MUTINY VETERANS. GREAT GATHERING OF SURVIVORS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 32, 7 February 1908, Page 3

MUTINY VETERANS. GREAT GATHERING OF SURVIVORS.

A MEMORABLE SCENE. Probably there had never before been such a gathering of a military character as that which took place in the. Albert Hall, London, on Monday, 23rd December, when survivois of the Indian Mutiny met at the invitation of ihe pio- ! prietors of the Daily Telegraph to com- j memorate the fiftieth anniveTsary of the j outbreak of that bistoiic struggle (says a London paper). Scarcely more than a thousand ar© known to remain of the men who were awarded tho Mutiny medal of 1857. and to all of these an invitation was extended. About half that number, representing at lejst fifty regiments of fifty years ago, were able to eorr.o, and to 'all the others a, Christmas hamper was sent. Tne interior of the Albert Hall presented, .i very lively and interesting scene, when li.ul Roberts took his seat at the head c; the principal table. Hound the defenders of Lucknow and the stormors of Delhi were grouped many of the heroines o£ the Mutiny, women who were in the former town duTing tho perilous days of the siege; and, beyond in the stalls and tieis of the mighty hall, were the sens and daughters and children of men who took part in the stirring events, and are proud to-day to be n-eck-oned amongst the descendants of survivors. Just as the meal ended the tremulous sounds of a bagpipe was heard, and in ono of the darl; arches leading to thefsialls a small bearded figure was Been vacstliug with the pipes. The air he played was "The Campbells are Coming" — the melody that heralded a relief to the miseries of beleaguered Lucknow. Th<j performer was ii J ip<r Angus Gibson, j of the Black Watch, the only surviving piper of those who had taken part in the Mutiny. The aged warriors burst into enthusiastic applause as the notes which in that far-away time fell on the straining ears of weary men and women once more ; r.icg out, but this time in what different .-..rcumstanccs ! * There was more cheering when, follow--mg on the toast of "The King," Lord Roberts rfad the following message, from His Majcfcty : — "I shall be glad if you will make known to the veterans who aTe assembled at the Royal Albert Hall to-day under your chairmanship my great satisfaction at learning how larjre a number of survivors who took, part in the memorable ludian Mutiny oi 1857 are able to be present at such an interesting occasion. "I speak in the name of the whole Kmpire when I say that, we deeply appreciate tho conspicuous service rendered by them and their eonnades who have now passed away under most trying circumstances, and vrith a. gallantry and enduTance which were tho means, under Providence-, of saving our Indian Empire from great peril." \ To a former Viceroy, Lord Curzon,' was allotted the task of proposing the toast of "The Survivors of the Indian Mutiny/ and he performed it with his customary eloquence. To the bulk of Englishmen, he said, the Indian Mutiny was already a tradition rather than a memory, and was surrounded 'with an almost mystic halo as one of the great national epics of the race. I*o all of them, young or old, it was one of the combined tragedies and glories of the Nation — tragedy because there wyte concentrated into those terrible months the agony and the suffering almost of centuries ; glory because great names leapt to life, high and ennobling deeds were done, and, best and most enduring of all, there sprang from all that/"' havoc and disaster the majestic fabric of aa India united under a single/crown. > They wero gazi'rig/for the last time at one of the supreme pages of history before it was turned back for ever, and stored away on the dusty shelves of time. They were rendering the last tribute of gratitude and respect to those who Wrote- their names upon that page in letters that would never die, and who were there to answer tho last rollcall they would hear together upon earth in the presence of their old comiades, and before their old commanders. Quite a' pathetic little incident was the interruption of a veteran, who wanted to Imow why Lord Curzon had not said anything about a lieutenant, whoso nanie he mentioned, who had distinguished himself at .Delhi. The interruption was expressive of the breathless "interest with which these old men waited for the mention of the names of men they had served under. For this "'eason Lord Roberts was listened to with rapt attention when he rose to propose "Fallen Comrades. ' He made special mention of all the unknown heroes of the campaign that his wide memory could recall. 'More than one old man was lead away in. tears i from the tables at the thought that the | chief's lecital must have evoked. At the end of his speech the whole assembly stood in silence while the bugler of the old 32nd Foot (tho regiment that defended Lucknow) rang out the "Last Post." Tho effect was one rto remember. Men who had seen their comrades drop off like flies could not keep back their tears, and an attempt at a cheer was crushed by choked cries of "Hush!" Then Mr. Lewis Waller recited a poem specially written by Mr. Rudyard Kipling, himself among the diners. Entitled "1857-1907," it ran :— , "To-day, across our 'father's graves The astonished years reveal The^ remnant of that' desperate host Which cleansed our East with steel. Hail and farewell! We greet you here With tears that none will scorn — O, keepers of the house of old, Or ever we were born! One service more we dare to ask. Pray for us. heroes, pray, ' That when Fat© lays on us our Task We do not shame tho day "