The Sun.
London, England, 1833-12-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

" A Moderate Reformer," whose letter wil
he found in this day's Times, explains pretty
•learly the objects of the commission recently
,ppointed for inquiring into the civil administra-
tion of the army, and the practicability and ex-
oediencv of consolidating the various offices con-
.lected with it. This is an important subject, as
well with a view to the rendering official respon-
sibility more effectual, as to that of simplifying
the public accounts, and promoting a sound andt
real economy. It is wonderful in what a mon-
strous proportion the civil branches of the admi-
nistration of the army and ordnance have exceeded
the military with regard to mere expense. On
looking over some of the army estimates, those
for
grossu orinHorse
costaGn ete of the year
, oa
rfd st e
i,ml e
lilnai
dtr
military
we find that
administration
he offi
ee o f the
of
thee
ee
Commander-in-Chief, with its two subordinate
departments of the Adjutant and Quarter-
master-General, was somewhere between 26,0001.
and 27,0001. ; whereas the total of the civil
departments, with the War Office at the
head of them, cost upwards of 190,0001.,—
nearly eight times more than the aggregate of
the military I To any one, therefore, who con-
siders this enormous disproportion, it will he
little surprising that a Government so severely
watched in its application of the public money
should be anxious to discover the means, if they
exist, of effecting some more frugal arrangement
of the civil business of the service, consisting
indeed principally of financial matters. It is to
be hoped, however, that in any alteration which
may result from this inquiry, two points may be
kept steadily in view :-1. That on the two
frequent but vicious plea of " compensation,"
individuals still capable of active employment may
not be prematurely superannuated, to make
way for new corners, and thus the. country be
saddled from the starting post with two salaries
instead of one. 2. That some strict regulations
may be established, whereby too much
patronage shall not be concentrated in a
single hand, and too_ much discretion be
not allowed for the abuse of that patron-
age, by the exercise of an unjust favour-
itism, to the detriment of humble but deserving
functionaries, against whom no misconduct can
be charged. A frequent submission of the in-
terior of each civil office to the superintendence
of Parliament might, for such ends, be desirable.
The list -of pensions to retired servants of the
War-office is absolutely startling. It appears
impossible that there should be such an army of
superannuated under secretaries, private secreta-
ries, superintendents, chief clerks, examiners, &c.,
still quartered on the public, and so extravagantly
paid, if the slightest regard had been shown to
the public interest, or even to public decency.
When one superannuated personage receives
2,500/. per annum from the country, others
1,0001., 9001., 7001., and 6001. each, it is
surely time that some inquiry should be
made into the grounds on which the fortunate
pensioners have been permitted to retire with
such well crammed pockets ; whether they were
really superannuated by infirmity—that is to
say, too old for further active duty—or were
only given a perpetual holiday, by favour of the
great man at the head of the office, and granted
the means of enjoying it out of the people's ,
money ? The sum of these pensions so lavishly
given by the War Office is, as we have said,
frightful—it amounts to not much less than
21,0001. per annum; while the saiiries of ins .
dividuals in actual employment there at present,
exceed 33,0001. a year ; making altogether
54,000/. a year. The Pay Office-r.properly
speaking, a branch of the War Office =Mists up-
wards of 19,0001. Per annum, and its pensioners
above 8,0001. The Control of Accounts—another
manifest offshoot from the office of Secretary at
War—stands the public, for its active service, •
11,0001. per annum, and for its superannuations
thesewle re facts,
systemwe say
o f
rtahnekr e
abusemu sNt
aohave lookingol)beleinn
above 7,0001. per. annum.at all
that Parliament will not do its duty, irgs,soomainli
principle of correction be not applied. While
upon this subject, we may add that a good deal
has been said of a plan for consolidating the
military ordnance with the office of the Corn-
mandetnin-Chiel, and for suppressing the office
of Quartermaster-General of the Forces. On
this we shall observe merely, that to any change
from which the compound advantage may be in-
sured of greater economy and equal efficiency
(the last being a sine qua non), 'every rea-
sonable man is bound to give his approbation ;
but in all these cases, without exception, the
• question must be answered, " is the improve-
merit real, or is it nominal only ?"—Times.
The Manchester papers of Saturday contain
ample reports of the dinner given to Mr. Pou-
lett Thomson and Mr. M. Phillips, on Thurs-
day. One of the objections of the opponents
of Ministers to the extinction of nomination
boroughs was, that an administration must, in
all time coming, either allow themselves to be
I swayed by every popular impulse, or it would
be impossible for them to find an admission to
Parliament. We have now had some experience
iby large
e gkad esal
ma-
jority
hadigoialnee-
of the working of the new system, and, hitherto,
l
:
upon the whole, Ministers have had no
hcaoßuuslidie
to l
jcli\em))affairso. r
Wellington,
rarsnreirdfs stieyeeiyetgciidntwtri,uegot
kotetft
ihonfett
enclnecessaryttwipht,e r
et
was
ehlsnisen:i
ngesinsewua,
Belsctittntiheoh.ll
huoefauoacutsnrdillutedi
ntdhnnirc
country,
admitted
ta hAdbt cteealede(,
interval,mß asßrebie t
without
leniyatlfuilsoths hsrrttteel
irhahitilnoaiDßotvtnbh Reforms
e
t
approbation
could
fonofs hopeth etocondct
intelligentu successfully the
impasses
osed.
'tbike I hoiibsltiegrastiof
n therebypopular middle
c
dof communing, occasionally, with
oeTnnleteiteisrle,eintua,ri? of
constitu-
or
those whom they represent, is of the greatest
benefit in many respects. Ministers have thus
an opportunity of explaining to their consti-
tuents, and through them to the nation, the
s id
to
im
motives for their past conduct, and of sounding
them with respect to the future, an
pression made on their audiences may and the
a
be a trial of the pulse of the nation. Placed as
to-
be
Ministers are between two fires---between the
Conservatives,
House
of have a small but compact
Commons, and possess a
in
tie
majority of the Peers, who are opposed to all
li
reform—and, II change, except a change hostile
to the people, and the great body of the people
force
who value reform as a means to an end—namely,
the obtaining the benefit of good government,
and carrying improvement into all our institu-
tions,muaings between Ministers and
the people are not merely of use in enabling
these corn
• Ministers to see what the people expect from
them, but they serve to satisfy the Conservatives
!hit Ministers are under an absolute necessity-
of moving. They serve to show the mitt/mune
of improvement which the people of Englarnk

