The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-22 00:00:00

THE

EXTRAORDINARY COURT-MARTIAL.

A Court-martial has just conclUded at 'Ports-
mouth, tho report of which, extending through
nine day's sittings, we despair of condensing with-
in reasonable compass. The facts of the case, how-
ever, though most extraordinary, are neither many
nor intricate. It may be said they are even too
intelligible. In July, 1854, her Majesty's 22d
Regiment being stationed at Peshawur, under or-
ders for England, the Paymaster, Captain Barlow,
was required by Captain (now Major) Anderson,
who was in command, to show the, state of the
regimental funds. He confessed himself insolvent,
was relieved of his charge, and put under arrest.
He had, it appears, been long in difficulties, owing
money to most,—indeed, as far as appears, to all
the officers, and to all the regimental funds. For
a long time Captain Graham and another officer
had been security for him to a bank at Agra for a
debt of 1,0001., which he was slowly liquidating
by instalments of 201. a-mouth. In other respects
he seems to have been what is called a good fellow,
and is alluded to by Colonel Boileau in a letter to
Sir W. Napier as " your old and worthy paymas-
ter." On August 2 he wrote to Captain Anderson,
stating that he had made use of the regimental
funds, but that he would repay what he had
borrowed in six months after the regiment had
landed in England. It was soon, however,
found that he would not be able to pay.
Captain Anderson replied that he could make no
such arrangement, and wrote on the subject the
next day to the Colonel, who with • several other
officers was on sick leave at the Murree Hills. He
also took immediate steps to prevent more public
money from falling into the insolvent's hands. The
news of the crisis spread general dismay. It so
happened, however, that the paymaster had a son-
in-law in the regiment, Lieut. Deane, the imme-
diate subject of the present investigation. This
young gentleman, as was known in the regiment,
had hopes of succeeding his father-in-law, the
Colonel having promised his recommendation. He
also was on sic leave at the Murree Hills, residing
with his wife in one House, while Colonel Boileau,
Captain Graham, Captain Bampfylde, and Lieut.
Morrison together occupied another. Captain
Graham received a letter from his fellow-surety,
Captain Blackall, at Peshawur, informing him of
Barlow's insolvency, reminding him that they
would be called on by the bank for the 1,0001.,
and urging him to see what could be done with
Lieut. Deane. Accordingly he went off to Lieut.
Deane, and, finding him at a theatre attending a
rehearsal, gave him the first news of his father-in-
law's insolvency- and the court-martial that was
likely to be held upon him. He went, he is careful
to say, on his private account—viz., to be relieved
of his suretyship at the bank—so only told Lieut.
Deane what was rumoured, viz., that the paymas
ter was indebted to the mess fund 8001. Of course
his purpose would be answered to a great extent if
Lieut. Deane would undertake only that debt,
leaving Captain Barlow's pay clear for the instal-
ments due to the bank-. That afternoon Lieut.
Deane wrote to his Colonel offering any assistance
in his power to remove his father-in-law's diffi-
culties, but adding that, having no experience in
business matters, ho had no definite notion how
he could interfere. The next morning, August
10, the Colonel sent Captain Graham and Lieut.
Morrison to Lieut. Deane to ask him to put his
idea into some form. This was not easy, for a form
implies at least matter, and Lieut. Deane at once
avowed that the greater part of the little money to
which he had any claim was so invested that he
should depend on his father's consent, which, how-
ever, he had little reason to doubt of. This fact he
succeeded in impressing. upon his brother officers.
Nevertheless, with this declared reserve, he sent
Col. Boileau a form of guarantee which he was
ready to make. It was to the effect that within
six months after landing in England he would
make good the deficiency to the regimental funds,
on condition that Capt. Barlow be allowed to leave
the regiment on medical certificate for two years,
within time he was to take steps for his re-
tirement from the servirie.

