AtTGUsf I, 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
79 
For a staff officer to appear on parade badly mounted 
waa considered almost a military offence. One morn- 
ing after a field-day, Sir Edward called " Mounted 
officers to the front." 
They accordingly trotted round aud formed a 
semi-circle before him, when he thus addressed 
them : " Gentlemen, the next occasion on which 1 
have the honour of meeting you here, I shall ex- 
pect to see you all properly mounted. Outward 
face. To your respective corps. Trot ; canter ; 
gallop ! " 
• « * 
Later in the year, or more probably it was in 
the beginning of 1827, I was surpri-ed one morning 
by Sir Edward Barnes sending me a message that 
he wanted to see me directly. I began to lake a 
retrospect of my late life, wondering what I could 
be required for, at that early hour. When I went 
to his dressing-room, which was immediately over 
my own bed-room, I at once saw 1 was about to 
" catch " it. The difficulty which presented itself 
to my mind was to determine for which of my many 
peccadillees I was to be brought under His Excellency's 
displeasure, for, I must own that while I was ac- 
knowledged to be a good, smart officer in all matters 
of duty and punctuality, I was a very wild one. 
Always consulted, and the first to be referred to, 
when any piece of mischief was wanted, I had had 
so many little adventures lately of which I was the 
originator, that I was fairly puzzled when confronted 
by the Governor. With his face covered with lather 
and a razor m his hand, he exclaimtd in a very 
angry tone : 
" What have I done, Sir, to deserve this treat- 
ment from you ? " 
I had never seen him look so angry, or heard him 
speak with such austerity before; and I had some 
difficulty in restraining my feelings, for I felt ex- 
treme sorrow and contrition for having offended the 
best friend that any youngster ever had. Every 
naughtiness I had been guilty of seemed instantly 
to crowd upon my memory, as a personal offence 
against the kindest and most partial of patrons, and 
I was overcome. 
I fancy i see him now, with his arm up, his razor 
just as he had taken the first sweep from his chin, 
as I stammered out: 
" I am extrem-ly sorry, Sir, that I have done any- 
thing to displease you ; will you be so kind as to 
tell lue what it is ? Be assured I would not inten- 
tionally have incurred your reproof." 
" I feel it very much, and thought better things 
of you ' 
1 could not help interrupting, and implored of 
him to tell me in what respect 1 had been so un- 
fortunate as to displease him. 
" I hear. Sir, that you are allowing a man to 
purchase over you." 
I replied: "Yes, Sir; but I have no money, 
and you know I am tuo thoughtless and extravagant a 
fellow to borrow it ; I might never be able to repay it." 
" Why did you not consult me ? You must have 
known 1 could have helped you, and might, I should 
think, have been sure that I have the inclination 
to do 80. I cannot easily forgive you for your want 
of confidence in me." 
« ♦ • 
On the 28th of March, 1829, I lost a very dear 
friend, and the service a most invaluable officer, in 
Captain W. Dawson, commanding Royal Engineers. 
The poor fellow died in my arms. The whole island 
mourned for him. Wherever he was known, he was 
dearly loved. Sir Edward Barnes had, notwithstand- 
ing Dawson's juuor rank, selected him for the posi- 
tion of C.B.E., which was a colonel's command, for 
Sir Edward knew, from his Peninsular experience of 
him, the great merit Dawson possessed as an officer. 
A singular coincidence occured in reference to the 
monument erected to his memory on the top of the 
Kaddoganawa Pass, which was one of the triumphs 
of his skill. The foundation of this coloum was laid 
at the same time as that to the memory of His 
Royal Highness the Duke of Y'ork, late Oommander- 
ja-Uhief, at the eatjrance of the Park at the end o{ 
Waterloo Place. The dimensions of these two 
memorials are identical, the only difference in them 
being that Dawson's monument is built of brick, 
whereas that erected by the nation to the memory 
of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, in a con- 
si icuous position in the metropolis, is of granite, 
surmounted by a statue of His Royal Highness. 
Dawsons's remains were interred in a vault in Saint 
Peter's Church, Colombo. 
• « * 
This year, 1831, His Excellency Sir Edward Barnes 
was appointed Commander-in-Chief in India, and left 
Colombo for Calcutta on the 13th of October. He 
was kind enough to tell me that he would have 
taken me with him, but that he conceived I should, 
both to the colony and to myself, be^ much more 
beneficially employed in Ceylon than I could be in 
India. 
" That may be, Sir," I replied, " but I hope, if 
ever I hear of your being on active service in the 
fie d, you will allow me to join you on leave." 
Sir Edward Barnes left Ceylon on the 13tli Oct- 
1831 for India to re-assume the office of Com- 
mander-in-Chief by express orders from home ; 
but in less than three years he threw the post 
up from ditference of opinions which sprung up 
with the civil authorities. He passed thiough 
Colombo again. This is Major Skinner's account 
of the event : — 
In February, 18'di, my dear friend and patron, Sir 
Edward Barnes, visited Ceylon on his way home 
having been recalled from the appointment of Com- 
mander-in-Chief in India in consequence of a dif- 
ference of opiuion wi:ti the Viceroy on the subject 
of the necessity for an army of exercise in the Nortti- 
West Provinces during the cool season. He was dis- 
satisfied with the want of organization and disciplins 
that he fouud in the Indian army, whichhe considered 
perfectly unprepared to operate in any considerable 
force. 
Daring Sir Edward Barnes's stay in India I corre- 
sponded with Churchill, his military secretary, and 
other members of his staff, and anything more truly 
prophetic than Churchill's letters eventually provea, 
could not be. The Sikh and China wars were fully 
anticipated by him, and he deplored the defec s in 
the wnole system of the Native army, which led 
sub.'iequently to its mutiny. It was little matter of 
surprise that so true a soldier as was Sir Edward 
Barnes should have differed so widely and vitally 
from Lord William Bentinck and his councils. 
Could he but have got a large force of native troops 
together, he might have reformed the abuses which 
he was aware existed against discipline, aud have 
averted that awful calamity. 
The news of Sir Edward's arrival spread like light- 
ning through the country, and caused great excite, 
ment. He was worshipped by tue natives, and 
when a statue of him was suhseqaently erected in 
Colombo they would come in the night from the 
inteiior and lay offeriugs of flowers, rice, and money, 
such as they present in their temples, at the base 
of the pedestal, compelling us to surround the monu- 
ment with a railing for protection. 
In England, Sir Edward Barnes, after a time, 
entered Parliament as M.P. for Sudbury, and 
thougli we jlo not read of his taking any part 
in the debates, it may be noticed that most 
likely this great Governor of Ceylon sat in the 
House with his great successor Sir Henry, then 
iMr. Ward. 
Here is the closing entry for oiu' record taken 
from the " Annual Register " for 1838 : — 
•' In Piccadilly, aged 62, Lientenant-General Sir 
Edward Barnes, o.c.b., of Beech-hill Park, near Barnet, 
Colonel of the 31st foot, and M.P. for Sudbury." 
The officials and public of Ceylon erected a 
statue to the memory of their great Governor 
nearly opposite (Queen's House and facing the 
begiuuing of the coach load to ivandy, whicU 
