The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-02 00:00:00

VroVintial.

Sir EDWARD LYTTON, ALP., Batt, presided at the
late annual festival of the High School, at Bishops
Stortford, and delivered an admirably suitable ad-
dress to the boys. Impressing upon them the value
of the two great English virtues—application and
perseverance—he pointed out the wide distinction
between envy and emulation, and in a few telling
sentences spoke of the motives animating boys and
men in all their efforts, placing the desire of dis-

THE PRESS.

tinction in the foremost rank. At the evening dinner
Sir Edward Lytton, in proposing the toast of the
Head-Master, the Rev. Mr. Goodman, insisted on

the necessity of improving the education of the
middle classes, and spoke highly in favour of the
Bishops Storttord school.
MAJOR-GENERAL WINDHAM C. 8., was entertained
on Tuesday at a public breakfast at Leamington.
The gallant general, in reply to the congratulatory

address presented to him, paid a noble compliment
to the services in the late war of the regimental
officers :—" There aro scores of regimental officers
that I am acquainted with, whose services, I am per-
fectly convinced, were quite equal to mine, simply

,
. . . . . .
with this difference, that I was an older officer, and
therefore had more men under me. I served chiefly

on the staff, but I had also a good deal of duty to
perform in the trenches, and, therefore, know remark-
ably well the difference of the two services. Ido
think that those officers who went through the whole
campaign in the trenches of Sebastopol deserve the
thanks of every individual in this country. It is all

mighty fine to canter down to the trenches for a few
minutes, as I did before I was made brigadier-general.
It is very well to expose oneself to a sudden danger,
which is soon over and soon forgotten ; but it is a differ-
entthing to go day after day, night afternight, through
dirt, wet, misery, destitute of comfort, yet always to
have sufficient moral farce to say that, because it is

my duty, I will not give in. That is precisely what
the unnoticed regimental officers did during the

siege of Sebastopol." With respect to his own ser-
vices General Windham spoke briefly, and declined

to enter much into detail.

He said lie landed in the

Crimea on the 14th of September, 1854 ; was present
at Alma, where he had nothing to do; was present
at Balaklavb, where he had almost as little to do;
was present at the attack of the 25th October, where
again he had nothing to do ; and lastly came down
to the battle of Inkermann, where he had a good
deal to do. As to the Redan attack, General Wind-
ham entirely disclaimed any desire to have led the
attack on that day, and said that in doing what he
did he did no more than he was ordered. The gal-

lant general met with a most enthusiastic reception.
LIEUTENANT MASSEY, better known as " Redan
Massey, was specially invited to the public dinner
given last Tuesday by the inhabitants of Sheffield to
the officers of the 4th Dragoons. Many speeches
were made by the Earl of Cardigan and other
officers, but the few simple words of this young hero
excited the greatest enthusiasm. In reply to his
health, he only said
Ido not know that I deserve such a compliment. lam
sure I simply did my duty, and only what any other
officers, placed in my position, would have done, for we all
felt that the honour of old England was in our keeping,
and that we would have died a thousand deaths to have
preserved it untarnished.
THE INQUIRY INTO THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION in
Glamorganshire has been adjourned till the 11th of
August. From the evidence already given, it
appears that the explosion of fire-damp was com-
paratively slight, and that the majority of the men I
were suffocated at their post by the rash of after-
damp.
THE ANCIENT CATHEDRAL OF ST. MAGNUS, in
Orkney, has unluckily lately fallen into the hands of
the civic authorities of Kirkwall, who, with true
Presbyterian fervour, in an endeavour to turn this
fine old relic into a Presbyterian chapel, have
knocked out windows, built walls, cut holes for hot-
air pipes, and otherwise barbarously defaced the
structure. Sir Henry Dryden has called the atten•
tion of the Edinburgh Archeological Institute to this
specimen of civic tastes.
THE BUCKINGHAM STOWE ESTATES were put up
for sale once last week, but only two lots, a farm at
Aylesbury, and a few houses at Buckingham, sold.
A COLLIER, lying off Swansea, was blown u_p_ by
self-combustion of the coal, on the 25th ult. Three
of the crew were blown into the water and most
seriously injured.
A SERIOUS ACCIDENT occurred on the North-
Eastern Railway, at Church Fenton, yesterday week.
A special excursion-train, while shifting off a horse-
box, was run into by a heavy goods-train from York,
and two persons killed on the spot, besides seven
seriously, and tan or twelve more or less dange-
rously, wounded. An inquest was held, when a
verdict of " Manslaughter " was returned against
George Spivey, the signalman.
LORD JOHN RUSSELL, at the opening, on the 10th
ult., at Tavistock, of the British Schools, erected at
the sole expense of the Duke of Bedford, spoke
strongly in favour of spreading education, and in-
sisted upon the duty of all classes to aid in the cause
now that the Legislature has decided that for the
present no further effort should be made by the
State.
Sin CHARLES BURRELL, M.P., who on the 14th
inst. will have completed his 50th year in the house
a-; the representative of New Shoreham, will be en-
tertained at a grand dinner on that day in West
Grinstead-park.