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Leader (1850-1860), 15th September 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page unpag.

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    • * 1 /, . If . - / . 1 •;• ¦ .". ' ¦•. ^^^^^ r /*9t^^V J^ •* ! vmttUtt I A POLITICAL AMD LITERARY REYIEW.
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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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      * 1 /, . If . - / . 1 •;• ¦ .". ' ¦•. ^^^^^ R /*9t^^V J^ •* ! Vmttutt I A Political Amd Literary Reyiew.

      * 1 / , . If . - / . 1 •;• ¦ . " . ' ¦• . ^^^^^ r /* 9 t ^^ V J ^ •* ! vmttUtt I A POLITICAL AMD LITERARY REYIEW .

      Untitled Article

      VOL . ¦ VI . No . 286 . 1 SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 15 , 1855 . Phioe ( SS ^ JixpSc ^ i j . ¦ . _ .. . . ——

      Untitled Article

      IN the brief interval since our last publication , we have learned that France mig ht have lost its Emperor , and that Russia has lost the half of Sebastopol and the key of the Crimea : while the ! great question of peace or war appears to present i itself in the new form—Shall the conflict continue with a chance of disturbing the settlements that I Russia and Austria have maintained , or shall it be ' arrested now , and compromise with Russia accepted , in order to avoid opening an opportunity which Russia may rue , and the nationalities may use ? ' Before last week was out we knew that the 1 bombardment had recommenced . It is evident that the Russian General supposed it likely to resemble the last in being pretermitted , and ultimately abandoned if he could but bear the storm long enough . But it was not pretermitted . The faults of the last attack had been repaired , and an ample supply of materiel enabled the Allied Generals to continue the bombardment without ceasing , day and night . It was already known that the Russians were prepared to evacuate the south side , by the bridge which they had constructed , but £ ' o obstruct the advances of the Allies as long as possible with new works . They were not allowed time to make their preparations . The bombardment appears to have crumbled their walls faster than I they calculated ; at all events , it crumbled down their resolution , and Gortschakoff gave way . The grand assault took place on the 8 th , at several points simultaneously . The English were repulsed from the Great Redan , but they were prevented from holding it by the deadly storm of grape which swept its surface . The French , on the other hand , equally changed the result on the MalakhofF , which they now succeeded in I holding ; while some of the French forces sustaincd a repulse at the Little Redan and central / bastion . The MalakhofF , however , was the key to the whole place , the possession of which ren-« deied till the rest untenable by the enemy . It is probable , also , that the Russian soldiery ' proved far less tractable than they had boforo , since Gobtschakoxw evidently precipitated hie retreat . He reports to the Czar that ho left to the enemy nothing but " blood-stained ruins : " whereas General Pjblmsibr found heaps of supplies , " both of ^ 1 offence and mouth , " which it will take weeks to t I

      inspect . There is , therefore , a decided downfall in the ability of Gortschakoff , in comparing this precipitate retreat with the previous obstinate maintenance of the place ; unless we presume that he gave way before an internal as well as an external enem }' . The north side presents no means of holding out long . The citadel is no doubt capable of sustaining itself against assaults ; but there are not the means of maintaining an army on that side of the town , or of holding an extensive post , and it appears to be anticipated on both sides that the conflict will now be transferred to the plateau beyond the Tchernaya , and above the Mackenzie ridge ; for the Russians no doubt will still pursue their policy of retreating , and endeavour to harass the Allies as they advance . The advantage has not been gained without paying the price for it . The loss appears to be heavy , and the first accounts represented it as something horrible . It does not prove , however , to be in reality so severe as might have been expected , considei'ing the magnitude of the operation . This , again , is the necessary consequence of Goiitschakoff ' s precipitate retreat . He certainly did not hold the walls so long as he might , and did not make the English pay the admission fee to so heavy an amount as he could have exacted . He inflicted a loss of two thousand on the English in the endeavour to take the Redan , and ho might have levied a yet larger number before we took possession of the town if all his boasted plans had been carried out . Something behind , then , drew him back . The French loss is stated at 6000 , and the carnage amongst the officers has been unusually severe , especially amongst the French , where there was more handto-hand fighting than the turn of the combat permitted to the English at their great point of attack . The news reached this country just in time . A few more days and the Allies would have completed their twelvemonth in the Crimea , and twelve months without accomplishing the reduction of Sebastopol would have caused great dissatisfaction in the country . Even now it is not quite finished ; still wo know that virtually the possession of the placo is settled . The victory has done its work well at homo , and the most has been made of it . It has all the flavour of novelty , and victory is always sufficiently intoxicating in itself . The public has rushed into bell-ringing , into bonfires , whox-e that was practicable , and into all

