The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-27 00:00:00

STRAND THEATRE.

Sole Lessee Mr. F. W. Alleroft.—Directress, Miss Rebecca Isaacs.
THIS EVENING, APRIL 27,
Will be performed THE ENCHANTED LAKE.
After whicb, THE BLUE JACKETS.
To be followed by WIVES BY ADVERTISEMENT.
Concluding with the new burlesque on RICHARD THE THIRD.
51.; Bores, 3i.; Pit, is. +id; Gallery, +id.; Private Boxes,
X 1 1 Is. Gd., to be had of Mr. Aileron. 15, New Bond-street.

ASTLET'S EUROPE'S NATIONAL. AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. William Cooke.
Great attraction and powerful _Novelties for the Easter Holiday s.
THIS EVENING, APRIL 27,
Will be presented the new grand Nautical and Equestrian spec-
tacle, embodying navel and extraordinary effects (written by Mr.
Nelson Lee), entitled A TALE OF THE SPANISH WAR; or,
The Horse or the Wreck. The horses expressly trained by Mr. W.
Cooke.
Followed by an entire change of the Scenesof the CIRCLE, Intro-
ducing Miss Kate Cooke, Miss Emily Cooke, Mr. Alfred Cooke, and
the most talented Equestrian and Gymnastic Artistes In Europe.
Concluding with a popular FARCE.
Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W
West.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tim DAY —Morning 57 min.after 1 1 Evening 15 min.aft. 2
Tc-Ifolutow--Morning min.after 2 1 Evening 50 min.aft. 2

THE WEATHICIL—Strff Orvtox, APRIL 27.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SRAM!.
57—highest since noon yesterday.
48—lowest this morning and during the night.
.55 —this day at noon.
BAROMETEE, 29.90—a fall of three quarters of an inch
since last evening.
WIND, S.W. to W.N.W.—Light breeze and variable,
with dull, cloudy weather, and fine sprinkling rain.
Afternoon, heavy showers.

-Tr, • ••,‘,.
Zit 44---351,4!
;47 •

LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1854.

" GOD helps those who help themselves." It
is a thought worthy of our remembrance on the
morrow of the National Day of Fast and Humilia-
tion. England yesterday stormed Heaven with
her prayers for Victory. But up to this moment
have our rulers adopted adequate measures to
place the warriors of the empire within reach of
its achievement ? It is a question that may well
be put now that so much time has elapsed
since the declaration of war in the Gazette,
and in the Houses of Parliament, and especially
now that the solemn day has passed by which was
set apart by the State for the observance of a
general Fast and Humiliation.
Fighting, we learn, is still continued furiously
along the banks of the Danube, from Kalafat
down to the Dobrudscha. And, as Marshal Sr
ARNAUD justly observes in his order of the day
recently published at Marseilles, " The Turks and
Egyptians have been able to make head against
the Russians since the commencement of the war :
single-handed they have beaten them in several com-
bats !" Meanwhile—how has it been in regard to
the English and French contingents? How is it
actually at this moment in reference to the armies
despatched to the East by the French and English
Governments—how is it in reference to those
allied forces up to the latest period of informa-
tion ? Why, it appears that 20,000 French, and
8,000 English troops have disembarked. But
Where ? At Gallipoli ! As far away from
the seat of war as could well have been con-
trived under the circumstances. Actually
on the shores of the Dardanelles instead
of on the borders of the invaded Principalities. A
splendid camp is to be formed at Gallipoli—and
in the interim the unfortunate soldiers of Egypt
and Turkey are to be left to withstand the fury
of all the hordes poured down upon them from
the interior of Russia by the CZAR, the numerous
troops and battalions 'directed against the Ottoman
power by Prince GORTSCITAKOFF and Prince PAS-
ITEWITCH. What can ,
Do the meaning of all
these delays on the part of England and France ?
what are the members of our Cabinet about ?
What aro they doing all this While
at the
Horse Guards ? Are we really in earnest in de-
the Russian AUTOCRAT, or are
claring war again gt
we
simply
assuming the virtues of courage, of
resolution, and of a chivalrous magnanimity ?
If we are really gniug to war with the CZAR of
all the Russias, it is sheer madness wasting ines-
timable time by reviews and pageantries, and
afterwards frittering away our military strength by
transporting mere driblets, comparatively speak-
ing, towards the East, and then landing them,
not on the coast of Bulgaria, near Varna, or
Kustendje, but at Gallipoli, in the Dardanelles !
If we are not going to war with the AUTOCRAT,
then it was literally a mockery to have set apart
yesterday as a day of national Fasting and Humi-
liation.

