2 S. C. Hill— Account of late Maharaja Nubkissen Bahadur. [No. 1* 
appeared before the mantle of European customs and language began 
to obscure its features from European eyes. If anything is evident 
from a consideration of this Account it is that the Hindu of Bengal, in 
all the essentials of character, is unchanged and unchangeable. 
In the first place the apparent resignation of the Hindu to “ the 
'powers that be ” does not imply the death of his national and religious 
feelings. In 1756 the Hindus were looking for a deliverer. A French¬ 
man, resident in Chandernagore at the time of the capture of Calcutta 
by Siraj-ud-daula, wrote to Paris that the people of the country “ hug¬ 
ged themselves in the expectation that the English would defeat the 
Nabob and deliver them from his cruelty and oppression.” In fact it 
was the intrigues of the Hindu merchants and bankers at the Murshida- 
bad Darbar that brought about the rupture between the English and 
the Nawab, and, when they saw their new allies beaten, the Hindus 
with a loyalty not often ascribed to them, took every opportunity of pro¬ 
tecting them from the Nawab’s vengeance. Their action was none the 
less effectual because it bent to the storm and was secret. 
The Hindu has always been fond of what may be called u political 
speculation,” and clever young men of this reputedly timorous race have 
always been prepared to risk life and property by lending a helping 
hand to brave men in adversity on what appears an almost impossible 
chance of recovery. Nothing could have appeared more hopeless than 
the condition of the English at Fulta, yet Nubkissen thought it wise to 
urge his relations to save these apparent outcasts from starvation. 
It is not the Hindu only who worships the great Goddess Chance, 
but the Hindu delights in recalling the influence of trifling incidents 
upon the careers of great men. Nubkissen walked in a certain street 
on a certain day, and so became the Company’s Diwan. 
Finally as an illustration of Asiatic reserve and Asiatic love of 
dramatic effect one may notice the disclosure of Nubkissen’s rank. A 
man of high birth, he accepts a post, which, though lucrative and 
probably honourable amongst his fellow-countrymen, gives him no posi¬ 
tion commensurate in the eyes of his European employers with his real 
rank. It is disclosed by an enemy in a way which is intended to mortify 
as well as damage him, but, owing to the lucky accident of Clive’s intui" 
tive knowledge of Asiatic character, the disclosure only adds to his 
honour and confirms his position. 
I have vainly searched the records of the Government of India for 
evidence of Nubkissen’s having assisted the English at Fulta, but the 
accounts of what happened at Fulta are extremely meagre and, though 
the secret supply of provisions by natives under cover of night is 
mentioned, the names of these natives are not given. This is no reason 
