The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-24 00:00:00

MARCH 24, 1855. On the motion of going into a committee of supply, Mr. LINDSAY called attention to our administrative system. His observations were mainly directed to the defect of the transport service, against which be alleged great waste of money and a most inefficient way of keeping accounts. The officials of the Admiralty neglected their business scandalously. The Government were doing much to remedy the evil, but he did not approve of a transport board, and urged the necessity of a responsible head, who might be the chairman of the board. Sir J. GRAHAM said that the changes made by himself twenty years ago, were, in his opinion, still efficient. When so many vessels had to be despatched to the Crimea, no wonder if some oversight occurred. Transports were necessary for reserve in case of reverses—to carry the sick—for many exceptional services. He agreed generally that there should be a responsible head of the Transport Board, but thought at the present juncture the mixture of naval, military, and merchant service officers the most advisable plan. Mr. ALcocic found fault with the military opera tions in the Crimea, and sketched what he con sidered a better plan of campaign, of which the capture of Anapa appeared to be the chief feature. Sir J. NORTHCOTE, Captain SCOBELL, Mr. CAYLEY, and Mr. BENTINCK, continued the discussion, criti cising for the most part the governmental arrangements. Admiral BERKELEY defended the Admiralty from certain allegations made in the course of the debate. Mr. MACGREGOR excused the heads of depart ments, who could not be answerable for all that was done under them. Mr. BROWN and Colonel Kimx having spoken, Sir C. Woon replied as to various matters of detail and attacks on particular officers. The house then went into committee of supply, but the Chairman was immediately ordered to report progress without proposing any vote. On resuming the house adjourned at 6orrtsgonttrat. GENERAL VIVIAN'S APPOINTMENTS. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—l observe in your number of Saturday, the 17th inst., a letter signed "Honos." I conclude that letter was written, with all honesty of purpose, to uphold the character of the Turkish contingent. Your correspon.lent states that " General Vivian has nominated to high commands two persons who were cashiered the Bengal army some years ago for scandalous and infamous behaviour." He adds— " One person in that category was invited by the directors to meet the Prime Minister at dinner, &c., and was at the last levee presented by General Vivian to the Queen." No officer at the London Tavern on the occasion alluded to, or presented by General Vivian at the levee, had been cashiered by a court-martial for scandalous, infamous conduct. The Conservative member will, therefore, perhaps hesitate before he brings such a subject before the house. Your correspondent has sent you the names. I think there can be no doubt what gentleman are meant. I therefore send you the names, and if ' they correspond with those sent by " Honos" you will judge how far his communications are to be de pended upon.• The " one person in the category " was never brought to trial for scandalous and infamous conduct : he was not, therefore, dismissed for that; and had the court-martial or the commander•-in-chief been aware of what was not brought before them, he would not have been dismissed at all. Lord Gough was the comm ander -in-chief and approving officer : he wrote as follows : I can assure you it would afford me satisfaction to find that an officer who has served his country well and creditably may be enabled to bring facts to the notice of the present head of the Indian army+ which can justify him without injury to the service in taking your case into public consideration. The whole case was submitted to Sir Charles Napier, and the following is his decision : The commander•in-chief and the c ourt appear to me fully exonerated from all blame ; but on reading this letter I found a new case which the court had notseen and could not judge of. Captain —'s case had been placed before the court in a false light by ignorance ; it is now placed iu its true light by subsequent research ; and in my opinion he stands acquitted of all dishonourable conduct. He is, I believe, an honourable man, who has fallen the victim of folly and gambling. Lord Gough again wrote : I am very glad to find by your letter that the late com• mander•in•chief has recommended his case to the favorable consideration of the Court of Direct os. I shall be de• lighted to hear of a favorable result in the case well deserv ing sympathy, that of a gallant officer more sinned against than sinning. [* The names inclosed ire the same as those sent by 'Rona."