The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-21 00:00:00

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Sir,—l read:*':ith great .interest in e"..,
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- -„ 04 - AtAll4olllw . ;.+44lk
) I •,4\ - " '•1 119 W '6" last Friday the letter signed •by Colonel k
),J\ 4i I , "2' 41.„0 -0.011 -‘111,0‘.• 061, 'Cr
4/4/,'l ,„01 • ,=,-* ,
on the "all-important subject of manning the
II so entirely-concur in -all thatgenjlequin

'NJ T;

PRICE, 4D• STAMPED, SD•

tached to the 29th depot are Capt. J. M. Lyle
strnctor of musketry to the 2d battalion of infan
Lieut. T. P. Wood,Ensign E. P. H. Everard, Ensign
R. Berkeley, and Ensign J. IL H. Croft.
Yesterday orders 'were issued for the 3d battalion
of Grenadier Guards to be held ready to march from
St. George's Barracks, 'Trafalgar-square, on Satur-
day the Ist
,proximo, to proceed to Dublin to relieve
the 2d battalion of Scots Fusilier Gnards, who will
return tollie metropolis and occupy-Portman-street
Barracks. The same day the Ist battalion of Scots
Fusilier Guards, which Moved ,into Portman-street
Barracks from 'Windsor on Saturday, mill march to
St. George's Barracks. On Saturday the 26 bat-
talion of the. Grenadier Guards left the camp at
Aldershot for 'Windsor. _ _

Yesterday several additional recruitinr, parties
were out in the metropolis fibm the 2d Dragoon
Guards; the
.35th, 43d, and 53d Foot, and the Royal
Marines. The termination of the harvest and the
dismisE al of the militia regiments that have been
out training have considerably increased the 'num--
ber of rest nits, the average number of 90, daily ar-
riving at the chief office, Delahay-street, West-
minster.
The encampment at Brown-down; which has been
occupied since the commencement of 'Stine as a rifle
instruction practice ground for the troops forming
the garrison of Portsmouth and its dependencies,
was yesterday broken up, with the exception of the
Royal Marine Light Infantry, and the various
troops joined their respective head-quarters. The
present site was first selected for the encampment
of tho German Legion at the conclusion 'of the
Crimean campaign, 'but latterly has been used for
the purpose above mentioned, for which it is most
admirably adapted. The practice v76-fled itself ad-
joins the western portion of the beach of Stokes
Bay, and was some years back sold by Government
for a very inconsiderable sum, and on the want of
it being discovered for its present use, it was,
of coui•se, bought back for a much larger sum
than what it had been previously sold for. To ren-
der the whole matter more rididulous, a triangular
piece of the ground at the western end was left un-
purchased, which ground must now be bought at
any price, as it confiues the present rifle range to
900 yards, while it would give a 1,200 yards range.
The gound to the northward of and adjoining the
practice-ground forms a plateau with sufficient room
to encamp 6,000 men. The drainage of the grouni
by natural moans is excellent—a slight trench; a
few inches in depth; is dug round each tent, and•
however heavy the rain may be it 'soaks instantly
through _to the shingle beneath. Fourteen wells
have lren sunk along the front of the camp, each
well having been originally supplied with a pump
and cdvered over' but the pumps have long since
been broken, and the covers to the wells are gone,
no one knows where, unless to light the camp fires;
the coUsSquence is, the men lower the buckets into
the wells by a piece of rope, and draw their water
in the best way they can. The majority of the
troop wash theniselves at the well's mouth, and, as
a matter of course, the dirty water percolates back
through the brickwork into the well again. The
tents bf the, line and militia contain, within a cir-
cumference of 36 feet, from 12 to 14 men, stowed
on some loose straw,littered over the ground: Each

