'We may well enquire what secret charm it was which lent to almost every department of his administration so distinguishing an efficiency and greatness. ... There was, indeed, in him a rare power of deliberation and judgment, an unusual faculty of discernment and research. Yet, these were mainly the result of studious habit, and earnest purpose. It was by labour that everything was perfected — conscientious, unceasing, daily labour; by a wakeful anxiety that knew no respite; by a severity of thought, ever busy and ever prolific in the devising of new arrangements, and the perfecting of old. Yet his mind was so beautifully balanced, that this unwearied work and never-ceasing tension produced no irregularity of action, and no fretful or impatient advance. All was even, serene, powerful.'
Looking back after so long a period, Sir William now writes: —
'When I wrote this description of Thomason in 1853, the close relation in which I had lived with him as my Chief, and Guide of my life as his Secretary, might be supposed to have unduly magnified him in my eyes. Yet in the long interval that has since elapsed and the large acquaintance I have had with Statesmen both in India and at home, I can truly say that my conception of his virtues and commanding position as a wise and illustrious Governor as well as an exemplary Christian, and faithful friend, has only been heightened by the lapse of time, and that I regard him as the best of Rulers it has been my lot to be associated with.'
It is hard to describe the blank that his death suddenly left in his own Provinces. Striking and pathetic were the words that burst from the lips, or flowed from the pens, of God-fearing friends and
