248 THE GOVERNOR - GENERALSHIP OF HASTINGS
was fierce and bitter, yet the Governor-General carried
with a high hand his energetic measures for meeting
these dangers. All the French settlements in India
were seized; a force was despatched from Bengal to
reinforce Bombay, and under the stress of the emer-
gency the Governor-General determined to throw aside
THE GREAT CAVE AT ELEPHANTA, NEAR BOMBAY.
a treaty just settled with the Marathas and to sanction
another march upon Poona in support of Raghunath
Eao. In modern times, the device of supporting pre-
tenders to a foreign throne has fallen into disuse among
civilized states, even when they are at war; partly
because international law disapproves, if it does not
condemn, the proceeding, but mainly because a long
series of experiments has proved that such enterprises
only exasperate the enemy and as political expedients
