Note 48 — CHAPTER 17

To increase his importance, Sindhia invited the British envoy and suite to be present on the occasion, when the princely demeanour of the Rana and his sons was advantageously contrasted with that of the Mahratta and his suite. It was in this visit that the regal abode of this ancient race, its isles and palaces, acted with irresistible force on the cupidity of this scion of the plough, who aspired to, yet dared not seat himself in, ‘the halls of the Caesars.’ It was even surmised that his hostility to Jaipur was not so much from the refused war-contribution, as from a mortifying negative to an audacious desire to obtain the hand of this princess himself. The impression made on the author upon this occasion by the miseries and noble appearance of ‘this descendant of a hundred kings,’ was never allowed to weaken, but kindled an enthusiastic desire for the restoration of his fallen condition, which stimulated his perseverance to obtain that knowledge by which alone he might be enabled to benefit him. Then a young Sub., his hopes of success were more sanguine than wise; but he trusted to the rapid march of events, and the discordant elements by which he was surrounded, to effect the redemption of the prince from thraldom. It was a long dream—but after ten years of anxious hope, at length realized—and he had the gratification of being instrumental in snatching the family from destruction, and subsequently of raising the country to comparative prosperity.