Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/18

14 field (June 22nd, 1808), writes respecting him in the following terms: — 'I grieve to tell you that our inestimable friend, Captain Hardinge, was wounded in the hottest point of attack. It is his custom to be foremost in every attack, where an unaffected gallantry of spirit irresistibly carries him. Here he was conspicuous where all were brave, and it is a consolation to know that there is not a man in this army who does not regret this misfortune. The wound is in the bottom of the left side, under the lowest rib. The ball passed through, and the surgeons are of opinion that nothing is injured which can warrant any apprehension of a bad result. At the same time, it would be deceiving you to say that he is not severely wounded, or that a perfect recovery may not be tedious because of the sinews which the ball has passed through. I will not attempt to tell you how I lament this accident. As a friend with whom I have lived above four years in the greatest intimacy, whose society has formed part of my happiness, and whom I hold in the truest affection; as a soldier, whose conduct and courage I have often admired; and as a man whose virtues I esteem and venerate — you who know him may well judge how deeply I feel interested in him. He is now an example of fortitude and tranquillity; and highly as I thought of him before, it remained for me to see him in his present state to be aware of all the excellences of his nature.'

And here I am induced to give the following