110 THE FRENCH IN INDIA UNDER DUPLEIX
at once and they were easily driven back into Pondi-
cherri. Then, also, the restoration of Madras in ex-
change for Louisburg in North America showed that
a mere local advantage counted only as a single move
on the vast chessboard, and might promptly be sacri-
ficed to larger combinations. All these signs and tokens
A SCENE IN PONDICHERRI.
were so many warnings to Dupleix of his insecurity and
of the fallacy underlying the fair surface of his designs
upon India. But either he missed the significance of
sea power, or he committed the mistake of imagining
that he could shelter himself from naval attacks by
carrying his conquests inland, forgetting that the roots
of any European dominion in Asia must always be
firmly planted in the fatherland. The experience of this
first war seems to have brought him nothing but encour-
