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THE CONQUEST OF INDIA.

expedition and in the completion of the arrangements for its despatch, it was not till December 1756 that Clive and the squadron under Admiral Watson, his comrade in arms against Angria, arrived in the Hughli. The interval had given Surajah confidence, but it had also caused him to realise that by suppressing the English factory he had lost a promising source of revenue. He had no fear of retribution at the hands of the English, but he was disposed to restore Calcutta, still in the possession of his garrison, and to grant fresh trade facilities. Such were his feelings when news reached him that Clive had entered the river, recovered Fort William, and destroyed his garrison at Hughli. He was still anxious for an amicable settlement and proposed to compensate the members of the Calcutta factory for their losses and sufferings. These Englishmen themselves were willing to meet him half way. They had run away from Calcutta in the first place, and thought nothing of glory or of political expansion. They wanted their money bags replenished out of the Mogul treasury and to resume their ordinary pursuits. But Clive took a very different view of the situation, and although hampered by the Calcutta Board and also by the Madras Council—who wanted him back to fight the French—he succeeded in carrying out his own policy.