elevated than that of the middling gentry, a rank | commanded me to apologise to you, and I have now unhappily extinct." But it is said that the done so; but he did not command me to dine with first establishment of the Clives in Shropshire you." dates from the reign of Henry II.

He

With all this, the idle Salopian schoolboy now His father was bred to the law, and practised as became a severe student, and devoted his attention an attorney in the little town of Market Drayton, to the culture of the native languages. Two years on the Fern. His mother was Rebecca, daughter passed thus, when the advent of war between and co-heiress with her sister of Mr. Gaskell, Britain and France opened up a more congenial of Manchester, whose other daughter, Sarah, be- field for his ability and ambition. He was present came the wife of Hugh, Lord Semple, who com- at the bombardment of Madras in 1746, and bemanded the king's left wing at Culloden, and was came, on parole, the prisoner of La Bourdonnais, colonel of the Regiment of Edinburgh-the 25th. and was one of those, as we have said, who were Many tales are current respecting the youthful made a public spectacle by Dupleix when he vioextravagances of Robert Clive, and of these welated the terms of the capitulation. Disguised as can scarcely here pretend to sketch an outline; a native he made his escape from Pondicherry, and but rather refer the reader to Sir John Malcolm's on reaching Fort St. David, became a gentleman work. His temper was wayward and reckless; he volunteer, and in that humble capacity gave proofs was impatient of control and resolute in purpose; of the indomitable courage that inspired him. and the former element is shown in the frequency once formed one of a party at play, whom two with which he changed his places of abode between officers by ungentlemanly cheating contrived to his eleventh and eighteenth years. He was first fleece. The winners were noted duellists, so the settled in Cheshire, under the tuition of Dr. Los- other losers paid their money in silent rage; but tock, who, though he failed to manage the boy, Clive refused to follow their example, and taxed foretold that "few names would be greater than the players with knavery. He was challenged, his." We next find him at Market Drayton, under went out and gave his fire, upon which his adverthe master of the grammar school; and it was sary quitting his ground, put his pistol to Clive's while here that there occurred the singular episode head, desired him to ask his life. Clive did so; of his sitting astride a gargoyle of the church tower but the bully now required that he should pay the which was carved like a dragon's head. Such acts sum he had lost, and retract what he had said. as this compelled his father to send him to Mer- "And if I refuse ?" demanded Clive. chant Taylors', London-with little effect, as he "Then I fire," replied the other. was soon transferred to another school in Herts, where his master, Sterling, spoke of him as "the most unlucky boy that ever entered his establishment."

It is very probable that his adventurous spirit, his pugilistic encounters, his love of racing, boating, cricket, and all manner of out-door sports, with his wild and daring manner, which made him the terror of ushers, and to be known as "naughty Bob," and deemed, as Macaulay says, a dunce, if not a reprobate," kept the lad from following, as his father wished, the frigid study of the law, and led him into the ranks of the East India Company's civil service. He had barely completed his eighteenth year when he landed at Madras in 1744, and entered at once upon his official duties.

The impatience of control he had shown as a scholar was not the less exhibited when he was a clerk or "writer." He became involved in a dispute with a senior, and was commanded by the governor to ask pardon. He did so, however unwillingly, and the functionary, hoping to smooth over all coldness of feeling, invited young Clive to dinner.

"No, sir,” replied he, scornfully; "the governor

"Fire, and be hanged!" said Clive coolly. "I still say you cheated; nor will I ever pay you." The gamester, struck with the bold bearing of his antagonist, called him a madman, and threw away his pistol. We must not finish this anecdote, continues Mr. Gleig, without recording Clive's conduct in the sequel. When complimented by

his friends, he observed,-
"The man has given me my life, and I have no
right in future to mention his behaviour at the card-
table; though I shall certainly never pay him, nor
associate with him again."

