The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-12 00:00:00

enment, and so perhaps he did with all his blackness, as
the coal contributes to the gas ; and never was a bit of
Wall's End half so hard, or a tenth part so black as the
heart of this despicable sovereign. He never had a
friend ; but he was surrounded by sycophants, whom,
one after the other, he atrociously sacrificed.
" Cranmer being a man of superior mind, exercised an
influence over him, and was sent for to his death-bed,
when he pressed the prelate's hand ; but whether the
pressure arose from cramp or conscience, rheumatism or
remorse, penitence, or pins and needles,' must be con-
sidered a question to which we will not hazard an
answer. We regret that we have been unable to adhere
to the excellent motto, de niortuis nil nisi bonum, in this
case ; but Henry was such a decided malunt in se, that
mischief was bred in the bone, and the nil nisi bonuni
becomes impossible.
" Learning certainly advanced in this reign, and
Henry himself affected authorship ; but every literary
man, from the highest flyer in the realms of fancy to the
humblest historian of last night's fire or yesterday's
police, will be honestly ashamed of his royal fellow -
craftsman."

COLBURIV'S UIvITED SERVICE MAGA-

ZINE.

We are glad to meet our old friend Colonel Fire-
brace, who this month furnishes an excellent article
on the Enlistment Bill, in which he not only de-
molishes the allegations of the opposers of that mea-
sure, but exposes their motives. That it would be
opposed by the Marquis of Londonderry, et hoc genes
ontne, was of course to have been predicated from the
first—indeed, had they supported it we should have
rather doubted the efficacy of the measure—but it is
not by the " gentle dull" alone that this measure is
opposed—it is also opposed by
" The aristocracy of wealth, who have tried to make
the army a close monopoly for themselves, and, to say the
truth, have in great measure succeeded. They in their
heart of hearts cannot but see the justice of the Bill, but
they look on it with fear as the forerunner of other
measures of reform that may drive them from their long
enjoyed privileges; they see that concurrent with this
Bill, the education of the soldier is to be attended to, and
if the plan works well, it must follow in natural course,
that the instruction of the officers must march purl passe
or rather keep ahead of that of the soldier. What a
mortifying thing it would be to them, when about to pur-
chase a cornetcy for a son or nephew, to be told, that as
a preliminary step, the aspirant for glory on horseback
must prove that he can read the Articles of 'War, make
out a guard report, and write his name legibly, and that
previous to getting another step of promotion must
prove that he is capable of fulfilling the duties of his
advanced position! Yet such must be the fatal conse-
quences of giving instruction to the hitherto neglected
soldier.
" Strange instance of blindness and fatuity that has
ever guided our military councils, that the education of
officers of the army should have been totally neglected
in all time, until we come to speak of the education of
the soldier, and then it is only forced into notice by the
shame attending the possible superiority of the servant
over his master in point of instruction.
" If we were to draw inferences from what the Duke
said about the old soldiers, which I have just quoted, it
would follow that the officers of the army were of small
account ; there is not the slightest hint that the courage
of the old soldiers was in any way assisted by the intel-
ligence of the officers, and most probably the instances
were rare. None knew better than his Grace that there
were but very few officers under him who knew any
thing of their profession beyond the eternal routine of a
parade, and that there was not one in his army capable
of supplying his place had anything happened to him-
self. The sublime ignorance of the essential parts of
their profession, which distinguishes the officers of our
army from all others, arises, as I have repeated a hun-
dred times, from the purchase and sale of commissions.
It that venal and absurd practice is so abso'utely inter-
woven with our military constitution as not to be eradi-
cated, at least it ought to be accompanied with some
test that would exclude blockheads, fools, and evt n
idiots, of which I could quote many instances, from
entering an honourable protession."
Let us hope that it will be the proud boast of the
new Parliament, that it has applied that test rigor-
ously that it has thereby saved wise men from the
tyranny of blockheads, fools, and idiots, by excluding
the said blockheads from an honourable profession
which they disgrace by their ignorance and inca-
pacity. Before the country is considered safe, the
army must be thoroughly purged of ignorant and
incapable officers, and judging from the revelations
recently made, the issuing of a commission to
inquire into the capacities and attainments of the
officers of the various regiments in her Majesty's
service would be by no means undesirable. We re-
commend this article by Colonel Firebrace to the
careful perusal of the authorities at the Horse
Guards, and of the Members of the new Parliament.
We know of no subject which if properly taken up
is so likely to secure fame and name for a legislator
as the subject of army reform, more particularly as
it regards the officers, and we accordingly recom-
mend it to any young member who is ambitious of
connecting his name with a great measure. The re-
maining articles of the present number are all good.

CHRISTOPHER TADPOLE. Part 11. By Albert

Smith.

Such has been the success attending this serial,
that it is intended to extend it to sixteen numbers,
instead of completing it in twelve. We are glad of
this extension, both for our own sake and that of the
talented author ; to us it will be a source of pleasure
(for we are lothe to part with Christopher) to him it
will be a source of profit and also of pleasure, for it is
evident that he writes con amore. In this number
we have the .adventure of Mrs. Hamper in Switzer-
land, and the return of Christopher to England—the
reconciliation of Bessy Payne and Sprout, who with
the jolly man goes to Vauxhall to witness the debut
of Patty as a dancer. Paty, in returning home, is
insulted by Sir Frederick Arden, but is rescued
from him by Christopher, who gives the Baronet a
thrashing, and is by him handed over to the custody
of the police, and marched off to the station-house,
where for the present we leave him.