"HAIR-BREADTH 'SCAPES.' 147 superiors as he had behaved to his schoolmasters, and was several times in danger of losing his situation. Twice, while residing in the Writer's Buildings, he attempted to destroy himself; and twice the pistol which he snapped at his own head failed to go off. This circumstance, it is said, affected him as a similar escape affected Wallenstein. After satisfying himself that the pistol was really well loaded, he burst forth into an exclamation that surely he was reserved for something great.' 4. At this time an event occurred-the capture of Madras by the French, under the ambitious Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry-which seemed calculated to destroy all his rising hopes of greatness, and yet eventually proved the stepping-stone to a great and illustrious career. Clive fled from the town by night, disguised as a Mussulman, and took refuge at Fort St. David, one of the small English settlements dependent upon Madras. Throwing off his civilian bondage, he sought and obtained permission to enter a service better adapted to his genius and disposition; and at twenty-one commenced his military career as an ensign. His fearless contempt of danger, his resolution, promptitude, felicity of judgement, and foresight, soon distinguished him above his fellow-officers, and attracted the attention and admiration of his superior, himself a man of courage and ability, Major Lawrence. The disputes which arose between the rival French and English companies disputes originating in a contention for territorial influence, and terminating in a war for the possession of supreme power in India-opened up to the young adventurer dazzling prospects of distinction. The French had made one Mirzapha Jung Viceroy of the Deccan, and ruled in his name with exultant ostentation. Chunda Sahib owed to their arms the nabobship of the Carnatic, and everywhere the triumph of their policy seemed complete. Dupleix was declared Governor of India from the river Kristna to Cape Comorin, a tract of country about as large as France; and to perpetuate the memory of his success, he built a city bearing the boastful name of Dupleix Fatihabad, or the City of the Victory of Dupleix, and erected a column whose 143 ATTACK UPON ARCOT. four sides bore pompous testimony, in four languages, to the glory of the French. Meanwhile, the English had recognised Mahomed Ali as Nabob of the Carnatic, but Chunda Sahib and his French auxiliaries having shut him up in Trichinopoly, it seemed impossible, with the small English force at hand, to raise the siege. The natives looked with scorn on the mighty nation which was soon to conquer and rule them. Everywhere they saw the evidences of French power, and everywhere the successes of the French arms. Of the English, they only knew that their principal settlement had been captured, and their chiefs led in triumph through the streets of Pondicherry. It was reserved for Clive to raise from the dust the honour of the English name. 5. Clive was now twenty-five years old, and after hesitating for some time between a civilian and a military life, had at length settled in a position which united both characters—that of commissary to the troops, with the rank of captain. His political sagacity discerned the perils of the situation, and he pointed out to his superiors that now or never must the encroachments of French power be resisted. He proposed, by a sudden attack on Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, to force the French to raise the siege of Trichinopoly. The English authorities, alive to the dangers which threatened them, adopted Clive's project, and entrusted him with its execution. He was placed at the head of 200 English soldiers and 300 sepoys, armed and disciplined after the European fashion, and with eight officers, only two of whom had ever before been in action, pushed forward, through a terrible storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, to the gates of Arcot. Their unexpected appearance produced a panic. It was as if armed men had suddenly sprung from the bowels of the earth. The garrison fled from the fort, and the English entered it without striking a blow. But if he had gained it without a struggle, Clive knew he should not be left to hold it unmolested. He made immediate preparations, therefore, to withstand a siege. He sent to Madras for a couple of 18-pounders, and finding eight cannon of different calibres in the place, he mounted A FIFTY DAYS SIEGE. 149 them in the most commanding positions. A store of provisions was laid in, and the confidence of the inhabitants secured by a firm discipline and equitable rule. Then, ascertaining that the fugitive garrison, recovered from its surprise, was encamped near Fort Tuniry, six miles from Arcot, he sallied out on the 4th of September to attack them. As soon as Clive's men approached within gunshot, the enemy took to flight, and a sharp pursuit being ordered, they suffered severely. Clive returned to Arcot without losing a single man. When Chunda Sahib was apprised of these events, he detached 4,000 men from his camp before Trichinopoly, who, with 2,000 men from Vellore, 150 French soldiers from Pondicherry, and the remains of the former garrison of Arcot, in all 10,000 men, were placed under the command of his son, Rajah Sahib. To resist this overwhelming force Clive was at the head of 120 Europeans and 200 sepoys. The walls of the fort were dilapidated, the ditches dry; the battlements afforded no protection to the soldiers, and the ramparts were too narrow to admit the cannon. Under such circumstances as these Clive won success, for genius is never more happy than when contending with the difficulties which seem insuperable to ordinary minds. 6. During fifty days,' says Macaulay, 'the siege went on. During fifty days the young captain maintained the defence, with a firmness, vigilance, and ability which would have done honour to the oldest marshal in Europe. The breach, however, increased day by day. The garrison began to feel the pressure of hunger. Under such circumstances, any troops so scantily provided with officers might have been expected to show signs of insubordination; and the danger was peculiarly great in a force composed of men differing widely from each other in extraction, colour, language, manners, and religion. But the devotion of the little band to its chief surpassed anything that is related of the Tenth Legion of Cæsar, or of the Old Guard of Napoleon. The sepoys came to Clive, not to complain of their scanty fare, but to propose that all the grain should be given to the Europeans, who required more nourishment than the 150 THE ATTACK AND THE DEFENCE. natives of Asia. The thin gruel, they said, which was strained away from the rice, would suffice for themselves. History contains no more touching instance of military fidelity, or of the influence of a commanding mind.' At last it was known that a body of 6,000 Mahrattas, under Morari Row, were on their way to Clive's assistance. Rajah Sahib determined to storm the fort. He selected a day well calculated to stimulate to the utmost the spirits of his soldiers; the great Moslem festival which consecrates the memory of Hosein, the chief of the Fatimites. Drugs were employed still further to inflame minds already on fire with religious enthusiasm and wild with bang; mad with fanatical zeal the Moslems rushed to the attack. Clive had gained information of the meditated assault, and made the preparations necessary to defeat it. Worn out with fatigue and anxiety he had flung himself on his bed. Aroused by the alarm, he repaired instantly to his. post. The enemy advanced, urging before them elephants whose foreheads were covered with plates of iron, and whose overwhelming force, it was supposed, would break down the gates. But these, irritated by the musketry of the besieged, turned round upon their own people, and trampled them to the ground, as they rushed furiously to the rear. The assailants sought to pass over the ruins that choked up the ditch; they were swept away in scores by the steady fire of the garrison. Where the water was deep they endeavoured to cross on a raft. Clive with his own hand aimed a field-piece, which cleared it in a moment. The rear ranks of the English kept the front ranks constantly supplied with loaded muskets, so that the unceasing fire soon quelled the brief madness of the Moslem host, and at length they retreated, leaving behind them no fewer than 400 dead. On the following morning, a patrol sent to watch the enemy's movements, reported that he was nowhere to be seen. He had retired, leaving a vast booty of treasure, guns, and military stores to fall into the hands of the English. 7. Success, however signal, could not lull Clive's active |