Page:Earl Canning.djvu/166

Lord Canning's reply to Lord Ellenborough's onslaught dealt at the outset with the exceptional circumstances which attended it, and the position in which it placed the Governor- General. Though written in Secret Committee, it had been made public in England three weeks before it reached the Governor-General, and, within a few days of his receipt of it, would be read in every station in Hindustan. The disapproval which it conveyed, publicly endorsed by the Ministry, had been telegraphed to India, and must necessarily increase the difficulties of the Government by weakening the authority of its head, raising delusive hopes, and encouraging resistance. 'No taunts or sarcasms,' Lord Canning continued, 'come from what quarter they may, will turn me from the path which I believe to be that of my public duty. I believe that a change in the head of the Government of India at this time, if it took place under circumstances which indicated a repudiation, on the part of the Government in England, of the policy which has hitherto been pursued towards the rebels of Oudh, would seriously retard the pacification of the country. I believe that that policy has been, from the beginning, merciful without weakness, and indulgent without compromise of the dignity of the Government. I believe that, wherever the authority of the Government has been re-established, it has become manifest to the people in Oudh, as elsewhere, that the indulgence to those who make submission, and who