The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Life of Robert, Lord Clive, Vol. I (of 3), by John Malcolm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: The Life of Robert, Lord Clive, Vol. I (of 3) Collected from the Family Papers Communicated by the Earl Of Powis Author: John Malcolm Release Date: November 1, 2016 [eBook #53424] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF ROBERT, LORD CLIVE, VOL. I (OF 3)*** E-text prepared by Brian Coe, Moti Ben-Ari, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/lifeofrobertlord01malc Engraved by Edwards, from a Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds. ROBERT LORD CLIVE. London. Published by John Murray. 1836. THE LIFE OF ROBERT, LORD CLIVE: COLLECTED FROM THE FAMILY PAPERS COMMUNICATED BY THE EARL OF POWIS. BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN MALCOLM, G.C.B. F.R.S. &c. IN THREE VOLUMES. WITH A PORTRAIT AND MAP. VOL. I. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXXVI. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF POWIS, &c. &c. &c. My Lord, This Life of your illustrious Father is dedicated to your Lordship, in the conviction that, had the Author been spared to complete this, his last and favourite work, he would have thus endeavoured to testify his gratitude for your unvaried kindness, and his affectionate esteem for your public and private character. I remain, My Lord, Your Lordship's faithful Servant, Charlotte Malcolm. Warfield, April, 1836. ADVERTISEMENT. The present work was commenced in consequence of the possession of a body of unpublished documents, which, having been preserved among the family records at Walcot, were thrown open to the author by the friendship of the Earl of Powis. These consisted chiefly of the whole correspondence of Lord Clive, containing the originals of nearly every letter which he had received from the time when he first filled a public situation in India, down to the period at which he finally quitted that country; with copies of answers to many of the most important of them. They contained also several memoirs regarding the chief enterprises in which he was engaged, and minutes of council on the leading measures of his government. [vii] From these sources, aided by the Reports of the different Parliamentary Committees, and other authentic materials, published and unpublished, Sir John had completed the introduction, and the first thirteen chapters, before he left India, in 1830. The fourteenth and fifteenth he finished after his return, and was engaged with the sixteenth, when death put a close to his labours. The author was accustomed to bestow his final revision upon each successive portion of his work before he advanced to that which was to follow it. He had, consequently, made no preparation beyond the point where his progress was arrested; nor had he sketched out or indicated the plan he meant to pursue. A gentleman for whose abilities Sir John Malcolm entertained a high respect, and by whose judgment it was his intention to have profited before he committed his work to the press, kindly offered to supply such a continuation as was necessary to bring down the narrative to the death of Lord Clive. The materials which were here available were, of necessity, less abundant, less original, and less authentic than those from which the earlier part of the Memoirs had been composed. After Lord Clive reached England, he filled no public situation, and had the means of settling his most important affairs directly by personal communication. The incidents of his English life were to be drawn chiefly from a limited and occasional correspondence with his more intimate friends, and the parliamentary proceedings from the reports in the periodical works of the day; in which the details of contemporary occurrences are infinitely less ample than are now afforded by similar publications. The writer, therefore, by whose pen the concluding chapters were contributed, laboured under a difficulty which would have discouraged any person less influenced by friendship for the deceased, and by kindness for those on whom the publication devolved; but it has been surmounted in a manner which, it is hoped, will enable the reader to pursue the subject to its close, without any feeling of unsatisfied curiosity. The family of Sir John Malcolm cannot close this brief notice, without expressing to the continuator of the work their warmest gratitude for the pains his affection has bestowed upon the last labours of his friend. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. INTRODUCTION. General View of the State of India in 1746 Page 1 CHAPTER I. Clive's Family—his Boyhood.—Events of his early Life in India.—History of the Carnatic to 1750 29 CHAP. II. Wars in the Carnatic.—Siege of Arcot, and subsequent Operations of Clive till 1752 67 CHAP. III. Clive returns to England, 1753.—Again sent to India in 1755.—Capture of Gheriah.—Operations in Bengal.—Calcutta retaken, and Sujah-u-Dowlah forced to make Peace 128 CHAP. IV. Surrender of Chandernagore.—Quarrel with Sujah-u-Dowlah 183 CHAP. V. Conduct of Sujah-u-Dowlah.—Intrigues at his Court.—Battle of Plassey.—He is deposed, and Meer Jaffier raised to the Musnud.—Treaty 219 CHAP. VI. Transactions subsequent to the Battle of Plassey [viii] [ix] [x] [xi] [xii] 273 CHAP. VII. State of Parties in Bengal, and in the Court of Meer Jaffier.—Clive proceeds to Patna.—Accepts the Government of Bengal 316 CHAP. VIII. Clive projects an Expedition to occupy the northern Circars.—Intrigues at the Court of Moorshedabad.—The Shahzada's Invasion of Bahar.