The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-24 00:00:00

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THE ARMY.

THE 11.1ED1TE.RBANEA2

MALTA, DEC. 18. An order has been issued from the Horse Guards,
directing that the men of the newly formed Army
A court of inquiry has been assembled to inquire
Hospital Corps are not to be employed either as
into the cause of her Majesty's ship Euryalus get-
medical or other officers' servants, or on fatigue
ting on shore on a rook on the coast of Greece.
turn, theieduties being to aitend exclusively to the
After the inquiry Captain Tarleton was declared
free from all blame, the rock not being laid down i sick and wounded.
1 Col. Rea, Commandant of the Chatham Division
in the Admiralty charts. 1 of Royal Marine Light Infantry, has granted per-
The Euryalus arrived here on the 11th for the
mission to a large number of the Marines under
purpose of being docked, but as several ships are 1
his command to spend the Christmas holidays with
waiting for the same purpose, it *amid detain the i
their friends, and leave of absence from head-quar-
diver;lus too long, and she is to be repaired by the
tern for several days has been accorded them for
she is at present making a good deal of
i that purpose. This indulgence has only been
water, and the donkey engine is kept constantly
I granted to those men who bear a generally good
going; however, the diver will be able to caulk the
character in the battalion.
leak. ' On the 27th she will proceed to Palermo,
This.. Armstrong guns intended to be forwarded
and thence to the various seaports of the Italian
to C ina were yesterday fired experimentally in
coast, it being the wish of his Royal
this
the. practice-range at Woolwich, in order to test
ghness
Prince Alfred to visit these places during this win-
the strength and perfect applicabilty of the equip-
ter. In the spring the Euryalus will proceed to
ments, some of the carriages having slightly given
Gibraltar, and thence to England to be docked, his
way under proof. They have since been repaired
royal highness proceeding to England in her.
`lmmediately. after the arrival of the Euryalus at and strengthened. The trial, which is stated to be
Malta his Excellency the Governor, the Hon. Victor final, is said to have been exceedingly favourable.
Houlson, and the heads of departments, went on Major.-Gen. Sir Richard Dacres and numerous
board to pay their repents to his royal highness. officers of the garrison were present. Each gun is
We have been surveying the Archipelago for very now provided with a supplementary carriage,
Groves, which can be promptly adapted in case of accident.
many years. Captains Smyth, Copeland, 25 years They are ordered for embarkation on board her
Spratt, and their assistants for the last
have been so engaged. Two vessels are employed at Majesty's steam store-ship Himalaya, Commander
present ; they consist of the Medina, Capt. Spratt, John Seccombe, on Tuesday next, at Southampton
and the Tartarus, Ca pt. Mansell. for Alexandria, thence to Suez, a despatch having
Her Majesty's ship Exmouth arrived from Paler- been received from Lord Elphinstone, 'stating that
a shi
oon the 11th. She had seen twice obliged to quit p will be in readiness at Suez for their con-
mher achorage there from stress of weather. veyance to Hong Kong.
The court-martial on the captain and officers of
her Majesty's ship Intrepid, for running that ship
on shore in the Archipelago, terminated on the
16th, after two days' sitting. Commander Marryatt
and the Master were sentenced to be severely re-
primanded.
We have in port the Exmouth, Renown, Racoon,
Scourge, Arg,us, Gannett, Intrepid, Lapwing, Eurya-
lus, Caradoc, Osprey, and Wanderer. The latter
proceeds to England to be paid off; the Lapwing is
having new decks, and the others are mostly refit-

