The Sun. — London, England, 1840-04-22 00:00:00

FIN IN G EDIT TON__ ERAL REPORT OF COIE'dIL--- TONERS FOR INQUIRY INTO N' •'.:vl) MILITARY PROMOTION AND RE ./ IREMENT. r .-1 it (Continued froa The Sun of Yesterday. ) THE ARMY. 1 With reference to the Brevet of Lieutenant-C )I,:nel, there is one class of appointments to which that rank is always attached, which might, in our opinion, be made available as a means of facilitating the advancement of officers without purchase. This class comprises the jof acting as the head of the departments of the Adjutant-General, or the Quartermaster-General on foreign stations, as Deputy Adjutant or Deputy Quar termaster-General. This appointment is very frequently conferred upon a Regimental Major, who receives the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel with the appointment, but vacates his regimental commission, and is exchanged to half-pay of his regimental rank. The selection for (this Staff duty is a sufficient proof that the officer has served long or meritoriously, and the grant of Army rank implies that the position he is about to fill is one of labour and responsibility. But unless the officer shall be enabled to retain his Staff appointment until successive Brevets shall make him a Major-General, it dons not appear that there is any ultimate advantage resulting to him from the selection for this duty. He may serve in a distant and unhealthy colony for years, and when ill-health, there contracted, shall compel him 1 to relinquish hi s St a ff a pp o i n t men t, he finds himself merely in possession of that regimental rank he had when he was selected for the Staff, and upon half-pay instead of full-pay. If, with recovered health, he desires to resume regimental duty, he must return as the junior of his rank in any corps to which he may be appointed, and be positively in a worse position than ! he was when he was selected for the Staff appointment. The details of one case will illustrate this. The senior Major of a regiment was, after ten years' service in that rank, selected seven years ago for such a Staff appointment, and placed upon the half-pay of his regimental rank with the Brevet of Lieutenant ' Colonel. He has discharged those Staff duties in an unhealthy climate, and may probably desire to relin quish a Staff appointment which entails upon him a continued residence at such a station. But if he does so, he will find himself upon the half-pay of a commis sion to which lie was appointed seventeen years ago ; and if he resume regimental duty, it must be as junior Major, instead of as senior Major, in which position he was placed fifteen years ago. We consider this to be a case which calls for a dis tinct remedy, and that. an arrangement should he made under which Staff service, as the head of a department should be advantageous to an o ffi cer , an d s h ou ld h av e the effect of placing him in a better position than he held when he was selected for the Staff. With this view we would suggest for your Majesty's considera tion, that after five years' service in the Colonies as Deputy Adjutant-General, or as Deputy Quarter master-General, an officer in the position we have de scribed may be recommended for an effective step of rank upon half-pay. As a general measure, we should be disposed to re commend that the effective rank should only be con ferred upon such officers upon their ceasing to hold the Stiff appointment, for which service it might be consi sidered as a reward ; but as cases might arise in which it might be desirable to retain the officer's services after his promotion, and where his removal might even be inexpedient for the public service, we do not propose to submit any rule to your Majesty in this respect. We are persuaded that the additional value thus conferred upon Staff service of the higher class will have a beneficial effect in stimulating the energies of those who may be selected for those appointments, as they will be sensible that a fair share of duty will secure that promotion of which, under present circumstances, the holders of these situations are debarred. We should also desire to secure for the corps to which these officers belong some advantage from the selection of one of their Field-Officers for an honour able post of this description ; and the arrangement we would propose for accomplishing this would be, that there should be a relaxation of the rule under which an officer, selected for one of these appointments is exchanged to half-pay. We should recommend that, in cases in which the Commander- in-Chief should think it desirable to give promotion in the regiment without purchase, the officer selected for ti:is superior Staff ap poMtment should be placed upon let!f-pay of his rank, on the same principle that was adopted in regard to the permanent Assistant Quartermaster-tie aerals some years ago, and that his regimental commission should be filled by promotion. The only conditions i,ve ilould propose to annex to this arrangement are. that no particular Staff appointment should be so fiile:l up oftener than once in five years ; and that, as such creation of halt pay would cause additional expense to the public, the Commander-in-Chief should communicate any proposed arrangement of this description to the Secretary-at-War before it is carried into effect. There is no particular point in regard to the Brevet of Major upon which we feel it necessary to offer any observations ; but with reference to the grant of Brevet rank for actions of distinguished gallantry in the field, a system which, as shown by the evidence of Lord Fitz roy Somerset, was introduced into the Service in the year 1811, we are happy to find that ail the witnesses whom we examined on this subject arc tmetter.ous in their estimation of the value of that distinetto.f. Having carefully examined the position o: the officer of the Army when on service, and the prospects be fore him of promotion, we entered upon the considera tion of his situation in retirement, and an examination of the means that are open to him of relinqui.liing the military service. If the officer should desire to remain id the army, retiring from active employment, but retaieieg his hold upon the service with a view to subsequent promotion, he may be exchanged to half-pay, provided li's services shall be sufficient to give him a title to that allowance, et the rates specified in the Warrant of '2ll July, 1830 ; but, as before explained, those only who held Field-Officer's rank can retain the privilege ;if further promotion while on half-pay by an offer of scr If the officer should desire to remain in the army as an annuitant merely, relinquishing not only :leti,e em ployment, but also his expectations of further i:.romo- Con, he may, if his services he of sufficient 1,11 th, 1,0 permitted to retire upon half-pay, receiviug 11;i' (fiTe rence. We shall offer an explanation of thi:4 of retirement upon half-pay when we come t t inv s tigation of the system of retirement by sale of te toe;h sion, as it is in effect a partial sale of it is only necessary to notice here, that retiremo .t ha; -pay, receiving the differ•nce, is no longer i a final relinquishment of the service, as it e: , ro• si ( ? c re:l when the system was first intr,duceil An officer is now permitted to return to the s repayment of the dfference, and would then hi, i'ly ei4,7lb le with any other officer for further proatoti But while he is on halt-pay, holding the differeeee, ii is not eIi , , A LA for any advancement, or any military em ployment. We ascertained that no increase of half-pay is given to any rank for standing upon half-pay, whatever may be the period of an officer's holding a comm i ss i on i n the service ; and that the only ranks of combatant officers in which any increased half-pay may be I : e tieed by Brevet rank or prolonged full service, are the U.tp ttiins of Infantry having the Brevet of Major, wiee under the Warrant of 37th October, 1831, may ebtaa a half-pay of Ss. instead of 7s. a day ; and the tenants of Infantry, of more than seven years' stat..!;:eg at the time of retirement to half-pay, who receive 43. CI Instead of 4;. a day. It is at the same ti.ne to be ol)served, that these two classes are the only rack; ef comb itauts in which increasa of full pay may be üb tdned for Brevet or length of service. It. wag represented to us by Lord Fitzroy Scrrwrset and Sir Willoughby Gordon that the provision of half pay was an inadequate allowance for officers of long service ; and our attention was frequently directed to the scale adopted by the East India Company for the retirement of the officers of their army as one which it would be expedient to introduce into your Majesty's 'rat: principle of the regulation of the East India Company's Army is, that an officer after a certain term o° service in India may retire upon the full pay of a com mission which ho never held as an effective corn- Hiss OU. We are not prepared to recommend to your Majesty the adoption. of such , a principle in regard to the ( of your Majesty s army,. and we consider that' the er rs tirely different constitution of the regular army, with ' its privileges of advancement by purcha se an d retire ment by sale of commission, does not requi re th e main tenance of a retired establishment on the scale adopted by the Company. We are, however, perfectly prepared to support the recommendation we received from the military autho rities, that distinguished officers of long and meritorious service should have a better provision than the half-pay o ,e their ranks ; and we therefore proceeded to examine the ~ r evision of retired full pay allowed to the army. W e found that the advantages of this establishment are at pre: ant, and have been for the last seventeen years, entirely withheld from the combatant officers of the army ; and, a g the circumstances under which they are excluded are cooequent upon a financial revision of army regulation s made in 1 182 c ,, it may be proper e to 'how the positi on o f the o fficers of the army in re gard to this provi s i