Old "Bogtrotter" Napier, General Charles James Napier to his mother, was a hardcase and probably one of Imperial Britain's most effective Generals. He had some views on social relations which may seem peculiar to us today (US citizens excluded) but which were quite mainstram in contemporary Britain. Here are some memorable quotes:"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
"The best way to quiet a country is a good thrashing, followed by great kindness afterwards. Even the wildest chaps are thus tamed"
"the human mind is never better disposed to gratitude and attachment than when softened by fear"
"Come here instantly. Come here at once and make your submission, or I will in a week tear you from the midst of your village and hang you"
And the best/worst thing; he always followed through.
Aber Bogtrotter hatte doch Humor. After conquering the province of Sindh in present day Pakistan, he sent a one letter telegram home to Blighty; "Peccavi"
The Catholic confession of sin in Latin meaning "I have Sinned"...
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_James_Napier (23.01.10)
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