Across India Part 13

"There are not many millionaires among the natives, and these smaller coins are mostly used among them. They are convenient also to the stingy Englishman when the plate is pa.s.sed around in church," added his lords.h.i.+p with a chuckle, which pleased Uncle Moses more than the remark. India has a public debt of about 200,000,000, contracted for railways, ca.n.a.ls, war, and other purposes. The revenue last year was 84,932,100, and the expenditures were 84,661,700. Not a large margin; but you must multiply the pounds by five, or nearly that, to reduce them to dollars.

"The poppy is extensively cultivated in India; and the export tax in Calcutta amounts to six and a quarter millions, in Bombay, to three and a half millions, on the manufactured opium. The producer sends his crop to the government factory, whence it is sold to the exporter; all this to prevent frauds on the revenue.

"Wages and prices have gone up under British rule. The best cla.s.s of laborers get four _annas_ a day, and others not more than two,--six to twelve cents a day. Grain for food is a penny for two pounds,--a cent a pound. Women and children earn small wages. The clothing of the poor is scanty and cheap; fuel costs nothing; and rent for dwellings is hardly known. The ma.s.ses in the country, not laborers, live on the land as owners or lessees. There has never been anything like a poor-law, and ordinarily there is no need of such.

"It would be quite impossible for me to give the history of India in detail in the limited time at my command, especially as we are now approaching the land. Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, was the first to reach the East Indies, in 1498; but his countrymen never did much trading here, being more intent upon securing the rich treasures of the Indies. As early as 1600 the English turned their attention in this direction. Companies were formed; but being driven by the Dutch from the islands which they still hold, they began to make settlements on the coast of this peninsula. Madras dates from 1639, Bombay from 1686, Calcutta from 1686. The Company said, 'Let us make a nation in India;' and they went to work at once to do it.

They accomplished their purpose, fostered by the government, raised and borrowed money, and in the course of time had an army and a navy, and ruled the country. They defeated the Grand Mogul, drove the French out of the peninsula, and were generally very prosperous.

"In 1833 Parliament revoked all the trading privileges of the company; and their dividends to stockholders were then paid out of the taxes a.s.sessed on the people of India. They could not trade and could not govern except under the control of Parliament. All the wars of India have been fought by the British nation. After the mutiny, of which more hereafter, the company was compelled to cede its powers to the crown in 1858.

"The native soldiers of Bengal were called Sepoys, and the name has been applied to all native troops. Some small mutinies occurred in this arm of the service in the presidency. Early in 1857 the garrison of Meerut, near Delhi, revolted, and the British troops failed to suppress it. The Sepoys marched to Delhi, where they were joined by the native troops and the mob.

The descendant of the Great Mogul, who lived in the palace of his ancestors under British protection, was proclaimed emperor, and his empire re-established.

"Probably 90,000 soldiers, infantry and cavalry, were in a state of rebellion. In many instances they had murdered their officers and their families. They were spread over a broad country, and held forts, a.r.s.enals, and treasuries. They were disciplined troops armed with European artillery and muskets, and supplied with ammunition. In portions of the country the British were isolated, as in the camp before Delhi, and in the works at Agra, Allahabad, and Lucknow. The mutiny extended over an area of 100,000 square miles, with a population of 40,000,000. It came at the worst season of the year; and if it had not been speedily suppressed, it would have spread over the whole country. Many believed that the knell of the empire had sounded.

"At that time there were 40,000 European troops"--

"Land, ho!" shouted the lookout man; and the cry was repeated by the sailors and the officers.

"We will attend to the land now, and I will resume latter," said Lord Tremlyn, as he descended from the rostrum.

CHAPTER XIV

SIR HENRY HAVELOCK AND THE MUTINY

The announcement that land was in sight produced some excitement, and the speaker good-naturedly paused to enable the company to see whatever was to be seen. They looked to the eastward, but they could see nothing. They stood upon the promenade, and strained their eyes to the utmost; but it required a nautical eye to make land out of the dim haze in the distance, for that was all there was of it.

"I can readily understand your desire to obtain the first view of India,"

said Lord Tremlyn.

"But they will not obtain it yet a while," added the commander.

Louis and Felix had ascended the fore-rigging, and discovered what might have been the land or a bank of clouds. There were a great number of boats and small craft in sight, but none of them were near enough to be seen distinctly. They observed that the Guardian-Mother had reduced her speed.

