into  action;  and  he  went,  as  he  touchingly 
said,  '  firom  the  open  grave,'  not  wishing  ever  to  return 
to  it,  into  the  midst  of  that  bloody  warfere.  The  battle 
of  Moodkhee  was  fought,  and  D'Arcy  Todd  passed,  alive 
and  uninjured,  through  all  the  perils  of  that  murderous 
conflict.  He  has  told  the  story  himself  in  the  follow- 
ing letter-— the  last  which  he  ever  wrote — to  his  beloved 
brother : 

'  Camp,  Moodkhee,  December  20^  1845. 

'  My  dbablt  loved  Fred, — ^I  little  thought  when  I 
last  wrote  that  my  next  would  be  about  such  subjects  as  at 
present  occupy  my  time  and  thoughts. 

'  The  day  after  I  committed  all  that  was  mortal  of  my 


38o  MAyOR  DARCY  TODD.  \x%^ 


beloved  one  to  the  earthy  the  whole  of  the  Umballah  troops 
were  ordered^  at  a  few  hours'  notice^  to  march  towards 
Ferozepore.  We  marched  on  the  iith^  and  reached  this 
place  (one  hundred  and  forty-six  miles  from  Umballah,  and 
about  twenty  from  Ferozepore)  at  two  o'clock  on  the  after- 
noon of  Thursday,  the  i8th,  by  forced  marches  of  twentj 
and  thirty  miles  a  day.  As  we  approached  Moodkhee  we 
received  intelligence  of  a  large  body  of  Sikhs  being  in  our 
front,  and  we  therefore  marched  across  the  country  in  batde- 
array.  The  enemy,  however,  kept  out  of  sight,  and  we 
reached  our  ground  without  a  shot  being  fired.  In  about 
an  hour  after  our  arrival  the  alarm  was  given,  and  the  whole 
line  turned  out  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time.  We 
immediately  advanced  in  the  direction  of  the  enemj, 
towards  the  west;  and  when  we  had  gone  about  two 
miles  they  opened  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  upon  us.  We 
came  into  action,  and  returned  it  with  interest^  the  distance 
being  about  a  thousand  yards.  They  very  soon  slackened 
their  fire,  and  we  again  advanced.  They  had  taken  up  a 
very  strong  position  in  a  low  but  thick  jungle  (thirty  or 
forty  guns,  and  twenty-five  thousand  cavalry  and  infimtiy). 
After  some  heavy  firing  firom  our  artillery,  our  cavalry  and 
infantry  went  at  them,  our  artillery  still  advancing,  and 
firing  when  opportunity  offered.  The  scene  ivas  fearful. 
We  got  up  close  to  the  enemy,  whose  fire,  round  shot, 
shells,  grape,  jingaUs,  and  musketry,  can  only  be  likened  to 
a  pelting  storm.  I  cannot  conceive  anything  so  hot.  Our 
officers  and  men  were  falling  every  moment ;  but  at  last, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  and  British  courage  and  per- 
severance, the  victory  was  ours.  It  was  quite  dark  be&re 
the  battle  was  over,  and  of  course  there  was  great  confusioa. 


i«45]  ^^^  ^^ TTLB  OF  MOODKHEE.  381 

Our  loss  has  been  great.  Of  the  Artillery  alone  we  have 
lost  upwards  of  forty  killed^  and  I  know  not  how  many 
wounded.  Captam  Jasper  Trower,  killed  j  Lieutenant 
PoUock,  dead,  after  amputation  of  the  left  leg  j  Captain 
Dashwood,  dangerously  wounded  in  arm  and  leg  ^  *  Lieu- 
tenant  Wheelwright,  one  of  my  two  subalterns,  shot 
through  the  arm,  but  doing  well  3  Lieutenant  Bowie, 
slightly  wounded  J  several  officers*  chargers  killed  under 
them.  I  lost  four  men  killed,  and  three  wounded  j  five 
horses  killed,  three  wounded.  By  the  wonderful  mercy  of 
God  I  and  my  other  subaltern  (Mackinnon)  escaped  un- 
touched, when  thousands  of  balls  were  flying  about  our 
heads.  No  fire  could  possibly  have  been  hotter.  The  Gro- 
vemor-Greneral  and  Commander-in-Chief  were  both  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight,  and  lost  some  aides-de-camp.  I  can- 
not tell  you  who  have  been  killed  or  wounded  in  the  cavalry 
and  infantry,  but  I  think  that  sixty  or  seventy  officers  are 
amongst  the  casualties.  The  bodies  are  now  being  brought 
in  and  buried.  We  have  taken  and  brought  into  camp 
twenty  of  the  enemy's  guns,  and  the  slaughter  on  their  side 
must  have  been  very  great.  We  did  not  return  to  camp 
till  past  midnight. 

'It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  coolness  of  our 
men.  They  were  literally  steadier  than  when  on  parade. 
The  Grovemor-General  said,  yesterday,  that  much  as  he  had 
heard  of  the  Bengal  Artillery,  their  conduct  surpassed  his 
expectations,  and  that  he  had  seen  nothing  finer  in  the 
Peninsula.  I  should  think  not !  No  despatch  or  order  has 
yet  appeared,  but  we  and  you  will  learn  all  soon.  Our 
force  consisted  of  five  troops  of  Horse  Artillery,  two  Horse 

•  The  wounds  were  mortal.    He  died  soon  afterwards. 


382  MAJOR  jyARCY  TODD.  [1845. 

Field  Batteries,  3rd  Light  Dragoons^  Body  Gruard,  4th  and 
5th  Regiments  Light  Cavalry,  9th  Irregular  Horse  (Chrisde  s), 
9th,  31st,  and  50th  Queen's  Infantry^  and  about  five  fo- 
ments of  Native  In&ntry. 

'  To-morrow  we  are  to  march  on  Ferozepore^  and  majr 
expect  another  battle,  as  the  Sikhs  are  said  to  be  in  great 
force  in  our  front.  Greneral  Littler's  Ferozepore  force  is, 
however,  in  their  rear,  and  the  enemy  will  then  be  hemmed 
in,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  another  victory  appears 
certain.  But  these  scenes  are  dreadful,  and  my  soul  sickens 
at  what  I  have  seen.  The  29th  Queen*s  and  our  ist  £uro- 
pean  Regiment  have  just  jomed  us. 

'  I  have  been  hurried  away  from  even  the  recollectioo 
of  my  crushing  affliction,  and  can  only  at  times  creep  into 
solitude,  and  think,  and  weep.  In  a  few  hours  afber  I 
stood  at  her  open  grave,  I  was  called  upon  to  exert  myself 
to  the  utmost  in  making  preparations  for  the  march  of  mj 
troop  on  service  !  God  has  spared  me,  who  am  not  worthj 
to  live,  and  she,  my  beloved  one,  in  health,  and  youth».aiKi 
spirits,  has  been  stricken  down,  leaving  the  world  to  me  as 
a  vast  grave.  '^  Be  ye  also  ready>**  sounds  in  my  ean»  and 
T  only  wish  to  live  that  the  grace  of  Grod  and  the  love  of 
Christ  may  prepare  me  to  leave  a  world  in  which  there  can 
now  be  no  joy  for  me.  I  am  desolate  and  bereaved.  Oh, 
my  brother  and  friend,  pray  for  me  !  I  cannot  write  mocei 
Dearest  Jane,  accept  my  best  love.  May  the  Grod  of  kfe 
be  with  you  both. 

'  Ever,  my  dearly  loved  brother, 

'  Your  most  atfectionate  and  attached 

'D'AmcT. 


f84S.]  DEATH  ON  THE  BATTLE-FIELD.  383 

*  You  had  better  still  direct  to  Umballah  or  Ferozepore. 
The  whole  of  yesterday  we  were  drawn  up  in  battle-array, 
about  five  hundred  yards  in  front  of  our  camp.  The  enemy 
was  supposed  to  have  come  back  again,  but  they  did  net 
make  their  appearance.* 


But  it  little  mattered  whither  his  brother's  letters  were 
sent.  The  following  day  was  one  of  the  most  memorable 
in  the  annals  of  our  Indian  Empire,  for  then  was  com- 
menced the  great  battle  of  Ferozshuhur ;  then  the  mititary 
strength  of  the  English  reeled  and  staggered  beneath  the 
tremendous  fire  which  the  Sikhs  poured  in  upon  us  firom 
their  entrenched  position.  The  story  has  been  often  told 
before,  and  there  is  no  need  that  I  should  repeat  it.  Those 
Sikh  batteries  brought  desolation  to  many  homes;  but 
Todd  was  himself  desolate,  and  life  had  become  only  a 
burden  to  him,  and  there  was  not  on  that  ensanguined 
battle-ground  one  for  whom  Death  had  fewer  terrors.  It 
was  about  the  time  of  sunset  on  the  21st  of  December  that 
his  troop  was  ordered  to  move  forward.  He  placed  him- 
self in  front  of  his  battery,  and  was  in  the  act  of  giving 
orders  for  the  advance,  when  a  nine-pounder  round-shot 
from  one  of  the  enemy's  guns  struck  him  full  in  the  face, 
and  carried  his  head  completely  off  his  shoulders,  with  such 
crushing  effect  that  nothing  more  of  D*  Arcy  Todd  than  the 
headless  trunk  was  ever  recognized.  So  in  'a  moment,  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,*  death  came 5  and  'among  the 
many  who  fell  on  that  mournful  day  there  was  not  a  braver 
soldier  or  a  better  maii.' 


384  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD,  [1845. 


It  is  not  known  with  accuracy  where  he  was  buried. 
One  statement  before  me>  written  by  a  brother-officer,  a 
companion  in  arms  during  this  dreadfiil  conflict^  sets  forth 
that  the  remains  of  D*  Arcy  Todd  were  wrapped  in  his  cloak 
and  buried  on  the  £eld  of  battle.  Another  comrade,  in  the 
same  regiment^  writes  that  the  body  was  removed  to  the 
cantonment  of  Ferozepore,  and  that  it  was  buried  in 
consecrated  ground.  When  we  consider  the  tremendous 
excitement  and  confusion  of  those  two  days — days  bridged 
over  by  a  night  without  a  parallel  in  the  remembrance  of 
those  who  live  to  recall  it — ^we  cannot  wonder  that  there 
should  be  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  place  of  any  soldier's 
grave.  And,  after  all,  it  little  matters.  D'Arcy  Todd*s 
monument  is  in  the  hearts  of  many  loving  friends.  In  the 
glorious  regiment,  whose  harness  he  wore  when  he  died, 
there  have  been  men  who  have  lived  to  earn  greater  dis- 
tinction ;  but  I  believe  that,  had  his  career  not  been  thus 
prematurely  cut  short,  he  would  have  distinguished  himself 
on  other  great  fields  of  enterprise^  and  taken  a  high  place 
among  his  contemporaries  in  the  annals  of  ovs  Anglo-In(fian 
Empire!  And  he  hved  long  enough  to  be  honouiaUj 
r^arded  by  all  who  knew  the  history  of  his  life,  and  to  be 
most  affectionately  remembered  by  all  who  ever  came 
within  the  influence  of  his  living  presence.  He  was  a 
gentle,  loving,  Grod-fearing  man,  but  endowed  with  coun^ 
and  constancy  of  the  highest  order,  and  resolute  to  do  any- 
thing that  came  within  the  scope  of  his  duty  as  a  Christiao 
soldier. 


At  the  close  of  these  four  Memoirs  of  Officers  who  ^ 


i84S.]     MORTALITY  OF  ORIENTAL  GEOGRAPHERS.       385 

.ij         ■!■■■    .■  I  ■ -^   -    I  -  II  r  , I 

tinguished  themselves  so  greatly  in  the  countries  beyond  the 
Indus,  I  cannot  abstain  from  recording  a  few  sentences  re- 
garding the  services  which  they  have  conjointly  rendered 
to  the  world  as  contributors  to  our  geographical  knowledge 
of  those  interesting  and  increasingly  important  countries. 
But  I  need  not  do  this  in  my  own  words,  for  a  much 
higher  authority,  whilst  this  sheet  has  been  passing  through 
the  press,  has  enabled  me  to  do  it  far  better,  by  the  citation 
of  the  following  pregnant  passage  from  a  paper  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  written  by  one  to  whom  Oriental  science, 
in  many  departments,  is  infinitely  indebted : 

'  It  would  really  seem  as  if  a  fetality  had  attended  us,  so  few 
— so  very  few — of  the  English  officers  who  advanced  the  cause  of 
geography  in  Central  Asia  having  lived  to  wear  the  laurels  which 
they  had  earned.  Stoddart,  who  was  the  first  to  cross  the  moun- 
tains from  Herat  to  Bokhara,  and  Arthur  ConoUy,  who  travelled 
by  an  entirely  new  route  from  Cabul  direct  to  Merv  and  so  on  to 
Khiva,  Kokand,  and  ultimately  to  Bokhara,  both  perished  miser- 
ably at  the  latter  place  in  1841.  D'Arcy  Todd,  a  traveller  of  some 
note  himself,  and  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  adventurous 
journeys  of  James  Abbott  and  Richmond  Shakespeare  from  Herat 
to  Khiva  and  Orenberg,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Firoz-shahar. 
Edward  ConoUy,  the  first  explorer  of  Seistan,  was  shot  from  the 
walls  of  an  obscure  fort  in  the  Kohistan  of  Cabul ;  and  Dr  Lord, 
the  companion  of  Wood  in  the  valley  of  the  Oxus,  was  killed  in 
the  same  district  and  nearly  at  the  same  time.  Dr  Forbes,  a  most 
promising  young  traveller,  was  also  murdered  in  Seistan,  in  1841  ; 
and  Lieut.  Pattinson,  the  only  officer  who  ever  explored  the  valley 
of  the  Helmend  from  Zamin-Dawer  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Lake, 
was  butchered  by  the  mutinous  Jan-hax,  at  Candahar,  soon  after 
the  outbreak  at  Cabul.  Col.  Sanders,  of  the  Bengal  Engineers, 
who  compiled  from  his  own  observations  an  excellent  map  of  the 
country  between  Candahar  and  the  Hazareh  Mountains  to  the 

VOL.  II.  25 


386  MAJOR  DARCY  TODD.  [1845. 

north-west,  also  fell  a  few  years  later  at  Maharajpoor$  Eldred 
Pottinger,  who  on  two  occasions  crossed  the  mountains  direct 
between  Cabul  and  Herat,  survived  the  Cabul  massacre  and  the 
dangers  of  an  Afghan  captivity,  merely  to  die  of  fever  at  Hong- 
kong ;  and  the  list  may  be  closed  by  a  name — still  more  illustrious 
in  the  annals  of  geographical  science — ^that  of  Alexander  Bumes 
himself,  who,  as  it  is  well  known,  was  the  first  victim  of  the  Cabul 
insurrection.  Through  the  labours  of  these  men  and  of  their 
worthy  coadjutors — the  officers  of  the  Quartermaster-General's 
Department — Afghanistan  Proper  may  be  ssdd  to  have  been  very 
extensively^  if  not  thoroughly,  explored  between  the  years  \\\i 
and  1 1^43.* 


k 


387 


SIR  HENRY  LAWRENCE. 

[born  x8o6.— died  1857.] 

'About  half-past  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  (of  ths 
4th  of  May,  1799),  Greneral  Baird,  having  completed  his 
arrangements,  stepped  out  of  the  trench,  drew  his  sword, 
and  in  the  most  heroic  and  animating  manner  said  to  his 
men,  ''Come,  my  brave  fellows,  follow  me,  and  prove 
yourselves  worthy  the  name  of  British  soldiers !  "  In  an 
instant  both  columns  rushed  from  the  trenches  and  entered 
the  bed  of  the  river,  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  the  batteries. 
Being  immediately  discovered  by  the  enemy,  they  were  as- 
sailed by  rockets  and  musketry.  The  forlorn  hope  of  each, 
attack  consisted  of  a  sergeant  and  twelve  Europeans,,  who, 
were  followed  by  two  subalterns*  parties  j  that  of  the  right 
column  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Hill,  of  the  74th  j 
and  the  other  of  the  left  column  by  Lieutenant  Lawrence, 
of  the  77^^-* — ^Thus  wrote,  in  the  first  year  of  the  present 
century.  Colonel  Alexander  Beatson^  historian  of  the  war 
with  Tippoo  Sultan,  and  of  the  famous  siege  of  Seringa- 
patam.  Of  these  two  lion-hearted  subalterns,  who  had  thus 
volunteered  for  the  forlorn  hope,  the  first-named  went  to 
his  death.     The  second  came  out  of  the  breach   badly 


388  SIR  HENRY  LAWRENCE,  [1800-1806. 

wounded,  but  alive.     God  had  bountifully  preserved  him 
to  become  the  father  of  heroes. 

He  had  gone  out  to  India,  some  years  before,  as  a  vo- 
lunteer, hoping  soon  to  receive  a  commission  through  Gen- 
eral Floyd,  an  officer  who  had  served  with  distinction  in 
the  first  war  with  Tippoo.  In  this,  however,  he  had  been 
disappointed,  for  the  military  authorities  in  England  can- 
celled the  commission  which  was  given  to  young  Lawrence 
in  India  j  and  eventually  he  was  compelled  to  purchase 
into  the  77th  Foot.  With  this  regiment  he  served  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  India,  until  his  gallantry  at  Seringapatam 
was  rewarded  by  the  gift  of  a  company  in  the  19th. 

Having  recovered  from  his  wounds,  Alexander  William 
Lawrence*  took  to  himself  a  wife — the  daughter  of  a  Pro- 
testant clergyman  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  named  Knox. 
Their  union  was  a  fruitful  one.  The  first-bom  of  the 
family  was  a  daughter,  who  in  womanhood  became  all  that 
an  elder  sister  could  be  to  her  brothers,  and  whose  good 
influence  upon  them  was  ever  gratefully  acknowledged. 
Then  there  were  two  sons,  christened  Alexander  and  George 
St  Patrick,  who  came  in  time  to  do  good  service  to  thdr 
country  J  and  next,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1806,  was  born, 

*  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  some  doubt  has  been  thrown 
even  upon  the  name  of  the  father  of  the  Lawrences.  I  learn  from  the 
Adjutant-General's  Office  that  Lieutenant  Lawrence,  of  the  77th,  is 
entered  in  the  books  of  the  Horse  Guards  as  John  Lawrence,  and 
that  as  John  Lawrence  he  was  promoted  to  a  company  in  the  l^tn 
Foot.  In  the  Annual  Army  List  of  1808  his  name  appears  as 
Alexander  Lawrence.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  of  the  identitf 
of  *  Alexander '  and  *  John,'  or  of  the  correctness  of  the  foroef 
designation. 


i8o6— IS.]  EARL  Y  EDUCA  TION.  389 

at  Maturah,  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  where  Major  Lawrence 
was  garrisoned,  another  son,  who  was  named  Henry 
Montgomery,  of  whom  I  am  about  to  write.  His  mother 
used,  in  playful  reference  to  the  well-known  gems  of  that 
place,  to  call  him  her  *  Maturah  diamond.*  * 

In  1808,  Major  Lawrence  returned  to  England  and  was 
appointed,  as  Lieutenant-Colonel,  to  a  garrison  battalion, 
then  posted  in  the  island  of  Guernsey.f  From  this  place, 
in  i8ij,  the  three  elder  boys,  Alexander,  George,  and 
Henry,  were  sent  to  the  Londonderry  diocesan  school,  the 
head-master  of  which  was  their  mother's  brother,  the  Rev. 
James  Knox.  It  is  a  substantial  inornate  building,  with  a  bald 
grey  frontage  looking  across  the  high  road  towards  the  river, 
from  which  it  has  derived  its  name  of  Foyle  College.  There 
s  something  grim  and  forbidding  about  it,  suggestive  of 
stern  discipline  and  hard  training  j  and  there  the  young 
Lawrences,  and  other  boys  of  high  promise,  including 
Robert  Montgomery,  who  was  afterwards  so  honourably 
associated  with  Henry  and  John  in  the  Punjab,  worked 
an€  played  and  fought,  and  grew  into  sturdy  robust  youths, 
learned  at  least  in  great  lessons  of  self-help.  There  they 
heard  the  grand  historical  traditions  of  the  famous  city  by 
which  they  dwelt,  and  went  forth  into  the  world  with  the 
old  watchword  of  Deny,  '  No  Surrender,*  engraven  on 
their  hearts. 

*  Henry  Lawrence  was  the  fourth  son — ^another  brother,  not 
mentioned  in  the  text,  died  in  his  infancy.  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the 
present  Viceroy  of  India,  was  bom  in  Yorkshire  on  the  4th  of  Maich, 
1811. 

t  Colonel  Lawrence  was  appointed  Governor  of  Upnor  Castle 
in  1816  or  181 7,  and  died  in  that  capacity  on  the  7th  of  May,  1835. 


390  SIR  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE,  fiSiS-ta 

Two  or  three  years  afterwards^  Colonel  Lawrence  be- 
thought himself  that  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  con- 
sider the  means  of  providing  for  his  boys ;  and  he  wisely 
determined  to  find^  if  he  could,  standing-room  for  them  on 
the  great  continent  of  India,  where  every  man  had  a  £ur 
chance,  without  reference  to  birth  or  fortune,  of  making 
his  way  to  the  front  Fortunately  he  had  some  ^  interest 
at  the  India  House.*  A  connection  of  Mrs  Lawrence's 
family — Mr  Huddlestone — ^was  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
East  India  Company.  A  cadetship  was  obtained  for  Alex- 
ander, who,  in  1818,  went  over  from  Ireland  and  entered 
the  Company's  miUtary  seminary  at  Addiscombe.  A  year 
or  two  afterwards  George  made  a  similar  migration. 
Neither  brother,  however,  pursued  his  academical  career  to 
the  end.  The  Cavalry  was  held  to  be  a  finer  service  than 
the  Artillery,  and  '  India  House  interest '  availed  to  pro- 
cure for  each  brother  in  succession  a  commission  in  the 
more  favoured  branch. 

In  1820,  another  Addiscooobe  appointment  was  ob- 
tained for  Colonel  Lawrence's  third  surviving  son  ^  and  in 
the  August  of  that  year  Henry  Lawrence  entered  the  cadet 
college.  Like  his  brothers,  he  was  soon  afterwards  offered 
a  Cavalry  appointment ;  but  he  said  that  he  "would  rather 
go  through  his  terms  at  Addiscombe  and  take  his  chance, 
than  that  it  should  be  said  the  Lawrences  could  not  pass  an 
examination  for  the  scientific  branches  of  the  service,  and 
were  therefore  sent  out  in  an  arm  that  demanded  no 
examination  at  all.  So  he  remained  at  Addiscombe,  dcHDg 
well  there,  not  brilliantly;  and  taking  at  the  end  of  hii 
time  a  good  place  among  the  cadets  selected  for  the  Artilleij. 


i8ao— aS.j  HIS  FIRST  SERVICE.  391 


It  was  a  merciful  dispensation  that  he  ever  lived  to  go  up  for 
examination  at  all  j  for  it  happened  that  one  day,  as  he  was 
bathing  in  the  canal,  the  cramp  or  some  other  ailment  seized 
him,  and  he  would  almost  certainly  have  perished,  but  for 
the  presence  of  mind  of  one  of  his  comrades.  A  cry  was 
raised  that  '  Pat  Lawrence  *  was  drowning,  and  instantly 
a  brother-cadet,  Robert  Macgregor,*  dashed  into  the  water, 
and  succeeded  in  bringing  the  sinking  youth  safely  to  land. 
This  is  the  one  noticeable  incident  of  Henry  Lawrence's 
early  life.  At  Addiscombe  he  was  held  in  high  esteem  by 
his  fellow-students,  as  a  brave,  honourable,  and  generous 
youth,  with  good  intelligence,  not  very  highly  cultivated  j 
but  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  his  contemporaiies  predicted 
that  he  would  live  to  outstrip  them  all. 


In  1822,  Henry  Lawrence,  having  been  appointed  to 
the  Bengal  Artillery,  arrived  at  Calcutta,  and  joined  the 
bead-quarters  of  his  regiment  at  Dum-Dum.  There  he  set 
himself  diligently  to  work  to  study  his  profession,  and — 
in  this  respect  differing  not  at  all  from  his  young  brother- 

^  I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  naming  the  yomig  hero 
who  did  this  good  thing,  though  the  modesty  of  his  nature  may  pro- 
test against  the  publicity.  The  Robert  Macgregor  of  the  text  is 
Major  Robert  Guthrie  Macgregor,  formerly  of  the  Bengal  Artillery, 
a  man  distinguished  in  many  honourable  capacities,  and  not  least  in 
that  of  a  scholar  and  a  poet.  His  admirable  volume  of  translations 
firom  the  Greek  Anthology,  recently  published,  is  one  of  those  ever 
pleasant  and  acceptable  instances  of  the  successful  cultivation  of 
literature  .by  men  of  active  business  habits  and  eminently  useful 
lives. 


392  S//?  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE,  [i83o-a& 


olficers — longed  ardently  for  active  service.     The  oppor* 
tunity  was  soon  presented  to  him.     The  war  with  Burmah 
commenced,  when  he  was   a  subaltern  of  two  or  three 
years*  standing  >  and  Lieutenant  Lawrence  formed  part  of 
a  detachment  of  artillery  that  was   sent   under  Colonel 
Lindsay  to  join  Greneral  Morrison's  division,  whose  business 
it  was  to  drive  the  Burmese  out  of  Arracan,  and  to  join  tbe 
main  army  at  Prome.     A  long  and  harassing  march,  across 
one  of  the  most  unhealthy  tracts  of  country  in  the  world, 
brought  the  young  soldier  nearly  to  his  grave.     He  re- 
covered, however,  sufficiently  to  be  conveyed  to  Penang — 
then  a  favourite  sanitarium  ^  and  from  that  place  he  went 
to  China,  towards  the  end  of  1826,  where  he  found  great 
solace  in  the  Factory  Library  at  Canton.    But  these  partial 
changes  were  not  sufficient  for  one  smitten  with  the  deadly 
curse  of  the  Arracan  fever  j  and  so  eventually  he  returned 
to  England,  for  the  recovery  of  his  health. 

But  he  was  not  one  to  be  idle,  because '  on  leave.'  A  friend 
who  met  him  for  the  first  time  at  Canton,  thinks  that  in  the 
library  there  he  devoted  himself  much  to  the  study  of  works 
on  Surveying.  It  is  certain  that  during  his  residence  in 
England  he  joined  the  Irish  Survey,  and  acquired  much 
knowledge  and  experience,  that  afterwards  were  extremely 
serviceable  to  him.  This  visit  to  Ireland  had  also  another 
very  happy  influence  on  his  after  life,  for  he  there  formed 
an  attachment  to  one  who  afterwards  became  the  beloved 
and  honoured  companion  of  his  life.  When  he  returned  to 
India,  greatly  improved  and  strengthened  in  eveiy  way,  he 
rejoined  his  regiment,  firstly  at  Kumaul,  where  his  brother 
(jeorge  was  stationed,  and  with  whom  he  livedo  and  aiter* 


i8a8— 33-]  REVENUE  SURVEYOR,  393 

wards  at  Cawnpore,  where,  in  i8j2,  he  passed  an  examin- 
ation in  the  native  languages,  and  thus  qualified  himself  for 
employment  on  the  Staff.  Nor  was  it  long  before — mainly, 
I  believe,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Greorge  Lawrence, 
who  represented  to  Lord  William  Bentinck  that  his  brother 
had  served  with  the  Irish  Survey — Henry  was  appointed  as 
an  Assistant  to  the  great  Revenue  Survey  of  India,  which 
was  instituted  in  1833.  His  head-quarters  were  at  Gorack- 
poor.  There,  under  happy  auspices,  he  renewed  and  ce- 
mented his  friendship  with  Mr  Reade,  of  the  Bengal  Civil 
Service,  whom  he  first  met  at  Canton  and  afterwards  at 
Cawnpore — a  friendship  which  was  broken  only  by  death. 

'  At  Goruckpoor,'  this  gentleman  tells  me,  '  his  house 
and  mine  were  in  adjacent  compounds.  A  plank  bridge 
led  from  the  one  to  the  other,  and  my  kitchen  was  midway 
between  the  two  domiciles.  Lawrence,  who  in  those  days 
seemed  to  live  upon  air,  and  was  apt,  in  the  full  tide  of  his 
work,  to  forget  every-day  minor  matters,  used  frequently  to 
find  that  he  had  no  dinner  provided,  though  he  had  asked 
people  to  dine  with  him  j  and  we  used  to  rectify  the  omis- 
sion by  diverting  the  procession  of  dishes  from  the  kitchen 
to  his  house  instead  of  to  mine.  My  inestimable  major-domo 
had  wonderful  resources,  and  an  especial  regard  for  Law- 
rence. The  gravity  of  manner  with  which  he  asked  in 
whose  house  dinner  was  to  be  laid,  was  a  frequent  source 
of  amusement.  We  had  other  matters  beside  a  kitchen 
and  buttery  in  common.  He  had  taken  by  the  hand  a 
young  man,  who  had  been  in  the  ranks,  by  name  Pember- 
ton,  who  afterwards  rose  in  the  Survey  Department.  At 
the  same  time  I  had  charge  of  a  young  fellow  whose  dis- 


394  -S/^  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  [i83i-3S. 


charge  from  a  regiment  had  been  recently  purchased  by 
his  friends.  Interested  in  a  young  Scotch  student  who  had 
found  his  way  to  India  by  enlisting  in  the  Company's  Artil- 
lery, Lord  Auckland  had  recently  emancipated  him,  and  sent 
him  up  the  coimtry,  to  be  master  of  the  English  school  at 
Goruckpoor.  To  that  school,  Lawrence,  who  was  greadj 
interested  in  it,  and  who  supported  it  with  personal  aid  and 
liberal  pecuniary  contributions,  gathered  all  the  boys  of 
poor  Christian  parents  to  be  found  in  the  cantonment  and 
station,  and  thence  transplanted  them,  with  some  of  the 
more  intelligent  lads  of  the  city,  to  the  Survey  Office. 
Some  of  the  former  were  little  fellows — so  little,  indeed, 
that  Mr  Bird  used  to  call  them  his  "  Lawrence's  offsets  j " 
but  his  care  of  them  was  as  kind  as  his  teaching  was  suc- 
cessful. He  had  a  tattoo  (pony)  for  each  of  them,  and 
relieved  the  labours  of  the  desk  by  hurry-skurrying  them 
over  the  country.  I  note  these  particulars,*  continues  my 
informant,  'because  in  comparing  the  experiences  we 
elicited  of  inner  barrack  life  from  the  young  men  above 
mentioned,  as  we  oflen  did,  in  the  teaching  and  manipula- 
tion of  the  said  offsets,  and  the  satisfactory  result,  I  think 
we  may  trace  the  germ  in  Lawrence's  mind  of  the  noble 
design  of  the  great  establishments  imperishably  associated 
with  his  name.* 

And,  doubtless,  among  the  honourable  mcentives  to 
exertion  which  were  ever  urging  Henry  Lawrence  forward 
in  the  right  road,  the  thought  of  the  good  that  he  might 
thus  accomplish  was  not  the  least  powerful.  But  the  at- 
tainment of  this  great  object  was  yet  remote,  though  hii 
foot  was  firmly  planted  on  the  ladder  of  promotion  \  for 


1836.]  RE  VENUE  SUR  VE  YOR.  395 

there  was  one  nearer  and  dearer  to  him,  who  needed  his 
help,  and  his  first  care  was  to  provide  for  her.  The  death 
of  his  father  had  greatly  reduced  his  mother's  income;  and 
the  Ijawrences — ^not  Henry  only,  but  he  and  all  his  brethren 
in  India — were  contributing  from  their  pay,  not  at  that 
time  in  any  case  very  large,  more  than  enough  to  make  her 
declining  years,  in  all  outward  circumstances,  easy  and 
prosperous.  In  this  good  work  Henry  was  very  active, 
and  one  who,  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  now  wnung, 
helped  him  in  the  matter  of  remittances,  and  took  counsel 
with  him  as  to  the  best  means  of  providing  additional 
comforts  for  the  widowed  lady,  says  that  he  had  then,  in 
Jiis  holy  work, '  the  fervour  of  an  apostle  and  the  simplicity 
of  a  child.* 

Much  might  be  written  about  this  period  of  his  career 
— about  the  days  when  Lieutenant  Lawrence  threw  all  his 
energies  into  the  survey-work  intrusted  to  him,  and  was  so 
prompt,  it  may  be  said  so  explosive,  in  his  operations,  that 
Mr  James  Thomason,  afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  North-Westem  Provinces,  referring  partly  to  his  profes- 
sion and  partly  to  his  bursts  of  activity,  which  carried 
everything  before  them,  nicknamed  Henry  Lawrence 
*  Gunpowder.*  Those  were  happy  days  with  him,  for  they 
were  the  early  days  of  his  married  life.  Never  was  there 
in  the  world  a  fitter  helpmate  than  Henry  Lawrence  found 
in  his  cousin,  Honoria  Marshall.  The  highest  and  holiest 
Christian  virtues  were  combined  in  her  with  great  natural 
intelligence,  improved  by  successftil  culture.  Her  energies 
were  scarcely  inferior  to  her  husband's  j  and,  perhaps,  he 
mainly  owed  it  to  her  that  literature,  in  after  years,  became 


396  S/Ji  HENR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR,  [1836. 

the  recreatiou,  and  was  one  of  the  greatest  solaces,  of  hk 
life.  There  was  too  much  active  work  for  him  at  this 
time  to  leave  much  space  for  the  study  of  books  3  but  there 
were  little  snatches,  if  not  of  actual  leisure,  of  less  absorbing 
work,  which  might  be  turned  to  good  literary  accoant 
For  such  students  did  not  need  the  environments  and 
accompaniments  of  well-stocked  and  well-furnished  libraries, 
but  could  gather  knowledge  from  a  single  travel-stained 
volume  under  a  tree  or  on  the  banks  of  a  nullah. 

Of  Lawrence's  daily  life  at  this  tinie>  one  of  his  most 
familiar  and  cherished  friends,  who  worked  with  him  then 
and  afterwards,  to  his  own  honour  and  to  the  profit  of  the 
State,  has  furnished  me  with  an  account  so  life-like  and  so 
interesting  in  its  details,  that  I  give  it  here  in  the  words  of 
the  writer :  '  My  first  acquaintance  with  Henry  Lawrence, 
which  grew  up  into  a  full  friendship,  commenced  at 
Goruckpoor  in  1836,  when  I  was  appointed  his  Assistant 
in  the  Revenue  Survey,  which  he  conducted  in  that  lovely 
district.  Well  do  I  remember  the  welcome  he  gave  me 
in  his  tent,  pitched  in  a  magnificent  mango  grove  5  the 
trees,  towering  above-head  and  entwining  their  branches, 
afforded  a  shady  canopy  covering  an  area  of  many  acres. 
Such  groves  I  have  never  seen  in  any  other  part  of  India. 
The  tent  was  of  the  ordinary  size  prescribed  for  a  subaltern 
with  a  marching  regiment,  about  twelve  feet  square  3  but  it 
is  not  so  easy  to  describe  the  interior.  A  charpoy  in  one 
corner,  an  iron  stove  in  another,  a  couple  of  tables  and 
three  or  four  chairs,  but  every  superficial  inch  of  each  was 
taken  up  with  papers,  plans,  or  maps  j  even  the  floor  was 
covered  with  papers,  carefully  placed  on  certain  patterns  of 


1836-  37-]  REVENUE  SURVEYOR.  397 


the  carpet,  to  aid  his  memory  in  certain  corrections  which 
each  required,  but  which  frequently  accumulated  to  such 
extent  that  the  object  of  placing  them  there  was  some- 
times forgotten.  It  was  undoubtedly  imsystematic,  or  was 
rather  a  system  peculiarly  his  own,  which,  with  his  wonder- 
ful memory,  he  worked  to  surprising  effect,  but  it  created 
a  great  litter,  and  to  the  eyes  of  his  new  Assistant  looked 
very  like  Chaos.  I  was  soon  set  to  work  to  learn  my  new 
duties,  for  I  found  that  the  knowledge  I  had  obtained  of 
surveying  at  Addiscombe  was  only  as  the  A  B  C  to  the 
science  of  the  Revenue  Survey  of  India,  and  in  teaching  me 
he  never  spared  himself,  but  having  taught  me,  he  never 
did  anything  that  I  could  do  for  him.  This  was  a  wise 
maxim,  on  which  he  piqued  himself,  for  it  gave  him  time 
to  confine  his  attention  to  supervision  and  to  literature,  to 
which  he  devoted  every  moment  he  could  spare  from  his 
professional  duties.  His  great  strength  lay  in  ubiquity. 
Our  survey  covered  a  large  area.  Natives  were  extensively 
employed  both  in  the  scientific  survey,  which  laid  down 
minutely  the  boundary  of  each  village,  its  topographical 
features,  area,  &c.,  on  scientific  calculations  and  observ- 
ations, and  the  field  survey,  whereby  each  field  was  measured 
and  mapped,  its  produce,  soil,  and  capabilities  recorded, 
and  its  total  area  compared  with  that  of  the  scientific  survey. 
To  all  who  know  anything  of  the  native  character,  it  will 
be  evident  that  a  wide  field  for  abuse  and  peculation  lay 
open.  His  object  and  delight  was  to  come  down  upon 
these  men,  however  distant,  at  unexpected  times,  and  bad 
luck  to  the  man  who  was  caught  cheating  !  On  one  occa- 
sion he  found  a  native  surveyor  had  been  taking  bribes  to 


398  S/Ji  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE.  [1836-37. 


record  the  soil  of  an  inferior  description  to  befriend  the 
^mer  and  defraud  Grovemment.  He  seated  him  in  a 
tree  over  his  tent  for  some  hours^  to  be  held  up  to  contempt^ 
and  as  an  example  to  others.  On  another  occasion^  he 
found  that  the  surveyor  had  taken  the  bribe ;  but  the  com- 
plaint was  from  the  landed  proprietor^  that^  having  paid  the 
man  for  entering  his  soil  as  of  the  worsts  he  had  recorded 
it  of  the  best  quality.  On  another,  he  found  that  his 
theodolite  surveyor  had  extorted  money  from  landed  pro- 
prietors by  pretending  that  the  needle  attached  to  it  would 
not  act  until  it  felt  the  influence  of  silver  5  on  which  the 
deluded  Zemindar,  having  placed  a  rupee  or  two  on  the 
instnunent,  by  a  sly  touch  the  needle  was  made  to  fly  round 
to  its  pole.  Lawrence  had  aiwa3rs  some  novel  punishment 
for  such  offenders.  He  could  not  afford  the  time  to  have 
them  punished  criminally,  and  indeed  it  would  have  bees 
difficult  in  a  court  of  justice  to  have  brought  home  the 
charges  to  conviction. 

'  He  gave  himself,'  continues  the  narrator^  '  little  rest 
even  at  night.  I  was  called  up  at  all  hours  to  take  a  meri- 
dian altitude  of  Sirius  or  some  other  star  for  the  latitude,  or 
an  elongation  of  Polaris  to  test  our  meridian  line,  and  not 
unfrequently  more  for  fun  than  utility,  for  a  lunar  observ- 
ation, which  we  called  '^  humbugging  the  stars  5  "  for  we 
could  seldom  come  within  twenty  miles  of  our  exact  longi- 
tude, and  used  to  wonder  how  such  very  uncertain  observ- 
ations, with  their  intricate  calculations,  could  be  turned  to 

account  at  sea The  natives   employed   upon  the 

survey  evinced  great  aptitude  in  learning  the  use  and  great 
delicacy  in  the  manipulation  of  the  theodolite,  but  he  would 


^ 


1836— 37-J  REVENUE  SURVEYOR.  399 

not  employ  them  when  there  was  any  danger  to  be  appre- 
hended.    Thus^  on  one  occasion  after  his  marriage,  we  had 
to  enclose  a  large  tract  of  the  Dhoon,  at  a  season  of  the  year 
when  Europeans  had  never  ventured  to  expose  themselves, 
so  he  took  one  side  of  the  area  himself  and  gave  me  the 
other  side,  and  we  were  to  meet.     It  was  a  dense  jungle  at 
the  foot  of  the  Nepaul  hills,  intersected  with  belts  of  forest 
trees — ^a  famous  tiger  tract.     The  dews  were  so  heavy,  that 
my  bed  under  a  small  tent  was  wet  through.     Fires  were 
kept  constantly  lighted  to  keep  off  the  tigers  and  wild 
elephants,  which  gave  unmistakable  indication  of    their 
proximity,  and  it  was  not  till  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  that 
the  fog  cleared  sufficiiently  to  permit  of  our  laying  a  theo- 
dolite.    It  was  in  such  a  tract  that,  after  three  or  four 
days,  we  connected  our  survey,  and  when  we  met,  to  my 
surprise  I  found  Mrs  Lawrence  with  him.     She  was  seated 
on  the  bank  of  a  nullah,  her  feet  overhanging  the  den  of 
some  wild  animal.     While  she,  with  a  portfolio  in  her  lap, 
was  writing  overland  letters,  her  husband,  at  no  great  distance, 
was  laying  his  theodolite.     In  such  roughings  this  admirable 
wife  (a  fitting  helpmate  for  such  a  man)  delighted  to  share, 
while  at  other  times,  seldom  under  circumstances  of  what 
other  people  call  comfort,  she  would  lighten  his  labours  by 
reading  works  he  wished  to  consult,  and  by  making  notes 
and  extracts  to  which  he  wished  to  refer  in  his  literary 
compositions.     She  was  one  in  a  thousand ;  a  woman  highly 
gifled  in  mind,  and  of  a  most  cheerful  disposition,  and  fell 
into  his  ways  of  unbounded  liberality  and  hospitality  with 
no  attempt  at  external  appearance  of  luxury  or  refinement. 
She  would  share  with  him  the  wretched  accommodation  of 


400  Sm  HENR  Y  LA  WRRNCE.  [1836-37. 

the  "  Castles  " — ^little  better  than  cowsheds — of  the  Khytul 
district,  and  be  the  happiest  of  the  happy.  Or  we  would 
tind  her  sharing  a  tent  some  ten  feet  square^  a  suspended 
shawl  separating  her  bed-room  and  dressing-room  from  the 
hospitable  breakfast-table  3  and  then  both  were  in  thdr 
glory.  No  man  ever  devoted  himself  more  entirely  to  what 
he  considered  his  duty  to  the  State,  but  it  did  not  prevent 
his  devotion  to  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  his  fellow- 
creatures,  whether  European  or  Native,  and  no  man  in 
either  duty  ever  had  a  better  helpmate  than  he  had  in  his 
wife.  It  was  one  day,  when  on  leave  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health,  that  these  two,  in  happy  commune,  were  reclining 
on  the  side  of  the  Sonawar  mountain  opposite  Kussowlee, 
when  the  thought  occurred  to  one,  was  responded  to  by 
the  other,  and  taken  up  by  both,  that  they  would  erect  a 
sanatorium  for  children  of  European  soldiers  on  that  very 
spot.  The  result  is  well  known,  and  the  noble  institution, 
now  under  the  direction  of  Grovemment,  bears  his  honoured 
name.' 

These  were  the  famous  Lawrence  Asylums  of  which  it 
is  now  time  to  speak.  Almost  ever  since  he  had  entered 
the  service,  the  '  cry  of  the  children '  had  been  continually 
sounding  in  his  ears.  A  voice  had  come  to  him  firom  the 
Barrack  Square,  appealing  for  help  3  and  it  had  become  the 
darling  wish  of  his  heart  to  respond  to  it  in  a  befitting 
manner.  The  state  of  the  children  of  the  European  soldieiy 
was,  indeed,  such  as  to  move  the  compassion  of  all  who  had 
eyes  to  see  and  faculties  to  comprehend.  Even  in  the  hap- 
piest circumstances,  with  all  the  appliances  which  wealth 
can  furnish  for  the  mitigation  of  the  exhausting  efiects  of 


1837-]  GERM  OF  THE  LA  WHENCE  ASYLUMS.  401 

the  climate^  European  children  in  India  are  at  best  sickly 
exotics.  They  pine  and  languish,  with  pale  faces,  weakly 
frames,  and  fretftd  tempers.  Not  easily  preserved  were 
the  lives  of  these  little  ones,  though  tenderly  nurtured  and 
jealously  protected  against  all  adverse  influences  5  amidst 
the  draggings-up  of  the  barracks  it  was  a  mercy  and  a 
miracle  if  any  were  preserved  at  all.  The  mortality  among 
the  children  of  the  European  soldiery  was,  statistically, 
*  frightful  3  *  but  more  fnghtful,  perhaps,  the  life  of  the  few 
who  were  rescued  from  death.  The  moral  atmosphere  of 
the  Barrack  Square  was  not  less  enervating  and  destroying 
than  the  physical  3  for  the  children  saw  and  heard  there 
what  should  not  have  been  revealed  to  their  young  senses ; 
and  the  freshness  and  beauty  of  innocence  were  utterly  un- 
known among  them.  Seeing  this,  and  thinking  over  it, 
very  wisely  and  compassionately,  Henry  Lawrence,  whilst 
yet  a  young  man,  conceived  the  idea  of  rescuing  these  poor 
children,  body  and  soul,  from  the  polluting  atmosphere  of 
the  barracks,  and  he  ardently  longed  for  the  time  when, 
out  of  the  abundance  of  his  own  store,  he  might  provide 
healthy  and  happy  homes  for  these  poor  neglected  little 
ones.  To  transport  them  from  the  plains  to  the  hills,  to 
place  them  under  proper  guardianship,  to  give  them  suitable 
instruction,  and  ample  means  of  innocent  recreation — ^these 
were  his  cherished  projects.  He  saw  how  easily  it  could 
be  done — ^how  great  a  blessing  it  would  be  when  donej 
and  he  determined  that,  should  God  ever  grant  to  him 
worldly  wealth,  he  would  consecrate  a  portion  of  it  to  the 
rescue  of  the  children, 

VOL  11.  26 


402  S/H  HENR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR,  [1837-38. 

A  new  field  was  now  stretching  out  before  him. 
Whilst  he  was  still  in  the  Survey,  in  1838,  the  '  Army  of 
the  Indus  *  was  organized  for  the  invasion  of  A^hanistan. 
Eager  for  active  service,  Heniy  Lawrence  joined  Alexander's 
troop  of  Horse  Artillery,  which  formed  part  of  the  original 
force.  But  it  was  afterwards  ordered  to  stand  fast,  and 
though  for  awhile  he  was  disappointed,  the  disappointment 
paved  the  way  to  better  things.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
Henry  Lawrence  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr  (now  Sir 
Greorge)  Clerk,  who  for  many  years  ably  represented  Bridsh 
interests  on  the  North- West  Frontier  of  India,  and  secured 
to  himself,  as  few  have  done,  the  unbounded  confidence 
both  of  the  white  and  black  races.  He  saw  in  the  Artillery 
subaltern  the  stuff  of  which  the  best  political  officers  are 
made,  and  obtained  his  appointment  as  an  Assistant  to  the 
Frontier  Agency. 

The  war  in  Afghanistan  was  a  grand  success.  The  war 
in  Afghanistan  was  a  gigantic  ^ihire.  George  Lawrence, 
who  was  then  the  Military  Secretary  of  the  ill-feted  Minister^ 
Sir  William  Macnaghten,  was  endeavouring,  with  every 
prospect  of  a  favourable  result,  to  obtain  employment  for 
his  brother  in  the  Anglo-Douranee  Empire,  when  the  pro- 
digious bubble  burst,  and  the  whole  country  was  deluged 
with  blood.  An  army  of  retribution  was  then  oiganizedi 
and  with  the  force  under  General  Pollock  was  to  march  a 
Contingent  of  Sikh  troops.  With  this  Contingent  it  was 
necessary  to  send  a  British  officer,  nominally  to  be  the 
medium  of  intercommunication  between  the  British  and  the 
Sikh  commander  \  in  reality  to  hold  the  latter  to  his  alle* 
glance,  and  virtually  to  command  the  force.     To  this  post 


^ 


1838—42.]  A  T  PESHA  WUR.  403 

Captain  Henry  Lawrence  was  appointed.  It  was  one,  the 
luties  of  which  required  the  exercise  of  as  much  tact  and 
forbearance  as  of  constancy  and  courage.  The  Sikhs  were 
very  doubtful  allies,  because  the  tide  of  adversity  had  set  in 
upon  us  3  and  their  first  manifestations  were  of  a  most  dis- 
couraging character.  Whether  they  were  more  cowardly 
or  more  treacherous  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  our  first  attempt 
to  utilize  them  between  Peshawur  and  Ali  Musjid,^  was  a 
dead  failure.  They  evinced  only  an  aptitude  to  turn  their 
back  upon  the  enemy  and  to  get  in  among  our  baggage  and 
to  plunder  it.  It  is  not  improbable  that  if  any  serious  disaster 
had  overtaken  our  forces,  they  would  have  turned  against 
us,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  the  pillage.  All  this  was  very 
patent  to  Henry  Lawrence,  whose  energies  were  for  some 
time  expended  in  vain  attempts  to  make  them  do  their  duty 
as  allies.  Nor  were  these  the  only  vexations  which  dis- 
quieted him  during  that  sojourn  at  Peshawur  in  the  spring 
of  1842.  There  was  a  bad  feeling  among  the  Sepoys,  and 
I  am  afi*aid  also  a  bad  feeling  among  some  of  the  Sepoy 
ofiicers  5  and  Henry  Lawrence  wrote,  with  ineffable  disgust, 
of  the  things  which  were  openly  said  and  done  in  the  British 
camp.  He  made  no  attempt  to  disguise  his  feelings,  but 
wrote  and  spoke  so  strongly  on  the  subject,  that  his  utter- 
ances reached  the  ears  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  who 
took  ofi[icial  notice  of  the  subject.  Never  at  any  time  was 
Henr}'  Lawrence  more  eager  and  energetic  than  during 
this  halt  at  Peshawur.  He  was  ready  for  any  kind  of 
work,  and  little  cared  whether  it  fell  within  the  range  of 
his  own  recognized  duties,  so  long  as  he  could  be  of  service 
to  the  State. 


404  Sm  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCE,  [184* 


When  the  retxibutorjr  army  advanced,  and  it  bscame 
plain  that  the  fortune  of  the  Company  was  only  for  a  while 
obscured,  and  that  Pollock  was  pushing  his  way  on  to 
victory,  the  Sikhs,  who  thought  that  there  might  be  some 
'  loot '  obtainable  at  Caubul,  began  to  put  on  a  bolder  front, 
and  to  manifest  symptoms  of  increased  fidelity  and  good 
conduct.  Henry  Lawrence,  whose  brother  George  was 
one  of  the  captives  in  the  hands  of  Akbar  Khan,  was 
naturally  anxious  to  advance  to  the  Afghan  capital)  and 
the  General,  though  somewhat  apprehensive  that  his  Sikh 
friends  might  be  a  source  rather  of  weakness  than  of  strengdi 
to  him,  consented  that,  whilst  some  detachments  were  left 
to  hold  posts  in  our  rear,  a  compact  force  should  go  forward 
to  Caubul.  That  they  really  did  good  service  is  mainly  to 
be  attributed  to  Laurence's  admirable  management  of  the 
Contingent.  The  magnitude  of  later  services  somewhat 
dwarfed  what  he  did  in  Afghanistan  j  but  the  good  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made  was  very  apparent  at  this  time,  and  it 
was  plain  that  there  was  a  great  future  before  him. 

After  the  return  of  the  armies  to  the  British  provinces, 
there  was  a  brief  interval,  during  which  it  appeared  that 
the  good  services  which  Lawrence  had  rendered  to  his 
country  were  not  likely  to  meet  with  adequate  reward.  He 
fell  back  upon  his  Political  Assistantship  on  the  Frontier, 
and  at  one  time,  suffering  from  ill  health,  was  anxious  to 
return  to  England.  *  I  am  very  busy,*  he  wrote  in  August, 
'having  two  districts,  Khytul  and  Umballah,  and  being 
employed  in  the  Revenue  settlement  of  the  former.  Like 
many  others,  I  was  disappointed  at  the  distribution  of 
honours  j  in  fact,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  supposed  I 


1842—44-]  THE  NEPAUL  RESIDENCY.  405 

was  a  kind  of  Assistant  in  the  Commissariat  Department  to 
Mackeson.  However,  the  least  said  the  soonest  mended, 
so  I  have  tried  to  hold  my  tongue,  and  should  be  now 
packing  up  my  traps  for  England  but  for  my  Peshawui 
accounts,  not  an  item  of  which  has  yet  been  passed.  So  I 
suppose  I  must  fag  away  here  for  another  year  on  the  same 
pay  as  when  I  went  to  Peshawur,  being  less  than  if  I  were 
with  the  regiment.* 

Better  days,  however,  were  now  about  to  dawn  upon 
him.  After  a  while.  Lord  EUenborough  selected  him  to 
fill  the  important  and  well-salaried  office  of  Resident  at  the 
Court  of  Nepaul.  There  was  not  much  active  work  to  be 
done  at  Katamandoo.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Resident,  at 
that  time,  rather  to  wait  and  watch,  than  to  interfere  over- 
much in  the  afiairs  of  the  Nepaul  Durbar.  So  Henry 
Lawrence,  at  this  period  of  his  career,  had  more  time  pro- 
fessionally unoccupied  than  at  any  other.  That  he  would 
turn  it  to  good  account  in  one  way  or  another  was  certain. 
The  way  was  soon  determined  by  an  accident.  It  had 
occurred  to  me,  then  residing  in  Calcutta,  to  establish  a 
review,  similar  in  form  and  character  to  the  Edinburgh,  the 
Quarterly,  and  the  /i^j^m/er  Reviews,  but  devoted  entirely 
to  Indian  subjects  and  questions.  It  was  a  bold  and  seem- 
ingly a  hopeless  experiment,  and  I  expected  that  it  would 
last  out  a  few  numbers  and  then  die,  leaving  me  perhaps  a 
poorer  man  than  before.  Its  success  astonished  no  one 
more  than  myself.  That  it  did  succeed  is,  in  no  small 
measure,  attributable  to  the  strenuous  support  of  Henry 
Lawrence.  It  was  precisely  the  organ  for  which  he  had 
long  been  wishing  as  a  vehicle  for  the  expression  of  his 


4o6  S/H  HBNR  Y  LA  WRENCB.  [1844. 


thoughts  'y  and  perhaps  his  kindly  heart  was  moved  to  take 
a  stronger  interest  in  it  by  the  fact  that  it  was  the  project 
and  under  the  peculiar  care  of  one  who  had  once  been  a 
brother-officer  in  the  same  distinguished  corps^  though  at 
that  time  we  had  never  m«t.*  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  my 
intention  to  start  the  Calcutta  Review,  he  promised  to  con- 
tribute to  every  number.  The  first  number  was  too  &r 
advanced  for  me  to  avail  myself  of  his  aid.  To  this  number 
Dr  Duff  contributed  one  article ;  Captain  Marsh,  of  the 
Bengal  Cavalxy,  an  earnest-minded  and  singularly-gifted 
man,  contributed  another )  and  the  editor  wrote  all  the 
rest.  To  the  second  number  Henry  Lawrence  contributed 
a  long  and  very  interesting  chapter  of  Punjabee  history; 
the  other  contributors^  besides  the  editor,  being  Mr  Marsh- 
man,  of  the  Friend  of  India,  now  so  honourably  known  to 
European  literature  by  his  History  of  the  Serampore  Misskm, 
and  his  excellent  Life  of  Havelock  ;  Dr  Dufi;  and  his  col- 
league, the  Rev.  Thomas  Smith.  After  this,  Lawience'i 
contributions  became  more  numerous.  He  generallj 
furnished  two  or  three  papers  to  each  number  of  the 
Review.  His  fertility,  indeed,  was  marvellous.  I  have  a 
letter  before  me,  in  which  he  undertook  to  supply  to  ODe 
number  four  articles,  comprising  a  h\mdred  and  ten  pages. 
His  contributions  were  gravid  with  matter  of  the  best  kind 

*  Henry  Lawrence  had  before  this  time  contributed  to  some  of 
the  up-country  journals,  especially  to  the  Delhi  GazttU,  in  which  he 
published  a  series  of  most  interesting  papers  under  the  title  of  the 
*  Adventurer  in  the  Punjab,'  in  which  truth  was  blended  with  fiction. 
They  were  afterwards  published  by  Mr  Colbum,  with  the  authoi's 
name  on  the  tide-page. 


t844.]  ^^  VIE  WER,  407 


— important  facts  accompanied  by  weighty  opinions  and 
wise  suggestions.     But  he  was  always  deploring,  and  not 
without  reason,  his  want  of  literary  skill.     This  want  would 
have  been  a  sore  trial  to  an  editor,  if  it  had  not  been  ac- 
companied by  the  self-knowledge  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  charming  candour  and  modesty  about 
him  as  a  writer :  an  utter  absence  of  vanity,  opinionative- 
ness,  and  sensitive  egotism  about  small  things.     He  was 
eag^r  in  his  exhortations  to  the  editor  to  '  cut  and  prune.* 
He  tried  hard  to  improve  his  style,  and  wrote  that  with 
this  object  he  had  been  reading  Macaulay*s  Essays  and 
studjdng  Lindley  Murray.     On  one  occasion,  but  one  only, 
he  was  vexed  by  the  manner  in  which  the  editorial  author- 
ity had  been  exercised.     In  an  article  on  the  ^Military 
Defence  of  our  Indian  Empire,*  which,  seen  by  the  light  of 
subsequent  events,  has  quite  a  flush  of  prophecy  upon  it,  he 
had  insisted,  more  strongly  than  the  editor  liked  at  the 
•  time,  on  the  duty  of  a  Government  being  at  all  times  pre- 
pared for  war.     Certain  events,  then  painfully  fresh  in  the 
public  mind,  had  given  the  editor  somewhat  ultra-pacific 
tendencies,  and  in  the  course  of  the  correspondence  he 
must  have  expressed  his  opinions  over-strongly,  by  apply- 
ing the  epithet  ^abominable*  to  certain  doctrines  which 
I/awrence  held  more  in  favour.     'When  you  know  me 
better,*  he  wrote  in  reply,  'you  will  not  think  that  I  can 
advocate  anything  abominable.*     And  nothing  was  more 
true.     The  contributor  was  right,  and  the  editor  was  wrong. 
But  although   Lawrence  was   properly  tenacious   of  his 
principles,  he  was,  as  I  have  said,  very  modest  in  his  esti- 
mate of  his  style,  and  as  his  handwriting  was  not  the  most 


4o»  S/J^  HENRY  LA  WHENCE.  [1844. 

legible  iu  the  worlds  and  as  the  copyists  whom  he  tried 
only  made  matters  worse^  there  was  sometinijes  ludicrous 
confusion  in  his  sentences  as  they  came  from  the  hands  of 
the  native  printer.  But,  full  of  solid  information  as  tbe^ 
ever  were,  the  articles  more  than  repaid  any  amount  of 
editorial  trouble,  and  when  they  appeared,  were  generally 
the  most  popular  contributions  to  each  number  of  the 
Review.  He  continued  to  the  end  of  his  life  to  contribute 
at  intervals  to  this  publication,  and  was,  when  the  rebeUion 
ot  i8j7  broke  out,  employed  on  a  review  of  the  'Life  of 
Sir  John  Malcolm,*  which  he  never  lived  to  complete. 

In  his  literary  labours  at  this  time  Henry  Lawrence  was 
greatly  assisted  by  his  admirable  wife,  who  not  only  aided 
him  in  the  collection  and  arrangement  of  such  of  his  facts 
as  he  culled  from  books,  and  often  helped  him  to  put  his 
sentences  in  order,  but  sometimes  wrote  articles  of  her  own, 
distinguished  by  no  little  literary  ability,  but  still  more 
valuable  for  the  good  womanly  feeling  that  imbued  them. 
Ever  earnest  in  her  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  otheis, 
she  strove  to  incite  her  countrywomen  in  India  to  higher 
aims,  and  to  stimulate  them  to  larger  activities.  In  her 
writings,  indeed,  she  generally  appealed  to  her  own  sex,  with 
a  winning  tenderness  and  charity,  as  one  knowing  weU  the 
besetting  weaknesses  of  humanity  and  the  especial  tempta- 
tions to  indolence  and  self-indulgence  in  such  a  counti>  as 
India.  And  so,  when  not  interrupted  by  ill  health,  as 
sometimes  happened,  these  two  worked  on  happily  together 
in  their  Nepaul  home  j  and  seldom  or  never  did  a  week 
pass  without  bringing  me,  as  I  laboured  on  in  Calcutta,  a 
bulky  packet  of  manuscript  from  one  or  other— or  both. 


i844— 45-]  COMMOTION  IN  THE  PUNJAB.  409 


And  I  do  not  dwell  upon  this  because  there  is  to  me  a 
pleasure — ^though  now,  as  both  have  passed  away,  a  mourn- 
ful pleasure — in  such  retrospects,  but  because  the  literary 
activity  thus  strongly  developed  was,  in  truth,  a  very  import- 
ant circumstance  in  Henry  Lawrence*s  career.  It  happened 
that  at  this  time  the  Punjab  was  in  a  state  of  extraordinary 
commotion.  There  had  been  a  succession  of  sanguinary 
revolutions.  One  ruler  after  another  had  been  swept  away 
by  the  hand  of  the  assassin,  and  as  the  Government  had 
grown  weaker  and  weaker,  the  army  had  waxed  stronger 
and  more  insolent,  until  at  last  the  military  power  thorough- 
ly overbore  the  State.  That  in  this  condition  of  affairs  the 
lawless  praetorian  bands,  who  had  long  been  vapouring 
about  marching  down  to  the  sack  of  Delhi  and  the  pillage 
of  Calcutta,  would  some  day  cross  the  Sutlej  and  attempt  to 
carry  their  threats  into  execution,  had  now  become  almost 
a  certainty.  The  British  and  the  Sikh  powers  were  about 
to  come  into  collision,  and  it  behoved  our  rulers,  therefore, 
to  think  well  of  the  work  before  them,  and  to  learli  all  that 
could  be  learnt  regarding  the  country  and  the  people  with 
whom,  whether  in  peace  or  war,  for  good  or  for  evil,  we 
were  now  about  to  be  nearly  connected.  The  best  and  the 
freshest  information  on  the  subject  was  to  be  found  in  Law- 
rence's articles  in  the  Calcutta  Review.  The  Governor- 
Greneral,  Sir  Henry  Hardinge,  read  them  with  great  interest 
and  attention,  and  saw  at  once  that  the  writer  possessed 
that  practical  knowledge  of  men  and  things  that,  in  the 
conjuncture  then  approaching,  would  render  him  an  invalu- 
able auxiliary,  and  he  longed  for  an  opportunity  to  call 
Lawrence  to  his  presence.     In  this  he  differed,  honourably. 


4IO  S/jR  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCE.  [1846. 


as  I  think,  from  many  others  in  the  same  high  station,  wliose 
prejudices  have  set  in  strongly  against  men  known  or  siu- 
pected  of  being  *  connected  with  the  Press.'  He  did  not 
see  that  a  pubHc  officer,  who^lnimful  of  knowledge,  desired 
not  to  confine  the  exposition  of  it  wholly  to  official  docu- 
ments, was  less  likely  to  prove  a  trustworthy  servant  of  the 
State.  So,  as  I  have  said,  having  learnt  from  Lawrence'i 
articles  how  much  he  knew  about  the  Punjab,  Hardinge 
was  anxious  to  employ  him  in  that  part  of  the  countiy. 


The  opport\mity  was  not  long  wanting.  From  his 
pleasant  retirement,  from  \ii&  library,  his  review-writiDg, 
from  the  dear  companionship  of  his  wife,  Henry  LiawreDoe 
was  summoned,  as  the  new  year  davmed,  to  the  north-west* 
em  frontier.  The  Punjab  was  in  a  blaze  3  the  Sikh  armyi 
after  much  vapouring  and  vaunting,  had  crossed  the  Sutlej; 
and  the  Commander-in-Chief,  with  the  Govemor-Greneral 
as  his  second  in  command,  had  fought  two  bloody  batdes, 
crowned  by  no  more  than  dubious  victories.  On  those 
hard-fought  fields  the  two  chief  political  ofiSicers  of  the 
British  Government,  Broadfoot  and  Nicolson,  had  been 
killed ;  and  the  choice  of  the  Governor-General  had  feUeo 
upon  Henry  Lawrence,  as  the  man  who  seemed  to  be  best 
fitted  to  take  the  direction  of  the  diplomacies  of  the  fix)ntier.* 

*  The  choice  lay  between  Major  Mackeson  and  Major  Lawrence. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Mackeson — a  gallant,  noble  fellow,  who 
was  afterwards  assassinated  on  the  Funjabee  frontier — ^had,  as  he 
wrote  to  me  once,  an  '  extreme  dislike  to  be  supposed  to  commmiicate 
with  any  public  writer.'    He  thought  it  would  be  injuxknis  to  kii 


1846.]  ON  THE  SIKH  FRONTIER.  411 


This  was  indeed  a  spirit-stirring  summons^  and  one  which 
was  responded  to  with  an  alacrity  which  overcame  all  ob- 
stacles \  and  ere  the  Sikh  and  British  armies  again  came  into 
hostile  collision^  Henry  Lawrence  was  in  the  camp  of  the 
Governor-Greneral.      He  saw  the  great  battle  of  Sobraon 
fought — ^that  battle  upon  which  turned  the  fortune  of  the 
empire  of  Runjit  Singh.     It  was  a  battle  not  only  hotly 
contested^  but  fairly  fought.     It  was  said  afterwards  that 
some  of  the  leading  Sikh  chiefs  had  betrayed  their  country- 
men^ and  sold  the  battle  to  the  English.     I  know  how  this 
unworthy  imputation  grieved  the  spirit  of  Lord  Hardinge, 
for  he  was  a  man  of  a  noble  nature^  and  incapable  of  con- 
niving at  an  act  of  baseness.     That  the  charge  was  untrue. 
History  may  now,  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  years,  solemnly 
declare.     If  any  man  had  a  right  to  speak  on  such  a  subject, 
it  was  Henry  Lawrence  3  for  the  negotiations  must  have 
been  carried  on  through  him,  as  our  chief  diplomatic  agent. 
His  denial  of  this  treachery  was  ever  most  emphatic.  '  Let  me,* 
he  wrote  to  the  author  of  this  Memoir  some  years  afterwards, 
'in  opposition  to  Cunninghame,  Smyth,  and   the  whole 
Indian  press,  distinctly  state  that  Ferozshuhur,  Sobraon,  and 
the  road  to  Lahore,  were  not  bought  5  that  at  least  there 
was  no  treachery  that  I  ever  heard  of  j  that  though  I  was 
with  the  army  as  political  agent  twenty  days  before  the 
battle  of  Sobraon,  I  had  no  communication  whatever  with 
Tej  Singh  until  we  reached  Lahore  \  and  that  although  Lai 
Singh  had  an  agent  with  me,  he  (Lai  Singh)  sent  me  no 

prospects.     But  I  know  that  the  choice  went  in  favour  of  Lawrence 
because  he  had  communicated  with  public  writers. 


412  S/H  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE.  [1846. 

message,  and  did  nothing  that  could  distinguish  him  from 
any  other  leader  of  the  enemy.*  * 

The  battle  of  Sobraon  having  been  fought  and  won, 
there  were  those  in  the  camp  of  the  Grovernor-General  and 
Commander-in-Chief  who  believed  that  the  war  was  onl^ 
then  commenced,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  march 
into  the  Punjab  with  a  large  army  and  a  train  of  two  h]m> 
dred  guns  for  the  siege  and  capture  of  Lahore  and  Umritsor 
— the  one  the  temporal,  the  other  the  spiritual,  capital  of 
the  Sikh  Empire.  But  Henry  Lawrence  told  the  Grovemor- 
General  that  the  war  was  over  ^  that  there  would  not  be 
another  shot  hred.f     The  portfolio  was  now  to  be  opened, 

*  I  may  add.  here,  that  Lord  Hardinge  most  emphaticaUy  and 
indignantly  denied  this  assertion,  as  he  narrated  to  me^  in  minute 
detail,  some  years  afterwards  at  South  Park,  all  the  ciicumstances  of 
this  memorable  war.  If  it  was  done,  it  was  strange^  indeed,  diat 
neither  Lord  Hardinge  nor  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  knew  anything 
about  it  Both  were  men  of  the  highest  honour  ;  and  I  cannot 
believe  that  either  told  me  an  untruth. 

t  See  the  following,  from  a  letter  to  the  author  :  '  Sir  Chaiki 
Napier  and  many  others  thought  it  was  most  dangerous  to  hold  die 
city  of  I^ahore  with  ten  thousand  men.  I  was  one  of  the  few  about 
Lord  Hardinge  that  told  him  the  war  was  over ;  that  there  wooid 
not  be  another  shot  fired  in  working  out  the  policy  intended.  Irnne^ 
Frederick  Abbott,  and  Benson  said  we  ought  not  to  cross  the  Sntlq 
with  less  than  two  hundred  heavy  guns  for  the  siege  of  Lahore  and 
Umritsur.  I  said  I  did  not  expect  that  either  would  stand  a  si^ 
and  that  I  was  sure  both  would  not.  Sir  Charles  Napier's  fimcy 
campaign,  as  given  in  the  book  on  the  Sindh  Administration,  would 
have  had  no  effect  on  the  war.  Had  Sobraon  been  lost,  any  success 
of  his  would  have  been  useless,  and  he  himself  in  the  Punjab  would 
have  been  unsafe,  while  Delhi  would  have  been  exposed.  Annexadoo 
kas  been  peaceably  effected,  but  we  have  no  right  to  suppose  that  it 


1846.]  RESIDENT  AT  LAHORE.  413 


and  our  policy  worked  out  iu  peace.  And  he  was  right. 
The  policy  was  a  policy  of  moderation  and  forbearance,  nor 
wanting  either  in  worldly  wisdom.  The  seizure  of  the 
Punjab  and  its  incorporation  with  the  British  dominions,  at 
that  time,  though  insisted  upon  by  many,  then  and  after- 
wards, as  a  thing  that  ought  to  have  been  done,  would  not 
have  been  just  if  it  had  been  practicable,  and  would  not 
have  been  practicable  if  it  had  been  just.  It  was,  in  fact, 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other ;  so  Henry  Lawrence  coun- 
selled not  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab,  but  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Sikh  Government,  fenced  in  and  fortified  by 
British  bayonets. 

But  the  materials  from  which  the  edifice  was  to  have 
been  built  were  utterly  rotten,  and  the  experiment  was  a 
failure.  All  through  the  year  1846  it  was  gradually,  but 
certainly,  going  to  pieces.  During  that  year  Henry  Law- 
rence held  the  post  of '  Resident  *  at  Lahore  j  but  he  was 
not  one  to  sit  idly  at  the  capital,  when  there  was  active 
work  to  be  done  in  which  his  personal  influence  might  be 
turned  to  good  account.  He  spent  three  months  at  Lahore, 
keeping,  by  the  exercise  of  that  rare  union  of  gentleness  and 
vigour  which  distinguished  his  character,  the  turbulent  ele- 
ments of  its  varied  population  in  control,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion at  least  being  in  danger  of  losing  his  life,*  at  the  hands 

could  have  been  so  Id  1846,  especially  if  Gholab  Singh  had  been 
opposed  to  us.' 

*  This  was  an  outburst  of  indignant  Brahminism  occasioned  by 
the  killing  of  kine  for  the  use  of  the  British  troops.  But  for  the 
extreme  forbearance  of  Colonel  Lawrence,  who  would  not  suffer  his 
escort  to  fire  a  shot,  there  would  probably  have  been  a  massacre. 


I 


414  S/Ji  HENRY  LA  WRENCR.  [1846. 


of  a  faiiadcal  and  excited  population.  This  was  in  April, 
1 846.  In  the  following  month  he  was  joume3ring  in  ad- 
vance of  a  British  force  towards  the  almost  inaccefloble 
heights  of  Kote-Kangra.  '  ELangra^'  he  wrote  to  me,  'is  a 
Gibraltar.  It  is  five  miles  rounds  and  has  one  aocessibk 
point,  which  is  defended  by  thirteen  gates,  one  within  the 
other.*  This  fortress  stood  within  the  line  of  a  tract 
of  country  which  the  Sikh  Government  had  under- 
taken by  treaty  to  surrender  to  the  British  \  but  the  Sikh 
commandant,  moved  by  the  fine  old  nationality  of  the 
Khalsa,  declared  that  he  would  hold  out  to  the  last,  unkss 
Runjit  Singh  himself  appeared,  to  demand  from  him  the 
keys  of  the  place.  But  there  was  no  point  which  the  Ben- 
gal Artillery  could  not  reach  \  and  before  the  end  of  the 
month  of  May,  aided  by  the  appliances  of  elephant  draught, 
our  heavy  guns  had  toiled  up  the  formidable  ascent  of  that 
precipitate  rock,  and  the  fortress  was  surrendered  without  1 
siege. 

Another  memorable  incident  of  this  pericxl  of  LiawreDces 
career  was  his  visit  to  Cashmere — the  country  of  Ghohd) 
Singh — a  country  which  he  had  before  much  studied  and 
written  about,  and  had  long  desired  to  see  with  his  fleshly 
eye  as  he  had  comprehended  it  with  the  eye  of  his  imagin- 

Writing  to  the  biographer,  some  time  afterwards,  Lawrence  said  : '  I 
look  upon  it  that  what  did  much  to  insure  the  peace  of  the  town  of 
Lahore  in  1846  was  my  hanging  the  Brahmin  ringleader  of  the  Cow 
Row  in  April,  1846,  when  the  shops  of  the  city  were  shatiUid 
Macgregor,  Edwardes,  and  I  were  brick-batted.  I  doubt  if  tbe 
first  day  at  Caubul  presented  a  worse  aspect  than  Lahore  did  thit 
day,  when  the  streets  swarmed  with  armed  men  attempting  to 
kill  us.' 


1846.  J  RESIDENT  A  T  LAHORE,  415 


ation.     Briefly  stated,  the  story  of  Cashmere  is  this :  At  the 
close  of  the  first  Sikh  war,  whilst  still  there  was  a  hope  of 
sustaining  the  empire  founded  by  Runjit  Singh,  it  was  de- 
creed in  common  course  by  the  victors  that  the  expenses  of 
the  war  should  be  paid  by  the  vanquished.     In  India  such 
payments  are  more  frequently  made  in  land  than  in  money ; 
so  it  was  agreed  that  the  province  of  Cashmere  should  be 
made  over  to  the  British  Government  in  fidl  settlement  of 
the  war-charges.     But  for  the  English  to  hold  Cashmere 
whilst  the  Punjab  was  still  an  independent  state,  was  clearly 
impossible  3  so  as  they  had  accepted  it>  in  place  of  a  million 
of  money,  it  was  made  over  to  Gholab  Singh,  the  great 
Jummoo  chief,  who  held  much  of  the  country  contiguous 
to  Cashmere,  on  his  payment  of  that  sum.     But  the  Sikh 
governor  of  Cashmere  was  by  no  means  willing  to  be  thus 
summarily  expelled,  and  he  hoisted,  therefore,  the  colours 
of  what  we  are  wont  to  call  rebellion.     Henry  Lawrence 
was  a  man  of  large  and  liberal  sympathies  j  and  perhaps  he 
may  have  seen  something  like  nationality  in  the  resistance. 
But  the  crisis  was  one  not  to  be  trifled  with  ;  he  saw  clearly 
how  much  depended  on  vigorous  and  successful  action.     A 
body  of  Sikh  troops — ^the  very  men  who  had  so  recentl} 
been  in  deadly  conflict  with  the  British — was  to  be  sent  into 
Cashmere  to  coerce  the  recusant  governor,  and  to  make 
over  the  country  to  Gholab  Singh.     With  this  force  Henry 
Lawrence  determined  to  go  himself,  that  he  might  throw 
all  the  moral  weight  of  the  Government  which  he  repre- 
sented into  the  scales  on  the  side  of  the  new  ruler.     There 
was  danger  in  front  of  him  as  he  went,  and  he  left  danger 
behind  him  at  Lahore  \  for  it  was  certain  that  the  Minister, 


4 16  S/J^  HENR  y  LA  WRENCB.  [184& 

Lai  Singh,  sympathized  with  the  rebels,  if  he  had  not  actu- 
ally iastigated  the  rebellion.  It  was  no  improbable  contin- 
gency that,  with  all'  this  treachery  in  high  places,  the 
hazardous  service  which  Henry  Lawrence  had  undertaken 
would  cost  him  his  life.  But  he  caused  it  to  be  quiedj 
made  known  to  the  Minister  that,  if  any  injury  should  be- 
&11  him,  his  brother  John,  who  was  left  in  charge  of  British 
interests  at  the  Sikh  capital,  would  cause  Lai  Singh  to  be 
seized  and  imprisoned.  The  hint  was  not  without  the  anti- 
cipated effect.  Colonel  Lawrence,  having  done  his  work, 
returned  in  safety  to  Lahore.  He  had  turned  his  hazardous 
journey  to  the  best  possible  account  j  for  not  only  had  its 
declared  political  objects  been  accomplished,  but  he  obtained, 
for  the  best  purposes  of  humanity,  a  moral  influence  over 
Gholab  Singh,  the  good  effects  of  which  were  of  an  abiding 
character.  It  is  altogether  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in- 
cidents on  record  of  the  moral  power  which  such  a  man  as 
Lawrence  may  exercise  over  the  Princes  of  India.  He  in- 
duced the  great  Jummoo  chief  to  abolish  Suttee,  female 
infanticide,  and  slavery,  throughout  his  dominions.  And  he 
so  interested  the  Rajah  in  his  great  project  of  the  Asylum 
on  the  hills  for  the  children  of  the  European  soldiery,  that 
the  Hindoo  chief  eagerly  offered  to  contribute  largely  to  the 
scheme,  and  by  his  munificence  helped  to  bring  it  to  per- 
fection. 

When  Colonel  Lawrence  returned  to  Lahore,  there 
was  stirring  work  before  him  at  the  Sikh  capital.  The 
treachery  of  Lai  Singh  had  been  placed  beyond  all  doubt; 
and  Lord  Hardinge,  having  determined  that  his  conduct 
should  be  subjected  to  formal  investigation,  deputed  his 


1846.]    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  REGENCY.    417 

Political  Secretary,  Mr  Currie,*  to  Lahore,  to  bring  the 
matter  to  its  legitimate  conclusion.  All  the  principal  chiefs 
expressed  themselves  anxious  that  the  investigation  should 
be  conducted  by  British  officers.  So  a  court  was  consti- 
tuted, composed  of  Mr  Currie,  as  President,  with  Henry 
and  John  Lawrence,  Greneral  Littler,  and  Colonel  Goldie 
as  members.  Sixty-five  chiefs  were  present  during  the 
investigation.  The  guilt  of  the  Wuzeer  was  clearly  estab- 
lished j  and  he  was  taken  out  of  the  court  a  prisoner  by 
Sikh  soldiers,  who  a  few  hours  before  had  been  members 
of  his  own  body-guard.  A  new  form  of  government  was 
now  to  be  established.  A  Council  of  Regency  was  insti- 
tuted, composed  of  eight  leading  Sikh  chiefe,  *  acting  under 
the  control  and  guidance  of  the  British  Resident.'  The 
power  of  the  Resident  was  *  to  extend  over  every  depart- 
ment and  to  any  extent.*  He  was  to  have  'unlimited  au- 
thority in  all  matters  of  internal  administration  and  external 
relations,  during  the  minority  of  the  Maharajah;*  In  other 
words,  the  British  Resident  was  to  be  virtually  the  ruler 
of  the  Punjab.  It  was  little  less  than  the  mantle  of  kingly 
power  that  was  now  to  descend  upon  Henry  Lawrence. 

And  truly  was  the  sway  that  he  exercised,  in  all  re- 
spects, most  benevolent  in  intention,  and,  in  many,  most 
beneficent  in  effect.  If  Lawrence,  and  those  who  worked 
under  him  at  this  time,  ever  promoting  great  schemes  for 
the  improvement  of  the  administration  of  the  country,  were 
guilty  of  any  error,  it  was  this — that  they  were  over-active 
in  their  humanity,  and  too  sudden  in  their  reforms.     So 

*  Now  (1866)  Sir  Frederick  Currie,  Bart.,  member  of  the  Council 
of  India. 

VOL.  ir.  27 


4i8  S/H  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCB.  [1847. 

Lawrence  himself  thought  at  a  later  date.  Writing  to  me 
on  the  subject  a  few  years  afterwards,  he  said :  *  Looking 
back  on  our  Regency  career,  my  chief  regrets  are  that  we 
did  so  much.  I  and  my  assistants  laboured  zealously  for 
the  good  of  the  country  and  the  good  of  the  pec^le  of  all 
ranks,  but  we  were  ill  supported  by  a  venal  and  selfish 
Durbar,  and  were  therefore  gradually  obliged  to  come  for- 
ward more  than  I  wished,  and  to  act  directly  where  I  de- 
sired to  do  so  only  by  advice,  as  honestly  anxious  to  prepare 
the  Durbar  to  manage  the  country  themselves.  The  baas 
of  our  arrangements,  however,  was :  first,  the  redaction  of 
the  army  to  the  lowest  number  required  to  defend  the 
frontier  and  preserve  internal  peace,  and  to  pay  that  armj 
punctually  3  second,  to  strike  off  the  most  obnoxious  taxes, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  to  equalize  and  moderate  the  assess- 
ment of  the  country,  and  insure  what  was  collected  reach^ 
ing  the  public  treasury  \  thirdly,  to  have  a  very  simple  code 
of  laws,  founded  on  the  Sikh  customs,  reduced  to  writing, 
and  administered  by  the  most  respectable  men  firom  their 
own  ranks.  For  this  purpose  I  had  for  some  months  at 
Lahore  fifty  Sikh  heads  of  villages,  greybeards  assembled 
under  Sirdar  Lena  Singh*s  eye,  and  they  did  prepare  the 

code  just  before  1  lefl  liahore  for  England I  must 

have  employed  the  chiefs,  or  imprisoned  or  banished  them, 
and  as  they  had  behaved  well  to  me,  1  was  in  justice  obliged 
to  do  the  first.  Gradually  1  could  have  weeded  the  ranks. 
At  Peshawur  I  had  got  an  old  officer,  feithful  to  the  ut- 
most \  in  a  year  or  two  1  might  have  got  similar  men  at 
other  points.  My  brother  Greorge  and  old  Greneral  Gholab 
Singh  did  wonders  at  Peshawur,  and  for  six  months  \Bfi 


1847-]    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  RECrENCY.     419 

matters  straight  there«  I  fear  if  the  same  game  were  to  be 
played  over  again^  and  we  took  six  months  to  recover  Mool- 
tan  fi-om  a  disaffected  chief  or  officer  in  this  year  i8j2^  that 
our  own  troops  at  Peshawur,  in  the  absence  of  European 
force,  could  hardly  be  restrained  fi-om  acting  as  the  Sikh 
army  did.  No,  we  cannot  afford  in  India  to  shilly-shally, 
and  talk  of  weather  and  seasons.  If  we  are  not  ready  to  take 
the  field  at  all  seasons,  we  have  no  business  here.  I  was 
very  fortunate  in  my  assistants,  all  of  whom  were  my  friends, 
and  almost  every  one  of  whom  were  introduced  into  the 
Punjab  through  me.  George  Lawrence,  Macgregor,  James 
Abbott,  Edwardes,  Lumsden,  Nicholson,  Taylor,  Cocks, 
Hodson,  Pollock,  Bowring,  Henry  Coxe,  and  Melvill,  are 
men  such  as  you  will  seldom  find  anywhere,  but  when 
collected  under  one  administration  were  worth  double  and 
treble  the  number  taken  at  hap-hazard.  Each  was  a  good 
man ;  the  most  were  excellent  officers.  My  chief  help, 
however,  was  in  my  brother  John,  without  whom  I  should 
have  had  difficulty  in  carrying  on.  On  three  different  oc- 
casions during  my  temporary  absence  he  took  charge  for 
me  3  the  first  being  the  ticklish  occasion  when  I  took  the 
Sikh  army  to  Cashmere,  and  when  I  was  obliged  to  tell 
Lai  Singh's  Wakeel  that  if  anything  happened  to  me,  John 
Lawrence  was  told  to  put  the  Rajah  (Lai  Singh)  in  con- 
finement. The  fact  was,  I  knew  he  was  acting  treacher- 
ously, but  trusted  to  carrying  the  thing  through  by  expedi- 
tion, and  by  the  conviction  that  the  British  army,  which  I 
had  got  Greneral  Littler  to  take  into  the  field,  was  in  our 
rear  to  support  or  avenge  us.  In  various  ways  John  Law- 
rence was  most  useful,  and  gave  me  always  such  help  as 
only  a  brother  could.' 


