Note 198 — CHAP. VII.

The letters from Mr. Scrafton, at this period, convey a vivid picture of the state both of Meer Jaffier's mind and his own. In his letter of the 3d November, in which he reports a visit to the durbar, he describes the Nabob as looking very grim when he approached. For half an hour he took no notice of him, but abused every one present; then turning quickly round, he said to Scrafton, "What have you to say to me?"—"What! here, Sir?" Scrafton replied.—"We will go there," said the Nabob, pointing to a small room. Mr. Scrafton, ashamed of this proceeding, tried to change the subject by saying, "Have you written for the Colonel?"—"Yes, with his whole army, to be sure."—"Do you know the expense?"—"Will a lac per month do? But I shall not settle with you; when Sabut Jung comes, I will talk with him about it." Mr. Scrafton, after commenting upon the passion displayed by the Nabob on this occasion, and representing the danger of rebellion from his violent conduct, concludes by entreating Clive to hasten to Moorshedabad, leaving his army to follow. "We are lost," he says, "if we do not act as principals." In two letters written subsequently, Mr. Scrafton gives a further account of the Nabob's distraction, irritation, and alarm at the treachery and rebellion with which he is surrounded. In his communication to Clive, of the 7th November, he states, "I hope you are set out. Our honour, our interests, and our reputation, are all at stake." He closes this letter in the following words:—"The Nabob pitched his tent in the garden yesterday, and had about two hundred men with him. Not an officer has joined him yet with any forces; nor will they till Roy Dullub marches. His son is absolutely ill with grief and shame, and goes no more near his father. Sir, I can only say, if you don't set out, with or without troops, permit me to go to Calcutta. I can't carry that authority, that sway, which the Company's affairs require; and will not stay on the terms I am now with the Nabob. I clearly comprehend the political disease of the Nabob's affairs, but it is you only that can apply the remedy. I was an hour alone with Roy Dullub: I see all their schemes, and what all these seeds of division will inevitably produce. I conclude with this sentence; that if Sujah-u-Dowlah joins Ram Narrain, adieu to the Nabob and the remainder of the treaty, for he certainly carries Bengal."