The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-02 00:00:00

MARINE OFFICERS

The death of Major-General Vinicombe leaves only
one officer in existence who has risen from the corps of
Royal Marines to the rank of Major-General, although
that corps is still ten thousand strong, and was during
the late war upwards of thirty thousand. This fact
speaks more plainly the gross injustice of our present
system of promotion than any that has come to our
knowledge ; and shows how completely successful the
aristocratic classes have been in monopolising all the
higher grades of the army and navy, to the exclusion of
those who spring principally from the middle ranks of
life, and are dependent only upon a long and faithful
discharge of their duties for their advancement in the
service.

VV
We remember a Lord of the Admiralty giving ivliat
he wished to be considered as very good reasons why
Marine Officers should be perfectly satisfied with their
condition, and he concluded by saying that it should
be recollected that the Marines were only a Junior
branch of the Navy, thereby, implying, we suppose,
that they were to be satisfied with a younger brother's
portion. If such be the opinion of the present Go-
vernn ent, it would be only fair for them to excuse
the Marine Officers from the responsibilities recently
imposed upon them, and revert to the state of things
which existed prior to 1814, for it is a most erroneous
supposition to itnah,rine that their condition has been ge-
nerally improved since that period.
Prior to 1814, General Officers commanded the divi-
sions, there was therefore no possibility of the corps
being left with only one solitary Major-General. Fitild
Officers did not then embark, those situations were there
fore comparative sinecures, as were also then the sixteen
Pay-Captains, who were always at head-quarters, and any
officer could with facility retire from the service, &c. &e.
Now from the great reduction which has been made in
the number of Officers, while the Fleet has been aug-
mented, no person under the rank of a Field Officer can
anticipate more than six months at head-quarters; and
such is the difficulty of getting even the half-pay, that a
man to obtain it must prove that he is not only utterly
worn out and useless, but he must also show that there
is not the most remote probability of his ever being
worth anything. We do not mention these things with
a wish to see the Marine Officers removed from any
situation where they may be useful; but we contend
that as of late a great increase has taken place in the
quantity of duty required of them, there should have
been a proportionate increase in the quantity of promo-
tion allotted them, instead of which we are sorry to say
that the chances of an old Officer becoming a General
Officer have been materially diminished, and 41 five
airflthhye
popsrseisbellinttysyosfteamny boenecoonf continued, there
therersbenoe
more,
years
attain-
ing that rank.—Naval and Military gazette.

MORALITY OT THE GLOBE.—pusual, when
dealing with Exchequer mysteries, the Globe has exhi-
bited a pompous 'inflation, and a ludicrous air of self-
satisfaction at its sources of secret knowledge. In a:ln
.
article attributed by some of our Contemporaricsto_:ar.
official hand, the Exchequer organ thus alludes to
therebl-
Smith, as if conciliating a witness to be feared, F.'
was no necessity for referring to him at all ;
which
lary of Mr. Smith was, we believe, 6001. a-
Yeart'o 7001. ;
he had anticipated would have been advanced , has
but his hopes being defeated by the economY7
ees he had
been carried of late into all the publieexoth
edient ; and
recourse to forgery as a temporary I? —3,i,riThe sa-
lary
those of
from a sum of 500/., has been
led,n the dupe, to
whom, it is believed, he has breeky, which we
the enormous amount of his
lated not simply by the few hours
of standard of value,
have above stated. Surely remunerafbthomgne
has too frequently been the Treasury
dand the extent of integrity
but by the amount of trustrepose
I, . required,
rd
edb,e
which
has
up. What
lionsAhsifsolra b,
,o
tuhr
es
, in, ; salary was 5201. a year,
required." A more prof] i4atieThY nilni SuT d le, na
vt 0 anticipated,
In 113(1 ''''-'
unhandsome remuneration
we do not know.
t
since raised to 600/.-
1 taats
were not heavy, or
amount of trust rencoust,ody
for a brief daily attendasysio::
of certain papers, the
it was, under the old sys.
tern, simply the;,-.11 was strictly limited, and for
kandoiffifficctedwt.
every one of which
much trust was originally reposed as
which
he had to account. But, sup-
posing
num number
thoaft
been reposed, most improperly, of late
seems to
have notion of morality must that mind possess
years, what a
plead the " low and niggardly salary" of
can
set-off to any
which
as a sort of dishonesty !
as
hardly to be expected when the
6001. a year .
•c "integrity is
But 11
(6001. ayear)
l of a party employed is not com- me surate with the importance of his services," (filling
and entering printed forms, &c.), what a state will
thisin cou l t rys
el;
le i
cin e
hwheneveras al l
hsilsi e
timeg oes
"occupiedt to wary An
tuhffi chic rs
on active
duties ;" liable to be called to exposure, privation, danger,
and death, at any hour of the day or night; and to ex-
pend part of his " low and niggardly salary " on pro-
fessional outfits ; " trusted" often with a large amount
of property, constantly with lives, and with knowledge
on which lives and victory itself depend. According to
the new philosophy of the New Exchequer, our officers,
though not " morally justified " (wonderful admission !)
in decamping with such part of the military chest as they
can finger, or selling secrets to the enemy whenever
their pay is inadequate to their anticipations, can " hardly
be expected" to resist the " temptation " of doing so !
Spectator.
Mr. ,and Mrs. Standish Were received, on Wed-
nesday, by the King of the French at St. Cloud. They
arc the heirs of Mr. F. H. Standish, who bequeathed to
the King his collection of paintings, books, and. objects
of art, which are about to- be- exhibited at the Louvre.