Page:Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas.djvu/214

186 possessed the happy art of gaining the confidence of surrounding princes and subjects. He was active and persevering to a degree which can only be conceived or believed by those who were spectators of his indefatigable labours from the time he raised eight battalions till his departure from his station. I have seen him daily rise with the sun, survey his Karkhana (arsenal), inspect his troops, enlist recruits, direct the vast movements of three brigades, raise resources and encourage manufacturers for their arms, ammunitions, and stores, harangue in his durbar, give audience to ambassadors, administer justice, regulate the civil and revenual affairs of a Jaidad (province) of twenty lakhs of rupees, listen to a multitude of letters from various parts on various important matters, dictate replies, carry on an intricate system of intrigue in different courts, superintend a private trade of a lakh of rupees, keep his accounts, his private and public correspondence, and direct and move forward a most complex political machine. All this he did without any European assistance. He used to say that any ambitious person who reposes confidence in another risks the destruction of his views. * * * * In person he is above six feet high, giant-boned, large limbs, strong featured, and with piercing eyes. There is something in his countenance which depicts the hero, and compels us to yield implicit obedience. * * * * * It has often been a subject of surprise to many how de Boigne could so long and so