Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-12-15

inent servants should be as obedient to
the present government as they have
been to tho former one; that it is the
incumbent duty OF all the peasants and
landed proprietors OF every district to
rejoice at the thought that the Chris
tians have been sent to hell, aud both
the Hindoo and Mohammelan religions
have been confirmed, and that they
should, as usual, be obedient to the
Authorities Of the government and never
suffer any complaint against themselves
to reach to tho ears of the higher author
ity."
The Siege of Cawnpur.
"Mr Lee, what is this?" / said to
our escort as the carriage halted by an
embankment Here" he said, sis the
intrenchment where the Christians of
| Cawnpur took refuge" lis the remains
of wall which at the time of the mu-
tiny was only four feet high, behind
which, with no shelter from the sun,
the heatat 80 degrees, 440 men and 500
women and children dwelt nearly a
month A handful of flour and split
i peas was the daily ration, and only two
wells near by, the one in which they
buried their dead, because they had no
time to bury them in the earth, and the
other well the focus on which the artil-
lery of the enemy played, so that it was
q choice between death by thirst and
death by bullet or shell. Ten thousand
yelling Hindoos outside this frail wall
and / 900 suffering, dying people inside.
In addition to the army of the Hindoos
and Moslems, an invisible army of sick
nesses swooped upon them. Some went
raving mad under exposure Others
dropped under apoplexy. A starving,
mutilated, fevered, sunstruck, CHASTITY
group waiting to diel Why did not the
heather dash down those mud walls and
the 10, 900 annihilate the now less than
1000? 1t was because they seemed su-
pernaturally defended
Mana Sahib resolved to celebrate an
anniversary The Esd of June, 1857,
4 would be 100 years since the battle CT
/ Plassy, when, under Lord Give, India
surrendered to England. That day the
last European in Cawnpur was to be
1 slaughtered. Other anniversaries have
been celebrated with wine. This was to
/ be celebrated with blood Other ami
yersaries have been adorned with ;ar-
] lands. This with drawn swords. Others
have been kept with songs. This with
I excavations. Others with tho dance of
/ the gay. This with the dance of death.
The infantry and cavalry and artillery
/ of Mana Sahib made on that day one
grand assault, but the few guns of tho
| English and Scotch put to flight these
Hindoo tigers. The courage of the fiends
broke against that mud wall as the
waves of the sea against lighthouse.
The cavalry horses returned full run
without their riders. The Lord looked
out from the heavens, and OH that ami
yersary day gave the victory to his peo-
pie
Therefore Mana Sahib must try some
other plan. Standing in field not far
! from the intrenchment of the English
was native Christian woman, Jacobeo
by NAME holding high up in her hand
q letter. 1t was evidently communi-
cation from the enemy, and General
Wheeler ordered the woman brought in
She handed him a proposed treaty. If
General Wheeler and his men would
give up their weapons, Mana Sahib
would conduct them into safety. They
could march out unmolested, the men,
women and children. They could go
down tomorrow to the Ganges, where
they would find boats to take them in
peace TO Allahabad.
The Treaty Signed.
There was some opposition to signing
this treaty, but General Wheelers wife
| told him he could trust the natives, and
so he signed the treaty. There was great
joy i'll the intrenchment that night
| Without molestation they went out and
got plenty of water to drink and water
for good wash. The hunger and thirst
and exposure from the consuming sun,
with the thermometer from 1870 to 49,
would cease. Mothers rejoiced at the
prospect of saving their children. The
young ladies Of the intrenchment would
escape the wild beasts in human form.
On the morrow, true to the promise,
carts were ready to transport those who
were too much exhausted to walk.
Get i'll the carriage" said Mr.. Lee,
land we will ride to the banks of the
Ganges, for which the liberated COM
batants and noncombatants started from
this place. On our way Mr.. Lee point
ed out monument over the burial
place which was opened for General
Whceler's intrenchment, the well into
which every night the dead had been
dropped Around it is n curious rlemo-
rial. There are five crosses, one at each
corner of the garden and ono at the CEN
ter, from which inscription l today read
my text. Riding on, we came to tho
Memorial church built to the memory of
those fallen i'll Cawnpur The walls are
covered with tablets and epitaphs. l
copied two or three of the inscriptions:
''These are they who come out Of great
tribulation;" also, Tho dead shall be
raised incompatible" also: I'm the
world ye shall have tribulation, but be
of good cheer. | have overcome the
world" also: ''Tho Lord gave. The
Lord hath taken away" also, Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden.
Get into the carriage" said Mr..
Lee, and we rode on to the Gauges and
got out at a Hindoo temple standing on
the banks. Nov, said Mr. Lee, there
is the place TO which General Wheeler
and his people camo under the escort of !
Mana Sahib." went down the steps to
the margin of the river. Down these
steps went General Wheeler and the
men, women and children under his
care. They stood on one side Of the
steps, and Mana Sahib and his staff |
stood Gu the other side. AS the women
were getting into the boats Mana Sahib |
objected that only the aged ard iririH |
women and children should go on board |
tk. boats. The young and attractive
women were kept out. Twenty eight |
boats were filled with men, women AID |
children and floated out into the rive
Each boat contained ten armed natives. |
Then th'ee boats fastened together were
brought up, and General Wheeler and /
l,s ct,4r A 1el.