I can scarcely conceive a nobler field than that which our Indian Empire now presents to a statesman.

While some of my partial friends are blaming me for stooping to accept a share in the government of that Empire, I am afraid that I am aspiring too high for my qualifications.

I sometimes feel, I most unaffectedly declare, depressed and appalled by the immense responsibility which I have undertaken.

You are one of the very few public men of our time who have bestowed on Indian affairs the attention which they deserve; and you will therefore, I am sure, fully enter into my feelings.
And now, dear Lord Lansdowne, let me thank you most warmly for the kind feeling which has dictated your letter.

That letter is, indeed, but a very small part of what I ought to thank you for.