The Press. — London, England, 1854-12-09 00:00:00

1156 after the recent discussions in Parliament cannot be overrated ; and the public, we are convinced, will have felt no little surprise that so able an administrator as Mr. BAINES should have apparently slighted the claims of several old and competent public servants to choose such an assistant as Mr. ABRAHAM HAYWARD, the peculiar nature of whose services appear to be so thoroughly appreciated by a section of the Cabinet. In justice, therefore, to the President of the Poor-Law Board, we feel it our duty to state that, not only was he NOT consulted in the matter, but that, ignorant of the selection, he had actually applied on be half of a gentleman whose fitness for the post he could well testify. Emanating as this appointment does from the very statesmen who, during the last session of Parliament, were so " sanctimoniously "'eager for a reform of the civil service, it will, we confidently pre dict, give to the public another and convincing proof of the amount of reliance to be placed on Coalition morality. OUR ABSENT FRIENDS IN THE CRIMEA. WIIILE with singular brilliancy and rare histo rical power the free press of England has chronicled the exploits of our heroes in the East, there is one duty still left by it undis charged. " Our own Correspondents," indeed, have made the events in the Crimea pass vividly before our eyes, and as journalists we are proud of their literary talents. But have our gallant and absent friends in the Crimea been sufficiently told of the intensity of the domestic interest with which their position is regarded in every household in the land ? We wish, from our hearts, that we could vividly place before them an adequate picture of the daily, and even the hourly, interest felt in their heroism, their sufferings, and perils. Fine words in conventional panegyrics our champions do not require. Though covetous of fame, their soldierly sense of duty makes such hardy spirits comparatively indifferent to noisy applause. But, bold as are their breasts, and stern as are their martial tem peraments, we know that many amongst them would be cheered if they could hear the way in which they are spoken of by the fireside, how fondly their names are dwelt upon, while affection dwells upon their virtues, and how ardently, in every circle, people rejoice to boast the privilege of perso nal acquaintance with some of the army serving in the East. The feeling we record is not confined to one class. It is to be found alike in the cottage and the castle, in the quiet hamlet and the crowded town. It is to be seen in the village alehouse as well as in the gorgeous clubs of Pall-mall. The daily life of even our most successful men at home seems tame and in sipid compared with tho chivalrous existence of our absent heroes, enduring hardships with out murmur, and braving perils without blanching. How their private letters are thumbed, and sent rapidly from hand to hand I How fervent are the aspirations for their safety ! How tender is the grief over the fallen ! It is at such moments, when some of our champions are mentioned, when every eye brightens, and some perchance are moist with tears, that we are made to feel with thrilling sympathy how glorious and sublimely pa triotic is the mission of the soldier. Yes! we are all proud of the friends whom we know in the Crimea. We feel that they are engaged in a tremendous task, and that one hour of their daily life has more of trial and endurance than a year of our monotonous ex i s tence at home. I Nhen we hear of the exploits of our own kinsmen a more proud sense of family spirit quickens our pulse, and we feel greater for their deeds. And is not the whole army kindred with us? Are we not all entitled to hail them as our fighting country men, who uphold our nation, and present us to a higher sense of moral by the stirring spectacles of miracles of valour like Inker• mann and Balaklava, or of protracted endu rance in the dreadful hospitals, or scarcely less terrible trenches, exposed to the wild storm, almost as pitiless as the half-barbarian THE PRESS. foe ? At home, in our daily life, many amongst us, in the pressure of the crowded paths of the world, are entirely forgotten by our friends. Distance and diversity of pursuit separate and extinguish old ties. In the dull jostle of professional or mercantile struggles the heart is not appealed to, and oblivion soon falls upon our names. But it is not so with the man who leaves Old England and draws his sword for his country. If he survives the struggle with what elation we all talk of our friend or our old schoolfellow ; and, if he falls, his name, his courage, his good qualities, can never, never be forgotten by the associates of his youth and the companions of his manhood. The tomb of the merchant or the lawyer is scarcely noticed, though the cenotaph be of marble. But the rays of glory illumine the soldier's grave. So it was in the olden time, when HOMER wrote, and so it will be while the human heart shall throb. How often in daily life do we hear it said, "Ah 1 yes ; I knew his father well. He fell at " the bloody Talavera ; and a noble fellow he " was. I rejoice to meet his son." Or it may be that one of the gentler sex is the topic and, whatever may be the fair one's personal graces, how brilliantly they seem enhanced when it is added that " she is the daughter of " a Waterloo officer." And shall it not be the same way with the heroes who fought the good figh at Alma Balaklava, and Inkermann. Shal t l not their , names always be honoured, and shall not their memory be cherished with affec tionate regard ? Yes. From what we see and hear around us in English society, we can tell our absent friends that they never were more loved and admired than now. We can tell them that friendship has a gazette of its own , which can record with fidelity all the names that cannot be crowded into a hasty official despatch, from which many of the most meritorious are often casu ally excluded. Our hearts are with them, and in the anniversary festival of Christmas prayers for them will ascend to the Most High. Let each amongst them be assured that his name is often and