He was, indeed, in every respect, fittest for this Employment (had there been any Competitor); an Employment, by far the weightiest, and of the most Consequence, of any in Bengal. He had been many Years in the Country; was well acquainted with the Language, as well as accustomed to the Manners and Disposition of the Inhabitants; was much esteemed, and had many Connections with them. He understood their Politics also, at least as much as such fluctuating Politics as theirs could be understood; the true Interest of the Province, and the Constitution of Indostan in general, and the State of the neighbouring Governments in particular. Besides, he was personally known to all the Ministers, and had received very singular Marks of Esteem from the Suba himself. Add to all this, that the Company, in case of the Death or Resignation of Mr. Drake, had appointed this Gentleman to the Government of Calcutta, which, taken together, proves, that this Choice was not the Work of Chance or Favour, but proceeded from mature Deliberation, and a just Regard to the Consequence of that Negotiation, in which he was to be employed.
The Perplexities springing from such a Variety and Complication of Matters that were to be adjusted, the Mutability of the Suba's Nature, and his Want of Judgment and Experience, and the Difficulties naturally arising in settling the Concessions, which had been just extorted from him by Treaty, were not the only Circumstances that embarrassed this Negotiation. The French, perfectly well informed of every Step taken or intended, and no less skilled in the Art of Intrigue, had most effectually retained several of those whom the Suba frequently consulted, or chiefly trusted, in their Interest by gratifying them with Presents. They had still a more powerful Tie on them than this, being in Debt Thirteen Lack of Rupees, or upwards of One hundred and Sixty thousand Pounds Sterling, to Juggut Seat, the greatest Banker in the Empire of Indostan, and the Second in Power in Bengal; to whose Advice for many Years past the Subas paid the greatest Attention. They very well knew, that Men might be false to their Benefactors; but they rightly judged, that even the worst of Men, more especially when avaricious, would be true, where they could not possibly be false, without betraying their own Interest. Under Circumstances like these, there was no Probability, indeed there was no Possibility, of so much as attempting any Thing, but in the Mode of the Court; that is, by opposing Corruption to Corruption, making Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness, and getting upon even Ground with those, with whom they were obliged to contend.
But in order to understand the whole of this Matter thoroughly, we must consider the State that Affairs were then in, with respect to the two contending Nations. Advice of the breaking out of the War, between Great Britain and France, arrived in India, the very Day after the Treaty was concluded with the Suba; and of course opened a new Scene. From being commercial and political Rivals, we were now become open Enemies; a Circumstance which we were very sure the French would improve, and which therefore it was our Duty not to neglect. We had at present a Fleet and an Army; for however small they might be, as Matters stood, they both deserved those Titles, and this gave us great Advantages. On the other Hand, the former was soon to quit the Coast, and perhaps Part of the latter, which was a great Disadvantage. The capital Point, therefore, was to avail ourselves of them, while they remained, so as to settle Things upon a stable Foundation, with regard to the French, as well as to the Nabob, before the Season came in which the Fleet was to return. In respect to the former, the Admiral and Colonel Clive, with the Assistance of the Select Committee, were to take the best Measures they could; and Mr. Watts was to regulate the latter; and his Success, or Want of Success, must have apparently had such an Influence upon the whole, that the Reader most certainly needs not be informed, how much depended upon his Courage, Conduct, and Capacity.
The Interest the French had in the Court of the Suba, and their Method of acquiring it, have been already stated. This they would have understood to be barely for their own Support and Security; but however, there were some Surmises, that it was also, and had ever been, not a little to our Prejudice. It was whispered, that the Favour shewn them, in Comparison of the Dutch, after the Destruction of our Settlements, when he affected to fine both Nations for augmenting the Works about their respective Factories, was, in Consideration of their having secretly furnished Artillery, when he marched against Calcutta. This was a Suspicion in the Indies, and as such only is mentioned; but it is very certain, that the Letters wrote Home to Europe were entirely in Suraja Dowlat's Favour, containing a very unfair, and, which was much worse, a very plausible, but utterly false Representation of the Grounds of the Quarrel, which was published to our Prejudice in all the foreign Gazettes.
