INDIA—VOTE OF THANKS TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND CIVIL OFFICERS—THE MILITARY COMMANDERS AND FORCES.

HL Deb 14 April 1859 vol 153 cc1690-727

THE EARL OF DERBY

My Lords, the subjects are very few which a Ministry already condemned by a vote of the House of Commons can with any propriety submit to the consideration of a Parliament on the eve of its dissolution. Under such circumstances, which I am sure your Lordships will concur with me in thinking ought to last for as short a time as possible consistently with the exigencies of the public service. Under such circumstances the authority of the Ministry and of Parliament are alike weakened; under such circumstances—at all events within the walls of Parliament—the strife of political parties is suspended, and the ordinary legislation of the country has been put in abeyance, except with regard to measures of pressing and urgent importance, which it is impossible to delay, or measures of the most ordinary routine character, to which no one could object. But the Motion which I have to submit to the consideration of your Lordships this evening is one to which I cannot anticipate that any objection will be taken on the ground of the condition either of the Ministry or of Parliament. My Lords, it is one to which I anticipate no objection. It is one in which I am perfectly certain that the Government, in bringing it forward, would represent the feelings of this or of any Parliament that could be assembled; and it is one on which I am quite certain that the feelings of Parliament faithfully represent the general feelings of the country. Not only do I anticipate no objection to the Motion, but I rely with confidence, and I look forward with satisfaction to having any deficiencies—and there must be many in the statement which I am about to submit to your Lordships—supplied by the cordial support and co-operation of noble Lords whom I see opposite; and more especially do I rely on the support of those who, like the illustrious Duke on the cross benches (the Duke of Cambridge) or my noble Friend the noble Earl below the gangway (the Earl of Ellenborough), are enabled from their position and their knowledge to speak upon this question with an authority to which I can make no pretension. It is, moreover, I think, peculiarly fitting that at the close of the great and formidable revolt which has subsisted in India—when we happily see it brought to a satisfactory; and a successful issue—it is peculiarly fitting that Parliament should not separate without expressing its sense of gratitude and the public estimation in which are held the services of those to whom, under Divine Providence, we are mainly indebted for the suppression of that revolt, and the restoration of public tranquillity. That revolt has subsisted for a longer period than the not very protracted existence of the present Parliament; and it is fitting that one of the last acts of that Parliament should be an expression of its gratitude for the suppression of that great and most formidable rebellion. The only question, then, which can arise is, whether we have arrived at a period when we are enabled to announce the satisfactory tidings that the revolt is completely suppressed. I would certainly not have delayed until the present period submitting to your Lordships a Vote in payment of the debt of gratitude which we owe to those who, whether in a civil or a military capacity, have aided in bringing the revolt to a termination, had I not hoped that the period was not far distant when I should be enabled to announce to you its complete suppression. And I rejoice to believe from the intelligence which reaches me, not only from all public sources, but also from every private quarter, that the period has arrived when we may say that the rebellion is altogether suppressed. The illustrious Duke on the cross benches has been good enough to communicate to me a letter addressed to him by Lord Clyde, which he received by the last mail; and I am sure that any of your Lordships who know that noble Lord would not believe that he would place anything in regard to the complete success of the great undertaking in which he has been engaged in a stronger light than the circumstances of the case warranted. These are Lord Clyde's words:—"I am happy to say that the tranquillity of the country is every day becoming more and more solid, and the Government have every cause for congratulation in this matter. Within my experience I have never known India more quiet than it now is." I might add to this, as the evidence of facts is still stronger than than that of words, that the Governor General, in his discretion, has felt himself authorized in sending back to this country a very considerable portion of the troops forwarded to India, including of course those who have seen the longest service and suffered the most severely. And, as a further proof, I may state that the same noble and gallant Lord to whom I have referred, and who is the last man to spare himself or to shrink from the discharge of any duty as long as he thought the country required his services, felt himself warranted, in the state of affairs, in returning to Simla for the purpose of there recruiting his health, which had been shattered in the course of those most trying operations. I think, therefore, I may assume without any further preface, that the time is come when we may congratulate ourselves on the complete termination of this dangerous revolt, and when we may offer the tribute of our public thanks to those by whom that happy result was obtained.

And the first person to whom those thanks are due is the man who stood in the foremost position, who has had thrown upon him the greatest share of public responsibility, and who has been naturally overwhelmed with the largest and heaviest weight of public anxiety. But in order fully to appreciate the services rendered by Her Majesty's Viceroy the Governor General of India, Viscount Canning, it is right that your Lordships should bear in mind what were the circumstances under which he assumed his present onerous office. Almost contemporaneously with the noble Lord's arrival in India there occurred the first appearance of disaffection in that country. A spirit breaking out which had for a considerable time been smouldering, and which was, perhaps, misunderstood and neglected; and just at the period when he entered on the duties of his arduous office he was encountered by the sudden explosion of that outbreak; at a time when he was necessarily unacquainted with many of the circumstances of the country which he was about to govern. That explosion not only took the noble Lord by surprise,—it equally took by surprise those who had the greatest experience in India, and upon whose councils it was most necessary to rely. It is no marvel, therefore, that Viscount Canning, on his first arrival, did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the danger with which India was threatened; but from the time—and it was not long—when he became alive to the full peril with which the empire was menaced, he applied, in grappling with the difficulties he foresaw and the dangers to be encountered, all the powers of a vigorous mind, all the faculties of an active and energetic disposition, and he endeavoured sedulously, diligently, and earnestly, to meet the great exigency by which he found himself suddenly surrounded. It is due to the noble Viscount to state that from first to last, calm, sagacious, resolute, he has pursued a tenacious, steady and consistent course—that he has never permitted his mind to be thrown off its balance by representations of exaggerated fear on the one hand or of extravagant and passionate resentment on the other. He has steadily watched the course of events; he has left untried nothing which could be done by indefatigable industry, by constant assiduity, and by the most patient and diligent attention to the details of business and to all the means by which this great revolt could be encountered. He has been constantly in communication—and I say it emphatically, in most friendly communication—with the Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's forces in India. He has brought to the consideration of the difficult problem which it was left to him to solve, and which he has had the happiness and the credit of solving, the characteristic spirit of an English gentleman and the sagacity of a professional statesman. I think that, considering the successful issue to which the noble Viscount has brought this great undertaking, your Lordships will not grudge him the tribute of praise and thanks involved in the Motion I am now submitting to you; and I believe your Lordships will also feel that Her Majesty could not have chosen a more graceful or a more fitting opportunity than the time at which the two Houses of Parliament are expressing their gratitude for the services of the noble Viscount, for testifying her sense of those distinguished services by raising him to the dignity of a British Earl.

My Lords, I hope that none of your Lordships will think that if you find omitted from this Vote of Thanks a name which appeared in the Vote of last year, it is thereby intended to involve the smallest slight or to impute any neglect of duty to the noble Lord the Governor of Madras. The fact is, my Lords, I think it of the deepest importance that Votes of this kind should not be made to assume a merely formal character, by conferring them on persons merely because they fill high positions without having had any important share in the events to which the Votes re for. It is no discredit to the noble Lord the Governor of Madras (Lord Harris) that from the circumstance of his Presidency having been itself free from any taint of revolt, and having contributed but slightly towards the suppression of the rebellion—although undoubtedly some of the Madras forces were engaged in this campaign—I trust your Lordships will think that no discredit attaches to the Governor of that Presidency, and that no slight to him is involved if his name is not included in the list of those to whom Parliament is now about to tender its thanks. I am aware that some surprise has been expressed at the omission from the Vote of another name—the name, not of a civilian, but of a most distinguished military officer. I have heard the fact commented on, and more especially by the noble and gallant Viscount behind me (Viscount Gough), who has himself personal experience and knowledge of the service of India, that the name of that distinguished officer, Sir Patrick Grant, is not included in the present Motion. But, again, I say that the omission of his name can imply no disapproval of and no want of respect to that gallant Officer, whose services are too well known to require any eulogium from me, and who has already been three times honoured with the Thanks of Parliament. But upon the present occasion his name has been intentionally omitted—first, because, although for a short time he held the nominal command of the army soon after the lamented death of General Anson, and although in that capacity I doubt not his services in Calcutta, in co-operating with the Governor General, were of signal advantage to the country, yet from the brief period during which he held that high command he had not an opportunity of appearing personally in the field. And moreover, I beg your Lordships to recollect that the Vote which I am now proposing is not a Vote of thanks for the whole of the services in the Indian revolt, but that it is limited to those services which have been rendered within the last fourteen or sixteen months, and which were not acknowledged in the former Vote of Parliament. The services of Sir Patrick Grant I need hardly say were included in that Vote; and it is on that ground, and upon that ground alone, that no reference is made to them in the Motion which I have now the honour of submitting to your Lordships' consideration.

