urances.

The next day, the 20th, a messenger arrived from his agent, Mr.
Watts, who was then at Kalna, carrying a letter to the effect that
before he quitted Murshidabad he had been engaged in an interview
with Mir Jafar and his son, when there entered some emissaries of the
Subahdar; that, in the presence of these, Mir Jafar had denounced Mr.
Watts as a spy, and had threatened to destroy the English if they
should attempt to cross the Bhagirathi. This letter decided Clive. He
resolved to summon a Council of War.

There came to that Council, about noon of the 21st of June, the
following officers: Colonel Clive, Majors Kilpatrick and Grant,
Captains Gaupp, {93}Rumbold, Fischer, Palmer, Le Beaume, Waggonner,
Corneille, and Jennings, Captain-Lieutenants Parshaw and
Molitore;--Major Eyre Coote, Captains Alexander Grant, Cudmore,
Armstrong, Muir, Campbell, and Captain-Lieutenant Carstairs. The
question submitted to them was: 'whether under existing
circumstances, and without other assistance, it would be prudent to
cross the river and come to action at once with the Nawab, or whether
they should fortify themselves at Katwa, and wait till the monsoon
was over, when the Marathas or some other country power might be
induced to join them.' Contrary to the usual custom, Clive spoke
first, the others following according to seniority. Clive spoke and
voted against immediate action. He was supported by the twelve
officers whose names immediately follow his own name in the list I
have given, and opposed by the owners of the seven last names, Major
Eyre Coote speaking very emphatically in favour of action; the
majority of the Council, we thus see, siding with Clive.

The subsequent career of Eyre Coote, especially in Southern India,
proved very clearly that as a commander in the field he fell far
short of Robert Clive, but on this occasion he was the wiser of the
two. Some years later Clive, giving his evidence before a Select
Committee of the House of Commons, emphatically stated that had he
abided by the decision of the Council it would have caused the ruin
of the East India Company. As it was, he reconsidered his vote the
moment the Council was over. It is said that he {94}sat down under a
clump of trees, and began to turn over in his mind the arguments on
both sides. He was still sitting when a despatch from Mir Jafar[2]
reached him, containing favourable assurances. Clive then resolved to
fight. All doubt had disappeared fro