CHAP. V.

together with the Zemindary, or feudal tenure, on payment of rent, of all the country from Calcutta to the sea.**

78. Clive supreme in Bengal.-From this time forward Clive was master of Bengal, and was regarded with slavish awe by every native, from the Nabob downwards. He used this vast power ably and vigorously for the advantage of his country. The French were driven from the Northern Circars, where they still retained their ascendancy; the tottering throne of the Nabob was upheld against the assaults of Shah Alum, the eldest son of the Emperor Defeat of the of Delhi; and an expedition sent by the Dutch in Java, Chinsura. for the purpose of strengthening their settlement at Chinsura, and demanding satisfaction for some grievances alleged against the Presidency of Calcutta, was totally defeated, while they were obliged to agree not to extend their fortifications, but to confine their operations exclusively to commerce, on pain of instant expulsion from Bengal (1759).†

Dutch at

Three months after this last great victory, Clive returned to England, where he was received with honours and rewards, being made an Irish peer, and elected a member of the English House of Commons. The fortune he had acquired in India enabled him not only to support his dignities, but to compete with the richest in the land. For his assistance against Shah Alum, Meer Jaffier had bestowed upon him a domain which gave him an income of £27,000 a year; and his whole annual income was computed at £40,000-a revenue as rare then, as a hundred thousand pounds in these days. Clive made a creditable use of these vast riches, and expended upon his parents and family, and some poor friends and relations, as much as £50,000.

The Count de Lally temporarily restores the fortunes of

the French.

79. The End of French Power in India.-While the English under Clive were thus laying the foundations of their future empire in Bengal, their supremacy in the Carnatic was again endangered by the hostilitics of the French. In April, 1758, the Count de Lally, a brave officer of Irish origin, arrived at Pondicherry, with a great armament, and preSently laid siege to Fort St. David, which he took and completely destroyed. The capture of Arcot followed; and, elated with his success, he proceeded to invest Madras, at the head of 2,700 European troops and 4,000 natives (Dec., 1758). But the garrison of Fort St. George, under the able direction of Mr. Pigott, the Governor, and Colonel Draper, steadily held out, until the Macaulay's Lord Clive; Stanhope's England, IV., 324-336. Blackie's India, Book III., chap. X. + Stanhope's England, IV., 330-328. Mccaulay's Lord Clive.

1760

arrival of an English squadron under Admiral Pocock (Feb., 1759) compelled the besiegers to make a hasty and ignominious retreat.

He is

Coote at Wandewash.

In October, Colonel Eyre Coote, who had served under Clive in Bengal, arrived at Madras with large reinforcements from England, and the French Fort of Wandewash was assaulted and captured. At this news Lally took the field, and the two armies encountered each other at the foot of the mountain of Wandewash, on the 22nd of January 1760. The brunt of the battle fell entirely defeated by on the European troops, who numbered, on the English Sir Eyre side 1900 men, and on the French 2250; the native auxiliaries in both armies standing aloof to watch the conflict. The victory remained with the English, and Coote immediately applied himself to the reduction of Arcot, Trincomalee and Cuddalore, which formed the outposts of French dominion around Pondicherry. All these places fell successively into his hands, and Lally, finding himself being gradually hemmed in, opened secret negotiations with Hyder Ali, the general of the army, and afterwards the famous Rajah of Mysore. But the first division of the Mysoreans sent to assist the French, was totally routed by Coote, who then closed his forces round the French capital of the Carnatic.

During these proceedings on land, the fleets of both nations had frequently come into collision on the coast, the final result of these naval actions being, the withdrawal of the French to their island stations in the Indian Ocean. Pondicherry was thus deprived of all means of supply from the sea; and the garrison, worn with famine, fatigue and disease, surrendered at discretion on the 16th of January, 1761.

Surrender of

Thus ended the power of the French in India; for although Pondicherry was restored to them by the peace of 1763, they never again attained their former influence, nor recovered their lost ground. They were expressly prohibited by that Pondicherry. peace, from raising fortresses or maintaining troops in Bengal; and their East India Company soon ceased to exist. Lally and 2000 of his European troops were taken prisoners at Pondicherry. The Count was brought to England, and allowed to proceed to France on his parole, to answer the charges made against him for neglect of duty. But no sooner had he arrived in Paris, than he was thrown into the Bastille, where, after an incarceration of many months, he was most unjustly condemned to death. On the 9th of May, 1766, he was dragged to public execution in a dung cart, with a gag between his lips, and beheaded on the Place de Grieve.*

Stanhope's England, IV., 399-450; Elackie's India, Book III., chap. XI.

