The Press. — London, England, 1857-07-11 00:00:00

MI HER MAJESTY AT ALDERSHOTT. Hnn MAjesty the Queen, accompanied by her royal guests, and attended by the Court and a bril. Lint staff, paid a state visit to the Camp at Aldershott on Wednesday. The day was fine and cool, and some thousands of visitors were present on the occasion. The royal cortege left town at nine o'clock, and arrived at Farnborough about ten. Her Majesty at once entered her carr►age and drove to the camp. Along the whole line of route her Majesty was most warmly welcomed, and the cheers from the spectators announced her arrival almost before the field batteries saluted. Her Majesty drove to the pavilion, where she changed her ordinary morning attire for a riding costume, and at eleven o'clock the illustrious visitors rode down to the long valley where the troops had been formed up for in spection. Her Majesty was mounted on a superb bay charger, and wore her scarlet riding habit with a military sash and open riding hat with a small plume of red and white feathers. Prince Frederick of Prussia, in the uniform of a Colonel of Prussian Dragoons, rode on the right of her Majesty. His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, in a Field Marshal's uniform, the Duke of Cambridge, the Princess Charlotte of Belgium, and the Prince of Hohenzollern, were on the left. The Princess Royal and Princess Alice followed in a pony carriage. The troops, drawn up in a line of contiguous columns, which stretched across almost the entire length of the long valley from east to west, amounted to in all less than 9,000 men and 30 guns. Two troops of Horse Artillery formed the extreme right, and ex tending from that point to the opposite end of the line were the Ist Dragoon Guards, 9th Enniskillens, 7th and 15th Hussars, a field battery, a detachment of Sappers and Miners, Ist Battalion of Coldstream Guards, the 51th, 66th, and 22nd Regiments, a field battery, 15th and 00th Regiments, Ist Battalion of Rifle Brigade, a field battery, the 20th and 97th Regiments, and the 3rd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. In rear of the men the waggons of the military and pontoon trains were drawn up in double lines. After rapidly inspecting the line, the Queen toqk up her position on a hill at the foot of Caesar's Camp, and the evolutions representing the manoeuvres by which a sudden attack is met, and a superir r force kept in check during a retreat. The infantry first moved across the plain, supported on the left by the heavy cavalry, while the light cavalry and horse artillery were pushed far in advance to recon noitre : After an interval of espectation, the light cavalry could be discerned in dark uneven masses on the bills far south of Fitruham irood, slowly retreating along the high ground and watching the imaginary foe beneath. The Rifles were (Impeached to their support, and, breaking into skirmishing order, advanced and occupied the borders of the wood of Farnham. Immediately after the action began with an irregular dropping fire, which swelled gradually into a con tinued rattle. The Rifles dodged from bush to bush, crowd i 4; behind the trees and mounds, lining the hedges, always oa the move, but never slackening their fire for a single instant. The Horse Artillery, with the heavy cavalry on the ettreme lett, supported them with a smart cannonade ; but the help was apparently unavailing, as, atter a fierce defence of an orchard and farmhouse, the retreat was sounded, and the Rifles fell slowly back. They stole across the open ground in twos and threes, turning every now and then to tire, until they gained the shelter of the light cavalry, when the cumemblie was sounded, and the whole regiment drawing together, retreated in double time. The light cavalry manirovred to cover the movement, and in this they were supported by the troops of Horse Artillery, which commenced the cannonade in hot earnest. The re. siitance, though most gallant, was supposed to be of no effect. The Artillery were ordered to limber up and retire, and the whole force commenced &rapid retreat. This was one of the most brilliant and animating movements of the day. The heavy rumble of the field batteries as they moved off, the rapid movements of the cavalry, and, above all, the ceaseless din of trumpets and hoarse cries which rang from rank to rank, with all the hurry and confusion that seemed to pervade the force, gave to the whole scene the aspect of a veritable field of battle. The Horse Artillery were the last to retire. They emerged from the low plantations, pressing their horses to the utmost, and thundering across the plain with a rush apparently as resist less as the sweep of destiny. As they fell back the regiments of infantry formed massive squares upon the common, through the intervals of which the mounted troops re• treated, and formed upon the flanks of the squares to cover their retreat in turn. In this manner the greater portion of the plains of Aldershott were traversed, the Court and stiff moving from height to height, and having a full view of every movement that took place. The infantry were de ployed into line, and opened file firing, and a field battery at each end of the brigades contributed to swell the den ; but the retreat nevertheless went on as rapidly as ever, so the spectators were left to suppose the advance of the enemy was overwhelming. The cavalry and Horse Artillery made a last desperate eff•irt to retrieve the for tunes of the day, and advanced to the point in two mag nificent lines, with the guns on either flank. After one or