The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-17 00:00:00

:::_Plltitill,a '')1111L.

--
LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1850.

Even with the assistance of those preliminary
biographers who contribute, through the medium of
the public journals, the materials fir future memoirs
and histories, the multitude has been enabled already
to recognise a new evidence of professional injustice
as evinced towards the enterprising and lamented
'WAGRoRN. At twelve years of age that distin-
guished officer entered the maritime service of
England as a midshipman, and at forty-nine, after a
career illustrated by the most eminent services to bis
country, to the promotion of commerce, and to the
general cause of civilization, he died in the subordi-
nate rank of lieutenant ! In this simple fact
there is indicated a homily. In the bare
statement there is audible a severe condem-
nation of the authorities at the Admiralty.
In the record of an oversight so glaring and in-
tolerable there is perceptible a severe satire upon the
entire system of naval mismanagement. The circum-
stance is, unhappily, one signally qualified to point
a moral," though, at the same time, it is altogether of
too mournful a character to "adorn a tale." Glancing
back over those 37 years of laborious exertion, ap-
preciating the toil, the ability, the perseverance, tla,
courage,lind the unceasing energy expended upon the
magnificent labours of this great national and inter-
natienal benefactor, bearing in recollection the splen-
dour, the utility, and the permanent importance of his
most memorable achievements—our heart aches at the
deplorable inadequacy of the compensation yielded to a
man thus remarkable for the exhibition of the most ex-
alted self-sacrifice; cur mind is bewildered by the sense
vf such supreme ingratitude ; our cheek blushes at the
remembrance of so much paltry and parsimonious
'economy of promotion. That a man like this, after
acquiring by his matchless enterprise an European
,and world-wile reputation, should, at the end of thirty-
seven years of public service, die a simple lieutenant,
'would have been a matter wholly incornpreheneible to
us, but that we were already too intimately farni
liarised with the' unjust and emeerable system of
advaacement in the maritime pref,.ssion of Great
Britain—a system as anomalous as it is disgraceful,
and as short-sighted as it is ruinous.
Again and again we have had occasion to reprobate
the perpetuation of this crying wrong to the sailors
e'England. Again and again we shall continue our
expressioris of indignation at lie evil influence on the
national fortunes, and at its infliction of a grievous
stigma on the national character. Bat never assuredly
before hive we had—nay, we are almost bold to aver
that never in future possibly shall we have—cause to
ref:r to this blot on the marine escutcheon of Eng-
land with, an illustrative case so miserably conspi-
cuous for its meanness as that of the treatment r f
Lieutenant WAGHORN, a British subject, glorious
among the ranks of the renowned for the benefac-
tions lavished by him upon the three great continents
of the Eastern hemisphere, on Asia, on Africa, and on
Europe.

While hundreds and hundreds of men of the most
insignificant capacity have been striding up the
scale of promotion, he, the true servant of the
Crow❑ and of the country, foremost among the prin-
cipal " workers" of the age, has been paised over as
undeserving of any advancement. Here then—men
of England, citizens of that great maritime empire
whose annals are adorned by the names of a Come
and a NELSON, the noblest of its navigators the son
of a collier, the most heroic of its sea captains the
sun of a poor clergyman—here is the latest, and as-
suredly one of the most lamentable tokens of the ob-
stacles thrown in the path of untitled genius and
unpatronised ambition ! Shall it continue thus for
ever ? Are we to watch the perpetual patronage of
the younger sons of the aristocracy, and the perpetual
,disparagement and depreciation of the eldest
born of the people, the offspring of the ge-
nine, the vigour and the enterprize of-the land ? A
popular novelist is at present delineating, in the pages
of an eminent periodical, the difficult progress of
those adventurous members of the community who
would clamber up the steep and perilous Ladder of
Gold. It would have been a theme worthy of the
pen of MARUTATT to have recounted the toils,
the dangers, and the interminable obstructions
placed in the way of those.
.maritime ad-
venturers who, without interest, family, or
patronage of any description, venture upon an
effort to ascend the broad but crowded Ladder of
Promotion. In the struggle there for elevation the
pampered children of nobility, whose rise has been
facilitated by the silken assistance of nepotism, find
an endless opportunity of retarding the advance of
their less fortunate competitors—trampling on the
hands that dare to grasp at the rungs upon which
they themselves are standing securely. So it has
been from the commencement—so it will
he until th 3 popular voice dooms this
most atrocious and detestable system. Already
that voice speaks, and speaks trumpet-tongued,
thraugh the übiquitous organs of journalism. Be-
fire long it will resound audibly enough within, as
well as without, the walls of Parliament.
Another fortnight will bring us towards the com-
mencement of a new session, the re-assembling of the
Imperial Legislature being definitively fixed for the
close of this present January. Let not the represen-
tatives of the people of England—the people who love
the glorious profession from which their national
greatness has mainly emanated—connive any longer
at a policy detrimental not only to the true
interests of the maritime service, but also, and
in a particular manner, to the fair fame of Bri-
tannia. Let not the ensuing session, like so many of
its predecessors, be barren of all practical endeavours
to ameliorate the condition of the sailors of Albion.
Let the Commons bear in mind the sympathy with
which the hearts of all loyal and patriotic Unglishmen
beat to the measure of those noble verses of our Naval
BEILANGER--

