Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/57

* CLIVE. last appearance was in 1709, as Violante in the coineUy of The Woiidtr, (iariii-k liimsell', out of compliment to her, taking the part of Don Felix. Jlrs. Clive's talents were seen to best advantage in comic parts, to which, however, she was not always satisfied to restrict herself. Her vigorous wit and sound sense made her the welcome com- panion of some of the notal)le people of her time. In her later life she was an intimate friend of Horace ^'alpole, who gae her a house at Straw- berry Hill. She died December (5, 1785, and was buried at Twickenham. Consult: Fitzgerald, Life of Mrs. Catherine C'lire (London. 1888) ; Austin Dobson, in ilatthews and Hutton, Actors and Actresses of Great Britain and the United States, vol. i. (^ew York, 18801 ; Doran, Annals of the English Stage (London, 1888). CLIVE, Robert, Caron Clive of Plassey (1725- 74). An English general, whose achievements laid the foundations of the British Indian Em- pire. His father, a lawyer and small landowner, came of an ancient Shropsliire familj', whose manor-seat, Styche, near JIarket Drayton, dates from the reign of Henry II. There Clive was born September 29, 1725, the eldest of thirteen children. He spent several years with an uncle at Hope Hall, near Manchester, and at various schools showed more aptitude for pugilism, pluck, and mischievousness than for study, although one of his masters predicted his future celebrity. At eighteen years of age he shi])])ed to Madras as a writer to the East India Company. The ship, driven out of its course to Brazil, was detained there for n'lic 'nonths, which Clive utilized by learning Portuguese, a language of service to him during his Indian administration. After his arrival in JIadras the climate and monotonous drudgery' of his duties made him unsuccessfully attempt suicide. But with the outbreak of the gi'eat stniggle between the French and English in India his opportunity came. He applied for and obtained an ensign's commission, and dis- tinguished himself in Boscawen's imsuccessful siege of Pondicherry in 1748. His dauntless courage, previously exhibited in a duel which forms the idealized subject of Bro^ling's poem ''Clive," now had scope for development. Eng- lish influence was almost extinct in India, through the prestige of the French and their allies. In 1751, with 500 mixed English and Sepoy troops, Clive marched from iladras and captured Arcot, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, gar- risoned by 1500 of Chunda Sahib's best troops. The daring displayed in the capture of Arcot was equaled by the intrepidity and fortitude exhibit- ed in its successful defense by Clive and his little band, reduced to 200 men, against a besieging army of 7000 natives and French, and impressed the natives with the strength and prowess of Britain. The succeeding campaign, in which successes and personal escapes were of a most dra- matic character, included the victories of Anii and Kaveripak, and the capture of Kovilani and Chingalpat. Henceforward Clive's name was a local tower of strength ; the natives sur- named him 'Sabat .Tung.' or 'the Daring in War'; and Pitt described him as "the youth of twenty-seven years" who had done the deeds of a "heaven-born general." In 175.3. with his bride. Margaret Maskelyne, sister of the astrono- mer, he visited England, and received a diamond- liilted sword and the warm thanks of the India Company. Possessed of a moderate fortune, ob- 41 CLIVE. tained from prize-money, lie expended part in redeeming the paternal estate, and relieving his father from pecuniary embarrassment. The rest soon disapjieared in an unsuccessful Parliamen- tary contest and the maintenance of a costly establishmenL He returned to India in 1755. and in 1750 was called to avenge the Black Hole atrocity ])crpel rated by SirajudDaula. Nawab of Bengal. Clive advanced against the Nawab, and in January, 1757, the English were again in possession of Calcutta. A peace was arranged; hut Clive, bent upon a brilliant exhibition of his powers, and eager for the riclies of Bengal, soon returned to the struggle. To insure his success, he entered into a plot for the elevation to the throne of Bengal of Siraj-ud-Daula's general, !Mir .Jaflir, who was to desert his diief. and who promised to shower wealth on Clie and the East India Company for his services. On June 23, 1757. SirajudDaula was overthrown in the ])attle of Plassey. This victory decided the as- cendency of England over France in India, and was followed by the rapid building up of a Brit- ish Indian empire. Jlir .Tallir was placed ipon the throne of Bengal, and kept his promises. From shares in these and other sjioils, and from presents and territorial grants from native princes, Clive amassed vast wealth, which yielded an annual income of £40,000. After managing the affairs of the East India Company at Cal- cutta for some years, and winning fresh victories, he returned to England in 1700, and was loaded with thanks and honors. He became Parliamen- tai-y member for Shrewsbuiy, was raised to the Irish peerage as Baron Clive of Plassej', and in 1704 was created Knight of the Bath. Through the dishonesty of its servants, high and low, the affairs of the Company became greatly involved after his departure from India, and in 1765 he was sent out to set them right. He ]f)roved as competent an administrator as a warrior; and in less than eighteen months, by his uncompromis- ing and resolute attitude, "restored perfect order and discipline in both the civil and military ser- vices, and brought back prosperity to the well- nigh ruined finances of the Company." He re- turned to England in 1707, and was received with the distinction to which he was entitled. But the energy he had displayed in righting Indian affairs antagonized many who suffered pecunia- rily from the suppression of dishonest practices ; and they, possessing influence, employed it in raising English feeling against Clive. His Indian administration was made the subject of animad- version in Parliament in 1772. Avhich he at first ignored, but subsequently replied to in a vigorous and eloquent speech, which elicited Pitti's ad- miration. A Parliamentary imjuiry. the follow- ing year, failed to find that Clive had acquired wealth by abuse of power ; and the only question- able incident in his government as proved to be a trick to match Oriental duplicity. At some of the supposedly incriminating evidence. Clive indignantly asserted himself with the celebrated exclamation, "By God, Mr. Chairman, I stand astonished at my own moderation!" A qualified acquittal, which acknowledged his "great and meritorious services," was not satisfactory to Clive, who never recovered from the disgrace im- plied in the trial : this, with sickness, recourse to opium to alleviate his sufl'erings, and mental de- pression, led to his suicide, November 22, 1774. Consult: Malcolm, Life of Clive (3 vols., Lon-