Government Positions
Grant Duff's proficiency and expertise on foreign issues won him positions in the foreign ministry. When offered to be made Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Charles W. Dilke declined the offer and suggested to Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone that Grant Duff be appointed in his stead. Gladstone refused but instead, appointed Grant Duff as the Under-Secretary of State for India on 8 December 1868. Grant-Duff served as Under-Secretary of State from 1868 till 1874 when the Liberal Party government of Gladstone resigned. He worked well with the Secretary of State Argyll; their relationship was described by Duthie thus: ‘rather deliberately obedient to Argyll; and always in agreement with him on policy’. During Grant Duff's tenure, the Kuka insurrection broke out in India. The massacre of 50 rebelling Kukas sparked outrage in the British Parliament and Grant Duff was compelled to accept responsibility.
When Gladstone was voted back to power in 1880, Grant Duff was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Grant Duff served till 26 June 1881, when he was appointed Governor of Madras. During this time, Grant Duff also served in Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
Read more about this topic: M. E. Grant Duff
Famous quotes containing the words government and/or positions:
“Hence, the less government we have, the better,—the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual; the appearance of the principal to supersede the proxy; the appearance of the wise man, of whom the existing government, is, it must be owned, but a shabby imitation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What arouses the indignation of the honest satirist is not, unless the man is a prig, the fact that people in positions of power or influence behave idiotically, or even that they behave wickedly. It is that they conspire successfully to impose upon the public a picture of themselves as so very sagacious, honest and well-intentioned.”
—Claud Cockburn (1904–1981)