A SOLDIER PRIEST AT THE BATTLE OF CHILIANWALLAH. (From the Church and State Gazette.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 366, 17 October 1849, Page 3

A SOLDIER PRIEST AT THE BATTLE OF CHILIANWALLAH . (From the Church and State Gazette.)

We have no doubt that bo many of our readers who have sojourned by the banks of the Cam, and particularly to those who have cultivated learned leisure beneath the roof of old Ma/rdalen, the name of Walter John Whiting will be as familiar as a household word. They would, perhaps, be surprised wrre we to inform them that their fellow-student, who honoured and vns honoured by his College— that the alumnus who, after a course of study conducted and terminated with rcpule, was admitted into the ministry of the Church of England — that, in shoit, the Rev W. J. Whiiing, whom they so well remember, is now the Padre Whiting of Cb.ilianvv.llah. But so it is; and yet in nothing has Mr. Whiting; changed, save such change as accompanies progress in good. Mr. Whiting joined Lord GougVs army as a volunteer. He considered that he had no right to comparatively inglorious eaje, as oae of the Company* chaplains, when death was likely soon to he abroad, and thousands might need gho&ily comfort to prepare them for the batile or its consequences. The step taken by the rrverend gt'ntltman was highly agieeable to Lord Gough and to the tru'»ps geneially; and ie was soon seen how great the value tint was to be attached to such co operation. Wiien the t-iy of " Forward!" gave impulse to the mighty pow^r that confronted the Sikh forces on the 13th January, Mr. Whiting busied himself in pie^aring an hospital for the wounded, as well as in making preparations to perform the sacramental rites for ail svho mi s ht desire to partake of the privilege of consolation in the hour of peril. It was when occupied in .iiinistering double aid to the sick and the dying that a report reached the hospital that her Majesty's 14th Dragoons were hurrying from the field of blood with their backs to the enemy ; our gallant soldier priest in an instant leaped on hit own horse, pistol iv hand ; he met a party of the regiment named with their chargers' heeds turned iv the direction of safe'y. The Reverend gentleman rallied them — upbraided them for the'r want of firmness; reminded them or home and honour; and, finally, led them back to where blows were ringing. Having achieved thus much, he hastened again to hi 3 vocation, and took hit place once more by the side of tbe wounded. A Calcutta paper (Tht Englishman) commenting upon the heroism of the volunteeer chaplain, says— » "The padre ought to have the fint good vacancy in his own corps, whether archdeaconry or bishopric. Such exhortations to cbity (adds oui Oriental contemporary) at such a time are invaluable ; and the pre* sence of our chaplains on the field of battle it « rare event. We hope the whole nrmy will driak to the health and ipeedy promotion of the Reverend gentleman." We hope so too, and that the with implied may assume reality. Another paper (the Bomhaij Times) speaks in similar grateful eulogy of the exertions made by the old Magdalen man after dubious victory had at length, lighted on our arms. He was most active in administering: the sacrament to many about lo surrender their spirit upon the spot where they had been stricken down. It is hardly possible to convey to our leaders the gratitude with which such services were received. Then came the mournful ceremony of burying the dead : a doy or two later Mr. Whiting resolved to cuter the jungle, and perform the last solomn ceremony over every British corpse that needed the sad rite. It was a dangerous though holy mission, and could not be effected without the protection of a strong escort. For the safety of this escort, curiously enough, Mr. Whiting was made responsible. We suppose that, as chaplains rank with majors in IndU, he was looked upon as commanding officer, and it was trusted to his discretion not to lead his escort into a peril from which they might not be able to extricate themselves. However this may be, the honoured chaplain entered the jungle under an escort consisting of a detachment of cavalry, a hundred pioneers to dig sepulchral trenches, and two companies of Europeans. With this did and protection he succeeded in recovering the bodies of 197 soldiers. Under the tery eye* of the Sikhi he had open trenches dug ; and as each was tilled in succession, he stood over the bodies of the brave that lay in tt and performed no maimed ritei, but the entire ceremony of Christian burial, as it ia contained in the Book of Common Prayer. The pioneer* dug seven trenchei and the Europeans collected the bodies, mangled, mutilated, and stripped as they were, and put them in their last restiug place, The sight was sad and solemn, but the effect was consoling to all who survived. When the army retched Ramuggur, Mr. Whiting 1 , whose exertions were co well directed in the caie of the Cabul Relief Fund, succeeded in getting together a fuDd for the relief of tbe widows of those who had already fallen, or who might fall in stricken fields to come. The sum first contributed to so pious a pur« pose was from a sacramental collection, amounting to nearly 800 rupees, and which was Boon mci eased to 2000. The emergency seeded immediate disbursement, and fortunately the advantageous conditions of the fund admitted of it. The day of Chilianwallah, it is true, left but twenty-six widows and sixteen children to mourn husbands and father* slain ; but the necessities of these were great and they were amply provided for* Promptitude made the charity of double effect. Bis dal gui cito dat ; ths aid was quickly given, and within four days of the action all the material consolation was afforded to the mourners that their bereavement would admit of. Tbe Sunday after the hard-fought contest wa3 one to be remembered by all present. On that day Mr. Whiting performed three s rvices of acdnowlwdgement to the Giver of G. od. The firut service was celebrated at haif>past seven in the morning in the open &ir, when, the Reverend gentleman had for his congrt-gation rier Majesty's 24th and 6lst Regiments, with the adjacent artillery. At eleven o f c ! ock, a large congregation was assembled in the durbar tent of the Comroander-in-Chief. In the progress of the service an alarm (a false one) arose that the enemy were at hand ; and, in. consequence, a full thiid of the congregation quiet'y withdrew in order to "do their duty in that btate of life unto which it had pleased God to call them/ But in spite of this unavoidable diminution of the numbers, the Reverend Chaplain bad the gratification of finding, at the end of the usual service, that above a hundred communicants approached to receive at his handi the solemn lacrsment of the Supper ot the Lord. " Itwfls (says a correspondent of the Delhi Gazette) indeed a solemn and affecting sight, to see the bravest spirits in onr noble army kneeling humbly before their God, and imploring, for the sake of Christ, His healing mercy and protection." At the performance of this cheenng rite, a thouiand rupcei were collected for the Relief Fund for Widows and Orphans. Subsequently to this, Mr. Waiting celebrated Divine Service in presence of Her Majesty's 11th Dragoons and 9th Lancers ; and, later in the day, bis Stbbath, labour! were closed by the performance of his not light duties tt the Field Hospital, and his committing to the earth one more heir of itn mortality!