rds, suppose the case to have occurred of the court of directors
thinking proper to recall the noble lord six or eight months ago, whilst
the measures to which I have just alluded were in contemplation, what
would have become of the great operations at Gwalior--operations carried
on under the superintendence and direction of my noble friend the
governor general. Why, the gentleman who was senior in the council must
have succeeded my noble friend--a respectable man no doubt he is, but
without the experience of my noble friend; and without the knowledge of
the manner of equipping armies, and making proper arrangements for their
being called into action, it is needless to add, that such great and
successful operations as those to which I have alluded could not be
carried on, and I leave your lordships to judge what the situation of
India would have been if that expedition had failed, and if such an army
as the one which we have seen described in one of the blue books upon
this table had continued in existence, threatened, as we were, at the
same moment, by a similar body in the Punjaub, on the north-west
frontier, and with the province of Scinde still in an unsettled state.
Why, my lords, the danger would have been imminent, and this would have
been the consequence of the recall of my noble friend six or eight
months ago, a measure which was in contemplation, and was only prevented
by our representations to those who have now committed this gross
indiscretion of recalling the noble lord--it was prevented only by the
representations made to those gentlemen of the danger which would ensue
to the public interest from the measures which they were about to adopt,
the dangers resulting from the impossibility that they would be able to
provide for events which most probably would occur if they recalled
their officer without the consent of her majesty's government, who would
thus be deprived of the instrument in their hands best fitted for
carrying their instructions into execution, while the directors, in this
country, must be unable to direct the means in existence for securing
the safety of their troops, for guarding their frontier, for upholding
the honour of Her majesty's arms, and the security of our vast dominions
in that part of the world. I say again, as I have said before, and I
say the least of it, when I pronounce it to be the most indiscreet
exercise of power that I have known carried into execution by any body
possesse