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storied barracks with accommodation for families, an increase of accommodation for the troops on the hills, the opening out of communications including the extension of railway lines, the improvement of our defences, and the remodelling of the armament."-("Times of India.")

In 1866 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay army. Here he had an ample field for the work he loved best, the development of schemes for the benefit of the soldiers, and especially those of the native army. Napier was always beloved by his men, and no one more amply deserved that attachment. His every thought and every care was for them, and as head of the Bombay army he gave full scope to his views. The consequence was that when, in the autumn of 1867, it was decided to send troops to Abyssinia and to entrust the command to Napier, he had under his hands a weapon he himself had forged, and on the true temper of which he felt sure he could depend.

For the three months which elapsed between the first intimation to him that he was to undertake the work, and his departure for the seat of war, he devoted himself to personally supervising every detail connected with the service. Nothing was left to chance, nor indeed to others to carry out without his cognizance, and the result proved the ability with which every measure had been adopted throughout:

"From the outset of this very difficult undertaking, the hands of the commander were strengthened by the implicit confidence which H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge and the Secretary of State for India were enabled to place in him-a confidence merited by field service of no ordinary distinction, and a career involving a very varied experience."— ("Times of India.")

He was allowed to select his own troops, and he naturally chose the men whose organization and disciplinary training had been so much the work of his own hands. With the exception of a single Company of Engineers (the 10th) which came from England, and a small subsidiary force from the Bengal army, all the regiments were of the Bombay establishment. In a minute dated September 5th, 1867, he wrote:

"It is of some consequence in an expedition of the nature of that in contemplation, which may have to encounter hardship, fatigue, and privation of no ordinary kind, that the troops to be employed should know each other and their commander."

The details of the Abyssinian Expedition have been given in Part I. Chap. XXII., and, as was there shown, fell to a great extent on the Engineers of the force. It was essentially an Engineer campaign, and well was it for its success that it was commanded by a man who was not only a consummate leader but at the same time a highly trained scientific soldier. One point in the undertaking

has not been treated of, and that one was of a character personal to Napier. The difficulty of preventing Theodore from massacring the captives who were in his possession must have proved a source of the keenest anxiety to the commander of the army. The wily savage was shrewd enough to realize the strong card he held in his hand, and he strove to play it to his own advantage. A man of a lower type of character than Napier would probably have temporized in the hope of attaining his object without risk to the unfortunate prisoners, but that was not the view taken by him. He felt that the bold game was the one most likely to be at the same time the safest and the most successful:

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"As a matter of fact the release of the Abyssinian captives was mainly due to the determination of Sir Robert Napier to admit of no conditions with an unconquered savage, other than that of unconditional surrender. The strength of character of the British commander had as much influence on the mind of his enemy as the mysteries of a farreaching and wonder-working artillery. The savage acknowledged his master, and if he selected to die himself he dared attempt no injury to the captive band, who, seemingly at his mercy, were under the protection of an enemy he had learnt to respect as well as fear."—(" Times of India.")

On returning to England at the close of the campaign Napier received an ovation which marked the keen sense of relief felt by the country at the prosperous conclusion of an undertaking which everyone had realized was fraught with extreme danger. Prudence, foresight, and skill had overcome all obstacles, and the gratitude of the people was unbounded. He was thanked by Parliament, and raised to the Peerage under the title of Baron Napier of Magdala.

In the year 1870 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in India, a post which he held till 1876. In this exalted position he was able to carry out on a still larger scale the reforms and measures of amelioration which he had previously instituted at Bombay. When he left India at the conclusion of his term of office he was greeted with every possible token of regard, and of regret at his departure. A statue by Boehm has since been erected in his honour at Calcutta, on the Maidan, near Prinsep's Ghat. This was unveiled by Lord Ripon, in 1883.

On arrival home Lord Napier was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, an office which he held until 1882, when he returned once more to England. It is hoped that he may yet be spared for many years to assist his country by the benefit of his advice, and the experience of a long and brilliant career. The highest post in the army, that of a Field Marshal, which had only once before been conferred on an Engineer, has been obtained by him, and he has also received the dignified appointment of Constable of the Tower.

GENERAL SIR HENRY DRURY HARNESS, K.C.B.,

entered the Corps in 1827. After a tour of foreign service he was appointed Instructor of Fortification at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, from whence he was transferred to the School of Military Engineering as Instructor in Surveying. In 1845 he was offered and accepted the post of Inspector of Welsh Roads, an office created at that time to assist, and in some measure control the county authorities in the re-arrangement of the public roads in Wales, consequent on the change in the system of maintenance from turnpikes to county rates. Many important questions relating to the laying out, construction, and repair of these roads had to be settled, and the manner in which he dealt with them was universally recognized as showing him to be a man of great ability, and much power of organisation. About this time, the subject of dealing with the system of railways, then being rapidly developed, was causing much anxiety at the Board of Trade, and they turned to the Corps of Royal Engineers as the best source from which to obtain men capable of advising them in the matter. A Commission was formed, of which Captain Harness was appointed Secretary. In this position he was thrown in contact with all the leading engineers of the day. In 1850 he was called on to undertake the duty of reforming the Royal Mint. The Master of the Mint was, at that time, a political officer, and Harness, as the Deputy-Master, became the real head of the department. The mechanical operations connected with the production of coin had hitherto been controlled by a body of melters, assayers, and -moneyers, who contracted with the Deputy-Master for the execution of the coinage at certain rates. The art of coining was regarded as a "mystery," known only to this confederation of experts, who, besides enjoying from its exercise very considerable emoluments, claimed a vested interest in the appointment of all new-comers. This enabled them to make provision for their friends and relatives without much consideration for the public good. The task allotted to Captain Harness was to convert this close corporation into a simple Government Department, and it was not an easy one. In order to deal successfully with a body of men strenuously opposed to reform, he had, in the first place, to acquire a sufficient knowledge himself of their "mystery; and further, in case of determined opposition, to be provided with means for carrying on the coinage without their help. Both of these conditions he fulfilled, and for the latter, he held in reserve

