inst his neat venture. It hurled him, once more, through the
fabric of the British constitution, a road to which he had grown
familiar. What should he do but raise two regiments on his own mandate, a
usurpation of the sovereign rights. It occurred in this fashion. Bombay
had not taken the distemper, rife in such a large area of India. However,
Lord Elphinstone learned that a Bombay rising had been arranged for a
certain religious festival. He had not forces enough left him to overawe
the populace, or, failing that, to cope with an outbreak. He despatched
another express to Sir George Grey, at the Cape, to the effect: 'I know
you have already denuded South Africa of troops, but I am hoping you may
somehow manage to help us against this Bombay crisis.'

Sir George bethought himself of the men, formerly composing the German
Legion, who were settled in the Colony. He collected these with what
other recruits he could entice, formed them into regiments, and sent them
to Bombay. 'I signed the commissions for the officers,' he recalled, 'but
I'm afraid my signature would have meant nothing, after the ships were on
the high sea. In the event of the men creating a disturbance, the
officers would really have had no legal authority to quell it.' He
communicated with the East India Company, desiring that the regiments
should be put on a regular footing immediately they reached Bombay.

'For raising the regiments,' Sir George continued, 'I was charged at home
with a breach of the constitution. It was all that. I got word that I
should learn by a later mail what was to be the upshot. A friendly member
of the Government wrote me a note beginning: "Dear Grey, you have done
for yourself at last; I always feared it would come to this." My own
position was very plain. Here was an unconstitutional thing, but a
necessary thing.

'Meanwhile I had news from Bombay, that it was the provident arrival of
the Germans which, most likely, prevented the outbreak that had been
feared. I put the despatch in my pocket, with the reflection: "Ah, they
can now interfere with me from London if they will!" There, I judged,
they had similar information from Bombay, for I heard nothing farther as
to what was to be done with me.

'When the first tidings of the trouble in India reached me, I laid it
down that all previous orders and directions from England were cancelled.
These had been given before the new position arose, and were, in my
judgment, over-borne