effecting it through the Nabob, I do not see what end it will answer.
Our known interest with him is such, that it will never be questioned we
were the advisers; and should an opportunity of retaliation ever offer,
(the apprehension of which I presume suggested the proposal to you,) it
will avail us little to attribute the fate of Chandernagore to the
Nabob. If the French should hereafter have it in their power to destroy
Calcutta, it will be matter of small moment whether they do it
immediately themselves, or make use of a like evasion, and employ some
of the country powers to effect it. So far from endeavouring to conceal
our being the authors of the destruction of Chandernagore, we ought to
make a merit of publishing it, as a laudable national revenge for the
unfortunate treatment we have received from the French. The rules of war
established among all civilised nations authorise and applaud reprisals
in such cases. I shall, therefore, very readily on my return take the
risk upon myself: and the more so, as (if I forget not) last year we
received directions from our masters[62] to that purpose."
I shall proceed in the next chapter to detail events which occurred
previously to Clive's leaving Calcutta. The material changes in those
vested with authority at Madras took place before that period, except
the resignation of Colonel Lawrence, who took the field on the siege of
Fort St. George being raised, but finding that his age and infirmities
disabled him from active service, retired to his native land, to enjoy
that repose in private life, which he now required, and to which he was
entitled by the active and able fulfilment, during more than twenty
years, of the most arduous public duties.
Colonel Lawrence must ever stand high among those officers who have
distinguished themselves in India. He neither was, nor pretended to be,
a statesman, but he was an excellent officer. He possessed no dazzling
qualities, and his acts never displayed that brilliancy which men admire
as the accompaniment of genius; but he was, nevertheless, a rare and
remarkable man. We trace in all his operations that sound practical
knowledge of his profession, which, directed by a clear judgment and
firm mind, secured to him an uninterrupted career of success, under
circumstances of great difficulty and danger. As one of the chief causes
of this success, we may notice the absence of that common but petty
jealousy, which renders men afraid lest they should detract from their
own fame by advancing that of others, and the influence of which is,
consequently, most fatal to the rise of merit. Lawrence early
discovered, and fully employed, the talents of those under his orders;
and we find him on all occasions much more forward to proclaim their
deeds than to blazon his own. To this quality, which is the truest test
of a high and liberal spirit, England is principally indebted for all
the benefit she has received from the services of Clive. It was the
fostering care and the inspiring confidence of his commander that led to
the early developement of those talents, which, by the opportunities
afforded him, were matured at an age, when most men are only in the
rudiments of their military education. Clive continued, through life,
fully sensible of the magnitude of his obligations to Lawrence, towards
whom he ever cherished the most affectionate gratitude.
When his venerated commander was on the point of retirement, with a very
moderate fortune, Clive settled 500_l._ per annum on him during
life.[63] "It gives me great pleasure," he observes to Lawrence on this
occasion, "that I have an opportunity given me of showing my gratitude
to the man to whom my reputation, and, of course, my fortune is owing."
This liberal annuity must have added to the comfort of his old age; but
its value was greatly enhanced by the warmth and delicacy of the
sentiments which Clive expressed upon this occasion. These expressions
of grateful obligation gave the retired veteran a right to associate his
own fame with that of the successful pupil to whose progress to fortune
and renown he had, by his early notice and encouragement, so greatly
contributed.
FOOTNOTES: CHAPTER 9
Footnote 1:
Vide Vol. I. p. 183.
Footnote 2:
The particulars of the storm of Boobilee are narrated, by Orme (vol.
ii. p. 254.), with the clearness and a feeling which do honoured to
that historian. Such scenes as are here described are but too common
in the history of India; where Hindus, of a high tribe, often take the
heroic, but barbarous, resolution of not leaving a living being for
their enemies to triumph over.
Footnote 3:
The other two remained concealed; but they were bound, by a vow, to
murder Vizeram Raz if the first attempt failed.
Footnote 4:
Rangarow, and his tribe, considered themselves of much higher race
than the Rajahs of Vizianagur; and their contempt of his family was
one cause of the inveteracy of Vizeram Raz.
Footnote 5:
"Bussy promised the English their property; and all they claimed as
such was resigned to them, without question or discussion."—Orme, vol.
ii. p. 263.
