Some Books of the Week
MUTINY in the British Service has been very rare, even among the rank and file, so that cases like the outbreak in the Fleet at the Nore in 1797 are taken very seriously by the his- torians. Yet Clive in 1766 had to deal with a number of dis- affected officers in the East India Company's service in Bengal, and Sir. Alexander Cardew, in an instructive volume entitled A White Mutiny (Constable, 12s. 6d.), describes a similar episode in Madras in 1809. The main causes of the trouble were jealousy between the Company's officers and the King's officers serving in India, slow promotion, distrust of the civil administration, and annoyance at the loss of customary allowances, all aggravated by lack of discipline. The quarrel came to a head when Sir George Barlow, a Bengal civilian, was appointed Governor of Madras in 1807. The author thinks that Barlow has been unfairly blamed for alienating the Company's officers, but admits that he was cold in manner. On the facts as stated, he seems to have shown commendable firmness. The mutiny was ended without bloodshed save at Seringapatam, where a thousand sepoys, led by disaffected officers, were attacked and dispersed with heavy loss by regular troops. The story was well worth recalling from • oblivion, and it is admirably told by Sir Alexander Cardew.
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