322 DUPLEIX relating mainly to statistics and political econ- omy. He left a fortune of 10,000,000 francs. DUPLEIX, Joseph Francois, marquis, a French soldier and statesman, born at Landrecies, Jan. 1, 1697, died in Paris, Nov. 10, 1764. In 1720 he was sent as an agent to Pondicherry, and in 1730 was appointed director of Chanderna-
- >re, and during an administration of ten years
acquired an immense fortune and changed that insignificant town into a flourishing city. In 1742 he became governor general of the French possessions in India, and through his energy and executive ability raised them to a degree of prosperity until then unknown. When La- bourdonnais captured Madras in 1746, Dupleix refused to accede to the terms of capitulation, kept possession of the city, and sent Labour- donnais to France under a charge of treason. Letters of nobility were conferred upon him the same year. In 1748 he defended Pondi- cherry against Admiral Boscawen, who at- tacked it with a fleet of 30 vessels and a land force, and forced him to raise the siege. Peace having been concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, Du- pleix turned his attention toward territorial acquisition by political intrigue. On the death of the Nizam ul-Mulk, sultan of the Deccan, he supported the claim of Mirzapha Jung to the throne, and gained in return large posses- sions, covering 200 leagues of coast. Other acquisitions followed, which were confirmed by the Great Mogul, and France seemed about to obtain paramount power in India. The English, alarmed by these French successes, increased their forces under Lawrence and Olive. Dupleix submitted a plan of operations designed to open the way to Delhi, but the French company rejected it. He was recalled to France in 1754, and spent the rest of his life in a vain endeavor to obtain from the gov- ernment some reimbursement of the fortune which he had spent in attempting to establish French supremacy in India. DUPLESSIS-MORNAY. See MORNAY. DUPLIN, a S. E. county of North Carolina, watered by the north branch of Cape Fear river; area, 670 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 15,542, of whom 6,766 were colored. It has a level surface ; the soil is generally sandy, but there are fertile tracts in the valleys of the streams. The Wilmington and Weldon railroad inter- sects it. The county contains several pitch- pine forests. The chief productions in 1870 were 291,633 bushels of Indian corn, 135,581 of sweet potatoes, 1,785 bales of cotton, and 155,599 Ibs. of rice. There were 1,176 horses, 3,100 milch cows, 5,620 other cattle, 5,698 sheep, and 20,767 swine ; 5 flour mills, 2 saw mills, and 7 manufactories of tar and turpen- tine. Capital, Kenansville. DUPONCEAU, Peter Stephen, an American law- yer and scholar, born in the Isle of Pv6, France, June 3, 1760, died in Philadelphia, April 1, 1844. After studying at colleges in St. Jean d'Angely and Bressuire he went to Paris in 1775, and engaged in translating English books. DUPONT He was secretary to Baron Steuben, with whom he came to the United States, and on Feb. 18, 1778, was made captain by brevet in the American service. He accompanied Steu- ben in all his movements until the close of the campaign of 1779, when the army went into winter quarters in Philadelphia. Here Du- ponceau was threatened with a pulmonary dis- ease, which for some time prevented him from performing active duty. Toward the close of 1780 he went with Steuben to the south, but renewed ill health forced him to return to Phil- adelphia early the next summer. Robert K. Livingston, secretary of foreign affairs, gave him a place in his office in October, 1781, which he held until June 4, 1783. He was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 1785, and ac- quired an extensive practice in the courts of Pennsylvania and also in those of the United States, including the supreme court. Jeffer- son tendered him the office of chief justice of Louisiana, which he declined. In addition to the duties of his profession he devoted much attention to philology. As chairman of the committee of history, moral science, and general literature of the American philosophi- cal society, in 1819 he made a report on the "Structure of the Indian Languages," which at once gave him a high position in this de- partment of knowledge. In May, 1835, he received from the French institute, for a " Me- moir on the Indian Languages of North America," the linguistic prize founded by the count de Volney. In 1838 he published U A Dissertation on the Nature and Character of the Chinese System of Writing," in which he held that the written language was lexigraphic, representing sounds and not ideas. He pub- lished several essays, letters, and reviews, and expended several thousand dollars, in an un- successful effort to introduce into the United States the production and manufacture of silk. His remaining writings comprise an extensive range of subjects; among which are original treatises on points of law ; translations from the Latin, German, and French on similar sub- jects ; various treatises on philology ; and nu- merous contributions to American history, including a translation of "A Description of New Sweden," by Thomas Campanius Holm. DUPONT, Jacques Charles, a French politi- cian, known as Dupont de 1'Eure, born in Neubourg, Normandy, Feb. 27, 1767, died in Paris, March 3, 1855. First an attorney at the parliament of Normandy, he became a magis- trate, and in 1811 president of the high court of Kouen, which post he held till 1818. He commenced his political career in 1798 in the council of 500, was a member of the legisla- tive corps in 1813, and deputy to the chamber from his native department in 1814. He was constantly reflected from 1817 to 1848, and won the esteem of both friends and opponents. On the revolution of 1830 he accepted the ministry of justice, but left the office after a few months to resume his seat among the lib-
