The Sun. — London, England, 1840-04-20 00:00:00

EVEN LNG- EDITION. ANDERS AND DUTCH MAIL. ifer.tussims, ArrlL 16.—The Chamber of Commerce aintwerp informs the merchants that according to a oatch from the Belgian Consul at Alexandria, the -),rtgue has spread in an alarming manner in that city, ::nd that, according to a notice from the Consul at ' Smyrna, it has also broken out at Trebizond. BRUSSELS, APRIL 17,—We learn that M. Lebeau has 'been received to-day by the King, and had the honour to present to his Majesty a list of the persons v;hom lie thinks qualified to fain part of the future Ministry. Composition of the new Ministry, from the Courier Beige : M. Lebeau—Foreign Affairs. M. Charles Ropier—lnterior. M. Mercier—Public Works. General Ruzen, War. M. Liedtz—Justice. M. Damon Dumeatier— Finances. It is not without difficulty that six honourable citi zens have been willing to take their seat in the Minis ' terial car, that old machine the wheels of which creak. and which is wholly of joint. The Moniteur Beige -ays nothing of these nominations. RUSSIAN FRONTIERS., APRIL .s.—According to the accounts received here from Russia, all thoughts of a new expedition against Khiva are for the present given qp. The immense materiel which has been lost by ?erowsky's expedition cannot be so quickly replaced in ttussia ; besides the expense of this expedition has not been so inconsiderable as to be disregarded. All that can be said at present is, that another expedition against Khiva is not likely to be undertaken till next :ear. Then, however, it will take the route over mountains, where there is no want of water, and ,cross which the passage may be effected in the tempe rate seasons ; one-half of the troops composing the ex oedkion will be sent across the Caspian Sea from the ast coast, from which, to the gates of Khiva, there is lit an inconsiderable march to perform. The two last xpeditions (Ila the years 1819 and 1825) failed from -:milar causes. It is to be hoped more care will be c.aken next time. HANOVHC., APRIL 13.—T0-day the Kin.. received a a solemn audience a deputation of the Assembly' of se Estates of the Kingdom, who presented an address ipressing their gratitude to his Majesty for having pre- inted to the Estates the draft of a Constitution in kyhich the most of the enactments which had been rmerly asked by the Estates were adopted. The ' _ing returned the following answer to the address : " I thank you for the address which you have pre .anted to me. This address is a real comfort to tee. Chat the Estates will endeavour to attain the ob .ect to which the wishes of all good Hanoverians .re directed, I am convinced, by your assurance hat you will lose no time, and will spare no wins to complete this work. I can with truth fissure yost that it does not contain a chapter, a para graph, or a sentence, which has not been carefully con ,;idered and discussed. You must know that I am not ' I , erf . ectly master of the German language. Therefore must closely examine and comprehend everything that t may be able to sign my name to. You know I am a aan of my word—what I say I promise to keep. I , :an assure yom I have but one object—the happiness and prosperity of the country, and I never had any other. You know the fidelity of the Hanoverians. I have always placed the greatest confidence in the coun try. Unhappily, some bad pajsons are everywhere - - - - :net with, but the mass is good and honest. I feel as if a stone is taken from my heart by hearing what you say to me. I am now certain that we shall obtain our object.—Hanoverian Gazette. E.ELGIAN I. UNDS—Baussets, APRIL 17. Actual Debt, 2% per Cent. Bothschild's Loan, 5 per Cent ......... ....." IC2% Lnan orchirty Millions, 4 per'Cent..... 3 per Cent. ..... .... 74th Loan of City, 1832,-1 per Cent. ........ .......... 94% Socicty of Commerce, 4 %per Cent llok Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent...." ...... National Society . • Exchange oh London (short) —Brussels Papers, April 17. DUTCH FUNDS.—AMSTERDAM, APRIL 17 Money. ilillc, Actual Debt, 2% per Cent - 3 Ditto, ditto 5 per cent. Amet Syndic, 4% per cent lifil.' . 1 Ditto, ditto, 3% per , cent. 754, 7 il,; Commercial Company, 4!4 per cent lBO-., , n 3 i Ditto (1532 and 1833) 5 per cent. Ditto N 37, S per cent. lOl% I:, Loan 1837, 5 per c0nt..... ................. Exchange on London, One month...—. I I 9;!.', ' Two months ...... —Dutch Papers, April 18. AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA, APRIL !; Five per Cants. Matalliques . ................. ............ ;- '.., Foar per Cents 1 i ~ Three per Cents. Bank Sharps .....„............... ........ .... .............. —4llga:seine ZeUesig, April 14 . ' PRUSSIAN FUNDS.—Beattie, APRIL 1, 7 1. • Bills. - Money. St. Schuld. Sch., 4% per cent. " 104 IV? li„ Ptuaian English Loan, 1830,4 per cent 103 Y. 104 F.xchange on London, three months tS 19% —Prussian State Gazette, April 15. ATTEMPT TO SET I'LRE TO THE SOCIALISTS' " HALL OF SCIENCE." On Sunday morning last, at an early hour,• a stran2x, zpparently determined, and yet wholly unsueeessrul, attempt appears to have been made to set on fire the r the new and unfinished building on the north side ul Camp Field, built, it is stated, by the Socialits, and oallcd " The HaLl of Science." A woman living in a oottage in the neighbourhood, risinr , to get some medi cine for a child, about a quarter before six o'clock, ob ..;,!rved through the boards which close up the wain e',ltrance door at the east end of the building, a strong Ight or dame, which led her to remark to her daughter 'iat the men were at work in the building. She apposed at the time, that it was some fire the -,-,rksaren had lighted to melt lead, and thought no )re of it ; but about six o'clock, looking agaii tiaough the chamber window, she saw a man creep • i ~ .stdeways through an aperture made by rernos,ing me of the boards placed to block up the cellar window. Hiving crept through, he placed the board upriglA against the window, and then, stepping upon the Ico.- ~ path, he looked across Camp Field, and immediately k. alked quickly up Byrom-street. Still her suspiehA:s were not excited, nor, as she says, did she think any .hiog further about what she had seen, till she ..as 'old that an attempt had been made to fire the build ; and she then told what she knew, and described :lie man to be of middle height, rather stout, and to Lave the appearance of a bricklayer's labourer. fie , sore a sort of moleskin dress, the jacket being of the shape called a "Cheadle swinger," and parts of his dress were marked with lime or mortar. The more ,:ng was wet, and she did not- see so well as to be able to notice the man's features minutely. About sine o'clock the same morning, one 'et toe persons connected w:th the building, oir entering it, as usual, for the purpose of seeing that all was right (a practice, it is stated, adopted because of there havir , been a numb er o f pales of glass broken in the windows, night after night), t found that no fewer than three fires had been made in different parts of the building, with shavings and pieces of wood, moistened with turpentine ; and that all these fires had burned out, without doing any material mischief . to the building. One of these, the flames from which had been seen. by the woman, was on a sort cf landing ' place, in the entrance at the east end of the building ; and there a place, two feet square, was burned in the ene-inch planking, which was laid as a bad or support for flag-stones. When the man entered the bililding at nine u'cloek, this fire had just burnt itself out. Another fire 'lad been kindled in - an adjoining room, with a window looking eastward, but little above the ground, and so placed, that any one passing within fifty yards of that end of the building could not fail to have per ccited the flames through the window, even before hey had attained any considerable height or extent. The floor here is partially charred, as it from a fire of shavings and turpentine, and it is stated that a thick piooe of wood, laid upon the floor, was found to have been burned through. The third place was in the north-east corner of the large room on the second floor of the building, destined for a lecture theatre. A large heap of pieces of wood was left by the workmen in this corner, and th e i ncen di ary would seemto have se , ,ected the place on that account ; but in other respects At is the last spot in the whole buildin g which any one would hav e b ean lik ely to fix upon, fearedwijo det ec ti on . !It is clos e to large unglazed' window, separated o n ly b y a narrow entry from which is t window of an adjacent dwelling-house. Had a an chayrcher s lept in this room, th o bl aze so close to thewin d ow mu st have immediately awa k ene d and alarmed the c s l ee per. There was a blind t o t h e h ouse w i ndow w hi c h was down ; but it is said th a t no one sleeps in ' that room. In this, as in the two other instances, the man who examined the building shortly after nine 3'clock, found the flames extinct, though several thick pieces of wood were burned, and others more or less charred. It is said that the floors being of white deal were less combustible than of red deal ; and that the wood was not dry, and the rooms and walls damp. The last is the only reasonable solution of the difficulty, and it is still somewhat unaccountable that so much t should have been burned, and that the flames, after • being uncontro'led for three hours, should die out of I thtnnselves. However, we have stated the circum stances, as they have been related to us ; and there we must leave this strange affair.