The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-02 00:00:00

.N 7 MAY 2, 1850.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

Captain Sir Edward Parry, Mr. John Barrow, and
Mr. Woo!ey, from the Admiralty, paid a visit to-day to
Captain Austin and Captain o:nmanney, at Greedhithe,
and numerous parties were formed to visit the vessels,
although the weather was very cold. The intrepid.
Lieutenant-Commander John Bertie Cater, left Wool.
wich to day for Greedhithe, at 2 40 P.M , and lee tined
herself down the river. The Jasper, under the charge
of Acting-Master W. Bryant, was ordered to take on
board a large supply of coals to-day. and in addition
to her bunkers being filled, will hike 20 tons on deck, es
she is ordered to proceed as a tug with the vessels, and if
necessary will go as far as Stromness. The Advice
steam-vessel is also under orders to take on board a sup-
ply of coals arid other requisite articles to assist in tow-
ing the vessels to the northward, and they will all leave
the river on Saturday morning.
Captain Sir John Ross visited Woolwich yesterday
and to-day, and a quantity of provisions having been
put on board his small yacht, the Mary, she will leave
the river to-morrow, towed by the Widgeon steam-
vessel, Captain Bullock, to the Firth of Forth.
The Crocodile, 8, recently receiving-ship at Cork,
'wine' come round to Sheerness, is ordered to be taken
up the, river to opposite the Tower, instead of the
Athol!, to serve in place of the Perseus.
CHATHAM, MAY I.—The following prisoners were
tried yesterday at this garrison by district courts-
martial, of which Major J. Whitcomb, of the Royal
Marines, was president, viz.:—Michael Lawler, of the
12th Regiment, a private, was tried for desertion at
Windsor oa the 18th of December, 1849. The prisoner
was brought into Chatham barracks on the 22d ult.,'
under a military escort. He was also tried for making
away with his regimental necessaries. He was found
guilty. Private Marshall O'Neal, of the 15th Foot, sta-
tioned at Sheerness, was also tried for offering violence
to Corporal William Parker, of the same corps, when
sentry on the main guard at Sheerness, on the 17th ult.,
when in the execution of his duty. The prisoner swore
that he would run him through with his bayonet, using
other expressions of a threatening character. Private
Thomas Slattery, of the same corps, was also tried for
theft, that of stealing a penknife from one of the officers
of Sheerness dockyard. These prisoners were all found
guilty, but the sentence of each must be confirmed at the
Horse Guards before they can be publicly known.
Captain Thomas R. Mould, Royal Engineers, and
who has been director of works: in Chatham Dockyards
for some years, is ordered to proceed to Portsmouth to
take charge of the works at that yard, in place of Cap-
tain James, who has resigned. The order from the
Admiralty fir Captain Mould's removal arrived yester-
day at this dockyard.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—A short discussion that took place on Tues-
day evening in the. Lower House on the subject of the
Registrarship of the Canterbury Prerogative Court ,
almost carries us back to the days of Horace Walpole
and official nepotism. Will it be believed that at the
time we are exercising so severe an economy that we
almost count the lumps of sugar a poor half-starred
clerk in a public office puts into his tea, a post—an ab-
solute sinecure—exists in one of the Ecclesiastical
Courts, which yields its fortunate tenant 12,0001. per
annum? What a sum ! 12,0001. per annum! One
should like to meditate upon so glowing a theme
throughout a long summer day by the side of a rippling
brook, which might give tune and time to fancy over-
heated with the dazzling pageant of possibilities. It
must be considered that this 12,0001. per annum, this
Arch-Delilah of sinecures, involves no agricultural, no
commercial, no railway risks. Laud rats, or water rats,
land thieves or water thieves, signify nothing. There may
be a dearth of cotton in Carolina or a fit of extra fertility in
Tamboff ; Uncle Sam may exclude our piece goods, or the
Russian serf glat us with the cereals; Sir Robert Peel
may turn traitor, or Mr. Hudson lend to his balance-
sheets a glowing Titianisque touch; all this matters not.
The 12,000/. per annum wnich we have in view at the
present moment is an official 12,0001. per annum. It is
"in the nature of," or' issues from," a salary and fees.
