The Press. — London, England, 1854-11-04 00:00:00

THE PATRIOTIC FUND. THE appeal of the royal commission is meeting with ready response from all parts of the country. The principle of providing for the widows and orphans of our soldiers and sailors who fall in battle, or rather, we suppose it should be said, while engaged in active service, is so admirable, and ;the enthusiasm excited by the heroism displayed at Alma so great and general, that the public appears eager for an opportunity of testifying its approval, and the subscription; thus far, promises to be one of the most magnificent efforts ever made by purely voluntary feeling. There is some force in the objection, it is true, that private benevolence will thus be diverted into one channel, to the exclusion of all others, and that most public charities will suffer in greater or less degree from the munificence of this subscription ; and for this rea son, as well as others advanced in this journal, it would, we think, have been more expedient for the State to have made direct provision for the destitute families of its defenders. Two or three hundred thousand pounds, or even half a million, would be but a small item in the enormous expenditure of the war, and on economical grounds alone might have been advantageously expended, as whatever increases the efficiency of our services and renders them more popular must be advantageous to the public. But such a sum, if possible to be raised by subscription, would severely tax the exertions of benevolence. As this course, however, has been decided on, the coun try must, not hold its hand. There has been some speculation as to the amount which may be required. A leading journal hints at a hundred thousand pounds, but, on any calculation, it is difficult to see how such a sum could be con sidered sufficient, as there is no probability of the war being brought to a speedy termination. The sum, when raised, will, we presume, be put out to interest ; and 3,000/. or 4,0001. per annum would go but a short way, considering that our loss already, through sickness and the sword, can be little short of five thousand men ; and it has been justly said that those who fall by disease are equally entitled to grateful consideration as those who fall in battle. One point has been raised in connection with this fund which has not yet met with a satisfactory answer. Are the families of officers to be regarded as having a claim on its bounty as well as the fami lies of privates? This will be a point, say the secre taries, for the commission to decide; but it is inti mated that whatever benefactions are received with special directions and limitations will be faithfully administered. It is to he hoped, at all events, that the commission will at once get into working order. Nothing is so proverbially sickening as "hope de ferred," and the beneficent process of relief is one of the first duties imposed on the commission. Sub scriptions will flow in more freely when it is an nounced that the work of distribution has com menced, and when widows and orphans testify with tears and thanks that the country in whose service their protectors fell has not been unmindful of their forlorn condition, nor unsolicitous to relieve their distress. The meeting of the CITY OF LONDON on Thursday has been the most conspicuous manifestation of the week. It was held in the Egyptian-hall at the Man sion house, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor. The "merchants, bankers, traders, and other citizens " had been invited to attend, and a very numerous as sembly, containing the chief members of the above classes, as well as representatives of most of the great mercantile corporations in the City, responded to the call. Lord John Russell was also present in his ca pacity as member for the City of London. In open ing the proceedings, the Lord Mayor briefly reminded his hearers that London had prospered abundantly during forty years of peace, and its inhabitants were bound in conscience to provide liberally for the fami lies of those who might fall during the war : The citizens of London on the present occasion would prove themselves worthy of their sires. Half a century ago the city of London set a noble example to the country by the patriotic feeling which it evinced in behalf of the re latives of our soldiers and sailors ; it would not now show it self less regardful of those who were now fighting the cause of the oppressed against the oppressor. ( Cheers.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL then moved the first resolu tion : --- - That this meeting regards with the highest admiration and gratitude the gallant conduct of their countrymen who have been engaged in the recent naval and military operations in the east of Europe. Commenting on this topic, his lordship said : I am sure it is not necessary for me to use many words to persuade the meeting to agree to this resolution. We are engaged in a just and necessary war, for no immediate object of our own, but to defend our ancient ally and to maintain the independence of Europe. In support of this assertion it is unnecessary for me to offer any proof. Parliament, and the citizens of London, and the people of the United Kingdom have generally and almost unani• mously assented to the justice and necessity of the war. (Cheers.) If, however, the war were altogether an error, we should not be the less inclined to show our gratitude to those brave men who, at the call of their country and • THE PRESS. the desire of their Queen, have gone forth to the East, to suffer every privation, exposed to every disease, and pre pared to encounter every enemy who might venture to oppose them. The question which this meeting has to decide is not one depending on the general policy of the war ; but it is, what, in your judgment, has been the deserving of your countrymen in arms? (Cheers.) i said that, as regarded the justice and necessity of the war, the opinion of the country was nearly unanimous, but I think that upon this point its opinion is quite unanimous, and that the people of England are univer sally of opinion that never have Englishmen more dia. tiuguishekthemselves—never have they shown greater pa tience under privations—never have they exhibited greater valour in the field than during the present war. (Cheers.) We have seen how they met and overthrew the enemy on the heights of the Alma. (Loud cheers.) We know that every obstacle was opposed to their success. We know that all the machinery of war, all the dread engines employed in martial enterprises, were there collected to oppose their progress ; but the nerve and bravery of British infantry overcame every obstacle, and succeeded in planting the English standard victorious on the crests of the hills of the Alma. ( Applause.) This shows that, notwithstanding the many years of peace which we have had the good fortune to enjoy, the character of our coun trymen has not deteriorated, and that our soldiers have not become enervated during the long period of inactivity. It shows also that discipline has not been relaxed, for, how ever brave our soldiers may be, they would not have at tempted such an enterprise or encountered such an enemy unless they had been bound together by discipline, and had full confidence in one another. The British soldier is, perhaps, changed in one respect since the last war; but it is a change which must be viewed with the deepest gratification. The letters which have been published— (Hear, hear)—from non-commissioned officers and private soldiers during the last few weeks show that our rank and tile can express themselves with a degree of intelligence and propriety which, while it marks their good feeling, indi cates how much progress has been made in education since the last war. (Applause.) The result is, that, while this edu cational progress has been made under the auspices and with the encouragement of those intrusted with the ad ministration of the army, British soldiers have lost no thing of the nerve and energy which distinguished them at former periods. (Cheers.) We have, then, an earnest that, whatever operations may be undertaken—and we know that at this moment a great enterprise is keeping the whole country in a state of anxiety—w a many confi dently rely on the intelligence and bravery of our soldiers to do all that skill and valour can accomplish. Alluding to the opinion which had been expressed that provision for the widows and orphans of the war should be niade out of the national exchequer, Lord John added: - - That is a question which I am not going to discuss. It has been the opinion of Parliamen 4 hitherto that such grants could not be made on ordinary occasions without leading to a great abuse of the funds. Be that as it may, however, we know that there are no such funds at present, and that it is to the voluntary zeal and liberality of their countrymen that our sailors and soldiers dying in battle must look for supplying comforts to their widows and orphans. Mr. BARING, who seconded the resolution, touched also upon this point, observing : It must surely be much more gratifying to those who fall in the service of their country to know that the wants of their wives and little ones will be met by the liberal sympathy of their countrymen themselves than by any formal votes of Parliament which might be contested at every stage. Englishmen abroad had nobly done their duty; let Englishmen at home now do theirs. (Loud cheers.) -• A resolution pledging the meeting " cordially to respond " to the proposition for raising a Patriotic Fund was next moved by Mr. HUBBARD, Governor of the Bank of England. It was seconded by Mr. BEVAN, who announced that the committee of the Infant Orphan Asylum at Wanstead had agreed to recommend to the governors at the next half•yearly meeting, to place twenty free admissions at the dis posal of the commissioners. On the motion of Mr. DIIIMN, a resolution was adopted to the effect that the several London bankers should be requested to receive subscriptions, and a committee formed to promote the collection of funds by any steps they might think proper to adopt. Before the meeting separated subscriptions ex ceeding 16,0001. in amount were announced by the Lord Mayor. Among the list of contributors, were : the Corporation, 2,0001.; Governor and Company of the Bank of England, 2,0001.; Goldsmiths' Company, 1,0001.; Grocers' Company, 1,0001.; Marine Assurance Company, 5001.; Messrs. A. Gibson and Co., 5001.; London Assurance Company, 5001.; Messrs. Baring Brothers, 5001.; Messrs. Barclay and Perkins, 5001.; Fishmongers' Company, 5001.; Messrs. Smith, Payne and Smith, 500/.; Messrs. Morrison, Dillon, and Co., 2501.; Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Buxton, 2001.; the Sun Fire Office, 5001.; Messrs. Glyn and Co., 5001.; Baron Rothschild, 500/4 the Shipwrights' Company (working men), 1001.; the Vintners' Com pany, 1051.; Messrs. Roberts and Curtis, 2001.; Messrs. Hankey and Co., 200/4 Messrs. Crawford and Colom, IOU.; Alderman Salomons, 10014 Messrs. Pickford, 5001., &c. The committee then appointed held a first meeting yesterday at the Mansion-house, to carry out the object in view. SATURDAY, The parish of MARYLEBONE met on Wednesday, one of the churchwardens presided, and Lords Wode house and Rokeby, with Sir Benjamin Hall, were the chief speakers. The latter was more fussy than could have been desired, but allowance must always be made for natural character. Singularly enough, at this meeting, called for a purely benevolent purpose, the speakers could not