THE REASON OF THEIR CONDUCT. 7 was refused. The acceptance of that offer would have disengaged for immediate action the wing of a regiment. As events happened, the first batch of the 84th Regiment, leaving Calcutta the 20th of May, succeeded in reaching Kánhpúr early in June. Now, it cannot be questioned that the entire 84th Regiment, if despatched on the 6th of May, might have reached Kánhpúr during that month. Its presence would probably have prevented the outbreak which occurred there; and, in that case, it might certainly have been strengthened by a wing of the 53rd, leaving Calcutta the 21st, and by the Madras Fusiliers which actually left on the 23rd. The reason why the Government did not act in the manner in which it might have acted is explained by Mr. Secretary Beadon in his letteralready quoted to the French residents at Calcutta :"Everything is quiet within six hundred miles of the capital. The mischief, caused by a passing and groundless panic, has fortunately been arrested; and there is every reason to hope that, in the course of a few days, tranquillity and confidence will be restored throughout the Presidency." This "reason to hope" had, I have shown, no solid foundation. The hope which existed was, in fact, without reason. It had sufficient vitality, however, to induce the Government to risk the weakest and most threatened point of their line, in order that they might appear strong to the world. The week that followed the 1st of June disclosed to the Government their error, to the world the short-sightedness of the Government. BOOK VII. Chapter I. 1857. June 1. BOOK VII. Chapter I. 1857. June 1-7. Their first awakening. The awakeaing not complete. 8 FIRST AWAKENING OF THE GOVERNMENT. During that week intelligence reached Calcutta of the mutiny at Lakhnao, of the defection of all the regiments occupying Oudh, of revolts at A'zimgarh, at Banáras, and at Alláhábád, of the massacre of the Europeans at Jhánsí. This news increased the anxiety of the Government regarding the safety of their weak centre line; for Oudh was separated from Kánhpúr but by the river, and even before the defection of that province, the position of Kánhpúr, garrisoned by native troops and in close proximity to the stronghold of the discontented heir of a prince whom we had dispossessed, had inspired alarm. Counterbalancing, in a measure, the effect of this evil news the Government saw with satisfaction the arrival, during that week, in Calcutta of the 64th Foot and 78th Highlanders from Persia, of a wing of the 35th Foot from Múlmén, of a wing of the 37th Regiment, and of a company of Royal Artillery from Ceylon. Awake now to the danger before them they pushed on these regiments to the north with praiseworthy activity. The uncompleted state of the railway rendered the progress of the detachments slow. In default of this means of transit, single-horsed post-carriages-the quickest mode of travelling then available-bullock carriages, and steamers, were employed to the fullest possible extent. The Government, in fact, did then all that was possible to save the threatened line. I have said that the Government were awake to the danger before them in the north. It is strange, however, that their eyes were not yet THE AWAKENING ONLY PARTIAL. 9 opened to the full magnitude of the crisis; that Their Thus, with the news of the revolt of many regiments stationed within the limits of the six hundred miles indicated by Mr. Beadon in his famous letter of the 25th of May ringing in their ears, the Government reported to the Court of Directors their belief that a public profession of loyalty made by the 70th Regiment of Native Infantry, then stationed at Bárrákpúr, would "have the happiest influence on the minds of all well-disposed men in the Native Army." They, therefore, allowed three and a half native regiments at that station to retain their arms. To the 6th Native Infantry at Alláhábád, on the eve of a revolt accompanied by marked barbarity, the Government sent, at the same time, their acknowledgment of a similar profession. They would not believe the fact which was patent to all BOOK VII. 1857. June 1-7. BOOK VII. Chapter I. 1857. June 1-7. Death of Gen. eral Anson. 10 GENERAL ANSON-HIS CHARACTER. around them,-the fact that the entire native army was animated by but one feeling, and that the mutiny of a regiment was merely a question of time and of opportunity. Their views regarding the possibility of an advance from Dehlí in the direction of their weak central line were encouraged by the receipt, at this period, of information of a victory gained by the Mírath garrison over the rebels issuing from Dehlí at the rivulet Hindan, near the town of Ghází-údín Nagar. This victory, in which the rebels lost five guns, was gained on the 31st of May. It encouraged the hope that almost any post might bring the intelligence of the fall of the great fortress. Another most important item of intelligence conveyed to the Government during this absorbing week was that of the death by cholera of the Commander-in-Chief, General Anson, at Ambála, on the 27th of May. This much to be lamented event did not occur until General Anson had prepared and set in action the measures which were to the end persistently carried out for the capture of Dehlí. His demise was a great-time His character. proved it to be a most sensible loss. A man of very remarkable natural talents, General Anson had, during a residence in India of more than five years, used those talents to master completely the necessities of Indian warfare. He was a perfect judge of character. No man ever more quickly detected the veneer of superficiality. He could not conceal his contempt for a man whom he discovered to be playing a part. Hence, pro THE MENTAL RANGE OF THE GOVERNMENT. 11 bably, there swarmed up after his death enemies and detractors. They have not succeeded, however, in sullying his fair fame. For to him, as truly now as when death snatched him from the triumph which he had prepared, may be applied the immortal epitaph which the great historian of the Peninsular War composed for one of the most illustrious of English Generals:-"The honest loved, the dishonest feared him. For, while he lived he did not shun, but scorned and spurned the base, and, with characteristic propriety, they spurned at him when he was dead." Consequent upon the death of General Anson the command of the force destined to besiege Dehlí devolved upon Major-General Sir Henry Barnard, commanding the Sirhind Division. BOOK VII. Chapter I. 1857. June 1-7. the mental I have now given a picture—a severe but ac- Summary of curate picture-of the information possessed by range of the the Government of India up to the end of the Government. first week of June, of the deductions they drew from that information, of their hopes, their fears, and beliefs. It will have been observed that whilst, in the main, their view of the position was correct, they had not even then sounded the full depths of the disaster; and that as in May, so still, early in June, they preferred the upholding of their infallibility as a Government to throwing themselves frankly upon the loyalty of the only classes they could absolutely trust,-the Europeans and Eurasians living and settled in India. The fortnight which followed was full of startling incidents, but incidents marked by the same general correctness of view regarding strategy, |