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THE FRENCH IN INDIA UNDER DUPLEIX London Board the provisional treaty he had made with Godeheu in 1754, warned his Company that the French were in an advantageous position for continuing hos- tilities; they had, he wrote, a stronger military force BODY-GUARD OP A NATIVE PRINCE. particularly in native cavalry, which could harry the English districts and " their influence with the coun- try powers far exceeds ours." Yet the views and motives by which the French ministers were actuated are amply intelligible. The pol- icy of Dupleix had been frustrated in the sense that, after four years of irregular warfare, he had brought the Company no nearer to the triumphant conclusion