The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-24 00:00:00

They say, indeed, that it is contrary to its

The reader will not fail to remark the date of
the order, April 22,Aleven days after the offence
was committed, two days after it had been men-
tioned in Parliament, and nine days after it had
been denounced by the press. Poor as the re-
buke
is, it cannot be said to have been sponta-
neous; and it looks as if the Horse Guards would
have been silent, had not the press given ex-
pression-to public indignation.
Lord CARDIGAN is, however, a Peer; and
must, therefore, be presumed to have some hon-
ourable feelings. If he be not destitute of them,
this reproof, spiritless as it is, will make him
sensible that he is no longer fit to command a re-
giment, and he will save the public some trouble
by at ()rice sending in his resignation. The public
have no other quarrel with him than that.they
will not submit to be outraged, and if he will not
voluntarily place himself in a situation where he
is not likely to outrage them, they will take mea-
sures to remove him into that obscurity from
which, having been placed in it once, he ought
never again to have emerged.

Sir ROBERT PEEL'S remark, on Thursday:even-
intr., that there was at present "an unhappy dispo-
sition in every country in Europe to prodigality
of expenditure," is every way worthy of public at-
tention. We have looked at all the Papers,
and find all the reports substantially the same.
To confirm our own report, we will now quote
that of another Morning Contemporary :
He contemplated with great anxiety the increasing tendency
to expense in this country. On one night he was called on to
vote 163,000/., and 50,0004 now, for New South Wales ; and
he must say that with his view of the finances of the country—
with his view of the pressure of taxation—nothing could induce
him to give his assent to a vote of this nature, unless the posi-
tive obligation of good faith and national honour required it.—
( Hear.) It was not alone in this country that an alarming dis-
position was exhibited to depart from a due pro tion between
its expenditure and its available resources. 'After twenty-
three years of peace, he saw in every country, whether go-
verned by despotic authorities or by popular institutions, the
a'arming prospect which the growing defalcation of revenue,
as compared with expenditure, exhibited—the ultimate parali-
sation of industry, and the suspension of that career of pro-
sperity which had hitherto prevailed.—(Hear, hear.) It was
certain), a new feature in the • history of nations, that with
professions of profound peace a Government should expend in
fortif)ing a city so enormous a sum as 30,000,000/. The
only effectual means of checking the evil to which such a state
of things must give r;se, was by disposing the minds of the
people to alter these warlike pursuits, instead of encouraging
feelings of hostility, of jealousy, and of military rivalry.—
( Loud cries of " Hear," from both sides.)
These sentiments are the result of reflection on
the part of Sir It. PEEL, or rattier they_ are .In,_
spired by, and are a mere expression of palpable
facts. They are not the basis of any motion, or
dictated by any theory, but the soulof the Right
Hon. Baronet was full of them, and overflowed
in the course of the debate. There is nothing in
them either of Tory or Whig principles, they
are rather in oppOsition to the practices of both
parties. The Right Hon. Gentlethan is obviously
afraid that the difficulties of Government will be
increased ; he looks forward with dread to an in-
adequate revenue, he tears for his metier as a
statesman, and fear gives sharpness to his vigon,
and truth to his remarks.

Our readers will he at once aware that if a
Government must not spend so much money, it
must limit the sphere of its operations. All of
them are expensive. To say that Government
must curtail its expenses; is to say that it must
not interfere with Spanish quarrEls, and Turkish
quarrels; must be more cautious how it involves
the country in disputes with China, and in the
feuds of Affghanistan ; it is to say also that it
must diminish its army and navy ; that it must not
countenance quixotic expeditions to the Niger,
and issue a multitude of Commissions in
England; that it must not think of building more
churches or devising plans of general education.
All the3e things and all the acts of the Govern-
ment cost money, and the statesman; vhetherhis
name be RUSSELL or PEEL, who warns the Le-
gislature that it is spending too much, warns it
that it is too active and must limit the sphere of

its or/e.rations. On this account we regard the
observations •of Sir ROBERT PEEL, founded as
they are in truth, as likely to be very useful.
They should be a warning to the people as well
as the Legislature, for every extension witch they
require of the operations of the Government ne-
cessarily carries with it an increase of expendi-
ture; and a consequent increase of taxation.

The last part of Sir. R. PEEL'S remarks about
" disposing the minds of the people to peace"
instead of encouraging feelings of hostility, arc
well deserving the consideration of the Tory
Press, which labours in general to nourish feel-
ings of national hostility.

-The Right Hon. Baronet is, ntrThis" pant; "iii
opposition to his party, and he ought in consis-
tbsteht:eiclsyedato be prepared to advocate free trade, as the
Tittneans oflessening national hostility. We_ I'm"
tistttioirtii,,olf reflectingH that we -have fore-
stalled
ingstrongl
1 ,•
encou-
rage s.„reictomrnonen.
dßeaarfolniept on this point,
Europe, more than. three months
a trade with.
orderFzeteinF
warlike • di'spusition. • •
went so far as.to
,blame otherago Ptoowenecrostoi-f
to, check the
th renedhep..rive
e otheirthstPtolveeitnirienc•vebemyanf
Europe for the existence •in the mid- of 6 o
a a nation hardly connected w
'the ties of commerce, and
great measure .of other means, than th,„
of, predatory warfare, of employing its gro:v-
ing population. The mariner in which
France continually threatens and endangers the
rest of Europe is for us a conclusive proof that 1
the policy of Europe towards' France. has been
erroneous. We follow up Sir ROBERT PEEL'S
remark, therefore, by again recommending that
France should be invited, by all practical means,

by tree trade everywhere, to extend its commer.

eial relations with the rest of Europe.

practice, and the Commander-in-Chief expresses

his surprise that the sentence should have been
carried into execution on the Sabbath. Surprise—
not indignation, not even sorrow, not so much as
regret—is what the Commander-in-chief feels ;
but though that—from his extremely lenient mind
towards Lord CARDIGAN—may hurt his Lord-
ship, it is not calculated to satisfy the public.
There is an article of war expressly directed
against unofficerlike and ungentlemanlike con-
duct. Under this article of war, officers have
been dismissed the service for using unseemly
language, or for behaving in an ungentlemanly
manner. Do the authorities at the Horse Guards
mean to say that the brutal conduct of Lord
CARDIGAN, in flogging a man on Sunday was not
ungentlemanly ? Can brutality be gentlemanly ?
Will they affirm that tying a man up, and flog-
ging him, within an hour, on the very spot where
an altar had been erected, and the regiment as-
sembled for prayers, was not most unofficerlike ?
Such a thing, according to Mr. MACAULAY'S state-
ment, is almost unknown, except under some
pres Sing circumstances, such as being in the face
of an enemy. The Commander-in-Chief states
that it is not the practice of the army. It is
therefbre contrary to usage, contrary to practice,
and contrary, we affirm, to discipline, and con.;
sequently most uuofficerlike. We make bold
to assert--and it is fbr the honour of the army
that it should be so—that Lord CARDIGAN'S
conduct. was- most unofficerlike, and most un-
gentl2manly, and a positive breach of an article
of war. The poor reproof of the gentlemen of
the Horse Guards, far from being in accordance
with justice, is another example of their par-
tiality,
and their disposition to protect this ill-
behaved man.