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1222 THI1 X EA D E R. [No. 30Q, Saturday...
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Kb notice can...
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1855.
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_^v^^v There is nothing so revolutionary...
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tober, 1854, there -was virtually one ru...
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THE WAR I3ST ASIA. The fall of Kars has ...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
1222 Thi1 X Ea D E R. [No. 30q, Saturday...
1222 THI 1 X EA D E R . [ No . 30 Q , Saturday , - ^ hi . I _ ^ — . —
Notices To Correspondents. Kb Notice Can...
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Kb notice can be taken of anonymous communications Whatever tefntended for inser tion must be authenticated bribe name and address of the writers not necessarily for Trabllcation , but as a guarantee of bis good faith . . Co mmunications should always . be legiBly written , and on one side of the paper only . If long , it increases the diffi-- culty of finding space for them . "VTe cannot undeatake to return rejected communications . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . "The Law of Partnership" ( continued ) , and several other articles , are unavoidably omitted this week .
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Saturday, December 22, 1855.
SATURDAY , DECEMBER 22 , 1855 .
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_^V^^V There Is Nothing So Revolutionary...
_^ v ^^ v There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when ail the world is by the very » w of its creation in eternal progress . —Ds . Aenojud .
Tober, 1854, There -Was Virtually One Ru...
tober , 1854 , there -was virtually one rule of promotion for her Majesty ' s Guards , another for the officers in her Majesty ' s regiments of the Line . A ^ ew words will explain this . The Brigade of Guards is composed of seven "battalions , each battalion being practically a regiment . The officers of each battalion held higher rank than the corresponding officers of the Line . As long ago as 1687 , King James conferred the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in
THE GUARDS' MEMORIAL . Upwards of a year ago Her Majesty's Go-¦ vernmentj adopting the recommendation of a commission , made many improvements in the promotion of officers . Among others it was ordered that all Lieutenant-Colonels actually in command of regiments or battalions for three years , should become Colonels . Up to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel promotion may ¦ foe pxrrchased ; beyond that rank , except for distinguished service , promotion goes by rule and routine . Bxit before the warrant of
Octhe army on the Captains of the Guards ; in . 1691 , William the Third conferred the rank of Captain in the army on the Lieutenants ; in _ 1815 , King George the Third conferred the xank of Lieutenant on the Ensigns . Thus , in the race for promotion , the Gxiards were always one step ahead of the Line . A Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the Guards could exchange into a Line regiment , and take the command—a thing not unfrequently done . The consequence of this state of things was , that the officers of the Guards rose more
rapidly to the rank of Colonel and Major-General than their brethren of the Line . Of course , besides being exempt from harassing foreign service , they had higher pay than the officers of the Line , and were in every way a petted and privileged corps . They did not , nay , they do not , even take their orders from the Commander-in-Chief , but from the Crown , being in , fact the most monarchical of oxxr institutions .
These privileges have long been held , and justly , to be grievances by the Linesmen ; and it hus frequently been in debate , both as a matter of politics and military polity , whether it is wise or just to maintain such a privileged corps . "We looked upon the warrant of October , 1854 , as a step in the right direction ; and it is undeniable that its effect was to take away one of the privileges of the Guards . Had the warrant simply ordered tfoftt all Lieutenant-Colonols should become Colonels after throe years' aei'v ice , of course % Q privilege of the Guards would have been
untouched , and all their Captain Lieutenant-Colonels , although only commanding companies , would have been eligible for promotion . But the warrant wisely excluded all the Captains in the Guards who were not serving as acting Majors or mounted officers ; that is , all who were not in command of battalions . This was only just to the Line ; for it would have been a mockery to confer the same rights on those who were only Captains of companies , as were conferred on those who actually commanded regiments .
But this decision greatly enraged the Guardsmen . They consulted together , and determined to petition the Queen for redress . What course did they adopt ? Secretly they drew up an able but tedious memorial of their grievances ; put forward the antiquity of their privileges ; urged their " vested interests . " Yet they interlarded their statements with protestations that did not grudge the Linesmen their chances of promotionthat they did object to be more on an equality ¦ with the Line . They insisted that they were hardly treated ; that juniors had jumped over
their heads ; and they did not hesitate to charge the authorities with a breach of faith . This memorial was signed—by whom ? Remember that it was to be presented to the Queen ; that it prayed Her Majesty to put her loyal Guards on a " footing of equality" with the rest of the army . The first name in the list of signatures is—the Queen ' s husband" Albert , F . M ., Colonel of the Grenadier Guards ; " the third is the Queen's cousin" George , Lieutenant-General , Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards . " The others were Field-Marshal Lord Strafford , Colonel Wood , Colonel Upton , and Colonel Moncrieffe ,
It is hardly possible to conceive a more painful , a more improper position than that in which the Prince Consort lias placed himself . He , a Field - Marshal , a Colonel of Guards , ranks unearned by military serviceranks without corresponding duties , lends his name to a prayer for invidious privileges on behalf of the Brigade in which he nominally commands—three battalions . For , be it remembered , that those Colonelcies are barely realities in anything but pay . The real Colonel of the Grenadier Guards is " Thomas
Wood . " The titular Colonelcies are professedly intended to be rewards for distinguished or meritorious services , and it was understood that these very Colonelcies of the Guards should be reserved for distinguished men . What a farce it is . The other officers may be forgiven for their share in this memorial ; but the public , whether they forgive or not , will surely never forget that the Queen's husband , at a moment when the Line is shedding its blood as freely as the Guards , petitioned his wife for a restoration of military privileges in favour of the latter that jxistice and policy alike had abolished .