two preparatory wheels over the ground, as a hawk might turn before he stooped upon his prey, the 7th and 15th Hussars formed line and halted. The trumpets sounded the advance, and with a dull jingling sound the line moved on faster and faster, till the charge rang out THE PRESS, JULY 11, 1857, from every rank, and on they came, like a whirlwind over the plain, shaking the solid earth, and scattering the turf like dust behind them. The grandest and most terrible feature of real warfare was here portrayed with a fidelity which made the very crowd seem awe-stricken and ap. palled. Hardly had the dust in the light cavalry track subsided when the manceuvre was repeated by the dra goons, who swept the plain from end to end. As each charge was made the mounted troops fell back further and further, until they finally retreated on the flanks of the infantry, who had deployed into line at the foot of some steep heights surmounted by the field batteries. Here the last desperate stand was made. A fierce file fire was opened, and every one of the thirty guns upon the ground was taxed to the utmost to keep up the cannonade. Not till all parts of the common were wrapped in smoke, and the whole scone as invisible to the Court as to the crowd, did the volleys cease. With this final etfort the movements of the day were brought to a close. The troops then marched past her Majesty and returned to camp. Her Majesty and the royal party soon after re turned to town. ALTON TOWERS. THE sale now going on at this princely seat, and the great legal battle which is to be fought over the pro perty, invests the place with fresh interest. Alton Towers is situated on a lofty eminence in the valley of the Churnet, one of the steep command ing hills which form the base of Derbyshire Peak. The house overlooks a narrow and very steep ravine, which stretches southward for about a mile and a half, terminating in a wild, dark-looking gorge, like one of the mountain outlets in South Wales. The approach to the Towers winds from the railway sta tion at Alton up the steep ascent, which is so thickly wooded as almost to exclude the light and give a sombre, melancholy aspect to the scene. The house stands on the very edge of the ravine, down either side of which are the terraced gardens, tier below tier, till the bottommost parterres are almost undis tinguishable save for their brilliant colours. The Towers themselves form a noble Gothic pile, vast as a little town, with a whole crowd of turrets and pin• nacles stretching high into the air, and visible for miles around. There is a wild and picturesque irregularity about the structure which gives it an appearance of antiquity far beyond its real age. The principal entrance is under a massive square tower of the Gothic type, the broad steps up which are flanked with the armorial bearings of the family, the tyke or talbot rampant. Over the high Norman doorway the emblazonments of the still older fami lies from which the Talbots spring are deeply cut in atone, the shields of the Furnivals and De Verdons, whose names are foremost in the " Doomsday Book," with the martlet of the great house of Neville, whose last heir, Warwick the King-maker, fell at the field of Barnet. A contemporary this week gives the following, as the history of these world-famous towers : Forty years ago the site was one of the wildest anti most desolate of moorland hills in North Staffordshire. The approaches to it were bad and difficult in summer, and in winter there was no approaching it at all. The land was poor, almost destitute of wood and water, and a ledge farm house, called Alton•lodge, in the centre of an extensive rabbit warren, occupied the spot in which the far famed seat now rears its lofty towers. The country mansion of the Earls of Shrewsbury was at that time Heytbrop Castle, in Oxfordshire, a grand old feudal residence, which with the whole of its contents was unfortunately a few years back destroyed by tire. Their estates in Staffordshire were seldom visited by the successive earls, who on the rare occasions when they did inspect them limited their sojourn to a few days only, and hastened back to forget the dis comforts of the visit in the luxury of Heythrop or Grafton ' hall. In truth, they had some reason to avoid the place, for beyond the lonely farmhouse we hav4 mentioned and ' Alton Castle—a mutilated stone remnant of the feudal times, which had been finally battered down and blown up by Cromwell—no decent house was within miles of the neigh bourhood. It was not till 1812 that Charles, the 15th earl. who keenly appreciated the beauties of nature, visited Alton-lodge, and, struck with the rough grandeur of the to 3 eery around, and the unrivalled facilities it would offer to a man of taste, determined to erect a villa there. When he commenced his design, in 1814, his plan WAS only to improve and beautify the farmhouse then existing ; but the natural capabilities of the place gradually led to an ex tension of his views, and after going to some expense he at length decided to rear an edifice worthy of his rank and great possessions. To this object he devoted himself exclusively, and, as a Roman Catholic could not then take part in the political movements of the day, he was enabled to pursue his darling object undisturbed by the demands of party warfare. He obtained an inclosure act, and planted and inclosed the hills and commons round the edifice; formed a deer park, and planned the gardens, which for rich and picturesque beauty leave Chatsworth or Trentham far behind. He was stilllabouring at the works at the