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

THE LONDON SCOTTISH.
A numerously-attended meeting of the members
of this corps was held last night in the theatre of
the United Service Institution, to hear the tale of
the rise, progress, and present condition of their
body, and to be made acquainted with the result of
the deliberations of the committee in regard to the
expenditure, rules, and dress to be adopted by the
corps. The committee found an able exponent of
its views in their commanding officer, Lord Elcho,
who, dressed in a loose gray blonse, with gray
trousers to match, with belt and shoulder strap,
presented himself as a model for criticism to his
men for the occasion.
Lord ELCHO, on coming forward, said that the
thanks of the meeting Were due to the Committee
of the United Service Institution for permitting the
corps to hold its meeting in so central a position.
The London Scottish Volunteers owed their origin
to a meeting held at the Freemasons' Tavern on 6th
July last, and, although their progress had not been
very rapid, still, on the whole, it was not discou-
raging: With regard to the present condition of
the corps it was the opinion of competent judges,
such as Lord Rokeby.and G. Hay, that they had
made great progress in efficienency, and he took this
opportunity of thanking them for their continued
attendance and attention to drill. The corps was
becoming, he was glad to say, stronger, and although
he was now only a major, he hoped soon to be a
colonel, which event, however, could not take place,
before 450 members were enrolled. He could give
them a tolerably satisfactory account of their funds.
They had collected £7OO, of which they had spent
about .£lOO, leaving still £6OO in hand. Besides this
sum they had promises of subscriptions, &c., which
were as good as if the money were already in the
bank, and which would give them a total 0w,360.
The committee did not intend to be satisfied with
this, but intended to trench still further on their
liberality, and to introduce a regular begging system,
—a kind of house to house vilitation, and had de-
termined to establish a Capital fund from donations,
entrance fees, ac., the interest of which would go
to liquidate the annual expenditure. He could
not give them an accurate estimate bf what thatex-
penditure would be, butrat a rough guess he consi-
dered they ought to pay all their expenses for
£5OO a-year. He then proceeded to'detail the steps
he had taken to secure a good and safe practice
ground, and commented on the difficulties of so
doing in the neighbourhood of large towns. He
had at length secured one from the Crystal Palace
Company, who had behaved very liberally in the
matter, as they gave the ground, together with ad-
mission to all the advantages-of the Palace, for ss.
a-head annually so long as the Memberipresented
themselves in uniform. They would be carried there
and back for 4d., 6d.' and 9c1., accordingto the 'Class
of carriage by which they travelled. In the ground
he had secured they would have three ranges,—one
of 300 yards, one of 200 yards, and the third of 100
yards, so that three distinct parties could all prac-
tise at the same time. The cost of erecting butts,
preparing the ground, and building shooting houses
:would be £3BO, and £2O for contingencies, making
£4OO, exclusive of targets, which would probably
bring the total up to £5OO. The Pimlico Corps of
Lord Grosvenor was willing to join them in taking
this practising ground, in erecting butts, and in
sharing the expenses, and he rather rejoiced in
having an opportunity of bringing together various
volunteer corps, as it would tend to diffuse an esprit'
de corps through the whole body. (Cheers.) In
rifle shooting,however,/onge range was everything,
and, as the range he described was limited, he, was
making inquiries of the Crystal Palace Company
what the additional charge would be for taking
them on to the chalk hills about Croydon and
Kettering. These steps he hoped would meet
their approbation, for he and the committee
had really done their bed to promote their views.
(Cheers.) The rules for the regulation of the corps,
which are based upon those drawn up by the com-
mittee of the War-office and upon those of the
Marylebone Volunteers, were then read by his lord-
ship, who interspersed them with numerous expla-
nations. In reading the rule relating to the esta-
blishment of prizes for encouraging rifle shooting
his lordship mentioned that Lady Elcho proposed
to give a Westley Richards breech-loading rifle to
the best shot, and also informed the meeting that
the Caledonian and Highland Societies were both
willing "to come down handsome " for the same
purpose. (Cheers and laughter.) In regard to the
discipline of the corps he said that every man when
he became a citizen gave up some portion of his
liberty ; but every man when he became a soldier
gave up more, because it was absolutely necessary
that discipline should prevail. Now, volunteers
differed from regular soldiers in this respect, as the
same strict discipline was sot necessary, and in
considering this point the committee had deter-
mined to do what was most difficult—viz., to tem-
per despotism with democracy, and this wonderful
discovery they had. hit on in one of their rules, by
which it was enacted that the despots were to be
the field officers,.captains, and adjutants, while the
democratic party were to consist of a council of
honorary members, not to exceed the officers in
number. In the matter of promotion they had
adopted the French plan, which was a combination
of the seniority and appointment system. He con-
cluded his remarks on the rules by expressing his
obligations to the committee, between whom and
himself the greatest cordiality had always existed.
(Cheers.) He then moved the following resolution :
" That the rules now read be adopted as the rules of the
corps, and submitted as such for the approbation of the Go-
vernment authorities, with power to the committee to modify
the same."

