We learn from the correspondence between
Mr. Scrafton and Clive, that Drake, the cowardly
Governor of Calcutta, very naturally could not
understand what was meant by this claim to the
honours of war.[163]
"My guns were conducted by land by a small detachment,the command of which I gave to M. Chevalier, and weembarked on some small boats belonging to the Raja,in which we had hardly room to move."I was not yet at the end of my troubles, for on the3rd of March, after dinner, as I was getting back intomy boat, one of the boatmen, wishing to put down a gun,managed to let it off, and sent a bullet through my leftshoulder. It passed through the clavicle between the sinewand the bone. Luckily the blow was broken by a button whichthe bullet first struck; still it passed almost completelythrough the shoulder and lodged under the skin, which hadto be opened behind the shoulder to extract it and also thewad. However unfortunate this wound was, I ought to be verythankful to God that it was so safely directed, and for thefurther good fortune of finding with one of my people sufficientointment for the surgeon, who was quite destitute of all necessaries,to dress my shoulder until the ninth day after, when we arrived atMurshidabad.[164] This wound caused me much suffering for the firstfew days, but, thanks to the Lord, in thirty-two or thirty-threedays it was quite healed and without any bad effects."We rested ourselves from our fatigue till the 20th at my friend'shouse, when, with his concurrence and in response to their offers,I went to the Dutch gentlemen at Cossimbazar, where M. Vernet, theirchief and an old friend of mine, received us with the greatest kindness.It is from their Settlement that I write to thee, my dear wife. Untilthe ships sail for England I shall continue to write daily, and tellthee everything that is of interest.[165]"August 10, 1758."My dear wife, I resume my narrative to tell thee that my boats havebeen restored by the English, as well as all the goods that had notbeen plundered by Sheikh Faiz Ulla and his people, except the munitionsof war. Still, so much of the merchandise, goods and silver, hasdisappeared that I am ruined for ever, unless the English, who havepromised to cause everything to be restored, are able to make the Moorsgive them up. The English have at length decided on our fate in a wayaltogether honourable to us. We are not prisoners of war, and so we arenot subject to exchange; but we are bound by certain conditions, whichthey think necessary to their security, and which only do me honour.What has flattered me even more is that the two Swedish guns which Ihad with me on my campaign have actually been given to me as a presentby the commander of the English troops, who is also Governor of Calcutta,with the most complimentary expressions."
Courtin had written to Clive, asking permission to go down to Pondicherry. Clive replied on the 15th of July, 1758, granting permission. His letter concludes:—
"I am at this moment sending an order to the CaptainCommandant of our troops to restore to you your two guns.I am charmed at this opportunity of showing you myappreciation of the way in which you have always behavedto the English, and my own regard for your merit."[166]
Courtin continues:—
"Saved from so many perils and sufficiently fortunateto have won such sensible marks of distinction from ourenemies, ought not this, my dear wife, to make me hope thatthe gentlemen of the French Company will do their utmostto procure me some military honour, in order to prove to theEnglish that my nation is as ready as theirs to recognize myservices?[167]"Now, my dear wife, I must end this letter so that itmay be ready for despatch. For fear of its being lost I willsend in the packet another letter for thee."Do not disquiet thyself regarding my health. Thanksto God I am now actually pretty well. I dare not talk tothee of the possibility of our meeting. Circumstances arenot favourable for thee to make another voyage to the Indies.That must depend upon events, thy health, peace, andwishes, which, in spite of my tender longing for thee, willalways be my guide."If the event of war has not been doubly disastrous tome, thou shouldst have received some small remittances,which I have sent, and of which I have advised thee induplicate and triplicate. If the decrees of the Lord, aftermy having endured so many misfortunes and sufferings, havealso ordained my death before I am in a position to providewhat concerns thee, have I not a right to hope that all myfriends will use their influence to induce the Company notto abandon one who will be the widow of two men who haveserved it well, and with all imaginable disinterestedness?"For the rest I repeat that, thanks to God, I am fairly well."I kiss thee, etc., etc."
One would be glad to be assured that Courtin re-established his fortune. If he is, as I suppose, the Jacques Ignace Courtin, who was afterwardsConseiller au Conseil des Indes, we may be satisfied he did so; but French East India Company Records are a hopeless chaos at the present moment, and all that one can extract from the English Records is evidence of still further suffering.
