during the night; and is frequently to remind them of their duty, both by his own inspection and the visits of his "young gentlemen." This is an important point, the neglect of which has produced serious loss to the country; for, mighty as the floating bulwarks appear, the impulses are so prodigious that they recall the inscription on the two pitchers si collidimur frangimur.

In a fleet the Lieutenant of the watch is to be extremely attentive to keeping the ship in her station, and is to inform the Captain whenever he apprehends that he shall not be able to do so. He is to advise his Commander of all strange sails that are seen, all signals that are made, and all circumstances which may derange the order of sailing. When his watch has expired, he is to be very exact in delivering correctly to the Lieutenant who relieves him all orders that remain unexecuted; and he is to inform him of all signals made by the Commander-inChief which are still to be obeyed. He is to point out the situation of the flag-ship, and to acquaint him what sail she was under when it could last be ascertained; also whether his own ship was coming up or dropping astern of the Admiral, and every other information necessary to enable him to keep in the assigned order of sailing.

The relieving officer should examine the ship's course, see that the sails are properly trimmed forward and aft, that the look-outs are relieved, that the watch are up, and the ship in her station. He is to direct an intelligent and sharp-sighted Midshipman to keep his eye on the Chief, to note the bearings of his light, and report every signal which is made. Besides the usual lights and lanterns, he will make sure that the Gunner has a sufficient number of guns, not shotted, in readiness for being fired in answer to such signals at night. During a fog he must be especially attentive to the guns fired by the Admiral, that, by observing any alteration which may take place, either in the direc tion or the strength of the report, he may take such steps as may be necessary to prevent the ship's being separated from the fleet. At such times he is moreover enjoined by the Instructions to "be very careful to order the drum to be beaten, or the bell to be sounded, according to the tack the ship may be on, for the information of ships that may be near."

In single ships his vigilance is equally under imperious requisition. If a strange sail be seen in the night, during war, he is to send a Midshipman to acquaint the Captain; himself, in the mean while, getting the ship clear for action, neither running within gun-shot of the stranger till everything is ready, nor dropping to such a distance as to risk losing sight of her. He is never to change the course without express orders, unless in the avoidance of sudden danger, nor to make sail so as to overstrain the spars; but if it should be absolutely requisite to carry on canvass under particular circumstances, then he is to see the whole watch at their respective stations, with the clew-garnets, clew-lines, and down-hauls stretched along ready for all the exigences of the service in hand.

In the morning watch the Lieutenant is to direct the boatswain to examine the state of the rigging, and the carpenter that of the masts and yards; and, having received their reports, he is to inform the Captainof any defects they may discover. He is also to order the carpenter, or one of his mates, to sound the well and see that the ports are well barred in twice at least in each watch; and the gunner, or one of his

mates, to examine, once at least in each watch, the state of the lashing of the guns, and to report to him when they have done so. In the night he is to make the master-at-arms, or a ship's corporal, go the rounds, and visit all parts of the ship, every half-hour, to see that there is no disturbance among the men, that no unauthorized lights are burning, and that no tobacco is smoked but in the galley.

We would here caution the officer of the watch against a practice over which the master-at-arms has no control, it being one of which the officer himself is too frequently guilty: we allude to the weakness of allowing idlers or passengers to pester him with their insignificant and ill-timed discourse, when all his faculties should be applied to his Majesty's service. It was while an old Indian resident, who had grown yellow in the Company's employ, was treating of nabobs and nautches, and curries and catamarans, and sipauhis and sangaree, and discussing the most digestive edibles through all the labyrinths of chymification, chylification, sanguification, and assimilation,-subjects so dear to those high-dried pieces of humanity,-that one of his Majesty's goodly ships ran on shore in the Bay of Bengal. Yet the Lieutenant was one who thought being talked to death a "most agonistic and tedious way of expiring," but, from want of sufficient nerve to be apparently rude, had suffered his ears to be bored, during every first watch, with the dolorous outpourings of the guinea-coloured veteran, who loved to tell "how Mr. Grievous died of the cholera coming from Seringapatam-the large doses of calomel administered without relief; that Mr. Bagpipes of the Civil Service wished to become a member of the fund, but the GovernorGeneral did not consider him entitled, for such matters overlooked might open the door to others;" and whole fathoms of twaddle equally interesting, in the hearing of which a Royal ship and the lives of her crew were at stake.

