DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.34827#0428
412 Zz/z? g/* AZZZZZZ/ZZZZ^/ Z^/4zZZV^ZZ^. CH. xix.
Secretary of State for India, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Ellen-
borough, and the present Lord Derby ; while India was repre-
sented by Sir J. Lawrence, Mr. Holt Mackenzie, Colonel Sykes,
and Mr. Grant Duff. The two last named were the only
representatives of the band of public men with whose aid he
won a name in history. Colonel Sykes served under him, and
Mr. Grant Duff was the son of one of the ablest of his assistants
during the crisis at Poona, and in the administration of the
country after its conquest. To such an extent had he survived
his contemporaries.
It was decided to erect a statue in his honour, and one by
Noble was afterwards placed in the Cathedral of St. Paul's.
I am in hopes that in the imperfect narrative which I now
offer to the public the reader will discern some of the nobler
features oh his character. There was in him the union of two
natures : the one manly, energetic, and full of enterprise, the
other having all the tenderness and shrinking from display that
belong to the other sex. So, too, with regard to his intellectual
qualities, perhaps the most remarkable characteristic was the
union of much sobriety and even caution in his judgment with
a vividness of imagination that is usually supposed to be in-
compatible with it. His love for poetry amounted to a passion.
He would discuss his favourite authors with the enthusiasm
of a boy; and one of the last occasions on which he left home
on any tour of pleasure was to visit in Cornwall the scenes of
King Arthur's battles. There was in him a tinge of enthusiasm,
which, as I have already mentioned, led him when young to
cherish dreams of ambition of the wildest kind. His imagina-
tive powers, cherished by his love of poetry, affected his daily
thoughts, and gave a grace and charm to his conversation,
but never warped his judgment. The late Allan Cunningham,
many years ago in Chantrey's studio, while passing the cast of
Mr. Elphinstone's statue, made a remark to me which I have
often thought of since : ' He was a just-thinking man.' In his
public papers, as in his literary works, there is a moderation of
tone that hardly does justice to the decisive character of the
Secretary of State for India, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Ellen-
borough, and the present Lord Derby ; while India was repre-
sented by Sir J. Lawrence, Mr. Holt Mackenzie, Colonel Sykes,
and Mr. Grant Duff. The two last named were the only
representatives of the band of public men with whose aid he
won a name in history. Colonel Sykes served under him, and
Mr. Grant Duff was the son of one of the ablest of his assistants
during the crisis at Poona, and in the administration of the
country after its conquest. To such an extent had he survived
his contemporaries.
It was decided to erect a statue in his honour, and one by
Noble was afterwards placed in the Cathedral of St. Paul's.
I am in hopes that in the imperfect narrative which I now
offer to the public the reader will discern some of the nobler
features oh his character. There was in him the union of two
natures : the one manly, energetic, and full of enterprise, the
other having all the tenderness and shrinking from display that
belong to the other sex. So, too, with regard to his intellectual
qualities, perhaps the most remarkable characteristic was the
union of much sobriety and even caution in his judgment with
a vividness of imagination that is usually supposed to be in-
compatible with it. His love for poetry amounted to a passion.
He would discuss his favourite authors with the enthusiasm
of a boy; and one of the last occasions on which he left home
on any tour of pleasure was to visit in Cornwall the scenes of
King Arthur's battles. There was in him a tinge of enthusiasm,
which, as I have already mentioned, led him when young to
cherish dreams of ambition of the wildest kind. His imagina-
tive powers, cherished by his love of poetry, affected his daily
thoughts, and gave a grace and charm to his conversation,
but never warped his judgment. The late Allan Cunningham,
many years ago in Chantrey's studio, while passing the cast of
Mr. Elphinstone's statue, made a remark to me which I have
often thought of since : ' He was a just-thinking man.' In his
public papers, as in his literary works, there is a moderation of
tone that hardly does justice to the decisive character of the