that if she were lost they must all inevitably perish; while, on the other hand, in her safety was their only chance of rescue. He knew they would remember that they were British soldiers; he declared his resolution to stand by them and share their fate; that he would be the last man to quit the rock; and that while this was his determination, where was the man among them who would forget himself so far, as to dare to stir one step? The effect of Lieut. Stewart's example was electric. The men seemed to lose sight of their sufferings, and to be actuated by one spirit of heroism and self-devotion. The boat conveyed away the remaining officers excepting Lieut. Stewart. The enthusiasm of the moment however subsided with the departure of the boat, and the situation of the wretched beings, marked as it were for destruction, grew momentarily more perilous. The fog increasing, shut out the light of the sun. The biting north-east blast added to the severity of the cold, which was still further increased by the breaking of the surf over the men. They lay huddled together for warmth. As may naturally be supposed, but little communication was held among them, each seemed intensely reflecting upon that dissolution which seemed inevitable. The water gained upon them, and at length so high did the tide rise, that the men were forced to stand as closely together as if forming a solid square.

It was now noon-day, but the fog continued as dense as ever, and the rain fell in torrents. Their sufferings at length rose to such a pitch, that there was scarcely one among these miserable men who did not wish for death as a release. One of the serjeants, in the course of the morning, picked up a button which bore the number of the 69th regiment, some men of which had perished upon this very rock about twenty years previously, having suffered shipwreck. Lieut. Stewart, with a degree of prudence and foresight which under the circumstances of his situation would seem almost miraculous, strictly charged the serjeant to conceal this circumstance from his fellow soldiers, for a knowledge of it would only have aggravated their horrors, and might probably have driven them to desperation. While thus awaiting their end with a resignation scarcely paralleled, a vessel appeared breaking the line of fog-the men could at first hardly believe their senses, and when the ship became clearly visible, the burst of joyful exultation beggars description. They were snatched by the over-ruling hand of Divine Mercy, from what to them appeared inevitable destruction, and in proportion to their former despair was their present joy. The effects of Lieut. Stewart's foresight and prudence soon became apparent; the jolly-boat, after conveying the last freight to the second rock, proceeded in search of land, giving up the unfortunate men on the sunken rock as overwhelmed in the deep. The boat soon came in sight of two vessels, one of which immediately proceeded to the rescue of those on the second rock, while the other went in search of Lieut. Stewart's party, with scarcely any hope of finding even one of them alive. But that God who worketh in secret had otherwise ordained—the wind blowing from the north-east, though it aggravated their sufferings for a time, saved them from a watery grave. Had it blown from any other quarter, the tide would have risen to its usual height, and they must have perished. The survivors were all safely landed at Halifax.

RESTRICTIONS ON HALF-PAY OFFICERS.

In reading in your last number the article "A Voice from the Army," some remarks occurred to me in farther support of the excellent observations it contains, relative to the injustice to the individuals, and impolicy towards the public service, in officers on halfpay being prevented by the present regulations from holding many situations for which their previous life and habits render them well and even in many cases peculiarly adapted.

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It is well remarked, that in coming into these situations, " putation and a commission to lose would be guarantees;" they would be much superior to the testimonials &c. given by the persons who from interest are generally selected to fill such situations, particularly in our foreign possessions; and further, that officers would, in the great majority of cases, be much more satisfactory to those with, or over whom they are to act. The writer has alluded to the Constabulary in Ireland: connected with this subject, it may be remarked, that during the distraction in that country in 1820, &c. as appears from the evidence given before the Committee of the House of Commons, whilst many of the magistrates were considered by the people as partial and unjust in their decisions, and cases were adduced where they were accused of a bias in favouring the Orange side against the Catholics, the latter always considered and testified, that when officers who had served in the Navy and Army were acting in the magistracy, impartial justice was invariably administered by them, without any reference whatever to their party feuds. That decided conduct and straightforward justice which is requisite to the maintenance of authority and discipline in a ship or a regiment, and which is inculcated in officers from their earliest entry into the service, is an excellent school for preparing for duties of that nature. It appears to be bare justice, as stated by the writer, that a certain number of years' service should entitle an officer to his half-pay, independent of the emoluments of any other situation which he may be able to obtain. But in the affidavit which he is obliged to make, in order to receive that allowance, there is one very strong point in which I think the injustice and impolicy of the restrictions inflicted on officers on half-pay, not to the individual only, but to the country at large, might have been brought forward. I allude to that part which prevents an officer from entering any other service. This clause was made at the instigation of King Ferdinand by Lord Castlereagh, in 1818, in order to prevent our officers, then just reduced in great numbers, from proceeding to the New States in South America. It will be evident, for many reasons which we shall now state, that this regulation was most impolitic.

