"I have little more to say than that I arrived here yesterday, and that all affairs, civil and military, are in a state of confusion beyond what I had even reason to expect. I can see no end to the troubles in these parts. Suja Dowla has been joined by the Rohillas and Mahrattas, and he is marching down with them to make another effort to recover his dominions, which, at present, are entirely in our possession. Their apprehension seems to be, that our principal object is to support the King, and establish him at Delhi; and if this is the case, we may expect all India will go to war with us. Such a continued scene of fighting as this seems to open, will not, however, suit with us; and, in a very short time, I believe I must march up to camp, in order to settle measures, if possible, upon a pacific plan. I beg you will send us as many small arms, as well as men, as your settlement can spare, out of the next and succeeding ships."[[262]] * * * * *

In a letter to General Carnac, he describes the state of the Nabob of Moorshedabad and his ministers, and the recent events at that court, in the following terms[[263]]:—

"I cannot yet write you particulars; however, matters seem drawing to a conclusion. The Nabob and Mahommed Reza Cawn are arrived. The Seets and Roydulub will be here to-morrow, and I am determined to give an impartial audience to all of them, who are ready enough to disclose every transaction, and will prove to demonstration, upon what grounds and principles the gentlemen have been actuated, thus precipitately to conclude a treaty before our arrival.

"Although Nundcomar may not prove guilty of the crimes laid to his charge, yet, believe me, my dear General, he will do no honour, either to the Nabob or to the Company, in any great or eminent post, which he never was formed or designed for; and I can give you unanswerable reasons against his being the principal person about the Nabob, when I have the pleasure of seeing you. I am as fully averse to Reza Ali Cawn's remaining in the great post of Naib Subah. His being a Mussulman, acute, and clever, are reasons of themselves, if there were no others, against trusting that man with too much power; and yet the young man must have men about him capable of directing and governing him; for besides his youth, he is really very simple, and always receives his impressions from those who are last about him. It is really shocking to see what a set of miserable and mean wretches Nundcomar has placed about him, men that the other day were horsekeepers. I proposed that three or four of the principal families in Bengal shall assist him in his government; and make no doubt of obtaining his own consent for adopting such a plan as may make him perfectly easy in his own mind, and do the English nation honour.

"I hope fifteen or twenty days will enable me to put affairs in such a channel, that the gentlemen may go on with the reformation during my absence; and upon my arrival we must heartily set about a peace: for the expense is now become so enormous, (no less than 10 lacs per mensem, civil and military,) that the Company must be inevitably undone, if the Mahrattas, or any other powers, should invade Bahar and Bengal; for it will then be impossible to raise money sufficient to continue the war. This is a very serious consideration with me, and will, I make no doubt, strike you in the same light."

Treating the same subject in a subsequent letter, Clive observes[[264]]:—

"Strange discoveries have been made, which prove your conjectures about revolutions to be true. The enclosed will give you an idea of what is intended. The more I see of the Nabob, the more I am convinced of his incapacity for business: whether it proceeds from want of natural abilities, or want of education, time will discover; certain it is, the most difficult task we have is to act in such a manner as not to put too great a restraint upon the Nabob's inclinations, and yet, at the same time, influence him to do what is for his own honour, and the good of the Company. There is no submitting to be dictated to by every plaguy fellow about him."

And again[[265]]:—

"There seems to me to have been a combination between the blacks and whites, to divide all the revenues of the Company between them, for the Nabob knows nothing about the matter. Large sums have been taken out of both treasuries, by Mahommed Reza Cawn at Muxadabad, and by Nundcomar at Calcutta. Every day convinces me, that so long as that man with his instruments continue about him we shall never have that influence which appears to me absolutely necessary, as well for his own reputation as to prevent the revenues being dissipated on a set of plaguy rascals."

The evidence which Clive about this time obtained from the officers of the Nabob, of the sums paid to the different public servants on the conclusion of the treaty, are stated in a letter to General Carnac[[266]], with some severe remarks on the conduct of those who, on that occasion, sacrificed the interest and honour of the public for venal objects. This subject would, in its details, lead us too far. Suffice it to say, that the strong measures which the discovery he made led him to adopt, particularly that of suspending several of the older civil officers from the service, added to the number of his enemies in a degree that made them more powerful in England than in India, and was the chief cause of that parliamentary inquiry into his conduct which took place on his return to his native country. Meanwhile, however, the honest course of investigation which he pursued, though fatiguing and painful to his mind, and severe on his spirits, left him resolute and composed in his sense of duty. He had a great object in view, the salvation of an empire, through the repression of wrong, and the amendment of the public character and morals. "Let me but have health sufficient to go through with the reformation we intend," says he, in writing to his friend Carnac, "and I shall die with satisfaction and in peace." The same feeling, which seems at this period to have deeply penetrated his mind, he expresses to many of his friends.