The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-30 00:00:00

610 Mr. COBBETT having seconded the motion, Sir G. GREY would not oppose the proposed in quiry, observing nevertheless that he believed the: the act had worked well, and that in the opinion of many persons the public-houses ought to be entirely closed on the Sunday. The great majority of the public were in favour of the bill. Mr. W. PATTEN, the introducer of last yew's bill, willingly consented to inquiry. That bill had been passed at the desire of the lower classes, 80,000 of whom had petitioned for it. It had, no doubt, caused much inconvenience, but it had worked well, lie be lieved, on the whole. Its continuance would depend on the report of the committee. Sir J. Walsh and Mr. Wilkinson thought the sub ject not a flt one for legislation, and Mr. Brady said that the bill led to scandalous evasions. On the op posite side Mr. Villiers, Mr. Henley, Sir J. Shelley, and Mr. E. Ball declared that inquiry would only confirm the usefulness of the restrictions imposed by the present bill. Mr. T. Duncombe said that this was not the time of year when a committee could be appointed so as to be of any use, and denied that the majority of the people were in favour of the existing measure. The motion was agreed to. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. Lord PALMERSTON on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of the Government bill for Testamentary Jurisdiction, the Court of Sessions Bill for Scotland, and the Jurors and Juries Bill for Ireland. Those on limited liability of part nership, for the better government of the metropolis, and for the new arrangements of the Ordnance Department would be pressed. The three education bills would, he hoped, be read a second time, and referred to a select com mittee—not with the view of passing them this session, but to obtain the opinion of the committee in regard to their general and aggregate object. There were seven bills from the Lords, which he hoped that house would seriously consider. There were 36 private bills, to one of which— the Tenants' Compensation Bill for Ireland—the Govern. ment would give its support. Mr. DISRAELI said, when he made an inquiry the other night of the noble lord, he said that the house was in debted to private members for the pressure of business. But he could not Lind, on recurring to those authorities which were on the table of the house, and which were open to any one, that the noble lord was at all justified in the tone that he assumed the other night, and which he had assumed again tonight. These were the details. He did not stop to inquire how many were continuance bills, and the house would judge whether the pressure of business was occasioned by private members. They had of bills not yet read a second time, 28 Government bills and 17 brought in by private members ; of bills in committee, 22 Govern. ment bills and 12 brought in by private members ; of bills as amended to be considered, there were 4 by private members and by Government bills none ; of bills not yet read there was an equal number by private members and by Government—namely, 3. There were, therefore, 53 Government bills and only 36 of private members, making in all 89 bills that the house had to consider. The number of orders of the day had increased since he made those ob servations on Friday ; there were then 76 and now there were 89, to which must be added two adjourned debates. The noble lord had referred to the continuance bills, which would not give by any means a majority to he attributed to private members. He should like to know what the noble lord intended to do with the Chapels Bill. Sir G. GREY : It is a Lords' bill. . _ Mr. DaiwaLi proceeded. The noble lord would of course proceed with all the other Government bills, and which were in number, he thought, 22. He understood from the noble lord to-night that he had given up one of the bills for which the third reading had been filed. As time was so precious. it was very much to be regretted that her Majesty's Ministers should have lost so much time by going on with that bill, the Court of Session (Scotland) Bill. However, he rose merely to ♦indicate what he had before said—that of the 76 orders of the day the great majority were Government bills. THE foundation-stone of a new educational insti tution, to be called the Oldham Lyceum, was laid on Monday, in Union-street, Oldham, in presence of a large concourse of people. A procession was formed at the Town-hall, comprising most of the leading in habitants; at the head of whom were John Platt, Esq., (the Mayor), Lord Stanley, M.P., James Platt, Esq. (president of the institution), William Fair bairn, C.E., the Rev. Dr. Vaughan, Henry Ashworth, Esq., and other gentlemen taking an interest in the education of the working classes. The building is to be a handsome erection of stone, in the Italian style, and is estimated to cost about 5,0001.; of which upwards of 3,000/. is already in hand. Of this, 2,0001. is the proceeds of last year's Industrial Ex hibition at Oldham ; and 1,1001. has been collected by Mr. James Platt, the president, during the last eight or ten days. THE MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY have just presented a fine Cheshire cheese, 901bs. weight, to the Emperor Napoleon. The offering was made as a specimen of one of the agri cultural products of this country. The cheese was duly received at the Tuileries by General Rolin, Adjutant-General du Palais, who thanked the com mittee in the name of the Emperor for their present. His Majesty, he observed, was particularly interested in English farming. THE PRESS. Original ttttrs front ftt drintta. WE have been favored with the following letter, written two days before the unsuccessful assault upon the Redan on the morning of the 18th iustant. The gallant writer, a very young officer in the fourth division, fell severely wounded upon the crest of the escarpment. Camp before Sebastopol, June 1855. My dearest G.