THE TRANS-SUTLEJ STATES
1846-1849
From the last preceding chapter it has been seen that in March, 1846,
John Lawrence was appointed Commissioner of the territory, known
officially as the Trans-Sutlej States, and geographically as the
Jullundur Doab, containing thirteen thousand square miles and two and a
half millions of inhabitants. He thus became prefect of this
newly-annexed territory, which was placed not under any provincial
Government but under the immediate administration of the
Governor-General in Council. It was divided into three districts, with
district officers who were to exercise power as great as that which he
had possessed at Delhi, in some respects greater indeed, and he was in
command of them all. He was at the head of what was then the frontier
province of the empire, and under the eye of the Governor-General. His
foot was on the first step of the ladder which leads to greatness, but
it was quite doubtful whether he would succeed in mounting any further
steps. His temper was naturally masterful in that degree which is
essential to any considerable achievements in human affairs. This
quality in him had been fostered by his service at Delhi. It had the
fullest play in his new province, which lay half at the base of the
Himalayas and half within the mountains. Below the hills he found the
territory fertile, the population sturdy, and the land with its
inhabitants like plastic clay to be moulded by his hand. Old-standing
wrongs were to be redressed, half-suppressed rights to be vindicated,
tenures to be settled, crimes to be stamped out, order to be introduced
not gradually but rapidly, law to be enforced in spirit if not in
letter, an administration to be rough-hewn after civilised models,
provincial finance to be managed; here, then, he was in his element.
This was, probably, the happiest time of his whole life, and the most
satisfactory portion of his long career. In after years he would recur
to it wistfully, when troubled by other surroundings and beset by other
circumstances. There he had quite his own way, and left his proper mark;
for in a few months he laid broadly and deeply the foundations of good
administration. Besides the civil business, there was other work
demanding his care. The province contained not only the rich and peopled
plain near the confluence of the Sutlej and the Beas, but also a
Himalayan region extending northwards to Tibet and held by mountaineer
chieftains; and he had to reduce this mountainous country also to
reasonable obedience. The results he attained in six months, that is
from March to August 1846, seem on a retrospect to be wonderful, and
prove with what method as well as force, what steadiness as well as
energy, what directness of aim, what adaptation of means to righteous
purposes, he must have laboured. Throughout these affairs he was in
direct and immediate relations with the Government of India from whom
he received ample support. And he more than justified the confidence of
the Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, who had selected him.
Though his new charge in the Trans-Sutlej States was distant not more
than two hundred miles from his old charge at Delhi,--which for
north-western India is a short distance--there was a change of scene.
Around Delhi and Paniput he had seen scenery as flat as that of northern
or south-eastern Europe in the basin, for instance, of the Elbe and the
Oder or of the Don and the Volga. No mountain wall, no abrupt peak, no
wooded eminence, broke for him the monotony of outline, or bounded his
horizon which ran in a complete circle like the horizon at sea. But in
the Trans-Sutlej States on a fine winter’s morn, his northern horizon of
the plains was bounded by a glittering wall of the snowy Himalayas, a
sight which, when beheld by Europeans for the first time, so affects
them that they instinctively raise their hats to the peerless mountains.
Within the lower hills, which are outworks of the greater ranges, he
rode up and down stony bridle-paths or across the sandy beds of
summer-torrents, and gazed at hill-forts on stiff heights, or on castles
like that of Kot-Kangra rising proudly from the midst of ravines with
precipitous surroundings. Penetrating further northwards he reached
mountains, with fir-woods bounded by snow, which reminded him of his
Alpine tour only four years ago, and thought how short that interval
was, and yet how much had happened to him within it. Though not
specially sensitive to the beauties of Nature, he would yet dilate with
something near enthusiasm on the vale of Dhurmsala, with its cultivated
slopes, intersected by a net-work of artificial rivulets or murmuring
brooks, and surrounded by forests of oak and pine, while above the scene
there towered the everlasting snows that look down upon the transient
littleness of man. But he lingered not in any scene, however glorious,
for his heart was with the swarthy population under his charge in the
hot and dusty plains below.
In August, 1846, he was called away to Lahore to act for his brother
Henry as British Resident with the Regency of the Punjab. Here he had a
fresh field of action, which though nominally new was yet one where his
experience of native life enabled him to enter at once with full effect.
He was temporarily the agent of the paramount British power in a Native
State, torn by restless and incompatible factions, and possessing the
_débris_ of a warlike power that had been shattered by British arms in
recent campaigns. He was, however, acting for his brother absent on
leave, on whose lines he loyally worked. But though he had no chance of
showing originality, he yet evinced capacity for that which in India is
called political work, and which though cognate to, is yet distinct
from, civil administration.