—Ed. Puss.) + sir Chides 'Septa, THE PRESS. The charge was headed, "For conduct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman." It was not an easy matter to move the Court of Directors, although two commanders in-chief had written favorably of the case. It was reserved for a still higher authority to give a decided opinion on this person's case. The nobleman who commands the army in chief took the trouble to investigate the case, and stated distinctly his conviction that this distinguished officer was worthy of the favorable consideration of the court. He was restored, and I believe the same noble lord has, with a liberality which is his wont, introduced him to high authorities abroad for employment in Turkey. He possesses many testimonials of gallant and good conduct. The other officer alluded to was not dismissed for "scandalous, infamous conduct." It was charged against him, but he was acquitted of that. The offence was one against morality and religion. It becomes a military crime only when coupled with the above epithets; and having acquitted him of those he should have been acquitted altogether. The court erred in sup posing that they were compelled to record the sen tence "to be cashiered." They recommended strongly to mercy, pointing out their belief that they were compelled. Four very celebrated legal authori ties, Thesiger and Fitzroy Kelly being two of them, were of opinion that the prisoner should have been acquitted. The offence was one which if (per se) con sidered a military crime would endanger the com missions of some very distinguished officers. This officer was restored to the service. Sir Charles Napier, the commander-in-chief and confirming officer, after his return to England, was further informed of the case, and he wrote that " None of the officers' friends would have more pleasure than he would have at this officer's restoration by the Court of Directors." Lord Gough has borne testimony to his high character, and so has the late Adjutant General of the Bengal army : he has also many strong testi- monials. He was restored to his rank and pay by the Court of Directors on a conviction that there were some conflicting, if not illegal, circumstances attend ing the trial. With regard to General Vivian, his character as an officer and as a gentleman requires no defence. His selection to the command has given very general sa►isfaction, although " Honos" dces not approve. — I am, sir, your obedient servant, JUSTUS. Sir, —Assuming that the person alluded to by " Honos" in his letter of March 15 is the gentle man whose name I inclose on a separate piece of paper, I have to request that you will kindly give insertion to the following in answer to your corre spondent's statement. The officer who dined at the London Tavern on the occasion referred to, and who was presented by General Vivian to the Queen, was not cashiered the service, but was dismissed on an erroneous con struction of the charges, which have since been dis pelled by the restoration of that officer to the ser vice, in consequence of the strongly-expressed opinions of no less personages that the late General Sir Charles Napier, who wrote that in his estimation, " he stood acquitted of all dishonourable conduct," and that " were itin his power he would restore this brave man to the service ;" of Lord Gough, under whose administration the court-martial took place, who stated that he hoped the new commander-in•chief (Sir Charles Napier) would see sufficient matter to recommend for restoration one "more sinned against than sinning ;" of the present commander-in-chief of her Majesty's army, who gave the strongest sup• port in his power to the case ; of Lieut.-General Sir John Littler, Sir George Pollock, and of many other distinguished officers. Many officers having solicited to be placed under the command of this " person" in the Turkish con tingent, and much influence having been used by them to be appointed to the regiment destined to be commanded by him, it cannot be said of them that they object to " be compelled to obey, or to consort with him ;" even noblemen, high in office, and well acquainted with the case of this much injured officer. having been desirous to place those in whom they are interested under his command. In answer to the third paragraph of "Honos'" letter, I have to acquaint him that the officer in question never received or courted any directorial patronage, the Director alluded to purposely with drawing from all interference in the case, fearing ht might damage his relative by supporting the appeals made to the court for restoration. And, further, the now ex-director, having been abroad for many months, had no part in the appointment of his rela tive to a command in the contingent, he being simply indebted to his high military reputation for his nomination to the post which he holds, and to the support he has received, not only from general and other officers in the East India Company's service, but also to that of the commander-in-chief of the Queen's army; 283 To say that there has been any "outrage on