Though Clive appears to have thought that the high titles obtained for him from Delhi should have been accompanied[279] by a jaghire, there exists no evidence, amongst all the documents I have examined, to show that he had any previous intimation of its amount, or that he, in any shape, compromised either his personal honour, or his duty to the government he served, by accepting of this grant. Conscious that he had performed great services to the Nabob, he received this reward as a recompence which that prince had a right to bestow, and which was one conformable to the usage of the country, and rendered more appropriate, according to that usage, from the high honour which the Emperor of Delhi had, at the request of Meer Jaffier, conferred upon him. Clive gave a complete proof of his anticipation of the approbation of his superiors in England, and of his wish to give publicity to this transaction, by accepting, as his jaghire, an assignment of the quit-rent, or government share, of the lands farmed by the Company in the vicinity of Calcutta. This arrangement, which placed his income in the hands of the Company, though it presented the best possible security, would never have been consented to by a person who had not acted with a perfect consciousness that he was violating no duty, and inflicting no injury on the interests either of individuals or the public.

These were evidently Clive's sentiments; and the transaction, at the time of its occurrence, appears to have been generally viewed in the same light. If some argued (as they might with reason) that, though no existing regulations forbade individuals from accepting such gifts, when spontaneously made by the Princes of India, a person in Clive's situation ought not to have received a reward of a nature so likely to establish a precedent dangerous to the future integrity of the service: it was probably answered, that this was no doubt correct as a common rule; but that the circumstances in which he was placed were altogether peculiar, and never likely to recur to any individual; that he first saved from ruin, and afterwards established upon a firmer and more extended basis, the British interests in India; that he had, in his career, overcome the army of one prince whose hostility to the English was unconquerable, and raised and preserved upon his throne another, by whom the ruined inhabitants of Calcutta were restored to affluence, and a defenceless factory and a precarious trade converted into a strong government and a flourishing commerce. Was he, they would ask,—the sole and acknowledged author of this almost miraculous change,—to obtain no benefit except empty honour? Restricted by his military occupation from trade,—denying himself, upon principle, every advantage from a corrupt source,—inadequately paid by the government he served, and without a hope of any remuneration from a fluctuating body of Directors,—was he, when he compromised no duty, when he offended no law, when he injured neither the interests of individuals nor of the state, to reject ungraciously the munificent reward spontaneously proffered to him by a prince, who, though he had already enriched him with a liberal share of the treasures which he distributed to the English government and its army when they placed him upon the throne, now owed him an obligation of almost equal magnitude? 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; nor can their validity be impugned on any ground unconnected with his peculiar situation and extraordinary achievements. It is, assuredly, a great injustice to his memory, to view his conduct on this and similar points without the fullest reference, not only to the singular circumstances in which he was placed, but to the usages of the service to which he belonged, to those of Eastern governments, and to the principles of action which, at that period, governed the Directors of the East India Company. Besides, if, even with ourselves, there is not a man who thinks the more meanly of Cornwallis or Wellesley for the large pecuniary donations which they received from the Company, or of our Marlborough and our Wellington for the splendid estates which they received from the government of a grateful country; can it be deemed honest or fair to apply a different rule to the similar testimony of gratitude which Clive received from the prince (the sole representative of the government) whom he had so eminently served? According to the ideas of that country, the reward was not excessive: no native of the East certainly deemed it so. And, if it be objected to as conferred by a foreign potentate, Clive must be content to share, in his fortunes as his fame, the fate of the Prince of Mindelheim, the Duke of Bronte, and the Duke of Vittoria.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
London:
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FOOTNOTES:

[214] Orme, vol. ii. p. 363.

[215] The country usually known by the name of the Northern Circars, which had been ceded by the Soubah Salabut Jung to the French.

[216] A modern writer has noticed Clive's conduct on this occasion in less favourable terms:—

"Clive," Mr. Mill observes[217], "chose to remain in Bengal, where he was master, rather than go to Madras, where he would be under command; and determined not to lessen his power by sending troops to Madras, which the Presidency, copying his example, might forget to send back. An enterprise at the same time presented itself, which, though its success would have been vain had the French in the Carnatic prevailed, bore the appearance of a co-operation in the struggle, and afforded a colour for detaining the troops."

I conceive no remark is necessary upon the first part of this paragraph. Every one acquainted with our condition in India at this period must be sensible that Clive's presence was comparatively of little consequence at Fort St. George[218], and that it was essential to the very existence of our power in Bengal; he, therefore, having the option, very properly chose to remain where he was most urgently required.