| Description | William has just had the offer of a transfer to the Punjab, with acceptance required by return of post. The reply will go through Grote, the Commissioner at Berhampore. Instead of writing to him, William will ride down tonight to try to make out what the offer means. Assistants are urgently needed in the Punjab but he does not know what rank he would hold. Presently there are 36 civilians under Sir John Lawrence based there, which is attractive but Lawrence may not be there long. Montgomery, a first-rate man, would possibly succeed him. William cannot accept an appointment lower than his rank; his intrusion among the volunteers in the north would not be noticed and he sees strong inducements to go. Another reason is that he thinks he has 'made a very great hash of it in Bengal', where he has been working 'in darkness' for the past four years. William ruminates on this, concluding that he has now recovered his common sense and has some self-reliance, with as much chance of being right as most people. He does not feel that Bengal is a fair playing field for him, hence his interest in the Punjab. He thinks that Bengal is not typical of India and he wishes to see more of its people, but also the Punjab is said to be the model government within India and he wants to be free of the 'foul police of Bengal'. [21 March] If he accepts the Punjab he realises he may be there for the rest of his life. Grote hints that his duty is to the Bengal system and he does not wish to lose William. He argues that although he feels better, he is still not acclimatised to Bengal, and the Punjab has a better climate during the six months of cold weather and hot, but dry, in the remainder. His eventual conclusion is that he will lose everything in Bengal by moving, but gain nothing in Punjab, and therefore he will decline the present offer that has been made. He moves to general matters, having heard of the evacuation of Lucknow by rebels. Military men say that the rebellion is over. |