The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-17 00:00:00

ROYAL MARINES.

Second Lieutenants Crocket, Buck, Digby, and Adair have
left the Excellent and joined the Artillery Companies.
First Lieutenant H. C. M. Hawkey, of the Portsmouth
division, has gone on Admiralty leave for three months.
Marine Cadet—J. Poore appointed to the Excellent.
The Rev. H. J. Harrison has passed the College for naval
instructor and schoolmaster.

The sergeants of the 13th Light Infantry (Prince Albert's
Own), quartered in this garrison, gave a ball and supper at
the drown and Assembly Rooms, Portsmouth, on Friday

night, in honour of the occasion of their regiment being pre-
sented with new colours, by Prince Albert, on the previous
day. The gallant non-commissioned most liberally invited
all their brother officers of the 74th and Bd Regiments, quar-
tered here, as also some of the chief tradesmen of Ports-
mouth, Portsea, and Gosport. About 300 guests were pre-
sent; and the arrangements of the ball and supper, which
were completed by Sergeant-Major Browne and Quarter-
master Sergeant ilawenham, well deserve mention. The
rooms were. most handsomely decorated, presenting a coup
d'ceil at once imposing and characteristic.
. . _ .

The 74th HiablanCiersar:eordeTeiTio embark at this port
for Scotland. They will leave the latter end of this, or the
early part of next week. _

fhj 3d Regiment (Buffs) will be removed from Gosport to
Portsmouth, on the 74th leaving. This celebrated regiment
will be presented with new colours in about a month
hence, their present time-honoured ensigns being literally
bare poles.
The 2d Regiment (Queen's) will leave Winchester for the
quarters of the 3d at Gosport, on their being vacated by that
regiment, and the 40th Regiment succeed to Winchester.
Sergeant Rombillow, of the Buffs at Gosport, who was
tried by court-martial a few weeks since for embezzling
moneys belonging to the captain of this company, has been
sentenced to be imprisoned for the term of two years, one
half of which period is to be spent with hard labour, the
other half in solitary confinement; and at the expiration of
this sentence he will (if he survives it) be returned to his
regiment, and placed under " stoppages,' until the sum em-
bezzled is repaid.

ROYAL ARTILLERY.
(GENERAL ORDER.)
Woos.wicm, Ana. 13.—His Lordship the Master-General
directs the accompanying letter from the Horse Guards, con-
veying her Majesty's pleasure upon the proceedings of a
General Court-martial, held for the trial of gunner and driver
Richard Gilbertson, to be promulgated to the Royal Artillery,
and read at three parades.
(Signed) IL D. ROSS, Deputy Adjutant-General.
Horse Guards, Aug. 10.
Sir,—Field Marshal the Commander-in-Chief, having had
the honour to lay before her Majesty the Queen the pro-
ceedings of the General Court-martial, holden at Government
House, Davenport, on the 23d and 25th of July, 1846, for
the trial of gunner and driver Richard Gilbertson, No. 1,325,
of the 9th battalion of Royal Artillery, who was arraigned
upon the undermentioned charges, viz.:-
1. For being absent from his barrack in Plymouth citadel
at a quarter before eleven o'clock on the 9th of July, 1846,
when the check roll call was called, and not returning until
seen in his barrack-room about a quarter past eleven o'clock
the same night and then drunk.
2. For having on the night of the 9th of July, 1846, at
half-past eleven o'clock, iu his barrack-room, Plymouth
citadel, threatened, or avowed an intention, that he would
shoot Company Sergeant Archibald Reid, his superior
officer, the prisoner having his carbine loaded with carbine
powder and ball, percussion cap on the nipple, and the car-
bine in the position of ready, which was wrested from him
and he secured as a prisoner—such conduct being insubordi-
nate and outrageous and subversive of good order and mili-
tary discipline.
3. For violently assaulting the guard when taking him
to the guard-room in Plymouth citadel on the night of the
9th of July, 1846, between the hours of eleven and twelve
o'clock.
4. For damaging one round of ball cartridge entrusted to
his charge, value fourpence.
Upon which charges the Court came to the following de-

