Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/24

, and differ nearly as widely as if they belonged to different kingdoms. Each presidency has its own commander-in-chief, its own grade of promotion, its own dress, its own code of laws and regulations; even its own language; and unless on the frontier, or on general field service, the armies do not come in contact, nor interchange duties. The European officers are picked men who enter the service as a profession for life,with honours and preferment held out as rewards for professional zeal and talent.

4. QUALIFICATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.—All appointments to the Service were, till lately, made either by the Board of Control or the Directors. At certain seasons of the year, an estimate was made of the probable vacancies. These were portioned out amongst the Home Authorities, who selected their own candidates. Those destined for the Civil Service had to undergo an efficient preparatory education at Haileybury, those for the military at Addiscombe. Chaplains had to receive their license from Oxford or Cambridge, whilst Assistant-surgeons had to receive their diploma from the royal colleges of London, Edinburgh, or Dublin. Lately these rules have undergone great changes; Haileybury is now abolished as a preparatory college, and the wants of the Civil Service are supplied by public competition; candidates, educated wherever they please,