The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-13 00:00:00

THE RIVER.

The " enlightened foreigner" who
increas-
ing happened I
to saunter down to London Bridge, intent upon
his knowledge of English life and manners in the
10th century, must certainly have been in no small de-
gree bewildered by the multitude of objects calling for
instant attention at his hands. He might have seen
how heartily, in their own way, the people of the
inetr ,pobs enjoy a holiday ; and how, when they do
really make up their minds to abandon their labour for
a time, they bring their whole stock of concentrated
in
energy into action the pursuit of pleasure. The River
Thames yesterday presented a scene of life and anima-
tion which we have rarely witnessed' and we have
had a little experience in that way too. Every
steamer, whether her course lay up or down the
stream, was crowded with a living freight. The won-
der not only was where all the people came from, '
but where they were all going to. And never were a
more mirthful, laughter-loving crew to be witnessed.
All with holiday faces on, and most of them with
holiday clothes, they seemed, for one day, at least,
utterly indifferent to all the cares of this work-a day
world. As fast as the piers on the banks of the river
were relieved by the boats they were filled by fresh
comere, only in their turn to be succeeded by others.
1 And thus the stream of human life moved on for hours,
giving an aepect to the river which stood out in strong
relief to its ordinary sluggieh and misty appearance. In
the early part of the day the weather was fine, but to-
wards the evening the rain interfered considerably with
the operations of the pleasure-seekers. Proper arrange-
ments had been made to accommodate the vast traffic of

tion, soon found themselves much mistaken. A similar
crush attended the obtaining a ticket. A second brought
you to the waiting•room, where you remained boxed up
in a second " black hole of Calcutta," almost without
light and entirely destitute of fresh air, mntil the batch
of passengers who preceded yon were safely started on
their journey. The doors in front were again thrown
open and then follows the third and last rush, in which
if you happen to be in front you stand a considerable
chance of getting your ribs broken against the gradually
narrowing barriers which lead to the platform. Though
the crush and fighting to get to town were so great, it
mu t not be imagined that everybody left the fair then.
Some people, whom nothing will daunt in the pursuit of
ple ;sure, and certainly their powers of endurance must
have been great indeed, still continued wending about
the booths, dripping wet and up to the knees in soft
mud. But many there were who did remain. All we
can say is, we hope they passed a pleasant evening.

INSPECTION OF CAVALRY FROM THE

EAST, BY HER MAJESTY.

PORTSMOUTH, May 12.—The Oneida screw steam-
transport, No. 132, which arrived yesterday afternoon
with the first instalment of British cavalry from the East,
came into harbour with them this afternoon. She brings
home 400 non-commissioned officers and men and 171
horses of the Bth Hussars, with 10 men of the 17th Lau-
cers, and the following officers of the Bth Regiment of
Hussars :—Brevet General Shewell, Colonel De Salis,
Captains Tomkinson, Naylor, and Chetwode ; Lieute-
nants Phillips, Heneage, Puget, Clows, Mussenden,
Coats, and Sawbridge ; Cornets Harrison, Webster,
Haymes, and Harding ; Dr. Lockwood, Veterinary Sur-
geon Grey, Quartermaster Lane, and Paymaster Duber-
ley and Mrs. Duberley ; also, Mr. Miller, naval engineer,
and four soldiers' wives and seven servants.

The remainder of the regiment, consisting of 33 men
and 150 horses, are on their way home in the Norman,
steam-transport, No. 155, with Captain Lord Killeen,
Lieut. Poore, and Assistant-Surgeon Hulseberg, having
left Malta on the 30th ultimo.

It having been intimated that it was her Majesty's plea•
sure to inspect the cavalry which returned home in this
ship, the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir G. F.
Seymour, K.C.8., G.C.8., Admiral Superintendent
Martin, and the Lieut.-Governor, Major-General Breton,
went over to Osborne this morning to receive her Ma-
jesty's commands in reference to the matter. At three
o'clock, in consequence, the Oneida was brought into
harbour, and placed alongside the dockyard jetty, where
her Majesty, it was announced, would disembark from
the royal yacht at five o'clock. The men were duly
mustered and inspected by the commanding officer,
Brigadier-General Whewell. They had their swords at
their sides, and their carbines, and presented in their full
uniforms a first-rate spectacle.
The Queen's visit to the dockyard was deeply affect-
ing and interesting. The Fairy came into harbour with
the Marlborough (131) following in her wake. Her Ma-
jesty, Prince Albert, and the royal children landed, and
were attended by all the officials of the port and gar-
rison, and passed through the lines of the hussars, and
then were introduced to the invalids from the Severn.
The hussars then passed by her Majesty in slow and quick
time, followed by 150 invalids who could walk, several
omnibuses full of those who could not do so, and by the
litters of those going to hospital. The arrangements
prevented the invalids being detained more than a
minute or two. Her Majesty arrived at Osborne again
at half-past 7.

PROSECUTION OF THE " NATION" OP
BRUSSELS.

We reported on Saturday that the Belgian
iGo-
vernment had commenced a prosecution against the
Nat on,
newspaper, published at Brussels, for state-
ments and remarks reflecting on her Royal Highness
the Duchess of Brabant, a daughter of the House
of Hapsburg. Tho following is the article com-
plained of :
We communicate a piece of intengence that will sur;
prise no one v; hen we state that Austria is lending herself
completely to M. Thnaparte, and urges him on with all
her strength in his liberticidal projects against Belgium.
A war of this nature should have the Austrian Govern-
ment for its auxiliary and chief accomplice. But there
is one little fact which the country ought not to be left
in ignorance about, and here it is Duchess of
Brabant it is who is the most active instrument of the
Austrian pressure upon the Belgian Government. We
have no fear of contradiction when we state this fact, and
recognise one of the natural fruits resulting from the
marriage of the Duke of Brabant, in the Decembrist
movement by which the Court of Brussels is at this mo-
ment allowing itself to be impelled. This infamous
government of Austria believed that by supporting the
brutal Napoleonic pressure on our Government it would
fiad an opportunity of diverting public attention that
was so eagerly bent upon the Italian question. It has
found in the young wife of our pious heir presumptive
to the throne the reactionary influence necessary for its
object, and this archduchess is doing the required
liberticidal work against her adopted country. What
fine days the accession of this young married pair to
the ranks
of Austrian diplomacy and Belgian Jesuitism
is preparing for us. In the meantime they are working
for the French coup &Oat, and are making an experi-
mental assay on the government of the country by
demanding that the constitution be surrendered to the
Cmsar of the Tuileries, and that before the 25th anni-
versary of the dynasty has been celebrated. .