India because he possessed the innate power of influencing vast numbers of the children of the soil. Lally, wielding a force which, prudently directed, might easily have established that predominance, failed even more miserably than his predecessor for the want of that very tact and knowledge. Not only would he take no pains to conciliate the natives, but he trod ruthlessly on their prejudices. He would recognise none of their castes, and he scoffed openly at their creeds. Nor did he spare the French officials at Pondichery. He treated them with a hauteur which soon turned their hearts against him.
It must be admitted, as far as relates to those officials, that they were inefficient and incompetent. Immediately on his arrival, Lally demanded information regarding the strength and garrisons of Fort St. David, of Gudalur, and of Madras; also regarding the total strength of the English in Southern India. But neither De Leyrit nor his councillors could give him any precise information on these points; they could not even tell him the actual distance from Pondichery to Gudalur, though it was but sixteen miles. They could only offer to furnish guides. It is not surprising that this ignorance and this indifference confirmed the contempt of Lally for the Franco-Indian fraternity, nor that thenceforth he utterly disregarded them.
Essentially a man of action, and possessing a superiority in numbers on the coast, Lally obtained at first some striking successes. He took without
