Page:Thirty-five years in the East.djvu/183

 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 1 29 The principal cause of this by no nneans insignificant Tiot, was said to be that an English soldier of the garrison gave a cut with his sword to an ox, which is esteemed by the Brahmins as a sacred animal. Since then, however, oxen are not only killed at Lahore, but at Umritsir, the holy city, and the meat is publicly sold at the bazaars. The Sikhs and Hindoos, who consider the killing of oxen and cows to be a capital sin, can do nothing but grieve at the sacrilege, and weep at their inability to prevent it. Their feelings on this point, however, would sometimes take a more active and dangerous turn ; and on one occasion, when the Resident gave an entertainment in the royal gardens, called Shallemar, to which many ladies and gentlemen, and their children were invited, and I also happened to be among the number of the guests, we were near falling victims to the people's vengeance. By good fortune, however, the Resident was apprised of the conspiracy, and all preparations were made for our security, otherwise it would, I am afraid, have gone hardly with us, as the quarters of the troops were at Anarkhali, five miles from the gardens. Bad health induced the Resident to accompany the Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, to England, and Sir F. Currie replaced him ; but as he treated the Sikhs with more indulgence, not being so well acquainted with oriental policy as Sir H. Lawrence, the people soon began to abuse his kindness- Two officers also, named Agnew and Anderson, both of them unacquainted with the manners and customs of the country, and therefore ignorant of the proper method of dealing with such a people, were sent, accompanied by a native, Serdar Kan Sing, to Mooltan, to receive the state accounts from the Mulraj, and to take their posts as governors of that district. Both these officers were barbarously murdered ; and the natives, as if by a given signal, rose in revolt against the English. The troops of the provinces Banu-Tank, Hazareh and Peshawur also joined the hostile movement ; and a cons- iracy was detected at Lahore, in which, as before mentioned,