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    THE WAUL OF SEBASTOPOL . The « Duthem half trf : Sevastopol has been reduced -without ah nwestinent of the north nearer than Eupatoria on one side and Yeni-KaleTi on * the other . Ithas been reduced by bombardment followed by sol assault ; and its possession is the fruit of nearly a year ' s exertions on the part of the Allies , including , besides the siege , three pitched battles , and a winter campaign . The event completes one section of the war in the Crimea ; and forms a natural climax to u series of operations having for their object the capture of the city . The relative positions of the enemy and the Allies on the morning after the battle of the Tchernaya is the point where we must take up our ~ survey in order to comprehend the issue of the siege . On the 17 th of August the Russian troops had again retired , bearing with them the moral discouragement of defeat , back to the heights on either side Mackenzie ' s Farm . As was conjectured at the time , the enemy ' s movement on the Tchernaya was dictated by a desire to frustrate the progress of the siege , which he foresaw was approaching a termination likely to be fatal for him . He failed , suffering great losses ; while the Allies succeeded , suffering a comparatively small loss , and finding more than compensation for it in the renewed prestige which the victory imparted to their arms . Prince Gobtsch . a . koi'I' made the most of the next fortnight . Aware that he had slight hopes of bringing his army safely through the next bombardment , and at the same time anxious to establish a rapid communication with the north , either as a road of retreat or a road whereby he might renew or reinforce the garrison , he built a strong raft bridge across the harbour , threw up earthworks along the cliffs to protect it , and drew his army together in compacted lines " ^ between the sea and the heights of Mackenzie . In the camp of the Allies it was believed that a spirit of mutiny had appeared in the garrison of Sebastopol , and that the army outside was suffering alike from thirst and discouragement . The sap of the Trench had been pushed into the ditch of the Malakhoff , but the most advanced lines of the English were still one hundred and fi fty yards from the salient of the Kedan . Under these circumstances , and no danger really menacing the line of the Tchernaya , the Allied Generals resolved to renew the bombardment on the terrible scale which had been prepared with so much labour . Accordingly , at daybreak on the 5 th of September , the mortar batteries of the besiegers opened a vertical , and the heavy guns in position a horizontal fire against the town and the whole line of defences from the Careening to the Quarantine Bay . In addition to this formidable array , twelve mortar boats , six English and six [ French , anchored in Streletska Bay , threw shells into the forts on ) the south side , which form a portion of the sea defences . The effect of this close , incessant , all-pervading hail of bombs was soon manifest . First one and then a second lineof-battle-ship caught firo , and burning swiftl y , illumined the whole town and camp . Those batteries winch had fired vigoi'ously were silenced . Flames brolto forth in the town ; magazines exploded ; death was everywhere among the gallant defenders of the place . At length , about noon on Saturday , the fourth day of tho bombardment , the Allies stormed the eastern face , attacking at three points . The French stormed and held the Malakhoff ; , stormed , carried , but failod to hold tho little Bedan ; while the English , rushing upon the great Kedan , could only carry the salient , but could not hold it , even when the Malakhoff was in the hands of the French . In like

    manner O-eneral fcB i SaxiIiES twice vainly as * sailed the central bastion on the west face . The Mason for these four defeats Was , that both the Kedams were entirely open to the rear and exposed to the full fire of the artillery in the second line of defence ; whereas , the Malakho , consisting of batteries rising one above another , offered that protection which enabled our allies to hold it when won , and defy the foe . The consequences , said General Pemssieb , will be immense . They were so . During the night , Prince Goktsoha-Koit made the best of his way over the bridge , leaving the town in possession of the flames , and the stone forts ready mined for destruct ion . All that night , and the greater part of the next day , a huge conflagration consumed the town and suburb , broken by recurring explosions of great magnitude . From the north the Russian army , from the south the Allies , looked on the magnificent spectacle . All the Russian fleet had bee n either sunk or burned ; the bridge had been broken in the rear of the retreating army ; and three small steamers alone remained afloat . On Tuesday the Allies entered the town , and found not blood-stained ruins alone , but vast quantities of valuable material , which the enemy had not been able either to destroy or carry away . On " Wednesday the three steamers were burnt , and thus perished the Russian fleet in the Black Sea . The retreat of the large garrison of Sebastopol to the north side is a fitting termination to one of the most obstinate contests on record ; and redounds to the credit of the generals who planned and executed it . The Russian army had lost the south side and gained a concentrated position on the north . The Allies gained the south side , and thereby liberated the great bulk of their army for ulterior operations . Their line extended from Kamiesch to the pass of Phoros , with the line of the Tchernaya and the heights of Inkerman as their advanced posts , and full command of the sea on all sides . The Russians had three courses before them : to retreat at once , to attack the line of the Tchernaya , or to stand on the defensive . But as the Allied army enjoyed a freedom it has not possessed since the 14 th of September , 1854—as it commanded the sea , and could therefore move at pleasure—it is surmised that the danger thereby hanging over the Russian line of communications and retreat would compel them almost at the first demonstration , if not before , to make the best of their way out of the Crimea . Moreover , they are said to be pressed for provisions , and are known to be suffering from want of water ; and it would not be surprising if the north , like the south , were blown up , and the enemy were to retire within reach of succour . But the Allies are well provided with cavalry and cannon , and anxious for the combat , and it is not likely that any rear-guard of Russian horsemen could stand the rush of the cavalry of three warlike nations like England , France , and Sardinia . Thus under any probable circumstances the Russian army is in a position more precarious than at any moment since the war began .

