To The Editor Of The Time...
zor,-ttaving perused in your paper of the 31st ult., Sir Herbert Taylor's long explanatorvletter to thle ilatquis oflondonderry, on thesubject o, Cornct Battier'.s recent appeal to thc public through the medium of the Momring6 Chronicke, respecting the treatment which he had experienee from the officers of the 10th Hussars, and having readl at the same time your liberal and extremely prover com. ments on the matter in question, permit me, as an old aoldier, to infbrm you (as you have expressed yourself ignorant upon military matters) that the Marquis of Loptdonderry is the onjly General ofcer holeling a regiment in his Majesty's service, who has ever thought proper to isterferein the slightest degree with the internal regulations of a mess-table. I mus,t also beg leave to state, from my perfect knowledge of the forms of the service, in justiflcation of Cornet Battier's wish to dine at the mess ofhisreginient after he had obtained his leave of absence, (although I have not the pleasure of that officer's acquaintancc), " that he was fully entitled to a seat at the mess-table of the 10th llussars, as often as he thought proper, during the period he remained at the quarters of his Regimeo,t rwithout the sanction of any superior officer." There cannot possi- bly exist in the well.framed regulations of any mess-room in the British service, an order of so degrading and oppressive a nature as to compel an officer to refrain from dining with the members of his own corps whensoever he may receive a temporary leave of absence from it. ln fact, if Cornet Battier had persisted in dining at the mess of his regiment, in opposition to the singular wish of Lord Lonlonderry, he would not have violated any military lavw, or by so doing have deviated from thenrdtclesof *ar (as his lordship couhl only have been there as a guest.) How frequently has it occurred that when officers have obtained their leaves of absence, they have not even availed themselves of it from various unforeseen causes anmi at other periods have not absented themselves from their quarters and mems-tables. until it mi- .: - own convemence ? Yet, I will venture tio assert, that before Cor net Batier experienced he mortification of being exiled from his mess-room, and by the General Officer of his corps, mzerely from hus h&avig had leave of absence, such an event was not ever heard of. Had Clonc Sir George Quentin, or Mlajor Taylor, reccived a tem- porary leave of absence, and thought proper to dine in the mess- room upon the occasion alludc4 to by Coniet Battier, would Lord Londonderrv have requested their abrsence, or their presence ? The lattr; imost certainly, according to the opinion of every man who is acuInted with the routine of the service. Without presuming however, to make anv comments upon the whole of Sir Herbert Wayior's address to Lord Londonderry, rela- tive to Cornet Battier's statement before the public, I trust that I may not give offence (as a soldier) in observing, that neither Lord Londonderry, or any of his high-minded officers, were justified in the very premature steps whijch his Lordship and his corps adopted towards Cornet Battier, " for the sole cri;ne of not riding-perfectly e In Jlmerssr" from the period of his joining and retiring from the lOtl Hunssars. If Cornet Battier was considered so unfit for the 10dh i oval Hussara as 'ias beea represe-r;ted..owing to his bad rid. ing-how comes it, that his former commanding officer (Colonel .Murray) ot' the lth Hu5sats, (whq was a well nowim diacipiin&. fiat in the ?Wng tchotD) wet 1oneiA Corniet lattler4a stay lb hbsi renowned regiment until ita reduction took place. When Cornet Battier joined the 15th HusaUS, he oxpbrieneed from every officer of that galant corps, such a reception as every gentleman oaght to mcet with, when placed in a regiment by the appointment of His liajesty.. And no v.I must conclude in expressing my incredulity, (after 12 years' service in the eavairy), insuppoAing that Cornet Bat. tier could not have been taught even the newr system of riding. T n -m ;ivrn verY obedient -rv,t AN OFFICER I-N HIS MAJESTY'S CAVALRY. e. >. 1l e public nre not aware, most prOt)SDIy, 11151 the Yystem oS riding in our regiments of cavalry has -frequently changed of late years, and that the style of riding has v'aried as mnuch in diferent corps, as the opinions and views of their respective commanding offiC.rs have differed in such matters. Canterburg, April 2, 1824. TO THIgELZIT0_OF THE TtIMES.