To show his determination, he despatched fifteen hundred men to
Hoogly, which the English had abandoned after capturing it, with
instructions to help the French if attacked; and he sent a lac of
rupees to Monsieur Renault, to aid him in preparing for his defence.
Clive, unwilling to face a coalition between the French and the nabob,
was in favour of acceding to the nabob's orders. The treaty of
neutrality with the French was drawn up, and would have been signed,
had it not been for the obstinate refusal of Admiral Watson to agree
to it. Between that officer and Clive there had never been any cordial
feeling, and from the time of their first connection, at the siege of
Gheriah, differences of opinion, frequently leading to angry disputes,
had taken place between them. Nor was it strange that this should be
so. Both were brave and gallant men; but while Watson had the
punctilious sense of honor which naturally belongs to an English
gentleman, Clive was wholly unscrupulous as to the means which he
employed to gain his ends.
Between two such men, it is not singular that disagreements arose.
Admiral Watson, impelled by feelings of personal dislike to Clive,
often allowed himself to be carried to unwarrantable lengths.
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