poo Sultaun had
arrived there with letters for the governor, and despatches for the
government of France; and that the object of the embassy was, to form an
alliance, offensive and defensive, with France, and to demand a
subsidiary force, for the purpose of expelling the English from India.
The proclamation further invited all Frenchmen, in the isles of France
and Bourbon, to volunteer for the sultaun's service, and promised to
secure them pay under the protection of the Republic.

The daring insolence of this proclamation, and the palpable rashness of
making the designs of Tippoo public, before any direct preparation for
attack, were so unlike the usual forms of diplomacy, that the
governor-general, in the first instance, was inclined to doubt its
authenticity. But it awoke his vigilance, and he wrote without delay to
General Harris, then commanding at Madras, and governor for the time, to
be on his guard. "If Tippoo," said his letter, "should choose to avow
the objects of his embassy to be such as are described in this
proclamation, the consequences may be very serious, and may ultimately
involve us in the calamity of war. I wish you to be apprised of my
apprehensions on the subject, and to prepare your mind for the possible
event. You will, therefore, turn your attention to the means of
collecting a force, if necessity should unfortunately require it. But it
is not my desire that you should proceed to take any public steps
towards the assembling of the army, before you receive some further
information from me."

The governor-general has been charged with precipitancy in making war on
Tippoo. But the charge is refuted by dates. The French proclamation was
dated 10th Pluviose, sixth year of the Republic, (30th January 1798.)
Its truth or falsehood was carefully enquired into, until the evidence
was completed by despatches from the British governors of the Cape and
Bombay, the admiral at the Cape, the testimony of prisoners, and finally
by the actual landing of a corps of French volunteers from the
Mauritius. It was not till six months after the date of the
proclamation, that the governor-general wrote thus (20th of June) to
General Harris:--"I now take the earliest opportunity of acquainting you
with my final determination. I mean to call upon the allies without
delay, and to assemble the army upon the coast with all possible
expedition. You will receive my public instructions in the course of a
few days. Until you h