Page:Sir Henry Lawrence, the Pacificator.djvu/23

14 who must be a trained civil administrator, dissolved the Board, appointed John Lawrence, Sir Henry's brother, to the rule of the Province, and transferred Sir Henry himself to the Agency of Rájputána, a Province of native states, under native rulers, in which there was much discontent prevalent, and at least one burning question was causing anxiety. Sir Henry held this post for rather more than four years, during which Rájputána was restored to its normal state of good-will and tranquillity; after which, in the beginning of 1857, when overt signs of the Mutiny began to appear, he was appointed to the charge of the Province of Oudh, which was already seething with irritation and open sedition. Here too, as in the Punjab and Rájputána, he immediately quieted the Province, restored law and order, and gained the confidence of the people. And, further, he made military preparations forthwith for the war which he saw to be impending, effectively fortified the Lucknow Residency, and was unfortunately struck down in the first days of the siege that ensued.

It was during the last eleven years of his career, from 1846, when he ruled the Punjab through the Council of Regency, till his death in the Lucknow Residency in 1857, that Lawrence's position and services were of the eminence and weight that made their mark on the rule and fate of India.

But he had, from the very first, made exceptionally good use of his varied experiences, military, civil,