on of retired :,7 11- Pay before and since that revision, An appointment t o an invalidcompany p. -"jot. to 1802, or t o a v e t eran battalion after th at t i me, car,-.lc'' with it a title to retired full -pay the e of th e rank in which the o ffi cer w as serv i ng , if should be reduced. D ur i ng the war company or b a t ta li on were unfit many officers were found in the v e t eran battalionw s w n h s o had t o dis charge for the limited duti es those Litt:, as st pd, whi c h a asse charge ; and an Act of Parliame n t enabled the Crown, under certain circumstances ability, to grant full-pay before the disband men t nce of dis a of the battalion in which the officer might be serving, Shortly after this Act had passed, and the veteran s had been relieved from their ine ffi cient o ffi cers, the dis bandment of the battalions took place, and the whole body of officers were placed upon retired full-pay on the reduction of the force. Tee condition of retired full- I pay was, that the officer could not advance to higher rank in the service, and he was exempted from all re cad to duty, except in veterans, In 1319 ten veteran battalions were called out, and a very considerable number of the officers recalled to the service on that occasion from the retired list were found to be totally unfit for service. It became neces sary to appoint other officers in their places. These new officers were all appointed under the understood regulation with regard to veterans, namely that they wore to have full-pay on disbandment. In 1821 the greater part of these ten battalions were disbanded, and the new officers got retired full pay as well as the old. This improvident system, under which a mere up pointment to a veteran battalion carried with it a title to retired full pay, attracted the attention of Government and of the public, end some extravagant grants of full pav for a veteran service of two years, or even IQS3, were shown to have been the consequence. A revision of the subject took place, and under the recommendation of a Committee of members of the Go vernment, a warrant was issued by the Crown, declar ing that, as the appointment to a veteran battalion might be a contingency of service for a short period only, it should not necessarily carry with it a title to retired full-pay on disbandment. But to preserve to the Army this provision of retired full-pay, it was enacted that a permanent charge, equal to that of six veteran batta lions of officers, should be maintained as a refuge for the worn-out and meritorious officer. The proposed pro spective charge was found to amount to about 40,0001. a year, and the Secretary at War, instead of recom mending to his Majesty to adopt a retired establishment equal to six battalions of officers, sugizested that the same amount should be distributed among 12 Lieutenant-Colonels, 60 Lieutenants, 24 Majors, 30 Ensigns. 90 Captains, At present the charge for retired full-pay is about 55,000/. a-year, and as one of the provisions of the warrant is that no new name should he put on the list till the amount is reduced below the 40,000/. a-year, although there may be vacancies in any particular class, it is quite clear that the officers of the Army may for several years be deprived of the benefits of this esta blishment. In this respect the Army has not that ad vantage which has been permanently maintained, and even enlarged, in regard to the other services ; and we are persuaded that your Majesty will permit us to ex press our sense of the necessity of placing the officers of the Army on a footing with those of the Marines and of the Ordnance, by giving them an immediate op portunity of retirement upon full-pay to the extent of a limited establishment. We have no cause to believe that the proposed annuity of 40,0001. is insufficient for this purpose ; but we are decidedly of opinion that some revision of the numbers and of the several classes is quite requisite to apportion the reward which the public has granted for military service, in a better re lation to the services performed than it stands at pre sent, even under the scale of the Warrant 0f1330. We must at once say that we cannot recognise any claim, in an officer of Subaltern's rank, to retired full-pay, with reference to the service the Army is now perform ing ; and we are therefore prepared to recommend that, in the proposed new retired establishment, there should be no provision for either Lieutenants or Ensigns. In the present state of the Army, among well-conducted officers, even those whose promotion is the slowest, never serve so long in the rank of Ensign as to give them any claim to be allowed to retire on full-pay ; and the cases in which such an indulgence might not im properly be extended to Lieutenants seem to us to be already sufficiently provided for in a better manner by the Warrant of 27th October 1834, to which we have already referred. Our recommendation would therefore be, that the sum set apart for retired full-pay to officers of Subal tern's rank should be applied to a provision for officers of the rank of Captain and Field-Officer ; and we esti mate that the following establishment would cost an nually about 38,000/. ; viz.-20. Lieutenant-Colonels, at 17s. a-day ;20 Majors, at 16s. a-day ; 115 Captains (of whom a number not exceeding 45 might be Brevet Majors, at 13s. 7d. a-day) ; the remaining Captains receiving 1 Is. 7d. a-day. This establishment, we feel it incumbent upon us to recommend, should be at once made complete ; those of the ranks included in the above scale, who are now on the retired list, being con sidered as part of the establishment ; and the vacan cies to be immediately filled by officers selected and re commended to your Majesty by the Commander-in- Chief. We should further propose that all officers of other ranks now on the retired full-pay should be considered as supernumerary to the proposed establishment of 38,000/., which we contemplate as the permanent pro vision of full-pay. The 2,0001. a-year which we have abstracted from this contemplated 'establishment of retired full-pay, we should suggest, might be appropriated in increasing the half-pay of officers of long and meritorious service ; and the mode in which, in our opinion, it would be best ap plied, would be in annuities of 100/. each to 20 'Regi mental Lieutenant-Colonels, having the Brevet rank of Colonel, who have retired or may retire to half-pay after 30 years' service upon full-pay. The half-pay which this class of officers receives is I Is. a day, or 200/. a year only ; and the moderate ad dition we propose for a selected number will form some compensation for the delay that may be interposed be tween their retirement to half-pay and their advance ment lo the rank of Major-General. Our attention was strongly drawn to the considera tion of this class of officers from the examination of a distinguished member of it, Colonel Vigoureux, to whose evidence, as exemplifying his own position, we beg to refer. Sir Edward Blakeney appears to have been much impressed with the necessity of openinc , a retired full pay list to provide for Regimental ' Commanding Officers of long standing-, who had become inefficient for regimental duty. He proposed that the rank of Colonel should be alto.sether one of retirement in three classes, the first n'oeiving 400/. a-year, the mi nimum pay of a Genera! Officer; the second, 3501. ; and the third, 300/. a-year. 110 estimated the expense of this proposed retirement a - . 104,000/. a-year ; but, on the other hand, he anticipated some. saving from reducing the probable number of Gi.arr.d UJicers. To make this retirement an honourable po-itiosi for an officer, Sir Ed ward Blakeney proposed to coupe with it the grant of some badge of distinction, i;. aVbicb he is supposed to ;nave alluded to the third cho of ;he aith. It appeared very doubtful, from the course.of his sub sequent examination, and the evidence of Lord Fitzroy Somerset on the same subj , whether this scheme of re trement, which Sir Edward meant to be voluntary, x!illougli there was subsequently an obvious contempla tion of a forced retirement,upoll the Report of a Medical Board, would have been satisfactory to the officer in im proving his position ; or, as it regarded the public, whe t her it would be sufficiently ad vatvageous to compensate for the admitted cost of 100,0001. a-year. The tendency of the scheine was to deprive the officer of the right to sell his commission, which, if he were a Lieutenant-Colonel of Infantry, would be worth 4,5001., and to give him instead, witbou: hope of further pro motion, en annuity which, at the maximum rate, would be scarcely more than that his purchase-money would obtain for him from the Government Office ; and at the minimum rate, might be less th m could be purchased at the same office. Lard Fitzroy Somerset did not think. that many offi cers would take these terms, as a delay of a few years might give them the rank of Major-General, with the proposed maxiina:n annuity of -lOU, and the prospect of greater advantages in their new rank. With regard to the proposed grant of the third class of the Bath, Lord Fitzroy did not think that such a grant would be consistent with the principles on which that distinction should be conferred ; in which opinion we arc entirely disposed to concur ; and with reference to the general scheme of Sir Edward Blakenoy, we could not see any grounds for a reasonable:expectation that the efficiency of the service would be improved to a degree at all cor responding with the expense which the plan would have entailed upon the public. Sir John Macdonald was disposed to recommend that An officer who retired upon full-pay should retain his right to advance in his profession ; and as this is a boon which we have recommended your Majesty to grant to the Field-officers of the seniority services, the Marines and the Ordnance corps, under similar circumstances, it is proper that we should report to your Majesty the grounds upon which we have come to a different con clusion in reffard to officers of