INDIA.] BATTLE OF BUXAR. 215 Thus combining, the three princes advanced at the head of an army well provided with artillery, and which numbered 50,000 men. On the other side, the English with their utmost exertions could bring into the field no more than 8,000 Sepoys and 1,200 Europeans. Their commander, Major Adams, having died, his place was filled by Major, afterwards Sir Hector, Munro. But such in their ranks was the state of insubordination, nay, even mutiny, that the new chief found it necessary to make a most severe example of the ringleaders. He began by directing four and twenty native soldiers to be blown from the mouth of cannon. On this occasion, a touching incident occurred. When the orders were first given to tie four of these men to the guns from which they were to be blown, four others of the soldiers stepped forward 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; and the claim thus preferred was allowed. An officer 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." * 66 Having thus in some measure, as he hoped, awed the disaffected, Munro led his troops to Buxar, a position above Patna, more than one hundred miles higher up the Ganges. There, in October 1764, he was attacked by the army of Oude. The battle was fierce, but ended in a brilliant victory to the English; the enemy leaving 130 pieces of cannon and 4,000 dead upon the field. On the day after the battle, Shah Alum, having with some followers made his escape from the army of his own Visier, drew near to the English camp. So long as he had been dependent on the Durbar of Oude, the English had shown little willingness to acknowledge his authority, but no sooner did he join their ranks and appear a ready instrument in their hands, than he became to them at once the rightful Sovereign of Hindostan. They con * Memoir by Captain Williams, as cited in Malcolm's Life of Clive, vol. ii. p. 300. cluded a treaty with him, he undertaking to yield them certain districts, and they to put him in possession of Allahabad and the other states of the Nabob of Oude. a fort The battle of Buxar, though so great a victory, did not decide the war. Major Munro failed in two attempts to storm the hill-fort of Chunar on the Ganges, in which all the treasures of Cossim were thought to be contained; and Sujah Dowlah obtained the aid of Holkar, a powerful Mahratta chief. Nevertheless he sent to sue for peace. But Munro refused all terms, unless both Cossim and Sombre were first given up to punishment. Nor was his purpose changed by the offer of a large sum of money for himself. With a higher spirit than Vansittart's, he cried: "If the Nabob would give 66 me all the Lacs in his treasury, I would make no peace "with him until he had delivered up those murdering "rascals; for I never could think that my receiving "eleven or twelve Lacs of Rupees was a sufficient atone"ment for the blood of those unfortunate gentlemen at "Patna." Sujah Dowlah thought his honour concerned upon the other side. He refused to surrender the two exiles, but proposed an expedient altogether worthy an Asiatic. Prince, that he would give secret orders for the assassination of Sombre, in the presence of any person whom the English General might send to witness the deed. That expedient being, of course, rejected, the war was resumed. A new tide of successes poured in upon the English. Early in 1765, they reduced the fortress of Chunar, scattered far and wide the force of the enemy, and entered in triumph his great city of Allahabad. Through all these last years of strife it is gratifying to observe, not merely the valour, but also the mercy and forbearance, of the English owned, at least in private, by their enemies. The skill of Oriental scholars has laid open to us the records of a Mussulman historian of that period the eye-witness, in some part, of the scenes which he describes: "It must be acknowledged," says he, "to the honour of those strangers, that as their "conduct in war and in battle is worthy of admiration, so, on the other hand, nothing is more modest and more becoming than their behaviour to an enemy. 66 66 INDIA.] 66 STRUGGLES AT THE INDIA HOUSE. 217 "Whether in the heat of action, or in the pride of success "and victory, these people seem to act entirely according to the rules observed by our ancient chiefs and "heroes." But at the same time, and, no doubt, with equal truth, this historian cannot forbear lamenting the grievous suffering and misrule endured by the helpless Bengalees after the departure of Lord Clive. "Oh God!" thus in another passage citing the Koran, he concludes: "Oh God! come to the assistance of thy afflicted servants, and deliver them from the oppressions they "bear!"