The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-30 00:00:00

~~~c

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1855.

This time Mr. LAYARD must bring forward his
motion, and must press it to its consequences.
If he do not, he will not merely abandon his duty
to his country, but will seal his own condemna-
tion. At present the general feeling outside the
House of Commons is, if we mistake not, that the
substance of his charges against the civil and mili-
tary administration can be thoroughly sustained,
if only the facts can be made public without utter
ruin to those who are the greatest sufferers. The
public take little interest in the question whether
Mr. LAYARD, as an individual, overlooked an ori-
ginal return, and made a partly-incorrect assertion
by using a supplementary document. It may
think it would have been better had his military
informant apprised him of the Indian services
of the " son of Lord WESTMORELAND," and
the " son of Lord EIA.RDINGE," who were both on
the "Staff," and were both promoted " without
purchase." It will accept Mr. LAYARD'S acknow-
ledgment, however, on both these points, and it
will still, we apprehend, retain strongly the
" conviction" of the Member for Aylesbury, that
aristocratic, and it is to be feared connexional,
favouritism is the blot of our army and the ruin
of its efficiency. It is all very well for Lord
PAL3fERSTON, who in the construction of his Cabi-
net has been. guilty of the very crime denounced
by Mr. LAYARD in regard to the army, to consti
Lute himself foreman of the jury, and to deliveot
to the country as the verdict, of the House that
the charges are " false and calumnious." Mr.
LAYARD. demands a new trial, and the country as
judge declares he ought to have it. The verdict
seems to be in the face of painfully notorious facts,
aad the most necessary witnesses have not yet
been summoned. Lord, PALMERSTON may rest
assured that at present 'the country is quite as
sorry for his position as he professes to be for that
of Mr. LAYARD.

Lord PALMERSTON affirms that Mr. LAYARD'S
attack on the officering of the army is utterly un-
founded, he glories in its being filled with the
aristocracy, and predicts downfal to the nation
when it is otherwise t Indeed,--w® suppose then
NAPOLEON'S Marshals were the downfal of France.
We had thought otherwise, but Lord PALMERSTON
ought to know. The system of officering the
French army now is doubtless the reason why its
administrators have proved so inefficient compared
with ours, from Lord RAGLAN downwards through
his nearly-related staff t Lord PALMERSTON must
give us leave to inform him that one broad fact
has long stared the country in the face, and that
is, that the sterling gold of our army is at the
bottom. The men are relatively better than their
officers ; the officers, as the rule,' better the
lower their rank, and worse in proportion
to their rapid and frequently- unbought
promotion. In courage and knowledge of their
work, our privates, non-commissioned officers, and
many of our regimental officers are beyond all
praise. But in courage only do the higher officers
equal their men ; in the capacity needed for their
higher duties they have as a body deplorably
failed. There is a very wide-spread belief that
the Russian generals and officers have as much
surpassed ours in skill as our soldiers have sur-
Passed theirs in vigour and courage. We have
beau out-generalled, but our men have never been
'mat"- Their engineers have been more than a
match for: ours, but our gunners have fully done
their part. •
This great and deplorable fact the
country,, Seeing • , -r
to aria • tie with IJAYARD, attributes
inraPetency. It believes that
- lives, labour,
d money have been thrown
away, a sacrifice to the fa
LAYARD denounces.ee, toraV vice which Mr.
to the rescue late. ,e ALMERSTON comes
and his commissions
will never satisfy the country.lf
he wlheobwathionlaetescatemmust be overhauled.
de-
fend it, the appointments of late years must be
canvassed one by one. We must hare
a return
specifying in columns the blood relationships, the
marriage affinities, and the political connexions of
each one; also the services he has rendered, with
the rapidity or slowness of his promotion ; and
then allowing for a wide margin of suppressed
facts in the first column, we may be in a position
to judgii4 the why and the wherefor of promo-
, tious whole
•
4'1?r14111) has undertaken a vast task, but
be will:ll4v,,she country with him, if he only be
as resolitte't.f.h`
6nle as he-was at Nineveh. Deci-
NOD, litlCOMprotniain-- • ,
uLegiSlOn will sweep away