The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Times, commenting on Mr. Trevelyan's motion for
the abolition of purchase in the army, complains that
the British army offers no opening to the mass of the
British people. A man too poor or too desperate to be
anything else may become a soldier, and much to his
own benefit ; a man too rich to care for the hire of his
labour may become an officer, also to his own advantage.
But for a man who, as Mr. Trevelyan fairly put it, desires
"to live by his profession, and to rise in propor-
tion to his professional merits," there is no place in the
British army. The sons of the shopkeeper, the tradesman,
and the poorer members of the mercantile or professional
classes see no carrer before them in the profession of arms.
They would be willing, with a fair prospect of subsistence
first and avdanccment afterwards, to enter the ranks in
such numbers as would render the ambiguous functions
of the recruiting sergeant unnecessary. Open the door to
this class and the army would be manned as it has not
been manned since the days of Cromwell. But the door
must be opened, and the prospect must be displayed,
before this consummation can be reached, and the
first step must be the abolition of the purchase sys-
tem. If t! ,e son of the shopkeei e • or yeoman is to
enlist in th line, it must be first on the condition of
pay measured mo•e nearly by the demands of his
station, but, above all, by the view of a fair career before
him. So Mr. Trevelyan and his friends would abolish
outright that strange and anomalous system which makes
military promotion depend, not on merit alone, but on
merit, backed by money. If we are to have a real middle-
class army, there must be no promotion by purchase.
It may be cheap, it may be popular, it may be superior
to any alternative presentable, but it is certainly incom-
patible with such a reformation of the army as we
have -here described. The question to be considered
is whether the army should be thus reformed. We admit
without reserve all that Mr. Trevelyan and his sup-
porters predict from the revolution. Our army would
become beyond all question one of the most formidable in
the world: It would be the counterpart, not merely of
that army which " could go anywhere and do anything,"
but of that whiCh " never failed to beat and break utterly
into pieces " everything opposed to it. What we have to
consider is whether it is expedient to provide ourselves
with this tremendous machine. The cost, compared
with the result, might perhaps be disregarded, but it
would be exceedingly heavy. The mere expense of abolish-
ing the purchase system was computed at £10,000,000 or
£i10,000,000, but that would be the least part of the affair.
We should have to provide both officers and men with pay
on a scale unknown except in the American army, where,
we are told, 50,000 men cost £20;000,000 a year, or at
the rate of £4OO a man. These figures, of course, are
only reached by saddling a small remnant of force with
the dead-weight of a gigantic war, but it may be safely
anticipated that a reformed army would be no less costly
than formidable. We should become a nation of soldiers
instead of a nation of shopkeepers ; we should be enabled
to embark with confidence on any scheme •of ambitious
conquest, and the world, perhaps, as well as the Treasury,
would feel the effects of the change. But is this the kind
of army that Great Britain desires to possess, or the kind
of policy it desires to embark in?
Another crisis, says the Daily News, has arisen, and
once more the Queen's name is found discussed in connec-
tion with grave censures such as we had hoped we should
never see published by the most responsible of our news-
papers. The effect of the Queen's withdrawal is too plainly
seen in the proceedings of the House of Commons, where a
defeated Minister is compelled to delay for four days expla-
nations which, if the Queen were at Windsor, he might
make at once. Her Majesty does not need to be informed of
the general reasons which make it of consequence that she •
should be accessible to her constitutional advisers, or that
even if Mr. Disraeli chose to spend his days in travelling •
between Westminster and Balmoral, the House of Com-
mons could not submit to continually renewed obstruc-
tions of public business. In fact, Mr. Disraeli is
remaining in town, while the Queen is at Balmoral
unattended by any member of the Cabinet, so that the
practice of personally communicating with the sovereign
at critical conjunctures appears in this case to have been
abandoned, and her Majesty's commands must be signified
by a messenger. To those who have followed with any
attention the history of similar periods of political
anxiety, this state of things will appear eminently unsatis-
factory, for Englishmen are not yet prepared to see the
old practice of_ constitutional government exchanged for a
novel and dangerous delegation of the most sacred prero-
gatives of the Crown. If we look for any explanation of
the Queen's absence—and explanation is looked for—we
shall not find it in her Majesty's indifference to constitu-
tional usage. A more constitutionally minded sovereign
than Queen Victoria never sat—and, we venture to
say, never will sit—upon the British throne. Nor
will the suggestion be accepted as satisfactory
that the Queen did not know last Monday that which
any newspaper reader might learn for himself, that ques-
tions were pending which might give rise to critical divi-
sions. If it were foreseen that the House of Commons
might at any moment adopt some decision which Ministers
could not accept, then it must have been foreseen they
would have to consider the alternative of resignation or
dissolution. Under ordinary circumstances we should
find it impossible to believe that the Queen had consented
to remove herself six hundred miles from the capital at a
time when such issues were pending. The only light thrown
upon her Majesty's actual removal• gleams from Mr.
Disraeli's recent speeches. If it be true that the
Queen has been persuaded by him that a dissolution of
Parliament is not one of those solemn exercises of theroyal
prerogative which require to be preceded by the most
careful examination of the special circumstances under
which they arc recommended, but a power which may
properly be entrusted to a Minister, like a weapon to be
worn about his person and used in cases of extremity for
his personal convenience, the Queen's absence is explained,
and that in full conformity with Mr. Disraeli's repeated
representations. In that case, however, no language
could be too strong to denounce the conduct of a Minister
capable of so diminishing the dignity of his sovereign and
depriving her of her just rights.
The Standard observes that the talk about stopping the
supplies may be taken in conjunction with the wild attack
upon Mr. Disraeli for letting the Queen go into Scotland.
The supplies are already voted. But the suggestion
betrays the anxiety with which some persons are now
engaged in observing the political barometer. Wanting
a crisis they have made one, and, having made it, they
are angry with the Minisitry because they will not
recognise the fury of the storm. What they really
want is, of course, that Mr. Disraeli may abandon
the care of the vessel. They blow hot and cold that they
may have an elemental convulsion. They cannot wait
even a few months so that the question may be decided by
a complete constituency. They are doing all they can to
prevent the completion of the new electoral body, and to
force on a crisis, at any inconvenience to the country.
They are angry even with the Queen, because, as is noto-
rious, her ill health will not permit her to stay in London
to aid them in their strategy. And yet they presume
to charge with " high treason " the Minister who shall
resolve to appeal to the country to defeat this deep-laid
conspiracy.

