The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-03 00:00:00

" JOHN GIBSON LOCKHAAT.

"Two-and-twenty autumns past, and Sir Walter Scott
lay•a-dying at his own dearly-loved and dearly-purchased
Abbotsford. Lockhart,' ho said to the husband of his
first-born, I have but a minute to speak to you. My
dear, be a gocd man—be virtuous—be religious—be a
good man. Nothing else will give yon comfort when
you come to lie here.' A day or two after, and Sir
Walter breathed his last, in the presence of all his chil-
dren—on a tbeautiful day, as his son-in-law has with
noble, affecting simplicity described it—'so warm that
every window was wide open—and so perfectly still,
that the sound of all others most delicious to his ear, the
gentle ripple of the Tweed over its pebbles, was distinctly
audible as we knelt around the bed, and his eldest son
kisced and closed his eyes.'

"Past are the two-and-twenty autumns. And gone
are they that knelt around the bed, while they could
hear the ripple of the Tweed, but a breath from the
master of Abbotsford they could not hear—nor should
hear again for ever. Gone, one and all. Last of them
he, who detailed the solemn scene—he, to whom the
dying veteran had said, with that affectionate earnest-
ness, 'My dear, be a good man'—' nothing else will
comfort you when you come to lie here.' The time came
not many days ago.
" Under the sane roof as Sir Walter, perchance in the
sane room, and just at the same age, his son-in-law,
John Gibson Lockhart, lay a-dying on the last Satur-
day in November. When you come to lie here,'—
there seams a touching force, an affecting precision in
the words, as applying to one who had recently left his
London home for foreign shores, and returned, and then
gone for awhile, in quest of healthful change, to his only'
daughter's guest at Abbotsford. In hope, ho came
there to recruit his life ; in effect, he came there to die.
Beneath Sir Walter's roof, and sinking under the same
disease, and arrived at the same term of years, the sole
survivor of that mourning group in 1832 has been sum-
moned to join them again elsewhither ; the spirit has
returned to God who gave it, and the body, lies beside
Sir Walter's in the old Abbey of Dryburgh.

A clever and entertaining sketch of the career of
" Edmund Waller " gives ,an interesting account
of his long and chequered career. A paper on
"Winter in the Crimea" recommends the use of
much precaution among the troops against the
effects of the climate. " War and the Paris Mes-
merists," a tale of the present campaign, will delight
all believers in mesmerism. Among the most
pleasing of the remaining contents we .may men-
tion "Only Visions," a pleasing little sketch on
day dreams and castles in the air. The speedy
conclusion of " Aspen Court" is promised, and
also the continuation of " Arthur Arden," " Ben-
jamin Bobbin," and the "History of the Theatres
of London."

Colburit's United Service.—The contents of this
popular magazine, which are always of a su-
perior character, at the present period, when
military subjects attract so much attention,
possess more general interest than rstial. It opens
with a paper on "The Siege of Sebastopol," which
takes a retrospect of the proceedings. An article
oa the " British Light Infantry, Regular and
Militia," suggests a method for recruiting the army
in a more effective manner. The " Confessions
of an Old Dragoon" and the "Extracts from the
Journals of the late Major Macready" are con-
tinued. A paper on "Brigade Movements, Ca-
valry and Horse Artillery," will be interesting to
those conversant with the subject. A review of
the naval and military operations in the East,
from the new edition of General Sir Howard
Douglas's "Gunnery" takes into consideration the
operations of the Allies. The following remarks
on the system of French military promotion is
from an able article on the subject :

" PROMOTION WHILE CAMPAIGNING.

