The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-22 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING-, DECEMBER 22, 1854.

ONT BLANC.-CHRISTMAS HOLI-
DAYS.—Duting the Christmas Week Mr. ALBERT
SMITH Will give his MONT BLANC, HOLLAND, and up the
EMINE, every morning, and evening, at Three and Eight (except
Saturday evening.) Stalls can be taken for any of the representa-
tions at the Egyptian Hall, every day,-from Eleven to Four.

ONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAIL-
WAY. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.—DAY TICKETS
issued. on SATURDAY, 23,1 December, and intervening days, will
be available until TUESDAY, 26th December.
Byorder. MARK HUISII.
General Manager's Office, Enston Station, December, 1654.

RTH WESTERN AND
.---c lIRIST 11 AS lIOLID AYS.—
s will be issued from the EUSTON

LONDON AND NOl
MIDLAND RAILWAYS
First and Secciid Class Day Ticket
STATION, London, t 3
LINCOLN, BRADFORD,
COLLINGRAM, LEEDS,
NEWARK, NORMANTON,
FISKERTON, OAKENSHAW,
TIICRGARTON, DONCASTER,
LOWDHAM, • SHEFFIELD.
NOTTINGHAM, and
Yomt, MASBORO,
by the Ordinary Trains, on Saturday, Dec. 23d, Sunday, 24th, and
Monday, 25th ; available to return with, by the Ordinary Trains,
up to and including Tuesday, Dec. 26th.
Express Day Tickets will also be issued on the same days,
available to return by any Train up to and including the 26th.
Day Tickets will also be issued from the above Stations to London.
By order,
General Manager's Office, Euston Station, Dec., 1854.

FARRINGDON WARD WITHI f, 0J i.
1854.

At a Wardmote, holden this day,
Before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, FRANCIS GRAHAM

MOON, Esq.,

(in the absence of the Right Worshipful Thomas Kelly, Esq., Alder-
man of the Ward), at the Great Hall, Christ's Hospital, for the Choice
of Ward Offieers, for the ensuing year, the following GENTLEMEN
were declared duly ELECTED to REPRESENT this WARD in the
Court of Common Conseil, viz.:—
Deputy Eagleton. Mr. Young.
Deputy Holt. Mr. C. Phillips.
Mr. Virtue. Mr. Nicholson.
Mr. Lauchlan. Mr. Heaps.
Mr. Blake. Mr. Wheeler.
Mr. B. S. Phillips. Mr. Kelday.
Mr. Morris. Mr. Reed.
Moved by Mr. Cole, seconded by Mr. Ware, and resolved unanimously,
That this Wardmote has much gratification in again acknowledg-
ing the eminent services of its highly respected and much-revered
Alderman, the Right Worshipful Thomas Kelly, Esq., who for the
1 ng period of 24 years has presided over the interests of the Ward,
for the judgment and impartiality which, as a magistrate of this
City, he has en all occasions displayed, and for his great liberality as
Patron to our excellent Ward Schools. At the same time, this
Wardmote deeply laments it should have been deprived of his pre-
sence this day through indisposition.
Moved by Mr. Buckland, seconded by Mr. Oldie, and resolved I
unanimously,—

That the thanks of this Wardmote are jastly due, and are hereby
given, to Edward Eagleton, Esq , and Thomas Jefferson Holt, Esq.,
Deputies, and the other gentlemen who have so ably represented this
Ward in the Court of Common Council during the past year.
Moved by Mr. Blake, seconded by Deputy Eagleton, and resolved

unanimously,—

That the thanks of this Wardmoie be presented to the Right
Honourable the Lord Mayor for his able and impartial conduct in
the chair.

That the respectful thanks of this Wardmote be given to tho Pre-
sident, Treasurer, and Governors of Christ's Hospital for the use of
their hall for this Wardmote.

That the foregoing resolutions be signed by the Ward Clerk, and
inserted in the usual papers.

J. W. WARREN, Ward Clerk.

"f HE 16s. TROWSERS REDUCED TO 14s. ;
A_ Trowsers and Waistcoat, 225. ; Coat, Waistcoat, and Trow-
sers, 475. ; made to order from Scotch Tweeds, all Wool, and
thoroughly shrunk, by B. BENJAMEN, Merchant Tailor, 74,
Regcnt-strat. N.B.—A perfect fit guaranteed.

