It is a settled point that a deacon shall have precedence of a sub-deacon; but the law and custom of Rome do not allow a Colonel to take precedence even of a man having the simple tonsure.

Pray, what position do you assign to your Generals?
What is their rank in the hierarchy ?" "Instead of having our Generals in the army, we have them at the head of the religious orders.

Imagine the sensations of the General of the Jesuits at hearing a soldier announced by the honourable ecclesiastical title of _General_!" "Well! there's something in that." "In order to have commanders for our troops, without at the same time creating personages of too much importance, we have imported three foreign Colonels, who are permitted to perform the functions of General.

They even appear in the disguise of Generals, but they will never have the audacity to assume the title." "Capital! Well, now with us there is not a scamp of eighteen who would engage in the army if he were told that he might become a Colonel, but never a General; or even a General, but never a Marshal of France.

Who, or what, could induce a man to rush into a career in which there is at a certain point an impassable barrier?
You regret that all your officers are not _savants_.