A. D. 1766-67.

might be done without his knowledge. Clive made no remark. He addressed the troops, mentioning his own donation, and he ordered double pay to the native troops for May and June.

In the camp at Serajepûr, though a battle was expected every day, all the officers but two tendered their resignation; some immediately, others after the 1st June. The former Col. Smith ordered to proceed at once to Calcutta. At Allahabâd the officers of the European regiment declared that they would set out for Calcutta on the 20th May. As Major Smith, who commanded there, found that their men would support them, he sent for an old battalion of Sepoys which had long been under his command; and these men, having accomplished the march of 104 miles from Serajepûr in fifty-four hours, arrived just as the officers were departing. Major Smith then made them submit and apologise, and he sent only six of them to Calcutta, whither Col. Smith also sent one-half of his officers.

Owing to the firmness of Lord Clive, of Col. Smith, and others, and to the staunch fidelity of the Sepoys, the mutiny was now at an end. The principal leaders being under arrest and ordered to prepare for trial, consternation and repentance became general. Some had been inveigled, some frightened, into the plot. Pardon was therefore extended to many; but they were obliged to sign a contract to serve three years, and not to retire without having given a year's notice. Six officers were tried and found guilty of mutiny; but owing to a defect in the Mutiny Act, not one was sentenced to death. Sir R. Fletcher 5, who was the real author of the mutiny, was tried by court-martial, on the prosecution of Capt. Goddard and some other officers, found guilty, and cashiered. The only civilians to whom the charge of aiding the officers could be brought home, though there was no doubt of the guilt of many of high standing, were Mr. Higginson, sub-secretary to the Council, and Mr. Grindal, of the secretary's office. These gentlemen were dismissed.

We have just seen Clive's generosity to the army mentioned. The following was the occasion. Meer Jaffier, who was always attached to Clive, and who could not but reflect on how differently he had acted toward him, when dying, left him a legacy of five lacs of rupees. The money was in the hands of the present Nabob's mother, and some took on them to assert that it was a bribe, not a legacy. But of this there was no proof, and the probability is all on the other side. At all events Clive, who had given a solemn pledge that he would not in any way benefit himself by his government of India, declined receiving it. When, however, the double batta was to be taken from the officers, it occurred to him that, by taking this money, he might be able to form a fund for the advantage of themselves and their widows, he determined to accept it. The Company sanctioned the project; Nujum-ud-Dowlah's successor, at Clive's desire, added three lacs more; and thus was formed the institution at Poplar, for the sup

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port of invalided officers and soldiers of the Company's service, which still exists.

While Clive was engaged in quelling the mutiny, the young Nabob died of a malignant fever. His death, as is always the case, was ascribed to poison, and the guilt, without even the shadow of a proof, was laid on the English. He was succeeded by his brother, Syuf-ud-Dowlah, a youth of sixteen years of age.

The profits of the salt monopoly having proved much greater than had been expected, the Company's duty was raised to fifty per cent., which it was calculated would yield 160,000l. a year. Clive, having observed the ill effects of employing, as had been done, European agents for the sale, it was now determined that it should be sold at Calcutta, or where it was made, to the native dealers, and to them only, excluding Europeans altogether. Clive, when this had been arranged, made a proposal for excluding every future governor from engaging in any way in trade, by giving him a per centage of 1 on the revenues, and making him bind himself by oath in a penalty of 150,000l. not to derive any advantage from his office, beyond this and his usual salary and perquisites.

But now letters came from the Directors, ordering the Society to be suppressed, and the trade to be thrown open and left entirely to the natives, but without any plan for compensating their servants. For the fact was, that the proprietors at home were so clamorous for an increase of dividend, that the Directors feared to make any diminution of their revenue. Clive, however, took upon him to act for what he deemed the real interests of the Company. He confirmed the grant to the Society for one year, after which it was to cease; thus giving the Directors time to devise some other plan for remunerating their servants.