But, my Lords, there is a, noble Lord who, governing another Presidency, has contributed most largely, most beneficially, and most effectually to the suppression of this mutiny; and I believe I may state that hardly second to the exertions of Lord Canning himself have been those which have been made—and made so freely and be liberally, as well as with so much advantage to the public service—by Lord Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay. My Lords, it would appear—whether or not in consequence of an earlier knowledge of India I cannot pretend to decide—that that noble Lord formed from the very first a more correct opinion than others of the extent of the danger with which that country was threatened, and that to his promptness and readiness in taking upon himself a responsibility which did not immediately attach to him—to his activity and energy of mind—the Indian Government were indebted for the early arrival of the first reliefs which they received—reliefs which at the time were most urgently required. From the very commencement of the revolt to the end the noble Lord devoted all the energies of his mind to its suppression and to the maintenance of tranquillity in that portion of the country over which his own authority extends. Fertile in resources, he had vigorously applied himself to meet the exigency and to grapple with each difficulty as it arose; and while he diligently laboured to maintain tranquillity in his Presidency he also made his arrangements most sedulously and carefully, so that all that he did fell in with and supported the general scheme and plan of the Governor General and of the Commander-in-Chief in the general operations in Central India. My Lords, Her Majesty has been pleased to signify to the noble Lord, and I had very great pleasure some time ago in communicating to him Her Majesty's intention, whenever the revolt should be brought to a close, of marking her sense of his services—not, indeed, by giving him a seat, which he already holds in your Lordships' House, but by adding to the dignity of a Representative Peer which he already enjoys that of a Peer of the United Kingdom. The last mail brought from Lord Elphinstone a grateful acknowledgment of the honour which Her Majesty was pleased to confer upon him, and modestly expressing an opinion—in which I am sure he stands alone—that the honour thus conferred upon him is far greater than his merits deserve.

My Lords, I hope that noble Lords who are connected with the military service will not consider that I am treating them with disrespect, or that I have any disposition to postpone the consideration of the claims of military officers to the public Thanks, if I follow the order which is laid down in the paper on your Lordships' table, and refer to the other civilians whose distinguished services are mentioned in the Resolution. There is one name to which I wish to call your Lordships' attention—one name not better known nor more highly honoured in India than it is in England. Two illustrious brothers have borne that name; both have distinguished it by the highest sagacity and the most devoted courage. One of them unhappily is no more. He has fallen in the actual service of his country too early to receive the information of those thanks and honours which Parliament was about to award him; but the other still survives, and I rejoice to think he has returned to this country. Sir John Lawrence has arrived in England within these few days; and I rejoice to think that he has arrived in time personally to know how he is appreciated by his countrymen, and he will be enabled, as a member of the Indian Council, to give his country that assistance which his great experience and knowledge of Indian affairs make so invaluable at the moment. He will perceive that the conspicuous part which he bore in the late mutiny has not been forgotten. He will find that his courage and dauntless resolution; the firmness with which, with the very insufficient means at his disposal, he met and sternly put down every appearance of disturbance in the district that had only been newly acquired to the British empire—the awe inspired by his name and the respect due to his character, by which he not only kept down every symptom of revolt, but, making his word law, he converted that country into another England, and called forth from it in the hour of India's extremity those levies and reinforcements to which in great measure the suppression of the revolt is due, have not been forgotten by the English people. There is another distinguished man who has distinguised himself in a civil capacity, and who on a former occasion was referred to in terms of just praise by the noble Earl who sits below the gangway (the Earl of Ellenborough), Mr. Bartle Frere, the Commissioner of Scinde. Perhaps his task was not so arduous as that of Sir John Lawrence, as he succeeded to a government in which much had been done before to tranquillise and settle the minds of the Natives, and to establish among the wild native tribes the blessings of a good and beneficent government. But to Mr. Frere is due the credit of having supported that system throughout, and of having maintained his province, when a great portion of India was in a state of disturbance and revolt, in a state of entire and unbroken tranquillity; and, my Lords, permit me here to say that though the duties performed and the services rendered by those civil officers are not so brilliant and dazzling as those of the military service, they are not less essential to the good government of India. Our hold on India must not depend solely, though it must mainly, on our military force; but the hold maintained by a military force sufficient for its purpose, must be strengthened and supported by the respect and esteem which the Natives entertain for those who hold all that unlimited authority in those distant provinces.

There is another distinguished civilian to whom I may refer. Mr. Montgomery the Chief Commissioner in Oude deserves our praise for the manner in which he had administered the civil Government of that province during the last year. Following immediately upon the suppression of the revolt, he, by his judicious, wise and humane measures, with Her Majesty's Proclamation in his hand making the best use of the promises of mercy which that Proclamation held forth—by his wise and conciliatory conduct—by tempering mercy with firmness—Mr. Montgomery succeeded, to a great extent, in restoring tranquillity to a country which was but newly subdued and whose feelings were highly excited. Under these circumstances the speedy return to tranquillity reflects the highest credit upon that civil authority which had the chief conduct of affairs. I may mention here—and I am sure the information will be received with satisfaction by the House—that in consideration of these services of Mr. Frere and Mr. Montgomery, Her Majesty has been pleased directly to confer upon these Gentlemen the civil Knight Commandership of the Bath; and I think your Lordships will be of opinion that these distinctions were never conferred more worthily.

There is one more civilian to whose services it is necessary that I should refer—a gentleman who has had most arduous and difficult duties to perform. I allude to Sir Robert Hamilton, the Agent to the Governor General in Central India. I am sure that few of your Lordships can have any idea of the difficult and delicate services which gentlemen in the position of Sir Robert Hamilton perform. It is the duty of the Agents to the Governor General, accredited to the Native States, to watch with unremitting vigilance every, even the slightest, symptom of the rulers of those States faltering in their allegiance; to confirm the wavering; to stimulate those that are inclined to hang back; to keep in awe those who, if a favourable moment were to come, would fall off from their allegiance; and to watch with anxious jealousy the slightest symptom and indication of intrigue, in which, I need not tell your Lordships, every Oriental is a proficient; to watch and counter manœuvre the intriguers; to keep tranquillity unbroken; to overawe some and to persuade others; and by all and every means to maintain the authority of the English name. These, my Lords, are difficult and delicate duties, which require great skill, temper and patience—these are the services which, throughout these troubles in Central India, have been performed and successfully performed by Sir Robert Hamilton at the court of the Gwalior. His name consequently appears in the Vote which I have to-night the honour to propose.

