§ CAPTAIN LEICESTER VERNONsaid, that in the notice paper there appeared in his name the following notice of Motion:—
That this House do resolve itself into a Committee to consider of an humble Address to be presented to Her Majesty, praying that she will be graciously pleased to give direction that the benefits conferred by the Royal Warrant of the 17th day of December, 1855, upon Regimental Quartermasters retiring subsequent to the date of the declaration of war with Russia be extended, so far only as the honorary rank of captain is concerned, to those regimental Quartermasters who completed the period of service specified in the Warrant, but who had retired previous to that date.The veteran officers in whose interest he had given notice of that Motion were advanced in age, being some seventy-five years old, and were limited in number, not exceeding thirty-nine. These men had come, not from that class, which it was the fashion to call "the Upper Ten Thousand," but had sprung from the people, who made the bone and sinew of the service—namely, the rank and file of the British army. They had enlisted as privates, and had raised themselves to the rank of commissioned officers entirely by their own merit. He would not occupy the time of the House by pointing out the various services which these men had performed, but he would give a couple of instances to show what was the nature of their merit:—Quartermaster Samuel Goddard fought with distinction at the battle of Waterloo and led the forlorn hope at the storming of Bhurtpore; Quartermaster M'Clellan, of the 10th Hussars, was publicly thanked for his extraordinary valour by general officers, no less than five times on five separate fields of battle. If such a decoration had existed at the time there was no doubt but that the services of these gallant men would have fully entitled them to the Victoria Cross. The House would be happy to hear that since he had placed 678 his Motion on the paper the military authorities had taken the subject into their favourable consideration, and had promoted these old soldiers. One of the last acts of his right hon. and gallant Friend the late Secretary for War was to make arrangements for this purpose. A more gracious act could not be performed before leaving office, and he was rejoiced to find that the right hon. Gentleman who succeeded as Secretary of War carried out the intention of his predecessor. He had received a letter from Mr. (now Captain) Goddard, written before he was aware of his promotion, in which he expressed his sense of the disposition evinced both by General Peel and the present Secretary for War (Mr. Sidney Herbert) to deal considerately with the representations made to them on this subject, and especially to improve the position of officers who had risen from the ranks. On behalf of the officers he had mentioned he begged to return their grateful acknowledgments to the right hon. Gentlemen to whom he had referred.
§ MR. SPEAKERinquired whether the hon. and gallant Member had not a Motion to submit to the House.
§ CAPTAIN LEICESTER VERNONreplied that he had no Motion to make.
§ MR. SPEAKERsaid, it was irregular on the part of the hon. and gallant Member, and contrary to the rules of the House to make a speech and not to conclude with a Motion.