From causes which we have already been repeatedly called upon to
observe,--the unity of action of Europeans, and the want of it in
their Indian enemies,--the most extraordinary advantages have often
been gained by apparently the most inadequate means. The work of
force is easy; violence and strength can cast down, but wisdom alone
can rebuild. This task is always far more difficult than the first,
especially when the materials of which the new fabric is to be
constructed must be taken from the ruins of the old. These are, in such
cases, too often impaired and rendered unfit for use by the previous
shock they have sustained.
Clive soon found the truth of these facts. Meer Jaffier had no
qualities but as a soldier: his son was a headstrong youth; and his
brother, whom he wished to employ, was weak and incompetent. These,
and the Nabob's other relations and Mahommedan adherents, were alike
desirous of removing and plundering the wealthy and experienced Hindus
who were at the head of the administration, and governed the richest
provinces of Bengal. Roy Dullub, who saw that his ruin was their
object, had fenced himself round with his followers, and withdrawn from
all personal communication with the Nabob. Addul Sing, the Rajah of
Purneah, Rajah Ram, the Manager of Midnapore, and Rajah Ram Narrain,
the Ruler of Patna, were within a few months driven to rebellion
by acts of violence, which too plainly indicated that successful
opposition was their only road to safety. The defection of Ram Narrain,
at this period, was more unfortunate, as it afforded a safe progress
towards Oude to the French party under Law, in pursuit of whom a
detachment had marched, commanded by Major Coote.
The events which led to this general spirit of rebellion took place
while Clive was at Calcutta, whither he had been called by urgent
public and private concerns. His first melancholy duty after his
arrival was to attend the funeral of his brave associate Admiral
Watson. That gallant officer was seized, on the 12th of August, with
a putrid fever, which terminated his existence in four days. No
man appears to have felt more deeply than Clive the loss which was
sustained by this event. In a letter to the Committee of the Direction,
written immediately subsequent to its occurrence, he observes:--
"Mr. Watson is no more. Every one here received the melancholy news of
his death with much concern: his generosity, disinterestedness, and
zeal for the service, must for ever endear his memory to the Company.
Unhappy fate! after having escaped all the risk of war, to be thus
untimely cut off in the midst of his successes, crowned with glory
and reputation. This is but one of the many lessons given us of the
instability of human nature. Concern for this good man's death hastens
me to a conclusion."
It appears from Clive's letter[191] to the Court of Directors from
Calcutta, that he still cherished a hope that he might be able to
return to Madras when the season admitted. "Your Honours may be
persuaded," he observes, "that next to this province, the Carnatic
takes up the whole of my attention. It gives me much concern the
gentlemen on the coast should be displeased at my not returning a
part of the forces: had I done so, nothing could have been effected
here. Your Honours, who bestow an impartial attention upon all the
Company's settlements, will, I hope, approve of my conduct. The time
draws near when we may expect to hear of the new Soubah, Meer Jaffier's
confirmation from Delhi, and that the Mahrattas are satisfied with
the present change. I shall then proceed to the Carnatic with a force
which, I hope, will give our arms the superiority in those parts. I
make no doubt of being there soon after the breaking up of the monsoon,
which will be as early as the two contending parties can take the
field; and upon my arrival there I shall with pleasure resign the sword
to my superiors."
During the period Clive was at Calcutta he was much occupied in
settling the distribution of the sums allotted for the remuneration
of losses, and the donation to the army and navy. The former appears
to have been arranged on the justest principles, and to have given
universal satisfaction, but the discussions regarding the latter,
though they had been once settled, were revived, and took a more
acrimonious shape; and it was not till after much trouble and vexation
that they were ultimately adjusted.[192]
Clive, after having settled these disputes, found himself compelled to
make preparations to accompany the Nabob to Patna; for, independent
of the three rebellions before alluded to, Sujah-u-Dowlah, the Vizier
of Oude, now threatened the frontier. This Prince, who held (like
the Nabob of Bengal) a delegated power from the Emperor of Delhi,
had become, like others, independent of the weak superior to whom
he continued to give a nominal obedience. His territories, bounded
on the west by the river Jumna, and on the east by the mountains of
Nepaul, stretched to near Delhi on the north, and on the south bordered
on Bahar, one of the richest provinces subject to the rule of Meer
Jaffier. Sujah-u-Dowlah was to be dreaded both from his character and
resources: he had, besides, the aid of the French party, and was
believed to have established the ties of friendship with Ram Narrain,
the discontented ruler of the country he was expected to invade.
Clive's force was at this period greatly reduced from sickness: he
could not bring into the field more than five hundred and fifty
Europeans, and fifteen hundred natives. He complains, in all his
letters, of the bad effects the prize-money had produced, both on
the health and discipline of those under his command. He had applied
for, and obtained leave of the Admiral, Sir George Pocock, to employ
the detachment of His Majesty's troops in Bengal; but the conduct of
the officers (with two exceptions) made him decline accepting their
unwilling services.
"Notwithstanding your offer," he observes in his reply[193] to the
Admiral, "of putting the King's detachment under my command on this
expedition, I am sorry to inform you I cannot accept it, without
prejudicing the service; for all the officers (Captain Weller[194] and
Captain Coote excepted) have expressed by letter a disinclination to
go upon it. Under these circumstances, I think it is better for the
Company to be served by those who are willing, and may be attached to
their service, than by persons who seem to have lost all remembrance
of what they owe to them! For my own part, though I have before
represented to you the many disadvantages I must labour under, during
the present expedition, I shall endeavour to surmount them, and be
ready to render the Company all the service, which every wellwisher to
his country is bound to do."