—Manchester Guardian. We understand that Father Mathew, the cele brated Irish apostle of temperance, has intimated his intention e of coming to this country i n a few weeks, to administer the tee-total pledge to hi s countrymen in St. ' Giles's, and other parts of London. It is supposed that at least 50,600 will re ceive the tee-total medal at his hands. The Crown has caused the furniture and books of George Glennie, the late managing director of the Union I Annuity Company, to be valued by the Sheriff, under the ex tent in aid issued by the Court of Exchequer for the non-pav mem of the advertisement duty for the Gardenr's Gazette ' and Court Gazette, of which he was formerly a joint pro_ -with The goods were valued at 150/., and they, tog ih r e o r: -with the books, were declared forfeited to the Crown. -e Th, Teditors under the bankruptcy had been induced to believe that. ti t e books would have been given up to them. THE PRISONERS UNDER NAPOLEON. ---One certain proof of the excellence of the judicial institutions under the Empire will be found in the constant and progressive dimi- MAI number of state prisoners, whi e h on th . O!' of --jaw • e ; tile 18th Brumaire amounted to 9,000, ohna, by Prince b roughtdbeenDai s., down to 150 in 181 4 . Opi nion s of 2‘aole ~; .. GENERAL REPORT OF COMMIS SIONERS FOR INQURY INTO NAVAL AND MILITARY PROMOTION AND RE TIREMENT. (Continued from The Sun of Satur.y.) THE ARMY. Having passed through those services wh en are commonly termed seniority services, as being g verned entirely on a principle of seniority in regard to promo tion, we proceeded to the examination of the condition and prospects of the officers of a service in which, under certain regulations, the whole system may be described as one of selection by the Crown, from the first promotion to lieutenant to that of lieutenant-colo nel, and of seniority from the rank of lieutenant-colonel upwards ; for such, upon the authority of the general commanding in chief, is stated to be the system of the British army. On coming to the consideration of this part of the in quiry, we were aware that we should meet anomalies, and espc&ally in respect to promotion, which by some persons were thought to require correction ; but the army had provsd itself perfectly efficient in the field, and thus far, at least, experience was favourable to its organisation ; it, however, remained to be seen whether it would equally bear the test of that longcolonial service in which it has for the rnest part been employed since the peace. During the war, es ben the possession of military rank might be expec ted to lead to reputation and honour, it was natural to sup pose that officers would be ready to make pecuniary sacri fices in order to obtain a position which would open to them sneh advantages ; but at a time when the army was emp:oyed either at home, or in colonial service, and why:, no such prospects of distinction were afforded, it might have been doubted whether there would have been found such a readiness to purchase. Experience has, however, shown during the last twenty-four years, when, owing to the increase in your Majesty's colonial pos sessions, and the reduction in the number of the colo nial corps, an amount of duty unprecedented in the British or any other service has fallen to the regular army, that the advantages of speedy promotion to the superior regimental ranks may, to a considerable extent, be secured by the system of purchase, even under cir cumstances which, in some respects, may be considered unfavourable to its development. We do not desire to be understood as pronouncing the present systems of army promotion altogether per feet, or as stating that under a strict administration of them entire and complete efficiency would exist through out every rank, under all conditions of service ; but we feel justified in distinctly repeating the opinion we have already expressed generally, that the present systems of promotion, sanctioned as they are by long-established usage, while they have produced an army fully equ a l to any duty that may be required from it, offer a secure foundation on which additions and improvements suitable to any emergency may be based. The qualification we should desire to make of our approval of the systems would apply to the advancement to the higher ranks, and to them more particularly in a state of war, when greater bodily energies would be re quisite than could now be found among the general offi cers of the army ; bat having reference to the great ex tent of colonial service which has followed upon a long protracted war, we can have no hesitation in expressing our conviction that, under no other system than that pursued in the British Army, with its advantages of early advancement by purchase, would it be possible to find so large a portion of officers physically efficient, as is shown from the returns placed before us to exist, in the several regiments. In any investigation of the claims of the officers of the army, the consideration is naturally directed to the ex tent of colonial service which that army performs. It is obvious that the immense colonial possessions of this country must exact from the military force, and more especially from the infantry of the army, a very extended tour of foreign service, embracing every variety of cli mate, and entailirg upon he soldier a necessity of pass ing a considerable period of .his service on distant, and frequently on very unhealthy stations. This service, as Sir Willoughby Gordon informed the Commission, is unexampled in any army that is or that ever was in the world. Three-fourths of the infantry of the line, at the pre sent e3tablishment of 103 battalions, are at this moment serving abroad ; there being 77 battalions on foreign sertice, 21 of which are within the tropics, and 20 more (or a fifth of the whole) are always in India. To show how this service has affected the present regiments, the following detail of the foreign and home service of the 103 battalions, prepared from the records of the 'ar-office, was laid before us. Between the Ist January, 1818, and the 31st De cember, 18:37, a period of twenty years, 97 of the pre sent battalions have been in existence. Six were added in 1824. The services of the 97 regiments have been as follow : Twenty Years, Foreign tinvice. -2 Battalions Home Service. Years. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Of the six new regiments raised at the close of 1823 end beginning of 1824 four had, on the 31st December, 18:37, served eleven years abroad and three at home ; and two battalions had served twelve years abroad and two at home. Three of these new regiments have since been ordered on colonial service two of the three have sailed for Ceylon, and the third is under orders for New South Wales. The general result of the service performed by the 103 battalions in the course of 20 years is, that there Were spent— At home 620 years In the colonies —2,024 Of these 1,404 years' colonial service, 770, or up wards of one-half, were at the folic sing stations within the tropics : Windward and Leeward Islam'. 1444. Jamaica 975 Mauritius Ceylon East Indies . St. Helena -770 The period d ur i ng w hi c h troops of the line serve in !he colonies may be estimated, therelo:i., at about dou hle that spent at home ; and of those on foreign service, it may be said that more than one-half are in tropical or unhealthy climates. This routine of unremitted Colonial service must produce considerable inefficiency among; the officers of the Army; and the result would inevitably be, either to maintain an enormous retired establishment at the pub lic charge, to furnish. a provision for the worn-out officers, or to leave the commissions of the Army in the hands of those incompetent to discharge the duties at taching to them, if it were not for one of those very anomalies to which we have alluded at the commence ment of this division of our Report—viz., the system of sale and purchase of commissions authorised by the retaliations of the service. This important question must be considered in a ia!er part of this Report, when the evidence respecting 'll2 sytlems of promotion and retirement now in opera- come to be examined. It is on!y noticed here as obvious cause for the present genera! capacity of t!!•! regiments to discharge the duties required of them ui.der all the disadvantages of varied service in all cl:iratcs. Sir Edward Blakeney, at present commanding in Irela, d, informed the Commission, thit, in the course of llis duty in that capacity, he has had 50 regiments of i:Zantry, about 18 of cavalry, and between 30 and 49 ,j.. : ,,t5, under his observation ; and he gave it as his 0p:,0:1 that the army is at this moment in an efficient state g enerally, although there may be some command ing uiiicers, and others of various ranks, who are too old for their duty. These, however, he described as ex,.:,:ions, but he admitted that such arc existing in almost every regiment. 