Company had been formed to trade with India. In the reign of Charles I. the Company bought some land at Madras, and built a fort on it. In the reign of Charles II. it obtained Bombay from the king, who had received it from the king of Portugal on his marriage with Catharine of Braganza. In the reign of William III. an English fort was built on the Hooghly, round which sprang up the town of Calcutta. Only these three towns belonged to the English, who wanted to trade, not to conquer. The rest of India was governed by native princes. About the time when the Young Pretender was fighting in Scotland, there began a contest between the English and French in the part of India near Madras. The French for some time got the better. The French governor Dupleix was a skilful man, and managed to secure the friendship of some of the natives, and to defeat those who opposed him. He was the first to drill native soldiers, or Sepoys as they were called, in the European fashion. He was so proud of his success that he built a town and called it by an Indian name, which meant 'The City of the Victory of Dupleix.'

10. Clive at Arcot.--In Madras there was a young English clerk, named Robert Clive. He was not a man to be easily frightened. One day he accused an officer with whom he was playing at cards with cheating. A duel was fought, and Clive missed the man at whom he fired. His antagonist came up to him and held his pistol at his head, bidding him acknowledge that his accusation had been false. Fire,' said Clive, without shrinking; 'I said you cheated, I say

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so still, and I will never pay you.' The officer threw down his pistol, saying that Clive was mad. Clive was not mad. Not long afterwards there was a call for soldiers, and Clive offered to serve as one. He was sent to seize Arcot, a fortified town not far off, which belonged to a native prince, who was friendly to the French. When Clive approached the place a thunderstorm came on. The garrison of Arcot expected that Clive would stop to take shelter. When they saw that he marched on in spite of the weather, they were so astonished that they all ran away, and left Arcot to him. Before long a great army was sent to besiege him there. He fought desperately, but he was all but starved out. Nothing but rice was left to feed on, and there was not much of that. Clive, like Dupleix, had sepoys with him. Some of these faithful men came to him and begged that all the rice might be given to his English soldiers. The natives, they said, did not need so much nourishment as Europeans did, and the water in which the rice had been boiled would be enough for them. Clive's brave resistance saved him in the end. A native chief who had been paid to help the English had for some time kept away. When he heard how Arcot was being defended, he ordered his men to march. I never thought till now,' he said, that the English could fight. Since they can, I will help them.' With this help Clive was successful. The besiegers gave up trying to take Arcot. The English troops got the better of the French. Not long afterwards Clive returned to England.

11. The Black Hole of Calcutta. -For some little

time there was peace between the French and English. When the Seven Years' War began Clive was sent out again. The first news which reached him on his arrival was sad enough. A native prince named Surajah Dowlah ruled in Bengal. He knew that the English merchants at Calcutta were rich, and he seized Calcutta and all the English in it. He ordered them to be thrust into a very small room measuring only eighteen feet one way and fifteen the other. Into this place, known afterwards as 'The Black Hole of Calcutta,' a hundred and fortyfive Englishmen and one Englishwoman were driven. It was in the heat of the day, and the day is far hotter in India than it ever is in the hottest summer in England. So hot and close was it that those who were within soon knew that but few of them would come out alive. They called for water, and, when some was brought in skins, these skins were too large to be thrust in through the bars of the window. The prisoners struggled madly for the smallest drop, trampling one another down to reach it. The guards outside laughed cruelly at the sight. All through that day and the night which followed men were dying in agony. When the morning came, and the door was opened, of the hundred and fortysix who had entered only twenty-three, almost as pale as corpses, staggered out alive.

12. The Battle of Plassey.-Clive soon arrived to avenge his countrymen. He had with him three thousand soldiers. Surajah Dowlah had fifty thousand. In spite of these enormous odds, Clive attacked him at Plassey. Part of the army of the enemy

deserted in the middle of the battle. The rest fled with very little resistance. From the example of that day English armies have learned to face any odds in India. Step by step they have overcome all resistance. India has been brought in the course of years under English rule. India has had peace given to it. The native princes who remain in some parts are not allowed to plunder and slaughter their neighbours. The English governors of India have still a hard task before them, to rule justly and wisely for the benefit of the natives, and to teach them, if it be possible, to govern themselves.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. TO THE END OF THE AMERICAN WAR.

(1760-1783.)

1. Peace with France.-George II. died suddenly, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III. The young king was anxious to make peace with France. Pitt discovered that the Spaniards wanted to join the French, and proposed to declare war against Spain. The king and the other ministers refused to do so, and Pitt resigned. After all, Spain did join France, and in the war that followed the Spaniards were beaten as much as the French had been. Before long, however, peace was made in 1763, seven years after the war had begun. England kept Canada.

2. The Stamp Act.-Even before the peace was made George III. tried to get rid of the Whigs. He had set his heart on naming the ministers whom he liked to name, and not the ministers whom the great Whig noblemen asked him to name. He found out that he could gain votes by giving offices away, especially if the offices were well paid, and if, as often happened, the officers had nothing to do. Still it was a long time before he got his way. After a little time he was obliged to accept George Grenville, who was a Whig, as Prime Minister, whom he very much disliked. Grenville was a conscientious man, but not a wise one. The last war had been very expensive, and Grenville thought that he could make the Americans pay some of the expense. He therefore persuaded the English Parliament to pass a Stamp Act, ordering the Americans to pay money for stamps to be put on all their law papers as they are now in England. The Americans grew very angry, and declared that the English Parliament had no right to tax them. Before it was known in England how angry they were, the king had turned Grenville out of office. Grenville was succeeded by Lord Rockingham, who was now leader of one portion of the Whigs. The Whigs who were led by Rockingham were never very popular. They would not bribe, so that all who wanted to be bribed turned against them. They offended others because they did not mix with the people, and did not like to have anything to do with any great changes. Rockingham himself was a well-meaning, timid man, who listened respectfully to Edmund Burke, who was