The princely presents which Clive merited and received were the rewards of great services rendered to the parties by whom they were given, and in which his first efforts were prompted by considerations that were decidedly uninfluenced by sordid motives. Add to this, that whatever he undertook prospered, and that all the individuals whom he elevated he preserved, not only from their native enemies, but from the still more galling encroachments and rapacity of the Company's servants. By such acts he won the good opinion of all ranks in India. From the King to the peasant the name of Clive inspired sentiments of respect and confidence.
What a contrast was presented by his successors in power! Money for themselves was, in every engagement, one of the stipulations, and appeared, though in some cases it might not have been, the leading motive of their measures. All their measures failed: every one connected with them was ruined. The character for good faith, which at Clive's departure stood so high, was lost. No one trusted the word of an Englishman. Many of those who engaged in these scenes were able and virtuous; but there was no leading genius among them. The jealousy and party spirit that pervaded the government at home multiplied checks and cherished insubordination in those abroad; till nothing was heard but accusations and recriminations.
The army, both European and native, had fallen into a very insubordinate and mutinous state. The officers evinced this spirit on almost every occasion where they deemed their personal interests affected; and many of the privates deserted to the native powers. A most serious mutiny occurred at the period when Major Munro took the command of the army[[238]] at Patna. A battalion of sepoys left camp to join the enemy: they were intercepted by a body of troops, and twenty-four of the ringleaders were brought before a native court-martial, and sentenced to death. They were all executed; and we are informed by an officer who was present, that an incident occurred on this occasion, which not only created a great sensation at the moment, but left a lasting impression on the native soldiers of Bengal, being truly characteristic of their proud and dauntless spirit.
When the orders were given to tie four of these men to the guns, from which they were to be blown, four grenadiers stept out and demanded the priority of suffering, as "a right," they said, "which belonged to men who had always been first in the post of danger." The calm manner in which this request was made, and the anxiety that it should be granted, excited great sympathy in all who beheld it. The officer[[239]] on whose authority this fact is stated, and who was an eye-witness of the scene, observes; "I belonged on this occasion to a detachment of marines. They were hardened fellows, and some of them had been of the execution party that shot Admiral Byng; yet they could not refrain from tears at the fate and conduct of these gallant grenadier sepoys."
When a strong sense of imminent danger, and a fear of total ruin to the affairs of the Company and of the English nation in Bengal, excited universal attention and alarm, all eyes were naturally turned on Clive, as the only human being who could restore the reputation and interests of this nation in India. He was in consequence, as has been stated, called upon to proceed once more to that country, and he had courage to obey the call, though convinced that the scene presented difficulties which were almost insurmountable, and that he would have to perform duties that were personally invidious, and calculated not only to interrupt but to destroy all his prospects of future enjoyment.
There can be no doubt that Clive, in consenting, under such circumstances, to return to India, was chiefly, if not solely, actuated by an honourable ambition, and by an ardent desire to promote the interests and glory of his country. His first stipulation, however, was, that his stay should be limited to a very short period; and he pledged himself (and the pledge, as will be shown hereafter, was nobly redeemed) not to enrich himself one farthing by any pay or emoluments he might receive from the high station to which he was nominated.
Though Clive had been restrained by many considerations, as well as by the rapidity of events, from taking personally any decided part in the disputes in Bengal, he had not been an unconcerned observer of those scenes. Each party had addressed him with an equal solicitude that he should approve and support them; but we do not meet in his private correspondence with any full expression of his sentiments. He regretted, it appears from his letters, the removal of Meer Jaffier from the throne; but uninformed of the minute circumstances that had produced that measure, he did not withdraw his confidence in the wisdom of the administration of one, whom he so highly valued as Mr. Vansittart, till he saw him depart step by step from all those maxims of policy he had laid down as the rules of his own conduct, both in regard to native princes and other men of rank and consequence in India.
The opposition of his views to those of his successor, as well as his own difficulties, are clearly expressed in a letter he wrote to the Court of Directors immediately before his embarkation.
"In obedience to your commands," Lord Clive observes[[240]], "I now transmit the purport of what I had the honour to represent to you by word of mouth at the last Court of Directors, with some other particulars which slipped my memory at that time.
"Having taken into consideration your letter sent me by the Secretary, as also the request of the General Court of Proprietors, I think myself bound in honour to accept the charge of your affairs in Bengal, provided you will co-operate with, and assist me in such a manner that I may be able to answer the expectations and intentions of the General Court.