Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 17.10.4

17.10.4

and in fact the prediction came to be verified just as his mind had foreseen. On account of this singular prediction, I remember that this Prince being then in the zenith of his power, his General, Mustapha-qhan, who had a boundless influence upon his mind, proposed to him to take Calcutta, and to put all the English to the sword. No answer was given to the proposal. The General brought it forward at another time, but with the support and recommendation of the Viceroy's two sons-in-law, and no answer was given again; but as soon as Mustapha-qhan was gone, he said to the two advisers: "My dear children, Mustapha-qhan is a soldier of fortune, "and a man in monthly pay, who lives by his sabre; of course "he wishes that I should always have occasion to employ him, and to put it in his power to ask favours for himself and friends; but in the name of common sense, what is the matter with your ownselves, that you should join issue with him, and make common cause of his opinion? What wrong have the English done me, that I should wish them ill? Look at yonder plain covered with grass; should you set fire to it, there would be no stopping its progress; and who is the man then who shall put out a fire that shall break forth at sea, and from thence come out upon land? Beware of lending an ear to such proposals again; for they will produce nothing but evil."