The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-20 00:00:00

The Dwarfs at the Crystal Palace.

It is recorded in the veracious chronicle of the
adventures of Mr Lemuel Gulliver, of Emanuel
College, Cambridge, and elsewhere, that when he
fell into the hands of the Brobdignagian farmer,
that worthy could find no better use for him than
to exhibit him. Probably the inhabitants of Brob.
dignag were more surprised at the littleness of Gul-
liver than the Lilliputians were at his bigness, and
there was in their case this further advantage that
they could handle him without any fear. A giant
is an uncanny animal to deal with ; he may do one a
damage in case he gets vt xed, but a dwarf is a very
different thing, quite es curious and not half so
alarming. No wonder, then, that several thousands
were yesterday attracted to the Crystal Palace to
see no fewer than four dwarfs, all related, or to be
related—one of them famous when most of the men
of the present generation were still in their teens,
and the rest even smaller than the famed Tom
Thumb. The general gives a very sensible excuse
for breaking through his original intention of keep-
ing quiet during his visit to Europe. People, he
says, won't let him alone when he goes to see any
of the wonders of the " Old Home," and he thinks
if he shows himself and his wife for a week or so
at the Crystal Palace that he will fairly earn the
right to go about as a private visitor to this coun-
try, and may at the same time do a good turn to
his sister-in-law and her intended husband by
showing bow much smaller they are than himse:f.
It is no wonder, then, that so many people were
at Sydenham yesterday ; the wonder is, rather
that there were not very many more. The
Palace is such a capital place to spend a winter
day in that very many want down early
and passed away the time in seeing the Shakspere
House, in buying toys for Christmas, in admiring
Mr Brown's really beautiful medals to commemorate
the opening of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, in
having their portraits taken—in doing some of the
thousand things which are open to all who go to
Sydenham. Three o'clock was the hour named for
the levee of the little folks, and by that time the
space in front of the great orchestra was pretty well
filled, while in the reserved seats below the organ
there was a goodly throng. Four chairs of green
and gold were placed on a little raised platform on
the orchestra, and hither, soon after the appointed
time, came Mr and Mrs Stratton and Miss Minnie
Warren, with " Commodore" Nutt, and their spokes.
man, introduced to those assembled by Mr Bowley,
the energetic manager of the Crystal Palace. The
small folks were very well received, and several
children occupying places in the reserved seats were
placed beside them by way of contrast, the Crystal
Palace band the while playing some pleasant music.
The levee lasted about half en hour, when " the dis.

tinguished strangers" made their bow and retired.
To-day, we believe, they will give, at half-past two
o'clock, a levee in the board-room of the Palace, when
they will appear in the dresses worn at Tom
Thumb's wedding; and at half-past three they will
show themselves to the general visitors as they did
yesterday. We ere assured that it is only at the
Crystal Palace and during this week that Mr and
Mrs Stratton will appear in company with Mr Nutt
and Miss Warren. Those, therefore, who desire to
see the whole party must go to Sydenham before
the end of the week.

Mr and Mrs, Charles Kean in California,

(From the San Francisco Gleaner of Oct, 28.)

