Till we have an opportunity, then, for further explanation on this subject, our readers may rest satisfied that with regard to all under the rank of field-officer, though the nominal amount of pay in the East Indies may appear greater, yet when the contingencies which the officer has to provide for in that country are taken into account, it is virtually much less than in either of the other stations where a colonial allowance is granted, and consequently that it must sink in the same proportion in the scale when put into comparison with the colonial allowances in the French service. Throughout this comparison it will be observed that, as yet, we have only slightly alluded to the heavy expense incurred by a British officer at his regimental mess, which it is incumbent on him to attend and pay for, whether suitable to his finances or not. Constituted on the extravagant scale that messes are at present, this proves a very heavy burden indeed upon an officer who perhaps has little to trust to but his pay, and being an expense from which the French officer is exempt, of course falls to be taken into account in our calculation. It is obviously not the mere nominal pay an officer receives, but the balance remaining available for his daily expenditure after all authorized deductions, which properly should form the ground-work of our comparison. We have no doubt that in the British service messes were originally established as much with a view to economy as to promote that unanimity and good fellowship which almost invariably results from a body of officers assembling daily at the same table, and associating as the members of one family; but arrangements most praiseworthy in themselves are too often perverted, and what at first seemed the best possible invention for economising the small pittance of an officer's pay has, by the luxury of later years, been converted into the source of numerous pecuniary embarrassments even to the most prudent and the most praiseworthy. Though the cost of every article of provisions has diminished to at least one half since the termination of the war, yet in many regiments, wherein the expense of messing at that period was no more than half a guinea a-week, it now costs, on an average, nearly double that sum. In most infantry regiments serving at home the price of messing, one day with another, is from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d., and in cavalry about one-half more. If we include the expense of mess guests, which the hospitality of most regiments entails on their members, the average deductions from an ensign's pay, under the head of messing alone, is not less than half his income, exclusive altogether of his allowance of wine, which we willingly leave out of view, as it is optional to him to decline taking it. In the French service no such expense is entailed on the officer, who dines when and where he chooses-generally at some of the cheapest table d'hôtes in the neighbourhood, where a good substantial dinner can be had by contract for about a franc daily. In many corps where a spirit of sociality prevails, the officers of the same rank dine together: the subalterns form one mess, the captains another, and the field officers a third, so that the expenses of each grade may be proportioned to their pay. This arrangement, however, is merely optional: any officer possessing means may, if he wishes a better or more expensive dinner, attach himself to the mess of those higher in rank, though such deviations, we believe, seldom take place. Anxious, however, as we are for economising the funds of our military brethren, we should be sorry to see any such system adopted in our service, which would tend so materially to destroy that spirit of equality so predominant among all ranks at a British mess-table. We merely mention the fact to show how differently the two armies are constituted in so far as regards this most material item of domestic as well as military expenditure. We have omitted extending our comparison to the pay of the medical department, because there are so many variations in the scale of remunerations consequent on length of service, that we have deemed it more prudent to leave that branch of the subject to be discussed by one of that profession than to attempt it, perhaps inefficiently, ourselves. Neither have we drawn any deductions as to the comparative pay of quartermaster and paymaster in the two services, because these officers in the French army are allowed to retain their regimental rank along with their appointments, and consequently have the benefit of progressive promotion in their corps, from which, in the British army, they are entirely excluded. It would not, therefore, have been fair to bring the pay of two classes of officers so dissimilar in their ultimate prospects at all into comparison with each other. The only other officer of the regimental staff to whose remuneration we have to call the attention of our readers is the adjutant. Never, perhaps, in any army, or in any profession, was there an appointment of which the pay was so inadequate in itself, or regulated by such anomalous principles, as that of adjutant in the British service. By the present Regulations, the pay of an adjutant is made up to 8s. 6d. a-day, whatever his regimental rank may the obvious consequence of which is, that the remuneration for his labours decreases, instead of increasing, with his length of service. be; Thus the pay of an ensign, which is only 5s. 3d. a-day, is made up to Ss. 6d. when appointed adjutant, giving him an increased pay of 3s. 3d. a-day for the duties of that office. A lieutenant under seven