"And now I am getting to the close of my little lecture," said the Major, turning away from his listeners for a few moments while he stared out through the wide-open windows. "I arrive at a time when others came forward to interfere with the Company. Hitherto none had had their say as to the actions of the great and wealthy corporation. But the English Government had been itching to have a finger in this very rich and appetising pie, and while this conflict raged between Mahrattas and Hyder Ali, the Commons insisted on having a representative in India, and on controlling the working of the Company. There followed a war with Tanjore and its conquest, and afterwards a reduction of the Rohilla country, the great Warren Hastings being Governor-General. "Meanwhile the Mogul was but a name, a name to be scoffed at and to be openly derided. The days had passed when men trembled in his presence or at mention of his power, for on every side powerful princes and upstart adventurers defied the ruler of Hindustan, and carved out new fortunes and new possessions for themselves. It was not now a case of fighting against the Mogul, but a campaign for obtaining the largest possessions, the greatest riches and the utmost territory. And this ambitious policy led to war on every hand. India was continuously the scene of native intrigue and hostility, hostility which, as it raised some obscure individual to power and opulence, threatened the rule of the Company. Then, too, the Company's ambitious policy, and their constant desire to increase their own territories and power, did not make for peace, and we find them at war with the Mahrattas, their desire being to obtain possession of the island of Salsette. A little later their equanimity was upset by the uprising of a Scottish East India Company, which, however, did not survive for long.