Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/16

12 muster as to height when he was gazetted to his first regiment, the Queen's Rangers, in 1799, and joined it at the age of fifteen.

The regiment was then stationed in Canada, and there Hardinge remained until it was brought home to England after the Peace of Amiens. One of the anecdotes he often told was how, when he was returning one evening from mess at Montreal, his attention was drawn to a group of three or four men who were assaulting and rifling the pockets of a man on the ground. Drawing his sword, ho threatened their lives; and such was the cowardice of these bullies that, seeing an officer in uniform, they fled, after a short resistance. On going up to the injured man he found it was a Mr. Edward Ellice, who was naturally profuse in his thanks. The assailants were captured, and brought up the next morning before the magistrate. The strongest evidence against them was the discovery of young Hardinge's military 'pigtail' in one of their pockets. This incident led to a lasting friendship between Ellice and Hardinge. Both became Cabinet Ministers, and each held the office of Secretary at War. Mr. Ellice was a distinguished member of the Whig party, and the two had often amicable contests on the floor of the House of Commons. On one occasion, on a military committee of which both were members, Sir Henry, irritated at some expressions that had fallen from his old friend, exclaimed, 'Ah! Ellice, I almost begin to think it would have been better if I had not saved your life in the streets of Montreal.'