The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-20 00:00:00

ORNAMENTS for the Drawing-room, Library,
nd Dining room, consisting of a new and elegant assort-
ment VASES, Figures, Groups, Candlesticks, Obelisks, Ink-
stands, vautiful inlaid Tables, Paperweights, &c., in Italian,
Alabas er, Parian, Marble, Bronze, Derbyshire Spar, &o.
Imported and manufactured by JAMES TENNANT, Mine-
ralogist to her tilaiesty, 149, Stand, W.C., London.

Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of SHELLS,
MINERALS, ROCKS, and FOSSILS, which will greatly
facilitate he interesting study of MINERALOGY, CON-
CHOLOGY, md GEOLOGY, at 2, 5,10, 20, 50, to 100 guineas
each.

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE-
RALOGY is given by Mr. TENNANT. at 149, Strand, W.C.

HORRIBLE CRUELTY.

PORTSMOUTH, July 18.

One of the most revolting cases of cruelty on re-
cord was, by direction of Vice-Admiral Sir M. Sey-
mour, G.C.8., brought before the magistrates here
to-day, when Win. Biddlecombe, a stoker on board
her Majesty's ship Glasgow, was charged by Mr. T.
Pope, a warrant officer of the same ship, with hay-
ing, on the 9th of July, in the harbour of Ports-
mouth, cruelly ill-treated and tortured a dog, by
cutting off one of its legs and partly skinning it
when alive, thereby doing injury contrary to the
statute. Mr. Bainsteed, instructed by Mr. Swain-
son, Admiralty solicitor, conducted the prosecution.
Prisoner said—" I am guilty of skinning the dog,
but not of cutting off its leg when alive." Mr. Bin-
steed said he appeared as agent for the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and he thanked
Mr. Swainson for the trouble he had taken in get-
ting up that horrible case, and the gallant Port-
Admiral and the officers under his command for the
zeal they had displayed in bringing it before the
court. From the information received, it was the
most atrocious and disgusting case of brutality that
had ever disgraced a court of justice ; and the man
who had perpetrated the act had no possible object
on earth, except, as he said, to get the dog's skin to
make a " baccy pouch," as he called it. He then
called Edward Brown, stoker of her Majesty's ship
Glasgow, who deposed that, on the 9th inst., he
had a small black and tan terrier dog on board the
above ship. Prisoner said he should skin the dog
to make a baccy pouch. He thought he was jok-
ing. Subsequently prisoner said, "Let's go and
kill the dog, and take his skin off." Witness said,
" Don't do that." A few minutes afterwards he
went to the head of the ship and saw the prisoner
" flaying the dog alive." Prisoner cut the skin of
the foreleg, and then broke the bone with both
hands ; he then cut the leg off with a knife. The
dog cried out and turned round to bite Biddlecombe.
John Barnes corroborated the above, adding that
prisoner said to the dog when he was about to flay
it, " You b—, I'll make a baccy pouch of your
skin." He then laid the dog on his back and par-
tially cut its throat. He called to the last witness,
paying, " Come and look, he is cutting the dog's leg
off before he is dead." The dog was skinned alive.
Prisoner denied cutting the leg off until after the dog
was dead, adding that Brown helped him to skin it,
The senior magistrate said—During the whole of my
long experience, and the experience of my brother
magistrates, there never was a case equal to this in
atrocity brought before this bench. You cruelly tor-
tured this unfortunate animal. Sailors and
soldiers in her Majesty's service are generally
warmly attached to dogs and treat them well,
because they are aware of their great attachment to
human beings. You lost eight of every feeling of
humanity and behaved in a manner which is a
disgrace to you. I must here observe that during
my long experience I have found that cruelty and
service,ctib
hoe
ewpabrar
months
iestdoi
coward,nec(a
reet
hddge
aetiunnh thdeemer
aaosankleeol
dtne:
pntp
ego together.
teeanrn
sentence
soogfurtheaaereare dismissed
court t
do sI
mhi s
sr
st believeehmda y t
from
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you be
to
be Majesty's
,s
oe
taoltyhaalrldoweladbboyurlafz. thmrere.
Swainson said the remarks of Major Travers would,
he knew, meet with the approbation of Admiral
Seymour and all the naval authorities.

The Beethoven bust, near Heiligenstadt, on the
so-called "Poet's Way," or "Beethoven Walk,"
was uncovered with all due solemnity on the 24th of June,
The spot has been chosen most appropriately, for here
Beethoven went to recruit his strength after his severe ill-
ness ; to this charming neighbourhood of Heiligenstadt and
Nussdorf he first resorted in 1802, but repeated his visits
for several years, till, at last, he made the vicinity of Helzen-
dorf, Modling, and Baden, partly from inclination, partly
for the sake of the baths, his permanent rural resting-place.
Here he strolled about under the shade of walnut and elm
trees; here he wrote the Pastorale and the Symphony in
C Minor, the " Scene at the Brook," of which he said him-
self to a friend, pointng out the place where he had com-
posed it, "that the nightingales, cuckoos,, the yellow-
hammers and quails had helped him,' Here, too, he
wrote that touching document, the Promemoria to his
brothers : " As the leaves of the autumn fall and fade, so
cherished hope is blasted for me. The same almost as I
came, I go hence : the high-flown courage even that in-
spired me so often in the fine summer days, has disappeared.
0 Providence I let one pure day of joy come to me I" The
bust, executed in bronze, by Fernkorn, bears simply the
inscription of his name, Lonis von Seethoven.-4th4misum.

