Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-14


Campbell. Sir Hugh Rose, Lord Napier and
other leaders fought their way to the res
cue. and the conspiracy was finally crushed
but not without untold suffering and enor-
nous loss of life.
The Massacre at Delhi.
On the evening Of May II. 1857, about
fifty foreigners, all unarmed civilians. were
brought into the palace at Delhi, and by
order of Bahandar Shah the mogul. whom
the mutineer leaders had proclaimed En-
peror of India. were thrust into dungeon,
starved for five days and then hacked to
pieces in the beautiful courtyard The new
emperor a weak-minded old man, with no
energy or ability and scarcely intellect
enough to realize his responsibilities. pro-
nOunced judgment and issued the orders
prepared for him by the conspirators with
whom he was surrounded. But retribution
was swift and sure. A few weeks later
when the British troops blew in the walls
of the palace citadel after of the most
gallant assaults ever recorded in the an
nails OF war. the old man, with two of his
soES. fled to the tomb of Humayun, who
occupied the mogul throne from 1881 to
1861 told you about him yesterday-as If
that sanctuary would be reyered by the
British soldiers.
This tomb Is one Of the most notable
buildings in India. 1t stands on the bank
of the Jumna river. about five miles from
the present city of Delhi. 1t Is an ogtag
oral. a mass of rose-colored sandstone and
white marble. decorated with an ingenuity
of design and delicacy of execution that
have never been surpassed and is crowned
by marble dome of perfect Persian pat
tern. three-fOurths of the diameter of that
OF st. Paurs Cathedral Of London, and
almost as large as that of the Capitol at
Washington. In this splendid mausoleum.
where twelve of his imperial ancestors
sleep the last Of the moguls endeavored to
conceal himself and his sons but Col
Hodson. who commanded a desperate vol
unteer battalion of foreigners whose prop
erty had been confiscated or destroyed by
the mutineerS. whose wives had been raw
tshed and whose children had been massa-
cred. followed the flying mogul to the asy-
lum he sought and dragged him trembling
and begging for mercy from among the
tombs.
Hodson was man of remarkable char
acter and determination and was willing to
assume responsibility and "Hodson
Horse as the volunteer battalion was
called. were the Rough Riders of the Indian
mutiny. He took the aged king back to
Delhi and delivered him to the British au-
thorlties alive but almost imbecile from
terror and excitement The two princes,
nineteen and twenty-five years of age, he
deliberately shot with his own revolver be-
fore leaving the courtyard of the tomb in
which they were captured.
England Excited With Horror.
This excited the horror of all England.
The atrocities of the mutineers were almost
forgotten for the moment That the heirs
of the throne of the great moguls should be
killed by a British officer while prisoners
of war was an ofrsnsa5 against civilization
and Christianity that could not be tolerat-
ed, although Only a. eW-Meeks before these
two same princes had participated in the
cold-blooded butcheFya of fifty Christian
women and children g
There was parliamentary 1nyestiga-
ton. Hodson explained that he had only q
few men, too few to guard three prisoners
of such Importance; that he was surround
ed by $1,000 half Harmed and excited natives,
who would have lextsFTinated his little
band and rescued his prisoners II any one
of their number had possessed sufnc1ent
presence of mind and courage to make the
attempt. Convinced. that he could not con-
their adherents and sympathizers without
sacrificing his own life and that OF MS
escort. he took the responsibility of shoot
ing the princes like the reptiles they were,
and thus relieved the British government
from what might havs been most en-
barrassing situation, -.
OF course Hodson was condemned by par
lament and public opinion, while the
blood-thirsty old assassin he had captured
was treated as gently and as generously
as If he had been saint.
Given a Life Pension.
Bahandur Shah was tried and convicted
of treason. but was acquitted of RESPONSE
bility for the massacre on the ground that
his act authorizing it was mere formality,
and that 1t would have occurred without his
consent at any rate. Instead of hanging
him the British government sent him in ex-
lie to RangoOn. where he was furnished q
comfortable bungalow and paid big pam
sion until November, 1852. when he died.
Bahandur Shah had q third son. worth
less drunken fellow, who managed to es-
cape the consequences of his participation
In the massacre and accompanied him into