The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY.

An examination of the gentlemen cadets of the theo-
retical class having taken place, in order to fill up the
vacancies in the practical class caused by the promotion
of seven of the practical class appointed to commissions
in the Royal Engineers, and fifteen to the Royal Artil-
lery, the following twenty-four of the theoretical class
passed satisfactorily, and have now joined for study as
the second division of the practical class at the Royal

Arsenal :
William A. Frankland Walter B. Rice
W. S. Boileau William N. Pers6
Hale Y. Wortham William J. Smith Neil
Alexander Dirom George W. Knox
Henry B. Maule Osborne H. Goodenough
Walter M. T. Campbell Henry C. Farrell
Douglas G. W. Aioncrieff James H. P. Anderson
Richard B. Rimington Joseph W. H. Dads=
Morgan C. Molesworth Edward McLaughlin
Edward Darner Graham R. T. Stevens
Charles W. Walroncl Charles F. Roberts
Henry Le Q. Geary Arthur S. Hunter
An examination also took place on Wednesday and
Thursday last of candidates from Carshalton and other
academies for young gentlemen, desirous of entering as
gentlemen cadets at the Royal Military Academy, and
the following having been found qualified were ordered
to join immediately :
Edward Micklem
Granville Deedes
Henry Maxwell Robertson
Ernest St. George Cobbold
George Goodall
Rowland Henry Warburton
Charles Eversfield Bethune
William Simpson Brown
Grant Blunt
John Leslie Toke
Henry Thomas Butter
John Chas. Durban Murray
William Trelawny Scott

Bayard Clarke Cochran
Robert Carstairs Drysdale
Delhouse Holmes Burnes
Charles Douglas Sterling
William Wynne Goodrich
Edward Gibbs Poingdestro
John Murray Train
Robert Power Saunders
Henry Bond
Harry Parnell Cole
Arthur Blaney Coddington
Duncan Norton Taylor
Robert John Garnett

FIRST STEP TO STRENGTHEN THE
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE
ARMY.

If the appointments made under the following order
are made with a judicious discrimination in the choice
of the persons appointed, an important step will have
been taken towards the more complete organisation of
the military medical service. But much more mist be
done :

rank
kicotof Victoria R.—Whereas hearcsesb,eeonur ilrwaprleansendtpedleansnutree
us that great benefit will result from re-establishing the
apothecary
Is, that apothecaries to the forces shall form part of the
regular establishmeat of the army, and that they shall
rank as lieutenants, according to the dates of their com-
missions for the first 15 years of their service, and after
that time as captains, but as janiers of that rank.
The pay of an apothecary to the forces shall be : upon
first appointment, 9s. a day ; after five years' service,
10s. 6d. a day ; after ten years' service, 12s. a day; after
fifteen years' service, 13s. 6d, a day ; after twenty years'
service, 15s. a day ; after twenty-five years' service,
16s. 6d. a day ; alter thirty years' service, 18s. a day.
He will receive an allowance for a servant, and. for
lodging and fuel, if not provided with quarters, and
forage for one horse, if kept.
The rate of half-pay of an apothecary Ito the forces
shall be : after 10 years' service, Gs. a clay ; after 15
years' service, 6s, a day; after 20 years' service, 'Ts. a
day ; after 25 years' service, Bs. a day ; after 30 years'
service, 9s. a day.
Bat no apothecary to the forces shall be entitled to
claim retirement after any period of service under 30
years' duration, upon the ground of ill-health, contracted
in the service, unless such unfitness for service shall be
to the it f
supported by medical certificates satisfactory to our Sec-
retary at War.
Every apothecary to the forces who shall have served
upon full pay for 30 years, and upwards, shall have the
right to retire upon. half-pay provided that the Secre-
tary at War shall be satisfied with the manner in
which snc apothecary shall have performed his duty.g
Given at our court at St. James's, this 23d day of
October, 1854, in the eighteenth year of eur reign.-By
her Majesty's command.

