The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-28 00:00:00

-
one: 'Lieutenant-Colonel Blackburn was therefore ptseed
on full pay in the 51st Regiment on the 13th of Februstry,
and immediately sold out, the promotion going through the
regiment.
on
" Lieutenant-Colonel Lord. Burghersh, on the staff pay
unattached, was brought into the Coldstream Guards,•vice
Cronibie,- on the 9th of February, and remains in the regi-
ment.
. .
gzesutroeaftaLoarduarßudsrghreicershcr's
vrelnboiev,awl from
as
- "It may be added that the date of the submission to the
1855. thtel'l7ethtafrof P;e•Ybrutoazythe,-

"At that time the only death of a general officer which
had been' reported at the Horse Guards was that of General
tT.E.Ee
n.
wereCt Capes, p
berol
e, whociau
mirelifreo_drg
etonhltii;),7o; ofm3dtohtei
os
these
February.
occurred,co
tHh9e,n, H.TAwo no. .
Upton
lon'elot;iee
on. the 7th and-the other onthe o f
9th February, via Sir
Patrick -Stuart and -Lieutenant-General Sir William "
Eustacei.
but there was no idea at the time of • •
the probability of the.
. death of either of theiie officers,. and it so happened that
by
Lord turghersh having been brought in as he was
Lielut.-,
Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge lost a step." '
That brought him to the case of Lieutenant-Colonel Hors
dingo,. By a rule of the service, when three general officers
diwt the senior colonel was promoted. NOW, it so hap.
penei that after all these promotions to which he had just
refeWed, three generals died in one week. The senior -
colonel then on the list was Colonel Upton, of the Cold- ,
stream Guards, who was promoted to the major-general-
ship, and then in strict course, Lieutenant-Colonel Har-
diuge-obtained his promotion. He would not add a single'.
word to this Statement. It was for the house to decide
to whom the charge of "scandalous conduct" applied.
Mr. F. PEEL said that, after the statement of his gal.
lant relative, the house could not 'hesitate to come to the
conclusion that there had hardly ever been a stronger in-
stance in which a disposition to damage and discredit a
Government had led an hon. member of that. house to, dis-
tort the view which he had taken of a case, and to blind
himself to the-j net and true merits of a. question. With
regaialto the first question that had been put to him by
his hon. friend the member for Dnmfries (Mr. Ewart), the
house would recollect that the hon. member for Aylesbury
stated"at Liierpool that only one officer who had obtained
a ceificate of merit at Sandhurst was now serving on the
staff' in the Crimea, and then said, " I hope h was not
appointed to the staff in he e
of Parliamentary in-
fluence," leaving it to consequence
• ta
by the influence of h' e inferred that he was appointed
by
hon. friend behind him, whose
views on- publio
those of the presen?titions generally harmonised with
way in which he orr 'Prnment. In most cases, the only
would have been b it. Peel) could have met such a change
that, the appointmeynt flample denial, and by the assertion
the distinction that the offi
in question had gained was due to
and by his peculiar fitness foreer
ill
question had gained,
But he was able in this instance
the discharge of its duties.
so happened . that. Major zw to go further, because it
co
pointed by the influence of any could not have been ap-
one in that house, because
he was not placed, n the staff b
country. (Cheers. When the Irerly authority in this
went out to the East, Lord Hardinge, in of 10,000 men
Lord Raglan, selected the officers dogelalconjunction with
but the subsequent appointments were left in in tced he the
staff,
ands of
the Commander-in-Chief, and Captain Ewart, the
taM lathe 93d Regiment, was appointed deputy aqua cap-
master-general master-general by Lord Raglan on the 26tla Seniemarberr.
1854. On the 29th December he was promo-
to the
rank of regimental major, and on the 12th February he was
ordered to rejoin his regiment, and he accordingly did so,
and then ceased to be on the staff. Therefore, the
Government at home had nothing to do with the appoint-
ment of Capt. Ewart. (Cheers.) Besides, the fact was,
that the hon. gentleman had fallen into an error in stating
that only one officer who had obtained a certificate of
merit at Sandhurst was now serving on 'the staff. The
facts were these. On a return (moved for by another gen-
tleman) stating the numbe of officers who had obtained
certificates at Sandhurst, and had subsequently filled staff
appointments, being placed upon the table, the hon. mem-
ber for Dumfries (Mr. Ewart) called his (Mr. Peel's) atten-
tion to the omission of his relative's name. That being
so, he caused a supplemental return to be prepared, in
which, of oourse, only the name of Capt. Ewart appeared.
