The Reliever of Lucknow
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SIR HENRY HAVELOCK, K.C.B., V.C., the Reliever
of Lucknow, was born at Bishop Wearmouth, in
1795. There is more than one tradition that the family
had a connection with Havelock, the Dane, ruling in the
Eastern Counties before A.D. 449. Henry became a
soldier at the age of twenty. Eight years of military life
in England followed, and he threw himself into his work
with his usual ardour. But all was not well with his soul.
Though he was strictly moral and pure in conduct and
principle, and would never join with those who made a
mock of Christianity, he yet began to entertain doubts of
The Deity of Christ. He seemed as if the
hallowed influence
of his beloved mother would go for nothing.
Then came the first voyage to India, in 1823, on the
"General Kyd." On board was Lieutenant
Gardner,
and to him Henry Havelock confided his wretched con-
dition of soul; told how full his heart was of speculation
and doubt; how near he was to the verge of Unitarianism;
and yet how on the other hand, he yearned inexpressibly
for a safe and solid foundation of peace, whereon his soul
might rest. Lieutenant Gardner persuaded him to study
prayerfully that Wonderful Book which
alone declares
the true way of salvation, and as
the boat ploughed the
waters of the Atlantic, Havelock sought and found the
Saviour; He was called out of
darkness into God's mar-
vellous light. From that time forth he endeavoured to
follow and obey the Captain of his Salvation,
enduring
hardness through all his days, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ.
In the Indian Mutiny, in 1826, on the occasion of a
surprise attack on an outpost the corps which was ordered
to support it was found unfit, having had a recent carouse.
"Then call out Havelock's saints," exclaimed
Sir Archibald
Campbell. "They are always sober, and can be
depended
upon; and Havelock himself is always ready." The
"saints" were under arms in a very short time, and
gained
a victory over the enemy in more ways than one.
Havelock died of dysentery on Nov. 22nd, 1857, a
week after the Relief of Lucknow.
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