Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.44

v3.c43.44

Morwan,¹ January 31.—The last day of January (with the thermometer 50° at daybreak) brought us to the limits of Mewar. I could not look on its rich alienated lands without the deepest regret, or see the birthright of its chieftains devolve on the mean Mahratta or ruthless Pathan, without a kindling of the spirit towards the heroes of past days, in spite of the vexations their less worthy descendants occasion me; less worthy, yet not worthless, for having left my cares behind me with the court, where the stubbornness of some, the voices and intrigues of others, and the apathy of all, have deeply injured my health. There is something magical in absence; it throws a deceitful medium between us and the objects we have quitted, which exaggerates their amiable qualities, and curtails the proportions of their vices. I look upon Mewar as the land of my adoption, and, linked with all the associations of my early hopes and [602] their actual realization, I feel inclined to exclaim with reference to her and her unmanageable children,