11:.on roference to the War-office Returns, which have' Leen laid before the Commission, it will be seen • that this general efficiency is in the lower ranks of offi cers, and that the ages of a large portion of the field oll•crs are considerably advanced. It is shown by those Returns, that of 254 lieute nant colonels serving upon full-pay, in June, 1838, pre vious to the brevet 46 were below 40 years of age 46 between 40 and 45. 69 between 45 and 50. • 93 between 50 and 65. —254. It is p,;ssible that fur colonial and fixed duty the Ca pabilitLs of the commanding officer may be prolonged to a more advanced period of life than they would be in the more active and harassing duties of field service ; and although, therefore, the ages of some of these offi cers may exceed that qualifying them for efficiency as regimental ctlicers in an active campaign, their position at the head of regiments is in no part of the evidence shown to be detrimental to the public interest under present cireumAances. The same - Return also shows that there were °6O majors upon f 6" p between were below 40 years of z ge . G 7:3 between 45 and 50. pay, of whom— een 40 and 45. 43 between 50 and 65. _ 0 60. young men, and more than therefore be considered 1 . te equal to every one-third of i tl , iis class of field-officer s may Nearly sort of duty, whether of c efficiency, as far as ' the general one-half of an age rendcril In the rank of' captain, it can be tested by age, n in g ia t te le o m r q fi u el i d. of this class, is more apparent, Of 1,354 311 were below 30 years of age. 1:111_ 4 , SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1840. 422 between 30 and 35. 185 between 35 and 40. 205 between 40 and 45. 231 between 45 and 65. 1,354. More than two-thir,ls of the serving captains may therefore be considered as young and efficient men. But there must, nevertheless, be some even of the 205 ranging from 40 to 45 years, who, from long and varied service in suba!tcrn ranks, may be scarcely equal to the duties of a campa i gn, an d per h aps , even un d er p resen t circumstance s , not prepared to encounter, without re pining, the irksomness of a prolonged tour of colonial service ; but still their age is not so advanced as to lead to a belief that there is much positive inefficiency in this class. Of the 231, whose ages range horn 45 to 65 years, it may be admitted that many are not efficient even for colonial duty ; and their condition is far from satisfactory, but it is in no part of the evidenc., shown to us, that this inefficiency is of such an extent as to be in any way detrimental to the usefulness of their regiments. In the same series of returns from the War-office, it will be found that there were, in June 1838, 1,952 lieutenants - upon lull pay, and their ages were shown to be at that time as follow :- 1,294 were below 30 years of age. 317 between 30 and 35. 137 between 35 and 40. 118 between 40 and 45, 86 between 45 and 65. --1,952. By far the larger portion of this class (twc-thirds of the whole number being below 30 years of age), are, therefore, completely efficient for every duty ; but there are to be found lieutenants whose ago and prolonged service must incapacitate them, for any continued dis charge of subaltern's duty. Sir Edward Blakeney alluded to such officers as ex isting in many regiments, and described them as being deficient in the energy requisite to carry on the duties of active service ; and he attributed this deficiency of spirit and energy to the circumstance of men remain ' in.- so long a period in the same rank. This observation of Sir Edward Blakeney's induced us to examine into the length of full-pay service which had been rendered by the officers of the different ranks now upon full-pay, and the result will be seen in the following table ; Full.pay Lieut.-Major.' Cornet , Cal. Capt. Lieut. or Ens. Service. Total, ---- — 45 years ... ...... , 1 1 Betweeen 40 and 45 ...' 18 1 19 .. 35 40 ...: 42 11 6 2 61 30 35 ... 1 63 57 68 193 25 30 .J 47 55 147 8 257 20 25 .., 38 63 196 ' iii 7 354 15 20 .. 35 46 182 124 387 10 15 ... 5 27 583 1500 4 1119 7 10 ... 145 435 2 I 582 5 7 ... 27 428 41 496 3 5 ... I 317 270 1 557 One to 3 ...... ... I Sl 431 512 Below 1 254 260 i 1,354 1 1,952 1,046 4,866 We find, in fact, from these statements of ages and services, that of 4,866 officers, serving upon full-pay, 3,411 are below thirty-five years of agc ; and that with regard to full-pay service, 3,594 have been less then fifteen years upon full pay, the latter number including more than half of the captains, eight-ninths of the lieutenants, and the whole of the ensigns. If, therefore, the question were to be one merely of physical efficiency, we consider ourselves fully justified in stating that there is no force more exempt from that incapacity, which might be expected to result from protracted service, than the British army ; and this re sult we must attribute to the system of sale and pur chase of commissions. The exceptions to this general efficiency aro more numerous among the Field-Officers, but there is nothing in the evidence placed before us which would lead us to believe that these exceptions are of such an amount as in any way to affect the general capabilities for service. Having thus briefly placed before your Majesty the result of our inquiries into the fitness of the officers of the army to discharge their duties, we propose, to sketch the history of the several arrangements in ope ration for the advancement of the officers, or for effect- • ing their retirement. By a memorandum from the Horse Guards, we were informed that promotion might be obtained regimentally by purchase and without purchase, and army promotion generally,lin a third mode, by brevet. With reference to the system of purchase, it 4; stated in that memorandum that, from tho earliest period of which any military records are preserved, the practice has existed in the British army of allowing an inferior officer to purchase of a superior, upon the latter retiring from duty and relinquishing the military service. As this mosto of advaucemeat, by purchaia is , the striking peculiarity of the British- r . my, and .Auks often , ci formed a subject for public cOmine'nt, o 'pia Po te iiittace the system throughout; by a brief. yeference to the regu lations under which it was first recognised, and has been subsequently carried on. The first recognition of the practice of advancement by purchase is found in a warrant of Charles 11., dated 7th March, IGB3-4, directing that when any commission officer of the land forces should obtain leave to surrender his commission, and that at his request it should be granted to any other, the person so surrendering the commission, and the person obtaining :t, should each pay one shilling in the pound of the sum received and paid, to the paymiktes-general for the benefit of the hospital at Chelsea, then just established. This, it is to he observed, is a mere recognition of a pre-existing practice, and the sole object of the war rant was to subject the buyer and the seller each to a deduction for the benefit of Chelsea Hospital ; but it is the first recorded sanction that was given to a system which has been maintained from that time to the pre sent, with the exception of a short period of eight years, during the reign of Wiliiam 111. By" war dated Ist July, 1693, the Commissary- General of Musters was directed not to muster any commissioned officer who would not take an oath that he had not bought his commission. This affidavit was subsequently imposed by the Mutiny Act of 1694; the fifth section of which commences with these words : " And to prevent the great mischief of buying and selling military employment in his Majesty's armies, be it en- acted, that every commissioned officer should take the affidavit which had been directed by the warrant of 1693 ;" and so stringent was the obligation, that the Commissary-General of Musters in entering the com mission was desired to insert a memorandum that he had administered the required oath. The same obliq;ltion was renewed in two subsequent Mutiny Acts, but in that of 1701 (13 and 14 Wm. 111. c. 2) it was omitted ; and the permission to sell and to purchase continued, it is presumed, as it had existed before 1693. Still there ►were no precise regnlation3 on the subject, there was no system laid down, and in tha absence of such authorities it would appear that great irregula rities and abuses were introduced into .the army ; and, in consequence, Queen Anne, by warrant of Ist May, 171 I, directed that no commissions should be sold with ouithelloyal approbation under the sign manual. The Queen moreover declared that no c.iiicer should have leave to sell his commission who had not served 20 years, or been disabled in the service, unless upon some extraordinary occasion when it might be thought tor the good of the service to allow thereof. This last very ieTortant regulation of limiting the right to sell to eflicc:s of a certain period of service, witnout any ref,rence to the circumstance whether they had purchased their commissions, appears to have been subsequently abandoned, as no trice of a renewal of it can be found:in any later regulations, except as forming a basis upon which the claims of officers who have not purchased, to sell their commissions, are admitted, after certain periods of service. By warrant of 7th September, 1711, the Queen somewhat relaxed