The Sun.
London, England, 1833-09-18 00:00:00

hada attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, it is surely
reasonable to consider of his pecuniary sacrifices from the
moment at which he shall have attained that rank by
purchase, till he is appointed colonel of a regiment.
I will suppose the length of the period to be 20 years,
the price paid for the lieutenant-eoloneley to be 6,1751.,
and the interest of money to be, as it was heretofore, 5 per
cent.

Supposing this lieutenant-colonel to live upon his pay,
as be must have done, the purchase money would have
doubled in 14 years, and it would be nearly half more at
the end of 20 years.
Thus, then, this officer is rewarded at the termination
of from 30 to 35 years' service with the command of a
regiment of cavalry, which gives him a life annuity of
1,4001. per annum, for which he has made the sacrifice of
15,0001.
A colonel of infantry of the line having purchased his
lieutenant-colonelcy for 4,5001., having lived upon his
pay, will, upon similar calculations, have sacrificed
12,5001. ; and the appointment of colonel of a regiment of
infantry will give him an annuity for his life of 1,1001.
per annum.
It may be said that officers are promoted to be colonels
of regiments in a shorter period of time than 20 years.
Some may be ; others are a longer period. 20 years from
the date of the commission of lieutenant-colonel is about
the average.
But there is another view of the subject which ought
to be taken into consideration : the case of officers who
pay more than the regulated price for their commissions of
lieutenant.colonel, of whom there have been hundreds of ,
instances.

The writer of this paper knows of one who paid 6,000
guineas for his lieutenant-colonelcy of a regiment of
infantry. He received the Order of the Bath (which is
now the Grand Cross) before be was promoted to be
colonel of a regiment of infantry of the line, at the end
of twelve years after his promotion to be a lieutenant-
colonel. During that time he served upon his pay.
He surely is entitled to carry to the account of the
sacrifices which he made in order to render his service the
accumulation on the purchase money of his commission of
lieutenant-colonel, at least, till he was promoted to be
colonel of a regiment.
If he had been promoted to be lieutenant-colonel without
purchase, as he might have been, in his Majesty's army,
or as he would have been in any other service, or as he
would have been in the corresponding rank of the navy,
and bad equally lived upon the pay of his rank, he would
have had in his pocket the purchase money of his
lieutenant colonelcy, and the accumulation of interest upon
that sum, at the moment he was promoted to be colonel
of a regiment.
But supposing the reward of this officer's service to be
1,1001. per annum, it is obvious that he had paid 6,000
guineas twelve years before ; and even if nothing else is
taken into consideration, it will be admitted that the
reward, even in this most favoured case, was not extra-
vagant, considering what is given in other services in the
British navy, and the rewards for exertions and service in
other professions.
It may be supposed that the profits of the colonels of
regiments of cavalry and infantry have been under-stated.
No such intention exists. The folly of any misrepre-
sentation upon such a subject is obvious.
It is much more probable that the profit will be over-
stated by those who think the army overpaid for their
services ; at least till the time shall come when it may be
thought expedient to alter the mode of paying the colonels
of regiments, and of supplying the army with its clothing
and equipments as a measure of economy.
I will not now advert to this scheme further, than to
request those who consider of it to advert to the increase
of the expense of the two regiments of Life Guards, since
they have been clothed and equipped under the super-
intendence of the War Office, instead of by contract with
the colonels of those regiments.
Having now discussed the constitution of the British
army, the nature of the promotion of its officers, and
their ordinary pay and rewards, it is desirable to advert
to what their service really is.
From the moment at which the officer enters his Ma-
jesty's service, till he attains the rank of general officer,
he must be prepared to serve in all climates, in all seasons,
in all situations, and under every possible difficulty and
disadvantage.
There is no peace or repose for him, excepting that
some powerful party in the State should think that his
services can be dispensed with, in which case be will be
put upon half pay.
While thus serving, he must perform all the dnties
required from him.
He must be in turns gaoler, police officer, magistrate,
judge, and jury. Whether in peace or in war, in the
transport in charge of convicts, or acting as a magistrate,
or sitting in judgment, or as a juryman, or engaged in the
more immediate and more active duties of his profession in
the field, either against the internal rebel or the foreign
enemy, he must never make a mistake; he must never
cease to be the officer and the gentleman—cheerful, obe-
dient, subordinate to his superiors, yet maintaining disci-
pline, and securing the affection and attachment of his
in'eriors, and of the soldiers placed under his command,
upon his scanty pay and allowances; so small in some in•
stances (that of the Lieutenants and Ensigns of the three
regiments of Foot Guards as one), as not to be sufficient
to pay for his lodgings.
This officer has but little hope of promotion, unless he
can purchase it : nor of rest, nor relief from his exertions
if he should obtain it, as long as he has health and strength
to serve.

