observes, "There is no alteration in the administration; the coldness
and jealousy between them and Lord Bute seem to continue, and rather to
increase. Your friend Mr. Grenville maintains his ground very well;
indeed he appears to me to confirm his power daily, by his vast
application to business, and by the moderation and circumspection with
which he conducts himself. He is very sparing of promises, and
therefore, as I take it, means to keep those he makes, which is the sure
foundation for a durable administration. I am much inclined to think
that while he has any influence, there will be no unpopular steps taken
by the ministry. The day of the general warrants held till five in the
morning, when an amendment that destroyed the motion was carried by a
majority of thirty-nine. Before the debate, I spoke to Mr. Grenville,
and reminding him of what had passed when you introduced me to him, I
remarked that it was upon such occasions as the present that he had the
most want of assistance from his friends; and that I was apprehensive my
being no longer neutral, as I was last year, would, instead of being of
use to him as I meant it, be of detriment; and that, therefore, I left
it to his option, whether I should come down that day or not; upon,
which, he very handsomely desired me to come down by all means, and be
determined by the merits of the cause, and not only that day, but during
the whole session. I accordingly was there, and staid till one in the
morning, when the debate, having got amongst the lawyers, grew
excessively dull and tedious, and not being very well at the time, I
retired without voting at all."
In a subsequent letter[187], Mr. Walsh informs Lord Clive of the
unexpected change that had taken place in the administration. After
describing the different political parties that had arisen, and were
likely to arise, he adds, "As to me I do not propose being absolutely of
either party; your interest does not appear to me by any means to
require it, nor do my inclinations at all lead me to it. Mr. Grenville,
it is true, I consider as entitled personally to all your assistance;
but his connections are no ways to be justified. The man, therefore, not
his party, should have your support, and, agreeably to what you yourself
told him in my presence, that your ministerial attachments would cease
for ever with his quitting the administration, your plan henceforward
should be independency."
Lord Clive had a most tedious voyage to India. The ship put into Rio
Janeiro, from whence we find letters to all his friends in England.
Constantly alive to every object which affected, in the most remote
degree, the interest of his country, he communicated to Mr. Grenville
the observations which occurred to him upon the state of the colony,
which he had very unexpectedly visited.
"As a well-wisher to my country," he observes[188], "I cannot avoid
representing to you the deplorable condition of this capital settlement
of the Portuguese. I should think myself deserving of everlasting infamy
if I did not, with a battalion of infantry, make myself master of Rio
Janeiro in twenty-four hours. They have nothing here that deserves the
name of fortification: an unflanked garden wall with a rampart, with
some old unserviceable and honey-combed cannon, constitute the chief
strength of this place; and if the capital be in this defenceless
condition, what are we to think of the subordinate settlements on the
coast of Brazil. Bad as the Spaniards are, they could not fail, upon a
future war, of making a speedy and easy conquest of all the Portuguese
possessions in this part of the world, which would be of much more
consequence to Spain than the conquest of Portugal. If a hint of their
weakness could be conveyed to the court of Portugal, and the reformation
already begun there could be extended to the coast of the Brazils, it
might be the means of preserving their valuable possessions from falling
into the hands of the Spaniards sooner or later."
Mr. Grenville, after he left office, acknowledged the receipt of this
letter and some small presents from the Cape. He refers, in this
communication, to the change of administration which had so recently
occurred; and I quote his observations less from their connection with
the life of Clive than from the value which attaches to every sentiment
of one of the most honourable and eminent statesmen who belonged to this
period of English history.
"I take this opportunity," Mr. Grenville observes[189], "of repeating to
your Lordship my thanks, for the honour of your letter from the Brazils,
and for the sensible and useful observations contained in it; which I
immediately endeavoured to make the best use of in my power. I have
since then received an account of your very obliging present of some
wine, a sea-dog, and some birds from the Cape. The sea-dog was unluckily
lost in the voyage home, by jumping overboard, and the birds I have not
yet been able to get; but when I return to town, I shall apply to Mr.
Walsh for his assistance. The wine is safely lodged in my cellars, and
by the account of it, I make no doubt will prove excellent.
