The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-10 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Royal yacht Osborne, Commander John
D'Arcy, which sailed from Portsmouth on Monday,
has proceeded to Cherbourg, and is expected to re-
turn from that port to Osborne with his Royal
Highness Prince Arthur on board.
The sailing Indianian Alumbagh arrived at Spit-
head yesterday afternoon from India, with the
head-quarters of the 34th Regiment on board. The
ship was towed into Portsmouth harbour last even-
ing, and the troops will disembark this morning
and march into quarters in Portsmouth garrison.

The Dutch ironclad Prinsllendrick, built by Messrs
Laird, of Birkenhead, reached the Tyne on Monday,
and would go into the Tyne docks yesterday to take

in her armament of Armstrong guns.

Messrs. Chas. Mitchell and Co., of Low Walker,
on the Tyne, arc building a gunboat for harbour

defences for the Elswick Ordnance Works, after a

model invented by Mr. George Rendalls, one of the
managing partners in Messrs. W. G. Armstrong's
works, and approved by the Admiralty. The boat
will be small, and will be made to carry an Arm-

strong 300-pounder gun of 12} tons weight and
nine-inch bore. The gun is mounted on a platform
in the fore end of the boat, and under the platform
is a kind of well into which the gun can be lowered
when not in use. The introduction of the well is

the novelty of the invention. The gunboat will be
fitted with two engines, one to work the screw
propeller, and a small engine to work the capstan
and to raise and lower the gun into the well.
The screw steam gunboat Osprey, 4, wrecked
near Algoa Thy, May 20, when homeward bound
from China, was of 682 tons burden, and had en-
gines of 200 horse power. She was commissioned on
the 14th of December, 1861, by Commander Wm.
Menzies.

The management of the regimental canteens at
Aldershot for some time past has been such as to
raise the question whether the objects they were in-
tended to serve are not lost sight of or neutralised.
They appear to havebeen designed by the Comman-
der-in-Chief with the view of economising the men's
pay and conferring extra benefits by a division of
the profits; but it seems that the soldier derives very

little benefit from them. There may be some ex-
ceptions in so large a camp as that of Aldershot,
but generally the profits of these establishments are
absorbed by the canteen sergeant and his assistants,
and by salaries to professional vocalists. The effort
to provide the men with amusement within their
own lines was, no doubt, extremely praiseworthy ;
but complaint has been made in many quarters that
while 12 10s. or £3 per week is often paid for pro-
.

fessional singers, the services of amateurs in the dif-
ferent regiments, offered atmuch lower figures, are
not accepted. Under this system the profits become
exceedingly small, and are dispersed abroad instead
of being divided among the canteen customers. The
men say that they no .v get no shelf-jackets, boots,
or other advant,ges from the canteen, beyond a
slight reduction in the price of beer. It may be
urged, on the other side, that paid professional
vocalists attract custom, and that the engagement of
private soldiers in such a capacity would infringe
some points of discipline; nevertheless, the present
management of canteens must undergo great altera-
tion before they can be accepted as model establish-
ments. One shrewd regiment, the 72d (Duke of
Albany's Own) Highlanders, has already taken the
initiative by erecting a stage in its canteen for the
men of the corps to give performances, and it is
hoped that the example will be generally followed
and such a revision made in the management of
canteens as shall secure to the troops the whole of
the benefits which the auth,rities designed them to
confer.

