The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-21 00:00:00

THE CAMP AT BOULOGNE.

The • troops at Honvault are now busily engaged in
. making the military road along the sands to the crimp,
, ordered by the Emperor before his departure. It will
be a great convenience, not only to the soldiers, but to
the town of Boulogne, when completed, and, from the
number of hands employed, this cannot occupy any
great length of time. Not, however, that the work
Jone is carried on with any extraordinary vigour by the
men, for, to speak candidly, they stein to have no idea
how to use the spade and the pickaxe with effect. An
English " navvy" would look down with supreme con-
tempt upon the united labours' of half--a-dozen such, and,
as for their tools and wheelbarrows, he would not pro-
bably consider them too big for his children. However
bail the implements we have sent with our army to the
East, they must be infinitely Puperior to those in the
French service, and our troops -IPust be va.4ly better
and more energetic hands at the Construction of field
works, if the mode in which the new military road at
Boulogne is being executed is to be taken as a specimen.
Yet the French soldier can work quickly and well in
many ways. A company of 100 strong will provide it-
self with the requisite complement of huts, such as are
used in the different camps, in 10 days ; and one regi-
:Tient, the 12th Light Infantry, completed all these, at
Wimereux, in less than two months. Many other ex-
amples might be given of the rapidity with which, in the
French service, the lighter descriptions of labour are
executed ; and it should always be borne in mind that
soldiers in France are constantly engaged in occupations
which, if proposed to ours, would either be found im-
possible, or would create a mutiny as infra dig.
instances of this, it may be mentioned that an order from
the Emperor has alone prevented the decoration of the
camps round Boulogne as at Satory ; that many of the
regiments indulge in the luxury of a neatly-constructed
sun-dial, with a turf pedestal ; that the interior fittings
of the huts and tents show many ingenious contri-
vances for shelves and pegs on which to stow away
accoutrements ; and that it is no unusual thing to see
an artist soldier, as is at present the case at Wimereux,
with a band of assistant comrades modelling an image of
the Virgin for the chapel. As another illustration of the
free use made in this country of the soldiers' services,
a public hall cannot take place in the town of Boulogne
without having sentinels placed round the room. The
French army performs unhesitatingly among its other
duties many of those which, with us, belong to the
police, and which would, therefore, be regarded as dero-
gatory to the military character. In some respects they
remind one of our sappers, always ready to turn their
hands to any work which the Government requires to be
executed, and who seem always to be more skilled la-
bourers than soldiers. It is, perhaps. in some degree
this character of the army in France which detracts from
the mechanical perfection and precision of its discipline,
fur the same result is observable to a certain extent in
our sappers. Being a small body, the inconvenience is
little felt with the latter, but when it extends through-
out the entire force it becomes serious indeed ; one con-
sequence is, that when critical movements have to be
executed in the face of an enemy, a degree of confusion
arises which must be highly objectionable, and no one
could help observing the other day at Marquise moments
when, with dense columns deploying into line or form-
ing square, a 'sudden charge of cavalry or a well-di•
rected cannonade might have proved the most disastrous
effects. It would appear that drill is very little attended
to ; that recruits, instead of being handed over to a non-
commissioned officer for careful training, are left to be
broken in by the junior officers of each company, and '
that they are turned out as available for active service
with a rapidity which would quite shock the notions of
our martinets. No one who has paid frequent visits to
he different camps around Boulogne can fail to have
, oberved the great absence of bodies of men going
through their parade exercises and evolutions, At
Chobham, with tielddays twice and three times a week,
this was of constant occurrence ; but here, when such a

thing is seen, it usually turns out upon inquiry to be a
punishment for misconduct.

