It was to the Attention of the Administration at Home, that the Company and the Subjects of Great Britain in India owed these potent and timely Succours; and, which was of no less Consequence, the prudent and happy Choice of the Officers who commanded them. The French, though deficient elsewhere, had a considerable Naval Force in the Indies, and were for this Reason very confident of their Success in that Part of the World; in which, perhaps, they had not been deceived, if, upon the Demise of Vice-Admiral Watson, the Command had devolved upon an Officer of less Merit, or even upon an Officer whose Merit had been less known or less established than that of Mr. Pocock. As it was, the Spirits of British Subjects were not depressed, or those of the Enemy raised. They had already known and felt his Courage, and he made them very quickly sensible of the Extent of his Capacity. They saw him equally active and vigilant: Their Squadrons no sooner appeared, than they had his in View. He was the Guardian of all our Settlements, and the Bane of all their Armaments and Expeditions. His Sagacity defeated many of their Designs, his Dexterity and Dispatch disconcerted others, till, by his Victories, he ruined, not their Reputation only, but their Strength in Asia, as completely as other Admirals had done in Europe and America. These are Facts indisputable; and, as they are connected with our Subject, we may take the Liberty of mentioning them, without giving Offence to that Gentleman, whose Modesty renders him as amiable, as his other Virtues have made him conspicuous. But to return to our Subject.
All Infant Governments are in their very Nature subject to Disorders. The new Suba, soon after the Departure of Colonel Clive, felt sufficiently, that, contrary to the first flattering Appearances, his Administration was not thoroughly established. Some of the Nabobs in his Province, dubious of his Intentions towards them, made no great haste to acknowlege an Authority that might be prejudicial to their own; and in the Indies, this kind of Delay is ever considered as Disobedience. Besides, Meer Jaffeir remembred the Advice which the Colonel had given him at Parting, which was, to acquire a Reputation for Firmness from his earliest Actions, if he meant to taste Quiet in the remaining Part of his Reign. He resolved, therefore, to employ his Forces against those, who, though they did not presume to question his Title, shewed, notwithstanding, a Reluctancy to acknowlege it. He found, however, a sudden Stop put to his Operations. At the Beginning, some of his Officers were intractable, and his Troops in general were unwilling to move. He was entitled by the Treaty to Assistance from the English, and, upon his making the Demand, Colonel Clive marched instantly to his Relief. His Forces were not numerous; but he brought with him a Reputation that carried with it a Persuasion that he was ever irresistible, and his very Presence in the Suba's Camp restored Obedience to that Prince. Colonel Clive, and Mr. Watts who attended him, took this Opportunity to solicit the assigning Funds for the Money that was still due, and obtained from the Suba, though not without some Difficulty, all that they desired.
They likewise desired, and obtained, that the Company's Grant of Lands might be extended Northward from Culpee to Rangafullah, which, besides the Augmentation of Territory, was in other Respects a Matter of Importance.
The Nabob of Patna, whose Name was Ramnaram, against whom this Expedition was made, upon the Approach of the Suba's Army, offered to submit, and to pay his Tribute regularly, if he was continued in his Government, and the Suba's Promise was guarantied by Colonel Clive. The Suba requested this as a Favour of the Colonel, and desired that he would write a Letter to the Nabob, which he accordingly did; and upon the Faith of that Letter, he came and made his Submission. The great Product of Patna is Salt-petre, about which there had been formerly continual Disputes between us and the Dutch. At present, it was in the Hands of neither; but was still a Monopoly under a Lease. Colonel Clive and Mr. Watts, who knew the Consequence of such an Acquisition to the English, proposed the giving it in Lease to them, at the same Rate, which would be no Prejudice to the Suba; and the Juncture being favourable, this Proposition was complied with likewise, by which the Company are annually Gainers of about Two Lack and a half of Rupees, or something more than Thirty thousand Pounds Sterling. It is evident, therefore, from these Instances, that no favourable Opportunity was let slip, no single Occasion lost, that could be turned to the Company's Advantage.
