322 GOVERNOR -GENERALSHIP OF LORD WELLESLEY

Peshwa was escorted back to Poona by a British force under General Arthur Wellesley; and it was signified to the contending Maratha chiefs that their central government had been taken under British protection. This masterful proceeding alarmed even Lord Castle- THE RESIDENCY AT LUCKNOW. reagh, who wrote to the Governor-General some remon- strances against a step which " tended to involve us in the endless and complicated distractions of the tur- bulent Maratha Empire." He replied that the influence of the French in the Maratha camp was still to be feared, an argument that easily prevailed over an Eng- lish ministry who were just bracing up the national strength, after a short breathing time, for a second and still closer wrestle with Buonaparte.