The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-08 00:00:00

But even were I to fulfil my chronicler's duty
by an ab-Jove beginning, I do not think I should
close my muster by a mere catalogue of royal
names. There are pages in the second part of the
Almanach de Gotha hardly yielding in interest to
the long pedigrees blazoned forth in the first ; and
there are other celebrities, besides, whose names
will be read in the perpetual almanack long after
the last number of the Gothaischer Hof Calender
shall be out of print. Men great by rank, by valour,
by genius, are all very well in their way, but what
shall we say to handsome women ? What crowds
of young, blooming faces ; what wealth and profu-
sion of fair hair, false as well as real, as the dam-
nable fashion requires; what mad luxury of lace
shawls and gold-embroidered skirts ! Shall I say
which of the one thousand and one beauties bore
the palm for lavishness and taste in attire? Shall I
say who came to bask in her smiles, and who dallied
by her side ? I suppose the eye will get accustomed
to it all in time ; but, to my rustic greenness, the
sight is still somewhat bewildering. The whole of the
feminine Grande Monde and the whole Demi-Monde
were sauntering up and down before the Stand and
Pavilions. For some time it seemed as if the two
elements laboured under some repugnance at amal-
gamation. The "Athenian" damsels instinctively
clustered together to the left of the Grand Stand ;
but soon the excitement of the hour broke the bar-
riers and levelled all ranks. Princesses, grafinnen,
and marquises crossed the bohemiennes in their strolls
up and down, and many were the critical and emu-
lous glances the two opposite poles of womankind
cast at each other—and then, oh ! for a touchstone
to tell gold from tinsel, diamond from paste ! Well,
this modern civilization makes us acquainted with
strange race company
The day was glorious. One tires almost of the
repetition of the beauties of this summer weather.
The heat was overpowering, there was neither cloud
nor haze, and the thickly-wooded ridges of the sur-
rounding mountains rose one behind another in
distinct outlines, and their last skirts came down
in graceful slopes to the level of the race-course.
Surely a gayer scene never was exhibited on a more
fitting stage.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

----40,-

Notwithstanding the intense heat of yesterday,
the thermometer ranging up to 112 deg. Fahrenheit
in the sun, a general muster and sham fight was
held at Woolwich, the proceedings occupying the
entire area of Woolwich-common and the extent of
Shooter's-hill wood and its approaches. The troops
assembled on the Common in review order, knap-
sacks being left in barracks owing to the great heat
of the weather, and, after forming in line of con-
tiguous quarter distance columns, they received the
Commandant, Major-Gen. E. C. Warde, with the
usual salute. They then took ground to the right
in fours and marched past, the mounted troops at a
walk, and afterwards at a trot ; the infantry, in
grand divisions, in quick time. The battalion of
Royal Marines, in command of Col. Lambrick,
A.D.C. to the Queen, and the Second Commandant