He resumed charge of his province, the Trans-Sutlej States, by the end
of 1846, and consolidated his work there during the first half of 1847.
But in August of that year he was again called to act for Henry at
Lahore, who had proceeded on sick leave to England. By this time a
further arrangement had been made, placing the supervision of the
Punjab, during the minority of the Native Prince, under the British
Resident. Consequently during this his second incumbency at Lahore he
enjoyed a largely extended authority, and the evidence he gave of
capacity increased together with his opportunities. He remained at
Lahore from the middle of 1847 to the spring of 1848, when he made over
his political charge to Sir Frederick Currie, and returned to his
province in the Trans-Sutlej States. During this time his friend Lord
Hardinge had been succeeded by Lord Dalhousie as Governor-General.
Hardly had he resumed the civil command of his province when the
rebellion broke out at Mooltan in the southern Punjab, and spread over
the whole country west of Lahore. During the events which followed,
throughout 1848 and up to the spring of 1849, and which have been
regarded by history as constituting the second Punjab War, he held his
provincial command with characteristic vigour. The rebellious fire in
the Punjab sent many sparks into the inflammable materials in the
hill-districts of his jurisdiction. Newly subdued chiefs, occupying
mountainous territories, showed their teeth, and there was anxiety for
the safety of Kot-Kangra, the famous hill-fort which was the key of the
surrounding country; but in an instant he seemed to be ubiquitous. With
scanty resources in troops, and with hastily raised levies, he struck
blows which prevented insurrection from making head. Throughout the war
his Trans-Sutlej province, occupying a critical position between the
elder British dominions and the Punjab, was kept well in hand.
In the beginning of 1849 he repaired to Lahore to confer with Henry, who
had come back from England and resumed charge of the Residency. He
remained in close communication with his brother till after the
termination of the war by the battle of Gujerat in February of that
year. In March he went on his brother’s behalf to Ferozepur, whither the
Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, had come in order to determine the
fate of the Punjab. There he met Lord Dalhousie for the first time, and
discussed with him the principal matters connected with the annexation
of the country--not the policy of annexing, for that had really been
determined, but rather the best way of carrying that measure into
effect. The conference being verbal and confidential, the substance
cannot be given; but he certainly advised the Governor-General that if
annexation was to be decreed there was not a moment to be lost, for in
the first place the spring crops, the main sources of the land revenue,
were ripening for harvest, and the Government interests would be
sacrificed by delay; and in the second place, the hot weather was coming
on apace, and very few weeks remained wherein the British officers could
possibly move about and establish order in the country. This valuable
and withal characteristic advice of his must have carried due weight
with Lord Dalhousie.
The Punjab being annexed immediately afterwards, he was appointed a
member of the Board of Administration of which Henry was President. The
Board was constituted for managing the country, though the powers of the
Government were reserved for the Governor-General in Council; but its
functions were comprehensive and he was an important member of it.
He was now on the threshold of Anglo-Indian greatness, with nineteen
years’ standing in the service, including two years of furlough in
England. For some time his health had been fairly good; he was in the
zenith of strength and in the prime of life; he was happy in his
domestic circumstances; he was as yet on good terms officially with his
eminent brother Henry as he ever was privately. He had shown himself to
be perfectly equipped for civil administration, competent for extended
command, able in dealing with political contingencies, active in the
field as well as laborious in the cabinet, prompt in suppressing
disturbance, equal to grave emergency. Nevertheless he had not up to
this time conceived any idea of a great future being in store for him.
He had seen men of signal power, whom he reverently regarded, leave
India without reward or external honour, although their fame might live
for generations in the hearts of many millions, and he hardly expected
any different issue for himself.
At the present stage the main points may be reviewed in his public
character which by this time had been cast in its lasting mould. The
basis and framework of his nature assuredly belonged to what is
familiarly known as the British type. The earliest influences brought to
bear upon him had been English absolutely, and the effect, thus produced
at the most impressionable age, abided with him to the end. Later on,
however, a quality developed itself in him which is not especially
English, namely caution. This he derived, no doubt, from his mother’s
Scottish blood. He was an extremely cautious man, and obeyed the
dictates of caution up to the utmost reasonable limit. Whenever he acted
in a dashing and daring manner--as he sometimes had to do--it was only
after a cool, even though a rapid, review of diverse considerations. He
thought that as a race the English are incautious, even impatient in
time of energetic action, and apt to feel too secure and self-sufficing
in time of quiet. When preparing instructions for a possible emergency,
he would often say that they must be so framed as to guard against the
over-impetuous disposition of our countrymen in the presence of danger.
