The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-24 00:00:00

LIFE IN LUCKNOW.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
JANUARY 30.
On Sunday, the 23d, the members of the Church
of England attended Divine service in the building
which is used as a church, without any pretensions
to fitness for the purpose. A large room with
whitewashed walls, divided by a line of open
arches and pillars, without doors or windows, save
such as are rent and broken, is at present the only
shelter for the congregation, and the cold draughts
which come in at every aperture were by no means
comfortable. There are some hard benches and
chairs in rows. Mr. Montgomery and the civil
officers of the station, and some military officers
and 30 or 40 women and children, a few of the Go-
vernment employes and their wives, constituted the
attendance. Outside in the garden round the house
sat the syces, with their masters' horses and bug-
gies, the native coachmen and servants in their
picturesque liveries. Who could doubt as he com-
pared the two that the English residents were a
little aristocracy, and that there is no English corn-
monalty in India as compared to the natives—an
aristocracy with many grades, but of which the
lowest members are barons and peers in their own
right in reference to the aborigines ? I looked
round the church, and there were but two faces
which had a darker tinge than European blood
alone could give, and they showed tokens of its in-
fusion, too. The people with those faces sat in the
back seats--an ayah and a clerk, judging from their
personal appearance. The sermon treated of divine
love for all mankind, and I hope we were all the
better for it.

Lord Clyde attended the service of the Scotch
Kirk, which is held in the Little Imaumbarrah—but
a short 10 months ago the scene of fierce conflict be-
tween our soldiers and the garrison of sepoys. I
am not quite sure whether we are complying with
the promises of the Queen's proclamation m appro-
priating for divine service a building of a religious
character on which the Mussulmans of Lucknow
look with reverence. It was not a mosque, but it
was a sort of sacred college, and there is a mosque
inside its walls. However, Lucknow was the rebel
capital, it was taken by storm, and its buildings
are not entitled to such nice consideration as would
be due to them under different circumstances. in
our reparations and constructions we have destroyed
many mosques, and the most sacred building in
Lucknow, the Great Imaumbarrah, being insde the
lines of the new fort, is occupied by the garrison as
a barrack.
Last Monday morning. I went round the works
of the position with Major Crommelin, the officer
of Bengal Engineers who has been employed in
carrying out the magnificent designs of Sir Robert
Napier, prepared ere we started for Rohilcund last
year, and adopted with some trifling modifications,
mostly connected with questions of expenditure.
A powerful European army would find in those
massive ramparts, formidable ditches,heavy bastions,
and embrasured curtains a most formidable resistance.
As to native troops, the fort would, as long as it was
provisioned, bid defiance to all the Mahrattas, Sikhs,
Affghans, and Rajpoots from Cochin to the Indus.
There is a want of cover from vertical fire, but
against direct fire or an assault the defences are
exceedingly strong. Perhaps the work would be
classed as a strong fortress of the third class in
Europe. Its great advantage is that it may be
defended by 200 or by 2,000 men—that is, the
salients and commanding points could be well
guarded and worked by the former number, and the
latter would not by any means crowd the line of
defence and batteries. The Muchee Bawun, restored
from the ruin into which it was shaken by the great
explosion ordered by Sir Henry Lawrence when he
withdrew his troops from it and confined his posi-
tion to the Residency, presents towards the river a
strong wall of whitewashed brick, supported by
heavy buttresses. The road, which is now the
fashionable evening drive for the Europeans, winds
round from the Baillie Guard-gate to the banks of
the river below the Muchee Bawun, past the iron
bridge, and thence through the grand gateway to
the square in front of the Imaumbarrah, passing
out of the corresponding gateway through the line
of the works towards the Moosabagh. Frowning
batteries, armed with heavy ordnance, sweep the
bridges, and command the opposite bank of the
river. On the city face of the Muchee Bawun and
Imaumbarrah the extensive demolitions necessary
to form a clear space of 500 yards all round the fort
present an extraordinary aspect. When I was last
there a dense mass of brick houses, of temples,
mosques, shrines, baths, markets, bazaars, honey-
combed by tortuous narrow streets, stretched from
the canal two and a half miles away, up to the walls
of the Muchee Bawun and the Great Temple, and
enclosing them on all sides down to the very river.