These admirable artists have appeared during the week
n "King John " and " Hamlet." The former tragedy
was, until late years, rarely played upon the London boards;
the elder Kean did not play it at all at the late period of his
life; and during the early career of Macready it was the
only Shaksperian character in which he attained success—
his talents being hemmed into the limited space interven-
ing between Charles Young and Edmund Kean, To enter
into an analysis of tho performance of those accomplished
artists would be a superogatory task. If our readers
, can imagine perftcti, n, they are that in every point of
view, and this must be conceded by many who,
not entering into the beauties, consider this tragedy
heavy and unadapted for the stage. Observers
cannot fail to notice the vast improvement in the stage
direction; a master spirit is plainly discernible; the fall of
Arthur from the battlements, for instance—the height and
concealment of the point of contact with the earth are ertis
mane managed, but more worthy of remark is Mr Kean's
medisoval knowledge as exemplified in costume. The drecs
in which be takes the field is precisely copied from coins
in a cabinet that was many years ago familiar to us. This
exactitude in apparently slight matters marks the artist, and
to whose research we owe tribute—at least with the pen.
Mr Cathcart's " Hubert " was a good performance, and
fully upholds his reputation. Of the rest of the dramatis
persons., we cannot say much ; the princes and nobles made
up in stiffness what they lacked in nobility; but this deport.
went was perhaps common to the time when princes'
" mouths were the only parliament," and of which Shak-
spere himself seems to have had but imperfect notion.
What are we to say of Mr Mayo's Faulconbridge P Any-
thing but to the purpose. Shakspere threw his whole soul
into this character, and since his time many a King John
may have convulsively writhed his last, and been remem-
bered, but very few Faulconbridges exist in the annals of
the stage. To look for a brilliant impersonation of such a
character from so young and inexperienced an actor as Mr
Mayo, is to expect too much, a part for which possibly he
never had a model, and he naturally trod timidly when he
knew his footing was uncertain. We quote a passage which
though he might have carefully studied, he did not com•
prehend. Constance concludes a withering reply to Austria,
who bids her to piece :
Const.—And dost thou now fall over to my foes ?
And wear a lion's skin ? doff it for shame,
And hang a calf's skin on these recreant limbs.
Austr.-0, that a man should speak those words to me
Faulc.—And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs,
Austr.—Thou dar'st not say so, villain, for thy lite.
Faulc —And hang a call's skin on those recreant limbs.
Now, Faulconbridge, in the first instance, merely reite •
rates the taunt of Constance, but in the second, it is in
direct answer to a challenge from the craven Austria, and
demands, as may be readily inferred from ordinary observa-
tion, a peculiar intonation, To this Mr Mayo failed to pay
regard, uttering both the taunt and response in the same
measured key. Many other points might be remarked, but
" a word to the wise," &c.
On Wednesday night an immense house assembled to
witness Kean's first appearance in "Hamlet," and strange
as may seem our statement, we nevertheless assert that the
Prince of Denmark had never till that night been seen in
California. We had been satisfied to see his ghost, and we
mistook that incorporeality for the reality. We fiad our-
self totally incompetent to express our own feel-
ings at this performance, and we venture to affirm
with respect to the audience, that the most san-
guine expectation was realised, and no greater prof of this
could be adduced than that a crowded audience sat under
uncomfortable circumstances the tragedy throughout, and
among whom scarcely the slightest shifting was visible; and
this was a remarkable circumstance, for though we have the
highest respect for the patrons of the legitimate dams, we
have still hitherto failed to see in them the aesthetic people
who have love or even taste for the higher order of art. We
may congratulate ourself that we see Mr Kean at the period
when he has attained to the acme of his art, and that he is
likely to retire from public life at the point of time when his
laurels are not only uafaded, but in mature freshness, wait-
ing no culmination, and avoiding those painful scenes that
too often accompany the late phases of an actor's life; we
have the privilege to see within the compass of a few
weeks the whole successes of his career—the studies
of his life—and this we should not fail to do. We
have never had a finer dramatic treat than the per.
formance of which we now write ; it contained
excellencies upon which we might dilate interminably, and
we might be tempted to enter into comparative analyses
between the talents of Mr Kean aad artists of renown who
have preceded him upon our boards in "Hamlet," and for
whom we have high respect ; but we dare not. We saw in
them melancholy gentlemen who infused something of the
same sentiment into us, but the soul—Hamlet's living
principle--the Prince interiorly, if we may use the term,
we never saw. These words may be, to quote Hamlet,
" wild and windy," but they are true, and not biasses by
either theatrical friendships, or other motives. Ia Mr
Kean it was an embodiment of art, and must maintain a
place in the remembrance of even the duller sort of men
who, ignorant of the text, or the hundreds of subtle disqui•.
sitione that have arisen from it, were entranced by the magic
of the scene alone. We now make a statement, and do so after
carefully weighing relative merit,/ that we never saw
the part of Gertrude acted till that occasion. It appeared
like the breaking forth of a new life—a diamond to which
additional lustre and refrangibility had been given. Taking
this performance as a whole, we may safely say that one
more elaborate and finished has never been seen in the city,
and many years may elapse before newer artists may damp
its brilliancy. The only real deficiency was found in
Aldrich's Claudius; this part has an individuality that this
gentleman failed not only to convey 'to others, but himself
to realise.

