The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-20 00:00:00

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LONDON:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1842.

At the period when the Army Brevet and the

Naval promotions were made, the Spectator has-
tened to praise the Tories for fairness, justice, li-
berality, and all manner of virtues, particularly
praising their disinterestedness and disregard of
aristocratic influence in not promoting a son of
the Duke of NEWCASTLE and a brother of the
Duke of St. ALBAN'S. Last week, however, it
found out that the .Tories had promoted both
these young Noblemen before the general
promotion, and gave them seniority above all
the older Mates included in the general pro-
motion. It had praised its friends, the To-
ries, too, for having introduced the practice
of Gazetting Naval appointments for the first
time; but it has now found out that they only
Gazette such appointments as the public are sure
to approve of—namely, those for gallant conduct
or long service—and lead their friends astray by
not Gazetting such as are made from family
influence. It cannot be otherwise than indignant
at being tricked, but it, nevertheless, praises the
Board of Admiralty aihaving, on numerous other
occasions, looked only to merit.

- - _
This renowned Board of Admiralty, however,
seems unacquainted with the claims of the
or negligent in supporting them. Ave Navy,
profuse promotion, hut ifare no
advocates foreither
service must be stinted, let it be the land service.
A man is not fit for Much active service at see.
after he has reached his 60th year. Now wea
find that the Naval Captains promoted to be
Rear-Admirals in November last all received the
former mentioned rank prior to 1808. As not
one in a score was made a Post-Captain
before he was. 25 years of awe, the youngest
of
the Captains -, ,
then promoted to be a Rear-
Admiral iiinst be
57 years old. Probably the
majority of them
8
are far
majority of the Admirals
.i
above 60 ,
• while the
and Vice-A dmirals
must be above 70, and verging on 80. P.) im- I

pose on such men the oner9us and active duties
of commanding a fleet, is neither just to them,
nor worthy of the country.
Under such circumstances, when a great pro-
motion was to be made, the Admiralty should,
at least, have procured for the sea-service a share
equal to the land-service. But while there were
only 40 Post-Captains promoted to be Rear-
Admirals, there were very nearly 80 Colonels
promoted to be Major-Generals. The promo-
tion in the other ranks was of like inequa-
lity ; and, with all deference to this much-
praised Board of Admiralty, we think such a
fact is a strong proof that it has not attended to
the interest of the officers at head-quarters. In
the Cabinet the Army had its gallant and ve-
teran Chief to see justice done to it; the Navy
had only THOMAS Earl of HA DDINGTON. The
Noble Duke was aware that the more the Navy
could be kept short, the less grumbling there
would be at the expense of the Army ; and he
probably induced THOMAS Earl of HADDING-
TON, not to insist—after he had agreed with
his official advisers to a different course—on
including in the promotion to Rear-Admirals a
considerably larger number of Captains. Should
the country require to send large fleets to sea,
it will then be necessary, in order to have Admi-
rals who do not require nurses, to make a large
promotion.

As the time for the meeting of Parliament
approaches, it is incumbent on the Liberal party
to form some plan of operation which shall unite
the whole, or the greater number of them, under
leaders, in order to obtain from the Parliament
a specific good for the people. That is neces-
sary, not only for success, but even to preserve
the party from falling into battalions of free
companies or sharpshooters, who will injure each
other more than the common foe. At the same
time it is unhappily true that the Liberal party
is somewhat destitute of leaders, and is already
split into little sections, each one of which seems
to aim at conquering by its own peculiar mis-
siles, the whole Tory phalanx, expecting to mo-
nopolize 'for itself all the glory of victory.
But whatever may be the views of gentlemen
in Parliament, whether they are in office, or desire
to get into office, there is but one question which
fills the length and breadth of the land. All
the community is now divided into Pro and
Anti-Corn-law men. That one question, con-
trary to the expectations of the Tories, and con-
trary, perhaps, to the wishes of some Whigs,
like AARON'S rod, will swallow up all les-
ser questions. Since 1838 it has grown, month
after month, and year after year ; it first
caught the Whigs, and now the Tories are fain
to say there must be some alteration ; it began
with the political economists, it now embraces
all sincerely religious men ; it was ushered in by
science, and heralded forward by feeling, it is
now adopted by justice and religion ; it was no
bigger than a man's hand, it now fills the atmo-
sphere, and hides every other object. The vast
distress of the working classes, the decay of the
capitalists, the resolution of the people, press the
question with irresistible force on the attention
of Parliament.

