By royal recommendation, prayers were offered in all churches in the kingdom, thanking God for the victories in India of British forces and for the return of tranquility and full British rule to the sub-continent. The rebellion had begun in May 1857 and progressed with great slaughter on both sides until July 1858 when major fighting ended. The hunting down of rebels and a rigorous British policy of bloody retaliation against rebel areas continued for some months after. (By John Osborne)