The rising talents of Major Coote were already employed in the command
of a detachment. The death of Major Kilpatrick, an officer who had been
highly distinguished throughout the scenes above described, occasioning
a vacancy in the command of the military at Bengal, Clive recommended
that the station should be offered to Colonel Forde[195], an officer
of whom he entertained the highest opinion. The terms, in which this
offer was conveyed, are honourable to the reputation of him to whom
it was made, and reflect great credit on Clive's discernment; for no
opportunities had been yet afforded to Colonel Forde of developing
those talents as a soldier, which soon afterwards rendered him so
distinguished. Notwithstanding the encouragement offered, from the
distinction obtained by Coote and Forde, when Adlercron's regiment went
to England a short time after, none of the other officers belonging to
it availed themselves of the option given them, of remaining in the
Company's service, except Captain Carnac, who joined Clive, by whom he
was early noticed; and his subsequent career in Bengal did ample credit
to the judgment of his penetrating commander.
I have deemed it of importance to dwell on these particulars. In
nothing does the power of genius more strikingly display itself than
in the selection of persons most fit to be employed, and in the
application of their peculiar talents to the work for which they are
suited. The personal efforts of one man can do little; but aided by
the power of creating and employing subordinate instruments, can
effect every thing. The sphere of Clive's selection, however, was
very limited; and there are, in his private letters of this period,
continual complaints of his being forced, from want of aid, to make
personal efforts injurious to his health[196], which had never been
good, and which he now represents as declining from the effects of a
nervous complaint, to which he had been subject from his youth.
Affairs at Moorshedabad had, from the moment Clive left that city,
become worse. Besides other evils, the Nabob had hitherto evaded
compliance with several of the most important articles of the treaty;
and he every day showed less disposition to comply with the reiterated
demands made for its speedy fulfilment. Mr. Scrafton, who was at this
period acting as political resident at his Court, urged Clive to hasten
to Moorshedabad, with or without his force; as his presence appeared
the only means of averting confusion and ruin.
"I shall march," said Clive, in answer[197] to several of Mr.
Scrafton's letters[198], "with the whole army. I have wrote to the
Nabob and Ram Narrain, of which copies are enclosed you. Do not suffer
yourself to be unquieted beyond reason at the situation of affairs, but
consider them coolly, and give me daily accounts of what is passing.
The march of the army is absolutely necessary, as well to support the
Nabob against his enemies, as to see justice done ourselves."
After Clive had joined the Nabob at Rajahmahul, he received a letter
from the Select Committee, stating that as Sir G. Pocock was about to
leave the river, were he to proceed to Patna the safety of Calcutta
might be endangered. Clive observes in reply; "Without a foreknowledge
of events, we cannot be at any certainty, whether the steps we take
may or may not be for the advantage of the Company. By accompanying
the Nabob to Patna, it is very possible, though I think not probable,
for a French squadron to push up the river, and endanger Calcutta, and
in consequence all of the Company's possessions in these parts; and by
refusing to lend the Nabob our assistance, we must lose that influence
with him which seems essentially necessary to obtain his fulfilling the
rest of the treaty, and his continuing to us our valuable possessions.
"Yesterday the Nabob and his minister paid me a visit. After
discoursing for some time on the promising prospect of his affairs,
he desired I would march with him to Patna. This I consented to, on
condition he gave us security for paying the rest of his debts. The
orders upon Burdwaun, Nuddea, Hooghley, and Fugellie are making out,
which I hope to send you in a day or two: I have reason to think you
will receive in ready money the full of the half-year's payment. As Ram
Narrain[199] refuses to trust his person in the Nabob's power without
a letter from me, I have wrote him that he may come with safety,
having the Nabob's authority for so doing, and I am in great hopes
there will be no necessity for marching further than Telliagully. If
the affairs of Patna can be settled in this manner, it will save the
Nabob an expense which he is not well able to bear, and ease you of all
apprehensions from the arrival of a French squadron."
In Clive's letter[200] from Rajahmahul to the Select Committee of the
Directors, we find a concise and clear account of the condition of the
Nabob's government, as well as the measures which were adopted for its
settlement.
"In laying open the state of this government," he observes, "I am
concerned to mention that the present Nabob is a prince of little
capacity, and not at all blessed with the talent of gaining the love
and confidence of his principal officers. His mismanagement threw
the country into great confusion in the space of a few months, and
might have proved of fatal consequence to himself, but for our known
attachment to him. No less than three rebellions were on foot at one
time; one at Midnapore, headed by Rajah Ram; another at Purnea, under
Addul Sing; and a third at Patna, under Ram Narrain: all which may be
very well attributed to the Nabob's own imprudence. Rajah Ram's two
brothers, after being invited to Moorshedabad, were imprisoned, which
was quite sufficient to deter him from surrendering himself as he
intended. Meer Azuffee was appointed to the government of Purnea to
the general satisfaction of the people; but soon laid aside for Cuddum
Hussein Khan, a relation (it is true) of the Nabob, but a tyrannical,
rapacious fellow, and odious to the last degree to the Purneans. As for
Ram Narrain, after he made his submission, and the Nabob had sworn to
continue him in his government, apparent measures were taken for his
overthrow.
