CHAPTER V.
INTRODUCTION TO THE RESIDENCY.
The heroic defence of the Residency during the pro longed investment of the place by the rebels, forms an episode in Indian History as being connected with the memorable sepoy rebellion of 1857-58. It, therefore. possesses a peculiar interest to tourists and others who are attracted thither from all parts of the globe; and persons of every nationality may be seen walking through the extensive grounds of the place in contemplation of the ruins around where a death-like stillness pervades.
On entering the Baillie Guard Gate the mind of the visitor is filled with strange emotions, and this feeling is intensified when standing beneath the battered walls—silent witnesses of the fierce conflict that raged there as already narrated.
Grateful at the deliverance of the beleaguered garrison from their perilous position, in which the finger of God is manifest, and proud of the victory achieved by the British, which was a triumph of Christianity over Heathenism, the visit is sorrowfully brought to a close at the thought of the illustrious dead who sank to rest within its sacred precincts: of brave fathers and sons; of heroic women and dear children who found an early grave amidst the ruined grandeur Where they fell, and over which they shed a holy radiance.
Many will be affected reflecting on the sufferings, both in mind and body, which they endured before their dissolution, but the Christian will find comfort in the knowledge that death to them meant eternal life, and that their spirits have fled beyond the turmoil of war to that blest abode above, to which they were translated by blessed Faith and Hope in the Redeemer.
