Excerpt from History of the French in India: From the Founding of Pondichery in 1674 to the Capture of That Place in 1761 A quarter of a century has passed away since I first offered this volume to the British public. During that time it has made the tour of Europe. It has been translated into French; quoted largely by Italian writers; read with avidity in Germany; and has procured for the author appreciative letters from distinguished men. Within the last three years the demand for it has been so continuous that I have been asked to edit a new edition. This must be my excuse for once more introducing it to the public. Since I brought out the book in 1868 I have largely prosecuted my studies in Indian history, especially in the history of the periods immediately preceding and running parallel to the events of which I treat in this volume. I am bound to add that the increased knowledge has not brought to light any errors of importance. The reasons for the conduct of La Bourdonnais after the capture of Madras, my account of which one writer challenged four years ago, have been found, after the most exhaustive examination, to have been correctly stated in the first edition. They, therefore, appear here unaltered. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.