Lord Dalhousie for the new Province. Foremost among these was Montgomery, already mentioned. They all carried with them the traditions and the practice of the North-Western Provinces. Then, subject to local exceptions, the Instructions by Thomason were prescribed by the Lawrences for the general guidance of all their officers. To that extent, undoubtedly, his administration did become a pattern for the Punjab. In private letters to Montgomery he writes thus of his departed henchmen: 'It has been a heavy tax. Nineteen men of the best blood! I feel very weak after so much depletion. But the remaining blood will circulate more quickly and healthily — so we shall soon get over it.' Further he makes enquiries, with all his usual thoughtfulness, regarding the goodwill of the upper classes and of the people generally in the recently annexed territories towards their new rulers; particularly adverts to the Village Communities; and suggests caution with forbearance in the introduction of the British system before the upper, the middle and the humble classes shall have had time to realize the change in their political destiny.
While all this instruction was imparted by him to his own districts, Thomason knew that as chief instructor he must personally visit every district, and the principal places in its interior. The only means of effecting this visitation was for him, in Anglo-Indian phrase, to march. The term 'march' is adopted from the army by civilians in India, and it means the same
