522 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



The one great cause which undermines the 

 efficiency of the British army is the insane per- 

 sistence of making money the passport to promo- 

 tion instead of valour and intellect ; and so long as 

 " military rank," with its accompanying " honour," 

 can be bought by gold, it will be impossible to 

 exact that high degree of professional skill which 

 ought to exist amongst the officers. 



The greatest dolt in the army, who had neither 

 brains nor metal, often now-a-days obtains a com- 

 mand, because, forsooth, his father — perhaps a 

 retired costermonger, or a wholesale snob — was 

 able to purchase his commissions over the heads of 

 better men. The consequence of this idiotic 

 system is that the force which has the misfor- 

 tune to be under his command fails in every- 

 thing it undertakes; and the poor brave private 

 soldiers are sacrificed to no purpose, and pay the 

 penalty of their commanding officer's bungling 

 stupidity with their lives. 



1 have seen many a grand coup lost solely be- 

 cause the general was a consummate fool, and with- 

 out the slightest idea of strategy and military 

 tactics. Had military rank been accorded to ca- 