Footnote 6:
The father of Hyder Jung was governor of Masulipatam when Dupleix made
himself master of that important fortress, and is believed to have
betrayed his trust.
Footnote 7:
The small fortress of Dowlatabad stands at the distance of eight miles
to the north-west of Aurungabad. It is defended by walls and bastions:
but what renders it impregnable is the solid rock being scarped
perpendicular all round; and in no place is the scarp less than one
hundred and eighty feet. The entrance is by a long tunnel, in which
there are several traverses cut out of the rock. Shahnavaze Khan had
obtained possession of this fortress. The manner in which it was
seized by Bussy is minutely described by Orme, vol. ii. p. 345. Bussy
himself, attended by a number of officers and three hundred men, went
on the pretext of seeing the fort and paying a visit to the Killadar
(or Governor); and when the garrison were so stationed by the
Killadar, through respect for their guest, that they could make no
resistance, he was made a willing prisoner by the French general, and
such of his followers as made opposition expelled from the fort.
Footnote 8:
The rapidity of his flight was great: he is said to have reached
Burhampore in twenty-four hours. The distance is one hundred and fifty
miles.
Footnote 9:
A correspondence, between this petty prince and Clive, was opened
through the medium of an English merchant named Bristow.
Footnote 10:
Clive's answer to Nizam Ali Khan is dated 27th July, 1758.
Footnote 11:
17th September, 1758.
Footnote 12:
7th July, and 17th September.
Footnote 13:
Clive appears to have despatched treasure for this corps the moment he
learned that none was likely to be recovered either from Anunderauze
or the revenues of the country: but the activity of the French corps
of observation prevented, for some period, Colonel Forde from
receiving the benefit of this supply.
Footnote 14:
Native Christians, generally the descendants of Portuguese and Indian
parents; called Topasses, from their wearing hats (topees) like
Europeans, instead of turbans.
Footnote 15:
The killed and wounded were nearly one third of the whole; so that the
assailants, probably, hardly exceeded nine hundred, while the
prisoners were three thousand and thirty-seven. Arunderauze, with his
irregular native forces, was, indeed, at hand.
Footnote 16:
The troops in the ravelin, beyond the main gate, were kept at their
post by alarm at the false attack of the Rajah's troops, till the
assailants, who entered at the breach, shut the gate on them.
Footnote 17:
Orme, vol. iii. p. 489.
Footnote 18:
Letter received at Calcutta, 17th July, 1759.
Footnote 19:
Mr. Call, the chief engineer at Madras, writing to Clive, under date
the 11th October, 1758, observes, "I cannot but say you have added
much to your reputation by the detachment (Colonel Forde's) which you
have sent to our assistance on the coast. No sooner were your
apprehensions for the safety of Bengal somewhat lessened, than you
determined to support us."
Footnote 20:
Including prisoners, and the corps under Moracin, at least one
thousand Europeans, and nearly three thousand native troops, were
subtracted from Lally's force by the effects of Colonel Forde's
success.
Footnote 21:
26th August.
Footnote 22:
Captain Caillaud suffered two repulses before he succeeded in his
attack on Madura.
Footnote 23:
This party was commanded by Colonel Forde, then belonging to
Adlercron's regiment. The circumstances attending the repulse were
such as reflected no imputation on his character.
Footnote 24:
Neazballa.
Footnote 25:
Nazir Mahommed held Chittaput, and a small surrounding district, by a
sunnud, or grant, from the Subadar of the Deckan.
Footnote 26:
Mahommed Esoof was best known, in the early part of his career, by the
name of "the Nellore Commandant."
Footnote 27:
Vide Vol. I. p. 402.
Footnote 28:
The six colonels who signed this memorial were, D'Estaing, De
Landivisan, De la Fuère, Breteuil, Verdière, and Crillon. Their names
merit to be recorded. They belonged to the noblest families of their
country; and this act shows their patriotic feeling to have been as
honourable as their birth.
Footnote 29:
1st September, 1758.
Footnote 30:
Letter to Mr. Pigot, 14th August.
Footnote 31:
Ibid.
Footnote 32:
14th August.
Footnote 33:
Nazir Mahommed. I have before adverted to his gallant conduct: vide p.
26.
Footnote 34:
Colonel Lawrence.
