Page:History of the French in India.djvu/306

 284 THE STRUGGLES OF DUPLEIX WITH ADVERSITY. chap. fire. Whether it was that he distrusted the promises of ' t j Dupleix, or that he trusted to the chapter of accidents, 1751 this at least is certain, that Muhammad Ali delayed, on one pretext after another, compliance with the terms to which he had agreed. At last, driven hard by Dupleix, he declared that further concessions would be necessary before he could give up Trichinapalli. So anxious was Dupleix for a peaceful settlement of the question, that even this new demand did not exhaust his patience. He sent the letter of Muhammad Ali to Bussy, with a request that he would obtain from the Subadar the necessary authority to enable him to agree to the terms it contained. Considerable as they were, these new demands were in his opinion small in comparison with the consequences which, he believed, compliance with them would entail, viz. the evacuation of Trichinapalli, and, with that, the pacification of the Karnatik. The consent of the Subadar Avas easily obtained by Bussy ; the proper documents were then forwarded to Mu- hammad Ali, to be considered valid only on the con- dition that he signed the treaty without further delay. Muhammad Ali, however, still hesitated. He had been in fact, throughout this period, urgently beseeching the English for their assistance ; and it was only when, at the end of four months after he had received intimation of the Subadar's consent to the additional conditions he had required, he wrung from them a promise of substan- tive aid, that he boldly threw off the mask, and refused to surrender Trichinapalli on any conditions whatever. Thus again was Dupleix, much against his own inclinations, much, as he well knew, against the wishes of his masters in Paris, forced into war. Thus again did the question of French domination in India depend upon the capture of the city of Trichinapalli. The army, which, in November, 1749, had marched from Pondichery with the intention of carrying out this purpose, had been unwisely diverted to another object.