The delight of Clive at the result of the siege was very great: it was heightened by his warm feelings of friendship towards those who had so nobly supported the reputation of the service of Fort St. George, to which he had a pride in belonging. He congratulates Mr. Pigot[[55]] on the fame he had acquired; but his greatest joy, as he repeatedly expresses, was, that his venerated friend, Colonel Lawrence, should so brilliantly close his Indian career.
The events upon the coast subsequent to the siege of Madras do not relate to our subject. Suffice it to say, that, after some indecisive operations in 1759, Lally, next year, suffered a signal defeat at Wandewash, from an English army under the command of Colonel Coote. He was soon after compelled to shut himself up with the remains of his army in Pondicherry, which was immediately invested by the English. Before this period, the increased irritability of his temper had led to discontent in the local government, and among the inhabitants of that settlement, almost amounting to sedition. The troops had been in a state of serious mutiny from want of pay. They nevertheless did their duty upon this occasion; but Lally had neither money nor provisions, and was forced to surrender.[[56]] This unfortunate commander left Pondicherry amid the insults of his countrymen; and on his return to France, he was tried, condemned to death, and executed for crimes[[57]] of which he was not guilty: for though his prejudice, violence, and tyranny, had no doubt been one cause of the misfortunes of his country in India, his courage, his zeal, and his loyalty were unimpeachable. But the voice of his enemies was loud and vehement, and the ministers of France were glad to save themselves from the disgrace brought upon the country by their own want of foresight and judgment. The Count Lally was the victim they offered to an incensed public. The principles of justice and the feelings of humanity appear to have been alike violated by this act, which a philosopher[[58]] of France truly denominated, at the period of its perpetration, "A murder committed with the sword of justice."
Bussy, with a zeal and temper that do him equal honour, continued to serve under Lally, and to offer his best advice, which was, however, seldom regarded. Basâlut Jung, the brother of the Subah of the Deckan, had evinced an anxiety to preserve the friendship of the French; and Bussy strongly recommended that he should be declared Nabob of the Carnatic, and invited to aid their operations. No measure could have been more likely to support them. But Lally had precipitately proclaimed the son of Chunda Sahib Nabob: a person who had neither influence nor character to be a useful ally; and he was not only reluctant to repeal his own measure, but disinclined to attend to any proposition of Bussy. Overcome, however, by a sense of the urgent necessity of the expedient, he detached that officer with a small body of troops to the camp of Basâlut Jung at Kurpah. The French commander was received with honour; but not being able to comply with the demands made by Basâlut Jung, one of which was the immediate advance of four lacs of rupees, he was compelled to return without being able to conclude an alliance with that prince. He brought back with him, however, a body of four hundred excellent horse, whom he had taken into service; and he was enabled, through the credit he had with some of the native chiefs of the Deckan army, not only to supply this party with money, but also the French detachment by whom he was accompanied, who, like all Lally's troops, were many months in arrear, and almost destitute of clothing, as well as the means of obtaining food.
Bussy was made prisoner at the battle of Wandewash, (January, 1760,) but was instantly released by Colonel Coote, from respect for his character, and as a return for that kindness and consideration which he had invariably shown to English prisoners.[[59]] Soon after this occurrence, he returned to France, leaving behind him a name as fondly cherished by the natives of India as by his countrymen. That further acquaintance with the true history of remarkable events, which often diminishes the fame of military commanders and statesmen, has hitherto tended only to increase the reputation of Bussy. His courage and conduct as a soldier stood high, before the genius of Dupleix, appreciating his character, sent him into the Deckan.
Acting in that extensive country with a force, which, before he obtained the cession of the northern circars, had only an uncertain and imperfect communication with the coast, he supported, for a series of years, the influence and interests of his country, in a manner which reflects the highest honour on his qualities as a man, and on his talents as a statesman. He thoroughly understood and held in respect the usages of the people among whom he was placed. He united a kindness and consideration for their errors and weaknesses with such a good faith and firmness of purpose in the prosecution of his own objects, as to extort respect even from those to whom he was opposed. This testimony to his character is not wholly taken from the page of history, though all writers agree in doing justice to his memory. The facts stated have been confirmed to the writer of these pages, by many who acted with and against Bussy, whose reputation, though now deservedly high in France, is not, even at this period, so great in that country as it continues to be with natives of the Deckan!
Clive, unless where their conduct compelled him to acts of severity, was kind and liberal in his treatment of French prisoners. This appears from a very voluminous correspondence[[60]], both official and private, with individuals of that nation; but the wanton outrages of Lally made him deem acts of retaliation indispensably necessary.
In several of his letters from Patna, Clive urged the committee at Calcutta to destroy the buildings at Chandernagore, and transmitted to them letters from Mr. Pigot and Mr. Vansittart, in proof of the wanton outrages committed by Lally at Madras, particularly in levelling with the ground the Company's country-house, and in having, without any object, destroyed the country-houses of several private gentlemen, and among others, that of Colonel Lawrence at St. Thomas's Mount. The Committee could not deny these facts, nor the right of retaliating such injuries; but, hesitating between the desire of attending to Clive, and their alarm at the future consequences of the measure pressed upon their adoption, they proposed to throw the odium of its execution upon the Nabob. Of this Clive wholly disapproved, stating, at the same time, his resolution, when he returned to Calcutta, to take the responsibility of this act exclusively upon himself.
"As to your proposal," he observes in a letter[[61]] from Patna, "of effecting it through the Nabob, I do not see what end it will answer. Our known interest with him is such, that it will never be questioned we were the advisers; and should an opportunity of retaliation ever offer, (the apprehension of which I presume suggested the proposal to you,) it will avail us little to attribute the fate of Chandernagore to the Nabob. If the French should hereafter have it in their power to destroy Calcutta, it will be matter of small moment whether they do it immediately themselves, or make use of a like evasion, and employ some of the country powers to effect it. So far from endeavouring to conceal our being the authors of the destruction of Chandernagore, we ought to make a merit of publishing it, as a laudable national revenge for the unfortunate treatment we have received from the French. The rules of war established among all civilised nations authorise and applaud reprisals in such cases. I shall, therefore, very readily on my return take the risk upon myself: and the more so, as (if I forget not) last year we received directions from our masters[[62]] to that purpose."
I shall proceed in the next chapter to detail events which occurred previously to Clive's leaving Calcutta. The material changes in those vested with authority at Madras took place before that period, except the resignation of Colonel Lawrence, who took the field on the siege of Fort St. George being raised, but finding that his age and infirmities disabled him from active service, retired to his native land, to enjoy that repose in private life, which he now required, and to which he was entitled by the active and able fulfilment, during more than twenty years, of the most arduous public duties.
Colonel Lawrence must ever stand high among those officers who have distinguished themselves in India. He neither was, nor pretended to be, a statesman, but he was an excellent officer. He possessed no dazzling qualities, and his acts never displayed that brilliancy which men admire as the accompaniment of genius; but he was, nevertheless, a rare and remarkable man. We trace in all his operations that sound practical knowledge of his profession, which, directed by a clear judgment and firm mind, secured to him an uninterrupted career of success, under circumstances of great difficulty and danger. As one of the chief causes of this success, we may notice the absence of that common but petty jealousy, which renders men afraid lest they should detract from their own fame by advancing that of others, and the influence of which is, consequently, most fatal to the rise of merit. Lawrence early discovered, and fully employed, the talents of those under his orders; and we find him on all occasions much more forward to proclaim their deeds than to blazon his own. 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.