FIRST BENGAL EUROPEAN FUSILEERS.--LAWRENCE ASYLUM.--APPOINTMENT
TO GUIDE CORPS.
SUBATHOO, _June 16th, 1846_.
When I wrote to you last from Sireenuggur, I hoped to have
been able to reach this place by way of the hills and Simla;
but, before I got to Mussoorie, the early setting in of the
rains made it so difficult and unpleasant (and likely to be
dangerous) to get on, that, after spending two days there, I
rode down to Deyra Dhoon, and came dak through Saharunpoor
and Umbala to Kalka, at the foot of these hills, where I
found my beast awaiting my arrival, and mounted the
seventeen miles of hill at once. Here I am, at last, with my
own regiment, and with the prospect of being quiet for four
months. I am eighth Second Lieutenant; a distinguished
position (is it not?) at the age of five-and-twenty. The
campaign, I am sorry to say, did me no good in the way of
promotion, owing to my not having been "posted" permanently
before it commenced.
* * * * *
SUBATHOO, _July 3d, 1846_.
I hope you will congratulate me on getting into my present
splendid corps, the 1st Fusileers, now, alas, a mere shadow
of what it was six months ago. We could only muster 256 men
under arms when we were inspected by Sir R. Gilbert on the
1st; but, then, there was a most picturesque body of
convalescents present with their empty sleeves, pale faces,
and crutches, but looking proudly conscious of their good
conduct, and ready "to do it again." We are under much
stricter discipline in this corps, both officers and men,
and obliged to be orderly and submissive. No bad thing for
us either. I hold there is more real liberty in being under
a decent restraint than in absolute freedom from any check.
I have been much more reconciled to India since I joined
this regiment. It is pleasant to have white faces about one,
and hear one's own tongue spoken; and then, besides, there
is a home-loving feeling in this corps which I have never
met with in India. I believe we would each and all migrate
to England, if we had our own way.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
SIMLA, _Sept. 2d, 1846_.
I came here on the 31st for a week, to stay with Major
Lawrence (now a Colonel and C. B.), who dined and slept with
me at Subathoo last week, and pressed me to come here. I am
nothing loth, as I like him amazingly, and value his
friendship very much, and pick up a great deal of
information as to India, and Indians black and white. He has
kindly offered to take me with him for a tour through
Jullunder Doab, and up to Jummoo, Rajah Gholab Singh's camp
and court. He says he can give or get me leave to accompany
him. My colonel says he won't give any one leave after the
14th of this month. Which is right remains to be seen, but
I think you may calculate that the "Agent to the
Governor-General" will prevail, and I shall see Jummoo.
I am now writing in his room with the incessant entrances
and exits of natives,--rajahs, princes, vakeels, &c. &c.,
and officers civil and military; and the buzz of business
and confusion of tongues, black and white, learned and
unlearned, on all subjects, political, religious (at this
minute they are disputing what "the Church" means), and
military, so that I am tolerably puzzled. I have been taking
a tremendously long walk this morning about the hills and
valleys, with Mr. and Mrs. Currie, and enjoying the beauties
of Simla.
* * * * *
SIMLA, _Sept. 14th, 1846_.
My original week at Simla has grown into a month, thanks to
Colonel Lawrence's pressing, and Colonel Orchard's (_my_
colonel's) kindness. I should hardly like staying so long
with Colonel Lawrence, (especially as I live day and night
in the same room with him and his papers, regularly camp
fashion,) but that he wishes it, and I manage to give him a
slight helping hand by making _precis_ of his letters, and
copying confidential papers. He is amazingly kind, and tells
me all that is going on, initiating me into the mysteries of
"political" business, and thus giving me more knowledge of
things and persons Indian than I should learn in a year of
ordinary life, aye! or in three years either. This is a
great advantage to my ultimate prospects, of course
independently of the power he possesses of giving me a lift
in the world when I am of sufficient standing to hold any
appointment.
