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

SANDHURST.

On Tuesday Colonel NORTH moved a resolution
having for its object a considerable increase both in
the number and extent of the foundations at Sand-
hurst. . . .

Mr. PELL objected to the resolution on the simple
ground of expense, and Lord PALMERSTON, after
some discussion, said that it was by the effort of a
financial reformer that the establishment at Sand•
burst was reduced. He agreed to a suggestion on
the subject of a committee of inquiry, which, he said,
he should move for himself.
LAW OF PARTNERSHIP.

The Earl of DERBY on Thursday asked the
Government when it WWI intended to introduce a bill
for establishing the principle of limited liability in
partnership.
Lord STANLEY OF ALDERLEY said that a bill was in
preparation, and it would be introduced shortly after
Easter.

DAY OF HUMILIATION.
THE general fast and humiliation was kept on Wed-
nesday in London and throughout the country by
an almost universal cessation from business, and by
the attendance of a very large proportion of the
population of all classes at their respective places of
public worship. The closing of shops, &c., was as gene-
ral as on Sundays, and the aspect of the metropolis
and its inhabitants during the day betokened the
seriousness and solemnity with which the day was
associated. In Ireland, also, we learn that the day
was observed with equal strictness.
From the many appropriate discourses delivered
on the occasion, at the various London churches and
chapels, we must extract the following eloquent
passages in the sermon preached by the Rev. H.
Melville, in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster,
before the House of Commons. The Speaker, ac-
companied by all the officers of the House, and about
150 members, attended the service. Among the
members were Lord Palmerston, Sir James Graham,
Mr. Disraeli, Lord Ebrington, Sir Stafford Northoote,
Lord Naas, Sir G. Grey, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Walpole,
Mr. Henley, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Spooner, Mr. Crossley,
Sir H. Willoughby, Lord Lovaine, Mr. Cayley, Mr.
Hankey, Lord Alfred Paget, Mr. E. Ball, &c. The
prayers were read by the Rev. W. Cureton, the Rector
of St. Margaret's; the communion service by the
Rev. H. Melville; and the Epistle by the Rev. Mr.
Davies.

Mr. Melville chose for his text the following :—The
Bth chapter Ist Kings, 44th and 45th verses—" if
thy people go out to battle against their enemy
whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray
unto the Lord towards the city which thou bast
chosen, and towards the house which I have built for
thy name ; then hear thou in heaven their prayer
and their supplication, and maintain their cause."

- . -
The preacher commenced by reference to instances re-
corded in Scripture of the success which had attended acts
of national humiliation. From these he argued that such
acts were acceptable to God, though it could not be denied
that it was their sincerity, and that alone, which caused
them to find favour. He then thus alluded to the circum-
stances of the present humiliation. We were not sum-
moned as a nation to humble ourselves before God because
we were engaged in a war which, if it had been fruitful in
triumphs, had entailed on us no common disasters, and
because it rested with the Almighty alone, who was empha-
tically and repeatedly in Scripture called the: Lord of Hosts,
to give the victory which we desired to our fleets and
armies. We entered into this war with no selfish purpose:
we saw that Europe was already darkened by the shadow of
a colossal power, which was ever pushing forward its
boundary; and it was not for England to sit tamely by
whilst country after country lost its independence. If we
had no fears for ourselves—if we could not contemplate
the probability that the advancing tide would break on our
own shores, at least it was in our charter not to suffer the
weak to be borne down by the strong. Therefore did we
give ourselves to the war. It was no war of ambition, no
war of aggrandisement. We took up the championship of
the oppressed, and if we looked beyond the immediate case
it was that we saw the world's liberties in peril, and resolved
ere too late to make a stand for civilisatimi, enlightenment,
human progress, and human happiness. And if we had
unsheathed the sword only to maintain rights which ought
not to have been invaded, and to prevent aggressions which
threatened even worse disasters than themselves, we might
tie better hope that Ceod would look favorably on our hu•

THE PRESS.