the Army. In the M b arines and the Ordnance corps the retire ment upon f u ll-p ay ma y be an enforced measure. Th e officer may b e , i n man y case s, very unwilling to relin quish the prospects of advancement in his profession, and be nevertheless compelled to retire upon public consideration s , as being not fully qualified for the dis charge of his duty. He has no option of retiring other wise open to him, having no title to sell his commission, and little or no prospect of returning to the service in a suitable positi on , if his health be restored, whereas in the the a , r r ni bo y o th ffi e oe retirement accepts l Po b full-paythat provision will bewi 0 1l hlauvne badtebniefpoorrearbyimrethtiereompetniotnuoposnellhi th n a a t . ill, commission, or of ay, ) with the full i l g d h t o have an that at a subsequent period P be F might opportunity of resuming service as a in a position perhaps not different from that he origi nallyer relinquished. We see in these cireurnstancessuf ficient reason for p re s ervin g th e existing rule in the A rmy, that retirement on full -pay should exclude an office r from all further promotion. We h ave oply now to consider the third mode of re which, if an officer should desire to discon tiremt,--nt' by nect himse..l f f ro m the service, and retire into priv a t e life, lie is permitte„: to se lla out of the army. by the regulating,; i rc i lla o s f e, was tbe lt rig h h a t s obfereentirsehrnowennt,, tbt7,s, ale of ,71111Bissi", even in This cases where there had been no previous conceded to an officer after twenty years' service. valuable right has been still preserved, and the power which it confers upon the officer not wealthy enough to aceller a t e hi s promot i on by purchase, to turn his past service into ca ital a ears to be highly appreciated. Lord Fitzroy Spome'rseptp,indeed, stated, that the first, perhaps, to avail themselves of this privilege are those who have been unfortunately long detained in au in ferior rank, hut t;ho. on at last attaining the superior commission, cnnstantly apply soon after for permission to sell out. It may be described as a boon on retire ment to the i.fficer who ells, not being possessed of for tune, and it is bcnctici:il to the public, as the wealthy officers pay the cost of the retirement for those who desire to realise the value of their past services. When an officer has not purchased any of his com missions, the advantage to him of retirement by sale is apparent. The real difficulty of the case, and it is one which pressed upon us in the course of our exami nations, lies in the position of an officer, who, having bought, and having moreover served with distinction for a considerable time, deiires to retire by sale. On permission being granted, he receives no more for his commissions than they actually cost him, and conse quently he is in no way rewarded for his services. In fact, if he shall have paid . the difference for restoration to full-pay in the course of his services, he may, on re tirement by sale, actually suffer pecuniary loss. it was suggested to us that it might be expedient that the officer who had purchased, and served well, should be allowed, when he retired by sale, some small annuity from the public as a reward for his services. But the objections to this proposal, as shown in the examination of Sir Edward Blakeney, appeared to us insuperable. It would make an invidious distinction, as giving the wealthier officer, after his retirement from the service, an annuity which was to be denied to the poorer man; and we arc disposed to consider the earlier possession of rank and command a sufficient compensa tion to the purchasing officer, and that, in selling, he who has purchased, and he who has not, should be treated alike. It is, perhaps, expedient that we should report the result of our inquiries into the system under which a difference was allowed on an exchange from full pay to half pay. Tile - title to receive a difference on relinquishing a full-pay for a half-pay commission was first established by a regulation of 14th August, 1783. The object of this regulation was not to give a greater value to the full-pay commission than it previously bore, but to enable an officer who, after long service, desired to retire on half-pay, to realise a part of the value of his commission on relinquishing a portion of his advantages as a military officer. It was, in effect, a partial sale of his commission. The price was to be paid by the half-pay officer who might be selected for the vacant appointment on full pay, and the transfer of the full•pay officer to the half pay was to be effected as an exchange, the one officer giving for his full-pay appointment the difference, the other receiving it. It is not necessary to state the principles upon which the rate of difference was originally calculated, since they were not adhered to in the latest regulations upon the subject, which were framed by a Board of General Officers in 1821. The rates of difference are as follow : Cavalry. Infantry. £ s. d. £ Cornet or Ensign — Lieutenant Captain Major _. _ _ Lieutenant- Colonel.. 1,533 0 0 1,314 There has been no term of service fixed which should give an officer a claim to receive the difference. The Duke of York was disposed to regard every officer who had purchased as having a title, without much refer ence to the length of his service. But Lord Hill has not considered it advantageous for the public service that there should be this facility for the wealthy officer to retire from active service retaining an annuity from the public ; and accordingly no officer is allowed to re ceive this difference who has not rendered a fair portion of military service. It may be said that no officer in subaltern's rank, under 15 years full.pay service, is now allowed to retire upon half-pay, receiving the difference, and no captain under 18 years ; and even then the ser vice must have been such as to entitle the officer to the indulgence from its character. We entirely concur in the principle upon which the claim to receive a difference is made dependent upon the officer's service upon full-pay, and beg strongly to re commend that the limitation be strictly maintained. Having examined, with the most careful and minute attention, the whole system of army promotion and re tirement, and having placed before your Majesty our views as to the alterations that appear to us expedient, we ber , briefly to su b m it f or y our M a j esty ' s grac i o u s consideration a proposal for one further boon to be granted to the officers of your Majesty's army, to place them on a footing with the officers of other branches of the service. It is that they be relieved from the pay ment of fees on commissions. We forbear to enter into any details upon this sub ject, inasmuch as these fees have frequently been under consideration, and on every such occasion the committee before which the inquiry wai conducted haiii-invari ably made it their recommendation that such fees may be abolished. We refer more particularly to the - COm mittee of the House of Commons on army and navy appointments in 1833, and the Committee appointed by the Treasury in November, 1836, to inquire into the fees and emoarments of public officer. In their recommendation that these fen should be abolished we most cordially concur, and beg to express our earnest hope that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to direct that a tax of this description, which is exclusively levied on the officers of your Majesty's army, may be henceforth remitted. In the course cf our discussion of the various matters which it might be desirable to bring under your Majes ty's notice in relation to this branch of the service, the position of the officers doing the arduous duty of regi mental adjutant attracted our attention. At present the adjutant of infantry has 83 Gd., and the adjutant of cavalry 10s. a day. In the former case the remunera tion for this duty is an addition of 33. 3d. a day to an ensign, and of 2s. a day to a lieutenant, diminishing to Is. a day when the lieutenant has completed seven years' service. In the cavalry it is an addition of 2s. a day to a cornet, and reduced to Is. when that cornet obtains a lieuterhwtey. We consider that the officer ought to ' , Ave the lull advantages of his regimental rank, with a special .allowance for his duties as adjutant ; and we are disposed to sui4.Tcst that this special remuneration for adjutant's duty &mold be '2s. Gd. a day in the cavalry ; but as the inf Iraq officer is compelled to keep a horse for the discharge of these duties, it appears to us that there would be a sufficient rea,•on for fixing the remu neration for adjutant's service at a scale proportioned to the expense lie incurs on this account, which in his case is not provided for by his pay, whereas the cavalry ad jutant, as a subaltern of the regiment, would be com pelled to maintain a horse, were it only for subaltern's duty ; and the exp,tise thereof is calculated in the pay assigned to him. We suggest, therefore, that the sub altern of infantry, doing duty as regimental adjutant• should have an addition of 33. Gd. a day. Under the scale we propose the minimum pay of an Adjutant of infantry will be Bs. 9J., and the maximum 115. a day ; of an Adjutant of cavalry the minimum will be 103.6 d., and the maximum L Is. 6d. a day ; and we are perfectly satisfied that the improvement we suggest will have the best effect on the efficiency of the service. It only remains for us to place before your Majesty the several conclusions at which we have arrived in respect to this btanch of your Majesty's service. 1. Tuat it would be expedient to revise entirely the establishment of retired full-pay prescribed by the war rant of i.):2(1 July 1830, so as to afford retirement to a larger number of Field-Officers and Captains than aro provided for by that re2ulation. 