The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-22 00:00:00

THE BRITISH LEGION AT NAPLES,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIRS—A paragraph in the last letter from your
able correspondent at Naples, in your impression of
Monday last, is calculated to give great uneasiness
to the relatives and friends of the men composing
the English Legion now stationed at Caserta. I
only returned from Naples last night, and, as I
had a good deal of intercourse with both the offi-
cers and men of thelegion, and am fully acquainted
with the facts of their case, I hope you will give
me a place in your columns to explain to their
friends and the country generally that for the pre-
sent melancholy position of the regiment the men
are not so much to blame.

Before I left Naples the legion was completely
disorganised ; many of the officers had resigned in
disgust, and the men were leaving it in dozens, I
might almost say in hundreds, and by this time I
dare say there is no legion left. And not without
cause. From the first day the men landed at
Naples, up to the hour I left, they were badly
treated, and all the affairs of the corps were mis-
managed in the grossest manner. Ido not wish to
say one disparaging word of Colonel Peard, who is
as brave a soldier as ever lived; but at the same time
I must not conceal the fact that the unanimous opi-
nion of his own officers and men was, that he was
not just the man to command them; and that, had
they been under the orders of Major Styles, things
would have borne a very different aspect. You
must remember that, although a few roughs had got
amongst them, the great majority of the men in the
legion were gentlemen; many of the men in the ranks
had seen active service in India and the Crimea,
and, animated by a love of adventure or of liberty,
had come to Italy to fight for Garibaldi. Such
men were severe critics of their commanding
officer's acts. To manage them required more than
usual prudence, tact, and judgment. The first
thing which shook their faith in Colonel Peard's
ability to lead them was this :—On the night of the
24th of October he ordered the men under arms at
midnight for the purpose of making an attack upon
Capua. When they had assembled he haranged
them on the glory they should win if they succeeded.
Major Styles and the other officers refused to obey
his orders; but two companies actually followed
the colonel, who led them up to the very bastions
of Capua. Fortunately, in the darkness of the
night, they were not discovered by the Neapolitan
sentinels, or every man of them must have been
sacrificed. I marched with the legion from St.
Angelo to Teano. The men complained to me that
they had received no pay ; many of them were
without shoes, and I saw more than one poor fellow
trudging along with his feet tied up in rags. There
was no commissariat, although it was said Colonel
Peard had been offered one and refused it; there
were no ambulances for the sick ; no medical
stores ; many of the men were dying from diarrhoea,
and Dr. Fairley, the surgeon of the regiment, had
not one ounce of medicine of any kind, and
bitterly complained to me that he could not
get any. On the march back from Teano to
St. Angelo five Englishmen were found looting
a farm house by some members of Garibaldi's
staff, who sent them under an escort to be
dealt with as Colonel Peard should direct. He at
once, without inquiry or trial of any kind,
ordered the men to be shot. The picket told off for
the purpose refused to obey orders, and would not
fire. The colonel sent to Garibaldi for a detach-
ment of Italians to shoot the condemned men as his
own regiment was in a state of mutiny. Gari-
baldi replied that it would be a disgrace to the
English if he were to do so, and asked Colonel
Peard to pardon them. I do not for a moment justify
the men for looting; but when they had no food,
and were obliged to forage for themselves, they
surely deserved some kind of trial. On the same
march I saw Captain Hampton guilty of an act of
cruelty to one of the sergeants of his company for
which Colonel Peard should have drummed him
out of the regiment, and he was not even repri-
manded. Now, sir, these are a few of the facts
which came under my own observation. I heard of
many others quite as bad, with which I shall not
trouble you. Can you wonder then, that the men
are all anxious to leave the legion, and that many of
them are sorry they ever left England ? Many of
them have joined the French Legion, others have
joined the artillery corps under Colonel Dowling,
while a few have joined the cavalry under Colonel
Forbes. When I last saw the legion on parade at
Caserta, out of 800 men there were not 300 present
on the grounc', the others having left the regiment.
That these men were brave and could fight, thehy
sufficiently proved on the morning of Friday, t e
19th October, when, attacked by Neapolitans five
times their number, they drove them back with a
shout under the very walls of Capua, and taught
them a lesson which they will not soon forget. Such,
owing to mismanagement and injudicirs selec-
tions of officers and incompetency on the part of
the.
is the more
those appointed to lead them,
inglorious
ending of the British Legion, which
to be regretted, as a finer body of brave men
were never brought together; and, led by officers
in whom they had complete confidence, there

were no achievements too hazardous and glorious
for them to attempt and perform.
As a guarantee of good .faith I have the honour
to subscribe myself, sir, your obedient servant,
T. MASON JONES.
10, Cheltenham-terrace, Nov. 21.