—Repelled by Clive—who receives a Jaghire 364 INTRODUCTION. GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE OF INDIA IN 1746. Before entering on the Memoirs of Clive, it will be useful to take a succinct view of the state of India, at the period when he commenced his career in that country, and more especially of the coast of Coromandel, which was the scene on which he first displayed those talents that were afterwards to raise him to such eminence. The emperors of Delhi, since the death of Aurungzebe (A. D. 1707), had rapidly declined from the power they once possessed. The government of distant countries was intrusted to soubahdars (or viceroys), who invariably took advantage of the dissensions in the imperial family, or the weakness of a reigning prince, to endeavour to render themselves independent. The same motives and principles which governed the conduct of these vicegerents, actuated those whose allegiance and obedience they claimed in virtue of their delegated powers from the nominal Sovereign of India. Hindoo rajahs, and Mahomedan nabobs owned or rejected the sway of their superiors according to their means of resistance; while the Mahrattas, a name unknown to the military history of Asia before the middle of the seventeenth century, threatened, by a system[1] of predatory warfare, to complete the destruction of these Mahomedan conquerors, whose chiefs, whether engaged in contest for the imperial Crown, the high office of soubahdar, or the inferior rank of nabob, appear to have lost, in their rancorous hostility to each other, all sense of union and of common danger, and to have blindly courted the aid of allies who (a little foresight would have shown them) were rising fast to greatness upon their ruin. These observations on the conduct of the Mahomedan princes are not more applicable to the connections they formed with the Mahrattas, than to those which, in the eighteenth century, they began to contract with Europeans. The Portuguese, who had discovered a passage to India in 1498, enjoyed the exclusive commerce with that country for a complete century; but their short and brilliant career was essentially different from that of the European nations who succeeded them. Their establishments were all maritime. They conquered and subdued the princes and chiefs on the shores and islands of India; but seldom, if ever, carried their arms into the interior, or engaged in any of those offensive and defensive alliances with native states, that must have hurried them into contests, to support which the resources and strength of the mother country would have been altogether inadequate. In consequence of this policy, their established character for valour, and the strength of their fortifications, they did not become objects of attack to the principal native powers of India. Neither the Emperors of Delhi, nor their princely delegates had, or desired to have, any naval force. They attached no value to the sea-coast or to islands, but as they might produce them profit through the medium of customs: and the increased commerce, consequent to the settlement of the Portuguese at Goa and other parts, was calculated to reconcile them to a nation, whose warfare on the continent of India was almost entirely limited to contest with the petty princes and chiefs who occupied or claimed the shores where they desired to settle. The effect of the victories gained over these princes was improved by the valour, wisdom, and energy of the great men[2] who first established the Portuguese power in India; but all these impressions were lost by the subsequent conduct of their degenerate successors, who, selected by the favour, or removed by the caprice, of a weak and corrupt court, became the ready instruments of tyranny and oppression. This evil was augmented by the continual changes of their local rulers, and by other circumstances, calculated to bring ultimate ruin on their affairs, even had that not been accelerated by the attack of European states; to which the very considerations which saved them from the hostility of the great native princes of India left them peculiarly exposed. Every settlement which they had made depended exclusively upon their possessing a superiority at sea, and having no rivals either in commerce or war; but their monopoly of the trade of India, for so long a period, arose chiefly from a respect to their right as the first settlers, which extended even to that of the exclusive navigation to that country by the Cape of Good Hope. When this right was invaded, when their fleets came in contact with those of Holland and England, their power fell as rapidly as it had risen; and, like a meteor, left no trace but a recollection of its dazzling and short-lived splendour. The successful voyages of Drake and others excited the merchants of England to seek establishments in India: but the enterprise of individuals was deemed unequal to so expensive and hazardous an undertaking; and a company was formed, to open and pursue a channel of commerce, from which such great gains were anticipated. This company and the nation were stimulated to greater efforts by the Dutch, having at this period (the close of the sixteenth century) sent several ships round the Cape of Good Hope. The English now began to settle in different parts of India. The first factory was established [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] at Surat, in 1612, and continued to have the control over all the petty settlements on the western side of the peninsula, till the cession of Bombay, made in 1668 by the King to the Company, when that town, from its fine harbour, and central situation for commerce, soon rose to be the superior settlement in that part of India; while Madras obtained the same rank on the coast of Coromandel, and for some period counted Calcutta[3] as one of its subordinates. The latter at the period when Clive's career in India commenced, had become independent, and, like the settlements of Madras and Bombay, was under the government of a president and select committee; but it was still, in its establishment and means of defence, inferior to either of the other presidencies. In the year 1698, another East India Company was formed, and received an exclusive right of trade in consideration of a loan to government; but the charter of the old Company was a few months afterwards confirmed, and the trade to the East Indies was divided between the two Companies. The jarring interests of these bodies, who obtained advantages over each other according to the favour of corrupt and changing administrations in England, had brought such distress on both, that, in 1702, their prayer to unite was attended to; a new charter was granted, and