PUNJAB BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
1849-1853
In the preceding chapters we have followed the development of John
Lawrence’s character amidst his personal surroundings, without dwelling
upon the condition of the provinces in which he served. But in this
chapter and in the succeeding chapter, we must note specifically the
status and the progress of the great Province in which he is engaged. He
is now in a commanding position, certainly; but the crisis of his life
is not yet come. Against that crisis he is unconsciously to make ready
himself and his province. He is to set his house in order straightway,
because on such ordering must depend the ability of the Punjab for doing
that which it was required to do eight years later. Upon that supreme
ability, on the part of him and his at the crucial moment, hung the fate
of British dominion in the most important part of the Indian empire. The
warship of the Punjab is now in sight, that ship which is not only to
brave the battle and the breeze, bearing her own wounds, but is also to
tow her wounded, battered, half-disabled consort into the haven of
safety. It is well, then, for us to see how she was designed, welded
compactly, built in water-tight compartments, launched and sent to sea.
Further, though John Lawrence has a commanding position, he is not yet
in sole command of the Punjab administration. It is necessary to recount
the circumstances whereby he came to be vested locally with that single
and individual authority which he wielded with immense effect, during
the crisis to be described hereafter.
It has been seen, then, that the Board of Administration for the Punjab
was constituted by Lord Dalhousie in March, 1849. Henry Lawrence was
President of the Board, and John was his colleague. A third member was
also appointed, but after a short time he went away. The successor was
Robert Montgomery, who had been the schoolfellow of the two Lawrences at
Foyle College and a friend to them both equally. He was the one man in
whom each of them would confide, when they differed with one another.
Henry would, in his differences with John, open his heart to Montgomery.
John too would speak of Montgomery as his bhai or brother. In addition
to sterner qualities, the signal display of which will be seen
hereafter, Montgomery possessed all those qualities which are needed for
a peacemaker and mediator. His position at the Board, then, in
conjunction with the two Lawrences was most fortunate. He had the art of
making business move smoothly, rapidly and pleasantly. For the two
brothers did, as will be explained presently, differ not privately nor
fraternally but officially. When differences arise between two such
eminent persons as these, each of them must naturally have his own
adherents, especially as Henry was a military Officer in Staff employ
and John a Covenanted Civil Servant, or in simpler phrase the former was
a soldier and the latter a civilian. Consequently something like party
spirit arose which never was very acute and which has perhaps, under the
influence of time, died away. To attempt any description of Henry
Lawrence here would be to travel beyond the purpose of this book. But he
cannot, even here, be wholly dissociated from the present account of
John’s career. In order to avoid the semblance of passing over or
disparaging Henry, it may suffice now to state briefly and summarily
what he was in 1849, and what he continued to be up to his untimely and
lamented death in 1857. This may preferably be done now, before the
necessity arrives for explaining the difference (respecting certain
public affairs only) which arose between him and his brother.
Henry Lawrence, then, was a man of talent, of poetic temper, of
sentiment, of meteoric energy, and of genius. Though destitute of
external gifts and graces, he yet possessed qualities which were inner
gifts and graces of the soul, and which acted powerfully upon men. From
his spirit an effulgence radiated through an ever-widening circle of
friends and acquaintances. Being truly lovable, he was not only popular
but beloved both among Europeans and Natives. He was generous almost to
a fault, and compassionately philanthropic. Indeed his nature was aglow
with the enthusiasm of humanity. As might perhaps be expected, he was
quick-tempered and over-sensitive. His conversational powers were
brilliant, and his literary aptitude was considerable, though needing
more culture for perfect development. His capacity for some important
kinds of affairs was vast. In emergencies demanding a combination of
military, political and civil measures he has never been surpassed in
India. He was mortally wounded by a shell when at the height of his
usefulness. Had he lived to confront national danger in its extremity,
he would have proved himself to be one of the ablest and greatest men
that ever went forth from the shores of England to vindicate the British
cause in the East. As a civil governor he had some but not all of the
necessary qualifications. He had knowledge, wide and deep, of the Indian
people, sympathy with their hopes and fears, tenderness for their
prejudices, an abiding sense of justice towards them and an ardent
desire for their welfare. He had that mastery of topographical details
which is very desirable in administration. He was zealous in promoting
public improvement and material development. He had a clear insight into
character, and knew perfectly how to select men after his own heart.