BEE'S IMPROVED DIARY AND ALMANAC FOR
1865.—The thirty-fourth number of this little annual has
just been published. The present edition is a great im-
provement on its predecessor, and to commercial men it
will be found of great value. as it contains a diary for every
day in the year,

Hooker v. Burnaby.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—My attention having been directed to a letter from
Mr Burnaby, contained in The Situ pf this day, I trust
you will give me the opportunity of replying. thereto. I
could have wished that he had not made it necessary for re:
to do so, but, as his account of the affair is so totally opposed
to the sworn testimony given on the trial, a substantially
correct report of which appeared in The Sun of the 15th inst.,
I have no alternative.
Mr Burnaby appears to imagine that, by starting with
the denial of that which was never stated to have occurred,
either by Ine'or my witnesses, his task would be somewhat
easier in endeavouring to convey to the public an impression
that the expression of feeling exhibited by both judge and
jury was called forth by a misrepresentation of the facts.
Another impression Mr Burnaby would in like manner
attempt to convey in his statement that he had no opportu-
nity aff irded to him on the trial of saying a word or two in
his own defence. Why, air, whose fault was that? Surely
he had, in instructing his own solicitors and counsel, given
to them his own version of this unpleasant affair, and can it
be conceived that they would not have c died upon him and
his alleged witnesses to enlighten the jury with that version
if they had not felt assured that the evidence they were
prepared to give would not in the least degree refute the
testimony given by me and corroborated by several inde-
pendent witnesses ?
So much, then, for Mr Barnaby's alleged reason for de-
siring still to continue before the public, who mush attach
such weight to it as it deserves.
It would be a very unpleasant occupation to again go
through the evidence given by me on the trial, but I must
with your permission refer to some portions contradictory
of Mr Burnaby's assertions, He says that I commenced
the dispute "as admitted by my own evidence." In no por-
tion of that evidence will the! e be found any such admission.
On the contrary, Mr Burnaby commenced the affair by au
offensive remark and gesture respecting the shooting, ac-
companied by a coarse and vulgar expression. My reply
contained no such expression, and could only have been
offensive to him by the truth of the desire it expressed—
viz , that the sooner his friend did give up the shooting, as
he recommended, the better I should like it if he brought
down such sportsmen as him. This was followed by an
insulting and offensive rejoinder by Mr Burnaby---" the
war of words then waxed wrath." I deny most positively
that I ever invited him to fight, and this denial was corro-
borated on the trial by the evidence of Mr Walmisley. The
fact was Mr Burnaby was himself the challenger—he fired
off his gun and commenced to square up to me, and it was
only from my threat to use my gun that he did nut then
strike me. A reference to your report of the evidence will
corroborate the truth of this statement. What Mr Burnaby
means by his allegation that I offered to " give him a sound
thrashing," and that when he expressed his willingness to
accede thereto, I threatened to blow his brains out, I do not
know. But does not even this vague expression contradict
what he desires should be inferred from it F
I also deny most emphatically, Sir, that the defendant,
through his two friends and brother officers, in any way
expressed his willingness to withdraw any expression of his
calculated to hurt my feeliegs, upon my doing the same. As
I stated in my evidence, and as was the fact, an apology
was demanded of me, and as an inducement for giving it
I was told that Burnaby was a queer fellow to deal with.
Feeling, sir, that the apology ought to have come from
him, I declined to make one.
This, however, is merely begging the question. My com-
plaint was, and is, that we afterwards proceeded with our
shooting, and after the lapse of two hours, the dispute hav-
ing apparently ended, Mr Burnaby, taking advantage of
my having parted with my gun, came rip to me, and what
then took place I will give from your own report of my
evidence, which is strictly correct. "Mr Burnaby then
walked up to me and said, 'Do you mean to apologise ?' I
said, Certainly not.' Befeee the words were out of my
mouth he struck me with one hand under the eye and with
the other on the temple, and almost stunned me. He then
kicked me with all his force on the hip, and followed up the
blows. He struck me in the face two or three times without
stopping. I endeavoured to parry the blows as well as I
could, but did not attempt to strike the defendant Re then
stopped to take breath and again proceeded to strike and
kick me. He kicked me in the groin inside the thigh. lie hit
me on the side of the head and other parts of the body. He
again stopped and asked me if I had had enough, and would
I apologise. I said, Certainly I should not apologise,
but that he should hear of the matter again.' He
then commenced hitting me again, and struck me a violent
blow in the mouth. He then kicked me on the top of the
knee, and, as he did it, I caught his foot and tried to throw
him. 1 could not do so. He hopped on one leg, and kept
hitting me with all his force on both ears."
The above, sir, is an account of the attack made upon
me by the defendant, whose demur that he ever kicked me
while upon the ground, and that I never was on the ground
at al), was entirely gratuitous, because I never asserted
anything of the kind, either on the trial or elsewhere. As
much reliance may also be placed upon his statement as to
kicking me twice behind. My back was never towards him.
All 'he wounds and bruises about my person as eLposed to
by the surgeon on the trial were in front.

