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

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.

MAY 19, 1855.

V tourbings in arliamtnt.