"The prime minister, Roy Dullub, who was one of the chief instruments
of the Nabob's promotion, and had received in return solemn assurances
of continuing his Dewan, was suspected to be engrossing the power
in his hands, and rather to have encouraged the rebellions than
endeavoured to suppress them. It is very certain that Roy Dullub
had a powerful party in the state, and more than probable that he
took measures to strengthen it, according to the common policy of
all Dewans. However this might be, the Nabob's jealousy of him was
arrived to such a height, that Suraj-u-Dowlah's brother, a young
lad, and almost an idiot, was suddenly cut off, on a surmise of Roy
Dullub's intending to make him Nabob, and having sent his own brother
to Chandernagore to engage me in the design, which is altogether
groundless. Roy Dullub no sooner knew of this sudden execution, and
the motives for it, than he began to fear for his own life; and open
hostilities might possibly have ensued if we had not been a check
upon each party. The Nabob, who at this time was encamped in the
neighbourhood of Moorshedabad, accompanied by a detachment of our
troops, excuses himself from any knowledge of the transaction, and lays
the whole blame on his son, who was left in government of the city;
but many circumstances induced us to believe otherwise. Roy Dullub, on
pretence of sickness, was still at Moorshedabad, having a large body
of his own troops with him, as is usual in these governments; but it
is not improbable the chief reason for his remaining behind was a view
to his own safety. Affairs were in this situation when I arrived at
Moorshedabad. I would willingly have engaged Roy Dullub to accompany
me to the Nabob's, that I might have effected a reconciliation between
them; but his illness not admitting him to set out immediately, I could
only assure him of my protection, and engage his promise to follow me
as soon as possible.
"The 3d instant, our army came up with the Nabob's at Fettiapoor, near
Rajahmahul, where we still continue encamped, chiefly to wait the
minister's arrival. I should have acquainted you that some days before
I set out from Chandernagore, Rajah Ram, the Midnapore rebel, came and
delivered himself up to me; on promise of the Nabob's pardon and our
protection. This first unlinked the chain of the three rebellions,
the chiefs of which had held a correspondence, and were connected
together. Rajah Ram's submission may be deemed a very fortunate event
in all respects; for his good sense, long experience in the affairs
of this government, and the great influence he has in the country,
would have made him as dangerous an enemy to the Nabob as he is now
a useful friend to us. Upon our approach, and some of the Nabob's
troops having passed the river into the Purnea country, the rebels of
that quarter quitted their intrenchments and dispersed, but some of
their chiefs were overtaken and made prisoners; so that two of the
rebellions are effectually quieted, and the third is in a fair way
of being peaceably accommodated. If it is in my power to bring about
the thorough reconciliation which I intend between the Nabob and Roy
Dullub, all domestic troubles may be fully put an end to in this
country. As for any apprehensions of a foreign enemy, they are not very
strong at present. The Vizier, with the assistance of the Mahrattas,
drove Nujeeb Khan, the Affghân Bukhshee, out of Delhi; but the latter
being reinforced with a large body of Patans, who are the Affghans that
have settled for some time in Hindustan, is again making head in the
neighbourhood of Delhi, and will be joined by Sujah-u-Dowlah, the Nabob
of Oude. So that all the powers from whom any danger might be expected
are too much engaged among themselves to bend their thoughts this way
for the present. The Nabob's confirmation is not yet procured at Delhi,
nor can I judge when it will. The difficulty is in the price.
"I have waited for Roy Dullub's arrival with great impatience, as
Durbar business cannot be transacted without him; and we have some
points to settle of great consequence to your interest. We have
already had occasion to observe the difficulties attending every
application for money to the Durbar, and I foresee they will increase
as the Nabob grows stronger, and we become less necessary; therefore
I have determined not to leave this ground till I procure sufficient
assignments on the revenues of some country near Calcutta for the
annual payment of the money still due by treaty; together with proper
writings from the Zemindars of such country for the regular discharge
of the same, which we may enforce if necessary. We have already
obtained the Nabob's promise to comply as soon as his minister arrives;
but it was not without much private opposition from Jugget Seit, who,
following the same method with regard to all debts due to him from the
government, has already demands on most of the Zemindars. However,
on being threatened with the loss of our friendship, he desisted.
It is not impossible but we may find Roy Dullub likewise averse to
our carrying this point, as he may become, by it, a good deal less
necessary to us, than when our applications were to be directed to him;
but as the Nabob has given his promise, and the matter now wholly
rests with him, he cannot find any way of evading a compliance, without
a manifest breach of friendship, which I think he would not venture on
in his present situation."
Major Coote, who pursued M. Law, till the French party passed Benares,
made a complaint of the conduct of the ruler of Patna, from whom he
states that he met with obstruction instead of aid. This letter was
dated on the 8th of August, a period when Ram Narrain had sufficient
proofs of the hostile disposition of the Nabob, but was ignorant what
part the English commander meant to take. The moment he received the
assurance of protection which Clive gave him, he not only submitted,
but went to Meer Jaffier's camp, which had then reached the vicinity of
Patna.
Intrigues were commenced, which, notwithstanding the promises made to
him, had for their object, the removal of this powerful Hindu, in whose
place the Nabob desired to put his brother. On the other hand, Ram
Narrain united his interests with Roy Dullub, who, though assured of
protection from the English, appeared still to entertain doubts of his
own safety. All parties looked to Clive, who was encamped at Bankapore,
a village a few miles west of Patna.
While affairs were yet unsettled, an affray occurred in the market
between some of the English sepoys and Ram Narrain's horsemen, in which
several lives were lost. The excited state of men's minds was such,
that this trifling dispute had nearly been attended with the most
serious consequences. Apprehension of the recurrence of such accidents
induced Clive to move his troops to an island in the Ganges, opposite
to his former position.
