The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-23 00:00:00

EAST RETFORD.

The prospects of tie hop•growers in this district
are far from cheering, one-half the plantations being
gone without hope Jf recovery. The recent weather
—mostly dry, yet cold and ungenial at night—has
done much towards this unfortunate result. On
some of the best managed grounds, however, espe-
cially in the interiors, they are doing moderately
well, and, a few useful hops may yet be gathered,
but the duty of the district cannot be estimated at
more than £3O to £l2O. The price of hops here for
some time has been stationary, but a slight reaction
has recently taken place. Still, should the duty of
the country reach £140,000 or £150,000, good hops
must realise high prices for some time to come.

ROEBUCK ON AUSTRIA.

onv Tirixa

Nothing is more natural than that any gentlemen
who has once appeared before the public as an advo-
cate of Austria should be only too ready to hail
everybody and everything that promised a momen•
tart' aid. If the unfortunate Haynau in his struggle
with the n'ob had but caught the eye of a cabman
with whom he had squabbled about a fare, or even
of an Hungarian whose face he remembered, no
doubt he would have sought his assistance against
this new form of danger. We really do not happen
to know under what obligation we lie to Mr. Roe-
buck that he should., offer us gratuitous compli-
ments for anything that appears in our columns.
Still less do we see anything in the matter of what
he is pleased to call a " remarkable article" that
can do him any good, or help him out of the slough
in which he is floundering. That article was the
simplest and barest description of an actual state of
things, without a word to show the slightest lean-
event. There was
gnated at all. It
innogtowards"opinion;'
pi
ni o
n e”i tnhoe partyeven t
da ne
syi
would puzzle any critic to make out whether we
stria at defiance. The
gwished Austriasucceed
in
no
setting s w a lo wA
nup Hungary, or Hun-
only inference which any impartial reader could
fora from the article was that there did not appear
to be any extrication from the difficulty, or any
settlement, unless it should be the rude process of
war, and that, in the event of a war, Austria would
find fearful odds in a conflict with Hungary and
Italy. We stated, indeed, that Hungary had re-
fused an offer which an Englishman could not, in
consistency with his own constitution and tradi-
tions, consider otherwise than a fair one ; but we
did not enter into the peculiar circumstances under
which it was refused. It was a most singular com-
plication of affairs, and we described it as fully as
our space would allow us. To do more, to go into
the reasons, the recollections, the anticipations, on
both sides, would have carried us far beyonl our
es. All we could
offered to Hungary a
ssl ivamyb istwtsa,ansaene and
afcompelled
ae
vubi soa,udisnadreteide:, to reiterate the
Constitution exceedingly, though not quite, similar
to our own ; and that Hungary had declinel it,
standing out for a perfectly distinct nationality and
State under the Hapsburg dynasty. Mr. Roe-
buck is now known as the advocate of Austrian I
policy, character, and pretensicns, insomuch es to
make them the objects of European sympathy and
interest. If he will take the trouble to peruse the
" remarkable article" over again, he will find it as
devoid of any especial sympathy for Austria as its
less " remarkable' predecessors.
As we do not pretend to be the "forerunner" of
any " opinion" in favour of Austria, so also we con-
fess ourselves still to share the general blindness as
to "coming events." He must indeed be very
sharpsighted who can penetrate through the clouds
and darkness now hanging over the whole Austrian
a moment, the
r
Empire. The issue of war no man can tell. The
slightestaccid ent oo fl
cloud an hour, the
, landscape
panic
change the fortunes of a day, disconcert the plan of
