THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 EGBERT. FIRST LORD CLIYE. 
 
 BY THE REV. G. R. GLEIG, M.A., 
 
 CHAPLAIN GENERAL TO THE FOBCES, 
 fa &JC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1848.
 
 London : Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street,
 
 P E E F A C E. 
 
 IT has been my object, in the following pages, to treat the 
 individual of whom I write as a strictly historical character. 
 I have endeavoured to describe his proceedings fairly ; to assign 
 no other motives to his actions than the circumstances of each 
 separate case should seem to warrant ; to obscure no virtue, to 
 hide no fault, but to paint the man in his life and in his death 
 with the same forgetfulness of all things except the requirements 
 of truth which would actuate me were I dealing with the career 
 of a statesman or a hero who had flourished in some remote age 
 or in a foreign country. Considering that two entire generations 
 have passed away since Lord Clive quitted the stage of life, I 
 hope that I shall not be accused, while following this course, of 
 any want of delicacy towards the feelings of individuals. The 
 time must come, in every instance, when our natural jealousy 
 of the reputation of an ancestor shall yield to the still higher 
 demands of historical verity ; and if the lapse of more than seventy 
 years do not bring matters to this level, I am at a loss to con- 
 ceive when either the historian or the biographer shall be free 
 to instruct without deceiving the world. Lord Clive was a man 
 far above the common measure in every feature of his character. 
 If his excellences were conspicuous, it cannot be said that his 
 faults shunned the light. It has been my earnest desire neither 
 
 a 2
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 to overshadow the former nor to explain away the latter, and 
 I hope that I have succeeded. 
 
 The sources from which I have sought to collect materials 
 for my work are so numerous and diversified that I abstain from 
 all attempt to particularize them. It is right to state, however, 
 that I did not trouble the family with any application for 
 papers, because I have in my possession a letter from the late 
 lamented Lord Powis, dated so long back as 1831, in which 
 I am informed that the whole of the Clive collection had been 
 intrusted to the care of Sir John Malcolm. I need scarcely add 
 that Sir John Malcolm's volumes have been beside me through- 
 out the progress of my labours, and that I have found them of 
 inestimable value. 
 
 London, March, 1848.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. Birth Early Education Arrival in India ... 1 
 II. Joins the Army Early Military Services ... 8 
 
 III. General View of the Affairs of India . . . .16 
 
 IV. Gigantic Schemes of Dupleix Their Progress towards 
 
 Success ......... 25 
 
 V. Capture and Defence of Arcot General Operations . . 33 
 
 VI. Marriage Goes to England Brief Career there Return to 
 
 India Fall of Calcutta 44 
 
 VII. Proceeds to Bengal Kecovery of Calcutta Attack of the 
 
 Nabob's Camp Peace with the Nabob . . .53 
 
 VIII. Capture of Chandernagore Intrigues for the Deposition of 
 
 Suraj-u-Dowlah ....... 62 
 
 IX. Advance of Clive Battle of Plassey . . . .76 
 
 X. Meer Jaffier made Nabob Treaty with the English Fate of 
 
 Omichund . . . . . . . .84 
 
 XI. Fresh troubles in Bengal Colonel Forde's Expedition to the 
 
 Northern Circars Clive's Jaghire or Feof . . .95 
 
 XII. Colonel Forde's Expedition to the Northern Circars Opera- 
 tions in the Carnatic Destruction of the Dutch Force in 
 the Ganges 106 
 
 XIII. Clive proposes to return to England His Views for the future 
 
 Management of British India . . . . .116 
 
 XIV. Clive's immense Wealth His Generosity He prepares to 
 
 quit Bengal ........ 127 
 
 XV. Clive's public Career in England His private Habits . . 134 
 XVI. Eetrospect of the course of Affairs in Bengal . . . 148
 
 vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XVII. War with Cossim Ali Restoration of Meer Jaffier Plans of 
 
 Clive for a Reform of the Government of Bengal . .162 
 
 XVIII. Clive reaches Calcutta Proceedings in Council . . 173 
 XIX. Clive's Reforms continued ...... 186 
 
 XX. Treaty with the Nabob Grant of the Dewannee Corre- 
 spondence . . . . . . . .194 
 
 XXI. Commencement of Military Reform Alarm of Mutiny . 210 
 
 XXII. Progress and Suppression of the Mutiny Letters to various 
 
 Correspondents ....... 220 
 
 XXIII. Trial. of Sir Robert Fletcher Civil Servants implicated in 
 
 the Conspiracy . . . . . . . .234 
 
 XXIV. Summary of Lord Clive's Administration Opinion of the 
 
 Court of Directors 243 
 
 XXV. Clive's parting Address 253 
 
 XXVI. Returns to England Reception 261 
 
 XXVII. Lord Clive in Europe His State of Health Progress of 
 
 Public Opinion . . . . . . .271 
 
 XXVIII. Clive's Position in Parliament and at the India House Bad 
 
 News from India . . . . . . .281 
 
 XXIX. Confusion in the Company's Affairs Parliamentary Pro- 
 ceedings ......... 292 
 
 XXX. Charges brought against Clive in the _ House of Commons 
 
 They are rejected ....... 300 
 
 XXXI. Death of Lord Clive His Character . . 309
 
 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth Early Education Arrival in India. 
 
 THE name of Clive does not appear to have been connected with 
 any historical event of importance, till the exploits of the 
 founder of the British Empire in India achieved for it the 
 eminence to which it latterly attained. A family in Shropshire, 
 of long standing but little note, answered to it throughout many 
 generations. We hear of them first in the reign of Henry II., 
 as proprietors of the small estate of Styche, in the parish of 
 Moreton Say, near Market Drayton ; and in the reign of 
 George II. they retain their local habitation and their rank among 
 the minor landed gentry of the county. The father of Lord 
 Clive, whose Christian name was Richard, succeeded to the 
 inheritance on the death of an elder brother, and continued for 
 many years to practise the profession of an attorney, to which 
 he had been bred. He married Miss Rebecca Gaskill, the 
 daughter of a Mr. Gaskill of Manchester, by whom he had a 
 family of six sons and seven daughters, and of these, Robert, 
 the subject of the present memoir, was the eldest, having been 
 born, in the manor-house of Styche, on the 29th of September, 
 1725. 
 
 Without assigning any particular cause for the arrangement, 
 the family records inform us that Mr. and Mrs. Clive sent 
 their eldest son to reside with one of his uncles-in-law before he 
 had arrived at the third year of his age. This gentleman, whose 
 name was Bay ley, and who had married a sister of Mrs. Clive 
 in 1717, inhabited a place called Hope Hall, near Manchester. 
 He seems to have behaved with great kindness to the child, who 
 
 B
 
 2 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. i. 
 
 was attacked with a dangerous illness soon after his arrival, and 
 who soon began to exhibit symptoms of that impetuosity and 
 waywardness of temper which distinguished him through life. 
 These facts we learn from certain fragments of Mr. Bayley's 
 early correspondence, which speak of the malady, and the means 
 that were used to remove it ; and describe the little patient 
 as meek and gentle under suffering, yet more than ordinarily 
 cross and self-willed as soon as the process of recovery set in. 
 We gather likewise, from the same source, that the organ of 
 combativeness began to develop itself very early in the cranium 
 of the infant hero. Mr. Bayley, writing in 1732, when his 
 charge could not as yet have completed his seventh year, says, 
 " He has just had a new suit of clothes, and promises by his 
 reformation to deserve them. I am satisfied that his fighting 
 (to which he is out of measure addicted) gives his temper a 
 fierceness and imperiousness, that he flies out upon every trifling 
 occasion : for this reason I do what I can to suppress the hero, 
 that I may help forward the more valuable qualities of meekness, 
 benevolence, and patience. I assure you, sir, it is a matter of 
 concern to us, as it is of importance to himself, that he may be 
 a good and virtuous man, to which no care of ours shall be 
 wanting." 
 
 Young Clive appears to have acquired the rudiments of his 
 education in an exceedingly desultory manner. He was con- 
 tinually changing his schools, the first of which, at Lostock in 
 Cheshire, he entered when very young, and quitted again before 
 he had completed his eleventh year. We are not told how he 
 acquitted himself at Lostock, nor indeed was lie celebrated either 
 there or elsewhere for application to his studies ; but one master, 
 Dr. Eaton, was so far struck by him as to predict that, " if his 
 scholar lived to be a man, and opportunity for the exertion of 
 his talents were afforded, he would win for himself a name 
 second to few in history." Next we find him at Market 
 Drayton, under the tutelege of the Rev. Mr. Burslem. From 
 that seminary he removed to Merchant Tailors' school in 
 London, where, however, his residence was not protracted ; and 
 last of all he became one of the pupils of Mr. Sterling, the 
 keeper of a private academy in Hemel Hempstead. In each of 
 these places he established a reputation for daring intrepidity,
 
 CHAP, i.] EARLY EDUCATION. 
 
 and an invincible spirit of command. It is told of him, at 
 Market Drayton, that, for the purpose of getting a smooth stone 
 out of a water-spout, with which to make ducks and drakes, he 
 ascended to the top of the church-tower, and let himself down over 
 the parapet wall, to the distance of at least three feet. He is 
 described as putting himself at the head of all the good-for- 
 nothing lads in the same town, and, after a series of petty out- 
 rages on the tradespeople, compelling them to pay a sort of 
 black-mail as the price of the discontinuance of the nuisance. 
 Finally, his determination of purpose was shown when, on the 
 breaking down of a mound of turf by means of which his ban- 
 ditti were labouring to turn a dirty water-course into the shop- 
 door of an obnoxious dealer, he threw himself into the gutter, 
 and filled the breach with his body till his companions were in a 
 condition more effectually to repair the damage. Such anec- 
 dotes, if related of one who lived and died unknown, would 
 excite as little interest in him who should listen to them as they 
 would be accepted as creditable to their subject. But Clive rose 
 to greatness through the display of qualities which fall to the 
 lot of few ; and exploits, which when performed earned for him 
 the character of " an unlucky boy," came to be regarded as 
 foreshadowings of that genius which found scope for the exercise 
 of its powers in nothing less than the conquest of kingdoms. 
 
 It had been the design of Mr. Clive to bring up his son 
 Robert to the profession of which he was himself a member. 
 The exceeding distaste of the young man, however, for seden- 
 tary pursuits, and the little progress which he made in scholastic 
 learning, induced a change of plan, and interest was made, not 
 unsuccessfully, to procure for him a writership in the service 
 of the East India Company. Through what particular channel 
 the appointment was procured I have not been able to ascertain ; 
 but as writerships were in 1743 very different from what they had 
 become in 1843, it is not necessary to assume that any powerful 
 interest was necessary to command it. The truth indeed is, 
 that at the former period the Company was nothing more than 
 a trading corporation. Its territory consisted of a few square 
 miles round each of the factories which its agents had esta- 
 blished, and for which, as well as for the factories themselves, 
 rent was paid to the native governments. A handful of troops 
 
 B 2
 
 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. i. 
 
 sufficed to man, but imperfectly, the ill-constructed forts by 
 which the warehouses were protected ; and the native portion of 
 this force, by far the most numerous, was not only not dis- 
 ciplined after the European fashion, but lacked other arms than 
 the sword and shield, or else a bow and arrows. The civil servants 
 of the Company, too, were neither counsellors nor judges, col- 
 lectors nor diplomatists, but clerks, whose duty it was to keep 
 accounts, to take stock, to make advances to weavers, to ship 
 cargoes, and to prevent, as much as possible, the interference 
 of interlopers with the monopoly of the India trade, .which 
 acts of parliament had secured to them. Moreover, the writers, 
 as they were called, or junior clerks, received such miserable 
 pay that to avoid getting into debt, except by the exercise of 
 extreme self-denial, was impossible. No doubt there were 
 great prizes in store for such as might survive these early 
 hardships. Private trade that is, the trade of individuals on 
 their own account was then in the height of its luxuriance ; 
 and large fortunes were made by such as could embark in it at 
 the expense of the interests of their employers. But oppor- 
 tunities of this sort did not come till after long years of residence 
 in the country ; and these were, even under the most favourable 
 circumstances, years of suffering and of drudgery. A writer- 
 ship was not, therefore, considered a hundred years ago in the 
 light of a handsome provision for the younger son of a noble 
 family, or of a Director, and was therefore, much more than it 
 is now, within the reach of persons of far less pretension. 
 
 Young Clive received his nomination in the early spring of 
 1743, and embarked soon afterwards for Madras. He was then 
 in the eighteenth year of his age, and, in spite of an ill-regulated 
 temper, appears to have possessed strong natural affections 
 and a warm heart. His aunt Bayley had died in 1735, but 
 Hope Hall did not cease on that account to be his home ; indeed 
 he retained both then and afterwards a lively recollection of the 
 happy days which he had spent there, and parted from its sur- 
 viving inmates with great regret. His voyage, besides being 
 tedious and expensive, was not devoid of danger. The ship in 
 which he took his passage put in at Brazil, where it was detained 
 nine months, and suffered a second detention, though not so 
 protracted, at the Cape of Good Hope. The consequence was,
 
 CHAP, i.] ARRIVAL IN INDIA. 5 
 
 that the autumn of 1744 had set in ere our adventurer reached 
 the place of his destination. But it tells in Clive's favour that 
 he did not allow the opportunity which presented itself at 
 Brazil of acquiring 1 some knowledge of the Portuguese language 
 to pass unimproved. An accurate Portuguese scholar he never 
 became ; indeed he would appear to have been deficient in that 
 order of talent which gives to its possessors a facility of ac- 
 quiring languages ; for it is a curious fact that he, who more 
 than almost any other Englishman understood the character of the 
 natives of India, and exercised unbounded sway over them, was 
 never able to hold a lengthened or serious communication with 
 them, either by writing or in conversation, except through the 
 medium of an interpreter. But he managed to pick up more 
 than a smattering of the tongue in which Camoens wrote, and in 
 after-life his knowledge, imperfect as it might be, was more than 
 once of use to him. 
 
 Two results, both of them of evil consequence to Clive, 
 arose out of the extraordinary length of his outward passage : 
 he had expended the whole of his ready money before he 
 reached Madras ; and a gentleman to whom he carried letters of 
 introduction, and who would have assisted him in the strait, 
 had already quitted the place and returned to Europe. Under 
 these circumstances Clive was driven to borrow from the captain 
 of the ship in which he had come out; and he complains, pro- 
 bably not without reason, of the exorbitant interest which the 
 lender exacted. He felt himself, likewise, alone as it were in 
 a new world ; for though in those days, not less than now, hospi- 
 tality was a virtue largely practised by the Company's servants 
 in the East, Clive, being shy or proud, and destitute of recom- 
 mendations to any of the residents at Madras, kept aloof from 
 them all, and was of course in his turn neglected. His irritable 
 temper did not soften down amid the comparative solitude in 
 which he lived, and he soon began to experience a depression of 
 spirits which, as it was constitutional, never afterwards wholly 
 left him. As a specimen of the manner in which his proud dis- 
 position worked, it may be stated that he had not been long- at the 
 desk when he quarrelled with a superior functionary, and gave 
 such proof of his contempt for the rules of the service that the 
 Governor, being appealed to, commanded him to apologize.
 
 6 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE, [CHAP. i. 
 
 Olive could not refuse to obey, because any attempt to evade 
 the order would have cost him his place ; but he made his sub- 
 mission with a very bad grace, and would never again return to 
 habits of familiar acquaintance with the secretary. When the 
 latter, desirous of burying the dispute in oblivion, asked him one 
 day to dine, he replied, " No, sir ; the Governor desired me to 
 apologize, and I have done so ; but he did not command me to 
 dine with you." 
 
 Besides being wayward and irritable to a degree which ren- 
 dered him often impatient of control, and not always safe as a 
 companion, Clive began already to labour under occasional fits 
 of low spirits, during the paroxysms of one of which it is said 
 that he twice made an attempt to destroy himself. He had been 
 improvident, it appears, and his pecuniary affairs were involved. 
 The restraints of the office chafed him ; and he took in ill part 
 both the advice and the remonstrances of such as prompted him 
 to greater exertion. In this humour he withdrew one day to his 
 own room in Writers' Buildings, and there shut himself up. 
 An hour or two afterwards one of his companions knocked at 
 the door, and was admitted. He found Clive seated in a remote 
 corner of the apartment, with a table near him, on which lay a 
 pistol. " Take it, and fire it over the window," said Clive, 
 pointing to the weapon. His friend did so ; and no sooner was 
 the report heard than Clive, springing from his seat, exclaimed, 
 " I feel that I am reserved for some end or another. I twice 
 snapped that pistol at my own head, and it would not go off." 
 Strange as this story may read, it is not unlikely to be true. 
 The explosion of a pistol at last which has previously missed 
 fire is an event of too frequent occurrence to stagger the most 
 sceptical ; and the after-career of the man affords sufficient ground 
 for believing that there were many moments in his life when the 
 thought of self-destruction was not unlikely to be present with 
 him. On the other hand, it is certain that, though often refer- 
 ring to the events of his early Indian career, he was never 
 known to allude to this occurrence. His conversation, on the 
 contrary, when it took that turn, became lively, anecdotical, and 
 replete with good feeling. Every act of kindness done to him- 
 self, as well as the persons and names of the parties to whom he 
 had been indebted for it, were brought out pleasantly, as if from
 
 CHAP, i.] HIS EARLY LIFE IN INDIA. ' 7 
 
 the storehouse of a grateful memory ; while recollections of a 
 different kind appeared all to have faded away, or to be dismissed. 
 At the same time his correspondence shows that his mind was 
 at this period often ill at ease. He appears to have felt acutely 
 that he was not suited for the occupations of detail and routine 
 to which he had been called. A temperament such as his re- 
 quired strong, if not constant, excitement ; his powers of mind 
 languished for want of more congenial objects on which to exer- 
 cise themselves. He even pined for home, and the endearments 
 of the domestic circle, with an intensity of which his boyhood 
 had given no promise. Writing to one of his cousins, he says, 
 "I have not enjoyed one happy day since I left my native coun- 
 try." In another of his letters we find him declaring, " I must 
 confess, at intervals when I think of my dear native England, 
 it affects me in a very particular manner. If I should be so far 
 blessed as to revisit again my own country, but more especially 
 Manchester, the centre of all my wishes, all that I could hope 
 for or desire would be presented before me in one view." These 
 are touching avowals to come from one who had been noted even 
 in childhood rather for the firmness of his resolves than for the 
 clinging nature of his feelings ; but they exhibit a true picture 
 of his sentiments : for Clive had no touch of affectation about 
 him. However, the writer was not without a solace amid his 
 cares more creditable than those upon which functionaries of 
 his standing were for the most part accustomed to fall back. 
 The Governor had a good library, to which he permitted Clive 
 to have free access ; and the young man, devoting much of his 
 leisure time to study, acquired in that apartment almost all the 
 knowledge of books of which he seems ever to have been 
 possessed.
 
 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. n. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Joins the Army Early Military Services. 
 
 SUCH was the manner of dive's existence when an event befell, 
 which, threatening at the outset to cast a blight over his pros- 
 pects, proved, in point of fact, to be the turning-point whence 
 his march to eminence began. 
 
 The war of the Austrian succession, which had for some years 
 desolated Europe, was extended in 1745 and 1746 to Asia. Eng- 
 land and France had taken opposite sides in the quarrel ; and, 
 the fleets of the latter obtaining, in the Indian seas, a temporary 
 ascendancy, Labourdonnais, the able and accomplished Governor 
 of Mauritius, determined to make the most of the circumstance. 
 It will be recollected that France had at this time her East India 
 Company, to the full as rich and influential as that of England. 
 She was the mistress, also, of settlements more extensive, and in 
 some respects better placed, than any which flourished under the 
 protection of the British flag ; and her local authorities aspired, 
 as is the habit of their countrymen, far more after political 
 influence than increased facilities of trade. Almost all the Spice 
 Islands, including that over the destinies of which Labourdonnais 
 presided, belonged to her. The chief seat of her power was, 
 however, Pondicherry, where Dupleix a man of greater ambi- 
 tion and almost equal talent with Labourdonnais held rule ; 
 and she was strong in a military point of view not only because 
 of the number of regular troops which she kept on foot, but 
 because she had already begun to arm and discipline battalions of 
 sepoys after the European fashion, and found them trustworthy. 
 
 The possessions of England, on the other hand, though not 
 inconveniently situated for purposes of trade with the interior, 
 were all on the continent of India. On the Malabar side she 
 held Bombay, which had been ceded by Portugal to Charles II. 
 as part of the dowry of Queen Catherine. At the mouth of the
 
 CHAP, ii.] HOSTILITIES WITH THE FRENCH. 9 
 
 Hoogley, a branch of the river Ganges, Calcutta belonged to 
 her; but Calcutta was as yet so little accounted of, that it had 
 only just ceased to be a dependency on the more important presi- 
 dency of Madras. Lastly, along the Coromandel coast were 
 scattered Madras, Fort St. David, Cuddalore, and two or three 
 lesser stations, all of which were more or less important on 
 account of the treasures which their storehouses contained, 
 though none were considered capable of being maintained, for a 
 single day, against the power of the native princes, should it be 
 put forth in earnest. 
 
 The rival Companies were thus circumstanced when Labour- 
 donnais, after compelling the English fleet to abandon the coast, 
 landed with an army and put Madras in a state of siege. The 
 place, after a weak resistance, capitulated, and the keys of the 
 fort were given into his hands. Whatever property was accu- 
 mulated in the Company's warehouses became the prey of the 
 conquerors; but it was stipulated that the town should be spared, 
 and that on payment of a ransom, which Labourdonnais pledged 
 himself to fix at a moderate amount, it should be given back to 
 its former proprietors. Meanwhile the English inhabitants were 
 to suffer no molestation ; but, considering themselves prisoners of 
 war upon parole, were to abide quietly in their houses. 
 
 There had been jealousies between Dupleix and Labourdonnais 
 ever since the nomination of the former to the presidency of 
 Pondicherry. These the success of the expedition against 
 Madras greatly inflamed ; and Dupleix, asserting that the 
 Governor of Mauritius had exceeded his powers inasmuch 
 as all conquests effected on the continent of India were at his 
 own disposal refused to ratify the capitulation. He even went 
 so far as to threaten that the works of Fort St. George should be 
 blown up; and, despatching one of his own officers to act as 
 Governor, called upon the English residents to renew their parole 
 of honour to him. Indeed he did more : with no other apparent 
 object in view than the indulgence of a small national vanity, he 
 caused the English Governor, with some of the chief members of 
 the factory, to be conveyed, under a guard, to Pondicherry, and 
 marched them, somewhat after the mariner of captives in a Roman 
 procession, through the town. So gross a violation on one side 
 of the terms of the treaty was regarded on the other as absolving
 
 10 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 men from their engagements ; and many, among whom Clive 
 was one, no longer considered their parole to be binding. These 
 escaped as they best could from Madras ; Clive, with a friend, 
 fleeing in the disguise of Mussulmans, and taking shelter at Fort 
 St. David. 
 
 For some time after his arrival in the latter place Clive 
 appears to have led a life of unprofitable idleness. His services 
 were not required in a factory already overstocked with clerks, 
 whom the progress of hostilities compelled, in a great measure, 
 to suspend their commercial undertakings; and he sought some- 
 times at the gaming-table that escape from dejection which he 
 could not find either in study or the duties of his station. It 
 happened upon a certain occasion that two officers with whom he 
 had been engaged in play were detected in the act of cheating. 
 They had won considerable sums of money from various persons 
 present, and among the rest from Clive ; but he, having satisfied 
 himself of the nature of their proceedings, refused to pay. A 
 quarrel ensued, and one of them demanded satisfaction. The 
 combatants met without seconds to settle the dispute, and Clive, 
 having the first fire, delivered it to no purpose, and stood at 
 the mercy of his adversary. The latter, walking up, presented 
 his pistol at Clive's head, and desired him to ask his life. This 
 was done without hesitation ; but when the other went on to 
 demand an apology, and the retractation of the charge of cheating, 
 Clive refused to give either. " Then I will shoot you," ex- 
 claimed the bully. " Shoot and be d d !" replied Clive. " I 
 
 said you cheated, I say so still, and I will never pay you." The 
 officer, declaring the young man to be mad, threw away his 
 weapon, and there the matter ended ; for Clive, when urged to 
 bring the whole case under the cognizance of the authorities, 
 declined to do so, and religiously abstained from referring, even 
 in private society, to the behaviour of his late opponent at cards. 
 "I will not do him an injury on any account," was his answer. 
 " I will never pay what he unfairly won ; but he has given me 
 my life, and from me he shall take no hurt under any circum- 
 stances." 
 
 Whether the occurrence just related had any other influence 
 upon Clive's fortunes than to win for him, on account of his 
 desperate bravery, the admiration of his young companions, does
 
 CHAP, n.] JOINS THE ARMY. 11 
 
 not appear ; but we find him soon afterwards taking steps to 
 exchange the pen for the sword, and succeeding in obtain- 
 ing an ensigncy in the Company's army. Doubtless he had, 
 in some measure, earned his commission by the good service 
 which he rendered during the siege of Fort St. David ; for when 
 Dupleix, hoping to profit by the consternation which the fall 
 of Madras had occasioned, marched against the latter place, 
 Clive, though a civilian, shouldered a musket, and took his turn 
 of duty with the rest of the garrison. But whatever the imme- 
 diate occasion of the arrangement may have been, his ensigncy, 
 which bore date in the spring of 1747, did not remove him from 
 the civil service. It enabled him, however, to witness almost 
 all the petty operations in which the autumn of 1747 and the 
 spring of the following year were wasted, and attached him to 
 the force which in 1748 co-operated with Admiral Boscawen's 
 army in the attack upon Pondicherry. The latter enterprise, as 
 is well known, signally failed. It could not indeed do other- 
 wise, for, undertaken at an improper season, it was pushed 
 forward without either energy or skill. Nevertheless, it fur- 
 nished Mr, Clive with more than one opportunity for the display 
 of that personal coolness and intrepidity which may be described 
 as the groundwork of all other military virtues. It involved 
 him, likewise, in a new quarrel ; and would have brought him 
 again into personal conflict with a brother officer, had not the 
 latter, under somewhat peculiar circumstances, declined the chal- 
 lenge. Mr. Clive, it appears, had the command of one of the 
 advanced batteries which were opened against the works of Pon- 
 dicherry. The fire proving hot, his ammunition expended itself; 
 and lie, in his eagerness to renew the fight, ran to the rear for a 
 fresh supply. It is not usual for officers to go in person upon 
 such errands ; and the circumstance being noticed by one whose 
 speech seems to have been but imperfectly under the control of 
 his reason, insinuations hurtful to the character of Clive as a 
 soldier were thrown out. The young man lost no time in de- 
 manding an explanation, and, the author of the scandal failing to 
 give such as Clive felt that he had a right to expect, a demand 
 for instant satisfaction followed. As the parties were moving 
 to their ground, dive's opponent, irritated by some circumstance 
 which has not been stated, struck him. Clive drew upon the
 
 12 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. n. 
 
 spot ; but the place being public, the duel was prevented. A 
 judicial inquiry followed, which led to the condemnation of the 
 individual who had given the blow, and imposed upon him the 
 necessity of making a public apology in front of the battalion ; 
 but with this Clive did not rest content. The original ground 
 of quarrel had not been removed, and the fiery young soldier 
 returned to it. His adversary, however, asserting that one apo- 
 logy was enough to wipe out all offences, declined to meet him ; 
 whereupon Clive shook a cane over his head, and told him he 
 was a coward. The result was that Clive came off without the 
 slightest stain on his character, while the originator of the fray 
 was obliged to resign his commission. 
 
 I repeat these anecdotes as I find them told, more at length, 
 by the authorities which, in the compilation of the present me- 
 moir, it has been necessary to consult ; but I entirely dissent 
 from the opinions of those writers who seem to regard them as 
 creditable to the subject. Brawls and duels, however frequent in 
 the last century, had not the effect even then of elevating men's 
 reputation for courage ; in these days they are regarded both 
 justly and happily as manifestations of bad taste and an ill-regu- 
 lated mind. Let us not, however, be too severe upon Clive. 
 His duel with the gambler admits of no excuse. It was the last 
 act iu a series of indefensible outrages on both morals and man- 
 ners, and there is nothing to admire about it except the headstrong 
 determination of the man, who would rather submit to be put to 
 death than retract a word which he had once uttered. But the 
 affair beside the lines of Pondicherry is at least more intelligible, 
 though even that can hardly be spoken of except with regret. A 
 quiet remonstrance would have probably gained all the reparation 
 which so palpable and admitted a wrong required ; for dive's 
 reputation for courage was already such as to render a loose 
 insinuation to the contrary innocuous ; and had the contrary been 
 the case, there was surely no need, after the humiliation to which 
 the other party had been subjected, to force a dormant quarrel 
 upon him. Still here the stories are ; and as I believe them to 
 be authentic, and desire no more than to draw a faithful picture 
 of a very remarkable personage, I cannot refuse to transfer them 
 to these pages. The reader will doubtless find as he goes on 
 other proofs that Clive, however great in the recognised meaning
 
 CHAP, ii.] EARLY MILITARY SERVICES. 13 
 
 of that term, was by no means, either in his public or private 
 character, a perfect being. 
 
 The British army had not long returned from its abortive 
 attempt to reduce Pondicherry when tidings arrived from Europe 
 of the cessation of hostilities. The immediate consequence of 
 this announcement, as regarded public affairs, was the restora- 
 tion of Madras by Dupleix to the East India Company. Upon 
 the career of C.Hve it produced this effect, that it restored him 
 for a brief space to his peaceful occupations in Writers' Build- 
 ings. But the love of a military life was by this time so rooted 
 in him, that at the first intimation of hostilities, no matter 
 against whom to be conducted, he again volunteered to serve. 
 Accordingly, when in ] 749 an expedition was fitted out for the 
 ostensible purpose of restoring an exiled rajah to the throne of 
 Tanjore, Clive joined it. The circumstances of the case were 
 these : 
 
 The district of Tanjore, comprising an extent of seventy or 
 eighty miles in length, and lying within or immediately adjoin- 
 ing to the several mouths of the Cavery, constituted, at the period 
 of which I now write, a Hindoo principality, which the Maho- 
 medans, though nominally establishing their dominion over it, 
 had been content to govern, even in the height of their vigour, 
 through the agency of its native sovereigns. In the reign of 
 Arungzebe, Sivaji, the illustrious founder of the Mahratta con- 
 federation, won it with his sword and left it as an inheritance 
 to his children. During four generations these swayed the 
 sceptre, the son succeeding the father without interruption ; but 
 the successor of the last of them, being an infant, was put to 
 death, and then began a scramble for the throne. First Sahujee, 
 the legitimate son of Tuckojee, and as such the uncle of the 
 murdered child, won the prize. He did not keep it long, how- 
 ever, because the same influence which had raised set him aside, 
 and Pritauba Sing, also a son of Tuckojee, though by a concubine, 
 reigned in his stead. It does not appear that the people of 
 Tanjore took any objection to the rajah's title. He made various 
 treaties with the English likewise in the course of several years, 
 which he kept faithfully, and his tenure appeared to be as secure 
 as that of any other of the princes of India. But, soon after the 
 cessation of the war with France, Sahujee, the exile, presented
 
 14 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. 11. 
 
 himself at Fort St. David and besought the English to assist 
 him with a portion of their troops in an attempt to recover his 
 kingdom. No doubt his assertion of the justice of his title, and 
 the assurances which he gave of being supported by a majority 
 of the people, had due weight with the English authorities ; 
 but there is reason to believe that a promise, in the event of 
 success, of the town and harbour of Dovecotta, at the mouth of 
 the Coleroon, told at least as effectually as either argument. 
 Be this however as it may, a resolution of council was passed 
 to the effect that it would be expedient to assist the rajah in the 
 prosecution of his claim, and a force was ordered to proceed 
 under the command of Captain Cope for that purpose. 
 
 Cope's little army, consisting of 430 Europeans, 1000 sepoys, 
 and a few heavy guns, took the field in the month of April. 
 Clive, now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, went with it, 
 but the issue proved unfortunate ; a storm dispersed the squadron 
 in which the guns with the heavy baggage had been sent round 
 to the mouth of the Coleroon, and the infantry either could do 
 or did nothing without the artillery. Cope, therefore, after 
 losing a good many of his fighting-men and almost all his coolies, 
 returned to Fort St. David discomfited. He brought back, 
 indeed, a piece of intelligence which, if it surprised his Go- 
 vernment, ought not to have done so ; he assured them that 
 their protege had not a single adherent in the country. But, 
 however mortifying the discovery that they had been imposed 
 upon in regard to this matter, there were cogent reasons in force 
 for persevering in the war fora while. Their arms had sustained 
 a reverse, and the credit which they had lost must be recovered. 
 Accordingly a new expedition was contemplated, of greater 
 force both in men and materiel, and Major Lawrence, an officer 
 of distinguished name in eastern warfare, assumed the command. 
 This time operations were carried on with vigour. After sur- 
 mounting many difficulties, among which the passage of the 
 Coleroon on a flying-bridge in the face of the enemy deserves to 
 be enumerated, Major Lawrence sat down before Dovecotta, 
 and, his batteries opening with effect, a breach was in due time 
 declared practicable. Mr. Clive solicited and obtained the 
 honour of leading the forlorn hope. He was charged by cavalry 
 while advancing to the bottom of the breach, and not fewer
 
 CHAP, ii.] EARLY MILITARY SERVICES. 15 
 
 than thirty out of the thirty-four Europeans who accompanied 
 him fell. But the sepoys in support showed a good front, and, 
 Lawrence bringing up the whole of his European battalion, 
 the place was entered sword in hand. A second triumph, at 
 a fortified pagoda about five miles distant from the town, 
 induced the reigning prince to sue for peace, which was granted 
 on condition that Dovecotta should remain in the hands of its 
 captors, and the pretender be pensioned at a rate which would 
 enable him to spend the remainder of his days comfortably in a 
 private station. 
 
 Immediately on the ratification of this treaty Major Lawrence, 
 leaving a sufficient garrison in Dovecotta, returned to Fort St. 
 David, whence, in a short time, he proceeded for the settlement 
 of his private affairs to England. Clive likewise, in the per- 
 suasion that there would be no further need for him in the field, 
 resumed his civil functions at Madras, where he was admitted to 
 the same rank at which he would have arrived had not the exi- 
 gencies of the public service withdrawn him for a while from 
 the factory. This was a high but not an unmerited compliment 
 to his talents, of which, however, for the present he was prevented 
 from making any use, for a severe nervous fever attacked him 
 before he could return to habits of business, and he was forced 
 to seek refreshment during the cold season in Bengal. It appears 
 that the effects of this inroad on his constitution were as enduring 
 as they were mischievous. He became more than ever subject to 
 fits of depression of spirits, and, when not occupied with affairs 
 which filled and engrossed his thoughts, was often so miserably 
 low as to shrink from the idea of being left alone. Of what 
 strange materials are the best of us composed ! How narrow is 
 the line which separates that which we call genius from insanity ! 
 But it is time to look beyond these comparatively trifling details, 
 that we may trace the course of events which were about to 
 give a new aspect to the politics of India, and to call into opera- 
 tion the highest order of talent of which the rival Companies of 
 England and France in that part of the world could boast.
 
 16 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. m. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 General View of the Affairs of India. 
 
 WHEN a handful of English merchants proceeded, in the year 
 1612, to occupy the countinghouses and stores which were 
 allotted to them for the transaction of business in Surat, their 
 astonishment at the spectacles, moral, political, and financial, 
 which were opened to their view on every side defies description. 
 They found themselves not only without weight or influence in 
 the country, but mere tolerated denizens, and nothing more, of 
 what appeared to them the greatest and wealthiest empire which 
 the world had ever seen. An Emperor, of whom they saw nothing, 
 but who was described as dwelling in luxury and splendour at 
 Delhi, governed the whole extent of the Indian peninsula, from 
 the Himalaya mountains to Cape Comorin. A thousand deputies, 
 rising in degree one above another, managed the affairs of the 
 innumerable provinces into which his empire was divided. These 
 had large bodies of revenue officers and police in their pay, 
 judges and magistrates under them, with standing armies and all 
 the other appliances of sovereign power ; and they maintained at 
 their Courts a degree of state which nothing about those of Euro- 
 pean princes seemed to come near. The habits of the people, like- 
 wise, were, as far as strangers could judge of them, civilized in 
 the extreme. The labouring classes might go about well-nigh 
 in a state of nudity, and be content to dwell in earthen huts, 
 without any other furniture than a few mats on which to sleep, 
 and a gourd or a pitcher wherewith to draw water from the wells. 
 But their manners were gentle and polite in the extreme, while 
 their ingenuity as weavers, and their skill in the mechanical and 
 agricultural arts, excited the admiration of persons born in Kent 
 and brought up in Manchester or London. Meanwhile the 
 Indian aristocracy inhabited palaces gorgeously decorated and 
 of vast extent. Their temples, too, and market-places the
 
 CHAP, in.] VIEW OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 17 
 
 tombs of the dead, and the monuments erected to commemorate 
 the virtues of the living all appeared to the wondering eyes of 
 our countrymen superb. In like manner the density of the 
 population in the cities, and the perfect order which prevailed 
 the awe with which rulers seemed to be regarded and the pomp 
 and dazzling splendour of their processions went far to confirm 
 the impressions which a consideration of other more shadowy 
 objects had made. The letters of our first factors to their 
 correspondents at home were filled with accounts of the great- 
 ness of the princes under whose protection they lived ; while 
 their employers lost no opportunity of urging upon them the 
 necessity as well as the wisdom of paying implicit obedience to 
 every mandate which might be issued by these all-powerful 
 potentates, or their representatives. 
 
 The truth, however, is, that this empire, extensive and power- 
 ful as it seemed to be, carried in its bosom, from the date of its 
 first establishment, the seeds of an early dissolution. Not even 
 the genius of Baber, nor the extraordinary administrative talents 
 of Akbar, could give to a machine so constituted the elements of 
 durability. An Oriental despotism, tainted with all the vices 
 that are inseparable from the dominion of race over race, can 
 never be held together but by the hand of a giant. The first 
 symptom of weakness in the chief is sure to operate on his sub- 
 ordinates as a signal of insubordination, which, whether it take 
 the form of an armed insurrection, or be content to work out its 
 ends by the process of passive resistance, cannot fail, more or less 
 speedily, to succeed. This fact, sufficiently demonstrated on various 
 occasions during the interval which divided the reigns of Akbar 
 and that of Arungzebe, passed, after the demise of the fallen 
 prince, into a rule. Indeed the means adopted by Arungzebe 
 himself perhaps the ablest of all the monarchs who derived 
 their descent from Timour to obtain the throne, set the seal 
 to its validity. The youngest of a family of brothers, he rose, 
 as is well known, to power after a lengthened struggle with the 
 other members of his father's house. It was one of the inevitable 
 consequences of such a civil war that the chain of connexion 
 which bound its lieutenants to the Imperial throne should be 
 weakened. Opportunity was likewise given to Hindoo tribes, 
 impatient of a Mussulman yoke, to withhold their tribute ; and 
 
 c
 
 18 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. in. 
 
 in the heart of the empire bands of robbers organized themselves, 
 which fell by degrees into political shape, and took rank among 
 the most powerful of the Indian commonwealths. Arungzebe 
 himself, therefore, had through life a part to enact which few 
 princes either of ancient or modern times could have played at 
 all, and which even he played imperfectly. But on the day of 
 his death the foundations of the whole fabric gave way, and the 
 ruin which followed was as complete as it was rapid. The 
 state of India during forty years which followed the demise of 
 this great man has been so admirably described by an eloquent 
 and well-known writer, that I cannot deny myself the gratifi- 
 cation of transferring to these pages the whole of the passage. 
 
 " The history of the successors of Theodosius bears no small 
 analogy to that of the successors of Arungzebe. But perhaps 
 the fall of the Carlovingians furnishes the nearest parallel to the 
 fall of the Moguls. Charlemagne was scarcely interred when 
 the imbecility and the disputes of his descendants began to bring 
 contempt on themselves and destruction on their subjects. The 
 wide dominion of the Franks was severed into a thousand pieces. 
 Nothing more than a nominal dignity was left to the abject 
 heirs of an illustrious name Charles the Bald, and Charles the 
 Fat, and Charles the Simple. Fierce invaders, differing from each 
 other in race, language, and religion, flocked, as if by concert, 
 from the farthest corners of the earth, to plunder provinces which 
 the Government could no longer defend. The pirates of the 
 Baltic extended their ravages from the Elbe to the Pyrenees, 
 and at length fixed their seat in the rich valley of the Seine. 
 The Hungarians, in whom the trembling monks fancied that 
 they recognised the Gog and Magog of prophecy, carried back 
 the plunder of the cities of Lombardy to the depth of the 
 Pannonian forest. The Saracen ruled in Sicily, desolated the 
 fertile plains of Campania, and spread terror even to the walls 
 of Rome. In the midst of these sufferings a great internal 
 change passed upon the empire. The corruption of death 
 began to ferment into new forms of life. While the great 
 body as a whole was torpid and passive, every separate member 
 began to feel with a sense and to move with an energy all its 
 own. Just here, in the most barren and dreary part of European 
 history, all feudal privileges, all modern nobility, take their
 
 CHAP, in.] VIEW OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 19 
 
 source. To this point we trace the power of those princes who, 
 nominally vassals, but really independent, long governed, with 
 the titles of Dukes, Marquesses, and Counts, almost every part 
 of the dominions which had obeyed Charlemagne. 
 
 " Such, or nearly such, was the change which passed over the 
 Mogul empire during the forty years which followed the death 
 of Arungzebe. A series of nominal sovereigns, sunk in indo- 
 lence and debauchery, sauntered away life in secluded palaces, 
 chewing bang, fondling concubines, and listening to buffoons. 
 A series of ferocious invaders had descended through the western 
 passes to prey on the defenceless wealth of Hindostan. A 
 Persian conqueror crossed the Indus, marched through the gates 
 of Delhi, and bore away in triumph those treasures of which the 
 magnificence had astounded Roe and Bernier; the peacock 
 throne on which the richest jewels of Golconda had been disposed 
 by the most skilful hands of Europe ; and the inestimable 
 mountain of light, which, after many strange vicissitudes, lately 
 shone in the bracelet of Runjeet Sing. The Affghan soon 
 followed to complete the work of devastation which the Persian 
 had begun. The warlike tribes of Rajpoots threw off the 
 Mussulman yoke ; a band of mercenary soldiers occupied Rohil- 
 cund ; the Seiks ruled on the Indus ; the Jauts spread terror 
 along the Jumna ; the highlands which border on the western 
 sea-coast of India poured forth a still more formidable race a 
 race which was long the terror of every native power, and which 
 yielded, after many desperate and doubtful struggles, to the 
 fortune and genius of England. It was under the reign of 
 Arungzebe that this wild clan of plunderers first descended from 
 the mountains ; and, soon after his death, every corner of his 
 wide empire learned to tremble at the mighty name of the 
 Mahrattas. Many fertile vice-royalties were entirely subdued 
 by them ; their dominions extended across the Peninsula from 
 sea to sea. Their captains ruled at Poonah, at Gualior, in 
 Guzzerat, in Berar, and in Tanjore ; nor did they, though they 
 had become great sovereigns, therefore cease to be freebooters ; 
 they still retained the predatory habits of their forefathers. 
 Every region which was not subject to their rule was wasted by 
 their incursions. Wherever their kettle-drums were heard the 
 peasant threw his bag of rice on his shoulder, hid his small 
 
 c2
 
 20 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. HI. 
 
 savings in his girdle, and fled with his wife and children to the 
 mountains and the jungles to the milder neighbourhood of the 
 hyaena and the tiger. Many provinces redeemed their harvests 
 by the payment of an annual ransom ; even the wretched 
 phantom who still bore the imperial title stooped to pay this 
 ignominious ' black-mail.' The camp-fires of one rapacious 
 leader were seen from the walls of the palace of Delhi ; another, 
 at the head of his innumerable cavalry, descended year after 
 year on the rice-fields of Bengal : even the European factors 
 trembled for their magazines. Less than a hundred years ago, 
 it was thought necessary to fortify Calcutta against the horsemen 
 of Berar, and the name of the Mahratta ditch still preserves the 
 memory of the danger." 
 
 The eloquence of this description is only exceeded by its 
 remarkable accordance with fact, and the passage in which the 
 author goes on to explain the relative positions of the Emperor 
 and his lieutenants during this interval of anarchy is to the full 
 as trustworthy. " Wherever the viceroys of the Mogul," he 
 says, " retained authority, they became sovereigns. They might 
 still acknowledge in words the superiority of the house of Tamer- 
 lane, as a Count of Flanders or a Duke of Burgundy would 
 have acknowledged the superiority of the most helpless driveller 
 among the later Carlovingians ; they might occasionally send 
 to their titular sovereign a complimentary present, or solicit 
 from him a title of honour ; but they were, in truth, no longer 
 lieutenants removable at pleasure, but independent hereditary 
 princes. In this way originated those great Mussulman houses 
 which formerly ruled Bengal and the Carnatic, and those which 
 still, though in a state of vassalage, exercise some of the powers 
 of royalty at Lucknow and Hyderabad." 
 
 One of the most important of the greater lieutenancies into 
 which the Mogul empire was divided, is known in history as the 
 Deccan. It included the whole extent of territory which has 
 for its limits the Nerbudda on the north, and on the east, south, 
 and west the Indian Ocean. To the government of that province 
 one of the ablest of his officers, by name Nizam-ul-Mulk, had 
 been appointed by Arungzebe ; and the souhbadar, surviving by 
 many years the emperor to whom he was indebted for his eleva- 
 tion, did not fail, as soon as the opportunity offered, of rendering
 
 CHAP, m.] VIEW OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 21 
 
 himself virtually independent of the throne of Delhi. Nizam- 
 ul-Mulk had, however, difficulties of his own to contend against ; 
 the Deccan was under his rule subdivided into lesser lieutenancies 
 as the empire was divided into greater, and of these several were 
 extensive enough to demand cunning as well as force in their 
 management. The lower Carnatic, or principality of the Nabob 
 of Arcot, formed one ; it stretched along the entire Coromandel 
 coast, from the Northern Circars to Cape Comorin ; and though 
 narrow, because the ghauts which interpose between it and the 
 territories of Hyderabad and Mysore form its inland boundary, 
 it comprised, nevertheless, all the settlements which both the 
 English and the French had established in that quarter of India. 
 In ancient times the Carnatic had been governed by a cluster of 
 Hindoo princes. One of these held his court at Arcot, another 
 at Vellore, a third in Trichinopoly ; but they had latterly 
 acknowledged their dependence on a common superior, who, 
 like other viceroys of the second order, derived his power, 
 through the souhbadar, from Delhi, and kept his court at 
 Arcot. 
 
 In the year 1710, Nizam-ul-Mulk being Souhbadar of the Dec- 
 can, Sadat Oolla, Nabob of the Carnatic, died. Having no children 
 of his own, he adopted two nephews, the elder of whom, by 
 name Doost AH, declared himself successor to the Nabob ; while 
 the younger, called Banker, became governor of the strong 
 fortress of Vellore. Nizam-ul-Mulk was offended with the pre- 
 sumption of Doost Ali, and took care that his title should receive 
 no confirmation from Delhi. But Doost Ali retained his place 
 notwithstanding, and married two of his daughters, one to 
 Mortaza Ali, the son of his brother at Vellore, the other to 
 Chnnda Sahib, an individual of whom further mention will be 
 made, and who became soon afterwards Dewan or prime minister 
 to his father-in-law. 
 
 Time passed, and the Hindoo prince of Trichinopoly, one of 
 the lesser divisions which was held under the Nabob of Arcot, 
 died ; and Doost Ali sent his Dewan with an army to demand 
 tribute for the Rana or widow. This was in 1736. But the 
 real object of the Nabob being to possess himself of Trichino- 
 poly, Chunda Sahib received instructions accordingly, and obeyed 
 them. The Hindoo family were driven into exile, and Chunda
 
 22 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. m. 
 
 Sahib remained master of the place. Already, however, had 
 dreams of the establishment of political power for his nation in 
 the east entered into the mind of the French governor of Pondi- 
 cherry. lie had been no inattentive observer of the progress of 
 decay which was going on in the heart of the Mogul Empire ; 
 and seems to have made his first move by opening a friendly 
 communication with Chunda Sahib. That personage, it is cer- 
 tain, passed some days at Pondicherry ; and the fact of his 
 subsequent refusal to hand over Trichinopoly to his father-in- 
 law leaves little reason to doubt that, whether instigated by M. 
 Dupleix or otherwise, he had already begun to aspire to inde- 
 pendence, and probably looked to the dignity of Nabob. 
 
 Besides his two daughters, Doost Ali had two sons, one of 
 whom, by name Sufder Ali, had accompanied Chunda Sahib to 
 Trichinopoly. He did not, however, continue there ; but, re- 
 turning to Arcot, found a new Dewan in office beside his father, 
 and a plan in order of arrangement for the expulsion of his 
 rebellious brother-in-law from the conquest which he had just 
 achieved. 
 
 While these things were in progress, a body of ten thousand 
 Mahrattas, led on by a celebrated chief called Ragojee Bhonsela, 
 made an inroad into the Carnatic. They were incited to this 
 partly by the Rajah of Tanjore, one of their own countrymen, 
 partly by the solicitations of the Hindoo family which had been 
 expelled from Trichinopoly ; and in the first encounter with the 
 troops of Doost Ali, they gained a sort of victory, and killed 
 Doost Ali himself. Sufder Ali at once assumed the Nabobship ; 
 but, being doubtful of the issue of the war, he removed his family 
 and treasure to Pondicherry, whither also Chudali Sahib had 
 sent his property. At the termination of hostilities Sufder Ali 
 took his family away : not so Chunda Sahib. He had two ene- 
 mies to fear ; the Malirattas on the one side and the Nabob on 
 the other ; and being informed that they were preparing to com- 
 bine against him, he preferred leaving his children under the 
 protection of Dupleix. He judged wisely. The Mahrattas, 
 invited by Sufder Ali, soon returned. They took Tiichinopoly 
 after a siege of three months, and, sparing Chunda Sahib's 
 life, carried him away, and threw him into prison at Sat- 
 tarah.
 
 CHAP, in.] VIEW OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 23 
 
 Though he had accomplished this purpose, Sufder Ali was 
 by no means at ease. He knew that Nizam-ul-Mulk had been 
 dissatisfied with his father's assumption of power, and he antici- 
 pated with alarm the visit from that great man with which he 
 had been threatened. Under these circumstances he sent his son 
 and family to Madras ; for the French, in consequence of their 
 patronage of Chunda Sahib, could not be trusted ; and giving 
 out that he intended to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he shut 
 himself up in Veilore. Meanwhile there was much discontent 
 in the Carnatic on account of the heavy assessment which the 
 Nabob found himself compelled to levy for the purpose of rid- 
 ding the country of the Mahrattas ; and a conspiracy being got 
 up, at the head of which Mortaza Ali, the cousin and brother-in- 
 law of Sufder Ali, placed himself, Sufder Ali was assassinated. 
 The character of Mortaza Ali was not, however, such as to con- 
 ciliate the people in his favour. It was alleged, also, that in 
 seeking to get the son of Sufder Ali into his power, he medi- 
 tated another murder ; and when the English refused to give the 
 child up, his principal officers revolted from him. He fled in 
 disguise to Veilore, and the infant Mahomed Seid, the son of 
 the deceased Sufder Ali, was proclaimed. Before any steps 
 could be taken, however, to provide a regency or consolidate 
 its power, a new actor had appeared on the stage. Nizam-ul- 
 Mulk, at the head of an enormous army, marched into the Car- 
 natic ; and the claims of rival chiefs, whether Nabobs, Rajahs, 
 or by whatever other titles known, dissolved at his presence. 
 
 Nizam-ul-Mulk was a very old man when he undertook this 
 expedition. He seems to have had, nevertheless, a perfect com- 
 mand of his faculties ; and, admitting the son of Sufder Ali into 
 his presence, he treated him kindly, and promised that he should, 
 when of age, become Nabob. He would not, however, permit 
 the youth to return to the protection of the relative who under- 
 took to watch over him, but put him in charge of one of his 
 own officers, whom he nominated to conduct the government 
 during the Nabob's minority. This officer never entered upon 
 the duties of his command. He was found dead in his bed the 
 morning of the day on which he had been appointed to carry the 
 young prince to Arcot, and a soldier of fortune, brave and ex- 
 perienced, of the name of Anwar-u-deen, succeeded to the
 
 24 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. in. 
 
 charge. Anwar-u-deen proved to be either very rash or very 
 treacherous. The child, whose guardian he had become, was 
 murdered in his presence, and he himself received from the 
 Souhbadar a confirmation of his right to the vacant principality. 
 The revolutions which brought Anwar-u-deen, or, as he is 
 called in the correspondence of the day, Alaverdy Khan, to the 
 supreme power in Arcot, and sent Chunda Sahib to prison, 
 occurred just before the breaking out of hostilities between the 
 English and French settlements in India. When the last-men- 
 tioned event befell, the French, who at first were weaker by sea 
 than their rivals, applied for and obtained the protection of the 
 new Nabob ; but when in a little while they obtained the as- 
 cendancy, they denied the right of this prince to interfere 
 between them and their enemies, and attacked, as has already 
 been explained, and made themselves masters of Madras. It 
 was now the turn of the English to ask for protection. The 
 petition was not refused ; but partly because they neglected to 
 offer the customary present, and partly that Dupleix worked 
 upon the Nabob's cupidity by promising to make over to him 
 the sovereignty of Madras, no assistance came. By and bye, 
 however, Anwar-u-deen, discovering that Dupleix sought only 
 to deceive, sent ten thousand men under his son to retake Madras. 
 This corps suffered a signal defeat ; and for the first time since 
 the arrival of Europeans among them the native generals and 
 chiefs appear to have been awakened to a sense of the superiority 
 of discipline over mere numbers. Then followed the siege of 
 Fort St. David by the French, towards the interruption of which 
 the Nabob contributed with little effect. But time was not 
 afforded for the consolidation of an alliance which Anwar-u- 
 deen seemed at this time disposed to contract with the English 
 against their rivals. The peace of 1748 deprived the belli- 
 gerents of further excuse for the prosecution of hostilities ; and 
 Madras having been restored to its first owners, both parties were 
 content to scheme the one for the attainment of a small and 
 worthless town at the mouth of a navigable river, the other for 
 the establishment of paramount influence over the whole of the 
 Deccan.
 
 CHAP. iv.J SCHEMES OF DUPLEIX. 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Gigantic Schemes of Dupleix Their Progress towards Success. 
 
 IN the year 1748 died Nizam -ul-Mulk, Souhbadar of the 
 Deccan, one of the most remarkable men whom the Mogul 
 empire in the decadence of its glory had produced. He left 
 behind him a family of six sons to contend among them- 
 selves for the succession, as well as a grandson, the child of a 
 favourite daughter, whom he is said to have pronounced to be 
 his heir. The eldest of these sons, by name Nazir Jung, being 
 in possession of his father's capital and treasures, caused himself 
 immediately to be proclaimed. He was acknowledged by his 
 brothers, as well as by the English, between whom and his de- 
 ceased father he had acted as a medium of communication. He 
 hastened to equip an army wherewith to oppose his nephew, 
 Merzapha Jung, who was at the head of a powerful party. 
 Meanwhile great discontent prevailed in the Carnatic. Anwar- 
 u-deen never overcame the prejudice which the murder of the 
 son of Sufder Ali had raised against him ; and partly on this 
 account, partly because the family of Doost Ali had governed 
 well, and were much beloved, a desire arose to set the usurper, 
 as he was called, aside, and to fill his place with some relative or 
 connexion of the old stock. Mortaza Ali was out of the ques- 
 tion : his hand had struck the blow which deprived the people of 
 the infant Nabob ; and he was well known to be as cowardly as 
 he was cruel ; but Chunda Sahib still lived ; and, though a 
 prisoner among the Mahrattas, he deserved to be looked to as 
 the legitimate representative of the house of Sadat Oolla. Of 
 this feeling on the part of the people of the Carnatic Dupleix 
 was soon informed ; and his fertile imagination concocted out of 
 it, in combination with the civil war which was already begun 
 between the rival branches of the house of Nizam-ul-Mulk, 
 plans as romantic as they were magnificent. What if he should
 
 26 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. IT. 
 
 be able to give both a Nabob to the Carnatic and a Nizam or 
 Souhbadar to the Deccan? Was not Chunda Sahib his creature 
 already ; and if he could only manage to deliver him from cap- 
 tivity among the Mahrattas, might he not be rendered still more 
 subservient as well as infinitely more useful? The game \vas a 
 noble one, yet it involved slight risk. Some expense would indeed 
 be incurred ; but for that, in the event of success, he should take 
 care to find compensation ; and rightly judging that the English 
 would remain neutral during the fray, he could not doubt that 
 success would reward his endeavour. The plan was no sooner 
 matured than he set about its accomplishment. For a while the 
 Mahrattas rejected his proposals to deliver up Chunda Sahib 
 into his hands ; but the offer of seven lacs of rupees (70,000/. 
 sterling) overcame their scruples, and the rival of Anwar-u-deen 
 for the throne of Arcot obtained his liberty. 
 
 Chunda Sahib saw at once that he could succeed in the Car- 
 natic only in the event of the success of Merzapha Jung in the 
 Deccan. He felt also that both Merzapha and himself would be 
 powerless without the aid of Dupleix ; nevertheless the pride of 
 a soldier induced him to avoid joining the Nizam in expectancy 
 till he should be able to do so at the head of a respectable body 
 of troops. Money he procured from Pondicherry ; and in those 
 days the adventurer who possessed a little money and plenty of 
 courage could never be at a loss in finding retainers who would 
 follow him upon any enterprise in which it should be his pleasure 
 to embark. Chunda Sahib offered his own arm and the arms of 
 his band to a Rajah of Chettledroog in a war which he was 
 waging against the Rana or queen of Bednore, and was so un- 
 lucky in the first encounter as to lose his son, who fell by his 
 side, and himself to be made a prisoner. But fortune had not 
 deserted him. He fell into the hands of some Mahomedan 
 officers, whom he persuaded not only to release him, but to join 
 his standard ; and hastening to Adoni, where Merzapha Jung 
 lay encamped, he made his obeisance, and was accepted. His 
 next measure was to persuade Merzapha Jung that to march at 
 once into the Carnatic was the wisest step which could be taken. 
 He spoke of the strength of his own party there, and of his in- 
 fluence with the French ; and Merzapha Jung, perceiving that 
 there was truth in the argument, acted on his suggestion. Ap-
 
 CHAP, iv.] DISPUTED NATIVE SUCCESSION. 27 
 
 plication was immediately made for assistance to Dupleix, who 
 sent four hundred French troops and two thousand disciplined 
 sepoys to the support of the adventurers. They advanced into 
 the Carnatic. Anwar-u-deen marched out to give them battle. 
 The French greatly distinguished themselves, and were the chief 
 causes of the victory which crowned this passage of arms. 
 Anwar-u-deen was slain. His eldest son, Maphuze Khan, fell 
 into the enemy's hands; and his youngest, Mahomed Ali, with 
 difficulty escaped at the head of a handful of fugitives to Tri- 
 chinopoly. 
 
 The result of this decisive victory was to throw the game 
 entirely into the hands of the conquerors, whose object would 
 have doubtless been- attained, without further trouble, had they 
 known how to make the most of the opportunity which fortune 
 offered them. This, however, they failed to do. Instead of 
 laying immediate siege to Trichinopoly, which Mahomed Ali was 
 in no plight to maintain, they contented themselves with levying 
 contributions from various Eajahs ; and after publishing to the 
 world that the one had become Nizam of the Deccan, the other 
 Nabob of the Carnatic, they began, somewhat prematurely, to 
 act as if the struggle were at an end. It was not so with Nazir 
 Jung. He put his army in motion for the Carnatic, called upon 
 Mahomed Ali to join him with all the force which he could raise, 
 and requiring the support of the English also, in virtue of their 
 theoretical dependence on his authority, was joined by six or 
 eight hundred disciplined troops under Major Lawrence. His 
 rumoured advance induced Merzapha Jung and Chunda Sahib 
 to retreat to Pondicherry. They were cordially received by 
 Dupleix, who, nowise forgetful of the object of the movement, 
 reinforced his European corps in their service till it numbered 
 two thousand men. The hostile armies came into presence, and 
 so convinced was Major Lawrence of the inability of his allies to 
 cope with their enemies, that he besought Nazir Jung to avoid 
 a battle ; but that proud though weak prince refused to be 
 guided by the opinion of his counsellor, and drew out his troops 
 for the attack. That which the undisciplined valour of the 
 Patans and Mahrattas in Nazir Jung's service never could have 
 effected was accomplished by the treachery of the French 
 officers. A large number of these gentlemen took the opportu-
 
 28 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 nity of a coming battle to mutiny because certain demands of 
 theirs had not been granted, and time to restore order ere the 
 shock came failed the commander. The consequence was that he 
 retired from the field without firing a shot ; and that the native 
 army, which depended almost entirely upon him, dissolved itself. 
 Cluinda Sahib retreated with his French allies to Ponclicherry. 
 Merzapha Jung, despairing of better things, gave himself up, 
 on the promise of good treatment, to his uncle. Such promises 
 are so continually broken in the East that only men of desperate 
 fortunes pretend to rely upon them ; and on the present occasion 
 Nazir Jung exhibited no extraordinary respect for the sacredness 
 of an engagement. He did not put his nephew to death, which 
 he might have done ; but he transferred him at once from his 
 own presence to a dungeon. Nor was he more considerate of 
 the rights of his allies than of the claims of kindred. While 
 negotiating for their assistance, he had promised to the English 
 certain tracts of country adjoining to their settlement at Madras. 
 Now that the victory was in his opinion achieved, he declined to 
 redeem his pledge. Upon this Major Lawrence marched home, 
 while Nazir Jung, as if there had been nothing more to do, 
 relapsed into his customary habits of indolence. Very different 
 was the conduct of Dupleix and his faithful ally Chunda Sahib. 
 The mutiny in the French army was soon repressed and the 
 mutineers punished. The army itself immediately took the field ; 
 and one stronghold after another in the Carnatic being reduced, 
 Chunda Sahib's star was again in the ascendant. It was in vain 
 that Mahomed Ali called upon the English to help him. They 
 had refused in the beginning of the struggle ; and, though 
 alarmed, continued the refusal, till by the promise of a large 
 increase of territory he overcame their scruples; but the Nabob 
 having hazarded a battle before they could come up, and suffered 
 a defeat, they did not consider that they would be justified, unless 
 paid in advance, to go further. Meanwhile Dupleix opened a 
 communication with some of the Patan chiefs in Nazir Jung's 
 army. He easily won them over, and arranged a plan for the 
 surprise of that weak prince's camp ; and though by some mis- 
 management the French attack took place prematurely, the 
 issues of the affair answered all his expectations. Nazir Jung 
 was assassinated by his Patans while urging them to support the
 
 CHAP, iv.] M. BUSSY. 29 
 
 outposts. In a moment the fighting ceased, and Merzapha 
 Jung, the puppet of Dupleix and Chnnda Sahib, was brought 
 forth from his prison and raised to the throne. Thus, by the 
 exercise of a wise courage, and through the inexplicable supine- 
 ness of the Governor of Fort St. David's, Dupleix appeared to 
 have realised the wildest of his day-dreams. He had given both 
 a Nizam to the Deccan and a Nabob to the Carnatic, and he lost 
 no time in extracting from the circumstances glory to France, 
 and to himself and his brother officers enormous profit. The 
 new Nizam and Nabob paid him a visit at Pondicherry, where 
 he entertained them with more than oriental pomp, and was 
 honoured by them as their benefactor. He was declared Go- 
 vernor, under the Souhbadar, of all India from the Krishnah to 
 Cape Comorin. Authority was given to him above that of 
 Chunda Sahib, and he was appointed to the high honour of being 
 commander of seven thousand horse. The only mint hence- 
 forth permitted in the Carnatic was to be at Pondicherry. Of 
 the treasures which the Viceroys of the Deccan had accumulated, 
 a large portion was transferred to the coffers of France ; and 
 Dupleix received, as his own share, two hundred thousand 
 pounds in coined money, besides jewels and robes of silk and 
 tissue of inestimable value. In fact there seemed to be no limit to 
 his gains. He was the absolute ruler of thirty millions of people. 
 No favours could be procured from the Government except at 
 his request ; no access could be obtained, by petition or other- 
 wise, to the Nizam unless through his intercession. 
 
 Merzapha Jung survived his elevation only a few months. 
 Having completed the arrangements which were exacted of him 
 at Pondicherry, he proceeded with his followers towards Hyder- 
 abad. M. Bussy one of the ablest and most honest men whom 
 France has ever produced accompanied him at the head of 
 three hundred Europeans and two thousand sepoys ; a force 
 which, however numerically small, was deemed sufficient, through 
 the respect which its valour and discipline commanded, to ensure 
 at once his safety and his fidelity. But the same Patan chiefs 
 who had raised him to the throne took offence at his refusal to 
 comply with some of their exorbitant demands, and broke out 
 into a mutiny, during his endeavour to suppress which, the 
 Nizam was slain. Ordinary men would have been confounded
 
 30 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. IT. 
 
 by this catastrophe. Bussy knew how to deal with the army, 
 and acted on the suggestions of a sound judgment. He found 
 one of Nizam-nl-Mulk's sons, Salabut Jung, in prison, and, 
 leading him forth to the people, at once declared him Souhbadar 
 of the Deccan. The grateful prince did not hesitate to confirm 
 all the privileges which his predecessor had granted to the French 
 chiefs and nation; and the gigantic schemes of the former, in- 
 stead of falling into confusion, were not so much as checked for 
 a moment. On the contrary, while Bussy played a bold and vic- 
 torious game in Hyderabad, Dupleix more and more gratified his 
 own vanity and that of his people by the most extravagant de- 
 monstrations of triumph nearer home. These, though they 
 offended the English almost as much as they dazzled the natives 
 and delighted his own countrymen, might perhaps have passed un- 
 noticed had not the exuberance of his folly carried him one step 
 too far. The inhabitants of Fort St. David and Madras, who had 
 noticed nothing out of the way in the vicinity of these settlements 
 over-night, awoke one morning to observe that a number of white 
 flags had been planted close to their bound-hedges, and here and 
 there within them an unmistakable token that Dupleix claimed 
 as the property of France all the fields which lay on his side 
 of these epitomes of the Bourbon standard. This was indeed 
 to add insult to injury. The authorities of Fort St. David could 
 no longer resist the conviction that the consolidation of French 
 supremacy in the Deccan was incompatible with the continuance 
 of their existence. They had witnessed with alarm the fall of 
 one place after another to Chunda Sahib. They had even at- 
 tempted to recover Madura, one of the last of Mahomed All's 
 strongholds, after his rival had taken possession of it, and suf- 
 fered a repulse. They knew that Trichinopoly alone remained to 
 their ally ; and his continued entreaties that they would come to 
 his assistance warned them that the siege must be close and severe. 
 Still they wavered ; their troops on the Coromandel coast were 
 much inferior in point of numbers to those of their rivals. 
 Major Lawrence, the officer on whom they placed their chief 
 reliance, was absent ; and having no orders from home which 
 had other than a peaceful tendency, they experienced a great 
 and natural reluctance to engage in war except for the purposes 
 of self-defence. A little calm reflection, however, satisfied the
 
 CHAP, iv.] CLIVE MADE CAPTAIN. 31 
 
 new Governor, Mr. Saunders, that the only chance of escape from 
 ruin for the Company lay in giving assistance to Mahomed Ali 
 against his enemy. He accordingly consented, on Mahomed 
 All's undertaking to cede a considerable territory, and to defray 
 the expenses of the contingent, to support him with a body of 
 troops ; and five hundred Europeans, a hundred Caffres, and 
 a thousand sepoys were ordered to assemble for the purpose 
 of raising the siege of Trichinopoly. This was in May, 1751, 
 by which time Clive had fully regained his strength, and was 
 engaged in the discharge of new duties, which his nomination, 
 through Major Lawrence's good offices, to the post of commis- 
 sary to the troops, had imposed upon him. Though his former 
 military rank remained, this new office hindered him, unless dis- 
 tinctly ordered to the contrary, from exercising any military- 
 command. It is necessary to state this in order that he may be 
 acquitted of all share in the disgrace which befell the British 
 arms on the present occasion, for he accompanied the force of 
 which Captain Gingen took the command, and witnessed its dis- 
 comfiture under the walls of Volconda. But he at once separated 
 himself from the fugitives, and returned alone to Fort St. 
 David, while they took shelter in Trichinopoly. There he ceased 
 not to urge upon Mr. Saunders the necessity of taking fresh 
 measures for the relief of the besieged ; and when a convoy was 
 sent out for the purpose under charge of a civilian member of 
 council, Clive volunteered to go with it. The troops and stores 
 reached the beleaguered town in safety, and remained there. It 
 was not so with Mr. Pigot and Mr. Clive, who, after delivering 
 over their charge to Captain Gingen, set out, under a slender 
 escort, to return; for being attacked on the march by a cloud of 
 Poligars, they were forced, after expending their last cartridge, 
 to save themselves by flight. Out of twelve sepoys who formed 
 their guard, seven were slain, and Clive and Pigot escaped a 
 similar fate only by the fleetness of their horses. 
 
 Clive's conduct during this little affair had been so gallant, 
 and contrasted so remarkably with that of some other officers 
 of a superior rank, that, while they were recommended to quit 
 the service, he was promoted to be a captain. As such he led a 
 second relief party through Tanjore, and, not without a sharp 
 encounter with a French detachment, conveyed it to Trichino-
 
 32 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. iv. 
 
 poly. But the result of his present visit to the scene of hosti- 
 lities was to convince him that unless some more decisive steps 
 were taken to recall Chunda Sahib from the siege, Trichinopoly 
 must fall, and with it the hopes of the English, which were 
 bound up in the maintenance of Mahomed Ali as Nabob. He 
 therefore sought out Mr. Saunders immediately on his return 
 to Fort St. David, and proposed to him a plan which, after 
 mature deliberation, was approved, and of which the execution, 
 as good policy as well as justice required, was intrusted by the 
 government to its author.
 
 CHAP, v.] DEFENCES OF ARCOT. 33 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Capture and Defence of Arcot General Operations. 
 
 ARCOT, the capital of the Carnatic at the 'period when the Car- 
 natic formed a separate province of the Souhbadarry of the 
 Deccan, stands upon the left bank of the river Palar, and, like 
 most other Indian cities of similar importance, consists of a 
 pettah or town and a citadel. The present city is of modern 
 growth, having been built by the Mahomedans in 1716 on 
 or near the site of the Soramundalum of Ptolemy. The 
 citadel, of which the outlines still remain, was accounted, 
 even in the middle of the last century, a place of no great 
 strength. It had the defect, not uncommon in eastern for- 
 tresses, of being surrounded on all sides by the town, of which 
 the houses came up to the foot of the glacis, and commanded the 
 ramparts. It was very extensive, too, measuring upwards of a 
 mile in circumference ; and of the towers which flanked the 
 defences at intervals, several were in ruins, while the remainder 
 were so circumscribed in their dimensions as not to admit of 
 more than a single piece of ordnance being mounted on each. The 
 walls, badly built at the first, were already loose, and portions 
 had fallen down ; the ramparts were too narrow to accommodate 
 even a field-piece in action ; a low and slight parapet imperfectly 
 screened them ; and the ditch, besides being more or less choked 
 up, had a space of ten feet between it and the bottom of the 
 counterscarp, intended, without doubt, for a fausse braye, but 
 left unfinished. Finally, the two gates by which the fortress 
 communicated with the town were placed in clumsy covered 
 ways, which projected at least forty feet beyond the walls, and 
 opened upon causeways or mounds run through the ditch with- 
 out any cut or opening for the span of a drawbridge having been 
 let into them. 
 
 In this place, of which the population might be estimated at a 
 hundred thousand souls, or more, the Nabobs of the Carnatic
 
 34 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 were accustomed to hold their court. They inhabited a gor- 
 geous palace, and looked round from it upon streets, narrow as 
 those of eastern towns generally are, but built with considerable 
 regularity. The bazaars or market-places were good, and well 
 supplied ; and a manufactory of cloth, besides giving employment 
 to a portion of the inhabitants, brought in a considerable revenue 
 to the vice-regal treasury. All these had fallen into the hands 
 of Chunda Sahib immediately after the battle which had cost 
 Anwar-u-deen his life ; and the place was occupied by a garrison 
 of his troops, of which the strength was represented as amount- 
 ing to eleven hundred men. 
 
 The proposal which Clive made, and to which Mr. Saunders 
 gave a favourable consideration, was this that, since the Eng- 
 lish were not strong enough to fight Chunda Sahib and his 
 French allies under the walls of Trichinopoly, they should en- 
 deavour to withdraw them from the blockade of that place by 
 making a dash at Arcot. To be sure the amount of force dis- 
 posable for such a purpose appeared very inadequate ; for, after 
 reducing the garrisons of Fort St. David and Madras the 
 former to a hundred, the latter to fifty men only two hundred 
 Europeans with three hundred sepoys could be mustered. But, 
 nowise daunted by the numerical odds that were against him, 
 Clive undertook, at the head of this little band, to enter upon the 
 enterprise ; and the results fully justified the calculations of his 
 own hopes and the expectations of the government which trusted 
 him. 
 
 On the 26th of August, 1751, Clive marched from Madras, 
 where his little army had assembled. Three light field -pieces 
 constituted his artillery train, and he had eight European officers 
 to assist him, of whom six had not previously been under fire ; 
 and on the 29th the whole arrived at a place called Conjeveram, 
 forty miles inland. On the 31st, after encountering a furious 
 storm of thunder and rain, he halted within ten miles of Arcot, 
 and, by the mere terror of his presence there, overcame what- 
 ever resistance the garrison had been expected to make ; for spies 
 from the town, having seen Clive's column hold on its way in 
 spite of the fury of the elements, made such a report of their 
 movements, that Chunda Sahib's commandant despaired of being 
 able to do anything against such assailants. He therefore eva-
 
 CHAP, v.] SIEGE OF ARCOT. 35 
 
 cuated the citadel, which was immediately taken possession of by 
 the English. 
 
 The prize, though soon won, was not, as Clive easily foresaw, 
 to be retained without a struggle. He at once, therefore, made 
 preparations to resist a siege. He had already sent to Madras 
 for a couple of 18-pounders; and, finding eight cannon of dif- 
 ferent calibres in the place, he lost no time in arming both the 
 towers and the curtains. Store of provisions was laid in ; and to 
 the people who inhabited the fortress, in number about three or 
 four thousand, the utmost kindness was shown. No private pro- 
 perty was either seized or injured : indeed the discipline which 
 he maintained was so strict that merchants from the town com- 
 mitted their stocks of goods to his keeping. And the conse- 
 quence was that the whole multitude preserved both then and 
 afterwards a perfect neutrality, except when, by the promise of 
 reward or the offer of pay, they were prevailed upon to assist in 
 repairing the dilapidated portions of the walls. 
 
 The first blow in this memorable siege was struck by Clive 
 himself, who, ascertaining that the fugitive garrison was en- 
 camped near Fort Timery, about six miles from Arcot, marched 
 out on the 4th of September to give them battle. They stood 
 till the English arrived within the range of musketry, and ex- 
 changed some cannon-shot with Clive's gunners, but they avoided 
 a close contest by fleeing to the hills. A second sally on the 6th 
 brought Clive into collision witli the same people, now increased 
 to two thousand, and a sharp affair took place. But though he 
 defeated them in the field, Clive, having no battering guns, 
 could not reduce the fort into which they threw themselves, and 
 he therefore returned to Arcot. During the ten subsequent days 
 his operations were strictly defensive, which so emboldened the 
 enemy that they approached with three thousand men within 
 three miles of the glacis; but a sortie at midnight, on the 14th, 
 totally routed them without the loss to the English of a single 
 life. 
 
 Soon after this Clive learned that the 18-pounders for which 
 he had sent were on their way ; and that the enemy, hoping to 
 intercept them, had occupied Conjeveram in force. Reserving 
 only thirty Europeans and fifty sepoys to guard the fort, he sent 
 out the whole of his garrison to the succour of the convoy, of
 
 36 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 which the enemy were no sooner informed than they hurried 
 back, and endeavoured to carry the citadel by assault. But, in 
 spite of the numerical weakness of his garrison, Clive offered 
 such a stout resistance that no entrance could be effected, and at 
 dawn the following day he had the satisfaction to receive within 
 the gates both the troops which had been sent out and the guns 
 and stores which they were employed to escort. 
 
 The occupation of Arcot produced the effect which Clive had 
 expected from it. Chunda Sahib detached largely from the 
 corps with which he was blockading Trichinopoly ; and the 
 fugitives from the late battle coming in, Rajah Sahib, the son of 
 Chunda Sahib, sat down before Arcot with ten thousand men, 
 of whom one hundred and fifty were Europeans. For fifty days 
 he pressed the siege with all the vigour of which an Indian 
 general was capable. A constant fire of musketry from the 
 houses on the glacis swept the ramparts. Heavy guns battered 
 in breach till they brought down a wide extent of wall ; and the 
 utmost vigilance was exercised in order to prevent supplies of 
 provisions from being conveyed into the place. Clive, on his 
 part, was indefatigable, and the devoted courage of his handful 
 of troops passes all praise. Indeed, here, as in our own time in 
 the noble defence of Jellalabad, European and native rivalled each 
 other in heroism and endurance. It was during the height of 
 this siege that an instance of self-devotion on the part of the 
 native soldiers occurred, of which the memory can never fade 
 away. The stock of rice beginning to fail, the sepoys waited 
 upon Clive, and besought him that he would restrict his issues to 
 their European comrades. All that they desired, or indeed would 
 accept, was the water in which the grain had been boiled ; and 
 upon this thin gruel they sustained the labours of the siege for 
 many days. 
 
 Aware of the importance of recovering his father's capital, 
 Rajah Sahib tried every expedient of negotiation, threat, and the 
 offer of a bribe, to induce a surrender; but Clive was deaf to his 
 arguments. He spurned the offered bribe, derided the threats, 
 and refused to enter into any negotiation with the enemy. Nor 
 was his defence altogether passive. He made repeated sallies, of 
 which one or two were supposed to be at least as bold as they were 
 judicious ; and, though sacrificing some lives, he well kept up
 
 CHAP, v.] ASSAULT ON THE CITADEL. 37 
 
 the spirits of the survivors by the proceeding. An attempt was 
 made to relieve him from Madras, but it failed ; and Lieutenant 
 Innis, with the party of which he was in command, retreated to 
 a fort about fifteen miles from the place whence he had set out. 
 At last Olive managed to communicate with Morari Row, a 
 Mahratta chief who had been hired, with his corps of six thou- 
 sand men, to assist Mahomed Ali, but who up to this period had 
 lain inactive on the frontiers of the Carnatic, as if waiting the 
 issue of the siege of Trichinopoly, that he might take part with 
 the victor. This robber-chief, admiring the bravery of Clive 
 and his people, agreed to come to their assistance, arid on the 9th 
 of November his advanced parties were seen in the neighbour- 
 hood of Arcot. Now the Rajah Sahib felt that he must strike a 
 decisive blow, or relinquish his undertaking. Having again 
 failed to overcome Olive's firmness by promises of reward and 
 threats of vengeance, he issued his orders and made ready to 
 hazard a general assault. 
 
