The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-24 00:00:00

GENBRALS'NEFIIE IFS.

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Times :

" Sir,—The admirable report of the Commis-
sioners on Military Education, published in the
spring of this year, Dilates that in the armies of
continental Europe it is considered an advantage to
the public service that a general officer should be
surrounded by the most skilful and best educated
military family his country can supply. With us,
on the contrary, it has been hitherto tolerated that
the personal staff of a general officer should be
jobbed solely for the convenience and advancement
of his sons and,nephews.
" Grave inconvenience to the service, incalculable
loss in money and life, and gross injustice to the
working officers of the army have resulted from
this chronic abuse. It was to be hoped that the
new regulations for the better organisation of the
staff of the British army would have put a stop to
it, and that in future general officers would have
been compelled to select their personal staffs from
among the students at the new department at
Sandhurst. _ .

"But the very limited number of which that
class is to consist plainly indicates that with the
personal staffs of general officers the Minister of
War has not ventured to interfere, and that you
are premature in declarin that "the dynasty of
generals' nephews is at an end.'
"It appears that the officers of the rank of lieu-
tenant-colonel and officers of proved ability in the
field are to be exempted
tests to which all other candidates for the staff are
to be subjected. from the educational

" The first exception will qualify every captain in
the Guards as well
" The second will work thus :—Maj
the army for every situation on the staff without
proof of study or acquirement.
Bearskin proceeding to take the
as every lieutenant-colonel in
or-General
of Culdstreams command, say, in
a Caffre war, will, as usual, appoint his son Charley
Bearskin,
Dolman, of the Hussars, as his and his nephew Dick
s two aides-de-camp ;
and he will be quite sure to do so, for it is
the time-honoured custom of the service, and he
would be a bad father and a worse uncle if he ab-
stained from removing thew lads from the tempta-
tions of London and Dublin, and giving them a
chance of seeing a little real service in a pleasant
and easy way.
" As soon as the general and his aides have had
a brush with the Caffres, he painfully composes his
despatch, towards the end of which he stat( s that
he cannot forbear recording the reckless devotion
of Cornet Dolman, of the Hussars, and the remark-
able coolness under fire of Ensign and Lieutenant
Bearskin, of the Coldstreancs, who remained by his
side during the whole day and afforded him the
most important assistance.
,f-From that day forward Dick Dolman and
Charley Bearskin became officers of proved ability
in the field, and as such will be eligible for any staff
employment they can contrive to obtain.
"It appears to me that when all the lieutenant-
colonels in the army who hare got good interest at
the Horse Guards, all the captains in the Guards
and all the young aides-de-camp who have been
favourably mentioned in despatches by their fathers'
and uncles', or their fathers' and mothers', or
uncles' and aunts' personal friends, havebeon accom-
modated to their liking on the general staff of the
army, very few crumbs of the loaf will remain to be
divided among the 30 students who are invited to
qualify themselves for Staff employment at the new
department at Sandhurst.
I cannot forget what occurred when the war
with Russia broke out. We had then a senior
department at Sandhurst, at which officers were
invited—as now—
to qualify themselves for staff
employment. But during the long peace the Horse
Guards authorities never thought of employing
those students on the staff of the army a bit the
more because they had studied successfully for that
purpose.
" When our army was going to the East the late
Lord Hardinge, the Commander-in-Chief, stated in
the House of Lords that the authorities at the Horse
Guards, anxious to get the best men for staff em-
ployment, had written to Sir George Scovell, the
Governor of Sandhurst, to ask him the names of
the successful students there in the senior depart-
ment during the last few years. It appeared,
therefore, that the names of officers who had been
studying under the supposition that their labours
would ultimately place them upon the staff were
not even known at the Horse Guards until the war
broke out.
"Unless the personal staffs
of general officers
are placed in the same category as to educational
acquirements as the general staff of the army, very
little in the way of staff reform will have been
effected. It is so in all other armies of Europe ; it