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    jA-ygART 31, 1851]

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    1 THE MOON'S MOTIONS. (To the Editor of ...

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    Secrets Op The Purchase System. (To The ...

    • " . ,-, _ T . oia over the regulation , and as ? ss ^ SSr ^ r « e = orders Paid over regu ^^ ^^ hlg ^ t W dfi-and benevolent gentlemen living nght la- nci awi circulars may be seen in about St . J J ^ ^ 5 , fo e r a c onsideration , effect an

    t 07 eood deal has been heard lately about the pursr ' o ^ r ^^ o Ssi ^ aSo rto ^ ht of Supposing that tlie colonel of a regi-Sf wisSes to Sire ( we will take an infantry reg ^ - S ^ -ss sssrsx- ' as " ^ g ^ fi ¦ SSSS ^ glS sacred cause of friendship strikes off 500 ? . End ot

    th The St CSrUin rises on the senior major senior captain , senior lieutenant , and senior ensign for ^ purphase settling their respective proportions of the 2500 ? Posstoly all are tolerably well off , and Serably liberal ; then everything goes pretty smoothly But very often ifc is exactly the reverse ; the major " has a-wife and small ^^ " &™ - ' does not much care about promotion , the lieutenant S ^ thatCkp ^ n . ^ nd-So iB sh ^^ d cjgBej . quently expects a death vacancy , and the ensign s grandmother has a conscientious objection to . giving money over the regulation . Nothing remains but ; to send the begging-box all round the regiment . Probably the second senior captain gives a 100 * . or a 150 ? ., two or three of the other captains 30 ? . or 40 ? . each , half a dozen of the senior lieutenants from 10 ? . to 50 ? . a piece ; even the junior ensign has been known to give . what he-would call a « fiver '' . towards his chance of becoming a field-marshal . At last the sum is raised , and the new colonel assumes the command , one of his duties being to instruct Ensign Smith in the " Queen ' s regulations , » which , assisted by the ensign ' s « fiver , " he had just broken

    him-Iliavo taken a very simple case as an illustration . Many others are much more complicated , bometimes the senior of a rank has his name returned ! foi purchase , but either cannot or will not give a : farthing over the regulated price . An officer who i cannot purchase hu rts no one , as his juniors skip over his head ; but one who is for regulation often 1 stops the -whole promotion , as while he is thej iirst for purchase no officer of the rank above him is likelj to retire . Such a man is most unpopular in a regiment , and it is often made too hot to hold him ; unless , as not ^ infrequently occurs , he allows himself to be passed over for a pecuniary consideration . Space will not permit me at this time to enter into further detail on the system of promotion by purchase as it at present works . Let those ot your readers who have friends and relativea in the army question them on the subject , and they will learn more than I can tell them . They must remember , however , that officers arc not inclined to tell talcs out of school , and that many , like Demetrius of old , remembering " that by this craft they have their wealth , " are willing to cry , " Groat is Diana of the DEphesians "—excellent and honourable is tho

    purchase system . k Cromwell ' s troopers are said to have ridden with the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other ; at the present day the latter has been replaced by a . purse It is not absolutely necessary for our bold dragoons to bo very proficient in tho niahngement of theii swords but they must he perfect in their purse drill We profess to be the most enlightened people ii the world—we know that we are the richest—yet w appear likely , through routine mid an unwis economy , to fall into the same utatu of sleep Iron which we were awakened by the Crimean thunder clap . Englishmen are imperatively called on to pii down tho buying and selling of tomnnsBions , —it : the sake of the English gentlemen , who , for the mo ; part , ofllcor the army , whom the purchase systei degrades ; for the sake of the army itself , which reduces to the level of the Stock Kxchange ; nnd ft their own salces , —so that if they are again driven

    ^ ~ ^ — Follow flying steps of truth Across the brazen bridge of war , they may "be more able to Strike , and firmly , and one stroke , than they were the last time . One word more . It is little use casting out the purchase devil , and making the house clean , and garnishing it , simply to allow the seven devils of patronage to walk in . . ^ QfKObR >

    Ja-Ygart 31, 1851]

    jA-ygART 31 , 1851 ]