For more than a quarter of a mile around them there
is nothing now to be seen but vast chaotic masses
of brickwork, amid which rise lone columns of ma-
sonry, the fragments of walls, the gables of houses,
isolated meagre cupolas, tottering towers, and some
obstinate interiors which have laid open their secrets
to the violent wooing of gunpowder, and, upheld by
resolute brickwork cemented by cunning hands,
whose mystery has not been revealed to the builders
of one-and-a-half brick palaces at l'entonville or
Xemptown, still maintain their staircases and door-
ways and ragged joists. A pile of doorposts, lintels,
beams, and rafters, stacked and heaped up, looms
like a shipbuilder's yard amid the rubbish. Out of
the blasted city there has been formed a magnifi-
cent glacis, sloping from the open space up to the
ditch of the fort. This is not yet complete, and
extends only along one side of the Muchee Bawun,
but thousands of men, women, and children are
employed daily in gathering up the earth and brick-
work of the debris, and carrying it up to complete
the glacis round the other face to the great ditch, the
scarp of which on the west face is 60 feet high.
As the natives are as obstinate as Irish farmers,
v7heelbarrows do not obtain among them, and so they
carry the rubbish in wickerwork trays or baskets,
which hold only a limited quantity—not quite a lazy
man's load. They are paid on the spot on the de-
livery of each basket load, but what they are paid
as td value I have never been able to determine. I
know, however, that for each basketful the labourer
gets a small univalve shell called a cowrie—that
there are 64 cowries in a pice, and there are four
pice in an anna, and there are 16 annas in a rupee,
and a rupee is equal to 2s. by currency courtesy
(though in actual experience of life it is only equal
to half a florin), and from this the payment for each
basket may be deduced by careful calculation. The
labourer changes his or her cowries for a pice, and
as soon as the aggregate is sufficient for a meal in
the bazaar the labourer departs, and is rarely seen
again that day. There are many situations in life
of an exciting and unpleasant character, but it
strikes me, judging from externals alone, that the
local paymaster of the howling, clamorous bands of
basketmen and basketwomen whom I saw that
morning must have as rugged an existence as any
I know of, save Tantia, and the man of the Skerry-
yore Lighthouse in a heavy sea ; each of them is
the perpetual centre of most noisy importunate
creditors, all of whom desire to be raid at once—
delays to them are cowries' worth. This hurry to
be rich—the effect of this t .ling crowd rush-
ing to and fro, of the hundreds of earth jets
down the bank, of the moving forests ofbasket-
work, is quite new and indescribable. Perhaps
something like it might have been seen at the
Tower of Babel, or when the children of Israel were
making strawless bricks, or the nations of captivity
worked for the rulers of Nineveh. These works offer
subsistence to thousands of people, who will be em-
ployed on the cantonments when our engineers are
prepared to begin them. The old cantonment, on
the left side of the Goomtee, has been abandoned,
and the site of the new cantonment has been fixed
on:---a very eligible
choice. The high ground at the
rear of the Dilkoosha, extending by the Beebiapore
park, and overlooking the windings of the Goomtee,
seem to offer every convenience and desideratum for
a military station, and it is far enough
_ from the
more dangerous parts of the city to keep the men
out of temptation in the summer. The communica-
tion with the citadel is easy and well opened. It is
said that Sir Hope Grant will take up his residence
in the Dilkoosha, which will be fitted up for his
reception. It will form a charming residence for the
commander of the troops in Oude, and indeed Luck-
now, if only there are establishments and Europeans
enough to form the materials of private society, will
be the most beautiful station in all India. To de-
scribe improvements in a city to one who has no
knowledge of the place is impossible, and the
number of my readers who have ever visited Luck-
now is small indeed. The work done is greater than
anything that I know of in Europe, so far as the
destruction of houses, streets, &e., is concerned.
