The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

0 cToppp. 21, 1854. notched, and the action of the ramrod forces the pro jecting edges of the bullet into the grooves. The barrels are furnished at the breech with what is technically called a "thorn," or tige, that is, a round solid piece of iron projecting nearly an inch and a half into the inner and lower part of the barrel. Round the thorn between it and the inner surface of the barrel there is an empty space, and into this the charge of powder falls. When the indented or crimped bullet is rammed down, it completely fills the lower part of the grooves, but can descend no further than the point or top of the thorn ; and the consequence is that, the powder being subjected to no pressure, every grain of it ignites at one and the same time, and propels the ball with prodigious force. The English General Duplat, who is to go with Gene ral Letang to the Austrian head-quarters in Galicia, is now in Vienna, and his attention will doubtless be directed to the invention, as it is one of the standing topics of conversation among military men' The three Russian vessels-of-war which were at anchor in the Piraeus about the time of the rupture between Russia and the Western powers, and then sought refuge at Trieste, where they were sold to the Greek Government for the insignificant sum of 800,000 f., while in reality they were worth several millions (one of them carried 20 guns, and the other two 16 each), have definitively come into the posses sion of the Greek Government, France and England having recognised the sale. The Otho steamer has just left the Piraeus to bring them to Greece. FUNERAL OF MARSHAL SAINT ARNAUD. Tfia obsequies of the late Commander-in-Chief were celebrated on Monday last in the chapel of the Inva lides with extraordinary solemnity. The remains arrived in Paris on the same morning by the Lyons Railway, and were deposited at the terminus in a cbagelle ardente under the guardianship of a detach ment of select troops. So early as seven o'clock the bands of the various corps were heard as they de scended the Boulevards in the direction of the Bas. tile. The weather was not ill-suited to the solemn occasion. The morning was chilly and dark, and, though no rain fell, yet low thin clouds covered the sky as if with a funeral pall, and completely inter rupted the beams of the sun. About nine o'clock Marshal Magnan, wearing the full costume of his rank, rode down the Boulevards, followed by a numerous staff of general officers and aides-de camp, and attended by an escort of chasseurs. The troops destined to form the cortege were massed at half-past nine at the railroad station ; and soon after those who were to precede the hearse defiled before it. It was past ten o'clock when a salute of thirteen guns from a battery stationed on the Place de la Bastile gave notice that the hearse containing the body was in movement. The line marked out for the procession was the following :—The Rue de Lyon, the Boule yards, the Rue Royale, the Place de la Concorde, the Pont dela Concorde, the Quai d'Orsay, the Espla nade of the Invalides. At the head of the cortege were two general officers of the army of Paris, with their staffs, preceded by the fun band of the 4th Regi ment of Mounted Chasseurs. They were followed at a short distance by a squadron of light cavalry, with the colours of the regiment unfurled, two squadrons of cuirassiers, also with full band and colours, and a bat tery of artillery. These were followed by a battalion of chasseurs, and the effect produced by the contrast of the dark uniforms, as the sombre mass appeared in the distance, was remarked by every one. Two batta lions of infantry—one of light troops, the other of the line—with their drums muffled and their colours covered with crape, came next. A brigadier general of the new Imperial Guard, with his staff, was followed by two squadrons of Guides; and a battalion of the Voltigeurs of the Guard, dressed as nearly as possible like those of the first Empire. The staff of Marshal Vaillant, Minister of War, and the Commander-in-Chief of the army of Paris, also with his staff, the generals and other superior officers not in actual command in Paris, occupied the space between the Imperial Guard and the hearse. The hearse, which was not encumbered with excessive ornament, was drawn by six horses with housings of black cloth adorned with white lace ; and the coffin was covered with a large pall worked with various devices. The corners of the pall were held by Generals Bourgon, Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely, Levasseur, and De la Rue, who rode close to the funeral car. The aides-de camp of the deceased mar shal, who had followed his remains from the scene of the battle in which he had taken so distinguished a part, followed immediately behind. Next came his charger, covered with dark housings embroidered with silver stars, and led by grooms in mourning, and followed by four mourners in full costume bear ing the marshal's staff and other insignia. The car riage of the Grand Equerry, the office filled by the deceased in the household of the Emperor, the car riages containing the clergy and the members of his family, two state carriages, drawn each by six horses, with the Duke of Cambaceres as Grand Master of the Ceremonies; General Rohn Adjutant-Genera! of the Palace ; the Marquis de Totilonpop, OTderly Qfp,er ; THE PRESS. Lannes, the Count of Montebello, Colonel de Beville, and Captain Merle, aides de-camp and orderly officers of the Emperor, came after. The carriage of the