We copy the following paragraph from the
Cork Reporter, the organ of the O'Connell
party in the south of Ireland :--
"THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

y cm
g : . Ohliplloll J.,
- . ;...i. I, :...•.. . '
t''' ! .-. .1-• .',.. : . '• • i
NI,
.-.
trio* •
5....,t.. 4-/

will be satisfied with. The Conservatives must
be mad, if, by obstinately opposing all improve-
ment, they force on a collision, which they must
see Ministers are anxious to avoid, but which, if
the people be set altogether at defiance, cannot
be avoided. It will be readily admitted that the
intelligence and respectability of the community
were very fairly represented by the 300 gentle-
men who partook of the Manchester dinner. Of
them it will not be said that they have not a deep
interest in the welfare of the country. The
opinions of such a body are, therefore, entitled
to the utmost attention from men in power. In
the outset, the President, Air. Benjamin Hey-
wood, late Member for the county, delivered the
following opinion with regard to Ministers :
" I am free to admit, that the time has now ar-
rived, when Ministers must proceed with a
bolder and a more vigorous step in their efforts
—(Great applause)—and that the people must
urge their claims more vigorously and more de-
cidedly upon them. Such, I think, will be the
course, both for the Ministers and for the peo-
ple ; but sure I am, that if Ministers, through
any mistaken fears of their enemies, proceed
with hesitation or with faltering steps, or if the
people leave Ministers to fight their battles un-
supported, victory will speedily be the portion
of the enemy.—(Hear, hear.)" Mr. Heywood,
in proposing the health of his Majesty's Minis-
ters, observed that this country never had an
Administration so deeply deserving of entire
confidence, and the toast was drunk with im-
mense applause. Mr. Poulett Thomson, in a
vary able and eloquent speech, reviewed the
conduct of Ministers during the past session,
and fairly and freely discussed the measures
which are now engaging the attention of the
country. Mr. Philips, his colleague, is a politi-
cian of the most fervent description. He was
all for attack :

