Should he write to the Adjutant-General of the English army, the chances are that he will never receive any answer to his letter, although his request be of the smallest kind, unless indeed he happens to belong to the dii minores, or possesses such recommendations as have full consideration in the eyes of that dignitary of the army. In fact, poor Colonel Pakenham has so much writing to do that he cannot spare time to reply to the most civil communication in the world. I recommend amatem-s and travelling gentlemen, unless they belong to the privileged class of which I have spoken, not to trouble him. Procul! oh! procul este profani. You wUl get short Pythonic answers — it is well if they are nothing worse — to your verbal applications, and no reply at all to your letters.
However, Colonel Pakenham is believed to be a good man of business, " a rare arithmetician," and a subtle " totter up" in addition; he has industrious habits, is of a sedentary disposition, has a studious turn in the matter of returns, regimental reports, and such-like Uterature, and is so far a most excellent and useful Adjutant-General. What does the anny want more? And now — even now — It is not too late to reproduce a despatch of a very different character from those we read of in the London Gazette or in General Orders. It is, indeed, no less applicable to this army, now about to winter in the Crimea, than it was to another army when it was written, and the truths it contains are as patent and as pregnant with value and interest as they were nearly half a century ago.
The writer says, — " I have no hesitation in attributing these evils — of irregularities, of bad cooking, and of want of discipline — to the habitual inattention of the officers of regiments to their duty, as prescribed by the standing regulations of the service, and by the orders of this army. " I am far from questioning the zeal, still less the gallantry and spirit, of the officers of the army; and I am quite certain that if their minds can be convinced of the necessity of minute and constant attention to understand, recollect, and carry into execution the orders which have been issued for the performance of their duty, and that the strict performance of this duty is necessary to enable the army to serve the country as it ought to be served, they will in future give their attention to these points. " Unfortunately, the inexperience of the officers of the army has induced many to consider that the period during which an army is on service is one of relaxation from all rule, instead of being, as it is, the period during which, of all others, every rule for the regulation and control of the conduct of the soldier, for the inspection and care of his arms, ammunition, accoutrements, necessaries, and field equipments, and his horse and horse appointments — for the receipt, and issue, and care of his provisions, and the regulation of all that belongs to his food and the forage for his horse — must be most strictly attended to by the officers of his company or troop, if it is intended that an army — a British army in particular — shall be brought into the field of battle in a state of efficiency to meet the enemy on the day of trial. " These are the points, then, to which I most earnestly entreat you to turn your attention and the attention of the officers of the regiments under your command — Portuguese as well as English — during the period in which it may be in my power to leave the troops in their cantonments.
The commanding officers of regiments must enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant inspection and superintendence of the officers over the conduct of the men of their companies in their cantonments; and they must endeavour to inspire the non-commissioned officers with the sense of their situation and authority; and the non-commissioned officers must be forced to their duty, by being constantly under the view and superintendence of the officers. By these means, the frequent and discreditable recourse to the authority of the provost, and to punishments by the sentence of courts-martial, will be prevented, and the soldiers will not dare to commit the ottenccs and outraires of which there ai'e Wellington's circular. 249 too many complaints, when they well know that their officers and their non-commissioned officers have their eyes and attention turned towards them. " The commanding officers of regiments must likewise enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant, real inspection of the soldiers' arms, ammunition, accoutrements, and necessaries, in order to prevent at all times the shameful waste of ammunition, and the sale of that article and of the soldiers' necessaries.