Footnote 35:
Almost all communications between Madras and Bengal, at this period,
were by sea, which often occasioned a considerable interval between
the writing and despatch of a letter.
Footnote 36:
21st August, 1759.
Footnote 37:
Mr. Orme appears to have embarked for England about six months after
the date of this letter, but was obliged to leave the ship at the
Cape, being unable, from serious indisposition, to proceed further
until his strength was recruited.—(Letters from Mr. Vansittart to
Clive, 28th June, and 3d July, 1759.)
Footnote 38:
Letter to Sir G. Pocock, 14th August, 1759. A postscript is added to
this letter, of the 26th August; the same date as that to Mr. Orme.
Footnote 39:
This man's name was Gotica; he was uncle to the deposed King of
Tanjore, whom the English had supported in 1749.
Footnote 40:
Col. Kennedy was one of the hostages sent to Tanjore.
Footnote 41:
A breach had been made, but it was not deemed practicable. Two of the
principal French officers, General Saubinet and Count D'Estaing,
strongly advised a storm; deeming the breach, though imperfect, to be
assailable.
Footnote 42:
A considerable body, cavalry and infantry, of Tanjore troops, with
fifty Europeans, and one thousand English sepoys, were engaged in this
attack; which is chiefly remarkable for the attempt made upon the
person of the French General. A body of fifty horsemen advanced, at
daylight, to the French outposts: they inquired for Lally, saying they
wished to take service. They were conducted to the General, who, being
informed of their request, came out from a choultry to speak to them:
at this moment one of the Tanjore horsemen, supposed to be
intoxicated, fired his pistol into a tumbril, which, by its explosion,
gave a general alarm. The leader of the party, observing this, rode at
Lally, who, however, defended himself with a stick, and the man was
shot by an attendant, while the French guard succeeded in repelling a
charge made by his comrades.
Footnote 43:
Orme's History, and Clive's MSS.
Footnote 44:
A species of pulse upon which horses are fed in India.
Footnote 45:
The north-east monsoon commences, on the coast of Coromandel, in the
end of October; and military operations are difficult, and in some
parts almost impracticable, till towards the end of November.
Footnote 46:
Orme, vol. iii. p. 385.
Footnote 47:
Captain Preston's corps was from the garrison of Chingliput.
Footnote 48:
Orme, vol. iii. p. 453.
Footnote 49:
Mr. Vansittart, a member of the Council at Fort St. George, in a
private letter to Clive, dated 2d March, 1759, gives a general account
of Lally's operations, from which the following is an extract:—
"I am very glad," he observes, "to begin with acquainting you
that the siege of Madras is raised. Certainly it was an undertaking
too great for M. Lally's force, and it was undoubtedly a want of
men that obliged him to confine his approaches to so narrow a
front. I will send you a plan of them as soon as I can find one of
our engineers at leisure. The trenches are the weakest that ever
were seen, and yet they pushed them up close under our nose. Three
or four times small detachments sallied, and took possession of the
head of their sap almost without resistance. Our people retired
after destroying a little of the work, and then the enemy returned
and worked on. Their grand battery, the first that they opened,
tore our works a good deal, but our men were active, and got them
repaired in the night. This continued for a few days, but our fire
was not decreased. The enemy then lost all patience, and advanced
with all our defences in good order; when they got to the foot of
the glacis, they erected a battery against the east face of the
north ravelin, but they could never stand there for an hour
together, as we had a heavy fire both on their flank and front. In
three or four days they abandoned that, but still kept pushing on
their sap, and presently got up to the crest of the glacis, where
they erected another battery close to the north-east angle of the
covered way. This cost them very dear, and they well deserved to
suffer; for all our defences were yet perfect, nay, we had more
guns than we had at first.
"For six mornings running they opened this battery at daybreak, and
were obliged in an hour or two to shut up their embrasures. Their
loss there must have been very great; for it was raked from one end
to the other by the flank of the royal bastion, had a front fire
from the north-east bastion, and was overlooked by the demi-bastion
so with musketry, that it was absolutely impossible for a man to
live. At the end of six days they gave it up, and at the same time,
I believe, gave up all hopes of success. It is true they had opened
a narrow passage through the counterscarp of the ditch by a mine,
and had beat down so much clay from the face of the demi-bastion,
that there was a slope which a nimble man might run up, and that is
what M. Lally calls a breach; but his people were wiser than he, if
he proposed to assault it, and they refused. That letter of M.