These he would attach to himself as disciples to a master. But in a
civil capacity he had several defects. Though he could despatch affairs
spasmodically, he was unsystematic almost unmethodical in business.
Though he might make a system succeed in a certain way while he and his
_alumni_ lived or remained present to exercise control, yet he would not
have been able to carry measures of complexity and establish them on
foundations to stand the test of time. Moreover he was not, and never
could have become, a financier; indeed he was not sufficiently alive to
financial considerations. Great things have indeed been sometimes
accomplished by statesmen and by nations in disregard, even in
contravention, of financial principles; yet he might as a civil
governor, if uncontrolled, have run the State ship into danger in this
respect. Then being by nature impetuous, and possessed with ideas in
themselves noble, he was hard to be controlled.
This short digression is necessary, in order to do justice to a great
and good man who is indissolubly connected with the subject of this
book.
The Board of Administration, then, composed of these three men began,
founded and built up an administration, which lasted without
interruption till 1857, and was the most brilliant that has ever been
seen in India. They had co-ordinate authority, and ostensibly acted in
solidarity. But among themselves there was a division of labour in
ordinary matters: that is to say, Henry took the political and military
departments, John the financial and fiscal including the land
settlements, Montgomery the judicial and the police; while on important
matters pertaining to any department whatever, each of the three members
had his voice, the majority of course prevailing. If figuratively Henry
was the heart of the Board and Montgomery its arm, then John was
veritably its backbone.
Accordingly John had his headquarters permanently fixed at Lahore, and
he straightway proceeded to build himself a home there. He found it to
be really a Mahommedan city, the ancient capital of Moslem dynasties
from Central Asia, which had been retained by the Sikhs as their
political centre, while their national and religious centre was at
Amritsar, some thirty miles off. Its noble mosques, its fortress-palace,
its imperial tombs, must have brought back to his mind the associations
of Delhi. At this time, 1849-50, he was in full health and strength;
alas, these were the last years of unimpaired comfort physically that he
was ever to enjoy. Those who saw in after years the iron resolution and
the energy which even sickness could not subdue, can imagine the
magnificent vigour he threw at this time into the work of pacifying a
much disturbed province, reducing it to order and calling forth its
resources.
There is not space here to describe the territories under the Board of
Administration. Suffice it to say that the British territories comprised
the Cis and Trans-Sutlej States and the Punjab proper, or the basins of
the Indus and its affluents, together with Native States on the east of
the Sutlej, and in the Himalayan region, including the famous valley of
Cashmere. The name Punjab, a Persian word denoting five-waters, refers
to this river-system. The total area of all kinds amounted to one
hundred and thirty-five thousand square miles, and the population to
just twenty millions; both area and population being exclusive of the
Cashmere kingdom. The climate is much the same as that of the Delhi
territory already described, except that the winter is sharper and
longer while the autumn is more feverish. The people, consisting chiefly
of Moslems and Sikhs, was quite the strongest, manliest and sturdiest
that the British had ever had to deal with in India. On two sides the
country was bordered by British districts, and on one side by the
Himalayas. So far, then, the circumstances were favourable. But on the
front or western side, the border touched on Afghanistan for eight
hundred miles, and was the most arduous frontier in the Eastern empire.
The administration, known as that of the Lawrences in the Punjab, was in
its day famous throughout India, and those engaged in it were too busy
to reflect upon its characteristics. But after the lapse of a whole
generation, or more than thirty years, a retrospect of that epoch may be
calmly taken in a summary divested of technicalities.
In 1852 the Board caused a report to be drawn up of their
administration; which is known in Indian history as “The First Punjab
Report.” But it would not now suffice to state, in the words of this
document, that internal peace had been preserved, the frontier guarded,
and the various establishments of the State organised; that violent
crime had been repressed, the penal law executed, and prison discipline
enforced; that civil justice had been administered in a simple and
popular manner; the taxation readjusted and the revenue system reformed;
that commerce had been set free, agriculture fostered, the national
resources developed, and plans for future improvement projected.
Some further explanation is needed to indicate the true position of the
Board in the administrative annals of India. For, together with due
acknowledgment of the zeal, capacity and knowledge, evinced in all these
cardinal matters, it must yet be remembered that these are the very
matters which have always been undertaken either promptly or tardily,
and with more or less of success, by every administration in every
province that has within this century been added to the Indian empire.