* 66 Meanwhile, the transactions in India which followed the departure of Clive had produced no slight amount of discord and cabals in England. These were heightened by the want of any strong and well-framed authority in either country for Eastern affairs. In India, whether at Calcutta, at Madras, or at Bombay, the Governor was entitled to no more than one voice in the Council, with the advantage, should the numbers be found equal, of a second, or the casting vote. Moreover, the three Presidencies being as yet upon an equal footing, and with no central seat of power, were constant rivals, each envious of the other's successes, each believing that undue favour was accorded to the rest. In England, the whole body of twenty-four Directors was renewed by annual election. On such occasions, and indeed on many others, the India House became the scene of the most violent debates, and the keenest party-struggles. There were parties formed on every sub-division of selfish interests; the party of Bombay, the party of Madras, the party of Bengal, the party of Mr. Sulivan, the party of Lord Clive. Greater than all these, perhaps, in point of numbers, was the party anxious only for the high rate and the punctual payment of their Dividends. Nor were these cabals * Seir Mutakhareen, vol. ii. pp. 102. and 166. These curious contemporary annals were written in Persian by Gholam Hossein, a nobleman of India, and first translated into English by a renegade Frenchman, who took the name of Haji Mustapha. His translation, which is now before me, was published at Calcutta in 1789, and comprises three quarto volumes. Another version has been undertaken by Colonel Briggs, in two volumes; of which, however, only the first (London, 1832,) has appeared. altogether unconnected with the greater parties in the State. Mr. Sulivan, the paramount Director until the appearance of Clive, was supported by Lord Bute. Clive at that time was a follower of Pitt. Thus no one incentive to violence and rancour was wanting from these contests at the India House. At that time every share of 500l. conferred a vote, and the manufactory of fictitious votes was carried on to a gigantic scale. Clive, according to his own account, spent in this manner no less a sum than 100,000l.* It was not till 1765, that this evil practice was arrested by an Act of Parliament, which required that each Proprietor, before he voted, should take an oath that the Stock entered in his name was really and in truth his own, and had been so for the last twelve months. 66 66 Sulivan and Clive had not at first been enemies. But, as Clive complains, in a private letter: "Sulivan has 66 never reposed that confidence in me which my services "to the East India Company entitle me to. The consequence has been that we have all along behaved to one "another like shy cocks; at times, outwardly expressing great regard and friendship for each other."† Besides, there was a great divergence in their views of Indian affairs. Sulivan was disposed to favour the gentlemen of Bombay, and Clive the gentlemen of Bengal. Sulivan looked mainly to commerce, and Clive mainly to empire. At last, an open breach ensued between them. In 1763, Clive made a desperately fought attempt to oust Sulivan, and Sulivan's friends, from the Direction. He failed; and the new Directors revenged themselves by confiscating, contrary to law, the Jaghire, or domain, which had been bestowed upon him by Meer Jaffier. It became necessary for Clive to seek relief by a Bill in the Court of Chancery. Such was the petty warfare raging at the India House, when ship after ship from Bengal brought news of the growing disorganization of the British power, of misrule and plunder by its servants, of renewed hostilities with the native princes. It began to be felt on all sides that *Life by Malcolm, vol. ii. p. 211. †To Mr. Vansittart, November 22. 1762. INDIA.] CLIVE PREVAILS. 219 the crisis called for Clive,- that he alone could order the confusion and allay the storm. So strong was this feeling in his favour as to carry every thing before it. At a meeting of the Proprietors, held early in the spring of 1764, they proposed to the Directors the immediate restitution of the disputed Jaghire, and the appointment of Lord Clive as both Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bengal. Clive, who was present, rose to speak. "It "would be vain for me," he said, "to exert myself as "I ought in India, if my measures are to be thwarted "and condemned at home, under the influence of a "Chairman who is known to be my personal and invete"rate enemy. It is a matter of indifference to me who "fills the Chair, if Mr. Sulivan does not; but if he does, "I must decline to go." Some reply was attempted by Mr. Sulivan, even amidst the uproar which ensued. He endeavoured to point out the jealousies and heartburnings which the nomination of Lord Clive might raise among the chiefs already in command. But the tumult around him, if it did not drown his voice, at least overruled his argument. The Directors found themselves, though most unwillingly, compelled to appoint Lord Clive to both the offices desired. It was now within a month of the annual elections; and Clive, in conformity with what he had declared at the last meeting, resolved to abide their issue before he made his decision. The 25th of April was the day of contest. Mr. Sulivan had prepared a list of twenty-three Directors, which he supported by the strenuous exertion of his followers, but at the close, he had not carried more than half his number, and was himself saved from exclusion by only a single vote. Under these circumstances, not only the Chairman, but also the Deputy-Chairman, was chosen from among Clive's friends. The new Board of Directors, moreover, conferred upon him extraordinary powers. Aided by a Committee of persons of his own naming, he was made, unlike the other Governors, independent of his Council. Clive embarked with the full purpose to use his powers most firmly-to curb and to crush at once the abuses which prevailed. One of his letters, written on ship-board, speaks as follows: "Give me leave now to lead you for |