" Then, oh, protect the British Tar,
Be mindful of his merit;
And when again we're plunged in war
He'll show his daring spirit."
How the maritime profession of these islands
can best be improved is not merely
by the obvious good of bettering the con-
dition of the gallant fellows who breathe the air of
the forecastle, but is likewise by the act of exciting a
wholesome emulation among all ranks proportionately
from the ship-boy to the boatswain, from the junior
"middy" to the Admiral of the Fleet—an emulation, we
mean, such as would secure to merit its reward. Such
an amelioration among the officers, however, can
never possibly be obtained while the higher ranks in
the service remain so extravagantly, inconveniently,
and preposterously overcrowded. Nothing advan-
tageous can be effected so long as we con-
tinue to support no less than thirty full admirals,
or ten of each squadron ; forty-five vice-admirals,
or fifteen of each squadron ; and seventy-five rear
admirals, or twenty-five of each squadron. Of this
monstrously disproportioned number of flag-officers
there must be a large and speedy reduction
The necessity is altogether too imperative to be
any longer disreguded. Nevertheless, while main-
taining as we do that the higher ranks in the British
navy must be allowed to thin themselves gradually,
by the aid'of the average mortality, we make no
unreasonable demands, no demands unreasonable
either in the way
of magnitude or pre -
cipitation. Let the future promotions be hence-
forth as one to every three or four deaths,
until the aggregate be reduced from 150 to 90—the
latter, more rational number, being thus apportioned
among the different grades—fifteen full admirals, or
five of each squadron ; thirty rice-admirals, or ten of
eachsquadron ; and forty-five rear-admirals, or fifteen
of each squadron. By this arrangement the country
would be enabled to reduce its superfluous expendi-
ture! to enhance the value of its promotion, and

generally to improve the condition of the most national
of our professions. Accompanying this reduction
with the preference of merit over favour, of ability
over interest, of brilliant services over emblazoned
pedigrees, the Admiralty might at length remove
from itself the stigma of attending more to the cause
of nepotism than to that of patriotism. Then,
indeed, we should be spared the spectacle
of all our meritorious but unpatronized officers
struggling upon deck through the hawse holes,
while the swarm of aristocratic lubbers are creeping
in by the cabin windows. Until this beneficent
change shall have been effected the naval power of
England will continue to be maintained by a most
precarious tenure, the fame of England being con-
stantly jeopardized, and its right arm perpetually
threatened with paralysis.
" Our country's blind—corruption veils her eyeq,
Or paints her heroes in a strange disguise.
Her tars are brave, intrepid, and so firth;
But mourn the bar opposed to friendless worth.
Yet may Britannia see the potent charm
Of naval glory fly her thundering arm,
When patriot feeling in their breast subsides
From cold reward—who then will rule the tides?"