The Herald sympathises with Mr. Eyre's on his com-
mittal. The hardship of his case will not appear one whit
the lighter after reading over the evidence given in the
course of the inquiry before Mr. Vaughan. For the
fiftieth, or five hundredth time, we have heard the story
of the floggings and executions, of the widely-spread
disaffection which showed itself in acts of armed rebel-
lion, and of the strong banded measures which were
successfully employed to put it down. Every one will
regret that measures of such severe coercion had to
be used against any of her Majesty's subjects, and
will wish that it had been possible to convince them
of their duty by moral suasion. This, however,
is not a matter of sentiment. The question is not whether
severities. were inflicted, and excesses committed, but
whether the first were made imperative and the latter
venial, by that stein necessity which knows no law, and by
that regard for the scams populi which made it imperative
to visit a few scores with suffering that many thousands
might be saved from massacre. This is the issue which
the Court of Queen's Bench may in form have to try, but
upon which, in substance, the grand jury of the entire
country has already decisively pronounced. It is idle
to talk of the illegality of imprisonment for no proved
offence, and of the infliction of punishments brinformally
constituted tribunals. The very same things may be and
are said by the hundreds of Fenian suspects who have
been lodged in prison pending the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act, and who might come forward to
detail their fancied wrongs with the greatest unction if
they could but get a magistrate to listen to them. The
answer to any such complaint would be that theirliberties
were abridged that good order and constitutional govern-
ment might he preserved.

. -
The Telegraph notes that after many unsuccessful
efforts—some of which failed on technical grounds, and
some from the character of the tribunal before which the
ea-governor was arraigned—the Jamaica CoMmittee have
at length gained- a point which enables us to anticipate
a solemn judicial decision on the matters debated
with such acrimony for the last two years.
Although the particular action now brought is
nominally to obtain damages for wrongful imprison-
ment, yet, as Mr. Vaughan clearly pointed out,
it opens up the whole question of the legality
ur illegality of all the • acts committed under Mr. Lyre's
sanction ill Jamaica, •M r. Gil-lard's denunciations of the
conduct of the present prosecutors may have been very
suitable for a bench of Shropshire magistrates, but it ls
really foreign to the subject. No one can seriously be-
lieve that Mr. Mill is swayed by a feeling of personal hos-
tility to the ex-governor.; what he and his colleagues ask
is simply an authoritative exposition of the law with
respect to the duties and powers of those who rule the depen-
dencies of England. Whether the original proclamation of
martial law in Jamaica was legal, and whether, if legal, it
could be considered in force after an amnesty had been de-
clared—these are matters on which every English subject,
of whatever creed or colour, has a personal interest, and it
is for the public benefit that they should be settled by a
distinct judicial utterance. Now that the question is to
come before the Court of Queen's Bench, we shall at last
have the decision of the highest authority ; and the wish
to see the point determined is shared gyen by those lop
have 49 0443190tY ag84.44t Ur. Eyre.

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The Prince of Wales, attended by Lord Alfred
Harvey, General S'r W. Knolly-s, the Hon. C. L.
Wood, and Maj r Teesdale, arrived at Marlborough
House yesterday afternoon, from Templenewsamt
near Leeds.

The Princess of Wales drove out yesterday after-
noon, attended by the Countess of Macclesfield.

LITERATURE.

Work a-day Briars. In Uhrec Vols. Richard
Bentley.

