The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-07 00:00:00

938 from Sebastopol, where a harbour afforded refuge for shipping, and where the siege train could conveniently be landed. As no mention is made in the Government despatch of any fighting subsequently to the 20th, we may assume that none took place, there espe cially as the Russian commander would not be likely to oppose the advance of the allies with any very inferior force, or to leave detach ments in the field whieh might pftibably bef . cut off. It is stated in the Government despatch that Prince MENSCHIKOFF was in " the field " at the head of an army computed at 20,000 men, from which we may conjecture that, after his retreat from the Alma, he divided his forces, stationing part of them within the lines of Sebastopol, while he kept the open country with the remainder. The Russians, it is also said iu the despatch, had burnt their fortress of Anapa, at the head of the Caucasus, on the Black Sea, and were marching the gar rison to reinforce Prince MENSCHIKOFF. The allies by establishing themselves at Bala Clava commanded the approaches to Sebas topol, and were preparing on the 28th to march against it. We still, therefore, await with the greatest anxiety intelligence of the operations undertaken to reduce this great fortress. Any reinforcements which may reach the Russian camp by way of either Perekop or Kertch will, probably, be more than counterbalanced by those which have already joined the allies. Up to the 28th ult., then, the allies had been in the Crimea fourteen days, and had not then commenced the investment of Sebas topol. They lauded on the 14th at Old Fort, about thirty miles north of Sebastopol, spent some days in completing their disembarkation, and advanced to the Alma on the 20th, where Prince MENSCHIKOFF had strongly entrenched his army, to the number, it was supposed, of near 50,000 men. Probably 40,000 would be nearer the mark. His forces were dislodged at the point of the bayonet, with a loss to the English in killed and wounded of 1,895 rank and file, 96 officers, 114 sergeants, and 23 drummers, in all 2,128; and a loss to the French estimated at 1,400—a proof that the battle must have been severe. The following eight days must have been spent by the allies in marching to Bala Clava, and in organising arrangements for the serious business of attacking Sebastopol. MR. DISRAELI ON PROTESTANTISM. THE letter of Mr. DISRAELI to the Blackburn Protestant Association is a most important document. It will be seen that the Right Honourable Gentleman with a generous public spirit disclaims the idea of "wishing to make " the settlement of this all important ques " tion—‘ Has England a Protestant Consti " tution?'—a means of obtaining power." He refers to the eminent qualifications of Lord JOHN RUSSELL for settling this most serious question, and, if the Noble Member for Lon don were the same "J. Russell " that he once had been, we should on this point concur with Mr. DISRAELI. But Lord JOHN RUSSELL has been untrue to the colours which he himself unfurled. He has succumbed to " the Jesuit " party," and we can have no confidence in the Protestantism of a statesman who, after having written the " Durham Letter," handed over the care of Ireland to a Peelite Viceroy, a Peelite Chief Secretary, and a train of Peel- ite law-officers. The question must be settled, and can be satisfactorily settled, only by the Con servative party. The dissensions and con trarieties of sectarianism in the followers of the " Coalition " must prevent the sub ject from receiving due legislative treatment ment at their hands. We agree with Mr, DISRAELI in thinking that the rights of oul Roman Catholic fellow-subjects will have to be duly considered ; and we also hope that the question will be set at rest with " as little heat "as possible." But settled it must be. as Mr. DISRAELI well says, " with earnestness and " without equivocation. Nor do we think that there are any serious difficulties in the way of L THE PRESS. sound legislation on the subject. Its high importance to our domestic harmony and Jour national religion cannot possibly be exaggerated, awl We rejoice to see the country in various direotions beginning to demonstrate its ecnivietions. rilE BALTIC , EXPEDITION. IT is MM mattet for sittprise that the redact news ftom the Bis.ck f ea should cause dit ferenco of opinion crri the results of our great naval expedition to "the Baltic. The vivacity of those discussions is, perhaps, promoted by recollection of the injudicious speech made by Sir JAMES GRAHAM at the too celebrated banquet at the Reform Club ; but on grave questions, where the professional honour of both English and French admirals is con- cemed, we must be cautious how we censure, when the whole circumstances of the case are still concealed from view. The propriety of an attack on Cronstadt must be governed by considerations totally different from those which, in a mere naval point of view, justi fied the storming of Copenhagen, Algiers, and Acre. The prodigious strength of Cronstadt is admitted by all military authorities, and the difficulty of approaching it with large ships is evident at a glance. Supposing that an attack were made upon it, and the British fleet was seriously crippled, there is a powerful Russian fleet behind its walls, which would then come into action, fresh and unin jured. The splendid exploits of the British navy► (to some of which NAPIER himself brilliantly contributed) have caused an extravagant esti mate as to nautical possibilities where our admirable " blue jackets" are concerned. We must remember that our glorious NELSON was for two months previous to the battle of the Nile assailed with idle taunts upon his inactivity: nor let us forget that the same mighty hero was unsuccessful in his expedi tion against Boulogne, not long after his victory at