14 OCTOBER 1854, Page 2

t4t Vrinnurtg.

The Staffordshire Yeomanry were reviewed last week, and after the day in the field they dined together. Among the guests was Earl Gran- ville ; and in acknowledging the toast of " her Majesty's Ministers," he made some statements respecting the Army in the East, and the conditions of peace- " I believe I may say that the finest army has gone to the East which was ever sent to a foreign country. Lord Raglan has under his command 102 guns of very heavy calibre. When you compare these with the six guns which Wellington was able to collect in battle array, it does show that at all events we have not fallen into that great error which characterized the Go- vernment of that day when the greatest commander which this country ever knew was in command. I am almost afraid to state the great amount of ammunition which has been sent out ; if I were to state it to you it would almost sound like the tale of Baron Munchausen : I may, however, say, that if it is all used it will actually wear out these 102 guns. Go- vernment did not conceal from themselves the great responsibility of their urging on the commanders of both services an attack on Sebastopol. They were not ignorant of the opinion entertained by many distinguished officers of every country in Europe—that, if not impracticable, the attempt was of a most difficult nature : but they did feel that the integrity and inde- pendence of Turkey was a merejoke so long as that fortress was deemed im- pregnable, situated, as it is, in the very centre of the Black Sea, as the only port from which vessels can come in or go out with safety : they felt that that was the very key of the position ; and they did think, that, with the assistance of the French—of whose straightforward and loyal conduct it is impossible to speak in too high terms—these two forces, acting in cordial cooperation, could achieve all that it was possible for men to accomplish If we should be successful, I believe the Government will act only in accordance with the public feeling of the country by show- ing that we must not rest on our oars, but that we must redouble our efforts to gain the victory : and I cannot help feeling, that though it would be highly criminal in any Government to be carried away by the excitement of military glory, (of which, God knows, we have had enough in this country,) and to refuse to make a peace when that peace could be made perfectly con- sistent with the honour, dignity, and interests of this country, and with the interests of Europe and the cause of justice and humanity, yet, on the other hand, I do feel, that if the horrors of war are unnecessarily prolonged by the enemy—if those sacrifices of treasure which, even according to the resources of this country, are considerable, are rendered necessary, and if precious lives, both of our own soldiers, and, I will add, the soldiers of the enemy, are sacrificed—it must be felt that the rigour of the terms imposed should be

in proportion to the sacrifice occasioned. (Loud and prolonged cheering.)

The annual banquet of the Castle Hedingham Agricultural and Con- servative Club took place last week; and the Reverend John Cox, Mr. W. Beresford M.P., Mr. Peacocke, Mr. Bromley Moore M.P., and Mr. Ducane, the chairman, delivered political speeches. Mr. Cox declaimed against the projected Reform Bill, and rejoiced that " at length their talented leader in the House of Commons, Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, had unfurled the Protestant banner." Mr William Beresford resuscitated the whole story of the Derby business ; referred the persecution he had suffered to the " gratification of a 'safe malignity' " ; retorted upon the present Administration the charge, that in their short career they had been connected with " a Sadleir, a Lawley, a Stoner' and an O'Flaherty —arcades ambo"; and singled out Sir James Graham for especial assault. In a penitential tone, Mr. Beresford stated that he had only given two votes of which he felt ashamed : the first was, in 1842, to shield Sir James Graham in the division on the letter-opening affair- " I did not like him then, and I have had plenty of reason for disliking him since. Talented as he is, I never could bear that evil eye, that sinister look, that brazen meretricious leer, and the braggart impudent face which he puts on to cover as dastard a heart as ever beat beneath a coat. But he is a coward, I know ; and if it had not been for party support, I would have gone away and left him to his just fate for having opened another gentle- man's letters."

The other shameful vote was when he formed part of the majority which adopted "certain Free-trade resolutions, which affirmed that plenty and cheapness had been the consequences of unrestricted competition.' This was Mr. Beresford's pitiable state on that occasion, as pictured by himself— "I could hardly drag my body into the lobby that night, so averse was to those resolutions; but, in the position I was in, I was forced to vote as I did; and I went home more unhappy than I ever was before in my life."

Mr. Disraeli appeared in a new "attitude" at Torquay last week. The licensed victuallers of that town came in for a share of his attentions. They waited upon the County Members, Mr. Palk and Sir John Yarde Buller, to complain of the new Beer Act, and some changes alleged to be in contemplation with regard to the licensing system. Mr. Disraeli sup- ported the County Members at the interview, and made a speech. He said he was present as a private Member of Parliament, but that "his time belonged to the country " ; and he was glad to make himself ac- quainted with the views of any of the constituents of the House of Com- mons. The publicans are in a critical position. Mr. Disraeli would give no pledges. Indeed, it would be not only presumptuous but arrogant, to give an opinion at once upon "so complicated a subject." When the question comes before Parliament, he will give it his "most careful consideration," and will never forget the pleasant hour he bad Aleut with them that day. Sir John Buller and Mr. Palk were favourable to the publicans ; _and Also promised " careful consideration" of their interests.

The South-Eastern Railway Company are about to construct a short line to form a junction with the Great Western Railway at Reading : the narrow gauge is to be extended from Oxford to Reading ; and thus a traveller will be enabled to proceed direct from Dover to Birmingham, Birkenhead, and other places in the North.