I have the honour to be, Sir,.
Your obedient humble servant,

Sept. 16.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

... ,
tent iS supplied with a cooking kettle, and this with I
the men's canteens, we were informed, includes the .1
whol s' of the mean allowed to the soldier for cook- 1
ing his food•and keeping himself and clothes clean •
durihg a life in camp. On turning to the tents, 14
in number, of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, we
find the same sized• tent as the troops of the line,
but with only nine men in each. Every man's bed,
is snugly rolled up and secured by a leathern strap,
forming a comfortable seat round the tent ;'the floor
is cered with clean shingle, and in front, of, the
tents au ornamental garden. The paths ,between
thents are well gravelled and bordered with flints
and hells. Each tent is supplied with its cooking
kettle, as its brother of the line • but, in, addition
to this, the tent ;of - the Royal Marines has a
strorig tin dish for meat and potatoes, a capital
pail i for soup, &c., and the very complete out-
fits of each individual marine; and outside the
tent stands a handy wooden pail for washing pur-
poses. The contrast between the comforts actually
enjoyed by the one service, and the discomfort and
misery experienced by the other, on the same ground
and Under the same apparent circumstances, are too
great to be believed, except by actual investigation.
TWnew line of defences for the protection of Ports
mouth from the advance of an enemy on the north-
west side commence at the eastern extremity of the
camp, and stretches from Fort Gomer to Portsdown-
hilL From Fort Comer ,to the southward has been
comtnenced the new series of works which is in-
tended to eonnect Forts Gomer and Moncton, and
which will be armed: with pieces of the heaviest
calibre. Slightly in advance are the two auxiliary'
forts to Fort Gomer, each mounting 11 guns—nine
95-cwt. guns, and two guns-of 112 cwt. each. When
complete, the whole will form a network of the
strongest defences it is possible to conceive.
The detachment of her Majesty's 29th Foot dis
embarked at Portsmouth yesterday from the trans-
port Clasmerden, and left by the 10 a.m. frain for
Weedon.

Ford-house, Bow, Sept. 19.

oVSPAPER
.S;
vaneccl, tliktil shall only offerP a comment upon _or)e
IT,
point. -

Colonel Simmons wotild -seem to advocate the.
necessity of abolishing the tera of " Light In-
.
rting the corps of Royal. Ma-
-
rines into marine artillery._ 'Virtually they are so
now, and if Colonel Simmons should at any time
be at any of the head-quarters of the Marines, let
him visit the gun-shed where the men and officers
are so ably instructed by the gunnery officers in
the ship gun exercise. As rifle marksmen they are
certainly equal to any soldiers of the Line. Their
:-profielency in this particular should, I think, be
kept up. --- --
I have for some years been convinced of the ne-
cessity of a standing,na,vy, nor can. I discover hoW
better to acqu're it than by substituting Marines
for blue
.jackets, Terfact gunners,
.they are in
high state of efficiency and disciPline, and I am
convinced that' the 'experiment need only be tried
to be approved._
Sir, I should much like the following experiMenf
to be tried. Let a man-of-war be manned on a plan
the reverse of the
,present practice. Instead of, a
detachment of Marines and a crew of blue jackets,
let us have a crew of Marines and a detachment of
blue jackets. But,.Sir, in order that there shall be
no mistake, great care must be observed in the se-
lection of the captain in command. Without wish-
to be in the slightest degree invidious, I cannot
forbear to name one 'officer who, from an intimate
knowledge of his professional merits, together
with his great intelligence, would, in my humble
opinion, be well calculated to carry out the experi-
ment. I mean Capt. Robert Mends, C. 8., late flag
captain to-the much-lamented Lord Lyons.
• I would wish to ask, of what use is all that
enormous top weight in the shape of masts and
yards? As we look upon our Channel fleet lying
at anchor at -Spithead, I readily grant _that the
masts and yards add greatly to its appearance; but
I must own that I view them as things gone by.
Sooner or later this enormous additional expenseto
the country must give place to a, style of rigging
now very generally adopted ,in our merchant
service.

If you should think these remarks worthy of a
place in your paper, you will oblige me by publish-
ing them.

