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^ 6 ¦ * ¦ THE IiiBAl>E^It. [fr o. 288, S...
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TJBEE WAR. The detailed accounts of the ...
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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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~T\ Umours From The Crimea Distract Atte...
the story of each . Could we only ^ get a . full romance of the bankruptcy courts 1 But the difficulty which is felt by France , and to a certain extent by this country—a difficulty which , may make the pressure jefc ^ taxatioatWld . demands of war be felfesomenttbat nioreHBfOT-er & yis occasioned by the still gea & ter pressure < apon the enemy , and is so far asaiindex that we > are beating him as weJJ , in the money market as » insthe fort or the field .
Not that he gives way . On the contrary , there are evident signs that the combination which Canning foresaw is forming , at least on . the Absolutist side . The relation of Naples with Russia we know . Tuscany is inflicting new rigours and exactions upon English -as -well as French travellers . ; -but the ^ workiEhg iof Absolutist relations appears most distinctly in Spain . There , it is said , [ Queen Isabella has been again disappointed of direct issue—this lends new probability
to ' the hated succession of her sister , the Duchess of Mqntpensieb , whose features have so little resemblance to the Spanish 1 Bourbons , although she is ; the daughter of Queen Christina ; hence great verisimilitude in the story that Queen Isabella has been , through her husband , in communication with the Count of Montemoltn , for the purpose of suppressing her own Government by a new Palace coup d ' etat , like that which formerly drove out Espartero ; Royal Spain thus distinctly allying itself to the Absolutist connexion .
Again , this week , persons of distinguished position , stand forth conspicuously . We have a report , hitherto sof tened or suppressed , that the King of Sardinia has been seriously ill , and we infer from the statement that he is not yet out of danger . His loss would be grave , £ for Italy and for Europe , at this moment ; for although Piedmont possesses statesmen who could carry on the affairs of Piedmont under a minority , they could not offer to Italy that leader which Manin again calls upon King Victor Emmanuel to become .
Conspicuous ,. too , amongst the signs of the times , is Sir Alexander Mamst , that hearty Scotsman who represents ^ England at the Frankfort Diet . A dinner was given to celebrate the baking of SebastopOl , and some fifty English , French , and Sardinians sat round the table . Germans appear not to have been present , so that the Allies had it all to themselves . Sir Alexander was in the chair , and he " rapped out" expressions
which , will go round Europe like wildfire . lie accused Prussia , by her trimming , of having plunged Europe into a state of war , called her scruples , pitiful , praised . the King of Sardinia , and spoke of " the most remarkable man of his age , " the Emperor Napoleon , in a manner calculated to identify that monarch with some ulterior projects . And Sir Alexander is - < a high diplomatic character .
Besides , although his language is more outspoken , it is not at all inconsistent with that attributed to Lord , Palmehston on his return from fcTorfch ^ unpton , ¦¦ when he , laughed at a peacespeaking ; farmer for belonging . to " the Manchester School ;" Whilei the Premier is falling ia with the humour of the day . aa it exhibits itself at raiiwayBtationd —rand in thaCrimea—Mbhe ' distanguiahed commoner whoi leads the Qpposition of the House , appears in
his annual capacity , as one of the . Royal Bucks Agricultural Society , at Ayleebury , vindicating the social privileges of that body , namely , to distribute the sooiety ^ Mooat and buttons , value 2 / ., " to faithful farm servants . " Nobwifchstarwling the shafts of ridicule , says Mr . Dxsbaelt , tho lociety haa " .. flourished for , a , quarter of a cen-t ; ui : y , " in tlje pursuit of its objeot " to cherish ana a ^ cq ^ a ^ e , gopd feeling , and brotherhood among ramjWip oljEWfjiaSiof the community . '' Iff the * society ^^ j © p * t !' ; o ? id ^ buttons , says . Mr . / DisnAixi , doefl ¦ 'V '/ . / i . . ''' .:. ! ' : ; ¦ .,. ' ' ! ., '¦ \ ' i .. ¦ ' " ¦ . ' . " i ' . •
not the Queen give as riband , and is not an assembly of officers 5 Especially convened on the field of the Crimea to ,. receive the riband ? Prizes are pleaiwng to the competitive mind ; why . not , t henytibe . asks , a coat -and buttons ? CEhe argument appears to us tofce complete . iBttt at tthat same Conservative meeting of Royal Bu & fcs , Sir BLwoir " Vernky " drew attention" to a point in connexion with agriculture" the costly and tedious process necessary for the transfer of landed property . " " Land , " says Sir Harry , " should be cheap and easy of transfer . " So * that the subversive reformer would set floating the great basis upon which stands our landed
gentry ! Agriculture , indeed , takes the lead ¦ in philosophy . Sir James Kay Shtjttleworth graces the dinner of the Agricultural Societies of Lancashire with a lecture on large bones and small bones in labouring and feeding cattle ; and on the application of intelligence to maintain that happy condition of England which renders it the envy of Europe . And Lord Stanley presides at the first anniversary of the Farming Society of Tipperary ,
and speaks on the possibility of teaching the Irish , whose industry executes the railway and the canal , and the hard work of all the great towns , in England and America , to render Ireland , what God and nature intended her to be , the garden of Europe and of the world . " " Ireland for the Irish , * O'Connell used to say ; the Conservative Saxon Stanley is teaching the Irish how to appropriate Ireland to themselves , and to make it worth the having .
When we get into the field of the Church , we know that personality becomes fierce ; and , accordingly , at a recent meeting of the " Exeter Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts , " the Bishop attacks the Qtjebn and Government , because this year the Queen ' s letter begging the subscription of the congregation for the incorporated societies has not been issued .
