ty of Lucknow, the landholders and
sturdy peasantry of the country would, in a few days, rush in and
plunder and destroy it as a source of nothing but intolerable evil to
them.

Though I have written a long letter, I may have omitted many things
which you wished me to notice. In that case I must rely upon your
letting me know; and in the mean time, I shall continue to write
whenever I have anything to communicate that is likely to interest
you.

Believe me, dear Sir James,
Yours very faithfully,
W. H. SLEEMAN.

To Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart.
&c. &c. &c.

P.S. By treaty, we are bound to keep up a certain force near the
capital for the protection of the Sovereign; and we should be
obliged, till things were quite settled under the new system, to
retain the brigade we now have of our regular troops in the
cantonments, which are three miles from the city.

W. H. SLEEMAN.

__________________________

Lucknow, 20th November, 1852.

My Dear Sir James,

To be prepared for accidents, I deem it right to send a duplicate of
the letter which I sent to you by the last mail, addressed to the
care of my London agents, Messrs. Denny and Clark, Austin Friars. I
have nothing new or interesting to communicate from Oude. The Burmese
war seems likely to divert the Governor-General's attention from Oude
and Hydrabad affairs for some time to come; and the death of the Duke
of Wellington, and probable changes in the ministry at home, may
prevent him from venturing upon any important change in the Oude
administration when that war closes.

The war is an "untoward event," arising from a very small cause; and
it should prevent our ever guaranteeing British subjects in countries
where we have no accredited agents to conduct our relations with the
Government. All such subjects, and all the subjects of our European
and American allies, should in future be made to understand that they
enter such countries entirely upon their own responsibility. Without
some such precaution we must always be liable to be involved in war
with bordering countries by adventurers of one land or another; and
as war is almost always followed by annexation or confiscation, our
Indian empire, like that of the Romans, must soon sink from its own
weight. The people will think that we are p