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It has been said that Delhi was taken and India saved by the
personal character of Sir John Lawrence. The very name of
"Lawrence" represented power in the North-West Provinces. His
standard of duty, zeal, and personal effort, was of the highest;
and every man who served under him seemed to be inspired by his
spirit. It was declared of him that his character alone was worth
an army. The same might be said of his brother Sir Henry, who
organised the Punjaub force that took so prominent a part in the
capture of Delhi. Both brothers inspired those who were about them
with perfect love and confidence. Both possessed that quality of
tenderness, which is one of the true elements of the heroic
character. Both lived amongst the people, and powerfully
influenced them for good. Above all as Col. Edwardes says, "they
drew models on young fellows' minds, which they went forth and
copied in their several administrations: they sketched a FAITH,
and begot a SCHOOL, which are both living things at this day." Sir
John Lawrence had by his side such men as Montgomery, Nicholson,
Cotton, and Edwardes, as prompt, decisive, and high-souled as
himself. John Nicholson was one of the finest, manliest, and
noblest of men--"every inch a hakim," the natives said of him--"a
tower of strength," as he was characterised by Lord Dalhousie.
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