But no ,v comes the most extraordinary feature
of this case, and one which it is impossible to
reflect on without fresh and fresh wonder. We
must go back to Peshawur. It must be explained
that the paymaster had various accounts in his
hands ; first, of course, public accounts—viz., the
pay of men and officers ; secondly, mess, hutting,
school, and other regimental accounts ; thirdly,
private accounts with the several officers. To these
Captain Barlow added an account with the bank.
Under all these heads he was deeply in debt: '
With regard to the first, on the 28th of the
previous month he had received a draught
from Calcutta to enable him to pay the
men for the whole of the month of Aug-hat, the
date of these transactions, but, after paying the
men in advance for the first hall of the month,
as is usually done, he had mad. 9 away with
the money which he should have kept for the other
half. This deficiency alone came to 365 f. On the
paymaster confessing his insolvency he had been
put under arrest, and his books, with the chest,
had been transferred to a committee of paymaster-
ship, presided over by Captain Anderson. -So, on
the 15th of August, when the men wanted their
pay for the ensuing fortnight, not a rupee could
be found in the chest. In this extremity Major
Anderson borrowed the money for this purpose
from the " canteen fund," and advanced to each
officer enough for his men, on the understanding
that when they got their own pay they were to re-
place the canteen money, and eventually be repaid
b) the new paymaster. On the' face of this trans-
action, it was making the new paymaster make
good the deficiency of the old, and that a deficiency
of soldiers' pay—that is, of public money. Now,

it is not every man who can carry in his head a
process of payment and repayment more than three
stages ; nor is it every man who can al ways count
ten, or invariably discriminate between his right
hand and his left. But, if there ever was a combi-
nation of circumstances that addressed itself to the
weakest capacities, we should have thought it was
the fact of a large sum of public money handed
over to Captain Barlow on July 28 for the whole
of August, and the fact of 500 men wanting
their pay on August 15 ; the paymaster a con-
fessed insolvent, and not a rupee to be found
in his chest. Is it conceivable that anybody
could doubt for an instant that this was a public
default ? How could anybody elude the evi-
dence of the huge item in the ledger, the empty
chest, the clamouring regiment, and the use of the
canteen fund ? No wonder, at least, our readers
will agree with us, that when Lieutenant Deane's
guarantee arrived at Peshawur at this very crisis
Major Anderson, after submitting the document to
the officers, and receiving their delighted concur-
rence returned it to Colonel Boileau with various
alterations and a third paragraph, designed to meet
the chance of a default in public money. Nor was
all this change made in the guarantee before it was
again presented to Lieutenant Deane. The officers
now insisted that all their private credits and ba-
lances with the paymaster thould be included iu it,
to the amount of 8691. Aft3r passing through this
ordeal, then, the guarantee stood as follows

"I hereby guarantee that all demands from officers of
the 22d Regiment, whether on account of regimental
funds or Private credits, now due by Captain Barlow,
Paymaster of the 22d Regiment, shall be made good by
me within six months after the head-quarters of the 22d
Regiment land in England.
"I further agree to effect an insurance on my life for
the sum that may appear due when the books are made
up, and to make the policy of insurance over to the 22d
Regiment, which said policy is to be kept up by me till
the debt is liquidated, on condition that Capt. Barlow be
allowed to leave the regiment on medical certificate for
two years, within which time he is to retire from the 22d
Regiment, or exchange into another for the purpose of
retiring from the service.
" This document, however, is not to preclude further
proceedings being taken against Capt. Barlow by his
commanding officer, if I decline to pay any deficiency
that may appear in the Government money on the ac•
counts of the regiment being taken over by me from
Captain Barlow, previous to his obtaining a medical cer-
tificate."
With the above explanation, what will our
readers say to the fact—for fact it still is by cour-
tesy—that none of the -officers knew, or saw, or
perceived, or observed, that Paymaster Barlow was
a defaulter in his public accounts ? They saw the
large recent item in the ledger, the empty chest,
the soldiers wanting their pay, and they arranged
to borrow from the canteen fund to replace it, and
get repaid from the new paymaster ; but there was
"no speculation in their eyes," or in any other
faculty of their body or mind. Accordingly they
all swear at the Court-martial that they did not
know there was a deficiency in the public accounts.
When pressed they take a high ground, and wilk
swear to nothing but what they know. They
won't say what they suspected or believed. They
did not know it. Lieutenant Morrison, indeed,
"believed there was a suspicion" that Captain
Barlow was deficient in public money, but he was
very uncertain about it. Why, supposing that
they had Rnown, suppo,ing that they had used
their understandings, their eyes, their ears—sup-
posing that they had used as much of their ordi-
nary faculties as a man does when, upon finding
his watehchain dangling idle about his neck, he
concludes that he has been robbed of his watch,
th©y would, by that unhappy exercise of their rea-
soning powers, have brought on themselves the
painful necessity of holding a court-martial on
Captain Barlow on the charge of felony, and them-
selves throwing away all chance of recovering a
single rupee of their del t 4. They would havelost the
mess and other debts, theywould have lost their own
private debts, and Captains Graham, and, Blackall