According to custom, which is rapidly acquiring the force
of unwritten law, the proceedings at Wimbledon closed on
Saturday with a grand review of the metropolitan and other
volunteer corps by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cam •
bridge; The sharpshooters having held possession of the
common for the previous fortnight, the occupation was com-
pleted on Saturday by the arrival of the main body of volun-
teers, who for their own improvement and the gratification
of the spectators engaged in the operation of a field day.
The weather, notwithstanding a smart shower which fell
about 3 o'clock in town, was highly favourable, bright and
not too warm ; it enabled the volunteers to move without
incurring fatigue or discomfort, and gave the spectators as
opportunity of seeing clearly all that was permitted by the
wide space over which the evolutions extended. The de-
sire to be present at this review must have been great, for
during the afternoon, both platforms of the South-Western
Railway terminus were crowded with passengers in and out
of uniform struggling for places in the long lines of car-
riages; while hundreds wishing to avoid the crush at this
point encountered the alternative of dust on the roads from
London through Wandsworth or Putney. 'Putney and
Wimbledon were both largely garrisoned, and flys and omni-
buses reaped a rich harvest. No battalion was allowed to
enter the enclosure of the National Rifle Association till it
was completely formed, so that companies of volunteers the
headquarters of which had still to arrive, or individual
members of a corps who had started with the intention of
taking a preliminary stroll, were dotted about in variegated
skeins and clusters upon the wide green surface of the
outskirts of the common. Inside the enclosure double
and sometimes treble lines of carriages stretched away
from either end of the Grand Stand, in one direction
bearing across the enclosure nearly to Wimbledon.
Horsemen, to their dissatisfaction, were obliged to
keep strictly in rear of these carriages. The stands
held some thousands of spectators. In those at the side
there was not a place vacant, and the Grand Stand re-
served for members of the Association or visitors paying
ios. each, contained a distinguished company. Among the
visitors were—Viscount Sydney, Earl of Cardigan, Lord
Begot, Lord and Lady Vernon, Lady Rose Fane and party,
Colonel North, M.P., Mr. Laird, M.P., Lady Charlotte
Russell, Lady Ducie, Lady Anne Elcho, Hon. A. Kinnaird,
M.P., Colonel Steele, Colonel Kennedy, Captain Mildmay,
kc. Not far from these, the New Zealand Chiefs, curiously
tattooed and wearing blue uniforms, with white feathers in
their caps, looked on with interest at the "war dance" of
the white men. A female figure, less hideous but equally
grotesque, sat in solitary estate among the equestrians out-
side, with a volunteer belt and cartouche-box over her riding
habit, and a pale mauve sash suspending a sword unmis-
takeably connected with some theatrical "property." into
such a gigantic area many persons of course contrived to
gain admittance without the proper pecuniary equivalent,
but the grossest case was that of a colonel of a regiment
from the east end of the metropolis, who placed a dozen of
his friends, male and female, between the band and the
corps and marched into the enclosure, refusing pointblank
to pay for one of them. According to the instructions
issued from the War-office, battalions ought all to have
been upon the ground at 5 o'clock; but long after that hour,
and in fact after 6 o'clock, the wind brought intermitant
snatches of popular airs from one part of the common, ap-
parent solos on the big drum from another, and the conjoint
melody of fifes and kettledrums from a third, giving audible
information that the posting of the various brigades was
still a task far from accomplished. These occasional bursts
of melody were the more tantalising from the fact that five
out of the eight brigades being stationed beyond the long-
range butts could not be seen from the Grand and side
Stands, the occupants of them having heard the music
approach, and then die away without ever seeing the
regiments from which the strains proceeded, remained
in some doubt whether the review might not have
been adjourned to Richmond-park or Coombe-wood. The
Inns of Courts, the 3d Middlesex Artillery, and an Engi-
neer Corps were the only regiments in sight for a vet y long
period. The Grand Stand is admirably situated far seeing
the troops when they are massed upon the plain and about
to march past, but for viewing the proceedings beyond the
ravine where the Wimbledon field-days ordinarily com-
mence it gives little or no facility. About half-past six
o'clock the different regiments had marched to their allotted
positions, and the manoeuvres began about 7. The force in
the aggregate was variously estimated at from 7,000 to
10,000 men, being so much scattered as to render it difficult
to form any precise estimate of its numbers,, It was divided
into eight brigades, the strengtlrof which was equalized as
far as possible.
Five of these brigades were allotted to the attacking,
three to the defending force. Major-General the Hon. Sir
J. Y. Scarlett, K.C.8., led the attack, and to Major-Gen.
Lord F. Paulet, C. 8., was intrusted the task of keeping
possession. with an inferior army, of the plateau in front
of the grand stand. The firing began in rear of the

