Page:The Marquess Wellesley, K.G..djvu/22

The new Governor-General went out, unlike some of his predecessors, pledged to no system and with practically no personal interest in the affairs which he was to direct. His brother Arthur was, it is true, already in India; and he took with him his youngest brother, Henry, as his political secretary. He was always eager to advance his kinsfolk, and his brothers more than justified his interest. But with this exception he was free from the slightest suspicion of concern outside the sphere of the duties of his post. Neither himself, nor through any agent, however well concealed, was he concerned in commerce. He had not, like Cornwallis, a military training or a military bias. No doubt he was influenced—most men were—by Dundas, but he was in no sense his creature. He had no past ties to the Company, and was neither indebted to them for his advancement nor relying upon them for future support. It was, too, a great advantage to come after such a man as Sir John Shore. Stolid and opinionated honesty is not generally attractive or engaging. Mornington's public life, while honourable to the core, was unquestionably a brilliant antithesis to that of his predecessor. He had much of the genius of Warren Hastings, and he started unhampered by ignorant opposition. Shore did better on a less extended area: of Mornington his friend the Speaker Addington, some years before, had said very truly, 'You want a wider sphere; you are dying of the cramp.'