The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-11 00:00:00

TILE KNOW-NOTHING POLICY.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE TIMES.
Sin,-Lord Palmerston ha 3 at last completed his ",1:
21
vernment by the appointment of Mr. John Ball, ''
for Carlow, as Under Secretary of the Colonial Depart
ment. The selection is highly respectable as far aell
Ball's character and abilities are concerned ; butuP to
the moment of hi.: appointment he had never bees
any way connected with colonial affairs, had never sholv
any disposition to interest himself in them, And lei
never opened his mouth in a colonial lehate. Proba'7
the same know-nothing policy which so obstinateV o."ei
eludes Sir William Molesworth from Downing-0
and tethers him in the Woods and Forests of the Crairly,
has assisted Lord Palmerston in discovering
in Ball a virgin mind to hand over to the experienced
don of Messrs. Herman Merivale and Frederick Elli°7,
I believe it will be useful before Parliament meets
offer to the people of England a synopsissis of the band;f
!'
stotesen to whose care, at this momentous crisis, the
affairs are confided. In the formation of his Gavell;
ment Leal Palmerston had a wider choice than any ~,,
mier ever beEre enjoyed. Ilow he has used, or rather
abesed his opportunities, let the f dlowing tel.
I have drawn it up un the familiar scheme on whn'''' ilt
the palmy days of Altnaek's, Messrs. Willis were NOLL
to arr,nge the lists of the nobility and gentry who ar6
tent. d those very select assemblies, for I have lit!
doubt that Lord Palmerston must have Veen mainly Irr
flueneed, if not altogether rwitrierted, in his choice of °,4
league,, by limits which Lady Palmerston used•to astog
r herself in the issue of her hall-tickets :
Duke of Arial!.
Marquis of Lantqlowne.
Earls--CarliNle, Clarendon, Granville, and flat rewbP
Viscounts—Canning, Duncan, Monck, and Palmer'
stun.

Barons—Cranworth, Panteure, Stanley of Alderlel,
and Wodebouse.
Lord John Russell.
Honourables-11. Brand, W. Cowper, E. Bouverie'
and C. Villiers.
Baronets—G. . Grey, C. Lewis, W. Molesworth,
Peel, and C. Wood.
Messrs—Dal, Ilorsman, Osborne, Peel, Seymour'
Smith, and Wilson.
There are thus in.the present Government twenvy"-407„r
members of the aristocracy and.but six comtnonerse—we
Mr. Smith, of the India Board,'must be reckoned ale%
the former, having married the Marquis of LansdoWee
niece, arid having been introduced by that noble
into the Cabinet.
We, the public, are told by Lord Paltnerston's friend:
that he had no alternative in the choice which he "d
made, that he wished to get the best men he could fitU,
and that it' is no fault of his if able men were not to,,T
found arming the "common fellows" in Parliament.
're jeerit gly asked it we really think a man of
,unfit to be excluded froei office because he has the nee,
fortune to he also a peer, or the son or brother of a Pe`ri,
To which stubbing question we, the public, modes"
answer. "C,oitaitily not."
Dt
Luckily for us, however, another and a very differe d
rt of list of public servant, has been g ;log the rou"t
of the ross during. the last few days. I allude to
of the offl mrs cormeanding ships in the Baltic fleet. te
selecting. men for that difficult and dangerous service lu
Admira'ty knew better than to job, nor .had they al
.r,rtat temptation to do sae An analysis of the list al5
inane on the A.lmak's prieoiple, runs as follows
Duke—None.
Mar ris—None.
Bat on—None.
L rd—None. - g
Ifonourables—A. Cochrane, G. Douglas, 3 ",
Dundas, and F. Pelham.
Baronets—None.
Messrs.—Seymotir (2), Bayner, Caldwell Hall (2)'
FiAter, Rodb, Codrineten, Elliott, Erskine, Mel3dl);
Hope, Warren, Key, Robinson Williams, Ramsey'amsel #2
Warden, CafFtll, Wellesley, Birch, Ommanoey,
Hewlett, Watson, 'Yelvertoo, Farquhar, Fanshaw;
Dunlop, D'Eyaconrt, Heatbcote, Vansittart,
Glass, Clifferil, Stewart, Gordon; Campbell, Whitej
Brown, Story, Ptilen, Luce, Jenner, Crofton, Gordo"
Dew, Crawford, Inglefield, Cumming, &c. .
Her we have tke tables completely turned—a „o
portion of 54 "common fellows" to'four honourable,4
and right sorry should we be tb see the latter exclude„
from the North Sea feet, for a braver and better 800'3.:
than Admiral the Hop. R. S. Dundas never hoisted
ales
flag ; nor are there awing the half-hundred wort.,,
under his command an 3, names more justly re-T„ee,,),,
and loved ly crr sailors than those of Pelham, ki°'
rane, and Douglas.
Nevertheless, it is curious to observe in how le teg
smaller a degri e the ari,eacracy of England preclom'ila
in a branch of the public service in which it is abselut4
}is
necessary that every man eii loyed should be UP t° the
WOl k. No' fond and f shionable 'nether implores .13.
First Lord of the AArniralty that her boy' may be2,l
trusted with a floating, battery er a flreship, n xdoeet7,lll
influential old Marquis ins -t that his son-in law e"te
command a squadron on tl_e edge of the ice du-tag
bl , •
equinox, well-paid public work can be done
Tk
deputy, or ,:t done at ail, it w, old se,in, from the c"@,
,o,a.
rarison of these two list'', net the :tri,toer,,cy of J. 2 r
land predominate over the " common f,llit," to
proportion mf2sto 6. But in a public empleywent .„
which hardihood, endurance, and sklil are indispensable'
ate find that the "common fellows" are actually Pr,,r4
ferred by a department which, to do it just'ce, alwaysje"-
wh m it can, in a proportion of 52 to 4 ! and thera is "1
ranch of the public service which is more ably served
t an the British navy in wartime.
Surly, Sir, facts like these ought to furnish matter'
not on'y for reflection, but also for action, when Pali.-
meet meets. I an, your obedient servant,
ONE OW THE PEOPLE'