miliation, and that he would not turn a deaf ear when,
falling low at his footstool, the ashes in our hearts, and the
sackcloth on our souls, we exclaimed in the words of the
text. " Hear thou in Heaven our prayer and supplication,
and maintain our cause." We had sent forth our arunea
to the war. In spite of all their courage, all their con-
stancy, and all their conquest, they were wasted and worn
—hardship and disease had sapped their strength, and the
nation had met this day to entreat the Lord God Almighty
that they might be upheld in the struggle, and might yet,
i indeed it were for good, plant their colours on the proud
forts' walls which they were now besieging. And our
hope and comfort should be, that we present this petition
where the captain of our salvation, he who, as seen
in the sublime vision of the Apocalypse, " seated on
a white horse, clothed in a vesture dipped in blood,"
in righteousness doth judge and make war, where
he ever liveth as the advocate of his church. The
preacher then recurred in the following terms to
topics suggested by the occasion :—We were assembled to
confess the hand of the Almighty in the calamities with
which we rad been visited, and to beseech of Him that, in
his own good time, he would vouchsafe us a secure and
prosperous peace. We were not, in that place at least, to
look at second causes, but meekly and submissively to own
that, whether or not we had done all which might have
been done towards procuring success, we had been smitten
by God, to whom human errors as well as human triumphs
were but as instruments for furthering His will. But at
the same time we ought thankfully to acknowledge many
bright points in au otherwise dark picture. The war, for
example, had set before the world the noble spectacle of
two great nations, long separated by jealousies and rival-
ries, laying aside ancestral enmities, and combining in the
cause of civilisation and freedom. All honour to our brave
allies! It was a tine augury for the interests of our race
that France was one with England in resisting oppression.
Then the valour of our troops, their patient endurance of
frightful privations, their undaunted bearing, not merely in
the face of hostile battalions, but of far worse fees, the
biting hunger, the pitiless frost, the sweeping storm ; who
could sufficiently admire, sufficiently be thankful for this?
Our brave fellows had won other laurels besides thou
which were stained with blood, and we gave them in their
midnight watchings, in their sufferings (borne without a
murmur), in their cold, hunger, and sickness, as high, nay,
a higher admiration than when they climbed the perilous
steep, or beat back a host numbering hundreds to their
tons. Then the evidence of a better education, of a wider
diffusion of enlarged and religious sentiment than one had
ventured to look for. Why, many of the published letters
of private soldiers would do credit to the head and heart of
men trained by all the processes of a refined and Christian
education. Moreover, the war had given occasion to the
display of unexampled generosity. The rich and poor
alike, the inhabitants of palaces and inmates of ragged-
schools, had eagerly contributed to the relief of the widow
and the orphan. Nay more, we had seen the most touching
and graceful spectacles: royalty itself had bent from its
high estate, and the wounded soldier had been gladdened
and dignified by the visit of his Queen. Above all, the
war had brought oat one fine and noble trait. It had
shown that numbers of the weaker sex, though born to
wealth and bred in luxury, were ready to renounce every
comfort, and brave every hardship, that they might
minister to the suffering, tend the wounded in
their agony, and soothe the last struggles of the
dying. God bless them in that their heroic mission—
he had almost said their heroic martyrdom—and he might
have said it, for he did think that in walking those long
lines of sick-beds, in giving themselves to all the ghastly
duties of a hospital, they were doing a harder thing than
was allotted to many who had mounted the scaffold or dared
the stake. Passing from these cheering circumstances, the
preacher dwelt on national sin as producing national cals.
mity. He showed in general that we had not acted up to
our high calling as a people specially intrusted with the
" oracles of God," and that with regard to the present war
in particular, we had entered on it in too boastful and con-
fident a spirit. He called on all classes to do their part in
the great wore of national amendment. Legislators, by the
countenance they could give to true religion, by the exten-
sion of the machinery of a sound and Christian education,
and by the enactment of measures for repressing vice and
ungodliness; others by self examination, by repentance, by
holiness of thought, and word, and deed. He concluded as
follows : " Yes, it must be done at once. Who will reckon
on tomorrow? There came sudden tidings. With bated
breath men whispered them one to another; they seemed
almost incredible ; and yet it was so. The potentate who
had been foremost in this war, the man who stood out from
the rest of his race, the most conspicuous, perhaps, in power,
in energy, in the strength of will, in the firmness of pur-
pose, in the sweep of enterprise, he was dead ! Dead, with
countless squadrons waiting his bidding; dead, with con-
vulsed kingdoms watching his movements; dead, whilst a
whole world, I might almost say, was being shaken by his
tread. Then, I again ask, who will reckon on to-morrow?
At once, lest death overtake us, let each resolve to be a
better patriot by being a better Christian. Thus may all
be instrumental towards obtaining those blessings for which
the nation has now bumbled itself in prayer. Better and
brighter times may break upon the land. We may live to
welcome hack victorious armies. If thousands lie buried
on a foreign strand, they lie buried in no ignoble grave; for
their resting-place shall lie a spot at which, for ages to
come, Valour shall gain fresh life, and Freedom trim her
torch. We may live to rejoice that they have not died in
vain—that their death has procured for us a peace se-
curing the rights of nations, and throwing up a rampart
against future aggressions. Then, in the beautiful imagery
of prophecy, we may ' sit every man under his vine and
under his tig-tree, and none shall make us afraid.' Ihere
shall be ' no decay, no leading into captivity, and no com-
plaining in our streets ; ' but we shall experience all the
emphasis, all the richness of the saving— Happy is that
people that is in such a case ; yea, *happy is that people
whose God is the Lord.'"