cision
The Court having maturely weighed and considered the
evidence in support of the prosecution, together with what
the prisoner has urged in his defence, is of opinion, with
regard to the first charge, that th? prisoner, gunner and
driver Richard Gilbertson, No. 1,3 5 of the. 9th battalion
Rsetc)yoanld,Atrhtiirldle,rayn,
The Court having found the prisoner guilty of all the
charges preferred against him, which being in breach of
the Articles of War, and taking into consideration his
former convictions and general bad character, do now sen-
disfoguurtilhtyand that he is also guilty of the
charges.
sen-
tence him, the prisoner, gunner, and driver Richard Gilbert-
son, No. 1,325, of the 9th battalion Royal Artillery, tolun-
dergo an imprisonment of three hundred and sixty-five (265)
days—eighty-four of which are to be solitary, divided into
six periods of fourteen days each, and the remainder with
hard labour, and furthermore that he be placed under stop-
pages, not exceeding two-thirds of his daily pay to the
amount of 4d., the value of one round of carbine ball
ammunition. . .
The Court consider it randyttiei dut to remark on the good
conduct of Sergeant LVLain gunner and driver Colley,
Royal Artillery.
I have his Grace's directions to acquaint you that her
Majesty was pleased to approve and confirm the finding and
sentence of the Court, but under all the circumstances to
remit so much of the sentence as inflicts solitary confinement.
I have, &c.,
(Sig.lJed) FITZROY SOMERSET.
Major-General the Hon. Henry Murray, &c.
AUG. 13.—Th is
morning E MaKrrAilrviedgfrOFmTgalPhsa.; G
Six AvE sEiID
detachments of reg iments
now stationed in India, viz., 24th, 29th, 51st Light Infantry,
61st, 80th, and 94th, to the number of 173 men, with 18
officers. The troops embarked in boats from the Custom-
house quay on board the ship Alfred, of 1,291 tons burden,
Captain Alexander Ileunesy, for Bengal. Colonel Weare,
K. 11., the commanding officer of the provisional battalion,
was present at the embarkation. These drafts close the
embarkation of troops for India for this season. Sir Thomas
Wiltshire. K.C.8., the Commandant of Chatham Garrison,
and the Major of Brigade, Captain J. S. Wood, arrived from
Chatham yesterday, and inspected the ship.

of the 14th Regiment, Aide-de• Camp
We have ranch pleasure in announcing the safe return I
der of the Forces Canada. Mr. Warre
otwof a
sL thei
dispatched
Wmu apa rn in
or. , a a
confidential mission to the Oregon
Territory, whence hi b has returned direct, across the continent
of North America, and his long absence from Canada had
given occasion to the most absurd, but alarming, reports.
Air. Warre left the: Columbia river on the Ist of April, at
which time both p' attics were quietly but anxiously waiting
the decision by qua home Governments of the long pending
Oregon question. Her Majesty's ship Modesto, 18, Captain
WAIN Tim Om in thq Oikabia.

IRELAND.
THE POTATO FAILURE.
DUBLIN, Aucf. 14.—We regret td state that, amidst a long
catalogue of reports from all parts of the country, there is not
this day a single account calculated to mitigate the alarm
for what is now felt to be the advent of a great national cala-
mity—the almost annihilation of the early crop of the only
food of the poorer classes. Lsst year there was unquestion-
ably some exaggeration, which had the effect of creating
what was called an anti-alarmist party, who, deprecating the
cry of famine, sought to restore confidence by a counter cry
of "no scarcity," if no monopoly or no jobbing. And this
turned out, to a certain extent, to be the truth. This year,
however, the case is totally different, and journals of every
shade of politics concur in the belief that there is no hope for
the future, save in the united exertions of all parties
(Government inclusive) to provide a remedy for an infliction
which seems to be inevitable.