In considering the effective character of French troops
next to the want of that precise and sple-ndid discipline
which distinguishes our own army, we notice the ex-
treme and objectionable youthfulness Of a very large
proportion of the men in each regiment—they are not
:nen or even youths, but boys—and if their bodies were
strong enough to stand the load which they have to
carry and the fatigue they have to endure, it is impos-
sible that they can have that firmness and constancy of
mind—the attribute of manhood—which, above all
things, is an essential quality for the field of battle.
Upon lads of such tender years the weight of their knap-
sacks and other equipments must have a very injurious
effect, for it is quite a mistake to suppose that the
French soldier is less heavily burdened on the march
than ours ; on the contrary, with less physibal strength
to bear it, his load is greater, and though comparisons
have been made in this respect unfavourable to the
British service, they would certainly not be borne out
upon a fair trial, conducted under precisely similar cir-
cumstances. The choking effect of the high leather
stock worn by the British soldier has, especially during
hot weather, placed him at a disadvantage, and it is be-
yond dispute that greater attention to convenience and
comfort in clothing him may be combined with a con-
siderable reduction in the bulk and weight of his kit, but
even now, as to the • load actually put upon his back, it
is satisfactory to know that ho is a less encumbered man
than his comrade of the French service. lam assured
that on the march in very hot weather, French regi•
[cents suffer dreadfully, and one instance has been men-
tioned to me in which a battalion setting out from Paris
nearly 800 strong reached Boulogne with only 200 men.
In Algeria great latitude is allowed as to clothing, es-
pecially in leaving thethroat and chest exposed, and the
experience which a large portion of the French troops
now serving in the East acquired there has no
doubt, been found useful in Turkey. It furnishes, how-
ever, a striking and sad example of the difficulties which
surround warfare, and of the impossibility of finding
equipments suitable to every variety of circumstance,
that those troops, sleeping at night in their small, low
Arab tents, should have suffered so frightfully from
cholera. Whatever the objections to our bell tents may
be, they must be far safer to use when epidemic disease
is prevalent.

A point of some interest to the military system of
both countries, which the camps round Boulogne afford
opportunitysn . of. alluding to, is that, with the excep-
tion of the nvand!ere, no women are allowed to accom-
pany French regiments. She is generally the wife of
some deserving man in the ranks, who, as a reward of
his good conduct, has the canteen, in the management
of which she assists him. A. near view of the fille du
regiment is almost as destructive to the operative
romance thrown around her as the fact that she is not a
femme sole. Cockney visitors to Boulogne during their
holydays have been sorely perplexed at finding illusions
borrowed from the well-known prints of the music-
aeve(
certainly-
shops rudely destroyed by these facts. On the other
hand, they have been able to. produce startling effect
upon the minds of French military men by relating how
many women English regiments sent out to the East
be the gallantry of
far eclipsed by
ours in that respect. Every one remembers the pro-
vision made at Ohobbam for the wives of the soldiers,
thew with
hreiich them.
army ‘
Whatever
is t
the great public subscription for the families of those
who have gone to fight our battles in Turkey, and the
announcements which have appeared from to .time of the
number of women, and even children, which the trans-
port ships took out as a part of their freight. In the
French service all this is obviated by a rule requiring
that every officer and soldier, before he obtains permis-
sion to marry, shall produce proof that his wile has a
sufficient income of her own to prevent her becoming a
burden upon
him.
What would the fair sex in Eng-
land say to so stern and mercenary a decree ?
The distribution of honours, such as medals and the
Cross of the Legion of Honour, constitutes a peculiarity
in the French army which seems worth pointing out.
These marks of distinction are awarded with great libe-
rality, yet they seem much prized by the recipients,
apparently because they are received on special grounds
in each case. It is objected to our service that we give
medals indiscriminately to all wh•have been under fire,
or, if special honours are awarded, they are given only
to those already in high position, while acts of devotion
or merit on the part of subordinates remain unrecog-
nised. It certainly is an agreeable thing to see non-
commissioned officers, and even privates, distinguished
from their fellows by a badge calculated to excite emu-
lation ; and, if the military profession still looks to such
rewards, there seems no good reason against the French
mode of conferring them.
With referebce to the mess arrangements of the
French officers, it may, perhaps, be useful to point out
wherein they differ from us. In our service the practice
is for all the officers of a regiment to mess together, the
colonel taking theshead of the table at dinner. In theirs,
only officers of the same rank mess together, the senior
presiding. A. good deal may be said in favour of the
)ne plan or the other, hut
undoubtedly the expensive
style of living which prevails in tour army, and which
practically tends to exclude all but men of wealth from
holding commissions in it, should induce those who are
anxious for a reform to look with interest at every point
in that interior economy of the military profession in
France which enables officers; upon very slender means,
to preserve the appeartuce &O. *mg Qi catkins:l.