When he attains the rank of a general officer, he must
be qualified to fill the post of a governor of a province. He
must manage a legislature; he must perform the most dif-
ficult and arduous functions of government which can be
intrusted to any subject, if he means to be a candidate for
the situation of colonel of a regiment.
If stationed in the neighbouring part of the United
Kingdom (and even in England), the general officer must
take upon himself, and must be qualified by education,
prudence, and other qualities, to perform the duty of the
lord-lieutenant of a county, of several counties, to corre-
spond with the magistrates, to superintend and direct
their exertions.

Surely men with such qualities, and so employed,
cannot be allowed to believe that the legislature is un-
mindful of their services, and that their Sovereign is at
this moment to be deprived of the means of rewarding
those services, which his Majesty and his predecessors have
so long enjoyed..

There is nothing so easy as to give any institution an
unpopular name, and then to run it down and abolish it.

Accordingly the military governments are called sinecures.
The fact is, that there are many of them essentially ne-
cessary to the service ; and that if these situations were
abolished to-morrow, and the obnoxious individuals who
now enjoy the advantage of the income allotted to these
situations were deprived of that income, it would be found
necessary to appoint others to perform the same duties,
probably at an increased expense.
It is positively the fact that these governments, whe-
ther necessary or not for the performance of the military
service of the country, are held by those officers of the ser-
vice who have most distinguished themselves in the late

wars, as the reward of their services. This is the case, it
is believed, without exception.
There are •. about 30 of these governments, and the
general commanding the forces has determined that till
there shall be another occasion for calling upon the service
of the army in the field against the enemy, be will not
recommend that a general officer, who is colonel of a
regiment, should be appointed to a government.
It may be contended, and it is true, that the officers
of the army have shared in booty and prizes, and that
there have been other rewards for distinguished services,

besides the commissions of colonels of regiments and the

conferring of governments.
The distribution of booty or prize bas not extended to
many; it is not so common in the army as it is in the
navy ; and in most instances has done no more than afford

the means of purchasing promotion.
During the late war many officers of the army, as well
as of the navy, having performed distinguished services,
and having bern raised by the King to the dignity of a
peerage, his Majesty was enabled by Parliament to provide
for them, so as that they might support that dignity; and
it is beyond a doubt that Parliament will never fail to
consider of the faithful and zealous services of those against
the enemy of their country, whom his Majesty may think

_ . .
proper thus to reward.
But these men are extraordinary instances of great
services, performed during a long series of years in a most

arduous war.

That which is under consideration is, whether the King
is to be deprived of the power of rewarding, in the way
long practised in the service, 30 officers, at an expense

comparatively trifling, and that instead thereof his Majesty
should be under the necessity of seeking the sanction of
Parliament previous to his conferring such rewards.
It is needless to point out the evil consequences which
would attend this novel mode of proceeding, as well to the
army as to the King, to his servants, and to the constitu-
tion of the country.

The basement story of the National Gallery,
statuary
as
more at
instead of being made a receptacle of "
first designed, is to be appropriated Entottl)::
records,
much
seemly purpose of exhibiting such works of and
design as may by degrees be accumulated.