time of his death in 1*27, when he left the care of perfecting and completing his great plan to John, the 16th earl. He followed in the fcotstepa of his predecessor, and even added to and Unproved on his designs. Under his care Alton Towers was finished almost as it stands at present--me of the most.pieturesque =maims in • lingista THE PAUL VERONESE. Tne recent discussion in the House of Commons upon the merits of this purchase by the trustees of the National Gallery. has brought out Mr. Ruskin in its defence. He writes 1— During a long residence in Venice T have carefully examined the Paul Veronese lately purchased by the Government. When I last saw it it was simply the best Veronese in Italy, if not in Europe (the " Marriage in Cans," of the Louvre, is larger and more magnificent, but not so perfect in finish), and, for my own part, I should think no price too large for it; but, putting my own deep reverence for the painter wholly out of the question, and considering the matter as it will appear to most persons at all acquainted with the real character and range of Venetian work, I believe the market value of the picture ought to be estimated as perhaps one-third more than the Government have paid for it. Without doubt the ' Murillo. lately - at Paris, was much accidental price of the purchased enhanced by _ competition; under ordinary circumstances, and putting both the pictures to a fair trial of market value, I believe the Veronese to be at least worth double the Murillo ; in an mistiest point of view the latter picture could not be put in any kind of com parison whatever with the Veronese. BERANGER AND THE EMPRESS EUGENIE. M. BERANGER'S critical state of health excites the warm sympathy of all France. His door is crowded all day by eminent authors and people of all ranks of society, who call to make inquiries and subscribe their names. Among other anecdotes current in Paris is one of the Empress, who, on hearing of the illness which placed the life of Beranger in danger, sent M. Damas•Hinard, her private secretary, to ex• press her sympathy for the sufferer: — Notwithstanding his serious state, Beranger signified his desire to receive her Majesty's secretary. Extended on a sofa, his face pale and shrunken, his eyes half closed, Iteranger raised his hand to take that of M. Damas•Hinard, who told him in whose name he bad come to condole with him on his sufferings. " Her Majesty is very good," said Beranger, in a feeble voice. "It was very natural," replied M. Damas•Hinard, " that the Empress should send to you. Yon were one of the delights of her youth, and to her admiration for the poet are united esteem and affec tion for the man." While M. Dames-Hinard was speak. ing, the countenance of Beranger brightened up, and he said, " The Empress is very kind. She has passed nobly through the different phases of her life, and now, in the exalted station► in which she is placed, she gives proof of an excellent heart. Do not fad," added Beranger, "to express to her all my gratitude." THE WORCESTER FESTIVAL. The principal vocalists engaged for the forthcoming festival are Madame Clara Novello, Miss Dolby, Miss Louisa Vinning, Madame Weiss, Mrs. Clare Hepworth, Miss Palmer, and Miss Gilbert; Mr. Sims Reeves, Signor Gardoni, Mr. Montem Smith, Mr. Weiss, Mr. Thomas, and Herr Formes. The band and chorus will exceed 300 performers, with Mr. Dene as con• ductor. There will be full cathedral service on Tuesday, the first morning, with Handel's Dettinpen Te Deum, and anthems by Mendelssohn and Dr Elvey. On Wednesday morning, Mendelssohn's Elijah. On Thursday, Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise, and selections from Costa's Eli and Handel's Israel in Egypt. Miscellaneous concerts will be given in the College-hall, as usual, on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and on Friday the festival will close with The Messiah. CHINESE INFERNAL 11ACHINKS.—On Sunday, the 3rd of May, at four a.m., it being a dark rainy morn ing, &tremendous explosion took place exactly ahead of the Acorn, and so close as to shake the ship all over; immediately afterwards fragments of a very large infernal machine floated past, and many pieces were caught by the spars that are rigged out all round the ship as a protection against flra•rafts. The pinnace and cutter were sent ahead, and discovei ed at the distance of half a mile a strong bamboo rope attached to a pile driven into the bed of the river. This rope was found to lead from the pile under water to the Acorn's cable, to which it was attached some feet under water. This must have been done by a diver during the night, as the anchor bad been weighed the day before. The machine which had contained the powder was attached to rings, by which means it would slide easily along the rope fastened to the cable ; from each bank was a line, also fastened to the machine, to guide it. The banks of the river, being high, would entirely sonecal the men employed in guiding it. Part of a fine trigger•line was also found leading to the nearest bank of the river. The machine bad evidently been floated down along the bamboo rope and guided by the lines directly ahead of the Acorn, and, had the firing been delayed one minute, it must have ex ploded immediately under the bows and destroyed the vessel. Most fortunately, however, the guard boat, which had returned to the ship for a fresh crew, had just shoved off, and was pulling in the direction of the exact point of the bank behind which was the man guiding the machine. He must have thought himself discovered, sad pulled the