The Press.
London, England, 1856-09-13 00:00:00

4mustmtuts, it.

THE FLOWER SHOW AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE
during the week has attracted a large number of
visitors. The notion of a flower and fruit show in
September was novel, and though London is said to
be "out of town," the show of carriages on Wednes-
day was surprising. The two cheap days have also
been well attended. The prizes given exceeded 8001.,
and the show of flowers was in some respects as rich
as any of the year. Their disposition was not as
picturesque as on former oocasions, when they were
grouped on artificial benches with great success as
regards the general effect. On Wednesday the
flowers were ranged simply in two rows along the
nave of the building. The beautiful variety of the
colours, however, heightened as it was by the atmo-
sphere of the interior of the palace, left little to be
desired in the way of pleasure to the eye. The show
of dahlias was one of the richest ever seen. In plants
of variegated foliage there was an unusually fine
show ; many of the specimens were most rare, and all
were healthy, in full leaf, and well cultivated. The
exhibition of hollyhocks was a great feature. Some
of the blooms shown were larger than dahlias, with
the soft downy tints of roses. There was a fair show
of pitcher plants, and some splendid groups of roses
in pots, and cut. The classes devoted to miscella
neous plants were also well filled with excellent
specimens of various kinds. The display of fruit
was, of course, remarkably fine, both with regard to
the number and kind of samples. The pines were a
fair average show, but the peaches, grapes, melons,
figs, apples, &c., surpassed those at any horticultural
fete this year. Some of the small peach trees and
vines in pots were remarkable samples, and were
covered with ripe luscious fruit, though the plants
that bore them were mere twigs. A new feature in
this show was the distribution for the first time of
prizes among cottagers of the humbler classes for
the best specimens of vegetables. The competitors
for those rewards (which sometimes amounted to
101.) were very numerous, and produced admirable
samples of potatoes, carrots, turnips, &c.

TrrE ROYAL CREMORNE GARDENS will offer additional
attractions next Tuesday, a fête in aid of the fund
for the relief of the suffering workmen at Messrs.
Broadwood's having been fixed for that day. The
anniversary of the battle of the Alma, Saturday next,
will be distinctly marked by special attractions.

THE FIRST VOLUME OF VINCENZO GIODERTI'S POS-
THUMOUS Worms has just appeared at Turin, and is
likely to increase the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
The following is a succinct enumeration of the
writer's views :—Catholic reform, he contends, con-
sists in abolishing the present abuses of the Church,
viz.-1. The temporal power of the Pope, which he
declares to be " useless and hurtful." 2. The igno-
rance of many members of be clergy ; the insuffi-
cient education of most of them, theology being
" many centuries behindhand. It is an enormity,"
he adds, " that the priest should be unable to prove
the truth of his religion." 3. The want of moderate
liberty among the episcopacy and clergy in general.
4. Jesuitism," which pervades worship, science, dis-
cipline, dc., and renders religion adverse to civilisa-
tion." 5. The want of a sound propaganda against
rationalists, heretics, and infidels. 6. The existence
of celibacy in warm countries, for which it is not
fitted. 7. The idleness of the clergy ; useless inst.':

SATURDAY,

tations ; an excess of religious observances. 8. Tho
want of civil (or lay) education among the clergy.
9. Venality. The remedies he proposes are :-1.
Depriving the Pope of temporal power. "It may
be done," he says, "by Catholic States, and even by
the United Italian States alone ; there should be no
scruples." 2. The establishment of ecclesiastical
athenaeums; the instruction to be superintended
both by the bishops and the State ; the division of
the clergy into two classes—the learned and the
working priests ; the reform of theology ; the aboli-
tion of scholasticism. The granting of liberty and
legal guarantees to ell ecclesiastical orders. 4. The
abolition of the order of Jesuits. 5. Tho State to
contribute towards the expenses of propagandism.
8. Two orders of priests, viz., the married and the
unmarried. 7. The reform of convents ; the aboli-
tion of useless ones, and also of all useless religious
practices. 8. The State to contribute towards the
education and instruction of the clergy. 9. Reform
of the legislation and discipline of the Church.-
-" Are these reforms," ho asks, "to be hoped for ?
yes; by the influence of society; otherwise Catho-
licism would not be immortal. How are private
persons to co-operate towards this end ? By writing.
Their writings may be prohibited—never mind."

Babal a 0 Militarg 3attlligena.

REDUCTION OF THE ARMY.