From Murshidabad or Cossimbazar, Courtin went down to Chandernagore, whence the majority of the French inhabitants had already been sent to the Madras Coast. The Fort had been blown up, and the private houses were under sentence of destruction, for the English had determined to destroy the town, partly in revenge for the behaviour of Lally, who, acting under instructions from the French East India Company, had shown great severity to the English in Southern India, partly because they did not think themselves strong enough to garrison Chandernagore as well as Calcutta, and feared the Moors would occupy it if they did not place troops there, and partly because they dreaded its restoration to France—which actually happened—when peace was made. At any rate Courtin found the remnants of his countrymen in despair, and in 1759 he wrote a letter[168] to Clive and the Council of Calcutta, from which I quote one or two paragraphs:—
"With the most bitter grief I have received advice ofthe sentence you have passed on the French Settlementat Chandernagore, by which all the buildings, as well ofthe Company as of private persons, are to be utterlydemolished."Humane and compassionate as you are, Sirs, you wouldbe sensibly affected—were your eyes witnesses to it as minehave been—by the distress to which this order has reducedthe hearts of those unhappy inhabitants who remain in thatunfortunate place, particularly if you knew that there isnothing left to the majority of them beyond these houses, onwhose destruction you have resolved. If I may believewhat I hear, the motive which incites you is that of reprisalfor what has happened at Cuddalore and Madras: it doesnot become me to criticize either the conduct of M. Lally,our general, who, by all accounts, is a man very much to berespected by me, or your reasons, which you suppose sufficient.Granting the latter to be so, permit me, Sirs, toaddress myself to your generosity and humanity, and thoseadmirable qualities, so universally esteemed by mankind,will encourage me to take the liberty to make certain representations."All upbraidings are odious, and nothing is more justthan the French proverb which says, to remind a person offavours done him cancels the obligation. God forbid, Sirs,I should be guilty of this to you or your nation by remindingyou for a moment, that these houses, now condemned byyou, served you as an asylum in 1756, and that the owners,whom you are now reducing to the greatest distress and areplunging into despair, assisted you to the utmost of theirpower, and alleviated your misfortunes as much as they wereable. But what am I saying? Your nation is too polished toneed reminding of what is just. Therefore excuse my sayingthat this reason alone is sufficient to cancel the law ofretaliation which you have resolved to execute, and to makeyou revoke an order which, I am sure, you could not havegiven without much uneasiness of mind. I cast myself atyour feet, imploring, with the most ardent prayers, thatcompassion, which I flatter myself I perceive in your hearts,for these poor creatures, whom you cannot without remorserender miserable. If you really, Sirs, think I too have hadthe happiness to be of some use to you and your nation,whilst Chief at Dacca, and that I have rendered you someservices, I only beg that you would recollect them for onemoment, and let them induce you to grant the favour Irequest for my poor countrymen. I shall then regard it asthe most happy incident in my life, and shall think myselften thousand times more indebted to you."If, Sirs, you have absolutely imperative reasons forreprisal, change, if you please, the object of them. I offermyself a willing victim, if there must be one, and, if bloodwere necessary, I should think myself too happy to offermine a sacrifice. But as these barbarous methods are notmade use of in nations so civilized as ours, I have one lastoffer to make, which is to ransom and buy all the privatehouses at Chandernagore, for which I will enter into whateverengagements you please, and will give you the bestsecurity in my power."
The last words seem to imply that Courtin had recovered his property, at least to a great extent; but his pathetic appeal was useless in face of national necessities, and so far was Chandernagore desolated that, in November of the same year, we read that the English army, under Colonel Forde, was ambushed by the Dutch garrison of Chinsurah "amongst the buildings and ruins of Chandernagore."
From Chandernagore Courtin went to Pondicherry, where he became a member of the Superior Council. He was one of the chiefs of the faction opposed to Lally, who contemptuously mentions a printed "Memorial" of his adventures which Courtin prepared, probably for presentation to the Directors of the French East India Company.[169] When, in January, 1761, Lally determined to capitulate, Courtin was sent to the English commander on the part of the Council. Still later we find his name attached to a petition, dated August 3, 1762, presented to the King against Lally.[170] This shows that Courtin had arrived in France, so that his elevation to the Council of the Company is by no means improbable.
