Just as it seemed likely that the English would have to stoop to the Nawab's terms, they received news of the despatch of reinforcements from Madras. About the same time, it became known to both French and English that France and England had declared war against each other in the preceding May.[81] The English naturally said nothing about it, and the French were too eager to see the Nawab well beaten to put any unnecessary obstacles in their way. The negotiations with the friends of the Europeans at Murshidabad were quietly continued until Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive arrived. A rapid advance was then made on Calcutta, which was captured with hardly any resistance.
Siraj-ud-daula was so little disturbed by the recapture of Calcutta that the French thought everything would terminate amicably, but, possibly owing to the reputation of Watson and Clive, who had so long fought against the French,[82] they thought it likely that, if the English demanded compensation for their losses, the Nawab would allow them to recoup themselves by seizing the French Settlements. M. Renault, therefore, wrote to Law to make sure that, in any treaty between the Nawab and the English, an article should be inserted providing for the neutrality of the Ganges; but the French, at present, were needlessly alarmed. The English had no intention of creeping quietly back into the country. Watson and Clive addressed haughty letters to the Nawab, demanding reparation for the wrongs inflicted on the English; and the Admiral and the Council declared war in the name of the King and the Company. This possibly amused the Nawab, who took no notice of their letters; but it was a different matter when a small English force sailed up the Hugli, passed Chandernagore unopposed by the French, captured the fort of Hugli, burnt Hugli[83] and Bandel towns, and ravaged both banks of the river down to Calcutta. The French were in an awkward position. The English had passed Chandernagore without a salute, which was an unfriendly, if not a hostile act; whilst the Nawab thought that, as the French had not fired on them, they must be in alliance with them. Law had to bear the brunt of this suspicion. His common sense told him that the English would never consent to a neutrality, and he wrote to Renault that it was absolutely necessary to join the Moors.
"The neutrality was by no means obligatory, as no treatyexisted. In fact, what confidence could we have in a forcedneutrality, which had been observed so long only out offear of the Nawab, who for the general good of the countrywas unwilling to allow any act of hostility to be committedby the Europeans? Much more so when the English wereat war with the Nawab himself. If they managed to getthe better of him, what would become of this fear, the solefoundation of the neutrality?"
So Law wrote to Renault, begging him, if he could not persuade the English to sign a treaty of neutrality at once, to make up his mind and join the Nawab. We have seen why Renault could do neither, and Law, writing after the event says, generously enough:—
"I am bound to respect the reasons which determinedM. Renault as well as the gentlemen of the Council, whowere all much too good citizens not to have kept constantlyin their minds the welfare of our nation and the Company.People always do see things differently, and the event doesnot always prove the correctness or incorrectness of thereasons which have decided us to take one or the other course."
As soon as the Nawab heard of the plundering of Hugli he set out for Calcutta, but to blind the English he requested M. Renault to mediate between them. The English refusal to treat through the French had the effect of clearing up matters between the latter and the Nawab; but he could not understand why the French would not actively assist him. Certain, at any rate, that he had only the English to deal with, he foolishly played into their hands by marching to fight them on their own ground, whereas, if he had remained idle at a little distance, merely forbidding supplies to be sent them, he could have starved them out of Calcutta in a few months. As I have said before, Clive attacked his camp on the 5th of February, and so terrified him that he consented to a shameful peace, in which he forgot all mention of the neutrality of the Ganges. Law tells a curious story to the effect that what frightened the Nawab most of all was a letter from Admiral Watson, threatening to make him a prisoner and carry him to England. Watson's letter is extant, and contains no such threat, but it is quite possible that it was so interpreted to the Nawab.
Though the Nawab had assured the English that he would have the same friends and enemies as they, and had omitted to mention the French in the treaty, he now, of his own accord, gave the French all that the English had extorted from him. This act could not be kept secret.
"A great fault at present, and which has always existed,in the management of affairs in India, especially in Bengal,is that nothing is secret. Scarcely had the Nawab formedany project when it was known to the lowest of his slaves.The English, who were suspicious, and who had for friendsevery one who was an enemy of Siraj-ud-daula, whom alldetested, were soon informed of his proposals to M. Renaultand of the letters written on both sides."
