The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-22 00:00:00

his most strenuous effort to bend, to the required

tension for the sinewy cord, the giant bow of
ULYSSES. There was, indeed, but one reasonable
alternative under the emergency—that is upon the
occasion of the vacancy caused at the Horse Guards
by the sudden death of the venerable hero, the
Duke of WELLINGTON. Either one of that Great
Captain's Lieutenants, or a Prince of the Blood,
who was also a soldier. England has since then
tried each in turn—she has had in succession two
chiefs at the Horse Guards, exactly answering those
two descriptions. At first there was a courtly clamour
from a few of the ever-zealous among the loyal
subjects of the Crown —to the effect that
the vacant post of Commander-in-Chief should be
awarded at once to H.R.H. the PRINCE CONSORT.
The notion, however, was eventually overruled by
the sound good sense no less of his Royal Highness
himself than of her Most Gracious Majesty the
QUEEN. It was soon afterwards felt to be a dis-
appointment by very many that the fidus Achates
of the dead .iElneas—that Lord FITZROY SOMERSRT
and no other than Lord FITZROY SOMERSET was not
promoted (by but one step !) to the post of Com-
mander-in-Chief. Instead of that he received his
barony of Raglan, his baton as Field Marshal, and
—the moat enviable of all the positions he ever at-
tained in life, the one he still held when he calmly
encountered at last his soldierly death—the rank
and responsibility of Commander-in-Chief of her
MAJESTY'S army in the Crimea, the army beleagur-
ing during so many months the great fortified city
of Sebastopol.

If the beloved lieutenant of the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON was set aside, however, in the winter of
1851-1852, another out of the small group yet sur-
viving of those lieutenants of WELLINGTON was
nominated as his successor—though (as.still even
in the instance of H.R.H.) not as Commander-in-
Chief, but (as if to mark a respectful distinction for
an uncertain interval) as the General Commanding-
in-Chief. The Duke's first successor in that way
being the late Field Marshal Viscount HARDINGE
—as the Duke's second successor (upon Lord
HARDINGE'S demise) is H.R.H. the Duke of CAM-
BRIDGE. Unless the Horse Guards—as has been
done during many years past at the Admiralty
—had been put in commission, we really do not
see after all what other course could very well
have been adopted than precisely the very course
we have here mentioned as having been adopted
under these difficult, and, for the moment, somewhat
bewildering circumstances. A magnificent cypher,
in a very great measure, we cannot but yet re-
gard the earlier of the two Generals-Command-
ing-in-Chief to have been, all things consi-
dered. His regime at the Horse Guards
serving, in truth, rather painfully, to vindi-
cate the fact by the appalling mismanagement
brought under the obsertation, not only of England
but also of all Europe, in the glare of the great
contest under the walls of Sebastopol.

A happier, a wiser, a better epoch, in every re-
spect, has, beyond any question dawned upon the
Royal Army within the very interval during which
the post of Commander-in-Chief, or rather of General
Commanding-in-Chief has been held by his Royal
Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE. During the
rule of the Duke of CAMBRIDGE at the Horse
Guards it has become a simple matter of fact
that, for the most part, her MAJESTY'S
Forces have been thoroughly reorganised.
In almost every department a more judicious system
has been introduced. Infantry, cavalry, artillery,
engineers, commissariat—all ranks and sections. of
the army have been subjected to a searching scrutiny
and a resolute revision. It has been thus simply
from the sheer force of circumstances. The age
required it. The frightful calamities that befell our
army during the last great war demonstrated its
absolute necessity. But, granting all this, it is to
the credit of his Royal Highness that, from first to
last, he has:strenuously endeavoured to forward,
instead of (as many in his place would probably
have done) retarding this vast reformatory move-
ment throughout every portion of our military
system.

