The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 21, 18b9

people of the cathedral city ; so " that much money
is expended in Rochester by Chatham people
seeking justice there." It is curious, too, that Sheer-
ness, a military and naval station, if not more im-
portant than Chatham and Brompton, yet more
patent to the enemy, is in like predicament. It
has neither "mayor nor magistrate," and (but this
is a formal matter) appears to have no " proper
authority through whom the Lord• Lieutenant can
address the town."

Something of this last is the case at Chatham,
and, indeed, originated the discussion in the
Chatham News. The highest authority there
is the high constable, elected by the court
leet ; and at a late meeting convened by him
to consider the formation of a rifle corps, his power
seems to have been denied by malcontents, and his
authority set at nought. The local excitement on
this account seems to be considerable, though the
precise points at issue are not very clear in the
abridged narrative. The office is very ancient,
and has certain definite functions, of which we
should think the power of calling a meeting and
presiding over it was one. Probably the gist of
the opposition was to the object of the meeting, and
the most personal mode was adopted as a stroke of
local policy. However, beyond all doubt, there
are many necessary things that a high constable
cannot do, and the shrewd editor of the Chatham
News is quite right when he advises the Chatham
people to get incorporated like Westminster, whose
chief, till lately, was only " high constable."
Now it is precisely such cases as these that re-
quire a local organ; for without one these evils
might go on for ever, as they have gone on so long.
They are, in fact, often the result of time and growth,
in which really "nobody has been to blame." The
manor, its lord, its court leet, and its " high con-
stable" were at one time efficient institutions and
persons, and quite enough for Chatham, which,
soothe to say, is a parvenu among places. Rochester
is very ancient in its dignity. It is the oldest
Bishopric in England—having been founded im-
mediatly after the Archbishoprics of Canterbury
and York by St. AUGUSTINE himself. Its first
cathedral was ruinous in the early days of the
Conquest, having been built by St. ETIIELBERT,
King of KENT, in 560, and rebuilt by GUNDOLPII
in 1080, some of whose work remains. In those
days, and for centuries afterwards, the dockyards
and barracks of Chatham and Brompton were not,
and could not have been. Now they have grown
up they are quite right to pant for adult- institu-
tions ; but we gather there is yet a lion 4n the
path in the form of expense. Chatham, it seems, is
close-fisted.

Another evil which the editor brings forward in
his second number—the paper is but three weeks
old !—may be more palpable to Chatham from its
being a military station, but it concerns us all. It
is, in fact, a national disgrace. This great country,
with its sixty-five millions of income, and its ex-
penditure of some twenty-five millions on war-
like matters alone, cannot, it seems, support a few
lunatic soldiers, whose minds have given way in
its service. When an invalided lunatic soldier is
pronounced incurable, the military authorities,
acting under the advice of the law officers of the
Crown, send the wretched creature adrift at a place
notified to the police or the parish.
To talk of national ingratitude in such a case as
this is beside the point. Such conduct is at once
criminal and brutal. An American slave State
would not permit it—nay, would punish it. What-
ever else the slave States may do, they do not per-
mit a slaveholder to exhaust a slave to decrepitude,
and then cast him on the world to fare as he may.
Yet this is what is done by the military autho-
rities of England, acting by the advice of the
QUEEN'S legal officers ; at least so says the Editor
of the Chatham News. Here are chapter and

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

ARMY.—A return under this general head gives
the number of officers and men, distinguishing each
arm of the Lervice, cavalry, infantry, horse and foot'
artillery, and engineers, annually, from 1800 to
1858, both years inclusive, stating the numbers
serving at home, in the colonies and in India, the
enrolled pensioners and embodied militia and volun-
teers, and the amount annually voted for these ser-
vices, distinguishing effective and non-effective ser-
vices. It is to be regretted that a general summary
of valuable returns such as this is not always ap-
pended to the many hundred of columns of figures
so frequently given in these documents. A full
analysis of this return would occupy a very con-
siderable portion of the columns of a daily jour-
nal, and we content ourselves with simply giving a
tabular statement of the entire numbers serving in
the cavalry, infantry, and artillery, together with
the numbers of enrolled pensioners, militia and
volunteers, with the sums voted in each year for
army, ordnance, and commissariat services. With
respect to the volunteer force, it appears there are
no documents in the War-office from which a return
can be made prior to the year 1803.

