BOOKS.

MRS. GRIMWOOD'S NARRATIVE.*

Mss. GRIMWOOD showed during the agony at Manipur and the retreat to Cachar an abundance of courage, and the verdict that will be passed on her by nine out of ten readers of her story will be that she is above all things a "plucky • My Three Years in Manipur, and Escape from the Recent Mutiny. BieEtlsyl St. Clair Grimwood, With Illustrations and. Plan. London; Richard Bentley and Son. 1891.

little woman." At the same time, when her narrative as a whole, and, still more, the spirit in which much of it is written, are taken into account, one cannot help wondering whether the Grimwoods were not too young for the responsible and delicate duties that had to be performed by the Political Agent at Manipur and his wife. Mrs. Grimwood does not say enough of her late husband to enable her readers to form a sound judgment as to his character. He figures as " Frank" and " my husband," as loyal to his "chief," even to the extent of carrying out orders that were personally disagreeable to him, as playing polo, and otherwise ingratiating himself with the Manipur Princes. His portrait, which is given in this volume, is that of a handsome, amiable young man, of the type that is generally popular in "Society." As for Mrs.

Grimwood, she is represented in her own unaffected and ingenuous—almost too ingenuous—narrative as, from the moment of her appearance at the Manipur Residency, down to the crisis in which she lost her husband, and all but lost her life, a light-hearted, impressionable girl. When the offer of the Manipur post—the first offer, that is to say—came to her husband,—

" I pictured to myself the dignity of being the mistress of a Residency, of possessing servants in scarlet and gold, with 'V.R.' on their buttons, and a guard of honour to walk out with me, whenever I chose. I saw visions of a large house and extensive grounds, and I pictured the ensign of Old England dominating over all. Frank, likewise, had dreams of polo ponies that played of their own accord every day of the week, and visions of many tigers only waiting to be shot and snipe roosting in the verandah !"

When Mr. Quinton sent word of his intention to visit Mani- pur on what proved to be his fatal mission, Mrs. Grimwood resolved to kill a fatted goat in his honour. On the day fixed for its killing, news was brought to her that the animal was dying :

"I raced back to the Residency, and rushed to the scene of action. There on the ground lay the goat breathing his last, and with his departing spirit went all my dreams of legs of mutton, chops, and cutlets. I sent to the house for bottles of hot beer and quarts of brandy, and I poured gallons of liquid down the creature's throat; but all to no purpose ; and, after giving one last heartrending groan, he expired at my feet. I could have wept. The pains that had been taken with that goat to make it fat and well-favoured for the delectation of my friends ! and then that it should shuffle off this mortal coil on the very day fixed for its execution was altogether heartrending."

On the very eve of the tragedy, "Mr. Brackenbury amused us by singing comic songs, accompanying himself on his banjo

after dinner." It may be said that all this is simply sweet simplicity. But it strengthens the suspicion we have ex- pressed that the Grimwoods—although their devotion to what they believed to be their duty was as undoubted as their devo- tion to each other—were hardly old or experienced enough for the task entrusted to them.

The Manipur story has already been told so fully by Mrs. Grimwood herself and others, that in this formal narrative she has little to add to her account of the defence of the Residency and the terrible retreat to Cachar. She avoids everything of a controversial character, and in her last chapter—which is in many respects the best, and is certainly the most serious, in her volume—she says, with perfect truth : "I have endeavoured to avoid writing anything which may be construed into an accusation or insinuation against any of the persons concerned, whether they be alive or dead." Perhaps, indeed, on account of its impartiality, this volume will deepen rather than lessen the mystery of which so much political capital has been made in the past, and may even be made in the future. It is impossible yet to see why Mr.

