that
from the 1st of January, 1766, the double batta should be withdrawn,
except as regarded the second brigade, then stationed at Allahabad.
This brigade, on account of the high prices of provisions at the
station, and the expense of procuring the necessary supplies from
Europe, was to be allowed double batta in the field, {182}and the old
original single batta in cantonments or in garrison, until it should
be recalled within the provinces. This rule was to be applied to all
troops beyond the Karmnasa. Clive directed further that the rest of
the army should receive single batta when marching or in the field,
and half single batta when in cantonment or in garrison, as at Mungir
or Patna; but when at Calcutta or within the Presidency division the
officers would receive no batta at all, but free quarters in lieu of
it.

The order was badly received by the officers. They had enjoyed the
privilege of double batta and its accessories so long that they had
come to regard such allowances as their right by prescription. They
at once memorialized the Government with a view to obtain a
modification. But the reply Clive invariably gave them was to the
effect that the orders of the Court had left him no option in the
matter. Driven into a corner, their regard for their interests got
the better of their sense of discipline. The officers of the several
brigades and regiments entered into a correspondence with one
another, formed committees, and decided to wrench by force the
rights, as they deemed them, of which the order of the Court had
deprived them. In a word, the European army of India, officers and
men--for the men were prepared to follow the lead of the
officers--combined against the Government.

Space will not permit me, nor is it requisite, that I should detail
the measures they adopted to bend the {183}Government to their will.
It must suffice to state that the mutiny was of a most formidable
character. So complete was the organization of the conspiring
officers, so well laid were their plans, so secret had been their
measures, that, during the period of four months the organization was
in progress, not a single whisper of it had reached the Government.
Clive received the first intimation of it when he was officially
informed of it by the commander of the first brigade--a man who
sympathized with the movement and desired its success. At the moment
the conspirators were ready for action. That they possessed the
sympathy