Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/162

154 jing grew impatient at these unexpected impediments, which protracted a war, in which he had already wasted a year, absent from the rest of the vast estates of his soubahship; and growing on a sudden as anxious to quit the Carnatic as he had hitherto been fond of remaining in it, he renewed his correspondence with Mr. Dupleix; and to avoid the disgrace of seeing the French maintain their pretensions in hostile defiance of his authority, he determined at last to give his patents for all the cessions they demanded, on condition that they should hold them as his vassals. Mr. Dupleix, who well knew the little faith to be reposed in any engagements or professions made by the princes of Indostan, neither suffered the offers of Nazir-jing to slacken his machinations with the discontented confederates in the army, nor his reliance on these to interrupt his negociation with their sovereign. It was now the month of December, the rains were ceased, and the important moment was at hand, when it was absolutely necessary to make the option between two very different methods of accomplishing his views.

His correspondence with the Pitan Nabobs had been carried on seven months, and they had engaged in their conspiracy above twenty other officers of principal note; so that all together the confederates commanded one half of Nazir-jing's army: they represented, that if it was wonderful the secret had been so long kept by so many, every hour's delay now teemed with infinite risques, since, in order to make the dispositions necessary to insure the success of the enterprize, they were obliged every day to communicate to numbers of subaltern officers a secret, which, at the time of execution, must be known to all their troops. At the same time came deputies from Nazir-jing to Pondicherry, Avho confidently affirmed that he would immediately sign the treaty, break up his camp, and march out of the Carnatic. Assured of success by either of these events, Mr. Dupleix left chance to decide which should take place, and pressing Nazir-jing's deputies to produce the treaty ratified, he at the same time ordered the commander of the French troops at Gingee to march the very instant that the confederates should signify to him that every thing was prepared to carry the long-meditated scheme into execution