The reports received through the provincial papers since
Thursday would occupy too much of our space; it must,
therefore, be sufficient to say that the last accounts repre-
sent the pestilence as rapidly spreading through the counties
of Westmeath, Antrim, Down, Armagh, and Fermanagh
In the market of Enniskillen, on Wednesday, potatoes, owing
to their deteriorated quality, suddenly fell from Bd. to 2d. per
stone, while here, in the metropolis, from the same cause,
prices range from ls. to 7s. per 100 lb., the sound kinds be-
coming every day more scarce.
A highly-respected clergyman of the Established Church,
the Rev. J. R. Cotter, has addressed the following seasonable
letti r to the Prime Minister upon the present state and pros-
pects of the poor:—
"My Lord,—lmpelled by an imperative sense of public
duty, I take the liberty of addressing you upon the present
state and future prospects of our poor in Ireland. Your
Lordship has, of course, been already informed of the failure
of the potato crop. Last year the loss, though heavy, was
in some degree partial, some few favoured districts escaped
the blight; but this year I regret to say that the devastating
disease has been universally diffused, nor am I acquainted
with on& single potato garden in these localities which has
been untouched. The great majority are either wholly de-
stroyed, or vegetation has been so completely arrested, that
the tubers have not attained one-fourth part of their natural
size, and a large proportion of those which are sound at pre-
sent will, we fear, in a very short time, by the spreading of
the disease, be rendered unfit for human food, as we know
happened last year. This is no exaggeration; my wish is
neither to exaggerate the distress, nor to make too favour-
able a representation. The potato crop is gone, gone so far
as not to be depended upon as constituting the support of the
poor. Now, my Lord, what is to be done ? There are thou-
sands upon thousands who have been accustomed to live en-
tirely upon potatoes; that source has failed. Divine Provi-
dence, for some wise purpose, has destroyed the potato crop,
and it remains to be considered in what manner the starving
poor are to be supplied ; and, my Lord, be assured, if assist-
ance be not afforded upon a large and liberal scale, the con-
sequences will be fearful. The late Government wisely sent
into the country large supplies of Indian corn, and this pre-
caution had the effect of keeping down the prices, and
enabling the poor, with the most rigid economy, to exist.
But, my Lord, at the present time they are in a totally
different position. The farmers, who were accustomed gene-
rously to assist all who solicited relief, with a few potatoes,
have now none for themselves. This source is dried up, and
the poor labourer having no potatoes of his own, having no
friends able to relieve him, is thrown entirely upon the
produce of his labour, which he has latterly been accustomed
to lay out in the purchase of Indian meal from the relief
committee of his district. I would wish, here, to make a
distinction between gentlemen's labourers, who have constant
employment and enjoy perhaps some little advantages, and
the far more numerous classes of those who have no constant
employment, and belong, if we may so express it, to no one.
Besides, there are many sick, with large .helpless families;
many aged, who have hitherto depended upon casual charity.
It will be said, perhaps, by some, Let them go to the poor-
house.' The poorhouse is the only fair test of real desti-
tution.' It is unnecessary for me here to enumerate the
causes of the strong prejudices of the Irish peasantry against
entering the poorhouse, some, I admit unfounded—many I
think most reasonable ; but, my:Lord, I will freely assert that
it is most fortunate that these prejudices do exist—for if they
were removed, four times the present number of workhouses
would not suffice to contain the applicants, and those who
could not obtain admission must then be given outdoor
relief. We ought, therefore, to keep the poorhouses out of
view when considering what is to be done during the present
emergency.
" Let us now inquire what the wages of labourers are, and
look to the present prices charged for Indian meal by many
of our relief committees. I think it will appear that they are
wholly inadequate to meet the exigencies of the family of
the buyer. Labourer's hire varies from Bd. to 10d. per day.
Suppose a man has four children ; he has then, including
his wife, six to provide for ; in the great majority of
instances these all depend upon his daily wages for their
daily food.
" I would assume as an average sufficiency of Indian meal
for such a family, 21b. per head, large and small ; here we
have 121 b. per day. Many of our relief committees charge
Is. 2d. per stone, that is, ld. per pound; some even higher.
How, then, can the labourer's 10d. wages purchase 121 b. of
meal, to which the Sunday allowance is also to be added ?
We say nothing of milk to use with his Indian meal as
stirabout, and if he is working at a distance from home, he
must use Indian bread ; although meal made into stirabout
is more economical, still this latter cannot be carried to a
distance. My Lord, I am here putting forward the
most favourable case, but consider the number who have
not this constant employment. How are they to exist ?
How are they to be clad ? Where is their firing,
bedclothes, and rent for their cabins to come from ?
Many have removed their bedclothes—what is to become of
them when winter arrives, when cold and wet are added to
hunger? They cannot now afford to purchase or to keep a
pig, by the profits of the sale of which they were once
enabled to pay the rent of their cabins, and to supply them-
selves with many little necessaries. It comes to this, my
Lord—wages must be raised, or the price of Indian meal and
other food considerably reduced by private subscriptions and
by public grants.
"Employment will not suffice, unless the produce of that
employment is equal to the support of their families. You
cannot throw them entirely on the head landlords ; many of
the most distressed are located on estates held by middlemen,
who possess large terminable interests, much larger than
what the head landlord possesses, and who cannot reason-
ably be expected to support persons whom they have not
brought upon their estates, of whom they know nothing,
and whose condition they cannot improve until the termi-
nation of the existing leases. Tenants should be left
entirely to their landlords. The landlord is bound to assist
and protect his tenants who hold immediately under him,
and do not sublet ; no assistance should be afforded by
relief committees unless to the labouring classes and un-
employed tradesmen, or tickets granted to none without the
closest investigation, and limiting the quantity of relief,
either at reduced prices or gratuitously, which must be given
in many cases to what was absolutely required for the con-
sumption of the family. Circumstances may oblige me to
address your Lordship again upon this subject, and, my Lord,
I have the honour to subscribe myself
" Your obedient, humble servant,
" JOHN ROGERSON COTTER,
" Rector of Innoshannon, County Cork.
" Innoshannon 12th August."
Subjoined is the reply given by a landlord of the county of
Cork to an application from one of the local relief com-
mittees :

