ABSTRACT
While Nana Farnavis continued to deflect the Governor-General's invitations to bring the Marathas into the subsidiary system, nothing could be more fantastic than the picture presented by Madras or by the vassal States of Oudh and Hyderabad, a seething delirium of misery. The wisdom and moderation had not been very noticeable previously, and with the Nana's death the nation became marked out for sacrifice. Ariosto, Hafiz, Lord Chesterfield, Horace, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Akbar, Babar, Firdausi—disputes as to whether nations have the right to remove kings for misconduct, as to the superiority of ancients or moderns—these were themes they found absorbing, even when watching the death-day of empires. India might have seen the crazy political spectacle of the actual rule of a vast area being exercised by Farnavis, as humble deputies of helpless Peshwas, in their turn humble deputies of shadowy Rajas of Satara.