When Mr. Watts set out for the Suba's Residence, he was accompanied by Omichund, an eminent Merchant of Calcutta, who was well known to the Suba, and his Ministers. This Merchant, Mr. Watts sent to Hughley, to discover, as far as he could, what were the real Intentions of the Moors, in case we attacked Chandenagore. He returned the next Day, February the Eighteenth, with a very distinct Account. He had been informed by Nuncomar, the Phousdar, or Governor of Hughley, that the very Day before, Two Persons, Seen Bawboo and Montra Mull, arrived from the Nabob, with a Lack of Rupees, as a Present to the French Factory; and also with Orders to the Phousdar, to assist the French, if attacked; or if they were the Aggressors, to assist the English. Mr. Watts was too well acquainted with the Genius of the Moors, and the Temper of the Suba, to be deceived by this Shew of Impartiality. He considered the Present as a Declaration in Favour of the French; and the Stile of his Orders as calculated to amuse the English. Omichund was entirely of the same Opinion. Mr. Watts, therefore, advised the Select Committee to attack Chandenagore without Delay, assuring them, that they had nothing to apprehend from the Resentment of the Suba; that if once the two Nations were engaged in Hostilities, the Moors would not come to the Succour of either; and that after all, there were but Three hundred Matchlock Men in Hughley. He saw from the Beginning the Mischief that was to be feared; and the only Remedy that could be applied. He therefore very freely pointed out the one, and very warmly recommended the other. It had been a very happy Event, if his Counsel had been then taken.
On the Twenty-first of February, in the Evening, Mr. Watts arrived in the Camp, and had his Audience of the Suba, who embraced him, gave him the strongest Assurances that every thing should be adjusted speedily, and to his Satisfaction; adding a Promise of the Surpau, (Sirrapah) or Vest of Honour, which, however, Mr. Watts declined receiving, till they came to Muxadavad. He was very soon sensible of the Difficulty of his Task, the Pains he must be at in tracing the Goods taken from their several Factories, the procuring actual Restitution in some Cases, an equitable Equivalent in others; the restoring a free Commerce, which had been stopped, by express Orders, from the very Beginning of the Troubles; and in doing all this, of the almost insurmountable Obstacles that the Mutability of the Suba's Inclinations, the Intrigues of the French, the Insinuations of Ministers, swayed solely by their own Interests, would throw in his Way. But he saw, that the true Source of all these Embarrassments was the Suba's Insincerity, and the Scheme he had formed of resuming his Despotism, in regard to the Europeans, by borrowing their own Assistance, and playing one Nation against another, till, by the weakening of their Forces in such Disputes, he became too strong for both. His Project was too great for his Capacity; he did what he could to execute it, but it was beyond his Force, and his very manner of managing it defeated his Design.
The public Declarations of this irresolute Prince, were diametrically opposite to the whole Tenor of his Conduct. He had no sooner concluded the Treaty with Us, than he wrote to Admiral Watson in the warmest Terms of Friendship, and in a very remarkable Letter to Colonel Clive assures him, that our Enemies should be his, as he expected that we should look upon his Enemies as ours; and that he depended upon the Assistance of the English for maintaining the future Tranquility of his Dominions. But when Mr. Watts communicated to him at large the Reasons that might induce us to reduce the French Settlement at Chandenagore, he made no Scruple of altering his Language. He then said, he would not suffer the Peace of his Territories to be violated by either Nation; that he would protect both, while they remained quiet; that he would assist the French with all his Forces, if we, after this, ever attacked them; and that he would join us in like Manner, if we were attacked by the French. All this, however, was far from imposing on those who were at the Head of our Affairs. Mr. Watts framed his Precautions so well, that he knew exactly the Measures which the Suba took, or was inclined to take, and gave the most early Intelligence of them to the Select Committee, who, from thence, were well enabled to take their own; by which his Schemes were disappointed without Noise, and without so much as suspecting their having any such Informations; though these came chiefly from his own Head-Spy, who, by an Application these Sort of People rarely can resist, Mr. Watts had brought over entirely to the Company's Interests.