17-i 5

would also have had to make good t'he debt of 1,0001.
to the bank. Every officer in the regiment, from
the CciltrieYdownwards, wastdeeply interested in
not catching the eye of this Medusa's head, this
horrid public deficiency. Once see it, once know it,
they must fling their own debts to the winds and
prosecute the public defaulter. Such was their
situation in August, 1854. What is it now, in
September, 1856 ? It is this :—lf one of the officers
compromised in the guarantee we have quoted
should admit that he knew the deficiency in the
public accounts, that is, that he saw what was be-
fore his eyes and knew what he saw, or knew even
a fact that he was deliberately acting upon, he ren-
ders himself liable to be tried for compounding a
felony.;
With the certainty of losing everything, if they
had to deal with Capt. Barlow alone, the officers
did not inquire very particularly into the resources
of the new surety. When Col. Boileau sent Lieut.
Deane's offer to Major Anderson, he described it as
a subject of " thanksgiving," and evidently felt a
great weight off his mind. No doubt that was the
feeling, too, of the gentleman living with him who
was surety for the defaulter's debt to the bank.
But there was a moment of alarm. Did itfollow that,
because Lieut. Deane had undertaken to pay his
father-in-law's debt to the regimental fund, there-
fore he would also pay the officers' private credits
and balances, amounting to a still larger sum ? He
hesitated. e distinctly described his resources,
and the only conditions under which he could ever
expect to bear this double burden. But the pressure
was again applied. Col. Boileau himself urged on
the attack, for the weightiest of reasons. He says
they are all " hard up," and .asks " how aro they
to get their legal balances " unless these words,
viz., "private credits," be added to the guarantee ?
The anxiety on this point was universal. Even
before the revised and altered guarantee was
signed the officers wanted to realise the new secu-
rity. Lieut. Deane was pressed to pay the officers
on demand. He reports this pressure to his colo-
nel, whom he repeatedly assures that he cannot
pay at once, or-at all, without first consulting his
father ; that he cannot expect to pay the private
credits, unless he have the payment of the regi-
ment, and even then he expressly throws in the
salvo "if possible." These expressions are in his
mouth at the very time that he finally signs the
guarantee at the Colonel's residence. He signs it,
however, and, like many another, "is never his
own man again." It is accepted at Peshawur, and
on the strength of it Capt. Barlow has his safe re-
tirement guaranteed, and he speedily disappears
from the scene of liis difficulties. Lieut. Deane i a
made acting paymaster only a fortnight after the
beginning of this story, and in two days more he
has to attend a committee of accounts, presitled
over by Capt. Anderson, the officer in command.
The accounts are then audited, with the assistance
of Paymaster-sergeant Jones, and, under the sig-
nature of the whole committee, the insolvent pay-
master, who had left not a rupee in his chest for a
fortnight's pay of the regiment, the money for
which is actually entered as received, is declared
to have left a clear balance of more than 201. pub-
lic money in hand. A draught to a large amoun's
is handed over to Lieut. Deane, really intendski
for the July payment of the officers, but he in-
stantly finds himself called upon to give them not
only their own pay, but also the sums they had
promised to Capt. Anderson for the pay of the
men. The pay of the men was due on Aug. 15,
11 days before Lieut. Deane came into office, and
was part of Capt. Barlow's responsibilities. It is
actually entered in the accounts, and passed by the
committee as paid by Capt. Barlow. Yet Lieu-
tenant Deane is credited with it. The same money,
365/., does duty as clearing Capt. Barlow, and in-
volving Liout. Deane. The former has the benefit
of the payment, and the latter the responsibility.
Ono may well ask under'which thimble does the peel
lie ? Who paid the men of her Majesty's 22d for the
last half of August, 1854—the old or the new pay-
master ? The apology for this extraordinary bungle,
as in courtesy it must be called, now made by Capt.
Anderson and his brother officers, is that they did
not understand what they were doing. They had
had no experience of paymaster's business, and did
not know the proper application of the draughts
coming is from Calcutta—whether for officers or for
men, whether for payment in arrear or in advance.
Capt. Anderson and his brother officers had the,
accounts near a month in their hands, but seers
rather to pride themselves on knowing nothing
about them. Lieut. Deane (just arrived at Pesha-
wur) was present at the committee to protect his
own interests. They ask indignantly why did he
not ? Ho signed the accounts with the rest, and
must be bound by his signature. Such is their de-
fence. What were the results 7 The result to the
officers generally was, that by robbing the ace emit
of the incoming paymaster of this 3651. they con-
cealed the public deficiency of the outgoing pay-
master. They say that they were not aware what
they were doing. Never was error more opportune.
The ignorance of the 22d stands them in far better
stead than other men's knowledge. The result