No announcement which has been made to the
troops of the British Army since the Crimean War,
or indeed at any period of military history, has given
more general satisfaction than the following, which
appeared in the Camp Divisional Orders at Alder-
shott on Monday :—" The Lieut. -General com-
manding directs attention to Army Circular
Special,' dated War-office, the 2d of July, 1867,
promulgating the Royal Warrant of the 29th of
June last, relative to extra pay granted to the Army."
All the troops are in high spirits in consequence of
this official intimation, and hundreds of men have
already re-engaged.
Two companies of the slth (West Norfolk) Regi-
ment have arrived at Aldershot. One company,
under the command of Capt. Parker, marched in on
The head quarters and Friday, and the other, under the command of Capt.
Bayley, on Sunday.
re-
mainder
+ don on the arrival of the
from Manchester, will
proceed seatnreegism,aent,
latter corps is expected
57th from New Zealand. The ,
toofthteh
daily.
A divisional field day and sham fight was held at
Aldershot yesterday. The troops, under the com-
mand of Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir James Yorke
Scarlett, K.C.8., paraded near the Queen's Pavilion,
facing Caesar's Camp, at half-past 10 o'clock, the
infantry regiments furnished with ten rounds of
blank ammunition per man. The enemy, who was
supposed to have come from the westward, was re-
presented by three batteries of Royal Horse Artil-
lery, under the command of Col. Herbert, C. 8.,
Assist—Quartermaster-General, and in position on
Caesar's Camp. The tactics of the day were dis-
played in the attack and defence of this natural for-
tress, and after excellent manoeuvres and brilliant
strategy on both sides the position was carried by
storm, and the enemy obliged to retreat to Crondall-
common, whether he was pursued and eventually
captured. The troops afterwards marched past and
returned to quarters about 3 o'clock. A great num-
ber of spectators assembled to witness the proceed-
ings, which were attended with no casualty beyond
that of a horse belonging to the Artillery falling
dead. The men manoeuvred without their knap-
sacks—a circumstance which, considering the great
heat of the day, tended in no small degree to their
individual comfort, and a concession on the part of
the Lieut.-Genehl commanding gratefully appre-
ciated by the whole division.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Lieut. S. S. Chowne to the Irre-
sistible, additional, for temporary service ; Sub-
Lieut. A. W. Hamilton, Sub-Lieut. L. A. Beau-
mont, and Sub-Lieut. R. F. Ward to the Victoria
and Albert ; and Sub-Lieut. Charles C. Wood to
the Bellerophon.

THE SUN, LONPON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 10, 1867._

which reference had been made. It was represented
to him that such a rule of the association existed,
and he wished to give Lieut. Cooper an opportunity
of availing himself of it—nothing more nor less ; and
he would have done the same with respect to any
other member. Absence from London and illness
were the causes that prevented Lieut. Cooper mak-
ing himself efficient. IVhen be gave Cooper's cer-
tificate witness accepted it as a fact of bis being
efficient from the circumstance of his name having
been tendered to him by the adjutant or by the
sergeant-major. In 1865 it was brought to his
knowledge that he was not efficient, and witness
acted accordingly. He never signed any certificate
for him without believing he was efficient at the
time. By the President—lt was possible witness
might have signed a certificate when Lieut. Cooper
might not have been efficient. With this the case
of the complainant closed, and Captain Clark, the
defendant, applied for an adjournment to enable him
to prepare his defence and to call witnesses. The
President said the matter lay in a nutshell, and a
short adjournment might answer Capt. Clark's pur-
pose. There was no doubt, he added, that Lieut.-
Colonel Lawrie remarked, in reply, that he shot
under the exceptional rule of the association. The
hearing was eventually adjourned.

