Elphinstone family book of the Lords Elphinstone, Balmerino and Coupar > Memoirs, etc.

34 THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM FULLERTON ELPHINSTONE, 1740-1834.
the time of his arrival may still be protracted. I consider myself very fortunate in
having held the government so long, and I hope the account of my stewardship 'will
not be a discreditable one. Since I write to you we have received from the court the
notification of my reappointment to council. I cannot be sufficiently sensible of the
value of this, both as a feather in my cap and a substantial benefit, and of the degree
in which I am indebted to you for the attainment of it. — Believe me, my dear uncle,
most sincerely and affectionately yours, J. Adam." 1
One of the most remarkable facts in the remarkable career of William
Elphinstone was the splendid health he enjoyed up to a late period of his
life. Eesidence in a tropical country combined with a business life of almost
incessant activity are not usually considered as disposing factors to longevity ;
and yet Mr. Elphinstone, entering the service of the East India Company at
the early age of seventeen, long resident in India, and engaged for many
years in a position demanding close and regular attendance, and burdened
with responsibilities and anxieties of no ordinary nature, enjoyed a degree of
health and a length of years, which is reckoned exceptional even among those
living in the most advantageous circumstances. His long connection with
the East India Company extended over a period of close on seventy years,
many of which were spent in the keen and controversial atmosphere of the
court of directors at India House, and yet it was not till he had reached
the venerable age of eighty-five that he sent in his resignation and retired
into private life. Several times in the course of his directorship he felt
the strain and responsibility of business so heavy that he more than once
formed the resolution to retire, but was influenced by his friends and
colleagues, and more especially by his eldest son, on whose opinion he placed
great reliance, again to resume his labours and re-occupy the post in which
he had spent so many years of usefulness, both to the company and to his
friends. Writing from Macao in 1801, his son congratulates him and
expresses his sincere satisfaction on seeing his father again chosen for the
1 Original letter to the Honourable W. F. Elphinstone, in Elphinstone charter-chest.