" With every disposition (he said) on my part to make
allowance for the Herculean labour which a reformed
Parliament had before it, in cleansing the Augean stable
of the political abuses accumulated under a vicious system
of representation, I had earnestly hoped to have enlisted
myself under the banner of the present Administration,
and with a bold and ste,dy step to have been led by them
against the enemy, to have laid siege to his strong hold.,
and in the open field to have outflanked and dislodged
him from a series of formidable positions. But, gentle-
men, it appears that I was too ardent in my views ; that
caution and policy, which, as one of the new levy—as a
raw recruit—l could not appreciate, induced those under
whom I was anxious to have served to halt when it was
any desire to have advanced, and to rest upon their arms
when I wanted to have had the word of command given
for the attack.—(Applause.)"
If Mr. Philips, with all his fiery zeal, were
charged. with the serious responsibility of pre-
serving peace and order in this great nation, his
language would, no doubt, be somewhat more
moderate. A Mr. Absalom Watkin was espe-
cially invited by the President to deliver his
sentiments on the subject of the working classes,
and he certainly made a most interesting speech.
His account of the debasement and degradation
which uniformly accompany the introduction of
Irish labourers into the towns and villages of
this country is deserving of the most serious
attention. The picture which he drew of the
progress of one village from peace and happiness
to misery and crime, through the settlement of
Irish in it, affords a lesson which we trust will
not be lost on our legislators. Morning
Chronicle.

" VACANT SE; OF CASHEL.—We have twice before
assured our readers that we have the best authority for
stating that the Right Rev. Dr. Mac Hale would be tran-
slated to the vacant see of Cashel; we now repeat our
former assurance, with increased confidence in the source
of our information. It affords us sincere pleasure to find
that our sentiments respecting that distinguished prela•e
have been re-echoed by every thing patriotic in Ireland.
The very flattering mention made by Mr. O'Connell on a
late public occasion, in Dublin, of the Bishop of Maronia,
renders further eulogy altogether unnecessary. We shall
only add, that the elevation of this gifted and dignified
eeclesiastie will be hailed with universal delight throughout.
not alone the province, but all Ireland."—Cork Reporter.
The testimony of Mr. O'Connell to the
qualifications of Dr. Mac Hale for the titular
archbishopric of Cashel, stamps a value on his
character which cannot fail to make it duly
appreciated by all admirers of the spiritual co-
operators in the work of political agitation. The
most intolerant of the Irish Priests patronize
Mr. O'Connell, and he patronizes them in turn.
There is reciprocity in the thing. He gets the
tribute, and they get the praise. We can easily
estimate the exact degree of zeal and influence
which Dr. Mac Hale exhibited in " sending
rowid the hat" for the mendicant patriot, by the
degree of temperature to which his reputation
rises on Mr. O'Connell's scale of eulogy. He
deserves a cardinal's hat as his reward, and as
Mr. O'Connell's recommendation is so powerful
with the Holy See as to raise him to the arch-
bishopric of Cashel, he may yet be able to
adorn the brows of this political Priest, with
She capacious honours of the " crimson
beaver,"—the appropriate decoration of one
of the most intolerant children of the meek and
lowly "scarlet lady," who, despite the Duke of
Wellington and Mr. Peel's securities for the
Protestant religion, looks with expectant eye
towards the restoration of her " patrimony" in
"green Erin of the streams." Truly the ex-
tinction of ten Protestant bishoprics has given
no small accession of importance to the Roman
Catholic " titulars," who repose in their undimi-
nished dignity upon their politico-spiritual
thrones awaiting the issue of the repeal conflict,
of which the Prophet Daniel hath prophesied
many glorious things—yea, and hath seen visions,
such as prxfigure the rising grandeur of the
Romano-Hibernian Church, upon the ruins of
her reformed rival, with the triple-crowned suc-
cessor of the Fisherman, putting his sickle into
the golden harvest of indulgences, dispensations,
first fruits, tithes, vnd all other profitable inven-
tions, which were once the produce of the Irish
4, patrimony," soon to be resumed, if the word of
prophecy faileth not.--Morning Herald.