Wi,h reference to the assertion that I " proposed to accept
£5O damages prior to she hearing of the case," I beg to
give this my most emphatic and unqualified denial. Neither
I, n.y solicitors, nor counsel at any time ever solicited any
arrangement, nor were any overtures ever made on behalf
of the defendant until after the jury had retired to consider
their verdict, when, as my solicitor informed me, an offer
had been made to him by the defendant's counsel to give
me a verdict for £5O and an ample apology, but L declined
acceding thereto, considering that the offer had come too
late.

Mr Burnaby very ingenuously acknowledges and appears
to be proud of his proficiency in manly exercises, I would
ask him, sir, in what do these consist ? If in striking,
kicking, and otherwise brutally ill-treating one who offers no
defence, I leave you and your readers to judge whether it
is a proficiency to be proud of or for which he will find
many admirers.

In conclusion, I beg to state that the defendant's last as..
sertion as to my height, siz-, and age is as equally erro-
neous as the other statements contained in his letter,--I
have the honour to remain, sir, your obedient servant,
JOHN M. HOOKER.

Brenchley, Kent, Dec. 19.

The Weather in the Parks,

A marked change took place in the weather during yes-
terday morning. The thermometer at the Royal Humane
Society's receiving-house in Hyde-park, on Saturday night,
was as low as 19 deg., and yesterday morning tho glass was
not higher than 30 deg,, and by noon the mercury rose to
37 deg„ being 5 deg, above freezing point. The barometer
yesterday morning at nine o'clock was 29,7, and the wind
at that time was E.S.E., but in the evening it veered round
to south, indicating a storm of wind or a fall of rain,
Later last evening the thermometer indexed 38 deg., with
soft clouds rising from the south, threatening wet. The
sudden and unexpected change in the weather has caused a
remarkable difference in the appearance of the royal parka
and the streets of the metropolis, Instead of the snow
crepitating under the feet of pedestrians, nothing but im-
mense sheets of mud could be seen, which caused a great
annoyance to passers along the footpaths of ,the London
streets. The parks are hardly much better, for the carriage
drives are several inches deep in mud, and Rotten-row has
carried out its name to perfection, that it is at present so
rotten that persons on horseback can only with difilmlty
pass along the drive, In spite of the change of the weather
a great number of boys ventured upon the royal Round
Pond, in Kensington-gardens, and had it not been for Mr.
Superintendent Williams sending a number of icemen to
drive them off, the probability is that several lives would
have been sacrificed. As it was, several of the more ven-
turesome broke through the ice and fell into deep water,
and one of them got immersed up to his armpits, and
another had the water over his head. Fortunately, the
timely aid afforded was the means of getting the parties
out in safety. The Regent's-park and the Serpentine still
remain partially frozen over, and in the event of the frost
setting in with increased violence, Mr. Young, the secre-
tary, and Mr. Williams, the superintendent of the Royal
Humane Society, were actively engaged with a number of
workmen in raising the canvass tents so as to form tempo-
rary hospitals.