2. That, v‘itii a view to promote the efficiency of the service, and to afford a better provision in retirement for Field-Officers and Captains now in active employ ment, but whwe health may be impaired by a prolonged term of colonial service, it is expedient that so much of the warrant of -22 d July, 183 Q, as imposes a restriction upon the grant of retired full-pay, till the present amount of the charge be reduced below 40,0001. a-year, be rescinded, and that the General Commanding-in-Chief should be empowered to recommend officers for re tired full-pay in such vacancies as the proposed new es• tablishment may permit ; officers now on the retired list of the ranks not included in the new scale to be considered as supernumeraries. 3. That, with a view to afford the e is b e e x tte d r ite p ini r et o 4 v t i oh s a : o o t n otoh o le f . ri bution pe of' fretirementb be e t r i e m i n p e c o r n n t . e u n i e p n i t a t d e i d s t , a year which has been fixed as the maximum amount of full-pay tena n f t o - r c the n a e r i ny s i a; - 17s. a-day. r t 2 i r o e d Liue - a d t a y l a . 3s n . u 7 m d b . r a , d n y t exceeding n 4 i n s g , m a 2 iy 5b Captains,lba j r o e r y s e ta tofaj 165. 0 r whomas e a Captains receiving lls. 7d. a-day. But it is not proposed that any increased pay should be given to the Captains now on the retired list, unless it be specially recommended by the General Command ing-in-Chief, that any Captain receiving a lower rate of retired pay be transferred to the new scale. The annual cost of this establishment not to exceed 38,0001. 2,000/. a.year be distrib u t e d i n 4. That the remainiug sums of 100/, a-year to twenty Lieutenant-Colonels upon half-pay, holding the Brevet rank of Colonel, who have retir-d or may retire to half-pay after thirty years' service upon full-pay'. But this additional rate is not recommended for any officer who shall have received the difference when he retired upon half-pay, as the officer to whom this additional allowance may be granted will retain his claims to 'advancement in the service. 5. That the attention of the Commission has been directed to the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons in 1833, upon army and navy appoint ments, containing an earnest recommendation that all fees on army commissions should be abolished, the fees on commissions of officers of the navy having been abolished by Order in Council of the 12th of October, 1832. They have also had reference to two Reports from the ~sr,C ommittee appointed by the Treasury in Novem- I ge7art.eid'a:6-;ndto, : i ri s q t ti ii i e re ;_ into the fees and emoluments of pu bli c u , „es, in which the same recommendation is re peated has been carriedund in er to stand that this recommen ,:•frect by the Board of Treasury as far as regards the departments tb? cu. TIM SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, IP4O. terns, the Excise, and the Stamps and 'faxes, they re:- I commend that the abolition of fees should be carried into effect in the army, as it has been in the nary. truth in the assertion that it was one of the objects of the 1 Society to restore Mr. Wetmore to race, with a salary of 4001. a-year, for performing duties which were at present discharged efficiently for lao/. a-year ?—(Cheers and 1 groans.) lie knew nothing of Mr. Wetmore that was not goad, but he Still obj•-cted,to paying that gentleman, htevever respectable he might be, an unnecessary salary out (.1 the poor-rates.—( Hear, hear.) It was true that the days of rose-water and iced champaigne at parish dinners were gone by, and an economical use of the poor fund was unanimously adopted.--( Hear.) He did not advocate the economy which ground down the poor, for he read in the book of God's revealed word, " Accursed is he who grind eth the poor."—( Cheers.) But he did advocate the re duction of all excessive salaries.—(Cheers.) He further wished to ask the gentlemen who were proposed by the party opposed to the Protection Society whether it was 1 true that they had made an arrangement with the surveyors for an assessment of the parish, by which the burthens would be thrown upon the outer ward, for the ; advantage of the ward in which those gentlemen resided. —( Cheers.) He was no partizan of either side ; in fact, if he might speak so, without irreverence. he woula com pare the parish to our Saviour who was crucified between two parties. He would not say whom, but would leave it to the meeting to make the application.—(Laughter.) Mr. BALL defended the trustees of the Walcott charity against the calumnies of the Protection Society, but he spoke amidst such a clamour of taunts and jeers bandied from one side to the other, that it was almost impossible to hear a word from him. Mr. BINE said it was most disingenuous on the part of the members of the Society to charge the late Wardens with making a Church -rate, whereas they knew the change to be wholly false.—( Hear.) He wished to know, did the gentleman who made that charge think it wrong to levy the rate ?—( Hear, and a laugh.) The rate-payers ought to bear in mind that Sir R. Inglis had a notice on the hooks of the House Of Commons for a motion to bring in a Bill for the erection of a new batch of churches. It was their duty to elect men who would protect them against the burthens which that Bill was designed to impose on them.—(Cheers.) Mr. IVI‘LeoD, in reference to one of the questions put by Mr. Cox, explained that when the liberal guardians came into office, they found that Mr. Wetmore *as paid an ST. MARY'S, LAMBETH. excessive salary, which they immediately reduced. But Yesterday, at eleven o'clock, a Vestry Meeting was held .it was said to be the intention of the persons proposed in at the Boy's Parochial School - room , Lambeth-green, for opposition to the present liberal officers, to restore him to the purpose of choosing Churchwardens, Overseers, and his former place and salary.—(Groans, cheers, and great other officers for the ensuing year. There was at an early confusion.) hour a remarkably numerous attendance of ratepayers, and Mr. WOOO (Solicitor employed against the Church soon after the Chair was taken this large room, which wardens in the late litigation's entered into an explanation of the law proceedings, and affirmed that the recent holds about 2,000 persons, was nearl filled. In consequence decision in the Court of Queen's Bench had not settled of the litigation commenced by the Church party against the Liberal Churchwardens, the animosity between the the question. But the interruptions were so loud and per- Reformers and Anti-Reformers rages at present with severing that his explanation could not have given much greater virulence than ever, and the walls of the parish satisfaction, as very little could be heard. have been for the last few days covered with the placards Mr. QUIN then came forward, amidst greetings of a of both parties ; in which as much, if not more, reference very varied character, to answer one of the questions put is made to personalities than to the public affairs of the by Mr. Cox, respecting the objects of the Protection parish. In the School-room, the Church party, (of Society.—( Cheers, groans, &c.) If it was one of the whom a strong muster was indicated by the number of car- objects of that Society to obtain places at high salaries riages before the door) gathered themselves in a knot to for particular individuals, he would not belong to it.— the right hand of the chair, and seemed to be in the proper- ( Applause.) He did not hesitate to avow that the pla tion of about one-fifth to the mats of the rate-payers cards alluded to by Mr. Grady had been issued by the assembled ; but their unity and strength of lungs in a Society.---(lndescribable uproar.) Nor would he hesitate great measure compensated for the disproportion of their to adopt their words, and to repeat every word that be numbers, in the contests of noise and vituperation which himself had uttered at the dinner.—( Renewed uproar.) occupied a great part of the day. They had been asked what was the object of the Society ? The Rector (the Rev. Dr. D'Oyley) took the chair at —(" Aye, that's the question you shirk at.") No ; he eleven o'clock precisely. did not.—(Cheers and laughter.) The object was to Mr. John B. Clerk was re-elected to the office of vestry protect the interests of the parishioners.—( Cheers and clerk without opposition, cries of " Oh, oh," and great laughter.) " The object," The Rector then nominated Mr. Laurence Redhead, of said he, "is to serve you in spite of yourselves."—(Re- Kennington-green, as his warden. newed interruption and shouts of laughter.) He wished Mr. GRADY moved that Mr. George Fall, Mr. John to give his reason for voting against the first list proposed. Ham, and Mr. John Barton, be the churchwardens for He called upon Mr. Cox, who had spoken of his veneration the ensuing year. for the word of God, to listen to what he had to say. One of Mr. RoGERs proposed Mr. Charles Evans, Mr. Thomas the persons nominated was Mr. Fall.—( Hisses and groans, Grissel, and Mr. John Bright, to serve the office. and other interruptions for several minutes, when Mr. Fall Mr. GRADY wished to address the vestry before the clues- stood upon the table, and, by dint of the most earnest tion was put, and in the first place he exhorted the rate- entreaty, at length obtained a temporary cessation of the payers to preserve order, and to give every one a hearing. tumul t .) Mr . Q uin then p roceeded to read from a news- The society, which ca ll e d itself the Parochial Protective paper a report of a speech attributed to Mr. Fall, at a Society, had circulated the most gross falsehoods against former meeting of the Vestry—an extract to the effect the gentlemen whom he had the honour to propose for re- that be (Mr. F.) " would as lief go into a brothel as into election as churchwardens. One of those calumnies was a church, or mingle with the low cunning hypocrites who that when they were in office they had made a church- assembled there."--( Great uproar, amidst which Mr. Q.'s rate. The persons who told that lie knew it was a lie.