Among the many fiscal errors committed when
the true principles of taxation were comparatively
unknown, under which the nation is still suffering,
and which loudly call for revision and amendment,
there is, perhaps, none more unjust in principle,
more unequal in operation, or more impolitic in
practice, than the advertisement duties, under which
any persons desiring to make their wants known to
the public through the medium of a notice in any
public journal, periodical, pamphlet, or literary work,
in Great Britain or Ireland, are compelled to pay a
fixed sum as a tax to the national Exchequer. It sig-
nifies nothing what may be the length of the adver-
tisement, the charge for its insertion, or the subject-
matter thereof, an equal duty is demanded and must
be provided for ; whether it be contained
within a single line, or extend to an
entire page, one shilling and sixpence must be
be paid by the publisher to the office of the Board of
Inland! Revenue. Whether it be inserted at an almost
nominal charge, or many hundred pounds be paid for
the accommodation, the result is the same ; and no
distinction can be made, whether it relate to the sale
of a widespread domain of the value of some millions
of pounds sterling, to the humble appeal of some
wretched sempatress or servant out of place for em-
ployment, or w hether it simply relates the miseries and
wretchedness of some fitting object of charity. Uni-
formity of charge—that glaring fallacy invented by
the rich and powerful to bring down their own con-
tributions to the national Exchequer to the level of
those which can be extorted from the humble arid
lowly—is the pretext under which this grievous in
justice is perpetrated. It is the same principle on
which the lowest priced bohea is taxed at the same
rate as the most highly prized pekoe or souchong, by
which the miserable shirtmaker is compelled to pay
fir duty about 1,000 per cent. on the original
va'ue of the article which she consume 9, while the
luxurious millionnaire or highborn countess pays about
eighty per cent. only ; by which the cheapest and
commonest description of wine is assessed as highly as
the rarest Tokay or choicest Johannisberg.
In every case the poor and struggling man, who
earns his daily bread by his daily labour, is deeply
injured by this uufsir and most inequitable system:
Under any circumstances he must be contented with
articles of inferior quality—too happy if he can
obtain a sufficiency thereof for the wants of his
family; while the wealthier classes, who can afford to
indulge in high-priced luxuries, escape on compara-
tively easy terms. It reverses the constitutional
principle that every man should be taxed secundum
statum et ficultates, according to his condition
and the stake he possesses in the country. It not
only diminishes the, demand for the cheaper qualities,
which could be exchanged in almost any quantities
for the productions of this country, but it
affords an almost irresistible temptation to smug
filing, and to the adulteration, and consequent dete -
rioration of any commodity, the first cost whereof
is small in proportion to the import duty. A great
advantage is thus given to the unconscientious and
dishonest tradesman, whilst those who act fairly to-
wards their customers are unable to meet the unequal
competition to which they are thus exposed, and the
consumer is compelled, in the majority of instances,
to be contented with an unwholesome and unpalatable
article.

One great object of the Legislature should be to
enable every person who is able and willing to work
to obtain remunerative occupation. If he can do so
he will be a us( ful member of the body politic, in-
creasing the national H ealth, and contributing to the
national burdens, by the consumption of highly-taxed
articles. .The beer or tea he drinks, the sugar or to-
bacco he uses, all contribute to the public revenue.
The capital contained in his thews and sinews is
turned to the most favourable account. It would,
however, appear as if our sapient Legislators thought
otherwise, and believed that it was for the public be-
nefit to compel a certain portion of the population to
remain idle and inactive in the union workhouses,
unprofitably consuming, in place of materially in-
creasing, the resources of the country. Were it
otherwise, would they sanction a tax on the mere
application for employment by those who are earning
nothing, but who are anxious to perform their duty
to society as good and independent citizens, owing
their subsistence to their own honest industry?
It is not our desire or purpose to place this import-
ant question on any narrow basis. We shall not
refer to our own interests as public journalists, al-
though we may be permitted to say, that there is but
little equity in imposing a fiscal burden on any parti-
cular class or body for the benefit of the entire.
community. Although the tax is nominally
charged to the newspaper proprietor, who is rendered
responsible for its liquidation, it ultimately falls upon
the consumer. The publisher adds the duty to the
charge which he makes to the advertiser, who,
finding an additional expense in carrying on business,
charges an increased per-centage to his customer.
The demand for publicity is undoubtedly diminished
from the greater expense, which is almost prohibitory
to those by whom it would be most required ; while
it forms but a trifling consideration in the larger and
more elaborate advertisements, which are but little
affected thereby. Neither shall we allude to the ad-
vantages supposed to be afforded to some of our con-
temporaries by the impost. All we ask for ourselves,
or can accord to others, is a clear stage and no favour.
We shall endeavour to supply good and fair value to
our customers, and let others do the same. There
can be nnmonopoly where one is not unduly favoured
at the expense of the other;. but where
all are dealt with in the same manner, and are subject
to the same conditions and liabilities, there can be
110 just ground of complaint. We take, therefore,
the broad ground of the public benefit, " the greatest
good to the greatest number." And, with respect to
the advertisement duties, the industrious classes,
without exception, are deeply interested in their com-
plete and speedy abolition. We object to them,
therefore, because, as we stated in the early part of
this article, and as we have shown, they are " unjust
in principle, unequal in operation, and impolitic in
practice," and, therefore, their immediate repeal
should be demanded from the Legislature.