 The 14th of November is a day kept holy by the worshippers 
 of Mohamed, in honour of the murder of the brothers Hassan 
 and Hosseen, two of the most illustrious of the saints and martyrs 
 in their calendar. The festival is observed in Hindostan with 
 exceeding fervour, the devotees deepening the sentiment by the 
 free use of bang, an intoxicating drug, of which one of the 
 effects is either to stupify altogether, or to inflame the individual 
 who is under its influence into madness. Rajah Sahib fixed this 
 day for his final assault on the citadel of Arcot, in the well- 
 grounded conviction that numbers who, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, might have done their duty and no more, would, when 
 inspired by the combined influence of religious zeal and intoxica- 
 tion, force their way through all opposition, or perish in the 
 attempt. He could not, however, conceal his purpose from 
 Clive, who made every necessary disposition to thwart it, and 
 who lay down to rest only after he had seen that all was in 
 readiness for the storm. It came with the dawn of the morning, 
 and lasted in its fury about an hour. Four columns advanced to 
 the attack of four different points two assailing the breaches, 
 two endeavouring to force open the gates. The latter process 
 they attempted by driving before them elephants having their 
 foreheads covered with plates of iron ; the former they executed
 
 38 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 some by passing over the ruins that choked the ditch, others 
 endeavouring to cross where the water was deep upon a raft. 
 The elephants, galled by the musketry fire of the garrison, turned 
 round and trampled upon their own people. The assailants who 
 endeavoured to clamber over the fallen masses of rubbish were 
 cut down by discharges from behind the parapet ; and dive, 
 directing with his own hand a field-piece at the raft, cleared it in 
 a moment. In a word, the enemy was repulsed at every point, 
 in spite of the frantic attempts of those who led them on ; and 
 drew off, leaving not fewer than four hundred dead bodies in the 
 ditch, or scattered over the piece of ground which interposed 
 between it and the bottom of the wall. 
 
 Olive's loss in this encounter was very trifling. It amounted 
 to no more than five or six men ; and well was it for him that 
 the casualties did not prove more serious. His corps, originally 
 small, had become so reduced by hard service, that there re- 
 mained to meet this final assault no more, than eighty European 
 and one hundred and twenty sepoy soldiers ; while the whole of 
 his officers, with a solitary exception, were placed Jiors de combat, 
 Perhaps, too, he had reason to be thankful that the enemy, dis- 
 couraged by the extent of their losses, and fearful of an attack 
 from the Mahrattas in their rear, did not renew the attempt. 
 They continued, however, throughout the day, and till the night 
 was far advanced, to harass him with a constant musketry fire 
 from the houses, which they intermitted only for an hour or 
 two in order to bury their dead. But this suddenly ceased about 
 one or two o'clock on the morning of the 15th, when intelligence 
 came in that they had retreated, and a patrol sent out to ascertain 
 whether the case were so, brought back a report that not a man 
 remained in the town. 
 
 A valuable booty in treasure, guns, and military stores fell 
 into the hands of the victor, who however did not permit success 
 to lull him into indolence. He was no sooner joined by a rein- 
 forcement from Madras than he took the field, and, carrying a 
 portion of Morari Row's warriors along with him, made himself 
 master of the fort of Timery, and fell upon a corps which had 
 been despatched from Trichinopoly to Rajah Sahib's assistance, 
 which he destroyed. He next accepted the surrender of 
 Arnee, and with it seven hundred disciplined natives, whom he
 
 CHAP, v.] BATTLE OF COVERSPAK. 39 
 
 took into the English service ; and, after a short cannonade, re- 
 duced Conjeveram, into which the French had thrown a garrison. 
 This done, he proceeded to Fort St. David, as well to report to 
 Government the particulars of his services as to arrange a plan 
 for further and more important operations. 
 
 The effect produced on the natives by Clive's successful con- 
 duct of the war was marvellous. Many who had declared for 
 Cbunda Sahib abandoned him, and not a few of the waverers 
 gave in their adhesion to the cause of his rival. But the same 
 thing happened here which occurs on almost all other theatres of 
 war, whatever be their scale. Only one master-mind was pre- 
 sent ; and, wherever that happened not to be, affairs went wrong. 
 Mahomed Ali and Captain Gingen continued to be cooped up in 
 Triclunopoly, and made no effort to free themselves. Mean- 
 while Rajah Sahib gathered together a new army, which the 
 addition of four hundred Frenchmen rendered very formidable ; 
 and, after laying waste the districts which adhered to Mahomed 
 Ali, fell upon Poonamalee, and destroyed both it and the country 
 residences of the English gentlemen at St. Thomas's fort. This 
 was in January, 1752, and Clive was at once sent out to put a 
 stop to the annoyance. Though greatly superior both in numbers 
 and artillery, the enemy retreated as he advanced ; and it was 
 not without difficulty that he forced them ,to give battle at a 
 place called Coverspak. But to bring an enemy to action and to 
 overthrow him were with Clive events of never-failing sequence. 
 Nine pieces of cannon fell on this occasion into his hands, as 
 well as sixty European prisoners, and the bodies of fifty French- 
 men and three hundred of Rajah Sahib's sepoys were counted on 
 the field. Nor was Clive's loss trifling : it amounted in killed 
 to forty Europeans and thirty sepoys, with a much larger number 
 of both classes wounded. 
 
 Having accomplished the object for which he had been sent 
 out, Clive marched back with his victorious army towards Fort 
 St. David, on his way to which he passed a town which Dupleix, 
 in the pride of his first successes, had founded and called after 
 his own name. It was built round about a monumental column, 
 the four fronts of which were designed to sustain tablets on 
 which, in four different languages, the exploits of the founder of 
 the French empire in the East were about to be inscribed.
 
 40 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 Clive, justly regarding this as much more than a display of mere 
 personal vanity, caused both town and column to be levelled 
 with the earth. He knew too well the susceptible nature of the 
 Indian temperament not to perceive that such a memorial was as 
 likely to bind the native princes to French interests as victory 
 itself; and he resolved that they should never have it in their 
 power to say that an English general and his army saw yet 
 passed it by untouched. This done, he continued his progress to 
 Fort St. David ; but he had not rested there many days ere a 
 summons called him to Madras, where the seat of the English 
 Government in this part of India was now established. 
 
 Affairs were not going well at Trichinopoly. Captain 
 Gingen confined himself to the castle; and Mahomed Ali, whose 
 palace was protected by the guns of the fort, remained with his 
 troops in the town. It was determined to force the enemy's 
 lines from without ; and to the command of the troops about to 
 be employed on this service Clive was nominated ; but before 
 he had time to organize his corps and commence his march Major 
 Lawrence arrived from England, and the command, as was 
 fitting, devolved at once upon him. Clive, however, t 'took his 
 own share, and played a very conspicuous part in the operations 
 which followed. It was the object of Lawrence to force his way 
 into Trichinopoly ; it was the obvious business of the besiegers 
 to prevent this ; and a smart affair occurred, of which the brunt 
 fell on Clive's division, and of which the results were unfavour- 
 able to the enemy. Lawrence made good his entrance into the 
 beleaguered city, and began at once to change the whole order of 
 the war. His force, if somewhat inferior in point of numbers to 
 that of the enemy, was better organised and far better com- 
 manded ; indeed Dupleix complained, and not without reason, 
 that there was nobody at his disposal to execute the plans which 
 he formed ; and if they in their turn charged Dupleix with per- 
 sonal cowardice, his exceeding carefulness never to bring himself 
 under fire seems to indicate that they too had justice on their 
 side. But however this may be, the movements of M. Law, to 
 whom the blockade of Trinchinopoly had been intrusted, both 
 dissatisfied his superior and indicated on his own part a grievous 
 lack of military talent. He suffered himself, with all his army, 
 to be shut up in the island of Seringham : he made a false move
 
 CHAP, v.] CLIVE ATTACKED AT SAMIAVERAM. 41 
 
 under the idea of helping M. d'Auteuil, whom Dupleix de- 
 spatched at the head of a separate corps to relieve him ; and in a 
 night action, rashly brought on, sustained a heavy loss. As the 
 part played by Clive in this latter affair was a remarkable one, 
 it is necessary that I should describe it more at length. 
 
 The island of Seringham is formed by the severance of the 
 river Coleroon into two branches, which would again unite at no 
 great distance from Trichinopoly, but that an artificial bar has 
 been created by the erection there of a huge earthen mound. The 
 island is holy ground in the eyes of the Hindoos, and contains one 
 of the most celebrated pagodas of which southern India can boast. 
 There M. Law established his head-quarters, Chunda Sahib in- 
 habiting a separate wing of the pile. Clive suggested that 
 between the passages of the Coleroon and the roads which lead 
 to Pondicherry a strong post should be established ; and Law- 
 rence consenting, the author of the design was put at the 
 head of the detached corps and took up his ground at the vil- 
 lage of Samiaveram, which, with its two pagodas, he pro- 
 ceeded to fortify. He was in this position very strong, and 
 commanding with his heavy guns all the approaches to the 
 island when the advance of M. d'Auteuil was reported to 
 him. He determined to attack the enemy on his march ; but 
 D'Auteuil, having received tidings of Clive's intention, hastily 
 retreated to Utatore ; and Clive, not finding his enemy where he 
 expected him to be, returned to his lines. Meanwhile M. Law 
 had been informed of Clive's manoeuvre. He calculated, 
 fairly enough, that the English camp would be left in charge of 
 a weak guard, and he resolved to strike at it. With this view 
 he sent a corps across the river as soon as it became dark, which 
 arrived about midnight at the English piquets. The corps in 
 question consisted of seven hundred sepoys and eighty Europeans 
 of whom forty were deserters from the English army. These 
 being in front answered the challenge of the English sentries, 
 and the column was permitted to pass. The scene which fol- 
 lowed baffles all attempt at minute description. Not aware that 
 Clive with his main body was returned, the officer in command 
 of the French detachment moved on as far as the lesser pagoda, 
 and might have done almost what he liked, had not his Euro- 
 peans opened their fire too soon. Clive sprang from his bed, a
 
 42 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. v. 
 
 musket-ball having broken a chest on which his head was sup- 
 ported. He ran to the greater pagoda, where the European part 
 of his force lay, and found them already under arms. Neither 
 party seemed to be aware for a considerable length of time of the 
 real nature of their respective positions. Clive, running among 
 the French sepoys, scolded and struck at them as if they had been 
 his own men, till he received from one of them a wound in the 
 thigh. He pursued his assailant, who took to his heels, as far as 
 the lesser pagoda, and there for the first time discovered that an 
 enemy was in the heart of his camp : but his presence of mind 
 never forsook him. He told the French sentinel who stood at 
 the door that he came to offer terms, and, several soldiers of that 
 nation throwing down their arms, Clive gave them into the 
 charge of a guard of sepoys. The sepoys carried their prisoners 
 to what they assumed to be their own stronghold, and handed 
 them over to a French sergeant who was in possession of it, and 
 who in his turn was so completely confused, that he permitted 
 the sepoys to depart unhurt. By degrees, however, things took 
 some form. Clive, divining all that had happened, kept his 
 troops in hand till daylight came in, and then, attacking the 
 enemy on all sides, cut them to pieces. He had a narrow escape, 
 however, ere the business ended : for one of the deserters, while 
 parleying about submission, fired at him, and killed two non- 
 commissioned officers on whose shoulders he leant, loss of blood 
 having rendered him unable to stand upright. 
 
 Of all that followed Lawrence, and not Clive, was the chief 
 director ; it may therefore be epitomised in few Avords. Chunda 
 Sahib, seeing that his affairs were become desperate, requested 
 his followers to shift for themselves, and, entering into a secret 
 negotiation with the. leader of the Tanjorean contingent in the 
 camp of the besiegers, put himself into his hand for the purpose 
 of being passed, in disguise, beyond the lines. The Tanjorean, 
 according to the usage of his nation, proved false. He threw 
 Chunda Sahib into chains, and made a boast of the value of the 
 prize which he had won ; but he gained little by this proceeding. 
 The English, Mahomed Ali, and the Mahrattas all claimed the 
 captive ; whereupon the Tanjorean, rather than submit to the 
 humiliation of giving him up, put the unfortunate Nabob to 
 death. Meanwhile the operations against M. Law had not been
 
 CHAP, v.] CAPTURE OF FORTRESSES. 43 
 
 suspended for a moment. Post after post was wrested from him, 
 till in the end he shut himself up in the pagoda, and there waited 
 till relief should come ; but it never came at all. A second 
 attempt by M. d'Auteuil to reach him was intercepted by Clive, 
 the French detachment dispersed, and the castle of Volcondah 
 taken. M. Law now felt that his case was desperate ; and, after 
 the endurance of great suffering for lack of provisions, he laid 
 down his arms on capitulation. 
 
 The destruction of this army was a heavy blow to Dupleix, 
 yet he did not sink under it. On the contrary, he threatened, 
 bribed, intrigued, and expended his private fortune in stirring 
 up dissensions among the allies of the English, and, the 
 elements of discord being rife, he fully succeeded. He could 
 not, however, prevent Major Lawrence from winning a decided 
 victory over his nephew under the walls of Gingee, nor stay 
 the progress of Clive, who, at the head of such an army as pro- 
 bably no officer except himself would have trusted, reduced in 
 succession the two strong fortresses of Chingliput and Covelong. 
 The force which was set apart for the performance of this service 
 comprised five hundred newly-raised sepoys and two hundred 
 recruits from London, the sweepings of the streets and of the 
 jails. So entirely unsoldierlike were these people in all their 
 habits, that, when their new commander first brought them into 
 the field, they ran away at the sound of their own fire; and once, 
 when a cannon-shot struck a rock near them, and, by the splin- 
 ters which flew off, killed and wounded a few, the panic became 
 such as even Clive could with difficulty arrest ; indeed, one of the 
 heroes disappeared altogether, and was not found till next day, 
 when they discovered him hidden at the bottom of a well. 
 Still, by judiciously accustoming them to danger, and bringing 
 them little by little under fire, Clive raised their spirit in the end 
 to such a height that he took one castle by assault, and, after 
 destroying in an ambuscade a party sent out from the other, 
 compelled it to surrender. But he had overworked himself by 
 these gigantic exertions, and found it necessary to seek repose.
 
 44 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Marriage Goes to England Brief career there Return to India 
 Fall of Calcutta. 
 
 WORN out with the great exertions which he had made, and re- 
 joicing in the consciousness of a well-merited renown, Clive 
 returned, towards the end of 1752, to Madras, where he soon 
 afterwards married Miss Margaret Maskelyne, a lady to whom he 
 was much attached, and who is described as possessing many 
 attractions, mental as well as personal. She was the sister of one 
 of his earliest and most intimate friends, and stood in the same 
 relation towards Dr. Nevil Maskelyne, the celebrated mathema- 
 tician, who at a subsequent period became Astromomer Royal. It 
 was a union productive to Clive of almost all the real happiness 
 which he seems to have enjoyed through life ; for his love for 
 his wife never fell away, and she repaid it by sustaining when 
 she could not cheer, and bearing with him through many a season 
 of anguish of which the world never heard. Moreover, the con- 
 dition of public affairs in the Carnatic was by this time so 
 flourishing, that he did not hesitate to apply for leave to return 
 to England. It was readily granted, and in February, 1753, he 
 embarked with his bride at Madras. 
 
 Clive's reception in London was such as rarely falls to the lot 
 of any one who, however prosperous, has not yet reached the 
 twenty-eighth year of his age. His name had been before the 
 public ever since the siege of Arcot ; and each new report of 
 hostilities tended more and more to raise it in general estimation. 
 The Court of Directors had already noticed him in their com- 
 munications with the Governor at Fort St. David by express- 
 ing, to use their own words, " the great regard we have for 
 the merit of Captain Clive, to whose courage and conduct the 
 late turn in our affairs has been mainly owing : he may be assured 
 of our having a just sense of his services." They were now pre- 
 pared to greet him with all the marks of respect to which a
 
 CHAP, vi.] VISITS ENGLAND. 45 
 
 career so brilliant entitled him. He was the honoured guest at 
 one of their great public dinners : he received from them a dia- 
 mond-hilted sword of the value of five hundred guineas, which, 
 it is worthy of remark, he declined to accept till Lawrence, his 
 old commander, had been voted a similar mark of their good will. 
 Moreover, the plaudits which they heaped upon him gave a 
 strong impulse to that current of popularity which in this 
 country runs with the strength of a spring-tide in such cases, 
 and for the most part ebbs again as rapidly as it rose. Nor were 
 his personal friends and relatives backward in making a display 
 of their sense of his merits. His father, who appears to have 
 looked upon him at the period of his departure for India as a 
 confirmed dunce, could, not find words in which adequately to 
 express his pride. When the first tidings of " Bobby's" triumphs 
 reached him, he smiled and said that " the booby had some sense 
 after all." He was now beside himself at the thought of his son's 
 greatness, and spoke and wrote as an elated father is apt to do 
 whose feelings are too powerful for his judgment. Mrs. Clive 
 bore herself differently. She was a sensible, discreet, and right- 
 minded woman, of whom her son invariably spoke as having 
 done more for him in his childhood than all the tutors under 
 whom he was placed, and now, in the day of his first exaltation, 
 she took care to add her praise to that of the world in a tone 
 which, without casting a shade over his honest triumphs, had a 
 tendency to keep him from being carried away with them. And 
 in truth no man ever stood more in need than Clive of this sort 
 of counsel, judiciously applied. Naturally headstrong, and 
 embued with violent passions, he was much better calculated to 
 fight his way through difficulties than to bear with equanimity 
 the burden of success ; and his weakness in this respect soon 
 began to show itself by the somewhat ostentatious manner in 
 which he met the advances of society. He had realized a hand- 
 some but not an extravagant fortune during his ten years' resi- 
 dence in India, and used it well, in so far as he applied a portion 
 of it to redeem the debt with which his paternal estate was en- 
 cumbered, and to render the latter days of his father and mother 
 comfortable. But the moment he began to aim at making a 
 figure in fashionable circles he committed an error. He was 
 not rich enough to bear the expense of the brilliant equipages
 
 46 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 and costly liveries by which his presence or that of his wife in 
 the different resorts of the gay world soon began to be noticed ; 
 and the gay world repaid this attempt to dazzle and eclipse with 
 affected contempt and real envy. But the culminating point of 
 his weakness was not reached till he permitted himself to be 
 involved in the expense of a contested election. The matter 
 befell thus: 
 
 Clive returned to England at a period when the Government 
 was in a state more anomalous than had affected it since the 
 accession of the House of Hanover. There was no ostensible 
 opposition in either house of parliament. The Jacobites, broken 
 down by the recent failure of Charles Edward's expedition, held 
 aloof from public life, or disguised their sentiments when forced 
 to mix in it. The Tories, having no leader, nor indeed any 
 definite rallying point, lay as it were upon their arms, and left 
 the affairs of the nation to be managed by a cabinet compounded 
 of the most discordant materials that ever came together. On 
 one side stood the Duke of Newcastle, trusted by none, person- 
 ally loved by few, yet maintained in his place through ap- 
 prehensions of his rival. On the other was Lord Sandwich, 
 dependant mainly on Henry Fox, a bold, able, and most unscru- 
 pulous politician, who, though he held but a subordinate place 
 in the administration, exercised immense influence over the 
 House of Commons. Through some inducement or another it 
 does not exactly appear what Clive was persuaded to throw in 
 his lot with this latter or ultra- Whig party ; and hence, when 
 the Duke of Newcastle, at the general election of 1754, set up 
 his two candidates for the borough of St. Michael, in Cornwall, 
 Clive took the field against one of them. Thanks to a lavish ex- 
 penditure of his private means, and the free use of the Sandwich 
 interest, Clive was returned, but a petition was immediately got 
 up against him. Now, whatever we may think of the manner 
 of appointing the committees which in our own day try the 
 merits of disputed returns, during the half-century which suc- 
 ceeded the accession of the first George there was not so much 
 as a pretence of impartiality about them. Disputes about 
 seats were mere battles of party, and the prevailing party in the 
 House packed its juries as regularly as juries were called for. A 
 fierce struggle took place on the present occasion for the
 
 CHAP, vi.] RETURNS TO INDIA. 47 
 
 strength of the Newcastle and Sandwich cliques was nearly 
 balanced in which Sandwich prevailed. Fox was a member of 
 the committee, and no head could be made against his eloquence. 
 But it was necessary that the House should confirm the decision ; 
 and here Newcastle turned the scale. The Tories, who, dis- 
 liking both, preferred the Duke to the friend of the victor at 
 Culloden, threw their weight into his scale, and Clive was 
 unseated. The decision operated as a severe disappointment to 
 an ambitious young man, and seriously affected him in another 
 quarter. His pecuniary circumstances became embarrassed ; and, 
 all hope of winning a way to eminence in political life being set 
 aside, he felt himself compelled to look about for honourable 
 employment elsewhere. 
 
 It chanced that at this time the relations between England and 
 France were again become unsettled. Leading men in both coun- 
 tries anticipated a speedy rupture ; and nobody could doubt that 
 war once begun in Europe would not be slow in extending its 
 ravages to India. Besides, though the English had so far pre- 
 vailed as to give a Nabob to Arcot, at Hyderabad Bussy was still 
 all-powerful, and, so long as French influence guided the policy 
 of the Soubahdar, the tenure by which Mahomed Ali held his 
 seat must be insecure. The Court of Directors therefore felt that 
 the sooner their army on the Coromandel coast was put upon a 
 respectable footing the better chance there would be of success 
 in a contest which must come sooner or later, and would proba- 
 bly be a decisive one. Under these circumstances they gladly 
 availed themselves of Olive's offer to serve again in the field of 
 his recent fame ; and, the better to fit him for playing his part 
 with vigour, as well as to guard against the evil effects of a jea- 
 lousy which prevailed then to a ridiculous extent between the 
 officers of the King's and those of the Company's army, they ob- 
 tained for him a lieutenant-colonel's commission from the Crown. 
 A higher compliment to his merits could not have been paid ; 
 and Clive, justly gratified by it, hurried forward his preparations, 
 and quitted England for the second time in 1755. 
 
 Clive carried with him on the present occasion three compa- 
 nies of royal artillery, and three hundred European infantry. 
 His directions were to conduct them to Bombay, whence, after 
 being reinforced by all the disposable troops in that Presidency,
 
 48 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 he was, in conjunction with the Mahrattas, to attack the French 
 and their allies in the Deccan. But the jealousy of which men- 
 tion has just been made interposed to frustrate this arrangement. 
 Colonel Scott, an officer brought up in the service of the Crown, 
 who had come to India the preceding season in the capacity of 
 chief engineer, was, at the instance of the Duke of Cumberland, 
 nominated from home to command the expedition ; and Clive, 
 whose permanent position was that of Governor of Fort St. 
 David, with a contingent right of succession to the government 
 of Madras, applied for permission to proceed at. once to the 
 proper scene of his labours. This, however, the Directors re- 
 fused to grant. They believed him to be the only officer in the 
 service who by a combination of natural talent and local expe- 
 rience was qualified to conduct such a war as they anticipated, 
 and they made a point of his directing his course to Bombay, in 
 the hope that some lucky accident might throw the chief power 
 into his hands. By a strange coincidence their dream received, 
 to a certain extent, its fulfilment. When Clive reached Bom- 
 bay he found that Colonel Scott was dead, and at once he as- 
 sumed the command of the little army. But he could not march 
 into the Deccan : a convention had been entered into between 
 Mr. Saunders, Governor of Madras, and M. Godeheu, Dupleix's 
 successor at Pondicherry, which barred both the French and the 
 English Companies from interfering in the quarrels of the 
 native princes ; and, there being no other excuse for the medi- 
 tated inroad than the necessity of supporting the Mahrattas 
 against the Soubahdar, the project was abandoned. 
 
 The harbour of Bombay constituted at this time a rendezvous 
 for the English fleet in the Indian seas, and the town was full of 
 troops. Admiral Watson, a brave, rough seaman of the old 
 school, commanded the squadron, and, feeling not less than Clive 
 that such a brilliant armament ought not to be broken up with- 
 out accomplishing some useful end, he agreed to co-operate M'ith 
 Clive in an attack upon Gheriah, a rocky fortress, where a pirate 
 chief called Angria resided. This rover who boasted of a 
 lineal descent from the celebrated leader of the Mahratta fleet 
 which during the height of the contest between that people and 
 the Mogul wrought such harm to the latter had long been the 
 scourge of the Malabar coast. His barques swept the narrow
 
 CIIAP. vi.] DESTRUCTION OF GHERIAH. 49 
 
 seas, making prizes of the traders of all nations ; while from time 
 to time his men would land, burn and plunder a town on the 
 beach, and escape again to their ships ere an alarm was given. 
 Clive and Admiral Watson, having received the sanction of the 
 authorities in Bombay, determined to extirpate such a noxious 
 swarm of outlaws ; and it is characteristic both of the men and of 
 the theatre on which they operated, that a council of war was 
 held previously to the departure of the expedition, in order to 
 fix the proportions according to which the spoil which they 
 counted on securing was to be divided. For this it is which casts 
 its darkest shadow over the entire series of events which led for- 
 ward the East India Company from its original state to that in 
 which we now find it. Plunder seems to have been the one 
 great object sought by leaders of armies and of fleets throughout 
 the whole of our earlier wars in the East ; and it not unfre- 
 quently came to pass, that, having achieved conquests and gained 
 honour in the field, they ran some risk of losing at least the 
 latter in squabbles over the booty. On the present occasion the 
 grand question mooted was said, in some way or other, to touch 
 the honour of the sister services. The army claimed for Clive 
 as its leader a share equal to that which should be given to the 
 leader of the fleet. The navy insisted that Clive should pocket no 
 more than the amount to which his professional rank entitled 
 him ; in other words, the same amount of rupees which were 
 given to a naval captain under three years' standing. Let jus- 
 tice be done both to Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive. The 
 former would not abate one jot of the rights of his profession, 
 but he offered to make up dive's share out of his own to the 
 same amount with that of Rear- Admiral Pococke. Clive, on 
 the other hand, would not disturb the unity without which com- 
 bined expeditions never end successfully. He pressed his claim 
 without quarrelling about it ; and when it was refused, he de- 
 clined to take advantage of Admiral Watson's liberality. 
 
 At last the expedition sailed, and Gheriah, after offering a 
 stout resistance for a couple of days, was taken and razed to the 
 ground. The capture of other fortresses followed, as well as 
 the entire destruction of the pirate fleet ; but the Mahrattas, who 
 were to have assisted in the operations and shared in the spoil, 
 were shut out from both. This done, Clive pursued his voyage 
 
 E
 
 50 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vi. 
 
 westward, and reached Fort St. David on the 20th of June, 1756. 
 It was the very day that witnessed the capture of Calcutta and 
 the suppression of the Company's settlement on that side of 
 India ; and in two months subsequently Clive was summoned to 
 give his counsel in Madras in regard to the measures which it 
 would be necessary to adopt for the purpose of repairing so 
 grave an evil. It may be well to give, in a few words, an out- 
 line of some of the principal events which exercised so remark- 
 able an influence over the fortunes of the English in India. 
 
 The provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, constituting the 
 most fertile and populous of the viceroyalties into which the 
 Mogul empire was divided, had been for fifteen years subject to 
 the active and able government of Aliverdy Khan. His death 
 in the month of April, 1756, made way for the accession of his 
 grand-nephew, Suraj -u-Dowlah, a young man conspicuous 
 even amongst the princes of the East for cruelty, rapacity, and 
 avarice ; whose hatred of the English had been concealed dur- 
 ing the reign of Aliverdy Khan, but now broke forth with irre- 
 sistible fury. He scarcely felt himself secure in his seat when 
 he made preparations for expelling the obnoxious settlers from 
 the kingdom. Apprehending a war with France, the chiefs of 
 the English settlement ' on the Hooghly had taken steps to 
 strengthen the works of Fort William. He commanded them to 
 desist, and threatened, in the event of disobedience, to level Cal- 
 cutta with the earth. By and by he sent to require that they 
 would deliver up to him one of his subjects, whom he charged 
 with having robbed the public treasury and fled with his booty 
 to Calcutta. His messengers were assured that the English 
 would reserve the person of the accused for his Highness's plea- 
 sure, while at the same time proof was given that he had brought 
 no treasure with him. Suraj-u-Dowlah would listen to no ex- 
 cuses. He assembled a numerous army, enticed Mr. Watts, the 
 chief of the factory at Cossimbazar, into his power, cast him into 
 prison, and marched to the attack of the factory itself. This he 
 soon reduced, after which he moved towards Calcutta ; and on the 
 18th of June drove in the piquets, and took possession of the 
 outworks. Meanwhile the alarm and confusion within the walls 
 were extreme. Nobody appeared to have the slightest confi- 
 dence either in himself or others. In this quarter of India there
 
 CHAP, vi.] FALL OF CALCUTTA. 51 
 
 still existed that dread of native prowess and numbers which the 
 experience of better things had destroyed in the Carnatic ; and 
 hence, when the face of the country was seen to be covered with 
 the Nabob's troops, governor, commanding officer, and men in 
 the fort felt their hearts sink within them. A hasty resolution 
 to abandon the place was come to ; yet such was the effect of 
 terror on men's minds, that no measures were taken to concert 
 even an orderly retreat. On the contrary, the Governor, Mr. 
 Drake, set the example of flight by jumping into a boat, and 
 pushing off for the ships. Captain Minchen, who commanded 
 the troops, acted in a similar manner ; and then all who could, 
 ran, without thinking of anything except their own personal 
 safety, to the beach. About one hundred and fifty Europeans, 
 among whom Mr. Holwell was one, found themselves without 
 the means of escape. The last boat had pushed off; and its 
 crew, in spite of the cries of the deserted, refused to turn back. 
 Nothing therefore remained for this unhappy company but to 
 try the effect of a negotiation, during the progress of which the 
 Nabob's troops rushed through the gates, and the fort, with all 
 its inhabitants, became their prey. 
 
 The fate which overtook these miserable captives is well 
 known. Carried before Suraj-u-Dowlah, they are said to have 
 been spoken to kindly at all events it is certain that Mr. Hoi- 
 well's hands were unbound, and that hopes were held out to him 
 of protection ; but the means taken to guard against an attempt 
 at escape effectually marred them. The guard to whose care 
 the Europeans were intrusted, in sheer wantonness, or because 
 they could not discover in the place a more convenient prison, 
 thrust the whole into the common jail. It was a filthy, low- 
 roofed, underground apartment, measuring in space about twenty 
 feet square, and ventilated through several air-holes, narrow, 
 and made secure by the insertion of iron bars into the 
 mullions. When told to enter there, the prisoners laughed at 
 the suggestion as a joke ; but they soon discovered their mistake. 
 Forced through the aperture, and having the door closed and 
 bolted upon them, their sufferings became in a few moments such 
 as no language can describe ; and their shrieks and cries for 
 mercy were not only disregarded, but seemed to afford great 
 amusement to the guard. But it is useless to go on with the 
 
 E2
 
 52 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP, vi* 
 
 horrible description. Let it suffice to state, that, after strug- 
 gling to burst open the door, and treading one another down in 
 their agony, one after another died raving mad ; so that when 
 morning came, and the Nabob issued his order to bring them 
 forth, there were but twenty-three living men left to profit by it. 
 The rest lay where they had sunk, and the process of decomposi- 
 tion was already begun upon many of them. 
 
 It is not clear that this hideous massacre was perpetrated by 
 the command or even with the cognizance of Suraj-u-Dowlah. 
 It seems, on the contrary, to have arisen out of the indifference 
 of his soldiers to the sufferings of their European captives, and 
 their fear of disturbing the Nabob in his sleep ; for the guard.*, 
 though offered large sums of money, refused to awaken their 
 sovereign. But the tyrant's behaviour to the few survivors 
 when brought before him next day showed that he cared as 
 little for the past as he experienced anxiety about the future. 
 They were cast into more airy prisons, and fed upon grain and 
 water. This done, he wrote a pompous letter to his nominal 
 sovereign at Delhi, in which he boasted of having extirpated the 
 English out of Bengal ; and, leaving a garrison in Fort William, 
 with strict orders that no European should be permitted to settle 
 in the neighbourhood, he gave up the town of Calcutta to plun- 
 der, and marched back with the bulk of his forces to his own 
 capital.
 
 CHAP. vii.J MILITARY PREPARATIONS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Proceeds to Bengal Recovery of Calcutta Attack of the Nabob's Camp 
 Peace with the Nabob. 
 
 TIDINGS of the fall of Calcutta reached Madras on the 16th of 
 August. They created the greatest consternation and resent- 
 ment everywhere, and on the 18th a despatch was sent off to 
 Fort St. David requiring dive's immediate presence at the seat 
 of government. It was determined to retake the captured factory, 
 and to punish the tyrant who had so cruelly abused his power ; and 
 General Lawrence being an invalid, Clive was at once selected as 
 the fittest person to command the troops which should be employed 
 on that service. There was at this time at Madras a Colonel 
 Adlercron in command of a King's regiment, whom the au- 
 thorities did not judge it expedient to employ, partly because he 
 refused to be at their disposal in regard to the period of his return, 
 partly because he would not pledge himself to reimburse the 
 Company's losses out of the booty, whatever it might be, which 
 the army might acquire. This gentleman forthwith set himself 
 to baffle, as far as he could, the preparations that were making, 
 and went so far as to insist upon the relanding of a train of 
 royal artillery after it had been put on board, and the trans- 
 ports were on the point of sailing. But neither Colonel Adler- 
 cron 's opposition, nor the apprehensions which were entertained of 
 a French war, prevented Mr. Saunders and his council from de- 
 voting the whole strength of the Presidency to one purpose. 
 Admiral Watson lay in the roads with five King's ships one of 
 which, the " Cumberland," was a 74. These gave accommoda- 
 tion to as many officers and men as could be conveniently 
 stowed ; and, five of the Company's vessels being fitted up as 
 transports, nine hundred European infantry, fifteen hundred 
 sepoys, and a few field-pieces, were embarked. The whole 
 sailed from Madras on the llth of October, and on the 22nd of 
 December the head-quarters of the expedition reached Fulta.
 
 54 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vu. 
 
 Here, in a village on the left bank of the Hooghly, about twenty 
 miles below Fort William, the fugitives from Calcutta were 
 assembled, their small military force being under the orders of 
 Major Kilpatrick, an excellent officer, who had arrived in the 
 Ganges some weeks after the fall of the place, and looked anxi- 
 ously for the coming of such reinforcements from the coast as 
 should justify him in attempting its recovery. 
 
 Though two of the ships of the squadron had been separated 
 from the rest in a gale of wind, and two hundred and fifty Euro- 
 peans, four hundred sepoys, the greater part of the guns, and 
 almost all his military stores were missing, Clive did not delay 
 the commencement of operations one hour. Having failed to 
 procure boats for the transport of his men, he marched through 
 the jungle upon Budge-Budge, before reaching which he en- 
 countered a strong body of the enemy at a disadvantage, and 
 overthrew them. Budge-Budge immediately opened its gates, 
 whereupon he continued his progress to Fort William ; and, 
 while the fleet battered it from the river side, he occupied all the 
 approaches from the land. On the 2nd of January, 1757, it 
 submitted. And here again the jealousies of service towards 
 service showed themselves. Admiral Watson refused at e first 
 to permit a Company's officer or soldier to come within the walls, 
 and was with difficulty prevailed upon to make over the military 
 command to Clive, though aware that the latter held a Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel's commission in the service of the King. Nor 
 was it in this quarter alone that Clive had many prejudices to 
 surmount. Ever since the evacuation of Calcutta the affairs of 
 the Company in that part of India had been managed by a com- 
 mittee of merchants, who, thinking more of their own losses 
 than of the blow which had been struck at the influence of their 
 employers, objected to the plenary powers with which Clive 
 appeared to be vested, and did their best to resist them. But 
 Clive was made to contend against difficulties and to overcome 
 them. His correspondence both with the Admiral and with the 
 committee, though couched in language sufficiently respectful, 
 was uniformly firm ; and so well was his character understood, 
 even at this early stage of his career, that none ventured to con- 
 test a point which he showed himself determined to carry. 
 
 Meanwhile the Nabob was beginning to effect the discovery that
 
 CHAP, vii.] CAPTURE OF HOOGHLY. 55 
 
 the expulsion of the English from his dominions would be no gain 
 to him. The revenue fell off from day to day so remarkably that 
 he was prepared to make with the fugitives fresh treaties, when in- 
 telligence of the arrival of the squadron in the Hooghly reached 
 him. He had never calculated on any such occurrence as this. In 
 the plenitude of his ignorance he used to assert that there were 
 not ten thousand men in all Europe, and the possibility of an 
 attempt being made by Europeans to retaliate such injuries as he 
 might inflict on (hem seems never to have struck him. Indig- 
 nation, not unmixed with fear, took possession of him now. He 
 ordered all his disposable troops to assemble at Moorshedabad ; 
 and began, as soon as a sufficient force had been collected, his 
 march upon Calcutta. 
 
 But Clive and Watson were not idle. Having ascertained that 
 the town of Hooghly, situated above Fort William, on the sajne 
 branch of the Ganges, was full of rich merchandize and slen- 
 derly garrisoned, they determined to surprise it. With this 
 view one hundred and fifty Europeans and two hundred sepoys 
 were placed under the command of Major Kilpatrick and Captain 
 Eyre Coote, and directed, with a light squadron of armed ships, 
 to move up the stream. One of the armed vessels happened to 
 get aground on a shoal, and the expedition was delayed so long 
 that Suraj-u-Dowlah found time to throw considerable reinforce- 
 ments into the fort ; but the fort itself was not placed thereby 
 out of the reach of danger. On the contrary, some hours of 
 cannonading from the water having beaten down a wide extent 
 of wall, the land-forces at early dawn on the llth gave the 
 assault, and after a feeble resistance the British flag floated in 
 triumph over that of the Nabob. An inconsiderable booty, not 
 more, it is said, than 15,000/., rewarded the captors for their 
 exertions. This they secured, and, after destroying some stores 
 of rice which had been laid up in an open village about three 
 miles distant, the troops were re-embarked, arid the expedition 
 returned to Calcutta. 
 
 The attack on Hooghly was undertaken rather with a view to 
 alarm than to inflict any serious injury on the Nabob. To a 
 certain extent this object was served ; but anger more than 
 kept pace with the growth of fear : and, while the negotiations 
 continued, the march upon Calcutta suffered no delay. It was
 
 56 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vii. 
 
 not judged prudent, even by Clive, to impede or interrupt it. On 
 the contrary, he permitted the Bengalese army to pass more than 
 one defile which it was competent to him effectually to block, 
 and encouraged the committee to use every legitimate argument 
 of conciliation. And in truth there were many circumstances 
 which combined to render a policy of peace in Bengal a wise 
 policy for the English at this moment. The long-expected 
 breacli with France had occurred, and the authorities at Madras, 
 in daily expectation of being attacked, were without the means 
 of offering a steady resistance should the enemy approach them 
 in force. Again M. Bussy, after having been driven to defend 
 himself with the strong hand in Hyderabad, was become so 
 powerful in the Deccan that he was able, with a thousand Euro- 
 peans arid a large army of well-disciplined natives, to threaten 
 the English factory at Vizagapatam. Moreover, there was a 
 French settlement in Bengal itself which created a good deal of 
 uneasiness, and not without reason, in men's minds. Chander- 
 nagore had always been an eyesore to the Company's represent- 
 atives on the Ganges. It absorbed a considerable portion of 
 the inland trade, and, being better supplied with troops than 
 Calcutta, its political position, however apparently isolated, 
 could not be regarded as a feeble one. It would have convicted 
 the English authorities of absolute infatuation had they not, 
 under such circumstances, been earnestly desirous of peace with 
 the Nabob. But the character of the Nabob inspired no confi- 
 dence. They could not trust to his promises, far less to his 
 generosity ; they were, therefore, driven to treat with arms in 
 their hands, even while they abstained from using them. It is 
 just to the character of Clive a man sufficiently open to censure, 
 and seldom spared either in his own day or subsequently to 
 state, that such were precisely the views which he took of public 
 affairs at this crisis. He counselled peace, yet ceased not to 
 anticipate war, and made the best disposition of his force which 
 circumstances would warrant, to meet either emergency. It was 
 becoming that there should be no open exhibition of distrust in 
 the Nabob. Clive therefore disentangled his field force from the 
 town and its suburbs, and, encamping just so far apart as that he 
 might be able, in case of need, to come to the assistance of the 
 regular garrison, he there awaited the development of plans
 
 CHAP, vii.] ATTACK ON THE NABOB'S CAMP. 57 
 
 which the Nabob seemed either to keep immature, or to be at a 
 loss how best to execute. 
 
 There was constant intercourse all this while by accredited 
 agents between Suraj-u-Dowlah and Mr. Drake ; nevertheless 
 the march of the Nabob's army was not suspended. With forty 
 thousand men he marched upon Calcutta till he placed it virtu- 
 ally in a state of siege. He interposed likewise between Olive's 
 camp and the town, and pushed some of his people into the very 
 streets. It was clear to all reflecting persons that forbearance 
 on the part of the English would soon reach its limits. On the 
 4th of February Olive sent to remonstrate against these encroach- 
 ments, and to desire that the Nabob would fall back ; but the 
 Nabob scarcely condescended to admit the English messengers 
 into his presence, and treated them so roughly when there, 
 that they were glad to escape with their lives. This was enough. 
 Having ascertained that the Nabob's battering-train lay in an 
 enclosure called Omichund's Garden, beside the Mahratta ditch, 
 in the hostile camp which was established there, Clive resolved 
 to capture it if he could. With this view he applied for a rein- 
 forcement of seamen, which, to the extent of six hundred men, 
 was afforded, and at three o'clock in the morning of the 5th he 
 led out one thousand three hundred Europeans and eight hundred 
 sepoys to the attack. 
 
 The affair that followed, though not free from military errors, 
 as well in the plan of the operation as in its execution, seems so 
 entirely characteristic of the genius of him who devised it, and 
 produced so strong a moral effect upon his own mind, and upon the 
 minds of others, that it well deserves to be narrated at length. 
 And as I have given in another publication what I believe to be 
 an accurate sketch of the encounter as accurate, that is to say, 
 as any account of a military operation can be which is compiled 
 from the disjointed narratives of others I shall take the liberty, 
 on the present occasion, of quoting my own words : 
 
 " About an hour before dawn about three or four o'clock in 
 the morning the English army, consisting of six hundred and 
 fifty European soldiers of the line, one hundred artillery-men, 
 eight hundred sepoys, and six hundred seamen, formed in a 
 single column facing towards the south. One wing of the sepoy 
 battalion led ; this was followed by the European infantry ; the
 
 58 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vii. 
 
 other sepoy wing came next ; the artillery, six field-pieces, drawn 
 partly by seamen, partly by Lascars, succeeded ; and the rear was 
 brought up by a party of small armed men from the fleet ; their 
 especial business was to guard a party of coolies on whose 
 shoulders loads of spare ammunition were laid. Clive himself 
 took post beside the European battalion, and, like the rest of the 
 European officers, marched that day on foot. 
 
 " It was yet dark when the head of the column fell upon 
 the enemy's outposts, which, after discharging a few match- 
 locks and rockets, retreated ; though not till, by the explo- 
 sion of a sepoy's cartouch-box, on which one of these missiles 
 fell, some confusion had been created in the English ranks. 
 Order, however, was soon restored, and the column passed on, a 
 fog overspreading them like a canopy as the day broke, and 
 rendering objects quite invisible at a yard's distance from the 
 eye. By and by they came opposite to Omichund's garden, 
 where, in the interior of the Mahratta ditch, the Nabob had fixed 
 his head-quarters ; and here, for the first time since the advance 
 began, they became aware of a threatened attack. The sound of 
 horses in movement was heard. It approached rapidly from the 
 direction of the ditch : and the fog opening, as it were, for an 
 instant, a well-mounted line of horsemen was seen within twenty 
 yards of their flank. The column halted, gave its fire with ter- 
 rible effect, and swept the enemy away as dust is swept aside by 
 the wind when it suddenly rises. Once more the men resumed 
 their march, moving slowly, and firing at random by platoons ; 
 while the artillery from time to time discharged round-shot 
 obliquely, as if with a view to clear the course of the column, 
 and protect its progress. 
 
 " The troops had now reached a causeway, which, being ele- 
 vated by several feet above the level of the surrounding country, 
 led through some swampy rice-fields, across the Mahratta ditch, 
 and so into the Company's territory. The causeway was under- 
 stood to be entrenched, and it formed part of Olive's plan first to 
 carry this barricade by assault, and then, countermarching on the 
 inner side of the Mahratta ditch, to double back upon Omichund's 
 garden, and enter it from the rear. The leading sections ac- 
 cordingly clambered up the ascent, and, facing to the right, 
 prepared to make the rush. But the artillery, now in the rear,
 
 CHAP, vii.] ATTACK ON THE NABOB'S CAMP. 59 
 
 not being aware of this change of front, continued to fire as here- 
 tofore ; and the shot, striking full among their own people, forced 
 them to seek shelter by leaping down into a ditch on the oppo- 
 site side of the causeway. Great confusion ensued. Each new 
 company, as it arrived, followed the example of that which went 
 before, till by and by the whole were thrown into a shapeless 
 mass together, quite out of the direction which their leader had 
 proposed to follow. Nor did the mischief end here. A couple 
 of heavy guns from a small bastion on the ditch opened with 
 canister-shot at a short distance, and the first discharge killed or 
 disabled twenty-two Europeans. Clive saw that it was useless 
 to think of rallying in such a position. He therefore gave the 
 word to push on, and made for another elevated mound or cause- 
 way a full mile and a quarter to the south, and by so much out 
 of the line of his proposed attack. 
 
 " The execution of this movement was much retarded by the 
 damp nature of the soil, over which, interrupted by numerous 
 gaps or channels of irrigation, it was necessary to drag the guns. 
 By nine o'clock, moroever, the fog dispersed, and, the false 
 position of the English becoming evident, the enemy's horse 
 repeatedly endeavoured to charge. And now was seen the 
 obstinate courage of the men, who kept up such a steady and 
 well directed fire that not a horseman ventured to face it. On, 
 therefore, they marched, till, having reached the second cause- 
 way, they made a face to the right, and were by and by car- 
 ried beyond the Mahratta ditch. Clive had it now in his 
 power either to attempt, at a palpable disadvantage, his original 
 design, by marching upon Omichund's garden, or to avail himself 
 of the communication with Calcutta which he had opened, and 
 to lead his people into the town. He preferred the latter course, 
 to which, indeed, the exhausted condition of his people strongly 
 urged him : and about noon, or a little later, jaded and footsore, 
 though not disgraced, the column penetrated within the walls." 
 
 Clive's loss on this occasion was, considering the extent of his 
 resources, very severe. It amounted to 120 Europeans, 100 
 sepoys, and 2 pieces of cannon, while the object for which the 
 movement had been avowedly made was not attained. Never- 
 theless, the Nabob was so much astonished at the boldness of the 
 attempt, that he hastily evacuated that portion of the town which
 
 GO LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAI>. vu. 
 
 he had seized, and encamped some space without on the open 
 plain. Here he renewed his overtures of peace ; and Clive, in 
 spite of Admiral Watson's reasoning to the contrary, conceived 
 that he was not in a condition to reject the proffered terms. 
 He therefore ratified a treaty which bound the Nabob not only 
 to restore the English to all the rights which the Imperial 
 charter conferred upon them, but to give back their villages, to 
 make compensation for all losses incurred during the war, private 
 as well as public, to pass their merchandize through his territories 
 duly-free, and to sanction the setting up of a mint in Calcutta. 
 In return for these concessions, the English agreed to consider 
 the Nabob's enemies, wherever situated, as their own, and to 
 furnish such aid in troops as their means would allow whenever 
 he should see fit to call for it. 
 
 We need not now affect to be ignorant that both parties, when 
 they signed this treaty, counted little, if at all, upon its observ- 
 ance one moment longer than should suit the convenience of the 
 strongest. Clive, in a letter informing the Chairman of the 
 Court of Directors that hostilities were ended, urged the keeping 
 up of a respectable force in Bengal on this plea, " that it cannot be 
 expected that the princes of this country, whose fidelity is always 
 to be suspected, will remain firm to their promises and engage- 
 ments from principle only." In like manner Suraj-u-Dowlah, 
 ere the seal was appended which testified to his acceptance of 
 an English alliance, had begun to correspond w r ith M. Bussy and 
 M. Law on the subject of the expulsion of these allies from Bengal. 
 Still, according to dive's judgment and surely none could be 
 more impartial the arrangement was in every respect advan- 
 tageous to his countrymen. " If I had only consulted the interest 
 and reputation of a soldier," he says, " the conclusion of this 
 peace might easily have been suspended. I know at the same 
 time there are many who think I have been too precipitate 
 in the conclusion of it ; but surely those who are of this opinion 
 never knew that the delay of a day or two might have ruined 
 the Company's affairs by the junction of the French with the 
 Nabob, which was on the point of being carried into execution : 
 they never considered the situation of affairs on the coast, and 
 the positive orders sent me by the gentlemen there to return with 
 the major part of the forces at all events : they never considered
 
 CHAP, viz.] PEACE WITH THE NABOB. 61 
 
 that, with a war upon the coast and in the province of Bengal at 
 the same time, 'a trading company could not exist without a 
 great assistance from the Government : and, last of all, they 
 never considered that a long war, attended through the whole 
 course of it with success and many great actions, ended at last 
 with the expense of more than fifty lacs of rupees to the Company." 
 These arguments, however strange they may sound in our ears, 
 who have seen " The Company " lavish, without appearing to 
 feel the expenditure, not fifty lacs of rupees, but fifty millions of 
 pounds sterling, upon its wars, were founded, at the period when 
 Clive lived and wrote, upon the soundest view of the state of 
 public affairs. We were but traders and adventurers then in the 
 land where our rule is now absolute ; we could not fight, or were 
 supposed to be incapable of fighting, a Nabob of Bengal, ex- 
 cept at a disadvantage. We shall see, as we proceed, with what 
 a sure yet rapid pace new and bolder conceptions entered into 
 men's minds.
 
 62 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vni. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Capture of Chandernagore Intrigues for the deposition of Suraj-u-Dowlah. 
 
 UP to the period in his history at which we have now arrived, 
 Clive deserves to be considered only in one point of view. He 
 had acted hitherto as a soldier with equal bravery and skill. 
 Whatever instructions he received from the Government under 
 which he served he had accomplished with consummate ability. 
 But a new page in his public life is now turned ; success in war 
 would seem to have sharpened his faculties and inspired him with 
 greater confidence in his own perceptions and judgment than in 
 those of his political superiors. He began to think for himself, and 
 gave indications of a will not easy to be controlled, by first evading 
 and then positively refusing obedience to the orders which were 
 transmitted to him from the coast ; for, ever since they received 
 official information of war between England and France, the 
 Madras Government had been urgent in their demands for Olive's 
 return, and Clive had repeatedly promised that, as soon as 
 matters could be arranged, he would obey them. But other 
 views of what would best promote the interests of the Company 
 began gradually to open upon him. He resolved not to leave 
 behind him such a formidable nucleus of evil as the French 
 settlement at Chandernagore ; and, remembering that its reduc- 
 tion had been suggested to him ere he sailed from Madras, he 
 made up his mind to effect the conquest now. He informed his 
 friends on the Coromandel coast of this design ; and added, that 
 till it should have been accomplished it would be idle for them 
 to expect that he or any portion of his army would come among 
 them. 
 
 The moment for entering upon this enterprise was not un- 
 favourable. In the hour of his own weakness Clive had proposed 
 to the French Governor of Chandernagore that a treaty of neu- 
 trality between that settlement and Calcutta should be formed,
 
 CHAP, viii.] ANTICIPATED HOSTILITIES. 63 
 
 and the French Governor appeared nowise disinclined to accede 
 to the proposition. But Bussy's success in the Deccan, and, as 
 Clive had good reason to believe, the intrigues of Suraj-u- 
 Dowlah, led to procrastination and something like a change of 
 mind on the subject. It was obviously as unsafe as it would 
 be impolitic to leave matters in so unsettled a state, and Clive 
 pressed the representative of the French Company to give him 
 a decided answer. The answer came, and amounted to this 
 that the writer was very willing to enter into an armistice in the 
 province of Bengal, but that he had no power to pledge himself 
 for its observance by the Governor of Pondicherry, or by those 
 acting under his orders. There was no mistaking the real 
 purport of such a communication, and Clive took his measures 
 accordingly. 
 
 Ever since the capture of Cossimbazar, Mr. Watts, who when 
 Suraj-u-Dowlah fell upon the factory happened to be its chief, 
 had resided in a sort of honourable captivity at Moorshedabad. 
 The Nabob put no restraint upon his movements, and often 
 admitted him into his presence ; indeed Mr. Watts came at last 
 to execute functions not dissimilar to those which used to be dis- 
 charged by English residents half a century ago at the courts of 
 native princes ; but he was interdicted from returning to Cal- 
 cutta. He managed, however, chiefly through the instrument- 
 ality of an individual of whom further notice will be taken 
 presently, to keep up a regular and even a confidential corre- 
 spondence all the while with his own Government. This gen- 
 tleman was employed by Clive to solicit the Nabob's sanction 
 for an attack by the English on Chandernagore. He met for a 
 while with no encouragement ; but by and by the dread of an 
 AfFghan invasion caused the Nabob to hesitate, and hopes were 
 held out that the request would be acceded to. Still the Nabob 
 was very unwilling to sacrifice the French. He looked to them 
 as to the only power which was capable of counterbalancing the 
 influence of the English ; and, with the fickleness of a barbarian, 
 not unfrequently anticipated that the time would come when he 
 should be able, through their assistance, to expel the obnoxious 
 race from his dominions. But he was equally unwilling to offend 
 a power which recent experience had taught him to respect, 
 especially at a moment when the value of their alliance, offensive
 
 C4 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 and defensive, was about to be tested. He made a demand for an 
 English corps to help him against the Affghans. It was readily 
 furnished ; and the English army began its march ; but Clive, who 
 went with it, saw his opportunity, and took advantage of it. 
 On the 7th of March he addressed a letter to the Nabob, in 
 which he represented the danger to which his countrymen would 
 be exposed were he to leave an enemy's settlement between them 
 and the force which he was conducting to his Highness's support. 
 He further stated his purpose of halting in the vicinity of Chan- 
 dernagore till his Highness should have given a decisive answer 
 to the. proposal already made to him through Mr. Watts. 
 Meanwhile Admiral Watson had written in strong terms, and to 
 the same effect ; but the tone of the sailor served rather to irritate 
 than to persuade ; for, instead of acceding to the demand, Suraj- 
 u-Dowlah marched an army to Hooghly. A good deal of un- 
 easiness in Calcutta and elsewhere followed this movement. The 
 Committee declared against a breach with the Nabob, and Ad- 
 miral Watson inclined to their opinion. But Clive's resolution was 
 fixed, and he adhered to it. He moved on ; and no sooner was 
 the Nabob made acquainted with this advance than he recalled 
 his troops from Hooghly. Mr. Watts immediately informed 
 Clive of all that had occurred, adding an assurance that the 
 Nabob had given a verbal assent to the proposed attack on 
 Chandernagore ; and Clive, whom no considerations of delicacy 
 were ever known to bend from a purpose previously considered 
 and fully determined on, was content with the assurance. He 
 invested Chandernagore from the land on the 12th ; and, the 
 fleet moving up as fast as the wind and current would allow, the 
 operations of the siege began. They were conducted with great 
 vigour. On the 23rd of March Chandernagore capitulated ; and 
 the whole of the European garrison, witli the exception of about 
 one hundred persons who were permitted to depart on their 
 parole, became prisoners of war. 
 
 It is impossible to over-estimate the value of this conquest to 
 the English East India Company. The time had arrived when 
 their continued existence, even as a trading corporation, was 
 clearly incompatible with the success of the schemes to which 
 the French had committed themselves ; and the utter overthrow 
 of one or other of these rival communities became a mere matter
 
 CHAP, viii.] CAPTUHE OF CHANDERNAGOKE. 65 
 
 of calculation. It was a great point to have extinguished on 
 the side of Bengal such an important settlement as that which 
 had just fallen ; and it now remained to follow up the blow with 
 vigour, and to take away from the enemy all hope of recovering 
 his lost ground. At the same time, Clive \vas unable to hide 
 from himself that an active prosecution of the French war in this 
 part of India would inevitably involve the Presidency in a war 
 with the Nabob ; for the AfFghans had not persevered in their 
 threatened invasion. A considerable money-bribe had prevailed 
 upon them to return to their own country ; and now Mr. Watts 
 reported that Suraj-u-Dowlah, furious at the fall of Chanderna- 
 gore, was in constant and active communication with M. Law 
 and M. Bussy. Indeed the former of these officers had arrived 
 with a small corps within the principality, and many fugitives 
 from the garrison of Chandernagore had broken their parole to 
 join him. The latter was understood to be at Cuttack, whence 
 a march of two hundred miles or less would carry him to the 
 banks of the Hooghly. Clive at once determined to play the 
 bold game. The letters of recall which began to pour in upon 
 him from Madras he answered by stating, that to quit his present 
 sphere of action at such a moment was impossible. Neither 
 would he fall back upon Calcutta, though repeatedly urged to do 
 so by the Nabob. He was aware of the entangled state of that 
 wretched man's affairs, and soon took a prominent part in hur- 
 rying forward their crisis. 
 
 No attentive reader of Oriental history need be told that the 
 dominion of the Moguls in India was everywhere, and at all 
 stages of its continuance, a government of the sword. The 
 power of life and death, of imposing taxes, of commanding 
 armies, and, to a certain extent, of dispensing criminal justice, 
 the Mussulmans kept in their own hands ; but all the details of 
 finance and of accounts, from the management of the public 
 treasury down to the stamping and assaying of money, they com- 
 mitted, as in some sort beneath their care, to the more subtle 
 and effeminate Hindoos. The bankers in large cities, the 
 money-lenders in little villages, had always been Hindoos. 
 These men, though attended by less parade and state than their 
 Mussulman neighbours, exercised extensive influence in the 
 country, and were on that account treated, in the ordinary 
 
 p
 
 66 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAI-. vin. 
 
 course of things, with some consideration by their rulers. At 
 the same time, neither Emperor nor Viceroy hesitated to fleece 
 a Hindoo subject whenever the wealth of the latter appeared to 
 have accumulated too much, or his own exigencies required it ; 
 and the Hindoo, well aware of the fact, though he might dis- 
 countenance insurrection for its own sake, was ready at any mo- 
 ment to conspire against his prince, provided it could be shown 
 that he would personally benefit by the measure. " I prefer 
 Hindoos as managers and renters to those of my own religion," 
 said Ameer-ul-Omra, the second son and able minister of Maho- 
 med Ali, Nabob of the Carnatic, " because a Mahomedan is like 
 a sieve and a Hindoo like a sponge. Whatever you put into the 
 one runs through'; the other retains it all, and you may recover 
 it at any moment by the application of a little pressure." On the 
 same principle the thrifty Hindoo lent all the aid which cunning 
 and the influence of wealth could command to keep men faithful 
 to the supreme ruler so long as he left his renter or manager 
 unmolested. But, at the first appearance of a coming storm, the 
 renter prepared to work against it, and was just as ready to use 
 his wealth in raising an enemy to the throne as in keeping upon 
 it the prince through whose favour he had grown rich. In such 
 a state of society there could be very little confidence, and no 
 sentiment of honour, on either side. The ruler would oppress 
 the subject as often as it suited his convenience to do so ; the 
 subject would cheat the ruler habitually if he could, and had no 
 scruple about destroying him if necessary for his own purposes. 
 Suraj-u-Dowlah succeeded to a full treasury by the same event 
 which placed him on the viceregal throne of Bengal. Plis capi- 
 tal likewise could boast of several wealthy bankers, all of whom, 
 being Hindoos, were open, as a matter of course, to be 
 dealt with according to the Nabob's pleasure, provided he 
 should exercise but a little discretion in the use of it. Suraj-u- 
 Dowlah, however, had no discretion. He squandered upon 
 mean pleasures the wealth which his predecessor had painfully 
 accumulated, and suffered no consideration of justice or ordinary 
 prudence to restrain him in seeking to replace it. His exactions 
 from the great Hindoo bankers of the capital were horrible. 
 Now, though a patient race, the Hindoos are both avari- 
 cious and vindictive, and in the present instance they had not
 
 CHAP, viii.] CONSPIRACY AGAINST SURAJ-U-DOWLAH. 67 
 
 even the principle of fear to restrain them. They knew that the 
 man who oppressed them had no hold upon the country. His 
 troops, mutinous for want of pay, were ready to rise against him, 
 and all his great officers of state his cruelty or his pride had 
 alienated. They entered, therefore, into conspiracies which 
 might or might not have led to serious results, but which were 
 brought to a point mainly through the instrumentality of one to 
 whom I had occasion to allude a short time ago, and of whom a 
 few words will give all the account which the purpose of the pre- 
 sent narrative seems to require. 
 
 Among the money-getting, money-loving, and intriguing 
 Hindoos of that day there was none more noted for his avarice 
 and his talents than Omichund. He had carried on the business 
 of a merchant in Calcutta, and been useful to the English in 
 procuring for them good investments, and in helping them, ere 
 yet the fury of Suraj-u-Dowlah overtook them, in evading the 
 Nabob's taxes. By the fall of Calcutta he had been a sufferer to 
 a considerable extent, and could therefore lay claim to a share 
 of the compensation which the Nabob had promised. On the 
 return of peace this man had removed to Moorshedabad, where, 
 by dint of cunning and a ready adaptation of his own views to 
 those of the Nabob, he managed to ingratiate himself into the 
 favour of Suraj-u-Dowlah. He kept up, at the same time, a 
 good understanding with his co-religionists, and soon took a for- 
 ward place in the conspiracy to which they were committed. It 
 is worthy of note that in all their plotting these men never en- 
 tertained the most distant idea of substituting a Hindoo for a 
 Mussulman government. They desired only to exchange one 
 Mahomedan master for another, and cared for few other quali- 
 ties in their candidate than a respectable name, high station, and 
 so much strength of character as should justify their hopes of suc- 
 cess. The object of their first choice was one Khuda Yar Khan 
 Lattee, a man powerfully connected, and high in the service of 
 the Nabob. With him Omichund happened to be on familiar 
 terms, and, being admitted into his confidence, he played his 
 game for him. But, for some reason or another which has never 
 been fully explained, the conspirators in a short time threw their 
 first favourite aside, and, without consulting Omichund, made 
 overtures to Meer Jaffier, the Nabob's commander-in-chief. The 
 
 r2
 
 68 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP> vni. 
 
 wily merchant of Calcutta, though offended at this slight, loved 
 the wages of iniquity too well to make a public exhibition of 
 his sentiments. When the pressure of ^circumstances forced the 
 party to offer him a renewal of their confidence, he did not de- 
 cline it, though he seems even at this stage in the business to 
 have determined that they should pay for the indignity which 
 they had put upon him. 
 
 It was natural that men so circumstanced should look round 
 in every quarter for support ; and the conspirators were not slow 
 in determining that in the English they would find allies at once 
 zealous and powerful. They opened a communication with Mr. 
 Watts as soon as their plans were matured, and employed Omi- 
 chund to conduct it. Omichund was too ambitious to be con- 
 tent with the humble part that was at first assigned him. He 
 got all their secrets out of them, and forthwith placed himself in 
 the first rank of the conspiracy. His object was to convince 
 Mr. Watts and Colonel Clive that nothing could be done with- 
 out him ; and up to a certain point in the transaction he appears 
 to have succeeded. Nor would it be fair even to his bad me- 
 mory were we to deny that he had a great deal from first to last 
 in his power. By making himself useful to the Nabob in various 
 ways, he contrived to have free access to his person, and was 
 therefore in a position not only to betray him to his enemies, but 
 to betray his enemies to the Nabob. Moreover, it is very cer- 
 tain that, up to the critical moment, the intelligence which he 
 communicated was of vast importance. Mr. Watts, indeed, was 
 personally a witness to many outbursts of temper ; but Omichund 
 saw more ; for the secret, and, as far as such a man could deli- 
 berate calmly, the calm deliberations of the Nabob for the de- 
 struction of the English were not kept back from him. These 
 he took care to describe in glowing terms both to Mr. Watts 
 and Colonel Clive ; and the consequence was, that they came by 
 degrees to consider him, what he certainly was not, the moving 
 spring in the great revolution which they had resolved to bring 
 about. 
 
 Time passed, and this game of plot and counterplot went for- 
 ward bravely. The Nabob, profligate, cruel, and avaricious, 
 though he had no hold at all upon his native subjects, yet re- 
 solved at all hazards to get rid of his English allies. Towards
 
 CHAP, viii.] CONDUCT OF SURAJ-U-DOWLAH. 69. 
 
 the end of March, just after the fall of Chandernagore, lie wrote 
 to M. Bussy in these terms : " This news" (the news of the 
 advance of the French army towards his position) " gives me 
 pleasure. The sooner you come here, the greater satisfaction I 
 shall have in meeting you. What can I write of the perfidy of 
 these English ! They have, without ground, picked a quarrel 
 with M. Renault, and taken by force his factory * * * * 
 When you come to Pallasore I will then send M. Law to your 
 assistance, unless you forbid his setting out. Rest assured of my 
 good will towards you and your Company ; and, to convince you 
 of my sincerity, I now send perwaunahs to Deedar Ali and Ram- 
 majee Punjet, and to Rajaram Singh, that, as soon as you enter 
 their province, they meet and render you all possible assistance." 
 In the same spirit he loaded M. Law and the fugitives from 
 Chandernagore with favours, and positively refused to deliver 
 them up to the English. Meanwhile he expressed himself in 
 terms of strong indignation on the subject of Clive's continu- 
 ance with his army at Chandernagore. It was an act, he said, 
 of exceeding audacity to capture that place without his sanction ; 
 but to persist in keeping an army so far in advance of the Com- 
 pany's territory was a thousand times worse. Accordingly he 
 directed Meer Jaffier to proceed to Plassey at the head of fifteen 
 thousand men, and to reinforce the division which was already 
 there under the orders of another of his officers, while at the 
 same time he did his best to close the navigation of the Ganges, 
 and spoke openly of marching upon Calcutta. The most un- 
 guarded of these expressions were retailed to the parties affected 
 by them with elaborate minuteness. Clive was told that the let- 
 ters which he wrote were torn by the Nabob and trampled under 
 foot. The next post brought the Nabob's answers to these very 
 letters couched in the most fulsome style of Oriental rhetoric. 
 Mr. Watts complained that one day he was driven from the 
 durbar with a threat of being impaled that the next, he was 
 sent for in order to listen to an abject apology. In a word, it 
 was evident that hatred and fear strove against each other in the 
 mind of this weak and wicked man, and that as soon as the latter 
 feeling could be overmastered the English in Bengal would 
 experience the effects of the former to their utmost conceivable 
 limits.
 
 70 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 Under all these circumstances, Clive gave it as his opinion 
 that no terms could any longer be kept with Suraj-u-Dowlah. 
 It was a game of life and death between him and the English ; 
 and to play such a game timidly would be to lose it. He there- 
 fore threw himself with all the vigour of his nature into the 
 schemes of the conspirators, and urged his colleagues in the 
 committee to adopt a similar course. They wavered long, but 
 at last yielded to the combination of the influences which assailed 
 them. It was agreed that, on certain conditions, they should 
 assist Meer Jaffier in his attempt to wrest the sceptre from the 
 unworthy hand which held it ; and it must be confessed that, 
 with whomsoever originating, the conditions were marvel- 
 lously favourable to themselves. They pledged the Nabob 
 in expectancy to all manner of pecuniary obligations. Now 
 in the shape of compensation for losses already sustained, now 
 under the head of gratuities to the army, to the navy, to the 
 members of Committee indeed to every European or native 
 functionary connected with the Company Meer Jaffier under- 
 took to pay, as the price of his elevation, much more than the 
 resources of his principality could produce; but the native 
 princes were in those days as reckless of their promises as the 
 European settlers were exorbitant in their demands : and the 
 results are, that they and the parties bribed by them have long 
 ago changed places. 
 
 Matters had proceeded thus far when three events befel, any 
 one of which would have deterred a man of less iron nerve than 
 Clive from pushing them further. In the first place, the Com- 
 mittee of Government took fright at the threatening attitude 
 assumed by the Nabob, and wrote to Clive not only to caution 
 him against committing himself in his correspondence with Mr. 
 Watts, but to entreat that he would return with all his forces to 
 Calcutta. As timid men are apt to do, however, they rested 
 their argument for the latter course on a fictitious ground, and 
 spoke of the cost to the Company of keeping the troops in the 
 field. Clive's answer is too characteristic to be given in any 
 other words than his own. After turning into ridicule their 
 cautions in respect to his correspondence, he goes on to say, 
 " By your manner of expressing yourselves with regard to 
 putting the troops into garrison, it somewhat appears as if I had
 
 CHAP, vui.] OBSTACLES TO THE PLOT. 71 
 
 unnecessarily kept them in the field. Give me leave to say, 
 gentlemen, I am equally desirous with you of saving every 
 possible expense to the Honourable Company, and that it is long 
 that I have waited for an opportunity of going into quarters ; 
 but let me ask you whether the situation of affairs has admitted 
 of it hitherto? I fully intend in a day or two to put the coast 
 troops into garrison at Chandernagore, and to send the rest to 
 Calcutta, if nothing very material occurs to prevent it. The 
 former are entirely under my command, and you may be assured 
 that, as I shall never make use of the power vested in me to the 
 injury of the Honourable Company's affairs, I shall be as 
 far from suffering you to take away any part of it. I say thus 
 much to prevent further disagreeable intimations, which can 
 tend to no good end." 
 
 The second obstacle which presented itself at this stage in the 
 business came in the shape of a positive refusal on the Admiral's 
 part to share in the responsibility of the undertaking. He 
 expressed himself willing and ready to give all the aid which 
 the fleet could afford in men and in the means of transport ; but, 
 anticipating an unfavourable result, he would not be a party to 
 an enterprise so pregnant with danger to the Company's interest 
 by professing to approve of it. Clive was annoyed, but did not 
 therefore abandon his purpose. He treated the Admiral's com- 
 munication as if it had been all that he desired, and persevered 
 in his career. A little more of caution, perhaps, he found it 
 necessary to exercise ; and his letters to the Nabob became in 
 consequence more and more conciliatory every day. But these 
 might have failed in accomplishing their object had not circum- 
 stances enabled him to make a display of magnanimity which 
 proved as effective in its results as in design it was hollow. 
 Clive received at this moment letters from a Mahratta chief, 
 which, after denouncing the conduct of the Nabob, proposed, in 
 co-operation with the English, to invade Bengal ; and engaged 
 not only to cover all the losses of the Company twice over, but 
 to secure to them the exclusive commerce of the Ganges. Now, 
 nobody knew better than Clive that from a Mahratta alliance, 
 even if the offer were genuine, nothing but evil could come ; 
 and his own mind, fruitful in expedients, led him to suspect that 
 the whole might be neither more nor less than a stratagem of
 
 72 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 Suraj-u-Dowlah for the purpose of throwing upon the English 
 the odium of a rupture. He therefore sent the despatch to 
 Moorshedabad, and the effect more than realized his expectations. 
 The Nabob, pleased with such a signal exhibition of good faith, 
 not only spoke but acted for a brief space as if his confidence in 
 the English had returned, and the conspirators were enabled to 
 push forward their preparations with increased facility and 
 boldness. 
 
 The plan agreed upon by the confederates amounted to this : 
 that, as soon as he should be informed of the maturity of his 
 friends' preparations, Clive would advance to Plassey ; that 
 Meer Jaffier, instead of giving him battle, should join him with 
 his whole corps ; and that the allied armies, marching upon 
 Moorshedabad, should seize Suraj-u-Dowlah in his palace, and 
 raise Meer Jaffier to the throne. Meanwhile, the better to 
 deceive the object of their plot, Clive, towards the end of April, 
 announced his intention of putting his troops into quarters. 
 He entreated Suraj-u-Dowlah to imitate his example by with- 
 drawing his people from Plassey, and received in return 
 promises which were never accomplished. Here, then, was a 
 fair excuse for throwing off the mask ; and an ill-advised attack on 
 a boat which was proceeding with a supply of arms and ammuni- 
 tion from Calcutta to Cossimbazar added to its weight, dive's 
 tone immediately changed. He wrote to Mr. Watts that 
 " the Nabob was a villain." He desired that Meer Jaffier 
 would be secured by a prompt ratification of the treaty that was 
 between them, and then went on as follows : 
 
 " To-morrow we decamp : part of our forces go to Calcutta, the 
 other will go into garrison here " (at Chandernagore) ; "and, to 
 takeaway all suspicion, I have ordered all the artillery and tumbrils 
 to be embarked in boats and sent to Calcutta. I have wrote the 
 Nabob a soothing letter ; this accompanies another of the same 
 kind, and one to Mohun Lai " (a creature of Suraj-u-Dowlah), 
 " agreeable to your desire. Enter into business with Meer Jaffier 
 as soon as you please. I am ready, and will engage to be at 
 Nusary in twelve hours after I receive your letter, which place 
 is to be the rendezvous of the whole army. The Major who 
 commands at Calcutta has all ready to embark at a moment's 
 warning, and has boats sufficient to carry artillery and stores to
 
 CHAP, viii.] OMICHUND'S TREACHERY. 73 
 
 Nusary. I will march by land and join him there ; we will 
 then proceed to Moorshedabad, or the place we are to be joined 
 at, directly. Tell Meer Jaffier to fear nothing ; that I will 
 join him with 5000 men who never turned their backs ; and that, 
 if he fails seizing him, we shall be strong enough to drive 
 him out of the country. Assure him I will march night and 
 day to his assistance, and stand by him while I have a man 
 left." 
 
 It is impossible, perhaps, to carry on political intrigues of any 
 sort without doing more or less of violence to the laws of integrity 
 and honour. Indeed, the duplicity of statesmen and diplomatists 
 has passed, even in Europe, into a proverb, less just, probably, 
 in its application now than it was a century or two ago, and 
 growing, we are willing to hope, more and more inapplicable 
 every day. But to the web of deceit in the weaving of which Clive 
 took the part which has been here imperfectly described, there 
 is not, as far as I know, any parallel even in Eastern story. No 
 doubt our countrymen had this to say for themselves, that their 
 wits were in duel with the cunning of one to whom the very 
 meaning of the term truth was unknown ; and that, unless they 
 stooped to fight him with his own weapons, their destruction 
 and the ruin of the affairs of their masters were inevitable ; 
 and perhaps the conventional morality which sets life and goods 
 above honour may force us to accept their excuse. But for 
 the crowning act of wrong in which Clive, in his own person, 
 involved them, no apology can be admitted. I have spoken 
 elsewhere of Omichund, and of the unworthy part which he 
 played in the course of these most discreditable transactions. 
 In heart and soul a villain, this man, after bringing matters to a 
 point whence there could be no retreat, suddenly turned round 
 upon his employers. It had already been agreed that, in 
 addition to the fullest compensation for the losses which he had 
 sustained in the capture of Fort William, he should receive 
 a handsome reward for services performed in the course of the 
 present negotiation. He had, besides, by awakening the Nabob's 
 fears, though in a wrong direction, obtained from him a grant 
 of 40,0001. He now waited upon Mr. Watts, and told him 
 that, unless he were assured of receiving 300,000/. sterling, as 
 the recompense of his agency, over and above the enormous
 
 74 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 sum already promised, he should inform Suraj-u-Dowlah of all 
 that was in progress, and cause the conspirators, English as well 
 as native, to be arrested on the spot. The communication of 
 this fact to Clive constituted the third of those obstacles to 
 success of which I have spoken as scarcely to be surmounted by 
 any other individual than himself. It did not stand in Olive's 
 way for a moment : " Promise all that he seeks," was the tenor 
 of his reply, " and draw up any form of engagement which shall 
 satisfy him and make us secure against his treachery." This was 
 done; and, articles of agreement being drawn up were sent back 
 to Clive for ratification. The rest of the story, as far as concerns 
 this portion of it, cannot be better told than in Clive's own 
 words : 
 
 " I have your last letter," he writes to Mr. Watts, " including 
 the articles of agreement. I must confess the tenor of them 
 surprised me much. I immediately repaired to Calcutta, and, at 
 a committee held, both the Admiral and gentlemen agree that 
 Omichund is the greatest villain upon earth, and that now he 
 appears in the strongest light, what he was always suspected to 
 be, a villain in grain. However, to counterplot this scoundrel, 
 and at the same time to give him no room to suspect our inten- 
 tions, enclosed you will receive two forms of agreement the 
 one real, to be strictly kept by us, the other fictitious. In short, 
 this affair concluded, Omichund shall be treated as he deserves. 
 This you will acquaint Meer Jaffier with." 
 
 Enough is stated in this extract to show that, if Omichund 
 was capable of extreme baseness, he was no match in duplicity 
 for the European statesmen with whom he had to deal ; but the 
 writer is not quite so explicit as he might have been in giving 
 credit where it was due. The Committee had many scruples in 
 adopting this device, and do not seem to have been persuaded 
 into an acquiescence in it till there were spread out before them 
 two treaties one upon white paper, from which Omichund's 
 name was omitted ; the other upon red, where all that he had 
 stipulated for was granted. It would scarcely be fair to assume 
 that the hesitation of these gentlemen had its root in any mis- 
 givings respecting the practicability of the device which was 
 suggested to them. They could not surely be so innocent as to 
 believe that the preparation of a two-fold treaty was impossible.
 
 CHAP, viii.] CLIVE'S DUPLICITY. 75 
 
 But, whatever the ground of their doubts might be, they seem 
 to have yielded to the exhibition of the red and white documents 
 as soon as they were placed before them. The Admiral was less 
 plastic : he had condemned the scheme from the first ; he would 
 have no concern in it now ; and when reminded that the absence 
 of his signature would rouse suspicion and might mar all, he still 
 refused to sign. ^What was to be done? Clive took upon 
 himself the ultimate arrangement of the affair: he forged the 
 Admiral's name, and sent off both deeds duly executed, at least 
 in form.
 
 76 LIFE OF LOKD CLIVE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Advance of Clive Battle of Plassey. 
 
 I HAVE recorded these facts for facts they unfortunately are 
 with deep regret with more of regret than of indignation. It 
 would be vain to offer for them any apology ; they will admit of 
 nothing of the sort ; yet is it certain that never to the end of his 
 days could Clive be brought to see that he had committed the 
 slightest outrage upon principle. "When charged with these acts 
 as a crime, he denied the criminality while he admitted that he had 
 performed them. His manner of reasoning is certainly hard to 
 follow, but there can be no doubt that it was consistent with 
 itself. We can scarcely suppose that any circumstances would 
 have led him to falsify his own solemn engagements in England, 
 far more to forge the name of another ; nevertheless he appears to 
 have thought nothing of the guilt of such proceedings in Bengal, 
 as if moral right were as contingent as the complexions of 
 men upon climate ; and that transactions which in Europe would 
 cover the actors with infamy, might in Asia be consummated 
 with impunity. At the same time, justice compels us to add, 
 that, if such were really his sentiments, he was not the only 
 person of his own age, and on his own scene of busy life, who 
 seemed to be guided by them. His colleagues in office, the gen- 
 tlemen of the Committee, and even the Admiral, however squeam- 
 ish at the outset, soon got rid of their scruples. The most 
 rigid had no objection to praise the deceiver when his deed was 
 done, and to become partakers in the benefits arising out of the 
 deceit. 
 
 All these preliminaries having been settled, and Mr. Watts 
 fully instructed in the course which he was expected to follow, 
 Clive set himself, with his usual industry, to prepare for action. 
 The accounts from Moorshedabad continued to be unsatisfactory. 
 Meer Jaffier either feared to commit himself, or wavered in his 
 faith. Omichund was just as likely to prove a traitor at the
 
 CHAP, ix.] ADVANCE OF CLIVE. 77 
 
 eleventh hour as at the ninth ; but things had gone too far to 
 admit of further procrastination, and to procrastinate unneces- 
 sarily was not Olive's humour. On the 12th of June all the 
 troops stationed in Calcutta, together with one hundred and fifty 
 armed seamen from the fleet, proceeded to Chandernagore. Here 
 a junction was formed with that portion of the army which a 
 short time previously had been distributed in quarters through 
 the town ; and the whole, leaving behind them an hundred 
 seamen to guard the place, resumed their march on the morrow. 
 The better to keep the Europeans fresh, they, with the artillery 
 and stores, moved up the river in boats : the sepoys moved in a 
 parallel column by land, and were always within sight of their 
 comrades; and so the whole proceeded. On the 14th they ar- 
 rived at Culna, where Mr. Watts, who had escaped the preceding 
 day from Moorshedabad, found them. The 16th carried them to 
 Patlee ; and on the 17th Major Coote made himself master, 
 after a brief resistance, of the fortress of Cutwa. There, on the 
 plain by which the castle is surrounded, they pitched their tents ; 
 but on the 19th the weather broke with unexpected violence, 
 and, in order to escape the fury of the storm, the troops were 
 forced to shelter themselves among the huts and villages near. 
 