Strange to say, however, while all this has been
happily accomplished—while the Army has, in a
manner, been reconstructed throughout—there have
been startling incidents of a very deplorable kind
of late years, incidents evidencing in a lamentable
manner a very serious and, at the same time, a very
mysterious relaxation or violation of discipline.
Frightful murders here and there in the barrack-
yards. Disgraceful scenes of insult and ill-will time
and again in the officers' quarters. Incidents these,
of course restricted to two or three strangely ill-
starred regiments. But incidents that—while,
of course, exceptional themselves—have dismayed
the community at large, particularly of
late by the frequency of their occurrence. The
attention of the Legislature, in fact, became im-
peratively directed at last to the subject of the
Military Murders, with a view if possible to the
discovery of some more effectual means for their
prevention than those already supplied by the law.
The attention of the General Commanding-in-
Chief, of the Judge Advocate-General, of the
QUEEN herself, has each in turn, have all simul-
taneously, been directed on the other hand—parti-
cularly of late—to the recurrence among the officers,
now in this regiment, now in that, of contentions
resulting in conduct more or less unbecoming the
position of the offenders in society as Officers and
as Gentlemen. There was that monster court-mar-
tial recently in regard to Captain ROBERTSON and
his brother (!) officers in the 4th Dragoons. A
nourt-martial upon which we have commented at
length before now in the columns of The Sun, and
which court-martial, it will be remembered, ended
only the other day so very satisfactorily. Well,
and now again there is another court-
martial which began sitting only yesterday
(also, like the last, at Dublin), in respect to the con-
d act of an officer in the Eleventh Hussars. The
charges in the instance here referred to being
directed against Mr. PAUL ANTHONY, the veterin
ary surgeon of that regiment in the words sub-
joined :

"For conduct unbecoming the character of an officer
and a gentleman, and to the prejudice of good order and
disc'pline, in the following instances :

" First Instance.—ln having grossly and publicly in-
sulted Cornet Delacour, of the 11th Hussars, on the night
of the 29th April, by calling him ' a liar and a cur,' or
words to that effect.

" Second Instance.—ln baying, at or about the same
time and place abeve mentioned, grossly and publicly in-
sulted Cornet Delacour, of the Ilth Hussars, by striking
him a blow on the face.

Whatever else may come of this new inquiry,
we may rest satisfied at once that the individual
affected by it will have dealt out to him a full meed
of justice. The sentence of the court will be duly
revised by H.R.H. the General Commanding-in-
Chief, and will be finally submitted by the Judge
Advocate to the QUEEN for her MAJESTY'S approval
and confirmation. For the meting out of that
justice, however, we certainly cannot but wish that
there were fewer opportunities.

Since we took the liberty to recommend Mr.
GLADSTONE'S moral eloquence at Manchester to the
notice of our parish sermon-makers, the subject of
sermons seems to have attracted no little newspaper
attention, We do not wonder at it. To hear one

sermon a week is almost held to be one of the

decencies of life, at least for the father of a family
—the paterfamilias, as those who would flourish a
little dog Latin, term him. The Dissenting world,
or church, we suppose, they would rather term
themselves, hear two, perhaps three, sermons a
week frequently ; nor is that enough for all. Church
ladies, who do not frequent the theatre, compensate
for it by taking a kind of luncheon sermon in the
middle of the week ;—sermon hearing is evidently
quite a settled work of duty with many. With
those who submit, however, to more of the inflic-
tion—for such it too frequently is—than the usages
of society may render proper, we can feel no sym-
pathy. Ours all terminates with those who only
hear as many as their calling in life requires. Our
attempt was to obtain for them, instead of the
weekly penance, something that had a little nature
heart and soul in it—something showing that the
preacher took an interest in human beings and daily
life—something, which he said because he had
something to say, and not because he must say some-

