at table with gentlemen.
She often entertained Governors-General and Commanders-in-Chief, with
all their retinues, and sat with them and their staff at table, and
for some years past kept an open house for the society of Meerut; but
in no situation did she lose sight of her dignity. She retained to
the last the grateful affections of the thousands who were supported
by her bounty, while she never ceased to inspire the most profound
respect in the minds of those who every day approached her, and were
on the most unreserved terms of intimacy.[37]

Lord William Bentinck was an excellent judge of character; and the
following letter will show how deeply his visit to that part of the
country had impressed him with a sense of her extensive usefulness:

'To Her Highness the Begum Sumroo.

'My esteemed Friend,--I cannot leave India without expressing the
sincere esteem I entertain for your highness's character. The
benevolence of disposition and extensive charity which have endeared
you to thousands, have excited in my mind sentiments of the warmest
admiration; and I trust that you may yet be preserved for many years,
the solace of the orphan and widow, and the sure resource of your
numerous dependants. To-morrow morning I embark for England; and my
prayers and best wishes attend you, and all others who, like you,
exert themselves for the benefit of the people of India.

'I remain,
'With much consideration,
'Your sincere friend,
(Signed) 'M. W. BENTINCK.[38]

'Calcutta, March 17th, 1835.'

Notes:

1. The reader will observe that the lady's name is spelt Sumroo in
the heading and Sombre in the text. The form Samru, or Shamru,
transliterates the Hindustani spelling.

2. The author means General Regholini who was in the Begam's service
at the time of her death. (_N.W.P. Gazetteer_, 1st ed., vol. iii, p.
295.) The church, or cathedral, was consecrated in 1822, and coat
400,000 rupees. A portrait of the General, from Sardhana, is now in
the Indian Institute, Oxford, which also possesses a portrait of the
Bishop.

The best account of Begum Sumroo is to be found in _A Tour through
the Upper Provinces of Hindustan_, 1804-14, by A. D. = Ann Deane
(1823). Walter Scott introduces more than one of the stories about
the Begum into _The Surgeon's Daughter_ (1827), e.g.: "But not to be
interred alive under your seat, like the Circassian of whom you were
jealous," sai