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    338 :, THE LEADEE. [Saturday, ^

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    T HE W A JR. It is almost a misnomer, th...

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    "\Tever Was There A Press Of Business Mo...

    officers in the East call upon him , addressing him through Lord Pasjiobe , to reconsider those aspersions upon their body : but Lord Pasmuhe himself is laid up with the gout ; and the House of Commons , if it be not distracted b ^ the cere - mpnials and festivities of the week , will perhaps press for an answer , how Ufcis tfaBfrthe W «»* Department is to get on wftlioutJtlfe War Minister ? Mr . Layard , too , has been proving to his new Scotch constituents who have appointed him Lord Rector of Aberdeen University , that he under * - stands " the reason-siifcy" the education ofctfate ^ ctay does so little to fi ^ men for ' active life , since it

    overstrains their memory and clouds the development of their faculties . Notwithstanding his comparatively little regard for Parliamentary appear ^ ances and the reserves which have become a- kind of routine amongst-public men , Mr . Layarb- is rising in the public estimation . At least the Ministers will have to consider how they are to deal not only ¦ wit h the individual Layard , but with the increasing : class in Parliament which he represents * The question is the more urgent and difficult , since there are other oppositions in Parliament—that

    ¦ which gathers round the Manchester nucleus , —the dissatisfied Peelite nucleus , —the Tory nucleus , old and new ^ —att of which threaten some fusion . We know but ofi one intramural diversion for the bother that is threatened for the reopening session : it would be to arrange an entertainment within the walls ofT that theatre for the amusement and instruction of their Erench Majesties ^ Why not get up a sort of party-debate , with . Mr , Disraeli for stage-manager , as a display of our institutions ? It would be amusing , and would divert troublesome attention from- real business-.

    In one respect Government have totally belied the accusations of their enemies and the inferences of their friends . Yesterday the Chanceixor of the Exchequer sent to the City a notification , inviting the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England to ^ a conference with Lord Paxmerston and the Chancellor of the Exchequer , in order to make preliminary arrangements for a loan . This settles one question—that Government , at all events , will not try to proceed on the principle of paying for everything out of the current taxes of the year . And so far it fajls in-with the dictates of common sense , and -with , the rumours of extended war .

    In another it seems possible that Ministers may modify the calculation of friends and foes : a deputation has v / aited upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1 to dissuade him from the proposed measure on the newspaper . stamp , and to substitute a new plan . This is a halfpenny stamp for newspapers , and a halfpenny ^ stamped cover for a—single- postal —transmission . . of -unstamped printed papers . There is no doubt that this would yield a" great increase of revenue ; and Mr . Edward Baines ' s representations to that purport appeared to have a strong effect on Sir George Cobnewakl Lewis .

    The Cambridge University Reform Bill has appeared . Its general structure is the same as that of the Oxford bill—a reform of the University constitution , a power to colleges to reform themselves by opening fellowships , & c , within a year , and a power to commissioners to reform them afterwards , if they omit to reform themselves . There is also the same modicum of University extension in the shape of private halls—which will probably be equally nugatory in both cases—and the same relaxation of tests up to the B . A . degree . The reform of the University constitution , if we may trust the writer in the Times , is a blunder . The Caput Scnatus is deposed instead of the

    Board of Heads , whereas the . Board of Heads is the real tyrant . We must observe , however , that the Board of Heads at Cambridge has not a legal existence like the Hebdomadal Board at Oxford . Independently of this , the proposed new governing body is bad , as being constructed on the " sectional *' instead of the free system , the heads and professors each nominating one-third of the members from among their own body , while the remaining third is nominated by the colleges in a certain cycle . When will people learn the commonest lessons of freedom ? The bill is brought in by the Lord Chancellor , so that it will bo first discusaod in the Lords .

