The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-02 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Forte, 29, screw frigate, 2,364 tons, 400
horse power, was taken into the large basin of
Sheerness dockyard yesterday, where she will
undergo a thorough survey and repair, previous to
being placed in the First Division of the Sheerness
Steam Reserve.
The Pylades, 17, wooden screw corvette, 1,278
tons, 330 horse power, was taken out of dock
and placed in the large basin of Sheerness dock-
yard, for the same purpose, previous to being put
in commission. She will not be out of the dockyard
departments' hands before November next.

The Trafalgar, 72, screw ship, 2,900 tons, 500
horse power, late Coastguard ship at Queen's Ferry,
was taken into dock yesterday for examination, and
to be prepared for further Coastguard service.
The Meanee, 60, 2,591 tons, 400 horse power, late
of the Sheerness Steam Reserve, having had the
whole of her internal fitments, bulkheads, &c., re-
moved, left Sheerness yesterday for Woolwich, to
be prepared for a military hospital ship at 'Tong-
Kong.
The Scylla, 21, screw steam corvette, 1,467 tons,
400 horse power, Capt. Richard W. Courteney, re-
cently returned from China, where she has been
stationed during the last four years, is now in the
large basin of Sheerness dockyard, returning stores,
&c., and will be paid out of commission on the 6th
inst., and be placed in the third division of the
Sheerness Steam Reserve.

Yesterday a detachment of 30 non-commissioned
officers and men of the Chatham division of Royal
Marine Light Infantry left head-quarters and pro-
ceeded to New Tavern Fort, for service at that
station.

The detachment of Royal Marines Light In-
fantry, recently serving on board the 35-gun screw
frigate Sutlej, flag of Vice-Admiral the Mon. Joseph
Denman, in the Pacific, paid out of commission
yesterday at Spithead, returned to head-quarters,
Woolwich, yesterday. The detachment consisted of
Capt. Thos. Magin, First. Lieut. C. A. L. Moore,
and 30 Don-commissioned officers and rank and
Sle. Their term of service afloat has ranged over
a period of five years within a few days, and,
from the advantages of a long sea service, they are
now entitled to arrears of back pay, amounting to
considerably more than £l,OOO. To those whose
homes are in England will be granted five weeks'
furlough, and to those who are natives of Ireland
and Scotland will be given an additional week's
leave to visit their friends. The average sum due
to each man will exceed £35. Lieut.-Col Joseph
11. Jolliffe, Royal Marines Light Infantry, Wool-
wich Division, has been promoted, and is permitted
to retire on full pay from the 30th ult., with the
rank of colonel.

The remaining four companies of the 5 ith (West
Norfolk) Regiment arrived at the camp at Alder-
shott yesterday from Manchester. The strength of
the detachment was 11 officers, 210 men, 27 women,
and 19 children. The regiment is quartered on the
South Camp (G and Mines), and is attached to
Major-Gen. Renny's Brigade.
_ _

The 17th Lancers at Aldershott are under orders
to move next week headquarters and four troops to
Brighton, and four troops to Shorncliffe.
The 15th (The King's) Hussars received an inti-
mation yesterday to hold themselves i❑ readiness to
move as follows (no date specified) :—Headquarters
and two troops to Norwich, two troops to Ipswich,
two troops to Birmingham, and two troops to
Coventry. The 15th has been stationed at Alder-
shott about 16 months.
The Ist battalion Grendier Guards will arrive at
Aldershott to-morrow, and will be encamped on
Cove-common.

To-morrow the Ist battalion of the Grenandier
Guards leave the Tower of London for Aldershott,
and will be replaced by the Ist battalion of the
Coldstream Guards from St. George's and Chelsea
Barracks.

THE ABYSSINI4N CAPTIVES.

-

The following letter has been addressed to the
Editor of the Times :

"If it were done, when 'cis done, then 't were well

were done gilickly."