a campaign, and place this side or that under the
heel of its foe. To all appearance, Austria and her
foes, internal or external, are fast drifting to that
terrible arbitrament, and we are forced to regard
the offers of Austria as so many pleas and persua-
sions to stave it off, or throw on the other side its
inevitable odium. At such a crisis it is impossible
to regard the most plausible and reasonable offer as
the offer of
we should the concessions of a Power to contented
subjects in full security and peace. Hungary has
atev elneaastßarviteisrhy
Cgoonosdlictuastieonfoort suchref usinhgands. This is
the case of two parties who do not trust, and dare
not trust, each other. She has trusted and been
deceived. This is proved by the Very case put for-
ward by Austria herself. If Hungary has been
indeed part of the Austrian Empire so long, if she
a province,
Yare they not
hthaesnlowsthhyeire isnhdeepneontdenAueset,riiafnsh? e iws ohnyl
both one, as England, Ireland, and Scotland are one
lrace which
Hungary is
satti
ltlhtisn
emom separate,ent a
e,
na
,s
andw e e
dx ps lt ar et
fd
it is impossible to manage in any way whatever,
but equally impossible to do without, then Hungary
at least enjoys the admission that the amalgamation
has never been perfected, and Hungary is Hungary
still.
Of course, Hungary is now very much wanted.
Austria feels how important she is, and she very
naturally feels it herself. It is a hard case,
doubtless, and it may occasionally occur to the
Hungarians that, like most of us, they have
done something to create their own difficulty.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
CAMP OF CHALONS, AUG. 20.
Camps are supposed to teach officers and soldiers
campaigning, nor was this supposition altogether
false when the old method of so-called concentra-
tions was followed by large continental armies. A
number of regiments, horse and foot, and a propor-
tionate number of guns were called up from all
corners of the country. The time of their depar-
ture irons cantonments and that of their arrival at
the camp being fixed, all the details were left to
the commanding officers, who had thus first oppor-
tunity of exercising their discretion in the march-
ing, providing, and encamping the troops on the
road. The march was always conducted as if be-
fore the enemy,' with advanced guards and rear-
guards, flankers, and regular outposts and patrols
at night. Both officers and soldiers were thus
initiated in field duties ; the infantry learned march-
ing without being footsore, the cavalry to save
their horses, to picket them, to prevent sorebacks
both were exercised in pitching and striking their
tents, packing and unpacking without losing, break.,
ing, or spoiling half their things, so that by the
time they arrived at the camp a good deal of the
helplessness which cantonments and garrisons pro-
duce was worn away. The same system of appren-
ticeship in self-reliance was, as much as possible,
adhered to in camp. Roads of communication were
made, wells dug, field-ovens erected, and wherever
there was brushwood the tents were stored, so as to
teach the soldier to shelter himself without them.
Even in the manoeuvres and sham-fights the aim
was as much as it could be to bring real warfare
before the soldier and officer. Instead of the feeble
line of dots supposed to mark the position of the
enemy, the forces were divided into two hostile
armies, and a broad enough programme was drawn
up to leave the respective commanders a certain
latitude in handling their thops.
Theory and garrison life are to real warfare and
campaigning what pure mathematics are to me-
chanics. The friction and the disturbing forces are
not and cannot be calculated. The old method of
temporary concentrations brought, although imper-
fi,riv. werno of these into play. The standing camps,
aided as they now uses by 1....1.147420,-.QI, t_
chanical inventions, arc likely in most casttLn_l9-
duce camps to mere shows.
