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ORDERS OF INDIA.

“ Admission to each of these Classes is to be obtained upon application to the Governor-General ofIndia in Council, with whom alone the competency of conferring the Order rests.

“ The original recommendation must particularly specify the act of gallantry for which the Soldieris supposed to have claims to this high distinction; and the preparatory steps to obtaining it are to beas follows:

“ After an Action in which particular acts of gallantry have been performed, which may beconsidered as entitling a Soldier to the Order of Merit, a representation of the circumstance is tobe made through the Commanding Officer of the regiment, by the Captain or Officer commanding thetroop or company, to the General Officer commanding the Division, who will order a Court composedof European and Native Officers, and consisting of one Field Officer, two Captains, and two Subadars(the proceedings to be conducted by an Officer of the Judge Advocate General’s department, if avail-able), before which the individual recommended will be brought, when witnesses will be called andexamined as to what they saw the Soldier perform in the Action referred to. Should there be anyfailure of proof, the claim is not to be allowed; but on the other hand, should the particular gallantryof the Soldier recommended for the Distinction appear to have been conspicuous and undoubted, thereport of the Court will be forwarded, in Bengal through His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief inIndia, and at each of the other Presidencies through the Commander-in-Chief and Local Government,to the Governor-General of India in Council, who has nevertheless the power of rejecting the claim,for reasons to be recorded at the time.

“ A record in each case of the particular act of gallantry for which the Star [Badge] has been con-ferred will be kept in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of India in the Military depart-ment; and a certificate for that functionary, detailing the grant of the Order and its concomitantadvantages will be given to each individual, on his admission to, or advancement in it.

“ Admission into the Order of Merit will confer on a Member an additional allowance equal, ifto the Third Class, to one-third; if to the Second, to two-thirds; and if to the First, to the entireof the ordinary pay of his rank, over and above the pay or the pension he may be entitled to on•retirement.

“ The Widow of a Member will be entitled to receive the pension conferred by the Order upon herhusband for three years after the date of his decease; and in the case of a plurality of wives, the firstmarried is to have the preference.

“ No claim founded on acts of gallantry antecedent to the date of this General Order shall beconsidered admissible under any pretence whatsoever.”

On Promotion in the Order, the Badge formerly worn is no longer worn. Neither the Insignia ofthe Order of Merit nor any drawings of them have yet been sent from India.

The principle upon which these Orders are founded, and the regulations for their distribution,appear to be extremely judicious, especially in annexing solid advantages to the Distinction. But theexistence of such Institutions exclusively for Native Officers and Soldiers, renders the absence ofsimilar Rewards for the other Officers of the Company’s Army not a little invidious; while the Officersand Soldiers of the Queen’s Forces must naturally feel both surprised and mortified at seeing HonoraryBadges bestowed (with the sanction of the Crown) upon all other Soldiers, except upon those of theRoyal Army,