Even on this question the members of the Li-
beral party in Parliament seem to be divided.
Articles have been written in the public journals,
the sources of which are undoubted, and speeches
have been delivered recommending totally dif-
ferent courses. At Edinburgh, Glasgow, Man-
chester, and Leeds, the sentiment of full justice
and no compromise has been loudly cheered; and
Members of the House of Commons, and those
who influence them, have recommended that on
the very first day of the Session, regardless of
the plausibilities of Sir ROBERT PEEL, whose
avowed object is to gain time, and fritter
away the attention- of Parliament over
many objects, some notice shall be. given
of a measure for the total and imme-
diate abolition of the Corn-laws. In Lon-
don three of the most influential of the
Liberal Journals have recommended that a fair
hearing should be given to Sir ROBERT PEEL,
that he should be allowed time to work out his
own schemes; that he should be aided in his
attempts to achieve any petty improvements he
may propose; and in short be helped to impose,
by means of Parliament, those chains on the
people, he has now been five months in forging.
Betwixt these two parties we cannot hesitate to
choose, and declare decidedly with the first for
immediate action, and for demanding a full m
sure of justice.

In our judgment, on the very first night'of
Session Sir ROBERT PEEL should be pressed

name an early day for the discussion ga&
Corn-laws, and, if he either postpone it to'lrii in-
definite or a late period, if he refuse to explain
the nature of his measure, or if it fall short of
what the people now demand—notice should be
immediately given of a motion for an early day
for the total and immediate repeal of the Corn-
laws. The state of the country warrants that
course of proceeding, and the public will back
the Member, be he who he may, who adopts
it, and who forces on the discussion before con-
senting to a single vote of supply. The people
are clear-sighted and resolute, and they will no
longer be trifled with. If the Liberals in Par-
liament, follow the Polite suggestions of the 1
Morning Chronicle, theEtaminer, and the Weekly
Chronicle, they will lose the support of all the ear-
nest portion of the people, already not favourably
disposed towards them, for ever. If on the con-
trary they take a bold and decided course, they
will assuredly carry with them those sincere and
religious men who Lave latterly throughout the
country given a new tone to this contest ; they
will most probably increase the boldness and de-
termination of their friends, and rally around them
the great multitude of suffering, but now dis-
jointed and wavering, capitalists and labourers.
A bold heart, energetic in the good cause,
taking up just ground in the House of Com-
mons, will soon make all the suffering classes
forget all minor differences, and unite as one man
for the total and immediate repeal.

Certainly bold measures must also be taken by
the people, if they would save themselves from
greater evils. At present the ministers of reli-
gion who denounce the Corn-laws are only
threatened with prosecution, and with whipping
at the cart's tail—let the Tories gain head in
Parliament, and let them fancy themselves safe
in their tyranny, and these threats will speedily
receive their execution. At present the barracks
are only building—let the Tories believe that
they can without danger fill them with soldiery,
to overawe the people, and free public meetings
will be at an end for ever. The Tories are yet
smarting under defeat. It is understood, as is na-
tural, that the leading man of the ultra Pro-Corn-
law party is Lord STANLEY, and the former ca-
reer of that Noble Lord assures us that he will
spare no exertion, and stick at no means, to give
full swing to his own lordly will.
Nor must the constituencies be idle at this
period. The Liberals of Lambeth take a deep
interest in the sufferings of the people of Stock-
port and Manchester, and they must give their
representatives to understand that compromises
now, for any party or personal purpose, cannot
be tolerated. The bread•taxed martyrs of Shef-
field must plainly inform their Member that
their all is at, stake, and that he must not risk
the loss of Corn-law repeal, because Sir R. PEEL
says he is favourably disposed to the emigration
crotchet. The half-starved electors of Leicester,
whose trade has gone to decay, must intimate to
thOse whom they send to Parliament, that if they
mean to ask future support they must merit it.
At Edinburgh, Mr. STURGE emphatically
warned the people against traitors in Parliament,
and the constituencies may prevent treachery, by
at once signifying to their representatives what
they must do, or resign their trust.
The Liberal party, we believe, would prefer
for a leader the Noble Lord who has already
ably served them in that capacity ; but if fami-
interests and party ties link him too close)--
ii
the bread-taxers, the Liberal party v."" -1 With
for another. Some one, probai, 111 look onudt
of equal experience arul may.
be
the Noble Lord .(r' of equal eloquence to
lieve, in r. ••.°l3O Pe-11 surpass him, we be,
...pellking well), who is not so much

