The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-19 00:00:00

464 LAYARD was not one of the favorites of the clique who conducted the war. He went too far back in his excavations to please the tastes of certain persons. If he had only stopped at the Middle Ages, and not given fresh proofs of the truth of Holy Writ, he might have won the reg ard of the advocates of theocracy in reli gion, and bureaucracy in politics. While, therefore, Mr. LAYARD'B public con duct does not meet with our concurrence, we are disposed to make some allowance for " that impulsive temperament " alluded to by Lord DERBY. If he had not the generous warmth of an ardent mind, he never would have had the force to perform the exploits which have given him a remarkable name. In England we are jealous of versatility of intellect, and we are too prone to disbelieve that a man can succeed in two pursuits. Hence, many joined in crying down Mr. LAYARD when he entered on his thankless mission. But other eminent politicians made graver mistakes than Mr. LAYARD ; and he is a man of too much sense not to profit by experience. Entirely unsuited for the part of a demagogue, at no time of his life had the Member for Aylesbury any turn towards malignity. He has numbers of influential friends in various political connections, who know that he is not cf a virulent disposition, and that even with political adversaries he has preserved enduring friendship, and is esteemed for personal amiability. . _ Convicted of indiscretion, it is for Mr. LAYARD now by practical conduct to sustain his reputation. An Ishmael in Parliament would require extraordinary eloquence to sustain the attention of an impatient assembly. But a man of resolute public purposes, with definite objects, could effect much for the country, if with the great knowledge of Mr. LAYARD he exhibited practical capacity for action. THE INDIAN AND THE ROYAL ARMIES. THOUGH the proposal for amalgamating the India Company's army with that of England is for the moment at an end, yet there are some considerations connected with that pro posal which may be usefully kept in sight. Doubtless in such a union there are perceptible advantages. The Queen's officer, from the terms on which he serves, the rank out of which he is taken, and the nature of service at home, is less professional, less exclusively a military man, than his Indian brother-in-arms. The latter enjoys, or may enjoy, a vast superiority in training, dependent on the following causes— the having to deal with a larger force, the possession of a country which during half the year is everywhere open for manclmvring, whereas at home it is difficult to find a square mile of ground unenclosed, the necessity of attending more closely to military duty—a necessity almost forced upon him by the ab sence of other occupation, especially at an outpost in the Mofussil—and, lastly, the more frequent occurrence of war on a small scale. We grant then, that, if possible, a freer com munication between one army and the other would be for the public advantage. But ob stacles exist which no sane man can overlook. In England there prevails a system of purchase which, whatever its faults, at least supersedes the necessity of a retiring allow ance. In India, though purchase in a certain form exists, and is even tolerated, it does not constitute a system, the same object being better attained by a liberal scale of retiring pension. Are you to do away with purchase at home by a stroke of the pen, paying down eight millions for the purpose ? Or, failing that, are you to extend to the Indian army the benefits of a purchase system as it exists here? Neither alternative seems expedient ; yet one or other must be taken. Or, to put the case more generally, is the rule of promotion to be " merit "—i s., selection of individuals at the discretion of Government? If so, the Corn pany's officer, banished from home, and desti tute of Parliamentary influence, is certain to suffer. A boundless field fof jobbing will be THE PRESS. opened, of which some Ministers will not be slow to avail themselves. Or is it to be, as here, purchase ? Few persons would desire to see that anomalous system introduced where it does not already exist, though, in sheer perplexity, we tolerate its continuance among ourselves. Besides, the Compamy's servant, generally a poorer man than the Queen's officer, will thereby find himself in a position of moral and humiliating inferiority. But, failing the merit and purchase systems, what remains except that of simple seniority— objectionable at all times, and still more ob jectionable iu the case supposed, because equal terms of services are not equivalent where the one. has taken place in a healthy and the other in a tropical climate ? Thus, by the projected amalgamation, the Indian officer is in any case a sufferer. He has less in• fluence—he has less wealth—and after an equal period of service he is an older man— than the Queen's officer similarly circum stanced. And what does he gain in return ? A nominal equality of rank—an object easy to be obtained, although the two armies remain separate, and when obtained, we venture to think, of no great value. But the question ought not to be dealt with as if it concerned the officer alone. The Sepoy also is to be taken into ac count. As matters now stand, the Com pany's officers are supposed to under stand the language of their men, and to be able to converse in it. Granted that the practical does not quite come up to the theo retical standard, still the rule is good, the obligation which it involves a just one, and its more complete enforcement is at all times optional with the authorities. But if Com pany's officers be entitled to command Eng lish regiments, it must follow that Queen's officers shall have a corresponding right to hold Indian commands ; and it would bo not only unjust, but absurd, to require of every youth who enters a military school in this country that he should become versed in the mysteries of Hindoo scholarship, on the mere chance of being at some future time employed in Hindostan. Yet, on the other hand, to place regiments of Sepoys under the orders of colonels and captains who should come to their command ignorant of native ideas and feelings, is a course of which the danger can scarcely be overrated. In India not only is the Company's army distinct from the Queen's, but each Presidency has its own army; and this separation is, in the