The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 26, 1857.

(13) Any officer may, with the sanction of the General '
Commanding-in-Chief, compete at the annual final exami-
nation without previously passing through the college; and
further, any officer who desires to enter the college for one
year only will be permitted, if there be a vacancy, to pre-
sent himself at the first annual examination of the junior
division of students ( who will then have completed their
first year), and if qualified, may join the college accord-
ingly. In each case the qualifications noted in paragraph 3
(above) will be required.
(14) After the final examination the Council of Military
Education will draw up and submit for the consideration
of the General Commanding-in-Chief a list of the success-
ful candidates, arranged in three classes according to merit,
with a special report of those who particularly distinguish
themselves, whose names will also be mentioned by the
council in its annual report.
(15; The first annual college examination under the
system above described will be held in December, 1858.
(10 Officers who shall have passed their final examina-
tions at the Staff College will be attached to each of the
arms successively in which they have not previously
served. They will be required to attend drills, parades,
and field-days, and they will avail themselves of every
practicable means of making themselves generally ac-
quainted with the discipline, interior economy, field
movements, and duties of those arms.

Certificates to this effect will be forwarded to the Adju-
tant-General—in the case of officers attached to the Artil-
lery, by the inspector of drills at Woolwich ; and in the
case of officers attached to regiments of cavalry or infantry,
by the officers commanding such corps.
It is presumed that a period of six months with each
arm will be the utmost that will be required in this re-
spect.
(17) The order of the 9th of April, 1857, relative to
the qualifications of officers for staff appointments, will
continue in force until the lat of January, 1860, when the
sjstem which has been above detailed will have fully come
into operation ; and the examinations referred to in that
order will be conducted under the direction of the Council
of Military Education.
Officers, however, who have attained the rank of lieu-
tenant-colonel will be exempted from the operation of that
order.

After the Ist of January, 1800, no officer will be ap-
pointed to the staff who shall not have gone through the
Staff College, or passed the final examination of that col-
lege (paragraph 13,, with exception of those who shall
have attained, at that date, the rank of lieutenant-colonel,
and in every case excepting officers of proved ability in the
field.

(18) Although the course of mathematics at the college
has been limited to that amount of knowledge which is
considered essential to complete the education of the staff
officer, it is probable that many officers may desire to
pursue their mathematical studies to a much higher point,
and any candidates, therefore, who shall have proved their
fitness for employment in the ordnance survey or in the
topographical department, by superior progress in the
science of geodesy, as well as of topography, will be named
in the annual report of the Council of Military Education
to the Secretary of State for War, as deserving employ-
ment in those services.

By order of his Royal Highness the General Command•
ing-in•Chiet;
G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant• General.

A GENERAL ORDER has been issued by his Roya
Highness the Commander-in-Chief, reprehending the
lenity of members of general courts-martial on the
trial of officers convicted of grave offences. His
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge most ear-
nestly desires that where officers are called upon to
adjudicate upon matters involving serious offences,
they will " pause and seriously reflect before they
recommend to her Majesty's clemency individuals
who have been found guilty, and who thereby have
been proved unworthy of serving their Queen and
country in a profession which must be upheld by the
principles of honour and discipline." The order is
understood to apply especially to the recommenda-
tion appended to the results of recent courts-martial
held at Woolwich.

THE COLONELCY of the 3rd Buffs, vacant by the
death of Lieutenant-General Wodehouse, will be
conferred on Major General Sir Henry Havelock.

MAJOR GENERAL MAUNSELL has assumed the com-
mand of the troops at Shorncliffe, consisting of three
batteries of the Royal Artillery, one company Royal
Engineers, one battalion Military Train, 2nd
(Queen's) Regiment, 2nd battalion; West York,
North Cork, and North Down Militia Regiments.
THE Ist battalion of the Military Train at Wo6l-
- and the 3rd battalion at Shorncliffe, exchanged
quarters on Monday last.