often alluded to by his old friends and companions Let him be certain that his bravery in the field, or his fortitude within his tent, is felt and sympa thised with by each and all amongst us. And not without deep emotion, we would remind them that the spectacle of their hardships and Christian fortitude are seen by that eye from which uo act or thought of man is hid. Ha will reward the self , denying soldiers who now in the Crimea endure their crosses with the sublime fortitude of patriots and Chris tians, of the true stamp of WELLINGTON. For as we know that such heroes are honoured u pon earth, so we are taught that Ow shall be rewarded in Heaven. THE SECOND OF THE BUTLERS. THERE is a beautiful incident in the life of the great Duke of ORMONDE which was recalled to us on reading of the death of the late Captain HENRY THOMAS BUTLER, at Inkermann. When some one was offering obtrusive condolence to ORMONDE, on the death of the gallant and ac complished OSSORY, the Duke replied with exquisite pathos :—" I would rather have my " dead son than any living son in Christendom?' And as the venerable Lieut.-General Birri.na thinks of his heroic sons who fell in the East, he may feel some consolation in knowing that it would be difficult for any parent in Chris tendom to point to two living sons that equalled his own in merit and chivalry. For the late Captain HENRY BUTLER was, in all respects, worthy of fraternal rank with the hero of Silistria. He was at home last year on leave from Gibraltar, and, previous to the commencement of the war, he left this country to visit Egypt and Sinai. This pilgrimage, undertaken in the spirit of a Christian soldier, he accomplished in time to join our army in the East, on the staff of which he was placed in his absence. It was with a heart full of fraternal sympathy in the glory of " the hero of Silistria l ' that he embarked for the Crimea, too soon to emulate his example and fall in the performance of his SATURDAY, duty to his country. From his bivouac tire on the heights of the Alma he wrote home on the morning of the 21st of September one of the most graphic descriptions extant of that " al most incredible victory," as it has been justly termed. In the great up-hill charge of that day he dashed into the Russian battery with the Coldstreams cilia brother's regiment). He described the regiment, under that murderous fire, as, at some twenty paces from the enemy, taking aim with such field-day coolness that every shot told. He was on horseback four teen hours, bearing orders through the day, without his Arab charger or himself feeling the least fatigue. He described his feelings to a friend as being those of one who felt himself under God's providence in the fight; and, though exposed to constant danger, he escaped on that occasion with only a musket-shot through his trowsers and boot. He was destined to fall more gloriously at Inkermann, where, in the bloodiest part of the field, at the Sandbag Battery, in the foremost rank, while cheering on the gallant Coldstreams, he sunk too soon for his country, but not too soon for the honour of a name that will be remembered by his comrades as one of the bravest of the brave. In the very attitude of death he preserved the characteristics of his famous race. Lord DeLeon's, of the Guards, saw him lying dead with his sword tightly grasped in his hand, as if just going to strike. As one of his friends well said—" He died as he lived, a true Butler " to the last." As we think of these two brothers, animated with congenial chivalry, we feel that language is weak to express the bereavement of their not leas gallant father. To their deaths are the beautiful lines of Dryden on OSSORY ex quisitely applicable : Yet not before the goal of honour won, AU parts fulfilled of subject and of son ; Swift was the race, but short the time to run. There is something so affecting, but at the same time so elevating, in the fall of these brothers, both in the prime of early manhood, and both eager to meet death in their country's service, as to call for some national testimonial to their heroic devotion. Their exa mple and their memory belong in a pecu liar manner to :he country, and must ever be esteemed among the most precious illustra tions of our military glory. A tablet in one of our great cathedrals recording their names, their services and their death, though unne cessary to perpetuate their fame, would on the part of the nation be a grate f u l recognition of their eminent valour , and p erha p s tend to soften that sorrow for their loss now keenly felt by the numerous relatives and friends by whom they were in an equal degree loved and honoured. The Rev. Dr. BIACIEWOOD, and the Rev. PIERCE BUTLER, a brother of the heroes of Silistria and I n k er mann, have been appointed officiatin g chaplains to the hospital at Scutari, and will join forthwith. The Rev. W. RowiNs has been appointed officiating Roman Catholic chaplain to the hospital at Scutari. The vacancy at Dublin occasioned by the much lamented death of the Rev. John KIRKLAND , Junio r chaplain to the garrison, has been filled up by the recal of the Rev. Robert HALPIN, staff cbsplin, from the Crimea, who will resume the duties he relinquished in March last. The following statement shows the present distri bution of the Church of England chaplains attached to the army in the East :—Rev. R. Halpin, Ist division ; Rev. J. W. Lewes, 2nd division ; Rev. G. F. Gilborne, 3rd division ; Rev. W. Wuleatt, 4th division ; Rev. W. Egan, light division ; Rev. R. Hamilton, cavalry ; Rev. J. E. Sabine, senior chap lain at Scutari; Rev. Q. Lawless, Scutari, Rev. V. Hayward, Balaklava ; Rev. H. P. Wright (principal chaplain) head-quarters. This list is exclusive of the twelve assistant chapla ins, most of whom have now arrived. From returns which we have seen, it appears that our regular army has been within the last two m onths increased by upwa rds of 6,000 men, in cluding volunteers from the militia regiments. Is order to expedite the training of recruits f o r corps on active service, it is proposed to establish ailotber depot battalion in Ireland, which we believe, is W be formed at Mullingar. 116 -a.