COLONEL JOHN CAMERON.

THE following beautiful inscription to the memory of Colonel John Cameron, of the 92nd Highlanders, on a monument near Fort William, would be read with lively interest by the army at any time, on account of its own intrinsic merits as a piece of composition, and as doing justice to one of the bravest warriors that ever stepped. But when we mention that it is from the matchless pen of Sir Walter Scott, it will claim a much wider circle of admiration. In another part of this Number, will be found a notice respecting the movements of this wonderful author, which, we have no doubt, will interest every class of our readers.

We need scarcely call the attention of any one who has ever thought of the delicacies of genuine good writing, to the truth and vigour of the twelfth line, or to the touching, yet manly appeal contained in the four last lines.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

COLONEL JOHN CAMERON,

Eldest Son of Sir Ewan Cameron, of Tassifern, Bart.
Whose mortal remains,

Transported from the field of glory where he died,
Rest here with those of his forefathers.
During twenty years of active military services,
With a spirit which knew no fear, and shunned no danger,
He accompanied or led,

In Marches, in Sieges, in Battles,

The gallant 92nd Regiment of Scottish Highlanders,
Always to Honour-almost always to Victory :
And at length,

In the Forty-second year of his age,

Upon the memorable Sixteenth day of June, A.D. 1815,
Was slain in the command of that corps,

While actively contributing to achieve the decisive Victory
of

WATERLOO :

Which gave peace to Europe.
Thus closing his military career

With the long and eventful struggle in which
His services had been so often distinguished.
He died lamented

By that unrivalled General,

To whose long train of Success and Victory
He had so often contributed ;-
By his Country,

From which he had repeatedly received marks
Of the highest consideration ;—

and

SIR SAMUEL HOOD.

On the occasion of the Coronation, the column raised to the memory of the late Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, Bart, K.B. &c. was opened to public view. The column is of the Doric Order; the proportions are those of the Trajan Column reduced to a scale of one hundred and ten feet, It is crowned with a naval coronet, thereby clearly defining its object, and gives a correct idea of richly ornamented sterns of antique ships, of which there are four, with a corresponding number of sails, and a copper mast, ten feet high, occupies the centre. The column is from a design of Mr. Goodriche, an architect of Bath, and is considered to reflect credit upon him; the sculpture is executed by Mr. Gahagan of Bath, and it admirably put out of hand. The height on which it stands is upwards of three hundred feet above the adjacent plains, in the centre of the county of Somerset, commanding extensive views in every direction, with St. George's Channel in the distance. The family of Hood has long been resident in the parish of Burleigh, and it was in the vicarage those two great and gallant naval offices, the late Viscounts Hood and Bridport, were born. There are three other monuments seen from the top of this column, commemorating times and persons intimately connected with some most important æras in the history of Great Britain. The first is Alfred's tower, on the spot on which that wonderful man and patriot King raised his standard previous to the expulsion of the Danes from these shores; the next is the column at Burton-Pynsent, commemorative of the great Earl of Chatham; and the third is that in honour of the glorious achievements of the Duke of Wellington. These record times and events which will shed brilliancy upon Old England as long as her name shall endure, and it is in such society the column to the memory of Sir Samuel Hood now stands a speaking memento to his high worth and talents.

The following inscription from the pen of Sir James Mackintosh commemorates in beautiful language the varied greatness of his mind and character.

Sacred to the memory of

SIR SAMUEL HOOD, BART.

Knight of the most Honourable Order of the Bath, and nominated

Grand Cross thereof,

Knight of St. Ferdinand and of Merit,

Knight Grand Cross of the Sword,
Vice-Admiral of the White, and

Commander-in-Chief of H. M. Fleet in the East Indies.

An officer of the highest distinction

Among the illustrious men

Who rendered their own age the brightest period in the naval history of their country:
In whom the same simplicity, calmness, aud firmness,

Which gave him the full command of his science and skill in the midst of danger,
Secured also the rectitude of bis judgment in its most rapid decisions,

Preserved the integrity and kindness of his nature undisturbed amidst the agitations of the world,
And diffused a graceful benignity on the frank demeanour of his generous profession:
Whose character was an example of the natural union of a gallant spirit with a gentle disposition,
And of private affection with public honour,

Whose native modesty was unchanged by a life of Renown.

This Column is erected

By the attachment and reverence of British Officers,
Of whom many were his admiring followers

In those awful scenes of war,

Which, while they called forth the grandest qualities of human nature,
In him, likewise gave occasion for the exercise of its most amiable virtues.

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.

Lord Munster, in Explanation of a Passage of his" Campaign of 1809,” referring to Lord Howden.

MR. EDITOR,-Lord Howden has pointed out to me that some details in my Account of the Campaign of 1809 in Portugal, which relate to his Lordship's command in that country previous to my arrival with the Duke of Wellington, are not correct. The information upon which my statement was founded was received at Lisbon in April 1809, and appears on my journal of twenty-two years since.

I have stated in my Memoir (p. 9.) that, during the advance of the French army to Oporto, the British artillery and cavalry were embarked, and that the Forts of St. Julian and Bugio were dismantled. Lord Howden assures me that the embarkation did not take place, and the withdrawal of the guns from Bugio may have given rise to the latter report.

Exclusive of my anxious desire to be as far as possible accurate in matters of history, the friendly nature of Lord Howden's communication and my sense of what is due to so distinguished an officer, more strongly prompt me to rectify this error, although I am well aware that nothing can detract from the gallant General's well-known services, especially at a moment so trying and critical as that to which I refer. How justly those services have been appreciated has been recently evinced.

