to Delhi, and leave for the present the province of Bengal in peace.

During an expedition made against the Rajah of Purneah, by Meer Jaffier and his son Meeran, the latter lost his life by a stroke of lightning, a misfortune which hastened his father's downfall. Meeran, though cruel, dissolute, and an enemy to the English, had been noted among his people for good faith. Brave and energetic, these qualities endeared him to the army, and their confidence in the Prince's honour led them to wait with patience for the arrears of pay still due. This restraint, however, being removed, the soldiers broke out into open mutiny, assembled round the Nabob's palace, in Moorshedabad, and even threatened his life.

Accustomed to lean for support upon the strong mind and energetic arm of Clive, Meer Jaffier expected to derive from his patron's successors, the same amount of counsel and assistance. But he rested on a broken reed. The funds of the presidency were in a state of bankruptcy; the Council dreaded every moment a mutiny among their own troops, and Mr. Vansittart had been taught to regard Meer Jaffier as being, at least in part, the author of these calamities. In answer, therefore, to his appeal, the Council resolved to depose him, and replenish their exhausted coffers by an astute bargain with his successor.

In the provinces of India, candidates for vacant dignities were easily found. The one selected by Mr. Vansittart was Meer Cossim Ali, the son-in-law of the reigning Nabob, an ambitious and greedy man, who, in his eagerness to possess himself of his relative's authority, made the most extravagant promises to his allies. Mr. Vansittart's share of the booty amounted to 58,000l., while 142,000l. was to be divided among eight members of the government. This necessary preliminary being arranged, the English governor, at the head of a large body of troops, waited on Meer Jaffier, with the view of

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M. LAW-RAMNARRAIN,

69

"persuading," as he himself phrases it, the Nabob to resign his power into the hands of his son-in-law. Persuasion under certain circumstances becomes command, and Meer Jaffier well understood the nature of his position, and the consequences of non-compliance with the governor's advice. He yielded with Oriental calmness to a necessity which he could not control, and retiring with his family to Calcutta, subsisted upon a pension allowed him by the English authorities.

The commencement of Meer Cossim's reign was stormy and troubled. The Mogul Shah Alim again invaded Bahar, aided by a resolute band of French adventurers under M. Law. This soldier of fortune, like the Free Lances and Condottieri of the middle ages, wandered about from place to place, disposing of the muskets of his followers to the best bidders among the turbulent princes of Hindoostan. His valour almost turned the fortune of the day, when the English under Major Carnac, engaged the Mogul on the plains of Bahar. But receiving little or no support from his Indian allies, the brave Frenchman deemed it useless to maintain a struggle that must ultimately fail, and seating himself cross-legged upon one of his cannons, he surrendered in that singular posture to the English commander.

The vanquished Mogul, at the request of his English victors, cast over their puppet, Meer Cossim, the sanction of his Imperial authority, investing him formally with the soubahdarship of Bengal and Bahar, while at the same time he privately offered the Company to grant them directly the Dewanee or chief rule in those regions. It was thought best, however, for the present to govern by proxy, and Cossim Ali therefore remained undisturbed in his new dignity. The first public act of the recently inaugurated Nabob, was the perpetration of an outrage which disgraced himself and dishonoured his English allies. Ever since the fall of Suraj-ood-Dowlah, Ramnarrain, Governor of Patna, had exhibited a rare instance

of good faith and unvarying adherence to the English government. His fidelity, however, proved no safeguard to himself, since Meer Cossim, under the mistaken idea that the Hindoo was in possession of large sums of money, planned an expedition against Patna, which was sanctioned by Mr. Vansittart. The military officers in Bengal, Major Carnac and Colonel Coote, positively refused to have any share in this nefarious transaction, but they were superseded by their superiors, and the unfortunate Ramnarrain, having been taken captive by the Nabob's troops, was imprisoned, tortured, and finally put to death.

