The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-26 00:00:00

mercy of the Lords of the Admiralty for the enjoyment
of the pittances, in the shape of pensions, which they
receive as the reward of from twenty to fifty years
spent in the service of their country ? The Gallant
Admiral, in the speech which we have quoted, dwells
upon the hardship of depriving a brave Officer of his
half-pay for the commission of an offence for which he
was not brought to trial, and of which he was entirely
innocent. Now upon this point we go much farther
than the Hon. and Gallant Admiral. Pensions are not
paid by the Admiralty but by the country—they are
voted by the National Representatives as rewards fot
services, honourable in themselves, and entitling the
performers to such rewards ; and therefore we protest
against the claims set up by certain servants of the
Crown of authority to deprive the recipients of them
on any pretence, not recognizable in a Court of Law,
as sufficient to disinherit the possessor of any other
description of property—as high treason, and the like.
So long as Parliament votes the necessary funds for the
payment of pensions to the Naval and Military Ser-
vices, there should be as little question of the right,
once admitted, to receive them, as of the right of a
landlord to receive rent, or a creditor a debt lawfully
due to him.

Besides the system of promotion in the Navy is
calculated to prevent young men of ardent and aspir-
ing dispositions—requisites most essential in the cha-
racter of men whose trade is war—from entering a
service in which it is an hundred to one if they ever
obtain that degree of distinction which they might
confidently look forward to in the Army. In
illustration of this fact, the Honourable and
Gallant Admiral, to whose speech we have just
adverted, stated in the course of a debate in the
House of Commons on the 31st of May, 1836, that
there were then living eighteen Major-Generals who
in twelve years were promoted from Lieutenant• Col-
onels to that high rank ; whereas there were fifty-four
Naval Captains who had spent thirty-five years
in the service without either promotion or a
prospect of it. This statement was made from offi-
cial lists, and yet strange to say, it produced no
effect upon the temper of the House. Though it
might be presumed that a service which has contributed
more to the glory of England than our army and diplo-
macy put together, would be the especial object of
national gratitude, yet there is scarcely a Palace porter
who does not take precedence of the oldest Naval
Captain in the Pension List. To fight our battles
and to win them too, is not half so profitable as to
lacquey our lords, or even to sweep the floors of our
public buildings. This is as disgraceful to the country
as it is unjust to the veteran ornaments of a service,
upon the proper maintenance of which depends the
wealth, power, and glory of the British Empire.
To improve the Navy we must begin by abo-
lishing the accursed system of impressment a
system which ere this would have been produc-
tive of the ruin of this country, if the worst
oppression was strong enough to efface from the
minds of Englishmen those generous sentiments which
have never yet failed to inspire them in the day of
battle. When a motion for the abolition of impress-
ment was brought forward in the House of Commons
in 1834, several Naval Officers expressed their convic-
tion, and among the rest Admiral CODRINGTON, that
if the system of impressment was abolished seamen
would enter the Naval in preference to the Merchant
Service. But the system of impressment, in addition
to its natural injustice, entailed upon Officers the ne-
cessity of treating the men with great cruelty. They
were obliged to guard them as if they were felons, and
to confine them on board when they might suffer them
to go ashore, were they not bound to prevent every
possible chance of their desertion. It is this confine-
ment that renders the service on board a Queen's ship
really irksome ; for at sea there is not half the working
to be done which is exacted from common sailors on
board the best manned Merchant vessels. Abolish
impressment ; hold out the same inducements to men
to enter the Nary as is offered in recruiting for the
army ; grant pensions for wounds received equally on
sea and land ; and for one thousand seamen wanted the
Admiralty will have ten thousand volunteering their
services. Instead of manning ships with the refuse of
our cities, the Government may select the very best
men for the Naval service. For why is it that
our seamen are unwilling to serve in Queen's ships ?
Because Englishmen, however humble, have no taste
for being treated as felons—for perilling their lives
without the prospect of personal distinction or ade-
quate reward. Educated in the principles of freemen,
they are averse to a service which would reduce them
to a state of abject and perpetual slavery. And yet,
though these sentiments were urged and repeated in
the House of Commons ninety-eight years ago by Sir
JOHN BARNARD and Mr. SHIPPEN, when opposing
a Ministerial Bill for the arbitrary and cruel registra- '
tion of sailors, brought in by Sir CHARLES WAGER,
we do not find that up to the meeting of the first Re-
formed Parliament, the Government of this country
ever once saw that they accorded equally with the
principles of sound policy and common sense. If we
only reflect for a moment upon the vast facilities which
a Government enjoys of rendering any service more an
object of desire than aversion, we will be forced to
express surprise at where the prodigious amount of
prejudice, ignorance, and folly, could be found neces-
sary for the conducting of the administration of our
Navy as it has been carried on, as regards seamen, for
the last century.