He makes me work at Hindostanee, and has given me a lesson
or two in the use of the theodolite, and other surveying
instruments, to the end that I may get employed in the
Surveying Department, after two years of which he says "I
shall be fit for a Political."
I have been very fortunate in many ways, more so than I had
any right to expect. If I were only nearer to you all, and
had any old friends about me, I should have nothing to
regret or wish for. It is _there_ that the shoe especially
pinches. All minor annoyances are easily got rid of, but one
_does_ find a wonderful lack of one's old friends and old
associations. Society is very different here from ours at
home, and different as it is I have seen very little of it.
Nor am I, with my previous habits, age, and education, the
person to feel this an indifferent matter; but on the
contrary, all the drawbacks of Indian existence come with
redoubled force from the greatness of the contrast. Still I
do not let these things annoy me, or weigh down my spirits,
but strive, by keeping up English habits, tastes, and
feelings, and looking forward to a run home, (thus having a
motive always in view,) to make the best of everything as it
occurs, and to act upon the principle, that mere outward
circumstances don't make a man's happiness. If I have one
feeling stronger than another, it is contempt for a "regular
Indian," a man who thinks it fine to adopt a totally
different set of habits and morals and fashions, until, in
forgetting that he is an Englishman, he usually forgets also
that he is a Christian and a gentleman. Such characters are
happily rare now, but there are many fragments of it on a
small scale, and always must be so, so long as the men who
are to support the name and power of England in Asia are
sent out here at an age when neither by education nor
reflection can they have learnt all or even a fraction of
what those words imply. It would be a happy thing for India
and for themselves if _all_ came out here at a more advanced
age than now, but _one_ alone breaking through the custom in
that respect made and provided, must not expect to escape
the usual fate, or at least the usual annoyances, of
innovators.
I have enjoyed my visit here very much, and though I have
not sought them, have made one or two very pleasant
acquaintances, or improved them. I have been very little
out, and passed my time almost entirely with Colonel
Lawrence and his family, _i. e._, his brother and the two
sisters-in-law. Things are not looking well on the frontier.
Cashmere and the hill country wont submit to Gholab Singh,
to whom we gave them over, and have been thrashing his
troops and killing his ministers; and I expect October will
see an army assembled to frighten them into submission, or
interfere with a strong arm, as the case may be.
We seem bound to see him established on the throne we carved
out for him, and it is our only chance of keeping peace and
order; though at the best he is such a villain, and so
detested, that I imagine it will be but a sorry state of
quietness:--
The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below.
In a letter to his wife, written during this visit, Sir H. Lawrence
says:--
_Sept. 1st._--"I brought up with me from Subathoo a fine
young fellow, by name Hodson, son of the Archdeacon of
Stafford. He is now (10 P. M.) sleeping in my little
office-room, where I am writing. Thomason recommended him
to me, and I have seldom met so promising a young fellow. He
left the native branch of the army at the expense of some
steps, because he did not like the conduct of the Sepoys. He
was for four years with Dr. Arnold, and two in the sixth
form under his eye. He speaks most affectionately of him. I
will try to get leave for him for a month to accompany me to
Lahore and Jummoo in October.... I get a good deal of help
from Hodson, who works _willingly_ and _sensibly_. Perhaps
you may meet the family at Lichfield."
LAHORE, _October 14th, 1846_.
As I hoped when I wrote last, I am again writing from the
capital of the "Singhs," but, alas for the "lions," their
tails are very much down in the world since this time last
year, when the "fierce and formidable army" assembled to
invade our tempting provinces. Nearly half the garrison has
marched across the Ravee, and not more than 5,000 or 6,000
British troops now hold the far-famed capital of Runjeet
Singh.
You must not be alarmed by the accounts you will see in the
papers by this mail of the advance of two forces from Lahore
and Jullunder towards Jummoo. They are not to take any
active part in the operations of Gholab Singh for the
recovery of Cashmere from the rebellious Sheikh Imaumoodeen;
our troops are to hold the Maharaja's country for him while
he advances with his whole disposable force, augmented by a
Sikh auxiliary army.
