should ever be formed against our interests. I shall not at present enlarge upon the advantages which are likely to be derived to the British interests from this settlement, they are too obvious to require any detailed explanation. The Nizam will acquire such an accession of strength, as, with the aid of our subsidiary force, will enable him to maintain himself against the Mahrattas, while he will not only have acquired no strength which can render him formidable to us, but, by our positions at Chitteldroog, Seringapatam, and along the heads of the passes, together with the establishment of about seven thousand of our troops in the heart of his dominions, he will depend almost absolutely on our power. If this power be used with moderation, I think it must be permanent; we must abstain religiously from all interference with the Nizam's internal government.

The Mahrattas will receive an accession of territory, the value of which is considerable to them, but cannot render them in any degree dangerous to us or to the Nizam, while we retain the power of garrisoning the forts of Bednore and Chitteldroog. As the Mahrattas have no claim of right to any share in this partition, I shall endeavour to connect the cessions made to them with some arrangements which shall tend to give additional strength to our interests.

The French influence in India, thanks be to God! is now nearly extirpated, some adventurers, however, still remain in the service of the Mahrattas; and I shall endeavour to render the cession of territory to the Mahrattas the instrument of annihilating every remnant of a French party in that quarter. I must repeat to you my most earnest and anxious entreaty, that you will never agree to the restoration of any part of the territories of France or of Holland (while connected with France) on the Continent of India. The papers found in Tippoo Sultaun's palace at Seringapatam will sufficiently prove the danger of allowing France to retain even the isles of Mauritius and Bourbon, and if the war should continue, I trust you will strike a blow against those prolific sources of intrigue in peace, and of piracy and buccaneering

in war.

I transmit to you by this despatch a set of the French papers found in the palace at Seringapatam; it might appear vanity in me to make any comment upon them, further than

to request that you will compare them with the whole course of my communications with the Court of Directors, the Secret Committee and yourself previous to the war. I confess that, in reading these papers, I could not avoid trembling to reflect on the dangers which we have escaped, and which I trust are now effectually averted. If Tippoo had obtained the aid of two or three thousand French, there is not a doubt that he would have rushed into the Carnatic; and I refer you to all the communications from this quarter during the last summer for an estimate of the consequences of such an incursion; all the officers with whom I have conversed, who served in this campaign, have assured me that, with one thousand French, Seringapatam would have been nearly impregnable, not only from the strength of its own fortifications, but from the difficulty of approaching it through that strong barrier which lies at the entrance of the table land from the Carnatic in the neighbourhood of Kankanhelly, Anicul, &c. Through the whole of that line of forest down to Sultaun Pett, a very small body of good French troops might have checked the progress of our whole army.

You will observe, in the return of ordnance and stores taken at Seringapatam,* the magnitude of the Sultaun's military preparations and resources. I have not yet received authentic accounts of the state of his military establishments compared with that of last war, but I expect accurate information on that subject from the records found at Seringapatam. I understand that the Sultaun's horse appeared in larger bodies, and manifested more discipline, as well as boldness, in this war than in the last; that his infantry appeared to be less numerous, but to be greatly improved in efficiency for service, and that it both attacked and resisted our European troops on several occasions with great vigour, firmness, and resolution. Under these circumstances, I confess that it was a matter of exultation and triumph to me to see the standard of Tippoo Sultaun flying under the colours of Fort St. George on the 4th of June.

A little more eagerness than I could have wished has appeared in the army on the subject of the property captured in Seringapatam; the question would have been very awk

* See Vol. I. Appendix, p. 707.

*

ward, if the amount of the property had approached the first statements which had been made by common rumour, and which extended to the enormous amount of eight or ten crores of rupees. The army conceive that, as the place was taken by storm, they are, of right, entitled to what was found in it; this is certainly an erroneous opinion, and if the principle had been established, and so large a sum as that which I have stated had been seized by the army and distributed, it is impossible to calculate the mischievous effects which would have resulted to our military power in India; no regular return has yet been made to me of the amount of the property taken; but I have every reason to believe that it does not exceed in value thirty lacs of pagodas, a sufficiently large sum. The official return has been withholden from an idea, that the right is absolute in the captors, and that they are not bound to render any account under the peculiar circumstances of the assault. I shall endeavour to persuade General Harris to make an official return of the property, with a view of saving the rights of Government and of correcting the erroneous opinions of the army; but I shall not hesitate to direct an immediate distribution of the treasure and jewels, as I am persuaded that, in so doing, I shall act conformably to your wishes and to those of the Crown, and the Court of Directors. The army would probably become a little impatient were I to propose to them to postpone all distribution until the orders of the Directors and the King could be received. The question is rendered still more delicate by some orders of Lord Cornwallis, admitting the exclusive right of the army to all property captured in places taken by assault. The amount of the ordnance and military stores being very considerable, I shall endeavour to preserve them entire, until I can receive the orders of the Court of Directors and of his Majesty. I entreat you immediately, upon receiving this letter, to procure from the King and the Court of Directors, full powers for me to dispose of the ordnance and military stores, either by granting them to the captors or otherwise, as I shall judge most expedient for the public service.

