The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-16 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Orders have been received at Chathan garrison
for the following troops to be held in readiness .to
embark for India for the purpose of reinknving the
respective regiments now serving in BEngal, Ma-
dras, and Bombay, viz.:-16 men of. the 35th
(Royal Sussex) Regt. from the first depot battalion;
12 men of the 29th Regt., from the 2d battalion ;
23 men of the Bth (the King's) Regt., 30 nen ofithe
sth Regt., 18 men of the 81st Regt., and2o men of
the 94th Regt., from the 3d battalion.. The follow-
ing officers were under orders to embark kir India :
Capt. W. J. Anderson, 32d Light Infantry ; Lieut:
T. Lloyd, 35th Regt. ' • Lieut. W. C. Driberg, 94th ;
Ensign C. B. Crease, Ist batt., Bth; Ensign A. M.
Handley. and Ensign J. F. Fraser, Ist bat., 19th ;
Ensign-T. P. Butler, 24th; Ensign 'W,Ei Boycott,
29th ; Ensign C. Finnorby, 75th ; and Ensign C.
Rochfort, 81st. In addition to the aboie troops,
the following reinforcements are awaitingembarka-
tion for Calcutta :-66 men of the Royal Artillery,
from Woolwich; 65 men of. the 7th Hosars, and
.10 of the 90th Light. Infantry, from Canterbury ;
20 men of the Ist batt. 6th Foot, 90 men of the 34th,
30 men of the 37th, 12 men of the 88th, ard 14 men
of the 97th, front Colchester.

After only a very short interval anothe instance
of the infliction of corporal punishment on a private
soldier has just taken place at Chatham garrison.
Scarcely a week elapses but there are several pri-
soners brought to trial by court-martial at Chatham
either for selling their regimental necesoarics for a
few pence—deserting_ and re-enlisting into other
corps, thereby defrauding Government to a consi-
derable extent,--insubordinate conduct—Or com-
mitting acts of robbery by stealing from their com-
rades. Different modes of punishment have been
adopted to check these offences, but to•little or no
purpose, and the courts
.martial, have therefore re-
cently determined on resorting to more severe
punishment. The 'prisoner who was sentenced to
a private of the
1 s td
c2o3rdpoitoralyaplumnieshmlshenFta
Fusiliers,
rs' named Jones,
his crime being that of highly insubordinate con-
duct in the presence of the whole of the troops as-
sembled on the parade-ground, in resolutely refus-
ing to obey the commands of the adjutant of the
battalion, and also with using language of a highly
mutinous character towards the same officer. For
these offences the court sentenced him to receive 50
lashes and also to be imprisoned for a length-
ened period in Fort Clarence. The depots compris-
ing the 2d battalion assembled on their parade-
ground at Chatham barracks at an early hour in the
morning, when they were marched to the . Spur
Battery, where the sentence of the Court was read
in the presence of the entire battalion, after which
the punishment was initiated, during which the
offender displayed a very dogged demeanour. On
being released he was conveyed to the Garrison
Hospital, and Will, on leaving that establishment,
be sent to the military prison at Rochester. The
prisoner during the short time he has been in the
service bears the character of being- one of the very
worst men in his depot.
Major Melchior, an officer of the French Imperial
Artillery, who is charged with the , delivery of the
121 b. howitzer I'Alliance, and appUrtenances, con-
structed on a system invented by the Emperor
Napoleon, to her Majesty the Queen, visited -Wool-
wich Arsenal, and conferred with. Col. Tulloh,
superintendent of the Royal"carriage department,
on the subject of the presentation, which, it is
stated, will take place to-day.. Col. Tulloh is ordered
to proceed to Windsor this morning, by direction
of General Peel, to assist in the ceremony.

ADII2II?AL SIB M. F. BERKELEY ON
THE NATIONAL DEFENCES.

