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 determined 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
every thing 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."
In the sequel of this letter he advises the Governor to attempt to
send home a million, or even two, of gold, and enters at great length
into the impolicy of the Directors in their intentions to change the
arrangements which he had made regarding the salt trade. His opinions
on the latter subject are always clear and consistent; and he was
strongly impressed with a conviction of the soundness of the advice
which he uniformly offered on this very important point. The former
advice proves, as does his whole correspondence, his undoubting belief,
that Bengal, if its affairs were wisely and economically administered,
would always afford a large available surplus. He complains justly,
as many circumstanced like himself have since done, of the general
ignorance that prevailed on Indian affairs. "It is certain," says he,
writing about this time to a friend[156], "that both the Directors
and Parliament are superlatively ignorant of our affairs abroad,
notwithstanding the great lights received in the late inquiries; yet
still they remain in the dark, and comprehend nothing about it. If
my constitution would have admitted of my attending Parliament and
General Courts, I am vain enough to think my knowledge and influence
would have set things to rights. However, it is certain my own
interest, my gratitude and affection for the Company, will not allow
me to be silent; and if my constitution will not permit me to speak, I
will most certainly write."
From Paris he proceeded to Lyons, and thence to Montpelier, where
he resided for some time. Finding his health extremely improved, he
returned to Paris, whence it would appear that he visited the Spa; and,
in spite of the remonstrances of his physicians, who advised him to
pass the winter on the Continent, returned to England, probably in the
end of August or beginning of September.
During his absence the Parliament had been dissolved, and a general
election had taken place, by the return of several members to which
his political influence was considerably increased. He was at this
time annoyed, for a moment, by a pamphlet which Sir Robert Fletcher
published, regarding the proceedings on his court-martial, and was
inclined to answer it; a resolution from which he was, with difficulty,
diverted by the representations of his friends; who assured him, that
Sir Robert's pamphlet had produced no unfavourable effect; as every
military officer was of opinion, from Sir Robert's own statements,
that he had been leniently dealt with.
Soon after his return to England, he had taken his place in Parliament
for Shrewsbury; and he delivered his opinions in the House with
considerable effect on Indian affairs, to which he confined himself.
He also occasionally took a part in the proceedings of the Court of
Proprietors. At this crisis, the terms of the agreement negotiated
between the Government and East India Company became the subject of
discussion; and the conditions were agitated by the adverse parties
with uncommon heat in the General Courts. Lord Clive's temper, keen and
impatient of controul, was but ill suited for such a warfare. He soon
felt this, and wrote from Bath, where he had gone for his health, to
communicate on the subject with his constant and valuable friend, Mr.
Grenville, who gave him the soundest advice.
"Wotton, Dec. 29, 1768.
"My dear Lord,
"I am much obliged to you for the honour of your letter of the 24th of
this month, which I received, together with the minutes of the last
General Meeting of the East India Company, by the last post. I think
that you are extremely in the right in your determination not to leave
the care of your health during this short vacation, in order to attend
at the next meeting for the consideration of the proposals from the
Court of Directors to the Treasury, with the Treasury's answer, and the
resolution of the Directors thereupon, which, you tell me, is postponed
to the 4th of January next. The account which you have sent to me of
what passed at the last Court, is of itself a sufficient reason, in my
opinion, for your declining to attend at the next, whilst 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 any 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 necessarily 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, with every thing in a state of uncertainty,
as it was last year, as you truly observe that it may be necessary
for you 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.
These, my dear Lord, are my sentiments upon the general situation;
which as you desired to know them, I have given to you with the utmost
freedom. As to the particular proposals, I wish to reserve them till we
meet, when we may consider them at large; whereas, at present, it is
impossible for me, on many accounts, to enter into the discussion of
them. I sincerely hope that the Bath waters may be attended with every
benefit to you which you can desire from them; or, what is more, which
your friends can desire for you. Mrs. Grenville joins with me in these
wishes, as well as in presenting our respects to Lady Clive, and our
best compliments to Mr. Strachey. I am, my dear Lord, with the most
perfect regard and esteem,
"Your most affectionate friend
"and most faithful humble servant,
"George Grenville."
