The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-29 00:00:00

TtlEktkcE itOYAL ADELPIII.

Proprietor, Yr. 12. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celesta.
THIS EVENING, Dcc. 29,
Will be periermed an entire rew Rustic Drama called PIERRE
'rliz FOUNDLING. Supportel Messrs. B. Webster and Kee-
ley, tad Mrs. Keeley and Miss W, olgar.
eb, a new grand Eccentric Extravaganza, called Z;(1-
Akk Travels et Messrs. Danube and Pruth.
TOLE.a, ~,rlit
BEL be added a naw Farce, ent.tled THE RAILWAY

'ROYAL OLYNIPIC TEIEkTV.E.
Lessee and Manager, air... Wi•.;an.
'llll.s EVENING, I)tc. 2,3
will he presented anew Condedletta tiled .4. IYIFF,':3 JOURI,ZIL.
Characters by Messrs
_Erovre. 'Emery, tlarcourt, and Leslie; and
trs. t..row
_n, I Miss nasken.,
A.ter nikji, a ne4v, FKaii7,GEtre.g.riza. entitled TilE YELLOW
DWARF., •
~148 Julia (Gle?,,Ltzpa, Charac-
Miss E. Ormond°,
ters by Mr. F. Robson,
Miss Marston, 31iss Bromley, and Mrs. leltzallan.
To conclude with the Farce, called A BLIGATED BEING, in
app p
_e ur.
%Well Mr. Robson will

ROYAL LYCEUM
Under the ll:magenta:lt of Madame Veetris.
Sole
C. 11.1 thews. Lemee

THI3 EVENING, -Me. 29,
Will be performed AGGRAVATING SA 51. Principal character
by air. C. Jiattews.
Will be produced a new and original Fairy Yxtravazanza,
titled PRINCE LIRETTYPET and Tlll BU VTERILY.
To bo followed by TWO 11EAD3 ARE BETTER THAN ONE.
Itos-offleo open from 10 Wait G.
Salo agent for Private Boxes Mr. Alleroft, 15, New Mond-,;treat.

ASTLET'S ROYAL A MPIIITiIi;ATtn,
see and Manager, sir. William Cooke.
!, Tremendous success of the Comic ?aatomime I
,PERFORMANCES will take place on the 3ioncitia'
• Mornings of January lat, Bth, and 15th.
THIS EVENING,

TUE BA.TTLE of PE ALMA!
After which, the SCIES in the ..iRENA
To eaticlude with in entirely new Harlequinado Ly Nelson Lee,
with new music, scenery, dresses, tricks, transformations, ike , &c.
called.
GULLIVE.fr.i TRAVELSTEIROUGIi THE HORSE
4.,
w.,7; ISLANDS ; or„parlequin and Britannia!
%At:: liox-office °lien from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West, A cling Manager, Mr, W. H. Cooke, Equestrian Director,
w rnoke. Jun.

marl WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
c,ns DAT —Morning 51 itinAfter 9 Evening 23 min.e. 10
To- arcu ~vv Marlins. 55 totn.after 10 Rvening 29 rain.aft. 11

IDE OiIICI Dee. 29.
TVERUOIIETER, IN THE SHAM
42—highest sineo noon yesterday.
34 —lowest this morning and during the night.
42 —this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, 30'53.
WIND,W.N.W.—Light breeze, and hazy frosty weather.

(6

LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1854.

We still carry on matters according to ths jog-
trot system prevalent in " the good old times,

when GEORGE the Third was King." If a step
in advance be taken—if there is the slightest de-
parture from the specified course, it can only be
regarded as the exception to the general rule—

and means are invariably adopted by those in
authority to render it, if not absolutely abortive,
as little beneficial as possible. Men in office will
not cordially co-operate with mere civilians, or
willingly assist in advancing an object, the success
whereof must cast a certain slur upon themselves.
In fact, as we have already urged, usque ad
naus4am, " Red-tapism" prevails ix every de-
partment. The substance is sacrificed to the form.
Theprolongedpeace, in place of leading to improve-
ments, has only occasioned a more stringent adhe-
rence to established routine. Ameliorations which
the exigencies of a protracted war had produced
are now impossible. If the nation were so fortu-
nate as to have another WELILINGTON and a NEL-
sox in its service, neither could be placed in the
position where their exertions could be really bene-
ficial. The one could not obtain a command on land
or the other on water. if at the ages when
they achieved their highest triumphs they could
not now look for more than a Lieutenant-Colo-
nelcy in command of a regiment, or a Post-Cap-
tainey. The rules of the service's, the regulations of
"My Lords " would forbid any more exalted
positions.