* A crore is now equal to £1,000,000 sterling; it was then about £1,200,000, owing to the difference of value in the rupee.

You will accompany these powers by a private letter from yourself, stating your wishes on the subject; and I beg that you will despatch these papers by express overland. My own opinion is decidedly that, unless the value of the ordnance and stores should amount to an enormous sum, this also should be given to the army. I take this opportunity of requesting that you will take particular care not to permit any allowance which I have found it necessary to make to any of the officers of this army to be curtailed; a great effort was to be made, and it was essential to send the men of the first talents in the army into the field full of zeal and cordiality. For this purpose I made a handsome allowance to Lieut.Colonel Close, the Adjutant-General (a most able and excellent officer), and to others of General Harris's staff; to their efforts our success is to be attributed; if you reduce their appointments, it will be impossible to carry on government here in great emergencies.

The extension of our territory and revenue in the Peninsula, as well as the command which we have now acquired over the central part of Mysore, will render a revision of the limits of the Governments of Fort St. George and Bombay absolutely necessary.

You ought to endeavour to negotiate with Portugal the cession of Goa, for which you might give Malacca in exchange. This is an important point. The French look to Goa, and will labour to obtain it, either by force or intrigue. Our artillery throughout India is very deficient; we should feel this severely in the event of a French invasion. Has it ever occurred to you that it would be a good plan to incorporate all the Company's European regiments into the artillery in India? I cannot too strongly press the necessity of attention to the artillery in India; if you do not send out ample supplies of proper men and officers for this useful corps, it will soon fall to ruin; it is already on the decay. Indeed the whole army is alarmingly deficient in European officers; a larger annual supply of cadets, and a reduction in the annual export of writers would tend to secure the commercial interests of the Company in India. I believe these doctrines are not popular in London; but if the efficiency of the army in India be once allowed to decline, the territory, revenue and trade will not long survive: we must either be a

!

predominant military power, or we must be content to suffer the fate of those whose minds are unequal to the magnitude of their fortunes, and who are afraid of their own strength. Believe me, my dear Sir, ever yours,

Most faithfully and affectionately,

MORNINGTON.

No. XVI.

The Earl of Mornington to the Commissioners for the Affairs of Mysore.

GENTLEMEN,

Fort St. George, 8th June, 1799.

On the 5th instant I forwarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Kirkpatrick, and directed him to lay before you the draft of a Treaty* between the Company and his Highness the Nizam, together with four Schedules, containing a description of the respective portions of the territory of the late Tippoo Sultaun to be allotted to the Company, the Nizam, the Rajah of Mysore, and eventually to the Peishwa; this Treaty, or one similar to it, must form the basis of the new settlement of Mysore, on which will be founded the more detailed arrangements to be adjusted with the Rajah, as well as the conditions to be required from the Peishwa; each of these two latter objects will require a separate engagement; that which relates to the Peishwa is not immediately within the province of your commission, but I now transmit a draft of the Treaty to be concluded between the Company and the Rajah of Mysore.†

* See page 26.

+ The "Subsidiary Treaty of Seringapatam" is as follows,-it is given here instead of in the Appendix, in order to render the despatch more intelligible.

A Treaty of perpetual Friendship and Alliance, concluded on the one part by his Excellency Lieutenant-General George Harris, Commander-inChief of the Forces of his Britannic Majesty, and of the English East India Company Bahaudur in the Carnatic and on the Coast of Malabar, the Honourable Colonel Arthur Wellesley, the Honourable Henry Wellesley, Lieutenant-Colonel William Kirkpatrick, and Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Close, on behalf, and in the name of the Right Honourable Richard Earl of Mornington, K. P. Governor-General for all affairs, Civil