RNAMENTS for the DRAWING--ROOM,
LIBRARY, and DINING-ROOM, consisting of a new and
elegant assortment of Vases, Figures, Groups, Candlesticks, Obelisks,
Inkstands, beautiful inlaid Tables, Paper-weights, &c., in Italian
Alabaster, Marble, Bronze, Derbyshire Spar, &c. Imported and
manufactured by JAMES TENNANT (late Mawe), 149, Strand,
'London. Mr. TENNANT arranges elementary Collections of Shells,
Minerals, and Fossils, Wick will greatly facilitate the interesting
study of Conchology, Mineralogy, and Geology, at 2,5, 10, 50, to 100
guineas each.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
The following REMARKABLE NOVELTIES have been
SPECIALLY PREPARED.

LECTURE by J. 11. PEPPER, Esq., on Professor Wheatstone's
experiments on the TRANSMISSION of SOUND through Solid Con-
ductors, illustrated by a TELEPHONIC CONCERT.
FIRST PAR I' of an ENTIRELY NEW and SPLENDID OPTI-
CAL DIORAMA, illustrating the VOYAGES of SINBAD the
SAILOR, with Beautiful PHANTASMAGORIA EFFECTS, and
appropriate Music arranged by Mr. Waud.
Great Increase in the 'VIEWS of the WAR : the BATTLE of the
ALMA, SIEGE of SEBASTOPOL, the ENGLISH BATTERIES,
&c., Ecc.
LECTURE on the LANCASTER GUN, the MINIE RIFLE, and
that powerful implement of war, the STEAM GUN, projecting Sixty
Palls per Minute, which has been erected by Mr. PERKINS, and will
be discharged daily and in the Evenings.
LECT URES on ELECTRICITY by Dr. BACIIIIOFFNER.
Mr. CRAWFORD'S VOCAL ENTERTAINMENT of the PATRIOTIC
SONGS of SCOTLAND. For the special Amusement of the Juvenile
Auditory, DAV IS'S INGENIOUS MARIONETTES will be exhibited.
All the other LECTURES, EXBIBITIONS of MODELS, &e. St:.. &c.
Fresh decorations.

Special Juvenile Night on the 3d of January, and gratuitous distri-
bution of the Ornaments of a beautiful Christmas Tree amongst the
Young People.

DEATH OF SIR JAMES KEMPT.

General the Right Hen. Sir James Kempt, G.C.8.,
Colonel of the Ist Regiment of Foot, died on Wednes-
day at his residence in South Audley-street. This die-
tinguished officer has spent more than 71 years in the
service of his country, and his career has been marked
by unusual distinction, not less than by unusual length.
He entered the army on the 31st of March, 1783, and
in 1799 he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In
that year he accompanied Sir Ralph Abercromby upon
the expedition to Holland as aide-de-camp, and in 1800
he proceeded with the same general, as military secre-
tary, to the Mediterranean, and remained with him until
his death, after which he was attached to the staff of
Lord Hutchinson, and was present throughout the whole
Egyptian campaign. In 1806 Lieut.-Colonel Kempt
went in command of a battalion with the expedition to
Naples, and commanded the Light Brigade at the
battle of Maida. Having obtained the rank of colonel
in 1809, he proceeded in 1811 to the Peninsula,
and was appointed to command a brigade in the 3d di-
vision of the Duke of Wellington's army. From thence
to the conclusion of the war in 1814, Sir James's ser-
vices are historical. At the siege of Badajos, he com-
manded the attack on Fort Picurina, and the brigade
which led the attack and carried the Castle of Badajos
by esclade, when he was severely wounded. In February,
1812, he was appointed to a brigade in the Light Di-
vision, which he commanded at Vittoria, the attack on
the heights of Vera, at Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse,
and in several other minor engagements. Sir James
Kempt, who had become a major-gerieral in 1812, was
appointed to the command of a division in 1815, and was
severely wounded at its head on the 18th of June. His
death places at the disposal of the General Commanding-
in-Chief the colonelcy of the Ist Regiment, and also
creates a vacancy for promotion to the list of general
officers ; three generals—Major-General Prendergast,
Lieutenant-General Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, and
General Sir James Kompt—having died since the last
promotion took place. Colonel John Bloomfield Gough,
C. 8., h.p. 3d Light Dragoons, and Deputy Quarter.
master-General in Ireland, becomes Major-General.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FOREIGN MERCENARIES.
(From the Times.)
As it is frOm Germany that the British Government
chiefly expect to draw the recruits they may be em-
powered to raise tinder the Bill for the Enlistment and
Training of Foreigners in her Majesty's service, it be-
comes a matter of some interest to ascertain the view
taken by the Germans themselves of the measure now
before Parliament, and of the practical chances of its
success in that country. The contrast which has been
drawn by almost all the speakers on bath sides of this
question between the gallant troops of England and
France and the auxiliaries who may be raised or ob-
tained from Germany is not Mattering to the military
pride of the latter nation ; and it appears to be gene-
rally felt that before officers of high character in fo-
reign armiee, or men who have performed with credit
their period of military service in their native land,
can transfer their services to another State, they must
be satisfied that there is nothing degrading in the po-
sition they are to acquire. If it were otherwise, the
men wo might hone to enlist would only be outcasts or
emigrants from their native shores, accepting the con-
dition of mercenary soldiers because they have no
other means of subsistence • and the scheme would be
defeated for want of men of character and ability to
carry it into effect. When we talk of the Brunel-tick-
ers and lianoverians who fought side by side with the
troops of England in former wars, we speak of corps
commanded by men of the highest rank and consider-
ation in their respective countries ; and the first condi-
tion in the formation of volvnteernts is, that
their chiefs should be men able to command the con-
fidence of their troops and the respect of their com-
rades. More especially is this the case in foreign
service, where they aro placed in competition with
other troops, and have to support the military honour
of their own flag.