As far as the teaching of campaigning goes the
Camp at Chalons is another Aldershott. In winter
a small garrison for a few thousand men, it becomes
in summer and autumn a convenient place for ma-
noeuvring and airing a part of the army. Arid cer-
tainly no better place could be found for such a
purpose than the healthy and airy chalk plateau
lying between the Marne and the Aisne and the
Valley of Argonne and almost equi distant from
Chalons and Rheims. I don't know why it should
be called the Camp of Chalons, except from defer-
ence to history, which shows Attila's camp of
Chalons on the same plateau, to the south-east of
the present one. A stranger coming to Chalons
would find himself mistaken in looking for the camp
at Chalons, for it is almost 18 miles north of it.
From the fertile plains of the Marne the plateau
rises up in successive wave lines, not unlike the
petrified surface of a colossal ocean after a storm.
This plateau in the heart of France, blocking up as
it were all approach from the north-east and north,
is in itself of considerable strategic importance, and
Napoleon I. had conceived the idea of a fortified
camp on that commanding situation when invasion
was threatening on that side, and who knows whe-
ther this Napoleonic idea has not contributed to the
establishment of the present camp ? As a man-
oeuvring ground for the movement of large masses
it is scarcely to be surpassed. With barely six
inches of vegetable soil over the chalk, most part of
the plateau was scarcely 15 years ago a desert with
only here and there some patches of cultivation
round the few hamlets which border the small
streamlets intersecting this high land. Since that
time, but, above all, since the camp was esta-
blished and road and railway made to it, cultivation
has been gradually creeping up ; but the inroad
thus made has not been great enough to spoil the
plateau as a manoeuvring ground. Nay, it assisted
it by planting numerous patches of fir woods,
which are no small advantage on the otherwise too
open ground. The long uncultivated sweeps of
ground are covered with short and scanty grass,
scarcely soft enough at this time of year for horses,
but excellent marching ground for infantry.
On one of the highest points on the north-west
of the plateau lie the two hamlets, Mourmelon le
Grand and Mourmelon le Petit, built at a couple of
miles from each other. The Roman road from
Rheims to Bar-le-Due crosses between the two, and
passes over the little stream of the Cheneu, along
which both hamlets are built. The stream makes a
bend from south-east to west, about four to five miles
and this bend has been followed by the camp, which
has its centre just behind the village of Mourmelon
le Grand. Easy access to water was probably the
reason for such close proximity, for so destitute of it
is the neighbourhood that wells have been dug be-
hind the present camp in expectation of the further
arrival of troops.
The fentre line of the camp consists of several
rows of huts, considerably augmented since last year.
and now sufficiently numerous to harbour a whole
division of infantry, four regiments each of three
battalions, and a battalion of Chasseurs, besides hos-
pitals. All the rest of the troops are under canvas.
There are in all three divisions of infantry and
two of cavalry, Lancers and Cuirassiers, besides 10
batteries of Artillery, the whole under the command
of the Duke of Magenta. As the regiments have a
good number of men on furlough, they are scarcely
more than 1,200 to •1,500 strong, which would give
from 6,000 to 7,000 the division of infantry, about
1,000 horses the division of cavalry, so that alto-
gether from 22,000 to 23,000 men may be assembled.
Hitherto none of the great manoeuvres and experi-
ments have taken place. The rule until now has
been to have twice a week manoeuvres of corps
d'armee, and the other days divisional field exercise.
This morning only the Lancers and two batteries

