5. The inglorious second administration of Lord Cornwallis lasted
only from 30th of July, 1805, the date on which he relieved the
Marquis Wellesley, to the 5th of October of the same year, the date
of his death at Ghazipur. 'The Marquis Cornwallis arrived in India,
prepared to abandon, as far as might be practicable, all the
advantages gained for the British Government by the wisdom, energy,
and perseverance of his predecessor; to relax the bands by which the
Marquis Wellesley had connected the greater portion of the states of
India with the British Government; and to reduce that Government from
the position of arbiter of the destinies of India to the rank of one
among many equals.' His policy was zealously carried out by Sir
George Barlow, who succeeded him, and held office till July, 1807.
That statesman was not ashamed to write that 'the British possessions
in the Doab will derive additional security from the contests of the
neighbouring states'. (Thornton, _The History of the British Empire
in India_, chap. 21.) This fatuous policy produced twelve years of
anarchy, which were terminated by the Marquis of Hastings's great war
with the Marathas and Pindharis in 1817, so often referred to in this
book.
Pages:
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023