"We shall not be where you can see anything for an hour or more," continued Captain Ringgold. "We have to pa.s.s some rather dangerous rocks in this vicinity, and we shall proceed cautiously till we take a pilot."

"A number of large vessels have been wrecked in this locality," said the viscount; "and in a little while you will get in among the mult.i.tude of fis.h.i.+ng-craft that swarm off the islands."

When the company were satisfied that there was nothing to be seen, they resumed their seats, and the "live boys" in the fore-rigging returned to their places. All were greatly interested in the viscount's account of the mutiny; and he had suspended his narrative just where cunning writers of exciting stories place the "To be continued."

"I had hardly finished what I had to say, or at least what I intended to say; for there are still a great many points upon which I have not touched, leaving them to be brought up as you proceed on your travels through this interesting country," said Lord Tremlyn.

"Go on! Go on!" said quite a majority of the party.

"I have been here before, and perhaps you will excuse me if I have occasion to leave before your lords.h.i.+p has finished; and with this understanding, I think you had better proceed," added the commander.

"I will do so with the greatest pleasure," replied the speaker, as he took his place on the rostrum again. "I have described the terrible situation to which the English in India had been reduced, with nearly a hundred thousand Sepoys in rebellion, and the troops outnumbered a hundred to one, shut up in camps and forts. The fanatical and blood-thirsty mob, far greater than the body of native soldiers, were eager to fall upon and slaughter all Europeans.

"At this time there were 40,000 British troops scattered over the country; several thousand men on their way from England to China were diverted to this country. Forty thousand from home were on their voyage of 12,000 miles around the Cape of Good Hope to relieve the besieged garrisons. But in the midst of the gloom of this miserable summer there was a gleam of suns.h.i.+ne, and the sad disasters at Cawnpore and elsewhere were partially retrieved.

This came on the appearance of Henry Havelock, whose n.o.ble example of a true life I commend to my young friends here who are just entering upon their careers.

"Havelock was born in 1795. His father was a merchant, and he was well educated. He was at first intended for the law; but he followed the example of his brother, and entered the army a month after the battle of Waterloo.

In 1823 he was sent to India; and on the voyage he became a Christian in the truest sense of the word, and this event influenced his life. He was employed in the Afghan and Sikh wars; but he had learned 'to labor and to wait,' and he was still a lieutenant after twenty-three years' service.

"He was in command of a division of the army that invaded Persia in 1856.

The news of the Indian mutiny called him hastily to Calcutta. Following the Ganges to Allahabad," continued the speaker, pointing out the river and the city on the map, "he organized, at this point, a force of two thousand men, and pushed on for Cawnpore, driving the enemy before him. At Fatehpur the rebels made a stand; but they broke before his little band, and he hastened on to his destination.

"Nana Sahib, the native leader of the mutiny, was the adopted son of the former peshwa, or ruler, of the Mahrattas, as certain states in the west and middle of India are called. His foster-father had been deprived of his dominion, and lived on a pension paid by the British. The son had been brought up as a n.o.bleman, with expensive habits. When the father died in 1851, the pension was not continued to the son. He was bitterly disappointed that his income was cut off, and it stirred up all the bad blood in his nature, and there was a good deal of it. He did his best to foment discontent, and succeeded too well; for the mutiny was his work.

"As Havelock and his puny force approached Cawnpore, this miscreant incited the cold-blooded ma.s.sacre of all the women and children the rebels had captured on the day before the place was taken. The intrepid general found the Sepoys strongly intrenched at a village; but he turned their left, and carried the works by a splendid charge of the 78th Highlanders. Entering Cawnpore, he saw the results of the atrocious ma.s.sacre in the mutilated bodies of the women and children with his own eyes.

"The sight inspired the little band of heroes with renewed courage, and Havelock began his march upon Lucknow.

"After fighting eight victorious battles, his little force was so reduced by sickness and fatigue that he was forced to retire to Cawnpore. In September General Outram arrived there with additional troops, and operations against Lucknow were renewed. The general in command of this force outranked Havelock, and the command belonged to him; but with a n.o.ble generosity he waived his claim, and served in the expedition under his victorious subordinate as a volunteer.