Although the course which the Austrian Government
has pursued with reference to the quarrel now pending
in tin East has obviously been dictated by an exclusive
solicitude for the Interests of that empire, it will not be
the first time that the subtlety of the Cabinet of Vienna
has overreached itself and placed the State in consider-
able difficulties. Upon the outbreak of this war there
was one broad intelligible course for the States of Gen
many to pursue, which we never ceased to recommend to
them, as much for their own safety and dignity as for the
general interests of Europe, and for the speedy restora-
tion of peace. They had acknowledged as strongly as
France and England the injustice and illegality of the
demands of Russia and of the seizure of tile Principali-
ties ; they had been parties to the first attempt to settle
the dispute by negotiation, and they had only to perse-
vere in the European policy of the Western Powers.
But, when other States more powerful or more sincere
than Prussia and Austria began to prepare for action,
they :confined themselves to protocols and deinonstra-

tioris, and to this hour they are endeavouring to take
advantage of battles which others may fight, and of
victories which others may win. It is not our province
to determine how far this policy is consistent with-the
dignity of the chief States and Sovereigns of Central
Europe or with the expectations raised by their own de-
clarations ; for in matters of national dignity and of na-
tional good faith our standard is not that of Vienna
and Berlin. But we undertake, without much diffic-ulty,
to show that the position in which Austria has placed
herself by these combinations, refinerneets, and half-mea-
sures is perilous and insecure, and must ere long become
altogether untenable. For this purpose we shall Ric-
cessiveiy consider her relations with Russia, - with Tur-
key, with Germany, and with the Western Powers, and
we think it will appear that in attempting to keep well
with all parties she has incurred some risk of uniting
parties against her.
The relations of Austria with Russia are clearly de-
scribed in Count Nesselrode's Note Austrian
:the 26th , of
August, in which he rejected the iast propo-
sals. The Chancellor of the Empire declares that in
retiring from the Principalities, out of consideration for
the wishes of Austria and of Germany, Russia had con-
fidently hoped that Austria would cease to make com-
mon cause with the Western PoWers for the avowed
object of reducing the strength and influence of the
Russian empire. But how was she disappointed when
she found that the next step of Austria was to give her
assent to the ulterior conditions of the Western Powers
—conditions involving the abrogation of all former trea-
ties, the destruction of all the Russian naval establish-
ments, and the restriction of the power of Russia in the
Black Sea, and to bind herself to treat on no other con-
ditions ! Russia therefore complains that she has ob-
tained from Austria no compensation for the sacrifice
she affects to have made; but that, at the very moment
when her troops are leaving the Principalities, the Ca-
binet of Vienna enters into closer and more extensive
engagements with the other belligerent powers, her ene-
mies. Can any Austrian statesman doubt that this lan-
guage conceals, under an affected moderation, a deep
sense of the injury which Austria has already done to
Russia by paralyzing her right arm in this war, by com-
pelling her to drop and disgorge her booty, and by driv-
ing her once more across the Pruth ? By occupying the
Principalities herself in the name of the Sultan Austria
has rendered her offence still more palpable in the eyes
of Russia, and at any other moment the immediate an-
swer from St. Petersburg would have been a declaration
of war. What is the language of the Russian party in
speaking of Austria ? It has tenfold the bitterness
of their hostility to France or even to ourselves,
What has been the position of Count Esterhazy at
St. Petersburg for the last few weeks ? Every attempt
has bees made to insult and annoy him ; yet he remains at
his post, although it had been positively stated by the
Austrian Cabinet that the rejection of the last terms
would be followed by his recal. We entertain no
doubt of the sincerity of this dissension between Austria
and Russia, for it is widened by fear on one side and by
resentment on the other : and if peace were restored to-
morrow between the Western Powers and Russia, Aus-
tria would be the next victim of that mighty empire
which coils like some leviathan round its prey, con-
demning every neighbouring State to do its bidding, or
to perish in its folds.