coast among the Channel Islands which, although
badly hung, being almost out of sight, has such
genuine merit that it was bought immediately."
FRANK LESLIE tells us :—‘, Albert Bierstadt, the
landscape-painter, has sailed for Europe." It adds :
We saw a few days since a picture lately finished by
him, the subject taken from a passage of wild nature
in the Far West. It is a scene rather of prairie than
of mountain character, though there are steep bluffs
and distant mountain ranges included in the com-
position. The foreground of the picture is an ad-
mirable realisation of the herbage and flora peculiar
to the great plains; and, for feeling and sympathy
with nature, it is superior, we think, to any of the
artist's larger and more ambitious pictures.—Anglo-
American Times.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The Reform Bill has passed through
committee. Yesterday afternoon, at half-past six
o'clock, the final schedule was adopted, the preamble
was agreed upon, and the Chairman was ordered
to report the bill to the House. One solitary voice
—said to be Mr. Beresford Hope's, but, at any rate,
proceeding from below the gangway on the ➢linis-
terial side—answered " No' to the question that the
bill be reported; but the thankfulness and satisfac-
tion of the mass of members were expressed by
cheering which drowned all symptoms of dissent.
The bill has virtually passed the Commons. On
Friday it will be considered on the report, and there
is on the notice book a string of amendments,
which will, doubtless, be increased in length before
Friday comes ; but we may be confident that nothing
beyond formal amendments will be adopted. The
House sees the end of its labours in view, and would
be apt to treat with some asperity any one who in-
terposed without grave reason to justify the delay
his motion might occasion. It is understood that
Friday is to be given up wholly to the Reform Bill
if necessary. Should the sitting in the afternoon
prove insufficient, private members will be asked to
forego their privileges, so that the clauses of the
bill may be finally settled before the end of the
week. Oa Monday the third reading will be pro-
posed, and we trust that on Tuesday or Wednesday
the bill may be carried to the other House of Par-

