I have just had my attention called to some of the points which appear to have been brought under the consideration of the Naval and Military Commission, from whom so much was looked for. I confess that I am greatly disappointed; for they seem to me to have only tried how they could best repair an old defective system, in place of proposing, as might have been expected from so many experienced officers, something new, and more suitable to the times, and the wants of the country; but this, I conclude, has been occasioned by the manner in which the several points were submitted for their consideration; and I am not, therefore, deterred from proceeding in the task I have assigned myself, and must remark, in continuing my subject, that if what I propose is adopted, we might probably hear of promotion being expected to be too slow; but what I have still to beg attention to, may greatly obviate any such objections; yet, when officers saw that justice was done impartially, it would make them patient and contented, even if promotion were slow; but let me ask, where were such officers to be met with in any army, as our highly educated and enlightened officers of Engineers and Artillery, though for many years situated with respect to promotion, as I wish all our officers nearly to be in future. Granting the brevet rank of field officer to regimental captains is of little advantage to them individually, and has often been found injurious to the service; and would be still more so under the proposed system; and it ought in consequence, to be (as I have before suggested) abandoned, or at all events as seldom conferred as possible. In order that regimental field rank may be sooner attained, I would venture to recommend, that no lieut.-colonel should be obliged to remain in the almost always unpleasant and most responsible command of a regiment, longer than a fixed number of years; when having so served, he should, as a matter of course, become a major-general on the _effective list_--that is, he ought to receive a fixed pay, though not employed. Or perhaps it might be preferable, when a lieut.-colonel had commanded for the required number of years, if he thought proper to retire altogether from active service, with the rank however of major-general, to allow him a superior retirement from the country to what may be the pay of major-generals on the effective list; and this being added to what he would receive from a military fund, which I intend yet to propose, would induce many to avail themselves of the opportunity, especially if they had little hope of being actively employed, or no chance of getting a regiment. This would remove any apprehension from being entertained of our generals on the effective list becoming too numerous.