Though Meer Jaffier does not appear to have entertained, at this
period, the treacherous designs imputed to him, he continued
irresolute, until Clive, in a personal conference, succeeded in
convincing him that both his honour and his interests were concerned in
the re-establishment of Ram Narrain. Clive has stated what occurred on
this occasion in a letter[201] to the Court of Directors. "The Nabob,"
he observes in this despatch, "applying to me to accommodate between
him and Ram Narrain, and promising that if he would submit himself,
his life and property should be secure, and his government continued
to him, I wrote him conformably, engaging myself to be security for
the Nabob's promise. On receipt of my letter, he immediately left
Patna, and met me the 25th ultimo at Hybut-Gunge. It was the 29th
before he could wait on the Nabob, for want of a lucky day, and then
I sent Mr. Watts to introduce him. The wavering disposition of the
Nabob, and the ear he gives to evil counsellors, who endeavour to
inspire notions into him of our having too great an influence in the
country, have occasioned me some trouble in these mediations. However,
as he perceives in the end that my endeavours are entirely directed
to his good and the public quiet, his jealousies are quickly effaced.
The distance between us during the march prevented any interview
from my leaving Rajahmahul till our arrival at Patna; which time was
industriously made use of, by the envious and self-interested, to
alienate him from the English, and induce him to break his promise to
Ram Narrain. Their artful suggestions were too easily admitted; and
many signs appeared of coolness towards us, as well as an intention
of giving the province of Bahar to his brother Meer Cassim Ali Khan.
Having occasion, however, to wait on the Nabob the 14th instant, to
congratulate him on his entry into Patna, I represented to him the
impossibility of retracting the promise he had made through me to
Ram Narrain; and intimated, as well as the nicety of the subject
would bear, the advantage of trusting the government to a person of
his moderate and peaceable disposition, rather than putting it into
imprudent, and at the same time dangerous, hands. My discourse had
weight, and Ram Narrain was confirmed."
In a private letter, written the day after this despatch, to his friend
Mr. Pigot, Clive gives a forcible description of the actual condition
of affairs at Meer Jaffier's court, and of his own situation at this
period. He observes, "The Nabob's conduct is weak beyond conception;
and you may be assured, whenever we are wanting in a force to overawe
and protect him, ruin will ensue. You cannot imagine the trouble I have
had these three weeks past, in our march to this place; and, since his
arrival, he has been wanting to make his brother, who is a greater fool
than himself, Nabob of Bahar, in prejudice of Ram Narrain, a Gentoo,
universally beloved and respected, and that in breach of his promises
to me, whom he desired to write to him to engage him to come down and
pay his respects. Not one of his rajahs would come to or treat with
him, without letters of assurance from me. His Prime Minister, Roy
Dullub, who has more than half the army under his command, is entirely
in our interests, as is Ram Narrain and all Bahar; so that, in spite of
his folly, we can oblige him to act for his own interest and that of
the Company.
"Though there is nothing I so earnestly wish for as returning to
the coast, that I may have a good plea for quitting the service
entirely, yet I have set my heart so much upon a happy conclusion of
the Moorshedabad expedition, that I am determined to stay in Bengal
another year, if no news from England prevents it; for there is such a
connection between the Nabob, myself, and his great men, that I greatly
fear my absence would throw all into confusion, and there would be
an end of the remaining part of the debt and of the fortifications.
Whereas, by staying till this time twelve months, two thirds of the
debt will be paid, and the fortifications in great forwardness.
Besides, so large a sum has been advanced by the Company to the navy
and army, I think myself bound to see the major part of it repaid by
the Nabob. By that time eighteen of the twenty will be received.
"I hope my good friend will acquit me of the crime of vanity in
expressing my apprehension of the evil consequences of quitting Bengal
at this juncture. These foolish people ground their opinions and
confidence in one man's abilities alone. Before we took the field, it
was with the greatest difficulty he could be prevailed upon to issue
out of his treasury 10,000 rupees; and since my joining him he has
already paid twenty-five lacs, and given security for the payment of
ten more."
Clive's negotiations with the Nabob were finally attended with all the
success that such a court and so weak a character allowed. A supply
of money was procured for the extraordinary expenses of the army; the
perwannah, or grant of lands yielded to the Company, was passed in
all its forms; orders were issued for the immediate discharge of all
arrears on the first six months of the Nabob's debt, and the revenues
of Burdwan, Nuddea, and Hooghley assigned over for payment of the
rest: "so that," says Clive, writing[202] to the Court of Directors,
"the discharge of the debt is now become independent of the Nabob,
which precaution is become absolutely necessary, as his calls for
money are greater than he can answer. Nothing but a total revolution
in the government can well interrupt your payments." These matters
being settled to his satisfaction, he had accompanied the Nabob, at his
urgent request to Patna, that by his presence he might assist him in
settling that province, and by showing himself on the frontier along
with the Nabob, and his numerous army, he might at once awe all foreign
enemies, and hasten down the Sunnud in favour of the Nabob, from Delhi.
"All domestic troubles," he adds in the same letter, "are now happily
ended; and the Nabob seems so well fixed in his government, as to be
able, with a small degree of prudence, to maintain himself quietly in
it. For ourselves, we have been so fortunate in these transactions as
to attach to us the most considerable persons in the kingdom; and,
by the constancy with which we successively supported Rajah Ram,
Roy Dullub, and Ram Narrain, to acquire the general confidence, and
make our friendship be solicited on all sides. On the whole, we may
pronounce, that this expedition, without bloodshed, has been crowned
with all the advantages that could be expected or wished, both to the
Nabob and the Company."
Clive, nevertheless, saw every moment more and more the necessity of
the English permanently emancipating themselves from dependence upon
their native allies. The Select Committee at Fort William, alarmed lest
the French should make an attempt on Calcutta, wished him to apply to
the Nabob to send a large force to Hooghley, to act in co-operation
with them in the event of an attack. The reply from Clive, and Mr.
