Part 1 (2/2)
”_Government House, Sept_. 16, 1848.
”My Dear COLONEL SLEEMAN,--It was a matter of regret to me that I had not antic.i.p.ated your desire to succeed Colonel Sutherland in Rajpootana before I made arrangements which prevented my offering that appointment to you. I now regret it no longer, since the course of events has put it in my power to propose an arrangement which will, I apprehend, be more agreeable to you, and which will make your services more _actively_ beneficial to the State.
”Colonel Richmond has intimated his intention of immediately resigning the Residency at Lucknow. The communication made by the Governor-General to the King of Oude, in October, 1847, gave His Majesty to understand that if the condition of Government was not very materially amended before two years had expired, the management for his behoof would be taken into the hands of the British Government.
”There seems little reason to expect or to hope that in October, 1849, any amendment whatever will have been effected. The reconstruction of the internal administration of a great, rich, and oppressed country, is a n.o.ble as well as an arduous task for the officer to whom the duty is intrusted, and the Government have recourse to one of the best of its servants for that purpose.
”The high reputation you have earned, your experience of civil administration, your knowledge of the people, and the qualifications you possess as a public man, have led me to submit your name to the Council of India as an officer to whom I could commit this important charge with entire confidence that its duties would be well performed. I do myself, therefore, the honour of proposing to you to accept the office of Resident at Lucknow, with especial reference to the great changes which, in all probability, will take place.
Retaining your superintendency of Thuggee affairs, it will be manifestly necessary that you should be relieved from the duty of the trials of Thugs usually condemned at Lucknow.
”In the hope that you will not withhold from the Government your services in the capacity I have named, and in the further hope of finding an opportunity of personally making your acquaintance,
”I have the honour to be, ”Dear Colonel Sleeman, ”Very faithfully yours, ”DALHOUSIE.”
”To Colonel Sleeman, &c., &c.”
Immediately on receipt of this despatch, Sir William proceeded to make the necessary inquiry. Doubtless the King (instigated by his Ministers and favourites, who dreaded the exposure of all their infamous proceedings) would have prevented this investigation, which, he was aware, would furnish evidence of gross mal-administration, cruelty, and oppression almost unparalleled; but Sir William Sleeman was too well acquainted with the character of the people of the East to be moved either by cajolery or menaces from the important duty which had devolved upon him.
Sir William Sleeman's position as Resident enabled him to ascertain thoroughly the real state of Oude; and the great respect with which he was universally received manifests the high opinion entertained of him personally by all ranks. The details he has given of the prevailing anarchy and lawlessness throughout the kingdom, would scarcely be believed were they not vouched for by an officer of established reputation and integrity. Firmness united to amenity of manner were indeed the characteristics of Sir William in his important and delicate office at such a Court--a Court where the King, deputing the conduct of business to Ministers influenced by the basest motives, and who constantly sacrificed justice to bribery and low intrigues, gave himself up to the effeminate indulgence of his harem, and the society of eunuchs and fiddlers. His Majesty appears to have been governed by favourites of the hour selected through utter caprice, and to have permitted, if he did not order, such atrocious cruelties and oppression as rendered the kingdom of Oude a disgrace to the British rule in India, and called for strong interference, on the score of humanity alone, as well as with the hope of compelling amendment.
The letter addressed by Lord Dalhousie to Sir William Sleeman expresses the desire of the Governor-General that he should endeavour to inform himself of the actual state of Oude, and render his Narrative a guide to the Honourable Company in its Report to the Court of Directors. The details furnish but too faithful a picture of the miserable condition of the people, equally oppressed by the exactions of the King's army and collectors, and by the gangs of robbers and lawless chieftains who infest the whole territory, rendering tenure so doubtful that no good dwellings could be erected, and land only partially cultivated; whilst the numberless cruelties and atrocious murders surpa.s.s belief. Shut up in his harem, the voice of justice seldom reached the ear of the monarch, and when it did, was scarcely heeded. The Resident, it will be seen, was beset during his journey with pet.i.tions for redress so numerous, that, anxious as he was to do everything in his power to mitigate the horrors he witnessed, he frequently gives vent to the pain he experienced at finding relief impracticable.