The labours of Napoleon at Paris offer but a poor
parallel to the immense efforts put forth within the
:Tam of six months to adapt Luc know to its future
late, and to render it at the same time, whatever
that fate may be, the most magnificent city in our
Eastern dominions, especially when a moderate dis-
tance lends enchantment to the views of the public
'buildings, and blends stucco' brick, and plaster
into one grand marble-like mass of dome. minaret,
colonnade, and portico, surmounted by gilt
,cupo;as and polished copper. Colonel Abbott, the
.COmniissioner of Lucknow, has shown considerable
taste and judgment in the restoration of the bazaar
along the great line of streets formed
by the
bides of the Begum's Kotee, the small Imaum-
barrah, and the Kaiserbagh. The streets traced
tho ugh heaps of demolished house material in
.bro,ta straight lines, radiating from the circular
loth i round the citadel, are magnificent, and the
sanii ‘ary arrangements promise to be well developed.
Th. e Residency- stands nearly as we found it on
takin • the city. There were some subsequent di-
lapidai ions. Officers directed men to pull down

timbers, and as timbers supported walls, roofs, and
ceilings, those obeying gravitation, fell, and
caused greater ruin than there had been when the
enemy left Lucknow ; but the labours of the men
were observed and were suspended, and the Resi-
dency, with all its silent testimony of bul: t-pitted,
shot-pierced, shattered walls, its deta • ed posts,
torn gateways, and ruinous gables, . ands un-
touched amid all the changes around it. The walls
of the room where Henry Lawrence died still re-
main. Every shot has its story, every angle its
hero, or haply, its heroine—and its victim. " Neill 's
Gate" still stands outside the Residency, into which
his lifeless body was brought, and where it lies
under a becoming tomb. I wish I could say to the
people of England, who lamented Havelock so
deeply, that the grave of their chosen one is wor-
thily marked, or that its present condition is worthy
of the remains which lie there, or of the country.
When I visited the Alumbagh, where Sir Henry
Havelock was hurriedly interred on the march of
the relieved garrison out of Lucknow, I saw, in the
unclean gardenground of the place, open to natives,
cattle, and dogs, a shallow sinking in the ground
the size of a grave—and it was a grave—and just
over it, rudely carved by a soldier's hand on the
trunk of a tree, could be traced the letter " H."
And this is the grave and the inscription of Sir
Henry Havelock !
It is uncertain when Mr. Montgomery will leave
Oude for his new trust. A curious instance of the
mysticism of Indian government, or at least of the
closeness of Lord Canning,may be given here. Mr.
Montgomery wrote to Mr. Wingfield, the future
Commissioner of Oude, stating what were his
views with respect to the management of the
province, and what he had already done in
the way of settlements and police, for which
he claimed a trial from his successor. Mr.
Wingfield, in reply, expressed the satisfaction it
would afford him to give every advantage to any
plan instituted by the Chief Commissioner and to
test it thoroughly, but added that he had received
no intimation whatever of his appointment to Oude.
Now, it would have doneno harm to let Mr. Wing-
field prepare himself for his new government by
considering its condition, and learning the principles
on which his predecessor was acting.
The police system will probably meet opposition
in many quarters, but as yet it has worked very
well. In 65 days from the date of his appointment
as Chief of Police, Major Bruce moved out of Luck-
now and occupied Mulliabad with a competent
force, accoutred and sufficiently drilled, of infantry
and cavalry. On the 12th a second regiment of
police moved out and occupied more ground, and
the Kuppoorthallah Contingent was soon after re-
relieved by a third corps of the Oude police. Sul-
tanpore was next occupied by Oude police, infantry,
and cavalry ; the Cawnpore road was then occu-
pied and held strongly. On the 30th of July
another force was despatched to Ruheemabad ; on
the 11th of August Captain Dawson, a most gallant
officer, who afterwards died of his wounds, seized
upon Sundeela with a force of police, infantry and
horse, and from that time, as previously, all our
military expeditions were strengthened by bodies
of police, which established themselves in solid
occupation of the country as the various columns
advanced. When Lord Clyde took the field from
Lucknow 500 police cavalry and 2,220 police in-
fantry marched with him, and took post in the
Trans-Gogra districts, and wherever they have
been stationed there has been, up to the present
time, no case of the enemy reappearing or creating
a disturbance. Since the beginning of the year the
police have been confined to their proper duties,
but in the military operations last year they lost 39
men killed and 166 wounded. It has been sug-
gested that as each district is thoroughly disarmed
the police should give up their muskets and bayo-
nets and retain only their swords, the cavalry being
provided with sword, lance, and pistol.
