sincerely devoted to each other, and co-operated cordially in the
important operations which followed. The English possessions in
India were then limited to the coast regions, the kings and
princes of the states of the interior being variously bound to
the East india Company by treaty engagements. The news of the
victorious progress of the French arms in Europe lost nothing by
repetition in the bazaars of Hindustan, and emissaries of France
were not wanting to stir the native princes against England.
Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt in 1798 revealed his intention to
attack England through her Indian realm. In February, 1799, the
Governor-general declared war against Tippoo, Sultan of Mysore, a
powerful prince, who had been plotting in the French interest.
The younger Wellesley had contributed much to the efficient
organization of the army which was to invade the Sultan's
territory, and after the fall of Seringapatam he distinguished
himself by his firm and orderly administration of the conquered
domain. In 1802, the year of the Peace of Amiens, he was made a
major-general. When the news of the treaty with France reached
him, his opinion was emphatically expressed: "It establishes the
French power over Europe, and when we shall have disarmed we
shall have no security except in our own abjectness." The
conquest of Mysore left only the Mahratta confederacy undominated
by British authority. These states, a vast domain in western and
central India, having quarreled among themselves, applied to the
British for aid. General Wellesley secured the close alliance of
one party, and as commander-in-chief, took the field against the
others. On the 23rd of September, 1803, he found himself with
seven thousand five hundred men in the presence of the Mahratta
host of fifty thousand men with one hundred and twenty-eight
guns. Retreat was difficult, speedy reinforcement impossible. The