The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-15 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

A topographical department has been added
to the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham,
and a school for the instruction of the officers
and men in that branch of engineering has been
opened at Bromptou barracks, under the super-
intendence of Captain Scott, assisted by two
instructors. The men selected to undergo a
course of study in topography will be attached
to the different companies of Royal Engineers,
And in future each company will include men
who have undergone a course of instruction in
photography, telegraphy, and topography. The
men now under training are taken off all other
duties, in order that the whole of their time may be
devoted to study. _

The half-yearly inspection of the three battalions
of infantry at Chatham has been commenced by
Major-General A. J. Lawrence, C. 8., Inspector-
General of Infantry. Yesterday it was confined to
the Ist battalion, the depots comprising which were
assembled on the general parade ground at an early
hour, under the command of Col. H. Jervis. The
regiments on tha ground were the Ist and 2d bat-
talions of the 4th King's Own, 35th, 43d (Light
Infantry), 77th, and 94th. The battalion has lately
been so reduced in strength that it now numbers
only about 600 men of all ranks. Major-General
Lawrence, who was accompanied by Captain J. P.
Battersby, his aide-de-camp, first inspected the
equipments and kit of each man. After he had
done so the battalion was marched to Chatham
Lines, where the troops were put through an ex-
tended course of battalion and company drill, which
occupied four hours. The Inspector-General selected
various officers from the several regiments to ma-
noeuvre the battalion, in order to enable him to
ascertain the proficiency they had attained in their
duties. The troops returned to their quarters
shortly before 2 o'clock. The depots which com-
prise the 2d battalion, under the command of Col.
R. N. Phillips, were to be inspected to-day.
Yesterday detachments of non-commissioned offi-
cers and men belonging to the 42d, 71st, 79th, and
92d Highlanders arrived at Chatham garrison from
Stirling. After the troops had been medically in-
spected 11 of their number were admitted into Fort
Pitt Hospital for treatment.

LOYAL GENERAL THEATRICAL IUND.

The 17th anniversary in connection with this
fund was held last evening at the Freemasons'
Tavern. About 200 gentlemen were present, and
it wan understood that the privilege, for the first
time granted, of opening the theatres in Passion
week, had been attended with an effect rather pre-
judicial than otherwise to the funds of the charity,
in preventing many of its habitual supporters from
being present. Imitating the Italian example,
ladies were admitted to the Freemasons'-hall, but
only in the character of spectators. The chair was
filled by Mr. Alfred Wigan. Among those present
were Earl Somers, Sir Coutts Lindsay, Mr. T. P.
Cooke, Mr. B. Webster, Mr. Buckstone, Mr. Stir-
ling Coyne, Mr. Cullenford, Mr. Cathcart, Mr.
Alfred Mellon, Mr. W. Firren, &c. The dinner
and the wines were in all respects creditable to the
resources of this well-known establishment. The
usual loyal toasts followed the withdrawal of the
cloth ; and

The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the health of that
glorious trio, " The Army, ;the Navy, and the Vo-
lunteers," said the army were entitled to tho pecu-
liar gratitude of the theatrical profession, for where-
ever they went they became the missionaries of the
drama. (Hear, hear.) Guardsmen before Sebastopol
shaved twice a day in order to personate the
heroines of the play ; and on one occasion an
apology was thus made at the theatre of the Naval
Brigade for the omission of the song " Black eyed
Susan :"—" The hand as used to chant it had his
head blowed off that morning in the trenches."
(Laughter and applause.) The navy now occupied
a very peculiar position ; but however stern might
be the Monitor, the service included one or two little
boys who would show it that respect which was
generally exhibited by boys towards their monitor.
(Applause.) The chairman concluded by proposing
in connection with the toast, "The Health of Mr.
T. P. Cooke."

Mr. T. P. CooKE, who was very warmly received,
briefly responded, observing that be belonged to the
last century, when ships were really ships, and not
iron turtles.

The CHAIRMAN next gave the toast of the even-
ing, and, in doing so, observed the General Theatri-
cal Fund was established 18 years ago, to supply a
want that was felt for an additional institution of
the same nature as the Dr ury-laac and Covent-gar-
den Funds, which, from various causes, had been
I found inadequate to the exigencies of the profes-
sion for whose benefit they were instituted. It re-
sembled those excellent inst
of itutia,ls.ms, ianlitahnisn,uthalatthe, actor was enabled, by means
pay-
ment, to claim as aright,notasa charity, an annuity
in the event of his being disabled from the practice
of his profession either through ill-health, age, or
other legitimate cause—much as our public servants
received the support of a pension from Government,
only, he was sorry to say, the comparison held good
in no respect as to the means at command. It differed
from those funds in this, that all members of the
profession were admitted to its benefits, without re-
striction as to age, sex, length or place of service ;
whereas the privilege of admission to Drury-lane
and Covent-garden Funds was surrounded by many
bars and limitations, no doubt necessary at the time
they were imposed, but which the various changes
in the constitution of theatres and of the theatrical
profession rendered worse than useless. Although
appealing directly to their charitable feelings, he
should be loth to place the claims of the profession
before them in any light that would lower the dignity
of a serious and responsible calling—one in which
they were answerable to Heaven and their country
to uphold the cause of morality. (Cheers.) In
wc:gbing their profession in the balance with others
the name of Shakspere would, like the sword of
Brennus, bear down the scale, however loaded to
their disadvantage. But it was not in his mighty
name alone that they laid claim to respect. They
were, or should be, a means of education, not to be
despised even in the present day of universal learn-
ing and competitive examination. The intellect
was only one of the component parts of man, and it
should not be forgotten in this stirring, struggling
generation, that there was a moral and corporeal
education, and a cultivation of the imagination, also
necessary to complete manhood. (Hear.) It had
been brought against them that they were too
anxious to laugh and to make laugh, to juggle and
play tricks, and to think when they pocketed the
proceeds the affair was ended. Whenever they did
so, they degraded themselves and wronged the pub-
lic. (Hear.) The power of instruction possessed
by the stage might perhaps of late have fallen some-
what into disuse, but it must be allowed that the
drama had this advantage over all other forms of
teaching combined with amusement—that its influ-
ence acted by example rather than by precept.
(licarr.) Their art, though a beautiful and a useful
arts.°ne ts ,41 re d the inherent weakness of all the fine
did not increase the material produce of
the world, and--
Would be classed by the political
economist
among _ the unproductive labours ; and,
inasmuch as it
w" not directly productive, it must
always be to a large number maremunerative. But
he would venture t9xel,,ii a
those who, partly from
prejudice—in former days
well grounded—partly
from absolute ignorance of all that was said and
done Zu theatrei, regarded them with disfayom.