Mr. Grenville reverts to this subject in a future letter, in which,
at the entreaty of a friend, he earnestly solicits Lord Clive not to
interpose his negative on the proposition for restoring Sir Robert
Fletcher to the Company's service. "Since I began this letter[157],"
says he, "which I intended to have sent by the last post, but was
prevented by an accidental illness, which, I hope, is now over, I have
had an account of the bad news which has been received from the East
Indies. This answers so exactly to what you foretold in the House of
Commons, that it leaves those without excuse who have totally neglected
all the means you then pointed out to obviate the evil consequences
which are likely to attend their present situation. This event too is,
I think, a fresh argument to confirm you in your former disposition,
not to interpose in any private disputes, but to keep yourself in the
honourable state of a public man, only contributing his advice and
assistance when asked, to preserve to this country that great empire
which he had so great a share in acquiring. These, my dear Lord, are
my sentiments; and whether they are well founded or not, I am sure you
will excuse my troubling you with them from the motive of it, which is
the sincere regard I bear to you."
Lord Chatham having resigned his office of Privy Seal in October, 1768,
and a reconciliation having taken place between him and Lord Temple,
as well as between Mr. George Grenville and the Rockingham party, the
opposition soon became very powerful, and united the principal talents
of the country. Parties ran high, and the debates were often stormy.
Lord Clive aided with all his influence his friend Mr. Grenville, to
whom, both from public principle and private feeling, he was strongly
attached. In one of the many political changes which took place at this
time, Mr. Wedderburn was in danger of being deprived of a seat in the
House; and from the following letter of Mr. Grenville, it appears that
Lord Clive stepped forward in the handsomest manner to preserve to his
party the benefit of that gentleman's great and useful talents.
"Bolton Street, May 10, 1769.
"My dear Lord,
"I have this moment received the honour of your letter, whilst Mr.
Wedderburn was with me, to whom I have executed your commission. He
is extremely sensible of this great mark of your Lordship's esteem
and regard, and still more so of the very honourable manner in which
you have made the proposition for rechoosing him into Parliament,
which he desires me to assure your Lordship shall certainly remain a
secret with him, till you give him leave to disclose it, though, as
the offer which you made when this extraordinary measure of forcing
him out of Parliament was first talked of, is already known to five or
six different persons, that secret is not so entire as I now wish it
was; however, I hope it will not get out, so as to be attended with the
least inconvenience to you. If any thing could give me a higher opinion
of your character and conduct than that which I entertained before, it
would be your behaviour upon this occasion, which I am fully persuaded,
as soon as it is proper to be known, the world will see with the same
sentiments of approbation, though not with the same feelings of your
constant friendship and kindness, which fill the mind of,
"My dear Lord,
"Your Lordship's most affectionate
"and most devoted humble servant,
"George Grenville."
Mr. Grenville's health had already began to decline, and soon after
rapidly failed. His last exertion in the House, that of carrying
through the Act which goes under his name for regulating the
proceedings in the House of Commons in contested elections, was of
itself a great public service. It was passed in April, 1770, and he
died on the 13th of November following. This event was communicated to
Lord Clive, then at Bath, by Mr. Wedderburn, in the following letter,
which is also interesting in other respects:--
"My dear Lord,
"The misfortune we dreaded has at last happened. 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 opening 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 differently. 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 state of affairs, which I assure you,
without any sort of compliment, 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."
Lord Clive's answer is equally creditable to his heart and
understanding;
"Bath, 18th November, 1770.
"Dear Sir,
"If the receipt of your very obliging and confidential 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). Although 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
connection afterwards gave an opportunity of admiring his abilities,
and respecting his 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[158]], 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 sentiments 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"--(_defect in the MS._)
"Your great and uncommon abilities must sooner or latter place you
in one of the first posts of this kingdom; and you may be assured no
man on earth wishes to see your honour and your independency firmly
established in this kingdom, more than,
"Dear Sir,
"Your affectionate friend,
"and obedient servant,
"Clive."
