The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-21 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPIII.
Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
TIIIS EVENING, DEC. 21.
Will be pertl-rmed an entire new Rustic Draina called PIERRE
THE FOUNDLING. Supported by Messrs. B. Webster and Kee-
ley, and Mrs. Keeley and Miss Woolgar.
Followed by BONA FIDE TRAVELLERS.
After which, a new Farce called THE SLOW MAN.
To which will be aided a new farCO, entaled THE RAILWAY
BELLE.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEITRE.
Lessee and Manager, air. A. Wigan.

TIIIS EVENING, DEC. 21,

Will be Gated a new Comedletta, c tiled A WIFE'S JOUR N AL.
Characters by Messrs Brown, Emery, Harcourt, and Leslie; and
Mrs. Brown, and Miss Maskcil.
To be followed by THE BEULAH SPA. Principal characters
by Messrs. A. Wigan, Emery, P. Robson, and H. Cooper; M•s-
Dtarston, Mrs. A. Wigan, Mrs. Fitzallan, and Miss Julia St. George
To conclude with THE FIRST NIGHT. Characters by Me.- r- .
A ed Wigan, Leslie, Harwood Cooper, anti Gladstone ; Miss Juli
St. George, ani MISS Emily Ormorale.

ASTLETS ROYAL AMNITTITEATIVC,

Lowe and Msmeger, sir. William Cooke.

The Wonderful PERFORMING ELEPHANT ; for this week (illy !

TIII3
THE BATTLE or THE ALMA.?

After which, the varied SCENES in the CIRCLE.

•
Also, the Wonderful PERFOIi \II ELEP El ANT S, whose :leo-
/11111in; svacity and Iniese:P)able deve'opment of• the rersoning
I,eco:ty have been the theme of universal admira' ion,

To melee with the BAC IELOR.
NP, —A MORNING PERFORMANCE cond3ting of the New
4'4l:ate Pantomime. and Szenea In tha Arena, will take place on
Tv 'DAY, h (lt..xnrs Day) at TWO o'clock.

HI WA:I7A A:7 LONDON BR

'`A ? I- ^

40rL0r..; S 314,.,..ft,r 2 2.7on'n; 52
'-•a I.4lo:niti, 17 no;..nrtei 3 Fvez-,114, 42

It W KATIII&B.--Ezat Orrlcs, Dec. 21

thigalf.,l4 P;TZa, SIZS.Da.
44 --I.i:.zhest since noon yesterday.
_ this morning and during the night.
•k4.—this day, at noon.

BAROnXTEP, 30 08.
W.S.W.—Light bre,2z?, with rainy weather.

4 -• ••••
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LOIV)ON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1854,

The mlrtial enthusiasm of the rking genera
Lion has been strongly displayed in the zeal an.

devotioa with which rneu of all classes of society
have flocked to the national standard. Rich

and poor, the high born and the humble, hive
all exhibited - equal, ardour. All their desire is to

be led against the common enemy. The youth-
ful inheritor of honourable titles and wide-spread
domain, is willing t) brave certain hardship and
imminent danger to be allowed to participate in
the death struggle. The solitary hope of many
an ancient house is willing to be the last of his
name, if that name be only embalmed in the me-

rnories of his country as that of one who perished
in the glorious campaign iu the Crimea. The
tuiadie climes are just as eager to
"Seek the bubble reputation &en at the cannon's
mouth."

In vain are the most promising prOsp?cts of com-
mercial or legal eminence opened to their views.
In vain does the peaceful sechtsiou of the com-
fortable vicarage or snug prebend invite attention,
Law, physic, divinity, trade, commerce, manufac-
ture are all disregarded—"ilillitia ese potion is
the general cry. The scarlet coat alone obtains
attention, and the very dangers and hardships in-
cidental to its use apparently constitute its chief
attractions.

Nor do these spirited youths seek to come in
'on better terms than they were willing to submit
to in " the piping times of peace," when the
only duties were to appear at drill or parade,
and to " flutter the hearts" of the softer sex.
There are as many applications for purchase as
ever ; the money would be promptly forthcoming
for every vacant commission. Strong competition
prevails for the .privilege of paying 4501. sterling,
besides the expenses of outfit, arc., in order to be
subjected to very harassing duties, accompanied
in too many instances with severe privations and
unceasing risk, not merely of a glorious death on
the field of battle, but from disease, or the
wearing effects of neglected wounds, or exposure
to inclement weather, and all for ss. 3d. per diem,
or 951. 16s. 3d. per annum. We may think the
speculation not a very profitable one, but there is
no lack of volunteers ready and willing to pay the
price, and to accept the position with all its
disadvantages.

