to attend to that the Ordnance officers are appointed, according to their several capacities; and it is further the duty of the Master-General to watch that the artillery and engineer corps are efficient at every station where they are serving. He has also to determine all questions that may arise in the general administration of the military and civil services of the Ordnance and of the barrack and store departments.* He acts in concert with the Commander-in-Chief on points connected with the defence of the country, the distribution of artillery, and all matters in which the Ordnance is connected with the army arrangements. He is supreme at his Board. His office and that of the Commander-in-Chief are not similar. He has power to place an officer on half-pay, or promote him without reference to the board. As regards patronage, he has the same power as the Commander-in-Chief, excepting that the promotion in the Ordnance corps goes by seniority. The Master-General has not been a civilian for some centuries. The Ordnance was placed upon the present footing in the reign of Charles II., but it has existed from the time of Elizabeth, if not earlier. Next to the Master-General is the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, who, in the absence of the MasterGeneral, is director of the military services. The officers forming the Engineer corps are the officers of the sappers and miners-besides his duty as a Commanding officer to the corps, and his other duties as a practical engineer in aid of military operations and erecting fortifications, the Engineer officer, (in a district at home,) prepares estimates for the repair of barracks and other engineer * Report on Civil Administration of Army, 1837: Appendix B. Engineer services, which he sends to the Inspector-General of Fortifications annually. The Inspector-General sends him the answer; and if that contains the authority of the board, then the Engineer officer gets the work done by the contractor, under the contracts entered into by the board, for three years certain, but determinable on three months' notice, after the first year. Abroad, the Engineer and other officers, at the end of a quarter, certify as to the work done under the estimates they have transmitted, and on the orders of the Mastergeneral and the Commanding engineers, sign an order on the store-keeper for payment at the station. The storekeeper is the accountant. At home and abroad, the Engineer officer is in no way a public accountant, by making payment to contractors or workmen; and he has only so far the custody of materials and stores, that an annual ledger is rendered, which is made by the clerks of the works, under the engineer's orders. The sappers and miners have no stores except such as belong to their own equipment. The Master-General superintends the discipline of the corps of artillery and engineers; the Adjutant-General of Artillery keeps the returns of them. One of the five Colonels of Engineers is usually nominated Inspector-General of Fortifications. The Artillery and Engineers are paid by their own armyagent; but each captain pays his own company, and detachments are paid by the subaltern commanding them. There is a separate pay-master where there is a large force of artillery in the field abroad, and he renders his accounts for the ordinary service, viz.: officers' and men's pay, &c., to the agent, and for the extraordinary services to the Surveyor-general of ordnance. Under the term Artillery is comprehended the ordnance Artillery. of the British army, and the officers and men entrusted with its scientific direction and employment. The Royal Artillery never do duty but in corps; the officers however are not exempted from a participation in the general duties of the garrison or camp in which they may be serving, (guards and picquets excepted, which they take with their own corps only); but as there is, in some situations, a very extensive superintendence, and always more or less responsibility attached to the officers of this corps, who are entrusted with detached commands, where the professional duties which demand attention might be interrupted by the performance of garrison duty, the officer commanding the detachment may be exempted from such duties, at the discretion of the commanding General. The officers of this corps rise like the engineer officers, by regular gradation, from the rank of second Lieutenant to that of Colonel. Each officer of artillery, commanding a troop of horseartillery, or field-battery, has his own stores under his charge, and he is answerable for them. In colonies and fortresses everything that is applied to their defence is under the charge of the Commanding artillery officer, and he is the sole responsible person. Being accountable for his stores, it is requisite that he should deliver them over in good order. These officers have great responsibilities: for example, the officer of artillery, at Gibraltar, has seven hundred or eight hundred guns under his charge, and he is responsible for them, and all the apparatus attached to them. Instances of great loss, in which officers have been called upon in a pecuniary way to account for stores, seldom occur; but officers are often under great difficulty in being able to clear up their accounts in regard to them. N Director- Similar to the Inspector-General of Fortifications amongst Artillery. the Engineers, is the Director-General of the Artillery. He superintends the whole materiel of the Artillery in use, in garrisons, detached batteries, and in the field. He is responsible for its efficient condition, its suitability for the special service, and the supply of necessary ammunition. On these subjects he advises the Board and the MasterGeneral. He watches, also, the progress of improvement in Artillery. The duties are numerous, and involve a high degree of military responsibility, and require this appointment to be allotted to an officer of high rank and much professional knowledge and experience. British Officers. Foreign Officers SECTION VII. The Army, how Officered and Raised.* All British subjects can by law hold command in the Army, with the consent of the Crown, whether Dissenters, Roman Catholics, or Jews, provided they are willing to take the necessary oaths. Foreigners are not generally competent, (not being British and Troops. subjects) to hold commissions in either service; but during the War of the French Revolution, the law was somewhat modified; the Crown being authorised to enlist any subjects of Louis XVI., to form them into regiments and battalions, appointing French officers to command them. These troops were to be employed only on the Continent, and the Channel Islands, and not elsewhere; and if brought into England, * See Appendix, for Note on the "Queen's Regulations," regarding Commissions, Exchanges, and Promotions. were not to be marched more than five miles from the sea coast, nor be landed to a greater number than 5,000.* The following year, the Crown was permitted, during the continuance of the War, to raise regiments amongst the foreigners then in Great Britain, and to commission foreign officers to command them; with a limit to the number of foreign troops in Great Britain, at one time, to 10,000. The Crown was also authorised to commission foreign officers, and to enlist foreign soldiers generally, to serve in any regiment, battalion, or corps.† The number of foreign troops in Great Britain was, two years later, extended to 16,000. Four days before the Battle of Waterloo these powers were confirmed and prolonged till twelve months after the return of peace. At the same time the commissions of foreign officers were confined to the foreign corps that had been previously enlisted, excepting the 60th Foot; and officers already holding commissions in other regiments.§ These officers may be promoted as high as the rank of General, with all the advantages belonging to the position. So that, with these exceptions, the royal commission cannot be granted to any foreigner not in the service prior to 1815. Minority is no disqualification for a commission. No native or natural born subject of the British Crown, resident in India, is disabled by reason of his religion, place of birth, descent, or colour, from holding any office. East India Officers in the armies of the East India Company hold Officers of the also an additional commission from the Crown, conferring Company. local rank of the same degree in India, as long as the officer holds the corresponding rank in the service of the East India Company. These commissions are signed on behalf of the Crown, by the Commanders-in-Chief of these pre * 34 Geo. III. c. 43. † Geo. III. c. 75. 46 Geo. III. c. 23. || 7 Wm. IV. and 1 Vic. c. 29. |