Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/181

Rh miserable cockle-shell of a steamer were delighted to find ourselves off the Tower Stairs by daybreak on the 20th of March.

The Indian career of Lord Hardinge had now closed. His measures had been characterised by moderation and vigour, and he had bequeathed to his successors an excess of income over expenditure and the probabilities of a continuance of peace. It was, perhaps, hardly to be expected that treacherous intrigues would never again disturb the existing aspect of security. But he was conscious that he had done his duty, and now looked forward to that repose which he had so long desired. In this hope he was disappointed. It has been truly said that a public man is a nation's property, and he was again destined to serve his country in that branch of the service to which he was so devotedly attached.