years standing, whose pay is only 6s. 6d., receives in like manner 8s. 6d. a-day when appointed adjutant; thus affording him 2s. a-day as a remuneration for his extra duties. But a lieutenant above seven years standing whose pay is 7s. 6d. aday, receives no more than 8s. 6d. as adjutant, consequently gains only 1s. per day by his appointment. Thus, strange as it may appear, the remuneration for the duties of this important situation is thrice as much to an ensign of a twelvemonth's standing, and who, from a want of years as well as of professional experience, cannot possibly be qualified for the task, as to a lieutenant perhaps a dozen years in the service, who has acquired, in the course of that period, a thorough knowledge of the peculiarities, the follies, and the vices of soldiers, and who, from the salutary influence which that experience enables him to exert over their minds, has always the best means of preventing crime and the readiest mode of detecting it. That intimate knowledge of the character, the habits, and the feelings of each individual in a corps which an adjutant of long standing is sure to possess, affords him ample opportunities of checking the first tendency to indiscipline, and by judicious remonstrance or mild punishment crushing in the bud those minor offences which, if passed over unnoticed, invariably terminate in confirmed recklessness and gross depravity. And yet to such an officer what is the remuneration? One shilling per day-No-that is merely the nominal remuneration; for out of it he has to provide himself with a horse, to pay for shoeing, medicine, and veterinary aid for that horse when required; to furnish and keep up the saddlery and equipments of an adjutant, and give the usual allowance of 1s. 6d. a-week to the servant acting as his groom. The only allowance made him by Government, on account of his horse, being for forage, which is not more than sufficient to cover the expense of that item. Thus the extra pay of a shilling a-day, or 181. 5s. a-year, becomes liable to the following deductions : Price of horse, renewable say every eighth year Total cost for eight years £45 11 56 Hence the estimated annual expense of upholding horse and horseappointments for one year is £56 ÷ 8, or Shoeing, 2s. per month; medicine, &c. 2s. a-month Allowance of 1s. 6d. a-week to soldier acting as groom, is annually Total deductions Remains annually for service as adjutant Total extra pay as above .£7 0 2 8 3 18 13 6 4 19 £18 5 Consequently the actual emolument of an adjutant, who is a lieutenant of seven years' standing, is no more than 47. 19s. per annum, or 31d. a-day; and it is only under the most judicious management, and supposing that his horse meets with no accident which involves him in the expense of replacing it before the expiration of eight years, that it will amount to as much. And for this handsome remuneration what are the duties exacted? In the morning the adjutant is obliged to rise at an untimely hour to superintend the drilling of recruits, which probably keeps him occupied till breakfast time. Then comes guard-mounting, at which he must be present, being responsible not only for the accuracy of the details but for the sobriety and fitness of the guards for their duty. After guardmounting, he attends parade, which generally occupies him till twelve o'clock, when he waits on the commanding officer with the delinquents of the preceding day. Their cases being discussed, he has to remain in the orderly-room preparing the regimental orders as directed by the commanding officer, and arranging the details of duty for the following day. After which a considerable portion of his time must necessarily be occupied in superintending the various returns required to be forwarded in the course of the month, and for the accuracy of which his commission is responsible. If there is a court-martial sitting, his presence is indispensable to give evidence as to the character and service of the prisoner. Should there, however, be no duty of this kind to attend to,-no skeleton drill or sword-exercise for officers-no afternoon drill for recruits to detain him,-it is possible that, about once aweek, he may enjoy the privilege of breathing the air beyond the precincts of the barracks for an hour or two, when he is summoned to the evening parade, at which he remains till the bugle warns him U, S. JOURN, No. 85, Dec. 1835, 2 G to prepare for the more pleasant duties of the mess-table. These over, he probably closes the evening by writing such official letters as the commanding-officer has instructed him to prepare in the course of the day. And for these labours-all of which, with the exception of parade, are in addition to the usual routine of regimental duty performed by other officers-the actual remuneration amounts to 31d. a-day, in addition to his pay, being at the rate of something less than a halfpenny per hour for the extra time thus occupied. Truly this is economy with a vengeance! Were an adjutant to gain any advantage in the shape of promotion, his pay would doubtless be a matter of less moment; but if already a lieutenant, he derives no benefit whatever in this respect from his appointment. He has nothing to expect save his chance of promotion in the ordinary course of seniority; while an ensign, if appointed to an adjutancy, has not only the superiority in point of pay which we have already alluded to, but is entitled to take his place as supernumerary lieutenant so soon as he attains the head of the list of ensigns. Thus both in pay and the still more vital question of promotion, the adjutant of junior standing has immensely the advantage