The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-03 00:00:00

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F' '° 53).

wore 8-pounders, admirably horsed and served,
with six horses to each gun. While the artillery
were firing in front, the infantry were drawn up
in three lines, one behind the artillery, and two
others in reserve. The enemy still advancing, the
artillery made a rapid movement in retreat, and

formed on the right of the line, and in spaces
left for that purpose at intervals along the
line. Infantry and artillery now commenced a
tremendous fire upon the advancing enemy. Moro
effective file firing than that which the infantry
poured in has seldom been heard. The guns were
also served with extreme rapidity, and the extraor-
dinarily rapid and incessant discharge of cannon
and small arms was deafening. The fire of the
Chasseurs de Vincennes along such a line must be
most destructive to the enemy's cavalry, and many
French officers contend that infantry so armed
need not fear a charge of cavalry whenever the,;r
approach can be discovered at a reasonable dis-
tance. Marshal St. Arnaud is said to have given
instructions to General Canrobert to try and solve
the question whether the infantry of the line can
he trained to the exercise and duties of the Chas-
seurs de Vincennes. General Lourmel has written
a pamphlet to show that all the line ought to have
the 3linie rifle, and undergo the training of the
Chasseurs de Vincennes. It is clear that if Gen.
Lourmel and the officers who have served with the
Chasseurs in Africa are right in sasing that the rifle
musket is as efficacious at 800 yards as " Brown
Bess" is at 200 yards, any advancing columns
would have received a most destructive fire from
such a line as was now drawn up, before they could
return a single shot with effect.
The enemy, however, still advancing, were sup-
posed to attempt to turn the French right. The
first line prepared to retire under cover of a strong
line of sharp-shooters and riflemen, and the second
line were ordered to change front and to advance
in the direction of the enemy, supported by the
artillery. The second line then in turn threw in
a most destructive fire, which lasted for several
minut!..es. These manucevres had been performed
in a storm of wind and rain ; and as every soldier
upon the ground, including the Emperor, who dis-
dained to wear a coat or cloak, was drenched to the
• . , and as the rain showed no signs of abatement,
a a e manoeuvres came to an abrupt termination,
t. _ rder was given to cease firing. An immense
square was then formed, and the Emperor, sur-
rounded by his staff, placed himself in the centre
and distributed several decorations of the Legion
of Honour—a ceremony which the Empress wit-
nessed from her carriage. By far the most remark-
able personage in the brilliant group which sur-
rounded the Emperor was the Prince Napoleon,
who acted as aide-de-camp to his Imperial cousin.
The prince, mounted upon a grey charger, in the
dress of a lieutenant-general, and wearing the grand
cordon of the Legion of Honour, presented a mar-
vellous resemblance to his uncle. He has the Em-
peror's features, his deep sunk eye, his olive com-
plexion, and round shoulders ; the prince is more
corpulent than the Emperor was at his age, but, as
his " make up" is perfect, one might have sup-
posed the " Little Corporal" was looking on upon
the distribution of the rewards. The troops now
and then broke out in cries of " Vive l'Empereur,"
and " Vive l'Emperatrice," but as every soldier
had now been exposed for five or six hours to a
searching rain, the enthusiasm was of the mildest
character. After the distribution the Emperor
slowly proceeded round the interior of the square.
It is observed that when the Emperor approaches
the standard of each regiment he gives his horse
the spur, and makes him bound towards the eagle.
The Emperor is an admirable horseman, riding in
the English style, and while his horse is executing
this little theatrical movement his Majesty grace-
fully raises his hat and salutes the colours.
The review over, their Majesties returned to St.
Omer, and the troops to their encampment at
Helfaut. At 7 o'clock the Emperor and Empress
honoured with their presence a grand banquet,
given by the city of St. Omer to their Majesties
and the Ministers, Marshals, and members of their
suite.

At this banquet, AS well as at the ball by which
it was followed, the :English military representa-
tives were treated with marked attention and cour-
tesy by their Majesties.
A few days after the Emperor's visit the camp
was broken up. It is said that a large body of
troops will be re-assembled at Helfa.nt next year.—
Times.

AUSTRALIAN POST-OFFICE DELIN-

QUENCLES.

