Under such treatment there could be neither self-respect nor pride in their profession. Of their general behaviour, we may gather some idea from an entry concerning Lieutenant Parker at this time. He was arraigned before the Council for drinking, brawling with his men, and frequenting base houses, for which the Council deprived him of his commission; but as he was 'an extraordinary person in disciplining (drilling) soldiers,' he was appointed adjutant of the regiment till he should give a specimen of improved behaviour. When there was fighting to be done, the command was taken by factors and writers, who were given temporary commissions as captains, colonels, etc. Midford, Brown, Cowan, and others we hear of in command of troops, were only soldiers for the occasion. So far back as 1676 the Directors had enjoined on their civil servants to acquire a knowledge of military discipline, that in the event of any sudden attack they might bear arms. Clive was far from being the first of the Company's servants to lay down the pen for the sword, but he was the first to do so permanently.
The inferior quality of the Company's officers through the first half of the century is reflected in the fact that among the many who distinguished themselves in the hard fighting that went on from 1751 to 1764, we find only two who had not graduated in the King's service. These were Clive, who entered the Company's service as a writer, and Preston, who was sent to India as a civil engineer. Of the Company's purely military officers we hear little or nothing.
The men were worse than the officers. Instead of the sturdy agricultural labourers and farmers' sons that filled the ranks of the King's regiments, they were 'the refuse of the vilest employments in London,' as Orme described them fifty years later; 'the worst of their kind,' according to Clive. Of all nationalities, ages, and colours, badly armed, badly fed, and badly paid, they were almost without discipline. The native chiefs vied with each other in getting Europeans into their service, so that none but the most wretched would stay to serve the Company. At the best they were only factory guards, and maintained for purposes of escort and display; and it was always the Company's practice to retain officers and men in their service up to any age. On one occasion we find Boone writing to the Directors that 'it would not do to disgust the men too much.' Miserable as was their pay of sixteen laris[9] a month, we find them complaining to the Council that Midford had kept back two laris a month from each man. To which Midford replied that he never received nor took any more profit from the soldiers than what other officers did, all through the island of Bombay; with which answer the Council was apparently satisfied. The real grievance of the men appears to have been that Midford, not being a military officer, was not entitled to make the deduction. The Directors were careful in enjoining that powder was not to be wasted at exercise; "but sometimes the men must be used to firing, lest in time of action they should start at the noise or the recoil of their arms." To bring such officers and men into the field was to invite disaster. Soldiers are not made by dressing men in uniform and putting muskets into their hands.
[Illustration: Map]
[1] According to the Company's instructions in 1675, writers were to receive no salary at all for the first five years, and after that £10 a year. In 1699 the Court of Directors settled the salaries of merchants at £60, factors at £40, and writers at £20 per annum (Bruce); but in 1716 the salaries were as above stated.
[2] The London Company and the English East India Company were amalgamated in 1708.
[3] 1674.
[4] It was afterwards re-established, and again abolished in Boone's time.
[5] Bombay was subordinate to the Surat factory till 1685.
[6] Four years after returning to England, Keigwin was given the command of a frigate. In 1690 he accompanied the expedition against the French in the West Indies, and fell at the head of his men in the assault of Basseterre, St. Christopher's.—Dic. Nat. Bio.