Watts, who was associated with him in his civil and political duties,
while it exposes the impolicy of such an application, shows their
opinion regarding the little reliance that could be placed on the
friendship of Meer Jaffier, however recent and great his obligation to
the English.
"We cannot," they observe[203], "avoid differing greatly in opinion
from you, gentlemen, on the subject of requesting the Nabob to have
a large force down at Hooghley, to be ready for assistance against
our enemies the French. Such a publication of our fear and weakness
would, we think, be a step the most impolitic and most prejudicial
to the Company's interest that could possibly be taken. Meer Jaffier
(according to the practice of all Mussulmen) has long since forgot
the services rendered him by the English, and looks upon them as
encroachers upon his power, reputation, and authority. It is now some
months, gentlemen, that we have been fully convinced that the Nabob has
looked upon the English with an envious eye, and that he is influenced
by his fears only to do them justice.
"The consequence of our application to the Nabob would occasion a great
coolness in his behaviour towards us, and a refusal to fulfil the
rest of his treaty; neither does this prospect of danger appear to us
so near as to oblige us to make known our apprehensions to the whole
province."
The same feeling of the necessity of the Presidency of Bengal providing
for its own security, led Clive at this period to express to the Select
Committee at Fort William his pointed disapprobation of their delays in
repairing their fortifications.
"I cannot conclude," he observes in a letter[204] written the day he
left Patna, "without representing to you, gentlemen, in the strongest
terms, the great stake the Company have in Bengal, and how much that
stake is exposed for want of a fortification. It gives me concern,
beyond what I can express, to hear from all hands that the works go on
very slowly. At a time like this, no private workmen should be allowed,
but all employed for the public service; and if the want of hands arise
only from the want of a few pice[205] more, I think such a saving does
not merit one moment's consideration, or that such economy can meet
with the Company's approbation at this juncture. Be assured, gentlemen,
if Calcutta be left defenceless through any neglect of ours, and should
fall into the hands of our enemies a second time, we shall entail upon
ourselves a censure never to be effaced."
Clive obtained, before he quitted Patna, a monopoly of the saltpetre
of that province for the Company. This grant was, in every respect,
very advantageous to the English; and no less so to the Nabob, who
received as much revenue, and more certain payment, than he had done
before. The officers of Meer Jaffier were, however, discontented with
an arrangement by which they lost the bribes and presents which they
formerly received from the contractors for that article. After this
and other matters were settled, Clive proceeded to Moorshedabad,
accompanied by Roy Dullub, with whom he had to adjust many points
connected with the full performance of the treaty.
The object of Clive, throughout this short expedition to Patna,
was to reconcile, as far as he could, the jarring interests which
distracted the court of Meer Jaffier, and threatened to disturb the
peace of the country. His honour, and the public interests, strongly
attached him to the Nabob; though, at the same time, it was not only
politic, but indispensably necessary, to keep the power of that prince
within limits. He felt himself especially bound to protect Roy Dullub
from the enemies by whom he was threatened. That minister, it will
be recollected, was one of the chief instruments in effecting the
revolution; and had subsequently received, both from Clive and Meer
Jaffier, the fullest assurances of safety to his life and property.
Clive, on the expedition to Patna, and on all other occasions,
communicated with Meer Jaffier upon every subject. He often visited
him; and giving scope to the natural bent of his temper, entered into
his amusements. But it was impossible to reconcile that prince to his
condition; which was more humiliating from the circumstance of his
presenting to his countrymen the first instance, in Bengal, of the
power of a proud Mahommedan sovereign being overshadowed by that of a
body of merchants, who, before this great change, had never appeared at
the court of his predecessors but as humble supplicants endeavouring to
obtain commercial privileges. Many of the nobles and generals by whom
the Nabob was surrounded had been, a year or two before, courted by
bribes and flattery to protect the persons, or to promote the trade,
of the very English agents on whose pleasure or policy their fortune
and character now depended. To add to the strong and rankling feelings
which such a change must have excited, the Mahommedan prince and his
chiefs found themselves deserted by the wary and pliant Hindus, who,
possessing greater foresight, and expecting security and advancement
from the change of masters, were ready, on the first alarm of danger
to their life or property, to seek the protection of the English. This
the latter were in many cases under the necessity of granting; for,
from the first, they had not intrinsic strength which could enable
them to cope with those with whom they were hourly exposed to come
in collision. They could not have remained in Bengal without the
means of self-defence; they could not repel or retaliate an attack
without counteracting and defeating their enemies; they could not
retreat without ruin, from the ground to which their successes had
advanced them; and they could only maintain themselves by forming and
improving their connections in the country. Though the cultivation and
support of the ties, which this course led them to establish, created
divisions among those whose union would have been their destruction,
it had at the same time the evil of cherishing feuds, rebellions, and
revolutions. Supposing those who had lost all but the name of authority
by our progress had been so well satisfied of our decided superiority
as to become patient wearers of the degraded trappings of state, could
they have reconciled their proud followers to obedience and submission
to those whom they deemed foreign upstarts, and whose power became
every day more galling from the abuses committed by the meanest of the
natives[206] of India employed in their service, or guarded by their
protection?