and, we may add, the state
changed since those enlistments in foreign service took
of Tthheelsatwat,eo ofn thepubclioc n feeling,
ienleinngeof Europe have very much
place half a century ago. In former times the existence
of such bodies of men was neither uncommon nor dis-
honourable. The Kings of France had of old their Scotch
Archers, their Irish Brigade, and their Swiss Guards.
Gustavus Adolphus had his Scottish troops, and William
111. his Dutch infantry. At Naples a large body of
Swiss troops has long formed the nucleus of the army;
and the Pope has been compelled to admit a foreign gar-
rison into Rome since he lost his mercenary troops.
Many instances have recently been
quoted in debate of
German Princes who trafficked in the blood of their sub-
jects, and sold them for their own advantage to the ser-
vice of foreign Powers. Under the old constitution of
the Germanic empire no restraint whatever could be put
upon tins practice, and it might happen, as it sometimes
did happen, that German auxiliaries were fighting against
each other on opposite sides of a European quarrel. This
state of things, however, no longer exists in any part of
Europe, partly because in almost every country the prac-
tice of foreign enlistment has been discouraged by muni-
cipal law; partly because the rules of international law
now recognised by civilised Powers regard with great
suspicion breaches of neutrality of this nature; and still
more because the sense of personal and national dignity
condemns the custom.
In Switzerland the Practice of foreign enlistment had
existed from time immemorial, and the patrician families
of the principal cantons held it to be no discredit to their
birth and freedom to serve the most absolute Courts of
Europe under a foreign standard. Capitulations, as
they were termed, were regularly entered into between
the Swiss Confederation and certain foreign governments
for the supply pf a certain number of soldiers, and the
system of recruiting was carried on with the full sanction
of the Government. But the important changes which
have taken place since 1846 in the federal constitution of
Switzerland have entirely abolished this ancient usage.
The present Helvetic Government holds that the prac-
tice of recruiting for foreign armies in Switzerland is in-
consistent with the neutrality which is the basis of their
constitution, and injurious to the military service of the
cantons. Every precaution has therefore been taken to
prevent the continuance of the custom, and with such
effeet that it is •nly by clandestine means that the
King of Naples has been enabled to keep up the number
of his Swiss regiments, who are the guardians of his
throne.

