F10195_0094

43.
unreserved in society, where he proved
himself a brilliant conversationalist.
But his aristocratic mind loved pomp
& pageant as being due to high position
& affording a fitting spectacle with
which to awe the common crowd. The
nobility of his features & the dignity of
his demeanour gave him the appearance
of greatness - a greatness few will
deny. It is hard to withhold either admiration
or approval from his Indian
career. Though his recall meant the
undoing of much of his work - for
the time at least -, there were permanent
achievements which may be
claimed for him alone. He saved the
Company from imminent danger of
destruction; he finally crushed all
chance of French rivalry; &, whereas all
before him had worked only with a view
to benefitting a trading body, he was
incontestably the first to foresee & to
found the British Empire in the East.
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