420  Sm  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCE.  [1847. 

In  this  necessarily  brief  record  of  a  good  nian*s  career, 
there  is  some  fear  lest>  as  I  advance^  the  hutory  of  Hexuy 
Lawrence's  charities  should  be  overborne  by  the  more  stir- 
ring incidents  of  his  active  Hfe.  It  may^  therefore,  be  set 
down  here  that  the  long-cherished  design  of  establishing  at 
a  healthy  hill  station  an  asylum  for  the  children  of  our 
European  soldiery  was  fully  realized,  and  that  fix)m  this 
time  he  began  to  see  the  good  fruits  of  his  beneficence 
fairly  before  him.  How  many  healthy  and  happy  children, 
now  grown  or  growing  into  useful  members  of  society, 
have  had  reason  to  bless  the  name  of  the  man  who  shared 
his  prosperity  with  them !  He  had  now  abundant  means 
of  doing  good,  and  he  gave  unstintingly  from  his  worldly 
store^  exciting  others^  by  his  great  example,  to  do  likewise. 
So  the  Lawrence  Asylum  flourished — a  great  fact — and 
grew  in  usefulness  as  its  founder  grew  in  years;  until, 
when  his  work  was  done,  the  Government  did  honour  to 
his  memory  by  adopting  it  as  their  own,  and  providing  for 
it  at  the  public  expense. 


So  all  through  the  year  1847  Henry  Lawrence  worked 
on  as  Chief  of  the  Council  of  Regency.  There  was  then 
what  appeared  to  be  a  lull  3  the  Punjab  was  outwardly 
quiet  3  and  so,  as  his  health  had  been  much  shattered  \fl 
the  work  of  the  last  few  years,  he  was  counselled  to  resort 
tathe  only  effectual  remedy — a  visit  to  his  fatherland,  ffis 
wife,  who  had  been  driven  home  some  time  before,  was 
turning  her  opportunities  to  good  account  in  making  ar« 
rangements  for  the  superintendence  of  the  Lawrence  Asylum} 


\ 


iS47— 48-]  IN  ENGLAND.  421 


and  he  was  most  anxious  to  ioin  her.  Moreover,  the  Go- 
vemor-General,  now  Lord  Hardinge,  was  turning  his  face 
homewards,  and  had  asked  Lawrence  to  accompany  him. 
There  was  no  man  in  aU  India  whom  that  fine  old  soldier 
more  admired  or  more  trusted  3  no  one  beyond  his  own 
family  circle  whom  he  more  dearly  loved.  The  aiFection 
was  reciprocal.  If  inducement  had  been  wanting,  the  in- 
vitation thus  given  to  Lawrence  to  become  the  travelling 
companion  of  his  honoured  chief,  would  have  rendered  the 
measure  of  his  temptations  irresistible.  As  it  was,  his  sense 
of  duty,  his  strong  conjugal  affection,  and  his  devotion  to 
the  best  of  leaders,  all  lured  him  away  for  a  time  from  the 
destroying  climate  of  the  East.  The  great  year  of  revolu- 
tions had  dawned  upon  Europe  when  Hardinge  and  Law- 
rence traversed  the  Continent  and  confronted  the  first 
gatherings  of  the  storm.  But  without  accident  or  inter- 
ruption they  reached  England — to  the  younger  man  almost 
a  new,  and  quite  a  strange  world,  for  he  had  not  seen  it 
since  his  boyhood,  and  he  was  then  in  his  forty-second 
year. 

There  were  those  who,  then  seeing  him  for  the  first 
time,  were  struck  by  the  remarkable  simplicity  and  un- 
worldliness  of  his  character.  No  man  ever  cared  less  for 
external  appearances.  There  was  no  impatience,  no 
defiance  of  the  small  jconventionalities  of  life,  no  studied 
eccentricity  of  any  kind,  but  his  active  mind,  ever  intent 
upon  great  realities,  overleapt  the  social  surroundings  of  the 
moment.  I  well  remember  how,  on  tlie  day  after  his 
arrival  in  London,  as  we  walked  up  Regent-street  together, 
and  met  the  usual  afternoon  tide  of  well-dressed  people^  he 


432  SIX  tiENR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR.  [1848 

turned  upon  me  an  amused  and  puzzled  look^  and  saying, 
with  a  humorous  smile^  that  all  those  fine  people  must 
look  upon  him  as  '  a  great  guy^'  asked  if  there  was  anj 
place  near^  at  which  he  could  purchase  an  overcoat  or  doak 
to  hide  the  imperfections  of  his  attire.  It  had  dawned  upon 
him  that  in  his  antiquated  frock-coat^  and  the  old  gr^ 
shepherd's  plaid  crossed  over  his  chest,  he  was  very  much 
unlike  other  people  \  and  as  a  few  paces  onward  brought  as 
in  front  of  NicoPs  great  shop^  he  had  soon  exchanged  his 
plaid  for  a  fashionable  paletot^  and  asked  me  '  if  that  was 
something  more  like  the  thing  ?  *  I  do  not  think  that  he 
cared  much  more  for  titles  than  he  cared  for  dress.  When, 
shortly  after  his  return  to  England,  the  Queen,  on  the  re- 
commendation of  Lord  Hardinge,  appointed  him  a  Knight 
Commander  of  the  Bath,  though  he  rejoiced,  as  a  lo3ral  and 
devoted  subject,  in  his  sovereign's  recognition  of  the  work 
he  had  done,  he  appeared  to  be  in  no  hurry  to  adopt  the 
new  prefix  to  his  name,  but  rather  to  cling  to  his  old 
designation  of '  Colonel  Lawrence.*  For  general  society  he 
had  no  taste,  and  he  was  glad,  therefore,  to  escape  from  the 
bustle  and  excitement  of  the  capital,  and  to  seek  restored 
health  in  the  country,  and  happiness  in  the  companionship 
of  the  nearest  and  dearest  of  his  friends. 

But  it  was  permitted  to  him  to  enjoy  only  a  brief  season 
of  repose.  Before  the  trees  were  bare  in  that  memorable 
year  1848,  news  had  arrived  fi-om  India  which  stirred  the 
very  depths  of  his  nature,  and  prompted  him  again  to  be 
up  and  doing.  The  Punjab  was  again  in  a  blaze.  The 
forbearance  of  the  British  Government  had  been  exercised 
in  vain.    The  experiment  of  a  Council  of  Regency  had 


1848.]  IN  ENGLAND.  423 


failed,  and  once  again  there  was  an  appeal  to  the  stern  arbi- 
trament of  the  sword.  When  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
rebeUion  of  Moolraj  and  of  the  mtlrder  of  Vans-Agnew 
and  Anderson  at  Mooltan  reached  London,  Lawrence 
came  to  me  greatly  excited,  to  ask  what  papers  and  letters 
I  had  received.  I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  of  his 
face  and  the  eagerness  of  his  manner  as,  now  and  then 
breaking  into  brief  emphatic  comments,  he  read  the 
details  which  I  was  enabled  to  place  before  him.  '  I  should 
have  sent  Arthur  Cocks,'  he  said  j  '  2l  steady,  cool-headed 
fellow,  but  full  of  courage.  John  and  I  had  settled  it  be- 
tween us  before  I  left.*  *  I  wish  I  had  been  there,*  he 
added,  *  I  would  have  gone  to  Mooltan  after  the  outbreak 
myself.*  He  said  that  the  place  could  not  hold  out  against 
British  Artillery — ^in  which  the  event  proved  that  he  was 
wrong  3  and,  judging  only  by  the  limited  intelligence  then 
before  us,  he  thought  that  the  rebellion  would  be  put  down 
by  the  Sikhs  themselves,  without  the  help  of  our  British 
troops.*  But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  we  had  not  to 
contend  with  the  rebellion  of  a  provincial  governor  but  with 
a  rising  of  the  whole  nation. 

Then  Henry  Lawrence  felt  that  his  proper  place  was 

♦  He  wrote  this  also  to  me,  on,  I  think,  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day :  *  I  don't  believe  that  a  British  soldier  will  leave  Lahore, 
and  I  am  sure  they  ought  not  to  do  so.  The  Sikhs  and  Politicals 
ought  to  have  it  all  to  themselves.  .  .  .  The  fort,  however  strong 
against  Runjit  Singh,  would  not  stand  three  days  against  us  even 
with  nine-pounders.  No  intelligence  has  been  received  at  the 
India  House,  as  I  gather  from  a  note  of  this  morning  from  Lord 
Hardinge/ 


424  S^^  HENRY  LA  WRENCE.  [184& 

where  the  war  was  raging.*  He  had  not  yet  regained  his 
health.  Loving  friends  and  wise  physicians  alike  counselled 
him  that  there  was  danger  in  a  precipitate  return  to  India; 
but  he  knew  that  there  would  have  been  greater  danger  in 
a  protracted  sojourn  in  England^  for  inactive  at  such  a  time, 
he  would  have  chafed  himself  to  death — beaten  his  very 
life  out  against  the  bars  of  his  cage.  Still  it  was  a  hazard- 
ous experiment  upon  the  physical  capacities  of  his  shattered 
frame  j  and  when  I  bade  him  ferewell  on  the  platform  of 
the  Southampton  Railway,  I  felt  that  there  was  nothing, 
under  Providence,  to  carry  him  through  the  work  before 
him  but  the  invigorating  and  sustaining  power  of  the  work 

*  Lawrence  himself  has  told  the  official  history  of  this — how  he 
was  *  permitted  to  return  to  his  duty  *  by  the  Court  of  DireCton. 
*  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  second  Sikh  war,'  he  wrote  in  the  Cal- 
cutta Reznewj  1854,  *  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Control,  desiring 
that  I  should  see  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  procured  me  an  audience. 
It  ended  in  his  Grace's  saying  that  I  ought  to  return  to  the  Punjab.  I 
expressed  my  readiness,  and  wrote  to  the  Court  offering  to  go  at  once. 
They  replied,  politely  ignoring  me,  and  leaving  me  to  act  on  my  own 
judgment,  as  I  was  on  medical  certificate.    I  was  disappointed,  bat 
perceived  no  hostility  in  the  Court's  act'    This  may  be  compared 
with  the  famous  answer  given  to  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  on  which  I 
have  commented  at  page  616,  vol.  i.  The  Court  were  no  *  respecters 
of  persons.'  A  very  distinguished  member  of  the  Indian  Civil  Service^ 
who  had  been  selected  for  high  office  under  the  Crown,  told  me  of 
the  disappointment  which  he  experienced  when,  on  tendering  his 
resignation  to  the  Court,  he  received  in  reply  a  letter  baldly  an- 
nouncing that  his  resignation  was  accepted.    There  was  neither  t 
word  of  regret  nor  a  word  of  praise  in  the  communication.   Knowing 
the  general  character  of  the  Court's  communications,  I  should  have 
been  greatly  surprised  if  there  had  been.    The  Company  was  a  good 
master,  but  very  chary  of  gracious  words. 


\ 


1849.]  RETURN  TO.  THE  PUNJAB,  425 


itself  the  strong  mind  repairing  the  waste  of  the  feeble  bod/. 
And  so  it  was.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  at 
Mooltan,  whence  he  pushed  on  to  the  camp  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and  arrived  to  see  the  disastrous  battle  of 
Chillianwallah  fought  by  the  British  and  Sikh  armies.*  He 
held  no  recognized  position  there,  civil  or  military,  but  he 
rendered  by  his  presence  an  important  service  to  the  State  3 
for  a  few  words  spoken  by  him  at  the  right  time  saved  the 
military  commander  from  committing  a  stupendous  error. 
After  the  battle,  which  both  sides  claimed  to  have  won. 
Lord  Gough  proposed  to  withdraw  his  army  some  five  or 
six  miles  from  the  scene  of  action,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
better  fodder  for  his  cattle.  Against  this  Henry  Lawrence 
warmly  protested,  saying  that  if  the  British  fell  back  at 
such  a  time,  even  a  single  mile,  the  Sikhs  would  accept  the 
fact  as  an  evidence  of  our  defeat,  and  take  new  heart  and 
courage  from  our  retrograde  movements.  Nay,  more  j  it 
might  be  said  from  one  end  of  India  to  the  other,  that  the 
English  had  retired  beaten  from  the  contest  in  confusion 
and  dismay.  These  arguments  prevailed  \  the  British  army 
remained  on  its  old  encamping-ground,  and  at  worst  it  could 
only  be  said  that  there  was  a  drawn  battle. 

It  need  not  be  told  in  this  place  how  the  errors  and  dis- 
asters of  Chillianwallah   were  retrieved  by  the  crowning 

*  Writing  to  me  from  the  Governor-General's  camp  on  the 
22nd  of  January,  he  said  :  *  Ileft  Mooltan  on  the  9th  of  the  month. 
Fancy  the  wretched  state  of  the  dawks,  when  I  say  that  I  brought 

the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  town  to  Lord  Dalhousie I  am 

to  take  charge  on  the  1st  of  February,  and  in  the  interim  I  am  doing 
what  I  can.  I  hope  I  was  usefid  both  at  Mooltan  and  with  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief.* 


496  SIR  HRNR  Y  LA  WRBNCR.  [1849. 

action  of  Goojerat,  which  placed  the  Punjab  at  the  feet  of 
the  English  conqueror.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  had  by  this 
time  resumed  his  post  as  Resident  at  Lahore,  and  plainly 
now  there  was  great  work  before  him.  But  what  was  to 
be  the  immediate  result  of  conquest?  As  the  dedsion 
rested  with  the  Grovernor*General  of  India,  and  Lord  Dal- 
housie  was  that  Governor-General,  there  could  be  litde 
doubt  of  the  answer  to  be  given  to  the  question.  Indeed, 
ever  since  the  Sikh  Sirdars  had  drawn  the  sword  against  us, 
and  thus  proclaimed  the  failure  of  our  half-measures,  good 
and  wise  as  they  were,  it  seemed  that  there  could  be  but  ooe 
issue  of  the  war.  Few  men  could  see  any  other  possible 
solution  of  the  difficulty  than  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab; 
but  among  those  few  was  Henry  Lawrence.  *  I  am  sony/ 
he  wrote  to  me  from  the  Governor-General's  camp, '  dial 
you  have  taken  up  the  annexation  cry.  It  vasy  now, 
after  all  that  has  happened,  be  in  strictness  just ;  but  it 
certainly  is  not  expedient,  and  it  is  only  lately  that  I  have 
been  able  to  bring  myself  to  see  its  justice.'  But  the 
Punjab  was  annexed ;  the  empire  of  Runjit  Singh  becamfi^ 
British  territory ;  and  from  that  time  the  name  of  Lawrence 
was  indissolubly  associated  with  the  govermnent  of  our  great 
new  province. 


The  affairs  of  the  Punjab  were  now  to  be  adnunisteied 
under  the  superintendence  of  a  Board,  of  which  Sir  Hemy 
Lawrence  was  to  be  President.  Associated  with  him  weie 
his  brother,  Mr  John  Lawrence,  then  a  rising  dvilian  00 
the  Bengal  Establishment,  and  Mr  Mansel^  of  the  ohm 


18490  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LAHORE  BOARD,  427 

service.     Under  the  controlling  authority  of  these  able  and 
experienced   men  were  a  number  of  younger  officers  of 
mark  and  likelihood,  many  of  whom  have  since  risen  to 
distinction.     Never  was  a  difficult  task  more  successfully 
accomplished.     All  the  turbulent  elements   of  Punjabee 
society  were  now  to  be  reduced  to  quietude  and  serenity  5 
out  of  chaos  was  to  be  evolved  order  3  out  of  anarchy  and 
ruin,  peace  and  prosperity.  Since  the  death  of  Runjit  Singh, 
there  had  been  no  government  in  the  Punjab  with  the  strong 
hand  by  which  alone  all  classes  could  be  kept  in  due  sub< 
ordination  to  each  others  and  the  soldiery  had  therefore 
been  dominant  in  the  State.    Their  power  was  now  broken  j 
for  the  most  part,  indeed,  their  occupation  was  gone.     But 
hence  the  danger  of  'disbanded  soldiers j  factions  grown 
desperate  j  *  and  the  great  question  was  how  these  praetorian 
bands,  and  the  Sirdars,  or  privileged  classes,  were  to  be 
dealt  with  by  the  new  Government.    If  there  was  one  man 
in  the  country  better  qualified  than  all  others  to  solve  in 
practice  that  great  question,  it  was  Henry  Lawrence  5  for 
with  courage  and  resolution  of  the  highest  order,  were  com- 
bined within  him  the  large  sympathy  and  the  catholic  toler- 
ation of  a  generous  heart.     He  could  feel  for  those  who 
were  stricken  down  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  stranger,  even 
though  they  had  drawn  the  sword  against  us — ^feel  as  a  man 
may  feel  when  another  stronger  than  he  cometh  and  taketh 
all  that  he  hath.     So  he  tried  to  deal  tenderly  with  the 
Sikh  chiefs  in  their  fallen  fortunes,  and  to  provide  honour- 
able employment  for  as  many  as  could  be  brought  into  the 
service  of  the  new  Christian  Grovernment.     What  he  did 
in  this  way,  and  how  he  wrought  mightily  to  make  British 


428  SIR  HENRY  LA  WRENCE,  [1849. 

rule  a  blessing  to  the  people,  may  be  best  told  by  himself. 
Whatsoever  might  have  been  his  opinioiis  on  the  subject  of 
annexation,  he  said  truly  that  he  *  had  worked  honestly  to 
carry  out  the  policy  ordained.*  The  many-sidedness  of 
that  work  cannot  be  better  dlustrated  than  by  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter  he  wrote  to  me  from  Lahore,  after  he 
had  been  for  some  three  years  at  the  head  of  the  Board  of 
Administration.  In  it  we  see  epltomi^d  a  history  of 
British  progress  in  the  East — we  see  the  manner  in  which 
men  reared  under  that  great  'monarchy  of  the  middle 
classes,'  which  so  long  held  India  as  its  own,  did,  by  (Hnt 
of  a  benevolence  that  never  failed,  an  energy  that  never 
tired,  and  a  courage  which  never  faltered,  let  what  might 
be  the  difficulties  to  be  faced,  or  the  responsibilities  to  be 
assumed,  achieve  those  vast  successes  which  are  the  historical 
wonders  of  the  world. 

*  It  has  been  our  aim,*  wrote  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  after 
giving  an  account  of  the  machinery  of  administration, '  to 
get  as  many  natives  of  the  Punjab  as  possible  into  office; 
but  as  yet  it  is  up-hill  work,  as  the  Punjabees  are  not  ao 
quainted  with  forms  and  rules,  which  are  unfbrtunatelj 
thought  too  much  of,  though  happily  not  so  much  so  as  in 
the  Provinces.  We  wish  to  make  the  basis  of  our  rule  a 
light  and  equable  assessment  3  a  strong  and  vigorous,  though 
uninterfering  police,  and  a  quiet  hearing  in  all  civil  and 
other  cases.  We  are,  therefore,  pushing  on  the  Revenue 
Survey  (you  know  I  was  for  several  years  a  revenue  sur- 
veyor) and  the  Revised  Settlement.  We  have  hunted 
down  all  the  Dacoits.  During  the  first  year  we  hanged 
nearly  a  hundred,  six  and  eight  at  a  time,  and  thereby  struck 


1849—52.]    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LAHORE  BOARD,  429 

such  a  terror  that  DaCoitee  is  now  more  rare  than  in  any 
part  of  India.  In  civil  justice  we  have  not  been  so  success- 
ful, or  in  putting  down  petty  crime,  but  we  are  striving 
hard  to  simplify  matters,  and  bring  justice  home  to  the 
poor.  In  seven  years  we  shall  have  a  splendid  canal,  with 
four  great  branches  from  the  hills  close  down  to  Mooltan, 
and  in  two  years  we  shall  have  a  magnificent  trunk  road  to 
Peshawur,  and  in  every  direction  we  are  making  cross-roads 
(in  the  Lahore  district  there  are  eight  hundred  miles  of  new 
road),  and  in  many  quarters  small  inimdation  canals  have 
been  opened  out  or  old  ones  repaired.  Colonel  Napier,* 
our  civil  engineer,  is  our  great  man  in  this  department. 
The  defence  of  the  frontier  alone  has  been  no  small  work, 
considering  we  have  done  it  in  spite  of  Sir  Charles  Napier. 
We  have  raised  five  regiments  of  as  fine  cavalry  as  any  in 
India,  and  as  many  corps  of  splendid  in&ntry,  also  six  regi- 
ments of  very  good  military  police,  and  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  cavalry  police  in  separate  troops.  These  irregulars 
and  military  police  have  kept  the  peace  of  the  country  5  the 
regulars  being  in  reserve.  There  are,  besides  these,  the  or- 
dinary Thannah  police,  employed  as  detectives  and  on 
ordinary  occasions.  They  may  amount  to  six  thousand 
men.  Not  one  shot  has  been  fired  within  the  Punjab  since 
annexation.  The  revenue  has  been  reduced  by  the  sum- 
mary assessments  about  thirty  lakhs,  or  twenty-five  per 
cent.,  on  the  whole  5  varying  from  five  and  ten  to  fifty  per 
cent.  The  poorer  classes  have  reason  to  be  thankful.  Not 
so  the  sirdars,  and  those  who  used  to  get  employment  under 

*  Now  (1866)  Sir  Robert  Napier,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Bombay  Army. 


430  SIR  HENR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR.  [1849-51. 

the  Durbar.     Of  these,  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  are 
out  of  employ.     Liberal  lite-pensions  have  been  granted; 
but  still  there  is  distress  in  the  higher   circles,  espedally 
where  parties  were  connected  with  the  outbreak.    In  the 
Punjab  there  is  not  much  less  than  twenty-five  lakhs  of 
jagheer,  nearly  all  of  which  has  been  inquired  into  and  re- 
ported.    In  this  department  we  have  done  more  in  three 
years  than  was  done  in  fifty  years  in  the  North-West  Pro- 
vinces.    Perhaps  I  expedited  matters  by  prohibiting  in  the 
Cis-  and  Trans-Sutlej  in  1846  any  resumption  until  the  case 
was  reported  and  orders  issued.     This  was  reversing  what 
some  of  our  officers  wished,  viz.  first  to  resume  and  then  to 
inquire,  perhaps  ten  or  twenty  years  afterwards !     We  have 
planted  thousands  of  trees,  so  that  in  a  few  years  the  re- 
proach of  want  of  verdure  will  be  wiped  off.     Serais  are  at 
every  stage  on  our  new  main  roads,  and  police  posts  at 
every  two  or  three  miles.  We  are  inquiring  into  educatioD, 
and  have  got  up  a  good  English  and  vernacular  school  at 
Umritsur,  where  one  hundred  and  sixty  boys   and  men 
attend,  many  of  whom  already  speak  and  write  EnglisL  I 
am  very  anxious  to  extend  vernacular  education,  and  to 
educate  Punjabees  for  the  public  service,  for  engineering, 
and  for  medical  and  surgical  offices.  ...  I  have  been 
twice  all  roimd  the  Punjab,  visiting  every  station,  and  stay- 
ing at  each  a  few  days.  I  have  not  missed  one;  and  thoogfa 
I  have  not  travelled  in  the  usual  style  of  Indian  governors, 
or  indeed  in  the  style  of  most  Collectors,  I  have  managed 
to  see  everything,  fi-om  the  bottom  of  the  salt  mines  at 
Pindadun-khan  and  Kohat,   to  Ladakh  and   Ishardo,  on 
Gholab   Singh's  northern  frontier.      Each    year  I   have 


ie49-52.1    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LAHORE  BOARD,  431 

travelled  three  or  four  months^  each  day  riding  usually  thirty 
or  forty  miles,  with  light  tents,  and  sometimes  for  days  with 
none  at  all.  Thus  I  last  cold  weather  rode  close  round  all 
the  frontier,  visiting  every  point  of  interest,  and  all  our 
posts,  small  and  great,  and  riding  through  most  of  the  passes^ 
from  Huzara,  by  Yuyufzye,  Peshawur,  Kohat,  and  the 
Derajat,  down  to  the  Sindh  Border.  Each  day  we  marched 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  sending  tents  on  direct  to  the  next 
ground,  and  ourselves  riding  long  circuits,  or  from  the  new 
ground  visiting  points  right  or  left.  At  stations,  or  where 
anything  was  going  on,  we  halted  one,  two,  or  three  dajrs, 
visiting  the  public  offices,  gaols,  bazaars,  &c.,  receiving 
visitors  of  all  ranks,  and  inspecting  the  Punjab  regiments 
and  police,  and  receiving  petitions,  which  latter  were  a  daily 
occurrence,  sometimes  a  couple  of  hundred  coming  in. 
"Whatever  errors  have  been  committed,'  he  said,  with  char- 
acteristic frankness,  in  the  same  letter, '  have  been,  I  think, 
from  attempting  too  much — from  too  soon  putting  down 
the  native  system,  before  we  were  prepared  for  a  better.*  * 
This,  indeed,  was  an  error  into  which  the  English  in  India 
were  somewhat  prone  to  fall,  especially  at  times  when  it 

*  I  must  necessarily,  in  a  brief  sketch  of  this  kind,  leave  very 
much  unsaid  that  it  would  be  pleasant  to  write  and  profitable  to  read. 
A  volume  might  be  written — ^indeed  has  been  written — ^about  t*is 
Pimjabee  Administration.  There  is  no  part  of  Lawrence's  career 
with  which  the  public  are  more  familiar.  It  may  be  noted  here  that 
he  has  himself  written  a  vigorous  defence  of  his  administration,  in 
reply  to  some  objurgatory  comments  of  Charles  and  William 
Napier.  It  appeared,  with  his  name  attached  to  it,  in  the  Calcutta 
RtvUw^  vol.  xxii. ;  and  is  full  of  interesting  autobiographical  de- 
tails. 


432  5/^  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE.  [1849-Sfc 

was  the  fashion  to  see  in  native  S3rstenis  and  usages  only  un- 
mixed evil. 

Upon  such  men  as  Henry  Lawrence,  work  of  this  kind 
had  ever  a  bracing  and  invigorating  eflfect.  He  could  toil 
early  and  late^  so  long  as  he  was  conscious  of  the  ability  to 
do  good^  and  could  feel  that  he  was  in  his  right  place.  But 
even  whilst  he  was  thus  taking  stock  of  past  and  estimatiog 
future  beneficences,  a  heavy  cloud  was  rising  which  soon 
overshadowed  the  serenity  of  his  mind.  Although  never 
f>erhaps  had  a  little  band  of  English  administrators  done  so 
much  good  within  so  short  a  space  of  time,  there  was 
something  in  the  machinery  of  the  administration  which 
the  Governor- General  did  not  wholly  like.  He  thought 
that  it  would  be  better  if  at  the  head  of  the  Government 
of  the  Punjab  there  were,  not  a  Board  of  three  Commis- 
sioners, but  a  single  Commissioner  with  undivided  authority. 
Perhaps,  if  all  the  members  of  the  Board  had  been  like- 
minded,  and  the  image  of  their  minds  had  been  a  reflection 
of  his  own.  Lord  Dalhousie  might  not  have  been  so  eage. 
to  change  the  system.  But  there  were  fundamental  diver- 
sities of  opinion  on  some  important  questions,  and  the 
Board  did  not  therefore  work  very  harmoniously  in  itself, 
nor  in  all  respects  concqrdantly  with  the  views  of  the  Go- 
vernor-Gteneral.  The  fact  was,  that  the  chivalrous  spirit  of 
Henry  Lawrence  was  grieved  by  the  prostration  of  the 
Sikh  nobility  and  the  ruin  of  the  privileged  classes,  and  that 
he  was  fain  to  lend  them,  when  he  could,  a  helping  hand  in 
the  hour  of  their  need.  And  he  did  so ;  too  liberally  to 
gain  the  full  concurrence  of  his  brother,  or  the  approval  of 
Lord  Dalhousie.     The  conflict  in  such  a  case  as  this  is 


i849-5a.]     PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LAHORE  BOARD,  433 

commonly  between  the  head  and  the  heart.  Henry  Law- 
rence  felt.  Lord  Dalhousie  thought;  the  one  sympathized, 
the  other  reasoned.  It  is  doubtless  an  evil  of  no  small 
magnitude,  that  when  by  the  strong  arm  of  qonquest,  or  by 
the  more  delicate  manipulations  of  diplomacy,  we  gain 
possession  of  an  Indian  principaHty,  we  find  ourselves  with 
the  entire  responsibilities  of  the  government  on  our  hands, 
and  yet,  owing  to  the  number  of  importunate  claims  to  be 
heard,  and  vested  interests  to  be  considered,  only,  if  we  are 
compassionate,  a  portion  of  the  revenues  at  our  disposal  for 
purposes  of  administration.  To  have  money  in  the  treasury 
is  to  have  the  means  of  doing  good ;  and  it  was  argued, 
with  some  show  of  reason,  that  it  was  not  right  to  injure 
the  many  for  the  benefit  of  tlie  few.  If  so  much  revenue 
were  alienated  in  the  shape  of  grants  of  rent-fi:ee  land,  or 
pecuniaiy  pensions,  the  amount  must  be  made  good  from 
some  source  or  other — either  from  the  particular  revenues 
of  the  province,  or  from  the  general  revenues  of  the  empire. 
The  tax-paying  community,  somewhere  or  other,  must 
suffer,  in  order  that  a  liberal  provision  may  be  made  for  the 
old  aristocracy  of  the  land.  Thus  Mr  John  Lawrence 
arguedj  thus  Lord  Dalhousie  argued.  Moreover,  with  the 
latter  it  was  a  great  point  to  prove  that  the  Punjab  was  a 
profitable  possession.  But  Henry  Lawrence  could  sympa- 
thize with  all  classes  5  and  he  could  plainly  see  that,  even 
on  economical  grounds,  it  is  sound  policy,  on  the  first 
establishment  of  our  rule  in  a  new  country,  to  conciliate 
the  native  aristocracy.  'So  many  over-thrown  estates,' 
says  Bacon,  'so  many  votes  for  troubles.*  Internal  peace 
and  order  are  economical  in  the  long  run,  though  the  con- 

VOL.   n.  28 


434  S/I?  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  Ii8s>-S3» 

tentment  to  which  they  are  due  be  purchased  in  the  first 
instance  at  a  high  price.  This  was  the  great  point  on 
which  the  brothers  difiered.  Lord  Dalhousie  sided  with 
John.  When,  therefore^  the  Board  of  Administration  was 
sentenced  to  death,  it  was  plain  that  Lord  Dalhousie  desired 
to  place  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  the 
civilian,  and  to  find  a  place  for  the  soldier  in  another  part 
of  the  country. 

Henry  Lawrence,  therefore,  offered  to  resign^  John 
Lawrence  did  the  same.  The  Governor-General  unhesitat- 
ingly chose  the  latter,  as  the  fitter  agent  of  his  policy  \  and 
the  elder  brother  was  appointed  to  represent  British  interests 
in  the  States  of  Rajpootana.  Lord  Dalhousie  endeavoured 
to  reconcile  Henry  Lawrence  to  this  decision^  by  saying 
that  the  time  had  arrived  when  the  business  to  be  done  was 
rather  that  of  civil  administration  than  of  military  or 
political  govenunent,  and  that,  therefore^  he  had  selected 
the  civilian.  But  I  think  that  this  only  added  new  venom 
to  the  poisoned  dart  that  was  festering  in  him.  He  was 
deeply  and  most  painfully  woimded.  '  I  am  now^*  he  said, 
'  after  twenty  years  of  civil  administration,  and  having  held 
every  sort  of  civil  ofHce,  held  up  as  wanting  civil  knowledge. 
...  As  for  what  Lord  Dalhousie  calls  training,  I  had  the 
best  sort.  I  trained  myself  by  hard  work,  by  being  put 
into  charge  of  all  sorts  of  ofEces,  without  help,  and  left  to 
work  my  way.  I  have  been  for  years  a  Judge,  a  Magistratei 
a  Collector  3  for  two  years  a  Chief  Commissioner,  for  five 
years  President  of  the  Board.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
details  I  have  yet  to  learn.*  But  although  he  never  ceased 
to  feel  that  a  g-^at  injustice  had  been  done  to  him,  he  wai 


X 


x8S3.]  AGENT  IN  RAJPOOTANA,  435 

^ , . JJ__I I     ■        ■    ■  ■■■■^IM^-l      -  -  -  _ 

sustained  by  that  high  sense  of  duty  which  was  the  guiding 
principle  of  his  life  \  and  he  took  large  and  liberal  account, 
with  all  thankfulness,  of  the  many  blessings  vouchsafed  to 
him — ^the  greatest  of  all  being  that  he  was  so  blessed  in  his 
domestic  relations. 


So  Henry  Lawrence  turned  his  back  upon  the  Punjab, 
and  set  forth  on  his  way  to  Rajpootana.  Once  within  the 
Rajpoot  territory,  he  began  his  work.  *  On  my  way  from 
Lahore,'  he  wrote  to  me,  '  I  went  about  right  and  left, 
papng  flying  visits  to  the  chief  cities  of  Rajpootana,  as 
Jeypoor,  Joudhpoor,  Ulwar,  Bhurtpore,  &c.,  and  have 
thereby  been  able  to  sit  down  quietly  here  ever  since.  On 
my  rapid  tour  I  visited,  to  the  surprise  of  the  Rajahs  and 
political  agents,  all  the  gaols,  or  dens  called  gaols,  and,  by 
describing  them  since,  I  have  got  some  hundreds  of  wretches 
released,  and  obtained  better  quarters  and  treatment.  In  the 
matter  of  gaol  discipline  the  North-West  Provinces  are  be- 
hind the  Punjab,  and  even  there  every  step  taken  by  me  was 
in  direct  opposition  to  almost  every  other  authority.*  There 
was  much  work  of  all  kinds  to  be  done  in  Rajpootana — much 
of  it  very  up-hill  work.  Traditionally  the  Rajpoots  were 
a  brave,  a  noble,  a  chivalrous  race  of  men,  but  in  fact  there 
was  but  little  nobility  left  in  them.  The  strong  hand  of  the 
British  Government,  which  had  yielded  them  protection 
and  maintained  them  in  peace,  had  enervated  and  enfeebled 
the  national  character,  and  had  not  nurtured  the  growth  of 
any  better  qualities  than  those  which  it  had  subdued.  They 
had  ceased  to  be  a  race  of  warriors,  and  had  become  a  race 


436  Sm  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  [i8S3-S4. 

* 

of  debauchees.  Sunk  in  sloth,  grievously  addicted  to  opium, 
they  were  not  to  be  roused  to  energetic  exertion  of  any 
kind  J  and  where  utter  stagnation  was  not  apparent,  the 
tendency  both  of  the  governments  and  of  the  peoples  was 
towards  gradual  retrocession  in  all  that  denoted  enlighten- 
ment and  civilization.  How  to  deal  with  these  Rajpoots  was 
a  problem  which  had  perplexed  British  statesmen  before  the 
days  of  Henry  Lawrence;  and  although  he  now  addressed 
himself  to  its  solution  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his  nature, 
he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  he  made  little  progress. 
'  As  is  usual  with  me,*  he  wrote  after  he  had  been  some 
time  in  Rajpootana,  '  it  has  been  a  year  of  labour,  for  here 
I  have  had  everything  to  learn.  Heretofore  I  have  had 
chiefly  to  do  with  one,  and  that  a  new  people ;  here  I  have 
twenty  sovereign  States  as  old  as  the  sun  and  moon,  but 
with  none  of  the  freshness  of  either  orb.  My  Sikh  experience 
gives  me  very  little  help,  and  my  residence  in  Nepaul 
scarcely  any  in  dealing  with  the  petty  intrigues  and  foolish 
pride  of  these  effete  Rajpoots.*  '  You  fire  right,'  he  wrote 
to  me  in  June,  1854,  'in  thinking  that  the  Rajpoots  area 
dissipated,  opium-eating  race.  Todd*s  picture,  however  it 
may  have  applied  to  the  past,  was  a  caricatore  on  the 
present.  There  is  little,  if  any,  truth  or  honesty  in  them, 
and  not  much  more  manliness.  Every  principality  is  more 
or  less  in  trouble.  The  Princes  encroach,  or  try  to  encroach, 
on  the  Thakoors,  and  the  latter  on  the  sovereigns.  We 
alone  keep  the  peace.  The  feudal  system,  as  it  is  called,  is 
rotten  at  the  core.  In  the  Kerowly  succession  case,  I  tdd 
Government  that,  according  to  present  rules,  no  State  in 
Rajpootana  could  lapse,  and  such  is  the  fact  if  we  abide  by 


x8S4.J  AGENT  IN  RAJPOOTANA,  437 


treatiei  and  past  practices  5  but  in  saying  so  I  by  no  means 
agree  with  Colonel  Low,  Shakespear,  &c.,  that  it  would 
not  be  worth  while  to  annex  these  States.  Far  otherwise  5 
if  we  could  persuade  ourselves  to  manage  them  by  common- 
sense  rules  they  would  pay  very  well.  I  hope,  however, 
they  will  be  dealt  with  honestly,  and  that  we  will  do  our 
best  to  keep  them  straight.  We  have  no  right,  as  the 
Friend  of  India  newspaper  constantly  now  desires,  to  break 
our  treaties.  Some  of  them  were  not  wise ;  but  most  were, 
at  the  time  they  were  made,  thought  very  advantageous  to 
U8.  It  would  be  outrageous,  now  that  we  are  stronger,  to 
break  them.  Our  remedy  for  gross  misgovemment  was 
given  in  my  article  on  Oude  in  the  Calcutta  Review  nine 
years  ago,  to  take  the  management  temporarily  or  even 
permanently.  We  have  no  right  to  rob  a  man  because  he 
spends  his  money  badly,  or  even  because  he  ill-treats  his 
peasantry.  We  may  protect  and  help  the  latter  without 
putting  the  rents  into  our  own  pockets.* 

There  were  two  matters  to  which  he  especially  addressed 
himself  at  this  time,  one  the  abolition  of  widow-burning  m 
Rajpootana ;  and  the  other,  a  thorough  reformation  of  the 
prison-discipline  of  the  States,  which  was  then  an  offence  to 
humanity.  On  the  first  subject,  I  had  written  to  him  en- 
closing a  letter  which  my  dear  friend,  John  Ludlow,  who 
had  ever  been  most  earnest  in  the  good  cause,  had  addressed 
to  me,  and  I  had  invited  Lawrence's  opinions  on  the  subject, 
well  knowing,  however,  that  he  needed  no  external  influences 
to  incite  him  to  strenuous  action  in  such  a  cause.  '  Thank 
you,*  he  wrote  in  reply, '  for  Colonel  Ludlow's  letter  about 
Suttee.     It  is  very  interesting.     Strange  enough,  I  did  not 


4^8  S/H  HENRY  LA  WRENCE.  [1854. 

know  that  four  out  of  five  of  the  States  mentioned  had  not 
put  down  Suttee.  This  office  was  in  such  frightful  confusioD, 
that  there  is  even  still  some  difficulty  in  finding  out  what 
has  been  done.  I  have  nearly  completed  the  arrangement  of 
the  books  and  papers  on  shelves^  and  indexed  the  former^ 
and  had  lists  of  the  latter  made.  Until  I  came  all  were 
stowed  away  in  beer-boxes^  &c.^  all  sorts  of  things  and 
papers  mixed  together,  and  the  mass  of  boxes  left  at  Ajmeer 
while  the  agent  to  the  Governor-Greneral  was  usually  here 
or  elsewhere.  Last  month  I  circulated  a  paper  caUing  for 
information  as  to  what  had  been  done  in  every  Principality 
about  Suttee.  I  was  induced  to  do  so  by  the  Maharana  cf 
Oodeypoor  ignoring  the  &ct  of  anything  having  been  effiscted 
at  Jeypoor)  and  by  a  Suttee  having  recently  occurred  in 
Banswara,  and  seven  in  MaUanee,  a  purgunnah  of  Joudpoor 
(Marwar),  which  has  been  under  our  direct  management 
during  the  last  twenty  years.  With  all  respect  for  Colonel 
Ludlow,  I  think  we  can  now  fairly  do  more  than  he  suggests. 
Twenty  years  ago  the  case  might  have  been  dlffierentj  but 
we  are  now  quite  strong  enough  to  officially  denounce 
murder  throughout  Hindoostan.  I  have  acted  much  on  thii 
principle.  Without  a  word  on  the  subject  in  the  treaty 
with  Gholab  Singh,  I  got  him  in  1846  to  forbid  infanticide, 
Suttee,  and  child-selling.  He  issued  a  somewhat  qualified 
order  without  much  hestitation,  telling  me  truly  he  was  not 
strong  enough  to  do  more.  We  were,  however,  strong 
enough  to  see  that  his  orders  were  acted  on,  and  Suttee  is 
now  almost  unknown  in  the  northern  hills.  I  do  not 
remember  above  two  cases  since  1846,  and  in  both  the 
estates  of  offenders  were  resumed.     I  acted  in  the  same 


18S4— 5S-]  AGENT  IN  RAJPOOTANA,  439 

manner,  though  somewhat  against  Sir  R.  Shakespear's 
wishes,  in  the  first  instance,  in  the  Mallanee  cases  \  but  on 
the  grounds  of  the  whole  body  of  Thakoors  having  since 
agreed  to  consider  Suttee  as  murder,  and  having  also  con- 
sented to  pay  two  thousand  rupees  a  year  among  them  as 
the  expense  of  the  local  management  (which  heretofore  fell 
on  Government).  I  have  backed  up  Shakespear's  recom- 
mendation that  the  sequestered  villages  should  be  restored. 
The  parties  have  been  in  confinement  several  montLs.  The 
Joudpoor  punishment  for  Suttee  was  a  fine  of  five  per  cent, 
on  one  year  s  income,  which  was  sheer  nonsense,  and  could 
never  have  stopped  a  single  Suttee.  Banswara  has  also  been 
under  our  direct  management  for  the  last  five  or  six  years, 
owing  to  a  minority.  The  people  pretended  they  did  not 
know  Suttee  had  been  prohibited.  The  offenders  have  been 
confined,  and  I  have  proclaimed  that  in  future  Suttee  will 
be  considered  murder.  Jeypoor  is  my  most  troublesome 
State.  The  Durbar  is  full  of  insolence.  We  have  there 
interfered  too  much  and  too  little.  Men  like  Ludlow 
would  get  on  well  enough  through  their  personal  influence 
at  such  a  place  5  but  the  present  agent,  though  a  well- 
meaning,  well-educated  man  of  good  ability,  is,  in  my 
opinion,  rather  a  hindrance  than  a  help.  He  seems  not  to 
have  a  shadow  of  influence,  and  lets  the  country  go  to  ruin 
without  an  effort  at  amendment.  And  yet  it  is  very  easy, 
without  offence,  to  give  hints  and  help.* 

Henry  Lawrence  had  always  a  strong  feeling  of  com- 
passion, such  as  stirred  the  depths  of  Howard's  heart,  for  the 
wretched  prisoners  who  were  huddled  together  in  the  gaols, 
without  any  classification  either  of  criminals  of  different 


440  S/Jd  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE,  [1855-^ 


degrees  or  even  of  different  sexes.  '  In  the  matter  of 
gaols,*  he  wrote  to  me,  *  by  simply,  durmg  a  rapid  tour, 
going  once  into  every  gaol,  and  on  my  arrival  here  (Mount 
Aboo)  last  year  writing  a  circular,  remarking  that  in  difierent 
gaols  (without  mentioning  names)  I  had  seen  strange  sights 
that  must,  if  known  to  beneficent  rulers,  revolt  their  feelings, 
&c.  &c.,  I  therefore  suggested  that  all  Princes  who  kept 
gaols  should  give  orders  somewhat  to  the  following  efi^ : 
Classification,  so  as  to  keep  men  and  women  apart  3  also 
great  offenders  from  minor  ones ;  tried  prisoners  firom  un- 
tried 5  ventilation  5  places  to  wash,  &c.  &c.  Well,  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  months  I  got  favourable  answers 
from  almost  all ;  and  heard  that  in  several  places,  including 
Jeypoor,  they  proposed  to  build  new  gaols.  At  Oodejr- 
poor,  my  brother  (Greorge  Lawrence)  told  me  that  they  re- 
leased two  hundred  prisoners  on  receipt  of  my  circular,  and 
certainly  they  kept  none  that  ought  to  have  been  released; 
for  when  I  went  to  Oodeypoor,  last  February,  I  found  not 
a  man  in  gaol  but  murderers,  every  individual  of  whom 
acknowledged  to  me  his  ofifence  as  I  walked  round  and 
questioned  them.  The  Durbars  do  not  like  these  visits; 
but  they  are  worth  paying  at  all  risks,  for  a  few  questions 
to  every  tenth  or  twentieth  prisoner  gives  opportunities  to 
innocent  persons  to  come  forward  and  petition.  No  officer 
appears  ever  before  to  have  been  in  one  of  these  dens.' 

But  although  in  these  ancient  Rajpoot  States  there  was 
much  room  for  the  exercise  of  his  chivalrous  benevolencei 
he  did  not  greatly  rejoice  in  the  ofiice  that  he  held,  and  be 
never  ceased  to  think  that  he  had  been '  shelved.'  Writing  to 
an  old  friend  fi-om  Mount  Aboo, he  thus  unburdened  himself: 


X8SS— S^O      .         AGENT  IN  RAJPOOT  AN  A.  441 

*  This  is  really  a  heavenly  place  \  Cashmere  and  Nepaul  m 
miniature.  I  ought  to  be  happy  here,  but  I  bother  my- 
self with  many  thiqgs  present  and  past.  The  present  are, 
that  my  Rajpoot  chiefs  are  very  foolish,  and  are  runnmg 
their  heads  into  the  annexation  net  3  especially  the  Oodey- 
poor  people.  I  do  not  know  which  is  most  perverse  and 
foolish,  the  Maharana  or  the  chiefs.  I  have  staved  off 
coercion  hitherto  \  but  I  fear  it  will  eventually  be  neces- 
sary,, and,  when  once  begun,  who  knows  where  it  will  end  ? 
I  tell  them  all  this  daily,  and  point  to  the  Punjab  and  Oude, 
and  show  them  that  I  am  ready  to  undergo  any  labour  for 
their  benefit  if  they  will  act  with  me.  But  all  are  full  of 
spite.  The  Maharana  expects  us  to  put  down  the  chiefs, 
and  at  the  same  time  will  not  do  them  the  commonest 
justice.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  chiefs  are  most 
contumacious.  The  Jeypoor  Rajah  is,  I  think,  the  best  of 
the  kings,  and  he  might  have  been  made  a  very  good  fel- 
low  had  he    been    tolerably    educated My   past 

troubles  refer  to  Lord  Dalhousie*s  treatment  of  me  after  my 
six  years'  successful  administration  of  the  Punjab,  where  he 
and  his  clique  strive  to  ignore  me  and  my  doings.  Bother- 
ing myself  on  these  matters  is  all  very  foolish  on  my  part. 
If  from  one  man  I  have  received  less  than  my  deserts,  I 
have  from  many  better  men  received  more  than  was  my 
due,  and  in  my  private  relations  I  have  been  blessed  as  few 
men  have  been.  I  hope  to  see  you  by  April  or  May.  I 
have  made  up  my  mind  that,  aU  being  quiet,  I  will  go  home 
next  March  for  six  or  ten  months,  according  to  the  leave  I 
can  get.  My  health  is  better  than  it  used  to  be,  but  I  am 
getting  worn  out,  and  cannot  stand  the  heat  and  exertion 


442  Sm  HBNR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR.  [1856, 


as  I  used  when  I  had  more  definite  illneas.  Mj  eyes^  too, 
are  failing  a  good  deal.  I  shall  be  glad  of  a  little  rest^  and 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  you  and  other  friends^  and  of  in- 
troducing Alick  to  India.  How  long  I  may  remain  in 
India^if  I  live  to  return^  will  depend  on  drcumstances;  bat 
at  present  I  have  no  vision  before  me  of  the  few  acres  that 
you  tell  me  would  content  you ;  though^  curious  enough, 
I  was  told  very  lately  by  a  friend  that  she  had  left  me  her 
best  farm^  in  the  south  of  England^  in  her  will.  But  I  must 
confess  the  ungrateful  fact^  I  am  a  discontented  man.  I 
don*t  want  money.  I  have  more  than  ample.  You  know 
how  simple  are  my  tastes,  how  few  my  wants.  Well,  I 
have  two  lakhs  of  rupees,  of  which  each  of  my  three 
children  has  s^jooo,  and  I  have  another  aS^ooo  to  spare, 
so  that  I  hardly  care  to  save  any  more.  .Money,  therefiore^ 
is  not  my  aim,  but  I  do  desire  to  wipe  away  the  stain  cait 
on  me  by  Lord  Dalhousie.  On  this  accoimt  I  really  be- 
lieve I  would  have  gone  to  Oude  had  it  been  ofiered  me^ 
though  the  chances  are  that  the  labours  and  vexations  there 

would  have  killed  me,  as  those  at  Lahore  nearly  did 

I  gather  from  your  silence  as  to  Persia  that  there  are  no 

•  _ 

serious  intentions  against  that  country.  The  more  we  ad- 
vance, the  more  we  must  expect  Russia  to  do  so.  It  is  the 
fashion  to  call  it  our  destiny  to  swallow  up  everything.  I 
wish  it  were  considered  our  destiny,  or  rather  our  duty,  to 
consolidate  what  we  have  got.  The  Serampore  weekly 
paper,  the  Friend  of  India,  which  was  Lord  Dalhousie^s 
organ,  and  is  conducted  with  great  ability,  is  a  peifect 
*'  Filibuster."  Almost  every  number  contains  a  clever  artick 


i8s6.J  AGENT  IN  RAJPOOTANA,  443 


on  the  dijty  of  absorbing  native  States^  resuming  jagheers, 
&c.  &c.' 

But  great  as  were  these  public  provocations,  his  residence 
in  Rajpootana  was  associated  with  even  a  more  bitter  trial. 
In  that  country  his  beloved  wife,  whose  health  had  never 
been  good  in  India,  sickened  and  died.  It  was  a  heavy,  a 
crushing  blow  3  and,  though  he  bowed  himself  resignedly  to 
it,  '  the  difference  *  was  keenly  felt  by  him  in  every  hour  of 
his  life.  The  loss  of  his  helpmate  preyed  upon  his  spirits, 
and  sorely  affected  his  health.  In  his  affliction,  he  some- 
times turned  for  relief  to  the  thought  of  his  children,  and 
meditated  a  visit  to  England  to  embrace  them  there ;  at 
other  times  he  turned  to  contemplate  the  great  restorative 
of  strenuous  action,  and  longed  for  some  new  field  on  which 
to  exercise  his  manly  energies,  and  in  the  proud  satisfaction  of 
duty  done  to  find  some  solace  for  his  private  grie&.  He  hoped 
that  the  annexation  of  Oude  would  afford  him  just  the  ex- 
citing work  that  he  coveted.  So,  when  Sir  James  Outram 
was  driven  home  by  failing  health,  he  ofiered  to  take  his 
place  at  Lucknow.  But  the  offer  came  too  late.  A  civilian 
had  been  appointed  to  the  post  3  and  so  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
fell  back  upon  the  alternative  of  a  visit  to  England  3  and  he 
was  about  to  carry  the  design  into  execution,  when  a 
succession  of  circumstances  arrested  the  homeward  move- 
ment. 

In  the  month  of  August,  a  report  reached  him  that  his 
brother  John,  the  Chief  Commissioner  of  the  Punjab,  had 
expressed  his  desire  to  take  a  fiirlough  to  England  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health.    The  rumour  turned  the  thoughts 


444  S//f  HENR  Y  LA  WRRNCR.  \\\^ 

and  desires  of  Henry  Lawrence  into  a  new  curr^t.  He 
had  never  ceased  to  wish  to  return  to  the  Punjab^  if  odIj 
for  a  few  months  \  and  now  the  opportunity  appeared  to 
lie  before  him.  So  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor- 
General^  Lord  Canning,  making  an  offer  of  his  services^ 
and  pointing  out,  at  the  same  time,  that  his  brother,  George 
Lawrence,  was  the  fittest  person  to  succeed  him  in  Big- 
pootana.  '  Some  months  ago,'  he  wrote,  '  I  mentioned  to 
your  Lordship  that  Lord  Dalhousie  had  given  me  leave  to 
go  home  for  six  months,  early  this  year,  on  the  terms  of 
my  brother.  Colonel  G.  Lawrence,  Political  Agent  at 
Neemuch,  officiating  for  me.  I  was  prevented  going  bj 
the  unsettled  state  of  affairs.  I  am,  however,  still  anxiooi 
to  go.  I  have  only  been  eight  months  in  England  for 
twenty-six  years,  and  my  son  will  be  coming  out  in  the 
Civil  Service  towards  the  end  of  next  year.  I  should  like 
to  have  a  few  months  at  home  with  him  and  to  bring  him 
out.  I  therefore  beg  of  your  Lordship  the  same  fiivoor 
that  Lord  Dalhousie  granted.  I  am  too  anxious  for  the 
tranquillity  of  my  charge  to  ask  you  to  put  my  brother 
into  my  place  if  I  did  not  think  him  qualified.  He  is  a 
year  senior  to  myself,  was  for  some  years  Military  Secretaiy 
at  Caubul,  and  for  about  five  years  successfully  managed 
and  administered  Peshawur.  He  kept  the  largest  division 
of  the  Sikh  Army — ten  thousand  or  twelve  thousand  men 
— ^to  their  duty  for  six  months  after  all  the  rest  of  the 
Punjab  was  in  a  flame  during  the  last  Sikh  war.  Even 
as  a  prisoner  in  their  hands,  the  Sikh  soldiers  and  chie6 
and  people  respected  him.  No  man  had  a  word  to 
say  against  him.     As  a  prisoner  in  Afghanistan,  he 


x8S«.]  AGENT  IN  RAJPOOTANA.  445 

equally  respected^  and  was  the  managing  man,  though 
there  were  several  of  his  seniors  among  the  prisoners.  The 
Afghans  trusted  him  to  visit  the  British  camp.  The  Sikhs 
twice  did  so.  His  views  on  Rajpootana  affairs  agree  better 
with  mine  than  those  of  any  other  man  who  would  be 
likely  to  succeed  me.  We  are  quite  agreed  that  it  is  best, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  let  the  Rajpoots  manage  their  own 
affairs,  but  that  where  there  is  interference  it  should  be 
effectual.     He  is  senior  to  every  officer  in  Rajpootana,  and 

indeed  to  almost  all  in  the  Political  Department 

Much  as  I  desire  to  go  home,  I  should  not  stir  if  there  was 
disturbance.  If  all  be  quiet,  I  should  like  to  get  leave  for 
two  months  to  take  a  rush  through  the  Madras  Presidency, 
and  then  embark  at  Bombay  about  the  middle  of  April  on 
six  months'  leave.  The  two  months  in  India  would 
enable  me  to  judge  whether  I  could,  without  anxiety,  go 
home.  While  I  am  on  the  subject  of  my  own  affairs,  I 
may  add,  as  I  have  heard  a  rumour  of  the  probability  of 
my  brother  John  going  home  on  medical  certificate,  that  I 
would  forego  all  private  views  about  home  could  I  thereby 
return  to  the  Punjab  even  for  a  twelvemonth.  Your  Lord- 
ship is  aware  that  I  served  on  that  frontier  for  many 
(eleven)  years,  and  that  I  only  lefi:  because  I  found  it 
difficult  to  agree,  on  small  matters,  with  my  brother,  and 
because  I  observed  that  Lord  Dalhousie  preferred  my 
brother  s  views  to  mine.  His  Lordship  refused  my  first 
offer  to  go  away,  as  I  coupled  the  offer  with  saying  I  made 
rt  under  pressure.  He  distinctly  repeated  that  I  was  per- 
fectly free  to  go  or  stay.  I  adhered  to  my  proposal  simply, 
as  I  have  said,  on  account  of  the  preference  for  my  brother. 


446  S/Ji  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  [1836 


1  felt,  however,  bitterly  the  termination  of  so  many  yean* 
successfiLl  labour.  I  have  not  communicated  with  1117 
brother  about  my  present  wish.  He  possibly  may  not 
desire  to  have  me  as  his  locum  tenens,  under  the  impreasioo 
that  I  would  upset  his  arrangements.  But  my  views  and 
opinions  are  far  different.  On  all  large  questions,  except 
annexation  and  the  treatment  of  the  native  gentry,  we 
were  well  agreed.  My  opinions  are^  that  an  officer  offi- 
ciating ^^r  another  should  make  as  few  changes  as  possible. 
I  am  sorry  to  trouble  your  Lordship  on  personal  questioDs, 
but  I  hope  it  will  not  be  considered  an  unreasonable  am- 
bition that  I  should  desire  to  return  to  a  people  among 
whom  I  spent  the  best  years  of  my  life,  and  to  a  province 
where  I  left  no  enemy  and  many  friends.' 

But  the  report  of  John  Lawrence's  intended  visit  to 
England  was  an  erroneous  one  3  and  soon  Henry  wrote 
again  to  the  Grovemor-General,  saying  that  he  had  dii- 
covered  it  was  a  mistake,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  wrote 
again  on  the  subject  of  his  contemplated  visit  to  England. 
'  With  your  Lordship's  permission,'  he  said,  *  I  propose  to 
avail  myself  of  your  sanction  to  proceed  to  England,  and 
to  leave  Neemuch  for  that  purpose  on  the  ist  of  Febmaiy, 
so  as  to  go  by  the  steamer  on  the  6th  of  March.  Mj 
health  has  been  for  some  months  so  indifierent,  that  time 
doctors  have  given  me  medical  certificates,  but  I  do  not 
propose  to  remain  in  England  beyond  the  end  of  autumn. 
Had  my  health  been  better  I  should  have  placed  myself  at 
your  Lordship's  disposal  for  serving  towards  Herat,  if  an 
army  go  in  that  direction,  though  I  sincerely  hope  that  no 
such  step  will  be  taken.     If,  however,  we  must  give  op 


rtS^— 57-]  THE  OUDE  COMMISSION,  447 

our  advantages  of  position^  and  seek  the  Russians  instead 
of  letting  them  destroy  themselves  in  the  passes,  we  need  at 
any  rate  to  send  a  very  different  sort  of  army  from  either 
that  which  went  in  1838-39  or  the  one  of  1842.  On  this 
point,  or  rather  on  the  army  question  generally,  as  your 
Lordship  did  me  the  honour  to  ask  my  opinion  when  in 
Calcutta,  I  beg  to  say  that  I  am  the  author  of  the  two 
articles  in  the  Calcutta  Review  of  March  and  September 
last,  the  first  on  the  '' Indian  Army,"  the  other  on  ''Army 
Reform."  The  question  is  one  I  have  long  had  at  heart, 
and  look  on  it  as  the  vital  one  of  our  Indian  Empire.' 
This  was  written  on  the  day  after  Christmas  5  but  the  new 
year  was  only  a  few  weeks  old  when  the  contemplated  visit 
to  England  was  abandoned,  and  Henry  Lawrence  turned 
his  thoughts  towards  a  new  field  of  beneficent  labour. 

The  administration  of  Mr  Jackson  in  Oude  was  not 
successfiil.  A  man  of  undoubted  ability  and  unquestioned 
integrity,  he  wanted  temper  and  discretion  5  moreover,  he 
wanted  sympathy  5  so  he  quarrelled  with  his  subordinates, 
and  failed  to  conciliate  the  privileged  classes,  whom  it  was 
the  inevitable  tendency  of  the  introduction  of  British  rule 
to  impoverish  and  humiliate,  and  who  ought  to  have  been 
dealt  with  gently  and  generously  in  their  misfortunes.  So 
after  a  while  Lord  Canning,  seeing  that  affairs  were  rapidly 
drifting  from  bad  to  worse,  removed  Mr  Jackson  from  the 
Oude  Commissionership,  and  offered  the  post  to  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence. 

He  eagerly  accepted  the  offer.  '  I  am  honoured  and 
gratified,*  he  wrote  to  Lord  Canning,  *  by  your  kind  letter 
of  the  9th,  this  day  received.    I  am  quite  at  your  Lordship's 


448  SIX  HENRY  LA  WRBNCB.  [1857. 

service^  and  will  cancel  my  leave  and  move  to  Lucknow  at 
a  day's  notice^  if  you  think  fit^  after  this  explanation^  to 
appoint  me.  My  own  doctor  (my  friend  £bden)  thinks 
better  of  my  health  than  any  other  doctor.  Three  other 
doctors^  whom  I  consulted  before  I  came  here^  replied  that 
I  certainly  ought  to  go  home.  The  two  Staff  doctors  at 
this  station  say  the  same.  But  Dr  Ebden  and  Dr  Lowndes, 
who  both  know  me  well,  say  that  my  constitution  has  that 
elasticity  that,  in  a  work  so  much  to  my  taste  as  that  in 
Oude,  I  may  be  able  to  hold  out.  Annoyances  tiy  me 
much  more  than  work.  I  went  roimd  Guzrat  last  month, 
several  times,  riding  thirty  or  more  miles  during  the  ds^, 
and  being  repeatedly  out  all  day  or  night,  sonaetimes  both. 
I  can  also  work  at  my  desk  for  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  at  a 
time.  Work,  therefore,  does  not  yet  oppress  me.  But 
ever  since  I  was  so  cavalierly  elbowed  out  of  the  Punjab  I 
have  firetted,  even  to  the  injury  of  my  health.  Your  Lord- 
ship's handsome  letter  has  quite  relieved  my  mind  on  that 
point,  so  I  repeat  that  if,  on  this  explanation,  you  think  fit 
to  send  me  to  Oude,  I  am  quite  ready,  and  can  be  there 
within  twenty  days  of  receiving  your  telegraphic  reply.  If 
Jimg  Bahadoor  will  let  me  go  iot  a  couple  of  months,  in 
the  hot  weather,  to  a  point  of  Nepaul,  near  to  Oude,  your 
Lordship  will  probably  not  object,  so  as  all  be  quiet  within 
my  charge.  I  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr  Jung  when  I 
was  Resident  at  Katmandoo,  and  I  think  he  would  be  g^ 
to  renew  intercourse.  If  he  will  not,  you  will  perhaps  let 
me  take  a  part  of  my  office  to  Nynee-Tal  or  Almorah,  for  a 
couple  of  the  most  trying  months,  if  I  find  that  I  can  do 
so  without  injury  to  the  public  service.     The$e  stations  are 


i8S7.]  CHIBF  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDB,  449 


but  two  nights*  run  from  Oude.  That  I  have  cot  abused 
my  license  to  live  at  Aboo  is  proved  by  the  fact  of  my 
having  been  marching  about  Rajpootana  at  one  time  or 
other  during  every  month  of  the  year  except  June.* 

No  better  appointment  than  this  could  have  been  made, 
but  the  wisdom  of  the  act  was  marred  by  one  fatal  defect : 
it  was  '  too  late.'  When  the  new  Commissioner  reached 
Lucknow^  he  found  that  almost  everything  that  ought  not 
to  have  been  done  had  been  done,  and  that  what  ought  to 
have  been  first  done  had  not  been  done  at  all^  and  that  the 
seeds  of  rebellion  had  been  sown  broadcast  over  the  land. 
He  saw  plainly  what  was  coming.  On  his  journey  to  Oude 
he  spent  some  little  time  with  an  old  and  honoured  friend 
—the  friend  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  account  of 
Lawrence's  Goruckpore  days — and  he  told  the  civilian  that 
the  time  was  not  far  distant  when  he  (Mr  Reade),  with  the 
Lieutenant-Grovemor  and  other  big  Brahmins,  would  be 
shut  up  in  the  fort  of  Agra  by  a  rebellion  of  the  Native 
Army. 

But  the  appointment  pleased  him.  No  higher  proof  of 
the  confidence  of  the  Governor-General  could  have  been 
afforded  to  him  j  no  more  important  duties  could  have 
devolved  upon  him.  How  he  wished  that  he  had  gone  there 
a  year  sooner  !  But  he  did  all  that  could  be  done  to  repair 
the  errors  of  the  past.  He  found  the  aristocracy — ^the 
Princes  and  the  nobles  of  the  land — ^bowed  down  to  the 
dust,  keeping  body  and  soul  together,  men  and  women 
alike  of  high  birth,  with  the  best  blood  in  their  veins,  by 
selling  their  shawls  and  jewels  after  dark  in  the  bazaars.  At 
once  he  took  up  a  duty  so  mercilessly  neglected  by  his  pre- 

VOU  II.  29 


450  SIR  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCB^  |;x8S7. 

decessor^  and  began,  without  wasting  time  on  pieliminarj 
inquiries — for  investigation  and  starvation  in  such  cases  are 
synonymous — to  pay  the  stipends  of  the  old  nobility.    But 
it  was  not  in  mortal  power  to  arrest  the  growth  of  the  rebel- 
lion, which  was  then  striking  deep  root  in  the  soil.    la 
other  parts  of  the  country  the  disaffection  which  was  ex- 
hibiting itself  in  the  spring  of  1857  might  be  nothing  more 
than  military  mutiny — a  mere  professional  agitation,  acci- 
dental, superficial  5  but  in  Oude  there  was  small  likelihood 
of  its  stopping  short  of  a  national  insurrection.     Firstly,  it 
was  plain  that  the  introduction  of  British  rule  had  turned 
against  us  all  the  great  territorial  chie& — feudal  barons  with 
large  bodies  of  armed  followers — ^and  all  the  once-powerfol 
classes  which  had  been  maintained  in  wealth  and  luxuiy  bj 
the  Court  of  Lucknow.     It  was  plain,  also,  that  the  di»- 
banding  of  the  old  native  army  of  Oude  had  scattered  over 
the  country  large  numbers  of  lawless  and  desperate  men, 
owing  their  ruin  to  the  English  usurpation.     But  plainest  of 
all  was  the  fact,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Sepoy  army 
of  Bengal  was  drawn  from  the  small  yeomanry  of  Oudej 
that  the  province  was  indeed  the  great  home  of  our  native 
soldiery,  and  that  in  every  village  there  were  numeroos 
families  sure  to  sympathize  with  the  malcontents,  and  to 
aid  the  efforts  of  their  sons  and  brothers  in  the  Company's 
Army. 


There  was  no  subject  of  which  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  had 
thought  more — none  in  which  he  took  a  deeper  or  mofe 
anxious  interest — than  the  condition  of  the  Sepoy  arnij* 


l8S7.]  CHIEF  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDB.  451 

For  many  years  he  had  lifted  up  his  voice,  vainly,  against 
the  defects  of  the  system,  and  vaticinating  evil,  often,  as  he 
said,  to  his  own  injury.  And  now  that  the  palpable  discon- 
tents in  the  native  regiments  were  filling  all  men  with  alarm, 
he  wrote  frequent  letters  to  the  Governor-General,  giving 
him  the  results  of  his  experience.  'I  have  recently,*  he 
wrote  on  May  ist,  1857, '  received  many  letters  on  the  state 
of  the  army.  Most  of  them,  attribute  the  present  bad  feel- 
ing not  to  the  cartridge,  or  any  other  specific  question,  but 
to  a  pretty  general  dissatisfaction  at  many  recent  acts  of  Go- 
vernment, which  have  been  skilfully  played  upon  by  incen- 
diaries. This  is  my  own  opinion.  The  Sepoy  is  not  the 
man  of  consequence  he  was.  He  dislikes  annexations, 
among  other  reasons,  because  each  new  province  added  to 
the  empire  widens  his  sphere  of  service,  and  at  the  same 
time  decreases  our  foreign  enemies,  and  thereby  the  Sepoys' 
importance.  Ten  years  ago  a  Sepoy  in  the  Punjab  asked  an 
oflScer  what  we  could  do  without  them  5  another  said,  '^  Now 
you  have  got  the  Punjab,  you  will  reduce  the  army."  A  tliird 
remarked,  when  he  heard  that  Sindh  was  to  be  joined  to 
Bengal,  *^  Perhaps  there  will  be  an  order  to  join  London  to 
Bengal."  The  other  day  an  Oude  Sepoy  of  the  Bombay 
Cavalry  at  Neemuch,  being  asked  if  he  Hked  annexation, 
replied :  '^  No.  I  used  to  be  a  great  man  when  I  went 
home,  the  best  in  my  village  rose  as  I  approached  3  now, 
the  lowest  pufF  their  pipes  in  ray  face."  The  general  ser- 
vice enlistment  oath  is  most  distasteftd.  It  keeps  many  out 
of  the  Service,  and  frightens  the  old  Sepoys,  who  imagine 
that  the  oaths  of  the  young  recruits  affect  the  whole  regi- 
ment.    One  of  the  best  captains  of  the  13th  Native  In- 


4sa  SIR  HENRY  LAWRBNCB.  Ix8S7 

fantiy  (at  this  place)  said  to  me^  last  week^  he  has  dearlj 
ascertained  this  fact*  Mr  £.  A.  Reade^  of  the  Sudder 
Boards  who  was  for  years  Collector  of  Gronickpore^  had 
''  the  General  Service  Order  **  given  to  him  as  a  reason, 
last  year^  when  on  his  tour^  hy  many  Rajpoots^  for  not 
entering  the  Service.  *'  The  Salt  Water,"  he  told  me,  was 
the  universal  answer.  The  new  Post-office  rules  are  bitter 
grievances  \  indeed,  the  nativp  community  generally  sufier 
by  them.  But  the  Sepoy,  having  had  special  privil^;e8» 
feels  this  deprivation  in  addition  to  the  general  uncertainty 
as  to  letters  3  nay,  rather  the  positive  certainty  of  not  getting 
them.  There  are  many  other  points  which  might  with 
great  advantage  be  redressed,  which,  if  yoiir  Lordship  will 
permit  me,  I  will  submit  with  extracts  from  some  of  the 
letters  I  have  received  from  old  regimental  ofEcers.  In  the 
words  of  one  of  them :  ^'  If  the  Sepoy  is  not  speedily  re- 
dressed, he  will  redress  himself.'*  I  would  rather  saj, 
unless  some  openings  and  rewards  are  offered  to  the  military, 
as  have  been  to  the  native  civil  servants,  and  unless  certain 
matters  are  righted,  we  shall  be  perpetually  subjected  to 
our  present  condition  of  affairs.  The  Sepoy  feels  we  cannot 
do  without  him,  and  yet  the  highest  reward  a  Sepoy  can 
obtain  at  fifty,  sixty,  and  seventy  years  of  age,  is  about  one 
hundred  pounds  a  year,  without  a  prospect  of  a  brighter 
career  for  his  son.  Surely  this  is  not  the  inducement  to 
offer  to  a  foreign  soldier  for  special  fidelity  and  long  service. 
I  earnestly  entreated  Lords  Hardinge's  and  Dalhousie's  at- 
tention to  the  fact,  and  more  especially  to  the  point  that 
Jemadar* s  pay,  though  he  is  a  commissioned  officer,  second 
in  rank  to  the  highest,  is  only  twenty-four  rupees  a  month* 


1857-1  CHIEF  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDB.  453 

or  less  than  thirty  pounds  a  year,  while  the  average  age  of 
Jemadars  in  the  Bengal  army  is  not  less  than  fifty.  The 
pension  rules  are^  perhaps,  the  greatest  of  all  the  grievances. 
No  soldier  in  the  Bengal  army  can  retire  after  any  length 
of  service,  until  he  is  incapacitated  by  ill-health.  Recently 
the  rules  have  been  made  more  stringent,  and  scores  of  men 
sent  up  to  Committees  have  been  rejected.  Last  week  I 
8aw  in  the  13th  Native  Infantry  hospital  a  Havildar,  a  fine 
fellow  in  his  youth,  who  had  been  for  years  a  leper,  and 
another  who  had  been  for  nine  months  quite  lame.  These 
two  are  and  have  been  in  hospital  since  they  returned  a 
month  ago  fitom  the  Cawnpore  Committee.  The  regi- 
mental authorities  think  them  useless  as  soldiers,  yet  the 
rules  of  the  Service  oblige  the  Committee  to  send  them  back 
to  engender  discontent,  and  to  burthen  the  finances,  and  to 
encumber  the  raiment.  Some  months  ago  I  wrote 
officiaUy  from  Aboo  about  the  hardship  of  the  invalid  rules 
on  Irregulars.  Yesterday  one  of  the  Jodhpoor  Legion 
Soubahdars  was  with  me,  a  noble  old  fellow  of  fifty-two 
years'  service  3  two  days  before  a  more  infirm  Soubahdar  of 
the  Legion,  of  only  forty  years'  service,  was  also  with  me, 
on  his  way  home  on  leave.  Both  these  men  ought  to  have 
been  in  the  invalids  ten  years  ago,  and  probably  would 
have  been,  had  they  been  in  the  Bombay  army.  An  order 
allowing  retirement  on  a  small  pension,  after  a  certain  ser- 
vice, would  be  hailed  with  gratitude  throughout  the  Service. 
.  .  .  While  on  the  subject,  I  must  give  your  Lordship  a 
proof  of  the  estimate  in  which  ''The  Salt  Water"  (Kala 
Panee)  is  held,  even  by  the  most  rough-and-ready  portion 
of  the  native  army.     Last  week  an  invalid  Soubahdar  ot 


I 


454  S/Ji  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCS.  [1837. 

the.  Bombay  iSth  Native  Infantry  was  with  me  for  an  hour 
or  more.  Among  other  matters,  I  asked  him  about  foreign 
service,  especially  about  Aden,  whence  he  was  invalided. 
With  a  sort  of  horror  he  referred  to  being  restricted  to  three 
gallons  of  water  daily.  I  asked  whether  he  would  prefer 
one  hundred  rupees  a  month  at  Aden  to  fifty  at  Baroda 
(where  he  had  just  before  told  me  there  was  much  fever). 
He  replied  at  once,  ''Fifty  at  Baroda."  I  then  said,  "Or 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  at  Aden  ?  '*  His  answer  was 
to  the  effect,  ''  I  went  when  I  was  ordered,  but  life  is  pre- 
cious j  anything  in  India  is  better  than  wealth  beyond  the 
sea."  And  such,  I  am  convinced,  is  the  general  Hindoo 
feeling.  The  man  was  a  Brahmin,  but  a  thorough  loyalist 
He  had  just  before  told  me  that  he  had  stood  in  the  ranks, 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  outcasts,  and  that  at  Bombay  a 
man  would  jump  into  a  well  if  ordered.  The  reason  he 
assigned  for  such  implicit  obedience  was  the  greater  admix« 
ture  of  castes.  ''  We  are  not  all  one  there."  He  might 
have  given  another  reason  :  that  the  majority  are  fer  from 
their  homes,  also  that  the  army  is  comparatively  small,  and 
has  a  larger  proportion  of  Europeans.  Invalid  battalions^ 
or  regiments  of  a  Service  and  a  Home  battalion,  would  be  a 
boon,  and  would  make  the  army  more  effective.  The 
elderly  and  weakly  would  have  comparative  ease ;  the  en- 
ergetic and  the  young  would  have  active  employment 
Twenty  out  of  the  seventy-four  regiments  being  enlisted 
for  general  service,  would  meet  all  possible  necessities  for 
service  beyond  sea.  Mahomedans  and  low-caste  Hindoos 
would  fill  their  ranks,  and  would  give  more  contented 
Rajpoots  and  Brahmins  for  the  other  fifty-four,  or  say  e^en 


I 


1657-1  CHIEF  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDB.  455 

forty-four  regiments.     All  the  roads  are  swarming   with 
leave  of  absence  and  invalid  Sepoys.' 

On  the  following  day  he  wrote  with  especial  reference 
to  the  Artillery,  in  which  branch  of  the  Service  he  naturally 
took  the  deepest  interest :  '  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
fideUty  of  the  Artillery,  though  much  has  been  done  to  dis- 
gust many  of  the  native  officers,  because  they  don't  under- 
stand our  mounted  drill.  All  the  European  officers  are 
very  young  men,  and  therefore  look  to  mere  smartness. 
Lieutenant  A ,  a  mere  boy,  wants  to  invalid  two  Jema- 
dars, both  of  them  fine  soldierly-looking  fellows,  and  who 
know  their  duty  as  gunners,  and  are  good  riders,  but  don't 
understand  English  words  of  command.  One  of  them  is 
only  a  trifle  above  forty  years  of  age,  and  neither  of  them 
wish  to  be  invahded.  I  returned  the  roll,  and  a  rew  days 
afterwards,  being  struck  by  the  appearance  of  the  men  at 
mounted  exercise,  I  told  Mr  A we  should  think  our- 
selves lucky  to  have  such  men  as  native  officers  in  our 
regular  battalions.  His  reply  was  :  '*  I  protest.  Sir  Henry, 
against  my  batt^y  being  compared  with  a  regular  one,"  or 
words  to  that  effect.  Another  day  I  saw  the  reserve  com- 
pany of  Artillery,  a  splendid  set  of  fellows  in  appearance, 
at  extension  motions  3  that  is,  poking  about  their  arms  and 
feet  as  recruits  have  to  do,  though  the  majority  are  old 
soldiers,  and  many  were  in  our  own  ranks.  Thus  it  is  that 
pipeclay  and  over-drill  tend  to  disgust  them.  Two  hours 
ago  Captain  Carnegie  came  to  tell  me  that  there  has  been 
a  strong  demonstration  against  cartridges  in  the  7th  Oudd 
Irregulars  this  morning.  I  hope  and  expect  the  report  h6 
heard  is  exaggerated,  but  I  tell  it  for  his  commentary.     He 


4s6  SIR  HENRY  LA  WRBNCB.  [1857. 

also  told  of  an  intended  meeting  of  traitors  to-monov 
night,  and  asked  whether  he  might  put  prisoners  taken  at 
such  a  meeting  into  gaol,  as  the  Kotwalle  is  not  safe.  He 
gave  me,  however,  to  imderstand  that  he  considers  the 
military  Police  more  safe  than  the  Irregulars.  The  former 
are  under  their  own  old  officers  (a  single  one  to  a  regiment), 
while  the  Irregulars  are  imder  new  and  young  men.  Now 
Captain  Carnegie  is  an  old  interpreter,  and  quartermaster 
of  a  native  corps,  and  had  no  hint  from  me  of  my  opinion. 
Yet  I  am  not  sure  he  is  not  right.  The  Police  have  had 
more  duty,  but  less  pipeclay  and  bother.  The  pay  is  the 
same.  ...  As  far  as  I  have  ascertained,  the  bad  feeling, 
as  yet,  is  chiefly  among  the  Hindoo  Sepoys.  Doubtless  it 
is  their  fear  for  caste  that  has  been  worked  on.  Major 
Banks  tells  me  that  three  years  ago,  when  the  education 
stir  prevailed  in  Behar,  a  Soubahdar  of  the  Body  Gruard 
seriously  consulted  him  as  to  the  report  that  all  the  servants 
of  the  State  were  to  be  made  Christians.  .  Thus,  the  oldest 
and  best  Hindoos  are  easily  moved  \  but  if  bad  feeling  ex- 
tended to  open  mutiny,  the  Mahomedans  would  sooo 
become  the  most  energetic  and  virulent  mutineers.  I  wiD, 
as  your  Lordship  directs,  watch  for  difference  of  feeling 
between  the  two  creeds.*  He  then  turned  to  discuss  the 
question  much  mooted  at  the  time,  of  the  effect  that  the 
unlicensed  Press  had  had  in  fomenting  these  prevailing 
discontents.  He  was  all  in  favour  of  a  free  Press.  He 
used  it  very  freely  himself,  for  the  expression  of  his  own 
opmions,  and  was  not  one  to  question  the  benefits  which  it 
had  conferred  on  India.  But  he  could  not  help  seeing  that 
although  the  native  mind  was  necessarily  wrought  upon  by 


t8S7.]  CHIMP  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDE.  457 

the  native  Press^  the  power  of  mischief  possessed  by  that 
Press  was  in  no  small  measure  derived  from  the  weapons 
placed  in  its  hands  by  the  European  journals.  On  this  sub- 
ject he  emphatically  declared :  '  Whatever  may  be  the 
danger  from  the  native  Press^  I  look  on  it  that  the  papers 
published  in  our  language  are  much  the  most  dangerous. 
Disaffected  native  editors  need  only  translate  as  they  do, 
with  or  without  notes,  or  words  of  admiration  or  exclama- 
tions, editorials  from  the  Friend  of  India  (on  the  duty  of 
annexing  every  native  State,  on  the  imbecility,  if  not 
wickedness,  of  allowing  a  single  Jagheer,  and  of  preaching 
the  Gospel,  even  by  commanding  officers),  to  raise  alarm 
and  hatred  in  the  minds  of  all  religionists,  and  all  connected 
with  native  principalities  or  Jagheers.  And  among  the 
above  will  be  found  a  large  majority  of  the  dangerous 
classes.'  He  then  began  to  converse  on  the  levelling 
system,  so  much  in  vogue  amongst  us.  '  We  measure,*  he 
said,  'too  much  by  English  rules,  and  expect,  contrary  to 
all  experience,  that  the  energetic  and  aspiring  among 
immense  military  masses  should  like  our  dead  level  and  our 
arrogation  to  ourselves,  even  where  we  are  notorious  imbe- 
ciles, of  all  authority  and  all  emolument.  These  sentiments 
of  mine,  freely  expressed  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  have 
done  me  injury,  but  I  am  not  the  less  convinced  of  their 
soundness ;  and  that  until  we  treat  natives,  and  especially 
native  soldiers,  as  having  much  the  same  feeli/^gs,  the  same 
ambition,  the  same  perception  of  ability  and  imbecility,  as  our- 
selves, we  shall  never  be  safe.  I  do  not  advocate  altogether 
disregarding  seniority,  but  I  do  wonder  that  Generals,- 
Colonels,  and  Soubahdars  should  only  as  a  rule  be  men  past 


458  Sm  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCB.  [1857. 

work,  who  have  never  in  their  youth  and  enex^  been  in- 
trusted with  power  or  responsibility.  Also  that  we  should 
expect  the  Soubahdar  and  .  Jemadar  to  be  content  with 
sixty-seven  and  twenty-four  rupees  a  month  respectively, 
while  in  the  Civil  Department  their  fellows,  ten  or  twenty 
years  younger,  enjoy  five  hundred,  six  hundred,  and  even  a 
thousand  rupees,  and  while  they  themselves,  if  under  a 
native  ruler,  would  be  Generals,  if  not  Rajahs  or  Newabs. 
I  have  not  seen  original  articles  on  the  cartridge  question, 
but  almost  every  letter  and  article  in  the  £nglish  papers 
regarding  Barrackpore,  Ambala,  Meerut,  Burhampore,  and 
Dinapore,  have  been  translated.  The  original  articles 
chiefly  refer  to  local  grievances  and  personalities.  The 
politics  of  the  editor  are  to  be  chiefly  gathered  from  pithy 
exclamations,  &c.,  heading  an  article,  as  *'  How  Good !  " 
"Wonderfid!  "  '' Mutiny  and  more  Fires!  **  with  plentiM 
supply  of  the  words  "  mutiny,"  "  disobedience,**  "  disturb- 
ance." I  would  not  trouble  any  of  them,  but,  with  your 
Lordship's  permission,  I  think  we  might  squash  half  the 
number,  by  helping  one  or  two  of  the  cleverest  with  in- 
formation, and  even  with  editorials  and  illustrations.  Dr 
Ogilvie  tells  me  more  than  one  of  the  £nglish  illustrated 
papers  would,  for  a  good  purpose,  sell  cheap  their  half-worn 
plates.  An  illustrated  vernacular  cleverly  edited  would  tell 
well,  and  do  good  politically  and  morally.  I  will  be  glad 
of  your  Lordship's  sanction  to  a  trial,  not  involving  above 
fi-vQ  thousand  rupees,  or  five  hundred  pounds.  Of  course  I 
would  not  appear,  and  I  would  use  the  present  editors— it 
any  rate,  try  to  do  so.* 


1857]  CHIRP  COMMISSIONER  IN  OUDE.  459 

The  storm  was  now  gathering,  and  Lawrence  watched 
its  progress  with  painful  interest.  He  had  long  anticipated 
its  coming,  and  insisted  upon  the  wisdom  of  being  prepared. 
One  who  had  known  him  well,  and  worked  with  him  for 
many  years,  writing  to  me  of  his  foresight,  says :  '  With  all 
his  love  for  the  people  and  their  interests,  he  felt  that  the 
rule  of  strangers  was  only  tolerated  because  they  could  not 
help  themselves.  He  was  ever  alive  to  the  necessity  for 
care  and  vigilance.  His  conversation  constantly  turned  to 
the  subject,  and  what  measures  should  be  adopted  in  case 
of  any  general  disturbance.  He  did  not,  like  most,  rest  in 
the  feeling  of  perfect  security.  Passing  along  the  parade- 
ground  one  afternoon,  where  there  were  several  hundred 
young  Hindostanee  recruits  at  drill,  he  suddenly  stopped, 
and  pointing  to  them,  said  to  me  :  "  Do  you  see  those  fine 
young  fellows?  Mark  my  words,  the  Government  is 
nourishing  young  vipers  in  their  breast,  and  unless  care  is 
taken  they  will  one  day  turn  upon  us.**  This  was  five 
years  before  the  mutiny.  With  all  this  he  never  showed 
any  distrust  of  them,  but  ever  studied  their  interests  and 
feelings.'  There  was  no  one,  indeed,  who  looked  more 
tenderly  and  compassionately  upon  them,  or  with  a  deeper 
sense  that  the  mischief  which  he  so  clearly  discerned  might 
have  been  averted  by  the  observance  of  a  more  generous 
policy  than  that  which  had  recently  found  favour  in  our 
eyes.  Regarding  the  Sepoy  as  a  representative  man,  the 
t$j(ponent  of  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  extensive  village 
populations,  and  most  of  all  in  the  great  province  of  Oude, 
whicli  he  was  then  administering,  he  felt  strongly  that  in 
the  event  of  an  outburst  of  the  discontented  soldiery,  the 


a|6o  S/Ji  HBNRY  LA  WRBNCB.  [z8j^ 

rising  must  partake^  more  or  less^  of  the  character  of  a 
tftitional  revolt.  Moreover^  it  was  certain  that>  apart  from 
all  this^  so  manj  at  the  capital^  who  had  fattened  on  the 
extravagance  and  profligacy  of  the  Courts  had  sofiered 
grievously  by  the  coming  of  the  English^  that  a  rebellion  of 
the  troops  would  be  the  signal  for  a  dangerous  risii^  in  the 
city. 

