Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/184

176 also, the vassals of the revolted princes soon began to submit to the inevitable with cheerfulness and alacrity, when the Commissioner, Mr. Elphinstone, seizing the most suitable opportunity, issued the proclamation which announced the Peshwá's deposition in February, 1818. His action in this respect was made still more successful by the wise measures he took to reconcile all classes of society to the new system, first, by assuring the payers of taxes that Maratha extortion was at an end; secondly, by the toleration, even protection, promised to the Brahmans and to the religious institutions of the country; and, thirdly, by the security extended to the holders of fiefs, on condition that submission was made and that the rights of others were not interfered with. The numerous bands of military adventurers who throve under the ex-Peshwá's disorderly government alone remained dissatisfied; as many of these as possible, after they had been duly depressed by reverses in the field, were given suitable employment in the native levies, raised to serve in the provinces which had been transferred to the British Government. The danger that a great and sudden influx of Bájí Ráo's defeated forces would commit acts of plunder on their return home, was one which could not be overlooked, and extreme care was taken to meet such a contingency, by encouraging those that could not be drafted into the army, to settle down peaceably, and by severely dealing with marauders. These precautions were efficiently carried out, and it speaks well for Elphin-