In 1765 he returned to India as governor-general, and set himself the task of purifying the administration of the Company. The officials and military commanders received very small salaries; but these they turned into fortunes by “shaking the pagoda tree”—that is, by blackmail, extortion, and corruption of all kinds. Clive attempted to stop these practices, and though his reforms were bitterly opposed, he left the Company’s service much purer than he found it. In the process he raised up a host of enemies, who in 1767, when he finally returned to England in shattered health, brought about his impeachment for corrupt practices, especially with reference to the Omichand affair and the present from Mir Jaffier. During the Parliamentary inquiry, Clive, when confronted by hostile evidence, remarked, “Mr. Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation!” The House of Commons evaded a decision on his conduct by passing a resolution that Lord Clive “had rendered great and meritorious services to his country.” He was acquitted, but the acquittal was really a vote of censure. Clive, broken in health, keenly sensitive to the disgrace of the verdict, and enfeebled in mind by the use of opium, felt the disgrace keenly. During one of the fits of deep depression to which he was subject, he ended his life by his own hand (November 1774). Thus perished, in his forty-ninth year, the great Clive. His faults were many, but his merits outweighed them, and he must always stand high in the roll of British empire-makers. “Our island has scarcely ever produced a man more truly great either in arms or in council.” Let this be his epitaph. [Illustration: =Clive at Bay.=] The natives of India believed that Clive bore a charmed life. On one occasion, when he was resting along with several of his men, a party of Frenchmen fired into the room which he occupied, killing the man next to him. Clive rushed out, and finding himself confronted by six Frenchmen, loudly ordered them to lay down their arms as they were surrounded. The native allies of the French fled, and the assailants themselves took refuge in a temple. Next day they surrendered. [Illustration] JAMES WOLFE, CONQUEROR OF CANADA. “_Wolfe, where’er he fought,_ _Put so much of his heart into his act_ _That his example had a magnet’s force,_ _And all were swift to follow whom all loved._”