Page:History of the French in India.djvu/220

 198 THE FIEST STRUGGLE IN THE KARNATIK. chap, courtesy and consideration.* The entire English com- 1746. ceeding of Paradis, and some of its members even made their escape to Fort St. David. Amongst those who adopted this course was a young writer named Robert Clive. Fort St. David, about twelve miles south of Pondi- chery, and about two north of Gudalur, had been pur- chased by the English in the year 1691, and had been, by degrees, fairly fortified. Its strength for purposes of resistance was increased by its proximity to Gudalur, which was fortified on three sides, the side facing the sea being alone undefended. It had now become, by the capture of Madras, the English seat of government, and those who occupied the chief places of authority were animated by a fixed determination to defend it to the last extremity, — even to invoke, for that purpose, the aid of the native chieftains. It was indeed high time that they should do something, for Dupleix had resolved that their last place of refuge should be his next conquest. This great statesman, in fact, believed that now, after all the vicissitudes of his career, after all the trials he had been subjected to, he had at last found his opportunity. Madras was in his possession ; he was free from all fear of effectual inter- ference on the part of the Nawwab, what was then to hinder him from carrying out his darling plan of expell- ing the English from that coast ? To bring matters to their present point, he had risked the contest with La Bourdonnais, the fury of the ruler of the Karnatik, and now, having attained that end, he felt his hands free to lish prisoners were marched in osten- who had left Pondichery long before tatious procession through the streets the prisoners arrived. In vol. xv. of Pondichery, but he gives no au- of the now extinct National Review % thority for his statement. The fact art. " Dupleix," the true version is is that the English prisoners were given on the authority, apparently, of treated with the greatest considera- the Ariel Papers* tion. The story of the procession
 * , munity, indeed, protested against the high-handed pro-
 * Mr. Orme declares that the Eng- was invented by La Bourdonnais,