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Cuddalore, then occupied by the French, was commenced, and Admiral Hughes' squadron prepared to second the efforts of the land forces. Being attacked, however, by the French fleet under Suffrein, a naval action ensued, in which victory declared itself for neither party; although M. Suffrein contrived to land a large number of troops, destined to co-operate with M. Bussy in the defence of Cuddalore. This accession of strength encouraged the latter officer to attempt several sallies, which, however, proved, in general, disadvantageous to the garrison. In one of these a young French serjeant, being seriously wounded, fell into the hands of the English. His extreme youth, and the gallantry with which he bore up under the painful nature of his position, attracted the notice of Colonel Wagenheim, who commanded a body of Hanoverians in the British service. The humane officer directed that the youth should be carried to his own tent, where he watched over him with almost paternal interest. Twenty years afterwards, they met again in Europe, under singular circumstances. The armies of France had occupied Hanover, and in their leader, Charles John Bernadotte, afterwards Marshal of the empire and King of Sweden, General Wagenheim recognised the young stranger whom he had treated with such praiseworthy humanity at the lines of Cuddalore. We may add that the marshal proved himself by no means forgetful of the past, but took the earliest opportunity of expressing to his newlyfound benefactor his deep sense of the kindness he had received at his hands.

Peace was shortly afterwards declared between France and England, which when known in India at once arrested the siege of Cuddalore, and obliged the French officers to retire from the service of Tippoo. That prince was then busily engaged in laying siege to Mangalore, which, although indifferently fortified, offered a stout resistance. M. Bussy had attempted to act as

mediator between the sultan and the Madras Council; but the arrogance of the former had been inflamed by some recent successes, and he absolutely refused to listen to any terms of accommodation. The cause of these successes was attributable, as usual, to dissensions between the English civil and military authorities. During the early part of 1783, General Matthews had been despatched by the Government of Bombay, with instructions to possess himself of the important city of Bednore, on the Canarese coast. Some interference with his marching arrangements on the part of the Bombay Council irritated Matthews, he landed his men at the nearest point to Bednore, scaled the Ghauts which defended it, in a reckless and precipitate manner; but to his own astonishment and that of others, found himself ultimately successful.

The cruelty of Tippoo prepared the way for the triumph of his enemies. Sheikh Ayaz, the Governor of Bednore, although of servile birth and mean education, had been esteemed by Hyder Ali one of the bravest of his generals. During his frequent disputes with Tippoo, and particularly when his natural irritability had been increased by intoxication, the late sultan used to indulge in comparisons between his officer and his heir, which were by no means flattering or agreeable to the latter. The revengeful prince never forgot these insults, nor forgave the man who had been innocently the cause of them. When he found himself in quiet possession of the throne, he despatched a missive to one of his satellites, charging him to procure, by any means, the death of the Governor of Bednore. The letter was intercepted by the intended victim himself, and Sheikh Ayaz then perceived that his only hope of safety lay in a speedy removal from the influence of the tyrant's power. He therefore surrendered his post to the English, but no considerations of revenge could induce him to engage in warfare against the son of his benefactor,

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He therefore withdrew altogether from the scene of conflict, to seek an asylum in the country immediately bordering on the coast.

A sum of 800,0007. having been captured at Bednore, Matthews was accused of endeavouring to secure it for his own private emolument. The charge was probably false, but his behaviour, unquestionably, rendered his officers dissatisfied; and three of the principal among them quitted the camp to lay their complaints before the council at Bombay. Elated by his recent achievements, the self-satisfied commander deemed himself invincible, and neglected even the most ordinary precautions. Suddenly, Tippoo, with a large army, and aided by several skilful French engineers, made his appearance before Bednore, and succeeded in shutting up the English general behind its walls. After a gallant defence, the garrison surrendered, upon condition that they should be permitted to leave the coast uninjured. Some of them, however, it is said, concealed upon their persons jewels and money taken from the public treasury, which being discovered by the officers of Tippoo, he declared, that the terms of the capitulation having been infringed, they must consider themselves as prisoners. The whole of these unfortunate men, therefore, were bound, subjected to the most injurious treatment, and finally immured in the horrible dungeons of Mysore.