furthest line of butts, where the enemy was concealed

from sight by the sudden dip of the ground. The 7th
and 23d Surrey, thrown out on the enemy's part as
skirmishers, were quickly answered by one of the
Middlesex regiments detached to keep them in check till
Lord Radstock's red and slate coloured battalions could be
brought to the front. A long line, embracing the bearskins
of the Hon. Artillery Company, the green tufts of the Lon-
don Irish, and the sombre plumes of the London Brigade,
soon made its appearance behind the enemy's skirmishers
and compelled the defensive force to retire on the main
body. They were driven first behind one range of butts,
and then beyond the others, where a stand was made, and
the artillery on either side began to mingle its deeper tones
with the general chatter of musketry. One saw at a glance
the force of the argument which military men are so fond
of employing, that weapons of precision are not necessarily
weapons of war, There was so little wind that the smoke
from the cannon was hardly lifted, but came drifting down
between the lines and thickening the vapour crused by file
firing after the skirmishers had been called in. Now half
a company, and now only a shako and half-a-dozen buttons)
were all that were visible to marksmen as the ramrods went

clicking and scraping in and out of barrels, and the steel
tips glittered now and then above the smoke. Objects
changed with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope before a loaded
rifle could be lifted to the shoulder. Orthoptic sights and
rifle telescopes would equally have been at a discount had
any one tried to use them. Little by little the defenders
were obliged to give ground. Lord Radstock's brigade re-
tired under cover of the guns of the Horse Artillery, and
when these were in turn withdrawn the enemy, seeing a
vacant space, rushed on to occupy it. At this juncture the
London Scottish were thrown rapidly forward, and theft
advance was one of the prettiest features in the day's pro-
ceedings. Some lofty ferns and thick furze bushes lay di-
rectly in their path, and the flank companies, which wear
the kilt, passed through these as steadily as their comrades
with the defensive armour of gaiters and knickerbockers.
The movement was so well timed and so completely sheltered
by the other regiments whose line they were prolonging,
that the enemy's skirmishers, apparently companies of
the Queens Wesminsters, found themselves within loss
than the prescribed 100 yards of the London Scottish ; and
, instead of occupying as they thought an undefended posi-
tion, they were obliged to retreat with the utmost celerity.
A long way in rear of the first line of the defenders the
brigade of Colonel Brewster could be seen forming the re.-
serve, and stretching across the plain in a line so beautifully
"dressed" that it resembled a solid bar. The other portion
of the attacking force, which had hitherto remained silent,
now opened fire suddenly on the left flank of the defenders.
The Inns of Court, with their usual prompitude, frayed out
to repel this new assault, and some heavy guns were
brought into play to answer the artillery of the attacking
force. The level, of course, was different, but for the mo-
ment it seemed as if the London Scottish were placed in the
midst of a cross fire. A change of front became imperative,
and the defenders' left was accordingly thrown back a
quarter of a circle, which brought it to a point exactly at
right angles with its former position. The main body still
preserved its alignment as the old attacking force remained
in its front. At a crisis such as this the galloping mania
common to all staff officers rages. On Saturday the excite-
ment was intensified by the presence and rivalry of afigure
in the undress uniform of some mounted rifle regiment.
The activity of this horseman had been conspicuous all the
afternoon. At one period he was flying along the high
road to the Putney station; ten minutes later he was off at
full stretch towards Wimbledon. A party attempted to
cross the ravine, and they met him bursting up the steep
ascent with the force of a catapult. His tight-fitting black
cap, rusty scabbard, and headlong speed gave him much the
aspect of the Wild Huntsman of the legend ; and the pace
he set for the imitation of mounted officers was fearful to
contemplate. The programme, which was as great a secret
to the commanding officers of
,Volunteers as to the public,
was decidedly shortened, owing to the lateness of the hour.
The defending force was driven back upon the Grand
Stand more rapidly than British troops ought to yield
ground—and when it arrived sufficiently near for the pur-
poses of a march past a general fraternisation ensued.
There appeared at first to be some doubt whether the march
past would be performed, and when, at eight o'clock, the
Commander-in-Chief, with a brilliant Staff, took up his
position at the saluting base, he was warmly applauded by
the standholders and general body of spectators.
It is worth consideration whether on fature occasions it
might not be expedient to take the march past at the be-
ginning, instead of the end of the proceedings. Under the
system adopted on Saturday the punctual corps are con-
demned to inactivity for the sake of those who were behind
their time, If it were made known as a tale to be acted on
in future that all the regiments actually upon the ground
at a particular hour would march past at that hour, and
that those behind time would loss this legitimate oPPfiretldu:
nity for display, although alloWed to take part in the
day afterwards, it might afford an extra inducement to
exertion, A. small but well. mounted troop of Surrey Light