Page:Mádhava Ráo Sindhia and the Hindu Reconquest of India.djvu/90

84 with plenipotentiary powers by a politician so crafty as the Nána. At the same time the terms agreed upon do credit to his reputation for good sense and moderation. The Gujarát question was left as in 1775, so that the territories of the Gáekwár were preserved from dismemberment; and Raghuba, the restless, was pensioned off handsomely and allowed to choose his own residence. For himself Sindhia secured what he most wanted, a free hand in Central India and Hindustán. By this masterly arrangement he delivered himself, it may be said, from all fear of interruption in his great design. The opposition of the Nána was held in complete check by the ever possible competition of Raghuba and his sons; while the interference of the British was, so to speak, discounted. James Mill professes to suspect something mysterious in the understanding between Sindhia and Hastings at this juncture; but the matter appears plain enough. Hastings had sufficient experience of factious opposition to know that delicate negotiations, such as these undoubtedly were, demanded secrecy; but the general idea at which he was aiming is as clear as possible. The Empire had fallen: the British had taken such portions of it as were required for their commercial purposes: it was to their interest that the rest of the peninsula should be under the rule most conducive to peace and order; and that rule was, evidently, Sindhia's.

The name of Warren Hastings was to Mill what