In turning from the civil to the military branch of the service, and in asking your Lordships to give the Thanks of this House to those gallant officers whose names are contained in the Resolutions, I am aware—and I rejoice to think that it is so—that I shall not have occasion to call your Lordships' attention to circumstances of such deep and thrilling interest, and exciting such painful emotions as those which were commemorated on the last occasion when Your Lordships awarded your thanks for services rendered in India. We have—thank God for it!—during the last year, or last year and a half, to record no such horrors as the massacre of Cawnpore, no such atrocities as those which were perpetrated before the siege of Delhi; we have not had to watch with that painful anxiety with which day by day, during that memorable seige, we waited to see whether it was possible that success could crown efforts made with means so disproportionate to the opposition we had to encounter. We have not to watch, nor have we to recount to your Lordships the painful anxiety with which, mail after mail, we followed the steps of that marvellous advance of the lamented Havelock; we have not to wait and count the hours, how long the endurance of that devoted garrison will prolong the seige of Lucknow, and if we have not to recall that thrill of satisfaction with which we heard of their relief, neither have we to be reminded how those hopes were dashed to the ground when we learned that the garrison, though relieved, was still beleaguered; nor have we to recount the news of the final and complete relief of the heroic garrison under Lord Clyde. From events of such thrilling interest and anxiety the state of India is now altogether free; for however high public expectation may have been raised, still that expectation can hardly be said to have risen to a state of anxiety; for since the earlier days of the period to which I have now to refer, the progress of our arms has been one unbroken success, success to such an extent that a check of the slightest nature has given rise to a greater feeling of disappointment than prominence has been given to our greatest successes. Happily also this period has not been marked with such lamentable loss of distinguished lives as characterized the earlier period of the revolt. Doubtless many have fallen whose deaths have made fearful gaps in families and private circles—many who, if they had been spared, would have risen to the highest eminence and to most brilliant stations in the public service; but of those who already filled a place in the eye of their country, comparatively few have been cut off during the present year. To three names your Lordships will permit me to refer as those in which the country, as well as their families, have sustained a deep loss. Of the loss of one, mention has already been made in this House; but I am sure my noble Friends will excuse me if on this occasion I again refer to the brilliant services and the lamented death of Sir William Peel. To a bravery which almost verged on rashness, and a determination which bordered on the heroic, he joined those high qualities a frankness of disposition, an openness of manner, a cordiality of feeling, and private virtues which endeared him to his friends and those immediately surrounding him, as much as his public character and services raised him high in the estimation of his country. Others there were of a somewhat different character and of a different service, but there are two men especially in whose premature removal India at all events has sustained a deep loss. I need hardly say that I allude to two men, both of whom were the models of chiefs of irregular forces, which they formed, disciplined, and trained from among tribes who not long before had been our enemies, and who by the adoption of a rigid discipline, at the same time that they were most careful in their attention to the comforts, the wants, the desires, and even the prejudices of their followers, obtained over them an influence altogether marvellous, and led them into situations of difficulty and danger with as full and entire confidence in their steadiness as if they had been followed by British soldiers. One of those men died a soldier's death; the other unhappily succumbed on a bed of sickness to those labours which were too much even for him to endure. But it will be long before India—long before England—I am sure it will be long before the Punjab and Scinde will forget the services of Hodson's Guides and Jacob's Horse. With these exceptions the list of those heroic men who have fallen in the service of their country since the last year, as I have said, is not great, and I turn with satisfaction to the more pleasing task of commemorating the services and conveying the gratitude of the country to those who still survive to reap the reward of their valour. I think, my Lords, I need say nothing to your Lordships of the merits of the Commander-in-Chief. His eminent services speak trumpet-tongued of his merits; but I may say this, that in his career in India he has more than vindicated the high military character of which he gave promise in his earlier career, and with which he proceeded to India at a moment's notice at the call of his Sovereign. Cool and cautious in coming to a determination to such a degree that superficial critics charged him with slowness—eagerly anxious to spare the lives and labour of his men, while himself recklessly careless of exposure and fatigue—slow to deliberate and form plans, but sagacious in making his combinations, he determined not to strike till the time came for striking an effectual blow; but when the time came that the blow should be struck his enemies were shattered to pieces under the stroke. He knew when to strike; and those he encountered know that he knew how to strike. It may, perhaps, be convenient here—though it is impossible for me to attempt more than the faintest sketch of his operations, yet it may be convenient for me, as affording an opportunity of bringing under your notice the names of the gallant officers to whom I am about to refer—that I should remind your Lordships of the principal features of the campaign since the last occasion when your Lordships tendered to him a Vote of Thanks, immediately after the final relief of the garrison at Lucknow. The Commander-in-Chief at that time believed that he was unable, with his paucity of forces, to do more than withdraw—which in itself was a great achievement—the garrison which had been so long beleaguered, and the helpless women and children shut up with them. He felt it was necessary to fall back upon Cawnpore, in order to make preparations for further offensive operations, by establishing his communications and assuming a new base of operations. He arrived at Cawnpore barely in time to relieve General Windham, who was hard pressed by the Gwalior rebels, and by his opportune arrival he was enabled to convert what at all events appeared a doubtful day into a complete and brilliant victory. On that occasion, I believe for the first time—for of course such events to a man in his position must be rare—the command of a division was held by that distinguished officer, Sir William Mansfield, the chief of the staff. At the battle of Cawnpore Sir William Mansfield commanded one of the divisions, and by his skill and daring contributed greatly to the success of that day. In that battle, also, another gallant officer, Brigadier Walpole, of the Rifles, by his efforts and the manner in which he handled the troops under him, showed so much gallantry that General Windham handsomely stated the chief merit of that day was due to him. In recognition of the merits of Brigadier Walpole the Commander-in-Chief appointed him to the command of a division sent in pursuit of the rebels, and in command of that division he continued during the remainder of the campaign. In speaking of the services of Sir William Mansfield your Lordships need not be reminded how arduous and how important are the duties of the chief of the staff. He has not the same opportunity of distinguishing himself in a separate command that other officers have; but acting under the eye and in the name of the Commander-in-Chief he has perpetual occasions of performing the most signal services, and without the assistance of an able, energetic, and thoroughly trustworthy Chief of the Staff no Commander in Chief can hope so to conduct a campaign as to ensure success. It may be sufficient for me here to quote the words of the Commander-in-Chief as expressive of his opinion of Sir William Mansfield's services. After the relief of Lucknow, in March, 1858, he says:— I have now the pleasing task of communicating to your Lordships the name of an officer to whom not only I as the Commanding General, but to whom in truth the service at large are under the greatest obligations—Sir William Mansfield, the chief of the staff, whose labours, energy, and skill have been of the highest order and of the greatest use to me during this campaign. It is impossible for me to praise this officer too highly or to recommend him sufficiently to the protection of your Royal Highness. This testimony to the services of Sir William Mansfield will be best confirmed by the recital of the further progress of events. Immediately after the defeat of the Gwalior rebels at Cawnpore the Commander-in-Chief prepared to resume offensive operations. He proceeded to clear the Doab, and afterwards captured the fortified city of Futteyghur; and then he commenced operations for the final and complete conquest of Lucknow. When Lord Clyde proceeded to undertake the final seige of Lucknow he had under his command an amount of force which appeared wholly disproportioned to the enterprise. If I am not mistaken the European troops under his command did not number more than 13,000 or 14,000 men; certainly they were considerably under 20,000. They were met and strengthened, indeed, by some Napaulese troops, under the command of Jung Bahadoor, who amounted indeed to a considerable number; but with regard to whom it was not a matter of absolute certainty that entire confidence could be placed. It is due, however, to their gallant commander and to those troops, to say, that though circumstances from time to time arose which seemed to cast suspicion on their fidelity, yet they never swerved from their engagements, but faithfully performed all the duties allotted to them. I attribute this fact, in great measure, to the wholesome influence exercised on their minds, and above all on the mind of their gallant commander, Jung Bahadoor himself, by his personal acquaintance with the power and resources and irresistible force of this country. Immediately under the Commander-in-Chief, and after the Chief of the Staff, was Sir James Outram, who had been left in command at the Alumbagh. General Franks, from another side of the country, was fighting his way to the scene of action, and joined in the siege. The artillery was commanded by Sir Archdale Wilson; the engineers by Sir Robert Napier; the other divisions were under the command of Sir Edward Lugard, Sir Hope Grant, and Brigadier General Walpole. I mention these names because, though the statement I have to make may be unavoidably long (but not longer than the occasion demands) I wish to refer in detail to the services which each has performed. The earlier services of Sir James Outram during this rebellion are perfectly well known to your Lordships, who have not yet forgotten the noble forbearance and generous self-denial with which he met General Havelock, on his return from his first attempt upon Lucknow, when he abstained from superseding him in the command until the final relief of the garrison, and left that gallant officer to obtain that glory which he had so well merited by his previous efforts. After the relief of the garrison and the retirement of the Commander-in-Chief Sir James Outram was left with a small force in the exposed and perilous post of Alumbagh, and there he was exposed for several months to the constant assaults of an enemy ten times his force—assaults, however, which on every occasion he successfully repelled until the Commander-in-Chief again returned to the siege of Lucknow. Sir James Outram maintained his post, and in maintaining it he made it clear to the Natives of India that they were not to suppose that the retirement of the Commander-in-Chief was more than a temporary withdrawal. Against such an idea the maintenance of Alumbagh was a standing protest and a standing menace to the city of Lucknow; and no long time elapsed before that menace was converted into a reality. Sir Thomas Franks, in consequence of ill health, has returned to this country, and I think, my Lords, that this is a fitting occasion on which to call attention to the circumstances under which he gained the thanks and admiration of his country. Sir Thomas Franks was engaged on the other side of the Gogra, far from the scene of action, and in order to reach it had to force his way from the east through a host of hostile troops. In so doing, my Lords, that gallant officer exhibited qualities of the highest order, and qualities the more remarkable, because he succeeded in gallantly surpassing the Native troops in respect of an accomplishment in which they certainly are pre-eminent, namely, in the rapidity and secrecy of their movements; but Sir T. Franks, by the rapidity of his movements and his march, succeeded in meeting two important bodies of the enemy in battle by anticipating their junction—defeating two of them on the same day, prior to the possibility of their coalescing, and then upon either the next or upon the following day fighting a third battle. He thus succeeded in forcing his way, having fought three successful actions in the course of two days, in time to give his valuable assistance, and join in the achievements of the siege of Lucknow. My Lords, the course which Lord Clyde pursued—if as a civilian and an unprofessional man I may express such an opinion, and mention it in passing—the course that Lord Clyde pursued—the wise and humane course that Lord Clyde pursued—on the renewed siege of Lucknow, was not to risk the lives of his solders in a premature assault, or to attempt the storming of the town, from which great loss would have ensued, but trusted mainly to his artillery to secure its successful capture. That artillery breaching the walls of Lucknow, and battering down building after building, and narrow street after narrow street, assisted by the labours, the persevering and active labours, of the Royal Engineers, mainly contributed to the successful, and I may almost say bloodless, capture of Lucknow. The fire of the artillery was so true and deadly that it was impossible for the rebels to withstand its force. In consequence, they took an early opportunity, which the smallness of the force prevented our impeding, of altogether emptying and evacuating the town, and leaving to us almost a bloodless conquest; thereby vindicating the sagacity, the wisdom, and the prudence of the course pursued by the Commander-in-Chief. Sir Archdale Wilson's name is already immortalized by his command of the siege of Delhi; but with regard to the services rendered by that gallant officer subsequently at the siege of Lucknow, I cannot do better than quote Lord Clyde again, to show how he expresses himself upon the subject. Lord Clyde said— The merits of Sir Archdale Wilson were too widely known to require any encomium from me; but permit me to express my sense of the services and the way in which I availed myself of the assistance of that most distinguished officer. The effective fire of the artillery during the long operations, which depended so much on the management of that arm, elicited general admiration. My Lords, another officer who commanded a division under the Commander-in-Chief, at the siege of Lucknow, was that very distinguished and able officer, Sir Edward Lugard. That gallant officer has recently been compelled, from the state of his health, to return to this country, whore I trust his health has been already considerably reestablished, and I know that I am only expressing the feeling of the illustrious Duke on the cross benches when I mention the satisfaction which I am sure he felt at being able to reward the services of so distinguished an officer in succession to Sir Henry Storks in the department of the War Office, by one so efficient, and in every way so fitting for the discharge of those duties as Sir Edward Lugard. It is a great satisfaction to find that the services, the active services, of that gallant and distinguished officer are not lost to the public at large, or to the gallant service of which he is so distinguished a member. My Lords, I have mentioned the name of most of those officers who, shortly after the siege of Lucknow, from one cause or another, returned to this country, or, at all events, quitted the field, like Sir James Outram, for the purpose of taking a place in the Council of India, or in other civil duties. My Lords, after the capture of Lucknow, when unfortunately the circumstances occurred which had the effect of driving and dispersing the rebels; but, at the same time, of distributing them over a great extent of country, in which their presence and number might have enabled them to do serious mischief, it was a question which was a matter of anxious consideration—and I recollect at the time—and noble Lords opposite will recollect—that it was made a subject matter of suspicion that there was some difference of opinion or some dispute as to the course pursued between the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief. There was, my Lords, a most important question to be decided, and one upon which strong arguments were used on either side. There were two lines of policy that might be taken—on the one hand, being possessed of Lucknow, to concentrate and apply the whole of the army to secure and consolidate that conquest, and so obtain a complete subjugation of the whole kingdom of Oude—an object that, in the first instance, would naturally suggest itself to the mind of the Commander-in-Chief; but, on the other hand, there were other considerations which, notwith- standing the late period of the year and the approach of the great rains, rendered it, politically speaking, desirable that a different course should be pursued. Consequently, my Lords, I believe that the principal ground that actuated the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief in coming to the conclusion they ultimately arrived at was in consequence of the condition of things throughout Rohilcund, a district into which the rebels had thrown themselves, but unfavourable for the movement of troops in large bodies; and the first impression was, that the best and most befitting course to adopt would be to leave the rebels during the rains undisturbed in Rohilcund, to coop them up, and keep them cooped up there, until operations were concluded in Oude, and then to deal with them as circumstances might suggest. On the other hand, it was represented that in Rohilcund the population was very well and favourably disposed towards the British Government, and consequently that any operation might possibly prejudice their fidelity in a moment of difficulty or disaster, and that the fidelity of the rajahs and chiefs might also be endangered, and that they would suffer in our cause, if we left them without assistance and subject to the overwhelming power of the rebel force, who would compel them either to capitulate or join in the revolt. The Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief, concurring in the same view, determined to confine the operations in Oude to the occupation of the city of Lucknow, and not to attempt to extend our government over the province of Oude, but to follow up the rebels into Rohilcund. With this view Sir Edward Lugard, at the head of the Lahore force, was despatched in that direction, and subsequently Brigadier General Walpole was directed to advance into Rohilcund, and a series of successful operations, only intermixed with one temporary check, enabled that officer, with the assistance of Brigadier Jones, who commanded the Rohilcund field force, and who entered the province simultaneously from the north, virtually, and I may add, victoriously to complete his operations there. The name of Brigadier Jones is not among those specified for honour in the Resolutions. The command that he held was not one that, in the opinion of the military authorities, was of sufficient eminence and of sufficient separate command to entitle him to so high an honour; and I am quite sure that the illustrious Duke, should he follow me on this occasion, will not be slow to testify his sense of the manner in which Brigadier Jones on that occasion supported Brigadier General Walpole in contributing to the successes which were achieved in Rohilcund. Another officer of great distinction was despatched in a different direction. That officer, my Lords, is one who from the very commencement of this revolt in India has always filled a prominent place in the military annals of the time, has commanded with dauntless and unfailing skill, and who has probably been mentioned more than any other gallant officer, (perhaps with one exception) during the whole of this revolt, and who has been engaged in constant, and almost always in successful contest with the enemy—although the encounters were hardly deserving the name of contest. But, my Lords, from first to last, from the period of the siege of Delhi to the final relief of the garrison at Lucknow, wherein Sir Hope Grant had a command, down to the very latest period of action, that gallant officer had been vigilant and unvaryingly successful. Between the 23rd February, 1858, and 13th June, 1858, he was engaged in no fewer than six general actions with the enemy, and on the 25th November, in the renewed campaign, after the great rains, he crowned his great achievements by the signal defeat of a large body of the insurgents, greatly outnumbering the whole force brought to bear upon them, while trying to cross the Gogra. I have now mentioned, I think, all those officers whose services where so signal and brilliant at the siege of Lucknow; and I now pass on to notice an officer, whose name stands pre-eminent even above those I have already mentioned, and whose services I should not so long have delayed in bringing before your notice had it not been that he held the command in a totally different district of country—entirely separate but I will not say altogether independent, but in which he exercised the supreme command. I allude with additional pleasure to the name of Sir Hugh Rose, more particularly in the immediate presence of one of his nearest relatives. My Lords, that gallant officer has earned for himself the highest and most distinguished honours. It would be vain, indeed, were I to attempt to enumerate all the distinguished achievements of that gallant officer; but from the period of the 29th January down to the 22nd June, a period of less than six months, gives a tolerably complete abstract of his separate and signal achievements,— He commanded the Central India field force, constantly engaged in action with the enemy. Among their achievements may be enumerated the reduction of the fort of Rathgur, the relief of Saugor, the siege and storm of the fort of Chandairee, the siege, investment, and storm of the fortress of Jhansi, the capture of Calpee, the general action on the Betwa. After these achievements we find that Sir Hugh Rose, exhausted by the labours of the campaign and sinking under a serious illness, felt himself obliged to abandon his command, but only for a time; for between the 16th and the 22nd June, hearing that the rebels had seized upon Gwalior and were in arms, regardless of suffering and ill health and at the danger of his life, the gallant officer again, without reluctance, placed himself at the head of his troops, stormed the Gwalior cantonments, fought the general action before Gwalior, and finally assaulted and captured the city and fortress. Indeed, I cannot do better than sum up the achievements of the gallant officer in his own words, which state that he marched in the course of two months 1084 miles, took upwards of 150 pieces of artillery, one intrenched camp, one fortified city, one partly intrenched town, fought sixteen successful actions, captured twenty forts, and never sustained a check. My Lords, in these operations, conducted with so much skill and gallantry, General Sir Hugh Rose was most ably seconded by Major General Roberts and Major Whitlock, who commanded the Saugor field force. These officers were under the command and joined in the victories accomplished by Sir Hugh Rose, and subsequently, at a later period, they were actively engaged in pursuing, and in many cases in overtaking and destroying those bands of rebels, which, dispersed as they were in fragmentary detachments over the country, harassed and annoyed, but never ventured to make head against our arms. I must not pass over a gallant officer who, in a separate and less well known district, performed also valiant services, entitling him to our warmest thanks. I refer to Major General Sir John Michel, of the Mhow Field Force. That gallant officer defeated the rebels under Tantia Topee on the 15th of September, 1858, captured twenty-seven guns, and divers places; and since that time that officer—equal to many others—has been most actively and zealously engaged in pursuing those fugitive Sepoy bands to which now the rebel force is fortunately reduced. My Lords, there is one name more among those who fought at the side of the Commander-in-Chief at the siege of Lucknow, who shared in the labours, anxieties, and dangers of the beleaguered garrison of Lucknow, and who subsequently placed himself under the command of Sir Hugh Rose, and co-operated with him in the capture of Gwalior, and has since also been actively engaged in pursuing and defeating the retreating rebels, and one whose name has a sort of hereditary claim on honours in this country, as well as on honours in India—I refer to that distinguished officer General Sir Robert Napier—an officer who cannot be too highly eulogized for the signal services he has performed; pursuing the enemy after the capture of Gwalior with unwavering gallantry, and regardless of danger, he charged and completely defeated them, took twenty-four guns, subsequently intercepted their retreat at Ferozepore, and did other valiant acts that entitle him to unmixed admiration.

