| Description | William forwards an enclosure that he wrote a month ago, for her eyes and his father's only: 'I wrote it in a moment of the deepest gratitude to my Maker'. He has has a month of the hardest work. The military authorities are difficult to manage, officers commanding 'a set of the most dreadful recruits yet imported from England'. They commit daily acts of violence in the bazaar and William describes the ongoing friction between Europeans and Indians in the aftermath of the rebellion. William thinks he is influenced on the part of the Indians as much as others favour the Europeans. He will show leniency towards Europeans, as far as the law allows, but he does not think they are entitled to acquittals. He considers the idea of his impartiality further and thinks he is now a 'white pandy' in the opinion of others. He has a long letter prepared on Indian matters, which he is pleased to know they take an interest at home. He has word of Johnnie's coming out to India [John Herschel] perhaps on the same steamer as the Watsons. Mrs Watson has been ill and may not return; William writes that she is the niece of Dr Watson of Bath and asks if it is the same doctor who examined William in London for consumption. He gives thanks for stereoscopes. |