The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-08 00:00:00

no one would denylthat Burns was a man of thorough
refinement and cultivation of mind, while it would
be difficult to name two men of greater refinement
than Burke or Erskine, although as Greek and
Latin scholars they might have had many better.
There were, besides, many living men who furnished
proofs of the justice of that which he wished to con-
vey. What he contended for was that every man
who had a proper sense of what was due to himself
and to society should, so far as lay in his power,
cultivate the mind which he had received from God,
and that the lawyer should never forget in the du-
ties of his profession the larger and more extensive
duties which he had to discharge as a man and a
citizen. (Cheers.) In almost every assembly in this
country a sneer at the rapacity and the unscrupu-
lousness of members of the legal profession was cer-
tain to meet with a too ready acceptance. He was,
of course, aware how shallow, how ignorant, and
how ill-bred such comments for the most part were;
but he feared, nevertheless, that they sometimes
were founded in truth. A wise, a calm, and a very
great man—Wordsworth, in one of the most famous
of his poems had pointed his finger at the legal pro-
fession with a fierce scorn, altogether foreign to his
ordinary character—

" The lawyer, art thou ? Come not nigh.
" Go carry to some fitter place
" The keenness of that practised eye,
" The hardness of that sallow face."
(A laugh.) That such an impression as that to
which he adverted should exist, in however slight a
degree, with respect to the profession to which they
had the honour to belong,was a humiliating state of
things, and it became the duty of every one of them
to render it as far as possible unjust. He, for one,
had good means of knowing that a great lawyer
must be a man of stainless honour, of spotless purity
of mind, and of the highest cultivation ; and what
nobler object, he would ask, could present itself to
any of them than to aid in wiping off every stain
and every prejudice which now dimmed, or seemed
to dim, the honour and fame of a great profession,
founded in the necessities of human nature, conse-
crated by the memories of tyranny resisted, inno-
cence protected, justice vindicated, and containing
among its members a long list, of great and good
men, whose names and works were the glory of their
own times and the delight of succeeding ages.
(Loud cheers.)
A t the conclusion of the hon. and learned gentle-
man's address the " Davis Prize" was presented to
Mr. P. W. Drummond for the best essay on the
subject of capital punishment.
A discussion followed, in which Mr. Drummond,
Mr. H. E. May, Mr. H. E. Stenning, Mr. J. R. Col-
lins, Mr. W. Woodall, and Mr. W. S. Prideaux
took part, on the question, " That the responsibi-
lity for any libellous matter contained in a correctly
quoted paragraph (when the authority is given), or
in an accurate report of a public meeting, should
not (unless malice in fact be proved) rest with the
proprietor, printer, or publisher of any newspaper,
or other periodical publication so quoting or report-
ing: but with the originator of such libellous matter
alone."

Naval and Military Intelligence.

On Tuesday morning a Court-martial assembled
on board her Majesty's ship Formidable, flagship of
Vice Admiral Sir B. W. Walker, K.C.8., Com-
mander-in-Chief at the Nore, to try Thos. Neville,
of her Majesty's ship Pylades, captain of the after-
guard of the ship, for deserting her at Halifax on
the 4th of Feb., 1866 ; and, secondly, with making
away on the 2d of Feb., 1866, with the sum of £7
175., the money of a mess in which the prisoner was
the caterer. The Court consisted of Capt. S. L. Crof-
ton, additional to her Majesty's ship Cumberland, for
service iu the Naval Barracks, Sheerness, president ;
Capt. D. M'L. Mackenzie, of H.M.S. Formidable;
Commander J. P. Sherburne, of 11.M.5. Wellesley;
Commander W. L. Partridge, of 11.M.5. Cumber-
land; and Commander E. Nares, H.M.S. Reindeer.
Mr. 11. Knight, of the firm of Essell, Knight, and
Arnold, Admiralty solicitors, Rochester, was deputy
judge-advocate. Capt. A. W. Hood, of Py-
lades, prosecuted. The prisoner pleaded guilty, and
threw himself upon the mercy of the Court. Capt.
A. W. A. Hood said that previous to Feb. 4, 1866,
his character was very good, and that he was satis-
fied with the manner in which he did his duty. The
Court then was cleared, and after an hour's delibe-
' ration, and on the Court re-assembling, the prisoner
was sentenced to be reduced to an able seaman of
the second class, and to undergo two years' impri-
sonment, with hard labour, in Lewes Gaol.
Additional particulars have been received at Chat-
ham respecting the final trial of the ships comprising
the Channel squadron, under steam, during the run
from the coast of Ireland to Plymouth. On leaving
Bantry Bay, on the Ist inst., a short trial of the
squadron at full speed took place, when in the course
of the trial, which lasted only two hours, the Achilles
beat every other ship, the shorter vessels acquitting
themselves remarkably well, with the exception of
the Bellerophon, which on this occasion took the
fourth place only. The ponderous Lord Clyde,
which represents in the squadron Mr. Reed's class of
wood-built frigates, completely clad with thick ar-
mour, took the second place, while the Pallas, which
has gained the palm for sailing in all trialq, and
under all circumstances, followed next. The Pallas,