shackled by family and party ties, and who will
be willing to place himself at the head of those
who are determined to achieve the con-
quest of the Corn-laws. Whether the Noble Lord
be the leader of the party, or any other person,
it is certain that the whole of the Anti-Corn-law
party will only support bold and just,measures ;
and it is equally certain that no man can be the
leader who does not take a bold and decided
course on the opening of Parliament.

The series of articles which have appeared in
the Morning Post on the discomforts of the fac-
tory system, all end in the conclusion that our
manufactures must be curtailed. Out of its affec-
tion to the factory operatives, therefore, the
Post would put them out of existence, or pre-
vent them from rearing families, who should,
like themselves, find continually extending em-
ployment in increasing manufactures. This is
extremely kind in the Post and the Tories,
and cannot fail to recommend them and their
schemes of policy to the support of the operatives.
The Anti-Corn-law men would-repeal all the ob-
structions to their getting—a-living, and allow
them to take their chance, and fight their way
in this world, which has been given to us all.
The Pro-Corn-law men have such a desperate
love' for the operatives, and such a horror of
their deplorable and uncomfortable existence,
that they would put an end to it by suppressing
the factory system. Pious priests of political
Moloch ! their intense love for the people make
them sacrifice the operatives, that they may no
longer live in the squalid misery of manufac-
turing towns. They are like monomaniacal
mothers, who murder their children lest they
should want food. With all deference to the
Post, we cannot believe that the factory opera-
tives will regard the Tories as a loving mother,
or be willing to suffer annihilation at their hands.

We direct attention to the additional evidence
we publish elsewhere, from the Leeds Times and
the Manchester Guardian, of the still increasing
distress. It will hardly be now supposed by any
classes that the Corn-laws keep up wages, but if
there still be such a wild visionary in existence,
we hope, if he can read, that he will study the
account from Wigan of mill-owners announcing
that they must lower wages, or shut up their
mills. In fact, while the duty on corn is up-
wards of 20s. per quarter, wages are everywhere
falling to the level of the wages of the lumper-
fed agricultural Irish. The deepest distress per-
vades the working classes throughout the whole
empire. There is no spot, we believe, exempt.
It is for the working classes, who at Norwich,
Wolverhampton, Bath, and other places, have
declared that they want justice, not charity, to
consider how they can remove the dire plague
which smites only them. This is for them a
question of life or death ; and, as they now de-
mean themselves, so will they obtain relief, or
be thinned down to the exact numbers which
will suit the avarice of the law-makers. The
times are critical; but we have been informed
that a plan will shortly be laid before them by
which they may probably extort from the Tories
that justice which the Whigs so unadvisedly de-
nied them. Their success, we believe, will
depend on themselves, for it is only by their
errors or their consent that they can be com-
pelled to remain the half-starved slaves of the
landowners.

We call attention to the very important com-
munication we have received from Nottingham.
Our anticipations are beginning to be real-
ised. The Ministers cannot be otherwise
than alarmed at the fearful respon-
sibility they have incurred by so long pre-
venting relief from reaching-the suffering people.
It is clear, however, that they must now give
way. Facts are stronger than sophistry,
and majorities, however numerous, only make
themselves contemptible in contending against
truth. A few weeks', or perhaps days', steady
perseverance in the good cause, and unflinching
adherence to principle, will consummate our
triumph.

