Robert Clive

“ Robert Clive is recognized as the man to whom, above all others, England owes the establishment of her empire in India. Born in 1725 in Shropshire, he was raised to the Irish peerage in 1760 as Baron Clive of Plassey. The son of a poor country squire, at eighteen he entered the service of the East India Company at Madras.
For over a century the company had competed with its Dutch rival in India, and Clive went to his post at a time when French rivalry with the English was becoming formidable. In 1744 war broke out between the English and French, and Clive saw his first military service. ”

“ When Clive resolved, as has elsewhere been stated, to defer his departure for England, he directed his agents to add to the allowance before given to his father and mother the sum of 500l. per annum, and to keep a coach for them [126] : he also desired them to pay 25l. per annum to each of his four aunts, and to two of Mrs. Clive's, to whose other relations in England he gave liberal assistance. For her brother, Captain Maskelyne, who was on the Madras establishment, Clive cherished a very sincere regard ”

“ At the time of his death he was Lord Lieu [Pg 388] tenant and Custos Rotulorum of the counties of Salop and of Montgomery, Major-General in the East Indies, and representative in Parliament for the town of Shrewsbury. He was a member of the Royal Society, and had been honoured with the degree of Doctor of Laws.
India has produced many illustrious men both in his time and since; but none of them has yet obscured or equalled the fame of Clive. ”

“ Clive states, "without doing that justice to Mr. Watts which I think his great services entitle him to. That gentleman, at the manifest hazard of his life, brought to perfection the treaty with the new Nabob and other great men of the Durbar, and sent it down to Calcutta to be put in execution; that gentleman attended the army throughout the long expedition to Patna, in which his knowledge of the language, and of the natives in general, has been of great service to the Company. I could not say less in favour of one who, I think, has had just cause given him for resigning the service." ”

“ Clive, from what has been stated, may be said, when he returned to India in 1755, to have been worth little or no money beyond what he had vested for redeeming the small family estate, and giving his parents an annuity. When he took possession of the government of Fort Saint David, he embarked in trade, like others who filled similar stations; but, to judge from his correspondence, he had not much success in his commercial pursuits. We read of nothing but bad markets, or the want of means of those who owed him money. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To Ram Narrain Clive reiterated his assurances of aid and protection. "It was," he states, in a letter [253] to that ruler, "on account of your strictness for justice, your courage, and your fidelity, that I got the Nabob to confirm you in the Subahship of Patna. It surprises me much to hear that you suffer yourself to be under such apprehensions of the King's son, who has not more than two thousand men. I would have you march out of the city with your forces, and encamp at a distance. ”

“ In one of these letters [137] , after communicating to him the peace with Suraj-u-Dowlah, Clive observes, "If I have been in any way instrumental in the late revolution, the merit is entirely owing to you, who countenanced, favoured, and protected me, and was the chief cause of my coming to India in a station which rendered me capable of serving the Company. Accept, Sir, of my gratitude, and sincerest wishes for your welfare. May you enjoy the blessings of peace and retirement, and may success and every other happiness in this life forsake me, when I forget how much I am obliged to you!" ”

“ I and Clive were friends—and why not? Friends! I think you laugh, my lad.
Clive it was gave England India, while your father gives—egad,
England nothing but the graceless boy who lures him on to speak—
"Well, Sir, you and Clive were comrades—" with a tongue thrust in your cheek!
Very true: in my eyes, your eyes, all the world's eyes, Clive was man,
I was, am, and ever shall be—mouse, nay, mouse of all its clan
Sorriest sample, if you take the kitchen's estimate for fame;
While the man Clive—he fought Plassy, spoiled the clever foreign game,
Conquered and annexed and Englished! ”

“ The events which led to this general spirit of rebellion took place while Clive was at Calcutta, whither he had been called by urgent public and private concerns. His first melancholy duty after his arrival was to attend the funeral of his brave associate Admiral Watson. That gallant officer was seized, on the 12th of August, with a putrid fever, which terminated his existence in four days. No man appears to have felt more deeply than Clive the loss which was sustained by this event. ”

“ In his communication to Clive, of the 7th November, he states, "I hope you are set out. Our honour, our interests, and our reputation, are all at stake." He closes this letter in the following words:—"The Nabob pitched his tent in the garden yesterday, and had about two hundred men with him. Not an officer has joined him yet with any forces; nor will they till Roy Dullub marches. His son is absolutely ill with grief and shame, and goes no more near his father. Sir, I can only say, if you don't set out, with or without troops, permit me to go to Calcutta. ”

“ No enemy was believed to be near, except in the fort of Budge-Budge. The consequence was a surprise, the bad effects of which were only remedied by Clive's presence of mind and courage. He has been censured for not using more precaution; but having only landed seven days, and being ill, he must have depended upon others for intelligence, and he justly complains of their want of it. The nature of the country, however, is such, as to offer to almost any numbers the power of concealing their advance. ”

“ I do not pretend to look into the hearts of men, and to pronounce dogmatically upon their inmost thoughts and feelings; but, in admitting that Clive, in the extraordinary situation in which [303] he was placed, resisted art by art, and counteracted the treachery of the enemies of the Government he served, by deceiving them, I am satisfied, from all his own statements, as well as from those of others, that he had recourse to such an expedient only because he considered himself to be called upon to employ it, by the duty he owed to his country. ”