at Woolwich, then took post on the north side of
the Common, and represented the defending force,
flanked by batteries of Royal Artillery, and resisted
the advance of the sth brigade of Artillery, who
were flanked by guns and formed the main portion
of the enemy. The Royal Marines deployed into
line, the batteries on either flank advanced at
a gallop and, taking up a good position, opened a
vigorous fire on the enemy. The Royal Marines
here displayed a discreet and well-directed device,
no doubt highly legitimate in war, of lying down to
escape the shot and shell which were then poured in
upon them. Skirmishers were then thrown out,
and the body of Marines advanced in direct echelon
of companies at wheeling distance from the right,
but, staggered by the murderous fire, they again
halted and lay down, again rose, formed line on the
leading company, advanced through their skir-
-1
1 mishers, fired a volley, and charged the enemy's
gulls, driving him in disorder to a fresh and appa-
rently impregnable position on Shotter's-hill-Wood,
when, after an obstinate encounter, and being un-
able to dislodge him, the defending force withdrew
in good order, covered by the Royal Marines in
skirmishing order. The wholeforce then formed ou
their original ground, after advancing in review
order in line of 'contiguous columns, and marched to
barracks in fours from the right of battalions. Be-
fore their dismissal the Major-General emu-pending
was pleased to notify his marked approval of the
whole of the proceedings, and the undaunted spirit
and energy with which they had been carried out, in j
spite of the overwhelming state of the atmosphere.
He mentioned with especial commendation the
charge of the Royal Marines on the guns, and their
skirmishing among the furze on Shooter's-hill, and
added that each officer and man had acquitted him-
self with the highest credit through the most labo-
rious test to which a,-soldier could be well proved.
Gen. Sir James Fergusson, G.C.8., Col. 43d
Light Infantry, whose death took place at his house,
14, Marlborough-buildings, Bath, on the 4th inst.,
was the sonof Mr. Charles Fergusson, by his cousin,
daughter of Mr. James Fergusson, of Craigdar-
rock, Dumfriesshire; which has been in possession of
his ancestors uninterruptedly for ages past. He
entered the army in 1801 as ensign in the 18th Regi-
ment, from which he was removed to the 43d, then
traiuingwith the 52d and 95th under Sir John Moore
at Shorncliffe, and which afterwards became the
famous Light Division. Sir Jas. Fergusson served
in the campaigns of 1808-9, Vimiera, Corunna, and
subsequently Walcheren ; the Peninsular campaigns,
from March, 1810, to the end of the war in 1814,
during which time he was never absent from his re-
giment except from wounds; was five times wounded,
and " Who can sufficiently honour the resolution of
Fergusson, of the 43d, who, having in former
assaults received two deep wounds, was here (Bada-
jos), ' third siege,' with his hurts still open, leading
the stormers of his regiment ; the third time a volun-
teer, and the third time wounded ?"—" Napier,"
vol. iv., page 432, book xvi. Though his promotion
was rapid compared with many others, strange to
say he had to purchase all his steps. He served with
the 43d Light Infantry during nearly the whole
war, till he was appointed major, 79th Regiment,
Dec., 1812, but was removed to the 85th Regiment,
and served with that regiment up to the investment
of Bayonne ; was appointed Lieut.-Col. 2d batta-
lion 3d Regiment (Buffs) May, 1814, and after the
close of the war, when the battalion was reduced,
was placed on half-pay, when he went to study at
the Military College, Farnham, for some time. In
1819 he was appointed to the command of the 88th,
of which gallant regiment he always spoke in terms
of high regard. In 1825 he was removed to the
command of the 52d Light Infantry (one of the old
Light Division, with which he was so gloriously
connected). In 1830 he was appointed Col. and
King's Aide-de-Camp. He continued in command
of the 52d Regiment till 1839, when he retired on
half-pay, Gen. Lord Hill, then commanding the
army, remarking, " that, after commanding regi-
ments for more than a quarter of a century, he was
at liberty to do what he thought proper." He be.
came
Ilt•illad waslBsl, or:Gen. in 1841, and Lieut.-Gen. in
appointed to the command of the
during the early part of' the Crimewanas
troops at Malta in 1.85'), where he
Isvtaaiti,,onhedis.
inability front the diseased state of his lungs,
caused by a former wound, alone preventing him
from againolunteering his services in the field.
iiereceiv v
d the thanks of tphrecnDiduekdefoofr Ntheewtrootples
ifnormtahletatn,
aitnine:hiinchwhhiechwhase so zealously and ably
assisted by the Governor, Sir William Reid, and
Admiral Sir Houston Stuart. He was appointed
K.C.B. on the sth July, 1855,
in a
and on the
Gohe2vBetrhnoorf
August in the same year was sworn
and Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar, where he re-
mained until 1859, when his increasing infirmity
obliged him to apply to be relieved. He became
Gen. on the 21st February, 1860, and was appointed
G.C.B. on the 18th May, 1860.
•
Col. J. L. A. Simmons, C. 8., late cor_mar-cltng
Ikyal Engineers atAlderahot, who has been ap-
pointod to sues _tut Cl. E. D. harness,

