The Gazette of last night has these announcements- " The
Queen has been graciously pleased to give orders for the appoint- ment of Peter Campbell Scarlett, Esq., commonly called the Honour- able Peter Campbell Scarlett, her Majesty's Secretary of Legation and late Acting Chargé d'Affaires at the Court at Florence, and of Loftus Otway, Esq., her Majesty's Secretary of Legation and late Acting Charge d'Affaires at the Court of Madrid, to be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the Third Class, or Companions of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath."
These new gifts of the honorary title of "C. B." mark the character which the Government desire that augmentative to bear. Mr. Searlett at Florence, and Mr. Loftus Otway at Madrid, have represented their Government, at trying junctures, with much energy and tact. The title had previously, been conferred on Mr. Bromley, the Accountant- General of the Admiralty ; who had won it by a host of services, among which stands conspicuous his share in the Burgoyne Com- mission for the relief of the starving Irish,—an application of Com- missariat duties on a great scale, and under novel circumstances, which demanded great activity and judgment. Public servants are paid for set duties, by salary : if they excel in the performance of those duties, they are rewarded by rapid promotion. But there is sometimes a happy combination of clearness, vigour, and good-will, which is the very cream of all service, official or unofficial, and which cannot be bought. While it is the most valuable element in a public service, it is the most diffi- cult to keep alive in an atmosphere of routine. It is therefore aptly re- warded by honorary recognition. In selecting only the picked examples of that quality of man, the state enables the recipient to return the favour shown him, by making him the standard or test of the honorary distinction, and so sustaining its value as the moral purchase-money for a high quality of service.
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