"I cannot omit testifying my acknowledgments, Gentlemen, to you all in general, for the zeal you have discovered for the service of our masters upon this occasion; but in particular to you who have been nominated to be in the rotation of governors. You have made such a sacrifice, that few, if any instances can be given of the like. You have, of your own accord, parted with the dignity of government, and all the advantages thereunto annexed, because you apprehend that the Company's affairs could not be properly conducted under a government so constituted. "Unequal as I am to the weighty task of directing this Presidency, especially in civil matters, to which I have never been able to give due attention, on account of my military avocations, I am now, Gentlemen, to beg the assistance of your advice, and therefore hope you will persevere in the zeal you have hitherto so abundantly shown, and that none of you, but more particularly Mr. Watts, who can render me considerable services from his thorough knowledge of the politics of the country, will entertain a thought of leaving me, till affairs are finally determined from home. "I am, Gentlemen, "Your most obedient, humble Servant, (Signed) "R. CLIVE. "Calcutta, "June 26th, 1758." Clive states that he was in a great degree induced to change his first resolution, by the tenor of a letter from Mr. Payne, the Chairman of the Court of Directors, which satisfied him that, notwithstanding what had occurred, there was a strong feeling, in some of that body, as well as the principal members of the administration in England, to treat him with favour and distinction. "I have a perfect sense[211]," Mr. Payne states, "of the many disagreeable circumstances that may have attended the several expeditions of this year, wherein you have had so great a share; nor can any one have felt more experimentally than myself the difficulty of pleasing every one, with the most disinterested conduct and the warmest pursuits for that purpose; nor have I been wanting in reflections on the many mortifications you may have met with, from the jealousy that the almost unlimited powers you were vested with by the Select Committee at Fort St. George gave rise to. I must confess, I should think them dangerous, in other hands than yours, and such as, I really think, our Court of Directors could scarce have been justified in giving to any one person whatever. Had the powers been more limited, I think you could not have had it less in your power to show and exercise your readiness and abilities in serving the Company, which I am persuaded you have done without mean or selfish views."