100 HINDOOSTAN, 
breaft covered with diamonds, and the wings, expanded 
as if hovering, completely lined with diamonds ; on the 
back many large jewels were well and fancifully dif- 
pol'ed ; the tail refembled a peacock’s, being ftudded in the 
lame manner; and the whole fo arranged as to imitate the 
plumage, and fo clofely fet that the gold was fcarcely vi¬ 
able. 
Belides thefe immenfe fpoils, there were found on the 
works and in the arfenal upwards of two thoufand pieces 
of cannon, which had been cait under the direction of 
French engineers, one half of which were brafs; befides . 
an abundance of (lores of every defcription. The depots 
of grain exceed all credibility, which proves that Tippoo 
was prepared for a long liege. The horfes, elephants, and 
camels, were delivered over to lieutenant-colonels Clofe 
and Dallas, and captains Macauly and Montgomery: 
.3310 horfes, 99 elephants, and 175 camels, the fultan’s 
• private property. This mighty conquelt took place on 
the 4th of May, 1799. 
The capture of Seringapatam was an event fo wholly 
unexpected by the enemy, that it put the Britifh govern¬ 
ment in full polTeiTIon of the writings and ftate-papers 
of the fallen Tippoo Sultan. From thefe documents a 
difcovery "was made, which excited the poignant regret 
.of the Indian government, while it impol'ed on it a mod 
painful, but neceffary, duty. Indubitable proofs were 
obtained, that a fecret correfpondence had fubfifted for a 
. confiderable time, between the old ally of the Englilh, 
Mohammed Ali Khan, nabob of the Carnatic, the oumdat 
ul omrah his fon, arid Tippoo Sultan. The object of 
this correfpondence was the expulfion of the Englifh, the 
deftruCtion of every European government, and the re- 
eltablifliment of the banners of the prophet over the Car¬ 
natic, and all the countries of Hindooftan. Some of the 
letters were written in an affected liyle of ambiguity, and 
l'ome in cipher, the key to which was fortunately difco- 
vered among the papers of the lultan. In thefe he was 
advifed of the precile time when the Britifh government 
. intended to attack Pondicherry, and was admoniilied to 
be circumfpeCt in his int'ercourfe with the native powers, 
particularly with the court of Poonah. This difcovery, 
fo unequivocal and complete, determined the governor- 
general, with the advice of his coadjutors in office, and 
particularly of lord Clive, to remove from the nabob the 
means of executing his perfidious intent, by affuming 
,the adminftration of the Carnatic, in the name of the 
Eafl-India company. In coniideration, however, of the 
long friendlhip that had fubfifted between the company 
and the family that held the foubahdary, he propofed to 
make an annual allowance to the nabob, fo ample as to 
leave him no reafon to complain of pecuniary lol's. But 
before any communication could be made- to Mohammed 
Ali on this fubjedl, the infirmities of old age, added to a 
fudden fever, haftened his death, and fpared him the mor¬ 
tification of knowing that his cunning had over-feached 
itfelf, and that he had alienated, by his ingratitude and 
treachery, the confidence of his benefaflors. It will here 
be recolledfed that he owed his exiftence, as nabob of Ar- 
cot, entirely to the Englifh, who fupported him in oppo¬ 
sition to the intrigues of the French governor Dupleix, 
who had fet up Clmnda Salieb, and entered into a war to 
fupport him in the fovereignty of the Carnatic, as related 
above. After fuch a feries of fervices as were rendered 
by the Englifh to Mohammed Ali Khan, it exhibits a 
molt fhocking pidlure of Indian perfidy and ingratitude, 
that, when lie had attained to more than fourfeore years, 
he ffiould, at the clofe of a long and checquered life, 
, when his evening was fhutting in, ferene, fecure, and 
dignified, combine with his once mortal foe, to betray 
and deftroy his moft faithful friends. The Englifh go¬ 
vernment, under thefe unpleafing circumftances, trans¬ 
ferred the mufnud to Azem 11I Dowlah, the eldeft fon of 
the late emir ul omrah, and fecond fon of the nabob Mo¬ 
hammed Ali Khan, and the lineal defeendant of Anwar- 
odtan, the founder of the family, both by the male and 
female line. This feledlion gave general fatisfadlion. 
