152 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
property, at the discretion of those who held or fully 
represented the sovereign authority ; if, in corrobora- 
tion of the general and implied obligation, he was 
bound to it by written engagements and specific con- 
ditions ; I am warranted in my assertion of the rights 
of government, which were fully and wholly dele- 
gated to me, and he alone is responsible for his oppo- 
sition to them, and for all the consequences that have 
attended that opposition.” 
Nothing can be more conclusive than the arguments 
of this letter. Suspecting, as Mr. Hastings did, the 
fidelity of Cheit Singh to the Company’s government, 
he very wisely determined to visit Benares, for the 
purpose of bringing the matter to an issue, and arrived 
there on the 14th of August 1781. The Rajah was 
absent from the city, but entered it a few hours after 
the arrival of Mr. Hastings. The Governor-General 
immediately sent to him, refusing him an audience 
that evening, and desiring that he would postpone 
his future visits until he should receive an express 
invitation, as the Governor-General had some previous 
communications to make to him which would be con- 
veyed in the course of the next morning through the 
resident. Accordingly, on the following day, a letter 
was transmitted through that functionary from Mr. 
Hastings to the Zemeendar, charging him with his 
numerous omissions of fealty to the Company’s go- 
vernment. Cheit Singh’s reply was couched in terms 
apparently humble enough, but really in terms of de- 
fiance. It is surprising with what a wily humility 
he conducted himself through the whole of his cor- 
respondence with the Governor-General, previously 