Lally's is a most curious piece. I am glad it was intercepted, that
he may not say the arrival of the ships obliged him to raise the
siege, and that the officers and men of the garrison may have the
honour they deserve. Their duty was really severe, and what was yet
worse, they had not a safe place to rest in when off duty; for
there is not a bomb-proof lodgement in garrison, except the grand
magazine, and the casemates under the Nabob's bastion, where the
sick and wounded lay. Nevertheless there was a universal
cheerfulness from the beginning to the end; and (what M. Lally so
much expected) a capitulation never entered, I believe, into the
head of any one man in the garrison.
"The enemy retired by the way of Poonamallee, and, by our last
advices, were at Arcot. Our army is just now moving after them. We
had a difficulty to get coolies and bullocks for a camp, by which
many days have been lost. A large body of Mahrattas are upon the
borders of the province: we have made them handsome offers. If they
join us, it will be difficult for the French army to get to
Pondicherry, or if they only stand neuter, Colonel Lawrence will
have no objection to a trial of skill with the Lieutenant-general.
"I should not forget to mention that your old friend the Nellow
Subhadar was of great service during the siege. He brought a large
body of country horse and sepoys from Tanjore and Trichinopoly; and
being joined by Captain Preston with about fifty Europeans from
Chingleput, and afterwards by Major Caillaud, they occasioned a
powerful diversion. The French were obliged four times to send out
considerable detachments; but our people always kept their post,
till a scarcity of provisions forced them to move further off. The
enemy, however, lost many men in these different actions, besides
the hinderance it gave to their work."
Footnote 50:
Mr. Vansittart, in his letter to Clive of the 2d March, 1759 (quoted in
the last note), observes, "I believe I shall be obliged to apply to you
to lay hands upon some of the Chandernagore ladies, in order to exchange
against Mrs. Morse, Mrs. Vansittart, and some others, whom we sent away
in a boat for Sadras, just at the time that M. Lally borrowed that
settlement from the Dutch. They were received by the French officer, and
told they were prisoners. They have been kept there ever since; and two
days after the siege was raised I wrote to M. Lally, desiring he would
let me know his resolutions concerning my family: he sent back the peon
without an answer; nor have I got one yet. All this I could excuse if
they had but been treated with politeness; but it has been far
otherwise, as you will see by a letter I lately received from Mrs.
Vansittart, and which I send enclosed. I beg you will let Carnac explain
it to the French ladies at Bengal, that they may see, with thankfulness,
the different usage they have met with."
Footnote 51:
Mr. Sulivan was Chairman of the Court of Directors.
Footnote 52:
21st February, 1759.
Footnote 53:
6th September, 1759.
Footnote 54:
This advice, as appears from Mr. Vansittart's letter, (note, p. 50.) was
adopted.
Footnote 55:
"Your defence of Madras," Clive observes, in a letter to Mr. Pigot of
the 21st August, 1759, "and your foiling a man of Lally's rank, will
certainly gain you much honour at home; but what affords me most
pleasure is, the principal part you have acted in this famous siege. I
always said my friend would shine whenever an opportunity offered, by
what I saw of his behaviour, some years ago, near Verdiachelum woods."
Footnote 56:
Pondicherry surrendered to Colonel Coote in January, 1761. It had been
blockaded four months before the active operations of the siege, and
there were only two days' provisions for the fighting men when it
surrendered. The gallant regiments of Lorraine and Lally were reduced to
a small number, and these worn out with famine, disease, and
fatigue.—(Orme, vol. iii. p. 722.)
Footnote 57:
Mr. Orme justly remarks, that "if abuse of authority, vexations, and
exactions, are not capital in the jurisprudence of France, they ought
not to have been inserted, as efficacious, in the sentence of death."
The same author informs us that Lally was charged with treason, which
deprived him of the aid of counsel. Among other crimes, this unhappy
commander was accused of selling Pondicherry to the English; and was
believed (so credulous is national vanity) to have betrayed the
interests of his country to promote those of a nation that he hated, and
whom he treated (on all occasions when he had the power) with a severity
hardly consistent with the usage of civilised nations. The haughty
spirit of the veteran was unbroken by the persecution of his enemies.