Sir,—In a vast amount of correspondmce that
has appeared in various journals up m the Abys-
sinian question there appears to be the smallest
amount of knowledge of the real difficulties of the
country. The maps that are now carefully studied
are of little assistance to the War Department, as
distances that appear trifling may be insurmountable
from several causes—the total absence of water,
the want of means of transport, and the failure of
supplies.

lla.ving an intimate acquaintance with that por-
tion of Abyssinia upon the Egyptian frontier, I
have regarded with astonishment the various sug-
gestions for an invasion of the country from the
coasts of the Red Sea, where every disadvantage
exists with which nature, unaided by an ally, can
bailie a military expedition.
This perplexing case may be thus simply de-
scribed :—Englishmen, including a Consul and an
Envoy, have been wrongly imprisoned and insulted.
All redress is refused by the King of Abyssinia, and
it has become the imperative duty of England to
liberate the captives and to avenge the insult. Should
we fail, or even should we delay, the national honour
will not only become ridiculous, but the prestige of
England will be entirely destroyed in our Eastern
empire, the security of which depends upon our
reputation.
Accepting this fact, and discarding the effeminate
proposals for " purchasing the liberation of the cap-
tives," which would disgrace the name of an English-
man and reduce him to the value of a slave, how are
we to effect our effect ?
Public opinion objects to an alliance with Egypt,
and advocates an independent action. If we are
determined to reject such valuable aid, we must be
extremely cautious in our operations. If we decline
the co-operation of Egypt, to prevent the occur-
rence of future complications, let us at once con-
sider the delicate question of Egyptian frontier,
which we cannot invade.
Not only does the entire coast of the Red Sea
belong to Turkey and Egypt, with the exception of
a small desert point opposite to Aden, but that
portion of Abyssinia upon the east bank of the
Atbara river is for a breadth of about 150 miles
contested and claimed by Egypt. Thus, the fron-
tier throughout the Egyptian territory is not only
disputed, but is a constant battlefield, and is to a
great extent deserted by the inhabitants, from the
insecurity of life and property. If, therefore, we
are determined to act independently of an alliance
with Egypt, to prevent complications, how shall we
avoid the complications of boundary questions
with that country should we invade Abyssinia ?
I see no difficulty whatever in a joint expedition
by England and Egypt ; very little difficulty should
England act independently, with permission from
Egypt to use that territory as a base of operations ;
and extreme difficulties should we attack from the
Red Sea, without the moral support of Egypt.
Were our object simply to conquer Abyssinia,
however difficult the first steps might be, we should
succeed at a certain sacrifice ; but our object is to
release the captives at the least possible sacrifice, to
redeem the lost prestige of England, and to complete
the affair speedily.

Whatever may be urged in favour of independent
ne`i,)n, it will be next to impossible to act without
permission from Egypt to occupy her territory.

The regular military route from Egypt to the
depot at Cassala, on the Abyssinian frontier, is
direct from Sxrakini. I was at Souakim in August,
1865, when the troops were despatched in a great
emergency from Cairo, under General Giaffar Pasha
to quell the mutiny of 6,000 black troops at Cas-
sala. In four days and a half the Egyptian regi-
ments were landed at Souakim from Suez. Camels
were quickly provided by the Arabs ; stores and
supplies, with fresh Nile water, were regularly
despatched from Suez, Cairo forming the base of
operation 7, whence inexhaustible stores could be
furnished by rail and steam. In 20 days' slow
marching from Souakim, through an easy desert
route abounding in fodder for the camels, Cassala
is reached ; this is the head-quarters for Egyptian
forces and military stores.
The Egyptians are admirable movers; there is
no " red tape" in that country, and as Souakka

has been adopted as the port of disembarcation for
troops despatched to the Abyssinian frontier from
Cairo, there can be no question as to the superior
facilities of the route.

If we are to operate against Abyssinia our forces
must be upon the frontier early in November, at
the commencement of the healthy and dry season.
October is an exceedingly unhealthy month, as the
rank vegetation produced during the rainy season
is in the process of drying. At the close of Novem-
ber the withered grass can be fired, and the country
becomes favourable for military movements ; no rain
will fall until the end of May, and no tents will be
required fur the troops.
Time presses. The public has happily a thorough
confidence in the wisdom and caution of the Foreign-
office, under Lord Stanley ; but if this approaching
season for action shoul I unfortunately pass by, our
countrymen must languish for another year in
chains, and our reputation will rust in inaction.—l
am, sir, your obedient servant,

SAMUEL WRITE BAKER.
liedenham-hall, Bungay, July 29.

