In this he expressed his great satisfaction at the
defeat Murari Reo had received; a defeat which would, for some time,
keep him quiet, and so relieve the strain upon the English. Affairs
had, he said, since the departure of Clive for England, been going
badly. Dupleix had received large reinforcements, and the English had
suffered several reverses. Mr. Saunders begged him to assure the rajah
of the respect and friendship of England, and to give him the promise
that, if he should be driven from his capital, he would be received
with all honor at Madras, and should be reinstated in his dominions,
with much added territory, when the English were again in a position
to take the field in force, and to settle their long feud with the
French.
Ten days later, they heard that the army of the nizam, of fifteen
thousand troops, with eight hundred French under Bussy, were marching
against them; and that the horsemen of Murari Reo were devastating the
villages near the frontier. A council of war was held. Charlie would
fain have fought in the open again, believing that his trained troops,
flushed with their recent victory, would be a match even for the army
of the nizam. But the rajah and the rest of the council, alarmed at
the presence of the French troops, who had hitherto proved invincible
against vastly superior forces of natives, shrank from such a course;
and it was decided that they should content themselves with the
defence of the town and castle.
Pages:
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253