 Meanwhile Suraj-u-Dowlah was in a state of the greatest in- 
 dignation and alarm. He had for some days entertained a 
 suspicion that all was not as he desired it to be, and on the 
 14th sent to require Mr. Watts' presence at court. To his 
 amazement he found that the bird was flown. Omichund was 
 next summoned ; but Omichund also, though he had been with 
 him at a late hour on the preceding day, was gone. By and by 
 a messenger arrived laden with a packet from Clive, which, when 
 the Nabob had opened and read, removed from his mind what- 
 ever doubt might have still lingered there. In a letter which 
 he despatched from Chandernagore the day previous to the ad- 
 vance of the army, Clive spoke out without reserve or equivoca- 
 tion. He reproached the Nabob with his French connexion 
 upbraided him on account of the non-fulfilment of his engage- 
 ments charged him with meditating an attack on Calcutta as 
 soon as Admiral Watson and himself should have quitted the 
 Ganges and made a formal recapitulation of all the injuries 
 which he had already inflicted on the Company. " For these
 
 73 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 reasons," continued the letter, " I have determined, with the 
 approbation of all who are charged with the Comany's affairs, to 
 proceed immediately to Cossimbazar, and to submit there our 
 disputes to the arbitration of Meer Jaffier, Roydullub, Juggeit 
 Seit, and others of your Highness's great men. If these decide 
 that I have deviated from the treaty, I swear to give up all 
 further claims upon your Highness ; but if it should appear that 
 your Highness has broken faith, then I shall demand satisfaction 
 for all the losses sustained by the English, and all the charges 
 of the army and navy." This remarkable epistle, of which the 
 object could not be mistaken, concluded with an announcement 
 at least as startling as any of the clauses which preceded it that, 
 " as the rains were now near at hand, and it required many days 
 to receive an answer, the writer would not linger where he was, 
 but would wait upon his Highness immediately in his capital." 
 
 The Nabob read this letter with feelings of mingled indigna- 
 tion and alarm. He saw that the crisis to which he seems for 
 some time to have looked forward had arrived, and gave orders 
 for the immediate advance of his army to Plassey. The whole 
 moved without the slightest hesitation, and took up its ground 
 as directed ; for though it had been agreed between Clive and 
 Meer Jaffier that the latter should pass over to the English with 
 his division, the fears of the conspirator prevailed over his am- 
 bition, and in the hour of difficulty he stood fast. Meanwhile 
 Clive suffered much from anxiety and doubt. His entire force 
 numbered only three thousand men, of whom less than one 
 thousand were Europeans, and his artillery train did not exceed 
 eight six-pounders and a howitzer. It seemed little short of 
 madness to risk, with a handful of troops, however good, a battle 
 in the open plain against fifty thousand adversaries and at less 
 than fifty thousand nobody rated the host which lay between him 
 and the accomplishment of his wishes. Accordingly his letter 
 to the Committee of Government, dated from Cutwa, on June 19, 
 1757, says " I feel the greatest anxiety at the little intelligence 
 I receive from Meer Jaffier, and, if he is not treacherous, his 
 sang-froid or want of strength will, I fear, overset the expe- 
 dition. I am trying a last effort, by means of a Brahmin, to 
 prevail upon him to march out and join us. I have appointed 
 Plassey as the place of rendezvous, and have told him at the
 
 CHAP, ix.] CLIVE AT CUTWA. 79 
 
 same time that, unless he gives this or some other sufficient 
 proof of the sincerity of his intentions, I will not cross the river. 
 This, I hope, will meet with your approbation. I shall act with 
 such caution as not to risk the loss of our forces ; and whilst we 
 have them we may always have it in our power to bring about a 
 revolution, should the present not succeed. They say there is a 
 considerable quantity of grain in and about this place. If we 
 can collect eight or ten thousand maunds" (eight or ten hundred 
 thousand pounds), " we may maintain our situation during the 
 rains, which will greatly distress the Nabob, and either reduce 
 him to terms which may be depended upon, or give us time to 
 bring in the Beer-Boom Rajah, the Mahrattas, or Ghazee-u- 
 Deen.* I desire you will give your sentiments freely how you 
 think I should act if Meer Jaffier can give us no assistance." 
 
 The danger could not be trifling which was capable of wringing 
 from a man of Olive's nerve such avowals as these nor indeed 
 was it trifling. There he stood, isolated as it were, with a hand- 
 ful of men, the slightest disaster falling upon whom must lead 
 not only to their destruction, and the disgrace of their leader, 
 but to the entire ruin of the Company's affairs in India. Be- 
 tween him and the enemy ran that branch of the Ganges which 
 flanks on one side the island of Cossimbazar, across which, in its 
 present state, it would be easy to march, but which a few days' 
 rain would render impassable. Below him, no doubt, the country 
 was open, and he had supplies enough within reach to avert all 
 hazard of famine. But delay, now that the mask was thrown 
 aside, would operate, as he well knew, far more favourably for 
 the Nabob than for him. Plassey was distant not more than 
 ten days' march from the scene of operations ; and on the Coro- 
 mandel coast the greatest alarm was felt lest an expedition, long 
 looked for from Europe, should arrive and attack Madras while 
 yet unprepared. The tone of composure, therefore, in which he 
 wrote of maintaining himself at Cutwa during the rains could 
 not be other than assumed ; and the measure to which he resorted 
 on the 21st testifies that it was not enduring. On that day, for 
 the first and last time in his life, he assembled a council of war, 
 and proposed to it the question " Whether, in our present 
 
 * Native powers, who were equally willing to assist in tearing the Nabob 
 of Bengal in pieces.
 
 80 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 situation, without assistance, and on our o\vn bottom, it would 
 be prudent to attack the Nabob ; or whether we should wait till 
 joined by some country power?" Of the sixteen officers com- 
 posing this court nine voted for delay and seven for an imme- 
 diate attack. Among the majority were Clive himself, and 
 Major Kilpatrick, his second in command ; Major Eyre Coote, 
 afterwards so celebrated in Indian warfare, took his place with 
 the minority. The conclusion was accepted by all as definitive, 
 and the conclave broke up. 
 
 But Clive, though he had been the first to give his advice in 
 favour of timid counsels, was not satisfied with the decision. He 
 wandered away alone from the camp ; he sat down under a 
 clump of trees, and continued in deep thought for more than an 
 hour. He rose at the termination of that space of time im- 
 pressed with a conviction that the policy of delay was unwise. 
 Meeting Major Coote on his way back to camp, he told him 
 that he had changed his mind ; and orders were forthwith issued 
 to prepare for crossing the river on the morro\v. It is said that 
 just at this moment letters from Meer Jaffier reached him which 
 removed in some degree his doubts of that officer's good faith ; 
 but, besides that the rumour in question rests on no very sure 
 foundation, it is certain that his resolution to advance could not 
 possibly have been formed in consequence of such communication. 
 The fact is, that Clive saw then what we clearly understand now, 
 that any appearance of misgiving on his part would prove as 
 serious as a defeat itself. He could not permit the decision of a 
 council of war, or his own personal responsibility in acting 
 against it, to weigh for a moment where so much was at stake. 
 He therefore treated the vote of the morning as if it had not 
 been given, and looked to the final issues for a justification. 
 
 At dawn of day on the 22nd the army began to cross the 
 river ; by four in the afternoon the last division was safely 
 across. No halt ensued. The boats being towed against the 
 stream with great labour, the infantry and guns pushed forward ; 
 and after a march of fifteen miles the whole bivouacked about 
 three in the morning of the 23rd in a grove or small wood not 
 far from Plassey. 
 
 dive's intelligence had led him to expect that the enemy were 
 in position at Cossimbazar. A rapid march had, however,
 
 CHAP, ix.] BATTLE OF PLASSEY. 81 
 
 carried them on to Plassey, where they occupied the lines or 
 entrenched camp which, during the siege of Chandernagore, 
 Roydullub had thrown up ; and scarcely were the British troops 
 lain down ere the sound of drums, clarions, and cymbals warned 
 them of the proximity of clanger. Piquets were immediately 
 pushed forward, and sentries planted, and for an hour or two 
 longer the weary soldiers and camp followers were permitted to 
 rest. 
 
 Day broke at last ; and forth from their intrenched camp the 
 hosts of Suraj-u-Dovvlah were seen to pour. 40,000 foot, 
 armed, some with matchlocks, others with spears, swords, and 
 bows, overspread the plain ; 50 pieces of cannon moved with 
 them, each mounted upon a sort of wheeled platform, which a 
 long team of white oxen dragged, and an elephant pushed 
 onwards, from the rear. The cavalry numbered 15,000; and it 
 was observed that, in respect both to their horses and equip- 
 ment, they were very superior to any which Clive and the 
 soldiers of the Carnatic had seen on their own side of India. 
 The fact was, that this force consisted almost entirely of 
 Rajpoots, or Patans, soldiers from their childhood, and indi- 
 vidually brave and skilful with their weapons. But among them, 
 not less than among the infantry, the bond of discipline was 
 wanting ; and, placing no reliance one upon another, their very 
 multitude became to them a source of weakness. On the other 
 hand, Olive's small but most pliable army stood silent as the 
 grave. It consisted of about 1000 Europeans, inured to toil and 
 indifferent to danger ; and of 2000 sepoys, who, trained in the 
 same school, had imbibed no small share of the same spirit. Of 
 these Europeans a portion of Adlercron's regiment constituted, 
 perhaps, the flower. The name of Adlercron has long since ceased 
 to be had in remembrance ; but the gallant 39th still carry with 
 them, wherever they go, a memorial of that day the word 
 " Plassey," and the proud motto " Primus in Indis," standing 
 emblazoned upon their colours, beside many a similar record of 
 good service performed in Spain and in the south of France. 
 
 The battle of Plassey began at daybreak, and was continued 
 for many hours with a heavy cannonade on the part of the enemy, 
 to which the guns of the English warmly replied. The fire of 
 the latter told at every round ; that of the former was much 
 
 G
 
 82 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 more noisy than destructive, partly because Clive sheltered his 
 men behind a mud fence which surrounded the grove, partly 
 because the Nabob's artillerists were as unskilful as their weapons 
 were cumbrous. No decisive movement was, however, made on 
 either side, for Clive felt himself too weak in numbers to act on 
 the offensive. Besides, he still expected that Meer Jaffier would 
 come over to him, and, till some indication of the anticipated 
 move were given, he did not consider that he would be justified 
 in quitting his ground. The Nabob's troops, on the other hand, 
 were such as the ablest general could not pretend to mano3uvre 
 under fire, and able generals were wholly wanting to them. 
 Under these circumstances Clive, whom excessive fatigue had 
 worn out, lay down and slept, though not till he had given di- 
 rections that, in the event of any change occurring, he should be 
 immediately called. Accordingly, about noon, one of his people 
 awoke him and said that the enemy were retiring. lie started 
 up : the day, it appeared, being overcast, a heavy shower had 
 fallen, which so damaged the enemy's powder that their artillery 
 became in a great degree useless ; and, as they trusted entirely 
 to their superiority in that arm, they no longer ventured to keep 
 the field. In a moment Clive gave the word to advance. There 
 was one little band attached to the Nabob's force which served 
 him in good stead that day. It consisted of about 40 French 
 soldiers, European and native, the remains of the garrison of 
 Chandernagore, with four light field-pieces. Against these Clive 
 first directed an attack to be "made, and, though they resisted 
 stoutly, he drove them from a redoubt in which they were esta- 
 blished, and seized their guns. With the apparent design of 
 preventing this, the Nabob's people again sallied forth ; but 
 they came on, this time, in a confused mass, and a well-directed 
 fire from the English guns first checked and then turned them. 
 Advantage was promptly taken of the panic ; no respite was 
 given to the fugitives, for the victors, entering with them pell- 
 mell into their camp, soon converted the retreat into a flight. 
 In an hour from the first movement of the English beyond the 
 exterior of the grove, a battle, on which may be said to have 
 hung the destinies of India, was decided. 
 
 Military operations, such as that which has just been described, 
 as they set all the rules of calculation and probability at defiance,
 
 CHAP, ix.] BATTLE OF PL ASSET. 83 
 
 so they are placed out of the pale of sober criticism. Proceedings 
 which in any other quarter of the world, and in the face of any 
 other enemy, would have convicted a leader of sheer insanity, 
 were shown by the result to have been in Olive's case as judicious 
 as they were bold. No doubt he was encouraged to place him- 
 self in contact with the Nabob by assurances from Meer Jaffier 
 of support ; and Jaffier, though he did not fulfil his promise as 
 he ought to have done, unquestionably held aloof in spite of 
 repeated orders to the contrary. Indeed, there seems no cause 
 to doubt that apprehensions of treason within the camp operated 
 as powerfully as terror of the English army to take away from 
 Suraj-u-Dowlah the slender share of courage and presence of 
 mind which nature had bestowed upon him. But be the causes 
 what they might, never was a victory so important in its political 
 consequences gained at such a trifling loss of human life. Of 
 the conquerors there fell that day 22 killed and about 50 
 wounded, chiefly sepoys. Not more than 500, out of the rabble 
 of 60,000 or 70,000 men that marched under the Nabob's 
 standard, died in the battle. Their dispersion was, however, 
 complete, and guns, tents, baggage, with an enormous booty of 
 every sort, became the prey of the conquerors.
 
 84 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Meer Jaffier made Nabob Treaty with the English Fate of Omichund. 
 
 WHILE the fighting, such as it was, went on, Clive observed a 
 large body of troops on the left of the enemy's line gradually 
 withdraw from communication with their comrades, and move 
 obliquely round his own right. They sent no messenger to 
 communicate with him. nor endeavoured by any other process to 
 explain their intentions ; they were therefore fired upon more 
 than once when their eccentric evolutions threatened to bring 
 them nearer to the grove than seemed desirable. No sooner 
 was the battle ended, however, than horsemen came in to an- 
 nounce that the suspicious column consisted of Meer Jaffier's 
 corps, and that Meer Jaffier heartily congratulated his friend on 
 the results of the struggle. That night the two armies en- 
 camped close to one another, and early on the following day 
 Meer Jaffier visited Clive in his tent. Whether conscious that 
 appearances, if not facts, were against him, or being moved by 
 the common feeling of his countrymen on such occasions, he 
 exhibited strong symptoms of uneasiness when a guard turned 
 out to receive him ; but these Clive made haste to dispel. He 
 went forth to meet him, embraced him in the presence of his 
 people, saluted him as Nabob of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and 
 ushered him into his tent. There Meer Jaffier explained the 
 circumstances which had prevented an earlier fulfilment of his 
 engagements ; and described the Nabob as having laboured for 
 many days under a degree of excitement which came little short 
 of insanity. The last act of this miserable man had indeed some- 
 thing very touching about it. After upbraiding and threatening 
 Meer Jaffier up to the morning of the attack, he sent for him, 
 just as the columns were filing out of their entrenchments, and, 
 pulling off his turban, cast it in the general's lap, and implored 
 him to do his duty. To pull off the turban and lay it in the lap
 
 CHAP, x.j SURAJ-U-DOWLAH BEHEADED. 85 
 
 of another is the last act of humiliation and confidence which a 
 Mussulman can perform ; and Meer Jaffier, probably moved by 
 the proceeding, swore to defend the turban and its wearer to the 
 death. But the oaths of Orientals are not often more binding 
 than the promises to pay of traders in a state of bankruptcy ; and 
 Meer Jaffier no sooner quitted the presence than he forgot the 
 scene which he had witnessed there. How he bore himself 
 throughout the contest has already been explained. 
 
 While Clive and his protege were discussing the events of the 
 past and plans for the future, Suraj-u-Dowlah fled, well-nigh 
 unattended, to Moorshedabad. He shut himself up in his palace, 
 and listened for a while to the advices of such of his friends as ac- 
 companied him from the field or joined him from the city. Now 
 he determined to give himself up to the English, being persuaded 
 to believe that with them his life at least would be safe ; now he 
 resolved to try again the fortune of war, and to prevail or perish 
 in the defence of his capital. But he had not courage enough 
 to sustain him in the accomplishment of either purpose. As 
 soon as darkness set in he disguised himself in the dress of a 
 mechanic, and, taking a casket full of valuable jewels in his 
 hands, let himself down from a window in the palace and got 
 into a boat, which he desired might carry him towards Patna. 
 He did not, however, succeed in making his escape. Though 
 his flight was not discovered for some days after it had occurred, 
 a vigilant search was immediately made in all directions, and, 
 being found or betrayed in the neighbourhood of Rajahmahal, 
 he was seized, carried back to Moorshedabad, and there be- 
 headed. 
 
 Meanwhile Clive and Meer Jaffier, having arranged their plans 
 of operation, proceeded without an hour's delay to carry them 
 into execution. Meer Jaffier pushed on at once to Moorsheda- 
 bad, where he arrived some hours before Suraj-u-Dovvlah quitted 
 it. Clive, directing the main body of his troops to follow, 
 marched in the same direction at the head of two hundred Euro- 
 pean and three hundred sepoy infantry. Not a sword was drawn, 
 not a spear levelled, to oppose the progress of the successful 
 conspirator towards the palace. But the ceremony of instalment 
 he would not permit to go on till Clive had come up to take 
 part in it. It was the Englishman's hand which led the new
 
 86 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 Nabob to his throne ; and amid the stupefaction occasioned by 
 such a rapid succession of marvellous events, neither Maho- 
 medan Nabobs nor Hindoo bankers appeared to look with sur- 
 prise on the proceeding-. This lull in feelings which were as 
 acute, a century ago, among- the native aristocracy of India as 
 they are now among ourselves, could not, however, be expected 
 long to continue. Their pride, if not their patriotism, soon 
 awoke. They could not bear to have the conviction forced on 
 them that adventurers whom, till now, they had never beheld 
 in their presence except as petitioners for commercial advantages 
 or protection against danger, should enter the halls of their 
 princes armed to the teeth, and give a ruler to their country. 
 And if, in due time, even Meer Jaffier began to think more 
 of the degradation to which his race was subjected than of the 
 benefits conferred personally on himself, he must take but a 
 limited view of human nature, and the springs of action which 
 stir it, who can affect either surprise or indignation at the cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 Regret and indignation rarely find scope to exercise them- 
 selves amid the excitement of a successful revolution. Whatever 
 he came by and by to feel, Meer Jaffier was for the present full 
 of gratitude ; and the satisfaction which he experienced was 
 shared with him by the leading men who had been his advisers 
 and friends during the progress of the conspiracy. Whatever 
 terms Clive proposed they urged the new sovereign to accept, 
 and he did accept them. That these were extravagantly severe 
 will not, it is presumed, be in our days disputed. Clive and the 
 gentlemen who had the largest share in his confidence did not so 
 regard them ; because they laboured under a mistaken belief 
 that there were no limits to the wealth of the native princes. 
 Indeed, Messrs. Watts and Walsh, whom Clive, to use his own 
 words, " sent forward to inquire into the state of the treasury, and 
 to watch proceedings in the palace," gave such an exaggerated 
 account of the riches accumulated by the Nabobs of Bengal, that 
 there can be no wonder if both they and he should have overshot 
 the mark. The consequence was, that, when the final treaty came 
 to be arranged, it promised to the Company advantages which 
 went as far beyond their wildest expectations as they exceeded 
 the power of Meer Jaffier to confer without ruin to himself and
 
 CHAP, x.] TREATY WITH MEER JAFF1ER. 87 
 
 to his provinces. The following details I extract from Olive's 
 official letter to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors, 
 dated at Moorshedabad on the 26th of July, 1758 : 
 
 " The substance of the treaty with the present Nabob is as 
 follows : 
 
 " 1. Confirmation of the mint, and all other grants and pri- 
 vileges in the treaty with the late Nabob. 
 
 " 2. An alliance, offensive and defensive, against all enemies 
 whatever. 
 
 " 3. The French factories and effects to be delivered up, and 
 they never permitted to resettle in any of the provinces. 
 
 " 4. One hundred lacs of rupees to be paid to the Company in 
 consideration of the loss at Calcutta and the expenses of the 
 campaign. 
 
 " 5. Fifty lacs to be given to the English sufferers at the loss 
 of Calcutta. 
 
 " 6. Twenty lacs to Gentoos, Moors, and black sufferers at 
 the loss of Calcutta. 
 
 " 7. Seven lacs to the Armenian sufferers. These three last 
 donations to be distributed at the pleasure of the Admiral and 
 gentlemen of Council, including me. 
 
 "8. The entire property of all lands within the Mahratta 
 ditch, which runs round Calcutta, to be vested in the Company ; 
 also six hundred yards all round without the said ditch. 
 
 " 9. The Company to have the Zemindarry of the country to 
 the south of Calcutta lying between the lake and the river, and 
 reaching as far as Culpee, they paying the customary rents paid 
 by the former Zemindars to the Government. 
 
 " 10. Whenever the assistance of the English troops shall be 
 wanted, their extraordinary charge to be paid by the Nabob. 
 
 "11. No forts to be erected by the Government on the river- 
 side from Hooghly downwards. 
 
 " 12. The foregoing articles to be performed without delay, 
 as soon as Meer Jaffier becomes Soubahdar." 
 
 It is impossible for us, who are accustomed to think of the 
 East India Company as sovereigns of the whole extent of territory 
 which lies between Cape Comorin and the Himalaya Mountains, 
 to conceive the importance of such an arrangement as this to the 
 same Company, being as yet traders and merchants in the land.
 
 88 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 Comparatively small as the Zemindarry conceded to them might 
 be, it established them iu the country as a substantive power 
 bound, indeed, to pay to the Nabob a stipulated tribute, but 
 absolute masters, after this should have been discharged, of all 
 the revenues, from whatever source arising, which they could 
 collect throughout their territory. The value of these Clive, in 
 the letter from which I have just quoted, calculates at ten lacs, 
 or 100,0007. sterling. The expulsion of the French, also, and 
 the entire disarming of the river, ensured to the Lords of Fort 
 William and its dependencies the monopoly of the trade of all 
 the districts through which the Ganges held its course : and the 
 pledge taken that English troops should be liberally paid for as 
 often as the Nabob might require their services amounted well- 
 nigh to an engagement that the Company's army would be main- 
 tained at the expense of the sovereign of Moorshedabad. In 
 like manner the pecuniary grants made, in the shape of compen- 
 sation for damages received, fell not short of 1,770,0007. But, 
 enormous as this outlay seems, we have not yet completed our 
 list of payments. The army and navy both expected to share in 
 the riches that seemed to descend from heaven in a shower, and 
 one million more of sterling money was thus added to the Na- 
 bob's debt, which went on accumulating as members of Council, 
 political agents, and I know not how many other functionaries 
 besides, put in claims, and had them agreed to. Meanwhile 
 Omichund flattered himself that 650,0007. were secured to him, 
 and Clive was already in possession of 160,0007. which Meer 
 Jaffier, in the first burst of his gratitude, had presented to him. 
 And now came the question How were all these pecuniary 
 obligations to be discharged ? The treasury, which Mr. Watts 
 had described as crammed with 4,000,0007. in bullion, besides 
 jewels of inestimable value, was found, on examination, to con- 
 tain in all 1,500,0007. The obligations given, without taking 
 into account Omichund's claim, the claims of the Committee, 
 or the gift already accepted and received by Clive, amounted to 
 2,700,0007. if the two latter sums be added, to upwards of 
 3,500,0007. Whence were the means of liquidating so pro- 
 digious a debt to be derived, and how was the Nabob to keep his 
 own army in a state of subordination by paying up even a por- 
 tion of the arrears which were already due to them ? The
 
 CHAP, x.] EXTORTIONS OF EUROPEANS. 89 
 
 question was full of difficulties, and could not have been answered 
 at all, had not Roydullub, the finance minister, and Juggeit Seit, 
 the wealthy Hindoo banker, come to the assistance of the unfortu- 
 nate Meer Jaffier. By the assistance of these persons the Nabob 
 proposed to pay one half of the amount immediately two-thirds 
 of this portion in coined money, the other third in plate, jewels, 
 and goods ; while the other half he engaged to liquidate in the 
 course of two years by equal instalments. Clive writes of this 
 arrangement so early as the month of July in the following 
 terms: " The part to be paid in money is received, and safely 
 arrived at Calcutta ; and the goods, jewels, &c., are now deli- 
 vered over to us, the major part of which will be bought back 
 by the Nabob for ready money, and in the remaining there will 
 be little or no loss. A large proportion was proposed to be paid 
 us in jewels ; but as these are not a very saleable article, we got 
 the amount reduced one-half, and the difference to be made up 
 in money." 
 
 It is not pleasant to put upon record the memorial of such 
 transactions as these. The glory of conquest seems to be obscured 
 by them, and patriotism and high emprise degenerate, as we read, 
 into sordid impulses and the mere lust of gain. Let vis not, 
 however, bear too hardly upon the individuals who thus cared 
 for their own interests. They acted in the spirit of the age in 
 which they lived. India appeared then to the people of England 
 pretty much what Mexico and Peru were held by the Spaniards 
 to be when they first discovered them a mine of wealth which 
 could not be exhausted ; and if Clive and his friends considered 
 that, they were justified in gathering as large a portion of the 
 produce as circumstances would allow, perhaps they took a view 
 of their own case not different from that which most men so 
 situated would have taken. But there is a darker shadow on 
 their fame which I must not shrink from describing. Of the 
 double agreement with Omichund notice has already been taken. 
 That, as well as the subscription of the Admiral's name by a 
 strange hand, both the Committee and the officer most deeply 
 affected by the transaction had forgiven ; and it now only re- 
 mained to inform the Hindoo of the extent to which he had been 
 duped. On the morning of the day when Clive met Meer Jaffier 
 and his counsellors in order to arrange for the payment of the new
 
 90 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 Nabob's debts, Omichund joined the conclave. He suspected no 
 fraud : not an act or word of Clive or any of his colleagues had 
 ever led him to harbour a suspicion of their double dealing ; 
 and, after hearing the white treaty read, he waited, expecting 
 that the red document would in its turn be produced. Clive felt 
 that the time was come for putting an end to the delusion. " It 
 is now proper," said he in English to Mr. Scrafton, one of the 
 Company's servants who was present, " to undeceive Omichund. 
 You may tell him how the case stands." Mr. Scrafton at once 
 undertook the office of interpreter. " Omichund," he quietly 
 observed in the language of the country, " the red treaty is a 
 sham : you are to have nothing." The wretched man fell, as if 
 shot, insensible, into the arms of an attendant. He was carried 
 out into the air and revived ; but the blow proved more severe 
 than his faculties could sustain. He never uttered a complaint, 
 but passed by rapid degrees into a state of idiotcy. It is said 
 that Clive pitied and spoke kindly to him, advising him to go 
 upon a pilgrimage to some holy shrine, and offering to pay his 
 expenses. It is even hinted that, in spite of all that had oc- 
 curred, he entertained serious thoughts of again employing the 
 Plindoo in the public service ; but the Hindoo did not compre- 
 hend the nature of either proposition. After surviving a few 
 months, in the course of which he squandered the residue of his 
 fortune in trinkets and jewels and rich garments, he died ; and, 
 amid the busy scenes of that busy stage in Indian history, ceased, 
 at least for a while, to be remembered. 
 
 As it seems desirable to get rid of so painful a portion of my 
 narrative, I may be permitted, perhaps, to give in this place 
 an outline of the proceedings which occurred when the plunder 
 of the new Nabob came to be divided among his allies, even 
 though I be compelled somewhat to anticipate, in so doing, the 
 chronological order of events. With respect to the presents 
 bestowed upon the Committee, there seems to have been no re- 
 markable difference of opinion anywhere. Clive, as president of 
 the body, received by common consent a larger share than any 
 of the rest. It amounted to two hundred and eighty thousand 
 rupees, or 28,000/. sterling. The members w r ere satisfied each 
 with two hundred and forty thousand rupees, or 24,000/. sterling ; 
 while subordinate agents such as Messrs. Watts, Walsh, and
 
 CHAP, x.] DISGRACEFUL RAPACITY. 91 
 
 suchlike, came in for their douceurs. One name, and only one 
 that of Warren Hastings does not appear in the list of reci- 
 pients of the Nabob's bounty. Yet Hastings -played his part, 
 though of course a subordinate one, in the money-making 
 drama. 
 
 Again, the spirit by which the whole body of these adventurers 
 was animated showed itself in the exhibition of a mean jealousy 
 of the army against the navy, and of the officers in the service 
 of the Crown and of the Company one class towards the other. 
 It makes one blush to read, even at this distance of time, how 
 councils of war assembled that they might wrangle and fight over 
 the distribution of the spoil of one for whom they professed to 
 have drawn the sword. Among other disgraceful resolutions, 
 there was one which decided that the seamen who accompanied 
 the expedition, and helped to drag the guns, should receive, not 
 as soldiers, but only as sailors belonging to the fleet. This, of 
 course, reduced their share much below that of men whose 
 dangers and hardships they had shared ; and, though Clive seems 
 to have severely censured this resolution, even he had not in- 
 fluence enough to compel a reversal of it. But another out- 
 rageous proposition he did curb ere it could be carried into effect. 
 The officers composing this council demanded to be put at once 
 in possession of the sums granted to both services, in order that 
 they might distribute them without the intervention of prize- 
 agents, and protested against Clive's refusal to yield the point. 
 The Colonel must tell his own story on this occasion, for rapa- 
 city must have gone beyond all limits of toleration when it drew 
 from Clive such declarations as the following : 
 
 " I took the first opportunity," he says in a letter to Admiral 
 Watson, " of a little spare time to call a council of war for the 
 division of that share of the prize-money which belongs to the 
 army. I am sorry to say that several warm and selfish debates 
 arose ; and I cannot help thinking that the officers belonging to 
 the navy with the expedition here have had injustice done them 
 in not being allowed to share agreeable to the land division, 
 which was carried against them by a great majority. Enclosed 
 I send you the proceedings of the council of war. The last 
 article, after having been in a manner agreed to, was again 
 brought upon the carpet ; and, notwithstanding that I represented
 
 92 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 to the gentlemen in the strongest terms that the money could 
 not be divided till it was shroffed, and the agents of both parties 
 present, without the greatest injustice to the navy, they still 
 persisted in giving their opinions for an immediate division of 
 the money ; upon which I overruled the votes and broke up the 
 council of war." 
 
 Clive overruled the votes of his officers, but did not overcome 
 so easily the spirit in which they originated. A protest was sent 
 in against his decision ; to which he replied, first, by putting in 
 arrest the individuals who presented it, and then by addressing 
 to the body for whom they acted the following note : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I have received both your remonstrance and 
 protest. Had you consulted the dictates of your own reason, 
 those of justice, or the respect due to your commanding officer, 
 I am persuaded such a paper, so highly injurious to your own 
 honour as officers, could never have escaped you. 
 
 " You say you were assembled at a council to give your 
 opinion upon a matter of property. Pray, gentlemen, how 
 comes it that a promise of a sum of money from the Nabob, 
 entirely negotiated by me, can be deemed a matter of right and 
 property ? So far from it, it is now in my power to return to 
 the Nabob the money already advanced, and leave it to his 
 decision whether he will perform his promise or not. You have 
 stormed no town and found the money there ; neither did you 
 find it in the plains of Plassey after the defeat of the Nabob. 
 In short, gentlemen, it pains me to remind you, that what you 
 are to receive is entirely owing to the care which I took of your 
 interest. Had I not interfered greatly in it, you would have been 
 left to the Company's generosity, who perhaps would have 
 thought you sufficiently rewarded in receiving a present of six 
 months' pay ; in return for which I have been treated with the 
 greatest disrespect and ingratitude, and, what is still worse, you 
 have flown in the face of my authority, for overruling an opinion 
 which, if passed, would have been highly injurious to your own 
 reputation, being attended with injustice to the navy, and been 
 of the worst consequences to the cause of the nation and the 
 Company. 
 
 " I shall therefore send the money down to Calcutta, give
 
 CHAP, x.] REBUKE TO THE OFFICERS. 93 
 
 directions to the agents of both parties to have it shroffed ; and 
 when the Nabob signifies his pleasure (on whom it solely de- 
 pends) that the money be paid you, you shall then receive it, and 
 not before. 
 
 " Your behaviour has been such that you cannot expect I 
 should interest myself any further in your concerns. I therefore 
 retract the promise I made the other day, of negotiating either the 
 rest of the Nabob's promise, or the one-third which was to be 
 received in the same manner as the rest of the public money, at 
 three yearly equal payments. 
 
 " I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) " KOB. CLIVE. 
 
 " Moorshedabad, 
 
 5th July, 1757." 
 
 This sharp rebuke produced the full effect that was desired. 
 The officers knew better than to hold out against a chief of 
 Clive's temper, and withdrew their protest, offering at the same 
 time an ample apology for having presented it. Much gratitude 
 was likewise expressed by the Admiral for the care which was 
 taken of the seamen's interests ; and all sourness on account of the 
 forged signature, if indeed any such feeling ever existed, died out. 
 " The Admiral," wrote Captain Latham, his confidential aide-de- 
 camp, " drinks every day a bumper to your health " the surest 
 token, a hundred years ago, of friendship on the part of the 
 drinker. Nevertheless, Clive, though seeming to prosper in all 
 to which he put his hand, was not without his causes of anxiety. 
 The authorities at Madras had repeatedly recalled him, and each 
 new letter brought with it proofs more strong than another 
 that impatience was deepening among them into discontent. The 
 Committee of Government at Bengal, with Mr. Drake at its 
 head, began in like manner to discover that they were likely to 
 find in the commander of their armies more of a master than of a 
 colleague. They, too, harassed him with their communications, 
 and spoke of the necessity of providing for the defence of Fort 
 William on the very day when he gained for them the decisive 
 battle of Plassey. Clive had no hesitation in treating such remon- 
 strants with the contempt which they merited. He told them, in
 
 94 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. x. 
 
 point of fact, that he was a better judge than they of what would 
 best conduce to the well-being of the settlement, and pursued his 
 own course. But with the Madras Government his game was more 
 delicate ; he played, however, with boldness, and he won. He 
 assured them that his presence in Bengal was of more im- 
 portance now to the Company's interests than it had ever been, 
 and declined sending back a man till the negotiations on which 
 he had entered should be complete. Posterity has never blamed 
 him for this. He had made a move from which there was no 
 retracting : he had brought the affairs of his employers into such 
 a state that there was no alternative for him or for them except 
 complete success or entire ruin. The degree of responsibility 
 which he was bold enough to assume would have crushed, by the 
 bare thought of it, almost any other man than himself. Yet the 
 results justified his measures ; and, as public men have in all ages 
 been tried rather by the issues than the strict propriety of their 
 plans, so he won for himself a proud name by a process which 
 might have subjected him to the last penalty of the law. Out 
 of such materials are heroes and conquerors formed.
 
 CHAP, xi.] ABUSES IN CALCUTTA. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Fresh troubles in Bengal Colonel Forde's expedition to the Northern 
 Circars Clive's Jaghire or Feof. 
 
 HAVING placed the affairs of Moorshedabad in such a train as 
 promised to lead to a satisfactory settlement, and engaged a 
 powerful interest to obtain for Meer Jaffier a formal acknow- 
 ledgment from the Emperor of his title as Nabob, Clive, whose 
 presence in Calcutta seems to have been much required, returned 
 to that city. He found it, as settlements are wont to be on 
 which unlooked-for prosperity has fallen with a strong tide, filled 
 with people who could not sufficiently rejoice, but neglected by 
 its rulers, who, equally with the inhabitants, appeared to imagine 
 that reverses could never come again. Not a step had been 
 taken to repair or enlarge the fortifications, though the right 
 to do so was accounted one of the most important of the articles 
 included in the treaty. Nobody knew or had adopted measures 
 to ascertain the geographical limits of the Zemindarry of which 
 the Company had become possessed ; arid a great influx of 
 wealth had produced its usual consequences in those days, by 
 relaxing the bonds of discipline among the military classes, and 
 lowering the tone of morals already low enough in every 
 other. Clive set himself to remedy these abuses with the vigour 
 which appertained to his character, and did not permit the death 
 of Admiral Watson, though he deeply and sincerely lamented 
 it for the time at least required in doing honour to the funeral 
 to interfere with his public duties. But his measures of reform 
 were yet very incomplete when pressing calls in other quarters 
 carried him again to a distance. It soon became apparent that 
 neither by natural talent nor yet on account of the embarrassment 
 of his circumstances was Meer Jaffier suited for the station 
 to which accident had raised him. His treasury being exhausted, 
 and his troops clamorous for pay, he could devise no better
 
 96 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 means of replenishing the one or satisfying the other than 
 by plundering the more wealthy of his subjects. This was an 
 old game, for which the Hindoo bankers and the governors of 
 provinces could scarcely be unprepared ; and they consequently 
 assumed, as with one accord, the attitude of men who were 
 determined to play it out. Roydullub, who had much befriended 
 him while conspiring against his master, withdrew from attend- 
 ance on Meer Jaffier, and fenced himself round with friends. 
 The Rajah of Purneah, the Manager of Midnapore, and the 
 Ruler of Patna, all went into rebellion ; and, to complete the 
 difficulties of the Nabob's position, Sujah-u-Dowlah, the Viceroy 
 of Oude, assisted, as was believed, by the latter of the?e nobles, 
 made preparations to invade the provinces. Moreover, the Viceroy 
 of Oude, who was doubly formidable because of his well-known 
 connexion with the French party, had at his own disposal 
 resources not inferior to those which in his palmiest days the 
 Nabob of Bengal could command. Thus threatened on every 
 side, Meer Jaffier sent repeated entreaties that Clive would 
 hasten to his assistance. The latter could not refuse to comply, 
 though the disposable force which he was able to muster 
 amounted to no more than 500 Europeans and 2000 sepoys. 
 Nevertheless, as he well understood the causes of these disorders, 
 and had the best reason to believe that the Hindoo chiefs were 
 far more disposed to look to him as their protector than to the 
 Nabob as their enemy, he entertained no misgivings about the 
 result. His reasoning proved to be as sound in this case as it 
 usually was. No sooner was it known that Clive came to me- 
 diate between parties, than first one and then another of the 
 malcontents threw themselves upon his protection. He did not 
 reject them, while at the same time he spared, as far as it Mas 
 possible so to do, the feelings of the Nabob ; and the result was, 
 first, a progress by Meer Jaffier and the English leader and his 
 troops through the disaffected provinces, and, by and by, the 
 full re-establishment of that Hindoo influence at 'court which the 
 Nabob had hoped, by the assistance of the English, to overthrow. 
 There is no doubt that, by the part which he took in these 
 domestic quarrels, Clive wrought the Nabob good service. It 
 is equally certain that he did not forget either the Company or 
 its servants. He unquestionably extricated the former out of
 
 CHAP, xi.] ARRANGEMENTS WITH MEER JAFFIER. 97 
 
 perplexities from which he never could have extricated himself; 
 but he did so on his own terms. He caused Meer Jaffier to 
 make an assignment of the revenues of certain districts for the 
 purpose of liquidating the residue of the debt still due to the 
 Company and to individuals ; and he obtained, over and above, a 
 grant of the monopoly of saltpetre, which is produced to a con- 
 siderable extent in the province of Patna. Finally, the neces- 
 sary forms for investing the Government of Calcutta with the 
 Zemindarry were made out. In a word, " We may pronounce," 
 as he himself expresses it, " that this expedition, without blood- 
 shed, was crowned with all the advantages that could be expected 
 or wished, both to the Nabob and the Company." 
 
 Clive patched up the affairs of the Nabob's government on 
 the present occasion as well as he could. He seems to have felt 
 that his own personal honour was in some measure pledged to 
 the maintenance of Meer Jaffier on the throne ; and he probably 
 conceived that the time was not yet fully come for playing 
 a bolder game : nevertheless, there is good reason to assume 
 that he had already begun to look further, and that plans for 
 the substitution of a direct in the room of au indirect sovereignty 
 in the Company which he served were maturing themselves in 
 his mind. This is shown as well by various expressions in his 
 letters, as by the line of policy which he counselled and enforced 
 on more than one delicate occasion. For example: a report 
 of the speedy arrival of a French armament in the Ganges was 
 about this time spread. The Committee of Government took 
 the alarm, and wrote to Clive, begging that he would enforce 
 the terms of his alliance with Meer Jaffier, and prevail upon the 
 latter to send an army to their assistance. Clive refused to do 
 anything of the sort ; he pointed out, in his answer to the Com- 
 mittee's application, that the relative positions of the Company 
 and the Nabob were changed in Bengal. The Nabob owed to 
 them his throne ; he depended upon them for support, or be- 
 lieved that he did so, and hated, in consequence, the very power 
 without which his sovereignty, as then conducted, was not worth 
 an hour's purchase. So long as they held towards him an atti- 
 tude of superiority things would thus continue ; but the moment 
 they became suppliants especially suppliants for protection 
 against a foreign enemy a revulsion of feeling on his part 
 
 H
 
 98 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 would arise. Promising whatever should be sought, without so 
 much as intending to keep the promise, he would assume the 
 same air of superiority which his predecessors used to wear, and, 
 either with or without the assistance of the French, would do 
 his best to govern alone. dive's reasoning prevailed ; no 
 application was made to the Nabob for aid. Indeed, an en- 
 counter at sea between the English and French squadrons soon 
 afterwards taking place, of which the issues were doubtful, 
 if indeed they did not tell rather against than in favour of the 
 former, furnished him with an occasion, which he took good 
 care to improve, of boasting about the resistless power of his 
 country by sea as well as by land. The Nabob, accepting his 
 testimony, could only congratulate himself on having secured 
 the friendship of such a people ; and certain advances which 
 Bussy had begun to make were repulsed without ceremony. 
 
 Clive remained but a few days subsequently to these transac- 
 tions at Moorshedabad. Early in June he returned to Calcutta, 
 and began to make arrangements for carrying help to the 
 Presidency of Fort St. George. He was thus employed, when 
 the arrival of the " Hardvvicke" East Indiaman, with despatches 
 from the Court of Directors, paralysed, for a moment, the whole 
 machine of government. The despatches in question contained 
 the Honourable Court's plan for the management of the affairs 
 of their settlements on the Hooghly, of which it is not too much 
 to say, that arrangements more ridiculously incapable of working, 
 except for harm, could not have been devised. By some curious 
 perversity of intellect or purpose, too, the plan was not simple, 
 but complex. One document, signed in August, and drawn up 
 immediately on receipt of disastrous intelligence from Fort 
 William, appointed a Committee of five to conduct the govern- 
 ment, of which Clive should be president. Another, dated in 
 the month of November following, when the re-capture of the 
 fort seems to have been known, dismissed Mr. Drake, of whose 
 incompetency there could be no doubt, and nominated a council 
 of ten. From the names of the gentlemen appointed to this 
 charge that of Clive was omitted ; and it was directed that the 
 office of president should be held in a rotation of three months 
 respectively by the four senior members. Of the policy which 
 could thus, with malice prepense, subject the executive to certain
 
 CHAP, xi.] CL1VE PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL. 99 
 
 feebleness, if not to a worse end, it is not worth while to speak. 
 Only men in their dotage, or else so blinded by suspicion as not 
 to see an inch before them, could have adopted it ; but the omis- 
 sion from the list of rulers of the name of that particular person 
 whom the Court acknowledged to be the ablest among their 
 servants could not have occurred except designedly. It is said, 
 and I believe with truth, that already had that jealousy which 
 waited upon Clive at every stage in his extraordinary advance- 
 ment begun to show itself. Whether reports of his contumacy 
 from Fort St. George operated to his hurt, or that mediocrity 
 waged war in Leadenhall-street, as it does everywhere else against 
 genius, the result was the same. Though all felt that they could 
 not do without him, the majority of the Directors would appear 
 to have decided that it would be prudent to keep such an aspir- 
 ing soldier as far as possible in the background. But whatever 
 the policy of the Court might.be, the state of public feeling in 
 Calcutta, as well as the real exigences of the settlement, interposed 
 an insuperable bar to its accomplishment. The ten gentlemen 
 named as counsellors, with the four presidents elect at their head, 
 passed a resolution that a form of government such as that dic- 
 tated in London would never work at Bengal. They further 
 decided that Clive, and only Clive, was capable of conducting 
 matters under existing circumstances to a triumphant issue ; and 
 they drew up a paper in which they entreated him to accept at 
 their hands the office of president, and to discharge its duties till 
 time should be afforded for communicating further with the Court 
 of Directors. Clive, indignant at the slight which seemed to be 
 put upon him in London, refused at first to accede to this pro- 
 position ; but the feeling in favour of the arrangement ran so 
 high in Calcutta, that he was constrained to yield. In a hand- 
 some reply to a very handsome address, he expressed his readi- 
 ness to undertake the charge, and entered immediately upon the 
 government with as much courage as if the authority which he 
 wielded had come to him from Leadenhall-street, or the Court 
 of St. James's itself. 
 
 I must not pass on from the consideration of this subject with- 
 out observing that there was one member of the Court of Direct- 
 ors Mr. Payne, the chairman who seems to have escaped the 
 contamination of the feeling, whatever it might be, which 
 
 H2
 
 100 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 arrayed his colleagues at the present juncture against Clive. 
 His letters to the hero of Plassey are in existence ; and they 
 show that he entertained for his correspondent equal respect and 
 regard. He says, indeed, that the " almost unlimited powers 
 with which the select committee of Fort St. George " had armed 
 Clive on first proceeding to the Ganges, as they had alarmed 
 others, so they had staggered even himself; and expresses an 
 opinion that Clive, in taking advantage of them, though it were 
 even for the public good, had stirred the jealousy of the home 
 authorities. But he so delivers his views as to leave a decided 
 impression on the mind that he, at least, would have been glad 
 to see Clive where dive's coadjutors in the local government 
 placed him. Indeed Clive himself, when referring to the cir- 
 cumstances in after-life, declared that Mr. Payne's letters went 
 no inconsiderable way to induce his acceptance of the presi- 
 dency which the local Council pressed upon him. There can be 
 no doubt now that it was this arrangement, and nothing else, 
 which laid the foundation of a British empire in India ; and both 
 they who waived their own rights, and he who did not shrink 
 from governing without a commission, deserve honourable re- 
 membrance. Moreover, the event proved that, in taking so 
 decisive a step, Clive and his friends only anticipated the wishes of 
 their superiors. The next despatches which arrived, having been 
 drawn up with a knowledge of the battle of Plassey and of its 
 results, did full justice to the character and services of the victor 
 in that fight. Clive became, by virtue of a commission from 
 Leadenhall-street, Governor of Bengal, with powers more ample 
 than had ever been conferred before on any of the Company's 
 representatives in India. 
 
 Meanwhile matters were not going on very prosperously either 
 in the Carnatic or elsewhere. The French, having received a 
 considerable accession to their strength, advanced against Fort 
 St. David and took it. They made preparations next to invest 
 Madras itself, which Lawrence, now less vigorous than he once 
 was, found much difficulty in counterworking ; and the demands 
 for Clive's return, or at all events for a return of the coast divi- 
 sion of troops, became very urgent. Clive was not inattentive 
 either to these matters or to the proceedings of the enemy in 
 other quarters. He had seen with regret and alarm the pro-
 
 CHAP. XL] EXPEDITION TO THE NORTHERN C1RCARS. 101 
 
 gress which Bussy had made in those provinces which lie between 
 Madras and the mouths of the Ganges, and which are known as the 
 Northern Circars ; and it now occurred to him that the best mode 
 of succouring Madras would be to invade these^ conquests from 
 Bengal. Even this proposal, when he made it, however, met with 
 strong opposition in the Council. The arrival of a French fleet 
 in the Hooghly was anticipated from day to day. Fresh causes 
 of uneasiness, of which I shall speak presently, were springing 
 up at Moorshedabad ; and M. Law, who after the defeat of Suraj- 
 u-Dowlah, had escaped into Oude, was reported to be organizing 
 a force wherewith to take advantage of them. The Council 
 therefore opposed themselves to a plan which, though it might 
 not carry any portion of the army beyond the reach of recall, 
 would undoubtedly cripple the military resources of the province 
 to an extent which they could not contemplate with equanimity. 
 But Clive had made up his mind, and, according to usage in 
 such cases, prevailed. Not blind to the weakness, perhaps 
 natural in persons circumstanced as they were, which led the 
 rulers of each province to think of the Company's interests as 
 absolutely bound up in the safety of their own settlement, he 
 agreed with the Council in refusing to detach a man to Madras ; 
 and he gave as his reason a belief that the authorities there 
 would do as he had done keep the troops after they had got 
 them, let the wants of Bengal become as urgent as they might. 
 At the same time he felt that the Bengal Government was bound, 
 on every account, to succour the sister presidency to the utmost ; 
 and he came to the conclusion that the safest mode of doing so 
 would be to attack the enemy in their newly-acquired possessions 
 in the Northern Circars. Accordingly, having selected Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Forde, an officer of promise, though as yet untried 
 in the field, to command the expedition, he caused five hundred 
 European infantry, two thousand sepoys, with six field-pieces, and 
 as many heavy guns, to be told off ; and sent them by sea to 
 co-operate with the native ruler of Vizagapatam in the defence 
 of that province against the French. This left him with barely 
 two thousand four hundred available men of all arms, of whom 
 four hundred and fifty, and no more, were Europeans. Never- 
 theless, he abated not an inch of his attitude of command ; and, 
 while he wrote cheerfully to Mr. Pigot, the Governor of Madras,
 
 102 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 advising him how to wield his military resources, and encou- 
 raging him to look for success, he himself entered, without 
 hesitation, into a by-play, of which the aspect was at one time 
 disagreeable, and the issues well-nigh to the last uncertain. 
 
 The reconciliation which Olive had brought about between 
 Meer Jaffier and his Hindoo bankers, his minister of finance, and 
 subordinate chiefs, lasted only till the presence of the irresistible 
 pacificator was withdrawn. Almost immediately on being left 
 to himself, Meer Jaffier began again to form plans for the plun- 
 der of these functionaries. Roydullub was the first to experience 
 the pressure of which, indeed, the Nabob's son, a tyrannical 
 and capricious man, was the chief cause ; and it was only through 
 the vigilance of Warren Hastings, now Mr. Watts's substitute at 
 the court of Moorshedabad, that the unfortunate man escaped 
 with his life. Juggeit Seit, and other wealthy bankers, were 
 next threatened ; and in due time the Nabobs or rulers of 
 Purneah, Midnapore, and Patna were, or believed themselves to 
 be, threatened as before. Indeed there were chiefs nearer to 
 the person of the Nabob who began to act as if their safety 
 were compromised ; and how the matter might have ended had 
 the Nabob been left to shift for himself it is hard to say. But 
 Clive, who honestly desired to keep things as they were for 
 the present, interfered. He invited the Nabob to visit him at 
 Calcutta, and prevailed to obtain leave for Roydullub to bear 
 him company. Indeed he went further. After reminding Meer 
 Jaffier of the services which the Minister had rendered to 
 him during the conspiracy, and assuring him that the English 
 never deserted those to whom their faith was once plighted, he 
 caused the wives and children of that functionary to be released 
 from the restraint which the Nabob's son had put upon them, 
 and they also made their way to Calcutta. This done, he so 
 wrought upon the Nabob's fears, as well as upon whatever sense 
 of right might belong to him, that, when the latter set out on his 
 return to his own capital, it was with an expressed determination 
 to govern on a principle of equity, and to fulfil his engagements 
 to his benefactors. But no great while elapsed ere a storm- 
 cloud began to collect in a new quarter. 
 
 The sceptre of Arungzebe, divested of all except the shadow 
 of its former lustre, was wielded at this time by the Emperor
 
 CHAP, xi.] INCURSION OF SHAH ALUM. 103 
 
 Alumjeer the Second, a weak prince, over whom the vizier or 
 minister, Grhazee-u-Deen, the grandson of the celebrated Nizam- 
 ul-Mulk, exercised sway. The latter used no moderation in his 
 dealings with any one, and by his misconduct drove the Emperor's 
 eldest son, the Shah Zada, or, as he is more generally called 
 by English writers, Shah Alum, into exile. This young man, 
 fleeing from Delhi, soon gathered about him a band of ad- 
 venturers, whom he was persuaded to lead towards the frontier 
 of Bengal, with the avowed purpose of displacing Meer Jaffier, 
 and establishing himself upon the throne of that kingdom. The 
 province of Bahar, of which Patna is the capital, lies between 
 Delhi and Bengal Proper, and upon it the fury of the invasion 
 first fell. This inroad was encouraged, with little attempt at 
 concealment, by the Viceroy of Oude ; and the young prince, 
 declaring that he fought in his father's name, Meer Jaffier, not 
 without good cause, became alarmed lest his discontented chiefs 
 would fall off from him. He wrote urgent letters to Clive, 
 entreating that he would come to his support. He charged 
 Ramnarrain, Rajah of Bahar, with harbouring treasonable de- 
 signs, and with being ready to deliver up Patna as soon as Shah 
 Alum should appear before it. Clive, though loth to credit this 
 report of Ramnarrain, was a good deal shaken by an evasive 
 answer which that chief sent back to one of his communications ; 
 and, perceiving that the crisis was a serious one, ordered the 
 remains of his army into the field, and put himself at its head. 
 He marched upon Moorshedabad, where his presence soon 
 restored discipline in the Nabob's troops the most discontented 
 of the native leaders being satisfied with his assurance of redress, 
 the most timid being encouraged to repose implicit trust in his 
 protection ; for Olive's authority over the minds of all classes 
 was by this time more absolute than appertained to any native 
 prince of which the annals of Bengal make mention. To be 
 sure, it was the individual, and not the system, of which the 
 natives stood in awe. They could not, in those days, understand 
 that power, as Europeans, or at least Englishmen, wield it is a 
 concrete and not a special essence. To the name of Clive they 
 all looked as to the cause and sole support of European influence 
 in Bengal : and more than once, it is said, they entered into 
 conspiracies to cut him off, in the full assurance that with
 
 104 LIFE OF LORD C LIVE. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 him would fall the strange dominion which he had erected. 
 But matters had not yet come to this. On the contrary, Meer 
 Jaffier still looked to him as to a being of a superior order. 
 " Are you yet to learn," said he one day to one of his nobles, 
 whose people had engaged in a brawl with some of Olive's 
 soldiers, " who this Colonel Clive is, and what station God 
 has given him ? How can you venture to affront one so 
 favoured ? "I !" replied the chief, " I affront the Colonel ! I, 
 who never get up in the morning without making three low 
 bows to his jackass !" Accordingly, the determination of Clive, 
 while he supported the Nabob, to protect all good subjects 
 from wrong, and all rich ones from robbery, was no sooner 
 made known than confidence took the place of distrust about the 
 royal person, and the march of the combined forces for the 
 relief of Patna was as amicable and as orderly as such move- 
 ments generally are. 
 
 Ramnarrain was not a traitor at heart ; he merely respected, 
 as all Indians still did, the Emperor's name ; and not knowing how 
 far even Clive would take part with Meer Jaffier in a war 
 against Shah Alum, he wished to provide a loophole of escape 
 for himself in every emergency. No sooner was he made aware, 
 however, of the advance of the English, than he took his line. 
 He resisted Shah Alum's attacks with the utmost vigour of 
 which he was capable, and received, as he deserved, warm praise 
 from the English leader for having done so. The consequence 
 was, that, when Clive's advance touched the outposts of Shah 
 Alum's army, Patna still held out, and the descendant of 
 Arungzebe, not venturing to risk a battle against 3500 disci- 
 plined troops, with their famous leader at their head, raised the 
 siege and retreated. 
 
 The sequel of this story may be told in few words. Shah 
 Alum, deserted by the Nabob of Oude, and seeing troop after 
 troop fall off from his standard, at last applied to Clive for the 
 help which he could not find elsewhere. Clive, though de- 
 termined to sustain Meer Jaffier against all enemies, was not 
 sorry to receive at this time a communication from Ghazee-u- 
 Deen, which informed him that Shah Alum was acting contrary 
 to the Emperor's wishes, and desired that he might be seized and 
 delivered over to be dealt with as the Emperor might judge
 
 CHAP, xi.] CLIVE'S JAGHIRE. 105 
 
 expedient. This Clive had no desire to do ; but when the 
 young man subsequently entreated for leave to seek an asylum 
 in Calcutta, it was refused. Clive contented himself with 
 sending the fugitive about one thousand pounds in money, by 
 which the son of an emperor was enabled to keep a few 
 followers near him, and to escape from the fury of the vizier. 
 
 Clive did Meer Jaffier excellent service at this time. He 
 saved not only his sovereignty but his purse ; for when the 
 frightened Nabob proposed to purchase the retreat of Shah Alum 
 with a large sum of money, Clive withstood him, and argued 
 against the arrangement with as much wisdom as effect. " If 
 you do this," he wrote, " you will have the Nabob of Oude, the 
 Mahrattas, and many more, come from all parts of the confines 
 of your country, who will bully you out of your money till you 
 have none left in your treasury. I beg your Excellency will 
 rely on the fidelity of the English and of those troops which are 
 attached to you." His Excellency did so trust, and was very 
 grateful for the result. While the Emperor marked his sense 
 of dive's forbearance to espouse the cause of Shah Alum by 
 raising him to the rank of an Omra, and the commander of 
 5000 horse and 7000 foot, Meer Jaffier determined that a jaghire 
 or grant not of land, for land is never granted in India, but of 
 the government share of the produce or the rent should be 
 made to him, that he might support in a becoming manner the 
 expenses incident to his new dignity. After casting about for 
 such an arrangement as might best agree with the convenience 
 of all parties, he resolved that Clive should receive the rent of 
 the Zemindarry which he had not long previously conferred 
 upon the East India Company. Clive did not, of course, decline 
 to accept what Meer Jaffier had the fullest right to bestow for 
 Meer Jaffier was by this time confirmed in his position as Nabob 
 by firman from Delhi and thus became possessed of an income 
 from his estates in Bengal of not less than 30,0001. per annum.
 
 106 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Colonel Forde's expedition to the Northern Circars Operations in the 
 Carnatic Destruction of the Dutch force in the Ganges. 
 
 IT will be necessary, in order to understand aright the policy 
 which guided Clive at this juncture to support the Madras 
 Government by a diversion rather than by detaching largely 
 from his own force, that the reader should be put in possession 
 of a general view of the state of affairs south of the Nerbudda, 
 as these arranged themselves subsequently to the renewal of 
 hostilities between England and France. Of the successful 
 operations of Bussy, and the influence which he established for 
 his country in the Deccan, sufficient notice has been taken 
 elsewhere. An attempt, on the part, of some native chiefs to 
 shake off the yoke, which he signally defeated, served but the 
 more to render the Souhbadar dependent upon him ; and with 
 such exceeding judgment was his influence wielded, that the 
 native Government and people, not less than the French East 
 India Company, largely benefited by it. Among other services 
 which he rendered about the period of Clive's expedition 
 to the Hooghly, the reduction of the Northern Circars to 
 the dominion of the Nizam deserves especial mention ; for 
 though this fertile district had from time immemorial been in- 
 cluded among the provinces over which the Viceroy of the 
 Deccan held sway, it was a sway which, in the eyes of many 
 of its chiefs, was already more nominal than real, and had 
 ceased, amid the confusions consequent upon civil war, to be 
 acknowledged at all. Bussy obtained leave from the Souh- 
 badar, though not without difficulty, to march with the main 
 strength of his army against the malcontents. He overthrew 
 them one after another, attacked and took their towns, and 
 was in the full career of conquest when letters reached him 
 from Suraj-u-Dowlah and from his countrymen in Bengal, 
 urging an advance into that province. He proceeded as far as
 
 CHAP, xii.] PROCEEDINGS OF BUSSY. 107 
 
 the frontier, expecting that Suraj-u-Dowlah's agents would 
 meet him there, and that arrangements would be made for 
 securing to him a safe passage through Cuttack ; but instead of 
 these came intelligence of the fall of Chandernagore a blow 
 from which Bussy was too clear-sighted not to perceive that the 
 French interests in Bengal would never recover. Then followed 
 the revolution, which he could only watch from afar, without 
 interfering in the most remote degree to prevent it. Next, 
 he saw the throne filled by Meer Jaffier, on whose feeble mind 
 he strove indeed to work, though covertly, but from whom he 
 was all along certain that assistance against the English was not 
 to be expected except in the event of such an invasion from 
 Europe as would give to the invaders a decided superiority 
 without him. Under these circumstances, Bussy returned to his 
 operations in the Circars, and, after a sharp siege, compelled 
 Vizagapalam, with its English factory, to surrender. He marched 
 thence upon Rajamundry, whence tidings of a new conspiracy 
 at Hyderabad recalled him to that capital. Here his presence 
 restored order, though two of the Nizam's brothers were en- 
 gaged in the plot ; and he was on his way to Golconda, Salabut 
 Jung attending him, when the Marquis de Conflans arrived in 
 his camp, and presented to him a despatch which imposed an im- 
 mediate and most ungracious term upon his career of glory. 
 The truth is, that Bussy had become an object of envy, and there- 
 fore of dislike, to the worthless Court and the contemptible 
 Company which he served. These, in sending out M. Lally to 
 be at the head of their affairs in the East, placed power in the 
 hands of one who was not likely to use it discreetly, and whose 
 first act was to deprive of his command the only officer in the 
 French army who knew what Eastern politics were, and was 
 capable of bending them to his own purposes. 
 
 Bussy obeyed the orders of his superior at once. He resigned 
 his trust to M. Conflans, and marched as directed with the 
 bulk of his troops to join Lally. He left, indeed, a handful of 
 men with the new general in Hyderabad, and placed a garrison 
 in Masulapatam ; but the Circars were well-nigh denuded of 
 troops, and Vizagapatam was but slenderly provided for. Now, 
 the Northern Circars were kept quiet only by the terror of 
 Bussy's name and army ; and no sooner were these removed than
 
 108 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 its chiefs began to communicate with Clive in Bengal. It was 
 in consequence of these communications, and because he found a 
 ready ally in Nizam Ali Khan, one of the Souhbadar's brothers, 
 that Clive resolved upon making a diversion in favour of 
 Madras by sending an expedition into the Circars ; and Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Forde, an officer of much promise and some 
 experience, was selected to direct the operations of the little 
 army. 
 
 While Clive was thus arranging matters, Lally opened the 
 campaign in the Carnatic with great apparent energy. He in- 
 vested Fort St. David the evening of the day of his landing : and 
 that place, though recently strengthened and well supplied with 
 men, surrendered after two days of open trenches. Lally 
 razed the fortifications to the ground and burnt the town, after 
 which he proceeded, first to Tanjore, where he met with a re- 
 pulse, and next to Arcot, of which he made himself master. 
 But Lally did not care merely to harass : his object was to root 
 out the English name from the Carnatic, and with this view he 
 determined to lay siege to Madras itself. In order to have at 
 his disposal means sufficient to press that operation with vigour, 
 he exhausted the public treasury in hiring Mahratta horsemen 
 and infantry from Mysore : he even advanced large sums from 
 his private resources for a like purpose ; and when he found that 
 there was still a deficiency of funds wherewith to provide beasts 
 of burden, and that coolies were wanting, he recklessly endea- 
 voured to accomplish by violence what he found himself unable 
 otherwise to effect. He issued orders to press, without regard 
 to caste or station, all the country-people and their cattle into 
 the service of the commissariat. It was a grievous error, from 
 the consequences of which Lally never recovered. Death is far 
 less dreaded by a Brahmin and a man of the military caste than 
 that he shall be compelled to do the work of a pariah ; and the 
 individual or the power which seeks thus to degrade him becomes 
 to him an object of unmitigated abhorrence. Every village along 
 the line of Lally's march was deserted as he approached ; and he 
 sat down in consequence before Madras with a good army, indeed, 
 of nearly three thousand Europeans and four thousand sepoy 
 troops, but comparatively destitute of means of transport, and 
 dependent for all his supplies upon Admiral d' Ache's squadron.
 
 CHAP, xii.] SIEGE OF MADRAS. 109 
 
 To raise his force to this amount, Lally had called in all his 
 detachments, including the bulk of the corps which Bussy had 
 commanded in the Deccan, with Bussy himself at its head. The 
 English, in like manner, concentrated their troops at Madras ; 
 and had now, with the force in Fort George, about eighteen 
 hundred European and four thousand native soldiers. Now, 
 five thousand eight hundred disciplined men, under the com- 
 mand of such a leader as Colonel Lawrence, were more than 
 sufficient for the defence of Fort St. George ; and Clive, 
 being convinced of that fact, steadily refused to risk the safety 
 of Bengal by either coming in person or detaching largely 
 to the assistance of Madras. He knew, moreover, that a 
 powerful expedition must shortly arrive from England, which, 
 including the 84th King's regiment, of which Eyre Coote, now 
 promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, was at the head, 
 would give to his countrymen a decided preponderancy in the 
 Carnatic. But, while he adhered to this policy so long as cir- 
 cumstances seemed to recommend it, he was not unprepared to 
 act contrary to his own wishes should an emergency arise. His 
 final directions to Colonel Forde were, that he should make him- 
 self master of Vizagapatam and as much of the Northern Circars 
 as possible, in the first place, and then, in the event of pressing 
 instances from Madras, march to the relief of that presidency. 
 The result showed that Clive's views were as sound as his energy 
 in the execution of them was untiring. The garrison of Madras 
 stood its ground, not without obtaining many brilliant successes 
 in the sorties which were occasionally hazarded, till the arrival 
 of Admiral Pococke on the coast compelled the French squadron 
 to withdraw, and deprived M. Lally of all hope of success. On 
 the night of the 16th of February, 1749, he raised the siege as 
 abruptly as he had formed it ; and, leaving all his sick and 
 wounded, together with his battering train, fifty pieces, and a 
 large store of ammunition, to be taken possession of by the gar- 
 rison, retreated towards Pondicherry. 
 
 Meanwhile Forde was justifying, by the skill and vigour of 
 his operations, the wisdom of the choice which had put him at 
 the head of the expedition into the Circars. He soon confirmed 
 the Rajah of Vizagapatam in possession of that place. He 
 marched thence to Eajamundry, where, in a sharp affair, he de-
 
 110 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 feated M. Conflans, taking almost all his artillery and the whole 
 of his camp equipage. His next proceeding was to invest Ma- 
 sulipatam, of which the garrison greatly exceeded in numbers 
 the army that sat down before it ; and he pressed the siege with 
 so much vigour that three practicable breaches were soon ef- 
 fected. M. Conflans, who had thrown himself into the place, 
 was invited to capitulate, but refused. He trusted to the pro- 
 mised support of Salabut Jung, and looked daily for the arrival 
 of a French force from Pondicherry : he therefore treated Forde's 
 overtures with disdain. Upon this, the English commander, 
 whose position was critical in the extreme, resolved to hazard an 
 assault. He attacked the whole of the breaches at midnight, 
 forced his way into the town, and found, when the morning 
 broke, that three thousand and thirty-seven men, of whom five 
 hundred were Europeans, had laid down their arms to nine 
 hundred. Moreover, Forde stormed Masulipatam with a timid, 
 perhaps a treacherous, ally, the Rajah of Vizagapatam in his 
 own camp, Salabut Jung being distant only fifteen miles ; and 
 M. Moracin, from Pondicherry, arrived with three hundred men 
 within a day's sail of the harbour. The effect was miraculous. 
 M. Moracin did not so much as land, but sailed towards the 
 north ; Salabut Jung hastened to propose a treaty ; the French 
 were finally expelled from the Deccan ; and Masulipatam, with 
 eight valuable districts adjacent to it, became the property of the 
 English. 
 
 The delight of Clive at the success of Colonel Forde's oper- 
 ations was such as every great mind experiences in witnessing the 
 fulfilment of hopes which it had cherished of individuals, and 
 finding that its plans for the advancement of the public good are 
 advancing. His letters both to Mr. Pigot at Madras, and to 
 the Chairman of the Court of Directors in London, are filled 
 with praises of the successful soldier. Nevertheless he did not 
 relax an iota in his exertions. Having settled the Circars, he 
 instructed Forde to detach a portion of his army to the Car- 
 natic, and to return himself with as many of the residue as could 
 be spared to Bengal, where, indeed, on several accounts, his pre- 
 sence was needed, and at which place he arrived with the regu- 
 larity which marked all his public proceedings. 
 
 A disinclination to interrupt the thread of the principal nar-
 
 CHAP, xii.] QUARRELS IN THE ARMY. Ill 
 
 rative has caused me as yet to pass by, without notice, certain 
 minor transactions, in the management of which, however, 
 Olive's characteristic firmness was not less clearly shown than in 
 the conduct of points of far more perceptible importance. For 
 example, he had scarcely put down that spirit of captiousness 
 which was exhibited in the proceedings of the councils of war 
 that sat upon the distribution of the Moorshedabad prize- 
 money, ere fresh cause of uneasiness appeared in a struggle for 
 precedency among the officers belonging to the different services 
 of which his army was composed. At this period in Anglo- 
 Indian history the highest rank to which an officer actually in 
 the service of the East India Company could attain was that of 
 captain. Captains, however, commanded battalions, and the 
 European subalterns serving under them were few in number ; so 
 that the privation to which these gentlemen were subjected de- 
 served to be accounted more nominal than real, and told pain- 
 fully only when they were brought immediately into contact with 
 officers bearing commissions from the Crown. There were, 
 however, three distinct presidencies then as there are now ; and 
 it did not often occur that the troops of all these were or could 
 be associated together on the same service. It happened, how- 
 ever, that, during the campaigns of Fort "William and Plassey, 
 Madras troops came to the succour of the troops of Bengal, and 
 that both were reinforced by a detachment from Bombay. Clive 
 was too much of a soldier not to perceive that the three little 
 armies would become much more handy when blended into one : 
 he therefore issued orders that the distinctions of presidency should 
 cease, and that the officers should take rank according to the 
 dates of their commissions, no matter at what station subscribed. 
 Strange to say, there was murmuring at this ; indeed, to so great 
 a height did the feeling of discontent arise, that the Bengal 
 officers ventured to remonstrate against the arrangement as 
 unjust. Clive made very short work with such a temper. A 
 sharp reprimand, accompanied by a threat of further pro- 
 ceedings, soon brought the dissentients to their senses, and the 
 army was remodelled, without further opposition, according to 
 his wish. 
 
 This matter had been settled some time, and Colonel Forde 
 was returned, though in bad health, from Masulipatam, when
 
 112 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 fresh ground of alarm arose in a quarter from which Clive, at 
 least, was slow to believe that danger to the interests of the 
 English at Bengal could threaten. Though the nature of my 
 subject has hitherto led me to speak only of the French and of 
 the English as settlers in India, and rivals both for its commerce 
 and for influence at the courts of its princes, the reader of history 
 will not need to be told that the Dutch, the Portuguese, and 
 even the Danes, had their factories and trading stations at 
 various points along the shores of the Indian peninsula. The 
 Dutch, indeed, besides having established a firm footing in 
 Batavia and Ceylon, were masters of more than one depot on 
 the continent, among which Chinchura, a town situated on the 
 Ganges, though considerably higher up than Fort William, or 
 even than Chandernagore, was the chief. Here they had a 
 governor with a considerable garrison, who seems personally to 
 have lived on the best terms with Clive, but who could not, of 
 course, refuse to adopt, in his official capacity, whatever line of 
 proceeding might be dictated to him by his superiors. It was 
 whispered in many circles that this gentleman, Mr. Bisdom, had 
 much communication with Meer Jaffier, and that the tone of 
 their correspondence was the reverse of friendly to the English. 
 But that either had conceived a design for the extermination 
 of a power which had just raised the one to his throne, and 
 offered to the other no molestation, the most invidious appear to 
 have discredited, till rumours of the approach of a Dutch arma- 
 ment to the Ganges began to circulate. Then, indeed, a good 
 deal of alarm was felt. Men remembered that the latest ac- 
 counts from Europe referred to differences between the Cabinets 
 of St. James's and the Hague ; and, nothing doubting that war 
 had either been declared, or was looked upon as certain, they 
 came to the conclusion that a blow was about to be struck in 
 Bengal. Clive alone discredited, or affected to discredit, these 
 stories. He professed to believe that the armament which was 
 preparing in Batavia would be employed against the native 
 princes of Ceylon ; and he gave the best evidence of the sincerity 
 of this persuasion by purchasing bills to a large amount on the 
 Dutch East India Company, and sending them to be cashed and 
 remitted to England in a Dutch trader. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that for some time after the accession
 
 CHAP, xii.] PROCEEDINGS OF THE DUTCH. 113 
 
 of Meer Jaffier to the throne the Dutch refused to recognise his 
 title by paying to him the compliments which they had been 
 accustomed to pay to his predecessors. This necessarily involved 
 them in disputes, which led, among other annoyances, to the 
 stoppage of their trade, and caused them to apply to Clive for 
 his intercession to have the embargo removed. It was readily 
 granted, notwithstanding that their chief ground of offence with 
 the Nabob took its rise from his having granted to the English 
 a monopoly of the saltpetre-mines in Patna. But, though ex- 
 pressing themselves grateful for the moment, the majority in the 
 Council no sooner discovered that Meer Jaffier and his son were 
 chafed than they did their best to aggravate the feeling. They 
 seem, indeed, to have gone so far as to hold out hopes of aid 
 fromBatavia, in case he should require it ; and they unquestion- 
 ably put matters in such a light before the Government of that 
 island that the latter counted on little else than the ascendancy 
 of Dutch influence at the Court of the Nabob. With a view to 
 promote this, they embarked about seven or eight hundred 
 European soldiers, with as many Asiatics, and a train of artillery, 
 in a squadron of five large ships, of which three were armed like 
 men-of-war, and sent them, without assigning any reason for 
 their movement, into the Ganges. This was in the month of 
 October, 1758, when the force at Clive's disposal happened to 
 be unusually small, some of his troops having been left in Ma- 
 sulipatam, part being detached at Patna, and others sent on to 
 assist Colonel Coote in his brilliant campaign on the Coromandel 
 coast. But Clive, feeling how necessary it was to prevent the 
 junction of the new-comers with the original garrison at Chin- 
 chura, applied for and obtained an order from the Nabob pro- 
 hibiting the Dutch ships from ascending higher up the stream 
 than Fulda. The better to enforce obedience to this mandate, 
 he equipped all the little forts which had been established on the 
 banks of the river with heavy guns, placed the militiamen of 
 Calcutta under arms, and ordered back the detachment from 
 Patna, while at the same time his guard-boats stopped every 
 small craft which showed itself, and would allow nothing to pass 
 on board of which were either troops or military stores. The 
 Dutch remonstrated, complained, and were vehement in their 
 professions of meaning no harm ; but Clive adhered to his pur- 
 
 I
 
 114 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xu. 
 
 pose, and got the Nabob at last to issue an injunction for the 
 immediate departure of the strangers from his territories. 
 
 The Dutch would not move. On the contrary, it was 
 ascertained that they had agents at various places, who had raised 
 recruits for their service, and sent them by twos and threes 
 either to Fulda or Chinchura. It was manifest to Clive that evil 
 must shortly come, either upon his own Government or upon 
 these strangers ; and he was not slow in resolving that his own 
 Government should not be the sufferer. To be sure there was 
 no war as yet between England and Holland ; neither, in strict 
 justice, was it competent to him to determine how many or how 
 few troops the Dutch East India Company should maintain at their 
 settlement of Chinchura. But the game was one of policy, not 
 of justice, on both sides ; and Clive, prevailing to have the Nabob 
 as his partner, played it without fear. He assembled a force of 
 300 or 400 Europeans and 800 sepoys, which, with six pieces of 
 cannon, he sent, under Forde's orders, to cut off the communica- 
 tion, by land, between Chinchura and the Dutch anchorage. 
 Forde conducted the enterprise very ably ; he crossed the river, 
 received a skirmish in the outskirts of Chandernagore, and drove 
 back a party from the garrison into Chinchura. He had 
 hardly done so when intelligence reached him that the Dutch 
 had landed from the vessels, and were marching towards him. 
 He wrote himself to inform Clive, adding this hint, "that, if he 
 had only an order of Council, he would attack the Dutch, and 
 had a fair prospect of destroying them." Clive happened to be 
 engaged in a rubber of whist when this important communication 
 reached him. He did not so much as rise from the table, but 
 wrote with a pencil on a slip of paper, " Dear Forde, fight them 
 immediately, and I will send you the order of Council to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Forde, trained in a school which had no overweening dread 
 of responsibility, acted without hesitation on these instructions. 
 He attacked the Dutch at a place called Bridona, defeated them 
 with great slaughter, made prisoners of fifteen officers, among 
 whom was the chief in command, and forthwith placed Chin- 
 chura itself in a state of siege. Of these memorable transactions, 
 and of the circumstances which led to them, Clive gave a 
 detailed account to the Court of Directors in a document
 
 CHAP, xii.] DEFEAT OF THE DUTCH. 115 
 
 which is still extant. He there states that the Dutch had 
 left him no alternative ; that first upon a small scale, and in 
 the commencement of hostilities, they forced him to appeal to the 
 sword ; and that, having drawn it, his duty to the Company re- 
 quired that he should use it effectually. Accordingly, he 
 equipped and armed three merchant-vessels which lay near 
 Fort William, and, sending them against the Dutch squadron, 
 fought a naval battle almost simultaneously with Forde's action 
 at Bridona. It ended in the perfect triumph of the English 
 arms ; whereupon the Dutch, thoroughly cowed, prayed for 
 pardon, and obtained from his clemency the deliverance of 
 Chinchura from destruction. 
 
 Perhaps there is no series of transactions in Olive's eventful 
 life which redounded more to his honour as a soldier and a 
 citizen than those of which I have just spoken. Whatever he 
 did was done from the purest patriotism ; for he risked both 
 good name and a large amount of private property in the 
 adventure. Had he failed, there is no telling how the Company 
 or the English Government would have taken it ; and success 
 itself, considering the relations in which England and Holland 
 stood, was full of hazard. Yet he preferred running all 
 these hazards, and put in jeopardy his large investments, of 
 which the Dutch had charge, rather than expose the in- 
 terests of those whom he served to the perils with which they 
 seemed to be threatened. Fortune favoured the brave in this as 
 she does in most instances. The Dutch, too conscious of their 
 own evil designs to affect indignation, made no remonstrance on 
 account of their losses. On the contrary, they apologised for 
 the misconduct, as they termed it, of their officers, and proposed 
 to defray the expenses of the war, provided the English would 
 be satisfied. It is hardly worth while to add, that the proposals 
 were willingly acceded to. 
 
 i2
 
 116 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Clive proposes to return to England His views for the future management 
 of British India. 
 
 THE affairs of British India (if I may be permitted to anticipate 
 a term) were now in a state of great prosperity and still brighter 
 promise. Bengal, elevated by the genius of one man to be the 
 chief of the Company's settlements, took well-nigh a distinct 
 place among the substantive powers of Hindostan. On the Coro- 
 mandel coast a series of gallant exploits had turned the scale so 
 entirely against the French, that rivalry between them and the 
 English nation at any future period was become, in that part of 
 the world, next to impossible. The battle of Wadewash destroyed 
 the last hope of Lally, and, by leaving Bussy a prisoner in the 
 hands of the victors, deprived him of the only officer in his army 
 who was capable, had circumstances favoured him, to retrieve 
 the fallen fortunes of his country. Then followed the siege and 
 capture of Pondicherry itself, which, being razed to the ground, 
 ceased to hold rank even as a second-rate town in the Carnatic. 
 Meanwhile the tide of fortune flowed with equal steadiness and 
 force on the side of Bombay. Not only was the commerce of 
 that important station daily enlarging itself, but the state of the 
 adjacent districts encouraged the Governor to undertake military 
 operations ; from one, at least, of which he derived very sub- 
 stantial profits. 
 
