The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-11 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 11, 1857

TEE SEVBNTY-EIGHTH HIGHLANDERS.

Scotchmen are often laughei at for the pride
they take in regiments composed of their own coun-
trymen. And while their vanity has sometimes le I
them too far, it will be denied by none that the
Highland corps have splendidly sustained the mili-
tary renown of the land whence their racks have
ever been filled. The tartan has fluttered in India,
Egypt, Spain, Belgium, and the Crimea ; and
wherever the men who wore it have gone they
have covered themselves with glory. Our at: en-.
tion has again been particularly directed to one of
these gallant bands ; and, while we would with-
hold the laurel from none of the heroes now sus-
taining British rule in India, we cannot refrain
from particularly noticing. the ree,iment whose
name stands at the head of this article. Havelock
and his Highlanders rivet the attention of all who
seek in our columns the tale of that fearful strife
in Hindostan, on whose results are staked the glory
and permanence of our empire. We will not
speak of their recent deeds ; these are in the minds
of all men ; we would simply sketch their story
from the time of their embodiment till the present
crisis.
It was the elder Pitt who first directed the valour
of the Scottish Celt from making fruitless assaults
on the House of Hanover, to achieving for it some
of its proudest triumphs. To this fact he alluded
in the House of Commons on the 14th of January,
1766 :—" I have no local attachments. .It is in-
different to me whether a man was rocked in his
cradle on this or that side of the Tweed. I sought
for merit wherever it was to be found. It is my
boast that I was the first minister who looked for
it and found it in the mountains of the North. I
called it forth, and draw into your service a hardy
and intrepid race of men. • . These men in
the last war were brought to combat on your side.
They served with fidelity, as they fought with val-
our, and conquered for you in every part of the
world." Not till long after the era of this speech,
however, did the 78th, or Ross-shire High-
landers came into regimental being. It was
when Republican France had set the world on
fire, and Britain had bared the sword to oppose
her, th tt this corps was first raised. Some-
where about the year 1793, warrants were issued
for raising fresh Highland levies. At that date
Kenneth, the last Earl of Seatorth, and the grand-
son of an inveterate Jacebi,e, still held the ancestral
estates in Rosa-shire and Lewis. He was beloved
in the Mackenzie country. A Mackenzie h mself,
lie bad avoided turning off his clan to make room
for black-faced sheep and south country drovers.
In one thing only did ho differ from his fathers--
he was a loyal subject of the new dynasty ; and
when the warrants were issued, he did his utmcst
for the monarch to whom he had sworn allegiance.
His vast influence was speedily manifested. Two
months and nine days after he was empowered, Le
had raised a regiment, nine hundred and seventy
of whom were Highlanders. one hundred and twen-
ty-nine Lowla* lers, nine English, and five Irish.
The 78th were first sent to Guernsey. In 1797
they went to India, and on the 24th of September,
1803, they contributed largely to the Assay° victory,
to the budding glory of Arthur Wellesley, and to
the foundation of that vast dominion, which, after
the lapse of half a century, they are so nobly
agonising to sustain. A few years later, we find
them in Italy, conspicuous at the battle of Maida,
on which cccasion the French had 7,600 men, and
the British only 3,819. Again, in 1811 we find
them wresting Java from the Dutch, at that mo-
ment under the rule of Napoleon. We believe
also, that they were in Brussels when the pacifict-
tion of Europe was achieved. They came, how-
ever, from India to Scotland about the year 1840,
on which obcasion they figured, to the great delight
of all boys young and old, with a very beautiful ele-
phant which always marched at their head. They re
mained, nevertheless but a very short time at home,
being sent again to India, their colonel of that date
happening to own land in Ceylon, which he could look
after more profitably by having his regiment some-
where on the neighbouring continent. They have
thus been absent from Britain for at least twenty
years at a stretch, during which long period they have
done duty in Arabia as well as Hindostan. We need
not remind our readers of their brilliant services in
the late war with Persia, which country they only
left to meet the villains of Bengal. They have
been embodied for sixty years, and we believe we
are not far wrong in saying that fifty out of the
sixty have been passed under the glowing skies of
the East.
That great injus'ice has been done this gallant
regiment cannot be doubted. Their story is one of
almost perpetual exile. Their time is, howei•er,
coming; and when they again reach Britain, they
will wear honours on their c•lours which shall se-
cute for them that attention which has hitherto
been lavished on more favoured but not more noble
battalions. " Cttidich an Rich," is their motto ;
and as in times past, so will it mil be their glory
to make their battle cry—" Help the King." Suc-
cess to them and every brave heart which at this
moment is ready to bleed, a sacrifice to the glory
and the integrity of that empire of which our own
province forms no unimportant portico, and to
which we are daily drawn more closely by fell dis-

W;

aster as well as glorious victory.--Toronto Globe.

