OFFICERS' EXPENSES.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOL")
am much distressed to find that your correspondent "Senex " in the Spectator of September 26th infers from my letter that when I spoke of "gentlemen" I did not inch tile the sons of poor doctors, solicitors, barristers, Ste. Of course they come under the category of the gentlemen of England just as much as the richer landed classes; but my point was that you would not get them to join the Army, and that eventually you Would drift down to the level of the French Army. Your venerable correspondent starts with the assumption that all rich officers must necessarily be fools, and that geniuses and clever men are only to be found among the poor,—a very prevalent idea amongst amateur reformers of the Army which I do not think statistics show to be the case. He also appears to be under the delusion that polo, cricket, and hunting are incompatible with a knowledge of the science and art of war, My contention is that l'un n'empeche pas l'autre ; indeed, I go further in thinking that in times of war the votaries of sport will be found just as useful as the bookworm. I only wish .to get the best man, be he rich or poor ; but if you form your Regulations with a view to excluding the rich, you will inevitably find that instead of getting the poor geniuses, you will only get the poor fools, the former pleferr:ng a more lucrative profession.—I am, Sir, &c.,
AN BY-OFFICER'S DAUGHTER.
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