The happy tenant of the appointment need have no fear
of any one but the income-tax collector. Even the visits
of this individual may not possibly be without the effect
of adding self-complacency to his repose. The percentage
offered on the altar of patriotism quiets all scruples, and
sheds a rosier hue over bis afternoon slumbers and the
waking dreams of the quiet morning time, when he is
passing from the temporary annihilation of sleep to the
tingling consciousness of 12,0001. per annum. But like
all other dreams, this one too is destined to fade away.
On Tuesday evening Sir Benjamin Hall put a question
to the First Minister upon the subject, and the
brief conversation that arose elicitsd the following
facts. The official style of the post in question ia
" Registrar of the Canterbury Prerogative Court."
The Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being has
the power of appointing one person to the office and of
nominating two others in succession. When Archbishop
Moore held the see, he appointed (perhaps not very un-
naturally) his two sons to the post. One of these gen-
tlemen now survives, who, in addition to the emoluments
of his office, holds other preferments, which increase his
income very nearly to the mark of 15,000/. per annum.
During the days of Dr. Manners Sutton the original no-
minee died, and he filled up the vacancy with else name
of his grandson, the present Lord Canterbury. then a
boy between ten and twelve years old. Dr. Manners
Sutton died in 1828, and Dr. Howley succeeded him at.
Lambeth. Here lot us do honour to the memory of that
mild and revered prelate! He was so struck with
the turpitude and iniquity of the whole arrangement,
that when in 1845 John Moore, then Registrar of
stos Court, died, he absolutely refused to make any
appointment at all. When the fact was mentioned
on Tuesday night in the House it drew forth
cheers from all sides. A case of such disinterested-
ness is unfortunately so rare that it merits especial notice
and attention. Dr. Sumner, the successor of Dr. Man-
ners Sutton, has not followed his example with regard
to this monster sinecure. The " second reverilon" to
the office of Registrar, which has fallen in since Dr.
Sumner has been called to Lambeth, has been given by
him to his son, a young man who is now studying at the
Temple. Upon such an exercise of patronage we will
not venture to comment. All that we have mentioned
has been culled from the speeehes of Sir Benjamin Hall
and the First Minister, and may be received as admitted
facts. But in the answer of Lord John we find the fol-
lowing very satisfactory assurance:—" The nature of
the office itself is now undergoing investigation before
a Select Committee of the House. It appears to me to
be one of those offices which, when Parliament is con-
sulted on the subject, must either be abolished altogether
or so altered that no more salary should be given than
is required for efficient and beneficial services." So
far there could, of course, be no doubt upon the matter,
but we might be pardoned for entertaining an appre-
hension that the unpleasant idea of compensation is
young Mr. Sumner might come to be so inextricably
and unpleasantly mixed up with oar satisfaction as very
materially to modify its character and abate 44 fervour.
It is, then, most satisfactory to find that, for this once
at least, there is a special Act of Parliament—the 10th
and 11th of Victoria, cap. 98 —which will entirely cut
up Mr. Summer's hopes of a compensatory sum in gross
for the loss of his glittering prospect. The office, it is
to be hoped, will be abolished, and the memory of so
gross an abuse consigned, without more ado, to oblivion.
Mr. Sumner, however, is not to be driven into the
howling wilderness alone as an expiatory victim
for the sins of his fellow sinecurists in rue and
passe: The whole array of sinecurists in the
Ecclesiastical Courts, actual and prospective,
must be passed in review, and all who cannot give a
good account of themselves be dealt with according to
the exigency of their particular cases. Sir Benjamin
Hall, we see, has given a notice of motion which will cut
down to reversioners. Despite of the Act mentioned
above, actual tenants, at least the majority of them,
would be in a position to demand so much compensation
that it might become a question whether it would not
be better to let the claims become extinct by the course
of nature. All this, however, is no valid reason for not
looking sharply into the matter. Whatever doubts may
exist as to the propriety of cutting down the official
salaries of those persons who actually perform services
of public advantage, there can arise no very nice ques-
tions of policy or propriety upon the abolition of a nest
of sinecures. At least, let there be no more salary given
than is required for necessary services actually and effi-
ciently performed.