Sir,—l have read your article upon this subject
with pleasure, and none more so than theone in
last Friday's- iiffpresSien, in which you" point out - -
the untouched resources of the country.
I have under my care 50 youths belonging to the
reformatory class, and I think that, in stamina and
training, they are well adapted for the navy. They
have had, at least, two years of wholesome and cor-
rective discipline, and have learnt to obey orders
and signals, to march in "Companies, and perform
simple military movements. They can make and
repair their own clothes and boots, use sail needles.
and stitch canvas, scrub a room, make a bed, and
do a little rough cookery. They can swim well,.
climb'a long rope, and sit on the truck head of our
40 feet mast. Here, then, are, .I think, the elements
of a good sailor, while for dash and bottom, I will
answer for them that, in the day of trial, they will
rank with the men who shouted victory at 'I rafal-
gar, or with those who as bravely met defeat and
death on the shores of the Peiho.
But, sir, the navy refuses to take this, as I think,
useful class of boys. On what ground- I cannot
tell. Perhaps moral contamination is feared, and
certainly after" Jack" has had a few weeks' cruise
in certain parts of London or Portsmouth, it would
be as well to keep him from the evil cominunick
tion of the reformatory boy. Still, this regula-
tion does not exist with regard to the army.
What is the fine line,,then, that keeps him from
the navy ? Mr. CaVe's letter shows that there is
nothing to fear from this class of lads. Why, then,
is a boy from a certified reformatory like mine or
the Akbar only to be got into the navy sub rosa I
Break this baffier, and every year the State paid
reformatory shall add a valuable addition to the
defences of the country.
This question . affects the managers of these
schools equally with the public. The value of a
reformatory does not consist so much on its situa-
tion or system as in the right disposal of the boy at
the period of his discharge. To fail here is to fail
everywhere. To send London or town boys back •
to their old haunts, even after years of training,
is to risk all ; for, in addition to the power of old
habits and associations, the semi-public life of a boy
in these schools ordiscipline does, to acertain extent.
unfit him for the ordinary situations which towns
offer, and to send him abroad as an emigrant is at
once a costly proceeding and a possible loss to the
country, while to place him on board our Royal
Alberts and Goliaths is to fix him in the home of
his own choice, and for which he is well furnished
by his reformatory training. But a barrier
exists, and you, Sir, will do the State service if
your well-timed article should destroy this impedi-
ment and allow an honourable entrance into the
navy for a class of boys who, in all the essentials
of a British sailor, will bear comparison with any
in the service. _

I am, sir, your obedient servant,
W. J. CORDEL lER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—l have just had the pleasure of read-
ing in your paper of to-day one of the
most admirable, because most usefully sug-
gestive, articles which ever marked the active
and accurate vigilance of the Times. It it tes the
reasonableness of recruiting both navy and army by
boys from workhouses and reformatories. I recog-
nise without hesitation and wish to illustrate the
common-sense of the proposal. There was brought
before me yesterday a lad of 17 years of age accused
of theft, who had already been six times convicted
of the same crime. In October, 1857, I sentenced
him to imprisonment for 15 months. He repeated
the offence after his liberation in the course of the
summer of this year, and was sent by a police ma-
gistrate to gaol for 60 days. Nothing cured him.
He was again a thief, 'when his whole previous his-
tory was resuscitated. He avowed his guilt with
the most cheerful alacrity, while I did not hesitate
in the face of the public court to confess that I really
did not know what to do with such a case, and that
I personally revolted against the duty imposed on
me of literally burying alive a young man at the
very period of life when the seeds of the whole
practical usefulness of man ought to be quickened
into the promise, or, at least, hope of some kind of
fruit. But I was obliged to send him to prison for
18 months. Our whole system, depend upon it, is
a monstrous mistake and fallacy. No prison, no re-
formatory, will ever, by theoretical inculcation of
what is right, make the slightest impression on any
such juvenile offender. And even if their teaching
or discipline had any effect for a time, and while
the boy was within their walls, what is he to do
when his sentence is over, and he is sent once more
into the world ? The whole world rejects him. The
thing is nonsense. Your ideas, if carried out, would
save to the nation and to themselves thousands of
young spirits who, having gone astray under in-
citements, or temptations, or compulsions, or
examples of which nobody sitting always beside
a comfortrble fireside can have the slightest con-
ception, are—l say it sternly and openly
instead of being bettered or helped, made use-
less, and crushed for ever by prisons and reforma •
tories. Send them to the navy and army, and, by
doing so, not only save to the State an useless ex-
penditure, but give to the kingdom and to humanity
the service and the strength of the awakened self-
consciousness of what a man can do when he
works with others and when others will work with
him.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient ser-
vant,
JonN T. GORDON, Sheriff of Midlothian.
Sheriffs' Chambers, Edinburgh, Sept. 16.
as

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