the Members were for the most extreme measure; the two others were for the more moderate course. They all recorded separate Minutes, and were only unanimous in urging, 'that if the British Government felt the wrongs of the people of Oudh so strongly, as to interfere on their behalf under the Treaty of 1801, they would be acting inconsistently, and at the same time unjustly, if they annulled the Treaty, quitted the country, and left its people without redress[1].'
The Court of Directors and Her Majesty's Ministry, after carefully weighing the opinions of the Governor-General and of his Council, decided to adopt the sterner course. In a Despatch dated the 21st November, 1855, which has been characterised as 'a specimen of the art of writing important instructions so as to avoid responsibility,' the Court of Directors expressed their disapproval of Lord Dalhousie's milder plan, and issued their final orders for the annexation of Oudh. They further desired that the task should be carried out by Lord Dalhousie himself before laying down his office.
The worn-out Governor-General, now so crippled that he could scarcely walk, and broken down by illness and premature old age, would fain have avoided the heavy burden thus laid upon him. He
- ↑ Sir Charles Jackson's Vindication of the Marquis of Dalhousie's Administration, p. 144.