Yet Law thinks it was only the European war and the fear that Renault intended an alliance with the Nawab that induced the English to proceed to extremities:—
"The dethronement of the Nawab had become an absolutenecessity. To drive us out of Bengal was only a preliminarypiece of work. A squadron of ours with considerable forcesmight arrive. Siraj-ud-daula might join his forces to it.What, then, would become of the English? They neededfor Nawab a man attached to their interests. Besides, thisrevolution was not so difficult to carry out as one mightimagine. With Chandernagore destroyed, nothing could bemore easy; but even if we were left alone the revolutioncould have been effected by the junction of the English withthe forces which would have been produced against Siraj-ud-daulaby the crowd of enemies whom he had, and amongstwhom were to be counted the most respectable persons inthe three provinces.[84] This statement demands an explanation.I have already spoken of the house of Jagat Seth, orrather of its chiefs, who are named Seth Mahtab Rai and SethSarup Chand, bankers of the Mogul, the richest and mostpowerful merchants who have ever lived. They are, I cansay, themoversof the revolution. Without them the Englishwould never have carried out what they have. I havealready said they were not pleased with Siraj-ud-daula, whodid not show them the same respect as the old NawabAliverdi Khan had done; but the arrival of the Englishforces, the capture of the Moorish forts, and the fright ofthe Nawab before Calcutta, had made a change which wasapparently in their favour. The Nawab began to perceivethat the bankers were necessary to him. The Englishwould have no one except them as mediators, and so theyhad become, as it were, responsible for the behaviour ofboth the Nawab and the English. Accordingly after thePeace there was nothing but kindness and politeness fromthe Nawab towards them, and he consulted them in everything.At the bottom this behaviour of his was sheertrickery. The Seths were persuaded that the Nawab whohated the English must also dislike the persons whom theEnglish employed. Profiting by the hatred which theNawab had drawn on himself by his violence, and distributingmoney judiciously, they had long since gained overthose who were nearest to the Nawab, whose imprudencealways enabled them to know what he had in his heart.From what came to the knowledge of the Seths it was easyto guess what he intended, and this made them tremble, forit was nothing less than their destruction, which could beaverted only by his own. The cause of the English hadbecome that of the Seths; their interests were identical. Canone be surprised to see them acting in concert? Further,when one remembers that it was this same house of bankersthat overthrew Sarfaraz Khan[85] to enthrone Aliverdi Khan,and who, during the reign of the latter, had the managementof all important business, one must confess that it ought notto be difficult for persons of so much influence to execute aproject in which, the English were taking a share."[86]
Law could not persuade Renault to act, and without his doing so the game was nearly hopeless. Still, he worked at forming a French party in the Court. By means of Coja Wajid, an Armenian merchant of Hugli, whose property had been plundered by the English, he obtained an interview with the Nawab, and persuaded him to send the 2000 soldiers who were with Renault at the beginning of the siege. More would have been despatched but for the apparent certainty that the treaty of neutrality would be signed. In fact, Renault was so worried that, on the complaint of Watson and Clive that Law was exciting the Nawab against the English, he wrote Law a letter which caused the latter to ask to be recalled from Cossimbazar, and it was only at Renault's earnest request that he consented to remain at his post. Law continued forming his party.
"It would appear from the English memoirs that wecorrupted the wholeDurbarat Murshidabad to our side bypresents and lies. I might with justice retort this reproach.As a matter of fact, except Siraj-ud-daula himself, one maysay the English had the wholeDurbaralways in theirfavour. Without insisting on this point, let us honestlyagree, since the English themselves confess it, that we were,like them, much engaged in opposing corruption to corruptionin order to gain the friendship of scoundrels so as toplace ourselves on equal terms with our enemies. This hasalways happened, and ought not to cause surprise in a Courtwhere right counts for nothing and, every other motive apart,one can never be successful except by the weight of whatone puts in the balance of iniquity. For the rest, rightor wrong, it is certain that the English were always in aposition to put in more than we