SIDNEY lEEIIBERT,

ROBBER? OF A CASS-BOX CONTAINING 2141.—Yes-
terday afternoon information was given to the police of
the K division of another of those mysterious robberies
which have baffled the skill of the metropolitan police.
It appears that the counting-house of Messrs. Beeson,
coal-merchants, High-street, Stratford, was entered,
when the following cash and securities, amounting to
2141., were carried off, viz., a small tin cash boo
japanned, with three compartments, containing six 101.
Bank of England notes, four 51. ditto—Nos. 60,687,
60,688, 60,889, and 60,692 ; and 691. ss. Bd. in gold, a
cheque for 11/., drawn by Mr. Pearce on the London
and Westminster Bank, and dated 4th, November, 1854.
Two cheques drawn on the Accountant-General for
151. 10s. 2d., and 71. ss. respectively, by virtue of a
power of attorney to Mr. John Meeson ; the subscrip-
tion-box, containing an account of money for Christ
Church, Stratford ; and a bill for 311. 6s. Everything
conneeted with the affair shows that the'ro4ers were no
novices, and that they were pretty well acquainted with
the premises. A large reward is offered for the appre-
hension of the thief, who is described as being thin and
tall, and dressed in a dark coat and trousers,

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
CAMP BEFORN SEBA STOPOL, Oct. 22d, 1854.
The battle of Alma was a specimen, perfect in its kind,
of the rudest tactics, or, I should rather say, in this battle
even the rudest elements of the art of war were, save in
one instance, utterly discarded. The loss having fallen on
four regiments in an army of more than-20,000 men must
prove to the veriest tyro in the military art that our Ge-
nerals could not, or would not, make use of the mate-
rials at their disposal. There was, in fact, no " move-
ment," except by Campbell's brigade, during the entire
action ; it was merely a repetition of the Gough
battles in India. All was carried by the bull-dog
pluck of the men, with a sacrifice of life far beyond what
was called for. The Light Division, consisting of six regi-
ments, was led to the attack of heights almost precipitous,
over the most difficult. ground, having to pass through a
vineyard abounding in holes; and a river, under a most
murderous fire for about half a mile. In this advance two
regiments, by some accident, or mismanagement, were
utterly thrown out of the action. When the others reached
the bottom of the heights their ranks were ccmpletely shat-
tered. The men were not allowed to form—not a moment was
given them to close their ranks ; they were hurried to the
assault breathless and in utter disorder. The result was
as might be anticipated—all was one mass of confusion—
no one knew what he was doing, whether he stoed en his
head or his heels, and they were obliged to retire a perfect
mob ; we were twenty and thirty deep, and so completely
was all order at an end that even men of different regi-
ments got mixed together. I now felt assured all was lost,
and I involuitarily cried out, " Oh Napier, Napier, would
that you had led us !" At this dreadful moment a battalion
of Guards came to the rescue—they steadily passed through
the retreating columns, and with the well-timed appear-
ance of the Highland Brigade on the flank, they gained
the heights and bore off the laurels, or rather snatched
them from the unfortunate Light Division, In fact, the
result of the day was nearly being as disastrous as it was
brilliant. There seems but one opinion, that ignorance of
tho veriest elements of the military art cost unnecessarily
many noble lives, independently of jeopardising the whole
affair. Numerous aro the acts of individual heroism I
could relate—in truth, these were to be witnessed
on all points the courage of the soldier was patent
—but the skill of the General was nowhere. The
battle over, let me tell you how the wounded fared.
There was no ambulance to take them off the field. Six
wretched stretchers per regiment was all the provision
made to bring them to the hospital. Having reached this,
the amputations took place on the ground without the most
rudely constructed bench or seat having been provided to
alleviate their sufferings. iVot every was light, even a rush
light, provided to enable the surgeons to see their work
correctly—and there was no water for the unhappy
wounded crying in their agony for it. So much for
Alma. As I said in my former letter, pensions, and
stars, and honours will be showered on many ; but what
will be the fate of those who really won the day ?
At this moment there are more than 50,000 bayonets
before Sebastopol. The whole of the English are in posi-
tion directly in front, with the exception of ow) regiment
and the cavalry. We occupy three-fourths of the terrain,
and a French division the remaining fourth, leaning on
the sea to the west of the town. The remainder of
the French are in position a mile in our rear watching
any relieving force which may appear, and which
is daily expected. The Turks are four miles
further in the rear for the same purpose. The fire on the
forts, of which there are five, net including the sea bat-
teries, has as yet made no very important impression.
The town has not been fired into, and, as it is not walled
in, I fear its capture will be more difficult than was anti-
cipated. On the land side it is dependent ou detached
forts of great strength; they are much in advance of it,
mutually supporting. If they are to be carried by assault
it will be a terrible business, and I begin to fear the season
being so much advanced will not admit of any other course. I
