As early as the year 1640, the agents of the English East India company obtained leave to build a factory at Hoogly; a town situated on the river of the same name, about one hundred miles from the sea, and then the principal port in the province of Bengal. But the officers of the Mogul government superintended the progress of the buildings, and objected to every thing which resembled, or might be converted into, a station of defence; the court of Delhi, at that time, disdaining to allow, in any part of its dominions, the appearance of any sovereignty but its own, or the erection of a single bastion by any European power.(1) Nor does this contradict what has been formerly said of the first European settlements on the seacoast of Hindostan ; the territory on which they stood, and many of the forts themselves, having either been purchased, or wrested from princes who had not submitted to the great Mogul.

The same jealous policy that prohibited the English from erecting fortifications, also forbade the introduction of military force. An ensign and thirty men, to do honour to the principal agents, were all the troops the East India company was permitted to keep at Hoogly. In this naked condition, and in consequence of it, exposed to frequent fines and exactions, the factory continued until the year 1686; when, as a remedy against such arbitrary impositions, an attempt was made by the company to establish a defensible post by force of arms. The enterprise ultimately failed: yet were the English agents permitted to settle a factory at Soota-nutty, on the same river, about ten miles lower than Hoogly, in 1689; and the year following, they received a phirmaund or patent from Aurengzebe, allowing them to trade free of customs, on condition of paying annually a stipulated sum.

These indulgences were granted to the English from an apprehension of their utterly abandoning the trade of Bengal, as they had removed to Madras after the miscarriage of their armament. And other causes contributed to root them more firmly in that province. In 1696, the rajahs on the western side of the river Hoogly took up arms; and the principal part of the nabob's forces being then with the court at Dacca, the rebels, headed by the rajah of Burdawan, made great progress, before a body of troops sufficient to oppose them could be assembled. They took Hoogly, plundered Muxadabad, and thence proceeded to Rajahmahal.

On the rise of this rebellion, all the European factories in the province of Bengal augmented their soldiery, and declared for the nabob; earnestly requesting, at the same time, his permission to put their several settlements in a posture of defence against the common enemy. The nabob, in general terms, desired them to provide for their safety. An apology for so doing was what they had all along sought. Happy, therefore, in being furnished with an order so conformable to their views, the Dutch raised walls, with bastions, round their factory, about a mile to the south of Hoogly. The French fortified with no less diligence, and more skill, their settlement at Chandernagore, two miles lower on the river; and the English, as their bulwark, erected fort William at Calcutta, a small town where they had built their principal magazines, contiguous to Soota-nutty.(2) Such was the origin of the three European fortifications in the province of Bengal.

From the time that the English established themselves at Calcutta, which they were soon after permitted to purchase, together with its territory, from the zemindar or Indian proprietor, the trade of the company continued to flourish, in spite of many discouragements from home: and the town increased wonderfully in population, notwithstanding the jealousy of the nabob. The company's agents had even the address to obtain from the great Mogul, in 1717, the privilege of passports or dustucks, which, being recognised throughout the province of Bengal, their goods were thenceforth exempted from customs, and no longer liable to be stopped by the officers of the

revenue.

This was a singular indulgence, and contributed greatly to facilitate and

(1) Orme, ubi sup.

(2) Orme's Hist. Hindost. book_vi.

augment the trade of the English East India company; more especially as none of the other European companies were entitled to the same indulgence, nor any of the natives, except two or three principal merchants, who purchased it from the nabob at an exorbitant price.(1) But the envy and jealousy, occasioned by those advantages, excited against the English the hatred both of the European and country powers; and that jealous hate in the latter, brought on the fatal catastrophe, which makes this digression

necessary.

On the death of the nabob, or more properly subah, Allaverdy, who had governed with great ability, for many years, the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa, the supreme authority devolved, according to his destination, upon his grandson Surajah Dowlah, a weak and tyrannical prince. Equally timid, suspicious, and cruel, the new viceroy determined to take vengeance on all whom he feared, and to owe his security to the inability of any power within his jurisdiction to hurt him. The English had particularly awaked his apprehensions by the taking of Gheria, a fortress deemed impregnable in Hindostan, by their increasing strength in the Carnatic, and by the growth of their settlement at Calcutta.