this rule, and limited the necessity of obtaining the Royal approbation in the case of sale, to commissions above the dograe of captain, the pre amble of tie warrant showing that this exemption was granted to lieutenants who had not served 20 years, but who " by misfortunes in recruiting had mis-spent the levy money, and outrun themselves so as not to be able to continue in the service." In the succeeding reign of George 1., the propriety of exempting the lieutenants from the conditions of service was not re cognised, and accordingly the regulations of Ist May, 1711, which limited the right to sell to officers of 20 years' service, were restored to their full force. In 1719-20 a definite price was, for the first time, put on each commission, and regulations were issued, with drawing altogether from the seller all power of inter fering in regard to the recommendati on o f a successor. These prices were revised in 1766, partially in 1772 and 1773, entirely in 1753, and finally in 1821, by boards of geocral officers, and the rates established by the last-mentioned beard aro those at which commis sions are sold at the present time. Upon the occasion of the revision of 1776, Lord Bar fly directed which e c rineton, who was t hen Secretary-at- War, wr o t e a very remarkable letter to th e Jud g e Advocate-Ge nerali cer tainly indicator), of a strong opinion against th e system • t the reeulat.on o a o g t a p l u ns rebase in the array a f lt i o s g t e l\ th i e a r v , , 1 bu 7 t ll chie , under s p vas v a io cq us uipreudrehese. by a certain term of ser vtice, r s iwg thehi ttb arguments tobt saeil nyre in this letter showing are general, as tlearmy, disadvantageousan as position a o ve f tli ti e le no w n e - i p g u b r t e o h f asi i n ii g g o b ffi o c ili er of i the . cial authority, we think it right to quote the letter at length : " War-office, Bth Feb. 1766. " Sir,—l have laid before the King your letter of the 31st day of January, containing a report of the Board of General Officers on a matter referred to them by his Majesty in my letter of the 3d day of October last, touching the different prices to be given for com missions in the army, in cases where he shall please to allow them to be sold. The King entirely approves the said report, and every particular therein contained. His Majesty commands me to express his perfect satis faction to the officers who have signed it, and to acquaint I them that he will order what they recomuw d to be in variably observed for the future, uu. ,rain of his highest displeasure. " Having now finished what I a:c. -orninanded by. ' the King to communicate to the Board, I take this op portunity of conveying through you, Sir, to the gene rals who compose it, some thoughts on a matter of great importance to the regiments they command, and, indeed, to the whole army. " Colonels frequently recommend that officers in their respective corps should sell commissions which they did not buy. Long and faithful service has worn them out ; they have families ; the eldest in each rank are able and willing to purchase ; they all deserve pre ferment, which in time of peace can scarcely be obtained any other way ; in short, the good of the corps, merit, and humanity, all strongly plead for the indulgence which is recommended. It is no wonder that these arguments have so frequently succeeded, when any one of them would be sufficient inducement, if there wera not another side of the question. " Officers who buy are permitted to sell ; men who find themselves growing old or infirm dispose of their commissions, which are purchased by the young and the healthy ; and thus what has been once bought con tinues for ever at sale, especially in time of peace, ex cept now and then in a case of sudden or unexpected death. The consequence often is, that men who come into the army with the warmest dispositions to the ser vice, whose business becomes their pleasure, who dis tinguish themselves on every occasion that offers, are kept all their lives in the lowest ranks because they are poor. These meritorious officers have often the cruel mortification of seeing themselves commanded by young men of opulent families, who came much later into the service, and whose fortunes have enabled them to amuse themselves frequently elsewhere ; while the others, con tinually at quarters, have done the duty of those gen tlemen, and have learnt their own. " Flagrant abuses seldom grow up at once, but arise from circumstances whose consequences were not fore seen. The first time a commission is sold, it is almost always bought by a good officer, the next in succes sion ; he afterwards asks to sell, the corps is changed, the senior officers have merit and long service, but they have no money ; this circumstance does not prevent the transaction, and the commission is purchased, per haps by the youngest, least steady, and least experienced of that corps or of some other, to the infinite distress of many deserving men, and to the great scandal and detriment of the service. Like circumstances happen, more or less, every change, and bring with them the same distress and mischief. Each fresh commission brought to market multiplies both, and therefore, in stead of increasing purchasers, they cannot be too much lessened, so far as is consistent with the invariable prac tice of the army. " That colonels of regiments should not attend to these consequences is not matter either of wonder or blame their care is extended no further than to their own corps, and while they command it ; but the offi cer of the Crown, who is entrustod with the impor tant charge of the whole army, a body whose pro bable duration infinitely exceeds the short space alot ted to individuals, cannot be too vigilant, lest confined temporary convenience or compassion should produce general permanent mischief or distress. To be firm in preventing future evil by immediate refusal is not the least difficult part of his duty. He must withstand the feelings of humanity and the desire to please ; he must expect the uncandid interpretation of the preju diced, the hasty judgment of the ignorant, and the ma lignant conclusion of the disappointed ; arrows shot in the dark, against which a good conscience is an insuffi cient defence. He must often contradict the passions and interests of the powerful, and even disappoint the wishes and expectations of the deserving; he must acquire a great many enemies, and lose a great many friends ; and yet he had better suffer all this than do wrong. " It is of consequence that the army should know the rules of the service, and see the reason of them. That officers should sell what they bought, and no more, has long been a rule, and, perhaps, this letter will tend to explain the ground on which it was established. If that rule be good, can it be too invariably observed ? Specious distinctions will be made ; they should never be admitted, for every deviation tends to disuse. No thing can be more fatal for the army in general, than occasional exceptions from good regulations, or give more advantage to the unjust attempts of the importu nate and of the great. It is frequently asked, what can be done with an officer who is become useless to his corps, through age, wounds, or infirmities ? " It must be owned that there are too few comfort able retreats from active service in this country ; how ever, our establishment affords some. The commissions in the invalids, small Government and other garrison employments, always properly bestowed, would go a great,way, till there can be a more ample provision— the young and healthy must do the duty of the old and and they can sufficiently do it in time of peace ; hereafter, in their turn, they may receive the like benefit themselves, and in the mean time escape • a thousand inortifiCations to which indigent merit is too often ex posed. It frequently happens in the army, as else where, that want of money is also accompanied by a want of assisting friends ; but the poor though deserving officer should always find at the War-office a constant assertor of his rights, and faithful guardian of his in terests.