from that period they have been denominated "The United East India Company." By this charter, they were permitted to employ civil servants, to raise troops, and to make war and peace in India. Their policy, however, had been to avoid (as being ruinous to their commercial pursuits) all grounds of offence to native states; and they had not even made those fortifications which were necessary to defend their property from spoliation. The conduct which they thus pursued had been strongly recommended[4] to them by Sir Thomas Roe when ambassador at the court of the Emperor of Delhi, and a modern historian[5] of India observes, that "if Sir Thomas Roe had lived to the present day, he might have urged the trade with China as a proof, by experiment, of the proposition he advanced." But assuredly no cases ever existed more opposite than those of China and India. Though the government of the former, by a rigid system of exclusion, keeps European settlers dependent upon its own power, it secures them against all enemies. The native powers of the latter, by engaging in alliance, and inviting to interference in internal politics, the subjects of one European state, leave to the other, who may be in rivalry or hostility with it, no option between certain ruin, and employing means of self-defence and retaliation. This truth was never more completely evinced than in 1744, when war was declared between France and England. On receipt of this intelligence, the forces under the control of the companies of the two nations on the coast of Coromandel, prepared to prosecute hostilities by land and sea, upon a scale which involved both in a scene of operations more suited to empires than to commercial factories. The results of these operations will appear wonderful to him who only considers the handful of troops which either party could bring into the field; but the improvements which, within the last two centuries, had taken place in Europe, gave its soldiers an incalculable advantage over those of Asia, before the latter were taught, by repeated defeats, to make war upon more equal terms with their European opponents. The superiority of a well-constructed machine over manual labour is not more extraordinary, than the advantages which discipline and the improvements in fire-arms and artillery afford to a regular body of troops over an irregular and badly armed force. No valour can equalise the combat, and the impressions produced by defeat are rendered tenfold greater by a comparison of numbers. The well-commanded, and well-trained battalion moves amidst ten thousand of its rabble opponents, like a giant with a thousand hands, which defend or strike, according to the dictates of one mind, and to whom an unconnected force, where every individual acts for himself, can offer neither injury nor resistance. It is to this fact far more than to the want of personal courage in the men, or pusillanimity in their leaders, that we must refer the astonishing success of small numbers of disciplined troops, in the early wars of India; and it was from observing this success that the rulers of the country so eagerly courted their aid. It was, undoubtedly, good policy in the English to abstain from all interference with native states. It must have been obvious that, from the moment they left the limits of their factories, they would be involved beyond the possibility of retreat; and that the consequence of the course of policy in which they engaged could be no further foreseen, than that it was opposed to all those principles of commercial pursuit, upon which their establishments were founded. With such a prospect, nothing could justify the authorities in India in the part they acted, but proof that it was one to which they were compelled, in order to prevent positive ruin, and to support the honour and the interests of their country against a powerful enemy. Whether or not they had this justification at the moment when the following Memoir opens, will be seen by a short view of the state of affairs in the Carnatic at that eventful period of our history in India. The Payeen Ghaut, or Lower Carnatic, well known as the dominions of the Nabob of Arcot, extends along the coast of Coromandel, from the southern limits of the Guntoor Circar to Cape Comorin, a distance of about 560 miles. Its breadth, from the sea to the Ghauts (or mountains), which separate it from the territories of Hyderabad and Mysore, is no where above 100 miles; and in some parts little more than fifty. This country was formerly governed by Hindoo princes, but these had for several centuries acknowledged a Mahomedan superior. Its nabob, Sadut Oolla, in the beginning of the eighteenth century (A. D. 1710), having no children, adopted two nephews, the eldest of whom, Doost Ali, on the death of his uncle, declared himself his successor; and the younger, Bauker, became governor of the strong fortress of Vellore. Nizam-ul- Mûlk, who was at this period soubahdar of the Deckan[6], to which district of the empire the Carnatic belonged, offended at the want of deference to his supremacy, evinced by this act of the self-constituted nabob, prevented that regular confirmation of his title which was required from Delhi. Doost Ali had two sons, and several daughters, one of whom was married to Mortaza Ali, the son of his brother at Vellore, and another to a relation of the name of Chunda Sahib, who became soon afterwards his Dewan, or minister; and on the death of the Hindoo prince of Trichinopoly (A. D. 1736), this chief was sent with a force, under pretext of demanding tribute of the Ranee, or queen, but with the real design of making himself master of that fortress,—an object which he effected more by artifice than force. The part he acted after obtaining possession of the capital of the southern part of the Carnatic, combined with his having halted for some days at Pondicherry, with the governor of which he had several interviews, give reason to conclude that Chunda Sahib laid, at this period, the foundation of that friendship, which was subsequently publicly proclaimed between him and the French government.