Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-01-10
Life in India.

The next day landed at the City of
Palaces, and shortly after had an audi
ence of the Marquis of Hastings. Gov
ernOr- General and COMMANDMENTS
Chief of India, to whom | brought
letters from his niece, Lady William
Russell, Mr. Cook, of Holkham, Lord
Lauderdale, and Lord Holland. These
served me IN good stead, for there hap
pened to be "a vacancy on his personal
staff, to which | was Immediately ap-
pointed. The following week accom-
panied Lord Hastings 10 his country
seat at BaOIackpOre To take my turn of
aide de-camp IN waiting. We dined at
4 IN the afternoon. After dinner two
phaetons, each drawn by four white
horses came to the door. On one side
were ranged seven elephants, gaudily,
caparisOned, especially the one des-
tined TO cary the Lord Sahib," which
bore the title of bahadur general, /, and
had "a livery more gaudy than its fell
lows" On a word from the mahOut the
bahadur went on all fours to receive its
load A ladder was placed against its
side; Lord Hastings assembled and
made me seat myself beside him. Ny
first Ilde WAS not altogether agreeable.
The eQullateral movement of the ami
NAL, IN Its walk, too much resembled
that of ship in heavy swell. / re-
member being struck with the beauty
of an air-plant which formed success
sion of festoons over our heads. The
elephant was ordered to gather it
for me. The delicate manner in which
1t separated the tender parasite from
the tree with its trunk could not have
been Outdoue by the most delicate of
human fingers. One evening my at
teatiOn was arrested by the behavior of
the elephant that was to carry the
Governor General. Ii would not stand
still for moment, but kept constantly
shaking the little ornamental bells of
It's hawdan-clOth. On inquiry found
that the "bahadur being indispOsed,
this animal supplied its place. and that
IFS cOntOrTions arose from the pleasure
1t felt at the gaudiness of its apparel.
When approached the conceited beast
1t was making a noise with its trunk
like the purnng of a cat. | used greatly
10 enjoy these elephantine rides. 1t
was gratifying to a yOungster TO he on
terms of familiar intercourse with a
man who, as a soldier. orator, OF states
man, had been before the world for
nearly halt a century. On public Occa-
siOus Lord Hastings was the most
stately of human beings; you then saw
oBly the haughIy ruler over a hundred
and odd millions of fellow creatures;
but tete-a-tete In huwdah he was
totally different, would talk freely on
all subjects. and make no secret of his
disputes with the East India din ectors,
WHO wtre everything in his eyes, but
"hIs much approved and esteemed good
Masters But the suhjtct that most
lnteIt sted NE WAS his military life be-
ginning from l713, whena Francis Raw
don, Cal talu of yrenadIers, he had two
bullets thlungh his cap at the battle of
Buukel's Hill. up To 1917, when by
stlageilcdlly concentrating the aImies
OF Bengal, Madras ana Bombay, on a
given spot ON given day, he annihi-
lated the PindarItes and wholly sub-
verted the power of the Mahrattas.
There was one subject in which the
General and his aide-de- camp took
common lnterest-we were both enthu-
siastic admirers of Shakespeare. As we
were tolerably wei up i'll our author,
we used To leclte 10 each other our ia
vOTite passages, aud occasionally with
such empl 9sis that | often wondered
what the mahOut must have thought of
our see ming alterations. Like Horace
Walpole, Lord Hastings was a stout
apoiOglst for Richard ILL.,, and differed
from the view that his favori,e bard
has taken of his character. He con-
tended that Richard was 10 be judged
by the moral standard of the age in |
which he lived, and not by ours; that
his humanity was on a par with that of
Edward " and that in his short reign |
of King he did much to mitigate the |
tyTannlcal measures of his elder
brother. | was amused to hear him
defend Richard for cutting off the head
of his ancesuOr--the Lord Hastings of
that day-he thought that self-preser-
vatlon fully warranted the deed.-Lord
Aibermarle's HecOiiectiOnS.