—l am, &c. " BARRINGTON. " Charles Gould, Esq," Before we offer any comments upon the argument con tained in Lord Barrington's letter, we desire to note the change in the system, as laid down in the reign of Queen Anne, which it announces. It is obvious that the regulations of Ist May, 1711, limited the right to sell to those officers only who had served twenty years, without reference to the fact of whether they had previously purchased or not, while Lord Barrington's letter seems to admit it as a recog nised right of long standing that those who had pur chased should be allowed to sell what they had bought ; and he in no way alludes to a conditional term of ser vice as essential to the existence of that right. His objections are taken to the acquiring of that right by a term of service without previous purchase —a principle which we consider the most valuable part of the sys tem, and which, under the sanction of Queen's Anne's regulation of May 1, 1711, has continued uninter• ruptedly to the present time, affording, as we believe, the obvious means by which the efficiency of the army has been maintained, As we have placed this letter thus upon our records, and as it is the only authority of any weight which exists against this one part of the system of sale and pur chase, it appears incumbent upon us to offer some obser vations to your Majesty upon the argument contained in it. The whole sympathy with indigent merit, which Lord Barrington expresses, we fully share ; but we cannot, as he has done, limit that sympathy to the claims of the seniors of the ranks unable to purchase. To us, the condition of the officer who has been worn out by long and faithful service appears more deserving of consideration than his who has yet health and strength before him to perform his duties, and to take his chance of the promotion that the casualties of the service may afford. To deprive the worn-out office r of the power of selling out, becaus e h e has not pu rc h ase d, appears to us to be likely to l ea d t o more h ar d s hi p an d injustice than would result from the promotion of an in ferior by purchase over a senior ; and from the care that is taken that the purchaser shall be duly qualified, both by conduct and knowledge of his duty, to be pro moted, we cannot see any grounds whatever for antici pating that scandal and detriment to the service which he so forcibly condemns. Lord Barrington appears to have been fully alive to the difficulty of removing the worn-out officer from the service, from the paucity of the rewards which were then open to that class of persons (an evil which we believe to be considerably alleviated at the present time) if the permission to sell were withdrawn ; but we must express our satisfaction that the course he recommend ed as a substitute for sale was not pursued, as we can conceive nothing more calculated to destroy the possi bility of an efficient service, if the doctrine that the effi• cient must do the duty of the inefficient, with the ulti mate hope of securing the same indulgence for them selves, were once admitted as a rule upon which the duties of the public service might be conducted. We do not desire to enlarge upon the palpable error which pervades this remarkable document ; but, as its ex i stence was notorious, and the official position of the writer invested it with an authority which its own merits do not deserve, we thought it expedient to bring it under your Majesty's notice, with the observations that oc curred to our minds on its perusal. • With regard to the system of purchase generally, we have the strongest testimony as to its practical success in having, during a long peace, and notwithstanding the severity of the colonial service, afforded the means of maintaining the efficiency of the army, in so far as it de pends upon having a body of officers in the vigour of their age and health. The following are the results of the evidence before us upon this point : Sir Willoughby Gordon has stated that he does not think he ever heard a reasonable objection against the practice. He observes, that if he is to assume, as an objection, that which he has heard as such, that, by means of purchase, persons are brought forward who are not deserving, the answer is, that no officer is al lowed to purchase who would not be equally eligible for promotion, if he could get it, without purchase. A cer tain number of years is named AS a qualification for ad vancement, and no officer is allowed to purchase who has not that qualification. Sir W. Gordon also says that it considers opinion is beneficial to the army in bringing forward y o ung meth P id in er i° s n thatii supported the ir yste by ofSir Edward Blakeney, in keeping it more active and e fficient, and in g i ving greater encourag em ent to the officers. This purchase introduces a better c l ass o f officers i nto th e service in point of edu cation, than would otherwise be the case ; and it is also supported by Lord Fitzroy Somerset. The general efficiency of the army, as shown in the returns previously quoted, fully justifies these opinions. It is manifest in those returns, that by far the largest portion of officers are perfectly qualified for their duties ; and it is equally apparent that this efficiency is main- 1 tained by the system of purchase. In fact, it should be remembered by those disposed to cavil at the sys tem, that the British army, except for the very short interval in William lll.'s time, has never kown any other ; and whatever may have been the triumphs or glories that army has achieved during the last 150 years, they have been secured by an army commanded by offi cers, a large proportion of whom have obtained some advancement by the system. The proportion of officers of the higher ranks who have not, in the course of their service, paid some money for advancement, is small, as will appear from a return of the existing Major-Genarals which has been kid be fore the Commission. The Major-Generals have all obtained that rank in the last three brevets. There have been 123 made in the army. The sums paid by the several officers for promotion range from 6,2001. to 1001. Ten have not paid any money for advancement, and three, by exchanging from cavalry to infantry in the course of their service, receiving from those who exchanged with them the difference between the prices of cavalry and infantry commissions, have actually re ceived more than they paid. It is, however, remarkable, that the longest full-pay service has not been performed by a non-purchaser, as might naturally be inferred. One officer, who paid 1101. in the course of his service, had rendered 47 years' f'ull•pay service when he was made a Major- General ; and there are nine in that list, all of whom bad served more than 40 years upon full-pay when they were promoted to be General Officers, who have paid for promotion a gross sum of 20,364/. ; whereas there is not one of the ten who have not purchased, or of the three who received more than they paid, who had com pleted 40 years' full-pay service when he was made a Major-General. It appears to us that the evidence we have quoted, supported as it is by the present state of efficiency in which the army is found, after a war of unexampled severity and duration, and a colonial service of a quarter of a century superadded, is at once an answer to all the objections that can be urged against the system of purchase. To theory we oppose practice, and prefer to adopt as a system that which has borne the test of such service as that to which the British Army has been exposed, to any other which has no bet ter commendation than a specious appearance of regard for the claims of merit, combined with an actual neglect of those who are past service, but who are not the less deserving of protection because they can no longer urge their own claims. If these last are debarred from the right of sale, they could only be provided for by an enormous retired list ; or to avoid a large charge upon the public, by an unjust and delusive transfer of the duties from the inefficient superior to the efficient junior, whose content must be secured by a promise of the same ultimate indulgence for himself, in the manner suggested by Lord Bar rington. At the same time, we should by no means desire to see the system so exclusively established as to operate us a bar to all advancement without it, or to leave the commands of the army in the hands of the wealthy only. We remarked, therefore, with some degree of satisfaction, that, in the statement of the services of the major-generals of the army. to which we have re cently alluded, it is shown that those who have not purchased a single step of army advancement are not the officers of longest service. This fact is valuable, as showing that pecuniary means are not always essen tial :to army advancement, but that it is possible, amid the chances of service, for an officer to attain high army rank, without any infringement upon his private resources ; and there is encouragement for indigent merit in the fact that general officers are now serving upon the staff who have never paid any sum for a step of army promotion. We were, however, so much impressed with the im portance of the subject that we endeavoured to ascer tain from Lord Fitzroy Somerset what had been the general effect produced on the efficiency of the service by the sale of unattached half-pay in 1825, and what proportion the promotions without purchase bore to those by purchase. We found, with regard to the arrangement for the sale of commissions by half-pay officers in 1825, that, in the opinion of the military authorities, the sales per mitted under that system were too extensive, that too many officers were brought forward at the same time, and that the facility of purchase unsettled a number of others, particularly in the lower ranks, and it had, therefore, a mischievous tendency. We do not consider that it would be at all expedient, under any circum stances, to repeat an experiment of this kind. A gene rid facility of purchase might produce an entire change in the officers of a regiment, or in their respective posi tions, and it is not to be doubted that in so much it would temporarily damage the efficiency of that regi ment. But it is fair to admit that much of the present capability of the service, not as a natural consequence, but from the effect of circumstances in regard to ex changes, may be attributed to that arrangement. As a financial measure, the merits of this arrangement were fully discussed before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1883, and