A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude | Page 9

I have said in my public letter. If he be sent to Gwalior, I hope a
good officer may be sent to act for him in Thalone, for the duties are
very heavy and responsible. Blake will do very well, and so would his
second in command, Captain Erskine, of the 73rd, who is an excellent
civil officer. I must pray you to let me have the orders of Government
on the subject as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely, (Signed) W. H. SLEEMAN.
P.S.--I should consider Major Stevens an able man for a civil charge,
but have never seen him.
(Signed) W. H. S.
To H. M. Elliot, Esq., &c. &c.

__________________________

Jhansee, 6th May, 1848.
My Dear Maddock,
Your kind letter of the 21st ultimo had prepared me for the public one
of the 28th, which I got yesterday from Elliot, and I wrote off at once,
to say simply that I should be glad to suspend or to withdraw the
application contained in my letter of the 29th of March, as might
appear best to Government; and that I should not have made it at all,
had I apprehended that a compliance with it would have been attended
with any inconvenience.
With the knowledge I have acquired of the duties of the several officers,
and the entire command of my time here at a quiet place, and
long-established methodical habits, I can get through the work very
well, though it becomes trying sometimes. Arrears I never allow to
accumulate, and regular hours, and exercise, and sparing diet, with
water beverage, keep me always in condition for office work. I often
wish that you could have half the command of your hours, mode of
living, and movements, that I have. However, they will soon be much
more free than mine. I am very glad that you have the one year more
for a wind up; and hope that good fortune will attend you to the last.
You say nothing, however, about your foot. The papers and letters from
home have just come in. I hear that Lord John is very unwell, and will
not be able to stand the work many months more, and that Sir R. Peel is
obliged to be cupped once a-week, and could not possibly take office.
Who is to take helm in the troubled ocean, no one knows. I am glad
that Metternich has been kicked out, for he and Louis Philippe are the
men that have put in peril the peace and institutions of all Europe. I
only wish that the middle class was as strong in France as it is in
England; it is no doubt infinitely stronger than it was; while the lower
order is better than that of England, I believe, for such occasions. They
have good men now in the provisional Government--so they had in
1788; and, like them, the present men will probably be swept away by

the mob. They are not, however, likely to be embarrassed by other
nations, since the days of Pitt and George III. are passed away, and so
are the feudal times when the barons could get up civil wars for their
own selfish purposes. There are no characters sufficiently prominent to
get up a civil war, but the enormous size of the army is enough to
create feelings of disquiet. It is, however, officered from the middle
classes, who have property at stake, and must be more or less interested
in the preservation of order.
The Government has no money to send to Algiers, and must reduce its
strength there, so that Egypt is in no danger at present; were it so, we
should be called upon to defend it from India, and could well do so. It
is evident that the whole French nation was alienated from Louis
Philippe, and prepared to cast off him and all his family, though, as you
say, I do not believe that there was anywhere any design to oust him
and put down monarchy. Had he thrown off Guizot a little sooner, and
left some able military leaders free to act, the _émeute_ would have
been put down; but those who could have acted did not feel free to do
so: they did not feel sure of the king, while they were sure of the odium
of the people. I am not at all sorry for the change. I am persuaded that it
will work good for Europe; but still its peace and best institutions are in
peril at present. We are in no danger here, because people do not
understand such things; and because England is in a prouder position
than ever, and will, I trust, retain it.
Lord Grey seems an able man at home, but he is, I believe, hot- headed,
and Lord