What avails it that the interests of the eountry
demand a change ? These interests have ever
been sacrificed, and will, we fear, for a long series
of years continue to be sacrificed to etiquette, or
red-tapisrn, the demon whics.h, although it makes
an excellent servant, invariably proves a most
imperious and inexorable master. We still re-
fuse to entrust men, in the pride and vigour of
manhood, with supreme co c imand—we will not
place confidence in *heir effici ency until they have
fallen into the " sere and jr3llow leaf "—until,
in the language of the P. R., they have
become " stale and used up," when their
vigour has departed, and their science, once
of a high order, totally failed? them in respect of
the more recent "dodges" in troduced by younger
men, who started at the poi nts where they had
left off.

The same thing is applimble to our Generals
and Admirals. We look nut for a man in ad-
♦ance of the age, who know r 3 more than any of
the present generation. (hi the contrary, we
seek a " laudatar temperis acii"—one solely guided
by " the light of other dayi;,," who, although dis-
tinguished a..s a young mail and in a subordinate
situation some forty or fifttr years since, has sof-

fered the accumulated rust ca:f nearly half a century

to impair the knowledge he f nee possessed, and who
has not kept progress with 'the advanced enlight-
enment of the age, and whc► is totally ignorant
of matters familiar to younger and more ener-
getic minds.

The chief care of men of this class is to fling
discredit ; or, according to the afficial slang, to
"cast cold water" ou every recent improvement.
And why ? The reasons are obvimus. First, be-
cause any great improvement produced by a
GRIFFIN casts an implied censure in the "de-
partment" which, with superior Advantages, suf-
fered strangers to take the lead. Secondly, be-
cause the additional element would render now
calculations indispensable, and all the knowledge
so painfully and laboriously acquired would go
for nothing,. They would themselves be obliged
co continue students, still to learn in place of
resting under the shade of former laurels.
Now, this system is painfully perceptible
in the Crimea at this moment. , Our men have
proved, themselves fully equal to any that have
ever fought the battles of old England in all the
qualities of the soldier. But we regret to be
obliged to add that they have been very unneces-
sarily tasked—aye, and many valuable lives have
been sacrificed, in consequence of the stub-
born adherence to precedent. We doubt not
that Sir Jolts BURGOYNE is a brave soldier,
t hat he is as willing to risk his own life, or the
lives of the officers and men under his command,
as any Englishmen have ever proved themselves to
be—nay mole, we believe th.,.t he is an excellent
officer of the good old school--and that few men
could be found better acquainted with science as
it was known in 1815. Our quarrel is not with
the man but the system, and it is with
deep regret that we find'. ourselves obliged
to introduce his name into the controversy.
But, unfortunately, we are compelled to do so.
We cannot expose the evil without referrng to an
example, and Sir JOHN BIURGOYN El at present
constitutes one of the most striking illustrations
of the objectionable system, that gives everything
to mere seniority asd nothi,zg tio merit.
In our impression of T'nesday we inserted a
letter signed " GURWOODIENSIS." We did so
freely and willingly. It is always our desire
to give fair play to every man, and
to publish his defence fuLs,,ainst any attack.
Audi alterain parton is an: excellent rule, which
we have invariably acted ,en. We, therefore,
gave the defence in the very words of the advo-
cate, in order that the puiblic might judge for
itself of its validity. The chief point was that,
with other officers, Sir JOHN' BURGOYNE had ren-
dered every assistance, a:ail that the failure
of success was not to be attributed to him,
and, also, that he had been successful in
other important sieges. Now, this scarcely
meets the objection put forward. by " Omicron.',
This very praise of officers of rank is a portion Of
the objectionable system. Every person in a cer-
tain position must be noticed, while those of in-
ferior rank cannot be referred to, however exem-
plary their conduct. We did. not hear of Colour-
Serjeaut DAVIS, or of other gallant non-
commissioned or even subaltern officers. Not
a word of encouragement could be bestowed
on their exertions. The G ereral has not an eye
sufficiently " microscopic" to recognise any one
under the rank of a field officer. But those in
high position must be allultd to, and the extract
from the despatch referred to. by " Gurwoodiensis"
seemed very like a" damning: by faint praise." But
even were it otherwise, it woilld not meet the ques-
tion ; for althougliSirJ. BUR GovrtEcouldnotthenbe
justly held responsible fur the extraordinary and
unanticipated effects produc ed by the earthworks
so hastily thrown up, he ought to have profited by
the lesson, and to have prevent edsimilar defences by
the Russians in 1854. That. of 1812 was a sur-
prise—of 1854 an error. 'Lot 115 hope that

