1 ‘
2 SIR DONALD McLEOD, 5938
3 products new to the province, such as cinchona, silk, China grass and teas
4 of good quality. He took measures for the Improved culture of cotton,
5 flax, hemp and other articles. As President of the Agri-Horticaltural
6 Society of the Panjdb, he had not only plants and trees sent from one part
7 of India to the other, but also from Kabul, and even from countries as far
8 distant as England and Australia, and distributed a portion of them among
9 the chiefs and nobles of the Panjab. He caused also specimens of rare trees
10 and plants to be sent to England. His extreme delight was in the works
11 of nature, and he took a warm interest in improving the products of the
12 country, acting on the motto that he who makes two blades of grass grow
13 where nothing has grown before, is a benefactor of his race,
14 Sir Donald also took the most lively interest in the working of the
15 Medical College, Léhore, and of the dispensaries established in the province,
16 and in the extension of vaccination. It was in his nature to exert himself
17 to the utmost of his power for the alleviation and mitigation of the sufferings
18 of his fellow-creatures, and every measure calculated to facilitate this end
19 received his hearty attention and co-operation. He established municipali-
20 ties in more than three hundred places with the view of training the people
21 to manage their own affairs and to give them a voice in the educational
22 system of the country. The rules of the system of grants-in-aid to schools
23 were applied by him in a liberal spirit. His inexhaustible energies for the
24 good of the public received the commendations of all who took a real interest
25 in the advancement of the country, and he wrote many able papers on a great
26 variety of subjects touching the welfare of the Government and people. The
27 following extracts from a Despatch of his, dated September 5th, 1867, on the
28 relative merits of native and British rule, may prove interesting :—
29 1 do not think that any one who really knows India will attempt to deny that the
30 security, both in person and property, the freedom from violence and oppression of every
31 kind, the stability of established order, the encouragement to trade and progress and
32 facilities for accumulation and utilization of capital afforded under British rule, are
33 infinitely preferred by the bulk of the people to the comparative lawlessness existing in
34 the Native States by whom we are surrounded,
35 Where an Englishman has shown a warm and rational sympathy with the people,
36 they invariably respond in a manner which is unmistakeable, regarding him with feelings
37 nearly akin to affection; and in the case of the Government, the same result would, I feel
38 assured, follow from the same cause, for the people already fully appreciate and admire
39 its love of justice, its honesty of purpose and its stability, and would, [ believe, be quite
40 prepared to accord to it their devoted loyalty, if they could perceive in its principles of
41 action that spirit of sympathy which it is easy to invoke, but very difficult to describe,
42 ‘The more, in short, we study the people, consult their wishes and feelings and take them
43 into our confidence, the more shall we soften or remove that alienation which difference of
44 race at present begets,
45 In January, 1870, the five years’ term of Sir Donald McLeod having
46 expired, he was requested to remain for a further period of six months. At
47 the conclusion of this period he resigned office on the Ist of June. On the
48 5th of May a grand farewell banquet was given in his honour in the Mont-
49 gomery Hall, presided over by His Excellency the Viceroy. On this occasion
50 high encomiums were passed on the retiring Lieutenant-Governor by the
51 Viceroy and by Lord Napier, of Magdala. Little did those present think
52 that, of the distinguished guests who honoured the banquet with their pre-
53 sence on that occasion, three would lose their lives within a comparatively
54 short time—Lord Mayo by the knife of an Afghdu assassin, Sir Henry. Durand
55 and Sir Donald Mcleod by frightful accidents, After his departure, the
56 Huropean residents of the Panjéb raised a “ memorial fund” in token of the
57 respect_and affection they entertained for the retired Lieutenant-Governor.
58 With the money raised, they were enabled to place an excellent picture of
59 His interest in
60 products new to the
61 country.
62 His taste for Horti-
63 culture,
64 His interest in the
65 medical training of the
66 people and the dispen-
67 saries of the province.
68 His working of the
69 municipal system,
70 And of the grants-in-
71 aid to schools,
72 His views regarding
73 the relative merits of
74 native and British rule,
75 He resigns his office,
76 June, 1870,
77 Farewell banquet,
78 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com