Memoir of Sir Andrew Smith, by Alex. Michie. 45 



country for forty-two years, he sought to be relieved of his duties. 

 General Peel, then Minister for "War, acknowledged his resigna- 

 tion in the following terms : — 



War Office, 11th. June, 1858. 



Sir, — I have received your letter of the 22nd ultimo tendering the resigna- 

 tion of your appointment as Director-General of the Army Medical Depart- 

 ment. 



After the long period which you have devoted to the puhlic service, and 

 under the circumstances of impaired health, which you urge as your reason 

 for wishing to retire from your onerous and responsible situation, I cannot 

 hesitate to accede to your request. 



It will be my duty to recommend, through His Eoyal Highness the 

 General Commanding- in- Chief, without delay, for Her Majesty's approval, 

 the name of your successor, and also to recommend in the strongest manner 

 to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that you may be per- 

 mitted to retire on the full salary of your appointment. 



I avail myself of this opportunity to express to you the sense I entertain of 

 the zeal and devotion to the public service which you have always evinced in 

 the discharge of your duties, and of the most laborious and anxious character 

 of those services at times of unexampled difficulty. 



I have the satisfaction of knowing that my opinion of the manner in which 

 you have filled the office of Director-General of the Army Medical Depart- 

 ment is concurred in by my predecessor in office, and you will retire with the 

 assurance that you have faithfully and zealously discharged most arduous 

 and important duties. 



I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 



J. PEEL. 



A. Smith, Esq., M.D., &c. 



Her Majesty, the Queen, who, both personally and through his 

 friend, Sir James Clarke, had repeatedly expressed her sym- 

 pathy for him under trying circumstances, now conferred on him 

 the dignity of K.C.B., which honour was a source of gratification 

 to his friends, and to the profession of which he was a member. 

 The Medical Times, in a leading article, adverting to this, said 

 that "the conspicuous and comprehensive ability, the industrious 

 and energetic zeal, the self-denying devotion to the welfare of 

 the soldiery, and of the medical staff, which Sir Andrew Smith 

 displayed, from February, 1854, the date of his preliminary en- 

 quiries and measures in Bulgaria, until the embarkation of the 

 sick at Scutari, in June, 1856 ; tried and proved by this incon- 

 testable evidence, we most conscientiously pronounce the subject 

 of this notice to have well merited the grateful and opportune re- 

 ward conferred on him by his sovereign." 



