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 regard of the advocates of
theocracy in religion, 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