t fear
of the Nawab's interference. He prepared to support Clive as soon as
the water in the Hugli would allow his ships to pass up, and, it
must be supposed, informed Clive of the letter he had received. At
any rate, he so informed the Council.

Clive reached Chandernagore on the 12th, and probably heard on that
day or the next from Calcutta. On the 13th he sent the following
summons--which Renault does not mention, and did not reply to--to
Chandernagore:--

"SIR,

"The King of Great Britain having declared war
against France, I summons you in his name to surrender the
Fort of Chandernagore. In case of refusal you are to answer
the consequences, and expect to be treated according to the
usage of war in such cases.

"I have the honour to be, sir,

"Your most obedient and humble servant,

"ROBERT CLIVE."

It is important, in the light of what happened
later, to notice that Clive addresses Renault as a
combatant and the head of the garrison.

In England we have recently seen men eager to vilify their own
nation. France has produced similar monsters. One of them wrote from
Pondicherry:--

"The English having changed their minds on the arrival
of the reinforcement from Bombay, our gentlemen at Chandernagore
prepared to ransom themselves, and they would have
done so at whatever price the ransom had been fixed
provided anything had remained to them. That mode of
agreement could not possibly suit the taste of the English.
It was rejected, and the Council of Chandernagore had
no other resource except to surrender on the best conditions
they could obtain from the generosity of their enemy. This
course was so firmly resolved upon that they gave no
thought to defending themselves. The military insisted only
on firing a single discharge, which they desired the Council
would grant them. It was only the marine and the citizens
who, though they had no vote in the Council, cried out
tumultuously that the Fort must be defended. A plot was
formed to prevent the Director's son, who was ready to carry
the keys of the town to the English camp, from going out.
Suddenly some one fired a musket. The English thought
it was the reply to their summons. They commenced on
their side to fire their artillery, and that was how a defence
which lasted ten whole days was begun."

How much truth is contained in the above paragraph may be judged by
what has been already stated.