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Leader (1850-1860), 15th September 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 878, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      ft 5 R THE L 1 AD E R . [ No . 286 , Saturday ,

      Untitled Article

      of K oBEsriEBBE , at the last , that he seemed to flinch even under the severest agony ; and there is no word more bitter said against the present Emperor than the assertion thjat . at times like this he has been seen to st | Mrt < an ; t 3 U < fliange colour . His policy , at all events , make liim maintain a bold appearance , and he must expose himself . Erobably his moral stay is the ibelief that his time is destined , that he bears a -charmed life , » and , an instrument in the 'hands of Providence , is steeled against the assassin . In the meanwhile this particular assailant has been put out of the way—the whole affair has been hushed up as much as possible by sending the man , not to trial as a murderer , but to Bicetre as a madman . Could we possibly suppose ourselves to understand the designs of the Allies , we might say that their . cause is . making progress , but so inscrutable are the ways of secret diplomacy , that for anything we know the apparent progress of the Allies may be against their wishes . At present it would seem that Victoria and N " apoleon are advancing in all quarters of the world , Russia receding . A point of interest for England has been Persia , upon which Russia was supposed to be advancing diplomatically to the detriment of our Indian Empire . We now learn that France has concluded a treaty with Persia , which seems to settle the question of Russian encroachment in that quarter . Now Russia has long designed to establish a fort and a commercial settlement at the mouth of the river Amoor , which runs along "the northern part of Chinese Tartary ; a portion of which has been ceded , we believe , to Russia . The sources of this river lie near the principal entrance through the chain of mountains that divide Chinese Tartary from Southern Siberia , and the river furnishes , in fact , the only extensive water way from any part of Siberia . Tlie Allied fleet , however , has shown . itself in that quarter ; the Russian fleet has , for the moment , evaded it , leaving Petropaulovski to be dismantled , and retiring to the Amoor—whither our fleets will follow them . The part where Russia holds out most Btoutly is the Baltic ; unless we add her half-annexed German territories—which appear to remain so faithful to her . We have yet to see the effect of the Sebastopol bombardment in Berlin and Dresden as well as Vienna . The interest of the Allies too—always supposing that the interests are what they seem—are making progress in Italy ; for nothing can benefit them so much as the absurd conduct of Naples . The King , besides exasperating every class of bis subjects , has persisted in refusing to account for the insult given to Mr . Fag an by the rude conduct of the Police Director Mazza , and to the French Government by a trivial excuse for omitting to salute a French war ship visiting th » port . Komba persists until Prance and England formally join in demanding explanations , —waiting ^ until they shall be extorted from him by a naval baptain . Nay > it does appear that he may even then refuse , persisting in his conviction that Russia will somehow or other protect him ; though how Alexander is to do it by any other means than some divine miracle , nobody can see . The ifiriend and neighbour of Naples , Romo , continues to "descend into anarchy . The people are calling out for " bread ! " and , openly to his face , spurning the benedictions of the Sovereign Pontiff . Tuscany is placed under threats by the withdrawal of the Sardinian Legation—the Granjd ( Dtjhe having refused to receive an attachd of the iLflagotion—son of a nobleman exiled from 'Lombardy . Thus , while the Governments of the South continue to place themselves more and more at issue with their people , they are bringing their Govontnwnt into contempt , and are drawing upon themselves the marked displeasure , df mot the castimrtfion , of th , e Allies . These affairs are all local , bWHhey are working so as to servo tho purposes of the Allianoe , and , to lower ( the Governments favourable to Russia . Jn tho meanwhile Sardinia perseveres in her spirited and meritorious course . General La Mabmoba , in announcing the victory on the Tchernaya , and specially mentionin g the conduct of two non-commissioned officers and a private soldier for their gallantry ,, is responded to withia movement , to present a testimonial to the soldiers m $ he Crimea ; nnd tho widow of tho Duke oae Ij ^ B ttOA , isends a thousand livros to the fund . A IttriMlar ^ pirit is evinced b y all ranks : from General ^^||| JB jM 0 ||) A to . the private ^ sentinel a brother-§§§| fe < ^^^^

