M. Renault and his Council submitted an official report; Renault wrote many letters to Dupleix and other patrons or friends; several of the Council and other private persons did the same.

[Footnote 99: Letter from Renault to Dupleix.

Of the French especially it would appear that their writers have noticed only those like Dupleix, Bussy, and Lally, who commanded armies in glorious campaigns that somehow always ended to the advantage of the British, and have utterly forgotten the civilians who really kept the game going, and who would have been twice as formidable to their enemies if the military had been subordinate to them.

Dupleix, Hist. de Louis XIII, p. 53.

This child, called by Bassompierre le Père Archange, and by Dupleix le Père Ange, was the son of Jacques de Harlay de Chanvallon, known at Court as "the handsome Chanvallon," and was the individual who, as the confessor of the Marquise de Verneuil, became one of the most active agents in the conspiracy which was formed against Henri IV and the French Princes.

Dupleix, p. 411.

Dupleix, p. 403.

and the Ambassador of Holland 151 Marshal Saxe 154 Battle of Fontenoy 157 Arrest of Charles Edward 166 Dupleix 168 La Bourdonnais 170 Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the Deccan 174 Death of the Nabob of the Carnatic 174 Lally at Pondicherry 184 Champlain 190 Death of General Braddock 203 Death of Wolfe 209 Madame de Pompadour 215 Attack on Fort St. Philip.

and the Ambassador of Holland 151 Marshal Saxe 154 Battle of Fontenoy 157 Arrest of Charles Edward 166 Dupleix 168 La Bourdonnais 170 Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the Deccan 174 Death of the Nabob of the Carnatic 174 Lally at Pondicherry 184 Champlain 190 Death of General Braddock 203 Death of Wolfe 209 Madame de Pompadour 215 Attack on Fort St. Philip.

Abler and bolder than all his colleagues, Joseph Dupleix, member of a Gascon family and son of the comptroller-general of Hainault, had dreamed of other destinies than the management of a counting-house; he aspired to endow France with the empire of India.

[Illustration: Dupleix168] Concord as yet reigned between Dupleix and the governor of Bourbon and of Ile de France, Bertrand Francis Mahe de La Bourdonnais, when, in the month of September, 1746, the latter put in an appearance with a small squadron in front of Madras, already one of the principal English establishments.

La Bourdonnais died before long, employing the last remnants of his life and of his strength in pouring forth his anger against Dupleix, to whom he attributed all his woes.

Meanwhile Dupleix grew greater and greater, every day more powerful and more daring.

He espied in the melley his enemy Tchunda Sahib, and would have darted upon him; but, whilst his slaves were urging on the huge beast, the little French battalion sent by Dupleix to the aid of his allies marched upon the nabob, a ball struck him to the heart, and he fell.

Dupleix, dressed in the magnificent costume of, the Hindoo princes, had gone with his troops to meet him.

Tcbunda Sahib, but lately his ally, became his vassal"the vassal of France," murmured Madame Dupleix, when she heard of this splendid recompense for so many public and private services.

A third of India was obedient to Dupleix; the Great Mogul sent him a decree of investiture, and demanded of the Princess Jane the hand of her youngest daughter, promised to M. de Bussy.

Dupleix well know the frailty of human affairs, and the dark intrigues of Hindoo courts; he breathed freely, however, for he was on his guard, and the dream of his life seemed to be accomplished.

The report of Dupleix's reverses arrived in France in the month of September, 1752.

Dupleix secretly received notice to demand his recall.

The cabinet of London had not been deceived as to the importance of Dupleix in India; his recall had been made the absolute condition of a cessation of hostilities.

France seemed to comprehend what her ministers had not even an idea of; Dupleix's arrival in France was a veritable triumph.

"My wife and I dare not appear in the streets of Lorient," wrote Dupleix, "because of the crowd of people wanting to see us and bless us;" the comptroller-general, Herault de Sechelles, as well as the king and Madame de Pompadour, then and for a long while the reigning favorite, gave so favorable a reception to the hero of India that Dupleix, always an optimist, conceived fresh hopes.

Disorder was at its height in the Company's affairs; the vast enterprises commenced by Dupleix required success and conquests, but they had been abandoned since his recall, not without having ingulfed, together with his private fortune, a portion of the Company's resources.

Suffren informed the nabob that M. de Bussy- Castelnau, but lately the faithful lieutenant of Dupleix and the continuer of his victories, had just been sent to India with the title of commander-in-chief; he was already at Ile de France, and was bringing some troops.