He was, indeed, in every respect, fittest for this Employment (had there been any Competitor); an Employment, by far the weightiest, and of the most Consequence, of any in _Bengal_. He had been many Years in the Country; was well acquainted with the Language, as well as accustomed to the Manners and Disposition of the Inhabitants; was much esteemed, and had many Connections with them. He understood their Politics also, at least as much as such fluctuating Politics as theirs could be understood; the true Interest of the Province, and the Constitution of _Indostan_ in general, and the State of the neighbouring Governments in particular. Besides, he was personally known to all the Ministers, and had received very singular Marks of Esteem from the Suba himself. Add to all this, that the Company, in case of the Death or Resignation of Mr. _Drake_, had appointed this Gentleman to the Government of _Calcutta_, which, taken together, proves, that this Choice was not the Work of Chance or Favour, but proceeded from mature Deliberation, and a just Regard to the Consequence of that Negotiation, in which he was to be employed. The Perplexities springing from such a Variety and Complication of Matters that were to be adjusted, the Mutability of the Suba's Nature, and his Want of Judgment and Experience, and the Difficulties naturally arising in settling the Concessions, which had been just extorted from him by Treaty, were not the only Circumstances that embarrassed this Negotiation. The _French_, perfectly well informed of every Step taken or intended, and no less skilled in the Art of Intrigue, had most effectually retained several of those whom the Suba frequently consulted, or chiefly trusted, in their Interest by gratifying them with Presents. They had still a more powerful Tie on them than this, being in Debt Thirteen Lack of Rupees, or upwards of One hundred and Sixty thousand Pounds Sterling, to _Juggut Seat_, the greatest Banker in the Empire of _Indostan_, and the Second in Power in _Bengal_; to whose Advice for many Years past the Subas paid the greatest Attention. They very well knew, that Men might be false to their Benefactors; but they rightly judged, that even the worst of Men, more especially when avaricious, would be true, where they could not possibly be false, without betraying their own Interest. Under Circumstances like these, there was no Probability, indeed there was no Possibility, of so much as attempting any Thing, but in the Mode of the Court; that is, by opposing Corruption to Corruption, making Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness, and getting upon even Ground with those, with whom they were obliged to contend.