१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE ERUPTION
See there an English woman suffering in the sun. Let us
speak to her. So, one man asks her, “ Well, madam, how
do you like the sun of this place ? Is it not too hot ? You
are feeling it very much just now—are you ? If you had
remained in your own cold country, there would have
been no such difficulty for you ! ” After listening to this
“ devilish ” bit of advice given to this woman, listen to
what another of them says : “ What, you want to be sent
to Agra ? Ha, ha ! Your people have been killed long
ago and Agra now belongs to the Revolutionaries. Do
you still wish to go there ? ” And so arose a wave of
mirthful laughter. The Scindia was made lifeless like a
dummy ; the Gwalior contingent forces revolted, split the
blood of their officers, drove out English women, the Eng-
lish flag, and English power out of the limits of Gwalior
state and made Gwalior perfectly independent. They next
began to order the Scindia : “ Come and be our leader ;
come out with the whole army towards Agra, Cawnpore,
and Delhi to liberate Hindusthan ! ” Scindia kept them
quiet for many days by constant promises. Until Tatia
Topé comes secretly to Gwalior and leads them, the troops
are to remain thus inactive.³
And, therefore it is that the English at Agra have still
some hope. For the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-
3. “ It was a most favourable moment for recovering his lost
authority. It was merely necessary to accede to the proposal of
the mutinous contingents and to revenge himself on the British.
Had he so acceded, had he put himself at their head and, accom-
panied likewise by his trusty Mahrattas, proceeded to the scene
of action, the consequences would have been most disastrous to our-
selves. He would have brought at least twenty thousand troops,
one half of them drilled and disciplined by European officers, on
our weak points. Agra and Lucknow would have at once fallen.
Havelock would have been shut up in Allahabad ; and either that
fortress would have been besieged or the rebels, giving it a wide
berth, would have marched through Benares on to Calcutta. There
were no troops, no fortification to stop them.”—Red Pamphlet,
page 194.
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