The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-16 00:00:00

GENERAL PEEL AND MR. T. BARING
ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

HUNTINGDON, TUESDAY EVENING.

The annual show of the Huntingdonshire Agri-
cultural Society took place in this town to-day. In
the evening the members of the society dined toge-
ther at the George Hotel—the Earl of Sandwich in
the chair. Among the gentlemen present were
General Peel and Mr. Baring, the members for the
borough, and Lord R. Montagu and Mr. Fellowes,
members for the county. _

The loyal toasts having been drunk with the usual
loyal demonstrations, _

The CHAIRMAN rose to propose " The Army and
Navy." He said it might appear strange that in
the time of profound peace we were obliged to keep
up a large army and to maintain our navy almost
on a war footing. How was this to be accounted
for ? Was it to be attributed to any proceedings
of our own. No; but we had a most powerful
neighbour over the water. He believed in his heart
that the Sovereign to whom he referred wished well
to this country, having lived in it and acquired a
perfect knowledge of our national character. If
it depended on the Emperor of the French, he
would not be disposed to invade us, he would not
wish for war, but he was at the head of a very
powerful army. He had received a letter from a
friend, who informed him that no army which he
had ever seen equalled the army assembled at
Chalons. (Hear, hear.) Then they must look to
the dockyards in which the Emperor was trying to
rival the naval power of England. (Hear, hear.)
These things accounted for the apparent anomaly
that in a time of peace we were keeping our army
and navy up to a war strength. (Cheers.) Such
a war force as we now supported necessarily in-
volved a large expenditure ; but the country was
worth fighting for—(cheers)—the homesteads of
England and those who inhabited them were worth
fighting for—(hear, hear)—and therefore he was
sure that the company whom he then addressed
were proud of their army and navy, and would wil-
lingly drink the toast which he then proposed.
The noble lord then gave " The Army and Navy."
(Loud cheers.)

General PEEL, M.P., rose amid loud cheers to
respond for the army. He said,—l do not believe
that the British army has had any opportunity of
distinguishing itself in the field since I last had the
honour of returning thanks to the Huntingdonshire
Agricultural Society for drinking this toast. I be-
lieve that the war in China, though we were not
aware of the fact, was finished then. And let me
observe that there never was any war which re-
flected greater credit on every one connected with
its management. The organisation, the equipment,
the arrangements made for the comfort of the troops
were really excellent. The appointment of my
gallant friend, Sir Hope Grant, to the command of
• that army showed that his Royal Highness the
Commander-in-Chief had attentively watched the
operations of that gallant officer in India, and that
success—and in such cases success is perhaps the
least test of merit—which attended those move-
ments. (Cheers.) In China Sir Hope Grant gave
the most complete proof that ho possessed that talent
which he had previously shown in ladia. (Hear.)
I have alluded to the sanitary arrangements made
for the comfort of the troops in China, and
I trust I may be permitted to avail my-
self of this opportunity of expressing my
personal regret for the loss we have sustained
by the'cleath of a noble friend of mine, who took so
great an interest in the welfare of the army. I
assure you, gentlemen, that friendships do exist
between the two parties who sit on the opposite
sides of the house; and it is with unaffected sin-
cerity that I express my deep sense of the loss which
the army and country at large have sustained by
the death of Lord Herbert, (Hear, hear.) No man
was more anxious than he to promote the welfare
of the British soldier, and no man worked harder
to secure it. (Cheers.) His great object' was to
impress on Parliament and the country that " pre-
vention is better than cure." (Hear, hear.) It is far
better, by sanitary arrangements, to prevent disease
than when once it has set in to endeavour to cure
it, (Cheers.) It was that conviction which in-
duced Lord Herbert to establish a medical hospital
with a school attached to it, in which young men
might be qualified to become members of that body
than whom there is no more worthy class of men
—I mean the medical officers of the army. (Hear,
hear.) They devote themselves with much indus-
try to the study of sickness and disease, and their
services to the army are very valuable. (Hear.)
Her Majesty, since Lord Herbert's death, has been
graciously pleased to command that the institution
to which I allude should be called the " Herbert
Hospital." I only hope that all Lord Herbert con-
templated will be realised; and then, indeed, his
name will go down to posterity as that of one who
achieved great things for the British soldier. (Loud
cheers.) Gentlemen, it is not from war that the
soldier suffers most. (Hear, hear.) It is from the
constant change of climate and from the diseases to
which that quarter in which from time to time
he is stationed expose him. As a proof of this,
I may refer to that lamentable account recently
published which informs us that in India the
51st Regiment, in the course of fifteen days,
lost one-fifth of its whole strength—including its
gallant commanding officer ; and that one wing
of the 94th, in the same time, lost nearly one-
fourth of its whole number. I think that was
one of the most touching accounts I ever read.
The general commanding did everything to keep
up the spirits of the men. He ordered the bands
to play; but, alas, the bands were numbered among
the dead. If, by any means, science can prevent a
recurrence of such a state of things as that, Lord
Harbert's name will be remembered in the grateful
minds of his countrymen. (Hear, hear.) r have
said that since this time twelvemonth the British
army has had no opportunity of distinguishing
itself. Do not think I regret that. There is nothing
which in my opinion is more to be lamented than
war (hear, hear) ; and I know of no kind of war
that is more to be deprecated than a war such as
that which is now going on at the other side of the
Atlantic. (Hear.) lam sure that there is no Eng-
lishman who does not regret that war—not from any
elfish feeling, but in the interests of our common
humanity. (Hear.) And I think that the Govern-
ment of this country has most wisely expressed its
determinatiou to preserve the strictest neutrality.
(Hear, hear.) But although we may not interfere
in it we have a good deal to learn from it. None of
us can have read those graphic accounts which Mr.
Russell has so fearlessly given of what is going on in
America and not have noticed that without discip-
lineno personal valour will be of any avail, and
that if soldiers—and 1 believe the American Volun-
teers are second to none—be not put under officers
in whom they place confidence, the best army is
but a rabble. (Hear.) On reading those accounts
another thing struck nan
never
know
We have all heard of
troops who
(Hear, hear.) I have reawa when they are beaten.
ethabatortahtee essaysakr
ofw
for the' purpose of showing
Wcl-
- was beaten at Waterloo, but could not be
induced to believe it n
bla it appears
that with the American officers it is exactly the re-
verse. They know when they are whippe
d
well
enough—(laughter)—but it appears to
that ethey
do not know when they win. At least, if they do
their greatest victories have never been attended
with any results, What the war is all about I donot
very well know. If the object of the North were to
put down slavery, they would have my sympathy--
tkear) —but, as tar as we can learn, that does not ap-
pear to be their object. However, be that as it may,
I, for one, must express my hope that this American
war may soon be put an end to. (Hear, hear.) I
now wish to allude to a rumour which has been
spread in some quarters; and I do so, not from any
belief that it is well-founded, but in the hope that it
may be met by an official contradiction. The press
has referred to a report that, in consequence of the
perfection at which the Volunteers have arrived, a
reduction of the regular forces of the country is
about to take place. Now, I must express my opi-
nion that this is not the case. No doubt there may
be setae reduction of the army, which has nothing
to do with the Volunteers, and I hope the impression
that itit has
mi will did, not be suffered to go abroad, for if it
um 7
wiZt_ createc
. a very ill feeling between the
t‘otoors• lam sure that no such