The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

TO TEE EDITOR Off THE SUN.

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Sra,—l pray you will pardon my referring to my let-
ter of the 11th April last,' in which I addressed to you,
as an old soldier, having served under Napoleon the
first, rilating to the supplying the soldier with a proper
cover of cautchouc cloth, which would keep his body,
his arms, and ammunition dry, even if he were exposed
to the heaviest rain for a week, and which would be of a
weight he could carry without inconvenience. Being
an old experienced soldier, my anxiety for my brother
soldiers will be well understood by you.
I take permission to repeat what I formerly urged
upon the public through your columns, and I trust you
will not consider that I trespass unfairly upon your valu-
able time and space. My intention is to effect a most
important object, viz., to save the lives and the health
of many thousand soldiers in the East, and of many
hundred horses also—not to mention that thus taking
care of their health will be greatly adding to their effi-
ciency.

Ali military men who have been on active service
know well that when a soldier has his clothes wet, and
that he is often in such a state obliged to march, to
fight, and even to lie down, that he is not only unable
to render effective service, but that such wet clothes
dispose the body to receive the cholera, diarrhoea, and
other diseases, and thus is the great cause of the mor-
tality among troops—far greater than the sword.
In the case of the horse soldier, nothing short of actual
service can convey to us what the poor man has to suffer
in rainy weather. Wet through, even his boots full of
water ; and, when Arriving at his station for the night,
he must forget or neglect himself and think of his horse
which carried not only him but al-o the wet and heavy
baggage, and upon wlio,e strength his own life depended.
There is, as I have already mentioned to you, a remedy
for these evils ; that remedy is to provide the soldier
with a sheet of disinfected caoutchouc, such as I have
seen, pure and as free from anything offensive as linen,
so as not to cause neuralgy. Caoutchouc in the state
it is used endangers health.—l have the honour to be,
sir, your most obed. servt.,
AN OLD SOLDIER,
Who served his country with the most brave
the Marshal St. Arnaud. t
loondon, Aug. 11, 1854.

SUN OFFICE, Six o'Clock.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

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HOUSE OF LORDS—(THIS DAY.)
At the prorogation of Parliament to-day the House of
Lords presented the splendid and exciting scene which
is invariably witnessed when the Queen attends in per-
son. As on former occasions, the whole of the seats in
the body of the house were allotted to the wives and
daughters of peers, and other distinguished ladies.
These were almost entirely filled by half-past one
o'clock, and as the dresses of the fair occupants were of
every imaginable colour and design, it is almost unne-
cessary to say that the coup d'ffil was brilliant and
dazzling. There was a considerable sprinkling of ladies
in mourning attire.
Prayers were read by the Bishop of Salisbury.
There was the usual muster of the corps diplomatique.
A party of distinguished Turks were allowed seats in the
gallery to the left of the throne, which is usually appro-
priated to ladies, and to-day, with that exception, was
entirely occupied by them.
An Indian Prince, in a gorgeous Eastern costume,
attracted much notice. He was seated on the woolsack
with his face ton ards the throne ; his back was, there-
fore, turned upon the greater portion of the company.
The Ar3libishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
London were early in attendance.
Nearly all the Ministers in this house were present,
but there were very few other Peers.
In consequence of all the judges being upon their cir-
cuits, the only legal dignitary present, with the excep-
tion of the Lord Chancellor, was Lord Campbell.
Her Majesty entered the house at a quarter after two
o'clock, leaning on the arm of Prince Albert, and pre-
ceded and followed by the customary procession.
The Earl of Aberdeen bare the sword of State, the
Earl of Winchester the cap of maintenance, and the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne carried the Crown.
Having ordered all her subjects to be seated, her Ma-
jesty directed Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the
Black Rod, to summons the Commons. He had not
been absent many minutes, when he returned with the
Speaker, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the principal members
of the Government in the lower house, and a large num-
ber of other members.

The noise occasioned by their sudden entrance, and
the scrambling which took place to procure good places,
having subsided, the SPEAKER read au address to her
Majesty, giving a brief summary of the labours of the
House of Commons during the session. The right hon.
gentleman made several painful pauses, as if he had for-
gotten what to say.
The royal assent was then given in the ordinary form
to several public and private bills.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then, kneeling at the
foot of the throne, presented her Majesty with the
Royal speech, which she read with much emphasis and
distinctness. The speech will be found in another
column of The Sun.

At the conclusion of the speech,
The LORD CHANCELLOR declared that it was
her Majesty's wish that Parliament should be prorogued
until the 19th of October next.
Her Majesty and the procession then retired from the
house.

The session of 1854 was thus brought to an end.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(THIS DAY).
The SPEAKER, attired in his state robes, took the
chair, at halt-past one o'clock, at which time there was a
sufficient number of members present to make 66 a
house."