of the national debt were, during the five years, subjected to this operation.

There was not the least difficulty in raising the requisite funds either in England or in India. The moneyed classes and the capitalists in India were known to be able to invest a certain sum annually, from two to three millions sterling, in Government securities at four per cent., which is for India a very low rate. This amount they were glad to tender whenever subscriptions to a Government loan were invited; and they would have tendered much larger sums had the rate of interest been higher.

The frequent borrowing might have been expected to have a depressing effect on the selling price of Government securities. But instead of suffering any depreciation, these securities steadily rose in value during the five years, and on the fifth year stood at the highest point they had ever reached. The four per cent. stock in India, called "the rupee debt” (in silver) used to be sold at 91 for 100 rupees; it gradually rose to par during these years, and in 1873 reached 105, or 5 per cent. premium. In England the Indian four per cent. stock, called "the sterling debt" (in gold) used to stand at 92 for 100; it gradually rose to 106, or 6 per cent. premium. The fact was that all men saw the efforts made by the Government of India to augment income and diminish ordinary expenditure. Indeed the very unpopularity of some among the fiscal measures proved the stern resolution of the Government to pursue its policy despite opposition. It was known that the money was being borrowed, not to meet deficit or to pay for unproductive expenditure like war, but for reproductive works railways and canals for irrigation, of all which the merits were patent to the public. It was often predicted that these works would seldom be remunerative, and would sometimes even prove to be national folly. But evidently the moneyed classes thought otherwise, relying on the Government, and the event has shewn that they were right. For now these works, both railways and canals, are in technical phrase "paying," that is, yielding a return, net after defrayal of expenses. This return on the

CHAP. XV.

REVENUE AND TRADE STATISTICS.

365

capital outlay amounts to five per cent. on the railways and six per cent. on the canals.

During this time the treasury was kept full, as will be seen from the following figures of the cash balances on the 31st March, or the last day of each official year, both in India itself and in England on account of India :

The revenues during the five years were stationary, their total varying somewhat according to the imposition or remission of the income-tax; while the ordinary expenditure decreased during the first four years and rose in the fifth year, owing to the Bengal famine, as will be shown by the following figures taken from the returns presented to Parliament:

The declared value of the foreign trade of India during the

CHAPTER XVI.

(1869-1872.)

LORD MAYO'S INDIAN CAREER.

Lord Mayo arrives at Calcutta succeeding John Lawrence-Receives visit from Shir Ali, Amir of Caubul-Boundary between Afghanistan and Central Asia -Relations with Persia-Expedition against tribes on eastern border of India-Sir Henry Durand in the Panjab-Army expenses and accommodation for European troops-Lord Mayo's internal administration-He bestows special care upon finance-Causes increased control to be entrusted to provincial Governments over certain departments-Promotes public works, railways and canals-Endeavours to establish a Department of Agriculture-Progress of legislation-Visit of H.R.H the Duke of Edinburgh-Murder of Acting Chief Justice Norman-Assassination of Lord Mayo in the Andaman Islands-Funeral ceremonies at Calcutta.

ON the day in January, 1869, that Lord Mayo succeeded John Lawrence as Governor-General, at the Government House, Calcutta, the contrast, in appearance, between the two men was remarked by every bystander. John Lawrence stood near the head of the flight of steps, wearing full uniform, calm in aspect, and conscious that he had, according to his own phrase, served his time and done all he could. He was somewhat pallid and care-worn, reduced in body from protracted labour while in precarious health, and looking like a hoary weather-beaten rock, round which the elements had oft-times roared and dashed.

Lord Mayo, on the other hand, mounted the steps in plain morning dress, robust in fraine, beaming with the brightness of health, buoyant in spirits, and elastic with hope. He won favour with every one at first sight, and soon began to acquire a personal popularity, which, with slight intermissions at Calcutta, grew and expanded as he became more widely known. Indeed, he possessed qualifications, for conciliating the regard of an Anglo-Saxon community in the East, such as rarely fall

CHAP. XVI. LORD MAYO'S PERSONAL QUALITIES.

367

to the lot of those who are chosen for such a post as that of Governor-General. The English in India, though willing to make allowance for bodily weakness when combined with moral power, and ready to admire the feeble frame when struggling with difficulties, do yet delight to see physical strength and manly vigour in their rulers. Now Lord Mayo was a capital rider, a practised judge of horses, and the animals which filled his stable made a sight worth seeing. Having hunted much in England and Ireland he rapidly rose to a high rank among equestrian sportsmen in India, and began to lead the field in pursuit of the wild boar. He was fond of using the gun or the rifle and would wade through the marshes near Calcutta to shoot snipe. He occasionally attended some of the principal races, and made official journeys of great length on horseback. Having once led a somewhat hard life while engaged in Irish farming, he had a frank and sympathetic bearing towards those who were battling with difficulties, and a practical insight into all circumstances of perplexity. Yet, without being at all ostentatious he always assumed a due degree of state and dignity. Personally he was generous and much given to hospitality, which he dispensed with an urbane freedom and attentive carefulness that charmed all hearts.

He seemed to us to be different from any Governor-General we had yet seen. Hardinge had been quiet and sedate; Dalhousie had preserved retiring habits by reason of the pain against which he had to contend amidst all his imperial anxieties; Canning was naturally grave and reserved, even before he felt the oppressive sense of unexampled anxiety; Elgin had been bright and genial, without displaying any remarkable degree of physical vigour; and Lawrence never lost the care-worn weather-beaten aspect caused by a life of Indian toil. But Mayo was gay, active, and enthusiastic, without at all derogating from his proper dignity; indeed enthusiasm pervaded his whole existence, and was his distinguishing mark.

Almost his first care, after assuming office, was to gather up the threads of the negotiation with the Amir of Caubul, Shir Ali, as John Lawrence had left it. The Amir had not come to

meet the Governor-General in British territory before the end of John Lawrence's incumbency. Lord Mayo soon learnt, however, that Shir Ali would cross the Panjab border, and arranged that the Amir should proceed as far as Amballa for the meeting, as it was well for the Afghan ruler and his advisers to see something of the power and civilization of the British dominions. He fixed a time during April for meeting the Amir, and was accompanied to Amballa by the members of his Council, including myself. He arranged there, for the reception of the Amir and his suite, that display of various military forces, belonging to many nationalities arrayed under one banner, and that expanse of canvas in the tented fields, which never fail to lend a strange interest to occasions of state in India.

Shir Ali was aquiline in profile, short of stature, broad in build, and seemed to be in the prime of life. He had the cast of countenance which characterizes many of the Afghan chiefs; wherein a certain sort of exterior polish conceals a fierceness of which momentary flashes could hardly be suppressed. Still he had something of frankness, even of bluffness, and looked like a man who had lived in camps, fought hard-contested fields, and by the sword cut his way to power and fortune. He accepted the subsidies of arms and money which the Governor-General gave as the balance of the £60,000 promised by John Lawrence. He received also the present of a jewelled sword, vowing that it should be drawn henceforth for the British Government alone. He did not obtain, however, the definitive assurances of support which he desired from the British Government, both in respect of foreign war and internal revolution. Then he returned to Caubul, pleased with the reception which had been accorded, and doubtless intending sincerely to act up to all the loyal words he had uttered. Lord Mayo would have rejoiced if he had been empowered to give a more positive guarantee to the Amir, at least, in respect to protection against foreign aggression. Still he continued, by exercising a personal influence, to keep the Afghan ruler in a loyal and contented frame of mind. Thus for several years the Amballa meeting produced valuable results politically, which redounded to Lord Mayo's honour.