The hopes with which the French continued to feed him, and in which they themselves probably indulged, of receiving reinforcements from Bussy through Cuttack, were not of a nature to be treated with neglect. The great plan formed by Dupleix, and executed by Bussy, of establishing a paramount power and influence in the Deckan, had, to a great degree, succeeded; and though commercial considerations had, during the short interval of peace in Europe, led to an opposite policy, which condemned the whole system pursued by the French governor as one of irrational ambition, and irreconcileable with the interests of the French company, the moment war with England occurred, prudential resolutions were forgotten, and every preparation was made to establish the French supremacy in India. Godeheu, who succeeded Dupleix, and who, at first, appeared only anxious to abandon all his predecessor had gained, now sought to preserve and improve every advantage which yet remained, as the result of former measures. Bussy was promised early support, and directed to maintain the possessions ceded to France, which extended six hundred miles along the coast of Coromandel, and Orissa, from Moodappely south, to the pagoda of Juggernaut, north. Under such circumstances, nothing appeared more likely, than that this able and enterprising officer should have reinforced his countrymen in Bengal: and the probable consequences of a party of any strength co-operating with the Nabob, were of a character that justified all the jealousy and alarm which Admiral Watson and Clive entertained upon this subject; and quite authorised them in those decided measures they adopted for the permanent security of the British factories and territories in Bengal and Bahar. To have stopped short--much more to have left the country--before this important object was accomplished, would have been to cast away the fruits of their success, and to have uselessly wasted all the blood and treasure that had been already expended in this memorable expedition. That these were the sentiments of Clive at this period, is proved by the purport of all his letters, public and private; and these afford strong evidence that he by no means contemplated success as certain. In a letter (dated the 11th of March) to Mr. Orme, who was his agent at Madras, he requests him to remit his money to Calcutta, to be sent to England, as "the times were dangerous." Such facts are important, as they prove, that the measures he found himself compelled at this period to adopt originated in a sense of duty, and not in that spirit of ambition, and desire of wealth and personal aggrandizement, which have been stated by some as the chief, if not sole, motives of his conduct at this remarkable epoch of his life. I have already spoken of the designs of the French, and the means they had of carrying them into execution. I shall now examine how far they were likely to be aided by Suraj-u-Dowlah.