the possession of the British Government. I feel assured your Honourable Committee has been satisfied that such was my earnest desire; and that its disappointment has been occasioned by circumstances beyond my control. When those circumstances did occur, and the necessity arose for my directing your arms against treacherous allies and declared enemies, you will, I am persuaded, admit the impracticability of my adhering to those limits which my duty and inclination would otherwise have prescribed, without a sacrifice of your interest and security which no profession of obedience to orders, issued under a different view of things, would have justified to myself or my country[1].'
But the war nevertheless did occasion a destructive period in India, and extended over a far wider area than was represented by the territories of these two Maráthá rulers. No independent state had escaped its disturbing effects, the whole balance of power had been violently shaken and completely upset, and constitutional changes of a far-reaching and fundamental character had been made in many provinces. A comprehensive scheme of reconstruction had therefore to be effected, and as the territories to be submitted to this process extended over nearly half a million square miles, the task was a gigantic one, and entailed a greater and more important labour by far than that which had hitherto occupied the energies of the Governor-General. By the results he achieved is his success to be commended or his failure blamed; for easy as it often is to abolish an evil system, its destruction is
- ↑ Malcolm's Hist. of India, i. 502.