It was the earnest request of the Directors to Clive, that he would remain another year in India; but this the state of his health prohibited, and he quitted its shores for ever in the end of January, 1767. He was once more received in England with every mark of respect; and, by a vote of the Court of Proprietors, his jagheer was continued to him or his heirs for another term of ten years after the present term should have expired. But a storm was to succeed. Mr. Sulivan was now chairman; Mr. Johnstone and the other Indian depredators were in England, and they stuck to Clive like bloodhounds, thirsting for vengeance. He had repeatedly, in Parliament, to explain and defend his various acts in India; and at length, in May, 1773, Col. Burgoyne, as chairman of a committee on Indian affairs, moved a resolution in the House, that Lord Clive had received, at the time of the deposition of Suraj-ud-Dowlah, various sums, amounting to 234,000l., and that "in so doing he abused the power with which he was entrusted, to the evil example of the servants of the public, and to the dishonour and detriment of the state." The motion that he had received those sums was carried; but for the latter part was substituted unanimously, "that he did at the same time render great and meritorious services to his country."

Though thus honourably acquitted, the fact of

returned to Bengal some time after high in the civil service, through the influence of his friends, the Johnstones, probably to spite Clive.

He was constitutionally melancholy; his liver had become diseased in India, and he was afflicted with gall-stones, his sufferings from which were so in

tense that he had for many years been obliged to have constant recourse to opium for relief. Toward the end of November, 1774, he had a very severe attack; he had recourse to large doses of laudanum, and in a paroxysm of pain he terminated his existence, on the 22nd of that month, having just completed the forty-ninth year of his age.

The name of Clive must ever stand prominent in British history, as that of the founder of an empire the most extraordinary that has ever appeared. As a military man, though he had not the opportunity of fighting great battles like Coote, his reputation stands high, for all the military virtues were united in him; he was, as his friend Lawrence declared, a born soldier. As a statesman, we think he has been underrated; his vision, it is said, was clear, but not extensive. It seems to us that it was nearly as extensive, as it was possible for that of a practical man to be at that time. It certainly did not penetrate vacancy, like that of Dupleix, and aim at the impossible; but his opinions on most questions of Indian policy were sound and judicious. In private life Clive was amiable, and strongly attached to his family and friends. That he was covetous of wealth is not to be denied ; but, like another eminent person, if "unsatisfied in getting, in bestowing he was most princely 6." He was untainted by the mean avarice that degraded Marlborough; if he loved wealth, it was not for itself, but for the dignity, power, and influence it bestowed. His example, no doubt, was injurious, and produced many mean imitators; but there was this essential difference, that Clive thought of the Company and his country first, and of himself last, and gave way, without a pang, where their interests were at variance; while the gentlemen at Calcutta and Madras seemed only concerned for their own gains, and heedless of all other interests.

CHAPTER XII.

Affairs in the Carnatic-Rajah of Tanjore-Mohammed Issoof-Mound of the Caveri-The Northern CircarsHyder Ally-His Early History-War with Hyder-Battle at Trinomalee-Siege of Amboor-Ill-success of the English-Conclusion of Peace-Affairs of Bengal.

We now return to the coast of Coromandel, where, after the capture of Pondicherry, the English power had become supreme.

these terms, and yet shortly after a demand was made on the Nabob for fifty lacs of rupees; and as no indulgence would be given, he was forced to borrow money at a most usurious rate, in order to discharge it. It was also stipulated that he should repay the expenses of the siege of Pondicherry, and to this he agreed, on condition of all the stores taken there being given up to him. These, however, the servants of the Company had appropriated to themselves; and on his complaint, they promised to allow him a certain sum for them in his account. But their masters no sooner heard that he had gotten credit for this sum in their books, than they ordered it to be recharged to him, and thus he lost the stores altogether.

The only way the Nabob saw of getting money, was by forcing it from those who were supposed to have it. As Mortiz Ally, of Vellore, was believed to have great treasure, he was the first object of attack. The English gave troops, and after a siege of three months the place was taken, but the wealth which it contained was far below what had been anticipated.

The conquest of Tanjore was what Mohammed Ally next proposed; but in this the English would not give him their aid. As the king of Tanjore was an independent prince, they offered their mediation, to which the Nabob yielded a most reluctant consent. It was arranged that the rajah should pay twenty-two lacs of rupees, in five instalments, as arrears; four lacs as a present; and four annually as tribute. When the Directors heard of this treaty, they expressed their opinion that the present of four lacs ought to have been given to the Company for their good offices, and directed that the twenty-two lacs should be paid to them, and credit given for them to the Nabob in his

account.

