Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/184

148 was permanently shut out of North India and confined to some indefensible points on the seaboard. The two primary conditions of success, whether commercial or military, in India were the establishment of strong points d'appui on the coast and the maintenance of a naval force that could keep open communications with Europe; but the English had gained the preponderance at sea, while the French had now lost their footing on land. The real causes of their failure are to be found, not in the ill-luck or incapacity of particular individuals (for that might have been repaired), but rather in the wider combination of circumstances that decided against France her great contest with England at that period.

M. Tibulle Hamont declares that if Lally had thrown into the sea the instructions given him in France, and if he had resumed the policy of Dupleix and followed Bussy's advice, the imperial diadem of India would not have been worn by the English queen. It is more than doubtful whether Lally would have gained anything by imitating Dupleix or by taking counsel with the astute Bussy, since both these able and gallant Frenchmen relied far too much upon spheres of influence and military protectorates over native rulers as the basis of ascendency in India. Such methods provide powerful leverage for the extension of Asiatic dominion, but not for its foundation, which must always rest upon sure and swift support, in times of need, from the mother country. Without this essential resource, it is quite clear that to drive the English out of India dur-