remained loyal to ourselves. English Governors-General were compelled to stand by, and witness the cruel results of rendering an oriental prince independent of his people.
This system had, during Lord Hardinge's administration, produced its mature fruits. In almost every Native State of India, there was a ruler whose family had during two generations been exempted from the necessity of ruling for the benefit of their subjects. In many cases the Chief sank into the depths of a hereditary debauchery. In almost all he could, without fear, indulge in the life-long neglect of his duties, and treat himself, if so inclined, to outbursts of cruelty and oppression.
The British Government had from 1830 to 1847 watched these results with sorrow, not unmingled with shame. It fell to Lord Hardinge to sound the first knell of the system. In the south of India the great Muhammadan Court of the Nizám was fallen into insolvency. During 1843 and several succeeding years, the pay of the troops required by treaty for the security of Haidarábád had to be advanced from the British Treasury. In Central India the great Maráthá Prince of Nágpur made himself notorious for private vices and public oppressions, so flagrant, that it is impossible to read the official reports by our Resident, without a sense of shame that an English representative
