Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/45

 thp: battle of balaclava. 2'6 upon as a rude, quaint practice, which is only chap saved from being preposterous by the fact that no more rational method has hitherto found accept- ance ; but in the meantime, the practice, as thus understood, has its value. The adventitious cir- cumstances combine with personal merit, and lift a man into command at the age best adapted for the purpose ; so that the qualities of a Wellesley, for instance, may come to be recognised at thirty instead of at sixty — a difference material to the individual, but unspeakably important to the country ; and in that way (until a better method can be discovered) the legitimate ambition of powerful or wealthy families may subserve the true interests of the State. If Lord Lucan and Lord Cardigan had been two nobles of the age of some thirty-three years, who had fought side by side on the banks of the Sutlej, who had inspired their commanders with a high idea of their war- like qualities, and who, by aid of these circum- stances combining with their family pretensions, had attained to such military rank and distinc- tion as to be recognised and deserving candidates for high commands, then, indeed, a country which had not yet hit upon any better mode of attaining the object would have had reason to be grateful for the existence of a system which supplied and raised into eminence, at the right time of life, men capable of wielding authority in the field. Far from resting upon any such basis, these ap- pointments deprived the country of the inestim- able advantage of seeing her squadrons entrusted