His conduct throughout his protracted trial was collected, but proud and
indignant. When he heard his sentence he threw up his hands to heaven,
and exclaimed, "Is this the reward of forty-five years' service?" and
snatching a pair of compasses, which lay with maps on his table, struck
it to his breast; but it did not pierce to his heart: he then gave loose
to every execration against his judges and accusers. His scaffold was
prepared, and his execution appointed for the same afternoon. To prevent
him from speaking to the spectators a large gag was put into his mouth
before he was taken out of prison, whence he was carried in a common
cart, and beheaded on the Grève. He perished in the sixty-fifth year of
his age.—(Orme, vol. iii. p. 736.)
Footnote 58:
Voltaire.
Footnote 59:
So high did M. Bussy stand in the public opinion, that when the Nabob
Mohammed Ali wrote Mr. Pigot, the governor of Madras, congratulating him
on the recent victory, he added, that M. Bussy's being taken prisoner
was of itself equal to any victory, and at the same time suggested the
propriety of his being sent to him, when he would take good care of him!
Mohammed Ali even then, after some years' acquaintance with the English,
was astonished that M. Bussy was allowed to go on his parole to
Pondicherry; and as much afterwards, when he heard how well he was
received at Madras by every body there, before his departure for Europe.
D. H.
Footnote 60:
The letters of Clive's agents, also, mention many sums which he appears
to have given and sent to French officers. Mr. Vansittart, writing from
Madras, notices several individuals who have received considerable aid
(two captains one thousand rupees each); stating that they are grateful,
and have every disposition to repay Clive, but no ability; and that he
will lose his money.
Footnote 61:
27th May, 1759.
Footnote 62:
The instructions from the Court of France to Lally had been
intercepted, in which he was directed to destroy such of the British
settlements as fell into his power: in consequence of which the Court
of Directors gave orders to retaliate the same measures upon the
French settlements.—(Orme, vol. iii. p. 726.)
Footnote 63:
Extract from Clive's letter to his agents in England, 25th December,
1758:—"Having granted Stringer Lawrence, Esq., an annuity of 500_l._ per
annum during the term of his natural life, I desire you will pay the
same yearly to him or his order."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAP. X.
While Clive was exulting at the advantages gained over the French in the
Deckan and at Madras, and congratulating himself on the success which had
attended his personal efforts in Bengal, a new and alarming danger arose,
from a quarter altogether unexpected. Accounts had been received that the
Dutch were preparing a strong armament in Batavia: and it was further
added, that its destination was Bengal. To this report Clive at first
refused his belief. Mr. Hastings[64] had written him, that the Nabob was
led from several reasons to suspect that the Dutch were in league with the
Sovereign of Oude, and that the armament at Batavia was meant to
strengthen their factory at Chinsura; but Clive, in his answer to this
letter, did not give credit to the surmise. "Although it will be
necessary," he states[65], "to be upon our guard against the Dutch, yet I
have reason to think that the armament fitted out at Batavia is only
intended to garrison their settlements in Ceylon. Some intelligence lately
received confirms me in this opinion."
It was not easy for Clive, or for any person, to foresee such a course of
measures as the Dutch Government in India adopted at this period of
profound peace between the two nations in Europe. I shall, before
narrating what occurred, take a short review of the conduct of those in
charge of their factory at Chinsura, from the capture of Calcutta till the
period at which we are arrived.
The Dutch at Chinsura had, like others, suffered from Suraj-u-Dowlah, who
had compelled them to pay a fine of five lacs of rupees. This and other
oppressive acts made them rejoice at his downfall, and they addressed to
Clive a letter[66] of congratulation on his success in dethroning that
prince. Nevertheless, they did not recognise Meer Jaffier as Subah of
Bengal; and the consequence was, so hostile a feeling towards them in the
mind of that prince, that it required the continual good offices[67] of
Clive to preserve terms betwixt them. This was not easy; for their not
recognising him was a cause of just and frequent irritation to Meer
Jaffier. Clive notices the subject in a letter[68] to the Dutch Governor,
written in answer to one full of complaints.