Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/568

 534

lilSTOltY OF INDIA.

[iJOOK IJl.

A.D. IT&O,

Attempts to pacify Siirajali

Tlie gover- nor's letter of explana- tion.

Its effect on the nabob.

The presidency, after they liad thas committed tliemselves, appear not to have been perfectly sati.siied with the propriety of their proceeding, and in- structed Mr. Watts to give explanations which might prevent any evil conse- quences. He was thought to have .succeeded ; for, when his vaqueil or agent appeared at the durbar, and stated the grounds on which Kamrantsing's brother had been treated as an impostor, Sui-ajah Dowlali gave no sign of emotion or displeasure. He acted, indeed, as if the matter had pa.s.sed entirely from his mind, and made no further communication to Mr. Watts or the presidency respecting Kissendass and his trea-sures.

At this very time letters arrived from England stating a rupture with France was inevitable, and ordering the .settlement to be put in a .state of defence. The work was immediately commenced ; but a.s the fort was in such a dilapidated state as to make it neces.sary rather to rebuild than repair it, a considerable number of labourers were employed, in the first instance, to repair a line of guns which were placed atong the brink of the river opposite to the west side of the fort. When these repaii-s were begun, Surajah Dowlah was proceeding at the head of an army of 50,000 men for Purneah, to encounter his cousin and rival claimant, Shokut Jung. It was known that he had a number of spies in Calcutta, and though the presidency had used every effort to discover and expel them, enough still remained to carry tidings to him of the operations in which they were engaged. Their nature and extent were of course exag- gerated, and a letter arrived from the nabob, in which, after stating that he had been informed that the English were building a wall and digging a large ditch around the town of Calcutta, he peremptorily ordered them to desist, and restore the fortifications to the state in which they were before. Mr. Drake, the gover- nor, answered this letter 'ith more candour than good policy ; he explained the full extent to which the operations had been canied, and. the motives which, as they originally dictated their commencement, rendered it expedient to continue and complete them. "The nabob," he said, "had been misinformed by those who had represented to him that the English were building a wall round the town ; they had dug no ditch since the invasion of the Mahrattas, at which time such a work was executed with the knowledge and approbation of Ali Verdy ; in the late war between England and France, the French had attacked and taken the town of Madras, contrary to the neutrality which it was expected would have been preserved in the Mogul's dominions ; and that there being at present great appearance of another war between the two nations, the English were under apprehensions that the French would act in the same manner in Bengal ; to prevent which they were repairing their line of guns on the bank of the river."

Tliis answer was received by the nabob on the 17tli of May, at Rajamahal, and threw him into a transport of rage, which astonished even those of his attendants who were most familiar with the violence of his temper. It is not