This act of injustice brought with it its own punishment. The native chiefs, alienated from the English by the ingratitude manifested towards Ramnarrain, attached themselves to the Nabob, and soon persuaded that weakminded prince, that he might, if he chose, free India from the encroaching strangers. Unfortunately there existed but too many just causes of complaint against the authorities at Calcutta, although many of the abuses introduced by them, had their origin in the ill-judging parsimony of their employers at home. Men of education and respectability were despatched to India with salaries so ridiculously small, that they proved utterly inadequate for the supply of a decent maintenance in the country itself, and of course left the official no means of providing for his future support, when, worn out in the service, he retired to end his days in his native land. It was natural to suppose that some counterbalance would be found to this grievous inconvenience, and the remedy for it was soon discovered to be private trade.

That system, indeed, proved by no means beneficial to the Company at large, whose revenues it materially diminished, but as they pertinaciously adhered to their unwise plan of paying small salaries to their servants, they could not but connive at the endeavours of those

1763.]

MASSACRE OF PATNA.

servants to supply their necessary wants by private traffic. Yet, while the native rulers of the country retained sufficient power to enforce their own commercial regulations, the evil seemed comparatively of little moment. But when in process of time the English gained so strong a footing in the land, that they could raise or depose princes at pleasure, it was speedily found that they infringed without scruple those enactments to which native merchants were still subjected. All kinds of merchandise passed unsearched, if protected by the Company's flag; and this exemption from toll and inspection became so advantageous, that individual civil servants soon found it convenient to transmit their own private ventures as though they had been the goods of their employers. Nor were they content with this, but suffered their native dependents to avail themselves of the same privileges; a proceeding which led to endless quarrels and dissensions, and called forth from unprotected traders the most grievous complaints.

Meer Cossim soon saw, as a natural consequence, his revenues diminished, and his authority set at nought, while the remonstrances forwarded by him to Calcutta obtained no effectual redress. Many indeed of the delinquents were themselves members of Council, and as such had a direct interest in keeping up the abuses complained of. Finding his representations disregarded, the Nabob finally abolished all duties throughout his dominions, and thereby drew down upon himself the fierce resentment of the monopolists. The latter sent Messrs. Hall and Amyatt to demand that the obnoxious measure should be rescinded. Not content with this, Mr. Ellis, the resident at Patna, having been furnished with a small military force, seized upon the citadel of that place. Furiously indignant, Meer Cossim marched his troops thither, stormed the fort, and after putting about 150 British subjects to death, sought refuge from the impending storm within the territory of Oude.

When these disasters were known in Calcutta, it was determined that Meer Jaffier should be again elevated to the musnud of Bengal. Despite his past experience of the cares of government, the vain old man caught eagerly at the glittering bauble, making promises to his allies, which, if performed, would soon have occasioned his deposition a second time. Meanwhile, Meer Cossim was collecting the materials for resistance. In addition to his native troops he had secured the services of a European named Sombre, formerly a serjeant in the French army, and generally known by the orientalized appellation of Sumroo. This adventurer trained and disciplined a body of natives after the European manner, and thus enabled his patron to make a fair stand in the field. But Sombre disgraced his unquestionable abilities and military skill by the most fiendish cruelty. The massacre of Patna had been conducted under his supervision, and few Englishmen that fell into his hands escaped with life.

With Meer Cossim, were now closely allied the Mogul Shah Alim, and the Nabob Vizier of Oude, Sujah Dowlah. They advanced to Benares together, encamping not far from the English forces under Major Carnac. The latter army was in a most disorganized state, numbers of desertions took place daily among the Europeans, while the sepoys threatened to mutiny if their pay were not immediately raised. An engagement, however, under the walls of Patna, terminated fatally for Meer Cossim, who found himself, with his allies, reduced to seek safety in flight. After this battle, Major Hector Monro arrived, and assuming the chief command, took vigorous measures for the purpose of putting a stop to the mutinous spirit which he found infecting the whole army. Twenty-four of the ringleaders were blown from the mouth of a cannon in the presence of their comrades, and this seve rity at once alarmed the mutineers and produced the most complete submission to authority. Having purged