avoid dwelling on the infinite distress caused to the relatives of those engaged in the Crimean expedition by the absence of authentic intelligence. Lord Woot:HousE said : Unfortunately, all the news we had at present from the Crimea was an abundant crop of Russian despatches. There were so many persons in every rank of life connected with our soldiers and sailors who were now serving in the East that in every circle, and almost in every family throughout the land, a feeling prevailed which he could only describe as one of the most painful anxiety. He him self had relations in that army, and he had a near connec tion in the cavalry, and it was a source of the greatest anxiety to himself and the members of his family as to what might now be taking place in the theatre of war, and as to the sufferings those relations might be called to endure. He had been recently residing on his own estate in the country, and he knew that many of his own labourers there, who had sons and nephews in the Guards and in other divisions of the army serving in the East, were in a state of suspense and fear equally painfhl. That anxiety, indeed, was felt among all classes, from the Queen on the throne down to every artisan and labourer in the country. Sir B. HALL more clumsily alluded to the same topic : Time and space were now annihilated. By the efforts and ingenuity of man news could arrive from all parts of the known world in so short a space of time that it might be counted by seconds. And what was the conse quence of those telegraphic communications ? What oc curred a very short time ago in reference to a regiment connected with a locality with which he himself was identifier ?—he meant the 23rd Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers—perhaps one of the most noble, certainly one of the most gallant, that ever went into a field of battle — (cheers) —which had shown its gallant bearing in the Penin sula, and especially at Waterloo, and which was the first that was put forward in the attack at the Alma. The tele graph stated that only three officers of that regiment were left alive. That was on the 7th October; he (Sir B. Hall) went down to the country that day, and when the train stopped at Winchester anxious inquiries were made of him as to the truth or falsehood of that statement, hut no further information could be given. When he arrived at Broadlands, on a short visit to Lord Palmerston, the parent of one of the officers of the regiment came in the greatest anxiety to know if his son was one of the three who were stated to have survived ; but no information could be had until the Sunday evening, when they received the special edition of an evening newspaper of that day, which told them that his son was no more. But if those feelings agitated persons in that rank of life, would it not be wicked in them to suppose that they were not participated in to the full by those of another class of society? In addition to the anxiety of a wife or child of a private soldier as to what might be the fate of the husband or father, suppose they had that great anxiety and suspense heightened by not knowing what might happen to them if the husband or father should die in battle? To alleviate that suspense and anxiety they were assembled in public meeting that day,in the wealthiest district of the wealthiest empire in the world, and he hoped the result would be a magnificent proof alike of their wealth and their patriotism. Sir Benjamin, in addition to stating that he had visited Lord Palmerston at Broadlands, said that he had written to the Duke of Portland on the subject of this meeting, and that his grace had replied regret ing his inability, through ill-health, to attend, but saying he had already sent 5001. to the fund. The Rev. J. H. GURNEY, rector cf the phrish appropriately deprecated the suggestion he bad lately heard made, that our soldiers and sailors should all be single men, and con tended that the letters which had 'appeared in the public prints within the last month from soldiers serving in the Crimea proved that a man was not the worse soldier bey cause he was a husband and a father. Lord RONEBY gave the results of his own experi ence : He had served forty years in one regiment, and he had never been sic months away from it. He had filled nearly every station in that regiment, and he Chee trusted be had endeavoured to do his duty in all of them. rs.) He was adjutant for a great number of years, and he had had ample experience of the great difficulty which soldiers had, from their slender pay, in making anything like a pro vision for their wives and families, and in educating their children. He might say he had trained every man in that noble battalion, the Ist battalion of Scotch Fusilier Guards, and he had resigned his command only two days before it went out to the East. A simple narration of two cases, which he had come up to town to attend that day, he thought, would best show the necessity of passing the resolution be held in his hand. They had reference to thefamiliehas of tw; t i p a a w y i s fe e r i g n eao this ts countryof slow consumption , battalion,hisol d d yingrian d five fil one of whom, ving e children, had since died in batt l e whilst nobly doing his duty. The children had been provided for up to this time, 'kelih , ood b and since his death the ce ntral association had undertaken to maintain his widow for the r emainder, in all of her short life. The oth er was a still more painful s case s . It was that of a pay - sergean t who had a wife and child, s girl about eleven years of age. He left his child wit h e i r sister, and took his wife out with him. She died, bowevere, of cholera at Varna ; the father himself and a brother and the killed in one volley during the battle of the Alms, an h