spend a couple of hours every day on the bill over the town,
not more than a mile distant, gazing on the horrid scene,
reflecting that in a short time those imposing buildings,
those crowded streets, those magnificent gardens will be in ,
ruins, and ravaged by a licentious soldiery. I have seldom
seen a town that presents a more pleasing appearance.
However, fall it must, and I trust our release from this
savage life will follow. Now to more general matters. The
discontent of the officers is great, general, and I must 'Adjust.
They were disembarked with three days' rations of pork and
biscuit ; these, with cloak, water canteen, rum flask, and a
second pair of shoes, all carried on their backs, rendered
them little disposed either honourably or physically to
perform their duties at the close of the day when the mere
fighting was over. The tents were put in the transports
which brought us, and sent on shore again a few days after
we had disembarked, but after we had enjoyed their shelter
for three days they were reshipped, and did not reappear
until a fortnight since, when disease began to thin our ranks
at the rate of 100 men per day, entirely owing to exposure
to a burning sun by day, and heavy dews by night. Until the
tents came officers and men were living like brutes of the field,
without any shelter whatever, all in common. The men
if anything were better off than the officers, having the
protection of blankets, while the latter had none, and the
country did not afford the means of shelter in the shape of
houses or wood. lam convinced not one word of discoa-
tent would have been uttered had these privations been
unavoidable, but that such was lot the fact is proved by
the French, and even the Tarks, enjoying at this very time
every comfort which a tent and camp equipage could
give. Even had the tents been brought up when the non-
combatants (paymasters) arrived, much misery and dis-
content, and, above all, many Byes would have been spared.
But I really believe it was intended to leave us without
tents, and that we are indebted for them solely to cholera
showing itself. Even now we aro without camp equipage
of any sort. We eat, we sleep, we drink on a bundle of
hay—our baggage being in the hold of some transport.
The majority among us can boast of only ono shirt. The
officers are ragged and scarcely clean, while the men are
filthy to the last degree, and are to be seen in divisions
lousing themselves with all the frantic desperity of Lazze-
roni. The French are struck with amazement at seeing us
iu this plight, they themselves being as neat as if fresh
from the Champs Elyse's.
I must not forget to mention that the pack horses, which
we were ordered to prepare for our baggage at serious ex-
pense and inconvenience, remain still at Varna. lam net
much disposed to grumble, but when I view the misery and
wretchedness of those who really do the work, and com-
pare it with the ease and comfort of those staff gentlemen
who will come in for all the honours and prizes, even my
spirit rebels.
There is, however, one bright spot in the picture—our
commissariat is good, the supplies excellent, and varied
as much as possible. Cholera has at length disappeared.
We have been favoured with the finest weather. There
has not been more than 12 hours rain since the army
landed, and there is every prospect of a continuance. The
loss in the trenches has been marvellously small, not much
in excess of a hundred men. The Lancaster gun, as far as
I can colloot, is a complete failure.
I must not omit to mention an anecdote illustrative of
our medical administration. The surgeon, on seeking for
the necessary medicines for diarrhceawasmet withthe usual
"regret that they were all exhausted, but that balsam ea-
pin e°, could be had at the depot in quarts, and salts and
senna in gallons !" diarrhcea being at this moment the
prevailing scourge ! Would these things have occurred
under Napier ? No, indeed. That good man, that
mighty chieftain, that idol of the soldier, would have laid
down his own life a thousand times rather than permit
that those by whose valour and blood the chief officers
were to acquire honours and pensions should, their noble
work once done, be treated as beasts of the field—as beings
without souls.
My next will be from Scutari. ' V. N.
P.S.—Although retrograding, I must again observe
upon the proceedings at Devna, from whence I wrote to
you, that place of such terrible celebrity—nothing you
have read or heard can give yon a true idea of its insalu-
brity. It was selected for the thrice unhappy light divi-
sion by Sir G. Brown, with that indifference to the com-
fort and savage recklessness of the lives of those who have
to curse the hour they were placed under his command,
which have characterised his career in this campaign. Once
fixed here, the deaths resulting from the utter inefficiency
of the medical arrangements (the inspector-generals of the
department are the true criminals) are fearful to contemplate.
In our hospital, there was not for a long time previous.
to our departure for Bulgaria the ingredients necessary to
compound the simplest diarrhoea medicine—there were no
candles, no oil, not even soap. Can you conceive each
heinous and scandalous disregard on the part of the heads
of the medical staff of even the decent discharge of their
duty. While we were dying off like rotten sheep for the
want of the commonest medicines, the medical depot at
Varna, only 30 miles off, was amply supplied with stores.
Sad, indeed, was the inhumanity displayed.

