Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/594

 •J(JO HISTORY OF INDIA. [Hook Jil.

AD. 1757. amval in the country. The naboh, now as anxiou.s for friendship as lie had previously been bent on hostile measures, thougiit the treaty did not go far enough, and, only three days after concluding it, propo.sed an alliance offen- sive and defensive against all enemies. This was exactly what Chve wislie<l, and the new article, brought by Oinichund, was returned by him ratified the same day.

Defects in file treaty did not meet the views of all T)arties at Calcutta. While it was

treaty with

the n;iix)b. undcr Consideration, Admiral Watson, with characteristic bluntne.ss, cautioned Clive against trusting to the nabob's promises. " Till he is well thra.shed, don't, sir, flatter yourself he will be inclined to peace. Let u.s, therefore, not be over- reached by his politics, but make use of our arms, which will be much more prevalent than any treaties or negotiations." Many, moreover, were di.ssati.sfied with the terms, and expressed their disappointment that no compensation had been provided for the losses of private sufferers, not a few of whom had been absolutely ruined by the pillaging of Calcutta. Their case had not been over- looked, and Clive had brought it .specially under the nabob's notice. On finding, however, that he gave only promises, but refused to come under any fonnal obligation on the subject, he could not permit the claims of individuals to stand in the way of what he believed to be "the interest of the Company." In a private letter to the chairman of the court of directors, he states the grounds on aivesju^ which he acted with great force and clearness: — 'If I had only consulted the "fit interest and reputation of a soldier, the conclusion of this peace might easily

have been suspended. I know, at the same time, there are many who think I have been too precipitate in the conclusion of it; but surely those who are of this opinion never knew that the delay of a day or two might have ruined the Company's affairs, by the junction of the French with the nabob, which was on the point of being carried into execution. They never con.sidered the situation of affairs on the coast, and the positive orders sent me by the gentlemen there, to I'eturn with the major part of the forces at all events; they never considered that, with a war upon the coast and in the province of Bengal at the same time, a trading company could not subsist without a great assistance from the govern- ment ; and, last of all, they never considered that a long war, attended tlurough the whole course of it with success, ended at last with the expense of more than fifty lacs to the Company." These views are well expressed, and prove that Clive was a statesman as well as a warrior. They fail, however, to meet one very obvious objection to the treaty. It provided no guarantee of any kind for its observance, and thus left the nabob at full liberty to disregard it whenever he might think he could do so with impunity. It was therefore merely a promise, and what this was worth from such a quarter Clive himself tells us in the same letter, when he says: — "It cannot be expected that the princes of this country, whose fidelity is always to be suspected, Avill remain firm to then- promises and engagements from principle only. It is, therefore, become absolutely necessary