Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/92

84 without success, exhibited little patience with such vacillation, and trenchantly remarked: —

'I certainly had an option; I might shrink from the declaration plighted by Lord Minto, abandoning the property of the Company, sacrificing the safety of our subjects, and staining the character of our government, or I had to act up to the engagements bequeathed to me, and to reprove the trespass of an insatiable neighbour. That I should have chosen the latter alternative will hardly afford ground for censure .'

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the criticisms made by the Court of Directors on the dispositions for the war planned by the Governor-General, — at one time advocating defensive operations (the futility of which had been amply demonstrated by Generals Wood and Marley early in 1815), and again a concentration of forces (neglecting local circumstances which made the opposite course the most judicious), — it is more satisfactory to observe that at the termination of the war, the Court with generous unanimity bestowed praise and thanks upon the Governor-General and the gallant General Ochterlony, who had both of them fulfilled their difficult tasks with such conspicuous success and with such advantage to the best interests of India.