The five companies of the battalion of the Rifle
Brigade, under Col. Macdonnell, have marched for
Agra. The present garrison of Lucknow consists of
her Majesty's 23d Royal Welsh Fusiliers, two batta-
lions of Royal Artillery, 1 Bengal Artillery, 23d
company Sappers and Miners, 2 companies Royal
Artillery, 4th European Light Cavalry, wing. of
Beloochees, 3d or Rennie's Punjab Infantry, wing
15th Punjab Infantry, Lahore Light Horse. The
9th Lancers and 79th are expected shortly on their
way to their destinations. Her Majesty's 38th is sta-
tioned at Roy Bareilly. The discontent among the
European soldiers of the late Company transferred fiy
Act of Parliament to the Crown has not ceased to
manifest itself, and some sentences of cow ti-martial
are standing over on appeal. The Duke of Cam-
bridge has authorised Lord Clyde to abolish
" stocks" in the Indian army, and to adopt what-
ever dress for the soldiers he may think best. It
may be observed that it would be much better to
have the carkee tunics issued to our soldiers made
in India instead of England. The material is better
and cheaper here, and English sewing does not
stand Indian washing. There is no report yet of
the effect of the volunteering. Many of our men
are actually wealthy, and it remains to be seen
whether they will stay to make more, or go home
to spend what they have. The 84th Regiment has
£15,000 in the savings-bank, and now and then a
lucky fellow, like a Rifleman the other day, gets
200 gold mohurs in an old wall. The party of the
88th stationed in the Begum Kotce found, a short
time ago, £15,000 in rupees in the enclosure, their
attention being attracted to the spot by a midnight
attempt of some natives to remove the money.
The sun begins now and then to tell us there is a
summer coming, and it warns Major Crommelin
that there are 12,000 Englishmen to be sheltered
from its rays in Oude—where deadly as at Troy
those fiery darts have already killed stone dead so
many gallant soldiers. It is no easy task, but, as
our excellent friend says, " it must be done, and it
will all come right in the end"—a most cheering and
comfortable doctrine for one of strong will and ade-
quate means. There is a scarcity of wood in Oude,
because the people love the trees they have planted
and will not see them willingly cst down—besides
these are bases of taxation—besides which, they
being mango, peepul, and other spongiose and heart-
less timbers, are of no good. I do not know if I
mentioned that when we made that ineffectual
gallop up to the Beyram Ghaut we found collected
there on one side of the bank immense quantities
of magnificent hewn timber, which had been
floated down from the upper forests, worth some
£lB,OOO or £20,000. It had been in the hands of
the enemy, but our presence made it ours. Our
army passed over, and up came from Allahabad, as
I am informed, an active and by no means dull
compatriot, who at once bought up the timber from
the men who had floated it down, giving them a
rupee or two as earnest-money for each log,
whereon he set his mark. When our barrack-
builders came to claim it there was the mark in-
delible, and there, too, was the proprietor, averring
that he had contracted for the wood ere the muti-
nies broke out (which may be quite true), and that
if the Government wanted the wood they must buy
it from him. There is some muttering about the
laws of prize and of prize money, but the astute
speculator will probably gain the day and the
rupees.
