inimical to us; while, under French influence, with Tippoo of Mysore, all India seemed ripe for a combined attack upon the British settlements.

At Madras, Lord Mornington's official duties may be said to have commenced with the adjustment of a disputed succession in Tanjore; but the final decision was not at that time pronounced. On the 18th of May he arrived at Calcutta, after leaving behind him full preparations for any hostile movements on the part of Tippoo. Our Madras forces had been considerably reduced by the conquest and occupation of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon, Banda, Malacca, and Amboyna, and they were scattered in cantonments far apart, without bullocks for the conveyance of stores, and it was not till Lord Mornington had frequent consultations with General (afterwards Lord) Harris, then Colonel of the 76th Foot, and commanderin-chief at Madras, that that the army was put in a condition to take the field at

1778, he served under General Medows, on the secret expedition to St. Lucia, when 1,700 British troops attacked and routed 5,000 French.

After this, he embarked in a Dutch ship for England, but was captured by a French privateer. After being released, he married, in England, Miss Dixon, of Bath, and rejoined his regiment at Barbadoes. In 1780, he was persuaded by his old comrade, General Medows, to accompany him to Bombay as military secretary, and as such he served in the campaigns against Tippoo Sahib, in 1790; thus Lord Mornington found in him an able coadjutor, who knew well the resources, the country, and the sovereign of Mysore. General Harris returned to England after the campaigns of Cornwallis, but, in October, 1794, was again in

India, when he was appointed commander-inchief at Madras. The Earl of Mornington was determined to grapple with all the dangers and difficulties that were likely to menace his government. With this view he laid down a plan of action, and sent

it as a secret despatch to Lieutenant-General

his skill and energy to the task of bringing the troops in the various cantonments to a state of efficiency.

his peerage, a short notice of him may be desirable. | Harris, and recommended his brother to devote The son of a Kentish clergyman, who held the incumbency of Brasted, Harris was born in 1744; and after being an artillery cadet, he was gazetted to the 5th Foot, and in 1765, purchased a lieutenancy. He joined his regiment in Ireland, "where many adventures befell him, trying to his courage and prudence, but confirming those virtues in him." By the most severe self-denial on the part of his mother, he purchased a company, and, at its head, was severely wounded in the battle of Bunker's Hill.

Soon after, he was again wounded, and was entrusted by Lord Cornwallis with a letter to Washington, and was gazetted Major of the 5th, in October, 1779. At this time, another soldier to be famed in Indian wars, William Medows, was its lieutenant-colonel, and the full colonel was Hugh, Earl Piercy. While covering the embarkation of our troops at Philadelphia, he made the friendship of the famous Admiral Lord Howe, and in October,

At this time, the strength of the Mysore army was never less than 70,000 men; while that of Madras mustered only 14,000, of whom about 4,000 were Europeans.

To strengthen the ties of alliance, and extend our political influence, the Indian Government endeavoured to negotiate with some of the native powers. Raymond, the French general, who commanded the army of the Nizam, had become every day a greater favourite, since the rebellion of Ali Jah was crushed. In the style of his domestic life, he collected around him every luxury and elegance within the reach of a European in the heart of India, and affected, particularly in all that related to military parade, the magnificence of a prince. Raymond had now increased his drilled

proportion, were to serve in the army of the Deccan. In pursuance of this arrangement, Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts, with the contingent, reached Hyderabad on the 10th of October. In silence and secrecy all the arrangements were made, and Colonel Roberts, on being joined by some of the Nizam's cavalry, surrounded the French cantonments, into which a proclamation was sent in the name of the Nizam, "to inform the troops under the French officers, that their lawful sovereign had dismissed those officers from his service; that they were released from obedience to them, and all who attempted to support them would be punished as traitors."

Red Sea, from Egypt (for the conquest of which the republican flag was already unfurled), should effect a landing on the shores of India.

