But for the particulars of life in the wilderness, we must refer our readers to Mrs. Hodson's letters (pp. [197]-[200]). This happiness was not destined to last. In July, 1854, the child dies.
"The deep agony of this bereavement I have no words to describe," the father writes. "She had wound her little being round our hearts to an extent which we neither of us knew until we awoke from the brief dream of beauty, and found ourselves childless."
Another trial too is at hand. In the autumn of 1854, Sir H. Lawrence is removed from the Punjaub, and in October, charges are trumped up (there is no other word for it, looking to the result) against Hodson, in both his civil and military capacity. A court of inquiry is appointed; and before that court has reported, he is suspended from all civil and military duty.
Into the details of the charges against him we will not enter, lest we should be tempted into the use of hard words, which his brother has nobly refrained from. All that need be stated is, that the sting lay in the alleged confusion of his regimental accounts. The Court of Inquiry appointed Major Taylor to examine these, and report on them. This was in January, 1855; in February, 1856, Taylor presented an elaborate report, wholly exculpating Hodson. Mr. Montgomery, (then Commissioner for the Punjaub, now Chief Commissioner in Oude,) to whom it was submitted, calls it the most satisfactory report he ever read, and most triumphant. This report, however, though made public on the spot, had not, even in May, 1857, been communicated to the Government of India; whether suppressed on purpose, or not, there is no evidence. But when at last fairly brought to their notice by a remonstrance from the accused, the satisfactory nature of the document may be gathered from the fact that the answer is, "his remonstrance will be placed on record for preservation, not for justification, which it is fully admitted was not required,—no higher testimonials were ever produced."
It is with the man himself that we are concerned. We have seen him in action, and in prosperity; how will he face disgrace and disaster?—
"I must endeavor to face the wrong, the grievous, foul wrong, with a constant and unshaken heart, and to endure humiliation and disgrace with as much equanimity as I may; and with the same soldierlike fortitude with which I ought to face danger, suffering, and death in the path of duty.... Our darling babe was taken from us on the day my public misfortunes began, and death has robbed us of our father before their end. The brain-pressure was almost too much for me.... I strive to look the worst boldly in the face as I would an enemy in the field, and to do my appointed work resolutely and to the best of my ability, satisfied that there is a reason for all; and that even irksome duties well done bring their own reward, and that if not, still they are duties....
"It is pleasant to find that not a man who knows me has any belief that there has been anything wrong.... Not one of them all (and, indeed, I believe I might include my worst foes and accusers in the category) believes that I have committed any more than errors of judgment."
Thus he writes to brother and sister; and, for the rest, goes back resolutely to his old regiment, and begins again the common routine of a subaltern's duties, congratulating himself that the colonel wishes to give him the adjutancy, in which post
"I shall have the opportunity of learning a good deal of work which will be useful to me, and of doing, I hope, a good deal of good amongst the men. It will be the first step up the ladder again, after tumbling to the bottom."
The colonel gets him to take the office of quartermaster, however, not the adjutancy, the former office "having fallen into great disorder;" and in January, 1857, the honest old officer, of his own accord, writes a letter to the Adjutant-General, requesting him to submit to the Commander-in-Chief "that, his public record and acknowledgment of the essential service Lieutenant Hodson has done the regiment at his special request;" and urging on his Excellency to find some worthier employment for the said lieutenant. In the same tone writes Brigadier Johnstone, commanding at Umbala, through whom the colonel's letter had to be forwarded; and who "trusts his Excellency will allow of his submitting it in a more special and marked manner than by merely countersigning; for," goes on the General, "Lieutenant Hodson has, with patience, perseverance, and zeal, undertaken and carried out the laborious minor duties of the regimental staff, as well as those of a company; and with a diligence, method, and accuracy, such as the best trained regimental officers have never surpassed."