Mr. Charles Kemble, the dramatic actor, died on Sun-
day, at his residence in town,..haring just completed his
70th year.
TIE LATE EXPLOSTOIi OF FIREWORKS. Maria
Thempsom, who received extensive injuries at the recent
explosion of fireworks in Cannon-street, St. George's-in-
the East, died yesterday in the accident ward of the
London Hospital. Deceased was in her 25th year. This
is the sixth death arising out of the above unfortunate
catastrophe. Two other sufferers remain in a very dan-
gerous condition.

Ma. SMITH O'Bam.—The following particulars,
which we take from a letter addros'ed by an officer of
the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Packet Company to
his father, a respectable citizen of Salisbury, will be read
with interest At Ceylon we met the Norna, eel, of
our steamers from Australia ; she bad en board Smith
O'Brien, and Martin the editor of the Felon, newspaper,
who was transported also ; you. are no doubt aware thato
they have received a pardon on condition that tlyieziliodg.
not enter England or Ireland, and they
themselves of it to go and settle in France.
came on with us,
O'Brien, having a relative in Madras,.are availing
and will go to Marseilles by the mail which will take
this letter, so I have taken the opplor.t_uVuystofsahyavthinagt
some long conversations with him,_ d
he is as gentlemanly a fellow as .
He often spoke of
I everal met, quiet and
contented apparently with hislot.h
at the tale of the
the rebellion of 1843, and lay
-• sit was a good joke.
widow's cabbage garden, and
deesn says
ge
dupe of others, for
He appears to me to have
ho has nothing about hiss indicating pluck and talents
for a great leader : he is tall
an 4 rather epare
of,hisand in
to me rela-
face very like his sister. He spoke
fives, and when he found I was from Salisbury seemed
puck pleased, and we had a long spin about the
cathedral, Wilton church and house, &c., &c., and I
really enjoyed his conversation, as he is in general a
y well-informed man, but decidedly visionary in his
YpC:lities. He is very fond of listening to vocal music, so
I sung songs and duets with a lady possenger on board,
which ho seemed to enjoy highly, and thanked me
very much for it afterwards. I had a short yarn with
Martin at Galle, but he is a man of another stamp, ap-
parently clever, determined, and resolute, very stout,
and red-faced, looking as if he cared for nothing. He is
very quick in talking, and I should say was a man of
considerable mental powcr, but I was not long enough
with him to form more than a hasty opinion. It was
rather strange meeting these notable men in Italia, don't
you thick PQ 1".-:-.444Wry hum/.

