Lord Clive had now thrown off all disguise with Mr. Sulivan; they were open and irreconcilable opponents. His Lordship, on this occasion, pursued a course quite suited to the boldness and decision of his character. After stating what he had done about the jaghire, he concluded by observing, "There was another and more weighty obstacle to his undertaking the management of the affairs in Bengal, without the removal of which he thought it incumbent upon him to apprise them of his positive determination to decline entering again into their service: that he differed so much from Mr. Sulivan in opinion of the measures necessary to be taken for the good of the Company, that he could not consider that gentleman as a proper Chairman of the Court of Directors; that it would be in vain for him to exert himself as he ought, in the office of Governor and Commander in Chief of their forces, if his measures were to be thwarted and condemned at home, as they probably would be, by a Court of Directors under the influence of a Chairman, whose conduct, upon many occasions, had evinced his ignorance of East India affairs, and who was also known to be his personal and inveterate enemy; that it was a matter totally indifferent to him, who filled the chair, if Mr. Sulivan did not; but that he could not, consistently with the regard he had for his own reputation, and the advantages he should be emulous of establishing for the Company, proceed in the appointments with which they had honoured him, if that gentleman continued to have the lead at home."[183]