The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-29 00:00:00

THE GUARDS AND THE LINE.

The following is a copy of a petition intended to be
presented to the Lower House of Parliament. It has
already received numerous signatures :--
"TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND HONOURABLE TEM
MEMBERS OF THE notst or COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT
ASSEMBLED.

"The petition of
" Humbly sbeweth,—That your petitioners are of opi-
nion that the possession of wealth and family influence
should be no longer recognised by the Government of a
free country as standards for the regulation of military
merit ; or for conferring exclusive privileges upon any
class of her Majesty's subject'.
"That we, accordingly, participate in the feeling of dis-
satisfaction recently expressed throughout her Majesty's
dominions by the public press, of all shades of political
opinions, at the exclusive privileges conferred on the offi-
cers of the regiments of Foot Guards, and the additional
advantages solicited in their behalf, in a memorial ad-
dressed to her Majesty, the Queen, on the 17th of Augast
last, a few days after the last adjournment of your honour-
able house by H. It. H. Prince Albert anti the other
colonels and officers commanding these regiments.
"That the rapid advancement of incomp :tent officers to
important commands, consequent upon such unmerited
privileges, is not only calculated to lower the mili-
tary character of this country in the eyes of other
nations, brit to augment the feelings of jealousy which
have so long prevailed amongst other nieritorious candi-
dates for promotion in those regiments of cavalry, infantry,
and artillery, who, notwithstanding their exposure to vi-
cissitudes of climate, . . . . sanguinary conflicts, and
other contingencies consequent upon foreign service, for
the protection of our colonial possessions in all pert; of the
globe, have the mortification to find, after attaining the
rank of captain, that it frequently required from 20 to 30
years before they could obtain the suhseeuent steps of ma-
jor and lieutenant-colonel without purchase or other un-
due influence, which three steps are obtained in one day
by officers of the Guards, who are not exposed to such
contingencies, but who have been in the enjoyment of
comparative domestic repose during our late European
peace of 40 years.
" That, in consequence of this rapid promotion, officers
of the Guards attain, while comparatively young men, the
rank of General, and command of armies in the field, to
the exclusion of officers of the lino of recognised capacity
and merit, but whose advanced ages, by the time they
generally attain this rank, affords a pretext for the pre-
ference thus given to officers of the Guards, as recently ex-
perienced in the Crimea, where none but officers who had
been in the Guards were entrusted with the chief com-
mand, and in whom a degree of incapacity hail been mani-
fested on certain occasions that did not tend to augment
our military reputation, nor the confidence of the troop',
nor of the public in the officers thus selected, nor in the
system by which such comparatively rapid advancements
had been regulated.
" That the valuable lives of many regimental officers and
soldiers had been thus unnecessarily sacrificed, in a man-
ner that, by all accounts, excited not only the sync:path es
of our gallant allies, bat even of the common enemy, who,
at the same time, could not withhold their admiration of
the bravery of our troops, who would not, it is presumed,
have been thus exposed had the chief command been con-
fided, as in the armies of other nations, to officers whose
pretensions for such important trusts had been founded in
a reputation for merit acquired in the execution of regi-
mental duties, and not on pretensions founded ou family
influence, staff appointments, or the purchase of commis-
sions.

" That by the said memorial it appears that the privi-
lege of promotion by purchase had been introduced iu the
reign of Charles 11. ; and, also, that the rank of lieutenant-
colonel had been conferred upon captains of the Guards by
his successor, James 11., the year preceding the rebellion
of 108, when the family of these monarchs had been ex-
pelled from the throne for repeated acts of infringement on
the constitutional rights and privileges of the people of
this country, facts that your petitioners beg leave to submit
to your honourable House ought to tend to the removal of
such unmerited privileges, rather than to their augmenta-
tion as solicited by the before-mentioned memorial : your
petitioners having no doubt that our present most gracious
Sovereign reposes more confidence in the affections of her
loyal subjects than upon any confidence that could result
from unmerited privileges conferred upon any class of
officers in her Majesty'a service—a confidence in the affec-
tions of the people of this country, which had not been
enjoyed by the Sovereigns who introduced such innova-
tions into the British Army.
would,
moreover, That the abolition of such unmerited privilegesor the ad-
vancementmoreover, be the moans of opening the doors _
ter class of men would be thus induced voluntarily
of merit, when even found in therankst,oaeobteetr-
eln:het-
bounties in the streets of London and other populous
witht o whom
associate
her Majesty's service than the class now sought for by high
epiloaoceeds :0
ffimeee men
so fwaoboill
di ability
oa and
oger hesitate education,
thus advanced, and the objections heretofore made to such
advancement thus removed.
"That your petitioners, so far from attaching any blame
to the officers of the Guards, in whose behalf this memo-
rial was presented, consider them entitled to every praise,
for
rn
notice,otonlyca but
using these facts to have been thus brought
to public for the desire they appear to express
thaton an equality with their cox•
radestohey shouldftheline;le placed')or,a
as stated in the concluding line of
that memorial, ' in a pesition, in short, which will put
them upon a footing of equality with the remainder of her
Majesty's service.'
•• That the system is what your petitioners object; as a
vicious system, when once recognised in any department
of the State, becomes, invariably, the patron of bribery,
corruption, and other minor abuses, a detrimenb to the
public service, and prejudicial to the character of the
country—more particularly at a period like the present,
when its energies have been called forward in a great pub-
lic cause in alliance with an enlightened continental State,
where merit is recognised as the only passport to advanc3-
ment, and where the superior advantages of this principle
of action, compared with our system of routine, have bees
so frequently manifested during our recent oonjoiut tioos.

" That when so much incapacity in the heads of public
departments, and so many evils inherent in this system,
have been thus brought to light, without any prospect of
remedy being provided, your petitioners are apprehensive
that no individual exertions will be of any avail, nor any
effectual remedy be provided, unless your honourable
House should be pleased to address her Majesty on the
subject.

"That while your petitioners ere desirous of seeing
general officers, like all other meritorious public servante,
szPIY ronadtil, they ccui4ei thatti9 aglow: dicei