BRITISH PRESTIGE. 223 



ton thus expressed himself regardmg the main- 

 tenance of our good faith with the natives of 

 India: — ''I would sacrifice Gwalior or any 

 frontier ten times over, to preserve our charac- 

 ter for scrupulous good faith;" and again said 

 the Duke, '' I would sacrifice every political 

 consideration ten times over rather than sanc- 

 tion the slightest infraction upon British good 

 faith." Well, indeed, would it have been for 

 the interests of England if such had been the 

 rule of our conduct of late years, for the Indian 

 insurrection would then never, I believe, have 

 occurred. Apart from all moral considerations, 

 and viewing the matter as one of policy alone, 

 the great Duke's sentiments, as here set forth, 

 are those of a profound statesman anxious for 

 the permanence of a mighty empire, an empire 

 long said to be one of opinion, and that opinion 

 too might never have been shaken, had we not 

 of late years, by repeated breaches of faith, 

 destroyed the prestige that our greatest Indian 

 statesmen had, for nearly a century, so success- 

 fully maintained. 



The Marquis of Dalhousie is an able man of 

 business, but I deprecate his policy on the sub- 

 ject of annexation, as a monstrous injustice to 