it is entirely unnecessary for us to enter• upon 'the consideration of that part of the subject. We pass, therefore, to the system of the regimental promotion without purchase. Lord Fitzroy Somerset informed us that this was cal culated as producing about 110 original vacancies in a year ; that a vacancy by casualty on the regimental establishment is filled by selection, but it is generally the case that the senior of the next rank has, from the length of his service, acquired a title to advancement. With regard to the question as to the proportion which the promotions without purchase bore to those by purchase, and whether the promotions by purchase increased or decreased, Lord Fitzroy Somerset gave it as his opinion that there was a decrease in the lower ranks, while in the upper ranks the proportion of pur chased promotion to that obtained without purchase, was about the same as it had been for many years. He stated that in four years, from April, 1834, to March, 1838, there had been 39 lieutenant-colonelcies filled by purchase, and 28 without purchase ; 108 majorities by purchase, and 28 without purchase ; 485 captain cies by purchase, and 131 without purchase ; 784 lieu tenancies by purchase, and 247 without purchase. The date of April, 1834, was chosen as the commencement of the period for which the calculation should be made, because from that date an additional measure of pro motion was introduced into the army. By warrant of 27th October, 1834, his late Majesty was pleased to direct that further means should be taken for facilitating the promotion of old and deserving of. ficers of the army. The arrangement that warrant sanctioned was, that for every three vacancies on the re tired list or half-pay in the ranks of field-officer and cap tain, one major, one captain, or one lieutenant, accord ing to the class in which the vacancies might have oc curred, should be promoted from the lull-pay to *a half pay lieutenant-colonelcy, a majority, or a company, their places on full-pay being filled from the hall-pay list of their respective ranks. As regarded the public, the effect of this arrangement was to give them the full benefit in numbers of alt the casualties on the retired establishment, a half-pay officer of his own rank taking the place of the full-pay officer promoted ; and, in a pecuniary point of view, it merely withheld from the public a saving to the extent of the difference between the half-pay of the officer so taken from the half-pay list to replace the promoted of ficer, and the half-pay of that promoted officer, which would be ls. 6d. a day in the case of each lieutenant colonel, and 2s. 6d. a day in the case of each major or captain so promoted. We are happy to find that this warrant has fully realised the expectations that were entertained from it, and that it is operating with the very best effect in faci litating the promotion of old and deserving officers. The progress of this system is gradual, as it depends, upon the number of casualties in certain ranks only ; but it must be remembered that it is in addition to the regi mental promotion by and without purchase. It has now been in operation for nearly six years, and we hare ascertained that up to this period (March, 1840) the following promotions have been granted to the serving officers of the army under the the provisions of this warrant—viz., eleven majors have been promoted to be lieutenant-colonels, of whom two have returned to full-pay, and three have sold out of the army in their new ranks ; sixteen captains have been promoted to be majors, of whom four have returned to full-pay, and four have sold out of the army in their new ranks ; and eighty-nine lieutenants have been promoted to be captains, of whom forty-four have returned to full-pay, either in their new ranks, or in some other military ca pacity, and three have sold out in their new commission. The warrant also holds out certain contingent advan tages to those who retire permanently under its pro visions, which it is proper to record. All classes re maining on the half-pay to which they may be promoted under this arrangement preserve the title of their families to provision from the public, at the rates as signed to their new ranks. We consider the advantages which this regulation confers to be calculated to produce the most beneficial effects upon the service, and the numerous restorations to full-pay employment which have been male of those who have previously received their promotion under its provisions, sufficiently manifest that, in its administra tion, regard is had to the claims of the deserving and well-conducted officer. The beneficial effects of the arrangement are most apparent in the case of the lieu tenant. His full-pay as such is 7s. Gd. a-day ; an d h e may retire under this warrant on the half-pay of a cap tain, 7s. a-day. This is nearly equivalent to full -pay, and the small diminution his pay will sustain, by removal from the effective service as a lieutenant, to the half pay as a contain, is fully compensated by the increase of pension for his widow from 40/. to 501. It was chiefly for the benefit of officers of this class, that the warrant Has designed. There were many serving upon full-pay, for whom, after a prolonged ser vice as subaltern, some special provision seemed to be requisite. Th e wa nt of means to purchase advance ment was their misfortune, and, if driven by disappoint ment to retire from the service, the only provision ope n for them was sale of commission, which in the infantry would produce 7001., or the half-pay of their rank, which would not exceed 4s. 6d. a day. Under this warrant they may obtain a commission for which, on subsequent restoration to the set vice, they would re- i ceive on sale 1,8001., or, if they prefer to remain in retirement, they have an advanced rank, and a rate of half-pay very nearly of the amount of their former full-pay.. Sir Edward Blakeney, alluding to the lieutenants yet remaining upon full-pay, of long service as subalterns, proposed a compulsory removal of all who had served twenty-one years. He recommended that they should receive a step of rank with a rate of retired pay inter mediate between the full-pay of a lieutenant, 7s. 6d, and the full-pay of a captain, 1 ls. 7d. a day. The rate he contemplated was, perhaps, about 9s. or 9s. 6d. a-day, equal, in fact, to a major's half-pay. It appears to us that it would be impossible to limit this system of promotion, as proposed by Sir Edward Blakeney to the subalterns, but that it must be extended to the captains and field -officers ; and, unless it were proposed to increase the half-pay and full-pay of the army throughout, which we are not prepared to recom mend, it is obvious that the effect of his recommenda tion would be to give in all cases a higher pay to the officer whom he would remove, than is given as half pay to the very rank which the officer had been un successful in obtaining. In fact, the compensation for not being promoted in due course might exceed the benefit which the promotion itself would confer. We look to the operation of the warrant of 27th Oc tober, 1834, as offering the best means of providing for officers of the description alluded to by Sir Ed ward Blakeney, and as assisting generally the promo tion of those who are not prepved to purchase. But we shall venture, in a subsequentpart of our Report, to suggest the adoption of further arrangements, which, in our opinion, are calculated to facilitate the promotion of meritorious officers, without exacting any pecuniary sacrifice. (TO BE CONTINUED.) POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BOW-STREET. John Pate, keeper of the Olympic Coffee-house, in Wych-street, was charged with allowing women of impro per character to take refreshments in his house. The policeman who laid the information, stated that he saw the women there, and told the defendant that be was infringing the law by permitting them to remain. The defendant said t hat he did not know he was trans gressing by serving such persons as were stated with re freshments, if they behaved properly. The MAGISTRATE fined the defendant forty shillings, and, in the event of its not being paid, sentenced him to seven days' imprisonment. MARYLEBONE. Mr. Hardwick, the Lambeth-street police Magistrate, took his seat on the bench for the first time, as one of the Magistrates of this office. William King, a notorious begging-letter impostor, was charged with attempting to defraud Lord Nugent, by false representations of distress. An officer of the Mendicity Society seeing the fellow throw a letter and a small red book down the area of his Lordship's house, in Chandos-street, Cavendish-square, knocked at the door just as the servant was about to give the prisoner half a sovereign, and spoke to Lord Nugent, to whom he related the fellow's fraud. In answer to the Magistrate, the officer said that the prisoner had within a year or two laid the benevolent mem bers of the nobility and gentry under contributions to the amount of 8001. or 1,0001. by false tales and forged testi monials. He bad been in almost every prison in the adjoining counties on similar charges to the present. The prisoner, who made no defence, was committed to the House of Correction for three months' hard labour, and his watch and other property was ordered