When^  therefore^  the  storm  burst — ^and  it  was  certain 
that  a  crisis  had  arrived  which  would  call  forth  all  the 
energies  of  the  English  in  India  for  the  maintenance  of  oar 
dominion — there  was  no  single  point  of  danger  to  which 
men's  minds  turned  with  deeper  anxiety  than  to  Lucknow; 
but  over  this  anxiety  there  came  an  inspiring  feeling  (rf 
confidence  when  they  remembered  that  Henry  Lawrence 
was  there.  To  the  Govemor-Greneral  this  was  an  especial 
source  of  consolation.  One  of  the  earliest  incidents  of  the 
military  mutiny  was  an  outbreak  in  an  Irregular  native 
regiment  posted  near  Lucknow.  With  this  Lawrence  had 
grappled  promptly  and  vigorously,  in  a  manner  which  had 
won  general  admiration.  Lord  Canning  saw  clearly  then 
that  the  right  man  was  at  the  point  of  danger ;  and  when 
Lawrence  telegraphed  to  him,  saying,  '  Give  me  full  mili- 
tary authority :  I  will  not  use  it  unnecessarily,*  the  Go- 
vernor-General did  not  hesitate  to  place  the  chief  direction 
of  military  as  well  as  of  civil  affairs  in  the  hands  of  the 
Commissioner.  With  this  fiill  responsibility  upon  him,  he 
moved  freely  and  without  embarrassment.  He  could  lodt 
with  the  soldier's  and  with  the  statesman's  eye  at  the  ap* 
pearances  before  him  5  and  he  was  as  competent  to  deal 
with  details  of  military  defence,  as  to  accommodate  in  other 


i8S7j  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  Ol/DE.  461 

matters  the  action  of  his  government  to  the  political  tem- 
per of  the  times.  Preparing  to  meet  the  worst  emergencies 
that  could  arise,  he  provided  for  the  security  of  the  Eu- 
ropean garrison  5  but  he  endeavoured  at  the  same  time  to 
conciliate  all  classes,  and  especially  to  wean  the  minds  of  the 
soldiery  from  the  apprehensions  which  had  taken  possession 
of  them  with  respect  to  the  safety  of  their  caste.  It  was 
soon,  however,  apparent  that  nothing  could  be  done  by  ex- 
hortations or  persuasions — ^by  promises  of  rewards  to  the 
faithful,  or  threats  of  punishment  to  the  unfaithful.  Nei- 
ther words,  nor  money,  nor  dresses  of  honour  could  avail. 
Nothing  but  the  stout  heart  and  the  strong  arm  could, 
under  Providence,  help  the  English  in  the  extremity  of 
their  need. 

As  the  month  of  May — that  Jll-omened  month,  which 
had  seen  the  sanguinary  outbreak  at  Meerut  and  the  great 
calamity  of  the  seizure  of  Delhi — ^wore  to  a  close,  appear- 
ances at  Lucknow,  and  indeed  aU  through  the  province, 
became  more  threatening.  He  had  by  this  time  done  all 
that  could  be  done  for  the  safety  of  the  people  under  his 
care  J  and  before  the  month  of  June  dawned  upon  him, 
he  saw  clearly  the  value  of  these  precautions.*     On  the 

•  What  these  precautions  were  are  well  and  succinctly  stated  by 
a  very  old  and  dear  friend  and  fellow-labourer,  who,  writing  to  me, 
sajrs  :  *  Look  again  at  Lucknow.  It  was  Heniy  Lawrence^s  foresight, 
humanly  speaking,  that  saved  every  one  of  the  garrison.  But  for 
him,  I  do  not  believe  that  one  would  have  escaped.  Three  weeks 
before  any  one  thought  of  the  possibility  of  our  ever  being  besieged 
in  Lucknow,  he  saw  that  it  might  be  the  case.  He  laid  his  plans  ac« 
cordingly  ;  got  in  aU  the  treasure  from  the  city  ana  stations  ;  bought 
up  and  stored  grain  and  supplies  of  every  kind  ;  bought  up  all  the 


409  5/^  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCB.  [x8s^ 

29th  of  May^  writing  to  Lord  Canning,  he  thus  described 
his  position  :  '  I  have  refrained  from  writing,  as  I  had  no* 
thing  pleasant  to  say,  and  indeed  little  more  than  a  detail 
of  daily  alarms  and  hourly  reports.  Our  three  positioDS 
are  now  strong.  In  the  cantonment  where  I  reside,  the 
two  hundred  and  seventy  or  so  men  of  her  Majesty'?  32nd, 
with  eight  guns,  could  at  any  time  knock  to  pieces  the  few 
native  regiments,  and  both  the  city  Residency  and  the  Ma* 
chee-Bhawn  positions  are  safe  against  all  probable  comen; 
the  latter  quite  so.  But  the  work  is  harassing  for  all;  and 
now  we  have  no  tidings  from  Delhi,  my  outside  perplexi- 
ties are  hourly  increasing.  This  day  (29th)  I  had  tidings 
of  the  murder  of  a  Tehsildar  in  one  direction,  and  of  the 
cry  of  "  Islam,"  and  the  raising  of  the  green  standard,  in 
another.  I  have  also  had  reports  of  disafiFection  m  three 
several  Irregular  corps.  Hitherto  the  country  has  been 
quiet,  and  we  have  played  the  Irreg^ulars  against  the  line 
regiments.  But  being  constituted  of  the  same  materials, 
the  taint  is  fast  pervading  them,  and  in  a  few'  weeks,  if  not 
da3rs,  unless  Delhi  be  in  the  interim  captured^  there  will  be 
one  feeling  throughout  the  army — a  feeling  that  our  pr»- 

supplies  of  the  European  shopkeepers  ;  got  the  mortals  and  guns  to 
the  Residency  ;  got  in  the  powder  and  small  ammunition,  all  the  shot 
and  shell,  and  the  heavy  guns  \  had  pits  dug  for  the  powder  and 
grain  ;  arranged  for  water  supply ;  strengthened  the  Residency ;  had 
outworks  formed  \  cleared  away  all  obstructions  close  up  to  the  Resi* 
dency,  and  made  every  preparation  for  the  worst ;  and  when,  after 
the  fight  at  Chinhut,  the  mutineers  closed  in  on  the  Residency,  and 
the  whole  population  of  the  city  and  the  province  rose  against  0% 
they  fotmd  the  little  garrison  amply  supplied  with  provisioni^ 
munition,  and  resources  of  every  kind.' 


lbS7.1  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  OUDE.  463 

tige  is  gone— and  that  feeling  will  be  more  dangerous  than 
any  other.     Religion,  fear,  hatred,  one  and  all  have  their 
influences,  but  there  is  still  a  reverence  for  the  Company's 
Ikbal,     When  it  is  gone,  we  shall  have  few  friends  indeed. 
The  tone  and  talk  of  many  have  greatly  altered  within  the 
last  few  days,  and  we  are  now  asked,  almost  in  terms  of 
insolence,  whether  Delhi  is  recaptured,  or  when  it  will  be. 
It  was  only  just  after  the  Caubul  massacre,  and  when  we 
hesitated  to  advance  through  the  Khybur,  that,  in  my 
memory,  such  tone  ever  before  prevailed.     Every  effort 
should  be  made  to  recover  Delhi.   The  "  King**  is  a  watch- 
word to  Mahomedans  j  the  loss  of  a  capital  is  a  stigma  on 
us,  and  to  these  are  added  the  fears  prevailing  among  all 
classes  regarding  religion.     A  native  letter,  recently  sent 
to  your  Lordship  by  Colonel  Colin  Troup,  from  Bareilly, 
fairly  depicts  the  feeling  of  the  better  classes  of  natives,  and 
especially  of  Brahmins.     They  think  that  we  are  ungrate- 
ful, and  that  we  no  longer  respect  their  religion  or  care  for 
their  interests.     There  is  no  positive  abuse  in  that  letter 
whereas  in  all  that  are  posted  or  dropped  here  the  chief  in- 
gredients are  abuse  and  violence.  ,  •  •  Once  Delhi  is  re- 
captured the  game  will  again  be  in  our  own  hands,  if  we 
play  the  cards  with  ordinary  skill.* 

He  had  not  proceeded  much  farther  than  this  when 
fitress  of  active  business  compelled  him  to  break  off,  and  be- 
fore he  could  complete  the  letter  the  native  troops  in  the 
cantonment  had  broken  into  open  mutiny.  On  the  evening 
of  the  30th  of  May,  when  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and  his 
Staff  were  at  dinner,  a  Sepoy,  who  had  previously  been  re- 
warded for  his  fidehty,  rushed  in  and  announced  that  there 


464  SIR  HENRY  LAWRBI4CE.  [x8s?. 

was  a  rising  in  the  Lines.  Lawrence  at  once  ordered  out 
a  party  of  Europeans^  with  some  guns,  and  sending  for  fur- 
ther reinforcements,  went  down  to  the  scene  of  the  distnrb- 
ance.  Good  execution  was  done  that  night,  and  again  on 
the  following  morning,  against  the  mutineers  3  and  when 
Lawrence  again  took  up  his  pen  to  resume  the  interrupted 
letter  to  the  Governor-Greneral,  he  spoke  cheerfully  of  the 
situation,  saying  that  he  thought  matters  were  better  than 
before.  '  Press  of  work,'  he  wrote, '  stopped  me  here.  We 
have  since  had  the  emeute  which  I  have  telegraphed.  We 
are  now  positively  better  than  we  were.  We  now  know 
our  friends  and  enemies  5  the  latter  beggars  have  no  stomach 
for  a  fight,  though  they  are  capital  incendiaries.  We  fol- 
lowed them  on  Sunday  morning  six  miles,  and  only  once 
got  within  roimd-shot  range.  I  went  with  a  few  horsemen 
four  or  five  miles  farther  5  we  got  sixty  prisoners  in  all,  and 
I  am  now  trying  them  and  others  by  three  drum-head 
courts-martial.  Yesterday  evening  we  had  several  large 
gatherings  in  the  city,  and  towards  night  they  opened  fire 
on  the  police  and  on  a  post  of  Irregulars.  The  former  be- 
haved admirably,  and  thrashed  them  well  5  killed  several, 
and  took  six  prisoners.  Among  the  former  was  a  brother- 
in-law  of  the  King's  Vakeel.  The  Kotwal  headed  the 
police.  I  have  made  him  a  Bahadoor.  •  .  .  This  evening 
we  hung  two  men — one  a  Sepoy,  who  murdered  poor 
Lieutenant  Grant,  and  a  spy.  To-morrow  I  shall  get  the 
proceedings  of  other  courts,  and  will  probably  hang  twenty 
or  thirty.  These  executions  will,  I  am  confident,  quiet  men's 
minds.  I  have  told  you  by  telegraph  it  will  never  ^o  to 
retire  on  Allahabad  3  we  could  not  do  it.     Besides^  1  am 


1857.]  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  OUDE,  465 

quite  confident  we  can  hold  our  ground  at  Lucknow  as  long 
as  provisions  last^  and  we  have  already  a  month's  laid  in. 
When  Delhi  is  taken  we  are  all  safe.  If  there  is  much  de- 
lay, most  of  our  outposts  will  be  lost.  The  officers  killed 
are  Brigadier  Handscomb,  Lieutenant  Grant,  and  Comet 
Raleigh,  9th  Light  Cavalry.  Wounded  :  Lieutenant  Cham- 
bers, 13  th  N.  I.,  and  Lieutenant  Hardinge,  3rd  Oude 
Cavalry.  Hardinge  is  a  splendid  soldier.  He  led  a  few 
horse  several  times  through  the  burning  cantonments  and 
through  a  crowd  of  mutineers.  One  shot  at  him  within  a 
foot,  and  then  bayoneted  him  through  the  flesh  of  the  arm. 
Hardinge  shot  the  fellow  dead.  Wounded  as  he  was,  he 
could  not  have  had  an  hour's  sleep,  and  yet  he  was  the  hero  of 
yesterday's  work,  and  had  we  had  any  good  cavalry  he  would 
have  cut  up  all  the  mutineers.  I  was  wrong  as  to  his  hav- 
ing been  the  hero.  He  was  one.  Martin  Gubbins  was 
another.  He,  with  three  horsemen,  did  the  work  of  a  regi- 
ment, and  headed  the  rascals,  and  brought  in  six  prisoners, 
for  which  I  have  given  the  three  horsemen  six  hundred 
rupees.' 

It  would  be  vain  to  endeavour,  in  such  a  Memoir  as 
this,  to  narrate  the  incidents  of  the  defence  of  Lucknow, 
even  in  so  far  as  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  was  connected  with 
them.  That  story  belongs  to  history.  How  wisely  and 
assiduously  he  laboured,  with  what  untiring  energy  and  de- 
votion, in  spite  of  the  failure  of  the  frail  flesh,  has  been  told 
t)y  more  .than  one  of  his  comrades.  He  was  in  feeble  health 
when  first  he  went  to  Lucknow.  It  had  been  his  intention 
to  proceed  to  England  for  a  while,  partly  to  recruit  his 

strength,  and  partly  to  direct  the  final  studies  of  his  son. 
Vol.  II.  30 


466  S/jR  HENR Y  LA  WHENCE.  \iAsj. 

then  about  to  enter  the  Indian  Civil  Service^  when  the  offer 
of  the  Oude  Commissionership  arrested  his  homeward 
movements,  and  braced  him  up  awhile  for  the  continuance 
of  his  work.  But  the  hot  weather  coming  in  with  such  a 
crowd  of  anxieties,  tried  him  severely  5  and  it  was  plain  to 
those  who  were  about  his  person  that  mind  and  body  had 
been  tasked  overmuch.  '  The  ordinary  labours  of  his  office/ 
wrote  one  who  was  continually  in  official  association  with 
him,  '  had  fully  tried  his  strength  5  but  the  intense  anxiety 
attending  his  position  at  the  present  crisis  w^ould  have  worn 
the  strongest  frame.  At  £rst  he  was  able  to  ride  about  a 
good  deal,  but  now  he  drove  about  in  his  carriage.  He  lost 
appetite  and  sleep,  and  his  changed  and  careworn  appear- 
ance was  painfully  visible  to  all.*  But  he  w^orked  on  j  and 
when,  in  the  second  week  of  June,  such  an  alarming  state 
of  exhaustion  supervened  that  his  medical  staff  cautioned 
him  that  further  application  to  business  would  endanger  hif 
life,  he  could  with  difficulty  be  persuaded  to  lay  aside  hit 
work  for  a  little  time,  and  on  the  first  symptom  of  a  slight 
accession  of  strength,  returned  eagerly  to  his  duties.  Active 
among  the  active,  as  a  soldier  he  was  ever  in  the  fi-ont  and 
hi  the  midst  of  danger. 

From  the  letters  which  he  wrote  during  the  month  of 
June,  the  following  extracts  may  be  given.  They  exhilMt 
the  progress  of  events  at  Lucknow,  and  the  sentiments  with 
which  Lawrence  regarded  them  :  '  June  13  (To  Lord  Can* 
ning),  I  wrote  a  long  letter  yesterday,  telling  you  of  the 
sad  succession  of  misfortunes  in  this  quarter.*  To-day  I 
have  had  confirmation  of  the  fate  of  Sooltanpore  and  Yyi9r 
*  This  letter  seems  to  have  miscarried. 


1857.]  BRIQADIER'GENERAL  IN  OUDE.  467 

bad.  A  native  letter,  bearing  the  stamp  of  truth,  tells  that 
the  troops  rose  and  butchered  the  Europeans  at  Sooltanpore. 
From  Fyzabad  Mr  Bradford  writes  (no  date,  probably  the 
6th),  that  the  officers  and  ladies  had  all  been  saved,  that 
everything  had  been  conducted  with  the  utmost  regularity, 
the  native  civil  officers  taking  prominent  places,  and  that 
^e  King  of  Delhi  had  been  proclaimed.  In  all  quarters 
we  hear  of  similar  method  and  regularity.  At  Duriabad, 
Secrora,  and  Seetapoor,  individuals  have  been  obliged  to 
give  up  their  plunder,  and  the  treasure  is  carefully  guarded. 
This  quiet  method  bespeaks  some  leading  influence.  We 
cannot  get  certain  tidings  from  Cawnpore,  although  we 
have  sent  many  messengers  j  but  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  General  Wheeler  still  holds  his  ground.  The  muti- 
neers hold  the  river  bank  for  many  miles  above  and  below 
Cawnpore,  and  search  all  passers.  They  at  once  seized  all 
the  boats  and  drew  them  to  their  own  bank.  Would  that 
we  could  help  the  besieged,  but  our  numbers,  the  distance, 
and  the  river  forbid  the  thought.  This  is  frightful  weather 
for  field  operations  for  Europeans.  Yesterday  we  lost  two  out 
of  a  hundred  and  thirty,  from  exposure,  after  three  p.m.,  in 

our  pursuit  of  the  mutinous  Police  battalions We 

hold  our  ground  in  cantonment,  and  daily  strengthen  both 
our  town  positions,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  Residency  is  to 
be  the  final  point  of  concentration.  The  health  of  the  troops 
is  good,  and  the  weather  propitious,  as  long  as  there  is  not 
exposure  to  the  sun.  The  conduct  of  the  Europeans  is 
beautifiil.  By  God's  help  we  can  hold  our  own  for  a  month, 
but  there  should  be  no  delay  in  sending  succour.  The  ap- 
pearance of  two  European  regiments  would  soon  enable  us 


468  s/H  HENR  Y  LA  IVRENcH.  [x8s^ 


to  settle  the  province  5  but  if  Lucknow  be  lost^  and  this 
force  destroyed^  the  difficulty  would  be  vastly  increased.   I 
am  quite  well  again.     Pray  have  us  informed  of  what  b 
going  on  elsewhere  3  it  seems  a  century  since  our  communi- 
cations have  been  cut  oflF,*     '  June  16.  To-day  we  received 
a  letter  of  the  14th  from  GJeneral  Wheeler,  who  bravely 
holds  out.     He  asks  us  for  two  hundred  Europeans.    I 
would  risk  the  absence  of  so  large  a  portion  of  our  small 
force  could  I  see  the  smallest  prospect  of  its  being  able  to 
succour  him.     But  no  individual  here,  cognisant  of  facts, 
except  Mr  Gubbins,  thinks  we  could  carry  a  single  man 
across  the  river,  as  the  enemy  holds  all  the  boats,  and  com- 
pletely commands  the  river.     May  God  Almighty  defend 
Cawnpore,  for  no  help  can  we  afford  !  Our  own  positions 
are  daily  strengthening,  and  our  supplies  increasing  5  but  all 
the  outposts  are  gone,  and  the  rebels  and  mutineers  are 
said  to  be  closing  in  on  us,  though  as  yet  all  is  quiet  at 
Lucknow.  Elsewhere  throughout  the  province  all  is  anarchy, 
the  Talookdars  re-occupying  the  villages  of  which  the  sum- 
mary settlement  dispossessed  them,  and  all  men  asserting  their 
own  rights.'     '  June  19.  It  is  now  a  fortnight  since  we  have 
had  a  commxmication  from  either  Agra  or  Calcutta.    My 
several  letters,  some  of  which  I  trust  have  reached,  have 
reported  our  position.     All  our  outposts  are  gone,  but  we 
still  hold  the  Lucknow  cantonment  and  city,  and  a  small 
circuit  around.     Daily,  however,  we  expect  to  be  besieged, 
and  many  of  the  military  in  cantonment  are  afraid  of  their 
position,  and  desire  to  be  withdrawn  j  on  the  other  hand, 
Mr  Gubbins  wishes  that  a  small  force  (two  hundred  Euro- 
peans, four  guns,  one  hundred  Sepoys,  and  about  fifty  hone) 


a8s7.]  '  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  OUDE,  469 

should  be  sent  wherever  there  is  talk  of  a  gathering.  It  is 
a  very  great  grief  to  me  to  be  unable  to  help  Cawnpore. 
Were  we  stronger,  the  want  of  boats  would  make  the  move 
impracticable  5  but  circumstanced  as  we  are,  the  absence  of 
two  hundred  Europeans  and  four  guns  for  a  week  would 
peril  our  whole  position.  Not  having  a  single  trustworthy 
native,  we  are  hdpless  for  offensive  operations,  but,  with 
care  and  prudence,  we  are  strong  for  defence,  as  long  as 
food  remains  and  sickness  keeps  off.  We  have  had  eight 
deaths  by  cholera  among  the  Europeans  during  the  last 
fortnight,  and  some  among  the  natives.  Otherwise  the 
health  is  good.  Steamers  can  come  to  Fyzabad.  We  look 
anxiously  for  news.'  'June  21.  A  letter  from  General 
Wheeler,  dated  i8th  of  June,  ten  p.m.,  stated  that  his  sup- 
plies would  hold  out  for  another  fortnight,  that  he  had 
plenty  of  ammunition,  and  that  his  guns  were  serviceable. 
The  enemy's  attacks  had  always  been  repulsed  with  loss,  but 
he  was  much  in  want  of  assistance.  Troops  are  still  report- 
ed to  be  assembling  at  Fyzabad  and  at  Duriabad,  with  the 
intention  of  concentrating  and  attacking  Lucknow,  but  it 
does  not  seem  that  any  onward  movement  has  at  present 
been  made.  Our  position  is  daily  getting  stronger,  but 
daily  some  of  our  few  natives  are  leaving,  and,  if  we  are 
besieged,  I  fear  that  few,  if  any,  will  remain.  This  will  be 
inconvenient,  as  it  will  make  more  difficult  the  raising  of  a 
native  force  when  we  are  able  to  take  the  field.  We  stl  1 
hold  the  cantonment,  and  move  eight  or  ten  miles  out  if 
necessary,  but  with  no  trustworthy  cavalry  and  very  few 
artilleryTnen,  we  are  obliged  to  look  keenly  to  our  two  posi- 
tions in  the  city.     If  either  would  hold  all  conveniently,  the 


470  SIR  HENRY  LAWRENCB.  [185^; 

Other  should  have  been  abandoned  5  but  such  is  not  tiie  case. 
£ach  has  its  advantages^  and  we  have  to  guard  against  siul- 
ness  as  much  as  the  enemy.  From  four  sides  we  are 
threatened  j  but  if  all  go  well  quickly  at  Delhl^  and,  still 
more,  if  Cawnpore  hold  out,  I  doubt  if  we  shall  be  besieged 
at  all.  Our  preparations  alarm  the  eneraiy.  It  is  deep 
grief  to  me  to  be  unable  to  help  Cawnpore.  I  would  run 
much  risk  for  Wheeler's  sake  5  but  an  attempt  with  our 
means  would  only  ruin  ourselves  without  helping  Cawnpore; 
Cholera  in  a  light  form  is  amongst  us  5  we  have  lost  eight 
Europeans  during  the  last  fortnight  at  the  Muchee-Bhawn. 
At  each  post  four  or  five  natives  have  died  during  the  last 
week.  All  sanitary  measures  are  being  taken.  The  gener- 
al health  is  good,  and  the  weather,  though  hot,  is  favour- 
able to  those  not  exposed.  I  am  well.  European  troops 
moving  above  Allahabad  should  have  guns  w^ith  them,  and 
also  intelligent  officers  (civil  or  military)  acquainted  with 
the  country.  The  detachment  of  her  Majesty's  84th  came 
here  a  fortnight  ago  with  only  cloth  clothes.  It  is  import- 
ant to  see  that  others  coming  up  are  properly  dressed  and 
cared  for.  We  look  most  anxiously  for  news.  I  trust  that 
all  the  China  troops  are  coming,  and  that  large  indents  have 
been  made  on  England.*  '  June  24  (To  Mr  Court).  I  have 
written  many  times,  but  received  no  answer.  I  am  very 
anxious  for  news,  as  all  my  communications  have  been  cut 
off  during  the  last  twenty  days.  We  are  well  and  comfortable 
now,  both  in  cantonment  and  in  the  city,  but  we  are 
threatened  by  the  mutineers  firom  several  directions.  We 
are  well  prepared  for  them,  having  plenty  of  provision  and 
numerous  guns.     Our  anxieties  are  for  Cawnpore,  which 


tBS7']  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  OUDE,  471 

we  cannot  possibly  succour,  as  the  boats  are  on  the  Cawn- 
pore  side,  &c.  &c.  Send  us  a  cossid  every  other  day,  A 
native  from  Delhi  tells  us  our  troops  are  before  Delhi,  and 
had  beaten  the  enemy.  This  seems  authentic,  and  I  doubt 
not  the  city  is  now  in  our  hands,  and  that  in  a  few  weeks 
all  will  be  comparatively  settled  j  but  pray  remember  Oude 
is  the  home  of  three-fourths  of  the  rebels,  and  that  already 
thousands  are  flocking  to  it,  and  that  the  runaways  from 
Delhi  will  probably  mostly  come  this  way,  and  in  despera- 
tion may  have  a  shy  at  us.  Next,  then,  to  Cawnpore,  we 
may  require  succour.  A  single  European  regiment  and 
company  of  European  artillery  would  enable  me  to  take  the 
field  and  knock  to  pieces  all  rebels  and  mutineers.  Send 
on  this  letter  to  Government,  and  a  copy  of  it  to  my  son  at 
Oakfield,  Penrith,  Cumberland,  England.  The  health  of 
the  troops  is  generally  good.  I  am  well.  Pray  succour 
Cawnpore  speedily,  I  am  doing  what  I  can  to  get  Wheeler 
provisions,  by  offering  large  prices  and  large  rewards,  but 
fear  I  shall  not  succeed.  We  have  had  authentic  intelli- 
gence of  seven  or  eight  regiments  advancing  against  us,  being 
only  twenty  miles  off.  We  may  be  besieged  forty-eight 
hours  hence.  There  should  be  no  delay  in  sending  succour 
to  us  as  well  as  to  Cawnpore.  Five  hundred  infantry  and 
four  guns,  with  two  hundred  native  infantry,  or  police, 
would  be  safe  under  an  intelligent  officer.  Once  in  Oude, 
we  can  assist  the  advance  of  a  force.*  '  June  26  {To  Colo^ 
nel  NeilJ).  Your  letter  of  the  20th  has  reached,  and  has 
found  us  all  well  and  comfortable  at  Lucknow,  though 
some  regiments,  with  many  guns,  are  collecting  eighteen 
miles  aS,  with  the  avowed  intention  of  attacking  us.     This 


472  S/I^  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  [1857. 


ihey  will  hardly  do,  though  they  may  try  and  plunder  the 
more  distant  portions  of  this  immense  city.  They  wisely 
collect  at  distances  beyond  a  long  march,  or  we  should, 
even  now,  have  beaten  them  up  with  three  hundred  Euro- 
peans and  four  guns,  which  we  can  always  spare  for  one 
day  at  a  time  as  long  as  we  are  not  actually  besieged.  The 
health  of  the  troops  is  improving.  Delhi  city  was  captured 
by  our  army  on  the  14th,  when  the  rebels  took  refuge  ill 
the  palace,  which  could  not  have  held  out  many  hours. 
This  will  have  immense  effect  on  the  country.  We  only 
heard  the  news  to-day,  and  I  pass  it  on  to  you,  as  the  Cawn- 
pore  road  is  closed.  General  Wheeler  is,  I  fear,  in  ex- 
tremity, though  I  have  been  making  every  indirect  effort 
to  help  him.  To  help  him  otherwise  we  have  not  the 
means.  I  hope  you  have  been  able  to  post  up  five  hundred 
Europeans  with  four  guns.  The  very  news  of  their  approach 
would  probably  relieve  Wheeler,  as  there  is  great  dissensioD 
in  the  rebel  camp.  To  help  him,  your  succour  must  be 
speedy.  Civil  officers,  or  others  weU  acquainted  with  the 
country,  should  accompany  the  troops,  and  every  precaution 
taken  to  save  them  from  the  heat.  The  detachment,  her 
Majesty's  89th,  that  came  here  had  no  light  clothing  w 
cap  covers.  Pray  see  to  these  points,  as  the  lives  of  many 
men  depend  on  them.  There  are  good  topes  in  whidx  to 
encamp  aU  the  way  to  Cawnpore.  Now  that  Delhi  is 
taken,*  you  may  be  able  to  enlist  Native  Irregulars,  who 
can  be  fairly  relied  on.  Some  should  accompany  each 
European  detachment,  to  ^ave  them  from  fatigue  duties. 
Not  less  than  four  hundred  Europeans  and  four  guns  should 
*  It  need  not  be  said  that  this  was  altogether  a  mistake. 


I857-J  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  OUDE,  473 

move  together  as  long  as  the  Nana*s  force  is  in  strength 
at  Cawnpore.  Detachments  of  four  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred men  with  guns  ought  to  overcome  all  opposition. 
Employ  Hindoos  rather  than  Mussulmans  as  Irregulars.  On 
approaching  Cawnpore  care  should  be  taken  against  treach- 
ery. The  Nana  is  a  Mahratta^  and  an  adept  in  deceit. 
Old  Burkundaazes  will,  perhaps,  be  the  safest  Irregulars. 
All  was  quiet  at  Mynpooree,  Agra,  and  Etaweh  on  the  1 7th, 
and  now  that  Delhi  is  taken,  affairs  will  doubtless  improve. 
Pray  give  us  your  exact  numbers,  also  those  at  Benares 
and  Dinapore.  Send  this  on  to  the  Grovernor-General,  and 
send  its  purport  by  telegraph.  Show  it  also  to  Mr  Chester 
and  Court,  and  ask  them  to  write  to  me.  I  want  full  par- 
ticulars of  the  events  of  the  last  twenty  da)rs  at  Allahabad 
and  other  places  downwards.  Is  all  quiet  in  the  Madras 
Presidency  ?  Have  the  China  troops  reached  Calcutta,  or 
when  are  they  expected  ?  The  runaways  from  Delhi  will 
come  in  thousands  to  Oude,  where  we  must  already  have 
hardly  less  than  a  hundred  thousand.  I  don*t  fear  them  as 
regards  Lucknow,  but  until  we  have  another  European  re- 
giment we  cannot  expect  to  introduce  order  into  the  pro- 
vince. At  present  ever}'-  villain  is  abroad,  and  an  interne- 
cine war  prevails  in  every  quarter.  Two  columns,  each 
with  five  hundred  Europeans,  would  soon  put  all  right,  but 
the  more  delay  the  more  difficulty,  as  daily  new  parties  are 
committing  themselves.  Mr  Court  and  Chester  will  write 
to  me  fully,  I  hope.  I  wish  a  copy  of  this  letter  to  be  sent 
to  my  son  in  England.** 

*  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  is  doing  admirably  at  Lucknow. 

*  Sent  also  to  General  Havelock. 


474  S/J^  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE.  [iiSh 

All  safe  there.* — Such  were  the  words  in  which  letter  after 
letter  from  the  Governor-General  to  the  authorities  in  Eng- 
land commuoicated  the  confidence  felt  by  Lord  Canning 
in  the  Oude  Commissioner.  And  so  fully  was  that  confi- 
dence shared  by  the  Home  Government^  that  when  the 
Court  of  Directors  and  the  Glueen*s  Grovemment,  warned 
by  the  critical  state  of  our  relations  in  India^  found  it  neces- 
sary to  nominate  a  new  Grovemor-G^neral  provisionally^  in 
the  event  of  the  death  or  the  retirement  of  Lord  Canning, 
they  had  no  hesitation  in  selecting  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  as 
the  man  to  whom^  above  all  others^  they  could  most  con- 
fidently intrust,  in  that  emergency,  the  supreme  direction 
of  afiairs. 

But  it  was  the  saddest  thing  of  all — ^nothing  so  sad  in 
the  history  of  the  calamities  of  the  Indian  Mutiny — ^that  he 
never  lived  to  place  this  crown  upon  his  brows.  Such  a 
recognition  at  the  last  would  have  healed  all  his  old  wounds- 
would  have  been  ample  compensation  to  him  for  all  the 
crosses  he  had  endured.  No  soldier  of  the  Company's  armj 
had  ever  been  so  honoured.  Of  all  the  Englishmen  in 
India,  he  was  held  to  be  the  one  best  able,  in  a  crids  of 
unexampled  magnitude,  to  hold  the  helm  and  weather  the 
storm,  if  by  any  mischance  or  caprice  Canaing  had  been 
removed  from  the  scene.  All  that  his  honourable  ambition 
ever  sought  would  have  been  thus  attained,  and  in  the 
completeness  of  his  career  he  would  have  found  perfect 
satisfaction.  But  it  was  otherwise  ordained  by  God.  His 
end  was  rapidly  approaching.  He  was  well-nigh  worn  out 
with  labour  and  anxiety,  and,  if  the  strong  resolute  will 
had  not  sustained  him,  his  bodily  frailty  would  have  sue* 


i8S7.]  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNOR-GENERAL,  473 

cumbed  to  the  pressure.  Once,  it  has  been  shown,  he  was 
compelled  to  rest  and  to  recruit,  but  the  supreme  authority, 
which  he  relinquished  to  a  Provisional  Council,  was  soon 
resumed.*  He  had  before  this,  with  some  forebodings, 
perhaps,  of  the  future,  placed  on  record  his  wishes  with 
respect  to  the  succession  to  the  civil  and  military  offices 
which  he  held.  '  If  anything  happens  to  me,*  he  wrote, 
'  during  the  present  disturbances,  I  recommend  that  Colonel 
Inglis  succeed  me  in  command,  and  that  Major  Banks 
should  be  appointed  to  the  command  of  one  of  the  posts. 
There  should  be  No  Surrender.  I  commend  my  children 
and  the  Lawrence  Asylums  to  Government.*  And  he  had 
sent  a  telegram  to  the  Governor-Greneral,  saying :  *  If  any- 
thing happens  to  me  during  the  present  disturbances,  I 
earnestly  recommend  that  Major  Banks  succeed  me  as 
Chief  Commissioner,  and  Colonel  Inglis  in  command  of 

•  It  was  on  the  9th  of  June  that  Lawrence  appointed  this  Council. 
The  order  was  thus  :  *  As  Dr  Fayrer  states  that  it  is  imperatively 
necessary  for  my  health  that  I  should  remain  perfectly  quiet  for  the 
next  twenty-four  hours,  I  appoint  Mr  Gubbins,  Mr  Ommaney, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Inglis,  Major  Anderson,  and  Major  Banks  to  be 
a  council  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  province  until  I  feel  myself 
sufficiently  convalescent  to  resume  the  government. — H.  M.  Law- 
rence, June  9,  1857.*  The  Council  sat  on  the  loth  and  nth.  On 
the  morning  of  the  12th,  Lawrence,  eager  to  return  to  his  work,  ob- 
tained a  certificate,  somewhat  reluctantly  given,  to  the  effect  that, 
although  he  was  capable  of  resuming  his  duties,  he  should  be  spared 
as  much  mental  and  bodily  fatigue  as  possible.  Upon  this,  Mr 
Gubbins  recommended  that  the  powers  of  the  Council  should  be  con- 
tinued, but  that  all  important  questions  should  be  referred  to  the 
General.  Against  this  the  other  four  members  voted,  and  the  powers 
of  the  Council  ceased. 


476  S/I^  HENR  Y  LA  W RE  NCR.  [1857. 

the  troops,  until  better  times  arrive.  This  is  do  time  for 
punctilio  as  regards  seniority.  They  are  the  right  men— in 
fact,  the  only  men  for  the  places.  My  Secretary  entirely 
concurs  with  me  on  the  above  points.*  It  seemed,  indeed, 
to  be  far  more  within  the  scope  of  God*s  providence  at  that 
time  that  there  should  be  needed  men  to  take  his  place 
than  that  he  should  ever  live  to  succeed  to  the  higher  place 
of  another. 

And  so  the  month  of  June  wore  to  its  close ;  and  Heniy 
Lawrence,  ever  regardless  of  self,  toiled  on  day  and  night, 
with  unwearying  vigilance  and  unfailing  energy,  until  those 
about  him  marvelled  how  he  could  bear  up  against  such  an 
incessant  strain  on  mind  and  body.  He  seemed  never  to 
rest.  At  all  hours  of  the  night  he  was  up  and  doing.  That 
he  derived  great  'access  of  unexpected  strength*  from 
prayer,  is  not  to  be  doubted.  Often  those  -who  entered  hii 
room  found  him  upon  his  knees  praying  for  wisdom  from 
the  Almighty  Counsellor,  and  imploring  mercy  for  the  poor 
people  committed  to  his  charge,  against  whom  our  enemies 
were  raging  so  furiously.  He  knew  that  the  efiectual  fer- 
vent prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much,  and  he  never 
ceased  from  his  intercessions. 


On  the  last  day  of  June  there  was  a  great  and  a  sad 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  that  little  body  of  Christian  men. 
Tidings  were  brought  in  by  our  scouts  that  large  bodies  of 
the  mutinous  regiments  were  advancing  upon  Lucknow. 
And  when  Lawrence  heard  that  the  enemy  had  thus  col- 
lected in  force,  with  the  probable  intention  of  making 


i8S7-]  ^  T  CHINHUT.  477 

straight  upon  Lucknow,  he  determined  to  go  out  to  meet 
them.  He  had  always,  in  the  weak  state  of  his  garrison, 
been  opposed  to  such  offensive  movements,  thinking  that 
the  best  chance  of  present  safety  and  of  future  victory  lay 
in  husbanding  his  strength  for  the  work  of  defence.  But 
there  were  some  about  him,  the  most  prominent  of  whom 
was  Mr  Gubbins,  whose  irrepressible  gallantry  led  them  to 
counsel  a  more  forward  policy  5  and  Lawrence  appears  now 
to  have  thought  that  the  opportunity  was  a  favourable  one 
for  trying  this  bolder  and  more  pronounced  style  of  action, 
^md  threatening  the  enemy  at  a  distance  from  the  city  walls. 
So,  on  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  June,  he  went  out  at 
the  head  of  a  force  of  all  arms,  and  marched  towards 
Newaubgung,  where  his  scouts  told  him  that  the  enemy 
had  been  seen  in  large  numbers  5  but  whether  he  designed 
to  draw  them  into  action,  or  whether,  as  some  believed,  he 
contemplated  little  more  than  an  armed  reconnaissance,  is 
not  very  clear.  He  said  afterwards  that  he  had  acted  against 
his  own  judgment,  and  he  reproached  himself  for  having 
been  moved  by  the  fear  of  man  to  undertake  so  hazardous 
an  enterprise.* 

•  Upon  this  subject,  Mr  Gubbins  has  written  in  his  book  : 
*  Upon  his  death-bed  Sir  Henry  referred  to  the  disaster  at  Chinhut, 
and  said  that  he  had  acted  against  his  own  judgment  from  the  fear  of 
man.  I  have  often  inquired,  but  I  never  learnt  the  name  of  any  one 
who  had  counselled  the  step  which  resulted  in  so  severe  a  calamity.' 
This  may  be  true  ;  but  it  is  not  quite  the  whole  truth.  It  is  probable 
that  no  one  especially  recommended  this  individual  movement ;  but 
it  is  certain  that  Mr  Gubbins  himself  was  continually  urging  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence  to  send  out  a  force  to  meet  the  enemy.  But  what 
he  certainly  did  with  respect  to  this  particular  affair  was  to  ridicule 


478  5//?  HENR  Y  LA  WHENCE.  [1857. 

Some  six  or  seven  miles  from   Lucknow^  Lawrence 
halted  his  force^  and,  dismounting  from  his  horse,  walked 

the  idea  that  the  enemy  were  advancing  in  any  formidable  strength. 
When  the  news  of  the  advance  of  the  mutineers  was  first  brought  in, 
the  circular  that  went  round  for  the  information  of  the  chief  officers 
of  the  garrison  stated  that  the  man  who  brought  the  information  said 
he  could  not  speak  with  certainty  as  to  the  numbers,  but  that  he 
heard  there  were  eight  or  nine  r^ments  of  infantry  and  one  of  cavaliyi 
with  twelve  guns.  Mr  Gubbins  appended  four  notes  of  exclamation 
to  the  passage,  and  wrote  beneath  it,  '  What  stuff  1—^^,  G. ;'  and 
not  satisfied  with  this,  endorsed  the  paper  with  the  same  words.  Bat 
we  now  learn  from  Mr  Gubbins  himself  ('Mutinies  in  Oudh,'  pp.  189- 
X90)  that  the  rebel  force  consisted  of  nine  and  a  half  regiments  of  in* 
fantry,  twelve  guns,  and  seven  or  eight  hundred  cavaby.  It  must  be 
added,  in  the  cause  of  historic  truth,  that  after  the  death  of  Sir  Heniy 
Lawrence,  Brigadier  Inglis  took  some  pains  to  elicit  the  facts,  and 
that  letters  were  addressed  to  several  Staff-officers  on  the  subject 
One  answered :  '  I  could  not  positively  state  that  Mr  Gubbins  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  late  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  urging  him  to  send 
troops  to  Seetapoor,  or  to  Chinhut,  or  to  Cawnpore,  or  anywhere 
else,  but  I  have  a  decided  though  general  impression  that  he  did  do 
so ;  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  Mahommedabad  and  Nawabgunge^ 
on  the  Fyzabad  road,  might  be  included  in  the  list  of  places  to  wlucfa 
Mr  Gubbins  thought  it  would  be  beneficial  to  send  troops.  ...  I 
have  so  often  heard  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  talk  on  this  subject,  espe- 
cially dwelling  on  the  pertinacity  with  which  Mr  Gubbins  pressed 
him,  that  I  could,  without  much  difficulty,  show,  if  necessary,  the  line 
of  argument  the  Brigadier-General  adopted.'  Another  wrote: 
*  Several  times  the  Brigadier-General  (Lawrence)  asked  me  how  I 
could  equip  detachments  of  Europeans  which  Mr  Gubbins  proposed 
sending  to  Seetapore,  Cawnpore,  Mulleabad,  and  Nawabgunge ;  and 
if  it  were  possible  to  transport  them  within  certain  fixed  times  on 
elephants.  On  these  occasions  I  perfectly  remember  Sir  Heniy  ap- 
peared irritated  and  annoyed,  and  always  pronoimced  such  expeditions 
most  rash,  unsafe,  and  utterly  impracticable.  The  feasibility  of  the 
proposed  enterprises  was  openly  discussed  by  all  the  members  of  the 
Staff,  both  in  Sir  H.  Lawrence's  room,  and  often  at  his  table^  and  I 


2857]  ^^  CHINHUT.  479 

into  a  grove  which  skirted  the  roadside,  and  remained  there 
for  half  an  hour — ^it  is  believed,  instant  in  prayer.  When 
he  emerged,  he  remounted,  and  gave  his  orders  for  the 
troops  to  advance.  They  had  not  proceeded  far  when  they 
came  upon  the  whole  body  of  the  enemy,  consisting,  it  is 
said,  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  men,  with  more  than 
thirty  pieces  of  ordnance.  The  action  at  once  com- 
menced, but  it  was  soon  little  more  than  a  rout.     Our 

always  heard  that  Mr  Gubbins  had  advocated  the  movements.'  A 
third  said,  in  reply  :  '  I  have  the  honour  to  state,  for  the  information 
ci  the  Brigadier  commanding  at  Lucknow  (Inglis),  that  I  perfectly 
remember  that  in  the  latter  part  of  Jmie  last  many  letters  were 
received  by  the  late  Sir  H.  M.  Lawrence  from  Mr  Gubbins.  Several 
of  these  letters  were  given  to  me  to  read,  but  not  all,  as  they  did  not 
belong  to  my  department,  but  to  that  of  the  Military  Secretary.  I, 
however,  generally  heard  the  purport  of  them  discussed,  which  was 
the  advisability  of  sending  an  European  force  over  to  Cawnpore,  at 
another  time  to  Seetapore  and  Chinhut,  and  also  the  advantages  to 
be  gained  by  sending  a  force  out  to  meet  the  rebel  army  at  Nawab- 
gunge.  I  always  heard  the  late  Brigadier-General  express  himself  as 
'strongly  opposed  to  the  above  movements.'  And  again  another 
officer,  who  had  pectdiar  opportunities  of  observation,  said  ;  '  Sir 
Henry  Liawrence  did  from  time  to  time  complain  to  me  that  the  in- 
domitable personal  courage  of  Mr  Gubbins,  his  excessive  zeal  and 
ardent  temperament,  had  caused  him  to  be  the  over-earnest,  impor- 
tunate,  and  too  public  advocate  of  military  movements  which, 
according  to  Sir  Henry's  personal  judgment,  could  only  have  ended 
disastrously.  He  more  than  once  deplored  to  me,  as  a  calamity 
which  weighed  down  his  spirits,  that  owing  to  the  chivalric  ardour 
and  the  eloquent  fervour  with  which  Mr  Gubbins  urged  his  views, 
and  the  publicity  which  he  gave  to  them,  the  Finance  Commissioner 
had  come  to  be  regarded  by  some  of  the  more  spirited  and  less  ex- 
perienced officers  of  the  force  as  the  real  man  for  the  crisis.'  No- 
thing further  need  be  said  to  explain  the  meaning  of  Lawrence's 
djring  words. 


48o  S/je  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCE.  [1857. 


native  artilleiymen  cut  the  traces  of  their  guns  and 
went  over  to  the  enemy.*  Colonel  Case,  at  the  head 
of  the  32nd  Regiment^  fell  gallantly^  and  his  men  were 
disheartened  by  his  fall.  It  is  a  wonder  that  any  of  our 
people^  deserted  and  betrayed  as  they  were,  escaped  from 
such  an  overwhelming  multitude  of  the  enemy.  Our  loss 
was  very  heavy.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  the  whole  of  the 
32nd  Regiment  would  have  been  destro3red  but  for  an  act 
which  manifested  Henry  Lawrence*s  coolness  and  fertility 
of  resource  in  this  distressing  conjimcture.  When  there 
was  not  a  shot  left  in  our  tumbrils,  he  caused  a  gun  to  be 
drawn  up  and  portfires  to  be  lighted  as  if  he  were  about  to 
fire,  and  under  cover  of  this  harmless  piece  of  ordnance  the 

*  They  were  the  Artillery  of  the  Oude  Irr^rular  Force.  In  the 
well-known  report  of  the  Defence  of  Lucknow,  which  bears  the  name 
of  Colonel  (Sir  John)  Inglis,  but  the  narrative  portion  of  whidi  is 
supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Mr  (now  Sir  G^rge)  Couper,  who 
was  continually  by  Lawrence's  side,  as  secretary  at  home  and  as  aide, 
de-camp  abroad,  the  story  is  thus  told  :  *  The  Oude  artilleiymen  and 
drivers  were  traitors.  They  overturned  the  guns  mto  ditches,  cut  the 
traces  of  their  horses,  and  abandoned  them,  r^;ardless  of  the  remon* 
strances  and  exertions  of  their  own  officers  and  of  those  of  Sir  Henzy 
Lawrence's  Staff,  headed  by  the  Brigadier-General  in  person,  who 
himself  drew  his  sword  upon  the  rebels.  Every  effort  to  induce  them 
to  stand  having  proved  ineffectual,  the  force,  exposed  to  a  vastly 
superior  fire  of  artillery,  and  completely  surrounded  on  both  sides  by 
an  overpowering  body  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  which  actually  got 
into  our  rear,  was  compelled  to  retire,  with  the  loss  of  three  pieces  of 
artillery,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  in  consequence  of 
the  rank  treachery  of  the  Oude  gunners,  and  with  a  very  giievoos 
list  of  killed  and  wounded.  The  heat  was  dreadful,  the  gon-ammn- 
nition  was  expended,  and  the  almost  total  want  of  cavaliy  to  protect 
our  rear,  made  our  retreat  most  disastrous.' 


I8S70  THE  DBFEA T  AT  CHINHUT.  481 

Europeans  were  enabled  to  retreat.  It  is  related  that  he 
was  always  in  the  most  exposed  parts  of  the  fields  riding 
from  point  to  point,  amidst  a  terrific  fire  of  grape,  round- 
shot,  and  musketry.  It  is  added,  that  he  was  deeply  moved 
by  the  sufferings  of  our  people.  He  wrung  his  hands  in 
agony  of  mind,  and  was  heard  to  say,  '  My  God  !  my  Grod  I 
^nd  I  brought  them  to  this  ! '  * 

Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  who  had  Httle  anticipated  such  a 
.catastrophe — ^who  had  not,  indeed,  thought  that  a  general 
action  would  have  been  the  result  of  the  reconnaissance — 
had  sent  out  his  carriage,  intending  to  return  in  it  5  but  in 
the  retreat  which  followed  the  disastrous  action  at  Chinhut, 
the  horses  were  required  for  other  purposes,  and  Lawrence, 
physically  prostrated,  was  conveyed  to  Lucknow  on  a  gun- 
carriage.  *Weak  and  exhausted  by  iUness  before  he 
started,*  sa)rs  Colonel  Inglis,  *  it  was  a  miracle  he  returned 
alive,  I  met  him  at  the  door  of  the  Residency  as  he 
returned.  It  needed  no  words  to  explain  the  result  5  the 
utterly  exhausted  state  of  our  poor  fellows  as  they  came 
in  told  its  own  tale.  An  overwhelming  force,  aided  by  the 
defection  of  our  native  ganners,  brought  about  the  catas- 
trophe.' 

*TW8  morning,'  wrote  Lawrence  to  Havelock,  soon 
after  the  return  of  his  defeated  force  to  Lucknow,  'we 
went  out  eight  miles  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  we  were 
defeated,  and  lost  five  guns,  through  the  misconduct  chiefly 
of  our  native  artillery,  many  of  whom  have  deserted.  The 
enemy  have  followed  us  up,  and  we  have  now  been  be- 
si^ed  for  four  hours,  and  shall  probably  to-night  be  sur« 

*  Rees's  '  Siege  of  Lucknow.' 
VOL.  II,  31 


482  S/R  HBNR  Y  LAWRENCE.  [1857. 


rounded.  The  enemy  are  very  bold^  and  our  Europeans 
very  low.  I  look  on  our  position  now  as  ten  times  as  bad 
as  it  was  yesterday — ^indeed^  it  is  very  critical  j  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  concentrate^  if  we  care  able ;  we  sliall  have  to 
abandon  much  supplies^  and  to  blow  up  much  powder. 
Unless  we  are  relieved  quickly,  say  in  fifteen  or  twenty 
days,  we  shall  hardly  be  able  to  maintain  our  position. 
We  lost  three  officers  killed  this  morning,  and  several 
wounded :  Colonel  Case,  Captain  Stephen,  and  Mr  Bracken- 
bury.'  And  forwarding  this  through  Mr  Tucker,  at  Benares, 
he  said  -.  '  The  annexed  bad  news  speaks  for  itself^  and  shows 
the  urgent  necessity  of  speedy  succour.  Our  position  is  very 
critical.  Telegraph  this  both  to  AUahabad,  in  case  my 
cossid  there  £iils,  and  also  to  Calcutta.* 

There  was  nothing  more  to  be  done  but  to  withdraw 
within  the  Residency,*  and  to  prepare  to  withstand  a  si^. 
Our  other  post,  the  Muchee-Bhawn,  was  abandoned  j  the 
guns  were  spiked  3  the  ammunition  exploded ;  the  works, 
as  far  as  possible,  destroyed  5  and  our  people  withdrawn. 
The  enemy  were  now  swarming  around  us,  and  the  part 
of  the  Residency — an  upper  room — which  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence  occupied  was  exposed  to  a  merciless  fire  of  shot 
and  shell.  On  the  ist  of  July,  a  shell  burst  in  Us  room  5 
and  the  officers  about  him  all  endeavoured  to  persuade  the 
Greneral  to  move  to  a  safer  part  of  the  building  3  but  think- 
ing that  it  was  the  best  spot  from  which  to  superintend  the 
defence,  he  refused  to  change  his  quarters.     That  this  was 

*  By  this  is  to  be  understood  not  merely  the  Resident's  hoase^ 
but  a  cluster  of  buildings,  or  part  of  the  town  occupied  by  our  offioco 
or  establishment ;  in  short,  the  English  '  quarter.' 


xSS7.]  HIS  DEA  TH.  483 


a  fatal  error  was  too  soon  made  manifest^  for  on  the  follow- 
ing day^  as  he  was  lying  on  his  conchy  a  shell  burst  beside 
him^  and  grievously  shattered  his  thigh.  His  nephew^  Mr 
George  Lawrence,  immediately  summoned  Dr  Fayrer  to 
his  assistance,  and  when  Sir  Henry  saw  him,  he  asked  at 
once  how  long  he  had  to  live.  When  the  doctor  answered 
'  about  three  days/  he  expressed  astonishment  that  so  long 
a  term  had  been  granted  to  him,  and  seemed  to  think  that 
he  should  pass  away  before  the  end  of  it.  As  shot  and 
shell  were  continually  striking  against  the  Residency,  Dr 
Fayrer  caused  the  woimded  man  to  be  removed  to  his  own 
house,  which  was  more  sheltered  from  the  enemy's  artillery, 
and  there  a  consultation  of  medical  officers  was  held,  and  it 
was  determined  that  to  attempt  amputation  would  be  only 
to  increase  sufiering  and  to  shorten  life.* 

*  *I  examined  his  wound, 'wrote  Dr  Fa)n:er,  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  '  and  found  that  a  large  fragment  of  the  shell  had  shattered 
the  upper  part  of  the  thigh-bone,  passing  through  the  thigh  and 
ghitial  region  of  the  left  side.  I  believe  also  that  the  bones  of  the 
pelvis  were  injured.  The  femoral  artery  was  not  injured,  as  the 
wound  was  behind  it.  I  immediately  applied  the  necessary  bandages 
to  stanch  the  bleeding,  which  was  not  very  profuse,  and  supported 
the  fractured  limb  with  bandages  and  pillows  as  much  as  possible. 
As  he  was  faint  and  distressed  by  the  shock,  I  gave  him  stimulants 
freely.  ...  Of  course  I  consulted  other  medical  men,  among  them 
Dr  Ogilvie,  who  also  remained  with  him  constantly,  as  to  the  pro- 
priety or  possibility  of  an  operation ;  but  all  agreed  with  me  that  the 
injury  was  of  too  grave  a  character  to  leave  any  hope  of  recovery. 
Indeed,  as  I  was  satisfied  that  the  pelvis  was  fractured,  I  never  enter- 
tained the  idea  of  amputation  at  the  hip-joint.  I  moreover  believe 
that  had  the  thigh-bone  only  been  fractured,  Sir  Henry  could  not 
have  borne  the  shock  of  an  amputation,  which  would  thus  only  have 
shortened  his  valuable  life.' 


484  sue  HENR  Y  LA  WRENCB.  [1857 


Then   Henry  Lawrence  prepared  himself  for  death. 
First  of  all^  he  asked  Mr  Harris^  the  chaplain^  to  administer 
the  Holy  Communion  to  him.     In  the  open  verandah^  ex- 
posed to  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry^  the  solemn  service  was 
performed,  many  officers  of  the  garrison  tearfully  com- 
municating with  their    beloved    chief.     This    done,  he 
addressed  himself  to  those  about  him.     *  He  bade  an  afiec* 
tionate  farewell  to  all,*  wrote  one  who  was  present  at  this 
sad  and  solemn  meeting,  '  and  of  several  he  asked  forgive- 
ness for  having  at  times  spoken  harshly,  and  begged  them 
to  kiss  him.     One  or  two  were  quite  young  boys,  with 
whom  he  had  occasion  to  find  fault,  in  the  course  of  duty, 
a  few  days  previously.     He  expressed  the  deepest  humility 
and  repentance  for  his  sins,  and  his  firm  trust  in  our  blessed 
Saviour's  atonement^  and  spoke  most  touchingly  of  his  dear 
wife,  whom  he  hoped  to  rejoin.     At  the  utterance  of  her 
name  his  feelings  quite  overcame  him,  and  he  burst  into  an 
uncontrollable  fit  of  weeping,  which  lasted  soipe  minutes. 
He   again   completely  broke  down  in  speaking   of  his 
daughter,  to  whom  he  sent  his  love  and  blessing.  .  .  . 
Then  he  blessed  his  nephew  George,  who  was  kneeling  by 
his  bedside,  and  told  him  he  had  always  loved  him  as  his 
o\yn  son.  .  .  .  He  spoke  to  several  present  about  the  state 
of  their  souls,  urging  them  to  pray  and  read  their  Bibles, 
and  endeavour  to  prepare  for  death,  which  might  <*ome 
suddenly,  as  in  his  own  case.     To  nearly  each  person  pre- 
sent he  addressed  a  few  parting  words  of  afifectionate  advice 
— words  which  must  have  sunk  deeply  into   all  hearts. 
There  was  not  a  dry  eye  there,  and  many  seemingly  hard 
lough  men  were  sobbing  like  children.* 


1857.J  HIS  DEATH,  485 

Ai?d  ever  mingling,  in  these  last  hours,  with  the  kindly 
and  affectionate  feelings  of  the  man,  were  the  sterner 
thoughts  of  the  leader.  Passing  away,  as  he  was,  from  the 
scene,  he  had  to  make  new  arrangements  for  the  future 
defence  of  the  beleaguered  garrison.  He  knew  what  was 
his  duty,  and  though  it  pained  him  to  set  aside  one  who 
believed  that  he  had  the  best  right  to  succeed  him  in  his 
civil  duties,  he  felt  that  he  had  chosen  his  successor  wisely. 
He  now  urged  upon  Major  Banks,  and  all  present,  the  im- 
perative necessity  of  holding  out  to  the  very  last,  and  of 
never  making  terms  with  the  enemy.  *  Let  every  man,*  he 
said,  *  die  at  his  post  j  but  never  make  terms.  God  help 
the  poor  women  and  children.*  He  often  repeated  these 
last  words.  His  heart  was  very  heavy  with  the  thought  of 
these  helpless  little  ones,  not  knowing  what  dreadful  lot 
might  be  in  store  for  them.  But  he  thought  of  his  country 
most  of  all  \  and  the  noble  words  with  which  he  had  been 
familiar,  as  a  boy  in  the  Deny  school,  were  ever  present 
to  his  thoughts,  and  his  constant  counsel  was,  '  No  Sur- 
render.' * 

The  instructions  which  he  gave  to  Major  Banks,  in 
the  midst  of  his  sufferings,  and  with  the  hand  of  death 
upon  him,  were  of  a  detailed  and  precise  character,  and 
were,  on  leaving  Lawrence's  room,  thus  recorded  by  his 
successor : 

•  And  very  proud,  too,  is  Deny  of  her  foster-sons — ^the  Law- 
rences and  Robert  Montgomery — and  of  the  heroism  with  which 
they  clung  to  the  grand  old  war-cry  of  the  city.  I  have  seen  and 
heard  the  outward  expressions  of  the  admiration  of  the  men  of 
Deny. 


486  SIR  HBNR  Y  LA  WRBNCR.  [i?S7- 

*  I.  Reserve  fire  5  check  all  wall-firing. 

II.  Carefully  register  ammunition  for  guns  and  small 
arms  in  store.  Carefully  register  daily  expenditure  as  far  as 
possible. 

III.  Spare  the  precious  health  of  Europeans  in  every 
possible  way  fix)m  shot  and  shell. 

IV.  Organize  working  parties  for  night  labour. 

V.  Entrench — entrench — entrench.  Erect  traverses. 
Cut  off  enemy's  fire. 

VI.  Turn  every  horse  out  of  the  entrenchment^  except 
enough  for  four  guns.  Keep  Sir  Henry  Lawrence's  horse 
Ludakee  3  it  is  a  gift  to  his  nephew,  George  Lawrence. 

VII.  Use  the  state  prisoners  as  a  means  of  getting  in 
supplies  by  gentle  means  if  possible^  or  by  threats. 

VIII.  Enroll  every  servant  as  bildar^  or  carrier  of  eartL 
Pay  liberally — double,  quadruple. 

IX.  Turn  out  every  native  who  will  not  work,  save 
menials  who  have  more  than  abundant  labour. 

X.  Write  daily  to  Allahabad  or  Agra. 

XL  Sir  Henry  Lawrence's  servants  to  receive  one  year's 
pay  5  they  are  to  work  for  any  other  gentleman  who  want 
them,  or  they  may  leave  if  they  prefer  to  do  so. 

XI I.  Put  on  my  tomb  only  this:  ''Here  lies  Hemy 
Lawrence,  who  tried  to  do  his  duty.  May  God  have 
mercy  on  him." 

XI I I.  Take  an  immediate  inventory  of  all  natives^  seas 
to  know  who  can  be  used  as  bildars,  &c. 

XIV.  Take  an  immediate  inventory  of  all  supplies  and 
food,  &c.     Take  daily  average.* 

He  gave  many  sorrowing  thoughts^  also^  to  his  foster- 


x8s7.]  HIS  DEATH,  487 

children  in  the  Lawrence  Asylum  3  and  when  he  was  not 
capable  of  uttering  many  words^  from  time  to  time  he  said^ 
alternately  with  his  prayers  for  the  women  and  children, 
'Remember  the  Asylum;  do  not  let  them  forget  the 
Asylum.'  He  told  the  chaplain  that  he  wished  to  be 
buried  very  privately,  'without  any  fuss,*  in  the  same 
grave  with  any  men  of  the  garrison  who  might  die  about 
the  same  time.  Then  he  said,  speaking  rather  to  himself 
than  to  those  about  him,  of  his  epitaph — ^  Here  lies  Henry 
Lawrence,  who  tried  to  do  his  duty.  May  God  have  mercy 
upon  him^  * 

He  lingered  till  the  beginning  of  the  second  day  after 
he  was  stricken  down,  sufiering  occasionally  acute  paroxysms 
of  pain,  but  having  many  blessed  intervals  of  rest  \  and  at 
last  passed  away  very  tranquilly, '  like  a  little  child  falling 
asleep,'  about  eight  o'clock  a.m.  on  the  4th  of  July,  j*    '  He 

*  It  has  been  stated  that  he  said :  '  I  should  like,  too,  a  text, 
"  To  the  Lord  our  God  belong  mercies  and  forgivenesses,  though  we 
have  rebelled  against  Him.'*  It  was  on  my  dear  wife's  tomb.' 
But  I  have  been  assured,  on  the  best  authority,  that  this  is  an  error. 

t  *  The  day  before,  at  his  own  request,'  wrote  Dr  Fayrer,  *  I  had 
given  him  chloroform  when  the  spasms  came  on.  It  relieved  him  at 
the  time^  but  it  clouded  his  intellect  afterwards.  I  therefore  did  not 
repeat  it,  nor  did  he  wish  it  In  such  cases  it  should,  I  think,  unless  the 
pain  is  very  severe,  be  always  avoided,  for  it  loses  time,  which  is  very 
precious  to  the  sufferer.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  that  Sir 
Henry  suffered  as  much  pain  as  has  been  supposed,  and  the  expres- 
sion "lingered  in  great  agony  until  the  -morning  of  the  4th,"  is, 
though  a  natural  one,  an  exaggeration.  He  received  the  wound 
when  in  a  delicate  state  of  health,  worn  with  anxiety,  heavy  responsi- 
bility, and  great  physical  and  mental  labour ;  his  constitution  had 
suffered  fiom  old  disease^  and  he  sank,  perhaps,  sooner  than  a 


488  SIR  HENRY  LAWRENCE.  \jL%Sh 

looked  so  peaceful  and  happy/  said  one  who  entered  the 
room  just  after  his  spirit  had  departed^  'with  the  most 
beautiful  expression  of  calm  joy  on  his  face.  We  could 
not  but  thank  God  that  his  sufferings  were  over^  feeling  sure 
that  be  was  at  rest.' 

After  a  little  while  it  became  necessary  to  move  the 
body^  and  some  European  soldiers  were  sent  ior  to  lift  the 
couch  on  which  it  lay.  Before  they  did  so,  one  of  the 
party  raised  the  sheet  which  covered  the  face  of  his  beloved 
chiefj  and  kissed  him  reverently  on  the  forehead ;  then  the 
others  stooped  down  and  did  likewise  j  and,  having  so  dont^ 
bore  the  body  to  the  verandah.  That  evening  it  was  buried, 
in  a  soldier's  grave,  with  the  corpses  of  four  others  who 
had  fallen  on  that  day  j  and  so  fiirious  was  the  raging  of 
the  enemy  at  the  time,  that  I  believe  not  a  single  oflficer  of 
the  garrison  saw  the  remains  of  his  beloved  General  lowered 
into  the  grave.  But  there  was  not  one  amongst  them  who 
did  not  feel  that  he  best  did  honour  to  the  dead  by  follow- 
ing his  great  example,  and  being  found  ever  at  his  post. 


Kough  and  imperfect  as  is  this  brief  sketch  of  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence's  career,  I  hope  that  it  has  in  some  measure  set 
forth  the  character  of  the  man,  and  the  sources  of  his  great- 
aess.  It  will  not,  I  trust,  be  long  before  a  life  so  eminently 
that  of  a  *  Christian  Warrior ' — ^a  life  so  fitted  to  encourage 

younger  man  would  have  done  under  the  effects  of  the  wound.  .  .  . 
The  little  that  could  be  done  to  alleviate  pain  and  to  unooth  his 
passage  to  the  grave,  I  did  for  him,  and  delighted  should  I  have  been 
had  I  been  able  to  do  more.' 


^^37']  ^^S  CHARACTER,  489 


and  sustain  in  well-doing,  by  the  beauty  of  its  example — 
will  be  fully  written  by  one  far  more  capable  than  I  am  of 
doing  justice  to  the  theme.*  What  Wordsworth  wrote, 
Lawrence  acted.  The  ideal  portrait  of  the  'Christian 
Warrior,*  which  the  one  had  drawn,  was  ever  before  the 
other  as  an  exemplar.  He  read  it  often ;  he  thought  of  it 
continually  j  he  quoted  it  in  his  writings.  He  tried  to  con- 
form his  own  life  and  to  assimilate  his  own  character  to  it ; 
and  he  succeeded,  as  all  men  succeed  who  are  truly  in 
earnest.  But  if  I  were  asked  what  especially  it  was  that 
more  than  all  perfected  the  picture  of  his  character,  I 
should  say  that  it  was  the  glow  of  romance  that  flushed  it 
aU  as  with  a  glory  from  above.  There  was  in  all  that  he 
did  a  richness  and  tenderness  of  sentiment  that  made  it  not 
only  good  but  beautiful.  He  used  to  say — and  nothing 
was  ever  said  more  truly — '  It  is  the  due  admixture  of 
romance  and  reality  that  best  carries  a  man  through  life.' 
No  words  can  express  better  than  his  own  what  I  wish  to 
say  in  this  place,  for  no  words  can  more  clearly  set  forth 
what  it  was  that  made  the  peculiar  greatness  of  the  man. 
'The  quality,*  he  wrote  in  i844,t  'variously  designated 
romance  or  enthusiasm,  poetry  or  ideality,  is  not  to  be 
despised  as  the  mere  delusion  of  a  heated  brain  5  but  is  to 
be  valued  as  an  energy  imparted  to  the  hunian  mind,  to 
prompt  and  sustain  its  noblest  efforts.     We  would  urge  on 

•  It  is  understood  that  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes  has  been  engaged 
for  some  years  upon  a  '  Life  of  Henry  Lawrence/  It  will  assuredly 
be  worthy  of  the  subject 

t  Article,  '  Romance  and  Reality  of  Indian  Life,'  in  the  fourth 
number  of  the  Calcutta  Review, 


490  SIR  HENR  Y  LA  WRR^CE.  [1857. 

the  young  especially^  that,  not  that  they  should  repress 
enthusiasm,  but  that  they  should  cultivate  and  direct  the 
feeling.  Undisciplined  romance  deals  in  vague  aspirations 
after  something  better  and  more  beautiful  than  it  has  yet 
seen ;  but  it  is  apt  to  turn  in  disgust  from  the  thousand 
homely  details  and  irksome  efforts  essential  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  anything  really  good^  to  content  itself  with 
dreams  of  glorious  impossibilities.  Reality,  priding  itself  on 
a  steady  plodding  after  a  moderate  tangible  desideratum, 
Laughs  at  the  aimless  and  improfitable  vision  of  romance  3 
^  but  the  hand  cannot  say  to  the  eye^  I  have  no  need  of 
ihee ! "  Where  the  two  faculties  are  duly  blended,  reality 
pursues  a  straight  rough  path  to  a  desirable  and  practicable 
result ;  while  romance  beguiles  the  road  by  pointing  out  its 
beauties,  by  bestowing  a  deep  and  practical  conviction  that 
even  in  this  dark  and  material  existence  there  may  be  found 
a  joy  with  which  a  strangei  intermeddleth  not — a  light  that 
shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.'  And  truly 
upon  Henry  Lawrence  this  light  beamed  more  and  more 
until  the  perfect  day  dawned  upon  him,  and  his  work  was 
accomplished  upon  earth. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  shall  be  accused  of  partialiQr  or 
exaggeration  if  I  say  that,  looking  not  so  much  at  what  be 
did  as  at  what  he  was,  the  future  historian  of  India  will 
place  him  second  to  none  in  the  great  descriptive  roll  of  her 
Heroes.  For  perhaps  in  no  one,  who  has  lived  and  died  to 
maintain  in  good  repute  our  great  Anglo-Indian  Empire, 
shall  we  find  so  lustrous  a  combination  of  ennobling  and 
endearing  qualities.  Few  men,  at  any  time  and  in  any 
country,  have  been  at  once  so  admired  and  so  beloved. 


i8S7.]  fffS  CHARACTER.  491 

People  of  all  kinds  speak  of  him  with  an  enthusiasm  which 
has  so  much  of  personal  afiection  in  it>  that  it  seems  some- 
times as  if  the  world  were  full  of  his  private  friends.  And 
yet  many  who  thus  spoke  of  him  had  never  seen  him  in  the 
flesh.  Those  who  knew  him,  and  knew  him  well,  and  had 
been  in  habits  of  intimacy  with  him,  were  ever  as  proud  of 
his  friendship  as  Fulke  Greville  was  of  the  friendship  of  Sir 
Philip  Sydney.  He  had  some  points  of  resemblance  to 
Sydney,  but  there  were  also  characteristic  divergences  5 
and  if  we  could  conceive  a  fusion  of  a  Sydney  and  a  Crom- 
well>  we  might  arrive  nearly  at  a  just  conception  of  the 
character  of  Henry  Lawrence.  He  was  very  chivalrous 
and  tender ;  he  was  courteous,  but  he  was  not  courtly  5  he 
had  profound  religious  convictions,  and  in  the  hour  of  difE- 
colty  and  danger  he  communed  with  his  God,  and  felt  that^ 
whether  the  issue  were  life  or  death,  it  was  all  for  the  best. 
But  the  ruggedness  of  Henry  Lawrence  was  all  on  the 
outer  side;  he  was  personally  one  of  the  most  gentle^ 
loving,  and  compassionate  of  men ;  and,  in  his  relations 
with  the  great  world  around  him,  he  was  essentially 
charitable  and  forbearing. .  There  was  no  iconoclasm  in  his 
nature.  He  grieved  over  the  errors  which  were  ever 
patent  before  him  $  but  he  had  a  great  pity  for  those  who 
professed  them,  and  it  was  his  desire  rather  to  persuade 
than  to  break. 

I  might  add  to  these  feeble  words  many  tributes  of 
others,  but  they  press  upon  me  in  such  numbers  that  I  know 
not  how  to  select.  I  cannot  forget,  however,  that  when  a 
great  meedng  was  held  in  London  to  do  honour  to  the 
memory  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  Lord  Stanley,  who  had 


490  SIR  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCE.  [1857. 

visited  him  in  India>  threw  a  wreath  upon  his  bier  bright 
with  the  flowers  of  unquestionable  truth.  *  Sir  Henij 
Lawrence^*  he  said^ '  rose  to  eminence  step  bj  step^  not  bj 
favour  of  any  man,  certainly  not  by  subserviency  either  to 
ruling  authorities  or  to  popular  ideas,  but  simply  by  the  oper- 
ation of  that  natural  law  which  in  troubled  times  brings  the 
strongest  mind,  be  it  where  it  may,  to  the  post  of  highest 
command.  *I  knew  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  six  years  aga 
Travelling  in  the  Punjab,  I  passed  a  month  in  his  camp,  and 
it  then  seemed  to  me,  as  it  does  now,  that  his  personal  cha^- 
racter  was  far  above  his  career,  eminent  as  that  career  has 
been.  If  he  had  died  a  private  and  undistinguished  penon, 
the  impress  of  his  mind  would  still  have  been  left  on  all 
those  who  came  personally  into  contact  with  him.  I 
thought  him,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  sagacious  and  far-sedng 
in  matters  of  policy  \  and  I  had  daily  opportunity  of  witness- 
ing, even  under  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  long  and  rapid 
journey,  his  constant  assiduity  in  the  despatch  of  business* 
But  it  was  not  the  intellectual  qualities  of  the  man  which 
made  upon  me  the  deepest  impression.  There  was  in  him 
a  rare  union  of  determined  purpose,  of  moral  as  well  as 
physical  courage,  with  a  singular  frankness  and  courtesy  of 
demeanour  which  was  something  more  than  we  call  cour* 
tesy  3  for  it  belonged  not  to  manners  but  to  mind — a  cour* 
tesy  shown  equally  to  Europeans  and  natives.  Once  know 
him,  and  you  could  not  imagine  him  giving  utterance  to 
any  sentiment  which  was  harsh,  or  petty,  or  self-seeking.* 
Another,  who  knew  him  well,  and  who  had  ever,  like 
I^awrence,  a  large-hearted  philanthropy,  thus  wrote  of  hii 


1857.3  HIS  CHARACTER.  493 


honoured  friend  :  *  '  Every  Englishman  will  forgive  me  if 
I  wander  from  my  subject  for  a  moment^  to  ofier  my  hum- 
ble tribute  of  affection  to  the  man  who^  perhaps  above  all 
others^  has  done  honour  to  the  name  of  Englishman  in  In- 
dia.    To  know  Sir  Henry  was  to  love  him.     In  i8j3,  when 
I  was  on  my  way  to  Lahore^  and  Sir  Henry  was  leaving  the 
Punjab^  I  had  witnessed  the  unbounded  regard  which  all 
.classes  displayed  to  his  person.     During  my  term  of  ofEce 
at  Lahore^  I  had  occasion^  in  the  discharge  of  my  pubHc 
duty^  to  prosecute  and  bring  to  punishment  men  who  owed 
their  appointments  to  Sir  Henry's  favour.     Instead  of  re- 
sentment^ he  honoured  me  with  increased  regard^  acknow- 
ledging that  I  had  exercised  a  necessary  severity.   In  March^ 
J  85  7,  at  Agra,  when  on  his  way  to  take  charge  of  his  new 
duties  as  Chief  Commissioner  of  Oude,  I  had  much  daily 
and  unreserved  intercourse  with  Sir  Henry.     I  found  him, 
^  it  were,  ripenmg  fast,  alike  for  that  goal  of  human  glory 
which  he  was  soon  to  attain,  and  for  that  subHmer  change 
which  so  quickly  awaited  him.     His  heart  seemed  over* 
flowing  with  Christian  charity.     I  remember  that,  in  return- 
ing a  volume  of  Memoirs  of  Bishop  Sandford,  he  wrote  to 
call  my  attention  to  the  following  passage,  which  be  had 
marked  with  a  pencil :  *'  My  fears  for  those  who  retain  a 
spirit  of  unforgiveness  are  overpowering.     I  will  sincerely 
declare  to  you  that  I  could  not  myself  pray  to  God,  or  ask 
His  pardon  for  my  many  transgressions,  before  I  go  to  bed 
at  night,  with  any  comfort,  or  with  any  hope  of  being 

•  Charles  Raikes— <  Notes  on  the  Revolt  in  the  North-West 
Provinces.' 


494  S/H  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCB.  [1857. 

heard^  unless  I  were  conscious  that  I  did  from  mj  heart 
forgive  as  I  ask  to  be  forgiven."  (VoL  ii.  pp.  106-7.) 
When  next  I  met  him^  as  we  walked  to  the  early  church 
service  (it  was  the  time  of  Lent),  he  poured  out  his  heart 
on*  the  beautiful  topic  of  Christian  forgiveness^  adding,  that 
he  had  sent  a  copy  of  the  extract  above  quoted  to  a  distin- 
guished officer,  once  his  friend,  who  had  taken  deep  ofience 
at  some  public  act  of  Sir  Henry's.  For  every  child  that  he 
met  in  my  own  family,  in  the  missionary  or  other  public 
schools,  he  had  a  word  of  kindness  or  encouragement.  In- 
cidentally he  told  me  that  the  secret  of  his  ability  to  support 
those  public  institutions  with  which  his  name  will  for  ever 
be  associated,  was  to  be  found  in  his  abstinence  to  the  ut- 
most from  all  sorts  of  personal  expense.*  One  more  tribute 
must  be  cited,  because  it  comes  from  one  with  a  fine  sense 
of  the  heroic,  who  had  never  been  within  the  reach  of  the 
personal  influence  of  the  soldier-statesman,  and  who  merely 
recorded  what  all  men  said :  '  What  a  grand  heroic  mould 
that  mind  was  cast  in  !  What  a  pure  type  of  the  Christian 
soldier !  From  what  I  have  heard  of  Henry  Lawrence,  of 
his  natural  infirmities,  of  his  immense  efforts  to  overcome 
them  j  of  his  purity  of  thought,  of  hb  charity,  of  his  love, 
of  the  virtues  which  his  inner  life  developed  as  he  increased 
in  years ;  of  his  devotion  to  duty,  to  friendship,  and  to 
Heaven  5  I  am  led  to  think  that  no  such  exemplar  of  a  truly 
good  man  can  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  servants  of  anj 
Christian  State  in  the  latter  ages  of  this  world.*  * 

Of  the  loss  that  he  was  to  India  no  tongue  can  speak  in 
words  equal  to  the  occasion.     *  There  is  not,  I  am  fore^* 
*  William  Russell's  '  Diaiy  in  India.* 


f8S7.]  ^^S  CHARACTER.  495 

said  Lord  Cannings  *  An  Englishman  in  India  who  does  not 
regard  the  loss  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  in  the  present  cir- 
cumstances of  the  country,  as  one  of  the  heaviest  of  public 
calamities.  There  is  not,  I  believe,  a  native  of  the  provinces 
where  he  has  held  authority,  who  will  not  remember 
his  name  as  that  of  a  friend  and  generous  benefactor  to  the 
races  of  India.'  He  had,  indeed,  above  all  Indian  statesmen 
whom  I  have  known,  a  large-hearted  sympathy  with  the 
natives  of  India,  which  caused  him  to  regard  with  equal 
justice  and  benignity  the  relations  of  the  great  British 
Empire  with  both  the  people  of  our  own  territories  and  the 
Princes  of  the  independent  or  tributary  States.  It  is  pro- 
bable that,  in  the  limited  space  at  my  disposal,  I  have  not 
sufficiently  illustrated  his  political  opinions  5  and  It  has  been 
my  object  to  avoid  controversial  topics.  But  I  may  mention 
here  that  Lord  Canning  wrote  to  him  that  he  had  always 
heard  that  he  was  a  fnend  of  the '  blue  blood,'  and  Lawrence 
did  not  seek  to  deny  it.  He  believed  that  sound  policy^ 
based  upon  a  conformity  with  the  genius  of  the  nation, 
equally  with  abstract  notions  of  justice,  taught  us  to  adhere 
to  the  spirit  of  our  treaties,  to  support  the  native  Princes, 
and  to  maintain  the  aristocracy  of  the  country.  One  who 
had  known  him  all  his  life,  who  had  served  with  him  in 
the  Punjab,  and  had  risen  to  high  honour  by  following  in 
his  footsteps,  wrote  to  me,  saying:  'His  whole  energies 
were  devoted  to  the  amelioration  of  his  fellow-creatures, 
whether  black  or  white.  He  showed  the  deepest  feelings 
of  compassion  and  tenderness  towards  the  nobles  and 
chieft  who,  having  fought  for  their  country,  had  lost  it,  and 
came  under  our  rule.    He  knew  how  difficult  it  was  &r 


496  S/ie  HENR  Y  LA  WRBNCE,  [185^. 

them  to  at  once  fall  into  the  ways  of  our  Grovemment,  and 
he  sympathized  with  the  brave  soldiers  whom  our  army 
supplanted  and  left  without  provision.  He  felt,  whilst 
exercising  his  own  feelings  of  benevolence,  he  was  best 
serving  his  Government,  and  he  had  the  faculty  of  influenc- 
ing all  around  him,  and  those  who  served  imder  him,  "with 
the  same  spirit.  This  was  very  striking  3  and  who  can  tell 
what  an  importance  this  was,  what  his  philanthropy  did  in 
turning  the  tide  of  the  Punjabees  in  our  favour  in  1857.  I 
believe  that  his  spirit,  and  the  spirit  he  inculcated,  did  much 
towards  their  loyalty  and  devotion  to  us.  .  .  .  He  was 
always  known  amongst  us  as  the  Howard  of  the  Punjab. 
I  do  not  think  a  day  ever  passed  that  he  did  not  visit 
the  gaol  where  he  happ^ied  to  be.  He  dropped  in  at 
all  hours,  and  the  advanced  state  of  gaol  management, 
at  an  early  period  of  our  rule  in  the  Punjab,  was  mainly 
owing  to  him.  After  a  party  at  Government  House  of 
an  evening,  it  was  a  common  thing  for  him  to  say  to  the 
gentlemen, ''  I  am  going  down  to  the  gaol  \  come  with  me 
and  see  the  prisoners."  And  down  all  would  go,  he  lead- 
ing the  way,  and  whilst  going  through  the  wards  at  mid- 
night, he  was  discussing  gaol  matters,  and  how  best  to 
provide  for  their  better  care  and  reformation.  It  was  im- 
possible for  those  under  him  to  be  with  him  and  not  catch 
some  of  his  spirit.* 

There  is  a  monument  to  his  memory  in  the  great 
metropolitan  Cathedral  of  St  Paul;  but  the  grandest 
monument  of  all  is  to  be  found  in  the  Asylums  which 
bear  his  name. 


497 


GENERAL  NEILL. 

