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of the original intention of the royal founder and his advisers. It was animating to see these old soldiers drawn up in their best trim, and to mark the heartiness of their cheers as their King and his Consort passed between their files to the house of the Governor. Here an interesting scene took place. The veteran Field-Marshal, Sir Samuel Hulse, now, we believe, past his 90th year, being prevented by gout from standing, though in the vigorous possession of his faculties, remained seated in his wheel-chair while his Majesty stood beside him for some time, familiarly chatting of byegone times and of the Institution. Their Majesties, having then taken a cordial leave, quitted the College under the salute of the military, and amidst the respectful greetings of a select assemblage of spectators.

To the constitution of the Military Staff of this Establishment the most fastidious inquirer cannot take exception. We have spoken of the veteran Governor, whose Lieutenant, Sir Alexander Hope, with Colonels Le Blanc and Wilson, may challenge the ranks of the College to show more honourable wounds or severer suffering than their own-here is no "jesting at scars" which all have "felt ;" and there is a due sympathy and suitableness between the governing and the governed; not so, hypothetically speaking, with what is termed the Civil department of an Institution in its design and spirit purely Military.

We are far from intending to offer the slightest reproach to the many respectable civilians, amounting, we think, to fifty or upwards, who enjoy offices, designed for emeriti soldiers, in the college; it is not their fault that they have been appointed by the favour of successive Paymasters of the Forces to comfortable situations, of which we believe they conscientiously discharge the duties, where duties are attached to them; nor would we disturb the actual incumbents, though we would have this matter better ordered in future. For the full accomplishment of the design of this Institution, and in strict justice to the British Army, for the interests of which the Hospital was exclusively founded, it appears to us indispensable that every appointment in its gift, from the highest to the lowest, should be held by a military man, or the wife or widow of one in such offices as are discharged by females. There is no place, down to that of barber, cook, or scullery-man, which might not be competently filled from the ranks of the Army, thereby increasing the legitimate means of rewarding wounds and meritorious service, not only without additional, but even with diminished, expense. We trust this "reform" may be borne in mind in future appointments.

There is one more suggestion with which, with due submission, we will venture to conclude. The King, in commemoration of the victories achieved by the British Navy, is pleased to attend divine service on their anniversaries, at Greenwich. In conferring a similar honour upon the British Army, by attending service on corresponding occasions at Chelsea, his Majesty would produce a commensurate impression upon his troops, and draw still closer the bonds of brotherhood between the two great branches of the UNITED SERVICE.

ON MILITARY PROMOTION BY PURCHASE.

"A soldier without letters is like a ship without a rudder.”—COLONEL Munro*. MR. EDITOR,-Promotion, by purchase, having lately been defended on the ground of economy, I here beg to offer you some objections to the practice, founded on more general principles.

It must be fairly understood, before we enter on the inquiry, that the Army is raised and kept up for the benefit of the country. The comforts and advantages of the Army, and even the Army itself, must, if necessary, be sacrificed to the good of the country: the country can in no case be sacrificed or injured for the good of the Army. But, self-evident as this proposition is, the interests of the country and of the Army are so closely allied, that any undue attempt to cramp the efficiency of the latter recoils, and may recoil with tremendous reaction, against the safety and prosperity of the former. The extent of sacrifices that a nation has to make in order to support an army must, of course, depend upon circumstances. Nations that have much to lose, whose wealth and prosperity have excited the envy of mighty neighbours, and who are, from the extent of their dominions, liable to be attacked in every quarter of the globe, are necessarily called upon to make great sacrifices for the support of a defensive force: the people of Iceland would, if independent, require comparatively a small army.

This point being fairly admitted on one side, there is another, and a very important one, which the other party must establish before they attempt to defend the present system on the grounds of economy; and that is the relative value of blood and gold. How many men may be risked in order that an ensign's half-pay may be saved? How many may be sacrificed in order that a lieutenant-colonel's pension may be gained? Did Mullins, for instance, purchase his commission? If so, on which side of the account did the balance ultimately fall? The country gained a few pounds and lost 2000 men, to say nothing of honor and renown, by the bargain. Was it a good or a bad bargain, and did the sterling pounds outweigh the sterling bones? All such points must be fairly settled before we can uphold the system of purchase on the grounds of economy.