It is probable that the Sheikh will give in without
fighting as soon as he hears the preparations made by both
powers for his coercion. Indeed, a letter has arrived from
Cashmere to say he _has_ given in; but he is a wily fellow,
and I mightily distrust him. I only know if _I_ was in
Cashmere with my army at my back, _I_ would not give in as
long as a man was left to pull a trigger! The Agent (Colonel
Lawrence) and I start to-morrow evening, going seventy miles
the first day, and hope to reach Bhimbur, at the foot of the
hills, on the 17th, thence to go up and join the Maharaja,
and accompany his army to Cashmere. If he fights we shall
see the fun; if not, we are to accompany him and keep him
from excesses and injustice in the valley, and return here,
I fancy, in about a month or six weeks. Of course, in event
of the two armies coming to blows, it will probably be some
time longer ere we return. I am delighted at the thoughts of
seeing Cashmere, and am gaining great advantage from being
with these "politicals" in the way of learning the
languages, and method of governing the natives. I have been
hard at work day and night for some time now, writing for
Colonel Lawrence. I left Subathoo on the 1st, and after a
ride of some twenty miles through the hills, joined Colonel
Lawrence and Mr. Christian, and after a shake-down in a
little mud bungalow, and an amusing dinner, (served up in
two brass basins, standing on a bed,) and a breakfast to
match, we rode down to Roopur, on the Sutlej. Here we took
boat, and floated down the river to Ferozepoor, and came
across to Lahore during the night in a capital barouche
belonging to the Ranee, with relays of horses and an escort
of cavalry.
* * * * *
THANNA, AT THE FOOT OF THE PASS INTO CASHMERE, _Oct.
26th, 1846_.
Our tent is pitched on the top of a little spur from the
mountain side, and beneath us lie, in quaint picturesque
confusion, scattered over the valley and the little
staircase-like rice-fields, the mingled hosts of Lahore and
Jummoo. The spare stalwart Sikh, with his grizzled beard and
blue turban of the scantest dimensions, side by side with
the huge-limbed Affghan, with voluminous headgear and
many-colored garments. The proud Brahmin in the same ranks
with the fierce "Children of the Faithful;" the little
active Hillman; the diminutive, sturdy, platter-faced
Ghoorka, and the slight-made Hindostanee, collected in the
same tents, and all alike clothed in a caricature of the
British uniform. I have been very much interested and amused
by this march with a native army, so different from our own
proceedings and our own military power,--albeit the British
army will soon be as varied in its composition.
I have seen a great deal of the native Sirdars or chiefs,
especially Tej Singh who commanded the Sikh forces in the
war, and of the Maharaja. The former a small, spare little
man, marked with the smallpox, and with a thin and scanty
beard, but sharp and intelligent, and by his own account _a
hero_. The Maharaja is a fine, tall, portly man, with a
splendid expressive face, and most gentlemanly, pleasing
manner, and fine-toned voice,--altogether the most pleasing
Asiatic I have seen,--to all appearance the gentlest of the
gentle, and the most sincere and truthful character in the
world; and in his habits he is certainly exemplary; but he
is the cleverest hypocrite in the world; as sharp and acute
as possible, devoured by avarice and ambition, and when
roused, horribly cruel. This latter accusation he rebuts, by
alleging the necessity of the case and the ferocity of those
he has to deal with. To us, however, his fondness for
flaying men alive, cutting off their noses and ears and
hands, &c., savors _rather_ of the inexcusable. He was
accused of having flayed 12,000 men, which he indignantly
asserted was a monstrous calumny, as he only skinned
_three_; afterwards he confessed to _three hundred_! Yet he
is not a bit worse, and in many ways infinitely better, than
most native princes. Lawrence doubts whether _one_ could be
found with fewer faults, if placed in similar circumstances.