The following compliments were paid to old
Sheridan, in Norfolk, by an Trish servant belonging to
Mr. Coke, who attended him on his shooting excursion,
and which old Sherry retold with great glee :—Kot the
first (the bids all getting away). " Fore God, your
Honour, did you see one little gintleman drop his leg
o.
lie went off; he'll never stand on his tin toes again."—
Shot the second (ditto, ditto). "By the powers, there
they go ! But didn't your Honour hear the shots rattle
Among them like pace against a winder ? They'll pray to
never see your Honour again on this side of the country."
Shot the third (birds all off again). Blood and ouns ! hut
they've caught it. (After watching them a while.) There's
three wounded any how, for they could but just get over
yonder hedge ! They'll Fet no sleep this blessed night !"
Shot the fourth (a pheasant gets away). Well, I never
saw a poor gintleman taken to like him ! He
remember
your Honour, many a day to come ! That spalpeen shall
carry aw- lore shot than would set up an ironmonger
Shot the fifth (a snipe gets off).—
'ou may take your long bill in against
wake to_morrow morning with a
lead !" Poor Sheridan could stand
is countryman a handsome fee for
-eded on his teat alone,

THE ARMY.

(From the Limerick Chronicle.)

Monday morning last, at six o'clock, the grand division
of the 28th, including music, colours, and the companies
of C plains Irwin, Acklom, Wheeler, Sawbridge, and
Symons, marched from the New Barracks, under com-
mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Hailes, on route to Dublin.
The second and last division of the 28th regiment
march hence to-morrow morning for Dublin, under com-
mand of Major French.
On Tuesday next, the 24. h instant, the 26th regiment
will embark at Dublin for Liverpool and Manchester.
The 85th regiment will come over by the same convey-
ance and march for Limerick.

The depot companies of the sth regiment at Temple-
more will march to Fermoy to take the quarters of the
92d Highlanders, who expect to embark every day at Cm k
for Gibraltar.

Three companies of the 52d regiment, under the com-
mand of Major St. John, have left Belfast on their route
for Newry. The 68th have left Newry on route to Edin-
burgh, to relieve the Std ; which last regiment is to
remove to Glasgow, to relieve the Ist battalion of the
Royal, who are ordered to Belfast.
The Courtmartial for the trial of Captain \Vathen, 15th
Hussars, will assemble at Cork on the 23d inst.
The garrison of Carrickfergus is to be done away with ;
and the depot of arms and ammunition removed to Charle-
mont—which, hereafter is to be the sole depot for the
north of Ireland. Only a few invalids are to remain in
the castle of Carrickfergus ; dealers in gunpowder will
be deprived of a very convenient and excellent storehouse.
Government have resolved to abolish the English and
Irish Militia Staffs after the meeting of Parliament, and
those officers only will receive compensation who served
five years previous to the regiments being disembodied
after the last war.

It is the intention of his M4jesty next spring to inspect
all the troops of Yeomanry Cavalry within fifty miles of
London, and to pay a similar compliment to the command-
ants, to that which he paid last year to the commanding
officers of the militia.

The report of the conversion of the Royal Hoapital, at
Dublin, into barracks and public offices, is unfounded,
nothing of the kind having been done.
Those solemn investigations, courts-martial, are fast
falling into contempt from the frivolous character of the
charges they are so often called upon to discuss.