[born  z8za— dibd  1857.]* 

OF  the  heroic  lives,  which  I  have  hitherto  endeavoured 
to  illustrate  in  these  pages,  not  one  has  represented 
the  career  of  a  soldier  pure  and  simple.  I  have  written  of 
men^  soldiers  by  profession,  bearing  military  rank;  men 
who  had  learned  the  theory  and  practice  of  war  3  who  had 
seen  great  arn^ies  in  motion ;  who  had  £iced  the  danger  of 
battle  and  had  died  by  the  hand  of  the  enemy  3  but  who, 
since  the  days  of  their  youth,  had  been  but  little  sur« 
rounded  by  the  ordinary  accompaniments  of  regimental 
life.  They  were  diplomatists,  indeed,  rather  than  soldiers. 
But  diplomacy  is  rougher  work  in  the  East  than  in  the 
West.  It  exposes  a  man  to  all  the  dangers  of  military  life, 
and  often  without  its  protections.  It  sends  him  on  de- 
tached and  dangerous  service,  to  face,  alone  and  unsup- 
ported, a  barbarous  enemy,  and  at  all  times  renders  him  a 
conspicuous  mark  for  the  malice  of  revengeful  antagonists. 
In  such  diplomatic  or  '  political  *  employment  as  this,  the 
servants  of  the  East  India  Company  were  enabled,  when 
in  the  early  vigour  of  their  years,  before  their  health  had 
been  wasted  or  their  energies  broken  by  long  exposure  to 

VOL.  II.  33 


498  GENERAt.  NElhL.  [18x0-15. 


the  seventies  of  the  climate^  to  attain  to  high  and  respon- 
sible office^  and  perhaps  to  some  irregular  command.  But 
in  the  purely  military  service,  the  inexorable  necessities  of 
the  seniority  system  seldom  permitted  men  to  rise  to  high 
command  until  they  had  lost  their  capacity  for  it.  Ex- 
ceptions there  were)  but  this  was  the  rule.  So  it  has 
happened  that  the  names  most*  distinguished  in  Indian 
history  are  the  names  of  men  who,  reared  as  soldiers,  have 
divested  themselves  of  the  trammels  of  military  life,  and 
sought  service  altogether  independent  of  the  chances  of 
regimental  promotion. 

But  I  am  about  now  to  write  of  one  who  was  all  in  all 
a  soldier — who,  not  wanting  capacity  for  the  performance 
of  these  other  duties,  climg  resolutely  to  the  'great  pro- 
fession *  of  arms  5  one,  who  so  loved  that  profession,  that 
he  suffered  no  allurements  to  detach  him  from  it ;  and  who 
Hved  and  died  with  its  harness  on  his  back.  Strong  in  the 
faith  that  his  time  would  come,  he  waited  patiently  for  lus 
opportunity ;  and  it  came  at  last. 

James  George  Neill,  the  eldest  son  of  a  Scotch  gentle- 
man of  good  family — Colonel  Neill  of  Barnweill  and 
Swendridgemuir  in  Ayrshire — was  born  on  the  26th  of 
May,  1810,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ayr.  From  his  veiy 
childhood  he  evinced  a  fearlessness  and  independence  of 
spirit  which  promised  well  for  his  future  career.  He  was 
not  yet  five  years  old,  when  he  absented  himself  one  moni' 
ing  from  home,  and  excited  considerable  alarm  in  the 
household  by  his  disappearance.  He  had  been  absent  for 
many  hours,  when  his  father  observed  him  coming  with 
jeisurely  composure  homeward,  across  a  long  dangeroia 


i8is-r27.]  CHILDHOOD  AND  BOYHOOD.  499 

-    —   —  - 

embankment  which  confined  the  water  of  Barnweill 
Loch.  His  father  went  to  meet  him^  and  anxiously 
asked^  *  Where  have  you  been,  Jamie  ?  *  '  Well/  replied 
the  boy,  '  I  just  thought  I'd  like  to  take  a  long  walk  and 
look  at  all  things  as  I  went  on,  see,  and  see  whether  I 
could  get  home  by  myself !  And  I  have  done  it,'  he  added, 
proudly  5  '  and  now  I  am  to  have  no  more  nursery-maids 
running  after  me — I  can  manage  myself.'  His  father  said 
that  he  was  right  3  and  from  that  day  the  surveillance  oi 
nurses  was  withdrawn ;  and  it  was  felt  that  Jamie  might 
safely  be  left  to  look  after  himselfl 

He  received  his  education  at  an  academy  in  his  native 
town,  until  at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  removed  to  the 
Glasgow  University.  It  was  then  intended  that  he  should 
be  trained  for  the  law  5  but  young  Jamie  had  no  taste  for 
such  a  profession,  or  indeed  for  a  sedentary  life  of  any  kind. 
He  was  active  and  robust  5  a  stout  walker,  an  intrepid 
horseman,  a  sure  marksman  5  and  he  was  eager  to  be  a 
soldier.  At  that  time,  the  Burmese  war  was  attracting  no 
little  attention  in  Great  Britain  5  and  our  youngsters,  in- 
spired by  the  marvellous  pictures  of  grand  battles  upon 
elephant-back  in  a  country  of  magnificent  pagodas,  which 
were  widely  diffused  at  the  time,  burned  to  take  part  in 
the  affray.  James  Neill,  among  others,  was  hot  for  Indian 
service.  He  said  that  India  was  the  only  country  in  which 
distinction  could  be  won.  So  his  father  wisely  resolved  to 
gratify  his  wishes,  and  obtained  a  cadetship  for  him.  He 
was  not  yet  seventeen,  when,  in  January,  1827,  he  sailed 
lor  Madras.  Sir  Thomas  Munro,  who  was  then  Governor 
of  that  Presidency,  had  married  a  relative  of  Colonel  Neill. 


500  GENERAL  NEILU  [xS^T-SS. 

He  took  the  boy  by  the  hand^  and  caused  him  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  the  First  European  Regiment. 

Having  quickly  learnt  the  elements  of  his  profession^ 
young  Neill  devoted  himself  to  his  regimental  duties^  not 
only  as  one  who  was  resolute  to  do  what  was  demanded 
from  him,  but  as  one  also  who  took  the  deepest  interest  in 
his  work.  The  regiment,  to  which  he  had  been  posted, 
was  one  which  had  earned  distinction  on  many  fields,  and 
which,  being  one  of  the  very  few  European  corps  in  the 
Company's  service,  was  well-nigh  sure  to  go  to  the  firont 
in  any  new  operations  on  that  side  of  India.  But  for 
a  while  there  was  profound  peace  in  all  parts  of  the  countiy, 
and  the  strenuous  realities  of  active  service  were  only  to 
him  as  dreams  of  the  future.  In  the  details  of  regimental 
duty,  however,  he  found  abundant  occupation.  The  Madras 
European  Regiment  was  stationed  during  his  first  years  of 
service,  at  Masolipatam  \  and  the  young  subaltern  acquitted 
himself  so  well  that  he  was  made  Fort  Adjutant,  a  post 
which  he  held  until  the  corps  marched  to  Kamptee.  There 
the  zeal  and  ability  he  displayed  soon  recommended  him 
for  employment  on  the  regimental  Staff,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed Quartermaster,  and  afterwards  Adjutant,  of  the 
Madras  Europeans.  In  the  latter  situation  his  fine  soldierly 
qualities  had  much  scope  for  exercise  and  development 
It  is  hard  to  say  how  much  not  only  the  discipline  but  the 
happiness  of  a  regiment  depends  upon  the  personal  cha- 
racter of  the  Adjutant.  Lieutenant  Neill  was  not  a  man 
to  look  upon  the  soldier  merely  as  an  animated  machine. 
He  had  the  tenderest  regard  for  the  best  interests  of  his 
men  \  and  strove  with  all  his  might  to  reform  their  habits 


iteT— 3S-]  SUBALTERN.  got 

by  instituting  a  better  system  of  internal  economy  than 
that  which  in  those  days  commonly  obtained  in  our  army. 
He  did^  indeed^  almost  all  that^  in  these  latter  times^  our 
Sanitary  Commissions  are  wont  to  recommend  for  the 
improvement  of  the  health,  the  happiness^  and  the  moral 
character  of  the  soldier.  Whilst  subjecting  to  proper  regu- 
lation the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  to  the  European 
soldier^  he  endeavoured  to  withdraw  the  ordinary  induce- 
ments and  temptations  to  hard  drinking  which  too  com- 
monly beset  him.  By  providing  him  with  healthy  occu- 
pation and  harmless  amusement  he  did  much  to  improve 
the  morality  and  the  efficiency  of  the  regiment.  *i  Adult 
schools  and  workshops  were  estabHshed  \  athletic  exercises 
of  different  kinds  were  promoted  j  and  in  all  these  things 
the  personal  encouragement  and  example  of  Lieutenant 
Neill  did  much  to  secure  their  success. 

Whilst  still  in  the  zealous  performance  of  these  duties, 
sustained  and  cheered  by  the  thought  of  the  good  he  was 
doing,  A.djutant  Neill  took  to  himself  a  wife.  On  the  31st 
of  October,  183J,  he  married  Isabella,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Warde,  of  the  jth  Regiment  of  Bengal  Cavalry,  then  em- 
ployed in  the  '  Political  Department,*  as  Assistant  to  the 
Resident  at  Nagpore.  A  soldier*s  daughter,  she  was  fit 
to  be  a  soldier's  wife.  And  from  that  time  forth,  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  in  war  or  in  peace,  in  storm  or  in  sun- 
shine, he  had  not  a  thought  which  was  not  in  some  way 
associated  with  his  *  dearest  Isy.* 


Bat  the  climate  of  India  and  the  work — ^for  he  was  oae 


509  GENERAL  NEILL.  Lz837-4» 

who  never  spared  himself — ^were  beginning  to  make  them- 
selves felt ;  and  Neill  felt  that  the  time  was  approaching 
when  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  seek  renovated 
health  from  the  fresh  breezes  of  his  native  countiy.     Two 
years  after  his  marriage  (1837)  he  obtained  leave  of  absence 
to  Europe  for  three  years^  and  soon  recovered  all  the  strength 
and  elasticity  which  he  had  lost  beneath  the  £astem  sun. 
But  the  peace  in  which  India  had  for  some  years  been 
lapped,  was  now  again  about  to  be  disturbed.     There  were 
rumours  of  the  great  movement  into  Central  Asia,  which 
afterwards  took  the  substantive  shape  of  the  Afghan  war. 
Panting  for  active  service,  and  unwilling  to  lose  even  a 
remote  chance  of  employment  (and  remote  it  ever  was,  for 
the  Bengal  and  Bombay  regiments  were  well-nigh  certain 
to  be  those  engaged  with  the  enemy),  Neill  determined, 
as  soon  as  our  measures  were  &irly  shaped^  to  return  to 
India  long  before  the  expiration  of  his  leave.     He  returned 
in  1 839,  volunteered  more  than  once  for  service  in  Afghan- 
istan, but  could  not  obtain  the  great  boon  that  he  so  eagerlj 
sought.     But  he  had  a  ^t  friend  in  Sir  Robert  Dick,  who 
was   most   desirous  of  serving  him,  and  who  eventually 
obtained  for  him  an  appointment  on  the  Greneral  Staff  as 
'  Assistant- Adjutant-General  of  the  Ceded  Districts.* 

This  appointment  he  held  for  some  years,  during  the 
earlier  portion  of  which  he  devoted  his  leisure  to  the  work 
of  writing  a  history  of  the  distinguished  regiment  to  which 
he  belonged.  It  was  published  in  1843,  under  the  title  of 
an  Historical  Record  of  the  Madras  European  Regiment.  It 
is  an  excellent  example  of  the  class  of  literature  to  which  it 
belongs — an  elaborate  monograph,  exhaustive  and  com- 


1843—54-]  ON  SERVICE  IN  BURMA H,  503 

plete — following  the  regiment  from  its  very  cradle  up  to 
the  time  in  which  he  wrote.  But  his  official  duties  were 
ever  his  first  carej  and  they  were  so  well  performed  that 
he  received  the  repeated  thanks  of  the  General  command^ 
ing  the  circle  to  which  he  was  attached  3  and  he  would 
probably  have  risen  in  time  to  the  highest  place  in  his 
department^  if  he  had  not  sought  rather  opportunities  of 
serving  in  the  field.  An  opportunity  came  at  last.  The 
second  Burmese  war  commenced.  Neill  hastened  to  re- 
join his  regiment,  which  had  been  ordered  on  service  5  but 
on  his  way  he  was  met  by  the  announcement  that  he  had 
been  appointed  Adjutant-General  of  the  Madras  troops 
under  Sir  Scudamore.  Steele.  That  war  nearly  cost  him 
his  life. 

Of  some  of  his  Burmese  experiences  he  has  given  an 
interesting  and  characteristic  account  in  a  letter  to  his  cousin, 
Mr  Andrew  Brisbane  Neill.  It  exhibits  in  a  striking  point 
of  view  the  independence  and  self-reliance  of  his  nature, 
the  resolute  determination  at  all  hazards  to  do  what  was  right. 
For  the  good  of  the  soldiers  under  him  he  was  prepared 
even  to  fece  the  fi-owns  of  superior  military  authority.  '  I 
was  left  at  Rangoon  to  look  after  the  Madras  troops/  he 
wrote  on  the  8th  of  April,  18^4.  '  There  was  much  to  be 
done  putting  down  these  insurrections  near  Thurygyeen, 
Bassein,  &c.  There  was  no  time  to  refer  matters,  and  no 
one  who  could  act ;  so  I  set  to  work,  and  did  everything, 
issuing  the  usual  orders  as  fi'om  Sir  John  Cheape,  and  he 
was  very  much  pleased  that  everything  was  well  done.  I 
went  on  the  plan  to  go  at  any  fellow  who  showed  his  nose 
or  a  tip  of  it.     I  went  at  him  at  once.     I  rather  made  a 


504  GENERAL  NEILL.  \\l^ 

mistake  in  sending  too  large  a  force  against  Nga  Fyo,  but 
our  information  had  it  that  he  was  strongly  entrenched  and 
blockaded.  I  arranged  that  his  position  should  be  attacked 
on  opposite  quarters  at  the  same  time  bj  troops  moved 
simultaneously  from  Pegu  and  Thuiygyeen.  The  fellow 
would  not  stand  when  it  came  to  the  push^  but  retired  into 
the  hills ;  our  parties^  however^  entered  his  position  at  the 
points  ordered.  The  same  moment  the  fellow  was  followed 
into  the  hills  by  twenty  of  our  men  and  a  party  of  the  Pegu 
Light  Infantry,  and  although  not  taken^  his  party  was  dis- 
persed, and  all  his  luggage  and  plunder  taken.  At  Bassein 
we  tried  another  dodge,  which  is  the  best.  Small  parties 
were  sent  out.  Shuldham  of  the  24th  had  ten  artillerymen 
doing  duty  as  infantry,  and  eight  lambs,  and  a  company  o( 
the  19th.  The  Burmese  met  him  and  caught  it  handsomely 
— the  plan  is  to  encourage  them  to  stand,  by  sending  there 
few  men.  Nga  Pyo  had  again  shown  hi^  nose^  and  a  Com- 
pany of  the  30th  Native  Infantry,  and  some  fifteen  or 
twenty  Europeans,  were  ordered  by  me,  before  I  left,  to  go 
at  him  from  Thurygyeen.  I  expect  to  hear  they  have 
done  for  him.  Backed  in  this  way,  our  Sepoys  will 
fight  the  Burmese  well,  but  by  themselves  they  have  no 
chance.  Jack  Burmah  is  a  superior  animal,  thoroughly 
despises  the  Sepoy — ^the  Bengal  most,  on  account  of  his 
giving  himself  airs  about  caste.  A  parcel  of  Bengal  S^)ojs 
are  cooking  their  rice,  the  circle  described  all  right  and 
proper,  a  few  Burmese  looking  on  at  a  distance  laughing  and 
cracking  their  jokes ;  when  the  Bengalee  has  all  but  got 
the  food  ready,  up  walks  one  or  two  in  a  promiscuous 
manner,  and  down  they  squat  with  their  stems  right  in  the 


i8S3-]  ON  SER  VICE  IN  BURMAH,  505 


circle.    The  row  commences,  and  the  Sepoys  get  well 
thrashed.     Our  Madras  fellows  get  on  better,  as  they  have 
no  caste  compared  with  the  others.     I  go  home  on  the  new 
r^ulations.     I  have  not  had  time,  at  present,  to  understand 
them,  but  merely  pulverize  them  as  I  think  it  right  to  do, 
not  having  any  confidence  in  the  Government.     I  have  had 
a  shindy  with  the  Commissariat  Department,   who  are 
attempting  to  dodge  our  European  soldiers  out  of  European 
boots  and  blankets.  ...  I  have  had  a  wigging  from  the 
Commander-in-Chief  expressing  his  Excellency's  disappro- 
bation of  my  reflecting  on  the  Commissariat.     However, 
as  the  want  of  the  European  boots  and  blankets — ^both  of 
which  have  been  ordered  by  the  Government,  and  have  not 
been  supplied  by  their  servants — ^will  cause  sickness  and 
mortality  among  our  European  troops — ^indeed,  has  already 
caused  it,  and  destroys  their  efficiency,  and  as  the  Governor- 
General  is  most  anxious  for  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the 
European  soldiers,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  handing  up 
the  whole  matter  to  his  Lordship,  and  I  have  no  doubt  "  he 
will  know  the  reason  why  *'  these  things  are  not  supplied. 
I  have  been  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  indifference 
evinced  on  these  important  subjects,  and  have  not  as  yet 
stuck  at  a  trifle  in  obtaining  redress,  and  getting  things  put 
to  rights.' 

But  constant  work  and  exposure,  in  a  bad  climate,  nearly 
destroyed  Neill,  as  it  utterly  destroyed  others.  Some  of 
our  finest  officers  were  killed  by  strokes  of  the  sun,  and  he 
well-nigh  shared  the  same  fate.  He  was  struck  down ;  the 
fall  shattered  him  greatly,  and  for  some  time  he  was  so  torn 
by  brain  fever  that  there  was  small  hope  for  his  life.    But 


5o6  GENERAL  NEILL,  [1854. 


by  God*s  good  providence  he  recovered  sufficiently  to  be 
placed  on  board  a  screw-steamer  then  proceeding  to  Eng- 
land. '  It  would  have  been  better,'  he  wrote  in  a  letter 
above  quoted,  dated  from  the  £lphinstone  Hotel,  Madras, 
'if  I  had  left  Burmah  and  gone  home  some  time  since; 
however,  I  hope  yet  on  the  voyag^e  home,  when  I  shall  be 
free  from  all  bother,  to  make  up  for  all  the  injury  I  may 
have  sustained.  I  have  been  very  fortunate  in  all  my  pro- 
ceedings in  fiurmah,  have  grlven  satisfaction  to  the  Grovern- 
or-General,  and  have  been  much  flattered  by  his  conduct 
towards  me.  Had  it  been  possible  for  me  to  remaiD 
there,  I  should  have  either  been  at  the  head  of  the  Staff  or 
in  some  important  appointment.  I  have  fortunately  had 
much  to  do,  requiring  me  to  act  at  once  and  with  decision 
during  the  absence  of  Sir  J.  Cheape,  and  I  have  been  lucky 
enough  to  do  what  was  right.  ...  I  owe  my  recovery  and 
life  to  the  extreme  care,  attention,  and  kindness  of  Dr 
Davidson.  Had  I  been  his  brother  he  could  not  have  done 
more  for  me.' 


He  reached  England  in  the  month  of  June,  and  was 
soon  making  rapid  strides  towards  the  complete  recovery  of 
his  health.  3ut  the  rest  which  he  had  promised  himself 
was  not  in  store  for  him.  The  war  with  Russia  commenced. 
England  was  alive  with  the  bustle  and  excitement  of  pre- 
paration for  a  great  campaign.  The  formation  of  an  Anglo- 
Turkish  contingent — a  Turkish  force  disciplined  and  com- 
manded by  English  officers — ^was  one  of  the  auxiliaiy  mea- 
sures decreed  by  the  British  Grovemment.     Then  the  servicet 


i8S4— SS-J    WITH  THE  TURKISH  CONTINGENT,  507 

of  officers  of  the  East  India  Company — men  who  had  done 
work  in  their  day,  who  were  skilled  in  the  discipline  and 
command  of  irregular  levies,  capable  of  enduring  hardships 
and  privations,  rough-and-ready  fellows  of  the  best  kind — 
came  suddenly  into  demand.  And  not  only  was  there  need 
of  these,  but  need  also  of  men  who  had  seen  in  India  large 
bodies  of  all  arms  in  combination,  and  who  had  within 
them,  seeking  opportunity  of  development,  the  faculty  of 
military  organization.  General  Vivian,*  who  had  been 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Madras  Army,  was  selected  to 
command  the  Anglo-Turkish  force,  and  Colonel  Neill  was 
appointed  his  second  in  command.  The  opportunity  was 
one  for  which  he  had  longed.  It  was  the  desire  of  his  soul 
to  break  through  the  trammels  of  the  seniority  system, 
which  had  kept  him  down,  and  to  have  full  scope  for  the 
exercise  of  the  power  which  he  knew  was  within  him —  the 
power  of  successfully  commanding  large  bodies  of  troops  in 
the  field.  For  this  he  was  wiUing  to  resign  the  pleasures 
of  home  and  the  delights  of  domestic  life  5  so  he  at  once 
placed  his  services  at  the  disposal  of  Government,  and  pre- 
pared himself  to  embark  for  Constantinople.  *  You  will  be 
not  a  little  surprised  to  hear  from  me  here  en  route  to  the 
Crimea,'  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  on  the  3rd  of  April,  18 jj. 
*  On  the  formation  of  the  Turkish  Contingent,  I  was  asked 
if  I  wished  to  serve.  I  lost  no  time  in  saying  "yes,"  leav- 
ing rank,  pay,  &c.,  entirely  to  the  Government.  I  have 
never  bothered  them  on  the  subject.  My  only  request  has 
been,  "  Give  me  the  highest  command  my  rank  will  admit 

•  Now  Sir  Robert  Vivian,  K.C.B.,  Colonel  of  the  Royal  Madras 
Fusiliers,  and  member  of  the  Council  of  India. 


So6  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1855. 

o£  I  stand  next  to  General  Vivian  on  the  list  of  Company's 
officers.  There  is,  I  believe,  great  play  making  on  the  part 
of  the  Madras  men  for  commands,  and  I  have  no  influence 
or  interest.  I  go  out  as  a  Colonel  on  the  Staff.  I  had  my 
passage  as  senior  officer  ordered  in  the  Victory  steamer 
from  Portsmouth  5  but  they  were  so  dilatory  in  getting  her 
ready,  that  I  applied  on  Saturday  afternoon  to  be  allowed 
to  go  vid,  Marseilles  in  order  to  get  to  Constantinople  sooner. 
The  reply  was  from  the  War  Office :  '*  As  Colonel  Neill 
.  b  Greneral  Vivian's  second-in-command,  it  is  of  importance 
he  should  be  at  Constantinople  as  soon  as  possible :  he  is  to 
go  v\A  Marseilles."  This  I  saw  in  writing,  but  it  is  strange 
none  of  us  are  yet  gazetted,  nor  can  we  And  out  what  com- 
mands we  are  to  have.  I  asked  one  man  in  office :  he  let 
out  inadvertently,  "  Oh,  you  are  to  have  a  division,"  but  I 
can  get  nothing  more.  ...  I  shall  be  about  the  first  man 
out  at  my  post,  and  if  spared,  you  may  depend  upon  it  I  will 
do  something.  I  consider  myself  most  fortunate  ...  it 
is  an  opportunity  of  seeing  service  and  acquiring  professional 
knowledge  that  wiU  stand  me  in  good  stead  hereafter.' 

On  his  arrival  in  Turkey,  Colonel  Neill  was  appointed 
to  command  a  division  stationed  in  camp  at  Bayukdere,  on 
the  Bosphorus,  where  he  remained  for  some  time,  exerting 
himself,  with  good  success,  to  reduce  his  noien  to  a  state  of 
efficiency  and  discipline.  He  spoke  of  the  Turkish  soldiers 
as  being  'good  and  steady,  very  smart  under  arms,  and 
painstaking  to  a  degree.'  But  from  the  performance  of 
these  congenial  duties  he  was  soon  called  away.  In  another 
part  of  the  Turkish  force,  for  the  discipline  of  which  Engr 
hsh  officers  were  responsible,  there  was  a  chronic  state  of 


1855.]  WITH  THB  TURlCrSH  CONTINGENT,  509 

irregularity  of  the  worst  kind.  The  fiashi-Bazoukhs,  com- 
manded by  Greneral  fieatson,  were  displaying  all  the  violence 
and  rapacity  of  their  kind,  little,  if  at  all,  restrained  by  the 
presence  of  their  English  officers.  When  intelligence  of 
their  excesses  reached  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  our  am- 
bassador at  Constantinople,  he  determined  to  inquire  into 
them  J  and  on  the  27th  of  July,  Neill  was  directed  to  repair 
to  the  Embassy,  to  receive  instructions  relative  to  the  com- 
ing investigation.  Full  powers  were  given  him  to  act  as  he 
might  think  best,  and  he  was  nominated  President  of  the 
Military  Commission  formed  to  try  the  offenders.  The 
Commission,  which  was  composed  partly  of  British  officers 
and  partly  of  Turkish  officials,  lost  no  time  in  commencing 
proceedings,  and  on  the  28th  of  July  two  men  were  tried 
for  desertion,  and  for  having  been  concerned  in  the  plunder 
of  a  treasure  party.  They  were  found  guilty,  and  sentenced 
to  receive,  each,  five  himdred  lashes,  which  were  adminis- 
tered 'with  a  stick  to  the  enlivening  strains  of  a  quick 
march  played  by  a  band  of  music,*  according  to  the  military 
customs  of  the  country,  when  punishment  is  inflicted  upon 
a  culprit.  This  severe  and  sudden  punishment  produced 
good  effects. 

I  have  no  inclination  to  enter  into  the  history  of  General 
Beatson  and  the  Bashi-Bazoukhs,  which  elicited  a  vast  mass 
of  official  correspondence  and  a  bundle  of  controversial 
pamphlets,  distinguished  by  no  little  asperity.  It  is  enough 
to  record  here  that  General  Neill  obtained  a  clear  insight 
into  the  character  of  the  Bashi-Bazoukhs,  and  the  proper 
mode  of  dealing  with  them.  *  In  the  Sultan's  time,*  h« 
wrote, '  whiea  called  out,  they  got  two  pounds  of  grain  a 


5IO  GENERAL  NEILL.  [185^ 

day,  often  not  that,  no  forage  for  horse,  and  no  paj.   They 
were  expected  to  live  by  plunder.     We  give  them  daily 
rations,  forage,  and  monthly  pay.     Greneral  Beatson  ought, 
at  first,  to  have  checked  their  plundering  propensities,  bat 
by  his  conduct,  he  did  the  reverse — ^he  allow^ed  his  men  to 
leave  their  camp  at  all  times  armed  to  the  teeth  with  pistols. 
No  man  carries  less  than  two,  always  loaded.     They  ride 
into  the  town,  and  take  anything  they  &ncy,  sometimes 
throw  down  a  tenth  of  its  value  to  the  shopkeeper,  and  if 
he  objects,  it  is  either  abuse,  a  licking,  or  out  with  the  pis- 
tol and  bang  at  him.     In  the  country  about  they  ride  into 
gardens  and  vineyards,  turn  the  horses  loose  to  ^d,  pull  and 
carry  away  the  grapes,  plunder  the  folds  and  flocks,  take 
food  and  grain  from  the  people,  and  ravish  the  women.   All 
this  has  been  proved  beyond  a  doubt  at  the  Court  of  In- 
quiry.    The  country  people  are  deserting  their  properties, 
and  the  respectable  ^milies  of  this  town  have  left  and  gone 
over  to  the  European  side :  shops  are  all  shut.     General 
Beatson  will  not  believe  it — all  lies,  as  he  says — Russian 
intrigue,  French  hostility,  &c.' 

Neill  thought  that  with  a  fair  system  of  discipline  these 
unruly  Bashis  could  be  converted  into  splendid  troops,  and 
he  expressed  a  detailed  opinion  to  this  effect,  for  which  he 
received  the  thanks  of  the  ambassador  at  Constantinople. 
Lord  Stratford  sent  a  despatch  to  Greneral  Beatson — '  copy 
of  which,*  wrote  Neill,  '  he  sends  to  me — in  which,  in  the 
name  of  her  Majesty's  Government,  he  calls  upon  him  to 
act  at  once  according  to  my  recommendations  and  put  down 
excesses,  or  adhere  to  his  resolution  and  resign  the  conmiand 
into  my  hands.     He  also  adds  his  testimony  in  fkvowc  of  the 


4855—56-]    WITH  THE  TURKISH  CONTINGENT,  511 


soundness  of  my  recommendations^  and  the  discredon  and 
calmness  in  the  performance  of  a  different  duty^  &c.  This  is 
satis&ctory^  as  showing  that  I  am  all  right.  ...  I  feel^  if 
required  to  do  it,  quite  equal  to  bringing  the  Bashi-Bazoukhs 
into  order,  and  making  excellent  light  cavalry  of  them — if 
not  required  to  do  so,  I  return  to  my  infantry  division  none 
the  worse  for  the  experience  and  general  insight  into  the 
service.* 

But  neither  with  the  Bashi-Bazoukhs,  nor  with  his  own 
infantry  division,  was  the  hope  which  he  had  so  long  enter- 
tained of  doing  active  service  in  the  field  doomed  to  any- 
thing but  disappointment.  Sebastopol  was  taken.  The 
war  was  brought  to  a  close  ^  and  there  was  no  further  need 
of  the  services  of  the  Anglo-Turkish  Contingent.  'The 
play  is  now  up,*  he  wrote  fironoi  Yenikale  on  the  9th  of 
April,  i8j6,  'and  it  has  certainly  been  provoking  that  we 
have  been  kept  back  and  thrust  out  of  the  way  j  however, 
we  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  we  have  succeeded 
admirably  in  organizing  this  Contingent.*  ....  I  have 
seldom  seen  men  who  move  better,  and  are  more  easily 
handled  m  the  field)  at  ball  practice  they  are  first  rate. 
During  the  winter,  when  we  were  several  times  threat- 
ened, the  fellows  turned  out  in  the  highest  possible  spirits. 

*  One  great  secret  of  Neill's  success  in  the  organization  and 
management  of  his  force  was  the  firm  adherence  to  a  determination 
to  have  as  officers  *  none  but  men  fit  for  the  work.'  *  I  have,* 
he  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters,  *  got,  no  doubt,  into  great  disgrace  by 
being  too  strict.  Twelve  officers  have  been  obliged  to  leave  my 
division.  I  went  at  high  game,  for  one  Brigadier-General,  three 
Lieut. -Colonels,  and  three  Majors  were  among  those  who  went  very 
9oon.' 


SUA 


GENERAL  NEILL. 


[1856. 


Whether  the  force  will  be  kept  up  remains  to  be  seeo. 
The  French  will  be  averse  to  it^  as  giving  us  so  much  more 
influence.  The  Sultan  is  anxious  to  have  British  officen 
to  organize  his  army^  and  the  report  is  that  they  will  be 
lent  to  him.  I,  of  course,  will  stay  if  the  Government  and 
Company  will  allow  it.  It  is  a  grand  thing  for  me  to  have 
the  rank  and  position,  and  if — ^as  they  all  say  it  will  be— 
confirmed,  I  may  return  to  India  for  a  short  time,  only  to 
some  high  command.  My  object  has  been,  in  coming  out 
here,  to  gain  rank,  and  if  I  have  been  debarred  getting  it 
in  fit>nt  of  the  enemy  it  is  no  fault  of  mine.* 

The  Anglo-Turkish  Contingent  was  broken  up,  and 
Colonel  Neill  returned  to  England.  Then  came  a  brief, 
happy  period  of  home-life.  The  entries  in  his  journal, 
short  but  regular,  exhibit  him  in  the  fidl  enjoyment  of 
tranquil  domestic  pleasures.  He  resided  with  his  wife  and 
children  in  Scotland — sometimes  paying  visits  with  the 
former  to  his  friends  and  neighbours  \  sometimes  attending 
national  gatherings ;  and  when  the  shooting  season  com* 
menced,  going  out  with  his  g^ — ^perhaps  more  for  exercise 
than  for  sport.  During  this  period  he  was  in  frequent 
correspondence  with  the  official  authorities  on  the  trouble- 
business  of  Greneral  Beatson  and  the  Bashi-Bazoukhs;  but  anj 
annoyance  that  this  might  have  occasioned  him  was  more 
than  compensated  by  ^the  kindness  of  some  of  the  Directors 
of  the  East  India  Company,  who  expressed  their  willing- 
ness to  provide  for  his  sons.  Mr  Mangles  gave  him  a 
cadetship  for  one  of  his  boys,  and  Mr  Prinsep  for  another. 

Early  in  November  he  went  to  London^  visited  the 
India  House  about  his  leave,  and  after  a  few  busy  dav* 


i8gS-S7-l  ^^  ENGLAND.  513 

there  set  out  with  his  wife  on  a  round  of  visits  to  friends  in 
the  home  counties.  From  Westerham,  where  they  were 
the  guests  of  Mrs  Neill's  cousin,  Mr  Warde,  of  Squerryes, 
they  went  to  Reading,  thence  to  Bath  and  Cheltenham. 
From  the  latter  place  he  went  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Neath  in  South  Wales,  where  he  spent  a  few  pleasant  days 
with  some  members  of  his  wife's  family,  and  on  the  loth 
of  December  returned  to  town.  After  a  few  days,  he  left 
London  with  his  family,  by  the  North- Western  Railway, 
en  route  for  the  North,  parting  from  them  at  Warrington  5 
and  whilst  they  journeyed  on  to  Carlisle,  he  struck  off  to 
laverpool,  thence  to  visit  some  friends  in  the  Isle  of  Man, 
thence  to  Whitehaven  by  water,  and  thence  on  to  Carlisle 
to  rejoin  his  circle  at  Swindridge.  On  Christmas-day  he 
dined  very  happily,  with  all  his  family  about  him — 'a 
happy  family  gathering,'  he  wrote  in  his  journal,  'of  every 
member  of  it.  Can  we  ever  expect  to  meet  again  on  an- 
other Christmas-day  ? '  Never.  But  there  were  still  a  few 
more  happy  weeks  for  him.  January  passed,  and  the  first 
half  of  February,  and  he  was  still  surrounded  by  his  family. 
On  the  1 6th  of  the  latter  month,  the  bitter  hour  of  parting 
came  5  and  Neill  tore  himself  from  all  he  loved.  There 
was  some  necessary  business  to  be  done  in  London,  and  the 
steamer  was  to  leave  Southampton  on  the  20th. 


The  voyage  to  India  was  not  an  eventful  one.     Early 

on  Sunday,  the  29th  of  March,  the  steamer  entered  the 

Madras  Roads.    *  Go  to  Mount-road  Chapel  with  Gillilian " 

is  the  first  record  in  his  journal  after  his  arrival  3  the  next 
VOL.  n.  33 


514  GENERAL  NBILL.  \tlZ^. 

\&, '  Find  that  I  can  get  off  to  Bushire  soon.'    His  regiment 
had  gone  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  the  British  expedition 
under  Sir  James  Outram  was  operating  with  successful 
vigour  5  and  Neill  was  eager  to  join  without  a  moment  of 
unnecessary  delay.    He  was  vexed  that  he  had  not  received 
an  information  at  Galle  that  it  would  be  better  for  him  to 
stop  there  and  proceed  thence  to  Bombay.     But  on  the  6th 
of  April  telegraphic  intelligence  arrived  to  the  effect  that 
the  war  was  at  an  end.     It  was  then  well-nigh  certain  that 
the  Madras  Fusiliers  would  return  to  the  Presidency.     So 
this  chance  of  service  was  gone.     Another  week^  and  there 
is  the  first  mention  in  his  journal  of '  the  bad  feeling  in  the 
Bengal  Army.*     Then  on  the  2oth  of  April,  '  The  Fusilier 
vessels  signalled  this  morning.*    It  was  an  exciting  moment 
for  him  5  for  he  was  to  take  command  of  the  regiment  00 
its  arrival,  as  the  senior  officer  was  compelled  to  proceed  to 
England   in   broken   health.     ^I   find,*    he  wrote  in  his 
journal,  '  that  I  shall  have  some  work  in  hand  to  keep  all 
square  in  the  Fusiliers.     I  shall  require  to  exercise  great 
discretion,  keep  my  own  counsel,  always  act  honestly,  fairly, 
and  for  the  good  of  the  Service  only,  and  all  will  be  right. 
Go  down  to  beach  and  see  Fusiliers  land — a.  very  fine 
healthy  body  of  men,  fully  equal  to  any  regiilient  I  have 
ever  seen.*     On  the  28th,  Colonel  Stevenson  made  over  to 
him  the  command  of  the  regiment  5  and  he  began  his  busi- 
ness with  all  earnestness  at  once. 

And  so  he  went  on,  for  a  fortnight,  taking  the  utmost 
pains  to  explain  to  all  the  oflicers  under  him  the  S3rstein 
upon  which  he  intended  to  proceed  j  wisely  counselling  the 
younger  oflicers,  and  in  one  especial  instance^  in  which  he 


tZS^.]  COLONEL  OF  MADRAS  EUROPEANS,  515 


mons  than  suspected  a  dangerous  addiction  to  strong  dnnk, 
endeavouring  to  reclaim  the  offender  by  inviting  him  to 
live  with  him  in  the  same  house.  By  kindness,  blended 
with  the  £rmest  resolution,  in  all  his  dealings  both  with 
officers  and  men,  he  was  rapidly  gaining  an  ascendancy 
over  the  regiment,  when  news  came  from  Calcutta  that 
Northern  India  was  in  a  blaze.  Colonel  Neill  had  just 
made  his  arrangements  for  a  permai^nt  residence  in  Madras, 
when  he  was  summoned  to  proceed  immediately  to 
Bengal.  '  Receive  from  Spurgin,*  he  wrote  in  his  journal, 
under  date  May  16,  'accounts  that  he  has  secured  me  a 
house*  At  eleven  p.m.  receive  orders  from  Adjutant- 
General  to  hold  the  regiment  in  readiness  to  embark,  fully 
equipped — for  service.  Warn  regimental  staff  and  heads 
of  companies  to  set  to  work  early  in  the  morning.  Hear 
that  a  telegraph  is  in  from  Calcutta,  giving  bad  accounts 
from  Meerut  and  Delhi,  that  our  Bengal  Native  Army  is 
in  a  state  of  mutiny.'  The  opportunity,  so  long  and 
patiently  waited  for,  had  come  at  last. 

And  Neill  knew  that  it  had  come.  There  was  some- 
thing within  him  which  told  him  clearly  and  distinctly, 
beyond  the  reach  of  all  inward  questionings  and  misgivings, 
that  much  was  demanded  of  him,  and  that  he  was  equal  to 
the  occasion.  He  was  so  sure  of  this,  that  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  conviction  that  no  responsibility  could 
descend  upon  him,  however  heavy,  the  burden  of  which 
he  was  not  capable  of  bearing  3  and  this  not  boastfully,  but 
with  a  quiet,  assured  feeling  of  self-reliance,  and  sometliing 
of  a  prophetic  insight  into  the  future.  '  He  was  sitting  with 
me,*  writes  a  friend^ '  in  niy  little  office-room  shortly  before 


5i6  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

he  left  for  Bengal^  talking  over  sundry  professional  matters, 
when  he  incidentally^  and  as  it  were   half  meditativelj^ 
remarked  on  the  great  service  his  Crimiean  experience  had 
been  to  him  professionally.     He  said^  ^'It  has  been  the 
making  of  me,  for  I  now  feel  fully  equal  to  any  extent  ol 
professional  employment  or  responsibility  which  can  ever 
devolve  on  me.**    Thinking  the  speech  savoured  somewhat 
of  self-esteem,  I  looked  up  inquiringly  at  Lim,  but  was 
speedily  convinced  that  nothing  was    further    from  his 
thoughts  than  boasting.     His  expression  was   calm  and 
thoughtful,  and  his  eyes  fixed,  as  if  peering  into  that  future 
which  was  soon  to  verify  the  justice  and  sincerity  of  his 
estimate  of  his  own  character.     I  never  saw  him  again  to 
speak  to,  but  I  never  forgot  the  deep  impression  his  words 
made  on  me,  strengthened  as  it  subsequently  was  by  his  too 
short  but  brilliant  career  in  Bengal — not  too  short  for  his 
own  fame  and  his  country's  good.* 

*  We  embarked  in  excellent  order,*  wrote  Neill  firom 
Calcutta  at  the  end  of  May,  *  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 8th,  and  arrived  here  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23  rd.  .  .  . 
Our  passage  up  was  very  ^vourable,  until  one  of  the  boilers 
burst ;  but  with  no  harm  to  any  one,  though  it  brought  us 
down  to  half-speed  at  once.  I  landed  soon,  and  saw  the 
Military  Secretary  to  Gk)vemment  and  the  Deputy-Quarter- 
master-General, and  made  all  arrangements  to  start  off  the 
men  I  had  brought  up  by  steamers  to  Benares.  However, 
next  day  there  was  a  change.  Only  one  huinlred  and  thirty 
men  went  up  the  country  by  steamer,  and  the  rest  I  am 
starting  off  by  train.* 

But  this  was  not  accomplished  without  an  inddezit^ 


i8s7.]  /^  BENGAL.  s^7 


which  soon  proved  to  the  people  of  Bengal  that  the  Madras 
officer  had  the  right  stuff  in  him,  and  that  he  was  eminently 
the  man  for  the  crisis.  The  story  has  been  often  told  before. 
It  shall  be  told  here  in  his  own  words.  '  The  terminus,* 
he  wrote,  *  is  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  almost  opposite  the 
fort,  at  Howrah.  There  is  a  landing-place  and  jetty.  The 
train  was  to  start  at  8.30  p.m.  My  men  were  all  on  board 
flats  in  the  river,  where  they  were  cool  and  comfortable, 
and  out  of  the  way  of  mischief.  When  a  party  of  one 
hundred  men  were  intended  to  go  by  train,  the  flat  on 
which  they  were  was  hauled  into  the  jetty.  On  the  night 
on  which  the  second  party  lefl:,  the  flat  was  hauled  in,  but 
there  was  a  squall,  and  consequent  delay.  The  railway 
people  on  shore  gave  no  assistance.  As  we  neared  the  jetty, 
a  jack-in-office  station-master  called  out  to  me  very  insolently 
that  I  was  late,  and  that  the  train  would  not  wait  for  me  a 
moment.  He  would  send  it  off  without  me.  A  little  al- 
tercation ensued.  Our  men  were  landed  by  their  officers, 
and  went,  making  the  best  of  their  way  up  to  the  carriages. 
The  fellow  was  still  insolent,  and  threatened  to  start  the 
train  j  so  I  put  him  under  charge  of  a  sergeant's  guard,  with 
orders  not  to  allow  him  to  move,  until  I  gave  permission. 
The  other  officials  were  equally  threatening  and  impertinent. 
One  gentleman  told  me  that  I  might  command  a  regiment^ 
but  that  I  did  not  command  them;  they  had  authority 
there,  and  that  he  would  start  the  train  without  my  men. 
I  then  placed  a  guard  over  the  engineer  and  stoker,  got  all 
my  men  safely  into  the  train,  and  then  released  the  railway 
people.  Off  went  the  train — only  ten  minutes  after  time. 
...  I  told  the  gentlemen  that  their  conduct  was  that  of 


5x8  GENERAL  NEILL.  I1857, 


traitors  and  rebels^  and  fortunate  it  was  for  tbem  that  /  had 
not  to  deal  with  them.  The  matter  has  been  brought  to 
the  notice  of  Government.  I  have  heard  nothing  more 
than  that  Lord  Canning  thinks  I  did  what  was  right;  and 
the  railway  people  are  now  most  painfully  civil  and  polite. 
It  is  given  out  that  there  was  never  an  instance  known  of 
the  railway  officiab  being  interfered  with^  far  less  made 
prisoners,  except  once  in  Ireland,  in  the  Smith  0*Brien 
affair,  by  Sir  E.  Blakeney.* 

Having  started  the  whole  of  his  regiment,  Ck)lonel  Neill 
made  all  haste,  by  horse  dawk,  to  Benares,  which  he  reached 
on  the  3rd  of  June.  He  found  that  some  seventy  men  of 
his  own  regiment  had  arrived,  and  that  in  addition  to  these 
there  were  a  hundred  and  twenty  men  of  her  Majesty's 
loth  Foot,  and  thirty  European  artillerymen,  with  three 
gims.  The  native  force  consisted  of  the  37th  Sepoy  Regi- 
ment, a  regiment  of  Irregular  Cavalry,  and  the  Sikh  regiment 
of  Loodhianah.  In  all  the  country,  perhaps,  there  was  not 
a  spot  to  which  more  anxious  eyes  were  turned  j  for  it  was 
the  very  nursery  and  hotbed  of  Hindooism  —  the  great 
home  of  the  Brahmin  priesthood.  The  British  authorities 
were  alive  to  the  danger  by  which  they  were  surrounded, 
but  it  seemed  to  them  that  the  safest  course  was  to  appear  not 
to  suspect  it.  Even  when  news  came  of  the  mutiny  of  the 
17th  Regiment  at  Azimgurh,  only  some  sixty  miles  distant, 
the  Brigadier  hesitated  to  disarm  at  once  the  37th  Regi- 
ment, whose  fidelity,  in  this  juncture,  was  doubtfiil. 
Against  delay  Neill  vigorously  protested  j  and  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  consent  of  the  Brigadier  to  an   immediate 


I8S7.]  AT  BENARES.  Sip 


afternoon  parade.*  Soon  after  iiVQ  o'clock  the  European 
troops  were  assembled.  Colonel  Neill  was  not  the  senior 
officer  present  on  that  parade  5  but  he  was  soon  compelled 
to  take  the  command.  The  senior  officer  was  Brigadier 
Ponsohby,  who,  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  before,  as  a  Cap- 
tain of  Native  Cavalry,  had  covered  himself  with  glory  on 
the  field  of  Purwan-durrah,  when  his  regiment  turned  their 
backs  on  the  Afghan  horsemen,  in  their  last  charge,  under 
Dost  Mahomedt    His  health  had  for  some  time  been  fail- 

*  The  story  is  thus  told  in  an  official  narrative  drawn  up  by  Mr 
Taylor,  joint-magistrate  of  Jaunpoor  :  *  None  could  now  doubt  that 
a  crisis  was  near  at  hand  ;  and  on  June  4th,  a  council  (both  civil  and 
military)  was  called  to  debate  the  question  of  disarming  the  37th 
Native  Infantry.  It  was  still  sitting  when  a  Sowar  arrived  with  the 
news  of  the  mutiny  at  Azungurh.  This  decided  the  question,  and  it 
was  arranged  that  next  morning  the  civilians  should  assemble  at  the 
Collector's  kutchery,  whilst  the  37th  was  paraded  and  disarmed. 
The  debate  had  been  very  full,  and  the  decision  deliberate  :  yet  the 
civilians  had  scarce  reached  their  homes  when  they  were  alarmed  by 
the  roar  of  the  guns  on  the  parade-groimd.  The  whole  plans  were 
in  vain.  They  had  been  frustrated  by  the  following  circumstances. 
It  appears  that  as  Brigadier  Ponsonby  was  returning  home  after  the 
council,  he  met  Colonel  Neill,  who  recommended  him  to  disarm  the 
corps  at  once.  Disregarding  all  other  considerations,  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment  he  hurried  to  the  parade-ground ;  the  troops  turned  out, 
&c.'  ^But  I  have  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Brigadier  Ponsonby,  in 
which  it  is  stated  that  the  recommendation  in  favour  of  immediate 
action  came  from  Colonel  Gordon.  '  It  then  transpired,*  he  wrote, 
*  that  the  men  of  the  37th  were  much  implicated,  and  Gordon  advised 
that  the  regiment  should  be  disarmed  at  once.  After  some  discussion, 
I  agreed.  We  had  no  time  (it  being  between  four  and  five  p.m.)  to 
lose,  and  but  little  arrangement  could  be  made.' 

t  See  ante^  Memoir  of  Sir  A.  Bumes,  pages  77%  78. 


5^  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

ing,  and  now  the  slant  rays  of  the  fierce  June  sun  took  terrible 
efiect  upon  him,  and  he  was  struck  down  by  c(mp  de  soleil. 
If  was  intended  to  surprise  the  suspected  regiment  in 
their  lines,  and  compel  them  to  give  up  their  arms.  'We 
were,*  wrote  Neill  in  a  private  letter,  '  to  have  been  joined 
by  the  Sikhs  and  cavalry,  on  the  parade-ground  of  the  37^15 
but  they  were  not  up,  so  we  pushed  on.  The  37th  let  us 
come  close,  keeping  within  their  huts  and  places  of  arms, 
and  fired  a  volley  into  us.  There  was  some  confusion  at 
first.  ...  I  was  nearly  cut  off,  but  got  back  again  among 
my  men,  and  got  the  lads  into  order.  The  Artillery  fired 
grape,  and  the  37th  were  nearly  silenced.  Colonel  (Jordon 
had  brought  his  Sikhs  up  j  the  guns  were  in  the  centre, 
our  men  protecting  them;  the  loth  Foot  on  their  right} 
the  Sikhs  on  their  left.  I  had  arranged  to  clear  the  Sepoys 
lines,  that  is,  to  drive  them  out,  and  follow  them  up  to  pre- 
vent mischief  to  the  unprotected  in  the  cantonment.  I 
was  just  doing  so,  and  had  got  my  men  into  the  Sepoys* 
huts,  when  there  was  an  alarm  about  the  guns.  I  was  out 
of  sight  of  them  at  the  moment,  but  hastened  towards  them 
to  see  the  Sikhs  firing  on  our  three  guns,  and  our  small 
protecting  party  of  Fusiliers  advancing  to  charge  them. 
You  may  imagine  my  delight  on  seeing  the  Artillerymen 
bringing  their  guns  to  bear,  and  our  lads  firing  steadily  Vith 
effect.  The  Sikhs  did  not  stand  two  rounds  of  grape,  but 
broke  and  fled.  ...  I  continued  the  fight  until  all  had 
fled,  followed  them  up  as  far  as  I  could,  fired  round-shot 
into  them,  and  set  fire  to  their  lines.  The  coasequence  is, 
that  not  a  woman  or  a  child  has  been  touched.*  * 

*  It  is  generally  believed  that  the  Sikh  regunent  had  no  foregone 


18570  THE  MUTINY  A  T  ALLAHABAD.  521 

I 

Having  made  all  possible  provision  for  the  safety  of  the 
women  and  children  and  the  general  security  of  the  place. 
Colonel  Neill  turned  his  thoughts,  with  anxious  forebodings 
of  evil,  towards  Allahabad,  which  lay  some  eighty  miles  in 
advance — an  important  civil  and  military  station,  situated 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Jumna  and  the  Ganges,  and  often 
described  as  the  *key  of  the  lower  provinces*  of  Hindostan. 
Beyond  a  few  men  attached  to  the  general  Staff,  there  were 
no  European  soldiers  in  the  place.  The  temper  of  the  na- 
tive soldiery  was  doubtful.  The  Sixth  regiment  of  Sepoys 
had  volunteered,  with  apparent  enthusiasm,  to  march  against 
the  insurgents  at  Delhi.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  of 
June,  the  regiment  was  assembled  to  hear  a  letter  of  thanks 
from  the  Governor-General  read  to  them  on  parade.    '  The 

intention  to  mutiny.  Mistaking  the  designs  of  the  British  officers, 
they  fell  into  a  panic,  and  the  strong  instinct  of  self-preservation 
urged  tliem  to  fire,  in  self-defence,  on  their  supposed  enemies.  The 
narrative  already  quoted  says  :  *  The  37th  was  ordered  to  pile  arms, 
and  replied  with  a  volley,  to  which  the  gims  gave  a  speedy  and 
efficient  answer;  but  at  this  unhappy  moment.  Captain  Olpherts, 
perceiving  a  movement  among  the  Sikhs  on  his  right,  promptly 
turned  the  guns,  and  opened  fire  upon  them.  For  some  minutes  the 
event  was  doubtfiil ;  thrice  the  rebels  charged  the  guns,  thrice  were 
driven  back  with  grape  ;  the  guns  continued  their  destructive  play  ; 
the  mutineers  wavered,  and  then  broke  and  fled.  Never  was  route 
so  complete ;  a  thousand  armed  men  were  flying  from  two  hundred.* 
Further  on  the  same  narrative  says  :  *  The  Sikhs  were  brought  out 
not  knowing  what  was  to  be  done  ;  suddenly  the  guns  on  one  side 
opened  on  the  37th,  men,  officers,  and  all ;  and  on  the  other  side  the 
Irregular  Cavalry  began  forcing  into  and  abusing  the  Sikhs ;  then  a 
bad  character  stepped  forward  and  tried  to  shoot  Colonel  Gordon. 
The  corps  then  mutinied  ;  first  fired  into  a  group  of  young  officers, 
and  then  charged  the  guns.' 


533  GBNRRAL  NEILL,  [1857^ 

men>*  says  the  official  account  of  these  transactions^  'seemed 
highly  pleased,  and  cheered  loudly.  The  European  officers 
were  more  than  confirmed  in  their  implicit  reliance  on  the 
fidelity  of  their  men ',  yet  in  three  hours  and  a  half  this 
loyal  cheer  was  changed  for  the  shout  of  mutiny  and  mur- 
der.' On  that  night  they  rose  upon  their  officers.  There 
was  a  large  gathering  at  the  mess-house;  and  among  the 
diners  a  number  of  cadets,  recently  arrived  from  England, 
mere  schoolboys  in  age  and  manners.  The  mutineers  fell 
suddenly  upon  them,  and  massacred  nearly  the  whole  party. 
Next  morning  the  gates  of  the  great  gaols  were  thrown 
open,  and  three  thousand  ruffians  let  loose  to  aid  in  the 
'  work  of  blood  and  destruction.*  The  fort  still,  however, 
remained  in  our  hands ;  but  it  was  threatened  both  from 
within  and  firom  without,  for  the  fidelity  of  the  Sikh  troops 
was  doubtful,  and  the  mutineers  outside  were  preparing  to 
invest  the  place. 

But  it  was  saved  by  the  foresight  and  promptitude  of 
Neill.  Whilst  yet  the  accounts  fi*om  Allahabad  were  that 
'  all  was  well,*  he  had  despatched  a  party  of  fifty  men  of 
the  Fusiliers  under  Lieutenant  Arnold,  with  orders  to  pro- 
ceed by  forced  marches  to  Allahabad.  On  the  morning  of 
the  7th  of  June  they  arrived,  wearied  and  exhausted,  at 
Jhoosee,  where  the  road  from  Benares  met  a  bridge  of 
boats,  by  which  the  river  was  crossed  to  Allahabad.  The 
bridge  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  5  but  there  was  a 
steamer  off  the  fort,  which,  after  some  unaccovmtable  de- 
lay, was  sent  to  bring  in  the  Fusiliers.  On  the  9th  another 
detachment,  which  Neill  had  sent  forward,  made  its  timely 
appearance;  and  on  the  nth,  Neill  himself,  having  made 


1 


i8S7- .  ^  ^  ALLAHABAD.  523 

over  the  command  of  Benares  to  Colonel  Gordon,  ap- 
peared, with  further  reinforcements,  under  the  walls  of  Al- 
lahabad. 

The  energetic  measures  of  Neill  soon  completed  tha 
work.  His  first  step  was  to  recover  the  bridge  of  boats, 
and  to  secure  a  safe  passage  for  another  party  of  the  Fu-* 
siliers,  which  was  pressing  forward  under  Major  Stephenson. 
This  was  on  the  12th  of  June,  the  day  after  his  arrival. 
On  the  13th  he  swept  the  enemy  out  of  the  adjacent  vil- 
lages, where  they  were  clustering  in  strength  5  and  on  the 
following  day,  a  further  body  of  Fusiliers  having  arrived, 
the  Sikh  corps  was  removed  from  the  fort,  and  with  it  all 
remaining  danger.  'At  Allahabad,*  wrote  Lord  Canning 
to  the  chairman  of  the  East  India  Company, '  the  6th  Regi- 
ment has  mutinied,  and  fearful  atrocities  were  committed 
by  the  people  on  Europeans  outside  the  fort.  But  the  fort 
has  been  saved.  Colonel  Neill,  with  nearly  three  hundred 
European  Fusiliers,  is  established  in  it  5  and  that  point,  the 
most  precious  in  India  at  this  moment,  and  for  many  years 
the  one  most  neglected,  is  safe,  thank  God !  A  column,* 
added  the  Governor-General,  'will  collect  there  (with  all 
the  speed  which  the  means  of  conveyance  will  allow  of), 
which  Brigadier  Havelock,  just  returned  from  Persia,  will 
command.* 

Of  these  events,  Neill  himself  wrote,  on  the  21st  of  June, 
to  a  friend,  sa3ring  :  '  I  have  time  to  write  you  a  few  lines. 
As  you  may  have  heard,  I  have  not  been  idle  here.  I  have 
had  it  much  my  own  way,  that  is,  had  the  opportunity  of 
doing  all  I  thought  best  for  the  public  service,  and  the 
emergency,  and  have  been  most  wonderfully  successful. 


524  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

Thanks  be  to  Grod  for  having  upheld  me  in  all^  and  never 
allowing  me  to  be  at  a  loss  in  many  of  the  emergencies 
that  have  occurred.  I  have  never  asked  advice  5  I  have 
always  acted  on  my  own  responsibility,  duly  considered 
everything,  given  my  orders,  and  had  no  changes  after  I 
assumed  command.  At  Benares,  I  was  astonished  at  many 
of  the  civilians  and  others,  after  I  had  taken  post  for  the 
night,  peeping  about  and  asking  where  the  council  of  war 
was  to  be  held,  to  decide  what  was  to  be  done.  I  soon 
put  a  stop  to  that  nonsense.  I  never  allowed  councils  of 
war,  would  give  my  orders  as  to  what  was  to  be  done,  and 
desired  no  advice  to  be  attempted  to  be  given.  I  decided 
as  to  the  choice  of  our  position,  and  was  particular  in  every- 
thing. I  lost  no  time  in  posting  on  fifty  men — ^all  I  could 
spare — ^under  that  gallant  young  officer,  Arnold.  They  left  by 
horse-dawk  the  night  of  the  jth  (the  night  of  the  mutiny), 
they  got  in  early  next  morning,  and  saved  this  in  time.  I 
pressed  on  as  many  as  I  could,  followed  myself  with  forty 
men — nearly  cut  off — ^took  two  days*  hard  work  to  do  what 
was  done  in  a  night,  got  in  in  the  forenoon,  found  Simp- 
son besieged,  had  to  make  my  way  in  by  getting  a  boat  by 
stealth  from  the  rebel  side^  got  my  men  in.  Fancy  my 
walking,  at  least  one  mile,  through  burning  river  sand  j  it 
nearly  killed  me.  I  only  lived  by  having  water  dashed 
over  me.  When  I  got  into  the  open  boat,  my  umbrella 
was  my  only  covering :  two  of  our  lads  died  of  sunstroke 
in  the  boat :  that  I  escaped  is  one  of  the  greatest  mercies. 
i  found  all  wrong  here :  the  Europeans  almost  cheered  me 
when  I  came  in.  The  salute  of  the  sentries  at  the  gate 
was,  ''Thank  Grod,  sir,  you'll  save  us  yet !  "    I  set  to  work. 


|8S7.]  AT  ALLAHABAD.  525 

and  thrashed  the  fellows  £rom  about  the  place ;  the  boat 
was  terrific.  I  could  only  send  my  troops^  for  I  could  not 
accompany  them^  though  much  required ;  but  I  sat  more 
dead  than  alive  in  a  choultry,  where  I  could  see  and  direct. 
God  prospered  us,  and  after  four  days  the  fellows  took 
alarm.  I  had  taken  advantage  of  a  steamer  coming  in, 
and  sent  a  party  with  a  gun  in  her  up  the  Jumna,  to  attack 
it  at  all  points :  these  completed  it :  the  fellows  sustained 
great  loss,  several  of  the  leaders  slain,  they  took  panic  one 
night  and  fled,  and  left  behind  them  the  two  guns  they 
had  taken  from  Colonel  Simpson  the  night  of  the  mutiny. 
Cholera  then  suddenly  attacked  us,  and  the  result  was  fear- 
ful 3  it  has  now  left  us  but  about  one  hundred  cases  and  fifty 
odd  deaths  in  a  few  hours  and  less  than  three  days.  The 
Governor-General  and  Commander-in-Chief  give  me  too 
much  praise ;  it  belongs  to  the  fine  fellows  1  have  had  to 
do  the  work  for  me.  We  are  getting  in.  I  am  collecting 
guns  for  a  large  force  firom  here,  and  will  have  all  ready 
soon.  I  am  equipping  a  small  force  to  push  into  Cawn- 
pore,  but  it  is  difficult  with  no  carriage  to  send  on  a  force 
alone,  on  a  road  assailed  by  the  enemy ;  but  I  shall  do  it. 
I  have  done  my  best  to  relieve  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler  at  Cawn- 
pore,  but  could  do  no  more  5  God  help  him !  I  feel  as- 
sured he  will  hold  on,  for  his  has  been  a  gallant  defence ; 
but  how  deplorable  all  to  be  taken  in  such  a  want  of  pre- 
paration, and  to  the  last  with  so  much  hlmd  ctmjidence  in 
the  Sepoys.* 

In  another  letter,  written  to  his  wife,  he  dwelt  still  more 
forcibly  upon  what  he  endured  at  this  time.  Only  the 
strong  resolute  will  sustained  him,  under  a  burden  of  suffer* 


596  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

lug,  which  would  have  pressed  down  and  utterly  incapaci- 
tated a  weaker  man.  '  I  was  quite  done  up^'  he  said, '  by 
my  dash  from  Benares^  and  getting  into  the  fort,  in  that 
noonday  heat.  I  was  so  exhausted  for  days^  that  I  was  ob- 
liged to  lie  down  constantly.  I  could  only  sit  upifor  a  few 
minutes  at  a  time,  and  when  our  attacks  were  going  on,  I 
was  obliged  to  sit  down  in  the  batteries  and  give  my  orders 
and  directions.  I  had  always  the  greatest  confidence  in 
myself,  and  although  I  felt  almost  dying  from  complete  ex- 
haustion, yet  I  kept  up  heart,  and  here  I  am,  God  be  praised, 
as  well  as  ever,  only  a  little  thinner.  For  several  days  I 
drank  champagne  and  water  to  keep  me  up.* 

On  the  morning  of  the  last  day  of  June,  Havelock 
reached  AUahabad,  and  breakfasted  with  NeiU.  They  had 
much  to  say  to  each  other — ^much  of  the  past,  noiuch  of  the 
future.  During  the  latter  fortn  ght  of  the  month  that  ter- 
rible visitation  of  Providence— the  '  pestilence  which  walk- 
eth  in  the  darkness,*  of  which  NeiU  wrote  in  the  letter  above 
quoted,  had  assailed  the  Europeans  in  the  fort.  Still,  ever 
mindful  of  his  peril-surrounded  countrymen  higher  up  the 
country,  he  had  made  arrangements  to  detach  a  large  portion 
of  his  force  to  Cawnpore,  and  appointed  his  second  in  com- 
mand, one  altogether  worthy  of  the  post — Major  Renaud — 
to  lead  it  to  the  relief  of  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler.  The  instruc- 
tions which  Neill  had  prepared  for  the  guidance  of  Renaud 
were  now  read,  and  highly  approved  by  the  Greneral. 
Every  point  had  been  carefully  considered  j  and  he  was  not 
one  to  cast  upon  a  junior  officer  any  responsibility  that  he 
could  take  to  himself.  I  give  them  here,  as  transcribed 
from  a  rough  and  not  very  legible  copy : 


x8S70  ^  2^  ALLAHABAD,  S^/ 

Instructions  to  Major  Renaud,  commanding  Cawnpore  column 
of  two  hundred  H.M.*s  S^k,  two  hundred  ist  Madras 
Fusiliers,  two  g-pounder  guns,  with  European  gunners, 
three  hundred  Sikhs,  and  the  Irregular  Cavalry. 

'  1st.  You  are  to  march  as  quickly  as  you  can,  the  great 
object  being  to  relieve  Sir  H.  Wheeler  and  Cawnpore. 

'  2nd.  March  off  alwajrs  early,  and  expose  Europeans  as 
little  as  possible  3  select  shady  places  near  good  water  for 
encampment. 

'  3rd.  Attack  and  destroy  all  places  en  route  close  to  the 
road  occupied  by  the  enemy,  but  touch  no  others  j  encour- 
age the  inhabitants  to  return,  and  instil  confidence  into  all 
of  the  restoration  of  British  authority.  Let  all  know  that 
two  more  regiments  are  to  leave  this  soon,  and  will  be  up 
here  by  the  end  of  the  week,  also  that  Delhi  has  been  taker 
&c. ;  *  and  everything  made  known  that  will  raise  the  Brit- 
ish name — all  this  in  contradiction  to  the  lying  reports  to 
our  disadvantage.  The  villages  of  Mubgoon  and  neighbour- 
hood to  be  attacked  and  destroyed  3  slaughter  all  the  men ; 
take  no  prisoners. 

'  4th.  AU  Sepoys  found,  without  papers,  from  regiments 
that  have  mutinied,  who  cannot  give  good  accounts  of 
themselves,  to  be  hanged  forthwith,  particularly  those  who 
plundered  treasuries  and  murdered  their  officers;  also  all 
the  Sepoys  of  the  6th  and  37th  Regiments  not  on  passport. 

'  5th.  A  company  of  Sikhs  to  be  left  behind  at  the  ter- 
minus of  the  railway  on  the  Cawnpore  side,  commanded  by 
an  European  officer,  there  to  remain  to  keep  up  communi- 

*  False  tidings  to  this  effect  had  been  circulated. 


SaS  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1157. 

cation^  and  take  charge  of  a  dep6t  of  provisions  to  be  there 
formed.  Futtehpore  to  be  promptly  attacked^  the  Patan 
quarters  to  be  destroyed^  all  in  it  killed  3  in  &ct^  make  a 
signal  example  of  this  place.  But  don*t  let  that  detain  jou, 
as  what  you  can*t  finish  Brigadier  Havelock  will  do.  Two 
hundred  Sikhs  to  be  lefl  there^  with  European  officers.  All 
officers  belonging  to  the  Oude  Service^  and  whose  regiments 
are  in  advance,  to  go  on  as  &r  as  Cawnpore. 

'  6th.  You  have  some  with  you  who  know  Cawnpore ; 
from  them  find  out  the  shortest  road  to  Sir  H.  Wheeler's 
position,  and  all  about  the  place. 

'7th.  In  all  attacks  on  villages,  either  use  artilleiy  to 
knock  over  any  defence  5  or,  better  still,  the  powder-bags 
with  sappers  \  surround  villages  with  infantry  to  cut  off  fugi- 
tives J  attack  always  at  two  points.  At  Futtehpore  shell 
them  with  shrapneL  The  cavalry  should  cut  up  fugitives; 
see  how  they  act,  if  not  zealously,  let  me  know.  The  ob- 
ject in  attacking  villages  and  Futtehpore  is  to  execute  ven- 
geance, and  let  it  be  amply  taken.  All  heads  of  insuigents, 
particularly  at  Futtehpore,  to  be  hanged.  If  the  Deputy  Col- 
lector is  taken,  hang  him,  and  have  his  head  cut  off  and 
stuck  up  on  one  of  the  principal  buildings  (Mahomedan)  in 
the  town.  Spare  your  ammunition  as  much  as  possible; 
always  keep  your  guns  in  the  centre  of  your  Europeans,  or 
entirely  with  them  j  never  allow  the  Sikhs,  or  any  natives, 
to  get  on  the  fiank  next  to  them. 

*  8th.  Should  Cawnpore  unfortunately  have  fallen,  at- 
tack the  enemy,  and  hold  your  own  until  Brigadier  Havelock 
joins  you.  All  Government  tents  and  property  push  on  the 
road  to  be  secured)  the  civil  power  will  assist  you  in  this.' 


i8S70  A  T  ALLAHABAD,  529 


But  as  Reuaud's  force  was  to  proceed  by  land,  and  it  was 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  communicate  with  Sir  Hugh 
Wheeler  with  the  least  possible  loss  of  time,  a  detachment 
of  a  hundred  men  with  two  guns  was  placed  on  board  a 
river  steamer,  under  Captain  Spurgin,  and  despatched  up 
the  Ganges,  with  the  following  orders  : 

• 

Instructions  frmn  Colonel  Neill  to  Captain  Spurgin^  in  ccmi' 
mand  of  a  detachment  proceeding  on  steamer  to  Cawnpore, 

Allahabad,  July  2,  1857. 

*  You  are  to  push  up  as  quickly  as  you  can  to  Cawnpore  j 
the  object  is  to  relieve  Sir  H.  Wheeler.  Land  nowhere, 
but  if  mutiny  and  any  opposition  is  shown,  open  fire,  and 
destroy  as  many  rebels  as  you  can.  On  getting  to  Cawn- 
pore,  to  the  Ghaut  nearest  the  entrenched  camp  best  adapt- 
ed for  landings  communicate  with  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler 5 
give  him  all  the  news  of  Renaud*s  columns,  which  will  be 
at  Cawnpore  on  the  8th.  Land  your  men  and  stores  as 
Sir  H.  Wheeler  may  direct,  and  I  hope  the  steamer  will  be 
made  available  by  Sir  Hugh  to  bring  down  here  all  the 
ladies  and  children,  also  sick  and  wounded  officers;  the 
veteran  artillerymen  on  board  will  be  a  guard  down  the 
river,  and  will  be  with  the  two  guns  sent  back  here. 
Should  Cawnpore  have  fallen,  endeavour  to  communicate 
with  Major  Renaud.  Let  the  steamer  take  up  a  good  posi- 
tion  in  the  river  where  your  guns  can  best  be  used,  and 
hold  your  own  when  it  can  be  done.  Steam  up  and  attack 
enemy  if  within  reach  of  you  ;  be  there  to  bring  off  any 
who  may  have  escaped.     General  Havelock  starts  on  Sat- 

VOL.  II.  34 


530  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

urday  morning,  with  nearly  one  thousand  men  and  three 
guns.  You  must  remain  until  you  hear  from  him.  Your 
detachment  will  join  him,  and  you  have  with  you  Renaud*s 
luggage.  You  will  be  required  to  assist  the  force  in  cross- 
ing the  river.  Any  insurgents  that  fall  into  your  hands 
hang  them  at  once,  and  shoot  all  you  can.  8th  of  July. 
Intelligence  having  been  received  last  night  that  Cawnpore 
may  have  fallen,  you  are  lo  proceed  up  the  river  with  the 
greatest  caution  as  you  approach  within  forty  miles  of  it,  and 
b3  most  vigilant  in  avoiding  compromising  yourself  by  get- 
ting within  fire  from  guns.  Move  up  with  caution  as  far  as 
you  can  ^  obtain  all  the  information  possible  of  the  state  of 
aiiairs  at  Cawnpore.  Communicate  with  Major  Renaud's 
coliunn  now  at  the  railway,  near  which  he  w^ill  remain  until 
General  Havelock  overtakes  him.  Theimited  force  will  read 
Futtehpore  about  the  8th.  You  must  communicate  with 
the  Greneral,  or  advance  up  the  river  at  the  same  rate  as  he 

• 

advances.  You  will  thus  secure  the  river  on  his  right  flank. 
Having  obtained  certain  news  of  the  state  of  affairs  at 
Cawnpore,  move  up  and  relieve  it  if  it  still  holds  out  5  if  it 
has  fallen,  either  remain  where  you  receive  the  intelligence, 
if  a  good  place  to  remain,  or  drop  quietly  down  near  the 
infantry  column,  to  a  secure  position,  and  wait  until  the  ad- 
vance of  the  force.' 

But  these  instructions  had  been  scarcely  signed  when 
intelligence  was  received  which  rendered  it  necessary  that 
these  carefiilly-prepared  plans  should  be  reconsidered.  Some 
messengers  arrived  from  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  at  Lucknow 
and  they  reported  that  they  had  passed  through  Cawnpore : 
that  that  terrible  tragedy,  which  cannot  even  now  be  named 


i8S7.]  AT  ALLAHABAD  531 

without  a  shudder,  had  been  acted,  and  that  our  miserable 
people  there  had  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  all  human  help. 
Havelock  accepted  these  facts,  but  Neill  was  at  first  disposed 
to  disbelieve  them  ^  and  he  chafed  a  little  when  he  found 
that  the  General  and  his  Staff  talked  of  halting  Renaud's 
force,  and  not  sending  up  the  steamer  with  Spurgin's  de- 
tachment. The  steamer,  however,  was  allowed  to  start  on 
the  following  day,  and  Neill,  still  incredulous  of  the  fall  of 
Cawnpore,  telegraphed  to  Government  that  he  believed  the 
story  was  an  invention  of  the  Nana  Sahib,  intended  to  mis- 
lead us  j  and  although  further  accounts  to  the  same  effect 
were  received,  he  continued  to  misbelieve  the  story,  and 
strenuously  urged  the  advance  of  Renaud's  force,  at  how- 
ever slow  a  rate,  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  appearance 
of  vacillation  and  uncertainty  upon  our  part.  The  cry  of 
*  Forward  !  *  was  ever  on  his  lips.  He  was  angered  when 
others  talked  of '  halting.* 

Meanwhile  Havelock  had  been  making  his  preparations 
to  push  on  with  reinforcements,  to  overtake  Renaud's  force, 
and  to  advance  to  the  relief  of  Cawnpore.  But  at  the  very 
commencement  of  the  mutiny  and  rebellion  at  Allahabad, 
the  Commissariat  bullocks  had  been  carried  off  or  let  loose 
by  the  insurgents  5  and  the  means  of  conveyance  for  Have- 
lock's  force  could  not,  therefore,  be  brought  together  with 
the  promptitude  desired.  He  moved,  however,  on  the  7th 
of  July,  and  was  soon  on  the  road  to  victory. 

'  Lieutenant-Colonel  Neill,'  wrote  the  General  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  '  whose  high  qualities  I  cannot  suffi- 
ciently praise,  will  follow  with  another  column  as  soon  as  it 
can  be  organized,  and  this  fort  left  in  proper  hands.     I 


533  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

should  have  preferred  to  move  the  whole  of  the  troops  to- 
gether, but  the  relief  of  Lucknow  is  an  affair  of  time,  and  I 
cannot  hazard  its  fall  by  waiting  for  the  organization  of 
Neill's  column.*  *  So  Neill,  eager  to  push  on,  but  recog- 
nizing the  necessity  of  his  detention,  remained  behind  at 
Allahabad.  He  now  became  painfully  convinced  against 
his  will  that  our  unhappy  people  at  Cawnpore  had  been 
ruthlessly  murdered — men,  women,  and  children,  foully 
butchered  in  cold  blood  by  the  detestable  Nana  of  Bhitoor. 
The  details  of  this  sickening  tragedy  made  a  deep  and  abid- 
ing impression  on  his  mind.  A  stem  resolution  to  take 
terrible  vengeance  on  the  murderers  took  possession  of  him, 
and  it  became  the  one  great  desire  of  his  heart  that  he 
might  live  to  inflict  righteous  retribution  upon  those  who 
had  massacred  our  helpless  little  ones.  He  thought  of  his 
own  wife  and  children,  then  happily  safe  in  England  j  and 
he  wrote  in  his  journal :  *  I  can  never  spare  a  Sepoy  again. 
All  that  fall  into  my  hands  will  be  dead  men.'  There  was 
something  of  the  old  Scotch  Covenanter  spirit  within  him, 
and  he  felt  that  it  was  God's  will  that  he  should  not  spare. 


On  the  1 6th  of  July,  having  been  pressed  by  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief to  join  Havelock  as  speedily  as  possible, 
Neill  made  over  the  command  of  Allahabad,  and  pushed 
on  by  horse-dawk  for  Cawnpore.  Before  he  started,  he 
had  received  news  of  the  successful  actions  which  Havelock 
had  fought  with  the  enemy,  and  forwarded  the  glad  tidings 
to  the  Government  at  Calcutta.     '  On  the  15th  of  July,'  be 

*  Marshman's  Life  of  Havelock. 


X8S7.1  AT  CA  WNPORE.  533 


wrote  to  a  friend,  '  I  received  a  telegram  from  the  Chief 
praising  Greneral  Havelock  for  his  victories  at  Futtehpore, 
&€.,  which  I  was  requested  to  communicate  to  him.  With 
this  came  also  the  following :  *'  But  his  health  is  not  strong, 
and  the  season  is  very  trying  5  it  is  urgently  necessary, 
therefore,  that  provision  should  be  made  for  placing  the 
command  of  the  column  in  tried  hands  of  known  and 
assured  efficiency,  in  whom  perfect  confidence  can  be  placed, 
in  case  Havelock  should  become  from  any  cause  unfit  for 
duty.  You  have  been  selected  for  the  post,  and  accordingly 
you  will  proceed  with  every  practicable  expedition  to  join 
Havelock,  making  over  the  command  of  Allahabad  to  the 
next  senior  officer."  *  This  I  received  m  the  afternoon. 
I  was  sending  off  that  evening  a  strong  detachment  of  her 
Majesty's  34th  per  bullock  van,  twenty-five  miles  a  night. 
I  determined  to  remain  that  night,  and  start  off  by  horse- 
dawk  and  overtake  them.  I  sent  off  my  traps  with  them. 
I  had  much  to  do  at  Allahabad,  instructions  to  give,  &c. 
The  senior  officer  was  a  Captain  of  the  78th.  My  suc- 
cessor. Colonel  O'Brien,  was  expected  on  the  15th  j  he  did 
not  come,  and  I  got  away,  overtook  the  detachment  head- 

*  Before  making  over  the  command,  Neill  drew  up  a  most 
elaborate  paper  of  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  his  successor, 
the  length  of  which  alone  precludes  its  insertion  here.  It  is  espe- 
cially worthy  of  notice,  however,  as  clearly  demonstrating  that 
those  who  said  that  Neill  was  remarkable  mainly  for  an  impetuous 
daring;  which  commonly  disregarded  all  consideration  of  strate- 
gical cautions,  were  especially  wrong.  The  paper  of  Instructions  to 
Renaud  and  Spurgin,  given  in  the  text,  go  far  to  disprove  this. 
The  instructions  to  his  successor  at  Allahabad  render  the  proof  con- 
clusive. 


534  GENERAL  NEILL,  [1857. 

quarters  of  the  corps,  and  got  to  Cawnpore  in  five  days.  I 
had  hardly  seen  General  Havelock  before  he  said  to  me : 
"  Now,  General  Neill,  let  us  understand  each  other  5  you 
have  no  power  or  authority  here  whilst  I  am  here,  and  you 
are  not  to  issue  a  single  order."  He  used  to  go  down  to 
the  Ghllt  every  day  to  superintend  the  crossing  over  of  the 
troops  and  material.  ...  I  was  placed  in  command  at 
Cawnpore  on  his  quitting.  Well,  off  he  went  at  last,  and 
I  assumed  command.* 

One  of  Neill's  first  acts  was  to  inquire  into  the  circum- 
stances of  the  ghastly  tragedy  of  Cawnpore.  The  ascer- 
tained truth  exceeded  in  horror  all  that  his  worst  fears  had 
suggested.  He  was  a  tender-hearted,  impressionable  man, 
whom  such  a  story  as  this  was  sure  to  fill  with  measureless 
compassion  on  the  one  side,  and  indignation  on  the  other. 
The  horrors  of  Cawnpore  might  be  repeated  at  Lucknow. 
When  he  thought  of  this — ^that  even  then,  in  our  belea- 
guered position,  delicate  women  and  innocent  children 
were  every  day  becoming  more  and  more  at  the  mercy  of 
our  remorseless  enemies — there  was  a  great  conflict  within 
him,  and  he  asked  himself,  in  doubt  and  perplexity,  what 
was  to  be  done.  He  was  not  one  of  those  who  would  have 
executed  indiscriminate  vengeance  on  the  nation  which  had 
sent  forth  these  cruel  and  cowardly  assassins.  A  black  face 
was  not  an  abomination  in  his  eyes.  He  had,  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  march,  regarded  scrupulously  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  innocent  people.  He  had  suppressed 
with  a  strong  hand  every  impulse  to  pillage  and  plunder. 
He  had  never  suffered  his  men  to  take  anything  in  the  way 
of  carriage  or  provisions  from  the  people  which  was  not 


18S7. J  AT  CA  WNPORE.  535 

paid  for  to  the  last  &rthing.  He  had  hanged  many  mur- 
derers and  mutineers,  but  never  without  trial,  and  what 
seemed  to  him  to  be  full  evidence  of  their  guilt.*  Nor, 
even  with  all  the  heart-breaking  manifestations  of  that  foul 
massacre  at  Cawnpore  before  him,  did  a  thought  of  sweep- 
ing and  confounding  vengeance  ever  take  possession  of  him. 
But  he  was  eager  to  inflict  upon  the  miscreants  themselves 
what  he  felt  would  be,  both  for  our  own  people  and  our 
enemies,  a  just  and  merciful  retribution.  What  he  thought 
and  what  he  did,  at  that  time,  shall  be  told  in  his  own 
words,  as  recorded  in  a  letter  to  a  friend. 

Having  recited  at  some  length  the  terrible  story  of  the 
massacre  in  the  boats  at  Futtehgur,  he  proceeded  to  say, 
*  The  men  were  shot,  the  women  and  children  were  brought 
up  to  a  little  bungalow  near  the  Assembly-rooms.  The 
Futtehgur  fugitives,  such  as  were  saved,  were  brought  in 
there  too.  I  have  sent  a  list  of  all,  and  their  fate.  Up- 
wards of  two  hundred  women  and  children  were  brought 
into  that  house  5  mai^  had  been  killed  in  the  boats,  many 
killed  and  died  in  the  entrenchment  5  all  who  survived 
fever,  dysentexy,  and  cholera,  in  the  confinement  in  that 
house,  were  barbarously  murdered,  after  the  receipt  of  the 
intelligence  of  Havelock*s  first  victory — this  by  the  Nana*s 
order.  They  were  badly  fed  and  treated  at  first,  but  after- 
wards got  more  and  dean  clothing,  and  servants  to  wait 

*  In  a  private  letter,  which  was  published  some  time  ago  in  a 
Scotch  paper/  Neill  distinctly  said  :  '  Whenever  a  rebel  is  caught,  he 
is  immediately  tried,  and,  unless  he  can  prove  a  defence,  he  is  sen- 
tenced to  be  hanged  at  once.'  As  a  different  statement  has  been 
made»  it  is  important  to  consider  this. 


