Three Frenchmen in Bengal Part 12

The last words seem to imply that Courtin had recovered his property, at least to a great extent; but his pathetic appeal was useless in face of national necessities, and so far was Chandernagore desolated that, in November of the same year, we read that the English army, under Colonel Forde, was ambushed by the Dutch garrison of Chinsurah "amongst the buildings and ruins of Chandernagore."

From Chandernagore Courtin went to Pondicherry, where he became a member of the Superior Council. He was one of the chiefs of the faction opposed to Lally, who contemptuously mentions a printed "Memorial" of his adventures which Courtin prepared, probably for presentation to the Directors of the French East India Company.[169]

When, in January, 1761, Lally determined to capitulate, Courtin was sent to the English commander on the part of the Council. Still later we find his name attached to a pet.i.tion, dated August 3, 1762, presented to the King against Lally.[170] This shows that Courtin had arrived in France, so that his elevation to the Council of the Company is by no means improbable.

To any one who has lived long in India it seems unnatural that in old days the small colonies of Europeans settled there should have been incited to mutual conflict and mutual ruin, owing to quarrels which originated in far-off Europe, and _which were decided without any reference to the wishes or interests of Europeans living in the colonies_. The British Settlements alone have successfully survived the struggle. The least we can do is to acknowledge the merits, whilst we commiserate the sufferings, of those other gallant men who strove their best to win the great prize for their own countrymen.

Of the French especially it would appear that their writers have noticed only those like Dupleix, Bussy, and Lally, who commanded armies in glorious campaigns that somehow always ended to the advantage of the British, and have utterly forgotten the civilians who really kept the game going, and who would have been twice as formidable to their enemies if the military had been subordinate to them. The curse of the French East India Company was Militarism, whilst fortunately for the English our greatest military hero in India, Lord Clive, was so clear-minded that he could write:--

"I have the liberty of an Englishman so strongly implanted in my nature, that I would have the Civil all in all, in all times and in all places, cases of immediate danger excepted."

How much might have been achieved by men like Renault, Law, and Courtin, if they had had an adequate military force at their disposal! They saw, as clearly as did the English, that Bengal was the heart of India, and they saw the English denude Madras of troops to defend Bengal, whilst they themselves were left by the French commanders in a state of hopeless impotence. On the other hand, owing to the English Company's insistence that military domination should be the exception and not the rule, British civilians and British soldiers have, almost always, worked together harmoniously.

It was this union of force which gave us Bengal in the time of which I have been writing, and to the same source of power we owe the gradual building up of the great Empire which now dominates the whole of India.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 122: Probably Portuguese half-castes.]

[Footnote 123: Matchlock men. Consultations of the Dacca Council, 27th June, 1756. Madras Select Committee Proceedings, 9th November, 1756.]

[Footnote 124: When Courtin was sent by Count Lally with the proposals for the surrender of Pondicherry he had to take an interpreter with him. _Memoirs of Lally_, p. 105.]

[Footnote 125: I.e. official order.]

[Footnote 126: I cannot ascertain where M. Fleurin was at this moment. If at Dacca, then Courtin must have left him behind.]

[Footnote 127: MSS. Francais, Nouvelles Acquisitions, No. 9361. This is unfortunately only a copy, and the dates are somewhat confused.

Where possible I have corrected them.]

[Footnote 128: Calcapur, the site of the Dutch Factory. See note, p.

64.]

[Footnote 129: From a map by Rennell of the neighbourhood of Dacca it appears that the French Factory was on the River Bourigunga.

There are still several plots of ground in Dacca town belonging to the French. One of them, popularly known as Frashdanga, is situated at the mouth of the old bed of the river which forms an island of the southern portion of the town; but I do not think this is the site of the French Factory, as the latter appears to have been situated to the west of the present Nawab's palace.]

[Footnote 130: Now used in the sense of messengers or office attendants.]

[Footnote 131: Orme says (bk. viii. p. 285) that Courtin started with 30 Europeans and 100 sepoys. From Law's "Memoir" we see that M.

de Carryon took 20 men to Cossimbazar before Law himself left. This accounts for the smallness of Courtin's force.]

[Footnote 132: Jafar Ali Khan married the sister of Aliverdi Khan, Siraj-ud-daula's grandfather.]

[Footnote 133: I think he must mean the mouth of the Murs.h.i.+dabad River.]

[Footnote 134: Courtin means the lower ranges of the Himalayas, inhabited by the Nepaulese, Bhutiyas, etc. His wanderings therefore were in the districts of Rungpore and Dinajpur.]

[Footnote 135: Sinfray, Secretary to the Council at Chandernagore, was one of the fugitives who, as mentioned above, joined Law at Cossimbazar.]

[Footnote 136: a.s.saduzama Muhammad was nephew to Kamgar Khan, the general of Shah Alam. _Holwell. Memorial to the Select Committee_, 1760.]

[Footnote 137: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2859, No. 246.]

[Footnote 138: Orme says the Fort was on the River Teesta, but Rennell marks it more correctly a little away from the river and about fifteen miles south of Jalpaiguri.]

[Footnote 139: These guns Courtin calls "pieces a la minute." The proper name should be "canon a la suedoise" or "canon a la minute."

They were invented by the Swedes, who used 3-pounders with improved methods for loading and firing, so as to be able to fire as many as ten shots in a minute. The French adopted a 4-pounder gun of this kind in 1743. The above information was given me by Lieut.-Colonel Ottley Perry, on the authority of Colonel Colin, an artillery officer on the French Headquarters Staff.]

[Footnote 140: This squadron, under the command of Mons. Bouvet, actually did arrive.]

[Footnote 141: This rebellion was really conducted by Ukil Singh, the Hindoo _Diwan_ of Hazir Ali.]

[Footnote 142: Mir Jafar, Jafar Ali, Mir Jafar Ali Khan, are all variations of the name of the Nawab whom the English placed on the throne after the death of Siraj-ud-daula.]

[Footnote 143: Law says that the French soldiers who wandered the country in this way were accustomed to disguise themselves as natives and even as Brahmins, when they wished to avoid notice.]

[Footnote 144: A kind of native house-boat.]

[Footnote 145: A heavy gun fired from a rest or stand.]

[Footnote 146: A ditch or ravine.]

[Footnote 147: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2901, No. 374.]

[Footnote 148: A thick quilt used as a covering when in bed, or sometimes like a blanket to wrap oneself in.]

[Footnote 149: Orme MSS. India XL, p. 2915, No. 417.]

[Footnote 150: Bengal Select Com. Consultations, 22nd February, 1758.]

[Footnote 151: I have not been able to identify this place.]

[Footnote 152: A boatman.]

[Footnote 153: See note, p. 88.]

[Footnote 154: Orme MSS. India XI., p. 2923, No. 432.]

[Footnote 155: Orme MSS. India XL, p. 2926, No. 438.]

[Footnote 156: This expression is characteristically Indian, and is used when any one, finding himself oppressed, appeals to some great personage for protection.]

[Footnote 157: The Nawab's flag was the usual Turkish crescent.]

[Footnote 158: Another Indian expression. The last resource against oppression or injustice in India is to commit suicide by starvation or some violent means, and to lay the blame on the oppressor. This is supposed to bring the curse of murder upon him.]

[Footnote 159: This means simply that the Raja was not an independent ruler. The sovereign owning all land, _land revenue_ and _rent_ meant the same thing.]

[Footnote 160: This seems to want explanation. Probably Courtin had got into some sort of house used for religious ceremonies, such as are often found in or close to the market-places of great landowners.]

[Footnote 161: He probably refers to Mr. Luke Scrafton.]