Avitabile, to the disgrace of his European blood, was far
more cruel. The stories current in the Punjaub of his
abominations are horrible. The costumes of these chiefs
would delight you: they never make a mistake in colors, and
the effect is always good, however bright they may be. This
force is (as I told you) moving up to turn the Sheikh
Imaumoodeen, the rebellious vassal of the Lahore Government,
out of Cashmere, in virtue of the treaty ceding it to Gholab
Singh. Up to yesterday, I expected it would be a fight, but
yesterday the Sheikh sent letters to say he was sorry and
repentful, and was on his way to tender his submission. So
we wait here to receive him. This will not, however, prevent
my visit to the valley, as Colonel Lawrence intends to
accompany the Maharaja to pacify and take possession.
It is very cold here, though not much above 5,000 feet above
the sea.
* * * * *
_To his Father._
SHUPYEN, IN CASHMERE, _Nov. 6th, 1846_.
I write a hurried line to announce my safe arrival in the
valley. On the 1st instant we got hold of the rebellious
Sheikh, and sent him down to the plains; and yesterday,
Colonel Lawrence, Captain Browne, and myself, rode into the
valley, amid the acclamations of an admiring population--of
beggars! I am writing at sunrise in a little tent, and in
spite of two coats and waistcoats, I am nearly "friz." We
crossed the Pir Punjal Pass on the 4th, 12,000 feet above
the sea, with snow all around us, and slept on this side in
an old serai; I say _slept_, because we went to bed; but
sleeping was out of the question, from the cold and uproar
of all our followers and their horses, crowded into a
court-yard thirty feet square, horses and men quarrelling
and yelling all night long. The view from the top of the
Pass was very fine, but the wind far too high to take more
than a peep of it without losing one's eyes; but the road
from Thanna to the summit was most lovely the whole way,
winding up a glen wooded magnificently, and the rocks
towering above us on all sides; the trees were all in their
varied autumn dress, surmounted by forests of pine;
altogether, I never saw so grand a scene. As the Sheikh's
submission has cut the Gordian knot of politics here, we
shall only stay a few days to see the valley, and install
the Maharaja, (who is following us with his force by slow
stages,) and then rush back to Lahore and Subathoo.
This is said to be the largest town but three in the valley.
It is a poverty-stricken, scattered hamlet of mud houses
with wooden roofs, the upper half being generally rough open
lattice-work or railing, with alternate supports of unbaked
bricks; low mud inclosures, and open waste spaces between,
dedicated to dogs and dunghills. The whole is thickly grown
over with fine apple and walnut trees, the staple fruits
(with the grape) of the valley, and the food of the people.
_They_ are a poor wretched set, only good for beasts of
burden,--and certainly they can carry a vast load,--their
dress, both men and women, being a loose, wide-sleeved
smock-frock of dirty sackcloth-looking woollen. The men wear
a dirty skullcap on their shaven "nobs," and the women a
crimson machine, like a flower-pot saucer inverted, from
which depends a veil or cloth of the same texture as the
frock; legs and feet clothed in their native dirt. The women
are atrociously ugly, and screech like the witches in
_Macbeth_,--so much so, that when the Agent asked me to give
them a rupee or two, I felt it my duty to refuse, firmly but
respectfully, on the ground that it would be encouraging
ugliness! I fancy the climate and the soil are unrivalled,
but years of poverty and oppression have reduced to a nation
of beggars what ought to be a Paradise. We go hence after
breakfast to Islumabad, at the eastern end of the valley;
and spend a day or two in looking about us, and floating
down the river to Cashmere itself, by which time our
"prince" will have arrived. I am the luckiest dog unhung to
have actually got into Cashmere. I fancy I am the first
officer of our army who has been here, save the few who have
come officially. These delightful breezes are most
invigorating. I only wish you could all enjoy these travels
with me. I expect to be back at Subathoo by the 1st of
December.
In a letter to my father about this time, Mr. Thomason says:--
"I am very glad to observe that such an intimacy has sprung up between
Colonel Lawrence and your William. He could not be under better
direction.