536  GENERAL  NBILL,  [t857« 

on  them.  They  were  sent  their  evening  meal  on  that  £itai 
day,  and  after  it  these  fiends  rushed  in  and  butchered  them 
allj  they  were  shot  and  hacked  to  pieces.  The  bodies  of 
all  who  died  there  were  thrown  into  the'well  of  the  house, 
all  the  murdered  also.  I  saw  that  house  when  I  first  came 
in.  Ladies*  and  children's  bloody  torn  dresses  and  shoes 
were  lying  about,  and  locks  of  hair  torn  from  their  heads. 
The  fioor  of  the  one  room  they  were  all  dragged  into  and 
killed  was  saturated  with  blood.  One  cannot  control  one's 
feelings.  Who  could  be  raerdful  to  one  concerned? 
Severity  at  the  first  is  mercy  in  the  end.  I  wish  to  show 
the  natives  of  India  that  the  punishment  inflicted  by  us  for 
such  deeds  will  be  the  heaviest,  the  most  revolting  to  their 
feelings,  and  what  they  must  ever  remember.*  I  issued 
the  following  order,  which,  however  objectionable  in  the 
estimation  of  some  of  our  Brahminized  infatuated  elderly 
gentlemen,  I  think  suited  to  the  occasion,  or  rather  to  the 
present  crisis  :  "  25th  July,'  1857.  The  well  in  which  are 
the  remains  of  the  poor  women  and  children  so  brutally 
murdered  by  this  miscreant,  the  Nana,  will  be  filled  up,  and 
neatly  and  decently  covered  over  to  form  their  grave :  a 
party  of  European  soldiers  will  do  so  this  evening,  under 
the  superintendence  of  an  ofilicer.  The  house  in  which 
they  were  butchered,  and  which  is  stained  with  their  blood, 
will  not  be  washed  or  cleaned  by  their  countrymen  \  but 

*  In  another  letter,  Neill  says  :  '  My  object  is  to  inflict  a  fearful 
punishment  for  a  revolting,  cowardly,  barbarous  deed^  and  to  stiike 
terror  into  these  rebels.  .  .  .  No  one  who  has  witnessed  the  scenes 
of  murder,  mutilation,  and  massacre,  can  ever  listen  to  the  word 
** mercy"  as  applied  to  these  fiends.* 


x8S7.]  AT  CA  WNPORE.  537 

, .  — • 

Brigadier-General  Neill  has  determined  that  every  stain  of 
that  innocent  blood  shall  be  cleared  up  and  wiped  out> 
previous  to  their  execution,  by  such  of  the  miscreants  as 
may  be  hereafter  apprehended,  who  took  an  active  part  in 
the  mutiny,  to  be  selected  according  to  their  rank,  caste, 
and  degree  of  guilt.  Each  miscreant,  after  sentence  of 
death  is  pronounced  upon  him,  will  be  taken  down  to  the 
house  in  question,  under  a  guard,  and  will  be  forced  into 
cleaning  up  a  small  .portion  of  the  blood-stains )  the  task 
will  be  made  as  revolting  to  his  feelings  as  possible,  and  the 
Provost-Marshal  will  use  the  lash  in  forcing  any  one  object- 
ing to  complete  his  task.  After  properly  cleaning  up  his 
portion  the  culprit  is  to  be  immediately  hanged,  and  for 
this  purpose  a  gallows  will  be  erected  close  at  hand.** — 
The  first  culprit  was  a  Soubahdar  of  the  6th  Native  In- 
fantry, a  fat  brute,  a  very  high  Brahmin.  The  sweeper's 
brush  was  put  into  his  hands  by  a  sweeper,  and  he  was 
ordered  to  set  to  work.  He  had  about  half  a  'square  foot 
to  clean ;  he  made  some  objection,  when  down  came  the 
lash,  and  he  yelled  again ;  he  wiped  it  all  up  clean,  and  was 
then  hung,  and  his  remains  buried  in  the  public  road.  Some 
days  after,  others  were  brought  in — one  a  Mahomedan 
officer  of  our  civil  court,  a  great  rascal,  and  one  of  the 
leading  men:  he  rather  objected,  was  flogged,  made  to 
Hck  part  of  the  blood  with  his  tongue.  No  doubt  this  is 
strange  law,  but  it  suits  the  occasion  well,  and  I  hope  I 
shall  not  be  interfered  with,  until  the  room  is  thoroughly 
cleansed  in  this  way.  ...  I  will  hold  my  own,  with  tlie 
blessing  and  help  of  God.  I  cannot  help  seeing  that  His 
finger  is  in  all  this — ^we  have  been  false  to  ourselves  so  often. 


538  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1837. 


•  •  .  Charlie,  my  boy,  I  expect  out  the  first  mail.  I  have 
applied  for  him  to  come  up  here  to  do  duty,  and  I  hope  to 
belong  to  the  "  Lambs,**  or  as  the  Nana  and  the  enemy  call 
them,  the  Neel-topee-wallahs.  They  wear  light  blue  cap 
covers  5  the  enemy  say  those  fellows'  muskets  kill  at  a  mile 
off  before  they  are  fired :  so  much  for  Enfields.  Your  ac- 
count of  is  what  I  expected.  He  has  nothing  in  him  \ 
he  is  very  timid.  These  panics  are  bad.  I  would  turn 
every  man  in  the  service,  civil  or  miUtary,  out  of  it,  whose 
nerves  failed  him.  Men  of  this  stamp  have  no  business  in 
India.' 

It  was,  doubtless,  a  terrible  sentence  that  he  executed^ 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  India ;  but  he  was  fully  con- 
vinced, in  his  own  mind,  that  only  by  such  severity  could 
he  check  the  atrocities  which,  in  their  blind  fiiry,  the  rebels 
and  mutineers  were  committing  upon  the  Christian  people. 
Those  upon  whom  the  punishment  fell,  and  their  own 
countrymen  who  looked  on,  believed  that  the  terrors  d 
the  sentence  would  pursue  them  beyond  the  grave  5  but 
this,  in  the  eyes  of  a  Christian,  was  only  an  idea  which  ad- 
ded further  bitterness  to  the  cup  of  death  upon  this  side  of 
eternity.  There  were  many  humane  men  at  that  time  who 
believed  that  real  mercy  required  the  judge  to  do  violence 
to  his  own  tenderness  of  heart.  On  such  questions  as  this 
there  must  be  much  controversy  and  contention  5  for  neither 
the  law  of  God  nor  the  judgment  of  man  has  clearly 
declared  the  extent  to  which,  in  exceptional  conjunctures, 
the  ordinary  principles  of  justice  and  morality  may  righdy 
be  disregarded.  But  if  such  acts  as  these  be  ofiences,  thejr 
are  offences  which  History  is  seldom  unwilling  to  condone. 


^ 


i8S7.]  AT  CA  WNPORE.  539 


But  I  gladly  turn  from  this  painful  episode,  to  write  oi 
NeilFs  other  more  congenial  duties.  He  was  left,  with 
some  three  hundred  men,  at  Cawnpore,  whilst  Havelock 
was  endeavouring  to  penetrate  Oude  and  to  advance  to  the 
relief  of  Lucknow.  What  was  the  principal  work  to  be 
done  by  him  may  be  gathered  fix>m  the  instructions  which 
he  received  on  the  a6th  of  July.  He  was  ordered  '  to  en- 
deavour to  defend  as  much  of  the  trunk-road  as  is  now  in 
British  possession  in  Cawnpore,.and  to  aid  in  maintaining 
the  communications  with  Allahabad  and  with  the  Brigadier- 
General's  (Havelock's)  forces  in  Oude.'  In  addition  to 
discharging  all  the  routine  details  of  duty,  and  effecting  the 
establishment  of  order  in  the  town  and  cantonments  of 
Cawnpore,  he  was  directed  *to  construct  and  strengthen 
entrenchments  on  both  banks  of  the  river,  and  to  mount 
heavy  guns  in  them^  to  render  the  passage  or  the  river 
secure  and  easy  by  establishing,  in  co-operation  with  the 
two  steamers,  a  boat-commimication  from  entrenchment  to 
entrenchment  % '  and  with  this  view  he  was  to  organize  a 
well-paid  corps  of  boatmen,  and  to  collect  and  keep 
together  a  fleet  of  boats.  He  was  to  watch  the  roads  to 
Allahabad,  Allyghur,  Delhi,  and  Agra,  and  to  push  forward 
reinforcements  into  Oude.  Finally,  the  Brigadier-General 
desired  that  Neill  should  communicate  with  him  '  in  the 
most  unreserved  manner.'  All  these  several  duties,  the  last 
not  least,  were  strictly  performed. 

On  the  aoth  of  July,  Havelock  had  commenced  the 
passage  of  the  river,  which  was  the  first  step  towards  his 
advance  into  Oude.  After  a  week  of  labour  and  difficulty, 
the  whole  column  was  assembled  on  the  Oude  bank. 


540  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

'  Some  of  the  General's  Staff/  says  Havelock's  biographer, 
Mr  Marshman,  'were  anxious  that  Greneral  Neill  should 
accompany  the  colmnn  to  replace  him^  if  he  were  disabled 
by  any  casualty  \  but  the  General^  after  carefully  weighing 
the  importance  of  the  position  at  Cawnpore^  the  necessitjr 
of  receiving,  equipping,  and  forwarding  reinforcements, 
and  completing  the  establishment  of  a  communicatioa 
between  the  two  banks  of  the  river,  and  generally  of  main- 
taining our  authority  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Granges,  felt 
himself  constrained  to  leave  General  Neill  in  charge  of  the 
entrenchments,  with  the  sick  and  wounded^  there  being  no 
other  officer  to  whom  he  could  intrust  these  respon»- 
bilities  with  equal  confidence.*  On  the  morning  of  the 
29th  the  force  advanced  upon  the  town  of  Onao^  where 
Havelock  encountered  a  large  body  of  the  enemy,  and 
routed  them  with  heavy  loss.  After  this  he  advanced  to 
Busseerutgunje^  where  he  gained  another  victory  j  th^ 
halted  in  his  career  of  glory  and  fell  back  upon  Mungol- 
war,  the  place  in  which  he  had  assembled  his  troops  for  the 
advance,  only  six  miles  distant  from  the  banks  of  the  river. 
*  As  you  know/  wrote  Neill,  *  the  first  march  brought  him 
in  contact  with  the  enemy  5  he  had  one  day's  hard  fighting 
on  the  29th,  beat  him  completely  \  we  lost  a  number  of 
men  from  some  little  mistake  in  the  first  afifair,  getting 
boxed  round  a  loopholed  keep  or  serraie,  which  was  ob- 
stinately defended  :  here  Richardson  of  *'  ours  *'  fell,  Setoo 
and  others  wounded,  but  take  the  whole  day's  woiic  the 
loss  was  not  much  \  nineteen  guns  were  taken  in  aU,  bat 
three  ordered  to  be  brought  up  and  secured  by  the  Sikhi 
were  left  behind  and  taken  away  by  the  enemy;  this  left 


x8S7.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  HA  VELOCK.  541 


sixteen  fine  brass  guns^  most  of  them  ours — one  a  brass  24- 
pounder.  However,  all  of  these  we  destroyed  by  the  Ge- 
neral's order.  The  enemy  were  fljang — the  bridge  they 
were  so  anxious  about  was  ten  or  twelve  miles  off,  our  men 
in  high  spirits,  blood  up,  &c.  \  this  was  the  time  \  but  sud- 
denly, on  being  ordered  to  fall  in  to  march,  instead  of  an 
advance  it  was  a  retreat.*  On  the  3  ist  of  July,  writing  to 
Neill  from  Mungulwar,  Havelock  said :  *  I  have  come  back 
here,  "because,  though  eveiywhere  successful,  I  urgently  re- 
quire another  battery  and  a  thousand  more  British  troops 
to  enable  me  to  do  anything  for  the  real  advantage  of 
Lucknow.  .  •  .  I  shall  be  thankfiil  for  the  aid  of  your  ex- 
ertions in  obtaining  as  many  workmen  as  possible  for  Cap- 
tain Crommelin  to  commence  and  finish  a  bridge-head  on 
this  bank.  Pray,  also,  urge  on  the  collection  of  rations  for 
my  troops.  Two  heavy  guns,  24-pounders,  must  be  got 
ready,  with  bullocks,  to  accompany  my  advance,  and  three 
large  iron  girns  kept  in  readiness  for  the  t6te-de-pont. 
Push  across  any  British  infantry  as  soon  as  it  arrives,  and 
improve  as  much  as  possible  our  boat-communication.  I 
propose  to  advance  again  as  soon  as  the  reinforcements 
reach  me,  and  to  urge  the  garrison  of  Lucknow  to  hold 
out.* 

It  would  be  out  of  place  in  such  a  narrative  as  this  to 
discuss  at  length  the  strategical  considerations  which  in- 
duced General  Havelock  to  make  this  retrograde  move- 
ment. Right  or  wrong,  it  created  bitter  disappointment  in 
Cawnpore.  To  Neill,  burning  as  he  was  with  an  eager  desire 
for  the  immediate  relief  of  Lucknow,  and  who,  with  such 
an  object  ever  before  his  eyes,  believed  that  all  difficulties 


54fl  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

should  have  been  overcome,  and  all  ordinary  rules  of  war 
disregarded,  this  retrogression,  in  the  hour  of  victoiy,  ap- 
peared to  be  so  startling  and  unintelligible,  that  he  chafed 
under  his  mortification,  and  could  not  restrain  himself  £rom 
writing  a  letter  of  remonstrance  to  his  superior  officer. 
*  My  dear  Greneral,*  he  wrote  on  the  ist  of  August, '  I  late 
last  night  received  yours  of  five  p.m.  yesterday.  I  deeply 
reg^t  that  you  have  fallen  back  one  foot.  The  efiect  on 
our  prestige  is  very  bad  indeed.  Your  camp  was  not  pitched 
yesterday,  before  all  manner  of  reports  were  rife  in  the  dty 
—that  you  had  returned  to  get  some  guns,  having  lost  ail 
that  you  took  away  with  you.  In  fact,  the  belief  among 
all  is,  that  you  have  been  defeated  and  forced  back.  It 
has  been  most  unfortunate  your  not  bringing  back  any  of 
the  guns  captured  from  the  enemy.  The  natives  will  not 
believe  that  you  have  captured  one.  The  effect  of  yoor 
retrograde  movement  will  be  very  injurious  to  our  caoae 
everywhere,  and  bring  down  upon  us  many  who  would 
otherwise  have  held  off,  or  even  sided  with  us.  .  •  .  Yoa 
talk  of  advancing  as  soon  as  the  reinforcements  reach  yotu 
You  require  a  battery  and  a  thousand  European  in^txy. 
As  regards  the  battery,  half  of  01pherts*s  will  be  in  this 
morning.  The  other  half  started  yesterday  or  to-day  from 
Allahabad.  This  will  detain  you  five  or  six  ^sy%  more. 
As  for  the  infantry  you  require,  they  are  not  to  be  had,  and 
if  you  are  to  wait  for  them,  Lucknow  will  follow  the  fate 
ofCawnpore.  Agra  will  be  invested.  This  place  also.  The 
city  will  be  occupi(xi  by  the  enemy.  I  have  no  troops  to 
keep  them  out,  and  we  shall  be  starved  out.  You  ought 
not  to  remain  a  day  where  you  are.    When  the  iron  gooi 


X8S7.]         CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  HAVELOCK,  543 

are  sent  to  you^  also  the  half  battery  of  artillery,  and  the 
company  of  the  84th  escorting  it,  you  ought  to  advance 
again,  and  not  halt  until  you  have  rescued,  if  possible,  the 
garrison  of  Lucknow/  Looking  at  it  strictly  in  a  military 
point  of  view,  the  reader  will  doubtless  say  that  this  letter 
ought  not  to  have  been  written.  Discipline  stands  aghast 
at  it.  No  junior  officer  has  the  privilege  of  thus  criticizing 
the  conduct  of  his  senior.  .  An  apology,  however,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  times,  and  the 
magnitude  of  the  interests  at  stake.  It  was  an  unexampled 
crisis,  and  one  in  which  the  best  men  were  moved  at  times 
to  disregard  all  considerations  of  rank  and  station,  and  to 
assume  an  independence  of  tone  which  at  other  times  would 
have  been  an  unwarrantable  breach  of  duty.  There  were, 
indeed,  moments,  in  that  terrible  autumn  of  1857,  when, 
under  the  strongest  sense  of  what  was  due  to  the  nation 
they  represented,  moved  by  the  irresistible  manhood  within 
them,  men  were  prepared  to  trample  down  all  the  laws  of 
discipline,  and  to  assert  irresistibly  the  rights  of  the  stronger 
will  and  the  more  resolute  courage.  The  words  and  actions 
of  men,  in  such  a  crisis  as  this,  must  not  be  estimated  by 
the  measuring-rod  of  the  army-list  and  the  order-book. 
Neill  thought,  on  that  August  morning,  of  the  despairing 
cries  of  the  beleaguered  garrison  of  Lucknow,  and  of  the 
safety  of  the  Great  Empire,  which  was  then  threatened  as 
it  had  never  before  been  threatened  5  and  he  forgot  for  a 
while  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Brigadier-General  Neill  not 
to  remonstrate  against  the  measures  of  Major-General  Havd 
lock,  but  to  accept  them  in  silence  as  those  of  superior  mi- 
litary authority. 


544  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1837 

But  it  was  to  this  masculine  energy'  of  mind — to  this 
irresistible  activity  of  body — ^to  the  voice  within  him,  which 
was  ever  ciying,  *  Forward,  forward  !  *  that  England  owed 
at  that  time  the  safety  of  the  great  cities  of  Benares  and 
Allahabad.  If  he  had  been  a  man  of  a  colder  and  less 
eager  nature — if  he  had  had  more  caution  and  more  patience, 
he  would  not  have  earned  for  himself  the  place  that  he  has 
earned  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Let  us  forget,  then,  die 
question  of  discipline  for  a  time.  Havelock  responded  *  and 
Neill  sent  in  a  rejoinder,  which  the  highest  militarj 
authority  in  India  declared  to  be '  perfectly  unexception- 
able  3*  and,  a  day  or  two  afterwards,  the  Greneral  again 
pushed  forward  in  advance.  But,  again,  there  was  dis- 
appointment throughout  the  force,  throughout  the  whole 
countiy,  for  Havelock,  assured  that  he  could  not  make  good 
his  advance  to  Lucknow,  fell  back,  after  more  successes  in 
the  field,  and  waited  for  reinforcements.  Of  the  necessity 
for  this  Neill  himself  was  after  a  time  convinced.  ^  Call 
on  Greneral  Havelock,*  he  wrote  in  his  journal  on  the  i4tb 

♦  *I  got  a  terrific  reply,*  wrote  Neill,  in  a  letter  to  a  fiiend. 
'  General  H.  said  my  note  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  that  he 
had  ever  perused  :  that  he  had  written  to  me  confidentially  on  the 
state  of  affairs ;  "  You  send  me  back  a  letter  of  censure  of  my 
measures,  reproof  and  advice  for  the  future.  I  do  not  want,  and 
will  not  submit  to  receive,  any  of  these  fix>m  an  officer  under  my  com- 
mand, be  his  experience  what  it  may ;  understand  this  distinctly ;  and 
a  consideration  of  the  inconvenience  that  would  arise  to  the  public 
service  at  this  moment  alone  prevents  me  from  taking  the  yet 
stronger  step  of  placing  you  under  arrest.  You  now  stand  warned. 
Attempt  no  further  dictation.  I  have  my  own  reasons,  which  I  will 
not  communicate  to  any  one,  and  am  alone  responsible  for  the  comse 
I  have  pursued."  * 


I 


l8S7.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  HAVELOCK,  545 

of  August^  *  and  show  him  telegram  from  the  Commander- 
in-Chiefy  an4  give  him  my  opinion,  that  his  men  are  not  in 
a  state  to  advance  on  Lucknow — that  they  must  be  taken 
care  of  for  a  time,  and  saved  all  unnecessary  exposure.  .  .  . 
Gieneral  Havelock  talks  a  great  deal  about  my  administra- 
tive powera,  wishing  to  take  me  with  him  out  fighting,  and 
participating  in  his  victories.  I  reply  to  this,  that  however 
much  I  may  feel  at  not  having  participated  in  them,  and 
however  anxious  I  may  be  to  be  in  front,  all  private  feelings 
should  be  sacrificed  at  such  a  time  as  this,  and  that  I  wished 
to  be  employed  where  I  could  do  most  for  the  public  good. 
Besides,  what  I  did  not  tell  General  Havelock,  there  is  a 
foce  in  two  Grenerals  being  with  a  handfiil  of  men,  and  one 
of  them  allowed  to  do  nothing.* 

Whilst  Havelock  was  making  these  ineffectual  attempts 
to  penetrate  Oude,  Neill  was  threatened  at  Cawnpore  by 
large  bodies  of  insurgent  Sepoys,  conspicuous  among  whom 
were  the  42nd  Regiment,  that  had  recently  mutinied  at 
Saugor.  The  adherents  of  the  Nana,  at  Bithoor,  were  also 
menacing  his  position,  and  with  the  little  handful  of  men 
at  his  disposal  he  found  it  wholly  impossible  to  strike  an 
effectual  blow  at  the  enemy.  He  could  only  send  out 
small  detachments  at  a  time.  '  About  two  thousand  men,' 
he  wrote  to  a  friend,  '  part  of  the  42nd,  41st,  and  the  regi- 
ments here,  with  four  guns,  are  at  Bithoor,  twelve  miles 
from  this;  eight  thousand  men  more,  with  some  guns,  are 
at  Futtehghur,  seven  miles  off;  about  fifteen  hundred  men 
are  at  Shevrapore,  twenty-four  miles  off  3  and  the  Nana,  with 
Jussin  Singh  and  fifteen  hundred,  about  the  same  distance 

on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  close  to  Bithoor.    They  can 
VOL.  II.  35 


546  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 


cross  the  river  any  time^  although  I  have  thrice  sent  the 
steamers  up  with  a  lot  of  our  lads  and  a  few  artiUerTinen 
and  have  astonished  them  a  little.  The  first  day^  on  the 
first  occasion^  they  destroyed  boats^  and  brought  down 
grain,  not  a  soul  to  be  seen  except  finends^  the  42nd  from 
Saugor  coming  thereabouts  ^  and  on  hearing  that  some  of 
the  Nana*s  people  had  crossed  over  and  had  plundered  those 
friendly  to  us  there,  I  sent  up  the  steamer  and  forty  of  our 
boys,  twenty  Sikhs>  eight  artillerymen,  two  6-pounder8  and 
a  j -pounder  inch  mortar  on  board  5  and  they  polished  off  a 
parcel  of  Gungapoots,  a  religious  class  of  vagabond  Hindoo 
devotees  who  had  joined  the  Nana  and  committed  no  end 
of  atrocities :  none  of  our  lads  were  touched.  On  the  6th  I 
sent  up  again  the  same  force  3  each  time  my  aide-de-camp 
commanded.  We  had  three  artillerymen  wounded,  but 
gave  it  to  the  fellows  well  3  the  42nd  and  the  Rifle  Com- 
pany the  greater  portion  of  the  enemy.  They  had  two 
guns.  I  cannot  do  more  than  this.  On  the  loth  the 
enemy  were  approaching,  and  an  attack  in  the  city  was 
apprehended.  I  could  not  assist  them  3  I  have  only  three 
hundred  infantry,  half  a  battery  of  European  artillery,  and 
twelve  veteran  gunners.  I  can  only  move  out  one  hundred 
and  seventy  infantry  and  four  guns,  leaving  the  guards 
standing ,  and  of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  in  hospital 
several  are  convalescent,  and  fit  to  stand  behind  a  parapet 
and  fire.  With  this  ^brce  I  moved  out  in  the  morning  of 
the  loth  towards  Bithoorj  the  outpost  of  cavalry  were 
about  six  miles  off,  and  cavalry  patrols  were  about.  I  saw 
or  heard  of  no  one  until  our  scouts  came  in  and  reporoed 


k 


l8S7.]  BITHOOR.  547 

the  gallant  enemy  tailing  off  beyond  Bithoor.  The  Greneral 
has  ordered  me  not  to  vise  steam  again  until  he  has  passed 
over  'y  when  he  has^  I  should  like  to  see  a  combined  attack 
on  them>  and  let  us  whenever  we  attack  make  an  example ; 
this  gathering  near  this^  and  the  Futtehghur  man^  must  be 
destroyed  sharp.' 

But  upon  the  day  following  that  which  is  last  mentioned 
in  this  brief  summary  of  events,  the  aspect  of  affairs  be- 
came more  threatening,  and  Neill  wrote  to  Havelock,  say- 
ing :  '  One  of  the  Sikh  scouts  I  can  depend  upon  has  just 
come  in,  and  reports  that  four  thousand  men  and  five  guns 
have  assembled  to-day  at  Bithoor,  and  threaten  Cawnpore, 
I  cannot  stand  this  3  they  will  enter  the  town,  and  our 
communications  are  gone.  If  I  am  not  supported,  I  can 
only  hold  out  here — can  do  nothing  beyond  our  entrench- 
ments. All  the  country  between  this  and  Allahabad  will 
be  up,  and  our  powder  and  ammunition  on  the  way  up  (if 
the  steamer,  as  I  feel  assured,  does  not  start)  will  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  and  we  shall  be  in  a  bad  way.*  So 
Havelock,  having  struck  another  blow  at  the  enemy  at 
Boorhiya,  returned,  as  before  stated,  and  attacked  the 
enemy  at  Bithoor  on  the  i6th  of  August.  The  insurgents 
were  dispersed,  the  victory  was  complete,  and  Havelock 
then  posted  himself  in  Cawnpore. 

There  the  announcement  greeted  him  that  Sir  James 
Outram  had  been  appointed  -to  the  command  in  that  part 
of  the  countiy,  and  that  he  was  making  his  preparations  to 
come  on  with  reinforcements.  It  was  now  Havelock's 
part  to  hold  his  own  at  Cawnpore  until  the  arrival  of 


548  GENERAL  NEJLL.  [x8|7. 

the  Greneral  with  his  new  regiments^  and  Neill  then 
ceased  to  have  any  independent  authority.^  The  fol- 
lowing  month  is  said  hj  the  militaiy  historians  to  have  beeo 
almost  a  blank.  It  was  a  sad  one^  for  the  troops  were  suf- 
fering from  cholera  and  other  fell  diseases  of  the  country ; 
and  there  was  no  adequate  provision  for  their  shelter  and 
protection  at  a  time  when  the  heavy  rains  of  the  season  were 
turning  the  country  into  a  swamp.  What  Neill  thought 
on  this  and  other  subjects  may  be  gathered  from  the  fol- 
lowing entries  in  his  private  journal :  '  Thursday^  August 
20.  Write  to  Commander-in-Chief  about  health  of  troops 
— that  they  must  not  be  more  exposed.  Mention  about 
reports  of  returning  to  Allahabad,  also  the  reports  from 
Agra  that  it  was  believed  there  that  the  (mutinous)  troopi 
at  Gwalior  intended  coming  here.  More  of  the  enemy 
assembled  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river.  Ride  up  to 
camp  ^  find  it  a  perfect  swamp  5  the  men  all  most  uncom- 
fortable.    Ride  with  General  Havelock^  who  decides  od 

abandoning  the  entrenchment.* *  Friday,  21.     Heavy 

storm  and  rain  last  night  ^  men  much  wetted.  Don't  get 
leave  to  occupy  the  stable  sheds  until  the  rain  comes  down. 
Ride  up  and  see  the  Greneral  this  morning,  and  speak  seri- 

•  Mr  Montgomery  Martin,  in  his  work  on  our  *  Indian  Empire,' 
which  contains  an  immense  mass  of  information  relating  to  the 
convulsions  of  1857,  says  :  *0n  returning  to  Cawnpore^  a  great 
difference  was  observable  in  the  place  through  the  exertioiis  of 
Neill.  He  had  felt  the  necessity  of  conciliating  the  shopkeq)en, 
and  every  morning  at  daybreak.be  went  among  them  and  en- 
deavoured to  reassure  them  r^;arding  the  expected  advance  of  the 
mutineers,  whose  appearance  in  overwhelming  numbers  was  ds2y 
expected.' 


I 


x857.]  AT  CA  WNPORB.  549 

ously  about  health  of  men  and  the  injury  to  them  of  being 
in  tents.  Ride  round  with  Tytler  and  show  the  houses 
which  I  would  recommend^  but  it  is  decided  to  put  the 
men  up  in  the  ^tables^  which  are  to  be  cleansed  and  matted, 
and  the  place  around  them  drained.     Glad  that  something 

is  to  be  done.'.^ '  Sunday,  23.    Receive  letters  from  Sir 

Patrick  Grant  that  he  leaves  for  Madras  on  the  22nd,  ^'  as 
that  celebrated  soldier.  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  has  arrived.** 
**  I  do  not,  therefore,  now  write  to  you,"  he  says,  '*  as  your 
Commander-in-Chief,  but  as  your  friend,  and  in  that  ca- 
pacity would  beg  of  you  to  get  on  smoothly  with  your 
immediate  superiors,  and  not  allow  differences  to  arise  be- 
tween you.  You  are  too  old  a  soldier  not  to  be  aware  that 
if  the  senior  officers  of  a  force  in  the  field  get  to  logger- 
heads, the  public  service  must  inevitably  suffer  3  and  I  know 
you  and  Havelock  too  well  not  to  feel  that  such  a  result 
would  be  infinitely  painful  to  both  of  you.  Your  services, 
from  the  moment  of  your  arrival  in  the  Bengal  Presidency, 
have  been  invaluable,  and  I  shall  ever  look  back  with  im- 
mense satisfaction  to  the  good  fortune  which  sent  you  here 
at  so  critical  a  period.    Give  your  '  Lambs '  *  my  assurance 

*  The  men'  of  the  Madras  Fusiliers  were  fitmiliarly  known  by  the 
designation  of '  Lambs,*  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  to  my 
satisfaction  the  origin  of  the  designation,  though  I  have  inquired  in 
several  quarters  likely  to  be  informed  on  the  subject.  One  suggestion 
worth  noting  is,  that  they  may  have  been  called  '  Lambs,'  because  in 
the  early  days  of  the  r^ment  a  number  of  men  from  the  2nd  Queen's 
Royals,  who  have  the  Paschal  Lamb  on  their  arms,  were  drafted 
into  it.  It  has  also  been  surmised  that  they  were  called  Lambs  on 
the  luctis  h  n<m  lucendo  principle.  They  have  a  tiger  and  a  lion  on 
their  arms. 


550  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857 

that  one  of  my  first  steps  on  returning  to  Madras  shall  be 
to  see  m}rself  that  their  wives  and  families  are  thoroughly 
well  cared  for  in  every  respect.  They  shall  want  no  rea- 
sonable comfort  or  accommodation  that  I  can  procure  for 
them^  and  I  beg  that  you  will  tell  your  gallant  regiment  so 
from  me.**  Sent  the  latter  portion  of  this  letter  to  Steven- 
son, to  be  communicated  to  the  corps.*  *  Tuesday,  aj. 
Ride  through  the  city.  About  two  thousand  arms  have 
been  collected,  and  are  being  broken  up.  Had  I  the  go- 
vernment of  India,  I  would  disarm  every  man>  arm  the 
police  with  laities  (clubs),  and  have  soldiers  only  armed. 
Native  opinion  is  that  Delhi  is  falling.      There  is  now 

scarcely  any  hope  of  Lucknow Bruce  mentioDB 

having  been  to  search  the  house  of  a  Newab,  who  is  with 
the  Nana,  and  whose  son  commands  four  regiments  before 
Lucknow,  and  he  (Bruce)  saj^  that  he  found  five  ladies  of 
the  family  there.  Instantly  order  them  to  be  secured,  and 
to  be  informed  that  I  keep  them  as  hostages  for  the  safety 

of  our  women  and  children  in  Oude.* '  Wednesday,  26. 

....  These  are  ticklish  times  3  none  but  stem  measures 
will  answer.  Write  to  General  about  the  women  I  secured 
last  evening,  suggesting  to  him  that  Government  be  asked 
to  secure  and  hold  as  hostages  all  the  wives  and  women  of 
the  Princes  of  Oude  and  other  swells  at  Calcutta ;  and  that 
he  issue  a  proclamation  to  the  Oude  people  to  the  effect 
that  if  one  woman  or  child  of  ours,  falling  into  tlie  hands 
of  the  enemy,  is  injured,  we  will  hold  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren in  our  hands  responsible  for  it.  No  chance,  however 
remote,  should  be  neglected.*  The  advice  thus  offered  was 
taken,  and  the  proclamation  was  prepared ;  but  when  it  was 


1857.]  SEIZURE  OF  NATIVE  LADIES,  5Si 


shown  to  Neill^  he  thought  that  it  was  aimless  and  spirit- 
less. It  wasy  perhaps^  never  issued  in  that  form.  I  can 
find  no  mention  of  the  proclamation  in  Marshman*s  ex- 
haustive biography  of  Havelock.  It  is  enough  to  recorc" 
that  no  injury  of  any  kind  ever  befell  these  native  ladies, 
and  that  Neill  was  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  have  hurt 
a  single  hair  of  their  heads.* 

With  the  new  month  came  new  interests.  Outram  was 
coming  on  with  his  reinforcements,  though,  owing  to  in- 
superable obstacles,  not  so  rapidly  as  had  been  expected, 
and  the  great  question  of  the  advance  on  Lucknow  was 
paramount  in  all  men's  minds.  Neill,  whose  guiding  prin- 
ciple it  was,  at  this  time,  to  do  whatsoever  he  thought  best 
for  the  interests  of  the  State,  regardless  of  all  considerations 
of  etiquette  and  routine,   opened   communications   with 

♦  Since  the  above  passage  was  ivritten,  I  have  chanced  upon  the 
following,  in  Neill's  private  correspondence,  which  indicates  that 
this  measure  was  attended  with  good  results  :  *  A  few  days  since  there 
was  a  meeting  of  all  the  insurgent  nobles  and  chiefs,  when  it  was 
declared  unanimously  that  they  disapproved  of  the  Nana's  conduct  in 
killing  men,  women,  and  children  taken  prisoners,  and  that  they 
would  treat  all  women  and  children  with  the  greatest  respect.  I  think 
I  mentioned  that  some  native  ladies  of  the  families  of  a  noble  and  his 
son,  now  at  Lucknow  fighting  against  us,  I  have  in  confinement  here 
in  their  own  house ;  and  I  had  it  made  known  to  them,  for  com- 
munication to  their  husbands  and  male  relatives,  that  they  should  be 
treated  with  respect  and  consideration  only  so  long  as  our  people  are. 
....  The  ladies  talked  of  poison  ;  but  seeing  that  they  are  treated 
properly,  I  suppose  that  they  are  all  right  again,  getting  over  their 
fears.  It  is  said  that  this  act  of  mine,  and  a  proclamation  sent  over 
to  them  by  Havelock,  drawn  out  at  my  suggestion  by  Captain  Bruce, 
has  caused  the  meeting.' — General  NeUl  to  Mrs  Neill,  Cawnpore, 
September  i6. 


55*  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

Outxam^  as  he  before  had  done  with  Patrick  Grants  and 
freely  ei^pressed  his  opinions.  It  is  a  soorce  of  infinite  re- 
gret that  two  brave  and  honourable  men^  whose  memories 
are  dearly  cherished  by  the  great  nation  iox  which  they  sacri- 
ficed their  lives^  should  not  have  looked^  whilst  livings  with 
kindlier  eyes  on  each  other.  But  it  is  not  to  be  disguised 
that  there  was  continual  animosity  between  Havelock  and 
Neill.  It  was  unfortunate^  but  on  neither  side  was  it  cul- 
pable. The  truth  is^  that  the  Grenerals  were  essentially  un- 
like each  other.  I  can  hardly  conceive  an  idea  of  two  meo 
more  dissimilar  in  character  and  disposition.  Neither^  in 
the  whirl  and  excitement  of  those  troublous  times^  was  cap- 
able of  appreciating  the  fine  qualities  of  his  brother-soldier. 
And  so  it  happens  that  the  correspondence  of  both  contains 
many  acrimonious  passages^  which  I  have  no  desire  to  repro- 
duce 3  but  I  do  not  doubt  that  if  they  had  lived  to  look  back 
upon  the  diversities  of  opinion  which  agitated  them  during 
those  memorable  months  at  Cawnpore,  each  would  have 
seen  in  the  conduct  of  the  other  much  to  admire  and  to 
commend,  and  that  the  strife  of  a  few  weeks  would  have 
been  alchemized  into  the  friendship  of  years. 

From  the  correspondence  with  Outram,  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  some  extracts  may  be  given,  showing  the  eagerness 
with  which  Neill  desired,  at  the  earliest  possible  moment 
compatible  with  full  assurance  of  success,  to  press  on  to 
Lucknow :  *  September  8.  I  sent  you  by  express  to-day 
the  copy  of  the  note  from  General  Inglis,  at  Lucknow,  (rf 
the  1st  instant.*     General  Havelock,  I  believe,  has  not  sent 

♦  This  letter  from  Colonel  Inglis  is  given  at  page  392  of  Marsh* 
man's  *  Life  of  Havelock.' 


i8S7.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  OUTRAM.  553 

the  said 'letter  from  Lucknow  to  the  Grovernor-Greneral  j  so 
if  you  think  it  proper  to  do  so^  by  sending  to  Mr  Chester  at 
Allahabad  the  copy  I  forward  to  you^  he  would  send  it  on. 
....  When  I  got  the  message  from  Lucknow  to-day,  I 
went  to  General  Havelock  with  it.  He  was  friendly,  and 
I  ventured  to  suggest  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost — ^that  he 
should  immediately  commence  preparations  to  cross  over 
into  Oude.  He  felt  inclined  to  do  so,  and  he  said  the  Ad- 
jutant-Greneral  was  of  my  opinion.  I  think  he  ought  to 
cross  over  and  establish  himself  at  Mungulwar,  get  every- 
thing over  with  him,  so  that  your  reinforcements,  when 
they  arrive  here,  may  at  once  move  over.  No  time  is  to  be 
lost,  in  my  humble  opinion.  Your  men  won*t  be  here  be- 
fore the  13  th  or  14th,  at  soonest,  and  if  they  join  him  at 
Mungulwar  by  the  15  th,  you  would  have  ten  days  to  re- 
lieve the  garrison.  I  submit  my  opinions  to  you,  who  can 
decide  whether  they  are  correct  or  the  reverse  3  my  great 
object  is,  let  us  be  moving.  The  passage  of  the  river  will 
take  several  days;  let  it  be  commenced  upon  at  once. 
Lucknow  must  be  saved.  Let  the  garrison  at  Cawnpore, 
left  behind,  hold  out  against  [illegible]  if  they  come.  We 
can  return  in  time  to  lick  them  also.*  '  September  9. 
Much  to  my  extreme  horror  and  real  annoyance,  I  dis- 
covered this  morning  the  enclosed  note  to  your  address, 
which  I  must  have  most  stupidly  overlooked  in  sending  off 
to  you  the  enclosure  in  which  it  ought  to  have  been  put. 
I  hope  you  will  pardon  my  most  unintentional  carelessness. 
How  I  could  have  made  the  mistake  I  can*t  make  out.  Mr 
Edwards  *  informs  me  that  the  two  men-servants  of  Missur 

*  Mr  William  Edwards,  of  the  Bengal  Civil  Service,  who  has 


554  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1837. 


Byjenathy  a  banker  of  great  wealth  and  much  mflaenoe  at 
Bareilly^  have  come  to  him  to-day  from  their  master.  They 
describe  the  hostility  between  Hindoos  and  Mahomedansas 
very  bitter.  The  former  have  taken  up  arms>  and  in  one 
fight  killed  several  hundreds  of  Khan  Behaudhur  Khan's 
men,  who  are  an  ill-&voured  rabble.  There  are  no  regular 
troops  in  the  province.  Mr  £dwards  says,  in  which  I  agree 
with  him,  that  if  the  Hindoos  were  encouraged  by  our  peo- 
ple in  authority,  they  would  doubtless  adopt  more  eneig^ 
measures  for  ridding  themselves  of  their  oppresnon.  '  It  ap- 
pears Captain  Gowan,  or  Lieutenant,  I  can't  make  out  which 
— ^if  the  captain,  he  was  the  commandant  of  the  9th  Oude 
Infantry  Irregular  Force,  if  a  lieutenant,  the  adjutant  of  the 
1 8th  at  Bareilly — ^with  five  other  officers,  are  in  hiding  with 
the  Kearee  Thakoor,  and  they  offer  to  organize  the  Tha- 
koor's  troops  if  they  are  authorized  to  draw  money  firom 
bankers  for  this  purpose.  Mr  Edwards  feels  certain  that 
Byjenath,  with  others,  would  advance  the  necessary  funds 
for  this  purpose,  if  he  received  some  guarantee  from  him. 
I  agree  with  Mr  Edwards,  the  present  is  a  favourable  op- 
portunity for  communicating  with  Captain  Gowan  and  By- 
jenath, and  that  Government  might  be  induced  to  authorize 
up  to  j  0,000  rupees  to  be  at  Captain  Gowan's  disposal  for 
the  purpose  mentioned.     Indeed,  so  impressed  am  I  with 

written  a  most  interesting  account  of  his  'personal  adventnies 
during  the  rebellion.'  He  came  into  Cawnpore  on  the  last  day 
of  August.  He  has  himself  recorded  how  Colonel  Fraser  Tytler 
introduced  him  to  '  General  Neill,  who  had  just  driven  up  in  a 
very  nice-looking  dog-cart,  and  we  soon  got  into  very  earnest  con- 
versation.* 


i8S7.J  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  OUTRAM,  555 

-~  -  -    —  -  ■ 

the  very  great  advantage  to  our  Government  the  fostering 
and  promotmg  bad  blood  between  the  two  races^  besides 
encouraging  our  friends  and  well-wishers^  that  had  I  been 
in  superior  command  here^  and  you  had  not  been  appointed^ 
I  would  have  taken  upon  myself  at  once  to  have  given  the 
authority  for  the  money^  and  asked  for  the  sanction  of  Go- 
vernment afterwards.  However,  the  matter  is  now  in  bet- 
ter hands^  and  will  no  doubt  receive  your  every  considera- 
tion, I  feel  perfectly  assured,  when  you  get  up  here  and 
into  Oude,  you  will  be  able  to  effect  a  vast  change  for  lis 
in  encouraging  the  well-disposed.  I  have  heard  nothing 
to-day  whether  the  Greneral  crosses  before  you  come  up,  or 
when.  I  hope,  however,  all  will  be  ready  to  start  by  the 
time  the  troops  you  are  bringing  reach  this,  or  very  soon 
afterwards.  The  sooner  Lucknow  is  relieved^  the  sooner 
we  shall  be  in  a  position  to  attack  and  dispose  of  others.  I 
am  sorry  to  hear  of  the  outbreak  of  the  part  of  the  27  th 
Bombay  Native  Infantry  at  Kolhapoor.  A  Lieutenant 
Kerr,  of  the  Southern  Mahratta  Horse,  with  the  small 
party  of  his  men,  is  said  to  have  behaved  nobly.  In  con- 
clusion, allow  me  to  hint  that  I  have  strong  doubts  whether 
Greneral  Havelock  may  have  sent  off  a  telegram  of  Inglis*s 
letter  to  Government.     The  Telegraph  was  only  opened 

from  this  forenoon.* *  September  13.    Early  on  the 

morning  of  the  nth,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  yours 
of  the  previous  day  from  Camp  [illegible],  and  lost  no  time, 
with  Mr  Edwards,  in  carrying  out  your  instructions.  I 
wrote  to  Captain  Gowan  as  follows  :  "  Sir, — In  consequence 
of  representations  by  you  through  Mr  Edwards,  Collector  of 
Budaon,  of  your  being  able,  if  assisted  with  money,  to  or- 


556  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

ganize  the  troops  of  the  Thakoors  where  7011  are^  and  to 
get  them  to  assist  Grovemment^  and  act  against  the  rebels, 
I,  on  being  made  acquainted  with  them^  wrote  to  General 
Sir  J.  Outram>  commanding  the  forces  in  the  Central  Pro- 
vinces^  and  suggested  to  him  that  jou  should  be  assisted  to 
the  amount  of  j  0,000  rupees  for  that  end,  and  Mr  Edwards 
has  to-day  communicated  with  the  native  bankers  at  Bardllj 
to  assist  you  with  sums  of  money  to  that  extent,  as  you  may 
require  them.  I  must  add,  that  no  time  is  to  be  lost  in  or- 
ganizing these  troops,  and  making  an  impression  against  the 
enemy  in  any  place  you  can.**  I  also  quoted  the  order  by 
Grovemment  as  to  the  rewards  for  Sepoys  brought  to  any 
military  authority,  as  also  those  for  horses  and  the  property 
of  Grovernment  brought  in,  and  requested  him  to  give  th6m 
circulation  and  publicity  as  extensively  as  he  could ;  also  to 
communicate  my  letter  to  him  to  the  officer  commanding 
at  Nynee  Tal,  and  request  his  co-operation  in  any  wst^ 
"  for  the  good  of  the  service  and  energetic  and  vigorous 
movements  against  the  enemy.**  That  morning  I  called  on 
General  Havelock,  with  the  view  of  impressing  him  with 
the  importance  of  your  orders  and  views  regarding  crossing 
over,  and  making  the  necessary  arrangements,  that  there 
should  be  no  delay  in  crossing  over  your  reinforcements,  and 
that  all  should  be  ready  to  advance  on  Lucknow.  I  showed 
your  letter  to  General  Havelock,  and  he  was  displeased  that 
I  should  hatve  written  to  you.  I  made  no  remark  about  his 
having  had  Captain  Gowan*s  letter  so  long  in  his  possession^ 
and,  as  I  believe,  done  nothing.  I  have  only  acted  in  this 
affair  as  I  will,  and  as  is  my  habit,  on  all  occasions,  for  the 
good  of  the  public  service.     I  only  regret  Greneral  Havdock 


^ 


i8S7.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  OUTRAM.  557 

■ 

did  not«  some  time  since^  what  you  have  authorized  me  to 
do.  Private  feelings,  or  standing  on  any  delicacy,  during 
the  present  times  in  particular,  is  not  to  be  thought  of.  I 
should  never  give  offence  to  a  senior  in  the  General's  posi- 
tion if  I  could  avoid  it.  I  certainly  never  intended  to  give 
offence  in  this  instance  3  but  when  so  much  was  at  stake,  I 
would  have  shown  the  greatest  indifference  had  I  not  at 
once  given  you  the  information.  General  Havelock  gives  me 
to  understand  it  is  his  intention  to  take  me  with  him  this 
time — a  piece  of  good  fortune  I  had  not  dared  to  hope  for. 
He  talks  of  my  commanding  the  Right  wing  of  his  force. 
Colonel  Hamilton  the  Left.  There  will  be  six  European 
and  one  Sikh  regiment  of  infantry  when  you  come  up, 
should  there  not  be  a  division  of  it  into  two  brigades,  at 
least  that  part  going  to  Lucknow.  There  will  be  great 
mismanagement  if  it  is  attempted  to  carry  on  work  with 
officers  in  command  of  right  and  left  wings,  neither  of 
whom  have  a  brigade  staff.  General  Havelock  will  have  a 
nice  Httle  force,  two  infantry  brigades,  his  artiUery,  and  the 
small  body  of  cavalry.  There  can  be  no  difficulty  in  cross- 
ing this  river.  I  have  not  heard  at  what  point  it  is  intend- 
ed. I  would  prefer  to  land  at  the  termination  of  the  Trunk 
Road,  not  on  the  island  about  one  mile  below  it,  by  which 
the  force  recrossed  the  other  day.  Any  works  the  enemy 
may  have  thrown  up  on  the  other  bank  are  contemptible 
enough.  Greneral  Havelock  was  down  this  morning  trying 
the  range  of  two  24-pounders  on  this  bank,  intended  to 
cover  a  passage  of  the  river.  I  had  given  my  opinion  to 
Sir  Patrick  some  time  since,  when  H.  was  in  Oude  (it  was 
asked),  whether  I  could  assist  him  if  he  retired  in  presence 


558  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

.  of  an  enemy.  This  gave  him  great  ofience  also,  and 
I  was  told  I  had  misled  his  Excellency  by  stating  what  was 
considered  by  him  and  his  engineer  officers  absurd — that  the 
ground  to  be  commanded  was  not  within  his  range.  This 
moming*s  practice  has  shown  him  that  I  am  five  hundred 
yards  within  my  mark  3  these  guns,  only  at  four  and  a  half 
elevation,  range  far'beyond.  I  was  sorry  for  his  firing;  in 
the  first  place,  he  uselessly  expended  powder  and  shot,  and 
by  his  fire,  if  the  enemy  are  up  to  it,  they  will  know  where 
to  place  their  batteries  out  of  reach  of  these  guns.  How- 
ever, all  this  shows  signs  of  doing  something.  I  shall  be 
delighted,  however,  to  see  you  up  here,  for,  until  you  do 
arrive,  I  do  not  expect  to  see  anything  done  towards  form- 
ing the  bridges.' 

The  day  of  departure  was  now  close  at  hand.  On  the 
nth  of  September,  an  officer  at  Cawnpore  wrote  in  his 
journal :  '  We  were  made  happy  to-day  by  General  Neill 
being  informed  by  General  Havelock  that  he  intended  him 
to  command  the  right  wing  of  the  force  on  the  advance  on 
liUcknow.'  On  the  15  th  he  wrote  :  *  the  first  division  of 
reinforcements  arrived  this  morning.  Orders  are  out  to-daj 
for  the  force  to  cross  into  Oude  to-morrow.  Hurrah ! 
hurrah !  General  Neill  to  command  the  right  wing,  con- 
sisting of  the  1st  Madras  Fusiliers,  her  Majesty's  5th  and 
84th  Regiment,  Maude's  battery  of  artillery.'  The  hour  so 
long  and  eagerly  looked  for  had  come  at  last.  Troops  were 
pouring  into  Cawnpore,  and  everything  was  now  in  readi- 
ness for  those  operations  for  the  relief  of  Lucknow,  which 
seemed  to  be  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  all  human  acci- 
dents.    Sir  James  Outram  had  arrived  in  camp^  and  Neill'f 


x8S7.]  PREPARING  FOR  THE  ADVANCE.  559 

heart  had  warmed  to  him  at  once.     He  had  now  become 

• 

very  hopefid  of  success.  '  Met  Sir  James  Outram  at  dinner 
at  Brace's^'  he  wrote  in  his  journal  on  the  i  jth ;  '  have  a 
few  words*  talk  with  him  before  ^  he  tells  me  he  will  form 
brigades — ^will  not  hear  of  General  Havelock's  plan  of  land- 
ing men  in  the  sun  on  a  swampy  island.  Things  wiU  be 
done  well,  I  see — General  Havelock  taken  into  a  room  after 
dinner — Crommelin  and  Tjrtler  sent  for,  and  all  their  plans 
swamped — bridge  to  be  first  formed,  then  moved  over — 
Havelock's  plan,  if  carried  out,  would  have  rendered  kors 
de  combat  no  end  of  us.' '  Wednesday,  i6th.  Break- 
fast with  Bruce.  Sir  James  shows  me  his  proposed  orders. 
I  command  first  brigade — ^to  appoint  my  own  brigade-major 
— appoint  Spurgin — ^receive  English  mails.  My  name  is  in 
every  one's  mouth.  The  Times  has  taken  it  up.'  He  was 
beginning  now  to  reap  the  reward  of  hb  good  service  in 
the  applause  of  his  coimtrymen ;  and  he  felt  confident  that 
the  rest  would  follow.  There  was  a  great  work  before  the 
army  at  Cawnpore,  and  Neill  knew  what  were  its  perils. 
'  Grod  grant  us  all  and  every  success,'  he  wrote  in  his  jour- 
nal, *  and  may  He  shield  and  protect  us  all  on  our  advance 
to  victory ! '  But  no  presentiment  of  coming  evil  over- 
shadowed his  mind.  On  the  contrary,  he  wrote  very  hope- 
fully to  his  wife  expressing  his  belief  that  all  would  be  well. 
'  We  cross  the  river  again  to-morrow,'  he  said  in  his  last 
lettter  to  that  beloved  correspondent, '  with  a  very  fine  force. 
I  have  three  regiments,  my  own,  the  84th,  and  the  5th 
Fusiliers,  and  a  battery  of  Royal  Artillery  under  Captain 
Maude.  We  shall  only  be  away  for  a  few  days  and  relieve 
the  poor  people  at  Lucknow.    Afler  that,  I  presume,  we 


560  GENERAL  N&ILU  I1857. 

shall  have  to  drive  the  people  out  of  Futtehghur 

God  grant  we  maj  all  soon  meet.  I  am  in  good  health : 
the  weather  is  getting  cooler^  so  all  will  be  well.  God 
bless  you,  mj  dearest  wife,  and  kiss  all  the  dear  bairns  for 
me.*  The  thought  of  those  absent  ones  was  ever  clinging 
to  his  heart 


On  the  19th  of  September,  eveiything  was  in  readiness 

for  an  advance  into  Oude.    The  story  of  the  march  is  so 

well  told  by  an  officer  on  Neill's  stafi^  that  I  give  it  in  the 

words  of  the  writer.     It  will  be  seen  how  unselfish,  how 

considerate  for  others,  the  good  General  was  to  the  last  day 

of  his  life.     '  I  shall  commence  my  narrative  from  the  19th 

of  September,  the  day  on  which  we  crossed  into  Oude. 

The  kind  and  thoughtful  General,  who  was  always  thinking 

what  he  could  do  for  others,  without  a  thought  for  himself 

had  taken  great  pleasure  in  laying  in  a  little  store  of  anx)w- 

root,  sago,  candles,  and  wine,  to  take  to  the  poor  ladies  who 

had  been  suffering  for  so  long  in  Lucknow  3  and  he  took 

his  palkee  carriage  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  some  of  them 

for  their  journey  back  to  Cawnpore.     He  took  one  small 

tent,  which  he  intended  Spurgin  and  me  to  share  with  him; 

but  it  so  happened  that  we  only  used  it  once  all  the  way 

over.     Well,  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  we  got  up  at  two 

o'clock  (we  all  three  lived  in  the  same  house  at  Cawnpore), 

and  crossed  over  the  bridge  of  boats  with  the  troops,  and  his 

brigade  was  at  first  formed  up  on  the  lef^,  and  while  halted 

there,  we  each  took  such  breakfast  as  we  happened  to  have 

in  our  pockets,  and  then  the  brigade  was  ordered  to  move 


f«S7]  THE  ADVANCE  ON  LUCKNOW.  561 

« 

off  to  the  right,  which  was  done  iinder  a  fire  from  two  of 
the  enemy*s  g^iins,  and  some  Sepo3rs  who  had  taken  up  a 
position  behind  some  sand-hills.  The  General,  however, 
pushed  forward  his  skirmishers  and  drove  off  the  Sepoys, 
and  halted  his  brigade  in  a  capital  position,  close  behind  the 
said  sand-hills.  We  had  to  remain  out  in  the  sun  the  whole 
of  that  day,  as  the  baggage  was  much  delayed  in  getting 
across  the  bridge  and  three  creeks  that  had  to  be  forded  be- 
tween the  bridge  and  the  mainland.  He  sat  on  the  ground 
with  his  white  umbrella  over  his  head,  but  he  did  not  feel 
the  sun  much.  We  remained  in  that  same  position  all  the 
20th  (Sunday).  He  slept  in  his  little  tent  by  himself  that 
night.  He  got  up  early,  as  usual,  on  Sunday  morning,  and 
rode  out  to  visit  his  picquets,  accompanied  by,  I  think, 
Spurgin  and  mjrself.  We  met  Generals  Havelock  and  Out- 
ram,  and  rode  down  with  them  to  the  bridge  of  boats,  to 
see  the  heavy  guns  being  dragged  through  the  bad  ground 
by  the  elephants,  and  then  came  back  and  breakfasted  i  and 
during  the  day  he  read  and  wrote  a  great  deal,  as  he  always 
did,  and  after  dinner  we  sauntered  about  on  the  sand-hills, 
and  listened  to  the  enemy*s  drums  and  fifes  pla3ring  at  their 
position  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  advance  of  us.  It  rained 
a  good  deal  during  Sunday  night,  and  early  on  Monday 
morning.  He  slept,  as  before,  in  his  little  tent  by  himself. 
In  the  evening  we  sat  and  talked  over  our  cigars  for  a  good 
long  time,  and  he  then  told  me  confidentially  that  it  was  in- 
tended that  he  was  to  have  the  command  at  Lucknow,  after 
it  was  relieved.  We  got  up  a  little  before  daybreak  on 
Monday  morning,  and  everything  was  got  ready  for  march- 
ing, and  we  inarched  between  six  and  seven  o*  clock,  the 

VOL.  II.  36 


562  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

2nd  Brigade  being  in  advance^  and  when  we  had  gone  about 
half  a  mile  along  the  road  one  of  the  enemy's  grms  (on  the 
road)  opened  fire  :  so  both  brigades  went  to  the  left  of  the 
road  and  formed  line^  the  men  wading  above  their  knees  in 
water^  or  sinking  nearly  as  far  in  mud,  the  greater  part  of 
the  way.  The  enemy  occupied  several  villages  on  the  brow 
of  a  rising  ground,  immediately  in  our  front ;  the  whole 
force  advanced  in  line  as  quickly  as  they  cQidd,  and  cheer- 
ing the  whole  time,  and  the  enemy  retreated  much  faster 
than  we  could  overtake  them.  The  poor  Gieneral  always 
took  a  particular  interest  in  watching  his  own  old  regiment 
Our  light  field  batteries  soon  silenced  the  g^uns  which  the 
enemy  had  in  position  at  the  comers  of  the  villages,  and 
two  or  three  out  of  five  were  captured.  Just  as  we 
had  finished  chasing  the  Sepoys  off  the  field,  a  tremendous 
shower  of  rain  came  down,  and  it  rained  incessantly  in  tor- 
rents the  whole  of  the  remainder  of  the  day  j  but  that  did 
not  prevent  us  from  following  up  the  enemy.  We  took 
ground  to  the  right  and  got  on  to  the  road  again,  and 
marched  about  sixteen  miles  as  quickly  as  we  could.  The 
road  was  strewn  every  here  and  there  with  shoes,  which  the 
Sepoys  had  thrown  off  to  expedite  their  flight.  We  halted 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  took  a 
mouthful  of  anything  we  had  3  but  that  was  little  enough, 
and  what  little  it  was,  was  soaked  with  rain.  About  half- 
past  three  in  the  afternoon  we  halted  in  a  tiny  village — 
Serai — and  the  troops  were  ail  quartered  in  it.  We  three 
had  two  little  bits  of  rooms,  one  of  them  being  merely  the 
verandah  3  however,  we  were  very  happy  there,  and  when 
the  baggage  came  up,  got  some  dry  clothes  and  dined,  and 


i«S7]  THE  ADVANCE  ON  LUCKNOW,  563 

8at  and  talked  over  the  events  of  the  day,  and  the  glorious 
prospect  before  us  of  relieving  the  Lucknow  garrison.  The 
poor  General  slept  on  a  charpoy  in  the  little  verandah  roon:. 
It  rained  incessantly  all  night,  and  when  day  dawned  on 
Tuesday,  the  22nd,  it  was  still  pourings  but  we  got  up  and 
had  an  early  breakfast,  and  started  again  at  about  eight 
o'clock,  the  ist  Brigade  being  in  advance  this  time  :  we 
made  a  similar  march  to  the  one  of  the  day  before,  and 
halted  about  the  same  time  in  much  the  same  kind  of  place. 
We  had  only  seen  small  parties  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  on 
our  flanks  occasionally,  and  there  was  no  fighting  of  any 
kind  on  that  day.  We  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the 
booming  of  guns  at  Lucknow  when  we  arrived  at  our 
new  ground,  and  fired  a  royal  salute  fi*om  our  heavy  guns 
to  let  the  beleaguered  garrison  know  that  relief  was  ap- 
proaching. We  were  all  drenched  this  day  the  same  as  on 
Monday. 

'We  passed  the  night  of  Tuesday,  the  22nd,'  continues 
the  narrator,  '  in  a  very  smoky  little  hut,  and  listened  to  the 
g^ns  which  were  being  continually  fired  at  Lucknow.  We 
got  up  soon  afi:er  daylight  on  the  23  rd,  and  had  an  early 
breakfast,  and  marched  about  eight,  the  General's  brigade 
(the  1st)  again  leading  the  way.  It  was  not  raining  that 
day,  and  there  was  no  wind,  but  a  bright  sun,  so  the  men 
felt  the  heat  a  good  deal.  The  country  was  covered  with 
water  as  far  almost  as  we  could  see,  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  and  we  saw  nothing  of  the  enemy  except  small  parties 
of  cavalry  now  and  then  in  topes  of  trees  on  our  flanks,  un- 
til we  approached  Alumb^gh,  where  they  were  posted  in 
considerable  force  both  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  had 


564  GENERAL  NEILL.  \i^ 

some  guns  with  them,  two  of  which  commenced  firing 
straight  down  the  road,  as  soon  as  we  came  within  range. 
At  the  place  where  we  were  we  could  not  leave  the  road 
on  account  of  the  depth  of  the  water,  but  where  the  enemy 
were  was  generally  higher  ground,  and  comparatively  dry. 
There  was  some  little  delay  caused  by  the  2nd  Brigade  be- 
ing ordered  to  pass  the  ist  on  the  road,  and  the  shot  firom 
the  enemy's  guns  told  a  good  deal  in  our  ranks,  but  it  did 
not  last  very  long.  Both  brigades,  as  they  reached  the 
place  where  there  was  not  so  much  water,  went  off  to  the 
left  of  the  road  and  deployed  into  line,  and  advanced  the 
same  as  they  did  on  the  2i8t,  cheering  the  whole  way,  and 
driving  the  enemy's  infantry  before  them.  Their  cavalry 
had  disappeared — at  least  had  moved  out  of  range  of  our 
guns — as  soon  as  they  saw  us  advancing.  Close  to  the 
side  of  the  road  there  was  a  very  deep  ditch  of  water, 
and  while  the  poor  General's  horse  was  plunging  through 
it,  a  round-shot  passed  within  a  few  inches  of  his  back — ^an 
escape  for  which  he  and  we  all  felt  most  thankful  at  the 
time.*  We  were  exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  of  round-shot, 
grape,  and  musketry  in  this  advance,  and  he  was  quite  de- 
lighted with  his  troops,  and  the  way  in  which  he  managed 
and  led  them  won  their  admiration.  I  have  him  in  roy 
mind's  eye  now,  mounted  on  his  charger  in  front  of  the 
Madras  Fusiliers,  waving  his  helmet,  and  joining  in  the 

•  Neill  himself  wrote  of  this  :  *  I  had  a  most  providential 
escape,  but  was  mercifully  spared.  Whilst  crossing  a  deep  water- 
course, my  horse  plunged  down,  and  nearly  fell.  Whilst  he  did  so^ 
a  round-shot  grazed  the  horse's  quarters,  passing  a  few  inches  bdiind 
me.* 


xfiS7.1  THE  ADVANCE  ON  LUCK  NOW.  565 

cheers  of  the  brigade  to  Captain  Olpherts's  Horse  Battery 
and  the  Volunteer  Cavahy,  who  were  passing  along  our  front 
at  a  gallop  to  follow  up  the  enemy,  whose  retreat  had  be- 
come too  rapid  to  be  followed  very  effectually  by  the  infant- 
ry. We  lost  a  good  many  men  that  afternoon.  A  wing 
of  the  5th  Fusiliers,  which  was  on  the  right  of  the  line, 
stormed  the  Alumbd.gh  enclosure  in  the  most  gallant  way, 
and  the  other  wing  had  to  lie  down  in  a  rice-field,  knee-deep 
in  water,  while  the  line  was  halted,  as  some  of  the  enemy's 
guns  had  their  exact  range,  and  every  shot  was  telling.  We 
drove  the  enemy  back  to  about  a  mile  beyond  the  Alum- 
bftgh,  and  as  it  was  then  getting  late,  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  force  could  not  enter  Lucknow  that  evening,  we  retired 
and  took  up  a  position  close  to  and  in  the  Alumb^h.  The 
dear  Greneral's  brigade  was  on  the  Lucknow  side  of  the 
Alumb&gh,  and  close  to  the  enclosure  wall.  The  whole 
ground  was  ankle  deep  in  mud  5  and  now,  to  complete  our 
comforts  for  the  night,  the  rain,  which  had  kept  off  the  whole 
day,  now  came  down  in  a  perfect  deluge,  but  the  shower 
did  not  last  more  than  an  hour.  We  had  no  baggage  up, 
and  nothing  to  eat.  Afler  taking  up  our  position  for  the 
night,  the  kind  General's  first  thought  was  for  the  comfort 
of  his  men,  and  he  sent  me  to  General  Havelock  to  ask  for 
orders  for  the  issue  of  an  extra  dram,  which  was  according- 
ly served  out.  Two  of  the  enemy's  guns  kept  plajdng  ex- 
actly on  the  place  where  we  were,  until  after  dark  5  the 
fire  of  twelve  or  fourteen  of  our  guns  had  not  been  able  to 
silence  them,  although  the  practice  was  good,  because  they 
were  so  well  masked.  About  seven  or  eight  o'clock  some 
of  our  things  began  to  arrive,  and  a  chair  and  a  small  char- 


S66  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1837. 

poy  had  been  got  out  of  a  few  huts  that  were  near  j  but 
the  (reneral's  servant  did  not  come  up  with  a  change  of 
clothes  for  him^  and  Spurgin  and  I  could  not  persuade  him 
to  take  some  of  our  dry  things  which  had  come  up.  He 
would  not  use  the  charpoy  either,  but  insisted  on  my  having 
it,  and  I  did  occupy  one  end  of  it  (it  was  only  about  five  feet 
long),  and  lefl  the  other  for  him  in  case  he  should  change 
his  mind.  Some  one  lent  him  a  good  thick  blanket,  and 
he  sat  on  the  chair  with  his  feet  up  on  the  charpoy,  and  the 
blanket  over  his  head  and  shoulders,  and  spent  the  whole 
night  in  that  way.  We  got  some  hot  tea  between  eight 
and  nine  o'clock,  and  had  a  cigar,  and  listened  to  the  Luck- 
now  guns,  which  now  sounded  quite  near,  and  longed  for 
the  morning  5  when  we  doubted  not  that  we  should  again 
advance,  and,  as  we  hoped,  rescue  our  fellow-countrymen  in 
the  course  of  the  day.  But  when  the  morning  of  Thursday, 
the  24th,  dawned,  the  two  guns  again  opened  fire  on  us  5 
those  shots  that  missed  us  plimged  into  the  garden  enclosure 
behind  us,  and  did  much  damage  among  the  camp-followers 
who  were  there.  The  brick  wall,  although  high,  was  no 
protection,  as  the  shot  went  through  it  as  if  it  were  but  little 
thicker  than  paper.  To  our  disappointment,  an  order  came 
about  seven  o'clock  that  the  force  was  to  halt  that  day  and 
retire  to  a  place  about  a  thousand  yards  in  the  rear,  where 
it  would  be  more  out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  guns.  This 
we  did,  and  in  the  confusion  and  crush  of  baggage-animals 
and  carts  consequent  on  the  retrograde  movement,  the  ene- 
my's cavalry  quite  suddenly -charged  down  on  the  rear-guard 
and  baggage-guard  at  full  speed,  and  imfortunately  killed  a 
good  many.     The  rear-guard  mistook  the  body  of  cavalry 


I8S7.]  THE  ADVANCE  ON  LUCKNOW.  567 

I  — —    -■ • —  -  I    I  II  _ 

which  they  saw  approaching  for  some  of  our  own  (their 
^Auitorm  was  almost  exactly  the  same,  and,  in  fact,  many  of 
them  had  once  belonged  to  the  same  regiment),  and  it  was 
not  until  they  were  quite  close,  and  they  had  seen  their 
drawn  swords,  that  they  were  known  as  enemies.     Our  line 
General,  who  was  always  prepared  for  emergencies,  imme- 
diately ordered  down  a  couple  of  guns,  and  galloped  down 
to  where  the  attack  had  been  made,  and  sent  me  off  for  the 
Volunteer  Cavalry.     Our  baggage-animals,  to  the  number 
of  several  thousands,  had  crushed  into  our  camp  in  one  huge 
mass,  and  were  much  in  the  way.     It  was  all  the  work  of 
a  few  minutes  :  by  the  time  the  gims  and  Volunteer  Caval- 
ry had  arrived,  the  enemy's  cavalry  (about  five  himdred) 
had  galloped  off  again,  leaving  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  their 
number  dead  behind  them.     They  had  killed  one  officer 
and  twelve  or  fourteen  privates.     When  that  Httle  aiFair 
was  over,  the  General's  tent  was  pitched,  and  all  our  things, 
which  had  been  soaking  wet  for  three  days,  were  now  spread 
out  to  dry  in  the  sun.     An  order  came  in  the  afternoon 
that  a  garrison  of,  I  think,  two  hundred  meii,  was  to  be 
left  with  the  sick  and  wounded  and  baggage  in  the  Alum- 
bagh,  and  that  the  remainder  of  the  force  was  to  advance 
on  Lucknow  next  morning,  that  each  officer  was  to  take 
one  servant,  and  mounted  officers  their  grooms  also,  and  no 
tents  or  baggage,  which  would  all  follow  in  two  or  three 
days  -y  but  we  saw  nothing  of  them  for  two  whole  months. 
The  troops  were  to  be  provided  with  rations  for  three  days  : 
all  the  things  had  to  be  sent  into  the  Alumbagh  that  even- 
ing at  sunset.     We  made  an  arrangement  for  carrying  in 
the  ladies'  stores,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  as  to  bag- 


S68  GENERAL  NEILL,  [1857. 

gage.  We  dined  in  the  open  air  outside  his  tent^  and  were 
all  in  high  spirits  at  our  bright  prospects  for  the  morrow. 
It  had  been  arranged  that  the  brigades  were  to  be  ^vided, 
and  that  General  Haveiock^  with  all  the  guns  and  the  2nd 
Brigade,  were  to  go  by  a  direct  route  through  some  portion 
of  the  city,  and  tliat  the  General  was  to  proceed  with  his 
three  infantry  regiments  only,  by  a  more  circuitous  route, 
and  force  his  way  through  another  portion  of  the  suburbs, 
and  so  into  the  Residency  j  and  this  arrangement  gave  great 
satisfaction  to  him,  and  his  noble  zeal  and  emulation  gave 
him  great  hopes  that  he  would  be  the  first  to  reach  the  Re- 
sidency. This  plan,  however,  was  afterwards  changed. 
Although  so  confident  of  success,  he  was  fully  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  the  danger  of  the  enterprise  we  were  about 
to  undertake,  and  in  talking  of  anjrthing  that  he  would  do 
after  arrival  at  Lucknow,  never  failed  to  add,  **  if  it  be  G»od*s 
will  that  I  should  get  there ! '  He,  Spurgin,  and  I  slept  00 
the  ground  in  his  little  tent  on. the  night  of  the  24th,  and 
got  up  at  daybreak  on  the  25th,  and  sent  the  tent  into  the 
Alumb%h,  where  the  rest  of  the  baggage  had  been  s^it  the 
evening  before.'  * 

*  I  append  the  final  entry  in  Neill's  journal  descriptive  of  this 
day's  work — ^the  last  words  that  he  ever  wrote  :  *  Thursday,  24.  A  fine 
morning  :  enemy  bring  up  their  guns  and  pound  us.  It  is  determined 
first  of  all  to  advance  at  8i  p.m.,  then  to  halt  the  day.  The  troops 
move  back  ;  the  artillery  practise.  Mande'-s  battery  had  one  gon 
opposed  to  it,  a  9-pounder,  which  holds  out  against  the  whole  batteiy. 
I  again  urge  that  the  buildings  be  taken  by  a  party  of  infimtiy,  but 
it  is  not  listened  to.  Another  of  the  enemy's  guns  0]>ening  on  us, 
and  being  well  within  range,  I  order  out  two  comp^anies  of  the  Fusi- 
liers against  it  j  but  as  they  were  about  to  go,  a  peremptory  CMrdei 


f8s7.]  LAST  HOURS.  569 

And  now  comes  the  touching  story  of  the  last  day  of 
the  beloved  Greneral's  noble  life^  and  of  its  glorious  close  in 
the  hour  of  victory.  It  could  not  be  better  told  than  in  the 
unstudied^  soldierly  language  of  the  narrator.  Such  records 
as  this  are  of  inestimable  value :  '  We  had  some  breakfast 
about  seven^  and  about  eight  o'clock  we  marched^  the  ist 
Brigade  in  advance^  in  the  following  order : 

Two  Companies  of  the  5th  Fusiliers. 

Captain  Maude's  Light  Field  Battery,  R.A. 

The  remainder  of  the  5th  Fusiliers. 

The  84th,  and  Detachment  64th  Regiment. 

The  Madras  Fusiliers. 

'  We  had  not  gone  two  hundred  yards  when  the  enemy's 
guns  opened  fire,  and  we  were  soon  exposed  to  a  most  mur- 

came  for  the  brigade  to  retire^  so  I  was  obliged  to  give  the  order. 
....  We  have  been  humiliated  by  a  retirement  before  a  contempt- 
ible enemy.  A  spy  in — z.  trustworthy  one — ^reports  that  the  enemy 
are  bolting  from  Lucknow,  and  there  will  be  no  opposition,  yet  the 
orders  are  out  to  halt  for  the  day  in  our  retired  position.  The  guns 
in  front  still  pound  us,  and  our  reply,  a  battery  and  three  or  four 
large  iron  guns,  can't  silence  the  few  contemptible  guns  in  our  front. 
I  presume  that  Sir  J.  Outram  is  negotiating.  He  suggested  that 
General  Havelock  should  send  out  two  regiments  to  take  the  guns, 
but  he  would  not  agree,  saying  if  any  went  the  whole  should.  The 
enemy's  cavalry,  about  11  A.M.,  came  down  on  our  rear  and  baggage, 
and  cut  up  several  followers,  and,  I  r^;ret  to  add,  some  of  the  90th. 
I  presume  the  men,  being  griffs,  did  not  know  them,  and  from  the 
proverbial  dread  of  cavalry  by  infantry  at  home,  they  must  have 
given  the  cowardly  scoundrels  some  advantage  against  them. 
Several  shots  came  very  close  to  me.  Young  Havelock  comes  in 
with  orders  to  move  to-morrow  In  two  colimms  5  one  under  Sir  J. 
Outram,  the  First  Brigade,  the  other  under  General  Havelock,  with 
all  the  guns.' 


570  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

derous  cross-fire  from  their  guns^  and  also  to  a  heavy  tnus- 
ketry  fire.  The  dear  (reneral  was  near  the  head  of  the  5th 
Fusiliers.  The  road  was  lined  with  trees  on  either  side, 
whose  branches  met  across,  and  there  was  such  a  crush  and 
confusion  in  the  road  caused  by  men,  and  bullocks,  and 
horses,  and  branches  of  trees  struck  down  by  the  round- 
shot  and  grape  and  musketry,  in  a  perfect  storm  of  which 
we  now  were,  that  there  was  difficulty  in  making  one's  way 
to  the  front.  I  was  sent  on  with  orders  for  Captain  Maude 
to  do  all  he  could  with  his  guns  to  silence  those  of  the 
enemy,  but  his  battery  was  already  almost  disabled  from  the 
number  of  men  and  bullocks  that  had  been  struck  down, 
so  there  was  nothing  left  for  it  but  to  push  on  as  hard  as 
we  could  through  the  dreadful  storm  3  and  then  the  walled 
enclosures  from  either  side  of  the  road  from  which  the 
enemy's  infantry  had  been  firing,  were  cleared  by  our 
infantry,  those  on  the  right  by  the  5th  Fusiliers  and  part  of 
the  84th,  and  those  on  the  left  and  a  village  that  we  had 
now  reached  by  the  remainder  of  the  84th  and  64th,  but 
with  considerable  loss.  This  brought  the  Madras  Fusiliers 
to  the  front,  and  on  turning  a  corner  in  the  village  two 
more  guns  were  opened  on  us,  and  fired  straight  down  the 
road  up  which  we  were  coming.  The  Greneral  inunedi- 
ately  saw  that  these  guns  must  be  captured  at  all  hazards, 
and  with  his  own  lips  he  gave  the  order  for  the  Madras 
Fusiliers  to  charge  them.  This  they  did  in  the  most 
splendid  way )  they  were  accompanied  by  some  of  the  84th, 
who  happened,  at  the  time,  to  be  in  the  street  of  the  village 
when  the  order  to  charge  was  given.  The  General  himself 
headed  the  charge,  which  nothing  could  resist,  and  after 


1857.1  LAST  HOURS.  571 

mowing  down  a  good  many  of  our  number  with  two  dis- 
charges of  grape  during  the  charge,  and  under  a  shower  of 
musket  bullets,  the  guns  were  in  our  possession.     It  was 
here  that  poor  Arnold  had  his  leg  carried  off,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  died  a  few  days  afterwards ;   and  many 
others  got  dreadftil  wounds,  but  all  were  happy  and  proud. 
From  this  point  we  diverged  off*  to  the  right,  and  wound 
round  the  outskirts  of  the  city  with  very  trifling  opposition, 
until  we  got  on  to  the  road  which  leads  along  the  bank  of 
the  Goomty,  and  straight  towards  the  Residency.     We  had 
stopped  once  or  twice  on  our  way  round  the  outskirts  to  let 
the  heavy  guns  close  up,  and  at  one  of  these  halts  the 
Greneral  was  repeatedly  cheered  by  his  men  and  the  artil- 
lerymen, which  made  him  very  happy,  and  he  laughed  so 
when  Captain  Olpherts  (who  is  a  splendid  officer)  called 
out  to  his  men,  *'  The  sound  of  your  guns  is  music  to  the 
ladies  in  Lucknow."     Soon  after  we  had  got  on  to  the  road 
along  the  Goomty,  and  little  dreaming  of  the  opposition 
which  we  had  yet  to  meet,  the  Greneral  several  times  said  : 
"  How  very  thankftd  we  should  feel  for  having  been  pre- 
served through  the  dangers  of  the  day  (it  was  now  between 
two  and  three  in  the  afternoon),  and  I  for  having  escaped 
when  my  horse  was  killed  under  me !  '*      We  were  riding 
quietly  along  the  road  at  the  head  of  the  men,  admiring 
the  beauty  of  some  of  the  buildings,  and  of  the  country  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Goomty,  when  some  guns  from  that 
very  side  suddenly  opened  on  us,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
sharp  fire  of  muskets  from  the  building  known  as  the 
"  Mess  House,*'  and  from  the  Kaiser  Bagh  walls  on  our 
left,  and  two  or  three  guns  also  kept  firing  at  us  from  one 


573  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

of  the  gates  of  the  Kaiser  Bagh.     The  Mess  House  was 

within  one  hundred  yards  of  us.     It  is  an  upper-storied 

house  with  a  turret  at  each  corner^  and  shots  poured  out  a*^ 

every  window  and  opening,  and  our  musketry  fire  could 

not  keep  down  theirs,  and  we  had  not  time  to  wait  and 

storm  the  house,  for  it  was  most  essential  that  relief  should 

reach  the  garrison  that  very  night,  so  we  were  just  obliged 

to  push  on.     The  General  had  two  or  three  rounds  fired 

into  the  house  fix)m  one  of  the  guns,  which  caused  their 

musketry  fire  to  cease  for  a  short  time.     We  then  got  into 

a  walled  enclosure,  and  rested  for  a  little,  and  allowed  the 

troops  to  close  up.     The  General  dismounted  and  sat  down, 

and  we  had  a  cigar,  I  think,  and  some  tea,  or  something  to 

drink.     We  then  started  again,  and  had  to  go  along  a  lane, 

and  then  through  what  had  been  the  compound  of  an 

officer's  bungalow.     All  this  time  we  were  concealed  fi^m 

the  enemy's  view,  but  at  the  end  of  the  compound  we  had 

to  come  out  on  to  one  of  the  main  roads,  fully  exposed  to 

the  Kaiser  Bagh,  and  several  large  mosques  and  buildings, 

and  for  about  two  hundred  yards  we  had  to  go  through  an 

incessant  storm  of  bullets,  grape,  &c.,  to  which  what  we  had 

been  exposed  to  in  the  morning  was  not  to  be  compared  in 

fierceness.     Men  were  cut  down  on  all  sides,  and  how  any 

single  one  escaped  was  perfectly  miraculous.      At  the  end 

of  the  two  hundred  yards  we  got  behind  the  shelter  of  a 

large  house,   which  was  immediately   occupied    by  the 

Madras  Fusiliers,  who,  by  the  Greneral's  order,  tried  hard  to 

keep  down  the  musketry  fire  fi-om  the  mosque  behind  5  but 

it  wasn't  until  after  repeated  discharges  from  our  g^ns  that 

it  was  even  partially  silenced.     We  then  moved  into  a  lane 


f8s7.]  ^^ST  HOURS.  573 

with  a  brick  wall  on  either  side^  and  intersected  in  one  or 
two  places  by  cross-streets,  up  which  the  Sepoys  poured  a 
most  destructive  fire  as  we  crossed  the  openings.  We  were 
delayed  for  some  time  in  this  lane,  not  knowing  which  was 
the  best  route  to  take  to  the  Residency,  from  which  we 
were  still  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant.  All  the 
streets  were  full  of  Sepoys,  and  it  was  evident  that,  which- 
ever way  we  went,  we  should  meet  with  dreadfiil  opposi- 
tion. It  was  now  sunset,  and  it  was  necessary  to  make  a 
move ;  and  the  route  fixed  on  was  one  which  required  those 
regiments  that  had  gone  farthest  up  the  lane  to  face  about, 
and  come  back  again ;  so  the  order  to  march  became  some- 
what changed,  and  the  78th  Highlanders  and  Sikh  regi- 
ment, which  had  been  behind  us,  and  consequently  not  so 
far  up  the  lane,  turned  down  at  once  into  the  opening 
through  which  we  were  to  advance  to  the  Residency,  and 
thus  got  in  fi-ont  of  the  ist  Brigade.  When  they  had  forced 
their  entrance  into  the  main  street.  General  Havelock  sent 
back  for  the  assistance  of  the  Madras  Fusiliers,  which 
accordingly  became  separated  for  the  time  from  the  ist 
Brigade,  and  dear  (reneral  Neill  regretted  much  that  he 
could  not  accompany  them,  but  must  remain  with  the 
other  regiments.  A  number  of  guns  had  to  move  between 
the  brigades,  so  that  we  were  some  distance  apart.  When 
we  got  out  of  the  lane  into  the  court-yard  through  which 
we  had  to  go,  we  found  a  great  crush  of  guns  and  bullocks. 
And  now  I  approach  that  most  deeply  melancholy  part  of 
my  story  which  has  been  the  cause  of  my  writing  to  you. 
It  was  now  getting  dusk,  and  our  infantry  were  marching 
through  tiie  court-yard,  which  had  flat-roofed  houses  on 


574  GENERAL  NEILL.  [iS/??. 

either  side  and  at  the  far  end^  with  ao  archwaj  in  the 
middle  of  the  far  end^  under  which  we  had  to  go.  A 
heavy  musketry  fire  was  opened  on  us  from  the  tops  of  the 
houses  on  either  side,  and  through  loopholes  in  the  parapet 
that  ran  along  the  top  of  the  archway  and  houses  at  the  far 
end.  This  fire  knocked  down  numbers  of  our  poor  soldiers ; 
and  the  fire  that  we  gave  in  return  was  useless,  as  the 
Sepoys  were  protected  by  the  parapet  that  ran  along  the 
whole  front  of  the  fiat-roofed  houses  5  and  the  houses 
themselves  had  all  the  doorways  on  the  other  side,  so  could 
not  be  entered  from  where  we  were.  The  General  was 
sitting  on  his  horse  quite  coolly,  giving  his  orders,  and  try- 
ing to  prevent  too  hasty  a  rush  through  the  archway,  as  one 
of  the  guns  had  not  yet  been  got  out  of  the  lane  where  we 
had  been  halting.  He  s^it  me  back  to  see  what  was  the 
delay  in  getting  the  gun  on  3  and  these  were  the  last  words 
I  heard  him  utter,  as  I  rode  ofi^  immediately  to  the  lane, 
and  in  about  three  minutes  returned  with  the  gun,  when, 
to  my  great  grief  and  horror,  I  was  told  that  he  was  no 
more.  He,  sitting  there  quietly  on  his  horse,  had  formed 
too  prominent  an  object  for  the  sure  aim  of  the  mutineer 
Sepoys,  who  fired  at  him  through  a  loophole  above  the 
archway,  and  the  fatal  bullet  performed  its  mission  but  too 
truly,  and  in  one  instant  closed  the  earthly  career  of  our 
greatest  and  most  noble  soldier  and  beloved  Greneral,  our 
only  consolation  being  that  he  was  at  peace,  and  had  died  a 
soldier's  death,  and  passed  from  a  short-lived  earthly  career 
of  glory  into  one  of  glorious  immortality.  .  ,  .  He  must 
have  had  his  head  turned  towards  the  lane,  watching  pro- 
bably for  the  gun  to  make  its  appearance  round  the  comefj 


t8s7.]  HIS  DEATH.  575 

for  the  bullet  entered  the  side  of  his  head  behind,  and  a 
little  above  the  left  ear.  When  the  fatal  bullet  took  effect 
the  body  fell  forward  on  the  horse's  neck,  and  the  animal, 
through  fright,  galloped  off  towards  the  lane,  and  the  body 
fell  off  near  the  comer  of  the  lane.  Spurgin  had  gone  to 
the  very  place  where  he  had  seen  the  body  fall  off  the 
horse,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  it  put  on  to  a  gun- 
waggon,  on  which  it  was  brought  into  the  Residency.  We 
were  out  all  that  night,  and  I  followed  the  gun  on  which 
the  dead  remains  were  into  the  Residency  compound  at 
daybreak  on  Saturday  morning,  the  26th.  It  was  then 
taken  off  the  gun  and  put  into  a  doolie.  ...  It  was  unsafe 
to  enter  the  churchyard  during  the  day,  it  was  so  much 
exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire,  although  our  good  clergyman, 
Mr  Harris,  offered  to  go  at  any  hour  during  the  day  5  but 
as  the  garrison  custom  was  to  have  funerals  in  the  evening, 
we  thought  it  best  not  to  cause  unnecessary  exposure  to  the 
men  by  having  it  during  the  day.  He  was  left  just  as  he 
was,  with  a  ruzaie  wrapped  round  him,  and  was  committed 
to  the  earth  at  dusk  in  the  churchyard,  the  funeral  service 
having  been  performed  by  Mr  Harris,  and  many  a  tear 
shed  and  prayer  offered  up  on  the  occasion.  It  would  have 
been  some  little  consolation  if  you  could  have  heard  the 
sorrow  expressed  by  the  whole  brigade,  and  more  especially 
by  his  own  Fusiliers.  His  death  was  so  unexpected  by  every 
one.  He  seemed  to  move  about  with  a  charmed  life,  and 
he  had  been  so  long  looked  on  as  the  master  mind  and  stay 
of  our  force  by  those  around  him,  that  his  being  suddenlv 
cut  off  came  upon  us  with  a  terrible  shock.'  * 

*  The  following  is  Captain  Spurgin's  account  of  Neill's  death  : 


576  GENERAL  NEILL.  [z8^. 

Great  was  the  grief^  all  over  India>  when  it  was  known 
that  Neill  had  fallen.  From  the  Grovemor-Greneral  of 
India,  down  to  the  youngest  private  in  the  English  Army, 
there  was  not  a  man  who  did  not  feel  that  a  great  soldier 
had  passed  away  from  a  scene  on  which,  had  Grod  spared 
him,  he  might  have  done  even  still  greater  things.^  When 
the  despatches  of  Generals  Havelock  and  Outram  were 
published,  some  dissatisfaction  was  expressed  by  Neill's 
friends  because  there  had  not  been  more  prominent  men- 
tion of  his  death  and  of  the  services  preceding  it ;  but  their 
disappointment  was  lightened  by  the  language  of  admiring 
regret  in  which  Lord  Canning  wrote  of  the  deceased  warrior 
when  he  published  those  despatches  to  the  world.    After 

'  My  poor  friend,  General  Neill,  fell  almost  the  last  shot  that  was 
fired  on  the  25th.  I  was  close  to  him.  A  wretched  man  shot  him 
from  the  top  of  a  house.  He  never  spoke  again,  and  could  not  have 
suffered  a  moment's  pain.  There  was  a  gun  between  us  at  the  tim^ 
but  I  got  round  and  saved  his  body  by  carrying  it  into  the  entrenched 
camp  on  a  gun-carriage,  and  it  was  buried  by  his  own  r^^ent  the 
nesct  day.  .  .  .  What  am  I  to  write  or  say  to  poor  Mrs  Neill  t  and 
he  asked  me,  before  we  went  into  action,  in  case  he  fell,  to  do  so.  A 
painfid  duty,  and  I  do  it  with  a  sad  heart ;  but  it  must  be  done.' 
From  another  passage  in  this  letter  it  may  be  gathered  that  the  box 
of  litde  comforts  and  delicacies  which  Neill  had  collected  for  the  use 
of  the  Lucknow  ladies,  reached  its  destination  safely.     '  I  wait  to 

see  Mrs ^,'  writes  Captain  Spurgin,  '  the  morning  after  I  got  in. 