Now, the Germans who may be favoured with
commissions in the new corps will have nothing
to pay. It would be ridiculous to ask merceitarE's,
whose sole object is gain, to enter into what
might prove a very unprofitable project in a
pecuniary point of view. There will be many Ger-
mans willing to accept commissions—few, if any,
-willing to pay for them. Now, we may ask, are
these men so much better than the rising genera-
tion in England, Scotland, and Ireland?—are they
calculated to become more efficient officers, that
they should receive gratuitously, nay, more, be
solicited to accept, what our own less-favoured
countrymen make the strongest interest to ob-
tain by purchase ? Is a German Ensign worth
an English one plus 4501. ? We think that
the, L. S. D. view of the case is by no means
favourable to the Foreigners Enlistment Bill-..
nor will the undue favouritism, so conspicuous
in this new phase of Germanism—the contemp-
tuous indifference to the claims of the mere Eng-
lish, when compared with " the more favoured
nation."

There is another matter which should not be
disregarded while considering the pecuniary part
of the question. Whatever half-pay pensions or
Egatnities may be granted to the regular army
11111 in all probability be expended in the United
The men will return to their native
Place's' and the money with which they may be
rewarded „in be
simply transferred from one
pocket to another
; there will be nothing taken
from the country h
;
ile,en the other, the Ger-
mans will return tow
their own homes, and the
entire funds will be drawn, and
in sterling
by
Our ill a
a large propor-
tion of it another land thus
adding to the evils
dvised
and inequitable currency laws.
supposed from wint
Let it not be t we have
above stated that we are generally favourable to
the system of promotion by purchase in the army ;
but without entering on that broad ground, with-
out seeking a satisfactory solution of the "vexed"
question, we may unhesitatingly say that if it is
to be retained for English candidates for commis-
sions, it should be applied to GCMG= aspirants.
The same measure should be meted to the one as
to the other. But why not English officers alto-
gether, the same as in India ?

If the military authorities seek to obtain a
better class of recruits, well educated, energetic

men, who would prove a credit to the service, let
them take a further step in the path on which
they have already entered. Let them promote a
greater number of meritorious non-commissioned
officers. Many persons now unable to enter the
army in the regular way from want of money or
interest, or both, would then enlist in the
ranks in the hope of winning their epau-
lettes by good conduct, gallantry, and
unceasing activity. Where could better
officers be obtained than under such a system,
which would also improve the tone and character
of the private soldiers—each man remembering
that he was for the time being in a state of pro-
bation, and that his promotion and future pro-
spects in life depended on his own exertions and
his own good conduct. We know many men
who, disappointed in their efforts to obtain com-
missions, or who, having served as officers and
been obliged to sell their commissions to satisfy
debts contracted through some juvenile impru-
dence, would gladly undergo any trials to regain
the position they had lost. Such men, if willing
to undergo the probation, to pass through the
ordeal of a temporary sojourn in the ranks, should
be almost invariably promoted. They would be
experienced officers, their faults obliterated, and
their characters purified by the trials they had
undergone. We trust that these matters may
receive the attentive consideration of which we
are convinced they are so eminently deserving.

There is to be no financial statement before
Christmas ! It is true that a resolution respect-
ing Savings Banks was yesterday carried by the
aancellor of the Exchequer, but as the bill is not
to be introduced until after the recess there is
ample time to consider the proposition of the.
Right Hon. Gentleman, so far as the same was
developed in his brief speech when introducing
the subject, in order to obtain the fornittl
assent of the House to the introduction
of the measure. But no account is to be

riven of the pecuniary position and prospects of
the country. The anxiety of the people is not to
he relieved by any - official intimation of the
course to be adopted, in order to meet the extra
expenditure occasioned, by what may, wo truzit,
even at the eleventh hour, be found to be a
vigorous prosecution, of the war.