"Your Lordship will have heard long before this letter can reach your
hands, of the change which the King has been advised to make in his
administration, in consequence of which I have no longer the honour to
be in his Majesty's service. You will certainly have received many
comments upon this very sudden (and, from the situation of public
affairs when it happened, very unexpected) alteration; but as I am too
nearly concerned in this event to make them, I will only say, that I
sincerely wish it may be productive of benefit to the King and to the
kingdom, instead of being attended with that confusion and disorder
which is generally expected, if the present system should continue,
though that is thought not likely. For my own part, I can only say, that
I am in the same opinions, and shall endeavour to promote the same plan
for the public business out of office, which I did whilst I had the
honour to hold one. In these sentiments, those who are now in his
Majesty's service will probably not agree with me; but on the other
hand, I have reason to hope for the approbation of those who have done
me the honour to approve my conduct. I shall earnestly wish in every
situation, to preserve the good opinion and kindness which my friends
have so strongly expressed towards me upon the present occasion, and to
cultivate the good will and friendship which your Lordship has shown to
me. Our accounts here of the state in which you will find affairs in the
East Indies are too uncertain for me to be able to make any pertinent
observations upon them; I will, therefore, content myself with
expressing to you my warmest and most hearty wishes, that you may be
attended with the same success and honour to yourself, and the same
benefit to the public, in your present command, as your former conduct
in those countries so deservedly acquired."
Lord Clive had been flattered during his stay in England, by having a
vote passed that his statue should be placed in the India House along
with those of General Lawrence and Sir George Pocock. A medal[190] had
also been struck at the desire of the Society for Promoting Arts and
Commerce, in commemoration of the victory of Plassey, and its great and
important results. These honourable marks of regard and respect could
not but be gratifying; and, combined as they were with the enjoyment of
domestic[191] happiness, and the society of friends to whom he was
attached, they naturally rendered him very reluctant again to leave his
native country. The bad health he had for the first twelvemonth after
his return made him dread the effects of an English winter; but latterly
he appears to have overcome that feeling, though we meet, in his
letters, with occasional expressions of despondency, which indicate that
depression of spirits consequent on the nervous attacks to which he
continued to be subject.
Lord Clive purchased, as his town residence, the lease of the excellent
and spacious house, which still belongs to his family, in Berkeley
Square. He made several improvements on Styche; but the house and lands
being on a limited scale for his fortune, he bought the estate of
Walcot, and employed a celebrated architect[192] to render the mansion
suitable to the residence of his family. His kind attentions to his
parents appear to have been greater than ever; and when on the eve of
returning to India, though his agents' letters show that the purchases
he had made and the stoppage of his jaghire had so embarrassed him, that
he had no money at command, he generously gave a bond to each of his
five sisters for 2,000_l._, in addition to the present to the same
amount which he had before given them.
Lord Clive carried to India Mr. Strachey, and Captain Maskelyne, a
brother to Lady Clive. He exerted his utmost efforts to forward the
interests of her other brother, Mr. Nevil Maskelyne of Cambridge; and
these efforts, supported as they were by the great science and high
character of that gentleman, obtained for him the Regius professorship
at Woolwich.[193]
Mr. George Clive, who (as has been before stated) brought home a
moderate fortune, improved it by marriage; and was too comfortably
settled to return to India. Mr. Scrafton had become a Director; but his
grave duties do not appear to have deprived him of his usual high
spirits. In one letter, he warns Lord Clive, that he is now in a
different relation to him, being "one of his honourable masters." In
another, he gives a humorous account of some of their mutual
acquaintances and friends.