In either case, it appears to us, it must appear
to any man of ordinary common sense, that our
rulers are trifling with DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

is it, we ask, in :reason to expect that the war
with Russia can be vilcorously brought to a close

by arrangements which, in the April of 1854,
result in the landing of just 8,000 English troops
and of 20,000 French troops at Gallipoli in the
Dardanelles ? Twenty thousand French and
eight thousand English against all the hordes
brought together from all the Russias by
the despotic will of the AUTOCRAT ! And
even those landed so far away from the seat of
action as to be utterly without use in their present
position as far as concerns the actual campaign in
the Danubian Principalities. Are we waiting for
news of some disastrous defeat of the Turks and
Egyptians before we will consent to confront our
forces with their Russian antagonists ?
An announcement has at last been made, we
rejoice to observe, on the other side of the
British Channel, to the effect that the Im-
perial Government of France is about to
increase the contingent sent to the aid of
the SULTAN by NAPOLEON 111. to 150,000 men
altogether. A corresponding increase ought surely
to be at once resolved upon by the British .
Go-
vernment. For any further delays in this immi-
t nent crisis of affairs, the people of England will,
of course, from his official position, hold the Gene-
ral Commanding-in-Chief personally responsible.
Anxiety has long been felt as to the willingness of
Lord HARDINGE to expedite, to the very uttermost
of his ability, the military part of our warlike pre-
parations. Sir JAMES GRAHAM has nobly done his
share in these momentous undertakings : but if
the Admiralty has acted well the Horse Guards
have notoriously, for some time past, given to a
large section of the observant community very
considerable dissatisfaction. It is but too well
understood that the influences of Aberdeenism
are wonderfully enervating. But for these ma-
lign influences we should never have heard of
merely 8,000 of our troops being landed ou the
coast of Turkey up to the April of 1854, and
of these 8,000 troops being disembarked,
tuoreover, not near the banks of the Danube,
but as far away from that river, as far away from
the scenes of conflict, as a point on the borders of
the Dardanelles ! However, we are told to be
consoled with the knowledge that matters are not
really to be left precisely in this state, as might
otherwise have been conjectured. We are to have,
besides the camp at Gallipoli, another camp at
Buyukdere ! Nay, we are informed by advices
from Constantinople down to the 15th inst., that '
General BOSQUET had then left that capital for the
purpose of establishing the head-quarters already
prepared for the allied armies, at Adrianople !

At Adrianople ! As if, far beyond Adrianople, there
were not the formidable barriers presented against
Russia by the chain of the Balkan mountains !

The apparent mismanagement in all this is really
something deplorable. Wherefore we are await-
ing now with eager curiosity whatever consolation
can be afforded by additional intelligence as to
the reported bombardment of Odessa by the com-
bined Fleets, under Admirals DUNDAS and
HAMELIN. it is from the foregoing reasons that
we recall to mind, with a certain amount of com-
punction, the wise old proverb already quoted by
us, on this the morrow of the national Day of
Fast and Humiliation.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has, in one
respect, followed the example afforded by the
French Minister of Finance. In place of entering
into a contract with any great capitalist, or asso-
ciated body of capitalists, for the entire amount
of the loan, he has thrown the matter open to
general competition, inviting tenders from every
person desirous of obtaining a share of the new
Government securities, contributing his propor-
tion to the maintenance of the national credit,
and at the same time testifying his enthu-
siasm in the noble cause in which his coun-
try is now engaged. The extraordinary and de-
cided success of the experiment at Paris fully
justified a trial in London. And we have no
doubt that the result in the present instance
would be equally satisfactory, if the conditions
of subscription had been as judiciously devised,
and if we held out equal inducements to persuade
the public to come forward with their savings and
available means. Unfortunately, however, Mr.
GLADSTONE still suffers himself to be restricted
and fettered by the trammels of "red tapism,"
and has totally ignored the principles which
mainly conduced to the fortunate solution of the
difficulty among our continental brethren. We
are, therefore, once more compelled to adopt
the views of LAURENCE STERNE, and to exclaim,
" They manage these things better in France ! "
We shall at present only refer to a few points
in which the distinctions between the plans
adopted in France and England are very per-
ceptible, and in which the advantage is certainly
not on our side. If, however, it is by the minor
touches that the skill of the artist is displayed,
wo may appreciate the able work of the conti-
nental financier from these apparently trivial
matters.

When NAPOLEON, through his Financial Mi-
nister, appealed to the patriotism of his people, he
did so on the broadest foundation ; none were ex-
cluded on account of poverty. The mite of the
hard-working operative and of the small trades-
man was accepted as freely and willingly as the
thousands of the wealthy capitalist. The amount
required was 250,000,000 of francs, equivalent
to 10,000,0001. sterling. Every opportunity
was afforded to enable parties to enrol their
names. Registers were opened not only in
the metropolis, but in the chief towns of the
several departments and the arrondissements of
the Empire, which continued open a certain time.
The subscription was, indeed, a truly national
one, and nobly did the people respond to the call.
Not merely was the required sum eagerly ten-
dered, but nearly double the amount was forth-
coming. NINETY-EIGHT THOUSAND Frenchmen
inscribed their names for sums amounting in the
aggregate to FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN
MILLIONS OF FRANCS (equivalent to 18,680,0001.
sterling), and of these no less than SIXTY THOU-
SAND persons subscribed for sums not exceeding
fifty francs of ?Tides, or less than 21. annual divi-
dends. The total sums thus subscribed by these
sixty thousand patriots was forty-nine millions of
francs (equivalent to 1,960,000/. sterling), show-
ing that the average contribution was about
eight hundred and sixteen francs, fourteen
sons, or 321. 13s. 4d. each. These men
were not rejected because they could not offer
thousands—they were not despised because they
were humble and lowly. Far from it. Their
applications were granted in full. There was no
deduction from their subscriptions, although the
more wealthy applicants had their claims abated
by no less than 52 per cent. We can form some
conception of the pride and gratification of these
humble men at the unequivocal acceptance of
their offerings. Each felt that ho had a stake in
the country—a direct interest in maintaining in-
violate public credit, and opposing the monetary
panics that are so prejudicial to the best interests of
society. We believe that the success of the financial
experiment might be greatly, if not altogether,
attributed to the extended basis on which it was
planned.

