The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-29 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDA.Y EVENING, AUGUST 29, 1854.

THE WAR.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.
The orders for fitting the Caledonia, 120, as a prison ship
have been countermanded. _

The Boscawen, 72, Captain Glanville, sailed from Ply-
mouth Sound on Sunday morning for the West Indies.
The crew of the Illustrious, exercising ship, to Ports-
mouth for the newly-raised men, Captain R. Harris, were
paid wages yesterday.
The troops for Bombay were transhipped on Saturday
from the receiving hulk Endymion to the transport Lord
Auckland, Captain Skiuley, preparatory to the recom-
mencement of her voyage. _ _ _

Salamander, 6, paddle, Commander Priest, has taken in
her powder and shell. We understand she receives wages
to-day at Portsmouth, and will hold herself in instant
readiness for departure wiih despatches.

The Malacca screw-steam Corvette.—lnformation has
been received at Sheerness (which may be depended upon)
that the derangement in her machinery which took place
between here and Portsmouth is purely of a mechanical
nature, which has already been made good, and a new
casting of the portion of the defective part has already
been replaced. In every other respect the engines and
machinery were in every way satisfactory. We are de-
sired to make this rumour known to prevent other repre-
sentations from there being credited by parties watching
the result of marine engines fitted as non-condensing en-
gines—the Malacca's engines having given the highest
satisfaction to all engineering officers on trial.

muds f or ammunition from her Majesty's ships may bo
carefully prepared so as to meet the various requirements
of the a .rmy percussion arms now in use on board her
Majesty' 's ships.

Rifled muskets pattern of 1851, the barrel 3 feet 3 iilches
in lengtl i, 702 bore, 2; charge of gunpowder, with a ec,nical
projectil e weighing 680 grains.
Rifled muskets pattern, 1842 (for marines), 3. Feet 3
inches le ergtli of barrel, 758 bore, 3 charge of powdt,r, with
a conical projectile weizhing 680 grains.
Rifled ritusk-ets for sea service, 2 feet 6 inches lens th of
barrel, 7t i;.-3 bore. 3 charge of powder, with a conical pro-
jectile WE i,ghing 850 grains.

Smooth, bore pattern, 1842 (for marines), 3 feet 3 inches
length of barrel, 753 bore, ,4 charge, anti a 81,11f:rico.'
projectile weighing 490 grains.

Smooth , bore for sea service, 2 feet 6 inches leng th of
barrel, 75 ,3 bore, 4i charge, with a spherical projectile,
weighing t9O grains.

The fo liowing are tho proper denominatiohs of ball
cartridge for each description of musket.
Ball cal .tridges for rifled muskets, pattern 1851.
Ball ca rtridges for rifled muskets, pattern 18 4 2 (for
Marines.)

And als o for rifled sea service muskets, pattern 1 8,12.
Ball cal triages, for smooth bore percussion musk via (for
Marines), pattern 1842.

Ball cal rtridges, for smooth bore percussion, sea service
muskets, 1 nlttern 1842.

By command of their Lordshii us.
To all commanders-in-chief, captains, commander, and
comman( tin officers of her Majesty's ships and vess(ll.B.

ROYAL ALTILLERY.
Twelve horses left Woolwich on Friday last b y the
North Ike nt Railway, in charge of a shoeing smith , for
Capt. R. F. Mountain's field battery at Bromptort Bar-
racks, Cl-Latham. The battery is now completed to 86
horses, a- ad has been supplied with a new equipment of
saddlery 1 mad harness, all of leather, of the new pal ttern.
Captain D fountain and the officers of the battery are, inde-
fatigable in their exertions to perfect this battery, as it
is:an impc Ttant experiment to make a company, co7a:iposed
it may be said entirely of recruits, thoroughly acquainted
with thesir drill, and, subsequently, field battery duties,
away fronx head-quarters, where they labour under great
disadvan taxes compared with those who learn thoi.r field
battery d uties at 'Woolwich.

STE/ LM DESPATCH GUN-BOATS FOR Trj-E
BALTIC.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,— I am content to accept the conditions ou lay
down reg itrding the essentials of gun-boats ves-
selsse in qi sestion should be of very little draugh -t, very
great spec d, and so armed that the guns they ca TL carry
should be effective at a range long enough to keep the
craft bus( ?if harmless."

In rega rd to the first two conditions the que &.tion is
already so lved, as you have stated, the Prussian gi til-boats
drawing si Is feet less water than the English, and having
two knots more speed.