Since the appearance of our own observations on
the pamphlet recently published by .Mr. WARREN,
respecting the " Douglas Court-Martial," our atten-
tion has been directed to an excellent article on the
same subject in the United Service Gazette. Coming
as the remarks of that journal do from a distinguished
professional organ we gladly transfer them to our
columns in this evening's impression, satisfied that the
opinion of a military newspaper like the United Ser-
vice Gazette will be perused with universal curiosity.

CABINET COUNCIL.—The Ministers assembled in
Council this afternoon at one o'clock, at the Foreign-
office, for the first time since the holidays. It was
attended by the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord John
Russell, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of
Minto, Lord Campbell, the Chancellor of the Exche•
quer, Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, Sir George
Grey, the Earl of Carlisle, the Right Hon. 11. La-
bouchere, and the Right Hon. Fox Maule. A series
or Councils will be held during the ensuing fortnight,
relative to important measures to be brought forward
by Ministers during the approaching session.

Dispatches for the Goyernors of the West India
(o!onies were sent off yesterday evening from the
Colonial-office.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
Tee debate on the Educational Bill was re-
sumed in the Assembly on Tuesday, and during the
discussion M. VICTOR HUGO delivered a most elo-
quent speech, in the course of which he denounced
the cruelty, the hypocrisy, and the tyranny of the
parti-petre, and exposed their designs in terms which
procured him the most horrible groans from the priest-
ridden Members of the Assembly, and which were
answered by vociferous cheers from the Liberals. In
the course of his observations he said that the Bill
proposed he regarded as a strategic one ; it was tho
chef-dalare of the clerical party. Ile could not
personify that party, he did not see it in the Assem-
bly, he did not see it in the Government. God forbid
that he should be supposed to make allusion to the
Bishop of Langres, but he could not help expressing
his distrust at the clerical party; he would not en-
trust it with the development of the rising genera-
tion ; he would not confide to its hands the future
welfare of France. The Bill had one great fault—it said
one thing and did another. It was like the usual plan
of the Government, every time that it forged a chain
it called it liberty ; when it decreed a proscription it
gave it the name of an amnesty.—(Cheers on the
Left.) In the remarks that he had made he did not
mean to confound the Church with the clerical party,
fur the latter was the disease of the former. Free
religious instruction was the Sisters of Charity by
the bedside of the dying; the Brother of Mercy
releasing a slave ; VINCENT DE PAULE sheltering the
orphan ; the Bishop of Marseilles in the midst of those
affected by the plague ; the Archbishop of Paris facing,
with sublime smile, the furies of the Faubourg St. An-
toine, raising the crucifix over the head of civil war,
caring little about meeting death so that he could secure
peace. The clerical party was an ancient one; it had a
past of several centuries; it was it which discovered that
truth was but ignorance and error. Its history was
written in that of all the progress of the human mind,
but it Was written at the back of the page. It was it
which put CAMPANELLA seven times to the torture
for having affirmed that the number of worlds was
infinite. It was it which imprisoned GALILEO,
persecuted COLUMBUS, and anathematised PASCAL,
MONTAIGNE, and MOLIERE. It had long
sought to put a band on the human mind. And
now it would be master of public instruction ;
but there was not a poet, a philosopher, or en emi-
nent man that would accept it. There was a book
which appeared to be the emanation of human
united with Divine wischim which people called the
Bible, and yet there had been Popes who had dared
to proscribe that Book, and this party claimed liberty
of instruction; but the liberty which it really wished
fur was that of not teaching —(Approbation and
laughter on the Left.) The Clerical party wished to
