The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-25 00:00:00

LONDON,

LORD HARDINGE.
It will be sera from the General Order, in another
part of our colum is, that the opinions which we ex
pressed on Monday last have already received the sanc-
tion of official acceptance. Lord Hardinge is now Ge-
neral Ccmmanding-in•Cbief of the British army. Until
we are informed to the contrary, or until the require
meats of professional etiquette are satisfied by the pro-
motion of Lord Harding() to the full rank of General,
we shall consider this title equivalent to that of Com-
mander in-Chief, and we now proceed to offer a few
remarks on the appointment. The first sentiment of the
country, under the peculiar conditions of the appoint-
ment, will be that of sincere admiration for the wisdom
which brought it to pass. It is now clear that desires of
a different tendency were either never entertained or
were magnanimously relinquished, and, in either case, a
tribute of respect is due to those patriotic considerations
which prevailed over the suggestions of natural inclina-
tion. But, in the next place, we can unhesitatingly
assert, that a nomination more completely justified by
circumstances or more generally satisfactory to the
country could not have been made. In the present
position of parties it will not be without a certain grati-
fication that the public will recall the political connexions
of the new Commander-in-Chief: Lord Hardinge is

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efficially identified with that last Administration of Sir
Robert Peel, to which so vast a debt of gratitude is due,
and it is understood to havo been with some sacrifice of
his private feelings to considerations of State that he ac-
cepted office under the present Government. Passing
onwards, however, from this reflection, it cannot be
denied that his Lordship unites in his own person, with
singular good fortune, the variety of qualifications re-
quired for his appointment. He is a soldier of tried pro-
fessional ability, and of such ancient experience that his
resolution decided one of the most desperate battles of
the Peninsular war. He was a friend and comrade of
the Great Duke himself, and in one respect, indeed, be
enjoys an advantage even over his illustrious prede.
cessor. The Duke's active service bad ceased with
the dethronement of Napoleon, and nearly forty
years had elapsed since he had commanded
troops in the field ; but Lord Hardinge has
seen and conducted one of the hardest cam-
paigns of the present generation, and is personally fami-
liar with the existing work of a soldier. Under the cir-
cumstances of the times our Eastern empire may be con-
sidered to furnish at least one-half of the duties of a
Commander-in-Chief, and of this empire and its re.
quirements Lord Hardinge has acquired an intimate
knowledge in the capacity of its Governor• General. It
has been represented that our chief military deficiencies
lie in the imperfect character of our regimental equip-
ments—in our antiquated muskets, our clumsy rifles,
and our scantily served artillery. Lord Hardinge comes
to his new office from the command of the Ordnance—
the very department directly engaged in these reforms.
Finally, we are at this moment occupied in raising and
training a large auxiliary force for the internal defence
of the kingdom, and it is obviously desirable that the
Commander-in-Chief of the Army should be qualified to
enter cordially and effectively into the details of militia
organization. Lord Hardinge was the immediate mili-
tary adviser of the Cabinet by which the Militia Bill
was introduced, and the arrangements which he
will be called upon to perfect and develope are in
a great measure his own. Such a remarkable union of
qualifications could have been found, we believe, in no
other man.

