The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-30 00:00:00

MILITARY AT NOTTINGHAM.

Yesterday (Monday) morning the district courts-
martial were resumed, and have continued sitting
through the day, with the exception of about an hour
in the forenoon, which interval was caused by the
sudden appearance of Earl Cathcart. The Noble
Earl said he had come expressly at the command of
the Duke of Wellington, for the purpose of reading
to the whole regiment a communication by the
Commander-in• Chief on the subject of the recent
disturbances. Every man within the barracks,
officers and privates, including prisoners and officers'
servants, were instantly summoned for foot parade,
and in less than ten minutes all were upon the ground.
They were passed through their ordinary evolutions,
under the inspection of Earl Cathcart, who is Colonel
of the regiment; after which the Noble Earl delivered
a very energetic and feeling address. Having
complimented the regiment on its appearance
Lord Cathcart said he had been wont to look
upon the 3d Dragoon Guards as patterns
for every other regiment in the service, but
unfortunately recent events had in some measure
tarnished their fair fame, and cast a stigma upon both
officers and men. On this subject he had had the
honour to receive an autograph letter from his Grace
the Duke of Wellington, which he would read. The
letter was a somewhat lengthy communication, ad-
dressed to all in the regiment. In it the Noble Duke
referred to the cause of the recent insubordination—
confinement of the whole regiment to barracks for
nearly a week on account of a few individuals having
neglected their duty—which he described as an
arbitrary act, and contrary to all military law. His
Grace said it was wrong in every respect, and well
calculated to provoke breaches of military discipline,
for the lieutenant-colonel of a regiment to act as
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur had done. That there
might be no mistake in future on this subject, the
noble Commander-in-Chief quoted the regulations of
the service relative thereto. But still a deviation
from the proper course on the part of the com-
manding officer did not justify the men in adopt-
ing the line of conduct they had done. They
should have taken a different course to remedy their
grievances ; but having suffered themselves to be be-
trayed into acts of insubordination, they had become,
unfortunately, amenable to military law, and must be
tried and punished for their offences. After having
read this letter and delivered his address, Colonel
Lord Cathcart dismissed the regiment, hoping when
he saw them again it would be under happier circum-
stances. The above outline of the Duke of Welling-
ton's letter is collected from several hearers ; but it is
hoped the document itself will he placed in the hands
of our reporter for publication in the course of a few
days. Yesterday (Monday) Brevet-Major Splaine
forbade the reporters publishing any portion of the
proceedings in court until each case had been decided
upon by Major General Thorn, commander of the
north-eastern district, in which Nottingham is situated.
It is expected that these courts will not be concluded
until to-morrow, and then the general courts will be
commenced, but hitherto no precise time for
holding them has been named. Moffat, the
man who escaped from the guard-house on
Saturday morning, a few hours previous to
his expected trial, has not yet been heard
of, nor is he likely to be soon caught, for he is
said to be one of the cleverest men in the regiment,
and the day before his escape had received .5/. from
some friends at a distance, which he took with him.
The officers in command of the guard at the time of
the prisoner's escape have been placed under arrest,
and are expected to be tried in court. This trouble-
some affair is now taking another turn. About nine
o'clock on Saturday night Private Broker, who was
not implicated in any way in the charge of. insubor-
dination, went up to policeman Gascoigne, whilst on
duty at the top of Clamber-street. After looking at
the policeman's number he exclaimed, " Oh, you are
one of the -- that assisted in taking our men up a
few days ago;" and having unbuttoned his jacket be-
gan to strike right and left at the policeman. The latter
defended himself with a stick as long as he could, and,
having charged some bystanders to assist, ultimately
succeeded in conveying the soldier to the police office;
but not until he had received a black eye and had his
legs sadly cut by the prisoner, who kicked backwa-ds
at him with his spurs as they were walking together
along the street. The affair had very nearly caused
a regular row, many people being collected during
the conflict, some of whom arrayed themselves on the
side of the soldier and others on that of the police,
and showed a ready desire to make a disturbance. It
will be recollected that policeman Gascoigne was the
man who turned his light on the threefugitive
soldiers concealed in the passage when they were pur-
sued by a picket on the night the first outbreak
occurred. At the police-office yesterday (Monday)
morning, it was stated in evidence that the prisoner
had repeatedly threatened the police force with the
vengeance of the whole regiment, and even on that
morning he had said to two of the inspectors, that
the 34 Dragoon Guards had unanimously determined
before they left Nottingham, to give every policeman
they could
_meet a hearty good thrashing. The case
was remanded, on account of the proceedings at the
barracks preventing the officers from being present to
attest the case.

Madame Sontag is continuing her triumphant
career in the provinces. During the past week the
concerts at Norwich, Portsmouth, Salisbury, and Win-
chester, in which she has participated, have been ex-
ceedingly successful, " Howe, sweet Home," Rode's
Variations, and the recitative, " 0 Luce di quest' anima,'
pro hieing the accustomed enthusiastic encores. Her
musical progress is to embrace Brighton, Cheltenham,
and Leamington, during the present week.