Page:History of the French in India.djvu/394

370 BUSSY TO 1754. c hap. w hen the unassisted genius of Dupleix had to contend ^ , against the steadfastness of Lawrence and the genius of 1753. Clive. Although the scene of his action continued to be still distant from Pondichery, yet his movements were so intimately connected with the policy of Dupleix, that we propose to continue the account of them up to the moment when, in an evil hour for the interests of the French, their greatest proconsul was recalled to be another victim to the besotted Government he had served but too well. The year upon which he was now entering, 1753, was to see Bussy exposed to many trials ; to witness his suc- cessful over-riding of the dangers and artifices peculiarly calculated to test the qualities of a statesman ; to show how vain are troops and resources and strong military positions, when there is not a real man to command them. In the month of January, just after peace had been con- cluded with the Marathas, and whilst the Subadar was on his return march to Haidarabad, Bussy, w r orn out by fatigue and exposure, was suddenly prostrated by sick- ness. So severe was the attack, that, unwilling as he was, at a moment so critical, to relax his grasp of the threads of the various negotiations in which he was engaged, he was nevertheless forced, in obedience to the directions of his medical advisers, to consent to pro- ceed for change of air to Machhlipatan. The reluctance with which he allowed himself to be persuaded was due mainly to his conviction, that, just at that precise period, the maintenance of the influence of the French depended almost wholly on his own presence at the court of the Subadar. He had no one near him to whom he could intrust those delicate negotiations ; not a single officer in whose judgment, even in whose ability to maintain discipline over his troops, he could place any confidence. His second in command, M. Goupil, was a man of the most ordinary abilities — one of those simple characters whose want of imaginative power constantly exposes