The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-25 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, WEDNESDAY EV.ENINGi JULY 25, 1855.

received by all parties concerned in a
good spirit, and with an anxious desire to
supply adequate remedies to the admitted evils,
whenever or wherever practicable.

We trust that the appeal which we made on
Monday in support of " The Officers' Widows and
Orphan Permanent Fund" may not be disregarded
by those who are always liberal whenever there is

a reasonable cause. We know no stronger claim

that can be put forward on behalf of any charity.
The recipients have indeed been grievously afflicted,
and that not through any fault of their own. If
ever there were misfortunes which could not be

averted by any degree of human foresight, in
which the victims are totally and completely
blameless, they are those arising from the un-
timely and premature deaths of husbands and

fathers, under circumstances that prevent even
the ordinary resources of life assurance from being
made available. The sufferers have previously
enjoyed every comfort suitable to their position,
and without being over sanguine they might look
forward to a considerable improvement. But

suddenly all their hopes are overthrown—
all their prospects blighted. Not only
is the protector, but the provider taken
away, and with him the money which he
has paid for advancement in his profession
is absolutely lost. The widow is involved not
merely in poverty, but too frequently in absolute

destitution, and her heartrending sorrows are
enhanced by the privations which she sees her
helpless children enduring. Surely as we have
stated there can be no more suitable objects for

sympathy and consideration, none to whom the
generosity of all classes, from the highest to the
lowest, could be more suitably bestowed.
But this is regarding the subject in too

limited a light. It is not merely gene-
rosity, but justice that is required. The
sufferings of the bereaved widows and
the fatherless children would alone give them
an irresistible claim on the national bounty. But
how is that claim enhanced when we consider that

their irreparable and incalculable losses have been
altogether occasioned in our cause—that it is in
fighting for the honour and safety of the United
Kingdom that the blood of the husband and father
has been freely shed—that the obja3ts of his
dying thoughts are sacred legacies to the country
for which he has nobly died ? Should not those,
then, " who live at home at ease," whose
only sacrifices on account of the War are
those of the pocket, display even a profuse
and lavish liberality in dealing with such
cases. Should they not take care that, so far at
least as money was concerned, there shoUld be no
aggravation to the mourning for the mighty
dead—for those whom we are told will "for ever
live enshrined in the memory of their grateful

country ?"
We c mfess that we should place greater faith
in that gratitude if we saw the first step taken
by the nation itself, by the return of all the pur-
chase-money paid by officers who have perished in
the field, or from disease contracted in the dis-
charge of their duties, to their surviving rela-
tives. How ridiculous is it to give annuities
terminable, in the case of the widow and daugh-
ters, on marriage—of the sons, on arriving at
maturity—worth less than one-fourth of what has
actually been paid to the Government. Mr. F.
PEEL may flippantly tell u 3 that the pension is
much better for all, except young widows, than the
return of the purchase money ; as if 1001.
or 1201. per annum, durante videritate, would
be ample compensation for 8,0001. or 10,0001.
actually paid by the deceased husband.
Besides, Government professes to make these
pensions pure acts of favour, of unalloyed bene-
volence ; and thus, through theirred-tapist mouth-
piece, they profess to consider them full equiva-
lents for the confiscated purchase money.
We should greatly desire to see the matter
placed on a sound and lasting foundation. The
Society offers an eligible opportunity for so doing ;
the produce of the public benevolence and justice
could not be more suitably applied. The names
of the patrons and committee afford a perfect
guarantee that the money would be properly ad-
ministered ; and we are satisfied that large sub-
scriptions would flow in from officers themselves,
when satisfied that the benefit thereof would be fairly
bestowed upon their families. The plan adopted
in the Indian Army, where destitution amongst
widows and orphans of officers is absolutely un-
known, might, with some trivial alterations, be
adopted. In the meantime, we call upon the
public to contribute liberally; they can never ap-
ply their surplus funds to a better purpose.

REPORTED RESIGNATION OF GENERAL
SIMPSoN.