PERIOD OF GEORGE THE THIRD.-1760 to 1820.

CHAPTER VI.-FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE KING UNTIL THE TERMINATION OF HIS STRUGGLE WITH THE WHIGS.-1760 to 1784.

GEORGE III.-Reigned fifty-nine years and three months, from 25th October, 1760, to 29th January, 1820. Born at Norfolk House, St. James's Square, 4th June, 1738. Married 8th September, 1761, Sophia Charlotte, daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz. Died at Windsor, 29th January, 1820.

SECTION I.-DURING THE ASCENDANCY OF THE EARL OF BUTE.-1760 to 1763.

1.-THE END OF PITT'S ADMINISTRATION.

1. Character of George the Third. The reign of George the Second came suddenly to a close on the 25th of October, 1760, on which day the King died, early in the morning, of disease of the heart.

George's

The new Sovereign had entered his twenty-third year; his person was tall and strongly built, and his countenance open and engaging. But his education had been shamefully neg- defective lected, and from the character of his instructors it was education. generally believed that they had instilled into him the most exalted notions of the kingly office, and of the irresponsibility of the Crown. His mother, who was a clever, domineering and cruel woman,* had taken the utmost pains to keep him under her own influence; and the close connection between her and Lord Bute, which had become a subject of general scandal, led many to look forward with apprehensions to a reign of favouritism. But although when Prince of Wales, George was naturally indolent, dull of comprehension, and apparently devoid of the power to think and act for himself, he had not been long on the throne before he showed that the political lessons he had received had not been lost, and that he meant to rule, free from the dictation of parties and Ministers, and even from the control of his mother and the favourite.

* Thackeray's George the Third.

His

qualifications

CHAP. VI.

He was not without some qualifications for the task upon which he had thus set his mind, since he had all the courage, resolution, and pertinacity of his family; was a most for business. diligent man of business; and knew more of the minutiae of official life than any permanent Secretary in his Government. His idea of personal rule was that of not being thwarted in his wishes, and of knowing and sanctioning everything that was done; but his mind was too narrow and his prejudices too intense, to permit him to form any wide or elevated views, even if he had possessed the capacity or the inclination.* His public character will unfold itself as we proceed; it will therefore be sufficient at present to note, that, in his private relations he was tender to his family and pure in his life; but that his honesty was tainted with a want of candour, and his earnest piety with a want of charity, while the control which he had over his passions was accompanied with a sullenness of temper, and a too keen remembrance of those who gave him offence.t

2. Divisions in the Cabinet.-The ascendancy of the Princess Dowager of Wales and the Earl of Bute, was apparent from the first moment of the reign; and the published caricatures soon exposed their influence to ridicule, by the figures of a petticoat and a jackboot. If the leaders of the administration had held together, supported as Pitt was by the commercial classes and public opinion, and Newcastle by the Whig interest and the whole machinery of parliamentary management, their government would have continued. But latent jealousies and enmities had begun to show themselves even during the life time of George the Second. Pitt had been estranged from his old ally, Legge, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; some of the Ministers, including Newcastle, were envious of his popularity, and others disgusted by his imperious and haughty demeanour. Others again, led by the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Hardwicke, and attached to peace by the traditions of Walpole, were opposed to his German policy, and dismayed at his enormous expenditure. Thus divided, the Ministry easily succumbed to the Earl of Bute; although, according to a

Sandford's Estimates of the English Kings.

+ Memoirs of Lord Waldegrave, who was one of George's "Governors" when he was Prince of Wales.

John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, was a poor Scottish nobleman who had first attracted the attention of the King's father at a private dramatic entertainment. The favour which he received was extended to him by the Princess after her husband's death, and she made him her groom of the stole, and chief agent in all her political intrigues.

Macaulay's Essay on Lord Chatham, Part II.