It is not meant, by these observations, to question the necessity which
compelled our advance to power in Bengal. There was no alternative
between its attainment and abandoning that country altogether; but
while we do justice to ourselves, we should not be unjust to those who
opposed us by intrigue or in battle. We should, at all events, judge
them according to their habits, their knowledge, and the feelings and
opinions of the community to which they belonged. Alarm for their
lives, hatred and distrust of each other, or the lust of power, might
make them confederate with us for the purpose of the moment. To
this they might also be induced by that arrogant confidence, which
is ever the concomitant of ignorance. They might hope to direct or
command those with whom they had combined to destroy their enemies.
But when this dream of self-delusion was dispelled, when they found
that they themselves had been made the instruments of subverting the
dominion of the race to which they belonged, and that their power was
now controlled by the very persons by whom it had been so recently
established,--it became natural for them, and for all whose fame and
fortune were associated with them, to seek, through every means,
emancipation from such humiliating thraldom. I have expressed my
sentiments very strongly upon this subject, and may be condemned by
those who, alike regardless of usage and of feeling, are guided in
their judgment of every public and private act by partial principles,
and by a local and limited scale of moral rectitude; but I shall appeal
from such a decision to all who, true to the feelings and affections
which are implanted in every breast, cherish attachment to their
family, their tribe, and their country. I ask of these, what would have
been their conduct, if placed in the depressed and degraded condition
of Meer Jaffier, his kindred, his nobles, and their followers?
Clive was fully sensible of the character of the motives by which
the latter were influenced. He saw and felt for their condition, and
imputed their intrigues and conspiracies, less to their personal
characters than to the general causes to which I have alluded. He did
not, therefore, expect any sudden change in their sentiments; but he
tried, by every act in his power, to render that control which it was
necessary to exercise less irksome. His conduct, however, had often
the effect of lowering those he desired to exalt; for it brought his
actions into strong contrast with the weak machinations of men, who
could neither conceal their jealousy of his power, nor their own
inability to cope with his superior mind.
The natives of Bengal, as yet ignorant of the construction of the
English government, ascribed every thing to Clive. They considered him
as the exclusive author of the success which had attended the English
arms; and with his life many expected it to terminate. The existence of
such sentiments gave probability to the reports of plots said to have
been formed, both at Moorshedabad and at Patna, for his assassination;
and he was warned of them by persons who deemed their information
authentic. But he does not appear to have given such warnings any
attention. He continued steadily to pursue his object of supporting
the Nabob he had raised to the throne, while at the same time he took
every measure to save the interests of his country from the dangers to
which they were exposed from the vacillating weakness, or the excited
feelings, of that prince.
When Clive arrived at Moorshedabad with Roy Dullub, he found the
Nabob's son Meeran in a state of great irritation, at the restoration
of that Hindu influence, which it was the real though concealed object
of Meer Jaffier's expedition to Patna to destroy. The disposition
of this young man, as far as it had yet developed itself, was
sanguinary and rapacious. He was, as has been related, the cause of
Suraj-u-Dowlah's being put to death: and this act, with the more recent
assassination of the son of that Prince, and the imprisonment of his
mother, had made him unpopular with the more peaceable part of his
father's subjects, particularly the Hindus, who dreaded his cruelty and
violence. But the Mahommedan chiefs and soldiers, whose pride had been
wounded, and who were checked in their licentious habits, hailed these
qualities, which, combined with Meeran's known jealousy and hatred of
the English, gave them hopes of recovering, through his means, their
lost influence and power.
Meeran had entered warmly into his father's feelings of jealousy of the
rising consequence of Clive, increased as it had been by his success in
quelling, through the influence of his personal character, the three
rebellions which lately threatened the state; but the chief subjects of
irritation were his open protection of Roy Dullub, and his travelling
with that minister to Moorshedabad. The Prince felt, or affected to
feel, alarmed at their approach: he commenced levying troops, and
declared to Mr. Scrafton, that unless Clive gave him a solemn promise
of protection, he would be compelled to have recourse to arms, to avert
the danger with which his life was threatened by the hostility of Roy
Dullub. He not only made these sentiments public, but went out of the
city in apparent alarm as Clive entered it. Clive, who had received
a private letter from Mr. Scrafton[207] informing him of Meeran's
conduct, was not prepared for this step, which threw Moorshedabad into
the utmost consternation. To this was added the receipt of intelligence
of a French squadron on the coast of Coromandel, and of the superiority
which that nation had acquired in land forces. To counteract the bad
impressions which such news might make at so critical a moment, Clive
exaggerated a slight naval success which had been obtained by the
English into a complete victory.[208] He also wrote to the Nabob on the
same day, complaining of the strange behaviour of Meeran, and stating
that he could not continue in Bengal, if his zeal to support him was
to be rewarded with suspicion and distrust. But before an answer was
received, the Prince, persuaded of his error, had returned to the city,
and made the most submissive apologies for his conduct.
Clive remained only a few days at Moorshedabad. Soon after his arrival
at Calcutta, a vessel[209] from England brought out the arrangements
made by the Directors subsequently to their receiving the intelligence
of their misfortunes in Bengal. The first measure, adopted in August,
1757, was the appointment of a temporary Committee of five, in which
Clive was to preside. This was changed in November; and it was resolved
to dismiss Mr. Drake, upon whose incompetency all appear to have been
agreed; and a council of ten was nominated, the four senior members
of which were to preside alternately, each for three months. In this
second arrangement no mention whatever was made of Clive; and as the
letter of August did not reach Bengal before that of November, he
received at the same moment the account of his first appointment, and
of the subsequent marked neglect of the Directors. But their last
resolution was of little consequence, as circumstances rendered its
execution impossible, except at the serious hazard of all the great
advantages which had been obtained. This sentiment was universal; but
by none was it felt so strongly as by the gentlemen appointed to the
Council, and above all by those who were advanced by the Court of
Directors to a share in the divided office of Governor. I shall spare
the reader all comments upon this extraordinary expedient, which was
no doubt the crude offspring of faction and mistrust. It is a more
pleasing task to record the better feeling and better understanding of
the true interests of their country which pervaded the councils of the
local government.
