The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

ROMAN CATHOLIC PROCESSIONS,
The Bishop of EXETER called the attention of the
House of Lords to this subject. A Roman Catholic
bishop in Galway had given notice to his clergy to
attend in their robes and to make a procession some
time ago. Lord Eglinton, then Lord Lieutenant,
took the advice of the law officers, who declared the
course to be illegal. But now the titular Archbishop
of Tuam issued a manifesto, in which he called on
the bishops and other Roman Catholic clergy to
meet him in the habiliments of their order and then
walk in procession. This was last autumn, and the
then Government, it appeared, referred the matter to
their law officers, who had opined that the law did
not affect the secular or working clergy. It appeared
there was great difference of opinion on the subject,
which ought to be settled. After referring to the
proclamation issued against such processions, he
said that if they were attempted in England or Scot-
land the consequences would be fearful to contem-
plate. It was imperatively necessary to have the
present legal opinions given on the matter in the
present uncertain state of the law, and he therefore
moved for copies of such opinions.
Lord LYNDHURST said that no doubt was expressed
by the legal officers both in England and Ireland as
to the illegality of the procession in 1852, while in
1854 the opinion was divided. He explained his own
reasons for construing the terms of the act on its
plain grammatical sense, declaring their procession
illegal, and commented on the pomp and circum-
stances of the one most immediately in question,
while he thought the expediency of enforcing the law
doubtful at the present moment.
Earl GRANVILLE said that the production of the
opinions of the law officers of the crown was without
precedent.
The LORD CHANCELLOR argued against Lord Lynd-
hurst's grammatical conclusions.
Lord ST. LEONARDS supported them, and said that
they tallied with the spirit of the act.
The Bishop of EXETER said that after the speeches
they had heard the case had become really ridiculous,
and he should not think it necessary to disturb the
practice by moving for their opinion.
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM BILL.
This bill passed through the Commons committee
on Wednesday without an amendment worth notice.
The house decided by a considerable majority in
favour of the admission of newspapers into these
dishments.

The sitting on Tuesday was distinguished by a
rare incident. A motion had been made for a com-
mittee of inquiry into the appointment of Mr. James
as Recorder of Brighton. On its withdrawal, after
some debate, it was moved that no notice of the
matter should appear in the journals. The mover
of the original motion, Mr. Crawford, opposed them,
but could not find a second teller. The motion for
omission was of course carried.

IT has already been announced that Government had
agreed to take into service for the East such officers
in tho United Kingdom of the East India Company's
service as were willing to act in command of the
Tuikish contingent. The applications have been
very numerous, something about 300. The nu
m been
selected from the most intelligent, all of whom are
masters of Eastern languages, and from those willing
to go out unconditionally. It is stated that each
officer will be allowed fifty-one days' pay in advance.
ONE of the first reforms in the army has been in
the department of the cavalry riding-masters.
the riding-masters have been troop officers.
In future they are to be staff officers. For the first
two years they are to rank as cornets, after that time
as lieutenants, which is the highest rank they can
ever attain. They are not to purchase their commis•
sions. For the first five years they receive lieute-
nant's pay, after which their pay gradually rises on a
regulated scale. After thirty years' service in all
ranks, from a private to an officer, they will be per-
mitted to retire on a pension of eight shillings a day.
This new warrant has given much satisfaction, and
will enable many deserving non-commissioned officers
to be promoted from the ranks.
THE decorations for the victories in the East will
not he ready, it is stated, before the beginning of
May. Applicants on the behalf of deceased persons
are to address themselves to the War Department.
TEN THOUSAND HUTS are now under construction
for the large encampment on the Curragh in April.
A SPECIAL MEETING of the Edinburgh Town
Council was held yesterday week for the purpose of
presenting the freedom of the city of Edinburgh to
Major Nasmyth, " in testimony of the admiration en-
tertained by his fellow-citizens of his heroic conduct
in defence of Silistria, and for bis services in the
glorious victories of Alma and Balaklava." The
ceremony took place in the Council Chamber, which
was crowded to excess with a number of the most
influential citizens of the Scottish metropolis.

