Government of India were not left in the dark, for on the 23rd of January General Hearsay reported the existence of an "unpleasant feeling." Not a moment should have been lost in denying the presence of the obnoxious materials, and allowing the Sepoys to grease their cartridges with ghee or some other harmless substance. The offending paper should have been instantly withdrawn. But hesitation prevailed, and fear grew by delay. Court-martials and their sentences only invested insubordinate Sepoys with the distinction of martyrs, and their accusers and judges were held to be banded together in a conspiracy against the religions of India. The times were dangerous, for the native troops were strong, in the words of John Lawrence,

in their great numbers, in their unexampled power of combination, and their possession of most of our magazines, many of our forts, and all of our treasuries, while our weakness consisted in the paucity of European troops. . . . Some regiments had been subtracted from our complement during the Russian War; two regiments were in Persia. Those regiments we had were numerically weak; some corps had not received any fresh drafts for two years.

But although the Government of India were acquainted with these facts, and had still before them the military minutes which Lord Dalhousie laid on the Council table on the 29th of February, 1856, they misread the signs of the times, and suffered the idle words of the kalasi to grow into panic, panic to spread into mutiny, and mutineers when they rose in rebellion to go unpunished. The blame for these mistakes does not lie with the Governor-General, who had quitted India in March 1856.

What then is the extent of the responsibility of Lord Dalhousie for the events of 1857? Looking to

the changes which had come over India since he landed on the banks of the Hooghly on the 12th of January, 1848, we may perhaps summarise as making for unrest the following facts. It must be admitted that even the most ignorant and apathetic Hindu was brought into more conscious touch with the spirit of the west during the eight years preceding 1857 than at any other period in the history of India. The military power of the Company's servants was in that term extended to Peshawar on one side and to the territories of Ava on the east, and their civil rule over the whole empire was consolidated. The dream of a revival of a Mahomedan empire was almost dissipated, although the tawdry pageantry of departed glory still hung about the palace at Delhi. The Sikh kingdom was at an end, and the death of the ex-Peshwa reminded the Marathas that their last chance of sovereignty had passed away. The spiritual power of the priests was shaken by the new scheme of public instruction, and the legal protection accorded to widows and converts. The leaven of a Christian civilisation was visibly working in the whole mass of Indian society. The annexation of Oudh, so eagerly demanded by the oppressed subjects of that kingdom, had already disappointed the hopes of many. The ex-king and his family remained alive to bemoan their fate and rally their supporters. In other parts of the country transitions from Native to British administration had not been effected without heartburnings and a sense of injury to privileged classes. All these results had been attained by military strength. The Native army, conscious of its numbers, and proud of the praises which it had won, had learnt the numerical weakness of the British garrison, and had lately seen part of it called away for service in the Crimea. Its dread of being

required to cross the "black water" had been emphasised by the extension of British dominion across the Bay of Bengal, and by rumours of war with Persia. Lord Dalhousie had played a man's part, and with prudence and courage had fought the battle of civilisation. But in such a contest he could only rely upon his European troops. His enemies henceforth were more likely to be those of his own household than a foreign foe or a Native State. The " dangers of peace" might even become more serious than those of conquest, and the weak spot in the Company's armour was the paucity of white soldiers. This defect had not been remedied. It is true that by means of railways and telegraphs the power of the small British garrison had been increased, and the abolition of the Military Board with other reforms had strengthened the hands of Government. But nothing had come of the proposals for reducing the Native army and augmenting the European forces. No guarantee had been wrung from the home authorities that the royal infantry would not be suffered to fall below the strength of twenty-four regiments. The Governor-General had indeed reached London before he heard the fate of his earnest endeavours to wake up the authorities to a sense of the danger. On the 18th of July, 1856, Colonel Birch wrote to him in these

terms :

All your minutes on army reforms are with the Commanderin-Chief. Feeling himself quite new to everything, the GovernorGeneral after reading the minutes sent them to General Anson, desiring to avail himself of the opinions of his colleagues, before he formed or gave expression to an opinion of his own. But with all that General Anson has to do in all the departments, and in the Legislative Council-for he takes an active part in all besides the army, which is his peculiar occupation-it is not probable that any early progress will be made with the subjects of those minutes.

The result of his proposals regarding the European cavalry, by the reduction of which he hoped to provide funds for the increase of the infantry regiments, was communicated to him a few weeks later in a letter dated the 8th of September, 1856, from Mr. Vernon Smith:

You are probably aware that we have agreed to send back the regiments of Queen's Cavalry to India. This is contrary to your advice, but in the imperial emergency there is no help for it, and the question of economy must remain for the future, as I must say most questions of Indian economy do!

In short, the conclusion of the whole matter is this: Lord Dalhousie carried out the high mission of civilisation with which he had been entrusted by his country. His success impressed the Indian people with a sense of defeat, but it threw a strong light upon the numerical weakness of the British troops, and so encouraged the Sepoy army to revolt. That contingency had been foreseen, and a remedy had been devised to meet it, but the authorities at home would not allow it to be applied. It is true that, as John Lawrence remarked, the "Almighty disposer of events" directed the course of history; but there is no impiety in holding that in His hands Lord Dalhousie's pacification of the Punjab, his introduction of telegraphs and roads, and his administrative reforms were the human instruments of the divine purpose which sustained British rule in the day of its severest trial.

CHAPTER XI

RETIREMENT AND DEATH

Lord Dalhousie's activity to the end-His proposal to place the Punjab under John Lawrence as Lieutenant-Governor-His last Sunday in office-The last meeting of the Legislative Council-Lord Canning's arrival-Parting addresses and warnings-The farewell scene at the Ghat-Disappointments at Galle-The trials of the journey to Malta-Arrival at Spithead, and the Queen's letter-Pension voted by Court of Directors-Visits from his friends, and heavy correspondence Advocacy of the claims of O'Shaughnessy and Stephenson for honours-Winter spent in Edinburgh—He goes to Malta for the winter 1857-58-Depression caused by mutiny-"We want a Dictator"-John Lawrence's appeal to him-Return home and stay in Malvern--Retires to Dalhousie Castle-Marriage of Lady Edith, August 9, 1859-Change for the worse-The pressure of his duties as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports-His last visit to London, 1860-Closing scenes of life—The shadow cast by the mutiny upon his work-Obituary notices-His place in Indian history-His burial in the kirkyard of Cockpen.

1856-1860. In the second chapter of this volume the story of Lord Dalhousie's life was brought down to the close of the year 1855. He was then anxiously awaiting the decision of Her Majesty's Government regarding the fate of Oudh, and completing his arrangements for the arrival of the incoming Governor-General. In later chapters some of the most important events of 1856 were described, among them being the annexation of the kingdom of Oudh and the encroachment of Persia upon Herat, which