THE BRITISH ARCILEOLOGICAL ASSO-
CIATION.

LUDLOW, Thursday.

This is the fourth day of the congress of this asso-
tion, and up to the present time they have been
favoured with most delightful weather, which, as
most of the day is spent in the examination of out-
door objects, is most fortunate.
Yesterday the examination of Ludlow Castle
and Church was finished. At the castle, after
describing in detail all the various portions of the
building and its historical associations, Mr.l'llo3fAs
\VRIGIIT, ILA., F.S.A., concluded by quoting an
extract froni his " History of Fulke Fitz-Warine"
(published in French, with an English translation),
relating to the capture, by Joce de Dinan, the owner
of the castle, then called Dinan Castle, of Sir Walter
de Lacy and Sir Arnald de Lys, his friend, and their
imprisonment in one of the towers of the castle.
Here Sir Arnald de Lys became enamoured of Marion
of the Heath, the chief chambermaid at Dinan
Castle, and "It happened that Sir Arnald, when he
saw an opportunity, pleaded with the damsel, and
told her that she was the thing that he loved most,
and that he was so much overtaken with her love
that he would have no rest day or night unless sbe
yielded to him ; for she would give him relief from
all his sorrows. And if she would do it he would
make her a surety at her own will that never would
he love another but her ; and as soon as he should
be set at liberty he would take her for his wife.
The damsel heard the fair promise and yielded him
to do his will in all things, and took surety of him
that he would hold with her according to his pro-
mise." By her means they escaped from the castle,
and aftewards Sir Arnald de Lys, in the absence of
Joce de Dinan, visited his lady love, and treacher-
ously let in the servitors and armed men of his
friend, Sir Walter de Lacy, who put all the inmates
in the castle to death, and sacked and burnt the
town. The betrayed wAnan, however, slew_ her
lover with his own sword, as the story narrates :
" Marion of the Heath lay in bed beside her love,
Sir Arnald, and knew nothing of the treason which
Sir Arnold had perpetrated. She heard a great noise
in the castle, rose from the bed, and looked down
into the castle, heard the noise and cry of the
wounded, and saw knights in arms, and white helms
andthauberes. Now she perceived that Sir Arnald
had deceived and betrayed her, and began to weep
very affectingly, and said piteously, Alas, that
ever I was born of mother, for by my fault my
lord, Sir Joce, who fostered me tenderly, has lost
his castle and his good people, and had I never been
nothing would have been lost. Alas ! -that ever I
believed the knight, for by his flattery he has de-
ceived me, and my lord, who is still more to me."
Marion, all weeping, drew the sword of Sir Arnald,
and sAid, " Sir Knight, awake, for you have
brought strange company into the castle of my lord
without leave ; and since you have deceived me
you cannot rightly blame me if I render you ser-
vice according to your desert ; but you shall never
boast to any mistress you shall have that by my
deceit you have gained the Castle of Dinan and
the country." The knight raised himself erect.
Marion with the sword which she held drawn in her
hand struck the knight through the body and he
died immediately. Marion then threw herself from
the tower and was killed.