As a cognate quality to caution, he had forethought in the highest
degree. In all considerable affairs he habitually disciplined his mind
to think out the probable or possible future, to perceive beforehand
what might or might not happen, to conjure up the contingencies which
might arise, to anticipate the various turns which events might take.
This faculty must, indeed, be possessed more or less by all who achieve
anything great in public life; but probably few men ever possessed it in
a higher degree than he. For ill-digested policy, or hastily judged
action, or inconsiderate rashness, he had nothing but pity and contempt.
With such a temperament as this he would willingly, indeed anxiously,
listen to all that could be said on the several sides of every question,
collate the opinions of others, and gather local knowledge before making
up his own mind. After that, however, his mind would be made up
decisively without further delay, and would be followed by action with
all his might. Thus he became essentially a man of strong opinions, and
was then self-reliant absolutely. The test of a first-rate man, as
distinguished from ordinary men, is the fitness to walk alone; that was
his favourite expression, meaning doubtless the exercise of undivided
responsibility. Thus he was masterful in temperament. He would yield
obedience readily to those whom he was bound to obey, but would quickly
chafe if the orders he received were couched in inconsiderate terms. He
would co-operate cordially with those from whom he had no right to
expect more than co-operation; but he always desired to be placed in
positions where he would be entitled to command. Though not thirsting
for power in the ordinary sense of the term, he never at any stage of
his career felt that he had power enough for his work and his
responsibilities. He certainly complained often on this score. His
confidence in the justice of his own views was complete, because he knew
that he had thought them out, and was conscious of being gifted with the
power of thinking. Still he was not aggressively dogmatic, nor
uncharitable to contrary opinions on the part of others, but rather
forbearing. He would modestly say that these opinions of theirs should
be respected, but his own view was formed, and he must act upon it.
Hesitancy might be desirable during the stage of deliberation, but was
not, in his mind, permissible when once the conclusions had been
reached, for then it must give place to promptitude in action.
He had one faculty which is characteristic of the best English type,
namely, the power of judging evenly and calmly in regard to the merits
or demerits of those with whom he had to deal. Without undue
predilection he would note the faults or failings of those who on the
whole had his admiration. Equally without prejudice he would make
allowance for the weakness of those whom he reprobated, and would
recollect any countervailing virtue. He was ready to condone errors in
those who were zealous for the public service. But to those who were
lacking in desire for the performance of duty he would show no
consideration, notwithstanding any gifts or accomplishments which they
might possess. In holding a just balance between virtues and faults in
others, or estimating with discrimination the diverse moral and
intellectual qualities of those who were responsible to him, he has
rarely, if ever, been surpassed. It almost necessarily follows that he
was a keen observer and an accurate judge of character in all with whom
he came in contact. He was inclined to believe more in men than in
measures. Almost any plan, he would say, will answer with good men to
execute it, with such men even an inferior system will succeed; but with
bad or indifferent men to work it, the best system will fail.
While the basis of his disposition was British, still there was in him
an Irish element. His heart was with Ulster, and in his hardest times he
would recur to the defence of Londonderry. He was often humorous,
vivacious and laughter-loving, to a degree which is not usual with
Britons of so rough and hard a fibre as his. He was frequently grave and
silent; his temper, too, though very good in reality, was not mild, and
occasionally might seem to be irascible; nevertheless when at his ease,
or off his guard, he would relax at once into smiles and witticisms. If
wrapped up in preoccupation of thought--as was but too often the
case--he must needs be serious. But if not preoccupied, he would look
forth upon the world around him, men, things, animals and objects
generally, with a genial desire to gain amusement from them all, and to
express that amusement in racy terms to any friend or companion who
might be with him. As he moved along a thoroughfare of traffic or the
streets of a city, his talk sparkled like a hill-stream flowing freshly
over a stony bed. His wit was abundantly seasoned by the use of
metaphor. His figures of speech were drawn not only from his native West
but from the East of his adoption. His _repertoire_ and vocabulary were
thus enriched from Oriental resources which abound in imagery. He had in
early years acquired not a scholar-like but a competent knowledge of
Persian. Thus he was able to apply the similes, the tropes, the quirks
of that flowery language to passing objects in a manner which moved
everyone European or Native to laughter. He had an amazing memory for
tales of real life, in the East chiefly, and these he would on occasion
narrate in a vivid or graphic style.