The anniversary meetings of the three societies
by which the memory of the munificent Edward
Calston is celebrated were held at Bristol on Sa-
turday evening. The dinner of the Anchor or
Liberal Society was attended by Lord Ducie,Lord-
Lieutenant of Gloeestershire ; AdiMral Sir M. F.
Berkeley, K.C.8., the late Senior Naval Lord of
the Admiralty ; Co!.Cola Berkeley, g.p. ; and the
members for the city, Mr. H. Berkeley and Mr. H.
G. Langton. The toast of " the Army and Navy"
having been given, Sir M. F. Berkeley returned
thanks on behalf of the latter service in a lengthened
speech. He commenced by referring to the letters
published by Mr. Kingseote relative to the Deal
boatmen, and stated that Mr. Kingscote had writ-
ten in ignorance of the subject He asserted
that not a single man had been discharged at
the end of the Russian war but those who had
served their time and desired their discharge ;
and he pointed out that no man was receiving
a pension for ten years' continuous service
because the system of continuous service had only
been in operation five years. The gallant Admiral
then addressed himself to the observations made by
Lord Hardwicke relative to the condition of the
navy, observations which he was sure the noble
lord would on reflection repent. Lord Hardwicke,
who was a good sailor, and an ornament to the naval
profession, had said that the British navy was in a
worse condition than it had been in former days,
and that, though this was to be regretted, it arose
not from any neglect on the part of e Government,
but in the improvements daily making in science and
art. He (the gallant Admiral) would point to Bir-
mingham, Sheffield, and other manufacturing towns,
and ask whether science and art had placed other
countries on a better footing than it lad England ?
(Hear.) He admitted that it was not pleasant to pay
for science and art, but if the country wished- to
maintain its maritime supremacy it must build a
new navy if foreign nations did so. Lord Hard-
wicke said that the navy was " absolutely weaker
than that of some great Powers near us ;" but he
differed from the noble lord. • He held in his hand
the official returns of the British and French navies.
and le could giye a positive contradiction to Lord
Hardwicke's statement. He thought it unwise to
publish the figures, but they were at the noble lord's
service. He could prove that. Great Britain was
superior to every other country in materiel, ships,
officers, aye, and men. (Loud cheers.) Lord Hard-
wicke had also said that, notwithstanding the
puffing of the British navy, and the' boast that it
was the finest in the world, yet it had done little or
nothing to bring the Russian war to a conclusion.
Was it nothing to have 18 sail of the line in the
Baltic, to destroy Sweaborg, to capture Kertch, and
to attack the forts of Sebastopol ? He maintained
that historians would have to record that the Russian
war proved more than anything else the great mari-
time power of England.. It must be recollected that
foreigners were supplied with the greater part of their
means of transport by the mercantile marine of this
country; and. when it was known what the crews,
both of men-of-war and merchant ships had done,
it was idle to say that our ships were inefficiently
manned. Lord Hardwicke had declared that the
British fleet " went to sea in such a condition as
to inflict a positive injustice on the brave officers
in command of the ships." He (the gallant Ad-
miral) would read a single letter of many hundreds
he had received ; it was from one of our best offi-
cers, Admiral Sir. Michael Seymour, when captain
of ie fleet in the Baltic :—" If there are ships the
commanding officers of which have complained of
their crews on their first landing, a modification of
such opinion has taken place ; and, though there
are some ships better circumstanced and more effi-
cient than others, we know no ship that would not
accomplish good service in operation against the
enemy." Let Lord Hardwicke go to Harry Kep-
pel, Hall, Paget, Codrington, and fifty other men ;
they would tell him the true story. They never
sent him a complaint, but, on the contrary, gave
the highest praise to both officers and men. He
could, however, understand a Cabinet Minister
saying these things, because he wished-the country
to grant larger supplies for the maintenance of the
navy. He agreed with the noble earl that the
navy must be increased ; he was not satisfied that
it was large enough ; but what they had would
defy competition with any other navy.—Manchester
Guardian.