thing.
One writer in a contemporary heads his commu-
nication—" Sermons and Slumber." He dreads the
hot weather and long sermons; though cold weather,
under the same disagreeable circumstances, is, for
what we' know, as bad. He wrote after listening
to a preacher who had inflicted FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES
on his unoffending sheep;—he thinks, as all will
think, that this was too much. He thus describes
the result :—" I watched the congregation more
closely perhaps than I ought. They were absorbed
in attention for the first half hour. You might have
heard a pin drop. All through the last 25 minutes
I saw human nature gradually giving way—the
fairer sex pale and gasping, with fans and
smelling bottles in full work; the men sternly
enduring, but prone to s:umber ; contracted
brows and yawns invading countenances wrapt
a short time before with eager interest." He
does not find fault with the sermon ; it was a
good one—extempore ; and naturally, therefore,
some repetitions ; on the cont•ary, he asks, if such
were the effects of a long bir good sermon, what
must it be to endure a long bit bad one ? Weger-
tainly wish his appeal to be seen by every clergy-
man who is guilty of this bretch of religious good
manners; for we cannot comprehend the good breed-
ing of forcing on us more of the 'equisite than we wish
for. We should almost ventue., to suggest that the
churchwardens of clergymen ac offending should be
provided with implements, Ike those of Dean
SWIFT'S philosophers, just t 4 remind them five
minutes before the half hour—that the maximum
was up. A half hoar glass, lite the Athenian ora-
tors, might do ; but it is to be 'eared the clergyman
might overlook the running Ott of the sands.
Another, who styles himself "A SUFFERER,"
takes quite another course; he must be a sadly
profane radical in such mattes ; he would leave it
optional with the attendant at church to hear the
sermon or not. His propostl is to have a five
minutes cessation, when the morning prayers, which
he observes are three services in one, are concluded.
During this five minutes all persons, physically or
mentally weary, very old and very young persons
can withdraw. At the same time the lovers of
sermons, and there are such, can come in, The
preacher can have a partly fresh, and in all cases a
willing congregation. Most will agree with him that
our three service morning prayers are enough to
tire out ordinary worshippers; and the picture he
draws in detail of the congregation going through
the whole, and then in " the lest stage of bewilder-
ment and exhaustion," "submitting to the subse-
quent inevitable sermon," is, as every reader knows,
but a photograph of facts. What, however, will
the chief performer say to it ? In the country places,
where no new congregation could come in, and
where nearly all would be glad `o go out, the
clergyman would have only the clerk to
preach to, and must renew the old story of
the parson, who, in such a situation, began his
service with " Dearly beloved ROGIR." We well
remember in the days of our boyhood fa:it the clergy-
man and the principal farmer in the parish, having
had a serious quarrel, the latter always marched the
whole of his large family out of churl as soon as
the prayers were over, and we suppose such a usage
would be in no way incompatible with the earlier
habits of the Church of England; how far it would
square with modern notions of decorun and perso-
nal respect to the preacher, is hardly loubtful.
We see Lord EBURY has given up his crusade
against long services, or at least leaving it at the
option of the clergyman, in many parts, to shorten
them. We always thought he would fail. The
Dake of CAMBBIDGE can hardly ever have soldiers
enough, or a Lord of the Admiralty ships enough,
so a clergyman cannot easily imagine that we can
be overdone with services. His occupation during
the performances prevents his perceiving how
wearisome the time may seem to those who are little
more than passive listeners. We are not surprised,
therefore, that his lordship could not convince
bishops and clergymen. His lordship has cut down
all to a bill to relieve the clergy from a subscription
which no thoughtful man ever made, or could make,
without some mental reserve, evasion, or twinges of
conscience. Even this will, of course, be resisted.