"I add this letter," he observes, "to give you an account of that arch
Tory Harry[194], who, having shook off a load of gout at Mortlake, is
come to town so pert, so envenomed with toryism, that he is quite
unsufferable. He goes about boasting of your Lordship's conversion,
abuses Mr. Pitt, impeaching his patriotism and honour, because a private
gentleman has left him an estate which he swears he has no right to, and
that the will should be set aside, for that the man who made it must
have been _non com._; trumps up the Duchess of Marlborough's legacy, the
Hanover millstone, &c. &c.; swears Lord Bute is the only man of merit,
and Tories the only true patriots. * * * * Young Walcot has married a
parson's daughter _sans un sol_; and Walsh has married a country-house,
that will run away with more money, and give him more plague, than half
the wives in England. Poor Daddy King is half eat up with the gout; has
just one hand left to play at cards, and the free use of his tongue, so
that he has as much enjoyment of his faculties as if his whole body were
at ease."
Lord Clive's friend Mr. Pigot returned to England before his Lordship
left it: his fortune[195] was reported to be very large; and through the
influence it enabled him to establish, he attained first a baronetcy,
and afterwards a peerage.
Mr. Orme had settled in England; and from his correspondence appears (at
this time) to have been engaged in finishing the second part of his
history. In a letter[196] now before me, he complains of the
obstructions which forms create to his examination of the records of the
India House; while he expresses his hope of meeting more facility from
the kind attentions of Lord Clive. Writing to that nobleman, he
observes, "I have had permission to poke into the records of the India
House, and have discovered excellent materials for the exordium of my
second volume; but the difficulty of getting them away is immense, for
every scrap of an extract that I desire is submitted to the
consideration of the Court of Directors; so that in three months, and
after making twenty-five journeys to the House, I have not got half what
I want. All because they wo'n't lend me old books, of which not a soul
in England suspected the existence until my rummages discovered them. I
am afraid, my Lord, that these gentlemen suspect that I shall make a
fortune by my book; and therefore think all the trouble and impediments
I meet with to be what I have no reason to complain of, as it is in the
way of trade.
"You, my Lord, have treated me differently; and pray continue to do so.
Make me a vast map of Bengal, in which not only the outlines of the
province, but also the different subdivisions of Burdwan, Beerboom, &c.
may be justly marked. Get me a clear idea of the different offices and
duties of Duan, Bukhshee, Cadgee, Cutwall, and all other great posts in
the government. Take astronomical observations of longitude, if you have
any body capable of doing it. I send you a skeleton of the Bengal map I
intend for my second volume, and I will hereafter send you the first
sheets of the book itself; which will contain matter entirely new, even
to us East Indians; but that cruel India House, and my paper
constitution, keep me back most terribly."
Among those he had left in India, Lord Clive regarded none with more
sincere friendship than Major Carnac[197]; and when he feared that that
officer would resign the service from disgust at the treatment he had
received, he wrote him in the most urgent manner, to take no such
precipitate step. He informs him, in one letter[198], that he had
exerted himself to the utmost, and would continue to do so while he
lived, to promote his views; and "if any accident happens to me," he
adds, "I have left you an annuity of 300_l._ per annum."
Mr. Amyatt had established himself very high in the opinion of Lord
Clive, with whom he maintained, for several years, a very intimate
correspondence, to which frequent reference has been made. Lord Clive
thought equally well of this gentleman's talent and integrity; and was
deeply grieved at hearing of his death. He had, it is true, recommended
Mr. Vansittart to be his successor, in preference to Mr. Amyatt; but the
latter was quite satisfied that this was done from a conscientious
conviction of Mr. Vansittart's superior competency to the station; and
he knew that Lord Clive had endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to
obtain for him the succession of the government of Bengal, which had
been given to Mr. Spencer, a member of Council at Bombay, a gentleman
whom Clive had recommended to be at the head of his own presidency, but
against whose present nomination he remonstrated in the strongest
manner, on the ground of his abilities and character (though
respectable) not being such as to warrant the supersession of so many
civil servants at Bengal, and particularly of Mr. Amyatt.
