Though Lord Clive now filled so large a space in the eyes of his countrymen and of foreign nations, he was yet only in his forty-second year; an age at which he might still have looked forward to a long career of public service and of glory. It is much to be regretted that, circumstanced as he was, in possession of an ample fortune, with his talents in their fullest vigour, and with one of the first reputations of the age, he did not confine himself to the high ground on which he stood, and shun being once more forced into the dark, and unsatisfactory circle of Leadenhall Street politics. He was, however, unfortunately pressed by too many immediate interests, both of his own and of his friends, to suffer him to adopt a course which would have contributed so much to his future peace. He had spent his whole life in Indian affairs, which naturally, in his estimation, had a peculiar importance; and perhaps his active mind could not at once break off the ties which had so long attached him to the Company and its concerns.
He found, on his return, the affairs of the East India Company considerably more complicated than he had left them. The two parties of Mr. Rous and Mr. Sulivan still divided the Directors; but the accounts of the great accession of wealth acquired for the Company in Bengal had excited the cupidity of the British Government, which, impoverished by the expenses of a war carried on in every quarter of the globe, eagerly looked for a partial relief to the treasures that were to flow into England from her Eastern dominions. The same expectation naturally roused the Proprietors of India Stock, who insisted on enjoying the benefit of the happy change in the most obvious way, by an increase of their dividend. To embroil still more these adverse interests, the servants of the Company, who had resigned or been dismissed, in consequence of their malversation in office, returned to England, breathing revenge against the man whose honest vigour had stopped them in their career; and having employed, in the purchase of Company's stock, a part of the great wealth which they had accumulated, were able, by throwing their interest into the scale, to influence the proceedings of the Court of Proprietors, and, therefore, ultimately that of the Directors.