      hood is felt anS avowed ; there is the same community of feeling at home from the Royal Family to the humblest . It is evident that recruiting < will never fail for the Piedmontese trp-Qps , as mm as for the Ang lo-Italian Learon . When twenty-five volunteers were ^ vanted ^ heoifaer day from a regiment of cavalry at Vercelli fall the soldiers stood forward . Amongst the recent recruits is # he Cavaliere Paolo Balbo , youngest son of tfhe eminent statist , Cesare Balbo ; and the young man has gone as a private soldier . But Piedmont is evidently aiming at acquiring a still stronger position , with every prospect of success . There has been a discussion in Tra-m and Oenoa lately respecting the defects of the navy . Instead of-frowning upon this discussion , the Government answers it by authorising the expenditure of 15 , 000 Iivres ( 600 Z . ) to enlarge the Marine School in Genoa , so that it may be enabled to receive a larger number of pupils for the navy . From time to time the Money-market rings a knell which tells the combating states that war is costly . Upon the whole , however , we have as yet no great rig ht to complain ; for if we suffer , Russia suffers more than we . Representations have lately been put forward , evidently by Russian authority , to make out that her finance is really in a flourishing condition . Her income , it is said , is increasing , and it is independent of extraneous aid . Yet it is notorious that the last Russian loan was a failure ; that it is not now paid up ; and that she is already seeking another loan before she has obtained all the amount on that one . It is rather curious that one of the arguments for dispelling allusions to these representations is found in the Allgemeine Zeitung—the German Times . Our own memorandum has come from a second enhancement of the Bank discount , which goes up this week to 4 £ per cent . The alleged reason is the payment of the Turkish Loan , one instalment of 1 , 000 , 000 / . this week , the three millions more in the course of the next five months . But , in fact , the discount of the Bank is only raised proportionately to the value of money , and the discount or profit obtained by all who deal in that article ; and practically the move on the part of the Bank does not affect the money-market . It only shows the state of the money-market , and money men appear to be perfectly satisfied therewith . Indeed a certain self-satisfaction appears to be the ruling spirit . In Devonshire we have Sir John Tyssen Tyrell receiving a portrait of himself from divers local admirers , because he is so old , and has represented his county so long ; and his good-humoured speech of thanks shows that he quite agrees with his testimonalists , both in the object of the memorial , and in tlie likeness of the portrait which is much better-looking than some that he has seen of himself ! General Brown is guest in another direction , where he finds that he and everybody else have done quite right in the Crimea , critics notwithstanding ; for he heartily despises the " Admirals and Generals of the coffee-house 1 " The Duke of Argyle rises to a higher stage , becomes the President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science , and adds to his honours that of Lecturer on the Sciences ftt large , wandering over the field in which he has been preceded by the congenial spirits of Northampton , Carlisle , and Ross . But all is not so fair as it looks on the surface . There is corruption under our trading system . We have this week the formal committal of the three bankers on charges of fraud ; and Mr . Jardine thinks Strahan , P aul , and Co . will probably bo convicted . Fauntlkroy over again , moralises the Times I Next a judgment delivered in tho Bristol Bankruptcy Court , in tho case of one Thomas Wright Lawson . This gentleman , reputed honest but over sanguine , and totally wanting in judgment , manuged to combine practice as a solicitor with a land agency , fanning , speculations in hatching chickens by steam , in growing grapes for tlie London market in Wales , rtnd in Prussian mines I At this wasto , in nine years ho got in dobt 12 , 000 / . But in the next five years , starting from this basis of insolvency , aided by an uncle who wanted money , " to complete the purchase of an estate in Kent , " literally standing upon nothing , by a system of insurance of loans ho cleverly contrived to pay for each othor , ho got in debt 80 , 000 Z . at a cost of 2500 / . in the five years The remarkable fact in tho case is the facility ol ¦ borrowing and tho madness of supposing that tho plan of paying ' by loans could go on for over .

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      I tHE _ WAR .