"Colonel Lawrence has evidently taken him entirely into his
confidence, which cannot but be of the greatest use to him in his
future career. He will have opportunities of observation and
instruction now, which very few possess after a long period of
service. To be selected, too, as his confidant by a man of Colonel
Lawrence's stamp, is no small feather in the cap of any young man. He
stands deservedly high also in the esteem of all who know him; and if
it please God to spare his life and give him health, his prospects are
as good as any man's can be in this country."
Colonel Lawrence having discovered that my brother could _work_, was
by no means disposed to let him remain without full occupation, as his
next letter will show:--
SUBATHOO, _April 1st, 1847_.
I am wonderfully well and flourishing, and have lots to do.
Lawrence has made me undertake the secretaryship of the new
Asylum for European Children, building some ten miles hence,
which will give me volumes of correspondence, and leagues,
nay latitudes of riding. Nevertheless, it is well, and it is
a good work. The responsibility will be great, as a
committee of management, on an average three hundred miles
apart, are rather nominal in their supervision of things.
SUBATHOO, _April 1st, 1847_.
If my locomotive instinct has been brought into play in
India, as you suggest, my constructive organs are likely to
have their share of exercise. I have the entire direction
and arrangement of the new Hill Asylum on my hands just now.
It is seven miles hence, of mountain roads, and what with
going and coming, planning, instructing, and supervising, my
time is pretty well occupied, to say nothing of my regiment,
and private affairs. Building a house in India is a
different affair from one's previous experiences. You begin
from the forest and the quarry, have to get lime burnt,
trees cut down, bricks made, planks sawn up, the ground got
ready, and then watch the work foot by foot,--showing this
"nigger" how to lay his bricks, another the proper
proportions of a beam, another the construction of a door,
and to the several artisans the mysteries of a screw, a
nail, and a hinge. You cannot say to a man, "Make me a wall
or a door," but you must with your own hands measure out his
work, teach him to saw away here, to plane there, or drive
such a nail, or insinuate such another suspicion of glue.
And when it comes to be considered that this is altogether
new work to me, and has to be excuded by cogitation on the
spot, so as to give an answer to every inquirer, you may
understand the amount of personal exertion and attention
required for the work.
I have the sole direction and control of nearly four hundred
and fifty workmen, including paying them, keeping accounts,
drawing plans, and everything. I have to get earth dug for
bricks, see the moulds made and watch the progress of them
till the kiln is full, get wood for the kiln, and direct the
lighting of the same, and finally provide a goat to
sacrifice to the demon who is supposed to turn the bricks
red! Then I must get bamboos and grass cut for thatching,
and string _made_ for the purpose; send about the hills for
sand for mortar, and limestone to burn, see it mixed and
prepared, and then show the niggers how to use it. Then the
whole of the wood-work must be set out and made under one's
own eye, and a lump of iron brought from the mine to be
wrought (also under one's direction) into nails and screws,
before a single door can be set up; and when to all this is
added the difficulty of getting hands (I mean in the hills),
and the bother of watching the idlest and most cunning race
on earth, you may suppose my "unpaid magistracy" is no
sinecure. I am not exaggerating or indeed telling half the
difficulty, for fear you should think the whole a romance.
You will naturally ask how I learnt all these trades. I can
only say that you can't be more astonished than I am myself,
and can only satisfy you by the theory that "necessity is
the mother of invention." I am seldom able to sit down from
sunrise to sunset, when I get a hasty dinner, and am then
only too glad to sleep off the effects of the day. How I
have escaped fever during the last month I cannot think, as
it has been terribly hot in the sun, even in the hills, and
I have lived in the blaze of it pretty constantly. Colonel
Lawrence seems determined I shall have nothing to stop me,
for his invariable reply to every question is, "Act on your
own judgment;" "Do what you think right;" "I give you _carte
blanche_ to act in my name, and draw on my funds," and so
forth.
