remarkable part of his praise that he never suffered it to forsake
the control of moderation; that he was always able to check and
restrain it, and with a keen and cool glance to draw the line between
the romantic and the useful, between the dictates of an intoxicating
success, and that grand but practicable scheme of conquest and policy,
which could give security and permanence to what had been achieved.
After he had subdued the rich provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,
and had become, in fact, the arbiter of India, a wide scope was opened
for his ambition. He was strongly urged by the Emperor of Hindostan
to march to Delhi to restore him to the capital and throne of his
ancestors. No project could be more alluring to a bold and ambitious
man like Clive; and he saw and acknowledged that it was perfectly
within his power. But it was anticipating the events of forty years.
His well regulated mind perceived that great and flattering as was the
glory of such a transaction, and high as it would raise his name, it
would be contrary to sound policy and hurtful to his country. In the
very midst of his career of victory he took every occasion to inculcate
moderation. He pointed out that Bengal and its dependent provinces, we
were able to govern, and could defend by a small well disciplined army,
leaving a surplus revenue such as hardly any other country on earth
could yield; but that the moment we passed its frontiers and engaged in
the contests of the native princes, our very success would be ruinous
to our finances; and our armies and other establishments, which must
be indefinitely enlarged, would more than swallow up all the produce
both of our revenue and our trade. Succeeding events have strikingly
confirmed the dictates of his foresight.
Those who would lessen his fame, by representing him as victorious only
over Indian armies, forget, that he had the same success against the
French and the Dutch, perhaps at that time the two most enlightened and
bravest nations in Europe. But it was not at the head of armies alone
that his talents were conspicuous. He was a remarkable man in all the
circumstances of life. The truth is, that he always carried about with
him the instrument of his success,--a fearless mind, acting on a sober
and dispassionate view of human character, and directed to its object
with undoubting confidence and unflinching resolution. Aided by his
countrymen and by European discipline, he had performed much in the
field against native armies. But his success was the same when he stood
almost single against his countrymen, and against the soldiers whom
he had led to victory. On his last return to Bengal, he found a whole
settlement, from the chiefs and leading men, down to the last imported
boy, combined to thwart and oppose him. The Governor, the Council, the
heads of factories, the leading men in the civil service, were all
hostile. Even of the few who had accompanied him as auxiliaries to the
East, some tottered. The strongest of human motives, the love of power,
the love of reputation, the love of money, were enlisted against him.
But he had come determined to perform a great and arduous duty to his
country, or to die in the exertion. So he often expresses himself. And
though opposed by those who should have aided him, he commenced the
odious and invidious work of reform, guided by perfect justice, but
with undeviating firmness, and himself exhibiting the most conspicuous
proofs of disinterestedness and devotion to his trust. In the course
of eighteen months, by the use of unwilling and hostile instruments,
supported by his own powerful genius, which spread a secret awe
around him, he subdued the civil combination which had threatened to
obstruct all the measures of Government, and to confirm and increase
the evil effect of the vicious system that had previously prevailed, so
destructive to the internal peace of the country, and to the beneficial
management of its civil, its mercantile, and financial concerns.[208]
The same commanding spirit was equally discernible in the bold front
with which he met the demands of the army in mutiny. He did not seek
to appease them by artful concessions, by holding out hopes, that at
a future time their claims might be listened to. He came attended by
a firm sense of right, an invincible mind, and by the lustre of his
life of glory. He spoke to them only of duty and of submission, and he
did not speak in vain. He punished the guilty; he pardoned those who
had been misled. He may be said to have triumphed over the very engine
of his own fame. Had a sceptic desired an irrefragable proof of the
influence of individual superiority of mind, he could have devised none
more decisive than those two instances in the life of this illustrious
man.
It was an almost necessary consequence of the ardour of his
temperament, that he was impatient of opposition. The measures of his
government were in general all his own. He did not brook interference,
and the ascendancy which he gained over all about him, seldom exposed
him to it. In such cases he was often, not merely resolute, but
stern. He had in a remarkable degree, what is an uniform attendant on
successful talent, the faculty of distinguishing and employing men
of merit. During his whole career, his friends were the most eminent
men in the country, or within his reach; and what is an honourable
distinction, and throws a strong light on his character, they will be
found to be the most distinguished, not only for abilities, but for
virtue.