of the senior, though, doubtless, much less fitted for the duties of his situation. We trust that in these days, when the spirit of military investigation seems at length aroused, some measures will be taken to improve the pay and prospects of a class of officers whose labours are so inadequately requited. This might be done without any material expense to the public, by making the allowance of adjutant 2s. 6d. per day in addition to the pay of his rank, whatever that may be. Thus the ensign would receive 7s. 9d., the lieutenant under seven years 9s., and the one above seven years 10s. a-day. Some advantage in point of rank might also be conceded them, without in the slightest degree infringing on the prospects of others, by allowing them, so soon as they attain the top of the list of lieutenants, to receive forthwith the rank of captain, and remain as supernumerary in that grade till a death-vacancy occurred for them, when their appointment as adjutant would be vacated, and others nominated in their stead. This would operate as a considerable inducement to old lieutenants to hold the appointment, as at present they have every chance, unless the corps is in a bad climate, of remaining five or six years at the head of the list before they are promoted by a death-vacancy. It is interesting to contrast this inadequate remuneration, both in regard to pay and promotion, for the rank of adjutant in our service with the liberal regulations of the French service towards officers holding that important situation. By these regulations every officer appointed adjutant, who has previously served four years as lieutenant, becomes at once entitled to the rank and pay of a second-captain, and is borne as supernumerary upon the establishment of that grade so long as he holds the appointment. An adjutancy thus becomes well worthy of competition, and an inducement is consequently held out in that service, which does not exist in the British, for an officer to perfect himself in the necessary acquirements of his profession, in order to insure his attaining a prize which not only increases his pay, but materially forwards his professional prospects. But it is not in this respect alone that the French service holds out rewards for talent and exertion in the junior grades of the military profession: another and a still more decided spur to exertion is found in those honorary distinctions which are distributed with a liberal hand, and which do not merely confer the empty honour of a military decoration, but carry along with them a considerable addition to an officer's income, and consequently require to be particularly noticed as materially affecting the comparative pay of the two armies. In every French regiment there are several officers who, either for brilliant conduct in the field, distinguished military merit, or length of service, have received the honourable distinction of the Cross of the Legion of Honour or of St. Louis. In order to be recommended for these by length of service, a candidate must have served for at least twenty-five years, of which every year passed in the colonies or in a campaign is allowed to be reckoned as two. The number receiving this honour annually must, with the exception of the chevaliers, be regulated by the vacancies; but as the establishment only restricts the number bearing the cross of officer to 2000, of commander to 400, grand officers to 160, and grand crosses to 80; and as one-half of all the vacancies which fall are given in the army, there can be little doubt that most officers either of long standing or considerable merit must ultimately attain this distinction, which, besides conferring various privileges in the maintenance and education of their children in the public institutions of that order, gives the following addition to their full or half-pay-Chevalier, 250 francs, or 10l. per annum; officers, 1000 francs, or 40l. per annum; grand officers, 5000 francs, or 2001. per annum; and grand-cross, 5000 francs, or 2001. per annum. The order of St. Louis confers similar pay and privileges, and to nearly an equal extent, but the numbers are more restricted: the grandcrosses being only 60, commanders 120, chevaliers, as in the Legion of Honour, unlimited. Here, then, we have a large proportion-probably amounting to not less than a seventh-of the officers in the French army drawing from this source a handsome addition to their pay, which we have not hitherto taken into account in our comparison, and which would doubtless have tended to turn the scale very materially in favour of the French service. The mere addition of pay, however, is but a trifling consideration : it is the moral influence which these prizes for military worth possess in exciting officers to a course of honourable exertion, wherein consists their chief excellence. To attain them, too, it is by no means necessary that an officer should be of advanced rank-they are open to the competition of all; the subaltern and the general here alike find objects of ambition; and it is with humbling regret we are bound to admit how different is the case in our own service, where, in the distribution of military honours, the junior ranks seem entirely forgotten. But few of our captains, and we believe scarce one of the humble grade of subaltern, have ever been honoured with a military order even of the lowest class. This cannot surely arise from want of merit. Bold, indeed, would be the assertion, that among upwards of seven thousand individuals of these ranks, on full and half-pay, there exist none whose talent, whose application, or whose service, are worthy of some mark of their |