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a detachment of Sappers, to be called upon if necessary to undertake the mechanical operations of coining. He succeeded, however, in carrying out the desired reform without their aid. Before the business had been completely and satisfactorily arranged, a change was made in the Mastership of the Mint. It was no longer to be looked upon as a political office, but the holder was to have the actual control of the department. Sir John Herschel was appointed to the post, and Harness, who considered that his own claims had been unjustly neglected, resigned his connection with the Mint as soon as he had completed his reforms, although Lord Aberdeen, the Prime Minister, personally solicited him to remain. As regards the service performed by him, Sir John Herschel thus wrote in his report in 1852:

"I cannot conclude this report without observing that, but for the clear views, ready resource, and indefatigable energy of Capt. Harness, the Deputy-Master, it would scarcely have been practicable to carry out these reforms in the efficient manner in which it has been done."

Captain Harness having resigned his post at the Mint was offered the Governorship of New Zealand. This he declined as unsuited to his tastes, but he accepted the office of Commissioner of Public Works in Ireland, and held it for two years. In 1855 he was brought back to England to become the head of the Fortification branch under the Inspector-General of Fortifications at the War Office, which position he retained during the Crimean War. When the Indian mutiny broke out, he accepted the command of the Royal (as distinguished from the Indian) Engineers, which was to form part of the force assembling under Lord Clyde for the suppression of the revolt. He was present at the siege and capture of Lucknow, and afterwards was with Lord Clyde in Oudh and Rohilkund.

"Sir H. Norman said of him at this time, that his delight in the campaigning was great. Elderly man as he was (54) when he thus took the field for the first time, he was like a boy in his glee at scouring the country hither and thither, every now and then under fire. At the staff mess he was a most joyous and popular member, even those of the staff who were inclined to look upon him as somewhat impracticable, could not help liking the good, sagacious, brave man."

His last public service before becoming a General Officer was as Commandant of the School of Military Engineering. Like every other duty in which he was engaged, he devoted his whole thoughts and energies to the improvement of the system at the time being carried out at that establishment. He seems to have become disheartened at the apparent non-success of the

reforms which he initiated. His great friend at this time was Sir William Denison, R.E., the Governor of Madras, and to him. he poured out his troubles. The letters he wrote are not now to be traced, but we may gather something of their pith in the following extracts taken from the replies sent to him by Denison, and which are published in his "Varieties of Viceregal Life"

"I am sorry to hear from you that you do not anticipate success in your endeavour to improve the character of the instruction given at Chatham to the young officers of the Corps. Now I do anticipate a good deal. In all institutions of this kind, I look a good deal more to the head of the institution than to the system. It is too much the fancy of the present day to think that men are mere machines, that a certain routine can be carried out with young men or boys, by which (to a great extent, irrespective of the people who administer the system and carry its details into practice) a perfect homunculus is turned out, fitted either to lead an army or govern a state. Now all my experience contradicts this, and tells me that a good system badly administered, or rather, administered merely as a system, is far inferior in its results to an indifferent system worked by a man who is in earnest. Now my reason for thinking that you will produce a good effect is a conviction on my part that, in the first place, you are in earnest, and, in the second, that you have sympathies with the young, that you are not old in mind, though both you and I are getting on in years. Take then my advice, my dear fellow, and go straight ahead in the line you mark out for yourself; work upon the young men by the influence of example, by bringing the stores of knowledge which you have accumulated during the thirty-five years we have been alongside each other in the corps to act upon their minds; stimulate their appetite for every sort of information; do not bind them down to the 'narrow gauge' of purely professional study, but let them work on the 'broad gauge' of general science, and you will turn out good officers and useful men, I will answer for it."

In a second letter, written in the following year, he says:

"I have always maintained that the Inspector-General of Fortifications should make a point of knowing the qualifications of his officers, and thus be able, when applied to by any department of the Government, to supply an officer competent to do and do well the particular work required. Science in all its branches, art in its various applications, should find representatives amongst us, and I think it will be one of your privileges to develop the idea among the young officers under you at Chatham. I should not attempt to tie them down too strictly to any particular routine. Of course there are certain subjects with which they must be thoroughly acquainted, certain things which they must be able to do; but apart from these I should encourage the widest scope of study; I should open the door to an unlimited area of research. All

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