thought disrespectful to tell a great
man distinctly the evil which is said of him. If an inferior knows
that designs are formed against the life of his superior, he must
use circumlocutions, and suggest the subject in vague terms and
speak in enigmas. It is for the great man to divine what is meant.
If he has not the wit, so much the worse for him. As a foreigner, I
was naturally more bold and said what I thought to Siraj-ud-daula.
Coja Wajid did not hesitate to blame me, so that for a long time I
did not know what to think of him. This man finally fell a victim to
his diplomacies, perhaps also to his imprudences. One gets tired of
continual diplomacy, and what is good in the beginning of a business
becomes in the end imprudence." _Law_.]

[Footnote 88: "Witness the letter written to the English Admiral
Watson, by which it is pretended the Nawab authorized him to
undertake the siege of Chandernagore. The English memoir" (by _Luke
Scrafton_) "confesses it was a surprise, and that the Secretary must
have been bribed to write it in a way suitable to the views of Mr.
Watts. The Nawab never read the letters which he ordered to be
written; besides, the Moors never sign their names; the envelope
being closed and well fastened, the Secretary asks the Nawab for his
seal, and seals it in his presence. Often there is a counterfeit
seal." _Law_. From this it may be seen that the Nawab could always
assert that his Secretary had exceeded his instructions, whilst it
was open to his correspondent to assert the contrary.]

[Footnote 89: The clerks.]

[Footnote 90: "This was the boaster Rai Durlabh Ram, who had already
received much from me, but all the treasures of the Universe could
not have freed him from the fear he felt at having to fight the
English. He had with him as his second in command a good officer,
Mir Madan, the only man I counted upon." _Law_.]

[Footnote 91: Referring to Clive's letter of the 7th of March,
saying he wished to attack Chandernagore, but would await the
Nawab's orders at that place.]

[Footnote 92: By "agent" Law must mean simply an agent in the plot.]

[Footnote 93: Scrafton, in his "Reflections" (_pp. 40 and 50_),
says, Siraj-ud-daula indulged in all sorts of debauchery; but his
grandfather, in his last illness, made him swear on the Koran to
give up drinking. He kept his oath, but probably his mind was
affected by his previous excesses.]

[Footnote 94: Arzbegi, i.e. the officer who receives pe