The Lieutenant has to see that every occurrence worthy of note during his watch be properly entered upon the log-board, and confirmed by his initials; and when the details have been entered from thence into the ship's log-book, he is to sign that with the initials of his name at the end of each watch which he has kept. Besides this responsibility, he himself is to keep a log, according to a prescribed form, for transmission to the Navy Board, without which he will be unable to receive his pay.

Such is the charge of a Lieutenant of the Watch. But, important as the duties certainly are, they may be executed without any of that fidgetty, harassing bustle in which those delight who are known as " jib and staysail jacks," whose restlessness is often the result of a want of the innate confidence of skill. All unnecessary night fatigue should be avoided, and the shorter the mandatory word of command, the surer will be the consequent evolution. We will now, however, release him from the deck, and recommend that he should forthwith repair to his cabin, and there forget the outward world as soon as he can, there being no necessity for disturbing his sleeping messmates by the way, with tidings of its being a fine night, that the wind has shifted half a point, or anything else of that remarkable character, the communication of which is so apt to draw forth most ungrateful returns from the drowsy communicatees.

PROVISION FOR OLD OFFICERS.

THOSE who have read the Duke of Wellington's opinion of what are the duties, and what is required from an officer of the Line, may be inclined to smile at the similarity of the portrait to that of Caleb Quotem; but, upon reflection, they will allow that no one is better able to form a correct estimate of the numerous contingencies to which a soldier is liable, and of the many demands which may be made upon his talents at one period or other of his service.

Admitting his Grace's opinion to be correct, it is needless to observe, that in order to perform such duties with advantage to his employers, an officer ought not to have passed that time of life when both his mind and body are capable of their utmost exertion: when past middle age they become irksome and disagreeable to ourselves, and are rarely performed as advantageously to the country as they would be by younger men, whose hopes have been unchecked by disappointment, and whose zeal remains unwearied by the monotonous routine to which all are alike subject.

A glance at the Army List will easily convince us that there are but too many officers who are superannuated for the duties of their rank; for it does not follow, that he who is both fit and willing to command a regiment should be equally so to perform the duties of a subaltern. Spread, as our colonies are, over the four quarters of the globe, we require young men able and ready to encounter fatigue and privation under the snows of America, or the scorching heats of India; but unless some new system be introduced, our Army will soon be composed of veterans whose service has been performed, and who wait only for the sound of that trumpet whose summons none may disobey.

Brevets are only a partial remedy, and have but very little effect upon the lower grades of officers: on the other hand, if the Secretary-at-War were prepared to allow those who have completed twenty-one years' service to retire on the full-pay of their rank, the boon would be confined entirely to the junior ranks; because the price of their commissions, if sunk in an annuity, would always obtain for a Major or Lieutenant-Colonel an interest equivalent to the amount of their full-pay. For example-if a Lieutenant-Colonel, at forty years of age, sells his commission for 5000l.* (which is 1000l. less than usual), he will obtain for it, at any insurance office, an annuity of 3501.,-while his full-pay would only have amounted to 3107. 5s.

At different intervals the Government have been obliged to resort to various expedients to enable themselves to bring in younger men, and provide for the old ones-indeed, the regulation which first fixed the prices of commissions was made partly with that view: as yet, however, they have failed in obtaining their object; we have still Colonels in command of regiments whose commissions as Colonels are dated 1822,

* We must not forget that commissions are private property, subject to certain regulations made by his Majesty, and purchased (only by his permission) from individuals, and not from Government: they can, therefore, only be taken into consideration as private property, which the Crown, by granting permission for its transfer, has recognized as such.

and Lieutenant-Colonels and Majors of 1814. Among the Captains we find sixty-eight (some of whom are brevet Majors) whose commissions are dated between the years 1805 and 1815; and among the Subalterns one hundred and eighteen between the years 1808 and 1815. These numbers do not include those who are unattached, or on half-pay, or who have in any way retired from active service; but only such as are now serving with their regiments either in the colonies or at home. Supposing, therefore, a Subaltern of 1815 to be promoted to a company, and to serve only twenty years as a Captain (instead of twenty-nine, as many have done), twenty years as a Major, twenty years as a Lieutenant-Colonel, and fourteen as a Colonel, he will, by the time he becomes a Major-General, have somewhat passed that period of life when the French decide a man to be no longer fit for active service*.