In the States of the Germanic Confederation similar
measures have been taken to prohibit foreign military
service, and this precaution is the more necessary as the
military establishments of these States are under federal
obligations to the rest of the Bund. By the 18th article of
the Federal Act of 1815 any German subject may enter
into the civil and military service of another confederate
State, but not, we infer, of a foreign power. It stands to
reason that no neutral State can allow its subjects to go
to war or to take an active partip a war between two
other countries without- great innonvenzenne and dan-
ger, and that itbound to prevent ouch mats of
hostility as a violation
the principle and the effect of our own Foreign
Enlistment Act, which prohibits the subjects of the Bri-
tisho its neutrality. That is
f
Crown from engaging in war without the sanction
of their own Sovereign. Even the United States have a
similar statutory provision. By the law of France
every Frenchman who enters into the military service of
any foreign State forfeits his national character and his
civil rights altogether ; and there is a well-known case
of a member of the Chamber of Deputies who was un-
seated because he was held to be denationalised, though
born a Frenchman, by having served as a midshipman
in a Sardinian frigate. In Germany the present state of
this question is wholly unlike what it was in the last
century, when the power of many of the smaller princes
was almost unlimited, and when the Confederation was
not in existence. Lord Ellenborough compared the
other night the conduct of sovereigns who sell the blood
of their subjects to the cruelty and avarice of the King
cf Dahomey ; and, if he referred to the practices of some
of the German princes in the 18th century, we agree
with the noble earl's opinions of those transactions.
But Lord Ellenborough is wholly misinformed if he
imagines that any such bargain could be concluded at
the present time ; and, if any attempt were made to take
such a step, the Diet would place an interdict on the
offending parties, for, if it were competent to the King
of Hanover or the Duke of Nassau to enter into an
agreement with this couatry for the transfer of a certain
number of troops, it would be equally lawful for the
kings of Saxony and Wurtemberg to promote recruiting
in their dominion fur the Emperor of Russia. The
consequence might be that troops or soldiers trained in
the same federal army and belonging to the Caine coun-
try would be arrayed on opposite sides in this quarrel,
and that the national power and the national honour of
Germany would be neutralised or sacrificed by carrying
on war under any banner hut her own.
Such are the considerations which appear to have oc-
curred to those German writers who have adverted to
this subjcot in consequence of the recent debates in
Parliament. We believe with Lord John Russell that
in no part of Europe is there more military enthusiasm
than in Germany, or a more general desire among the
people to oppose the ascendancy of Russia by force of
arms. We have invariably expressed the most earnest
desire to obtain the assistance of the forces of Germany
as our allies or auxiliaries in this war ; but we cannot
expect the subjects of the German States to plunge into
a war from which their Governments stand aloof, nor
can we suppose that,
their neutrality and hold back from tho contest, they
will or can allow any considerable part of their subjects
to take up arms and join the standard of aforeign nation
for a cause they while those Governments assert
have not yet embraced. When the
time arrives—as we trust it will arrive—when the
greatest Power in Germany is engaged with France and
England in taking "effectual means " to accomplish the
objects of the Triple Alliance, and when the rest of Ger-
many is mere directly pledged to the prosecution of the
war, it matters little in whose pay
or under what cock.
ade the German troops may fight, they would be serving
the common cause—and they cease to be mercenaries
by becoming allies. If the measure presented to Par-
liament for the enlistment of foreigners contemplates
and anticipates that result, or if the Government are in
possession of means to give effect to it by any political
combination with the German States, many of the ob-
jections urged against it fall to the ground, and we
should welcome to our side the legitimate auxiliaries of
Great Britain ; but without some such prospect the
measure appears to us not only objectionable, but im-
practicable, because it is at variance with the existing
laws of most of the continental States, and because it
would place our foreign recruits in a position which no
man of high military honour would cheese to accept
without the sanction of his own Sovereign.

•
(From the Morning Herald.)
The Foreign Enlistment Bill has been allowed to pass
through committee without a division. This is as it should
be. Factious opposition should take no part in the deci-
sions of Parliament on such a measure, no matter how ob-
jectionable, how uu-Engli h, how detestable.! To delay the
progress of? the bill through committee would have been
easy indeed ; and a Coalition conspiracy would not have
hesitated upon the adoption' of such a course of action.
The opposition have naturally taken a British line of
policy ; aware that many of the truly English members of
the House of Commons woro absent from the late division.
Who could have expected the introduction of such a mea-
sure, not alluded to in the speech from the throne, not in-
timated until introduced ? Who, wo say, could have
imagined that Parliament should have been called upon to
denationalise England in reference to her own defences ?
Thus many members of the Lower House wore absent
from the recent division ; but to-night wo know that an
amendment to the third reading of the bill will be moved
—that it shall "be read this day six months." Let no
man he absent from this division who regards the safety of
his seat or his country. London can be easily reached by
railway in a very few hours, even from tho most distant
part of the kingdom.
What is the necessity which demands this measure ?
necessity is alleged, but none is proved. The Secretary at
War informed us the other night " We are getting soon,
not faster than they are required, but faster than we can
form them into regiment's, drill them, and make them skil-
fularecrowded and useful soldiers to their Queen and country.), If
' this be true, why should we bring 10,000 foreigners to this
country to be drilled, when we are told on such authority
that more natives are:offering themselves than we can form
into
regiments? If
native If it
recruits,be w
true that
shouldour w depots
our-
selves by asking aid from those petty foreign princes who,
as in the American war, may -wish to make merchandise of
with