instruct, and it would be, therefore, well to look at
what it had done for centuries when. Italy and Spain
was in its hands. Thanks to it, Italy, that mother cf
nation=, of poets, of genius, and of the arts, now kneW
not how to read. Spain had lost her rank among na-
tions, but it was true that she had gained the Inquisi-
tion, an establishment which some in that Assembly
had wished to re-es'ablish.
The signal for disorder was here given by M.
Duna, the President, who inttrrupted the orator by
the following impertinent observation—a" You cannot
be allowed to impute such an intention to any one in
the Assembly."
The signal for interruption having been thus
given by M. Durirt himself, who seems to have
acted on this occasion as ringleader of the disorder-
lhs, the members of the parti-pretre continued voci-
tirwing during the remainder of the time that N.
VseToit Huoo continued speaking. The lion. Gentle-
man thus concluded his speech:—
"Tee clerical party, had g,gge 3 the Roman as it wished
is do the French people. It was a ,fine task, but le'
them beware. He rejected the Bill because it outrage I
French fes lings—because it degraded instruction,lowered
the level of science, and del aced the human mind. He
was one of those who flt the blood mount to his f,re-
head whenever France expericnced a diminut.on of ter-
ritory as in 1815, or a diminution of intellect, es it was
now wished to impose on her. Ho would give the
clerical }.arty a little serious advice : let it beware cf
the darkness caused in men's minds by the at aie of the
surplice."
On tE e Right—lt is insulting to the Catholic faith.
On the Lt.f.—He is right in what he saye.
M. Leo Lahorde—lt is infamous.
On the L.. f —He does not speak of priests.
On the Right—Whom does he allude te, then, when
ho talks c f the surplice.
M. V. Hugo—The clerical party was alarmed at
Socialism ' • it saw the waves rising, and it
imagines that it will have saved society, when it shall
have combined material resistance with social
hypocrisy, and placed a Jesuit wherever
there is not a gendarme.—(Explosion of murmurs, and
prolongad bravos on the Lett.) Let it, however, listen,
to advice. The 19:11 century was opposed to it, and if
it continued its course, it would liaise firmidalsle even-
tualities. It placed'rhe Government in the sacristy.
On the Right—Order! order!
A Voice—Let him go on, they are only phrases,.
M. Denjoy—lt is only old romantic nonsense.
M. de Dampierre-1 demand that the speaker Le
called to order.
M. de Larcy—Ho has insulted every Catholic.
The President—l request the Hon. Gentlemau to re-
frain from making such observations.
A Voice—lt is like the Porte St. Martin.
Naraucl—Lt is the liberty of the tribune.
The President—The life. ty of the tribune has its
limits.

The Assembly was at this time in a state of Brea
agitation. _ _

-M. Victor Hugo considered that he had a right, when
a Bill was presented which be regarded as a public
danger, to closely examine it—(Renewed interruption)
—and his intentions ought not to be suspected. Ile had
last year defended order when it was in peril, as he now
defended liberty when it was threatened. He was not
suspected when he was at the barrieudes on the 23d of
June.—(Agitation.)
The President—You have indulged in too long a tissue
of persor alities, and you have done so with very insult-
ing expressions. But you have been treated in your
tarn so severely that it has dispensed me with acting ai
Is might have otherwise dono.
M. Victor Hugo—Were these the kind cf Bill 3 that
were to be produoed ? Was France to be ar-
rested in her onward coarse ? The intention was
to petrify human thought.—(Laughter.) "In this
age of discoveries," said the Hon. Member in
conclusion, " you proclaim immoveability ; you pause
on the road like men fatigued— fatigued with glory,
genius, science, and knowledge l Do you not see that
et erything is in movement around you and advances—
you want to stop short !—(Nn, no.) I declare to you
that if you repel progress, 300 will have fresh revolu-
tions; and to such men as deny
the truth of that asset-
lion Z reply by tFe declaration that the earth turns
round. I shall vote against the Bill."
(This speech was loudly applauded on the Leff.)
The sitting was brought to a close at a quarter to
seven.

