Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/223

Rh a good deal to improve the town when he was Governor-General, his works and plans were suspended after he left India. Lord Hastings, however, turned his attention to this subject, and having made an investigation into the causes of its unsanitary condition, he devoted large sums of money in beautifying the town, in rendering it more healthy and more adapted to the requirements of Eastern life, and in erecting a handsome embankment along the river. He further planned the construction of a secure water-way between the mouth of the Húglí and Calcutta, where there were dangerous shoals, which impeded the navigation and obstructed the free circulation of trade to the Indian capital.

There was scarcely a matter of any importance connected with India in which Lord Hastings did not exhibit a profound interest, and his extraordinary energy forced him to attempt to regulate every question that presented itself before him. In spite of his age, no man ever worked harder than he, or devoted himself more unremittingly to his duties, and he continued his labours without intermission, during the nine years he remained at the head of the government which was intrusted to his care.

In short, his administration marks an epoch in the internal development of the country, when the finances were put in order, when India was brought more closely within the fold of the national family, and when the foundations of domestic reform were laid.