A History of the Mahrattas v2.c35.32

v2.c35.32

It was in vain that Colonel Upton complained, or the ministers threatened, in consequence of these proceedings; the Bombay Government paid little attention to the one, and they treated the other with scorn; they expressed their astonishment and surprise that the envoy of the British nation should suffer the Mahratta ministers to declare that they should be induced to follow the example of Hyder, who had secured a peace on terms very honourable to himself, and that, in case of a renewal of the war, they would carry fire and sword to every part of the Company’s possessions in India. Such a menace was indeed derogatory to the British character and highly discreditable, not to Colonel Upton, but to those of his nation who by a perverse conduct provoked the threat, and compelled their envoy to admit that the measures they pursued were not regulated in that spirit of good faith which should certainly have actuated them from the moment a treaty was concluded.