302 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNWALLIS

possessions, her traditional jealousy of interference by the only European nation that had repeatedly chal- lenged her ascendency in India naturally reached its acutest stage during a desperate war with France. The last act of Lord Cornwallis before he left India, in 1793, had been to seize all the French settlements; Ceylon was taken from the Dutch in 1796; and the English now treated any symptom of an understanding with France, or even of a leaning in that direction, as a dangerous spark to be extinguished at once. Sir John Shore (Lord Teignmouth), who held the Governor- Generalship ad interim until Lord Mornington arrived in 1798, was a very cautious and overprudent politician. Being averse, on principle, to extending British rela- tions or responsibilities, he refused, rather ungener- ously, to assist the Nizam when the Marathas attacked him, thereby estranging our principal ally and encour- aging our principal rivals. When the Nizam, who was very anxious for a British alliance, proposed a defensive treaty on the basis of mutual territorial guarantee, the English government drew back, not wishing to defend Haidarabad at the risk of offending the Marathas, who might retaliate by a league with Tippu. The consequences of this half-hearted attitude were serious; for the Marathas invaded the Haidarabad coun- try, dispersed the Nizam's army, and at Kurdla, in 1795, enforced on him an ignominious surrender to very ex- tortionate terms. This triumph brought the Marathas a considerable increase of strength and reputation, while the Nizam was so deeply incensed at our desertion