[7] Sufder Ali, the son of the nabob who had gone with Chunda Sahib to Trichinopoly, returned, after its capture, to Arcot, where a new Dewan, or minister, Meer Assud, was appointed; who took every step he could to prevent the [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] accomplishment of those ambitious designs which he seemed convinced his predecessor in office had formed. The Marathas had formerly been in possession of a great part of the Carnatic; and one of their chiefs had become Rajah of Tanjore, a small but rich principality, lying to the southward of the Cavery, and fertilised by its waters, and those of the Coleroon. Incited by the reigning rajah, and by the Hindu family who had been expelled from Trichinopoly, 10,000 of this nation, under Ragojee Bhonsela (A. D. 1740), invaded the Carnatic. In the first action with these plunderers, Doost Ali was slain, and his son, Sufder Ali, immediately assumed the title of nabob; but, dreading the results of the Maratha invasion, he sent his family and treasures for protection to Pondicherry. When the war with the Marathas was concluded, he took his family away; but Chunda Sahib left his, fearing, perhaps, the result of the intrigues, which were going on against him. These became too soon apparent; the Marathas retired; but, secretly excited by the court of Arcot, they soon returned, and surrounded Trichinopoly, which they took, after a siege of three months; and, having appointed one of their leaders, Morari Row, to be its governor, they sent Chunda Sahib, whom they had made prisoner, to be confined in a fortress near Sattarah. Sufder Ali, who was at this time (A. D. 1741) in great alarm at the apprehended resentment of the Soubahdar of the Deckan, to whom he had remitted little or no tribute, went, for security, to reside in the fortress of Vellore, pretending, at the same time, that he was in great poverty, and intended to proceed to Mecca; and, to give more currency to this last report, he sent his son and family to Madras, from whence he said he meant to embark. His minister, Meer Assud, is stated to have advised him to put his family and property under the protection of the English, from a conviction of the intrigues the French were carrying on at this period with Chunda Sahib, of whose ambitious views he continued to entertain the most serious alarm. The retreat of the Marathas had been purchased by the promise of a large sum, and every district of the Carnatic was heavily assessed to make up this amount. This assessment produced great discontent, and the principal rulers of districts, leagued with Mortaza Ali, in a conspiracy against the nabob, who was assassinated; and his treacherous relative and murderer, having distributed largesses to the army, proclaimed himself nabob, and marched to Arcot. Mortaza Ali desired to have Sufder Ali's son and property delivered up to him; but the English refused to comply with his request, being urged to this refusal by the Maratha chief Morari Row, and several of the principal officers of the nabob's army. Many of the latter openly expressed their detestation of Mortaza Ali; and the cowardly prince was so alarmed at those symptoms of danger, that he fled in the disguise of a female from his court at Arcot, and found refuge in his stronghold of Vellore. As soon as the flight of Mortaza Ali was known, the army proclaimed Mahomed Saeed (the young son of Sufder Ali) nabob; and, having appointed a minister, the prince was conveyed to Wandewash, which fortress was commanded by one of his near relations. Such was the state of the Carnatic, when Nizam-ul-Mûlk, Soubahdar of the Deckan, advanced to Arcot (A. D. 1743). His immense army[8] met with no resistance. This old and celebrated prince is said to have been shocked at the state of anarchy in which he found the fine country he now, for the first time, visited. Every officer who had been trusted with a petty government was introduced as a nabob, till the soubahdar, enraged at this assumption of rank, under cover of delegated authority, exclaimed, "I have seen, this day, eighteen nabobs, in a country where there should be but one; scourge the next fellow who comes with that title!" The son of Sufder Ali paid his homage, and was kindly received; but, though directed to be treated with lenity and respect, he was refused leave to return to Wandewash. Nizam-ul-Mûlk having, by promises and presents, more than by arms, persuaded Morari Row to evacuate Trichinopoly, completed the settlement of the Carnatic, and returned to his capital, Hyderabad. Khojah Abdulla, a native Toork, from beyond the Oxus, one of his most distinguished officers, who had accompanied him upon his late expedition, was nominated to the government of the Carnatic; but on the morning on which he was to commence his march to Arcot, he was found dead in his bed.[9] The charge of this important province was now given to Anwar-u-Deen, a brave and experienced soldier, of a respectable, though not noble family. He had filled several stations of consequence, and had, for sixteen years, been governor of the extensive districts of Ellore and Rajahmundry. Nizam-ul-Mûlk, from regard to popular feeling, which was in favour of Mahomed Saeed, the son of Sufder Ali, signified his intention to make that youth nabob of Arcot, whenever he attained the years of manhood; stating, that the officer, to whom he had given the principal charge, was only to hold it till that period: but his placing the young prince under the care of Anwar-u-Deen augured ill for the accomplishment of this object (A. D. 1744). The youth was, however, for some time, treated with great honour and respect; subject only to the disquietude arising from the clamorous demands of some Patan soldiers for arrears of pay. At the marriage of one of his relations, Mahomed Saeed was compelled, by usage, to receive Mortaza Ali, the murderer of his father. The appearance of that chief was ominous. Nothing, however, happened till near the close of the ceremony. When the young prince went forward to meet his guardian Anwar-u-Deen, the captain of the discontented Patans, under the pretence of asking pardon for his former insolence, approached his person, and stabbed