their subjects? Princes who would realise the wish of
Sancho Panza, that, if he were a prince, all his subjects
should be blackamoors, as he would, by the sale of thou,
easily turn them into ready money.
The Secretary at War spoke with just exultation of the
exploits at Alma and Inkernian. He called the last " the
soldiers' battle." " There," said ho, " there you saw the
character of the British soldier." Has he now any mis-
givings which induce his desire to interpolate in their ranks
the hired service of the mere mercenary soldier? Does he
think the hoaour and interests of Britain will bo clearer
to the hireling than to the patriot soldier, or that any
vicarious exertions will equal the deeds incited by per-
sonal zeal ?

We deny the morality of this measure. We may have
a right, by every means, to defend ourselves from foreign
invasion ; but we have scarcely the right to hire battalions
of free companions to invade the territory of others. We
have no right, as was well said yesterday—we have no right
to biro bravos to cut the throats of other people. Even in
what is called the cede of honour—the laws of the duello
—this principle obtains. What would bo thought of one
who, having a personal quarrel, should, instead of fighting
for himself, plead that he was not a military person (per-
haps, not one of what Lord J. Russell called a military
nation), and hire a substitute to waylay and destroy his
foe ?

We desire to carry on the war with vigour, yet with
mercy. We do not wish to emulate our enemy. We
would not imitate the s!aughter of Sinope. We do not
wish revenge. After the strife, our brave soldiers succoured
the wounded enemy, while our wounded were murdered as
they lay crippled on the field. Better this than that we
should follow as vile an example, and add increased bitter-
ness to the inevitable suffering produced by war. We can
trust our own soldiers to carry on the war in such a spirit.
The brave are ever the merciful ; but who will guarantee
the forbearance and mercy of the mercenary soldier?
_We deny the economy of this measure. It is economy
to get the best article for our motley, if-wermay -ass such
an expression. But will not 100 British soldiers be more
serviceable, more true, and more to'be depended on, than
any 150 we can get elsewhere to do a hireling's service ?
The Briton fights for his country, for her honour, and
her interest—not merely for wages less than he could get
in many ways, and without peril, if he stayed at home.
The mercenary has but one motive—he fights for his pay.
The history of all ages confirms what Sir W. Raleigh, in
his " History of the Woild," says of mercenary soldiers :
" They are seditious, unfaithful, disobedient, devourers
and destroyers of all places and countries whither they are
drawn, as being held by no other bond than their own com-
modity."
The Royal German Legion has been quoted as a prece-
dent ; it does not, however, afford a parallel. When we
employed it we were fighting almost upon German soil,
and less for England than for the liberties of Europe—less
to maintain the interests of England than to preserve the
rights of Germany. The German Legion fought like gal-
lant men ; but fighting then in the ranks of the British
army they fought entirely for their " fatherland."
Lord Palmerston defended the Government against the
charge of remissness in having no reserves—" but," said
he, " the reserve upon which the Government counted
was the British nation." Why, then, this measure ? Has
Parliament shown any disposition to refuse men, or ships,
or money ? Has the nation suddenly become imbecile ? Do
the recruitingpartiesseek in vain for men? Have none of our
militia regiments volunteered for foreign service? Is there
au end to applications at the Horse Guardsfor commissions ?
If this be so, then, like "a nation of shopkeepers," we may
traffic in, human blood, and " buy in the cheapest market"
that valour which is no longer to be found amongst our
own people. If this be so it would then only be a fitting
consistency for the Secretary of the Treasury to advertise
for tenders for the taking of Sebastopol and the expulsion
of the Russians from the Crimea.

Lord J. Russell, in moving the vote of thanks of the
army the other evening., lauded their great deeds of arms.
He said, moreover, "It is in these things that the life of
a nation is seen ; it is by actions such as we have to com-
memorate to-clay that the spirit of a nation is maintained
from age to age." Is this measure consistent with those
sentiments ?

