CHAPTER VIII

THE MUTINY, AND REVOLT AT LUCKNOW
(LAKHNAO)

THE capture of Dehli and the surrender of the
King averted risings in the north of India.
It was entirely owing to Sir John Lawrence's noble
and statesmanlike unselfishness, in stripping the Panjab
of nearly all its white and its loyal coloured troops,
that Dehli was taken, and its fall helped materially, not
only to subdue the revolt in Hindustan, but to show
Native rulers in Central and Southern India, what
the sagacious and loyal Maharajah of Gwaliar perceived
from the first outbreak, that the white men would win
in the struggle for supremacy. Sir John Lawrence
could not, however, have sent to Dehli the finest
fighting Panjabis but for the loyalty of the Sikh
aristocracy, and this had been secured by Sir Henry
Lawrence's generous consideration of their rights, con¬
sideration regarded at one time by John Lawrence as
excessive, though he gave it himself to a great extent
when he became alone responsible for governing the
country.

The' city of Lucknow, of 300,000 inhabitants, 42
miles north-east of Cawnpur, stands on the right or south
bank qf the Gumti River. A number of palatial build¬
ings and the cantonment stood between the river and
the city, which covered 3 miles by 2 miles of ground.
There were living in its crowded streets a vast number of
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