Page:History of the French in India.djvu/139

 IS THWARTED BY INTRIGUERS. 1 1 7 Often did she, " with her own hands, immolate her off- chap. in spring," and, failing this, she treated the best and bravest '_ , of her sons rather as enemies to be thwarted, baffled, per- 1741. secuted, and driven to despair, than as men who were devoting all their energies, the every thought of their lives, to increase her dominions. In the course of this history it will be seen how opportunity after opportunity was missed; how the Indian interests were persistently neglected; when a well-timed effort would have secured the empire for which the sons of France on the spot were gallantly struggling. And it was now that France betrayed her champion. She betrayed the man, who, but for the acts of the rulers of France, would have enjoyed the best opportunity of effectively establishing a French Empire in India, of rooting out every rival. La Bourdonnais had scarcely set sail, when those infamous intriguers and whisperers — the certain hangers-on of corrupt Governments — began to uplift the voices which in his presence had remained mute. Amongst the Directors, the cry was raised that this expensive armament was useless for the purposes of France ; that it was intended to minister to the ambition of its promoter. They declared that a policy of neu- trality in the Indian seas was the only sound policy, and they expressed a conviction that, in case of war, the English would be glad to accede to such an arrangement. From the Directors the cry rose to the Ministry. The weak Fleury, then ninety years old, and no longer under the influence of the spell of La Bourdonnais' presence, after a short struggle, gave way to the clamour. In an evil hour for France and for French India, this dispenser under Louis XV. of the fortunes of his country trans- mitted orders to La Bourdonnais to send back his ships to France, " even though they should have to sail with- out cargoes."* Meanwhile, La Bourdonnais, unsuspicious of back-
 * MGmoire pour La Bourdonnais.