ABUSES IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARMY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.

SIR—You have in a recent paper given the public some excellent comments on the shameful abuse of the Brevet. I wish you would enlarge on the sub. ject, and draw the attention of the country more partietalarly to this wantua and unnecessary stretch of the prerogative, in a to °found peace, already of twenty-one years' duration, and with an already overflowing list, the day before the late promotions, of 74 Field Alar.hals and Generals, 155 Lieutenant-Generals, 161i Major-Generals, being a total of 393 effective General Officers, besides a host of Generals printed in Italics as retired and nor receiving pay. Of these there were about 23 to 30 General Officers in employ, including the Staff in the East belies and the Colonies ; leaving full 363 Generals to serve their country by walking the London Clubs, or the Italian Boulevards at Paris. The Generals really occupied. or having something to do for their rank and pay, are, including Civil appointments, only 43 or i50; namely,

No.

1. Field-Marshal the Duke of Wel.

lington Constable of the Tower and Lord Warden. General Sir Edward Paget Goveruur of the 51 ilitary College, Saudharst, Lord Hill Commander in Chief.

3. Hon. sir Alexander Hope Governor of Chelsea Hospital (4 out of 74. &nerds.] Lieut. General Sir Henry Fane Cummander-in hief iu India. Sir It. S. Dunkin surveyordfeneral of the Ordnance. Sir James W. Gordon . Quiirtei-M aster General.

Sir Ilerbert Ta;lor IstKani:ale:de-Carup and Private Secretary to the

--- Sir Peregrine Maitlandemultiauder of the Forces, Madras. Sir John Keane Commander (Attie Ferries, Bombay.

7 Sir R. II, Vivian Master Geuvral or the Ordnance 1, vat of 151

Lieut Generals]

Major-Gen. Sir Benjamin D'Urban.Gevernor of the Cape of Good Hope,

Sir W. Nicolay Governor of the Mauritius. Sir Lionel Smith Governor of Jamaica.

Sir Richard Bourke Governor of New South Wales, William Millar Directur-Geueral. Field Train, R.A. sir I tow ant Douglas . Lord II igh Cosinissiouer. Ionian Islands.

Sir Joseph Maclean Commandaut at Woolaieh, B., A,

Adjotantibieueral. Sir John Macdonald

Sir [Award Illakeney-

Staff, Ireland.

Sir James Charles Dalbiac.. Inspector-General of Cavalry. Sir R. I), Jackson'tiff, England.

sir Cohn Campbell Governor of Nova Scotia.

Sir .folio Wilson v.taff. Ceylon. Sir S. F. Whittinaham quaff. Barbadoes.

Sir John Colborne staff, Canada Sir Archibald Campbell ....Guv,•nnvr of New Brunswick. Sir Thomas M' Mahon ......staff. England. sir Mexateler Woodford —.Governor of Gibraltar.

Sir Thomas Arbuthnot staff. Ireland.

-- Sir II. F. Bouverie Governor of Malta.

Sir J. C. Smyth Governor of Demerara. Lord F. .1. H. Somerset Military Secretary. nurse Guards. Sir F. W. al ulcaster I us:lector-General of Fortifications. R. E. Robert Ellice staff, England. Sir John Buellau Staff. Ireland.

Jams Mae lounell tff. Ireland.

John Gardiner Deputy Aajut ant General. Governor or St. Helena. George Middlemore

JaArciniv:isbal'd. ben Staff. Itort.hay.

Guvernor of Jersey. Iluu. J. Ramsay staff, Bengal. Sir J. F. Fitzgerald staff. Maims. Sir James Douglas 'Staff. Ireland. Sir George Elder

Sir Willoughby Cotton staff, Madras.

Staff. Bengal.

Hon. Patrick Stuart Staff, Scotland.

37 Governor of Guerasey :37 ..tit of 166 Mips. Gen. refs.] But if the coup

Rural, ARTILLERV—OFFICERs re!irc i yens FULL Bay AND PENS:oNS.