it may be remarked, is 50ft. shorter than other fri-
gates of the squadron, and by thus taking the third
place, beating even the Caledonia, Ocean, and Hec-
tor, and coming so near the Achilles, has vindicated
the character of the new ships as steamers, which
the momentary failure of the Bellerophon might
otherwise have compromised. The low speed at-
tained by the Bellerophon at the commencement of
the trial was attributed to the circumstance of one of
the bearings of the engine having been screwed too
tightly, and to the sudden priming of the boilers,
which resulted in her steaming, for a short time, at
11 knots only, while there is little doubt she would
have
been beaten by the whole of the vessels of the
squadron hadthet of
these
of th
defects not been remedied. In
consequence
Portsmouth,
Bellerophonr esuuingin
accidents during the short race
a further
trial
e eor ordered on
ratheron
more than 14 knots, and
her way to Ports
as
asp d
equalling, in fact, that
achieved in August last
at the measured mile, Stokes
Bay. It is scarcely Possible to
importance of the long series over estimate the
of successes which the
of
the
Pallas has attained theduringcruise
dissipate the
squad-
ron,opinion inasmuch smuch as they completely
universal in the ship-building world to a
year or two since, that enormous length was the
leading desideratum in our ironclad ships. During
the cruise the Pallas succeeded iu beating every_
thing under canvas, and followed close upon the
heels of the Achilles, which proved herself the fastest
vessel of the squadron under steam, and that not-
withstanding the Pallas is 155 ft. shorter than the
Achilles. Since the trials the Pallas has proceeded
to Galway for a short time.
The screw corvette Pylades, 21, 350-horse power,
was yesterday put out of commission, and her crew
paid off under the supervision of Capt. W. K.
Hall, C. 8., superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard.
She has been in commission within a few weeks of
four years, during which period she has been at-
tached to the squadron on the West Coast of Ame-
rica. On being paid off yesterday the crew were
granted six weeks' leave of absence. Capt. A. W.
A. Hood, who commissioned the Pylades, and re-
turned to England with her, has been appointed to
the command of the Excellent, gunnery ship at
Portsmouth.

North
The Lily, 4, 702 tons, 200-horse power, having
been dismantled on her return from the
America and West India station, was yesterday put
out of commission, and placed in the third division
of the Steam Reserve in the Medway.
Yesterday the B Battery, 4th Brigade, Royal Field
Artillery, with the whole of the horses, Armstrong
guns, ammunition waggons, and other materiel,
left
Chatham garrison, en route for York, where the
bat':cry is to be stationed for the winter.
Two officers, two sergeants, and 48 rank and file
of the Bth depot battalion have been withdrawn from
Landguard Fort, Harwich. Sergeant Wood and
Corporal Glover, of the 84th Regiment, having qua-
lified at the gymnasium at Aldershot, as instructors,
are held in readiness to proceed to Malta to join the
gymnasium at that station,where also their regiment
is quartered. Lance-corporal Brown, of the 100th