Other circumstances conspired to point the resentment of Surajah Dowlah immediately against the English factory in Bengal, He was informed, and not altogether without foundation, that the agents of the East India company had abused their privilege of dustucks, by making them subservient, not only to the importation of European, and the exportation of India goods, but to the importation of commodities from other parts of Hindostan, and even of the same province, to the great diminution of the public revenue, and in direct contradiction to the purpose for which they had been granted, the encouragement of foreign commerce. He therefore determined to get those passports recalled by the court of Delhi, or to deny the validity, and also to punish the abuse. And the governor and council of Calcutta, by refusing to deliver up to him a noble refugee, who had taken shelter with all his treasures within their presidency, farther confirmed him in his hostile resolution.

Enraged at this refusal, though seemingly occasioned by misapprehension, the nabob, who had assembled an army of fifty thousand men, with an intention of striking a blow in a distant quarter, ordered it to march directly towards Calcutta; where the English, he was told, were building new fortifications. He himself headed his troops; and advanced with such rapidity, that many of them died of fatigue. Sufficient force, however, remained for the accomplishment of his enterprise. After attempting in vain to oppose the enemy in the streets and avenues, the English inhabitants took refuge in fort William; a place in itself by no means strong, and defended only by a small garrison. Conscious of his inability to hold out, Mr. Drake, the governor, called, at two in the morning, a council of war, to which all except the common soldiers were admitted; and after debating long, whether they should immediately escape to the company's ships in the river, or defer their retreat until the following night, the council broke up, without coming to any positive determination. But as the first proposal was not carried into execution, the second was generally understood to have been embraced.

Meanwhile, the besiegers vigorously pushed their attacks, and hoped every moment to carry the fort by storm. Filled with terror, and utterly unacquainted with military service, many of the company's servants, and even some members of the council, went off to the ships. A party of militia, it was observed, that had conducted the women on board the preceding night, did not return to the garrison. They who remained in it looked at one another with wild affright. The governor, who had hitherto discovered no want of courage, now panic-struck at the thought of falling into the hands of Surajah Dowlah, who had threatened to put him to death, hurried into a boat that lay at the wharf, without apprizing the garrison of his intention.

(1) Orme's Hist. Hindost. book vl.

The military commanding officer, and several other persons of distinction, pusillanimously followed his example, and accompanied him to one of the ships.

The astonishment of the garrison at this desertion could only be equalled by their indignation. Nothing was heard for a time but execrations against the fugitives. At length, however, the tumultuous concourse proceeded to deliberation and Mr. Pearkes, the eldest member of the council left in the fort, having resigned his right of seniority to Mr. Holwell, that gentleman was unanimously invested with the chief command. The number of militia and soldiery now remaining, amounted only to one hundred and ninety men. The new commander, therefore, having seen some boats return to the wharf locked the gate leading to the river, in order to prevent future desertions.

The same promptitude and spirit distinguished Mr. Holwell's whole conduct. But all his gallant efforts were found insufficient to preserve the fort. Soon convinced of their weakness, and conscious of their danger, the garrison threw out signals for the ships or boats to repair to the wharf. That rational hope of escape, however, failed them. One ship having struck on a sand-bank, not a single vessel of any kind offered afterward to yield them a retreat. As a last resource, Mr. Holwell threw a letter from the ramparts, intimating a desire to capitulate; many of the garrison having been killed since the departure of the governor, and more of the survivors thrown into a state of despondency. Encouraged by this indication of weakness, the besiegers made a desperate but ineffectual assault; after which one of the nabob's officers appeared with a flag of truce. It was answered by another from the fort. A parley ensued; but before any articles of capitulation could be settled, the troops of Surajah Dowlah forced open one of the gates, and made themselves masters of the place, though without putting any of the garrison to the sword.(1)

About an hour after the taking of fort William, the nabob entered it, accompanied by his general Meer Jaffier, and most of the great officers of his army. Having given directions for securing the company's treasure, he seated himself, with all the state of an Asiatic conqueror, in the principal apartment of the factory, and ordered Mr. Holwell to be brought before him. On the first appearance of that gentleman, Surajah Dowlah expressed violent resentment at the presumption of the English, in daring to resist his power, and chagrin at the smallness of the sum found in the treasury. Softened, however, in the course of three conferences, he dismissed the English chief, as he thought proper to call him, with repeated assurances, on the word of a soldier, that he should suffer no harm.

