SIR JAMES OUTRAN.
BRITISH India has lost the services of one of her foremest men— James Outram. At a critical moment, the warrior, statesman, and tamer of men is compelled by ill-health to quit scene of his various and noble achievements and return home. It is um- possible to conjecture what India will not lose by the retirement of so distinguished, and what is of far greater importance of so honest, a man.
In a fit of poetical enthusiasm Sir Charles Napier toasted James Outram as the Bayard of India. It was no exaggerated compli- ment, it was a just description of the man. The Queen never bestowed knighthood upon any one who possessed the true knightly qualities in greater perfection. Some men command our admira- Awn but do not win our respect or love. Sir James Outram com- ' ands our admiration for his splendid talents, our respect for his oble and unstained character, our affection for his gentleness, s unselfishness, his magnanimity. In his earlier career by eer force of character, he rooted out the barbarous habits of ole tribes of savages, venturing among them at the peril of life, and winning their confidence by trusting them, and
showing that he came to bless and not to injure them. The daring which led him among the Bheds, carried him also alone and in disguise on a perilous journey for the public service, from the heart of the Affghan country to Bombay. Devoted to his duty, wherever it might lead him, willing to die for his country, he never paltered with his conscience even for her ; and convinced that the war in &hide and the annexation of that country were wrongful acts, he refused his share of the prize-money resulting from the sack of Hyderabad—one of the noblest and one of the rarest deeds ever performed by any man. So, also, when he was at Baroda, he ferretted out the corruption which, springing from that court, shot up into high places and in spite of the persecution he drew down upon him he persisted and destroyed it. His conduct to General Havelock was in har- mony with his whole career. Who does not remember the painful feelings that all experienced when the Government of Calcutta sent Outram to succour and supersede Havelock, at a moment when the conquering little column led up from Allahabad seemed on the threshhold of success ; and who is not conscious now of the heartfelt joy inspired by Outram's refusal to deprive the general of his command and his determination to serve under Havelock as a volunteer in the final dash on Lnek-now. That act alone would stamp him as a man of a chivalric mind. He saw it would be un- 41tto Havelock, and he made red-tape yield to high feeling. nghout his life it has been always the same. It would be hardly possible to parallel in history two such splendid instances of conscientious action as the refusal of the Scinde prize-money, and the refusal to deprive Havelock of the front place he had won.
Let us hope that Sir James Outram has not closed his career ; but if he has, then he falls out of the ranks at a fitting time. His friends in India have bidden him farewell, and here in England his friends should show him a hearty welcome, for seldom has a man with a character so rare, and a reputation so shining, arrived among us from a land fruitful in heroes. In doing his duty and obeying the dictates of a sensitive conscience, Sir James Outram did not think of honours and rewards though honours and re- wards must be welcome to him as to al men. Not for his sake, but for our sake, do we say that London should not be less quick than Calcutta to recognize an able soldier and an honest and magnanimous man.
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