Page:History of the French in India.djvu/52

 30 THE EARLY FRENCH IN INDIA. chap. £i ollj t ae question cannot but arise, how it was that — v— this handful of men, left to themselves, accomplished 1G93. so much, whilst other expeditions, upon which all the resources of the Company had been so exuberantly lavished, failed so signally ? We can only reply by pointing to the character of the leader. Everything was due to Francis Martin. His energy, his persever- ance, his gentleness with the natives, his fair dealing, formed the real foundations of Pondichery. Never was there an adventurer — if adventurer he can be called — who was more pure-handed, who looked more entirely after the interests of France, and less after his own. In this respect he was the very opposite of Caron. Caron was avaricious, grasping, jealous of others' repu- tation. Martin was single-minded, liberal, large-hearted without a thought of envy or jealousy, and a true patriot. Such are the men who found empires, and who are the true glory of their country ! The founda- tions which Martin laid were not, it is true, destined to be surmounted by an imperial edifice, but they only just missed that honour. That they were worthy of it is his glory ; that those that followed him failed, cannot reflect upon him. We see him now with all his hopes baffled, his seventeen years of expectation destroyed, a poor man, sailing to France with nothing to show as the result of all his labours. Was there indeed nothing I Aye, if experience of a distant country, if successful management of mankind, if the ability to make for one's self resources, — if these be nothing, Martin returned to his country destitute indeed. But in that age such acquirements were more highly considered than they sometimes are now ; and no long time elapsed before Martin was to feel that they had gained for him the confidence of his country to an extent that enabled him to repair the losses of 1693, and to rebuild on the old foundation a power whose reputation was to endure. Before, however, we proceed to record the further