What Paradis did then opens
all sorts of possibilities for the future; and it may be that either
we or the French are destined to rise, from mere trading companies, to
be rulers of Indian states.
"Such, I know, is the opinion of young Clive, who is a very
long-headed and ambitious young fellow. I remember his saying to me
one night, when we were, with difficulty, holding our own in the
trenches, that if we had but a man of energy and intelligence at the
head of our affairs in Southern India, we might, ere many years
passed, be masters of the Carnatic. I own that it appears to me more
likely that the French will be in that position, and that we shall not
have a single establishment left there; but time will show.
"Having defeated Maphuz Khan, Dupleix resolved to make a great effort
to expel us from Fort Saint David, our sole footing left in Southern
India; and he despatched an army of nine hundred Frenchmen, six
hundred Sepoys, and a hundred Africans, with six guns and mortars,
against us. They were four to one against us, and we had hot work, I
can tell you. Four times they tried to storm the place, and each time
we drove them back; till at last they gave it up in disgust, at the
end of June, having besieged us for six months.
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