On the remaining point you appear to ask for further
informatio n. You say, " Our boats must be cowstantly
up with the fleet, and enabled to keep the sea, in all
weathers. Could the Prussian boats do this ?" My an-
swer shall be explicit. I saw the Nix and Sala wander
taken out into the Channel in a heavy sea, under -the in-
spection o f a naval commission appointed to deci II e this
very point , as it was one of the conditions of the .accept-
ance or rejection of the ships; and the four 68-p,D unders
(not two nerely, as our vessels carry) were worin.tci with
perfect su ecess. Since that time the vessels ha•v,e been
three year a in commission in the Baltic and in the North
Sea, in all weathers, without manifesting ani defec:t what-
ever. In seaworthiness, therefore, as well as inc speed,
these vesse Is would be more than able to keep thoi:r plaea
in the fleei

On the subject of armament also you ask for further
informatio u, which I give the more willingly that there
seems to be misunderstanding on that point. The P russian
vessels are about the same size or tonnage as the English ;
nevertheless. the Prussian vessels aro so formed as to have
room and m eans of working four guns of such size a s those
of which the English only carry two. This arras II ;ement
is peculiar to, the Prussian boats, and cannot be adopted in
our own. The next peculiarity is this,—The two los ig guns
carried amid-hips in the Arrow cannot be fired in. a line
with the heel ; they CAII only be fired broadside, and
trained fort yard to an angle not exceeding 56 deg. oil either
side of the I [eel ; so that there are 34 deg. on each aside on
which there can be no fire. Suppose, therefore, the se gun-
boats to be ishasing ; the vessels must deviate 34 dui from
their course in order to fire a gun ; or they must yaw round
64 deg, to fi ro alternate guns on either side. On th. s other
hand the Pr-ussian boats can lay their course and fi re two
guns simultaneously and without interruption in: a line
parallel to their keel, and even convergent, on Idle ship
chased ; and are equally able, at the same time, to keep
up a fire aft on a vessel in chase. Their full sr wecl and
their full armament can therefore bo sinaultanom em-
ployed, which in the Arrow is impossible.
The Arrow has no remedy for this state of thinip so long
as she keeps leer guns amidships. It was with th.e guns so
placed, firing out of the broadside ports, that the experi-
ments were made the other day. It would be pc Is sible in
the Arrow to remove the guns into the bow, but, looking
at the size and construction of the vessel and of the guns,
I am sure that in a heavy sea that would be au experiment
neither convenient nor void of danger.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
London, August 26. AN ETE-WI.fiNESS.

THE CASE OF LIEUT. PERLY.

It was to have been wished that Lieutenant Perry's
case had received a final adjudication ere this. Whatever
grounds for hesitation may have existed in tho minds of
the members of the military tribunal, bound down as they
may have thought themselves to be by the arbitrary rules
of such a Court, surely the General Commanding-in• Chief
cannot share their uncertainties. It is just possible to
conceive that some members of the Court, more true to
the traditions of military life than to the inspirations of
common sense, or the requirements of even-handed justice,
may have accepted the dictates of the official prosecutor as
the rule of their decision. We regret that even a doubt as
to what the conduct of an assembly of English gentlemen
may have been under circumstances such as these should
have been allowed to creep in; but, if we do injustice to
any of them, they have only to thank the procrastination
of the Horse Guards for the misconstruction. We are
now well advanced into the second month since proceed-
ings were first taken against this young gentleman—and
for what a cause ! Lord Hardinge must be well aware that
he is called upon to take a decision from a review of all
the circumstances connected with the case from first to
last, and that ho must consider not only what is due to an
individual, but to the character of the British army. It
is iu his power to wash away the stain which has been
thrown upon the quality of a British officer by the con-
duct of the officers of the 46th Regiment, or he may,
upon the other hand, consign the upper ranks of the land
service to permanent contempt. -Unless the Commander-
in-Chief shall take such measures as to him, in the ex-
ercise of his discretion, may seem the most effective for
marking his signal displeasure against those who have so
foully abused their trust, we have no hesitation in saying
that the lofty pretension to treat the style of an English
officer and an English gentleman as synonymous is for
ever at an end. To the merit of brute courage persons
holding the Queen's commissions in the land service may no
doubt lay claim ; but they are not therefore men of honour
or honesty, humanity or integrity. They will discover
that the public opinion of this country is not to be trifled
with, and by that opinion they will find themselves branded
as a set of riotous and vulgar bullies, affected with the
taints of vice in its lowest and most degrading forms. As
gladiators they may serve our turn in the field, and receive ,
repayment in the shape of pay, medals, or what not ; but
from the society of gentlemen and of all women who regard
the dignity and purity of their sex they will be banished at
once and for ever. We are not speaking simply of the case
of young Perry, and of the remedy which it behoves the
General Commanding-in-Chief to apply in this particular
stance, nor even of the condition of the 46th Regiment only,
disgusting as that has been, but of the taint which has
spread itself widely throughout the English army. Cer-
tain persons were acquainted with the real state of affairs,
but the public were not aware that an English barrack
was nightly made a scene of bullying, and riot, and
drunkenness, and profligacy. The public knew not that
not only in the 46th Regiment, but in many other regi-
ments, any youth who, like young Perry, would not, or
could not, swim down the dirty stream with his fell ,ws,
became marked for expulsion from his regiment. We do
not say that in any other regiment in the service such tes-
timony would have been given as that which the officers
of the 46th have lately offered to the Court-martial—we
hope things are not so bad as that,—but from all we hear
there has been found in too many instances au equa
amount of vice within the barrack walls.