liament. It was manifest to all when the committee
met yesterday afternoon that they meant to complete
their labours before the sitting was suspended. No
mercy was shown to members who attempted to
persist in proposals meant for no purpose but to
satisfy the self-importance of some section of their
constituents. Mr. Locke's clause for regulating
the demand of Rates was alone seriously dis-
cussed, and it was at length accepted, modified
by some considerable amendments suggested by
Mr. Hardy. It will be remembered with what
heat the necessity of a formal demand was urged
a. fortnight ago. It was said that the Govern-
ment was pledged to bring forward and press
upon the Committee a provision insuring a per-
sonal demand of rates from every ratepayer,. so
that no person otherwise qualified as a voter might
lose his privilege because he had overlooked the
necessity of paying his rates, and the overseer had
not warned him that he was in arrear. It was de-
clared, when the Committee rejected a clause which
would have practically enfranchised all the poorest
because of their inability to pay the rates due from
them, that this question re-opened the whole ques-
tion of the Borough Franchise. Milder counsels
yesterday prevailed. Mr. Gladstone did, indeed,
once more bewail the extinction of the Compound
Householder, but he quickly passed from this▪ dan-
gerous ground, and contented himself with arguing
against the sufficiency of a general notice pcsted on
the doors of places of worship and advertis•
ed in
local newspapers. A general notice would not do,
he urged, because it did not tell the amount to be
paid. It seems sufficient to answer that a notice
which stated the amount levied in the pound would
give each ratepayer all the information he would
need, as ratepayers in general, and certainly all
those whose political privileges are supposed to be
endangered by want of punctuality in payment,
know with perfect accuracy the rateable value of
the houses they occupy. The Committee appeared
to be of this opinion, for after some discussion Mr.
Hardy's amendment was assented to, subject to the .
common condition of further consideration, ne-
cessary, on the report. This practically terminated
the business of the afternoon. Those who ven-
tured to stand in the way of the Committee after-
wards, and they were not many, made proposals
which for the most part came, according to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, within the
scope of the Boundary Commission ; and this
explanation was at once accepted as a reason
for abandoning the proposals. The schedules
were ahead, and the Committee was
eager to
attack them, but, as it soon appeared, not from
any desire to alter them so much as from a wish to
have done with the Bill. One of the most serious
amendments to Schedule B turned on the ouestion
whether a future borough of the North Country
should be called Hartlepool or The Hartlepools, and
Mr. Disraeli recommended that the final settlement
of this grave matter should be deferred until the
report, by which time the wishes of the inhabitants
might be ascertained by telegraph. Mr. Henniker-
Major's proposal to trisect Suffolk was negatived,
as anticipated, without discussion ; Mr. Ayrton
postponed his suggestion for the enfranchisement of
Wandsworth, and the claims of Lowestoft, Rother-
ham, Doncaster, and Reighley were rejected as
summarily as the pleas for grace put forward on
behalf of Lichfield, Hertford, Bodmin, and other
ornaments of Schedule A. The schedules were
added to the bill without a single alteration beyond
re-naming the new divisions of Somerset, and the
adoption of the preamble crowned the edifice of
Reform. There was a general desire on both sides
of the House that the report should be taken to-
morrow, but Mr. Disraeli very properly deferred to
the remonstrances of Mr. Gladstone and Lord Cran-
borne, and postponed it till Friday. The bill itself
will not be reprinted till this afternoon, and it is
plainly desirable that some opportunity should be
afforded of communication with the constituencies,
lest clauses should be permanently embodied in the
bill which would produce undesigned local incon-
venience. The Reform Bill, as amended by the
committee, will be distributed among the members
of the House of Commons this afternoon, and if the
pertinent suggesti▪
on of Sir Rainald Knightley be
acted upon, it will be accompanied with a reprint of
the measure as ori▪
ginally introduced. It is, perhaps,
too much to expect that the Government will be
anxious to exhibit the contrast between their first
draught and the complete scheme concocted in
committee, but the means of comparing the two are
within the reach of all, and the comparison will
doubtless be studied, not without effect, before
Monday. Sir Rai
nald linightley observed that
a document containing in parallel columns the
original and the amended bills would be of curious
historicalinterest, but this is a faint description of
its value. It would be to some extent an explana-
tion of Parliamentary tactics, and still more of the
power of a movement once started to carry away
with it those who set it in motion. Having urged
the necessity of a generous and ample measure of
enfranchisement long before Parliament met, we
accept with satisfaction a result which corresponds
with our recommendations. Whether the Govern-
ment as a body are perfectly satisfied with their own
handiwork may perhaps be doubtful, and it is cer-
tain that a eon siderable section of their supporters
regard with dislike the measure they have helped to
bring to a successful issue. These are the men who
believed in securities "-as securities," who thought
it possible to maintain the condition of two years'
residence, and looked upen compound householding
as a Heaven-sent boon to keep men from the fran-
chise rather than " the device of Old Nick" stigma-
tised by Mr. Henley. It is to be regretted in the
interests of good government that any section of the
Legislature should have deceived themselves as to
the possibility of maintaining securities which were
clearly untenable ; but as we never shared their
false confidence, we cannot affect to sympathise
with their recent dismay. We insisted upon the
impossibility of laying down different terms of re-
sidence as the conditions of enfranchisement of
different classes of voters ; and, having always be-
lieved the effect of the practice of composition upon
the franchise to be excessively exaggerated on both
sides, we hailed the amendment of Mr. Hodgkin-
son, which gave the privilege of the vote to every
householder who pays the rates free from the diffi-
culty of compounding. Our only regret is that the
enfranchising clauses have not been supplemented
by a scheme of redistribution equally comprehen-
sive. The evil effects of the new franchise, so far
as an'y may be anticipated, would have been re-
moved by an adequate redistribution of seats. It
is in small boroughs that household suffrage may
prove a source of corruption, and small boroughs
retain privileges abated ift some cases, but still in
all wholly disproportionate to their real preten-
sions. The leaders of the great parties have failed
to show any mastery of the question of redistribu-
tion, and we must be content with a scheme which
removes the worst anomalies until public opinion on
the constitution of the House of Commons of the
future has been slowly matured.

FATTENING HORSES FOR FOOD.---At an exhibi-
tion of meat recently held at Nancy a butcher exposed a
mare 27 months old, weighing 410 kilos., and a horse, 13
years old weighing 520 kilos. ; these animals had been
fattened for the table, and wero covered with garlands.
The members of the Acclimatisation Society awarded
butcher Penneand a silver medal, and 50f. in money. Be-
fore being taken to the shambles the victims were led
through the town.