414 THE FALL OF DUPLEIX. chap, sions to point to the versatility of intellect, the untiring , energy, the varied resources under all circumstances, the 1751. self-denial, the persistence, the patriotic devotion of this illustrious Frenchman. All these qualities he united indeed to an extent such as is seldom found in one man. But the same candour, which has forced us to admit and to admire these great virtues, compels us to lament the fatal obstinacy which influenced his conduct throughout this memorable negotiation. Too clear it is, alas ! that on this occasion he was guided, not by his genius, but by his passions. His pride would not allow him to take that one retrograde step which he, more than most men, would have known how to make the prelude of a further advance. He had fought so long so openly and so persistently for this empty title, therefore he would not lower himself by giving it up now — now especially, when the influence of Bussy at Haidarabad and the possession of the four Sirkars seemed to make him virtual master of the Dakhan. Blind and fatal reasoning ! His successes in the north ought to have made him more compliant, more yielding, more anxious to conciliate. He should have been con- tent to bide his time. There would not always be a Saunders and a Lawrence at Madras. England had had its Morses, its Floyers, its Copes, and its Gingens, and might have them again. He too, who had influenced every native with whom he had come in contact, who had so bent to his will a Muzaflar Jang, a Chanda Sahib, a Murtiza Ali, as to make them like clay in the hands of the potter, who had won the daring spirit of Murari Rao, was he to despair of gaining a Muhammad Ali ? Once independent, free from the clutches of the English, as by this treaty he would have become, and Muhammad Ali would speedily have fallen under the sway of that potent influence, that irrefragable will. Whilst then, as Englishmen, we cannot but rejoice at the unyielding pride which preferred to risk everything rather than to
