This present we think Clive justified in accepting.  It was a present which, from its very nature, could be no secret.  In fact, the Company itself was his tenant, and, by its acquiescence, signified its approbation of Meer Jaffier’s grant.

But the gratitude of Meer Jaffier did not last long.  He had for some time felt that the powerful ally who had set him up, might pull him down, and had been looking round for support against the formidable strength by which he had himself been hitherto supported.  He knew that it would be impossible to find among the natives of India any force which would look the Colonel’s little army in the face.  The French power in Bengal was extinct.  But the fame of the Dutch had anciently been great in the Eastern seas; and it was not yet distinctly known in Asia how much the power of Holland had declined in Europe.  Secret communications passed between the court of Moorshedabad and the Dutch factory at Chinsurah; and urgent letters were sent from Chinsurah, exhorting the government of Batavia to fit out an expedition which might balance the power of the English in Bengal.  The authorities of Batavia, eager to extend the influence of their country, and still more eager to obtain for themselves a share of the wealth which had recently raised so many English adventurers to opulence, equipped a powerful armament.  Seven large ships from Java arrived unexpectedly in the Hoogley.  The military force on board amounted to fifteen hundred men, of whom about one half were Europeans.  The enterprise was well timed.  Clive had sent such large detachments to oppose the French in the Carnatic that his army was now inferior in number to that of the Dutch.  He knew that Meer Jaffier secretly favoured the invaders.  He knew that he took on himself a serious responsibility if he attacked the forces of a friendly power; that the English ministers could not wish to see a war with Holland added to that in which they were already engaged with France; that they might disavow his acts; that they might punish him.  He had recently remitted a great part of his fortune to Europe, through the Dutch East India Company; and he had therefore a strong interest in avoiding any quarrel.  But he was satisfied that, if he suffered the Batavian armament to pass up the river and to join the garrison of Chinsurah, Meer Jaffier would throw himself into the arms of these new allies, and that the English ascendency in Bengal would be exposed to most serious danger.  He took his resolution with characteristic boldness, and was most ably seconded by his officers, particularly by Colonel Forde, to whom the most important part of the operations was intrusted.  The Dutch attempted to force a passage.  The English encountered them both by land and water.  On both elements the enemy had a great superiority of force.  On both they were signally defeated.  Their ships were taken.  Their troops were put to a total rout.  Almost all the European soldiers, who constituted