could."Fear and greed are the two chief motives of Indianminds. Everything depends on one or the other. Oftenthey are combined towards the same object, but, when theyare opposed, fear always conquers. A proof of this is easilyto be seen in all the events connected with, the revolutionin Bengal. When, in 1756, Siraj-ud-daula determined toexpel the English, fear and greed combined to make himact. As soon as he had himself proved the superiority ofthe English troops, fear took the upper hand in his mind,grew stronger day by day, and soon put him in a conditionin which he was unable to follow, and often even to see, histrue interests."I mention the Nawab first. His hatred for the Englishcertainly indicated friendship for us. I think so myself, butwe have seen what was his character and his state of mindin general. I ask, in all good faith, whether we could expectany advantage from his friendship? This person, cowed byfear, irresolute and imprudent, could he alone be of any useto us? It was necessary for him to be supported by someone who had his confidence and was capable by his ownfirmness of fixing the irresolution of the Prince."Mohan Lal, chiefDiwanof Siraj-ud-daula, was thisman, the greatest scoundrel the earth has ever borne, worthyminister of such a master, and yet, in truth, the only personwho was really attached to him. He had firmness and alsosufficient judgment to understand that the ruin of Siraj-ud-daulamust necessarily bring on his own. He was as much,detested as his master. The sworn enemy of the Seths, andcapable of holding his own against them, I think thosebankers would not have succeeded so easily in their projectif he had been free to act, but, unfortunately for us, he hadbeen for some time, and was at this most critical momentdangerously ill. He could not leave his house. I went tosee him twice with Siraj-ud-daula, but it was not possible toget a word from him. There is strong reason to believe hehad been poisoned. Owing to this, Siraj-ud-daula saw himselfdeprived of his only support."Coja Wajid, who had introduced me to the Nawab, andwho, it would be natural to suppose, was our patron, was agreat merchant of Hugli. He was consulted by the Nawabonly because, as he had frequented the Europeans and especiallythe English, the Nawab imagined he knew them perfectly.He was one of the most timid of men, who wantedto be polite to everybody, and who, had he seen the daggerraised, would have thought he might offend Siraj-ud-daulaby warning him that some one intended to assassinate him.[87]Possibly he did not love the Seths, but he feared them,which was sufficient to make him useless to us."Rai Durlabh Ram, the otherDiwanof the Nawab, wasthe man to whom I was bound to trust most. Before thearrival of Clive he might have been thought the enemy ofthe English. It was he who pretended to have beaten themand to have taken Calcutta. He wished, he said, to maintainhis reputation; but after the affair of the 5th of February,in which the only part he took was to share in the flight, hewas not the same man; he feared nothing so much as tohave to fight the English. This fear disposed him to graduallycome to terms with the Seths, of whose greatness hewas very jealous. He also hated the Nawab, by whom hehad been ill-used on many occasions. In short, I could neverget him to say a single word in our favour in theDurbar.The fear of compromising himself made him decide to remainneutral for the present, though firmly resolved to join finallythe side which appeared to him to be the strongest."
This, then, was the French party, whose sole bond was dislike to the Seths, and the members of which, by timidity or ill-health, were unable to act. It was different with their enemies.
"The English had on their side in theDurbarthe terrorof their arms, the faults of Siraj-ud-daula, the ruling influenceand the refined policy of the Seths, who, to conceal their gamemore completely, and knowing that it pleased the Nawab,often spoke all the ill they could think of about the English,so as to excite him against them and at the same time gainhis confidence. The Nawab fell readily into the snare, andsaid everything that came into his mind, thus enabling hisenemies to guard against all the evil which otherwise hemight have managed to do them. The English had also ontheir side all the chief officers in the Nawab's army—JafarAll Khan, Khodadad Khan Latty, and a number of otherswho were attached to them by their presents or the influenceof the Seths, all the ministers of the old Court whomSiraj-ud-daula had disgraced, nearly all the secretaries,[88] thewriters[89] of theDurbar, and even the eunuchs of the harem.What might they not expect to achieve by the union of allthese forces when guided by so skilful a man as Mr. Watts?"