I am induced to insert the following letter to Clive from the new
Council, not more from its containing an excellent summary of the
reasons which led them to request he would fill the station of their
President, than because I deem it alike honourable to their zeal and
disinterestedness.
"Sir,
"Our most serious attention has been devoted to the commands of our
honourable employers per Hardwicke, naming a rotation of Governors
for the future management of their affairs at this settlement; and,
having duly weighed the nature of this regulation with all its
attending circumstances, a sincere conviction of its being, in our
present situation and circumstances, repugnant to the true interest
of our honourable masters, and the welfare of the settlement in
general, obliges us (though with the utmost respect and deference)
to believe, that had our employers been apprised of the present
state of their affairs in this kingdom, they would have placed
the presidentship in some one person, as the clearest and easiest
method of conducting their concerns, as well as preserving and
maintaining the weight and influence the late happy revolution has
given us with the Soubah of these provinces; on which influence, at
the present period, the interest and welfare of the Company depends
in the highest degree, at this settlement.
"The difficulties we may be liable to by a rotation in the
executive part of government, with its consequences, are
sufficiently obvious in our present state of affairs; we will,
however, mention only a few points: the treaty with the Nabob
not perfected in all its branches, the possession of the lands
incomplete, the settlement in no posture of defence, the French
considerably reinforced with a military and a fleet, their designs
with respect to Bengal hitherto unknown, and the impossibility of
impressing a proper idea of this divided power on the minds of
the Soubah and others of this kingdom, who have, at all times,
been accustomed to the government of a single person. A little
reflection will introduce many more, and clearly evince the
necessity of this address.
"The gentlemen nominated Governors in the Honourable Company's
commands per Hardwicke, have the highest sense of gratitude for the
honour conferred on them by our employers in their appointment;
but deem themselves in duty bound, at this juncture of affairs, to
wave all personal honours and advantages, and declare, as their
sentiments, that a rotation in the executive part of Government,
for the foregoing reasons, would be extremely prejudicial to the
real interest of the Company; in which opinion we unanimously
concur, and judge it for the welfare of our honourable employers,
and of the settlement in general, to deviate in this instance from
the commands of our honourable masters, and fix the presidentship
in a single person till we hear further from Europe.
"Your being named as head of the General Committee (in the letter
of the 3d of August last) established at that time for conducting
the Company's affairs in Bengal, your eminent services, abilities,
and merit, together with your superior weight and influence with
the present Soubah and his officers, are motives which have great
force with us on this occasion; and all concur in pointing out you,
at the present, as best able to render our honourable employers
necessary service at this juncture, till they shall make their
further pleasure known by the appointment of a President for their
affairs here.
"These reasons urge us to make you an offer of being President of
the Company's affairs in Bengal, till a person is appointed by the
Honourable Company; and we flatter ourselves you will be induced to
accept of our offer, from your wonted regard to the interest of our
honourable employers, and zeal for the welfare of their affairs,
which we doubt not you are, as well as ourselves, convinced will be
much prejudiced by a rotation in the executive part of government.
"We wait your reply, and have the honour to be,
"Sir,
"Your most obedient,
"and most humble servants.
"Fort William,
"26th June, 1758."
Clive appears to have been so much hurt by the conduct of the Court
of Directors, that he had determined not to accept the station
offered him. Mr. Watts, whose name was first upon the list of the
Rotation-government (as it was termed) wrote him a private letter,
in which he entreated him, by every consideration for the public
interests, not to refuse his services at so critical a period. His
answer to this letter is remarkable, as it shows the feelings under
which he acted.
"I have considered[210]," he states, "what you proposed to me, and
judge myself under a necessity of declining the Government. Both the
public and my private advices, I think, plainly discover that the
Presidency of Bengal was by no means intended for me by the Court of
Directors; and a temporary acceptance can only expose me, upon the
further alterations which may arrive from Europe, to circumstances of
disgrace in the eyes of the Country Government, which, I believe it is
unnecessary for me to remark, might be prejudicial to the Company's
affairs. At the same time I cannot sufficiently express my sense of
the disinterestedness which you, and the gentlemen of the Council
have shown in this generous offer, and of the honour you have thereby
conferred on me."
The representations of all ranks and parties, and the conviction of the
truth of the grounds on which they were founded, led Clive to alter
this resolution, and to write the following letter to the Council.
"Gentlemen,
"I have received your letter of this day's date, and cannot
sufficiently express the grateful sense I have of the favourable
opinion you are pleased to entertain of me, which has induced you
to desire my acceptance of the Presidency at this critical juncture.
"Though I think I have cause to be dissatisfied with the Court of
Directors, for laying me aside in their new form of Government,
without any reason assigned, after having named me as head of the
General Committee in the letter of the 3d of August last, yet,
animated by the noble example of public spirit which you have set
me, I have determined to wave all private considerations, where
the general good is concerned; and as there is no doubt but the
government of a single person, involved as we are now with the
country powers, must have infinite advantage over that complicated
form of government established from home, I shall, from that motive
(though both my health and private concerns strongly require my
returning to Europe), accept the offer you have done me the honour
to make me, till such time as our employers have appointed a
President in the usual form.