POACHING AFFRAY NEAR MALTON.—Tne Mel-
ton magistrates, on Saturday, investigated a charge
of Right poaching preferred against two labourers, named
James Kitohing and Jo,,eph Cooke. The affray occurred
on Sunday night week, in a wood at Eisthorpe, the pro-
perty of the Earl of Carlisle, and occupied by Mr G. A.
Legard. John Coclrerill, coachman to Mr Legard, stated
that the gardener, James Botterill, had come to tell him he
had heard shots in the woods about 7 o'clock. Witness got
the assistance of two other men, one named John Hard-
wick, and another Charles Kirby, son of Lotd Carlisle's
bailiff, About 8 o'clock, witness and Butterill heard ano-
ther shot in the middle of the wood, and went there. He
saw two men standing with guns, looking up into the trees,
and he at once keized Cook, struck him in the neck, tend
both fell together. A struggle then had taken place to
gain possession of the gun, and witness was being over-
powered, when Botterill came up and hit Cooke two blows
on the head with a stick, which "quietened" him. When
Hardwick came up theiprisoner Kitching met him,holding
his loaded gun by the muzzle, and threatening to strike
with the butt end if the watcher did not keep back.
Kirby, however, Was up directly afterwards, and at once
rushed at Kitching, and made him a prisoner, Cooke was
a good deal hurt about the head. Both men denied that
they had been in the wood before eight o'clock, and
alleged that only one shot had bean fired, and that was
by Cooke, Kitching said that seeing his mate " ham-
-1 mered'' on the head and bleeding, he was coming to his
assistance, and only rxiaed his gun to defend himself.
Both said it was their first offence, and pleaded hard for
mercy. Kitchen had a wife and 14 children, and Cooke
had a wife and four children, The Bench said as the
prisoners had not injured the watchers they would send
them each to two months' hard labour, then to find
sureties for twelve months' or FiX months' longer irn-
prisoluaent,

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RER MAJESTY.

OsßcatNE, D eo. 19.
The Queen and Princess Helena drove out Ibis
morning.
Princess Louise also drove out, attended by the
Hon. Florence Seymour.
Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice walked in
the grounds.

The E tr: and Countess Grey have arrived I,t
Rome. it is said that the noble earl and countess 101
remain abroad until after Easter.
The Elrl of Coventry has left Thomaki'd
Berkeley-square, for Paris.
Viscount and Viscountess Holmesdale have bees
receiving a succession of guests at Linton House,

during the past week.
Mr and Lady Charlotte Schreiber and Miss
Guest have left Exeter House, Roehampton, for Or°
Longueville, on a visit to the Marchioness of Handy.
The Hon. Mrs. Charles Hay was safely delivered
of a son on the 18,h inst., at her residence, 33, Colosso"
place.