Austria, however, has attempted to assert her inde-
pendence by allying herself to belligerent Powers, while
she herself remains at peace, and even by moving her
armies across her own frontiers, without becoming a
party to the war. That certainly is the most original
and anomalous position ever occupied by any State ; for
a country allied with a hostile power for military pur-
poses becomes hostile ; and before such a State is suf-
fered to take a part in military operations its allies are
entitled to claim some proof that their enemies and
their objects are the same. Such, however, was and
still is the nature of the relations between Austria and
Turkey as regulated by the Convention of the 10th of
June—a treaty between a belligerent an I a non-belli-
gerent power, by virtue of which the non belligerent has
entered into possession of the principal territory in dis-
pute. It is true that the movements.of the Austrian
troops into the Principalities have been oonstantly com-
bined with the staff of Omer Pasha, awl. that the Turks
and Wallachians have not ceased to guard their posi-
tions, and to advance upon the retreat of the Bus.
sians. We trust that Omar Pasha will be able to
continue his operations with vigour along the fron-
tier, so as at least to prevent the withdrawal of the
Russian forces from Bessarabia to the interior. But
can anything be more absurd and unusual than the
position of the Austrian troops serving as the basis of an
army engaged in active operations in which they take no
part, and occupying a country in whieh all necessity
for their presence ended at the moment they entered it ?
The Turkish Government deservedly attaches the
greatest importance to the maintenance of the best
relations with Austria, which is the real bulwark of the
Ottoman empire. The treaty which permitted Austria
to enter the Principalities was a strong proof of the
confidence and amity of the Porte ; but some incidents
have already marked this occupation which may give
rise to different feelings.
We shall not enter at length into the complicated
relations of Austria with Germany, but it is notorious
that very wide differences have arisen between the
Cabinet of Vienna and that of Berlin, and that no union
of purpose is to be traced in the proceedings of the
Frankfort Diet. The petty Governments, being all
more or less under Russian influence, have leagued
themselves against every display of energy on the part
of Austria ; Prussiahas abetted their factious resistance,
and where the Court of Vienna hoped for national sup-
port it has been thwarted by incessant jealousies and
divisions. It has, therefore, damaged its influence with
the Confederation by an attempt to infuse energy into
that decrepit body, and it has damaged its influence with
the people at large by allowing its policy and intentions
to be defeated by these miserable intrigues. One course
might have conciliated the Governments—the other
would have satisfied the nation ; but the Austrian Ca-
binet has first alarmed the German Goverments by its
energetic preparations for war, and then disappointed
the whole manhood of Germany by declining to use
tkem.

While, therefore, this ill-defined system has left
Austria at variance with Russia, in perplexity with
Turkey, and on doubtful terms with the rest of Germany
it has also had the effect of largely increasing the dis-
trust of the Western States. Austria has no power
whatever over their movements, which were not sus-
pended for a single day to meet her convenience, and she
will exercise no influence over their future intentions until
her own are perfectly clear. Hitherto she has proposed
every successive measure in which she had taken part
with us. The Conference of Vienna and its protocols,
the quadruple convention which Prussia declined to ac-
cept in March last, the separate treaties with Prussia
and with the Porte, the terms of negotiation last offered
to Russia, and even an offensive and defensive treaty be-
tween Austria, France, and England, which was on the
point of signature when the Russians announced that
the Principalities should at once be evacuated, were the
successive and consistent steps of Count Buol's policy.
These were accompanied by enormous military and
financial preparations for war. Every preliminary mea-
sure had been deliberately and gradually taken ; nothing
remained to be done but to give effect to the last resolu-
tions of this long-suffering., much-enduring policy.
Russia declared• that the terms which Austria made the
sine qua non of peace were utterly inadmissible, and
could give rise to no further discussion, but that the
basis of future negotiations must be settled by the
fortune of war. And it was at this extreme point
that the Emperor Francis Joseph and his Ministers dis-
covered that, after all, they had no casus belli against
the author of these calamities, whose encroachments
they had repelled, and whose ascendancy in the Black
Sea and on the Danube they had declared to be incon-
sistent with the independence of Turkey and the balance
of power ! Such a decision at this moment did un-
doubtedly occasion great surprise to those who were
acquainted with the extent of Austria's preparations
and the language of her assurances ; and, although it
can produce no effect upon the great expedition in
which the Allied Powers are now engaged, it gives them
time right to require of Austria, at a suitable and not
distant time, a more precise and positive explanation of
her definitive intentions, for her present course of policy
is calculated only to prolong and extend the evils of war,
and to embroil her with those very States whose cause
she had thus far adopted.—Times.