EXPENSES or THE REVENUE DEPARTMENTS.
THE sums required for the expenses of collecting
the revenue in its different de amments are now fur
the first time included in the votes brought before
the Rouse of Commons. The estimates for this
service were moved on Monday night, and the dis-
cussion on the various items was then begun. The
gross total presented in these estimates, including
the Customs Inland Revenue and Post-office for the
year ending the 31st of March, 1856, is 4,870,6451.—
viz., 4,385,9511. for salaries and expenses, and 484,6941.
for superannuation allowances, d;c. The Customs
Department figures for 1,500,0661., the Inland Re-
venue for 1,044,5851., and the Post•office for
1,665,3941.
Th a salaries and expenses of the Customs amount
to 835,1821., and the cost of the Coast Guard to
483,2:381. The salaries and expenses of the Post-
office amount to 1,638,8011., and the salaries and ex-
penses of the Inland Revenue (including the revenue
police of Ireland) to 1,428,6701. The gross increase
on all the estimates, as compared with 1854, amounts
to 333,1481. The items of the Post-office exp, nditure
are thus specified—viz., 395,7971. for the chief offices
in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh ; 36,318/. for
surveyors; 341,623/. for provincial establishments in
h:ngland ; 43,7291. for the same in Ireland, and
52,5281. for the same in Scotland; 18,1841. for colo-
nial establishments and agents abroad ; 693,7171. for
the conveyance of mails; 17,0651. for buildings and
repairs ; and 38,0001. for the manufacture of postage
envelopes and stamps, including 8,0001. for the new
stamp for the postage of newspapers. The sums to
be paid for the conveyance of mails in the United
Kingdom are estimated as follows :—viz., for mails
conveyed by railways, 480,7121.; by mail coaches,
18,1671.; by carts and omnibuses, 118,0001.; by con •
tract packets, 13,7671.; and by private ships, 6,0501.
These sums do not include the wages and clothing
of mail guards and other incidental expenses, which
raise the gross total expense of the conveyance of
mails to 693,7171. The total number of employes in
tho Post o ce is 21,221, against 20,037 last year.
The items of the two other departments of revenue
are given too much iu detail to admit of a similar
summary.

THE following list contains the various Govern-
ment estimates for the war service of the ensuing
financial year, pointing out the increase over those
of the year now closing :

Army /13,721,158
Navy
Trausport Service
Orduance

•
Comings', ist

TOtal C39,820,322

Increase.
1C,553,674
299,019
1,5914,901
1,541,3 &b
1,74,745

Pastime Fur u.—An exertion is now being made,
under the auspices of persons in the hikhest ranks in
this country, to raise a fund for the relief of widows and
orphans of officers who fall in the war with Russia.
The mode in which it is sought to raise this fund is
worthy of all commendation, and affords a striking
proof of the culture of the times. An exhibition and
sale of works of art will take place at the Gallery of
Art, 121, Pall-mall, the proceeds of which will be
applied to the above-mentioned honourable purpose.
Great ardour is being manifested by all the promoters
of this most praiseworthy undertaking. Al! the
works, either for exhibition or sale, will be contri-
buted gratuitously, and the services of all who are
actively engaged in the good work will be freely and
cheerfully given towards its accomplishment. The
exhibition will open next week, and promises to he
of the most interesting kind. Besides very liberal
donations by many of the nobility of works by their
own hands, the collection will be enriched with
artistic productions by members of the Royal Family.
The Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales, and the
Princesses Alice and Helena, have already contri-
buted some of their own drawings. A sum of
1,3111. 13s. has been forwarded from Geelong, Aus-
tralia, to the Lord Mayor of London, to be banded
over to the wive' and children of soldiers and sailors
serving in the war against Russia.
AFTER the House of Commons was cleared on
Tuesday evening for a division on the Sunday open-
ing of the Museum proposition, some amusement
was caused to the tellers and the doorkeepers by the
discovery of la member asleep in the gallery. The
Earl of M ulgrave called out from the floor of the house,
°Hi! wake Ill.!' but without effect; the hon. member's
slumbers were too profound to be lightly disturbed,
and he was only brought to a sense of his undignified
position by a gentle shake on the shoulder from one
of the doorkeepers. The hen. gentleman at once ap-
preciating the situation, jumped up, and hastily
quitted the gallery. We are unable to state bow he
voted, or whether be submitted himself to that ordeal.
LAST Saturday afternoon two well-dressed men
were arrested in Paris on a charge of forging Eng-
lish bank-notes. As they were crossing the Pont
Notre Dame, guarded by gendarmes, on their way to
the prefecture of police, one of them jumped into the
river. His body was carried away by the rapid
current, and has not yet been found.