In 1747, he sought and obtained the rank of ensign, still retaining his position in the civil service, so few were the Europeans then in India. He marched against Pondicherry, was in the attack on Fort Ariancoopan, and the retreat to Fort St. David. During the affair of Pondicherry, it chanced on one occasion, that the ammunition of his picket, when hotly engaged, fell short. Eager to avoid a repulse, he hurried rearward to the depôt, and carried up a fresh supply ere his absence was observed by his men. Of this circumstance a brother-officer took advantage to cast a slur upon

1749]

DISPUTES OF NATIVE PRINCES IN THE CARNATIC.

his character; but Clive called the slanderer to such a severe account, that the latter was compelled to resign his commission. One strong feature in the somewhat melancholy mind of Robert Clive was an intense love of his own country.

"I have not enjoyed a happy day since I left my native country," he wrote to one of his relatives; "I must confess at intervals when I think of my dear native England, it affects me in a very particular manner. If I should be so blest as to visit again my own country, but more especially Manchester, the centre of all my wishes, all I could hope or desire for would be presented in one view."

In his Essay on Malcolm's "Life of Clive," the latter, says Macaulay, "expressed his feelings more softly and pensively than we should have expected from the waywardness of his boyhood, and the inflexible sternness of his later years."

When lonely and in low spirits, at Madras, he twice attempted to shoot himself through the head;

23

on each occasion the pistol snapped, and then he received the impression that divine Providence had designed him for some important career by miraculously saving his life.

"Such," says Nolan,

was the state of mind of this young man, who was borne a prisoner by the perfidious Dupleix to Pondicherry, and there paraded about for the sport of a people who were little better than their infamous governor. It is easy to conceive how the high spirit of Clive chafed under these indignities; but his resolute will and fertile genius soon found an opportunity to assert themselves. Well had it been for Dupleix and for France, if the wanderer who so well affected the mien and garb of Islam, had been fettered in Pondicherry, or if La Bourdonnais' clemency and honour had prevailed, and the young clerk had been left in 'Writers' Buildings' at Madras, until commercial success, dismission, or suicide had prevented him from interfering in the field of war with the governor of Pondicherry, and the genius of French conquest."

CHAPTER V.

PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN THE CARNATIC, ETC.

THOUGH the means by which it was obtained are open to question, the possession of the fortress of Devi-Cottah, with its district, proved of immense importance to the Company. Situated most advantageously on the Coromandel coast, with the channel of the Coleroon immediately under the town walls, ships of the largest burden could approach with ease, though there was a bar at the mouth of the river, and this was of all the greater consequence that from Masulipatam to Comorin there was no harbour that could receive a vessel even of 300 tons burden. In addition to this, the district was fertile, rich and highly cultivated.

Though partially baffled, M. Dupleix was in no wise intending to relinquish his schemes for conquest or for availing himself of local contentions. The British flag had not waved many days on Devi-Cottah ere he was engaged in transactions of great moment, and taking part in a revolution in the Carnatic.

A number of princes disputed the succession to the throne of that country-the six sons of Nizamul-Mulk-and Dupleix, acting precisely upon our own plan in India, Divide et impera, resolved to make profit out of the civil war by adhering to

the strongest claimant, Chunda Sahib, who had collected a large army, and eagerly courted his assistance, and through whom he hoped to attain a complete ascendency throughout the whole of Southern Hindostan. These ambitious projects are fully admitted by the Abbé Raynal, Voltaire, and Orme. In addition to this war in the Carnatic, fierce disputes were in progress among minor princes for the possession of other dominions bordering upon, or connected with it.

From Pondicherry Dupleix marched a body of 400 French soldiers, and 2,000 sepoys, many of whom were disciplined Caffirs, and in the first battle, by a ball fired by one of these, Chunda Sahib's most powerful opponent fell. Mohammed Ali, son of the fallen nabob, fled to Trichinopoly, a strong place, while the allied conquerors marched to Arcot, which surrendered on the first summons. Mohammed earnestly implored succour from the British, offering high prices for their aid, but they were few in number, they were without orders from home to justify them for embarking in such new and extensive operations; moreover, peace had been concluded at home, and they were amply occupied in taking repossession of Madras, and strengthening

the real soubahdar, had got rid of all their doubts and scruples on the subject of his title, and magnanimously resolved to share his fortunes." As he advanced with the showy and glittering army of Nazir Jung, the French and their allies strongly intrenched themselves, and, confident of victory, quietly waited the attack. Their position was so admirable, that Major Lawrence advised Nazir against the risk of an attack; but the haughty Indian prince replied, that "it became not the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk to retreat before any enemy !"