 The ancient town of Surat stands at no great distance from 
 Bombay. It had been the seat of the earliest settlement which 
 the English had formed on the shores of the Indian seas, and 
 was much valued by the Mahomedans as the port where pil- 
 grims annually assembled on their way to worship at the tomb 
 of the prophet. The Court of Delhi was in the habit of equip- 
 ping here a vessel which should convey the devout to the Red 
 Sea ; and the ship in question, as well as the commerce of the
 
 CHAP, xiii.] PROPOSED RETURN TO ENGLAND. 117 
 
 place, had been for some time committed to the care of a neigh- 
 bouring chief, who was honoured with the title of Admiral to the 
 Emperor. The Admirals of the Emperor, however, had their 
 stipulated remuneration, namely, an assignment of three lacs, or 
 thirty thousand pounds, per annum, on the revenues of the town ; 
 and, on the plea that it was not regularly paid, one of them 
 seized the castle, and gave law to the town. The consequence 
 was, that Surat and its commerce soon became profitless to the 
 Emperor. One-third of the revenues was appropriated by the 
 Seedee or Admiral ; another third went to bribe the Mahrattas 
 into the maintenance of peace ; and the remainder was divided 
 among the officers who governed in the Emperor's name. This 
 division of authority, together with the intrigues and disputes to 
 which it gave rise, proved as troublesome to the English 
 residents as it was ruinous to the town and its inhabitants. The 
 Council of the factory therefore applied to their countrymen 
 for help ; and the principal native merchants and local authorities 
 undertaking, on their suggestion, to pay two lacs of rupees 
 annually as the price of English protection, the Government of 
 Bombay readily undertook to interfere. An expedition was 
 fitted out against the Seedee, which proved successful ; and the 
 Emperor, looking favourably upon the enterprise, confirmed 
 by firman the right of the English to this revenue, and appointed 
 them governors of the castle and admirals of the imperial 
 fleet. 
 
 Having largely contributed to bring matters to this issue, and 
 conceiving that he could render better service to the cause 
 which he had much at heart in London than at Calcutta, Clive 
 began at this time to meditate a return to Europe. The 
 announcement of this design created much alarm both among 
 the Company's servants and at the court of Meer Jaffier ; for the 
 former were fully alive to the importance of having such a man 
 at their head, and the latter believed that, were Clive to abandon 
 him, he could not sit upon the throne for a year by himself. 
 Indeed, his pecuniary circumstances had become so involved, and 
 so many difficulties beset him both from within and from without, 
 that, even with Clive to counsel, and, if need be, to protect him, his 
 seat was the reverse of a firm one. In the first place, he was driven, 
 by the engagements into which he had entered with the English, to
 
 118 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xnr. 
 
 part with his revenues almost as soon as he had collected them ; 
 and not possessing either the firmness or the power which were 
 needed to enforce a system of economy at home, he fell day by 
 day more into arrear with the payments of his own troops and 
 with his civil functionaries. In the next place, the growing 
 dissatisfaction of the native gentry with the vassalage to 
 which the European connexion had reduced them could neither 
 be concealed nor explained away. They saw that all real 
 power was passing rapidly into the hands of strangers ; and, 
 though too little united among themselves to arrange a plan for 
 arresting the progress of the evil, they complained of the Nabob 
 for failing to do that which it would have been ruinous to him, 
 unless assured of their hearty co-operation, so much as to attempt. 
 In the next place, there had sprung up among the Company's 
 agents, as well Asiatic as European, wherever scattered through 
 the provinces, a spirit of domineering and a desire to take undue 
 advantage of the privileges which their situations afforded them 
 which was quite intolerable. So offensive, indeed, was their 
 conduct in some cases, that Olive found himself under the 
 necessity of interfering to put a stop to it ; and in many of his 
 letters, public as well as private, he complained bitterly of the 
 seeds of mischief which they were sowing. Nor was this all. 
 The Shah Zada, or eldest son of the Emperor, had again gathered 
 retainers about him ; and, encouraged by promises of support 
 from the Viceroy of Oude, was reported to be upon his march 
 for the invasion of Bahar. All these circumstances rendered 
 the Nabob uneasy, and were not without their effect upon the 
 mind of Clive himself. Nevertheless, after looking attentively 
 at all sides of the question, the latter came to the conclusion 
 that the aspect of the immediate future was not such as could 
 justify the abandonment of the plans which he was devising, and 
 which he could hardly expect to put in progress towards execu- 
 tion except by personal communication with the home authorities. 
 What these plans were will be best understood after I shall 
 have given a slight sketch of the constitution of that body 
 under whose direction the affairs of the English in India were 
 in those days managed. 
 
 The history of the rise and progress of the East India Com- 
 pany has been too often told, and is now too generally known, to
 
 CHAP, xin.] ORIGIN OF THE COMPANY. 119 
 
 demand from me in this place more than a very brief allusion to 
 it. Stirred to emulation by the successful adventures of the 
 Dutch and the Portuguese, and distrusting the ability of indivi- 
 duals to enter into competition with them, a body of enterprising 
 men applied for and obtained, in the year 1600, a charter of in- 
 corporation from Queen Elizabeth ; and, under the title of the 
 London Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies, un- 
 dertook to extend the commerce and navigation of their country 
 in the seas and among the islands and continents east of the 
 Cape of Good Hope. They enjoyed the monopoly precisely a 
 hundred years, at the expiration of which period a second com- 
 pany arose, which, like the first, obtained a charter, and between 
 which and the old Company a rivalry, at once mischievous to 
 themselves, and, as was then believed, hurtful to the mother 
 country, arose. William the Third, who incorporated the 
 latter body, interfered to put a stop to this state of things. The 
 two firms were persuaded to come to an understanding with one 
 another ; and a new charter raised them into the corporate body 
 which still exists as " The United Company of Merchants of 
 England trading to the East Indies." 
 
 The objects for which these gentlemen were associated being 
 purely commercial, they gave to the Company and to its Direct- 
 ors, or managing body, such forms and powers as promised to 
 facilitate the ends of a successful trade, and were not, perhaps, 
 calculated for much beyond it. The Company consisted of in- 
 dividual subscribers of capital to the amount of 500/. or upwards, 
 each of whom, whether male or female, was entitled to vote 
 and take part in such discussions as might arise at general meet- 
 ings or, as the charter called them, " General Courts of Pro- 
 prietors." The Court of Directors, on the other hand, consisted 
 of twenty-four members, elected by the proprietors out of their 
 own body. Those only were qualified whose stock amounted to 
 to 2000/. at the least, and their tenure of office did not go be- 
 yond twelve months, for they were elected annually. Thirteen 
 Directors formed a quorum, and, when assembled, became a Court. 
 It was necessary that a General Court or Court of Proprietors 
 should be held once in every quarter of a year ; and a Committee 
 was empowered to frame by-laws, which, so far as the Company 
 and its servants were concerned, were declared by the charter to
 
 120 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 have the same force as Acts of Parliament, so long as they did 
 not contradict statutes already in existence. 
 
 It is clear that, in framing such a constitution as this, neither 
 the merchants, nor the Crown, which conferred upon them their 
 privileges, could have looked to any other results than those 
 which the title of the incorporated body pointed out. That they 
 had leave to purchase lands in India wherever the exigences of 
 the trade might require is indeed true ; and their factories and 
 settlements soon began to spring up in various provinces. But 
 these were simply what they professed to be depots or stores, 
 in which the goods brought down from the interior might be 
 laid up and kept till the ships intended to transport them to 
 Europe should arrive. Hence all their transactions, both at home 
 and abroad, were entered upon and followed up in the spirit of 
 barter, which looks for gain on mercantile speculations, not for 
 territorial aggrandisement ; and, however well calculated to 
 maintain discipline in counting-rooms and shops, is not exactly 
 fitted to administer the affairs of a great empire. 
 
 As commerce gradually merged in political operations abroad, 
 the Courts of Proprietors and Directors at home seemed in some 
 sort to alter their character. At first alarm, and nothing but 
 alarm, prevailed in Leadenhall-street. But when the victories 
 of Clive and of Coote opened out before them larger prospects, 
 the bearing of the Courts to which Clive and Coote were ser- 
 vants underwent a change. Some members rejoiced honestly in 
 the results of the military operations, especially in Bengal. 
 Others were overwhelmed with terror, expecting to hear by 
 every fresh ship that the whole power of the Mogul Empire had 
 combined to expel their agents, and that their trade was ruined. 
 A third party took a middle line ; and, while they praised the 
 valour of the soldiers who had fought for them, deprecated a 
 continuance in the policy of aggrandisement. A fourth, envious 
 both of the renown and of the large fortunes which their foreign 
 representatives were acquiring, seemed to care for little else than 
 that they should be plundered, and their property thrown into 
 the common heap. It was owing to the struggles of these seve- 
 ral parties in the Direction that so many contradictory orders 
 reached Calcutta in regard to the management of that Presidency. 
 When the timid or envious sections of the Court happened to be
 
 CHAP, xm.] CONSTITUTION OF THE COMPANY. 121 
 
 in the ascendant, such instructions as those which set the Rota- 
 tion Government on foot went forth ; as soon as the more san- 
 guine, and, perhaps, the more generous, parties prevailed, justice 
 was done to the claims of individuals, and a practicable scheme 
 of management devised. But though all parties conceded the 
 first place to Clive, there was a steady disposition among 
 the Directors to fall back, in the event of his refusing the Go- 
 vernment, on the Rotation system. Mr. Holwell, who returned 
 home after his deliverance out of Suraj-u-Dowlah's hands, seems 
 to have been the chief adviser of this project : Mr. Payne, at 
 that time Chairman of the Court, gave it his steady support. 
 These were opposed by Mr. Lawrence Sulivan, Deputy-Chair- 
 man, and Mr. Stephen Law, both men of considerable talent ; 
 and Mr. Sulivan secured in consequence the friendship of Clive 
 for a season. But Clive was not slow to discover that such a 
 constitution as that which admitted of factions in the supreme 
 governing power was not capable of being made applicable to 
 the state of things which he had already begun to anticipate. 
 He knew the weakness of the native powers, and considered that 
 the advance of the English to political supremacy in India was 
 a mere question of time ; he therefore turned over in his own 
 mind the possibility of connecting the soil of British India with 
 the British nation, and establishing a more intimate relation than 
 as yet existed between its civil and military government and the 
 supreme government at home. His views on these heads are so 
 well and so fully set forth in a letter addressed by him at this 
 time to the Prime Minister, that a sense of justice to his me- 
 mory urges me to transcribe the document entire : 
 
 " To the Eight Hon. William Pitt, one of His Majesty's Principal 
 Secretaries of State. 
 
 " SIR Suffer an admirer of yours at this distance to congratu- 
 late himself on the glory and advantage which are likely to 
 accrue to the nation by your being at its head, and at the same 
 time to return his most grateful thanks for the distinguished 
 manner you have been pleased to speak of his successes in these 
 parts, far indeed beyond his deservings. 
 
 " The close attention you bestow on the affairs of the British 
 nation in general has induced me to trouble you with a few par-
 
 122 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 ticulars relative to India, and to lay before you an exact account 
 of the revenues of this country, the genuineness whereof you 
 may depend upon, as it has been faithfully extracted from the 
 minister's books. 
 
 " The great revolution that has been effected here by the 
 success of the English arms, and the vast advantages gained to 
 the Company by a treaty concluded in consequence thereof, 
 have, I observe, in some measure, engaged the public attention ; 
 but much more may yet in time be done, if the Company will 
 exert themselves in the manner the importance of their present 
 possessions and future prospects deserves. I have represented 
 to them in the strongest terms the expediency of sending out 
 and keeping up constantly such a force as will enable them to 
 embrace the first opportunity of further aggrandising them- 
 selves ; and I dare pronounce, from a thorougli knowledge of 
 this country government,* and of the genius of the people, ac- 
 quired by two years' application and experience, that such an 
 opportunity will soon offer. The reigning Subah, whom the 
 victory at Plassey invested with the sovereignty of these pro- 
 vinces, still, it is true, retains his attachment to us, and proba- 
 bly, while he has no other support, will continue to do so ; but 
 Mussulmans are so little influenced by gratitude, that, should he 
 ever think it his interest to break with us, the obligations he 
 owes us would prove no restraint : and this is very evident from 
 his having lately removed his Prime Minister, and cut off two 
 or three principal officers, all attached to our interest, and who 
 had a share in his elevation. Moreover, he is advanced in years ; 
 and his son is so cruel, worthless a young fellow, and so appa- 
 rently an enemy to the English, that it will be almost unsafe 
 trusting him with the succession. So small a body as two thou- 
 sand Europeans will secure us against any apprehensions from 
 either the one or the other ; and, in case of their daring to be 
 troublesome, enable the Company to take the sovereignty upon 
 themselves. 
 
 " There will be the less difficulty in bringing about such an 
 event, as the natives themselves have no attachment whatever to 
 particular princes ; and as, under the present Government, they 
 
 * The application is here limited to the government of Bengal.
 
 CHAP, xiii.] LETTER TO MR. PITT. 123 
 
 have no security for their lives or properties, they would rejoice 
 in so happy an exchange as that of a mild for a despotic govern- 
 ment : and there is little room to doubt our easily obtaining the 
 Mogul's sunnud (or grant) in confirmation thereof, provided we 
 agreed to pay him the stipulated allotment out of the revenues, 
 viz. fifty lacs annually. This has, of late years, been very ill 
 paid, owing to the distractions in the heart of the Mogul Em- 
 pire, which have disabled that court from attending to their 
 concerns in the distant provinces : and the Vizier has actually 
 wrote to me, desiring I would engage the Nabob to make the 
 payments agreeable to the former usage; nay, further; applica- 
 tion has been made to me from the Court of Delhi, to take 
 charge of collecting this payment, the person intrusted with 
 which is styled the King's Dewan, and is the next person both 
 in dignity and power to the Subah. But this high office I have 
 been obliged to decline for the present, as I am unwilling to 
 occasion any jealousy on the part of the Subah ; especially as I 
 see no likelihood of the Company's providing us with a sufficient 
 force to support properly so considerable an employ, and which 
 would open a way for securing the Subahship to ourselves. 
 That this would be agreeable to the Mogul can hardly be ques- 
 tioned, as it would be so much to his interest to have these coun- 
 tries under the dominion of a nation famed for their good faith, 
 rather than in the hands of people who, a long experience has 
 convinced him, never will pay him his proportion of the reve- 
 nues, unless awed into it by the fear of the Imperial army march- 
 ing to force them thereto. 
 
 " But so large a sovereignty may possibly be an object too 
 extensive for a mercantile company ; and it is to be feared they 
 are not of themselves able, without the nation's assistance, to 
 maintain so wide a dominion. I have therefore presumed, Sir, 
 to represent tliis matter to you, and submit it to your considera- 
 tion, whether the execution of a design, that may hereafter be 
 still carried to greater lengths, be worthy of the Government's 
 taking it into hand. I flatter myself I have made it pretty clear 
 to you that there will be little or no difficulty in obtaining the 
 absolute possession of these rich kingdoms, and that with the 
 Mogul's own consent, on condition of paying him less than a 
 fifth of the revenues thereof. Now I leave you to judge whe-
 
 124 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CUAP. xm. 
 
 ther an income yearly of upwards of two millions sterling, with the 
 possession of three provinces abounding in the most valuable 
 productions of nature and of art, be an object deserving the 
 public attention ; and whether it be worth the nation's while to 
 take the proper measures to secure such an acquisition, an ac- 
 quisition which, under the management of so able and disinter- 
 ested a minister, would prove a source of immense wealth to the 
 kingdom, and might in time be appropriated in part as a fund 
 towards diminishing the heavy load of debt under which we at 
 present labour. Add to these advantages the influence we shall 
 thereby acquire over the several European nations engaged in 
 the commerce here, which these could no longer carry on but 
 through our indulgence, and under such limitations as we should 
 think fit to prescribe. It is well worthy consideration that this 
 project may be brought about without draining the mother 
 country, as has been too much the case with our possessions in 
 America. A small force from home will be sufficient, as we 
 always make sure of any number we please of black troops, who, 
 being both much better paid and treated by us than by the coun- 
 try powers, will very readily enter into our service. Mr. Walsh, 
 who will have the honour of delivering you this, having been 
 my secretary during the late fortunate expedition, is a thorough 
 master of the subject, and will be able to explain to you the 
 whole design, and the facility with which it may be executed, 
 much more to your satisfaction, and 'with greater perspicuity, 
 than can possibly be done in a letter. I shall therefore only 
 further remark, that I have communicated it to no other person 
 but yourself; nor should I have troubled you, Sir, but from a 
 conviction that you will give a favourable reception to any pro- 
 posal intended for the public good. 
 
 " The greatest part of the troops belonging to this establish- 
 ment are now employed in an expedition against the French in 
 the Deccan ; and, by the accounts lately received from thence, 
 I have great hopes we shall succeed in extirpating them from 
 the province of Golconda, where they have reigned lords para- 
 mount so long, and from whence they have drawn their principal 
 resources during the troubles upon the coast. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the extraordinary effort made by the 
 French in sending out M. Lally with a considerable force the
 
 CHAP, xiii.] MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY IN 1759. 125 
 
 last year, I am confident, before the end of this, they will be 
 near their last gasp in the Carnatic,* unless some very unforeseen 
 event interpose in their favour. The superiority of our squadron, 
 and the plenty of money and supplies of all kinds which our 
 friends on the coast will be furnished with from this province, 
 while the enemy are in total want of everything, without any 
 visible means of redress, are such advantages as, if properly 
 attended to, cannot fail of wholly effecting their. ruin in that as 
 well as in every other part of India. 
 
 " May the zeal and the vigorous measures projected for the 
 service of the nation, which have so eminently distinguished 
 your ministry, be crowned with all the success they deserve, is 
 the most fervent wish of him who is, with the greatest respect, 
 Sir, your most devoted humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) " ROB. CLIVE. 
 
 Calcutta, 
 "7tA January, 1759." 
 
 The above is a very remarkable document. It shows that the 
 views of the writer extended a great way beyond the circum- 
 stances by which he was surrounded, and exhibits him in the 
 light of a far-seeing and deep-thinking politician. Doubtless 
 the constitution of the government under which he immediately 
 acted has undergone many important modifications since the 
 letter was drawn up. The establishment of a Board of Control 
 has given power to the Crown through its ministers if not to 
 originate, certainly to modify and direct, all measures of regula- 
 tion intended for the management of the affairs of India : while 
 at each renewal of the charter Parliament has more and more 
 broken in upon the monopolies secured to the Company by pre- 
 vious grants. But let it not be forgotten that in 1759 there was 
 no Board of Control in existence, and that the Directors were as 
 independent both of the Crown and of the Houses of Parliament 
 as if they had belonged to a foreign state, and were intrusted 
 with its government. Now, no man possessed of Clive's know- 
 ledge in Indian affairs could look upon such a state of things 
 with complacency. Anticipating, as he did, constant accessions 
 
 * Clive's prediction of the result of affairs in the Carnatic proved, as has 
 been shown, true to the very letter.
 
 126 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xm. 
 
 of territorial empire to his country, and foreseeing that this must 
 inevitably lead to an entanglement more and more complicated 
 in Asiatic policy, he was desirous that the mainspring of action 
 should be established where it was likely to move with a vigor- 
 ous and a consistent impetus : and being without experience of 
 any other source of political power than the Crown, he desired 
 to place at once the territories won by the valour of the King's 
 subjects under the protection, and of course under the control, 
 of the Crown and its Ministers. There is no knowing what the 
 consequences might have been had Mr. Pitt listened favourably 
 to the proposition. But Pitt, though he acknowledged the 
 practicability of the plan, was deterred from adopting it by a 
 consideration, at that time exaggerated, of the difficulties which 
 seemed to beset both its principle and its details. Clive's project 
 thus fell to the ground. But Clive's views are so rooted in 
 wisdom and common sense, that sooner or later we may calcu- 
 late on their adoption ; and it is more than probable that a late 
 exercise of power by the Court of Directors, in the recall of a 
 Governor-General without any reason assigned, or any reference 
 made to the wishes of the Queen's Ministers, Mail tend to ac- 
 celerate the issue.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] CLIVE'S WEALTH. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 dive's immense wealth His generosity He proposes to quit Bengal. 
 
 HAVING waited till the few clouds which hung in the political 
 horizon were dispersed having fully instructed Major Carnac 
 and Colonel Forde how to deal with Shah Zada should he not 
 be induced by the defeat of the Dutch armament to abandon his 
 design upon Patna, Clive, after taking formal leave of the 
 Nabob at Moorshedabad, returned to Calcutta, and began to make 
 preparations for an immediate departure for Europe. He was thus 
 engaged when a despatch arrived from the Court of Directors, 
 of which both the style and the substance gave serious and on 
 the whole just offence to the chiefs of the local government. 
 Such a communication was not calculated to remove the con- 
 victions on which Clive's letter to the first Minister of the Crown 
 had been founded ; and in the reply, which he is understood 
 mainly to have dictated, no disguise was put upon the sentiments 
 of the parties wronged. I have thought it necessary to refer to 
 this circumstance, because the entire transaction, from its first 
 stage to its last, is eminently characteristic of the body which 
 took the lead in it. To Clive, indeed, neither the folly nor the 
 insolence of the Directors was now of any moment. He had 
 made his fortune ; and it was a princely one. He had earned a 
 name second only to that of Wolfe if second even to his in the 
 estimation of his countrymen ; and being on the point of quitting 
 their service, it mattered little to him how they might receive 
 that reproof which their servants conveyed to them. But on 
 the fate of India it told seriously ; for, the wrath of the Honour- 
 able Court being excited, they forthwith dismissed from their 
 employ the ablest and most trustworthy of Clive's colleagues. 
 Of their intention to act in a manner so well calculated to 
 involve their own affairs in confusion he knew nothing, when, 
 after handing over the government to Mr. Holwell, he took final
 
 128 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 leave of his colleagues and of the inhabitants of Fort William. 
 On the 5th of February, 1760, he embarked with his family on 
 board of ship, and the following day was making head with a 
 favourable wind and current down the Ganges. 
 
 There are few instances on record of such success in life as 
 that to which Clive had by this time attained. Beginning the 
 world without a shilling in his purse, he was now, at the age of 
 four-and-thirty, one of the wealthiest subjects of the British 
 Crown. In hard cash he had received, partly as gifts from the 
 Nabob, partly as his legitimate share of prize-money, about 
 300,000/. To this must be added no trivial amount of accu- 
 mulations arising out of the interest of moneys invested, and 
 savings on his regular pay ; while the returns of the jaghire or 
 feof are put down by himself as averaging full 27,000/. annually. 
 They whose wish to state his income at the lowest admit that 
 he must have been in the receipt of at least 40,000/. a-year. 
 Others, probably as well informed, and who have no apparent mo- 
 tive to deviate from the truth, rate it at 60,000/. In either case 
 the amount would be enormous now ; in the middle of the last 
 century it had few parallels even among the revenues of princes. 
 It is due to the memory of this remarkable man to state that he 
 made, upon the whole, an excellent use of his wealth. His 
 liberality to his parents, and indeed to all who by the ties of 
 blood or of friendship had the most distant claim upon his kind- 
 ness, was unbounded. Hearing that his old commander, General 
 Lawrence, was but indifferently provided for in the world, he 
 settled upon him an annuity of 5001. He paid his father's 
 debts, which seem to have amounted to more than 9000/., and 
 allowed him an income more than handsome for his station in 
 life, and desired a coach to be kept for his use. He presented 
 to each of his five sisters a portion of 2000/., and was generous 
 even to his aunts, to his cousins, and to the cousins and aunts 
 of his wife. Still, when all was done, he remained the richest 
 commoner of his day. Clive, however, was rich only because 
 money came to him more quickly than he was able to spend it. 
 He was not only not of a niggard disposition, but his personal 
 habits ran into the opposite extreme. It is amusing to read the 
 orders for fine dresses and rich wines which he sent home to his 
 agents in England : "I must trouble you," he writes to Mr.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] CLIVE'S GENEROSITY. 129 
 
 Orme on the 1st of August, 1757, " with a few commissions 
 concerning family affairs. Imprimis^ what you can provide 
 must be of the best and finest you can get for love or money : 
 two hundred shirts, the wristbands worked, some of the ruffles 
 worked with a border either in squares or points, and the rest 
 plain ; stocks, neckcloths, and handkerchiefs in proportion ; 
 three corse (sixty pairs) of the finest stockings ; several pieces 
 of plain and spotted muslin, two yards wide, for aprons; book- 
 muslins ; cambrics ; a few pieces of the finest dimity ; and a com- 
 plete set of table-linen of Fort St. David diaper made for the 
 purpose." In the same spirit his friend, Captain Latham of 
 the Royal Navy, whom he appears to have employed among 
 the tailors, writes to inform him that he, the Captain, had pre- 
 pared for the Governor a court-suit namely, a fine scarlet 
 cloth coat, with handsome gold lace, " which he preferred to the 
 common wear of velvet," and a ricli brocade waistcoat to match. 
 The gallant commissioner adds " It is my design to line the 
 coat with parchment, that it may not wrinkle." Nor must I 
 forget to add, while referring to this subject, that, a wig being 
 then indispensable to the equipment of a gentleman, Clive had 
 a whole boxfull of this species of head-gear sent out to him. 
 The individual who could thus care for his own dress and out- 
 ward appearance was not likely to stint his wife in her wardrobe, 
 or to shut his doors against friends, or indeed against any who 
 were entitled by their rank in the service to visit him. dive's 
 hospitality was unbounded ; and though he never appears him- 
 self to have exceeded in wine, he placed at the disposal of his 
 guests ample means of indulging a taste which was then more 
 prevalent than it happily has become since. In like manner he 
 betted freely at cards and in the cock-pit the latter amusement 
 (a most brutal one) being much in vogue among the gentlemen 
 of India in those days ; and his horses, equipages, &c., were 
 as numerous and as brilliant as " love or money could procure." 
 It must not be supposed, however, that such subjects as these 
 occupied his thoughts for one moment to the exclusion of graver 
 matters. Clive's ruling passion was ambition. He never won a 
 step MI the ladder of fame or of social position without imme- 
 diately seeking to ascend beyond it. Being Governor of Bengal, 
 he desired his father to ascertain by inquiring among his friends 
 
 K.
 
 130 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 whether or not it might be practicable to obtain an appointment 
 as Governor-General of British India. When satisfied that the 
 time was not yet come for such an arrangement, he avowed his 
 determination, as soon as he should return home, to obtain a seat 
 in the House of Commons, and to go with the Ministry. The 
 same spirit it was which urged him to correspond with many of 
 the leading men of the day, among whom may be enumerated 
 Lord Chancellor Northampton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 Lord Barrington, and Mr. Henry Fox. And yet he, who 
 evidently desired to keep well with the great, and had, perhaps, 
 too much courted them during his first sojourn in England, never 
 forgot the companions of his youth, or persons who might have 
 been kind to him while in obscurity. His old friend and brother- 
 in-law, Captain Maskelyne, seems to have made no figure as a 
 soldier ; yet Clive, though he would not promote him to places 
 of trust which he was unequal to fill, added 10,000// to his 
 savings, and sent him home with a competency. To Mr. 
 Chauncy, a gentleman of no note, who, having been connected 
 with the India Company, was instrumental in procuring for 
 Clive his writership, the letters of this successful commander 
 are uniformly grateful and generous : " If I have been any way 
 instrumental in the late revolution," he says, writing to this 
 worthy man about the overthrow of Suraj-u-Dowlah, " the merit 
 is entirely owing to you, who countenanced, favoured, and pro- 
 tected me, and was the chief cause of my coming to India in a 
 station which rendered me capable of serving the Company. 
 Accept, sir, of my gratitude and 'sincerest wishes for your wel- 
 fare. May you enjoy the blessings of peace and retirement, and 
 may success and every other happiness in this life forsake rne 
 when I forget how much I am obliged to you." 
 
 Meanwhile the fame of Clive's great exploits, and of the im- 
 portant services he had rendered to his country, was filling 
 every circle in the empire. His own relatives and personal 
 friends were of course loud and incessant in his praises ; indeed, 
 the anxiety of his worthy father, that the shadow of a shade 
 should nowhere be permitted to obscure his son's merits, was as 
 apt at times to place the object of the good man's adulation in a 
 false point of view, as it jarred against both the policy and the 
 better taste of Clive himself. The truth, however, is, that Clive
 
 CHAP, xiv.] CLIVE'S FAME. 131 
 
 stood in no need of such blowers of bubbles to render his name 
 illustrious. It was in everybody's mouth ; at Court ; and every- 
 where else ; and the most forward to load him with praise seems to 
 have been George the Second himself. In the year 1758, when 
 disaster attended all the military operations of England by land 
 and sea, and the Duke of Cumberland was forced, by public 
 opinion, to retire from the office of commander-in-chief, Lord 
 Ligonier, who succeeded him, took occasion one day to ask the 
 King's permission for the young Lord Dunmore to serve as a volun- 
 teer in the army of the King of Prussia. Leave was refused, upon 
 which the Commander-in-chief went on to say, " May he not 
 join the Duke of Brunswick, then?" "Pshaw!" replied the 
 King, " what can he get by attending the Duke of Brunswick ? 
 If he desire to learn the art of war, let him go to Clive." But 
 higher renown befell him than this when the illustrious Pitt 
 spoke of him as a heaven-born general* as the only officer who 
 by land or sea had sustained the reputation of the country and 
 added to its glory, All these anecdotes, and many more which 
 the limits of the present work compel me to omit, were repeated 
 to Clive in the letters which he received from home. But it is 
 not in the nature of things that so much good should come upon 
 any man unalloyed by evil. There is a degree of renown and an 
 extent of prosperity which command the admiration of all 
 without stirring in any the feelings of envy ; but no sooner are 
 these exceeded than a host of enemies hang, as it were, upon the 
 skirts of the prosperous, and endeavour to pull him down. Had 
 Themistocles done less good service to Athens, he would not 
 have died in exile ; George Canning might have retained the 
 political friendships of his youth to old age had he been content 
 to play a subordinate part to men who soon went a thousand 
 miles beyond him in the career of liberalism. In like manner, 
 Clive, whom all men had welcomed with applause on his return 
 from the defence of Arcot, became, as victor of Plassey, and the 
 arbiter of the destinies of crowned heads in the East, an object 
 of undisguised jealousy to many. Among the Directors of the 
 India Company in particular, this bad feeling seems to have 
 
 * This remarkable expression of the father, when speaking of Lord Clive, 
 came to be applied in after years to the son as a minister. The late Mr. 
 Pitt was called "a heaven-born minister" in his youth, for the purpose of 
 travestying Lord Chatham's adulation of the victor of Plassey. 
 
 K.2
 
 132 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 struck root ; and dive's father, who delighted in nothing so 
 much as retailing gossip of every sort to his son, took care that 
 the latter should not be ignorant of the fact. 
 
 Olive's nature was not so framed as to take any very deep or 
 painful impression from the exertions of the envious. He loved 
 praise, and was open to flattery ; but detraction only roused him 
 to deal out blows at least as heavy as the enemies of his good 
 name endeavoured to inflict upon him. He was, however, a man 
 of the world ; and, knowing how apt injudicious laudation is to 
 stand in the way of the party praised, he did his best to restrain 
 the zeal of the friends who vied with one another in lighting 
 what they conceived to be his battles in his absence. In a letter 
 to one of his agents, in which he discusses at length his own 
 past career and future prospects, this point is strongly pressed. 
 " As this good news," he says, " may set my father upon exerting 
 himself too much, and paying too many visits to the Duke of 
 Newcastle, Mr. Fox, and other great men, I desire you will 
 endeavour to moderate his expectations ; for although I intend 
 getting into Parliament, and have hopes of being taken notice of 
 by his Majesty, yet you know the merit of all actions is greatly 
 lessened by being too much boasted of. I know my father's 
 disposition leads this way, which proceeds from his affection for 
 me." 
 
 Besides these embarrassments, which may be considered to a 
 certain extent as inseparable from the career which he had run, 
 Clive was subjected at this time to trials of a different description, 
 which he felt acutely. I have elsewhere explained that he was 
 very happy in his marriage. There was not much uxoriousness 
 about him, to be sure, neither was his taste of such a nature as 
 led him particularly to delight in the prattle of babes or the 
 sports of very young people ; but he was sincerely attached to 
 Mrs. Clive, as indeed it well became him to be, and had a 
 father's honest affection for the children whom she brought him. 
 One of these, an infant boy, died just as he was about to depart 
 the second time for India. Another, also a boy, was so ill at 
 the period of his embarkation to return home in 1760, that it 
 was found necessary to leave the little fellow behind. Mr. 
 Fullerton, a friend of the father, took charge of the invalid, and 
 laid him in his grave soon after the ship which bore the rest of
 
 CHAP, xiv.] RETURN TO ENGLAND. 1.33 
 
 the family to England had begun her voyage. Olive's letters 
 show that these visitations, and especially the latter, were not 
 unfelt by him : nevertheless, the tone of his correspondence upon 
 private affairs is generally cheerful ; giving proof that his home 
 was a happy one so far, at least, as a man of his temperament 
 can be said to find sources of real happiness anywhere. His 
 own health, however, was not good ; he had suffered much 
 during the latter months of his stay in Bengal from rheumatism, 
 and feared at one time that it would end in gout. His appre- 
 hension on that score soon vanished, it is true, and he describes 
 himself, at the period of his departure from Calcutta, as being in 
 excellent health. But he had not been in England many weeks 
 ere another and a more alarming illness overtook him. He 
 appears on this occasion to have suffered greatly from that de- 
 pression of spirits to which he had been liable from boyhood. 
 The malady was not, however, on the mind, but in the body ; 
 and for some months his medical attendants entertained serious 
 misgivings as to the issue. But it may be well to devote a 
 separate chapter to a sketch of his manner of life from the 
 autumn of 1760, when he reached London for the second time, 
 to the early summer of 1764, when for the last time he quitted 
 it to return to the scene of his early glories.
 
 134 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Olive's public career in England His private habits. 
 
 I HAVE not been able to ascertain the exact date of Olive's 
 landing in England. It seems to have been some time in the 
 month of September or of October 1760, and enough remains on 
 record to show that his first reception both at Court and in the 
 India House was very flattering. Clive himself, indeed, never 
 affected to hide his disappointment 'at the limited extent to 
 which honours were conferred upon him by the Crown. In a 
 letter to Major Carnac, dated the 27th of February, 1762, he 
 more than insinuates that he had expected to receive the red 
 ribbon, and to be raised at once to the British peerage ; instead 
 of which an Irish peerage only was offered, though it was 
 accompanied by a sort of assurance that his Majesty had higher 
 things in store for so distinguished a subject. But in attributing 
 the circumstance to the severe illness with which, as I have just 
 explained, he was attacked almost immediately on landing, he 
 probably judged aright. Out of sight out of mind is a form of 
 speech which may be applied as freely in cases like this as in the 
 more vulgar affairs of visiting and acquaintance. The gratitude 
 of men in power, like the hospitalities of the gay and wealthy, 
 seldom seeks out for objects on which to expend itself. 
 They who desire to take advantage of either must, at all events, 
 keep themselves in the way not to be overlooked. 
 
 Though not a member of the House of Lords, Clive soon 
 established for himself a large share of influence in society. He 
 fought his own way into the House of Commons, and surrounded 
 himself there with a phalanx of friends, who, owing their seats 
 to him, were devoted to his interests. His first essay in political 
 life had attached him to the party of which Fox was at the 
 head. The commanding genius of Pitt in a short time won him 
 over ; but his true devotion was to George Grenville, whom he
 
 CHAP, xv.] CLIVE'S CAREER IN ENGLAND. 135 
 
 continued to support, whether in office or out of it, with all the 
 strength which he could command. Accordingly, when Lord 
 Bute prevailed upon the young King to separate himself from 
 Pitt, and by and by to throw the Duke of Newcastle and his 
 section of the Cabinet overboard, Clive, though requested in 
 some sort to name his own terms, refused to support the new 
 Administration. " Now that we are to have peace abroad," 
 he writes in November, 1762, " war is commencing at home 
 among ourselves. There is to be a most violent combat at the 
 meeting of Parliament whether Bute or Newcastle is to govern 
 this kingdom ; and the times are so critical that every member 
 has an opportunity of fixing a price upon his services. I still 
 continue to be one of those unfashionable kind of people who 
 think very highly of independency, and to bless my stars indul- 
 gent fortune has enabled me to act according to my conscience. 
 Being very lately asked by authority if I had any honour to ask 
 from my Sovereign, my answer was, that I thought it dishonour- 
 able to take advantage of the times ; but that, when these Parlia- 
 mentary disputes were at an end, if his Majesty should then 
 approve of my conduct by rewarding it, I should think myself 
 highly honoured in receiving any marks of the royal favour." 
 
 Refusing to co-operate with the Government of the day, 
 Clive was, of course, treated by it with coldness. He was not 
 even consulted while negotiations with France were pending 
 respecting the terms on which it would be proper to insist in 
 order to protect the interests of the English in Bengal ; his case 
 thus offering a remarkable contrast to that of Bussy, who no 
 sooner returned on parole to his own country than he became 
 the chief adviser of the French minister on all points relating to 
 Indian politics. But Clive resembled the Duke of Welling- 
 ton in this, that, wherever he conceived that by volunteering 
 advice he could effect a public good, he did not hesitate to state 
 his views, even to a hostile Administration. Accordingly, he 
 drew up a paper or memorial, which he forwarded to Lord Bute, 
 setting forth, in clear and forcible terms, the outlines of the 
 political systems of France and England in the East, and ex- 
 plaining in detail the extent to which, and no further, concessions 
 might be made, in the event of peace, by the latter power to the 
 former. He is particularly urgent in this document on two
 
 136 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 points namely, that in the Carnatic the French shall be limited 
 as to the number of troops which they are permitted to keep on 
 .foot, and that they shall not, on any account whatever, be re- 
 admitted into Bengal except in the character of merchants. 
 
 Lord Bute could not but see the force of his correspondent's 
 reasoning, and expressed himself much obliged by it. He 
 adopted Lord dive's project, likewise, so far, that the French 
 Government, in the treaty of 1763, agreed not to maintain any 
 troops either in Bengal or in the Northern Circars. But, at the 
 suggestion of an influential member of the Court of Directors 
 who had long ceased to be on a friendly footing with Clive, the 
 Minister had well-nigh marred his own work by stipulating for 
 the recognition of Mahomed Ali Khan as Nabob of the Car- 
 natic, and agreeing consequently to acknowledge the right of 
 Salabut Jung to the Souhbadarry of the Deccan. By mere acci- 
 dent Clive learned what was in progress, and did not scruple 
 to expose the absurdity of mixing up questions so entirely ex- 
 traneous with matters which concerned the French and English 
 nations, and these only. The clauses were withdrawn, and the 
 treaty, thus amended, received the sanction of both Courts. 
 
 I have alluded to the change of feeling which had arisen 
 between Clive and an influential member of the Court of Di- 
 rectors with whom he had formerly been on terms of amity. 
 The individual in question was Mr. Lawrence Sulivan, a man 
 of undeniable talent, and of clear though somewhat limited 
 views, but of a disposition so peculiar that he could not bear to 
 be either thwarted in his purposes or helped to the accomplish- 
 ment of them by any hand except his own. Having spent some 
 time in India, he brought into the Direction, when called to a 
 seat in that Court, a qualification which was possessed by few, if 
 any, of his colleagues namely, a practical acquaintance with the 
 wants and circumstances of the country which lie assisted to 
 govern. Admiring Clive while at a distance, he had given him 
 a general support, which Clive repaid by throwing the whole of 
 his influence among the proprietors into Mr. Sulivan's scale. 
 Arid chiefly through their exertions Mr. Sulivan was placed in 
 the chair, where he soon succeeded in establishing a moral 
 supremacy over the body. No sooner, however, was the fact of 
 Clive's intended return to England made known than Mr.
 
 CHAP, xv.] POLITICS OF THE INDIA HOUSE. 137 
 
 Sulivan took the alarm. He foresaw that, should Olive's 
 ambition point in the direction of the India House, his own 
 influence there would soon be cast into the shade, and he 
 determined, by every means in his power, to avert the cata- 
 strophe. His course of action was obvious enough, and he 
 followed it. The offensive letter from Bengal served as a peg on 
 which to hang a general charge of pride and insubordination. 
 Nobody brought this openly forward, it is true, because the 
 object of it was beyond the limits of the Court's jurisdiction ; 
 but it was cautiously infused by one mind into another till the 
 whole became conscious of its power, and of the angry feelings 
 which it stirred. Again, Clive had become too rich. The Com- 
 pany, and not the individual, ought to have reaped the reward of 
 the Company's exertions ; and, above all, this jaghire, which their 
 servant had accepted, was intolerable. It ought not to be per- 
 mitted to continue and it should not. At the same time, neither 
 Mr.'Sulivan nor any other member of the Court could deny, that 
 whatever it was competent to Meer Jaffier to give, it was com- 
 petent to Lord Clive to accept ; and the necessity of acting 
 with caution and delicacy was admitted. Mr. Sulivan does not 
 appear, at this stage in the business, to have desired to go 
 further. By alarming Clive for the continuance of his jaghire, 
 he hoped to keep him out of the vortex of Leadenhall-street 
 politics, and for a time he succeeded. Clive accepted the warning 
 which Sulivan gave in good part, and for a while held aloof 
 from interference with the proceedings of a body which tacitly 
 pledged itself, through its chairman, to abstain on these terms 
 from interfering with him. 
 
 Clive was willing to purchase the quiet enjoyment of his 
 jaghire by leaving to others the general management of affairs 
 at the India House ; but it was not in his nature to forget old 
 friendships, nor perhaps to suffer old antipathies to die out. As 
 most men in high command are apt to do, he desired to promote 
 the interests of those who had served immediately under his own 
 eye, and made their merits conspicuous to him. Others, whose 
 claims might be of equal weight, though differently established, 
 he overlooked ; and in one memorable case, at least, he carried 
 the principle to an inexcusable extent. Colonel Forde was an 
 especial favourite with Clive, as indeed he deserved to be ; so
 
 138 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 was Major Carnac ; so was Captain Calliaud ; and so was a 
 Captain Knox of one of whose exploits I shall have occasion 
 to speak in another portion of this memoir. But Colonel Coote 
 had not even his friendship, and he scarcely did justice to that 
 gentleman's services on the Coromandel coast in his eagerness 
 to advance Forde at Coote's expense. It happened that Mr. 
 Sulivan and he took different views of this subject. Many of 
 those whom Lord Clive recommended to the Court's protection 
 Mr. Sulivan disliked ; almost all whom Clive disliked Mr. 
 Sulivan was anxious to patronize. Collision on points like this 
 necessarily leads to estrangement and mutual distrust ; and the 
 step from distrust to hostility, in tempers like that of Clive, is 
 never a wide one. In November, 1762, I find his Lordship 
 writing to his old friend Mr. Vansittart in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " There is a terrible storm brewing against the next general 
 election. Sulivan, who is one of the Directors this year, is 
 strongly opposed by Rous and his party, and by part, if not all, 
 of the East Indians (particularly the Bengallese), and matters 
 are carried to such lengths that either Sulivan or Rous must give 
 way. I must acknowledge that in my heart I am a wellwisher 
 for the cause of Rous, although, considering the great stake I 
 have in India, it is probable I shall remain neuter. Sulivan 
 might have attached me to his interest if he had pleased ; but he 
 could never forgive the Bengal letter, and never has reposed 
 that confidence in me which my services to the East India Com- 
 pany entitled me to. The consequence has been, that we have 
 all along behaved to one another like shy cocks at times out- 
 wardly expressing great regard and friendship for each other." 
 
 Time passed, and the daily recurrence of contrarieties, for I 
 cannot call them bickerings, more and more embittered the feel- 
 ings of these two gentlemen towards one another. Mr. Sulivan 
 was a protege and firm supporter of Lord Bute ; Lord Clive 
 took the side of Granville, having despaired of the return of 
 Pitt to office. He disapproved of the peace of 1 763, and voted 
 with the minority in the House of Commons which condemned 
 it. Lord Bute was much annoyed ; and, seeking about for some 
 means of diminishing Clive's influence, he found in Mr. Sulivan a 
 willing instrument wherewith to work ; for Sulivan had become
 
 CHAP, xv.] ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. 139 
 
 doubly jealous of his rival, as he now considered him, in con- 
 sequence of the credit which the latter received among the 
 proprietors for having guarded their interests by the amendments 
 which he had introduced into the treaty of peace with France. 
 As a matter of course, hostility on one side begat indignation 
 and the wish to retaliate on the other, till at last Clive threw 
 himself, with all his might, into the arena. It was clear to him 
 either that he himself must cease to have weight in the councils 
 of India, or that Mr. Sulivan's authority must be absolutely 
 struck down. He determined to aim at the latter alternative. 
 With this view he set himself, at the election of 1763, to resist 
 the return of that gentleman to the Directory. He left no 
 means untried to effect his object. He purchased 100,000/. 
 worth of stock, and, dividing it among friends on whom he could 
 rely, into 500/. shares, he commanded such a retinue of voters 
 as had never before followed one man to the India House. All 
 on whom he had or was believed to have a claim were solicited 
 to go with him likewise ; and at the show of hands the majority 
 in his favour was prodigious. Writing to Mr. Vansittart on the 
 19th of March, 1763, he says "The tremendous day is over. 
 I need not be particular about it. You will have it from many 
 hands. I should imagine there were present not less than eight 
 hundred proprietors. Numbers of neutral parties went off; and 
 no small number of our friends, thinking our majority so great 
 that there was no occasion for their presence. Indeed, upon the 
 holding up of hands, I thought we were at least two to one. 
 This is really a great victory, considering we had the united 
 strength of the whole Ministry against us." 
 
 If gigantic exertions, and the risk of much pecuniary loss, 
 deserved to secure a victory of this sort, Clive ought clearly to 
 have come off a conqueror. He availed himself to its utmost 
 limits of the iniquitous law which sanctioned or rather of the 
 absence of the law which ought to have prevented the creation 
 of fictitious votes. Of the two hundred proprietors who, for the 
 purposes of the election had each his 500Z. stock, probably one 
 hundred and ninety were pledged, as soon as the contest was 
 over, to restore their qualifications to him from whom they had 
 borrowed them. But Olive's opponents were neither less dili- 
 gent nor more scrupulous than he ; and above all, there was the
 
 140 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 test of the ballot-box to be sustained. It decided against Clive, 
 and he was soon made to feel that not to prevail in such a con- 
 test was to expose himself to trouble and mortification. One of 
 the first acts of the new Court was to address a letter to the 
 Governor of Bengal, in which he was commanded not only to 
 pay into the Company's treasury the amount of dive's jaghire 
 for the current year, but to make out a statement of the sums 
 paid to Clive since the jaghire was first granted, with a view to 
 compel restitution to be made. Clive's indignation, when the fact 
 of such orders having gone forth first reached him, was extreme ; 
 nevertheless he bore himself with greater appearance of com- 
 posure than might have been expected in a man of his naturally 
 impetuous temper. He wrote to his friends in India, urging 
 them to delay compliance with the Court's instructions in case 
 the slightest loop-hole should be afforded of escape from prompt 
 compliance with them. His next step was to apply to the Court 
 of Directors for a copy of the proceedings on which a measure 
 so deeply affecting his interests was founded ; and on their refusal 
 to furnish the information sought, he filed a bill against them in 
 Chancery. There could be little doubt as to the issue of the 
 trial, had it come on. All the most eminent lawyers of the day, 
 including Mr. Yorke, then Attorney-General, and Mr. Fletcher 
 Norton, the Solicitor-General, had given their opinion that the 
 Court of Directors had no case ; indeed, that their own tenure of 
 the Zemindarry rested on the same ground which assured to Clive 
 his rents or reserved revenue arising out of such Zemindarry. 
 But before matters could be brought to an issue, circumstances 
 arose which threw both the Court of Directors and the Company 
 itself in some sense at. Clive's feet. There had been mismanage- 
 ment and confusion in the province of Bengal ever since Clive 
 resigned his seat as President of the governing body. Without 
 a head to direct, or an arm vigorous enough to restrain them, the 
 Company's servants, as well European as native, had been guilty 
 of all manner of abuses. Revolutions had been brought about at 
 Moorshedabad by processes and with a view to the accomplish- 
 ment of objects which were alike unjustifiable ; and the con- 
 sequence was, an interruption of the Company's trade, and the 
 entire cessation of means wherewith to pay the dividends. Now, 
 to hit the proprietors here was to wound these gentlemen in
 
 CHAP, xv.] OFFERED THE GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP. 141 
 
 vital parts. They were not very careful to investigate the 
 claims of rival Indian princes to their thrones; whether the 
 subjects of these princes throve or went to ruin was a question 
 with which they took little concern ; and the peculations of 
 their own friends and relatives, so long as they were confined 
 within moderate limits, afflicted them not : but to touch the 
 dividends was to dry up the current of their blood at its fountain- 
 head. The wildest alarm pervaded the whole body. They 
 demanded inquiry ; and the more the case was investigated the 
 less were they satisfied with the results. What was to be done ? 
 As if actuated by one feeling, the proprietors met in full Court, 
 and determined that Clive alone could save them from ruin. 
 They entreated him to return to Bengal, and assume once more 
 the management of their affairs in that quarter. Indeed, they 
 went further. If he accepted the trust, which they pressed upon 
 him, he was to go, not as President of the Governing Council of 
 Calcutta, but as Governor-General and Commander- in-Chief 
 over the whole of the Company's possessions in the East. And 
 that there might be no plea for declining the offer because of the 
 unsettled state of his dispute with the Court of Directors, the 
 Court of Proprietors proposed that the jaghire should be at once 
 restored, and dive's right to its continued possession officially 
 recognised. This was indeed the triumph of talent and genius 
 over envy. But Clive declined to avail himself of the Court's 
 enthusiasm. He said that he had his own proposal relative to 
 the jaghire to make, on the compliance of the Court of Directors 
 with which one obstacle to his acceptance of the important trust 
 offered to him by the proprietors would be removed. This he 
 briefly stated ; and, when the Court accepted it by acclamation, 
 he went on to say that there was yet another point which they 
 must concede to him, otherwise he must decline entering again 
 into their service. He differed, he said, so much from Mr. 
 Sulivan in opinion of the measures necessary to be taken for the 
 good of the Company, that he could not consider that gentleman 
 as a proper Chairman of the Court of Directors ; that it would 
 be in vain for him to exert himself as he ought, in the office of 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief of their forces, if his mea- 
 sures were to be thwarted and condemned at home, as they 
 probably would be, by a Court of Directors under the influence
 
 142 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 of a Chairman whose conduct, upon many occasions, had evinced 
 his ignorance of East India affairs, and who was also known to 
 be his personal and inveterate enemy ; that it was a matter 
 totally indifferent to him who filled the chair, if Mr. Sulivan 
 did not ; but that he could not, consistently with the regard he 
 had for his own reputation, and the advantages he should be 
 emulous of establishing for the Company, proceed in the ap- 
 pointments with which they had honoured him, if that gentleman 
 continued to have the lead at home. 
 
 Mr. Sulivan seems to have been ill prepared for this direct 
 attack. He knew his man too well to hope, that, having made 
 the move, Clive would ever withdraw from it ; and, fearing lest 
 his influence should be utterly destroyed, he endeavoured to 
 protect himself by a display of zeal in the cause of others. 
 After expressing his concurrence in the opinion of the General 
 Court as to the talents of Lord Clive, with whom he could con- 
 ceive no reason why he should be at variance, Mr. Sulivan 
 proceeded to represent the impropriety of superseding (by the 
 civil and military powers proposed to be granted to his Lordship) 
 Mr. Vansittart, Governor of Bengal, and Major-General Law- 
 rence, who had lately been induced to return to Madras. He 
 also stated the disappointment which the nomination of Lord 
 Clive would occasion to Mr. Spencer, a Bombay servant lately 
 nominated to the head of affairs at Bengal. But the General 
 Court were in no temper to listen to such reasoning, and with 
 one voice insisted upon the Directors making the appointment. 
 The Directors, as a last resource, desired to try the question by 
 ballot ; but the by-laws of the Company establish that no 
 ballot shall take place except by a requisition of nine pro- 
 prietors. Though upwards of three hundred were present, this 
 number could not be found to sign their names to such a requisi- 
 tion ; and the Court, in consequence, adjourned. 
 
 The Court of Directors, thus compelled to attend to the wish 
 of the Court of Proprietors, nominated Lord Clive Governor 
 and Commander-in-Chief of Bengal. There was some hesitation 
 about the military commission interfering with that of Major- 
 General Lawrence, who, though advanced in years, and infirm, 
 had accompanied his near relative, Mr. Palk, when that gentle- 
 man was appointed Governor of Madras. But Clive intimated
 
 CHAP, xv.] DISPUTES WITH THE DIRECTOES. 143 
 
 that it was far from his wish to supersede his old commander : 
 all he required was, that neither Major- General Lawrence nor 
 any other officer should have the power of interfering with his 
 command in Bengal. 
 
 Lord Clive received his appointment* within a month of the 
 general election ; and the Directors hurried their preparations 
 for his departure, from a desire that he should leave England 
 before that event took place ; conceiving, no doubt, that his 
 doing so would evince a confidence in their support, and prevent 
 that opposition which several of them expected on the ground 
 of their known hostility to the popular Governor. A letter was, 
 in consequence, written to Lord Clive by the Secretary, inform- 
 ing him that a ship was ready to receive him. He replied, that, 
 for reasons he had assigned at the General Court, he could not 
 think of embarking till he knew the result of the election of 
 Directors, which was to take place in the ensuing month. The 
 Directors, when they received this answer, declared that they 
 considered it as a resignation of the government. They there- 
 fore summoned a General Court, at which one of the proprietors 
 in their interest moved, that, as Lord Clive declined the govern- 
 ment of Bengal, they should proceed to a new nomination ; but 
 his Lordship's declaration at the late Court had made too deep 
 an impression to be easily erased. The proprietors saw nothing 
 in his conduct but manly consistency with the sentiments which 
 he had previously avowed; and, viewing the conduct of the Di- 
 rectors as an unworthy artifice to evade compliance with their 
 wishes, they threw out the proposition with violence and 
 clamour. 
 
 Strong in the support of the Proprietors, and firm in his pur- 
 pose of excluding from the Direction the individual against 
 whom he now cherished a feeling more bitter, perhaps, than 
 even his conduct merited, Clive remained in England till the 
 election of the 25th of April 1764 was over. It did not give to 
 him a triumph so decided as he had hoped for. Mr. Sulivan was 
 still a popular man with the East India body, and therefore, 
 though no longer supported by ministerial influence (for Lord 
 Bute was by this time out of office), he contrived to carry twelve 
 
 * March, 1764.
 
 144 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 out of twenty-four seats, his own being one of the number. 
 The remaining twelve were filled by Olive's friends ; and when 
 the struggle for the Chair arose, they prevailed. Mr. Rous be- 
 came Chairman, and Mr. Bolton, a member of the same party, 
 was appointed to be Deputy. 
 
 A Court so constituted was not likely to resist any reasonable 
 proposition on the subject of his jaghire which Clive might 
 make. His right of possession was confirmed for ten years, 
 should he live so long, and the Zemindarry still remain in the 
 Company's hands ; whilst the ultimate disposal of the property 
 was passed by as an arrangement which would be most conve- 
 niently settled when the occasion arose. Neither were his plau.s 
 for the better management of the province assigned to him in 
 any degree thwarted. The emergency which had caused his no- 
 mination to office led to his being intrusted with very extensive 
 powers. lie was permitted to name his own Committee of 
 Council. His recommendations of different military officers 
 were also attended to. The King's troops being at this period 
 recalled, all officers in his Majesty's service were ordered to 
 England. Major Calliaud, promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
 General, had been appointed to Madras ; Major Carnac's services 
 were rewarded with a similar commission, and the command of 
 the troops in Bengal ; Sir Robert Barker was appointed to com- 
 mand the artillery ; Majors Richard Smyth and Preston were 
 nominated Lieutenant-Colonels of the European corps ; and 
 Major Knox advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, to 
 command the sepoys. 
 
 The victory which Lord Clive obtained at the India House 
 was followed up by his friends, who, on the next general elec- 
 tion (1765), strengthened their party among the Directors very 
 considerably ; and Mr. Sulivan, notwithstanding the active exer- 
 tions of his adherents, was again defeated. This success gave 
 Clive the support which he required during his short but important 
 administration of the affairs of Bengal. It laid, however, the 
 foundation of the future troubles of his life ; for those over whom 
 he now triumphed cherished their resentments;* and their ranks 
 
 * Mr. Sulivan was not defeated without an active struggle. Mr. Walsh, 
 in a letter to Lord Clive of the 5th April, 1765, speaking of the contest, 
 observes " Lord Bute joined him (Mr. Sulivan) very strenuously, and got
 
 CHAP, xv.] CLIVE'S PRIVATE HABITS. 145 
 
 were early recruited by numerous malcontents from India, whom 
 dive's reforms had either deprived of the means of accumulat- 
 ing wealth, or exposed to obloquy. The efforts of his confe- 
 derated enemies will be noticed hereafter : the subject is men- 
 tioned here merely as a consequence of his engaging personally 
 in the politics of Leadenhall-street. How far that step was one 
 of wisdom, or of necessity, it is very difficult to determine. 
 
 Having thus described the public life of Lord Clive during 
 the interval between his second return to England and his de- 
 parture for the last time to the scene of his early labours, it 
 seems necessary, in order to fill up the outlines of the portrait, 
 that some notice, at least, should be taken of his personal habits, 
 and the state of his affairs as a domestic man, and a member of 
 general society. Clive was enormously rich, and he indulged 
 the passion for display which was natural to him without reserve. 
 His horses were the finest, his equipages the most brilliant, of all 
 that appeared at Court. He was a good deal about the palace 
 likewise, and was greatly flattered when the Queen proposed to 
 stand godmother for one of his children. He made rich presents 
 to multitudes of people, and did not forget either the King or 
 the Queen. An anecdote is told of him in reference to this 
 weakness which seems to me to deserve repetition. George the 
 Third had a great fancy at this time for strange animals, and 
 elephants, antelopes, hog-deer, and such like, were not then so 
 common in Europe as the zoological societies of various coun- 
 tries have since caused them to be. Clive wrote to several of 
 his friends in India, requesting that they would send him " curi- 
 osities " of the sort, which he might present to the King. For a 
 good while no " curiosities " came ; but at last he got a letter 
 from Mr. Vansittart, in which that gentleman informed him that 
 he had sent home two elephants, a rhinoceros, and a Persian 
 mare, and requested that his Lordship would, with the writer's 
 brother, Mr. Arthur Vansittart, present them to his Majesty. 
 Clive did not quite understand the meaning of this communica- 
 tion till the animals had actually arrived. But when Mr. A. 
 Vansittart requested that his Lordship would accompany him to 
 
 the Duke of Northumberland to do the same. This change may appear 
 extraordinary ; but abject submissions on the one part, and tender solicita- 
 tions on the other, are said to have brought it about !"
 
 146 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 Court in order to fulfil his brother's wishes, the wrath of the 
 great man burst forth. lie sat down and answered the note of 
 his correspondent in a tirade, of which I subjoin a short spe- 
 cimen : 
 
 '* Upon the receipt of your letter, enclosing- a copy of a para- 
 graph from your brother, I can plainly perceive that Mr. Yan- 
 sittart, declining to comply with the request I made him, of 
 purchasing and sending home, on my account, an elephant to be 
 presented to his Majesty by me, has taken that hint to send one 
 home on his own. This unkind treatment I neither deserved 
 nor expected from Mr. Vansittart. I am persuaded his Majesty 
 will not think I am wanting in that respect which is due to him, 
 if I decline presenting, in another person's name, an elephant 
 which I intended to present in my own. At the same time, I 
 shall take care that his Majesty be informed of the cause of my 
 desiring to be excused attending you to his Majesty with Mr. 
 Yansittart's presents." 
 
 This sharp rebuke, as subsequent explanations proved, had 
 really not been deserved. But the captain of the ship in which 
 the animals were brought home had blundered in describing the 
 designs of Mr. Yansittart in embarking them. And it may serve 
 to illustrate the state of Olive's feelings when I add, that he 
 never could be persuaded out of the belief that Mr. Sulivan put 
 the unlucky seaman on this method of giving annoyance to his 
 enemy. 
 
 If Clive was ostentatious in some of his proceedings, he was 
 eminently generous in others. I say nothing of the expenditure 
 of 60,000^. in electioneering within the space of eighteen months. 
 He had the purposes of party and personal ambition to serve in 
 this : but his presents to poor relatives and friends continued to 
 be princely. He settled 2QOQL additional on each of his sisters, 
 and rendered his brothers independent. He encouraged Major 
 Carnac to continue in the service in spite of the neglect which 
 he had suffered, by assuring him that he had done what he could 
 for him, besides leaving him in his will 500/. a-year. Styche 
 had long become his. He caused the old house to be fitted up 
 and enlarged ; but, finding it still too small, he purchased the 
 estate of TValcot, and built upon it a palace after the design and 
 under the superintendence of Sir Eobert Chambers, one of the
 
 CHAP, xv.] CLIVE'S PRIVATE HABITS. 147 
 
 most celebrated architects of his day. The spacious house in 
 Berkeley-square, in which, till very lately, his descendants con- 
 tinued to reside, he purchased on a lease of ninety years, and 
 fitted it up in a style of oriental magnificence. But it was not in 
 such channels as these exclusively that Clive sought for and 
 found a fair share of happiness. His letters betoken a mind, 
 morbid, indeed, and restless, but capable of strong domestic 
 affections ; and we cannot doubt that the indulgence of these 
 operated beneficially on his temper. Moreover, he had some 
 friends, as well as a host of enemies, and was gratified by the 
 assurance that a statue would be raised to him in the India House 
 as a mark of the Company's sense of his services ; and a medal 
 was actually struck to commemorate the great victory of Plassey. 
 We cannot know all this without assuming that, if it be within 
 the compass of honour and prosperity in this life to fill up the 
 measure of man's longings, Lord Clive had little to desire. 
 That they did not satisfy him is, however, certain : have they 
 ever satisfied any man's mind, which had the power, whether 
 exercised or not, of raising itself for an instant above the things 
 of sense ?
 
 148 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Retrospect of the course of affairs in Bengal. 
 
 I MUST crave the reader's indulgence for a brief space while I 
 endeavour, at this stage in my narrative, to sketch the outlines 
 of the more important of the events which occurred in Bengal 
 between Colonel Clive's resignation of the government of that 
 province in 1759 and his return as Lord Clive in 1765, with 
 powers largely increased, to the scene of his early glory. The 
 task, though the reverse of agreeable, is imposed upon me by 
 the necessity of accounting for that sudden burst of popular en- 
 thusiasm which, as already described, lifted the subject of it in 
 one moment above the malice of his enemies ; while of the 
 revulsion of feeling which began ere long to manifest itself, and 
 which led in due time to proceedings both in Parliament and 
 elsewhere, it is impossible to speak, with a knowledge of the 
 facts which we now possess, except in terms of strong reproba- 
 tion. If ever Clive served the Company and the country well, 
 it was during his last administration of the affairs of Bengal. 
 If ever he had a right to count upon receiving marks of his 
 employers' gratitude, and honours from the Crown, it was when 
 for the last time he had rendered up the trust which the Court 
 of Proprietors had in some measure forced him to undertake. 
 But as the motives which induced the Company to put itself and 
 its affairs absolutely into his hands were not of the most exalted 
 kind, so his efforts to do justice to the native population of 
 Bengal, as well as to the proprietors of stock and their European 
 representatives, minds inferior to his own had no power to 
 appreciate. Far be it from me to stand forward as the indis- 
 criminating advocate of Lord Clive's good name. Few men 
 rilling so large a space in the public eye have committed 
 graver offences against moral right. His faults of temper and 
 taste, and perhaps of something more important than either,
 
 CHAP, xvi.] AFFAIRS IN BENGAL. 149 
 
 seem to have been innumerable. But the offences to which I 
 allude had been at least forgiven, if indeed the seal of public 
 approval was not put upon them in 1762 ; and for errors of 
 another sort he was surely not accountable to the tribunal before 
 which he was arraigned. 
 
 For some time previously to the meeting of the Court which 
 declared that Clive, provided he would accept the government 
 of Bengal, should be allowed to dictate his own terms, all the 
 accounts received from British India had been of the most 
 unsatisfactory nature. From Bengal, especially, tidings arrived 
 with every ship ,of decaying commerce, foreign wars, anarchy in 
 the ruling body, and, as a necessary consequence, misgovern- 
 ment everywhere. Mr. Vansittart, who had been nominated to 
 succeed Clive, was a Madras servant, and therefore unpopular 
 with his colleagues. Though a well-meaning and in some 
 respects an able man, he was not possessed of sufficient energy 
 of character to grapple with the difficulties in which he became 
 immediately involved. He was greatly misled likewise by Mr. 
 Holwell, who, as senior member of Council, occupied 'in his 
 absence the President's chair, and who, though by and by 
 removed from the service, continued long enough after Mr. 
 Vansittart's arrival to embue that gentleman with some of his 
 own worst prejudices. Among other points which he laboured 
 too successfully to accomplish, Mr. Holwell succeeded in esta- 
 blishing in the mind of the President a rooted antipathy to Meer 
 Jaffier. Doubtless, that wretched man had many faults. He 
 had earned the character of a good soldier while serving as 
 commander-in-chief under Suraj-u-Dowlah ; but his unfitness to 
 administer the affairs of a kingdom became manifest almost im- 
 mediately on his accession to the throne. Still Meer Jaffier's 
 difficulties had been gigantic from the outset. He promised 
 more, as the price of his elevation, than he found himself able to 
 perform, and, in order to gain time and conciliate the forbearance 
 of his benefactors, he was forced to connive at endless abuses by 
 their agents and servants. I have elsewhere alluded to the 
 steps which Clive took with a view to check, if he could not 
 wholly put a stop to, these abuses. As long as he remained the 
 evil was at least endurable ; but no sooner was the master-mind 
 withdrawn than the English community in Bengal, like a
 
 150 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 watch of which the mainspring is broken, became utterly con- 
 fused. Everybody thought of enriching himself ; nobody cared 
 to inquire whether to the native sovereign or his people, or to 
 the interests of the Company, damage was likely to arise from 
 his efforts to accomplish this purpose. The system of private 
 trade, which I shall take occasion to describe by and by, was 
 pushed to a large extent. Meer Jaffier, cut off by it from the 
 ordinary channels of his revenue, fell into arrear in his payments 
 to the English, to his civil functionaries, and to his troops. The 
 Shah Zada, known as Sliah Alum, now raised by the murder of 
 his father to the throne of the Moguls, was marching to the 
 attack of Patna ; and the Rajah of Purneah, with the Viceroy 
 of Oude, the latter being just appointed Vizier of the empire, 
 had espoused his cause. Had Mr. Holwell been left under such 
 an accumulation of unfavourable circumstances to fight his own 
 battle, the chances are that he would ,have fought it unsuccess- 
 fully. But Clive, who foresaw the gathering of the cloud in the 
 north, had provided for the consequence of it previously to his 
 departure. Colonel Calliaud marched to support Ramnarrain. 
 This faithful friend of the English risked a battle previously to 
 Calliaud's arrival, and was defeated, but he shut himself up in 
 Patna, and maintained it against the Emperor with great resolu- 
 tion. The junction of his European allies gave him, as a matter 
 of course, the superiority. Another battle was fought un- 
 favourably for the invader ; when, after a vain attempt to 
 surprise Moorshedabad, and a second attempt, equally fruitless, 
 to make himself master of Patna, he was compelled to retreat 
 towards Delhi, and to leave the provinces for a little while 
 unmolested. 
 
 Meanwhile Meer Jaffier, and his son the Prince Meeran, were 
 making preparations to operate against the rebel Rajah of 
 Purneah. In these they were anticipated by the activity of 
 Captain King, who pushed at the head of his detachment to 
 meet the enemy, and overthrew him in a decisive battle ere 
 the Nabob had time to make a couple of marches from his 
 capital. But the satisfaction arising from this victory was a 
 good deal diminished by an event of which the consequences 
 proved far more serious than any one could have anticipated. 
 Prince Meeran, Meer Jaffier's son, was killed by lightning while
 
 CHAP, xvi.] TROUBLES OF MEER JAFFIER. 151 
 
 resting in his tent. Though cruel and very ill-disposed towards 
 the English, Meeran possessed courage and energy, and, for an 
 Indian prince, good faith. Whatever he promised to do he at 
 least strove to perform ; and the army, of which he was at the 
 head, reposed great confidence in him. It was his assurance that 
 they would sooner or later receive their pay which kept the troops 
 quiet in spite of the heavy balance due to them ; and his undis- 
 guised abhorrence of the state of debasement to which strangers 
 had reduced their country gave him much influence among the 
 nobility and gentry of the kingdom. His death seemed to bring 
 about at once a dissolution of all the bonds which held society 
 together. The army, in a state of mutiny, surrounded the 
 Nabob's palace, and clamoured for their wages. The heads of 
 the police and revenue departments declared that they would act 
 no longer. It was now that Meer Jaffier felt what it was to 
 have lost the friend on whom he was accustomed, on every 
 emergency, to rely. There was no longer a Clive at Fort Wil- 
 liam. Nevertheless, Olive's successor was there, and the Nabob 
 fondly flattered himself that the promises made by one repre- 
 sentative of the Company would be regarded as sacred by 
 another. He entreated Mr. Vansittart therefore to come to his 
 aid ; and Mr. Vansittart, with the entire approbation of his other- 
 wise intractable Council, determined to get rid of him. 
 
 The revolution which set aside Suraj-u-Dowlah and raised 
 Meer Jaffier to the throne of Bengal was, I believe, inevitable. 
 It Mas dictated to the English by the strongest of all instincts 
 self-preservation ; and, had it been managed with more modera- 
 tion in regard to the sums of money extracted from Meer 
 Jaffier as the price of his elevation, it might have proved as 
 fortunate for the native population as it was advantageous to the 
 Company. It was an experiment, likewise, which with all the 
 drawbacks attending it, the Bengal Government was justified 
 in making for once ; and it undoubtedly met with the approval 
 of the leading men of the provinces. But Meer Jaffier had done 
 nothing to incur the penalty of deposition. He was in debt, 
 doubtless ; so was almost every other native sovereign of India 
 at that time ; and if his debts rested upon him with greater 
 weight than theirs, it was because the English claimed a right 
 to interfere with the collection of his revenues. Surely he
 
 152 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 was no object of legitimate censure on that account ; surely the 
 English, and not he, were to blame ? But Mr. Vansittart and 
 his colleagues viewed the matter in a different light. The then 
 Governor or President of Bengal compiled, as is well known, 
 a narrative of his administration, in which the circumstances 
 which led to the dethronement of Meer Jaffier are explained ; 
 and the event itself is elaborately, if not very successfully, de- 
 fended. The following extract from his work will show with 
 what sort of logic the king-makers of the last century were in 
 the habit of satisfying their own consciences : 
 
 " The season had now begun," says Mr. Vansittart, " when 
 our forces were to take the field against a powerful enemy, 
 whilst we had scarce a rupee in our treasury to enable us to put 
 them in motion. The easy channel in which the Company's 
 affairs ran whilst the sums stipulated by the treaty (with Meer 
 Jaffier) lasted had diverted their attention from the distresses 
 which must unavoidably fall on them whenever that fund should 
 be exhausted ; and, continuing to act on the same extensive plan 
 in which they set out, they now found themselves surrounded by 
 numerous difficulties, which were heightened by the particular 
 circumstances of the country at this period, and weighed down 
 with the very advantages which they had acquired, that is, an 
 establishment which had lost the foundation on which it was 
 built ; a military force proportioned to their connections and 
 influence in the country without the means of subsistence ; a 
 fortification begun upon the same extensive plan, at a vast 
 expense ; and an alliance with a power unable to support itself, 
 and threatening to involve them in the same ruin." Mr. Van- 
 sittart adds, that, had indolence and weakness been the Nabob's 
 only faults, destructive as they were to the welfare of the country 
 and of the Company, he would have lamented more the necessity 
 of measures the tendency of which was to dissolve the engage- 
 ments between him and the Company ; but that, in addition to 
 this, he found a general dissatisfaction to his Highness's govern- 
 ment, and detestation of his person and principles, in all ranks 
 of people. This statement hardly deserves the degree of credit 
 which we give to Mr. Vansittart's previous argument. But if 
 it were as fully established as the fact that Meer Jaffier lived and 
 died, I cannot see that the case is at all altered by it. That stands
 
 CHAP, xvi.] DEPOSITION OF MEER JAFFIER. 153 
 
 exactly where it was, and well merits the judgment which was 
 given against it that the measure " of not only breaking a 
 solemn treaty without previous warning and negotiation with 
 the prince with whom it was contracted, but even of dethroning 
 that prince, without attempting to remedy by some convention 
 the temporary evils complained of, was a rash and unjustifiable 
 measure, particularly where the change and all the articles of 
 the new treaty were so obviously for the advantage of one of the 
 parties only." 
 
 Having arrived at the conviction that Meer Jaffier ought no 
 longer to reign in Moorshedabad, the first step taken by Mr. 
 Vansittart and his friends was to look about for an individual 
 ambitious enough to seek the Crown, and sufficiently eager for it 
 to accede to the terms, whatever they might be, which the Eng- 
 lish Government should propose. They were not long in finding 
 their man. Cossim Ali, the son-in-law of Meer Jaffier, though 
 sure of the succession at his father-in-law's death, was too impa- 
 tient to wait the ordinary course of nature ; and, with the impro- 
 vidence of his race, came at once into the terms of those who 
 offered to raise him to the throne. These implied the fulfilment 
 of all the engagements into which Meer Jaffier had entered, and 
 the surrender to them besides of the fertile provinces of Burdwan, 
 Midnapore, and Chittagong, while the interests of individuals 
 were not overlooked, nor the example set by Clive and his coad- 
 jutors in the former revolution forgotten. The Nabob elect 
 undertook to pay to eight individuals the sum of 200,000/., of 
 which 58,OOOZ. were to go to Mr. Vansittart ; and would have 
 pledged himself to double the amount, had not a minority in the 
 Council disapproved of the whole arrangement, and therefore 
 declined to accept any share of the booty. 
 
 When these arrangements were all complete, Mr. Vansittart 
 proceeded to Moorshedabad, carrying with him two hundred 
 European soldiers, six hundred sepoys, and four pieces of cannon. 
 He went, as he himself has told us, in the hope of being able 
 to persuade Meer Jaffier of the fitness of the proposed change 
 in other words, he was desirous, if possible, to cajole the Nabob 
 into a resignation of his dignities, and thus avoid the scandal of a 
 forcible deposition. That he was not unprepared, however, for 
 any extremity, the narrative of an eye-witness explains. Mr.
 
 154 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 Lushington, who accompanied the troops as interpreter, after 
 describing their entry into Moorshedabad, and the preliminary 
 negotiations which followed, goes on to say, 
 
 " We waited all the next day ; but, no answer coming, the 
 Governor thought it proper not to lose any time, and therefore 
 ordered Colonel Calliaud to go by water with his detachment so 
 early that he might surround the palace at daybreak ; sending at 
 the same time a letter, acquainting the Nabob that he had sent 
 the Colonel to settle those affairs which he had conferred with 
 him about, and to which he had promised to give an answer, but 
 none was brought. The Nabob sent word to the Colonel he 
 would give no answer until the troops returned to Moraudbaug, 
 as he never expected such treatment from the English. Some 
 few conferences were afterwards held by Mr. Hastings and my- 
 self with several of the Nabob's ministers ; but as nothing could 
 be agreed on, I was sent back to Moraudbaug, to give an account 
 of our proceedings to the Governor, and to have his final order 
 whether we should storm the palace in case the Nabob refused to 
 comply. He answered he wished not to spill the blood of a man 
 whom he had raised to such dignities, but that the affair must be 
 finished before sunset. With this I returned ; and found, to my 
 great surprise, Cossim Ali Khan's standards, and the nobits* 
 beating in his name. Colonel Calliaud now told me that the 
 Nabob had sent out the seals to his son-in-law, and offered to 
 resign the government if the English would be security for his 
 life. This was immediately agreed to, and a meeting was held 
 between the Colonel and the Nabob, who made the following 
 speech, as well as I can remember : ' The English placed me 
 on the musnud ; you may depose me if you please. You have 
 thought proper to break your engagements. I would not mine. 
 Had I such designs, I could have raised twenty thousand men, 
 and fought you if I pleased. My son, the Chuta Nabob (Mee- 
 ran), forewarned me of all tin's. I desire you will either send 
 me to Sabut Jung (Lord Clive), for he will do me justice, or let 
 me go to Mecca ; if not, let me go to Calcutta, for I will not 
 stay in this place. You will, I suppose, let me have my women 
 and children ; therefore, let me have budgerows and be carried 
 
 * Large drums.
 
 CHAP, xvi.] COSSIM ALT MADE NABOB. 155 
 
 immediately to Moraudbaug.' The Governor saw him soon 
 after this, and he made much the same speech to him, adding, he 
 could be nowhere safe but under the English protection." 
 
 That Mr. Lushington did not concur very cordially in the 
 measures described, may be inferred from his concluding obser- 
 vations. " The Company," he observes, " are to receive the 
 countries of Burdwan, Miclnapore, and Chittagong, for this ser- 
 vice. I therefore should be glad to know how this Nabob will 
 be any more able to pay his people than the old man, after hav- 
 ing given away a third part of his revenues." 
 
 There can be but one opinion in regard to the moral turpitude 
 of this transaction, which brought with it, however, its own 
 punishment, and was very soon felt to be as impolitic as it had 
 been iniquitous. Meer Jaffier was not indeed put to death : 
 that would have been a climax too atrocious under the circum- 
 stances. On the contrary, he was removed with his women and 
 children to Calcutta, where, upon a pension granted to him out 
 of the revenues of the ceded provinces, he dwelt in retirement. 
 But the golden age to which the promoters of this scheme pro- 
 fessed to look never came at all. They had much mistaken the 
 character of their puppet. Willing he might be to fulfil his public 
 engagements ; at least he rigidly redeemed the pledges which he 
 gave to individuals ; but, as Mr. Lushington has well observed, 
 the power was wanting to him. And then, instead of dealing 
 fairly by him in his straits, they who raised him to the throne 
 began immediately to talk of further changes. But Cossim AH 
 was not the sort of man to be set aside without a struggle. He 
 conducted it fiercely, no doubt, as Indian princes generally do, 
 and became, on account of the atrocities which he committed, an 
 object of abhorrence to the English. But let it not be forgotten 
 that he was driven to madness by the conduct of individuals of 
 that nation. He was first raised to power rashly by one faction in 
 the Council, which proved too weak to support him in its exer- 
 cise, and then, in the pursuit of its own interests, and the promo- 
 tion of its own political views, it considered all means justifiable 
 that promised to accelerate his downfall. 
 
 The first year of the ne\v Nabob's reign was marked by suc- 
 cess against his foreign enemies. Major Carnac, who now com- 
 manded the English troops in Bengal, defeated the Emperor in
 
 156 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 person ; and a rebellion of the Chief of Beerboom and Burdwan 
 was suppressed with the aid of a detachment under Major York. 
 In the former of these engagements M. Law, the last represent- 
 ative in India of the band of heroes who had fought for supre- 
 macy there, and well-nigh won it, fell into the hands of the 
 victor. He was treated by Major Carnac as the brave in success 
 are in the habit of treating the brave in misfortune, as indeed 
 was the Emperor himself, on whom, after his defeat, Major 
 Carnac waited, that he might show him all the marks of respect 
 that were due to his high station. Such conduct to the fallen, 
 however rare among semi-barbarous chiefs and natives, is not 
 lost upon them. The Emperor made peace with Cossim Ali, 
 and the same year granted him investiture as Soubahdar of 
 Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, on condition that the new Soubahdar 
 should pay into the imperial treasury an annual tribute of 
 240,000/. 
 
 It is characteristic of the sort of faith which Indian princes 
 keep with one another, that the Emperor, at the same time that 
 he was confirming Cossim Ali in the Soubahdarry of Bengal, 
 offered to the English, as the price of their assistance in esta- 
 blishing himself on his father's throne, to confer upon them the 
 Dewanee, or chief management, of the whole of the financial 
 affairs of the three provinces of which Cossim Ali had become 
 supreme ruler. I state this fact, because it seems to prove that 
 the policy subsequently pursued by Clive was no wanton outrage 
 on the rights of any one at all events, that the Court of Delhi, 
 with which in theory if not in fact the right of determining all 
 questions of the highest import rested, was not opposed to it ; 
 but for the present the proposition could not be entertained. 
 The Bengal Government had no funds at its disposal wherewith 
 to enter upon so remote an expedition ; and the fear of increasing 
 the alarm and embarrassments of the Company added weight to 
 the objection. Accordingly, the financial management, not less 
 than the judicial and military control of the kingdom, devolved 
 upon the new Nabob ; and he was not slow in convincing both 
 his allies and his native subjects that, if the exchequer was 
 doomed to remain empty, it would not be for the lack of endea- 
 vours on his part to fill it. 
 