society, on the army, and on the Sovereign of these realms," is as outrageous as the whole of " Honos' " statement, for the name of the officer thus attacked stands on the list of retired captains of the East India Company's service, and be consequently can claim the right, equally with " Honos," to be pre sented to his Sovereign without injury to the scru pulous feelings of your correspondent, and is at liberty to accept the invitation of the chairman of the East India Company without disparagement to the character of a Prime Minister who may be a guest at the same table. Apologising for the length of this letter, which "Honos'" ignorance of facts has called forth from me, I remain, sir, your obedient servant, W. I. March 22, 1855. CONSERVATIVE UNION. " Sandy" presents his compliments to the editor of TEE PRESS, and takes the liberty of remarking that the inference drawn from his communication, inserted in the last number, is totally foreign to the intention of the writer and the feeling he endeavoured to desctibe. Lord Derby's late government of Ireland was quite sufficient to repel doubts of his Protes tantism, but it is felt that the case would be materially altered were those who abetted in making Sadteir ap pointments, and in keeping a Popish writer for the Morning Chronicle, to be admitted as coadjutors quo Conservatives. owever admiring and trusting their great leader, such a union would throw the truest and staunchest Conservatives all abroad, in action and weakness would follow, while union with Lord Shaftesbury would be hailed with the fullest confidence and regard. North o' Tweed, March 20. - [We take " Sandy " at his word. Lord Derby's government of Ireland was sufficient to repel all doubts of his Protestantism, but would his Protes• tantism have been less had he lately welcomed home a political prodigal ? From whom in that case would the confession, "I have sinned," have come? We have said, and we repeat it, that we think it for tunate that the juncture proposed by Lord Derby did not take effect, but we came to that conclusion on reasons altogether distinct from the opinions held by Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Herbert on certain questions which, in a Cabinet formed by Lord Derby, could never have become Ministerial questions. Had those gentlemen joined Lord Derby they must have con formed to a Conservative and Protestant policy, and in that case, their peculiar sentiments, though fatally objectionable if suffered to predominate in a govern ment, might have been harmlessly entertained by them in private. No national party in times like these, when intellect is free and opinion very specula tive, can afford to be intolerant or even exclusive. The Conservative party to be powerful must be constructed on a broad basis. Union as a common ground of political principal may consist with great diversity of individual sentiment. Insist on identity of opinion too far, and no kind of union would be possible. Whoever joins the Conservative party, whether in or out of Parliament, must be supposed to subscribe to its principles and concur in its objects. And we go the length of saying, that the more comprehensive that party is, the more shades it includes of religious and political opinion lying within the Conservative pale, the more certain will the high, pure, rational principles of the party be to prevail, from the impos sibility which must then exist of imposing on it the predominance of any local or sectarian senti ment.] THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. TO THE EDITOR OP " THE PRESS." Sir, —Looking over a volume of " Lodge's Portraits " a few days ago, I opened casually at the portrait of Thomas Pelham Holies, Duke of Newcastle. The memoir there given of that very contemptible states man opens with these words : Without wisdom to guide, or temper to submit to advice; with an insatiable inclination to govern, but without the dignity of mind or manners to induce respect ; at once rash and timid ; ever jealous and suspicious, yet idly and unnecessarily communicative; fond to excess of the trans. action of affairs, but incapable of method and arrangement, ttc., &c. Can the most casual observer of late political disasters read the above without acknowledging it, to be a truth that family character, like family lineaments, is re produced in successive generations'—Yours, M. LETTERS FROM BEYROUT Mete that the proclama !ion of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had taken place in that town, and in all Syria, with great pomp. At Bryrout the ceremony terminatad by a discharge of fireworks. The Pacha, not know ing what vats meant, sent in great haste to the Fnch Consul to ask if news of th e fall of Sebastopolrehad arrived. Tut.; CHESNUT TREE or THE Tun.caus, known by the name of " the 20th Marcb," has not this year been below its usual reputation. It is at present in buds, many of which have already burst into leaf. 'M