I must apologise to your Lordships for the length at which I have dilated on this interesting and important subject. Apart from its length, I know how still more imperfectly and inadequately I, as a civilian and an unprofessional man, have been able to do justice to the services of the gallant officers whose names and exploits I have brought before you; but, holding the position that I do, I did not think I ought to spare either myself or your Lordships the infliction of a somewhat lengthened discourse rather than appear to undervalue the valued and valiant services of the heroic men who have added new laurels and lustre to our arms in India. My Lords, I have now gone through the list of the names of the distinguished officers to whom I ask your Lordships to give the meed of your eulogium and the mark of honour, and I think that seldom, if on any occasion, has a list of more distinguished names been presented to the nation for this purpose. Any one who looks to the annals of Indian warfare will admit that no roll of triumph could be more honourably headed than by the name of that distinguished General Lord Clyde; and it must be equally admitted that no more fitting or more honourable termination could be put to it than that of the almost equally honour- ed name of Napier. Of course, in the selection of names to bring under the notice of your Lordships and Parliament those who shall receive in their own persons the expression of the gratitude of Parliament and the country, it is necessary to draw some line of distinction—it is requisite to lay down some rules of distinction—in order to avoid the invidiousness which might arise from the indiscriminate selection of names without reference to position or responsibility. But, my Lords, I doubt not, that if any military officer should follow me, that from him many of those officers whose names are not included in the list submitted will receive proper testimony of approval and approbation, the value of which, coming from military authorities, will be infinitely greater than any notice I could venture to give of their names with the intention of doing them honour. I do not doubt but that there might be selected from amongst these names many men of eminent distinction; but their names do not appear on the Votes of the House, or in any special notice, asking for your Lordships' approval; but in the general Vote your Lordships are asked—"That the Thanks of this House be given to the other gallant officers of Her Majesty's army and Navy, and also of Her Majesty's Indian Forces, for the intrepidity, zeal, and endurance evinced by them in the arduous operations of the late Indian campaign;" and your Lordships are asked to add to this Vote—"That this House doth highly approve and acknowledge the valour, self-devotion, and brilliant services of the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, both European and Native, who have taken part in the suppression of the recent disturbances in India; and that the same be signified to them by the commanders of their several corps, who are desired to thank them for their gallant behaviour." And I must here, my Lords, pause for a moment to say, that by inadvertence, which I greatly regret, there has been a great omission in these Resolutions. In the third Resolution we have thanked the officers of Her Majesty's Army and Navy, but in the fourth Resolution no notice has been taken of a body of men not very large in number, but who, in proportion to their number, have rendered most distinguished service in the campaign—I allude to the seamen and marines. I propose to make an Amendment in the fourth Resolution, in order to introduce them as equally deserving of our Thanks with the European and Native Army.