Then, indeed, from Tippoo's position and power, his savage temper, religious rancour, and ambitious views, we should have the worst to fear. A great variety of important documents relative to the war against him, together with authentic copies of his correspondence with Zemaun Shah, the governor of the Mauritius, and others, all of which were laid before the India House in May, 1799, develop the design which Tippoo had fully planned, so far back as the year 1792, for the complete extirpation of the British in India, for the total destruction of Though the force under Colonel Roberts was the Mahratta States, and the Hindoo governments, greatly inferior in strength to that which occupied and, finally, for establishing a vast Mohammedan the cantonments, in number and in guns, so little had empire, of which he should be the head, and which the French adventurers conciliated the men of their should extend from Cape Comorin to the mountains various battalions, that they were under apprehen- of Tartary and Thibet, and from the wall of China sion of being massacred by them. They therefore to the bank of the Indus-a vast scheme of ampromptly surrendered to Colonel Roberts, who bition which the diplomacy of Mornington and the brought off all the Frenchmen without shedding a soldiers of Harris were to destroy and defeat. drop of blood, for which, and for the humanity he displayed, he was publicly thanked by the Governor-General in Orders.*

The French officers had barely found shelter in the British camp, when the troops of the Nizam mutinied about their arrears of pay; but they were promptly surrounded and disarmed by Colonel Roberts' infantry, aided by some of the Nizam's horse, under Captain (afterwards Sir John) Malcolm, who narrowly escaped death among the mutineers, but was saved by some men who four years before had belonged to his company of the 29th Native Infantry, and had deserted.

Negotiations with the Mahrattas were carried on at the same time as with the Nizam, as M. Perron was at the head of a disciplined force in their territories, and his officers formed the nucleus of another French power in India, and the Peishwa, or rather Scindia, who acted for him, would neither disband these troops, nor permit us to mediate between the Mahrattas and the sovereign of the Deccan. To make matters look darker still, the Peishwa was receiving ambassadors from Tippoo, and it soon became apparent that we would have to proceed against that troublesome potentate single-handed. Scindia seemed inclined to draw his sword for the enemy, and it was but too certain that M. Perron, with his French officers and well-disciplined battalions, would endeavour to form a junction with their countrymen who were in the service of Tippoo, more especially if a French armament from the Mauritius, or by the way of the * Asiatic Annual, 1799.

Tippoo had evinced-ever since the Treaty of Seringapatam had humbled his pride and dismembered the empire Hyder's sword had won—a temper more than usually sullen and vindictive, and he only waited an opportunity for renewing the war with some prospect of victory. Wherever Britain had an enemy, there were his envoys to be found; in Persia; among the mountains of Cabul; at the court of Abdul Hamet IV., of Turkey; in Paris; and, lastly, the Isle of France; but much of this became known to Lord Mornington before he had been a month in India.

By 1790, the 107th and 108th Regiments of the French line, forming the garrison in the Isle of France, had, in common with the rabble, embraced the sentiments of the revolutionists, adopted the tricoloured cockade, and betaken them to every outrage in the name of Liberty and Equality, even to the barbarous murder of M. de Macnamara, commandant of the French marine in the Indian seas; but in June, 1792, M. de Malartie arrived as governor-general from Paris, while Colonel de Cossigny commanded in the Isle of Bourbon. Through these officials Tippoo was informed of the successes achieved by France in the revolutionary war, and was assured of direct assistance in any struggle with Britain. While his hopes were rising with these promises, it chanced that a French privateer, in want of repairs, put into Mangalore, when her captain, who was named Ripaud, in a conversation with Gholaum Ali, the Meer-e-Zem, or High Admiral, said that he was high in office at the Mauritius, and had by special order touched at

THE PROCLAMATION OF MALARTIE.