onlst
permitted that Lieu-
Pardon us for saying
It seems almost au insult to the understanding of any
reasonable being to waste any fuwrtahserpearrfegcutmlnyencotrruepeotn;
young Perry's case. Even the first Court martial by which
ho was tried could not but allow that his conduct, so far
it—withaa
ns it
then f l
singularLu on
rd
de under
t theirar d
indiscretion,h
Lieu-
tenant Perry should be set up a second time as a
mark for the vulgar vengeance of his baffled assailants.
Could anybody read the minutes of that first trial, and
entertain a moment's doubt as to the feeling under which
his brother officers acted throughout the whole pro-
ceeding towards Lieutenant Perry ? They were all in a
league against him, from his commanding officer down-
wards, end yet, because in the course of his defence—for
practically it amounted to that—he uttered a few words of
well-merited accusation against that commanding officer,
ho was put upon his trial again. The form, too, of the
trial was such that his unmanly assailants were only
required to " forget," and they could in a slipshod way
arrive at negative proof at least. As to the value of this
assumed forgetfulness, we would only ask any one who
may think it worth his while to run over the evidence to
contrast the surprising instances of recollection on all

points which could tell to young Perry's disadvantage with
the never-failing " 2Von nci ricordo" when their answers
might havo tended to establish his case. The issues in them-
selves were perfectly preposterous. Had Col. Garrett been
brought before a Court-martial to answer for his general
conduct since ho had been in command of the regiment,
and had the inquiry been conducted without continuous
outrage to all the forms of justice, there might have been
reason in such a course. The mere scone that occurred in
Greer's room, and the general combination of the regiment
against young Perry which marked the sympathy with
which such scenes were regarded, constituting in itself a
case of grave suspicion against the officer who was respon-
sible for the condition of the regiment. In place of this it
was found more convenient to try the subaltern a second
time for asserting that Garrett had called him a "fool"
upon a single occasion ; that he had handed the Colonel
a letter for tho General of the District ; and that a cer-
tain Captain Nicholas was a " bully"—this series of as-
servations being made -in the course of a judicial pro-
ceeding. Did we not recollect similar instances of op-
pression and iniquity in the course of our earlier
judicial annals, we should speak of the proceedings as
simply childish and ridiculous ; but no proceedings can
be ridiculous which involve the character and position of
an English gentleman. Then came the trial, with all its
preposterous circumstances, which we have already so
often described that we are fairly sick of the whole sub-
ject. It is, however, most important that the English
public should not "get sick" of the whole subject until
full and ample justice has been clone to this young officer
by the sentence of his professional superiors, and that not
so much for his sake as for their own, and for the general
character of the English army. An adverse sentence
would affix an indelible stigma upon the character of
every English officer, from Lord Ilardingo downwards ;
words of censure, qualifying an acquital, would be simply
an invitation to derision. There is but one course
open to the military authorities if they would continue to
enjoy the confidence of the country, and that is to rein-
state this young gentleman in his former position—or, as
we should conceive, to set aside the whole proceedings, on
the ground of their patent and preposterous absurdity.
The general tone and spirit of barrack life is, however, a
point well worthy of the consideration of the General Com-
manding-in-Chief. Is the mess-room of a regiment to be-
considered as a sort of tap-room, and the officers' quarters
a brothel? Is this the kind of life to which English
parents are required to consign their children when they
enter upon a military career? Disgraceful and humiliating
as the revelations of these Windsor Courts-martial
have been, and strongly as we have felt upon the
subject, we must at once declare that we do not be-
lieve that all regiments in the Queen's service are a::
deeply tainted as the 46th. The commanding officers of
many regiments are happily men of unstained honour and

blameless life, who are in themselves models which younger
officers would do well to take for imitation. The scandals

of the 46th would never have occurred under their auspices.
Again and again we would impress upon the public mind
that one great principle of life in the army is, that a regi-
ment takes its tone from the commanding officer. Let
Colonel Garrett be judged by this simple and universal
rule. It is not for us to say whether Lord Hardinge will
adopt a more quiet or a sterner method of dealing with
this officer and the mess-room of the 46th ; but, at least,

let him put at end at once to the protracted scandal of
those courts-martial upon an inoffensive and outraged

young subaltern.—Tines.