“ While Lord Clive was every day more and more desirous of disengaging himself from the vexatious and unsatisfactory annoyances of Leadenhall Street politics, yet unwilling to forsake altogether the means which they afforded him of promoting the interest of his friends, and of influencing beneficially the government of our Indian empire, as to the fate of which it was impossible that he could be indifferent, the progress of events drew him once more conspicuously forward on the stage of public life, and desperate attempts were made to ruin at once his fortune and his reputation. ”

“ To this quality, which is the truest test of a high and liberal spirit, England is principally indebted for all the benefit she has received from the services of Clive. It was the fostering care and the inspiring confidence of his commander that led to the early developement of those talents, which, by the opportunities afforded him, were matured at an age, when most men are only in the rudiments of their military education. Clive continued, through life, fully sensible of the magnitude of his obligations to Lawrence, towards whom he ever cherished the most affectionate gratitude. ”

“ For there could be no doubt, the defenders of Clive would argue, that to him Meer Jaffier was exclusively indebted for the successful issue of the late campaign: and his merits and claims were enhanced from his having, by his qualities of a soldier and a statesman, and by the influence of his great name, reaped all the fruits of the most decided victory without shedding one drop of blood.
Such were the arguments by which the great majority became satisfied with Clive's conduct on this occasion. Their force cannot be denied ”

“ But a higher honour was reserved for Clive, and one he valued more than all others. His name was not only brought forward, but held forth as an example, by the celebrated William Pitt. That statesman, in his speech on the Mutiny Bill, after adverting to the late disgraces which had attended the British arms, said, "We had lost our glory, honour, and reputation every where but in India. There the country had a heaven-born general who had never learned the art of war, nor was his name enrolled among the great officers who had for many years received their country's pay. ”

“ Clive was not, for some time after his arrival, honoured by any public mark of royal favour. This seems to have arisen from two causes: one, his very long and serious illness; the other, his desire to obtain more than the ministers were willing to grant. He, probably, at first expected to enter the British House of Peers, and to have a red riband; but, after a considerable delay, he received only an Irish peerage.
In writing [154] to his friend Major Carnac upon this subject, he observes ”

“ While affairs were yet unsettled, an affray occurred [334] in the market between some of the English sepoys and Ram Narrain's horsemen, in which several lives were lost. The excited state of men's minds was such, that this trifling dispute had nearly been attended with the most serious consequences. Apprehension of the recurrence of such accidents induced Clive to move his troops to an island in the Ganges, opposite to his former position. ”

“ It would be difficult to find an example, in any regular army, of one so young and of such a subordinate rank as Clive, having crowded into the short space of two years such a series of successful enterprises. He was not more than twenty-seven years of age, and had only within the last year been promoted to the rank of Captain. After being distinguished on several occasions by the most resolute valour, he had displayed at Arcot, and during the operations which followed that memorable siege, all the superior qualities of a military leader. ”

“ In a letter to Major Carnac, dated the 7th of May, 1762, Clive observes, "Although I am convinced of the goodness of your heart and intentions, yet there is a warmth and fire in your disposition which often carries you beyond the rules of prudence; and, whatever your friends in India may say of the letter you sent the Board, I wish you never had wrote it, for it gives room to such designing men as Sulivan to do you more prejudice than you can imagine." ”

“ The hopes indulged of an amicable disposition on the part of Suraj-u-Dowlah were soon dispelled by the military movements of that prince. He had, however, to deal with an opponent not to be deceived. The moment Clive found that, from part of the Nabob's army having entered the city, and the remainder shutting up all the avenues of its approach, his own followers were deserting, and he was likely to be cut off from all supplies, he determined to bring matters to a crisis. ”

“ When, in this general turmoil, the acts of almost every man who had filled any conspicuous situation in India were passed in review, and commented on with all the virulence of party spirit, it is not to be imagined that one who had acted so eminent a part in the events of the East, and who had taken so active a share in those at home, as Lord Clive had done, should escape without reproach. No man, from his situation, had made more enemies ”

“ I can only tell you, what your love to your country will make you sorry for, that your conduct shines with a peculiar brightness, from the unglorious doings of our leaders of armies and admirals of fleets in Europe; and that the name of a Clive is made use of in the public papers to reproach and stimulate his superiors in rank, but not in fame. ”

“ In the accompanying agreement, offensive and defensive, Clive appears under the name by which he was always known to the natives of India, Sabut Jung, or “the daring in war.” The hero of Arcot had, at Angria’s stronghold, and now again under the walls of Calcutta, established his reputation as the first captain of the time. With 600 British soldiers, 800 sepoys, 7 field-pieces and 500 sailors to draw them, he had routed a force of 34,000 men with 40 pieces of heavy cannon, 50 elephants, and a camp that extended upwards of four miles in length. ”

“ The force with which Clive marched [56] from Trichinopoly consisted of four hundred Europeans, seven hundred sepoys, three thousand Mahratta, and one thousand Tanjore horse, with eight pieces of artillery, two of which were battering guns. He passed the Coleroon before daylight, and occupied a pagoda called Samiaveram, seven miles north of that river, and on the high road betwixt Seringham and Utatore, a post of the French on their line of communication with Pondicherry. His first care was to strengthen this position, and to plant cannon so as to command the road both to the north and south. ”