to Lieutenant Deane was that this 3651. is
added to the responsibilities embraced in his
blind guarantee. In amount, however, this was
but a trifle compared with the avalanche of.
responsibilities hurled on his head when he could
no longer retreat, or, rather, felt that he could.:not.
He soon found, on investigation, that, instead of
8001. being the whole of Barlow's liabilities to the
regimental funds, it was little more than half, the
real amount being 1,4701. Besides this, there was
discovered a sum of 172/. due by officers to banks
for instalments, which it was assumed Barlow had
paid, but which were not paid. This sum Lieute-
nant Deane was required to add to his liabilities
under the guarantee. Meanwhile the deficiency
the Government funds also grew, and Lieutenant
Deane found that the late paymaster had been in
debt to the " hutting," " canteen," and " school"
funds .to the amount of GBi. Thus, Lieutenant
Deane, having originally, under pressure, under-
taken to pay a deficiency in the regimental funds
which everybody from the Colonel downwards, told
him was about 8001., and having been drawn into
a guarantee for al Captain Barlow's liabilities,
eventually found them to be as follows :
Regimental funds
Officers' credits and balances B6
Officers' instalments 172

2,511
Men's pay 365
Hutting, canteen, school 6B
Small sums

Government money

Liabilities of Paymaster Barlow

2,963

The rest is a familiar story, and, even if we had
space, it would be a waste of words to dwell on
the struggles that inevitably follow such a step, if
step that can be called in which the actor performs
so passive and unconscious a part. It was in vain
that Lieutenant Deane remonstrated ; he was called
upon on all sides for the fulfilment of a pledge the
impossibility of which was confessed and patent to
all. As his predecessor had done, and as the com-
mittee had also done in the interregnum, he found
it impossible to distinguish between the different
funds in his hands. Surrounded by an importu-
nate crowd, who were now at once public and pri-
vate creditors, he could make little difference be-
tween new and old accounts. In fulfilment of his
guarantee, he has paid 1,4931., of which 4521. is
that public debt which the witnesses of the prose-
cution all declare, in self-defence, to have been
thrown upon him by an error shared by the whole
regiment. Of this 1,4931. he has with great efforts
advanced 8761. from his own resources, sufficient.

for the sum originally contemplated in the guaran-
tee, and the payment of the remaining 6001. has
been drawn pro tempore from the regimental funds.
He still asked for time, pleaded the indefinite and
and treacherous character of the guarantee, which
he nevertheless would not shrink from, and also
the delay and expenses consequent on an extraor-
dinary succession of disasters on his return home.
This charge, however, as well as another about a
torn leaf, is a small affair compared with the his-
tory of the guarantee itself, of which we never
heard the like, and on which it seems to us the
opinion of the Horse Guards, as a body at least of
gentlemen, ought to be strongly expressed. The
present proceeding is itself a formality, perhaps
rendered necessary by the anomalous and compli-
cated nature of the affair. Nothing else could
solve the knot, and Lieutenant Deane could accept
no other solution. The public, too, will agree that
such a story ought to be known.—Times.