— voice was completely drowned.) He asked the rate-payers (Cheers, and great interruption.) The fact was very well would they dare to re-elect Mr. Fall after such language ? known to every member of the Society that the late —( Cheers, hisses, &c.) He wished that all the rate- Churchwardens never made a rate.—( Cheers.) It was payers had been present at the last audit of the accounts of true that two of them, Mr. Barton and Mr. Hunt, were those gentlemen who were now put up for re-election, Churchwardens in the year before last, as colleagues with when the auditors disallowed just as much as they allowed. Mr. Whea.ley and Mr. Saunders, and were threatened —(Laughter.) An attempt had been made by one of the with imprisonment by the Rector.—(Cheers and groans.) previous speakers to draw a distinction between a Church- The gentlemen of the Society sneered at the mention rate and a Church-building-rate ; but, in fact there was no of Mr. Saunders's name.—(Laughter and groans.) H e difference, or only the difference between tweedle.dum had served their turn, and now they turned their backs and tweedle-deg.—(" Oh, oh," and a laugh.) Mr. Q. upon him.—(Laughter.) That was their usual course. concluded with some observations, which the mingled out (Cheers and hisses.) They had no gratitude, nor any cry of friend and opponents rendered quite inaudible. other good quality.—(Cheers and groans.) They were Mr. FALL, as one of the persons proposed for the suf eminent only for cowardice and lying.—(Cheers, groans, frages of his fellow parishioners, wished, with the permis and hisses,.—indescribable confusion.) They met in holes sion of the Chairman, to answer some of the charges which and stews—and at their drunken wassails• they con- had been made against him for the last twelve months, by totted and sent out calumnious lies against honest men, every scoundrel in the parish.—(Cheers.) One of these whom they dared not meet face to face. At their first dinner charges involved his colleagues; it was that they had pri to which he (Mr. G.) requested to be admitted, offering vately made a rate without calling a Vestry. That charge to pay any price for a ticket, most opprobrious and false .was made in a publication called the Argus (the objects of abuse was poured out upon the absent Churchwardens ; which paper, and the character of its proprietor, Mr. Fall reprobated in terms by no means measured or safe to be and even he (Mr. G.3' bumble as he was, came in for his slsisris of the slanders and lies.—(Cheers and booting.) reported), and -the person who made the charge was Mr. He was surprised at the conduct of one of those speakers. H arwood, editor, well knowing at the time that the who was only one degree removed from an Irishman ; and Churchwardens were eompelled'hy law to make the rate it was not the characteristic of an Irishman to say of a man in the manner in which they did make it. But, to con behind his back what he would be afraid to say before his treat the conduct of those Churchwardens with that of Mr. face.—(Cheers.) Where was he then ?—(Cheers.) Harwood the year before, when he himself was in office— Mr. Quite—l am here.—( Cheers and laughter.) ( Cheers)—he would inform the meeting that he (Mr. F.) Mr. GRADY would not occupy the time of the voters and his colleagues called a public Vestry in three days with telling him at that time wbat he thought of him.— after they maee the rate, and submitted their accounts to k Cheers, laughter, groans, and cries of " Coward, the rate-payers ; whereas Mr. Harwood and his colleagues, coward," " Liar," on the one hand, and " Never mind being in office only three months before, made a rate in ~ private, but called no meeting afterwards.—(Hisses and cupied several minutes.) The Society them, Grady," " It's only a draw," on the other, oc accuse d the groans.) Mr. Fall then proceeded to comment with great Churchwardens of having put the parish to expenses severity upon the speeches and conduct of tire members of for law proceedings. But the fact was, the party of the Protection Society. Dr. D'Oyley, he said, had:declared which the Society was composed had put the parish to upon his oath, at Kingston, that he did not belong to that 19,0001. in law expenses, in a litigation which was under- Society; but yet he contributed to its funds—he canvassed taken by that party when iu office to deprive the pa- for it—be attended its meetings, and dined at the first public rishioners of their rights—(Cheers)—whereas the gentle- dinner.—(Much hooting.) In reprobating the con men whom he had now proposed had incurred an duct of the Church party in respect to Church expense of no more than 4001. or 5001., in defending rates, he told the parishioners to lock at the the rights of the parish.—( H ear , and cheers.) Mr. G. Bill which had been brought in recently by Lord John read several extracts from the speeches delivered at the Russell for the regulation of ecclesiastical revenues, dinner of the society, commenting on them with great hu- and to compare it with the measure formerly prepounded mour and no measured asperity, but amidst the greatest in- by the dirty little pettifogging scoundrel for the abo terruption of groans and cheers, hooting and applause, lition of Church-rotes.—(Laughter, cheers, and hisses.) which beggared all description. The Rector's party had It had been said by Mr. Quin that Sir James Parke de obtained a verdict at Kingston against the parishioners, flounced a certain individual as the pest of society. But and returned to Lambeth in triumph and decorated Sir James himself had gone to his last account, in which he with white favours—(Laughter)—but the Court of found as much to answer for as his father George the Third. Queen's Bench had put an end to their triumph —(Laughter and disapprobation.) Mr. F. explained —(Cheers, and cries of " No, no.") In the list was what lie ( Mr. F.) had said on the occasion quoted by Mr. Mr. Charles Evans. Now that man was going about, Quin to be, not that he himself would as lief go into a like every other coward, maligning him (Mr. G.), but brothel as into a church, but that the hypocrites whom he he (Mr. G.) would not speak of any man behind his back knew to go there were Worse than those who went into the —lie would not go to Italy, as Mr. E. had done.— other kind of place ; and he would now say, that with (Cheers and groans.) Some people went on their travels whatever loathing he might view a diseased prostitute at the expense of the country, but he did not know et drag g ing her diseased limbs into her den, he view e d with whose expense that gentleman had gone on his travels. mud' more loathing the man who sold for a price the in- Some persons had got into trouble in consequence tellect which God had given him for the noblest purposes. of dropping into areas and placing within the reach of fe. —( Hear, hear.) Mr. Rogers, the Chairman at the So male servants printed papers, of which the object was to ciety's dinner, had charged the late Wardens with an ex stem the rapid increase of population.—(Cheers, groans, iravagant expenditure; but the fact was that when Mr. hisses. and indescribable outcry, in which the words Rogers was in office, he and his colleague expended in " Shame," .. Coward," ~ G o on , go on," " Name, name," thirty-eight weeks 10,2961.—m0re than the late Wardens " read the paper," &c. were most distinctly heard.) In spent in fifty-three weeks.—( Applause.) I: had been 1832, Sir James Scarlett, now Lord .Abinger, Mr. Follett, made a charge against him (Mr. Fall) that he was a clink Mr. F. Pollock, and Dr. Lushington, gave an to a certain Board of Trustees. True, he was so ; but he opinion against the Rector, upon the very same question had accepted the office at the solicitation of sixty-seven out upon which, last year, Judge Abinger directed the Jury of the seventy-three Trustees.—( Hear ) Now the salary to return a verdict directly in the teeth of his own opinion, of the office had formerly been 1901. a year under the ma solemnly and deliberately given in 1832 —( Hisses.) It nagement of the old clique. By his exertions it was re was charged against the Churchwardens, because they duced to 1001., and subsequently, when the duties were resisted that verdict, that they were enemies to trial by nearly doubled, it was augmented to 150/. a year, which, jury. It was no such thing. The verdict was not th a t was paid to the person who last held it. The Board off ere d of the Jury, but of the Judge, who distinctly told them that him (Mr. F.) the same salary ; but as he had been t h e they must bring in the verdict which he directed.— means of reducing it to 1001. a year in 'the first instance, ( Hear, hear.) It would be much better to have no Jury lie refused t 3 take any more.—(Great cheering.) Mr. than such a Jury as that.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. Grady Fall then read a newspaper report, upon which he founded concluded by exhorting the ratepayers to elect men wh o a grave charge of want of integrity against one of his op. would give them at all times the opportunity of meeting in foments, who, he said, at the dinner had exhorted the rate vestry to express their opinions—who would support the payers to distinguish carefully between honest and disho voluntary principle, and promote liberty of conscience, and nest men.—( Laughter and groans.) It had been his would so administer the poor-laws, as neither to plunder (Mr. F.'s) object, from the first hour he was elected the ratepayers nor grind the poor. He sat down amidst churchwarden, to avoid all interference with the veclesias much cheering, mingled with groans and hooting. tical affairs of the Church, and to do everything in his Mr. WILDE, in seconding the resolution, defended power to afford to the parishioners of every religi ous per_ Messrs. Fall, Barton, and Hunt, from the calumnies with "suasion the means of public worship according t o th e i r which they had been assailed in the placards of the Church conscience.