to be sold to pay for his keep whilst there. Two soldiers, of the First Grenadier Guards, named Gould and Phipps, were charged with knocking down and stamping upon the body of a man named Cole, and with desperately assaulting and injuring the policemen who took them into custody. Cole stated that he did nothing to provoke the men. The policemen said that when they had with difficulty taken the prisoners to the station-house, they seized the officers, and attempted to jump upon them ; their conduct was most outrageous. The men made no defence, and were fined 51. each, or two months' imprisonment. They were locked up. HATTON-GARDEN. John Ausier was charged with robbing the house of Charles Montague Martindale, Esq., of Montague-street, Russell-square, of a large quantity of silver plate. Elizabeth Jarvis, the cook, heard somebody at the plate closet in the pantry, adjoining the kitchen, and went to see who was there, when the prisoner darted up the area steps with a heavy weight in a blue bag. She followed, calling out " Stop thief," when a policeman seized him with the property in his possession. The articles were produced, which consisted of a tea and coffee service of silver, a large quantity of large and small forks and spoons, and other articles for the table, of the same metal, all of which were identified by Mr. Mar tindale. The prisoner made no defence, and was fully committed for trial. LAMBETH- S TREE Francis Ratiford, a foreman in the St. Katharine's Dock Company, and George Baker, the son of a wealthy ropemaker in Bermondsey, were charged with stealing 3 cwt. of hemp from the warehouse of the docks. Sir John Hall, the Secretary, appeared to prosecute for the Company, and both prisoners were defended by Counsel. The prisoner Radford had to weigh out 39 cwt. of hemp for Baker's father, and whilst the other prisoner was stand ing by the side of him, he weighed and carted 42 cwt. It was argued that it wus not possible for Baker to he stand ing by the other prisoner without being aware of the theft. The prisoners were both fully committed for trial, but Baker, who bad been out on bail, was again permitted to put in sureties for his appearance. WORSHIP- S TREE T. Ann Downen, a woman of respectable appearance, was charged with receiving a large quantity of brass and copper articles belonging to Messrs. Pontifex, of Shoe-lane, and also with having in her possession an immense quantity of stolen property of all sorts. Messrs. Pontifex, who had been robbed of nearly one ton weight of brass taps, and having a suspicion of the prisoner, who was a dealer in marine stores at Hoxton, having them in her possession, he procured a search-war rant, and on searching the house they found nearly three tons of brass-work, hams, tongues, bacon, cheese, fine linen shirts and shifts, and variously marked coats, cloaks, and other gentlemen's apparel of a superior description, and some very handsome jewellery. The foreman of Mr. Pontifex having identified some of the brass articles as being those stolen from his master, the prisoner was remanded for a week, that the thieves might be taken into custody. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. ( From the Ilampsh ire Independent.) POftTSMOTITII, APRIL 18.--The Columbine, Captain Elliott, arrived at Sierra Leone on the 29th of January. The Stag, Captain Sullivan, and Grecian, brig, Captain Smith, were at Buenos Ayres on the 16th of January.__ The Calliope, Captain Herbert, sailed from Buenos Ayres for Monte Video on the 17th of January. She had been in the River Plata 432 days, out of which she was at anchor in the outer roads of Buenos Ayres 376.—The United States frigate, Independence, 64, Captain Nicholson, and the Fairfield corvette, Captain Braceman, were at Rio on the sth of February, and would leave for the United States in about a week or ten days. The Success hulk has been brought down the harbour, and is now fitting with derricks and other necessary appa rams for the purpose of removing the remainder of the wreck of the Royal George, early in the ensuing month. The Magicienne bas been taken out of the basin, and is now alongside her hulk, nearly ready for sea. We are sorry to hear of the serious indisposition of Captain Bur nett, the gallant commaoder of this fine vessel. The Pearl, Captain Franklin, still remains at Spithead, awaiting Admiralty orders. It is reported that Admiral Digby succeeds Admiral Sir R. W. Otway, as Commander.in- Chief at Sheerness. APPOINTMENTS. Lieutenant—R. A. Newman, to San Josef, vice Nicholas, appointed to the Coast Guard. Mate—W. A. Menton, to Inconstant. Carpenter—Alexander Barclay, to Thunderer. (From the Hampshire Telegraph.) PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 18.—The Pique, 36. Captain Boxer, arrived this morning from Plymouth ; she is to be fitted with temporary cabins, for the purpose of bringing home the Marquis Clanricarde and family from St. Peters_ burgh, on leave, his Lordship's health requiring a tempo. rary sojourn in this country. The Reindeer packet, Lieutenant Dicken, arrived at Falmouth on Wednesday, from Mexico. She left Vera Cruz February 11; Tampico, on the Gth March, from Havannah ; freight, 580,000 dollars. All was quiet, and there is nothing in the shape of news by her, with the ex ception that a slight revolution took place about 150 miles north of Tampico, which did not, however, give rise to the least uneasiness. The Delight, the following packet, had not arrived at Vera Cruz. Business was brisk at Havannah. The Sappho sailed February 16th, from Tam pico for Jamaica, with a freight of about 800,000 dollars on the Government account and for that of the Colonial Bank. The Dolphin, 3, Lieutenant Littlehales, will be at Spit head, from Chatham, about the 22d instant, on her way to the Cape and the West African station. Mr. Edward Rowe, second master, to join the Andromache, 26, and Mr. Batten, second master, for the Brisk, 10, will take a passage in the Dolphin. The Columbia steamer left Lisbon for the West In dies on the let April; and the Espoir, 16, on the sth, for Cadiz. 1 The Harlequin, IS, Commander Lord F. Russell, and Wolverine, 18, Commander Tucker, are ordered home from the coast of Africa, to be paid off. The Raven cutter sailed, on Tuesday, for Plymouth ; and the Gypsy tender arrived to-day from Sheerness. The new 16-gun brig, Bittern (of 481 tons) was launched from this dock-yard to-day. We are sorry to say that, immediately before the launch took place, Mr. Hepburn, the master attendant, was jerked off the jetty by the bight of a warp, and severely hurt about the head and face, by falling against a shore. Ile was rescued from drowning by Gilmore, a rigger, who jumped overboard after him. The Prince Regent transport, Lieut. B. Shepherd, agent, sailed on Saturday, with convicts, for Bermuda. The Vanilia, frei g ht s hip, arr i ve d on Tuesday, and sailed yesterday with troops, for Halifax. The British Queen left Spithead for the River Thames, at noon, on Thursday. The Merlin, schooner yacht, Captain Lyons, was at New York on the Ist instant. The froms hip_ B oMynabay l a b , a r i a e p h t . place Pollock, she I passed eft o n t by ho this t morn ing,jan and the Cape on the 12th February. At the latter date,' EVENING E I I lJiv. Admiral Eliot had not heard of his appointment to the Indian commend ; he was still on the coast of Africa. The ship Herefordshire sailed before the Malabar, with the widowed Lady 'Maitland on ',nerd, and may be hourly ex pected. The Journal de S,n.irne of the 20th ult. states—" Ad miral Louis 11..,s shifted his flag to the Ganges from the Benbow, which sailed on the 27th of Malta. The Dutch frigate Rhine, with Prince Henry of the Netherlands on board, came into the roads this morning from the PirmuY. At. S pithead Pique, Peal I. In Harbour—Britannia, Victory, Excellent, Royal George, Magicienne, Vanguard, Jupiter, Victor, Messen ger steamer, and Gipsy tender. APPOINTMENTS. - Surgeon—J. Wingate Johnston, M. D. to be superintendent of the Asia convict ship. Clerk —W. H. Granville, to the Vanguard. Mate—Arthur Gladstone, to the Vanguard. Midshipman—R. 0. Serjeant, to the Pearl. Volunteers. First Class—Francis Samuel Marryatt and r 3 orkhurst Chase, to the Vanguard. Boatswain. — Joseph Flynn to the Vanguard, vice John White, to the Hospital. PLYMOUTH, APRIL 17.—The Pique, 36, 1 . Capt. Boxer, sailed, on Wednesday, for Portsmouth. The Persian Will go out of harbour to-day; it is expected she will proceed to the coast of Africa. The Cyclops steamer sailed, on the 10th, for Malta. The Cambridge, 72, arrived, on Wednesday, from Sheerness. The Louisa freight will call at this port for 3 officers and 51 men of the second battalion of the Ist royals, and 2 officers and 62 men of the 84th regiment, for conveyance to Quebec. In Hamoaze —lmpregnable, San Josef, Thunder, Inconstant, Persian, Nautilus, Sheldrake, Sylph, and Carron. In the Sound —Cambridge. MALTA, APRIL s.