Nevertheless the Punjab Board had an unsurpassed, perhaps even an
unequalled merit; and it is well to note exactly in what that merit
consisted; for through this merit alone was the province subdued,
pacified and organised in time, so as to be prepared for the political
storm which it was destined to confront within eight short years. Time
indeed was an essential element in the grand preparation. Upon this
preparedness, as we shall see hereafter, the issue was to depend, either
for victory or for wide-spread disaster, to the British cause in
Northern India.
Now the Board showed its statesmanship because it did straightway,
almost out of hand, with comparative completeness, that which others had
done elsewhere by degrees at first and sometimes incompletely at last.
To enjoin authoritatively the carrying out of such measures and to
describe them when carried out may be comparatively easy; but to carry
them out all at once in a new province under strange conditions, and in
the teeth of innumerable obstacles, is hard indeed. Yet this is what the
Board actually accomplished. It set to work simultaneously upon varied
and intricate subjects, which other authorities elsewhere had been
content, or else had been forced, to undertake by degrees, or piecemeal
one by one according to opportunities in the course of years. But to the
Board every week was precious and every month was eventful. It thus
managed to effect, in a short span of years, as much as had been
effected elsewhere in two or more decades. It is indeed but too easily
conceivable that work done with rapid energy may result in imperfections
injuring the effect of the whole. But the Board’s operations were
masterly in conception, thorough in foundation, business-like in
details. So far the work has never been excelled and seldom rivalled in
other provinces, either before or since that era.
On the other hand, the Board enjoyed several advantages which were
almost unique. Its genius was partly shown in this that such advantages
were seized, grasped tightly and turned to the best use. A mass of
valuable experience has been garnered up amidst the older provinces, and
was available for guidance or encouragement. Thus many projects became
demonstrably practicable as well as desirable, which might otherwise
have been disputable or untenable. The Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie,
having annexed the Punjab, had justly the strongest motives for ensuring
speedy success for the administration of the province. He had at his
disposal the imperial resources, and these were consequently placed at
the disposal of the Board to an extent which has never been seen in any
other Indian province. Again, there was something in the strategic
position, the historic repute, and in the internal circumstances of the
Punjab, to attract the idiosyncrasy of the Anglo-Indian Services;
therefore able and aspiring men were willing to volunteer for service
there, even with all its risks and hardships. Among the internal
circumstances was the national character of the inhabitants, who were
known to be sturdier and straighter than those of other provinces, and
were expected to present more fully a _tabula rasa_, for the proceedings
of British rule. The Board had an insight into character, and a faculty
for choosing men for the administration. Believing its own reputation,
as well as the public good, to depend on this choice, it pursued the
object with circumspection and single-mindedness. Though India is
essentially the land of administrators, yet no governing body in any
province has ever possessed at one time so many subordinates with
talents applicable to so many branches, as the Board had for several
years.
Thus the Board owed something to its auspicious star, but still more to
its own innate power and inherent aptitude.
Apart from the general administration, some few measures may be noticed
here as being peculiar to the Punjab. The first step after annexation
was the disbandment of the late Sikh army. The men had been drawn
chiefly from the class of peasant proprietors. They now reverted to the
ancestral holdings, where their rights and interests were found to be
secured by British arrangements. They were disarmed on being discharged,
and no swords were left to be turned into ploughshares. But they settled
down at once to agriculture, which was at that time more prosperous and
profitable that it had ever been within living memory. Next, the people
at large, by a disarming proclamation, were required to give up their
arms. This they did without hesitation and almost without fail. Their
minds had been overawed by the British victories and their spirit
stupefied by recent defeat. This general disarming tended to the
immediate pacification of the province, and ultimately proved of
priceless advantage during the crisis which supervened eight years
afterwards. If at that moment any men were disposed to raise their hands
against us, they had no weapons to wield.
Then, defensive arrangements were made for the Trans-Indus Frontier,
running as it did for full eight hundred miles at the base of the
mountains which surround the valley of Peshawur and then stretching
southwards, separate India from Afghanistan. The British border, thus
formed, was itself inhabited by wild Moslem races, and was subject to
incursions from still fiercer tribes dwelling in the adjacent hills. To
guard this long-extended frontier a special body of troops, some twelve
thousand men horse and foot, was organised and styled “The Punjab
Frontier Force”; and it was placed not under the Commander-in-Chief of
the Army, but under the Board of Administration. This frontier service
immediately became an object of ambition to the European officers of the
army as affording a school for soldiers and a field for distinction.
