without success, exhibited little patience with such vacillation, and trenchantly remarked: —
'I certainly had an option; I might shrink from the declaration plighted by Lord Minto, abandoning the property of the Company, sacrificing the safety of our subjects, and staining the character of our government, or I had to act up to the engagements bequeathed to me, and to reprove the trespass of an insatiable neighbour. That I should have chosen the latter alternative will hardly afford ground for censure[1].'
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the criticisms made by the Court of Directors on the dispositions for the war planned by the Governor-General, — at one time advocating defensive operations (the futility of which had been amply demonstrated by Generals Wood and Marley early in 1815), and again a concentration of forces (neglecting local circumstances which made the opposite course the most judicious), — it is more satisfactory to observe that at the termination of the war, the Court with generous unanimity bestowed praise and thanks upon the Governor-General and the gallant General Ochterlony, who had both of them fulfilled their difficult tasks with such conspicuous success and with such advantage to the best interests of India[2].