THE memorandum for the reduction of the army
to come into operation on the Ist of October, has
been published this week. It is headed "Hove
Guards, September 5," and will apply to all infantry
regiments at home and abroad except to those now
serving in India, which will remain at their present
establishment. The following arrangements for
carrying out that measure are ordered :

Officers commanding will select from the whole strength
of the corps the specified nnmber of men, being careful to
retain as many as possible of the prescribed standard of
five feet six inches, proceeding to the depots ( when both
portions of the regiment are at home) to select the men.
The whole of the men composink the service companies
abroad are to be considered to form part of those retained
on the establishment. The battalions being completed,
officers commanding regiments, and the depots of regi-
ments abroad, will ascertain how many of this surplus,
whether up to the prescribed standard or not, provided
they are tit in other respects, are willing to volunteer to
other regiments, which will be named hereafter, or to the
Land Transport Corps, now being reorganised under the
title of the Military Train. Every man accepted as a vo-
lunteer for regiments of the line will receive one guinea
bounty ; where twenty rank and file are given by one
regiment to another, a sergeant will be allowed to volunteer
with them. The pay, ite., in the Military Train is to be
assimilated in all respecie to the cavalry.
Commanding officers are then requested to dispose
of the remainder, dividing them into classes, and
transmitting description returns to the Horse
Guards, or to the Deputy Adjutant-General at Dublin,
according to the proper form prescribed at page 108
Queen's Regulations. His Royal Highness the
General Commanding-in-Chief concludes with an in-
timation that it is desirable to retain as many
medallists as possible.
The disbanded Land Transport men profess to
have serious claims upon the Government. Several
meetings have been held lately by the members of
the corps. It appears that the corps has been broken
up, and the men disbanded with a mere paper, not a
parchment, discharge, and a gratuity of twenty shil-
lings a piece. This they maintain is neither
iu accordance with the understanding upon which
they entered, nor a fair return for the severe
duties and privations they had undergone in the
Crimea. Sergeant Reardon, at a meeting held on
Monday night at Westminster, said :
The wretched condition in which the men were landed
in the Crimea was incredible, many of them in the month
of December, having no other clothing upon them, not-
withstanding the severe and inclement state of the
weather, but a amockfrock and a shirt. So naked wei e
some, that Captain Jones was ashamed to land them until
some clothing had been provided for them. Sheepskin
coats and boots were served out to them, but in a very
short time afterwards they were called upon to return
them to the store, and during the whole time some of the
men were in the Crimea they never had a Government
coat upon their backs. Still, in the midst of all these
privations, he had no hesitation whatever in saying
that the men did their duty, and he felt assured that if the
people of England only knew what they had suffered whilst
serving their country they would willingly grant their just
claims.

At a second meeting this week at Blackfriars,
Sergeant Reardon entered into a statement of the
grievances under which the Land Transport men now
suffer from the coniluct of the Government; the
men being many of them left in a state of starva-
tion, from not having received a proper and
legal discharge, by which they could get employ-
ment, or also the proper remuneration which they
claimed for the services they had rendered. The
grievance was that the men had only received a mere

X SEPT. 13, 1856.

paper discharge, which was worthless, while other
persons got the valid parchment discharge. The
chairman remarked upon the different manner in
which the Transport Corps had been treated as com-
pared with the German Legion, who had been well
treated and well paid, while the Land Transport
Corps were left to do what they could for themselves,
and could not get either a legal discharge or proper
remuneration for their services. He urged the
meeting to join in insisting upon obtaining their just
claims and rights. The meeting was then addressed
by a number of the corps, and the complaints they
made of the treatment they had received at the hands
of the officials were of the most painful character.
Resolutions were agreed to, expressive of the hope
that the Government would shortly give the men a
legal discharge, and also a gratuity of three months'
ply from the time of that discharge, as had been
done to the Army Works Corps and the Turkish
Contingent. A resolution was also agreed to, cha-
racterising the system adopted to provide clothing for
the men as disgraceful, and deploring the trials and
privations which the men had undergone.
His Royal Highness the General Commanding•in-
Chief has arrived in town from Scotland, and resumed
his duties at the Horse Guards.

Colonel Lake, C. 8., is about to be brought into the
royal army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel
Unattached.

A correspondence between the Horse Guards and
the Highland Society of London has been published
this week. The society wished to invite the High-
landers to a publio dinner at the Surrey-gardens.
The Commander-in-Chief, while he appreciates this
mark of aindly sympathy with the gallant brigade,
justly points out the inconvenience of removing the
men to London.

The Lords of the Admiralty have signified, with
reference to the third and fourth articles, schedule
8., of the act of 1817, requiring twenty-four years'
service in the Royal Marines for a pension, that a
provision will be introduced into the next Marine
Mutiny Act for limiting service in the corps of Royal
Marines to twenty-one years. Their lordships have
been further pleased to direct that it is to be pub-
licly notified at the several divisional head-quarters
that no man will be called upon to re-engage for a
longer term than, with his first enlistment, will com-
plete twenty-one years' service, when he will be en-
titled to the same pension to be enjoyed by other
branches of the service.

The Earl of Cardigan has arrived at Dublin in his
official capacity of Inspector-General of Cavalry.
Several military spectacles will take place during his
lordship's and Sir Coln Campbell's visit to the Irish
capital.

Colonel Tnlloch, whose severe indisposition for
the last two months has deprived the department of
his assistance, yesterday morning resumed his duties
as Superintendent of the Royal carriage factory at
Woolwich Arsenal.