Maun Singh's ball took place this evening. It
was, after native ideas, a very grand affair. In the
evening Maun Singh came to head-quarters to make
his final arrangements, and there he heard what
caused him to participate in the general regret,
perhaps from less interested motives, that Lord
Clyde was so unwell that he could not possibly
attend. In fact, the Commander-in-Chief would
insist the day before on mounting his horse for the
first time since his accident, and the charger, a fine
spirited animal, had pulled so that the dislocated
shoulder was strained, and his lordship had to dis-
mount, and this morning was in pain. and was,
besides, indisposed by a severe cold. It was a great
blow to Maun Singh, whose ball was at one stroke
deprived of half its significance and importance,
and at first he seemed to suspect that his lord-
ship's illness was a ruse, but Colonel Metcalfe
dissipated such unworthy and Oriental suspicions.
At seven o'clock the elephants were paraded out-
side the tents, and at eight o'clock Maun Singh
returned to escort General Mansfield and his other
guests to the ball or nautch. The " hatties" were
soon loaded ands frunbled off in their waddling,
Jack. ashore
rolling, fashion, preceded by wild
linkmen with •
prodigious flambeaux, and followed
by an escort of Lahore Horse, with irreular
Bankers of Maun Singh's
sowars. The Raja'h sat
alongside General Mansfield,. and Major Bruce oc-
cupied a place in the same howdah. A dark cruise
of a mile or so over broken ground and through the
silent suburb on the left bank of the Goomtee, be-
tween the iron and stone bridges, which once had
been the scene of cannonading and musketry, ended
in sight of a long avenue of twinkling lights of rich
yellowish lustre,
not flaring and white-flamed like
gas, but golden and mellow.
This avenue was formed by a framework of
'wed escoeheons, and hung
with bam-
boos,disposed in heart-shaped
with oil lamps. A large triumphal arch of the same
am bef o r e
e tbe
fabrication opened on the parallelogr _
oposit the
palace, which was a blaze of lights.. and
palace—a long building with porticoes open.
colonnades, in the Italian style—there was erected
a very gay but unsubstantial pavilion, covered all
over with silver leaf, in the open windows of which
minstrels played on with quaint instruments, and
elicited strains which distance refined into those,
df
the more formidable species of bagpipe, mint
with song and chorus. On the facade of the silver
temple was a golden shield inscribed with the words,
" Victoria, Queen of India," and beneath, on each
side, golden scrolls bore the names of " Clyde,"
" Montgomery." A considerable, but not a large
number of natives, was assembled in this open
space, at the further end of which was a grand il-
luminated gateway, similar to tlriat under which we

had passed. The elephants were ordered to "bite,"
and lay down accordingly. It is not a beast of a
festive turn, and illuminations distress its sagacity
he knows they have sticks, and he has a general
very much. The wise creature hates rockets, for
diffidence as to the skill of man in handling
oociioo
pyro-
technics, which, combined with the liveliest obe-
dience to the first law of nature,o render c
a tslne
f
ele-
phant eminently unhappy n the
Oriental rejoicings. Down the ladders we slipped
from the howdahs, as though descending the sides
of a ship, and, led by Maim Singh, who was dressed
in silk and shawls, with a gold embroidered cap
on his head, and stocking-clad feet, we mounted to
the saloon, a very fine room, hung with glass
chandeliers and numerous mirrors, having at
the sides colonnades opening to balconies, and
galleries above filled with well-dressed natives, and
when the General had taken his place the nautch
commenced. It is to us a dull and dismal enter-
tainment. From the end of the room advance two
girls of unusual ugliness supported by seven or
eight men, who on tom-toms, a kind of violin, and
kettle-drums keep up a monotonous but not unme-
lodious accompaniment to the undulations of the
bodies and limbs of the nautch girls. The dress of
the girls is classic, beautiful, and modest. The feet
are but hidden by the contracted robe, which opens
out in a wide flounce on the ground, so as to lie
m a heavy fold in front as they retreat, and behind
as they advance. Their arms alone are bare—up
to the throat there is a maze of silver and gold
embroidered filmy gauzes and shawls thrown in
rich folds over the attenuated figures, which may
well court such disguises. As these young ladies
approach, swaying their bodies to and fro, gently
waving their arms, and making a pleasant music
with the beat of their silver bangles, the mind wan-
ders back to the days of the post-Adamite world,
and sees the singers going before, the minstrels
following after the killer of the Philistines ; gets
unpleasant reminiscences of Adam's " Roman An-
tiquities" (article " Triumphs"), and has some con-
fused ideas about Nineveh, Layard, the Greek
chorus, and the Druids. Their songs, those strange,
not unmusical cadences, running on unceasingly
from strophe to antistrophe, with marked caesura
and rhythm enough, must be as old as the hills,
whose youth they may have charmed into dancing,
and Orpheus may have made Cerebus sleep by a
dose of the " Taza betaza," for all we know to the
contrary. Had I been Cerberus my resistance
would have been feeble, for I admit the effect is
monotonous to a degree, though the natives will
sit entranced as Pluto, and listen to one or two
songs of this sort each an hour long at least the
whole night. The men are all-:--young, old, and
middle-aged—a dissipated, odd-looking set of men.