COMPELLING TEEM TO COME IN.—The Rev. W F.
Vance, incumbent of Coseley, has the last three weeks
descended the coal pits of Lerd. Ward, 11. B. Whitehouse,
Esq., and the Messrs. Bagnall, at the dinner hour of the
men, and preached to them. The rev, gentleman in-
formed them that as they neglected to come to church
to hear the gospel message, he would bring the church
to them. The number generally present, it is s:Ad, is
about 60 men. It is gratifying to add that, so pleased
were the men with this attention, that they invited the
rev. gentleman again to visit them, which he promised
to do in succession, as he means to descend all the pits
in his district. The rev. gentleman, on being remon-
strated with on the danger of such an undertaking, re-
plied that his life was of no more importance than the
poor man's life.—Wolverhampton Chronicle.
DEMERARA RAlLWAY.—Traffic for the three weeks
ending Aug. 19, 1854, 9231. 13s, 10d, ; corresponding
1144,9c1 last you 16§

CAST Olt OIL.

The following is the result of an investigation of the
treatment of cholera by castor oil, communicated to the
president of the Gene- ißoard of Health by the Medical
Council :

The medical counci.: ) the General Board of Health
appointed a committee to consider aia' report upon the
treatment of cholera by castor oil. The committee CO
sisted of Dr. Paris, Dr. Babington, Dr. rweedie, Dr.
Bayly, and Mr. Ward. The following report of the com-
mittee was received and approved by the ectincil.
The committee having read Dr. Johncln's letter to
the President of the Board of Health, together with its
enclosures, found on an examination of Dr. Johnson'
cases, that eleven of them were cases of cholera in a stet-:
of collapse, of which -ix were fatal. Five other cap.; aof
cholera did riot pass into a state of complete collal se;
these t erininated in recovery. Three cases of choleraic
diarrhoea also recovered.
-
Mr. Ward cotninuoicated the experience of Mr. ----,
to the effect that he had treated three cases of cho., ra
with castor oil, according to the recommendation of l r.
Johnson, and that they had all proved fatal ; one in six,
one ;n seven, and one in ten hours ; also the experience
of Mr. who treated five Cases of cholera with cas-
tor oil, all of which proved fatal ; and of Mr. --, who
treated with castor oil one case of cholera, which termi-
nated fatally in eight hours.
A letter from Mr, to Mr. Ward was also read
reporting four cases of cholera treated by him with cas-
tor oil, In one of these cases the treatment was begun
half an hour after the commencement Of the attack, and
was continued for fifteen hours, when the case terminated
fatally..
The three other cases were those of children of seven,
five, and two years of age respectively. They were not
seen at first, cholera in them passed into secondary fever,
which proved fatal in all.
Read a letter from Mr. to Mr. Ward, reporting
that fie had treated with caster oil five 'cages, which all
proved fatal.

Dr. a member of the committee, reported two
cases of cholera, which had been perseveringly treated
with castor oil, and which were both fatal.
Dr. ---'s report of seven cases of developed cholera
treated with castor oil at -- Hospital, was read. Six
proved fatal, and one continued in a state of amendment,
which had commenced prior to the employment of
castor oil. Dr. - could perceive no good effect
from the employment of the oil, and considered that
by its exhibition the good effect of other remedies was
lost.

A letter was read stating that castor oil had not been
tried in -- Hospital in cases of cholera.
A letter from the Medical Registrar of -- Hospital
stated that in commencing cholera one or two doses of
castor oil did not prevent severe symptoms from setting
in. Of six cases of developed cholera treated with castor
oil, four were fatal, and two. recovered ; the two re-
coveries were mild, one of them especially so. The oil
passed unchanged, apparently without acting on the
intestines.

Dr. -, of - Hospital, reported nine cases of
cholera treated by castor oil and tincture of capsicum,
which all proved fatal. One case of recovery, in which
only three doses of the oil with capsicum were taken,
and one still under treatment. His report gave an ac-
count of eight cases treated by castor oil alone ; six
proved fatal, one is in a hopeless condition, and one is
passing into secondary fever.
A letter from Mr. -, apothecary of - Hospital,
gave an account of the treatment of two cases of cholera
by castor oil ; both cases were fatal.
A letter was read from the Medical Registrar of the
--- Hospital, giving an elaborate account of 15 cases of
cholera treated with castor oil in that institution ; of the
15 cases, 8 were fatal, 1 remains under treatment, 6 ter-
minated in recovery ; but in 4 of these there appeared
on their admission every probability of the patients re-
covering.

