State, and therefore to the British Government, was a deplorable and ungracious mistake, and awakened a degree of sympathy which would not perhaps have been otherwise displayed. An allowance of twelve lacs of rupees-120,000%.—a year was settled upon the king during his life.

The annexation of Oudh may be considered the closing act of Lord Dalhousie's administration, for he sailed from India a month afterwards, on March 6, 1856, leaving a celebrated minute as the record of the events and measures of his incumbency. He believed India to be perfectly secure and peaceful, and he left it with a sincere and honest conviction that it would so remain.

Odium of

the sale.

Lord

Dalhousie leaves India.

Mr. Marshman, in the third volume of his 'History,' has specially devoted the closing portion to a review of all the acts of Lord Dalhousie's administration, with much skill and eloquence, which will be read with interest; but while it is impossible to detail and illustrate them as completely as they deserve, the satisfaction of quoting a passage from a celebrated article in the London Times' of that period may not be denied. Nothing more just or true could be written.

Article from

'He, Lord Dalhousie, could point to railways planned on an enormous scale, and partly constructed; to 4,000 miles the Times,' of electric telegraph spread over India, at an expense of little more than 50l. a mile; to 2,000 miles of road, bridged and metalled, nearly the whole distance from Calcutta to Peshawur; to the opening of the Ganges Canal, the longest of its kind in the world; to the progress of the Punjâb canals, and of many other important works of irrigation all over India, as well as to the reorganisation of an official department of public works. Keeping equal pace with these public works, he could refer to the postal system which he introduced in imitation of that of Rowland Hill, whereby a letter from Peshawur to Cape Comorin, or from Assam to Kurráchee, is conveyed for three-farthings, or one-sixteenth of the old charge; to the improved training for the civil service, covenanted and uncovenanted; to the improvement of education and prison discipline; to the organisation of the Legislative Council, to the reforms which it had decreed-such as permitting Hindoo widows to marry again, and relieving all persons from the risk of forfeiting property by a change of religion. Many more items might be added to this list, were it necessary to prove the largeness and benevolence of the views and measures of this great statesman; and there is no doubt, from his recorded opinions, that the annexation measures so bitterly urged against him, were founded on the conviction that, in effecting them, he had delivered millions from the irregularities and oppression of native govern

ments, and secured for them the prospective advantages of protection and peace. No one can record, for few knew, of his daily toil, or how, with a delicate frame, he overcame it; toil which overworked and destroyed his physical powers, and in 1860 sent him to his grave. "I have played out my part," he said sadly, in reply to an address from the people of Calcutta, " and while I feel that in my case the principal act in the drama of my life is ended, I shall be content if the curtain should now drop on my public career."'

BOOK IX.

CHAPTER I.

governor

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CANNING, 1856 To 1857. THE successor to Lord Dalhousie, chosen in England, was Lord Lord Canning Canning, who, after several years' service in the Cabinet appointed of Sir Robert Peel, had become postmaster-general in general. 1853. His moderate views and great powers of application to business, probably induced his selection. Lord Dalhousie had, it was considered, done enough for the present; and his measures might be worked out and perfected by one who perhaps would introduce few of his own or interfere with those of his great predecessor. Lord Canning assumed the office of governor-general on February 29, 1856, a few days before Lord Dalhousie's final departure; and it is probable, received from him State of a general explanation of the policy which had been pursued. India itself seemed to be in a state of. profound tranquillity and content; receiving the vast impetus which had been given to her material progress in education-male and female-railways, telegraphs, canals, roads, &c., during Lord Dalhousie's tenure of office, with outward equanimity, if not with demonstrative appreciation. There was no political danger or apprehension looming on the horizon; and the native States that existed retained no elements of present or prospective danger. At its outset, therefore, the administration of Lord Canning seemed likely to be employed in the regulation of details only; and yet it proved one of the most terrible and momentous that had ever been witnessed in the history of the world.

India.