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      A GREJcr afflu > most important victory has been obtained abuse Jast we addressed our readers . The ' southern half of Sebastopol , containing the town 1 and -some -of the strongest of the fortifications , has been . battered > to pieces , partly by the cannon of the 1 Allies , but * till more by the explosion of mines fired by the enemy in the very rage of his despair ; a vast fire spreads over ^ and eats into the ruins of those walls , the possession of which has been so fiercely contested ; the Allies are masters of everything to the south of the harbour ; the Russians have re- j treated into the northern division , where they will ' find fortifications of great strength , but no means of 'life ; the struggle has been narrowed to a sharper issue , and a new chapter of the war seems about to t open . We have ^ elsewhere discussed the political \ bearings of this victory , and shall not here enter into I the contemplation of results ; below will be found I the details of our success ; and we need only add 4 that the enthusiasm with which the news was re- i ceived in England was shadowed by the fact that I our own countrymen had no share in the victory , ¦ but , despite all their courage and self-sacrifice , were f . repulsed , for the second time , and with sanguinary g loss , from the walls of the Redan . . I The other intelligence in connexion with the war is very slight , and quite overpowered by the import- " ance of the news from Sebastopol itself . From Asia , we hear that a Russian column attacked Erzeroum by night , and was repulsed with a loss of three hundred men and a general killed . The garrison of this place , however , composed wholly of irregular troops , is in want of reinforcements . Intelligence from Trebizond to the 24 th states that provision and I ammunition are beginning to get scarce at Kars . , „

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      FALL OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF \ SEBASTOPOL . 1 On the 5 th instant , at daybreak , the French and jj English batteries opened fire , and the bombardment J continued all that day and the next . The effect 01 | this storm of fiery bolts , beating uninterruptedly on 1 ' the fortifications and on the harbour , was soon visible 1 on the Russian ships drawn up in the latter . A | two-decker was fired by a shell on the night of the 1 5 th , and burnt to the water's edge ; a frigate shared < = ] the same fate on the afternoon of the 7 th . Towards , j midnight , an awful explosion , probably from a maga- || zine on the north side , shook the air ; and on the r following morning a great fire sprang up from the l middle of the town . It was then perceived by the J Allied Generals that the moment for the assault had ! &j arrived . The French , accordingly , advanced against i the Malakhoff , tlie Careening Bay Redan , and the Central Bastion ; the English attacked the Great d Redan . A despatch from General Pelissier describes the first results of this combined action : — i " The assault was made at twelve o ' clock on Satur- ' ] day on the Malakhoff . Its redoubts and the Redan ol" ,. . * Careening Bay were carried by our brave soldiers with , admirable enthusiasm . Amidst cries of ' Vive I'Em- : pereur P we at once set about lodging ourselves securely there , and at the Malakhoff we have succeeded . But . j the Redan of Careening Bay could not be kept in face ; of tho powerful artillery which swept away the firwt { occupants of that work . " " Our brave allies carried the works of tho Great j ; < Redan with their usual vigour ; but , like ourselves at | the Redan of Careening Bay , they were obliged to gi yo I j > way to tho artillery of the enemy , and to his poworful f ! reserves . , \<\ " When wo saw our eagles floating over the Malakhol )' , g General do Salles made two attacks on the Central jfl Uostion ; they did not succeed , and his troops returned ' j to . the trenches . " Thus it will be seen that tho first operations wore ' partly successful , partly a failure . But tho capture of the Malakhoff was sufficient to compensate for the repulse at tho other points ; and the Kussinns | ( speedily discovered that tho southern side of Sobas- \\ topol was no longer tenable . . ' The narrative is thus continued in General Tens- y > eier ' s second despatch , dated " Branoion Kodoubt , W Sept . 9 ( Sunday ) , 3 , a . m .: "— 4 " Karabolnuiu and the south part of flebiwtopol \ w longer exist . Tho enemy , perceiving our solid oix-upu- f tion of tho Malakhoff , decided upon evacuating tin place , after having destroyed und blown up l > y m '" . " " nearly all tho defences . Having passed tho mglit >" tho midst of my . troops , I can assure you that oyorj - thing in tho Karabolnuia in blown up , and , from wlu \ l . could see , tho same must bo tho case In front ol <> " » ' ' lino of attack . This imtnonso succoaa does tho grout ** honour to our troops . . t " To-morrow I ahull bo able to form an ouliniiUf . tho results of thin groat day ' s work , a lartf" I' 01 ' 110 " ' 1

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 878, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2106/page/2/