At last night's meeting Mr. LEVIEN, M.A.,
F.S.A., read a paper " On the B irony of Burford."
After some introductory remarks, he said Burford,
as Eyton told them, was the calm! of Osborn Fitz-
Richard's Shropshire barony, and is thus described
in Domesday:—" Osbern Fitz-Richard holds Bur-
ford of the King. Richard, his father, held it."
This Richard, the father, who was lord in the Saxon
times, was Richard Scrupe, or Scrob, or Fitz-Scrob,
one of the favourites of Edward the C Jnfessor, who
conferred upon him the manor, with four others in
Worcestershire and one in Herefordshire, viz., Yar-
pol, about four miles south of Richard's Castle, of
which this Richard Scrupe is believed to have been
the builder. He survived the Norman Conquest,
but died before the completion of Domesday. On
the death of Richard Scrupe, his Shropshire minor,
with others, was granted to his son Osbern, who was
lord of it in 1087. The manor descended through
the family to Geoffrey de Cornwall in 1307, he
having married into the Scrape family. It re-
mained in the Cornwalls a long time, and Mr. Le-
vien traced it through many generations of the hon-
oured family, referring, in the course of his history, to
the jousts and tournaments, and the feasts in which
different members of this family were engaged.
The last of the barons of Burford to whom he called
attention, and whose likeness, with those of his father
and mother, was in a tryptych on the north side of
the altar in Burford church, painted by Melchior
Salaboss in 1588, was Edmund Cornwall, the giant,
or, as he was styled in the Cotton Roll, which is a
pedigree of the Cornwall family, "Edmund Corn-
waile de Burford, Esq., commonly called the strong
and bold baron." He was said to have been 7f t. 3in.
high, but the recumbent figure of him which is below
the triptych in the church made him even taller
than this. At his death his brother Thomas became
baron of Burford, and was living circa 1650. After
him the manor descended to his son Thomas. In
later times Mr. George Legh, of High Legh, county
Chester, who was born 1703, married Anne Maria,
daughter and heir of Francis Cornwall, baron of
Burford, and assumed the name of her family. Thus
the senior branch of the once princely Cornwallis was
now represented by the Cornwall-Leghs of Cheshire,
whilst the junior is represented by the Cornwalls of
Delbury, Shropshire, through their descent from Sir
Rowland (or Sir Richard) Cornwall, of Berrington,
county Hereford, second son of Thomas Cornwall,
baron of Burford, by Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir
of Rowland Southall, Knt., of Hampton Court, county
Hereford. Among their more celebrated descendants
in modern times were Charles Wolfran Cornwall,
Speaker of the House of Commons 1780-84, and the
Right Rev. Folliot Herbert Walker Cornwall, D.D.,
successively Bishop of Bristol, Hereford, and Wor-
cester, who died sth Sept., 1831. It did not appear
from the Rolls of Parliament;that the barons of Bur-
ford were ever summoned to the national council
by the title of their barony, for as late as 20 Henry
VI. (1442) Lord Melbroke was summoned as Sir
John Cornwall. In conclusion, he observed
that the facts he had laid before them as con-
nected with the barony of Burford served to show
how full of historical interest those spots which were
designated as " out-of-the-way places" often were.
They would prove that more than one of the former
lords of Barford might justly have asserted of him-
self, in the words of the motto borne by the present
noble owner of its baronial halls, that he was " Par
ternis suppar," almost a match for any other three.
Rev. J. D. LA TOL'CIIE next read an interesting
paper on Stokesay Castle, a stnallcastle now disused
on the banks of the river Onney, about four miles
from Ludlow. He traced its history from about 1200.
In 1291 a license was granted to Laurence de Lud-
low to crenelate his house to guard it against the
Welsh marauders. In 1790 it was the resting-place
for a night of the Bishop of Hereford. The bishop
appeared to have purchased food for h'inself. Ten
generations of the De Ludlows held possession of
the castle down to 1497, when a female descendant
married one Vernon, and the property remained is

the Vernon family down to 1616, and eventually it
came to the Cravens.

Thanks were voted to the readers of papers, and
arrangements being made for to-day's proceedings,
the party broke up.
There was a large muster this morning at the
Feathers Hotel, the head-quarters of the association
at Ludlow. At 10 o'clock the programme for the day
commenced with an excursion by road through
Ludford, Woofferton, Ashford, &c., to Little Here-
ford, thence to Burford, and so on to Tenbury. The
first halting place was at Little Hereford, where
there is a quaint old church close to the river Lune,
whose brawling voice is heard in the solemn quietude
of the rural churchyard. Mr. R(4berts, F. 5.1., was
the guide of the party, and described the arel4e )lo-
ffical features of the church. Close at hand is the
seat of Sir J. Bailey, M.P. (Easton Court), which,
however, was not included in the programme. It
is of mo lern date. The party, after spending a
short time at Little Hereford Church, resumed their
carriages and proceeded to Burford, where they
were courteously received by Lord Northwick
and the Hon. Miss Rushout, and conducted over
the mansion and church.