1. Experience in war is the making of officers, and with experienced officers, recruits will be soon made almost to equal experienced troops.

2. As far as the reduction in the half-pay list, it may be urged as beneficial to the country, since the casualties from war and climate would have had that effect; such a measure, therefore, by granting perfect freedom for such emigration, would have reduced the num

ber of annuitants, or those on retaining fee, whilst the efficiency from increased experience would have greatly added to the value as officers of those who returned,

3. The few who, from superior talents and good fortune, might arrive at high situations, and, therefore, prefer remaining in those countries, and forfeit their half-pay rather than return, would still never cease to have the feelings of Englishmen, and to give their influence towards the maintenance of the interest of Great Britain, which feelings would not even cease with them, but descend to their families.

4. The additional knowledge gained of these countries would be of great importance, not only in any future war which might lead us to act in them, but also in the extension of our manufactures and

commerce.

Lastly. If this system had been acted upon since the end of the war, it would have saved hundreds of meritorious officers from pining, in sullen discontent, on the pittance of half-pay, and frittering away and consuming their energies of body and mind in totally useless indolence and idleness; for the great many, although anxious for some employment, would not descend to the lower grade of trade to which a few have turned themselves; but certainly winemerchants, sugar-merchants, stock-jobbers, &c. are employments least of all befitting a man for returning again to the service with benefit to it; and in so far the retaining fee is null, since even if such men would be willing to return to the service, their occupations have tended to incapacitate them for its duties.

Suppose, on the contrary, that to the remonstrances of Spain as to English officers on half-pay entering the service of its insurgent Colonies, the answer from our Minister had been-That the spirit of our institutions was perfect freedom of individual exertion That officers placed on half-pay were not different from other subjects of the empire, and were free to go where they pleased, and make whatever use of their abilities they found agreeable to themselves, until the country again required and claimed their servicesThat many English officers were in the service of His Spanish Majesty-That the English Government gave no encouragement to its subjects to enter the service of any foreign state, but they could not, consistently with individual freedom, discourage their entering such service as inclination and interest directed; and hence they were equally free to engage in the service of His Majesty, and in his armies employed to subdue those states-That all he could require, or at least expect, was strict neutrality on the part of the Government. Had such been the answer of Lord Castlereagh, look to the fields which have since been opened. In Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, and Poland, each of which has offered a fair field for the employment of many, and for the acquirement of much practical knowledge in different kinds of warfare, which would have preserved in some degree in our army that which the Peninsular campaigns had so well established, and which rendered them so different in efficiency, particularly for the out-post duties, and as light troops and detachments, to what they were at its commencement. Such practical knowledge is only to be attained by actual experience, and hence that

order was impolitic, as well as unjust to the officers placed on half-pay, contrary to their wish, in preventing them from making use of their exertions in those employments for which they felt themselves most fit.

Many, indeed, would have been very willing to have forfeited their half-pay during their continuance on foreign service, provided their so doing would not have affected their return to the rank they held in their own, in a future war or other contingency; but this was denied them. An order, therefore hurtful alike to the country, the army, and the individual, ought surely to be rescinded.

W. W.

THE LATE COURT-MARTIAL AT WOOLWICH,
LIBUT. SYMONS.

