governed his country for him. We handed it over to him with an excellent system of administration in full and practised operation, with a disciplined and well-paid Army, with a full treasury and a contented people. Yet, after little more than twenty years this Prince, descending to the tomb, has left behind him a character whose record is disgraceful to him alike as a sovereign and as a man. So favoured and so aided, he has, nevertheless, lived and died a seller of justice, a drunkard, and a debauchee.
'What guarantee can the British Government now find for itself, or offer to the people of Nágpur, that another successor will not imitate and emulate this bad example? And if that should be the case, what justification could the Government of India hereafter plead for having neglected to exercise the power which it possessed to avert for ever, from the people of Nágpur, so probable and so grievous an evil?'
In applying the Doctrine of Lapse to the sovereignty of Nágpur, Lord Dalhousie was careful to reserve the jewels and private estate of the Raja for the benefit of his family. The widowed Ránís tried to secrete a large portion of the effects, and to secure them for their personal use. Their opposition, and the measures necessary for overcoming it and realizing the property, afforded a pretext for another of the false charges afterwards brought against Lord Dalhousie. The Court of Directors had declared the possessions of the late Raja (purchased by him out of the revenue of State), to be 'fairly at the disposal of the Government.' Lord
