The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-27 00:00:00

successful lawyers of the day. It is equally monstrous
to assert that such a sum is insufficient to maintain
unsullied the honour and purity of the ermine.
Again, with respect to the higher class of diplomatic
situations, which are usually held by men of rank
and property in this country, the State i 3 undoubtedly
bound to supply its servants with the means of main-
taining the just dignity of their station, and of meet-
ing the extraordinary expenses which appertain to it.
The honour of the British Crown ought to suffer no
disparagement in the persons of its representatives
abroad ; but neither, on the other hand, ought
such appointments to be made subservient to the
purpose of repairing dilapidated fortunes, or of in-
dulging a taste for ostentatious magnificence. With
regard to the salaries paid to members of the Cabinet,
and to the holders of high political ( ffices at home,
it is undoubtedly true that a public career in this
country, if it be viewed in a merely professional light,
is anything but a lucrative one. AR a pecuniary
speculation, no prudent man, however great his ad-
vantages, or however fair his prospects of success,
would dream of investing his capital in politics. The
Secretary of State, whr, after a long apprenticeship
to his harassing vocation, draws at last a precarious
.5,000/. a year from the Exchequer, would find the
public still a heavy debtor to him on an accurate ba-
lance of profit and loss. Nor, indeed, if we should
take into account the qualifications required, the long
training undergone, and the wear and tear of body
and mind which the position of a leading Cabinet
Minister involves, would the mere amount of salary
appear extravagant. But it is not in such scales
that political service is to be weighed. Accord-
ing to the system of government which prevails in
England, statesmanship is not—nor is it desirable,
in our judgment, that it should be—regarded as a
remunerative profession. It is a career from which,
with rare exceptions, all who do not possess an inde-
pendent fortune are excluded. It is the power, the
influence, the patronage, the fame, the high place,
the noble theatre of action—and not the emoluments
—which form the attractions and the compensations of
office. The Noble Lords and Right Hon. Gentlemen,
who spend and are spent in the service of the public,
find, in the salaries attached to their offices, an acknow-
ledgment of the gratitude of the community,
which is not, indeed, unacceptable in itself, but
which is incapable of being measured by a com-
mercial standard. Reduce the scale of Ministerial
salaries in due proportion to the retrenchments car-
ried out in other departments of the public service
—and there can be no doubt that the country will
be just as well served, by the same men, and
from precisely the same motives, as at the present
time. It is an understood principle in this country,
that reductions in public salaries should have only
a prospective operation. The application of this
maxim, rather than rule itself, was the occasion of a
somewhat keen discussion in the House of Commons
on Monday apropos to the Bill for reducing the
Chief Justices' salaries, and to Lord Campbell's ap-
pointment. The announcement made by Lord John
Rnssell in the early part of the evening, that it was
intended to submit the revision of judicial salaries to
a Select Committee, naturally suggested the inquiry
whether the emolument of the new Chief Justice—the
wax of whose patent is yet scarcely cool—would not
be subject to the discretion of that tribunal, and also
whether the Bill by which it is proposed definitively
to fix the salaries of the two Chief Justices would no

be more advantageously postponed. The Premier
conceded so far as to abandon that part of the Bill
which related to the Chief. Justiceehip of the Common
Pleas, and he explained that appointments to
the Queen's Bench, subsequent to that of the
new incumbent, would fall within the province of
the Committee. But upon the point of the salary
payable to Lord Campbell himself, Lord John lussell
stood firm—alleging that there was a distinct under-
standing and compact made with that Learned Lord,
that be was to receive not less than 8,0001. a year,
and that to re-open that arrangement would be to
make the revision of salaries operate retrospectively.
The insensibility shown to this argument by a large
and respectable section of the Members present,
who persisted in dividing in favour of an amend-

ment moved by Mr. Henley, may probably be attri-
buted to two circumstances. First, to a doubt as to
the complete sincerity of the Premier's allegation—a
doubt not unreasonably founded upon the fact pointed
out by the Member for Marylebone. " I can hardly
suppose," observed Sir Benjamin Hall, " tbat the
measure of which notice has been given this evening
did not exist in the intentions of the Government as

much as three weeks ago. 711;-;;;;---6111ef
Justice has hardly been that time in his seat. Is it
possible that his appointment can have been made
without reference to the impending reductions i" The
other consideration which probably made the House
suspicious of some indirect manoeuvre in this case,
was of a more personal character. Great as are the
acquirements, and eminent EVI are the claims, of Lord
Campbell, the reminiscences connected with his
judicial preferments are nut, it must be owned, parti-
cularly fragrant. The seventeen days' Chancellor-
ship of Ireland—" that superior job," as Colonel
Sibthorp rather happily termed it—is not yet effaced
from the memory of the generation that witnessed 40

intrepid a sacrifice to prirty obligations. We may
t,afely assume that, if the biographer of the Chan-
cellors had never thrust himself into the seat of Lord
Plunkett, the liou:e of Commons wou!d not have

manifested so malicious a desire to cut down the

emoluments of his Chief Justiceship.

