their creature and ally the nabob of _Arcate_, _Mohamed Aly_, to get it into their hands; but when they at length obtained it, the injustice of the measure appeared so glaring, that the Court of London protested against the violent proceedings of the government of _Madraspatnam_, and sent out Lord Pigot to India, with orders to restore the kingdom to the Maratta prince, its lawful owner. Lord Pigot, in my time, was kept in a state of arrest at _Mont Grand_, not far from _Maïlapuri_. The merchants of _Madraspatnam_, who derived immense advantages from the kingdom of Tanjaur, opposed the disposition made by the British Court for restoring it; and General Stuart, whom the adherents of Mr. Stratton and the merchants had brought over to their party, enticed Lord Pigot to take an airing in his carriage; had him arrested on the road, and conveyed to the before-mentioned fortress _Mont Grand_, which lies at the distance of a few miles towards the west from Madraspatnam. Here he remained for a considerable time in confinement, till he at length died in 1777. _Tullasuragia_, king of _Tanjaur_, who, by the command and exertions of Lord Pigot, was restored to the throne, experienced a similar fate. He was put in confinement also by the assistance of Mohamed Aly, and died in prison in 1776. Such is the manner in which kingdoms and provinces are acquired in India! The Europeans first get a footing there as merchants; imperceptibly endeavour to extend their power; are no longer satisfied with the advantages of trade, and begin gradually to oppose their own private interest to the interest of those princes who have admitted them into their dominions. In a little time they find means to involve them in a war; sometimes they give them assistance, in order that they may afterwards make them pay for it; and sometimes they incite one prince against another, or endeavour to create confusion in their political relations: in a word, they never rest until they get possession of the land which is the object of their ambition. _Timur-Bec_, _Thamas Kuli Khan_, the _Moguls_ and _Marattas_, the _English_ and _French_, all pretended to have just reasons for seizing the possessions of others; and no man was able to refute these reasons, which, while they had arms in their hands, were rendered sufficiently valid. “The right of conquest,” says Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws, “is a necessary, lawful, but unhappy power, which leaves the conqueror under a heavy obligation of repairing the injuries done to humanity[36].”