On Friday it is expected- that her Majesty will
pay a long private visit to the Art Exhibition in
Kildare-street, which has been established under
the auspices of the Royal Dublin Society. This, as
an art treasures display, is inferior only to the
magnificent collection which was brought together
in Manchester. Unlike the Manchester exhibition,
however, which was confined exclusively to ancient
and modern art, the show at Dublin is combined
with such manufactures as are more or less akin

to the fine arts. The collection is arranged in the

New Agi icultural Hall—of course a much smaller
building than that at Manchester, but roomy
enough, and especially well adapted to the display
of its works. The centre hall and its galleries are

entirely devoted to statues, mediawal works of
art in metal, ivory, or ceramics, and to the display

of modern fine art manufactures. The side courts
arc devoted to the ancient and modern Masters,

bulk of pidderAkry.fos_w_ater-ccriours. The great
tions of the Irish nobility and iedrpin the collec-
is a selection of the old masters from lianOgre
Court, some splendid examples from the Vernon,
Sheepshanks, and Turner Galleries, and pictures
from the private galleries of the Queen, Prince Con-
sort, and King of the Belgians. Dr. Waagen has
selected a series to represent the Prussian school
from the galleries of Dusseldorf and Berlin, and
there is also the Sotheby collection. On the whole,
it makes a superb gallery, and includes specimens
of all masters, from the earliest of the pre-Raphael-
ites to the Landseers and Maclises of our own
time. In fine art manufactures the exhibition
is equally worthy of attention. South Kensington
sends some excellent specimens of mediaeval metal-
work, and Mr. Kerr, of the Royal Porcelain Works
at Worcester, and Messrs. Elkington, in particular
make very fine displays. There is also a show of
Irish lace and crotchet work, as compared with the
finest and rarest point laces, and the laces of Brus-
sels and Valenciennes and Guipure, in which the
advantage is all on the side of the Irish manufac-
ture. At present it is supposed that Her Majesty
will devote the greater part of Friday in minutely
examining this most interesting exhibition.
On Saturday there is to be a grand review and
sham fight at the Curragh. For this event great
preparations are making, and there is certain to be
an immense concourse of spectators. On Monday

the Royal party start for Castlerosse, Killarney, the
mansion of Lord Kenmare. On Tuesday Her Majesty
goes on the lakes, and witnesses a stag-hunt.
During Wednesday and Thursday Mr. Herbert will
have the honour of entertaining her at Muckross,
and on Friday she re-embarks en route for Scotland.
Of course, in compliance with the known wishes of
Her Majesty, everything relating to her tour will be
conducted as privately as possible. This, however,
is not saying very much, for all her loyal subjects
are certain to muster in tremendous numbers
whenever she goes abroad at all. The only address,
I believe, that will be received and replied to will
be that of the Mayor and Corporation of Dublin,
and even this will, it is said, be presented privately
at the Viceregal Lodge. It is at Killarney that
the great gathering will take place. Already, I
am told, it is crowded with visitors from all parts
of the country, and " accommodation" commands
fancy prices—though the highest fails to secure it,
according to the real meaning of the term. Even
boats are being sent down and up to the lakes from
all directions. The weather, as is not unusual on
these festive occasions, lours gloomily, and a dull,
persistent drizzle is falling with a monotonous
steadiness that augurs badly for the future.
AUGUST 22.
The Royal yacht arrived here safely soon after
half-past 10 o'clock last night. The vessels of war
off the harbour burnt blue lights and illuminated,
but at that hour did not, of course, salute. There
were great crowds on all the piers of the harbour,
who remained till past midnight—long after it was
known that her Majesty would not disembark till
to-day. In the same way all the avenues leading
to Westland-row station in Dublin were equally
thronged. There will be immense crowds on all
the line of route to-day, especially as the landing is
not expected much before twelve o'clock. The time
in which the Royal yacht made the voyage last
night seems to have quite puzzled the Kingstown
people, who cherished the belief that there was no
vessel as fast as the Leinster, Holyhead packet.
The Leinster makes her best trips in little over four
hours, and the Royal yacht was considerately
allowed five in all calculations. The Victoria and
Albert accomplished the whole distance (64 miles
from land to land) in little more than 31 hours.
The weather is cold, wet, and gloomy—likely to
become worse if possible, and apparently certain to
continue bad throughout this day at least.

The Boscawen, 70, fitting at Devonport for a
training ship at Southampton, was put into 1 dock
yesterday, to have her bottom cleanel, examined,
and repaired.
The screw steamsloop Pantaloon, 11, at Devon-
port, is ordered to be commissioned forthwith; she
will have a complement of 125 men.
The screw steamship Aboukir, 86, Capt. Charles
F. A, Shadwell, C. 8., left Plymouth Sound on
Wednesday evening for Holyhead. She took
supernumeraries for the squadron.
The War Department transport Henry, having
landed several hundred cases of the 100-pounder,
40 pounder, and 25-pounder Armstrong solid shot
at the Ordnance-wharf, Chatham, saiied yesterday
with a quantity of return stores for ASroolwich.,