and was ever formidable and dangerous. In less than a week after the battle, a body of his chofen cavalry found means to draw the British grand guard into an ambufcade, and cut them entirely off before they could be fup. ported by the army. The troops and cattle during this time, having fuffered greatly by heat, ficknefs and fatigue, and the ftock of provifion they had brought with them being nearly exhaufted, the general found it neceffary to fall back, within reach of the fources of his fupply.

The battle of the 2d of June was the laft, in which these two great commanders were ever deftined to face each other; nor was either of them afterwards prefent at any action of importance. They did not farvive many months; and though they equally efcaped the dangers of the field, it feems probable that they were both victims to this contention.

The British general could not but complete the ruin of a conftitution, already much impaired and broken, by the fatigues which he underwent, and the unparalleled difficulties which he had to encounter, in every part of this moft arduous and dangerous war.

On the other hand, though his great rival and antagonist, was much a younger man, and poffefied an uncommonly vigorous and robuft conftitution, he had for fome time encountered, and was now particularly experiencing, fuch a feries of unexpected difficulties, difappointments, and dangers, as were fufficient to put the firmeft mind and the frongeft conftitution to the teft. His profpects were every day becoming

more unfavourable, and affaits feemed now rapidly tending to a crifis, which could not, to a mind fo comprehenfive as his, but be feriously alarming. He had been able to bring defolation and ruin upon the Carnatic; but with all his power and all his exertions, he had failed in the great purpofes of the war; and he was too clear fighted not fully to perceive, that the feafon for their attainment was now elapfed. He had long confidered the English as the only effective obftacles to the vaft defigns which he had formed in India. His ambition not only foared to the restoration of the Mogul empire, and its eftablishment in his own family, but he confided in his own ability, for laying it out upon a more extensive scale, and fixing it upon much stronger and more permanent foundations, than thofe upon which it had been originally raised.

The prefent weak and degenerate race of Mahometan princes, who had fprung up upon the ruins of the fallen empire, he held in fuch contempt, as men unworthy of the fituations in which fortune had placed them, and incapable of all the purposes whether of war. or of government; that fo far from confidering them as at all interfering with his views, he, on the contrary, held their wealth and their power as fure refources, to be applied, as the occafion might require, to their completion. The Mahrat. tas were the only native power which he had to apprehend; but he had been fo long in the practice of playing upon and managing thofe inteftine divifions, to which the nature of their government fo

реси

peculiarly expofes that people; that he had no doubt of being equally fuccefsful in the future; and that he fhould be able, either by money to render them inert, or by civil commotion incapable, until he had grown beyond their grafp or reach.

Thefe mighty defigns, which had been long reftrained by the great power and military reputation of the English, were at length brought into act, by that diftracted ftate of affairs, and thofe numerous enemies, which the alter nate weakness and temerity of their councils, with the rapacity of individuals, had, at length, brought upon them. These were the real motives, independent of all former caufes, whether of private or public refentment, which led to Hyder's irruption into the Carnatic. The state of their affairs at that time, and the weaknefs and ill government of their ally the Nabob of Arcot, feemed to lay that rich and extenfive country an easy prey at his feet; and his first fucceffes were fuch, that it was no wonder he expected to have been master of Madras, and of the whole coaft of Coromandel, within a few weeks. With this vaft addition of power, and increase of renown, together with the means which they would af ford to him of prefcribing laws for the conduct of all the leffer ftates, and of directing the already excited refentments of the Mahrattas to the attainment of his own purposes, it feemed, as if there would be nothing, but a fufficient naval force wanting, to enable him to drive the English entirely out of India. This deficiency France had promifed to

fupply, and he depended upon her engagement. Indeed fo little was he difpofed to depend upon the aid of others, in any thing which came within his own poffible comprehenfion, that he had for feveral years paft ufed extraordinary, and for that part of the world, almost wonderful efforts, to become himself a potent maritime power; not only by the acquifition of a great length of fea coaft, but by his fparing no expence in the purchase and building of fhips; not to mention his conqueft of the numberlefs Maldive islands, which would have afforded him an inexhaustible refource of feamen.

