F10195_0048

20.
considered craftiness a virtue, & straightforwardness
a vice of which he was incapable;
a feeble minded spendthrift, who
loved nothing better than his own luxury.
The condition of his country showed not
only the weakness of his personal character
but also his total lack of any real
power to quell the internal disorder that
raged unchecked in his land: the condition
of his treasuries laid bare his extravagance.
His subsidies - for the Company
had already a certain hold over him* -
were not, & offered no prospect of being,
forthcoming. It need hardly be said that
such a state of affairs could not be permitted
to continue. The Governor-General
communicated with the Nawab with a
view to altering by a new treaty the relations
between the Company & himself, so
as to put matters on a more satisfactory
footing. The Nawab evaded in his answer
any approach to a settlement. How long
these unfruitful negotiations would have
continued is a matter for conjecture. As
it happened, the capture of Seringapatam
(April 4th, 1799) settled the question, for among
the papers found there was discovered
[line]
*
See above: page 10; line 12.