The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-22 00:00:00

Idle PUBLIC JOURNALS•

EVENIN Gir ED P° I lON .
Tie Commissioners are evidently sensible that the:. P
tenure of ctiice is becoming insecure, and thtey.Lave •
not failed to percoive in the tone 0:' n
sloes in the house of Coinrnons, and c'eterf-17-, 1-,((:)151ct-1411:e'
eTiactintrits of tic Legislature during, toe S!.!ssien of "
1839, evidence of an increasing reeetion against the
piinciplas of their Administration. The vote obtained-upon Mr. Darby's motion in favour of the priecinie
of
I a modified out-doer :chef, and the Act of 0 'and 3
Vtctaria, c. 85, for facilitating the remedy ogainst the
putative fathers of illegitimate children, were 1.1: as
heavy bloics and great disecuregements to th., sy.tom.
But.the Commissioners are hold men ; they are re-
solved to stem the tide of public opinion, and in :Iv
case rather to break than bend. Accordingly,
! present report, they manfully avow their dotermina-
ition to adhere, ur,flinchinely, to their former princi.
pies and their former practices ; and not only so. lust
to carry ,hen, out to still harsher extremes. Their
utmost force of argument, their most forniidaLle ari ay
iof figir es, is directed to prove the inne moraLle awl
incurable mischiefs of out-door relief under ev(ry
shape, and tiie absolute proptiety, tint el perseveriug
only in the measures already taken to repress that evil,
but of pushing the workhouse theory to its find deve-
lopment, and cernprcliending within its unbending
formula all the casts which necessity.
convent Tee, or
discreet dissimulation have hitherto cause d to he es-
eeptcbl. Upon the bastardy they are tqually
or even more undaunted. The ablest and most accoin-
pliihed elan among thiir asAistant•commisioneriv, Sir E.
Head, has been directed to review the subject of illicit
sexual intercourse in all its beatings, and to digest into
the most consistent and uncompromising form the con-
clusions of political economy on this delicate point.
His report, which is given in the appendix, complains
bitterly of the recent statute.

(From the 41Iorning Advertiser.)
Without being desirous of prejudging the case of
Captain Reynolds (the senior Captain of the 11th Hus-
sars), which is now pending before a court martial at
Brighton, we cannot refrain from making a few obser-
vations upon the affair of the Earl of Cardiean and
Captain John Reynolds, of the same regiment—an af's
fair for ever memorable by its association with a " black
bottle." In England it is surprising what an importance
is attached to matters like this—not from a regard for
the true spirit of honour, and n firm devotion to its
assertion, but front a bastard epecies of gentility which
piques itself upon a critical knowie !ge of " etiquette."
or of the conventionalities which an aristocratical steers
of society has substituted for realities, and hav*;
about the same relation to honour that heraldry bears
to chivalry. In the army, above all, the sensation
Which this quarrel will produce is incalculable. From
India to Canada there is not an cosign in whose lif
this incident of " the black bottle of 'Moselle" will not
be stamped as a landmark—so much will he hear and
so much will he say about it, and so deeply will his
feelings be interested, that the tactics of a 'rurenne, the
campaigns of a Marlborough, the glories of a Napoleon,
and even the victories of a Wellington, will fade into
utter neglect and insignificance, compared with the more
important affair of the " bottle imp," which he cannot
sit down at the mess-table without dreaming of, discuss-
ing, and re-discussing. Oh, that black bottle—Oh, that
bottle imp ! What a thing it is ! What is the war
with the Pacha of Egypt compared with it ? What that
with China? Nothing—absolutels nothing ; and we shall
assuredly not be surprised, if in the approaching Caurt-
martial, officers will be glad to hold with him in
his " customs and his disciplines," and to esteem the
affair of the black bottle transgression to be a higher
crime than the seduction of a young lady, or the ab-
straclion of another man's wife. But to be serious.
What is the cause of all this hubbub about nothing ?
Why, it is to be found in that construction and consti-
tution of the English, (Fascia from that of ail other
countries, which subjects the poor, though talented
and scientific officer, to the unlimited control of the
rich, and at the same time gives that supremacy to the
Lars. for his gold, which is niggardly bestowed upon
the former as the reward of many forlorn hopes. An
impassable line of demarcation is thus established, not
only between the officer and the soldier—but between
officers and officers—between men of talent and merit and
the mere muckworms, mawworms, butterflies, and other
craatures—fruges consuntere nati—than which nothing
more devilish in principle, or more impolitic in prac-
tice, was ever imagined by the mind of men, to destroy
the army as an arm of strength, or shear the country
of the glory which stout hearts and strong arms would
otherwise confer upon it. Well might, the French
General Foy—himself the pink of honour—wonder
that an army of men, thus constituted, fighting " under
the cold shade of aristocracy," should exhibit a single
particle of intelligence or patriotism, or even of courage
beyond that of the Russian serf, whose only stimulus
is the dread of the knout, end whose only consolation
is that death will put an end to a life which it is
scarcely worth while to preserve.
(From the Morning Herald.)
The acciden's on railways, that are now of almost
weekly occurrence, are attracting a large share of public
attention to the advantages and disadvantages which
present themselves in connection with the new system of
travelling. The dependence of the public en the
owners of railroads increases every day. On many of
the high roads of the kingdom, it is difficult to procure
the means of conveyance from one point to another.
The irregularity and increasing carelessness with which
railway carriages are managed, arc risible in the disre-
gard of human life which is manifested in so many gear •
ters. Even as to the cheapness of -railway travelling
grave doubts begin to be entertained ; because, in con•
sidering the question of cheapness, regard must be
had, not merely to the direct cost of railway travelling,
but also to the loss of accommodation in other fi:rms,
which the adoption of railway travelling involves. From
the apparent saving to the public, consequent en tlieln-
zroduction of travelling by railroad, must be deducted
the increased expense of travelling from point to point
between the various railway lines. The public Las bests
compelled, moreover, to sustein yet heavier losses in con-
nection with the railway system. The high-roads of the
.leirigilono have been, to a great extent, abandoned. The
money had out upon them is in a great degree lest ; and
the misery caused by that loss may be appreciated by
i tho-e who are aware that the property of widens
i
. and of orphans was, not unfrequently, vested in
loans to the trustees of the public reads. Look,
above all, to the fearful derangement in the industrial
scheme of the kingdom, to which the desertion of the
old lines of communication has given rise. The tens of
thousands who lived by ministering to the old modes of
travelling have been compelled to abandon the vocations
to which they were trained, and the spots in which they
resided. The capital embarked in hotels and other es-
tablishments, for the accommodation of coach passengers,
has been nearly annihilated. Hamlets and villages have
I been rendered desolate by the progress of locomotion by
steam. Now,it is possible, that these sacrifices may have
been compensated for by certain advantages connected
with the use of railroads ; but, on the other hand, these
sacrifices must be recognised as a deduction from the
seeming benefits which railway travelling brings with it.
If, indeed, the loss of property to which the establish-
ment of railroads has given rise, be taken fairly into
account, travelling by railroads will be found to be the
most expensive mode of travelling ever yet devised.
Measures must be adopted—and at no distant time—to
protect the public against the growing tyranny of Rail-
, way Directors. These gentlemen must not be per-
mated to treat human life as a thing of no value—nor
must they be permitted to ruin coach proprietors, and
all the other bodies of men who so faithfully ministered
otof. A publicthefa
ir
ta
x convenience,
railways
would
de a
p railwayspe arto bweerae hcardwhole-
some measure. A strict system of superintendence
on the part of Government would appear to be ted:s.
pensable.