Page:History of the French in India.djvu/571

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FORCED TO RAISE THE SIEGE.

545

1759.

used as a hospital, thirty-three wounded incapable of being moved, and a surgeon in charge of them. These he commended in a letter to the care of the Governor of Madras ; then, taking with him all his baggage, he retired umolested, but full of rage^[1] and mortification, by way of St. Thome to Kanchipuram.

Thus failed the great enterprise on which Lally had set his heart — to which he had devoted every energy of mind and body. It has been said, indeed, that that failure was owing as much to his own infirmities of temper, to the manner in which he trampled on the cherished feelings of others, as to any other cause. But, after a careful examination of the facts of the case as shown in the correspondence between himself and de Leyrit, we cannot resist the conclusion that, great as were those infirmities of temper, violent and excitable as was his manner towards others, those who allowed themselves to be betrayed by that behaviour on his part into a neglect of their duty towards France were, infinitely more than Lally, the authors of the failure. Lally, at least, behaved like a soldier ; he gave every thought, every exertion to his country. But the Council of Pondichery did the reverse. Mortified and enraged at the rough hand with which Lally had un- veiled and exposed abuses, as well as at the style in which he had pointed out to them that their first duty was to their country, they gave him no assistance ;

↑ The rage of Lally was directed against those whose self-seeking andcorruption, by hindering and altogether keeping back the supplies ofwhich he stood in need, had contributed to the unfortunate result of his expedition. In a letter to deLeyrit, dated February 14. he thus recounted some of the iniquities that were taking place under his eyes, and forcibly expressed his own opinion of the conduct of some of his officers: "Of 1,500 sipahis,"he said, "who are with our army, I calculate that nearly 800 are employed on the road toPondichery, laden with sugar, pepper and other goods; as for the coolies, they have been employed on the same account ever since we have been here." In concluding the letter he renounced all interference with the civil administration of Pondichery, "for," he added, " I would rather go and command the Kafars of Madagascar, than to remain in that Sodom (Pondichery), which the fire of the English, in default of the fire of Heaven, will, sooner or later, inevitably destroy."

[1] The rage of Lally was directed against those whose self-seeking andcorruption, by hindering and altogether keeping back the supplies ofwhich he stood in need, had contributed to the unfortunate result of his expedition. In a letter to deLeyrit, dated February 14. he thus recounted some of the iniquities that were taking place under his eyes, and forcibly expressed his own opinion of the conduct of some of his officers: "Of 1,500 sipahis,"he said, "who are with our army, I calculate that nearly 800 are employed on the road toPondichery, laden with sugar, pepper and other goods; as for the coolies, they have been employed on the same account ever since we have been here." In concluding the letter he renounced all interference with the civil administration of Pondichery, "for," he added, " I would rather go and command the Kafars of Madagascar, than to remain in that Sodom (Pondichery), which the fire of the English, in default of the fire of Heaven, will, sooner or later, inevitably destroy."

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