The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-13 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

- -
SIR,—In a late number of the Examiner appears a letter
signed "An Officer of Half a Century's Service," commenting
with great displeasure at the flattering terms in which the
conduct of the Highland Brigade at Alma has been noticed
by the press generally, and states that "le is tired read-
ing of the gallantry. of these kilted warriors," that from his
own knowledge these and all such testimonies to the
valour of these mountaineers are more sham, having no
truth except in the imagination, referring the editor to the
small loss they suffered compared with the Guards as a
proof that they had no claim to the distinction. There is
in the "Officer's" letter so much of jealousy that the most
careless reader must detect it, and would of itself be the
best defence the press could offer for granting tribute
where it was so justly duo. With your permission, I can-
not resist reminding him that Highland soldiers never
yet faced an enemy without carrying off the palm
of 'distinction, aud, while the fiery blood of the Celt runs
in their veins, will continuo to be victorious in any con-
quest with an equal number of any nation in the world.
The Highlanders have served in every quarter of the globe,
at any rate wherever there was any fighting going on, and
on every occaaiou where they have took part, they have
had the special thanks of the Commander-in-Chief. From
Assaye to Alma their military prestige has remained untar-
nished, as their advance has been as irresistible as the tor-
rents of their own mountains. The " Officer " calls atten-

tion to the absence of any mention being made of the High-
land brigade in Lord Raglan's despatch. Such an overlook
on the part of his lordship may be correct, but if the corres-
pondent of the Morning Herald is to be credited, Lord
Raglan is said to have ridden to where they stood, and
expressed his admiration of Sir Colin Campbell and
his brigade. If the gallant officer is to be bound
by despatches, I will refer him to the two last
despatches of Wellington—Toulouse and Waterloo—of the
three regiments ho particularised in the first, two of them
(the 42d and 79th) were Highlanders—and the last para-
graph of his despatch from the latter, says, "I must par-
ticularly notice the gallantry of the 28th and 42d, 79th and
92d, Regiments. Now, of these four, three were High-
landers, and that an action where almost all the British
army wore engaged ; and this testimony is from one not '
given to flattery. lam averse to the mentioning invidi-
ously of one regiment more than another, but where that
is done by the representatives of the public press, I cannot
admit that a person, because he feels annoyed at the no-
tice, is justified in impugning the veracity of these gentle-
men, and, in doing so, cast a sinister reflection at the regi-
ment so mentioned. lam astonished that an officer of 50
years' service should rest so much opinion in favour of
regiments whose loss is greatest as a criterion of their
superior gallantry. I believe he will not find many bro-
ther officers of the same way of thinking ; but if he pins
his faith on that fact, he will find that the Highland regi-
ments will furnish him with mortal rolls that ought to
satisfy him ; for instance, at Assaye, the 74th Highlanders
had 11 officers and 114 rank killed; at Toulouse the 79th
had 5 officers killed, and at Waterloo the 92d. and 42d
were reduced to a few hundreds. It would have been
more generous of the " officer" to abstain from rushing
into print with his rancour. He must be consoled by the
fact, that the "Highlanders are still the same savages"
when fighting as they were when their English friends first
made their acquaintance. It would also appear, from the
following paragraph, which I take from the Times, Oct.
12, folio 7, that the Russians did not anticipate their fury
at such a rate, and could not believe that they were
mon :—" The Highlanders behaved with distinguished
courage, never firing a shot until close upon the Russian
regiments, when they gave them a volley and charged ;
the enemy fell back, but at a little distance rallied, and,
lowering their bayonets, advanced a few feet as if to
charge. With joy the gallant Scots accepted the challenge,
and charged at them, but their mere aspect was enough;
the Russians, throwing off their packs, fled. Tho High-
landers' appearance, it is said, was so imposing that they
seem to have been taken: for cavalry, as a largo square w7se
formed to receive them." That the Highlanders' dase,ts.o
much in their favour is unquestionable, as welleplSn
.2it
this last engagement as at Killiecrankie. T/!..aJoir
2
herald's correspondent also says of them lu
ee with High-
landers, by not firing, were enabled to a
ra-
pidity; the enemy's cannon had hardly.
consequently,
range before they were out of it agaeinr,...inoo.B
of
their loss was slight compared with tlLeireboll
mode of tid.mveanto get their
the
same division." This description
ing is not unlike that
to Sir John
History of England, when they opposedsyerefor
givenofthemofby
Lord Mahon in his
the length I have
Cope at Prestonpans.—Apologising g
beidienn t servant,
written at—l am, sir, your
A HIGHLANDER.
Nev. 1854.
14, Upper Islingten•terrao , ,

