Chap. XI.] THE FATE OF LALLY. 643
was commanded by one of Lally's officers of the name of Macgregor, who, on a.d. i:ci.
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being summoned, answered, that even if besieged by 100,000 men tlie forts could not be reduced in three years. His gamson consisted only of 150 Euro- l^eans. GOO sepoys, and 1000 Colleries, or natives of the adjoining hills; but he Capture of
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believed the mountains to be impregnable, and displayed a security Avhich Tiiiagur. would not have been justifiable even if they were really so. He paid the |)enalty, and one of his impregnable forts was scaled and taken by sur])rise. This, however, was only a })artial success, for the two strongest forts still held out, and had a powerful auxiliary in the deadly nature of the climate, under which the sepoys, though 1000 had been added to their number, were rapidly melting away. Macgregor, however, after all his blustering, lost heart, and nffered to capitulate. The terms, though somewhat extravagant, were readily conceded, and on the 5th of April he marched out with all the honours of war. Thiagur, which had returned to the French after their alliance with the Myso- reans was broken w[), shared the same ftite, after a blockade and bombard- ment of sixty five days by Major Preston. Though there was little prospect of reducing it except by famine, the governor capitulated, with two months' pro- visions still in store ; and as if unconscious of the advantages of his position, only asked to receive the same treatment as the troo])S taken in Pondicherry.
The fate of Lally deserves to be recorded. His unpopularity in India T'-e cite of preceded his arrival in France ; «and though with the consciousness of injured innocence he took the initiative, and brought formal accusations against the leadinfj officials to whose nejjliy-ence and misconduct he attributed the di.sasters in which his command had terminated, he soon found himself i)ut upon his own <lefence. The arrogance of his manner and the intemperance of his language had raised up a host of enemies, wiio a.s.sailed him with venomous tongues, and brought all sorts of railing accusations against him. These were received by the government with willing ears. The loss of India, after all the sanguine hopes which had been entertained, had filled the public mind with astonishment and indignation ; and ministei"s behoved either to bear the responsibility or transfer it from their own to some other shoulders. There was no difficulty in selecting the victim, and Lally was confined in the Bastile. Father Lavaur, the Jesuit, whom we liave seen forming part of a de})utation at the .surrender of Pondi- cherry, had returned to France and died. Among liis ^lapers were found two documents, the one a fulsome panegyric, the other a defamatory libel on Lally. Considered as evidence, the documents could only neutralize each other; but there were circumstances in Lavaur's conduct which ought to have thro^vn the balance in Lally s favoiu*. iS'ot only was the Jesuit known to be a bitter hater, but also an unscrupulous liar. As if ruined by the capture of Pondicherry, he had petitioned the government for a small pension as a means of subsistence, and yet he had died worth £00,000, in gold, diamonds, and bills of exchange. The evidence of such a man was worthless; and yet it was shamelessly paraded