    The discord between the" vestry "ami incumhent of St . Paul ' s , Knightsbridgo , has reached a climax this -week . Last Saturday tho churchwarden wna compelled to protest against the pagan rites practised by the incumbent and his curates , in honour apparently of tho Queen of Flowera . Ou

    Tuesday ., after a disgraceful uproar , Mr . Westertos-, who , we trutst , finds Protestantism " , " was- re-efe * ted churchwarden , and a resolution adoptfed , declaring that Mr . Lidi > ell ' s mode of conducting worship is " highly offensive . " Where is ^ th e Bishop ? What a . mockery must episcopal ' authority be in this divinely Established Chuwsh of England , when bishops can be braved , andTpastors and parishes quarrel at pleasure ! ThVlaw calendar is'WBCoininonly full thisiifreek of cases that- peculiarlyj-illustcate our social life . There ^ jsy-f & rinstancef . tiite- judgment in th & case of Derby versus Hopwood : a proceeding instituted by the executors of the late Mr . Hopwood to deprive Captain Edward Hopwood of certain rights

    which he claimed as the successor of his late father , contrary to the claim of the captain ' s brothers and sisters . There is nothing unusual in the case , and the evidence intended to make out the claims of the executors for the family on the one side , and of the eldest son on the other , disclosed a state of family feud of the most discreditable kind . We see brother scheming against brother , sister getting up scenes against sister , and the poor old gentleman—all the while -with faculties declining —made the sport and tool of one side against the other . As the world faded from his eyes , he saw his children quarrelling for his succession , and that was the last spectacle he enjoyed of his earthly home .

    The case of Mrs . Ramsbotham has less moral significance . The lady is the wife of a physician of some eminence , and she was detected taking goods , which she had not purchased ,- from- the counter of a linendraper . Attention had already been called to her movements by previous occurrences . It is explained that she was in a state of health which renders women liable to unaccountable wishes and excitements , and the jury was equally divided upon the point whether she was morally guilty or not . The result of the trial was , that the jury were " discharged by consent , " which amounts _ to no judgment , and the case falls through . Everybody is satisfied to see the unhappy lady ^ released from accountability ; but the question still remains—arer * such

    aberrations peculiar only to the classes well-to- do r or , does it not happen sometimes , that there might be reasons for disbelieving moral culpability , although the garb of poverty lends an air of necessity to the act of purloining ? •_ . A much more painful case has occurrea , in the conduct of Miss Emilie Gordon , a young lady well connected , who has outraged her country neighbours by most offensive eccentricities . But this case we have abstained from noticing , because we hold that it ought never to have been made public . We happen to know that this unhappy young lady has alreadybee ^ K ship from which , it seems , she was prematurely removed ..

    As we rise again in the social scale , the illustrations of life become somewhat blacker . Mr . Ernest Fjtzhoy , a young gentleman of fortune , who will have 20 , 000 // in June next , andjwho has distinguished' himself amongst the sect of the restoration , at St . Paul ' s , Knightsbvidge , has been tried and convictedat Chichester of issuing forged cheques . And the Honourable Fhancis Villiers , fourth

    son of tho Earl of Jersey , Member for Rochester , and Steward of the Jockey Club , has suddenly disappeared , leaving liabilities to the extent of 100 , OOOZ . He was last seen , we believe , ostensibly following the hounds ; but the bailiffs have found it practically impossible to follow him . Others follow him in a certain sense . It is said that there are many distinguished persons , with or without titles , who will be dragged in by his sudden default .

    338 :, The Leadee. [Saturday, ^

    338 :, THE LEADEE . [ Saturday , ^

    T He W A Jr. It Is Almost A Misnomer, Th...

    T HE W A JR . It is almost a misnomer , this week , to have any such heading as " Tho War" at all . Since tho light on the 22 nd , a languor seems to havo fallen on both sides—that is to say , as far as regards actual hostilities ; but thq Russians continue their energetic measures of defence , and wo continue our preparations for opening fire , though , up to tho Jnst advice ? , that long talked-of event had not been initiated . The Russians still keep possession of their three rifle-pita ; and they havo dug four more , oild have begun connecting them with each other by artificial works . The Times correspondent says , " Every look at the riflo-pits satisfies nio that tho Russians mean them as rudiments of advanced works against up , and that they are likely to prove very troublesome . Tho

    Mamelon is a most serious ingredient in calculating thectfames of an assault . The works on the east * if are afa » ve * £ dangerous . The Russians have already begun to arm them with heavy guns , and theiirfire rvrill sprove , I fear , extremely harassing . " The -weather has become hot and summer-like with hurrieanes * fr night ; but disease has not entirely disappeared . The 79 th Regiment continues tp suffer severely ; the men die at the rate of two a day , and one lurndfeed have died within a month . Scurvy however , lias diminished . Dr . Gavin , of the Sanitary Gonu & iM & Ml ^ .. has arrived , and complains , it is said titecFlie cannot fled anyf & f the authorities whom he *

    • wants . Dr . SiitHerland , Having caught the fever at Scutari , has gone to Smyrna * to recruit himself . Therailroad does not seem to have worked well ; and the waggons of materiel appear still to lag and halt upon the way . We read also of the arrival of 280 mulesof the continuation of the " races ; " of a little fight among the Croats ; of a fire on board a ship in the harbour , -which is supposed to have arisen from the drunkenness of some of the crew , but which was extinguished ; and of a rumoured revolt of the Russian army at Perekop , accompanied by the murder of a general , and of some officers who were marching the men southwards .