Beneath a rough-hewn exterior there flowed an undercurrent of gentleness
and tenderness which he reserved for his home. In his domestic life he
was thoroughly happy, and fortunate beyond the average lot of mankind.
This had a quieting and softening effect upon him amidst the distraction
and excitement of active life. Never having studied art of any kind, or
paid any attention to music and painting, he would not idealize
anything, nor take an artistic view of the grand and glorious objects in
Nature that often met his eye. But if such an object affected military
or political combinations--as for instance a precipitous defile, a bluff
headland, a treacherous river-passage, a rockbound ravine--then he would
describe it with eloquent, even poetic, illustrations.
He had by nature an acute and far-reaching eyesight, which, however, in
middle life became impaired by excessive reading both in print and
manuscript. But this reading of his ranged for the most part over
official papers only. He read but little of literature generally,--that
little, however, would be in the heroic mould, something that related to
the struggles of ancient Rome, or her contest with Carthage, or the
marches of Alexander the Great, or the stirring episodes of Irish
history, or the English policy of Cromwell, or the travels of
Livingstone. His classical lore extended to Latin only; he knew but
little of Greek and rarely alluded to the efforts of Athens or Sparta.
To the Book of books he turned daily; with its more than mortal
eloquence he had by reverent study familiarised himself. As a steadfast
member of the Church of England, he had passages from the Church
Services read to him constantly. For all other books, too, he would, if
possible, find some one to read aloud, being anxious to spare his eyes.
Had he not lived always in official harness, he would have been
adventurous, for he loved to collate and describe the adventures of
others. Had his leisure sufficed, he would have been a reader of the
fine romances with which our literature is adorned. But he could only
enjoy a few selected works, and his choice fell chiefly on the novels of
Walter Scott. The finest of these would be read out to him in evenings
at home, because, among other reasons, they reminded him of his visit to
Scotland in 1841.
His pen was that of a ready as well as a busy writer, though in all his
life he never wrote a line of literary composition. His writing was
either official or what is called demi-official. In the Delhi territory
his extensive correspondence was mainly in the vernacular, for which
native amanuenses were employed. In the Trans-Sutlej States it was
largely in English, and had to be conducted by his own hand. In the
still higher offices which he was now to fill, the services of
secretaries are available, and he needed seldom to write long despatches
or minutes. Some few reports, however, he did write, and these are
marked throughout by a clear, straightforward and forcible style; the
salient features in a situation, the points in the character of a
person, the elements in a political combination, being sketched offhand
in a simple but telling manner, and even with some degree of picturesque
effect. The excellence in these reports of his, few and far between,
attracted Lord Dalhousie’s notice. He never was content with
communicating his views and wishes officially, but would usually
reinforce his public instructions with private letters. He wrote
privately to all officers of importance whom he wished to impress with
his sentiments. He encouraged them to write to him and he invariably
answered their letters. Distance, separation and other circumstances,
render it necessary to employ writing more largely in India than in any
other country, and certainly his writing was enormous in quantity as
well as varied in interest. Copies were kept of his countless letters,
filling many volumes. Still every letter was short and decisive, for he
tried to spare words and to array his meaning in the most succinct form.
But his extant correspondence is almost entirely of a public nature. The
series of his private letters to his sister Letitia is stated to have
been deliberately destroyed. At the time now under reference the
electric telegraph had not been introduced into India; after its
introduction he seized on this new means of communication, the brevity
of which suited his temperament. In the years between 1856 and 1859
probably no man in the world sent off so many telegrams as he. He had no
practice whatever for public speaking in English, but he could address a
limited audience of Natives, either civil or military, in the vernacular
with point and effect.
Though never courting applause, and ready to incur odium for the sake of
duty, he was not indifferent to the good opinion of others. With all his
reserve, he was more sensitive to sympathy or to estrangement than was,
perhaps, commonly supposed. He had not, during the middle stage of his
career, much to do with the Press or the organs of public opinion. He
was strict in demanding from all men a more than ordinary standard of
work and of exertion, setting an example by his own practice. He was
guarded, even chary, in awarding praise; still for real desert he always
had the good word which was spoken in season and was valued accordingly.
He never forgot that by training and profession he was a Covenanted
Civil Servant, first of the East Indian Company and then of the Crown.
No member of the Covenanted Civil Service was ever more jealous of its
traditions, more proud of its repute, than he. No officer ever laboured
harder than he to learn civil business proper, as distinguished from all
other kinds of business. Yet he was by instinct and temper a soldier,
and was ever studying martial affairs or acquiring military knowledge.
