n undertaken, and
for this purpose likewise alliances were formed with the native powers
of India. In Tippoo Sultaun the French found an implacable foe to the
English--a foe which was ever ready to unsheathe his sword to destroy
them. In order to crush their power and to regain what he had lost in
the late war, Tippoo Sultaun had sent an embassy to Cabul, to bring the
Affghan tribes down into India; he had negociated with the Nizam of
the Deccan and with other native princes; and in 1797 he had sent two
ambassadors to the Isle of France to propose an alliance with the French
republic, and to request a supply of troops sufficient to enable him to
expel the English from every part of Hindustan. The governor of the Isle
of France had no troops to spare; but he forwarded Tippoo's letters to
France, and allowed his ambassadors to enrol some Frenchmen for his aid.
Some sixty or seventy of these volunteers proceeded to Tippoo's capital,
where they first set up a tree of liberty, and next proceeded to
organize a Jacobin club. These proceedings soon became known to
the government at Calcutta; and the Earl of Mornington, then
Governor-general of India, determined to anticipate Tippoo. Troops were
sent under Generals Harris and Stuart; and the sultan was defeated
in the route, and compelled to take refuge in his fortified capital.
Seringapatam was besieged, and on the 4th of May was stormed and
captured. Two of his sons were taken alive; but Tippoo fell near one
of the gates, and was found buried under a heap of dead bodies.
His territories were divided among his enemies; the English kept
Seringapatam with the island on which it is situated, the whole of his
territories on the Malabar coast, the district of Coimbatoor, and all
the country that intervened between the company's possessions on the
western and those on the eastern coast; the Nizam of the Deccan obtained
a more inland country; and another great tract of country was
conferred upon a descendant of the ancient Hindoo rajahs, who had been
dispossessed by Hyder Ali. Thus ended a dynasty which was founded by a
daring adventurer on the ruins of the Hindoo house of Mysor. It began
and ended its career in spoliation and the shedding of blood.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

The British parliament assembled on the 24th of September. The chief
object of this early meeting Was the introduction of a bill for
facilitating the re-enforcement of our regular army, by allowing
three-fi