The;previons return showed that at least ten or eleven
officers who had obtained certificates of merit at-Sand-
hurst were now serving in the Crimea. (Loud cheers.)
He now came to the question adverted to by his gallant
relative. In his speech at Liverpool the hon. member for
Aylesbury stated that the officers who had most distin-
guished themselves in. the Crimea were regimental officers ;
and then, asking what was the nature of their reception
here, he said that the Government treated them with in-
difference, and that the only reward they got was the sym-
pathy of the' people of this country ; thus contrasting the
indifference of the Government with the sympathy of the
people: He then proceeded to refer to the case of
Colonel Wilson as an illustration. Now, every one at
first supposed that the two officers above Colonel
Wilson to whom he referred as having been promoted
while in this country were Dawkins and Strong. The lion,
member, however, had since said that he said " officers
above Colonel Wilson," and not "'next above;" andit
turned out that two officers named Burdett and Newdegate
were meant. They were, it was true, promoted to supply
the vacancies created by the deaths of two captains killed
out in the Crimea. They were, it was true, in this
country, but not by their own fault. Some officers—who
no doubt felt their separation from their comrades as .a
great hardship—must remain here; but if it were laid
down as a rule that all vacancies that occurred at the seat
of war must be filled up by officers on the spot, so as to
exclude those who remained at home, he certainly thought
that the latter class of officers would be treated with great
injustice.. (Cheers.) He now came to the case of Colonel
Wilson. Now Col. -Wilson was not compelled to purchase.
On:the contrary, he was not desirous to purchase till he
heard that Dawkins and Strong had withdrawn their
names for purchase ; and he then wrote home to his friend
4,0 purchase, being desirous of getting promoted over the
heads of Dawkins and Strong. The battle of Inkerman
soon after occurred, and they obtained promotion. And
he understood that Col. Wilson now said that he thought
he had a right to be promoted without purchase, in the
same manner as they- were. But could any one, after the
precedents laid before the house by his gallant relative,
doubt that the usual course had been followed on this oc-
casion,. and that it had always been the rule that when an
officer who had purchased a step was killed before the
notification of his promotion reached the head-quarters
where he was serving, the price paid for his step was re-
paid to his relatives, and'of course that that step which he
had never enjoyed was resold (Loud cheers.) As he had
already said, Col. 'Wilson was not obliged to purchase.
Had he not :lone so, Cal. Hardinge would have been glad
to do it. But one thing was quite) clear—that whether
Col. Wilson had obtained his step. gratuitously or not could
not possibly have affected Col. Hardiuge. Now, whatever
might ho rho merits of Colonel Wilson, could any one say
they swassed those of Lieut.-Col. Hardinge: He had
gone through the campaign of the Sutlej, and had been
present at the battles of liobraon, Ferozeshali, and Mood-
kee. He, was not obliged to go to the Crimea, but had
volunteered to go, and while there had been present at the
Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, and had there obtained
his step according to the rules of the service on the promo-
tion of Colonel Upton. (Cheers.) The hon. gentleman
had said " Honesty is the best policy." (Vehement cheer-
ing.) He (Mr. Peel) believed that the Government of this
country had long been carried on upon the princiOes of
perfect honour and honesty. He gave the hon. member
credit for being an honest man. ( Loud cries of `f oh.")
He thought it would be the part of an honest man, and.
one he expected; the hon. gentleman to perform, that now
it had been proved that the statements he made at Liver-
pool was not in accordance with the facts of the case, he
should come manfully forward and admit that he had made
a statement injurious to the public men of this country,
who were as honest and as honourable as he was, and who
were quite as ready as any honourable gentleman there to
lay open their conduct without reservation to public
scrutiny. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. LA.YARD—I will address myself first to the ques-
tion placed on the paper by the hon. member for Dumfries.