 One of the first acts of Cossim Ali, after he felt himself secure
 
 CUAP. xvi.] MURDER OF RAMNARRAIN. 157 
 
 in his seat, was to crush Ramnarrain, the Nabob or Governor of 
 Patna, who, through evil report and through good, had remained 
 true to his faith with the English ever since, in the arrangement 
 of Suraj-u-Dowlah's deposition, he had pledged it. This was 
 done in the belief that there would be found at Patna treasure 
 enough to discharge his many obligations ; and, to the disgrace 
 of Mr. Vansittart's administration, it met with no opposition 
 from that quarter. To be sure Major Carnac first, and after- 
 wards Colonel Coote, being successively in command of the 
 troops, refused to take any part in the transaction a proceeding 
 for which, as military men, they were without excuse, however 
 sound we may feel their views of abstract justice and even 
 policy to have been. But the only result of their disobedience 
 of orders was, that they were both superseded, and that Ram- 
 narrain, falling into the hands of the Nabob, was first imprisoned 
 and then put to death. Never had judicial murder, more wan- 
 ton and more unproductive, been perpetrated in India. The 
 unfortunate Hindoo was found to possess no hoarded treasure ; 
 and the ignominy attending a gross breach of faith was all that 
 resulted from his death both to Cossim Ali and to the English. 
 
 Meanwhile the abuses of private trade, to which I have referred 
 as disturbing the whole course of Meer Jaffier's reign, grew to a 
 height which could no longer be tolerated. They had their 
 origin in the short-sighted policy of the Court of Directors, 
 which, sending gentlemen to India with salaries so small that it 
 was quite impossible to provide out of them the commonest 
 necessaries of life, left their servants at liberty to rush into com- 
 mercial speculations on their own account, and to make of such 
 adventures what profit they could. It cannot be said, in extenu- 
 ation of this error, that it was committed unadvisedly. So early 
 as the reign of James the First, Sir Thomas Roe had warned the 
 Company against sanctioning so mischievous a practice. " Ab- 
 solutely prohibit the private trade," he says ; " for your business 
 will be better done. I know this is harsh. Meri profess they 
 come not for low wages. But you will take away this plea if 
 you give great wages to their content ; and then you know 
 what you pay for." 
 
 This excellent advice was not followed. From age to age the 
 Company adhered to the old system, paying low salaries and
 
 158 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 conniving at the by -gains of its servants. The pay of a member 
 of Council, at the period of which I now write, was barely 300L 
 a-year ; and it was notorious that such a functionary could not 
 exist in India upon less than ten times that amount. As to lay- 
 ing by, with a view to spend his latter days at home, that was 
 out of the question, unless, indeed, he took large advantage of 
 the facilities of making a fortune which the customs of the ser- 
 vice afforded. Now no man went to India then no man goes 
 to India now except in the hope of earning a competency there 
 on which he may ultimately retire. That, therefore, which the 
 Company's servants seek now by competing honourably for situ- 
 ations of responsibility and profit, they sought eighty or ninety 
 years ago by trade ; and the enormous fortunes which most of 
 them realised proved that they seldom sought in vain. For a 
 while this system wrought harm only to the body which sanc- 
 tioned it. The Company's dividends were diminished in pro- 
 portion to the amount of profits realised by individuals ; and the 
 servants grew rich while the masters complained of being in dif- 
 ficulties. But as soon as the Company began to change its 
 character, and to stand forth in the light of a governing body, 
 the case was altered. Its servants might retain their old titles 
 of factors, junior merchants, and senior merchants ; but they 
 wielded the powers of proconsuls, proprietors, and procurators of 
 extensive provinces. They would have been more than human, 
 receiving the salaries which they did, had they not abused their 
 powers. Henceforth the system of private trade became the 
 fruitful source of oppression to the native, and constant pecu- 
 niary embarrassment to the English governments. And the 
 cause was this : 
 
 From time immemorial customs had been collected all over 
 India on the transit of goods from one kingdom or province to 
 another through the interior of the country. The practice pre- 
 vailed in Bengal, as well as everywhere else ; and, as the 
 importance of the Company's dealings increased, it produced 
 much annoyance and led to many quarrels in consequence of the 
 many tolls and inspections to which the merchandize was liable 
 when in progress to and from the marts of purchase and of sale. 
 To obviate these inconveniences, it was arranged with the 
 Nabobs, in explanation of the Emperor's firman, that the Com-
 
 CHAP, xvi.] PRIVATE TRADE. 159 
 
 pany's flag and dustuck (or written permit) covering its boats 
 or other conveyances should secure the goods contained in them 
 from search; and as the Company's trade consisted solely of 
 goods from foreign parts for sale in the country, or of country 
 goods for foreign exportation, the privilege only partially inter- 
 fered with the trade of the interior. So long as the Nabobs and 
 their officers were in full power, any abuse of this privilege was 
 easily checked. But when, after the accession of Meer Jaffier, 
 the English had become all-powerful, and it was dangerous to 
 interfere with their acts, or to question their proceedings, the 
 Company's servants, who had still the privilege of trading on 
 their own account, not only covered their private adventures 
 by passports under the Company's name, but all their servants 
 and dependents claimed an exemption from internal duties on 
 the same plea, and entered into the internal trade of the country 
 to an extent which was quite unjustifiable. During the vigorous 
 administration of Clive such attempts had been rare; but when 
 all fear of correction was lost in the increasing weakness of his 
 successors, men set no limits to their efforts to enrich themselves. 
 The Nabob's revenue was injured, and his authority insulted, 
 in every quarter of his dominions, by the exemptions claimed for 
 the trade of European agents, and the respect demanded for the 
 perspns of the lowest of their servants. Against the pretensions 
 and excesses of these parties the Nabob made most forcible re- 
 monstrances, but in vain. Many of the persons of whom he 
 complained were members of Council ; and complaints against 
 members of Council, when Clive was not present to receive 
 them, obtained no hearing. Cossim Ali became impatient of 
 delay ; and finding his representations produce no effect, and that 
 the orders of the Government were either evaded or disobeyed, 
 he himself took and authorised measures of violence to be taken 
 that increased the discontent and hostility of the party opposed 
 to Mr. Vansittart ; for, many of them being the persons chiefly 
 benefited by the abuses complained of, they of course charged 
 their o'bnoxious President with leaving British subjects and 
 public servants of the Company at the will and mercy of a 
 capricious tyrant whom he had unjustly raised to the throne. 
 
 To remedy these evils, Mr. Vansittart negotiated a treaty by 
 which, while some advantages were secured for the servants of
 
 160 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 the Company, many of the privileges hitherto claimed by them 
 were done away. This treaty, though exceptionable in some of 
 its clauses, might have operated well enough had Mr. Vansit- 
 tart's Council been disposed to listen to reason, and Cossim Ali 
 been more temperate. But the Council was not reasonable, 
 neither was Cossim Ali temperate. The latter trusted to his 
 judicious and active administration of the customs as one of the 
 sources out of which he was to discharge the heavy pecuniary 
 obligations under which he had come to the English ; and as he 
 adopted the strictest measures for enforcing their collection, the 
 adjudication and enforcement of all fiscal demands had (unfor- 
 tunately as affairs stood) been left in his hands, and numerous 
 collisions instantly ensued. " In truth," says Mr. Verelst,* a dis- 
 passionate observer, " it soon became a personal quarrel. Meer 
 Cossim, in the orders issued to his officers, distinguished between 
 the trade of his friends and of those who opposed him, treating 
 individuals with indecent reproach." This was undoubtedly 
 true to a certain extent ; but the fault did not rest wholly with 
 the Nabob. The English traders were as extravagant in their 
 demands as he was fierce in his measures to resist them ; and the 
 opponents of Mr. Vansittart, who thought their interests injured, 
 and who now formed the majority of Council, combined in 
 measures which soon led to an open rupture. 
 
 Meantime the claims set up by the English and their native 
 servants, for carrying their goods free from the duties paid by 
 the Nabob's own subjects, became excessive and unbearable. 
 The whole commerce of the country was thrown, indeed, into 
 confusion, and ruin was threatened to the Nabob's finances. As 
 a measure of justice to his own subjects, and to prevent 
 the daily breaches of the peace which occurred, he saw no 
 remedy left but to abolish all customs throughout his dominions. 
 An order was accordingly issued to this effect ; and the English 
 private traders, whom it deprived of their iniquitous monopoly, 
 became furious. The Council took the matter up, exclaimed 
 against the arrangement as an infraction of the treaty, and sent 
 two agents, Messrs. Hall and Amyatt, to demand its annulment. 
 Neither were they content to abide the issue of their own re- 
 
 * Verelst's View, p. 47.
 
 CHAP, xvi.] 150 EUROPEANS PUT TO DEATH. 161 
 
 monstrance. Having called in most of the heads of factories 
 from the out-stations, and largely increased thereby their ma- 
 jority over the Governor's party, they began to debate the 
 propriety of a third revolution, and instructed their people to 
 arrest the Nabob's revenue officers because they ventured to 
 obey the orders given to them by the government which they 
 served. The Nabob became, as might be expected, exceedingly 
 angry. His indignation was increased by the overbearing tone 
 which Mr. Ellis, the chief of the Company's establishment in 
 Patna, assumed towards him ; and he adopted measures which 
 his enemies in the Council were not slow to accept as a virtual 
 declaration of war. Two boats, laden with arms, which had 
 been despatched from Calcutta for the use of the detachment 
 at Patna, he seized upon the river. He next required that Mr. 
 Ellis and his armed force should be withdrawn from the city ; 
 and when Mr. Amyatt proceeded to remonstrate with him on 
 the proceeding, he broke out into loud complaints of the in- 
 justice which the English had done him. Mr. Ellis, who had 
 already obtained permission from the Council to act vigorously 
 in case of need, seized the citadel. He was instantly attacked 
 there, and, with the whole of his force, made prisoner; where- 
 upon a series of outrages began, which caused every other feel- 
 ing to merge at Calcutta in that of horror and indignation towards 
 the perpetrator of them. Mr. Ellis, Mr. Amyatt, and about 
 150 British subjects more, of whom 50 were officers in the civil 
 or military service of the Company, were put to death : after 
 which the Nabob, evacuating his capital, retired as the British 
 army advanced, and took refuge at last within the territories of 
 the Viceroy of Oude. 
 
 M
 
 162 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. XVTT. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 War with Cossim All Restoration of Meer Jaffier Plans of Clive for a 
 Reform of the Government of Bengal. 
 
 IT was at this unfortunate moment, when Mr. Vansittart was 
 already opposed by a majority of his council, that the Court's 
 reply to the offensive letter of 1759 reached Calcutta, and that 
 the four senior members of whom three were his supporters 
 received intimation that they were no longer in the service of 
 the East India Company. Feeble before, the President became 
 henceforth powerless ; and a tyrant majority pursued its own 
 plans to the utmost. It was proposed and carried by vote in 
 Council that Cossim Ali, having violated his engagements, had 
 ceased to reign. Measures were then taken to provide an occu- 
 pant of the throne of Bengal ; and the unanimous choice of the 
 Company's representatives fell upon Meer Jaffier. The price 
 paid by that weak man for leave to resume the trappings of 
 royalty was, to be sure, sufficiently high. He made presents to 
 individuals, confirmed the Company's title to the provinces of 
 Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong, and restored the trade 
 of the kingdom to its former footing yielding to the English 
 whatever they demanded, though not unaware of the ruinous 
 consequences both to the native merchants and to himself. But 
 Meer Jaffier seems never to have abandoned the hope that Clive 
 would yet return to Bengal : and when rumours of the event 
 began to circulate, he took courage to dare everything. He did 
 not live to witness the realisation of these hopes. After a short 
 and uneasy reign he died, though not till he had marked his 
 sense of Clive's merits and of his own esteem and regard for that 
 great man by bequeathing to him a legacy of not less than 
 70,000/. sterling. 
 
 Meer Jaffier died in February, 1765; and the question was 
 immediately mooted at Calcutta on whom the succession ought
 
 CHAP, xvii.] NUJEEM-UD-DOWLAH. 163 
 
 to devolve. There were two representatives of the family of the 
 deceased Nabob whose claims were supposed to be pretty equally 
 balanced. Nujeem-ud-Dowlah, the son of Meer Jaffier, had 
 attained to his twentieth year, and was therefore assumed to 
 be competent to discharge the functions of royalty in person ; 
 the grandson of the deceased, being the son of Prince Meeran, 
 was an infant of only six years of age. After some delibe- 
 ration the Council decided that it was better that the son 
 of the late Nabob should succeed his father ; and the terms on 
 which he was to be maintained on the throne were proposed, 
 and, as a matter of course, accepted. They included all the 
 privileges which by former governments had been secured to the 
 English that is to say, presents, trade on advantageous terms, 
 the revenues derived from provinces, and such like ; and they 
 laid the new Nabob under other restrictions such as had never 
 been thought of by his predecessors. Distrusting either his will 
 or his power so to manage the financial affairs of the kingdom 
 as that they should suffice to meet the many demands that would 
 be made upon the royal exchequer, the Council stipulated, first, 
 that the military defence of the country should devolve wholly on 
 the English, the Nabob keeping no more troops in pay than might 
 be necessary for purposes of show ; and next, that he should 
 appoint as his minister or vicegerent an individual of whom 
 they, the members of Council, might approve. It is right to 
 observe, however, that this latter article of treaty was not quite 
 new at the elevation of Nujeem-ud-Dowlah. Meer Jaffier had 
 been obliged, as part of the price of his restoration, to ac- 
 cept a similar dry-nurse ; and in defiance of the protest of 
 Mr. Vansittart, was encouraged by the majority to nominate 
 Nundcomar, a Hindoo of the worst character. But Mr. Van- 
 sittart had quitted Bengal previously to the demise of Meer 
 Jaffier ; upon which the Council, as if to make the whole world 
 aware of the real nature of the principle on which they acted, 
 cast their own worthless instrument aside. Nujeem-ud-Dowlah 
 was advised to take into his service Mahommed Reza Khan, 
 a Mahommedan nobleman of talent and reputed integrity ; and 
 Mahommed Reza Khan became in consequence Naib Subah or 
 minister to the new Nabob. 
 
 Meanwhile the spirit of insubordination and rapacity which 
 
 M 2
 
 164 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 prevailed among the civil servants of the Company was not slow 
 in gaining an ascendancy over the military classes in like manner. 
 I have already had occasion to speak of the refusal both of Co- 
 lonel Calliaud and Colonel Coote to obey the instructions con- 
 veyed to them by the supreme government. They set an example 
 in this which their inferiors were not slow to follow, till by and 
 by orders came to be either obeyed or disregarded, according as 
 they happened to fall in with the humours or supposed interests 
 of the parties receiving them, or the reverse. Both officers and 
 men likewise learned to regard their pay as a very inconsiderable 
 portion of the remuneration to which they were entitled. At 
 each change in the person of the Nabob or his minister they 
 claimed and received their share in the presents that were going ; 
 while the idea of taking the field, except upon the assurance of 
 a good douceur at the end of the campaign, would have been 
 scouted. It was a necessary consequence of this state of feeling, 
 that the bands of discipline were everywhere relaxed. Desertions 
 from the ranks became frequent ; indeed to such a height was 
 the matter carried, that from the force which Major Munro com- 
 manded at Patna, and with which he operated against Cossim 
 All, a whole battalion endeavoured to pass over, with its arms 
 and accoutrements, to the enemy. Major Munro acted with great 
 decision in the case. The battalion was intercepted and brought 
 back ; the ringleaders in the mutiny were tried upon the spot, 
 and 24 persons received sentence of death, which was to be car- 
 ried into execution by blowing them away from the mouths of 
 cannon. Four grenadiers who happened to be among the parties 
 doomed claimed as their right the privilege of leading the way in 
 this march into eternity. Their courage and the spirit which 
 dictated such an unusual request were much admired, but the 
 executions went forward notwithstanding. The mutiny was sup- 
 pressed, and the troops behaved ever afterwards with their cus- 
 tomary valour. 
 
 Into the details of the military operations which followed I am 
 not called upon to enter. They resulted in the entire defeat of 
 Cossim Ali and his ally Sujah-u-Dowlah, who, being driven out 
 of Oude, was forced to take refuge among the Rohillas. The 
 contest was, however, more severe than any in which the English 
 .had as yet been engaged with native troops ; for Cossim Ali had
 
 CHAP, xvii.] CLIVE'S LETTER TO DIRECTORS. 165 
 
 paid great attention to his army, and brought it to a state of very 
 respectable discipline. But the final issues were so decisive 
 as to leave the victors little to desire except the discovery of 
 some fund whence their exhausted treasury might be supplied. 
 At Madras likewise, as well as in the direction of Bombay, the 
 foreign politics of the Company prospered, though not without 
 well-grounded charges against the former Presidency of forget- 
 ting old friends and services of former years, in the anxiety of 
 its rulers to extend their power and increase their revenues. But 
 of the issues of the contest into which the Bengal government 
 had entered nothing was yet known in London, when Lord Clive, 
 at the urgent request of the Court of Proprietors, consented to 
 undertake the difficult task of reducing chaos into order. I am 
 not friendly to the habit of introducing into such narratives as 
 this long extracts from official correspondence, provided it be 
 possible, by another and a shorter process, to set the views of the 
 subject of a memoir on important subjects in a clear light. But 
 Lord dive's letter to the Court of Directors, bearing date the 
 27th of April, 1764, seems to me so important, that it would be 
 not more unjust to the character of the writer than unfair towards 
 my readers were I to withhold it. It is a masterly production, 
 embracing every difficult point of Indian policy, as well for the 
 time being as in reference to the future ; for neither the exi- 
 gencies of the military service nor the evils resulting from the 
 transfer of officials with superior rule from one Presidency to 
 another are overlooked in it. And serving, as it will be found 
 to do, as the sort of text according to which his Lordship's sub- 
 sequent proceedings when in power were framed and fashioned, 
 I conceive that, upon the whole, the purpose of my present work 
 will not be accomplished, unless it be enriched by something 
 more than a meagre outline of the contents of this important 
 document. 
 
 " In obedience to your commands," he writes, immediately 
 before joining the ship which was to convey him to the scene 
 of his labours, " I now transmit the purport of what I had the 
 honour to represent to you by word of mouth at the last Court 
 of Directors, with some other particulars which slipped my me- 
 mory at that time. 
 
 " Having taken into consideration your letter sent me by the
 
 166 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 Secretary, as also the request of the General Court of Proprie- 
 tors, I think myself bound in honour to accept the charge of 
 your affairs in Bengal, provided you will co-operate with, and 
 assist me in such a manner that I may be able to answer the ex- 
 pectations and intentions of the General Court. 
 
 "As an individual, I can have no temptation to undertake this 
 arduous task, and nothing but the desire I have to be useful to 
 my country, and to manifest my gratitude to this Company, could 
 make me embark in this service, attended as it is with so many 
 inconveniences to myself and my family. I cannot avoid ac- 
 knowledging that I quit my native country with some degree of 
 regret and diffidence, on leaving behind me (as I certainly do) a 
 very divided and distracted Direction, at a time, too, when una- 
 nimity is more than ever requisite for the carrying into execution 
 such plans as are absolutely necessary to the well-being of the 
 Company. 
 
 " I shall now enter into a short discussion of your political, 
 commercial, and military affairs in Bengal. Without searching 
 into the causes of the unhappy revolution in favour of Cossim 
 Ali Khan, I shall only remark, that if the same plan of politics 
 had been pursued, after he was placed upon the throne, as that 
 which I had observed towards his predecessor, he might with 
 great ease have remained there to this day, without having it in 
 his power to injure either himself or the Company in the manner 
 he has lately done. Indeed, Mr. Vansittart's ideas in politics 
 have differed so widely from mine, that either the one or the 
 other must have been totally in the wrong. Soon after Cossim 
 Ali Khan was raised to his new dignity, he was suffered to retire 
 to a very great distance from his capital, that our influence might 
 be felt and dreaded as little as possible by him : he was suffered 
 to dismiss all those old officers who had any connexion with, or 
 dependence upon us; and, what was the worst of all, our faithful 
 friend and ally, Ram Narrain, the Nabob of Patna, was given 
 up ; the doctrine of the Subadar's independency was adopted, 
 and every method was put in practice to confirm him in it. We 
 need seek for no other causes of the war ; for it is now some 
 time that things have been carried to such lengths abroad, that 
 either the princes of the country must in a great measure be 
 dependent on us, or we totally so on them. That the public and
 
 CHAP, xvn.] CLIVE'S LETTER TO DIRECTORS. 167 
 
 continued disapprobation of Cossim Ali Khan's advancement to 
 the government, expressed by the gentlemen of Calcutta, in- 
 creased the Nabob's jealousy, is most true ; and that it was the 
 duty of every one, after the revolution was once effected, to con- 
 cur heartily in every measure to support it, cannot be denied. It 
 is likewise true, that the encroachments made upon the Nabob's 
 prescriptive rights by the Governor and Council, and the rest of 
 the servants trading in the articles of salt, beetle, and tobacco, 
 together with the power given by Mr. Vansittart to subject our 
 gomastahs (or agents) to the jurisdiction and inspection of the 
 country government, all concurred to hasten and bring on the 
 late troubles ; but still the groundwork of the whole was the 
 Nabob's independency. It is impossible to rely on the mode- 
 ration and justice of Mussulmen. Strict and impartial justice 
 should ever be observed ; but let that justice come from our- 
 selves. The trade, therefore, of salt, beetle, and tobacco having 
 been one cause of the present disputes, I hope these articles will 
 be restored to the Nabob, and your servants absolutely forbid to 
 trade in them. This will be striking at the root of the evil. The 
 prohibition of dustucks to your junior servants will, I hope, tend 
 to restore that economy which is so necessary in your service. 
 Indeed, if some method be not thought of, and your Council do 
 not heartily co-operate with your Governor to prevent the sudden 
 acquisition of fortunes, which has taken place of late, the Com- 
 pany's affairs must greatly suffer. What power it may be proper 
 to vest me with, to remedy those great and growing evils, will 
 merit your serious consideration. As a means to alleviate in 
 some measure the dissatisfaction that such restrictions upon the 
 commercial advantages of your servants may occasion in them, 
 it is my full intention not to engage in any kind of trade myself; 
 so that they will divide amongst them what used to be the Go- 
 vernor's portion of commercial advantages, which was always 
 very considerable." 
 
 The next subject to which Lord dive refers is the state of the 
 Company's military affairs in Bengal, of which, while he does 
 full justice to the gallantry of the native troops, he points out 
 all the defects. He says, what every other officer of experience 
 has said since his day, that, however efficient as a supplementary 
 force the sepoys might be, they were not, except when acting side
 
 168 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvir. 
 
 by side with Europeans, altogether to be relied on. " For the 
 good of the Company, therefore," he continues, " I would propose 
 that you should always have in Bengal 4000 or at least 3000 Euro- 
 peans, to consist of three battlions of 700 each, four companies of 
 artillery of 100 each, and 500 light horse." Moreover, as the 
 King's troops had all been withdrawn, he recommends that, in 
 order to establish a more effective system of subordination in the 
 Company's battalions, there should be an immediate increase of 
 European officers, and that three field-officers should be given to 
 each of them. " I would recommend," he says, " the appointing 
 three field-officers to every battalion, a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, 
 and major, and the officers I would choose to command the 
 battalions should be Majors Carnac, Richard Smith, and Preston. 
 You have already done justice to Major Carnac's character by 
 reinstating him in the command of your forces in Bengal, and by 
 acknowledging his services in the most public manner. This 
 gentleman will, I flatter myself, stand as high in your esteem as 
 Brigadier-General Calliaud ; and will, I hope, have the same 
 rank and appointments. The military merits of the other two 
 gentlemen you are likewise well acquainted with, having both 
 received from the Court marks of approbation for their dis- 
 tinguished services. To command your artillery I would 
 recommend Sir Robert Barker, whose abilities in that depart- 
 ment have been exceeded by no officer that ever was in your 
 service. Your sepoys are already commanded by Major Knox, 
 whose merits I could wish to have rewarded with a lieutenant- 
 colonel's commission. Your horse, when raised, should be com- 
 manded by a lieutenant-colonel, or major. 
 
 " I have very strong reasons to wish this idea of regi- 
 menting your troops may take place ; for without such a sub- 
 ordination I shall not be able to enforce your orders for the 
 reduction of your military expenses, which have been a constant 
 dead- weight, and have swallowed up your revenues. I could 
 wish, that whatever emoluments are unavoidable may fall to 
 those few who, having been long, are high in your service, 
 whether civil or military. Thus will the expense be scarce felt 
 by the Company, in comparison to what it is at present, when, 
 for want of due subordination, every one thinks himself entitled 
 to every advantage; and the juniors in your service be excited
 
 CHAP, xvii.] CLIVE'S SUGGESTIONS. 169 
 
 to exert themselves, from a certain knowledge that application 
 and abilities only can restore them to their native country with 
 fortunes honourably acquired." 
 
 These are explicit and statesmanlike suggestions. Neither are 
 Lord Olive's views of the best manner of recruiting for the Indian 
 army unworthy of being placed upon record, especially at a time 
 when the wants and wishes of the British soldier are attracting 
 the degree of public attention which has been too long withheld 
 from them. Lord Clive, like every other officer of experience 
 and strong mind, condemns the crimping system which prevailed 
 in his day, and has not, we are afraid, as yet altogether ceased 
 to be acted upon. His project was to obtain permission of the 
 Crown to keep on foot in England two battalions of Company's 
 troops, each 500 strong, with its due proportion of officers, 
 which might serve as a nucleus round which volunteers might 
 gather, in order to be taught, ere they should be sent to India, 
 some knowledge of their drill, and the rudiments, at least, of 
 soldier-like habits. He further advised that the services of 
 Colonel Coote and Colonel Forde should be rewarded by placing 
 them at the head of these battalions respectively. 
 
 Last of all, he notices the distracted state of the Government 
 Councils at Calcutta, and accounts for them. " The heart- 
 burnings and disputes, which seem to have spread and overrun 
 your settlement of Calcutta, arose, I must fear, originally from 
 your appointment of Mr. Vansittart to the government of Bengal 
 from another settlement, although his promotion was the effect 
 of my recommendation. The appointment, therefore, of Mr. 
 Spencer from Bombay, can only tend to inflame these dissen- 
 sions, and to destroy all those advantages which the Company 
 only can expect from harmony and unanimity abroad. The 
 resignation of Messrs. Verelst, Carder, and many other of the 
 senior servants, which must be the consequence of Mr. Spencer's 
 appointment, will deprive me of those very gentlemen on whose 
 assistance I depend for re-establishing your affairs in Bengal." 
 
 Lord Clive was not, however, satisfied with pointing out 
 defects : he avowed his determination, if rightly supported from 
 home, to provide a remedy for them. After deprecating all 
 attempts at extending too far the territorial dominion of the 
 Company, and advising such a course of general policy as
 
 1 70 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 should convince the Nabob, whoever he might be, and his prin- 
 cipal officers, that the Company had both the power and the will 
 to protect them, not only against foreign enemies, but each against 
 the unjust aggressions of the other, he thus expresses himself: 
 
 " To carry this balance with an even hand, the strictest in- 
 tegrity will be necessary in every one who shall have a vote in 
 your councils abroad. I found myself every day assaulted by 
 large offers of presents, from the principal men of the province, 
 not to support the Nabob in resolutions contrary to their in- 
 terests ; and from the Nabob, to sacrifice them to his capricious 
 resentments. 
 
 " But even this conduct alone will not be sufficient to keep us 
 from giving umbrage. During Mr. Vansittart's government, 
 all your servants thought themselves entitled to take large 
 shares in the monopolies of salt, beetle, and tobacco, the three 
 articles, next to grain, of greatest consumption in the empire. 
 The odium of seeing such monopolies in the hands of foreigners 
 need not be insisted on ; but this is not the only inconvenience : 
 it is productive of another, equally, if not more prejudicial to the 
 Company's interests ; it enables many of your servants to obtain, 
 very suddenly, fortunes greater than those which in former times 
 were thought a sufficient reward for a long continuance in your 
 service. Hence these gentlemen, thus suddenly enriched, think 
 of nothing but of returning to enjoy their fortunes in England, 
 and leave your affairs in the hands of young men, whose san- 
 guine expectations are inflamed by the examples of those who 
 have just left them. 
 
 " This, therefore, will be the greatest difficulty which I shall 
 have to encounter ; to persuade, or, if necessary, to oblige your 
 servants to be content with advantages much inferior to those 
 which, by the prescription of some years, they may think them- 
 selves entitled to. Yet if this is not done, your affairs can never 
 be settled on a judicious and permanent plan. My fortunes, my 
 family, and the other advantages I may be possessed of, will 
 naturally make me wish to accomplish my intentions for the Com- 
 pany's service abroad as soon as possible, that I may return to my 
 native country, which, it cannot be imagined, that I quit without 
 some regrets ; but if I should meet in your councils abroad men 
 whom private interest may render averse to my maxims, I shall,
 
 CHAP, xvn.] CLIVE'S SUGGESTIONS. 171 
 
 perhaps, instead of settling your affairs as may be expected from 
 me, find myself harassed and over-ruled in every measure by a 
 majority against me in council. 
 
 " It therefore rests with the Court of Directors to consider, 
 seriously, whether they should not intrust me with a dispensing 
 power in the civil and political affairs ; so that whensoever I 
 may think proper to take any resolution entirely upon myself 
 that resolution is to take place. The French Company gave 
 Mr. Godeheu sole and absolute control over all their settlements 
 to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, at a time when their 
 affairs were not in a worse condition than ours are at present. 
 In India we ourselves have had examples of supervisors. I 
 myself was intrusted with great powers by the gentlemen of 
 Madras, when I went down to Bengal against Suraj-u-Dowlah ; 
 the use which I made of these powers will, I hope, justify my 
 opinion, that I may, without danger, be intrusted with an au- 
 thority so highly necessary at present. The occasions of exerting 
 it will rarely happen, but will certainly happen at times, when 
 all may be lost for want of it. Moderation, I will venture to 
 say, was always a part of my character in political concerns ; and 
 as a means to induce the gentlemen abroad to contract their 
 views of private advantage within the bounds essentially neces- 
 sary to the interests of the Company, the first step I shall take 
 will be, to give up to them every commercial advantage, as I 
 did during my last residence in Bengal. I need not mention 
 that these advantages are, to a Governor, great, and adequate to 
 his station. 
 
 " To prevent dissensions, I am willing to receive a military 
 commission inferior to General Lawrence's ; but that gentleman 
 has received from the Court of Directors so very extensive a 
 power over all their forces in India, that the presidency at which 
 he resides, is, in fact, little less than the residence of a Governor- 
 General over all your settlements in India. If ever the appoint- 
 ment of such an officer as Governor-general should become ne- 
 cessary, it is evident that he ought to be established in Bengal, 
 as the greatest weight of your civil, commercial, political, and 
 military affairs will always be in that province. It cannot, 
 therefore, be expected that I should be subject to have any part 
 of the military forces allotted for that province recalled or with-
 
 172 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 held from me at the will of an officer in another part of India ; 
 or that even the presence of that officer in Bengal should, in any 
 way, interfere with my military authority in that province. It 
 will likewise be necessary (at least until affairs in Bengal are 
 restored to perfect tranquillity) that whatever troops, treasures, 
 or other consignments may be destined from England to that 
 presidency, shall not, as usual, be stopped and employed by any 
 of the other presidencies at which they may chance to arrive in 
 their passage towards the Ganges." 
 
 With the dictatorial powers here applied for, the Court of 
 Directors did not judge it expedient to intrust Lord Clive; but 
 they took a course which, for all practical purposes, gave pro- 
 mise of a happy result. A select committee was appointed at 
 home, with power to supersede the authority of the President and 
 Council ; and such gentlemen being nominated to serve as were 
 understood to be both personally and on principle attached to 
 Clive, and steady advocates of his opinions, no serious opposition 
 to his views could well be anticipated. The committee in ques- 
 tion consisted of Lord Clive, General Carnac, Mr. Verelst, 
 Mr. Sumner, Mr. Sykes, of whom the two latter accompanied 
 Lord Clive from England, and gave him, from first to last, an 
 unwavering support.
 
 CHAP, xviii.] PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Clive reaches Calcutta Proceedings in Council. 
 
 THERE were one or two points which Clive was very desirous to 
 settle previously to his departure for India. Foremost among 
 these may be accounted the arrangement of a plan for the entire 
 depression of the individual whom he hated with no ordinary 
 rancour ; and who, to do him justice, returned the feeling, if 
 with less ostentation of bitterness, with at least as much of its 
 reality. Clive had succeeded in excluding Mr. Sulivan from 
 the chair by making such exclusion one of the terms on which 
 alone he would consent to re-enter the service of the Company. 
 He now besought his friends to use every possible exertion to 
 shut him out from the direction altogether. In this he did not 
 succeed ; for Mr. Vansittart, immediately on his return to Eng- 
 land, took Mr. Sulivan's part, and inflamed, by so doing, into 
 hostility the estrangement which had already begun between 
 himself and Lord Clive. Clive's next proceeding which proved 
 more easy of accomplishment was to separate himself from all 
 political connexion with the parties in Parliament. His personal 
 regard for Mr. Grenville continued unabated ; and he de- 
 sired the seven members whom he returned to the House of 
 Commons to vote on all subjects as he himself would have done 
 that is, so as to strengthen the hands of his friend. But nei- 
 ther the Administration as such, nor Lord Bute and his partisans, 
 exercised, at this time, any influence upon his sympathies. He 
 was therefore well pleased to be set free from all ties except 
 those of personal predilection, and acted with great judgment in 
 the matter. Finally, his more private and family concerns, in 
 some measure, arranged themselves. Lady Clive remained at 
 home to superintend the education of his children ; and of his 
 estates, houses, and money agents in whom he reposed con- 
 fidence took charge. Thus relieved from anxiety in regard to
 
 174 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 matters in Europe, he turned his thoughts earnestly and exclu- 
 sively to the East, whither he was proceeding, with no view to 
 make additions to his already princely fortune, but simply and 
 solely in order to accomplish great public good, and to encounter 
 both obloquy and opposition in the process. , 
 
 On the 4th of June, 1764, Lord Clive, attended by Messrs. 
 Sumner and Sykes, embarked at Portsmouth on board the Kent, 
 and just before sun-set the same evening the ship got under 
 weigh. They had the satisfaction of knowing that preparations 
 were in some measure made for the course of stern yet necessary 
 reform on which they were about to enter. The Directors, con- 
 vinced that the great moving cause of all the revolutions which 
 had succeeded the first in the kingdom of Bengal was the expecta- 
 tion, encouraged by members of Council and others, of growing 
 rich upon the plunder of newly-made Nabobs, had already issued 
 an order that no more presents should on any account whatever 
 be accepted by their servants from native princes or their mi- 
 nisters. They had followed up this regulation by transmitting 
 a form of engagement, which all persons acting under their 
 authority were required to ratify, and of which the effect was to 
 bind the parties so signing to pay into the Company's treasury, 
 on pain of dismissal, the full amount of such gifts as, subse- 
 quently to the receipt of the Court's order, might have been forced 
 upon them. These facts were well known to Clive and his col- 
 leagues, who had besides ample time to discuss the defects of the 
 existing system of management, and consider the means of remedy 
 which presented themselves. And, as the best understanding 
 subsisted among them, they were strengthened to undertake the 
 task by the reflection, that, so long as they should act honestly 
 and vigorously together, it was always in their power, by com- 
 manding a majority of votes, to command at the same time suc- 
 cess, at least at the outset. 
 
 The outward voyage of the Kent, without being attended with 
 any positive danger, was tedious and disagreeable. It occupied 
 eleven months ; and the ship, either compelled by stress of wea- 
 ther, or being forced to seek a supply of water and fresh pro- 
 visions, put in at Rio Janeiro. It is well known that at this time 
 the alliance between England and Portugal was, for obvious rea- 
 sons, close and strict. Portugal having everything to fear from
 
 CHAP.XVIII.] ARRIVAL AT CALCUTTA. 175 
 
 her nearest neighbour, could not look, except with extreme jea- 
 lousy, at the family compact, which, whatever might be its object 
 in other directions, exposed her independence to be assailed at 
 any moment by the united forces of France and Spain. She 
 therefore clung to England with a confiding tenacity, of which 
 the stronger power took no undue advantage, and enlisted, by so 
 doing, the sympathies of English statesmen of every party in 
 her favour. Among others, Lord Clive seems to have bestowed 
 upon her ticklish concerns some small share of his parliamentary 
 care; and now, being brought into personal contact with the 
 most important of her transatlantic settlements, he examined it 
 with a soldier's eye, and made a report of its helpless state to the 
 King's government. The report, which was conveyed in a private 
 letter to Mr. Grenville, is eminently characteristic of the man : 
 " I should think myself," he says, " deserving of everlasting in- 
 famy if I did not, with a single battalion of infantry, make 
 myself master of Rio Janeiro in 24 hours." Lord Clive, it will 
 be observed, wrote and spoke on all occasions as he always felt, 
 and generally acted, in extremes. His judgment in regard to 
 the worthlessness of the defences of Rio Janeiro seems, however, 
 to have been correct ; and the Home Government advertising 
 the Cabinet of Lisbon of the fact, the works were put in a better 
 state, and armed with guns less " unserviceable and honey- 
 combed." 
 
 It was towards the end of April, 1765, ere the vessel in which 
 Lord Clive had taken his passage entered the Hooghly. On the 
 morning of the 3rd of May he himself reached Calcutta, and the 
 same afternoon began to study the Minutes of Council, in order, 
 as he expresses it, that " by seeing what had been done he might 
 be able to form a clearer opinion of the plan of operations on 
 which it would be necessary to act." He was not slow in dis- 
 covering that a gross and flagrant breach had been committed of 
 the Company's orders on a point concerning which no evasions 
 or subterfuges could any longer be admitted. The Lapwing 
 packet conveying the covenant, of which I have elsewhere spoken, 
 as well as the Court's explanation of the same, had arrived at 
 Calcutta on the 24th of January. From that day forth, there- 
 fore, practices heretofore connived at, because nowhere forbidden, 
 became illegal ; and parties falling into them lay open to the pe-
 
 176 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvin. 
 
 nalties which in the Court's letter were threatened. It further 
 appeared that the letter in question had been read, criticised, 
 and partially acted upon. It conveyed instructions for the regu- 
 lation of the private trade, as well as urgent notes concerning 
 the issue of batta, or field-allowances to the troops, and to these 
 the Council paid some attention. But a third subject, more im- 
 portant than either of which the despatch treated, seemed to have 
 been passed over in silence. Meer Jaffier died on the 6th of 
 February, that is to say, thirteen days subsequently to the receipt 
 of the communication which prohibited the Company's servants 
 from accepting presents. Within a day or two of the decease 
 of his father, Nujeem-ud-Dowlah was communicated with, and a 
 bargain struck, whereby, on his engaging to pay to the Governor 
 and Council the sum of 200,000/. sterling, his succession to the 
 vacant throne was secured to him. Nothing could exceed the 
 indignation of Clive when this atrocious fact forced itself on his 
 notice. He saw that no terms could be kept with men who 
 were capable of thus setting the declared will of their superiors 
 at nought ; and he took the earliest opportunity of convincing 
 them that the powers which he had received from their common 
 masters in London he was prepared to wield unflinchingly. On 
 the 5th of May a meeting of Council was held ; of the remark- 
 able proceedings at which Clive, and Clive alone, must give an 
 account. Having described in a letter to^General Carnac how 
 the different commands in the army were distributed, and corre- 
 sponding rank bestowed upon its principal officers, he goes on to 
 say: 
 
 " After this matter was settled, I desired the Board would 
 order those paragraphs relative to the power of the committee 
 to be transmitted to the chiefs and council of the subordinate 
 settlements, to the Commander-in-chief of the army, and to the 
 two presidencies of Madras and Bombay, that they might know 
 what powers the committee were invested with. I then ac- 
 quainted the Board, that the committee was determined to make 
 use of the power invested in them, to its utmost extent ; that the 
 condition of the country, and the very being of the Company 
 made such a step absolutely necessary. Mr. Leycester seemed 
 inclined to enter into a debate about the meaning and extent of 
 those powers, but I cut him short, by informing the Board, that
 
 CHAP, xvm.] CLIVE'S FIRMNESS. 177 
 
 I would not suffer any one to enter into the least discussion 
 about the meaning of those powers ; but that the committee 
 alone were absolutely determined to be the sole and only judges ; 
 but that they were at liberty to enter upon the face of the con- 
 sultations any minutes they thought proper, but nothing more. 
 Mr. Johnstone desired that some other paragraphs of the letter 
 might be sent to the different subordinates, &c., as tending, I 
 believe, in his opinion, to invalidate those orders. Upon which 
 I asked him, whether he would dare to dispute our authority ? 
 Mr. Johnstone replied, that he never had the least intention of 
 doing such a thing ; upon which there was an appearance of very 
 long and pale countenances, and not one of the council uttered 
 another syllable. After despatching the current business, the 
 Board broke up, and to-morrow we sit in committee, when I 
 make no doubt of discovering such a scene as will be shocking 
 to. human nature. They have all received immense sums for 
 this new appointment, and are so shameless, as to own it pub- 
 licly. Hence we can account for the motive of paying so little 
 respect to me and the committee; and, in short, every thing of 
 benefit to themselves they have in this hasty manner concluded, 
 leaving to the committee the getting the covenants signed, which 
 they say is ofsuch consequence, that they cannot think of set- 
 tling any thing final about them until Lord Olive's arrival. 
 
 " Alas ! how is the English name sunk ! I could not avoid 
 paying the tribute of a few tears to the departed and lost fame 
 of the British nation (irrecoverably so, I fear). However, I do 
 declare, by that Great Being who is the searcher of all hearts, 
 and to whom we must be accountable, if there must be an here- 
 after, that I am come out with a mind superior to all corruption, 
 and that I am determined to destroy those great and growing 
 evils, or perish in the attempt. 
 
 " I hope, when matters are a little settled, to set out for the 
 army ; bringing with me full power for you and me to settle 
 every thing for the best," 
 
 Bold, imperious, intolerant of contradiction, Clive was the 
 very man to deal with a state of society so demoralized as that 
 on which he had now fallen. It mattered nothing to him that 
 the advocates of corruption pleaded his own example as the 
 groundwork of the system on which they acted. He had argu- 
 
 N
 
 178 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 ments at command wherewith to rebut their reasoning, which, 
 whatever weight they might receive from others, appeared per- 
 fectly satisfactory to himself. In the first place, he contended 
 that the original conspiracy which broke the line of succession to 
 the throne of Bengal could be considered as nothing more than 
 an experiment. Large gifts were accepted on that occasion from 
 Meer Jaffier, because everybody believed the wealth of the king- 
 dom to be inexhaustible ; but experience had demonstrated the 
 fallacy of this opinion, and it became not more unjust than im- 
 politic to burthen the successors of Meer Jaffier with obliga- 
 tions which none knew better than the members of Council, who 
 imposed them, that they could not discharge except at the 
 expense of ruin to the Nabob and incalculable damage to the 
 interests of the Company. In the next place Clive affirmed 
 that the overthrow of Suraj-u-Dowlah, and the elevation of 
 Meer Jaffier, had been the work of the people of Bengal them- 
 selves, the English taking part in it as allies and subordinates 
 only. It was not so with the deposition of Meer Jaffier, and 
 still less with the advancement of the reigning Nabob to the 
 throne ; and in the case of Cossim Ali, however necessary his re- 
 moval might have latterly become, he was clearly at the outset 
 rather a sufferer from the wrongs of others than an abuser of 
 the privileges which appertained to his office. The revolution, 
 therefore, which had displaced his own protege Clive condemned 
 as uncalled for and iniquitous, which was only to be accounted 
 for by looking to the cupidity of those who had been parties to 
 it. But Clive, while he reprobated the whole transaction as a 
 violation of policy and good faith, brought no special charges 
 against the recipients of Cossim Ali's booty. They did what 
 they were not prohibited from doing ; they enriched themselves 
 by a process which, however reprehensible, had not yet been 
 condemned by the voice of authority. The case was different 
 with regard to the transactions which accompanied the establish- 
 ment of the reigning Nabob in his seat. In the face of a Court's 
 order, the representatives of the Company had set up the crown 
 of Bengal for sale, and put the purcliase-money into their own 
 pockets. They had hurried forward the transaction, too, with a 
 precipitation which showed that they were aware of its illegality, 
 and feared lest, by the arrival of the Committee, it might be in-
 
 CHAP, xviii.] OPPOSITION IN COUNCIL. 179 
 
 terrupted. Clive used no measured language in his condemna- 
 tion of the whole proceeding, and looked anxiously about for 
 means whereby to compel the chief actors in it to disgorge their 
 ill-gotten gains. 
 
 Lord Clive had few friends in the Council. General Carnac 
 was, indeed, attached to him by the ties of old association, and 
 Mr. Verelst, besides that his views were shown to be more sound 
 than those of his colleagues in general, might be expected to go 
 with the select committee, of which he had been nominated a 
 member. But all the rest, with here and there an exception 
 in which latter class I ^must not forget to state that Warren 
 Hastings ranged himself abhorred the new Governor's prin- 
 ciples as much as they dreaded his power. An attempt was 
 therefore made to get up an opposition to the Committee, of 
 which two members of Council, Messrs. Johnstone and Ley- 
 cester, put themselves at the head. It proved imminently un- 
 successful. I have already introduced Lord Clive to the reader's 
 notice as chronicler of the circumstances which attended his first 
 appearance at the Board. The following portion of a letter, ad- 
 dressed on the llth of May to Mr. Palk, at that time Governor 
 of Madras, will show that the writer was not disposed to lose, by 
 hesitation or delay, whatever advantages had accrued to him 
 from an energetic commencement of his labours. His business 
 on the occasion here referred to was to exact from each of the 
 gentlemen present a personal ratification of the covenant, which 
 had been permitted to lie over since the 24th of January, and to 
 send it forth to the out-stations, in order that it might receive the 
 signatures of the chiefs of factories and their subordinates : 
 
 " At the first meeting, the gentlemen began to oppose and 
 treat me in the manner they did Vansittart, by disputing our 
 power, and the meaning of the paragraph in the Company's ge- 
 neral letter. However, I cut that matter short, by telling them 
 they should not be the judges of that power, nor would we allow 
 them to enter into the least discussion about it ; but that they 
 might enter their dissents in writing, upon the face of the con- 
 sultations. This brought matters to a conclusion, and spared us 
 the necessity of making use of force, to put the Company's inten- 
 tions into execution. We arrived on Tuesday, and effected this 
 on Thursday. On Friday we held a committee ; and on Monday 
 
 N 2
 
 180 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 was read before the council the following resolution from the 
 committee book : ' Resolved, that it is the opinion of this com- 
 mittee, that the covenants be executed immediately by the rest 
 of the Council, and all the Company's servants.' After many 
 idle and evasive arguments, and being given to understand they 
 must either sign or be suspended the service, they executed the 
 covenants upon the spot. From this you will see what I had the 
 honour to inform you of, that I am determined upon an absolute 
 reformation; but here we must act with caution, until a peace is 
 established, which I do not despair of accomplishing during the 
 rains. 
 
 " It gives me infinite concern to inform you that Mr. Spencer 
 (of whom I had the highest opinion) is by no means the man of 
 integrity or abilities that I took him to be ; being deeper in the 
 mire than the rest, and who appears to me to have been seduced 
 and led astray by Johnstone and Leycester, having never had 
 any will or opinion of his own, since he came to the chair. In- 
 deed, the dignity of governor is sunk even beyond contempt 
 itself; and the name of Council only heard of in these parts. 
 "Would you believe that in his letters to the Nabob and others he 
 has submitted to write, ' I and the Council ?' 
 
 " We are waiting the arrival of the Nabob and his ministry, 
 to determine whether we shall suspend them (the obnoxious 
 members) the service, or represent matters in a general light, 
 leaving to the Directors to determine their state ; though I am 
 persuaded they will never wait sucli a decision, having all of 
 them received large fortunes, which they barefacedly confess, 
 for absolutely and precipitately concluding the late treaty with 
 the young Nabob ; not waiting for our approbation, or leaving 
 it in our power to rectify the least tittle, without being guilty of 
 a breach of faith. 
 
 " The large sums of money already received, and obligations 
 given for the rest, on account of this treaty, are so very notorious 
 through the whole town, and they themselves have taken such 
 little pains to conceal them, that we cannot, without forfeiting 
 our honour and reputation, possibly avoid a retrospection as far 
 back as the receipt of the covenants and Meer Jaffier's death. If 
 we should call upon you hereafter for the assistance of Messrs. 
 Broke, Russell, Kelsall, Floyer, and two or three more, we are
 
 CHAP, xvm.] SOURCE OF REVENUE. 181 
 
 persuaded your zeal for the service will not let you hesitate a 
 moment about sending them by the first conveyance. However, 
 you will keep the contents of this paragraph to yourself, till you 
 hear from the committee or me upon the subject." 
 
 The sale of the musnud, or throne of Bengal, was an affair 
 completed. A good deal of mystery, likewise, had been pre- 
 served by the chief agents in the transaction regarding the sums 
 of money which fell to the share of individuals ; and Clive, 
 though burning with anxiety to punish, and, if possible, strip 
 the delinquents of their ill-gotten gains, found difficulty in bring- 
 ing the matter home to them in a moment. It was not so in 
 reference to the private trade, in which every man professing to 
 be in the service of the Company, whether white or black, mem- 
 ber of council or junior writer, was engaged to an enormous ex- 
 tent. The three articles in which these persons chiefly dealt 
 were salt, beetle-nuts, and tobacco, of which the value may be 
 estimated when I state, that out of the duties, by no means im- 
 moderate, levied upon the two latter, and the monopoly which 
 they had from time immemorial enjoyed on the former, the Na- 
 bobs of Bengal derived no trivial portion of their revenues. To 
 a share in the profits arising from this trade none of the Com- 
 pany's servants ever thought of admitting the Company itself. 
 The general commerce was carried on by the exchange of goods 
 manufactured in Europe for Indian silks, cottons, and other com- 
 modities, which might be turned to account in European mar- 
 kets or for specie, or specie's worth, which, being conveyed to 
 China, enabled the masters of ships to lay in their cargoes of 
 tea, the sale of which in London realized in a great measure their 
 dividends for the stockholders. The particular or private trade 
 was in articles of which the consumption went on in the country 
 itself, and the unfair advantages which they possessed in con- 
 ducting it, enabled the Company's servants to drive every native 
 merchant out of the market. I have elsewhere taken occasion 
 to state, that so long as Clive presided over the affairs of Bengal, 
 this abuse, if not absolutely repressed, was kept within narrow 
 limits. But immediately on his departure the very semblance of 
 moderation was dropped ; and the consequences were such as the 
 course of this narrative has made apparent. 
 
 It is due to the Court of Directors to state that, mistaken in
 
 182 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 their views as they often were, they gave no countenance, but 
 the reverse, to such proceedings. Many of their letters speak 
 of the system in terms of strong condemnation ; and two in par- 
 ticular, written about this time, are expressed in language so 
 becoming, that they well deserve transcription. But the reader, 
 while he follows these, will do scant justice to the subject if 
 he forget that the Court had made no motion towards raising the 
 salaries of their servants in Bengal from the miserable pittances 
 at which they had hitherto stood. It was manifest, likewise, from 
 their manner of replying to Olive's suggestions on this subject, 
 that the idea of disbursing largely out of their own funds met 
 with little encouragement among them. Now Clive knew, what 
 indeed could not but be known everywhere else, that to expect 
 honesty from ill-paid functionaries, to whom safe opportunities 
 of enriching themselves by underhand means are abundant, is to 
 expect more than the frailty of human nature will sanction. 
 What was he to do? On the one hand, his own sense of right, 
 not less than his duty to the Company, required that at all ha- 
 zards he should put a stop to the private trade system ; on the 
 other, his knowledge of mankind assured him that all the regula- 
 tions which he could frame would be snapped like the withes in 
 the hand of the giant, unless the parties affected by them were 
 assured in some other way of earning a competency. 
 
 Let me, however, before I go further, put the court in a fair 
 light by transferring to these pages portions of two despatches 
 which Clive received during the first year of what may be called 
 his reform government of Bengal. The former, which is dated 
 the 26th of April, 1765, refers to the arguments of those who 
 endeavoured to defend their right to trade in the three commo- 
 dities specified above, by reference to the old imperial firman or 
 licence. 
 
 " Treaties of commerce are understood to be for the mutual 
 benefit of the contracting parties. Is it then possible to suppose 
 that the Court of Delhi, by conferring the privilege of trading 
 free of customs, could mean an untaxed trade in the commodities 
 of their own country at that period unpractised and unthought of 
 by the English, to the detriment of their revenues and the ruin 
 of their own merchants ? We do not find such a construction 
 was ever heard of till our own servants first invented it, and
 
 CHAP, xvni.] THE COURT'S LETTERS. 183 
 
 afterwards supported it by violence. Neither could it be claimed 
 by the subsequent treaties with Meer Jaffier, or Cossim AH, 
 which were never understood to give one additional privilege of 
 trade beyond what the firman expressed. In short, the specious 
 arguments used by those who pretended to set up a right to it 
 convince us they did not want judgment, but virtue to withstand 
 the temptation of suddenly amassing a great fortune, although 
 acquired by means incompatible with the peace of the country, 
 and their duty to the Company. 
 
 " Equally blameable were they who, acknowledging they had 
 no right to it, and sensible of the ill consequences resulting from 
 assuming it, have, nevertheless, carried on this trade, and used 
 the authority of the Company to obtain, by a treaty exacted by 
 violence, a sanction for a trade to enrich themselves, without the 
 least regard or advantage to the Company, whose forces they 
 employed to protect them in it. 
 
 " Had this short question been put, which their duty ought 
 first to have suggested, ' Is it for the interest of our employers ?' 
 they would not have hesitated one moment about it ; but this 
 criterion seems never once to have occurred. 
 
 " All barriers being thus broken down between the English 
 and the country government, and everything out of its proper 
 channel, we are at a loss how to prescribe means to restore order 
 from this confusion ; and being deprived of that confidence which 
 we hoped we might have placed in our servants, who appear to 
 have been the actors in these strange scenes, we can only say, 
 that we rely on the zeal and abilities of Lord Clive, and the gen- 
 tlemen of the Select Committee, to remedy these evils. We 
 hope they will restore our reputation among the country powers, 
 and convince them of our abhorrence of oppression and rapa- 
 ciousness." 
 
 In a second letter, of date 19th of February, 1766, the Court 
 again writes 
 
 " With respect to the treaty with Nujeem-ud-Dowlah, it is 
 proper here to insert, at length, the fifth article, which runs in 
 these words : ' I do ratify and confirm to the English the pri- 
 vilege granted them by their firman, and several husbul- 
 hookums, of carrying on their trade, by means of their own 
 dustucks, free from all duties, taxes, or impositions, in all parts
 
 184 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 of the country, except in the article of salt, on which the duty 
 of two and a half per cent, is to be levied on the Rowana or 
 Hooghley market price.' This fifth article is totally repugnant 
 to our own order, contained in our general letter, by the Kent 
 and Lapwing, dated the 1st of June, 1764 ; in which we not 
 only expressed our abhorrence of an article in the treaty with 
 Meer Jaffier, literally corresponding with the present fifth article, 
 but in positive terms directed you, in concert with the Nabob, 
 to form an equitable plan for carrying on the inland trade, 
 and transmit the same to us, accompanied by such explanations 
 and remarks as might enable us to give our sentiments and direc- 
 tions thereupon. We must remind you, too, that in our said 
 general letter we expressly directed, that our orders, in our letter 
 of the 8th of February preceding, which were to put a final and 
 effectual end to the inland trade in salt, beetle-nut, and tobacco, 
 and in all other articles produced and consumed in the country, 
 should remain in force, until an equitable and satisfactory plan 
 could be found and adopted. As, therefore, there is not the 
 least latitude given you for concluding any treaty whatsoever 
 respecting this inland trade, we must and do consider what you 
 have done as an express breach and violation of our orders, and 
 as a detrimental resolution to sacrifice the interest of the Com- 
 pany, and the peace of the country, to lucrative and selfish 
 views. 
 
 " This unaccountable behaviour put an end to all confidence 
 in those who made this treaty, and forces us to resolve on mea- 
 sures for the support of our authority, and the preservation of 
 the Company. We do therefore pronounce, that every servant 
 concerned in that trade stands guilty of a breach of his covenants 
 with us and of our orders; and in consequence of this resolution, 
 we positively direct, that if that treaty is now subsisting, you 
 make a formal renunciation, by some solemn act to be entered 
 on your records, of all right under the said treaty, or otherwise, 
 to trade in salt, beetle-nut, and tobacco ; and that you transmit 
 this renunciation of that part of the treaty, in form, to the Na- 
 bob, in the Persian language. Whatever government may be 
 established, or whatever unforeseen occurrences may arise, it is 
 our resolution to prohibit, and we do absolutely forbid, this trade 
 of salt, beetle-nut, and tobacco, and of all articles that are not for
 
 CHAP, xvni.] THE COURT'S LETTERS. 185 
 
 export and import, according to the spirit of the firman, which 
 does not in the least give any latitude whatsoever for carrying 
 on such an inland trade ; and, moreover, we shall deem every 
 European concerned therein, directly or indirectly, guilty of a 
 breach of his covenants, and direct that he be forthwith sent to 
 England, that we may proceed against him accordingly. And 
 every native who shall avail himself of our protection to carry 
 this trade on, without paying all the duties clue to the govern- 
 ment equally with the rest of the Nabob's subjects, shall forfeit 
 that protection, and be banished the settlement ; we direct, that 
 these resolutions be signified publicly throughout the settle- 
 ment." 
 
 This letter, of the abstract justice of which it is impossible to 
 speak too highly, was written under a misapprehension of the 
 circumstances of the country, and of the end to which Olive's 
 able policy was tending. I have inserted it only for the purpose 
 of showing that, however they might err in regard to the reme- 
 dies fit to be applied, the Court of Directors were not at this 
 time disposed to sanction the iniquitous proceedings of their ser- 
 vants ; and it is proper that the reader should be fully alive to 
 this fact, otherwise he will fail to notice the true source of the 
 persecutions to which Lord Clive, after his return to England, 
 became exposed. But before it reached Olive's hands he had 
 taken his own course ; and knowing it to be the best which 
 under existing circumstances lay open to him, he declined to be 
 drawn out of it. I will endeavour to explain, in few words, 
 what he desired to do, what he actually did, and what were the 
 consequences, immediate as well as remote, of the arrangements 
 into which he entered.
 
 186 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Clive's reforms continued. 
 
 IT was Lord Clive's deliberate opinion that no person employed 
 in the service of the East India Company should be permitted, 
 under any circumstances, to embark in trade on his own account. 
 He believed, with Sir Thomas Roe, that the Company would 
 gain far more than individuals by the arrangement. Difficulties 
 would doubtless attend the attempt to eradicate a system which 
 was as old as the existence of the Company itself; but there was 
 needed in his opinion, only firmness, combined witli liberality on 
 the part of the Home authorities, to overcome them. In the 
 first place, a revision of salaries would be indispensable. To 
 every youth entering the service, whether as a civilian or a sol- 
 dier, such pay must be allowed as would enable him to support, 
 with economy, his proper position in India, and assure to him 
 with the fair chance of promotion which he would be supposed 
 to enjoy a reasonable prospect of retiring after he should have 
 attained to middle life, with a decent competency to the land of 
 his birth. In the next place, the practice of making promotion 
 depend altogether on seniority ought to be set aside. In ordi- 
 nary cases men of faithful and long service ought never to be 
 passed over; but to adhere absolutely to the rule of age was to 
 take away all spur to exertion, and to render inevitable a steady 
 supply of mediocrity in places where more than mediocrity 
 might sometimes be required. On the other hand, Clive con- 
 ceived that excess of remuneration to the junior ranks, whether 
 of the civil or military branch of the Company's service, could 
 not but operate prejudicially ; and, if the argument held good 
 where regular pay alone was given, it told with infinitely greater 
 weight against arrangements which threw young men in the way 
 of accumulating, by commerce or otherwise, large fortunes in 
 the course of a few years. Individuals so favoured never found
 
 CHAP, xix.] CLIVE'S EMBARRASSMENT. 187 
 
 it worth while to hang on, under the pressure of an unhealthy 
 climate, in order that they might ultimately succeed to places of 
 power to which no proportionate emolument was attached. No 
 sooner had they realized as much as promised to support them at 
 home in the style to which their ambition pointed, than they 
 threw up the service ; which was thus left to be managed by a 
 succession of raw lads, under the control of functionaries either 
 too rich to care very much about it, or too greedy of gain to 
 withdraw their attention from the management of their own 
 business. But, to counterbalance this clipping at one end, Lord 
 Clive was most desirous of adding largely to the other. As 
 men rose from the rank of junior to that of senior merchant, 
 their pay should be increased. When they went forth as clerks 
 into the remote factories, an increase ought to take place on a 
 still more liberal scale ; and finally, as Members of Council and 
 Government secretaries, it was fitting that they should be raised 
 not only above the annoyance of everything like want for the 
 present, but be relieved of all anxiety in regard to the future. 
 
 Of the working of this principle as he desired to apply it to 
 the army, I shall take occasion to speak when I come to describe 
 his dealings with that body. My. present business is with the 
 civil service exclusively, which he urged the Court of Directors 
 to put upon a proper footing, pointing out to them that their 
 position in India was wholly changed, and that rules which had 
 answered imperfectly for the guidance of commercial establish- 
 ments were altogether inapplicable to the condition of a sub- 
 stantive and political power. But the time had not yet arrived 
 for the accomplishment of so important a change. Neither the 
 Directors nor the Proprietors were able to realize the fact that 
 they occupied ground in India very different from that which it 
 had entered into their most sanguine anticipations to desire; 
 and while J;hey saw and denounced the wrongs of which their 
 trading representatives were guilty, they refused to close the 
 door of commerce against them by such a process as Lord Clive 
 recommended. How was he, under such circumstances, to pro- 
 ceed? He could not say to Members of Council, "You must 
 live henceforth on your salaries. The Company forbids you to 
 trade. I have no power except to see that their orders are 
 carried into effect. You must therefore do as well as you can
 
 188 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 with your 3001. per annum apiece, or resign the service." And 
 as to the writers, the junior and senior merchants, and so forth, 
 all these were equally secured against the application of so stern 
 a rule by the poverty of the stipends which they drew out of 
 the Company's treasury. Clive pondered the subject carefully, 
 and arrived at the conclusion that, being debarred from doing 
 that which was positively best, he was bound to do the best 
 which under the circumstances might be practicable. He caused 
 an order of Committee to be issued, which took away, at a 
 stroke, all power in individuals to grant dustucks or passes for 
 the transport of goods, and restricted the right of issuing such to 
 certain constituted authorities. By this arrangement the ma- 
 nagement and control of all private as well as public trade was 
 kept in the hands of the government. A stop was likewise 
 put to the vicious proceedings of those who, calling themselves 
 the native agents of European traders, had been in the habit, 
 without exhibiting any passes at all, of forcing the Nabob's 
 revenue stations ; and such a check was imposed upon the entire 
 system of private trade, that, wherever carried on, it could 
 not any longer operate to the serious injury of any one. At the 
 same time as the ordinary sources of the revenues of individuals 
 were thus effectually dried up, Clive found himself obliged to 
 make some compensation for the injury, and he adopted the fol- 
 lowing expedient to do so. 
 
 Of the three branches of private trade to which the mercantile 
 men of Bengal looked as repaying them for exile, and the many 
 privations which attend it, the trade in salt Avas by far the most 
 important. Clive determined to convert that which had been 
 hitherto a cause of unmixed evil into an instrument of good. 
 With this view he arranged that it should become a monopoly 
 in the hands of the Governor for the time being, and the mem- 
 bers of Council and olher specified functionaries, and that the 
 profits henceforth should be divided among them in equal shares, 
 according to the stations and rank in the service which those 
 entitled to partake in it might respectively hold. Among these 
 the Governor was to reserve an entire portion to himself; a se- 
 cond portion was to fall to the members of Council collectively ; 
 a third took in colonels of the first rank, chiefs of factories, and 
 such like ; a fourth became the property of field-officers, chap-
 
 CHAP, xix.] PECUNIARY COMPENSATIONS. 189 
 
 Jains, &c. ; and the gross value of the whole may be guessed 
 when I state that Clive estimated a colonel's portion he being 
 but one out of a numerous body at not less than 7000/. sterling 
 per annum. 
 
 Clive, however, was not so careful of the interests of indivi- 
 duals as to be forgetful all this while of the Company's claims. 
 The salt monopoly, be it remembered, had from time imme- 
 morial been possessed by the Nabob. So long as the Nabob 
 should continue to collect the revenues, he was entitled to the 
 duty, whatever that might be, which the makers or growers of 
 the commodity had been accustomed to pay. But Clive was 
 already meditating that master-stroke of policy which he soon 
 afterwards completed ; and he drew up his regulations so that 
 they might agree rather with what was to be than with what 
 actually existed. For example, he decreed that the Company 
 should receive as its share of the monopoly an ad valorem duty 
 of 35 per cent.; which, allowing 10 per cent, as profit on the 
 product, and 5 per cent, to cover losses, would give one half of 
 the gain to the ruling body and the other half to their servants. 
 The letter which I quoted in a previous chapter shows that the 
 Court of Directors were not satisfied with this, to them, most 
 advantageous arrangement ; but Clive had scarcely begun to put 
 his own law in force ere he received proof that the individuals 
 whom he desired to serve were prepared to resist both it and 
 him to the uttermost. 
 
 Another of Lord Clive's reforms had reference to the consti- 
 tution of the ruling body, which he looked upon as too numerous 
 in itself for any practical purpose, and which he particularly 
 objected to on account of the manner of disposing of their time, 
 which custom had sanctioned in a large proportion of the 
 members. The old constitution of Bengal required that the 
 government should be carried on by a President and sixteen 
 councillors. The number sixteen Clive held to be preposterously 
 great ; and he was fortified in the conviction by observing that 
 most of these left the business of government to be transacted by 
 four or five individuals ; while, being appointed to the charge of 
 factories, or becoming supervisors of provinces, they themselves 
 proceeded into the interior that they might devote their energies 
 to the more agreeable occupations of private trade, or the levying
 
 190 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 of contributions, by a shorter process, on the native princes and 
 nobility. Nor was it the least objectionable feature in this arrange- 
 ment that the gentlemen thus employed at a distance still kept 
 their seats at the council-board, and were ready, as often as occa- 
 sion required, to come down and vote in support of the faction to 
 which they belonged. Olive had not been a careless observer of 
 the current of public events under the administration of Mr. 
 Vansittart. He saw how that gentleman was perpetually con- 
 trolled and thwarted by the votes of persons who had no oppor- 
 tunity of examining the merits of many of the questions which 
 they came from afar to decide ; and, looking forward to the time 
 when the extraordinary powers of the select committee would 
 cease, he proposed that the council should hereafter consist of 
 not more than 12 members at the most. The point, however, 
 which he was most anxious to settle in reference to this matter 
 was, that, be the members of council many or few, none of them 
 should be permitted to accept stationary offices in the interior. 
 The Commander-in-chief must of course go with the army when- 
 ever it should take the field, but seats in the Council ought not 
 for the future to be tenable by the chiefs of factories or super- 
 visors. As might be expected, innovations such as these were 
 looked at with extreme abhorrence by the parties whose interests 
 they thwarted. Yet the opposition which he met with here was 
 but as a breath of summer air when compared with the hurri- 
 cane which fell upon him so soon as he began to inquire into 
 past abuses. 
 
 I am at a loss how to convey, in words of my own, any idea to 
 the minds of my readers of the state of moral feeling which ap- 
 pears to have held sway at this time among the English residents 
 in Bengal. The Court of Directors have, however, described it 
 so accurately, that in justice to my subject I am constrained to 
 make an extract from one of their letters, written soon after the 
 graver of the abuses had been put down : " When we look 
 back,'' they say, " to the system that Lord Clive and the gentle- 
 men of the Select Committee found established, it presents to us 
 a subah (a Nabob) disarmed, with a revenue of almost two mil- 
 lions sterling, (for so much seems to have been left, exclusive of 
 our demands on him,) at the mercy of our servants, who had 
 adopted an unheard-of ruinous principle, of an interest distinct
 
 CHAP, xix.] MAHOMED REZA KHAN. 191 
 
 from the Company. This principle showed itself in laying their 
 hands upon every thing they did not deem the Company's pro- 
 perty. 
 
 " In the province of Burdwan, the resident and his council 
 took an annual stipend of near 80,000 rupees per annum from 
 the Rajah, in addition to the Company's salary. This stands on 
 the Burdwan accounts, and we fear was not the whole; for we 
 apprehend it went further, and that they carried this pernicious 
 principle even to the sharing with the Rajah of all he collected 
 beyond the stipulated malguzary, or land revenue, overlooking 
 the point of duty to the Company, to whom, properly, everything 
 belonged that was not necessary for the Rajah's support. It has 
 been the principle, too, on which our servants have falsely endea- 
 voured to gloss over the crime of their proceedings, on the acces- 
 sion of the present Subah ; and we fear would have been soon 
 extended to the grasping the greatest share of that part of the 
 Nabob's revenues which was not allotted to the Company. In 
 short, this principle was directly undermining the whole fabric ; 
 for whilst the Company were sinking under the burden of the 
 war, our servants were enriching themselves from those very 
 funds- that ought to have supported the war." 
 
 Determined to lay the axe to the root of the tree, and bent 
 upon exposing to public scorn the delinquencies of those high in 
 office, Clive took the bold step at this time of inviting the Nabob, 
 Mahomed Reza Khan his minister, and some of the principal 
 bankers of Moorshedabad, including his ancient comrade Roy- 
 dullub, to visit him in Calcutta. They all came, and the disclo- 
 sures which they made more than confirmed the worst suspicions 
 he had harboured. Of the Nabob himself Clive saw enough to be 
 convinced that he was in every respect unfitted for his situation. 
 His ministers, as well as the dependants whom he encouraged to 
 come about him, were equally wanting in talent or integrity ; 
 but that which gave to Clive the greatest amount of annoyance 
 was the open way in which this miserable puppet and his satel- 
 lites brouo-ht charges of corruption against the most influential 
 persons in the Company's service, which the latter were unable 
 to refute. As a specimen of these, the Nabob reported officially 
 to Clive, that since his father's death a distribution had taken 
 place of 20 lacs of rupees by Mahomed Reza Khan, for the pur-
 
 192 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 pose of securing such interest as should maintain him in Ids situ- 
 ation, and that members of the Council had participated in these 
 gifts. This was too serious an accusation to be passed by without 
 a strict investigation ; and the matter was accordingly discussed 
 in open Council. The parties implicated sought to defend them- 
 selves by accusing Clive and the select committee of acting from 
 the worst motives. " It seems," says Mr. Johnstone, in a minute 
 bearing date the 17th of June, 1765, "the aim of the select 
 committee to render the proceedings of the late President and 
 Council, if possible, obnoxious, instead of striving to promote 
 the cordiality so much to be wished. To what cause must we 
 attribute this temper of the committee ? One would almost think 
 they were piqued to find the interest of the Company so well 
 secured before their arrival ; only they must know that their 
 coming at all was doubtful, and the gentlemen who had felt 
 the defects of the former treaty were full as well qualified to 
 remedy them in the new one, and have no doubt their masters 
 will approve their services. I have heard that the Governor has 
 expressed much chagrin that the affair of his jaghire has been 
 settled, according to his agreement with the Company, without 
 his interposition, though a better opportunity could not have 
 occurred to get it done. Mr. Spencer, than whose merit none 
 stands in a fairer light with the Company, was, if I may so call 
 him, the darling of that party of that party which in England 
 opposed Lord Clive and the gentlemen of the committee. Any 
 attack of him or his measure is an attack of the party who 
 espoused him ; and though I would not assert that any such sen- 
 timents influenced any member of the board, yet I cannot help 
 being surprised at the uncommon neglect and disregard shown to 
 Mr. Spencer by Lord Clive." 
 
 A more ill-advised species of attack than this upon a man of 
 Lord Clive's iron nerve and strong feelings cannot well be con- 
 ceived. The allusion to a matter which did disturb him, and on 
 account of which he had just reason to be disturbed the un- 
 called for interference of Mr. Spencer in the matter of his jaghire, 
 which, if Mr. Johnstone spoke true, appeared to have been 
 suggested by Clive's enemies at home excited his warm in- 
 dignation. He recorded a minute in reply, which spoke his 
 mind plainly ; and, finding that neither that nor anything else
 
 CHAP, xix.] SUSPENSION OF CIVIL OFFICERS. 193 
 
 short of extreme measures would do, he used the power with 
 which he was invested by suspending Mr. Johnstone, Mr. Spencer, 
 and several others of the senior civil officers, from the service. 
 All these, as a matter of course, became forthwith his personal 
 enemies ; and most of them sailing to England, and purchasing 
 largely of India stock, found an opportunity, as will be shown by 
 and by, of making him feel that they were such. But in the mean 
 while he went forward without faltering in his course of stern but 
 necessary reform. His temper was often ruffled, his mind wea- 
 ried, his body fatigued, his spirits depressed yet none of these 
 things could stop him in his honourable career. " Let me but 
 have health sufficient," he says, in a letter to General Carnac, 
 " to go through with the reformation we intend, and I shall die 
 with satisfaction arid in peace."
 
 194 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Treaty \vith the Nabob Grant of the Dewannee Correspondence. 
 
 IN bringing these several results to bear in putting a stop to 
 the iniquitous practice in high places of receiving bribes in 
 striking at the root of the system of private trade, alike fatal to 
 the prosperity of the country and injurious to the Company's 
 interests in bringing back to the capital a swarm of European 
 adventurers, who, under various denominations, were spread 
 through the interior, and preyed upon the weaknesses of all with 
 whom they came in contact in checking the insolence of the 
 native agents, and putting the commerce of the country once more 
 upon an intelligible footing, Clive had accomplished more in 
 two short months than the most sanguine of his admirers ven- 
 tured to expect from the whole of his administration. But his 
 views of civil reform did not stop there. He had long foreseen, 
 and more than once predicted, that the farce of maintaining at 
 the Company's expense a government which was unable either 
 to protect itself from foreign enemies, or to manage its own in- 
 ternal affairs, could not continue long ; and, conceiving that the 
 proper moment was come for putting an end to the absurdity, he 
 set himself, with characteristic ardour, to accomplish that im- 
 portant object, The circumstances under which he acted were 
 these : 
 
 I have abstained from entering into a detailed acceunt of the 
 military operations which ensued upon the massacre of Patna, 
 and the retreat of Cossim Ali into the territories of Oude. These 
 are not so intimately connected with the subject of the present 
 narrative as to require that I should deviate from this rule fur- 
 ther than by stating, that they involved the Bengal government 
 in a very heavy expense, and threatened at one time to become 
 interminable. The vizier could not, indeed, even after Cossim 
 Ali joined him, keep the field against the English. He sustained
 
 CHAP, xx.] CLIVE PROCEEDS TO MOOESHEDABAD. 195 
 
 repeated checks, and was at length driven from Lucknow itself. 
 There remained for him, after this, no other course than submis- 
 sion ; and having given time to Meer Cossim and a European 
 adventurer named Sumroo, who was supposed to have been the 
 chief instigator of the Nabob's cruelties, to escape into the 
 country of the Eohillas, he opened a communication with General 
 Carnac, and professed himself anxious for peace. There can be 
 no doubt that tidings of Olive's arrival in India helped to hurry 
 forward this consummation. Olive's name among the natives 
 was that of a man irresistible in war. The title which he had 
 received from the Nabob of the Carnatic, in commemoration of 
 his exploits on that side of the peninsula, had followed him to 
 Hindostan ; and in Bengal, and indeed as far as the limits of the 
 Mogul Empire extended, Sabat Jung's fame was everywhere 
 spread abroad. But Olive's policy, like that of every other 
 Englishman who has much distinguished himself in the field, 
 was pacific. He knew what war was, and could not desire, ex- 
 cept in the last extremity, to incur its hazards and force on its 
 innumerable evils. He therefore wrote to Carnac, advising him 
 to encourage by all means the friendly disposition of the Vizier, 
 and promised to come up in order to assist in the arrangement of 
 a permanent treaty, as soon as the state of affairs in Calcutta 
 would permit. " I hope," he says, in a letter bearing date the 
 20th of May, 1765, " 15 or 20 days will enable me to put affairs 
 in such a channel that the gentlemen may go on with the re- 
 formation during my absence, and upon my arrival we must 
 heartily set about a peace ; for the expense is now become so 
 enormous (no less than 10 lacs per mensem, civil and military), 
 that the Company must inevitably be undone if the Mahrattas or 
 any other power should invade Bahar and Bengal ; for it will 
 then be impossible to raise money sufficient to continue the war. 
 This is a very serious consideration with me, and will, I make 
 no doubt, strike you in the same light." 
 
 In pursuance of this resolution, Clive no sooner brought mat- 
 ters into shape at Calcutta than he set out to join Carnac at 
 Benares. He had, however, important business to settle at Moor- 
 shedabad, whither the Nabob with his ministers had returned, 
 and he resolved to take that city on his way ; for a slight per- 
 sonal acquaintance with Nujeem-ud-Dowlah had sufficed to con- 
 
 o2
 
 196 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 vince him that the young man was wholly disqualified, both by 
 the natural weakness of his character and the total absence of 
 cultivation from his intellect, to conduct the affairs of govern- 
 ment for one day. It was clear that he must always be the 
 tool of somebody. But, indeed, the relations between the Nabob 
 and the Company were become by this time so entangled, that 
 no exercise of ability on the part of the former could cause the 
 machine to go smoothly. Clive conceived that the time had 
 come for applying a decisive remedy to the disease. Considering 
 that the English had already taken upon themselves the military 
 defence of the kingdom, that they were become masters of its 
 trade, and lords to all intents and purposes of its revenues, he 
 came to the conclusion that the surest means of preventing wrong 
 to individuals, as well as guarding against a breach of friendship 
 between the two governments, would be to take all the power 
 into his own hands, leaving to the Nabob only the shadow. To 
 his great satisfaction, perhaps a little to his surprise, he found 
 that there was no indisposition in the Nabob to act upon the 
 suggestion. On the 9th of July he had written from Moorshe- 
 dabad to inform the select committee that the durbar or admi- 
 nistrative council of the Nabob was settled according to their 
 wishes. Mahomed Reza Khan, with two other public men in 
 whom the English had confidence, were accepted by Nujeem-ud- 
 Dowlah as his ministers, and a set of regulations were drawn up 
 and signed, in accordance with which the business of the king- 
 dom should henceforth be conducted. But, even while penning 
 the letter which communicated this intelligence, Clive felt that 
 matters could not stop there. The continued existence of two 
 independent governments in the same country at the same time 
 was impossible ; and he, who perfectly understood this, lost no 
 time in getting rid of the difficulty. A second letter to the com- 
 mittee, dated the llth of July, contains the following statements : 
 " We have often lamented that the gentlemen of the Council, 
 by precipitating the late treaty, had lost the most glorious oppor- 
 tunity that could ever happen of settling matters upon that solid 
 and advantageous footing for the Company which no temporary 
 invasion could endanger. The true and only security for our 
 commerce and territorial possessions in this country is, in a 
 manner, always to have it in our power to overawe the very
 
 CHAP, xx.] PROVISION FOR THE NABOB. 197 
 
 Nabob we are bound by treaty to support. A maxim contrary 
 to this has of late been much adopted ; and from that funda- 
 mental error, as I may call it, have sprung the innumerable evils, 
 or at least deficiencies, in our government, which, I have now 
 the pleasure to inform you, are in a fair way of being perfectly 
 removed. 
 