      conceivable forms of proclaiming the great event to ourselves . Tradesmen hung out the Union Jack and the Tricolor ; poetical chandlers adorned the flag with laurel crowns ; cannons fired from time to time ; people shouted ; and the universal gladness told how much of dissatisfaction those who have the conduct of the war had escaped , by just avoiding the completion of their twelve months ' sojourn in the Crimea without results . In France , too , it was a godsend for the Government . Our neighbours have that appetite for " glory" which makes a victory an unfailing bait with them ; and whether they ought to rejoice or not , the fact appears to be that they do rejoice . None the less because their commander gained the chief success , their countrymen took the MalakhoiF while the English failed at the Great lledan , and their leader is made a Marshal . Besides , the brilliant news came with all the force of contrast . It "was but just before that Napoleon had once more been forced to confront the conditions on which he holds his throne—the condition that any man who has the hardihood to stand out and discharge a pistol , can challenge his occupation of the throne , and remove him . He cannot take his place with other spectators at a theatre , but he runs that risk , as he did ^ jjn the night of Friday . It was known that he intended to visit the Theatre Italien ; and as the suite drew up at the door , a young man standing at the entrance fired two pistols . He missed , not only his aim , but the very object of attack : he fired under a carriage wherein there were ifone but ladies of the Empress ' s suite . But the more feeble thp unhappy man may be , the more insignificant his position and character , the more signal does the fact show with what , facility fi ^^ caiicst in the land cim ruiso the weapon ofj . ddhtU against tho highest in station . NAroLwojl $ j' | Wcnu 8 , or , some of them , will probably say tlmtl ^ ug ht to abstain from incurring these risks , and should keep about him that guard which in fact does watch , and docs surround him , to a greater extent than app ears to a casual observer . But he knows bettor ; ho knows that if ho were to maintain the appearance of timidity which has been marked in him , he would encourage attacks that , at all ovents , he minimizes by braving ; for tho Fronc Jp , jjjjfc ^ natural sympathy with a bold mnn . •^ P ^^ y > % ^ not lift a finger against Lamabtwh :, jM 3 ^ S ^ M ^\ them down with fln unmoved ^^^ WSBffi ^^ tf iB ^ t ^ though they would ox term ' llint 0 ^ ff ^ ^ j ^ tS ^^ ^ M ^ y y chock turns pi , ilo . It was tho St ^ SfKKSmKSKmSS ^ B ^^'

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      Untitled Article

      NEWS OF THE WEEK— page The War 878 The Fall of Sebastopol 878 The Italian Nightmares 880 Another Attempt to Assassinate the French Emperor 880 - Continental Notes 881 The Queen ' s Visit to Scotland 881 The Irish in America 881 ' Railway Accident at Reading 882 Our Civilisation 882 Naval and Military News 883

      Miscellaneous 884 O ? EN COUNCILPostscript 884 Sunday Observance 890 Italy for the Italians 890 PUBLIC AFFAIRS- LITER ATUREWhatnext ? 885 LITERATURE The Fall of Sebastopol 886 Summary 891 Noblesse Oblige 886 Tho Phasis of Matter 891 The Campaign in the Crimea ... 887 Michelet on the Reformation ... 892 The Suez Canal 888 General Klapka on the War 893 Pishing for the Irish Seas 889 Dr . Arnott on Warming and Muratism in Naples 889 Ventilation 894 Examination Tests 890 Translations and Reprints 895

      English : Past and Present 896 A Batch of Books 896 THE ARTSSadler's Wells Theatre 897 Births , Marriages , and Deaths ... 898 COMMERCIAL AFFAIRSCity Intelligence , Markets , Advertisements , &c 898-900

      Untitled Article

      "The one Idea which History exhibits as evermore developing itself into greater distinctness is the Idea of Humanity—the noble I endeavour to throw down all the barriers erected between men by prejudice and one-sided views ; and by setting aside the distinctions ^ of Religion , Country , and Colour , to treat the whole Hainan , race as one brotherhood , having one great object—the free development of oux spiritual nature . "—Humboldt ' s Cosmos . .

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      Contents .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page unpag., in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2106/page/1/