De La Tour
Excerpts from The Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai
translated from the Tamil by Order of the Government of Madras
Volumes 1-3 edited by Sir J. Frederick Price, KCSI., Late of the Indian Civil Service, Assisted by K. Rangachari, B.A., Superintendent of Records, Government Secretariat, Fort St. George
Volumes 4-12 edited by H. Dodwell, M.A., Curator, Madras Record Office
1904-1928
Monday, [28th July 1738, or] 16th Adi of Kalayukti. — The St. Geran was got in readiness this evening, to proceed to Karikal. On board were M. Aubin, the captain of the vessel, M. de la Tour the commander of the troops, M. Roussel the Chief Major, Lieutenant Coquelin, and a party of 100 soldiers. M. Delarche and M. St. Gille — the latter being a half caste — also embarked to perform the duties of accountants at Karikal. A party of bricklayers, carpenters, and sawyers — sixty or seventy in number — was shipped in the evening, together with a supply of bricks, lime, and building tools of various kinds, such as spades and saws. The ship got under weigh, and the sails were set, but the breeze dying away, she was again brought to an anchor....
Friday, 7th October 1746, or 25th, Purattasi of Akshaya. — M. Bonneau, the Councillor at Mascareigne, who went some time ago from Pondichery to Madras, returned from the latter place, at 8 this morning. He had been imprisoned by M. de la Bourdonnais, but was released when M. d’Espremenil assumed charge. He left Madras secretly the night before last, and going to Mylapore, started thence, and arrived at Pondichery at 8, When he reached the Governor’s house, all the Councillors were summoned, and a Council was held. Just then, a letter arrived from Madras by post. A despatch for that place was sent by the post at noon, after the Council had broken up.
I asked M. de la Touche to tell me why a Council sat yesterday, from sunrise until 6 in the evening, and again until noon to-day, and why the Governor appeared depressed. He replied to me as follows: “M. de la Bourdonnais, in celebration of his Saint's day, ordered guns to be fired at Madras, at sunrise, on the 21st and 22nd Purattasi (3rd and 4th October). He then invited M. d'Espremenil, M. Dalaurens, M. de Bury, M. Paradis, M. Barthelemy, M. de la Tour, and other distinguished men, to dine with him in the fort at midday. When the guests were seated at table, M. de la Bourdonnais addressed them, and said, ‘I have received a report that English ships are approaching. You must permit me to embark all the soldiers from Pondichery on board my fleet.' ‘No, No’ cried M. de Bury, M. Paradis, and their companions. M. de la Bourdonnais frowned on them, and ordered twenty-four of his men, who were under arms, to seize M. de Bury, M. Paradis, and M. de la Tour, and to keep them in custody. He deprived M. d’Espremenil of his authority, and assumed the sole power. He next ordered that the soldiers be embarked on board his ships, and directed that the merchandise in the fort and town should be conveyed on board."
The prompt measures adopted by M. de la Bourdonnais, in disobedience of the Council's orders, lead me to think that he will restore Madras to the English, and set sail with his ships for France, carrying away with him all the merchandise which he found in Madras. His future action is uncertain. The anxiety experienced by M. Dupleix is indeed great. The desire which he cherished, for the last two years, was the capture of Madras. When M. de la Bourdonnais demurred to this, on the ground that he had no orders from the King and his Ministers, M. Dupleix overruled his objections, by giving him a written statement in which he took all the responsibility on himself. Finally, when Madras was captured, and the French flag was hoisted on its walls, M. de la Bourdonnais, setting at naught the orders of M. Dupleix, plundered the fort of all the treasures which it contained, and then restored it to the English. If M. Dupleix is to derive no advantage from the capture of Madras, if his orders are to be set aside, and the men whom he sent thither are to be imprisoned, what greater evil could befall him in this world? Hence his grief is boundless, his reputation, too, has declined much in the estimation of the outside public....
Wednesday, 12th October 1746, or 30th Purattasi of Akshaya. -- This day, M. Melville arrived from Madras, and brought news that the fort had been given back to the English, that M. de la Bourdonnais, treating with contempt the orders of the Council here, had placed in confinement those who came from Pondichery, and had subsequently set them at liberty, that M. Dulaurens, M. d’Espremenil, M. Barthelemy, M. de Bury and others, and my brother Tiruvengadam, were returning, that they had halted at Mylapore, and that they were intending to move on hither. He said, also, that M. de la Bourdonnais was making ready provisions, arms, and other supplies necessary for his ships, and was preparing to set sail.
In the letter written by my brother to me, he said that M. d’Espremenil, other Frenchmen, and he had reached Mylapore on their way to Pondichery, and that they would leave on the following day. He further requested that in the event of there being any delay in their departure I would arrange to recall him at once, as he was ill.
The trouble that the Governor took in writing despatches to be placed on board a ship bound for France, and the vexation apparent in his face, cannot be described.
At 10 this morning, a letter came by post from Madras. From this it appeared that 2 lakhs of pagodas had been buried by the English under the flagstaff, that the matter came to the knowledge of M. de la Bourdonnais, and that thereupon he said to Mr. Morse the Governor of Madras and the other Englishmen, as follows: “You have cheated me. Believing that you spoke the truth, I incurred even the displeasure of the Governor of Pondichery. I wished to give back to you your fort and town, and for that purpose I requested all his people to depart. I executed the necessary agreement, and I was preparing to leave in two or three days. But as you have deceived me in this manner, there is no knowing in how many other ways you may not mean to mislead me.” He then destroyed the agreement which he had executed in their favour, placed Mr. Morse and his companions in confinement, sent back to the ships the Englishmen whom he had brought ashore, landed the troops from Pondichery that had been embarked by him, and set French soldiers to guard all the gates of the town. Ho wrote a letter to the Governor of Pondichery stating that as the English had deceived him, he had now destroyed the treaty and remanded them all to custody, and asking that M. d’Espremenil, and others, might be sent to resume possession of the fort. Thereupon, the Governor felt relieved, and was happy. The Council met, and an order was issued to M. d Espremenil, and others, to return—wherever on their way the order might reach them—to Madras. I heard this from M. de laTouche, and others. As to the private news of the place, I know nothing. I shall inquire more particularly, and write it down by and by.
This evening, M. de la Tour, M. Bruyeres, and M. de Kerjean, arrived from Madras. The Governor started them off again, at 8, with orders to return there.
To-day the Governor posted three letters for Madras.
At daybreak tomorrow, the Dipavali festival will commence...
The Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai, translated from the Tamil by Order of the Government of Madras, edited by Sir J. Frederick Price, KCSI., Late of the Indian Civil Service, Assisted by K. Rangachari, B.A., Superintendent of Records, Government Secretariat, Fort St. George, Volume 1, 1904