However important the public services of individuals may be, however entitled to the notice and gratitude of their country, their reputation will lose much of its lustre, or receive additional splendour, from the tenor of their conduct in the different relations of private life. Speculative men may argue, that, if a statesman by his wise counsels, or a general by his military talents, promote the interests and glory of his country, it is of little consequence whether he is moral and virtuous. But such a conclusion is unjust: for men who attain distinction, by becoming objects of imitation, do infinite good or harm in the community to which they belong, by the influence of their example. Few can hope to emulate their higher qualities; but their failings and imperfections are within the reach of every one, and are copied by the lowest, in the belief that they thereby approximate themselves to him whom the public voice has raised to such celebrity. This influence over society renders such persons far more responsible than ordinary men, for every action, and becomes therefore one test by which public characters must be tried. There is, indeed, no way in which we can more satisfactorily confirm our opinion of the superiority of an individual, than by accompanying him into the walks of private life; for we may be assured that no stronger proof of his just title to pre-eminence can be obtained, than his not being intoxicated with his own elevation, and its effecting no alteration in his personal habits, or in the ties of family or of friendship; while, on the other hand, we may pronounce, that he who does not contemplate unchanged and undisturbed his own fame and fortune, is deficient in that simplicity and strength of mind, which are the most essential of all attributes in the composition of a truly great character.
If there be justice in these remarks, the general historian even should not lightly pass over the incidents of the private life of those eminent men whose public deeds it is his duty to record; but with the biographer such facts are of essential importance, not only as they develope the character of the subject of his biography, but as they establish or contradict the sincerity and truth of the alleged motives and principles of his public acts. I am very anxious to do justice to this part of my task, which for the sake of perspicuity I have separated from those official details, which have hitherto occupied so much of our attention. I can only hope the reader will experience the same satisfaction that I have had, in escaping for a time from the description of battles, sieges, crimes, and intrigues, to the less brilliant, though more pleasing subject of domestic habits, and the formation and maintenance of those ties of love and friendship which form the bonds of human society.
I have already spoken of the youth of Clive. In the review of his private life in this chapter I shall limit myself to the period which elapsed from his leaving England in 1756, until his return to that country in 1760.
During his short visit to England in 1753, Clive appears not only to have revived all his family connections, but to have extended very considerably the circle of his personal friends; and on his return to India, we discover that he numbered amongst his correspondents men of the first rank in his native land. Many of his private letters are addressed to Lord Barrington, the Chancellor[[104]], the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Mr. Henry Fox.
To the first of these noblemen, who was Secretary at War, Clive, in a letter under date the 23d of February, 1757, acknowledges himself under obligations for many marks of friendship, and particularly for his aid "in the election of Mitchell." To Mr. Henry Fox he owns himself indebted for much kindness; and he emphatically addresses him as the "patron and protector of the East India Company." He writes[[105]] to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor in terms which show that he had been honoured with their particular notice and kindness during his short residence in England.
Clive was in Parliament, but only for a few months; during which period, though on friendly terms with some members of the administration, he appears, as far as he engaged in public affairs, to have been in opposition to the King's ministers.[[106]] It is very evident, from the letters of his father at this period, that though he was disappointed[[107]], he had established some political influence; for the Duke of Newcastle, before he resigned the situation of Prime Minister, expressed himself most anxious to give his father a situation; and though this promise was never performed, the solicitude the Minister showed on this and other occasions to conciliate Clive's friendship and support, could only have proceeded from an impression of his talent, as he had at this time nothing that could give him any influence on the ground of wealth.
Though Clive's fortune was not large when he returned to England, he had realised, from his prize-money, and from the emoluments of the civil and military stations he had filled, a competence which would have satisfied a less aspiring mind; but he never seems to have even contemplated retirement from public life. Such a step, indeed, was neither consistent with his ambition, nor the generosity of his disposition. His first use of his wealth was to place all his family (and above all, his parents,) in a state of comfortable independence. He greatly added to the joy of his father, by appropriating a part of his fortune to save the family estate of Styche, to relieve which, he probably advanced its full value, as we find that it was transferred to him.[[108]] His father was delighted at his son becoming the owner of this property. This we see from many letters; and in one[[109]], written after Clive had sailed for India, he informs him that he had been at "the old place, which," he adds, "I always loved, and have kept the walls from tumbling, in hopes of seeing the new landlord come and take possession."
Clive appears himself to have been quite alive to all those family and local feelings, which have great value as associated with the earliest and most vivid of our recollections and affections. To judge from his private correspondence, no man ever more cherished such ties; for during the busiest periods of his public life, his letters continually refer to his relations and to the scenes of his boyhood; but above all, he speaks of old Styche with a fond familiarity that conveys an idea of the pleasure he must have had in becoming its possessor. Many of his letters upon these subjects are addressed to his father, by whose answer to one of them we may judge of the tone in which they were written. "Your letter," he observes, alluding to himself, "made the old man drop tears of joy, that you still survive with honour and success. May you go on and prosper!"
Clive did not remain two years in England. When he returned to India, accompanied by his lady, they left two infant boys; the eldest, Edward, is the present Lord Powis; the second, Richard, died shortly after the departure of his parents.
The great generosity of Clive to every branch of his family during this short visit to his native country, together with the manner in which he lived, and the expenses of his election, greatly diminished his property[[110]]; and it would seem from his agent's letters, that he had not, when he returned to India, more than three thousand pounds of money[[111]]; the interest of which, together with a small annuity he had purchased, he directed to be given to his father[[112]], whose letters are full of gratitude for the comfort given to his declining age by the liberality of his son.