The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1894-01-13
MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL SATURDAY, JANUARY IS
the Empress ID regard to the suggested
Franco Russian alliance.

j Franco Russian alliance.
+ The count, who was more OF q soldier
THAN ! diplomat, returned to France and
lsr,j Joined the Irish brigade, one Of tht
[.reRfments OF which he Commanded q
ltha battle Of Fontenoy. Seeing that the
French were falling back in confusion
before the English forces, Lally ap
preached the Duke Of Richelieu, the
French general, and asked him to allow
the brigade, which had not yet taken
part in the engagement, to jim in. This
happy suggestion Richelieu submitted to
the King, who readily accepted it. just
before Lally led his regiment against the
English, he addressed his troops IN the
following brief, but pllhy, speech:
| March against the o. euI,es OF France
and Of yourselves without firing, until
yon have the points OF your bayonets at
thair breasts" The famous charge of
I the irish brigade is an oft-told tale, and
docs not need repeating in these pages.
Suffice it to say. that the we'll known
French historian, Michelet, gives Lally
credit for the victory that was won by
France on that memorable day. This
| battle,'' he writes, "was lost without
remedy if the Irishman, Colonel Lally,
animated by his hatred OF the Eng ish,
had not proposed to break their column
with four pieces of cannon and thous-
aud flashing bayonets. As an adroit
courtier, the duke appropriated to him
self the idea and glory Of it's SUCCESS. .
Lslly was, however, rewarded for his
services on the battlefield by the King OF
France with the titles of Earl OF Moen-
move, Viscount of Ballymote and Baron
Tollendal.
In 1748 Lally was tempted, much
against his will, to accept an office which
ruined his career and cost him his head.
|A;depntation from the French East In
dia Company approached King Louis
XIV. and requested him 10 nominate
! Lally lieutenRnt-general and comman-
der in chief Of the French forces in the
East Indies. Louis willingly acceded to
this request. Lally reluctantly con-
eented to accept the nomination
1.As a soldier he exclaimed, Il
must obey my Chief Some mouths
subsequently he sailed from France
at the head of 1000 troops and
arrived in due time in Pondicherry, In
dia. Here he found, just as he had an
ticipated, the affairs of the company in q
condition of utter Decentralization. Its
members were deeply in debt, while each
Of them personally was waxing rich on
the spoils wrung from the helpless Hin
docs. Lally went to work at once to
clear ont these Augean stables, but the
task proved to be beyond his power.
Every attempt he made at reforming the
| company increased the number OF his
enemies in that corrupt b 'dy. In trder
to possess more practical power for good,
lie conceived the colossal design Of
sweeping the English from India bag
and baggage. In order to eject this
great undertaking, however, il would be
necessary for him to bring over to his
side q halt million Sepoys or native
troops, and he had neither the time nor
the money to carry out this project.
| With his own troops he was, however,
enabled to drive the English out OF
Madras, and would have stormed Fort
st. George were it not for the intrjgues
of the company against him and the
overwhelming English forces that were
opposed to any further military action
on his part. In q fit Of despair Lally
wrote 10 the King as follows: Sire, l
have not beheld the shadow of an honest
man here. In the name OF God, with
draw me from this county. He'll has
vomited me into land of iniquities, and
I wait like Jonas for the whaler' Mean
| while Colonel Ooote. the leader OF the
English orces- who, by curious coin
cidence, was also an Irishman drove
the French, out of Pondicherry, where
Lally was taken prisoner. He was taken
| in chains to England on board mer-
chant vessel, .the captain of which, &C
cording to Voltaire, treated him with
the utmost inhumanlty. The English
| captain believed that it was in this man
ner an Irishman in the service Of France
should be treatedp
| On reaching the shores Of Albion,
Lally was, however, released, as the
Franc English war was practically over
with the triumph Of Coote After visit
to the west of Ireland, whore the home
Of his ancestors was situated, he returned
to France, landing at Bouiogne, where
an old friend Of his, the Earl Of Clan
carty, tried to dissuade him from goilg
TO Paris.
.Why do you dissuade me?: asked
Lany. L &
aYour enemies are uttering the most
atrooious calumnies against you, mon
! ami. in that city. They say you have