The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

bsB,_ land—the broad FREE PRESS of the EMPIRE — should be appealed to for the help of an army abandoned to eleemosynary aid by the neglect of the Queen's Cabinet. As to the actual necessity for this aid of the wounded soldiers, the public have the opinion of the eminent surgeon Mr. GUTHRIE. He has had long military experience, and he has said that the interference of the public will be likely to produce mischief, though under most benevolent intentions. There might be squabbles as to the particular distri bution of the fund subscribed, and there would very possibly be dissensions between the Queen's officials and the newspaper almoner, along with other unpleasant considerations that we shall not describe. Her Majesty has lately received a pert lecture in her brief and dearly-earned respite of labour from the toils Of the State; after that, it cannot certainly be very wonderful that a Cabinet like the present should consent to being ignomi niously superseded in the discharge of press ing duties by the censor of the Queen of ENGLAND, now the self-elected almoner to her Majesty's troops. Only think how such a fact will be interpreted through Europe ! The richest country in the world to leave its wounded soldiers to the care of a news paper staff!" THE NEW IRISH MILITIA. THE enrolment of the Irish militia is an im portant incident in the internal organisation of our national defences. Only few of our readers can recollect the circumstance of Irish militia regiments doing duty in England, when the English militia was sent to Ireland. From the social intercourse thereby generated, good effects resulted to the privates of both forces. They saw more of the world, and, by changes of scene and habits, learned to feel more liberally to all their fellow-subjects. In the formation of the Irish militia we do not an ticipate any difficulty. The new Militia Bill offers considerable advantages to the recruits, and there are great facilities for exchanging into the line. We may remark, however, that there must be changes in the present staff of the Irish militia, as the commissions were issued to the officers several years ago, and more youthful men will be required. We are happy to see that these necessary provisions are being carried out ; and we trust that the local magistrates will take due care that none but carefully-approved characters be admitted into the organisation of this valuable force. With reasonable caution in the enrolment of the rank and file, we are convinced that the Irish militia will in no respects degenerate from the gallant example left by several of the Irish volunteer regiments in the last war. THE EMPEROR or THE FRENCH received an auto graph letter from the I'rince Consort respecting the death of Marshal St. Arnaud. THE OLD NAVAL Cull, which was established in 1765,celebrate on the 21st inst. the victory of Trafalgar. Those of the officers who survived that memorable fight perpetuate its memory year by year by dining together at the Thatched-house, St. James's, and on this anniversary Earl Nelson has been invited by the president to meet the companions of his heroic ancestor. Two of the most eminent foreign houses in the City have been negotiating for English capitalists to join in the lease of the Hungarian railways obtained by the French company from the Emperor of Austria. The management of those lines already finished, and the construction of whatever lines the State approves of, are included in the terms, which extend over a period of ninety years, and for which a sum ap proaching twelve millions sterling is affirmed to have been agreed upon. WE noticed with commendation the immediate response to the appeal of the Worship street magis trates for those left destitute in that district by the inroads of the epidemic. It appears now that up wards of 5001. was received within a month of its being asked for. Succour was directly afforded to no less than 450 persons, chiefly beads of families in phoreditcb, Bethnal-green, Spitalfields, and other nitighbotiilloods. errit PRE§s: THE WAR.. THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL. No official despatches respecting the progress of military operations have been published by the Government since the 10th inst., when Lord Rag- lan's letters of the 28th ult. were printed in an Extraordinary Gazette. Our accounts of subsequent proceedings are therefore derived from private and, in some instances, very untrustworthy sources. Among these the telegraphic despatches received via Vienna figure largely, and have transmitted from day to day a long series of reports each, if possible, more absurd and false than its predecessors. The manufacture of "intelligence" is carried on most industriously either in Vienna itself or in those more distant stations whence news is telegraphed to the Austrian capital. In very many of the despatches thus transmitted the blunders and falsehoods are gross and palpable, being such as can be detected by the slightest knowledge of localities or comparison of dates. In others the credibility of the tale rests upon a balance of probabilities, and possibly some grains of truth may be imbedded in the mass of fallacy and misrepresentation. It is even then im possible to discriminate between the facts•and the Inventions, especially as the whole are filtered through sources where Russian influence prevails, and are liable to be coloured and distorted accordingly. Under these circumstances, our only information of really trustworthy character has been derived from a telegraphic message sent from Marseilles, and com municating the intelligence received at that poll, by the Pharamond, French steamer, which arrived there on Thursday evening with Constantinople dates to the 10th and Balaklava to the Bth inst. This despatch announces that the siege works at Sebastopol were protected by entrenchments against any attack from without by Prince Menschikoff. No offensive movement had taken place. The siege material amounted to four hundred pieces. It was thought the firing would commence in forty eight hours to effect a breach. Balaklava was perfectly fortified. The Porte is forwarding 10,000 men, half of whom embarked from Varna on the oth. Four thousand five hundred French have left the Piraius for the Crimea. Respecting Russian movements, we learn from Vienna that Prince Menachikoff had gono to Perekop to receive reinforcements, and on the 7th was re turning with them towards Sebastopol. Prince Gorts chakoff had arrived at Odessa. From Berlin we are told that a despatch from Prince Menschikoff has been received at St. Peters burg, saying that on the 12th the enemy remained about Balaklava, and had undertaken nothing against Sebastopol. The Paris Moniteur publishes despatches, dated October 3, addressed by General Canrobert to the Minister of War. Up to that date no new feat of arms had taken place, but most perfect arrangements were being made for the siege. The French army is to have the left of the attack from the sea