"Havelock's army now numbered 2,500 men, with seventeen guns. He encountered the enemy, and scattered them several times. They reached the thickly settled town where each house was a fortress, and with valor equal to anything on record, fought their way to the Residency, where they were rapturously received by the beleaguered garrison.

"But with all that could be mustered they were only a handful of men compared with the hosts that surrounded them, and in turn they were at once besieged by the rebels. They were not the men to yield to any odds; and they held their own till November, when Sir Colin Campbell, with 4,700 regulars, forced his way through the enemy, and relieved the place. He was one of the bravest and most distinguished generals of modern times. He fought in the United States in 1814, and in many other parts of the world.

He was in the Crimea, and Alma and Balaklava are called his battles; for he did the most to win them.

"In India he completed the work which Havelock had begun, and the following year announced to the viceroy that the rebellion was ended. Just before he had been created Lord Clyde. On his return to England he was made a field-marshal, and received a pension of 2,000.

"To return to Havelock, great honors were bestowed upon him. He was made a baronet, created a Knight Commander of the Bath, and a pension of 1,000 was awarded to him. But he did not live to enjoy his rewards and honors, or even to see the end of the mutiny at which he struck the first heavy blows.

In that very month of November when Sir Colin came to the rescue, Havelock was taken with dysentery, died on the twenty-second, and was buried in the Alum-Bagh, the fort containing a palace and a fortress, which he had carried in his last battle.

"Havelock was very strict in his religious principles, and a rigid disciplinarian in the army. He was like the grave and fearless Puritan soldier, somewhat after the type of 'Stonewall Jackson' of your Civil War, though not as fanatical. In his last moments he said: 'For more than forty years I have so ruled my life that when death came I might face it without fear.' This he did; and England will never cease to remember the Christian hero, Sir Henry Havelock. In Trafalgar Square, in London, you may see the statue erected to him by the people of his native country.

"Aside from the mischief done by Nana Sahib, which seems to have had only a limited effect, what were the causes of this mutiny, Lord Tremlyn?" asked Dr. Hawkes.

"There were many causes that produced independent rebellions, such as the greased cartridges served out to the Sepoys, though this was only insignificant. There were too many Bramins in the ranks, and they were fanatics; and biting off the cartridge brought their lips in contact with the grease, which was religious pollution to them. A score of provocatives might be mentioned, but all of them would not explain it. The natives had been transformed into trained soldiers, and they felt the power that was in them.

"Before the mutiny, one British soldier to six Sepoys was about the proportion between them in numbers. The small discontents cl.u.s.tered around this grand error, and broke out in the mutiny. After its suppression, one of the first reforms of the government was to change the proportion of the soldiers; and now they are as one European to two natives. The government is liberal in the introduction of improvements. Now all the strategetic points are under the control of our own soldiers; and at present they const.i.tute nearly the whole of the artillery force of the country. Peace and order have reigned since 1858, and it is not now believed that a rebellion is possible. I expect and hope to be with you for some time to come, and my companions and myself will do our best to inform you in regard to everything in which you may feel an interest."

The viscount bowed very politely to his audience, and was hailed with all the enthusiasm which could be gathered up by a baker's dozen Americans. All of them testified that they had been exceedingly interested in his address, especially that part relating to the mutiny.

"We shall be exceedingly happy in your company, my Lord, as long as you are pleased to remain with us," added the commander. "I have done something towards preparing a route through India; and I should be glad to have the advice of such counsellors as we were so fortunate as to pick up in the midst of the rage of the stormy ocean."

"The time of our party is at your disposal for as long a period as we can be of service to you. We do not wish to force ourselves upon you. We owe our lives to you, and we believe we may contribute to your pleasure and instruction; for we are at home here."

"We did only our duty when we found you on the wreck; and anything in the nature of a recompense for the service which every sailor owes to his fellow-men, or to those who sail on the seas, would be repugnant to me, as it would be to my officers," replied Captain Ringgold.

"I beg you will not regard my proposition as anything in the shape of a recompense; for all our fortunes and all our time for years to come would not be an adequate return for the immeasurable service you have rendered to us," protested the viscount. "We have all been delighted with the manner in which we have been entertained on board of the Guardian-Mother; and without regard to our rescue from the very jaws of death, I declare, upon my honor as a gentleman, that you have won our hearts,--you, Mr. Commander, and all connected with you on board."

"Amen!" shouted Dr. Ferrolan in a burst of enthusiasm.