But we shall be told that we want but few Generals, and that all cannot ever arrive at that rank: let us then turn the tables, and see at how early an age it would be possible for an officer, under existing circumstances, to reach the rank of Major-General. We will take Lord Brudenell as an example, because his Lordship was promoted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy in six years from the time of his first entering the Army. His Lordship's commission as Lieutenant-Colonel is dated November 1830; and in November 1835, he had 540 effective Lieutenant-Colonels before him, and 124 below him: in other words, 124 casualties have occurred among the Lieutenant-Colonels in the four years ending in November 1835. As, however, the casualties, including brevets, have been equal to thirty-four per annum, upon an average of eighteen years ending in January 1836, we shall take that number as the average of casualties which will occur annually among the Lieutenant-Colonels senior to his Lordship, at which rate he will have to serve nearly sixteen years more ere he arrive at the rank of Colonel; we must then add eight years more † for his service as Colonel, and he will have completed thirty-four years ere he arrive at the rank of MajorGeneral; and had he entered the Army at sixteen years of age, he might then be only fifty.

This would do very well: but we must remember that his Lordship was promoted to the command of a regiment when he had served only six years; and had he entered the Army at sixteen, instead of twentyseven years of age, he would have then been too young for such an important command. We find, however, that the Lieutenant-Colonels of the Line have, upon an average, served upwards of twenty-five years ere they attained that rank: if, then, we suppose them to enter the Army at eighteen, and to serve twenty-five years in the junior grades, twenty as Lieutenant-Colonels, and eight as Colonels, they can scarcely

*At the age of sixty-five, all officers in the French Army are placed on the retired-list, and considered as no longer capable of enduring the fatigues of a military life.

+ The two Colonels Lygon have served fourteen years as full Colonels; but we have not made our calculation upon them, because they did not wish to be promoted: we have made it upon Sir J. Hanbury, K.C.H., who was promoted to the rank of Colonel in July 1821, and to the rank of Major-General in July 1830. The number of Colonels before him in 1821 was 232,-which gives an average casualty of 26 per annum: supposing, therefore, the same casualties to occur to the 201 Colonels now on the List, they will all be provided for in eight years.

be fit for the duties attached to the rank of Major-General, even should they live to arrivé at it *.

It is true, we have at present Lieutenant-Generals who are still active and able men; but we must not forget that many of them were Lieutenant-Colonels at a very early period of life-(Sir E. Paget at nineteen years of age, and Sir F. Adam at twenty-one)-and this at a time when there were not one-tenth part of the present number of Lieutenant-Colonels and Colonels before them, and when brevets were given without much hesitation.

Promotion for the higher ranks, with exception of the officers of the Guards and his Majesty's Aides-de-camp, is determined by survivorship, and depends entirely upon the longevity of those above us; so that, having once attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, the period of all further promotion may be calculated almost to a fraction: and unless some new plan be devised, we shall in a few years have no MajorGenerals, except Guardsmen, capable of taking the field. Indeed, we know that there are already some Lieutenant-Colonels of Artillery, on full-pay, who are incapable of mounting on horseback; and we heard of a Colonel of Marines, who applied in vain for permission to resign his command, after having served his Majesty sixty years, the latter part of which have been passed not a hundred miles from Plymouth.

There appears to us to be but one mode of remedying the evil, namely, that of providing a proper and sufficient retiring allowance for officers when they have completed a fair term of service on full-paysay twenty-five years-half of which have been passed in the colonies, or on other foreign service; but unless the provision be sufficient, it would entirely defeat its own object,--because none would be tempted to accept it while they could in any way get through their duties on full-pay.

The plan adopted by the East India Company, although far from perfect, is considerably better than any which has ever obtained in our Army: officers in their Service are not supposed to purchase any of their commissions, and at the end of twenty-three years' service they are permitted to retire on the full-pay of whatever rank they then hold. As, however, the acceptance of these terms is optional, and not compulsory, the Directors have found it impossible to prevent those officers, who have it in their power to accept them, from declining to do so, unless tempted by a certain sum subscribed by those who will succeed to their regimental vacancies. Latterly, therefore, the Company have ceased to meddle with what they cannot control; and although still forbidden to be sold, the relative value of commissions in their Service is as well established as the surplus, in addition to the regulated sum, is in ours.

Let us now compare the advantages of the King's and the Company's Services. At sixteen years of age a young man enters the latter, and

*It may be urged, that from the advance in age, the casualties of the next twenty, years must be infinitely greater than those of the last twenty; but that can only apply to Lord F. Fitzclarence, and one or two other young men, who are now Colonels, because the vacancies of the elder Lieutenant-Colonels have been annually filled up by Majors, who have the same average chance of life which the seniors had when at the bottom of the List: added to which, we understand it is the intention of the Secretary-at-War to reduce the number of General Officers, by not filling up their vacancies.