their connection with the coast. Nay, more. On that spot, near to which the ill-fated Law had surrendered with nearly 700 Europeans only one year before, Dupleix had so managed as to bring the greater number to bear against the lesser. The difference indeed was but trifling, but to accomplish it at all, in the face of the initial disaster of the year, was a marvellous achievement. He had done everything, in fact, that a comprehensive human brain could do. By the force of that brain alone he had inverted the position of the two nations in Southern India. In June, 1752, Law and the entire French army surrendered at Sriringam. In June, 1753, Astruc occupied a position in front of Trichinopoli, whilst the English were content to defend the place. There is but one way of accounting for such a startling inversion of position. His supplies from Europe had failed him, whilst the English had received theirs. Driven to depend upon himself alone, Dupleix had, by a combination carried through without a check, so far compelled Fortune that it seemed to require but a great effort on the part of his army to win her over completely.
It was supremely unfortunate for him, specially fortunate for his rivals, that in Stringer Lawrence the English possessed one of the most capable men who ever served the East India Company. He was a great soldier; and his modesty equalled his daring. It is impossible to read his narrative of the war without being struck by the noble and unselfish
