recovered from his wound as to resume the war of Minutes with his fortunate rival. The paper duel went on until December, when Francis sailed homewards to brew fresh schemes of vengeance against the man whom he had thought to drive from power[1].
With his departure, Hastings once more breathed freely. After six years of conflict, he could 'enjoy the triumph of a decided victory.' The general outlook at that moment was anything indeed but bright. With 'a war either actual or impending in every quarter, and with every power in Hindustán;' with an exhausted treasury, an accumulating debt, a costly and vicious system of government, corruption rampant, trade ebbing low, and 'a country oppressed by private rapacity and deprived of its vital resources,' in order to feed the war, to give timely help to the other Presidencies, and to meet the call for remittances to England, — he had further to reckon with powerful enemies at home who were continually clamouring and striving, wellnigh successfully, for his recall. Nothing but the loyal support of a few Directors, backed by the Court of Proprietors, still kept him in his place. But Francis would be no longer at his side to torment and thwart him with all the arts of which he was a consummate master. 'In a word' — he wrote — 'I have power, and I will employ it during the interval in which the credit of it shall last, to retrieve past misfortunes, to remove present
- ↑ Gleig, Impey, Forrest.
