The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-10 00:00:00

THE MEDICAL OFFICERS OF MILITIA.

The following petition is to be presented to Parlia-
ment :

" The medical officers of the embodied Militia force,
having observed in the various recent Orders in Council,
and more especially in a recent act of Parliament to enable
her Majesty to accept the services of Militia on foreign
stations, and while commissions in the lino and other
favours have been freely offered to the regimental officers,
yet the claims of the medical branch of the service have
been altogether overlooked, feel themselves compelled to
submit to her Majesty's Government a brief statement of
the disadvantages under which they at present labour, and
strongly, yet most respectfully, to solicit a just and fair
consideration of them.

" 1. The Militia medical officer is at least equally quali-
fied with that of the line or the Ordnance Department; his
education has been as perfect in every respect, as protracted,
and as expensive ; but the present Militia surgeons are
generally of more mature age, have been resident in fixed
localities, and have gained knowledge and practical expe-
rience. When they accepted their commissions they never
anticipated absence from home beyond a limited period of
one month in each year, except only in the case of foreign
invasion. Under these circumstances they submit that
their position is more disadvantageous than that of young
men who enter the service at an early period, and adopt it
as a profession from the commencement.
" 2. The duties of the Militia medical officers are at least
as onerous and as important as those of any other branch of
the service, nay, in many instances, they are more so. He
must examine hundreds of recruits, he must commence,
and arrange, and organise his regimental hospital, with
its staff of sergeant and orderlies out of the most crude
and inefficient material, and often he is obliged to perform
all this important duty alone and unassisted, without even
the advantage of an assistant-surgeon. Yet let these
duties bo ever so well performed, and ever so long con-
tinued, they constitute no ground for present promotion,
and offer no hope for future provision ; it seems a hard-
ship that so striking a difference should be made to his
disadvantage.
"3. The Militia medical officer who is seldom a man of
extensive private means, is subjected to great expense in
order that he may perfectly conform to the regulations of
the service; his uniform, his outfit, his contributions to the
band and mess funds, and other expenditure that need not
be now enumerated. In this he seems only to be on an
equality with his brother officers, but he is not so, for
they usually receive two months leave previous to joining,
or, in other words, have two months' pay to meet this ex-
penditure, an indulgence which is seldom or never ex-
tended to the medical staff.
" 4. The Militia medical officer on entering the service
wishes, or at least ought to be supposed to wish, to make
the army his profession. He in many instances abandons a
lucrative position which he may not be able to resume at
pleasure ; he leaves a connection from which ho derived
pleasure and patronage, and profit, which, in his absence,
will be directed into some other channel: he incurs weighty,
sometimes oppressive, expenditure, which may require a
length of time to rep-y, and he gives good and efficient
service as long as such services are needed. He submits
that the surgeon in any other department does no
more—nay, that he can do no more, and generally
with far less sacrifice, and therefore that the Militia
medical officer, who fully fulfils his engagements, has
some claim on his country for sunport when that coun-
try no longer needs his services. Ho cannot fall back on
his former means, and lie ought not to be thrown on
the world unaided and alone, after having spent per-
haps the best years of his life in the Militia ; he cannot
by volunteering gain admittance into any other department,
nor can lie commence a practice in civil life with any pros-
pect of success.
" 5. The Militia medical officers beg to submit most re-
spectfully that their predecessors in the force, as formerly
constituted, received provision in the shape of half-pay
on the disembodiment of their respective regiments, and
they conscientiously believe that similar services iniw would
receive a similar just consideration; but it would be satis-
factory if such was made the understanding from the
commencement, for while the hope of a future provision
would be only a meet reward for those who have come
forward and tendered their services without pledge or pro-
mise, it might induce many well qualified men to a
similar line of conduct, who are pow restrained by a well-
founded apprehension of abandonment and neglect when
their services should be no longer needed.
" By order of the Committee of the Militia Medical
Officers. _

" EDWYN J. KING, M.D. (Hon. Secretary),
68th Cambridge Militia,
Jan. 1. " Royal Barracks, Dublin."

THE POPE, THE MADONNA, AND THE
QUEEN OF SPAIN.

ROME, Dec. 30.—A strong body of galley slaves has
been pressed into the service of the Madonna, to aid
in the carriage and erection of the ancient column
destined to commemorate in eternam rei memoriam, the
Pope's decree in favour of the immaculate conception ;
and the huge mass of marble, under the impulsion
and guidance of the pepper and salt-coated fraternity
(themselves guided and guarded by a detachment of
soldiers), has consequently for the last few days been
"dragging its sow length along " the Corso, and up
the Via Frattint, to the Piazzs di Spagna, where I
found it this morning, supinely reposing before the
Propaganda Col.ege. On this spot it will receive its
architectural and sculptural embellishments, and then
assume its destined position, erect and "pointing to
the skies," a lasting monument of the theological
acumen of the 7eigning pontiff, and the devotional
acquiescence of the clergy and laity of the present
age.