COLLISION OFF HOLYHEAD.—LIVERPOOL, Sunday.—
About three o'clock yesterday morning the ship Imo-
gene, Captain William, bound for Pernambuco, with six
passengers and a crew of 18, came in collision with the
screw-steamer Falcon, Captain Hynes, from Cork, with
150 passengers and a number of cattle on board, 20
miles off Holyhead. In about two hours the ship went
down, but all hands are saved. The steamer was struck
in the starboard forerigging and received considerable
damage. She arrived ill the Collingwood-dock at 430
p.m. with the crew and passengers on board.
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other unpleasant feelings. He tried a variety of rev. -4
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Naval and Military Intelligence.

. r

An official statement has been published at Ports-
mouth of the number of persons of all ranks who em-
barked and disembarked at that port during the late war.
The number was upwards of 150,000, and 7,500 horses
were embarked or disembarked. Major-General Breton,
the Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth, has issued the
following order in reference to the manner in which the
duties of the garrison were performed during the period
in question :

" Adjutant-General's-office, Portsmouth.

" The debarkation and transit of the army from the
Crimea being now completed, it becomes the duty of the
Major-General to express in orders his high sense of the
unremitting zeal and attention with which the arrange-
ments have been carried out by the Staff, particularly
Lieutenant-Colonel Wright, Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-
master-General, and Major Nelson, Deputy-Assistant-Ad-
jutant-General, upon whom the more material arrange-
ments fell.

" Since the middle of May last more than 60,000 men
have passed through Portsmouth, without accident or de-
lay. In a single day above 6,000 were disposed of—proof
of what can be done through a good system—added to a
cordial working with other departments; that is to say, the
naval and railway authorities, by whom the service has
been so materially assisted.

"During a period of heavy work and many difficulties,
the duties of the district have been admirably performed by
the general staff; and the Major-General's thanks are due
not only to those in more immediate communication with
himself, but equally so to Lieutenant-Colonels Raymond
and Jeffreys, commanding the depots at Winchester and
Parkhurst, and their staff ; and by whom so many hun-
dreds of recruits were so rapidly rendered effective soldiers
and sent to their regiments, and through whose excellent
management also the Major-General's own duties have
been so materially lightened.
" It were less than justice to two most deserving men
were the Major-General to omit notice of the unceasing ex-
ertions of Staff Serjeant Cook, of the Quartermaster Gene-
ral's department, and Garrison Serjeant-Major Campbell.
"These staff serkants may be assured the Major-General
has not been unobservant of the immense amount of work
they have gone through—the one in the duties connected
with the landing and transit of so many thousands of peo-
ple ; the other in a superintendence of the invalids from
the Crimea ; and in the checking and prevention of the
irregularities consequent upon so many who have been
loose upon the town and not belonging to the garrison.
" By order, "A. A. NELSON,
" Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General."
There is an omission in the list of officers named in
this garrison order which (says our Portsmouth corre-
spondent) never could have been intended by the gover-
nor. No mention is made of Captain Breton, the town-
major, whose duties during the whole time specified, as
may be imagined from the character of his office, have
been as onerous and responsible and performed as admi-
rably as have those of the seniors mentioned in the
above circular.

