Of these, twenty-nine proceed to England — twenty-six of them in virtue of medical certificates, and three on "urgent private affairs," or in consideration of peculiar circumstances: twenty-seven go to Scutari and Therapia for periods varying from two to five weeks; twelve on board ship, and two to the Monastery of St. George, where there are ten rooms fitted up for ailing or convalescent officers. I doubt not that all these leaves of absence may be necessaiy, and fully justified by the circumstances of the respective cases; but such numerous departures are not the less extremely inconvenient to the army, and leave many regiments very short-handed of officers. I yesterday heru-d a colonel declare that he had but one captain and three subalterns on duty in his battalion, and that he, consequently, had to send one hundred men into the trenches under charge of a youth of eighteen.
If this state of things cannot \>Q helped, it, at least, is very iiiifortimate. Enough officers do WANT OF CLERGYMEN. 49" not come out to replace those who go home. This protracted siege — if siege it may be called, which in reality is a tedious struggle between two rows of detached forts — is certainly not popular with the ofScers of the army, few of whom care to remain if they have a respectable pretext for returning home, while fewer still desire to return hither when once they have got away. I am persuaded that if there were more movement in the campaign — if, instead of monotonous trench duty, we were engaged in ordinary warfare, manceuvring, mai'ching, lighting, there would be both less sickness and fewer seeking leave.
I do not attempt to decide the question whether leave is sometimes too easily granted, and more to interest than to necessity. The French arc thought to fall into the other extreme, and instances have been cited to me where the lives of valuable officers would have been saved had they been allowed to exchange severe duty (one night out of three in the trenches, independently of ordinary guards and parades, cannot be considered light labour) for a period of relaxation in a more salutary climate. The senior chaplain of the army, the Rev. Mr. Wright, has made a representation to the Quarter-Master-General on the subject of the insufficient number of clergymen attached to the forces. There are nineteen altogether, but of these only seven are effective.
The others are ill (four have received sick leave within the last week), and their illness is attributed in a great measure to the severity of their duty. Some of these gentlemen have as many as five hundred sick to attend to — independently of such attention as they may be required or desirous to give to the healthy. I understand that Mr. Wright has represented forty chaplains to be the number required for the ai'my now out here. I know not whether these be more or no more than are needed; but it is evident, that if it be deemed desirable that the sick and wounded should receive spiritual consolation, it is but a mockery to expect that to be afforded to them by only seven clergjmien.
You are, doubtless, aware, that of the chaplains out here three only are regularly commissioned and paid by Government. Two religious societies received permission to send a certain number (I think ten) each; half the expense of their maintenance here to be borne by Government and half by the societies that submitted their names for the approval of the authorities. Of the cases that go into hospital a very small proportion tei'minate fatally. This appears ii-ora the general returns up to the 15tli of >Tuly. Accordinj^ to the best evidence I crm obtain, the present elfeetive strength of the British army in the Crimea is upwards of 28,000 men, exchisive of troops that have arrived within the last threedays. The"Etna" and "Arabia" steam-transports have reached Balaklava from Eng-land (the hitter after the extraordinarily rapid passage of fourteen days) with large detachments for different regiments out here.
Transports have reached Kamiesch with reinforcements for various French regiments. This furnished the foundation for a report (to show you how ridiculously things are magnified here) current in camp this morning, that 30,000 French troops had arrived, and that extensive operations were immediately to be commenced. Yesterday the Russians amused themselves by throwing a few round shot into the camp of the Fourth Division. Two of these buried themselves in the ground, close to a hospital hut of the 17th Regiment, shaking the edifice and astonishing the wounded, but doing no other damage; another killed a man of the field-train as he lay in his tent. It is said the missiles were intended for General Bentinck's tents, which are near the Fourth Division flagstaff on Cathcart's-hill.