He was supported in his reluctance to embark on warlike
enterprises by the whole force of the economic situation. No moment
could have been less fitting: no man more disinclined. That Lord Elgin's
Viceroyalty and the Famine year should have been marked by the greatest
Frontier War in the history of the British Empire in India, vividly
displays how little an individual, however earnest his motives, however
great his authority, can really control the course of public affairs.
The Council were called upon to decide on matters, which at once raised
the widest and most intricate questions of frontier policy; which might
involve great expense; which might well influence the development and
progress of the great populations committed to their charge. It would be
desirable to consider such matters from the most lofty and commanding
standpoints; to reduce detail to its just proportions; to examine the
past, and to peer into the future. And yet, those who sought to look
thus on the whole situation, were immediately confronted with the
picture of the rock of Chakdara, fringed and dotted with the white smoke
of musketry, encircled by thousands of fierce assailants, its garrison
fighting for their lives, but confident they would not be deserted.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123