To say nothing at present of the circumstance that the sale of unattached commissions has entailed upon the public a double corps of officers, and a half-pay list greater than it was on the reduction of the war establishment twenty years ago; let us suppose, for argument's sake, that the system of purchase actually saves to the country a certain sum annually; still must we look at the results which that system produced, and may produce again, before we can place a single one of the splendid farthings, equal almost to Hamilton's wonderful penny, to the clear profit side of the account. Set off against the farthings the blood, fame, and treasures lost by the failure of the following expeditions-all, as we now know, fully equal to the objects for which they were fitted out: Porto-Rico, Holland, Ferrol, Buenos Ayres, Walcheren, New Orleans, Sacket's Harbour, and Platsburg. Tell us, before a balance is struck, what the three sieges of Badajoz may have cost. They were occasioned, in a great measure, by the unsatisfactory result of the action of Campo-Mayor, which enabled a French division to reach the fortress and aid in its defence. The blame of this was not altogether thrown

* His expedition with the worthy Scotch regiment of Mackay.

upon the commander of the Southern Army, but fell upon individuals of far inferior rank. How much may the battle of Fontes d'Honor have cost? It would not have been fought had not an error sent the gallant Beckwith, at the head of the light division, across the Coa, apprized Regnier of his danger, and enabled him to effect his escape. How much loss may the French garrison of Almeida have inflicted on the British in the different actions fought after its evasion from that half-ruined fortress? And how much may have been paid for the unsuccessful cavalry actions fought during the Peninsular War?

war.

We need not suppose that the cause of failure in the enterprizes here named rested exclusively with the commanders; in some cases it is known not to have done so. But as it cannot be charged to a want of gallantry on the part of either men or officers, it must be charged to a want of conduct or professional knowledge on the part of influential individuals there were men on some particular points, or in some particular stations, who were not equal to the duties demanded of them. The just confidence which can result from knowledge alone was wanting somewhere, and without it little of permanent good can be effected in The blame, however, was not entirely with the officers or with the military administration. From the very commencement of the contest a set of economical patriots proclaimed to the world that the British Army were scarcely better than an armed mob, totally incapable of taking the field, or of encountering the tried soldiers of France. Not content with loudly uttering such unpatriotic sentiments, which, had they not been criminal and injurious to the interest of the country, would only have presented amusing specimens of ignorance and folly, these men strove to make good their disastrous prophecies by crushing the military genius of the nation, and by repressing the progress of military science; and to a certain extent they succeeded in their endeavours. There was not enough of military knowledge in the ranks of the Army to put such unworthy sentiments to shame; and torrents of gallant blood had to be wasted in unprofitable enterprises, before the descendants of those who, as history amply shows, had never fled from a fair field, knew that they could fight-before the brothers, comrades, and countrymen of the victors of Camperdown, St. Vincent, and the Nile, knew that they could face a manly foe on firm ground. There was not enough of military knowledge in the ranks of the Army to counteract this monstrous evil, simply because military knowledge, and reflection on professional subjects, were not, and are not, called for by the British system of promotion, according to which wealth is everything, and merit absolutely nothing. There was not knowledge enough in the ranks of the Army to tell us that a bold onset, and good hard blows were worth all the mighty and mystic science of which our adver saries made so loud a boast, and we really did not know that Englishmen could hit as hard as their neighbours. To such an extent had this delusion spread, that even George the Third, the boldest and most British-hearted monarch perhaps that ever sat on the throne of these realms, objected to risk the British Army in Egypt; and his fears, as he himself most nobly confessed, were only overcome by the resolute spirit of old Henry Dundas-not a general or commander of high degree-but a plain Scottish lawyer: and honoured be that lawyer's name, notwithstanding the abuse heaped upon it by the liberal spirits of the age of intellect.

The country is just now paying 15,000l. annually in retired allowances to three Lord Chancellors; it is no doubt paying also large sums of the same kind to retired judges and other high legal functionaries. Now all these retired allowances might have been saved to the public, provided the retired parties had been allowed to sell their chancellorships and other legal situations, to good plain honest persons well provided with cash and patience. And as there would not, in the first instance, have been any unattached judges and chancellors, there must evidently have been a clear and distinct saving to the country. And yet, where is the man who, in his sane and sober senses, would propose or defend such a measure for the purpose of such a saving? What, intrust the lives, safety, and property of individuals to the decision of judges merely because they were wealthy enough to purchase their appointment? The very idea, we should be told, is monstrous and unheard of. And true enough, it would be so. Why then intrust the lives and happiness of soldiers, not by ones and twos, as the lives and fortunes of individuals are intrusted to judges, but by thousands, to officers, merely because they are wealthy enough to purchase their rank and power?

