During these proceedings Clive's mind appears, from his whole correspondence, public and private, to have been resolutely fixed on the accomplishment of the objects for which he abandoned ease and affluence in his native country; namely, those of restoring discipline in the military, and order in the civil, branches of the service. But we are able to trace the motives under which he acted on this momentous occasion more minutely in his private than in his public communications. From his letters to General Carnac and others it is evident that Lord Clive cherished, even at the moment he was reducing them to obedience, the kindest feelings towards the officers of the Bengal army. In one to the General he makes some mild but judicious remarks upon the warm language which his friend had used in representing the discontent of the officers under his orders (prior to the combination) at their being superseded by Captain Macpherson, whom the Council-Board at Calcutta had admitted to the rank of captain in a mode which the Bengal officers deemed injurious to their interests. "I am concerned," Lord Clive observes in this letter[32], "at the warmth of your letter to the Board. Although they have used both you and me extremely ill, and, as individuals, deserved our utmost contempt, yet I think there is some indulgence due to their stations. That they have acted unjustly, as well as contrary to the known rules of the army, in the case of Captain Macpherson, cannot be doubted; yet I cannot think the officers ought to carry matters so far as to insist upon a Governor and Council retracting what they have done. There must be an absolute power lodged somewhere, and that certainly is in the hands of the Governor and Council, until the pleasure of the Court of Directors be known. However, if the account of Captain Macpherson is proved true, I will be answerable that he shall act as youngest of the corps he has been introduced to, and take care that no such unjust proceedings shall be countenanced in future. I hope this will prove satisfactory to the officers, who, by their gallant behaviour, are entitled to every mark of attention and distinction from the Company." This kind and friendly remonstrance, on the part of Lord Clive, had not the desired effect: on the contrary, it appears by the following letter to his respected friend General Lawrence, that the resentment of the officers at this act of government gave rise to demands of a character that showed how much a spirit of insubordination had spread throughout the Bengal army.