....  She  was  so  glad  to  see  me  ;  and  good  old  Neill  had  brought 
a  box  of  all  kinds  of  things  for  the  ladies,  such  as  arrowroot,  sago, 
candles,  &c.,  and  some  wine — all  of  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of  dis- 
tributing.' 

*  A  soldier  of  the  78th  Highlanders  wrote  on  September  28  to 
his  brother :  '  And  here,  when  success  had  crowned  our  efforts, 
shocking  to  relate,  our  brave  General  Neill  fell.  He  was  an  honour 
to  the  country,  and  the  idol  of  the  British  Army.' 


1857.]  PUBLIC  HONOURS.  577 

speaking  of  the  entrance  into  Lucknow,  and  recording  his 
thanks  to  the  victorious  Generals,  he  said,  in  his  official 
notification:  'The  Governor-General  in  Council  forbears 
to  observe  further  upon  information  which  is  necessarily 
impenect  j  but  he  cannot  refi^ain  from  expressing  the  deep 
regret  with  which  he  hears  of  the  death  of  Brigadier  Neill, 
of  the  1st  Madras  European  Fusiliers,  of  which  it  is  feared 
that  no  doubt  exists.  Brigadier-General  Neill,  during  his 
short  but  active  career  in  Bengal,  had  won  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  Government  of  India  j  he  had  made 
himself  conspicuous  as  an  intelligent,  prompt,  and  self-reliant 
soldier,  ready  of  resource  and  stout  of  heart  5  and  the  Go- 
vernor-General in  Coimcil  offers  to  the  Government  and  to 
the  Army  of  Madras  his  sincere  condolence  upon  the  loss 
of  one  who  was  an  honour  to  the  service  of  their  Presidency.' 
And  in  England,  when  the  sad  news  reached  our  shores, 
there  was  scarcely  less  sorrow.  But  with  this  grief  for  the 
dead  there  was  mingled  a  tender  and  generous  regard  for 
the  living  j  and  the  honours  and  rewards  which  would  have 
been  bestowed  upon  the  fallen  soldier,  were  transferred  to 
his  widow  and  children.  Neill  had  already  been  appointed, 
for  his  earlier  services  in  the  war,  an  aide-de-camp  to  the 
Queen.  The  Gazette  now  recorded  that  he  would  have 
been  recommended  for  the  dignity  of  Knight  Commander 
of  the  Order  of  the  Bath,  had  he  survived  5  and  soon  after- 
wards another  Gazette  announced  that  the  Queen  had  been 
'pleased  to  ordain  and  declare  that  Isabella  Neill,  the 
widow  of  the  late  Colonel  James  George  Neill,  of  the 
Madras  Fusiliers,  shall  have,  hold,  and  enjoy  the  same 
style,  title,  place,  and  precedence,  to  which  she  would  have 
VOL.  n.  37 


578  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 

£ 

been  entitled  had  her  husband,  who  tell  in  the  gallant  dis- 
charge of  his  duty,  survived  and  been  invested  with  the 
insignia  of  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath.*  Nor  was 
the  great  Company,  which  Neill  had  served  so  long  and  so 
nobly,  forgetful  of  his  claims.  They  added  to  these  royal 
rewards  a  liberal  pecuniary  endowment. 

But  more  honourable  to  the  memory  of  the  Dead  even 
than  these  testimonials  from  admiring  Governments,  was 
the  eagerness  with  which  the  great  voice  of  the  Nation 
sought  to  express  alike  the  sorrow  and  the  gratitude  in  its 
heart.     To  hold  public  meetings,  and  to  vote  statues  of 
marble  or  bronze,  are,  in  all  such  cases,  the  common,  and 
indeed  the  fitting,  manifestations  of  the  popular  applause. 
So  there  were  great  gatherings  in  Madras  and  in  Bengal, 
and  again  in  Neill's  native  county  of  Ayr,  to  raise  memorials 
of  the  heroic  Dead.     In  India,  Madras,  with  an  especial 
pride  in   her   distinguished   soldier,  took   the    lead.     The 
Governor,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  the  Chief  Justice,  and 
other  great  representatives  of  the  English  communities,  took 
prominent  parts  on  the  occasion  5  and  nothing  was  left  unsaid 
that  could  illustrate  the  nobility  of  his  character  and  the 
exceeding  value  of  his  deeds.*     Then  Bengal  caught  the 

*  It  is  remarkable  that,  at  this  meeting,  the  highest  \e%^  author- 
ities in  the  Presidency  dwelt  most  etnphatically,  in  language  of 
praise,  on  General  Neill's  treatment  of  the  Cawnpore  murderers, 
described  by  some  as  a  violation  of  law,  justice,  and  humanity.  The 
Chief  Justice  said  that  Neill  *  stood  there  as  the  avenger  of  almost 
unheard-of  crimes.*  *  I  am  thankful  to  think,*  he  continued,  'that 
he  knew  he  **  should  not  bear  the  sword  in  vain  as  the  minister  of 
God  to  execute  wrath  on  those  who  had  done  eviL'*  This  passage, 
if  I  remember  rightly,  refers  to  the  civil  magistrate,  but  in  time  of 


i8s7.]  TESTIMONIAL  MEETINGS,  579 

enthusiasm^  and  all  classes  of  Englishmen  in  Northern  India 
were  eager  to  join  in  the  demonstration  originated  by  their 
southern  brethren.  And  no  member  of  that  community  so 
eager  as  Lord  Canning,  who,  above  all  men  with  the  circum- 
stances of  whose  lives  I  have  been  familiarized  through  their 
correspondence,  had  a  great-hearted  appreciation  of  indi- 
vidual merit,  especially  of  individual  gallantry,  and  was 
ever  liberal  in  its  expression.  He  had  then  in  his  Council 
an  honoured  friend,  a  distinguished  Madras  officer,  known 
to  more  than  one  generation  as  John  Low,*  *  and 
it  appeared  to  the  Governor-General,  who  had  a  de- 
licate sense  of  what  was  graceful  and  becoming,  that 
from  no  man  would  the  proposal  to  do  honour  to  the 
memory  of  General  Neill  emanate  more  fittingly  than  from 
his  veteran  fellow-soldier  5  so  he  sat  down  and  wrote  the 
following  letter :  '  Government  House,  December  26,  1857. 
My  dear  Greneral  Low, — I  have  seen  in  the  Madras  Athe- 
namm  of  the  loth  of  December  the  report  of  a  public 

war  the  soldier  takes  the  place  of  civil  power.  It  should  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  time  of  war  the  maxim,  Cedant  arma  togce^  has  no 
place;  whilst  it  should  be  remembered,  Silent  inter  arma  leges,'' 
And  the  Advocate-General  said,  that  when  it  was  known  at  home 
how  Neill  *  at  Cawnpore  had  inflicted  righteous  retribution  on  those 
high-caste  murderers,  the  Bengal  Brahmin  Sep03rs,  the  fame  of  his 
deeds  ran  trumpet-tongued  throughout  the  land,  and  in  England  that 
retribution  was  not  looked  upon  as  vengeaince,  but  simply  as  that 
which  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British  Army,  the  Duke  of 
Cambridge,  had  so  lately  said,  amidst  the  cheers  of  all  who  heard 
him,  he  hoped  and  trusted  would  be  rigidly  carried  out — ^namely, 
justice,  prompt  and  stem  justice,  on  every  sharer  in  those  atrocities.* 
—  Vuie  contemporary  Report  in  Madras  Athenaum, 
♦  Now  (1866)  Sir  John  Low,  K.C.B. 


58o  GENERAL  NEILL,  I18S7. 

meeting  held  for  the  purpose  of  doing  honour  to  the  late 
Brigadier-General  Neill,  at  which  Lord  Harris  presided,  and 
which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  committee,  and  the  \ 

passing  of  certain  resolutions  to  that  end.  I  have  been 
aware  for  some  time  that  such  a  step  has  been  in  contem- 
plation at  Madras,  in  which  Presidency,  as  claiming  Greneral 
Neill  for  its  own,  it  was  right  that  the  measure  should  be 
originated.  But  in  my  opinion  it  will  not  be  right  that 
India  at  large,  and  especially  Bengal  and  the  North- 
western Provinces,  should  have  no  share  in  this  work. 
Greneral  Neill's  best  service  has  been  rendered  on  this  side 
of  India.  His  highest  honours  have  been  won  here.  It 
was  at  Lucknow  that  he  met  his  death,  enshrining  his  name 
for  ever  in  the  history  of  a  struggle  in  which  the  best  and 
bravest  men  of  any  age  or  country  would  have  been  proud 
to  bear  a  part,  and  in  which  there  was  no  leader  more  re- 
liable, no  soldier  more  forward,  than  himself.  If  you  agree 
with  me,  I  would  ask  leave  to  go  one  step  further, 
and  to  suggest  that  no  person  is  so  well  .qualified  to 
take  the  case  in  hand  in  this  Presidency,  and  to  win 
support  to  it,  as  yourself,  holding  the  high  position 
which  you  do  hold  in  the  Madras  Army,  and  in  the  Go- 
vernment of  India.  In  the  event  of  a  committee  being 
organized  to  receive  subscriptions,  and  for  other  purposes, 
you  would,  I  am  certain,  obtain  zealous  co-operation  from 
Mr  Daniel  Elliot.*     Probably  it  will  be  thought  that  the 

*  Mr  Daniel  Elliot,  an  officer  of  the  Madras  Civil  Service,  and 
one  of  the  ablest  and  best  that  ever  went  to  India.  After  a  distin« 
guished  career  in  his  own  Presidency,  he  went. to  Calcutta  in  1839, 
as  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Law  Commission.     He  was  after- 


1857.1  TESTIMONIAL  MEETINGS.  581 

money  which  may  be  collected  in  this  Presidency  will  be 
most  properly  disponed  of  by  handing  it  over  unconditionally 
to  the  Madras  Committee,  to  form  one  fund,  at  the  com- 
mand of  those  who  have  the  best  title  to  determine  the 
manner  in  which  we  shall  do  honour  to  their  noble  soldier. 
But  whatever  may  be  decided  upon  this  point,  I  beg  you, 
in  the  event  of  your  acceding  to  my  suggestion,  to  place 
my  name  upon  the  list  of  suscribers  for  one  thousand  rupees. 
— Believe  me,  my  dear  Greneral  Low,  very  faithfully  yours, 
Canning/ 

No  one  will  doubt  the  cordialitv  with  which  General 
Low  responded  to  this  appeal.  A  great  meeting  was  held 
in  the  Town-hall  of  Calcutta  5  and  the  veteran  Councillor 
proposed  the  first  resolution  :  'That  this  meeting,  deeply 
appreciating  the  splendid  services  rendered  by  the  late  Bri- 
gadier-Greneral  Neill,  of  the  Madras  Fusiliers,  during  the 
late  crisis,  and  recognizing  the  fact  that  this  active  and  de- 
termined officer,  with  but  small  means  at  command,  first 
and  effectually  stemmed  the  torrent  of  insurrection  spreading 
over  the  North- Western  provinces  of  Bengal,  feels  specially 
bound  to  record  its  gratitude  for  such  services,  and  to  ex- 
press its  heartfelt  regret  that  his  brilliant  career  was  cut 
short  by  so  untimely  though  glorious  a  death.'  '  When 
Neill  arrived  in  Bengal,'  he  said,  '  he  was  almost  an  entire 

wards  a  member  of  the  Madras  Council  and  of  the  Legislative  Council 
of  India.  He  was  one  of  those  men  whose  noiseless  beneficence  is 
seldom  adequately  recognized,  and  who  are  doomed  to  see  their 
inferiors  in  intrinsic  worth  and  external  service  praised  and  rewarded, 
whilst  they  remain  in  the  shade  with  the  solace  only  of  a  good  con- 
science. 


582  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 


Stranger.     Yet  you  recollect  what  that  stranger  effected  in 
the  course  of  a  few  weeks.     You  recollect  the  splendid 
services  which  he  achieved  at  Benares,  and  again  at  Allah- 
abad and  Cawnpore — services  all  different  from  each  other, 
but  all  surrounded  with  dangers  and  difficulties — difficulties 
which  vanished  before  the  judgment,  energy,  skill,  and  de- 
votion to  his  duty  of  this  remarkable  man  \  and  so  com- 
pletely did  he  do  his  duty,  that  he  left  nothing  to  be  desired.* 
Others  followed  in  the  same  strain  \  and  every  note  of  truth- 
ful praise  that  was  sounded  awakened  a  burst  of  enthusi- 
astic applause.     One  eloquent  speaker — Advocate-General 
Ritchie,  a  man  whose  name  is  never  mentioned  without 
respect,  concluded  his  address  with  these  touching  words : 
'  He  fell  pressing  through  a  gateway  at  Lucknow  thronged 
with  the  dead,  the  dying,  and  the  advancing  hosts  of  the 
British  avengers  of  blood,  at  the  head  of  his  own  beloved 
regiment,  with  everything  to  urge  the  warrior  onwards,  and 
to  make  a  moment^s  pause  as  repugnant  to  his  nature  as  it 
was  perilous.     And  yet  the  hero  paused   on   his  onward 
course,  and  that  pause,  exposing  him  to  steady,  murderous 
aim  from  behind  the  treacherous  loophole,  cost  bis  precious 
life.     But  he  paused  for  no  work  of  slaughter,  but  for  a 
work  of  mercy,  not  to  strike  down  a  foeman,  but  to  moisten 
from  his  own  flask  the  lips  of  a  poor  private  who  had  sunk 
wounded  or  exhausted  by  his  side.     We  all  remember  that 
beautiful  story,  dear  to  us  from  our  childhood,  of  Sir  Philip 
Sydney,  when  dying  on  the  field  of  Zutphen,  waving  from 
him  the  cup  of  cold  water  that  was  offered  to  him,  with 
the  words,  "  Give  it  to  that  poor  man :  his  necessity  is 
greater  than  mine."    That  deed  of  the  Christian  warrior  is 


1857.]  TESTIMONIAL  MEETINGS,  583 


and  ever  will  be  unsurpassed  j  but  is  it  not  now  equalled  ? 
Was  not  the  charity  as  lovely,  the  self-denial  as  sublime, 
which  could  stay  the  advancing  footsteps  of  the  fiery  Neill, 
eager  to  avenge  his  slaughtered  countrymen  and  countr}*^- 
women,  that  he  might  succour  his  poor,  faithful,  simple- 
hearted  follower,  as  those  which  animated  even  the  noble 
Sydney  ? ' * 

And  Scotland  was  not  less  proud  of  the  hero's  memory 
than  was  India.  When  news  of  his  death  reached  his 
native  county,  money  was  promptly  subscribed  wherewith 
to  raise  a  statue  in  his  honour.  And  in  Ofctober,  1859, 
there  was  a  great  assemblage  of  people  in  Ayr  to  witness 
the  Inauguration  of  the  Monument.  Lord  Eglinton,  Sir 
James  Fergusson,  and  other  distinguished  men  were  pre- 
sent, and  among  them  Neill's  old  aide-de-camp.  Major 
Gordon,  who  shared  the  dangers  of  his  last  days,  and  was 
beside  him  in  the  hour  of  his  death.  The  Monument,  ex- 
ecuted by  Noble,  is  erected  in  Wellington-square,  at  the  end 
ferthest  from  the  County  Buildings,  and,  according  to  the 
local  chronicler,  'near  to  the  place  where  the  hero  was 
bom.*t  '  The  figure,'  it  is  added,  '  is  of  colossal  size,  ten 
feet  high,  and  stands  upon  a  pedestal  of  Dalbeattie  granite 

*  I  cannot  refrain  from  giving  this  passage,  though  I  cannot  vouch 
for  the  truth  of  the  anecdote,  of  which,  however,  it  may  truly  be  said 
that  it  is  *  very  like  Neill.*  The  reader  who  has  followed  the  touch- 
ing narrative  of  the  General's  last  days,  given  above,  may  judge  for 
himself  what  are  the  probabilities  of  the  accuracy  of  the  story.  Its 
omission  from  so  detailed  and  complete  a  record  seems  to  cast  dis- 
credit on  it. 

t  This  appears  to  be  an  error.  General  Neill  was  not  bom  in 
Wellington-square,  as  generally  stated  by  the  Ayrshire  biographers. 


584  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 


twelve  feet  high.  The  incident  seized  on  by  the  artist  is 
that  which  occurred  at  the  railway  station  at  Howrah, 
when  General  Neill  and  the  Fusiliers,  being  about  to  pro- 
ceed to  quell  the  mutiny  at  Benares,  a  portion  of  the  regi- 
ment not  having  arrived  when  the  train  was  about  to  start, 
and  the  railwav  official  insisting  upon  its  proceeding  with- 
out them.  General  Neill  immediately  and  on  the  spot  had 
him  arrested  J  and  the  soldiers  coming  up  shortly  after- 
wards, the  Fusihers  started  off  for  the  scene  of  danger,  and, 
under  their  great  commander,  speedily  restored  the  dis- 
turbed district  to  tranquillity.*  The  pedestal  bears  the 
following  inscription : 

JAMES  GEORGE  SMITH  NEILL,  C.B., 

AIDE-DE-CAMP  TO  THE  QUEEN, 

UEUTENANT-COLONBL  IN  THE  MADRAS  ARMY, 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN   INDIA  : 

A  BRAVE,   RESOLUTE,   SELF-RELIANT  SOLDIER,    UNIVERSALLY 

ACKNOWLEDGED  AS  THE  FIRST  WHO  STEMMED 

THE  TORRENT  OF  REBELLION  IN   BENGAL. 

HE  FELL  GLORIOUSLY 

AT  THE  RELIEF  OF  LUCKNOW 

26TH  SEPT.,    1857, 

AGED  47. 

The  story  is  now  told  -,  and  I  hope  that  in  its  telling  the 
character  of  the  soldier  and  of  the  man  has  been  so  indicat- 
ed, that  it  is  but  little  necessary  to  give  an  elaborate  account 
of  the  qualities  which  contributed  to  its  perfection.  The 
lesson  to  be  learnt  from  his  career  is  a  striking  one.  It 
teaches  us  the  great  duty  of  '  waiting.*  In  the  course  of  a 
few  months  General  Neill  made  a  great  reputation.  He 
had  waited  long  and  patiently  for  his  opportunity  j  it  came 
at  last,  and  he  suddenly  developed  into  a  great  militaiy  com- 


i8S7.]  MIS  CHARACTER,  585 

mander.  In  an  unexampled  crisis  he  displayed  all  the  finest 
soldierly  qualities  5  and  there  was  not  among  the  brave  men 
who  were  pushing  forward  to  the  rescue,  one  in  whom 
greater  confidence  was  felt  from  one  end  of  India  to  the 
other  than  in  the  Colonel  of  the  Madras  Fusiliers.  All 
said  of  him  that  he  was  '  the  man  for  the  occasion.*  Like 
the  two  Lawrences,  like  Outram,  and  like  Nicholson,  he 
had  wonderful  self-reliance  5  and  there  was  no  responsibility 
so  great  as  to  make  him  shrink  from  taking  upon  himself 
the  burden  of  it.  When  Lord  Canning  said  of  him  that 
*  in  the  great  struggle  in  which  the  best  and  bravest  of  men 
of  any  age  or  country  would  have  been  proud  to  bear  a 
part,  there  was  no  leader  more  reliable,  no  soldier  more  for- 
ward than  Neill,'  the  sentiment  was  echoed  by  his  country- 
men all  over  the  world.  All  men  spoke  of  his  wonderful 
promptitude  and  decision,  and  of  the  intuitive  sagacity  which 
enabled  him  to  do  ever  '  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time 
and  in  the  right  place.*  But  only  those  who  knew  him 
well,  who  had  lived  in  familiar  intercourse  and  taken  sweet 
counsel  with  him,  knew  how  truly  good  and  great  he  was. 
There  were  times,  as  we  have  seen,  when  the  good  old 
Covenanter  spirit  glowed  within  him,  and  he  smote  with  an 
unsparing  sword  at  the  persecutors  of  our  race.  But  in  all 
the  ordinary  transactions  of  life  he  was  tender  and  gentle  as 
a  woman  -,  *  he  was  one  of  the  most  unselfish  and  consider- 

*  In  all  of  this  I  am  fully  borne  out  by  the  recorded  opinion  of 
one  of  the  very  best  of  men.  *  In  view  of  such  horrid  butcheries,* 
wrote  Dr  DufF,  after  speaking  of  the  Cawnpore  tragedy,  *  CJeneral 
Neill,  though  naturally  a  mild,  gentle,  quiet,  inoffensive  man,  seems 
to  have  irresistibly  felt  that  an  exhibition  of  stem  justice  was  impera- 


S86  GENERAL  NEILL.  [1857. 


ate  of  men,  unceasingly  watchful  for  opportunities  of  serv- 
ing others,  and  ever  forward  in  the  perforiiiance  of  deeds  of 
charity  and  love.  The  delight  of  a  happy  home,  and  the 
bright  example  of  a  devoted  family,  he  was  an  upright  and 
a  Grod-fearing  man,  walking  ever  humbly  with  that  God, 

tively  demanded.  His  Scottish  Bible-training  had  taught  him  tha'. 
justice  was  as  absolute  an  attribute  of  Deity  as  mercy  ;  that  magis- 
tracy was  **  an  ordinance  of  God,"  and  expressly  designed  to  be  a 
terror  to  evil-doers.  His  sentiments  appeared  to  harmonize  with  those 
of  Lord  Palmerston,  who  is  reported  to  have  said  that  "  to  punish 
the  guilty  adequately  exceeded  the  powers  of  any  civilized  men,  as 
the  atrocities  which  had  been  committed  were  such  as  to  be  imagined 
and  perpetrated  only  by  demons  sallying  forth  from  the  lowest  depths 
of  h41  ; "  with  those  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  who  called  aloud  for  a 
strict;  stern  justice  on  the  miscreants  who  deluged  our  towns  with  the 
blood  of  women  and  children,  declaring  the  exaction  of  such  justice 
essential,  not  only  for  the  maintenance  of  our  tenure  of  India,  but  of 
the  future  safety  of  the  natives  themselves  ;  and  with  those  of  the 
American  Ambassador,  who  solemnly  averred  that  the  crimes  were 
such  as  to  constitute  their  perpetrators  what  pirates  are,  what  canni- 
bals in  the  Fejee  Islands,  enemies  of  the  human  race,  and  meriting 
from  the  whole  of  the  human  race  smnmaryand  peremptory  extirpation. 
Dismissing,  therefore,  from  his  mind  all  thoughts  of  harmful  lenity, 
all  feelings  of  maudlin,  sentimental  pity,  he  sternly  grasped  the  sword 
of  retributive  justice,  and  as  the  minister  of  God  who  ought  not  to 
bear  the  sword  in  vain,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath  on  them  that 
did  evil  (Rohl  xiii.  4),  he  resolved  to  strike  terror  into  the  souls  of 
the  evil-doers  and  their  miscreant  S3rmpathizers.  Nor  did  he  regard 
it  as  torture  or  cruelty,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  these  terms,  to  cause 
murderers,  who  were  still  reeking  with  the  gore  of  innocent  women 
and  children,  to  wipe  up  a  portion  of  the  blood  which  they  had  no 
scruples  of  conscience  or  of  caste  in  so  profusely  shedding.  Neither, 
may  I  add,  need  any  enlightened  Christian  shrink  from  avowing  that 
he  has  felt  no  especial  indignation  at  a  procedure  so  unwonted,  in 
such  stran£[e,  unwonted  circumstances.* 


1857-]  ^^S  CHARACTER,  587 

and  recognizing  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life  the  hand  of 
an  Almighty  Providence.  His  career  was  short,  but  it  has 
been  truly  said,  '  not  too  short  for  his  feme ;  *  for  in  the 
great  muster-roll  of  Indian  heroes,  there  is  scarcely  a  name 
more  cherished  by  the  present  generation  of  men  than  that 
of  James  George  Neill. 


(;88 


GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON. 

[born  1821.— died  1857.] 

AT  the  close  of  the  year  1830,  a  physician  practisjng  in 
Dublin  died  from  the  effects  of  a  fever  caught  in  the 
performance  of  his  professional  duties.  Though  only  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  Dr  Alexander  Nicholson  had  attained 
considerable  reputation  in  the  Irish  capital  as  a  skilfiil  and 
experienced  practitioner  3  and  he  was  a  man  of  true  Chris- 
tian piety  and  spotless  integrity  of  life. 

He  died,  leaving  a  widow-  and  seven  young  children ; 
two  daughters  and  five  sons.  The  eldest  of  the  sons, 
John  Nicholson,  born  in  Dublin  on  the  nth  of  Decem- 
ber, i8ai,  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  had  just  com- 
pleted his  eighth  year.  But,  child  as  he  was,  even  at  that 
time  he  was  old  enough  to  be  a  solace  and  a  stay  to  his 
widowed  mother. 

He  was  a  precocious  boy  almost  from  his  cradle; 
thoughtful,  studious,  of  an  inquiring  nature  5  and  he  had 
the  ineffable  benefit  of  good  parental  teaching  of  the  best 
kind.  In  his  young  mind  the  seeds  of  Christian  piety  were 
early  sown,  and  took  deep  root.     It  is  still  remembered  of 


i82i— 35]  CHILDHOOL   AND  YOUTH,  589 

him  that,  when  he  was  three  years  old,  his  mother  happen- 
ing to  go  suddenly  into  a  room,  found  John  alone  there, 
with  a  knotted  handkerchief  in  his  hand,  striking  with  all 
his  childish  force  at  some  invisible  object.  When  asked 
what  he  was  doing,  he  answered  with  a  grave  earnestness  of 
manner,  '  Oh  !  mamma,  dear  3  I  am  trying  to  get  a  blow 
at  the  devil.  He  is  wanting  me  to  be  bad.  If  I  could  get 
him  down  l*d  kill  him.' 

He  was  exceedingly  quick  to  learn,  and  when  only  four 
years  of  age  he  coidd  read  well  j  and  he  never  shrank  from 
his  lessons.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  Mrs  Nicholson  re- 
moved her  ybung  family  to  Lisburne,  where  her  mother 
resided  3  *  but  finding  it  difficult  to  obtain  there  good 
masters  for  her  children,  she  transferred  them  to  Delgany, 
where  excellent  private  tuition  was  secured  for  them-  But 
as  John  advanced  in  years  and  intdlligence,  it  seemed  ex- 
pedient to  fit  him  to  make  his  way  in  the  great  world  by 
training  of  a  more  public  kind  5  so  his  mother  sent  him  to 
the  college  at  Dungannon,  of  which  Dr  Darling  was  then 
the  principal.  In  after  years  he  sometimes  expressed  regret 
that  he  had  not  availed  himself  more  fiilly  of  the  opportu- 
nities then  presented  to  him  of  increasing  his  store  of  learn- 
ing 3  but  he  made  very  good  progress  all  the  same,  and  at 
fifteen  was  probably  as  good  a  scholar  as  the  majority  of 
boys  at  that  age.  He  was,  moreover,  a  fine  manly  young- 
ster, active  and  courageous,  but  withal  of  a  gentle  and  affec- 
tionate nature,  and  very  fond  of  his  mother.     I  have  no 

*  Mrs  Nicholson  is  sister  of  Sir  James  Weir  Hogg,  Bart., 
formerly  M.P.  for  Beverley  and  for  Honiton,  and  aow  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  India. 


S90  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1825-35. 

faith  in  men  who  do  not  love  their  mothers,  from  the  first 
day  of  their  lives  to  the  last, 

I  have  not  been  able  to  recover  any  anecdotes  of  John 
Nicholson's  boyhood,  excepting  one,  which  shows  that,  at 
an  early  age,  an  accident  had  well-nigh  rendered  a  public 
career  impossible  to  him.  During  one  of  his  vacations  he 
was  playing  with  gunpowder,  when  a  considerable  quantity 
of  it  exploded  in  his  face  and  blinded  him.  He  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands,  and  made  his  way  to  his  mother, 
saying  to  her,  '  Mamma,  the  gunpowder  has  blown  up  in 
my  face.*  When  he  removed  his  hands,  it  was  seen  that 
his  face  was  a  blackened  mass  3  his  eyes  were  completely 
closed,  and  the  blood  was  trickling  down  his  cheeks. 
For  ten  days,  during  which  he  never  niurmured,  or  ex- 
pressed any  concern. except  for  his  mother,  he  lay  in  a 
state  of  total  darkness*^  but  when  at  the  end  of  that  time 
the  bandages  were  removed,  it  was  found  that  Grod  in  his 
mercy  had  spared  the  sight  of  the  boy,  and  preserved  him 
to  do  great  things. 

It  was  plain  that  there  was  in  such  a  boy  the  making  of 
a  good  soldier  5  but  I  do  not  know  that  this  early  promise 
led  in  any  way  to  the  choice  of  his  profession.  I  have 
before  observed  that  the  majority  of  those  men  who  have 
made  for  themselves  great  Indian  careers,  have  gone  forth, 
not  because  they  have  had  in  youth  any  special  liking  for 
the  life  before  them,  but  because  accident  or  convenience 
has  so  directed  their  ways.  Mrs  Nicholson  had  five  sons,  and 
a  slender  income,  derived  mainly  from  the  rents  of  some 
small  estates  in  Ireland,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  serious  con- 
cern to  her  how  to  provide  for  this  fine  batch  of  promising 


1835—39-]  ARRIVAL  IN  INDIA.  591 

youngsters.  It  is  not  strange  that  ever  and  anon  these  grave 
thoughts  expressed  themselves  in  a  troubled  countenance. 
When  quite  a  child,  John  would  say  sometimes,  with  a 
loving  kiss  to  his  mother,  '  Don't  fret,  mamma  dear,  when 
I'm  a  big  man  I'll  make  plenty  of  money,  and  I'll  give  it 
all  to  you.'  Words  often  uttered,  before  and  since,  but 
seldom,  as  in  this  instance,  so  religiously  fulfilled !  The 
chance  was  not  very  far  distant.  Mrs  Nicholson's  brother. 
Sir  James  Hogg,  had  ^  large  Indian  interest.'  When 
John  had  nearly  completed  his  sixteenth  year,  his  uncle 
obtained  a  cadetship  for  him  in  the  Bengal  Infantry.  He 
made  all  haste  to  England,  and  after  spending  a  short  time 
with  the  same  good  friend,  who  helped  him  with  advice 
and  with  money  to  obtain  his  outfit,  embarked  on  board 
the  Camden  for  Calcutta.  He  had  left  home  carrying  with 
him  the  most  precious  counsel.  '  Never  forget  to  read  your 
Bible,*  were  his  mother's  last  words,  given  to  him  with  her 
parting  benediction.  And  he  never  did  forget  the  pious 
admonition.   . 

The  voyage  to  India  was  not  an  eventful  one.  He  kept 
very  much  aloof  from  the  other  youngsters  on  board,  whom 
he  described  as,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  noisy  riotous  kind. 
He  read  much  every  day,  never  forgetting  the  Book  of 
Books  morning  or  evening,  and  made  by  his  uniform  steadi- 
ness of  conduct  a  most  favourable  impression  on  the  mind 
of  the  captain  of  the  ship.  Having  reached  Calcutta  in  the 
month  of  July,  he  spent  a  short  time  in  the  vice-regal  capi- 
tal, and  was  then  appointed  to  do  duty  with  the  41st  Regi- 
ment of  Native  Infantry  at  Benares.  After  a  while  he  was 
permanently  posted  to  the  27th  Sepoy  Regiment,  which 


5^  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1839. 

was  cantoned  at  our  frontier  station  of  Feros^pore.  '  I  in- 
tend setting  out  on  the  ist  of  January,'  he  wrote  to  his 
mother,  in  December,  1839,  ^  ^^^  expect  to  be  rather  more 
than  three  months  on  the  road.  I  am  afraid  it  will  prove  a 
very  unpleasant  march  to  me,  as  I  go  alone,  and  am  unac- 
quainted with  the  language  and  country.'  These  difficul- 
ties were  readily  overcome.  The  young  Ensign  arrived  at 
the  remote  station,  and  joined  the  regiment,  which  was  to 
be  his  home.*  But  new  difficulties  beset  him  there)  he 
found  that  there  were  no  houses — that  he  was  compelled  to 
build  one,  and  that  he  must  pass  the  hot  weather  in  a  tent. 
So,  in  common  course,  he  was  subjected  to  a  process  of 
'  seasoning.*  In  the  early  part  of  July  he  wrote  to  his 
mother :  '  I  have  not  forgot  your  parting  advice  to  read  my 
Bible  daily.  .  .  I  have  just  recovered  ironoi  a  severe  attack 
of  fever,  brought  on  by  the  want  of  proper  shelter  5  but  ray 
new  house  will  soon  be  finished,  and  then  I  hope  I  shall 
enjoy  my  usual  health.  You  can  have  no  idea  how  the  hot 
weather  enervates  the  body,  and,,  if  you  do  not  take  special 
care,  the  mind  ^o.  I  am  just  finishing  a  most  interesting 
work,  which,  if  you  have  not  already  read,  I  strongly  re- 

*  Of  Ferozepore,  John  Nicholson  wrote  to  his  mother  in  June  : 
'  This  station  is  a  perfect  wilderness  ;  there  is  not  a  tree  or  blade  of 
grass  within  miles  of  us,  and  as  to  the  tigers,  ^ere  are  two  or  three 
killed  in  the  neighbouring  jungle  every  day.  I  intend  in  the  cold 
weather  to  have  a  shot  at  them,  but  at  present  it  is  dangerous  work, 
from  the  great  heat.  The  Court  of  Directors  will  have  a  sufficien(7 
of  work  next  cold  weather,  or  I  am  much  mistaken.  The  Russians 
are  advancing  towards  Balkh.  To  watch  them  and  the  Sikhs,  I 
suppose  this  station  has  been  made  head-quarters  of  the  division  \ 
what  the  Staff  are  to  do  for  houses  on  their  arrival,  I  know  not' 


1841—43.]  11^  AFGHANISTAN,  593 


commend  you  to  do  so;  it  is  Faber*s  Fulfilment  of  the 
Scriptural  Prophecies*  In  the  following  month  he  wrote 
to  the  same  beloved  correspondent :  '  You  ask  if  the  climate 
agrees  with  me,  I  think  so  far  it  has,  considering  how 
much  I  have  been  exposed  since  I  came  out.  I  am  nearly 
six  feet  high  now,  and  expect,  if  my  health  continues  good, 
to  be  three  or  four  inches  taller  j  but  I  think  I  am  thinner 
even  than  I  was  at  home.* 

In  the  middle  of  the  month  of  October,  1840,  his  regi- 
ment was  warned  for  service  in  Afghanistan,  which  was  at 
that  time  occupied  by  British  troops,  and  overrun  by  British 
diplomatists.     It  was  a  season  of  delusive  calm.    Our  British 
re^ments  were  ordered,  in  ordinary  course  of  relief,  into  the 
dominions  of  Shah  Soojah,  as  if  they  were  going  to  a  British 
province.     But  it  was  not  long  before  the  27th,  after  hav- 
ing marched  into  Afghanistan,  were  excited  by  the  prospect 
of  a  brush  with  the  Sikh.     '  Our  brigade,'  wrote  young 
Nicholson,  in  July,  1841,  to  Sir  James  Hogg,  'was  sent 
down  to  Peshawur,  in  May,  to  assist  a  convoy,  on  its  way 
up,  imder  Captain  Broadfoot,  which  ten  thousand  Sikhs  of 
General  Avitabile's  force,  who  had  mutinied  and  seized  two 
guns,  threatened  at  the.Attock.     However,  hearing  of  our 
approach  by  forced  marches,  they  made  off  across  the  Cau- 
bul  river,  and  left  the  detachment  at  liberty  to  proceed. 
We  suffered  a  good  deal  from  the  heat  on  our  return  to 
Jellalabad,  and,  without  halting  there,  continued  our  march 
to  Caubul,  where  the  other  corps  remained  3  but  we  pro- 
ceeded to  relieve  the  i6th  at  Ghuznee,  and  are  now  com- 
fortably settled  there.*     The  27th,  under  Colonel  Palmer, 
formed  the  garrison  of  Ghuznee,  the  capture  of  which  a 

VOL.  II.  38 


594  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1841-42. 


year  or  two  before  had  omsummated  the  revolution  which 
placed  Shah  Soojah '  upon  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.'  And 
there,  when  the  counter-revolution  broke  out  in  1841,  it 
found  young  Nicholson  with  his  regiment — a  tall^  slim 
stripling  of  eighteen.* 

When  the  '  insurgents,*  as  they  were  then  called,  arose, 
and  strove  mightily  to  shake  off  the  double  burden  of  an 
unpopular  monarch  and  a  foreign  usurpation,  it  was  the 
especial  work  of  one  of  the  leading  Afghan  chie&  to  obtain 
repossession  of  Ghuznee.  A  British  garrison  is  never  likely 
to  surrender  to  an  Oriental  enemy  5  but  what  could  a  single 
regiment  do  against  the  multitudinous  array  of  fighting  men 
sent  against  them  ?  It  happened  that  a  second  enemy,  even 
more  formidable  than  the  first,  appeared  at  the  same  disas- 
trous point  of  time.  Snow  began  to  fell  heavily.  The 
rigours  of  winter  were  setting  in.  The  reinforcements  sent 
fi-om  Candahar  to  the  relief  of  Ghuznee  retraced  their  steps. 
This  gave  new  heart  to  the  Afghans.  The  British  regiment 
for  some  time  held  the  city,  but  the  inhabitants  undermined 
the  walls  and  admitted  the  Banikzye  fighting  men.  Then 
the  English  officers  were  compelled  to  withdraw  with  their 
Hindostanee  troops  into  the  citadel.     There  they  were  ex- 

*  He  appears  at  this  time  to  have  had  some  idea  of  obtaining  an 
appointment  in  Shah  Soojah*s  service,  for  he  wrote  from  Ghuznee  in 
August :  '  The  service  which  I  spoke  to  you  about  wishing  to  enter 
was  not  the  Nizam*s,  but  that  of  Shah  Soojah-ool-Moolkh,  whom 
we  have  lately  restored  to  the  throne  of  Caubul,  and  whose  armj 
is  officered  by  Europeans,  who  receive  a  much  larger  salary  than 
they  do  when  serving  with  their  r^ments.  However,  I  shall  soon 
pass  in  the  language,  and  perhaps  through  my  uncle's  interest  may 
x>btain  some  appointment  in  Hindostan  better  worth  having.' 


r«4a.]  IN  AFGHANISTAN.  595 

posed  to  all  the  merciless  severities  of  the  northern  winter. 
But  they  held  their  own  manfully  until  their  supplies  of 
water  were  exhausted^  and  then  they  were  compelled  to  capi- 
tulate. An  agreement  was  signed  with  the  Afghan  leaders 
by  which  they  promised  our  people  safe-conduct  over  the 
Punjabee  frontier.  But  as  the  mow  was  still  lying  in  the 
passes^  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  remain  a  little 
longer  in  Ghuznee  5  so  quarters  were  found  for  the  British 
regiment  in  a  part  of  the  town  just  below  the  citadel.  Af- 
ghan treachery,  however,  soon  displayed  itself  in  its  worst 
colours.  The  British  troops  were  foully  attacked  in  their 
new  quarters.  Then,  in  the  hour  of  deadly  peril,  the  heroic 
qualities  of  John  Nicholson,  a  youth  of  twenty,  manifested 
themselves  in  all  their  nascent  straigth.  The  story  is  told 
by  one  who  fought  beside  him.  '  I  was  in  the  next  house 
with  Burnett  of  the  54th  and  Nicholson  of  the  27th,*  wrote 
Lieutenant  Crawford,  soon  after  the  event,  '  there  being  no 
decent  room  for  me  in  my  own  proper  quarters.  On  hear- 
ing the  uproar  I  ran  to  the  roof  to  see  what  was  the  matter  3 
and  finding  what  had  taken  place  among  my  men,  and  that 
balls  were  flying  thick,  I  called  up  Burnett.  He  had 
scarcely  joined  me  when  he  was  struck  down  by  a  rifle-ball 
which  knocked  his  eye  out  5  and  as  he  was  then  rendered 
hors  de  combat,  I  assumed  command  of  the  two  companies 
of  the  27th  that  had  been  under  him ;  and  Nicholson  and 
myself  proceeded  to  defend  ourselves  as  well  as  circum- 
stances would  permit.  We  were  on  the  left  of  the  heap  of 
houses  occupied  by  our  troops,  and  the  first  and  sharpest 
attacks  were  directed  at  us  5  the  enemy  fired  our  house,  and 
gradually,  as  room  after  room  caught  fire,  we  were  forced 


596  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [184a. 

to  retreat  to  the  others^  till  at  last,  by  midniglit  of  the  9th, 
our  house  was  nearly  burnt  in  halves.  We  were  exhausted 
with  hunger  and  thirst,  having  had  nothing  to  eat  or  drink 
since  the  morning  of  the  7th.  Our  anununition  was  ex- 
pended ;  the  place  was  filled  with  dead  and  djing  men, 
and  our  position  was  no  longer  tenable ;  but  the  only  en- 
trance, in  front  of  the  house,  was  surrounded  by  the  enemy, 
and  we  scarcely  knew  how  to  get  out  and  endeavour  to 
join  Colonel  Palmer.  At  last  we  dug  a  hole  through  the 
wall  of  the  back  of  the  house :  we  had  only  bayonets  to 
work  with,  and  it  cost  us  much  labour  to  make  a  hole  suffi- 
ciently large  to  admit  of  one  man  dropping  into  the  street 
below  J  but  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  clear  out  of 
our  ruined  quarters  in  this  way,  and  to  join  the  Colonel  un- 
perceived  by  the  savages  around  us.* 

But  by  this  time  all  hope  of  successful  resistance  had 
passed  away ;  for  the  EUndostanee  Sepojrs,  worn  out  by  cold 
and  hunger,  had  lost  all  heart,  and  were  eager  to  seek  safety 
in  flight.  So  again  Colonel  Palmer  entered  into  terms  with 
the  enemy,  and  engaged  to  surrender  the  arms  of  his  force 
on'^eondition  of  the  Afghan  leaders  pledging  themselves  to 
treat  their  prisoners  honourably,  and  conduct  them  in  safety 
to  Caubul.  There  was  the  bitterness  of  death  in  this  order 
to  all  heroic  minds  3  and  it  is  recorded  that '  Nicholson,  then 
quite  a  stripling,  drove  the  enemy  thrice  back  beyond  the 
walls  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  before  he  would  listen  to 
the  order  given  him  to  make  his  company  lay  down  their 
arms.  He  at  length  obeyed,  gave  up  his  sword  with  bitter 
tears,  and  accompanied  his  comrades  to  an  almost  hopeless 
imprisonment.' 


x84a.]  /^  AFGHANISTAN.  597 


Now  began  a  time  of  miserable  captivity.  In  a  small 
room,  eighteen  feet  by  thirteen,  the  prisoners  were  con- 
fined. When  they  lay  down  to  rest  at  night  they  covered 
the  whole  floor.  From  this  wretched  dimgeon,  after  a 
■while,  even  light  and  air  were  excluded  by  the  closing  of 
the  door  and  window.  Cleanliness  even  was  a  blessing 
denied  to  them.  The  linen  rotted  on  their  backs,  and  they 
■were  soon  covered  by  loathsome  vermin.  In  this  pitiable 
state,  never  breathing  the  fresh  air  of  heaven,  the  spring 
passed  over  them;  and  then  in  the  middle  of  May  there 
was  a  little  change  for  the  better,  for  once  a  week  they 
were  suffered  to  emerge  from  their  dark  and  noxious  dun- 
geon and  look  out  into  the  face  of  day  for  an  hour,  from 
the  terrace  of  the  citadel.  A  month  afterwards  they  were 
moved  into  better  quarters,  and  an  open  court-yard  allowed 
them  for  exercise.  The  delight  of  this  was  so  great  after 
the  stifling  and  pestilential  atmosphere  of  their  first  prison, 
that  for  months  they  slept  in  the  open  court,  wrapped  in 
their  rude  sheepskin  cloaks,  with  nothing  above  them  but 
the  canopy  of  heaven.  At  last,  in  the  third  week  of  Au- 
gust, they  were  startled  by  the  news  that  they  were  to  be 
conveyed  to  Caubul  j  and  presently  they  found  themselves, 
slung  in  camel  panniers,  jolting  on  to  the  Afghan  capital. 

At  Caubul,  John  Nicholson  and  his  companions  were 
taken  before  the  famous  Afghan  leader,  Akbar  Khan,  who 
spoke  kindly  to  them,  bade  them  be  of  good  cheer,  gave 
them  a  good  dinner,  and  then  sent  them  to  join  the  prison- 
ers under  his  own  care.  Of  this  dinner  John  Nicholson, 
after  his  release,  wrote  an  interesting  account  to  his  mother, 
saying :  'The  day  we  arrived  at  Caubul,  we  dined  with  Ma- 


59B  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [ia«a. 

homed  Akbar.  Many  of  the  principal  men  of  the  city  were 
present ;  and  I  never  was  in  the  company  of  more  gentle- 
manlike^ weU-bred  men.  They  were  strikingly  handsome^ 
as  the  Afghan  Sirdars  always  are^  and  made  most  polite 
inquiries  regarding  our  healthy  how  we  had  borne  the 
fatigue  of  the  journey^  &c.  Immediately  opposite  to  me 
sat  Sultan  Jan,  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  5 
and  with  a  great  deal  of  dignity  in  his  manner.  He  had 
with  his  own  hand  murdered  poor  Captain  Trevor  in  the 
preceding  winter  j  but  that  was  nothing.  As  I  looked 
round  the  circle  I  saw  both  parricides  and  regicides,  whilst 
the  murderer  of  our  Envoy  was  perhaps  the  least  blood- 
stained of  the  party.  I  look  upon  our  escape  as  little  less 
than  a  miracle.  I  certainly,  never  expected  it  5  and  to  (rod 
alone  thanks  are  due.*  *    When  the  Ghu:mee  party  joined 

*  Of  the  A%han  character  generally,  John  Nicholson  appears  to 
have  formed  no  very  ^vourable  opinion.  In  the  letter  qnoted  in  the 
text,  he  wrote  :  '  I  sent  you  from  Ferozepore  a  newspaper  containing 
a  tolerably  correct,  though  brie(  account  of  us  at  Ghuznee^  firom 
November,  1S41,  till  September,  1842.  I  most,  however,  mention 
some  traits  in  the  A%han  character,  which  I  had  full  leisure  to  study 
during  my  imprisonment.  They  are,  without  exception,  the  most 
bloodthirsty  and  treacherous  race  in  existence,  mcnre  so  than  any  one 
who  had  not  experience  of  them  could  conceive ;  with  all  that,  they 
have  more  natural,  innate  politeness  than  any  people  I  have  ever 
seen.  Men  of  our  guard  used  to  ask  us  of  our  friends  at  home : 
"  Have  you  a  mother  ? — ^have  you  brothers  and  sisters  ? — and  how 
many  T  "  It  has  often  been  said  to  me  by  a  man  who  (to  use  an  ex* 
pression  of  their  own)  would  have  cut  another's  throat  for  an  onion, 
*^  Alas  I  alas !  what  a  state  of  mind  your  poor  mother  must  be 
in  about  you  now  ;  how  I  pity  both  you  and  her  !  "  And  although 
insincere,  he  did  not  mean  this  as  a  jest.'  In  another  letter  he  said : 
*  With  regard  to  the  Afghans,  I  cannot  describe  their  charactfT  in 


T84a.3  IN  AFGHANISTAN. 


599 


Akbar  Khan*s  prisoners,  the  worst  part  of  their  captivity 
was  over.  '  We  found/  wrote  one  of  the  party  afterwards, 
*  our  countrymen  living  in  what  appeared  to  us  a  small 
paradise.  They  had  comfortable  quarters,  servants,  money, 
no  little  baggage,  and  a  beautifiil  garden  to  walk  about  in. 
To  our  great  regret,  we  had  only  been  four  or  five  days  in 
this  Elysium,  when  we  were  sent  off  to  Bameean.'  The 
armies  of  General  Pollock  and  General  Nott  were  advanc- 
ing triumphantly  upon  Caubul^  and  the  Afghan  leader, 
who  knew  the  value  of  his  prisoners,  was  eager  to  keep 
them  in  safe  custody  until  he  could  turn  them  to  proper 
account.  Even  in  their  new  prison-house  on  the  Hindoo- 
Koosh,  among  the  giant-caves  of  Bameean,  it  hardly  seemed 
to  him  that  they  would  be  safe  -,  so  he  sent  orders  for  their 
conveyance  to  Kooloom.  But  deliverance  was  now  close 
at  hand.  Afghan  cupidity  was  seldom  in  those  days  proof 
against  the  temptations  of  English  gold.  The  prisoners 
bribed  the  officer  in  whose  custody  they  were  with  large 
promises,  to  be  redeemed  on  their  release.  From  this  time 
all  danger  was  at  an  end.  They  opened  communications 
with  General  Pollock,  turned  their  faces  again  towards 
Caubul,  and  on  the  17th  of  September  met  the  party  which 
the  Greneral  sent  out  to  their  rescue,  and  found  themselves 
free  men,     'When  I  joined  the  force  at  Caubul,*  wrote 

language  sufficiently  strong ;  this  much,  however,  respecting  their 
patriotism,  which  people  at  home  laud  them  so  much  for  ;  they 
have  not  a  particle  of  it,  and  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  every 
man  of  them  would  sell  both  country  and  relations.  In  fact,  our 
politicals  found  out  latterly  that  the  surest  mode  of  apprehending  a 
criminal  was  to  tamper  with  his  nearest  friends  or  relations.' 


6oa  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  \jA^ 

John  Nicholson  some  months  later,  *  Richard  Olpherts^  ol 
the  40th,  was  very  kind  to  me.  Indeed^  but  for  his  kind- 
ness, I  don't  know  what  I  should  have  done.  He  supplied 
me  with  clothes  and  other  necessaries^  and  I  lived  with  him 
till  I  reached  Peshawur.* 

The  victorious  army  having  set  its  mark  upon  Caubul^ 
returned  to  the  British  provinces.  But  new  trouble  was  in 
store  for  John  Nicholson.  Whilst  he  had  been  suffering 
captivity  in  his  Afghan  prison,  his  brother  Alexander  had 
gone  out  to  India,  and  had  marched  with  his  regiment  into 
Afghanistan.  On  the  way  from  Caubul,  the  brothers  met ; 
but  a  few  days  afterwards  the  enemy  attacked  our  rear- 
guard, and  Alexander  was  killed  in  action.  It  was  John 
Nicholson's  sad  duty  to  communicate  this  distressing  intel- 
ligence to  his  mother :  ^  It  is  with  a  sorrowful  heart,'  he 
wrote  on  the  6th  of  November,  '  that  I  sit  down  to  write 
to  you  now,  after  a  silence  of  niore  than  a  twelvemonth. 
Indeed,  I  should  scarcely  dare  to  do  so  now,  were  I  not 
encouraged  by  the  knowledge  that  God  will  enable  you  to 
bear  your  sad  loss  with  Christian  resignation,  and  comfort 
you  with  his  Holy  Spirit..  Poor  Alexander  is  no  more.  He 
was  killed  in  action,  when  on  rear-guard  on  the  ^rd  instant  j 
but  I  know  that  you  will  not  sorrow  as  one  without  hope> 
but  rather  rejoice  that  it  has  pleased  the  L(»rd  to  take  him 
from  this  woild  of  sorrow  and  temptation.  Poor  boy,  I 
met  him  only  a  few  days  before  his  death,  and  a  happy 

meeting  it  was Now,  my  dearest  mother,  let  me 

entreat  you  not  to  grieve  more  than  you  can  help.  Alex- 
ander died  a  soldier's  death,  in  the  execution  of  his  duty, 
and  a  more  glorious  death  he  could  not  have  died.* 


x84»-46.]  RETURN  TO  /NDIA,  6ox 


After  a  grand  ovation  on  the  frontier,  the  army  was 
dispersed.  John  Nicholson  then,  after  the  perilous  excite- 
ment of  this  his  first  service,  subsided  for  a  time  into  the 
quietude  and  monotony  of  cantonment  life.  His  regiment 
was  stationed  at  Meerut,  but,  although  it  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  bustling  of  our  military  cantonments,  the 
uneventfid  dreariness  of  his  daily  life  oppressed  him  after 
the  excitement  of  the  preceding  years.  *  I  dislike  India 
and  its  inhabitants  more  every  day,'  he  wrote  to  his  mother, 
in  one  of  those  hours  of  despondency  which  are  common 
to  the  careers  of  all  great  men,  ^  and  would  rather  go  home 
on  0^200  a  year  than  live  like  a  prince  here.  At  the  same 
time  I  have  so  much  reason  to  be  thankful,  that  I  do  not 
grumble  at  my  lot  being  cast  in  this  country.'  But  the 
yoimg  soldier  was  not  doomed  to  a  lengthened  period  of 
inactivity,  for  he  was  made  Adjutant  of  his  regiment,  and 
he  had  thus  the  best  opportunity  that  could  have  been  af- 
forded to  him  for  perfecting  himself  in  the  practical  know- 
ledge of  his  professional  duties.  There  was  peace,  but  not 
of  long  duration.  Soon  it  was  plain  that  another  crisis  was 
approaching  5  and  then  commenced  that  great  series  of 
events  which  tested  the  qualities  and  made  the  reputations 
of  so  many  men  now  great  in  Indian  history.  The  Sikh 
army,  no  longer  restrained  by  the  strong  hand  of  Runjit 
Singh,  invaded  the  British  frontier,  and  dared  us  to  the 
conflict.  Then,  the  work  of  the  English  soldier  done  for  a 
time,  the  work  of  the  administrator  commenced.  The 
Sikh  Empire,  which  the  victories  of  the  Sutiej  had  laid  at 
our  feet,  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  child-Prince  who 
represented  the  house  of  its  founder  3  and  whilst  we  fenced 


GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1846, 


him  round  with  British  bayonets,  we  at  the  same  time  en- 
deavoured to  fit  him  for  fiitiire  govermnent.  A  Council 
of  Regency  was  formed,  and  Colonel  Henry  Lawrence,  as 
related  in  a  previous  Memoir,  was  placed  at  its  head. 

It  happened  that  John  Nicholson  was  then  with  the 
army  on  the  frontier.  He  had  been  attached  to  the  Com- 
missariat Department,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of 
Ferozeshuhur ;  but  his  position  did  not  afford  the  means  of 
personal  distinction,  and  he  was  little  more  than  a  looker-on.* 
The  time,  however,  had  come  for  the  young  soldier  to  divest 
himself  for  a  time  of  the  ordinary  accompaniments  and 
restraints  of  military  life.  A  new  career  was  about  to  open 
out  before  him — a  career  that  had  many  attractions  for  one 
of  his  ardent,  enthusiastic  nature,  for  it  was  one  in  which 
he  would  no  longer  be  kept  down  by  the  dead  weight  of  a 
seniority  service.  As  a  regimental  subaltern,  there  was  little 
that  he  could  do  to  distinguish  himself)  still  less,  perhaps, 

*  From  Lahore,  he  wrote  on  the  27th  of  February,  to  his  mother : 
'  As  you  will  see  by  the  date,  we  are  encamped  at  the  capital  of  the 
Punjab,  without  having  fired  a  shot  since  we  crossed  the  Sntlej  on 
the  loth  instant — a  proof  of  how  completely  the  Sikh  army  has  been 
humbled,  and  its  strength  and  confidence  lessened.  Our  loss  since 
the  commencement  of  the  war  has — ^though  very  heavy — heea.  no- 
thing in  comparison  with  theirs  ;  it  is  believed  that  at  least  half  the 
force  they  had  in  the  field  at  Sobraon  on  the  loth  perished,  and  our 
trophies  are  two  hundred  and  thirty  guns,  besides  innumerable 
standards,  arms  of  every  description,  and  nearly  all  the  camp- 
equipage  they  brought  across  the  river  with  them^  .  .  .  You  will 
be  glad  to  hear  I  have  got  a  Commissariat  appointment  fix>m 
Colonel  Stuart  It  scarcely  gives  me  any  increase  of  pay  at  pre- 
sent, but  will  do  so  after  I  have  served  a  few  jrears  in  the  depstft- 
ment  I  passed  the  interpreter's  examination  in  November  last,  at 
Umballah.' 


1846.]  IN  THE  PUNJAB  AND  CASHMERE.  603 

to  be  done  in  the  subordinate  ranks  of  the  Commissariat 
Department.  But  he  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  George 
and  Henry  Lawrence  in  Afghanistan.  With  the  former  he 
had  been  a  fellow-captive^  in  the  hands  of  Saleh  Mahomed ; 
and  the  latter^  who  accompanied  the  Sikh  Contingent  to 
Caubul,  had  soon  discerned  the  fine  soldierly  qualities  of 
the  subaltern  of  the  Twenty-seventh.  To  such  a  man  as 
Henry  Lawrence,  the  character  and  disposition  of  young 
Nicholson  were  sure  to  recommend  him,  as  one  to  be 
regarded  with  great  hope  and  with  tender  affection.  They 
parted,  but  Lawrence  never  forgot  the  boy,  and  when  they 
met  again  on  the  banks  of  the  Sutlej,  the  elder  man,  then 
in  high  place,  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  younger,  and 
John  Nicholson's  fortune  was  made. 


After  the  campaign  on  the  Sutlej,  Cashmere,  which 
had  been  an  outlying  province  of  the  Sikh  Empire,  was 
ceded  to  the  English,  in  part  payment  of  the  expenses  of 
the  war  j  and  it  was  made  over  by  us,  or,  in  plain  language, 
sold,  to  the  Maharajah  Gholab  Singh  for  a  million  sterling. 
At  the  request  of  the  chief,  the  British  Government  con- 
sented to  send  two  English  officers  to  instruct  his  troops  in 
our  system  of  discipline  5  and  Captain  Broome  of  the  Ar- 
tillery and  John  Nicholson  were  selected  by  Lord  Hardinge 
^or  the  duty,  in  the  early  part  of  March,  1846.  The  Go- 
vernor-General sent  for  Nicholson,  and  offered  him  the 
appointment  in  a  manner  very  pleasing  to  the  young  soldier. 
'  I  accepted  it  gladly,*  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  *  on  the  con- 
dition that,  if  on  trial  I  did  not  like  it  I  might  fall  back  on 


6o4  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1846, 

mj  old  Commissariat  office.*  Early  in  April  he  reached 
Jummoo,  from  which  place  he  wrote,  in  the  following 
month :  '  My  last  will  have  informed  you  of  my  arrival 
here  with  Maharajah  Gholab  Singh  on  the  2nd  of  April. 
Since  then  I  have  been  leading  the  most  monotonous  life 
you  can  weU  imagine  5  I  have  no  duties  of  any  kind  to 
perform,  and  am  quite  shut  out  from  the  civilized  world. 
I  think  I  mentioned  to  you  in  a  former  letter  that  I  did 
not  believe  the  Maharajah  was  really  desirous  of  having  our 
sptem  of  discipline  introduced  into  his  army;  so  it  has 
turned  out  he  merely  asked  for  two  European  officers  because 
he  was  aware  of  the  moral  effect  their  presence  would  have 
at  his  Durbar  in  showing  the  terms  of  intimacy  he  was  on 
with  the  British  Government,  and  made  the  wish  to  have 
his  army  disciplined  a  pretence.  As  it  at  present  stands, 
the  appointment  can't  prove  a  permanent  one,  as  the  Ma- 
harajah will  soon  become  tired  of  paying  mine  and  Captain 
Broome's,  the  Artillery  officer's,  staff  salary.  Hitherto  we 
have  both  received  every  civility  from  him,  and  as  long  as 
he  considers  it  his  interest  to  treat  us  well,  he  will  doubt- 
less do  so.  The  Maharajah  talks  of  going  to  Cashmere 
next  month  and  taking  me  with  him.  I  look  forward  with 
great  pleasure  to  a  trip  to  this  beautiful  valley  (albeit  in 
such  company),  believed  by  natives  to  have  been  the  earthly 
Paradise.*  * 

•  In  another  letter,  written  in  June,  he  still  complained  of  the 
same  want  of  employment.  *I  have  already,*  he  said,.' informed 
you  of  the  nature  of  my  appointment,  and  that  tip  to  the  date  of 
my  writing  my  duties  had  been  merely  nominal  ones.  I  r^;ret  to  say 
they  still  continue  so,  and  after  the  busy  life  I  have  led  for  the  last 
three  years,  and  the  excitement  of  the  late  campaign,  my  present 


1846.]  IN  CASHMERE.  605 


So  they  went  to  Cashmere,  ostensibly  to  drill  the  in- 
fantry regiments  of  the  Maharajah  j  but  Gholab  Singh 
really  wanted  them  for  no  such  purpose.  Their  presence 
in  his  coimtry  was  sufficient  to  show  that  he  had  the  sup- 
port of  the  British  Govemment.  This,  however,  did  not 
avail  him  much  5  for  a  strong  party,  imder  the  old  Sikh 
governor,  resisted  the  transfer  of  the  territory  to  its  new 
ruler  j  and  the  English  officers  were  in  danger  of  their  lives. 
The  story  is  told  by  Nicholson  himself,  in  a  letter  to  his 
mother :  '  I  left  Jummoo  for  Cashmere,*  he  wrote  on  the 
a6th  of  September,  1846,  'towards  the  latter  end  of  July, 
and  arrived  there  on  the  12th  of  August,  much  pleased 
with  the  beautiftil  scenery  and  fine  climate  of  the  moimtain 
range  which  we  crossed  to  get  into  the  valley.  You  will 
remember  that  the  province  of  Cashmere  was  made  over  to 
Gholab  Singh  by  our  Government.  At  the  time  of  our 
arrival,  however,  though  he  had  a  few  thousand  men  in  the 
valley,  he  had  by  no  means  obtained  possession  of  the  place. 
The  son  of  the  late  governor,  imder  the  Sikhs,  having 
raised  a  considerable  force,  showed  an  evident  disinclin- 
ation to  surrender  the  government — Gholab  Singh,  more- 
over, being  very  impopular  in  the  valley,  on  accoimt  of  his 
known  character.  We  had  not  been  many  days  in  the  city 
before  we  learnt  that  the  governor  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
drive  Gholab  Singh*s  small  force  out  of  the  valley  and  seize 

want  of  employment  renders  my  exile  from  the  civilized  world  irk- 
some to  a  degree ;  so  much  so,  that,  should  this  state  of  things  last 
much  longer,  I  shall  very  likely  throw  the  appointment  up  and  fall 
back  on  the  Commissariat,  though  it  is  not  a  department  I  am  very 
partial  to.' 


6o6  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1846- 

U8.  We  had  great  difficult7  in  effecting  our  escape^  which 
we  did  just  in  time  to  avoid  capture,  and  marching  by  one 
of  the  southern  passes,  joined  the  Maharajah  here  a  few 
dajTS  ago.  As  we  left  the  valley,  the  governor  did  as  we 
heard  he  intended  to  do  by  the  Mahar^ah*s  troops,  and  the 
task  of  dispossessing  him,  and  making  over  the  province  to 
Gholab  Singh,  now  devolves  upon  our  Grovemment.' 
*  The  view  you  have  taken  of  my  position  here,'  he  added, 
'  is  perfectly  correct,  with  this  addition  to  the  disadvantages 
you  enumerate,  that  I  have  no  duties  to  perform.  The 
Maharajah  does  not  want  his  troops  disciplined  ^  and  as  it 
was  the  hope  of  distinguishing  myself  by  a  zealous  and 
successfid  discharge  of  the  duties  nominally  attaching  to  the 
appointment,  that  induced  me  to  accept  it,  now  that  after 
six  months*  experience  I  find  that  the  duties  are  entirety 
nominal,  the  inducement  to  seclude  myself  from  the  civil- 
ized world  and  undergo  many  annoyances  and  inconveni- 
ences no  longer  exists,  and  I  would  not  hesitate  to  resign 
the  appointment  immediately,  were  it  not  that  I  have  good 
reason  for  believing  that  it  will  be  done  away  with  before 
the  end  of  the  year.  It  will  then  depend  on  Lord  Hardinge 
whether  I  fall  back  on  the  Commissariat,  or  get  the  '^  some- 
thing better  '*  he  promised  me,  on  offering  me  my  present 
appointment.' 

The  insurrection  was  overcome,  and,  in  November, 
Nicholson  was  again  settled  at  Cashmere.  On  the  ipth  he 
wrote  to  his  mother,  saying :  '  Colonel  Lawrence  and  the 
-rest  of  the  party  left  this  three  days  ago,  and  I  am  now 
quite  alone,  and,  as  you  may  suppose,  feel  very  lonely, 
without  an  European  within  scores  of  miles  of  me.    I 


i846-47«j  ^N  CASHMERE,  607 

for  the  present  offidating  in  the  North-West  Frontier 
Agency,  which  Colonel  Lawrence  has  recommended  my 
being  put  permanently  into.  If  his  recommendation  be 
attended  to,  I  shall  probably  be  stationed  either  at  Lahore 
or  somewhere  in  the  Jullundur  Doab  5  otherwise,  I  shall 
have  to  return  to  the  Commissariat,  as  it  is  not  intended  to 
continue  my  present  appointment,  it  being  evident  that  the 
Maharajah  does  not  wish  our  system  of  discipline  introduced 
into  his  army.  Whatever  is  done  with  me,  I  shall  not  be 
sorry  to  get  away  from  Cashmere,  which  at  this  season  is 
anything  but  a  terrestrial  Paradise.  My  fingers  are  so  cold 
that  I  can  scarcely  hold  the  pen,  and  glazed  windows  are 
unknown  here.* 

A  few  weeks  after  this  letter  was  written.  Lieutenant 
John  Nicholson  was  formally  appointed  an  Assistant  to  the 
Resident  at  Lahore,  and  early  in  the  new  year  (1847)  ^® 
started  for  the  Sikh  capital.  One  of  his  younger  brothers, 
Charles  Nicholson,  had  a  short  time  before  arrived  in  India, 
and  John,  to  his  great  joy,  had  learnt  that  the  youth  was 
now  with  his  regiment  in  the  Pimjab :  '  I  left  Cashmere  on 
the  7th  of  February,*  he  wrote  to  his  mother  in  April, 
*  crossing  eight  and  a  half  feet  of  snow  in  the  Poonah  Pass. 
On  my  arrival  at  Ramnuggur,  within  six  marches  of  Lahore, 
I  received  instructions  to  proceed  to  Mooltan  and  Dhera 
Shyee  Khan,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Indus.  I  arrived 
here,  having  accomplished  my  trip,  on  the  20th  of  this 
mcmth,  and  after  eating  a  hearty  breakfast,  set  out  to  look 
for  Charles.  Fancy  neither  of  us  recognizing  the  other.  I 
actually  talked  to  him  half  an  hour  before  I  could  persuade 
myself  of  his  identity.     He  is  as  tall,  if  not  taller  than  I 


6o8  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1847. 

am,  and  wiU^  I  hope^  be  much  stouter  and  stronger  in  the 
course  of  another  jear  or  two.  Our  joy  at  meeting  you 
will  well  understand^  without  my  attempting  to  describe  it 
.  .  .  You  may  remember  my  writing  to  you,  some  time 
ago,  that  the  want  of  society  had  rendered  me  low-spirited. 
Well,  I  have  within  the  last  few  months  become  so  recon- 
ciled to  living  alone,  that  really,  were  not  Charles  here,  I 
should  wish  myself  away  again  in  the  Cashmere  hills  or 
Jummoo  forests.* 


He  was  now  fairly  launched  into  the  Political  Service, 
and  under  the  wery  best  of  masters.  He  could  have  had  no 
brighter  example  before  his  eyes  than  that  of  Henry  Law- 
rence, nor  in  any  part  of  India  could  he  have  foimd,  in  the 
subordinate  agency  of  the  British  Government,  more  fitting 
associates  than  those  who,  though  often  severed  by  long  dis- 
tances from  each  other,  were  doing  the  same  work  with  one 
heart  and  one  hope.  A  few  weeks  were  spent  at  Lahore  5 
and  then,  at  the  beginning  of  June,  John  Nicholson  was 
despatched  again  by  his  chief  on  a  special  mission  to  Um- 
ritsur,  for  the  purpose  of  inspecting  and  reporting  on  Go- 
vindghur,  and  the  general  management  of  the  Umritsur 
district.  'In  this  way,*  added  Colonel  Lawrence,  'by 
visits  of  a  week  or  a  month  to  different  quarters,  we  may 
help  the  executive  as  well  as  protect  the  people.*  At  the 
end  of  the  month,  Nicholson  was  deputed  to  the  Sind 
Sagur  Doab,  or  country  between  the  Jhelum  and  the 
Indus,  and  told  to  consider  that  tract  of  country  as  his 
especial  charge.      'You  are  requested,'  wrote  Lawrence, 


1847.]  ^^  ^^^  PUNJAB,  609 

'  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of  the  two  Nazims,  Sirdars 
Chuttur  Singh  and  Lai  Singh,  as  also  of  their  deputies,  and 
indeed  of  all  the  respectable  Kardars  that  you  meet.  Much 
may  be  done  by  cordiality,  by  supporting  their  juft  authority, 
attending  to  their  moderate  wishes,  and  even  whims,  and 
by  those  small  courtesies  that  all  natives  look  to,  even  more 
than  they  do  to  more  important  matters.  I  need  only  hint 
at  these  points  to  insure  your  zealous  attention  to  them. 
The  protection  of  the  people  from  the  oppression  of  the 
Kardars  will  be  your  first  duty.  .  .  .  Your  next  most 
important  care  will  be  the  army.  .  .  ,  Without  allowing 
the  troops  to  be  unduly  harassed,  see  that  parades  and  drills 
are  attended  to.  I  insist  upon  insubordination  and  plunder 
being  promptly  pimished  5  and  bring  to  my  notice  any  par- 
ticular instances  of  good  conduct.  Avoid  as  far  as  possible 
any  military  movement  during  the  next  three  months  5  but 
should  serious  disturbance  arise,  act  energetically.* 

But  it  was  not  permitted  to  him  to  remain  quiet.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  month  of  August,  Captain  James 
Abbott,  who  then  held  the  office  of  Boundary  Commis- 
sioner, having  in  vain  cited  to  his  court  the  chiefs  of  Simul- 
kmid,  'to  answer  for  the  most  dastardly  and  deliberate 
murder  of  women  and  children  at  Bukkur,*  requested 
Nicholson  to  move  up  his  force  to  Huzroo,  so  that  in  a 
single  movement  he  might  fall  upon  Simulkund.  '  This,' 
wrote  Captain  Abbott,  'being  effected,  and  Lieutenant 
Nicholson  finding  it  advisable  to  assume  a  still  more  ad- 
vanced position  at  Ghazee,  I,  at  ten  o'clock  on  Monday 
night,  the  2nd  instant,  marched  from  Koth,  at  the  head  of 

about  three  hundred  and  fifty  bayonets,  over  the  Gundgurh 
VOL.  u.  3^ 


6io  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [i847-48« 

mountains^  upon  Simulkund^  whilst  Sirdar  Jhunda  Singh^ 
under  my  instructions^  marched  from  Hurkishengurh^  by  I 

the  same  route,  at  the  same  hour,  with  a  wing  of  Dbara 
Singh's  cofps,  some  cavahy,  and  fifteen  zumboorahs. 
Lieutenant  Nicholson's  two  columns  arrived  at  Simulkund 
shortly  after  sunrise.  He  found  the  place  entirely  aban- 
doned, and  took  possession.* 

.  The  cold  weather  of  1847-48  passed  quietly  over. 
Things  seemed  to  be  settling  down  in  the  Punjab,  and  both 
the  Grovernor-Greneral  and  the  Lahore  Resident,  encouraged 
by  the  general  tranquillity,  turned  their  faces  towards  home. 
In  the  part  of  the  country  which  was  the  scene  of  Nichol- 
son's labours,  there  were  no  signs  of  trouble.  *  Lieutenant 
Nicholson,'  so  ran  the  official  narradve,  ^reports  that  the 
country  around  Hassan  Abdal  and  Rawul  Pindee,  hitherto 
more  or  less  disturbed,  is  perfectly  quiet,  and  that  the  Kar- 
dars,  for  the  first  ti^e  for  years,  move  about  without 
guards.' 

But  the  calm,  like  many  others  before  and  since,  was  a 
delusive  one.     It  promised  a  season  of  rest,  but  it  was  the 
precursor  of  a  storm.     The  nationality  of  the  Sikhs  had  not 
been  destroyed.     The  British  officers  who  were  governing 
the  coimtry  for  them  were  wise  after  their  kind,  and  over- 
flowing with  benevolence.     But  their  presence  was  hateful 
to  the  great  chiefs  whose  power  they  had  usurped,  and  they 
determined  to  rid  themselves  of  it.     In  the  spring,  Moolny 
had  rebelled  against   the   Double  Government,  and  had 
killed  the  English  officers  sent  to  Mooltan  to  install  another 
governor  in  his  place,  and  the  summer  saw  the  whole 
country  seething  with  *  rebellion '  of  the  same  kind.    At 


1848.]  IN  THE  HAZAREH  COUNTRY.  6ii 

this  time  John  Nicholson  was  at  Peshawur^  serving  under 
George  Lawrence.     A  severe  attack  of  fever  had  prostrated 
him^  and  he  was  lying  upon  a  sick-bed^  when  news  came 
that  Chuttur  Singh^  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  Sikh 
chie&^  and  one  whom  we  most  trusted,  had  thrown  off 
the  mask,  had  raised  the  Hazareh  country,  and  was  about  to 
seize  the  important  fortress  of  Attock.      Lawrence  and 
Nicholson  were  speedily  in  consultation.     '  What  do  you 
wish  done  ?  *  asked  Nicholson.     '  Had  you  been  fit  for  the 
work,*  replied  Lawrence,  '  I  should  have  wished  to  send 
you  to  secure  the  post  j  but  you  are  not  fit  to  go  on  such  a 
service.*     '  Certainly  I  am,'  said  Nicholson.     *  The  fever  is 
nothings    it  shall  not  hinder  me.     I  will  start  to-night.' 
Consent  was  given,  and  it  was  arranged  that  he  should 
take  with  him  an  escort  of  sixty  Peshawur  Horse  and  a 
hundred  and  fifty  men  of  a  newly-raised  Mahomedan  levy, 
who  were  believed  to  be  true  and  staunch  to  fight  against 
the  Sikhs. 

'  Never  shall  I  forget  him,'  says  a  brother-officer  who 
was  with  him  at  Peshawur,  and  who  has  supplied  me  with 
particulars  of  this  epoch  of  Nicholson's  career — '  never  shall 
I  forget  him,  as  he  prepared  for  his  start,  full  of  that  noble 
reliance  in  the  presence  and  protection  of  God,  which,, 
added  to  an  unusual  share  of  physical  courage,  rendered 
him  almost  invincible.  It  was  during  the  few  hours  of  his 
preparation  for  departure  that  his  conduct  and  manner  led 
to  my  first  knowledge  of  his  true  character,  and  I  stood  and 
watched  him>  so  fidl  of  spirit  and  self-reliance,  though  only 
just  risen  firom  a  sick-bed,  with  the  greatest  admiration.* 

He  made  a  forced  march  to  Attock,  and  arrived  before 


6ia  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1848. 

the  fort  just  in  time  to  prevent  that  portion  of  the  garrison 
which  was  hostile  to  us  from  closing  the  gate  against  him. 
'  He  had  travelled^*  says  my  informant^  *  so  &st  that  but  few 
of  hb  escort  had  been  able  to  keep  up  with  him  3  *  but 
with  these  few  he  at  once  commanded  the  submission  of  all 
but  the  most  desperate^  and  these  he  soon  quelled  by  his 
personal  prowess.     A  company  of  Sikhs  in  command  of 
one  of  the  gates  were  prepared  for  resistance,  but  he  at  once 
threw  himself  among  them,  made  them  arrest  their  own 
leaders,  and  in  a  few  minutes  was  master  of  the  position. 
This  I  learnt  afterwards  fh)m  eye-witnesses  who  served 
under  me.    Having  made  the  place  secure,  placing  in  charge 
the  persons  whom  he  could  best  trust,  he  lost  no  time  in 
taking  the  field,  and  by  his  rapid  movements  for  a  long 
time  checked  the  troops  from  Hazareh,  preventing  them 
from  getting  into  the  open  country  and  proceeding  to  join 
Shere  Singh*s  army.* 

But  the  history  of  the  eventful  days  which  followed  this 
reinforcement  of  Attock  must  be  told  a  little  more  in  detail. 
From  Attock,  Nicholson  marched  with  sixty  horse  and  forty 
foot  men  to  Hassan  Abdal.  '  On  my  arrival  there,'  he  wrote 
to  the  Lahore  Resident,  on  the  lath  of  August,  'learning 
the  hundred  Goorchurras  of  Sirdar  Mehtab  Singh,  Majeetia, 
here,  had  abused  and  expelled  from  camp  their  Commedan 
for  refusing  to  join  the  Hazareh  force,  I  paraded  the  party, 

*  Nicholson  himself  says,  in  his  very  modest  account  of  this  ex- 
ploit, *  Of  sixty  horse  which  left  Peshawur  with  me,  not  half  the 
number  arrived  along  with  me  ;  and  the  infantry,  which  should  have 
been  in  by  noon,  did  not  arrive  till  midnight :  so  that  I  had  not  more 
than  thirty  men  with  me.' 


1848.]  IN  THE  HAZARRH  COUNTRY.  613 

and  dismissed  and  confined  the '  ringleaders  on  the  spot. 
The  remainder  begged  forgiveness^  and  having  some  reason 
to  believe  them  sincere^  and  wishing  to  show  that  I  was  not 
entirely  without  confidence  in  Sikhs^  I  granted  it.  I  shall, 
of  course,  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  them  in  future.  ...  I 
am  raising  a  militia  for  the  protection  of  this  district.  A 
regular  soldier  of  any  kind  I  have  not  with  me,  and  of  the 
small  party  I  brought  with  me  from  Peshawur,  there  are 
but  three  men  whom  I  ever  saw  till  I  started.  .  •  .  Every- 
thing, if  1  may  offer  an  opinion,  depends  on  promptly  send- 
ing up  troops.  A  single  brigade,  with  a  9-pounder  battery, 
would  be  ample,  with  the  aid  which  Captain  Abbott  and 
mjrself  would  be  able  to  render.  Delay  will  have  a  bad 
effect  in  every  way,  and  may  afford  the  mutineers  opportu- 
nities of  tampering  with  the  Peshawur  force.* 

On  the  following  day  he  wrote  again  to  the  Resident, 
saying:  'After  I  had  despatched  my  letter  yesterday,  1 
learned  that  Captain  Abbott's  regiment,  stationed  at  Kurara, 
had  deserted  that  post,  and  arrived,  with  two  guns,  at 
Rawul  Pindee,  intending  to  proceed  thence  to  join  the 
Hazareh  force.  I  immediately  sent  orders  to  the  levies  en 
route  to  join  me  to  concentrate  at  Margulla,  with  the  view 
of  stopping  there  the  further  progress  of  the  mutinous 
regiment.  I  rode  out  myself  early  this  morning  and  sur- 
veyed the  position  5  it  is  not  of  any  great  strength,  but  I 
know  not  a  more  suitable  one  for  my  purpose  j  and  I  trust 
I  shall  be  able  to  hold  it,  though  my  levies  are  not  very 
warlike  J  were  they  Afghans  or  Hazareh  men,  I  shoulc' 
have  no  doubts.  The  regiment  did  not  attempt  to  cross 
to-day,  but,  I  hear,  purposes  doing  so  to-morrow  5  I  shall 


6i4  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1848. 

be  at  the  position  myself;  my  levies  amount  to  about  eight 
hundred.' 

Next  morning,  at  break  of  day,  John  Nicholson  with 
his  levies  found  himself  &ce  to  l&ce  with  the  mutinous  regi- 
ment. The  odds  were  against  him,  for  the  mutineers  had 
two  guns ;  but  Nicholson,  with  the  cool  courage  and  reso- 
lute bearing  which  even  then  overawed  all  opponents,  ad- 
dressed them,  saying  that  he  desired  nothing  more  than  that 
they  should  return  to  their  allegiance,  but  that  if  they  held 
out  an  hour  longer  he  would  inflict  upon  them  the  punish- 
ment due  to  mutineers.  Stormy  then  was  the  debate  which 
followed  in  the  enemy's  camp.  Some  were  for  peace,  some 
were  for  war  j  but  the  advocates  of  the  former  prevailed, 
and  before  the  hour  of  grace  had  expired  the  colonel  of  the 
recusant  regiment  had  tendered  his  submission,  and  offered 
to  march  anywhere  at  the  English  officer's  commands. 

But  there  was  much  work  to  be  done  after  this  in  the 
open  country  3  and  Nicholson  was  compelled  to  pay  repeated 
visits  to  Attock  to  see  after  the  safety  of  the  post.  '  It  was 
during  the  thirty  days*  fast  of  Ramzan,*  writes  the  friend 
and  comrade  whose  words  I  have  already  quoted,  'that 
some  of  his  most  arduous  work  was  done,  a  time  during 
which  his  followers  were  debarred  by  strict  religious  scruples 
from  taking  even  a  drop  of  water  between  sunrise  and  sun- 
set ;  but  yet,  so  great  was  the  command  his  example  ob- 
tained for  him  over  the  minds  of  these  men,  that  they  cheer- 
fully endured  the  terrible  sufferings  entailed  by  the  long  and 
rapid  marches  and  counter-marches  he  was  obliged  to  caU 
upon  them  to  make.  He  never  spared  himself;  he  was  al- 
ways the  first  in  the  saddle,  and  in  the  front  of  the  f  ght 


1848.]  IN  THE  MARGULLA  PASS.  615 


Apparently  insensible  to  the  calls  of  hunger,  thirst,  or  fatigue, 
and  really  regardless  of  danger,  his  energies  never  failed, 
while  his  life  seemed  charmed,  and  the  Mahomedan  levies 
whom  he  commanded  seemed  to  regard  him  almost  as  a 
demi-god.  After  a  time,  he  found  the  calls  upon  him  in 
the  field  so  exacting,  that  he  requested  Major  Lawrence  to 
send  him  some  trustworthy  man  to  take  command  of  the 
garrison  in  Attock;  and  Nizam-ood-dowlah  Mahomed 
Oosman  Khan,  the  father-in-law  and  formerly  Wuzeer  of 
Shah  Soojah,  was  sent  accordingly.  Still  Nicholson  did  not 
feel  at  his  ease  regarding  the  safety  of  the  fort,  and  at  length 
Sirdar  Chuttur  Singh,  making  a  forced  march  in  the  hope 
of  taking  the  place  by  surprise,  he  obtained  early  informa- 
tion of  the  Sirdar's  intentions,  outmarched  him  by  one  of 
his  wonderfully  rapid  movements,  and  entered  the  place  be- 
fore the  enemy  could  reach  it.* 

From  Attock,  Nicholson  now  wrote  to  Major  Lawrence, 
begging  him  to  send,  as  governor  of  the  fort,  one  of  the  two 
English  officers  under  him  at  Peshawur,  and  the  choice  fell 
upon  Lieutenant  Herbert.  At  a  little  before  midnight  of 
the  3  ist  of  August,  Major  Lawrence  awoke  him,  and  placing 
in  his  hands  Nicholson's  letter,  expressing  a  strong  wish 
to  be  in  the  open  coimtry  so  as  to  operate  upon  the  rear  of 
the  enemy,  told  him  it  was  his  wish  that  he  should  proceed 
at  once  to  Attock.  In  less  than  an  hour  Herbert  was  in  the 
saddle,  and  about  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  entered 
the  fort,  and  received  over  command  from  Nicholson,  who 
lost  no  time  in  leaving  the  place  and  getting  into  the  rear 
of  the  enemy,  and  by  this  means  was  enabled  to  reach  the 
Margulla  Pass  in  time  to  stop  Sirdar  Chuttur  Singh  and 


6i  3  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [X848. 

his  force,  and  turn  them  back  once  more  after  the  severe 
struggle  which  first  rendered  his  name  famous.  But  of  this 
affair  I  regret  to  find  that  the  records  are  disappointingly 
scanty.  Nicholson's  great  object  was  to  secure  the  Mar- 
grulla  Pass,  which  leads  from  Hazareh  to  Rawul  Pindee. 
The  defile  was  then  commanded  by  a  tower,  and  it  would 
appear  that  Nicholson  attempted  to  seize  it  by  something  of 
a  coup  de  main.  Of  course  he  led  the  assault,  or,  as  it  has 
been  characteristically  described  to  me  by  a  friend,  '  he  was 
the  assault  itself,  and  failed  for  want  of  backing.*  His  tall, 
commanding  figure  was  always  a  sure  mark  for  the  enemy, 
and  on  this  occasion  he  was  knocked  over  by  a  stone  thrown 
from  the  walls  of  the  tower.  The  attempt  would  have  been 
renewed,  but  the  Sikh  garrison,  scared  by  the  boldness  of 
the  first  assault,  evacuated  the  place  under  cover  of  the 
night.  He  was  not  much  hurt,  and  he  spoke  very  slight- 
ingly of  the  accident.*  Writing  to  his  mother  fix>m  Jhung^ 
ten  miles  south  of  Hussun  Abdal,  September  27  th,  1848, 
he  sa)rs :  '  I  am  leading  a  very  guerilla  sort  of  life,  with 

*  A  letter  from  the  Lahore  Resident — Sir  Frederick  Currie,  who 
was  then  about  to  resign  his  charge  to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence — dated 
January  28,  1849,  and  published  among  the  Pailiamentaiy  Papers, 
gives  the  best  detailed  account  of  these  proceedings.  It  states  that 
the  correspondence  regarding  them  had  been  conducted  *  almost,  if 
not  entirely,  in  private  letters.'  *  Captain  Nicholson,'  it  is  added, 
'  in  these  operations,  performed  several  very  gallant  actions  (briefly 
described  to  me  in  a  couple  of  lines  in  private  notes),  in  one  of 
which,  in  an  attempt  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  the  Booij,  whidi 
commands  the  Margulla  Pass,  he  was  wounded  in  the  fiice,  in  per- 
sonal conflict  with  some  Regulars  of  Baba  Pendee  Ramdial's  r^* 
ment.'  An  obelisk  to  Nicholson's  memory  has  been  erected  on  the 
i4e  of  the  tover. 


X848.]  iN  THE  MARGULLA  PASS.  617 


seven  hundred  horse  and  foot  hastily  raised  among  the  peo- 
ple of  the  country.  Sirdar  Chuttur  Singh  and  his  son,  who 
are  in  rebellion,  have  eight  regular  regiments  and  sixteen 
guns,  so  that  I  am  unable  to  meet  them  openly  in  the  field. 
I  received  a  slight  hurt  from  a  stone  in  a  skirmish  in  the 
hills  a  week  or  two  ago.  I  have  often  had  a  worse  one, 
however,  when  a  boy  at  school,  and  I  only  mention  this 
because  a  friend  wrote  me  from  Lahore  that  it  was  reported 
I  had  been  seriously  hurt,  and  I  fear  lest  the  rumour  should 
reach  and  cause  you  anxiety.'  Another  proof  of  the  tendei 
thoughtfulness  for  his  mother  which  was  always  so  strong  a 
feature  in  his  character  from  the  days  of  his  early  child- 
hood. 

Not  long  after  this,  the  whole  country  was  in  a  blaze, 
and  the  English  and  the  Sikhs  were  contending  for  the 
mastery  of  the  Punjab.  In  the  crisis  which  then  arose, 
wheresoever  good  service  was  to  be  done,  there  was  Nichol- 
son at  hand  to  render  it.  When,  on  the  first  two  days  of 
December,  the  force  under  Sir  Joseph  Thackwell  crossed 
the  Chenab,  it  was  Nicholson  who'  provided  the  boats 
which  enabled  them  to  effect  the  passage,  who  procured 
intelligence  of  the  enemy's  movements,  and  supplies  for  our 
own  troops.  Ever  eager  for  adventure  of  the  most  daring 
kind,  he  volunteered,  before  the  first  great  battle  at  Chilian- 
wallah,  to  make  a  dash  with  a  small  party  on  the  hill-fort, 
beyond  the  Jhelum  river,  where  Major  and  Mrs  Greorge 
Lawrence  were  held  captive  by  the  Sikhs,  and  carry  off  the 
prisoners.  The  plan  excited  the  admiration  of  Lord  Dal- 
housie,  but  was  deemed  too  hazardous,  and  the  opportunity 
was  lost.     At  Chilianwallah,  he  was  with  Lord  Grough,  to 


6i8  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1848. 

whom  he  rendered  active  services,  cheerfully  acknowledged 
in  the  despatch  of  the  Commander-in-Chie£  Again,  at  the 
crowning  victory  of  Goojrat  he  earned  the  thanks  of  bis 
chief.  And  when  the  pursuing  force,  under  Sir  Walter 
Gilbert,  gave  chase  to  the  fugitive  Afghans  who  had  come 
down  to  aid  the  Sikhs,  Nicholson,  with  a  party  of  Irregu- 
lars, rode  with  them,  and  was  ever  at  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn. In  the  notes  which  day  by  day  during  the  fina 
struggle  he  wrote  to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  at  Lahore,  wt 
catch  glimpses  of  that  consciousness  of  power,  and  intuitive 
genius  for  war,  which  afterwards  blazed  out  so  brilliantly 
in  the  GJeneral  of  1857.  Not  less  conspicuous  in  those  re- 
cords is*  the  humanity  which  inspired  him  with  so  strong  a 
hatred  of  that  military  licence  which  our  troops  in  an  ene- 
my's country  are  too  prone  to  surrender  themselves.  Flog- 
ging he  pronounced,  after  three  months*  trial,  to  be  useless 
as  a  check  on  plunder  5  and  at  last,  he  says,  ^  I  have  written 
to  Grant  *  (the  Adjutant-Greneral  *)  '  to  ask  the  Command- 
er-in-Chief to  give  me  the  powers  of  a  provost-marshal,  and 
if  I  get  them,  rely  on  my  bringing  the  army  to  its  senses 
within  two  days.'  Yet  how  merciful  after  victory !  '  I  have 
allowed  all  the  prisoners  made  after  the  action  *  (of  Grooj- 
rat)  '  to  go  quietly  to  their  homes.  I  hope  you  approve  of 
this.'  Again  :  '  I  think  we  should  hold  all  guiltless  whom 
the  force  of  circumstances  compelled  to  join  the  rebels.  I 
mean,  all  who  did  not  join  Chuttur  Singh  till  he  became 
the  paramount  power  in  the  Sind  Sagur  Doab.  I  think  the 
Imams  and  Jagheers  of  all  such  as  joined  him  at  the  very 

*  Afterwards  Sir  Patrick  Grant,  Commander-in-Chief  of  Madras, 
and  subsequently  Governor  of  Malta. 


1849.]  PURSUIT  OF  THE  AFGHANS,  619 

outset,  and  before  he  had  the  power  either  to  reward  or 
punish^  should  be  confiscated ;  and  I  think  those  who  stood 
well  by  us  even  when  our  cause  looked  gJbomy,  are  entitled 
to  have  their  losses  made  good  to  them^  and  receive  some 
reward  in  addition.*  Touches  like  these  reveal  more  of  the 
real  man  than  aught  that  biographer  can  write.  Here  are 
some  sparks  struck  out  red-hot  from  the  pursuit  of  the  Sikhs, 
after  Goojrat.  'Feb.  24th,  1849,  10  a.  m.  :  I  was  out  all 
yesterday  and  the  night  before  after  some  guns  I  heard  the 
enemy  had  abandoned  about  twenty-five  miles  off  in  the 
Bhimbar  direction.  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  nine,  so 
that  the  total  captured  amounts  to  fifty-two.  ...  I  hope 
you  will  get  me  sent  on  with  Gilbert.'  *  Feb.  26th.  The 
Commander-in-Chief  has  allowed  me  to  go  on  as  you  wish 
it.  I  purpose  riding  in  to  Gilbert's  camp  to-morrow.  .  .  . 
I  wrote  you  yesterday  strongly  on  the  subject  of  the  oppres- 
sion to  which  the  unfortunate  people  of  the  country  are 
subjected  by  our  army.  Unless  I  am  vested  with  sufficient 
power  to  check  this,  and  protect  the  people  whom  it  is  my 
special  duty  to  protect,  I  would  rather  not  be  with  the  army. 
The  present  state  of  afiairs  is  no  less  injurious  to  the  disci- 
pline of  the  army  than  to  its  interests,  for  the  Sikhs  were 
never  so  bad.  Independent  of  this,  there  is  the  moral  wrong 
of  plundering  like  so  many  bandits.*  '  Rhotas,  March  2nd, 
6  A.  M.  Lumsden  and  I  came  on  a  march  ahead  yesterday, 
and  occupied  this  place.  The  enemy  are  at  Dhumiak,  at 
the  head  of  the  Bukrala  Pass,  which  they  talk  of  defending. 
...  I  did  not  hear  from  you  yesterday,  and  could  not  write 
because  J  was  all  day  in  the  saddle,  and  had  no  writing 
materials.     I  believe  a  detachment  of  the  army  is  to  be 


6ao  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  UZ^ 

pushed  on  here  to-day.  The  Bukrala  and  Goree  Gullee 
Passes  (which  are  the  only  practicable  ones  for  guns)  ma) 
both  be  turned  by  infantry,  and  I  don't  think  the  enemy, 
dispirited  as  they  are  at  present^  would  attempt  a  stand,  if 
they  heard  that  any  party,  however  small,  had  got  into  their 
rear.'  '  March  3rd,  8  a.  m.  Greneral  Gilbert,  with  an  ad- 
vanced brigade,  arrived  here  yesterday  evening,  and  the  rest 
of  the  force  comes  in  to-day.  The  absence  of  any  commis- 
sariat arrangements,  however,  I  am  told,  will  prevent  our 
further  advance  for  some  days.  .  .  .  Many  of  the  Sikh 
soldiery  are  said  to  be  very  anxious  to  be  allowed  to  go 
quietly  to  their  homes  3  and  I  have  prevailed  on  MackesoD 
to  issue  a  proclamation  permitting  them  to  do  so,  afler  first 
laying  down  their  arms  here.  ...  I  regret  to  say  that  the 
prisoners '  (Major  and  Mrs  G.  Lawrence)  '  have,  in  all 
probability,  been  removed  from  Sookhoo.  I  prepared  to 
start  with  one  thousand  volunteers  the  day  we  crossed  the 

river,  but  my  offer  was  not  accepted.' *  Rhotas,  March 

4th,  daybreak.  I  proposed  last  night  to  Mackeson  to  make  a 
dash  at  Margulla  with  fifteen  hundred  volunteers,  and  to 
endeavour  to  prevent  the  prisoners  being  carried  farther  off. 
I  stipulated,  however,  that  the  rest  of  the  force,  or  at  least 
a  portion  of  it,  should  advance  by  the  regular  marches  to 
our  support.  Lumsden  also  agreed  to  this  scheme,  but  we 
have  not  had  a  decisive  answer  yet.'  '  Eldrona,  March  4th. 
(To  Mr  Cocks.*)  The  enemy  have  all  retreated  from  Dhu- 

*  Arthur  Cocks,  of  the  Civil  Service,  another  of  Sir  Henry  Law- 
rence's Assistants  (of  whom  inention  has  already  been  made),  was  a 
dear  friend  of  Nicholson.  He  was  womided  at  Goojrat  in  repelling 
some  Sikh  horsemen  who  dashed  through  the  British  line  and  made 
a  desperate  attack  on  Lord  Gough  and  his  escort. 


1849]  THE  SIKH  WAR  ENDED,  621 


miak  towards  Rawul  Pindee.  We  go  on  to  Dhumiak  to- 
morrow. It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  the  want  of  supplies 
and  ammunition  will  prevent  our  following  them  up  be- 
yond Dhumiak  for  some  days.  .  .  .  Show  this  to  Lord 
Go  ugh  and  Colonel  Grant,  and  forward  to  the  Resident/ 
(To  Sir  Henry  Lawrence.)  '  I  proposed  again  this  evening 
to  make  a  dash  for  Margulla,  but  the  General  said  the  want 
of  supplies  and  ammunition  would  prevent  his  supporting 
me.  I  have  great  hopes,  however,  that  Chuttur  Singh  will, 
ere  long,  be  glad  to  make  terms  for  himself  and  family  by 
the  surrender  of  the  captives.'  '  Pukka  Serai,  March  7th, 
8  P.M.  My  dear  Cocks  :  Hurrah !  the  prisoners  are  all  in  j 
as  is  Shere  Singh,  who  is  now  closeted  with  Mackeson,  and  I 
hope  the  Singhs  will  have  laid  down  their  arms  by  to-mor- 
row evening.     Show  this  to  Lord  Gough,  and  forward  it 

sharp  to  the  Resident.' 'March   8th.  (To  Sir  Henry 

Lawrence.)  Shere  Singh  and  Lai  Singh  Moraria  have  this 
morning  agreed  that  all  the  guns  and  arms  shall  be  surren- 
dered, so  I  hope  our  war  with  the  Khalsa  may  now  be  con- 
sidered at  an  end.'  '  Camp,  Hoomuk,  March  nth.  The 
Attaree-wallahs  and  all  the  principal  officers  are  in,  and  the 
guns  are  said  to  be  close  at  hand.  .  .  .  The  guns  have 

actually  arrived.' 'March  13th,  daybreak.  We  are  just 

starting  for  Rawul  Pindee.  I  believe  we  have  got  all  the 
Sikh  guns,  and  upwards  of  three  thousand  of  their  infantry 
laid  down  their  arms  yesterday.  I  suspect  the  greater  part 
of  the  rebel  force  have  gone  off  quietly  to  their  homes,  and 

that  we  shall  not  find  many  left  to  disarm  to-day.* 

'  Camp,  near  Attock,  March  17th,  6  p.m.  We  have  the  fort 
and  twelve  boats,  and  the  Dooranees  have  fallen  back  from 


623  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [18491 


the  right  bank.  As  we  came  up  this  moniing  they  evacu* 
ated  the  fort  and  broke  up  the  bridge^  consisting  of  sixteen 
boats^  four  of  which  they  burned.     We  shall  no  doubt 

commence  crossing  to-morrow.'     So  the  war  is  over. 

'  March  29th,  Rawul  Pindee.  I  am  not  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  country  is  to  be  annexed.  No  fear  of  any  one  in 
this  quarter,  however,  getting  up  a  row  about  it.  All  re- 
gard it  as  annexed  already.*  And  here  is  Nicholson's  bill 
against  the  Government  for  the  campaign :  '  Jhelum,  April 
24th.  I  suppose  compensation  will  be  allowed  me  for  mj 
property  lost  at  Peshawur,  Attock,  and  Hussun  Abdal.  I 
estimate  it  at  one  thousand  rupees.  I  also  rode  a  horse 
worth  four  hundred  rupees  to  death  on  Grovemment  service 
— not  running  away.' 


Then  the  Punjab  became  a  British  province;  and  in 
the  distribution  of  the  administrative  agency  which  was 
then  made.  Captain  John  Nicholson  was  appointed  a  De- 
puty-Commissioner under  the  Lahore  Board,  of  which  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence  was  President.  Some  advice  given  at 
this  period  by  Sir  Henry  to  Nicholson  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  two  men,  both  eminently  simple  and  transparent, 
both  much  tried  by  fiery  natures,  that  I  give  it  here,  as 
honourable  alike  to  master  and  disciple.  'April  7th,  1849, 
•  Lahore.  My  dear  Nicholson  .  .  .  Let  me  advise  you,  as 
a  friend,  to  curb  your  temper,  and  bear  and  forbear  with 
natives  and  Europeans,  and  you  will  be  as  distinguished  as  a 
Civilian  as  you  are  as  a  Soldier.  Don't  think  it  is  necessary 
to  say  all  you  think  to  every  one.    The  world  would  be  one 


I849-]  DEPUTY-COMMISSIONER,  623 

mass  of  tumult  if  we  all  gave  candid  opinions  of  each  other. 
I  admire  your  sincerity  as  much  as  any  man  can  do^  but  say 
thus  much  as  a  general  warning.  Don*t  think  I  allude  to 
any  specific  act  5  on  the  contrary^  from  what  I  saw  in 
camp^  I  think  you  have  done  much  towards  conquering 
yourself  J  and  I  hope  to  see  the  conquest  completed.*  To 
which  Nicholson  as  frankly  replied  three  days  later :  '  My 
dear  Colonel, — Fery  many  thanks  for  yours  of  the  7th,  and 
the  friendly  advice  which  it  contains.  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  the  faults  of  my  temper,  and  you  are  right  in  supposing 
that  I  do  endeavour  to  overcome  them — I  hope  with  in- 
creasing success.  On  one  point,  however,  I  still  think  I 
am  excusable  for  the  plain-speaking  which,  I  am  aware, 
made  me  very  unpopular  with  a  large  portion  of  the  officers 
of  the  Army  of  the  Punjab.  I  mean  with  reference  to  the 
plundering  of  the  unfortunate  people  of  the  country,  which 
generally  prevailed  throughout  the  campaign,  and  which 
was,  for  the  most  part,  winked  at,  if  not  absolutely  sanc- 
tioned, by  the  great  majority  of  officers.  I  knew  from  the 
first  that  I  was  giving  great  ofience  by  speaking  my  mind 
strongly  on  this  subject ;  but  I  felt  that  I  should  be  greatly 
wanting  in  my  duty,  both  to  the  people  and  the  army,  if 
I  did  not,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  raise  my  voice  against 
so  crying  an  evil.  For  the  rest,  I  readily  admit  that  my 
temper  is  a  very  excitable  one,  and  wants  a  good  deal  of 
curbing.  A  knowledge  of  the  disease  is  said  to  be  half  the 
cure,  and  I  trust  the  remaining  half  will  not  be  long  before 
it  is  effected.' 

By  this  time,  John  Nicholson  had  served  for  a  space  of 
nearly  ten  years  in  India  j  there  was  peace  again  over  the 


624  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1849. 

land  5  he  had  suiTered  many  times  from  severe  illness ;  but 
above  all^  he  was  anxious  to  visit  and  to  comfort  his 
widowed  mother.  Another  heavy  affliction  had  fallen 
upon  the  family.  A  younger  brother,  William  Nicholson, 
had  joined  the  27th  Regiment,  which  was  posted  at  Sukkur. 
One  night  the  unfortunate  young  man  rose  from  his  bed, 
and  in  a  state  of  somnambulancy  went  out  of  the  house 
and  fell  down  a  steep  declivity  in  the  neighbourhood. 
From  the  injuries  which  he  then  received  he  died  shortly 
afterwards — the  second  son  whom  Mrs  Nicholson  had  lost 
in  India  within  the  space  of  a  few  years.  This  catastrophe 
fixed  John's  resolution  to  return  to  England ;  and  he  wrote 
to  his  mother  that,  although  he  would  lose  his  appointment, 
he  could  not  restrain  his  inclination  to  visit  England,  and 
that  perhaps  through  the  kindness  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
he  might  on  his  return  to  India  be  nominated  to  the  Punjab 
Commission.*  A  kind  note  from  Sir  Henry,  dated  '  Octo- 
ber 23  rd,  1849,  Oamp,  Mansera,*  set  his  mind  at  rest  upon 
this  point.  '  One  line  to  say  how  sorry  I  am  to  have  missed 
you.  To-morrow  we  shall  be  at  Dumtour,  the  scene  of 
your  gallant  attempt  to  help  Abbot  5  but  what  comer  of 
the  Punjab  is  not  wijtness  to  your  gallantry  ?  Get  married, 
and  come  out  soon  3  and  if  I  am  alive  and  in  office,  it 
shall  not  be  my  fault  if  you  do  not  find  employment  here.* 

*  I  find  the  following  characteristic  passage  in  one  of  his  letters 
written  at  this  time  :  *  What  you  say  about  our  prosperous  dajrs  being 
those  of  the  greatest  temptation,  is  quite  true.  I  have  long  felt  it  so, 
and  prayed  for  grace  to  resist  the  temptation.  I  also  fiilly  agree  in 
all  you  say  about  earthly  distinctions.  Believe  me,  I  estimate  them 
at  their  proper  value.' 


I849-SO-]  ON  FURLOUGH,  625 

But  November  found  him  still  in  the  Punjab.  '  India 
is  like  a  rat-trap,'  he  wrote,  '  easier  to  get  into  than  out  of. 
However,  I  think  I  am  pretty  sure  of  getting  away  on  or 
before  the  first  of  next  month.  I  go  down  the  Sutlej  by 
boat  to  Kurrachee,  and  there  take  the  steamer  to  Bombay. 
From  Bombay  I  hope  to  get  a  passage  in  the  second  Janu- 
ary steamer  to  Cosseir,  where  I  purpose  disembarking  and 
inarching  across  to  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  the  oldest  and 
greatest  of  cities.  Thence  I  shall  drop  down  the  Nile  by 
boat  to  Cairo  and  the  Pyramids.  From  Cairo  I  have  not 
yet  decided  on  my  further  route,  but  I  think  I  shall  pro- 
bably visit  Constantinople.  .  .  .  Herbert  Edwardes  will  be 
my  companion  as  far  as  Cairo  \  but  as  he  has  two  of  John 
Lawrence's  little  girls  with  him  he  will  be  obliged  to  go 
direct  to  England  from  thence.  I  trust  to  reach  home  be- 
fore the  end  of  March.' 

In  this,  however,  he  was  disappointed  3  he  was  detained 
both  at  Constantinople  and  at  Vienna  longer  than  he  had 
anticipated,  and  did  not  reach  England  before  the  end  of 
April. 


His  sojourn  at  Constantinople  was  not  uneventful.  One 
who  knew  him  better  than  any  one  in  the  world,  has 
furnished  me  with  the  following  striking  episode  in  John 
Nicholson's  adventurous  career :  '  Perhaps  in  all  his  life 
there  is  nothing  more  characteristic  of  the  man  than  two 
incidents  which  occurred  during  this  visit  to  Constantinople, 
though  few  besides  his  immediate  friends  have  ever  heard 
of  them.     There  was  at  this  time  living  at  Constantinople 

VOL.  II.  40 


626  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  \iZs^ 

Greneral  G.,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who  had  s^red  with 
distinction  in  the  Austrian  army,  had  married  (I  rather 
think)  an  Hungarian  lady,  had  thus  been  led  to  side  with 
the  Hungarians  in  their  struggle  for  national  existence,  and 
was  now,  in  consequence,  a  political  refugee. 

'  Kossuth,  the  Hungarian  patriot,  had  likewise  found  an 
asylum  in  Turkish  territory  from  the  wnath  of  Austria,  who 
in  vain  demanded  his  surrender.  The  sturdy  Turk,  true  to 
the  traditions  of  the  East,  refused  to  betray  the  man  who 
had  once  eaten  his  salt  j  but  consented,  out  of  courtesy,  to 
keep  him  in  a  kind  of  honourable  arrest  at  a  fort  in  Asia 
Minor.  Meeting  Nicholson  at  Constantinople,  General  G. 
confided  to  him  a  design  for  liberating  Kossuth,  and  begged 
Nicholson  to  give  his  aid.  The  plan  was  somehow  thus : 
Kossuth  was  allowed  daily  to  ride  out  in  the  country  under 
an  escort,  the  direction  of  the  ride  being  changed  from  day 
to  day.  He  was  to  arrange  to  ride  on  a  particular  day  to- 
wards the  sea-coast,  and  was  to  be  met  at  some  suitable 
point  by  the  bold  spirits  who  had  undertaken  his  liberation. 
The  escort  was  then  to  be  overpowered,  Kossuth  was  to  be 
hurried  off  to  sea,  and  ultimately  to  take  refuge  on  board  an 
American  frigate. 

'  Appealed  to  as  an  Englishman  to  aid  in  such  an  enter- 
prise, John  Nicholson  felt  it  impossible  to  refuse  j  and  was 
just  about  to  start  with  Greneral  G.  and  his  companions, 
when  the  plot  so  carefully  matured  got  wind  through  the 
irrepressible  delight  of  an  American  lady  whose  husband 
was  in  the  secret,  and  who  confided  it  under  solemn  vows  of 
secresy  to  her  dearest  friend,  who,  with  equal  joy  and  sym- 
pathy, did  the  same,  and  so  on,  till  Austrian  vigilance  was 


1890,]  ON  FURLOUGH,  627 


just  in  time  to  move  the  Turkish  authorities  to  interfere. 
'  Gtineral  G.  now  besought  Nicholson  to  convey  a  letter 
for  him  to  his  wife,  who  was  confined  in  an  Austrian  fort- 
ress without  tidings  of  her  husband's  fate.  There  was  a 
true  and  pure  chivalry  in  Nicholson  which  would  have  done 
or  dared  anything  to  help  a  woman.  The  Kossuth  enter- 
prise he  had  felt  to  be  in  truth  litde  business  of  his,  and  he 
had  only  joined  in  it  from  natural  generosity  and  a  kind  of 
professional  shame  at  declining  danger  in  any  honourable 
shape.  But  to  cheer  a  poor  lady  in  a  dungeon  with  news 
of  her  husband's  safety  was  clearly  all  right  in  any  part  of 
the  world.  So  he  took  Greneral  G.'s  letter,  and  set  out  for 
the  Austrian  fortress.  Now,  an  Austrian  fortress  is  not  the 
most  accessible  place  in  this  earth,  and  when  Nicholson 
reached  it  he  saw  at  a  glance  that  there  was  no  getting  in 
without  leave.  He  therefore  walked  straight  up  to  the 
guard  at  the  gate  and  asked  for  the  officer  on  duty,  to  whom 
he  was  at  once  conducted.  Putting  a  bold  face  on  the 
matter,  he  simply  said  that  he  was  an  English  officer,  and 
would  be  very  much  obliged  for  permission  to  see  Madame 
G.  The  Austrian  officer  was  evidenUy  a  gentleman  and  a 
man  of  feeling,  and  after  a  few  moments  of  hesitation  at  so 
irregular  a  request,  he  gave  orders  for  Nicholson  to  be  al- 
lowed to  see  the  poor  lady  alone  for  five  minutes.  Arrived 
in  the  cell  of  Madame  G.,  and  the  door  closed,  John 
Nicholson,  with  many  apologies,  pulled  off  one  of  his  boots, 
took  out  the  letter,  and  presented  it,  saying,  '  You  have  just 
live  minutes  to  read  it,  and  give  me  any  message  for  your 
husband.*  The  letter  was  hastily  read,  messages  were  hur- 
riedly given,  gratitude  was  looked  rather  than  told,  the  door 


628  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1850. 

opened,  the  sentry  reappeared,  and  John  Nicholson  de- 
parted with  a  few  words  of  courtesy  and  thanks  to  the 
officer  at  the  gate. 

'  These  two  incidents  speak  for  theniselves.  There  is 
no  lack,  thank  Grod,  of  kind  men,  brave  men,  or  good  men 
among  us,  but  out  of  them  all  how  many  would  have 
done  these  two  things  for  ''his  neighbour  '*  ?  How  many 
respectable  men  would  at  this  moment  condemn  them 
both  ? ' 

It  is  pleasant,  however,  to  learn  what  John  Nicholson's 
master  and  great  example,  Henry  Lawrence,  and  his  high- 
minded  wife,  thought  of  the  enterprise.  In  September, 
1 850,  Lady  Lawrence  wrote  from  Cashmere  :  ' .  .  .  Per- 
haps you  can  hardly  believe  the  interest  and  anxiety  with 
which  we  watched  the  result  of  your  projected  deed  of 
chivalry.  Kossuth  has  taken  his  place  in  my  mind  as  one 
pf  the  true  heroes.  I  only  dread  anything  impairing  this 
idea  of  him  5  and  when  I  read  of  your  plan  my  first  thought 
was  about  your  mother,  mingled  with  the  feeling  that  I 
should  not  grudge  my  own  son  in  such  a  cause.*  In  the 
same  letter  Lady  Lawrence  tells  us  John  Nicholson's 
opinion  of  the  Opera  in  civilized  Europe  :  '  I  must  not  for- 
get to  say  that  we  were  delighted  with  your  verdict  on  the 
Opera.  In  like  manner,  when  we  were  in  town,  we  went 
once^  and,  like  you,  said,  ''  We  have  nothing  so  bad  in  In- 
dia I  "  Did  not  London  fill  you  with  the  bewildering  sight 
of  such  luxury  and  profiision  as  we  in  the  jungles  had 
forgotten  could  exist,  and  of  vice  and  misery  which,  unless 
in  a  year  of  war  or  famine,  could  not  be  equalled  here  ?  I 
think  his  Excellency  Jung  Bahadoor,  if  he  is  dazzled  at  the 


i8so.]  ON  FURLOUGH.  629 

splendour  he  sees^  must  be  equally  astonished  at  the  wretch 
edness.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  Nepaul  one  man  out  of  a 
thousand  lies  down  at  night  hungry,  or  rises  without  know- 
ing where  he  will  get  his  day's  food.'  The  Henry  Law- 
rences were  not  among  those  who  could  see  nothing  good 
in  native  Indian  iilstitutions  and  nothing  defective  in  our  own. 
Nicholson  was  anxious  to  turn  his  furlough  to  professional 
account  by  visiting  the  chief  cities  of  continental  Europe, 
and  studying  the  military  systems  of  all  the  great  European 
Powers.  He  attended  some  gigantic  reviews  in  the  French, 
Russian,  Prussian,  and  Austrian  capitals,  and  was  particularly 
impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  the  Czar  Nicholas  (to  whom 
Nicholson  himself  bore  a  great  personal  resemblance)  man- 
oeuvring twelve  thousand  men  himself  on  the  parade,  and 
saluting  the  troops,  when  he  first  came  upon  the  ground, 
with  a  loud  'Good  morning ! '  To  which  the  twelve  thou- 
sand responded  like  one  man  'Good  morning  ! *  to  the  Czar. 
He  seemed  the  very  ideal  of  an  autocrat,  not  only  ruling  in 
the  state  but  leading  in  the  field.  The  troops  that  Nichol- 
son saw  were  chiefly  the  Russian  Guard,  and  he  thought 
that  in  appearance  they  excelled  our  own  as  much  as  our 
own  Guards  excel  the  British  line.  His  favourable  opinion 
on  this  point  elicited  an  energetic  protest  from  his  friend 
James  Abbott,  of  the  Bengal  Artillery,  whose  chivalrous 
and  romantic  journey — already  spoken  of  in  this  volume — 
from  Herat  to  Khiva,  and  thence  to  St  Petersburg,  after 
negotiating  the  release  of  a  number  of  Russian  subjects 
whom  the  Khiva  chief  held  as  prisoners,  had  given  him  full 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  Russian  army  at  its  outposts  as 
weU  as  at  the  capital. 


6jo  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1851. 

From  this  furlough  tour  in  Europe  Nicholson  carried 
back  with  him  to  India,  where  he  arrived  in  185 1,  a  large 
access  of  military  zeal.  He  also  carried  with  him  a  speci- 
men of  the  Prussian  needle-gun,  with  the  merits  of  which 
he  was  greatly  struck,  but  could  get  few  professional  sol- 
diers to  perceive  the  value  of  a  weapon  which,  fifteen  years 
later,  changed  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe  and  the  ar- 
mament of  every  European  army.  There  seems,  indeed, 
to  have  been  only  one  good  thing  which  he  did  not  take 
back  with  him  to  India.  Herbert  Edwardes  had  written 
to  him  from  Southampton  on  March  20th,  i8ji  :  '  Good- 
bye. We  sail  to-day.  May  you  have  a  sejour  in  Europe 
as  pleasant  as  I  know  you  will  make  it  profitable.  ...  If 
you  return  a  bachelor,  this  may  be  in  your  favour  *  (for  get- 
ting a  frontier  district),  'but  if  your  heart  meets  one  worthy 
of  it,  return  not  alone,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  good  it  is  for 
our  best  purposes  to  be  helped  by  a  noble  wife  who  loves 
you  better  than  all  men  or  women,  but  God  better  than 
you.*  But  he  did  return  alone,  and  alone  he  remained  to 
the  last. 


Soon  after  his  arrival  in  India,  John  Nicholson  was  re- 
appointed a  Deputy-Commissioner  in  the  Punjab,  and  for 
five  years  he  continued  to  work  as  an  administrative  officer, 
almost,  it  might  be  said,  on  the  very  outskirts  of  civilization. 
The  people  whom  he  was  sent  to  govern  weije  a  wild  and 
lawless  race  3  but  in  process  of  time,  by  the  irresistible  force 
of  his  character  and  the  vigour  and  justice  of  his  rule,  he 
literally  cowed  them  into  peace  and  order.     The  strange 


^ 


1851.J  IN  BUNNOO,  •  631 


Story  of  his  frontier  administration,  and  how,  after  the 
second  Sikh  war,  he  was  turned  into  a  demi-god  like  Her- 
cules of  old,  has  been  told  so  well  by  John  Nicholson*s 
best  and  dearest  friend,  that  I  give  it  in  his  very  words, 
written,  it  must  be  remembered,  before  the  great  mutiny  of 
i8j7,  which  too  well  proved  their  truth :  '  Of  what  class  is 
John  Nicholson  ?  *  wrote  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes.  '  Of  none  : 
for  truly  he  stands  alone.  But  he  belongs  essentially  to  the 
school  of  Henry  Lawrence.  I  only  knocked  down  the  walls 
of  the  Bunnoo  forts.  John  Nicholson  has  since  reduced 
the  people  (the  most  ignorant,  depraved,  and  bloodthirsty  in 
the  Punjab)  to  such  a  state  of  good  order  and  respect  for 
the  laws,  that  in  the  last  year  of  his  charge  not  only  was 
there  no  murder,  burglary,  or  highway  robbery,  but  not  an 
attempt  at  any  of  these  crimes.  The  Bunnoochees,  reflect- 
ing on  their  own  metamorphosis  in  the  village  gatherings 
under  the  vines,  by  the  streams  they  once  delighted  so  to 
fight  for,  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  good  Ma- 
homedans  of  historic  ages  must  have  been  just  like  '^  Nikkul 
Seyn !  **  They  emphatically  approve  him  as  every  inch  a 
Ruler.  And  so  he  is.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  him.  He 
must  be  seen.  Lord  Dalhousie — no  mean  judge — perhaps 
summed  up  his  high  military  and  administrative  qualities, 
when  he  called  him  "  a  tower  of  strength."  I  can  only 
say  that  I  think  him  equally  fit  to  be  commissioner  of  a 
civil  division  or  general  of  an  army.  Of  the  strength  of  his 
personal  character,  I  will  only  tell  two  anecdotes,  i.  If 
you  visit  either  the  battle-field  of  Goojrat  or  Chilianwallah, 
the  country  people  begin  the  narrative  of  the  battle  thus : 
''Nikkul  Seyn  stood  just  there''     2.  A  brotherhood  of 


632  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1851— 5*. 

1^'akeers  iu  Hazareh  abandoned  all  ibrms  of  Asiatic  mona- 
chism,  and  commenced  the  worship  of  "Nikfcui  Seyn;'' 
which  they  still  continue !  Repeatedly  they  have  met  John 
Nicholson  since,  and  fallen  at  his  feet  as  their  Gooroo  (reh- 
gious  or  spiritual  guide).  He  has  flogged  them  soundly  on 
every  occasion,  and  sometimes  imprisoned  them  5  but  the 
sect  of  the  "  Nikkul  Seynees  **  remains  as  devoted  as  ever. 
"  Sanguis  martyrorum  est  semen  Ecclesiae."  On  the  last 
whipping,  John  Nicholson  released  them,  on  the  condition 
that  they  would  transfer  their  adoration  to  John  Becher  3 — 
but  arrived  at  their  monastery  in  Hazareh,  they  once  more 
resumed  the  worship  of  the  relentless  '*  Nikkul  Seyn."  '  * 

Sir  Henry  Lawrence  at  this  time,  as  already  narrated, 
was  in  political  charge  of  the  States  of  Rajpootana,  but  he 
had  never  lost  sight  of  that  band  of  Assistants  whom  he  had 
drawn  aroimd  him  in  the  Punjab,  and  trained  in  his  own 
'  school  *  of  duty — duty  not  more  to  the  Government  than 
to  the  people.  Nor  had  the  scholars  ever  forgot  or  ceased 
to  love  their  master.  Between  them,  to  the  last,  an  affec- 
tionate correspondence  was  maintained.     Here  is  a  touch- 

♦  *  Raikes'  Notes  on  the  Revolt  in  the  North- Western  Provinces 
of  India.'  I  have  further  ascertained  from  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes 
that  this  sect  of  devotees  arose  when  John  Nicholson  was  scouring 
the  country  between  Attock  and  the  Jhelum,  in  1848,  making  almost 
incredible  marches,  and  performing  prodigies  of  valour,  with  a  mere 
handful  of  followers.  It  was  a  simple  case  of  the  worship  of  Forces 
such  as  they  had  seen  in  no  other  man.  The  sect  was  not  namerous» 
and  the  last  of  the  original  disciples  dug  his  own  grave,  and  was 
found  dead,  at  Hurripoor,  in  the  district  of  Hazareh,  not  long  after 
John  Nicholson  fell  at  DelhL  Whether  any  soccessors  have 
is  not  known. 


X8S3-]  LETTER  FROM  HENR  V  LA  WRENCE.  633 

ing  page  of  it — showing  how  strong  were  the  affection  and 
admiration  which  Nicholson*s  fine  qualities  excited  : 

*  Mount  Aboo,  September  21,  1853,  7i  a.m. 

'  My  dear  Nicholson, — ^Your  long  and  kind  letter  of 
May  will,  I  hope,  some  day  be  answered  j  but  I  write  now 
by  my  wife's  bedside  to  give  you  a  message  she  has  just 
sent  you.  "  Tell  him  I  love  him  dearly  as  if  he  were  my 
son.  I  know  that  he  is  noble  and  pure  to  his  fellow-men  j 
that  he  thinks  not  of  himself  5  but  tell  him  he  is  a  sinner  5 
that  he  will  one  day  be  as  weak  and  as  near  death  as  I  am. 
Ask  him  to  read  but  a  few  verses  of  the  Bible  daily,  and  to 
say  that  collect,  '  Blessed  Lord,  who  hast  caused  all  holy 
Scriptures  to  be  written  for  our  learning,  grant  that  we 
may  in  such  wise  hear  them,  read,  mark,  learn,'  &:c.  &c." 
(Collect  for  Second  Sunday  in  Advent.)  I  have  just  told 
her  I  had  written  to  you  as  she  had  bidden  me — (she  has 
often,  in  a  general  way,  done  so  the  last  month)  5  she  re- 
plied, ''  May  God  bless  what  you  have  said  to  him  !  I  love 
him  very  much.  I  often  think  of  all  those  fine  young  fel- 
lows in  the  Punjab,  and  what  our  example  ought  to  have 
been  to  them,  and  how  much  we  have  neglected  them." 
My  dear  Nicholson,  these  may  or  may  not  be  dying  words ; 
but  she  is  very,  very  ill,  and  has  been  so  for  six  weeks. 
She  rallied  for  a  while,  but  has  again  had  three  bad  nights 
of  pain  and  sleeplessness.  At  5  a.m.  this  morning  she  had 
a  violent  attack  in  her  head,  from  which  she  only  raUied 
at  7  A.M.,  but  is  still  awake  now  at  8  a.m.,  though  quiet 
and  composed.  Daily  and  nightly  she  talks  of  you  and 
others  as  of  her  sons  and  brothers.     Her  advice  and  exam- 


634  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON  [1854, 


pie  to  you  all  has  ever  been  good.  Would  that  mine  had 
been  equally  so.  We  have  been  cast  on  a  pleasant  land 
here,  and  are  thankfid  for  what  God  has  done  in  spite  of 
ourselves.  Humanly  speaking,  she  could  not  be  alive  now 
had  we  not  left  Lahore.* 

'  Yours  ever, 

'  H.  M.  L.' 

I  must  soon  proceed  to  speak  of  the  stirring  events  of 
the  last  few  months  of  John  Nicholson's  life — months 
during  which  great  promises  became  great  performances, 
and  heroic  reputations  ripened  with  imexampled  rapidity. 
But  before  I  pass  on  to  this  brightest  but  saddest  chapter  of 
all,  I  must  pause  for  a  little  space  to  give  some  extracts 
from  Nicholson's  correspondence,  written  during  the  period 
of  his  administration  of  a  frontier  district  of  India's  frontier 
province.  They  show  not  merely  the  nature  of  his  work 
but  the  tenor  of  his  thoughts  at  this  time.  Writing  of  the 
establishment  of  a  Christian  mission  at  Peshawur,  he  said : 
'  Bunnoo,  Feb.  19th,  1854.  I  wish  your  mission  at  Pesha- 
wur every  success,  but  you  require  skilfril  and  practical  men 

*  Lady  Lawrence  lingered  until  the  middle  of  January,  1854. 
Among  a  few  precious  relics  of  the  friendship  between  Lawrence  and 
Nicholson,  there  is  a  New  Testament  with  *  Honoria  Lawrence  *  on 
the  title-page,  and  these  words  in  her  husband's  hand-writing  on  the 
fly-leaf,  'John  Nicholson  :  in  memory  of  his  friend  and  warm  well- 
wisher,  Honoria  Lawrence,  who  was  this  day  laid  in  her  grave. — H. 
M.  Lawrence,  Moimt  Aboo,  January  17,  1854*  *  Who  can  wonder,' 
writes  a  beloved  friend  of  the  great  men  gone  before,  *  at  the  influence 
exercised  by  those  two  noble  hearts  on  all  around  them,  when  s/u  on 
her  death-bed,  and  he  returning  from  her  grave,  could  thus  set  them- 
selves aside  to  seek  the  good  of  others  7 ' 


18S4.]         CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  EDWARDES.  635 

as  well  as  good  men.  ...  I  will  send  you  five  hundred 
rupees  (a^jo),  and  as  I  don*t  want  to  get  credit  fi-om  you 
for  better  motives  than  really  actuate  me,  I  will  tell  you 
the  truth,  that  I  give  it  because  I  know  it  will  gratify  my 
mother  to  see  my  name  in  the  subscription-list.  .  .  .  On 
second  thoughts,  I  won't  have  my  name  in  the  Mission 
subscription-list.  Write  me  down  *' Anonymous.'*  I  can 
tell  my  mother  it  is  I.'  In  the  same  letter,  adverting  to 
the  war  in  the  Crimea,  he  says :  *  I  feel  I  missed  the  tide 
of  my  fortune  when  I  gave  up  the  idea  of  learning  Turkish 
at  home.'  On  the  treaty  of  friendship  with  the  Afghans,  he 
wrote  to  Herbert  Edwardes : '  Bunnoo,  May  1 4th,  1 854.  How 
progress  negotiations  with  the  Dost  ?  In  dealing  with  the 
Afghans,  I  hope  you  will  never  forget  that  their  name  is 
faithlessness,  even  among  themselves  5  what,  then,  can 
strangers  expect  ?  I  have  always  hopes  of  a  people,  how- 
ever barbarous  in  their  hospitality,  who  appreciate  and 
practise  good  faith  among  themselves — the  Wuzeerees,  for 
instance — but  in  Afghanistan  son  betrays  father,  and  brother 
brother,  without  remorse.  I  would  not  take  the  trouble  to 
tell  you  all  this,  which  you  no  doubt  know  already,  but  I 
cannot  help  remembering  how  even  the  most  experienced 
and  astute  of  our  political  officers,  in  Afghanistan,  were 
deceived  by  that  winning  and  imposing  frankness  of  man- 
ner which  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  give  the  Afghans, 
as  it  did  to  the  first  serpent,  for  its  own  purposes.'  To  the 
same  correspondent  he  wrote,  June  21st,  1854:  'By-the- 
by,  if  there  are  any  humming-tops,  Jew's-harps,  or  other 
toys,  at  Peshawur,  which  would  take  with  Wuzeeree  chil- 
dren, I  should  be  much  obliged  if  you  would  send  me  a 


636  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1854. 


few.     I  don't  ask  for  peg-tops^  as  I  suppose  I  should  have 
to  teach  how  to  use  them^  which  would  be  an  undignified 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  a  district  officer.  Fancy  a  wretched 
little  Wuzeeree  child^  who  had  been  put  up  to  poison  food, 
on  my  asking  him  if  he  knew  it  was  wrong  to  kill  people, 
saying  he  knew  it  was  wrong  to  kill  with  a  knife  or  a  sword. 
I  asked  him  why,  and   he  said,  '^  because  the  blood  left 
marks.''     It  ended  in  my  ordering  him  to  be  taken  away 
from  his  own  relatives  (who  ill-used  him  as  much  as  they 
ill-taught  him),  and  made  over  to  some  respectable  man 
who  wovdd  engage  to  treat  and  bring  him  up  well.    The 
little  chap  heard  the  order  given,  and  called  out,  ''Oh, 
there's  such  a  good  man  in  the  Meeree  Tuppahs^  please 
send  me  to  him."     I  asked  him  how  he  knew  the  man  he 
named  was  good  ?   and  he  said,  "  He  never  gives  any  one 
bread  without  ghee*  on  it.'*     I  found  out,  on  inquiry,  that 
the  man  in  question  was  a  good  man  in  other  respects,  and 
be  agreeing,  I  made  the  little  fellow  over  to  him,  and  I 
have  seldom  seen  anything  more  touching  than  their  mu- 
tual adoption  of  each  other  as  father  and  son,  the  child 
clasping  the  man's  beard,  and  the  man  with  his  hands  on 
the  child's  head.     Well,  this  is  a  long  story  for  me,  and  all 
grown  out  of  a  humming-top !     Before  I  close  this  I  must 
tell  you  of  the  last  Bunnoochee  murder,  it  is  so  horribly 
characteristic  of  the  blood-thirstiness  and  bigotry  of  their 
dispositions.     The  murderer  killed  his  brother  near  Groree* 
wala,  and  was  brought  in  to  me  on  a  frightfully  hot  even- 
ing, looking  dreadfully  parched  and  exhausted.     '*  Why," 
said  I,  '*  is  it  possible  you  have  walked  in,  fasting,  on  a 

♦  C\m^^  butter. 


k. 


1 855— S^-l         ^  TTBMPTED  ASSASSIN  A  TION,  637 


day  like  this?"     ''Thank  God,'*  said  he,  ''I  am  a  regular 
faster.'*     *'  Why  have  you  killed  your  brother  ?  **     "I  saw 
a  fowl  killed  last  night,  and  the  sight  of  the  blood  put  the 
devil  into  me."     He  had  chopped  up  his  brother,  stood  a 
long  chase,  and  been  marched  in  here,  but  he  was  keeping 
the  fast r     To  Edwardes,  Sept.  ist,  1855.    '.  .  .  I  have 
asked  Lord  Hardinge  to  give  me  something  in  the  Crimea  5 
I  think,  with  our  reputation,  and  perhaps  destiny  as  a  na- 
tion trembling  in  the  balance,  every  man  (without  encum- 
brance) who  thinks  he  can  be  of  the  slightest  use  ought  to 
go  there.*     To   the   same.     'Bunnoo,  Oct.  23 rd,  1855. 
...  I  have  had   a  kind  letter  from  Lawrence,  trying  to 
dissuade  me  from  going  to  the  Crimea,  setting  before  me 
the  prospects  I  give  up  here,  and  the  annoyance  and  op- 
position which,  as  a  Company's  officer,  I  am  sure  to  en- 
counter there.     I  had  fully  considered  all  this  before  I 
acted,  and  though  it  is  not  without  a  certain  regret  that  I 
give  up  my  prospects  of  an  early  independence,  I  believe, 
under  the  circumstances,  I  am  doing  what  is  right,  and  I 
trust  to  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  the  State  some  service, 
the  feeling  of  which  will  compensate  me  for  the  worldly 
advantages  I  forego.* 

The  following  letter,  which  I  give  in  its  entire  state, 
shows  what  were  the  dangers  to  which  he  was  exposed  in 
that  wild  country : 

*  Bunnoo,  January  21,  1856. 

'My  dear  Edwardes, — I  take  up  my  pen  to  give 
you  an  account  of  a  narrow  escape  I  had  from  assassination 
the  day  before  yesterday.     I  was  standing  at  the  gate  of 


638  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1856. 

my  garden  at  noon^  with  Sladen  and  Cadell^  and  four  or 
five  chuprassies^*  when  a  man  with  a  sword  rushed  sud- 
denly up  and  called  out  for  me.  I  had  on  a  long  fur  pe- 
lisse of  native  make^  which  I  fancy  prevented  his  recogniz- 
ing me  at  first.  This  gave  time  for  the  only  chuprassie 
who.  had  a  sword  to  get  between  us^  to  whom  he  called 
out  contemptuously  to  stand  aside^  saying  he  had  come  to 
kill  me>  and  did  not  want  to  hurt  a  common  soldier.  The 
relief  sentry  for  the  one  in  front  of  my  house  happening  to 
pass  opportunely  behind  me  at  this  time,  I  snatched  his 
musket^  and^  presenting  it  at  the  would-be  assassin^  told 
him  I  would  fire  if  he  did  not  put  down  his  sword  and 
surrender.  He  replied,  that  either  he  or  I  must  die  3  so  I 
had  no  alternative,  and  shot  him  through  the  heart,  the 
ball  passing  through  a  religious  book  which  he  had  tied 
on  his  chest,  apparently  as  a  charm.  The  poor  wretch 
turns  out  to  be  a  Marwutee,  who  has  been  religiously  mad 
for  some  time.  He  disposed  of  all  his  property  in  charity 
the  day  before  he  set  out  for  Bunnoo.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  his  spiritual  instructor  has  disappeared  mysteriously, 
and,  I  am  afraid,  got  into  the  hills.  I  believe  I  owe  my 
safety  to  the  fur  chogah,  for  I  should  have  been  helpless 
had  he  rushed  straight  on. 

'  The  chuprassie  (an  orderly  fi*om  my  poHce  battalion) 
replied  to  his  cry  for  my  blood,  '*  All  our  names  are  Nikkul 
Seyn  here,'*  and,  I  think,  would  very  likely  have  got  the 
better  of  him,  had  not  I  interfered,  but  I  should  not  have 
been  justified  in  allowing  the  man  to  risk  his  life,  when  1 
nad  such  a  sure  weapon  as  a  loaded  musket  and  bayonet  io 

*  NalWe  of^clal  attendants — literally,  badge-bearers. 


i8«;6.]  ON  OUR  CENTRAL  ASIAN  POLICY,  639 

my  hand.  I  am  very  sony  for  this  occurrence,  but  it  was 
quite  an  exceptional  one,  and  has  not  at  all  altered  my 
opinion  of  the  settled  peacefid  state  of  this  portion  of  the 
district.  Making  out  the  criminal  returns  for  1855  the 
other  day,  I  found  that  we  had  not  had  a  single  murder  or 
highway  robbery,  or  attempt  at  either,  in  Bunnoo  through- 
out the  year.  The  crime  has  all  gone  down  to  the  southern 
end  of  the  district,  where  I  am  not  allowed  to  interfere. 

'  Yours  affectionately, 

*  J.  Nicholson.' 

From  Cashmere,  which  was  fast  becoming  holiday- 
ground,  John  Nicholson  wrote  on  July  9,  i8j6,  at  some 
length  on  the  subject  of  our  Central  Asian  policy,  and  the 
letter  is  worthy  of  attention  at  the  present  time,  when  the 
'  masterly  inactivity  *  of  our  statesmen  is  so  much  com- 
mended. * .  .  .  .  The  news  of  the  Shahzadah  having  been 
turned  out  of  Herat  by  his  own  General,  is  important  if 
true,  as  it  shows  that  Herat  has  not  yet  fallen  to  Persia,  and 
that  we  may  be  in  time  to  save  it.  I  doubt,  however, 
whether  Government  is  sufficiently  alive  to  the  importance 
of  preserving  Herat  independent  of  Persia.  We  were  madly 
anxious  on  the  subject  some  years  ago,  but  I  fear  we  have 
now  got  into  the  opposite  extreme  j  and  that,  because  we 
burnt  our  fingers  in  our  last  uncalled-for  expedition  into 
Afghanistan,  we  shall  in  future  remain  inactive,  even 
though  active  interference  should  become  a  duty  and  a 
political  necessity.  The  Russians  talk  much  about  the 
exercise  of  their  "legitimate  influence'*  in  Central  Asia. 
When  we  cease  to  exercise  any  influence  in  a  country  so 


640  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1856. 

near  our  own  border  (and  which  has  been  correctly  enough 
called  the  Gate  of  Afghanistan)  as  Herat^  I  shall  believe 
that  the  beginning  of  the  cessation  of  our  power  in  the 
East  has  arrived.  And  if  our  rulers  only  knew  it^  how  easy 
the  thing  is.  We  don*t  require  a  large  army,  which  in 
those  countries  it  is  always  difficult  to  feed  ahd  protect  the 
^^E!&^'^  ^^*  ^^^  thousand  picked  men,  with  picked 
officers,  and  armed  with  the  best  description  of  weapon 
(such  as  the  revolving  rifle  with  which  the  Yankees  over- 
threw the  Mexicans),  would  roll  the  Persians  like  a  carpet 
back  from  Herat,  and  do  more  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
influence  and  reputation  than  a  year's  revenue  of  India 
spent  in  treaties  and  subsidies.  We  have  a  right  to  infer, 
from  the  experience  of  the  past,  that  a  select  body  of  troops, 
however  small,  could  achieve  anything  in  Central  Asia. 
In  Afghanistan,  even,  our  Native  Inj&ntry — save  in  the 
snow — never  fought  unsuccessfully  5  and  many  of  the 
regiments  were  indifferent  enough,  and  with  anything  but 
heroes  for  leaders.  I  fear,  however,  that  while  our  people 
will  bear  in  mind  the  disasters  occasioned  by  incompetence 
without  a  parallel,  they  will  ignore  the  lessons  taught  by 
the  successful  advances  of  Pollock  and  Nott,  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  Afghan  nation,  through  as  difficult  a  country  as 
any  in  the  world,  and  with  no  loss  to  speak  of^  though  our 
infantry  in  those  days  had  neither  percussion  locks  nor 
nfles.  Well,  the  long  and  short  of  all  this  is,  if  Persia  does 
not  withdraw  sharp  from  Herat,  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
prevail  on  Grovemment  to  make  her.  Under  any  competent 
leader,  I  should  be  glad  to  go  in  any  capacity.' 

Here  is  a  ^ra^e  oi  \k<&  i^tecious  compensationB  of 


1857]  PASSING  DISCONTENTS.  641 


work  well  done:  'Murdan,  March  9,  1857.  •  •  •  ^^^ 
Coke  writes  ipe  that  the  Bunnoochees,  well  tamed  as  they 
have  been,  speak  kindly  and  gratefully  of  me.  I  would 
rather  have  heard  this  than  got  a  present  of  a  «^iooo,  for 
there  could  be  no  stronger  testimony  of  my  having  done 
my  duty  among  them.  I  hear  that  in  an  assembly  the 
other  day  it  was  allowed  ''  that  I  resembled  a  good  Maho- 
medan  of  the  kind  told  of  in  old  books,  but  not  to  be  met 
with  now-a-days."  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  it  were  more 
true  5  but  I  can't  help  a  feeling  of  pride,  that  a  savage 
people  whom  I  was  obliged  to  deal  with  so  sternly,  should 
appreciate  and  give  me  credit  for  good  intentions.* 

It  happened  at  this  time — the  early  spring  of  1857  (^ 
it  happens,  indeed,  at  some  time  or  other  in  the  lives  of 
most  men)— that  there  came  upon  John  Nicholson  a  pain- 
ful feeling,  of  which  he  could  not  dispossess  himself,  that 
his  services  were  not  duly  appreciated  j  and  he  was  anxious, 
therefore,  to  depart  from  the  Punjab.  I  need  not  enter  into 
the  causes  of  his  discontent,  for  the  intentions  which  he  had 
formed  were  overruled  by  a  higher  power.  It  is  enough  to 
aiibrd  a  glimpse  of  what  was  passing  in  his  mind.  To 
Herbert  Edwardes  he  wrote :  '  Camp,  Topee,  March  21st, 
1857.  I  telegraphed  to  you  yesterday,  "I  wish  to  leave 
the  Punjab.  My  reasons  hereafter  by  letter."  I  feel  very 
sorry  indeed  to  have  been  obliged  to  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  is  better  for  me  to  leave  the  Punjab  at  once  while  I 
can  do  so  quietly.  ...  If  you  got  my  telegraphic  message 
before  leaving  Calcutta,  I  think  you  will  probably  have 
spoken  to  Lord  Canning.  As  I  said  before,  I  am  not 
ambitious,  and  shall  be  glad  to  take  any  equivalent  to  ^^k:c$k\.« 

VOL.  II.  41 


dp  GENERAL  'JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

class  Deputy-Commissionership.  I  should  like  to*  go  to 
(Jude  if  Sir  Henry  would  like  to  have  me.  It  wovdd  be  a 
pleasure  to  me  to  try  and  assist  him^  but  if  he  would  rather 
not  bring  in  Punjabees,  do  not  press  it  on  him.  What  I 
should  like  best  of  all  would  be,  if  we  could  get  away 
together,  or  anywhere  out  of  this.  .  .  .'  To  the  same. 
*  Peshawur,  April  7th,  1857.  .  .  .  You  have  done  all  you 
could,  and  I  knew  would  do,  for  me  with  Lord  Canning. 
...  If  the  Persian  war  last,  an  Irregular  brigade  there 
would  suit  me  very  well,  as  would  one  on  this  frontier.' 

On  receipt  of  Nicholson's  telegram,  Herbert  Edwardes, 
who  had  gone  to  Calcutta  to  see  his  sick  wife  embark  for 
England,  obtained  an  interview  with  Lord  Canning,  and 
laid  his  friend's  wishes  before  him.  Lord  Canning  was 
greatly  interested  with  the  recital,  and  seemed  inclined  to 
give  Nicholson  a  command  in  the  still  unfinished  war  with 
Persia.  There  were,  however,  difficulties  in  the  way,  as 
Nicholson  was  a  Bengal  officer,  and  the  army  in  the  Persian 
Gulf  was  from  the  Bombay  Presidency  3  but  still  the  Go- 
vernor-General expressed  his  willingness  to  do  anything  in 
his  power.  Desirous  of  leaving  on  Lord  Canning's  mind  a 
last  impression  of  the  manner  of  man  whose  cause  he  had 
been  urging,  Edwardes  ended  with  these  words :  *  Well, 
my  Lord,  you  may  rely  upon  this,  that  if  ever  there  is  a 
desperate  deed  to  be  done  in  India,  John  Nicholson  is  the 
man  to  do  it.'  This  was  at  the  end  of  March,  1857,  when 
mutiny  was  beginning  to  show  itself  in  the  cantonment  of 
Barrackpore.  The  next  interview  that  Edwardes  had  with 
Lord  Canning  was  in  February,  1862.  The  deluge  seemed 
to  have  come  av\d  ^ovis  W\.^«ft\\  those  dates.     '  Do  vou 


i8S70  ^N  COUNCIL  A  T  PESHA  WUR.  64J 

remember,  my  Lord,  our  last  conversation  about  John 
Nicholson  ? '  Lord  Canning  said,  with  much  feeling,  *  I 
remember  it  well !  * 


When  the  news  of  the  outbreak  at  Meerut  and  the 
seizure  of  Delhi  reached  the  Punjab,  in  May,  1857,  Nichol- 
son was  Depuly-Commissioner  at  Peshawur,  the  outpost  of 
British  India.  At  the  same  place,  in  high  position,  were 
two  other  men,  of  the  true  heroic  stamp  j  men  equal  to  any 
conjuncture,  men  to  look  danger  of  the  worst  type  coolly  and 
steadily  in  the  face.  General  Sydney  Cotton  commanded 
the  troops  at  the  station,  and  Colonel  Herbert  Edwardes 
was  the  Commissioner  in  political  charge  of  the  division. 
The  latter  had  only  returned  a  week  before  from  Calcutta. 
A  day  or  two  after  the  outbreak  there  arrived  also  at  Pesha- 
wur, as  we  have  already  seen,  a  fourth,  of  whom  history 
will  take  equal  account — ^Brigadier  Neville  Chamberlain, 
who  commanded  the  Punjab  Irregular  force ;  and  on  the 
13th  of  May  a  Council  of  War  was  held  at  the  quarters  of 
Major-General  Reed,  who  commanded  the  Peshawur  divi- 
sion of  the  army,  to  organize  some  plan  of  instant  action, 
not  merely  for  the  defence  of  the  Peshawur  valley,  but  to 
contribute  to  the  defence  of  the  Punjab,  and  strengthen  the 
hands  of  Sir  John  Lawrence  in  the  deadly  struggle  that  was 
coming. 

Upon  the  first  receipt  of  the  sad  tidings  of  the  revolt  of 
the  Sepoy  Army,  John  Nicholson,  ever  a  man  of  fertile  re- 
sources, had  recommended  as  a  measure  of  primal  import- 
ance, for  the  general  defence  of  the  province,  the  forraatioi\ 


644  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


I 


of  a  Movable  Column,  to  traverse  the  country  and  to 
operate  upon  any  point  where  danger  might  present  itself. 
The  proposal  was  made  to  his  official  chief  and  beloved 
friend,  Herbert  Edwardes,  who  grasped  it  with  all  confidence 
and  cordiality,  and  now  laid  it  before  the  Council  of  War, 
who  unanimously  adopted  it,  with  a  goodly  string  of  other 
sturdy  measures,  of  which,  perhaps,  not  the  least  important 
was  that  by  which  (General  Reed,  by  virtue  of  seniority,  was 
declared  Commander  of  all  the  troops  in  the  Punjab  5  a 
stroke  by  which  that  General  was  enabled  to  establish 
his  head-quarters  with  those  of  Sir  John  Lawrence  at  Rawul 
Pindee,  and  unity  was  thus  given  to  the  civil  and  military 
government  of  the  province. 

The  formation  of  the  Movable  Column  was  heartily  ap- 
proved by  Sir  John  Lawrence,  and  carried  into  executioD 
without  delay.  Nicholson,  Edwardes,  Sydney  Cotton,  and 
Chamberlain,  had  all  volunteered  for  the  honour  of  com- 
manding it.  The  choice  of  the  Chief  Commis^oner  fell  (Mi 
Chamberlain,  who  at  once  took  the  field,  leaving  CottoD, 
Edwardes,  and  Nicholson  to  be  the  wardens  of  the  frontier. 

In  that  month  of  May  there  was  no  lack  of  work  at 
Peshawur  for  the  political  officers  >  and  it  is  hard  «to  say  how 
much  the  safety  of  the  empire  depended,  under  €rod*s  good 
providence,  upon  the  energies  of  Herbert  Edwardes  and 
John  Nicholson,  at  their  peril-girt  frontier  station.  Hand 
in  hand,  as  close  friends,  dwelling  beneath  the  same  roof, 
and  moved  by  kindred  impulses,  they  strove  mightily,  day 
after  day,  from  morn  to  night,  with  wonderful  success. 
*  Dark  news,'  wrote  Edwardes,  some  time  afterwards,  in  his 
official  report  of  Vive^  memorable  transactioi^^  '  kept  com- 


t857.]  THE  MUTINY,— PRECAUTIONS,  645 

.ng  up  now  to  Peshawur,  and  a  rapid  change  was  observed 
in  the  Native  regiments  \  precautions  began ;  Colonel 
Nicholson  promptly  removed  the  treasure  (about  twenty- 
four  lakhs)  from  the  centre  of  cantonments  to  the  fort  out- 
side^ where  the  magazine  was^  and  Brigadier  Cotton  placed 
a  European  garrison  in  it  at  once.  At  Colonel  Nicholson's 
request,  the  Brigadier  removed  from  the  outskirts  of  the 
cantonment,  and  established  his  head-quarters  at  the  old 
Residency,  which  was  centrical  for  all  military  orders,  and 
was  close  to  the  civil  officers  for  mutual  consultation.  The 
Residency  is  a  strong  double-storied  building,  capable  oi 
defence,  and  it  was  named  as  the  rendezvous  for  all  kdies 
and  children,  on  the  occurrence  of  any  alarm  by  day  or 
night.  Full  often  was  it  crowded  during  the  eventful 
months  that  followed.  ....  I  think  it  must  have  been  on 
the  i6th  of  May  that  Sir  John  Lawrence  consented  to  xay 
raising  a  thousand  Mooltanee  Horse;  for,  before  leaving 
Peshawur  for  Pindee  that  evening,  I  left  the  orders  with 
Colonel  Nicholson,  to  be  issued  in  our  joint  names  (for  the 
Khans  in  the  Derajut  were  as  much  his  friends  as  mine). 
On  the  1 8th  of  May,  however,  permission  was  given  to 
raise  two  thousand  5  matters  were  growing  worse  each  day, 
and  it  was  now  clearly  understood  by  us,  in  the  council  as- 
sembled at  Pindee,*  that  whatever  gave  rise  to  the  mutiny, 
it  had  settled  down  into  a  struggle  for  empire,  under  Ma- 
homedan  guidance,  with  the  Mogul  capital  as  its  centre. 
From  that  moment  it  was  felt  that,  at  any  cost,  Delhi  must 
be  regained On  the  19th  of  May,  Colonel  Nichol- 

*  Colonel  Edwardes  had  gone  to  Rawul  Pindee  for  a  few  days 
to  consult  with  Sir  John  Lawrence. 


646  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

son  telegraphed  to  us  at  Pindee  that  the  detachment  of  the 
Tenth  Irregvdar  Cavalry,  at  Murdan,  showed  signs  of  disaf- 
fection. On  the  same  day,  he  imprisoned  the  Mahomedan 
editor  (a  native  of  Persia)  of  the  native  newspaper  at  Pesh- 
awar, for  publishing  a  false  and  incendiary  report  that  the 
Kelat>i-Ghilzee  regiment  had  murdered  its  officers  at  the 
outposts.  It  was  also  on  this  day  that  Mr  Wakefield  arrest- 
ed a  suspicious-looking  Fakeer  who  was  lurking  about  Pesh- 
awur,  and  discovered  upon  his  person  a  purse  containing 
forty-six  rupees,  and  under  his  armpits  a  treasonable  letter. 
The  Fakeer  declared  that  the  paper  was  an  old  one  which 
he  had  picked  up  accidentally  a  long  while  ago,  and  kept 
to  wrap  up  snuff.  But  there  was  no  sign  of  either  age  or 
snuff  in  it,  and  the  festival  of  the  "  £ed,**  alluded  to,  was  to 
fall  on  the  25th  and  26th  instant  ^  and  already  the  rumour 
was  abroad,  that  on  that  religious  occasion  the  Mahomedans 
of  the  city  and  valley  were  to  rise  and  help  the  Sepoys. 
The  Fakeer  admitted  that  he  was  a  frequenter  of  the  Sepoy 
lines  I  and  though  Sepoys  do  give  cowries  and  rice  to  b^- 
gars  freely  enough,  they  do  not  give  forty-six  bright  new 
rupees  for  nothing,  neither  do  Fakeers  *  conceal  to  the  last, 
under  their  armpits,  a  housewife  with  nothing  in  it  but 
antimony  and  snufF.  There  was  no  doubt,  therefore,  on 
Nicholson*s  mind,  that  this  letter  was  from  Mahomedan  con- 
spirators in  the  garrison  to  Mahomedan  conspirators  at  the 
outposts,  inviting  them  to  come  in  with  a  few  English  of- 
ficers* heads,  and  join  in  a  rising  on  the  a6th  of  May.  Warn- 
ed by  these  discoveries,  and  by  secret  information  from  both 

*  This  man,  on  whom  the  letter  was  found,  was  sulcequently 
tried  by  a  commission  and  hanged. 


I8S7.J     DISARMING  OF  THE  NATIVE  REGIMENTS.       647 

the  city  and  cantonment.  Colonel  Nicholson  had  endeavour- 
ed to  raise  levies  through  the  most  promising  jof  the  chiefs 
of  the  district,  to  help  the  European  soldiers  in  the  struggle 
that  was  coming.  But  the  time  had  passed,  a  great  danger 
impended  over  the  cantonment ;  a  profound  sensation  had 
been  made  by  the  startling  fact  that  we  had  lost  Delhi. 
Men  remembered  Caubul.  Not  one  hundred  could  be 
found  to  join  such  a  desperate  cause Colonel  Ni- 
cholson was  living  with  me  at  Peshawur,  and  we  had  laid 
down  to  sleep  in  our  clothes,  in  a  conviction  that  the  night 
could  not  pass  over  quietly.  At  midnight  the  news  of  what 
had  occurred  at  Nowshera  *  reached  us  j  and  a  most  anxi- 
ous council  did  we  hold  on  it.  It  was  probable  that  the 
55  th  Native  Infantry  at  Murdan  would  already  be  in  open 
mutiny,  and  in  possession  of  the  fort.  But  to  send  a  reliable 
force  against  them  from  Peshawur  would  only  have  been  to 
give  the  Native  regiments  a  preponderance  in  the  canton- 
ment. Again,  the  news  from  Nowshera  must  soon  reach 
the  Sepoys  in  Peshawur,  and  probably  be  the  signal  for  a 
rise.  The  advantage,  therefore,  must  be  with  whoever  took 
the  initiative  5  and  we  resolved  at  once  to  go  to  the  Gen- 
eral, and  advise  the  disarming  of  the  native  garrison  at  day- 
light.' 

The  responsibility  of  the  measure  rested  with  Sydney 
Cotton ;  but  he  was  not  one  to  shrink  from  it.  There  was, 
doubtless,  in  the  conjuncture  which  had  then  arisen,  no  small 
hazard  in  such  a  course  of  action  as  was  now  proposed  to 
him  J  for  we  had  external,  no  less  than  internal,  dangers  to 
face.     It  was  certain  that  the  Afghans  were  greedy  for  the 

*  Outbreak  of  the  55th  and  24th  Native  Infantry  Regiments. 


648  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


recovery  of  Peshawur,  and  it  was  scarcely  less  certain  that 
they  would  take  advantage  of  our  domestic  troubles  to  come 
down  in  force  through  the  Khybur  Pass^  and  to  strike  a 
blow  for  the  much-coveted  territory.  To  dispossess  himself 
at  once  of  a  large  part  of  the  military  strength  which  had 
been  given  to  him  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  frontier 
against  these  possible  inroads^  at  the  very  time  when  it 
seemed  to  be  most  required^  was  a  measure  which  might 
well  demand  hesitation.  Moreover,  the  officers  of  the  Na- 
tive regiments  believed  in  the  fidelity  of  their  men,  and 
protested  against  an  act  which  would  cast  discredit  upon 
them,  and  turn  friends  into  enemies — strength  into  weak- 
ness— in  the  hour  of  need.  But  Cotton  believed  that  the 
disarming  of  the  Native  regiments  was  the  lesser  evil  of  the 
two,  and  he  determined  that  it  should  be  done. 

How  it  was  done  may  be  best  narrated  in  the  words  of 
Colonel  Edwardes*s  narrative :  '  The  two  European  regi- 
ments (H.M.*s  70th  and  87th),  and  the  artillery,  were  got 
under  arms,  and  took  up  positions  at  the  two  ends  of  the 
cantonment,  within  sight  of  the  parades,  ready  to  enforce 
obedience,  if  necessary,  yet  not  so  close  as  to  provoke  resist- 
ance. Colonel  Nicholson  joined  Brigadier  Galloway's  staff 
at  one  rendezvous,  and  I  General  Cotton  at  the  other. 
I'hese  prompt  and  decided  measures  took  the  Native  troops 
completely  aback.  Not  an  hour  had  been  given  them  to 
consult,  and,  isolated  from  each  other,  no  regiment  was 
willing  to  commit  itself  j  the  whole  laid  down  their  arms. 
As  the  muskets  and  sabres  of  once  honoured  corps  were 
hurried  unceremoniously  into  carts,  it  was  said  that  here 
and  there  the  spurs  and  swords  of  English  officers  fell  sym« 


1857.]  PURSUIT  OF  THE  MUTINEERS,  649 


pathizingly  upon  the  pile.  How  little  worthy  were  the 
meu  of  otficers  who  could  thus  almost  mutiny  for  their 
sakes  ^  and  as  weeks  and  months  passed  on  with  their  fear- 
ful tale  of  revelations,  there  were  few  of  those  officers  who 
did  not  learn,  and  with  equal  generosity  acknowledge,  that 
the  disarming  had  been  both  wise  and  just.  For  the  resuks 
of  the  measure  we  had  not  long  to  wait.  As  we  rode  down 
to  the  disarming,  a  very  few  chiefs  and  yeomen  of  the 
country  attended  us,  and  I  remember,  judging  from  their 
faces,  that  they  came  to  see  which  way  the  tide  would  turn. 
As  we  rode  back,  friends  were  as  thick  as  summer  flies,  and 
levies  began  from  that  moment  to  come  in.* 

But  the  work  was  not  yet  done.  General  Cotton  was 
now  at  liberty  to  detach  a  colvunn  of  his  reliable  troops  to 
put  down  the  rising  of  the  55th  Native  Infantry  at  Murdan. 
Agaiil  the  aid  of  John  Nicholson  was  called  for,  and  see  how 
it  was  rendered.  '  At  eleven  o'clock  at  night  of  the  23rd, 
a  force  of  300  European  infantry,  250  Irregular  cavalry, 
horse  levies  and  police,  and  eight  guns  (six  of  which  were 
howitzers),  left  Peshawur  under  command  of  Colonel  Chute, 
of  H.M.*s  70th,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Nicholson  as  po- 
litical officer,  and  neared  Murdan  about  sunrise  of  the  25  th, 
after  effecting  a  junction  Vith  Major  Vaughan  and  200 
Punjab  infantry  from  Nowshera.  No  sooner  did  this  force 
appear  in  the  distance,  than  the  55th  Native  Infantr}%  with 
the  exception  of  about  120  men,  broke  from  the  fort  and 
ded,  as  Colonel  Chute  well  described  it,  "  tumultuously," 
towards  the  hills  of  Swat.  Then  followed  a  pursuit,  which, 
to  look  back  on,  is  to  renew  all  sorrow  for  the  dear-bought 
victory  of  Delhi.     Chase  was  giwn  with  both  Ar tiller}', 


650  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

Cavalry^  and  Infantry^  but  the  mutineers  had.  got  far  ahead, 
and  bad  ground  so  checked  the  guns  that  they  never  got 
within  range.  Colonel  Nicholson^  with  a  handful  of  horse- 
men, hurled  himself  like  a  thunderbolt  on  the  route  of  a 
thousand  mutineers.  £ven  he  (in  a  private  note  to  me,  for 
he  seldom  reported  officially  anything  he  did  himself)  ad- 
initted  that  the  55th  fought  determinately,  "  as  men  always 
do  who  have  no  chance  of  escape  but  by  their  own  exertions." 
They  broke  before  his  charge,  and  scattered  over  the  coun- 
try in  sections  and  in  companies.  They  were  hunted  out  of 
villages,  and  grappled  with  in  ravines,  and  driven  over  the 
ridges  all  that  day,  from  Fort  Murdan  to  the  border  of 
Swat,  and  found  respite  only  in  the  failing  light.  120  dead 
bodies  were  numbered  on  their  line  of  flight,  and  thrice  that 
number  must  have  borne  off  wounds ;  150  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  the  regimental  colours  and  200  stand  of  arms 
recovered.  Colonel  Nicholson  himself  was  twenty  hours 
in  the  saddle,  and,  under  a  burning  sun,  could  not  have 
traversed  less  than  seventy  miles.     His  own  sword  brought 

many  a  traitor  to  the  dust Colonel  Nicholson, 

with  Colonel  Chute's  Movable  Column,  returned  to  canton- 
ments in  the  second  week  of  June.  But  we  were  soon  to 
lose  him.  The  death  of  Colonel  Chester,  at  Delhi,  called 
Brigadier-General  Neville  Chamberlain  to  the  high  post  of 
Adjutant-General,  and  Colonel  Nicholson  was  instinctively 
selected  to  take  command  of  the  Punjab  Movable  Column, 
with  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General.  How  common  sense 
revenges  itself  upon  defective  systems  when  real  dangers 
assail  a  State.  Had  there  been  no  struggle  for  life  or  death, 
^hen  would  Neville  Chamberlain  and  John  Nicholson,  id 


iliS7-]    ^N  COMMAND  OF  THE  MOVABLE  COLUMN.       651 

the  prime  of  their  lives^  with  all  their  faculties  of  doing  and 
enduring^  have  attained  the  rank  of  Brigadier-Greneral  ? 
Why  should  we  keep  down  in  peace  the  men  who  must  be 
put  up  in  war  ?  *  * 

On  the  22nd  of  June,  Colonel  Nicholson  took  command 
of  the  column,  and  on  the  24th  proceeded  to  Phillour. 
His  first  act  on  joining  the  force  was  to  free  himself  from 
the  danger  that  seemed  to  be  hovering  over  him  in  the  shape 
of  two  suspected  Sepoy  regiments,  which  might  at  any 
moment  break  out  into  open  mutiny.  It  was  sound  policy 
to  disarm  them  5  but  the  operation  was  a  hazardous  one  ^ 
for  if  they  had  suspected  the  intention,  they  would,  in  all 
probability,  have  broken  and  fled,  after  turning  upon  and 
massacring  their  officers.  So  Nicholson  made  a  show  of 
confiding  in  them,  and  ordered  the  whoJe  column  forward, 
as  though  it  were  marching  straight  upon  Delhi.  Then 
there  were  ominous  head-shakings  in  the  camp.  What 
could  the  General  mean  by  taking  those  two  tainted  regi- 
ments with  him  to  the  imperial  city,  there  to  fraternize  with 
the  mutineers,  and  to  swell  the  rebel  ranks  of  the  Mogul  ? 
He  well  knew  what  he  meant,  and  his  meaning  was  soon 
apparent.  On  the  morning  of  the  25th  he  was  early  on 
the  camping-ground,  with  all  his  preparations  made.  But 
there  was  no  sign  of  anything  unusual — ^nothing  to  excite 
suspicion.  The  Europeans  and  the  guns  were  in  advance, 
and  so  placed  that  when  tlie  suspected  Sepoy  regiments 
came  up,  one  after  the  other,  to  the  camping-ground,  they 
could  completely  command  them.  They  had  their  instruc- 
tions 'y   but  were  so    disposed,   many   of    the    Europeans 

*  Colonel  Herbert  Edwardes's  Report  to  Government. 


653  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

lying  oa  the  ground  as  though  for  rest^  that  they  never  less 
assumed  a  threatening  aspect  than  when  the  £rst  of  the 
Native  regiments  came  up^  and  the  men  were  told  to  pile 
their  arms.  Leaning  over  one  of  the  guns,  Nicholson  gave 
his  orders  as  coolly  as  though  nothing  of  an  unusual  charac- 
ter were  about  to  happen.  '  If  they  bolt,*  he  said  to  Captain 
£ourchier,  of  the  Artillery,  '  you  follow  as  hard  as  you 
can  J  the  bridge  will  have  been  destroyed,  and  we  shall  have 
a  Sobraon  on  a  small  scale.*  But  the  Sepoy  regiments,  en- 
trapped by  the  suddenness  of  the  order,  and  scarcely  know- 
ing what  they  were  doing,  piled  their  arms  at  the  word  of 
command,  and  suiFered  them  to  be  taken  to  the  fort.  This 
done,  Nicholson  addressed  them,  saying  that  desertion 
would  be  punished  with  death,  and  that  they  could  not 
possibly  escape,  as  the  fords  were  watched.  'Eight  men 
made  the  attempt,  but  they  were  brought  back,  tried,  and 
condemned. 