The discussion was resumed in the sitting of yes-
terday, and had not been brought to a close when the
post left. All the journals admit that the speech of
Al. VICTOR HUG° was a splendid specimen of elo-
quence. The Constitutionnel admits that there are
many fine passages in it, and the Assemblee Nationale
' one who has received the
will fall for believing in the
sovereignty
gift
tfh
oegfeohnrijasut
genius, and
a saso n
The Univers says—
" We have come back to the worst times of attaArs
against religion and against the liberty of the Church.
has just
victoriust expressions.luflung
1 goo
urtembienfeoerid
ue.
The tribune cf the Assemaabnnlddy
passionate M
This to our thinking, one of the highest com-
pliments onfc
tehßarthelemybitter,
Liberals
t si .
r r i t
Hilaire
ofa Restoration."
ti
that can be paid to these gentlemen ; for, be
it remembered, that among the Liberals of the Res-
toration were PACE'. Louis COURIER, P. J. DE
BERANGER, MANUEL BENJAMIN CONSTANT, and
General For.
The Presse says—
" " At the very first word of his speech, this eloquent
• orator separated himself from the majority by a pro-
gramme ofliberty. VI7
„ e have net time to-day to follow
M. Victor Hugo through his magnificent developments.
Let us simply record this triumph of eloquence."
The Republique says
" The Jesuits of the liberty of instruction will
not r..cover from this speech. They come and
speak of liberty. They who each day practice
violent compression wiih the blindest rage, They
come and speak of liberty—they who are unvrilling
to allow the discussion to take place without impedi-
ment-they whom every ray of light terrifies; who have
just placed all the teachers of the people under the sur-•
veillance of the police; who, according to the words of
U. de Montalembert, would wish to take away from us
even to our ideas! it is truly too much audacity, and, as
M. Victor Hugo told them, if they have succeeded in
gagging Italy, it is not prudent on their part to endea-
vour to introduce the same system into France. France
will not have either Jesuits or Inquisition, or the sub-
serviency of souls, hearts, and minds; she wants to have
liberty. And the clerical party is the negation cf all
liberty."
The Moniteur publishes the revenue returns fur the
last six months, from which it appears that the state of
commerce and industry is improving.
M. PRAXIE has laid the following proposition on
the table of the Assembly
Art. 1. In case it should occur, either by surprise,
coup d'etat, or insurrection, that the President of the
Republic or National Assembly should be prevented
from exercising the functions intrus•ed to them by the
Constitution, all the municip • ' al councils, and councils of
arrondissements and departmerts, shall be bound, under
pain of dismissal, to assemble officially, and assume pro-
visionally the direction c f the administration of the de.
partments, arrondissements, and communes.
" Al t 2. The pref-cts and other public functionaries,
as also the armed force, shall also place themselves
under the orders of the new Government, which shell
have the power of suspending, clitnissing, and replacing,
provisionally, the employes tf the state.
" Art. 3. The public functionaries shall, under rain if
dizmissal, refuse olelieece to any Government resulting
from usurpation or insurrectior-
" Art. 4. Collectors and receivers of the taxes, whe-
tber general or particular, are forbidden to hand over

the produce of the public taxes to any other hands than
those of the' departmental administration.
" Art. 5. So soon as the great :powers of the state
shall,have their liberty of action, they shall re-enter into
the exercise of their authority over the departments and
communes."

The Bourse was agitated yesterday, and the price
of public securities declined slightly. The Five per
Cents. opened at 94f. 25c., rose to 94f. 50c. ; and
fell suboequently to 94f. 20e., at which they closed ;
the Three per Cents., closed at 57f. 80c. ; Orleans
Railroad Shares, 830 f.; Rouen, 585 f. ; Havre, 247 f.
50c.; Great Northern, 463 f. 75c.; Avignon, 217 f.
50c. ; Vierzon, 334 f. 75c. ; Bask, 115 f.; Bordeaux,
415 f. ; Paris and Strasburg, 360 f. ; Tours and
Nantes, 275 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE. JAN. 16.
Boulogne and Amiens, 73/4—Dutch Rhenish, I%—East
Indian, 414 ex in.—Luxembourg, 2% Orleans and Boor-
deaux, 33/4 ex in.—Paris and Strasbourg, 6'.A.