If we enter into the region of the aristocracy , we may expect personality to become not only fi erce , but offensive ; and so it is . A hostile correspondence has been published , in which the Dulce of Somerset figures not as principal , but as recalcitrant . The story is simple . A Mr . Alpbbd Hamilton calls upon the Duke , sends in his card , and is told to walk into the Duke ' s room . Such is
his own account , and it is not contradicted . The Duke tells us the next stage . The Duke supposed that it was a Mr . Hamilton with whom he was acquainted ; he gave orders for the gentleman to be introduced , and when he found out his mistake , told the gentleman to leave the house . We understand the offence which Mr . Hamilton had committed , and it was serious : it was that the Dulce had
blundered in his own mind . A Major Gkmen calls upon the Duke for explanation or satisfaction ; ho is mot by reiterations of the statement which we have just repeated , and finally by silence . The Times and other journals are writing at the monstrosities of wife-beating and other unmanly practices . It has been remarked that officers are rather too willing to return from the Crimea . Another remark has been made thnt the men of the present day are capable of an indifference and rudeness towards women , which their forefathers would have blushed to imitate ,
and in some cases would have chastised . It is tho commonest thing in the world to see in that machine for teaching bad manners—the omnibus — a man pushing forward to enter before a woman , who remains without a pluoe . We havo long heard that " tho age of chivalry is past . " We had supposed that some remnant of it remained with Peers , who are ' proud to boar arms ; but in this extraordinary correspondence wo find " tho proud Somtsrsbt" engaged !
^ 6 ¦ * ¦ The Iiibal>E^It. [Fr O. 288, S...
^ ¦ * ¦ THE IiiBAl > E ^ It . [ fr o . 288 , Sa ^ tthday ,
Tjbee War. The Detailed Accounts Of The ...
TJBEE WAR . The detailed accounts of the combined operations on the s 8 * h o'f ^ September have been published in the course >© : fl the week ; and we are now enabled to form something . Tike a correct idea of the victories and the defeats , the glory and the mortification , of that memorable day . The discomfiture of the Russians stands out . yet-more clearly ; the brilliant achievements of theixFrench are beheld in glowing colours ; but the reverse which our countrymen experienced has received a still darker shade from the narrative of one -who was all but an eye-witness . It would be difficult to exaggerate the feeling of excitement and pain which has been created by the letter of the Times Correspondent . His account of our operations at the Redan ( which will be found below )
throws a slur upon the English Commander-inchief , and on the English , army ; yet , upon an attentive consideration of the facts , it will be found that the man-were set -upon doing an impossible work , considering the force in which they were despatched . The conditions under which the French , and those under which the English , made their attack , were totally different . The French approaches were within ten yards of the point of attack ; they had only to cross a ditch in order to enter the work , and , once in , the attacking party were protected by walls against reinforcements . The English had to cross two hundred yards under fire before they reached the salient angle of the Redan ; the ladders were found too short ; and , when at
length by great efforts the men contrived to enter the fortification , they found themselves opposed to large reinforcements of the Russians , released from the Malakhoff } which was by that time in the hands of the French , and unprotected from the artillery at the open base of the triangle . They were but a handful , and were not reinforced . The result of such an unequal contest could be only as it turned out : still , if the allegation of the Times Correspondent , that the men refused to advance at the command of their officers , be true , a stain attaches to the English scarlet . The assertion that the soldiers were chiefly
boys does not harmonise with the statements of other witnesses . A correspondent of the Daily News says he saw the heaps of slain , and observed scarcely one beardless face amongst them . That they fougnt with desperation against superior numbers seems evident ; and the onus is again thrown back on those who made such bad arrangements . It has been stated that the French Commander made frequent remonstrances against the danger and impolicy of not pushing the sap close up to the ditch ; but in vain . General Codrington , according to the Daily JVews Correspondent , kept back the troops which crowded the trenches till the Russians had time to
bring up their reserves , and even then his aides-decamp , ignorant of the topography of the trenches carried his orders to the wrong regiments . The trenches , says General Simpson in his despatch , were so overcrowded that a second attack could not be organised ; and when Pelissier sent to inquire whether he intended to assault again , he said , not until the following morning . But the satisfaction of retrieving our military character was not accorded us . The Russians , as we all know , abandoned the south side , and the Redan fell into our hands , but was never taken . The Morning Post is highly indignant with the Times Correspondent for the charges he brings against our men ; but it happens singularly enough that one of the Post ' s accredited correspondents gives a precisely similar account .
The great work , however , has been accomplished ; and that is the main consideration . Of the scene disclosed to the Allies after the raging fire permitted them to enter , it is scarcely possible to speak , not for want of details , which are abundant , but from want of the power to endure their repetition . A concentration of all the unutterable desolations , miseries , and agony of war was there beheld ; and the stomach sickens at tho recital . A town battered by shot and explosions , still roaring and wasting in tho ravenous flames that enfolded it ; the dead lying about in loathsome heaps , bloody , distorted , and half decomposed ; tho wounded writhing in inconceivable spasms , or paralysed in despair ; tho odour of corruption poisoning the air far and wide ; tho wreck and the
ruin both of man and of man ' s works ;—such wcro sights that met tho eyes of the conquerors . The Russians , with thoir usual heartless disregard of their wounde'd , had left tho inmates of tho hospital without attendance , without food , without water , without any alleviation of their fearful state . Tho condition in which these wretched beings wore found by tho correspondent of tho Times was so frightful thnt the mind ia stunned by tho contomphition . We forbear to reproduce , the details : lot it eiifllco ifc to I say that war has novor been seen in mbro appalling I deformity . And , as if no element of horror should I be wiwnting , a etorm of rain , amounting to a bncl I deluge , and . accompanied by thunder nnd lightning ) I burefi over tho conquered city ; and tho fires 01
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 29, 1855, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29091855/page/2/
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