 " The Nabob, upon my representation of the great expense of 
 such an army as will be necessary to support him in his govern- 
 ment, the large sums due for restitution, and to the navy, 
 together with an annual tribute, which he will be under a neces- 
 sity of paying to the King, hath consented, and I have agreed, 
 provided it should obtain your approbation, that all the revenues 
 of the country shall be appropriated to those purposes, 50 lacs of 
 rupees excepted. Out of this sum are to be defrayed all his ex- 
 penses of every nature arid denomination. Mahomed Reza 
 Khan, however, being of a disposition extremely timorous, is 
 desirous of having the payment of the cavalry and sepoys pass 
 through his hands, though included in the said 50 lacs. This, I 
 think, will be complied with. 
 
 " I am of opinion also, that certain stipends, out of the above- 
 mentioned sum, should be fixed for the Begum, for the Chuta 
 Nabob, and for the rest of the Nabob's brothers and nephews, 
 Miriam's* son included ; or else we must be subject to frequent 
 complaints from those quarters ; for I am persuaded that the 
 dependants and parasites of the present Nabob will always keep 
 him in distress, be his income what it may. Although the sum 
 proposed to be stipulated for the Nabob, considering the present 
 great expenses and demands, may appear large, yet, by what I 
 now learn, his expense exceeds the sum to be allowed ; and 
 although it is certain that neither his education nor abilities will 
 enable him to appear to any advantage at the head of these great 
 and rich provinces, yet, I think, we are bound in honour to sup- 
 port the dignity of his station, so far as is consistent with the 
 true interest of the Company. 
 
 " The particulars of this matter may be further adjusted in my 
 absence by Mr. Sykes, to whom I have communicated my ideas, 
 
 * Miriam or Meeran, the eldest son of Meer Jaffier, had perished, as I 
 have elsewhere described, and his son was in consequence the rival of 
 Nujeem-ud-Dowlah for the throne.
 
 198 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 if the plan be approved of by the select committee ; and the 
 whole may be finally concluded to our satisfaction, upon the 
 Company's being appointed the King's Duan, who will be em- 
 powered, by the nature of their office, as well as by the King's 
 consent, to settle every point." 
 
 Of the character of the prince thus pensioned into insignifi- 
 cance, a just estimate will be formed after reading Olive's account 
 of the light in which the projected change was viewed by him : 
 " He received the proposal of having a sum of money for him- 
 self and household at his will with infinite pleasure, and the only 
 remark he made upon leaving me was, ' Thank God, I shall now 
 have as many dancing-girls as I please.' " 
 
 So far a large measure of success had attended Olive's endea- 
 vours. A stop was put to numerous abuses at Calcutta. The 
 Company's relations with the Nabob were placed upon a more 
 intelligible footing, and both parties had reason to be pleased 
 with the arrangement. The last sentence in his letter of the 
 llth shows, however, that Clive looked beyond the point to 
 which he had now attained ; and he lost no time in seeking to 
 realize the scheme which had long, though indistinctly, been 
 pondered. As a step towards the accomplishment of this scheme, 
 he desired to conclude a peace, on honourable terms, with the 
 Vizier. For this purpose he proceeded to Benares, and on the 
 2nd of August, he and Sujah-u-Dowlah had their first meeting. 
 It proved eminently satisfactory to both. The Vizier, expecting 
 to be treated as one native power treats another which it may 
 have overcome in war, was as much surprised as delighted at the 
 modest bearing of the conqueror. He gladly consented to sur- 
 render the province of Allahabad, of which the annual revenue 
 was estimated at 10 lacs, or 100,000/. sterling, and he offered no 
 objection to the loss of Corah likewise, should this further sacri- 
 fice be required, though the revenues of Corah came up to 18 
 lacs. Besides this, he agreed to pay to the Company 600,000/. 
 as compensation for expenses incurred in the war, and was 
 grateful for being allowed to make good the payment in two 
 equal instalments. Everything, moreover, appears to have been 
 done in the best spirit. "His expressions of joy and gratitude 
 on the occasion," writes Olive to the select committee, "were 
 many and warm. Such an instance of generosity in a victorious
 
 CHAP, xx.] MEETING WITH SHAH ALUM. 199 
 
 enemy exceeded his most sanguine expectations, and we doubt 
 not will be the foundation of that union and amity which we 
 wish to secure." But Olive's tour of negotiation was not yet 
 ended. After ratifying the treaty with the Vizier, he pushed 
 forward to Allahabad, where the fallen Emperor, the repre- 
 sentative of a long and illustrious race of conquerors, waited 
 under the protection of an English brigade to receive him. Clive 
 and Shah Alum met for the first time on the 9th of August, 
 when the demands of the Emperor were innumerable. He re- 
 quired that an arrear of thirty-two lacs of rupees, due to him, as 
 he alleged, from the Nabob of Bengal, should be paid up. This 
 was refused, as well as an extravagant claim on the score of 
 annual tribute ; but it was finally settled that his Majesty should 
 receive the annual sum of 26 lacs per annum out of the reve- 
 nues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; and that the provinces of 
 Corah and Allahabad, yielding between them 28 lacs more, 
 should be made over to him in perpetuity. This done, it be- 
 came the turn of the representatives of the East India Company 
 to put in their claims. They were acceded to without hesita- 
 tion, and included firmans or deeds which established the right 
 of holding for ever the lands round Madras and elsewhere 
 which had been assigned to them by the Nabob of the Carnatic, 
 and gave them full possession in proprietary of the Northern 
 Circars. The revenue of Clive's jaghire, also, whenever it 
 should lapse, was secured to the Company. But the most im- 
 portant article of all was that of which Lord Clive, writing to 
 one of his correspondents, thus speaks: "We then presented 
 the King with two arzies (petitions), desiring he would, grant to 
 Nujeem-ud-Dowlah the Nizamut of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; 
 and to the Company the Dewannee of the same provinces ; to 
 both of which his Majesty has signed his fiat, and the proper in- 
 struments for both are now drawing out." 
 
 It is impossible to over-estimate the importance to the East 
 India Company, and indeed to the English nation, of this arrange- 
 ment. The Dewannee, as I have elsewhere taken occasion to ex- 
 plain, included the right of collection and general management 
 of the whole of the province or kingdom over which it extended ; 
 and, great as the power of the sword may be, especially in the 
 East, he who holds the purse-strings commands the means of
 
 200 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 directing the sword in its gyrations. And if this rule held in 
 native states, where the Nizamut retained its original preroga- 
 tives, much more stringent was the rule in Bengal, where a pre- 
 vious treaty had reduced the Nabob's influence to the shadow of 
 a shade. The Nizamut, let it be borne in mind, included the 
 right of arming and commanding troops, of managing the police, 
 and administering civil and criminal law throughout the country. 
 Now the treaty of the llth of July had divested Nujeem-ud- 
 Dowlah of the whole of these prerogatives, and settled him as a 
 pensioner on the bounty of the Company. His name indeed 
 still remained ; the English feeling that it might be useful in 
 case circumstances should threaten to bring them into collision 
 with the French or Dutch. But of power not a shred rested with 
 him none at least beyond that which they in their generosity 
 might be inclined to concede. Moreover, most of the abuses at- 
 tendant on the commercial operations of the Company's servants 
 were effectually struck at. When the question of payment of 
 duties came to be agitated between individuals on the one hand 
 and the Company on the other, there was little doubt to which side 
 the balance would lean ; and private trade, to whatever extent 
 conducted, must, it was agreed, be managed henceforth as the inte- 
 rests of the governing body should require. By many brilliant 
 exploits in the field, by the application of rare administrative talents 
 to the adjustment of their affairs, Clive had often made the Com- 
 pany his debtor ; but in this last act he surpassed himself. The 
 signing of the deed which secured to the Company the right of 
 collecting and managing the public revenues of Bengal, Bahar, 
 and Orissa, raised them at once to the condition of a substantive 
 Indian power. It was the first great step in that march of do- 
 minion which lias since carried them from Cape Comorin to the 
 Indus, and seems destined, sooner or later, to spread the English 
 language and the civilization and the faith of England over the 
 whole of Central Asia ; and yet no ceremony was ever performed 
 in the East with less of the parade of circumstance and show. A 
 common bell-tent, pitched in an open field, served for the hall of 
 state, in which the Emperor of Hindostan should admit to an 
 audience the successful English general ; and a few cushions laid 
 upon an ordinary dining-table constituted the throne where the 
 Mogul sat, to convey, by a stroke of his pen, to a company of
 
 CHAP, xx.] CLIVE'S DIPLOMACY. 201 
 
 merchants from the west, the sovereignty over a kingdom of 
 which the population did not at that time fall short of 15 millions 
 of souls. 
 
 Clive knew that he had wrought a good work. His own 
 vigorous understanding assured him of this, and his chief anxiety 
 was that it should be perpetuated. Neither had his been a war 
 against prejudices. He had smitten down abuses in high places ; 
 and though the device by which he accomplished his purpose 
 may appear clumsy to us who live in a world a century older 
 than that which he inhabited, a moment's attentive consideration 
 of the necessities of his case will force from us an acquiescence 
 in its fitness. The pains which he took in his dealings with 
 the native princes to conform on all occasions to the long esta- 
 blished customs of the country, marked him for a statesman as 
 prudent as he was bold. Had he chosen to act upon a different 
 principle, the power of gratifying a misplaced vanity was quite 
 within his reach. Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and indeed the 
 kingdom of Oude likewise, had been conquered by the sword ; 
 and with the sword he might have kept them. But the open 
 assumption of royalty in the name of England, besides that it 
 would have combined against him the whole of the native 
 powers, must have involved England herself in immediate disputes 
 with every other European nation which had a commercial set- 
 tlement in the provinces. France could hardly be expected to 
 hold Chandernagore, nor Holland Chinchura, at the mere will 
 of the English East India Company; and France and Holland, 
 as allies of the Emperor of Hindostan, might have given great 
 annoyance. Whereas, by adhering strictly to recognised usage, 
 and accepting only such powers as the Emperor had a right to 
 confer, by observing all the customary forms of vassalage, and 
 maintaining the ostensible Nizamut in the person of the Nabob, 
 he took away ground of complaint from both natives and Eu- 
 ropeans, and made himself absolute without appearing to do so. 
 If the device appear clumsy, perhaps ridiculous, when looked 
 at without considering the circumstances which advised it, its 
 wisdom, taking these into account, admits of no question. Nor 
 can his arrangements for the suppression of abuses among Euro- 
 pean functionaries be spoken of in different terms. Let us not 
 forget that the Company had refused to raise the salaries of
 
 202 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 their servants to an amount at all corresponding with the exi- 
 gences of their position, while they required at the same time 
 that these same servants should not, under any circumstances, 
 mix themselves up with the internal trade of the country. Now 
 Clive could not expect members of Council to content them- 
 selves with salaries of 3001. a-year ; nor was it possible to throw 
 back senior and junior merchants, warehousemen, writers, and 
 such like, on the pittances which were doled out to them from 
 Leadenhall-street. But while he compelled these latter classes 
 to be content, with such additions to their pay as a legitimate com- 
 merce afforded, he took away from the former every temptation 
 to trade at all, by dividing among them a large portion of the 
 proceeds of the government monopoly in salt. The government 
 share of the profits arising from this branch of trade was, to be 
 sure, on after consideration, commuted for an annual payment 
 of 100,000?. ; nevertheless, the right to the monopoly remained 
 where from time immemorial it had been in the government ; 
 and Clive, by the manner in which he dealt with it, did injury 
 to no one. But Clive was not content with this. He enter- 
 tained too mean an opinion of human nature, as it showed itself 
 at least in Bengal, to leave to the principal gainers from this 
 traffic any right of interference in its management. He fixed 
 the places to which the salt should be brought for sale ; he 
 settled the price at which, be the season what it might, the. ar- 
 ticle should be sold; and he passed a regulation by which all 
 details of business, the borrowing of money, the raising of capital 
 by subscription, the making of bye-laws, and indeed every other 
 transaction which could be required as pertaining to barter, were 
 intrusted to a sub-committee of four. It was Clive's especial 
 wish that from becoming a member of this sub-committee the 
 Governor should be prohibited. In all his communications, as 
 well with the Court of Directors as with his personal friends be- 
 longing to their body, he pressed this point with great earnest- 
 ness. He saw in it the best preservative that could be devised 
 against a recurrence to practices which, though he had possessed 
 influence enough to put them down, were but too likely to revive 
 under a less energetic successor ; and he was the more anxious 
 on this head because, in spite of the weeding which it had under- 
 gone, the majority of the old council was still against him. It
 
 CHAP, xx.] LETTER TO MK. SALVADORE. 203 
 
 appears, too, that about this time one member at least of the 
 select Committee began to play fast and loose ; and unfortunately 
 he was the very man to whom, as much at his own suggestion as 
 because of the good opinion generally entertained of him, Clive 
 had been instructed to deliver over the government whenever he 
 should feel inclined to relieve himself of the burthen. But it 
 is best, in such a case, to let the chief actor in the complicated 
 drama speak for himself. I therefore subjoin two letters one 
 addressed to a Mr. Salvadore, which describes the general results 
 of Olive's negotiations with the native powers ; the other to his 
 friend, Mr. Walsh, wherein the writer's views of the characters 
 of individuals are stated, and suggestions thrown out in regard 
 to measures which in his opinion ought to be adopted if the 
 Company desired to keep the Bengal provinces from falling back 
 into a state of anarchy. 
 
 To Mr. Salvadore he writes on the 25th of September, 1765, 
 the following letter : 
 
 " If I was to dwell upon the situation of the Company's affairs 
 in Bengal, both civil and military, a volume would not be suffi- 
 cient. However, I have the satisfaction of informing you, that 
 I have already made a great progress towards reforming those 
 enormous abuses of power which cry aloud for redress. The 
 inhabitants have been laid under contribution by both civil and 
 military, their goods taken from them at an under price, and 
 presents of money have either been extorted from them, or given 
 for interfering in the affairs of government by insisting on men 
 of high employments being turned out, and others appointed in 
 thair room. The gentlemen having the revenues of the country, 
 amounting to upwards of 3,000,000^. per annum at their com- 
 mand, were making such hasty strides towards independency, 
 that in two years' time I am persuaded the Company would not 
 have had one servant upon this establishment above the rank of 
 a writer. In short, if the Directors do not behave with spirit 
 and integrity, and the Proprietors lay aside their animosities, 
 they will become answerable to the nation and to Parliament, 
 for being the cause of losing the greatest advantages which ever 
 have happened to England since it has been a nation. 
 
 " As for myself, although tempted on all sides by offers of 
 riches without bounds, I have refused everything : and I am the
 
 204 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 greatest villain upon earth, if either I or any one dependent 
 upon or belonging to me, with my knowledge, either directly or 
 indirectly, benefit ourselves with the value of one farthing, 
 except what shall be specified in an account current which I 
 intend laying before the Directors, upon my arrival in England. 
 Indeed, if I suffered myself to be corrupted, I could not with 
 any face undertake (in conjunction with the Committee who 
 have heartily and unanimously joined me) the reformations 
 which are essentially necessary for the Company's welfare. , 
 
 " The King has granted to the Company for ever, with the 
 approbation and consent of the Nabob, all the revenues which 
 shall remain after paying him a certain tribute, and allowing a 
 sum sufficient for the dignity and support of the Nabob. The 
 Company's income exceeds 2,000,000/. sterling per annum, and 
 their civil and military expenses in future never shall exceed 
 700,000/. per annum, in time of peace, and 1,000,000/. in time 
 of war. For further particulars, let me refer you to Mr. Walsh. 
 With regard to the French forces, I shall put those of the 
 Company upon so respectable a footing that all the powers of 
 Europe can have no chance of succeeding, without first landing, 
 and being supported by th powers of the country ; and that 
 appears very impracticable, since I have lately acquired a grant 
 from the King of five northern provinces, those the French for- 
 merly possessed." 
 
 His letter to Mr. Walsh bears date five days subsequently to 
 the preceding. I subjoin an extract from it. 
 
 " Had I known Mr. Sumner as well as I do at present, 
 I would never have consented to his being appointed my suc- 
 cessor, let the consequences be what they would. I did, indeed, 
 entertain hopes that my example and instructions might furnish 
 that gentleman with a plan of conduct and political knowledge, 
 which would have enabled him to fill the chair witli honour, and 
 me to leave it with satisfaction to myself. But I am sorry to 
 inform you that I had been but a short time on board the Kent 
 before I discovered him to be a man no ways fit to be my 
 successor. His ideas of government differ widely indeed from 
 mine ; add to this, his judgment is weak, timid, and unsound, 
 and resolution he has none. 
 
 " Nor was my opinion of him changed on our arrival here ;
 
 CHAP, xx.] LETTER TO MR. WALSH. 205 
 
 for I was frequently mortified with instances of his conduct, 
 which made me look forward with regret to the day on which 
 he was to be intrusted with the government of Bengal. 
 
 " When affairs of the utmost consequence to the Company 
 were transacting by me, at the distance of seven hundred miles 
 from the presidency, Mr. Sumner, Governor for the time being, 
 would have yielded up some of the most material privileges of 
 the Committee to Mr. Leycester, Gray, and Burdett, the most 
 factious among the counsellors ; and, if I had not written to him 
 very severely on the subject, and prevailed on Mr. Yerelst to 
 hasten down from Burdwan to remonstrate with him on the 
 weakness of his conduct, I verily believe he would have joined 
 with those gentlemen in endeavouring to abolish the power of 
 the Committee. 
 
 " Whether his behaviour arose merely from timidity of 
 temper, or from a consideration that his actions formerly, in the 
 Burdwan country, could not bear a scrutiny, if the resentment 
 of those whom he had been obliged to join in condemning should 
 prompt them to retaliate, I cannot say ; but it is certain that 
 his attention to those gentlemen, guilty as they had been of the 
 most notorious acts of oppression, was mean and absurd. His 
 conduct, upon the whole, convinces me that, had he been in 
 council during the late transactions, he would have stood next to 
 Mr. Johnstone in the donation list, which I almost wish he had, 
 since the Company and I should, by that means, have been freed 
 from the apprehensions we now labour under, on account of his 
 succeeding me in the government. 
 
 " Imagine not that I have exceeded the bounds of truth in 
 this description. A due regard to my own honour, as well as 
 to the advantage of the Company, obliges me to be thus plain ; 
 but it is not my intention to impress you with ideas so far to the 
 disadvantage of Mr. Sumner, as that he may be set aside from 
 the government. I think I cannot go such lengths without 
 hurting my own reputation. I must make a point of his succeed- 
 ing me according to his appointment ; and I hope affairs will go 
 on very well, as long as he has a good committee or council to 
 watch him. 
 
 " If you can prevail upon the Court of Directors to empower 
 me alone, or me in conjunction with the Select Committee, to
 
 206 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 regulate matters, I will be responsible for his good behaviour ; 
 if not, I much fear things will fall into the old channel ; and to 
 the advantages arising from salt will be added every other that 
 can be grasped at. 
 
 " Remember the oath and penalty bond mentioned in my 
 public letter. If, by increasing the Governor's salary, or 
 ordering his proportion of salt to be greater, there was a par- 
 ticular oath for the Governor, whereby he should not be allowed 
 the liberty of private trade at all, but obliged to attend to the 
 affairs of the Company only, leaving trade to 'the second, &c., I 
 think the plan of government would be much more perfect, as 
 it would be less liable to abuses from the head. 
 
 " I have hinted to Dudley only my sentiments of Mr. Sumner, 
 and he knows from me that I have explained myself to you. 
 Consult, therefore, together about the matter ; settle it, if 
 possible, in such a manner that I may not be taxed with breach 
 of promise to Mr. Sumner, and I may at the same time resign 
 
 the government without apprehension for the consequences. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " It would be endless for me to send you the particulars of 
 every act of extortion and corruption. I had prepared a great 
 many, under the hands and seals of the several zemindars and 
 phousdars, in order to make it impossible for such men to 
 succeed in any of their future designs ; but the total overthrow 
 of Sulivan and his party makes such authentic proofs unnecessary, 
 especially as we have sent home sufficient to convince every 
 impartial Director of the general corruption and profligacy of 
 their servants in Bengal." 
 
 The language of these letters is stern and uncompromising 
 enough. It cannot be said to belie in any respect the nature of 
 him who made use of it ; and yet I think it would be unjust to 
 the memory of a very remarkable man were we to assume that 
 he had not his amiable weaknesses too. Clive seems to have 
 loved as he hated without stint, and sometimes without much 
 discrimination. We find him often repenting of the predilec- 
 tions which he had been induced to form ; and denouncing as 
 idiots men whom for a while he had represented as worthy of a 
 world's admiration. Mr. Sumner is an instance in point ; so is 
 Mr. Vansittart ; and even General Carnac, as I shall have
 
 CHAP, xx.] CLIVE TO HIS RELATIONS. 207 
 
 occasion by and by to show, narrowly escaped being classed in 
 the same category. Neither does his more private correspond- 
 ence breathe on any occasion that tone of deep domestic feeling 
 which we find in the home communications of many other men 
 hardly less distinguished than he. There are no letters of his 
 extant resembling those which Warren Hastings addressed to his 
 wife ; there are none that bear the slightest affinity to the touching 
 passages in which, when writing to Lady Munro, Sir Thomas 
 used to bewail his own solitude. Still Clive had a rude regard 
 for his relatives, as his liberality to them in the shape of money- 
 gifts seems to prove ; and he wrote to them familiarly likewise. 
 Let the reader judge from the following specimens of the extent 
 to which he permitted the love of home and its endearments to 
 influence him. On the 25th of September, 1765, he writes to 
 his cousin, as follows : 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 22nd of November, 1764, 
 by which I find you are all in health, though not so happy as 
 when I was among you. I make no doubt of once more con- 
 tributing towards that happiness, though not quite so soon as I 
 expected, when in England, owing to the length of our passage. 
 I have pitched upon the beginning of December, 1766, for 
 resigning this government ; and nothing but my death shall 
 prevent it. General Carnac, myself, and the rest of our family, 
 propose coming most of the way overland ; and shall, in all 
 probability, be in London sometime in April, 1767. 
 
 " I have been seven hundred miles up the country, and have 
 established a firm and lasting peace, I hope, with the Great 
 Mogul and his vizier Shuja Dowlah. I have seen much of his 
 Majesty, and he has appointed me one of his first omrahs, or 
 nobles, of his empire, with an immense title, not worth sixpence 
 in England. Touching all these matters I must refer you to 
 Mr. Walsh. 
 
 " I am glad you have put a stop to Styche expenses : they 
 became enormous, and it will be time enough to go on with 
 them upon my arrival in England ; but I approve greatly of 
 your repairing Walcot, and making it fit for Lady Olive's 
 reception. The only concern I feel arises from a conviction of 
 what she must suffer from so long an absence. 
 
 " With regard to myself, I have full employment, and enjoy
 
 208 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xx. 
 
 my health rather better than in England, though I find I cannot 
 bear the heat so well as formerly, which makes me determined 
 to quit the country as soon as possible." 
 
 " I rejoice," he writes* to his father, " to hear from others, 
 though not from yourself, that, notwithstanding the accident 
 which has happened to one of your eyes, you retain both your 
 spirits, appetite, and health. It is impossible, without a miracle, 
 to enjoy the blessings of life in that perfection in our latter days 
 as in the days of youth : but I really think your temperance and 
 the goodness of your constitution will carry you through life 
 with ease and satisfaction to yourself to an age nearly equal to 
 that of your aunt Judy. 
 
 " Although I enjoy better health than in England, India 'is 
 by no means agreeable to me, separated as I am from my wife, 
 children, and dearest relations. The length of our passage will 
 make my absence one year more than I intended, but this you 
 may be assured of, that nothing shall detain me in Bengal 
 beyond the beginning of December, 1766; and I hope to see 
 you all in good health and spirits some time in April, 1767. 
 
 " I have been seven hundred miles up the country, and have 
 been very conversant with his Majesty, the Great Mogul. He 
 has made me one of the first omrahs, or nobles, of his empire. 
 I have concluded a peace for the Company, which I hope will 
 last, and obtained from the King a grant of a revenue of 
 2,000,OOOZ. sterling per annum for them for ever ; and, what is 
 more, I have put them on a way of securing this immense 
 revenue, in such a manner that it is almost impossible to deprive 
 the Company of it, at least for some years to come. 
 
 " With regard to myself, I have not benefited or added to 
 my fortune one farthing, nor shall I ; though I might, by this 
 time, have received 500,000^. sterling. What trifling emolu- 
 ments I cannot avoid receiving shall be bestowed on Maskelyne, 
 Ingham, and Strachey, as a reward for their services and 
 constant attention upon my person. I am much obliged to the 
 Doctor for his care of my health : he is worth about 2000/. 
 already. This ship, sent express, will bring the Company the 
 most important news they ever received ; and, if they are not 
 
 * 24th September, 17G5.
 
 CHAP, xx.] CLIVE'S CORRESPONDENCE. 209 
 
 satisfied with mine and the Committee's conduct, I will pro- 
 nounce there is not one grain of honour or integrity remaining 
 in England. The reformation I am making, in both the civil 
 and military branches, will render the acquisition of fortunes not 
 so sudden or certain as formerly. This, added to the shortness 
 of my stay in India, induces me to think Captain Semphill had 
 better stay in England, where we may serve him by our interest 
 at home. Remember me in the most affectionate manner to my 
 mother. She has acted a great part in life. The uniformity of 
 her conduct with regard to her children must, at the same time 
 it affords her the most pleasing reflections, influence them to 
 entertain the highest respect and veneration for so deserving a 
 parent. I will most certainly write to her, and to my brothers 
 and sisters, who have my most affectionate wishes."
 
 210 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Commencement of Military Reform Alarm of Mutiny. 
 
 IN his struggle with the friends of corruption in civil life, Lord 
 Clive had triumphed. If some abuses still remained, they were 
 few in number and comparatively of slight importance, while the 
 storm of opposition with which he was assailed on his first arrival 
 nad died away. Indeed Clive took good care that the political 
 atmosphere immediately about himself should be cleared of the 
 worst elements with which it was charged. Messrs. Johnstone, 
 Leycester, Burdett, and others of less note were summarily dis- 
 missed the service and sent home. This left in Bengal, in the 
 regular line of succession, only very young men, on whom, 
 because of their inexperience, Lord Clive could repose little con- 
 fidence. He therefore applied for leave to bring round from 
 Madras and Bombay, to fill the vacant places, gentlemen accus- 
 tomed to business, and willing, as he hoped, to take their tone 
 in its management from himself. As was to be expected, a 
 rumour of his intentions in regard to this matter no sooner got 
 abroad than it united in a common feeling of hostility against 
 him almost all who saw in the proposed arrangement a serious 
 hindrance to their personal advancement. These junior malcon- 
 tents appear, however, to have learned wisdom from the fate of 
 their seniors. Whatever they might feel, they were careful not 
 to make any needless or premature display of indignation ; nor 
 was it until the results of his endeavours to carry the principle of 
 reform into the military establishment of the province became 
 apparent, that the existence of so strong a feeling among the 
 younger civil servants of the Company was suspected. How the 
 truth came to light, and in what manner Clive dealt with it, I 
 now proceed to relate. 
 
 The army of the East India Company had arrived at the state 
 in which Lord Clive now found it by a process which could 
 hardly fail of affecting injuriously the moral tone of its European
 
 CHAP, xxi.] A RETROSPECT. 211 
 
 members. Accidental in its origin, and forced on to maturity 
 against the will of the body which maintained it, there was per- 
 haps no armed force in the world of which the officers were more 
 completely thrown upon the resources of their own ingenuity in 
 order to maintain a respectable station in society. For more 
 than a century the military defence of the factories had been in- 
 trusted to persons armed, like the attendants of native magis- 
 trates and princes, with swords and shields and spears. By and 
 by the European merchants and their clerks enrolled themselves 
 into companies of militia ; and when this service proved too 
 severe, they hired runaway seamen from the fleets of all nations, 
 and employed them sometimes as soldiers, and sometimes as 
 labourers in their warehouses, according as the exigences of the 
 moment might seem to require. Of these people, when under 
 arms, one or more of the Company's factors took the command, 
 for which a slight addition to his regular salary was made, with- 
 out, however, any restrictions being imposed upon his privileges 
 of private trade, or any exemption afforded from attendance in 
 the Company's counting-house. 
 
 In proportion as the current of events swept the Company 
 more and more within the influence of Indian politics, the repre- 
 sentatives of that body were compelled to increase their military 
 force. More deserters were taken into pay ; and when this 
 source of recruiting was found to be insufficient, crimps were 
 employed to pick up the scum of London in the streets, and to 
 send out the sweepings of jails and workhouses to swell the ranks 
 of the Indian army. Sucli an influx of ragamuffins into their 
 settlements abroad compelled the Court of Directors to set up a 
 corps of military officers as a body distinct from their civil ser- 
 vants. But the gentlemen of Leadenhall-street could not as yet 
 cease to regard themselves as traders, and nothing more. They 
 therefore paid their military officers on a scale proportionate to 
 that which had been framed for the remuneration of their civil 
 servants ; and being aware that it was inadequate, they applied 
 the same remedy to the evil in one case which had served to 
 counteract, if not to remove it, in the other. Military officers, 
 like senior and junior merchants, were permitted to improve their 
 fortunes by trading on their own account. 
 
 As long as the settlements enjoyed peace, this system worked 
 
 p 2
 
 212 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 well enough for individuals. The officer, when not required on 
 parade (and parades were few, and barrack duty marvellously 
 light), worked like any other clerk at his books, or amused him- 
 self with cards, horse-racing, cock-fighting, or any other of the 
 sports which were then in fashion. But these sources of emolu- 
 ment and recreation alike failed him when the army took the 
 field. It was necessary, likewise, in order to ensure his effi- 
 ciency, that he should go forth provided with tents, canteens, 
 baggage-animals of every sort, and horses ; and with most of 
 these lie could not, while doing garrison duty, be expected to 
 encumber himself. Accordingly he sought and obtained an 
 allowance which, under the head of batta, was supposed to be 
 sufficient to reimburse the first cost of the necessary articles, and 
 to keep them up, as well as to remunerate the native servants 
 who looked after them, and to put a little extra pay in the offi- 
 cer's pocket during the whole season of his absence from the 
 capital or presidency. Prize-money likewise was conceded to 
 him ; nor were any objections made to his acceptance of such 
 presents as might be offered by native chiefs. And if he con- 
 trived all the while to keep his commercial dealings in activity, 
 the government not only did nothing to interrupt the process, 
 but gave him credit for more than an average share of talent, 
 and rejoiced in the success which attended its exercise. 
 
 It was the obvious consequence of such a system to dull the 
 edge of chivalrous honour among the gentlemen brought up 
 in the military service of the Company. Soldiers, like other 
 men, must have enough whereon to live ; but the commercial 
 and the military spirit seldom go long together; and the 
 temptations to indulge the one at the expense of the other 
 became at last, especially in the Bengal army, so great, " that 
 flesh and blood," to use one of Lord Olive's expressions, 
 " could not stand it." Moreover, the occurrences of every new 
 day gave to this sordid principle a stronger impulse. When 
 Clive entered into the conspiracy to dethrone Suraj-u-DowIah, 
 and Meer Jaffier, the better to encourage the English army to be 
 hearty in his cause, promised, out of his own resources, to double 
 the batta, or field-allowance granted by the Company, no one 
 considered it necessary to decline the offer ; and, from a prece- 
 dent of this sort, once set, he would have been a bold Nabob
 
 CHAP, xxi.] A RETEOSPECT. 213 
 
 who should have ventured to recede. The consequence was, 
 that from the commencement of the march, which ended in the 
 battle of Flassey down to the date of Olive's return to Calcutta 
 as Governor and President of a Select Committee, double batta 
 had been regularly received by the Bengal army. It is true 
 that the Court of Directors more than once protested against the 
 arrangement. So long, indeed, as the payments came out of the 
 pockets of the Nabob they held their peace. He was pledged to 
 defray the costs of the military force which kept him on the 
 throne ; and if he chose to go to unnecessary expense in doing 
 so, the loss was his they had nothing whatever to say about it. 
 But as soon as an arrangement was made for transferring the 
 payment of the troops to the Company, the Directors denounced 
 the double batta system as iniquitous. They gave repeated 
 orders to the local government that the abuse should cease ; and 
 more than one feeble, and therefore vain, attempt was made to 
 carry them into execution. 
 
 The Court's letter which required an engagement from their 
 civil servants to accept no more presents, and to put the trade of 
 private persons on a reasonable footing, had especially enjoined a 
 cessation in the issue of double batta to the troops. The dis- 
 tricts which Cossim Ali had made over being accepted in lieu of 
 all pecuniary contributions to the army, it became a point of 
 importance with the Company to maintain the latter body on a 
 scale as economical as should be consistent with its efficiency ; 
 and as double batta was confessedly an arrangement between 
 the Nabob and the English officers, the Court of Directors de- 
 cided that there was no obligation on their part to continue the 
 practice. The project of reduction was not, however, taken up 
 with any degree of spirit at Calcutta ; indeed Mr. Vansittart had 
 been early given to understand that any attempt on his part 
 to diminish the customary emoluments of the military classes 
 would lead to consequences more serious than either he or the 
 Directors' counted upon. Accordingly, Mr. Yansittart, and the 
 government which succeeded his, both gave way, and double 
 batta continued to be issued to men who, feeling their power, 
 had in more ways than one begun to abuse it. But Clive was 
 made of different materials. He had warned the army at the 
 outset that the indulgence which Meer Jaffier granted to them
 
 214 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 could not be enjoyed for ever. He had more than once reverted 
 to the subject during his first administration of the affairs of 
 Bengal, and abstained from advising the Nabob to stay his 
 bounty only because he was unwilling to interfere with arrange- 
 ments which, while they benefited his brother officers, did no 
 injury to the masters whom they served. He had now, however, 
 a specific duty to perform, and he set himself about it. Having 
 redressed the grievances of which the Court complained in the 
 civil branches of the service, he applied himself next to the cor- 
 rection of military abuses, of which one of the most striking had 
 indeed been remedied by the same process which took away from 
 members of council their right of private trade, and divided 
 among them the profits of the salt monopoly. 
 
 I have adverted elsewhere to a proposal made by Lord Clive 
 while in England to alter and improve the organization of the 
 troops which the Company kept on foot for the defence of its 
 territories in Bengal. It had already to a certain extent been 
 acted upon ; so that the Bengal army was now told off into regi- 
 ments of European and native infantry, and had its artillery and 
 cavalry the latter as yet being an inconsiderable force distri- 
 buted into batteries, or, as they were then called, companies of 
 guns, and squadrons of horse. The whole were, besides, told off 
 in three brigades ; of which the first, under Colonel Sir Robert 
 Fletcher, occupied quarters at Monghir ; the third, under Sir 
 Robert Barker, was cantoned at Bankepore ; while the second, 
 of which Colonel Smith was at the head, lay, in compliance with 
 the united request of the Emperor and the King of Oude, in 
 observation of the Mahrattas at Allahabad. 
 
 Such a convenient distribution of the military force of the 
 province concurred with the ratification of a treaty of general 
 peace in affording to Lord Clive as good an opportunity as he 
 could have desired of entering upon the course of military reform 
 which he had made up his mind to pursue. An order accordingly 
 appeared towards the end of September, 1765, which warned the 
 troops that from the 1st of January, 1766, the right of European 
 officers to draw double batta should cease. Forasmuch, how- 
 ever, as the distance from Calcutta to Allahabad was great, and 
 that the officers attached to the brigade doing duty at the latter 
 station were put to heavy charges, the Governor and Council
 
 CHAP, xxi.] DISAFFECTION OF THE ARMY. 215 
 
 consented to their continuing to draw as heretofore so long as they 
 should remain in the field ; but it was provided at the same time 
 that whenever the regiments went into cantonments this privilege 
 should cease, and that the principle of economy which prevailed 
 elsewhere should come into operation at Allahabad likewise. 
 Meanwhile the troops at Patna and Monghir were to receive 
 half-batta, subject to similar restrictions ; while those doing duty 
 at the presidency Vere put upon the same footing with the troops 
 on the Coromandel coast that is to say, they were to draw no 
 batta at all. 
 
 There is no order of persons with whom, under common cir- 
 cumstances, greater liberties may be taken by the governing power 
 than with soldiers. Where the spirit of discipline has been well 
 preserved, soldiers obey, through the force of custom, commands 
 which they feel to be unjust ; and submit to wrongs, grumbling 
 perhaps all the while, yet never dreaming that to go beyond a 
 little idle complaint is possible. But the army of Bengal was not 
 at this time in a state of high discipline. Indulged and pampered 
 by the native princes, the officers had learned to regard them- 
 selves, rather than the civil power, as supreme ; and were con- 
 firmed in this idea from finding that the Governor and Council 
 never ventured to enforce obedience to an order against which 
 they or their chiefs protested. A body of men, actuated by such 
 a spirit, and bearing the sword, formidable everywhere, and in 
 India resistless, might have been regarded as not exactly the 
 class of persons on whose forbearance it would be safe to make a 
 rash experiment. Nevertheless Clive, partly perhaps because he 
 scarcely counted on resistance, partly because it was not in his 
 nature to shrink from a contest in whatever source originating, 
 or by whatever adversary offered, published his decree with- 
 out so much as inquiring how it was likely to be received. It 
 was greeted in every military station throughout the provinces 
 with a howl of condemnation. Remonstrances poured in, as 
 heretofore, to which officers of every rank in the service affixed 
 their names ; and the more sanguine flattered themselves that a 
 similar result would attend the present movement which had fol- 
 lowed upon others of the same sort. The more thoughtful knew 
 better ; and Olive's answer to the protest neither surprised nor dis- 
 appointed them. The officers of the army were informed that the
 
 216 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. X.M. 
 
 Governor and Select Committee had special instructions from the 
 Court of Directors to act as they were doing ; and that, not 
 being able to find any loop-hole through which to escape from 
 paying obedience to their superiors, they had only to express a 
 hope that the remonstrants would follow the example which they 
 set. The remonstrants did not act on this wise suggestion. But 
 perceiving that the parties witli whom they had to deal were made 
 of less flexible stuff than the governments which they had been ac- 
 customed heretofore to overawe at their pleasure, they entered into 
 a regular conspiracy to compel a compliance with their wishes. 
 
 Their plan, which seems to have been formed originally at 
 Monghir, and diffused from that station over the rest of the can- 
 tonments, amounted simply to this : that on a given day they 
 should all resign their commissions, and steadily refuse to serve 
 any more unless the old allowance of double batta were restored. 
 At first it would appear that the officers of the second brigade, 
 which held, as it were, the outposts at Allahabad, refused to 
 become parties to the conspiracy. They considered themselves, 
 as they stated, in the enemy's presence, and could not, therefore, 
 without sacrificing their personal character, quit the service till 
 relieved. But the feeling of honour, if such it was, which 
 . swayed them, soon yielded to the remonstrances of their com- 
 rades. Hints were thrown out of men's usual indifference to the 
 wrongs of others so long as they themselves are not sufferers by 
 them ; and the gentlemen of the second brigade, rather than be 
 accounted guilty towards their comrades of treason, consented to 
 betray their country. It was accordingly arranged that on the 1st 
 of June the commissions of all should be given up simultaneously 
 to the commandants of their respective brigades, and that till the 
 fifteenth day of the same month the parties thus ceasing to be 
 officers should serve as volunteers. But this respite being granted 
 for the simple purpose of affording time for the Government to re- 
 lent, it was further resolved that beyond the 15th no inducement 
 short of an absolute concession of the point at issue should keep 
 them to their colours. Moreover, the conspirators bound them- 
 selves by oath to secrecy, and came under engagements, which 
 they ratified by a like pledge, to defend with their lives the lives 
 of any of the body who might be condemned to suffer death by 
 sentence of a court-martial. Nor was this all. In order to
 
 CHAP, xxi.] UNPLEASANT INTELLIGENCE. 217 
 
 escape the guilt of mutiny, they resolved to decline accepting 
 the advance of pay which it was the custom of the service to 
 make on the first day of every month. Finally, as if distrustful 
 of their own oaths, each man gave a bond of 500^. to another 
 that he would not take back his commission till the double batta 
 was granted ; while all entered into a subscription, in which 
 arrangement several civilians joined them, in order to provide a 
 fund out of which such as should be dismissed the service and 
 sent home might be provided for. 
 
 This frightful mutiny, to which, as it afterwards came out, 
 officers of high rank were privy, if they did not positively lend 
 themselves to promote it, was in full operation, when intelligence 
 arrived of the advance of 50,000 or 60,000 Mahrattas towards 
 Corah. The second brigade, being within 100 miles of the 
 point threatened, was ordered to hold itself in readiness for ser- 
 vice ; and Colonel Smith, with the sepoy battalions, encamped 
 as far in advance as Serajahpoor. But the European regiment 
 abode still in its quarters at Allahabad exposure to the intense 
 heat which prevails in that quarter of India in the spring of the 
 year being considered as too severe a risk to be incurred except 
 in case of emergency. 
 
 Such was the state of the army of Bengal in the month of 
 March, 1766. Neither Lord Clive nor General Carnac seems to 
 have entertained the slightest suspicion of the truth, when they set 
 out for Calcutta together in order to regulate, with Mr. Sykes, 
 the amount of revenue to be collected at Moorshedabad and Patna 
 for the ensuing year, and to receive from the King of Oude the 
 balance of the 50 lacs of rupees which, by the treaty of August, 
 1765, he had bound himself to pay. They had a further object 
 in view namely, to form alliances with the princes of the em- 
 pire against the Mahrattas, whose encroachments threatened evil 
 consequences to all ; and they were all, but especially Clive, who 
 rejoiced in the apparent success of his policy both foreign and 
 domestic, in the highest possible spirits. They reached Moorshe- 
 dabad in April, and had not been there three weeks ere a 
 despatch arrived from Calcutta which troubled them. It con- 
 tained a remonstrance from the third brigade, signed by 9 cap- 
 tains, 12 lieutenants, and 20 ensigns, against the reduction of 
 batta, to which, as Mr. Verelst and the Council reported, they
 
 218 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 did not feel themselves competent, without communication 
 with the Governor, to give any reply. Lord Clive, conceiving 
 that this was a mere repetition of the device which had been 
 concerted some months previously without leading to any 
 serious results, directed that the remonstrance should be sent to 
 Sir R. Barker, by whom the brigade was commanded, and that 
 the gentlemen from whom it came should be informed that the 
 Supreme Council could not take notice of any petition or appeal 
 from officers unless it came to them through the regular channel. 
 At the same time, in order that every possible contingency might 
 be provided against, he communicated his views in detail to the 
 Committee. They were in substance the same with those on 
 which he had acted when the first remonstrance reached him ; 
 and he recommended, in the event of a duplicate document being 
 sent in, through the brigadier, that it should be answered in a 
 like spirit. 
 
 Clive's letter was written on the 22nd of April. On the 28th 
 he received a despatch from Sir Robert Fletcher, dated from 
 Monghir on the 25th, which appears to have awakened the ear- 
 liest suspicion in his mind that the spirit of the army was not 
 good. Indeed, I use an inadequate phrase when I thus express 
 myself. Sir Robert Fletcher's communication stated plainly that 
 the officers, not of his brigade only, but of the whole army, 
 seemed determined to make another attempt for the recovery of 
 the batta ; and that, though they proposed to serve throughout 
 the month of May as volunteers, he had reason to suspect that 
 most of them had bound themselves to one another to send in 
 their commissions to their respective commandants. In corrobo- 
 ration of these statements, Sir Robert begged to enclose copies of 
 a correspondence which had passed between himself and Sir R. 
 Barker, commanding the third brigade. It related to a quarrel 
 among some officers belonging to the latter corps, and to the 
 proceedings of a court of inquiry which had sat to investigate the 
 causes of the difference. Some startling revelations appear to 
 have been made in the course of these proceedings ; but Sir 
 Robert Fletcher affected to treat the whole matter lightly. In 
 his reply to Sir R. Barker, which bore date April 24th, he ob- 
 serves, " that though he had heard for some days that the 
 officers had thoughts of resuming their demands, he could not
 
 CHAP, xxi.] DUPLICITY OF SIR R. FLETCHER. 219 
 
 think it deserved much notice ; and, even if the contrary were 
 the case, he did not see that any great harm would arise. The 
 only result," he continues, " of their proffered resignations will 
 be, that Lord Clive, who is not likely to change a resolution once 
 formed, will find a convenient opportunity of picking out the 
 best officers and getting rid of the bad ones."
 
 220 LIFE OP LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Progress and suppression of the Mutiny Letters to various Correspondents. 
 
 I HAVE dwelt at some length on the dawn of this remarkable 
 military revolt, partly because, without tracing the progress of 
 the evil from stage to stage, it is impossible to do justice to the 
 individual who quelled it, partly because the full magnitude of 
 the danger will not be understood unless by him who observes 
 to what extent and into what quarters the spirit of disaffection had 
 spread. Here, for example, was Sir Robert Fletcher, an officer 
 of high rank and established reputation, who, on account of 
 former services, had been transferred from Madras to Bengal, 
 and promoted there over the heads of many of his seniors, writing 
 from the brigade of which he was in command, as if, on the 25th 
 of April, he had only for the first time begun to suspect that all 
 was not as it ought to be, yet professing to hold that the evil was 
 of so trifling a nature as to justify him in treating the discontent 
 of his subordinates as a mere matter of raillery. Now, as the 
 progress of my narrative will show, Sir Robert Fletcher had not 
 only been conversant with the plans of the disaffected from the 
 beginning, but lie was brought to trial on the charge of encou- 
 raging, if he did not positively suggest them ; and, being found 
 guilty, was dismissed the service. Again, Sir Robert Barker, 
 though exposed to no suspicion of this sort, seems to have been 
 kept so completely in the dark, that of a conspiracy begun in 
 December, 1765, he never heard till towards the end of April, 
 1766 ; indeed, his correspondence shows that he might have 
 remained ignorant of the affair till it exploded, but that the con- 
 spirators began to quarrel among themselves, and let out by 
 accident that which it was their business to conceal. Nor is this 
 all. It was this quarrel, and nothing else, which, forcing on a 
 premature disclosure of their plot, not only put the supreme 
 government upon its guard, but afforded time to mature plans
 
 CHAP, xxn.] PEOGRESS OF THE MUTINY. 221 
 
 for counterworking the designs of the mutineers. The scheme, 
 as concocted in the latter days of the past year, had reference to 
 an expected commencement of hostilities, and took into view the 
 straits to which it was probable that, at such a moment, the 
 Government would be reduced. Men calculated that the Mah- 
 rattas would be fairly in the field about the beginning of June ; 
 and on the 1st of June the commissions of the whole body of 
 European officers were to be thrown up. What could the Go- 
 vernment do under such circumstances except yield the point at 
 issue? But the disclosures effected in the course of the proceed- 
 ings at Bankepore deranged the whole scheme ; and now, dis- 
 trusting one another almost as much as they feared the vigorous 
 interposition of Government, the conspirators resolved that they 
 should strike their blow on the 1st of May. That their confidence 
 as to the result had not, however, abated, was proved by the 
 delivery about this time to Captain Carnac (an officer on Lord 
 Clive's staff) of a letter signed " Full Batta," and dated the 15th 
 of April, in which Captain Carnac was informed of the design in 
 progress, and requested not only to send his own commission to 
 a friend, but to add his name to the list of those who were pledged 
 to provide for the martyrs in the cause. Captain Carnac, as in 
 duty bound, put the letter into Lord Clive's hand. The latter 
 read it, and saw at a glance how the land lay. He was by no 
 means insensible to the danger which threatened ; he was alive 
 to the inconvenience not to call it by a stronger term which 
 must fall upon every branch of the public service ; but he 
 does not seem to have wavered respecting the course which it 
 behoved him to follow. He wrote immediately to the Council 
 at Calcutta, despatching his letter by express ; and having in- 
 formed his colleagues of all that had come to his knowledge, he 
 desired that they would lose no time in sending to Madras and 
 Bombay for as many officers, cadets, and volunteers as could be 
 spared. " Such a spirit as this which pervades the Bengal 
 army," he says, " must be suppressed at all hazards, unless we 
 determine on seeing the government of these provinces pass 
 from the civil into the hands of the military departments." 
 Wherefore it was his deliberate opinion that not one of the 130 
 individuals, of whose intention to resign he had been made aware, 
 ought, in the event of carrying their resolution into effect, to be
 
 222 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 re-admitted, under any pretence, into the Company's service. 
 Meanwhile they must fight the Mahrattas, if to fight they were 
 compelled, with such means as were at their disposal ; and, the 
 better to enable them to do so, both the Madras and Bombay 
 authorities were urged to use all convenient despatch in sending 
 on the officers for whom application was about to be made. 
 
 Having despatched this letter, Lord Clive proceeded to com- 
 municate with Sir R. Fletcher and Sir R. Barker. To both he 
 sent copies of his note to the Supreme Council, and left them at 
 liberty, if they should deem the course expedient, to make the 
 substance of it known to the officers under their respective com- 
 mands. A lingering hope still, however, cheered him that things 
 might not be in so bad a state as common rumour represented. 
 Sir R. Barker had never made any direct complaint to himself; 
 from Colonel Smith at Allahabad no communications whatever 
 were received. Possibly the contagion might not have spread 
 beyond the circle, wide enough in all conscience, which was known 
 to be infected. But this delusion, if such it may be called, soon 
 gave way to more stern realities. Scarcely were his despatches 
 to the two brigadiers sent off when a letter from Sir Robert 
 Barker informed him that the whole of his command was in a 
 state of dissolution ; that the officers had warned him of their 
 determination to resign on the 1st of May ; and that he enter- 
 tained serious apprehensions of a mutiny among the men. It 
 appeared, also, that the spirit of disaffection had spread to the 
 civil servants of the Company, among whom a subscription had 
 been got up, to the extent of 16,000/., in order to supply the 
 mutineers with funds, and protect them against the probable con- 
 sequences of their misconduct. It was impossible, amid such a 
 complication of difficulties, to doubt that the whole army was 
 animated by the same bad spirit, and Clive took his measures 
 accordingly. 
 
 It was necessary, in order to save the arms of England from 
 defeat, and the newly-acquired provinces from destruction, that 
 the brigade in advance in other words, the troops stationed at 
 Allahabad and Serajapoor, should be kept faithful to their colours. 
 Clive therefore sent instructions to Colonel Smith to be much upon 
 his guard ; to yield nothing, to promise nothing, except in the last 
 extremity ; to put down the mutiny, should it break out in his
 
 CHAP, xxii.] OFFICERS PUT IN ARREST. 223 
 
 corps, with a strong hand, if possible ; and to come to no terms 
 with the mutineers unless the troops could not be brought by 
 any other means into the field. At the same time he hurried 
 forward to Monghir as many officers as could be collected from 
 Calcutta and elsewhere, and directed them to use their best en- 
 deavours, by argument, by persuasion, by the threat of his speedy 
 arrival, to bring back the malcontents to a sense of duty. To Sir 
 Robert Barker, however, and Colonel Smith, in both of whom 
 he appears to have reposed great confidence, he transmitted only 
 general recommendations that they should break the refractory 
 spirit of their mutineers, let the consequences be what they 
 might. Neither Sir Robert Barker nor Colonel Smith failed 
 him at the pinch. The former put in arrest and sent down to 
 Calcutta the field-adjutant or brigade-major of his own brigade, 
 for presuming on the 1st of May to enclose to him the commis- 
 sions of a large number of officers. To the officers themselves 
 he sent back their commissions, it is true, but he accompanied 
 the gift with a threat that, if they did not immediately return to 
 their duty, the extreme rigour of military law would be enforced 
 against them ; and such was the influence of his well-known cha- 
 racter, that, with only three exceptions, the whole of the recu- 
 sants resumed their places in the ranks. In like manner Colonel 
 Smith justified, by the energy which marked his proceedings, the 
 good opinion entertained of him by his chief. By accepting the 
 resignations of some, and refusing to communicate upon the 
 subject with others, he managed to keep a sufficient number of 
 European officers with his sepoy battalions to ensure their 
 efficiency, and forthwith sent one of these back to the support of 
 the commandant at Allahabad, where the European regiment 
 threatened to break into mutiny. The sepoys, marching a hun- 
 dred miles in fifty hours, reached the cantonments in good time ; 
 whereupon the mutineers returned to their barracks, and the 
 officers were almost all put in arrest. 
 
 Meanwhile Lord Clive proceeded in person to Monghir, where 
 the danger was far more imminent than at either of the other sta- 
 tions. He reached the cantonments on the loth of May, and was 
 astounded at the tidings which immediately greeted him. The 
 officers whom he had sent forward from Calcutta and Moorshe- 
 dabad had not, it appeared, been idle. They pointed out to their
 
 224 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxu. 
 
 comrades the folly as well as the moral guilt of their proceeding, 
 and reproached them with acting ungratefully to the Governor, 
 who, instead of appropriating to his own use the legacy left to 
 him in the will of Meer Jaftier, had set aside the whole, amount- 
 ing to not less than 70,000/. sterling, to form a fund out of 
 which pensions to invalids and to the widows of officers and sol- 
 diers dying in the service might accrue. The malcontents de- 
 clared that they had never till that moment heard of Lord Olive's 
 generosity to the service ; and when reminded that the circum- 
 stance could not but be well known to their brigadier, they 
 replied that, whether well known to him or not, the brigadier 
 had taken care not to make any of their body cognizant of the 
 fact. Indeed they went further ; for in direct terms some of 
 them charged Sir Robert Fletcher with giving encouragement to 
 proceedings from which it was now impossible for them to with- 
 draw. Moreover, Lord Clive learned that so recently as the 
 13th there had been a movement among the European soldiers 
 to support their officers by force, and that they had been diverted 
 from their purpose only by a distribution of money, and the 
 assurance which Sir R. Fletcher gave them, that he was not, as 
 they had been led to believe, about to put himself at their head. 
 These statements were made to Lord Clive immediately on 
 his arrival at Monghir ; and Sir R. Fletcher, being sent for, cor- 
 roborated them in the main ; but he made, during the interview, 
 an admission which sank deep into Olive's mind, though with 
 great self-command he affected at the moment not to notice it. 
 Sir Robert, it came out, had been cognizant of the designs of his 
 officers ever since the month of January. He had sent in no 
 report upon the subject, nor taken any steps to break up the con- 
 spiracy, because, as he said, it was desirable that nothing should 
 be done at Bankepore of which he should not possess full know- 
 ledge ; and he had good ground to believe that premature inter- 
 ference, instead of checking the sedition, would only render the 
 leaders more cautious and their followers more determined. 
 Clive heard, but made no reply to this explanation. He con- 
 tented himself with ordering the brigade under arms, and ex- 
 plaining to them the nature of the offence of which too many 
 officers had been guilty, and its inevitable consequences, had the 
 conspiracy succeeded, to all classes in the army. This done, he
 
 CHAP, xxii.] HIS DISTRUST AND ANXIETY. 225 
 
 sent down the chief culprits under guard to Calcutta; and, 
 having delayed a day or two to satisfy himself that tranquillity 
 was restored, he pursued his journey to Bankepore. 
 
 It would overload these pages were I to describe in detail the 
 measures adopted by Lord Clive at each of the great military 
 stations during this alarming mutiny. They were marked in every 
 instance with the decision and good sense which formed prominent 
 features in his character, and the most perfect success attended 
 them ; yet it must not be supposed that a task so Herculean was 
 accomplished without a great deal of mental anxiety and bodily 
 fatigue. Indeed the whole period of Olive's second administra- 
 tion of the affairs of Bengal may be described as little else than 
 a protracted intellectual fever. " Do you think," he asks in a 
 letter to the Governor of Madras, " that history can furnish an- 
 other instance of a man, with 40,0001. per annum, a wife and 
 family, a father and mother, brothers and sisters, cousins and 
 relations in abundance, abandoning his native country, and all 
 the blessings of life, to take charge of a government so corrupt, 
 so headstrong, so lost to all sense of principle and honour as 
 this ?" It was a natural question for one to put who found in- 
 subordination and misrule everywhere a civil service corrupt 
 and mercenary to the greatest extent an army insubordinate, 
 disorganised, and liable at any moment to be swayed by the 
 caprice or ill-humour of its officers into a state of revolt. Nor 
 was there one among the public men with whom he co-operated 
 but in some way or another ruffled his temper by outraging his 
 sense of right. I have taken occasion to point out the degree to 
 which Mr. Sumner disappointed Lord Olive's expectations when 
 acting as President of the committee during his lordship's tem- 
 porary absence from Calcutta. I have shown that General 
 Carnac himself was the cause to him of uneasiness on more than 
 one occasion. And with respect to the others the whole of 
 the heads of departments, including Brigadiers Fletcher, Barker, 
 and Smith, incurred in one shape or another his displeasure. 
 They would seem, and especially Sir Robert Fletcher, to have 
 been but indifferent disciplinarians throughout. For example, 
 long before the combination to resist the reduction of batta was 
 entered into, the officers of the Bengal army took deep offence 
 at the introduction of a stranger into their body by a process of 
 
 Q
 
 226 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 purchase which raised him at once to the rank of captain. Clive 
 was no party to the arrangement ; indeed in his own breast, and 
 in private conversation, he severely condemned it ; but forasmuch 
 as it was the act of the President and Council, he would not 
 sanction anything like rebellion against it. Not so felt and 
 acted the captains and subalterns of the army, or the brigadiers. 
 The former threatened with one accord to resign the service if 
 the appointment were not cancelled ; the latter, including Ge- 
 neral Carnac himself, while they complained of the absence of 
 discipline among their inferiors, showed that they were them- 
 selves not more disposed to submit, without repining, to lawful 
 authority. How Lord Clive dealt with these gentlemen under 
 the very delicate circumstances in which their conduct more 
 than once placed him, will be best understood by inserting a few 
 extracts from his correspondence, which explain both his senti- 
 ments on the important subjects referred to, and his manner of 
 expressing them. Writing to General Carnac after the receipt 
 of a warm remonstrance addressed to the Council, he says: 
 
 " I am concerned at the warmth of your letter to the Board. 
 Although they have used both you and me extremely ill, and, as 
 individuals, deserved our utmost contempt, yet I think there is 
 some indulgence due to their stations. That they have acted 
 unjustly, as well as contrary to the known rules of the army, in 
 the case of Captain Macpherson, cannot be doubted ; yet I can- 
 not think the officers ought to carry matters so far as to insist 
 upon a Governor and Council retracting what they have done. 
 There must be an absolute power lodged somewhere, and that 
 certainly is in the hands of the Governor and Council, until the 
 pleasure of the Court of Directors be known. However, if the 
 account of Captain Macpherson is proved true, I will be answer- 
 able that he shall act as youngest of the corps he has been intro- 
 duced to. and take care that no such unjust proceedings shall be 
 countenanced in future. I hope this will prove satisfactory to 
 the officers, who, by their gallant behaviour, are entitled to every 
 mark of attention and distinction from the Company." 
 
 This kind and friendly remonstrance, on the part of Lord 
 Clive, had not the desired effect. On the contrary, it appears 
 from the following letter to his friend, General Lawrence, that 
 the anger of the officers was not to be allayed ; and that a spirit
 
 CHAP, xxii.] LETTER TO GENERAL LAWRENCE. 227 
 
 of insubordination had taken such deep root among them, that 
 nothing short of a mutiny successfully put down could have 
 power to overcome it. 
 
 " I should have clone myself the pleasure of writing to you 
 sooner, if I had not deferred it from day to day, in hopes of 
 being able to entertain you with some important news from 
 camp. There has, however, but one material circumstance hap- 
 pened, and that I am sure will astonish you. Some time ago, 
 the Governor in Council here permitted Captain Whichcot to 
 dispose of his commission to Captain Macpherson, and appointed 
 the latter to the same rank among the captains that "VVhichcot 
 held. Upon a representation of this grievance, Macpherson was 
 ordered to take rank as youngest captain ; but the military gen- 
 tlemen, still dissatisfied, thought fit to remonstrate against his 
 being appointed to any other than that of youngest ensign. Such 
 an unreasonable request could^ not be granted, and the con- 
 sequence of the refusal has been, it seems, a general association 
 among the officers, captains as well as subalterns ; the former 
 thinking it incumbent on them to support what they are pleased 
 to suppose the rights of the latter. The import of this associa- 
 tion is, that all the officers, captains, lieutenants, and ensigns are 
 to resign their commissions, unless Macpherson be degraded to 
 the lowest rank ! Civil departments, in every state, will now 
 and then entertain abuses, in spite of the most vigilant magis- 
 tracy ; but I appeal, my dear General, to your memory, whether, 
 in the long experience you have had in military affairs, a single 
 instance can be given of a corps of officers, in time of actual 
 service and an enemy in the field, uniting in a combination of 
 this nature. To me it appears so repugnant to every regulation 
 of discipline, so destructive of that subordination, without which 
 no army can exist, and above all, so disobedient to the Mutiny 
 Act and Articles of War, that I am determined to refuse them 
 the liberty of resigning (I mean those at least whose contract 
 with the Company is not expired), and break them, or perhaps 
 proceed to greater extremities by a general court-martial. The 
 expediency of my plan of regimenting the forces, and appointing 
 the proper proportion of field officers, appears now, I think, in a 
 stronger light than ever; and in consequence of this mutiny 
 (must I call it ?) I have already ordered all the corps which I
 
 228 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxii. 
 
 brought from Europe to march up to camp, whither I intend to 
 go myself, as soon as the interior policy of affairs will permit. 
 To say truth, every principle of government in this presidency 
 has within these fe\v months past been so debauched, that one 
 can hardly determine upon the branches which ought first to be 
 lopped. Pray tell Mr. Palk that I do not write to him by this 
 post because my politics are not yet ripe for communication, and 
 I consider this as a letter to you both." 
 
 Some time before this combination of officers took place, 
 several efforts were made by Clive to enforce the principles of 
 subordination, which, we find from his private letters, had been 
 greatly relaxed in all ranks. He appears to have grounded his 
 chief hopes of restoring and maintaining discipline on his plan, 
 elsewhere referred to, of giving shape to the army, by forming 
 it into corps and brigades, and placing it under officers of rank 
 and reputation ; but his difficulty was to keep those in order who 
 had been selected to command others. This is strongly evinced 
 in a letter to Sir R. Fletcher, who, while he recommended the 
 introduction of better discipline, objected to serve under Sir tl. 
 Barker. 
 
 "I have received your letter," Lord CHve observes, "and 
 agree entirely with you in the necessity of introducing discipline 
 and subordination among the officers and soldiers in the service 
 of the Company, although I see no such difficulty in bringing 
 this about, since those who decline complying with the regula- 
 tions which are to be made will most certainly be dismissed the 
 service. 
 
 " I must confess it gives me much concern, that you, who 
 preach up the necessity of discipline and reformation, should be 
 the first to act in contradiction to your own declared sentiments, 
 by declining to serve under Sir R. Barker ; but what surprises 
 me still more is, that you, who have been removed from one 
 settlement to another, and have actually superseded numbers, 
 should object to serve under an officer, who was a captain when 
 you were only an ensign or A r olunteer on the same establishment. 
 Without disparagement to your merit, which I shall always be 
 ready to acknowledge, it is not in the eyes of the world equal to 
 that of Sir R. Barker, who has had more time and more oppor- 
 tunities than you possibly could of distinguishing himself You
 
 CHAP, xxii.] SIR R. FLETCHER. 229 
 
 think he should have remained in the artillery. That would not 
 have hindered him from commanding you upon all occasions 
 when you were both upon service together. Indeed his rank is 
 so high, that he must always command wherever he is, if Carnac 
 or Smith be not present, which may seldom happen ; except, 
 indeed, by being an artillery officer, he should be thought im- 
 proper to command the whole ; and by that means an officer of 
 his rank and merit would be deprived of an opportunity of acting 
 in the field at all. In short, every one who knows Sir R. 
 Barker esteems him equal to any command, both military and 
 artillery; and as a proof of what I affirm, General Lawrence, 
 Mr. Palk, and the Nabob* pressed me, in the strongest terms, 
 to have Sir R. Barker ; promising that he should have both rank 
 and command next to Colonel Campbell. 
 
 " I am persuaded that when you reflect upon the merits and 
 pretensions which Sir Robert Barker has to the Company's 
 favour, you will not hesitate a moment to give up the point. If 
 you consider that Mr. Sulivan alone sent you out, in that dis- 
 tinguished station which you now possess, and that his interest is 
 at best become a very precarious one, I am sure your own good 
 sense will prevail upon you not to oppose my appointment ; for I 
 must frankly tell you, that, though I am really inclined to do 
 you every service in my power, yet, in this instance, you must 
 not expect the same indulgence from me which you have received 
 from General Carnac." 
 
 In addition to these there are extant several letters from Lord 
 Clive to Colonel Smith and to Sir R. Barker on the same sub- 
 ject, of which two at least ought not to be omitted in any work 
 which professes to give a history of the life and services of the 
 writer. The former officer, who, after Carnac, stood highest in 
 Lord Clive's estimation in a military point of view, and in point 
 of seniority came next to Carnac in the service, had incurred the 
 personal displeasure of the Governor on a previous occasion, and 
 was treated in consequence with a degree of reserve which 
 greatly distressed him. Being desirous of coming to an explana- 
 tion, he availed himself of an official correspondence about the 
 re-organization of the army to say " It remains now in your 
 
 * Mahomed Ali, at Madras.
 
 230 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 breast whether my communications with your lordship in future 
 shall be simply from the Colonel to the Commander-in-chief, or 
 whether I shall go beyond that line, and offer my sentiments on 
 such matters regarding the public service as from time to time 
 may occur." Clive took for a while no notice of this appeal, 
 whereupon it was repeated ; and then, and only then, he spoke 
 out, as the following sentences show : 
 
 " I had resolved," he observes, " to give you an answer to 
 your letter of the 31st of August last ; but, when I considered 
 that the explanation required could neither afford you pleasure 
 nor be of any service to the Company in your present situation, 
 I determined to remain silent upon so disagreeable a subject. 
 But as you have called upon me a second time, I will answer 
 you with a frankness free from all disguise. 
 
 " Your behaviour towards Colonel Peach at the Cape, in re- 
 primanding him for not paying his respects to me through you, 
 was, in my opinion, assuming an authority which did not belong 
 to you; and tended to the lessening of mine. Lieutenant Wen- 
 thorp, after he had obtained my consent for returning to India, 
 because he did not apply to you first, was discouraged in such a 
 manner, that he chose rather to forego all the advantages he 
 might obtain from my promises, than risk the consequences of 
 your displeasure. Such an authority assumed, and resentment 
 expressed, could not but give me great offence. The warmth 
 shown and dissatisfaction expressed (because you were not looked 
 upon as one of the Committee, and allowed to sign the letter of 
 instructions to Captain Abercrombie) by immediately connect- 
 ing yourself with a person whom you had been but very little 
 connected with before, and who had often declared, in the pre- 
 sence of many witnesses, that he would never be connected with 
 you ; the continuance of that very extraordinary connexion the 
 rest of the voyage ; convinced me at once, I could not be on a 
 footing of intimacy, without subjecting myself to inconveniences 
 which a spirit like mine could never brook. These, Sir, among 
 many other reasons, have occasioned my acting with reserve 
 towards you. Indeed, in the whole course of so long a voyage, 
 I could observe a mind too actuated by ambition, such a ten- 
 dency in Colonel Smith, to govern and command those who 
 ought to govern and command him, that I could not be unre-
 
 CHAP, xxii.] SIR R. BARKER. 231 
 
 served without giving up that authority which I am determined 
 ever to support ; and although I do, and always have allowed 
 you many virtues, so long as you continue to give so much 
 general offence by that kind of behaviour, so long will you be 
 exposed to mortification and disappointments." 
 
 My next extract shall be from a letter to Sir Robert Barker, 
 which that officer elicited by applying to be made a member of 
 the committee of civil government at Patna, not as an indivi- 
 dual, but as the officer commanding the troops stationed in 
 Bahar. Sir Robert Barker, be it observed, was personally an 
 object of great regard to Lord Clive, and this the letter 
 shows : 
 
 " I must confess," he observes, _'" the receipt of your letter of 
 the 2nd of February has given me infinite concern, because I feel 
 for you as I should for myself, and there is no officer in this part 
 of the world for whom I entertain so strong and true regard, or 
 whom I am so very desirous of serving. I am sure, if it de- 
 pended upon me, you should, upon Carnac's departure, succeed 
 to his rank and station ; so well acquainted am I with your 
 merits as a soldier, your moderation and temper as a man. 
 Your being hurt, therefore, at not having an appointment which 
 is not in my power to obtain for you, cannot but hurt me. I 
 am convinced that, great as my interest is, were I to propose 
 your being joined with Mr. Middleton in directing the collection 
 of the revenues of the Bahar province, I could not carry that 
 point. Consider, Barker, how very separate and distinct the 
 services are ; consider how very jealous the Directors are of 
 military men, and how very attentive they will be to every 
 action of mine, whom they look upon in a military more than in 
 a civil light. Recollect that they would not even allow Coote 
 to have a seat at the Board to give his advice, except upon mili- 
 tary matters only. I say further, that were I to take such an 
 unprecedented step, I doubt whether it would not add such 
 weight of argument to those counsellors and malcontents, who 
 are gone home with a full design to exclaim against arbitrary 
 and military power, that the Company might be induced to dis- 
 approve of everything I have done for them, from an apprehen- 
 sion that I meant to accomplish every measure, by the subversion 
 of civil liberty. Persuaded I am, that the joining with Middle.
 
 232 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 ton a man of your steadiness, moderation, and discretion, would 
 be of singular advantage to the Company: notwithstanding 
 which, I dare not attempt to do it. 
 
 " But, let us suppose for a moment that I could gratify you 
 in this request, what would be the consequence ? "Would not 
 every officer commanding a brigade insist upon the like 'privi- 
 lege ? What use do you imagine the man of Allahabad would 
 make of such a concession ? Indeed, Barker, if such an appoint- 
 ment were to take place, the letters from this settlement would 
 occasion such an alarm in Leadenhall-street, that I verily believe 
 I should be turned off my government, and all the field-officers 
 ordered home in the first ship. Point out to me, my friend, any 
 method of extending your influence, without prejudice to the ser- 
 vice we both wish to promote, and no man shall be readier than 
 I to give the strongest proof of friendship and regard for you. 
 Middleton shall have orders to consult with you upon all occa- 
 sions where military duties are in agitation ; so shall Setabroy 
 and Durge Narain, and be ordered often to wait upon you." 
 
 I cannot better conclude the present chapter than by giving a 
 short extract from a letter addressed on the 1 1th of July, 1765, 
 to Mr. Verelst. It shows what Lord Olive's sentiments were in 
 regard to the tone of mind which is necessarily produced by long 
 habits of command, and deserves to be studied by all military 
 men, some of whom are supposed to be more jealous than is ne- 
 cessary of the subordination of the sword to the toga. 
 
 " I have at last received a letter from Carnac, a copy of 
 which has been sent you. However, his silence upon particular 
 subjects convinces me he has too much given way to the warmth 
 of his passions ; and much I fear he thinks too highly of the ser- 
 vices, dignity, and authority of the military. 
 
 " With regard to the first, although a soldier myself, I am of 
 opinion that we imbibe such arbitrary notions, by the absolute 
 power which we are obliged to exercise towards the officers and 
 soldiers, in order to keep up subordination and military disci- 
 pline, so essentially necessary for the good of the service, that 
 we shall always be endeavouring to encroach upon the civil 
 power, if they do not repeatedly make use of that authority with 
 which they are invested ; and I appeal to yourself, whether the 
 commanding officers, whoever they were, since my departure
 
 CHAP, xxir.] MR. VERELST. 233 
 
 from India, until my second arrival in this quarter, have not, by 
 their conduct, endeavoured to impress upon the minds of the 
 princes of the country, that the power was rather in the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the army than in the Governor and Council. 
 Indeed, a few months more of Mr. Spencer's government would 
 have made them lords paramount."
 
 234 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Trial of Sir Robert Fletcher Civil Servants implicated in the Conspiracy. 
 
 THE reader will collect from the preceding letters, much more 
 accurately than from any statement of mine, how just, upon the 
 whole, were Lord Olive's opinions on all points affecting the go- 
 vernment both of a nation and of an army. It is now my busi- 
 ness to explain how he followed up the judicious blows which 
 were struck at the advance posts, and with what perfect success 
 he accomplished his object of re-establishing, in every depart- 
 ment, the authority of discipline. 
 
 Though sincerely attached to the profession of which he was 
 a member, and anxious on all fitting occasions to temper justice 
 with mercy, Lord Clive knew that such a crisis as that which 
 had just been surmounted could be made to work out its proper 
 ends only by making such examples of the more prominent de- 
 linquents as should deter others in all time coming from being 
 drawn into a similar vortex. He therefore gave orders that the 
 whole of the captains, with the most conspicuously insubordinate 
 of the subalterns, should be brought to trial, and that those con- 
 victed should be sent as prisoners to Calcutta. From various 
 expressions in several of his letters, it appears that he had made 
 up his mind to shoot the ringleaders. But as some doubt existed 
 in the minds of the members of Council in regard to the power 
 of Courts-martial in India to condemn to death, he consented, 
 with some reluctance, to avoid that last extremity. In every 
 instance, however, where the charge of having taken an active 
 part in arranging the conspiracy was brought home to an officer, 
 he was cashiered with disgrace, and transported in the first ship 
 that sailed to England. Nor was justice appeased by dealing 
 thus with persons holding subordinate rank in the service. In 
 the course of the many investigations which took place, it came 
 to light that Sir Robert Fletcher was completely mixed up with
 
 CHAP, xxni.] SIR R. FLETCHER. 
 
 the whole series of in subordinate transactions. Olive's resolu- 
 tion was instantly taken ; and Fletcher, being put in arrest at the 
 head-quarters of his own command, a court was ordered to 
 assemble for his trial. It was to no purpose that the accused 
 pleaded his high rank, and demanded to be tried only by the 
 Governor and council. Clive would not listen to the appeal. 
 " Your repairing to Calcutta," he says, " in order to be tried by 
 the President and Council upon an accusation, your exculpation 
 from which depends mainly upon military law, is totally unpre- 
 cedented, and therefore improper for me to comply with. That 
 you may not, however, imagine that I intend to take any other 
 part upon this occasion than my public station requires, be 
 assured that the court-martial to be held upon your late conduct 
 will be assembled by an order from the board, and the sentence 
 confirmed or approved by them." 
 
 The court met ; and Sir Robert being found guilty, on the 
 clearest testimony, of wilfully concealing the treasonable designs 
 of others during a space of not less than four months, was sen- 
 tenced to be dismissed the service. Clive gave immediate orders 
 that the sentence which the Board confirmed should be carried 
 into effect. And here it may be worth noticing, that both the 
 individual then deprived of his commission, and the officer, him- 
 self implicated in the mutiny, whose evidence went farthest to 
 bring the charge home, attained, in after years, though by 
 widely different processes, to eminence in the world. Captain 
 Goddard, being reinstated in his rank, rose, under Warren Hast- 
 ings, to command a division of the army, with which he per- 
 formed one of the most brilliant exploits of which the annals of 
 Indian warfare make mention. Sir Robert Fletcher returned 
 to England, degraded and furious ; yet, having a powerful in- 
 terest at the India House, he soon managed to regain his position 
 in the service, and in due time appeared upon the stage as Com- 
 mander-in-chief at Madras. Whether or not the disposition to 
 rebel against established authorities was an instinct with him, I 
 cannot say ; but it is certain that he played successfully at the 
 latter station a game quite as serious as that in which he had 
 been interrupted at Bengal. He was the head of the party 
 which, in 1775, after a long contest with Lord Pigot, placed 
 him, though governor of the province, in arrest, and kept him a
 
 236 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxin. 
 
 prisoner at St. Thomas's both in defiance of the protest of the 
 admiral commanding on the station, and the known will of the 
 Court of Directors at home. 
 
 It is impossible to speak of Lord Olive's conduct throughout 
 the whole of these most difficult and complicated transactions in 
 terms of exaggerated praise. Calm, collected, resolute, yet 
 just, he faced every danger that presented itself, and met every 
 difficulty as it rose with a perfect self-possession which ensured 
 success. In dealing, likewise, with the guilty, his forbearance 
 won for him as much of admiration as his firmness. They who 
 had abused the influence which they derived from their rank and 
 experience to mislead others had no mercy shown ; the young, 
 the thoughtless, the repentant, were pardoned and restored to 
 the service. Moreover, there was manifest in his whole bearing 
 that forgetfulness of self which is the surest test of high prin- 
 ciple in the conduct of public men. Of disrespectful words 
 spoken about Lord Clive, when repeated to him, he took no 
 notice. It was the authority of the President and Council, and 
 of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, which he 
 desired to maintain ; and on one remarkable occasion he rebuked, 
 by inference, the parties who had endeavoured to mix up this 
 principle with considerations of a different kind. An officer a 
 Lieutenant Stainsforth was reported to him as having expressed 
 an intention to put his lordship to death rather than see the con- 
 spiracy broken up. Lord Clive refused to take any public 
 notice of the threat, and only once referred to it when, in his 
 address to the troops at Monghir, he spoke of the malcontents as 
 misguided English officers not as assassins. At the same time, 
 being aware of the publicity which the story had obtained, and 
 not being able to satisfy himself that some threat of the sort had 
 never been uttered, he did not consider that it would be becom- 
 ing to restore Mr. Stainsforth to the service. The letter from 
 his secretary, however, which conveyed this refusal, was couched 
 in delicate, almost in kind language ; and it does not appear that 
 either then or at any subsequent period, Mr. Stainsforth, or 
 indeed any others of those who had gone furthest to mark their 
 hostility to Lord Clive, were treated by him as objects of his re- 
 sentment. 
 
 It was not, however, exclusively by the vigour of his proceed-
 
 CHAP, xxiii.] LETTER TO SIR R. BARKER. 237 
 
 ings in putting down this mutiny that Lord Clive set an example 
 to his contemporaries of what the conduct of military men in 
 high command ought to be. Certain usages, of some standing, 
 which, while they bore heavily upon the resources of the private 
 soldiers, contributed to increase the emoluments of the higher 
 ranks of the army, came at this time to his knowledge. For 
 example, it was the practice of commandants of stations to levy 
 for their own use a trifling duty on every article of consumption 
 which was sold in the bazar. The impost appears to have been 
 recognized as a legal perquisite under the euphonious appellation 
 of Colonel or Colonel's Gunge ; and, when denounced by Clive, 
 there were not wanting those who threw in his teeth that he was 
 become zealous for the suppression, where others were affected 
 by them, of practices which in former days he had not scrupled 
 to follow for his own benefit. Among others, his friend Sir R. 
 Barker seems to have made an insinuation of this sort in a letter 
 which is partly taken up with explanations of the over-lenient 
 course adopted by the court-martial of which he was president 
 on the trial of a Lieutenant Vertue. Clive's answer to this com- 
 munication is too characteristic, as well as too valuable in itself, 
 to be omitted. It runs thus : 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 3rd of August, and re- 
 joice to find that you have recovered your former state of health. 
 Orders are sent to the commanding officers to appoint a greater 
 number of members than thirteen, which, I hope, will prevent 
 these delays in future. 
 
 " I am sorry you should think yourself obliged to defend your 
 own conduct, as well as that of the members of the general 
 court-martial appointed to sit upon the trial of Lieutenant Vertue. 
 When I suggested to you my opinion at Bankepore I addressed 
 myself to you alone, without mentioning the other members. 
 The liberty I then took very nearly regarded your honour and 
 reputation, as well as the welfare of the East India Company, in 
 which is included the welfare of the nation. 
 
 " I must call to your remembrance some particular expres- 
 sions I made use of that morning at breakfast, as others were 
 present, and can prove the truth of what I assert. I told you, 
 that, where conscience was in the case, exclusive of the sacred- 
 ness of an oath, the world should not bias me to swerve from my
 
 238 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 opinion ; but where that was not so, and I was convinced in my 
 own mind a man was guilty, neither apprehensions of law, or 
 any deficiency in forms, should influence me to act in favour of 
 those who were not deserving of it. I told you, at the same 
 time, all the general officers in Great Britain would canvass this 
 general court-martial, and that their attention would be more 
 particularly fixed upon you, the President. These were my 
 words, or words to that purpose ; this also is my opinion, which 
 I am not ashamed to declare to the whole world. If, therefore, 
 any busy, intermeddling person has represented to you my ex- 
 pressions in another light, he has represented a falsity. 
 