the incubus may at length be ;6 hakeu of 1; and
that we may be able to obtain the services of
men whose object will be to foster and assist, in-
stead of smothering and repudiating modern im-
provements.

Ministers have given the tax-payers of England
liree or four weeks to think for themselves before
le bewildering conflict of Parliamentary debate

begins. To the tax-payers of this country, there-
fore, with Count VALERIAN KRASINSKI, in his
calm and well-reasoned pamphlet, " Russia, Po-

land, and Europe,"* we intend to address our-
selves. Do you mean, then, we ask, to see your
millions " muddled" away by official stolidity, and
by Holy Alliance politics ? The country shows
that it grudges no amount of money which is
spent directly, and without favour, to the despots, on
the great object of the War ; but let our Cabinet
know that we will not sacrifice our earnings in
income taxes and other taxes—first, to save super-
annuated and incompetent routinists from giving
place to men of capacity ; and secondly, to humour
Austria and the petty Courts of Germany. Bad
as the waste of money is through the first cause,
it is not to be compared with the sacrifice occa-
sioned by the second. Moreover, our contem-
porary, who sneers at the second, is just now in
its utmost wrath against official mismanagement,
and we leave it, therefore, to watch that half of
the business. In all probability it will work it-
self in time—stoo late, however, to save the loss
of oceans of money and blood—s-into a patriotic
advocate of the necessity of Polish independence.
This is the question which is now become the
great practical one of the War. It is no longer a
matter of noble aspirations, or sentimental dis-
quisition. If we apprehend it rightly, Poland,
and the course taken in regard to it, are now the
turning point of the War. The issue of the next
campaign, and indeed of the whole contest, de-
pends upon how Poland and the Poles are dealt
with. Count KRISINSKI well observes that if the
restoration of Poland to an independent State
were merely to be a passive result of the War, the
tax-payers of England might well hesitate in
prospect of the sacrifices which might be required.
But he desires, as we have done all along, that it
should be a prime agent in the War ; and as he
thinks, and we think so too, it must be a most
effective agent. It is not proposed merely to add
Polish emancipation to the objects of the War,
but to use it also to shorten its duration and to
lessen its cost in money and in life. It is at the
same time the only reasonable guarantee for Euro-
pean peace, or from disturbance of it by the bar-
barians on the other side of the Dnieper, and the
most statesmanlike means of compelling the CZAR
to sue for peace. At the present moment, when
the whole country is heart-sick with the legerde-
main by which it was tricked out of a Foreign
Enlistment Bill, one step, and one only, can re-
gain any measure of the lost confidence (where
there was any to lose), and that is to turn it prac-
tically into a Polish Enlistment Bill. Could our
Premier and his Peelites but take that honest and
manly step, the country would forgive the secresy
and surprise, and begin to trust instead of sus-
pecting. They would try and believe that the
stealthy assault on Parliament was rendered ne-
cessary by " reasons of State," and console them-
selves with the near vision of a regiment or legion
hof Poles leading an assault on Sebastopol itself.
Count N.B.A.SINSICI hrte his own modus operandi,
and it is a carefully-considered one. He thinks
Austria may be persuaded (if the Allies determine
on a free Poland) to give up Gallicia. Thore he
would at once establish the nuoleus of a Polish
national Government, and commence the forma-
tion of a Polish army, taking its first soldiers and
officers from the Poles already in the Austrian
service. To these, of course, would be rapidly
added all the exiles from other countries and the
