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Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 362, 24 September 1863, Page 1

when the batteries were still in his front. Not to have retained the capacity of organization in a predicament the most embarrassing that can be conceived is a very different thing from having shown poltroonery, 'and would indicate no more than the want of qualities which were extremely rare among our Generals in the Crimea. | While, however, victory remains with i Lord Cardigan on the merits of the case, 1 and. Colonel Calthorpe has incurred a rejbuke from the Lord Chief Justice, the judgement is nominally in favour of the • latter., . The reasons for this decision are ( by no means technical, and will readily | approve themselves to all. Th ree defences J were raised by Sergeant Shee on Colonel 'Calthorpe’s behalf. He contended, first, that the offensive imputations were substantially true, or, if not true, were based I upon evidence which the court could not set aside without usurping the functions |of a jury. The Loi’d Chief Justice disposed of this point by showing that the gravamen of the real charge against; j Lord Cardigan was absolutely false ; that | the substitution of another charge at the last moment, coupled with a refusal to j apologise for the former, did not improve | the defendant’s position j and there was ■ no conflict of evidence since the propositions affirmed by the one side and those denied •by the other were not identical. The J next plea was that the events of the Crimean war were proper subjects for free j historical criticism and discussion ; but this was summarily overruled by the Lord Chief Justice, who adhered to the strinjgent doctrines recently laid down ia the 'case of the Saturday Review. The- last [and only sound argument advanced by | Sergeant Shee turned tipon what had | passed between the parties since the first | publication of the libel It is weMtnowa that the Court of Queen’s bench will not entertain an application fora criminal information unless it be made and without having had previous recourse • Jto other remedies. Now, it is creditable jto Colonel Calthorpe and his legal advisers. | that he offered to waive the benefit of this.. | rule, and chose to rely only on the unfairness of allowing so long a time to elapses and on the transactions which had : taken; place in the interval. As to-the-former we see no reason to think that the testi-i many of any number of dead or absentwitnesses could have strengthened 'any material part of his own case ; but it certainly appears that his opponent breaks. down in one essential respect, of which ; nothing was said until Tuesday. Wedo - not allude to the successive attempts of:' Lord Cardigan to bring him to a Courtmartial, to obtain his dismissal from; the • Staff of the Lord Lieutenant of I rehin d,. and to prevent his exchanging into the - Dragoon Guards. These hostile acts may or may not have been equivalent to such, proceeding as would bar the right to claim: a criminal information ; but the decisive fact is that all the remaining copies of' Colonel Calthorpe’s work have since been withdrawn from circulation. We havenotliing to do with the motives or manner of this concession, or with Lord Cardigan’s alleged igu oran ce of its having' been made. The sole ground upon which the Court’s interfei'ence could be justified was that, though the third edition came out in 1858 it was still on sale, and likety to be in increased demand when Mr. Kinglake’s third volume should appear. It now turns out that there has been no continued republication within a reasonable time before This application was made. The locus slcindi of Lord Cardigan, therefore; fails, and he must be content to let bygones be bygones, and to have vindicated his personal honor before bis countrymen. Thus ends a cause celebre which must ever be connected with a memorable passage in our military history. We cannot dismiss it without one comment on the lesson which it suggests. Here is a brilliant feat of arms performed before the eyes of the whole army. Hundreds who took part in it and thousand who watched it with intence anxiety ai*e still living. It has been 'described again and again in despatches, in journals, in letters, in books and in conversation ; and yet it is with the utmost difficulty that we get at the truth of its most remarkable features. The smoke, the din, the excitement, ami fheconfusion of battle left such impression on the minds of the actors that we can hardly get from them a consistent story of just those particulars on which an historian would dwell so gliby and dogmatically. .With sncli an example before our eyes, if we do not share Sir Robert Walpole’s scepticism about history in general, we may well receive minute details of battles and sieges with some little reservation of judgement.

| “ I wish you would not give me such short weight for my money,” said a customer to a grocer who had an outstanding account against him. “ And I wish you would not give such long wait for mine,” replied the grocer. There is a gentleman living at Newton, who is unusually scrupulous with regard to having his door-plafe polished every morning, being determined to “ leave au untarnished name behind him” when he goes to the city.