We copy from the Liverpool Courier of Wed-
nesday the following painful intelligence respect-
ing the failure of the Niger Expedition :
It is with feelings of no ordinary concern—feelings
which we are sure will be participated in through the
length and breadth of the land—that we have to com-
municate the melancholy tidings of the total abandon-
ment, under circumstances of the most disastrous cha-
racter, of the Niger Expedition. The Lady Combermere
arrived yesterday at this port, from Africa, having sailed
from Bonny on the 19th of October, and from Clarence,
Fernando Po, on the 26th. Capt. Midgely reports, that
'the vessels forming the Expeditioa had returned to the
latter port that all the commanders and most of the
crews had died ; and that all further attempts to explore
the Niger had, of course, been given up.
We despaired of the success of this expedition
from the very first moment that the announce-
ment appeared that it was about to be under-
taken; nor did we lose any time in making the
Admiralty and the country acquainted with the
extent of our fears. The result, therefore, while
i t distresses, has not disappointed us. To the
country the loss of sixty thousand pounds, the
cost of the expedition, may not appear too great
for such an experiment; but what has been
gained to compensat4e for the loss of the gal-
lant officers and seamen who perished in the
exploration of the Niger ? The previous
failures of attempts to penetrate the interior
of Atrica ought to have convinced the Go-
vernment of the inutility of the Niger route ; for,
even supposing the first dangers surmounted, and
regions discovered beyond them, opening chan-
nels for profitable trade, they would not be the
less beyond the reach of the most enterprising
merchantman. As public attention will be di-
rected with a painful earnestness to discover
whether the cause or causes
_of the failure
of the expedition may not yet be removed,
the following extract from a letter signed " A
Surgeon," and dated from Cheltenham, which
appears in the Times of this. day, may be con-
sidefed worthy of attention. Man is naturally
subject to no disease arising from a particular
climate for which Heaven has not bountifully
provided an efficacious, and very simple remedy,
did we but know it. If ever Africa be entirely
explored, our impression is that it will be first so
by missionaries, and individual travellers, not by
expeditions fitted out at the expense of nations

The most distinctive characteristic in the personal
habits of the natives of Africa, as contrasted with those
who visit them, is, that the common custom of the one
people is to anoint their bodies freely, while the other
are at great pains to remove everything of the kind which
even the natural secretion of the skin provides. The
one people anoints, the other washes. They are both
equally exposed to the influence of malaria—the one es-
capes, the other is nearly annihilated. It has been
noticed in those parts of Turkey where the
plague (not the same as the African fever, certainly,
but still a fever) is most prevalen that there is a
class of persons who possess an immunity from its
attacks, and this class consists of those who are engaged
in the practical part of the oil trade. It is quite im-
possible for these persons to keep themselves clean ;
their clothes imbibe the oil, and they seem conse-
quently to move about clad as it were in an ar-
mour plague-proof. One more example will suf-
fice ; it is the fact mentioned as having been observed
in London at the time of the great plague—viz., that
no tallow-chandler was known to suffer from it. It
has been supposed that the effluvium of the melted fat
might be the cause why these persons escaped the destruc-
tion which raged around them. I am, however, dis-
posed to attach great weight to the fact of the clothes of
these men being in the same condition as those of the
oil traders, because here are' examples of three totally
distinct classes of men having no one thing on earth in
common except greasy skins and freedom from infection.
Surely this cannot be mere chance; indeed, I think it
not at all unlikely that the practice of anointing, so com-
mon to several nations of antiquity, took its rise from
some similar observations and experience. As the
cleanly habits of Europeans may be somewhat
shocked at the idea of wearing clothes saturated With
palm oil, it may be as well to state that I (IP.) not appre-
hend it to be at all necessary to uP.•,* it to any such
when rubbed in without givi-
extent. The skin will retain it certain quantity of oil
of soiling the dress, and "I'6 •sufficient;
',:.,rhaps that might be but, however, the e•
• • uantity and the most convenient
mode of applym- rise to the inconvenience
ascertained _g It are matters that could very soon be
I would
oy those immediately concerned in using it.
be only add, that I think it important that it should
used in the evening as well as in the morning, be-
cause it would appear that the influence of malaria is
most powerful between the hours of sunset and sunriso.

From Madrid the news is of the 11th inst.
In the Chamber of Deputies on the Ipth an ate
tack was made upon the Minister of Finance for
admitting goods into the Basque provinces dur-
ing the past month at an abatement of duty