an escort through the Jat country
to Agra. Most of his soldiers were glad to be off, but about 60
Europeans deserted with their arms to Delhi, where the Vizir offered
them pay as high as 50 rupees a month. M. Jobard was nearly killed
by some of them when he tried to persuade them to return to duty,
but, a few months after, more than half rejoined Law.

From Agra, Law went to Chatrapur in Bundelkand, where apparently,
though he does not say so, he was in the service of the Raja
Indrapat. His stay lasted from the 10th of June, 1758, to February,
1759. In order to keep on good terms with the inhabitants, who were
almost all Hindus, Law forbade his men to kill cattle or any of the
sacred birds, or to borrow anything without his permission, and at
the same time severely punished all disorderly behaviour. The people
having never heard of Christians, thought the French must be a kind
of Muhammadans, but they could not make out from what country they
came. Seeing them drink a red wine of which they had a few bottles,
they thought they were drinking blood, and were horrified, but the
good behaviour of the men soon put them on friendly terms.

Early in 1759 the Shahzada at last invaded Bengal, and on the 5th
of February Law marched to join him; but the invasion was badly
managed, and was an absolute failure. On the 28th of May Law was
back at Chatrapur. The only result of the invasion was that the
lands of a number of Rajas in Bihar were plundered by Miran, son of
Mir Jafar, and the English. These Rajas were all Hindus.

"They had an understanding with Ramnarain. All these
Rajas, of whom there is a great number in the dependencies
of Bengal, united to each other by the same religion, mutually
support each other as much as they can. They detest the
Muhammadan Government, and if it had not been for the
Seths, the famous bankers, with whom they have close
connections, it is probable that after the Revolution in which
Siraj-ud-daula was the victim, they would all have risen
together to establish a Hindu Government, from which the
English would not have obtained all the advantages they
did from the Muhammadan."

In 1759 the Dutch risked a quarrel with the English. They refused,
however, any assistance from Law, who, far away as he was, heard all
about it. They were defeated at Biderra on the 25th of November. The
effect of this was to reduce Bengal to such tranquillity that Clive
considered it safe to visi