SATURDAY,

THE SEBASTOPOL INQUIRY COMMITTEE.
Tuts committee sat on Monday for the first time
to hear witnesses, and, as the house had decided
upon a full publicity being given to the proceedings,
the evidence taken has been published regularly and
at great length in the morning papers. The sittings
have been held de die in diem, and the amount of
testimony already collected is most voluminous. We
have room but for a few passages containing the
statements of most importance.
Mr. G. DuNoss, M.P., was examined on Monday :
During the past year he visited the Crimea, but not in
any official capacity. He arrived at Balaklava on the 17th
of December, and left it on the 29th. He had had many
opportunities of seeing the state of the army ; weather per-
mitting he had ridden up to the front awh lmost
was every day.
lie described the state of the cavalry, ich camped
about a mile from Balakava. The horses were standing
at their pickets with no rugs on, and totally unprotected
from the weather. Apparently, they had had very little to
eat indeed ; the ground in the vicinity was covered with
their dead bodies. At the pickets, almost every horse was
lying on the ground; in that position some were dead,
others dying. The tails and manes of many of them had
been gnawn off. As he understood, there was a consider-
able quantity of forage in Balaklava at the time
when. There
he
were many bags of bran standing on the beach
arrived, and they continued there till he left. There was
also a considerable quantity of hay floating in the harbour.
As to the state of the men, their uniforms were all in rags,
and they seemed to be in a state of extreme dirt and misery.
The condition of the infantry was even worse than that of
the cavalry, on account of the greater distance of their en-
campment from Balaklava. Their uniforms, for the most
part, were tattered ; and generally they wore great-coats
over their uniforms, but their trousers were in rags. He
had seen men get hold of sandbags, and wrap them round
the lower part of their legs as some protection against the
mud and cold. As to their food, he understood their rations
were often very short, and also that the nature of
alth.
the
rations was not calculated to keep the soldier in he
It was a great omission not supplying the men with rice,
which was a specific against diarrhaa and dysentery. Yet
it was not issued. The men had no fuel but the roots of
the brushwood and the stunted underwood they grubbed
up themselves. A little charcoal was supplied, but
not much. He heard that there was wood floating
about the harbour of Balaklava, but it was not allowed to
be collected. Outside the harbour of Balaklava there were
thousands of tons of wood, the remains of the wrecks of the
vessels that went on shore, on the 14th of November. It
appeared as if it had passed through a mill, it was broken
up into such small fragments. Had facilities existed, it
might have been collected with very little trouble, and
sent up to the camp, where it would have been very useful.
None was brought in that he was aware of. He described
the English burial.ground at Balaklava as very improper ;
that of the Turks was worse. He could never see bow deep
the graves in the English ground were, as they always
filled with water; nor could he say how many bodies were
placed in one grave ; from the quantity of earth thrn up
he thought the graves might be three feet deep. He had
never heard of any inspector of burials. There was no
organisation as to the houses in Balaklava previously to the
arrival of the troops. They were not numbered ; there was
very little arrangement as to taking possession of resi-
dences. But the houses were in a very bad condition,
and the officers preferred living on board the transports.
When he left there had been of attempt to construct a
quay in the harbour ; the best per was formed a
trusses of hay. The state of the hospital was better than
it had been before he arrived ; he found that the men had
beds, and that the ventilation was ptetty good. He had
been told there was a want of medicines, particularly of
opium. The sick at the camp were merely rolled up in
their blankets; they had neither stretchers nor mattresses.
He went into many of the officers' tents; they hadf
much
less to suffer than the men ; they had the means o supply-
ing themselves with requisites at Balaklava. The condi-
tion of the French horses was bet han that of the
that numbers of ourng-
lish cavalry. He certainly had heard
cavalry horses had died of starvation, but he did not require
to told it ;he h sen it himself —numbers of their
deedbe
bodies were lying e about the vicinity of the camp.
While he was at Balaklava the deaths a were 700 week, or
a daily average of 100 ; though this was, perhaps, a little
above the average. The principal diseases were diarrh(es,
dysentery, and, latterly, gelatio. Be found repeated
evidence of short rations having been issued ; fresh beef
was very rarely given. The wounded were brought down
to Balaklava by the French ambulance mules ; 600 were
thus brought down in one sy, three to each mule; the
animals were in very good condition.
General Sir DE LACY Evaxs :
He joined the army of the Crimea in April, 1854, at
Scutari ; thence they went to Varna. The troops were not
sickly before they went there, nor did they become so till
some time afterwards. His division consisted of six regi-
ments of 1,000 men each, with artillery, but no cavalry—
in all about 6,200 men. In this number, while at Varna,
there were sixty deaths. They arrived at Eupatoria on the
12th or 13th of September, but they did not disembark
heir
the
same day. They all landed without tents. They believed
got t
tents when they arrived before Sebastopol. He
that the work of 1,000 men for ten days would have secured
a road from Balaklava. Why that labour was not employed
was a question beyond his power to answer ; but all the
men who could be spared, and more than ought to have
been spared, were set to work in the trenches. The troops
suffered severely from the want of fuel. They heard a
good deal of charcoal being served out, but he did not know
that they got any. They always heard more of it than they
awl/. When he left, the clothing of the men was. getting
very bad. The commissariat officers sent to him were
very incompetent. They might have made very good