Page:Dupleix and the Struggle for India by the European Nations.djvu/183

176 The Treaty of Paris, signed February to, 1763, had restored Pondichery to France, but it was Pondichery dismantled, beggared, bereft of all her influence. During the fifteen years that followed that humiliating treaty, Pondichery had been forced to witness, without attempting to prevent it, the aggrandisement of her rival. Even when, in 1778, the war between France and England was renewed in Europe, the Government of France was ill-prepared to assert a claim for independence, still less for dominion, for her Indian possessions.

The natural results followed. Chandarnagar surrendered without striking a blow (July 10, 1778). Pondichery, ably defended for forty days against vastly superior forces, was captured in the month of September following. The French fleet, commanded by M. de Tronjoly, abandoned the Indian waters without even attempting to save Mahé. All seemed lost; when suddenly the genius of Haidar Alí, the ruler of Mysore, gave a turn to events which upset the most careful calculations, and communicated to his French allies the most brilliant hopes.

On the 4th of April, 1769, Haidar Alí dictated peace to the English under the walls of Madras. By one of the articles of this treaty the contracting parties bound themselves to assist one another in defensive wars. But when, during the following year, Haidar was attacked by the Maráthás, and called upon the English to fulfil their contract, the English refused.