The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-13 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 1847.

The House of Commons was last night engaged
in making due provision for the service of the
country, whether by land or sea. It is the especial
duty of the representatives of the people, who are to
provide the large expenditure necessary to maintain
the exalted position which Great Britain has attained
in the scale of nations, to examine with the most
searching scrutiny every estimate brought forward,
so that, on the one hand, no useless expense may be
incurred, and, on the other, our naval and military
establishments may be preserved in full efficiency,
and full justice rendered to those who are now
actively engaged in the service of their country, and
to those who have devoted the best years of their life
to that service, and now look for the means of erjoy-
ing that tranquillity and comfort in their declining
years which their past exertions have entitled them
to receive at the hands of a grateful nation. All ex-
travagance is to be avoided, so that our burdens may
not be increased without good and sufficient cause,
%chile undue parsimony should equally be eschewed.
The control and direction of those important por-
tions of the state machine, properly belongs to the
Executive Government. Any undue interference
would be productive of the most injurious results.
But there is a constitutional mode by which the
people, through their chosen representatives, are en-
titled to offer their suggestions as to any ameliora-
tions that may be required in either branch, and to
curtail their proportions, if a more extensive amount is
demanded than may appear to be necessary for
the exigencies of the empire, and a just regard for its
honour and dignity. The Executive may move as it
thinks proper the bodies placed at its disposal. It
may direct the place where, and the manner in which,
they shall act, but the sinews of war remain in the
hands of the people, and no course of aggression,
nothing, in fact, of any description can long be
carried on without their approbation being first had
and obtained. The just and proper balance is thus
maintained, and the best guarantee and security given
for the continuance of our rights and liberties. It is now
fully understood that the most certain way of main-
taining peace and avoiding war is, to be in a constant
state of preparation for any contingency—to be
"Ready, aye ready for the field ;"

that; it is not consistent with true economy to spare
any outlay that may be required to keep our naval
or military forces in full efficiency. No desire could,
therefore, be entertained in any quarter, to reduce
our establishments below the proper standard, but
the time of going into supply on the estimates is the
fitting period for directing the attention of the
Government to any abases or defects in the system,
and offering any suggestions for improvements and
ameliorations.

The present Ministry have most honourably dis-
tinguished themselves by the alterations they have
already introduced ; they have manifested their
anxious desire to improve the condition, to elevate the
characters, and increase the comforts of our military
brethren. They are devoting the closest attention to
many abuses and grievances, and we doubt not that
many of the most objectionable will by degrees be re-
moved and a better state of things substituted. The
required reforms cannot be brought into operation
at a moment's notice. It is a subject that requires to
be treated with a very delicate hand. The most
glaring abuses should first be suppressed—the
grievances mitigated. Those relating to the "of
polloi," " the base of the pyramid," those by which
the great body of the soldiers are affected, demand

the speediest attention. The claims of any rank or
class should not be neglected or slighted. The more
helpless the parties affected, the less the power they
may have of bringing forward their complaints,
the more readily should they be attended to,
when an advocate comes forward on their behalf.
Everything that frets and teases the soldier should be
banished, if not essential to the preservation of dis-
cipline. Many things, in themselves of trivial con-
sequence, are suffered to continue, that are calculated
to make the soldiers uncomfortable, and thus eventu-
ally to produce crime.
Sir CHARLES NAPIER has well said, that "small

worries will so irritate an impatient and daring,
but unstable spirit, as to goad the man into deeds
that otherwise would never have been contemplated.
Men give way to drinking as a resource against such
harassing annoyanc,A. To mane soldiers comfortable
and happy is among the best means of rendering de-
linquency rare and punishment effectual." These
are truths that cannot be lost sight of. The removal
of all well-grounded causes of complaint on the part
of the private .soldier is the first step to be taken.
Sir DE LACY EVANS last night brought forward
no less than eleven topics, several of which related
to the. condition of the private soldier, and demand im-

mediate attention ; the improvement of the barrack
accommodation (especially with regard to the sleep-
ing rooms) and the more suitable and decent quar-
tering of the married non-commissioned officers and
privates is peculiarly urgent. It is impossible to sup-
pose that the condition of the soldiers can be ele-

vated until we teach them to respect themselves,
and to observe the decencies of life, which cannot be
regarded so long as men and women are huddled
together in the limited accommodation now afforded
The regulations also respecting ration stoppages
should be strictly investigated. The soldier should
not :for a moment be suffered to think that he is
deprived of that which is his right, which is pro-
vided for him by his country in return for his ser-
vices, under any pretext whatsoever.

" The world moves, as was said by GALILEO,
but it moves in a circle." Upon that beautiful and
once hypothetical rotation, the Westminster Review
professest itself a sceptic as regards the physical, but
to Write hitn .17,
agurisu.zebeliever as regards the moral sciences. Ex-
-1 credulity I DOGBERRY sighed for the sexton
pnoantything but a sage. Surely the
view, must sigh too for the author of the
in the Westminster Re-
eolsexton I We could have
the heart to be thehissexvt
ERG% his 7-1
ges its
the Boultacnio to ....OGBERRY, or
minster Review not only 8.
kßut the West-
faith in the alternate progreasesionuwled
retro-
gression of society in the moral
o f
ann
y and
decided sciences,
and
consequently in the impossibility
ad-
vancement in that noblest of philosophies,
but
it condescends to explain its theoretical fancy
by an illustration. According to it the
world careers onwards and onwards towards the
heaven of knowledge in its pursuit of the truths of
chemistry, and astronomy, and geology, and me-
chanics, and navigation ; but in its endeavour to
attain something of an affinity to moral perfection,
the world, according to the Westminster Review, is