—( Applause.) He had endeavoured to restore party. He begged the rate-payers to bear in mind that the poor to the enjoyment of the various charities, in the a large majority of the House of Commons was in distribution of which they had been unfairly dealt .with favour of the abolition of Church-rates, and, at the before. For instance, there was Mary Oakley's charity a n ß d u But senthe same time that he was opposed to all resistance of the for distributing coals at Christmas to poet housekeepers. law, he thought the parishioners ought to use the power s When Mr. Rogers and Mr. Stahlschmidt were in office, fusing the rate, and if not the which th e l aw gave them of protecting themselves, by r e . they allowed only 11 cwt. p t t o hor ea p e e h rs p or er s so d n o , o a n n ( t c hi h s ee t r h s e . y ) Church-building rate.—( Hear, ' hear .) He was surprised (Mr. F.) Church-rate, at least the required the poo h r is to co co li m ea e au fo e r s and carry home. owt., and to each o at the inconsistency of Mr. Redhead, who now was put the coals .s homeother charities forward as th e supporter of the Church-rate party, whereas In vartou. ey had effected equally bene at the last election for the borough that gentleman was ficial changesfor the poor,his statements of which were the Chairman of the Committee for securing the return of received with much applause. As overseer of the poor, he Mr. Hawes, who voted in particular against Church- had a demand of 3461. 19s. 6d. to make upon Dr. D'Oyley rates.—( Hear, hear.) As the conduct of the Trustees of —( Laughter)—who in the twenty years, during which be Highways had been attacked by the Protection Society, had been rector of the parish, had never paid a shilling of and he was one of the Trustees, he begged to be allowed the rates, to which in law he " as liable.—(Great uproar hear.) The present of hisses eroans and cries of " Sham liable .—(Great make an explanation.—( Hear, Trustees had reduced the rates from 6d. to 4d. in the Dr. D (him s a id h e n ever had been called upon to pay pound, and in a short time they expected to be able to thous rates, but he was always ready to pay any rates to reduce them to 3d.—and whilst they were effecting which he was legally liable.—(Cheers from the party on great imp rover/le/ vs in the highways of the parish, the right hand of the chair.) with all that reduction of the rates, they had Mr. FALL was happy to hear it, for if the Doctor was in placed a surplu s of 1,7001. in the hands of the banker, earnest the parish would be paid the sum which he had which sum would be available for further improvement or mentioned.—( Cheers, and laughter.) In conclusion, he reduction of the rate, as the parishioners thought proper. advised the rate-payers to exercise their rights fur their —( Cheers.) That was his answer to the calumnies of own advantage, and to keep out of office the selfish, and the Society, and he asked, was it becoming the office of hypocritical party who had so long oppressed them. the Rev. Dr. D'Oyley to give his money to enable any Mr. REDHEAD defended himself from the charges made person to publish such lies as were propagated by the Pro- i against him by Mr. Fall. tection Society ?—(Cheers and hisses.) He concluded Mr. AecrieuTT gave a denial to a statement made by friendsf liberty the Ch urc h party res p ec ti n g the partial conduct of tire elect the o by calling up on th e Vestrye of conscien ce , and of' the rights of the rate-payers and the Marsh and Wall liberty. poor.---(Applause.) The Recroe then took a show of hands upon the ,dr. Cox came forward to ask two questions of the Liberal list, when there appeared— gentlemen who had been proposed, before be gave his vote. For Mr. Fall He first asked, what did they mean by the name of the Mr. Hunt 3S2 Protection Society ? Did they mean a Societ y for the Mr. Barton protection o f t h e aate _p a yers, and the conservation of their A show of hands being taken on the list proposed by rights ?—(Cheers)—or for the protection of the corrupt i Mr. Rogers, there appeared— and the conservation of abuses ?—( Hear and cheers.) H e ! For Mr. Evans 92 hoped they would answer the question as candidly as he 1 Mr. Grissell put it.—(Cheers and laughter.) He hoped they would ; Mr. Bright ~,.,.,,,•,.•,,,.••t. . . lee answer it m an f u ll y and honestly.—(Ch eers.) He waited 1 The election by show of hands having thus fall en on t h e for their answer,—(Great laughter, and interruption of 1 three gentlemen in the Liberal list, Mr. Rogers demanded cheers and jeers reciprocated by the two parties with great a poll, which the Rector immediately granted, appointing heartiness for sever a l m inutes, in the course of which Mr. that it should commence at nine o'clock to-morrow (this Quin made several attempts to give an answer, but could ; day), at the Church-porch, and continue until five o'clo c k , , not be heard.) M r . C. aga in asked for an answer. ;in the afternoon ; the poll to be resumed at nine o'clock, The CHAIRM AN sa id t h a t his question would be answered and to conti n u e u ntil five on each of the two following when he had done speaking. i days, Thursday and Friday. Mr. Cox now begged to ask whether there was any Mr. GRADY contended that it was for the Vestry to say 6. That it would be expedient to improve the situa tion of the Adjutants of the army ; and with this view, it is recommended that 33. 631. a day should be allowed as the additional pay for the Subaltern d;s charging the duties of Adjutant in an infantry regiment, and 2s. 6d. a-day for the Subaltern discharging the du ties of Adjutant in a cavalry regiment. 7. That it is expedient that officers who may be placed upon half-pay with a step of Brevet rank, for the purpose of serving abroad in the Adjutant-General or Quartermaster-General's department, should be eligible, after five years' service in these situations in the colo nies to be recommended for an effective step of rank on half-pa 3. In general, it is the opinion of the Commission that the effective rank should only be conferred upon such officers upon their ceasing to hold the staff appointment, for their services, for which it i s mean t as a rewar d ; but it does not seem expedient to lay down any strict rule to this effect, as cases may arise in which, from peculiar circumstances, it might be desirable that the effective rank should be given to an officer who should still con tinue to hold his staff appointment. 8. That with reference to this class of appointments on the staff abroad, it would be expedient that there should be some relaxation of the rule according to which a regimental officer who goes upon half-pay for the pur pose of accepting employment of this description is re quired to do so by exchange with some other officer on half-pay of the same regimental rank ; but that this in dulgence should be strictly confined to cases in which the Commander-in-Chief should think it desirable to give promotion in the regiment without purchase, and no particular staff appointment should be filled oftener than once in five years. (TO B CONTINUED.) PAROCHIAL ELECTIONS. whether the poll should be taken on the spot, or should be adjourned.—(Applause and uproar.) He read the opinion of Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. Cressweli, and Mr. Hai es (the eminent barristers), dated the 18th of April instant, to show that the iZector had not the power to adj:llirn the poll to another time and place without the concurrence of the Vestry, which had by law the entire control over the poll ; and further, that the rector had no riolit to preside in the Vestry, if the rate-payers thought fit to elect another chairman. Mr. G. put into the Rector's hand a resolution moved by him, and seconded by Mr. Wild, to the effect that the polling should take place in the school-room. The Rector refused to put the resolution ; and after a long discussion, in which the Rev. Chairman, Mr. Wood, Mr. Quin, Mr. Fall, and Mr. Grady took part, the Churchwardens proceeded to take the poll on the spot, the Rector adhering, on the other hand, to his resolution to take the poll (as he had at first fixed upon) in the church porch to-morrow morning. There will thus be two polls proceeding at the same time, and, co:sequently, two sets of officers returned. . . The show of hands on the nomination of Overseers and Surveyors being also in favour of the Liberal Eats, a poll was demanded by the Church party, and granted by the Rector, as in the case of the Churchwardens, to be held also in the church porch. Mr. GRADY protested against the Chairman's decision, and n:ad the Local Act of the parish of Lambeth, to show that eo poll could legally be taken upon the nomi nation of Overseers, which should be decided by a division in the vestry. The objection was over-ruled by the Chairman ; and in this case also there will be a double poll, and t‘vo sets of returns. The busines) did not conclude until after liall.past six o'clock. ISLINGTON. The annual business of E ester Tuesday was transacted in this large metropolitan parish in a very quiet sort of way. The parish contains, we believe, about 40,000 in habitants, and not much more than 40 rate-payers attended the vestry. Such a small assemblage facilitates the trans action of business, but it removes all check from corrup• tion. Our readers know that the late vestry clerk was succeeded by hi s son , an d t h e j unta w hi c h p l ace d t h e l atter in his father's office have new found out that the neglected state in which the former left the business of the parish is a good reason for increasing the salary of the son. Pecu lation was long rife and undetected in the parish under the Oldershaw dynasty, and now 2001. a-year is added to the income of one of the Oldershaw family. Yet the pa rishioners allow this, and allow the whole influence and honours of such a large parish to be usurped by an arro gant junta. The consequence is, that the parish, which for wealth and population is equal to a third-rate town, and superior to such counties as Rutland, has neither voice nor influence in public affairs. Alarylebone and Pancras, Lambeth and St. George's, almost every parish in the