So much has already been said of the charges brought against him,
on the ground of the presents which he received, that it is hardly
necessary to revert to the subject. The accusation is very abhorrent
to the lofty and generous character of the man. It has been remarked,
that one remarkable feature of his acquisitions is, that they were all
of the same description, either his share of prize-money, or of what
stood in lieu of it, or gifts bestowed by the prince as a reward for
eminent services: for the service first, of raising him to the throne,
and next, of securing him in it. All his acquisitions were directly
from the state or the prince. These, it may be asserted, were only the
natural result of the customs and notions of the time and country;
and certainly not more than the Nabob would have bestowed, or been
expected to bestow, on any one of his own subjects who had rendered
him a similar service. And when we consider the rewards voted by the
British Parliament to illustrious public servants, who, having received
the pay, the emoluments, the rank, and honours of the service, had no
claim on the public purse, but public gratitude, we shall probably be
disposed to allow, that the gratifications bestowed on Lord Clive, in
lieu of all these, as they were perfectly in unison with the usages
of the country where they were granted, were neither immoderate nor
ill-timed, but such as the situation fully justified.
"Lord Clive's second appointment to India," says Sir John Malcolm[209],
"though called for by the Proprietors and the public, was warmly
opposed by a considerable party in the Direction; and his enemies in
that body, recruiting their strength from all whom he had disgraced
or punished, subsequently obtained a majority. Neither their efforts,
however, nor the combined talent which was arrayed against him in
Parliament, could daunt his courage; and he defended his own character
with a manliness and eloquence that gave him a complete triumph over
all his opponents.
"The character of Lord Clive is associated with the rise of our power
in India, and in that view merits much of our attention. Whether we
consider his military or political career; the knowledge he displayed
of the natives of India, their institutions and government; his efforts
to introduce order and principle into what was shapeless and without
system; the promptness and courage with which he quelled a mutinous and
insubordinate spirit in the military and civil officers of government;
his use of victory, the efforts he made and recommended to consolidate
the strength, and to improve the administration of our empire in the
East; we are equally astonished at the extraordinary extent of the
powers of his mind. Nevertheless, no man was ever more violently
assailed and calumniated by his cotemporaries. When events, over which
he had no control, disappointed those hopes which his successes had
raised, his opponents took advantage of the change in the public mind,
to reproach him with results, which were chiefly to be attributed to
their own factions and mismanagement. The prejudices excited by their
efforts have been continued by orators and authors, who, treating
Indian subjects without reference to those local circumstances and
considerations which peculiarly embarrass them, have pleased and
satisfied general and uninformed men, by reducing the most complex
points of policy to an easy abstract question. The necessity under
which those who exercise power in India act, the comparative dangers
they have to encounter or avoid, the means they have of executing one
plan, or the want of means for another, the feelings and character of
princes, and of nations, which they may flatter or offend, are to such
persons matters of little consequence. Their conclusions are drawn from
simpler sources, and they reject, as prejudiced and polluted, that
minute information and local experience, which, if admitted, might
destroy their favourite theories, or cast a doubt upon the validity of
those fixed rules and principles by which they consider that the wisdom
of every measure ought to be tried and decided.
"With these persons the scene of Indian warfare and policy is degraded
to a low level, and the actors reduced to insignificance when compared
with those who appear upon the stage in the _western_ hemisphere.
Nothing in India, if we refer to such authorities, is upon a great
scale, except the errors and crimes of British rulers, to the actions
of all of whom they apply a standard framed for a wholly different
state of society and government. According to such self-constituted
judges, the claim of Lord Clive to the admiration of posterity is very
equivocal. But his fame will rise the more the particulars of his
eventful life are made known. These will prove that his qualities as a
statesman almost surpassed those he displayed as a military commander."
If the opinion of those whom he governed can have any weight in
forming our judgment, it is certain that by the natives of India, no
incurious observers of character, and who felt the influence of his
virtues or defects, he was held in the highest respect and reverence.
They admired his success in war, and during his government enjoyed
all the ease and security, which it is the first object of government
to bestow. Every attempt at oppression or injustice he checked with
inexorable firmness. There were indeed complaints heard, but they were
the complaints, not of natives who suffered, but of his countrymen,
whom his vigour restrained within the limits of justice and right.
His habits in the field were those of a soldier, and simple. Fond of
rapid marches and bold attacks, he was an enemy to those incumbrances
of needless baggage which so often impede the operations of armies.
He shared in the hardships of his soldiers, and was much among them.