Influence of

Looking deeper, however, than the surface, there were latent causes of uneasiness which largely pervaded the minds education. of the native classes of all ranks and creeds. The system of education, now so much enlarged and progressing, was entirely opposed to Hindoo faith and doctrine, and in an equal

degree to Mahomedan. Schools, English and vernacular, were crowded with Hindoo scholars, who, in everything they learned, could not fail to be imbued with convictions essentially antagonistic to their hereditary faith. By Mahomedans, indeed, they were comparatively little resorted to; but by Hindoos with eager thirst for knowledge, and active competition in its acquirement. In schools presided over by missionaries of all denominations, Christianity was professedly part of the course of instruction, and these were attended as numerously, as those of Government, in which Christian teaching was necessarily forbidden. The subjects taught in all schools were discussed in the homes of the scholars, under all the bigotry of their old faith, by the parents and relatives of the scholars and the deductions made were, as may be imagined, the causes of apprehension of the effects of the system in progress, impotent to check advance, but nevertheless existent, and prevalent to a very large extent, in all quarters of India.

Effects of

progress.

There was no question either that the material progress of India was unintelligible to the natives in general. A few intelligent and educated persons might understand the use material and scope of railways, telegraphs, steam-vessels, and recognise in them the direction of a great government for the benefit of the people; but the ancient listless conservatism of the population at large was disturbed by them. The English,' it was said, 'never did such things before; why do they do so now? These are but new devices for the domination of their rule, and are aimed at the destruction of our national faith, caste, and customs! What was it all to come to ? Was India to become like England? The earlier company's servants were simple, but wise men, and we respected them; we understood them, and they us; but the present men are not like them; we do not know them, nor they us.' No one cared perhaps very much for such sentiments, and few, very few, English heard them; but they will not have been forgotten by those who did.

progress.

For nearly a century, the English in India, supported by the Court of Directors in England, had preserved neu- Effects of trality in regard to, if not a direct conservatism of, the sudden hitherto existent social and religious systems and prejudices of India; any change was deprecated, and as long as possible withstood. The demands of the younger English school of progressionists were coldly received and jealously restrained; but in the end they could not be resisted, and the immense efforts of Lord Dalhousie, suddenly, as it were, brought to bear on the previous restrictive policy, were too marked in their character and effects to be viewed with indifference by the people.

Few measures of importance passed through the Council of India

General

in 1856. A bill for prohibiting or restraining the polygamy of the Kooleen Brahmins of Bengal, which was supported by many very influential natives, was discussed, but set aside for the present. On the other hand, the native army was affected by the promulgation of an order to enlist no service oath. Sepoys who would not take an oath to serve wherever they might be ordered to go, either in India or beyond sea. By many officers of the old school, who had taken a curious but absurd pride in the high caste' of their men, the order was contemplated with apprehension; but it had become unavoidably necessary in Bengal, and in Madras and Bombay, where high caste' Sepoys were mingled with others, it had been found productive of no inconvenience. It was judicious, moreover, to check the high caste domination which had led to mutinies, and affected the morale of the whole Bengal army. The

6

penal code, commenced by Lord Macaulay, and discussed in England by the most eminent of English jurists, was brought forward by Mr., now Sir, Barnes Peacock; and though not finally passed, was sent for trial to the Punjâb, to the Hyderabad commission for the districts assigned by the Nizam, and other localities where the 'regulations' were not in use.

The question of the future location as well as the privileges of the royal family at Dehly, in regard to which so much discussion had taken place under Lord Dalhousie's administration, was resumed in 1856. The previous condition in which it was left by Lord Dalhousie will be found detailed in Chap. VIII., Book VIII., and the final decision by the governor-general was now communicated to those concerned. The circumstances of the family had become altered in a material degree. The Prince Fukhr-ood-deen, who had been recognised as heir-apparent, and with whom the agreement in regard to the evacuation of the palace had been made, died on July 10, 1856, not without strong suspicions of having been poisoned; and an intrigue began, directed by the Queen Zeenut Mahál, to secure the heirship for her son. The king, indeed, made an official request that this might be done; but the course would have involved a breach of Mahomedan law, and Mirza Korash, the next in legal succession to Fukhr-ood-deen, was recognised by the governor-general in Council, on the terms of the agreement made with the deceased prince, with this essential difference, that the conditions were not of agreement or bargain, as before, but as an independent decree on the part of Government.

It cannot be doubted that this final award, however just in regard to the succession, or necessary in a military point of view as regarded possession of the palace, was bitterly resented, as

Legislative enactments.

The penal code.

Royal family of Dehly.

Final settlement in Council.