My Lords, after these lengthened observations, I will only say, in conclusion, that at the present period I believe we may congratulate ourselves upon the complete and absolute return of tranquillity and the restoration of peace to India. My Lords, I saw it stated the other day—I am not now speaking from official documents—that within a comparatively recent period in Oude something like 1,000 forts had already been captured, something like 480 cannon taken, and 1,000,000 stand of arms of different descriptions. The subjugation of the province of Oude, and the restoration of peace throughout the vast Indian Peninsula is complete. So far as military operations and achievements are concerned we have fully and effectively accomplished the task we had undertaken; but, my Lords, I think that the experience of the last few years must teach us this great moral and momentous lesson, that we have yet before us, perchance, a more arduous and more serious duty than that which we have accomplished. My Lords, we have subjugated the Natives of India, and impressed them by the force of arms with a sense of our irresistible power, and of our indomitable determination to maintain that power. But that, my Lords, that remains for us to do is a yet more difficult conquest—a yet more solemn subjugation—a subjugation, if possible, of the heart's affections, and the prejudices of a vast people—so as to impress them equally with the strong sense of our irresistible power, with feelings of satisfaction and conviction in the benevolence, justice, and benignity of our dominion. My Lords, we have an arduous task to perform, and we must now apply ourselves diligently, sedulously, and anxiously to the successful accomplishment of our task, a task which must occupy us many years. And even if we do not restore entire tranquillity to that great empire, we shall yet be able to confer on India the inestimable blessings of good government. My Lords, with all our military force—and I admit that for a lengthened period it will be necessary to retain a considerable force in that country—with all our military force and organization—our sway will be, at all events, the sway of a conqueror, and our position problematical and uncertain, unless we honestly and conscientiously govern that great country, not for the advantage of the few, but for the happiness of the many; unless, simultaneously with our military success, we concurrently advance the moral, social, and physical condition of the population which Providence has placed beneath our rule; unless we endeavour to develop the industrial resources and the prodigal wealth of an empire restored by our arms to our superintendence and our rule; unless by a firm and temperate administration of justice we satisfy the Natives that if we are their masters we are friendly, and merciful, and benevolent masters, to whom it is not only their fate, but to whom it is also their interest to be faithful and obedient subjects. I believe, my Lords, that by acting on the principle—that wise and humane principle—set forth in Her Majesty's most gracious Proclamation, and endeavouring to heal the scars, and to obliterate the memory of the scenes of bloodshed that have accompanied this unhappy revolt, we shall best consult not only our own honour, but the interest also of this country, and I trust that under the blessing of Providence, the possession of the vast territories which have now been reconquered for us by the valour of our military forces, may, for the benefit of India and of this country alike, be long watched over, supported and confirmed by the generous care and the judicious wisdom of the Legislature and the statesmen of this country. The noble Earl concluded by moving to resolve—

1. 1."That the Thanks of this House be given to The Right Honourable Viscount Canning, G.C.B., Her Majesty's Viceroy and Governor General of India; The Right Honourable Lord Elphinstone, G.C.B., Governor of the Presidency of Bombay; Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence, Bart., G.C.B., late Lieut. Governor of the Punjab; Sir Robert North Collie Hamilton, Bart., Agent to the Governor General in Central India; Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Esq., Commissioner of Scinde; Robert Montgomery, Esq., late Chief Commissioner in Oude; for the Ability with which they have severally employed the Resources at their Disposal for the Re-establishment of Peace in Her Majesty's Indian Dominions.
2. 2."That the Thanks of this House be given to General The Right Honourable Lord Clyde, G.C.B., Commander in Chief in India Lieutenant General Sir James Outram, Bart., G.C.B.; Major General Sir Hugh Henry Rose, G.C.B., Major General Henry Gee Roberts; Major General George Cornish Whitlock; Major General Sir Archdale Wilson, Bart., K.O. B.: Major General Sir James Hope Grant, K.C.B.; Major General Sir William Rose Mansfield, K.C.B.; Major General Sir Thomas Harte Franks, K.C.B.; Major General Sir Edward Lugard, 1713 K.C.B.; Major General Sir John Michel, K.C.B.; Brigadier General Robert Walpole, C.B.; Brigadier General Sir Robert Napier, K.C.B.; for the eminent Skill, Courage and Perseverance displayed by them during the Military Operations by which the late Insurrection in India has been effectually suppressed.
3. 3."That the Thanks of this House be given to the other gallant Officers of Her Majesty's Army and Navy; and also of Her Majesty's Indian Forces, for the Intrepidity, Zeal, and Endurance evinced by them in the arduous Operations of the late Indian Campaign.
4. 4." That this House doth highly approve and acknowledge the Valour, Self-devotion, and brilliant Services of the Non-commissioned Officers and Private Soldiers, both European and Native, who have taken Part in the Suppression of the recent Disturbances in India; and that the same be signified to them by the Commanders of their several Corps, who are desired to thank them for their gallant Behaviour."

