Page:History of the French in India.djvu/534

 508 THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE. chap, which decided the day. Certain it is that for his con- XII • duct on this occasion he was appointed by Louis XV., 1758. on the field of battle, Colonel of the regiment of Dillon, and that he was personally thanked by Marshal Saxe £ From this time his reputation was made. Passing over to England after Fontenoy he exerted himself to the utmost to aid the cause of Charles Edward, but, sent to the south after the battle of Falkirk, in which he had served on the Prince's staff, he was compelled, mainly in consequence of the despair and denunciations that followed Culloden, to return to France. He there re- joined the army in the Netherlands ; was present at LafTeldt, and at Bergen-op-Zoom, where he was taken prisoner. He was, however, soon released, and was rewarded by his Sovereign for his services in that cam- paign with the rank of Major-General. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle restored peace to Europe, and deprived Lally of any further opportunity of distinction on the field of battle. He was neverthe- less regarded as a man destined to a brilliant career ; as certain to occupy a very prominent position, in the event of future complications. He was looked upon as a man with respect to whom "it needed only that success should be possible for him to succeed." Voltaire, who recorded this opinion regarding him, added that he had worked with him by the desire of the Minister for nearly a month, and had " found in him a stubborn fierceness of soul, accompanied by great gentleness of manners." It is beyond question that his reputation at this period was very great, that his influence with the Ministry on military questions was unbounded ; that to him the Government looked for suggestions as to the conduct they should pursue in case of war. When, seven years after the conclusion of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, complications of no ordinary char- acter ensued between France and England ; when, in reprisal for French aggression in Canada, the English