Mangalore to learn the wishes of Tippoo with regard to certain forces now ready to sail and cooperate with him against the British-their common enemy. After this, Ripaud had several interviews with the sultan at Seringapatam, and though the latter suspected his visitor to be an impostor, nevertheless he thought it possible to turn him to good account by purchasing his ship and sending it laden with merchandise to the Isle of France, with messengers on board to ascertain the truth of his statements. Tippoo's councillors openly distrusted Ripaud, but replying to them with his invariable remark, "Whatever is the will of God, that will be accomplished," he took his own course. Ripaud he retained at Seringapatam as French ambassador at his court. The privateer was purchased for 17,000 rupees, and under a French captain, named Pernore (or Pernaud), she was to sail for her destination, with certain persons as ambassadors on board, but in the character of Eastern merchants. Two of these were to return with the expected land and sea forces; the others were to proceed to the Executive Directory at Paris, as the envoys of the sultan. after they reached Mangalore to embark, Pernore, The night who had the 17,000 rupees, absconded with three of the envoys in a boat, and was never more heard of. The vessel was now put in charge of Ripaud, and with two envoys-Hussein Ali and SheikhIbrahim-he sailed in October, 1797, and the instant he was fairly at sea he mustered the Europeans of his crew, and compelled the envoys to open the kereetahs, or silken cases which held their letters addressed to the authorities at the Mauritius; and on learning that he had nothing to fear from their contents, though he treated the envoys with great barbarity, by placing them among the lascars, robbing them, and threatening to take them a six months' cruise, he landed them safely at Port Louis on the 19th of January, 1798; and there" the Refuge of the World," according to their own report-they were received with great honour by General Malartie, and conducted to his house under the salute of 150 pieces of

cannon.

327

ing this brilliant scheme, were somewhat disconcerted to find that the representations of Ripaud even expected, in Indian waters. were false-that no such armament existed, or was de Malartie resolved to dispatch two frigates with duplicates of the letter to the Directory, requesting However, Count succour, and meantime to beat up for volunteers. Against this the luckless envoys remonstrated, declaring that, when expected to return with a large force, they dared not do so with a small one. In spite of this, he issued the following proclamation, which occurs in French in the Asiatic Register for 1799, and of which a translation is printed Grant, who died there in 1784, in the service among the papers of his predecessor, Baron of Louis XVI.:

divisible. Equality!
"Liberty! The French Republic, one and in-

artie, Commander-in-chief and Governor-General
"Proclamation by Anne Joseph Hippolyte Mal-
of the Isles of France and Réunion (Bourbon), and
of all the French settlements eastward of the Cape
of Good Hope.

your zeal and attachment to the interest and glory "Citizens! Having for several years known of our Republic, we are very anxious, and feel it a duty, to make you acquainted with the propositions which have been made to us by Tippoo Sultaun, who has sent two ambassadors to us. has written letters to the Colonial Assembly, as well as to all generals employed under this governThis prince ment, and has addressed a packet to us for the Executive Directory.

alliance with the French, and proposes to maintain, "He desires to form an offensive and defensive at his charge, as long as the war shall last in India, the troops which may be sent to him. He promises to furnish every necessary for carrying on the war, wine and brandy excepted, with which he is wholly unprovided. He declares that he has made every preparation to receive the succours which may be sent him, and that, on the arrival of the troops, the commanders will find everything necessary for enaccustomed. gaging in a war to which Europeans are but little

Their despatches contained the terms of a treaty between Tippoo and the government of Mauritius. They seemed to assume that an army of some French shall come to his assistance, to declare war "In a word, he waits the moment when the 10,000 Europeans, and perhaps 30,000 Africans, against the British, whom he ardently desires to was ready to sail, and proposed to join it with expel from India. As it is impossible for us to 60,000 Mysoreans. Goa was to be taken from the reduce the number of the 107th and 108th RegiPortuguese, Bombay from the British and given to ments and of the regular guard of the port of France, Madras was to be razed to the ground, Fraternité, on account of the succours we have and then Bengal, the Mahrattas, and the Deccan furnished to our allies the Dutch, we invite the were to be conquered. The envoys, after unfold-citizens who may be disposed to enter as volun