Consequently the Board were able to draw from the ranks of the regular
army many of the most promising officers of the day. The Native soldiers
were recruited from among the most martial tribes in the border
mountains, and the Native officers were chosen for personal merit and
social status. Indeed this Force became perhaps the finest body of
Native troops ever arrayed under British banners in India. As will be
seen hereafter, it was able within eight years from this time to render
signal service to the empire during the War of the Mutinies. In these
arrangements the experience and talent of Henry Lawrence were
conspicuously valuable.
Works of material improvement were at once to be undertaken in all parts
of the province, and the Board were fortunate in being able to obtain
for the direction of these operations the services of Major Robert
Napier--now Lord Napier of Magdala.
In those days, before the introduction of railways, the primary object
was to construct the main trunk lines of roads. Such a trunk line had
already been constructed through the older provinces from Calcutta to
Delhi, a distance of about twelve hundred miles. The Board decided to
continue this line from Delhi to Peshawur, a further distance of eight
hundred miles. The viaducts over the Five Rivers were to be postponed,
but the bridging of all lesser streams in the champaign country was to
be undertaken, and especially a good passage made through the rugged
region between the Jhelum and the Indus. At the outset, hopes were
entertained that the Five Rivers would become the water-highways between
this inland province and the coast, and be navigated by vessels with
much steam power and yet with light draught. But there was difficulty
for some years in building suitable vessels for service in the shifting
and shallow channels; and in the end this idea vanished before the
railway system which was advancing from the east.
In the land of the Five Rivers artificial irrigation occupied a
prominent place. A new canal was now undertaken, to be drawn from the
river Ravi, near the base of the Himalayas. It was to water the
territory near Lahore the political capital, and Amritsar the religious
centre, of the Sikhs. This territory was the home of the Sikh
nationality and the most important part of the Punjab.
A feudal system had existed under the Sikh rule and ramified over the
whole country. The status of the Native aristocracy depended mainly upon
it. This system was absorbing much of the State resources, and could not
be maintained under British rule. Its abolition gave rise to individual
claims of intricacy, even of delicacy. These had to be treated
generously and considerately so far as such treatment might consist with
the policy itself, and with the just interests of public finance. In
this department the kindly influence of Henry Lawrence was especially
felt, and he did much to bridge over the gulf between Native and British
rule.
In the civil administration the Board desired that, in the first
instance at least, the forms of British procedure should be simplified,
cheap, speedy and substantial justice dispensed, and affairs conducted
after what was termed the patriarchal model. The native races here were
more frank in their utterance, more open in their demeanour, more direct
in all their ways, than is usual in most parts of India. Every European
officer was directed to cultivate from the outset a friendly
understanding with them, so as to banish all sense of strangeness from
their minds, and to make them feel at home and at ease under the British
rule. This object is indeed aimed at universally in India, but it was
attained with unrivalled success in the Punjab, and thereby was laid the
foundation of that popular contentment which stood the Government in
good stead during the season of dire trial eight years later in 1857.
The intense application, bestowed by the Board on many diverse subjects
simultaneously, aggravated the toils of the members. But they derived
relief and benefit from the division of labour (already mentioned)
whereby for ordinary business the political and military branches were
allotted to Henry, the fiscal and financial to John, the judicial to
Montgomery.
In the fiscal department John found the noblest sphere for his special
ability, because herein was included the settlement of the land
revenue, the all-important scope of which has been explained in a
preceding chapter. Then despite his unfavourable recollections of Etawah
in 1838-39, he must have looked back with some gratitude to that place
which had given him priceless experience in settlement-work. Here he
was, happily for the Punjab, at home and in his element; as a
consequence the field-survey, the assessment of the land-tax, the
adjudication of rights and interests, the registration of tenures, were
conducted with admirable completeness, promptitude and efficiency. He
well knew that such operations were not likely to be turned out complete
offhand; the affairs themselves were novel both to the officials and to
the people; errors, failures, oversights, would occur, but he would have
them rectified, again and again, until at last after re-constructing,
re-casting, re-writing,--a full, accurate and abiding result was
obtained. This cardinal operation has been one of the first cares of the
Government in every province of India; but in no province has it ever
been effected so completely, within a comparatively short time, as it
was in the Punjab under his supervision. Its success conduced largely to
that popular contentment which proved a bulwark of safety to British
rule, during the danger which eight years afterwards menaced the
Province.