him to the heart. As the boy fell lifeless, a hundred swords were drawn, and the Patan leader and his comrades were hewn in pieces. Mortaza Ali was next sought for, but he had fled to Vellore. Anwar-u-Deen was loud in his lamentations, and apparently active in the pursuit of all concerned. The whole of the Patan race were banished, and their houses rased to the ground; but these demonstrations, though they satisfied Nizam-ul-Mûlk, did not lull the suspicion of the public; and it was generally believed that Anwar-u-Deen was concerned with Mortaza Ali in destroying a prince whose right to be nabob, when he came of age, was recognised by the soubahdar of the Deckan, and who enjoyed the attachment of all ranks, not more on account of his promising character, than from the recollection of the benefits the country had enjoyed, for thirty years, under the administration of his ancestors. When war occurred between England and France, the latter country had every thing to expect from the ability and [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] enterprise of La Bourdonnais, the commander of her fleet, in India, and Dupleix, the governor of the settlements on the coast of Coromandel. It may be questioned, whether France has ever produced a more skilful or more able naval officer than La Bourdonnais. Nor were his talents limited to the profession to which he belonged: to his efforts and genius the islands of Bourbon and the Mauritius owe all their prosperity. He was as active and successful in improving the colonies of his own country, as he was fortunate and distinguished in his attacks upon those of its enemies. Before the arrival of La Bourdonnais in India, the English had the superiority at sea, and the French settlements were almost defenceless: but the government of Pondicherry prevailed upon the nabob of Arcot to require the governor of Madras to abstain from making any attack upon the French; and Commodore Barnet, who commanded His Majesty's fleet, was induced, by the entreaty and representations of the Company's government, to adopt a similar line of conduct. When, however, the French admiral arrived, he resolved to be fettered by no arrangements made on shore, from injuring, to the utmost of his power, the foes of his country. It is mortifying to read the narrative of the events of this year (A. D. 1746), when the superior energy of the French so completely triumphed, both on sea and land. The English fleet, after some indecisive efforts, left the coast, and Madras[10] was taken. La Bourdonnais agreed, however, to restore it to the English, on the payment of a ransom. Nothing could be more desperate than the situation of the Company's affairs: fortunately, the jealously and collision of the two great men, to whom the interests of France were entrusted, prevented their complete ruin. Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry, a man of an ardent and comprehensive mind, cherished, very early, the most ambitious views of raising his nation to unrivalled power in India. He saw, with jealousy, the independent power of La Bourdonnais; and, instead of entering into the plans of that able officer[11], which were directed to the conquest of all the English settlements in India, he acted in direct opposition to his views; nor did he hesitate to violate the pledge the admiral had given.[12] Possessed, as the French now were, of a very superior force, Dupleix could not endure the thought of restoring Madras to the English; so that, when La Bourdonnais left the coast, he declared the capitulation null and void, and placed a French garrison in the town for its defence. Anwar-u-Deen, the nabob of Arcot, was not an inattentive observer of these proceedings. The English, who, in compliance with his intreaties, had refrained from attacking the French, when they could have done so with advantage, expressed a hope that now, when their enemies had the superiority, the nabob would interpose his authority for their protection; but they neglected to accompany this reasonable request with that bribe or offering, which, in an Asiatic court, is deemed an indispensable concomitant of all solicitations for aid; and Dupleix, already deeply versed in Indian politics, neutralised the inclinations of the professed friend of the English, by promising to make him master of Madras, for the repossession of which he intimated that the English would pay a rich ransom. The evasions of the French governor, however, soon convinced the nabob that he had been duped; and he sent an army of 10,000 men, under his son, Maphuze Khan, to retake Madras, which he appears to have thought would be very easily effected. The French garrison, consisting of one battalion, desisted from hostilities as long as they could, but they were at last compelled to retaliate; and the repeated defeats of the besiegers soon obliged them to retreat to Arcot; and that court, whose troops had never before come in contact with disciplined soldiers, seemed as if awakened from the influence of a spell, and viewed with just alarm, in all its magnitude and consequences, the imminent danger they incurred by allowing such settlements to be made upon their shore. Dupleix, having been considerably reinforced by troops left by La Bourdonnais, determined on the siege of Fort St. David (A. D. 1746), the second settlement of the English on the coast of Coromandel.