Mr. ROBERTS here offered some remarks "On
Burford Church."

The party next wended thir way to Tenbury,
where, at Swan Hotel, Lord Northwick had ordered
to be prepared for the travellers a most hospitable
entertainment. A sumptuous dejeuner was laid out
here, and duly honoured, after which the party (hav-
ing first inspected Tenbury Church) accepted the
invitation of the Rev. Sir F. Gore Ouseley to inspect
an Oriental collection at his residence. This part of
the programme, however, had only been partially
got through when the train conveying this despatch
left Tenbury.

This evening, among the other papers to be read
at Ludlow, is one on the " Masque of Comus," by
Mr. T. F. Dillon Croker.

The Volunteer Artillery Contests at Shoe-
buryness.

-41.

Yesterday the great prize of the meeting and the
greatest honour the Volunteer Artillery service can
win—the Queen's Prize--was contested for at Shoe-
buryness by representative detachments of Volun-
teer Artillery Corps from all parts of England and
Scotland. The prize is, as we have previously stated,
ten cups of exquisite design, and the contest is to
the artillery for the same great distinction that the
" Queen's" at 'Wimbledon is to the rifleman.
All the other competitions than the " Queen's"
have been with smooth-bore guns, but the Queen's
Prize is doubly attractive to the Volunteer artillery-
man, as the contest is a great honour in itself, being
with the weapon of precision, the Armstrong rifled
ordnance, of the powers of which every artillery-
man is aware, and with which it is an object of
ambition on the part of Volunteers • to practise.
Early and late the Volunteers stationed at Shoe-
bury have been at the special drill, and before pro-
ceeding to the battery all the detachments were ex-
amined by Colonel Fisher, the Royal Artillery In-
structor of gunnery, in this drill, and all " passed."
The competition with the Armstrong was very dif-
ferent to the smooth-bore contest. In the latter
the shooting was at 1,253 and and 1,500 yards, and
points were counted for shots which went, at the
first distance, within 12 yards of the right or left of
the target, within 105 yards over the target, or 55
yards in front; and at the second distance of 18
yards of the right or left, 110 yards were allowed
over the targets, and 60 before the target. For the
Armstrong shooting nothing scored except actual
hits on the target. The shooting was at two dis-
tances-1,500 and 2,000 yards, so that the gun had
to be trailed, laid, and elevated differently at every
shot, for the targets were not the one behind the
other, but were to the right and left. The target
of the 1,500 yards' range was 9ft. by 9ft., and at
2,000 yards 12ft. square, and each hit, an whatever
part of the target, counted 12. The time allowed
for the five shots was ten minutes. The Armstrongs
used were the 40 pourders.
The firing was carried on at two batteries, under
the immediate superintendence of Colonel Wilmot,
RA., the commandant, Colonel Gordon, R.A., and
Colonel Fisher, R.A. There was a very strong
wind blowing, and it is not at all surprising that
detachments which had never fired with this weapon
before should have missed the '' direct hits" which
arc requisite to be male before there is any score.
Some of the layers of the gun, the " No. 1," were
not at all free from nervousness on finding them-
selves for the first time behind the loaded Arm-
strong ready for action. Most of the men had no
experience whatever in the Armstrong gun drill
or practice until this year, and none had any
gun drill or practice before or since the associa-
tion's meeting last year. No. lof the Ist A Cinque
Ports, Dover, laid the first shot of his practice
at the wrong target, with the elevation of the
shorter distance, and struck at such a point as
to indicate that if properly directed the shot
would have been a hit. The next shot, elevated
for 2,000 yards and properly directed, was a
hit and scored 12, and this was followed by two other
hits, making 36. The Ist Shropshire scored 24 in
6min. 27sec., a time which plainly shows that the
gun was laid hurriedly. The Ist Sussex (Brighton)
first detachment scared 36 in Bmin. 30sec., and the
next detachment of the same brigade scored the
same number of points in the short time of six
minutes and a half. The Ramsgate detachments,
the Ist C Cinque Ports, then entered for their turn
of firing, the turns being decided by lot, and their
shooting was watche I with some interest, for their
corps supplied the winners last year. The detach-
ment which last year won the prize now scored in-
differently, but the second detachment did so well
that for some little time the great prize seemed
within their grasp. The No. 1 was Gunner Pugin,
the brother of the commandant, Captain Welby
Pugin, and assisted by a smart body of gunners ;
he worked the gun very well indeed, but too quickly.
his first shot was close to the target,; his second
was a direct hit on the 2,000 yards target, his third
also a direct hit on the 1,500 yards target, his fourth
another hit at the 2,000 yards--in all 36 points;
but his fifth struck the water before reaching the
target, scarcely enough elevation having been given,
and he scored nothing for that shot. The firing was
done by the detachment in 6nain. 57secs., having
more than three minutes to spare. The 4th West
York soon after entered, and at the first shot of one
of the detachments, said to be the Sheffield men,
the target was knocked over. Upon this the firing
was stopped until the tide had run out sufficiently to
allow the Royal Artillery to go out with a new tar-
get. No decision can therefore be given, as the
firing was resumed just at the time when it became
necessary to depart to catch the last train for Lon-
don. The second detachment of the Brighton corps
stood the highest, as all ties of equal scores are de-
cided by the time, and the detachment fired in the
shortest time. The Ramsgate detachment was
second.