Before the Native population, before the world, and for the most part
before the European officers, the Board preserved an unbroken front and
kept up the appearance of solidarity. But though the wheels of the great
machine moved powerfully, and with apparent smoothness, still within the
Board itself there was increasing friction. It became known, not perhaps
to the public, but to the European officers around the centre of
affairs, that Henry and John were not always in accord regarding policy
and practice. And this matter affected the future for both of them, and
especially for John.
Between Henry and John there was agreement in many essential matters
such as the military occupation and the pacification of the province,
the guarding of the Trans-Indus Frontier, the political relations with
the Native States comprised within the Punjab, the development of
material resources, the progressive policy of the administration. They
were absolutely united in the diffusion of zeal among all grades and
classes of officers and officials, and in stamping the best possible
characteristics upon the public service. But they differed more or less
on certain other points, and this difference must unavoidably be
noticed, however briefly, because among other consequences, it had a
considerable effect on the subsequent career of John. It was, however,
official only and did not affect the sentiments of admiration and
affection with which each regarded the other.
The difference then related to three points: the system of collecting
the land revenue, the management of the finances, and the treatment of
the feudal classes on the introduction of British rule. Some brief
allusion must be made to each of these three points.
Under Native rule the land revenue had been collected sometimes in kind
and sometimes in cash. John abhorred the system of collection in kind,
as being the parent of oppressive abuses. His voice was consonant with
the best traditions of British rule, and was at first popular with the
agriculturists. But from various circumstances the prices of produce
fell for several years abnormally, and the men had difficulty in
obtaining money for their produce wherewith to pay their land-tax in
cash. So they began to ask that it might as heretofore be paid in kind.
Henry, partly from tenderness to old customs under Native rule, partly
too from want of familiarity with fiscal abuses, inclined his ear to
these murmurs which were indeed coming to be requests. John of course
insisted on the cash system being maintained, though he was willing,
indeed anxious, that the tax should be so assessed that the people could
pay it easily even in the altered circumstances.
The finance of the province was ever present to the mind of John. Though
keenly anxious for improvements of all sorts, he held that such measures
must be regulated according to the financial means available within the
province. Henry would not deny this in theory but would overlook it in
practice. Having initiated projects tending to civilisation in a newly
annexed province, he would press them forward without adequately
considering how the cost was to be defrayed. He had an inner conviction
that once a very desirable thing had been accomplished successfully, the
difficulties on the score of expenses would either vanish or right
themselves.
The treatment of the feudal classes on the introduction of British rule
depended on a certain method which had been adopted under Native rule in
the Punjab as in other parts of India. The land revenue belonged to and
was the mainstay of the State. The ruler of the day would assign to an
individual the revenue thus receivable from specified lands or villages.
The right of the assignee extended only to the receipt of the land
revenue. It did not necessarily affect the right to the property, that
is to say, he had not thereby any title to collect the rent, as that
would depend on whether he did or did not acquire the property. The
assignment would be made generally on one or other of three grounds, the
maintenance of religious establishments, the bestowal of favour, the
reward or remuneration of services. The difference of opinion between
Henry and John showed itself less on the first of the three grounds, but
more on the second, and still further on the third. The discussion
between the two brothers on the third or feudal ground may be summarised
in this wise.
The Native ruler or sovereign would assign temporarily to his chieftains
the land revenue of certain villages, or whole tracts of territory, on
the condition of feudal service, chiefly military, being rendered. This
service is not wanted under British rule, and cannot be maintained; then
the question arises whether the assignment of the land revenue is to be
continued. Similarly, allowances in cash from the State treasury are
made to local chiefs in consideration of duty nominal or real being
performed. This duty cannot be accepted under British rule, and a
discussion springs up regarding the extent to which the allowances are
to be withdrawn. When these cases exist on a large scale, involving
extensive interests, it will be seen at a glance that there is much room
for divergence of opinion between statesmen equally able, humane and
conscientious. Henry thought that liberal concessions ought to be made
to these feudal classes, for reasons of policy in allaying discontent
among influential sections of the community. He held that the greater
part of the former grants ought to be continued, although the
obligation of service might be remitted. This must be effected, despite
the financial cost which such arrangements might involve. John would
rejoin that these grants must at once be curtailed, and provision made
for their cessation on the demise of present incumbents. The government
could not bear the double expense of continuing grants for the old
service just dispensed with, and of defraying the charge of the newly
organized service which the British Government must introduce according
to its own ideas.