The negligence and carelessness of the Colonial
Postmasters and Post-office clerks form a prominent
feature of complaint in the Australian papers re-
ceived by the last and by former mails. The trans-
mission of letters from one town and colony to ano-
ther is slow and uncertain. Frequently letters do
not come to hand at all; more frequently their
transmission and delivery are delayed many days,
and even weeks. In Sydney and Melbourne the
great banking-houses, commercial firms, and mana-
gers of public companies alone receive the letters
addressed to them with something akin to regula-
rity, probably because it would, perhaps, not be
safe to exasperate those who have the means of en-
forcing redress. But persons of little importance
and influence have to wait and petition before the
correspondence is delivered to them. If they write
letters they are never certain as to the time those
letters will be forwarded to their destination. At
the diggings this state of things is much worse ;
owing to the badness of the roads, the mails
come in and go out with provoking irregularity.
The great post-offices of the colonial capitals are
slow to acknowledge the existence of new dig-
gings and of fresh communities of gold seekers.
It takes much time, it requires many angry
complaints in the local papers, before the official
dignitaries at Sydney or Melbourne can be in-
duced to appoint a postmaster for a newly peopled
district, and to find for that district a couple of
messengers and bags. Thus much do the papers
say of Post-office mismanagement within the co-
lony. As for the transmission of correspondence
to England, and the delivery of letters from the
mother country, the complaints are still more fre-
quent and acrimonious. We have now before us a
curious document signed by 52 gold diggers of
Forest Creek, Castlemaine, which corroborates in
every respect the statements which the colonial
papers contain of the gross neglect that charac-
terises the whole conduct of Australian adminis-
tration, but which in no one department makes
itself so generally and painfully felt as in those
Post-offices, which appear to be established for the
retentionost-officeasn, d suppression of correspondence. Well
may the poor diggers of Forrest Creek denounce
the system as a system of robbery.
" Seldom," say they, " does a letter from friends
—from wife, sister, or brother--ever reach the
unfortunate immigrant. We travel about 70
miles to Melbourne for a letter. We live at great
expense while there. It costs us at least 12s. per
day. We spend hours, for days together, under a
burning sun, before we can see an impertinent
clerk, who, with perfect coolness, informs us there
are no letters—aye, often without looking. If this
answer does not dismiss the applicant, we fre-
quently find a letter is at last given, and the post-
mark and date prove that the letter has been lying
at the office for weeks past."
The system as described by our correspondents
1 sets a premium on bullying. A modest retiring
man, who has perhaps travelled 70 miles, spent
several pounds, and waited two or three days befor,
he gains admission, will turn away footsore
wantan
c-;.
sick at heart, until, exasperated by Itrs, he
success, and taught by the example of
a letter
blusters and threatens until he becomes :
and must be got rid of, and then, perh ns
:6n-'delivery
is found. As for letters from borer,i. The letters
nuisance
is the rule—delivery the excep io
England are
Forest Creek is ase
the senders, and
which are posted for transnlios
control.wef
to—that they
On this head, the
are course beyond the
are dealt with accordingly.
hing. They say:explicit as it i
-s t°tubc, friends of immigrant at Vic-
toria appeal of the 52 gold diggers 0
"Pray inform
ar often written t 8
worse than all—Oh that thne___,Y. - ned, are
not forgotten--ands Oh I Sir, tell
them they are never
We have much to
overcome ; . many heard of, w
trials are before us. We still
love
to hear from
our birth."
the land of '
for themselves ; we need
extracts
sepspeaek
repeat the very harsh and uncom-
plimentary epithets Which
be-
stow on the Post-office clerksOUT correspondents
ie
latm Ailnedlboof urn
every man
will suggest themselves to
who can realise the idea o f seeina his dearest in-
terests sacrificed to thesupercilas languor, and
sneered at by the arrogance of the paid servants of
the public. A. partial explanation of the growth
r
of this iniquitous system is furnished by certain
letters and
ust ali an papers.
The
paragraphspa rs. e which now and then figure
in the A
The Colonial Government has, to a greater or less
extent, lost the power of controlling its servants.
A Government situation at the present time is not
so desirable as it was before the discovery of the
goldfields changed the social aspect of those colonies.