[220] Compare the following observations of a late excellent writer upon India. “M. Dupleix’s wonderful talent for diplomacy and intrigue soon obtained signal triumphs. His emissaries were everywhere; and the native princes were all as fickle as faithless. In his intrigues with them he is said to have derived wonderful assistance from his wife, who was born in India, and perfectly understood not only the languages, but also the character of the natives. In his union with this lady, who is described as being even more ambitious than himself, we may probably trace the cause of the essentially Oriental spirit of many of his proceedings.”—Macfarlane’s History of British India, chap. iii. p. 31. We shall, hereafter, have occasion to return to this work, in connection with the Burmese war in 1824-26.
[221] Symes, vol. i. pp. 70-72.
[222] Sangermano, however, shows, by the ordinance of the port, that the seizure of the vessel and its contents was nothing remarkable.—See his Burmese Empire, p. 170.
[223] Vol. i. p. 74.
[224] Book i. chap. vi. p. 103.
[225] Symes, vol. i. p. 76.
[226] Book i. chap. iii. p. 56.
[227] Symes, vol. i. p. 81.
[228] Symes, vol. i. pp. 83-88.
[229] Ava, vol. i. p. 96.