will never pay you!" The astonished officer threw away his pistol, declaring Clive to be mad.
In 1747 Clive obtained an ensign's commission in the army, but passed from military to civil duties according to the exigencies of the time. In 1748, the powerful viceroy of the Deccan, Nizam al Mulk, died, and rival claimants disputing the sovereignty of the Carnatic, severally sought the assistance of the French. The candidate supported by Dupleix, with French forces, triumphed, and there appeared no obstacle capable of preventing the establishment of French supremacy in the Carnatic. The rival prince had been slain, and his son, Mahommed Ali, acknowledged by the English as nabob, was shut up in Trichinopoly, and his surrender became day by day more inevitable. The crisis called forth the genius of Clive, whose skill was ever the most consummate when the danger was the most terrible. He urgently declared that, upon the fall of Mahommed Ali, an Indian empire would be won by France, and proposed to attempt to raise the siege of Trichinopoly by attacking Arcot the capital of the Carnatic. His plan was adopted, and he started with two hundred Europeans and three hundred sepoys, commanded by eight officers, four of whom were from the mercantile service, and six of whom had never been in action. The garrison of Arcot fled, and the little band of warriors marched into the city, through one hundred thousand spectators. Clive immediately prepared for a siege, and fortified his position. Ten thousand men appeared before Arcot, including one hundred and fifty French auxiliaries; while Clive's force had been reduced to one hundred and twenty Europeans and two hundred sepoys. For fifty days the young soldier held his ground, until the besieging army, baffled and dismayed, abandoned the town. What is said of true poets may be said of Clive as a soldier—he was born a general, and not made one. The historian remarks, that notwithstanding he had at this time neither read books nor conversed with men capable of giving him much instruction in the military art, all the resources which he employed in the defence of Arcot were such as are dictated by the best masters in the science of war. After the successful defence of Arcot, victory followed victory, and finally Trichinopoly was relieved; Chunda-Sahib, the French ally in the Carnatic, was put to death, and large bodies of French auxiliaries were compelled to surrender. Before the victories of Clive the natives did not believe that the English as soldiers were equal to the French. But a little time before, Dupleix had been chief arbiter of the destinies of Indian princes, and had been declared governor of India from Kistna to Cape Comorin; while the English settlers had been looked upon as tradespeople, far more capable of driving a hard bargain than of fighting a daring battle. By the genius of Clive the whole prospect of affairs was changed. The chances of French supremacy in the East were overthrown; and measures were taken and victories won, by the might of which a few traders, with fifteen thousand miles of sea between them and their native land, became consuls and proconsuls in authority and wealth, greater than any imperial Rome herself had sent forth. Clive's health being in a precarious state, he returned to England in February, 1753, immediately after his marriage with Miss Maskelyne, sister of the astronomer royal of that name. The daringly mischievous schoolboy was welcomed home as the hero; and his father, somewhat astonished at the result, exclaimed—"The booby has sense after all!" The court of directors voted him a sword set with diamonds; but with great delicacy he objected to receive this gift unless a similar distinction was conferred upon Colonel Lawrence, his old commander, and one of the first to recognize his abilities. In England Clive mingled in parliamentary strife. Receiving the support of Mr. Fox, secretary at war, he was elected for the rotten borough of St. Michael, but unseated on petition. Meanwhile the anticipation of another French war rendered the court of directors very anxious for Clive's presence in India; and he again set sail in 1755, as a lieutenant-colonel in the British army, with the appointment of governor of Fort St. David, and a provisional commission to succeed to the government of Madras. Clive landed at Bombay, 27th November, 1775, and, after destroying the piratical stronghold of Gherich, proceeded to Fort St. David. On the very day upon which Clive assumed the government of Fort St. David, June 20th, 1756, Suraj-a-Dowlah, nabob of Bengal, marched into Calcutta, where the English submitted without daring to offer any resistance. The fearful tragedy of the Black Hole followed, and Clive prepared for victory and revenge. The expedition sailed from Madras, October 16th, and Calcutta was soon recovered and Hooghly stormed. Suraj-a-Dowlah offered terms, and, much against Clive's wish, the company entered into negotiations with him.
