F10195_0034

13.
so it was. It was enough. He was not so foolish
as to declare war on Tipu immediately,
but at once started, notwithstanding the
advice of all the timid civilians of Madras
- to make preparations for war, in case - as
was but too likely - negotiations should be
of no avail.

The Conquest of Mysore.

An account of Tipu's persistent course of
shuffling in the preliminary correspondence
between himself & Mornington
would be equally equally tedious & unnecessary.
We need only say that the Governor-General
at last decided to come himself to Madras,
where he arrived on the last day of the
year. Final negotiations left Tipu as stubborn
as ever, & Mornington's long-enduring
stock of patience was at an end. On February
22nd, he issued his formal declaration
of war against Tipu. But already
on February 3rd, the command had been
placed in the hands of General Harris,
an able office of fifty-two years of age,
who had been ordered to proceed into
Mysore. This he accordingly did.* He was
[line]
*The date of his entry into Mysore seems to be a
subject of dispute. Hutton gives March 5th, but a
much earlier date - February 11th, - is given in the
Dictionary of National Biography.