Let us not ♦ulgarise the sentiment which pervades all
classes of the people, that this war is politic and righteous
—that we are not contending for spoil, not for vainglory;
but to maintain our faith—to aid the weak against the
wrong-doer— to support an ancient ally against whom the
strong arm of oppression has been raised.
Let us not vulgarise our zeal by thus making ourselves
huxters for soldiers, and fighting by deputy against the
encroachments of barbaric and fanatic despotism.
In spite of the recent majority in its favour, we believe
that this measure will not be carried to-night, against the
feelings of the British soldier and the British people, when
such recent deeds have shown that British valour has an
actual existence, and is something more than a glorious
tradition. If, however (a hypothesis which we cannot
bear to dwell upon), this measure should be carried, it
will, indeed, be a confession most humiliating to us as a
people—an admission most assuring to our adversary—
that
we will not fight henceforth, except by proxy, and
are content to transfer to a mere hireling's hand that flag
which for " a thousand years has braved the battle and the
breeze."

(From at Morning Post.)
Whilst the Parliament of Saxe-Coburg Gotha is throw-
ing its aegis over the army of England, and the nation that
recently imagined itself so warlike—nay, so fit for war—
is staring. open-monthed at the militia of Purape,-,^'

Apernickej,"
aramMoWed f

that AriilASAi'd • h- to its detente., may be wart uur while to const w e
ther, before calling upon the Thuringian Jupiter to our
a,sistance, we have honestly and truly put our own shoul-
ders to the wheel. Not that we desire to indulge in vain
repinings ; let bygones be bygones, but let errors be
amended.

And, first of all, let us look at what must be the nursery
of our armies for some time to come, and what is probably
the very best nursery that could bo devised—our own
militia, as recently reconstructed. Are its arrangements
as perfect as they could be made ? Not so ; and what
strikes one at the first glance is the enormous number of
departments it groans under. There is the Lord-Lieute-
nant of the County, the War-office, the Ordnance-office ;
finally, its chief master, the Home-office, from which,
however, the embodied regiments, to their great relief,
have escaped to the Horse Guards. Surely an inexperi-
enced force, commanded, in too many instances, by inex-
perienced, not to say incompetent, officers, should have
its work of organisation simplified as much as possible ;
and no better means of simplifying it could be found than
by putting it under one head, to whom all should report 1'
and all refer. The appointment of a carefully-selected
officer of good address and good temper to the office of
Deputy-Adjutant-General for the militia would effect this,
and give the greatest satisfaction to that force, whilst the
public service would benefit accordingly.
Another singular circumstance that strikes us is the small
number of half-pay officers that have entered the ser-
vice. With such a list of lieutenant-colonels and majors as
cur Army List presents how does it happen that so very
few have proffered their services to the militia ? and though
the number of half-pay captains has probably recently been
much reduced by the late augmentation, enabling many of
them to sell their commis ions, still it will soon be swelled
again by the many who are in the course of returning from
the Crimea with enfeebling wounds and broken health,
who cannot, for some years, rejoin their regiments on
active service, 3et cannot, in common fairness, be driven
from the profession in which they have acquired their tem-
porary disabilities. These men must be placed on tempo-
rary half-pay, and might soon be perfectly equal to the
duties of the militia at home ; and there are even now old
captains on half-pay who might be tempted by the brevet
rank they would have attained had they remained on full
pay, to give the benefit .of their experience to the new
force. There aro plenty of experienced lieutenant-colonels
on the half-pay list who would gladly undertake the com•
'nand of embodied militia regiments if that command were
allowed to count as regular service for the three years that
would entitle them to the rank of colonel in the army.
There is, however, no valid reason why the pay of several
ranks in the militia should be inferior to that of the line,
and their travelling expenses should be allowed from their
usual resianco instead of from the verge of the county.
But this brings us to a source of serious and growing evil
to the militia—viz., the command of regiments by men of
no military experience and wholly uiimilitary habits.
There was, no doubt, a time when it was desirable that
the man of the highest influence in the county should..be
at the head of the militia ; but why did the consideration
of local influence outweigh that of military experience?
Simply because it was necessary to reconcile the county
to compulsory service, to enlist the natural chiefs
of the soil in the cause lof the ballot. /No
such consideration exists now ; the people come for-
ward spontaneously. There seems little or no prospect of
the ballot ; and in the counties which furnish the largest
quotas it is not the country gentlemen that sway the
masses. Lot it be remembered that, at this crisis, the
militia officer who can make some hundred soldiers in
three months, and give them to the line for immediate
service, renders important service to his country. There
are many who aver that this can be done by intelligent
and hard-working officers who know their duty already ;
it is certainly not a feat to be performed by those who
have to begin learning their work now.
Teo many of the regiments are commanded by gentle.
men of the highest family, the greatest respectability,
boundless opulence, and even much natural talent, but
who lack the one essential for the command of regiments,
viz., that they are not soldiers. Most of them would
freely admit that they are not fit to take command of the
Grenadier Guards, or the Rifle Brigade, yet the command
(which includes the formation) of a militia regiment is an
infinitely more difficult task than the guidance of a
machine previously highly organised; and owing to the
number of old soldiers among officers and men now in the
militia, the criticism upon incapacity is quite as sharp in
one as in the other. Sir Giles Fatacre, of Fatacre
may have twenty thousand a-year and a safe seat for the
county ; but when Sir Giles, with labour and stammering,
reads out from a card a word.of command, which he can-
not even then deliver as it ought to be delivered, and
listens with a puzzled countenance to the whisper of the
adjutant, to him almost incomprehensible, the men are
laughing in the ranks, and Sir Giles had better be at
Fatacre- Hall, enforcing the terrors of the law against
poachers, or giving that awful judgment of paternity for
which ho has so much acumen, or even in the Com-
rtions House of Parliament, which ho
msoseerls t
don
or
adorns with his eloquence, leaving military matters
that spare man who sits on his horse in roar of the
centre of the right wing, and who has two medals on his
breast, which ho most assuredly did not find at a cattle
show. There is a place for everybody ; let everybody be
in his place.
Six years' service in the line is essential to attaining the
rank of major; lot this, or even four, be made essential to
the actual command of a militia regiment, though the
country gentlemen may continue to be gratified by seeing
their names in the Army List still. The country would
gain by the arrangement, for every one of these civilian
colonels costs it. WOG. a year, and renders no sort of equi-
valent, if ho be not actually mischievous. A glance at the
Army List will, however, show that three-fourths of the
civilian colonels are supporters of the present Government.
There is another stop which, if taken, would add mate-
rially to the efficiency of the militia, and especially to its
capacity to meet the present crisis. It is well known that
in sonic counties the young men have come forward in
such numbers that many have been refused, the regiment
having reached its establishment, whilst in others the
greatest difficulty, has been encountered in procuring vo-
lunteers at all. Why should not every regiment that can