THE LEMAIRE TRIAL.

The Court of Assizes of the Aisne was occupied
on Saturday, part of Sunday, and yesterday, in
receiving evidence in support of the charge of mur-
der brought against H. Villet and Jean Villet, and
also in support of some of the charges of rob-
bery brought against Hugot, LAesmtaoiret,beVmilluert,
and others of the prisoners. _
theti d eler Vince had
en, it was postively.
sdtearteodf aby man
i
o namedgoffered him I,ooofr. to commit it, but that he had
refused ; and it was stated by other witnesses that
the two Villets had been in the house of thet thaCtin
de-
ceased just before he was found dead, and that
death had been caused by violent pressure of the
nose and mouth. Is.s to the robberies, they
.were
Marcelclave, and Dazenescourt, and the details
presented no interest.
alleged to have been committed at Harbounieres,
The most remarkablee a-
f
ture in the proceedings was, as oa previous days,t
the cleverness with which the elder Villet tried )
explain away all the circumstances which told
against him ; the vehemence with which hede-
nounced the witnesses • and the bitter animosity
be manifested against 'ingot and Lemaira. On
one or two occasions, he solemnly called on the
court to punish the witnesses who deposed against
him, because their evidence was false, and their
manner of giving it improper. On other occasions
he made set speeches, which he evidently consi-
dered very telling. " Ah ! gentlemen !" said he, in
one of them, " Lemaire has only made what he
calls revelations against me, in order that I may
have to follow him to the scaffold to which he is sure
to go! He does not wish to have the shame and the
sorrow of dying alone If, what I cannot be-
lieve, this court of jussice should condemn me on
the word of such a man, I will die with honour
and with glory !" And then turning to Lemaire,
he continued :—" I cannot prevent you from say-
ing what you will, but I know why; you say it,
it is to prolong the present proceedings in order
that you may have a chance of escape. But I tell
you that you will not again find the prison door
left half open—that no more cords will be thrown
over the wall to you I No ! no ! The bird is
caught, and the cage is at present solid !" On
another occasion he said :—" As to Hugot, he has
a rage against me which is not that of a simple
malefactor, but of an assassin ! He says to him-
self, 'Villet shall come to the scaffold with me !'
and not content with that he tries to drag there
my wife, my son, my daughter, everybody belong-
ing to me. I am astonished that you, gentlemen,
do not understand that ! I murder Chretien !
why should I ? 1 did Rot want his money, and I
could have made him do for me whatever I liked.
Besides, I placed a cross on his grave, and it cost
me 45f. ! Believe me, gentlemen, it is only the '
canaille who accuse me ! The principal witness
against me is Victor Chretien, and if you only knew
what a mass of vice he is ! I verily believe that for
a thousand francs he would murder all the village,
and that for twenty sous, ay, for a glass of brandy,
he would have murdered poor Chretien, his own
relative !" One of the robberies (many of them
were very petty) iu which Villet was alleged to
have participated was of a waistcoat, and a witness
identified one produced as that stolen from him.
On this Villet jumped up, and exclaimed, " That
waistcoat his I Why, I can prove that it has a
brother, and that they both descend from a frock- ,
coat which I purchased many years ago in the Pa-
lais Royal at Paris !" This strange way of speak-
ing caused a laugh, but Villet continued,—" For
ma,kingsuch a statement as he has done, the wit-
ness deserves to be punished, and I beg of you to
comes
esin withthe p a a
a j s colleagueßoyal
from a
l I
froekcoat 1 purchas I
punish him, Monsieur le President ! The waist-
coat, I repeat, °xi
peal to my enemies themselves—to Boitel, my first
•
enemy ; to the garde-champetre, anotber enemy ;
to all of them—if they did not sea that frockeoat

in my possession I It is really frightful to hear
witnesses talk in such a way, and I declare again
that they deFerve to be punished. From what
they say
the judges may form an opinion as to the
falsehoods that are told here !" The trial was
proceeding when the report was sent off.

THS MEN OR KOTT.