Total
In- Artil- Ern" olun-
Cavalry bodied Amount
fant
IT' I cry' Militia. Leers. Voted.
1800 33,106 126,998 7,368 71,077 .. 17,462,613
1801 26,846 147,187 7,544 70,647 .. 17,991,019
1802 29,155 151,514 10,376 82,902 .. 12,315,848
1803 17,663 98,499 8,656 463,134 13,094,703
1804 21,621 147,447 13,787 97,939 449,140 22,909,830
1805 25,554 156,241 15,556 101,451 429,165 22,272,051
1806 26,629 166,163 17,255 84,550 42,031 23,567,715
1807 30,381 176,998 18,622 86,056 406,869 23,573,641
1808 30,615 204,056 19,812 79,126 413,461 23,822,542
1809 31,969 209,791 20,928 92,411 200,983 26,259,487
1810 32,396 212,288 21,245 83,351 209,860 23,253,555
1811 31,116 210,596 20,844 95,097 209,860 25,677,309
1812 31,911 220,861 21,303 88,280 206,062 29,932,858
1813 33,369 231,110 22,357 82,279 203,528 37,482,221
1814 35,838 237,329 23,188 73,256 133,609 39,110,763
1815 27,011 198,749 16,968 23,365 111,153 43,256,260
1816 26,043 175,628 15,814 39,097 74,978 13,007,227
1817 22,700 143,238 10,926 66,575 10,158,000
1818 20,968 119,652 9,836 , 68,780 10,307,483
1819 16,345 98,238 6,723 61,190 10,035,127
1820 14,305 98,711 6,237 „ . 60,740 10,699,865
1821 13,550 95,361 5,988 61,380 9,980,340
1822 11,611 84,707 5,904 60,950 9,070,252
1823 11,475 81,940 5,670 62,970 8,783,300
1824 11,405 84,276 6,747 63,300 8,942,870
1825 11,183 86,630 5,654 62,660 9,327,119
1826 11,235 99,613 6,133 62,050 9,504,713
1827 11,398 104,188 6,815 61,500 9,844,476
1828 11,598 105,036 6,436 44,964 9,477,890
1829 11,594 97,848 6,404 44,766 9,288,069
1830 11,594 00,305 6,423 .. 34,614 8,851,018
1831 11,589 97,459 6,475 46,664 8,800,425
1832 11,594 97,604 6,500 51,821 8,399,700
1833 11,471 97,568 6,425 .. 46,653 8,364,576
1834 10,889 90,099 6,396 .. 19,493 8,028,996
1835 10,888 90,103 6,467 .. 19,365 8,150,889
1836 10,887 90,152 6,512 .. 19,287 7,910,189
1837 10,883 90,148 6,519 .. 19,209 8,330,325
1838 11,468 101,198 6,439 14,040 8,463,658
1839 11,890 101,193 6,804 14,030 8,956,896
1840 11,918 109,224 7,973 .. 20,791 8,874,976
1811 11,461 109,660 7,020 .. 14,305 9,113,719
1842 11,888 119,966 7,068 .. 14,189 9,242,791
1843 11,501 97,980 7,036 .. 16,566 8,747,137
1844 11,927 117,750 6877 .. 16,716 8,326,490
1845 11,927 117,466 6,950 .. 16,656 8,530,527
1846 12,311 126,794 7,355 .. 16,849 9,023,675
1847 12,343 126,552 9,035 .. 16,597 9,448,630
1848 12,326 127,320 10,351 16,308 9,722,608
1849 12,288 122,534 10,852 .. 14,430 9,306,648
1850 12,355 117,488 11,021 .. 14,281 8,953,496
1851 12,547 117,047 11,090 .. 14,460 8,851,884
1852 12,722 118,190 11288 .. 14,360 9,021,391
1853 12,535 120,21 12,808 .. 14,721 9,6:35,709
1854 12,103 121,988 14,868 . 15,179 13,798,721
1855 11,260 138,929 17,555 67,801 15,215 28,670,497
1856 17,336 176 824 20,233 68,851 15,340 20,249,084
1857 13,660 132,054 17,478 32,460 15,277 12,493,235
1838 17,819 150,569 , 20,598 21,773 15,122 11,577,735
In addition to these, there were in 1848, 15,208

In addition to these, there were in 1848, 15,208
enrolled pensioners, 15,539 in 1849, 16,078 in 1850,
16,196 in 1851, 17,029 in 1852, 17,278 in 1853,
17,094 in 1854, 15,818 in 1855, 16,763 in 1856,
16,350 in 1857, and 15,415 in 1858. _

Nary.—We give a summary of a return " of all
ships of the Royal navy not in active service."
There are 15 second rates, 5 of which are to be
converted into screws. The conversion of 7 is
under consideration, and 1 is to be a receiving ship.
There are 4 third rates, 1 of which is a " school
ship" for " steam ordinary." There are 21. fourth
rates, 9 of which are to be converted into screws,
3 are to be receiving vessels, and 1 is a temporary
coal hulk. There are 25 fifth rates, and 9 sixth
rates. The number of corvettes is 7, and of sloops
31. There are 2 cutters, 1 tender, a surveying
vessel, which is to be a coal depot, and a store
ship—all "in ordinary." Of receiving ships there
are 2 first rates, 15 third rates, 3 fourth rates, 23
fifth rates, 4 sixth rates, 17 sloops, and 3 other small
vessels. The list "in ordinary" also comprises 45
mortar vessels and 40 mortar floats which have not
been in active service. The ships which have been
broken up or sold since January, 1830, without
having been commissioned, are 4.

THE FIRE IN CHEYIPSIDE.

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