BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. June. Mr. William Tayler. Early detects the sore spot. resorted to here. The postponement of such a measure necessarily chained the European troops to the station of Dánápúr, leaving all the other districts in the Patná division to shift for themselves. It was from no lack of knowledge of the danger of leaving arms in the hands of the sepoys, that the Government of India hesitated to give the order to disarm them. The Commissioner of Patná, Mr. William Tayler, had been unremitting alike in impressing his courageous spirit on the disaffected, and in keeping the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal well informed of the general aspect of affairs. As this gentleman's name will figure somewhat conspicuously in the following pages, it is fit that I should introduce him here. Mr. William Tayler was a member of the Bengal Civil Service. He was a gentleman and a scholar, possessing great natural abilities which he had lost no opportunity of cultivating, an elegant mind, and a large fund of common sense. To these should be added the greater gifts, during a crisis such as that of which I am writing, of a nerve not to be shaken, a clear view, and a power to decide rapidly and correctly in difficult circumstances. In the prime of life, courteous in manner, loyal to his Government, ready to hear the opinions of all, yet resolved to act on those which best commended themselves to his understanding, he was just the man whom a Wellesley or a Napier would have detached as his lieutenant to command a difficult position. The mutinous spirit displayed early in the year EARLY DETECTS THE SORE SPOT. 43 by the sepoys at Barhámpúr, and later by those at Bárrákpúr, had not been unnoticed by Mr. Tayler. As the pro-consul of a province which had as its capital the city of Patná, the head-quarters of the chiefs of the Wáhábís, it had devolved upon him to watch every vibration in the political system, so strangely agitated since the beginning of the year. Mr. Tayler, with a forecast surer than that of Mr. Secretary Beadon, had detected in the action. of the 19th Regiment of Native Infantry and in the scarce-concealed sympathy with that action of the regiments stationed at Bárrákpúr, the germs of a very contagious political disease, and he had deemed it not at all improbable that, if not wholly eradicated by the measures of Government, the disease might gradually spread upwards. Never for a moment did he believe in the "passing and groundless panic" theory of Mr. Beadon. But not even Mr. Tayler, astute and far-seeing as he was, had imagined that the contagion would be communicated, as if by magic, to the upper provinces, passing over the intermediate divisions, to attack the body politic, suddenly, in its very heart. When, therefore, the catastrophe of the 10th of May occurred at Mírath, it took not less by surprise the Commissioner of Patná than every other official in India. But Mr. Tayler was equal to the occasion. He summoned the European inhabitants of the place to deliberate on the means to be adopted to avert the crisis from Patná. Rejecting the timid counsel offered him shortly before by the judge, —who then, or a little later, took refuge in the BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. June 7. opium godown,-to despatch the Government treasure to Dánápúr and to be prepared on the first alarm to follow it thither, Mr. Tayler briefly stated to those present his information, his apprehensions, and his hopes, and then added that if they had confidence in him, he was prepared to assume the entire responsibility, and to act as he might consider necessary. In reply the Europeans present voted by acclamation confidence in their Commissioner. Thus armed, Mr. Tayler prepared for the inevitable emergency. On the 7th June the crisis seemed to arrive. Intimation was received that evening from Dánápúr to the effect that the native regiments were in a state of excitement, and that a rise was apprehended that very night. He Mr. Tayler determined at once to make of his own house a fortress for the whole station. drove to the nearest residents, and sent messengers to those further off, begging them to accept his hospitality during the crisis. In less than an hour his house was crowded by men, women, and children, from all parts of Patná. The house, however, was garrisoned by the Station Guards, who were all natives. Could they be trusted? Suddenly the discovery of a letter passing between them and the sepoys at Dánápúr showed Mr. Tayler that his guards were in league with the disaffected regiments. Fortunately, a body of Sikhs newly raised by Captain Rattray, were then within forty miles of Patná. Mr. Tayler had sent expresses a day or two before to summon these men. They arrived at BOOK VII. the early dawn. For the moment, then, Patná was safe. The several residents returned to their Chapter II. homes. 1857. June 7. eral Lloyd. A full report of this threatened outbreak made to the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal had not the effect of inducing the Government of India to order the disarming of the men from whom the outbreak had been apprehended. Major-General Major-GenLloyd, then commanding at Dánápúr, had passed all his service in a sepoy regiment. He had witnessed the fidelity of the native soldier under trying and difficult circumstances, and, fortified by the opinion of the several commandants of regiments, he still clung to his belief in their loyalty. He shut his eyes too closely to the fact that of the three native regiments under his command two had already shown a mutinous disposition. Like so many officers, good honest men, who had spent their lives amid the sepoys, he could not bring himself absolutely to mistrust them, to recommend their disarming, equivalent, in his opinion, to their dishonour. His confidence in his own judgment was increased by the fact that on the 7th of June-about the period when so many other regiments had risen; when he had been positively informed that his regiments would certainly rise; and when an opportunity had been offered them of seizing some £200,000 of money Trusts the belonging to the Government, as they believed, sepoys. but slightly guarded-those regiments had remained passive. On the 2nd of June he had reported to the Government his belief that the regiments would remain quiet, "unless some BOOK VII. Chapter II. 1857. June 7. ment trust Major-General Lloyd. great temptation or excitement should assail them," and five days later he reiterated the same opinion. The Government, then, had before them the The Govern report of the Commissioner of the danger incurred at Patná on the 7th of June, and the opinion of the Major-General commanding the division that the native troops would remain quiet, "unless some great temptation or excitement should assail them." Having in view the composition of the native society at Patná, the isolation of the stations dependent upon it, the vast wealth of the province, the Government must, I think, be held guilty of fatuity in trusting, at such a crisis, to the chance that no great temptation or excitement would assail the sepoys. Neither at that time nor later would there have been any difficulty in disarming the sepoys at Dánápúr. The 10th Regiment was on the spot, and detachments of European troops were constantly conveyed past the station in Defence of the action of the steamers. The only defence of the inaction of the GovernGovernment. ment with which I am acquainted, relating to this particular period, the first week of June, is to the effect that Lord Canning had "not merely to consider what was locally or individually best, but what was most generally conducive to the interests of those under his charge." It has been urged that the result of disarming might have been dangerous in the extreme to our people in other parts of the country where sepoys abounded, and not a detachment of Europeans was to be seen": that the Governor-General "was looking anxiously for the arrival of fresh reinforcements when the |