The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-18 00:00:00

THE MILITAI.Y BOARD OF INQUIRY.

The Board of General Offie!re appointed by a Royal
warrant to inquire into statements affecting certain offi-
cere conteincd in the report and evidence laid before the
Goceroment by Sir J. Al:Neil and Col. Tul:och, will, ae
has been already a.nneunc, d, commence its proceedings
in the course of the current week, although we believe
the exect day for opening the i iqury has not yet been
fix 4 d. The authorities, consc!ous of the importauce of the
rut jects to b- inquired into, stud anticipating a large at-
tendance on fee part of the public, have made very ex-
tensive preperatione for the accommodation of a nume-
r ill audience. The upper or western end of the
dieing hall of Cam lsea Hospital, the cbaniber in
which the body of the late Duke i f Wellingtm lay in
state) in 1852, and in which the Beard is to carry on
its investig,atione, has been railed off for t`ie use of the
members of the Court of Ingeiry and the 'a itneeces. The
remainder of the hall is occupied by rows of seats tieing
tier above tier, to Le appropriated to the use of the pub-
lic, affording ample convenience for as many persons as
may be expected to attend the inquiry. The extent of
accommodation thus afforded v.lll, it is to ke hoped,
prevent those fearful rushes, which took place last year
at the door of the Sebastopol Committee-room, or the
more melancholy accidents which occurred when last the
hall of Cheltea Hospital was a centre of pubhc attrac-
tion. When the preparations are complete the hall will
resemble an ordinary lecture-room, and the only outward
symbol of the military character of the place will he the
tattered trophies of many bl roily lights waving over the
heads of those deputed to inquire into the causes which
led t the almost entire destruction of a British army by
the alleged neglect of its own officers. As before men-
tioned, the exact day of commencintr the inquiry is net
known, and an equal degree of uncertainty exists as to
the mode of procedure t ) be adopel by the board when
it does inset, cansiderahle doubt being entertained whe;:
ther any evidence will be taken for some days after the
first formal sitting shall hare been held.

UNIVERSITY IXTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD, MARCH 17.

The Hertford (Latin) Scholarship has been awarded
by the Examiners to Mr. Reginal Broughton, Scholar
of Balliol College. They have also mentioned the name
of Mr. Francis A. C. Hooper, Scholar of Trinity College,
with the honourable addition of proxime, access it.
The vacant Scholarships at University College have
been awarded to Mr. C. M'Dowall, Commoner of the
College; Mr. Anthony S. Agler, from Marlborough
School ; and Mr. leery Rhoade., from Rugby School.
There were 21 candidates.
The Senior Proctor has given notice that he will re-
ceive the names of candidates for the second public ex-
amination in Easter Term, either from themselves or
their tutors, at Queen's College, on Thursday, April 3,
from 2 o'clock till 4 ; Friday, April 4, from 1 o'clock
till 3 ; Saturday, April 5, from 1 o'clock till 4.
N.B. Candidates are reminded that the lists of all the
four schools must be issued simultaneously on Monday,
April 7, and that no additional names can be received
after Saturday, April 5. They are requested to apply
to the senior tutor of their college or ball for printed
forms for the lists of subjects for examination.

A great number of autograph letters of Napoleon the
First to his mother and to his great uncle, Archdeacon
Lucian, is said to have been found in Corsica. They were
written in 1785, at the time when young Bonaparte had
left Brienne and entered the Ecole Militaire at Paris, and
are all signed " Napoleone di Bonaparte."
MR. TURNER'S PICTURES.—The controversy between
the next of kin of the late Mr. Turner and the trustees
of the National Gallery respecting the pictures bequeathed
by that eminent artist, has at length been adjusted, and
a compromise of the contested claims has received the
sanction of the Court of Chancery. All pictures, draw-
ing, and sketches, either wholly or partially painted,
sketched, or drawn by Mr. Terrier (and whether finished
or unfinished) are to bo deemed the property of the true- 1
tees of the National Gallery for the benefit of the public;
Sir C. Eastlake and Mr. Knight being the persons to
make the selection of such pictures as, in their opinion,
have been touched by the master. The tru: t :es of .thl
National Gallery are to he declared well entitled to the
picture " Dido Building Carthage," and the picture fcr•
merly in the Tabley collection, 1194 V in their possession.
All other the drawings, sketches, and pictur, s, and all
other the personal estate of the testator (excepting stock
in the funds), are to be given ever to the r ext of
The trustees of the Royal Academy, waving all rights
under the will, are to be declared entitled to 20,000/.
clear, free from legacy duty.