He trusted for respect, even among the natives of the East, who are
supposed to worship pomp, not to parade, but to the splendour diffused
around him by his exploits and his renown. The translator of the Seir
Mutaqherin, himself a Frenchman, draws a lively contrast between his
habits, and those of the justly celebrated Bussy, who, probably on
system, adopted a different course. "M. de Bussy," says he, "always
wore embroidered clothes, or brocade, with an embroidered hat; and, in
days of ceremony, embroidered shoes of black velvet. He was seen in
an immense tent, full sufficient for six hundred men, of about thirty
feet in elevation; at one end of this tent he sat on an arm-chair,
embroidered with the king's arms, placed upon an elevation, which last
was covered by a crimson carpet of embroidered velvet: at his right,
but upon back chairs only, sat a dozen of his officers. Over against
him, his French guard on horseback, and behind these, his Turkish
guards; his table, always in plate, was served with three, often with
four services. To this French magnificence he added all the parade
and pageant of Hindoostany manners and customs, a numerous set of
tents, a pish-qhana; always on an elephant himself, as were all his
officers. He was preceded by chopdars on horseback, and by a set of
musicians, singing his feats of chivalry, with always two head-chopdars
reciting his eulogium. Colonel Clive always wore his regimentals in
the field, was always on horseback, and never rode in a palanquin; he
had a plentiful table, but no ways delicate, and never more than two
services. He used to march mostly at the head of the column, with his
aid-de-camps, or was hunting at the right and left. He never wore silks
but in town."[210]
It is to be regretted that, after his return to England, he was induced
to enter into the disputes of the India House. They could hardly, in
any case, have proved satisfactory; and they certainly, in their
consequences, served to embitter his life. Yet it may be said that
it was difficult for one who had acted so distinguished a part in
the affairs of the Company, at once to renounce all active concern
in them; and that he had a natural desire, both to assist in some
degree in the management of affairs which he was so well qualified to
direct, and to promote, by his influence, the interest of his friends.
The parliamentary influence which he acquired must have been very
considerable. It would seem that it extended, in different degrees,
to Shropshire, Montgomery, Radnor, Monmouth, Shrewsbury, Worcester,
Bishops-Castle, Ludlow, Pontefract, to Clare in Ireland, and probably
to several other places.
In his politics, though a warm admirer of Lord Chatham, he was a steady
adherent of his friend Mr. George Grenville, and of moderate Whig
principles. He seldom spoke in the House, except on Indian affairs,
and especially in justification of his own conduct. From the few
specimens of his speeches that have been preserved, it would appear
that they were full of matter, closely argumentative, bold, manly, and
energetic. He seems to have acquired more ease in the management and
expression of his ideas than could have been expected from one whose
previous pursuits had been so different: his power lay in strong facts
and decided principles, plainly but vigorously expressed. Mr. Beaufoy
informs us, that "when the attack upon his conduct had called into
action the powers of his mind, his eloquence was such as has not been
often surpassed."[211] One who knew him, speaking of the same period,
says, "Not long after this event I was fortunate enough to meet the
great Lord Chatham at the chase, near Bonnet, and to hear him declare
that Lord Clive's speech on that subject was one of the most finished
pieces of eloquence he had ever heard in the House of Commons." It was
the natural eloquence of a powerful mind thrown into motion by unworthy
accusations, of a man who was master of his subject, eager to persuade,
and who used the simplest words to express the strongest ideas.
In private life he was much beloved, and possessed the warm affection
of a wide circle of friends, many of whom had been deeply indebted to
his generosity; for no man ever employed a princely fortune with more
liberality. He was steady in his attachments, and seldom lost a friend;
Mr. Vansittart, who was sore harassed between his friendship for Clive
and his connection with Mr. Sulivan, is perhaps the only instance
of consequence. As he was a steady friend, he was a resolute enemy,
but without vindictiveness. His gift of 70,000_l._ for the support of
officers and men invalided in the Company's service in India, must rank
among the noblest of living benefactions.
"His person," we are told, "was of the largest of the middle size; his
countenance inclined to sadness, and the heaviness of his brow imparted
an unpleasing expression to his features. It was a heaviness that
arose, not from the prevalence of the unsocial passions (for of these
few men had a smaller share), but from a natural fulness in the flesh
above the eyelid. His words were few, and his manner among strangers
was reserved. Yet it won the confidence of men, and gained admission
to the heart. Among his intimate friends he had great pleasantry and
jocoseness, and on some occasions was too open."[212]
By his wife, Margaret Maskelyne, he left Edward, the present Earl of
Powis, born March 7. 1754; Rebecca, born September 15. 1760; Charlotte,
born January 15. 1762; Margaret, born August 15. 1763, and Robert, born
August 31. 1769.
At the time of his death he was Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum
of the counties of Salop and of Montgomery, Major-General in the East
Indies, and representative in Parliament for the town of Shrewsbury.
He was a member of the Royal Society, and had been honoured with the
degree of Doctor of Laws.
India has produced many illustrious men both in his time and since; but
none of them has yet obscured or equalled the fame of Clive.