Accounts have been received from Japan announo"
ing the death of Captain the Hon. Adolphus Edward r;
Vereker, of the 20th Foot, firth and youngest son of Vise°l2,
Gort, He was formerly in the 6th West York Militia, and
in 1855 entered the 20th Regiment as lieutenant. The
gallant young officer served with his regiment in the
Crimea.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RAILWAY PASSE.;
GERS AND GUARDS —The railway companies haver g
be,
are inforuiel, been given to understand that they
mu-
adopt some means to establish a communication
tween passengers and the guards of trains, or the Croy°ll,
ment itself will prescribe a method for effecting that object.
and
A committee of railway managers has been formed, o
they have received plans from upwards of 200 persona, 11°ve
of which, however, have given entire satisfaction. The beet
~
,
submitted are those called Tattersall's and Woodfields ; the
former effects the communication by means of mechanic'''
~
force, and the latter by means of' electricity. Mr Preece, en!
superintendent of the Electric and International ConV"A
at Southampton, has submitted a plan to the London an
:
South Western Railway Company, who immediately unclear,
took, at their own expense, to give it a fair trial. Accord
ing to this plan a tassel is hung just above the passenger
head, connected by a rope to catches at the opposite cool
of the carriage, and these catches in moving cause two gas...
concealed semaphore arms to project from the carriage;
The arms are connected with a small electric battery in t
guard's van, and as they fall from a concealed vertical les!:
lion to a horizontal projecting one they cause an electric ett,
rent to be completed and ring an alarum ball in the van. 'rhea
bell continues to ring while the arms preject, and the latter
are placed BO that they can only be restored to a vertical
position by the guard coming to the carriage. On his 100,
ing out these arms are very obvious by day, and by night
could be made so by small lamps fixed and lighted near
0
them. A hand-rail runs along the carriage, which ft
up or down at the doors, and by which the guard c;
easily and safely pass to the carriage from which an alarm
proceeds. The semaphore arms, when in a horizontal ro;
sition, are concealed in a neat frame which is an °main°
to the carriage, and the electric wire with a hook at the
end runs from the fra-ne under the carriage, the wire of on°
carriage being coupled to that of another in a moment
the
means of the hooks. Some persons have thought that 411
use of electric batteries would be an objection, but these
batteries are now constructed so as not to require ael
attention for months together. The expense of fitting 1•1 P
the passenger rolling stock of the London and 6°4'l,
Western Company yould not, it is said, average 40°'
carriage.
NEWSPAPERS FOR RUSSIA.—Since issuing the
notice No. 38, dated the 24th October last, respecting the
conditions under which alone newspapers can be forwarded
by the post to Russia, the Postmaster General has been la"
formed that an exemption from the ordinary regulation°
exists in favour of political newspapers, or of any other
publications, addressed to members of the royal fancily °f
Russia, to the imperial ministers, and to members of 113 e
diplomatic corps. Such newspapers, &c., it is now stated,
will be admitted into Russia although not subscribed for at
one of the Russian post-offices. It appears, also, that non'
political newspapers and publications may be received by
the post, not only when addressed to established Weir-
sellers in Russia, as already announced, but also when
addressed to the higher schools, to the Imperial Public
Library, and to the Academy of Sciences in
command of the Postmaster-General.
IHE EARL OF HARROWBy ON BIBLE DIFFICO'd
TIES. —The Earl of liarro w by has been presiding at
a meeting of the Stafford branch of the Bible &jay.
lordship took the opportunity of recounting an intervie°
which he had the pleasure of holding with that distin'
guished and venerable man, the late Lord Lyndhurst'
who had been engaged much in his advanced years in
studying the Bible and all the controversies which had
arisen about it. In conversing with hie, the late dietini
guishod nobleman took the opportunity of saying :—`!
these controversies don't trouble me; the difficulties that
are raised here and there by controversialists about thentiln:
ber of the Jewish people and various minor points do not
trouble me, for I think it ought to be, and is, enough f°l;
me that our Saviour said, If a man believe not Moses and
the prophets, neither will he be persuaded though one rO5B
from the dead.' That is enough for me, and settles all roY
doubts," Ile thought if that declaration of Christ %vs°
enough for so distinguished a man as Lord Lyndhutsti
with all his acuteness of intellect and his habit of strict hi'