Elated by his recent success, Tippoo now proceeded to invest Mangalore, which still held out, when the French officers in the Mysorean service were recalled by Bussy. Their retirement rendered the sultan indignant in the extreme, since he found that, without the aid derived from their science and skill, his single efforts would avail but little. At length, he reluctantly consented to an armistice, in virtue of which, provisions were to be allowed to pass into the town of Mangalore once every month; but the deceitful tyrant soon discovered

means to elude the fulfilment of this engagement. He, indeed, suffered the provisions to enter, but he menaced the people of the country with the most severe penalties, if they presumed to supply the English with any food that was not of the worst possible quality. The result of this inhuman policy soon manifested itself, in the disorders which began to prevail among the Europeans composing the garrison. General Mc Leod remonstrated with Tippoo respecting his manifest breach of faith, but could obtain no redress, and adhering, as some thought, too closely to the letter of the armistice, he neglected many opportunities of throwing into the town supplies of more wholesome food.

While Tippoo was besieging Mangalore, Colonel Fullarton had been despatched into the south by Lord Macartney, the Governor of Madras. With the concurrence of his superiors, that brave officer arranged a plan of operations which, if acted upon, would soon have brought Tippoo to reason. This was no less than the invasion of Seringapatam, a measure carried out eventually with complete success under the auspices of General Harris. First, however, it was necessary to gain the confidence of various native princes in the south, and to reduce several fortresses which might have impeded the advance of the army. By conciliating the Hindoo population, Fullarton induced them to aid the English against their Mohammedan oppressors. The Zamorin, and other petty rajahs, who had long borne unwillingly the yoke of Tippoo, flew at once to arms; while the Brahmins readily enough stirred up their votaries to resist the persecutor of their religion, and the destroyer of its most sacred shrines. Even the oppressed and degraded Pooliah, who adored as divine beings the monkeys of the southern forests, and might be considered, according to Hindoo prejudices, a Pariah of the Pariahs, repaid the kindness of Fullarton by active and zealous services, while all the superior castes

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vied with each other in courting the alliance of the English. Thus strengthened, the British commander reduced successively the strongholds of Palghautcherry and Coimbatoor, and was rapidly advancing upon Seringapatam, when intelligence reached him that commissioners had arrived from Madras, for the purpose of concluding a truce with Tippoo, which, of course, at once suspended all hostile operations.

The terms of this armistice, were, upon the whole, most favourable to the Sultan of Mysore, since all the recent acquisitions of the English were to be restored to their former owner. On the other hand, Tippoo agreed to release such of his prisoners as had survived the horrors. of their imprisonment. General Matthews, with some others, had fallen a sacrifice, it was believed, to the tyrant's cruelty, while the commissioners, after their arrival at Mysore, heard with indignation of the bad faith observed towards the late garrison of Mangalore. That fortress had been finally evacuated by Colonel Campbell, who, according to the provisions of the capi tulation, conducted to Telicherry the diseased and emaciated remnant of his gallant corps, Tippoo having, in this single instance, maintained unbroken his plighted faith.

The conditions of the treaty were arranged with some difficulty, in consequence of the re-capture of Palghautcherry by the Sultan of Mysore. It had been given over to the Zamorin, who garrisoned the fort with Hindoo troops. Tippoo, however, ordered a number of Brahmins to be put to death, and exposed their heads on poles within sight of the walls, a proceeding which so terrified the garrison, that they at once surrendered the place. His arrogance was greatly increased by this event, and the commissioners deeming all their attempts in vain, directed Fullarton to resume his intended invasion of the Mysore territory. The return of