276

Original gettas from ttt 6rimta.

Wig have received the following letter from Scutari :
Scutari, Feb: 28th, 1855.

The changes here are so regular and unmarked by
any great events that it is difficult to convey any true
idea of the state of the hospitals. The daily im-
provement is felt rather than seen ; but it is suffi-
cient to inspire us all with a hopefulness to which we
were once strangers.
The transport steamers and ships, which have
been so justly complained of, are now greatly im-
proved. Only large first class steamers are used,
and a proper quantity of sick sent down in each.
Two hundred mea now are allowed double the space
occupied by four or five hundred when the sick first
came down in great numbers. Permanent surgeons
are appointed to the ships which have been fitted
up, and the horrors of the passage from the Crimea
can Low never be repeated. This great improvement
is marked by tLe decrease in the number of deaths, '
since not more than three or four now die on the
passage of the sick fresh from the Crimea. The
surgeons do not always escape. I grieve to say that
Assistant-Surgeon Frank Smith, who had brought
down more than one ship in admirable order, died at
Balaklava, alter his last voyage, in the house of our
good friend Hayward. In poor Smith we grieve for
the loss of an excellent and most promising officer,
and a kind-hearted and religious friend.
To-day the steamer Ottawa has gone up with 480
men, all sent out of our hospitals cured and fit for
duty. I saw the warm clothing served out to these
men; each had .a waterproof cap and coat, strong
long boots, reaching above the knee, and a double
set of new warm under-clothing. The men seem
very pleased with this clothing, and in great spirits
about going up.
While in the part of the barrack hospital used for
stores, I marked with pleasure the abundant supply
of bedsteads on the French model; and as these are
all supplied with other necessaries, they promise
comfort to the new:arrivals. Once only the cold
stones awaited sick and wounded; now, thank God !
it can be so no mord.' At the end of this corridor, in
quartets which were once mine, a bath-room is now
erected, wi h hot and cold water pipes laid on.
As the room is convenient for the entrance, it will be
an improvement over the baths and washing in dis-
tant wards. This room appears a great improvement
over the old plan, and strongly contrasts with that
time when a bath was not even hoped for.
r Extra diet kitchens are opened in various parts
where needed ; and from these sago, arrowroot,
broths, chickens, &cc., are supplied to the den, while
at the men's bedsides a liberal supply of oranges,
lemons, eggs, and wine is seen. At the Hydir Pasha
Serai, where the means of providing comforts for the
men are least, they are contented ; but here, again, a
kitchen on a good model is built in place of the old
Turkish one, and other things are rapidly being com-
pleted for the comfort of the men there.
Though so many things are done and doing to
cheer our poor fellows, yet all is not bright; many,
very many, are the distressing cases of emaciation,
sickness, and, above all, of frost-bites. All that has
been written of them conveys only a just idea of the
worst individual cases; but though the individual
cases are terrible, yet the majority of cases are slight,
sod the men in a fair way of recovery. It is only by
daily visits from bed to bed that the true state of the
men can he known; and however keenly we are com-
pelled to feel the worst cases, yet it would be unfair
not to look at the improving ones.
Naturally the mind is filled with one or two sights
of pain or mutilation, and then is little able to appre-
ciate the true state of things. Besides this, num-
berless small things are continually added for the
comfort of the sick, which, to an unpractised sore,
seem unimportant or are overlooked. Hanging-
shelves between each bed, low tables for the worst
sick and amputation cases, trays to form a tempo-
rary table on the knees, drinking-cups and small clean
bags to hold bread, which once was kept under the
pillow or in the nearest dusty window place, all these
are daily added, and the difficulty or supplying these
things, small as they appear, for 6,000 or 7,000 men
is very great. Captain Gordon, R.E., speaks of the
English carpenters lately arrived as affording valtiable
aid, and says that one of these men will do more its
one day than an Armenian or Turk in three days.
The supply of books is now abundant, and Lord
William Paulet has allowed two orderlies to take
charge of them. Many of the books are quite unfit
for the use of soldiers, and these have been put aside,
while a selection has been made of instructive and
entertaining works, which the men prize greatly and
change incessantly. The Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge have sent a large supply, some
for themselves and some for friends, and these are
mo-t valuable. The men, I fear, destroy the tracts,
and we are compelled to limit our supply in some
measure, but i am glad to say that no case of a
Bible or Prayer-book having been injured is known.
All contributions sent out now have a fair chance of