Turkish Ambassador closed the file. When the body reached the gate of the Invalides, that portion of the army of Paris that had not as yet paid military honours to the remains defiled before it with their arms reversed, and under a salute of thirteen guns from a battery near the Quai d'Orsay. The body was received by General Count Ornano, Governor of the Invalides, and his staff. Eight sub.. officers, wearing the decoration of the Legion of Honour, and selected from various regiments of the garrison of Paris, carried the coffin to the church through a double line of Invalides—mutilated old soldiers, the relics of the wars which France waged from the First Revolution to the latest period. The Archbishop of Paris, attended by a large body of the clergy, received the coffin, which was placed on a rich and lofty catafalque raised in the middle of the nave, covered with a black pall, lined with ermine, and adorned with stars. The entire church was draped in black to the ground, divided into compartments by long bands of silver. To the right and left, and immediately under the line of flags taken from the enemy in various wars, were emblazoned the names of the principal battles in which the deceased mar shal took a part. The church was filled with the various official bodies, and the galleries and aisles were crowded with spectators. The governor of the hotel, his staff, the generals and orderly officers of the Emperor and of Prince Jerome Napoleon, occu pied the left of the choir, and lower down the supe rior officers of the army and navy, and the members of the Council of State. On the right and opposite the governor the clergy were seated, and lower down on the same side the places were occupied by the Ministers, the members of the diplomatic corps, the deputies, and judges ; and in the centre, round the catafalque, were Marshal Magnan, Admiral Mackau, Generals Lcewestein, De la Rue, Levasseur, and Bour gon, and the English Ambassador. Close by was a space closed off for the deputation of officers repre senting the English army, one of whom was of the rank of general, and several wore the uniform of the Guards. On both sides near the entrance of the church those who had been specially invited to the ceremony had places allotted to them. In the centre of the church, from the entrance to near the altar, were stationed two lines of Invalides armed with lances. In the galleries above might be seen the members of the marshal's family and the Sisters of Charity attached to the Invalides, and one of the side galleri3s was occupied by the band of the Guides. A considerable number of ladies, wearing deep mourning, were also present. The moment when the body entered the chapel where this assemblage had collected was one of the most impressive kind. The chanting of the priests and the solemn and pro longed pealing of the organ, with the touching ser vice for the dead as prescribed by the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, and which .on this occasion was performed by the Archbishop of Paris, produced an effect which endures long after the conclusion of the service. The absolution was pronounced in solemn silence, but in a moment after the last bens. diction was uttered the peal of artillery from without announced that the religious ceremony was nearly over. The ceremony of sprinkling the coffin with holy water by all those who were present was per formed in the usual manner. And now, when the last prayer was uttered, the last hymn chanted, and the last blessing given, the coffin was lowered into the vault behind the chapel by the same sub-officers who had deposited it on the catafalque. The thunder of artillery announced that Marshal St. Arnaud was laid in his last resting-place, and the numerous troops drawn up outside the walls and that lined the alleys surrounding the Invalides presented arms, and lowered their flags as a last salute to their chief. ' Soon after the troops began to leave the ground, and about half-past two the various corps were on their way to their respective barracks. The spectacle, on the whole, was as imposing as can well be imagined. The crowd was immense, both in the environs of the Invalides and on the whole line of the procession. All that military pomp could present to the inhabi tants of the capital of France as a last tribute of honour to the chief whose energy enabled him to subdue to the last moment of existence the pangs of a cruel and incurable malady, or rather a complica tion of maladies, was that day done. Less honour could scarcely be paid to one who so largely partici pated in the first great victory gained by the allies over Russia. The deputation of officers sent by the English Government to represent our army at the funeral consisted of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith, with his sides-de-camp, Colonel Taylor and Colonel Holditch, deputed to represent the Queen, and Lord Arthur Hay, sent to represent Lord Hardinge, Commander-in Chief of the British army. The Sardinian general, Count de Marmora, was also present. It is said that a marble statue of Marshal de St. Arnaud is to be placed in one of the galleries of the palace of Versailles. 