" Skibbereen, July 4.
" Sir,—l have the honour of acknowledging the reeeipt of
your note of the 2d inst., together with a copy of the resolu-
tions adopted at a meeting of the inhabitants of Upper ,
Church, held in the chapel on the 2d of May, to adopt the
best means of relieving the poor of their district.
" Possessing some property in the parish of Upper Church,
I readily recognise the right of the inhabitants of this parish
to call on me for aid towards the relief of the proor in their
district, and in transmitting to you the annexed order for 101.
on the Provincial Bank, I feel that I am only discharging a
duty which devolves on me as a landlord.
" The proposition enunciatediby the immortal Drummond,
that ' Property has its duties as well as its rights,' is now ge-
nerally adopted, even in Ireland, and of those duties I con-
sider none more imperative than that of relieving the poor in
seasons of distress and destitution.
"The demand which the resolutions , adopted at Upper
Church made on me in behalf of those suffering from distress
in that district, is enforced by the additional consideration of
self-interest, for, whilst the duties of property are discharged
with punctuality, its rights will be acknowledged and re-
spected, the laws will be observed, peace and order will pre-
vail, and those unfortunate crimes which have disgraced
some of our provinces, and which bring down the maledic-
tion of Heaven on the perpetrators, shall be far more effec-
tually prevented than by Coercian Acts, or a suspension of
our constitution.
" I have the honour to be, faithfully yours,
"DANIEL WELPLY.
" Mr. Andrew Ryan, Upper Church
Relief Committee."

To the foregoing the Cork Reporter appends the following
statement :
" We have it from private authority, in which we impli-
citly confide, that in and around Skibbereen, and through
Carbery in general, the crop both early and late is doomed;
that the distress is frightful, and that the small farmers can-
not subsist much longer on the miserable and unwholesome
fare they spend the whole day in digging from their fields.
No garden, or part of a garden,' says our correspondent, 6 in
this country has escaped the prevailing disease, and in gene-
ral they are not considered worth the labour of digging
them. The Skibbereen Relief Committee have done every-
thing in their power to provide employment and food for the
labouring classes, and they have already 500 men employed.
This, however, is but a small relief amongst so dense a po-
pulation, and where both farmer and labourer must hence-
forward depend on their labour for support. I have no diffi-
culty in telling you, and as you are the organ of public opi-
nion, you should have no difficulty in telling the landlords
and the Government, that unless measures be at once taken
to meet the present emergency, that neither law nor private
property can be much longer respected. The masses of idle,
hungry people going through this town and neighbourhood,
looking for work or food, publicly declare that they cannot
stand it much longer, that it is as good to die by the bayonet
as by starvation.' "
The Cork Examiner of yesterday contains the subjoined
memorial from the Kinsale Relief Committee :
TO HIS EXCELLENCY EARL BESBOROUGH, LORD-LIEUTENANT
GENERAL AND GENERAL GOVERNOR OF IRELAND, &C.
"The memorial of the undersigned members of the Kin-
sale Relief Committee humbly showeth—That your memo-
rialists, after the most careful and minute investigation,
have come to the conclusion that the potato crop in this ba-
rony is altogether lost.
"That in a fortnight from the present date the agricul-
tural labourer will be thrown out of employment, as the har-
vest will be then gathered in ; and as the farmers are unable
to provide them with food, or to pay them wages, they will
consider themselves released from the obligation of the con-
tract entered into at the commencement of the season.
" That to provide for the destitution necessarily arising
from such a deplorable state of things, it appears to your me-
morialists that not a moment should be lost in procuring em-
ployment on a large scale for the people; and that unless im-
mediate steps be taken for effecting this purpose the peace of
the country will be endangered.
" That already large assemblages of the people have mot
within the last week, and threatened the proprietors and
millowners that, unless immediately relieved, they will' help
themselves.'
" That your memorialists beg likewise to represent that
the contemplated measure of appropriating 1,000,000/. ster-
ling to the drainage of land in Ireland will not be available
for the purpose of giving employment in this and many other
districts, insomuch as there are no lands requiring to be
drained in the localities alluded to. Your memorialists,
therefore, humbly suggest that the application of said money
may be of a more general nature.
"That the funds placed at the disposal of your memo-
rialists for the relief of the distress existing at the close of
the present season, are now nearly exhausted and your me-
morialists respectfully suggest that a further grant be forth-
with made to them for the purposes of meeting the impend-
ing pressure, and providing temporary employment until the
Government shall have had time to organize a more general
system of affording relief by the construction of public works
on a large scale.
" Your memorialists consider the subject-matter contained
herein to be of so urgent a nature, that they most respect-
fully Minot tike icantliate otteutivii of yisi LsCoUsc7 W

its prayer, and your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever
pray."

THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD.
The accounts to• day state, that all the worst symptoms
which attended the recent indisposii ion of the Noble Marquis
have abated, and that no immediate danger in now appre-
hended. The Surgeon-General has returned to Dublin from
Curragbmore.