The military insisted only on firing a single discharge, which they desired the Council would grant them.  It was only the marine and the citizens who, though they had no vote in the Council, cried out tumultuously that the Fort must be defended.  A plot was formed to prevent the Director’s son, who was ready to carry the keys of the town to the English camp, from going out.  Suddenly some one fired a musket.  The English thought it was the reply to their summons.  They commenced on their side to fire their artillery, and that was how a defence which lasted ten whole days was begun.”

How much truth is contained in the above paragraph may be judged by what has been already stated.  It will be sufficient to add that Clive, receiving no answer to his summons, made a sudden attack on a small earthwork to the south-west of the fort at 3 A.M. on the 14th of March.  For two whole days then, the English had been in sight of Chandernagore without attacking.  The French ladies had been sent to Chinsurah and Serampore, so that the defenders had nothing to fear on their account.  Besides the French soldiers and civilians, there were also about 2000 Moorish troops present, whom Law says he persuaded the Nawab to send down as soon as the English left Calcutta.  Other accounts say that Renault hired them to assist him.  The Nawab had a strong force at Murshidabad ready to march under one of his commanders, Rai Durlabh Ram; but the latter had experienced what even a small English force could do in the night attack on the Nawab’s camp, and was by no means inclined to match himself a second time against Clive; accordingly, he never got further than five leagues from Murshidabad.  Urgent messages were sent from Chandernagore as soon as the attack began.  M. Law begged of the Nawab to send reinforcements.  Mr. Watts, the English Chief, and all his party in the Durbar, did their utmost to prevent any orders being issued.  The Nawab gave orders which he almost immediately countermanded.  Renault ascribes this to a letter which he says Clive wrote on the 14th of March, the very day of the attack, promising the Nawab to leave the French alone, but it is not at all likely that he did so.  It is true Clive had written to this effect on the 22nd of February; but since then much had happened, and he was now acting, as he thought and said, with the Nawab’s permission.  On the 16th of March he wrote to Nand Kumar, Faujdar[35] of Hugli, as follows:—­

“The many deceitful wicked measures that the French have taken to endeavour to deprive me of the Nawab’s favour (tho’ I thank God they have proved in vain, since his Excellency’s friendship towards me is daily increasing) has long made me look on them as enemies to the English, but I could no longer stifle my resentment when I found that ... they dared to oppose the freedom of the English trade on the Ganges by seizing a boat with an English dustuck,[36] and under English colours that was passing by their town.  I am