o what was
undoubtedly an overwhelming British force, but after so poor a
defence that he was brought before a Court Martial and cashiered. It
speaks highly for the respect in which he had been held by both
nations that none of the various reports and accounts of the siege
mention him by name. Even Lally, who hated the French Civilians,
though he says he deserved death,[64] only refers to him indirectly
as being the same officer of the Company who had surrendered
Chandernagore to Clive.

We shall now pass to what went on in Siraj-ud-daula's Court and
capital.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 12: Journal of M. d'Albert.]

[Footnote 13: Evidently the Parish Church of St. Louis. Eyre Coote
tells us the French had four guns mounted on its roof.]

[Footnote 14: In early accounts of India the Muhammadans are always
called _Moors_; the Hindus, _Gentoos_ or _Gentiles_. The _Topasses_
were Portuguese half-castes, generally employed, even by native
princes, as gunners.]

[Footnote 15: Captain Broome says there were fifty European ladies
in the Fort. The French accounts say they all retired, previous to
the siege, to Chinsurah and Serampore.]

[Footnote 16: Captain, afterwards Sir, Eyre Coote.]

[Footnote 17: The fullest account is one by Renault, dated October
26, 1758.]

[Footnote 18: The only one, excepting the battle of Biderra, between
the English and Dutch.]

[Footnote 19: Governor of Pondicherry and President of the Superior
Council.]

[Footnote 20: Eyre Coote, in his "Journal," mentions an old ditch,
which surrounded the settlement.]

[Footnote 21: One hundred toises, or 600 feet; but Eyre Coote says
330 yards, the difference probably due to the measurement excluding
or including the outworks.]

[Footnote 22: Tanks, or artificial ponds, in Bengal are often of
great size. I have seen some a quarter of a mile long.]

[Footnote 23: Letter to M. de Montorcin, Chandernagore, August 1
1756. Signature lost.]

[Footnote 24: The Nawab, in July, 1756, extorted three lakhs from
the French and even more from the Dutch.]

[Footnote 25: British Museum. Additional MS. 20,914.]

[Footnote 26: A kind of fibre used in making bags and other coarse
materials.]

[Footnote 27: Surgeon Ives's Journal.]

[Footnote 28: Letter to De Montorcin.]

[Footnote 29: Both English and French use this word "inhabitant" to
signify any resident who was not official, military, or in the
seafaring way.]

[Footnote 30: This he did th