" When campaigning the time required for promotion
may be reduced by one half, and any militairc who dis-
tinguishes himself by an action d'eclat, or heroic deed,
has a right to instant promotion. Every vacancy that
may occur while campaigning, from tho grade of cor-
poral up to that of adjutant, belongs, by right, to the
company in which the vacancy takes place, and is filled
up by sonic niilitai e of that company. Promotion is
open, while campaigning, to all sub-officers, equally,
whether they be, or not, inscribed on the promotion list
of their corps, and they can all equally pretend to en-
sigucies, either in their own or other corps, when va-
cancies occur, provided they distinguish themselves on
the field of battle. But in those corps not campaigning,
the order established by the miiitary code is invariably
followed. Promotion to the ranks of lieutenant and
captain takes pl,,ce as follows : The half of the vacancies
in the battalions and squadrons of the active army are
filled up by the choice officers of such battalions and
squadrons, and the other half by officers who have served
the regular length of time in other companies or corps;
but while campaigning every subaltern has an equal
change of promotion, whether in his own or another
c.)rps, provided he has distinguished himself by some act
of bravery or devotedness to his country. Promotion to
the rank of chef-de-bataillon or d'escadron, while cam-
paigning, only takes place by choice ; every captain,
whether or not on the promotion list, can pretend to be
promoted if he have distinguished himself at the head of
his company. The colonel of tho regiment reports to the
commander of the brigade, and ho sends the list ti the
commander-in-chief, who solicits from the minisi.er
the ratification of the promotion lists he for-
wards. Delay seldom attends such applications,
and the fortunate candidates may count with
certitude upon the ministerial confirmation. ;Thus
it is that the late Marshal St. Arnaud progressed
rapidly in his military career, a brief sketch of which we
shall give here. St. Arnaud was barn in Paris in 1801,
on the 20th of August. At the age of 15 he entered
Lo its XVIII.'s Gardes-du-corps, but he soon retired
from the service, and spent many years in England. In
1831, he entered the 64th Regiment of the line, as sub.
lieutenant. He was promote to be lieutenant in a very
short time afterwards, his length of service in the
Gardes-dtacorps having been taken into consideration.
He took a prominent part in the war of La Vendja,
which the heroic I)uchesse de Berri had succeeded in
revolutionising, And at the pacification of that province
in 1833 he was attached, as orderly officer, to Marshal
Bugeaud. About this time he was charged with a
mission to the chivalrous duchess, then a prisoner at the
chateau of Blaye, of which he acquitted himself perfectly
well, and gained her esteem. In Algiers ho was pro-
moted to the rank of captain and decorated. At the
siege of Constantine, under General Damremont, who
was killed at the storming of that fortress, he signalised
himself much, and, from a knight, was made an officer of
the Legion of Honour. In 1340, after a series of battles,
in which he displayed equal courage and sang froid, he
became a chef-de-battaillon of Zouaves. In 1842, about
the time of the death cf the lamented Duke of Orleans,
he was made a lieutenant-colonel, in which grade he so
distinguished himself, that in 1344 he was appointed to
the colonelcy of the 321 Regiment of infantry. Three
years afterwards he rose to the rank of general of
brigade (mar6chal-de-camp), and was appointed com-
mander in the Legion of Honour. In 1850, he was
appointed governor of the province of Constantine, in
which command he greatly distinguished himself in
subduing and colonising the Arabs. Having, by a
brilliant campaign against the Kabyles, raised his repu-
tation to the highest pitch, he returned to France, was
made general of division, commanded the second divi-
sion of the army of Paris, and was soon afterwards ap-
pointed Minister of War, a very short time previous to
the famous December coup d'etat. Li 1552, be was
made Marshal of France, named senator, and received
from the Emperor's own hands the grand cross of the
Legion of Honour. Ile left the Ministry of War to
command the army in the East, where his inveterate
malady, angina pectoris, can ied him off, under well•won
honours, on the 29th of September last, the laraentalaie

event but too sadly proving the truth of our owirpoetio
.words—

. _
" ' The paths of glory lead but to the grave.'
All the naval` and military intelligence of the
Month is given, with much information on all auk
topics.

The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical
Review.—Some remarks are made on Lord M ahon's
History of England—a very favourable opinion is
expressed of its merits. It is said that Lord
Mahon has written in a very fair spirit, and "he
has desired that the light which he throws upon an
history should be as pure as it is clear." This
volume contains an account of the Lord George
Gordon Riots of 1780, the capture and fate of
Major Andre, the surrender of Lord Cornwallis,
the break up of Lord North's Administration,
Rodney's victory over Count de Grasse, and the
siege of Gibraltar. To these subjects has been
joined three chapters on India, and remarks on life
and manners. It is truly observed that, although
many profess to disregard all those details which
are not connected with every-day business life,
there is ever to the thinking mind a source of in-
terest in looking back to old times and past doings.
From the records of generations gone by we can learn
in what measure the present has progressed. It is
11 owiseinteresting to peruse the minute descriptions
of the convulsions that shook society, the manners
that distinguished the lives, and the characteristics
that
belonged to the men of that period. It is
said, in conclusion, that the "effect of the perusal of
these volumes ought to be to urge on every one to
promote the progress of our country in her new
and better course."