Rank.I Army i Date of Itetiremeut. Captain. I Sir CharlesW.Thorteou,K.C.11. I Co1.t:701May 1sr.5. I lath Nov. 1806. By wl at process a Captain retired in I tOli on full pay and pensions, iu full of all de: lauds, has since become a Colonel, and now a General ( :three. I leave to you to explain; and to stigmatize as it deserves, a system so full of erudty, absurdity, and exttavagance—which places in the same category the offiaser who has retired from the service thirty years back, and him who has worked hard in his tegiment on service up to the date of his receiving the rank of General Offi- cer. The Army List contains hundreds of such caves. That I may not be suspected of mystifying your readers about the number of General Officers in the Ordnance D.rartua nt. I atinex a list of those we had ou the 1st oil:nu:try last, adding the new creations on the loth instant. Charles Terrot Retired from Royal Art., now General, (4) John Mackeleau Retired from Royal Eng. George Wilson Retired Royal Invalid Art. Joseph Walker Lieut.-Col. Retiredfall pay R.r.4. Charles Neville Retired from Royal Inedid Art. Henry Eustace Retired from Royal Engineers.

Lord Bloomfield Effective Col. Royal Art.

21 Major-centrals.

Henry Shrapnel Effective Col. Royal Art

George Wulff Effective Col. Royal Mt

Sir S.T. Dickens Effective Col. Royal Eng. Wiltshire NVilsou Effective Col. Royal Att Now S.C. Parry Efecteve Col. Royal Art. Lieut.-Gens. Augustus de Butts ..... . Effective Col. Royal Eng 15.

George W. Phipps Retired from Royal Military Academy.

William Miller ...... Effective Col. ll oyal Art

George Salmon Effective Cul. Rua al Art

. a Jus. Maclean Effective Cul. Royal Art. Richard Dickenson Effective Cul. Royal Art.

Robert Stewart Maj, r, retiredfill.F•F R•LA. Alexander Armstrong Major, reirot /441l pay R I.A. Sir James C. Smyth Unposted Royal fins). Henry Evatt Effective Col. Royal Erg.

Sir F. W. Aluleaster Effective Cul. Roy-al Eng.

Edward Pritchard Unposted Royal Art. Sir James Vino' Unpaged Royal Art. Robert Reeser Unpostcd !torn! Art. • James Shostall Cupola, retired fall pay R.LA. Robert Craw ford Cr ytaiii,retired jell pay R I.A. 26 New Promotions to Major-Oenerals, and Regimental positions.

Sir Huward Elphiustone 51, Cul.-Commtiatiant Royal .En9.

Elias W. Danford 1st Col. Royal Eng. Sir G. AV hit more 24 Col. Royal En. Sir C . W. Thornton Retired fidtpyry, Capri:), Royal Art. 1806,

Sir Alexander Dickson 20th Col. Royal Art. Str J. T. Jones 4th Limit. Col. Royal Erg. Sir T. Downman 4th Col. Royal Att. F. It. Thaekeray 3d Col. Royal Env.

Sir S. R. Chapman 5th Col. Royal Ei,;.

John E. Birch 4th Col. Royal Enz.

Gustavus N icons 6th. Col. Royal Etig.

Sir Jos. II.Cameross 1st Col Royal Art. Alexander Watson 2,1 Cot. Royal Art. Edward V. Worsley &I Col. Royal Att. Cornelius Mann 711t Col. Royal Er....

Ilenry Evelegh 5th Col. Boyal Art:

G. Adye 6th Col. Royal Alt. I ferry Phillott 7th Col. Royal Art. i'eter Eyers Sth Col. Royal Art. lion. W. II.G nattier 9th Col. Royal Art.

George Wright 8th Col. royal Ere.

John Hassan, 9th Col. Royal Erg.

Frederick Walker 10th Col. Est.yal At:.

Alexander Macdonald 11th Col. Royal Art.

Percy Drummond 12th Col. Royal Art. Jos. W. Tobin 13th Col. Iiiti al Art The result gives 31 of the old list, and a total with the new promotions of 57 General Officers to the corps of Artillery and Engineers.

