states proved to be more easily managed, and although the British Government had occasionally to intervene, the effects of the new system were gradually felt, reforms were undertaken, feuds came to an end, and the turbulence of the Thákurs was restrained.
'I have only to add,' writes Sir D. Ochterlony, when reporting officially to the Supreme Government, 'that throughout my tour I have derived the most sincere gratification, from observing the prevalent tranquillity and increasing prosperity of the country. From the prince to the peasant, I have found every tongue eloquent in the expression of gratitude to the British Government for the blessings they enjoy. Discontent or oppression appears equally unknown, except at Ujjain, and a few other places in the immediate occupancy of Sindhia's relatives[1].'
The extraordinary folly of the Peshwá and the Bhonsla Rájá in provoking a quarrel with the British Government, stands out conspicuously as one of the inexplicable events in the history of this period. Constantly plotting against the power with which they affected to be in alliance, and to whose influence they owed their positions, they seemed incapable of adopting vigorous measures to throw off the yoke it imposed, or to perform the engagements it required. Destitute of real ability, even deficient in personal courage, they displayed none of the generosity which attracts sympathy, nor any of the qualities which might atone for their perfidy, and they fell as they deserved to fall, — unlike the many
- ↑ Summary, &c, p. 19, and Appendix B.
