The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-22 00:00:00

temperance; and AO these ire' accord aThearty
and an unreserved support.

TRH statement made by ARIHUR CORANI at
the Knutsford Quarter Sessions, on a charge of

robbing Mr. HurcanTsoN, of Birkenhead, is

another of the many instances that poverty begets
crime and leads to base ingratitude. CORANI
is described as a person of respectable. appear-

ance ; and the sketch or his eventful life, which
he handed to the bench preparatory to receiving

sentence, proves that he is an intelligent man.
Moreover, his open and unreserved confession
of guilt, and the penitential terms in which be
designated his crime, induce us to pity the

unfortunate man and regret his being so easily
led astray, thereby depriving himself of liberty
for twelve calendar months, and becoming the
companion of men who do not possess one redeem-
ing quality in their entire cdmposition. He did
not justify or palliate his offence. He deli_
berately avowed its enormity ; but the stern
requirements of the law were dealt out to the
distressed foreigner with the greatest exactitude,
and in addition to imprisonment, he has to
undergo " hard labour" for the period named.
Now we think that justice would have been
satisfied with lighter punishment, and the worthy
chairman, Mr. TRAFFORD, would have discharged
his duty had he been less severe in the character
and extent of the punishment which he mated
out.

No one who reads CORANI'S narrative bu
must acknowledge that it is another practica
proof of the tyranny which Austria inflicts upon
all her subjects. CORANI was a hero and a
patriot. He went forth to fight for the cause of
freedom. How he was rewarded for his acts of
bravery he himself tells in neat and appropriate
terms. When his regiment was disbanded he
received a gratuity of two guineas—a fit reward
truly for any man to go forth and fight the battles
of England ! Meeting nothing but hardships
and misery, he gave way to despair, and allowed
his mind to become unsettled, so that the ultimate
result of all was the robbery of Mr. HUTCHINSON
and his present imprisonment.
We notice this circumstance for the purpose
of calling public attention to the harsh and nig-
gardly treatment which old and worn out
soldiers meet at the hands of the authorities
when they become useless in the army. Many
of our readers have no doubt seen discharged
soldiers perambulating our streets in a begging
capacity, supplicating alms from the passers-by
to obtain the necessaries of life. Probably
many of the parties who go thus about are
impostors, but some are genuine. They are
what they represent themselves to be, and should
have been placed in a totally different position.
When a man becomes a soldier, he devotes his
strength of body and mind to his country's service,
the country is therefore bound to preserve him from
abject poverty and destitution. We pompously
extol the heroic deeds of our army and navy.
Poets, orators, and philosopher§ have descanted
with force and feeling upon the undaunted hero-
ism, the endurance of fatigue, privations, and
toil, and held them up to the admiration of
mankind. Yet we hand to such men, when worn
out, or it may be maimed for life, a pension o f
sixpence per day. Our army system is rotten
to the very core. It should be ranked and
rewarded as an important public profession.
The highest grade should be open to the hum-
blest private; and no matter h3w poor the man
may be, he should, when exhibiting superior
qualities of head and heart, be taken by the hand
and promoted according to his .deserts. A con-
trary policy engenders a feeling of discontent in
the mind of the soldier. He feels that
patronage, not merit, can only advance him in
his regiment ; and that unless he can obtain
the aid and active interference of persons of
influence, he may be all his days a mere

private.
It is, therefore, no wonder that the profession
of arms, like that of the preceptor's chair, is th e
last refuge of the indolent and unfortunate. To
any one who has perused the proceedings of
the Chelsea Commission, as well as the masterly
report of Sir JOHN APNEILL and Colonel
TULLOCH, it is quite evident that a great deal of
the sacrifice of life and property in the Crimean
compaign was owing to our present system of army
mismanagement, and no effectual remedy can be
applied until we abolish the system of purchas-
ing commissions. Many a British soldier could
join in the declaration of ARTHUR CORANI, at
Knutsford, on Monday last, when he said—
" Very near nine years have passed away since I
last shook my hoary father's hand, and embraced
an affectionate mother, to speed to the throng of
battle, and every one of those nine years has
sown the seeds of despair and misery in my
heart." The history of such a man is painful in
the extreme, and we have no doubt that
thousands of cases, manifesting neglect and
indifference of the soldier's health and comfort
after obtaining his discharge, could be found in
all parts of the United Kingdom. France and
Russia know full well the iniquities of such a
system. They foster the soldier's calling, hence
it is that in the very ranks there are numbers of
men who, from intelligence, and improved
military tactics, could lead an army into battle
as well as the most skilful and able general.
Let us hope that such may yet be an acknow-
ledged principle in our own military system, and
that deeds of bravery, and a life spent in the
service of their country, will receive at the hands
of the people a due reward, placing the worn out
orwounded soldier in such a state as may enable
him to terminate his earthly career in compara-
tive ease and comfort.

A VERY SENNIBLE HINT.—The Manchester Guardian,
remarking upon the recent arrest and imprisonment, in
Chester, of street preachers, says :—" It was not to be
expected that an affair of this kind would pass without
notice or sympathy from the religious public of Chester.
A great meeting was held, partly to avow approval of
Mr. Radeliffe's conduct, and partly 'to express grateful
thanks to Almighty God for the measure of success which
he has been pleased to vouchsafe to the religious efforts
that have been made for counteracting the evils attending
the races.' The chair was taken by Mr. William