tin g.
Her Majesty's ship Tartarus, surveying vessel,
arrived on the 14th. She will be paid off. Her
first lieutenant and master will proceed to England
to bring out her Majesty's ship Firefly, to be em-
ployed in place of the Tartarus.
The mails for India were detained in Malta from
the 14th to the 16th, waiting for the Delta, with
the portion via Gibraltar., The Delta experienced
very heavy gales immediately after quitting Eng-
land, which did her considerable damage, and
though a very powerful and good sea boat; she
could scarcely make two knots per hour daring the
gale. Several very heavy seas struck her, carrying
away her bowsprit and part of her railings. One
sea struck her with such violence, that it lifted her
heavy anchor from the cat-head, and drove one of
the flukes through the deck. The vessel
-proved
herself perfect in all that a steamboat should be.
She was two days late at Gibraltar, where she had
to updergo repairs ; also at Malta. Her principal
defect is that one of her valves is out of order, and
the quantity of water that she takes in obliges her
to keep her pumps constantly gain:
On the 21st, the 2d battalion of the '23d- Royal
Welsh Fusiliers are to have new colours given to
them. The officers give a ball in the evening, and
the sergeants have asked the sergeants of all the
regiments in garrison to a banquet.

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The resolution was carried almost unanimously.
Lord ELCIIQ, in answer to a question, explained
that the members of the council were taken from the
honorary, instead of the effective members in order
to obviate any clifficulties which might arisebetween
an officer and a private who might possibly be in
the council. He now came to the question of dress,
in which all parties were interested. (Hear.) His
•views were these—the question of dress turned on
three things—cut, colour, and cost. What were the
principles on which sportsmen and soldiers should
be dressed Comfort and common sense. For the
soldier is a sportsman, the difference being that the
soldier pursues the biped, and the.sportsman a qua-
druped. (Laughter.) And this put him in mind
of a sporting friend who wished to join this corps,
" because," he said, "he could not go shooting on
his own hook" if an invasion should at any time
lake place. (Laughter.) To return from this di-
gression, he would ask them whether comfort and
common sense had been the principles on which the
British army had been dressed ? Comfort and com-
mon sense were not to be found in black leather,
stocks, tight-fitting tunics, and Highland bonnets.
Mr. Bernal Osborne had said that the principles on
which the authorities dressed a soldier were the
same as savages painted themselves—viz.., to frighten
the enemy. Now, he (Lord Elcho) wished to make
them as comfortable and soldierlike as possible, but
he would make them, comfortable first and smart
afterwards, and for these reasons he was in favour
of the introduction of knickerbockers. The knicker-
bockers were worn in olden time ; the French Chas-
seurs wear there, and they are worn in a modified
form by the Zouaves. They combined the advan-
tages, of the kilt and the trouser of the Zouave.
The ordinary trouser dragged on the knee, got wet,
and became torn in briars and under wood—so much
so that it was a common saying in the Highlands
that a man in the kilt would walk five miles further
than a man in trousers in a day. Now, with the
knickerbocker he kept iris trousers dry and untorn,
and tookthe strain and drag off the knee. Leather
knickerbockers he considered too hot, and thought
canvas ones better. As to the upper part of the
dress, he liked something loose, not pinching like
the tunic, but fitting like a shirt, easily ancrcom-
fortably. As to colour, some were for red. (No, no.)
There was much to say for red according to
some ; it was the national colour, and would help
to distinguish friends from fops. But these persons
forgot that red was also word by the French, Now