to the southern fort, and as tar as the ruins of Inkerman. A division under General Forey is to conduct the siege; whilst another division, under General Bos quet, acts as a corps of observation. The Turks and English have made analogous dispositions. No doubt was entertained as to the issue of the siege which was about to begin. The reports of deserters represented the Russians as very dispirited since the battle of the Alma, where they lost 8,000. The correspondence from the Crimea contains ample details of the proceedings up to the 3rd inst. This enables us to bring down our narrative of opera tions to the time when the siege entrenchments were actually opened to the south of Sebastopol. We are still, however, many days behindhand in intelligence, if compared with the time which natural possibilities and official promises authorised us to anticipate for the transmission of letters. SCENES ON THE ➢LARCH TO BALAKLAVA. We passed a number of unfinished martello towers, with the scaffoldings still standing around them. They were mostly on strong, commanding positions, and their erection had evidently been commenced with a view to protecting Sebastopol from an attack by land. Two months more would have finished them all, and then this expedition would have been out of the question. We arrived at Belbeck after a short march of about five hours. The little town was situated lik e Tchatlia, in a ravine of considerable depth. The hills were grand and majestic, and the scenery altogether equal to that of the best Swiss valleys. There were some magnificent houses and villas, furnished in the most luxurious style, but abandoned and desolate. A description of one will suffice for all. The house of General Alexis was placed in an extensive and beautiful garden, laid out with exquisite taste, and abounding with fruit and SATURDAY, flowers of all descriptions. The rooms were spacious and lofty, enriched with gold mouldings, and with the floors inlaid with coloured woods. I never saw such a scene of wreck and desolation as these rooms presented. The superb carved rosewood furniture was lying about in heaps, mixed with books, vases, costly china, bronzes, pictures, and shattered mirrors. Over these the soldiers were trampling recklessly, searching for such articles as would be of use to them duing the march. In =other room was a handsome and well-selected library, containing about four thousand volumes. The books, which were principally in French, English, and Italian, were scattered about in all directions, and trodden ruth lessly under foot. One small and beautifully -fur nished room had evidently been used as a kind of sitting-room for young ladies. There was a large tambour-frame with some rich embroidered work in it still unfinished, while patterns, crochet, knitting work, and fashion-books lay close by. There was au album on the table, also filled with water-colour drawings and sketches, and in the corner of the room a handsome piano, guitar, and volumes of music. I was quite disgusted with the way in which both English and French soldiers went ransacking everything, though it was amusing also to see the selections they made. One fellow would load himself with a handsome table, which he cer tainly could not carry more than a hundred yards, while another took a glass chandelier and lustres. Zouaves walked off with gilt curtain•poles or hand somely-bound volumes of music, while their compa nions staggered along under the weight of large gilt arm-chairs. Lord Raglan had issued an express order that none of our soldiers were to enter the houses ; but, in spite of the prohibition, stragglers searched every house they came to. One can hardly be surprised at this, especially when they only follow the example set them by their superiors. It was quite dark before all our troops had crossed the bridge at Belbeck. So precipitate had been the flight of the enemy that they had neglected to destroy anything, even the bridges. The destruction of the latter would have delayed our advance at least two days. CAPTURE OF BALAKLAVA. The firing at the fort of Balaklava was a mere artillery skirmish, hardly worth mentioning. One man of the 88th was scratched in the leg by a stone which a shell knocked up, and this is the sum total of our casualties. One shell, however, was near doing much mischief. It burst right over the heads of Lord Raglan and his staff. Only that the Russian shells, without a single exception, always burst when about 200 yards from the ground, we should have lost by this missile the principal leaders of our expedition. The enemy's artillery practice generally is bad : without some previously -arranged system of marks they appear utterly incapable of taking a proper range. At Balaklava their firing was perfectly ridiculous. Their first twenty or thirty shots were so much depressed that they actually en tered the ground about 300 yards in advance of our foremost line of skirmishers. The range was then altered, and their balls passed about forty feet over our heads, and never recochetted until half a mile in rear of the reserve. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BESIEGING FORCE. The whole of the French and Turkish troops left Balaklava on the 30th ult., with the English artillery, sappers and miners, and light, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divi sions, for Sebastopol. Balaklava is to be the head-quarters during the siege, first because it is the most convenient place for landing stores, and next because it commands the high road to Sebastopol, from which it is only six miles distant. The French are to occupy the hills of Kerson, which command the outworks and fortress on the south ; the English storm the outworks sod detached forts which cover the town and shipping at the end of the harbour. As yet it seems that the north side is to remain untouched. Directly the fourth division came in sight of the fortress a tremendous fire was opened on it from shot and shell. Our men, however, were completely out of range, yet the enemy kept up their fire almost the whole day, firing some 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Sir John Burgoyne, who was present, seemed de lighted. He laughed and said, " This is what I like; they show us their range, and waste their ammunition." A perfect cordon has been estab lished round three parts of the fortifications. It is not intended to extend it further, as it would weaken the line, and expose it to much risk in case of rein forcements coming up. As it is, the allied forces command the three roads leading to Sebastopol. That from the south by Balaklava, and that from the north from Simpheropol, are cut off by the armies, while the road from the north-east by Eupatoria runs by the sea shore, and not a wheelbarrow could pass along it unless with the consent of our fleet. Thb latter has been of invaluable service throughout the campaign. They have been firing incessantly at Sebastopol, and have crippled and destroyed an important fortress which interfered with the siege operations. I