The guns opened the strife, and the infantry were put in motion for a closer attack, with matchlock and gingal, but at this crisis the French troops became utterly disorganised. Numerous as was the mighty host of Nazir Jung, the only really formidable portion of it was Lawrence's handful of Britons with their old "brown Besses" and socketbayonets; hence M. d'Auteuil sought to bribe it into inactivity, by sending a secret messenger to acquaint the major that, "though their troops were arrayed on opposite sides, it was his wish that no European blood should be spilled, and therefore desired to know in what part of Nazir's army the British were posted, in order that none of his fire might go that way."

The refusal of Nazir Jung, with true Indian cunning and rapacity, to grant to Britain a territory near Madras as the reward of her co-operation, so irritated Major Lawrence, that he instantly marched his 600 men back to Fort St. David. On the other hand, Dupleix had not lost heart; by various arts he pacified the mutinous officers, infused a new spirit into their soldiers, and opened a secret correspondence with some disaffected chiefs of the Patan troops in the army of his antagonist, Nazir. These were ferocious and warlike mercenaries, who were divided into clans or tribes, like those of the Scottish Highlands; and they engaged to perform various services, even to the murder of Nazir, if wished.

D'Auteuil again took the field, and one of his officers, at the head of 300 bayonets, was allowed by the Patan guards to penetrate into the heart of Nazir's camp in a dark and cloudy night, and slay a thousand men in cold blood, with the loss of only three; while at the same time, a small French detachment sailed for Masulipatam (a seaport having a great trade with Bassorah on the Persian Gulf), which was escaladed and taken by Colonel Forde in 1739. Landing in the night, they assailed its fort-a great oblong work close by the

Estimating this remarkable communication at its sea-and stormed it with trivial loss, while another true worth, Major Lawrence replied,—

"The British colours are carried on the flag-gun of our artillery, and though I, too, am anxious to spare European blood, I shall certainly return any shot that may be sent me."

But M. d'Auteuil, in proposing this absurd neutrality, had not given the true reason, which was that his men were in open mutiny, and that thirteen of his officers had resigned their commissions in front of the enemy. This was to revenge themselves on Dupleix, with whom they had a fierce dispute, before leaving Pondicherry. Whatever the cause by which these men courted death by the articles of war, matters not; one account says they were enraged at not sharing the booty of Tanjore, but, however that may be, M. d'Auteuil ordered his whole contingent to quit the field, and march home. Chunda Sahib, who saw his own troops now deserting fast, thought he could not do better than follow M. d'Auteuil; so the whole position was abandoned without another blow, and for a time the triumph of the British and their allies seemed quite secure, though Chunda, at the head of his cavalry, repeatedly charged the Mahrattas, who, led by Morari Rao, hung like a cloud upon the flanks and rear of the flying column, the arrival of which in wretched plight at Pondicherry, threw all that place into consternation.

"

detachment seized the Pagoda of Travadi, within fifteen miles west of Fort St. David. These troops were under the French Clive," the Marquis de Bussy, who, continuing his rapid career, next stormed the famous hill-fort of Gingee, which towers above six other conical mountains on the summit of a mighty rock, and is impregnable to ordinary modes of attack. Built by the ancient kings of the Chola dynasty, strengthened by the Naik of Tanjore in 1442, and successively by the Mohammedan kings of Bejapore, the Mahrattas, and the Mogul, it was deemed a maiden fortress, and its capture struck awe into the hearts of the Indians, and filled all Europeans with astonishment.*

Impressed by this event, Nazir Jung opened a secret correspondence with Dupleix, who replied to his letters in a friendly spirit, and drew up a treaty of peace, while at the same time arranging for a treacherous revolt in the camp of Nazir, against whom he posted 4,000 men unseen under the great rocky hill of Gingee, with ten field-pieces, to await the summons of the Patan traitors.

The secret signal was given, and Soo Europeans, with 3,200 sepoys, burst into the camp of Nazir, who, on the first alarm, mounted his battle-elephant, and was hastening to the lines, when two musketballs entered the howdah and shot him through the

Orme.