_Petersbourg, and they will find in it under a form which,
without being diplomatic, is not less significant, the ex.
pressien of the sentiments of the Czar. The official
organ of the Russian empire published on Oct. 20 a
manifesto, of which the following are the conclusions :
' There remains only one way of honour and justice for
the" Emperor. He will keep his word not to make con-
quests, but at the same time he will accomplish his
task, which consists in re-establishing on the Bosphorus
Russian preponderance. so
.absolutely necessary for the
foundation of real order. It is the holy duty of Russia
to restore in the Bosphorus the reign of Christianity,
and to consolidate it there. In fine, the Emperor has,
as the protecting refuge of Europe, the high minion of
ensuring the existence of conservative Europe. Russia
cannot at present realise that mission, except lsy an ob-
stinate war, calculated to break down the ambition of
the English, and put an end to the rule of the Turks.
To arrive at these conclusions, the Russian, manifesto
sets forth. at great length that the Allies have claimed. for
the Christian subjects of the Porte much more than Ppnce
Menschikoff demanded ; that the Turkish rule is an
anomaly in Europe, and that Turkey is a sick patient
whom nothing can cure. Next co am some violent attasks
and abuse on England. England, according to the _esmpe-
ror Nicholas, is a permanent revolutionary inundation,
'infinitely more dangerous for Conservative Europe than
France, to which the Czar is pleased to give the epithet of
' foaming torrent."lt is England,' says he, 'who, led away
by mercantilism, tramples under foot the rights of hu-
manity and of nations. Russia's destiny is to guarantee
Europe from all the irruptions of the west. The pre-
sent
.war is waged between Conservative order and com-
munist revelution.' How can any doubts be now ens
tertained of the error which still holds possession
of the Court of St. Petersburgh ? Thus, the unani-
mous reprobation of civilised Europe, the blood
shed in the defence of the rights of morality and of
the future welfare of modern societies, the humiliation
of the Muscovite flag—nothing has moved the Czar's
pride, tir weakened his stubborn resolution ! After the
candemnation pronounced against him by human justice
in the conferences of Vienna, after the chastisement
which divine justice has inflicted on him on the banks
of the Danube, at Silistria, at Kalafat, in the Dobruds-
cha, on the plains of the Alma, and in the face of the
disaster which menaces him under the walls of Sebas-
topol, it is still ,the same man, the same ambition,
the same designs. For the policy which prevails at
St. Petersburg, the question has net made the
slightest advance, as all that Prince Menschikoff
demanded is still insisted on. Will this persistence at
length enlighten Europe, and dissipate the last illu-
sions which Russian diplomacy has encouraged ? It
is in vain that the successor of Peter-the-Great and
of Catherine, and the inheritor of their intentions,
colours with high flown words the object which he
aims at. Facts have given to his allegations too marked
a denial to render it necessary to again discuss them.
Turkey, he says, is a ' lifeless phantom,' but it appears
to us that the said phantom has invested itself with
flesh, and assumed vigorous forms and proportions, amidst
the applause of the whole world. Let the Czar consult
his generals, and, in particular, those who gave way be-
fore the heroic army of Omer Pacha, and they will tell
him what vitality and national power there are in the
Ottoman population, at the same time that the important
reforms emanating from the free determination of the
Sultan, prove what humanity, toleration, and spirit of
civilisation are to be found in the Turkish Government.
The Czar dares to lay claim to the title of ' protector of Eu-
' ropean order,' after having so manifestly compromised the
equilibrium of Europe, and troubled so profoundly the
peace, which was scarcely re .established in society, too long
agitated by revolution ! But who is it that put down
that revolution ! Certainly it was not on the banks of
the Neva that was fought the great battle between order
and anarchy, between society and socialism, between
civilisation and barbarism, but in France, where the
head of the State, the inheritor of the name and of the
genius of the first Napoleon, has, like him, reconsti-
tuted in the whole of Europe the sacred principle of au-
thority, has dissipated factions, and struck light out of
darkness ! And at present, again, that war has burst
out, and the thunder of the cannon has troubled the
general repose of society ; if Europe is less agitated than
the greatness of the struggle might lead one to expect, the
reason is that she finds her security and guarantee not only
against Russia but against the revolutionry spirit, in
the alliance, henceforward indissoluble, of those two
Roble powers, called France and England, and who have
drawn the sword only to defend the right of nations, the
equilibrium of States, and the superior interests of pub-
lic morality. All the manifestoes of Russia will not
any longer succeed in misleading the conscience of the
various populations in these grave questions. Russia
declares that in order to combat the English, of whom
she has in vain attempted to make an ally and accom-
plice to drive the Turks from Constantinople, she is de-
cided to carry on 'an obstinate war.' Let the behests
of destiny be accomplished, and let the judgment of
God decide between the champions of outraged right
and the disloyal ambition which places duplicity and
violence at the service of the most deplorable passions 1"