993 The following answer has been received by Lord Cowley to the letter of condolence which he addressed to the French Government, by instructions from the British Ministry, upon the death of Marshal St. Arnaud : M. L'Ambassadeur,—l have laid before the Emperor the letter that your excellency did me the honour to ad- dress to me on the 10th inst., containing the expression of regret felt by the Government of her Britannic Majesty on learning the lamentable loss which France has sustained by the death of Marshal St. Arnaud. The Emperor has been deeply affected by a proceeding which gives such evidence of the union of this Government with that of the Queen, and of the sincerity with which the two countries are henceforth called upon to participate in all that can be for either of them a subject of mourning or of joy. If, under the present circumstances, anything could assuage the grief which the Emperor and France have felt at snob a loss, it is truly, as your excellency has so well said, the satisfaction which Marshal St. Arnaud was enabled in dying to experience that he had just inscribed his name, in conjunction with those of heroic allies, on one of the most glorious pages of the military annals of England and France. I have no need, my lord, to add that the terms in which your excellency hss so courteously expressed yourself personally in regard to the marshal have been duly appre ciated. Duouvrt DE Louts. Paris, Oct. F& Mi. GENERAL CANROBERT. WHETHEn General Canrobert is to permanently sno rted to the commandership of the French expedi tionary army does not as yet appear finally determined upon. It is, however, considered probable, and at all events it seems certain, that under his command the siege and capture of Sebastopol will be shared in by the forces of our allies. The general is, by French authorities, deemed fully worthy of the leadership, and his career as a soldier gives high promise both of talent and courage sufficient to qualify him for the most exalted military functions. Some interesting details of his professional services are given in the Monitcur de 1 Annie, from which we extract the fol lowing particulars Francois Certain Canrobert was born in 1809, in the department of Lot, a few leagues from the village which gave birth to Murat. He entered the School of St. Cyr in November, 1820, and left in one of the first ranks after two years of laborious study. Appointed sub-lieutenant of the 47th of the Line in October, 1828, he was made lieutenant in June, 1832, embarked for Africa in 1835. and arrived in the province of Oran, where the Emir, Abd-el-Kader, after the unfortunate affair of the Macta, kept our army in check. A short time afterwards he took part in the expedition of Mascara, in which he began to make himself known. He followed with his regiment the operations which Generals Clauzel and Letang directed in the province of Oran ; the capture of Tlemcen, the expedition of the Chetiff Aareh goun, and the Mina; the victualling of Tlemcen, the com bats of Sidi-Zaeoub, Tafna. and Sikkah. These affairs displayed his brilliant military qualities, and raised him to the rank of captain on the 20th of April, 1837. He went in the same year to the province of Constantine, where the Duke de Nemours and General Duniremont made prepa rations to revenge a deep insult. He received a wound in the leg at the assault of that place by the side of Colonel Comber, an old soldier of the island of Elba, to whom he was orderly officer, and who was mortally wounded at the breach. Before he died, Colonel Combes recommended the young captain to Marshal Wee as an officer full of promise. General Canrobert returned to France in 1830, decorated with the Legion of Honour, and was charged with organ ising for the foreign legion a battalion chosen from the bands of Spaniards who had Liken refuge with Cabrera upon the French territory. Thanks to the persevering ac tivity of the organiser, these remnants of the civil war were very soon ready to take part in the labours of our troops in Algeria. Called to the camp of St. Omer in 1840, he drew up with success, by order of the Duke of Orleans, several chapters of a manual destined for the use of the officers of the light troops. In the north, Captain Canrobert was incorpo rated with the lith battalion of Foot Chasseurs, and returned to Africa in 1811. In that new campaign he signalised himself in the combats of the mountains of lifouzaia and Du Coutes, as well as in the obstinate struggle which the Reni-Menasser made against our troops. After having at tained the rank of Chief of Battalion of the 15th Light, on the 22nd of May, 1842, he was placed at the head of the sth battalion of Chasseurs, which was incessantly in the field on the banks of the Chetiff, and took part under the orders of General Gentil iu the affair of the grottoes and that of Sherd], and also in several combats on the ltiou. Part of the year 1842 and the whole of the year 1843 were employed in fresh operations in Africa, and in all of them General Canrobert worthily maintained the honour of his battalion. Everywhere the 3rd and sth battalion of Chasseurs were led by their commander with singular success. Colonel de St. Arnaud employed him against lion-Maze, and he gave glorious co-operation in the affairs of Bahl, Oued•Metmour, Oned-Gri, and Oued-Senzig. In the former he succeeded with 250 bayonets in keeping at bay more than 3,000 men, who c o uld not break his ranks. For this exploit he was appointed lieutenant-colonel on the 20th of October. lie was soon afterwards closely blocked up in the town of Tetiez, where he had succeeded Colonel Claparede. Eight months of continual struggles brought about the pacification of the country, and the supe rior officer to whom this result was due obtained the rank of colonel upon the scene of his conquest. After having commanded the 2nd Regiment of the Line he entered the 2nd of the Foreign Legion on the Slat of March, 1848, and occupied Ratline. General Habilion