Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/329

Rh the bravery of its garrison, the privations, risks, and horrors to which the women were subjected, while hope was deferred, and England gave them up as dead, and they themselves at length, “not expecting deliverance,” resolved to die, if die they must, with their face to their bloody and relentless foe. The women of Carthage are celebrated for having cut off their hair to make bowstrings for their husbands, but the resolute and enduring courage of these daughters of Britain make them worthy of higher fame. Englishmen may well feel proud of their countrywomen.

Two great and good men are the central figures of this siege and relief, Sir Henry Lawrence and Sir Henry Havelock—the former an Episcopalian and the latter a Baptist—both men who honored and loved God, and who were greatly honored by God, the first in defending, the latter in rescuing, against fearful odds, the gallant men and women of the Lucknow Residency.

Sir Henry Lawrence, after spending more than thirty years in the military and civil service in India, was appointed Governor of the Kingdom of Oude. He reached Lucknow, the capital, and entered upon his duties early in 1857, fully impressed by the dangerous condition of things at that time. Though in very feeble health, he set himself vigorously at work to prepare for the coming storm, which at length broke over India on the memorable 31st of May. Every city in Oude, save Lucknow, was seized that day by the Sepoys, and deeds of cruelty and blood perpetrated which shocked the whole civilized world. Lucknow alone, where Sir Henry dwelt in the Residency, was held, and even his vigor and ability could not have suspended its fall had he not had a handful of English soldiers to rely upon. He at once collected all the civilians and Christian residents of Lucknow, with a few native troops whose fidelity he thought he could trust, and over whom he exerted a wonderful influence, into the Residency, and some other houses close to it, and began to fortify them in the best manner that the time and means at his command would allow. Provisions were collected rapidly, and ammunition stored and prepared, guns put in position, and his people organized. In addition to the