574
UISTOllV OF INDIA.
[Pm>ok III.
A.D 1767. The private treaty, though it appears to have been an after-thought, was probably regarded V)y some of the parties as the more important of the two. In a passage, quoted above, Clive mentions, in a letter to Mr. Watts, that " as >nvate ^q ^ny gratuity the new nabob may bestow on the troops, it is left to hi.s MeerJaffier, generosity." A more mercenary spirit was aftei'wards developed A gratuity to the army and navy only had been first proposed ; but, when the matter was discussed in the select committee, Mr. Becher, one of the members, suggested that, "as they had set the machine in motion, it was reasonable and f»roper that they should be considered." The hint was sufficient ; and it was resolved, as Clive describes it in a letter to Mr. Watts, that, instead of tru.sting to Meer Jaffier's generosity, his "private engagement should be obtained in writing to make them (the committee, in which you are included;, a present of twelve lacs of rupees, and a present of forty lacs to the army and navy, over and above what is stipulated in the agi-eement. ' This engagement formed the sulyect of the private treaty, and by means of it enormous sums, while they still continued to be misnamed presents, were regularly constituted as debts. It will be seen, as the narrative proceeds, that there was a third treaty of a very .singular description.
The ti'eaties, signed by Meer Jaffier, arrived in Calcutta on the 10th of Jime, and two days after, the troops stationed there, together with 150 .sailors from the squadron, were proceeding uji the river, in a fleet of 200 boats, to join the main body under Clive at Chandernagore. The danger of delay was manifest. A plot to which so many were privy could not be effectually concealed. The soldiers, both at Calcutta and Chandernagore, began to talk of it openly; and Omi-
chund, who from the
- iKSsasSt^ .r first had a leading
share in its managre- ment, had threatened to divulge it to the nabob, unless his si- lence was purchased at an enormous cost. The nabob's own sus- picions were aroused, and his first impulse was to attack the palace, and thus ob- tain possession of the person of Meer Jaftier. Had he acted on it he might possibly have escaped the fate impending over him; but he hesitated, after putting Meer Jaffier on his guard, and was so overwhelmed with astonishment and ten-or, when the sudden flight of Mr. Watts from Moorshedabad revealed the fulJ macmitude of the danger, that he
(.live sets out to per- form his part ill the conspiracy.
Ghavt at M00BSHEDAB.U). — From a drawing by Captain Smith, 44th Regiment.