Mr. Grenville's death was felt by Lord Clive as a great and almost
irreparable loss. That statesman was the person in public life to
whom he had always most closely attached himself. Mr. Grenville's
great political experience, his honourable disposition, his warm
and unvarying friendship, made Lord Clive ever ready to listen to
his advice, and in general willing to follow it. On his death, the
party, which had been kept together chiefly by his personal influence,
separated, some accepting office with the Minister, among whom was
Mr. Wedderburn, who was made Solicitor-General; others joining the
Rockingham party, then in opposition. For some time Lord Clive seems
to have avoided taking a decided part in public affairs, though his
parliamentary interest, independent of the weight of his personal
character, would have made him a valuable acquisition to any party.
Perhaps, before definitively making up his mind, he wished to ascertain
the line that each was disposed to take in Indian affairs. He was thus
thrown adrift on the sea of politics. That he belonged to no party
bound in honour to support and do him justice, and so was occasionally
exposed to the hostility of all, was perhaps one of the greatest of
evils to one who had so many bitter enemies as Lord Clive, and was one
of the misfortunes which he owed to the death of his excellent friend
Mr. Grenville.
His time was not wholly occupied by public business. He gave up much
of it to the numerous friends who were warmly attached to him, and he
did not neglect his private concerns. He had purchased several noble
estates in different parts of the country, and in the choice of them
was not inattentive to the object of increasing his parliamentary
influence. On these properties he had several mansion houses, though
Walcot continued to be his favourite residence. He purchased from the
Duchess of Newcastle, the noble property of Claremont, and made several
changes on that magnificent place: at Bath he acquired the lease of
Lord Chatham's house. In London, he still had his house in Berkeley
Square. The old family seat of Styche, now much improved, was generally
occupied by some of his relations. He indulged the natural liberality
of his disposition by living in a style of considerable splendour, and
he laid the foundation of a choice collection of paintings, by the
purchase of several master-pieces of the Italian schools.
Though only in his forty-sixth year, his friends were already fast
falling around him. He had lost two sisters while he was absent in
India. In May, 1771, he had to lament the death of his aged father, as
he had of his sister, the Honourable Mrs Sempill, before the year was
done.
The occupations which engaged him in public life, whether in Parliament
or at the India House, were not of a nature to fill or satisfy a mind
like his. He lived at a period when there was a rapid succession of
administrations, produced more by intrigue and party arrangements
than by any grand national object. There was much indecision, and a
remarkable want of any commanding talent in all the various ministries
that were formed. Clive, accustomed to an almost unlimited command
over many provinces, often sickened almost as much at the inadequate
and temporising measures of Parliament, as at the quarrels of the
Directors, or the petty but exhausting intrigues of the India House;
and in many parts of his correspondence vents his longings for the
ease and quiet of a country life; longings perfectly sincere and
natural, but the indulgence of which, to one of his ardent and restless
character, so long accustomed to the agitations of public business,
would probably have failed to bring the happiness which he anticipated.
Affairs in India had in the mean time taken a very unfavourable turn.
Even during the three years of the government of Mr. Verelst, a man of
good judgment, of industry, and the purest intentions, a deficiency of
funds was severely felt. This was not so much from a decline in the
revenues, though Lord Clive had perhaps estimated them beyond their
real amount, as from various other causes. The civil, military, and
commercial expenses were daily increasing, when the steady hand that
had checked their natural tendency to excess was removed. Immense sums
were spent on building forts, barracks, &c.: the system of overcharge,
and waste, from design or carelessness, again pervaded every branch
of the service: the pay of the whole superior officers, civil and
military, which had formerly been chiefly defrayed by the Salt Society,
now fell directly on the revenues. The whole course of commerce, which
had been disordered for some years, was disordered still more by the
immense investments raised for the Company, not as formerly in exchange
for bullion or silver imported from Europe, but from the revenues of
the country itself, and with all the disadvantageous circumstances
attending a political monopoly; for, while the exportation of bullion
to China continued, even the sums formerly brought by foreigners had
ceased; as the English, who had large private fortunes to remit home,
supplied them liberally with funds in India, in exchange for bills on
Europe, which prevented for a time the importation of the precious
metals as merchandise. Clive's last act had been to withdraw the
Europeans from out-stations, and to limit their interference with the
internal trade; a measure which, however exceptionable it would be in a
country where equal law existed, had become absolutely necessary where
European delinquency had no adequate check, and where the grossest
injustice could be practised by white traders and their agents, on the
timid and defenceless natives. Soon after the Company had abolished
the Salt Society, professedly on the general principle of hostility to
monopolies, and to restore the trade to the natives, they published the
order declaring the trade open to all, whether natives or Europeans; an
act by which, contrary to their intentions, they in reality restored a
more grievous and exceptionable monopoly than that which had existed
before. Besides all this, the unfortunate and ill-conducted war on the
Coromandel Coast, made it necessary to send large sums from Bengal to
that quarter.