The motto of this work is taken from " As You
Like IC' (rather an inappropriate source, by the
way, for such a sentiment !) —" How full of briars
is this work-a-day world !" Full of briars, indeed,
was the world as George Langhorne found it--
briars that iu their day, it is true, bore some tran-
sient blossoms of love and happiness, ephemeral as
the wild roses of the hedge side, but the blossoms
departed and the briars remained. Aaioug the
very numerous works which have already come be-
fore us during this year, we do not remember anY
one in which we have felt so much interest, or in
which we have found so much to commend and to
admire, as this story of " Work-a-day Briars." It
is not a sensational novel in any degree, its interest
is of a far deeper and more genuine descrip-
-1 tion, being excited by the truthfulness of the
characters who take part in its scenes, the
simple earnestness with which the tale itself is told,
and the many touches of nature—those touches
which " make the whole world kin," which again
and again occur in the course of the narrative, and
which evoke the tenderest emotions of the reader.
The epoch selected for the story is about the com-
mencement of the present century, and the
scene is chiefly laid in the little coun-
try town of Claywich. The family of the
Aldersons, wealthy bankers, who have for
a considerable period held a prominent position in
that town, divide our interest with those of Colonel
Fosbrooke and Squire Langhorne. Col. Fosbrooke
has been reckless and extravagant, and he only
holds possession of his esuate during the good plea-
sure of Mr. Alderson. Squire Langhorne is a very
good-natured, well-meaning old gentleman, quite
unqualified to superintend his own affairs or
govern his large, undisciplined family. His
wife, who had died before the commencement of
the tale, had been the real ruler of all
and everything, and on her death household and
estates go to wreck and ruin under the no-rule
of a roi faineant. Such is the state of affairs when
George Langhorne, the second son, returns from col-
lege. George is clever and ambitious, working hard
to distinguish himself at the University and gains
a position in life ; he inherits his mother's love of
order and skill in administration, and he sets about
the herculean task of reform. The character of George
Langhorne is very forcibly revealed during the strug-
gles and sacrifices which he voluntarily undergoes.
He examines the steward's books and discovers gross
frauds in the accounts, and with great difficulty lie
persuades the easy, good-natured Squire to call the
defaulter to a reckoning. The steward, while he is
disconcerted by these discoveries, which he explains
away as best he can, almost forgets his own ex-
posure in admiration at " the 'cuteness of Master
George." Master George discovers, however, like
many another reformer, that it is easier to make
enemies than friends. While at college he has
imbibed strong Whig opinions, and appears in his
native town to the indignation of many old friends in
the blue coat and buff waistcoat, the party costume of
the day, of which the Edinburgh Review is still a
living memento. Unfortunately for the young
politician Mr. Alderson is a staunch Tory, and Mr.
Alderson's fair daughter, the charming Cecilia, is
the object of George Langhorne's deep devotion
We must not linger too long over the details of the
story, which we shall only spoil by endeavouring
to analyse. Oar readers cannot do better than learn
for themselves how y oungLanghorne at election time
working with his accustomed determination, gain
favour with his party, and is appointed secretary to
the Minister, and then, being in a position to claim
his bride, form ►lly demands the fair Cecilia of her
father. In those days party feeling was as intense
almst as religion. Whig and Tory were then no
empty appellations—

"Like fabled gods, their mighty war •
Shook realms and nations in its jar."
Mr. Alderson, whose character as a politician and a
father is admirably well drawn, refuses Langhorne'e
suit on account of his political opinions, and the
rejected lover then boldly informs him that he shall,
under these circumstances, take the daughter with-
out the consent of the father. Cecilia Alderson is,
as we have said, a very charming character. in
her early girlhood she is full of graceful co-
quetry, and reigns supreme over a host of
lovers ; but the realities of life too soon make
themselves manifest ; the briars thicken about
her path. When her lover pleads his cause
in opposition to her' father's wishes, she hesitateer
and thou herself reveals all to her father, and im-
plores bim, if after the lapse of years, to reconsider
his decision. " Not while he remains a Whig,"
exclaims the staunch Tory; " let him give up bio
political opinions." "Then I should no longer
love him," replies the true-hearted maiden. W°
will not reveal the fair damsel's decision. We
may only add that the interest of the story remains
unabated tall the last. The scene in Mr. Temple-
ton's drawing-room, when the Secretary is insulted
by the Minister's son, is very effectively described-
The character of Lord Templeton is good, and so ie
its way is that of the son, who owes his seat mainli
to George Langhorne's influence and exertions. A
strong will and a resolute purpose can do much, but
they cannot do all things, they cannot over-rule the
laws of nature, and so the hero of this story finds to
his cost. We may break down the briars in our pats
with a rough hand, it is true, but in so doing We
may chance to scatter and destroy the roses'
Very tenderly, and with a simple pathos
that appeals to the heart, is the close of
one episode of this story told. We have said
nothing of Hugh Alderson, and Maggie MiLeocit
his betrothed, and Lavinia Fosbrooke, his beloved,
whose histories are interwoven with hose of George
Langhorne and Cecilia, and who claim a fair share
of interest and attention. We have said enough
to assure all who may be in quest of a book that is
both pleasant and profitable to read and to re-
member that they cannot do better than turn t°
these " Work-a-day Briars"—the most delectable
Briars they are likely to encounter in many a 100 g
Day's Work.