 "With regard to the bazar duties, you may be assured from 
 me, that, when I mentioned the circumstance of Sir Robert 
 Fletcher's conduct, I was an utter stranger to any duties what- 
 ever being collected by the commanding officers on the neces- 
 saries of life. I never received such myself, or knowingly 
 suffered others under me to receive them, either upon the coast 
 or at Bengal ; and had Colonel Smith, when he prided himself 
 upon never having received bazar duties, informed me that he 
 had allowed Colonel Peach to receive them, it would have been 
 more consistent with that sincerity which he has always pro- 
 fessed. 
 
 " No one has shown himself a greater friend to the field 
 officers than myself; yet they seem already to forget the great 
 advantages they enjoy. However, I must remark, that, to an 
 officer whose pay and emoluments amount to 12,0007. per annum, 
 the bazar duties can scarce be an object. 
 
 <( I am surprised to find myself accused of erecting Colonel 
 Gunge at Patna. To speak plainly, Barker, I never established 
 a Gunge in my life, and never will ; because I never approved 
 of receiving duties on the necessaries of life ; although I do not 
 think those officers much in fault who have done the same from 
 prescription only. Colonel Gunge was created by Colonel Cal- 
 liaud, and revived by Colonel Cook. The Committee have 
 forbid this custom in future. 
 
 " To conclude, the style and diction of this last letter is so 
 contrary to Sir Robert Barker's natural disposition, that I am 
 persuaded some evil-minded persons, who have their own in- 
 terests more than your reputation at heart, have been the occa-
 
 CHAP, jjxm.] HIS PRECAUTIONS. 239 
 
 sion, through misrepresentation. However, since my friendship 
 for you is mistrusted, and the regard and attention which I have 
 shown for your welfare, from the day of your embarkation to 
 this hour, forgotten, I can only lament your misfortune and 
 mine, that there should be men in the world who can make these 
 impressions. For my own part, I am almost weary of the burden. 
 I have found the pride, ambition, resentment, and self-interested- 
 ness of individuals so incompatible with the public good, that I 
 should have given up the contest long ago, if I had not set the 
 greatest value upon my own reputation, which is all I must ex- 
 pect to preserve upon my return to England, after so odious and 
 disagreeable an undertaking." 
 
 There are two more occurrences connected with the revolt 
 of the Bengal army which I feel that I should not be justi- 
 fied in passing over, though the notice taken of them will 
 necessarily be brief. When the malcontents discovered that 
 Lord Clive was neither to be cajoled nor threatened into conces- 
 sions, great fear fell upon them ; and in the height of their alarm 
 several pondered the wisdom of deserting, and taking refuge 
 either among the country powers, or in the French or Dutch 
 settlements on the Ganges. To prevent the execution of the 
 former of these plans, Clive caused the various roads out of the 
 cantonments to be patroled ; and put each officer, as he was 
 arrested, under a guard of sepoys. To obviate all chance of 
 carrying the latter into effect, he wrote to M. Law, now Go- 
 vernor of Chandernagore, and to M. Vernet, the chief of the 
 Dutch settlement at Chinchura, and begged that neither of them 
 would afford an asylum to men vyho had disgraced their country 
 by insubordination, and proposed to disgrace themselves by de- 
 serting their colours. There existed at this time an excellent 
 understanding between the representatives of the French and 
 Dutch East India Companies and the British Government at 
 Calcutta ; and as Clive lived personally in habits of familiar in- 
 tercourse with the two gentlemen just named, his request met 
 with a prompt and favourable reception. 
 
 Again, Lord Clive attributed, and with perfect justice, no 
 small measure of his success against the disaffected to the support 
 which was afforded him by the newly-created field-officers, whom, 
 in opposition to a strong party in the Court of Directors, he had
 
 240 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 succeeded in attaching to the several battalions of the Bengal 
 army. These gentlemen, it appears, were of the same way of 
 thinking, and as soon as order became thoroughly restored, they 
 sent in a memorial praying, as the reward of their services, to 
 be admitted to a share in the profits of the salt trade. Clive 
 pointed out the impropriety of this proceeding, and the memorial 
 was withdrawn. But he could not permit these gentlemen to 
 suppose that any ill feeling towards themselves personally had 
 dictated his opposition to their project. He therefore addressed 
 to them a complimentary letter, from which the following is an 
 extract : 
 
 " Colonel Smith has undoubtedly acquainted you that I de- 
 clined presenting your memorial to the Board previous to my 
 receipt of your application for withdrawing it; and I conclude 
 that the arguments I urged against the memorial, in my letter 
 to him, have convinced you of my wish to preserve the enjoy- 
 ment of the present emoluments of the field-officers upon this 
 establishment. The general good of the whole, added to the 
 consideration that every supernumerary Major will succeed, upon 
 vacancies, to a share in the salt trade, will, I hope, prevail upon 
 you to rest satisfied with the present distribution. 
 
 " I cannot omit this opportunity of mentioning how sensible 
 I am of the service clone by you, and the other field-officers, on 
 the late mutinous combination ; as without such assistance the 
 resolution of the President and of the Council must have proved 
 ineffectual. And, perhaps, you will not be displeased upon my 
 assuring you, that, in my letters to the Court of Directors, I 
 have represented your conduct, upon that particular occasion, in 
 the very favourable light it so justly deserved." 
 
 And now that I may exempt both myself and the reader from 
 the necessity of referring any more to this memorable page in 
 the history of Lord Clive, it may be well if I permit him to de- 
 scribe, in his own energetic way, both the extent to which the 
 conspiracy had spread, and the feelings with which the contem- 
 plation of it affected him. Of the suspicions which were enter- 
 tained of the co-operation of some of the Company's civil servants 
 with the mutineers in the army, notice has elsewhere been taken. 
 It will be seen that Lord Clive speaks of the matter as a well- 
 ascertained fact, and particularizes certain individuals, one of
 
 CHAP, xxin.] LETTER TO MR. VERELST. 241 
 
 whom held the responsible office of under-secretary to the su- 
 preme council, while the others filled important stations in 
 Calcutta. Against the whole of these, as well as against others 
 of less note, the charges were entirely brought home, and to a 
 man they were dismissed the service. But Lord Clive must tell 
 his own tale He writes to Mr. Verelst on the 28th of May, 
 1766, in these terms : 
 
 " Enclosed you will receive two letters, one from Mr. Martin, 
 the other, although not signed, I know to be Higginson's hand- 
 writing ; so that you see we are betrayed even by our own sub- 
 secretary ; and I make no doubt but the assistant-secretary is 
 still deeper in the plot. 
 
 " You will observe, in the last general letter, the Directors 
 order us to dismiss, not suspend ; and I think near all the Com- 
 pany's servants concerned in exciting this mutiny might not only 
 be dismissed, but sent home in the first ship. Such a behaviour 
 in England would be high treason to the state, and every man of 
 them would be hanged. 
 
 " I hope the Council will not hesitate one moment about 
 turning out of the office both Stephenson and Higginson, and dis- 
 missing them the service, if concerned in fomenting the late 
 mutinous combination. Indeed, very few are to be trusted ; and, 
 in my opinion, the Council should immediately require the 
 assistance of twelve or fourteen junior servants from Madras and 
 Bombay ; for, I am fully persuaded this settlement can never be 
 restored to order, or the honour of the nation or the Company 
 retrieved, until there be a total change in the morals of indivi- 
 duals : and that can only be effected by turning out the most 
 rich and factious, and transplanting others. I have some hopes 
 the Directors will empower me to take such a step in their 
 answer by the Admiral Stevens. 
 
 " How shocked must Sulivan and those Directors be, who 
 opposed this appointment of field-officers ! Certain it is that, 
 without their assistance, we must have given way to the mutiny 
 amongst the officers ; and it is equally certain, if we had, Bengal 
 must have been lost, or a civil war carried on to restore to the 
 Company their lost authority, rights, and possessions ; for it is 
 beyond a doubt, that men capable of committing such actions as 
 they have lately done would soon have gone such lengths as 
 
 B
 
 242 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 to have made it impossible ever to return to their native 
 country. 
 
 " There was a committee to each brigade, sworn to secrecy ; 
 and I have it from undoubted authority, that the officers thought 
 themselves so sure of carrying their point, that a motion was 
 made and agreed to, that the Governor and Council should be 
 directed to release them from their covenants. The next step 
 would, I suppose, have been the turning me and the Committee 
 out of the service. In short, I tremble with horror when I 
 think how near the Company were to the brink of destruction. 
 
 " The plot hath been deeply laid, and of four months' stand- 
 ing. I can give a shrewd guess at the first promoters. One of 
 them I have already mentioned to you, who will ere long, I 
 hope, be brought to condign punishment. 
 
 " Remember again to act with the greatest spirit ; and if the 
 civilians entertain the officers, dismiss them the service ; and if 
 the latter behave with insolence, or are refractory, make them 
 all prisoners, and confine them in the new fort. If you have any 
 thing to apprehend, write me word, and I will come down in- 
 stantly, and bring with me the third brigade, whose officers and 
 men can be depended upon."
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] HIS POLICY. 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Summary of Lord Clive's Administration Opinion of the Court of 
 Directors. 
 
 IT was now the month of September, 1766, and Lord Clive re- 
 turned once more to the seat of government at Calcutta, was 
 able to congratulate himself and the Court of Directors on the 
 perfect accomplishment of the very difficult task which he had 
 undertaken to perform. There was peace with all the neigh- 
 bouring powers, and treaties were in force with some of them 
 which gave as much promise as in those days Indian treaties 
 could give, that the good understanding would continue, at least 
 for a season. With great prudence Clive had resisted the Em- 
 peror's overtures to march with him to Delhi. He did not feel 
 that the Company had any commission to settle the government 
 of Hindostan, or to garrison its capital. They acknowledged 
 Shah Alum as the legitimate head of the empire, it is true, paid 
 him a fixed revenue on the provinces over which he had ap- 
 pointed them to act as his receivers, and treated him on every 
 occasion with marks of outward respect. But they were not 
 bound to wage war with the Mahrattas, Affghans, or Jauts on 
 his account ; and Clive, as the representative of the Company, 
 declined every invitation and entreaty to do so. At the same 
 time he permitted a brigade of the army to remain at Allahabad, 
 in order to secure the territories of Oude, as well as those of 
 Bahar, from insult. 
 
 Again, the corruptions which had so long disfigured both the 
 civil and military services of Bengal were put down. There was 
 no more oppression of the natives by jobmasters and agents ; the 
 eagerness of individuals to enrich themselves at the expense of 
 the Company's interests was repressed ; order and discipline had 
 come back to the ranks of the army ; and hardened offenders 
 from both branches of the service having been removed, new 
 
 a 2
 
 244 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 men were brought in from whom better things were to be ex- 
 pected. Moreover, the closer the examination which Clive gave 
 to his plan in regard to the salt trade, the better pleased he was 
 with both its principle and its results. The issues of the first 
 year's experiment had surpassed even his expectations. So large, 
 indeed, were the profits accruing, that the share of the Company 
 received an increase, while that of the society of trade was dimi- 
 nished ; yet a commerce which insured to every member of 
 Council and colonel in the army 7000/. per annum, and settled 
 the perquisites of majors and factors the lowest rank of the 
 officials who shared in it at 20001. , could not but be satisfac- 
 tory to the parties embarked in it. At the same time let us not 
 forget that, in a pecuniary point of view, all those persons were 
 losers by the arrangement. The privilege of private trade, as 
 previously claimed and enjoyed, had been far more profitable 
 than these dividends : and they expressed themselves well satis- 
 fied with the new arrangement, simply because they had learned 
 from experience that whatever Lord Clive believed to be best for 
 the public service he would do, and compel others to do, whether 
 they approved of his plan of operations or the reverse. 
 
 There was yet a third arrangement, more personal, in one 
 sense, to himself, though general too, as concerned the benefits 
 secured by it to the poorer classes of the Company's servants, on 
 which Lord Clive could not but look with satisfaction. I have 
 elsewhere spoken of the legacy bequeathed to him by the late 
 Nabob, Meer Jaffier, and of the uses to which he proposed to 
 apply it. His acceptance of the boon at all did not, of course, 
 escape censure. He who sets himself to correct the frailties of 
 others must lay his account with drawing down upon his own 
 head a large share of odium : he need not expect that any but 
 the worst motives will be attributed to his actions, whatever 
 these may be. It was no sooner noised abroad, for example, in 
 Calcutta that Clive had accepted a sum of money from Meer 
 Jaffier's widow, than the tongue of scandal ran loose. Interested 
 men proclaimed aloud their disbelief in the tale of the dying 
 bequest. It was a present, and nothing else, given with a pur- 
 pose, and as a consideration received ; and the acceptance of it 
 furnished one more proof of the rapacity as well as the tyran- 
 nical disposition of the man who did not, in his own person,
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] HIS GENEROSITY. 245 
 
 hesitate to violate the covenant which he compelled others to 
 observe. So spoke and wrote to one another, and to their friends 
 in the Direction, the dregs of the party which Olive had broken 
 up ; but the behaviour of the Court was different. On the 8th 
 of April Lord Clive had addressed a note to that body, in which 
 he stated his belief that the Company's order was not intended 
 to apply to the case in point ; and that he had in consequence 
 accepted from the Begum an obligation for the sum of five 
 lacs of rupees. His letter went on to say, " that having de- 
 termined to add nothing to his private resources out of money 
 which might come to him in the form of pay or allowances 
 during his present sojourn in India, he should riot appropriate 
 the amount to his own account, but should decree it to be paid 
 into the Company's treasury, in order that a fund might be 
 formed therewith, of which the interest should be dispensed to 
 officers, non-commissioned officers, and private soldiers disqua- 
 lified by wounds, or disease, or length of service, from further 
 duty ; and likewise to their widows who might be left in dis- 
 tressed circumstances." The Council, entertaining no doubt as 
 to the legality of the whole proceeding, replied to this commu- 
 nication by thanking his Lordship for " his generous and well- 
 placed donation ;" and,the next packet carried from him a report 
 of all that had been done to the Court of Directors. Here, either 
 because the poison from Calcutta had begun to work, or that 
 there were individuals who entertained honest scruples in the 
 case, considerable hesitation was manifested in regard to the 
 fitness of acceding to Lord Clive's proposal. But a reference to 
 the law-officers of the Crown established, by the opinion which 
 they delivered, the right of the legatee to his deceased friend's 
 bequest, and the Court's misgivings ceased. On the 20th of 
 August, 1767, it was unanimously resolved, " That his Lordship 
 be empowered to accept of the said legacy or donation ; and that 
 the Court do highly approve of his Lordship's generosity in be- 
 stowing the said legacy of five lacs in so useful a charity ; and 
 they hereby consent and agree to accept the trust of the said 
 fund, and will give directions that the same be carried into exe- 
 cution in legal and proper form." 
 
 The exact sum presented by Lord Clive to the Company's 
 hospital at Poplar was 62,833/. To this the Nabob of Bengal
 
 246 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 added 37,700/. ; and the Company allowing interest on the whole 
 to the amount of 24,1281., a fund was raised which was more than 
 sufficient at that time to place above the risk of destitution all 
 who had a just claim to look to it for assistance. It must not, 
 however, be supposed that the hospital itself owes its" origin to 
 Lord Olive's munificence. The institution at Poplar was founded 
 so early as the year 1627, as a place of refuge for decayed sea- 
 men in the Company's service, and continued, so late as 1768, to 
 provide for that class of persons exclusively ; but this is Clive's 
 glory, in connexion with Poplar Hospital, that he first gave an 
 impulse to that generous regard for the wants of their worn-out 
 military servants which has long distinguished the East India 
 Company above every other governing body in the world. Poplar 
 Hospital is now to the soldiers of India what Chelsea Hospital is 
 to the soldiers of the Crown. 
 
 To have accomplished so much in 18 months could not fail 
 of being a proud reflection to Lord Clive. His private letters 
 accordingly show that there was not an act of his brief but suc- 
 cessful administration on which, at the period in his history at 
 which we have now arrived, he looked back except with un- 
 mixed gratification. No wish to benefit himself, no desire to 
 screen or slur over the faults of others, seems to have been pre- 
 sent with him throughout. Whatever he did had been done in 
 obedience to that strong sense of duty which, if we take it as our 
 sole principle of action in private life, may perhaps stiffen recti- 
 tude into severity, but which, to public men, is the only guide 
 that can lead them straight to the point which they ought to 
 seek their country's well-being and their own honour as con- 
 nected with its advancement. Moreover, Lord Clive had so 
 regulated the expense of his very household, that when the ac- 
 counts of the government came to be made up, it was found that 
 the pledge given on accepting the government of Bengal had 
 been redeemed even to his own hurt. Clive did not undertake 
 to sacrifice any portion of his private means in striving to benefit 
 the Company. All to which he bound himself was, that, be his 
 sojourn abroad longer or shorter, he would return at the end of 
 it without having made the slightest addition to his private for- 
 tune ; and now an exact calculation of receipts and disburse- 
 ments showed that there was a balance against him of upwards of
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] HIS ILLNESS. 247 
 
 5000/. The fact is, that he carried no portion of his salary, or 
 of his share in the salt trade, or indeed of any other sums offi- 
 cially paid in, to his private credit. Whatever was not required 
 to cover the unavoidable expenses of his station, he made over 
 in free gift to the gentlemen of his family ; and these, being 
 three in number, do not appear to have derived from the act any 
 extravagant addition to their fortunes. 
 
 It had been Lord Clive's settled purpose from the outset, as all 
 his letters, public as well as private, show, to resign the govern- 
 ment without fail in December, 1766, and to return at once to 
 England. This resolution, prudent in itself, received additional 
 force from the severity of an illness with which he was about 
 this time attacked. The fatigue, both of body and mind, which 
 he had recently endured, and his frequent exposure to the burning 
 suns of a burning climate, told heavily upon a constitution which 
 had never, even in boyhood, been robust, and was now much shat- 
 tered by past services. To\vaixls the end of October, indeed, he 
 became so alarmingly ill, that for a day or two his life was 
 despaired of; and the effect of the crisis was to leave him en- 
 feebled to such a degree, that he could take no more share in the 
 management of public business. Under these circumstances he 
 retired to a house in the country, where he remained in seclusion, 
 waiting till despatches which Avere expected from London should 
 arrive, and anticipating with eagerness the day which should 
 relieve him from all further responsibility, and enable him to 
 take his passage for Europe. 
 
 Such was Lord Clive's state of body and mind when, in De- 
 cember, the long looked-for packet arrived, bringing two long 
 official communications from the Court of Directors one ad- 
 dressed to the President and Council, the other to the President 
 alone. They were both written in a spirit of candour which did 
 honour to the feelings of the body which sent them forth ; but, 
 being drawn up by one ignorant of the effects of the changes 
 which had recently occurred in Bengal, they conveyed instruc- 
 tions, immediate compliance with which must have resolved so- 
 ciety into its elements. The Court entirely disapproved of the 
 plan for remunerating its superior servants out of the profits of 
 the salt monopoly. " In coming to this conclusion, they were 
 not so much influenced by views of the particular merits or de-
 
 248 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 merits of the new plan itself, as by a consideration of the mis- 
 chiefs which had for several years attended the general system of 
 internal trade carried on by the English gentlemen, with a high 
 hand, free of duties. Their orders, repeatedly sent out, to pay 
 the legal duties to the Nabob, and to keep within the meaning 
 of the Emperor's firman, had been totally neglected or pro- 
 vokingly evaded. Revolution after revolution had been the con- 
 sequence, and immense suffering to the country ensued. It was 
 the deliberate opinion of the Court that no regulations could be 
 framed of sufficient stringency to prevent a recurrence of such 
 abuses ; and they saw no other chance of rest for the country 
 than in the entire withdrawal of their servants from interference 
 with the trade in articles which it belonged to the natives exclu- 
 sively to cultivate, or raise, or bring, after the customs of their 
 forefathers, into the public market. The Court, however, ob- 
 served, that the usual duties on salt, tobacco, and beetle, as 
 forming part of the revenues of Bengal, should still be levied ; 
 but beyond this it was their wish and express command that their 
 servants should not interfere with the trade in these articles." 
 
 I have given the substance of this despatch rather than the 
 ipsissima verba, because the style of public documents, and espe- 
 cially of Leadenhall-street documents, is sometimes more verbose 
 than attractive ; but the Court's letter to Lord Clive himself re- 
 quires that it should be more carefully handled. After expressing 
 the sense entertained of the many obligations under which his 
 Lordship had laid the Company, by his penetration in discovering 
 where its -true interests lay by the rapidity with which he had 
 restored order to the several branches of the service, and the inte- 
 grity which had governed all his actions, the Directors go on to say 
 " The vast fortunes acquired in the inland trade have been ob- 
 tained by a series of the most tyrannic and oppressive conduct that 
 ever was known in any age or country. We have been uniform 
 in our sentiments and orders on this subject from the first know- 
 ledge we had got, and your Lordship will not therefore wonder, 
 after the fatal experience we had of the violent abuses committed 
 in this trade, that we could not be brought to approve it, even 
 in the limited and regulated manner with which it comes to us 
 in the plan laid down in the committee's proceedings. We agree 
 in opinion with your Lordship on the propriety of holding out
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] PRIVATE TRADE. 249 
 
 such advantages to our chief servants, civil and military, as may 
 open to them the means of honourably acquiring a competency 
 in our service; but the difficulties of the subject, in the short time 
 we have to consider it, have obliged us to defer giving our sen- 
 timents and directions thereupon until the next despatch." 
 
 The Court which ordered these instructions to be drawn out 
 must have overlooked the peculiar position of the parties pro- 
 posed to be affected by them, if indeed it were not entirely igno- 
 rant on the subject. Take away the share in the salt monopoly 
 from the Company's chief servants, and there would be left 
 for them, at this moment, nothing to depend upon but their 
 salaries. The import trade, from which, when Lord Clive first 
 arrived in the country, they derived their main profits, was taken 
 entirely out of their hands. A numerous body of free merchants 
 that is to say, of Englishmen protected by licence from the 
 Directors, had settled of late at each of the presidencies, who, 
 having nothing 1 to attend to except their ; private affairs, soon 
 managed to drive the covenanted servants of the Company out of 
 the market. This it was, indeed, which in some measure forced 
 the latter to seek, in a usurpation of the commerce of the Indian 
 traders, those profits of which their own countrymen had de- 
 prived them ; and the large returns which they derived from the 
 new traffic led them on to turn their undivided attention into 
 this channel. To deprive these gentlemen of their right of 
 traffic first, and then to take away from them the revenues which 
 had been granted as compensation for the loss, was in point of 
 fact to say, that they should have their bare salaries, and nothing 
 else to depend upon. Besides, Clive's plan for the management 
 of the salt trade did no wrong to any one. Salt had been from 
 time immemorial a monopoly in the hands of the native govern- 
 ment, and the licences were at stated periods hired out to the 
 best bidder. Clive merely assumed that the Company, as De- 
 wan, had a right to act as the Nabob's Dewans had acted before 
 them ; and by making a certain number of senior servants the 
 Company's farmer, he but placed an European corporation in 
 the room of ,'some Indian Zemindar, or, it may be, banker ; sub- 
 jecting his own countrymen, besides, to restrictions more favour- 
 able to the native retail dealer than any Nabob or Dewan would 
 have cared to impose on his lessee. His mortification was
 
 250 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 therefore extreme when he found that both his policy and the 
 reasoning- on which it was founded had been misunderstood by 
 the Directors, and that he was commanded, in terms which ad- 
 mitted of no evasion, to reverse it. But Clive was not the man 
 to undo his own work, and to throw a kingdom into confusion 
 merely because those in authority over him required a specific 
 line of proceeding to be followed. He knew that it was to the 
 interest of the Company, much more than to that of individuals, 
 that the Court should have time to revise its judgment and re- 
 verse its decree, should the results of further examination point 
 out to them its extreme inexpediency. He therefore directed 
 the Council to make public the wishes of the home authorities. 
 But the same order which conveyed this intelligence to the pub- 
 lic of Calcutta contained an act of Council, by which the grant 
 to the society of trade was confirmed for one year, and notice 
 given that on the first of September, 1767, it should terminate. 
 
 As the history of this affair, though intimately connected with 
 the history of Lord dive's public life, stands like a thing apart, 
 and is for many reasons deserving of general notice, it may not 
 be amiss if I endeavour in t few words to bring it to an issue. 
 The Court of Directors were not convinced by the arguments of 
 the Supreme Council at Calcutta. They therefore, on the 20th 
 of March, 1767, gave preremptory orders that the society of 
 trade should be broken up, and the salt-pans sold by a public 
 auction, at which no Europeans should be under any pretence 
 permitted to become bidders. At the same time, in order to 
 compensate the senior servants for the loss thereby inflicted upon 
 them, they decreed that an allotment of 2^ per cent, on the net 
 revenues of the Dewannee should be made over to them in spe- 
 cified shares ; and that the pay of captains and subalterns of the 
 army should, to a trifling extent, be increased. Meanwhile Mr. 
 Verelst, who had succeeded Lord Clive in the government of 
 Bengal, saw no just reason, when September, 1767, arrived, to 
 act upon the principle laid down in the Order of Council, dated 
 December, 1766. Under the pretext of affording time to wind 
 up accounts and collect debts, he prolonged the existence of the 
 society of trade for another year ; nor was it till September, 
 1768, that the monopoly came to an end. But even then mat- 
 ters were managed very loosely. The local government had
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] LETTER TO THE COURT. 251 
 
 received no instructions from home. They only knew that the 
 trade was to be opened, and they threw it open in such a way as 
 should still secure large advantages to themselves. By and by 
 there came a despatch from Londpn, bearing date December, 
 1769, which declared that all residents within the provinces, 
 whether Europeans or natives, were free to engage in the inland 
 trade in any manner, and to any extent, which might suit their 
 own convenience. And, finally, it was proposed that, for the 
 benefit of the government, a trifling duty should be levied upon 
 salt, which the manufacturer should pay to the excise officers on 
 the spot, leaving the wholesale and retail dealers to make as 
 much profit as they could out of the article after it should have 
 come into their hands. 
 
 Lord Clive, having returned, as we shall presently see, to 
 London long before matters took this turn, protested against these 
 arrangements from the beginning. He described the surrender 
 of the Company's share of the monopoly as a gratuitous sacrifice 
 of revenue to the amount of 300,OOOJ. per annum, from which no 
 human being, except the few wealthy individuals engaged in the 
 manufacture and first sale of the salt, would benefit ; and he 
 denounced the project of remunerating public servants by a per 
 centage taken out of the public collections, not more because of 
 the loss entailed thereby upon the proprietors, than because it 
 would inevitably lead to the growth of a system of solicitation 
 from which the worst consequences might be anticipated. " If 
 you grant a commission on the revenue," he says in a paper sent 
 in to the Court, " the sum will not only be large, but known to 
 the world : the allowance being publicly ascertained, every man's 
 proportion will at times be the occasion of much discourse, envy, 
 and jealousy, and the great will interfere in your appointments, 
 and noblemen will perpetually solicit you to provide for the 
 younger branches of their families." 
 
 It is curious to read these prophetic warnings of Clive, and to 
 compare them with the accomplishment. And it is not less 
 curious to observe the candour with which individuals in the 
 Direction admitted the extent to which the thought of their divi- 
 dends were mixed up in the minds of the holders of India stock 
 with visions of moral improvement in the newly acquired pro- 
 vinces. Mr. Scrafton, writing to Lord Clive by the same ship
 
 252 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 which conveyed the Court's disapproval of the plan of the trade 
 society, says " The proprietors have begun to clamour for an 
 increase of dividend, which the Directors think unsuitable to the 
 situation of the Company's affairs. This has induced the Direc- 
 tors to defer the consideration of the gratification of the servants 
 on abolishing the salt trade. Such considerations could not be 
 but for a vast sum ; and if it had got wind that such gratifica- 
 tions were ordered, the proprietors would be outrageous for an 
 increase of the dividend. Though we cannot open our minds 
 upon it, yet it appears to me an increase of dividend must take 
 place at the quarterly court in June ; and then the court will be 
 under no restraint, but will give a per centage on the revenues, 
 in which the governor will have a great share in lieu of trade ; 
 the rest among the committee, council, colonels, and ten below 
 council, but no lower. * * * Your Lordship may be assured 
 it will take place ; for when the last paragraph was added to 
 the letter to you, the committee declared it was their meaning 
 and intention to do it by the next ship."
 
 CHAP, xxv.] REGULATION OF OFFICES. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Clive's parting Address. 
 
 IT was the anxious wish of the Court of Directors that Lord 
 Clive should continue yet a little longer in the government of 
 Bengal. Their letter of the 17th of May, 1766, concluded with 
 an earnest request that he would for one year more watch over 
 the developement of his own plans ; but the arrangements for his 
 departure were already complete, and the state of his health 
 would not permit that they should be altered. Not only had the 
 digestive organs lost their tone with him, but he suffered from 
 time to time such spasms of acute pain, that a free use of opium, 
 and that alone, had saved him from sinking under it. Still his 
 zeal for the public good never grew dull. He had already 
 weeded out from the civil service its most objectionable mem- 
 bers ; he still saw with regret that of those who remained, some, 
 from a too exclusive attention to self-interest, others through a 
 laxity of principle, which they may have deceived themselves 
 into regarding as mere easiness of temper, were incapable of 
 doing justice to his arrangements. Besides, men had made 
 their fortunes of late on this side of India with such marvellous 
 rapidity, that the most important offices came to be held by mere 
 boys. To remedy this evil, Lord Clive took it upon himself to 
 call in the aid of civilians from Madras ; and gave seats in 
 council to four gentlemen from that presidency very much to the 
 annoyance of the parties over whose heads they passed. But 
 this was not all. The Council, though an important body, had 
 ceased since the late arrangements at home to exercise the 
 powers of government, which were really, if not nominally, 
 vested in the Select Committee. To fill the Committee, there- 
 fore, with gentlemen of experience as well as talent, became an 
 object of the first importance, and Lord Clive used his best 
 endeavours, not unsuccessfully, to accomplish it. Not that this
 
 254 LIFE OF LORD CLTVE. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 was to be done in a moment, or as a matter of course. The 
 acceptance of a place in the select committee, besides implying 
 the necessity of relinquishing all other employment that might 
 have a tendency to withdraw any portion of the individual's care 
 from his public duties, rendered constant residence at or near 
 Fort William inevitable. Now there was nothing about Fort 
 William in those days to bind men's fancy to the place itself, or 
 to the society which frequented it ; while the opportunities of 
 saving, if not of making, money were far more abundant at the 
 best stations in the interior than at the capital. But as Clive 
 would not, in his own case, allow private feelings to stand in the 
 way of public duty, so, when he believed that gentlemen were 
 qualified to serve the Company as members of the Select Com- 
 mittee, he did not hesitate to demand from them the same sort 
 of sacrifices which he was willing to make himself. The follow- 
 ing extracts from letters to his friend Mr. Sykes and to Mr. 
 Cartier, of whom he entertained a high opinion, will show what 
 his feelings were in regard to this matter. Mr. Sykes was then 
 Resident at Moorshedabad, a position of large emolument, 
 high respectability, and little labour ; Mr. Cartier, as chief of a 
 factory, had nothing to gain by being transferred to the Select 
 Committee, and was therefore unwilling to incur the labour and 
 responsibility. To overcome the scruples of the former, Lord 
 Clive wrote as follows : 
 
 ' I have received your letter, urging many reasons against 
 your residing at Calcutta, when Mr. Verelst came to the chair. 
 Your intention of declining the government, I must confess, is 
 the only one that seems to carry any weight. Your situation, I 
 believe, is a very agreeable one, and your conduct, I am per- 
 suaded, will bring advantage to the Company and honour to 
 yourself. Yet let us not forget, Sykes, the principles upon 
 which you and I have hitherto acted, of sacrificing private con- 
 venience to public good. To doubt my friendship, because I 
 cannot carry it to such lengths, is not to know me. I have 
 loved you as a brother ; yet a brother cannot alter my senti- 
 ments of what is right and wrong. If you are fully convinced 
 that your health will not permit you to live in Calcutta, and for 
 that reason, among others, you mean to decline the government, 
 there may be reasons given in abundance for remaining in your
 
 CHAP, xxv.] ME. CARTIER. 255 
 
 present station ; and, among the rest, that of your being the 
 most fit for such an employment. To conclude : this matter 
 must be decided by my successor, Mr. Verelst, after my de- 
 parture. I have given you my sentiments, which are consistent 
 with my friendship for you, and my duty to the Company." 
 
 Mr. Cartier's scruples seem to have been more easily over- 
 come ; and Lord Clive wrote immediately to express his gratifi- 
 cation at the circumstance. The subjoined letter, bearing date 
 the 22nd of January, 1767, was one of the last to which he ever 
 attached his signature in India : 
 
 " The receipt of your friendly letter and your acceptance of 
 being nominated one of the Select Committee, with so much 
 cordiality, has afforded me more real satisfaction than I have felt 
 for these many months. I can now leave India with satisfaction 
 to myself, because I leave it in tranquillity, and the chief 
 management of these important and extensive concerns in the 
 hands of men of honour and approved probity and abilities. 
 
 " Be assured, my good Sir, you will not have to encounter 
 many of those disagreeable circumstances which you seem to 
 apprehend in your letter to Mr. Verelst. That unthankful task 
 has fallen to my lot. The Select Committee, and Committee of 
 Inspection, have already made every regulation for the public 
 good which can be desired or thought of; so that it only rests 
 with you gentlemen to keep matters in the same channel, and 
 not to relax in your authority, or let yourselves down, by de- 
 clining to support the dignity of your station. 
 
 " A gentleman endowed, like Mr. Cartier, with a good 
 capacity and solid judgment, of a generous and disinterested way 
 of thinking, cannot fail of proving a very deserving servant to 
 the Company, and of acquiring honour for himself, if he will 
 but have a little more confidence in himself." After assuring 
 him that, if he finds his new situation at Calcutta agreeable, he 
 will use his interest to have him named Mr. Verelst's successor 
 in the government, he continues : " The state of my health is 
 such, that I cannot continue in it (the government) another year, 
 with any prospect of doing the Company service ; indeed, I do 
 not think I should survive another month ; I have therefore 
 determined to resign the government." 
 
 It was not, however, exclusively by promoting the best interests
 
 256 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 of the great body which he served that Clive won for himself a 
 proud name in Indian story. Strange as it may sound, when 
 predicated of one who set up and pulled down princes at his 
 pleasure, no European was ever more desirous than he to pre- 
 serve in its integrity the framework of native society. While 
 he did his best to realize an adequate revenue for the Com- 
 pany, he deprecated having recourse to measures of which the 
 effect must be to trench on the funds necessary to support, in 
 becoming style, the higher classes of the Indian families. His 
 opinions on this head are stated in a letter to Mr. Palk, in which, 
 bearing- date the 25th of April, 1766, he describes, with equal 
 force and truth, the inevitable results to their country should the 
 time ever come when there ceased to be a native gentry in India. 
 I need not quote this document, because the end which Lord 
 Clive so feelingly deprecated has long ago come to pass, and its 
 consequences are felt and lamented in proportion as men look 
 beyond the mere preservation of peace, to the moral and intel- 
 lectual elevation of 100,000,000 of their fellow creatures. 
 
 Another characteristic of Lord Clive's system of government 
 seems to have been this that, taking no account of personal 
 affection or personal antipathy, he looked out for the fittest 
 men to be employed in the higher service of the state, and placed 
 them where their talents gave the best promise of a prosperous 
 issue. Colonel Richard Smith, as I have elsewhere shown, was 
 certainly not one of his favourites ; yet he kept Colonel Smith 
 in high and responsible command, and acknowledged, on every 
 occasion, the services which he performed. On the other hand, 
 it was a matter of principle with him never to thrust unqualified 
 persons into office, nor to spare his dearest friends if, through 
 any error of judgment or principle, they misconducted them- 
 selves. Few of the younger servants of the Company stood 
 higher in his personal esteem than Mr. Samuel Middleton ; yet, 
 when that gentleman incurred the censure of the Board, Lord 
 Clive, as President, put his name to the letter of reproof, and 
 replied to a private letter from Mr. Middleton in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 19th of September, in 
 which you express your concern at the censure passed upon you 
 by the Board, and imagine you may have done something to
 
 CHAP, xxv.] ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 257 
 
 forfeit my friendship. To reason in this way is to know but 
 little of the duty of a governor in a public station. 
 
 " If the Board were unanimous, which they really were, in 
 thinking you and the other gentlemen had been wanting in dili- 
 gence and attention to the Company's business, was it in my 
 power to change or alter their sentiments ? Or could I attempt 
 such a thing consistently with my duty, or the principles upon 
 which I have hitherto acted ? The real truth of the matter is, 
 that the relaxation of government for some years past, has intro- 
 duced so much luxury, extravagance, independency, and indo- 
 lence into Bengal, that every effort upon our part to reclaim 
 this settlement is looked upon as a hardship, or an act of in- 
 justice ; although it be absolutely necessary for the salvation of 
 the whole." After condemning the wrong-headed opposition 
 which had been offered by some of the younger servants, and 
 remarking on the danger which they incurred thereby, he 
 adds : 
 
 " To set aside the Governor, and speak as a friend, I enter- 
 tain no doubt of the integrity of your intentions, and of your 
 zeal for the service; but you are naturally of an indolent, 
 good-natured, and hospitable disposition, which in private life 
 may make you beloved by all that know you : yet, in a public 
 station, these qualities may subject you to the greatest in- 
 conveniences. You become responsible, not only to the public 
 for your want of attention, but for the want of attention 
 of those acting under you, who will perpetually trespass on 
 your good nature. The indulgence shown by you to the young 
 gentlemen of the factory, which I myself was an eye-witness to, 
 must have this consequence of their becoming very familiar, 
 which in your present station they ought not to be ; of being 
 very supine and very neglectful of the Company's business, in 
 which your own reputation is more immediately concerned. 
 And I wish the mischief may only end here. After having led 
 so luxurious, extravagant, and independent a life, there will be 
 much to fear for themselves after your departure. 
 
 " The open manner in which you have expressed your sen- 
 timents and grievances gives me a right to send you mine in 
 return, which I do assure you proceeds from real friendship and 
 regard for the interests of those who are acting under you. 
 
 s
 
 258 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 Perhaps they may not be looked upon in that light by the said 
 young men. If not, I wish future experience may not convince 
 them to the contrary." 
 
 Besides thus watching with jealous care over the conduct of 
 gentlemen employed in the administration of public affairs, Lord 
 Clive did his best to promote among Europeans a study of the 
 native languages, and gave every encouragement to the labours 
 of scientific men, whether they turned their attention to natural 
 history, to botany, or to geology. Mr. Gladwin, one of the ear- 
 liest, and in those days best, of onr Oriental scholars, owed the 
 whole of his success in life to Lord Olive's patronage, who found 
 him a volunteer, and transferred him, on account of his acquire- 
 ments, to the civil service, where better opportunities of prose- 
 cuting his favourite study were afforded. The celebrated Major 
 Rennell was likewise in the number of his clients. Clive took 
 him by the hand when a lieutenant of engineers ; and, by em- 
 ploying him in various surveys, and throwing open to him all the 
 maps in store at Fort William, made the way clear before him 
 to future eminence. Moreover, he caused the mouth of the 
 Ganges, with every channel and creek communicating therewith, 
 to be examined ; and had charts made out, by means of which a 
 navigation heretofore difficult, and not unfrequently dangerous, 
 became as easy as that of any frith or estuary in Europe. But 
 it is time that I should pass on from this part of my subject, 
 which I shall do after briefly describing the circumstances which 
 attended Olive's final severance from the government and the 
 gentlemen who for 18 months had shared it with him. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1767, Lord Clive for the last time 
 attended a meeting of the Select Committee. His health, though 
 somewhat renovated, was still very infirm. He looked as those 
 do who have not long shaken aside an attack of jaundice, and 
 walked with an infirm step to his seat at the head of the Council 
 Board. He carried a paper in his hand, which, after a few 
 words introductory to the subject, he laid upon the table, and 
 desired the secretary to read. It was a valedictory letter to the 
 Committee, in which, after explaining that the duty of striving 
 to prolong life alone compelled him to quit the country that he 
 lamented the necessity, and would have lamented more, but that 
 affairs were in a flourishing state, and in the hands of an upright
 
 CHAP, xxv.] CLIVE'S PARTING ADDRESS. 259 
 
 and able government he went on to exercise the authority which 
 was vested in him by continuing the Select Committee, filling up 
 vacancies among its members, and laying down general rules for 
 its guidance in time coming. His letter cautions the gentlemen 
 in authority against being too anxious to increase the revenues, 
 especially where this could be effected only by oppressing the 
 landholders and tenants ; for that so long as the country remained 
 in peace, the collections would exceed the demands. He points 
 out some difficulties likely to result from the state of the cur- 
 rency, and strongly recommends that all Company's servants and 
 free traders should be recalled from the interior ; because till 
 that were done the natives could hardly be said to be masters of 
 their own property. He observes, " that the orders for the abo- 
 lition of the salt trade being express, there was nothing to be 
 done except to pay obedience to them. But, as I am of opinion," 
 he continues, " that the trade upon its present footing is rather 
 beneficial than injurious to the inhabitants of the country, and 
 that a continuation of this indulgence, or some equivalent, is 
 become absolutely necessary, and would be an honourable incite- 
 ment to diligence and zeal in the Company's service, I flatter 
 myself the Court of Directors will be induced to settle some plan 
 that will prove agreeable to your wishes." 
 
 There seems to have been upon his mind an anxious dread lest 
 the spirit of corruption and insubordination .should revive; in 
 which case he observed that the very existence of the empire 
 would be endangered. " It has been too much the custom," he 
 observes, " in this government to make orders and regulations, 
 and thence to suppose the business done. To what end and pur- 
 pose are they made, if they be not promulgated and enforced ? 
 No regulation can be carried into execution, no order obeyed, if 
 you do not make rigorous examples of the .disobedient. Upon 
 this point I rest the welfare of the Company in Bengal. The 
 servants are now brought to a proper sense of their duty. If 
 you slacken the reins of government, affairs will soon revert to 
 their former channel ; anarchy and corruption will again prevail, 
 and, elate with a new victory, be too headstrong for any future 
 efforts of government. Eecall to your memories the many at- 
 tempts that have been made in the civil and military departments 
 to overcome our authority, and to set up a kind of independency 
 
 62
 
 260 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 against the Court of Directors. Reflect also on the resolute 
 measures we have pursued, and their wholesome effects. Diso- 
 bedience to legal power is the first step of sedition ; and pallia- 
 tive measures effect no cure. Every tender compliance, every 
 condescension on your parts, will only encourage more flagrant 
 attacks, and will daily increase in strength, and be at last in 
 vain resisted. Much of our time has been employed in correcting 
 abuses. The important work has been prosecuted with zeal, dili- 
 gence, and disinterestedness ; and we have had the happiness to 
 see our labours crowned with success. I leave the country in 
 peace. I leave the civil and military departments under disci- 
 pline and subordination : it is incumbent upon you to keep them 
 so. You have power, you have abilities, you have integrity ; let 
 it not be said that you are deficient in resolution. I repeat that 
 you must not fail to exact the most implicit obedience to your 
 orders. Dismiss or suspend from the service any man who shall 
 dare to dispute your authority. If you deviate from the prin- 
 ciples upon which you have hitherto acted, and upon which you 
 are conscious you ought to proceed, or if you do not make a 
 proper use of that power with which you are invested, I shall 
 hold myself acquitted, as "I do now protest against the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 Such was Lord dive's parting address to his former colleagues 
 in the government. It was worthy of the man who had raised 
 British India in 18 months from the lowest depth of degradation 
 to the wealth and importance of an empire ; and had there been 
 in the body which received it any portion of his genius, it would 
 not have been delivered in vain. But the Select Committee, 
 though composed of men of fair average talent, could not boast 
 of any one commanding intellect among its members. The task, 
 therefore, of completing reforms which Clive himself found 
 considerable difficulty to begin, was too great for it ; and the 
 consequences soon began to develope themselves.
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] CLIVE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Returns to England Reception. 
 
 ON one of the last clays of Jan. 1767, Lord Clive, accompanied 
 by the gentlemen of his household, and his old and valued friend 
 General Carnac, embarked on board the Britannia in the Ganges. 
 On the 14th of July he landed at Portsmouth, and the following 
 day reached London. He was admitted almost immediately to 
 private audiences by the King and Queen, both of whom received 
 him most graciously ; while the marks of respect shown to him 
 by the Court of Directors appear to have satisfied his wishes. 
 Still the greeting awarded to him by his countrymen in general 
 was not, on the present occasion, what it had formerly been. 
 His old enemies at the India House continued in power and 
 great activity ; and their strength had been increased of late by 
 the accession of many new allies, whose violence far exceeded 
 their own. Not only the pilferers and oppressors whom he had 
 removed from the public service in Bengal, but relatives of these 
 men, their friends, and acquaintances, combined to work him 
 harm. Newspapers, more venal then than they are now, had for 
 some time past been hired to run him down ; and the tidings of his 
 arrival in his native country seemed to act as a fresh incitement 
 to their malevolence. Stories of his cruelty and rapacity, as 
 incredible as they were hideous, passed current from one ex- 
 tremity of the kingdom to another. Nor was the rancour of his 
 enemies mitigated, far less appeased, by this extended system of 
 persecution. They spent large sums in the purchase of India 
 stock with the view of wielding against him, when a convenient 
 opportunity should offer, the weight of the Court of Proprietors ; 
 and left no means untried to obtain an ascendancy in the Court 
 of Directors also. It was unfortunate for Lord Clive, in this 
 state of the public mind, that the party in the Direction which 
 he generally supported should have taken the unpopular side in
 
 262 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 a controversy which affected men's personal interests more than 
 their abstract opinions. The proprietors of India stock were no 
 sooner informed of the results of Olive's endeavours in Bengal, 
 than they began to clamour for an advance in the dividends from 
 6 to 10 per cent. ; and Clive himself, writing home upon the 
 subject, had recommended that their wish should be complied 
 with. But his friends, either knowing the true state of their 
 pecuniary affairs better than he, or entertaining strong doubts in 
 regard to the future, were not to be persuaded. " Believe the 
 word of a Director," wrote Mr. Scrafton in 1765, " that the 
 Company must have many lacs before they can increase their 
 dividend. Consider, my Lord, what a vast sum of their capital 
 has been locked up without interest in Mahomed Ali's debts, the 
 vast fortifications, the fatal Manilla expedition, and the sum 
 locked up in the support of French prisoners, for which no instal- 
 ments are yet settled all form prodigious deductions, which a 
 year's revenue of the whole province of Bengal will barely re- 
 place ; not to mention the dreadful breach oh the Company's 
 capital before the battle of Plassey." In the same spirit another 
 of Olive's warmest admirers, Mr. Dudley, expresses himself. One 
 of his letters, dated the 17th of May, 1766, deprecates every pro- 
 posal of enlarged dividends, on the ground that the Company had 
 been forced to raise several hundred thousand pounds on loan ; and 
 that demands for repayment were urgent, and of daily occurrence. 
 The policy of this section of the Court, of which Mr. Rous was 
 at the head, whether prudent or the reverse in itself, offered a 
 favourable champ de bataille to Olive's enemies, on which they 
 did not delay to enter. They threw themselves to a man into 
 the opposite scale, and, spending enormous sums in the purchase 
 of shares, succeeded by and by in obtaining a majority among 
 the proprietors. They could not, indeed, command, for a while, 
 strength enough to nominate their own Director. So late as 
 April, 1767, Mr. Rous still kept the chair. But the party which 
 in September, 1766, had forced up the dividend from 6 per cent, 
 to 10, raised it again on the 6th of the following May to 12^, 
 and provoked, by so doing, the immediate interference of the 
 King's government. It would carry me far beyond my proper 
 province, as the biographer of Lord Clive, were I to give an ac- 
 count in detail of the parliamentary proceedings which ensued.
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] AFFAIRS IN LEADENHALL-STREET. 263 
 
 Enough is done when I state that a Cabinet too little confident in 
 itself to act vigorously on any subject, played with the Com- 
 pany's privileges as it did with the claims of the American 
 colonists ; and that, lacking courage to transfer the territorial 
 sovereignty to the Crown, it compelled the Company to purchase 
 a continuance of present right by agreeing to pay 400,0007. per 
 annum into the exchequer. The dividend likewise was fixed, by 
 an authority more stringent than that of the India House, not to 
 exceed 10 per cent. ; and intimation was given that more would 
 be done when a convenient season should arrive. 
 
 Meanwhile there had been fierce strife in Leadenhall -street as 
 to the measures which it behoved the Company to adopt in re- 
 gard to their servants dismissed by the Select Committee, and 
 convicted of having received presents in violation of the order 
 acknowledged to have reached them in January 1764. The Di- 
 rectors, anxious to maintain the authority of their Court, deter- 
 mined to try the result of a prosecution ; and were confirmed in 
 their view of the liability of the delinquents by the unanimous 
 opinion of the Crown's and Company's lawyers. The proprie- 
 tors, dissatisfied with Rous and his friends, and attributing the 
 successful issue of their struggle for an increased dividend to the 
 exertions of the parties threatened, espoused a different side in 
 the controversy. The prosecution which the Upper Court had 
 made preparations to begin, they declared to be uncalled for; 
 and a vote of indemnity being proposed, it was passed by a large 
 majority. A heavier blow on the usefulness of the Court of 
 Directors, and indeed on the power of the Indian government 
 generally, was never inflicted. The decision of the proprietors 
 gave notice that, so long as they had influential friends at 
 home, the Company's servants abroad need not care to what 
 extent they set established regulations at defiance ; and the pro- 
 gress of a few years served pretty well to show that the inti- 
 mation was not lost upon them. 
 
 There was no feeling at this time of personal ill-will towards 
 Lord Clive in the great body' of proprietors of India stock. 
 On the contrary, their predilections were all in favour of one to 
 whom they justly attributed the flourishing state of their finances ; 
 and they were ready to mark the sense which they entertained 
 of his merits by any arrangements which his friends might pro-
 
 264 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 pose. Enemies he undoubtedly had, both numerous and active, 
 among them ; but the mass felt towards him as they had done 
 on the day when they implored him to go out and save from 
 ruin the province which his valour had achieved for them. It 
 would appear too, that Lord Olive's private friends, among whom 
 Mr. Walsh filled a prominent position, took greater pains to 
 conciliate the favour of the proprietors than to carry the Court 
 of Directors with them. The former, anxious for large returns, 
 believed all that was said respecting the money-value of the De- 
 wannee, and perhaps something more. The latter, still averse 
 to increase a rate of interest which could not be paid without 
 adding constantly to the funded debt, sought rather to decry the 
 importance of the acquisition, in a pecuniary point of view, even 
 though by doing so they detracted, as Clive thought, from the 
 importance of his services. Accordingly Mr. Walsh, in bring- 
 ing forward a proposition that the Company should testify to 
 Lord Clive's merits and to their sense of the obligations under 
 which he had laid them, called upon the proprietors, rather than 
 the Directors, to decree that the feof or jaghire granted by 
 Meer Jaffier should be continued to his lordship and his heirs 
 for a further term of ten years after the current term should 
 have expired. Mr. Walsh carried his first motion by 243 to 
 170 open votes a majority which was very little diminished by 
 the result of the ballot; but he provoked, at the same time, a 
 spirit of hostility elsewhere, of which the effects were seen when 
 the final decision came to be taken. The jaghire was confirmed 
 to Lord Clive and his successors according to the spirit of the 
 original proposition, but the majority which settled the point 
 amounted to no more than 29 votes. 
 
 Matters were in this state when Lord Clive reached London. 
 Of the entire success of his management of the Company's con- 
 cerns there could be but one opinion ; and the events which 
 characterized the last months of his administration seemed to 
 have put the finishing touch to his glory. It was impossible for 
 the most rancorous of his enemies to get up, under such circum- 
 stances, the slightest symptom of hostility towards him. But 
 though their influence was not such as to command a direct 
 display of dissatisfaction, they managed to throw a considerable 
 damp upon the enthusiasm with which he expected to be greeted.
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] JAGHIRE CONFIRMED TO CLIVE. 265 
 
 In more than one of their public letters, but especially in that 
 which urged him to abide another year at his post, the Directors, 
 besides expressing themselves in terms of exceeding gratitude 
 and admiration, had spoken of their intention to mark their sense 
 of his eminent services by some appropriate grant ; and now that 
 he was come to claim the performance of the promise, the most 
 lukewarm felt that to defer redeeming their pledge would be 
 impossible. Accordingly, having received him immediately 
 after his audience of the King, and thanked him, through their 
 Chairman, for all that he had done, they summoned a general 
 court to confirm the arrangement previously voted with regard 
 to the Jaghire ; and this time, at least, he had the satisfaction of 
 knowing that the proposition was carried without a single vote 
 having been recorded in opposition to it. 
 
 Like other men who have clone their country good service, 
 Lord Clive was jealous both of his personal renown and of the 
 plans and arrangements which owed their existence to his per- 
 sonal exertions. An apparent reluctance in the Court of Direct- 
 ors, therefore, to take the lead in this question of the jaghire 
 much displeased him. He treated their excessive care of the 
 Company's finances as a slight offered to himself; and being but 
 little in the habit of disguising his feelings, he made no scruple 
 in giving utterance to his indignation wherever the subject was 
 referred to. One of his letters, written from Walcot, about 
 three months subsequently to his arrival in England, is so cha- 
 racteristic, that I feel myself constrained to subjoin an extract 
 from it. He had been in correspondence with his friend Mr. 
 Scrafton, himself a Director, at that time, and had not spared 
 the body of which the latter gentleman was a member. Mr. 
 Scrafton, on the other hand, being anxious that Lord Clive 
 should not hastily withdraw his support from a body of men who 
 had stood by him when at a distance, and were still well disposed 
 in the main, endeavoured to do away with this impression. " If 
 your lordship," he says, " conceives any resentment on the con- 
 duct of the Directors respecting the Jaghire, you will act from 
 misrepresentation. One or two were cold on the subject, by be- 
 lieving themselves the objects of your resentment in consequence 
 of Whately's story ; but the general sense was, ' "We cannot, as 
 Directors, recommend so large a grant ; the fate the question
 
 266 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 met with before proves that many thought it too much ; but we 
 will give our votes for it.' To conclude, my lord, I really think 
 it for your own honour and for the interest of the Company to 
 support the present set." 
 
 To thwart a man of Lord Clive's temperament upon a subject 
 so nearly touching his self-esteem is seldom a prudent measure ; 
 and the defence of the Directors by Mr. Scrafton wholly failed 
 of its object. It drew forth a reply to the following effect : 
 
 " I received your letter, and return you many thanks for your 
 congratulations about the jaghire. However, you will scarce 
 believe me when I tell you that I was, before it was confirmed, 
 and am at this time, very indifferent about it. My wish was to 
 have it brought to a conclusion at any rate ; for I could not 
 avoid observing all parties at work to suspend coming to a con- 
 clusion ; and many were at greater pains, from rank infernal 
 jealousy and envy, to conceal and lessen my services, in order to 
 lessen my influence : but, I thank God, I am now an inde- 
 pendent man, what I was determined to be at all events. 
 
 " I cannot but take notice of one paragraph of your letter ; 
 that the Directors thought the grant too large, and therefore 
 would not recommend it : I am therefore the more obliged to the 
 Proprietors, who were all of a different way of thinking. 
 
 " I am obliged to you for your advice about my conduct 
 towards the Directors, because I am persuaded you mean me 
 well; but know, Scrafton, I have a judgment of my own, which 
 has seldom failed me, in cases of much greater consequence than 
 what you recommend. As to the support which, you say, was 
 given to my government, when abroad, by the Directors, they 
 could not have done otherwise, without suffering in their reputa- 
 tion, and perhaps quitting the Direction. In return, let me ask, 
 whose interest contributed to make them Directors, and keep 
 them so? My conduct wanted no support, it supported itself, 
 because it was disinterested, and tended to nothing but the 
 public good. From the beginning it put all mankind at defiance, 
 as it does at this hour : and had the Court of Directors thought 
 fit to make my conduct more public than they have done, all 
 impartial and disinterested men must have done me justice. 
 However, that remains for myself to make known, when conve- 
 nient and proper.
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] CLIVE'S INTEREST IN INDIAN AFFAIES. 267 
 
 " After having said thus much, I must tell you (though by 
 your writing you seeni to give credit to the report), that what 
 Whately is said to have told Wedderburn is absolutely false, as 
 is everything else said to have been communicated by Mr. Gren- 
 ville to Mr. Wedderburn ; arid I can attribute these mean 
 suspicions of the Directors to nothing but their envy and jea- 
 lousy. However, as I have often said before, and say now, 
 there is nothing the Directors can do shall make me lose sight of 
 the Company's true interest. Upon principle, I would always 
 stand by the East India Company : I am now farther bound by the 
 ties of gratitude. This is the ground upon which I now stand, 
 and upon which I will risk my reputation. No little, partial 
 considerations shall ever bias me." 
 
 The sentiments conveyed in the closing sentences of this letter 
 came from the heart of the writer. The channel into which his 
 earliest interests were turned never ran dry. In spite of his 
 high station in this] country, in spite of the influence which he 
 possessed in the House of Commons, to which he returned, in- 
 cluding his own seat, seven members, Lord Clive could not 
 withdraw his attention, even in part, from the politics of 
 Leadenhall-street. He regarded India as by far the most im- 
 portant of the dependencies of the British crown ; and en- 
 tertaining his own views as to the way in which it ought to be 
 managed, he ceased not, by personal interference, by swaying 
 the opinions of others, by splitting votes, and indeed by all other 
 practicable means, short of becoming himself a candidate for 
 the Direction, to prevent any interference with arrangements 
 already made, and to keep those to whom the execution of his 
 plans had been intrusted up to the collar. A remarkable proof 
 of his anxiety on this head is given in a letter which he addressed 
 from Bath on the 7th of November, in this year, to Mr. Yerelst, 
 on whom the government of Bengal had devolved. As the 
 document in question is a very valuable one on many accounts, 
 but especially because of the light, which it throws on the 
 writer's principle of action, my reader would scarcely thank me 
 were I to withhold it. After apologising for the freedom 
 which he is about to use, and alluding delicately to the share 
 which he had had in raising Mr. Verelst to the high station 
 which he filled, Lord Clive goes on to say :
 
 208 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 " But exclusive of the part I take in your success on my own 
 account, my regard and affection for you lead me to reflect that 
 the reputation, as well as private satisfaction, of your future life 
 in England, must grow out of the honour which you may, and 
 I trust will, acquire by a resolute and unspotted administration 
 of the Company's affairs in Bengal. Your integrity and the 
 goodness of your heart must be acknowledged by all who know 
 you : and it is with pleasure I observe that you have set out 
 with a due attention to other necessary and public qualifications. 
 Continue in the full exertion of that steadiness and resolution 
 with which you began your government. Your judgment is 
 sound. Set a just value, then, upon every opinion of your own, 
 and always entertain a prudent degree of suspicion of the advice 
 of any man who can possibly be biassed by self-interested 
 motives. Before I touch upon particulars, permit me to urge, 
 in general, the necessity there is for you and the whole Council 
 and Committee to join in holding the military under due 
 subordination and subjection. The dangerous consequences 
 which may ensue from the least relaxation of command over a 
 body so numerous as the English officers, should ever be thought 
 of with horror, and the good effects of maintaining an inflexible 
 authority cannot be too often recollected, in the instance of the 
 late association. 
 
 " I am glad to find that you are upon your guard against the 
 pride and ambition of the Colonel, who, if there be any merit in 
 the conduct of the military officers, will certainly claim the 
 whole to himself, and write the world to that purpose. His last, 
 I should say his first, dispute, whether the Governor or the 
 Commanding Officer of the troops ought to have the title of 
 Commander-in-Chief, was such an open and audacious attack 
 upon the dignity of your office, that I am surprised you let it pass 
 unnoticed. Had a minute been made of it, he would infallibly 
 have been dismissed the service. 
 
 " It is with great concern I observe that you have consented 
 to the increase of the military establishment, by the raising of 
 four regiments of horse, which will be an exorbitant, and yet 
 useless, expense. General Carnac knows, as I do, that black 
 cavalry, instead of being serviceable, are very detrimental to us. 
 I am also sorry that you have augmented the artillery. One
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] CLIVE'S ADVICE TO VEEELST. 269 
 
 independent company at Calcutta, in time of peace, will answer 
 every purpose. To have more, either there or at Ghyrotty, is 
 only sacrificing the lives of so many men without service. 
 The Directors, I fear, will reprimand you on these matters, for 
 they seem much inclined to lessen even the establishment I made 
 for Bengal. 
 
 "The sooner you confine the whole of our force within the 
 boundary of the Caramnassa the better. The Abdally's invasion 
 of Bengal must be a mere bugbear. So long a march is next to 
 impossible, and therefore I think he will never attempt it. The 
 Mahratta is the only power we have to manage, as invasions 
 from them must retard our revenues, though they cannot en- 
 danger our possessions. 
 
 " You certainly did well in persevering not to restore the 
 Monghyr officers ; and I hope you have obliged all, except the 
 young lads, to embark for England. 
 
 " You will have heard that all our letters and proceedings 
 have been laid before both Houses of Parliament, and publicly 
 read. Not only the Directors, but every man of consequence 
 from Bengal, have been examined upon oath before the House 
 of Lords ; so that thousands of people are now well acquainted 
 with the revenues, forces, and politics of India, and of Bengal in 
 particular. Permit me here again, my friend, to remind you of 
 the conspicuous situation you are placed in. Consider well the 
 great expectations which this nation entertains of extricating 
 itself out of its present difficulties, by the skill and conduct of 
 the Governor of Bengal. You must therefore exert yourself to 
 the utmost to fulfil its hopes; for, as I have already observed, 
 hereupon depends, whether you will be a very respectable 
 character, or not, upon your return to England. 
 
 " With regard to myself, my health has been very indifferent 
 ever since my arrival ; but I am now following a regimen which 
 has done me much service, and will, I hope, recover me entirely. 
 I have met with the most gracious reception from the King and 
 Queen, and a very respectful and honourable one from the Court 
 of Directors ; nor is there any doubt of my getting an English 
 peerage, whenever I make application for that purpose, which, I 
 understand, is always the custom : but the very unsettled 
 Administration, and my private notions, will not admit of my
 
 270 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 applying at present. Hereafter, in all probability, the thing 
 will come to pass. 
 
 " With regard to the Directors, I tell you frankly, that no 
 one can entertain a worse opinion of many of them than I do. 
 They have neither abilities nor resolution to manage such im- 
 portant concerns as are now under their care. Of this the 
 world in general seem very sensible; and yet what to do I 
 protest I know not. An attempt to reform may throw matters 
 into greater confusion. 
 
 " You see my jaghire is at last continued to me and my re- 
 presentatives for ten years after the expiration of my present 
 right. I am more obliged to the Proprietors for this grant than 
 to the Directors, who threw a great deal of cold water upon it. 
 Indeed, their whole conduct towards me and my associates in 
 Committee has shown weakness, or something worse ; for they 
 have upon all occasions endeavoured to lessen the acquisitions 
 we have obtained for them, and kept everything that might con- 
 tribute to our reputation as secret as possible ; and, if Parlia- 
 ment had not brought our transactions to light, mankind would 
 have been ignorant of what has been done. In short, they 
 appear very envious and jealous of my influence, and give ear to 
 every idle story of my being hostile towards them. Everything 
 looks as if we were not upon good terms. They have even 
 asked my opinion upon their affairs in such a mean, sneaking 
 manner, that I have informed one of them, unless I am applied 
 to in form, and unless more attention be paid to my advice, 
 I shall decline giving any whatsoever. Thus stand matters at 
 present ; but how long they may remain so I know not, nor 
 what changes may happen at the next election. 
 
 " From the manner in which I carried the extension of the 
 jaghire, I conclude the Directors will pay more attention to my 
 opinions than they lately did ; but it will be rather through fear 
 than inclination. They desired, and I consented to a confer- 
 ence with them, and intended going to London from Shropshire 
 on purpose ; but my health has obliged me to come to Bath, 
 where I daily expect a deputation to consult on many important 
 points, which the gentlemen themselves cannot readily deter- 
 mine upon."
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] STATE OF CLIVE'S HEALTH. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Lord Clive in Europe His state of Health Progress of Public Opinion. 
 
 LORD OLIVE'S health was quite broken down before he quitted 
 India. The sea-voyage appeared, indeed, somewhat to recruit 
 his strength : but he had not been many weeks in England ere 
 the unfavourable symptoms returned with such violence that his 
 physicians were induced to order an immediate and entire with- 
 drawal from business. Doubtless the advice was good in the 
 abstract, for maladies of the nature of those with which Clive 
 was affected admit of no cure so long as the mind is at work, or 
 in agitation. Yet in this particular instance it may be doubted 
 whether both mind and body would not have better recovered 
 their tone had there been found for the former some sub- 
 ject agreeable to its tastes, on which to occupy itself in 
 moderation. Men who have passed their youth and the best 
 years of their maturity in the turmoil of public life take but ill 
 with absolute idleness ; and Clive, though he had achieved a 
 European reputation for himself, and conquered kingdoms, was 
 yet Joarely in the 43rd year of his age. There was no refusing, 
 however, to act as the faculty advised, and Clive retired, first to 
 his house of Walcot, in Shropshire, and next to Bath, where he 
 drank the waters. But neither the air of Walcot nor the 
 mineral springs of Bath produced the effect which had been 
 expected from them. He could not be prevailed upon to lay 
 aside his interest in public affairs ; and the medical men, looking 
 partly to that circumstance, and partly hoping something from 
 an entire change of climate and scene, ordered him to go 
 abroad. He set out, attended by Lady Clive and Mr. Latham, 
 a relative of Lady Clive, by Mr. Maskelyne, her brother, Mr. 
 Strachey, and his own physician Mr. Langham ; and so entirely 
 was the experiment successful at the outset, that sanguine hopes 
 were entertained in regard to the future. The opium which he
 
 272 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP, xxvii. 
 
 was accustomed to take in large doses was gradually diminished ; 
 and, though never absolutely laid aside, its distressing effects 
 upon the moral being of the man became continually less per- 
 ceptible. The party proceeded to Paris, where, a few days after 
 his arrival, Lord Clive wrote in excellent spirits to Mr. Verelst. 
 " I am certain it will give you infinite pleasure," he says, " to 
 hear of my safe arrival at this place, and of my recovery beyond 
 what either my friends or myself could have expected in so short 
 a time. The remedy, I believe, was found out before I left 
 England ; but the travelling and climate have undoubtedly done 
 me much good. In short, by the time I have spent a few 
 months in the south of France, and drank the waters of Spa, I 
 doubt not of enjoying a better state of health than I have done 
 for some years. 
 
 " I cannot but acknowledge that my recovery gives me a 
 more particular pleasure from the prospect I have of exerting 
 myself in favour of the Company next winter, a time very 
 critical for them indeed, since it will then ^be finally deter- 
 mined upon what footing they are to be in future ; whether a 
 part, or the whole, or none of the power be lodged in them 
 hereafter. Let me tell you in secret, that I have the King's 
 command to lay before him my ideas of the Company's affairs 
 both at home and abroad, with a promise of his countenance and 
 protection in everything I might attempt for the good of the 
 nation and the Company. Mr. Grenville also, who, I think, 
 must be minister at last, paid me a visit at Berkeley Square, two 
 days before I left London, and did me the honour to say, that, 
 in his opinion, it was the duty of the Court of Directors to let 
 no steps whatever be taken, either at home or abroad, without 
 my advice : and to assure me that either in ministry or out of it, 
 he would preach that doctrine in the House of Commons." 
 
 It will be seen from this letter that Lord Clive's friendship 
 for Mr. George Grenville had not grown cold. Though far 
 inferior in every respect as a statesman to Lord Chatham, and 
 filling a less important place as the leader of a party than Lord 
 Rockingham, George Grenville, through the influence of per- 
 sonal character and an engaging manner, was still the nucleus 
 round which a considerable section of the House of Commons 
 rallied ; and Clive, won by the attentions which, while yet com-
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] CLIVE RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 273 
 
 paratively obscure, he had received from Mr. Grenville, conti- 
 nued to the hour of his friend's death to support him with every 
 vote which he could command. The general election, which 
 took place in the spring of this year, enabled him to strengthen 
 Mr. Grenville's hands considerably ; for by great exertion he 
 added another seat to the number of which he had already ob- 
 tained the command. But the excitement thence arising, as well 
 as the anticipation of an Indian discussion in the approaching 
 session, rendered him impatient of a longer continuance abroad. 
 He had proceeded from Paris to Lyons, and from Lyons to 
 Montpelier, where he resided some time. He afterwards re- 
 turned to Paris, and going on to Spa drank the waters with 
 advantage. But the listlessness attending an existence such as 
 this became by degrees intolerable to him. Though earnestly 
 entreated to abide where he was till the rigour of the winter 
 should have passed, he would not listen to the suggestion. 
 He desired to take his seat in Parliament. He was quite 
 equal to business ; he considered that life itself was not worth 
 having if the attempt to prolong it must entail the necessity 
 of doing nothing. He therefore gave orders for preparations 
 to be made for an immediate departure ; and in the month either 
 of August or September he and his party returned to England. 
 He plunged at once into the vortex of public life, and suffered 
 for doing so. The violence of party in the Court of Proprietors, 
 from which he could not be prevailed upon to stand aloof, chafed 
 him exceedingly. He delivered his sentiments in language which, 
 without gratifying his friends, neither conciliated nor controlled 
 an enemy. His views were for the most part masterly and com- 
 prehensive ; but, accustomed to give the law abroad, his irritable 
 temper could not be brought to sustain the wear and tear of argu- 
 ment and persuasion at home. His friend, Mr. Grenville, depre- 
 cated such a needless waste both of energy and influence ; and 
 the power which he possessed over the mind of Lord Clive was 
 never more clearly shown than by the result which attended this 
 remonstrance. The question before the Court had reference to a 
 projected bill in Parliament for the better regulation of the 
 Company's affairs, and the settlement of the part which the 
 Crown should take in their management. It was agitated with 
 all the warmth which comes rather of personal attachments and 
 
 T
 
 274 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvn. 
 
 antipathies than from a regard to the general good ; and Lord 
 Clive, than whom no man ever loved or hated more in extremes, 
 threw himself unreservedly into the struggle. He was cautioned 
 against the process by Mr. Grenville with a delicacy and good 
 sense which carried the point. " The account which you have 
 sent to me of what passed at the last Court," he writes on the 
 29th December, 1768, " is of itself a sufficient reason, in my 
 opinion, for your declining to attend at the next, while things 
 are in the state of uncertainty and irregularity in which they 
 appear to me ; and therefore, even if your health would allow it 
 (the establishment of which must be with me and all your friends 
 superior to every other consideration), yet I should not advise 
 you to interfere in these questions till they come nearer to an 
 issue. If these disputes shall be carried to greater lengths, your 
 opinion will have still greater weight both within doors and 
 without ; if, on the contrary, they shall all be agreed and settled 
 before the next meeting, I do not see that your interposition will 
 be attended with any credit to you or advantage to the public. 
 If this great question is to be brought before the Parliament, 
 \vitli everything in a state of uncertainty, as it was last year, as 
 you truly observe that it may be necessary to take some part 
 there, it seems to me that it would be more desirable for you to 
 keep yourself at liberty in that case, and not to pledge yourself 
 beforehand to no purpose at a General Court." 
 
 Lord Clive so far acted upon this advice, that his personal 
 attendance in the Court of Proprietors became rare ; but the 
 politics of India filled his mind ; and to think continually on any 
 subject, yet to deal with it in the spirit of a philosopher, was not 
 in his nature. He bestirred himself, therefore, to retain a pre- 
 ponderating influence in the Court and elsewhere, and gave back 
 the blows which Mr. Sulivan and his adherents dealt forth on 
 every occasion with interest. The consequence was, that through 
 the columns of the newspapers, and by means of innumerable 
 pamphlets, the public had received impressions of a great na- 
 tional subject which were as unjust as they were illiberal. Men 
 fighting for supremacy in the management of the Company's 
 affairs, scrupled not to blacken and defame one another before a 
 wider audience ; till by and by the very name of a Nabob and 
 such was the generic title bestowed at this time on all persons
 
 CHAP, xxvu.] THE NABOBS. r 275 
 
 who had made fortunes in India and returned to spend them in 
 England came to be associated with images of oppression and 
 cruelty abroad, and intolerable insolence and the most unscrupu- 
 lous corruption at home. 
 
 There was little need, on the part of these gentlemen, to raise 
 up a feeling in society unfriendly to themselves ; causes enough 
 were already at work to bring them into general disrepute, 
 which, had they been less under the guidance of passion, and 
 more swayed by reason, they would have laboured rather to 
 assuage than to aggravate ; for the Nabob of the last century 
 was a very different sort of person from his representative in our 
 own days. Now, the young man who goes to India, whether in 
 the civil or military service of the Company, may consider him- 
 self fortunate if he return at the end of 20 or 30 years master of 
 a moderate competency. You find him, in this case, either settled 
 near some country town in Scotland, or it may be in Devonshire 
 or Cornwall ; or else seeking out his kind in the recesses of Port- 
 man-street or St. John's Wood, where he may share his curry 
 and his claret with such friends as have escaped, like himself, the 
 ravages of fever and cholera, and varying the scene by occa- 
 sional visits to the Oriental Club. Here and there, indeed, an 
 individual more fortunate than the rest may bring back with him 
 some 80 or 100,000/., the result of 40 years' savings ; but 
 100,000/., though amply sufficient for all the comforts and 
 many of the elegancies of life, do not supply, in this country at 
 least, the means of extravagant display. The case was widely 
 different 80 or 90 years ago. Then London was astonished by 
 finding men thrown day after day upon its surface of whom no- 
 thing more was known than that they had gone out to India a 
 few years previously as writers or volunteers, and were now rich 
 enough to outshine both Lord Mayor and Prime Minister. More- 
 over, nobody could tell either their lineage or their personal 
 merit. Their wealth was indeed as notorious as their manner of 
 using it was offensive ; for they bought up the country houses 
 and estates of a decayed nobility, and became, as a matter of 
 course, the objects of dislike and envy to their neighbours. But 
 how they had acquired the means of thus supplanting their bet- 
 ters nobody could tell. Their manners, also, and many of their 
 habits, offended the more delicate tastes of the aristocracy. They 
 
 T2
 
 276 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvn. 
 
 strove to command admission into a class of society which re- 
 pelled them, perhaps the more carefully, because it was felt that 
 in point of expenditure they were far ahead of it. They were 
 slighted, and they repaid the slight by more and more endea- 
 vouring to outvie the parties which affected to look down upon 
 them. Indeed they did more. They disputed the representation 
 of counties with families which had been accustomed time out of 
 mind to name the members, and bought up boroughs to an extent 
 which put the landed interests, long accustomed to a monopoly 
 in that species of traffic, to their wits' end. People of yesterday 
 mere successful adventurers, whom nobody knew, whom every- 
 body envied were pretty sure, in an age so entirely aristocratic, 
 to draw down upon themselves a tolerable load of unpopularity ; 
 and when they began mutually to charge one another with the 
 commission of enormous crimes, unpopularity soon deepened into 
 general execration. Mr. Macaulay, in one of his collected es- 
 says, has well described the progress of the social hurricane : 
 
 " The Nabobs," he says, " soon became a most unpopular 
 class of men. Some of them had in the East displayed eminent 
 talents, and rendered great services to the state ; but at home 
 their talents were not shown to advantage, and their services 
 were little known. That they had sprung from obscurity, that 
 they had acquired great wealth, that they exhibited it insolently, 
 that they spent it extravagantly, that they raised the price of 
 everything in their neighbourhood, from fresh eggs to rotten 
 boroughs ; that their liveries outshone those of dukes, that their 
 coaches were finer than that of the Lord Mayor, that the ex- 
 amples of their large and ill-governed households corrupted half 
 the servants in the country ; that some of them, with all their 
 magnificence, could not catch the tone of good society, but, in 
 spite of the stud and the crowd of menials, of the plate and the 
 Dresden china, of the venison and the Burgundy, were still low 
 men ; these were things which excited, both in the class from 
 which they had sprung and in that into which they attempted to 
 force themselves, the bitter aversion which is the effect of mingled 
 envy and contempt. But when it was also rumoured that the 
 fortune which had enabled its possessor to eclipse the Lord-Lieu- 
 tenant on the race-ground, or to carry the county against the 
 head of a house as old as ' Domesday Book,' had been accumu-
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] THE NABOBS. 277 
 
 lated by violating public faith by deposing legitimate princes, 
 by reducing whole provinces to beggary all the higher and 
 better as well as all the low and evil parts of human nature were 
 stirred against the wretch who had obtained, by guilt and dis- 
 honour, the riches which he now lavished with arrogant and ine- 
 legant profusion. The unfortunate Nabob seemed to be made 
 up of those foibles against which comedy has pointed the most 
 merciless ridicule, and of those crimes which have thrown the 
 deepest gloom over tragedy of Turcaret and Nero, of Monsieur 
 Jourdain and Richard the Third. A tempest of execration and 
 derision, such as can be compared only to that outbreak of public 
 feeling against the Puritans which took place at the time of the 
 Restoration, burst on the servants of the Company. The hu- 
 mane man was horror-struck at the way in which they had got 
 their money, the thrifty man at the way in which they spent it. 
 The dilettante sneered at their want of taste. The maccaroni 
 black-balled them as vulgar fellows. Writers the most unlike 
 in sentiment and style Methodists and libertines, philosophers 
 and buffoons were for once on the same side. It is hardly too 
 much to say, that, during a space of about thirty years, the 
 whole lighter literature of England was coloured by the feelings 
 which we have described. Foote brought on the stage an Anglo- 
 Indian chief, dissolute, ungenerous, and tyrannical, ashamed of 
 the humble friends of his youth, hating the aristocracy, yet child- 
 ishly eager to be numbered among them, squandering his wealth 
 on pandars and flatterers, tricking out his chairmen with the 
 most costly hot-house flowers, and astounding the ignorant with 
 jargon about rupees, lacs, and jaghires. Mackenzie, with more 
 delicate humour, depicted a plain country family raised by the 
 Indian acquisitions of one of its members to sudden opulence, and 
 exciting derision by an awkward mimicry of the manners of the 
 great. Cowper, in that lofty expostulation which glows with the 
 very spirit of the Hebrew poets, placed the oppression of India 
 foremost in the list of those national crimes for which God had 
 punished England with years of disastrous war, with discomfiture 
 in her own seas, and with the loss of her transatlantic empire. 
 If any of our readers will take the trouble to search in the dusty 
 recesses of circulating libraries for some novel published sixty
 
 278 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvn. 
 
 years ago, the chance is that the villain or sub-villain of the story 
 will prove to be a savage old Nabob, with an immense fortune, a 
 tawny complexion, a bad liver, and a worse heart." 
 