To any one who has lived long in India it seems unnatural that in old days the small colonies of Europeans settled there should have been incited to mutual conflict and mutual ruin, owing to quarrels which originated in far-off Europe, andwhich were decided without any reference to the wishes or interests of Europeans living in the colonies. The British Settlements alone have successfully survived the struggle. The least we can do is to acknowledge the merits, whilst we commiserate the sufferings, of those other gallant men who strove their best to win the great prize for their own countrymen. Of the French especially it would appear that their writers have noticed only those like Dupleix, Bussy, and Lally, who commanded armies in glorious campaigns that somehow always ended to the advantage of the British, and have utterly forgotten the civilians who really kept the game going, and who would have been twice as formidable to their enemies if the military had been subordinate to them. The curse of the French East India Company was Militarism, whilst fortunately for the English our greatest military hero in India, Lord Clive, was so clear-minded that he could write:—
"I have the liberty of an Englishman so strongly implantedin my nature, that I would have the Civil all in all,in all times and in all places, cases of immediate dangerexcepted."
How much might have been achieved by men like Renault, Law, and Courtin, if they had had an adequate military force at their disposal! They saw, as clearly as did the English, that Bengal was the heart of India, and they saw the English denude Madras of troops to defend Bengal, whilst they themselves were left by the French commanders in a state of hopeless impotence. On the other hand, owing to the English Company's insistence that military domination should be the exception and not the rule, British civilians and British soldiers have, almost always, worked together harmoniously. It was this union of force which gave us Bengal in the time of which I have been writing, and to the same source of power we owe the gradual building up of the great Empire which now dominates the whole of India.
Notes:
[122: Probably Portuguese half-castes.]
[123: Matchlock men. Consultations of the Dacca Council, 27th June, 1756. Madras Select Committee Proceedings, 9th November, 1756.]
[124: When Courtin was sent by Count Lally with the proposals for the surrender of Pondicherry he had to take an interpreter with him.Memoirs of Lally, p. 105.]
[125: I.e. official order.]
[126: I cannot ascertain where M. Fleurin was at this moment. If at Dacca, then Courtin must have left him behind.]
[127: MSS. Français, Nouvelles Acquisitions, No. 9361. This is unfortunately only a copy, and the dates are somewhat confused. Where possible I have corrected them.]
[128: Calcapur, the site of the Dutch Factory. See note, p. 64.]
[129: From a map by Rennell of the neighbourhood of Dacca it appears that the French Factory was on the River Bourigunga. There are still several plots of ground in Dacca town belonging to the French. One of them, popularly known as Frashdanga, is situated at the mouth of the old bed of the river which forms an island of the southern portion of the town; but I do not think this is the site of the French Factory, as the latter appears to have been situated to the west of the present Nawab's palace.]
[130: Now used in the sense of messengers or office attendants.]
[131: Orme says (bk. viii. p. 285) that Courtin started with 30 Europeans and 100 sepoys. From Law's "Memoir" we see that M. de Carryon took 20 men to Cossimbazar before Law himself left. This accounts for the smallness of Courtin's force.]
[132: Jafar Ali Khan married the sister of Aliverdi Khan, Siraj-ud-daula's grandfather.]
[133: I think he must mean the mouth of the Murshidabad River.]
[134: Courtin means the lower ranges of the Himalayas, inhabited by the Nepaulese, Bhutiyas, etc. His wanderings therefore were in the districts of Rungpore and Dinajpur.]
[135: Sinfray, Secretary to the Council at Chandernagore, was one of the fugitives who, as mentioned above, joined Law at Cossimbazar.]
[136: Assaduzama Muhammad was nephew to Kamgar Khan, the general of Shah Alam.Holwell. Memorial to the Select Committee, 1760.]
[137: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2859, No. 246.]
[138: Orme says the Fort was on the River Teesta, but Rennell marks it more correctly a little away from the river and about fifteen miles south of Jalpaiguri.]