diocese of London, has become 'vacant by
Da. Spay : .—The rectory of St. Maryle-
h of the Rev. Dr. John Rums Spry (instituted
the death Ainillthoep
which is worth 1,7001. a- year,
year, is
By Dr. S
in the gift of the Crown. pry's death, a canonry
in Canterbury Cathedral also becomes vacant ; it id
b18"1D5e1). The benefice,
worth 1,0001. a-year, and is in the gift of the Crown.
ASYLUM FOR FEMALE ORPHANS, WESTMINSTER-ROAD.
_Yesterday, the Rev. M. Anderson, M.A., delivered
a most impressive sermon at St. Paul's, Iterne-hill,.
in aid of the funds of this charity. The funds at the
present time were very low, and the ordinary receipts
last year only amounted to 3,6381., while the expendi-
ture was 4,1421., thus leaving a large balance against the
asylum. At the close of the rev. gentleman's discourse,
a collection was made, which amounted to 621.

On Friday evening last his Royal Highness
Albert was returning to the Castle, attended by CaptaiiN,
Du Plat, after hunting with the Royal harriers is the
neighbourhood of Slough and Salt-hill, when just after
the Prince had passed Eton College, and was proceeding
through the High-street, a ferocious-looking fellow, with
a stick in his hand, rushed out of the shop of Mr. Thum-
wood, where he had been purchasing some beef, into the
road, and made use of some most insulting and abusive
lPanrignueaegfeortslaeuldsishtaisnceno4 al Highness, following the
the street, when Captain
Du Plat promptly rode his horse between the fellow ar.d
the Prince, and the scoundrel returned, flourishing his
stick in a menacing manner, and continuing his offen-
sive observations towards his Royal Highness.
The assault was witnessed by a young lady who was
passing at the time, the daughter of Mr. Sanders, who
resides near where the disgraceful transaction took place,
and Mr. Sanders, on learning the fact, lost no time in
communicating the whole of the particulars to Mr. Per-
kins, the intelligent and active superintendent of the
Eton police, and to whom much credit is due for the
prompt manner in which he caused the fellow to be ap-
prehended and locked up in the station-house for the
night.

On the following morning (Saturday), Mr. Perkins
waited on the Rev. W.G: Cookesley, the senior assistant
master of Eton, and a county magistrate, to determine on
what steps should be taken in reference to this disgrace-
ful outrage, when the worthy magistrate, knowing full
well the indignation which would be necessarily created
throughout the sohool on its becoming known that an
intuit had been offered to Prince Albert, their kind
friend and liberal patron, and fearing the consequences
which might ensue by bringing the prisoner to the ma-
gistrates' chamber at the time the students were out of
school, the justices' room being situated nearly oppo-
site to the college, very wisely deferred the hearing of
the case until three o'clock in the afternoon, at which
time the whole of the students would be in church.
Accordingly the matter was kept as secret as possible,
and when the prisoner was brought before the bench in
custody of police-constable Simms, there were only pre-
sent the magistrate, Mr. ' Sanders, the magistrate's
clerk, a correspondent,
,and a few of the Eton polio,.
Mr. sanders narrattittile facts above stated, and as no
parties at this time were present from the Castle the
worthy magistrate went into the charge preferred
against the prisoner by Henry Simms, the policeman, for
violence used by the prisoner towards him in attempting
to get out of his custody, and also for obtaining money
from the Etonians en the previous Thursday.
The prisoner at once acknowledged the truth of the
charge, and in reference to his disgraceful conduct to-
wards the Prince said that as he had not seen any of the
Royal family for many years, and hearing that Prince
Albert was passing, he merely ran into the road to
salute his Royal Highness. He denied having made
use of abusive and disgraceful language at the time, but
would acknowledge that he had been drinking a little,
and he might have flourished his stick, but he meant no
harm. He further stated that he came to Windsor
with the intention of enlisting into one of the regi-
ments in garrison there, he did not care which. That
he had seen a serjeant of the 18th Royal Irish, and
also a sergeant of the Welsh Fusiliers, who both con-
sidered his age (38 years) too old for the service. He
also said he had served under Lord Gough, and had been
in India 21 years in the Ist troop of Bombay Horse
Artillery, and had gained three medals, two of which he
had pawned, that he got 211. on his discharge, which
he spent in a week on a spree. He had got a wife and
two children somewhere, but he slid not know where.
He was a native of Ireland ; his name was Mislich,
and he had three brothers respectably settled in America,
where he was anxious to go.
The worthy magistrate, after a severe reproof, sen-
tenced the prisoner to one month's hard labour at Ayles-
bury gaol as a rogue and vagabond.
It is not yet ascertained what steps will be taken
against the prisoner in the meantime, with reference to
his assault on the Prince.