 In the feeling thus raised against his class Clive shared to a 
 more than ordinary extent. He was by far the most conspicuous 
 of his order the ablest, the most celebrated, the wealthiest, 
 the highest in rank. In the boundless expense of his style of 
 living he outshone them all. He dispensed the hospitality of a 
 prince at his mansion in Berkeley Square. He had built one 
 palace on his estate in Shropshire ; and having recently pur- 
 chased Claremont of the Duchess of Newcastle, he began forth- 
 with to erect another there. His family residence at Styche, 
 enlarged and beautified, was generally occupied by some of his 
 relatives ; and now, as if a man of his consequence could not, 
 without degradation, occupy lodgings in a watering place, he 
 obtained at an enormous price the lease of Lord Chatham's house 
 in Bath. His munificence, likewise, to relatives, and even to 
 friends, offended because of the scale on which it was dispensed. 
 It was natural, perhaps, that he should desire to draw up bro- 
 thers, sisters, and cousins into his own sphere ; and if the posses- 
 sion of ample means had been sufficient to give them place and 
 weight in society, they might have secured both. But defects 
 of manner which society might have overlooked in Lord Clive 
 were sneered at and censured in his relatives ; and the sneer 
 glanced off, as it is apt in such cases to do, most unfairly upon 
 his lordship. To Mr. Wedderburn, afterwards Lord Chancellor 
 Loughborough, of his connexion with whom I shall have occa- 
 sion to speak by and by, he made a present of a mansion and the 
 grounds attached to it in Surrey ; in order, as he said, that he 
 might, when residing at Claremont, have an agreeable neighbour 
 near him. Now the world is not very tolerant, under any cir- 
 cumstances, either of the wealth which enables an individual 
 thus to heap favours upon others, or of the disposition which 
 urges him so to use it ; and if, as in this instance, the man be 
 the founder of his own fortunes, he becomes a ready butt for the 
 shafts of the envious to hit against. Accordingly there is no 
 end to the frightful and incredible tales of atrocities committed 
 in distant lands which soon began to circulate concerning Clive.
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] POPULAR RUMOURS CONCERNING CLIVE. 279 
 
 Not the aristocracy alone, but all classes of people drank them 
 in ; and to such a height was the prejudice carried, that the very 
 helpers in his own stables, and the labouring- people who worked 
 at his houses and on his farms, came at last to look upon him 
 with terror. Mr. Macaulay, quoting Boswell's ' Life of John- 
 son,' tells us that Brown, the celebrated landscape-gardener of 
 that day, whom " Clive employed to lay out his pleasure- 
 grounds, was amazed to see in his house a chest which had 
 once been filled with gold from the treasury of Moorshedabad, 
 and could not understand how the conscience of the criminal 
 could suffer him to sleep with such an object so near to his 
 bed-chamber." From the same authority we learn that u the 
 peasantry of Surrey looked with mysterious horror on the stately 
 house which was rising at Claremont, and whispered that the 
 great wicked lord had ordered the walls to be made so thick in 
 order to keep out the devil, who would one day carry him away 
 bodily." And it is well known that William Huntingdon, one 
 of the most successful of the impostors who have from time to 
 time abused the credulity of the lower orders in this coun- 
 try, made Lord Clive the frequent subject of his revelations. 
 Clive never heard of many of the rumours that circulated con- 
 cerning him, and would have treated them with contempt had 
 they been chronicled in his presence ; nevertheless he could 
 scarcely be ignorant that beyond the circle of his immediate 
 relatives and connexions he was the reverse of popular ; and to 
 feel that we are not esteemed in society has little tendency to 
 soften our manners or enlarge our sympathies. Lord Clive 
 lived with much ostentation. His entertainments were sump- 
 tuous, his equipages brilliant, his style of dress extravagantly 
 rich ; yet somehow or another they failed to win the favour 
 even of those to whom they were most freely exhibited. The 
 truth is, that his lordship's manner and personal appearance were 
 both against him. Generally reserved, often silent, and, as it 
 appeared, absorbed in thought, he impressed the casual observer 
 with an idea that some load lay on his mind from which he could 
 not shake himself free ; while even in his lighter moments there 
 was an awkwardness about his mirth which rendered it the re- 
 verse of infectious. We know that these were in a great mea-
 
 280 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvn. 
 
 sure the results of a physical malady to which from boyhood he 
 had been more or less subject ; but the world, which grudged 
 him his wealth, and hated him on account of his glory, took a 
 different view of the subject. However, events were already in 
 progress which should call once more into active operation his 
 talent and energies ; and of these it has become my business to 
 give a brief account.
 
 CHAP, xxviii.] POSITION IN PARLIAMENT. 231 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Clive's position in Parliament and at the India House Bad news from 
 
 India. s 
 
 IN the month of October, 1768, Lord Chatham resigned his 
 office of privy seal. A reconciliation immediately took place 
 between him and Lord Temple ; and Lord Rockingham and Mr. 
 George Grenville sinking in like manner their differences, the 
 opposition, which had heretofore been powerless on account of 
 intestine divisions, became very formidable. A great deal of 
 shifting and jobbing r " occurred, as it usually does, in such cases ; 
 and amid the heats of debate the hangers-on for place hardly 
 knew to what party it might be prudent to attach themselves. 
 Of this class was Mr. Wedderburn, a gentleman of a good 
 border family, and more than respectable talents, whom mo- 
 tives of ambition had urged to exchange the Scotch for the 
 English bar, where he attained to considerable eminence. At- 
 tached originally to Lord Bute, and passing over by and by to 
 Mr. Pitt, he had been one of the most noisy of the advocates of 
 John Wilkes, and subsided, as the stir on account of that dema- 
 gogue grew slack, into an adherent of the Grenville section of 
 the opposition. Amid the confusion incident to the breaking up 
 of parties in 1768, Mr. Wedderburn was required by his patron 
 Lord Bute to relinquish his seat for the Rothesay boroughs. In 
 this emergency Lord Clive, who was aware of Mr. Wedderburn's 
 value, wrote to Mr. Grenville, and proposed, if agreeable to his 
 friend, that he would return him to Parliament. The offer was 
 accepted with gratitude both by Mr. Grenville and Mr. "Wed- 
 derburn ; and from that day forth there grew up between the 
 patron and the client a firm union. That the former dealt with 
 the latter in a liberal spirit throughout, is shown by the tenor of 
 their whole correspondence. He appears to have left him at 
 liberty, on all subjects and on every occasion, to speak and to
 
 282 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP, xxvin. 
 
 vote as his own judgment might direct ; and Wedderburn, to do 
 him justice, continued a steady supporter of the Grenville party 
 as long as George Grenville lived. But the death of this latter 
 gentleman in November, 1770, appeared to free Mr. Wedder- 
 burn from all ties except those which a regard to his own inte- 
 rests might create; and he began immediately to coquet with 
 the minister, under whom he eventually accepted office as Soli- 
 citor-General. The letters which passed between him and Lord 
 Clive at the commencement of this change of view on his part 
 are too characteristic to be omitted. On the 14th of November, 
 1770, Mr. Wedderburn having just learned that their mutual 
 friend Mr. Grenville was dead, wrote as follows: 
 
 " My dear Lord, The misfortune we dreaded has at last hap- 
 pened. I could not prevail upon myself to send you the first 
 account of it, knowing from my own experience how much you 
 would feel upon such an occasion. I had it immediately in my 
 view for three days together, and yet I was shocked with the 
 event that I had expected. 
 
 " I am not able to send you any distinct account of the open- 
 ing of the Parliament, for I have not yet been in the House of 
 Commons ; and if people would impute my absence to its true 
 cause, a real indifference to all that passes there at present, I 
 should continue for some time in the same ignorance. Mr. 
 Woodfall has done me the honour of making me refuse an office 
 that never was offered to me. If it had, your lordship will do 
 me the justice to believe, that you would not have received the 
 first intimation of it from a newspaper. Whatever part I may 
 take in this conjuncture will never be decided without the fullest 
 communication with you ; and I am persuaded your lordship's 
 sentiments upon the present unfortunate occasion are so similar to 
 those I feel, that no circumstance is likely to make us think dif- 
 ferently. It is possible, I believe, even in these times, for a man 
 to acquire some degree of credit without being enlisted in any 
 party ; and if it is, the situation, I am sure, is more eligible than 
 any other that either a court or an opposition have to bestow. 
 
 " If Bath agrees with your lordship, as I trust it does, I 
 should not wish to see you in town ; but I very much wish that 
 it were in my power to make you a visit at Bath : I should then 
 have the pleasure of hearing your sentiments upon the present
 
 CHAP, xxviii.] CLIVE'S LETTER TO WEDDERBURN. 283 
 
 state of affairs, which I assure you, without any sort of compli- 
 ment, but in the plainest sincerity, will always have more weight 
 with me than perhaps you will wish them to have ; and I should 
 likewise have the good fortune to escape hearing the sentiments 
 of people who, in this town, have no other employment than to 
 speculate for their neighbours. 
 " Lincoln's Inn Fields, 
 " 14th November, 1770." 
 
 To this communication Lord Clive replied in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " Bath, 18th November, 1770. 
 
 " Dear Sir, If the receipt of your very obliging and confi- 
 dential letter had not roused me, I doubt much whether I should 
 have prevailed upon myself to put pen to paper, though there is 
 something within that tells me I shall at last overcome a disorder 
 so very distressing both to the mind (and to the body). Al- 
 though the waters agree with me better than any place I have 
 yet tried, yet by my feelings a journey abroad, I fear, must be 
 undertaken before I can obtain a perfect recovery of my health. 
 
 " Mr. Grenville's death, though long expected, could not but 
 affect me very severely. Gratitude first bound me to him : a 
 more intimate connexion afterwards gave an opportunity of ad- 
 miring his abilities, and respecting bis worth and integrity. The 
 dissolution of our valuable friend has shipwrecked all our hopes 
 for the present ; and my indisposition hath not only made me 
 indifferent [to the world of politics], but to the world in general. 
 What effect returning health may have I cannot answer for ; 
 but if I can judge for myself in my present situation, I wish to 
 support that independency which will be approved of by my 
 friends in particular, and by the public in general. My senti- 
 ments are the same as yours, with regard to our conduct in the 
 present times. 
 
 " Your delicacy towards me serves only to convince me of 
 the propriety of my conduct in leaving you the absolute master 
 of your own conduct in Parliament, free from all control but 
 that of your own judgment, and I am happy in this opportunity. 
 3Tour great and uncommon abilities must sooner or later place 
 you in one of the first posts of this kingdom ; and you may be
 
 284 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP, xxvin. 
 
 assured no man on earth wishes to see your honour and your in- 
 dependency firmly established more than I." 
 
 The tone of the preceding letter sufficiently indicates that, in 
 regard to the general politics of the empire, Lord Olive had 
 never become in any sense a party man. Views of his own t 
 he doubtless entertained as to the wisdom of the measures which 
 were in progress to restrain the colonies ; and his letter, else- 
 where quoted, on the subject of the defences of Brazil, shows 
 that even the foreign relations of the country were not indifferent 
 to him. But it was in India, and the manner of its administra- 
 tion, that his interest wholly centered. Amid the disruption of 
 parties, therefore, he thought only of the effect which the 
 ascendency of one or the other was likely to have upon the 
 Company's affairs ; and nowise doubting that Mr. Wedderburn 
 would on this question of questions speak and vote as he wished, 
 he left him free on every other, either to serve in the ranks of 
 the opposition, as heretofore, or to pass over to the minister. 
 It was one of dive's greatest misfortunes to have thus sur- 
 rendered up his energies to a single subject. The importance of 
 India to the British nation is but imperfectly understood even 
 now ; at the period when Lord Clive lived and took the lead in 
 Indian discussions, it was not understood at all. Hence he, who 
 stood aloof watching the course which events might take, and 
 ready to support whatever party should do justice, according to 
 his view of the case, to India and its rulers, found himself, in the 
 hour of difficulty or need, without any party at all to support 
 him. Had Mr. Grenville lived, the chances are, that of Olive's 
 persecution in the House of Commons I should have had no tale 
 to tell. The occurrence of that misfortune left him to sustain 
 single-handed the attacks of enemies as unscrupulous as they 
 were implacable ; and the results of the struggle, though in the 
 main honourable to his character, he never entirely overcame. 
 
 Of the agreement to which, in 1767, the Court of Directors 
 had come with the King's Government Lord Clive never ap- 
 proved. He was averse to all half measures ; and though it is by 
 no means impossible that a well-digested plan for transferring 
 the territorial sovereignty of British India to the Crown would 
 have met with his support, of the sort of compromise to which 
 the Court assented he always spoke as a discreditable arrange-
 
 CHAP, xxvin.] POSITION AT THE INDIA HOUSE. 285 
 
 ment. He was still more averse to the proposed measure of 
 1768-9, and spoke against it in the House of Commons, as he him- 
 self says, " with some applause, but all to no purpose." Now, it was 
 an object with the Government, pressed on every side for money, 
 to secure for a term of five years an annual subsidy of 400,000/. 
 or 500,0007. from the Company. They therefore resented Lord 
 Clive's opposition exceedingly, and threw the whole weight of 
 their influence into the scale of his rival, Mr. Sulivan. In 
 April, 1769, an election of Directors took place. The same 
 measures for securing a majority of votes which Clive had on a 
 former occasion adopted were now used without stint on the 
 opposite side ; and the result was the triumphant return of Mr. 
 Sulivan and a majority of his friends to the Direction. To de- 
 scribe the events that followed belongs rather to the historian 
 of the East India Company than to the biographer of Clive. 
 Whatever the Government sought was conceded ; and the 
 attempt to invest Mr. Vansittart with the authority of Governor- 
 General having failed, a new commission was created, of which 
 he became a member, and of which the powers were without 
 limits. Nor indeed were Lord Clive's enemies in the Direction 
 without a plausible excuse for the decided step thus taken. The 
 reports received from India by every ship continued to be less 
 and less favourable ; and they who hated Clive were glad at the 
 opportunity of alleging that the root of the evil lay in the 
 arrangements which he had effected for its government. Hence 
 a commission of supervisors was made out, with power to inquire 
 on the spot into every department of public affairs as well as 
 into the conduct of all public officers ; to suspend, if necessary, 
 even the Presidents and Councils of the different settlements, 
 and to frame such regulations as should to them appear suitable 
 to the exigences of each. It is well known that the gentlemen 
 nominated to act on this important commission never reached 
 the scene of their proposed labours. The ship in which they 
 took their passage, the " Aurora " frigate, was last heard of as 
 touching at the Cape of Good Hope. She spoke no vessel after- 
 wards, nor visited any port either in South America or Asia, and 
 doubtless foundered at sea. 
 
 Lord Clive was greatly annoyed by the issues of this con- 
 troversy in the India House. His vexation received no salve
 
 286 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvm. 
 
 from the renewed strife of 1770 and 1771 ; for Mr. Sulivan's 
 party continued in the ascendant; and public prejudice, guided 
 by the exertions of that cunning individual, ran with increased 
 violence against his Lordship. The tidings from India likewise 
 became daily more alarming. Hyder AH laid the Carnatic 
 waste ; and in Bengal Sujah Dowlah, the Viceroy of Oude, was 
 become an object of great alarm. Besides, the framework of 
 internal administration was falling to pieces. Mr. Verelst, too 
 good-natured to keep the curb on his subordinates as he ought 
 to have done, retired in January, 1770, and was succeeded by 
 Mr. Cartier, from whose feeble hands the reins of government 
 may be said to have fallen altogether. Both these gentlemen 
 permitted the expenses of their local establishments to increase 
 to such an extent that, instead of being able to remit the surplus 
 of the revenues of the provinces to London, they were forced to 
 draw heavy bills upon the Court of Directors, and even then 
 declared that the country could not support itself. Of course 
 they did not stop to explain that all these fresh outlays that all 
 this absurd interference of individuals with the internal trade of 
 the provinces was in direct violation of the rules of govern- 
 ment which Lord CHve had laid down. On the contrary, they 
 alluded to them either as necessary precautions, or as mere 
 matters of routine, while they dwelt with greater show of 
 reason on the effects of the terrible famine which began about 
 this time to desolate the whole valley of the Ganges. It was 
 hard upon Lord Clive that to him should be attributed the 
 blame not only of blunders which he neither committed nor 
 sanctioned, but of the consequences of that failure of rain 
 against which no human forethought could have provided ; 
 nevertheless such was his fate. The newspapers, which teemed 
 with accounts of the sufferings of the Bengalese, which told of 
 the earth parched up of lakes empty of rivers dried in their 
 beds and people dying by thousands seldom failed to conclude 
 their most exciting sketches by references to the tyranny and 
 rapacity of the man who had drained a kingdom in order to fill 
 his own coffers, and was now insulting the British people by the 
 ostentatious display of wealth stained by the blood of thousands. 
 These wicked insinuations were not thrown away either upon the 
 friends or the enemies of him who was the subject of them. The
 
 CHAP, xxvni.] CLIVE'S LETTER TO HASTINGS. 287 
 
 former affected to treat them lightly ; the latter cherished them 
 up ; and by and by, when they conceived that the public mind 
 was ripe for the movement, they did their best to make use of 
 them. 
 
 Meanwhile, though there was general corruption in Bengal, 
 individuals were to be found there, high in office, who deprecated 
 the abuses which they lacked authority to restrain. Among 
 these Mr. Sykes deserves to be particularized. He early saw 
 and lamented the unfitness of Lord dive's successors for the 
 trust which had been reposed in them, and has the merit of 
 having been one of the first of Indian statesmen to urge the ad- 
 vancement of Mr. Hastings to high station. He wrote to Lord 
 Clive on this subject so early as March, 1768. But Hastings 
 had attached himself to that party in the Direction of which 
 Mr. Sulivan and Mr. Vansittart were the chiefs ; and Clive, 
 however ready he might be to bear testimony to the great ability 
 of the candidate, could not bring himself directly to support the 
 friend of his personal enemies. He seems, however, to have 
 offered no opposition to Mr. Hastings's appointment to be second 
 in Council at Madras ; and consented, after the loss of the 
 " Aurora," to his removal, in 1771, as Governor to Bengal. I 
 cannot deny to my readers the satisfaction of perusing the letter 
 which Lord Clive addressed on this occasion to the statesman 
 whose merits, as the conservator of British India, must be con- 
 sidered as only second if indeed they be second to those of the 
 soldier who acquired it. 
 
 " Berkeley- Square, 1st August, 1771. 
 
 " Dear Sir, " The despatch of the ' Lapwing ' gives me an early 
 opportunity of congratulating with you on your removal to 
 Bengal ; and as my zeal for the service actuated me to take the 
 share I did in your appointment, the same principle prevails 
 upon me to offer you a few of my ideas upon the important 
 Government in which you now preside. 
 
 " Two or three months ago, when the plan of Supervisors was 
 renewed, Sir George Colebrooke and Mr. Purling desired my 
 opinion. My advice was, that, as the prosperity of the Company 
 was now become a matter of very serious national concern, it 
 behoved them to show that, in appointments of this nature, they
 
 288 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxvm. 
 
 were guided, not by the view of particular friends, but merely 
 by that zeal which the duty of their station demanded, for pre- 
 serving and rendering permanent our possessions in India: and 
 that, therefore, they should turn their thoughts towards men 
 who stood high in public character and reputation. I proposed 
 Mr. Wedderburn, Mr. Cornwall, and Sir Jeffrey Amherst, to- 
 gether with you, as Governor, and one of the Council ; and that 
 these five should be invested with all the powers civil and 
 military. Sir Jeffrey Amherst, however, declined. As to the 
 two former, they might be prevailed upon ; but the Directors 
 do not seem ready to embrace any great comprehensive plan of 
 supervisorship, so as to make it an object for men of such conse- 
 quence. My last proposition was, that the Company should 
 revert to the plan of my Government, viz. that a Committee of 
 five should be appointed out of the best and ablest men in Bengal, 
 of whom the Governor should be the head ; and this, I imagine, 
 will be adopted. 
 
 " The situation of affairs requires that you should be very 
 circumspect and active. You are appointed Governor at a very 
 critical time, when things are suspected to be almost at the 
 worst, and when a general apprehension prevails of the mis- 
 management of the Company's affairs. The last Parliamentary 
 inquiry has thrown the whole state of India before the public, 
 and every man sees clearly, that as matters are now conducted 
 abroad, the Company will not long be able to pay the 400,0001. 
 to Government. The late dreadful famine, or a war, either 
 with Sujah-u-Dowlah or the Mahrattas, will plunge us into 
 still deeper distress. A discontented nation and disappointed 
 Minister will then call to account a weak and pusillanimous 
 Court of Directors, who will turn the blow from themselves 
 upon their agents abroad ; and the consequences must be ruinous 
 both to the Company and the servants. In this situation you 
 see the necessity of exerting yourself in time, provided the 
 Directors give you proper powers, without which, I confess, you 
 can do nothing ; for self-interest or ignorance will obstruct 
 every plan you can form for the public good. 
 
 " You are upon the spot, and will learn my conduct from 
 disinterested persons ; and I wish your government to be 
 attended, as mine was, with success to the Company, and with
 
 CHAP, xxvni.] CLIVE'S LETTER TO HASTINGS. 289 
 
 the consciousness of having discharged every duty with firmness 
 and fidelity. Be impartial and just to the public, regardless of 
 the interests of individuals, where the honour of the nation and 
 the real advantage of the Company are at stake, and resolute in 
 carrying into execution your determination, which I hope will at 
 all times be rather founded upon your own opinion than that of 
 others. 
 
 " The business of politics and finance being so extensive, the 
 Committee should not be embarrassed with private concerns. 
 They ought not, therefore, to be allowed to trade. But their 
 emoluments ought to be so large as to render trade unnecessary 
 to the attainment of a competent fortune. For this purpose I 
 am confident the salt will prove very sufficient. The Society 
 should be formed upon an improvement of the plan which was 
 not perfected in my time. The price to the natives was too 
 great, and so was the advantage to the servants. Reduce both, 
 and I am persuaded there will be no complaint of oppression on 
 the one hand, or want of emolument on the other. 
 
 " The Company's servants should all have a subsistence, but 
 every idea of raising a fortune, till they are entitled to it by 
 some years' service, ought to be suppressed. If a general system 
 of economy could be introduced, it would be happy for indi- 
 viduals as well as for the public. The expenses of the Company 
 in Bengal are hardly to be supported. Great savings, I am 
 certain, may be made. Bills for fortifications, cantonments, 
 contracts, &c. must be abolished, together with every extrava- 
 gant charge for travelling, diet, parade, and pomp of subor- 
 dinates. In short, by economy alone the Company may yet 
 preserve its credit and affluence. 
 
 " With regard to political measures, they are to be taken 
 according to the occasion. When danger arises, every precau- 
 tion must be made use of, but at the same time you must be 
 prepared to meet and encounter it. This you must do with 
 cheerfulness and confidence, never entertaining a thought of mis- 
 carrying till the misfortune actually happens ; and even then 
 you are not to despair, but be constantly contriving and carrying 
 into execution schemes for retrieving affairs; always flattering 
 yourself with an opinion that time and perseverance will get the 
 better of every thing. 
 
 u
 
 290 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP, xxvni. 
 
 " From tlie little knowledge I have of you I am convinced that 
 you have not only abilities and personal resolution, but integrity, 
 and moderation with regard to riches; but I thought I dis- 
 covered in you a diffidence in your own judgment, and too great 
 an easiness of disposition, which may subject you insensibly to 
 be led where you ought to guide. Another evil which may 
 arise from it is, that you may pay too great an attention to the 
 reports of the natives, and be inclined to look upon things in the 
 worst, instead of the best, light. A proper confidence in your- 
 self, and never-failing hope of success, will be a bar to this and 
 every other ill that your situation is liable to ; and, as I am 
 sure that you are not wanting in abilities for the great office of 
 Governor, I must add that an opportunity is now given you of 
 making yourself one of the most distinguished characters of this 
 country. 
 
 " I perceive I have been very free in delivering my senti- 
 ments ; but to make an apology were to contradict the opinion I 
 profess to have of your understanding, and to doubt whether you 
 would receive this as a token of my esteem. 
 
 " It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add, that this letter, which I 
 have written in the fullest confidence, should be kept entirely to 
 yourself. If a reciprocal communication of our sentiments on 
 India affairs be agreeable to you, you may depend upon my con- 
 tinuing the correspondence in such manner as to show that I 
 am, with the sincerest wishes for your honour and success, 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 " Your very faithful humble servant, 
 
 " CLIVE." 
 
 No man could be more sensible of the worth of praise from 
 such a quarter than Mr. Hastings. No man was ever more dis- 
 posed to put Value upon Lord Olive's advice. But Hastings, like 
 Clive, lived in times when it was difficult, consistently witli 
 men's received notions of duty to their employers, to walk 
 within the exact line of Christian, or even of European integrity. 
 It would be a libel to say of either that he ever swerved from 
 the path of integrity for the mere purpose of advancing his own 
 selfish interests. Clive became rich, but won his wealth by a 
 process of which the fitness was then acknowledged. Hastings
 
 CHAP, xxviii.] CAREER OF CLIVE AND HASTINGS. 291 
 
 returned home after long years of sovereignty a poor man, and 
 died a beggar. Yet there are events in the lives of both on 
 which we cannot look back without regretting that they should 
 have occurred, even while we acknowledge that they show but as 
 spots upon the sun or as a few passing clouds on a summer's sky. 
 It is certain that the men themselves entertained great respect the 
 one for the other, and that each played the part on the stage of 
 Indian life for which nature seemed especially to have fitted him. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Confusion in the Company's Affairs Parliamentary Proceedings. 
 
 Ur to this moment the Crown and the Parliament had evinced 
 little disposition to interfere in a decided manner in the manage- 
 ment of the Company's affairs. Since the death of George the 
 Second a series of feeble administrations had followed one another, 
 each of which was in its turn cast aside by the King. Intrigues 
 in their own bodies, riots in the country, and insurrectionary 
 movements among the American colonists, had left them no lei- 
 sure to investigate the politics of India, or deal with the subject 
 as it deserved. As has elsewhere been explained, their inter- 
 ference, when it occurred at all, was irresolute, and therefore 
 injurious ; and the mind to direct, as well as the energy to ac- 
 complish, a comprehensive plan seemed to be wanting. No doubt 
 Lord Chatham, during his brief season of power, meditated a 
 bold and sweeping measure in regard to the Company's posses- 
 sions. And to this Lord Clive seems to have given his adhesion, 
 if indeed he may not with truth be said to have been the author 
 of it. But, just as his arrangements were understood to be com- 
 pleted, that dark cloud passed over the minister's judgment 
 which comuelled him to withdraw from public life, and out of 
 the shadow of which he never afterwards escaped, except for a 
 brief interval. The time, however, was come when, in the policy 
 of procrastination, no Cabinet could venture to persevere ; and 
 arrangements were made for bringing before Parliament a com- 
 plete view of the state of the Company's affairs, as well as a perma- 
 nent scheme for their future management both at home and abroad. 
 It was out of the question that any minister of the Crown 
 should ponder such a design, and entertain serious thoughts of 
 acting upon it, without consulting Lord Clive. To be sure, 
 between Lord Clive and the head of the existing Cabinet there 
 had never been any intimate connexion ; but Lord North, what-
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE DIRECTORS ATTACK CLtVE. 293 
 
 ever his private sentiments might be, knew too well the worth of 
 Olive's opinion to overlook it, and employed his Solicitor-Gene- 
 ral, Mr. "Wedderbunr, to bring- him and the Indian Colossus to- 
 gether. Mr. Wedderburn conducted this delicate negotiation 
 with his usual skill. He first proposed that Lord Rochfort should 
 communicate with his patron, to which the latter at once assented ; 
 and by and by acted as the mutual friend of Lord Clive and the 
 Prime Minister. Proceedings of this sort could not be kept 
 secret from the dominant party in the India House ; and their 
 fears for the consequences, operating upon a harsher feeling, 
 urged them to lay aside the mask, and to attack their great op- 
 ponent himself. On the 7th of January, 1772, just a fortnight 
 previously to the day fixed for the meeting of Parliament, Lord 
 Clive received from the secretary a dry official letter, informing 
 him that papers had reached the Court of Directors in which his 
 Lordship was charged with being a party to the mismanagement 
 of the Company's affairs in Bengal ; and that if his Lordship had 
 any observations to make upon such papers of which copies 
 were transmitted to him the Court of Directors would be glad 
 to receive the same as expeditiously as might suit his Lordship's 
 convenience. Lord Clive's answer being both short and very 
 dignified, I think that I am bound to give it in his own words: 
 
 " You have not been pleased," he says, " to inform me from 
 whom you received these papers, to what end they were laid 
 before you, what resolution you have come to concerning them, 
 nor for what purpose you expect my observations upon them. I 
 shall, however, observe to you, that upon the public records of 
 the Company, where the whole of my conduct is stated, you may 
 find a sufficient confutation of the charges which you have trans- 
 mitted to me; and I cannot but suppose that if any part of my 
 conduct had been injurious to the service, contradictory to my 
 arrangements with the Company, or even mysterious to you, four 
 years and a half since my arrival in England would not have 
 elapsed before your duty would have impelled you to call me to 
 account." 
 
 Parliament met on the 22nd of January; and the King's 
 speech contained a clause which indicated the intention of the 
 Minister to propose some measure in the course of the session 
 which should put upon a better footing the general administra-
 
 294 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 tion of the Company's affairs both at home atid abroad. There 
 was nothing in the Royal speech itself to indicate a bias on the 
 mind of the Minister one way or another. Clive, in all his state- 
 ments on the subject, had never hesitated to lay the chief blame 
 of Indian misgovernment on the home authorities. He charged 
 the Directors with interfering incessantly in matters which they 
 did not understand ; and was not less indignant with the Pro- 
 prietors for sheltering delinquents whom the Bengal government 
 had sent home, and employing them again in places of trust. 
 Mr. Sulivan and his allies, on the contrary, attributed the whole 
 of the misfortunes under which the Company laboured to the 
 misconduct of their servants abroad. The tone of the gentleman 
 who seconded the address in the House of Commons indicated 
 pretty accurately to which side in this dispute the Cabinet 
 leaned. He was eloquent on the delinquencies of the servants 
 to whom the Company had entrusted the management of its 
 affairs in India, and loud in his demands that enlarged powers 
 for restraining and punishing them should be given to the 
 Directors. Lord Clive heard this speech with amazement. Still, 
 as the Government kept quiet, and no member connected with it 
 stirred in the business, he held aloof; and so matters remained, 
 as the calm precedes a storm, till the 30th of March. But on 
 that day Mr. Sulivan, who, besides being Deputy-Chairman of 
 the Court of Directors, had a seat in Parliament, brought in a 
 bill " For the better regulation of the affairs of the East India 
 Company, and of their servants in India, and for the due 
 administration of justice in Bengal ;" and Lord Clive, after 
 listening to the speech which was directed ostensibly to enforce 
 the adoption of the measure, felt that in point of fact he was 
 upon his trial before the great council of the nation. 
 
 I cannot pretend, within the limits of a work like this, to give 
 the details either of the Deputy-Chairman's address or of Lord 
 dive's answer to it. The former, professing to deal in general 
 charges, was yet so constructed as to direct the attention of the 
 House to the principal events in Lord Clive's public life. The 
 latter, assuming that such was the real object of the speaker, 
 met him upon his own ground, and overthrew him sentence by 
 sentence. With regard to the general object of the bill, it had 
 Lord Clive's hearty approval. Many of the most important
 
 CHAP, xxix.] BUEGOYNE'S MOTION. 295 
 
 changes proposed to be effected by it he had himself suggested to 
 the Company long before ; but of the minute details on which 
 they were grounded he in numerous instances disapproved, and 
 he condemned throughout the spirit in which they seemed to have 
 been brought forward. No account of his own career, coming 
 from Clive, would have been genuine had it failed to partake 
 largely of the grandiloquent ; nevertheless, being just in the 
 main, the present narrative told ; and its effect would have been 
 greater, but for the strong and unguarded terms in which the 
 speaker censured every other individual and party who had 
 taken any share whatever in the management of the Company's 
 affairs. His own successor in Bengal the Courts of Directors 
 and of Proprietors the ill-disposed persons who, by bribery 
 and otherwise, had achieved an ascendancy in both nay, the 
 King's ministers themselves, on account of the hard bargains 
 they had driven with the Company, and their repeated neglect 
 of the advice which he had given all came in for a portion of 
 his censure. It was remarked by his best friends, on this occa- 
 sion, that he had never spoken with greater eloquence, or with 
 a more evil tendency as regarded himself. Though the answer 
 of Governor Johnstone, the brother of that Mr. Johnstone 
 whom Lord Clive had removed from the service of the Com- 
 pany at Bengal, and who was now one of the most active of 
 his enemies in the India House, was as feeble as it was rancorous, 
 a considerable portion of the House listened to it with favour ; 
 and inferences were drawn from the circumstance, as the event 
 proved, not without reason, that the debate would, before it 
 closed, take a turn more decidedly hostile to Lord Clive than 
 the nature of the motion on which it was grounded seemed at 
 the outset to promise. 
 
 Leave being granted to introduce the bill, it was laid upon the 
 table of the House on the 13th of April ; upon which occasion 
 Colonel Burgoyne moved, " That a Select Committee be ap- 
 pointed to inquire into the nature, state, and condition of the 
 East India Company, and of the British affairs in the East In- 
 dies. " Colonel Burgoyne was known, at this time, as a man of 
 wit, and the author of some dramatic pieces which had obtained 
 a certain degree of popularity. He had served in Portugal with 
 some distinction ; and, being free of speech, and of showy parts,
 
 296 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 contrived to impress society with a belief that his military talents 
 were of a high order. In politics he seems to have been a mere 
 adventurer, who, being anxious to bring himself into notice, was 
 not very scrupulous in regard to the means. By what process 
 Mr. Sulivan and his party contrived to enlist him under their 
 banner does not appear ; but he played their game, as long as it 
 suited his purposes, with considerable skill, and did not hesitate, 
 when the proper moment arrived, to throw them overboard. 
 Colonel Burgoyne carried his motion, though not without a 
 struggle ; and Mr. Sulivan's bill was dropped after the second 
 reading. Moreover, Burgoyne took care that to the constitution 
 of his committee no overt objections should be raised. Lord 
 Clive and Mr. Strachey were both appointed members of it, as 
 indeed their well-known acquaintance with the subjects to be 
 brought under discussion rendered indispensable. But the com- 
 mittee was scarcely constituted ere the spirit in which it was 
 designed to act became manifest. Governor Johnstone brought 
 forward a plan of operations, of which it was the tendency to 
 put Lord Clive upon his trial. ,'He proposed that inquiry should 
 be made into the conduct of individuals who, whether in the 
 civil or military service of the Company, had amassed great 
 wealth in India ; and by skilfully dating his researches from the 
 period of the dethronement of Suraj-u-Dowlah, he brought the 
 object of his own and his brother's hatred at once upon the stage. 
 Accordingly, the two first reports of the Select Committee con- 
 tained only the evidence of well-informed witnesses in regard to 
 the revolutions of 1757 and 1760; the former dwelling espe- 
 cially on the presents which were received, and the grant of 
 the jaghire or feof to Lord Clive : the latter embodying a 
 list of details, wherein were set forth the evil results of the 
 inland trade, under the government of Mr. Verelst. These 
 being hurried on, and presented to Parliament on the 26th of 
 May, were forthwith printed, and circulated from one extremity 
 of the kingdom to another, with the scarcely concealed purpose 
 of aggravating as much as possible the prejudices which were 
 known already to exist against the parties chiefly affected by 
 them. But the authors of the scheme had somewhat undercal- 
 culated its effects. The names of Clive and of the rest who had 
 taken money, or were assumed to have done so, as the price
 
 CHAP, xxix.] CLIVE'S CROSS-EXAMINATION. 297 
 
 of making and unmaking Nabobs, were indeed greeted with 
 execration ; but the Company itself fell likewise into disrepute; 
 and the confusion of its pecuniary arrangements, which could 
 no longer be concealed, instead of awakening sympathy, served 
 but to deepen the feeling. It was with extreme difficulty that 
 the Directors managed to ward off the blows which from every 
 side were struck at them during the remainder of the session ; 
 and when at length Parliament adjourned, the boldest went 
 away with a conviction on his mind that a crisis could not be 
 very distant. 
 
 In the course of the inquiries which led to the reports of 
 which I have just spoken, Lord Clive had been subjected to the 
 most minute and ungenerous cross-examination. He was ques- 
 tioned not merely in regard to what he had done, but to the mo- 
 tives which swayed him, and the purposes which he desired to 
 accomplish; while by insinuation where ground for direct attack 
 seemed wanting the committee did its best to resolve every act 
 of public duty into a selfish or a mercenary endeavour. He bore 
 himself throughout the whole process with the same unbending 1 
 firmness which characterised his proceedings on the stage of more 
 active life. He denied nothing that he had ever done or said ; 
 he sought neither to extenuate nor to explain it away. When 
 charged witli the acts whereby he had deceived Omichund, and 
 accused of forging Admiral Watson's name, he replied that what 
 he had done occasioned him neither shame nor regret, for, under 
 precisely the same circumstances, he was prepared to do it all 
 over again. He admitted that he had received enormous sums 
 from Meer Jaffier ; but protested that no obligation either of 
 morality or public faith had been violated by the proceeding. 
 " Am I not rather," he exclaimed, "deserving of praise for the 
 moderation which marked my proceedings? Consider the situa- 
 tion in which the victory at Plassey placed me. A great prince 
 was dependent on my pleasure ; an opulent city lay at my 
 mercy ; its richest bankers bid against eacli other for my smiles ; 
 I walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone, 
 piled on either hand with gold and jewels ! Mr. Chairman," 
 cried he, warming with his subject, and striking his hand against 
 his brow, " this moment I stand astonished at my own modera- 
 tion."
 
 29S LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 This high tone of rebuke this vindication rather than defence 
 of a line of conduct which, though long previously marked by 
 the approval both of the Crown and of the Company it was 
 now the object of the Committee to hold up to public odium 
 stood Lord Clive in good stead out of doors. The multitude 
 cried him down, it is true ; but the recess was yet young when 
 he received intimations from more than one quarter that his 
 name stood as high in the palace as it had ever done. His in- 
 stallation as a Knight of the Bath, which took place on the 15th 
 of June, was honoured by the presence of Royalty ; and on the 
 death of Earl Powis, which occurred in September of the same 
 year, a way was opened for him to obtain the lieutenancy of the 
 county of Salop. His friends wished him to apply directly to 
 the King ; for they, as well as he, were dissatisfied with the con- 
 duct of the minister during the past session ; but Clive was too 
 prudent to act on the suggestion. "I cannot," he writes to Mr. 
 Strachey, on this subject, " be of your opinion, because I think 
 that things are not yet ripe for an open rupture. Until my con- 
 duct in Parliament is decided upon, I do not desire the King and 
 his Ministers to be my declared enemies. In such a situation I 
 should certainly not meet with much applause from the House 
 for my conduct in the East Indies ; and I wish at least that the 
 members of the House, when they come to decide, may have no 
 other motive for an unfavourable decision than envy: that, 
 indeed, is too strongly implanted in the human breast to be re- 
 moved." His own desire was to wait till the dignity should be 
 offered ; but such a course being represented on all sides as un- 
 precedented, he was with some difficulty persuaded to depart 
 from it. Lord Rochfort, it appeared, in the first instance, arid 
 by and by Lord North, threw out hints that, provided they were 
 assured the office would be agreeable to Lord Clive, they should 
 have much pleasure in bringing his name under the King's 
 notice. The result was, that, after a little coquetting, Clive did 
 make a formal application to the Minister; and he kissed hands 
 on the 9th of October for the Lieutenancy of Salop, to which, in 
 the month of December following, the Lieutenancy of Montgo- 
 meryshire was added. 
 
 It was natural that the readiness shown by Lord North to 
 meet the personal wishes of the new lord-lieutenant should lead
 
 CHAP, xxix.] COMMITTEE OF SECRECY. 299 
 
 to a revival of friendly offices between them. I find, accord- 
 ingly, that Clive was in communication this winter with the Ca- 
 binet ; and that he laid before it the outlines of a plan for the 
 management of the affairs of India, which included a transfer of 
 the territorial sovereignty to the Crown. The Directors, on the 
 other hand, were busy negotiating loans in all quarters ; and 
 finding that neither the Bank nor the Government was disposed to 
 accede to the terms of their request, they had recourse to a fresh 
 Commission of Supervisors, on which they found some difficulty in 
 persuading six gentlemen to serve. But before the commission had 
 embarked, the session of 1773 opened, and a new turn was given 
 to the course of Indian affairs. The Minister asked for and ob- 
 tained a Committee of Secrecy, with power to examine the Com- 
 pany's books, and to report to the House upon the state of debts 
 and credits set forth therein, as well as on the system of manage- 
 ment generally ; and forasmuch as it was not considered desirable 
 that pending such examination any change of system should be 
 introduced, the Committee was directed to state whether or not, 
 in their judgment, the Company ought to be allowed to send out 
 the Commission of Supervisors to India. 
 
 To detail, one by one, the memorable events which followed, 
 belongs rather to the writer of English history than to me. The 
 Committee of Secrecy met, much to the chagrin of the Select 
 Committee ; and both pursued their labours sometimes in direc- 
 tions widely apart, sometimes by travelling over the self-same 
 ground. The Committee of Secrecy affected to deal with abstract 
 questions' of financial and mercantile management. The Select 
 Committee put the public career of individuals to the torture, 
 till in due time the reports of both threw the Administration 
 before which they were laid into a fever of uncertainty. At last 
 the papers were handed over to the then Attorney-General, 
 Thurlow, who undertook to sift them during the Easter recess, 
 and make a proposition. He did so, and it was as curious as it 
 was sweeping. Having called a meeting of the members of the 
 Administration, from which, however, the Solicitor-General, 
 being Lord Clive's friend, was excluded, Mr. Attorney-General 
 Thurlow informed them that the affairs of the Company were in- 
 volved beyond the reach of cure, and that he saw nothing for it 
 except to confiscate, by act of Parliament, all the sums acquired
 
 300 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 by English public servants, under the head of gifts, grants, or 
 bequests, from Indian princes. It was clear, he said, that the 
 Company could never discharge the obligations under which it 
 had come to the public, and the public had therefore no alter- 
 native except to act upon the principle which determined that, 
 whatever was obtained of land, treasure, or any thing else by 
 the military force of the country, belonged in law to the state. 
 The Attorney-General's proposal seems to have confounded his 
 colleagues. Some of them objected to it on the ground that, 
 when the obnoxious presents were received, there was no law or 
 regulation in force against them ; others reminded him that it 
 was too late to stretch the law to its extreme limits now, seeing 
 that the conduct of those whom his bill would consign to ruin 
 had been approved and rewarded by the Sovereign. The Attor- 
 ney-General declared that, after mature deliberation, he had no 
 better plan to bring forward ; and so the Ministerial conference 
 broke up.
 
 CHAP, xxx.] CHARGES AGAINST CLIVE. 301 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Charges brought against Clive in the House of Commons They are 
 rejected. 
 
 NEITHER the objects nor the issues of this conference of Ministers 
 appear to have been communicated to Lord Clive. Colonel Bur- 
 goyne, however, seems to have been in some way or another made 
 acquainted with both ; and the proceedings of the committee over 
 which he presided, as well as of the Ministerial Committee of 
 Secrecy, took forthwith a turn more decidedly hostile than before. 
 Charges were brought against Lord Clive on the authority of the 
 Company's accounts, which bore upon the face of them such a 
 show of plausibility, that nothing short of the clearest proof of their 
 groundlessness could have saved the accused party from disgrace. 
 For example, the Secret Committee, in one of its reports, stated, 
 that Lord Clive and his Council had paid away a large sum to 
 individuals, under the head of donation money, though an order 
 from the Court of Directors forbidding such payments had been 
 issued, and was in force at the time. It was fortunate for Clive 
 that he was able to show that no such order had reached him till 
 long after the payments were made ; for the packet-ship Fal- 
 mouth, in which the original document was transmitted, had 
 been lost at sea, and the duplicate copy, received many 
 months subsequently, came too late. Again, in reply to some 
 observations from Lord North, which seemed to rest on 
 certain statements put forward in a Select Committee's report 
 Lord Clive, after severely handling the Minister, went on 
 to expose the spirit in which the report in question had been 
 drawn up. In the course of this speech he stated " that one 
 gentleman, a member of that House, who had long been th-3 
 principal manager of the affairs of the East India Company, had, 
 on the 7th day of November last, in a private conversation with 
 Mr. Hoole, the Auditor-General, told that functionary .that he 
 desired his assistance in a matter which would be particularly
 
 502 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CIIAI>. xxx. 
 
 serviceable, and requested him to draw up a complete state 
 of the civil and military charges of Bengal, and likewise of the 
 revenues since Lord dive's arrival in Bengal in 1765 ; and 
 directed him to refer to all the letters, plans, or regulations of 
 Lord Clive, rioting how far the charges, revenues, &c. agreed 
 with them ; to trace out the causes of any increase or decrease ; 
 to draw up the whole historically and progressively, making all 
 the accounts his own and, as the individual to whom he alluded 
 expressed himself to mark the man ; for, continued he, it is my 
 wish to show that all the distresses of the Company arise from 
 him. " Sir," exclaimed Clive, " let me remind the House that a 
 report drawn up in such a spirit, and materials drawn from such 
 a source, must be received with exceeding caution ; for against 
 an engine of such great power no man's reputation is safe." 
 
 It is painful to go on with such a subject. It is humiliating 
 to observe, turn whither we may, and deal with whom we can, 
 that every question connected with Indian politics whether the 
 point mooted be the conquest of a province, or the establishment 
 of machinery for the due administration of law resolves itself, 
 sooner or later, into a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence. If 
 the object be to crush an Indian statesman, he is accused of 
 falsifying accounts, or selling justice to the best bidder. If a 
 soldier acquire wealth by a course of successful warfare, he is 
 questioned, not regarding his manner of wielding the sword, 
 but in respect to the property which he may have acquired 
 by it. And so completely interwoven with the nature of 
 Indian politics does this idolatry of gold seem to be, that where 
 materials for a real charge of peculation are wanting, enemy 
 seeks to undermine enemy by inventing them. Mr. Sulivan 
 for to him it was that Lord Clive on the present occasion alluded 
 made no attempt to refute this accusation. He admitted that 
 it was substantially correct, and justified his own conduct by 
 stating that, forasmuch as his lordship in a former session had 
 imputed the Company's distresses to mismanagement on the part 
 of the Directors, so he, as a Director, conceived that he had a 
 perfect right to turn the tables, and to lay the blame upon his lord- 
 ship, as, with Mr. Hoole's assistance, he hoped that he might 
 have been able to do. " But to show," continued he, " that the 
 enmity which has long been between us has never prevailed with
 
 CHAP, xxx.] CHARGES AGAINST CLIVE. 303 
 
 me to work his lordship wrong, I will now make a disclosure 
 which, through delicacy towards him, I have hitherto refrained 
 from doing." Mr. Sulivan then proceeded to state, that in the 
 correspondence of Lord Clive with the native powers, during his 
 first administration of Bengal, a gap of not fewer than sixteen 
 months was to be found ; that the Directors, suspecting that it 
 related to the grant of the feof, had repeatedly applied for copies 
 of the same to no purpose ; and that not even now, when the non- 
 production of these documents might be said seriously to involve 
 his lordship's honour, were they forthcoming. This was not 
 the first occasion on which Lord Clive had been compelled to 
 notice insinuations of the same sort. In 1763, when driven to 
 bring an action against the Court of Directors, they had applied 
 to him for copies of the missing letters, stating their reasons ; and 
 he had told them then, as he now told the House, that these letters 
 had nothing whatever to do with the grant of the feof. The fact 
 was, that he had lent the letters in 1760 to a Mr. Campbell, 
 who was engaged in drawing up a memorial on Dutch affairs for 
 the purpose of having it laid before Mr. Pitt ; and from that day 
 to this, in spite of frequent inquiries, he had never been able to 
 ascertain whither Mr. Campbell had betaken himself, nor, as a 
 necessary consequence, w r hat had become of his correspondence. 
 
 A story such as this was not likely to be received with im- 
 plicit faitli by the personal enemies of the narrator ; and the 
 members of the House of Commons could hardly be blamed if 
 they gave to it no more credit than it seemed to deserve. Yet 
 its truth was made manifest in the course of a few days ; for Mr. 
 Campbell, reading in the newspapers an account of all that had 
 passed, communicated with Lord Clive immediately, and the 
 whole of the missing letters were restored to him first, and 
 eventually to the Court of Directors. They were found, on 
 careful examination, to be complete, and to agree literally with 
 the description which Lord Clive had given of them. 
 
 Thus far, it will be seen, that out of every contest into which 
 his enemies drew him, Clive came forth, if not scatheless, at 
 least triumphant. He had skirmished well against their light 
 troops ; it was now to be seen how he could sustain the weight of 
 a general action ; for the wrath of the adverse party in the India 
 House seemed to grow more violent after each repulse, and no-
 
 304 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxx. 
 
 thing short of a great effort to crush him would content them. 
 Accordingly, Colonel Burgoyne, who on the 8th and 29th of 
 April had brought up the 3rd and 4th reports of the Select 
 Committee on Indian Affairs, called the attention of the House 
 on the 10th of May to the subjects embraced by them, and pro- 
 posed three resolutions, on which, if the House should approve 
 of them, he gave notice of his intention, at an early period of 
 the session, to found a motion. The resolutions in question were 
 these : 
 
 " 1. That all acquisitions made under the influence of a mili- 
 tary force, or by treaty with foreign princes, did of right belong 
 to the state. 
 
 " 2. That to appropriate acquisitions so made to the private 
 emolument of persons intrusted with any civil or military power 
 of the state is illegal. 
 
 " 3. That very great sums of money and other valuable pro- 
 perty had been acquired in Bengal from princes and others of 
 that country by persons intrusted with the civil and military 
 powers of the state by means of such powers ; which sums of 
 money and valuable property have been appropriated to the pri- 
 vate use of such persons." 
 
 Colonel Burgoyne's resolutions were prefaced by a speech in 
 which all the delinquencies, real and imaginary, of all the civil 
 and military servants of the Company were set forth. Lord 
 Clive's dealings in particular with Suraj-u-Dowlah and Meer 
 Jaffier his treachery to Omichund his abuse of Admiral Wat- 
 son's confidence, were painted in the blackest colours, as were 
 tlie proceedings of the Select Committee, out of which, as the 
 speaker asserted, all the ills which had subsequently oppressed 
 Bengal and the Company arose. The same line of argument 
 was followed by Sir William Meredith, by whom Burgoyne's 
 motion was seconded. And though Mr. Wedderburn spoke well 
 on the opposite side, and Clive himself vindicated his own cha- 
 racter with dignity, the feeling of the House ran so strongly in 
 favour of the oppressed, that the two former of the resolutions 
 were carried without a division, and the last by a large majority. 
 It was not so when the motion which Colonel Burgoyne had 
 undertaken to found upon them came to be discussed. The 
 House seemed then to feel that it had gone far enough to vindi-
 
 CHAP, xxx.] CHARGES AGAINST CLIVE. SOS 
 
 cate the national honour. Clive might have been guilty and 
 he surely had been of some acts which would admit of no 
 justification. The authority of all the most sacred of the laws 
 which regulate the intercourse of states and of individuals 
 must be set aside were they to acquit him of blame. But, on 
 the other hand, it was certain that he had displayed great talents, 
 and exercised great virtues ; that he had rendered eminent ser- 
 vices both to his country and the people of India ; and that it 
 \vas not for his dealings with Meer Jaffier or with Omichund 
 that he was now called in question, but for his determined resist- 
 ance to avarice and tyranny. Under these circumstances they 
 came to the discussion of the last point in the argument with 
 minds perfectly free from that bias which it was the object of the 
 prime movers in the business to create against him whom they 
 described as " the great delinquent." Colonel Burgoyne's speech, 
 therefore, though able of its kind, and ably supported by that of 
 his original seconder, Sir W. Meredith, fell comparatively 
 pointless on the House; and when first Mr. Wedderburn, then 
 Mr. Fuller, and last of all Clive himself, had spoken in reply, 
 there was no room to doubt how the matter would end. Colonel 
 Burgoyne had proposed a resolution to this effect: "That it 
 appears to this House that the Right Hon. Robert Lord Clive, 
 Baron of Plassey in the kingdom of Ireland, about the time of 
 the deposition of Suraj-u-Dowlah, and the establishment of 
 Meer Jaffier on the musnud, through the influence of the powers 
 with which he was intrusted as a member of the Select Com- 
 mittee and Commander-in-chief of the British forces, did obtain 
 and possess himself of two lacs of rupees as Commander-in-chief, 
 a further sum of two lacs and 80,000 rupees as member of the Se- 
 lect Committee, and a further sum of 16 lacs or more under the 
 denomination of a private donation ; which sums, amounting to- 
 gether to 20 lacs and 80,000 rupees, were of the value, in English 
 money, of 234,0001. ; and that, in so doing, the said Robert 
 Lord Clive abused the power with which he was intrusted, to 
 the evil example of the servants of the public, and to the disho- 
 nour and detriment of the State." 
 
 Lord Clive's friends denounced the proposition as both illo- 
 gical and iniquitous. Lord Clive himself did more. After mi- 
 
 x
 
 306 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxx. 
 
 nutely recapitulating the services which he had rendered to tlie 
 country, and calling the attention of his auditors to the ackno\v- 
 ledgments of his merits which had over and over again been 
 made, after adverting to the motives in which this prosecution 
 originated, and dealing out some hard blows to all, whether in 
 the Cabinet or elsewhere, who suffered themselves to be made 
 parties to it, Lord Clive spoke at large of the circumstances 
 under which his last administration of Bengal had been forced 
 upon him, and of the special Courts which met to thank him on 
 his return, and to express their regret that he had not continued 
 longer at his post. He then burst forth into the following apo- 
 strophe, of which the effect upon the House is described in the 
 publications of the day to have been electrical : 
 
 " These, Sir, were circumstances certainly that gave me a full 
 satisfaction, and a ground to think that my conduct in every in- 
 stance was approved of. After such certificates as these, Sir, am 
 I to be brought here like a criminal, and the very best parts of 
 my conduct construed into crimes against the state ? Is this the 
 reward that is now held out to persons who have performed such 
 important services to their country ? If it is, Sir, the future 
 consequences that will attend the execution of any important 
 trust committed to the persons who have the care of it will be 
 fatal indeed ; and I am sure the noble Lord upon the Treasury 
 bench, whose great humanity I revere, would never have con- 
 sented to the resolutions that passed the other night, if he had 
 thought on the dreadful consequences that would attend them. 
 Sir, I cannot say that I either sit or rest easy when I find, by 
 that extensive resolution, that all I have in the world is confis- 
 cated, and that no one will take my security for a shilling. 
 These, Sir, are dreadful apprehensions to remain under ; and I 
 cannot look upon myself but as a bankrupt. I have not anything 
 left that I can call my own, except my paternal fortune of 5GOI. 
 per annum, and which has been in the family for ages past. But 
 upon this I am content to live ; and perhaps I shall find more 
 real content of mind and happiness than in the trembling afflu- 
 ence of an unsettled fortune. But, Sir, I must make one more 
 observation, that if the definition of the honourable gentleman 
 (Colonel Burgoyne), and of this House, that the state, as ex-
 
 CHAP, xxx.] CHARGES REJECTED. 307 
 
 pressed in these resolutions, is, quoad hoc, the Company, then, 
 Sir, every farthing I enjoy is granted to me. But to be called 
 upon, after sixteen years have elapsed, to account for my conduct 
 in this manner, and, after an uninterrupted enjoyment of my 
 property, to be questioned, and considered as obtaining it unwar- 
 rantably, is hard indeed ! and a treatment I should not think the 
 British Senate capable of. But, if such should be the case, I 
 have a conscious innocence within me that tells me my conduct 
 is irreproachable. Frangas, nonflectes. My enemies may take 
 from me what I have ; they may, as they think, make me poor, 
 but I will be happy ! I mean not this as my defence, though I 
 have clone for the present. My defence will be heard at that 
 bar ; but, before I sit down, I have one request to make to the 
 House, that, when they come to decide upon my honour, they 
 will not forget their own." 
 
 The immediate effect of this appeal was to cause an adjourn- 
 ment of the debate ; its ultimate consequence, to rob Colonel 
 Burgoyne's resolution of all power to hurt either the honour or 
 the fortune of Lord Clive. On the 21st of May the subject was 
 again taken up by the examination of a few witnesses and the 
 reading of the evidence which Lord Clive had given before the 
 Select Committee. A second debate followed, which was scarcely 
 less animated, and more prolonged than the former, and on the 
 22nd the House decided, by a majority of 155 to 95, that, admitting 
 all to be true which was stated in regard to the moneys acquired, 
 " Robert Lord Clive did at the same time render great and merito- 
 rious services to his country." As the whole spirit of the motion 
 was changed, on the motion of Mr. Stanley and Mr. Fuller, not 
 merely by the substitution of a new for the original clause at the 
 end, but by the omission of certain words from the body of the 
 second clause, I cannot better conclude the present chapter than 
 by transferring it entire to my own pages. It stands on the 
 records of the Commons' House of Parliament thus : 
 
 " That it appears to this House, that the Right Hon. Robert 
 Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey in the kingdom of Ireland, about 
 the time of the deposition of Suraj-u-Dowlah, and the establish- 
 ment of Meer Jaffier on the musnud, did obtain and possess him- 
 self of two lacs of rupees as Commander-in-Chief, a further sum of 
 
 x 2
 
 308 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxx. 
 
 two lacs and 80,000 rupees as member of the Select Committee, 
 and a further sum of 16 lacs or more under the denomination of 
 a private donation ; which sums, amounting together to 20 lacs 
 and 80,000 rupees, were of the value, in English money, of 
 234,0007. ; and that Lord Clive did at the same time render 
 great and meritorious services to his country."
 
 CHAP, xxxi.] CLIVE'S RETIREMENT. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Death of Lord Clive His Character. 
 
 IN the subsequent proceedings, which ended in the granting of a 
 new charter to the Company, and established Mr. Hastings as 
 Governor-General of India, with a Council nominated, as it 
 seemed, for the express purpose of thwarting him in every- 
 thing which he might desire to accomplish, Lord Clive took no 
 part. The persecutions to which he had been subjected appear 
 to have weighed heavily upon his spirits, and he withdrew in 
 gloom and undisguised mortification from public life. It is said, 
 though I cannot find that the anecdote rests upon any sound 
 authority, that the Government, finding war with the colonies to 
 be inevitable, pressed him to undertake the command of the 
 army which they were preparing to send to America. But such 
 a proposal, if made at all, was declined ; for the state of his 
 health entirely unfitted him for continuous exertion either of body 
 or of mind. Probably, too, it was the same sad cause which ope- 
 rated to restrain him from supplying Voltaire, then in the meri- 
 dian of his literary renown, with materials out of which to 
 compile a history of the Conquest of Bengal. We know, at 
 least, that the French philosopher applied through Dr. Moore, 
 the ingenious author of ' Zeluco,' to be put in possession of his 
 lordship's papers, and that the application was not attended to. 
 Be this, however, as it may, the events which gave a character 
 to the remainder of Lord Clive's existence were not of a nature 
 to admit of minute description ; and I shall therefore content 
 myself with adverting to them in general terms. 
 
 As long as the Parliament sat, Clive continued to reside in 
 Berkeley Square. Immediately on its rising that is, on the 
 17th of June he proceeded to Bath, whence, after a short resi- 
 dence, he removed to Walcot. There he saw his more intimate 
 and familiar acquaintances as heretofore, and corresponded occa-
 
 310 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxxi. 
 
 sionally with friends at a distance ; but the paroxysms of pain 
 under which he suffered became continually greater, and he more 
 and more had recourse to the frightful palliative of opium, under 
 the continued use of which his whole nervous system gave way. 
 Some fragments of letters from him are preserved, which show 
 that he never ceased to take an interest in those to whom through 
 life he had been attached. It is said, also, that he had occasional 
 conferences with Lord North on the subject of Indian affairs ; 
 and one, at least, of his communications with that minister, written 
 about six weeks previously to his decease, remains. But the 
 sword, which had been throughout too sharp for the scabbard, 
 was rapidly cutting its way through. I do not know why I should 
 shrink from describing the circumstances under which he died. 
 The world knows that he committed suicide ; and according as 
 men have thought of the " self-murderer " while he lived, they are 
 wont in every case, to blame or to pity, or to do both, after the 
 deed is done. Now, Olive's manner of perpetrating the stern 
 act seems to be but in keeping with the whole tenor of his exist- 
 ence ; and I therefore tell the tale as it has been told to me. 
 
 A female friend, it appears, was on a visit at his house. He 
 had suffered extremely throughout the whole of the 21st of No- 
 vember, and was driven more than was usual with him to seek 
 relief in strong doses of laudanum. The same process continued 
 during the early part of the 22nd ; but that his reason was not 
 clouded, nor his self-possession taken away, the following fact 
 seems to prove. About noon on the 22nd, or a little later, the 
 lady came into his room, and said, " Lord Clive, I cannot find 
 a good pen ; will you be so good as make me one?" " To be 
 sure," replied he ; and, taking a penknife from his waistcoat 
 pocket, he moved towards one of the windows, and mended 
 the pen. The lady received it back with thanks, and withdrew. 
 In a short time afterwards, a servant, entering, found Lord 
 Clive dead ; and the instrument with which he had destroyed 
 himself proved, on examination, to be the same small knife with 
 which he had mended his friend's pen. 
 
 It was not to be expected, that a termination so awful to a 
 career of glory and success well-nigh unexampled in English 
 history should fail of affecting with deep and painful impressions 
 the minds of all to whom the event was made known. Many, I
 
 CHAP, xxxi.] DEATH OF CLIVE. 311 
 
 regret to say, received the tidings in a spirit which testified as 
 little to their sagacity as to their Christian temper ; many more 
 and I confess that I belong to the number accepted them as 
 proof that there may be intolerable world-weariness in the heart 
 of him into whose lap the world seems to have poured its richest 
 treasures. At all events, the event itself vouches for some- 
 thing amiss, either in the moral or in the physical organization 
 of the individual, or in both. For the line which separates ge- 
 nius from eccentricity is often so narrow, that, unless there be 
 some principle of action more elevated than the world can sup- 
 ply, the chances are equal that the one will sooner or later 
 merge in the other. Now, whatever Olive's excellences of cha- 
 racter may have been, I confess myself unable to detect in him 
 any trace of the sort of principle of which 1 am now speaking. 
 His honour, in the commonly received acceptation of the term 
 west of the tropical line is admitted ; and his generosity to 
 friends and relatives has never been called in question. But I 
 have not succeeded in bringing home to him a solitary act I 
 cannot discover in those portions of his correspondence which I 
 have perused a single expression which can be so interpreted as 
 to lead to the belief that there was any spring or motive of con- 
 duct within, apart from the prospect of immediate advantage to 
 his country, or to himself, or to the authorities whom he served. 
 Hence life ceased to have an aim for him as soon as the excite- 
 ment of enterprise was taken away ; and the fatal remedies to 
 which he had recourse, while striving to blunt the pressure of 
 bodily suffering, quite broke him down, through the nervous 
 exhaustion of which they were at once the cause and the effect. 
 
 Looking, on the other hand, to his public proceedings, it 
 seems impossible to refuse to his name a place in the list of those 
 who have done their country eminent service. To him belongs 
 the merit of having restored, being yet a boy, the tarnished 
 honour of the English arms, while he saved an important settle- 
 ment from destruction. The foundations of English political 
 ascendancy in the East were laid by him during the first stage of 
 his manhood ; and, finally, the wisdom of his more matured 
 counsels, and the energy with which he acted upon them, over- 
 came all abuses in the management of the Company's affairs, and 
 brought order and system out of their very opposites. " From
 
 312 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxxi. 
 
 dive's first visit to India," writes Mr. Macaulay with perfect 
 truth, " dates the renown of the English arms in the East ; from 
 his second visit to India dates the political ascendancy of the 
 English in that country ; from his third visit to India dates the 
 purity of the administration of our Eastern Empire." 
 
 The individual who, with the means at Olive's disposal, 
 could accomplish all this who could boast that between the 
 twenty-fourth and forty-fourth years of his age he had saved a 
 province, conquered a kingdom, and substituted in the manage- 
 ment of its affairs order for anarchy, and justice for violence and 
 wrong, deserves to be ranked among the most remarkable men 
 of his generation. No doubt the qualities which made him what 
 he was belong rather to the man of action than to the philoso- 
 pher. He was brave, firm of purpose, full of self-reliance, 
 indifferent to responsibility, and not over-scrupulous in regard 
 to the morality of his measures so long as important and suc- 
 cessful results promised to be obtained by them. He was as 
 indifferent, likewise, to the feelings of others, as heroes are 
 usually supposed to be, though certainly not more so. At the 
 same time it would be unjust to deny, that, if the philosophy of 
 statesmanship be in any measure based upon a knowledge of 
 human nature, Clive in his own peculiar sphere of action had 
 his share of such philosophy too. There never lived a Eu- 
 ropean who more thoroughly mastered than he all the tricks 
 and artifices of Oriental diplomacy. This it was which so 
 eminently qualified him to govern where the will of the ruler 
 is law ; for he permitted no tyranny to be exercised except his 
 own, and tyranny on his part proved to be in the main only a 
 stern and uncompromising ministration of justice. The same 
 turn of mind, however, rendered him incapable of dealing aright 
 with the passions and prejudices of a free people. Whatever he 
 sought to accomplish he sought to accomplish by force ; he had 
 neither the temper nor the talent that are needed to battle with 
 preconceived opinion, or to surmount the obstacles of party. 
 Accordingly, his intrigues at the India House were mere efforts 
 to outbuy his rivals, as on another field he would have ridden 
 them down, or swept them aside by the fire of his artillery. 
 And in the House of Commons he never became influential, 
 because he could not bring himself to give and take, to yield
 
 CHAP, xxxi.] CHARACTER OF CLIVE. 313 
 
 a point, it may be of slight importance, in order to ensure the 
 accomplishment of a great end. 
 
 Considered as a politican, Clive was essentially oriental ; con- 
 sidered as a military man, circumstances render the task of 
 classifying him very difficult. On the whole, however, I am 
 inclined to think that, on any theatre of operations, whether in 
 Europe or America, he would have proved a great commander. 
 No doubt the field on which he played his part was peculiar. 
 He waged war at the head of a handful of disciplined troops 
 against hordes of undisciplined warriors, and defeated them ; but 
 he waged it in such a way as to prove that the principles on 
 which he acted were those which are applicable to every com- 
 bination of circumstances, and against every description of 
 enemy. I have elsewhere alluded to the supposed wish of the 
 Minister to employ him against the North American colonists, 
 already in a state of incipient revolt. I cannot tell what truth 
 there may be in the story ; but of this I have little doubt, that, 
 had the state of his health and the temper of his mind permitted 
 him to embark upon the enterprise, the dependence of the 
 United States on the mother-country would have been continued 
 for at least another half-century. 
 
 Lord Clive's reading was not extensive, and his learning a 
 mere blank. He never acquired even of the languages of India 
 knowledge enough to be able to correspond or even to converse 
 in any of them except imperfectly. His general manner in 
 society Avas silent and reserved. Still, when a subject was 
 broached in which he took an interest, that harsh and heavy 
 countenance of his would light up, and he spoke with a degree 
 of animation which appears to have told powerfully. Boswell, 
 in his 'Life of Johnson,' has placed on record the substance of a 
 brief dialogue between the moralist and Robertson the historian, 
 which, because it illustrates two of the statements hazarded in 
 this resume of the great man's character, I may be permitted to 
 transcribe. " Dr. Robertson," says the biographer, " expatiated 
 on the character of a certain nobleman, that he was one of the 
 strongest-minded men that ever lived ; that he would sit in 
 company quite sluggish while there was nothing to call forth his 
 intellectual vigour; but the moment that any important subject 
 wus started for instance, how this country is to be defended
 
 SH LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. [CHAP. xxxi. 
 
 from a French invasion he would rouse himself and show his 
 extraordinary talents with the most powerful ability and anima- 
 tion." Johnson, " Yet this man cut his own throat ! The 
 true strong and sound mind can embrace equally great things 
 and small." 
 
 Johnson might have expressed himself with more delicacy, 
 but in the main his argument is sound ; for I cannot agree with 
 Mr. Macaulay in laying any portion of the blame of Lord 
 Olive's death "on the pangs of wounded honour" arising out of 
 the Parliamentary persecution to which he had been subjected. 
 The sad event appears to me to have been the result of that 
 want of balance in the arrangement of mind with matter which, 
 if not produced by a disordered intellect, comes of satiety, 
 which is itself a disease in the moral nature of the man, if, 
 indeed, a total absence of the religious principle may, without 
 the misuse of terms, be so spoken of. 
 
 Lord Olive's personal appearance was not prepossessing. To 
 a countenance which was saved from vulgarity only by the ex- 
 pression of decision and natural intelligence which pervaded it, 
 he added a figure without symmetry or grace, which he ren- 
 dered doubly conspicuous by the elaborate care with which it 
 was his custom to adorn it. His social habits were hospitable 
 and sumptuous in the extreme. He loaded with presents all to 
 whom he took a fancy, and kept open table both in London and 
 in the country. Yet he never succeeded in achieving even a 
 moderate share of popularity, and with a large acquaintance 
 could boast but of few friends. He was a great man ; and in 
 tracing his career I have felt that I was following the footsteps 
 of a giant. I regret that I am not able to add, that I can 
 think of him likewise as an object of love and personal ad- 
 miration. 
 
 Lord Clive was buried in the church of Moreton Say, the 
 parish in which he was born. He left a family of two sons and 
 three daughters to inherit his fortune and his name. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Htfe of l^eb. eotse <ra6to. 
 
 By His SON. 12mo, 4*. 
 
 IX. 
 
 UortJ i^gron^ Utfe. 
 
 By THOMAS MOORE. Portraits. Royal 8vo, 15*. 
 
 of JSungan antr 
 
 By ROBEET SOUTHEY. Post 8vo, 2s. Gd, 
 
 XI. 
 
 Uibes of Galileo, ^BC^O SSrafje, antf 
 
 By SIE DAVID BREWSTER. Fcap. 8vo, 4*. Gd. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ittfe of Sit dFtancts Btalte. 
 
 By JOHN BARROVT. Post Svo, 2s. Gd.
 
 MR, MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 11 
 
 (fHotttons of <&tantrara 
 
 LORD BYRON'S POEMS. 
 
 With Portrait and Vignette. One Volume, royal 8vo, 15*. 
 
 CRABBE'S LIFE AND POEMS. 
 
 With Portrait and Vignette. One Volume, royal 8vo, 15*. 
 
 CAMPBELL'S SPECIMENS OP THE POETS. 
 
 With Portrait and Vignette. Royal 8vo, 15*. 
 
 BISHOP HEBER'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 Portrait. Fcap. 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 REV.- H. H. MILMAN'S POETICAL WORKS. 
 
 Plates. 3 vols. fcap. 8vo, 18*. 
 
 ALLAN CUNNINGHAM'S POEMS. 
 
 24mo, 2*. 6d. 
 
 LORD ROBERTSON'S POEMS. 
 
 Crown 8vo, 7*. 6d. 
 
 THE REJECTED ADDRESSES. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, 6*.
 
 12 MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 for 
 
 HAND-BOOK OF TKAVEL-TALK; 
 
 OR, CONVERSATIONS IN ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, AND ITALIAN. 
 18mo, 5s. 
 
 NOKTH GEEMANY n 'AND THE EHINE. 
 
 Map. Post 8vo, lit. 
 in. 
 
 SWITZEELAND AND THE ALPS. 
 
 Map. Post 8vo, 10*. 
 
 SOUTH GEEMAN/'AND THE TYEOL. 
 
 Map. Post 8vo, 10*. 
 
 EUSSIA, NOEWAY,' AND DENMAEK. 
 
 Map and Plans. Post 8vo. 
 
 MALTA AND 'THE EAST. 
 
 s. Post 8vo, 15*. 
 
 NOETHEEN ITALY' AND FLOEENCE. 
 
 Post 8vo, 12*. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 CENTEAL ITALY AND EOME. 
 
 Maps. Post 8vo, 15*. 
 
 FEANCE AND THE PYEENEES. 
 EGYPT, THEBES^'AND THE NILE. 
 
 Map. 15. 
 
 SPAIN AND X ANDALUSIA. 
 
 Maps. Post 8vo, 16. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 Map. Post 8vo. Nearly ready. 
 xin. 
 
 LONDON PAST AND PEESENT. 
 
 Map. Post 8vo. Nearly ready.
 
 MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 13 
 
 nf Stmtntrta 
 
 Mrs. MARKHAM'S HISTORIES. 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 FKOM THE ROMAN INVASION TO THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 46th Thousand. Woodcuts. 12mo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 HISTORY OF PRANCE. 
 
 FROM THE CONQUEST BY THE GAULS, TO THE REIGN OF LOUIS-PHILIPPE. 
 20th Thousand. Woodcuts. 12mo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 HISTORY OE GERMANY. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION BY MARIUS, TO THE BATTLE OF LEIPSIC. 
 3rd Thousand. Woodcuts. 12mo, 7*. 6d. 
 
 HISTORY OP ROME AND GREECE. 
 
 ADAPTED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND YOUNG PERSONS. 
 Woodcuts, 12mo. (In preparation.) 
 
 "The above works (MRS. MARKHAM'S HISTORIES) are constructed on a plan 
 which we think well chosen, and we are glad to find that they are so popular, for 
 they cannot be too strongly recommended, as adapted for youth." 
 
 Journal of Education. 
 
 SERMONS EOR CHILDREN. 
 
 By Mrs. MARKHAM. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 3*. 
 ii. 
 
 BERTHA'S VISIT IN ENGLAND. 
 
 WlTH A VARIETY OF INFORMATION, ARRANGED FOR EVERY DAY. 
 
 10th Thousand. 12mo, 7*. 6d. 
 
 " I am reading 'Bertha' with the utmost avidity. I can scarcely take my atten- 
 tion from this, the best of all juvenile compilations." Rev. George Crabbe.
 
 14 MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 in. 
 
 JESSE'S NATURAL HISTORY FOR SCHOOLS. 
 
 Sixth Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 6*. 6d. 
 
 IV. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY IN SPORT MADE SCIENCE IN 
 EARNEST; 
 
 OR, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY INCULCATED BY THE TOYS AND SPORTS OF YOUTH. 
 Sixth Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo, 8*. 
 
 " We know of no other book which so charmingly blends amusement with in- 
 struction. No juvenile book has been published in our time more entitled to 
 praise. "Examiner. 
 
 FABLES OF ^ESOP. 
 
 A NEW VERSION, PURIFIED AND ADAPTED FOR YOUNG PERSONS. 
 By Rev. THOMAS JAMES. With 100 Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 
 
 VI. 
 
 CROKER'S HISTORY OP ENGLAND. 
 
 33rd Thousand. Woodcuts. 16mo, 5*. 
 
 " This skilful performance of Mr. Croker's (STORIES FOR CHILDREN) suggested the 
 plan of Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather." Quarterly Review. 
 
 VII. 
 
 LITTLE ARTHUR'S HISTORY OP ENGLAND. 
 
 23rd Thousand. Woodcuts. 18mo, 5*. 
 
 " This little History was written for a real little Arthur, and I have endeavoured 
 to write it as I would tell it to an intelligent child. I well remember what I wanted 
 to be told when first allowed to read the History of England." Author's Preface. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 CROKER'S PROGRESSIVE GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 15th Thousand. 18mo, Is. 6d. 
 " The best elementary book on the subject." Quarterly Review. 
 
 IX. 
 
 FISHER'S GEOMETRY AND ALGEBRA. 
 
 FOR THE USE OF NAVAL SCHOOLS. 
 
 1 8mo, 3s. each.
 
 MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 Published Monthly, Price 2s. 6d. ; or alternate, Months, (Two Parts forming 
 a Volume), Post 8vo, 6s., in cloth, 
 
 \)i Unme mtfc Cnlnmal 33tortj, 
 
 Printed in good readable type, on superfine paper, and designed to furnish the 
 highest, Literature of the day, consisting partly of ORIGINAL WORKS, and partly of 
 new editions of POPULAR PUBLICATIONS, at the lowest possible price. 
 
 This Series, comprising Voyages and Travels, Biography, Manners and Customs, 
 &c., and the care exercised in the selection of works, together with the moderation of 
 price, (aw annual outlay of only Thirty Shillings,) recommend it to all classes. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING HAVE ALREADY BEEN PUBLISHED. 
 
 BORROWS BIBLE IN SPAIN. 
 
 " There is no taking leave of a book like 
 this." A thenceum. 
 
 2. 
 HEBER'S INDIAN JOURNAL. 
 
 " One of the most delightful books in the 
 language." Quarterly Review. 
 
 3. 
 IRBY & MANGLES' TRAVELS. 
 
 "Irbyand Mangles' interesting Travels." 
 Literary Gazette. 
 
 4. 
 SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 " Truly a legend of the United Services of 
 its day." United Service Magazine. 
 
 5. 
 MOROCCO AND THE MOORS. 
 
 " A new and highly interesting work." 
 Greenock Advertiser. 
 
 6. 
 LETTERS FROM THE BALTIC. 
 
 "A series of charming descriptions." 
 Examiner. 
 
 7. 
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. 
 
 " Nothing has so absorbed our interest." 
 Quarterly Review. 
 
 CROMWELL AND BUNYAN. 
 
 "Southey's admirably written lives." 
 Yorkshireman. 
 
 9. 
 
 MEREDITH'S N. S. WALES. 
 
 "Impressions recorded with a fidelity and 
 simplicity rarely met with." Newcastle 
 Courant. 
 
 10. 
 LIFE OF SIR F. DRAKE. 
 
 "Mr. Barrow has enriched our biogra 
 phical literature." Edinburgh Review. 
 
 11. 
 FATHER RIPA'S MEMOIRS. 
 
 "As curious a book as any that ha 
 appeared." Spectator. 
 12. 
 LEWIS' WEST INDIES. 
 
 " These highly amusing stories." Quar- 
 terly Review. 
 
 13. 
 SKETCHES OF PERSIA. 
 
 "Has all the interest of our amusing 
 friend Hajji Baba." Quarterly Review. 
 
 14. 
 
 FRENCH IN ALGIERS. 
 
 " Of romantic and absorbing interest." 
 Northern Whig.
 
 16 
 
 MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS. 
 
 15. 
 
 BRACEBRIDGE HALL. 
 
 " The most charming work ever written 
 by Washington Irving." Cambridge Chro- 
 
 nicle. 
 
 16. 
 
 A NATURALIST'S VOYAGE. 
 
 " Mr. Darwin is a first-rate landscape 
 painter." Quarterly Review, 
 
 17. 
 FALL OF THE JESUITS. 
 
 "A candid and moderate work." Chel- 
 tenham Journal. 
 
 18. 
 LIFE OF COND6. 
 
 "A very skilful and interesting nar- 
 rative." Quarterly Review. 
 
 19. 
 BORROWS GYPSIES IN SPAIN. 
 
 " These singularly attractive pages." 
 Literary Gazette. 
 
 20. 
 THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS. 
 
 " This book is excellent quite first-rate." 
 Blackwood. 
 
 21. 
 LIVONIAN TALES. By A LADY. 
 
 " We like these Livonian Tales much." 
 Athenaeum, 
 
 22. 
 MISSIONARY IN CANADA. 
 
 " Reminds one of the ' VICAB OF WAKE- 
 FIELD.' " Morning Post. 
 
 23. 
 
 SIR R. SALE'S BRIGADE. 
 
 "One of the noblest records of military 
 adventures." Morning Chronicle. 
 
 24. 
 
 LETTERS FROM MADRAS. 
 
 "A welcome addition to our literary 
 store. " Britannia. 
 
 25. 
 
 HIGHLAND SPORTS. 
 
 "We would not desire a more pleasant 
 companion." Morning Post. 
 
 26. 
 HEAD'S PAMPAS JOURNEYS. 
 
 "Has all the interest of a novel." Eclec- 
 tic Review. 
 
 GATHERINGS FROM SPAIN. 
 
 " The best book on Spain that has ever 
 appeared." Quarterly Review. 
 
 28. 
 
 TWO SIEGES OF VIENNA. 
 
 "A valuable contribution to history." 
 Athenceum, 
 
 29. 
 SKETCHES OF GERMAN LIFE. 
 
 "A work deserving much attention." 
 Athenceum. 
 
 30. 
 
 MELVILLE'S SOUTH SEAS. 
 " A companion after our own hearts." 
 Times. 
 
 31. 
 BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 
 
 " This account is instinct with spirit." 
 Literary Gazette. 
 
 32. 
 
 VOYAGE UP THE AMAZON. 
 
 "This book is full of novelty." Athe- 
 n<sum. 
 
 33 
 
 MILMAN'S WAYSIDE CROSS. 
 
 " A spirited and interesting little story." 
 Athenceum. 
 
 34. 
 
 CUSTOMS OF INDIA. 
 Must interest all who have friends in 
 India." Theologian. 
 
 35. 
 
 WASHINGTON & N. ORLEANS. 
 The Personal Narrative of an eye-wit- 
 ness." Times. 
 
 3G. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO. 
 
 "Full of interest and adventure." 
 Athenceum. 
 
 37. 
 PORTUGAL AND GALICIA. 
 
 A work of superior ability." United 
 
 Service Journal. 
 
 38. 
 
 LIFE OF LORD CLIVE. 
 
 " A worthy addition to the best of our / 
 popular biographies." Spectator. 
 
 Bradbury & Evans, Printers, Whitefriars.


 
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