had caused an army, to be assembled on each side." As such an event was improper among those mutually in friendship, in order to clear it up Tippoo sent a person of dignity to explain the whole circumstances, that "the dust which had obscured the upright mind of the Governor might be removed." 1 Meadows replied that he regarded as an insult the attack upon the Rajah of Travancore, who was under English protection; and they must now abide the issue of war. The Sultan, being wholly unprepared, fell back with his army towards Seringapatam. Autumn was spent in the capture and recapture of places of secondary importance, and in strategic movements without decisive result..

It is clear, that to repel the aggression, or, at most, to obtain for Travancore compensation for any loss it might have sustained, did not of necessity imply operations on a great scale, or the formation of a general league for the subjugation of Mysore. But the humiliation supposed to have been incurred by the treaty of Mangalore rankled in the minds of not a few of the military class, and the accounts of what had been achieved by the more daring and adventurous policy of Hastings in the eastern Presidency, stimulated the wish to try issues once more with the aspiring and pretentious Sultan. To vindicate the insulted majesty of Travancore, possession was taken of Baramahal in 1790, and from that hour to the present it has remained a revenue district of the Madras Presidency. We are not left to supposition or conjecture as to the designs with which the war was recommenced. Munro, one of the best and ablest officers engaged during this and the following period in the service, in his confidential letters, written in 1790, argues against the unsatisfactory nature of the attempt to hold a balance of power between the

1 Thornton's British India, p. 191.

native kingdoms. He says plainly, conquest is the true policy; and argues that the British revenue in the East might thereby with ease be trebled. "I do not mean that we should all at once attempt to extend ourselves so far, for it is at present beyond our power, but that we should keep the object in view, though the accomplishment of it should require a long series of years. The dissensions and revolutions of the native Governments will point out the time when it is proper for us to become actors. But it can never arrive while Tippoo exists." Why not remove so formidable an enemy?

Accordingly, for this purpose, Lord Cornwallis concluded a league with the Mahrattas and the Nizam, identical in substance, and with some curious points of coincidence in phraseology, with that which was signed in 1795 by the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the dismemberment of Poland. By the terms of this holy alliance, Nana Farnavis on the part of the Pagans, Nizam Ali on the part of the Mussulmans, and the Viceroy as representative of Christian England, undertook to bring into the field proportionate contingents of troops and guns, and not to make peace until half its provinces should have been reft from Mysore and parcelled out amongst them. Baramahal, won and lost in the former war, was again overrun, and this time retained securely. The Viceroy proceeded to Madras, and early in the spring assumed command of the army in person. The whole of 1791 was spent in the reduction of strong places. and in conflicts, the most sanguinary of which was that of Arikera, about six miles from the capital, which was not, however, invested until the following year. The outworks were stormed on the night of 6th February, and after losing in killed, wounded, and deserters 20,000 men, Tippoo sub

1 Memoirs of Munro, vol. i. p. 123.

mitted to the terms imposed by Lord Cornwallis; one half his dominions to be ceded to the allies adjacent to their respective boundaries and agreeably to their selection, while three crores were to be paid for the expenses of the war. Two of Tippoo's sons were to be detained as hostages for the fulfilment within a year of the pecuniary conditions.

When the preliminaries were signed, and the youthful hostages had been, with great state, conveyed into the camp, they were confided to the care of the Viceroy, who embraced them and gave them the assurance of his paternal solicitude while in captivity. The dramatic incidents of the scene have been preserved by the pencil of Singleton; and Lord Cornwallis for a few days felt that he was playing successfully the part of Scipio.

But the fine gold of magnanimity soon grew dim. In utter disregard of the terms of the preliminaries, Coorg, on the Malabar coast, containing 2165 square miles, was demanded among the cessions to the Company, in addition to Dindigul and Baramahal. Tippoo inquired in vain to the territories of which of his conquerors it lay near, and scornfully asked why no hint had been dropped of this further humiliation until his children had been parted from him, and a large portion of the war-mulet paid. In his anger he threatened to resume the offensive; and had he known accurately how much sickness and want of stores had weakened his assailants, he might with difficulty have been dissuaded from putting his threat into execution. Coorg had been subdued by his father, and ruled with such rigour by him, that the Rajah, Vira Rajendra, invoked English aid to recover his independence. Lord Cornwallis was obliged to own that the principality did not fall within the scope of the preliminaries; but he set up in extenuation of the breach of faith proposed that it would be ungenerous

to leave the Rajah to the resentment of Tippoo. The controversy ended in Coorg being given up.

Our acquisitions on the Malabar coast," wrote the Viceroy, are inaccessible to any enemy that does not come by sea, except on the north frontier. The possession of Coorg and Palghatchery effectually secure the two passes by which only Tippoo could possibly disturb us. The Rajahs on that coast are not independent, but are now become our subjects, and if we can put them in some degree on the footing of the Bengal Zemindars, and prevent their oppressing the people, the commerce of that country may become extremely advantageous to the Company. The nett revenue amounts to about twenty-five lacs of rupees, which will be a great help at present to Bombay." The court of Markara, which had been the centre of an independent state for three hundred years, was suffered to exist, with certain local jurisdictions, till 1834, when, on the pretence of failure of heirs in the house of Rejendra, the Raj was incorporated with the rest of the Empire.

1

Tippoo's resources had proved to be greater than were anticipated, and it took two years of war to induce his haughty spirit to sue for peace. Munro declares the terms granted him to have been far too moderate, although it gave the Company increased revenues, amounting to thirty-nine and a half lacs of rupees (£395,000). The extent of territory acquired was not less than 24,000 square miles; in addition to this, a portion equally great was given to the Nizam, as a reward for his services in the campaign. For how short a space he was permitted to enjoy these acquisitions we shall presently see. The Mahrattas absolutely refused to

1 Despatch to Mr Dundas, camp before Seringapatam, 18th March 1792Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 158.

Munro, vol. i. p. 129.

N

take any part of the spoil, influenced, we may suppose, less by any regard for him whose power they had helped to prostrate, than from the too late conviction how much their own safety must be endangered by the removal of such a barrier to European aggression as the Mysorean kingdom formed.

The humiliating treaty was signed, and the conquerors, laden with their booty, disappeared from before SeringapaWith what emotions Tippoo saw them depart we may easily conceive. The empire which his father's genius had cemented and bequeathed to him was riven into fragments and partitioned among his foes. His pride was humbled in the dust, his treasury was emptied, the fear of his enemies and the confidence of his subjects were alike undermined. But, as the last troop of his foes defiled through the frontier hills, he breathed freely again; and hope the hope of yet recovering all he had lost, and of avenging his dishonour-rose within him. For this alone he henceforth seemed to live. Every department of his internal administration underwent a rigorous and searching reform. He anxiously sought every means of introducing into his army the tactics and discipline of Europe, believing that these afforded him the likeliest chance of successfully coping with his adversaries. But the exhaustion and depression of national defeat is a perilous time to attempt the introduction of arbitrary innovations; and the impetuous energy of Tippoo made him forget that the unprepared changes which his superior intellect and knowledge suggested could only cause bewilderment and distrust among his dispirited people. The severe economy he was forced to use alienated many of his powerful dependants. Symptoms of general discontent became apparent, and drew forth the worst dispositions of a temper naturally harsh, and