I cannot find a more ready and appropriate mode of correcting my involuntary mistake, than by requesting your insertion of this letter in the Journal of the United Service.

MR. EDITOR,-It has usually been the policy of our statesmen to do everything which could promote cordiality between the two great military professions of the empire; and in conferring promotions, rewards, or honorary distinctions, to hold the balance of favour so evenly between the army and the navy, as not to give either branch occasion to complain of partiality or of neglect. It is true, the ranks of the army are so filled with scions of the aristocracy, and the rude, cramped, imprisoned life of a seaman presents so few allurements to boys nursed in the lap of affluence, that notwithstanding encouragements have lately been given to induce younger sons of the nobility to enter into the naval service, yet the parliamentary influence of our wooden walls is but as dust in comparison to that possessed by the army. It was on this account principally, that the whole navy of Great Britain hailed King William's accession to the throne, as an event highly favourable to their interests-it being naturally imagined that the countenance and support of the Sailor Monarch would tend, in some degree, to counterbalance that superior influence which had hitherto been exerted in favour of the army. Alas! miserably indeed have these reasonable expectations been disappointed, even in the very commencement of His Majesty's reign; and bitterly will the navy feel the iron enter into their souls accordingly!

At former coronations it was the custom to grant a general brevet or promotion to the army and navy. When William the Fourth was crowned, U. S. JOURN. No. 35. OCT. 1831.

C

however, the ministers thought proper, from motives of economy, to withhold this act of royal favour; but as a cheap substitute, they determined upon conferring certain honorary distinctions upon the sister services. It is not for the army or the navy to pronounce judgment upon this piece of wretched parsimony. The proud Empire of Britain may have become at last reduced to such a state of bankruptcy that she is compelled to stop payment in gold, and to reimburse her defenders and servants by a paltry issue of titles and ribbons; but the United Services had at least a right to expect, that in the distribution of these honours, there should be no apple of discord thrown between those who had so long, so wisely, and so cordially amalgamated; that there should be no attempt made to sow jealousies between the army and the navy, by exalting one branch at the expense-the degradation-and the mortification of the other. A very simple statement will serve to show how this said balance of favour has been preserved; and in what proportion the Coronation Titles and Ribbons have been bestowed upon the two services.

So that the army has obtained nearly five times more of the Sovereign's favour upon this occasion than the navy. Should this, however, be allowed to produce any ill-blood between the sister services? God forbid! Most warmly do we congratulate the scarlet upon what they have obtained. Richly do they deserve all that a grateful King and country can bestow. Their deserts are written in the blood of a thousand battles! and may the unanimity between the two professions be immutable as their merits are equal, despite of all that undue preference and unwise partiality can accomplish towards introducing heart-burnings between them.

It will be observed by the foregoing table, that no officer of the navy holding inferior rank to a colonel in the army of twenty-three years standing, has obtained even a Companionship of the Bath; while in the army, even lieut.-colonels and majors are included in the distribution! But even this is not all. In the announcement of Knight's Batchelors-which are not published in a batch, but keep oozing out through the pages of the Gazette— there are not more than one or two sailors to keep whole dozens of redcoats in countenance. Why also, it may be asked, is the Guelphic Order of Knighthood so exclusively appropriated to the army in preference to the navy? It is generally understood, that this Hanoverian distinction is conferred only on personal friends of the Sovereign; and are we therefore to believe, that in the wide circle of good King William's friendship, only the Blue Jackets are excluded? Away with such a base supposition! The Monarch little knows with what contumely his antient comrades are treated. We know not why Earl Grey should thus show a palpable and impolitic preference for the army-a partiality infinitely more galling to the navy than that natural predilection which the Duke of Wellington exhibited towards his old campaigners. Perhaps the great disparity in the late distribution of Titles and Ribbons may have been "inadvertent," or it may have arisen from the baneful influence of some military relative behind the Premier, more powerful than the Prime Minister himself. In either case it is to be hoped, that even yet justice will be done to the aggrieved navy of England, by granting to it another, and a more liberal distribution of honorary distinctions, including, as in the army, field-officers of every rank who may have fought and bled in their country's service.

A WOODEN-LEG COMMANDER R.N.

BUT NOT A C.B.

Marshal Suchet-Attack on the Col de Ordal.

MR. EDITOR,-In the late Marshal Suchet's Memoirs it is stated, that on the 13th of September, 1813, the division of Gen. Mesclop attacked the post of the Col de Ordal in Catalonia, defended by an Anglo-Spanish detachment, and that after being twice repulsed, the former at last succeeded, carrying the redoubts sword in hand. Now, there were no redoubts to carry, and, unfortunately, there was not even time to construct an abattis upon the high road which led through the post; if there had, instead of his two repulses, the Marshal might possibly have had to acknowledge he only meant a reconnoissance, as he did on the preceding April, when he was confoundedly thrashed, and by the same artists.

AN EYE-WITNESS.

Naval Promotion.

MR. EDITOR, I forbore from addressing you prior to your publication for the last month, from the supposition that you would be inundated with letters on the subject of the Non-Coronation Promotion; seeing, however, that the only remarks are from yourself under the head of "A Coronation without a Brevet," I shall beg leave to remark, that the general opinion of the omission arises from a view of economy in His Majesty's Ministers, driven to it by the constant complaints of Members of the House of Commons, at the numerous promotions since the commencement of the general peace; and certainly with great justice, as such promotions in the Navy were, nine times out of ten, of young officers, who scarcely ever served a day during war, and were preferred for no better reasons than favouritism, arising from their nobility of birth, connexion with the "order," or parliamentary influence. Let us see what the expense of a Coronation promotion would have been, founded upon the just principles of that which took place on the occa