Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/195

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HISTORY OF OUR OWN TIMES.
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Governor-General, was a brave, capable man, and he was supported by able officers and brave soldiers. Sir John Lawrence sent his Sikhs and a few British troops to besiege Delhi, and Sir Henry Lawrence the Governor of Oude, gathered the British residents into the Governor's residence at Lucknow, where it was hoped they could hold out till relief came.

At Cawnpore, Nana Sahib, a native prince, when he heard Sir Henry Havelock was coming to the rescue, massacred the men, women, and children of the Europeans, July 15, 1857, The news of the horrible cruelties of Nana Sahib filled the British troops with a burning desire for revenge, which was with difficulty restrained by Canning. Soon the tide of war changed against the Sepoys. Delhi was taken, and Lucknow was relieved by Havelock, after a four months’ siege. Highland regiments came on the scene under Sir James Outram and Sir Colin Campbell, and gradually the rebellion was crushed. The brutal massacre at Cawnpore was avenged by blowing from the cannon's mouth several of those who had taken an active part in that dreadful tragedy.


12. India under the Crown.—The Mutiny had some important results. Havelock, the brave Christian soldier, and the hero of the war, died of the-hardships of the campaign. The British Government now resolved to take away from the East India Company its right of governing India. In 1858 India was placed under the Crown, and from that time has been governed by a Viceroy and Council under a Secretary for India, who is a member of the British Cabinet. The result is better government, and greater attention is paid to the feelings and prejudices of the natives, who are an intelligent and sensitive people.


13. Recent Wars.—Since the Indian Mutiny, Britain has been engaged in no great war. Several minor wars have, however, taken place, of which the following are the most important: (1) a war with China in 1855, and another in 1860, which led to opening up more of the Chinese ports to foreign trade; (2) an invasion of Afghanistan in 1879-80 to avenge the murder of an English envoy, Sir Louis Cavagnari; (3) two wars against the Zulus and Boers in South Africa in 1879-81 in which there was great loss of life; (4) a war in the Soudan in 1884-5 to support the Khedive, or ruler of Heypt, against the Arabs. It was in this war that General