In summing up, not so much the contents of this Chapter, which is necessarily brief, as the study of the Board's history, the following are the ideas presented to the student's mind:—The Board of Ordnance formed a standard of political excellence,—which it endeavoured to follow when circumstances permitted,—of financial and economical excellence, which it planted everywhere among its subordinates for worship, but which was not allowed the same adoration in its own offices in the Tower. It saved money to the country legitimately by an admirable system of check and audit—illegitimately too often by a false economy, which in the end proved no economy at all; it obstructed our Generals in war, and hampered them in peace: it was extravagant on its own members and immediate retainers to an extent which can only be realized by those who study the evidence given before the Parliamentary Commission of 1810-11. Jobbery existed, but rarely secret or underhand; and its extensive patronage was, on the whole, well and fairly exercised. And although every day shows more clearly the wisdom of removing from under the control of a Board that part of our army, the importance of which is made more apparent by every war which occurs, yet the Artilleryman must always remember with kindly interest that it was to this board and its great Master (Marlborough) that his Regiment owes its existence, that to it we owe a nurture which was sometimes too detailed and careful, but under which we earned a reputation in many wars; and that, after a long peace, it placed in the Crimea, for one of the greatest and most difficult sieges in history,—difficult for other reasons than mere military,—the finest siege-train of Artillery that the world has ever seen. In command of the English Army, during this war, the Board's last Master died; and in the list which preceded him, and with which this chapter closes, will be found names which would almost atone for the worst offences ever committed by the Board over which their owners presided. LIST OF THE MASTERS-GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE. The most recent list of these distinguished officials is that published in Kane's 'List of Officers of the Royal Artillery.' In it all the Masters before the reign of Henry VIII. are ignored, as being merely commanders of the Artillery on expeditions or in districts. But this seems somewhat stern ruling. Undoubtedly Henry VIII. reorganized the Ordnance Department, and defined the position of the Master, as never had been done before, and the sequence of the Masters from his reign is clear and intelligible. But before his time there were not merely Masters of the Ordnance on particular expeditions, but also for life; and there were certainly Offices of the Ordnance in the Tower. It has, therefore, been thought advisable in the following list to prefix a few names, which seem deserving of being included, although omitted in 'Kane's List.' The earliest of whom there is any record is