[239] M. Law, who was an able man, and well acquainted with the natives, was incessant in his intrigues at this period. Clive obtained copies of his letters to Sujah-u-Dowlah, whom he endeavoured to stimulate to action by representing the unsettled state of Bengal, and the certainty of a large French force soon invading that kingdom.--See Country Correspondence, MSS. vol. xiii.
[241] Pursnath is the name given by the Jains (the sect to which the Seits belonged) to their principal idol; and their pilgrimage was to Samet Sechara, at which there is one of his most celebrated temples.
[243] "I cannot close this letter," Clive states, "without doing that justice to Mr. Watts which I think his great services entitle him to. That gentleman, at the manifest hazard of his life, brought to perfection the treaty with the new Nabob and other great men of the Durbar, and sent it down to Calcutta to be put in execution; that gentleman attended the army throughout the long expedition to Patna, in which his knowledge of the language, and of the natives in general, has been of great service to the Company. I could not say less in favour of one who, I think, has had just cause given him for resigning the service."
[245] Mr. Hastings, in a letter to Clive of the 4th March, observes, "Golam Shah was yesterday with me, with whom I had some discourse upon the subject of the present dissensions betwixt the Nabob and his sepoys. He said the greatest part would assuredly quit the Nabob as soon as he took the field, and that he did not know one who would stand by him against the Shah Zada. But he added, that if you would act as mediator betwixt the Nabob and his jemidars, and engage your word for the safety of their lives and honour, he did not doubt that they would continue faithful to the Nabob, as the fear of his treacherous behaviour was the principal reason that they had to be displeased with his service."
[246] Letter to Mr. Amyatt, 29th December, 1758.
[249] Received at Calcutta 11th February.
[250] Chuta Nabob means, "the Little Nabob;" by which name the son of Meer Jaffier was always known.
[252] The Nabob, in his answer to Clive, denied the truth of this report.
[254] The following is a translation of this letter:--