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3* s3>TEMBEi* ^iSgfc ' J THE LEAP E H, 8...
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THE BATTLE OF THE TCHER NA YA. The Battl...
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EXAMINATION TESTS. A controversy has bee...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Promotion Of Labour. The Working-Olr...
per day . Inthe second place , there is every probability that machinery will be introduced more extensively into the rude labour of agriculture , arid that the farm labourer will rise tp the rank of a skilled labourer . It has been ignorance which has made the rustic hostile to the introduction of machinery ; for the inevitable result of machinery is to produce" in a larger quantity , and therefore to
support a larger number of persons than can be supported by unassisted hand labour . A striking illustration of this principle is seen where the introduction of labour which is to a . certain extent skilled has not only given a greater power to the whole force in the Crimea , but has had an influence in raising the value of the common soldier . It is far
from probable that the fields to which machinery is applied will produce less food ; the land will , therefore , support a larger number of persons . It is quite possible that with the advance of agricultural and sanitary science the spaces of ground will be reckoned by the square yard ; every speck of earth and each individual seed being accounted for , as every fibre is accounted for in
a cotton manufactory ; and then the pro- ^ duetivity of land will exceed any existing calculation . In the meanwhile the just effect of introducing machinery will be , to elevate the level of agricultural wages to that of manufacturing wages , to increase the return in food for every man in tbe country , and ultimately to increase the number of labourers in agriculture with higher wages .
This , the first effect of war on the value of labour , is likely enough in our day to be followed by another equally valuable . De * pending for support on the nation , requiring the aid of all classes to extend the income-tax and other imposts to a wider level , the Government of the country must necessarily feel an increased anxiety to obtain the good will of the numerous classes ; and hence the value of the labourer will rise politically . We believe that no ordinary agitation for the extension of the franchise
Could have done so much as the events of the last year . No doubt the results will be greatly facilitated by all that has been done by political pioneers for preparing the public mind , for instructing the labouring classes to stand up in assertion of their rights , for extending education , for br inging different classes together , and , in short , for familiarisiug the mind of all , from the highest statesman to the humblest citizen , with what we may call the naturalisation of
( Government . This would restore to every freeborn Englishman his right to a vote in the election of the member who taxes him , of the county officer who governs the county , and of the parish officer who governs the parish . The feeling which has been expressed by informal but unmistakable evi-Bences throughout the country , has been so powerful , that , in obedience ' to it , Ministers have undertaken the war more heartily than they at first proposed , have conducted their alliances with a more liberal sense of the
roquirements imposed upon them , and have been able to overrule factions in Parliament that were for trimming between peace and war , if not for truckling to the enemy . The time , therefore , is come when skilled labour advances to raise the value of the common soldier , when skilled labour promises to raise the value of the agricultural workman , and when better machinery in politics promises to give the full value to the industrious citizen . Wo do
not think any the worae of that happy time because these large results tiro likely to be realised without domestic discord . If the working-classes are guided by their own great instincts and by tho honestest men ( Mnongat them , they will be able to realise all
that they are worth in money , position , and political rights , without a word to disturb the harmony of the national voice .
3* S3>Tembei* ^Isgfc ' J The Leap E H, 8...
3 * s 3 > TEMBEi * ^ iSgfc ' J THE LEAP E H , 837
The Battle Of The Tcher Na Ya. The Battl...
THE BATTLE OF THE TCHER NA YA . The Battle of the Tchernaya was an attempt on the part of Prince Gobtschakoff to raise the siege . The means by which this was to be accomplished were discussed and decided at a council of war held on the 13 th . Prince Gob . tscha . koff divided his forces into two corps d ' armee , placing one under General 3 £ ea . i > , the other under General ! Li-PBA 2 n > r . Each foot soldier was to take with him four days' rations , and the cavalry as much provender as they could carry . Having imbibed copious libations of hot brandy , they were to descend the Mackenzie heights , I / iPRA ^ TDi with the seventeenth division leading the way , and moving by the left across the valley of the Chuliu , and E-ead following with the seventh and part of the twelfth division , and forming on the right of Lipbandi . The whole line was then to carry the Tchernaya , seize the heights of Fediouehine , and hold themselves prepared to press the victory by an assault upon the rear of the Allies . In the meantime the garrison of Sebastopol , we are told , was to issue on the
extreme left and right , and by these operations , it was hoped , the whole position of the Allied army would have been enveloped , and at least the siege rendered utterly hopeless . How Prince Gobtschakoff imagined that he could effect these great objects remains one of those mysteries that attend the conduct of almost every commander , and remain for history to reveal . At all events , his plan totally failed , and he was forced to acknowledge , for the third time , that the serfs of Russia are no match for the freemen of Europe in the open field .