judgment of many competent soldiers, not an evil, but a benefit. Competition is thereby augmented ; the dan ger of wide-spread conspiracy lessened; while the difference which exists between native customs in the various provinces requires in the officer a special familiarity with each. Thus in Madras caste is comparatively little thought of; while to such a height is it can-ied in Bengal that not long ago the high-caste men of it certain regiment formally complained to the Commander-in Chief of the admission thereto of low-castes : their complaint was received, and steps were taken to separate the two! Conceive a raw young officer, fresh from Europe, sent out to deal with prejudices at once so deep-rooted and so absurd. Why, his contemptuous ignorance might raise s. mutiny in a month. A mere alteration in the men's headdress caused one, some forty years back, which cost hundreds of lives to put down. A special Indian training is necessary for an Indian officer : without it, his zeal may do more harm than good. We have stated thus the of which seem to us to lie against the proposed amal gamation. They are real and grave: that they are absolutely insuperable we do not affirm. The relations of the East India Com pany with the Crown need more careful revi sion than (thanks to Sir C. Wool)) they have received ; and doubtless it is much to be de sired that the connection between their respective military establishments were drawn closer. When the Duke began his Peninsular campaigns he tried hard, but without success, to find room for one of the most trusted of those who had served under him in Asia. The jealousy of subordinates, and their in fluence at home, baffled even WELLINGTON. In point of form no difficulty existed ; nor does it now require the fusion of the two SATURDAY, armies into one to enable the Queen to avail herself of the talents of her ablest generals, to whichever service they may nominally belong. PRESENTATION OF THE CRIMEAN MEDALS BY HER MAJESTY. THE great distribution of medals to those members of the joint services of the army and navy who have re. turned wounded or invalided from the campaign in the Crimea took place yesterday in the Tilt-yard, Horse Guards, with all the eclat befitting such an occasion. Over the principal entrance was erected a spacious balcony, covered with crimson cloth and otherwise decorated, surmounted by a canopy, which was occu- pied by her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the other members of the Royal Family. On the right and left of this entrance were also raised seats, covered with crimson, on which were seated members of the House of Peers, peeresses, members of the House of Commons, and their ladies, and friends of the Commander-in-Chief and Minister of War. The summit of the Horse Guards, (the Admiralty, the Treasury, the Duke of York's Column, the tops of the houses in Carlton-gardens, and, indeed, every available spot from which a view, however distant, could be obtained, was crowded with a dense mass of human beings. The ground was taken up at eight o'clock by the three regiments of the Foot Guards, the Life Guards, and the Bth Dragoons, at which hour, as far as the space appropriated to the public would a:low, it was nearly fully occupied. Precisely at eleven o'clock, the first of the royal carriages entered the Tilt-yard, upon which the Royal Standard of England was hoisted to the sum mit of the staff; and on the carriage containing her Majesty and Prince Albert dra%%ing up to the dais, the whole of the line presented arms, the hand of the Royal Marines struck up the National Anthem, and a royal salute was fired from the inclosure. The Duke of Cambridge then gave the order for the entire lines of those entitled to receive the medals to advance. The front line wag composed of the Guards, next to them the Highlanders, the Rifle Brigade, the naval officers and men, and the 80th Rifles. The other troops of the line were slightly in the rear. The first who approached the front of the dais to receive the honourable token from the bands of her Majesty was his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge; her Majesty addressed him for a few moments on the great interest she felt in the success of her arms, and handed to his Royal Highness the medal struck in honour of the bril liant achievements of her arms in the Crimea, which he received amidst loud and prolonged cheering. The medal is very well executed, bearing on the obverse an excellent profile likeness of her Majesty, and on the reverse a figure of Mars, crowned by Fame, with the word "Crimea." The next in order to receive the honour were the Earl of Liman, Lord Bingham, and Colonel Leslie. After them came the Earl of Cardigan, who was congratulated by the assembled thousands with loud cheers. Amongst the officets and men who subsequently received medals many were either compelled to walk by the aid of sticks or crutches. They were specially objects of interest and sympathy. Amongst this class Sir Thomas Tronbridge received marked mani festations of regard as he was wheeled up to the dais. The honours were then distributed to the "blue jackets," and this distribution closed the task in which her Majesty had been engaged for upwards of an hour, having handed singly to upwards of 400 in dividuals this mark of the esteem with which the country regard their services. The troops were then formed into parade order, under the command of the Duke of Cambridge, the Life Guards and other cavalry regiments passing in review older before her Majesty in slow time; after which the infantry passed in like order, and having executed some other evolutions, the business termi nated at half-past twelve o'clock. THE VicroarA RIFLES will muster for target practice every Wednesday afternoon during the summer at their shooting-ground at Kilburn. AN ANGLO-FRENCH COMPANY is in process of for mation, to be called the Societe Generale des Clippers Francais, with a capital of 200,0001., for the construction or purchase of a fleet of clippers of from 1,000 to 2,000 tons each, to be employed in the gene ral purposes of French commerce. AT the next election for Wells a candidate will come forward of Conservative principles, in opposi tion to Mr. G. Hayter. Looking at the state of the poll at the last election, there can be little doubt as to the issue. WE regret to learn that Colonel Sibthorp now lies in a precarious state of health at his residence in London.