We have often had occasion to notice the intimate footing on which Clive
had lived for many years with Mr. Vansittart, and the high opinion he
entertained of his virtue and abilities. Though condemning the
dethronement of Meer Jaffier, he ascribed the chief blame of that
measure to Mr. Holwell, and believed that his friend Van. (as he termed
him) had acted from necessity: but when Cossim Ali was left uncontrolled
to pursue his own course, and the Governor, acting on the system of
non-interference with the Nabob's authority, abandoned to his mercy the
rich Hindus and others, who had long looked to the English for
protection, Clive was unqualified in his condemnation of a policy which
he deemed calculated to injure the reputation, and with it the strength,
of the British Government. The opinions he gave on this subject were in
direct opposition to those contained in the minutes and memorials
published by Mr. Vansittart in defence of his conduct; and their wide
difference on a subject of such importance led to their being of
opposite parties in the India House.
Mr. Sulivan became the advocate of Mr. Vansittart, whose modesty,
moderation, and great virtue he contrasted with the bold, grasping
ambition of Lord Clive; and this circumstance, more than any other,
tended to loosen those bonds by which the two friends had been so long
united.
When persons are in the situation of Lord Clive and Mr. Vansittart,
every trifle obtains importance, and serves to widen the breach. Lord
Clive appears to have been, during the whole of his residence in
England, very desirous to establish himself well at court. Among other
attentions, he studied to gratify the curiosity of the King, by
obtaining for him some of the most remarkable animals of the East. He
wrote[199] several times to Mr. Vansittart to aid him in this object.
Some time after his application, Lord Clive received a letter from that
gentleman, intimating that he had sent home two elephants[200], a
rhinoceros, and a Persian mare, which he requested his Lordship would,
along with his brother, Mr. Arthur Vansittart, present to his Majesty.
When these animals reached England, Mr. A. Vansittart requested Lord
Clive would accompany him to court, to present them. The following
answer to this letter shows the first impression which this transaction
made upon his Lordship's mind.
"Upon the receipt of your letter," Lord Clive observes, "enclosing a
copy of a paragraph from your brother, I can plainly perceive, that Mr.
Vansittart, 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 his Majesty be informed of the cause of my
desiring to be excused attending you to his Majesty, with Mr.
Vansittart's presents."
An explanation took place upon this subject; and it appears by a
letter[201] from Lord Clive to Mr. Vansittart in the following year,
that some blame attached to the captain of the ship, who acted,
according to Lord Clive's opinion, at the instigation of Mr. Sulivan.
But it is a justice we owe to the memory of the latter gentleman to
state, that Lord Clive was in such a frame of mind at the time he
listened to this accusation, as readily to believe that every thing
(whether public or private) which tended to annoy or injure him
originated with or was aggravated by, his rival for supremacy at the
India House.
Though several causes combined to interrupt that cordiality which had
once subsisted between Lord Clive and Mr. Vansittart, no open rupture
took place. The latter had left Calcutta before his successor arrived,
and returned to his native country with a moderate fortune[202], and a
character for integrity that was never impeached, even by those who
censured most severely the weakness and impolicy of many measures of his
government.
Lord Clive, in the hurry of leaving England, forgot to include Mr. Call,
the chief engineer at Madras (with Mr. Campbell[203] and Mr. Preston),
in his recommendation for a brevet commission as Colonel. He wrote[204]
from Rio Janeiro to the Chairman, Mr. Rous, entreating he would rectify
his mistake, and prevent so excellent an officer being hurt by neglect.
In the same letter he called his attention, in a very forcible manner,
to the merits of Colonel Forde.
"If Caillaud," he observes, "should not go to the coast of Coromandel,
pray do not forget Colonel Forde, who is a brave, meritorious, and
honest officer. He was offered a jaghire by the Subah of the Deckan, but
declined taking it upon terms contrary to the interest of the Company.
Lord Clive, General Lawrence, and Colonel Coote, have received marks of
the Directors' approbation and esteem; Colonel Forde has received none.
The two captains who fought and took the Dutch ships in the Ganges
received each a piece of plate; but Colonel Forde, the conqueror of
Masulipatam, who rendered the Company a much greater service by the
total defeat of all the Dutch land forces in Bengal, has not been
distinguished by any mark of the Company's favour."
I here close the account of Clive's second visit to his native country,
in which he resided more than three years. I have been minute in
relating the events of this period. They had, both as they related to
the friendships he formed and improved, and the hostility which his open
and warm temper provoked, a serious influence upon his future career;
and a knowledge of them is quite essential, both to the developement of
his character, and to the understanding of the subsequent part of these
volumes.
