Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/338

330 friend, had persuaded Sallabadjing to appoint him Duan, or Vizier; but as soon as Seid Laskar Khan found himself well-established in this post, he threw off the mask, and on all occasions contradicted the inclinations of his prince, whenever he thought they were dictated by the influences of Mr. Bussy; and now more than ever, when he saw the extent of his demands for the French nation. It happened that in the beginning of the year 1753, a few days after the peace with Bagogee, Mr. Bussy fell dangerously ill at Calberga, and although his constitution surmounted the first attacks of his distemper, he remained much enfeebled; and his physician being convinced, that his recovery depended on a total relief from those continual and anxious occupations, to which Mr. Bussy could not refuse himself, whilst he remained either in the camp, or court of Sallabadjing, he advised him immediately to retire, and to sequester himself from all business at Masulipatnam, until he should be perfectly recovered. Accordingly, Mr. Bussy departed from the camp in January, but left all the French troops and Sepoys with Sallabadjing, who soon after his departure proceeded without interruption to Hyderabad. The officer who now commanded the French troops, had neither experience, nor capacity sufficient to penetrate and counteract the intrigues of a faction in a Moorish court; and the Duan resolved, during Mr. Bussy's absence, to break the union between these too powerful auxiliaries and his sovereign. This was no easy task; for Mr. Bussy had persuaded Sallabadjing, a prince deficient both in personal courage and sagacity, that the French battalion were not only the principal support of his government against foreign enemies; but also the best security of his person and authority against intestine plots and commotions. The Duan therefore found it neccssary to accustom him by degrees to the absence of these favourite troops: it was equally necessary to prevent them from entertaining any suspicion of this design, for they Were too formidable to be removed abruptly; Mr. Bussy having joined to the battalion of Europeans, a body of 5000 Sepoys, paid by himself and acting entirely under his own orders. The Duan therefore neglected some time to furnish the pay of the French army at the usual periods, pretending that several considerable districts at a distance from