The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company

by William Dalrymple

Clive responded on 21 May 1773 with one of his most famous speeches, saying he objected strongly to being treated like ‘a common sheep-stealer’. After Plassey, he thundered, ‘a great prince was dependent on my pleasure; an opulent city lay at my mercy; its richest bankers bid against each other for my smiles; I walked through vaults which were thrown open to me alone, piled on either hand with gold and jewels! Mr Chairman, at this moment I stand astonished by my own moderation.’ Clive talked powerfully in his own defence for two hours. Making a final plea, ‘leave me my honour, take away my fortune’, he walked out of the chamber, tears in his eyes, followed by loud and repeated cries of ‘Hear, hear!’ Entering his carriage, he drove back home, not knowing whether he had ‘a sixpence to call his own in the morning’.61 The debate lasted long into the night, with a growing majority of speakers rising to attack Burgoyne’s motion. The Resolution was eventually rendered harmless by a series of amendments and another praising Clive’s ‘great and meritorious services to this country’. In the end, after an all-night debate, Clive had been cleared by a vote of 95 for censure to 155 for clearing his name.62 The Prime Minister, Lord North, may have lost one battle, but he was still determined to bring the EIC to heel. Shortly after Burgoyne’s bill of censure had been defeated, he declared, ‘I think, sir, it is allowed that Parliament have a right over the East India Company … Such continu...