We shall no doubt be told, that judges and chancellors require to be learned in the law, and shall also be reminded, perhaps, of the wellknown saying, which destines the dunces, par excellence, of every family, to the mere head-breaking profession of arms. To the necessity of learning on the part of clergymen and lawyers I am willing to subscribe, and I have a pleasure in adding my conviction that no time, nation, or profession, ever produced so many men of high character, talent, learning, and integrity, as the British bar, and the established churches of Britain. Evil times have undeservedly come over the latter; but the noble character which the former have maintained constitutes one of the best pillars on which rests the internal peace and safety of the country. That any dunce is fit for the army is a saying that has been so often repeated, as to have become almost a fixed axiom, in an age as presumptuous as it is incapable of reasoning; and dearly has the country paid for believing the absurdity. The administration of justice is the calm application of established rules, requiring learning, honour, dignity, and impartiality. War, on the other hand, is continued action, requiring the constant exertion of all the best mental and bodily faculties of which men are capable. Exertions not directed against passive resistance, but against constant reaction. A reaction that comes not in the shape of armed foes alone, but in a thousand different shapes. It comes in the shape of cold, heat, frost, rain, want, rivers, roads, breakages, accidents, miscalculations, misunderstanding: it comes in the shape of all the perverseness, as well as of all the feebleness of body and character to which men are liable; the mere overturning of a cart may, by blocking up a pass or road, impede a movement and cause the loss of valuable lives. Let it not be thought that Generals and Commanders of armies are alone oppressed by such untoward circumstances, far from it; they press upon the leader of every division and subdivision of an army, and every picquet and detachment is as much exposed to them as to the shot of the enemy. And the less a commander, be he Ensign or Field-Marshal, can overcome the difficulties by conduct and judgment, the more must the soldiers suffer in order to atone for the deficiency. To act with energy under the sort of diffi

culties here stated, a man must possess extensive general knowledge, above all, a knowledge of human character; and he must be able to draw just and quick conclusions from that knowledge, in order to make it available in the hour of trial. When Sir Hussey Vivian charged the French cavalry at Waterloo, before he attacked the infantry, he bore in mind, as he has himself told us, the loss which the French cavalry inflicted on the Austrian infantry at Marengo, under nearly similar circumstances, and therefore he determined to put the cavalry hors de combat first, and to deal with the infantry afterwards. A man of Sir Hussey's talents would probably have acted as he did without having these events in his mind; but the mere recollection could hardly fail to bring him to such a resolution, and shows the mighty benefit that may be derived from knowledge.

Ambassadors, the givers of balls, the presenters, at foreign courts, of travelling dandies, the occasional bearers of diplomatic notes-men, in fact, on whom nothing of the slightest importance depends, in these statistical days, never sell their situations to secretaries of legation for the benefit of the public; though every ambassador receives an allowance equal to what is received by about 15 Captains, possibly of long and eventful service. Clerks and subordinates in the different public offices, who are only required to write a clear hand, and to understand, perhaps, the ordinary rules of arithmetic, on whom no responsibility can possibly devolve, never sell their appointments for the sake of public economy. Military men only, on whom the happiness of thousands must depend in time of peace,-who in the course of their professional service may be called upon, and are called upon, to act as judges, jailors, governors, and magistrates, and to whom, in time of war, the lives of thousands are intrusted,-these men only are allowed to sell the rank that gives such fearful power, and on which such high and appalling responsibility is constantly made to rest. Nothing but the fact of our having, all our lives, been familiar with the existence of a system so completely at variance with civilization and humanity, could make us credit the possibility of its existence in an age making the slightest pretension either to the one or the other.

As we live in times not over famous for discrimination, I must here beg the gentlemen who have acquired rank by purchase to recollect, that I am arraigning a system of promotion, and not the individuals who have availed themselves of that system. All men of honest ambition must strive to rise as high as possible in their professions. No man of manly feelings can see himself passed over, by purchase or otherwise, without having those feelings severely lacerated; and the present writer, like others, purchased promotion to the extent of his means, and would have purchased still higher had the means been at his disposal; but such feelings, however natural and laudable to individuals, say nothing in favour of a pernicious system.

But it will perhaps be said,-for what is not said in these days?-that the splendid victories gained under the present system are sufficient proofs of its goodness and excellence. High-sounding assertions of this kind may blind the ignorant, and impose upon the superficial observer who can see only one side of a question; but they will make little impression on minds accustomed to take a full and enlarged view of a subject. We have seen that a number of military enterprises failed in consequence of faulty leading, resulting from the system of promotion now existing in

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