The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-31 00:00:00

infantry. It must not be supposed, boweve, that
the purchase system was all against the poor officer.
While the wealthy man was shovelling out his gold
to clear his way to the top, he dragged up his poor
juniors and weighted with gold the pockets of im-
poverished seniors. He was either paying extrava-
gantly for a toy; or that he might attain to a position
which gave him a chance of distinction. It used to be a
saying in the army that the best regiment for those
who could not purchase was one in which the offi-
cers wererich, as the changes being more frequent he
attained with greater speed to the top of his grade,
and although then frequently passed over he was
eligible, and secured the first vacancy in the higher
rank without purchase. These are the reasons
why the system has so long been tolerated, and
seldom condemned by &Beers, which the public
find it difficult to understand. Nor has it, on
the whole, been injurious to the State, as it
hastened promotion, often bringing young men into
high commands at no expense to the exchequer,
indeed a positive saving, as the Government
made the officers themselves furnish the retire-
ment for those entitled to pensions. Thus the pen-
sions were saved, and officers who had served for
very many years in vile climates surrendered all
claim on the State without being compensated by
the State. The question is, What sort of man
does it send to the top ? This is a mere chance,
with the odds in favour of the officer being qualified
for command. Generally those who urgently desire
to attain a post are qualified for that post, though
frequently they are not, but experience has
proved that so long as they chose to work and
did not tire of the pursuit the system pushed
forward fairly good officers. When most needed,
however, they were liable to throw up the com-
mand, and it cannot be for the welfare of, any
- country that persons. too independent should hold
positions under the State, which may require at times
very disagreeable service. The abolition of the
system involves a very heavy charge, the gross value
of the commissions amounting to £7,126,030. But
the nation would not be called upon to pay that
sum, as an officer could not expect at the same time
to retain his commission and receive back the regu-
lation price he had paid. As officers who had pur-
chased desire to retire the nation might be the buyer,
and the system would thus gradually be abolished.
As the tendency is to reduce the army, leaving the
colonies to their own military resources, and relying
more on the Militia and Volunteers for the d -gene°
of the United Kingdom, this refortn may be elected
without throwing a peat burden on the people, as
the army could at the same time be reduced.

Colonel IL mley criticises in the Times a pamphlet,
we have not seen, by General the Hon. Sir Edward Cast,
wherein an American general is addressed in our opinion
with good feeling, truth, and Sense. The following pAs"
sage does not recommend the pamphlet to Colonel Hanalei,
nor in his opinion will it do so to the British rt ader :---
" Lot me assure you, my dear General, that htd I em-
ployed my pen on the great deeds of the warriors of the
19th contury, I should haze shared in all your pride for
the deeds of Grant, M'Clellan, Stonewall Jackson, Lee,
Roseukrantz, and Sherman, with the sole regret that our
Royal Military College, with which my youth has been so
largely connected, has never produced such fruit as the
West Point Academy. I blush to name that neither.
Marlow, Wickham, Woolwich, nor Sandhurst, in their
most inglorious career of 70 years, has produced out of its
halls of study more than three notable students —Lord
Hardinge and the two Napiers.a It is, how.,v,r, unde-
niably tru,, but a truth not difficult of explanation. All
the great Ainerilan generals were educated at West Point'
with a very few exceptions, for it was there that all Ameri-
can officers were trained. But the most celebrated sol-
diers of the British army were nut educat-d at the Bag'
lisp military colleges, for but a fraction of the officers w're
educated there and in Saudilurst till of lute ye as tho
education was more general than professional, differieg
but little from that of any other great school.
Mr. T. who is engaged upon a histbry c't
the State and city of New York, and whose address iS zit
the Westminster Hotel, desires to place himself in cora'
munication with persons wlio may have any papers rela-
tive to his subject not obtainable from public sources, or
other information of an exclusive character bearing uPI
the same. Mr. Lee. wishes to produce a history which
shall be, so far as ho can make it such, complete from the
earliest times, and which, in its thoroughuess of autho-
ritative detail, shall thus constitute a standard hook of r°-
ference.
General Blair and Commissioner Bogg, who ha°
been to Salt Lake, have returned to St. Louis.
"i' • 11' -the author of the t 4 Lost
Cause," Las been appoluteu to e . ne 1. a or;11.0V
Custom-h use.
The evi fences that Southern New Jersey iS
ing into thesea are that the tide mills lose an inch °
head every ten years, in consequence of the rising of lovi-
water mark, and that the sea is perceptibly advancing
wards houses and other fixed objects. The grandfathe,
of Aaron Learning was buried in 1691 at Townleank,i!l
graveyard a short distance inside of the town. In li's
the graves were about fifty rods from the shore, and alit!,
from the houses were apparent: Now the graveyard 11';
been all washed away, and at dead low-water mark t 0
marks of three walls, remnants of the town built betviee,
the shore and the graveyard, ,can be seen. Mr. Frie''4o
surveyor in the vicinity, says his lines are shorter 1:1 g
or 50 rods than they were in 1776. San Francisco OP°
and Scientific Press.
The Printers' ,Circular, Philadelphia, says 61,(3..,
daily papers are published at Kansas, Mobile. The C"4
cage Journal pinta 40,000 copies. There are 50 children
publications in the United states. There are 500 Lie°.
papers in the State of New York. One hundred
papers and magazines are published iu Boston. 31.81si'y
chusetts. Le Progres is the name of a new semi-w° 0,
paper published at San Francisco in the French 15100
guage. The Salem (Massachusetts) Gazette was
years old on August 5 last. The Daily Witness, Mot:oer,-
Canada, is the only religious daily iu America. Ther°Atil
more papers published in San Francisco, California, slo'oo
its 132,000 inhabitants, than in London with its 3;000' ig
souls. The Chronicle and Sentinel, Augusta, Georgia'
the oldest paper in the State, having been established
1794 ; it is issued daily and weekly. ill
The following are the returns of sales of the ‘-'lO
papers in Chicago for six months ending September 9°;
1868, as returned to the Assessor of Internal Revenue:
'.
Tribune, $161,486 ; Times, $101,.551 ; Journal, i03.5°06.
Republican. $42,556 ; Post, $20,230 ; Slant Zeitung, $31'4,40$
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