In the year 1753, the French were in the confirmed possession of the five Circars, together with the adjoining fort and dependencies of Masulipatam; of all of which they declared themselves to have obtained "_the complete sovereignty for ever_," by a grant from the Subah of the Deccan, a Prince nominally dependent on the Imperial Crown of the Mogul. "So that these territories (says Mr. Orme), rendered the French masters of the greatest dominion, both in extent and value, that had ever been possessed in Indostan by Europeans, not excepting the Portuguese when at the height of their prosperity[13]." The establishment of the French power in these important provinces, during the war between England and France, excited the most serious alarm in the Company, by threatening their settlements and possessions in Bengal; and called forth the vigorous and splendid exertions of Lord Clive, who, in the year 1759, sent a military force against Conflans, the French Commander, under the command of Colonel Forde. That gallant Officer succeeded in defeating the enemy in a pitched battle at Peddipore; and, pursuing him from one extremity of the Circars to the other, terminated the campaign by the capture of Masulipatam: and thus, by obliging the French to abandon the Circars, the right of conquest was made good against the French. For it is not necessary that every part of a conquered country should be acquired by a separate victory, if the enemy is compelled to evacuate his territory in consequence of any decisive operation; and the retention of Masulipatam, was the evidence of the triumph of the British arms over the French. That this was _the object_ of the campaign, is distinctly shown in the declaration made by Lord Clive before the Select Committee of the House of Commons, in the year 1772. Lord Clive stated to the House, "That soon after his appointment of President of the Company's affairs in Bengal, in 1758, he took into his most serious consideration the situation of affairs upon the coast of Coromandel. Monsieur Lally was arrived with such a force, as threatened not only the destruction of all the settlements there, but of all the East India Company's possessions. That he thought it was his duty to contribute his mite towards the destruction of the French, and therefore projected _the scheme of depriving the French of the Northern Circars_, contrary to the inclination of his whole Council. That _this expedition succeeded completely, for the French were totally driven out by_ Col. Forde, _with the Company's troops_, whose conduct and gallantry upon that occasion was equal, if not superior, to any thing that had happened during the whole course of the war[14]." This evidence of Lord Clive proves, that the scheme was _entirely military_, and that the success was _the success of arms_. By the Treaty of Peace concluded at Paris in 1763, (Art. 11,) "the Crown of France renounced all pretensions to those