With such enemies to combat in the Court itself, Law heard that the English were marching on Chandernagore. By the most painful efforts he obtained orders for reinforcements to be sent to the French. They—
"were ready to start, the soldiers had been paid, the Commandant[90]waited only for final orders. I went to see himand promised him a large sum if he succeeded in raising thesiege of Chandernagore. I also visited several of the chiefofficers, to whom I promised rewards proportionate to theirrank. I represented to the Nawab that Chandernagore mustbe certainly captured if the reinforcements did not set outat once, and I tried to persuade him to give his orders tothe Commandant in my presence. 'All is ready,' replied theNawab, 'but before resorting to arms it is proper to try allpossible means to avoid a rupture, and all the more so as theEnglish have just promised to obey the orders I shall sendthem.'[91] I recognized the hand of the Seths in these details.They encouraged the Nawab in a false impression about thisaffair. On the one hand, they assured him that the marchof the English, was only to frighten us into subscribing toa treaty of neutrality, and on the other hand they increasedhis natural timidity by exaggerating the force of the Englishand by representing the risk he ran in assisting us withreinforcements which would probably not prevent the captureof Chandernagore if the English were determined to take it,but would serve as a reason for the English to attack theNawab himself. They managed so well that they destroyedin the evening all the effect I had produced in the morning."I resolved to visit the bankers. They immediatelycommenced talking about our debts, and called my attentionto the want of punctuality in our payments. I said thatthis was not the question just now, and that I came to themupon a much more interesting matter, which, however, concernedthem as well as us with respect to those very debtsfor which they were asking payment and security. I askedwhy they supported the English against us. They denied it,and, after much explanation, they promised to make anysuggestions I wished to the Nawab. They added that theywere quite sure the English would not attack us, and thatI might remain tranquil. Knowing that they were wellacquainted with the designs of the English, I told them Iknew as well as they did what these were, and that I sawno way of preventing them from attacking Chandernagoreexcept by hastening the despatch of the reinforcements whichthe Nawab had promised, and that as they were disposed toserve me, I begged them to make the Nawab understand thesame. They replied that the Nawab wished to avoid anyrupture with the English, and they said many other thingswhich only showed me that, in spite of their good will, theywould do nothing for us. Ranjit Rai, who was their manof business as well as the agent of the English, said to mein a mocking tone, 'You are a Frenchman; are you afraid ofthe English? If they attack you, defend yourselves! Noone is ignorant of what your nation has done on the MadrasCoast, and we are curious to see how you will come off inthis business here.' I told him I did not expect to find sucha warlike person in a Bengali merchant, and that sometimespeople repented of their curiosity. That was enough for sucha fellow, but I saw clearly that the laugh would not be onmy side. However, every one was very polite, and I leftthe house."
Law thinks the Seths honestly believed that the English march on Chandernagore was merely intended to frighten the French, and, as a proof of their friendliness, narrates a further incident of this visit:—
"The conversation having turned on Siraj-ud-daula, onthe reasons he had given the Seths to fear him, and on hisviolent character, I said I understood clearly enough whatthey meant, and that they certainly wanted to set up anotherNawab. The Seths, instead of denying this, contented themselveswith saying in a low voice that this was a subjectwhich should not be talked about. Omichand, the Englishagent[92] (who, by the way, cried 'Away with them!' whereverhe went), was present. If the fact had been false, the Sethswould certainly have denied it, and would have reproachedme for talking in such a way. If they had even thoughtI intended to thwart them, they would also have deniedit, but considering all that had happened, the vexationscaused us by the Nawab and our obstinate refusals to helphim, they imagined that we should be just as content as theywere to see him deposed, provided only the English wouldleave us in peace. In fact, they did not as yet regard us asenemies."
Law was, however, ignorant that Clive had already promised, or did so soon after, to give the property of the French Company to the Seths in payment of the money the French owed them; but he now for the first time fully realized the gravity of the situation. The indiscretion of the Seths showed him the whole extent of the plot, and the same evening he told the Nawab, but—
"the poor young man began to laugh, not being able toimagine I could be so foolish as to indulge in such ideas."
And yet, whilst he refused to believe in the treason of his officers, the Nawab indulged at times in the most violent outbreaks of temper against them.
"Siraj-ud-daula was not master of himself.[93] It wouldhave needed as much firmness in his character as there wasdeceitfulness to make the latter quality of use to him. Atcertain times his natural disposition overmastered him,especially when in his harem surrounded by his wives andservants, when he was accustomed to say openly all thatwas in his heart. Sometimes this happened to him in fullDurbar."
The same evening, also, Mr. Watts came to theDurbar, and the matter of the neutrality was talked over. The Nawab wished the two gentlemen to pledge their respective nations to keep the peace, but Mr. Watts skilfully avoided giving any promise, and suggested the Nawab should write to the Admiral. Law, seeing that further delay was aimed at, exclaimed that the Admiral would pay as little respect to this letter as to the Nawab's previous ones.
"'How?' said the Nawab, looking angrily at me insteadof at Mr. Watts: 'who am I then?' All the members of hisCourt cried out together that his orders would certainly beattended to."
As Law expected, Chandernagore was attacked before the Admiral's reply was received. Law received the news on the 15th, and hurried to the Nawab. Reinforcements were ordered and counter-ordered. At midnight the Nawab's eunuch came to inform Law that the English had been repulsed with loss, and on the morning of the 16th the Nawab's troops were ordered to advance, but when the same day news came that the French had withdrawn into the Fort, every one cried out that the Fort must fall, and that it was mere folly to incense the English by sending down troops. They were immediately recalled. Then news arrived that the Fort was holding out, and Rai Durlabh Ram was ordered to advance. Again there came a false report that the Fort had fallen. Law knew Rai Durlabh was a coward, and his whole reliance was on the second in command, Mir Madan:—
"a capable officer, and one who would have attacked theenemy with pleasure."