Copenhagen. Mr. DISRAELI said, with true British feeling, " that in the con " duct of the war no commander need dread " from the Conservative side censures like " those of the Whigs in other days against " WELLESLEY on the Douro;" and we applaud both the justice and public policy of such a manly sentiment. Nevertheless, idle talkers have a certain superficial ground for their taunts at the apparent inactivity in the Baltic. We at once admit that it may yet become a question, why the expedition to the North was not organised in another style. All we contend for is, that we should not cast unjust slurs upon English and French commanders, when it is very likely that the real blame (if any) should lie upon Ministerial shoulders. Whether at the present time we could have sent a large English military force along with the fleet is open to some doubt, and some persons might say that it would be unworthy of the honour of this country to allow the entire military expedition directed against Cronstadt to be supplied by our gallant French ally. It will, also, remain for discussion and investigation why a flotilla of gun-boats was not provided for Sir CHARLES NAPIER, according to the admiral's explicit wishes? Until these points are satisfactorily decided, it would be pre sumptuous and unjust to sneer at the non performance of crushing Cronstadt in the style dreamed of by some mere sciolists in military affairs. NAPIER has the reputation of a daring and famous career to shield him from ignorant critics, and men of sense will not be prepared to concur with idle talkers on a subject where the dread-nought Earl of DUNDONALT) has given his powerful testimony • in favour of " Old Charley." it " UNITED SERVICE " SCANDALS. SCARCELY had the investigations into the 46th Regiment closed when attention was drawn to alleged scandals on board H.M.S. the Daunt iiss. Two officers of the navy were said to be SATURDAY, inculpated in a charge of manslaughter, in the case of an unfortunate woman. The whole public mind was at once fixed upon the case, and several columns were daily assigned to the reports of the inquiry into the facts. Although there is ratteh to be displeased with, and something also that deserves severe notice, it appears that, the statements in the case were excessively titaggerated. From the necessity, however, of comment ing at any length on tho whole facts we are saved by the well-considered and temperate remarks of the Mayor of Portsmouth, whose judicial ability (as apparent in this case) re flects high credit upon him. He has clearly and cleverly shown, beyond reasonable doubt, that, however highly improper was the conduct of Lieutenant KNIGHT, the officers of the Dauntless cannot be held obnoxious to the charges so sweepingly and recklessly made against them. Mr. SEYI4OI7II was completely cleared from these charges, but Lieutenant KNIGHT'S conduct being still before the Admi ralty we may refrain from its examination. We prefer to advert to some serious considera tions which we must emphatically press upon the attention of young officers in the arin3i and navy. Any officer who thoughtlessly gives causes for public scandal at the present time does great injury to her Majesty's service. He vilifies his noble profession ; he exposes his comrades to an inquisitorial tribunal ; he may be said to cater for the coarse and prurient tastes of those gross natures who feast on low personal malice. That there are such classes of readers we may lament, but the fact is unalterable, and whoever wears the honoura ble livery of warlike service should now be particularly cautious as to his habits and actions. The plain truth is, that periodical clamours are raised aginst the clergy, the bar, and the united services. At present the whole public gaze is con centrated on these latter ; and let officers, therefore, beware how they assist by impru dence in raising " a cry.' Assailants will be enrolled against them with a rapidity requiring no bounty on enlistment, save the vulgar pri vileges of the volunteer railer and the politi cal scold. We entreat of officers (we address ourselves especially to youthful ones) to recol lect " that causers of scandal are justly to be " dreaded by the authorities in the Horse Guards "or the Admiralty." It is the enemies of his country, and not the companions of his mess, that a British officer should bring into serious scrapes. Let his name be looked for in the Gazette, not in those painful columns dedi cated to Police. THE LAND REVENUE OF MADRAS. OUR attention has been drawn to the existing evils of the land-revenue system by an anec dote related to us on excellent authority. But first we must beg leave to explain what that system is, and how it comes to press so heavily on the unfortunate cultivator. The plan, then, is this :—The lettings being from year to year, the rentroll at the com mencement of the season may be considered a tabula rasa ; but there are hereditary owners of all the land, and in them is vested the right of cultivating it. Some of this land is arable and some grazing, but the greater part is jungle ; that is, land overrun with dwarf trees and bushes of no value to any one, but which land, under a proper system of land tax, would nearly all be cultivated. The col lector's first task in each year is to collect together the people of the village, and ascer tain how much of their land it is their inten tion to cultivate, and, as his character with Government depends on his raising the reve nue as high as possible, it is of course his object to compel the people to enter into en gagements to till the largest number of acres that he can. On the other hand, the rents being far too high, and the extortion of the revenue officials in addition most enormous, the people naturally wish to confine their cul tivation to the quantity necessary for their subsistence. Then comes the screw. Every