On the 10th February, 1763, peace was signed between France and England. By the eleventh article of the treaty, all the factories which the French possessed in India, in 1749, but not their subsequent acquisitions, were to be restored. They were not to keep troops, or erect fortifications in any part of the dominions of the Sûbahdâr of Bengal. Both crowns were to acknowledge Salabut Jung, as lawful Sûbahdâr of the Deckan, and Mohammed Ally, as lawful Nabob of the Carnatic.

As the English were able to dictate in the formation of this treaty, nothing could be more impolitic than the restoration of the French settleFrench government were guided by the judgment of Bussy, the English ministry, as Lord Clive was in opposition, did not deign to ask his advice. He, however, wrote to Lord Bute, and it was on his inserted. It is a remarkable instance of the genesuggestion that the article relating to Bengal was

ments in India. But while in this matter the

6 Even before he got the jagheer he gave 50,000l., a sixth of his property, to his family and friends. A portion of it was devoted to the purchase of an annuity of 500l. a year for his old commander, Gen. Lawrence, and offered in so handsome a manner, that he could receive it without a blush.

Europe, that Salabut Jung is spoken of as Sûbahdâr of the Deckan, though in 1761, two years before, he had been dethroned and imprisoned by his brother, Nizâm Ally. The effect of the treaty was to hasten his death; for Nizâm Ally, who had been hitherto restrained by dread of the French, seeing he had nothing to apprehend from them, caused him to be murdered.

The reader of Orme's interesting History must be familiar with the name of Mohammed Issoof. He had enlisted with Clive a little before the battle

A.D. 1765.

of Coverpauk, and he rose by his merit till he came to be commander-in-chief of all the Sepoys in the service of the presidency. He was a cool resolute man, and eminently faithful to the Company. The chief scene of his exploits were Madura and Tinivelly, which countries, after the overthrow of the French, he offered to take as a renter. But from their wasted condition he was, it would seem, unable to raise any revenue; at least he had paid no rent. Accordingly, in August, 1763, the Nabob and Company sent a force to reduce him. But he was not a man to fall without a struggle; the month of October of the following year saw him still unsubdued, after causing his assailants great loss of men and treasure. Treachery, however, prevailed against him; a Frenchman named Marchand, who was in his service, betrayed him to the Nabob, who put him to death.

A dispute now arose between the Nabob and the rajah of Tanjore respecting the Mound of the Caveri. For the island of Seringham, as it is named, which is formed by the branches of the Caveri, runs very narrow toward its eastern extremity, and the long strip thus formed, and which is called the Mound, if not kept in constant repair, would be swept away, and the remaining waters of the Caveri be carried into the Coleroon or northern branch, and the lands of Tanjore thus be deprived of the waters necessary for their cultivation. The Nabob now asserted that the Mound belonged to him of right, as it really did, but the rajah insisted that he was bound to keep it in repair, and this it was not the Nabob's intention to do, as he plainly designed to let it be washed away. The English were obliged to interfere, and it was arranged that the Mound should be repaired by the rajah.

In 1765, Nizâm Ally, whom henceforth we shall call the Nizâm, invaded the Carnatic at the head of a large army, and committed great ravages; but he retired when he saw the forces of the English and the Nabob in the field. Clive, whose power over the emperor was absolute, easily procured a sunnud conferring the Carnatic on Mohammed Ally, independent of the Nizâm, and he also obtained a similar grant to the English of the four northern Circars. In March, 1766, General Calliaud was sent with a force to take possession of these provinces: but the Nizâm threatened to invade the Carnatic; and the government at Madras, who had an exaggerated idea of his power, agreed to pay him a large annual tribute, and as he had given one of the Circars as a jagheer to his brother Bazâlut Jung, not to claim it till after the death of that prince, and very unwisely, for it was well known that he was going to attack Mysore, they agreed to support him with their troops.