Quinton was sent on his fatal errand to Manipur. Mrs. Grim- wood says that he, like her own husband, seemed at first in- clined to accept the situation created by the dynastic revolution, which ended in the deposition and flight of the Maharajah, and the elevation of the Senaputty nominally to the second, but in reality to the first, position in the little State. This revolu- tion meant improvement of various kinds, according to Mrs. Grimwood. Formerly impassable roads were repaired, good bridges were built, the quarrels among the Princes ceased, the people seemed happier and more contented. The exiled Maharajah, indeed, seems to have informed the authorities at Calcutta that the Manipur Political Agent had departed from his proper attitude of neutrality, and had taken the side of the Princes opposed to him. But the Indian Government could hardly have listened to representations made exclusively from one side ; and if Mr. Quinton was sent to Manipur simply from considerations of high policy, and to make an example

of " Native " revolutionaries, this ought to have been made much clearer than, according to this book, seems to have beert the case. Then there is no denying that the attempt to arrest the Princes after Durbar—the question of the morality of such a step need not now be considered—was a sadly bungled affair. Finally, it passes the wit of man to understand why Mr. Quin- ton, Mr. Grimwood, and their colleagues allowed themselves, under any pretext or excuse whatever, to go to the Manipur Palace to meet men who were necessarily infuriated against them, and who in all probability believed that they were justi- fied in using treachery against persons who had, in their opinion, first employed this weapon.

It is an easy matter to indicate the fresh light which Mrs.. Grimwood's volume actually does throw on the Manipur affair. It consists mainly of lifelike sketches of the leading actors in that tragedy. Of the Senaputty, who after the Palace revolution figured as the Jnbraj—the previous Jubraj; having become Maharajah—and who appears to have been the strongest man, physically as well as intellectually, in Manipur, Mrs. Grimwood says :—

"There was something about him that is not generally found in the character of a native. He was manly and generous to a fault, a good friend and a bitter enemy. We liked him because he was much more broad-minded than the rest. If he promised a. thing, that thing would be done, and he would take the trouble to see himself that it was done, and not be content with simply giving the order."

The Tongal General is also thus described :— " He was an old man, nearer eighty than seventy, I should think, taller than the average Manipuri, and marvellously active for his age. He had a fine old face, much lined and wrinkled with age and the cares of State, which had fallen upon him when he was quite a young man, and had in no wise lessened as his years in- creased. He had piercing black eyes, shaggy overhanging white eyebrows, and white hair. His nose was long and slightly hooked,. and his mouth was finely cut and very determined The Tongal always reminded me of an eagle. He had the same keen, rugged expression, and deep-set glowing eyes. Few things happened without his knowledge and consent ; and if he withheld his approbation from any matter, there would invariably be a hitch in it somewhere. He was credited with more bloodshed than any man in the Kingdom. If a village had misbehaved itselfN raided on another, or refused to pay revenue or do Lalup, the Tongal would travel out to that village and wipe it off the face of the earth. Men, women, and children were cut down without the slightest compunction If he had his faults, he had his virtues. He was very enterprising, fond of building bridges, and improving the roads about the capital. Like the Senaputty, he was a keen soldier, enjoyed watching good shooting, and had been in his younger days a first-rate shot himself. He was an obstinate old man, and it was very difficult to get him to listen to any proposition if it did not please him at the outset ; but when once he had promised to get anything done, he did not go back from his word, and we knew it was reliable."

It is due to Mrs. Grimwood to say that her earlier chapters, written in clear, vivacious English of the girls'-letter sort, in which she describes Manipur and the Manipuris, aro very entertaining and readable. She certainly makes good her contention that the Manipur Valley, surrounded, as it is, by six ranges of hills, is "a pretty place, more beautiful than many of the show-places of the world." It has its fair share of rain between April and the end of October; but between October and the end of March, "the weather was as perfect as could be, very cold, and yet bright and sunshiny, with never a drop of rain to trouble one." Life, how- ever, seems to be a round of meals, amusements, and look- ing after pet animals. Indeed, Mrs. Grimwood says in effect, that life would hardly be worth living in India but for pet animals. The Manipnri tribesmen appear to possess average intelligence, and their worst pleasure, pigeon-fighting, which was put down by the Maharajah's successor, is not more demoralising than many a game that is tolerated in this country. After the Manipur experience, and the fate of poor- Mr. Grimwood, it may be hoped that British Political Agents will in future be directed to make themselves thoroughly and not superficially acquainted with the inhabitants of the district& they are sent to,—even if they have to pay less attention to-

Princes and polo.