PATNA DURING THE MUTINY. 195 



space to Mr. Tayler's case, and that on the whole they applaud his 

 policy. I am glad to hear it ; and without going so far as to 

 declare that only one cemetery was worthy to contain his remains, 

 or that the safety of all Bengal was due to Mr. Tayler's vigorous 

 policy — as I have not the face of Janus to see what might have 

 happened had it been otherwise — I will content myself by saying, 

 what after all appears to me of primary importance, that I believe 

 I 9we my existence at the present moment to it. 



But I have said more than I intended about Patna, and will 

 conclude this chapter by briefly stating that in my time, the Indian 

 Civil Service was the finest in the world for persons of mediocre 

 talents like myself; of course assuming that they liked the country 

 when they got there. But those who conceived an inextinguishable 

 aversion to the mean heat of eighty degrees, the confinement 

 within doors for many months in the year, mosquitoes, cholera, 

 fever, and other attendant evils and discomforts, might well com- 

 pare their period of service to purgatory. Several of my contem- 

 poraries soon after landing threw up the service in disgust, but I 

 suspect they subsequently had reason for repentance. 



But whatever objection there may be about the climate, no one 

 can reasonably complain about the natives, for they are the best set 

 of fellows to govern in the world. 



Soon after I got to India, I had orders to hang a native policeman 

 for alleged mutiny, and when I arrived on the scene of action, I 

 found myself the only European present. The Civil Surgeon ought 

 to have been there, but I thought it best not to wait for him. 

 When I mounted my man upon the gallows, he appealed to his 

 compatriots around to rescue him. But the sight of my rosy cheeks 

 and awful European hat, had such a terrifying effect upon the crowd, 

 that no one stirred, and when the Surgeon came, the man was dead. 

 I always thought the natives a very tractable, pleasant set of fellows 

 to govern after that. 



I arrived in India at a very auspicious time for me, and as it is 

 an ill wind that blows no one any good, the Mutiny and other 

 causes, so thinned the ranks above me, that without any merits 



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