The assembled prelates have been slowly moving
homewards, but there was still a strong gathering of
them round his Holiness on Christmas-day at St.
Peter's, on which occasion the Pope wore for the first
time the magnificent tiara just sent to him as a pre-
sent by the Queen of Spain, glittering with a triple row
of splendid diamonds, and valued at half a million of
francs. In the present critical position of the Spanish
thronelsuch extent of piety and purse cannot fail to excite
surprise. The remainder of her Majesty's offering, in
the shape of six .An alusian horses, is said to be on its
way to Rome. The customary exhibition of Our
Saviour's cradle at Santa Maria Maggiore on Christ-
mas-eve did not take place on account of the Pope's ab-
sence from the chinch.

The wrath of the King of Naples against his quon-
dam friends and allies, the Jesuits, has had its effect
even here, in the head-quarters of the long-robed
brethren, and one of the most influential members of
the synod has been offered by his colleagues as a
scapegoat to appease the royal Ferdinand's ire. This
is no other than the well-known Father Curci, who
recently published a work entitled " Origin and Progress
of the Civilta Cattolica" (the Jesuits' Review), in which
the conduct of the various governments was criticised,
and especially that of Naples, alluding to the expulsion
of the Jesuits last century, when the minister Tanucci
was in power. King Ferdinand, already chafed at these
remarks, became still more angry on perusing some
articles in the Civilta Cattolica, more favourable to the
allies than to the King's dear friend and patron, the
Czar. Warned by these symptoms, the wary Jesuits,
by a stroke of policy peculiarly their own, had two
editions of their review published, one for the King
of Naples and his subjects, and the other for Rome
and Northern Europe—the first omitting the expres-
sions hostile to Russia contained in the last. As murder
will out, his Majesty one day got hold of the wrong
edition, and burst out into a tremendous rage against
the Jesuits, whom he would have expelled forthwith
from the Bourbonic dominions, bad not the Archbishop
of Naples and the Pope himself interceded to avert so
dire a stroke. Although this extreme measure was not
carried out, the King insisted on dismissing the Jesuits
from all spiritual superintendence and professorships in
the Royal Seminary, the Marine School, and the prisons,
and forwarded a demand that the editors of the Civilta
Cattolica should be immediately banished from Reme.
This has been recently modified by the departure of
Father Curci for Milan, at the prudent suggestion of
his alarmed brethren.

The Pope's harangue to the cardinals and prelates
at St. Peter's, and his homily at the consecration of St.
Paul's, have appeared in the official paper, but contain
no matter of interest beyond allusions to the occasions
on which they were severally delivered.
The conspirators of the 15th of August have all ob-
tained a diminution of the penalties awarded by the first
sentence of the Consulta Tribunal, in consequence of the
Court of Appeal having rejected the specification of the
conspiracy as an attempt at revolution. One of the prin-
cipal prisoners, Signor Casciani, kas just been married
in his cell previous to being sent off to the galleys, a
young milliner, who had some pretensions to his hand,
having obtained the powerful interest of the authorities
to that effect. No capital punishment is to be inflicted.
The commercial world is all in the utmost confusion
here, on account of the anomalous state of the currency,
and the suspension of discount operations by the bank.
The smugglers in the legations have hailed the recent in-
crease of duties with rapture, and are preparing for an
active campaign, declaring that the Government intends
to make all their fortunes.

Exchange on London : silver, 465/ ; paper, 474 ;
Consols, paper, 81i.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD, JAN. 9.
MAGDALEN COLLEGE•

The Vice-PresideLit and Fellows of this society met
thii afternoon, in the college hall, for the purpose of in-
stalling into office the President elect, the Rev. Frede-
rick Bailey, B.D.
After taking the customary oaths, the Vice-President
(the Rev. Henry Harris, 8.D.) handed the rev. gentle-
man to the presidential chair, as President of Magdalen
College.
Full cathedral service was performed in the college
chapel at five o'clock ; the choir of Magdalen College
on this occasion being assisted by Dr. Corfe, D. plus,
organist, and the choir of Christ Church. The Presi-
dent, and those Fellows of the college resident, attended
chapel, where other ceremonies connected with the in-
stallation were duly observed. In the evening a large
party dined at the High Table, when the President re-
ceived the hearty congratulations of those present.
The election of Mr. Bulley has been confirmed by the
visitor of the college, the Bishop of Winchester. The
new President was introduced to his Lordship yesterday
by the Rev. Edward Greene, D.D., one of the senior
fellows.

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE EAST INDIA COM-
PANY'S SERVICE.—The time ie now approaching when
the experiment of awarding commissions in the East
India Company's medical service to merit instead of in-
terest is to be fairly tried. The examiners have fixed on
Monday next for the first trial of proficiency, and it is
expected that about 30 appointments will be made. To
those who are unacquainted with the emoluments con-
nected with a medical commission in this service, we
may state that the pay and allowance of a surgeon is
about 50/. a month, and those of an assistant-surgeon
about 331. a month ; being respectively rather less than
6001. and 4001. per annum, with a retiring pension, after
17 years' service in India, varying from 2001. to 7001.
a year, according to length of service,—Medica/ Times
mid gazette.