argued if that is the case, the military commanding officer ought to be
the resident, or political agent. In answer to this argument, I say,
that the same reasoning applies to every part of the executive
government; and that, upon this ground, the whole ought to be in the
hands of the military. In short, the only conclusion to be drawn from
all reflection and reasoning upon the subject is, that the British
government in India is a phenomenon; and that it will not answer to
apply to it, in its present state, either the rules which guide other
governments, or the reasoning upon which these rules are founded.

_Dispatch, Oct. 13, 1803._

* * * * *

_Reason for the ambiguity of Treaties._

It is impossible to frame a treaty of peace in such a manner as to find
in it a decision of all questions which can arise between the parties
concerned; particularly when the parties have frequently been at war,
and have preserved a recollection of a variety of contradictory claims
arising out of the events of their wars, which they are ready to bring
forward on all occasions.

_Dispatch, Jan. 7, 1804._

_Foundation of British Power in India in 1803._

The British government has been left by the late Mahratta war in a most
glorious situation. They are the sovereigns of a great part of India,
the protectors of the principal powers, and the mediators by treaty of