The person who now wielded the power of Mysore was one of those adventurers who, by dint of courage and capacity, joined with freedom from moral restraint, so frequently rise to empire in the East. His name was Hyder Ally Khân; he was the younger son of a man who, from the rank of a common peon, to which family misfortunes had reduced him, rose to that of a foujdar in the service of the Nabob of Sera. But misfortunes coming on his master, he lost his life in his defence, leaving a widow and two sons. Shabas, the elder of these sons, when he grew up, was recommended by his mother's brother to an officer in the service of

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the rajah of Mysore, and he soon rose to command. Hyder, the younger son, spent his time till he was seven-and-twenty between hunting and voluptuous living. He then joined his brother's corps as a volunteer in 1749, and distinguished himself so much at the siege of a Polygar's fort near Bangalore, that he drew on himself the notice of Nunjeraj, the commander, by whom he was speedily promoted.

The kingdom of Mysore was one of those Hindoo states which rose on the fall of Bejâyanugur in the 17th century. Its rajahs had consequently by this time sunk into imbecility, and as in the parallel case of the Marattas, their power had passed into the hands of their ministers. The holders of this power, at the present time, were two brothers named Deoraj and Nunjeraj, the latter of whom we have seen aiding the French at Trichinopoly, and in whose service Hyder Ally was engaged.

In 1755, Hyder was made foujdar of Dindigul, a fortress built on a high rock in the middle of a plain half-way between Madura and Trichinopoly. He had before this time organised a regular band of freebooters, "brave and faithful thieves," as Wilks styles them, who were bound to deliver up to him one-half of all the plunder they acquired, and with the aid of a wily brahman named Koonde Râo, he devised such a system of checks as made it almost impossible for them to defraud him. Having occasion to act against some refractory Polygars, he sent to court a flaming account of his successes, and of the difficulties he had surmounted, adding a formidable list of killed and wounded. A messenger was despatched with rich presents for the officers, and with money to give to each of the wounded men fourteen rupees a month till he should be cured. The actual number of these was sixty-seven, but on the inspection which took place Hyder mingled with them 700 men whose limbs were well swathed and bandaged. These passed muster with the rest, and Hyder drew the money for the whole, and he allowed the wounded men each seven rupees a month. Another trick which he played the government was, making what a native, who witnessed it, terms 66 a circular muster," that is, making 10,000 men be counted and passed as 18,000.

8

In this way Hyder went on augmenting his wealth, and increasing the number of his adherents. Meantime Deoraj retired from public cares, and left the whole burthen of them to Nunjeraj, Hyder's patron. In 1758, the troops, having mutinied for payment of their arrears, Hyder came to his aid, and by carefully going through the accounts (in which he was an adept), and thus reducing them, and by a partial payment he restored harmony. His rewards, in consequence, were ample; among others, Bangalore and its district were given to him as a jagheer. In the beginning of the following year the Marattas made an inroad, and when the army was ordered to march against them, most of the chiefs declared that they could not obey on account of the arrears due to the men. Hyder, who knew that the

7 Thus, in the confusion which ensued on the death of Nasir Jung, in 1750 (see p. 66), they contrived to carry off two camels laden with gold coin.

8 Though Hyder could neither read nor write, he had the power of making long arithmetical calculations in his mind, with great rapidity and correctness.

A. D. 1767.

who they thought were retreating; and thus, to their mutual surprise, they encountered. The first struggle was for the hill, which Capt. Cooke secured for the English. The two armies were then drawn out in array of battle. The English had 1400 infantry and 30 cavalry, Europeans, 9000 Sepoys, and 1500 of Mohammed Ally's good-fornothing cavalry. The army of the allies is stated at 70,000, one half of which was cavalry. It was drawn up in a crescent, half-circling the British army. The English cannon having nearly silenced that of the enemy, was turned on the dense masses of their cavalry, who, having stood the fire for some minutes in the expectation of getting orders to charge, and receiving none, at length turned and fled. Hyder, who saw that all was lost, drew off his cannon, and advised the Nizâm to do the same; but he spurned at the idea, and declared that he would sooner perish. The approach of the English, however, abated his courage, and he soon was one of the most forward in flight. The victors captured 64 pieces of cannon; their loss was 150 men, that of the enemy was supposed to be 4000.

