CLIO CLIVE. 



271 



verance. He was, also, a promoter and benefactor 

 of many religions and charitable institutions. 



CLIO ; daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne ; the 

 muse of glory and history. Her attributes are, a 

 wreath of laurel upon her head, a trumpet in her right 

 hand, and a roll of papyrus in her left. See Mytholo- 

 gy, Greek. 



CLITUS; son of Dropis, and brother of Hella- 

 nice, the nurse of Alexander the Great. He was 

 one of the generals of Philip and Alexander, and 

 saved the life of the latter in the battle of the Gra- 

 nicus, by cutting off the liand of Rhosaces, who had 

 just lifted up his arm to kill Alexander. Notwith- 

 standing this service, however, Alexander slew him 

 in a fit of intoxication, on account of some irritating 

 words. After the act was performed he was pene- 

 trated with the bitterest remorse. 



CLIVE, CATHARINE, a celebrated comic actress, 

 was the daughter of a gentleman named Raftor, and 

 was born in the north of Ireland, in 1711. When 

 young, she was married to Mr Richard Clive, a bar- 

 rister; but the union was unfortunate, and, a se- 

 paration taking place, she adopted the theatrical pro- 

 fession, in which she attained a distinguished rank. 

 She iilled and adorned a variety of comic parts ; and 

 whether she exhibited the woman of good sense, of 

 real fine breeding, the humorous, the fantastic, the 

 affected, the rude, the awkward, or the ridiculous 

 female, in any rank of society, she was sure to fas- 

 cinate the audience ; though her talents were pecu- 

 liarly adapted to scenes of low life. Her lively, 

 playful humour is exemplified by the following the- 

 atrical anecdote : She performed at Drury lane the- 

 atre under the management of Garrick. One night, 

 while playing the lady in Lethe, Mrs Clive, in turn- 

 ing her head towards the stage-box, chanced to en- 

 counter the eye of Charles Townshend. That po- 

 litical wit pointed instantly to an old belle on his left, 

 a very caricature of the ridiculous dame she was 

 portraying on the stage. The actress paused for a 

 moment, and burst into laughter. The galleries 

 caught the jest, and joined boisterously in the mirth, 

 clapping loudly with their hands at the same time. 

 Mrs Clive at length retired from the stage, of which 

 she had been long a distinguished ornament, and 

 passed the latter part of her fife at Little Strawberry 

 hill, near the Gothic villa of Horace Walpole, who, 

 as well as many other persons of rank and eminence, 

 courted her society, attracted by the wit and drollery 

 with which she enlivened her domestic circle. Her 

 death occurred in 1785. 



CLIVE, ROBERT, lord Clive and baron of Plassey, 

 was born in 1725, in Shropshire. He was sent to 

 several schools, but to little purpose, and was said, 

 by all his masters, to be the most unlucky boy in 

 their schools. His father obtained for him the 

 place of a writer hi the East India company's service, 

 and, in his nineteenth year, he went in that capacity to 

 Madras. In 1747, he quitted tiie civil employment, 

 and entered into the military service, for which na- 

 ture had so peculiarly fitted him. During two years, 

 public events gave him little opportunity to distin- 

 guish himself ; but, when the British thought pro- 

 per to engage as auxiliaries, in favour of a competitor 

 to the reigning rajah of Tanjore, it was resolved to 

 attack one or his forts named Devi Cotah, in which 

 service Clive acted with great bravery, and was 

 soon after appointed commissary to the British 

 troops. About this time, M. Dupleix, taking part 

 with a candidate for the subahslu'p of the Carnatic, 

 succeeded in placing him on the throne, on condition 

 of raising Chundasaheb to the nabobship of Arcot. 

 By this proceeding, he gained a large grant of ter- 

 ritory for the French, and the collection of all the 

 revenues in that quarter of the Hindoo empire. The 



ostentation and insolence with which they afterwards 

 conducted themselves roused the indignation of the 

 British, a body of whom, under the command of 

 Ciive, made an attack upon the city of Arcot, the 

 boldness of which measure caused it to succeed ; 

 and, after a most complete victory, he returned to 

 Madras, and in 1753, sailed to England for the re- 

 covery of his health. A diamond hilted sword was 

 voted to him by the East India company, which he 

 only accepted upon condition that colonel Laurence, 

 who had similarly distinguished himself in the action, 

 should receive a like present. He was also present- 

 ed with the government of St. David's with the right 

 of succession to that of Madras, and a lieutenant- 

 colonel's commission in the king's service. After a 

 successful attack on the pirate Angria, in conjunc- 

 tion with admirals Pocock and Watson, he repaired 

 to St David's, but was soon called to Madras, to com- 

 mand the succours sent to Bengal, where the nabob 

 Surajah Dowlah had attacked the British, destroyed 

 their factories, taken Calcutta, and suffocated several 

 of his prisoners in the black hole. Colonel Clive 

 proceeded to Calcutta, and, driving out the enemy, 

 took possession of the city, and, with a very inferior 

 number of men, entered the nabob's camp, and seized 

 his cannon; which alarmed him so much, that he 

 offered terms which were adjusted much to the ad- 

 vantage of the company. The state of things ren- 

 dering it impossible for this peace to last long, col- 

 onel Clive formed the project of dethroning the na- 

 bob, the execution of which was confided to Mr 

 Watts and himself; and one of the nabob's officers, 

 named Meer .Jaffier, joined them on condition of suc- 

 ceeding to his master's dignity. A Gentoo merchant 

 named Omichund, was engaged to carry on the corres- 

 pondence between Jaffier and the British ; but, de- 

 manding a high sum for his services, a double treaty 

 was drawn up, in one of which his demand was insert- 

 ed, and both were signed ; and the first only shown to 

 Omichund, who, trusting to the faith of the British 

 performed his part. The nabob, suspecting what 

 was going forward, commanded Meer Jaffier to swear 

 fidelity and join his army ; and the famous battle of 

 Plassey ensued, in which by comparatively a small 

 body of troops, the nabob and his army were put to 

 flight and the company's success decided. To the deep 

 disgrace of Colonel Clive and the British, on the af 

 fair being decided, Omichund was informed that 

 " the red paper was a trick, and he was to have 

 nothing." The disappointment drove him mad, and, 

 a year and a half after, he died in a state of idiocy. 

 It should also be noticed, that the signature of ad- 

 miral Watson, who was too honest to sign the paper, 

 was a forgery. The new nabob Meer Jaffier who 

 had come over at the close of the action, and had 

 presented Clive with 1,290,000, now wished to go- 

 vern without the interference of the British ; but, 

 three rebellions rising against him, he was oblig- 

 ed to solicit their aid, and Colonel Clive sup- 

 pressed two, but made a compromise with the third 

 competitor, whom he thought would be a check 

 upon the nabob's becoming too powerful. He was 

 next appointed governor or Calcutta ; and soon after, 

 a large force arrived at Bengal, on pretence of being 

 sent to reinforce the garrisons belonging to the Dutch 

 company. Suspecting that they were invited by the 

 nabob, to destroy the British power, he attacked 

 them, both by sea and land, with great success, cap- 

 turing all their forces, and drawing up a treaty, 

 signea by the Dutch, who agreed to pay all expen- 

 ses, on the restitution of their property. For these 

 services, he was created, by the great Mogul, an 

 omrah of the empire, and received a grant of a re- 

 venue, amounting to 28,000 per annum from Meer 

 Jaffier. He then again returned to England, where 



