C4t Vraniurts.
Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans has been staying at Folkestone- and the inhabitants of Folkestone, Hythe, and Sandgate have presented Mtn with a sword, and an address of congratulation on his return from the Crimea. The presentation took place on Monday, at the Pavilion -Hotel ; Mr. Brockman, Member for Hythe, officiating as spokesman. In reply, Sir De Lacy Evans said he accepted the sword as a token of the public feeling for the gallant army with which he had served. He had observed that great complaints were daily made of the manage- ment of the war, and it was asserted that the war had made but slow pro- gress. Now, he begged to differ with many on that point. Ile did not consider, under the circumstances, that the progress of the war had been • slow, and he was sure that the result would show the correctness of his opinion. No such war as that in which they were now engaged could pos- sibly be finished in so short a time as some were unreasonable enough to expect ; particularly where such a country as England, with its small mili- tary strength, was not the aggressor. England was not a military power, and the aggressor in the present war was a very important military power, possessed of vast resources—one which always maintained a very large army, and was always prepared for war, if not, indeed, for aggression. Hence, at the sudden outbreak of the present hostilities, England had not been pre- pared with a large standing army. It was impossible we could always have a perfect war establishment on a military scale. We had happily enjoyed forty years of peace, and opinions would not admit of the continued main- tenance of a large standing army. He would recall to their minds the many wars in which this country had been engaged, and it would be found that the British forces seldom attained decisive success until at least a third cam- paign had set in. He might instance the war which immediately followed the breaking out of the French Revolution. England was great and powerful as a commercial nation, and he had no doubt that the present contest would be brought to a termination as decisive in its results as it would be glorious to British arms. The army sent to the Crimea, though young, had vindi- cated the honour of its country. There was no other army to send. It was young, but it had done its duty. Many mistakes in details had certainly occurred, but they had been the result of inexperience. Some battles had been fought in which our army had gathered glory, in alliance with the armies of France ; an alliance he would pronounce the most devoted and loyal, and which the spirit of this country fully appreciated.
Mr. R. Hart invited General Evans to say something on the "wretched
• state" of the army in the Crimea ; and appealed in support of his asser- tions to "the accounts which daily appear in the public papers." General Evans, however, parried this attempt to "draw' him out.' He had of late, he said, read many statements on the condition of the troops. It was not his province on that occasion to enter into this question ; but he had no objection to say one thing, and that was that when he left head-quarters the army was not in the condition described in some reports. More he could not say. He would again remind them, that at the com- mencement of a war many mistakes generally took place, and after forty years' peace such mistakes ought not to occasion much surprise. He would take this opportunity of saying's o. that he fully appreciated the kind sympathy now so generously evinced by all classes for the army, and he had no doubt the conduct pursued by the people would be the forerunner of great results. The sword presented was of 150 guineas value : it bears the following inscription—
"Presented to Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans, B.C.B., M.P., by the inhabitants of the united borough of Hythe, Folkestone, Sandgate, and adjacent parishes, in commemoration of the courage, devotion, and gene- rosity exhibited by him in the memorable actions of the Alma, the heights of the Tohemaya, and Inkerman."
The result of the preliminary meeting of millowners and others em- ploying steam power, and desirous of preventing boiler-explosions, held some time ago, has been the establishment of an Association "for the prevention of steam-boiler explosions, and for effecting economy in the raising and the use of steam." This association was constituted at a meeting in Manchester on Tuesday, the Mayor in the chair. The mode of securing safety to be by inspection.
The Manchester market was very flat last week, with a tendency to still further depression. The glut in the markets of India and China, and the interruption to trade in Germany by the frost, have seriously af- fected business in the district. Cotton also rose in price. At Birming- ham, trade generally is languid. In other manufacturing centres there is a more cheerful state of things.
The uneasiness caused by stoppage of manufacturing and mercantile firms has been increased at Birmingham by the circulation of false ru- mours of the instability of really solvent houses. These mischievous reports have become so frequent that the Birmingham Journal hints the expediency of a cheek by bringing some of the inventors or circulators before a court of law.