Of the whole list of 31 General Officers, you will observe that 17 are retired officers, most of them for a period of thir tv years; yet their promotion has gone on as if they had been effective, and is going on still.

Of the new list of 26 .filajor-Generals made in one day, 14 were effective Colonels of Artillery, 11 of Engineers, and one who retired on full pay as a Col lain flow the Royal Artillery thirty yews ago. If the Colonels iu these corps be really useful, conceive the disorganization of the Artillery by taking away 14 out 0E20 Colonels in one day, and 9 out of 10 Colonels of Engineers. Some officers are passed over in all prudes. Some Colonels, Lieutenant.. Colecels, and Majors, and plenty of half-pay Captains of the Line, who are not retired officers. On what principle these exceptions are made, it is not easy to discover, with such cases before us as Sir C.W.T HOR NT oN's, and the 17 others above cited. I thought I had got a clue to them after seeing the following on,i,sions of Colonels to be Major-Generals.

Colonel Shadtorth Major. half pay 10th Foot Colonel Lloyd Do do. 9711i Foot Colonel Hatnerton ..... LieuteCol. half pay 44th Foot

Colonel Parry Major, It If pay 6th Gar. Bat.

Colonel Weston Du. do. 14th Gar. Bat.

Su I thought all the officers of Garrison Battalions would be excluded ; but the very next officer, Colonel Cow:noes, Major, half pay 7th Garrison .R.Italion, is promoted; so my theory about the inefficiency of officers of the did Garrison Battalions fell to the ground. Talking the matter over with a friend, I suggested that all the exceptions of Yield, officers in the promotions might perhaps arise from physical (or moral) incapacity for the service. But this he assured me could not be the rule that guided the Horse Guards; for, to his knowledge, one of the Majors now pro- moted to be Lieutenant.Coloncl in the Army had been quite blind for many years, and had been placed on half-pay at least ten years prior, for that very reason. As for the Captains on half-pay, not one of whom is promoted by the Brevet, though not retired like Sir C. W. THORNTON thirty years ago, but placed there for the most part involuntarily, by the operation of reductions since the peace. I refrain from saying any thing, as the system of arbitrary exclu- biOU, favouritism, and jobbing, are familiar to them, and will be so whilst " national gratitude" is directed by Tory hands. The whole system is venal and vicious ; and the Army, like the Church, is debased and degraded by simony and corruption. When a young, man presents himself now for the Army, Horse or Foot, the question is not, " Is he fit ? - What are his qualifications ? Ilas be length of arm and leg to make a good horseman and swordsman, and so set an example to others ? or what are his education and physical qualities ?" No such thing : the question is, " Has he money to purchase all his commissions, or his friends for him ? Can he spend 500i. a year besides his pay, if a Dragoon or a Guardsman ? Can lie (in defiance of their own regulations !) pay eight or ten thousand guineas for a troop in the Life Guards f" If not, he is told to troop off—he won't do for them. There it3, a scale of expense for each corps. Every thing is measured by the weight in gold. Hence we see Captains of Life Guards and heavy Dragoon Regiments 5 feet 2 or 3 inches high, and weiyhiny 8 or 0 stone ; while the young man fit to be a French Carabiuecr, a without money, is on the Iufautry Ilalf-pay, or rejected at starting. The venal abuses of the Army are defended by exactly the same arguments as those in the Church, and deserve exactly the same degree of respect. In the mean time, the Army, for all useful purposes, is feeling the effects of the system more and more daily, in ircrease of ignorance, incapacity, and inexperience. Look at the Cavalry in particular : except sonic of the Field-officers, hardly an officer has seen service. They are all too young, for they do not remain long enough to gain any experience. Except the regiments in India, there is a change, almost entire, every two or three years. I leave you to judge what confidence the men can have in theivofficers, under such rapid changes. They merely come to spend their time and their money agreeably for a few years, in splendid uniforms. This ,..art palls, and then they give way to others actuated by the same wish. Of to::: Captains promoted to brevet-Majors the other day, only 7 belong to the Cat airy, and :1 of those to two regimeats in India. [ To I e continued.]