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

• ett i .~ - 7rr • +I. No. 84.—VoL. 11. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9,1854. PRICE SIXPENCE. Fl2t Vress. public sentiment and for possessing common sense and patriotism. The campaign of the Crimea has been peculiar in this, that our suc cesses in arms have led to no successes in posi tion ; and however glorious may be fields won against a great superiority of numerical strength, yet the blood shed without positive advantage gained is shod in vain. • It is, besides, impossible yet to conjecture what may be the contents of the Royal Speech, or what measures Ministers may think it ex pedient to propose. That party in the House ordinarily opposed to the policy of the Government certainly does not, on this great question of the war, meditate an obstructive course. Early in last session Mr. DISRAELI spoke of the war then newly de clared as "a just but unnecessary war,"—just in its objects, but unnecessary as a firmer and wiser policy would have deterred Russia from assuming an aggressive attitude. But to this war the country is now committed ; we can not draw back, and we must hope for peace not, most emphatically we say through negotiations, while one of the greatest struggles on record is yet in pro gress, and the issue trembles in the ba lance, but only as the consequence of great and decisive military success. How such success can be most surely, speedily, and in a large sense economically, achieved, is the grand point for the Legislature to con. eider. If the power of the British empire were wielded by men who appreciated the genius of their country, and had statesman ship enough to call forth and concentrate!: i 44 vast and varied resources, the contest . not be long continued. Has the exi . .. Ministry given evidence that it possesses su .. ~ capacity ? That is the real question to be de: cided, and as the Parliament now on the eve of meeting shall answer it, will depend the duration of the war and the extent of the sacrifices it will demand from us. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1854. Tux first thought in the mind of every mem ber of the Legislature on Tuesday next must be—Under what circumstances do we meet ? What at this moment is the state of the coun try? The question will be the more pertinent as, by a singular coincidence, Parliament will assemble, as it did two years back, out of due course, in the month of December—now to consider by what new burdens and sacrifices we shall repair the losses of a campaign most disastrous in every respect, save in the splen did heroism of our troops, then to accomplish by an unprincipled Coalition the fall of Lord DERBY'S Government. Those pictures by LAI4DSEER now hanging in the Vernon gallery of " Peace" and " War," are not more opposite in character and circumstance than the con dition of England in December, 1852, and in December, 1854. The Coalition achieved its purpose, it siezed possession of the Govern ment, it took credit to itself for a fulness of public confidence as manifested by the unusual height of the public funds, without parallel in the present century, and for a flourishing revenue, and well replenished Exchequer. But never in our history did two years produce so marked and luckless a change. Letthe Minis terialists exercise their ingenuity as they best can, by casting the blame on fate, or destiny, or Providence, on the ambition of the Musco vite, or the weakness of the Turk; it will yet be difficult to convince the impartial spectator of events that the change is not in some way connected with the political apostasy which it immediately followed. And what will be the state of the nation at the moment of Parliament assembling? It will find the country drained of troops, the Exchequer drained of money, the people loaded with additional taxation, yet dreading the imposition of more—all social improve ments suspended, and a war raging, wasteful of human life in an almost unparalleled de gree, yet of which no one can pretend to fore see the termination. That the Parliament is summoned with re luctance no one acquainted with the senti ments of some of the leading members of the Administration can doubt. It is plainly told by the leading organ of the Government that its duty during the session will be not to dis cuss, but to approve, the Ministerial measures. The rule which requires its assent to certain govermental acts is inconvenient, but indis pensable. The policy, therefore, will be to keep it as quiet as possible, and to dismiss it as soon as it can be persuaded to go through the form of approving the Ministerial pro posals. But the Peers and representatives of England must have lost their ancient spirit if they consent to abnegate their unquestionable privilege and duty of canvassing (more espe cially at a period of peculiar anxiety like the present) the conduct of tho Ministers en trusted with the management of public affairs. They are not now called on to discuss theo ries of Government or personal pretensions. Weightier matters demand their care. The parliamentary contests of years past sink into insignificance compared with the mo mentous facts of the last four months. Twenty thousand of our soldiers, at the lowest estimate, have perished in an expedition now confessed to have been undertaken without knowledge or foresight. Does not this one broad fact demand inquiry ? If the expedi tion was equal to its object, who is responsible for its failure? If inadequate to the work it was commissioned to perform, ou whom does the blame of that inadequacy rest? These are questions to which some explicit answer must be given before the country can feel satisfied that the second act of the war will not prove equally as disastrous as the first. Whatever powei. the Ministers may de mand now, they might certainly have had six months ago. The public expectation outran their demands ; they were pressed to accept more money to raise more troops, and to elevate their minds to a juster view of the magnitude of the contest in which they had embarked the nation. But, even after the expedition had landed in the Crimea, they were so far from recognising the necessity of further supplies, that they boasted of the efforts made as exceeding the requirements of the occa sion, and, in the words of their chief, con ceived that to land from twenty-five to thirty thousand men on the shores of the Crimea was to mako war with all the vigour of which " human nature is capable." In the pre sence of deplorable consequences, which it would be futile to deny or to palliate, we may expect that a candid confession of mistake will be made ; but at the same time there will probably be an attempt to shield Minis terial incapacity by garbled extracts from despatches, and by impugning the judment of the allied commanders. But we aro at a loss toconceive what excusethere can be for delay ing to supply the expedition with those winter necessaries, the want of which is now severely felt, long after it was evident that, even in the event of success against Sebastopol, it would be impossible for the troops to leave the Crimea this year. If Parliament on its assembling discusses any subject, it must be this one, on which public attention is undividedly fixed, of the conduct of the war. Much conjecture is afloat as to the course which the Opposition will take; and our readers may possibly expect some information from us on that head. But any conjecture that might be formed on it would assuredly be premature. Each House of Parliament, though ordinarily split up into parties, is, or should be, one body in all that nearly concerns the honour and safety of the nation. It is impossible to predict beforehand what may be the pre valent tone in a body of upwards of six hundred gentlemen, all assumed to be deeply interested in the welfare of their country. In supposing that a very large ma jority of them will concur in demanding an explanation of the causes which have neu tralised the valour of our troops, and have en tailed essential failure on our arms notwith standing a succession of brilliant victories, we give them credit only for reflecting the THE CAMPAIGN IN THE EAsr. IT is very possible that at the opening of Par liament Ministers may attempt to avoid all discussion on their conduct of the war, by alleging that the time has not yet come when the disclosures necessary to a just considera tion of their measures can be made. It is certain, however, that we already know enough to form a true judgment on those acts of the war which are positively concluded, and that they may now be very properly considered from a military point of view. When war was declared against Russia there were two courses open to us to pursue. The one to limit our efforts to effectually blockading her ports, and to destroying her commerce utterly, while our armies drove her armies out of the Principalities, and thus, holding military occupation of them, rendered any further efforts on her part innocuous till peace should have been restored. This was one plan open to the Ministry, and a plan not without its advantages. Russia, while unable to strike us, would thus have been rendered powerless ; and it would have been as easy then as now to insist on proper guarantees for