The government of Chandernagore had so far conciliated him, that they refused to join the English in their efforts to compel him to make reparation for his injustice and oppression; though the armistice which they desired was offered them as the reward of their adopting a cause which, had commercial considerations alone regulated their proceedings, was obviously that of every European settled in Bengal. But Suraj-u-Dowlah well knew that other feelings actuated both the English and French, and that each desired the total expulsion of the other from his territories. Acting upon this knowledge, and with that deep exasperation which belongs to the wounded pride of a despot, he secretly courted the French, to avenge himself on those by whom he had been defeated and humbled. He at first sent aid to Chandernagore. His subsequent assent, imperfect as it was, to the attack of that place, was only extorted by the fear of the moment; and it was retracted almost as soon as given. He still cherished hopes that the French garrison might repel their enemies; but their early surrender, and the whole character of the attack, particularly the tremendous fire of the men-of-war, filled his mind with a mixture of dread, and irreconcileable jealousy and hatred, towards a nation who, in a few months after he had exulted in his triumph over their defenceless factory, had established themselves in his country, in a position which already caused the native princes and chiefs to view them as the future arbiters of India. The British commanders were, no doubt, at this period prepared to consent to any settlement, which gave them indemnity for the past, and security for the future, rather than incur the hazards of war, at a moment when they could, in case of reverse, expect no succour: for the very force by which it must be carried on was urgently required on the coast of Coromandel. But the mind of Suraj-u-Dowlah was quite incapable of comprehending the nature and force of such grounds of action. He probably thought they would act as he would have done if success had favoured his arms: perhaps he still rested on his own strength, and the hopes held out by the French. Whatever were his motives, so far from showing a disposition to pursue a course which might lead the British authorities to confide in him, he hurried on to the adoption of every measure that could produce a contrary impression; and, in a very short period subsequent to the fall of Chandernagore, it became quite obvious, that his continuing Nabob of Bengal was irreconcileable with every prospect of peace to the English settled in that country; and that the departure of the fleet, and a very considerable proportion of the troops, for Madras, would be the certain signal for renewed hostilities. But the immediate causes of the war, which terminated in the dethronement and death of this ill-fated prince, must now be stated.