Notwithstanding these assurances, Mr. Holwell and his unfortunate companions (whom he found, on his return, surrounded by a strong guard) were forced into the common dungeon of the fort, usually called the black hole, about eight o'clock in the evening; and in that dungeon, only eighteen feet square, were they condemned to pass the night in one of the hottest climates of the earth, and in the hottest season of that climate. They could receive no air but through two small grated windows, almost totally blocked up by a neighbouring building, which deprived them of the common benefit even of the sultry atmosphere. Their distress was inexpressible in consequence of the heat, and the pressure of their bodies, as soon as the door was shut. They attempted to force it open, but without effect. Rage succeeded disappointment. The keenest invectives were uttered in order to provoke the guard to put an end to their wretched lives, by firing into the dungeon; and while some, in the agonies and torment of despair, were blaspheming their Creator with frantic execrations, others were imploring relief from heaven in wild and incoherent prayers.

Mr. Holwell, who had taken his station at one of the windows, exhorted his fellow-sufferers to composure, as the only means of surviving till morning. In the mean time he addressed himself to an old jemetdar, an officer of the

(1) Orme, ubi sup.

guard, who seemed to have some marks of humanity in his countenance, promising him a thousand rupees, if he would separate them into different apartments. He retired to procure an order for that purpose; but returned in a few minutes, with a sorrowful face, and said it was impossible! Misapprehending his meaning, Mr. Holwell proffered him a larger sum. He retired a second time, and again returned with the same wo-foreboding look; while the prisoners rent the air with the cries to the guard to open the dungeon, and drank their own sweat to relieve their thirst.

"Unhappy men!"-said the jemetdar,-" submit to necessity. The subah is asleep!--and what slave dares disturb his repose?"(1)—A stronger picture of despotism was never drawn, nor a deeper scene of human misery exhibited.

All sentiments of friendship, compassion, or respect were henceforth extinguished in the breasts of the devoted prisoners. No one would give way for the relief of another; but every one employed his utmost strength to obtain a place near the windows, or to maintain that station. The feeble sunk, never more to rise, and were trampled upon by their stronger companions. The havoc of death and the struggle for air continued until morning appeared; when, the door being opened, of one hundred and forty-six persons, thrust into the black hole, twenty-three only were brought out alive. Mr. Holwell, and other two of the survivors, were condemned to farther sufferings. They were sent prisoners to Muxadabad, the capital of the province, in hopes of extorting from them, by cruel usage, a confession of the factory's hidden treasures. Calcutta was pillaged, and fort William secured by a garrison of three thousand men.(2) The affairs of the English East India company seemed finally ruined in Bengal.

And

The accumulated misfortunes of Great Britain did not, however, discourage the king of Prussia, her brave ally, from taking vigorous measures in order to defeat the designs of his numerous enemies; or to acquire that ascendant in Germany which he had long been ambitious of attaining, and which was now become in some degree necessary for his own preservation, as well as to enable him to fulfil his political engagements with his Britannic majesty. Nor did George II. fail to act with proper dignity. He ordered his electoral minister to deliver a memorial to the diet at Ratisbon, expressing his surprise to find the treaty which he had lately concluded with the king of Prussia industriously represented as a ground of apprehension and terror; that as France had made open dispositions for invading the electorate of Hanover, and disturbing the peace of Germany, and the empress-queen, notwithstanding her obligations to Great Britain, had denied him the succours stipu lated by treaties, he had negotiated that alliance merely for the security of his own dominions, and the preservation of the tranquillity of the empire, neglected by its head. (3)

The behaviour of his Prussian majesty was still more stately. Having ordered his minister at the court of Vienna to demand a clear explication, and proper assurances concerning the hostile preparations he saw making on the frontiers of Silesia, and receiving only evasive answers, he resolved to anticipate the designs of his enemies, by carrying the war into their dominions, instead of coolly waiting its approach in his own. And he called heaven and earth to witness, that the empress-queen alone would be chargeable with all the innocent blood that might be spilt, and the dismal consequences that must attend the prosecution of hostilities, by refusing the declaration which he had required; namely "that she had no intention to attack him either this year or the next." He had constituted her, he said, arbitress of peace or war; and her military preparations and mysterious replies left him no room to doubt which alternative she had chosen, though she declined a liberal and open decision of the momentous question.

