renowned Bussy was hourly expected to land from Suffren's fleet at Cuddalore. Lord Macartney, the new Governor of Madras, had shown becoming energy in the hour of need; but Coote's successor. General Stuart, who had fought with credit at Porto Novo and Pollilúr, lacked some of the higher qualities which made Coote's name a household memory among his adoring Sepoys[1]. And to crown all, the Poona Government had hung back for months from ratifying the treaty by which Hastings sought to detach the Maráthás from their alliance with Mysore.
Before the end of 1781 Sindhia had agreed not only to make peace himself with the English, but to persuade the Court of Poona to make peace also, on the terms proposed by Hastings. In May, 1782, the Treaty of Salbái was signed by Sindhia, and most of the Maráthá leaders. Nána Farnavís, who had accepted the treaty, still put off signing a compact which virtually pledged him to abandon Haidar altogether. But pressure from Hastings, and the news of Haidar's death, induced him also to sign before the year's end. In the following February the Peshwá's seals were affixed to a treaty by which Hastings surrendered much in order to gain a good deal more. If Sindhia recovered all his lost possessions save Gwalior, if Bassein and part of Gujarat were restored to the Peshwá, and Raghuba might look for no more help or encouragement from Bombay, the Maráthá in their turn pledged themselves to let no European traders
- ↑ Stubbs.