THIS Court-martial has brought before the notice of the public one of the most deserving officers of His Majesty's Navy. The particulars of that event will be found in another part of our Journal, and as our pages have been always open to merit, we here present our readers with a brief sketch of that officer's services. Lieut. William Henry Symons entered the navy at an early age, and was present at the capture of a French frigate by the squadron under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren, belonging, we believe, to the expedition intended for Bantry Bay. He served in the Canada, Culloden, and Sirius, previous to his joining the Victory, then carrying the flag of the immortal Nelson, in which vessel he participated in the glories of the Battle of Trafalgar. On the morning succeeding that memorable day, he was promoted, with three other mates of that ship, to the rank of Lieutenant. The death of LordTM Nelson deprived him of his friend and patron; but he was shortly afterwards appointed to H. M. S. Conqueror, commanded by Capt. now Vice-Admiral Sir Israel Pellew. During his period of service in that vessel, he was appointed, with a detachment of fifty men, to take possession of and prepare for sea, one of the Russian 80-gun ships, captured at Lisbon. After completing her equipment, and dropping her down the Tagus, to convey her to England, the plan was abandoned, and he again joined the Conqueror, where he remained some time after Capt. Fellowes became Sir Israel Pellew's successor. From that ship he joined the Royal Sovereign, as SecondLieutenant, in the Mediterranean, under Admiral Sir Edward Thornborough. We next find him in command of the Ida hired armed cutter on the Downs station; after that, First-Lieutenant of the Dauntless in the Chesapeake, attached to the squadron under the orders of Sir George Cockburn.

On the cessation of hostilities in America, he proceeded in this ship to the Brazils, with dispatches announcing that event; and being invalided there, returned to England on half-pay. Until this period, he was constantly and actively employed, from his first entering the service. After being several years on shore, he obtained the command of the Greyhound cutter, stationed on the coast of

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Yorkshire, and during his triennial service, captured upwards of 1000 tubs of contraband spirits, besides tea and tobacco, and convicted about forty smugglers. After having held that vessel about eighteen months, the regulation which rewarded with promotion the successful services of revenue officers was repealed. About October 1828, he was appointed to the Meteor, steamer, and while on the Plymouth station, was frequently employed in attending on the Lords of the Admiralty, and other distinguished characters, among whom was the present Duke of Orleans.

In January 1830, the Meteor was selected to make, under his orders, the attempt of conveying the India mails by way of the Mediterranean, by steam; the trial, it is well known, fully succeeded, and since that time he has made three trips on the same service, besides two or three voyages with dispatches to Lisbon. In August 1830, on the arrival of Charles the Tenth, at Spithead, the Meteor was ordered to attend on the ex-royal family of France, and afterwards conveyed them to Poole, on which occasion Mr. Symons was presented with a handsome gold snuff-box by His Majesty. Having, therefore, been thirty-four years in the navy, and twentysix years a lieutenant, Mr. Symons richly merited the encomiums of those eminent officers, Sir John Beresford and Sir John Malcolm, and has passed the ordeal to which he has been subjected, not only without discredit, but with honour.

THE LATE FIELD-MARSHAL DIEBITSCH.

THE minuter and less prominent features in the career of individuals, whose fame is become public property, supply an index to private character, which will be sought for in vain from the study of their bearing through scenes in which their every motion has been carefully kept in subservience to the attainment of some lofty or cherished end. It is for this reason, that having already placed a sketch of Diebitsch's public life before the reader, we now avail ourselves of the opportunity of adding a trait or two, which will serve to mark his claim to the world's esteem, as an individual member of society.

(FROM A PRIVATE LETTER.)

Berlin, July 1831.

On the retreat of the French forces from the Prussian territory in the year 1813, Count Wittgenstein's corps, which had closely pursued them on the whole line of their flight from the Duna and Vistula, made its triumphant entry into Berlin. Diebitsch occupied a prominent post on the occasion, as chief of the Russian staff, and whilst the whole population of the Prussian capital were crowding with exuberant joy round their deliverers in the Rue Royale (or Königstrasse), solicited leave of absence from the Count, for the purpose, as he alleged, of discharging an old debt. It was no easy task for him to shake off the boisterous greetings of his fellow-countrymen, who pressed around him when he had quitted the ranks; but the difficulties which obstructed his retreat being overcome, he turned off abruptly to the left, and made the best of his way to the Academy of Cadets. The debt, which it lay uppermost in his mind to discharge, was a tribute of thankfulness for the excellent training which he had received under the roof of that establishment. He was not only an unexpected visitor, but there was not an individual at hand who had the slightest recollection of him. Under these circumstances he rode away from its gates, threatening the parties in