Dupleix, Joseph

, a famous French merchant, the rival of La Bourdonnaye in the Indies, equally active and more reflective, was sent into those far distant countries, in 1730, as director of the colony of Chandernagore, which was verging to decay for want of capital. Dupleix restored it to life and vigour, and extended the commerce of that colony through all the provinces of the mogul, and quite to Thibet. He fitted out ships for the Red Sea, for the Persian Gulf, for Goa, for the Maldives, and for | Manilla. He built a town and formed a vast establishment. His zeal and his intelligence were recompensed, in 1742, by the government of Pondicherry. In 1746 La Bourdonnaye made himself master of Madras, the place having capitulated, when Dupleix, secretly jealous of his success, broke the capitulation, took the command of his vessels, was even disposed to put him under an arrest, and sent such representations to the court of France as occasioned La Bourdonnaye to be committed to the Bastille on his arrival at Paris. In 1748, when the English attacked Pondicherry, Dupleix defended it for forty-two days of bombardment against two English admirals, supported by two nabobs of the country. He acted in the several capacities of general, of engineer, and commissary, and was rewarded with the red ribbon and the title of marquis, as the recompense of this gallant defence, which for a time restored the French name in India. This was followed, two years after, by a patent of the title of nabob from the grand mogul, on his acquiring possession of the Decan for Salabetingue; and the Indians, on many occasions, treated him as king, and his wife as queen; but this prosperity was not of long duration. In 1751 two pretenders arose to the nabobship of Arcot, and the English favoured the rival of the nabob that was supported by the French, and the two companies, English and French, engaged in actual war; the success of which was by no means in favour of the latter, who were; dispossessed of their territories by generals Lawrence and Clive. Remonstrances were sent over against Dupleix, as he had before preferred complaints against La Bourdonnaye: an instance of the equal balance held by Providence over the affairs of mortals. Dupleix was accordingly recalled in 1753, and arrived at Paris in a desponding state, He commenced a suit at law against the company for the reimbursement of millions of livres that were due to him, which the company contested, and could not have paid if the debt bad been established. He published a long statement of the c;ise, which was read with avidity at the time and died soon after, a victim to mortified pri4e and ambition. ¹