" The Tri-colour on the Atlas," is the name of a
work recently published ; its object is to give de-
tails concerning Algeria and the French conquest.
However, its contents are not limited to the car-
rying out of the promise, for it presents a history
of the country from the earliest times down to the
present epoch. Likewise it contains a description
of the city and city life ; and the most pleasing
portion is a delineation of the native races of the
Regency of Algeria. The book is iu part a trans-
lation, but is observed that it is net a mere matter
of scissors and paste ; the mind has worked as well
as the hand ; and as, the -Puleskys produced the
best work on America, so this one in question is
the most complete and satisfactory that has been
published on Algeria.
" The River Fleet" is A very curious account of
the old river, which, it is said, has now almost a
a mythical existence. It had ve. importance in the
history of London, being the earliest western
boundary, and a military protection to the first
Roman colony. The usual learned researches on
antiquarian affairs are met with, and the corre-
spondence of Sylvanus Urban furnishes accounts
of valuable manuscripts, and other interesting
subjects.

THE STATE OF THE ARMY IN TEE
CRIMEA.

At the present moment our poor fellows are perish-
ing before Sebastopol by hundreds from famine, from ex-
posare, and from disease in many appalling forms, while
the means of sustenance, of shelter, and of remedy, are
stored within eight miles from the spot in which this
dismal tragedy is being enacted. There is no
longer any use in concealing or mitigating the
truth ;—the men are perishing from the Want of
common forethought upon the part of those who should
be responsible for their safety. Fifteen thousand
British soldiers in the prime of their strength in the hey-
day of life—well-disciplined :mei', who would not have
turned from the face of a human enemy, let him come in
what shape he might, have been laid low by official in-
competence and procrastination at home and in the field.
We know of no passage in the annals of even Turkish
warfare which tells of a more complete wreck
of human life for want of common foresight than the
accounts we daily receive of the condition of our army
before Sebastopol—of the living and of the dead. There
is but one set-off against the incompetency of the officers
at head-quarters, and that is the sheer pluck and spirit
of 'the British soldier—of the unflinching fearless man
who is found dead on the battle-field pierced with
wounds—his face to the enemy's line—or in the treacles,
where ho has perished from hunger, exposure, and
fatigue.
It is no sufficient answer to tell, the country that
stores have been forwarded to Balaklava in abundant
measure. -If the men cannot get at them, and are
dying for the want of them but a few miles off, it is ob-
vious that the most important precautions have been
neglected. The truth is, that the authorities at home
at the outbreak of the war —and although for
months they had ample warning of the conse-
quences of their negleet—utterly forgot or declined
to provide - the • regiments with the means of
transport. -Had this war been' a sudden matter—had
the army been gathered together at the summons of a
fiery cross for some dreadful emergency—and had it.
been then despatched, helter-skelter, to conquest or to
death, such neglect would not have been so utterly
without excuse as it is at the present moment. The
Guards left London in February of last year. After the
delay at Gallipoli and Constantinople the army re-
mained some four or five menthe in cantonments at Varna,
and there it was proved by dismal experience that no
reliance could be placed upon the wretched carts, or
arabas, of the country for the conveyance of stores. We
say the experiment failed, and the officers in command
were made aware by experience of that which they
might have known d rthri—thaft if they would have
stores for the army, they must take with them suitable
means of transport. The precaution was neglected,
although the commonest forecast might have suggested
that greater difficulties would have been found in an
enemy's country than in the friendly Principalities, We
NO the consequences in the prodigal waste of the noblest
blood which throbbed in British veins. The blame
attaches here at home as well as at head-quarters in the
camp.
The Duke of Wellington, they admit, in the Penin-
sular war, did organise a waggon-department. Be
found the necessity of the arrangement, and, with his
usual vigour of administration, called it into existence.
"But," say our friends at hitehall and 'at head-
quarters, "the country, by the votes of its represen-
tatives in the Lower Reuse, broke up this arrange-
ment, and are we to be called in question for their
untimely . parsimony V' The answer might avail if
the organisation of a waggon-corps was a matter which
required much time or skill,—if, in point of fact, it
was a branch of the service which need be kept for
years, in order that we might have its services when
required. Such an argument may with propriety be
used in the case of an engineer corps—of the artillery,
&c.—but a waggon service can be organised in a fort-
night. The War-office could have settled the matter
with one or two contractors in ten rninutea, and we will
venture to say that in ten days the needful vehicles
would have been forthcoming, horses, drivers, and all,
ready for transference to Varna or elsewhere. It is idle to
throw the blame on the House of Commons. One of
the oldest and most respected members of that
assembly has left it on record that in the course of a
long Parliamentary experience he had -never known a
vote of money refused for real servioe, either to the
army or navy. Tile House might hive objected to keep
a waggon train to no purpose for forty years, but it
would have granted all necessary supplies at the mere
suggestion Of a Minister on the outbreak of a war. The
fault lies, not with the House, but with those who are
charged with responsibilities to which they are not
equa'.—Times.