Page:History of the French in India.djvu/396

 372 BUSST TO 1754. chap. Jang, and his nephew, MuzafFar Jang, had 'both been , treacherously slain by their own vassals, had impressed 1753. him with the advantage of having in his immediate vicinity a body of men unconnected with his nobles, upon whom he could fully and entirely rely, whose support would enable him to make a successful stand against the worst form of rebellion. He had deter- mined, therefore, at the outset, never to separate himself from the French. To them he ad been indebted for his quasi-regal position ; depending upon them only he felt that he could maintain it. These resolutions in their favour had been confirmed and strengthened by the signal services rendered by Bussy in the war with the Marathas, not less than by the ex- act discipline which he had maintained amongst his men. On the departure of Bussy, however, the Subadar not only lost the man with whom alone, of all the French, he was accustomed to hold confidential intercourse, but he witnessed likewise, very soon after, a marked change in the conduct alike of officers and soldiers. Goupil, in fact, was not even a disciplinarian ; he was simply good-natured and weak. The regulations which Bussy had so rigidly enforced, were by him one by one set aside. The consequence was that the troops who had been, under the one, the preservers of public order, became, under the other, its persistent infringers. Drunken- ness and licentiousness took with them the place of so- briety and discipline. This change of conduct on their part was naturally followed by a change of feeling on the part of the people, until by degrees the alienation became marked, and the dislike to the foreigners intensified. Saiyid Lashkar had not only watched this change of con- duct with an eager eye, but he had, by many means in his power, encouraged it. The most effective of these means was the withholding from the French their monthly pay. Not only did he hope thus to incite