pur

The vigorous measures fued upon the arrival of Sir Evre Coote at Madras, and the fubfequent repeated defeats which he received from that commander, not only blafted Hyder's hopes of fpeedy conqueft, but broke in upon and difconcerted the whole fcheme of his defigns. He foon made the unexpected and unwelcome difcovery, that instead of rapidly fubduing the Carnatic, and being then free to follow up the chain of his other projects to the end, it was become a matter of the greateft doubt, whether his own force fingly, would ever be equal to the accomplishment of the firft object. The confidence in his own power thus overthrown, he had only to place his truft in, and withfully to look forward to the arrival of that French naval armament, which was to sweep the English out of the Indian feas; this great fervice once performed, Hyder well knew that he was himfelf fully competent to the completion of the bufinefs by land,

at

at least so far as related to the coaft of Coromandel. After long and tedicus delay, when expectation and hope was nearly exhauft. ed, the French fleet arrived, and after exciting a tranfitory gleam of hope, failed in the attainment of all its objects, fo far at leaft as related to him; for defperate fights at fea, without any decifive confequences, or the taking two or three tranfports, or a number of provifion veffels on their way to and from Madras, were matters which afforded neither confolation nor profit to Hyder.

It could not then be without that anguith, which difappointed ambition, and a total overthrow of the most fanguine hopes are capable of exciting, that he now beheld all his defigns fruftrated. The lingering war in the Carnatic afforded neither advantage nor hope; and if it was ruinous to his enemies, it was fcarcely lefs fo to himfelf. The country was already fo defolated, that it was of little farther value to either of the parties, than as it afforded them a multitude of ftrong pofts and garrifons, and a wide fcene for every kind of action and mancuvre in war. It had already been the grave of his best generals, officers and troops, and not much lefs of his own military reputation; at the fame time, that he was fo deeply involved, that he could not quit fo unfortunate and hopeless a fcene of conteft, with out a total dereliction of his paft name and renown.

Whilst he was thus chained down in the Carnatic, he faw the clouds gathering on every fide, and every indication of an approaching and dreadful form. He

knew that a treaty of peace, and perhaps of alliance, was far advanced, if not already concluded, between the English and the Mahrattas. He had too much reafon to apprehend, that an intended partition of his dominions, would be the band of union between thofe late enemies; who were both exceedingly jealous of his power, and had both fuffered extremely by his arms. He had no confederacy to oppofe to fo formidable a junction; which, on the contrary, was likely to draw after it all the itates in India; for there were few of them who had not been either jealous of his power, or afraid of his defigns; and the most inconfiderable, would hope to pick up fome fhare of the fpoil, in fuch a general wreck of his fortunes. But if this apprehended confederacy did not even take place, he faw that the Englifh being now freed from their Mahratta enemy, would direct their whole force against him fingly; and that while his hands were fully occupied in the Carnatic, Bombay and Bengal would urge their utmost efforts against him on the Malabar fide; where he was moft vulnerable, and from whence they might eafily carry the war into the very centre of his dominions. As to his French allies, they had already failed him in that point, in which only he confidered them as capable of doing him any effential fervice; for as to their land forces, he fet but little value upon them; and he befides knew, that they could never be able to fend fuch an army to that diftance, as would be in any degree capable, in thefe circumfiances, of turning the fcale of

war

war in his favour. Indeed it had been one of his own long established maxims, that the Europeans could never become powerful or formidable in India, by any other means, than by that of native troops, raised and difciplined in the country.

Such was the fituation, and fuch probably the feelings and reflections of Hyder.

Sir Eyre Coote's ill health rendering him incapable of continuing any longer in the field, and Sir Hector Monro returning to Europe, the command of the army devolved on Major-general Stuart. The country was now fo entirely ruined, that the contending armies were obliged to draw their fupplies from other quarters, which, befides the immenfe expence it occafioned, could not but greatly impede the operations of the war. Hyder, however, from the nearness on all fides of his own dominions, was, comparatively with the English, but little affected by this circumftance. As the enemy ftill cautiously abftained from rifquing an action, and that it was impoffible to force them to it, at the fame time, that they were too numerous and powerful in the field, and the French too ftrong at Cuddalore, to admit of any attempt for the recovery of that place, a toilfome campaign on the fide of General Stuart, was fpent in long and laborious marches, either occafioned by the motions of the enemy, or infended to counteract their defigns, by the fupply and relief of garrifons fo that no event of any confiderable importance took place in the Carnatic during the femainder of the year.