metropolis, has a political existence ; Islington has none. Now and then a petition is sent stealthily round for more Churches, or some such object ; but on the great questions of the Corn-laws, or the Chinese war, or national education, the voice of this large community is stifled by the incubus which lies on it, only apparently to extract its money. Amongst the votes of the Vestry yesterday was one to pay certain gentlemen 50/. to perambulate the bounds of the parish, and bump the charity boys at stones and corners, to imprint on their minds the line of separation between Islington and St. Luke's, or Islington and Clerk enwell ! It is high time that practices which, in foreign countries, as one gentleman present remarked, have been spoken of as a proof of our barbarity, as if we could nei ther read nor write nor make a map, should be discontinued. Bumping boys to make them remember a boundary, is cer tainly a custom as much savouring of barbarity as any which yet lingers in the country. ST. SAVIOUR, SOUTHWARK. Yesterday a vestry was held at the vestry-room of the church of St. Saviour, Southwark, for the election of churchwardens, overseers, and other parochial officers, cs well as for other business connected with the parish. Mr. Howe, the Warden of the Great Account in the chair. The carious parish officers were elected without any op position. After some routine hilliness was finished, Mr. the vestry clerk, read a report from the Guardians of the Infant Poor, at present at the establishment of Aubin, at Norwood, in which he stated they found the boys tho roughly acquainted with history, geography, Scriptures, drawing, and other mental and scientific acquirements, and which they attributed to the introduction of the new Poor law. That they had also visited the new workhouse, in Marlborough-street, New -cut, which they were sorry to say was insufficient for the accommodation of the poor who were sent there. Upon the motion that the report be received, Mr. Clarke, as well as Mr. Mayhew, spoke against the workhouse, which was described as worse than Newgate. Mr. ‘VEBB moved a ♦ote of thanks to the Guardians of the Infant Poor, which was carried. Mr. hlartiEw having returned thanks, The Overseers' Report was read, from which it appeared that in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, the average expen diture for the poor was 5,9541. I Is. 7d., while from March 1839 to March 1840, it was 7,900/. , besides a debt of 1,500/., that the new workhouse was deficient in ventila tion, that the wards for the men were very confined, and next to the dead-house, the stench from which was ex tremely offensive, particularly to those who visited their relatives, and that they regretted that so many thousand pounds had been expended on the place ; the Report then went on to contrast the difference which existed in their's and St. George's workhouse, and that they trusted the plan of St. George's would be followed. Mr. EMI:II.67'ON then moved that a copy of the Report of the Overseers be forwarded to the Poor-law Commissioners, and that a deputation be appointed to take up the said copy. A long discussion relative to the Poor•law and the site of the building ensued, which ended by the motion being seconded by Mr. Webb, and carried. Mr. FORD said he wished to know from the Chairman, why John Bunyan's school was discontinued, it having been established for the poor of the parish. Mr. Hows said he was not aware that such a school had ever existed, although he had heard to the contrary. He had looked over the parish records from 1540 to 1824, and could find no account of it. From what he understood, he believed that John Bunyan established a school in Zoar street ; the house was now converted into a cow-shed. He conducted it during the period he wrote his Holy War. Mr. Four) said he was given to understand that Bunyan had left 2,0001. for the support of the school. Mr. HowE observed he had heard that money had been left, but he thought the school had been one of a private description. • After a vast deal of uninteresting parochial business had been gone through, Mr. H sxa►s brought forward a motion relative to the Governors of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, who, uccord;ng to the charter, ought to be resident within the parish, which not being the case, that they be called upon to resign immediately. This question led to a long discussion, in the course of which the object of the illustrious founder was stated, namely, that the school was endowed for the purpose of educating the children of the poor, and that the fees to be paid were ss. and 2s. 6d. ; that nothing was to be paid for the education, the boys to find their own books. In stead of this, 20s. and 30s. were now the fees demanded, besides a quarterage, which, with other things, entirely precluded the children of the poor from being educated. The result was, there were only 22 children belonging to the parish at present in the school instead of 100, and that the great majority of the scholars came from the City, and were the children of the rich. Mr. HARRIS said it was his opinion that the charter had become forfeited by nut adhering to the terms it contained. The motion was then put that the present Governors bi called upon to resign immediately, and was carried unani mously. A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman, and the Vestry, after sitting seven hours, broke up. ST. GEORGE THE MARTYR, SOUTHWARK. Yesterday a numerous meeting was convened in the church of the above-named parish, for the pu pose of electing Wardens, Overseers, and other officers, for the year ensuing. In consequence of the strong party feeling which for some time past has existed on almost all subjects whether political or parochial, it was anticipated that a severe contest would take place between the supporters of the various questions which would engage the attention of the parishioners, particularly that of choosing a Surveyor of the Highways, and those who predicted the stormy meet ing were in no way disappointed in the result. Mr. Rice was unanimously elected as one of the Church wardens, and Mr. Moser, on a division, heat Mr. Boxer, the numbers being for Moser, 134 ; for Boxer, 128. Mr. DAT said that it was impossible that, by the manner in which the votes had been taken, a fair decision could be obtained, and he therefore, on behalf of Mr. Boxer, de manded a poll, which, after a considerable discussion, was granted. The CHAIRMAN said that two lists had been put into his bands, containing the names of four persons, each being competently qualified to fill the duties of Overseers. The first list contained the names of Mr. John Day, Mr. William Finnis, Mr. S. Hawgood, and Mr. Chester; the second, those of Mr. Percival, Mr. W. H. Waters, Mr. S. Dover, Mr. R. Reeve, and Mr. Horton. Thu Rev. CHAIRMAN hoped that there would be no ne cessity for a division, or a poll, as the numbers could bo easily ascertained by a show of hands. The confusion was so great that it was impossible to hear anything that was uttered. Cries of " Boxer, keep your dogs quiet ;" " Bow wow, seize him, Boxer." At length a division took place, when the first list was selected by a very considerable majority. The Commissioners of the Court of Requests were then re-elected, when Mr. Day was again defeated, he wishing to substitute the names of Mr. Martin and Mr. Edmonds, instead of Mr. Anderson and Mr. Gillam. After Auditors had been appointed, Mr. Fitch was una nimously re-elected Vestry-clerk. Mr. GRIFFITHS nominated, and the Rev, CHAIRMAN seconded, Mr. Anderson as a fit and proper persons to dn.- charge the duties of Surveyor of Highways. After a boisterous opposition Mr. Anderson was elected. Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meeting separated. ST. LUKE'S, MIDDLESEX. Yesterday forenoon, pursuant to their Local Act, the parishioners of St. Luke's, Middlesex, proceeded with the election of two Churchwardens, two Sidesmen, twelve Overseers, twenty.one Guardians of the Poor, &c. Mr. Moony, late a Churchwarden, in the Chair. The minutes of the last Vestry having been read, Mr. SMITH proposed the reappoinMent of Mr. Benja min Jones, the present seti;o: Churchwarden. Mr. Ho \Wriv next proposed Mr. Jay, the late lunior Churchwarden. He said that the best opinion they could have was that of the Learned Judge At the Court of Queen's Bench. If the parish were wrong, then let a mandamus be issued, and the question would be tried at once. He knew it was frequently the ease to have oppo site opinions of Counsel. ik protest was here handed to the Chairman against the re-election of Messrs. Jones and Jay. Several speakers having addressed the Vestry, Messrs. Summer and Eady were also proposed as Churchwardens; when EV EN NG F D f lON Mr. TAYLOR moved the following amendment That in the opinion of the Vestry Messr.i. Jones and Jay are n ot iia ac tr!er the 23d suction of the Local Act to be eho s e n or nominated as Churchwardens for the ensuing year. Mr. CROUD reconded the amendment. The CHAIRMAN put the amendment, ;hieli was last by a large majority ; and on a show of hands the election was carried in favour of Messrs. Jones and Jay, no poll being demanded. The Vestry Clerk next read a communication from the Poor-law Commissioners to the Board, when in the course of a discussion upon it, it was stated that in a short time it was expected that their parish would be joined in union with some neighbouring parishes. The other parochial offie .rs being chosen, thanks were voted to the Chairman, when the Vestry broke up. ST. MARY, NE WINGTON. Last evening a Vestry was held in the Boys' School room, High-street, for the purpose of choosing Church wardens, Overseers, and other officers for the year ensuing. At six o'clock, Mr. Pugh, the Senior Churchwarden , was called to the Ch4ir. _ _ A lett6r was read from the Rector, appointing Pugh his Warden for the next y ear . Mr. SIMPSON proposed Mr. Thomas Dutton for Parish Warden, which was s eco n d e d b y Mr . H OPKINS.ft Mr. HARDY propos e d, an d M r . G OVh seconded Mr. Chamberlain. Mr. A scene of confußion took place which baffles an attempt at description. Five or six per,ons were addressing the Chairman at the same time, while one gentleman (who had been v. ry noisy throughout the evening ) gut on a chair and called out, '' It's d—d humbug altogether."