This Expedition, as it effectually fixed the new Suba in that Dignity, naturally brings the Memoirs of this Revolution to their Period. We cannot, however, conclude without observing, that as there could not be any thing more melancholy than the Situation of the Company's Affairs, when the Settlement of Calcutta was overwhelmed and destroyed, so nothing can be more satisfactory than to contemplate the Advantages that have resulted from this Alteration to the East India Company, the private and particular Sufferers, and the British Subjects who either reside in, or may hereafter go and reside in, Bengal. In reference to the Company, the Treaty with the present Suba procured them an ample Indemnity, without tying them down to a Specification of Losses, which would have been not more impossible than improper. The Sum was such as became the Rank and Grandeur of him who gave, and was admirably tinted to the Situation and Services of those who received. The Point of Security is likewise fully provided for; the Settlement may be fortified in such a Manner as to remove all Apprehensions; at the same time that these mighty Concessions are made, they are made in a Method that renders them doubly valuable, not through Fear or Compulsion, but with all possible Marks of Confidence and Esteem. The Interests of the Company, and the Country Government, are declared to be the same; and to prevent any Suspicion of Alteration, they are allowed an unrivalled Superiority, and the Enemies of the one are to be of Course the Enemies of the other. There is a Provision, as far as such a Provision can be made, that this Conjunction of Interests shall not be temporary, but perpetual; since the Company is at Liberty to take whatever Measures shall seem most expedient for the Safety of her Settlements, which is as much as could be either expected or desired.
The Regard shewn, and the Provision made, for all Degrees of Persons, who suffered by the Subversion of the Colony, was equally equitable and honourable. The Company, and those who depended upon it, shared the good as well as the ill Fortune that attended the different Administrations in Bengal. There were many of the European Sufferers, who were absolutely ruined and undone; reduced from Opulence and Ease, to Misery and Want, by a sudden, unforeseen, and inevitable Misfortune. These were restored to the whole of what they had lost, which was a Benefit to themselves, and to their Creditors in other parts of India and in Europe. Besides, as many of them had acquired their Fortunes by their Industry, and had spent almost their whole Lives in this Climate, it was not only a Piece of Justice to recover for them what they had lost, but a Point of true Policy to prevent the Terror of their Fate from having a mischievous Operation in succeeding Times, which otherwise it might have had; and this too in many Respects. The extending this Restitution to the Jentoows and Armenians, was not only a very exemplary but a very generous Act of Benevolence, founded in Principle. At the same time that it attached the particular Persons who were relieved, it raised the Reputation of the Company. It revived the Spirits of those useful Inhabitants, and gave a new Spring to their Activity and Industry, which were not only salutary Consequences at the Time, but will be found more so in their Effects, and facilitate the Execution of those Designs, that will be hereafter mentioned. This Tenderness for other Nations, this laudable Desire that they should share in the Prosperity, who had been hurt by the Adversity of the English, might be set in a far stronger Light, if placed in Comparison with the Conduct of others, without stirring out of India; but as that would be invidious, it is better omitted.
This stupendious Revolution may be also considered as equally glorious and advantageous to the British Nation. We may be allowed to say, because the Fact cannot be disputed, that it is a signal Proof of the Utility of Maritime Empire. As Commerce carries the Subjects of Britain every where, British Subjects every where experience British Protection: There are no Limits to our Naval Power, but those by which the Creator has confined the Globe. The East India Company was saved, and her Affairs restored, by the Attention and Arms of that Government by which she was erected. Many of those, who would have totally lost the Fruits of long Labour and various Hardships, and who must have been Beggars if subject to any other Power, are again easy in their Fortunes, and some of them have already transported their Effects to their native Country; the proper Return for the Assistance they derived from her maternal Affection; and as these Events have distinguished the present Age and the present Administration, so their Effects will probably be felt in succeeding Times. The Company, by an Accession of Territory, has an Opportunity of making an ample Settlement; which, under proper Management, may be not only extremely serviceable to her, but also to the Nation; and having a Revenue from these Lands, the Mint at Calcutta, and the Lease of the Salt-petre at Patna, which amounts in the whole to One hundred thousand Pounds a Year, there is a Provision against future Dangers upon the Spot, and without farther Expence. These Benefits have clearly arisen from that Revolution, of which we have given an Account, and are due to those who conducted it. May the future Emoluments do the like Honour to those who shall hereafter have the Care of the Company's and the Nation's Concerns in the Indies!
FINIS.