The Cruizer, 17, Commander Fellowes, left Ports-
mouth on Saturday afternoon for the East Indies, call-
ing at Plymouth.
The Malacca, 17, Capt. Farquhar, arrived at torts-
mouth yesterday morning from the eastward.
The Prince Arthur, steam transport No. 85, Captain
Rankin, arrived at Spithead on Saturday from Cepha-
lonia. She sailed Aug. 31, Malta, Sept. 3d ; Gibraltar,
12th, having on board 334 of the let (King's Own) Staf-
fordshire Militia, 36 invalids belonging to different regi-
ments, 6 prisoners belonging to the British Italian Le-
gion, 22 women, and 30 children. The officers are Capt.
Rycrott, Lieutenants Hillcoat, Marshon, Talbot, Jones,
Smith, Adjutant Hillman? Paymaster Mills, Surgeon
Woolhouse (all of the Staffordshire), Major Irvine, R.A.,
Lieut. Dalsbury, 68th Regt., Staff Surgeon Fraser, and
4 ladies and 2 children. The Prince Arthur reports hav-
ing sienalled the steamship British Queen with the steam-
ship Margaret in tow with funnel and cutwater gone.
The steam troopship Perseverance, Commander
M'Donald, R.N., at Portsmouth, has just been supplied
with a pair of lifeboats upon the collapsing principle,
invented by the Rev. E. L. Berthon, M.A., of Farehaw,
to which a third boat has been added by the inventor
for the purpose of proving more perfectly the advantages
of a system by which an almost unlimited amount of
lifeboat accommodation may be furnished to all ships
carrying many persons. This invention has been under-
going a variety of tests for some years, and now appears
to be so perfect as to promise to produce a most desir-
able improvement in those important appendages of a
ship, her boats.

Some alarm was caused in Portsmouth harbour early
on Saturday morning by the ringing of the fire-bell and
the report that her Majesty's steam Corvette nightly er
was on fire below. The report turned out true, but we are
happy to state that no serious damage was done. Captain
Shad vreli was roused from his sleep about 2 o'clock, and
was promptly on the deck of his ship, and about 3 o'c!ock
Rear-Admiral Superintendent Martin, who had heard
the report, was also promptly on board, and investigating
the matter. It appears that one end of the after sleeper
of the port boiler caught fire and charred through, sup-
posed to be caused by the ashes not being sufficiently
extinguished when the fires were drawn after the use of
the boilers to work the engines in moving from the dock-
yard to buoy-moorings. The fire was speedily discovered
by the sentinel on board, and was put out by the ship's
company before any assistance from the Victory and
other ships, most speedily sent, was alongside. A court
of inquiry was held on board on Saturday by Captains
Seymour of the Victory, and G,Efard, of the Princess
Royal, and their opinion was that some blame was attri-
butable to the engineer of the Highfiyer for not being
more careful respecting the ashes ; and there was also
some defect in the fitting of the ironwork in proximity
with the sleepers. Tile repairs can be effected in a few
days, and the ship will be ready to proceed to the East
Indies at the latter end of this week.
The Di iver, 6, steam-sloop, Commander Ennis Cham-
bers, arrived at Spithead on Saturday from the westward.
The Dauntless, 24, Captain Ryder, will leave Ports-
mouth to-day for the Mediterranean.
The screw steam-ship Brunswick, 80, Capt. Hastings
R. Telverton, sailed from Plymouth on Friday fur
Cadiz
The screw of the screw steam-ship Centurion, 80,
Captain Edward G. Fanshawe, are appointed to be paid
wages at Devonport.
The screw steamship Exmouth, 90, Captain Harry
Eyres, having had defects made good, was taken out of
dock at Devonport oa Saturday, and placed in her
sailing moorings.
The crew of the Amethyst, 26, were paid advance of
wages on Friday, and she left Plymouth on Saturday for
the Ea,t Indies, calling at the Cape of Good Hope.
Thescrew mortar-ship Seahorse, 12, Captain Leopold
G. Heath, from Queenstown, arrived at Plymouth on
Friday, and went into Hamoaze. Her crew are to be paid
off, and she is to be placed in the second-class steam re-
serve.
The brig Linnet, 8, Commander H. Need, from Spit-
head, arrived at Plymouth on Monday, and went into
Hamoaze on Wednesday ; her crew are to be paid of
next Wednesday. ,
The brig Express, 6, Commander H. Boys, was warped
to the shear hulk at Devouport on Thursday, and had her
masts taken out; her crew were paid off on Saturday.
The screw steam-corvette Satellite, 21, had her masts
taken out at Devonport on Friday.
The steam gunboats Forester, Staunch, and Haughty
are ordered to be ready for sea on Wednesday, and the
ricrew steamsloop Cruiser, 17, Commander Fellowes, will
receive their guns and convoy them to the East Indies,
taking a mail to the Cape of Good Hope. The Cruiser
will embark at Plymouth a draught of first and second
class boys from the guardships for distribution in Admi-
ral Seymour's squadron.
The Powerful, 84, Capt. F. L. • Massie, is lying at
Folly-point, Chatham, for the purpose of having her guns
and ammunition taken out, after which she will be towed
up to Chatham Dockyard, where she will be paid off
into ordinary. The marines, under the command of
Capt. J. H. Gaccoigne, are ordered to join the head-
quarters of the Chatham division, to which nearly the
whole of them belong.