Are you aware of the nature of the institution? It was
started, in idea, by Colonel Lawrence some two or three
years ago, and a sufficient sum of money for a commencement
having been raised, he charged me with the erection of the
necessary buildings, and the organization and setting in
motion of the great machine which is to regenerate and save
from moral and physical degradation, sickness, and death,
the children of the British soldiers serving in India. The
object is to teach them all things useful, while you give
them the advantage of a healthy climate, removed from the
evil influence of a barrack-room. The children are to remain
in the Asylum until their parents return to England, or till
old enough to join the ranks, or be otherwise provided for.
Another drag upon my hands is the care of a small European
boy, who was lately found up in Cabul, and is supposed to be
the son of some soldier of the destroyed army. He has been
brought up as a Mussulman, and made to believe his father
was such, and is a very bigot. Colonel Lawrence sent him to
me from Lahore, but forgot to write about him, so I know no
more of him than I have seen in the newspapers, and have no
idea what to do with him, or where he is to go. He is rather
a nuisance, and I shall be glad when he goes, as there is
little but his odd fate to interest one in him; and I have
considerable doubts as to his genuine origin. He is more
like a half-caste than an "European." Our communication is
brief, as he speaks but little Hindostanee, and I less
Persian. The Asylum is a much more interesting occupation,
as, independently of its object, there is a pleasure in
covering a fine mountain with buildings of one's own
designing.
A few days later he writes:--
My last few days at the Asylum were enlivened by the arrival
of Mrs. George Lawrence, whose tent was pitched close to
mine, on the hill-top. She is a great acquisition in a
forest life, and a very nice person,--the wife of the
Captain Lawrence who was one of the Cabul prisoners. She is
to be superintendress until the arrival of the future man
from England. I have fourteen little girls to take care of,
by the same token, and listen to the grumblings of their
nurses. In short, I don't know myself, and that is the long
and short of it. I am going to Simla for a day or two, to
see Mr. Thomason.
And again, to his brother:--
The state of things is so provokingly quiet and placid, that
there seems but small chance of our being called upon for
another rush across country (called a "forced march"), like
the one of December, 1845; and one is obliged to take to
anything that offers, to avoid the "taedium vitae" which the
want of employment engenders in this "lovely country," in
those, at least, who have not learnt to exist in the
philosophical medium of brandy and cheroots. Did I tell you,
by-the-bye, that I abjured tobacco when I left England, and
that I have never been tempted, by even a night "al fresco,"
to resume the delusive habit? Nor have I told you (because I
despaired of your believing it) that I have declined from
the paths of virtue in respect to beer also, these two years
past, seldom or never even tasting that once idolized
stimulant!! It has not been caused alone by a love of
eccentricity, but by the very sensitive state of my inner
man, (achieved in India,) which obliges me to live by rule.
This is all very edifying, no doubt, to _you_; to me it is
especially so, for I believe if I get on well in India, it
will be owing, physically speaking, to my _digestion_.
SUBATHOO, _June 18th, 1847_.
I am getting on famously at the Asylum just now, and have
succeeded in getting the children under cover before the
rains. I have narrowly escaped a bad fever through overwork
in the sun, but, by taking it in time, I got right again.
The weather has since taken a turn, and become much cooler,
besides which my principal anxiety is over for the season. I
have certainly had a benefit of work, both civil and
literary, for the Institution, and since Colonel Lawrence
put an advertisement in the papers, desiring all anxious
persons to apply to me, I have had enough on my hands. It is
all very well, but interferes with my reading no little; and
I am sure to get more kicks than thanks for my pains from an
ungrateful and undiscerning public. However, as long as
Colonel Lawrence leaves everything so completely in my
hands, and trusts so implicitly to my skill and honesty, it
would be a shame not to work "_un_-like a nigger."
It is intended that the children should remain in the
Institution until they are eighteen years of age, if their
fathers be alive, and until somehow or other provided for,
should they be orphans. The majority of the boys will, of
course, become soldiers; but my belief is, that having been
brought up in the delightful climate of the Himalaya, they
will, after ten or fifteen years, settle down in the various
stations and slightly elevated valleys in these hills, as
traders and cultivators, and form the nucleus of the first
British colony in India. My object is to give them English
habits from the first, which they have in most cases to
learn, from being brought up by native nurses from infancy.