The new nabob gladly acceded to the terms that were 
offered ; and he was immediately inverted with the khe- 
laut, or uniform of the foubahdary ; and his fubfequent 
conduft is faid to fhow that he is not undeferving of the 
elevation he has gained. 
Foiled in his recent attempts to gain a footing in In¬ 
dia, the indefatigable ruler of the French nation ftill pro¬ 
jected frefh fchemes of conqueft, and drew his hopes of 
•future fuccefs from a quarter which remained hitherto 
untried. The Mahrattas, the moft powerful of all the 
tribes of Hindooftan, held out the faireft profpeft that had 
yet prefented itfelf to the mind of Bonaparte, for effect¬ 
ing the deftruCtion of the Englilh power in India. By 
the activity of his emiffaries he foon opened a commu¬ 
nication with Dowlat Rao Scindia ; who, as we have leen, 
had fucceeded his uncle Mahadjee Scindia as chief of that 
tribe of Mahrattas, and had alio affumed the direction of 
the government at Delhi, and the care of the emperor’s 
perfon. This chief had alfo entered into terms of amity 
with the Englilh government, and expreffed the utmoft 
defire to maintain their interefts at the imperial court. 
Yet this fame Dowlat Rao Scindia now gave open coun¬ 
tenance to the French, introduced them in lwarms at 
the capital of Delhi, and ftationed them in the diftricls 
and ftrong-holds of the adjacent provinces. General M. 
Perron, with twenty thoufand French fepoys, well armed, 
provided with excellent field-artillery, and regularly dif- 
ciplined, were cantoned at Coel,- in the very heart of the 
Douab, only ten miles from the Britifh advanced ports, 
with the ftrong fort of Allighur flanking their canton¬ 
ment ; imperial Delhi in their poffeffion, and only a few 
miles in their rear; and the important fortrels of Agra, 
commanding the river Jumna, diftant only one day’s 
forced march. Such vicinage could not be reckoned 
fafe, even by the folemn proteftation of M. Perron, that 
he was the (lave of the old blind emperor, and the obe¬ 
dient fervant of Scindia. In faff, M. Perron exercifed 
little lefs than fovereign controul over fome of the richeft 
diftricls of Hindooftan; jaghires, or territorial affign- 
ments, to the annual amount or more than a million and 
a half fterling, had been granted for the fupport of what 
were, called Scindia's regular battalions. M. Louis Bour- 
quin, a fubordinate French officer, was appointed*gover¬ 
nor of Delhi; the perfon of the emperor was entrulied to 
the luperintendance of M. Drugeon ; colonel Hading, an 
officer in the fervice of the French, commanded in Agra ; 
whilft general Perron fixed his head-quarters at Coel, the 
centre of this extenfive line of offenfive and defenfive 
operations. From a return obtained of Scindia’s forces, 
it appeared that general Perron, at this time, (1803,) 
commanded thirty-nine regular battalions, five thoufand 
difeiplined cavalry, and polfeffed a train of two hundred 
and twenty-five pieces of cannon, exclufive of M. Fe- 
loze’s brigade, confiding of eight battalions. Yet, with 
all this barefaced preparation for holtility, Scindia had 
the effrontery to declare his intentions were wholly pacific 
with refpedt to the Englilh, arid that his only view was 
to eftablilh and maintain the rights of the Mogul emperor. 
Thus circumftanced, the Britilh government in India 
felt itfelf in a moft embarralfing predicament. To admit 
the further growth of this power would have been dan¬ 
gerous in the extreme ; whilft any attempt to compel 
Scindia to difmifs his French auxiliaries would certainly 
have induced a war; which, though juftifiable, was ne- 
verthelels at that time highly inexpedient. The conti¬ 
guity of this army was rendered ftill more alarming, from 
the defencelels ftate of the vizier’s province of Oude; 
which, fince the death of Sujah ul Dowlah, had fallen into 
total anarchy and confufion. The zemindars, or land-* 
holders, paid their rent only when the fword was fuf- 
pended over their heads; and the peafantry, following 
the example of their landlords, became public robbers 
and plunderers. Merchandife palling, unlefs protected 
by a military efcort, was liable to exactions from every 
x - , petty 