It vva3 currently reported in Portsmouth Garrison
yesterday, on sub,tantial official authority, that Main..
General Simpson has resigned the command of the
British Army in the Crimea.

Six hundred men of the 9th Regime:it of the line,
corning from Sainte& and Rochefort, :till 500 of the 6,11
Regiment, coming from Landrecies, Avesno, rind C.tm-
bral, lift last evening by the Lyons Railway for Mar-
seilles, where they are to embark for the Crimea.

A letter from Athens mentions that the Greek Cham-
ber has passed a vote of thanks to Lord Carlisle for the
favourable manner in which the Greeks are mentioned
in a recent work, particularly on the anbject of religious
tolerance.

A LiAon newspaper, A Naf,,ao, announces that Don
Miguel and his consort and their children, who are re-
siding at the Chateau of Heubach, are in perfect health.
The Corriere Mercantile of Genoa announces that
General Pepe is so ill,that serious fears are entertained
for hie life.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—TUESDAY, SHILLING DAY.—Ad
missions nn payment, 6,703 ; by season tickets, 434.
Total, 7,137.
CAUTION TO BOYS THROWING STONES.—Yesterday
at the Greenwich Police-court, James Pellet, son of a

,
lighterman, was convicted in the penalty of 40s. for
stone throwing. The sitting magistrate (Mr. seeker) in
giving his decision, said the practice of stone throwing
was much indulged in by boys, to the great danger of
the unsuspecting passers-by. Instances had occurred in
which serious injury had been inflicted, even to the de-
privation of sight ; he was, therefore, determined to pro-
tect the peaceably disposed part of the community, by
all means in his power, from such mischievous and
wanton acts. In every satisfactorily proved case he
should inflict the full penalty allowed by law, namely,
405., or, in default of payment, one month's imprison-
ment.
A BRAVE GUARDSMAN'S USE OF HIS MOTHER'S LET-
TERS.—Joshua Priestly, of the Grenadier Guards, has
written to his parents, at Soiihill, Ovenden, an interest-
ing letter, which, after being well thumbed, has been
handed to us, and from which we can hardly refrain from
making a few extracts, notwithstanding the note that
the letter was not to be published; as the writer had not
time to write with method or accuracy, or in a style which
would bear the examination of a newspaper editor.
After referring to the loss of one of his comrades who
was known to his parents, and who was carried off by
cholera, after 12 hours' illness, and the fruitless inqui-
ries he had made respecting another friend, the writer
remarked that he had some money treasured up for his
parents, which it was unsafe to send in a letter; and
with respect to the epistles he had received from his mo-
ther,
received
says—." I don't want to see any more crying let-
ters thetthohaevme
puta Ct
tr
the
Crimea
intole
Russians,a fnrloym rifle
flo
ten)
em
. after
us
e yl Thoseooaua ithat
loading
p I e
a it, hra
anditt
have comefi fired
dI
to
have a strong dislike to them.
Ifyou had seen as many
killed as I have you wouldnot have as many weak
ideas as you have ; besides being present when the shot,
shell, and musketry were flying past and ringing around
you, bursting and killing hundreds on your right hand
a piece of shell, and
and on your left, and yourself kept firing until the sweat
streamed from you." He then states that on the 18th
of June, in the attempted storming of Sebastopol, his
quarry like barrowfulls of
when the flag
was hoisted, the dead bodies of the Russianaand
iwti
cahesistt..ri,ig,clicit
i.pfrpoecom: his
itrhiteoh hand by
following,
, '' h)':rt lie a,ffirt,!,,, I war. ro rac,,-e •ftol ,-'
ci„,...” d,,,..A , , .
,_, ) , . • • Lot
(lead
1, jli
.v.,„i4„,,,_ei ; out be consoles
r,fthera Chan ‘,. .
uly
himielf by adding— ' The next attempt will pay for
all, or one-half of the allied armies will be eacriOced."7.
ffelifacc Quardiefin.
oiArtiffllciteiule. s over