—The Benbow, 72, arrived here on Thursday last from Vourla, Rear Admiral Sir John Louis having transferred his flag to the Ganges. The Hastings has proceeded from Smyrna to Vourla, and from thence comes down to Malta; the Implacable is also expecte d here from that quarter. The Gorgon steamer, will" left this port on the 14th ult , arrived at Alexandria ee the 21st idem, last from Vourla, with despatches from Ad miral Sir Robert Stopford, for her Britannic Majesty Consul-General. The Jascur brig arrived here on the 2d instant, from Corfu ; and the Hydra steam-frigate, on the 3d, from the coast of Sicily. The Confiance arrive d on the 31st ult., from the lonian Islands. The Asia has reached Vourla after a most boisterous and long passage, and with some, but not very material, damages, chiefly caused by a water-spout. She took refuge for some days in Milo, and in the course of the voyage was at one time in very great danger. The Rhine, Dutch frigate, encountered the same Pie s in which she was obliged to lay too for a whole week, but had reached Athens, after a very long voyage, from Malta. The Zebra, on her way to Corfu, went ashore on Cap e Blanco, and knocked off a part of her false keel. The Beacon and Magpie will leave. on Monday next, proceeding in the first'place to Athens, where they will re main about a month fitting out their tenders. ,From thence they will proceed to resume their last year's surveys, or to the Dardanelles, according to the orders which Lieutenan t Graves may receive. The Palmyra transport, with a draft for the 59th regi ment, arrived here frmn Cork on the 26th ult., and landed the troops on the following day; and on the 31st .tbe Prince George (Lieutenant Davison), also from Cork an° Gibraltar. GRAHAM SHOAL. —Captain Andrew, of the schooner Vinilia, which arrived at Malta on the 20th ultimo, fro m Liverpool, reports, that on the day previous, on, passing the spot marked down in his chart as the site of the ex tinct volcano, between Sciacca and Pantelleria, he 01) " served a column of smoke rising from the sea, which be at first took for the steanhz for England, and actually bore down under that impression with the intention of begging that his vessel might be reported.—We understand tbet the Palmyra transport, which arrived from Cork on the 28th ult., likewise saw smoke issuing from the sea in the same quarter. of In Port—Princess Charlotte, 104 (bearing the flag .o f Admiral the Hon. Sir R. Stopford, G. C. 8., G. C. M. G•/' Bellerophon, 80, Benbow, 72, Jaseur, 16, Beacon, 8, Magpie, 4, Ceylon, 6 ; steamers, Hydra, 4, Aelar nil, Blazer, Confiar,ce, Phoenix, Alecto, and the Freo n° steamers Sesostris and Leonidas. THE MARKETS. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEE' Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Pe as°. Per Quarter. a. to S. a. to s 8. to a. I. S. Carlisle 60 39 30 41 4 ' Hexham 33 68 32 38 22 34 42 Morpeth ........ 48 60 36 40 22 28 48 40 Du Penrith 69 38 27 33 45 Sheffield 67 33 27 47 -- sg Winchester 68 . '7B 28 40 23 27 42 45 35 „ j. Per Bushel. s.d. 8. d.; s. 8.4.,5.d , s.d. s.d. s.d. s• d • 00 Cardiff---. 00 9 0 0 0 40, 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 X 00 Carmarthen— 00 94 00 5 0 0 0 29 56 00 p 0 p 0 Cowbridge.—... 10 0110 6 0 56; 3 0 26 50 53 0 „ 00 Swansea --.... 84 9 4 6 0 7 0 3 4 40 56 60 u v Per 8011. 0 Barnardcastle II 6 16 6 8 0 93 70 88 90 12 0 7 6 „ 0 Durham--.... 126 18 6 7 0 90; 69 8310 0 !loay g go Richmond ....... 12 0 19 070 9() 50 80 9 114 90. 5t0ckt0n.........113 0 16 6 90 991 6 0 •80 76 80 0 0 9 Wheat, RI WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET. ~ Norfolk and Suffolk Lin. and Cam. . Yorkshire --, White Foreign, Red White Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk Lincolnshire Yorkshire Wo 1 d . ................. ... . . . 1-1 . - . . sgs . a: . 1; -- 4- - '6 : - . "1"74864 91 t'. to -tttt l 4;"' ' ' '168271 - I :11..." fineg il lifi t i n n nnnnna eeeeee 3 2163 Ss .7451, ..! Foreign Beans, New ••••••••• ....... ••••• 4.... ..... . ---- Old . Oats, Potato -- -- Poland .... ...s. to Ws.. -a. 4 1 W t0 4 2: 4 :. flue 304 , vriezland and Small .... -s 4 -:: i t: 485. 325. 611-flUa tt nn n ee e 4s l -- I,oaling ..... ..... lid. to 14d. per Stone. Shelling Malt ,. .. ....,. ...... .....s. 44a. fine 4SL per. Ag: Rapeseed -1. Os. 25/. Os. 261, Os, per JAI' NEWCASTLE CORN EXCHANGE. • Red. White. Wheat, Northumberland ... 56s 70s. 7ls. 76i Norfolk and Suffolk .. 7 6 2 i 5 e .. 7 6 5 55 3............. 7 .....L ai.. ,68 7: 1, Berwick and Scotch Foreign 65.3. 715........ OW. 0.. 4 Rye, Norfolk ond Sutlolk - .---#Foreign 32g. 330 ••••• • ..,...... ." 4 . , ' ..... Earley, Malting, Norfolk a nd Suffblk as s . 44 1. ...... - 46 y _ ' , :d - Grinding and Feeding POs. 3 9 s --4 * cr °- • ••• 011 ....s. Malt, Norfolk and Suffolk 63s 73 5 ....... "" s '' _, v; Beans, Sinall 36s. 40 5 ....... - - c ---s; - Tick 42s, 44s l. --S. ?ease, White 42s. 435. ..... .".• ." .4. _. .... Gray - s .• Oats, Northumberland, l'otatoe 3os. 31s - - -s• -4. _,_ Feed 303. 3ls . --1. ...7 ,i, -.... sls. 53a. "" "'-' - Foreign ...... Flour (Par sack) ITCH M . .RIVETS Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. ...............„Oatniv a • 413crdern 70 to 80 — 28 to 34 20 to 25 —to 37;t0 t i ) Berwick fio 45 20 23 17 20 23 30 40 ...., Coldstream Ciiiiar (Fife) 48 65 126 31 18 22 22 26 - 7 '42 Dunbar 4B 68 26 49 73 27 40 42 .' ... Elgin Inverness Kelso ..,..,,, , 34 51 25 29 19 29 32 34 ."- .. Kirkaldy l'crth it_ - :;.- Thu size of the measure varies throughout the countrY• On Saturday her Majesty's Royal bounty , th e ,; teal Gate Alms, to one hundred and sixty-eight persons (t h irteen each person) were paid by Mr. Hanby, the Secretary and Yeoman of the Almoury. All receiving this bounty at, coed the age of sixty year s , an d are persons w ho have as scended from comparative affl uence . A mong them is ~ Aris, who is nea r ly i n th e h un d re dth year of his age, and "n formerly governor of Coldbath Field s prison. The sup ero merary Maundy men an d women , or those who cou ld n ls t be continued upon the Royal list, the number of whi ch i e governed by the age o f th e M onarc h , were a l so p a id at same time. These perso ns b e i ng very very age d an d infi r° ' her Majesty was gracio us ly pl ease d to comman d that th e y should continue to receive the Royal alms during the reala in ' ing period of their lives. --• PLATE.—T. COX SAVORY, Silversmith, Si c : 47, Cornhill (Seven Doors from Gracechurch-street), L °ll " ° e ' t The best wrought Fiddle-Pattern Spoons and Forks , - 7s. 2d. per ounce. The following aro the weights racer mended, but the articles may be had lighter er heavier at the same price per ounce : de. Fiddle pattern B As s a s ic . d, 12 Table Spoo ns 3O at 7.2 5 i. ... 10 15 0 ... ll 4 0 12 Dessert ditt o - 7 15 7 12 Table F or k s 12 Dessert di t t o a a t t 7 7 2 2 ...... 10 7 15 3 0 4 ...... I . } 1 : 2 Gravy Spoons .. ... 10 at 7 2 ... 311 $ ... , 1 1 Soup Ladle 4 Sauce ditto 10 at 7AI ... 316 S ••• 4 0 1 4 Salt Spoons (gilt strong) 1 0 I --- 1 Fish Slice 2 10 0 .•• „ 11 s 0 12 Tea Spoons .. . II at 7 1 ... 3 16 11 ..- ‘ 17 1 Pair Sugar Tongs ( s t rong ) 0 15 • ••• " •,„ole The Classic is a ne w p a tt ern , ynuc h a d m i re d for its 51- "' O f elegance. The Fiddl e P a tt ern i s w i t h t h e h an dl e the slue fo - 1 . a fiddle, quite plain ; it ha s b een approve d, an d i n reques t more than thirty years. N.]3.—Pattern Spoons can be sent into the country R Henry John Toone! ' - Esq., of Camden-town, of a son. captitia On the 16th i nst ., at C amden-town, the lady o f Cecil Godsehall Johnson, of a datteeter. On the 17th in s t., i n T re j lick. _crrace, the lady 0f the gel. S. M. Morgan, of a daughter. On the 17th inst., at Norwo o d, M rs. Char l es BeYn olds of a son. On the 17th i ns t., at M ecklenburgh Cottage, Mrs. Chamr new Alitiebin, of a daughter. On the 18th inst., Mrs. W. B. Sams, Barbican, of a 9 " . o f a On the 18th inst., the lady of Major C. Hamilton, daughter. Is ar vey, At Bradfo r d, Wil ts hi re, the wife of the Rev. Henry 4" of a daughter. 11144R.R1ED. On the 16th inst., a t St. M ary ' s, L am b et h, William 11°17 Watts, Esq., of Mount-pl ace , Pe c kh am - rye to Isabella IViar/' second daughter of the l a t e J o h n Pittman,-Es'q., of South Lam beth and Warwick-square. On the 18th inst., at Stoke Newington Robert Lewis, Esq., of Brentw oo d, E ssex . t o Mary , Catherine, 00 1 daughter of the late W. Cressev, Esq. of Stock, Essex' On the 18th inst., a t St. Mark's,' Kennington, Cha Storts James Heath, Esq., of Hart-stre e t, Mark-lane, to J ane youngest daughter of the late Joshua Rowland, Esq. , of NeW ington-place, Kennington. rle DIED. On the 14th inst., at Huntington Lodge, Peckham, 'Surrey, George, the sixth son of Mr. Lund, of Cornhill, aged, 21• On the 14th inst., at Melville-street, Edinbugh, ,„. John William Collingwood, Esq., of Lilburn Tower, Northam" berland, aged 38. On the 15th inst., at Heronden House, Tenterden, Hester, the second daughter of the late Richard Curteis CrQ u g ht°°' Esq., aged 19. On the Isth inst., Reynold, sec on d son o f the late Morgan Morgan, Esq., of l3odwigiad, Breconshire, aged 23. , eu- On the 15th inst., at Peterh ea d, Mr. ' John Low , 0 " c hurch-street, and Euston -square. On the 16th inst., Mary, the only child of W. G. Anderson* Esq., of Canterbury a half. Maida-vale, aged 17 months end On the 17th inst., at Peckham, Mr. John Elisha street,youn ge c st it son y7anotti Peckham,thelate Surrey Alr u . rElis, agedhaN V 3 i15 2 0 . n, of Graoechurc; of London: Printed and Published by 1111711D0 Ir () " (4 ! t ha No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand county of Middl esex .--Monday, Ap r il 20, 1840. nt r r it 1