Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757Watts, William, active 1737-1758
History
Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Dom. 1757
Watts, William, active 1737-1758
East India Company -- History; India -- History -- 1526-1765; Plassey, Battle of, Palashi, India, 1757
An Attempt has been already made to give the Reader some Idea of the
melancholy and mortifying Situation of Mr. _Watts_, who resided on the
Part of the Company at the Suba's Court, whose Perplexities daily
increased, and whose Anxieties hourly multiplied, though they had not
yet reached to those Circumstances of Disgust and Distress that they
afterwards did. He saw himself almost constantly on bad Terms with that
Prince, and of course upon no good ones with his Ministers and
Favourites. The Suba never forgave him extracting that important, and,
as he conceived it, fatal Letter of Permission to Admiral _Watson_; to
which, without much Injustice, he ascribed solely the attacking and
taking _Chandenagore_. It was from Mr. _Watts_ he received, from Day to
Day, those grating Remonstrances that so much displeased him, and those
admonitory Letters that made still a deeper Impression. He ought, in
Strictness, to have considered him, on these Occasions, as the
Instrument only of the Company; but his Warmth and Assiduity in all
these frequent Applications, made the Suba look no farther than himself.
He was obliged to confer with him daily, and, if he was absent, called
for him, as being uneasy if he missed him, whence of course he beheld
him often, and yet but very seldom with a gracious Eye. Mr. _Watts_ saw,
felt, and understood these numberless Inconveniencies, to which he was
exposed, and which, as we have observed, heightened upon him every Hour.
But the Consolation he derived from the kind Letters of Admiral _Watson_
and Colonel _Clive_, who had a true and lively Sense of his Services and
Sufferings, kept up his Spirits, and enabled him to pursue his Business
with a Vivacity that entirely concealed, though it could not remove, but
rather augmented, his interior Chagrin. Besides this, he had another
Satisfaction, which was getting most Part of the Treaty executed, tho
with infinite Trouble; and this procured him the hearty Approbation of
the Select Committee, who were now convinced, that he not only did all
that could be done, but more than most Men could have done in his
Station. As ill as he was treated by him, he continued to render the
Suba many good Offices; giving the Committee to understand, that, in all
human Probability, they should gradually obtain all that they desired,
and that therefore they should not be impatient. He prevailed also upon
Colonel _Clive_ to promise the Suba from time to time his Assistance;
and he laboured more incessantly to convince that Prince, that, if he
would confide in the _English_, he had no Reason to fear either foreign
or domestic Enemies, with which, when he thought himself in Danger, he
was well enough pleased; but when that was in any Degree over, he shewed
a visible Uneasiness at his having confessed that he stood in need of
such Assistance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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