    It now appears that our loss in the affair of the 22 nd was not one hundred , as at first supposed , but only a little above fifty . There is no doubt , however , that the losses of the Russians and of the French were larger . From Eupatoria , we hear of no important action . An occasional reconnaissance , a few light skirmishes , and the routine operations of aa invading army , form the sum of our news from that quarter . A reconnaissance which took place on the 23 rd of March would probably , says a Vienna paper , have become a general engagement , had not Prince Gortschakoff given orders to retreat ; but , at any rate , whatever the probabilities , it came to nothing . It i 3 reported , however , that Omar Pacha occupies two villages half a league from Eupatoria , and that he is enlarging the circle of the fortifications for 50 , 000 men .

    The annexed account of the armistice on the 24 th , for the purpose of burying the dead on both sides , will be read with a deep and pathetic interest . It is one o £ = the mo 3 t striking episodes of the war ; and makes us involuntarily reflect upon the dreary mistake of all war ( unavoidable as it may be , and has been in this instance ) , when we see men , so prone to good fellowship arid mutual service , constrained by the necessities of their position to become mutual murderers . One hour , courteous conversation and smiles ; the next , the fierce eye-glare and clenched teeth of deadly combat . . ¦ , * ..

    THE AttMISTICE OP TWO HOURS . " Early on Saturday morning ( the 24 th ult . ) a flag of truce was sent in by the Allies with a proposition to the Russians for an armistice t " bury the dead , which were lying in numbers ^—five or six Russians to every Frenchman and Englishman—in front of the Round Tower and Mamelon , and , after some delay , an answer in the affirmative was returned , and it was arranged that two hours should be granted . for -collecting - arid , carrj'ing away the dead on both sides . All the ravines leading to the front tranches were crowded with officers hastening on

    horse and foot down to the scene of so much hard lighting . The crests of the hills and the slopes in front of tho batteries were covered with men , and they dotted the deadly interval between the batteries which had been before occupied alone by thousands of tons of shot and fragments of shell discharged by French , English , and Russians during this protracted siege . The day was beautifully bright and warm . White flags waved gently in the faint spring breeze above the embrasures of our batteries , and from the Round Tower and Mamelon . Not instant

    a soul had been visible in front of the lines nn before tho emblems of peace were run up to the flagstafls ; and a sullen gun from tho Mamelon « nd a burst of smoke from Gordon ' s batteries had but a short time previously heralded tho armistice . Tho instant tho flags were hoisted , friend and foo swarmed out of the embrasures . The Riflemen of tho Allies and of tho enemy rose from their lairs in tho rifle-pits , and sauntered , towards each other to behold their grim handiwork . Tho whole of the space between the Russian lines nnd our own was filled with of unarmed soldiery .

    groups . Within a few hundred yards of the Mnmelon tho fiig"J was strange boyond description . French , Eng lish , and Russian officers were walking about , saluting ench otlior courteously as they passed , and occasionally entering into conversation ; and a constant interchange oi littlo civilitios , such as offering and receiving Highlights , -ivus going on in each little group . Somo ot tm Russian officers were evidently men of high ran it nii « brooding . Their polished mnnnora contrasted rcinnrtablwith their plain and rather coarne clothing .. I W > 1

    y wore , with fow exceptions , the invariable long grey < w over their uniforms . Tho French officers were nil » nrande Unm , and offered a striking contract to many our own oiUeprs , who wore dressed a /« Unlakliiv " , "" wortS uncouth hend-flreBiios , catHlcin coats , ami »«•• ' « acript paletots . Tho KuhhIiiiw were wither p ; my «; <» reserved ; but they Hoemod to fraternise with tli « ' i ' " ^ better than with ourselves , nnd tho men certainly n «' bettor with our ullles than with tho low privates oi u «

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1855, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041855/page/2/