The cholera has visited Merthyr, Dowlais, and Norwich. In the two former town; where the disease still continues to work, about 300 have died. In Norwich, 130 persons have fallen, and the pest still lingers there.

Courts-martial were held on board the Victory at Portsmouth, on Tuesday and Wednesday, on matters arising out of the affair of the Dauntless. Lieu- tenant Charles Knight, R.M., was first tried. The charges against him were these : 1. That on the 17th September, he brought "on board her Majesty's hulk Victorious two improper women ; and did act improperly towards such women in supplying them with wine and spirits in immoderate quantities when so on board the said hulk ; the same being scandalous actions, in de- rogation of God's honour and in corruption of good manners" ; 2. that he sug- ted Mr. Robert Hancock, Midshipman, falsely " to inform the Chap- of her Majesty's ship Dauntless, that the women which he, the said First Lieutenant Frederick Charles Knight, had so brought on board the said hulk, were sisters of him the said First Lieutenant ; he the First Lieutenant well knowing at the time that such was not true ; the same king a scandalous action, in derogation of God's honour and in corruption of good manners"; 3. that he appeared without "hie proper uniform, and without having obtained the requisite permission dispensing with the wear- ing of such uniform" ; 4. that he was drunk on the night of the 17th and the following morning. Lieutenant Knight was acquitted of the second and fourth charges, and found guilty of the first and third ; but, in consideration of his previous high character, the sentence of the Court-martial was, that his name should be placed at the bottom of the list of the Lieutenants of the Royal Marines. The charge against Lieutenant Jocelyn Jervis White Jervis, MN., was, that he, being in command at the time, had suffered two women of improper cha- racter to remain on board after sunset; and that, having become aware of their presence between one and four o'clock, he did not report the same to the commanding-officer. Lieutenant Jervis was acquitted of these charges. The charges against Lieutenant William Buller Elphinstone, R N., were, that he, while senior officer on board the Victorious hulk, did permit the women to remain on board after sunset ; did not report the fact to his su- perior officer ; and allowed wine and spirits to be supplied to the women from the ward-room in immoderate quantities. After evidence had been heard on the three charge; Lieutenant Elphinstone read a brief address in defence. He pleaded that he was ignorant of his responsibility at the time, not knowing he was senior officer ; that the liquor was passed to the women too quickly for him to prevent its after he had protested against it ; and that it was only after he had left the ward-room, and while undressing, that he found from what fell from Lieutenant Woodman that he himself had been the commanding-officer while in the ward-room. Lieutenant Woodman de- posed to the last fact. The Court deliberated for an hour, and then pro- nounced this decision- " The Court is of opinion that the charge is partly proved against Lieutenant William Buller Elphinstone, inasmuch as, although he remonstrated against the dis- graceful proceedings mentioned in the charge, he did not with sufficient prompti- tude ascertain whether he was or was not the senior officer at the time he was applied to by the Chaplain; and that he did not, as such senior officer, prevent, by the exercise of his authority, such disgraceful proceedings. And the Court doth ad- judge that the said Lieutenant Elphinstone be admonished; and the said Lieutenant William Buller Elphinstone is hereby admonished accordingly.

The dead bodies already found. amid the ruins of the houses blown and burnt down at Gateshead and Newcastle amount to forty. For several days bodies of soldiers, police, and labourers, were employed in its progress. In Gateshead, buildings covering a space of 200 yards, and in Newcastle, two eets of buildings covering 150 yards, have been destroyed. An inquest on the dead commenced on Saturday. The Coroner was assisted by Captain Dwane of the Ordnance Office, sent down by Lord Palmerston. The chief object of the inquiry was to discover whether gunpowder in the warehouses was the cause of the explosion. Sergeant Sloan, of the Twenty-sixth Re- giment, said that the smell which followed the explosion was not like that of gunpowder, but of saltpetre or sulphur. Percival Smith, foreman to Mr. Faison, the occupier of the bonded warehouse, produced his warehouse-book to show the contents of the place. Smith took an account of all that entered or left the warehouse. At the time of the fire, there were about 3000 tons of sulphur, 130 tons of nitrate of soda, with salt, peat-ash, manure, alum, and other substances. There was no gunpowder, charcoal, or saltpetre, in the place. It was not possible to put gunpowder in the warehouse without his knowledge. He admitted that there was pumice-stone, copperas, and cement in casks ; but he had "no reason to think he had been deceived" with respect to the contents of these casks. There was also arsenic in casks; "they resemble gunpowder-casks." In one vault 45 tons of nitrate of soda was piled on a tarpaulin covering 47 tons of sulphur ; in other places the two combustibles were stored near each other.

No evidence could be obtained of the existence of gunpowder on the pre- mises; but it appears there were stored in them 56 tons of ammoniacal char- coal, and it was conjectured that the mixture of this substance with the sulphur and nitrate of soda caused the explosion. Mr. Hugh Lee Pat- tenson, a manufacturing chemist, said he did not believe that the explosion was caused by gunpowder. He said that the substances stored in the vaults were not explmive, either alone or mixed ; but an explosion is produced by the falling of certain water on melted and ignited chemicals. He thought that water had fallen on such masses, and hence the explosion. The inquiry continues.