The Narrative contains an unvarnished but unexaggerated picture of the actual state of Oude, with many remedial suggestions; but direct annexation formed no part of the policy which Sir William Sleeman recommended. To this measure he was strenuously opposed, as is distinctly proved by his letters appended to the Journal. At the same time, he repeatedly affirms the total unfitness of the King to govern. These opinions are still further corroborated by the following letter from his private correspondence, 1854-5, written when Resident at Lucknow, and published in the _Times_ in November last:--
”The system of annexation, pursued by a party in this country, and favoured by Lord Dalhousie and his Council, has, in my opinion, and in that of a large number of the ablest men in India, a downward tendency--a tendency to crush all the higher and middle cla.s.ses connected with the land. These cla.s.ses it should be our object to create and foster, that we might in the end inspire them with a feeling of interest in the stability of our rule. _We shall find a few years hence the tables turned against us_. In fact, the aggressive and absorbing policy, which has done so much mischief of late in India, is beginning to create feelings of alarm in the native mind; and it is when the popular mind becomes agitated by such alarms that fanatics will always be found ready to step into Paradise over the bodies of the most prominent of those from whom injury is apprehended. I shall have nothing new to do at Lucknow. Lord Dalhousie and I have different views, I fear. If he wishes anything done that I do not think right and honest, I resign, and leave it to be done by others. I desire a strict adherence to solemn engagements, whether made with white faces or black. We have no right to annex or confiscate Oude; but we have a right, under the treaty of 1837, to take the management of it, but not to appropriate its revenues to ourselves. We can do this with honour to our Government and benefit to the people. To confiscate would be dishonest and dishonourable. To annex would be to give the people a government almost as bad as their own, if we put our screw upon them. My position here has been and is disagreeable and unsatisfactory: we have a fool of a king, a knave of a minister, and both are under the influence of one of the cleverest, most intriguing, and most unscrupulous villains in India.”
Major Bird, in his pamphlet ”Dacoitee in Excelsis,” while endeavouring to establish a case for the King of Oude, has a.s.sumed that Sir William Sleeman was an instrument in the hands of Lord Dalhousie, to carry out his purpose of annexing Oude to British India. The letters, now first printed, entirely refute this hasty and erroneous statement. Major Bird has, in fact, withdrawn it himself in a lecture delivered by him at Southampton on Tuesday, the 16th of February, 1858.
It will be seen that Sir W. Sleeman's ”Diary” commences on December 1, 1849. To preserve chronological order, the letters written before that date are prefixed; those which refer to a later period are added at the end of the narrative.
PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE PRECEDING THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF OUDE.
Camp, 20th February, 1848.
My Dear Sir,
I thank you for your letter of the 10th instant, and am of opinion that you may be able to make good use of Bhurut Sing under judicious management, and strict surveillance; but you do not mention who and what he is--whether he is a prisoner under sentence, or a free agent, or of what caste and profession. Some men make these offers in order to have opportunities of escape, while engaged in the pretended search after a.s.sociates in crime; others to extort money from those whom they may denounce, or have the authority and means to arrest. He should be made to state distinctly the evidence he has against persons, and the way he got it; and all should be recorded against the names of the persons in a Register. Major Riddell is well acquainted with our mode of proceedings in all such cases, and I recommend you to put yourself in communication, as soon as possible, with him, and Mr. Dampier, the Superintendent of Police, who fortunately takes the greatest possible interest in all such matters.
I have no supervision whatever over the officers of the department employed in Bengal; all rests entirely with Mr. Dampier. You might write to him at once, and tell him that you are preparing such a Register as I suggest; and if he is satisfied with the evidence, he will authorise the arrest of all or part, and well reward Bhurut Sing for his services.
Believe me, My Dear Sir, With best wishes for your success, Yours sincerely, (Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.
<script>