This is but a bare summary of a large and complex question, affecting
not only thousands but tens of thousands of cases scattered all over the
country. Upon such a question as this the social contentment and the
financial equilibrium of the province largely depended. This much of
notice is needed in order to show how the matter concerned the career
and fortunes of John.
The Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, became aware of the growing
difference of opinion between Henry and John, but viewing it from afar
he thought at first that more good than harm would result. He had the
highest respect for both the brothers, but knowing them to have an
independent will and potential force of character, he surmised that each
might be inclining towards an extreme and that one would correct the
other. Moreover he saw that the friction produced apparently that mental
heat which supplied force to move the administration on and on towards
success. With the excellent results displayed before him in the “First
Punjab Report” in 1852, he was little disposed to interfere with the
mechanism, and hoped that the two eminent brothers might gradually learn
_componere lites_. But afterwards he began to perceive that this
difference was working harm inasmuch as the discussions not only
produced delay, but sometimes caused important matters to be put aside
on account of the diversity of argument, for which no solution could be
found.
Had these conditions lasted, moreover, an additional evil must have
arisen; for in the ranks of the public service two parties would have
sprung up. Each brother was loyal to the other, and was as reticent as
possible regarding the difference in opinion between them. Still
inevitably the fact transpired, and accordingly some officers agreed
with Henry and others with John. Though these good men obeyed orders,
yet those orders would be issued only after their views had been
submitted and considered. These views would become tinged with the
colouring of the thought in two schools of opinion. It must be added
that the Natives, who had concessions to ask, were persuasively
insistent with their requests. Eloquence is one of nature’s gifts to
Oriental races. The skill with which a native will plead his cause in
the ear of a listening official, is conceivable only to those Europeans
who have experienced it. In these particular cases much that was
dramatic or historical, affecting or pathetic, would be urged. Even the
sterner mind of John would be touched sometimes, and much more so the
more susceptible heart of Henry. Then the susceptibilities of the latter
would be taken up by the officers who had been chosen by him for service
in the Punjab. In the turn which events took, the formation of two
parties, and the detriment to the public service which would have
followed, were avoided.
Soon Lord Dalhousie and his Council at Calcutta concluded that an
opportunity must be taken to effect a change; and that as one only of
the two brothers should remain in the Punjab, John must be the man.
While this conclusion was affecting the mind of the Governor-General, it
so happened that, on an important vacancy occurring elsewhere, both
brothers simultaneously offered to resign their positions in the Punjab
and take service in some other part of India. This precipitated the
decision of the Supreme Government.
That decision was communicated to Henry Lawrence by Lord Dalhousie in a
memorable letter, from which some passages may be quoted to show
historically how the matter stood.
“It has for some time been the recorded opinion of the Supreme
Government that, whenever an opportunity occurred for effecting a
change, the administration of the Punjab would best be conducted by
a Chief Commissioner, having a Judicial and a Revenue Commissioner
under him. But it was also the opinion of the Government that,
whenever the change should be made, the Chief Commissioner ought to
be an officer of the Civil Service. You stand far too high, and
have received too many assurances and too many proofs of the great
estimation in which your ability, qualities, and services have been
held by the successive governments under which you have been
employed, to render it necessary that I should bear testimony here
to the value which has been set upon your labours and upon your
service as the head of the administration of the Punjab by the
Government over which I have had the honour to preside. We do not
regard it as in any degree disparaging to you that we,
nevertheless, do not consider it expedient to commit the sole
executive charge of the administration of a kingdom to any other
than to a thoroughly trained and experienced civil officer.
Although the Regulations do not prevail in the Punjab, and
although the system of civil government has wisely and
successfully been made more simple in its forms, still we are of
opinion that the superintendence of so large a system, everywhere
founded on the Regulations, and pervaded by their spirit, can be
thoroughly controlled and moulded, as changes from time to time may
become necessary, only by a civilian fully versed in the system of
the elder provinces and experienced in its operation.
“As the Government entertained these views, it became evident that
the change it contemplates in the form of administration could not
be effected, nor could the dissensions existing be reconciled,
unless it were agreeable to you to transfer your services to some
other department.
“The result of our consideration was the statement I have now to
make, that if you are willing to accept Rajputana, the Government
will be happy to appoint you to it, with a view to effecting the
change of the form of administration in the Punjab, to which I have
already referred.”