I had no intention to make any reflection upon his relation,
nor do I think any person present believed that I had any
such intention. On the contrary, what I stated was rather
a matter of praise to him. (Oh, oh.) I meant no reflection
on him. (oh, oh.) Indeed, at the time I -did not know
that he was a relation of the honourable member, (Oh, oh,
and laughter.) What the honourable Under-Secretary has
stated is true. I did fall into an error with regard to that
return. But I think the Government.are a good deal to
blanie for the error into which I fell. (Oh, oh.) If their
returns areeo ill drawn up that names are omitted from
them, and then, on account of their gross omissions, ques-
tions and returns are then prepared, I say Government is to
blame.. (Renewed cries of " oh, oh.") I did net see the
first return. The second return alcne fell into my hands ;
and although it is a- supplemental return, itisi notso headed.
on the. sheet.
Mr. PEEL—It is headed "Supplemental return."
(Cheers.) - ' - .
Mr. LAYARD (as we understood)—lt was not on the
face of the return.
- Mr. PEEL (showing the return)—Yes ; it was on the
face of the return. (Cheers.)
. Mr. LAYARD—That was my mistake. I did not see the
,first return. (Oh, oh.) If the house had heard what I have
heard within the last few days, they would know how re-
turns arc cooked and made up to suit the purposes of the
Government. (Oh, oh.) Gentlemen may say 'Ol4 eh,"
but the time may come when they will have to cons'
that subject. (Oh, oh.) Now, with regard to the second
....
statement. These matters are, no doubt, of
en
verytii honedl) i
ful and delicate nature. • There are.few men t (Laud
who dare get up to speak the truth on subject-thie
who. when such
laughter.) There are very few officers
th truth with
questions is these are mooted, dare speak
gentlernen had seen
respect to them. (Laughter.)
If
lio•en.received during the
the letters on this subject that I hnsoi
I shall not- (cries of
last few- days—(cries of " read")—._,.—
h) to name the wri-
ters name")—nor shall I nanie--(on,
officers, and yea know
ruin to those
myself the respon-
sibilityters here, Would be
take upon .
it. I stand here prepared to . .
ed I shrink not from it.
of what has occur!'
the various rules that apply
I had no knoivlndg° P
in the army. (Ironical cheers.) I
to promotions
facts, forming my' own opinion upon
gated' nothing buttindirect evidence and information on
them. I may ge-
y own judgment ; but I am not going
which I. may
guide my
have given me that information,
here to betray theme be ruined if it were known whence
and who perhaps w
(Oh, oh!) Now, in the first
information came.place
InY t to the use of the word _" staff," in the letter of
with respect
been referred to, I didnot
'mine which has mean by it to
reflection. (Loud and continued 1 hte cries
of ironicalaug ri cries
. oh. oh " and cheering.) I had a list •
' inan, and that I have • given me
_by a military , printed. 1 certainly
wish I had added a statement of the services ofthe
officers
who have been referred to. With re,' d
Colonel
:Hardinge, I have had ._
_bar to Lieutenant-
aconaintance with him, I, beletvileil9a°ar of
a Per's°nal
Meritorious officer does not live ' .
? that a inure gallant and.
know that he has
(heat
0.. i h in her Majesty's service. I
bloody field, and there isg s ed himself on more than one
more heartily welcome. no one whose promotion I would
question of persons. Ido (Ironical cheers.) This'is not a
promotion. But that not grudge Colonel Hardinge his
Colonel Hardin • promotion which was extended to
havealso.distingo night have been extended to others who
hed themselves. •
The gallant general
Lord Hardinge. I 8 'which
passed between myself and
will read the fourth, which closed the
correspondence. The hot] etl man then read the fol-
lowing letter : .
g n e

1,, ,
swerely.
Irddia—nlo "9, Little Ryder-street; April 27, 1855.
etasntnatoet, permit yhoyuorulehtlevre taio
prengthbatin;tromapne;
so to assert that ' the rule applied by you in .Lieutenaut-
Colonel 141`
Kinnon's case, had been violated in others.' What
1 Clid- state was, that ' such rules, that is rules of a similar
Character, had been distinctly violated. I referred more
particularly til,
of thehocae
same regiment,sesofCaptain Heneage and. . Captain
Lord
although I am assured
one who at such a
that similar cases are most nuinerous.
" After the tone of your letter. and my.convictions, .I per-
fectly agree with you that it is al waste
,of time to hold any
of ludienatioa in the
ftiamrteheasr
thiscorr correspondence,
justifydet thesepeccaiasy with th
which I have alluded,
api:ibdiwiollimeinh
dh,ave created so deep a feeling
• ..,
, your lordoll3 0 V4f_'41.415.07 to pubiii4 tigg- corn-
, . , ... . ____
• - • ..-. . .