A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

144 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS CHAP. V
1809-18. David Ochterlony will long live in the memory of the people of
Northern India as one of the greatest of the conquering English chiefs;
and he was among the very last of the British leaders who endeared
himself both to the army which followed him and to the princes who
bowed before the colossal power of his race.
Nevertheless, the best of subordinate authorities, immersed in
details and occupied with local affairs, are liable to be biassed by
views which promise immediate and special advantage. They can
seldom be more than upright or dexterous administrators, and they
can still more rarely be men whose minds have been enlarged by
study and reflexion as well as by actual experience of the world.
Thus the ablest but too often resemble merely the practical man of
the moment; while the supreme authority, especially when absent
frpm his councillors and intent upon some great undertaking, is of
necessity dependent mainly upon the local representatives of the
Government, whose notions must inevitably be partial or one-sided,
for good, indeed, as well as for evil. The author has thus, even during
his short service, seen many reasons to be thankful that there is a
remote deliberative or corrective body, which can survey things
through an atmosphere cleared of mists, and which can judge of
measures with reference both to the universal principles of justice
and statesmanship, and to their particular bearing on the English
supremacy in India, which should be characterized by certainty and
consistency of operation, and tempered by a spirit of forbearance
and adaptation.