Part of the scheme is to make the Institution support
itself, and I am very shortly going to start a farm-yard. I
have already got a fine large garden in full swing; and here
you may see French beans, cabbages, strawberry plants, and
fine potatoes (free from disease). I steadfastly refuse the
slightest dash of color in admitting children. People may
call this illiberal, if they please; the answer is obvious.
Half-castes stand the climate of the plains too well to need
a hill sanitorium, and by mixing them with English children
you corrupt those whom you wish to benefit. The little boy
who was lately redeemed from Cabul, and whom Colonel
Lawrence consigned to my care, is the plague of my
existence. He has the thoroughly lying, deceitful habits,
and all the dirt, of the Affghan races, and not a single
point of interest to counterbalance them.
* * * * *
SUBATHOO, _August, 1847_.
I have some hopes, though but faint ones, of being relieved
from the necessity of a move to Cawnpore, [whither his
regiment had been ordered,] by obtaining a berth under
Colonel Lawrence. I know that he has asked for me, and, I
believe, for an appointment which would please me more than
any other he could find, as being one of the most
confidential nature, and involving constant locomotion, and
plenty of work both for head, nerve, and body. But I must
not be sanguine, as we have already a large proportion of
officers away from the regiment, and I am a young soldier,
though, alas! growing grievously old in years.
The appointment alluded to was to the "Corps of Guides," then recently
organized by Colonel Lawrence for service in the Punjaub. While this
question, however, was still pending, there seemed a prospect of
Lieut. Hodson's succeeding to the adjutancy of his regiment, and
Colonel Lawrence, as will be seen from the subjoined letter,
recommended his accepting it, if offered:--
"SIMLA, _Sept. 11th_.
"MY DEAR HODSON,--I have spoken to the Governor-General
about you, who at once replied, 'Let him take the
adjutancy.' He wishes you well, but is puzzled by the
absentee question. We are all, moreover, agreed on the
usefulness to yourself of being employed for a time as
adjutant to a regiment. There are always slips, but I know
of no man of double or treble your standing who has so good
a prospect before him. Favor and partiality do occasionally
give a man a lift, but depend upon it that _his_ is the best
chance in the long run who helps himself. So far you have
done this manfully, and you have reason to be proud of being
selected at one time for three different appointments by
three different men.[4] Don't however, be too proud. Learn
your duties thoroughly. Continue to study two or three hours
a day; not to pass in a hurry, but that you may do so two or
three years hence with _eclat_. Take advantage of Becher's
being at Kussowlee to learn something of surveying. All
knowledge is useful; but to a soldier, or official of any
sort in India, I know no branch of knowledge which so well
repays the student.
"In Oriental phrase, pray consider that much is said in this
hurried scrawl, and believe that I shall watch your career
with warm interest.
"I am, very sincerely yours,
"H. M. LAWRENCE."
The expected vacancy, however, did not occur, and Colonel Lawrence
accordingly renewed his application for my brother's services in the
Punjaub, and, as will be seen, with success. In the beginning of
October he writes:--
I have every reason to expect that before many days I shall
be gazetted as attached to the Guide Corps. The immediate
result of my appointment will be a speedy departure to
Lahore with Colonel Lawrence, who returns there to arrange
matters before going home.
And on the 16th:--
You will, I am sure, rejoice with me at my unprecedented
good fortune in being appointed to a responsible and
honorable post, almost before, by the rules of the service,
I am entitled to take charge of a company of Sepoys. I shall
even be better off than I thought; instead of merely "doing
duty" with the Guide Corps, I am to be the second in
command.
The next chapter will show how well Lieut. Hodson justified Colonel
Lawrence's selection of him for so responsible a command, one which
the course of events made far more important than could then have
been foreseen. It was in this that he laid the foundations of his
reputation as an "unequalled partisan leader," and acquired his
experience of the Sikhs, and extraordinary influence over them.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] At this very juncture, the Adjutant-General of the army had also
applied for Lieut. Hodson.