The Leander, 50, Capt. E. B. Rice, from the Medi-
terranean, is being stripped at Chatham, and the whole
of her fittings ordered to be removed, after which she
will be paid off into ordinary. The marines belonging to
this vessel landed at Chatham dockyard on Saturday,
and proceeded to join the head-quarters of their divisions
at Portsmouth and Plymouth. •
The Renown, 91, in course of construction at Chat-
ham, is progressing towards completion, a large number
of hands being employed in order to have her finished
erArly in the ensuing year. When completed the Re-
nown will be the largest vessel of war ever built at
Chatham Dockyard. She is to be fitted with the Screw
propeller.

- The Iris, 26, is being completed at Chatham in order
to fit her for being commissioned.
The following vesselsare in progress at Chatham Dock-
yard—viz., the Racoon, 21, screw corvette, building
from designs furnished by Sir B. Walker, C.D., Sur-
veyor of the Navy ; the Hero, 90, building, to be fitted
for a screw ; the Charybdis, 21, screw steam corvette,
commenced in March last ; and the Calyp ;0,28, in dock,
having some extensive alterations and improvements
effected in her construction.
On Saturday Commodore Shepherd, Superintendent
of Woolwich Dockyard, made a general inspection of
her Majesty's paddlewheel steam-vessel Medusa, lately
commissioned for foreign service by Commander Henry
J. Raby. The vessel has undergone a thorough refit,
has been new-decked, and supplied with new strength.
ening pillars, and sailed on Saturday evening from Wool-
wich for Greenhithe, where to-day she will be swung for
the adjustment of compasses, &c., and will proceed
thence for the western coast of Africa and Sierra Leone,
calling at Plymouth and Portsmouth to embark the
mails. The rank of Commander Raby is dated Sept.
tb2.hy9eT,CEhlaeBapssttstar,iwananind was conferred upon him for acts of perso-
nal bravery and distinguished services performed in the
trenches. The Medusa was brought home and paid off
stShphoetrretanrEtds
~ Oat
rsrbm. Osborne,
,an
she ,
horse-shoes,
eßi
-vs.
eh,
doi ne
as,tJ
wul last.nyoaQ lother
t:
he
ehr
fromor
i.
nance stores. The Leonard Dobbin. was arrived with a
cargo of guns, carriages, and haruPsa.
The transport Home has also
Woolwich marshes.
laden with shot, shell, guns, °.. arrived at Woolwich
'carriage
The Calliope, with 450 I.' ' .ad s.
and peat, is
The 6-gun screw ordered to discharge at ' "ens of charcoal
steam gun-boat Roebuck having
wich, and pl- was undocked on Saturday at Wool-
The ci-' •.ced'
in ordinary.
anno-
vit officers of Woolwich arsenal have receivel
been completed.
8,.• -incement and bills of lading of 7e transport-ves-
-As being on the way from the Crimea with returned
1 stores for Woolwich, in addition to those already arrived.
The difficulty of providing storeroom is, consequently, a
task of no ordinary kind. The new enclosure in the
Plunistead-marsh is choked up,
and many parts of th'e
Arsenal are impassable.

Lieutenant-Generale-
Sir Colin Campbell, Inspector-
General of Infantry, accompanied by Colonel Sterling,
C. 8., his aide-de-camp, arrived in Parsonstown on
Friday from Limerick, for the purpose of inspecting the
Proirieional Depot Battalion, under the commaud of