SUPPLEME A T TO THE POST-OFFICE

LONDON DIRECTORY for 1850.
It hes been an annual custom with the proprietors
of the "Post-office London Directory" to publish a few
weeks subsequent to the assembling of Parliament in
February, a supplement to that valuable work, con-
taining amongst other information a Peerage and Par-
.....

liamentary Directory, and a complete Postal Di-
rectory. This supplement is just published, and
within the compass of a thick royal octavo pamphlet
we have a Peerage and Parliamentary Directory
corrected up to the present time, and giving the town
residence during the present session, and country
seat of each Peer and Member of the House of Com-
mons ; the names and addresses of all persons who
have commenced business since the publication in
December last of the Post-office London Directory
for 1850, and a Postal Directory furnishing
all the regulations of the Post-office as affecting
the receipt or dispatch of letters ; a list
of the post towns in the United Kingdom
arranged alphabetically, distinguishing those at which
money orders can be obtained or cashed, and in other
cases the exact distance from the town at which
money orders can be had ; also stating the time of
the delivery of London letters and the time at which
the box fur the receipt of London letters closes, so
that the return of post can be always calculated. This
Postal Directory contains, likewise, an alphabetical
list of the 5,000 principal places throughout the
world to which mails are dispatched, with the king-
dom in which each is situated and " Universal
Rates of Postage on Letters and Newspapers to the
colonies and foreign parts, with the routes of the
mails and the days of their dispatch." This work is
clearly and neatly printed, and so admirably arranged
as to be exceedingly easy of reference. It is a fresh
proof of the ability, of the energy, and of the industry
of its spirited proprietors.

MANCHESTER TRADE RETORT, MARCH 26.
There is no material change in the market to-day. Probably
a little more briskness has characterised it ; inquiries have
been numerous, but the business done has been very limited.
The prices now offered for yarns are such as would little
more than defray the
cost of the raw material, leaving a
lamentably low per centage for the spinner. These rates are
insisted upon, but the producers still appear disinclined to
yield, and a few bargains have been struck. The little busi-
ness that has been transacted is at prices a shade lower than
those of this day week. Forty-inch shirtings still hold their
price, and there is no disposition to make any further con-
cession. The goods market is very inegular, and prices
slightly receding.
ABERDEEN RAILWAY.—It appears the directors
intend to open the remaining portion of this line to Aberdeen
in the course of next week, provided they obtain the sanction
of the Government officer. On the line being opened for
traffic it will complete the communication between Aberdeen
or London by railway.
LOANS TO IRISH RAILWAY COMPANIES.—It ap-
pears from a return just issued that the Public Works Loan
Commissioners lent to the Dublin and Drogheda Railway
Company, at various periods, from the 26th of December,
1842, to the 20th of March, 1843, sums amounting in the
amountedaggrega aggregate
tot 30
01,5061,00001.
and
datthse
principal repaid to 51,1791., per cent. The interest paid
leaving 105,821/. due. They lent to the Great Southern and
Western Company, between the 20th of September, 1847,
and the 29th of January, 1849, 495,000/., at 5 per cent. The
interest paid amounted to 36,012/. They lent to the Water-
ford and Kilkenny, between the 20th of September, 1847,
and the 26th of November, 1849, 83,0001. The interest paid
amounted to 6,130/. They lent on the 3d of November,
1849, to the Midland Great Western (first advance) 100,0001.
at 3% per cent. Total of all moneys lent 834,000/., of which
51,1791. was repaid. The interest paid amounted to 72,193/.
The Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland lent to the
Dublin and Kingstown Company 75,000/. on the sth of No-
vember, 1832, and 37,2001. on the 29th of November, 1836,
at 4 per cent., together 112,200/., of which 54,5961. was re-
paid. 51,016'. was the amount of interest paid, and 1,8751.
was the amount of interest due. The principal outstanding
amounts, to 57,604/., which is in course of repayment by halt-
yearly instalments of 3,000/. The sum lent to the Ulster
Company, on the 18th of July, 1840, was 20,000/., at 5 per
cent., which has been repaid. The amount of interest paid
was 3,813/. On the Dublin and Kingstown branch to Dal-
key 25,000/. was lent on the 21th of November, 1842, which
has been renaid with interest amounting to 1,534. The
total amount advanced was 157,2001., of which 99,5961. was
repaid, leaving 57,604/. due, which is in course of payment.
The amount ut interest paid was 56,3671. and the amount
due 1,875/.

ENCUMOFRED ETATES.—A return has just been
made, pursuant to au order of the House of Lord 9, dated
15th February, 1850, front the Commissioners of the Court
of Encumbered Esta'es, Ireland, stating the number of pe-

titioris lodged in their coart, the total rental of the property
proposed to be sold, and the gross amount of encumbrance)
stated to be chargeable thereon. By this return it appears
that the number of petitions lodged to the 15th day of Feb-
ruary (inclusive) is 481 ; the total rental of the property,
608,3271. Ba. 7d. ; and the gross amount of the encumbrances
stated to be chargeable thereon, 12,671,0591.135. 6d. Of the
smisod, and 27 Arc duplicates,
481 petitions, 14 have been di