teers, to enrol themselves in their respective national colours of the sister republic"-on being municipalities, and to serve under the banners hoisted was saluted by every gun in Seringapatam, of Tippoo. This prince desires also to be assisted and a tree of liberty was planted. "Of any comby free citizens of colour: we therefore invite all prehension of the purport or tendency of these such who are willing to serve under his flag to proceedings, the sultan was so entirely innocent enrol themselves. that he fancied himself to be consolidating one of those associations devoted to his own aggrandisement, by which his imagination had lately been captivated in the history of the Arabian Wahabees.”+ Of the grotesque situation into which he had been lured, he became conscious, when some time after, a French naval captain, named Dubuc, who claimed to be commander of the sea forces, went with two of his envoys as joint representatives to the Executive Directory in Paris, and with reference to the promised aid, Tippoo received the following letter from Napoleon, forwarded through the Sheriff of Mecca:—

"We ensure all citizens who shall enrol, that Tippoo will allow them an advantageous rate of pay, the terms of which will be fixed with his ambassadors, who will further engage, in the name of their sovereign, that all Frenchmen who may enter into his armies shall never be detained after they have expressed a wish to return to their own country.

"Done at Port North-west, the 30th January, 1798. "MALARTIE."

After resisting the publication of this document, the envoys acquiesced in it, and personally encouraged all to accompany them, and flatteringly assured them that the standard of the Republic had been set up in Lally's camp at Seringapatam, and saluted by three thousand guns. Soon after this, H.M.S. Brave captured La Surprise, national corvette, bound for Europe, having on board General de Brie and two envoys of Tippoo from the Isle of France.

In all this affair the conduct of the Count de Malartie was full of absurdity. He was aware that Tippoo's envoys had visited him through false information; that for this reason secrecy was necessary, but his measures rendered it impossible. Then, as if he supposed our Indian Government could be kept ignorant of his proclamation, he wrote Tippoo announcing that he had laid an embargo on all vessels in Port Louis, until the departure of the two envoys with the forces, the entire strength of which amounted to ninety-nine, officers included; and with these Hussein Ali and Sheikh-Ibrahim landed from a French frigate at Mangalore on the 27th of April, 1798, one day after the Earl of Mornington landed at Madras.

Had Tippoo possessed the cunning or wisdom of old Hyder, he might have postponed his rupture with Britain, by disavowing the proceedings of the count, the envoys, and their "forces;" but, instead of this, he committed himself more hopelessly. The moment the French rabble reached Seringapatam they proceeded to organise a Jacobin club, the members of which swore "hatred to tyranny, love of liberty, and the destruction of all kings and sovereigns, except the good and faithful ally of the French republic, Citizen Sultaun Tippoo." The standard of this absurd community-" the * "History of Mauritius," p. 536, but surely a mistake.

"Liberty! Equality!-Bonaparte, member of the National Convention, General-in-chief, to the most magnificent Sultaun, our greatest friend, Tippoo Saib. Head-quarters at Cairo, 7th Pluviôse, 7th year of the Republic, one and indivisible.

"You have already been informed of my arrival on the borders of the Red Sea, with an innumerable and invincible army, full of the desire of relieving you from the iron yoke of England. I eagerly embrace this opportunity of testifying to you the desire I have of being informed by you, by the way of Muscat and Mocha, as to your political situation.

"I would even wish you could send some intelligent person to Suez or Cairo, possessing your confidence, with whom I might confer.

"BONAPARTE."‡

One account says this letter was intercepted; but another states that a translation only of it, and that to the Sheriff of Mecca, was communicated to Captain Wilson, at Mocha, and that translations were by him transmitted to the Governor and Council at Bombay. ||

The Earl of Mornington received intelligence, about the end of October, of the glorious battle of the Nile and the total destruction of the French fleet by Nelson. But there was no Suez Canal then, and it was not upon that fleet the French could have depended for their passage down the Red Sea and through the Indian Ocean; so, notwithstanding the victory, the earl did not relax any of the preparations he had begun to make for war. was uncertain as to the strength and movements of the French army in Egypt, where it held its ground

He