By comparing his private Intrigues with some of his more public Transactions, there could not be a Shadow of Doubt left as to his real Intentions, though he always dissembled, and often disavowed them. Immediately after his Treaty with Us, and consequently after he knew that they were our Enemies, he bellowed upon them very conspicuous Marks of Kindness, and such as could not fail of affording Umbrage to the English. He made them, as has been before-mentioned, a Present of a Lack of Rupees in ready Money; he cancelled an Obligation they had given him for twice that Sum; he promised them the Privileges of a Mint; he proposed granting them a very considerable Augmentation of Territory; and even went so far, as to offer them the Possession of the City of Hughley. These were Circumstances that indicated their standing much in his good Graces, or that he expected from them Services equivalent to these substantial and extraordinary Benefits. The Truth, as far as it could ever be discovered, was this. They, and his Ministers in their Interest, made him believe their Strength in his Dominions to be very far beyond what it really was. Besides this, they magnified their Successes in other Parts, and took a great deal of Pains to persuade him, that Mr. Bussy, with a very numerous Army, was within a little Distance of his Territories, and might either fall upon, or come to his Support against, any Enemy, according as he should behave towards them. These Representations, the Nature of the Suba considered, may in some measure, and only in some measure, account for the Part that he acted.
As Mr. Watts was upon the Spot, watched every Motion of the Suba, knew exactly the Character of his Courtiers and principal Ministers, and had the most certain Intelligence of every thing that passed, he continued to represent the Necessity of attacking Chandenagore. He saw that, as far as his Timidity would suffer him to go, the Suba was already united to the French. He was satisfied that he dealt deceitfully with the English; more especially after Mr. Watts prevailed on Colonel Clive to write to the Suba, in the strongest Terms, that he might confide in him on every Occasion; and that on any Emergency he would march at his Request to his Assistance, against all his Enemies. After this, the Suba never mentioned any Desire or Thoughts of demanding Aid from the British Nation. Mr. Watts was therefore convinced that we could never gain him; and that, though now he temporized, he waited only a fit Season to act against us, in Conjunction with the French, upon whom he was daily heaping Favours, while it was with much Difficulty, and in consequence of repeated Sollicitations, he was ever brought to do common Justice to us. In this Situation Mr. Watts exhorted the Admiral, the Colonel, and the Select Committee, not to let slip this favourable Opportunity, and to apprehend nothing from the Suba's Resentment, who would never venture to give them any Succours, or take an open Part in their Favour, or to our Prejudice. But if the Fleet was once gone, and a fair Occasion offered, he would as certainly embrace it, and begin a new War, with as little Scruple as he had done the last, with more Advantage on his Side, and less on ours: Arguments, which, though strong and self-evident, did not meet with general Acceptance.
The Select Committee, though they paid great Deference to the Advice, and had a very just Sense of the Zeal, of Mr. Watts, for the Nation and the Company's Service; yet they were very unwilling to venture again upon Hostilities, from a strong Suspicion that the Suba, whether he actually joined the Enemy or not, would suspend the Execution of the Treaty, renew the Interruption of their Trade, and by that Means hinder their Investments for another Year. They knew so well, and dreaded so much, the Consequences that would have inevitably attended such an Event, that, in spite of all Mr. Watts could allege, they inclined to a Neutrality. This was an Expedient the Suba had proposed, and was another visible Indication of what were his secret and settled Intentions. The Sentiments, or rather the Sollicitations of the Select Committee, prevailed upon the Admiral and the Colonel to acquiesce in this Plan; insomuch that the latter wrote in very strong and pathetic Terms to the Suba, informing him, that whatever Representations of a contrary Nature he might have received, yet himself was very confident, that his Forces were able to reduce Chandenagore in Two days; nevertheless, in consideration of the great Repugnancy he shewed to the disturbing the Tranquility of the Province, he would, out of pure Regard to the Suba's Friendship, consent to such a Neutrality as he proposed, provided it was guarantied by him, and he solemnly undertook to act with all his Forces against that Nation by which it was first infringed.