[PRICE SD.

get men be allowed to exceed its establishment for the
time, and enlist as many as it can get ? When the pressure
for men is over, the. restriction may be restored • but, in
the meanwhile, it is undoubted that this would make many
good men available who are now rejected, and, disgusted
with l;he rejection, which they take as a slur upon them-
selves, do not offer again.
Still, notwithstanding all disadvantages, the country
has nc iblyanswered the appeal; and though now all thoughts
are di xected to the heroic struggle in the Crimea, let it be
recoil ected that the force there engaged may be best re-
lieved. through the agency of the militia, which is to fur-
nish :men to swell the regular army. The militia of Eng-
land lies deserved well of its country ; hit it have fair
play, and it will deserve yet better.

(Front the Morning Advertiser.)
On Tuesday Lord John Russell, in discharging a medley
of Er glish history like a canister of grapeshot, alluded to
" the disgraceful reign of Charles 11. ' In the hands of
the n, able lord and his colleagues England bids very fairly
to riv al, and perhaps to putvie, that reign, which he pro-
noun. see disgraceful. Never, since the time of Charles 11.
to th, ) present moment, has the country been placed in a
state of humiliation so deep and apparently so irretriev-
able, for, most unfortunately, its character in the eyes of
foreig n nations is bound up with that of its Government.
The I stter, by losine, valuable time, which cannot be com-
pensated, in negotiations, and in protesting confidence in
the initegrity of the Czar's intentions, instead of declaring
that l )43 would be resisted, induce him to cross the Pruth,
and t'bus rendered the war inevitable. That was an error

of the, greatest magnitude; for, while
Go-
verns sent with incompetency to conduct public affairs, it is
the Cf iuse of all the losses in blood and treasure which have

