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those brave men who have fallen in the service, would vanish. And, gentlemen, I must ever lament, that the policy of the respectable gentleman at the head of the Government should have obstructed a plan replete with much general good; but I still look forward to a future period, when I may have the pleasure of carrying it into execution. I have the honour to be, &c.

London, Feb. 25, 1812.

D. ROBERTS, Major, 51st Regiment.

EDGE

ON MILITARY KNOWLEDGE.

SIR, Having read the letter signed H. K. in the Military Chronicle of the present month, and considered it attentively, I find myself obliged to differ in some respects from the writer; and now send you the following observations upon it: and, as in offering them, I have in common with H. K. but one object in view (the good of the Army), I trust you will favour my remarks with a place in your miscellany.

I conceived that the plan, as proposed by H. K. cannot possibly be carried into effect; for allowing, that, out of 3000 persons who are now soliciting commissions, the number of those who have received a military education amounts to 375, or one-eighth part of the whole (the proportion supposed by him, but which I think is estimated far too highly), permit me to ask, what description of persons are to fill up the vacancies which may occur, after these 375 candidates have been appointed? for supposing a few such battles as that of Albuera to be fought, those persons will very soon be supplied with commissions, and then, according to H. K.'s calculation, the number of candidates, who may in the mean time have perfected themselves in a regular education, and applied for commissions, will be but an eighth-part of 375 (that is after the same rate which the qualified candidates now hold to the whole mass), to fill up the commissions which may afterwards become vacant; so that recourse must then be had to candidates who have not been educated in a scientific manner.

But the principal objection which appears to me to exist to the proposed plan is, that it for ever closes to the militia officer, and more especially to non-commissioned officers of the regulars, the door to promotion in the regular army; than which I fear nothing can be more prejudicial to the service. On the part of the militia officers I shall not attempt to say any thing, as they must be more competent to the task than I am: but with respect to the non-commissioned officers, I will take upon myself to assert, that it is the hope of receiving a commission which induces many non-commissioned officers to exert themselves in a particular manner. Where would a non-commissioned officer be found to volunteer to lead a forlorn hope, if he knew he should be but in the same situation (provided he survived the attack) which he was then in? Besides, Sir, what other inducement would a young man of common education have to enter the army?-Not the bounty? for that is never of any service to a recruit, on account of its being served out to him by piecemeal; nor the pay! For any man who can work at all, can earn much

On Military Knowledge.

more; and the persons of whom I am more particularly speaking can earn upwards of three times the sum, or they would not, I am sure, be fit for the situation of non-commissioned officers. If, then, it is neither the bounty nor the pay, what (except the hope of preferment) can it be? for I know not, and remain to be informed.

The French army is, I believe, allowed to contain as good officers, taking them en masse, as any in Europe; and surely, Sir, your correspondent must have forgotten, that Hoche, who was once a member of this body, was at the period of the revolution only a serjeant; yet the circumstance of his having been in so lowly a situation, did not prevent his afterwards becoming a master in the science of way; and I think that I need not call to the recollection of H. K. the names of Murat, Massena, Ney, and Junot, who were at the same period, or shortly previous to it, all private soldiers in the same army; nor need I remind him, that all vacancies which occur in it, are at present supplied by non-commissioned officers.-The generals whom I have named are considered as having been profoundly skilled in the art; and if such a plan, as the one now proposed, had existed in France at the period when they were in a situation similar to that in which those persons are placed, whom H. K. would now exlude from all hope of preferment, the Ruler of France would not have had to boast of their exploits, nor of the distinguished parts which they took in the subjugation of the Continent, wherein they have unfortunately been so eminently successful.

If the French non-commissioned officers can be converted into good generals, why may not the British? for I dare not think that my countrymen, who so conspicuously out-shine all their rivals, in bringing to the utmost perfection every domestic and beneficial art, are at all behind their neighbours and ancient enemies with respect to their military abilities, or their application to the study of the science of war. That such is the opinion of Lord Wellington is evident, from the number of commissions which he has procured for non-commissioned officers; and I imagine that every one will allow that there are few, if any, officers in the British service, better qualified to judge of the description of persons likely to make good soldiers than that celebrated General.

There are, moreover, instances of many young men, possessing ardent minds, who, having left civil employments, and obtained commissions in the army at a mature age, have become ornaments to their profession : Major André is a proof of what may be expected from such persons.

But although I do not agree in the entire plan proposed by your correspondent, yet I think with him, that no one person ought to be appointed to a situation in the army beyond that of Ensign, without his proving, to the satisfaction of persons appointed to examine him, that he possesses the necessary qualifications. Yet in this case there should be a fscale or qualifications adapted to the several gradations of rank, so that an ensign should not be required to know so much as a field-officer.

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By the King's regulation, a subaltern must serve three years before he is eligible to become a captain: during this probationary period, everysubaltern can learn the whole of the art of war, mathematics, &c. &c. as taught in the schools, or he never can learn it at all. An Ensign might be required to learn a certain portion of the necessary acquirements, and at a given time to be examined; if, on examination, he should be found to have perfected himself in the studies ordered him, he should be passed as a proper person to hold a lieutenantcy. On the contrary, should he be imperfect, he might be remanded till the next period for examination, and so on, till he should prove himself entitled to be promoted. In the same manner, a lieutenant should not be promoted to a company till he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the several particulars necessary for an officer to know. These studies would not interfere with the military duty of the persons engaged in them; for the time now sacrificed to the theatre, the ball, and the billiard table, would be then much better employed in learning the duties of a profession, into which every person who enters ought to aspire to reach the highest rank, but where he never can ascend, until he has made himself acquainted with it, even in its most minute details; and I think that the certainty of his rising in it, if he became a master of his profession, and the equal certainty of his being obliged to quitit in disgrace if he did not do it, would either be a sufficient stimulus to cause him to press forward, or oblige him to retire from it altogether, at an early period.