It may be a question whether there should be any priviloged corps in an army . Even under a limited monarchy the distinction seems to imply that one section is a royal , the other a national , body of troops . It is rather too late in the day to maintain a distinction which is a relic of despotism . The Guards are not a picked but a privileged corps . Their officers , for the men do not enter into this
controversy , arc remarkable for their wealth and connections ; they ave not chosen because they are the best officors in the service , which they would bo wore they a picked body . They fight well ; but soldiering is , with rare exceptions , not a profession with them—it is a mode of life . It is an open question whether picked corps , to belong to which is a real military distinction , and -which forma a model to the army , is a good military institution
but there are few who will not condemn , as unjust and impolitic , at least in England , a privileged corps like the Guards . It is not likely , that however willing her Majesty may be to give . Albert ' s comrades what she is told is their due , she Avill be able to prevail on Ministers to accord her wish . This , of course , only makes the position of the Prince Consort and of the Queen , the more painful ; but it may be a lesson to the Prince to eschew military matters , and confine his energies to the Department of Practical Art , and to the Soeiety of Arts , and other similarly innocuous and inoffensive subjects .
The War I3st Asia. The Fall Of Kars Has ...
THE WAR I 3 ST ASIA . The fall of Kars has greatly altered the aspect of the war in Asia . So long as the brave garrison of that fortified position held out the Russians were grievously checked , and every movement in Armenia and Kurdistan was necessarily suspended . But it has long been foreseen that unless a powerful diversion were operated , or a determined effort made to relieve the place , or the winter compelled General Mouravieff to retire to Gumri , Kars must fall . At first it is obvioxis Mouravieff
placed too high a value on the operations of Omar Pacha and Selim Pacija , and that led him to attempt the capture of Kars by storm . By steadfastly keeping his ground , even after the terrible defeat of the 29 th September ,, and the setting in of the winter , Mouravieff showed that he estimated the diversion of Omar Pacha at its true value , that he rightly counted on the tardiness or weakness of Selim Pacha , and that he probably knew to an ounce the amount of stores there were in Kars .
How was Kars lost to Turkey ? It is not enough to say that Omar Pacha did not undertake sufficiently soon his diversion ; that Selim Pacha did not move from Erzeroum ; that the Anglo-Turkish contingent did not hasten to the relief of Kars . Why did they not do so ? Surely it is too much to reply—Turkish apathy ; because the Anglo-Turkish Contingent is not under the orders of
the Sublime Porte . A relieving army might have marched , either from Trebizond or Batoum , directly on Kars , or a strong army might , early in the summer , have operated an effective diversion on thcBhion . These things were not done . Not a private soldier , French or English , has shown himself in Armenia , only three or four officers were sent there early in the struggle . The apathy of the Porte does not account for the absence of the
Allies . Kars was a town of great importance —the flanking watchtower on the road to Persia , the outer gato of Erzerouin , the feeble counterpoise to Gumri . Surely , the French and English Governments alike see the importance of Asia to both their interests . 1 * Russia succeed in Asia , she will deal serious blows at England and France . The sovereignty
of the Levant is more a French than an English qviestion , just as a settlement in the Persian gulf would be more an English than a French question . Russia ainjs at Syria as well as the Persian gulf . Would France like to sec Russia a Mediterranean Poavci ? Something more is needed to account for the abstinence from action in Asia on the part or
the Western Powers than the statements »» the loading journal and other quarters . Something , we arc persuaded , has been kept back , or is discreetly withheld by tlioue who have it in their possession , which would fully accoW "J for the disasters of the Asian campai gn , ahm we ever know ?—if we did , would it avail us t The present state of the quniptugn is v ery perplexing . Omar Pacha , is said to bo in ol ' near Kutois . Has he then hoard oi' the fwi ol
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 22, 1855, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22121855/page/10/
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