It is Ecclesiastical Reform, and it will prevent a
good deal of what is equivalent to ecclesiastical per-
jury—but the latter reason is nothing, in the
episcopal and clerical scales, against the first. We
shall see that when Sir JOHN TRELAWNY brings
in his bill to make the declaration of an atheist evi-
dence, the clergy will expect Mr. DISRAELI to re-
quire that atheists should be left under the tempta-
tion to tell a lie by affirming what they do not be-
lieve, rather than accord them the right to give
their evidence according to their real views. " Lie,
and you may swear in a court of justice—tell truth
and you shall not swear," is the sensible state of the
law, and the sensible demand of Mr. InsRAELes
clerical, political recruits. But we are wan-
dering from sermons—who does not when he hears
them ? Our verdict is, that since Lord EBURY
must not shorten our triple service ; and since clergy-
men will think it very rude if we do not stay to the
sermon, they will at least never tax us beyond the
tolerated half-hour.

His Highness the Prince Doria Pamphili, ac-
companied by the young Prince and Princess Doria Pam-
phili, have arrived at Claridge's Hotel from Rome, for the
season.

Lord Llanover has left town to attend the annual
inspection of the militia at Monmouth, and will not return
until after the Whitsuntide holidays.
The Hon. Percy Barrington and family have
arrived at Claridge's Hotel for the season.

M. Delessert has arrived atClaridge's Hotel,
from Orleans House, Twickenham.

Married yesterday, at the Catholic Chapel,
Warwick-street, by the Very Rev. Dr. Hearn, V.G.,
assisted by the Very Rev. Dr. Cruikshank, Charles
Henry Tempest, Esq., to Cecilia Elizabeth Tichborne
Hibbert, daughter of J. H. Washington Hibbert, Esq.,
of Dover-sheet, Piccadilly, and Bilton Grange, Warwick-
shire.

At the Horticultural Exhibition at Versailles,
the Emperor's gold medal has been awarded to M. Bazi for
his fine collection of vegetables and fruit, and the Em-
press's prize of honour to M. Bertin, jun., for his exhibi-
tion of rhododendrons, azalias, and other plants.
THE BEARD MOVEMENT.-Mr. Bristles : Then
you really think it an improvement, eh ? Miss Spikes :
Decidedly; it hides so much more of your face.—Punch.
The gunboats, eight in number, for the protection
of Milford Haven, have now all taken up their moorings in
line of Man-of-Wars-road, near, but a little below the
'loyal dockyard, and look a formidable force.

DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE.—The
proceeds of the concert to be given in St. James's Hall to-
morrow, Friday evening, will be presented by the committee
of the Vocal Association to the unemployed operatives in
Lancashire and Cheshire. The artistes of Her Majesty's
Theatre, with other artistes of eminence, vocal and instru-
mental, will assist on the occasion. The choir of 200 voices
will sing Webbe's descriptive glee, " When winds breathe
soft," and Meyerbeer's Paternoster. The performance
will be under the direction of Mr. Benedict.
MR. W. F. WINDHAM, OF FELBRIGG.—We
are requested to state that there is no foundation whatever
for the report which found its way into this and other jour-
nals, that Mrs. Giubilei, the mother of Mr. Windham, has
any intention to apply for another commission of lunacy,
and there is not the slightest ground for such an applica-
tion.

Two workmen suffered a horrible death, near
Cleckheaton, on Monday night. An explosion took place
at the Highfield Chemical Works, near that place, and a
large quantity of boiling tar was thrown over them. The
accident happened about 8 o'clock, and the young men
died at midnight,
General Baron Guillot, Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honour, has just died in Paris. Another death
in the French capital is that of Dr. Lallemand, principal
physician to the expedition in China, recently arrived from
that country.
The anniversary service for the Empress
Josephine, founded in the Church of Rueil for each 29th of
May, is to be this year p ,stponed to the 31st, in conse-
quence of the fete of the Ascension falling on the former
day. The service will commence at 11 precisely.
The Gazette du Midi states that a very curious
and interesting experiment has just been made at Fort St.
Nicholas, Marseilles, with a new inflammable liquid, in-
vented by a Paris chemist. The bottle containing the
liquid was broken by a musket shot, and it burned every-
thing which had been placed near it. A second experiment
was made the following day in presence of the general com-
manding the artillery. Nothing could be more satisfactory
than the result. Large heaps of timber were consumed,
and the earth was calcined to the depth of a fcot. This
liquid, which resembles the Greek fire, is sufficiently power-
ful when enclosed in a cannon ball to set fire to an enemy's
fleet.

