"The Duke of York has ordered circular letters to be sent round to the Colonels of Regiments, desiring a return to be immediately made to his Office, of the number of Captains in each Regiment, under TWELVE years of age; and of Lieutenant Colonels under the age of EIGHTEEN!!! The very scandalous abuses that have, of late, crept into the mode of officering the army, are such, as to have demanded a very serious enquiry: for numberless are the evils that have resulted from it, besides that it has given so much disgust to veteran Officers, whose fortunes were not adequate to the purchase of rank. Various are the instances of boys having been taken from school, to take the command of Companies of Regiments."—(Times, March 20, 1795.)
"Over a Warehouse for fashionable dresses, in Fleet St., is written up 'Speculum modorum,' or, the mirror of the fashions; and several young Gentlemen of the Guards are actually learning Latin, in order to understand them. Others have sent for the Alphabet, in gingerbread, as preliminary education."—(Times, Oct. 27, 1795.)
"An alteration, we understand, is shortly to take place in the uniform of the officers of all the regiments of the line. The present full dress coat is to be abandoned in favour of a very short one, without any lace, or lappels, which the officers are always to wear when on duty, but discretionally at other times."—(Times, Nov. 16, 1797.)
"A number of baby officers have threatened to sell out of the Guards. They purchased for the privilege of wearing handsome regimentals, and the new uniform they say is so ugly."—(Times, Nov. 20, 1797.)
"Some of the sucking Colonels of the Guards have expressed their dislike of the short skirts. They say they feel as if they were going to be flogged."—(Times, Nov. 21, 1797.)
Kelsey's was a famous fruiterer's, &c., in St. James's Street, and we are here presented with one of the boy officers, whose legs cannot reach the ground, and who has not yet lost his childish predilection for "Sugar Plums." As a foil to him is given Colonel Burch, of the Royal Household Troops—who is actively engaged in demolishing Ice Creams.
Heroes Recruiting at Kelsey's 1797.
The following paragraph tells a sad tale:—
"The late order of the Cabinet for furnishing all His Majesty's troops with bread, in the same manner as if in camp, namely, a loaf of six pounds weight for five-pence, will, we doubt not, have the desired effect in preventing a continuance of those outrages, to which the military, in many parts of the kingdom, have been compelled, by absolute want."—(Times, April 27, 1795.)