"I cannot omit testifying my acknowledgments, Gentlemen, to you all
in general, for the zeal you have discovered for the service of our
masters upon this occasion; but in particular to you who have been
nominated to be in the rotation of governors. You have made such a
sacrifice, that few, if any instances can be given of the like. You
have, of your own accord, parted with the dignity of government,
and all the advantages thereunto annexed, because you apprehend
that the Company's affairs could not be properly conducted under a
government so constituted.
"Unequal as I am to the weighty task of directing this Presidency,
especially in civil matters, to which I have never been able to
give due attention, on account of my military avocations, I am
now, Gentlemen, to beg the assistance of your advice, and therefore
hope you will persevere in the zeal you have hitherto so abundantly
shown, and that none of you, but more particularly Mr. Watts, who
can render me considerable services from his thorough knowledge of
the politics of the country, will entertain a thought of leaving
me, till affairs are finally determined from home.
"I am, Gentlemen,
"Your most obedient, humble Servant,
(Signed) "R. CLIVE.
"Calcutta,
"June 26th, 1758."
Clive states that he was in a great degree induced to change his first
resolution, by the tenor of a letter from Mr. Payne, the Chairman of
the Court of Directors, which satisfied him that, notwithstanding what
had occurred, there was a strong feeling, in some of that body, as well
as the principal members of the administration in England, to treat him
with favour and distinction.
"I have a perfect sense[211]," Mr. Payne states, "of the many
disagreeable circumstances that may have attended the several
expeditions of this year, wherein you have had so great a share; nor
can any one have felt more experimentally than myself the difficulty of
pleasing every one, with the most disinterested conduct and the warmest
pursuits for that purpose; nor have I been wanting in reflections
on the many mortifications you may have met with, from the jealousy
that the almost unlimited powers you were vested with by the Select
Committee at Fort St. George gave rise to. I must confess, I should
think them dangerous, in other hands than yours, and such as, I really
think, our Court of Directors could scarce have been justified in
giving to any one person whatever. Had the powers been more limited,
I think you could not have had it less in your power to show and
exercise your readiness and abilities in serving the Company, which I
am persuaded you have done without mean or selfish views."
The Chairman, after noticing in this communication the difficulty
the Court of Directors have had in framing a temporary arrangement
for Bengal, and expressing a hope that the expedient they had fallen
upon would answer better than was expected, states their intention of
adopting every means to add to their military force.
"After being disappointed," he observes, "in various attempts for
raising recruits in Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and England, His
Majesty has been pleased to order us a battalion of about one thousand
men out of the new regiments. Mr. Pitt was the first to propose the
measure to His Majesty. Upon his mentioning it the next day to me,
I took the liberty of suggesting to him the many difficulties and
evils we had been exposed to, during the stay of Colonel Adlercron's
regiment, in instances which I certainly need not point out to you. He
stopt me very short, by saying, he would forestall me in regard to any
apprehensions I might have by the clashing of different commands; as it
was his intention the troops should be under Colonel Lawrence and your
command."
Mr. Payne also informed Clive in this letter, that Mr. Pitt and Lord
Barrington had hinted a desire to send Clive a Colonel's commission;
but that, while he had expressed thankfulness for this intended mark of
favour, he had suggested the name of Colonel Lawrence also. "I could
not be unmindful," he adds, "of your most genteel and disinterested
conduct on a former occasion in England, in regard to that mark[212]
of the Company's respect for you, which you rather declined and were
unwilling to accept of, without Colonel Lawrence sharing with you.
I am well persuaded you will continue to act and think upon the
same generous principles; and that you must be so sensible of that
gentleman's good services, and the need the Company still have of
the continuance of them, that you will be far from looking with a
jealous eye on the mention I have made to those Honourable Gentlemen
of my apprehension of our being entirely deprived of the Colonel's
future services, if he should be taken no notice of, though he was
not immediately concerned in the late actions, which had particularly
attracted His Majesty's attention in regard to yourself."
Mr. Payne further informed Clive that the Duke of Newcastle had written
to the Court of Directors, regarding the propriety of conferring
upon him a distinguished mark of the royal favour; but, as this was
unaccompanied by any suggestion of a similar honour being intended
for Admiral Watson, he thought it would embarrass the Directors;
and he had, therefore, with the Duke's concurrence, withheld the
communication. He expressed his confidence that Clive would approve
of what he had done; and, at all events, that he would be acquitted
of having been actuated by any little motive in the part he had taken
on that occasion. "Be assured, Sir," Mr. Payne concludes, "I shall
always be as ready to propose as to concur in any measures that may
be hereafter thought of to do you honour or pleasure; and that it is a
great one to me to reflect, that your attention to the service you are
engaged in, by exposing your person on so many different occasions,
may and has been attended not only with the honours and laurels that
adorn the brow of a conqueror, but with some more solid fruits of your
labour; which may in some degree compensate for the toils that precede
victory and success."
This communication could not but be agreeable to Clive; and, in his
reply, he expresses satisfaction with Mr. Payne's conduct on all
those points which related to his personal honour and preferment. He
also states, that a knowledge of the favourable sentiments which were
entertained of his conduct by some of the principal members of the
Court was his chief inducement for accepting the proffered station of
President.
The Court of Directors had formed this Government of Rotation at a
period when they could not have anticipated the great changes which
had taken place in Bengal: that this was the case, is proved by
the fact of the subsequent appointment of Clive to the station of
Governor, the moment they heard of the battle of Plassey. They appear,
also, to have recognised the high and disinterested motives which
induced the Council to invite him to be their President; and, though
sufficiently alive on such points, we cannot discover from the records,
that they ever viewed the setting aside of their arrangement on this
extraordinary and unprecedented occasion as a measure that evinced
contempt for their judgment and authority.[213]