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

TILE KNO TV-NOTHING POLIO Y.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE TIMES. •
Go'
Sin,— Lerd Palmerston has at last completed ;his r.;,
vernment by the appointment of Mr. John Ball, rd
for Carlow, as Under Secretary of the Colonial D. Tgr,...
merit. The selection is highly respectable as far as to
Ball's character and abilities are concerned ; but 11 ire
the moment of his appointment he had never bet
any way connected with colonial affairs, had never sb 'tad
any disposition to interest- himself in them, and bly
never opened his mouth in a colonial debate. Proba e;.
the same l:now-nothing policy which so obstinately „et
eludes Sir William Melesworth from Downing-strt
and tethers him in the Woods and Forests •f the Crow It
has assiqed Lord Palmerston in discovering in Mr'
Ball a virgin mind to hand over to the experienced
tion of Messrs. Herman Merivale and Frederick Vint'
I believe it wilt be useful before Parliament meets tn,.
offer to the people of England a synopsis of the band
et-itesinen to whose care, at this momentous crisis, their
affairs are confided. In the formation of his Govern
merit Lord Palmerston had a wider choice than any Fre'
mier ever before enjoyed. How he bas used, or ratli,
abused his opportunities, let the fallowing
analysis tell.-
I have drawn it up on the familiar scheme on which, in
the palmy days of Almack's, Messrs. Willis were wont
to arrange the lists of the nobility and gentry who at"
tended those very select assemblies, for I have little
doubt that Lord Palmerston must have been mainly col,
fluenced, if not altogether restricted, in his choice of ncw
leagues, by limits which Lady Palmerston used to assign

to herself in the issue of her ball-tickets

Duke of Argyll.
Marquis of Lansdowne.
Earls—Carlisle, Clarendon, Granville, and frairrowbP
Viscounts—Canning, Duncan, Monck, and. Palmer'
stun.
Barons—Cranwortb, Paninure, Stanley of I§.lderlels
and Wodebouse.
Lord John Russell.
Honourables—H. Brand, VT. Cowper, E. I louverie'
and C. Villiers.
Baronets—G. Grey, C. Lewis, W. Moleswcrtb,

Peel, and C. Wood.
Messrs—Ball, Horsraan, Osborne, Peel, Sey.l7l°lll.'
Smith, and Wilson.
There are thus in the present Government.twenty 'te
r
members of the aristocracy and but six commoners- ''''„e
Mr. Smith, of the India Board, must be reckoned am'
the former, having married the Marquis of LansdowD
niece, and having been introduced by that noblete
into the Cabinet.
We, the public, are told by Lord Paltnerston's frier tcbi
that he had no alternative in the choice which he 11°,1
made, that he wished to get the best men be could fil"
and that it is no fault of his if able men were not to "rrbe
found among the " common fellows" in Part' iament.
are jeeringly asked if we really think a mrtu of ta'l°,.,
ous,,ht to be excluded from office because be I cis the rii,r-s;
fortune to be also a peer, or the son or brother' of a Pnty
To which snubbing question wet the public, In°"e'- -
answer, "Certainly not."
Jiff crept
Luckily for us, however, another and a very'l
sort of list of publict servants has been going the'. °t-hiti
t
of the press during the last few days. I allude t°
of the officers commanding ships in the Baltic fie et' the
selecting men for that difficult and dangerous sere.
Admiralty knew better than to job, nor had the, 9 "-0
great temptation to do so. An analysis of the list
made on the Almali's principle, runs as follows :

Duke—None,
Marquis—None.
Earl—None.
Baron—None.
L, r I—None.
Honourables—A. Cochrane, G. Douglas, It
Dundee, and F. Pelham.
Ba7onets —None.
Messrs.—Seymour (2), Bayner, Caldwell; Hell
Fi- her, Robb, Codrinuton, Elliott, Erskine, Mang'
fTore' Warren, Kfy, Robinson, Williams, Ramsey twtf
Warder, Caffio, Wellesley, Birch, Ommanney, S°l3l"
Hewlett, Watson, Yelverton, Farquhar, Fanshalre'
Dunlop, D'Eynconrt. Heathcote, Vansittart,
ter
Glass:, Clifford, Stewart, Gordon, Campbell, Whi
Brown, Story, Pullen, Luce, Jenner, Crofton, Garde
erp
Dew, Crawfurd, Ipglefield, Cumming, &c.
Eery, we have the tables completely turned--4
portion of 54 "common fellows" to four honourablee
and right sorry should we be to see the latter exclude ,
from the North Sea fleet, for a braver and better gOl/1.,
than Admiral the Hon. R S. Dundas never holstea:o
; nor are theta among the half-hundred v,l°.'istl
under his command may names more justly rest9eeter
and loved by our sailors than those- of Pelham,
rane, and Douglas.
Nevertheless, it is curious to observe in how nil 00
smaller a degree the aristocracy of England predomilla
in a branch of the public service in which it is absolet
necessary that every man employed should be up t°, its
work. No fond and fashionable mother implores lie
First Lord of the Admiralty that her boy ma peso
trusted with a floating battery or a fireship, nor dnes:,;v,ll
influential old Marquis insist that his son-in-lew 04)
command a squadron on the edge of the ice during a
equinox. Where well-paid public work can be done
ow
deputy, or not done at all, it would seem, from thre-gc(ne
prison of these two lists, that the aristocraeY,°'l—th
land predominate over the "common fellows
proportion of 25 to 6. But in a public employill°ll,lo,
whieh hardihood, endurance, and skill are indispens'n,ter
we find that the " common fellows" are actuallf
ferred by a department which, to do it justice, alwar 0
when it can, in a proportion of 52 to 4 ! and there ill " a
branch of the public service which is more ably serad.

than the British navy in wartime.
Surely, Sir, facts like these ought to furnish Witter.'
not only for reflection, but also for action, when Par'v'
ment meets. I am, your obedient servant,
ONE of TILE PEOPLE..