[13] The authorities entrusted with that settlement applied for aid to the nabob of Arcot; and that prince, who was full of resentment at the French, readily complied with their request, the English having consented to defray part of the expenses of their auxiliaries. Maphuze Khan, and his brother, Mahomed Ali, were sent with a considerable body of troops, who, on their arrival, surprised a detachment of the French, that had been sent to take up an advanced position, and compelled them to retreat. The failure of this first, and of another attempt, on Fort St. David, induced Dupleix to try (and not without success) to detach the nabob from his connection with the English; who, deserted by their ally, appeared on the brink of ruin, when the fortunate arrival of an English fleet, under Admiral Griffin (March, 1747), obliged the French governor to draw all his troops within the walls of Pondicherry. The drooping spirits of the inhabitants of Fort St. David were, at the same time, raised by reinforcements of troops from Tellicherry and Bombay. All these were placed under the orders of Major Lawrence, an officer of high reputation in his Majesty's service (Jan. 1748), who had been nominated to the command of all the Company's forces in India. The bad success of the French in their attempts against Fort St. David was evidently owing to other causes than the valour of its garrison: but the period was now arrived when the French, in their turn, were to act upon the defensive. Admiral Boscawen, after an unsuccessful attempt to make himself master of the Mauritius, anchored at Fort St. David with a very considerable armament. The siege of Pondicherry, which he immediately undertook, was the first military service in which Clive distinguished himself. The result was unfortunate, owing chiefly to the lateness of the season. Many questioned the skill of the gallant officer by whom it was conducted: his fame as a naval commander was justly high; but he had little, if any, experience of land service. It is, however, due to his reputation to remark, that he received no aid from the engineer, whose want of knowledge was apparent in every stage of this siege. Dupleix transmitted an account of it to all the princes of Coromandel, and to the Emperor of Delhi; and the result considerably increased his fame in every part of India. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] He received, in return, compliments on his own prowess, and on the military character of his nation, which was, at this period, throughout Hindustan, considered greatly superior to that of the English. The peace concluded between France and England (A. D. 1748) was expected to terminate hostilities in India; but the trading companies of each nation, having received great reinforcements of men, which they were afraid to disband while their rivals retained theirs, both parties appear to have resolved on employing them in the contests of the native princes. "The English," according to a contemporary historian[14], "in the line they pursued on this occasion, acted with great indiscretion; the French, with the utmost ambition." Such are the only incidents to which it seems necessary to advert in this place. Any others requisite for understanding the transactions of Clive, will be mentioned in the course of the general narrative. FOOTNOTES: For a description of this system, see Malcolm's Central India, vol. i. p. 66. Of these the most celebrated were, Vasco de Gama, Albuquerque, Nunez, and John de Castro. A settlement at Hooghly was first made in 1640, by agents from Surat, who obtained permission to establish themselves, through the intercession of Mr. Boughton, a surgeon then in great favour with the Emperor of Delhi. This settlement was afterwards moved to Calcutta in 1686. "It is not," Sir Thomas Roe observes, "a number of forts, residences, and factories that will profit you: they will increase charge, but not recompense it. The conveniency of one with respect to your sales and the commodity of investments, and the wise employing of your servants, is all you need." Mill, vol. i. p. 30. The name Deckan, or Deckhan, which means South, a very ancient name, continued to be given, when the power of the Moghul sovereigns of Delhi was in its zenith, to that part of the empire which lay to the southward of the Nerbuddah. This division which was called a Soubah, was governed by a Soubahdar, or Viceroy, whose authority was for a long period acknowledged by all the petty states within his circle, though many of these yielded neither tribute nor obedience unless compelled. When the house of Delhi declined, Nizam-ul-Mûlk succeeded in rendering the possession he held as a delegate of the emperor hereditary in his family; but the example of usurpation spread rapidly, and the other states, as they attained strength, threw off their dependence upon him and his descendants, till their sovereignty became limited to their present territories of Hyderabad. They still retain the title of Soubhadar of the Deckan; but, their power having been contracted by political events, their influence in that capacity is now confined to those territories over which their rule is established, which may be described as bounded by the river Taptee to the north, the Kishna to the south, the province of Bider to the west, and the northern Circars of Masulipatam and Guntoor to the east. The following note, communicated by a friend eminently acquainted with the history of India, will be perused with interest:— "The country mentioned in the text by the name of Paeen-Ghât-Carnatic, was annexed, after its reduction, by the generals of Aurungzebe, to the Souba, or imperial province of Hyderabad, and in all the financial records it is mentioned as only a division of it. The grants of Jaghires, made at that time by the imperial government, were so numerous and considerable, as to leave very little of the revenues arising from it to be received into the treasury. Those who were most favoured by these grants of Jaghires were of a tribe known by the name of Noayets, or newcomers, from their late arrival in the Carnatic. Saadet Ali, the first nabob, as mentioned in Orme's history, was of that tribe; as were Mortiz-Ali, and many others, who were found in the possession of extensive Jaghires, when Nizam-ul-Mûlk came into the Carnatic, in 1743. That prince, in order to restore the Mogul authority, appointed a deputy of his own at Arcot, Anwer-u-deen Câwn, who was nowise related to, or connected with, the tribe of Noayets, and who was one of the officers who had came with him to the Carnatic. "The person who afterwards made himself so conspicuous by his connection with the French, viz., Chunda Sahib, was also a Noayet. His real name was Hussein Dost Câwn. Duff Grant, in his late history of the Mahrattas, says, that this man was known by no other name when he was a prisoner at Sattarah. "The appellation of Chunda Sahib was only given to him in his family when a boy. Yet it has continued to be used in history in distinguishing him; although, besides his name above-mentioned, the title of Shems- ul-Dowla was conferred on him by the Nizams in the French interest. It is not unlikely, that his being known to the English only by the name of Chunda Sahib was, in some measure, owing to his rival Mahomed Ali, supported by them, constantly designating him by that appellation, and rather contemptuously, Chunda being a vulgar appellation, often that of menial servants."