Page:The Lucknow album 1874 by Darogha Ubbas Alli.djvu/11

 succeed in fostering the spirit of enquiry, to which the histories of the objects afore mentioned have so manifestly given birth, and to which the educated Natives of India and the travelling public of all nations throughout the civilized world are so much attached.

It has already been remarked that, to the general traveller or tourist, the work will prove of great interest; it may be added that, to some, it will be of inestimable value; but to the friends and relations of the survivors, and to the survivors themselves, of the terrible rebellion of 1857-58, especially to those who were actual members of the beleaguered Garrison at the Lucknow Residency; whose gallant and glorious defence against overwhelming forces of a cruel, fanatical and barbarous foe, preserved the prestige of the British arms at such fearful sacrifices, this work will not prove an intellectual treat alone; the scenes herein depicted will revive old memories falling sadly but proudly on the heart; memories of the mighty dead, of brave sons and fathers, of dear sisters, loving wives and sweet children, who now sleep peacefully in the midst of the ruined grandeur where they fell. To the survivors of that Garrison, this Album will bear a sacred interest, and many a tear will fall at the contemplation of some well-remembered spot, over which a sort of holy radiance will appear to linger as the book is sorrowfully closed. The volume may be preserved, for transmission to posterity, as a memorial of the dangers passed and the hardships suffered by the glorious Garrison of Lucknow.

The Album being intended to serve as a pictorial guide, cannot be expected to contain profuse historical accounts of