now resulted, and hereafter will result from the war, that
it no w appears they are utterly incapable of managing.
This its one disgrace, and a series of bluiders follow in
such 'rapid succession that they cannot be numbered with
eAeur pay from memory.
Without having tried the resources of the nation in a
war, which is popular only because it holds out the oppor-
tunit, yr of strikicg a death-blew at despotism, and rousing
dorm ant nationalities into action, we are to add to the
hazai xis of fair and open combat the risk of being betrayed
byle reign mercenaries, for the sake of whom Parliament
was bullied by an unconstitutional threat of resignation,
and the plainest truths of history are travestied by a Ali-
nista rof the Crown. The bullying reduces the represen-
tativ es of the people to the condition of serfs a law-

less aespot, While the misrepresentation of facts is an
insul t to their understanding. It is now perfectly
clear why the extension of the elective franchise,
whick is yearly rendered more and more necessary by
the progress of the population, has been constantly frus-
trated, and why the ballot, which is demanded by the
impossibilty of putting down the increased bribery and in-
timidation, is consistently denounced. A trembling or an
obsequious Parliament could not be obtained under a
popular system. With these measures the war would have
been conducted as if we intended to conquer. Instead of a
treaty with Austria, discouraging the noble patriotism of
Poles, Italians, and Hungarians alike, we should have
bidden those nations to win their freedom, and Russia
would at once have been checkmated. As it is, the Foreign
-Enlistment Bill is a general confession that we are mere
braggarts, who have entered into a contest withoutconcep-
tion of its magnitude, and that we are destitute of the
means of carrying it on with Britons. It is a proclamation
• that the recent victories have ruined our energies, and
that now we most be indebted to the scum of Germany
for probably our national existence. The Times warned
us that we were tottering on the verge of our greatness ;
and, behold ! the Coalition Cabinet has toppled us over, at
the very outset of the war.
If we are now to rely upon foreign bayonets, and if re-
verses ensue, as is most likely since treachery is to be ap-
prehended, are we still to trust to mercenaries ? No other
conclusion can be formed from Lord John Russell's histo-
rical speech. But the people themselves may put a self-
question, whether a country thus insulted and thus hum-
bled, be worth defending with native blood. Already the
t indication is taking place, for the popular enthusiasm Eats-
' tained a shock at the unexpected proposal to associate men
who sell their blood, their limbs, and lives, with the heroes
of Alma and Inkerann ; and it cannot be recovered, for
who knows not that men who hire themselves for war for
the sake of money will again sell themselves to a higher
bidder ?

What are Lord John Russell's precedents for the unpatri-
otic and dispiriting course now pursued ? We cannot go
over a tithe of them for want of space. Fie reverts to the
times of Elizabeth and Cromwell, when English and fo-
reigners fought side by side. Every schoolboy knows that
Spain and France at that time threatened the existence of
every other nation in Europe, and that those foreigners
were no more mercenaries than are the French in the
Crimea. Then we are told of William 111., and every-
body knows that he involved us in his Dutch wars. All
the troops that fought for William were partisans in the
quarrel, and not mercenaries. Next we have Marlborough
and the wars of Queen Anne.
Now, what was the case? Louis XIV. had denied the
legitimacy of the English succession, and proclaimed the
Pretender King of England; besides which, he had in-
vaded the territories of an ally, in the pursuit of universal
dominion, the object for which Nicholas is now hopelessly
contending. Foreign troops were then taken into the pay
of the Allies; but they belonged to nations all of which
had an interest, more or less strong, in defeating the
enemy's ulterior design, but were not rich enough to join

innor

Th_respectij

_
111., so far hadEngl and to do with the -employment of
mercenaries, that when he requested to retain his choice
troops in England he was peremptorily refused. Other
statements equally unfounded as justifications were made
in this speech ; but the last is sufficient to prove the low
estimate which the noble lord had formed of his audience.
He treats the German Legion, who fought gallantly in
Spain, as foreign mercenaries, when, in fact, the great
body of them were as much the subjects of the British
Crown as the English, Scotch, and Irish troops.
On inquiring where we are to get the foreigners, his
lordship tells us of the 30,000 German emigrants who pass
every year through England. And ho expects these men
to stay for the sake of a soldier's pay. Why, each
of these emigrants is travelling at his own expense, and
with an outfit purchased with his money, saved in the
course of years by depositing his earnings in public offices
established in the principal towns of Germany for the
very purpose. To induce such men to abandon the pros-
pects in which they have long indulged, and striven hard
to accomplish, we must not only reimburse them for their
outlay in Germany, but offer them a much higher induce-
ment than a soldier's daily pay. If the foreign enlistment
scheme is nauseous to the popular feeling, this expectation
of carrying out displays an absence of consideration and
information.