They are " domes," the musician and fiddler class,
who had as much influence in Oude as fiddlers
haa in some European Courts in times gone by,
and that is saying a good deal. You may catch
a hundred of them any time, or rather you
might, by sweeping the pit of La Scala on
the first night of a new opera. When their pro-
tegees have sidled and sung and ogled and wriggled
their way up the room close to the General, they
retire, and others succeed them in the same way,
while their predecessors divert those in the other
room or at the end of ours. The noise of fiddles
and drums from those various parties is overwhelm-
ing. Mann Singh enters, followed by officers of his
household in a brief interlude, and going to the
General throws over his head a wreath very rich-
looking of silver and gold thread with tassels, which
he takes from a tray carried by a servant. Then
going round all his guests, who are seated to the
number of 150 or 160 along the ballroom, he gives
to each with his own hands a similar mark of his
attention, and the richness of each being propor-
tioned to the rank of the recipient. A list of guests
would comprise all Europeans in Lucknow, except
Lord Clyde, Mr. Montgomery, the private soldiers,
and a few officers. We had Sir William Mansfield,
Colonel Pratt, Major Bulwer, and the officers of the
23d Royal Welsh Fusiliers ; Colonel Macdonnell
and the officers of the 4th Light Cavalry ; Colonel
Ridell,: Major Turner, Royal Artillery ; Colonel
Harness, Royal Engineers ; Lieutenant-Colonel
Crealock, Dr. Gordon, C. 8., Deputy Inspector-
General ; Colonel Macpherson, Quartermaster-
General ; Major Norman, Adjutant-General ; Cap-
tain Allgood, Assistant. Quartermaster-General ;
Major Torrens, Assistant Adjutant-General, Queen's
Troops ; Captaid the Hon. J. Dormer, Aide-de-
Camp ; Captain Alison, Aide-de-Camp ; Major
Bruce, Chief of Police ; Captain Chamberlain, Oude
Police ; Mr. Forsyth, Secretary to the Chief Com-
missioner ; Major Barrow, C. 8., Special Commis-
sioner ; Captain Hutchinson, Military Secretary ;
Captain Flood, her Majesty's 53d Regiment, Aide-
de-Camp ; Major Le Geyt Bruce, Dr. Douglas,
Major Crommclin, Major Kirby, Major Lennox,
Royal Engineers, and others, quos enumerare, &c.
There was one other interlude in the nautch,
when there appeared six or eight boys dressed as
girls,
their faces covered with gold-leaf, who per-
formed an abtruse comedy or mystery, and sang a
chorus of an incomprehensible character, from which
the company were diverted very pleasantly by an
invitation to witness the fireworks from the bal-
conies, verandahs, and flat roof of the palace.