He would familiarly speak of himself as the son of a soldier and the
brother of three soldiers. Herbert Edwardes of Peshawur, who knew him
well and was a competent judge on such a subject, wrote of him as a man
of real military genius.
The crowning grace of his rough-hewn character was a simplicity, the
genuine result of single-mindedness. The light of religion shed a gentle
radiance over his whole life and conversation. For him, too, the path of
religious duty was brightened by his wife’s example.
The habits of his daily life are worth mentioning, as they were
originally and as they became afterwards. Up to the present time, 1849,
he always rose early, and by sunrise all the year round was on horseback
or on foot. Returning home before the sun was high in the heaven, he did
some of his best work indoors before breakfast. This work would be
continued all day till late in the afternoon, when he would be again out
of doors until nightfall. After that he would refrain from work and
retire early. As he had duty out of doors as well as indoors, this
routine was very suitable to the public service and preserved the _mens
sana in corpore sano_. It was kept up by him after 1849 whenever he was
on the march or in camp, for several months in every year, though he
would sometimes drive in a gig or a carriage where formerly he would
have ridden or walked. But it became gradually intermitted when he was
in quarters, that is when he was stationary under a roof, owing to
illness and to the consequent diminution of physical force. He would
then go out in the early morning if there was anything to be done, such
as the inspecting of public works or the visiting of institutions. But
if he did not move out, still he would be at work in his study very soon
after sunrise at all seasons. At no time, however, did he fail to be in
the open air at eventide when the sun was low. He was temperate and
abstemious, and he advocated moderation, believing that in a hot climate
the European constitution is apt to suffer not only from the use of
stimulants but also from excess of animal food.
The mode of his work changed as years rolled on. Up to this time, 1849,
he had to listen and talk more, to read and write less; and for his
constitution this was the best. But after 1849, the process became
reversed by degrees, and he had to read and write very much, which was
detrimental to him. In official diligence and regularity, distributed
evenly over the whole range and course of business, he has never been
excelled and rarely equalled. In the power of despatching affairs of all
sorts great and small, ordinary and emergent, in perfect style for all
practical purposes, he was a master hand. When he had risen to high
office with a secretariat staff at his disposal, his ordinary method was
in this wise. As he read a long despatch or reference he inscribed short
marginal notes as his eye passed on from paragraph to paragraph; or if
the reference was a short one in a folded letter, he would in the fewest
words endorse his opinion on the outer fold. From the marginal notes or
from the endorsements his secretaries would prepare the despatches in
draft, and the drafts in all important cases would be submitted for his
approval. The number of despatches which within a few hours would come
back from him with his marks on them to the secretariat was astonishing.
Again in the largest matters he had a masterly manner of explaining
verbally to a secretary the substance of what was to be written and
touching on the various points. He would thus indicate orally in a few
minutes a course of argument which must for the secretary occupy some
hours in order to express it all in writing. But though no statesman
ever knew better how to make a full use of the secretariat, still he
bore even in writing his full share, and his secretaries entirely joined
in the admiration felt for him by the world at large. Indeed they
esteemed him the most because they knew him the best. Though no longer
brought into hourly intercourse with the Natives all day, he yet kept up
the habit of conversing with them, of receiving visits from them, of
listening to petitions, of gathering information even from the humblest
regarding the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows of the people. While
anxious to consult the views and wishes of the upper classes, he was
resolved that the industrial masses of the population should be cared
for. He dissented from the opinion which has been sometimes held that
gratitude finds no place in the Oriental vocabulary. Give the Natives
something to be grateful for, he would say, and they will shew gratitude
fast enough.
His appearance was much in accord with the character which has thus been
sketched. He was above the middle height, with a broad and powerful
frame, a forward-gait and a strong stride; though, alas, care, labour
and sickness, as years rolled on, reduced the frame and lessened its
activity. His head was massive, his brow open, his face lined and
furrowed, his eye grey and piercing but somewhat small, his hair
originally dark but slightly silvered even in middle life, his
complexion somewhat sunburnt. His expression was that of majestic
simplicity, but when in repose he had an air of solemnity. His voice in
ordinary talk was neither loud nor deep, but under strong emotion it
could resound powerfully. The most noteworthy feature was his mouth; for
though it might be closely set while the mind was working, yet in
moments of ease it was mobile, and constantly opened with a natural
grace for smiles, or laughter, or the play of wit and fancy. Withal he
was of that rugged type, sometimes termed Cromwellian by his friends,
which affords some of the fittest subjects for the painter or the
sculptor.