Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/171

Rh the East. In a long roll of British statesmen, whose labours in the public service of India have trained the natives to habits of order and civilization, and conciliated the people to higher ideas and to Western rule, few stand more prominent than Elphinstone, Munro, Malcolm, Metcalfe, and Ochterlony. These men and others, who served in a minor but scarcely less important capacity, were all remarkable for their ability and for their thorough knowledge of native affairs, as well as for their active sympathy with the prejudices and sentiments of the people with whom they came into contact. Their efforts upon this occasion were conspicuously successful, and contributed in no small degree to make the reconstruction durable and advantageous not only to the conquerors but also to the inhabitants.

To secure the future and permanent tranquillity of the Indian continent, it is evident that the paramount authority of England had to be asserted and maintained over the foreign affairs of all the native states, and this included the control of their military concerns. This principle was everywhere adopted and enforced. But the existing order which had prevailed in the internal affairs of the various states was disturbed as little as possible, and only such territory added to the Company's direct possession as was necessary to establish securely British power, or which could not be otherwise settled. As an example of this, the ex-Peshwá's dominions were taken over and placed under English administration, in conformity with the