DEATH OF MR. THO WAS ATT WO I'D.

Severe illness of long continuance had so com-
pletely withdrawn this gentleman from society
that his removal from existence will necessarily
attract but comparatively little notice.
Had Mr. Attwood died in 1832 his death would
have been regarded by thousands as a national
misfortune, by all as an important event. In
185 G the place he once occupied in public atten-
tion has been filled up by others ; as a political
character he had long ceased to exist, and it is only
by the many friends who esteemed and respected
his many estimable and amiable qualities in private
life that his loss will be felt and deplored.
It is not our intention to recall the remembrance
of the services which Mr. Attwood rendered, and
which he attempted to render, to his fellow-
countrymen. There is, however, one striking
peculiarity of his public life to which we will
briefly advert.
Mr. Attwood was sincerely, warmly, enthusias-
tically devoted to the welfare of his country. He
was not without ambition. What public man is ?
But his ambition was, perhaps, as slightly tinged
by any selfish or interested desire of personal ag-
grandisement as can be found aiming the political
characters of any age or country.
His first thoughts were always for his country ;
his first inquiry was " What will be best for Eng-
land r

He was one of the first persons in the country
who clearly perceived the evils of a return to cash
payments at the end of the war. His earliest pro-
ductions on this subject bear the date of 1815 and
1816. He never wavered in his opinion on this
question ; and to the last clay of his life retained
the convictions of his early manhood. His letters
of a Scotch Banker (a signature which was appended
at their first appearance iu 1828, in the Globe news-
paper, without the writer's knowledge) established
his reputation as an able and powerful advocate of
representative paper money. It was because he be-
lieved his monetary principles to be such as would
best promote the prosperity and happiness of the
people of England that he so earnestly enforced
them throughout his life.
Mr. !Attwood regarded Parliamentary Reform
only as a means to an end ' • and he had such faith
in his principles that could he have seen any pros•
poet of reforming the financial and monetary sys-
tem he would, probably, never have formed the
Political Union. "By the course I have pursued,"
lie said, in the speech which he made on returning
thanks for the presentation of the freedom of the
City of London, " I may have given offence i•
abler men, because I had recourse to measures
which trenched on the verge of law ; but I did not
resort to such meaAires until I saw that the ex-
tremity of the country required extreme, remedies.
It has been the study of my life to show attach-
ment to the law, to the Crown, to the Lords and
Commons, and the institutions of this great
country."
It was the denial of Currency Reform which
made Mr. Attwood a Parliamentary Reformer; and
he espoused the cause of reform in Parliament, as
he did that of a reformation of the monetary sys-
tem, because he sincerely believed that the best
interests of millions of Eng,dislinaen were involved.
Few men hale had the opportunity of testing the
sincerity of their professions of disinterested patriot-
ism in the manner in which Mr. Attwood had,
after the passing of the Reform Bill.

Lord Grey sent for Mr. Attwood, and oKpressed,
in his own name and that of his colleagues, his
sense of the important services which Mr. Attwood
had rendered by his excellent management of the
enormous power of the Political 'Unions. "We
feel deeply iadcb(ed to you," said Lord Grey,
" and shall be happy to do anything in our power
to mark our sense of the obligation." "My lord,"
was Mr. Attwood's answer, " I supported your
Administration on public grounds alone. I never
expected to receive any reward, and I must beg to
decline any." And none he ever received, either
for himself, or for his family or friends.
In the House of Commons Mr. Attwood had
strong and decided opinions on the subject which
all men agreed to disregard at tho time, and on
which all men have since come round to his opi-
nion—we mean as to the aggressive policy of
Russia. He was as strong upon this as he was on
the currency; and it was from a painful conviction
of the disinclination of a reformed Parliament to
entertain the importance of these questions that he
retired from the house.

Mr. Attwood will hereafter be better known i 1
a sincere, public-spirited, and disinterested politi-
cian ; and as having had talent and sagacity to
foresee, and integrity and boldness to advocate,
principles which were in advance of his time,—
Derbyshire Courier.