So Henry departed for Rajputana in 1853, with honour acknowledged of all
men, and amidst the sorrowing farewells of friends, European and Native.
He left a fragrant memory behind him as he crossed the Sutlej for the
last time on his way to Rajputana, whither countless good wishes
followed his course. But no man then anticipated the grave events which,
within four years, would open out for him in Oude a sphere as grand as
that which he was now quitting.
Thus after a term of four years’ service in the Board of Administration,
that is from 1849 to 1853, John Lawrence was left in sole command of the
Punjab. But though his nerve was unimpaired, his capacity developed, his
experience enlarged, he was not physically the same man at the end of
this term that he was at the beginning. In October, 1850, at Lahore, he
had been stricken down by a severe fever, as bad as that from which he
had suffered just ten years previously at Etawah, and his health never
was fully restored after that shock. He, however, recovered sufficiently
to accompany Lord Dalhousie on a march in the Punjab during the winter
months, and afterwards in the following spring 1851 to examine the
condition of the Peshawur valley. The ensuing months he spent at Simla
in company with his wife and children.
Then, for the first time in his toil-worn life, he enjoyed the blessings
of a Himalayan retreat, after the torrid heat and the depressing damp of
twenty previous summers. He resorted thither, not on leave but on duty,
by the special direction of Lord Dalhousie who was there also. He was
indeed obliged to quit Lahore for that summer, and had not a retreat to
Simla been open to him, he must for a time have relinquished his office
in the Punjab. As he ascended the Simla mountains, seven to nine
thousand feet above sea-level, the sight of the Himalayas was not new to
him, for he had seen them in the Trans-Sutlej States; twice also he had
paid brief visits to Simla itself. How pleasant, then, through the
summer of 1851, was it for him to bask in mild sunshine, to drink in the
balmy air, to recline in the shadows of oaken glades, to roam amidst
forests of pine and cedar, to watch the light gilding peak after peak in
the snowy range at sunrise, to perceive through a field-glass at sunset
the familiar Sutlej winding like the thinnest of silver threads through
the distant plains, to note the rain-clouds rolling up the mountain
sides, to hear the thunder-peals echo among the crags! These things
would have been delights to him even as a visitor in the easiest
circumstances, in hale robustness, in all the pride of life; but no pen
can describe what they were to the over-taxed brain, the strained
nerves, the fevered constitution, the shaken strength--such as his. He
revived apace and remained in official harness, having taken the most
important part of his work with him, and receiving by the daily post his
papers and despatches from Lahore. Further, he had the advantage of
personal intercourse with Lord Dalhousie, and thus formed a friendship
which, at first official, soon became personal. After two or three
months of this changed life, his old vivacity returned, and his
conversation was almost as it had been in England and Ireland. But
recurrence of Indian fever after an interval is almost a rule, and his
case was no exception. At Simla in the autumn his Lahore fever
reappeared severely, just a year after its original appearance. This
time he was stronger to meet the attack, and so threw it off. But he
rose from the sick-bed, for the second time in thirteen months, with
vitality impaired. He was, as the event proved, sufficiently recovered
to escape any serious illness for nearly three years, and to work
without interruption till 1854. But during this summer of 1851, he
calmly reviewed his position. He thus actually prepared himself for
closing the important part of his career, and for speedily retiring from
the public service. With his usual forethought, and in his unassuming
way, he would reckon up his resources, and estimate how to live in some
quiet and inexpensive place in England on a modest competency. But
Providence decreed otherwise, and the possible necessity, though ever
borne in mind, did not reach the point of action. So in the early
winter he returned to his post at Lahore, to mix in all the troublous
discussions, and to bear the official fatigues which have been already
mentioned, until the spring of 1853, from which point our narrative
takes a fresh departure.
Though now left, in his own phrase, to walk alone--the very course most
acceptable to him--he ever remembered his absent brother. In after years
he was anxious that Henry’s name should be linked with his own in the
annals of the Punjab. At Lahore in 1864, at the culminating point of his
fame, and in the plenitude of his authority--when the memory of former
differences had long been buried in his brother’s grave--he used these
words in a speech to the assembled princes and chiefs of the province:
“My brother Henry and I governed this province. You all knew him well,
and his memory will ever dwell in your hearts as a ruler who was a real
friend of the people. We studied to make ourselves acquainted with the
usages, feelings and wants of every class and race, and to improve the
condition of all.”