director of the Royal Engineer establishment, Chat-
ham, has taken up his appointment, and gone on a
few weeks' leave of absence, during which the
duties of the Director-General are performed by
Lieut.-Col. T. B. Collinson, second in command.
The appointment of a successor to the late Major F.
H. De Vere as instructor in field fortifications at
head-quarters has not yet been made at head-quar-
ters, the two officers named as being likely to
succeed to the appointment being Lieut.-Colonel G.
Graham, V.C., and Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, C.B.
On Wednesday Vice-Admiral Sir C. Talbot,
G.C.8., Commander-in-Chief of the Nore, with his
staff, arrived at Chatham dockyard, where he landed,
and embarked in a state barge, accompanied by the
Captain Superintendent of the dockyard, for her
Majesty's ship Wellesley, which ship received him
with manned yards and other honours. The Admi-
ral first inspected the boys in divisions, and then
examined the arrangements of the ship's deck and
holds. Subsequently there was a match at great
gun exercise, and one of rifle and cutlass. After-
wards the royal yards were crossed and all plain
sail set, sail being shortened and furled, and topgal-
lant and royal yards and masts being sent on deck.
The inspection, which had lasted an hour,
ended by fire quarters and manning boats. Sir
Charles Talbot having expressed to Commander
Stevens his entire approbation at the general good
order, the cleanliness of the ship and boys,
andalso for the excellent system prevailing on board,
and mentioned more particularly the silence main-
tained while all the several evolutions were performed,
left the Wellesley on his return to Sheerness.
The work of fitting the fine screw frigate Bristol,
39, 600 horse power (nominal), intended to carry
the broad pennant of Capt. G. T. P. Hornby, now
of the Edgar, 71, 600 horse power, as commodore
of the squadron on the West Coast of Africa, as
successor to Commodore A. F. E. Wilmot, C. 8., is
now being pushed forward with all despatch by the
numerous hands employed on her, in readiness for
her being placed in commission at an early date.
The work of superintending the fitting out of this
frigate is being supervised by Capt. L. E. H. Somer-
set, who is borne as additional in the Formidable,
84, for service in this vessel. The Bristol is having
a poop constructed, together with the necessary
offices and cabins for a flag officer and his retinue.
She is fitted with a pair of the ordinary horizontal
engines by Messrs. R. Napier and Sons.
The Diana, 42, sailing frigate, lieutenant-ship of
the sailing reserve in Chatham harbour, was yester-
day brought down the harbour and took up moor-
ings off Upuor Castle, the corporation of Rochester,
who are the owners of the river Medway, having re-
quested the Admiralty to remove her from her late
position, which was represented as interfering with
the navigation of the river.
Gradually the smaller class of sailing vessels which
have been so long lying idle at Chatham are disap-
pearing, but a complete squadron of large vessels
still remains, encumbering the entrance to the har-
bour, at what, from the character of the ships lying
there, is termed " Rotten-row." Few, if any, of
these will ever again be required for the service, al-
though each vessel yearly absorbs a considerable
sum in the shape of wages.
Her Majesty's steam frigate Euryalus, with Rear-
Admiral Sir Augustus Kuper on board, arrived at
Plymouth yesterday afternoon from China.
'Her Majesty's steam corvette Satellite has also
arrived at Plymouth from South America.

Capt. Sir F. L. M'Clintock, who was appointed
to the Aboukir, was appointed a " second-class"
Commodore, instead of a "first-class," as announced
by mistake.

The French Government and the Cattle
Plague.

PARIS, Sept. 7.

The following report of the Minister of Agri-
culture to the Emperor upon the subject of the
cattle plague has just appeared :

