Page:The Marquess of Hastings, K.G..djvu/67

Rh Lord Hastings had assumed control of Indian affairs, but it was evident, from what had already passed, that force would have to be employed if the question was to be settled. For a long time the Gúrkhas had been unmolested, and in spite of frequent remonstrances they were approaching little by little within a perilous proximity to the centre of the Bengal provinces; it was therefore necessary to arrest this invasion, which, far from being confined to two or three points, had been allowed to menace the whole length of the frontier.

To sum up: — the area of British influence in India had advanced with gigantic strides in fifty years. It extended not only over the lands in actual possession, but over those also where subsidiary treaties of alliance and protection existed. The friendly native princes were held to the Government of Calcutta by ties of interest and duty, and had acquired thereby a new position which had to be respected and definite rights which had to be maintained. A powerful confederation was being established and a vast Empire was in process of consolidation, — fixed on a firm foundation and supplanting that of the Mughals, — at the head of which stood England as Suzerain, and grouped around her, great native feudatories, whose peaceable development she was bound to foster and whose national independence she had to preserve. The