VOL. XXVI.

But this ceffation was confined entirely to the land; for the Indian ocean was ftill deftined to be the scene of hard and bloody action. M. de Suffrein had returned from Batacalo to the coaft of Coromandel, pretty early in June, and having touched at the Danish fettlement of Tranquebar, where his fleet was revictualled by feveral Dutch fhips which had arrived for that purpose from Batavia, he proceeded thence to Cuddalore, which the French had rendered their ftrong and great place of arms, both for the land and fea fervice. The French commander had it now in contemplation to fulfil Hyder's hopes, (with whom he had held several conferences) by totally crushing the English fquadron, before the arrival of Sir Richard Bickerton, who with feveral fhips of waf, had been long on his way from England, and moft impatiently expected at Madras. He fill preferved his former fuperiority, of twelve fhips of the line to eleven, befides his heavy frigates, and he ufed all poffible means to prepare them in the best manner for immediate action. In order to render this fuperiority fully decifive againft a fquadron fo weakly manned as the English, he replenished his fhips with 400 French, and as many fepoys, at Cuddalore; and receiving intelligence foon after that Sir Edward Hughes was arrived on the coast, he, under pretence of a defign on Negapatam, ftrengthened his fquadron with 300 artillery men; than which, no aid could be more thoroughly effective.

Sir Edward Hughes having new mafted the Monmouth, and re

Atted

fitted his other fhips, as well as time and circumftances would admit at Trincomale, as foon as he received intelligence that the enemy were departed from Batacalo, loft no time in his preparation to follow them to the coaft; and having taken on board his recovered men, arrived at Negapatam towards the end of the month.

The French commander, confiding in his ftrength, appeared boldly with 18 fhips before Negapatam to challenge his enemy, who, without regard to his number or force, was by no means flack in answering the defiance. It was paft noon when the French fleet came in fight, and Sir Edward Hughes was in fuch admirable readiness, and fo little difpofed to give them any delay, that by three o'clock he had weighed anchor, and inftantly putting out to fea, ftood to the fouthward during the evening and the night, in order to gain the wind of the enemy. This effential point being gained, and confirmed by feveral masterly evolutions in the morning, when the fquadron had nearly clofed with the enemy, he threw out fignals for every hip to bear down directly upon her oppofite in the French line, and to bring her to clofe action. Thefe orJuly 6th. ders were admirably obeyed; and for fome confider. able time, the action was clofe, warm, and generally well maintained on both fides. The firing had commenced in the French line, about twenty minutes before eleven o'clock, but was not returned on the fide of the English until they had fufficiently neared

3

A

the enemy, which was fome mi nutes later.

At fomething more than half paft twelve, the French line appeared to be in great diforder, and feveral of their fhips were perceived to have fuffered extremely both in their mafts and hulls. The van fhip had already been obliged to bear away quite out of the line; the Brilliant, the French admiral's fecond a-head, had loft her main-maft; and feveral others fhewed fufficient marks of lofs and diforder. At this critical moment, when even hope itfelf could scarcely find any thing to cling to, fortune befriended the enemy, and a fudden fhift of wind faved the French fquadron from abfolute ruin. The feabreeze fet in with fuch unufual power, that feveral of the English hips in the van and centre, particularly those which had received the greateft damage in their maits and rigging, were taken a-back, and paid round on the heel, with their heads the contrary way; while others, particularly thofe in the rear, whofe rigging had fuffered the leaft in the action, were able to withstand this fhift of the wind, and accordingly continued on their former tack.

This circumftance, fo fortunate to the one fide, and untoward with refpect to the other, neceffarily breaking the British line, and totally deforming their order of battle, rendered them incapable of profecuting their advantage with effect; while the difabled, broken, and flying enemy, were thereby enabled to recollect and recover themfelves. Fordur. ing this itate of diforder in the

British