—D. H. This army is stated to have consisted of 200,000 foot, and 80,000 horse.—Orme, vol. i. p. 51. Orme, vol. i. p. 52. "This settlement," according to Orme, vol. i. p. 65., "had been, about 100 years, the principal establishment of the English nation on the coast of Coromandel. It was built on a territory granted by the Great Mogul to the East India Company, which extended about five miles along the sea shore, and about one mile inland. The town consisted of three divisions; that to the south, extended about 400 yards in length from north to south, and about 100 yards in breadth. None but the English, or other Europeans under their protection, resided in this division, which contained about 50 good houses, an English and a Roman Catholic church, together with a residence for the factory, and other buildings belonging to the Company. It was surrounded with a slender wall, defended with four bastions, and as many batteries; but these were very slight and defective in their construction, nor had they any outworks to defend them. This quarter has long been known in Europe by the name of Fort St. George, and was in India called, for distinction, the White Town. On the north of this, and contiguous, was another division, much larger and worse fortified, in which were many very good habitations, belonging to the Armenian and to the richest of the Indian merchants, who resided in the Company's territory; this quarter was [28] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] called the Black Town. Beyond this division, and to the north of it, was a suburb, where the Indian natives of all ranks had their habitations promiscuously. Besides these three divisions, which composed the town of Madras, there were two large and populous villages, about a mile to the southward of it, within the Company's territory; and these were likewise inhabited by Indian natives." The representations of Dupleix received more attention in France than those of La Bourdonnais; and that great man, instead of the high rewards to which he was entitled, was imprisoned four years in the Bastille. The injustice done him was too tardily acknowledged; and he died before another opportunity was afforded of elevating still more his own name, and of exposing the ingratitude of his country. "M. Dupleix was greatly assisted in all his transactions with the natives of India by his wife, a Creole, born and educated in Bengal, where he had married her, while he was there in the service of the French East India Company. Her knowledge of the Hindostanee language had been the means of introducing her to the family of Chunda Sahib, when they took refuge at Pondicherry, during his confinement at Sattarah with the Mahrattas: and this laid the foundation of the French intrigues with him. In all these, M. Dupleix's lady made herself conspicuous, by corresponding, in the name of her husband, with those who could be brought into action for favouring the French views of interference, and supporting the cause of Chunda Sahib. She then became known all over that country by the name of Jân Begum, which she assumed in the seal to all her letters. Her own Christian name was Jeanne, which gave some colour to her converting it into the Persian word on her seal, as familiar to Mahomedans. "It must be acknowledged that the French at this time, viz., during M. Dupleix's government, had greatly the advantage of the English, by their superior knowledge of the languages and usages of the nations of India. Their Catholic missionaries, especially the Jesuits, who had travelled inland, had been very instrumental in their acquiring that knowledge; while the English confined themselves to their trade, and remained in total ignorance of any thing else. The French gave certain proofs of the superior information they had acquired, when they produced, at the conference with the English commissioners at Sadras, in 1754, the sunnuds or grants for the lands they had acquired in the Carnatic, which were all procured under the authority of the Mogul Emperor or his viziers; while those of the English were only from inferior agents of that government. It is true, that the sunnuds there produced by the French were objected to by the English as under the forged seals of emperors; yet it shows that they did not rest their claims on grants of inferiors, as the English did. It is, indeed, very remarkable, that the latter never, till a late period, possessed any others but those of the nabob Mahomed Ali in the Carnatic, excepting for the ground of their original factories. It was not till Lord Clive obtained regular grants from the Emperor Shah Aulum, in 1765, when he obtained the dewanee of the provinces of Bengal, that the English could produce any other grants but those obtained from the nabob whom they themselves had set up."