A letter from Mr. -, of - Hospital, was also
read, reporting 7 cases treated according to Dr. John-
son's method, with castor oil. Of these 5 proved fatal ;
one lies in a critical condition, in consecutive fever ; and
one was getting worse, until the oil was discontinued,
but is now well.

A letter from one of the visiting physicians of --
Hospital, who reports that 16 patients—averaging about
25 years old, were treated by castor oil for cholera ; 10
proved fatal ; one bad relapse, but is convalescent ; one
had relapse, and is still under treatment ; and four had
permanently recovered.

A letter from Mr. ----, of Hospital, report
that the castor oil treatment has been adepted in seven
cases. In six of these deaths ensued, whilst in the
seventh ease the patient recovered, but there was de-
cided improvement from the use of several doses of iron
before the cast.,r oil was commenced.
Abstract of the above eases :
Mr. —, of Hospital, 2 cases, 2 fatal. Mr.
of ---- Hospital, 3 cases, 3 fatal. Mr. ---, of
Hospital, 6 cases, 6 fatal. Mr. —, of —Hos-
pital, 1 case, 1 fatal. Mr, —, of Hospital, 4
cases, 4 fatal. Mr. ---, of— Hospital, 5 oases, 5
fatal. Dr. —, of —, 2 cases, S fatit,,,, Dr. of
7 cases, 6 1 recovered ; amendment before
taking the oil. Dr. of —, 6 cases, 4 fatal,
2 recovered ; both mild. Dr. —, of --, 8 cases,
6 fatal, 2 still under treatment ; one in hopeless
state, state, one in consecutive fever. Mr. —, of —,
7 cases, 5 fatal, 1 recovered, 1 still under treat-
ment ; one in consecutive fever. Dr:j 4-7—, sixteen
cases, 10 fatal, 4 recovered, 2 stilL un'it'" treat-
ment ; sone had relapse, one still W4er treatment.
Mr.—, of 7 cases, 6 fatal, one recovered ; in an
incipient state before the oil was taken. Mr. of
--, 15 cases, 8 fatal, 6 recovered, 1 still unde'r treat-
ment. Total, 89 cases, 68 fatal, 15 recovered, 6 still
under treatment.

Cases treated at Hospital, with castor oil and
tincture of capsicum-11 cases, 9 fatal, 1 recovered, 1
still under treatment.

From the above extract, the details of which have
been carefully investigated by the committee, it appears
that in 89 cases of cholera treated by 14 different prac-
titioners with castor oil, on the plan recommended by
Dr. Johnson, 68 were fatal, recovery having occurred
only in 15 cases, while the six remaining cases are still
under treatment.

The above treatment having been laid before the
council, and approved by them, it was resolved that the
same be communicated to the President of the General
Board of Health.

(Signed)

JOHN AYRTOF PARIS, Chairman.
B. G. BABINGTON.
A. TWEEDIE.
WILLIAM BAYLY.
W. B. WARD.
Whitehall, Sept. 20, 1854.

The medical council of the Board of Health having
been requested by the president to prepare any formula
that the board might make public for use, in case of
premonitory diarrhma, before the arrival of medical aid,
the following resolution was agreed to :--
" That the medical council think it, as a rule, dan-
gerous for non-medical persons to resort to the use of
drugs without medical advice, and especially they de-
precate the extensive use of opiates, on the one band,
and on the other hand of aperients, such as castor oil
and salts.

" The medical council, moreover, deem it impossible
to prescribe a remedy which would be appropriately or
even safely taken by all persons suffering from diarrhoea.
" They are of opinion that the paper called ' Precau-
tions against Cholera' contains instructions for all the
measures which the public, unadvised, should adopt ;
but they suggest that the heads of families should con-
sult their usual medical attendants as to the measures to
be taken in cases of emergency, and that the medical
officers appointed by boards of guardians and other pa-
rish authorities should take care to give the same infor-
mation to persons of the poorer classes."