In order to invade Bohemia with success, it almost necessary, to take possession of Saxony.

is not only convenient, but The king of Prussia, who

(1) Holwell's Narrative. Orme, book vii.

(2) Id. ibid.

(3) Printed Memorial.

1

had projected the invasion of that kingdom, and who hoped to be able to reduce it to obedience before the empress-queen could assemble her troops, or any of the other confederates be in a condition to attack him, therefore resolved to occupy his electorate; a measure in which he thought himself justified, as he knew that the elector had concurred in all the schemes formed by the courts of Vienna and Petersburg for the ruin of the house of Brandenburg, and waited only for an opportunity to co-operate also in the execution of them. He accordingly entered Saxony with a great army, consisting of seventy battalions and eighty squadrons, divided into three bodies, which pursued different routes, and assembled, by concert, in the neighbourhood of Dresden.

Unable to resist so powerful a force, Augustus abandoned his capital, which was immediately occupied by the Prussians, and joined his little army of fourteen thousand men, encamped at Pirna. That camp, which was deemed impregnable, he had not chosen merely on account of its strength, but also because he thought its position secured him a communication with Bohemia, whence only he could expect succour, and whither he might retire in case of necessity. Relying on these advantages, on the attachment of his subjects, and his intimate connexions with the court of Vienna, he scornfully rejected the reasonable requisition of the king of Prussia, That, as a proof of the sincerity of his suspicious professions of neutrality, he should withdraw his army from the strong post which it occupied, and order the troops to return to their former quarters, in different parts of the electorate.

This refusal induced the king of Prussia to change his plan of operations. As he had no magazines in Bohemia, he did not think it safe to penetrate into that kingdom, and leave the Saxons masters of the Elbe behind him. He therefore resolved to surround their camp; and, as he could not hope to force it, to oblige them to surrender, by cutting off their supplies, before he proceeded farther. With this view, he encamped at Gross Zedlitz, in the neighbourhood of Pirna, and soon reduced the Saxon army to the greatest distress. Meanwhile, he sent two large detachments, one under mareschal Keith, the other under mareschal Schwerin, to the frontiers of Bohemia, in order to keep the Austrians in awe, and deprive them of the power of making any vigorous effort for the relief of the Saxons, by obliging them to divide their forces. Keith took post at Jornsdorff, and Schwerin at Auject, opposite Konigsgratz.

That was a cautious rather than a great line of conduct. Had the king of Prussia marched into Bohemia with the main body of his army the moment he found the king of Poland reject his propositions of neutrality, leaving twenty thousand men to block up the Saxon camp at Pirna, he might have made himself master of the whole kingdom, before the Austrians could have been in a condition to oppose him. Ölmutz, and even Prague, must soon have fallen into his hands, both being yet unprovided against a siege;(1) whereas, by the plan that he pursued, the empress-queen had leisure to assemble two considerable armies in Bohemia, and to put its principal towns in a state of defence. The smallest of these armies, commanded by prince Piccolomini, took post at Konigsgratz, in order to oppose Schwerin; the largest, under mareschal Brown, encamped at Kolin, and was destined to march to the relief of the Saxon army, as soon as the necessary preparations could be made for that purpose.

These preparations being completed, mareschal Brown quitted his camp at Kolin, and advanced to Budyn on the Egra, in order to concert measures with the Saxons for accomplishing their enlargement. Now, seemingly sensible of his mistake, in not having entered Bohemia, the politic and enter

(1) Hist. of the late War in Germany, by major-general Lloyd, who served several campaigns in the Austrian army, and afterward in that of prince Ferdinand. "The conquest of these two places," adds this intelligent author, "would have enabled his Prussian majesty to begin the next campaign in Moravia, at least, and perhaps on the Danube, with the siege or blockade of Vienna; whence he might, without any risk, have sent a considerable corps to the frontiers of Hungary, and the army destined to guard Saxony into the empire, between the sources of the Maine and the upper Danube. The first would have hindered the empress-queen from receiving any succours from these countries, and the last would have effectually prevented those princes who were the king of Prussia's enemies from uniting against him."