FOOTNOTES: CHAPTER 12
Footnote 154:
27th of February, 1762.
Footnote 155:
This fact he mentions in several letters. In one to Mr. Amyatt, after
entreating that gentleman to remain a short time longer in Bengal, to
succeed Mr. Vansittart in the government, he warns him against
retiring till possessed of an ample fortune. He notices the
disappointment experienced by many of their friends, by the discovery
of their inadequate means, and adds, that he had already spent[b] (in
a period of eighteen months) upwards of 60,000_l._
Footnote b:
This letter is dated 27th of February, 1762. Clive could not have
reached England before September or October, 1760, and had been a
twelvemonth on a sick bed.
Footnote 156:
27th of February, 1762.
Footnote 157:
27th February, 1762.
Footnote 158:
We have already noticed, that the most violent of Mr. Sulivan's
opponents were the gentlemen from Bengal, who formed, on this
occasion, a party, long afterwards known in the India House by the
name of the "Bengal Squad."
Footnote 159:
22d November, 1762.
Footnote 160:
For this letter, vide _antè_, p. 129.
Footnote 161:
In the heat of the canvass at the India House, in the beginning of
1763, a copy of this letter was obtained and circulated. One was sent
to Clive, who transmitted it to Mr. Vansittart, with expressions of
the most unqualified indignation.
Footnote 162:
Colonel Coote, when he took Pondicherry, supported by the Admiral,
desired to keep that fortress for the King of England, and appointed
an officer to command it. Mr. Pigot, and the gentlemen in Council at
Fort St. George, refused to advance pay to the army till the fortress
was given up; and having thus compelled that concession, removed the
commandant nominated by Colonel Coote.
Footnote 163:
The rapid march of Captain Knox to the relief of Patna in 1760, and
the severe action he afterwards fought with a handful of men against
Cuddim Hussun Khan, who had a considerable army, were exploits worthy
of Clive himself.
Footnote 164:
Mr. Pitt resigned on the 5th October, 1761.
Footnote 165:
We find in Clive's correspondence many allusions to his intercourse
with Mr. Pitt, whom he describes as impressed with the fullest
conviction of the importance of India to England. In a draft of a
private note to the Chairman of the Directors, (which is not dated) he
observes; "A few days ago I was with the Duke of Newcastle and Mr.
Pitt. The discourse of the former was truly in the courtiers'
style—many professions of friendship and regard, many offers of
service, without the least meaning in them; but the discourse of the
latter, which lasted an hour and a half, was of a more serious nature,
and much more to the purpose. The subject was the support and welfare
of the East India Company. Mr. Pitt seems thoroughly convinced of the
infinite consequence of the trade of the East India Company to the
nation; he made no scruple to me of giving it the preference to our
concerns in America. Indeed, a man of Mr. Pitt's influence and way of
thinking is necessary to oppose to the influence of Lord Anson, who
certainly is no friend to our Company."
Footnote 166:
23d November, 1762.
Footnote 167:
Bussy carried home a very large fortune, and through its influence he
attained great consideration. The favour he enjoyed at court was
increased by his connection with the Duc de Choiseul, whose niece he
married soon after his return to France.
Footnote 168:
Letter from Lord Bute, 1st September, 1762.
Footnote 169:
The act to which I here allude is the appointment of Sir John Lindsay,
ambassador from the King of England to the Nabob of Arcot. For an
account of this transaction, vide Political India, vol. ii. p. 36.
Footnote 170:
2d February, 1762.
Footnote 171:
The history of this bill is very curious, and is fully given in the
letters of Mr. Walsh and others to Clive. It was brought forward in
1764, and read twice; but owing to some informality in its wording,
was thrown out that session. This was imputed by Mr. Sulivan to the
measures of his opponents, many of whom would have been disqualified,
from not having had the stock for the prescribed period: they, on the
other hand, accused Mr. Sulivan of having so timed the bill, as to
establish his own votes and destroy those of his opponents.
Footnote 172: