Chapter II.

due that a remnant of the party which had fled BOOK VIII. from Naogáng succeeded ultimately in reaching territory still possessed by the British.*

1857.

June.

Reference has been made in the preceding narrative to the generous conduct of the Nawáb of Bandá. But Bandá was itself a military station. There was quartered a detachment of the 56th Regiment of Native Infantry. These men, in correspondence with their brethren of the 12th, were equally tainted. Learning betimes of the successful outbreak at Naogáng they followed its example. Rising on the 14th of June, and making common cause with the troops of the Nawab, they plundered the treasury and went off to join their comrades. The Nawab was able to save the lives of the officers. He extended the same protection Generous to the Europeans who had escaped from Hamir- conduct of the púr, and to those likewise who had fled across the Bandá. Jamná from Fathpúr. The time, however, was to arrive when the Nawáb, like Sindia and the Hindú princes of Rájpútáná, would find himself unable to contend any longer against the excited passions of his followers. True, however, to his liege lord, he extended hospitality and protection to every European fugitive as long as he could do so, and when the insubordination of his troops rendered it impossible for him to afford them further protection, he had his guests safely escorted to territory still owning the British rule.

There are most interest- Of the men left behind at ing narratives of these events Kalrai, forty-one persons, by Captain Scott, Mrs. Mawe, drummers, buglers, and their Lieutenant Jackson, Sergeant families, ultimately reached Kirchoff, and Mr. Langdale. Bandá in safety.

Nawab of

BOOK VIII.
Chapter II.

1857. June.

Fidelity of

198 FIDELITY OF THE 50TH NATIVE INFANTRY.

There was one station in Bandalkhand, and only one, in which the native troops stationed did not mutiny. This was the station of Nagód. The regiment there quartered, the 50th Native the 50th N.I. Infantry, stood firm to the last, fourteen men the whole regiment having alone shown symptoms of disaffection. Nor was the misconduct of these men displayed until a later period (27th of August).

BOOK VIII.

CHAPTER III.

Durand.

MORE important in their results on the general situation were the occurrences taking place about the same time in the States of the native princes in Central India and Rájpútáná. I have narrated a portion of these under the head of Gwáliár. It is necessary now to invite the attention of the reader to the larger remainder as yet untold. The acting representative of the Governor- Colonel General at Indúr, the capital of the dominions of Holkar, and the head-quarters of the Central Indian Agency, was Colonel Henry Marion Durand. Colonel Durand was one of the most remarkable of the remarkable men for the production of whom the East India Company was famous. Endowed with a clear head, a comprehensive grasp of affairs, a quick and keen vision, a singularly retentive memory, and an energy that nothing could tire, Durand could not escape distinction. Anywhere, and under any circumstances, he would have attained it. Seldom has

200

BOOK VIII. Chapter III.

1857.

COLONEL DURAND.

there served in India a man who could do all things so well; who could successfully apply to so many diverse subjects his vast talents.

He was

His character. equally at home in planning a campaign, in giving, as he did give, the soundest advice to a Commander-in-Chief, after an indecisive action, such as that of Chillianwálá, and in devising schemes for the improvement of the complicated revenue system of the North-West Provinces. Nor did his private character belie his conduct as a public officer. Large hearted, full of sympathy for the suffering and the oppressed, he had unsparing scorn and contempt for those only whom he believed to be false, to be treacherous, to be corrupt, to be time-serving. For a man of that class, when once he had found him out, Durand had no pity. But the true man, however poor, however neglected by Fortune he might be, always received from Durand support, encouragement, and sympathy. This remark applies alike to Colonel Durand's relations with natives as with Europeans. It is not true that he had a scorn for Asiatics as Asiatics. He had scorn for corrupt Asiatics, as he had scorn for corrupt Europeans. But in his mind the colour of the skin weighed not at all. With him honesty was honesty, falseness was falseness; and wherever he detected these opposite qualities, he loved or despised th: possessor, whether he were Asiatic, or whether he were European.

His constant struggle with Fortune.

It is a remarkable fact that throughout his long career in India-a career extending over forty years-Durand owed nothing to Fortune. On the

THE STRIKING POINTS OF HIS CHARACTER. 201

BOOK VIII. Chapter III.

1857.

contrary, his life was a constant struggle against the efforts of the blind goddess. She made his path hard and difficult. He rose to one of the highest positions in India, the LieutenantGovernorship of her most important provincein spite of envy, in spite of calumny, in spite of the thousand and one indirect obstacles which can be and are used to thwart the upward career of an able and honest man, who, connecting himself with no party, dares to have the courage of his opinions. There have been epochs in Indian history when it has been possible for men without brains to rise very high indeed. Servility, com- His hatred of plaisance, a cautious reticence, a suppression in intrigue. fact of one's inner consciousness, are sometimes found useful and are often rewarded. But Durand scorned the backstairs path. He always spoke exactly what he thought, always acted as he believed to be right, regardless of consequences. This manly action made him many enemies, and His manli. these enemies thwarted him, as enemies in high places can thwart a man true to his own convictions. That he succeeded in spite of them was due partly to his indomitable strength of will, partly to the fact that in times of pressure and adversity Governments find themselves forced to replace the smiling sycophant by the skilled workman.

ness.

Colonel Durand belonged to the Engineers. Yet, so great had been his capacity, and so comprehensive his intellectual range, that he, then a Lieutenant of Engineers, had been selected in His earlier 1838 for the post of Secretary to the Board of career.