The position of the Allies had great advantages . In its front ran a river , not deep , it is true , but still no inconsiderable obstacle ; beyond that an aqueduct , forming , in fact , a second river , with precipitous banks ; and beyond the aqueduct a low line of hills . The river was crossed by a stone bridgethe Traktir-bridge—and on either side was a ford . The bridge is a continuance of the main road from Simplieropol to Balaklava , and the road then runs on between the hills .
The ford above the river is also opposite another opening in the hills . It was at this opening that the French right stood . On the other side of the ravine the Sardinians had established themselves on a hill of some elevation , fronting Tchorgoun . Here the Tchernaya receives the waters of two tributaries—the Chuliu flowing from tho Mackenzie heights , and the Sukiai running from the valley of Baidar . The Sardinian position
partly fronted the Tchorgoim-bridge , partly flanked the valley below , and had its right on the Sukiai ravine . Still further to the right , across the Sukiai , were the Turks , who stood towards Alsou , and whose batteries played on tho extreme left of I < ipbani ) i ' s position on £ t he Chuliu . It should bo remembered thq # tho French guns faced , and the Sardinians flanked , the line of the Russian advance .
The attack was begun with the dawn before tho mist had rolled up the Mackenzie heights , and , it is said , while tho Allies yet slept . Tho Sardinian pickets over tho river , after a spirited resistance , fell back over the bridge of Tchorgoun . At the same time the French wore assailed at Traktir-bridgo , and also driven in . Tho attack on tho Sardinians was a feint , and tho re til battle doveloped itsolf further to tho left . Crossing tho bridge on cither side one heavy column rushed , with blind impetuosity , against the French loft ,
crossing the aqueduct and ascending the hill ; but hotly received by Colon ' s division , they were routed and driven from the field . Meanwhile the bridge had been carried and the French right and centre simultaneously assaulted . As . the enemy crossed the . river , as he climbed over the aqueduct by means of his portable pontoons , the Sardinian artillery
ploughed through the masses , strewing the river and its banks vnth . dead . Nevertheless the Russians pressed on ; at one moment the French seemed in the act of retiring , and the Russians must have entertained a fleeting delusion that they were winning the battle . But the Zouaves in front had only fallen back upon the main body ; and in . a moment the divisions of Fauchettx and I > e FiamiY
were firing terrible volleys into the heaped and unformed masses of the enemy j and ere they had recovered from this rough handling , the French were on them with a cheer , hurling them back into the Sardinian line of fire , and beyond the Tchernaya . Three times , in this manner , were the bridge and river bank taken and retaken ; with such obstinacy and impetuosity did the enemy fight . After the third , he came on no more , but gathered himself up as well as he might , and retreated , pursued by the Sardinian rifles . There were
some thousands of cavalry m the plain oi Balaklava fiercely desirous of leaping upon the enemy , but the chance did not offer , and they remained inactive . Why the Allies did not follow up the blow thus heartily dealt is ascribed by General Simpson to the inferior numbers on the field ; but ought they not to have been superior ? The non-use of the cavalry is justified by the fact that it would have only been Balaklava over again ; that the utmost Pjsxissieb could hope to win would be a few prisoners ; and for this small result he would not risk his noble horsemen . It is quite true that the enemy retreated under his guns upon a very strong position .
Examination Tests. A Controversy Has Bee...
EXAMINATION TESTS . A controversy has been lately going on in the columns of some of our contemporaries as to the expediency of adopting the viva vooe method of examination for civil appointments . The disputants appear to have forgotten that it is partly a question of time . The vivd voce examination of two hundred or three hundred candidates would wear out the examiners
the examinees , and the public , who are expected to form a judgment of the impartial chai'acter of the examination , and who , to do so , or pretend- to do so , properly , must sit it out . But the grand and fatal objection to the adoption of vivd voce examination for prizes is , that it is essentially and inherently unfair . Questions given on paper are the same for all the candidates . But questions asked vivd
voce are not the same , or anything like the same , for all the candidates . No human , examiner ( much loss any sot of examiners ) can make them so ; especially when the examination is not confined ( as at Oxford ) to particular books , but ranges over whole sub-r ects . Equally impossible would it bo fairly to register and estimate the answers of all the candidates . Even tho most practised examiner has to think almost as much of his next question as of tho last answer of the
. At Oxford ( which is quoted as tho vivd voce model ) thero is no vivd voce examination for the university scholarshi ps , where the competition is strictly hvtween man and man , and exact comparison in caaentinl . Xliero is viva voce examination for tho dnaaes , and occasionally ( very rarely ) ib duties a man s class . But Generally the oliww vivd voce is understood to bo oi' very littlo . importance . First class men often pass wretched vivd vooe
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 1, 1855, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01091855/page/9/
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