LITERATURE.

Eigh Places, By G. J. Louth, author of " The
Wanderer in Arabia." 3 vols. Hurst and
Blackett.
This -is a peculiar style of work, yet one which
deserves regard and merits attention, inasmuch as
it contains passages of elevated thought, and reveals
some noble sentiments and genial instincts. There
is not much story, as far as that goes, but what
constitute the chief attractions of the works are the
descriptions. This is not often the case, as many a
novel-reader will testify, who in agonised impa-
tience or angry disappointment has hurried over or
entirely skipped whole pages of wonderful accounts
while longing to unravel the mystery of a narative
or learn the fate impending for a hero or a heroine.
Here we meet with refreshing observations, and
the reflections of Mr. Brande are eminently worthy
of notice. His desire to raise the thoughts and
exalt the spirit of his granddaughter Edla is evi-
dent in his words and actions, and few could have
climbed the high places with such an ardent
worshipper of nature without returning in some
way Wiser and better. For truth and sense the
following remarks are most distinguished, and
many a would-be moralist might learn something
from them —lt can hardly be consistent with
the character of Christian kindliness to ill-use or
neglect the meanest creatures of their Maker.
The lines of the poet are beautifully expressed :
Ile prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small,
For the great God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
" Let no one say that much kindly feeling and even
valuable affection is thrown away and wasted upon
a lower creature—a mere fancy, and which might
be so much better expended on human beings,
family relatives or poor persons. It would be a
mistake so to think and estimate the case. It is a
good and a beneficial thing for the human breast
that the affections, which. are a part, and the best
part, of it, should be cultivated and kept
in exercise. The more these are brought
out into action the better for the indivi-
dual, and for those in communication with
him. There is no possibility of wasting the
affections. The more they are used the more they
gain—the more they are expended the more they
abound and increase. It is not using them freely,
even lavishly, that chills the growth and limits
them. There is many an act of affection done for
a dumb animal which is a value and a gain, not
only to the doer, but indirectly to many persons ;
axe there is many an animal which is the real
spark of the warmth that spreads itself from the
small hearth out over the circle of a village, or a
town, or a people. There is many a household that
has much of its happiness in the affections lavished
on some one of God's humble creatures, affections
which are the fire on the hearth, and on which,
without this, there would sit the deformed genii of
carelessness and indifference." The character of
Edla is well described, and Mary is a very efficient
contrast. The career of this latter young maiden
is most interesting, and her various extraordinary
adventures form quite a romance. She was placed
in a very trying position for so young and inexpe-
rienced a girl, and she admirably acquitted her-
self in the trying ordeal. The two cousins, Adol-
phus and Charles, are very different. With all his
apparent carelessness anal affected coldness, Charles
possessed much sense and feeling. The account of
the chase after the fugitive pair bound for America
is most exciting, and the awfully sudden death of
the wretched Carlton is a most impressive warning
to all who, like him, are inter t on their own ends,
and seek but to gratify their vile ambition. There
is much to interest in the true nature of the records
here transcribed of domestic life ; while there is also,
as nas before been said, much to attract attention in
the depth of thought evidenced in the reflective
passages. The old Domitor's death is very im-
pressively described. Turning to Mary, he said,
pointing at the same time to the height of Cheese-
ford Head, which was plainly visible with the
long high slope of the hill from where they were
all sitting, " There, Mary," he said, " there is your
King, and he has his crown on fall of honour,
such as God's hand made it, the place of glory."
The old man paused a moment, and then he sud-
denly said, " I see another King above it, in his
own high place, and he beckons me. I come, I
come."

