The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-19 00:00:00

and the noblest aspirations. Every author and
authoress (and their number in this day is legion)
who reads Mrs. NORTON'S protest and ponders over
her opinion as to the power of am individual voice,
" the small hinge" on which so much may be made
to turn, will do well to take the lesson to heart.
" And I, too, am a Painter ! (edio anche son patore)
was the ambitious exclamation of the Italian
student, enraptured by the work of some great
master. Would that a kindred spirit might animate
oar " sensation" writers, and, looking at the reforms
brought about ere now by their brethren of the
pen, they might emulate their ambition, even if de-
void of their great gifts. Inasmuch as such was
her desire, we honour Mrs. NORTON'S undertaking;
but, as we have said, we cannot consider that she
has been successful in her attempt.

The motion of Sir J. HAY, on Wednesday last,
attempted to introduce a very necessary and long-
called for reform in the distribution of our naval
prize money. At present the grievance is of a very
serious character, and one likely to receive very
little attention at the hands of the Admiralty, who
seem to consider abuses of the kind as venerable
from their antiquity. The hon. baronet, in moving
the second reading of his bill, said that its main
object was to enable the captors to appoint an
agent to protect their interests and to secure their
rights, and to provide that he should be paid at the
rate of 22 per cent. out of the money he received.
It would seem that little objection could be taken
to such a measure; but, however, we are told that
the Admiralty intend bringing in a bill of their
own on the subject, probably next session, and
therefore Sir J. HAY was advised by Lord CLARENCE
PAGET to withdraw his own measure, and to lend
his energies to the support of the Admiralty bill.
But the facts which were adduced did not exactly
tend to show the readiness of the Admiralty to
mend matters. The Kertch prize money, due for
six years, has only recently been tendered, while
the amount due for the agent's services is not
allowed. Colonel DUNNE remarked that a
similar delay had taken place in the army,
and mentioned the case of a man who
was now in a state bordering on starvation,
though money had been due to him by the Govern-
ment ever since the Kertch and Yenikala expe-
dition. Sir JOHN ELPHINSTONE referred to a
similar incident. A midshipman of the James
Watt brought home a prize and found himself and
his crew of 15 without any means of livelihood.
He applied to the Admiralty, and received the
gratifying intelligence that he and his party would
receive the necessary means when the proceeds of
the prize had been realized. An exactly similar
case, he added, had occurred to an officer and crew
belonging to the Euryalus. Under the old law the
officer in charge would have been consigned to an
agent who would have made the necessary advances.
This is certainly not the way to incite our seamen
to extra exertion, or to reward them for acts of
bravery. It is more likely to disgust them with
the service than to stimulate their efforts, and
really it would seem as if such were the object of
our Admiralty, who deserve the severe rebuke of
Sir JOHN ELPHINSTONE, who declared that our
naval administration had done more harm to the
English navy than had ever been done by the
French. Sir JOHN ELPHINSTONE pointed out
further differences between the new act and the old
one, showing the inferiority of the former. He said
that Lord BROUGHAM had expressed apprehensions
at the time of the change as to its possible result, and
those fears had been only too well founded. It is a
shameful fact, that the system cf distributing, or
rather of not distributing, our prize money is alike
disereditable to the nation and irritating and inju-
rious to the men. Every obstacle and delay possible
is put in the way, until, perhaps, the brave men
who have justly earned their reward, die off one by
one, and considerably reduce the number of appli-
cants. Such a result may be satisfactory to the
Admiralty, but it is certainly most unsatisfactory
to the public, as Col. DUNNE indignantly said in
reference to the military side of the grievance.
" Burmah, Lucknow, Delhi, the Deccan—not one
of these names can be mentioned without recalling
scandals of the worst kind." Befor© the decided
tone adopted by the numerous and influential sup-
porters of the bill the Government opposition was
compelled to withdraw—Lord CLARENCE PAGET
giving the House a solemn warning that it was
assuming a responsibility properly belonging to the
Government. The First Lord did not apparently
see that his reproach was in reality directed against
himself, or rather against his office—that it is the
incapacity or unwillingness of our naval adminis-
tration to fulfil its responsibilities that has trans-
ferred the duty to independent members. It is
time that some one undertook to fight the cause of
the men who have been so long kept out of their
rights ; and we trust that hon. members will not
relax their efforts until a thorough change is made
in the system of distributing both naval and mili-
tary prize money, and the cruel injustice that has
so long disappointed and disheartened our best men
shall be rendered a future impossibility.

The arrival of the explorers of the Nile is a very
interesting event. It is always gratifying to wel-
come home the successful explorer, and the wonder-
ful discoverer, but it is rendered doubly so by the
fact that so many valuable lives have been lost in the
cause of these arduous undertakings in distant lands.
As soon as it was known that the Pera had arrived
at Southampton, the Mayor, accompanied by the
town clerk and several gentlemen, waited on the two
Captains, and presented them with an address. In
the course of that brief address, a very apt allusion
was made to the great achievements of the tra-
vellers, and the object of their presentation could
cot have been more forcibly explained than as fol-
lows:—" It would ill beseem the representatives of
an ancient seaport, whose history is connected
more or less with every period of the annals of Eng-
land, to neglect an opportunity of most respectfully
greeting travellers whose recent discoveries have
solved the perplexing problem of all ages, by ascer-
taining the true source of one of the most wonder-
ful rivers on the face of the earth." It must be a
source cf satisfaction to the inhabitants of South-
ampton that they should have been the first to
hail the presence of these illustrious men, who
have earned a place in history side by side with
those who in all ages have striven to improve the
knowledge and extend the experience of their fel-
low men. There is no royal road to such attain-
ments; it must be won by individual exertion, and
gained by personal sacrifice. As the services are
arduous, so should their recognition be com-
plete; and it is therefore a step in the right
direction that the officials or local authorities
should have hastened to do them honour upon
the
Mayor
thr e:tie 011:id gratoufl a their
t h enma ov tlbaantd
tection Which carrie ihne en ptrhoe-
unharmed through re-
gionsd them
many noble votaries of
science
in which so
have either fallen victims to pestiferous climates
or have perished by the hands of their savage
in-
habitants," they must have felt deeply
grateful that
they had been permitted to return to their country,
and there to enjoy the fruit of their labours in the ap-
preciation of their fellow-countrymen. After a short
time there is no doubt that these xplorers will
Pnlish an account of their wanderings, which
will
certain to prove most attractive
b be