In enumerating these points we have almost antici-
pated the services which the country and the army will
expect from its new Commander. The foremost condi-
tion is that of national security. Without entering into
the question of European perils or pacific prospects, this
much at least must be clear, that the military force
which we maintain should be strong enough and effective
enough to furnish at all times a safe protection for our
own shores. If it is not necessary to convince the
French, it is at least desirable to assure the English,
that these islands are not helplessly exposed to invasion.
Putting hazards out of the question, there should at
least be an end of panics. The resources of the king-
dom should be so organized that nobody could reason-
ably represent it as defenceless; and if the Commander-
in-Chief will only state from his place in the House of
Lords, that he, from his own knowledge and his own
estimate, can vouch for the defensibility of the country
against all probable attacks, the whole question, with all
its annoyances, will be set at rest for ever.
The efficient armament of the British soldier is the
next point cf interest; though, indeed, it may be prac-
tically considered as comprised in the former. We
should not be wise, perhaps, in abruptly exchanging our
rude but serviceable firelocks for instruments of more
scientific promise, but less approved fitness for the vari-
ous exigencies of the field. One high authority, at least,
has pronounced itself for the retention, with certain im-
provements, of the musket now in use. On this ques-
tion the country will be satisfied to receive an assurance
that all alleged reforms in military practice have been
submitted to the test of impartial consideration and ex-
periment, and that, if they have not been adopted, the
result has been due, not to any bigotted preference of
ancient usages, but to reasonable grounds of distrust.
The general agitation on these subjects has been
due almost exclusively to the uncertainty in which the
public was left with regard to the genuine truth.
There seemed no means whatever of ascertaining what
was really the available strength of the army on home
service, what could bo expected from the artillery, or
what were the true chances of the British bayonet against
the newfangled projectiles of the day. Nor was the per-
plexity on this point confined to the general circles of
society. In the debates on the Militia Bill there was
no accordance whatever between the representations even
of those officially instructed, and the variation in the
figures thus given positively exceeded 100 per cent.
Whether we had 30,000, 20,000, 15,000, or even 10,000
men, producible in the field against an enemy, was what
nobody seemed able to certify; and we are still substan-
tially in the dark as to the truth or error cf what is
alleged respecting our general armaments. Lord Har-
dinge is eminently qualified to clear the subject of this
obscurity, and we trust he will remember the obligation.
The stern integrity and impartial discipline of the
Great Duke left little, perhaps, to be done at the Horse
Guards in the way of administrative reforms; but it is
plainly desirable that the recent improvements in the
soldier's condition should be cordially carried out, and
that the moderate qualifications exacted of late in the
applicants for commissions should not be lowered. These
conditions of the service, indeed, are closely connected
with each other. If soldiers and non-commissioned
officers are raised by kindly treatment and better edu-
cation to a position above their former selves, it be-
comes imperatively necessary that their superiors
should make a like advance. Regimental schools
and barrack libraries will soon make coporala
sergeants more than a match for ensigns and
lieutenantsand of the ancient quality. The army must
move in a body, or confusion will ensue. We do not
know that any complaint has occurred respecting the
general disposal of commissions, but there may be room
for some reform in the control exerted over those who
hold them. The scandalous outrage at last year's races
was not visited with all that severity from the Horse
Guards which the public would have approved, and our
Irish intelligence the, other day reported an " elope-
ment" as a venial excess of high military spirit. We
think we should not be overstating the opinion of the
country if we desired that among the proceedings hence-
forth to be accounted as "unbecoming an officer and a
gentleman" should be reckoned the seduction of another
man's wife.
The qualities anticipated in a Commander-in-Chief of
the present day are only those which the spirit of the
age now exacts from all public servants. A more ex-
clusive regard to the immediate good of the service, a
greater amenability to public opinion, and a readier
responsibility to that council of the nation in which
the national will is represented—these are the character-
istics of administration which we should recapitulate as
desirable, were it not that the remark might seem to
intimate their absence in the last administrator. But, in
truth, as there was no man more rigorous than the Great
Duke in the discharge of his duty, so there was none
who saw more clearly what circumstances demanded, or
who conformed himself more cheerfully to the need. In
these respects Lord Hardinge can do no more than emu-
late the example of his predecessor, and if to the lessons
of such a model he adds the deductions of his own more
modern experience the country will soon find itself in-
debted to the Commander•in-Chief.—Times.

THE NEW COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
GENERAL ORDER.
HORSE GUARDS, SEPT. 23, 1852.

In obedience to her Majesty's most gracious com-
mands, Lieutenant-General Viscount Hardinge assumes
the command of her Majesty's army, and all matters
relating to her Majesty's military service which have
heretofore been performed by his Grace the late Com-
mander-in-Chief will henceforth be transacted by his
Lordship.
He confidently hopes that, in the performance of the
duties entrusted to him by her Majesty's favour, he
will receive the assistance and support of the general
and other officers of the army, and be enabled to main-
tain its discipline and high character by continuance of
those services which have identified the British army
with the honour, power, and prosperity of their country.
The Queen having, in the general order to the army of
yesterday's date, expressed her Majesty's sentiments on
the irreparable loss sustained by her Majesty, the
country, and the army, in the sudden death of Field-
M arshal the Duke of Wellington, Viscount Hardinge
presumes only on this occasion to give utterance to
his devoted attachment to the memory of " the greatest
commander whom England ever saw," and whose whole
life has afforded the brightest example by which a Bri-
tish army can be guided in the performance of its duties.
—By command of the Right Hon. Lieut.-General Visct.
Hardinge, Commanding.in-Chief.
G. BROWN, Adjutant-General.

Mn. ALBERT SMITH.—A gentleman has just ar-
rived in London who a few days since shook bands with Mr.
Albert Smith and his brother at Chamouni, when they were
in the best of health, although Mr. Smith was chagrined at
the loss of his pocket-book and money, which had, unawares,
slipped out of his pocket while proceeding in the steamer
from Chalons to Lyons, and had caused him some incon-
venience for want of cash. The pocket-book and money have
since been received in London by Messrs. Coutts, the bankers
of Mr. Albert Smith.

GOVERNMENT COMMISSION RESPECTING CATHEDRAL
CHAPTERS.—We hear that it is the intention of the Govern-
ment to issue a Commission to inquire into the condition of
the Cathedral Chapters. We should be the last to gainsay
the necessity of stringent inquiry and sweeping reform as
regards those bodies; but such a measure ought to ema-
nate from the Church itself, and not from Downing•street.
Convocation is bound to take the matter up, and the Go-
vernment ought to allow Convocation so to do. Such a
Commission as is proposed would, we fear, be not unlikely to
issue iu a result not dissimilar to that of Lord Blaudford's
unfortunate Bill of last session.—Morning Chronicle.
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.--COMMUHiCatiOR by
electric telegraph is at length completed the entire distance
between the metropolis and the important naval station of
Devonport.