At the dinner of the Nonington and Windham
Agricultural Association last week, in Kent, Sir
Brook Brydges, M.P., presided, and amongst the
company were Earl Cowper and Mr. W. Deedes.
The last named gentleman, who is colonel of the
Kent Rifles, alluded in his speech to the importance
Public life
of a militia force observing
am afraid to say how many
observing :—" One of the first acts
of my
years ago, but I know more than forty—was to cons
n:ct myself with this constitutional force of the
kingdom. I believed at the time I did so, and I
have thought ever since in continuing my position,
that I was adopting a course in strict accordance
with the constitution of the country ; and I was
desirous of keeping
up all the institutions of the
country which are worth preserving. In so long a
period of time I have seen the ups and downs of a
military life, as far as the yeomanry is concerned ;
I have known it in the highest state of prosperity
and in a state of depression. lam quite aware that
I stand on delicate ground in alluding to this mat-
ter in this neighbourhood ; but this much I can
say without fear of offeadirig the feelings of any
man connected with the corps, that the loss of
one of the best of the officer:4, and the almost
entire loss of one of the best of my troops, was the
source of the greatest unhappiness to me in connec-
tion with the subject that I ever felt Nov with
regard to the future. At this moment the regular
force of the kingdom is required in a manner al-
most unprecedented to be sent out of the country
upon foreign and important service ; the militia has
therefore been called out, and rightly so, that it
may stand in the room of that regular force. In a
country like England, with such immense depen-
dencies and colonies, there must always be the fear
of a sudden outbreak among 301119 of them; and it
would be the worst of policy and wisdom for the
land to be left without proper defence when any
emergency arises. Well, then, if the regular force
has properly been sent out of the country, and if
the militia has properly been called upon to supply
their place, I say, and I have the authority of the
majority of my brother officers' agreement with
me, the yeomanry ought not to be behindhand—
all should come forward for the purpose of be tring
a part in the force. I know that lam speaking the
sentiments of my brother officers, of the non-com-
missioned officers, and privates, when I say that we
should hail the completion of the ranks to the
proper strength with the greatest delight ; and we
are only waiting to put tho shilling into the hand
of any wilhug man. Thus much for the yeo-
manry." Wirh regard to India and the atrocities
Perpetrated by the mutineers, Mr. Deedes said—
"l do not ask—God forbid I should—for indiscri-
minate vengeance, or vengeance at all. That is a
word that should never come from the mouth of a
Christian.; but I do ask for retributive justice—l
do ask that no consideration shall bo shown to men
who, by their cruelties, have placed themselves be-
yond the pale of mercy. They have no right te ex-
pect it, after what they have done. They have cast
the die, and must abide the consequences. lam
sure the noble address of General Wilson to the
soldiers before Delhi would come home to them all;
and let me say that I have a deep interest in the
matter, for a son of mine has been serving there for
four months. (Loud applause.) I well know the
interest with which he would read that address ;
but I do not believe that a thought ever en-
tered the heart of any of them to take ven-
geance upon helpless women and children, because
those fiends in human shape had wreaked their
vengeance in such a manner (Applause.) The se
are not the sentiments that actuate the hearts of a
British soldier ; and I am confident that, when full
details arrive of the assault at Delhi, it will be
found that nothing has been committed of which
we need be ashamed, except that which can never
be avoided, when we take into consideration the
weakuets of human nature under certain ciroutn.

stances. I have heard with deep regret—though I
do not believe it—that a civil servant has been sent

to supersede one of the military (fficers engaged in
active warfare ; and it is further stated that he has
ordered the release of a number of prisoners. Ido
not believe it ; but if it is so, then the sooner such
a state of things is put an end to the better. No-

thing can possibly p.rosper if, at such a crisis as the
present, there is to be a conflict between the civil
and powers."
_ _

At the Ashford Agricultural Society's meeting, a
day or two afterwards, Sir .Norton Knatchbull pre-
sided. Mr. Deedes and Mr. Hugessen M.P., ware
anion.. the company. The Chairman, in proposing
" the Army and Navy," said, Three yen's ago,
when I filled this seat, we were at war with Russia.
We is•eted from that war, if not with glory, yet,
with the help of our brave allies, with victory.
Not long after the restoration of peace there came
from the East sounds of wailing and woe—cries of
men murdered, of women ruthlessly Tio!ated, of
children tortured, with horrors too terrible to re
late. Gentlemen, such doings as these demand a
stern retaliation. (Loud cheers.). By this Ido
not mean vengeance. (Hear. hear.) My friend on
the left (Mr. Deedes) has a child. iu India ; I have
a child in India ; you, if you are men, if you are
Englishmen, if you are Christian men, you all have
children in India. (Prolonged cheering.) We
desire to execute justice upon the guilty. The
Apostle says, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay,
mall the Lord ;" but in what may be called the
same chapter he goes on to say that man has the
right to wield the sword of justice. (Cheers.) Let,
then, no man presume to step between the British
soldier and that justico, in the name of which he
will strike home to avenge an insulted country.
(Loud cheers.)