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE CATACOMBS OF PARIS.—
M. Nadar, the photographist, has obtained permission from
the municipality of Paris to carry his apparatus down to
the catacombs, where, aided by the potent spells of the
electric light, he is photographing a series of views in those
dreary streets of skulls and tibia). By means of this magic
lantern he and his assistants, now in the bowels of the
harmless earth, will enable people to become familiarised
with scenes which but few have witnessed.
THE CONSERVATIVE LAND SOCIETY IN NORTH
ESSEX.—The 44th purchase of this society, and the first in
the northern division of Essex, has just been made at Col-
chester. It is an excellent building property, situated just
outside the town on its southern side, beyond the camp and
Government barrack lands, and comprising five fields be-
tween the roads which these fork—the left leading to Abber-
ton and the right to Berechureh. A new branch railway
from the Stour Valley branch of the Eastern Union is con-
templated, having its terminus in the neighbourhood of St.
Botolph's Church, which will greatly enhance thisproperty
for building purposes.
PERTHSHIRE.—The orchards and gardens of
Strathearn have not presented such a rich profusion of
blossom for a long series of years as they do this season.
Pear, apple, and stone fruit trees are completely studded
with blossom, and from the advanced period of the season,
there is not so much chance of the fruit being damaged
with frost. It appears that disease prevails to a great ex-
tent among sheep, both on the hills and low-lying farms.
Within the last few days one farmer had no fewer than 50
ewes which died about two weeks after they lambed, and
others have lost from one to two score each. The disease
does not appear to be properly known to sheep farmers, but
at all events the malady seems to be k erious.—North Bri-
tish Daily
PDLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.—Under the skilful
and energetic management of Professor Pepper, this excel-
lent institution is now conducted in a manner equally cre-
ditable to the director and advantageous to the public.
It is now at once a pleasant place of recreation and a
valuable educational establishment, and what greatly adds
both to its merit and its attractiveness is, that its sphere of
usefulness is from time to timelincreased by the introduc-
tion of lectures, exhibitions, models and panoramic views
relating to topics of fresh and contemporaneous interest.
The latest, and not the least valuable addition of this
description is a panorama painted in oil on 9,000 feet of
canvass, and showing the temples, streets, bridges, public
institutions, rivers, mountains, and general scenery of
the Japanese empire. This unique panorama is said to
have been painted secretly by native artists, who would, if
discovered, have incurred the penalty of death.
INAUGURATION OF THE BUNYAN MEMORIAL,—
Yesterday afternoon the ceremony of inaugurating the new
monument which has been erected by public subscription
over the grave of John Bunyan, the author of " The Pil-
grim's Progress," in Bunhill-fields burial ground, City-
road, took place under the auspices of the Earl of Shaftes-
bury. A platform had been constructed facing the tomb,
and on this the chairman and his supporters, among whom
were a number of gentlemen and clergymen, took their
places, while around the memorial a crowd of subscribers
and spectators had assembled. The out-door proceedings
were very brief, in consequence of the rain. The Rev. E.
Garbett opened the business with prayer, after which Lord
Shaftesbury delivered a short address, in which be warmly
commented upon the deserved popularity of " The Pilgrim's
Progress" with the men, women, an 4 children of all classes
of society, and concluded by remarking that he should al-
ways remember the works of that glorious old John Bunyan,
the old tinker, who by his labour and genius had worked
up in a single book the revealed Word manifested in the
life of Jesus Christ. The tomb was then uncovered and
the meeting was adjourned to the Wesleyan Chapel, City-
road, where a number of gentlemen, among whom were the
Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, the Rev. R. Maguire, &c., assisted
at the meeting. The length of the tomb is about 7ft., and
the height rather over 4ft. On the north side is a carved
stone panel on which Christian is represented as starting on
his journey, with the burden on his back, while on the
south side he is represented as in the act of reaching the
cross, and the burden falling from h4s shoulders. On the