THE ARISTOCRACY AND THE BALTIC FLEET ,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD'
Sin,—.lll most unfair attack has been male in, the
columns of ore of your contemporaries upon the arl"-t
craey of the country in connection with the Rae ,4
now on its way northwards. The obj ;scct is a very P;
gable one, The letter in which this libel is embodied d
signed by "One of the People," tint if its cont.-ntc ha
been ceitfied by "Otte of the Times" I could well have
utider-tood its signification ; but, with your perruissl,
I will give some small account•of the "common fellow
to whit h allusion has been made.
• If 'Jr. S with, of the India Board, is to be reclOnlio
•one of the ari-tocracy because he marriet! the Marge for- t,l'h
of Lan.downe's niece, surely many of the names set
c..lnnected with the Baltic fleet as "common f°ll°V/A,
eqpaliy belong to the aristocracy, besides the Hnni,
Cochrane, G. Douglas, R. S. Dundas and F. J.- e
ham. To begin :
,
Codrinzton, first cousin to Sir William aidringt°°'
Bat , itiarrifd the daughter of the Duke of Beaufort'na
Elliot's,sis-ter is married to.the E.trl of Northeski
he is him,elf.che nephew of the Earl of Minto.
Erskine is the first cousin to Lord El h'ustone, by
his mother's •
Hope. The Hopes are related to half the Scot°
pecrap.
Well

a°

,/ey. It is sufficient he is a Wellesley; 100
the peerage.
• Op ,!
Yelverton is married to the Marchioness of HestiTals
and himself is the nephew of Ireland's only
(Leinster).
note
Vansittart—Nicholas. The name is enough to
L'e aps
the conne,:tion with the Bexley family, as well ag
late Lord Auckland.
mks
Cliffoikl—son. of Sir Augustus and nephew to the
of Devonshire.
Stewart—son of Houston Stewart of the R,,r .0•00
i 0; -
of Scotland, and nephew of the present Duchess
SonierSet.
111,
I will say nothirg of the GordonQ, the Care P-1,01 I,
the CrAtons, the Hobarts, the Cummings, &c., altiVtl;
if I mistake not, they claim affinity with many
peerage,
foilf
It is sheer and rank-nonsense to call them "
common fellows," and make a fuss and humbug "7:14
pose upon tho British public. The British ":11 II
filled with the off-shoots of the aristocracy, ml°4 r
neither right nor patriotic to make any invidious "ainit
ence. We aro all Englishmen, and I will not 1`
that it isnecessary that a man should ha,,e an " h'n;
able" prefixed to his name to enable him to fafactge
enemy boldly, or that the want of such n apPe"
would prevent him from doing his duty properly. „,ite
"dodge" contemplated by your contemporary iS it'
clear, and the Manchester school is at thebottom 19-
4
—From your obedient servant, AN Errausillo'.