[163] Though Clive, in his letter to Mr. Watts of the 19th of May, estimates this gift at 12 lacs, the precise amount, and the proportions in which it was to be given, were not settled by Mr. Watts till some time afterwards. The shares made public were as follows:--
To each member of the Committee, 240,000 rupees, or 24,000_l._
The former amounts are given in the Parliamentary Reports, vol. iii. p. 145.; and we find a public letter from Clive, under date the 8th of July, to Mr. Franckland, to the following purport:--
"Please to acquaint the gentlemen of the Council, not of the Committee, that the Nabob has been so generous as to make them a present of 6 lacs of rupees, which is to be paid in like proportions as the public money; viz. half is paid down in money and plate, and the other half will be paid as soon as his circumstances will admit of it."
[165] The officers and men so excluded became, in consequence, entitled to no more than their share with the naval force in the river, to whom was allotted half the donation given by the Nabob. This share appears to have been less than that of corresponding ranks in the army, with which they had acted, and with whom they had an undoubted right to be put on an equal footing.
[168] June 23d. The very day on which the battle of Plassey was fought.
[169] Supposing Bussy neither came to Bengal, as was expected, nor sent any reinforcements to his countrymen, the strength of the party under Law was above two hundred men, and a large proportion of officers. Clive's whole strength of Europeans in September (the earliest time at which the season permitted his sailing to Madras) was only five hundred.
[170] Mr. Pigot was governor, and Colonel Lawrence commanded the troops.
[171] Sufficient evidence of their incompetency appears in this narrative. I refrain from quoting passages in the correspondence before me, in which more serious charges than those of incapacity are stated.
[172] Mr. Orme was, at this period, one of the Council at Madras.
[173] I leave, however, this question to the judgment of my readers, who will also decide on the assertion of Mr. Mill, that "Clive, on beholding an opening for exploits both splendid and profitable in Bengal, overlooked all other considerations, violated his instructions, and remained." This unqualified assertion appears to be a gratuitous assumption of motives of action, in no degree borne out or warranted by the facts of the case.