dency to extinguish the discontents, and to make the army more available for general service, is undeniable. The latter effect would not, however, be produced in the degree supposed, nor to any extent which would materially obviate one of the greatest sources of weakness in our present system of rule. The districts from which the armies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay are recruited are of limited extent; the families of the men remain at their homes in the pursuit of their agricultural avocations, and the men obtain from time to time leave of absence, for the purpose of visiting their families and looking after the cultivation of their farms. If, from the distance at which the corps is stationed, these furloughs can only be granted at long intervals, an arrear of claims accumulates which can never be satisfied; by estrangement from domestic ties discontent is generated, the spirits depressed, the temper soured and prepared for mischief. The equalization of pay and allowances and the union of feeling and interests among the European officers do nothing towards the removal of this difficulty. And if, as Sir John Malcolm assures us, "there is no "principle of policy likely to be more conducive "to the security of the empire" than our power to employ the natives of one presidency in the

territories of another, he has not shown how we are to acquire this power; for what has occurred at Java and other places may convince us that to station Sepoys, for long periods, at a distance from their homes, even in the provinces subject to their own presidency, is to sow the seeds of sedition, conspiracy, and mutiny. His remedy is inapplicable to this disease, and he forbids the use of one which would alleviate and ultitimately cure it. Under a system of colonization the field for recruiting would not only be indefinitely enlarged, but soldiers might be obtained, whose fidelity would not wither, however long they were separated from the spots where they were born and bred; and officers, whom it would not be necessary to compensate by high pay and retiring pensions for the privations attendant on long exile from their native land.

Sir John Malcolm has well stated the difficulties connected with this part of the question, however inadequate his remedial expedients may be: "The rise of European officers in the native

army of India," he observes, "must continue "to be by seniority; but every measure, con"sistent with their interests and those of the

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public, should be taken, to accelerate the at"tainment of rank and command for those who

"have gained experience in this branch of the

"service. The frequent stagnations of promo"tion which have occurred have been hitherto "relieved by expedients that gave an impulse "for the moment, but were followed by a re"action that often left men in a worse situation "than they were before. We must not judge "of the effects of such stagnation of promotion " in the local army in India by what we observe "from the same cause in England. There is "hardly any analogy: the power of exchanging "into other corps; of purchasing and selling "their commissions; that of living with their "relations and friends; the connexions they "form, and the different walks of life open to "men in their native country, place them in a "situation totally different from those who are, " in a manner, banished to a foreign land, where they may almost be considered aliens from all family ties and connexions, with their pros"pects limited to their profession, to which they are in fact bound, from the day they "enter it, as the only means they have of sub"sistence. The officers of His Majesty's ser"vice, if disappointed or discontented, have

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generally the means of escape, and if, in effecting that, their condition becomes worse, "their complaints are not heard, they produce no effect on others; young and more sanguine

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"candidates fill the niche they occupied; nor "does the state suffer by the change; for the "constitution of the army to which they belong "requires, in its inferior officers, no qualifications "that may not be easily acquired. But how "different is the situation of those who enter "the Company's service! Their youth must be "devoted to the attainment of acquirements, "without which they are unfit even for the "subaltern duties of a native corps; they have

no escape from their lot in life; discontent " and disappointment in it not only corrode "their own minds, but spread a baneful in"fluence over the minds of others: their place, "after they are in any degree advanced, can"not be easily supplied, for certain qualifications, which time and study alone can give,

are requisite to those who succeed them."

Under a system of colonization not only would the advantages above-described as belonging to the army in England, be equally possessed by the colonial, or creole part of the Indian army, but they would be in a great measure participated in by the division of the royal army serving in India. The latter would, at first, be separated from their relations, but they would find resources against that monotonous and insipid tenour of life, which is now one of the

greatest disadvantages attending a residence in India, in intercourse with an animated and varied society. There would then be a great diminution of ennui, and of the habit of building castles in the air, which is so frequently the solace of a cantonment life. The great bar to happiness, however, is considered to be the slowness of promotion, and invention is wearied with schemes for inducing the seniors to retire, so as to quicken the advancement of the juniors. As the pension of full pay, after twenty-two years' service has been found to be utterly inoperative towards the accomplishment of that object, arithmetic has been tortured in the projection of Retiring Funds, which, by means of a light monthly contribution, should yield a handsome annuity to the contributor, while yet in the vigour of his days. Unfortunately it was found that there was no transmuting poverty into wealth, without extrinsic aid, and that it was impracticable to provide annuities of magnitude sufficient to overbalance the temptations to continue in the service. Still the periodical return of this delusion, the renewed pursuit of this bubble, indicates the strength of the uneasy feelings in which it has its origin.

If the rise of European officers in the