There is, perhaps, no instance in history of a country that has
continued, for any considerable length of time, to send a very large
proportion of its revenues, as a regular tribute, out of its own
territory. The difficulty is to get a country, however rich, to be
able to supply the expenses of its own government. This, even in the
most favourable circumstances, is no easy task. A bold, active, and
resolute ruler, like Frederick of Prussia, or Lord Clive, may, by the
force of personal character, reduce expenses, for a given time, within
the narrowest bounds; but the natural tendency of a prosperous country
is, to contrive means of consuming on the spot, by indulgences, which
come to be considered as necessaries, and by corresponding salaries or
allowances, the whole sum that is raised by taxation. A country like
Bengal, in which the European, so far as the native was concerned, was
subject to the influence of no public opinion, and so far as regarded
his own countrymen, to a very imperfect one, was not likely to form an
exception to this rule. The golden dreams, in which all parties had
indulged from the wealth of the country, were rudely disturbed, though
none were quite sure of the exact causes.
We have already seen that an agreement, for one year, was concluded
between the Government and the Directors, in 1767, and renewed in the
ensuing year, by which the Company became bound to pay 400,000_l._ in
each of these years to the Government. When the agreement was about to
expire, the Directors were again strongly pressed by the Government,
and after some negotiation a bargain was concluded, by which the
Company agreed to pay to the public the sum of 400,000_l._ annually,
for five years longer; besides undertaking to export a certain value of
British goods: they were to be at liberty to increase their dividend,
during that time, to 12-1/2 per cent., the increase not to exceed 1
per cent. in any one year. If the Company were under the necessity of
reducing their dividend, an equal proportion was to be deducted from
the annual payment to Government; and if their dividends were reduced
to 6 per cent., the payment to the public was to cease altogether.
Provision was also made for the case of a large surplus, and its
appropriation prescribed.
This agreement was violently opposed in every step of its progress.
Among others, Lord Clive, we have seen, was decidedly hostile to it,
and used every exertion, not only with the Directors, and in the
Court of Proprietors, but in his place in Parliament, to prevent its
being concluded. He was of opinion that the Directors sacrificed
the interests of the Company to their fears, and that the Ministers
extorted unreasonable concessions from their weakness. Writing to
his brother-in-law, the Hon. Colonel Sempill, while the Act was in
progress, he says[159], "My journey to the south of France and the Spa
waters has restored me to more health than I have enjoyed for some
years; and I think, in a very short time, I shall be tired of the
bustle going on in this busy world, and seek for ease in a retired
country life. The newspapers will make known to you the distracted
state of affairs in almost every part of the extended empire of Great
Britain. It is no wonder that our East India affairs should partake of
the same confusion. Administration, and the Directors, seem to think
of nothing but the present moment. The one seems resolved to strip the
Company of all they can; and the other to submit to any thing, rather
than risk their stations, power, and authority at the next general
election."--"Parliamentary concerns have embroiled me more than is good
for my health, and already I begin to grow tired of them."
He had ceased to attend the General Courts, and did not even ballot
upon any question, except that regarding the agreement with
Government, which he opposed; but which, after three efforts, the
combined force of the Administration and the Directors carried by a
majority of 40; 290 for, 250 against.