vestigation of evidence, it ought to be enough for them, who
could not pretend to rival him in those qualities. It was no
doubt distressing to have doubts and difficulties raised, seine
of which we were not always able at a moment to settle*? ;
but he thought that when anyone looked back to the his.
tory of the Scriptures, that had been received as the un-
doubted record of Divine truth from the time of our Saviour
to the present moment—upwards of 1,800 years—unques.
tioned by any church or any heretic, acknowledged by all t°
be the authentic record of what our Saviour and his apostles
said and did, and to contain all that was warranted by etir
Saviour and his apostles as the inspired records of the Jew;
ish nation before him, he thought when they remembers;
this they must feel we had sufficient evidence to Beast), our`
selves that, although doubts might arise which we could
not instantly quell, the difficulties of unbelief would be in'
finitely greater. (Applause.) Recently men have been led
to deplore the appearance in France of a popular work which
although expressing for the character of Christ the utraef3t
admiration, associated with that character the extraordi`
nary supposition that one who preached and practised every
_
virtue was at the same a person who palmed upon other°
miracles and pretensions which were totally unfounded. 1;
was shucking that a book of such a nature should circulate
—it shocked every Christian feeling—but at the same till
from all accounts we heard from France, the effect apPetuL
to have been just the reverse of that which might 116'.
been at first expected. People were buying Bibles and les;
taments for the purpose of hearing more of this Jesus, and
seeing whether it was possible that a man of whose lifolo
doctrine so much had been said in praise could poseiblY
the imposter he was represented, and it so happened ti3Pf
controversy, with all its evils, hail the great advantage °,l
stirring and awakening inquiry, which they, who believed
in the Scriptures, had, no doubt, would result in the COl3l'
plete victory of truth.
MILITARY CHANGES.—A meeting has taken Pluce
between the Secretary of State for War, the CJ°l;
mender in Chief, and the' principal officials of the Ilerrou
Guards, in order to see if aay diminution of number raib,u„
be made without any undue interference with the efficien'l..
of the army. The first branch of the service in which it al
peered some sacrifice to economy might be cheaply ra6 e,
consisted of the depot battalions. It was felt that there .00
really no necessity for keeping up separate depots for ,ego
p
ments serving in the United Kingdom ; and as there Was
ot
necessity for the depots, there could be none for the der,,
battalions which they constitute, We have 35 battalionstuuo
home service, and the six last depot battalions—foray:a
17;h to the 23d—contain 35 regimental depots. It
,iOOB
therefore be regarded as certain that six depot britta.l,_ to
will be reduced from March 31, 1865. We are unable
speak with accuracy of the meaner in which the redureacltive.
will be effected as regards particular battalions. The
of he
don will probably involve an entire reorganisation
tag of
depot system. With regard to the reduction of the !ow
the six battalions, it may be anticipated that the six
tbe
officers of each rank will be placed on half pay, Wt_t.llbe
understanding that the very earliest opportunity Wit
taken of replacing each as vacancies arico in other del),, i 5.
in line battalions, or in staff situations for which the
placed officers may be required. The following are dies
Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, and Adjutants who wilt fee,
be placed on half pay :—Lieutenant Colonels rt
(Joe
moy—Fraser, Belfaet—Newdigate,Chatham—llen't bieetr
Elliot, Buttevant—Rickman, Chatham—and ELtu,stir..
Colchester. Majors Swinburne, Colchester—Bolderotivirs
ling—Hughes, Wahner—Padfield, Cork—Blackettr 'rot,
cheater—and Meredith, Templemore. Adjutants at..
Belfast—Tarte, Birr—M 'Queen, Wahner—Colthurst,believ,
ham—Hare, Aberdeen—and Northey, FerneoY• Weaetoell
that this is the only reduction as yet settled ; but inc;
regt,
as the two. depot companies will be shuck off eae, thee
libsc.tta4
meat, it is nut unlikely that the question of red
two junior captains, lieutenants, and ensigns of each_o
goat
lion at home may be seriously entertained. Butknnow tot
alarm need be felt, as we have good reason to
red
to
just
seu
whatever may be the change agreed upon, a
individual interests will be exercised, and that the
oPeertoo
merary officers will Le absorbed without sny Terl,tioo of
delay, It is not the least probable that any tru'careful
regiments or battalions will take place. Indecdst.a_.v tilat
estimate of our colonial and Indian wants will nt"...rvivg
out the reliefe,—Ariny and 2174 U Ortzt(ef,
we cannot spare one, if we are to keep our word In csi