" VI. Not to starve yourself. 



" VII. Not to curse us ; or to era- 

 " ploy Brahmins to do so ; or use in- 

 " cantations. 



Secret Correspondence of the Court of the Peshxca. 149 



" destroy my confidence in you. On 

 " such occasions I shall go without op- 

 " position, putting my trust in God. 



" VI. If you abide by your en- 

 " gagements, I promise not to starve 

 " out of spite.* 



" VII. I promise not to pray to God 

 " to curse you, for I shall pray for 

 " your prosperity. If you suspect 

 " me of doing the former, I am with- 

 " out remedy ; but neitiier will I do 

 " so intentionally, nor employ any 

 " Brahmin to do so. If it should be 

 " done without my knowledge, I am 

 " not to be responsible.! All will reap 

 " the fruit of their own labour: I 

 " certainly will employ no one to 

 " curse or to hurt another, excepting 

 " he be the enemy of God, and it is 

 " to such only I wish evil. 



" In case I am ever suspected of 

 " such conduct, let the circumstances 

 " be fully investigated, and the guilty 

 " be punished accordingly. 

 " To this I agree." 



The following postscript is in Ragoba's hand-writing : 



" I have ao-reed to abide by the conditions of the above seven articles, but 



* This remarkable proposition requires some explanation. The most heinous crime of which a 

 Hindu can be guilty is to cause the death of a Brahmin, and the crime would be considerably 

 aggravated by that person being so near a relative as Ragoba was toMADHU Rao. The imposition 

 therefore of terms which should drive him to the desperate resolve of starvation, of which the 

 natives of India are frequently capable, would, by implication, bring the guilt of his uncle's murder 

 on the nephew's head ; and this article was therefore introduced to prevent its occurrence. 



t My Indian friends, who assisted me in examining this collection of papers, and who were about 

 tlie court at the time, say this passage was considered to allude to Anandi Biiye, the wife of 

 Uagoba, who was notorious for employing magicians and enchanters against Madhu Rao. 



