"I have been here before, and perhaps you will excuse me if I have occasion
to leave before your lordship has finished; and with this understanding, I
think you had better proceed," added the commander.
"I will do so with the greatest pleasure," replied the speaker, as he took
his place on the rostrum again. "I have described the terrible situation to
which the English in India had been reduced, with nearly a hundred thousand
Sepoys in rebellion, and the troops outnumbered a hundred to one, shut up
in camps and forts. The fanatical and blood-thirsty mob, far greater than
the body of native soldiers, were eager to fall upon and slaughter all
Europeans.
"At this time there were 40,000 British troops scattered over the country;
several thousand men on their way from England to China were diverted to
this country. Forty thousand from home were on their voyage of 12,000 miles
around the Cape of Good Hope to relieve the besieged garrisons. But in the
midst of the gloom of this miserable summer there was a gleam of sunshine,
and the sad disasters at Cawnpore and elsewhere were partially retrieved.
This came on the appearance of Henry Havelock, whose noble example of a
true life I commend to my young friends here who are just entering upon
their careers.
"Havelock was born in 1795. His father was a merchant, and he was well
educated.
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