The financial crotchet of meeting the entire
outlay from the annual revenue, of refraining
from placing► a single shilling of the heavy
charges on posterity, for whose exclusive benefit
they were undertaken, and maintaining intact
stringent money regulations, never intended for
such a state of affAirs, has already created diffi-
culties sufficient to satisfy " a friend to the
AUTOCRAT" of even MOTO than " forty years'

dtandibg."

It is, however, now very tertain that no pecu-
niary pressure, no difficulties of any kind what-
ever, will be sufficient to disgust the people with
the War, or to lead to the anticipated demand for
peace. Men of all classes and ranks in society
cheerfully submit to any pressure, being willing
to testify with their pockets the deretion which
they would willingly seal with their blood if

the occasion required it. To the rich and powerful
these are but of trivial importance. At the out-
side they will merely be obliged to refrain from
some uncalled-for luxury, or to surrender some
passing fancy ; but with the great body of the
people, those who earn their daily bread by their
daily labour, the matter is very different. They
must be contented to abstain from comforts, which
habits had almost rendered necessaries, possibly
to curtail, to thel utmost degree, the supply of
indispensable articles. They feel it very roi3ob.
They see it in the garments of themselves and
families, which have not received the usual renova-

tion. No w these persons thus cheerfully submitting to
these trials should not have the period unneces-
sazily protracted. Many capitalists are keeping
funds hoarded up in consequence of their igno-
rance of the Ministerial intentions, and the thick
veil of mystery in which the financial prospects
of the country are enveloped. Any intimation
given would be thankfully received, and might,
very probably, liberate funds now locked up, and
direct them into channels very beneficial to the
trade and commerce of the country.
Why, then, should Mr. GLADSTONE remain silent?
Why should he, through an obstinate adherence
to precedent, prevent the relief that might other-
wise be experienced by the industrious classes ?
But if he seeks an example—if he is so strongly
bound by red-tapist fetters that he cannot take
the initiative in any case, but must act as his
predecessors did under similar circumstances, he
need not go very far back to find that which he
requires. It is barely two years since the
Budget was brought forward before Christ-
mas, the object being not the benefit of the
community at large—not the relief of trade
and commerce, or of the working population
of the country, but merely to obtain the sense of
the popular branch of the Legislature on the finan-
cial policy of the DERBY Administration. What
a chivalrous desire to meet a challenge and to
I afford a suitable field fcr she offered contest in-
duced Mr. DISRAELI to do in 1852 might cer-
tainly be followed by his successor, when so many
and such important national interests are in-
volved in the result. If Mr. GLADSTONE, how-
ever, refuses to come forward, we must, however
unwillingly, be contented to await his convenience
to accept whatever he may condescend to offer.
Surely, then, it is time that the nation should
shake off the apathy to which it has long yielded
itself ; that it should insist on greater a'Aention
being paid to fiscal, financial, and monetary sub-
jects by the Representatives of the people. These
matters are of paramount importance. Every
man feels the gross injustice of the present In-
come Tax, and the equal apportionment of all
receipts, no matter from what source they might
arise ; and yet, although nine-tenths of the Mem-
bers of both houses anticipated a revision of the ini-
qui touslaw, al thoughliar. DrsnAzu had made a step
in the right direction, which was only objected to
for not going far enough, they patiently yielded
to the dictation of Mr. GLADSTON; and allowed
him to control the almost unanimous feeling
the House.

Again, there was the strongest objection to cast-
ing the whole burden of the outlay on the present
generation, more especially as the Exchequer had
just been denuded of its balances to pay off eight
millions of old liabilities, which would remain undis-
turbed but for the total failure of the abortive conver-
sion project. Those eight millions were demanded
back, but to avoid a trifling wound to the vanity
of the Right Honourable financier the majority
again submitted to abandon their own views, and
to submit with edifying humility to the dictation
of the Financial Minister.
It is impossible within the space remaining
available even to enter on the monetary question,
,far the most important of all, and on which the wel-
fare and prosperity of the nation chiefly depends.
We say enough, however, to bespeak attention to
the subject,
in reminding the community that
provision must be mad© within the present ses-
sion for the renewal or. ,:vithdrawal of the Bank
of England Charter ; and, if the latter, the esta-
blishment of a fitting substitute in the shape of a
really National Bank in its place,