[139: These guns Courtin calls "pièces à la minute." The proper name should be "canon à la suédoise" or "canon à la minute." They were invented by the Swedes, who used 3-pounders with improved methods for loading and firing, so as to be able to fire as many as ten shots in a minute. The French adopted a 4-pounder gun of this kind in 1743. The above information was given me by Lieut.-Colonel Ottley Perry, on the authority of Colonel Colin, an artillery officer on the French Headquarters Staff.]
[140: This squadron, under the command of Mons. Bouvet, actually did arrive.]
[141: This rebellion was really conducted by Ukil Singh, the HindooDiwanof Hazir Ali.]
[142: Mir Jafar, Jafar Ali, Mir Jafar Ali Khan, are all variations of the name of the Nawab whom the English placed on the throne after the death of Siraj-ud-daula.]
[143: Law says that the French soldiers who wandered the country in this way were accustomed to disguise themselves as natives and even as Brahmins, when they wished to avoid notice.]
[144: A kind of native house-boat.]
[145: A heavy gun fired from a rest or stand.]
[146: A ditch or ravine.]
[147: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2901, No. 374.]
[148: A thick quilt used as a covering when in bed, or sometimes like a blanket to wrap oneself in.]
[149: Orme MSS. India XL, p. 2915, No. 417.]
[150: Bengal Select Com. Consultations, 22nd February, 1758.]
[151: I have not been able to identify this place.]
[152: A boatman.]
[153: Seenote, p. 88.]
[154: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2923, No. 432.]
[155: Orme MSS. India XL, p. 2926, No. 438.]
[156: This expression is characteristically Indian, and is used when any one, finding himself oppressed, appeals to some great personage for protection.]
[157: The Nawab's flag was the usual Turkish crescent.]
[158: Another Indian expression. The last resource against oppression or injustice in India is to commit suicide by starvation or some violent means, and to lay the blame on the oppressor. This is supposed to bring the curse of murder upon him.]
[159: This means simply that the Raja was not an independent ruler. The sovereign owning all land,land revenueandrentmeant the same thing.]
[160: This seems to want explanation. Probably Courtin had got into some sort of house used for religious ceremonies, such as are often found in or close to the market-places of great landowners.]
[161: He probably refers to Mr. Luke Scrafton.]
[162: I.e. from his entrenchments.]
[163: "Courtin and his party arrived here the 10th. They are 6 soldiers, Dutch, German and Swede, such as took service with the French when our Factory at Dacca fell into the hands of Surajeh Dowleit, 4 gentlemen, some Chitagon (sic) fellows and about 20 peons. Courtin, on his way hither, has, by mischance, received a ball through his shoulder. They demandedhonneurs de la guerre, which Drake has not understood" (Scrafton to Clive, March12, 1758).]
[164: According to Orme, Courtin's force was reduct from 30 to 11 Europeans, and from 100 to 30 sepoys.]
[165: The manuscript I translate from contains only the postscript of the 10th of August.]
[166: A translation. Clive generally wrote to French officers in their own language.]
[167: Such honours were not uncommonly granted. Law was made a Colonel, so was another French partisan named Madec. On the other hand, when a French gentleman had the choice, he often put his elder son in the Company's service and the younger in the army. Law's younger brother was in the army. Renault's elder son was in the Company and the younger in the army.]
[168: Appended to "Bengal Public Proceedings," May 31, 1759.]
[169: I do not know whether this "Memorial" still exists, but see "Memoirs of Count Lally," p. 53.]
[170: "Memoirs of Count Lally," p. 367.]
INDEX
Abdulla Khan
Admiralty, the English
Aeneas
Afghan General, the
SeeAbdulla Khan
Agra
Ahmed Khan Koreishi
Alamgir II., Emperor, assassinated November 29, 1759
Ali Gauhar
SeeShah Alam
Aliverdi Khan
his opinion of Europeans
sister of
Allahabad
Amina Begum, mother of Siraj-ud-daula
Anquetil du Perron, M.
Anti-Renaultions
"Arabian Nights"
Archives, French
Areca-nut
Armenian officers
Armenians
Arz-begi(Gholam Ali Khan)
Arzi
Asiatic Annual Register
Assaduzama Muhammad, Raja of Birbhum
Assam, King of
Audience Hall, the
Augustine Father