d the Resident was very anxious that the new Sovereign
should be crowned, as soon and as publicly as possible, in order to
restore tranquillity to the city, which had become greatly disturbed
from the number of loose and desperate characters that always abound
in it, and are at all times ready to make the most of any tumult that
may arise from whatever cause. The new Sovereign had become greatly
agitated and alarmed at the danger to which he and his family had
been so long exposed, and at the fearful scene which they witnessed
at the close; and the Resident exerted himself to soothe and prepare
him for the long and tedious ceremonies of the coronation, while the
killed and wounded were being removed and the throne-room and the
other halls of the baraduree cleaned out and properly arranged and
furnished. When all was ready the Resident conducted him from the
palace through the court-yard to the baraduree, accompanied by the
brigadier and all the principal officers of the British force and the
Court, seated him on the throne, placed the crown on his head, under
a royal salute, repeated from every battery in the city, and
proclaimed him King of Oude, in presence of all the aristocracy and
principal persons of Lucknow, who had flocked to the place on hearing
that the danger had passed away.

From the time that the Resident discovered that the King was dead,
till the arrival of the five companies under Colonel Monteath, the
whole of the British force in this vast city, containing a population
of nearly a million persons, amounted to only two companies and a
half of sipahees under native officers. One of the companies guarded
the Resident's Treasury, one constituted the honorary guard of the
Resident, and the half company guarded the gaol. A part of the
honorary guard, with as many sipahees as could be safely spared from
the Treasury and gaol, were taken by Captain Paton to the palace, and
distributed as already mentioned. They all stood nobly to their posts
during the long and trying scene, and no attempt was made to
concentrate them for the purpose of arresting the tumultuous advance
of the Begum's forces. Collectively they would have been too few for
the purpose, and it was deemed unsafe to remove them from their
respective charges at such a time. The Resident relied upon the
minister's repeated assurances that he had taken all necessary
precautions to prevent her approach; upon the two companies, called
the Khas companie