Valentine Duval. An Autobiography of the last
Century. Edited by the author of " Mary
Powell." Bentley.
The life of Valentine Duval, a poor peasant boy,
who, after narrowly escaping starvation, raised
himself by slow degrees to a recognised position in
the world of science and letters, cannot be without
interest to the readers of these self-helping days.
Though he has left nothing tangible behind him
by which to mark his superiority, yet his love of
truth and simplicity, his earnest pursuit of know-
ledge under the greatest difficulties, and the up-
rightness and consistency of his life, through all
vicissitudes, render him well worthy of a more last-
ing and extensive record than the passing allusion
of contemporaneous writers, or a few brief lines in
the pages of a biography. The editress herself re-
marks "As Duval neither wrote any books nor
made the world the better or wiser by any remark.
able inventions or discoveries, there may be some
who will say To what end, then, write his life ?'
There is greatness in being as well as in doing ;
and there are things worth living for, besides in-
venting, discovering, and writing." Duval is first
introduced to us as a poor peasant boy, keeping
turkeys, who having lost his place, and being un-
able to find another, nearly perished from cold and
want during the terrible winter of 1709, which
produced an absolute famine among the French
peasantry. To add to his afflictions while wan-
dering about in search of employment, he was
seized with small-pox, and narrowly escaped with
his life. After undergoing the severest hardships
he took up his abode with a hermit, as his servitor.
This kind old man was his first instructor, and
having gained the first steps in learning he was
thenceforward able to follow his own course. He
subsequently went as servitor to a small religious
community, where his secret studies scandalised
the old monks, who thought ignorance and holiness
inseparable. Duval's favourite plan was to snare
game in the forest and sell the skins to the furriers
to obtain the means of purchasing the books neces-
sary for the prosecution of his studies. One day one
of the brotherhood obtained access to his cell, and
was horror stricken by discovering astronomical
charts, geometrical problems, and scientific instru-
ments. Convinced of the impious character of such
necromantic proceedings, Brother Anthony posted
off to a neighbouring town to implore the assistance
of a Carmelite friar, who was his confessor. The
Carmelite could not help laughing when he found
the state of affairs, but succeeded in pacifying the
old monk. However peace was not of long dura-
tion, and once Duval, excited by the threats of the
monk, drove him from the convent, and as the rest
of the brethren were absent, he remained in posses-
sion. A truce was at length agreed, to by which
he bound himself to serve them for 10 years on
condition of liberty to pursue his studies. This offer
of service, which he afterwards regretted, was for-
tunately not fulfilled. An accideantpaolinmteedetliinbgraNrviiatnh
the members of the royal family in the forest opened
the path which conducted Valentine to fame and
fortune. He was subsequently p
and
dband of
us
to Duke Leopold of Lorraine, and Professor of
History at the Royal Academy of Luneville. He
son
ns
aand great
successorfa v o u, Francis,ite with
rthe
afterwards duke,
with
his
the Empress Maria Theresa. In his new dignities 1-r
Duval did not forget his old friends.
appointed
bookseller to the Royal library a tradesman who
had befriended him in his early days of poverty
and distress, and spent all hie savings in building
a commodious dwelling for his old friends of the
monastery. He lived to old age and died honoured
and lamented. The life of his friend and associate
Peter Vayringe, the famous mechanician, is also
full of interest. We are indebted to the editress
for having brought forward the record of a labo •
rious and honourable life, and too liable to be for-
gotten in the crowd of more pretentious celebrities.
The book might have been shorter with advantage,
the correspondence at the conclusion being almost
too voluminous, but as it is, it is well worthy the
attention of the public, and we have no doubt it
will receive the consideration which it merits, both
from the interest of the subject and the reputation
of the lady who has thus resuscitated an almost
forgotten memoir.

HER MAJESTY'S STAGHOUNDS.—The Royal pack
met on
Tuesday at Stoke-common, where there was a
numerous field, including most of the officers of the Royal
Horse Guards and Scots Fusiliers, and many sporting gen-
tlemen from London, Hounslow, and the surrounding neigh -
bourhood. The beautiful deer Redheart went off at tiptop
speed right across the country in the direction of Amersham
and Watford, and after a severe run was taken at Fordham-
wood, about three miles from St. Albans, being about 25
miles from home ; only a few of the select were up at the
take. In consequence of their being so far from the kenllol,
the hounds were brought back on the following day.