—(hos ts of laughter, and cries of " Shame," and " Put him down.' Order having been somewhat restored, the names of both candidates were p u t f rom th e Chair, when the show of hands was declared to be in favour of Mr. Chamber lain, and a poll was demanded by the friends of Mr. Dutton. The Overseers and oths:r officers were subsequently elected, and a vote of thanks having been given to the Chairman, the numerous meeting separated. ST. LUKE'S, CHELSEA. Yesterday, being Easter Tuesday, a vestry meet' ing of the inhabitant ratepay ers an d par i s hi one rs 0' this populous parish, was held in the vestry-room of the Church for the purpose of appointing church wardens, sidesmen, church trustees, and auditors o f the accounts for the year ensuing, as well as for the a nnual election of the vestry-clerk, beadles, &c., and fo? the bet iur despatch of other parochial business. The rector of the parish presided, and the election of churchwarden s was proceeded with. The votes appeared as For Maynard, 171; for Simmonds, 143, giving in favour of, Mr. M a y nar d o f 28. A scrut i ny was subse quently demanded, w hi c h w ill accor di ng l y b e forthwith commenced. The electio n o f a ves t r y- c l er k a nd two church trustees was the n p rocee d e d w i t h. a majority EARLY CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CHRONICLE. TO THE EDI7'OR OF THE SUN. Stn, —Allow me to call your attention 'to the speed with winch new s t rave l s i n A mer i ca . O n t h e 27 t h of March last three letters, bearing date the 13th, 25th , and 26th of March, were laid before Congress at Was h ; ington. These letters were written by M r . Fox an d Mr. Forsyth, and relate to the disputed boundary be tween Maine and New Brunswick. In the Morning Chronicle of Saturday is a letter signed E. M., dated from the " Banks of the St. Lawrence, March 28th , in which the writer a ll u d es t o t h ese l etters , the I°', of which was written on the 26th, and not made public till the morning of th e 27th, consequent l y E . M. must have not only received th em , but found time t° read and comment o n th em , in the space of abo ut twenty-four hours. N ow , Si r , I h ave trave ll e d many thousands of miles i n th e U n i te d S tates, an d am to lerably well acquaint e d w ith th e var i ous t ra velling routes both in the north a n d sou th. I b e li eve there 15 c no point on the St. Lawr ence w hi c h cou ld b e reached more speedily from Wa s hi ng t on th an L a P ra i r ie. 11 Prairie is 284 miles dist an t f rom Alb any ; from Al " bany to New York is 146 miles ; from New York to Philadelphia is 90 miles ; from Philadelphia to Balti more, is 96 miles ; and thence to Washington 38 mile s ; making a total of 604 miles to be traversed in twenty' four hours. This i s aston i s hi ng trave lli ng tru l Y , al though only about 50 miles is performed by stage, the I rest being done either by s t eam -b oat or ra il roa d. But must tell you somethin g s till more aston i s hi ng , a nd that is that the distance between Washington and Albany cannot be travelled, even if the traveller take o 'l mail line, in less than thi r ty h ours , and that though in distance this i s th e l onger h a lf of the journey, in time it is the shorter by some hours. You will observe by this, that a Correspondent of the Chronicle, who lives on th e St. L awrence , an d can ge t news in somewhere about one -thi r d t h e t i me the na il takes to convey it thither, mus t h ave pecu li a r facilitie s for acquiring information. Were not the Chronicl e a b ove a ll susp i c ion, we m ig ht suspect that this letter from the St. Lawrence was really written in or near L on d on ; b ut n o one can for a moment suspect the Chronicle of such a fraud. We have ther e fo re thi s fact clearly established, that America news c an b e conveye d b y s t e am-boat abo ut 300, by railroad a b ou t 250 , an d by stage a b ou t a° (these stages tr a v e l b are l y s i x m il es per hour), all w i t hin twenty-four hours ! " C re d at J u d teus ape l la ; non ego . To be serious, th e l et t er must h ave b een concocte d i: in England. It could not have been written where it professes to have been. Now, is it not discreditab le for a leading paper like the Chronicle thus to try to Im pose on the public, and by concocting a spurious lette r full of misstatements and misrepresentations, to e nded' your to excite in this country angry feelings towards our transatlantic brethren ? With regard to the Canadian insurrection, I was in the State of New York at the close of it, in East Fin: rida at the commencement. In the interim I travelled through portions of thirteen States, and I unliesitat-. ingly assert that public feeling was strongly in f a vour strict neutrality, an d I k now t h at such was t h e feeling of the General G overnment . Again, let any one i nqu i re i nto t h e quest i o n nod likely to cause a war b etween us and t h e Unite States, and I he s it a t e not to say, that if h e does it, honestly and fully, he w ill come to t h e conc l us ion tha t of the America ns are muc h nearer the mar k t h a n our Government. Before I conclude, may I ask you two questionsl. Why was the mo ti on ma d e l ast Sess i on b y Sir 11 , Grey, for a co py o f Mi tc h el l' s Map (the one pu blisho t i in 1775) withdrawn ? Can that Map now be seen Zi the British Mu seum ? Th ere i s a good deal to b e told about this. Your's most truly. Epping, April 20th, 1840. E. TIrE WEATHER.—The weath e r is still beat'' tiful, and the heat from mid-day till three in the a fternoa l l : more like the do g -d a y s o f J u l y t h an in the mont h o f Ar l , In the evenings, however, a pretty severe degree of tenW er n n a a tune is felt, and a h eavy fall of rain wou ld now b e w elcome ho beneficial in ever y respect. A commercial gentleman w hn l o t traveled over a considerable breadth of country ten days, including almost every corner in the kingdom of' i v , at,asures us that he has never seen such fair agricultural prc nu m the same period of the season, and the farmers univell u k " 3 admit that the present year is from a fortnight to three we c w , within th e , ife , in advance of the ordinary class of seasons. From our km' i „ ledge of matte rs nearer h ome, we can say that a sirail ar cheering report may b e g i ven o f t h e V ale of Clyde.— GlaSO gi Herald. he Mr. Notcutt, who was summoned before t 1 Borough Justices for non-payment of Church-rates, is reP °l. :,. e :l to have said that "he would not go into the Eccl the Court ;he w o uld t a k e t h e lesser evil, and the rate by order of th e Magistrat es !" W e have authorityp for statinr: that the R ev . ren d Gentleman timid no such thing but th at , s% hat he did sa y was to the effect that the law m i g ht tslie d course, and i n consequence of this determination We mi n stand that a distress warant will b e l ev i e d upon his go° ds. Ipswich Exiwess. 5. PATENT LEVER GOLD ‘VATCH Lady's size, with strongengine-turned double-barked tld - eases, elegant gold dials, Fourteen Guineas each. Gentlemen's size, with seconds. and small for the p• hard enamol dial, Thirteen Guineas each. hit This celebrated construction (the most accurate on re a watch can b e ma d e ) i s now o f f e red, with the latest 4 0 1 ) , a i es , menu, i. e., the det ac h e d escapement, j ewelle d i n four I:inuo capped, hand t o mar k t h e seconds, maintaining pee e r to eon' going wrinte d lnie winding up, at the above price. A p warranty is given, with fixed terms, on wh -c h the \Vetches will always receive any attention required. T. O SAVORY, Watchmak er , Jeweller, C&c., X 47, Cornhill (S even doors (ran' Graceehurch-street), London. N.B.—Second-hand Watche! Dun:hued in exchang.e. 8 11 414;r3. -- On the 10th i ns t., th e wife of f C. Phipps, a daughter. o On the 20th i ns t. , at Lee-park, Blackheath, 31 , ". Meadows White, of a daughter. On the 20th i nst., the wife of Wasey Sterry, Esq., of Up' minster, Essex, of a daughter. 411ARRIED. Mr. J"" On the 17th inst., at St. Jam es ' s , Piccadilly, Waite Collitigwowl, of Holb orn hill, to Mi ss Ell e n Gibbin'• On the 200, inst., at Strathfleidsaye church, Edward VoY, ik sere Edwards, Esq., o n ly son o f J o h n Edwards, E sq . ' of Dol Merionethshi re , to orgiana, elde s t d aug hter of G. 1 3 . 13ca champ. Esq., of the Priory, near Reading. On the ilst inst„ at St. M ary ' s c h urc h, 13ryanston - s 4 Skellington litistaw, Esq., Lieutenant 9 5th Itment , t y Heir liana, eldest daughter of the late Lieutenant-Gener al Raliiiigh Knight, of Portman-street. mien. On the Bth inst., at Paris, MariAtm Silvestri Coles, el dest daughter of the Rev. John Coles, of Silehester, Hants. On the Itith inst., at Tunbridge-w e lls, Mrs. Attila Ca t ha ' ritla Poole, aged 84. of On the 16th inst., Mrs. Meeo, relict of Arr. Joseph ' l ' cen ' Biggleswade, aged 78. On the 17th inst., as Goudhurst, Ralph Oakden, sen., Esq" aged 80. f th e Ort Mod Friday, at Bayswater, Mrs. Madeley, wi" °we Keo i n gtO I , l le. Mr. George Madeley , of Warwick-square, aged 69. On the 18th inst., at Thames Ditton, Surrey, Henry Strud wieke, Esq,, aged 71. On the loth inst., at Chiswick-grove, Walter, the infant s on of Septimus Burton, Esq. On the 19th inst., at Ba n k s id e, H enry, t h e thi r d son of 3Jr• J. 11. Shears, aged,l9. On the 19th inst., at Halesworth, Suffolk, Elizabeth, the wire of Robert Crabtree, Esq. On the 19th inst., in Tari;;ock-square John Bowden , EA' of Ednaston Lodge, Derby, aged 6". On the 17th i ns t., at C h urch-str eet, '- Camberwell, Mr. Job" Griffin, aged 41 London : Printed and Published by MURDO V0LTNG,7.,,,4; O. 11'2, Strand, at The Sun (Mee, No. 112 . n I. Strand 1 county of Aliddlesex.—Wednesday, April 22, 1840:___„1.0