The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-28 00:00:00

the habit of the people of this country, at one
period, to boast of the integrity of officers in
Government departments, and to draw a favour-
able comparison between the conduct of these
functionaries and that of foreigners in similar
situations; who were very generally described as
persons guilty of . taking bribes, and rob-
biug their oWn
_Governments, to make up
'for their paltry salaries. In Spain and Italy,
possibly, practice of this kind prevails still, yet
:though insnfficient pay Cannot justify either
fraud or robbery,- their effenceS are venial when
compared with many of those committed in Eng-
land. In Government offices here the pay in
general is gond; the salaries of the principal
clerks and officers are ample, ^nd the labour
comparatively light ; yet we find an income of
400/., or even 1,8001. a-year, does not secure the
public against Ekchequer frauds, or the Trea-
sury against the robberies of public servants.
The public had scarcely ceased talking about the
forgeries of.SMITH, which for some unexplained
cause were to a certain extent hushed up,' when
it was discOyered that another disgraceful system
of plunder was carried on in the Custom-house
by officers receiving excellent salaries. The in-
vestigation of this affair appears to be made even
with greater secrecy than that respecting the
forged Exchequer bills; but report states that
the Treasury has been defrauded to an enormous
amount, and that but for this defal-
cation, the Custom-house returns would in
some quarters have exhibited a very different
appearance. We cannot believe plunder to such
an extent has been "committed, but beyond all
doubt it is most extensive, and great numbers
are, implicated. The public, however, who are
the' sufferers, have a right to know every parr
ticular connected with such disgraceful transac-
tions, and we trust, therefore, that a full and
public -investigation will be instituted. Possibly
some of these gentlemen, with salaries of 4001.
a-year, have powerful patrons, and may attempt
to escape public indignation and public punish-
ment by paying a penalty for their crimes. This
mode of settling the business, however, will not
satisfy the country, and in order that all such
suspicions maybe set at rest, it is the duty
,of
Government to bring the delinquents at once
before a public tribunal. We fear the Cus-
tom-house officers are not the only persons
guilty of such practices; but in most other
departments affairs
__are better managed, and
the Commissioners and Directors keep a better
look out after those under them than the Board
of Customs. It is certainly little to the credit of
these well-paid gentlemen that a system of
plunder like this should have been carried on to
such an extent, and so long, without their know-

ledge.

Sir ROBERT WILSON has been well rewarded
for deserting his party. After he was turned
out of Southwark, for voting contrary to pledges
made to his constituents, he was restored
to his rank in the Army by the late KING,
having received some 10,0001. from a gene-
rous public for the loss of his Commission,
and he is now appointed to the important situa-
tion of Governor of Gibraltar. The salary, it is
said, is to be raised, and he may therefore
reckon upon a snug berth for life. We
cannot help thinking there are many meritorious
officers of consistent politics and of long standing
in the Army, who have much better claims for
this office. We suppose that Lord STANLEY,
who presented Sir ROBERT to her MAJESTY, has
a fellow-feeling on the subject, and rejoices to
promote a man who set him. the example of
walking over to the enemy.

The accounts from Lisbon of the 19th inst.
possess some interest. The Corte.s had been
prorogued on the 15th till the Ist of December,
when they are to meet to pass the Diuro Wine
Company Bill, and other Government measures
left unfinished. A fresh change of Ministry
had taken place; but this is an event of such
common occurrence in that country, that it

Hardly deserves notice. The Ministers of Ma-
rine and Justice have retired. The Duke of
TERCEIRA has given up the Foreign-office, but
remains Minister of War and President of the
Council as before. COSTA CABRAL continued in
the'llome Department, and Baron TOJAL in that
of Finance. The Ministers chosen were GOMEZ
DE CASTRO, Foreign Department; SOUSA E
AZEVEDO, Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs•
7
and FALCAO, Marine and Colonies.

Baron TOJA.L was negotiating an advance of
1,200 contos upon the decitna, &e., with the Bank
and Confianca Company, and if able to raise it on
moderate terms, would not issue treasury bills
on the,decima, which he intended otherwise to do.
The Tariff question was expected to be pro-
moted by the appointment of GOMEZ DE CASTRO
to the Foreign Department; but it was thought
probable that the offer would be to reduce at
present such duties as have already been pro-
posed, and leave the more difficult questions for
another year.

A Brazilian frigate had arrived at Lisbon; to
escort the future wife of the young Eluperor of
BRAZIL to that country.

The French papers of Sunday contain no news
of importance. We have received Marseilles
papers of the 23d, but they give no account of the
Levant I%lail, which is now overdue some days.
SIDI BEN ARAen, called the Serpent of the
Desert, former Minister of ACIIMIT BEY, last
Bey of Constantino, passed through Aix on the
17th, on his way to Nogeut-le-Rotrou, which has
been assigned him as a residence by the French
Government. lie had been sentenced to twenty
years' hard labour, for having issued false coin,
and confined in the fortress of the island of St.
Marguerite, on the coast of Provence. Having
been lately pardoned by the KING, at the inter-
cession of his son, he was liberated on the 13th,
by the Prefect of the Var, and intrusted to the
keeping of an officer of the staff and a brigadier
of gendarmerie, who were to conduct him to
Nugent.
A letter from the St. PeterThurgh correspon-
dent of the Univers states, that " the Emperor
NICHOLAS could not dissemble his anger at the
publication of the recent allocution of the POPE,
and had determined on recalling his Axlbas,,ador
from Rome, and to cease all intercourse, with the
Pontifical see. In the meanwhile his MAJESTY
per Severed in his system-of persecution towards
his Roman Catholic subjects. He had lately
enjoined the Dominidan friars throughout his
empire to give in to the authoryies a list of all
Their penitents,-threatening, is case they ,should
refuse to comply with the injunction, to have
them arrested and conveyed under a militar3
escort to the frontiers of the empire." " The
EMPEROR knows well," Continues the writer
" that the Dominicans c
order
annot,:withOut violating
their consciences, conform to his decree, and has
idominions, expedientrather for banishing
accordinglyt
ot reli religions devisedr ns dei .thisfrom
than recur to a brutal and unjustifiable decree of
exile."

The Austrian Observer of. the 17th announces
the presence of Prince MICHAEL of Servia, with
his uncle EPHRAIM, and his mother, Princess
LINDICZA, in the quarantine' at•Semlin. WuTs-
CHITSII, who was in Belgrade, quitted it under
pretence of
going to Panciewa, but suddenly
appeared in Semiendua, and thence hastened to
seize the park of artillery at Kragujenatz. Prince
MICHAEL and his mother hastened together to
engage the foe, but their troops fled after a few
shots. A provisional Government has been
formed of five members, with PETROMEWITSCH
and WUTSCHITSH at its head, and deputies from
the seven districts have been sununoned to Bel-
grade to give counsel, until the Porte shall have
decided what to do'under the circumstances.
A letter in the Augsburg Gazette, dated the
12th, from the frontier„ says that PETROME-
WITSCH, WUT IMITSCH, aim each
at the thron
:and. that.the .number of exiles to
SCHITSH, and S.
Semlin
daily increeses. Th. e answer of Prince
e,
a
MICHAEL to the invitation addressed to him by
the insurrectionists to return, was in the nega-
tive. To the remark's of the ConSuls, KIAMIL
PACHA observed that the Consuls were but corn-
mercial agents,
and had in no Wise to trouble
themselves with polities. It seems that- the
Russian Consul, as well as the English, French,'