—D. H. Orme (vol. i. p. 78.), speaking of this settlement, observes:— "The East India Company was here in possession of a territory larger than that of Madras; it had been purchased about 100 years before from the Indian prince of the country, and their title to it was confirmed by the Mogul's viceroy, when the Moors conquered the Carnatic. The fort was situated near the sea, twelve miles to the south of Pondicherry: it was small, but better fortified than any of its size in India, and served as a citadel to the Company's territory. About a mile to the south of it, was situated the town of Cuddalore, in which the principal Indian merchants, and many of the natives dependent on the Company, resided. This town extended 1200 yards from north to south, and 900 from east to west: three of its sides were defended by walls flanked with bastions; that towards the sea was for the greatest part open; but a river passing from the westward, between Fort St. David and the town, flowed, just before it gains the sea, along the eastern side of the town, of which, whilst it washed the skirts on one hand, it was, on the other, separated from the sea by a mound of sand, which the surf throws upon the shore in most parts of the coast. To the westward of the fort, and within the Company's territory, were two or three populous villages, inhabited by the natives. "The government of Fort St. David depended on that of Madras, to which it was immediately the next in rank; but, on the breach of the treaty of ransom, the Company's agents at Fort St. David regarding those of Madras as prisoners to the French, took upon themselves the general administration on the coast of Coromandel." Orme, vol. i. p. 7. MEMOIRS OF LORD CLIVE. CHAPTER I. The family of Clive, established in Shropshire, since the time of Henry II., have, for a long period, possessed the small estate of Styche, in the parish of Moreton-Say, near Market-Drayton. At this seat of his ancestors, Robert Clive, the subject of this memoir, was born on the 29th of September, 1725. His father, Richard Clive, married Rebecca, daughter of Nathaniel Gaskill, of Manchester, Esq., by whom he had a family of six sons, and seven daughters. He had been educated for the law, and continued, through a great part of his life, to practise that profession. Mrs. Clive had two sisters, the one of whom, Elizabeth, was married, in 1717, to Daniel Bayley, Esq., of Hope Hall, near Manchester; and the other, Sarah, to the Right Hon. Hugh, eleventh Lord Sempill. Mr. Clive's eldest son, Robert, while not yet three years of age, was sent to his uncle, Mr. Bayley, in whose family he was trained and educated for several years, as his own son. [11] [12] [13] [14] [29] [30] In the end of the year 1728, the infant Clive seems to have had a dangerous attack of fever. "If I were given to be superstitious," says Mr. Bayley, writing to the Rev. Mr. King at Styche[15], "and to believe things ominous, I think I should omit writing to you; for it has been poor Bob's fate to grow worse, just after I have finished my letters. From the time of Andrew's leaving us till yesterday about five o'clock, he was worse than at any time yet; and the doctor discovered, by all his behaviour, that he apprehended full as much danger as ever; but since that time he has been much better, and we hope that then was the crisis of the fever. He slept pretty well last night; and, when awake, talked with his usual cheerfulness; and, I can say, is now better, and in a more hopeful way to recover than hitherto, if no relapse come upon him. He is, as you may well imagine, very weak; but the doctor doubts not his getting more strength if the fever continues (as it has begun) to leave him. This is what account I can now send: you will excuse haste. Our services wait on Madame Clive and all the family." Two days after Mr. Bayley again writes Mr. King:— "Monday Morning, Nine o'clock. "Thank God, I do now inform you that Bob continues better, and is in a very likely way to recover. We hope that the crisis of the fever was on Saturday last about noon, it having abated ever since. His exceeding patience is also exchanged for as eminent a degree of crossness, which we take as a good omen of his mending. I am writing this close to his bed-side, and he is crying with the greatest impatience for me to lie on the bed with him; nor will he be quiet one moment, with all the fine words I can give him, which now makes me conclude abruptly," &c. On the 11th of January, Mr. Bayley informs his correspondent, that Robert had had another severe attack of fever; from which, however, he was so far recovered as to be very merry and able to walk himself. In answer to some remarks of Mr. King, he details the symptoms, and mode of cure adopted. The fever seems to have been connected with the stomach, and yielded to the usual remedies. Mr. Bayley, about a fortnight afterwards, informs Mr. King of his nephew's recovery:— "Manchester, Jan. 26.[16] 1728. "Sabbath Day evening, ten o'clock. "Rev. and dear Sir, "Yesterday Bob came down into the parlour, the first time. He goes on successfully with the bark, and is very merry, and good as it is possible. He is poor and thin; but in a brave way, and has a stomach for more meat than we dare give him. He can run about, and chatters continually, and is always asking questions, one of which I must enquire of you, before I can answer him; viz., when yourself and his aunt Fanny will come over to see him? We are all pretty well, and full of that joy which so happy any issue of so long and threatening an affliction naturally produceth. Our sincere respects and services to all: conclude me," &c. "This afternoon, Bob, with some reluctance, suffered his aunt Bay[17] to go to chapel." Young Clive seems to have resided chiefly with his aunt Bayley, down to at least the year 1732. In June of that year, Mr. Bayley gives his friend Mr. King some very characteristic traits of his nephew's temper. "I hope," says he[18], "I have made a little farther conquest over Bob, and that he regards me, in some degree, as well as his aunt Bay. He has just had a suit of new clothes, and promises by his reformation to deserve them. I am satisfied that his fighting (to which he is out of measure addicted) gives his temper a fierceness and imperiousness, that he flies out upon every trifling occasion: for this reason I do what I can to suppress the hero, that I may help forward the more valuable qualities of meekness, benevolence, and patience. I assure you, Sir, it is a matter of concern to us, as it is of importance to himself, that he may be a good and virtuous man, to which no care of ours shall be wanting." These strong and early indications of future character, for he had not yet attained the age of seven, are not a little curious. The spirit of daring and of command seems to have been natural to him. The anxious care of his relations may have softened and soothed his impetuosity, but could not change the b...