Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/52

48 Prussian Order, that his military services were well known, and that he proposed to confer on him the Grand Cross of the Bath in the civil division, in recognition of the political services he had rendered to the country.

In 1842 peace had been made with China, and the Kábul disaster was avenged by the entry of Pollock's army into the Afghán capital, while Peel's Cabinet bade fair to enjoy public confidence till the Irish famine broke up the hitherto united party, led by such distinguished statesmen as Lord Aberdeen, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Mr. Stanley (Lord Derby), Mr. Gladstone, and Sir J. Graham. With all these Sir H. Hardinge was on terms of the closest confidence and intimacy. All of them have left the scene of their labours, with one brilliant exception, whose name must occur to every one in the political world.

It would not be within the scope of this Memoir to review the conduct of Lord Ellenborough as Governor-General of India (1842-44) and his recall. He was the kinsman by marriage of Sir H. Hardinge, and corresponded with him during his Indian administration. When he left India, he prided himself on the state of profound peace in which he had left the country. Whether that peace could be preserved was a matter which gave rise to much speculation; and without doubt the selection of a distinguished soldier, who also possessed the experience of a Cabinet Minister, rather pointed to the anticipation of war. A few years before, on the receipt of the news of the Kábul