handful of Englishmen had kept at bay an army and had done that while they held a position which had many and serious disadvantages. Outwardly little was accomplished as far as the main object of the expedition was concerned, but it does not admit of question that the courageous stand made on this occasion by Charnock infused into the mind of the native authorities a healthy respect for the prowess of the English which ultimately bore rich fruit.
From Hijili the English went to Ulubaria for three months, and at the expiration of that time once more established themselves at Sutanuti; Charnock selected the latter spot with the definite intention of making it the permanent seat of the Company's power. What were the reasons which animated him in his choice we do not know, but as Mr. C. R. Wilson points out in his admirable work The Early Annals of the English in Bengal, it possessed valuable strategic qualities. "It could only be approached on one side. To attack it the Mogul troops must cross the river higher up and march down upon it from the North. But if the river were crossed while the English ships still dominated it, the attacking force was exposed to swift and certain destruction. The English, sending their troops up the stream, could land and assail the enemy on his march to Calcutta, cut him off from his base, force him to form front parallel to his line of communication and so place him in the most dangerous predicament in which an army can find itself."
History has abundantly vindicated the choice of the site of what was for so long the capital of India and what is still to-day its most important commercial centre. But no credit for the choice rests with those who were in authority at home. Indeed, if the short-sighted directors who
