THE WARLIKE POLICY OF DUPLEIX 101
of war with England the rising jealousy between the
two Companies would kindle hostilities in India; and
he accordingly began to negotiate with the neighbour-
ing chiefs, to assume titles granted under the imperial
patent, and to imitate the solemn ostentation of Indian
grandees, with the object of preparing the way toward
a place for his Company in the political system of the
country. He spared no pains to reform his military
establishments and to fortify Pondicherri against the
contingency of an attack from the sea; nor did he
desist when the Directors at Paris ordered him to sus-
pend all expenditure on defensive works, to pay the
Company's debts, and attend to their trade.
The declaration of war in Europe in 1744 gave the
signal for beginning the first act of a dramatic contest
that was to determine the issue whether France or
England should win a great dominion in South Asia.
We have to bear in mind that this issue did not depend,
as some writers have imagined, upon the petty fighting
that ensued along the Coromandel coast, or on the suc-
cess or failure of their rival alliances and intrigues with
Oriental princes. The issue was determined, in reality,
by the result of the struggle between these two nations
for superiority on all the seas. Maritime supremacy
had laid the corner-stone of the whole fabric of Asiatic
commerce upon the Indian mainland, where alone it
could find a solid foundation; and while the security
of this commerce depended on naval power, that power
was also sure to expand with the development of trade.
Although, therefore, the story of the Indian contest is
