Such responsibilities are thrown
on them as at once to stimulate them to exertion of their best powers.
Men who in the ordinary fields of work might remain all their lives mere
commonplace mediocrities, under the discipline of Indian service, find
out and show their real value. The Indian mutiny exhibited how common
the rare qualities of foresight, energy, and enduring courage, and the
still higher qualities of submission, patience, and faith, had become
among those against whom the natives rose like a flood to overwhelm them
in destruction. The little bands of English at Cawnpore, at Lucknow, and
at many a less famous station, stood like rocks against the dashing of
the storm. The qualities that enabled them to win the admiration even
of their enemies, and to call forth the respect and the sorrow of the
world, were the result, not of sudden stress, but of long and habitual
training. The reader of Hodson's memoir will gain a knowledge of the
processes by which such characters are developed.
The letters which make up the larger part of this book are written
with animation and simplicity, and are full of spirited accounts of
adventure, of rough and various service.
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