deserters from the Russian army and Russian
Poland. In a war with Russia, Austria would
thus have all Poland with her, and the Poles in
Russian service, instead of being her enemies,
would desert to their own standard, and aid or
cover the advance of Austria. To effect this
would require a loan from the Allied Powers ;
but it would be a loan which would be doubly
repaid--first, in paralysing the legions of Russia
by the desertion of the Poles, and strengthening
the Allied Armies, and thus saving us both sol-
diers and money ; secondly, by guaranteeing it
on the futairo revenues of Poland, which when
free could easily afford its interest, and in no long
time its principal too.
But there is another supremely important as-
pect of the case. Few of us but must have been
struck with Mr. LAYARD'S description of the ex-
posure of Tuxkey in Asia, in the next campaign,
to the arms of Russia. The picture was drawn by
one certainly not ignorant of Turkish resources in
Asia, of a Russian army advancing in that direc-
tion to the very shores of the Bosphorus. Now
the step which would weaken Russia most in Asia
would be the simple unfurling of the Polish flag.
The armies of the Caucasus are filled with
Poles, and the soul-stirring prospect of fighting
ender their own colours, and against their hated
oppressor, instead of for him, would cause them
one and all to desert. Even the few, whom mili-
tary rigour might be able to retain in the Russian
camp, would be dreaded as spies, who at the first
favourable moment would carry fatal knowledge
to the enemy. Count KRASINSKI would collect
and discipline these soldiers to united action iu
the Crimea, and would bring them to act upon
the southern provinces of Russia. Ho shows very
strong reasons for concluding that the greater part
of the Cossacks, whom Russia has lately subjected
to a galling deprivation of their rights and national
liberties, would gladly fraternise with the Poles
in that quarter, and thus weaken Russia on the
side adjacent to the Crimea. Perhaps the Count
has too much made the renunciation of Gallicia by
Austria the key of his plan, and lie would even
compensate her by the gift of Moldavia and
Wallachia. This, we think, would be buying her
aid too dear. It is 110 point of honour, no in-
crease of military strength, but the contrary, for
Austria to retain Gallicia, and she has no more
right to it than the other sharers of Poland. She
could not keep it if the Allies espoused the Polish
cause. She has reason enough to follow the wish
of METTERNICH, and to contribute her portion
towards an efficient barrier between herself and
the wrath of Nrcuonas and his savages. It were
madness, we think, to enslave provinces, free under
the SULTAY, to the leaden yoke of Austria.

* " Russia, Poland, and Europe ; or, the Inevitable
Consequences of the Present War. By Count Valerian
Krasinski." Chapman and Ball,

An elegant and valuable service of communion plate
was presented ou Christmas-day by Mr. W. W. Haw-
kins, M.P., for use in the parish church of Alresford.
The service consisted of flagon, chalice, paten, and alms
dish, silver gilt, of the Camden pattern, and each en-
graved with a Scripture text from the Latin. The ser-
vice was enclosed in an oak case, bearing the simple in-
scription—" Presented by William Warwick Harkins
and his wife Harriet, of Alresford Hall, to the parish of
Alresford, on Christmas-day, 1854."
INVERNESS AND ELGIN RAILWAY.—Great exertions
are being made at various places in the district through
which this line is intended to pass with a view to secure
subscriptions for the requisite capital, and to enable the
promoters to make the necessary deposit, in cornplianeis
with the standing orders of Parliament. The landowners
are favourable to the undertaking. The promoters have
made satisfactory arrangements with the Great North of
Scotland Railway Company, so as to avoid all op-
position.