DUPLEIX. 531 DXX PLESSIS-MORNAY. DUPLEIX, du'plA'. JosEi'H Francois, Mar- quis ( lOMT-lTlU I. A Krench coldiiial Governor- General, celelirated as the opponent of British supreniaey in India. He was born at Lan- drecies, a town not far from Valenciennes, .Jan- uary 1, IG'JT, and was carefully educated by his father, a rich farnier-.treneral. lie made several voyages to America and India, which engendered a remarkable aptitude for business enterprise. In 1720 he went as member of the Superior Council to Pondiehcrry, where he soon gained a large pri- vate fortune. " In 1731 he proceeded to Chander- nagar as Intendant, and in four years, by his energetic and prudent measures, backed by his own capital, had converted that "decayed and lifeless" town into a thriving port. His suc- cess received due recognition and in 1742 he re- ceived the position and title of •■General Com- mandant of the French possessions in India." He soon disclosed the genius of an empire-builder, with splendid schemes for territorial acquisition,' in which he was ably seconded by his wife, Jeanne Albert de Castro, celebrated in Indian an- nals as .Toanna Begimi, the 'Princess Joanna.' His efforts, however, to form alliances and to strengthen his position received little support from the French East India Company or the French Government ; he was ordered to cease all outlay on the fortification of Pondicherry, but continued the work mainly at his own expense. In 1745 the struggle known as the War of the Austrian Succession, in which France and Eng- land were arrayed against each other, extended to the Indian Peninsula. The English East India Company, alarmed at Dupleix's activity, had fortified Madras. At first the French were suc- cessful: with the help of Labourdonnais, Gov- ernor of the Isles of France and Bourbon. Dupleix repulsed an English attack under Commodore Barnett on Pondicherrv", and in 1746 Madras was captured by Labourdonnais, but the results were fruitless, owing to the mutual jealousies of that commander and Dupleix. Dupleix refu.sed to re- store Madras to the English according to a com- pact of bribery entered into by Labourdonnais, and sent the latter, on a charge of treason, to France. The same year Dupleix was ennobled. He was successful in several brilliant engage- ments against the Xawab of the Carnatie, who had a personal grievance in connection with the retention of Madras; in 1748 he compelled Ad- miral Boscawen to raise the siege of Pondicherry after an attack of five weeks. The peace of Aix- la-Chapelle put an end to hostilities, and restored Madras to the English, much to Dupleix's cha- grin. He. nevertheless, continued his plans and negotiations for the subjection of southern India, and by 17.51 the Deccan and the Carnatie were practically under French domination, and Du- pleix's dream of making the power of France paramoiint in India seemed realized. He was inadequately sup|)orted. however, and English activity under Lawrence and Clive (q.v.) soon gained the upper hand. Dupleix's splendid work was ended by his recall to France in 1754. For the company he had expended .$1,200,000 of his private fortune. In addition he had ad- vanced large sums to his native allies on the security of the revenue of certain districts. He was never repaid. Neglected by his ungrateful country, the ablest statesman of Louis XV. 's reign was allowed to die in want and obscurity in Paris, November 10, 1764. Consult: Malleson. UiipUix (Oxford, 1800): id.. History of the French in India (London, 18t)t!) ; Bionne, DiiplFix (2 vols., Paris, 1881); Hamont, In rssai dc I'cnipirc fran(;ais dans I'lnde au dixhiiilirnic siiclr: Ouplcix d'aprts sa corrcspoiidinicc incdile (Paris, 1881) ; Ornie, .1 History of the Military Transactions of the Brit- ish Sation in Indoslan, from the year JTJfJt (4th ed., 3 vols., London, 1803); and comi)are Macaulay's essay on ('live (London, 1840). DXrPLESSIS, du'ple-s;-', Gt:oKGES (1834-99). A Krench historian of art. born at Chartres. He was made conservator of the department of prints in the National Library in Paris, and in 1801 became a member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. His publications include: Histoire de la gravure en France (18til) ; Les costumes historir/ucs des XVI., .Wll. ef XVIII. siccles, with drawings by Lechevallier and Chevignard (1807-73): Catalortue dc I'wurrc de Claudv Gflee, in collaboration with E. Meume (1875); Histoire dc la yrariire en Italie, en France en Alleniagne ( 1S8()) . and Icones Veteris Testamenti de H. Holhcin (1884). DU PLESSIS-MORNAY, mor'na'. Philippe (1549-1023). A distinguished French Protestant leader, frequently called 'the Huguenot Pope.' He was born at IJuhy, in Normandy, of nominal- ly Catholic parents, who destined him for the priesthood, but early in life he declared himself a Protestant. His convictions were strengthened by visits to Geneva and Heidelberg, then the cen- tre of Calvinism, during four years of travel ( 1568-72). On his return to France he attached liimself to Coligny. whose fate he escaped on the night of Saint IJartholomew. He remained in Eng- land for a year, but came back to take up amis fiu- the Huguenot cause. He was captured by Guise at the siege of Dornians in 1575: but, not being recognized, gained his liberty by the pay- ment of a small ransom and took refuge with the Duke of Bouillon at Sedan. Here he married a young widow, Charlotte Arbaleste, whose hatred of Catholicism was equal to his own. Henry of Navarre sent him to England as a personal representative in 1577, and during this period he w rote a niimber of theological works. On Conde's death in 1588 he was recognized as the head of the Huguenot faction, and had much influence with Henry III., whom he persuaded to legalize the preaching of the reformed doctrine throughout France. He also succeeded in bringing about an understanding between the King and his future successor, and his services were recognized by his appointment as Governor of Saumur. where he made things so difficult for the Catliolics that many of them fled from the district. After the murder of Henry III. he took a prominent part in the military and other uuivements which brought Henry of Navarre to the throne, but the latter's conversion ended his official activity. He lost his position in the King's Council, but re- tained his governorship, building at Saumur a Protestant church and college for the education of preachers. His scheme for the organization of French Protestants was adopted by the gath- ering at Sainte-Foy in 1504. and he was con- cerned in the negotiations which led up to the Edict of Nantes. The principal event of his later years was his famous controversy with Dnperron, the learned Bishop of Evreux. who accused him of misquotation and garbling in one