On  the  27  th,  Nicholson  wrote  from  Phillour  to  Sir  John 
Lawrence  :  '  You  will  ere  this  have  received  a  copy  of  my 
letter  to  (General  Gowan,  advocating  the  withdrawal  of  the 
troops  from  Rawul  Ptndee  to  Lahore.  If  I  considered  the 
question  of  slight  or  even  moderate  importance,  I  should, 
out  of  deference  for  you,  have  rdfrained  from  expressing 
publicly  an  opinion  at  variance  with  yours.  But  I  think 
th^  matter  one  of  the  very  greatest  consequence,  and  that 
entertaining  the  decided  opinion  upon  it  that  I  do,  I  should 
be  wanting  in  my  duty  If  1  neglected  every  means  in  my 
power  to  get  what  I  think  right  done.  I  consider  the  re- 
tention of  the  24th  and  Horse  Artillery  at  Rawul  Pindeeas 
\he  most  faulty  move  we  have  made  in  the  game  here,  and 


i857-]    I^  COMMAND  OF  THE  MOVABLE  COLUMN,        653 

—      —■■■■■  -      ■     M^l         ■■  ^     — ™      ■■l»l»l»l  I  ■■■II—-.  M^.  ■  ■  ■■  —■■■■■  !■■■  ^ 

one  which  I  think  you  will  repent  should  any  check  occur 
at  head-quarters.  Montgomery  writes  me  that  the  feeling 
among  the  Mahomedans  is  not  good^  and  I  do  not  think  it 
good  here  either.  I  wish  I  were  Commissioner  or  Deputy- 
Commissioner  for  a  week.- 

On  the  following  day,  crossing  the  £eeas  in  boats,  for 
the  river  had  risen,  the  Movable  Column  quitted  Phillour, 
and  returned  towards  Umritsur.  On  the  march,  Nicholson 
wrote  to  Sir  John  Lawrence,  saying:  'The  Movable 
Column  as  at  present  constituted  is  no  doubt  strong  enough 
to  put  down  any  rebellion  or  disaffection  which  may  show 
itself  in  any  locality  at  this  end  of  the  Punjab.  But  sup- 
pose a  rise  in  two  places  at  once.  Suppose,  before  I  had 
disarmed,  the  33rd  had  broken  out  at  Hooshyapore,  the 
46th  at  Sealkote,  and  the  59th  at  Umritsur.  I  should  have 
been  awkwardly  situated  then.  My  position  since  I  have 
got  the  33rd  and  35th  off  my  hands  is  much  better.  But  I 
think  that  there  is  still  great  reason  why  the  24th  should 
come  down  from  Pindee.  Suppose  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  to  send  an  urgent  application  for  more  reinforce- 
ments. If  the  24th  were  here,  either  it  or  the  52nd  could 
move  off  at  once.  As  it  is,  a  delay  of  at  least  ten  days 
would  have  to  elapse.* 

They  reached  Umritsur  on  the  5th  of  July,  and  were 
greeted  by  fresh  tidings  of  mutiny  in  the  Native  Army.  A 
regiment  had  risen  at  Jhelum  3  and  soon  it  became  only  too 
certain  that  there  had  been  a  disastrous  revolt  at  Sealkote, 
and  that  the  mutineers  had  murdered  many  of  the  Euro- 
peans there.  It  was  plain  that  it  would  soon  be  Nichol- 
son's duty  to  inflict  retribution  on  these  offenders.    Having 


654  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1857. 


cast  off  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Govemment,  they 
were  hastening  to  join  the  revolutionary  party  at  Delhi  j  so 
Nicholson  determined  to  intercept  them.  Disencumbering 
himself,  as  he  had  done  before,  of  all  the  remaining  Hindo- 
stanee  troops  with  him,  he  made  a  rapid  march,  under  a 
burning  July  sun,  to  the  station  of  Groordaspore.  On  the 
morning  of  the  12th,  news  came  that  the  rebels  were  aboat 
to  cross  the  Ravee  river  at  Trimmoo  Ghaut.  So  Nicholson 
moved  the  column  forward,  and  about  noon  came  in  sight 
of  the  mutineers,  who  had  by  this  time  crossed  the  river 
with  all  their  baggage.  They  were  well  posted,  in  a  high 
state  of  excitement,  and  many  oi  their  horsemen  were 
drugged  to  a  point  of  fury  with  bang.  They  commenced 
the  battle,  and  fought  well ;  but  the  British  Infantry  and 
Artillery  gave  them  such  a  reception,  that,  in  less  than  half 
an  hour,  the  Sepoys  were  '  in  fiill  retreat  towards  the  river, 
leaving  between  three  and  four  hundred  killed  and  wounded 
on  the  fields.'  Unfortunately,  Nicholson  had  no  cavalry, 
and  was  unable  to  give  chase  to  the  flying  mutineers.  He, 
therefore,  withdrew  his  column  to  Goordaspore,  where  he 
soon  heard  that  the  mutineers  had  re-formed  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  So  he  determined  again  to  give  them 
battle.  On  the  14th,  he  marched  back  to  the  Ravee,  and 
found  that  the  mutineers  had  planted  themselves  on  an 
island  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  and  had  run  up  a  battery 
on  the  water's  edge.  The  river  had  risen  since  the  first 
day's  conflict,  and  it  was  necessar}'-,  therefore,  to  obtain 
boats  to  enable  our  force  to  strike  at  the  enemy.  This 
occasioned  some  delay,  but  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th 
everything  was  ready.     So  Nicholson  advanced  his  guns  to 


13^7-]  MARCH  TO  DELHI.  65 


30 


the  river's  bank,  and  drawing  off  the  enemy's  attention  by 
a  tremendous  fire  of  shot  and  shell,  moved  his  infantry  un- 
observed to  one  extremity  of  the  island,  and  placed  himself 
at  their  head.  Galloping  in  advance  with  a  few  horsemen, 
he  came  upon  the  pickets  of  the  enemy  5  the  order  was 
then  given  for  the  advance  of  the  52nd,  which  moved  for-  . 
ward  in  admirable  order  upon  the  battery,  bayoneting  the 
gunners,  and  putting  the  whole  body  of  the  enemy  to  panic 
flight.  It  was  all  over  with  the  mutineers.  They  could 
only  take  to  the  water,  where  numbers  of  them  were  drown- 
ed, and  numbers  shot  down  on  the  sand-banks  or  in  the 
stream.  The  few  who  escaped  were  seized  by  the  villagers 
on  the  opposite  bank,  and  given  up  to  condign  punishment. 
Never  was  victory  more  complete. 

The  work    having    been   thus  effectually  done,   the 

Movable   Column  returned  to  Umritsur^    and  Brigadier 

Nicholson  proceeded  to  Lahore,  to  take  counsel  with  the 

authorities,  and  'to  learn   how    matters   were  going  on 

below.*     He  arrived  there  on  the  21st  j  and  on  the  24th  he 

rejoined  the  Movable  Column,  and  communicated  to  his 

officers  that  it  had  been  resolved  that  they  should  march 

with  all  possible  speed  to  Delhi.     On  the  2 jth  they  again 

crossed  the  Beeas.     On  the  27th,  he  wrote  to  the  Chief 

Commissioner :  *  The  troops  I  have  with  me  here  consist  of" 

Dawes's  Troop,  Bourchier's  Battery,  wing  of  Umritsur  Police 

Battery,  two  hundred  and  forty  (about)  Mooltanee  Horse, 

her  Majesty's  j2nd  is  a  march  in  rear,  as  its  colonel  reported 

it  knocked  up.   I  have  telegraphed  to  Greneral  Wilson  about 

the  artiller)'.     Twelve  or  even  eighteen  guns  is  not  a  large 

proportion  of  artillerj'  for  the  reinforcements  going  down. 


656  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


Moreover,  the  European  troops  coming  up  from  below  wili 
be  very  weak  in  artillery,  and  it  is  better  we  should  have  it 
on  the  spot  than  be  obliged  to  send  for  it.  Unless  General 
Wilson  should  say  "  No,'*  I  would  recommend  either  Paton's 
Troop,  or  the  battery  which  has  come  from  Peshawur  to 
Rawul  Pindee,  being  sent  down  when  the  Punjabee  Infantry 
Corps  goes  for  Peshawur.* 

The  column  pushed  on  with  all  possible  despatch.  But 
General  Wilson,  who  commanded  at  Delhi,  was  eager  to 
take  counsel  with  Nicho]^n,  so  the  latter  determined  to  go 
on  in  advance  of  his  force.  '  I  am  just  starting  post  for 
Delhi,*  he  wrote  on  the  6th  of  August,  '  by  Greneral  Wil- 
son*s  desire.  The  column  would  be  at  Kumaul  the  dav 
after  to-morrow,  and  I  shall,  perhaps,  rejoin  it  at  Paneeput.* 
There  were  those  at  Delhi  who,  then  seeing  John  Nichol- 
son for  the  first  time,  were  struck  by  the  extreme  gravity 
of  his  demeanour  5  *    but  every  one  in  camp  felt  that  a 

♦  See  Mr  Greathed's  Letters  :  *  General  Nicholson  was  at  dinner 
(on  August  7th).  He  is  a  fine,  imposing-looking  man,  who  never 
speaks  if  he  can  help  it,  which  is  a  great  gift  for  a  public  man.  But  if 
we  had  all  been  as  solemn  and  as  taciturn  during  the  last  two  months, 
I  do  not  think  we  should  have  survived.  Our  genial,  jolly  mess- 
dinners  have  kept  up  our  spirits.'  The  author  of  the  *  History  of  the 
Si^e  of  Delhi,  by  an  Officer  who  served  there,'  says :  *  About  this 
time  a  stranger,  of  very  striking  appearance,  was  remarked  visiting 
all  our  picquets,  examining  everything,  and  making  most  searching 
inquiry  about  their  strength  and  history.  His  attire  gave  no  due  to 
his  rank  ;  it  evidently  never  cost  the  owner  a  thought.  It  was  soon 
made  out  that  this  was  General  Nicholson,  whose  person  was  not  yet 
known  in  camp  ;  and  it  was  whispered  at  the  same  time  that  he  was 
possessed  of  the  most  brilliant  military  genius.  He  w^as  a  man  cast 
in  a  giant  mould,  with  massive  chest  and  powerfbl  limbs,  and  an  ex- 


I 


i8S7.]  ARRIVAL  A  T  DELHI,  657 

strong  man  had  come  among  them^  and  that  under  Provi- 
dence his  coming  would  give  new  energy  to  the  besiegers, 
and  hasten  the  hour  of  the  final  assault.  Meanwhile  there 
was  some  pressing  work,  which  it  was  thought  might  be  in- 
trusted to  his  column.  During  this  first  brief  visit  to  Delhi,  he 
moved  from  post  to  post,  visited  all  the  batteries,  and  looked 
down,  with  sagacious  forecast  of  the  work  before  him, 
upon  the  great  city  as  seen  from  the  Ridge.  When  he  re- 
turned to  his  column  there  was  an  eager  longing  to  converse 
with  him.  '  Expectation  was  on  tiptoe,*  wrote  an  officer  of 
the  brigade,  '  to  hear  his  opinion  as  to  the  state  of  affairs. 
He  told  me  that  the  tide  had  turned,  but  that  we  should 
have  some  tough  work  5  and  that  General  Wilson  had  pro- 
mised our  column  a  little  job,  to  try  our  "prentice  hands," 
to  dislodge  a  body  of  troops  who  had  taken  up  their  position 
with  some  guns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Ludlow 
Castle.*  But  the  Httle  job  could  not  wait  for  Nicholson 
and  his  comrades.  The  fire  of  the  enemy  became  so  an- 
noying tMt  it  was  necessary  to  carry  their  position  at  once  3 
80  the  work  was  intrusted  to  Brigadier  Showers,  and  he  did 
it  right  gallantly  and  well. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  Nicholson,  at  the  head  of  his 

pression  ardent  and  commanding,  with  a  dash  of  roughness  ;  features 
of  stem  beauty  ;  a  long  black  beard  and  sonorous  voice.  There  wa« 
something  of  immense  strength,  talent,  and  resolution  in  his  whole 
gait  and  manner,  and  a  power  of  ruling  men  on  high  occasions,  that 
no  one  could  escape  noticing  at  once.  His  imperial  air,  which  never 
left  him,  and  which  would  have  been  thought  arrogance  in  one  of 
less  imposing  mien,  sometimes  gave  offence  to  the  more  unbending 
of  his  countrymen,  but  made  him  almost  worshipped  by  the  pliant 
Asiatics.' 

VOL.  II.  4« 


658  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [18^7. 

column — their  flags  flying  and  band  plajing — marched  into 
the  camp  at  Delhi.     '  It  was  a  fine  sight,*  wrote  one  who 
went  out  to  meet  it,  '  to  see  the  column  march  in.    There 
were  great  greetings  among  both  officers  and  men,  and  they 
received  a  hearty  welcome.     The  column  was  played  in  by 
the  band  of  the  8th.     Altogether  it  was  a  cheery  sight,  and 
would  have  struck  gloom  among  the  Pandees  if  they  could 
have  seen  it.*     It  was  believed  by  many  that  the  appear- 
ance of  these  reinforcements  would  be  the  signal  fix  the 
assault  on  Delhi.     But  it  was  doubtful  whether  success 
could  be  secured  without  the  aid  of  a  powerful  siege-train  j 
so  it  was  resolved  that  the  final  measures  for  the  capture  of 
the  imperial  city  should  not  be  taken  until  after  the  arrival 
of  the  heavy  guns  which  were  then  coming  down  from 
Ferozepore. 

But,  in  the  mean  while,  there  was  other  work  to  be 
done.  It  was  apprehended  that  the  enemy  were  about  to 
manoeuvre,  so  as  to  make  their  way  into  our  rear.  So  it 
was  determined  to  give  them  battle  j  and  Nicholson  was 
selected  to  settle  their  business.  It  was  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  of  August,  when,  after  a  most 
difficult  march  through  a  country  of  swamps,  and  fording  a 
sheet  of  water  more  than  three  feet  deep,  near  Nujufgurh, 
he  found  the  enemy  in  position  on  his  front  and  left. 
Their  line  extended  from  the  canal  to  the  town  of  Nujuf- 
gurh,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles.  They  had  four  guns 
strongly  posted  near  an  old  serai  on  the  left  centre,  and  nine 
others  between  that  point  and  the  bridge.  It  was  there,  on 
the  left  centre,  that  Nicholson  determined  to  attack  them, 
and  having  forced  their  position,  to  sweep  down  their  line 


x8S7.]  THE  BATTLE  OF  NUJUFGURH.  659 

of  guns  towards  the  bridge.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  successful  than  the  operation.  A  few  rounds  from 
our  artillery  guns  prepared  the  way  for  the  advance  of  the 
British  infantry,  with  Nicholson  at  their  head,  full  upon  the 
serai.  The  attack  was  irresistible  ^  the  enemy  were  driven 
fi*om  their  position  5  and  then  Nicholson  changed'  front  to 
the  left,  swept  along  the  whole  line  of  guns,  captured 
them,  and  put  the  mutinous  brigade  to  flight.  '  There  was 
not,*  said  a  distinguished  Punjabee  officer  some  time  after- 
wards, 'another  man  in  camp — except,  perhaps.  Chamber- 
lain— ^who  would  have  taken  that  column  to  Nujufgurh. 
They  went  through  a  perfect  morass.  An  artillery  officer 
told  me  th^t  at  one  time  the  water  was  over  his  horses' 
backs,  and  he  thought  they  could  not  possibly  get  out  of 
their  difficulties  3  but  he  looked  ahead,  and  saw  Nicholson's 
great  form  riding  steadily  on  as  if  nothing  was  the  matter, 
and  so  he  felt  sure  all  was  right.* 

Of  the  results  of  the  action,  Nicholson  wrote  a  few  days 
afterwards  to  Sir  John  Lawrence  :  '  I  enclose  a  rough  draft 
of  my  report.  The  field  was  of  such  extent,  that  it  was 
not  easy  to  estimate  the  mutineers*  loss.  I  think,  more- 
over, that  they  suffered  more  severely  from  the  fire  of  our 
artillery,  after  they  had  bolted  across  the  bridge,  than  they 
did  on  the  actual  battle-field.  According  to  all  accounts, 
the  Neemuch  brigade  (the  one  I  dealt  with)  only  musters 
600  men  now.  Many  of  those  who  fled  would  appear  never 
to  have  returned  to  Delhi.  Most  of  the  officers  with  me 
in  the  -action  rateS  them  at  6000,  7000,  and  8000.  My 
own  idea  is  that  they  were  between  3000  and  4000. 
Except  when  poor  Lumsden  was  killed,  they  made  little 


66o  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


attempt  to  stand.  Most  of  the  killed  were  Kotah  Contin- 
gent men.  We  took  the  Neemuch  troop  of  artillery  com- 
plete, three  L.  F.  Battery  guns,  and  four  of  the  King's 
Own.  I  wish  sincerely  they  had  had  as  many  more,  as,  after 
their  flank  was  turned,  they  could  not  have  used  them,  and 
must  have  lost  them  alL  An  old  Soubahdar,  who  stuck  in 
a  jheel,  begged  for  mercy,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  eaten 
the  Company's  salt  for  forty  odd  years,  and  would  never  do 
it  again !  The  13th  and  14th  Irregulars,  who  were  in  the 
action,  are  talking  of  asking  pardon.  I  feel  very  thankfiil 
for  my  success,  for  had  these  two  brigades  succeeded  in 
getting  into  our  rear,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  done 
much  mischief.* 

Many  and  warm  were  the  congratulations  which  poured 
in  upon  him  on  this  memorable  occasion.  General  Wilson 
wrote  to  him,  on  the  following  day,  saying :  '  My  dear 
Nicholson  3 — Low,  my  A.D.C.,  has  just  arrived  with  the 
gratifying  intelligence  you  have  sent  me  of  your  success  at 
Nujufgurh,  and  I  thank  you,  and  the  gallant  troops  under 
you,  from  my  whole  heart.  The  exertions  of  all,  to  have 
reached  Nujufgurh  at  the  time  you  did,  with  such  wet 
weather,  and  over  such  a  country,  must  have  been  incredible. 
Low  does  not  well  describe  the  road  you  took,  but  I  gather 
you  must  have  left  Buhadourgurh  to  the  right.  I  very  much 
regret  to  learn  you  have  lost  three  or  four  oflSicers,  killed 
and  wounded .  Lumsden  gave  promise  of  being  a  flne  officer, 
and  will  be  a  great  loss  to  Coke*s  corps  and  the  service. 
Again  I  congratulate  you,  and  thank  you.  I  am,  &c.,  A 
Wilson.*  And  at  the  same  time.  Sir  John  Lawrence,  to 
whom  news  of  the  victory  had  been  telegraphed,  wrote  to 


I8S7-]  BATTLE  OF  NUJUFGURGH:  66i 

him :  *  Though  sorely  pressed  with  work,  I  write  a  line  to 
congratulate  you  on  your  success.  I  wish  I  had  the  power 
of  knighting  you  on  the  spot  5  it  should  be  done.'  And  in 
proof  of  his  appreciation  of  the  Brigadier's  services,  the 
Chief  Commissioner  wrote  to  him  on  the  9th  of  September, 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  recommended  him  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  Commissioner  of  Leia  j  and  added,  *  I  hope 
General  Wilson  will  give  you  the  command  of  the  pursuing 
force.  I  trust  you  will  be  in  Delhi  when  this  reaches  you, 
that  you  will  escape  the  dangers  of  the  assault,  and  gain  in- 
creased honour.'  * 

♦  In  an  official  letter  to  the  Government  of  India,  the  Chief 
Commissioner,  through  his  secretary  (August  27,  1857),  says  :  *  On 
the  25th  instant,  that  energetic  and  able  soldier,  Brigadier-General 
Nicholson,  was  intrusted  with  a  force  of  some  2000  infantry  and  16 
guns,  to  follow  a  large  body  of  mutineers  who  had  left  Delhi  to 
operate  on  the  communications  of  our  army.  General  Nicholson 
brought  them  to  action  on  the  26th,  some  twenty  miles  west  of  Delhi, 
near  Nujufgurh,  and  totally  defeated  them,  taking  13  guns  and  their 
camp-equipage.  On  the  arrival  of  the  fugitives  in  the  city,  the  whole 
msurgent  force  turned  out,  thinking  to  find  our  position  denuded 
of  troops,  but,  to  their  surprise,  received  a  warm  reception.'  In  a 
subsequent  letter,  dated  September  2Dd,  the  same  authority  stated  : 
*  It  appears  that  while  he  was  engaged  with  the  Neemuch  and  Kotah 
mutineers  at  this  place,  the  Rohilcund  Brigade  was  only  five  miles 
off,  at  Pahun,  under  Bukhtawur  Khan,  the  rebel  general.  With 
better  information.  General  Nicholson  would  have  marched  next 
morning  against  him,  but  the  intelligence  was  defective,  and  the 
Rohilcund  force  retreated  precipitately  into  Delhi.  From  the  accounts 
of  the  spies  from  the  city,  this  defeat  has  caused  great  sensation,  and 
desertions  are  becoming  more  frequent  No  more  than  t)00  of  the 
Neemuch  and  Kotah  force  appear  to  have  returned.  They  lost  all 
their  guns,  ammunition,  equipage ;  and  many  of  the  men  who 
escaped,  their  arms.   The  firmness  and  decision  displayed  by  General 


66a  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  \iZsh 

Two  days  afler  the  battle,  Nicholson  wrote  again  to  Sir 
John  Lawrence,  saying :  *  We  have  been  tr3ring  to  get  over 
the  Sikhs,  but  without  success.  They  have  been  formed 
into  a  battalion  at  their  own  request,  and  seem  inclined  to 
stand  their  chance.  They  may  possibly  think  better  of  it 
as  the  crisis  approaches.  Some  of  the  Irregular  Cavalry 
regiments  have  indirectly  hinted  that  they  are  anxious  for 
forgiveness.  Now,  though  I  would  not  pardon  a  single 
Pandy  in  a  regiment  which  had  murdered  its  officers,  or 
perpetrated  any  other  atrocities,  I  do  think  that  these  are 
corps  which  it  would  be  neither  just  nor  politic  to  reflise 
pardon  to.  The  Irregular  Cavalry  have,  as  a  rule,  every- 
where taken  a  much  less  active  part  in  this  mutiny  than 
either  Regular  Cavalry  or  Infantry.  They  have  no  love  or 
fellow-feeling  with  the  Pandies.  Several  of  these  corps  are 
still  serving  with  arms.  We  are  in  great  want  of  cavalry, 
and  are  likely  to  be  in  still  greater.  All  accounts  from  be- 
low state  that  want  of  cavalry  prevents  Havelock  from 
completing  his  victories.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  we 
ought  to  forgive  all  regiments  which  have  not  committed 
murder,  or  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  mutinies.  Some, 
like  the  29th  at  Moradabad,  were  positively  the  "victims 
of  circumstance,"  and  could  not  have  held  out  longer.  We 
cannot,  if  we  would,  annihilate  the  whole  force  now  in 

Nicholson  in  making  the  march  to  Nujufgurh,  and  bringing  the  in- 
surgents to  action  at  once,  merit  high  praise.  The  Chief  Commii- 
sioner  is  well  acquainted  with  the  ground  over  which  the  troops  bad 
to  move.  At  this  season  of  the  year  it  is  more  or  less  flooded.'  Many 
other  high  testimonials  relatmg  to  the  battle  of  Nujufgurh  might  be 
cited  here. 


I857-]        CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  EDWARDES,  663 

arms  against  us  in  this  Presidency^  and  it  is  not  wise^  all 
things  considered,  to  make  every  man  desperate.  I  would 
give  no  quarter  to  the  leading  corps  in  the  mutiny,  or  to 
them  which  have  murdered  their  officers  3  but  I  would  not 
refuse  it  to  a  corps  like  the  29th,  or  some  of  the  Irregular 
Cavalry.  I  spoke  on  this  subject  yesterday  to  both  Wilson 
and  Chamberlain,  and  they  agreed  with  me  3  but  Wilson 
thought  his  hands  tied  by  the  Government  Proclamation, 
prohibiting  pardon.  I  do  not  think  we  should  allow  that 
notification  to  be  actually  binding  on  us.  We  cannot  now 
communicate  with  the  Supreme  Government,  and  the  state 
of  affairs  is  different  now  to  what  it  was  when  the  order 
was  issued.' 

And  now  that  I  have  reached  this  month  of  September 
— the  last  which  John  Nicholson  ever  saw — I  may  pause 
for  a  little  space  before  I  pass  on  to  speak  of  the  crowning 
feat  and  the  noble  end  of  that  heroic  life,  to  give  some  pas- 
sages of  a  correspondence  between  Edwardes  and  Nicholson 
relating  to  the  death  of  that  great  and  good  man,  whom 
both  had  so  loved  and  venerated  as  their  some-time  master 
and  ever  as  their  example.  Authentic  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  on  the  4th  of  July,  had  made 
its  way  slowly  to  Delhi  and  the  Punjab.  The  first  reports 
of  this  great  calamity  had  been  received  with  incredulity. 
What  ardently  men  wished  they  still  believed,  until  the 
evidence  was  undeniable.  Then  there  was  great  grief 
throughout  the  camps  of  the  English,  and  none  sorrowed 
more  than  Henry  Lawrence's  old  Punjabee  assistants. 
What  Edwardes  and  Nicholson  felt  may  be  gathered  from 
these  touching  letters : 


664  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [i85> 

FROM    HERBERT    EDWARDES    TO    JOHN    NICHOLSON. 

'Peshawur,  Aug.  20^  1857. 
'My  DEAR  Nicholson, — I  was  very  glad  to  get  your 
long  letter  of  the  12th,  as  also  yours  of  the  nth  to  Sir 
John,  which  he  kindly  sent  on  for  my  perusal.  Since  I  last 
wrote  to  you,  what  a  loss  have  we  sustained  in  our  ever 
dear  friend  Sir  Henry  (Lawrence).  There  seem  douhts  in 
the  Delhi  camp  about  it,  but  Lord  Canning's  letter  to  J.  L. 
mentions  that  General  Neill  received  the  news  in  a  letter 
from  Lucknow,  so  I  conclude  it  is  quite  true.  It  would  be 
too  selfish  to  wish  it  otherwise,  for  what  a  change  for  him ! 
After  his  long  battle  of  life,  his  restless  strife  for  the  bene- 
fit of  others — the  State,  the  Army,  the  native  Princes,  the 
native  people,  the  prisoners  in  gaol,  the  children  of  the  Eng- 
lish soldiery,  and  all  that  were  poor,  and  all  that  were 
dxmm — to  close  his  flashing  eyes  for  the  last  time  on  a 
scene  of  honourable  struggle  for  his  country,  and  open  them 
again  where  there  is  no  more  evil  to  resist — no  wrong — ^all 
right,  and  peace,  and  rest,  and  patient  waiting  with  all 
who  have  gone  before,  till  earth's  trial  comes  to  an  end, 
and  a  perfect  heaven  begins.  It  must  be  the  only  real 
happiness  he  ever  has  felt,  poor  fellow  5  and  we  could  not 
wish  to  bring  him  back  to  the  dust,  and  noise,  and  miscon- 
struction of  even  so  great  and  good  a  labour  as  the  reorgan- 
ization of  our  army  and  empire  in  India.  Fine,  brave  old 
fellow  !  he  has  fought  his  fight  and  won  his  victory,  and 
now  let  him  lay  his  armour  down  and  rest !  You  cannot 
think  what  a  comfort  I  find  in  the  memory  of  the  eight  days 
I  spent  with  him  in  April  last.  ...  In  the  days  when 
you.  and  I  first  knew  H.  M.  L.  he  was  heart  and  soul  a 


x8S7.]         CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  EDWARDES,  665 

philanthropist-— he  could  not  be  anything  else,  and  I  believe 
truly  that  he  was  much  more,  and  had  the  love  of  God  as  a 
motive  for  the  love  of  his  neighbour.  AU  good  and  sacred 
things  were  precious  to  him,  and  he  was  emphatically  a 
good  man  5  influencing  all  around  him  for  good  also.  But 
how  much  of  the  inan  there  was  left  in  him  5  how  unsub- 
dued he  was  3  how  his  great  purposes,  and  fiery  will,  and 
generous  impulses,  and  strong  passions  raged  in  him,  mak- 
ing him  the  fine  genuine  character  he  was,  the  like  of 
which  we  never  saw,  and  which  gathered  such  blame  fi"om 
wretched  creatures  as  far  below  the  zero  of  human  nature  as 
he  was  above  it.  He  had  not  been  tempered  yet  as  it  was 
meant  he  should  be  5  and  just  see  how  it  all  came  about. 
Cruelly  was  he  jemoved  fi-om  the  Punjab,  which  was  his 
public  life's  stage,  and  he  was  equal  to  the  trial.  His  last 
act  at  Lahore  was  to  kneel  down  with  his  dear  wife  and 
pray  for  the  success  of  John's  administration.  We  who 
know  all  that  they  felt — the  passionate  fire  and  earnestness 
of  both  their  natures,  her  intense  love  and  admiration  of  her 
husband,  whose  fame  was  the  breath  of  her  nostrils,  and  his 
indignation  at  all  wrong,  whether  to  himself  or  a  dog — 
must  see  in  that  action  one  of  the  finest  and  loveliest  pic- 
tures that  our  life  has  ever  known.  Nothing  but  Christian 
feeling  could  have  given  them  the  victory  of  that  prayer. 
What  a  sweet  creature  she  was !  In  sickness  and  sorrow 
she  had  disciplined  herself  more  than  he  had,  and  as  they 
walked  along  their  entirely  happy  way  together,  she  went 
before,  as  it  were,  and  carried  the  lamp  5  so  she  arrived  first 
at  the  end  of  the  journey,  and  dear  heart-broken  L.  was  left 
alone.     All  of  trial  must  have  been  concentrated  to  him  in 


656  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


that  one  stroke,  he  loved  her  so  thoroughly.  But  again^ 
and  for  the  last  time,  he  had  the  necessary  strength  given 
him,  and  hb  character  came  slowly  out  of  that  fire,  refined 
and  sweet  to  a  degree  we  never  saw  in  him  befiDre.     I  do  so 

wish  you  had  been  with  me,  and  dear ,  and  indeed  all 

our  old  circle  who  loved  him  so,  to  see  him  as  I  saw  him 
at  Lucknow.  Grief  had  made  him  grey  and  worn,  bat  it 
became  him  like  the  scars  of  a  battle.  He  looked  like  some 
good  old  knight  in  story.  But  the  great  change  was  in  his 
spirit.  He  had  done  with  the  world,  except  working  for  it 
while  his  strength  lasted  -,  and  he  had  come  to  that  calm, 
peaceful  estimate  of  time  and  eternity,  of  himself  and  the 
judgment,  which  could  only  come  of  wanting  and  finding 
Christ.  Every  night  as  we  went  to  bed  ^e  would  read  a 
chapter  in  the  New  Testament  (out  of  the  Bible  she  had 
under  her  pillow  when  she  died),  and  then  we  knelt  down 
by  his  bed,  and  he  prayed  in  the  most  earnest  manner, 
dwelling  chiefly  on  his  reliance  on  Christ's  atonement,  to 
which  he  wished  to  bring  all  that  he  had  done  amiss  that  day, 
so  as  to  have  nothing  left  against  him,  and  be  always  ready  j 
and  asking  always  for  grace  to  subdue  all  uncharitableness, 
and  to  forgive  others  as  he  hoped  to  be  forgiven  hinisel£ 
The  submissive  humility  and  charity  of  these  prayers  was 
quite  affecting ;  and  I  cannot  say  how  grateful  I  feel  to 
have  been  led,  as  it  were  by  accident,  to  see  our  dear  chief 
in  these  last  and  brightest  days  of  his  bright  and  good  career. 
For  the  same  reason  I  tell  it  you,  and  have  told  it  to  Be- 
cher,  because  it  completes  that  picture  and  memory  of  oar 
lost  friend  which  will  ever  make  him  our  example.  Oh 
BO !  we  had  better  not  wish  the  news  untrue,  but  tiy  and 


18S7.]       CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  EDWARDES.  6&7 

follow  after  him The  English  mail  has  not  yet 

come>  and  so  I  cannot  give  you  any  news  of .     I  am 

very  anxious  for  this  mail,  because  it  will  tell  me  how  she 
bore  the  first  news  of  the  mutiny.  She  could  not  anticipate 
that  Peshawur  would  remain  so  safe  as  it  has.  Rather  a 
rebuke  this  fact  is  to  the  senators  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
who  on  the  6th  of  July  discussed  the  impropriety  of  Lord 
Canning  subscribing  to  missions.  Surely  Peshawur  is  the 
most  likely  place  in  our  empire  for  a  manifestation  against 
missionaries,  but  not  a  word  has  been  said  against  them. 
When  the  Peshawur  mission  was  first  started,  there  was  an 
officer  in  this  station  who  put  his  name  down  on  the  sub- 
scription-list thus :  *'  One  Rupee  towards  a  Deane  and 
Adams'  Revolver  for  the  first  Missionary."  He  thought 
the  God  of  the  world  could  not  take  care  of  the  first  mis- 
sionary in  so  dangerous  a  place  as  this.  Well,  this  same 
officer  went  off  with  his  regiment  to  a  safe  place,  one  of  our 
nicest  cantonments  in  Upper  India,  and  there  his  poor  wife 
and  himself  were  brutally  murdered  by  Sepoys  who  were 
not  allowed  missionaries.     Poor  fellow !    I  wonder  if  he 

thought  of  these  things  before  he  died You  see,  I 

have  told  you  all  that  is  going  on  here,  and  said  nothing 
about  affairs  in  Delhi.  But  not  the  less  am  I  constantly 
thinking  of  you  there,  and  wishing  you  great  usefulness 
and  no  wounds.  Give  my  love  to  Chamberlain.  I  am 
glad  you  are  both  together  there,  and  wish  I  were  with  you.* 

JOHN  NICHOLSON  TO  HERBERT  EDWARDBS. 

*  Camp  before  Delhi,  September  I,  1857. 
•  My  DEAR  Edwardes, — I  have  your  kind  good  letter  of 


668  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

the  20th  and  23rd  August  before  me.  I  do  so  wish  I  could 
have  seen  dear  Sir  Henry  under  the  drcunistances  you 
mention.  If  it  please  Providence  that  I  live  through  this 
business^  you  must  get  me  alongside  of  you  again^  and  be  my 
guide  and  help  in  endeavouring  to  follow  his  example^  for 
I  am  so  weak  and  unstable  that  I  shall  never  do  any  good  of 
myself.  I  should  like  to  write  you  a  long  letter,  but  I 
cannot  manage  it.  .  .  .  .'  The  siege  train  will  probably  be 
here  in  four  or  five  days,  and  I  trust  we  shall  then  go  in 
without  delay.  I  doubt  if  we  shall  attempt  a  breach,  or 
anything  more  than  the  demolition  of  the  parapet,  and 
silencing  the  fire  of  such  gims  as  bear  on  this  front.  We 
shall  then  try  to  blow  in  the  gateway,  and  escalade  at  one 
or  two  other  points.  I  wish  Chamberlain,  Coke,  Showers, 
Daly,  and  many  other  good  men  were  not  hors  de  combat 

from  wounds God  be  with  you,  dear  E. 

'  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

'  J.  Nicholson.' 


He  was  now  becoming  very  eager  for  the  assault,  and 
ceaseless  in  his  endeavours  to  promote  the  necessary  prepara* 
tions.  On  the  4th  of  September  he  wrote  :  '  I  think  we 
have  a  right  to  hope  for  success,  and  I  trust  that  ere  another 
week  passes  our  flag  will  be  flying  from  the  palace  minarets. 
Wilson  has  told  me  that  he  intends  to  nominate  me  Mili- 
tary Governor,  for  which  I  am  much  obliged  5  but  I  had 
rather  that  he  had  told  me  that  he  intended  to  give  me 
command  of  the  colmnn  of  pursuit.'  On  the  7th  he  wrote : 
*  Poor  Pandy  has  been  in  very  low  spirits  since  then  (the 


^ 


l8S7.]  THE  SIEGE  OP  DELHI.  669 


battle  of  Nujufghur),  and,  please  God,  he'll  be  in  still  lower 
before  the  end  of  this  week/  And  then,  after  some  military 
details,  he  added,  with  that  tender  regard  and  affection  for 
those  serving  under  him  which  is  characteristic  of  all  great 
soldiers :  '  A  poor  orderly  of  mine,  named  Saadut  Khan, 
died  here  of  cholera  the  other  day.  He  has  a  mother  and 
a  brother,  and  I  think  a  wife,  in  the  Eusofzye  country. 
Should  I  not  be  left  to  do  it,  will  you  kindly  provide  for 
the  brother,  and  give  the  women  a  couple  of  hundred  ru- 
pees out  of  my  estate  ?  *  And  again  on  September  nth, 
chafing  sorely  under  the  procrastination  that  so  vexed  him  : 
'  There  has  been  yet  another  day's  delay  with  the  batteries  j 
but  I  do  not  see  how  there  can  possibly  be  another.  The 
game  is  completely  in  our  hands.' 

The  hour  so  anxiously  looked  for  came  at  last.  The 
assault  was  ordered  5  and  Brigadier  John  Nicholson  was 
selected  to  command  the  main  storming  column.  If  the 
choice  had  been  left  to  the  army,  he  would  have  been  se- 
lected by  universal  acclamation  to  fill  the  post  of  honour 
and  of  danger.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  Septem- 
ber, the  columns,  eager  to  assault,  and  flushed  with  the 
thought  of  the  coming  victory,  streamed  out  in  the  grey 
dawn.  They  were  to  move  in  different  directions,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  preconcerted  plan,  Nicholson  himself  lead- 
ing the  first  column  of  attack.  At  first,  everything  seemed 
to  promise  a  speedy  success.  But,  after  a  while,  it  became 
apparent  that  the  defence  was  more  vigorous  than  had 
been  anticipated.  The  breach  had  been  carried,  and  the 
column,  headed  by  Nicholson,  had  forced  its  way  over 
the  ramparts  into  the  city.     This  first  critical  feat  of  arms 


670  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON  [1857. 

haying  been  successfully  accomplished,  the  Brigadier-Ge- 
neral might  then  have  fallen -back  into  the  Commander's 
post,  and  directed  the  general  movements  of  the  storming 
party.     And  had  he  done  so  he   might  still  have  been 
amongst  us  3  but  his  irrepressible  enthusiasm  urged  him 
forward.     He  still  pushed  on,  as  personal  leader  of  the 
column,  and  was  ever  in  the  front,  where  danger  was  the 
thickest.     Some  of  his  friends,  with  a  mournful  prevision 
of  what  might  be  the  result  of  this  characteristic  disregard 
of  self,  had  urged  him  to  restrain  his  impetuous  daring, 
and  he  had  made  them  some  half  promises  that  he  would 
comply  with  their  entreaties  5   but  when  the  time  came, 
and  he  saw  what  there  was  to  be  done,  it  was  not  in  his 
nature    not    to   forget  for  a  while  the   General  in  the 
Soldier,  and  to  set  an  example  of  personal  gallantry  before 
the  eyes  of  his  followers  at  a  time  when  hard,  resolute, 
stubborn  fighting  was  needed  to  consummate  our  success. 
The  streets  were  swarming  and  the  windows  and  house- 
tops were  alive  with  the  enemy,  many  of  them  armed 
with  rifles.     It  was  just  the  kind  of  fighting  that  the  Eng- 
lish soldier  least  relishes.      'The  truth  is,'  I  have  been 
told  by  one  of  John  Nicholson's  fi*iends,  '  that  the  share 
of  that   day's  work  assigned  to   Nicholson's  colmnn  in 
General  Wilson's  project  of  attack  was  too  extensive  for 
the  column  to  perform.     And  Nicholson  was  not  the  naan 
to  leave  unexecuted  a  fragment  of  such  a  duty.     The  men 
of  the  column  had  —  in  soldier's  language  —  had  their 
stomach  full  of  fighting  already,  in  the  desperate  struggle  at 
the  walls,  and  they  were  not  up  to  carrying  out  the  pro- 
gramme.    They  reeled  doggedly  and  slowly  on.     The 


i8S7.]  LAST  DAYS.  671 

Sepojrs  in  vast  numbers  disputed  their  advance.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  of  no  use  talking  to  soldiers,  they 
won't  do  any  more.  But  Nicholson  tried,  and  as  he  stood 
before  them  entreating  them  to  follow  farther,  his  single 
and  stately  figure  became  an  easy  mark.  It  would,  indeed, 
have  been  a  miracle  had  he  escaped/  A  Sepoy  from  the 
window  of  a  house  took  steady  aim  at  him,  and  he  fell 
shot  through  the  chest.* 

He  desired  to  be  laid  in  the  shade,  and  on  no  account 
to  be  carried  back  to  camp  till  Delhi  had  fallen.  But  it 
was  soon  apparent  that  we  were  stjll  a  long  way  off  from 
that  consummation  3  so  he  allowed  himself  to  be  placed  on 
a  litter  and  carried  to  a  hospital-tent.  He  was  in  fearful 
agony  when  he  was  brought  in,  and  the  blood  was  stream- 
ing down  his  side.     But  it  was  not  at  once  discernible  that 

♦  *  Nicholson,'  we  are  told  by  Mr  Cave  Browne,  saw  the  emerg- 
ency. He  pushed  on  the  1st  Fusiliers,  who  answered  to  his  call 
right  gallantly.  One  gun  was  taken  and  spiked  ;  twice  they  rushed 
at  the  second  ;  the  grape  ploughed  through  the  lane  5  bullets  poured 
down  like  hail  from  the  walls  and  houses  ;  Major  Jacob  fell  mortally 
wounded  at  the  head  of  his  men ;  Captain  Speke  and  Captain 
Greville  were  disabled ;  the  men  were  falling  fast ;  there  was  hesita- 
tion ;  Nicholson  sprang  forward,  and  whilst  in  the  act  of  waving  his 
sword  to  urge  the  men  on  once  more — alas  for  the  column  !  alas  for 
the  army  I  alas  for  India  ! — ^he  fell  back  mortally  wounded,  shot 
through  the  chest  by  a  rebel  from  a  house  window  close  by,  and  was 
carried  off  by  two  of  the  1st  Fusiliers.'  Colonel  Norman  says  :  *  It 
was  in  advancing  beyond  the  Moree  bastion  towards  the  Lahore  gate 
that  he  met  the  wound  which  has  since  caused  his  death — a  death 
which  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  has  dimmed  the  lustre  of  even  this 
victory,  as  it  has  deprived  the  country  of  one  of  the  ablest  men  and 
most  gallant  soldiers  that  England  anywhere  numbers  among  her 
ranks.' 


67a  *  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 

the  wound  must  certainly  prove  mortal,  though  small  hope 
of  his  recovery  viras  entertained  by  the  medical  officers  who 
attended  him. 

I  need  not  write  much  more.  I  have  before  me  the 
history  of  the  hero's  last  days  written  by  another  hero, 
whilst  the  memory  of  Nicholson's  death-bed  was  stilJ 
fresh  within  him,  and  the  great  wound  of  his  sorrow  un- 
healed. It  is  a  letter  written  by  Brigadier  Neville  Cham- 
berlain to  hb  and  Nicholson's  dear  friend,  Herbert  Ed- 
wardes — a  letter  the  pathetic  simplicity  of  which  goes 
straight  to  the  heart.  It  is  in  such  records  as  this  that, 
thinking  of  him  who  wrote  it,  of  him  to  whom  it  was 
written,  and  of  the  third  great  soldier  of  that  noble  trium- 
virate of  whom  it  was  written,  that  we  see  those  beautiful 
examples  of  affectionate  and  enduring  comradeship  which 
it  was  ever  the  tendency  of  the  old  Indian  service  boun- 
teously to  develop . 

*  Delhi,  October  25,  1857. 

'  My  dear  Edwardes, — My  conscience  teUs  me  that 
I  have  been  guilty  of  great  unkindness  in  having  delayed 
for  so  long  to  give  you  an  account  of  poor  John  Nichol- 
son's last  days.  The  truth,  however,  is,  that  the  in- 
tention to  discharge  this  sad  duty  has  never  been  absent 
from  my  mind,  but  whenever  I  have  attempted  to  do  so, 
I  have  felt  so  unequal  to  the  task  that  I  have  given  it 
up,  in  the  hope  that  I  should  be  better  able  to  do  it  justice 
at  another  time.  This  is  how  days  have  mounted  up  to 
weeks,  and  weeks  to  a  month,  for  more  than  a  month  has 
now  elapsed  since  our  dear  friend  closed  his  eyes  for  ever 
upon  this  life. 


i557. 1  LAST  DA  YS.  673 

*  Knowing  what  an  affectionate  interest  you  took  in  all 
that  concerned  him,  I  will  commence  my  letter  by  giving 
you  an  outline  of  how  his  time  was  passed  from  his  joining 
the  camp  before  Delhi  to  the  day  of  the  storm. 

'  Of  all  the  superior  officers  in  the  force,  not  one  took 
the  pains  he  did  to  study  our  position  and  provide  for  its 
safety.  Hardly  a  day  passed  but  what  he  visited  every 
battery,  breastwork,  and  post  3  and  frequently  at  night, 
though  not  on  duty,  would  ride  round  our  outer  line  of 
sentries  to  see  that  the  men  were  on  the  alert,  and  to  bring 
to  notice  any  point  he  considered  not  duly  provided  for. 
When  the  arrival  of  a  siege-train  and  reinforcements 
enabled  us  to  assume  the  offensive,  John  Nicholson  was 
the  only  officer,  not  being  an  engineer,  who  took  the 
trouble  to  study  the  ground  which  was  to  become  of  so 
much  importance  to  us  5  and  had  it  not  been  for  his 
going  down  that  night,  I  believe  that  we  might  have 
had  to  capture,  at  considerable  loss  of  life,  the  positions 
which  he  was  certainly  the  main  cause  of  our  occupying 
without  resistance.  From  the  day  of  the  trenches  being 
opened  to  the  day  of  the  assault,  he  was  constantly  on 
the  move  from  one  battery  to  another,  and  when  he  re- 
turned to  camp,  he  was  constantly  riding  backwards  and 
forwards  to  the  chief  engineer  endeavouring  to  remove  any 
difficulties. 

'  This  is  the  character  of  our  dear  friend  as  a  soldier, 
and  as  he  was  known  to  all ;  but  I  must  now  describe  him 
when  at  leisure,  and  as  a  fi*iend.  When  he  first  arrived  in 
camp  I  was  on  my  back,  and  unable  to  move,  and  only 
commenced  to  sit  up  in  bed  on  the  siege-train  arriving. 

VOL.  II.  43 


674  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


Under  these  drcumstances^  I  was^  of  course,  only  able  to 
associate  with  him  when  he  was  at  leisure,  but  out  of 
kindness  to  my  condition  he  never  failed  to  pass  a  portion 
of  the  day  with  me,  and  frequently,  though  I  would  beg 
of  him  to  go  and  take  a  canter,  he  would  refuse,  and 
lose  the  evening  air.  My  recovery,  after  once  being  able 
to  sit  up,  was  rapid,  and  by  the  time  our  first  battery 
opened,  I  was  able  to  go  in  a  doolie  on  to  the  ridge  and 
watch  the  practice.  He  would  frequently  insist  upon 
escorting  me,  and  no  woman  could  have  shown  more  con- 
sideration— ^finding  out  good  places  from  which  to  obtain 
the  best  view,  and  going  ahead  to  see  that  I  did  not  incur 
undue  risks,  for  he  used  to  say  no  wounded  man  had  any 
business  to  go  under  fire. 

*  On  the  1 2  th  of  September,  or  two  days  before  the 
storm,  all  the  principal  o£Eicers  in  camp  were  summoned  to 
meet  at  the  General's  tent  at  eleven  a.m.,  to  hear  the  plan 
of  the  assault  read  out,  and  receive  their  instructions. 
Nicholson  was  not  present,  the  cause  of  his  absence  being 
that  he  had  gone  down  to  see  the  opening  salvoes  of  the 
great  breaching  battery  within  one  himdred  and  sixty  yards 
of  the  water  bastion,  and  the  engineers  had  been  behind 
their  promised  timje.  That  evening  he  accompanied  me  on 
my  tour  along  the  ridge  up  to  Hindoo  Rao's  house,  and  on 
pur  return  insisted  upon  my  going  to  his  tent  and  dining 
with  him.  After  dinner  he  read  out  the  plan  of  assault  for 
the  morning  of  the  14th,  and  some  of  the  notes  then  made 
by  him  I  afterwards  found  among  his  papers. 

'  The  13  th  was,  of  course,  a  busy  day  for  everybody,  but 
I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him^  as  he  rode  over  to  my  tent  nro 


\ 


|8S7-]  LAST  DAYS,  675 

or  three  times  to  get  me  to  exert  my  influence  with  Grenerd 
Wilson  in  favour  of  certain  measures  considered  expedient. 
On  returning  from  my  evening  tour  on  the  ridge,  I  found 
him  in  the  head-quarters*  camp,  whither  he  had  come  to 
urge  upon  the  Greneral  the  importance  of  not  delaying  the 
assault,  if  the  breach  should  be  reported  practicable.  We 
sat  talking  together  for  some  time,  and  I  begged  him  to 
stay  and  dine  with  me,  but  he  said  he  could  not,  as  he 
must  be  back  in  his  camp  to  see  his  officers  and  arrange  all 
details.  This  was  about  eight  p.m.,  or  later,  and  we  did 
not  meet  again  until  the  evening  of  the  14th,  when  he, 
poor  fellow,  was  lying  stretched  on  a  charpoy,  helpless  as 
an  infant,  breathing  with  difficulty,  and  only  able  to  jerk 
out  his  words  in  syllables  at  long  intervals  and  with  pain. 
Oh,  my  dear  Edwardes,  never  can  I  forget  this  meeting, 
but  painful  as  it  would  have  been  to  you,  I  wish  you  could 
have  been  there,  for  next  to  his  mother  his  thoughts  turned 
towards  you !  He  asked  me  to  tell  him  exactly  what  the 
surgeons  said  of  his  case  5  and  after  I  had  told  him,  he 
wished  to  know  how  much  of  the  town  we  had  in  our  pos- 
session, and  what  we  proposed  doing.  Talking  was,  of 
course,  bad  for  him,  and  prohibited,  and  the  morphia, 
which  was  given  to  him  in  large  doses,  to  annul  pain  and 
secure  rest,  soon  produced  a  state  of  stupor.  That  night  I 
had  to  return  to  Hindoo  Rao's  house,  as  I  held  the  com- 
mand on  the  right  after  Major  Reid*s  column  being  driven 
back,  and  his  being  wounded.  Before  returning,  I,  how- 
ever, again  saw  him  about  eleven  p.m.  ;  he  was  much  the 
same,  but  feeling  his  skin  to  be  chilled,  I  suppose  from 
Jie  loss  of  blood,  and  two  hand  punkahs  going,  I  got  him 


676  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  \iZsh 

to  consent  to  my  covering  him  with  a  light  Rampore 
blanket.  The  next  evening  I  again  returned  to  camp,  and 
saw  him  5  he  breathed  more  easily,  and  seemed  altogether 
easier — indeed,  his  face  had  changed  so  much  for  the  better, 
that  I  began  to  make  myself  believe  that  it  was  not  Grod's 
purpose  to  cut  him  off  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  but  that 
he  was  going  to  be  spared  to  become  a  great  man,  and  to 
be  the  instrument  of  great  deeds.  On  this  evening,  as  on 
the  previous,  his  thoughts  centred  in  the  struggle  then  being 
fought  out  inside  Delhi ;  and  on  my  telling  him  that  a 
certain  officer  did  allude  to  the  possibility  of  our  having  to 
retire,  he  said,  in  his  indignation,  ''Thank  God  I  have 
strength  yet  to  shoot  him,  if  necessary.** 

'That  night  I  slept  in  camp,  and  the  next  morning, 
before  going  to  join  Greneral  Wilson  inside  Delhi,  I  had 
the  poor  fellow  removed  into  one  of  the  sergeants*  bunga- 
lows (a  portion  of  which  had  not  been  destroyed  by  the 
mutineers  when  the  cantonment  was  fired  on  the  13th  of 
May),  as  he  complained  of  the  heat  3  the  distance  was  not 
great,  and  the  change  was  efiected  without  putting  him  to 
much  pain.     He  was  thankfiil  for  the  change,  and  said  that 
he  was  very  comfortable.     Before  quitting  him,  I  wrote 
down,  at  his •  dictation,  the  following  miessage  for  you: 
"  Tell  him  I  should  have  been  a  better  man  if  I  had  con- 
tinued to  live  with  him,  and  our  heavy  public  duties  had 
not  prevented  my  seeing  more  of  him  privately.    I  was 
always  the  better  for  a  residence  with  him  and  his  wife, 
however  short.    Give  my  love  to  them  both.**    What  purer 
gratification  could  there  be  in  this  world  than  to  receive 
such  words  fix)m  a  dying  man  ?    I  can  imagine  no  higher 


^ 


i8s7-]  LAST  DA  YS,  677 


reward  j  and  long,  my  dear  Edwardes,  may  you  and  your 
^fe  be  spared  to  each  other,  and  to  the  world,  to  teach 
others  the  lesson  you  imprinted  so  forcibly  on  John  Nichol- 
son's true  and  noble  heart ! 

'  Up  to  this  time  there  was  still  a  hope  for  him,  though 
the  two  surgeons  attending  him  were  anything  but  sanguine. 
He  himself  said  he  felt  better,  but  the  doctors  said  his 
pulse  indicated  no  improvement,  and  notwithstanding  the 
great  loss  of  blood  from  internal  hemorrhage,  they  again 
thought  it  necessary  to  bleed  him.  I  always  felt  more 
inclined  to  be  guided  by  what  he  himself  felt  than  by  the 
doctor,  and  therefore  left  him  full  of  hope. 

*  One  of  the  surgeons  attending  him  used  to  come  daily 
to  the  town  to  dress  my  arm,  and  from  him  I  always  received 
a  trustworthy  bulletin.  From  the  17th  to  the  22nd,  he 
was  sometimes  better  and  sometimes  worse,  but  he  gradually 
became  weaker,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  latter  date, 
Dr  Mactier  came  to  tell  me  that  there  was  little  or  no  hope. 
On  reaching  him,  I  found  him  much  altered  for  the  worse 
in  appearance,  and  very  much  weaker — indeed,  so  weak 
that,  if  left  to  himself,  he  fell  off  into  a  state  of  drowsiness, 
out  of  which  nothmg  aroused  him  but  the  application  of 
smelling-salts  and  stimulants.  Once  aroused,  he  became 
quite  himself,  and  on  that  afternoon  he  conversed  with  me 
for  half  an  hour  or  more,  on  several  subjects,  as  clearly  as 
ever.  He,  however,  knew  and  felt  that  he  was  dying,  and 
said  that  this  world  had  now  no  interest  to  him.  His  noi 
having  made  a  will,  as  he  had  proposed  doing  the  day 
before  the  storm,  was  the  fource  of  some  regret  to  him, 
and  it  was  his  wish  not  to  delay  doing  so  any  longer,  but  as 


678  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857 

he  said  he  then  felt  too  fatigued  from  having  talked  so 
much,  and  was  too  weak  to  keep  his  senses  collected 
any  longer,  he  begged  me  to  leave  him  to  himself  until 
the  evening,  and  then  arouse  him  for  the  purpose.  On 
this  afternoon  he  told  me  to  send  you  this  message  :  '^  Say 
that  if  at  this  moment  a  good  fairy  were  to  give  me  a 
wish,  my  wish  would  be  to  have  him  here  next  to  my  mo- 
ther.' *  Shortly  after  writing  down  the  above  to  his  dictation, 
he  said :  "  Tell  my  mother  that  I  do  not  think  we  shall 
be  unhappy  in  the  next  world.  God  has  visited  her  with  a 
great  affliction,  but  tell  her  she  must  not  give  way  to  grief." 

'  Late  in  the  evening,  when  asked  if  he  could  dictate  his 
will,  he  said  he  felt  too  weak  to  do  so,  and  begged  that  it 
might  be  deferred  until  the  following  morning,  when  he 
hoped  to  be  stronger.  But  death  had  now  come  to  claim 
him  5  every  hour  he  became  weaker  and  weaker,  and  the 
following  morning  his  soul  passed  away  to  another  and  a 
better  world. 

*  Throughout  those  nine  days  of  suffering  he  bore  him- 
self nobly  ',  not  a  lament  or  a  sigh  ever  passed  his  lips,  and 
he  conversed  as  calmly  and  clearly  as  if  he  were  talking  of 
some  other  person's  condition  and  not  his  own.  Painfid  as 
it  would  have  been  to  you,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  him, 
poor  fellow,  as  he  lay  in  his  coffin.  He  looked  so  peaceful, 
and  there  was  a  resignation  in  the  expression  of  his  manly 
face,  that  made  me  feel  that  he  had  bowed  submissively  to 
God's  will,  and  closed  his  eyes  upon  the  world  full  of  hope. 
After  he  was  dead  I  cut  off  several  locks  of  hair  for  his 
family  and  friends,  and  there  is  one  for  Mrs  £dwardes  and 
one  for  yourself. 


i8S7.]  LAST  DA  KS.  679 


'  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  think  that  he  had  the  most 
skilful  attendance,  and  was  waited  upon  as  carefully  as  pos- 
sible. Nothing  was  left  undone  that  could  be  done,  but 
God  had  willed  that  he  was  not  to  live  to  see  the  result  ol* 
a  work  he  had  taken  so  prominent  a  part  in  bringing  about. 

*  His  remains  rest  in  the  new  burial-ground  in  front  of 
the  Cashmere  Gate,  and  near  Ludlow  Castle.  It  is  near  the 
scene  of  his  glory  5  and  within  a  few  yards  of  his  resting- 
place  stands  one  of  the  breaching  batteries  which  helped  to 
make  the  breach  by  which  he  led  his  column  into  the  town. 
Ludlow  Castle  was  the  building  used  by  us  on  that  day  as 
a  field  hospital  j  and  here  the  two  brothers  met — having 
shaken  hands  and  parted  near  the  same  spot,  both  full  ot 
life,  and  health,  and  hope,  a  few  short  hours  previously — 
the  one  mortally  wounded,  the  other  with  his  arm  dangling 
by  his  side  by  a  shred. 

'  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  spot  where 
our  dear  friend  sleeps  his  last  sleep  cannot  be  marked  too 
plainly  and  unostentatiously  5  and  I  am  therefore  going  to 
erect  a  monument  of  the  most  simple  description.  I  wish 
you  would  kindly  write  a  suitable  inscription. 

*  This  is  the  end  of  my  account  of  our  poor  friend's 
last  days,  and  I  deeply  regret  that  my  duties  did  not 
permit  of  my  being  more  with  him.  My  only  solace  is 
that  he  knew  and  appreciated  the  cause  5  and  when,  the 
afternoon  before  his  death,  I  said  to  him  he  must  have 
thought  me  very  neglectful,  his  reply  was :  "  No  5  I  knew 
that  your  duty  to  the  Service  required  your  being  at  head- 
quarters, and  I  was  glad  to  think  that  you  were  there  to 
give  your  counsel." 


68o  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857. 


'  Hereafter^  if  it  is  ordained  that  we  are  to  meet*  I  shall 
have  much  to  tell  and  talk  to  you  about  that  I  have  not 
been  able  to  include  in  a  letter^  and  if  it  were  only  on  this 
account,  the  sooner  we  meet  the  better,  for  I  know  how 
dear  to  you  is  everything  connected  with  the  memory  of 
John  Nicholson. 

*  Our  good  friend  Becher  begged  me  to  give  him  some 
account  of  poor  Nicholson*s  last  days,  and  I  dare  say  yon 
will  not  object  to  giving  him  such  extracts  of  this  letter  as 
you  may  think  will  interest  him.* 

'  I  am,  yours  affectionately, 

'Neville  Chambealain.' 

To  this  touching  narrative  may  be  added  from  other 
sources  a  few  more  particulars  of  the  great  soldier*s  dying 
days.  From  Colonel  J.  R.  Becher,  C.B.,  Hurreepore, 
Oaober  28th,  1857  :  '.  .  .  I  heard  to-day  from  Buckle  at 
Delhi.  He  saw  poor  John  Nicholson  after  his  wound. 
These  are  his  words :  "  I  saw  John  Nicholson  after  he  was 
wounded.  I  had  just  been  assisting  in  taking  off  his 
brother's  arm.  I  spoke  to  him,  telling  him  that  when  he  was 

•  In  a  letter  written  a  few  days  later  to  the  same  correspondent 
(Palace,  Delhi,  October  31st,  1857),  Chamberlain  adds  :  *  Your 
letter  to  poor  John  Nicholson,  giving  an  account  of  your  days  at 
Lucknow,  and  of  your  last  impression  of  Sir  Henry,  is  amongst  his 
papers.  He  gave  me  the  letter  to  read  (he  had  not  heart  to  read 
it  aloud  to  me)  the  day  it  arrived,  and  he  promised  to  give  me  a  copy 
of  it.  On  the  13th  of  September  I  reminded  him  that  he  had  not 
fulfilled  that  promise,  when  he  said  he  would  do  it  that  night ;  but  I 
begged  of  him  not  to  allow  anything  of  the  kind  to  encroach  upon 
his  few  hours'  rest' 


i8s7.]  LAST  DA  YS,  68x 

w^ith  the  Edwardeses^  at  Abbottabad^  we  had  met,  and  that 
I  would  be  at  hand  if  he  wanted  anything  done,  or  if  I 
could  in  any  way  be  useful  to  him.  He  recognized  me, 
and  said, '  Nothing  now.*  He  wanted  a  little  lemonade, 
which  was  sent  for.  He  was  then  quite  quiet,  and  as  col- 
lected and  composed  as  usual,  but  very  low — almost  pulse- 
less. What  struck  me  was  his  fece — it  was  always  one  of 
power — but  then,  in  its  calm  pale  state,  it  was  quite  beauti- 
ful. His  brother,  when  a  little  recovered  from  the  operation, 
was  brought  in  his  doolie,  and  the  two  stayed  thus  for  some 
little  time,  but  were  then  sent  on  into  camp.  I  never  saw 
Nicholson  after  that  time,  nor  did  he  send  for  mfe."  I  think 
you  will  like  to  read  this  picture  of  the  great,  good  fellow, 
mortally  wounded,  composed,  and  beautiful  in  his  glorious 
death.'  From  the  same  5  December  12th,  1857  :  'I  have 
just  heard  from  Chamberlain  at  Delhi,  dated  December  jth, 
and  as  he  tells  me  that  he  omitted  to  give  you  an  account 
of  the  visit  of  the  Mooltan  Pathans  to  the  last  sad  remains 
of  dear  John  Nicholson,  I  transcribe  his  account.  It  is  a 
very  grand  picture — a  death-bed  very  proudly  honoured : 
"The  Sirdars  of  the  Mooltanee  Horse,  and  some  other 
natives,  were  admitted  to  see  him  after  death,  and  their 
honest  praise  could  hardly  find  utterance  for  the  tears  they 
shed  as  they  looked  on  their  late  master.  The  servants  and 
orderlies  also  who  were  in  attendance  on  him,  when  the 
fact  flashed  across  their  minds  that  he  had  left  this  world 
for  ever,  broke  out  into  lamentations,  and  much  as  all 
natives  feared  to  displease  him,  there  could  be  no  question 
but  that  he  commanded  their  respect  to  an  extent  almost 
equal  to  love."  * From  Lieutenant  Montgomerie,  of  the         i 


68a  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  {^57. 


Giudes>  October  loth^  1857  :  '  I  helped  to  lift  poor  Briga- 
dier Nicfaokon  out  of  the  doolie  on  to  a  bed^  and  afterwards 
remained  bathing  his  temples  with  eau-de-Cologne.  The 
poor  man  was  in  fearful  agony,  and  the  blood  was  flowing 
down  his  side.  He  was  shot  through  the  body.  ...  It 
was  terrible  seeing  the  great  strong  man,  who  a  few  hours 
before  was  the  life  and  soul  of  everything  brave  and  daring, 
struck  down  in  this  way.  .  .  .  He  did  not  die  for  some 
days.  Our  victory  was  dimmed  by  his  loss.  I  could  have 
followed  him  anywhere — so  brave,  so  cool,  and  self-possess- 
ed, and  so  energetic,  you  would  have  thought  that  he  was 
niade  of  iron.  The  shot  that  killed  him  was  worth  more 
to  the  Pandy  than  all  the  rest  put  together.  He  would  be 
invaluable  now.  I  can  do  but  poor  justice  to  merits  like 
his,  but  I  write  what  I  feel.' 

The  following,  from  a  memorandum  by  Sir  Herbert 
Edwardes  (Peshawur,  January  30,  i8j8),  gives  some  further 
particulars  of  Nicholson's  last  days  :  *  Daly,*  speaking  last 
night  of  John  Nicholson,  said  that  "  he  had  a  genius  for 
war.  He  was  a  grand  fellow.  He  did  not  know  his  own 
powers.  But  he  was  beginning  to  find  tliem  out.  His 
merits  were  recognized  throughout  the  camp.  Between 
the  6th  and  14th  of  September,  he  rose  higher  and  higher 
in  the  minds  of  all,  and  when  General  Wilson's  arrange- 
ments for  the  attack  were  read  out,  and  the  post  of  honour 
was  given  to  Nicholson,  not  a  man  present  thought  that  lie 
was  0t.j[;erseded.  He  was  much  pleased  at  getting  the  Com- 
missionership  of  Leiah.     I  said,  '  Oh,  you  will  not  take  it 

•  Colonel  H.  Daly,  C.B.,  who  commanded  the  Guide  Corps  at 
the  siege  of  Delhi. 


£3S7.]  FUNERAL,  683 


now  that  you  are  sure  to  remain  a  General,  and  get  a 
division.*  He  laughed  haughtily,  and  said^  '  A  General ! 
You  don't  think  Td  like  to  be  a  Greneral  of  Division,  do 
you  ?  Look  at  them  !  Look  at  the  Generals !  *  He  was 
indignant  at  the  injustice  done  to  Alexander  Taylor,  the 
Engineer,  and  said,  in  Chamberlain's  tent,  *  WeU,  if  I  live 
through  this,  I  will  let  the  world  know  who  took  Delhi  j — 
that  Alexander  Taylor  did  it.'  .  .  .  How  the  two  brothers 
loved  each  other !  The  great  one  used  to  come  down  to 
see  me  when  I  was  wounded  3  and  the  little  one  found  out 
the  hour,  and  used  to  drop  in  as  if  quite  by  accident,  and 
say,  *  Hilloa,  John,  are  you  there  ?  '  And  John  would 
say,  '  Ah,  Charles,  come  in !  *  And  then  they'd  look  at 
each  other.  They  were  &hy  of  giving  way  to  any  expres- 
sion of  it  3  but  you  saw  it  in  their  behaviour  to  one  an- 
other. He  was  much  affected  by  your  letter  about  Sir 
Henry.  He  showed  it  to  me.  .  .  .  He  did  not  say  much, 
I  believe,  about  his  religious  feelings  on  his  death-bed.  The 
fact  is,  he  was  in  great  pain,  and  could  only  speak  in  a 
whisper." ' 

How  he  was  laid  in  his  last  earthly  resting-place  in  the 
new  burial-ground  near  the  Cashmere  Gate  of  Delhi,  has 
been  told  by  the  Chaplain  who  performed  the  funeral  serv- 
ice over  the  remains  of  the  departed  hero :  '  Soon  after 
sunrise,'  he  has  recorded,  *  of  the  morning  of  the  24th  of 
September,  the  painful  duty  of  consigning  the  mortal 
remains  of  this  great  soldier  to  the  tomb  devolved  upon 
me.  It  was  a  solemn  service,  and  perhaps  the  simplicity 
which  characterized  the  arrangements  of  the  funeral  added 
considerably  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  \  particularly 


664  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  fi'S?. 

when  you  realized  and  contrasted  with  this  simplicity  the 
acknowledged  greatness  of  the  deceased.  The  funeral  cor- 
tege was  comparatively  small;  very  few  beside  personal 
friends  composed  the  mournful  train.  Most  prominent 
and  most  distinguished  of  all  those  who  best  loved  and 
best  valued  Nicholson  was  Chamberlain.  He  had  soothed 
the  dying  moments  of  the  departed  hero,  and  having 
ministered  to  his  comforts  while  living,  now  that  he  was 
dead  and  concealed  from  his  sight,  he  stood  as  long  as  he 
well  could  beside  the  coffin  as  chief  mourner.  The  corpse 
was  brought  from  the  Greneral's  own  tent  on  a  gun- 
carriage  J  whether  covered  with  a  pall  or  otherwise  I  can- 
not say.  But  no  roar  of  cannon  announced  the  departure 
of  the  procession  from  camp;  no  volleys  of  musketry 
disturbed  the  silence  which  prevailed  at  his  grave;  no 
martial  music  was  heard.  Thus,  without  pomp  or  show, 
we  buried  him.  He  was  the  second  of  those  commanders 
who,  since  the  capture  of  Delhi,  was  laid  beneath  the  sods 
of  Ludlow  Castle  graveyard.  And  over  his  remains,  sub- 
sequently to  this  date,  sincere  friendship  has  erected  a 
durable  memorial,  consisting  of  a  large  slab  of  marble,  taken 
from  the  King's  garden  attached  to  the  imperial  palace. 
Few  and  simple  are  the  words  inscribed  Thereon,  but  all- 
sufficient,  nevertheless,  to  perpetuate  the  indissoluble  con- 
nection of  Nicholson  with  Delhi.'  * 

And  when,  it  was  known  that  Nicholson  was   dead, 

there  rose  a  voice  of  wail  from  one  end  of  India  to  the 

other.     No  man  was  more  trusted  in  life ;  no  man  more 

lamented  in  death.     There  was  not  a  tent  or  a  bungalow 

♦  *  A  Chaplain's  Narrative  of  the  Siege  of  Delhi.' 


i8S7.]  TESTIMONIALS.  685 


in  all  the  country  occupied  by  an  Englishman  in  which 
there  was  not  a  painful  sense  of  both  a  national  and  a  per- 
sonal lass.  Nor  was  the  feeling  of  grief  and  dismay  confined 
to  his  own  countrymen.  In  the  great  province  where  he 
had  served  so  long,  thousands  speaking  in  another  tongue 
bewailed  the  death  of  the  young  hero.  Few  men  have 
ever  done  so  much  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five  j  few  men 
thus  passing  away  fi-om  the  scene  in  the  flower  of  their 
manhood,  have  ever  left  behind  them  a  reputation  so  perfect 
and  complete. 

How  men  of  all  kinds  wrote  about  the  saddest  incident 
of  the  great  siege — how  the  public  and  private  correspond- 
ence of  the  day  teemed  alike  with  lamentations  and  eulogies, 
I  have  abundant  proofs  befi>re  me.  A  few  may  be  gathered 
here  to  show  how  great  was  the  admiration  of  John 
Nicholson's  noble  qualities.  Sir  John  Lawrence  to  Lieu- 
tenant Charles  Nicholson,  November  lath,  1857  :  'I have 
long  desired  to  write  you  a  few  lines  expressive  of  my  deep 
regret  and  sympathy  for  the  death  of  your  noble  brother. 
His  loss  is  a  national  misfortune.  None  of  his  friends  have 
lamented  that  loss  more  deeply  nor  more  sincerely  than 
myself.  Your  own  severe  wound,  which  at  any  other  time 
would  have  caused  no  little  pain,  must  have  been  forgotten, 
I  know,  in  the  bitter  grief  at  your  brother  s  suffering  and 
death.     I  wish  I  could  say  or  do  an)rthing  to  give  you 

comfort.' ^To   the   Government   of  India,   September 

ijth,  1857  :  'I  am  to  add  that  our  loss  appears  to  have 
been  very  severe.  Among  many  brave  and  good  soldiers, 
there  is  not  one  who  in  merit,  by  general  consent,  can  sur- 
pass Brigadier-General  John  Nicholson.     He  was  an  officer 


6B6  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON  [1857. 

equal  to  any  emergency.     His  loss,  more  particularly  at  a 

time  like  this,  is  greatly  to  be  deplored.* October  3rd, 

1857  :  *  The  Chief  Commissioner  cannot  close  this  despatch 
without  again  adverting  to  the  loss  of  Brigadier-Creneral 
Nicholson.  That  noble  soldier  was  mortally  wounded  on 
the  14th,  and  died  on  the  23rd  of  September.  He  was  an 
officer  of  the  highest  merit,  and  his  services  since  the  mutiny 
broke  out  have  not  been  surpassed  by  those  of  any  other 
officer  in  this  part  of  India.  At  a  time  like  this  his  loss  is 
a  pubHc  misfortune.' '  The  Governor-Creneral  in  Coun- 
cil has  received  with  much  regret  the  intelligence  of  the 
()eath  of  Brigadier-Creneral  Nicholson.  His  Lordship  in 
Council  desires  me  to  convey  to  you  the  expression  of  his 
sincere  sorrow  at  the  untimely  loss  the  Government  has 
sustained  in  the  death  of  this  very  meritorious  officer, 
especially  at  a  time  when  his  recent  successes  had  pointed 
him  out  as  one  of  the  foremost  among  the  many  whose  loss 

the  State  has  lately  had  to  deplore.' General  Sydney 

Cotton,  Peshawur  Division  Orders,  September  2jth,  i8j7  : 
'  With  heartfelt  and  unaffected  sorrow  Brigadier-General 
Cotton  announces  to  the  troops  under  his  command  the 
death  at  Delhi,  on  the  23rd  instant,  of  Brigadier-Creneral 
Nicholson.  Bold,  resolute,  and  determined,  this  daring 
soldier  and  inestimable  man  fell  mortally  wounded  when 
gallantly  heading  a  column  of  attack  at  the  assault  of  Delhi 
on  the  14th  instant.  In  him  England  has  lost  one  of  her 
noblest  sons,  the  Army  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and 
a  large  circle  of  acquaintances  a  friend  ^arm-hearted, 
generous,  and  true.  All  will  now  bewail  his  irreparable 
loss.' — —Sir  Robert  Montgomery  to  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes. 


i8S7.]  TESTIMONIALS,  687 

Lahore^  October  and,  1857  :  ' .  .  .  My  dear  friend,  what 
has  befallen  India  since  we  parted,  omitting  the  fearful 
massacres,  and  worse  than  these,  your  two  best  friends  have 
fallen,  the  two  great  men.  Sir  Henry  (Lawrence)  and 
Nicholson.  They  had  not,  take  them  all  in  all,  their  equals 
in  India.  I  know  how  bitterly  you  must  have  felt,  and 
still  do  feel,  their  loss,  and  your  wife  will  deeply  feel  it. 
Had  Nicholson  lived,  he  would,  as  a  commander,  have  risen 
to  the  highest  post.  He  had  every  quality  necessary  for  a 
successful  commander ;  energy,  forethought,  decision,  good 
judgment,  and  courage  of  the  highest  order.  No  diffi- 
culties would  have  deterred  him,  and  danger  would  have 
but  calmed  him.     I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him  here,  and  the 

more  I  saw  the  more  I  liked  him.' ^The  same  to  the 

author :  '  He  did  much  towards  establishing  British  rule  on 
our  advanced  frontier.  He  left  a  name  which  will  never 
be  forgotten  in  the  Punjab.  He  possessed  all  the  charac- 
teristics and  qualities  of  a  man  formed  to  command,  and  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  bold,  warlike,  and  martial  tribes 
along  our  extreme  frontier.  He  had  a  tall  and  command- 
ing figure,  a  bold  and  manly  bearing,  an  eye  that  seemed  to 
penetrate  all  that  was  working  in  the  heart.  His  discern- 
ment of  native  character  was  remarkable,  and  he  selected 
and  had  around  him  the  most  faithful  and  devoted  followers. 
He  was  fearless  in  danger,  and  was  ever  to  the  front,  and 
inspired  all  with  admiration.  He  was  as  swift  to  punish  as 
he  was  quick  to  reward.  He  had  truly  a  hand  of  iron  in  a 
silken  glove.  His  life  had  been  more  than  once  attempted 
by  the  fanatics  of  the  border.  I  once  received  an  official 
letter  from  him,  written,  as  well  as  I  can  remember,  in  the 


688  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON,  [1857. 


following  laconic  words  :  "  Sir,  I  have  the  honour  to  inform 
you  that  I  have  just  shot  a  man  who  came  to  kill  me.  Yours 
obediently,  J.  N."  '  * Sir  Herbert  Edwardes :  '  Doubt- 
less God  knows  what  is  best,  so  His  will  be  done  !  But  the 
blow  is  very  great  to  us  all — to  his  poor  mother,  to  his 
brother  Charles,  to  his  friends,  to  the  army  at  large,  to  his 
country.  For  my  own  part,  I  feel  as  if  all  happiness  had 
gone  out  of  my  public  career.  Henry  Lawrence  was  as  the 
&ther,  John  Nicholson  was  the  brother,  of  my  public  life, 
and  both  have  been  swallowed  up  in  this  devouring  war, 
this  hateful,  unnatural,  diabolical  revolt.  How  is  one  ever 
to  work  again  for  the  good  of  natives  ?  And  never,  never 
again  can  I  hop6  for  such  a  friend.  How  grand,  how 
glorious  a  piece  of  handiwork  he  was !  It  was  a  pleasure 
to  behold  him  even.  And  then  his  nature  so  fully  equal  to 
his  form !  So  undaunted,  so  noble,  so  tender  to  good,  so 
stem  to  evil,  so  single-minded,  so  generous,  so  heroic,  yet  so 
modest  j  I  never  saw  another  like  him,  and  never  expect 
to  do  so.  And  to  have  had  him  for  a  brother,  and  now  to 
have  lost  him  in  the  prime  of  life — it  is  an  inexpressible, 
and  irreparable  grief.  Nicholson  was  the  soul  of  truth. 
It  did  not  please  God  to  keep  so  noble  a  character  to  be  an 
honour  to  him  on  earth  through  a  long  lifcj  but  let  us 
fondly  hope  that  it  has  pleased  Him  to  accept  his  service  for 
all  eternity.' 

Such  was  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  him  best — 
who  had  worked  with  him,  and  served  with  him,  and  taken 
sweet  counsel  with  the  departed  j  but  I  would  fain  show 

*  The  story  of  this  attempt  on  his  life  is  told  at  page  637.    He 
described  Bunnoo  as  '  a  paradise  peopled  by  fiends.' 


i8S7.]  TESTIMONIALS.  689 

also  what  an  example  he  was  to  those  beneath  him — ^how 
the  junior  officers  of  the  Army  (he  was  himself  young  in 
years^  though  high  in  rank,  when  he  died)  looked  up  to 
him  with  profoundest  admiration.  A  young  officer  who 
had  served  in  his  brigade  wrote :  '  He  was  a  very  brave  man 
and  a  most  valuable  public  officer,  very  determined,  very 
bold,  very  clever,  and  very  successful  j  therefore  his  loss  is 
most  deeply  felt,  and  every  one  feels  that  his  place  will  not 
easily  be  supplied,  nor  the  empty  void  filled  where  before 
his  presence  was  so  much  felt  and  appreciated*  He  was  a 
man  in  whom  all  the  troops  had  the  most  unbounded  con- 
fidence, and  whom  they  would  have  followed  anywhere 
cheerfiilly  ^  yet  he  was  quite  a  young  man,  who  advanced 
himself  by  his  own  endeavours  and  good  services.  He  had 
a  constitution  of  iron.  The  day  we  marched  to  Murdan' 
he  was  twenty-six  hours  in  the  saddle,  following  up  the 
mutineers.  I  never  heard  so  much  anxiety  expressed  for 
any  man's  recovery  before,  and  the  only  term  I  know  that 
is  fiilly  adequate  to  express  the  loss  we  all  felt  is,  that  in 
each  of  our  hearts  the  victory  that  day  has  been  turned  into 
mourning.  He  was  a  man  whom  all  would  have  delighted 
to  honour,  and  was  beloved  both  for  his  amiability  and 
kindness  of  disposition,  and  his  more  brilliant  qualities  .as  a 
soldier  and  a  ruler  of  the  people.  He  was  Assistant-Com- 
missioner here  before,  and  his  name  was  known  and  dread- 
ed by  all  the  hill  tribes  around,  and  by  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  valley  of  Peshawur.  When  it  was  known  that  he 
was  dangerously  wounded,  every  one's  first  inquiry  was, 
*'  How  is  Nicholson  ?  Are  there  any  hopes  of  his  recovery  ? " 
He  is  now  gone  from  us,  but  his  memory  will  be  long 

VOL.   II.  44 


690  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON  [1857- 

■ 

cherished^  and  the  example  of  his  daring  and  bravery  will 
stimulate  those  who  knew  him  to  emulate  his  deeds.  His 
death  has  caused  as  much  grief  as  that  of  that  estimable^ 

brave,  and  heroic  good  soldier.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence.' 

Another  in  like  strain  wrote :  *  There  was  a  fine,  brave 
soldier  there  (meaning  at  Delhi),  Nicholson.  He  was  an 
army  in  himself.  He  was  the  man  who,  I  am  told,  advised 
the  assault,  planned,  and  carried  it  out.  He  knew  the  sal- 
vation of  India  depended  on  it,  and  that  it  must  be  risked 
at  all  odds — that  the  country  could  not  stand  a  further 
delay.  That  brave  man  led  one  of  the  assaulting  columns, 
and  was  killed.  He  was,  without  an  exception,  the  finest 
fellow  I  ever  saw  in  the  shape  of  a  soldier  5  handsome  as  he 
was  brave,  determined,  cool,  and  clever.  I  knew  him  well 
at  Peshawur,  and  I  feel  his  loss  to  be  one  which  the  country 
cannot  replace.' 

I  will  only  add  to  these  one  more  tribute  to  John 
Nicholson's  memory.  When  that  meeting,  of  which  I 
have  already  spoken,  was  held  at  Calcutta  to  do  honour  to 
the  memory  of  the  three  departed  heroes,  Neill,  Havelock, 
and  Nicholson,  the  Advocate-General,  Mr  Ritchie,  a  singu- 
larly able  and  accomplished  man,  whose  career  was  but  too 
short,  thus  eloquently  spoke  of  the  young  General's  death  :  * 
'Then  turn  we,'  he  said,  'to  the  death  of  the  heroic 
Nicholson.  He  fell  a  youth  in  years,  a  veteran  in  the 
wisdom  of  his  counsels,  in  the  multitude  of  his  campaigns, 
in  the  splendour  of  his  achievements.  He  fell  as  a  soldier 
would  wish  to  fall,  at  the  head  of  his  gallant  troops,  with 
the  shout  of  victory  in  his  ear  j  but  long  after  he  fell  mor- 

♦  See  anU,  pp.  581—582,  in  *  Memoir  of  General  Neill.' 


i8S7.1  TESTIMONIALS.  691 

tally  wounded,  he  resisted  being  carried  to  the  rear,  and 
remained  heedless  of  the  agony  of  his  wounds,  heedless  of 
the  shadows  of  death  closing  around  him,  to  animate  his 
troops,  checked,  but  only  for  a  while,  in  their  advance,  by 
the  loss  of  such  a  leader.  Was  not  such  a  death  worthy  of 
such  a  life  5  and  will  not  the  Caubul  gate,  where  he  fell,  live 
in  future  British  history,  as  live  those  heights  of  Abraham, 
on  which  there  fell,  a  century  ago,  another  youthful  general, 
the  immortal  Wolfe  ? — like  him  in  the  number  of  his  years, 
like  him  in  his  noble  qualities  and  aptitude  for  command, 
like  him  in  the  love  and  confidence  he  inspired  in  all  around 
him,  and  like  him  in  the  wail  of  sorrow,  which  told  him 
his  death  marred  the  joy  of  the  nation  in  the  hour  of 
victory.* 

It  remains  only  to  be  recorded  that  those  for  whom  this, 
good  servant  of  the  State  lived  and  died,  and  who  would 
have  honoured  and  rewarded  him  in  life,  were  not  forgetfid 
of  him  in  death.  The  Queen  commanded  it  to  be  officially 
announced  that  Brigadier-Greneral  Nicholson  would,  had 
he  survived,  been  created  a  Knight  Commander  of  the 
£ath,  and  the  Company  did  that,  the  knowledge  of  which, 
beyond  all  other  human  things,  would  have  most  soothed  his 
dying  moments — they  voted,  in  recognition  of  his  services, 
a  special  grant  of  aS^oo  a-year  to  that  beloved  mother, 
.whose  early  influence  and  instruction  had  done  so  much  to 
foster  the  germs  of  his  noble  character. 


692  GENERAL  JOHN  NICHOLSON.  [1857 


%*  I  cannot  sutler  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  care*^r 
of  John  Nicholson  to  go  forth,  without  publicly  acknow- 
ledging that  it  owes  any  interest  it  may  possess  mainly  to 
the  large  and  Hberal  assistance  which  Sir  Herbert  Ed- 
wardes  has  rendered  me,  in  the  course  of  its  preparation  for 
the  present  work.  Believing  that  the  best  biographies  are 
those  in  which  the  autobiographical  element  is  the  most 
prominent,  1  have  endeavoured  in  all  these  sketches  to 
make  the  men  of  whom  1  have  written  tell,  as  fully  as  pos- 
sible, the  stories  of  their  own  lives  5  and  I  have  ever  sought 
the  aid  of  those  survivors  who  have  known  them  best.  And 
I  believe  that,  by  so  doing,  I  have  imparted  an  amount  of 
vitality  to  my  narratives  which,  had  I  trusted  more  to  my 
own  words,  would  have  been  absent  from  them. 


THE  END. 


LONDON:  PRDTTBD  BY   WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  SONS,   LIMITED, 
STAMFORD   STBEET  AND  CHABIKO  CBOSS. 


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