Page:The supersession of the colonels of the Royal Army.djvu/20

 This placed Sir Percy Herbert and myself in an awkward position. We did not like to throw over those who had been the principal sufferers, while at the same time it was a great gain to put a stop to supersession for ever. At that time we had not the slightest doubt, any more than we have at this moment, that our proposal was no breach of the Parliamentary Guarantee. It was clear to our minds that no Cabinet Minister would have spoken out in the way Mr. Lowe did, unless he had ascertained beforehand that the rest of his colleagues agreed with him, and that the sanction of the Duke of Argyll, as Secretary of State for India, had been obtained, in case of there being no other practical solution of the question possible. We were, therefore, morally certain that if we yielded to Mr. Lowe, supersession would be put an end to. On the other hand, we had a large majority of the Committee at our back, who were prepared to vote for the 45 Major Generals.

Now, from our knowledge of those most interested we felt sure that not a single Officer would wish his individual case to interfere for a moment with the extinction of what undoubtedly was and is a great evil to the service. I therefore asked the advice of gentlemen on the Committee whose experience was greater than my own, and, amongst others, Mr. Clay said to me, "I will vote for the creation of 45 Major Generals if you choose to press it, as I think they have been hardly used; but if you ask my advice, I should recommend you to withdraw that portion of