As it is, my
troop is too small to be worth summoning. The Nabob has remonstrated
with me more than once, but since the war with Hyder I have had a good
excuse, namely, that the population has so decreased that my lands lie
untilled, and it would be impossible for me to raise a larger force. I
have, however, agreed that, in case of a fresh war, I will raise an
additional hundred cavalry.
"I expect it is in relation to this that he has sent for me to Arcot.
We know that the English are bound, by their treaty with Travancore,
to declare war. They ought, in honour, to have done it long ago, but
they were unprepared. Now that they are nearly ready, they may do so
at any time, and indeed the Nabob may have learned that fighting has
begun.
"The lookout is bad. The government of Madras is just as weak and as
short sighted as it was during Hyder's war. There is but one comfort,
and that is that Lord Cornwallis, at Calcutta, has far greater power
than his predecessors; and as he is an experienced soldier, and is
said to be an energetic man, he may bring up reinforcements from
Calcutta without loss of time, and also set the troops of Bombay in
motion. I expect that, as before, things will go badly at first; but
hope that, this time, we shall end by giving Mysore so heavy a lesson
that she will be powerless for mischief, in future.
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