The Paris Journals of Monday have all been re-
ceived. The Ministerial prints no longer attempt to
conceal the triumph of the Opposition ; but they inti-
mate that Ministers will risk another defeat before
resorting to that most dreaded of extremities—a re-
signation. Their object in courting so many defeats
is to ascertain more clearly the relative strength of the
several parties who compose the majority. In the British
Parliament, where there are but three parties alto-
gether, and where the distinctions between them are
well defined, such a pretext for provoking divisions
would be preposterous ; but in the French Chambers
there are as many as six factions, each having for its
watchword some political jargon in the form of a
philosophical axiom, which, while it separates them
from all others, is unintelligible even to themselves.
The knowledge which Ministers seek is wanted for
Court purposes. The KING dreads M. TRIERS,
knowing that he will employ all his influence in re-
versing the present political system, and therefore, as a
last resource, no pains will be spared to foment
jealousies among the factions now disposed to unite
with the ex-Minister against Count MOLE. The
ti(e humiliation
IsG' sgreaof a change
tobjectistotry, by a coalition, to obviate
hof system of which all
Europe knows him to be himself the propounder.
We have the following letter from Toulon, dated the 20th
December :—" The whole city is full of an event of the most
Clehaignean, on road. The
Surprise seriousurprinature,e
brig, whicheomtaonodke placelast
Lieutenant nigh t in
ti
board of which Mr. Raoul Rosette visited the coasts of Greece,
had been admitted a few days ago to free pratique. This
morning the captain of the brig and the officers, who had slept
on shore, were expecting the boat which usually came to fetch
them in the morning, when they learned that during the night,
while the officer on duty was at rest, the crow in a body went
on board the long boat, and abandoned the vessel ; it is not
yet known what course they have taken. There remains on
board only the officer on duty, the boatswain, and a cabin boy.
The matter will be legally investigated. It is a repetition
of what took place fifteen months ago, on board the Legere
schooner.
FRENCH FUNDS.—PARIS, DECEMBER 24.
Five per Cents., 109 f. •20e. Latest Prices...lo9C 15c.
Four per Cents., 10If. 60c.
nape per Cents., 7Bf. 25e.
Jit.clpns, 2fi9sf. Ditto 2,685 f.
Rente de Naples' 981: 60c Ditto 98t' 6,je.
Roman. Five per'Cents., pi
Spanish Actives, 16 ~ „„ Ditto 16i(
Belgian Five per Cents., D'o9
Belgian Three per Cents., 661. 50c.
Belgian Bank, 580 f.
iC,14;10 on I,oNDoN.—Onemonth,paper, 05f. 15c ; money,2sf. 15e;
-"..resstontii4, —c.; money, 9.51.
sk(MALAN ryNDS,--VIENNA, Dec. 15.
' M.44110,10:,3
~ • IOB
Five per Cen...
Foer per Cents.
Three per Cents.
Bank Shares ,
—AllgemcincZeitung, Dec.2o.