    THE ,. LEAPEB . , ¦ in mmmmm <

    1 The Moon's Motions. (To The Editor Of ...

    1 THE MOON'S MOTIONS . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ' ) Sib , —As your column of" Open Council" is open to all , I take the liberty of stating my views concernuig the moon ' s motions , without reference to the correspondence which has passed in your paper on the 8 U in Sy opinion the moon has but two real motions ; the first is its annual motion round the sun with the earth , and as the satellite of the earth ; therefore for this motion it is dependent on the earth ; by this motion , in one revolution , any point on the moon a surface points to every part of space . The other is its motion round the earth in twenty-seven days twelve hours , or its orbital motion , which is totally independent of the motions of the earth ,-and would continue without them-, but its circular or elhptica form is dependent on the attraction of gravitation o Uh « two bodies , and of tlie sun . It is plain that tin in ; i

    cannot be termed an axial motion ( thougH reality for every revolution it does revolve once on its axis ) , I or the annual motion of the earth must be termed ] axial also , which to a certain extent it is , as the point of concentration of gravitation , or the power which prese rves this orbit , may be considered , its axis , which is the centre of the sun . But it is the diurnal motion which is known as the axial one , and such , in my opinion , does not exist in the moon ; and as a necessary consequence , every part of the moons surface must succe ssively be presented to the earth in a period of one revolution round it . And her hemiis , ' i

    ^ sphere , which is visible to us , perpetually p «« u «« to the sun as the pole of the eartli is to the pole star ; therefore , her other hemisphere must be m perpetual , darkness . . , , . ¦ « I If the mojn had an axial motion , independent ot ' the one above named , as the earth has , a little ol her hemisp here which we do not see wo , at certain parts of her orbit , become visible to us , or such axial motion must vary as her speed does in her journey round the earth . The reason why only the one-hall ? . i I ! f

    of the surface of the moon is visible to us , aitnougn the whole is presented , is , when the moon is new , orbetween us and the sun , the hemisp here , which we never see , is presente d direct to us , but being opposite the sun , it is in darkness , and therefore invisible . As she recedes from the sun in her orbit towards the fir < = t quarter , her illuminated hemisphere is gradually presented to us , causing her gibbous or horned appearance ; her obscured half , "by her orbital motion gradually points to other parts of space . When at * i . ~ fi .. Of V ,, U- ^ or . rm r > _ lu » lf of her illuminated and one-* -

    lUC 111 OL v £ u <** * . * - >*} v . w ^ , _ half of her obscured hemispheres is presented to us ; at the full , the whole of her illuminated surface ; and in the last quarter the opposite half ot her surface to that in the first is presented to us ; and under the same circumstances , in the first quarter her motion is slowest , at the full on an average , and in the last quarter the most rapid . . It will be seen from this that if such a thing as a real axial motion existed it would be detected ; the various mountains projecting : from various parts of her obscured surface , and catching tho light of the sun have appeared successively , unvarying at all times . As the moon is merely a reflector and as all observations of her have gone to establish the supposition that she is not inhabited , such axial motion would not improve h « r as a reflector ; therefore , it is unnecessary to the purposo to which sue was made , and the frigid regularity of her supposed axial motion cannot be reconciled with the known irregularity of her orbital motion . —I am , sir , ro-, spectfully , yours , ^ ^ ^^^

    ¦ . A Danqkb for the Prkss . — In tho case of an action 1 brought against tho Durham Count ., / Advertiser tor a I libel contained in a report of a meeting of the Hartiepool Improvement Commissioners , ^ hcro a g reat deal of pei - Bonality was utlcved , which was duly corded in tho . journal . Lord Campbell has ruled that reports of public i meetings in the newspapers , however correct , are subject o to the law of libel . This is a very important decision , o nnd one in which tho interests of the public , no less than n of journalists , is . l . ^ . l y concerned . It clearly annihilates - tho liberty of reporting , except at great risk ; and in it ciTcvt circumscribes tho frocilom of the press within very , narrow limits . Hut it rests with tho English people to 4 decide whether such shall continue to bo tho law , that m Ls to finy , assuming Lord Campbell ' s decision to bo it correct . ) r Vaia . ok a IUh . tay Bmixin . —A viaduct on a branch Lo of thu London and North-Western Railway , situated at