But how does Mr. GLADSTONE act on this useful
precedent? Does he, too, desire to encourage
small capitalists to entrust their savings to the
Government ? he accept their offers' in full
if not exceeding 501. or 1001. each ? No ; such
is not the English system. It does not accord
with the worship of the golden calf which John
Bull has set up. Give preference to small bid-
ders Why, there is not a pert official in
the Treasury or Exchequer Bill-office whose
hair would not stand on end at the
mere notion of admitting petty capitalists
to a participation in the favours about to be dis-
tributed.
sign-manual What ! ask Lord MONTEAGLE to affix
h
to any document
beneath 100/.itt
h
value 2 It would be an act which te Noble Lord

would earnestly repudiate, and which every sub-
ordinate would denounce in the most unequivocal
terms. But Mr. GLADSTONE will not run the risk.
of these objections. The Right Hon. Gentleman,
although he has slightly deviated from the beaten
track, will not wander far, and will easily be lured
back by the financial syrens of Capel-court. The
invitation to the people, after all, is little better than
a sham, which will not greatly endanger the craft of
the money-changers. The GLADszoNE organ may say
that " the Exchequer Bonds seem to aim at a like
draw" (to that in France) "on the smaller
' accumulations of the productive classes," and in-
quire triumphantly " What better investment can
be suggested for a poor man's hundred pounds
than an Exchequer Bond, which will yield 31. 10s.
a-year, be saleable or renewable at its full value
in four years, and meanwhile never be liable
to a greater depreciation than will just operate
as an inducement not to sell hastily 1" This
may be all very true, but the poor man will
never get the opportunity of investing his
hundred pounds, for Mr. GLADSTONE has
announced that "No TENDER WILL BE RECEIVED
FOR LESS THAN 1,0001." This would be decisive
against the poor man's investment of his savings.
Unless he has 1,000/. to spare he can have
nothing to say to this loan. If he wants to place
his hundred pounds on this security, he must
purchase a bond through a broker, on the Stock-
Exchange, at a premium of 2 or 3 per cent. ;
thus sacrificing the first half-year's, or possibly
the year's, interest,on the bond, as a tribute to
the favoured classes, and to save a trifling amount
of trouble to the officials in the Exchequer-bill-
office.

But it may be said, that ten or a dozen persons
may combine their funds and get one to bid for
the whole party. It is scarcely necessary to say
how much difficulty there would be in effecting
such an arrangement. But Mr. GLADSTONE has
guarded against the chance. In France the prices
which the Financial Minister placed upon his se-
curities were distinctly specified. The option was
given to the subscribers to take a 4i or a 3 per
cent. Stock, the former at 92f. 50c., the latter at
65f. 25c. The minimum rate was thus candidly
stated. There was no paltry higgling—no attempt
to obtain more from the people than the actual
value. Like an honest tradesman, with fixed
charges, no second price was asked or accepted ;
and consequently there was no heartburning or
jealousy, no supposition that one had obtained a
better bargain than another. Mr. GLADSTONE,
however, true to official traditions, keeps the price
a secret until the last moment, to take advantage
of the latest turn of the market. But this will
prevent the great body of the people, even of
those who have the thousand pounds to invest,
from bidding.

There is another trivial point which may deter
tke public. The bidding is " understood to be
in Exchequer Bills at par." It is true that
" subscribers" will be allowed the option of
paying money in lieu of Exchequer Bills, upon
paying ls. for every 1001. paid in money. This
is a ridiculous regulation, which merely compli-
cates the transaction. If it had been announced
that the biddings were understood to be in money
or Exchequer-bills at par, it would accomplish the
object which we presume the Right Honourable
Gentleman had iu view ; but as it is, it will only
operate to throw the matter into the hands of
jobbers, and to prevent the people generally from
following the noble example of their French
brethren.

We fear, then, that the plan will prove a
failure, or, at least, that it will not have the same
general acceptance as the French project for the
reasons above specified ; that is to say--Ist. Be-
cause "no tender will be received for a less sum
than 1,000/. ; 2dly. Because the price is not
distinctly specified, but left uncertain and doubt-
ful ; and 3dly. Because the bidding is not to be in
money, but in Exchequer Bills at par." Let Mr.
Gz.AnsToxn look to these matters, and correct
them while there is yet time, if he would not
incur the disgrace of another financial abortion.