top of the tomb is a carved stone effigy of John Bunyan, in
a reclining posture, with book in hand, his head resting on
a pillow. This figure is upwards of Mt. in length. At the
east end of the memorial is a slab formed of a portion of the
old tomb, on which are engraved the following words:—
" John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress'—
Ob. August 31, 1688, 2E 60." The slab at the opposite
end records the fact of the erection of the work by publio
subscription, under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, May, 1862.

DEATH FROM HYDROPHOBIA.—The French jour-
nals record another death from hydrophobia which occurred
on Friday last at Nanteuil-Vichel (Aisne). The victim was
a M. Willaume, a farmer of that village, who was bitten by
his own dog under the following circumstances. About
three months ago the dog bit two of a neighbour's children,
and as a report got abroad that the animal was mad, M.
Willaume had it chained up. Some time after the father of
the children came to see the dog for the purpose of learning
whether it had shown any symptoms of hydrophobia. M.
Willaume assured him that the dog was quite well, and, to
prove his confidence, he went to the kennel and patted it.
While so doing, however, the dog bit him and drew blood.
The wound was at once deeply cauterised, and no ill effects
were felt till the beginning of last week, when unmistakable
symptoms of the fatal malady made their appearance, and
terminated in death after three days of dreadful sufferings.
M. Willaume was sensible to the last, and received the
sacraments before he expired. The two children remain
quite well, owing, it is supposed, to the fact that the dog/
bit them through their clothes, which prevented the ab
sorption of the virus.

THE LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.—Although
the general opinion regarding the probability of an early
termination of the war in America has materially changed,
and nervous speculators tacitly confess that they have been
the victims of a foolish alarm, yet, on account of un-
favourable reports from the Manchester market, there
appear but small hopes of any appreciable or lasting
improvement taking place in the cotton market. Never.
theless, there is an impression that prices will
speedily recover the recent fall if the mercantile
community can be convinced for a week or so that the
Southerners are far from being at their last gasp. Un-
doubtedly,a very slight hint, in the present state of affairs,
would be sufficient to give an impulse to speculation, but
any improvement arising therefrom must be short-lived.
Since the cotton mania set in, speculation has played the
most extraordinary freaks, and will, no doubt, continue to
do so until the war is over and the cotton trade
recovers its equilibrium. The cotton market has
been existing upon it for some time past. At one time it
buoys it up; then, without any sound reason, it withdraws
its support, and down go prices. The large holders and im-
porters very wisely shut their eyes to the caprices of the
market, and their patience and firmness in waiting for a
demand to spring up have all along imparted a tone to busi-
ness which otherwise would have been wanting.—Liverpool
Mercury.
PELLETS OF PAPER.—The Japanese are noted
for the many purposes to which they can turn paper. The
Ambassadors who are at present airing their seediness
among us have, it is said, paper collars, paper shirts, paper
pocket-handkerchiefs, and even paper boots. All their
money may be, for what we know, paper. The Yankees,
however, have thrashed them in their own speciality.
They have, rinee they have been pummelling one another
to death, invented paper blockades and paper victories. As
the Washingtcn Government have absolute autti.ority over
the telegraphs of the press, they can slay, burn, destroy,
raise up, knock down, invent, colour, falsify anything they
please. Give them a scrap of paper, and the thing is done
with a stroke of the pen. Can the Japanese point to a single
sheet of paper that ever has had the effect of killing
thousands and wounding as many more? The latter is
indeed a " Happy Despatch." On the ground of paper
mills (and their fights, as reported, are frequently nothing
better) Japan is decidedly beaten by America hollow.—
.Ptinet.