Clive now appears upon the stage of Indian history, not simply as a daring soldier, but as a subtile diplomatist, able to match cunning against cunning, and to conquer Asiatic intriguers by the free use of their own weapons. Clive's more than Indian cunning, as a negotiator among native princes, appears in strange contrast with his almost defiant straightforwardness when dealing with his own countrymen. He seems to have made up his mind that it was necessary to meet Hindoos as though himself a Hindoo; and whatever condemnation may be passed upon the crooked ways which the adoption of this policy forced his feet to tread, it yet remains a sign of the inherent nobleness of his nature that, among English gentlemen, he still remained an English gentleman—frank, open, and sincere. Suraj-a-Dowlah proved unfaithful to any terms of peace, and was obviously intriguing against the English on every possible occasion. Clive therefore determined to establish the English power in Bengal by the expulsion of the French, and the overthrow of the nabob. In the first instance, the French settlement of Chandermagore was attacked and taken after a siege of fourteen days. A conspiracy was then formed within the very camp of Suraj-a-Dowlah to place a Mahometan soldier of fortune, Meer Jaffier Khan, upon his throne. Omichund, a wealthy Hindoo banker, acted as chief agent in the deception of Suraj-a-DowIah, and was himself deceived by Clive, through the instrumentality of a duplicate deed. By the one document an immense reward was secured to Omichund, but in the other his name was altogether omitted. Admiral Watson felt some scruples about the honesty of the matter, and his signature was in consequence forged. Clive, however, before the house of commons, stated that, to the best of his remembrance. Admiral Watson gave the gentleman who carried the fictitious treaty to him leave to sign his name upon it, and defended his conduct generally by the assertion that he thought art and policy warrantable in defeating the purposes of a villain; forgetful that whatever temporary advantages may be gained by meeting knavery with a kindred duplicity, the strength of a British empire in the East must ultimately depend upon the fact that among the faithless it is faithful. Clive at last threw off all disguise, and the nabob at once marched to Plassey with his whole force. On one side of the river was Suraj-a-Dowlah with sixty-eight thousand men; on the other was Clive with three thousand two hundred men, only six hundred and fifty of which were European infantry. For the first and last time in his life Clive held a council of war, at which he voted with the majority that it was not prudent to make an attack. He then retired to a grove of mango trees, and after remaining an hour in silent thought returned to the camp with the word "Forward" on his lips, and gave orders for the advance of the army on the following morning. Upon the 23rd of June, 1757, the battle of Plassey was fought, and the British empire in India was firmly founded. Meer Jaffier was established as nabob of Bengal, and he bestowed upon Clive enormous wealth. When afterwards taunted with his gains, Clive drew a picture of the treasures cast at his feet, and declared himself astonished at his own moderation. Clive's next great task was to check the power of the Dutch, whom his newly-elected nabob secretly favoured; and this he effectually accomplished, forcing upon them a treaty that they should build no fortifications, and raise no troops beyond those required for police. During these proceedings Colonel Forde wrote a note, stating that if he had the order in council he could attack the Dutch with a fair prospect of success. Clive, who was playing at cards, replied in pencil—"Dear Forde, fight them immediately, I will send you the order of council to-morrow." In 1760 Clive again sailed for England, leaving behind him virtually an empire where he found a commercial settlement. He was given an Irish peerage, and engaged deeply in electioneering affairs to aid his friends in the government. His residence in England was greatly embittered by a contest with the court of directors of the East India Company. An attempt was made to deprive him of a land-rent granted by Meer Jaffier, and he was subjected to many paltry annoyances. The state of affairs in India, however, again becoming critical, he was besought to return, and reached Calcutta, May 3, 1765, with the dignity of governor, and commander-in-chief of the British possessions in Bengal. The reform of the civil service was the great and worthy task of Clive's third and last residence in