EARL GRANVILLE

My Lords, I feel it a great honour to be permitted to second the Motion which has just been made by the noble Earl. The speech in which he has introduced it has not lasted one minute longer than its great theme required; and has been marked not only by the most accurate information as to the circumstances upon which the claims of those whom he proposes to thank are founded, but also, if I may be allowed to say so, by the complete absence of anything like personal or party feeling. The noble Earl, in the speech he has just addressed to us, has spoken in the fullest and most national sense the feeling of this House and of the country. For these reasons it is hardly necessary for me, in following the noble Earl, to add a single word to the statement which he has made; but I think it important that some one should give evidence that those noble Lords who sit on this side of the House warmly and cheerfully support the Motion which he has made. My Lords, it is impossible for me, speaking on this subject, not to refer to the Vote of Thanks moved by my noble and gallant Friend behind me last year; and I cannot help rejoicing that all the circumstances of the comparison are calculated to give the House the greatest satisfaction. Of the distinguished individuals who were then thanked not one has since died, not one has done anything which could in the slightest degree tarnish the laurels which he had then won, while many of them have doubled and trebled the claims to the Thanks of your Lordships which they then possessed. The first of these Resolutions refers to the civilians, and I must say that I listened with heartfelt pleasure and satis- faction to the singularly just and accurate tribute paid by the noble Earl to the merit of the Governor General. Last year it was a matter of discussion, partly as a point of form, and partly on other considerations, whether he was then entitled to receive the Thanks of this House; and I am happy to say that the act which we are consummating this evening buries all that discussion in entire oblivion, and that we all have the pleasure of uniting in an unanimous tribute of Thanks to that noble Earl. I feel that if I gave any opinion of my own as to the merits of Lord Canning I should merely weaken the effect of that which has been stated by the Prime Minister; and I will therefore confine myself to giving perhaps the strongest possible confirmation of what has fallen so gracefully from the noble Earl, by quoting a single sentence from a letter the whole tenor of which is to the same effect. I quote it without the permission of the writer or of the person to whom it was sent, but it redounds so much to the credit both of the writer and of the subject of the letter, that I feel that in doing so I am guilty of no indiscretion. I therefore beg to read to your Lordships a single sentence addressed by the great authority whose name stands at the head of the second resolution, Lord Clyde, to Lady Canning, upon the pacification of Oude. He says— England will receive with acclamation the great statesman who never faltered in the moment of direct peril, and whose ultimate triumph has been so rapid, so perfect, and so merciful, that history can hardly equal it. I believe that this expression of opinion will be a more forcible corroboration of what has fallen from the noble Earl than would anything which I could address to your Lordships. The noble Earl referred to the services of other distinguished men holding civil positions; and I am sure that the way in which the House received his mention of the sagacity of Lord Elphinstone, and of the services which he has rendered, must have been most gratifying to any friend of that noble Lord. I know no greater proof of the peculiar sagacity and unselfishness which have marked the civil servants in India during the mutiny, than the readiness which they have shown to a great extent to denude themselves of the forces which they themselves required, merely because they thought that the presence of those troops in other parts of India was still more necessary. I am sure that it must have been the cause of great satisfaction to the noble Earl in recommending to Her Majesty the honours which she has been pleased to bestow upon Lord Elphinstone, to remember that this was an act of justice done to one who was entirely separated from him in political and party feelings. The noble Earl next alluded to the services of Sir John Lawrence, and stated that he had already returned to this country to take a most useful part in the Home Government of India. I should be well pleased, my Lords, if that distinguished individual was present in this House, and had the opportunity of hearing his praise from the lips of the Prime Minister of the Crown, praise which has during the last two years been uttered in still warmer and still stronger accents, not only in the debates in both Houses of Parliament and in the press, but in the daily conversation of all classes of society. The noble Earl stated fully the claims of the other members of the civil service, to whom he referred to the Thanks of Parliament, perhaps the highest honour which an Englishman can receive; and I will only say, that I believe that in no single instance did he overrate the claims of those distinguished men to the honour which is now proposed to be conferred upon them. With regard to the military men, to whom it is proposed that we should give our thanks to-day, it would not be becoming in me to enter into details; but it is impossible to speak at all upon this subject without one word acknowledging the immense services of that most distinguished soldier, Lord Clyde; particularly in this House, which has derived new lustre from the addition of that noble Lord to our ranks. The only regret that any one can feel at his elevation is, that it takes away from us the power of using that still more familiar name of Sir Colin Campbell, speaking of the most honest and most successful soldiers ever employed by this country. Hoping that I shall be followed by those who are more competent to speak upon military matters than I am, I will not waste your Lordships' time by dwelling upon them; but I must say, that it is a remarkable instance of the diffusion of information through all classes in this country, that names like those of Mansfield, Grant, Rose, Lugard, Michel, and others, are known not only to a select portion of the nation, but are almost household words in every cottage throughout the land. There is one point to which I will call the attention of the noble Earl, without however, giving any opinion upon it. Nothing which fell from him was more true than the observation, that it is most important that the Thanks of this House should be given in such a manner, that no impression can arise that they are bestowed as a matter of form. To that I entirely agree. I have no doubt that every man whose name is mentioned in this second Resolution is justly entitled to our Thanks; but it seems to me a little anomalous, that among them are two officers who do not appear to have been thought worthy to receive even the lowest rank of the military honour of the Bath. There seems to be an anomaly or inconsistency in this, of which no doubt an explanation can easily be given. The name of Sir John Inglis also is omitted from the Resolution. I dare say some reason can be given for that. [The Earl of DERBY: He has been home]. But Sir Archdale Wilson. [The Duke of CAMBRIDGE: He commanded the Artillery at the siege of Lucknow.] So much misapprehension often arises as to Motions of this sort, that it is better that these things should be mentioned at once. The noble Earl alluded to the immense loss which this country has sustained by the death of such men as Sir William Peel, and he also paid a most just and deserved tribute to the memory of Sir Henry Lawrence. It is a subject of regret to me, as it is to many who are more competent than I am to form an opinion, that it is not consistent with precedents that Parliament should, on such a great occasion as this—one of the greatest which has occurred in the history of this country—express its regret at the loss of such men as Sir Henry Lawrence, Sir William Peel, Havelock, Nicholson, Neill, Adrian Hope, and others, whose untimely deaths we have all in our own individual capacities felt to be the greatest of misfortunes. The great events which have occurred in India during the last year, show clearly how idle are all human calculations, and how ridiculous it would be for any set of men to claim for themselves any sagacity or power of prediction which a slight turn in the course of events may so easily falsify. At the same time, it is satisfactory to us who, from the beginning, were taunted with being too sanguine on the matter, that, while we acknowledged the great dangers which were hanging over India; yet, for not one single moment did we ever doubt as to the ultimate result. Our excuse for entertaining that sanguine opinion, was the past history of our Indian empire—its conquest in so comparatively brief a space of time; and the consciousness that, even if we had lost it, we were in a far better position to regain it than we were 100 years ago in originally acquiring it. But our chief reason for confidence was the reliance we felt in the moral and intellectual qualities of our fellow-countrymen in India. And, however great that confidence may have been, I say, without hesitation, that the conduct both of the civilians and the military have far surpassed every reasonable expectation that could have been entertained of them. It is marvellous to think of the great moral qualities, as well as of the physical courage, by the display of which they were enabled to struggle against and overcome the fearful obstacles they had to encounter. I know of nothing which appeals more strongly to the imagination than the manner in which Mr. Frere, amidst a population of some 6,000,000 Natives, and supported by but between 100 and 200 Europeans, contrived to maintain perfect tranquillity in the province intrusted to his charge, after denuding himself in every direction of troops and despatching them to points to which he thought they were more required. The achievements performed by Sir Hope Grant and Sir Hugh Rose seem more like the prodigies of valour recounted in the pages of an ancient romance than actual historical events occurring in our own times. Such were the qualities and the deeds which enabled us to reconquer India; and I heartily join, as I am sure all your Lordships will do, in the prayer of the noble Earl, that the same Providence which endowed our countrymen with the endurance, the courage, and the skill by which they have succeeded in regaining that vast empire in India, will vouchsafe to bestow upon us, both at home and in that country, a deep sense of the responsibilities which attach to their position, and that sagacity and wisdom which shall qualify them to govern this enormous mass of the human family, not in a spirit of selfishness, or only for their own interests, but in the mode most calculated to promote their social, material, and, I will add, moral improvement and elevation among the nations of the earth. My Lords, I beg most cordially to second the Resolution just moved by the noble Earl.

THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE

My Lords, I rise with some diffidence to make a few observations on the Motion now before your Lordships, because I feel that this subject, however interesting in itself, has been so fully and so ably dealt with by the noble Lords who have preceded me that it is really impossible for me, or indeed, I believe, for any one, to add much to what has been already said. At the same time, having regard to the official position which I have the honour to hold, I cannot allow myself to give a silent assent to the Motion proposed by the noble Earl. My Lords, we have to congratulate ourselves upon the present state of India; and, when we reflect upon what that vast empire has had to undergo during the last two years, it is indeed marvellous that my gallant Friend Lord Clyde should have been enabled to write to me in the terms which the noble Earl at the head of the Government has already quoted to your Lordships—namely, that never in his experience had India been more quiet than it is at the present moment. And when I come to ask myself how the recent fearful outbreak has been brought to so rapid and so complete a termination, I cannot doubt that the chief cause of this auspicious result has been the cordiality and good feeling which existed between the civil and military authorities of India. But for that I believe it would have been impossible for the gallantry of our troops, however heroic, or for the skill of their commanders, however admirable, to have brought India so speedily to its present tranquil condition. My Lords, the observation I have just made includes not only my noble Friend the Viceroy of India, but extends to the Governor of the Bombay Presidency, my noble Friend Lord Elphinstone, who I know exerted himself in the most active manner, in conjunction with the Commander-in-Chief of his Presidency, to forward supplies and furnish troops for the field—in denuding in fact his own Presidency—so as to enable the great operations of war to be carried to a successful issue. I have no doubt that the same energy and ability—though, perhaps owing to circumstances, to a less conspicuous extent—were displayed by the Government of Madras, where Sir Patrick Grant, a most distinguished and efficient officer, holds the chief military command, and has rendered the most valuable aid by despatching columns of troops to co-operate with the forces which advanced from Bombay into Central India. My Lords, I have been asked to fill up the void supposed to be left by the list of meritorious names embodied in the Resolution before us. But I feel considerable difficulty in attempting to do so, because, where everybody has con- ducted himself so praise worthily, it would be almost invidious for me to single out particular officers for especial commendation. It so happens that in this campaign a great many officers have had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves. Numerous columns have been in constant movement, and the individual capacity of each commander has demonstrated itself more conspicuously than usually occurs in ordinary campaigns. The number of Brigadiers employed has been remarkable, all of whom, though some of them have been at the head of small columns, have deserved well of their country; and I am sure that the officers of this rank who are mentioned by name in the Resolution would be the first to bear testimony to the valuable services performed by those of their brethren who may not be specifically included in the same distinction. Therefore, while it is with some reluctance I approach this subject, yet, as it has been brought under your Lordships' notice, and as the eminent names already quoted have been so fully dealt with, I may mention that Brigadier Jones, having previously greatly distinguished himself at Delhi, subsequently rendered very important services in support of Brigadier General Walpole's movements. Men, too, like Brigadier Horsford, of the Rifle Brigade, Brigadier Barker, of the Royal Artillery; Brigadier Showers, and Brigadier Troup, who belong to the local army of India, I am most anxious to bring under your Lordships' notice, because I am convinced that the greatest advantage has accrued, throughout these campaigns from the good feeling which has animated all portions of the army, both local and the line, and their common anxiety to do their utmost for the speedy suppression of the revolt. I think I have now gone over most of the names which I wished to particularize; though I may perhaps be permitted to add that of Brigadier Douglas, who succeeded Sir Edward Lugard in command of the Azimghur division, and has contributed so much to the pacification of his district. Of course, my Lords, as regards my noble and gallant Friend, Lord Clyde, it would be preposterous for me to sound his praises in this assembly. His fame is familiar not only to every Englishman, but it extends throughout the length and breadth of the Continent and of the world. I think it right, however, to state that Lord Clyde never omits an occasion of bringing under my notice the valuable assistance he has received from Sir William Mansfield; and with that modesty which does him so much credit, he constantly assures me that it is not to himself that the honour is due, but to General Mansfield, for the combinations which have marked this campaign. For it is in this that this Indian campaign has been, remarkable—not so much for hard fighting as for the great combination it has required, and the bringing of different columns to bear from various points. I believe there never was an instance of any campaign in which the evolutions of columns were so ably carried out as in this. I am not aware, in the whole course of it, of a single occasion on which any column intended for a particular post, and required to take a considerable share in. any operation, was not found at its appointed place, and did not carry out the duty assigned to it in the general combination. And now, my Lords, I turn to Central India. And here I listened with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to what fell from the noble Earl as regards my gallant Friend Sir Hugh Rose. Certainly if any officer ever performed acts of the greatest daring, valour, and determination, those acts were performed by my gallant Friend Sir Hugh Rose. I personally had an opportunity of seeing what manner of man my gallant Friend is, and of what stuff he is made; and I was satisfied at the time that if ever the right occasion presented itself he would be found to distinguish himself in the extraordinary manner which he has lately done. Permit me to say that he was at the head of a very small European force, and that a very large proportion of the troops under his command were Natives, regular sepoys, and I have reason to believe, from letters received from him, that those troops on all occasions conducted themselves with a valour and bearing equal to that displayed by the Europeans. That, my Lords, is a fact which I think ought not to be overlooked. Sir Hugh Rose's operations finished with the capture of Gwalior, and certainly I concur with what fell from the noble Earl as to the manner in which my gallant Friend, at the risk of his health—I may say of his life—put himself at the head of his troops and rushed to the attack when he ought to have sought the rest of which he stood in such urgent need. His achievements having been brought to a triumphant close, Sir Hugh Rose was succeeded in his command at Gwalior by Sir Robert Napier, an officer whose services at Lucknow and elsewhere were of a character to stamp him as worthy of the honoured name he bears. General Michel succeeded to the command of the troops in Central India. His operations were not connected with any one great or brilliant event; but the work performed by that column and by its auxiliary detachments was beyond all praise. The number of miles his troops marched during those operations is almost fabulous; they are to be reckoned not by hundreds, but thousands; and the movements are not only remarkable for the number of miles the troops marched, but for the short time in which the marches were accomplished. I believe that no one during these operations has done harder service than General Michel. There are several other officers whose names have been mentioned in despatches, such as Brigadier Park, Brigadier Smith, and Brigadier Lockhart. The columns commanded by these officers were small, and they had not such opportunities of distinguishing themselves as others. But the duties they performed were considerable; they were constantly harassed by a persevering and daring enemy; and, as the result of their services, I trust Central India will soon exhibit the same stale of tranquillity as the other provinces. In remarking on the military operations of the campaign I cannot pass over some other departments of the service without which the military movements would have been paralyzed; I would mention the Commissariat and Medical departments, which, by accident no doubt, have been omitted from mention. [The Earl of DERBY: Hear, hear!] But I must think, when we reflect on the state of the country, doubt and fear existing throughout the land, the roads and communications interrupted, and the inhabitants not assisting us, as we might have hoped and anticipated, that it was wonderful how the Commissariat kept the troops as efficiently supplied as it evidently must have done, for I have never heard any instance of the troops not having been fully and amply supplied. I think this acknowledgment is duo to the Commissariat service. I think that the Medical department of the army has also well discharged its most important and most valuable duties. I have not heard of any portion of the troops who were not thoroughly taken care of; and, knowing that the amount of sickness necessarily resulting from the climate is much larger than in any European army, I think it right to allude to this Department. With regard to the Army in general and the Officers, I do not know that there is anything which, as a military man, I need add to the observations that have been already made. But I cordially agree with what has fallen from both my noble Friends as to the future of India. It is a question of deep and vast importance. I think that now the military officers have performed their portion of the work that of the civilians will really and truly begin. I am perfectly aware that the first duty of the civil Government is to control its expenditure; but, on the other hand, economy may be carried too far. Every effort should be made to keep down the military establishment, but I hope every reduction will be made with the caution and attention so important and difficult a matter fairly deserves. I have already referred to one subject to which, however, I wish to recur. Allusion has been made to Sir John Lawrence: to no man is more praise due than to Sir John Lawrence for those measures by which he was enabled to move a mass of troops from the Punjab to Delhi, which was one of the most remarkable features of the campaign. But Sir John Lawrence himself doubted whether, if it had not been for the assistance of Sir Sydney Cotton, he would have been enabled to carry out those measures. Sir Sydney Cotton's occupation of Peshawur enabled Sir John Lawrence to feel confidence in the military position he occupied in the Punjab. The aid was all the more valuable, also, because it was furnished by Native troops. My Lords, combined with the tribute of our thanks we have also expressed the pain and sorrow we feel for the losses we have sustained in the great men who have died in these operations; but they died nobly and gloriously; they felt that they died doing their duty, and it is ours to do honour to their names and their memory. It is a feeling that lies deep in the heart of every Englishman. That feeling will not lightly be eradicated, and as long as history speaks of the great events that have taken place in India the world will never forget the deeds of valour and daring performed by a Havelock, a Nicholson, a Neale, an Adrian Hope, and many other heroes. I cordially support the Motion.

THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH

My Lords, I regret that a specific Vote of Thanks to the Governor General of India was not moved, separate from the Vote to the other civil officers who have assisted in obtaining those great military successes which have crowned our arms in India. I know that at the commencement of last session a Vote of Thanks was passed, in which the name of the Governor General was mixed up with many others. But in my opinion this was an exceedingly bad precedent. The Governor General is solely responsible for the conduct of all the operations in India; what is required from him is different from what is required from any other man. The whole responsibility is his; if he had failed, he would have been justly censured; having succeeded, he is as justly entitled to our praise. Responsibility has its rights as well as its obligations; and I think, seeing the enormous distance between the Governor General and even the Governor of a province, and still more the gentleman who is only the agent of the Governor General, it is due to that high officer that the peculiar merits he has exhibited throughout all these operations should be specified in a distinct and separate Vote of Thanks. I believe that up to the beginning of last year this was always the good practice of Parliament. My noble Friend (the Earl of Derby), with equal perspicuity and justice, has described the services of the various military officers whose names are mentioned in the Vote. But here again I must express the same regret that there is not a specific and separate Vote of Thanks to Lord Clyde. The illustrious Duke (the Duke of Cambridge) has well remarked that the last campaign in India was entirely one of military combinations. The merit of those combinations belongs wholly to the Commander-in-Chief,—not to the subordinate officers. Yet, in the Vote the Commander-in-Chief and the commanders of brigades are jumbled together, and the words of thanks are identical for both. This is not the right course of proceeding, and cannot give satisfaction either to the officers receiving the thanks, or to the army itself. The merits and services both of the civilians and military officers named in the Votes have been amply touched on by the noble Lords who have preceded me; but I wish to claim your attention for a few short moments on behalf of those who are indeed named in the Vote, but who have hitherto been more in your Lordships' minds than in the speeches you have heard. My Lords, I ask your attention for the troops by whom these glorious victories in India have been obtained. That which the Generals have done they could not have done with inferior troops. My Lords, I recollect well that the late Duke of Wellington told me once that the British army in India came, in his opinion, nearer to what the Roman legion must have been than any troops he had ever seen in his life. That army has not degenerated. There is nothing in ancient or modern history so astonishing as that which has been effected by that army during the last eighteen months. I have borne in my mind the various military events which have taken place during my life. I recollect, I am sorry to say, most of the great campaigns which have taken place from the battle of Austerlitz to the present time almost as if they had occurred yesterday. But, looking back this long vista of years, I cannot find any war in which there are so many circumstances combined of military, historical, and social interest as there are in the war which is now under our consideration. I cannot call to mind any occasion on which troops have shown so much fortitude, so much endurance, so much perseverance under suffering of every species. I know none in which they have shown such pertinacity in resisting the force of overwhelming masses, or in which they have shown such earnestness, such excitement, and determination to conquer the enemy, whenever they had a chance of success. My Lords, I know nothing equal to the conduct of the British army from the commencement of this war to this hour. Thank God we have such an army. When the several military Powers of Europe are bringing together their forces, I fear for the purpose of measuring their strength upon the field of battle, it is satisfactory for us to know that we have the materials for forming an army which can face any of theirs with absolute certainty of success. Would to God one-half of the army now in India were encamped at Aldershot! It would make the work of my noble Friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the Congress easy to do. Ten thousand of these men, on whatever side they might be called upon to fight, would secure the victory. There is nothing like our Indian army. There is nothing in modern history to be compared to the marches of that army during the late war. There is but one march the most remarkable in ancient Roman story—which can be compared to the marches performed by our army in Central India. Nay, more, my Lords, observe,—it was given to them to use for the first time those improved firearms, and all the improvements in war which science has of late contributed. They have learnt a new art of war. It is from them that Europe has now to learn. It is from them that Europe will have to suffer what they have learnt, if it be necessary for them to take part in a European war. The full and graphic manner in which all that has passed in India has been related to us week after week has rendered us almost present in the camp, on the march, in the bivouac, in the battle, and almost eye-witnesses of those great achievements on which we are now congratulating those who performed them. When we hear of the electric telegraph passing under the fire of the enemy, over an unfordable river, to a distance of several miles, used for the purpose of giving an order to the extreme flank of a detached corps during a general action, must we not admit that that indeed is an instance of science being taken advantage of by real genius? Look at the battle of Sultanpore, in which Sir Thomas Franks took advantage of all the peculiarities which result from the new species of weapons. Our troops in India have fought the battle of giants, but not as giants using mere brute force, but as if they had stolen the very fire from heaven. My Lords, I will not say more. I had not intended to say one word, but recollecting what those troops were when I saw them, recollecting that they have realized all I have said of them, that they surpass all the troops produced from one end of Europe to the other, that they are our countrymen, that in many cases they are the men upon whom we are to depend for the safety of our country, I could not allow this night to pass over without expressing my feeling, and declaring my belief that the feelings I have expressed are the general feelings of your Lordships' House.

VISCOUNT GOUGH

said, he had had the good fortune of having been nobly assisted by Lord Clyde in China. That noble Lord ultimately joined his army in India, and he creditably and honourably did his duty in the position which he held. Sir Edward Lugard also served under him in the Sutlej campaign, and acted his part in a distinguished manner. He felt it his duty to join cordially in this Vote of Thanks, assuring their Lordships that the bravery and devotion of the troops and of the officers individually named were such as merited the approbation of their Lordships and of the country.

THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE

wished to say a few words with respect to the gallant and distinguished officer whose name stood first in the second Resolution, as he was a personal friend of his, It had been very truly said that Lord Clyde enjoyed a European reputation, but as most of their Lordships were civilians he would call their attention for a few moments to some of the achievements of Lord Clyde during the half century that he had served his country. The first military service of that noble Lord was in the Walcheren expedition. He afterwards served in the Peninsula and was present at the battles of Vimiera, Corunna, Barossa, and Vittoria. At the siege of San Sebastian he led a forlorn hope, and received two severe wounds. At the passage of the Bidassoa he was severely wounded. He next served in China. His services in India were too recent and too brilliant to call for further comment. His recent campaign was, he believed, the most successful instance of strategy, with the exception of the campaigns of the late Sir Charles Napier, ever exhibited in that country. It had too often been the practice of his predecessors to rely too much upon the physical pluck of their countrymen, and to oppose a handful of Europeans to myriads of Indians, and to lead small bodies of their countrymen against batteries of enormous strength. The illustrious Duke had spoken of the combinations of Lord Clyde, and their Lordships would remember how he spread a net, as it were, and inclosed within its meshes, with one exception, every big fish that was to be caught—he meant with the exception of Feroze Shah, who, according to the last accounts, was entering into a treaty for his surrender. In India, as in the Crimea, Lord Clyde evinced a tender anxiety to avoid unnecessary destruction of life. He twice relieved the garrison of Lucknow and its hundreds of women and children, and in those two actions there was less sacrifice of life than in any one of the general actions ever fought in India. Not less conspicuous than his gallantry was the humanity which he had shown in the discharge of his duties. He had been not only chary of the lives of his own men, but of the lives of his enemies also. "There must be no hanging here," was the expression constantly attributed to Lord Clyde, and from his knowledge of the man he believed most truly so. In short the noble Lord was not more distinguished for his bravery than for his humanity.

THE EARL OF DERBY

My Lords, having already troubled you at so much length, I will now only say a single word, and that to ask your Lordships' permission to insert a name in the Vote which has been inadvertently omitted, and which I find has been inserted in the other House of Parliament. I have mentioned the services of the officers and men of the Naval Brigade, and it is very desirable to insert in the Resolution the name of Captain Edward Sotheby. With respect to the suggestion of my noble Friend near me (the Earl of Ellenborough), I may state that the course which he has recommended occurred to me so strongly that I had prepared separate Resolutions for the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief; but on looking to the course pursued last year I followed the precedent then set, and abandoned the intention of taking the course which my noble Friend has recommended. I am glad that my noble Friend has adverted to the services of the troops in India; because, having gone at great detail through the services of individual officers, I did not wish unduly to trespass on your Lordships' patience by extending the length of my address. At the same time I hope it will be believed that there is not, on my part, or on the part of any Member of this House, any wish to depreciate or underrate the immense benefit conferred upon the country by the valour, discipline, and brilliant services of the troops in India.

Resolutions, as amended, agreed to, nemine dissentiente.

Ordered, That the Lord Chancellor do communicate the said Resolutions to Her Majesty's Viceroy and Governor General of India; and that his Excellency he requested to communicate the same to the said Governor, Commissioners, and Officers referred to therein.

House adjourned at a quarter past Eight o'clock, till To-morrow Three o'clock.