30 THE FOURTEENTH WAR : MUTINY IN INDIA. 



Palace of the King, and proclaimed him Emperor of India, planting 

 the standard of rebellion against EngUsh rule on the battlements of 

 his Palace. They found in one moment a Leader, a Flag, and a Cause, 

 and the mutiny was transfigured into a revolutionary War. 



When the news of the revolution reached Calcutta, it came with 

 the shock of a thunderbolt from the blue. 



Fortunately, there was at the head of affairs in India a man with a 

 cool head, a firm will, and a courage that never faltered. 



If ever the crisis found the man. Lord Canning was the man called 

 for by that crisis in India. 



Most important, too, Canning was surrounded and supported by 

 brave and able men — Sir John Lawrence, and his brother Sir Henry 

 Lawrence, in the Punjaub, Sir Henry Havelock, Sir James Outram, 

 Sir Colin Campbell, and many others, who, by their intrepidity in the 

 field, and their sagacity in the Council, largely contributed to the 

 safety of our Indian Empire. 



Canning saw that the right course was to strike at Delhi, the head- 

 quarters of the rebellion ; and he appealed, therefore, for the help of 

 the troops engaged on the Chinese Expedition and the Persian War. 



There was no time to be lost, for the rebellion broke out at new 

 points^n the Punjaub ; in Oude ; in fact, almost everywhere in the 

 North and the North-Western Provinces of India. 



Delhi fell, Lucknow was relieved, and Cawnpore was taken ; and 

 this may be considered the final blow in the suppression of the 

 Mutiny, for Delhi and Lucknow were the centres of the movement, 

 and when these strongholds were in the hands of the English the 

 back of the rebellion was broken. 



On December 20, 1858, Lord Clyde announced to the Governor- 

 General of India that the campaign was at an end, and that the last 

 remnant of the Mutineers were driven hopelessly at bay. 



" It is an ill wind" verily, " ijiihich blows no good" for one, if not 

 the principal benefit of this terrible Rebellion in India, it pulled 

 down the famous old Corporation, the East India Company, which 

 had arrogated to itself for nearly a century the Government of 250 

 millions of people. 



Practically before the Mutiny was crushed, this beaureaucratic 

 but irresponsible Corporation came to an end. 



Founded in the days of Warren Hastings, nominated partly by the 

 Crown, and partly by the Board of Directors in Leadenhall Street, it 

 gave directions for and controlled absolutely the Government of India. 



This unparalleled anomaly in the Government of India directly 