Sire,--Since last July England has been suffering from a
contagious epizootic disease, which, owing to the propor-
tions it has assumed, is now invested with the character of
, Iserious danger. Since I have been a ware of this epizootic
malady, I have requested MM. Boulay and Reynal, two pro-
fessors at the Imperial Veterinary School of Alfort, to re-
pair, the former to Great Britain, the latter to Germany, to
collect all the particulars which could enlighten us upon
the nature of the malady, and upon the manner in which
it might have been introduced into England. At the same
time I desired a special commission to study everthing re-
lating to this disease, and to propose the measures which
ought to be taken in case French cattle were threatened by
the malady. I have now to report to your Majesty the re-
sult of the labours of the commission, and to submit to the
Emperor's approval the arrangements which circumstances
appear to me to require. The epizootic disease at present
raging in Great Britain is that to which the English have
given the name of " cattle plague," which the Germans call
Rinderpest, and the French typhus contagieux du Bros 1s tail.
Originating in the steppes of eastern Europe, the contagious
typhus of horned beasts never develops itself spontaneously
outside those regions, whatever may be the bad hygienic
conditions to which the herds of cattle may be exposed.
This etiological question, now completely cleared up by the
investigations of professors of veterinary medicine in Ger-
many and Russia, formed the object of a memoir addressed
to my department by the late inspector-general of veteri-
I nary schools in France, the learned and regretted M. Re-
nault. In that memoir the difficulties of this problem are
treated and solved with a correctness of view and an abund-
ance of proof which leave no doubt whatever upon this
point. Contagious typhus of horned cattle is, therefore, a
malady exotic to western Europe. It can never develop it-
self there under the influence oe geneml and common causes,
to which it had been wrongly attributed when its history
was less known. The present attack in England is due to
the importation into that country of beasts of Russian origin,
embarked at the port of Revel in the Gulf of Finland, and
disembarked in the docks of the Thames. But if the cattle
plague has only one original country, its eminently conta-
gious properties render it, upon the other hand, an essen-
tially migratory disease. Its history bears witness, in very
numerous instances, to its repeated appearances in Ger-
many, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Egypt, and
even in England herself, notwithstanding the privelege of
her isolation. In all preceding ages, it has been almost in-
variably in consequence of the movements of the armies
of the north that the cattle plague has spread be-
yond what may be called its native country ; for the dis-
placement of the large bodies of men which compose armies
necessarily implies a corresponding displacement of large
bodies of cattle destined for their provision. In addition
to times of war, the cattle plague has sometimes been in-
troduced into the western regions of Europe by commercial
channels ; but, in past times; this method of introduction
has always been exceptional. " And when, owing to the re-
searches of German and Russian veterinary savants, the fact
of the endemic nature of this malady in the steppes of
the Russian and Hungarian provinces had been decisively
ascertained, the Governments of Prussia and Austria have,
up to a recent date, been able to take efficacious
measures to protect from it those of their provinces in
which typhus is not endemic, and, through them, all the
other regions of Europe. In fact, owing to this very ac-
flee protection, a period of fifty years has passed without
typhus having come to visit us, while in the lest century
this epizootic disease presented itself in our own country
nearly every twenty years. But the preservative measures
employed by Germany only produced their effects because
the migrations of the steppe herds were carried on by land
routes. Now that the means of communication between
different countries have become so rapid and so easy, the
chances of typhus overleaping or evading the barriers
Germany has hitherto been able to present to its invasion
have greatly increased. Thus, for example, in the present
instance its introduction into England has arisen from the
fact of speculators in cattle having found it profitable to
draw their supplies from the Russian provinces, and to
transport them by steamboats to the English markets,
which have offered them sufficiently remunerative prices.
Germany having thus been turned, and the voyage from
the Gulf of Finland to the docks of the Thames having re-
quired less time than is neceasary for the period of incuba-
tion of typhus, it is in this manner that cattle, carrying
within them the germ of this fearful malady, have been
able to be introduced into England, and that that country
is again subjected, after 120 years, to the disasters the im-
portation of this plague inflicted on her in 1745. In this
state of affairs all efforts ought to be combined to prevent
its invasion of our frontiers, and if it should unfortu-
nately succeed in passing them, to prevent its spread and
confining and extinguishing it in the loealities first infected.
The danger exists ; England and Scotland are invaded, and
according to the latest news the scourge has been imported
into Holland by a vessel laden with cattle intended for
Great Britain, and returned with her cargo into a Dutch
port, not having been able to disembark it in Eng-
land, no doubt because the officers charged with
the surveillance of the ports perceived the diseased
state of the animals the Dutch ship attempted
to introduce. Whatever may be the reasons which
have prevented the debarkation of the cargo,
it appears certain that it is by this means the typhus has
been imported into the Netherlands, and might just as well
have been brought into France if the Dutch ship repulsed
from the port of England had been drawn towards one of
eoitu::::::: shore of the Channel by the attraction
of o sufficiently remunerative price. It is therefore urgent
to forbid entry into the Forte of the Chail.