The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-05 00:00:00

LA lt MA

rare and golden opportunities. His Royal High-
ness has the power, and, be it said, he has
evidently the pluck also, to leave behind him at the
Horse Guards—when the term of his sway there

shall, in due course of things, have arrived—the
reputation of a Military Reformer, who did. not
hesitate, whenever the opportunity for so doing
presented itself, to carry the work of any change
that might be required to the limit of absolute

reorganisation.
Yesterday we took occasion to publish in our
columns the latest and, beyond all doubt as yet,
the most signal evidence of his Royal Highness'

" power" and "pluck " as a Military Reformer,

is the announcement which will be found in

The bun of that date—a memorable date enough
for the Horse guards—December 4th, 1856
the announcement giving promise of a total change

in the entire system of Staff appointments. A

little while longer, and there will be an end to
Nepotism in the Military Department. A little
while—and the Staff Officers of the British Army
will be the very flower of that army, its glory and
its pride, instead of being—simply the favoured
relatives merely of some Major-General Sir BAR-

NACLE STILTSTALKING, G.C.8., his beloved SOD, Or
his cherished nephew, or his much•loved cousin.

A little while—and the Staff of the British Army
need not be the most deplorable contrast in the
whole wide world to the Staffa of the Armies of
the great military nations of the European Con-
tinent. Say to the glorious Staff of the French
Army, a Staff every member of which must, prior
to his admission into it, have served in the
infantry, in the cavalry, and in the artillery, in
all three branches of the service, and who must, in
addition to all this, be a first-rate engineer, and,
generally speaking, distinguished by the scc-23 and
variety of his scientific acquirements A reglil:..r
system of military instruction, with a view to the bet-
ter filling up in future of the various Staff appoint.
ments, is announced by order of H.R.H. the Com-
mander-in-Cnief to be actually at this moment in
preparation. A month or two, it is hoped, will
not have elapsed before this promised reform shall
have been so far realised as to have been, by that
time, at least fairly inaugurated. Aspirants to the
Staff will then invariably, and as an absolutely re-
quisite preliminary, have to pass through a regular
course of examination before being nominated to
any one of these appointments. The highest
field for promotion will by this means be opened
to the whole service—in a manner be it said
—unconditionally. Happily, what renders a
root-and-branch reform of this kind, at once
more practicable and more desirable than ever, is
the simple fact of our having actually attained
that epoch in our military career which we our-
selves were among the very first to anticipate.
Years ago this journal advocated that systematic
organisation of our maritime steam-force, which,
by bringing the ends of our vast empire together,
so to speak, by means of regular and rapid inter-
communication—must necessarily tend, on the one
hand, to the better security of the central seat of
our power ; and, on the otter, by wisely economis-
ing our troops (keeping them more en masse at
home, instead of scattering them as it were in
driblets o'er many remote colonies), render
their general efficieecy more within reach of rea-
lisation. What The Stn yearned for, now a score
of years since, is at length in 1856 attained--
that period in our national history, that stage in
our national fortunes, that epoch simultaneously
in our military and maritime annals, when Eng-
land can safely and judiciously keep the bulk of
her troops together, to the end that the whole
army may be improved, and, as far as possible,
perfected, in its general organisation. A strong
bold hand, at the same time, it must be con •
fessed, was requisite when the period slimed at
length arrive (as it has, thank HEA.TAN', now at
length arrived)—a strong bold hand to cut
through the tangles of red tape woven about the
Giant-Reform by the little Mannikins of Power
aid Precedent swarming about its huge and
even now only half-awakened bulk, as the Lillipu-
tians swarmed of old about the prostrate form of
our old friend Captain LEMUEL GIILLITER. That
strong, bold hand, we believe and hope, has been
found in H.R.H. the Duke of CAMYRIDGE. How-
ever flinty the obstacles before him may be, let
him give heed to the words addressed by the
Augur to the Roman King—Cut boldly ! The
Gordian-knot of Folly binding the great wheel of
the complicated machinery at the Horse Guards
requires but a keen edge and a trenchant blow to
be at once severed. The poar is ripe—the bough
needs only to be shaken. The ball is at his foot
—it requires but one single effort more to be pro-
pelled through the goal. Everything—almost--
is expected from the new Commander-in-Chief.
Something at least must be done by him : so that
the nation may not at this propitious crisis in its
military annals be doomed altogether to disap-
pointment.

A significant article has recently appeared in a
supplement to the Teheran Gazette, in reference
to the existing state of affairs between Great
Britain and Persia. It speaks is an official
tone as to the good feeling of the Persian Go-
vernment towards England, and the confidence
entertained in the " kindness, perspicacity, and
perfect equity of the English Cabinet." It
declares that even if the English were to
enter the. Persian Gulf, " the Cabinet of
Teheran would not consider that fact as an act of
hostility, but would demand from the British
Government its inteitions, in order to be well as-
sured of the true cause of the event." It also
speaks of " the old and valuable intimacy that for
many years existed between the two Powers !"
Now, we ask, what has occasioned the cessation
of that intimacy ?—what has led to the cessation
of diplomatic intercourse, and the necessity for
armed demonstrations, in place of peaceful expla-
nations? What, but the conduct of Persia itself,
which heaped insults on the representative of
Groat Britain until he was compelled to strike
his flag and to withdraw from a Capital where a sini-
ster influence predominated. Why, then, did Persia
make an unprovokedand unwarrantable onslaught
on the territory of a friend and ally of Great
Britain, when they were well aware that we were
bound to protect that territory from invasion,
and that were it even otherwise we could not per-
mit " one of the chief gateways of India" to pass
into hostile hands without a decided effort to
prevent so great a calamity
In the present instance Persia has been to all
intents and purposes the aggressor, and, as we
have already repeatedly explained, she was in-
stigated thereto by the avowed opponent and
bitter enemy of England. If she now assumes
the appearance of moderation, it is altogether
ascribable to the very decided demonstration
made, and the appearance of a powerful British
force in her waters. But she is prepared for any
alternative. She has private assurances of sup-
port from Russia, on which she relies to enable
her to meet the emergency, whatever it
may be. An article from a Warsaw journal, the
Czas, which will be found in another part of our
impression, explains how " Russia, noiselessly and
unostentatiously, is getting ready to come to the
suca,:air of the SCHAH." It tells of the reinforce-