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    NOULESSE OBLIGE . A PiiANTAaicNETia accused of being tho chief man engaged in consummating the evasion of a promise ! Ifc is " only a railway affair , " and so far no one will bo surprised if two companies quarrel , and ono company accuses the other of trying to outwit it , Tho story is very brief . Some years back a new lino was projected to connect the Potteries with the highway from London-to tho north-west , and according to the tale , tho promoters of this line received the assistance of the London

    and Birmingham Company , upon the condi tion that they should adopt as a part of then own project a branch line originally designed by the Iiondon and Birmingham , —the Churne Dine . The equivalent / was to be the Manchester traffic connected with the iLondoi and Birmingham . Railway . Subsequently the London and Birmingham was amalga mated with the Orand Junction as Th < IiOndon and North-Western ^ ' views o self-interest induced the amalgamated com panies to prefer the Rugby route for th < Manchester traffic ; and it was easy for th < directors of the joint companies to declare Mr GiiTN ' s promise on behalf of the London anc Birmingham unauthorised . It was a promise however , which had induced the proprietors of the Potteries line , subsequently the Nortl Staffordshire , to undertake liabilities thai they had not originally contemplated , t ( waive a Parliamentary guarantee for the Manchester traffic , to abandon a course which might have frustrated the amalgama tion of the two companies , and , in short , t < sacrifice guarantees , as well as to undertakt liabilities , on the faith of Mr . Grira ' s word The amalgamated companies enjoy the advantages obtained for them by Mr . Gxyit . but repudiate the equivalents which he had promised . Lawyers have decided against them upon formal arbitration ; but they persevere in repudiating , and it would seem very doubtful whether the law would technically ratify the understanding . Perhaps mere railway directors , who do not pretend to anj very chivalrous standard of morals , may rely upon their technical rights , and may throw the claimants upon the letter of the bond but it so happens that the Chairman of the London and North-Western Company is the Marquis of Chandos , a Plantagenet , and , notwithstanding the course now taken by the directors over whom he presides , he consents to affix his signature to the instruments oi evasion . Noblesse oblige . A Plantagenet lends himself to these lawyer-like traps , and " honour amongst railway directors" it appears , attains no higher standard for having induced a Plantagenet to accept the post of Chairman : railway directorship is not elevated to the Plantagenet standard , but the Plantagenet descends to the level of the line . The level of the line is low enough . The dispute between the London and North-Western and the North Staffordshire is not the only railway scandal of the day , Tho shareholders of the Eastern Counties have appointed a committeeto inquire into the management of their line . The four-and-sixpenny dividend proposed by the directors is disallowed until the shareholders ascertain whether to pay themselves that dividend would not in fact be robbing themselves . It was a principle announced on that line by the great Hudson , that the capital account must hear what the working account cannot sustain ; and that dodge has been the means by wh ich railway companies have been led into unlimited liabilities and expenditure . It enabled their officers to deal with hundreds of thousands , if not millions of money , but ifc results in a four-and-sixpenny dividend , an in the Eastern Counties , or in a dividend of nil , as in tho North Staffordshire , it ia not only that every difficulty has boon referred to tho capital account , as in th ° Eastern Counties , but ono of tho charges which has called for tho appointment of tho committee is such a vitiation of stores , tluit some expenses are practically unaccounted for , while adulteration supplies " grease which is no bettor than chalk . " And mutiny against honest accounting has become bo systematic , that Mr . Gooon , the engineer of t he company , ordered his officers not to give m-

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 886, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2106/page/10/