In the shooting for the Eccentric Prizes the Vial-
ton Detachment of 2d Suffolk, one of the smalleat
corps in the brigade, and the only representatives
of the two counties of Suffolk and Norfolk here,
were declared the winners of Col. Adair's Challenge
Prize and Lieut. Gearn's £lO. The Ist B. Cinque
Ports was the winner of the second, Lord Limerick's
£lO, and the 2d Cinque Ports of the third, the £5
given by the officers of the Ist Surrey. All the guns
were 32-pounder garrison guns.

[ADVEE.TISEMENT.]-- Consumption, and all nervous, bilious,
stomach and liver complaints in every stage are only aggravated
and accelerated by drugs of every description, but perfectly
oa-u ble by Du Barry's health-restoring Revalenta Arabica Food,
as proved by thousands of cases which had been considered
hopeless; such as indigestion (dyspepsia), cough, asthma, con-
sumption, habitual constipation, diarrhoea, all gastric derange-
ments, litemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervousness,
biliousness, fevers, sore throats, diphtheria, catarrhs, colds, in-
fluenza, noses in the head and ears, rliemnatism, gout, impu-
rities, eruptions, hysteria, neurafria, irritability, sleeplessness,
acidity, palpitation, heartburn, 'headache, debility, dropsy,
cramps, spasms, nausea and sickness, even in pregnancy or at
sea, sinking fits, bronchitis. scrofula, tightness of the chest,
pains at the pit of the stomach, and between the shoulders, 8:c.
We quote a few.—The Pope's health restored by Du Barry's
Food. Cure No. 68,413.—"R0me, July 21, 1866.—The health of
the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all
other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's
Re valenta Arabica Food, of which he consumes a plateful
at every meal. It has pro luced a surprisingly beneficial
effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
cemhx,iaetntiltnl,egn:foffFoobrilmootii3o,, highly." From the "Gazette du Midi."
July 25. Cure No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, timber mer-
liSveurrrey'of derangement, thirty
ayner
pas'
rt diseasedial deaf
nleusnsg_s,
Cure No. 1,771. Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieutenant of
Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia.—No. 49,832. '`Fifty
years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness,
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness and
vomiting.—MariaJoly." Important Caution.—Beware of the many
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached.
In tins at ls. ltd.; 1 lb., 2s. 9d. 2 lbs., 4s. 6d.; 5 lbs., 11x.;
12 lbs., 225.; 21 lbs., 40s.—By Do BRRY and Co., No. 77,
Aegent-street, London; also Fortnani and Mason, 182, Piccadilly;
and at 61, Gracechurch-street; 4, Cheapside; 63, 150, and TA
QgQrd-Arcct 339 Strand; and au grnor§ azad chasioto.