The pyrotechnic display took place in a garden
or enclosure in front of the building, and consisted
of feeble rockets, maroons, catherine wheels, foun-
tains of fire, amidst which fire balloons were sent
up at intervals. As a specimen of the higher order
of art in this fashion the exhibition was marred by
some failures. The revolving fireworks would not
revolve owing to the infirmity of the posts to which
they were attached, and there were some ether
small mishaps among the fire balloons ; but as to
general effect, the mass of fizzing, crackling,
sparkling lights set in a framework of black faces
and white turbans was picturesque, and ever vary-
ing, full of wonderful shade and life. The fire-
works went out quietly, and then the company
with an anxious eye to the supper tables beheld a
person with the most imperfect conceptions of the
anatomical structure and motion of the bear and
monkey endeavour to imitate them in a series of
libellous contortions. The great treat for the na-
tives yet remained. They crowded the galleries to
see the Feringhees at supper. Maun Singh is a
Hindoo, but the flesh of the sacred bull—rather an
ancient one too—decorated his tables, aided by
great joints of cow-beef, and holy Mussulman looked
down on the unclean feeders who devoured ham, to
him an abomination, conjoined with fowl, which is
to the Hindoo as revolting as pig is to the former.
The equipments of the tables were imperfect—
officers drank champagne out of soup-plates, and
the clever feat of the fete champetre, by which
bottles are decapitated, fingers cut, and wine spilt,
was frequently accomplished. There was great
abundance of ligneous tongues, which had often
neighed cheerfully at the aspect of the nose-bag,
and the fowls and joints, hostile in death, had
apparently been kyanized, and resisted fire and
sword. But still somehow, with chips off one thing
or another—pies and patties, and gypsum confec-
tionary—the " dura ilia militurn" were satisfied, and
a general wish was expressed for " Jones" to sing
" Vilikins and his Dinah." (We are much behind
the age in our melodies.) But before that painful
ceremony, was begun—if indeed Jones ever got
through it—the band of the 23d Fusiliers in an ad-
joining room summoned the more prudent guests
away from the tables. Had the night ended so all
would have been well, but I regret to have to re-
count an instance of the gross vulgarity,bad taste,
and coarseness which does us more harm, even
though it be but exhibited by one man, on such an
occasion as this than a mistake in administration.
A person whose rank is unknown to me, but who,
uninvited, went to the ball with a captain of one of
her Majesty's regiments, who had received no in-
vitation either, went up to Maun Singh, and actu-
ally requested him to take his cap off his head, and,
as I understand, clapped it on his own. Now, to
uncover the head of an Asiatic is a great insult. I
scarcely can find a parallel for such an act, for to
suppose that a gentleman would pull off a duchess's
wig at her own table is scarcely possible, nor is it
easy to imagine one of the Duke of Devonshire's
guests " bonnetting" his grace, " just by way of a
lark," at the horticultural show. Maun Singh be-
haved with great forbearance, but an officer who
was present assured the " gentleman" he would
report him to the Commander-in-Chief. Thereupon
he of course protested " he meant no offence," "he
was very sorry," &c., and when I happened to be
passing I saw Mann Singh taking his cap from his
attendant, and looking with a puzzled expression
at a few red-faced young men who were dancing
before him, and declaring that he was " a right
good fellow ; he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody
dare deny, with a hip, hip, hip, hurrah !" &c. In-
deed, one jolly companion found the premises so
very comfortable that he slept on a chair all night.
Maun Singh had to keep some of his guests com-
pany till four o'clock next morning. With this
brief statement I leave the subject. Maun Singh,
in speaking of it, has shown the best spirit, nor
would he make any complaint to General Mans-
field, who was naturally much distressed when he
I beard of the occurrence.
n

Mane. Marie de la Rechejacquelein, daughter of
the marquis and senator, took the veil three days ago in the
Convent des Oiseaux. The Bishop of Poitiers officiated.
'
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8 DisEemmeNT.]—Holloway's Ointment aid Pills.—
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sinks into a natural keleiNwhich calms the treatment. It is absorbed,
out, moderatessurr inflammation, checks
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