    Cowden , witlrin a few miles of Coventry , has completely fallen in . The bridge was built of stone , and consisted of several arches . It also carried over the railroad one of the principal turnpike thoroughfares of the locality . Fortunately , no train on . the railway was passing the spot at the tune that the accident occurred , although . one had passed under the bridge but a short time previously ; neither did any vehicles or foot-passengers happen to be on the road above , so that no lives were lost , nor was any person in the slightest degree injured . AH ' traffic is of course stopped for a time . Repbesektatioit of Saxford . —Mr . E . R . Lang-¦ worthy the candidate for the vacant Beat , addressed the electors of Salford on Tuesday night . He declared himself a thorough Free-trader , and promised to support every measure that b . « believed would promote unrestricted industry and commerce in the broadest sense of the words . He would do all in . his power to secure economical administration of public funds , as far as was consistent with the efficiency of the public service ,, for he was to tie utmost extent , and most sincerely , an economist . He considered that the income-tax was an unfair tax , and had always thought as much , believing that under any circumstances its inequalities ought to he remedied . Yet he preferred direct to indirect taxation . He was in favour of aa increase of the franchise , i and of the ballot . A vote of approval was passed , r Crystal Palace . —A monthly magazine has been I started ( A . Hall , Virtue , and Co . ) under the aospioes of 1 the Company , in order to develop more fully the eduf cational and . industrial objects contemplated by its s founders . „ , „ „ . . __ , _„ oeverai j

    Politics in Maitchester . — - ; rec-u < . u « o and friends of political progress" met on Thursday evening at Manchester , and , after hearing a letter from Mr . Bright fdated from Rochdale ) , in which that gentleman speaks of his continued inability to attend to business , passed a resolution expressing their sympathy with and respect for him , and cheerfully conceding to him any interval of repose he may require . Speeches were then delivered by Mr . Milner Gibson and others , m support of reduced expenditure in naval and military matters , of Parliamentary reform , and of Free-trade . ¦ ¦ ¦ .

    St . Panckas Faxosh . —a . poor w" » u ^^^ - . - » Clerkenwell police court to complain that she had not been properly attended to in St . Pancras workUoiiae . After walking about the streets in tlie cold andVwet for a nighrand being a whole day without food , she went by tte magistrate ' s advice to the workhouse , and was provided with shelter for the night ; but she was > discharged the next morning , after doing some > work and receiving a penny loaf . She received no other assistance , an d the authorities said they had done all they could . The magistrate seat a police officer with her , to

    ™^ fZl £ f ^ rs ^ ^ £ <^ don and STorth-Western Railway writes to the £ »« £ deny some of the statements made under this head by Mr Brady with respect to a commercial traveller , wrongfully convicted ( according to Mr Brady ' s assertion ) of theft . The writer appears to doubt that there was a miscarriage of justice , and he denies that there was any unfair or harsh treatment of * £ r . T-v who now turns out to have been a Mr . John Matson .

    An Eabtiiquakb in E ^ GLAKD . -Mr . E . J . Lowe , writing to the Times from the Observatory , Beeston , on « . « 9 fith inat savs— "A slight shock of earthquake , wa s elt bfth lieV and at ifigMeld-house yesterday afternoon at 3 h . 20 m . There was a noise like a distant heavy luggage train and a trembling of the ground , produenfg a 7 cc ? liar sensation on the soles of the foot . Fhe earthaTaake pendulum moved from west to east . Uo pendulum is thirty-three feet in length y and the move ment was scarcely the eighth of an inch - p . cre 3 CCnt BAiwNAi . DEaisoN diedathisresidcncoi ^ ik- ^ nt fe »^? = S 9 Skf the cliart A c i . ; . ° " ' tiain , r somo yoara as a barrister , lie bndgo . Aftc P ^ g ° y Common Pleas ri 8 3 ^ mi I o ^^ cars afterwards he wa 3 transferred o t " Court of Exchequer . He edited , in conjunction L ° w , M . Barnewall , iivo volumes of reports pf cases heard

    n the Court of King ' s Bench between » ana A o ^ w . M ohdkmxmi DKNiHON—Aftcr considerable discussion before Lord Campbell , and Justices ^ "d ^> Wi-htman , and Crompton , in the Court of Queen a Bench on Wednesday , their lordships made a rule ab oluto for a mnndumus to issue , commanding Sn John Dodson , Judge of the Court of Appeal of the province of Canterbury , to admit a libel and appeal from the decision of tho Archbishop of Canterbury , tho appeal bang from the decision of tho Archbishop sitting m the dio ese of Bath and Wells as statutory substitute ^ f « that bishop . The proceedings had xelcrcx . ee to the caso ol rchdeacon

    I A wemaon . . , Sxnciuic-Mr . Luke Li K htfoot , a gentleman of Bixtytliroc has drowned himself in the Surrey Canal , wlicro he body wa « found one day ^ t week by a labouring man . The deceased gentleman ' s "lationa BUted at Jj inquest that he bad been monomamacal or m Un past , and had been kept under restraint ; but he fafi iwny from tli « house early in the ™™ mK \ * XrTmu 5 in 1 , U room a few farewell words to us s . stcr _ and mu I . I have gone at once to the water and drowned lumbcll .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011857/page/15/