This Mir Madan is said to have been a Hindu convert to Muhammadanism. Native poems still tell of the gallantry with which he commanded the Hindu soldiers of the Nawab. He was one of the first to fall at Plassey, and though it cannot be said that his death caused the loss of the battle, it is certain that it put an end to all chance of the victory being contested.
Law was at his wits' end. It was no time to stick at trifles, and, that he might know the worst at once, he intercepted Mr. Watts's letters. From them he gathered that the English intended to march straight upon Murshidabad. He set about fortifying the enclosure round the French Factory, and, as he had only 10 or 12 men, he induced the Nawab to send him a native officer with 100 musketeers. He soon learned that the reported English advance was merely the pursuit of the fugitives from Chandernagore, who were mentioned in the last chapter. By the end of March he had 60 Europeans:—
"of whom the half, in truth, were not fit to serve; but whatdid that matter? The number was worth 120 to me outsidethe fort, since rumour always delights in exaggeration."
Of the sepoys also, whom the English set free, some 30 found their way to Law, and so far was he now from being afraid of Mr. Watts, that it was the latter who had to ask the Nawab's protection.
The vacillation which had marked the Nawab's conduct previous to the fall of Chandernagore still continued. He protected Law, but would not help him with money.
"Further, at the solicitation of my enemies, the Nawabsent people to pull down the earthworks I had erected. Heeven wished the native agent of the English to be present.In my life I have never suffered what I did that day. Tothe orders of the Nawab I replied that so long as I was inthe Factory no foreigner should touch my fortifications, butthat to keep my agreement with him I was ready to withdrawand to make over the Factory to him, with which hecould afterwards do as he liked, and for which I should holdhim responsible. At the same time, I made my whole trooparm themselves, and, having had my munitions loaded oncarts for several days previous, I prepared to depart withthe small amount of money which belonged to me and toa few other individuals. The Nawab's officer, seeing myresolution, and fearing to do anything which, might not beapproved, postponed the execution of his orders, and informedthe Nawab of what was happening. He replied that heabsolutely forbade my leaving the Factory, and ordered thepioneers to be sent away; but at the same time he informedme that it was absolutely necessary for me to pull down theearthworks, that under the present circumstances he hadhimself to do many things contrary to his own wishes, thatby refusing to obey I should draw the English upon himand upon us, that we could not defend ourselves and musttherefore submit, that I should not be troubled any more,and that, finally, he would give me money enough to buildin brick what I had wished to make in earth. I knew wellthe value of his promises, but I was forced to humour him.It did not suit me to abandon the Factory altogether, so I setmy workmen to pull down what I had built, and the samenight the work was finished."
The English now tried to win over the French soldiers, and had some success, for many of them were deserters from the British forces, and they quickly saw how precarious was the shelter which Law could afford them; but the Nawab could not be persuaded to force Law to surrender, and, though he agreed to leave the country, Law declared he would not do even that unless he received passports and money. On the 8th of April he received passports, and was promised that if he would go to Phulbari, near Patna, he should there receive all he wanted. He was allowed four or five days to make his preparations.
"I profited by this interval to persuade the only manwho dared speak for us to got to action. This was the NazirDalal, a man of no importance, but at the same time a manin whom the Nawab appeared to have some confidence. Ashe was constantly at the Factory, I had opportunities of tellinghim many things of particular interest to the Nawab, and Ibelieved that by politeness and presents I had brought himover to our interests. A little later, however, I learned thathe received quite as much from the English as from us. Hetold the Nawab all that he learned from me,viz.the viewsof the English and of the Seths, and the risk he himself wasrunning, and he brought to his notice that the English weresteadily increasing their garrison at Cossimbazar by bringingup soldiers who pretended they were deserters and wished topass over to the Trench. By this trick, indeed, many soldiershad passed through the Moorish camp without being stopped.There was also talk of an English fleet preparing to come upand waiting only for the Nawab's permission. The NazirDalal represented to him that the trading boats might beloaded with ammunition, and that they ought to be strictlysearched, and the casks and barrels opened, as guns andmortars might be found in them. The Nawab opened hiseyes at information of this kind, and promptly sent the NazirDalal to tell me not to leave. This order came on the 10thof April. I accordingly passed my garrison in review beforethe Nawab's agent, and a statement showing the monthlypay of each officer and soldier was sent to the Nawab, whopromised to pay them accordingly."
On the 12th of April Law received a sudden summons to attend theDurbarthe next day.