As the rains were approaching, the English went into cantonments. But the active Hyder continued his operations; and having reduced one or two small places, he proceeded to attack Amboor, which, seated on the summit of a granite mountain, was defended by Capt. Calvert, with a small garrison. Hyder having dismantled the lower fort, Calvert retired to the citadel. The Killidâr being discovered to be in correspondence with Hyder, he and his men were disarmed. Hyder, though disconcerted, continued to fire on the fort, and at length effected a breach, but in an inaccessible place. He made various attempts to surprise the fort, but in vain; and he offered Calvert a large sum of money and the command of half of his army, if he would surrender; but he was told to send no more such messages, if he respected the lives of his servants, as the bearers would be hanged in the breach". The siege had commenced on the 10th November; and on the 7th December, the troops of Col. Smith, marching to the relief of Amboor, were in sight. At their approach, Hyder retired, and ascending the Ghâts, quitted the Carnatic.

The Nizâm, weary of the war, had already entered into secret communication with Col. Smith. It came to the knowledge of Hyder, who affected not to be displeased regarding it, as being for their eventual advantage. The Nizâm, thus relieved from anxiety, speedily concluded a treaty, by which the revenues of the Carnatic Balagât, a country now held by Hyder, were transferred to the English, on their agreeing to pay the Nizâm seven lacs a year, and the Marattas their chout; and the tribute for the Circars was reduced from nine lacs perpetual to seven lacs a year for a term of six years.

While Hyder was engaged in the Carnatic, some of the Malabar chiefs resolved to make an effort to recover their independence. A force was sent by sea from Bombay to their aid. Mangalôr and some other places were taken; but an attempt on

2 It is lamentable to read that this gallant officer was afterwards tried by court-martial, and convicted, of defrauding the Company by false returns.

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Cananôr miscarried, with considerable loss. In May, 1768, Hyder suddenly appeared before Mangalôr, with an overwhelming force; and the English were obliged to quit the place with such precipitation, that they left behind them all their artillery and stores, and even their sick and wounded, consisting of 80 Europeans and 180 Sepoys. Hyder, declaring to the Malabar chiefs that he had found their country a source more of expense than profit, offered to give it up if paid his expenses; and he thus was enabled to retire with a large sum of money for the war against the English.

The war this year was adverse to the English, very much in consequence of the Presidency having imitated the practice of the jealous republics of Venice and the United Provinces, in sending two members of council to the army as fielddeputies, without whose consent no operations could be carried on. One of the first acts of these civilians was to cause the loss of the fort of Mulwâgul, by insisting on the European garrison being withdrawn, and their place supplied by some of the troops of Mohammed Ally. Col. Wood, in an attempt to recover it with a small force, fell in with the entire army of Hyder, and he was on the eve of being totally routed, when a stratagem of Capt. Brooke, who commanded the baggage-guard, turned the event of the contest. This officer, who had with him only four companies and two guns, drew these last by a circuitous and concealed route up to the summit of a flat rock, where they were to be served by the wounded artillerymen, while all the rest of the sick and wounded, who were able to move, were to swell the ranks on the summit. When all was ready, the guns opened a fire of grape on the enemy's left flank, and all, both sick and well, raised a shout of, "Hurra! Smith! Smith!" Both sides thought Smith was arrived; and Wood, taking advantage of the confusion it caused, drew up his men in such a manner that he was able to repel all Hyder's subsequent attacks, and force him to retire with loss 3.

Some time after, Col. Wood, by making an attempt to relieve Oosoor, which Hyder was besieging, left Bâglôr exposed to attack, of which the active enemy took advantage; and the consequence was, that two thousand persons lost their lives in the rush which they made to get into the fort when the Mysoreans entered the town. Wood, on his return from Oosoor, again fell in with Hyder's army, and would probably have been defeated, had not Major Fitzgerald, on hearing the firing, hastened to the spot with the other division of the English army; and Hyder retired at his approach. Wood, though brave even to temerity, was now in such a state of despondence that, on the representations of Fitzgerald, he was removed from the command, and ordered to proceed to Madras under arrest.

The forts held by the English were now falling everywhere into the hands of Hyder. In December he entered the district of Baramahâl; and, as he was advancing to the reduction of Eroad, he fell in with a party of 50 Europeans and 200 Sepoys, under Capt. Nixon. When the enemy advanced to the attack, the Europeans fired, and

3 The Romans defeated the Samnites by a similar stratagem. See our History of Rome, p. 157.

H