It is forgotten by the friends of the system of rank for money, that there has as yet been no officer from the ranks whose conduct before the enemy has been the subject of mifavoui-able notice, and that not one of them has been obliged to leave the service for refusal to perform his duty in the trenches; nor has it always been officers from the ranks who have been subjected to courts-martial, by the sentences of which they were forced from the army. In fact, many of those who take this side of the question are arguing, not for the aristocracy, but for the aurocracy; they are sacrificing to Plutus when thej' think they are worshipping Mars, and they confound the two questions, — in themselves entirely distinct, but so mingled in camp dialogue as to be inseparable, — of the pm-chase system with that of promotion from the ranks.
There are such difficulties in the way oi' an abolition of the former system, that its most intrepid advocate may well pause before he suddenly demolishes it, and the devotion, the courage, and the endurance of the British officer of the army, and, above all, the respect and obedience of the men for him, are very weighty considerations in the way of the theoretical reformer. But if it has its advantages, the system has also its great, its crying evils, of which every mouth is fall, and which are met alone by the remark that there are evils in every system. Look at the case of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Cuddy of the 55th. After the battle of Inkermann, he, as senior Captain, took the command of his regiment, when his senior officers wei'e either killed or wounded.
Throughout the whole of that terrible winter he served in the trenches, kept his handful of men together, and in all respects proved himself as careful as he was brave, and as prudent as he was zealous. Although lieutenant-colonel in the army, he was only captain in his regiment, and after having gone through the winter of 1854 and the spring of 1855, with all their hardships and conflicts, when the regimental majovity was for purchase, owing to the retirement of the galhmt Major Coats (whom I saw so badly hit at the Alma, that I scarce thought he could recover), Colonel Cuddy had the mortiticatiou of seeing Captain Cure, who was seven years his junior in the list of captains, and who had served at home witli the depot during the beginning of the campaign, pass over his head by purchase, and take the command of the regiment out of his hands.
And can the country now heal the wound in that proud spirit? No; poor Cuddy fell at the Eedan, and his cares and sorrows are over for ever. Cases somewhat similar are not wanting in other regiments. Right or wrong, had this war gone on, the purchase system was doomed. It is believed out here that the Horse-Guards cannot now get candidates to pay up their money for cornetcies in cavalry regiments, and the fancy prices of commissions have gone down greatly. Is it true that the cornetcies are not filled up in some cavalry regiments, inasmuch as the Horse-Guards have exceeded their number of gratuitous commissions, and will give no more without money, and that no money is forthcoming? Bearing somewhat on this question is the fact that the General Orders of the camp are crowded with notices that Captain So and So, liaving done the duty of field officer, that Lieutenant Such a One, having acted as captain, and that SergeantMajor Nobody, having acted as quartermaster of his regiment from such a date, shall draw pay and allowances accordingly.
War pushes our system horribly out of shape, and gives its delicate frame such squeezes and deranges it so terribly, that its dearest friends will scarcely know it when we carry it home. In conclusion, let me add to these few remarks, which only deserve attention as the echoes of contending voices around me, that some of the young and intelligent officers on the Staff, who have seen the working of the system, do not hesitate to express a hearty wish for its abolition. To the French it is utterly incomprehensible, and it is a fixed idea in the mind of Private Jean Francois Maria that General Codrington has paid enormous sums for the honour of commanding the army — otherwise he cannot understand it.