The Dissenters of Kettering rejected a church-rate; and the Church- men retaliated by refusing a gas-rate. Thus the town is in double dark- ness!
A threatened duel between Mr. William Coningham and Mr. Stewart Erskine Rolland has been prevented by the Brighton Magistrates. On Sa- turday last, Mr. Clarke, solicitor for Mr. Coningham, obtained a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Urquhart and Mr. Rolland. It appears that Mr. Coning- ham lent Mr. Urquhart 201. in April last year, in order that he might go to Stafford and speak on Turkey. With part of the money Mr. Urquhart paid his bill at the Clarendon Hotel. In December last, Mr. Coningham, replying to a note from Mr. Urquhart, reminded him of the money lent at the Cla- rendon, and asked for a check. In reply, came a check for 201. from West- maeott and Co., and a request for an interview from Mr. Rolland. Mr. Urquhart considered that the money had been advanced for public objects ; Mr. Coningham that it was a private loan—in fact, a loan to pay the bill at the Clarendon. When Mr. Rolland arrived at Brighton, he demanded a re- tractation of the statement that the money had been lent to pay a bill ; which Mr. Coningham declined to do. Again Mr. Rolland demanded retraaation ; and, addressing Mr. Coningham by letter, said, you must "elect between giving me a meeting, or my posting you as a swindler, a coward, and a liar." Under these circumstances, Mr. Coningham placed himself in the hands of Mr. Clarke, who carried the matter before the Magistrates.
The Reverend John Radford, incumbent of Lapford in Devonshire—a sporting, convivial clergyman, known as "Parson Jack,"—who seems to have lived a century too late—has been committed to prison for a month by the Chulmleigh Magistrates, for an assault on a parish-constable, who had accom- panied the bailiff of a County Court who had a summons to servo on the re- doubtable parson, and who feared to go to his house alone.
John Mayne, an Irish labourer, has been robbed and murdered by three ruffians on Sleet Moor, near Alfreton in Devonshire. They beat him on the head, knocking out one eye, and were preparing to throw him down an old coal-pit, when they were interrupted, but too late for their victim. Three Irishmen, whom Mayna named as his assassins, are in custody. The de- ceased was a careful man, hoarded money, and unfortunately carried it sewed up in his waistcoat.
The Guardians of the Portsea Island Union have passed a resolution, that the Coroner ought to have held an inquest on the body of John Williams, the seaman whose death was caused by neglect and exhaustion during his passage in the Himalaya and after he had landed from that ship.
There was a startling scene at Exeter Cathedral during the service on Sunday morning. The curate of a parish in North Devonshire forced open a door, after making much noise in knocking at it, rushed through the choir, and up to the altar, where three clergymen were officiating. "Where is the Bishop ? I must see the Bishop!" he exclaimed. After some difficulty, the Reverend Mr. Corfe succeeded in leading the disturber out of the cathe- dral. The unfortunate gentleman has recently suffered from illness, and there seems no doubt that his strange behaviour was the result of a deranged mind.
The Reverend Dr. Beaumont, a well known preacher amongst the Wesley- ans, died on Sunday morning, whilst giving out a hymn in a Wesleyan chapel at Hull.
During very stormy weather, and while snow was falling, on Monday morning, the ship Janet Boyd, from Hamburg, struck on Margate Sands. The disaster was seen from the shore ; but it was low-water, and all the luggers were aground, while the storm raged violently, so that the brave Margate men were unable to render aid. The mariners were seen on board the ship, helpless ; one after another the masts went by the board ; then the vessel began to break up ; the perishing seamen clung for a time to the wreck ; but presently nothing but the raging waves could be discerned—ship and crew were overwhelmed. When the Margate men were able to get to sea they could find nothing but a boat and portions of the wreck of the Janet Boyd. It is supposed that twenty-five mariners perished. On Saturday night a schooner went down in the Swin : the fate of the crew is not known.
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