Londo, 20th April, 1812.

A NON-COMMISSONED OFFICER.

RECRUITING OF WEST INDIAN REGIMENTS.

AS the recruiting the West India Regiments has been fully decided upon, and measures for carrying it into effect taken place, we here present our readers with a summary of the plan and its consequent benefits, not only to the public service, but to the cause of humanity.

The whole is under the command and superintendance of Major R. S. Wingfield, of the 8th West India Regiment, who is the projector of it; his head-quarters at Goree. He is assisted by captains, subalterns, and the same staff as a regiment, with a proportion of non-commissioned officers, drummers, and fifers, from the whole of the West India regiments. The latter are native Africans, possessing a knowledge of the language of the country the recruits are proposed to be raised in. Government has liberally provided Major W. with presents, &c. for the African Kings and Chiefs; their friendship and protection is only claimed; the choice of voluntary enlistment is left wholly to the natives, who will be guided by the appearance, comfort, and advantages which those regiments enjoy, and which is precisely similar to all other corps in the service. The impres VOL. IV. NO. 19.

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sion made by the party must evidently be strong, who can speak to and explain the true comforts of each corps. The African nation has been long accustomed to hear of thousands and millions of its inhabitants taken away, but never heard of one returning. Each recruit is to receive a bounty of eight guineas, paid in such articles both of fancy and comfort as he may select, and the whole appearance of this establishment is fully intended to excite the admiration of the Africans, by encouragement to voluntary enlistment. It is hardly to be doubted, but the West India regiments may become of great service, and the continuation of them chosen by such means, will secure a decided preference to those that have been already formed, with the exalted benefit to humanity in the preservation of the lives of some thousands of white soldiers in that climate annually, which, upon a moderate computation, costs Government, by the time they arrive there, one hundred pounds each man.

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We could say much more upon this plan, from which so many advantages are likely to result; but, for the present, suffice it to add, that the whole arrangement appears to be judiciously made, and reflects much credit on the abilities and indefatigable exertions of Major Winkfield, who has now the satisfaction to find himself strenuously supported by the African Society, Mr. Wilberforce, and all the advocates for the abolition of the Slave Trade; which laudable purpose not only the most sanguine hopes are entertained of its finally accomplishing, but that it will likewise have the good effect of materially tending towards the civilization of the heretofore ill-fated nations of Africa.

T. Basset, Esq. late Brevet Lieutenaut-Colonel, and Major of the 5th Foot, and Ensign John M‘Lean, on the retired list of the 2d Royal West India Battalion, have been appointed Knights of Windsor-It is particularly desirous at this time to announce all appointments of Old Officers to this establishment, the Order having been so much abused, from which it is only now reviving.

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COURTS MARTIAL.

SIR-It has always been considered by military men, that in the administration of military jurisprudence a judge advocate attends, as a person so well versed in the forms of civil and military law, that in questions or doubts arising from ignorance of the usual process of civil courts (for military courts, in respect to certain formalities and customs, are supposd to follow the forms of civil courts), he should be appealed to as a guide for the proceeding, and as both counsel for the Crown and prisoner. So far, and no farther was it, I believe, ever known, that a judge advocate, in his official capacity, exceeded those prescribed bounds, till the case I am about to mention.

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At a Court-Martial, held on a Lieutenant-General in 1808, the Judge Advocate-General assumed an authority as novel as unprecedented. In an elaborate speech, at the close of the defence, he addressed the Court, expatiated on the evidence and merits of the defence, and as a judge addresses a jury in the civil courts, so this gentleman gave his opinions and charge to the court. However much in error the Lieutenant-General may have been, yet in this instauce he was not fairly dealt by. Many very worthy and honourable members of that Court may have been guided and influenced by what fell from the Judge Advocate, and made up their minds from his observations. This, therefore, was an irregular and an arbitrary proceeding, and might fully warrant the Lieutenant-General in stating, what I am informed is the case," That he was a victim to party, and prejudged,"

I aver, Sir, there is no precedent which the Judge Advocate could produce to sanction this infringement, this violation of the forms and customs heretofore observed at general courts-martial, and, if this infringe ment is continued, it will be productive of the most pernicious consequences.

Military men, however perfectly they may understand their profession, cannot be supposed much conversant with the arguments of law; and a clever subtile man, acting as Judge Advocate, may mislead them. A Court-Martial is a court of honour, not of quibble and perplexity. Then why introduce innovations upon the old, honest, and fair practices of the army, disgusting to officers, and prejudical to the service.

London, Mount-Street, April 2, 1812.

ST. PHILIP.

MILITARY EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS.

SIR, IN your first lecture to the Gentlemen of the army, you have observed, that, from the want of any general school for military instruction in England, the officers enter the army without any military knowledge whatever; whereas in France they receive a course of military instruction, acquire a stock of knowledge, which, improved by one or two practical campaigns, completes them in the art of war, which I most perfectly agree in, and lament the truth of your observation.

Of late, military schools have been established in this country for the education of gentlemen intended for the army; but the plan of tuition therein practised cannot accomplish what we must suppose to be the object of such establishments,-to render gentlemen well informed, and masters in the art of war. The education they receive is confined to mathematics, fortification, drawing, writing, arithmetic, and geography. Are these points sufficient for an officer to be well versed in? Is not a