—l am getting so excited with the approaching crisis of this eventful siege that I can hardly sit still long enough to write a few lines to you. Before a week is over I think I may safely say the general assault on the south side will have taken place, to be crowned of course with complete success, but, I am afraid, with immense loss, particularly among the officers. I ought to have written you a long ac count of the storming of the Quarries and Mamelon, particularly as I was engaged in it, but I expected then that the grand assault would take place every hour, and so I thought nothing of such minor affairs as th ose. Two days afterwards there was a flag of truce, and the enemy and ourselves met halfway between our trenches and their batteries (two hundred yards apart). I was out talking with Russians for four or five hours, and delighted I was that I could speak French. The Russian officers seemed a very nice set, and we smoked together and drank out of each other's flasks, &c. &c. I enlightened them a good deal about what had taken place at Kertch and the Sea of Azoff. However, they received everything with much incredulity, as all news of that sort had evidently been kept very dark from them by Gorts chakoff and Co. By •the-bye, I had a very narrow escape for my life by ene of their infernal machines (" fougasses " they are called) exploding under my feet and burning my trousers and half my shell-jacket to rags. It was during the truce that it happened, and I think that the Russian officers were very sorry at its happening—it certainly was no fault of theirs. It has been the talk of the fourth division ever since. Every body I knew came up and said, " Hulloa, I thought you were blown up long ago !" The expedition has returned from Kertch, and the troops are being landed, as quick as possible, and being sent up to tho front to assist in the last act of the third siege. This is Thursday night, and I hope before Saturday morning, when the mail goes, to be able to say that we have opened fire for the last time on Sebastopol. FRIDAY.—The weather is awfully hot, but I manage to keep pretty well all the same ; indeed, matters are getting too exciting now to be able to think about being seedy. I expect the third and fourth divisions will have the brunt of the storming business. Rumour says that the Redan and the Malakoff are to be stormed on the anniversary of Waterloo. I will write a good long account of it if I get through it all right. They say that the regiments are not to take their colours. I grumble at this very much, as I should have to carry the Queen's colours, and of course it would give me a splendid opportunity of distinguishing myself. Fancy planting the colours on the parapet of the Redan (which, if I was not knocked over, I would do five minutes after I left the English trenches). I think the Redan would pretty soon be full of the if they saw their colours there. The Sardinians are dying like sheep ; eight hundred gone already, and two thousand sick. Our Guards are alto seedy. I don't wonder at it, consider ing the life of inactivity they lead at Balaklava : send them up to the front and let them take their share of trenches, sorties, storming, &c., and I'll bet the sickness soon disappears. FRIDAY NIGHT.—We have not opened fire yet, so I will say good night, and my best love to all of you. I hope my next may contain the welcome tidings that the Redan and the Malakoff are ours.— Yours, affectionately, I hear that the behaviour of the Turks at Kertch was atrocious, and that Sir G. Brown was obliged to shoot several Turkish officers. THE Journal de St. Petersbourg of the 15th prints at full length Mr. Cobden's and Sir James Graham's speeches in the sitting of the House of Commons on the 6th. The speech of the hon. member for the West Riding is plentifully garnished with " Bravos," " Long et Bruyant Bravos," &c., conveying the notion that the sentiments were peculiarly palatable to the assembly. THE FRENCH COMMISSIONERS who are taking part in the conferences relative to the continental tele graphs, urge a reduction of one-fifth in the tariff for the despatches. The Belgians urge a reduction, but to a less extent. By the failure of Messrs. Strahan's bank the widow of the. late Admiral Boxer has been deprived of an amount of not leas than 30,0001. SATURDAY, THE WAR. Lord Panmure yesterday issued a despatch which had been received at the War-office from Lord Raglan, but without any Crimean date. It was pro bably sent on the 20th, and is to the following effect : The French and English are proceeding with their ap• proaches against the enemy's works, and are erecting new batteries to be armed with heavy guns. The enemy continues to repair the damage done during the last attack. Very little fire on their part. We retain possession of the round Russian fort in the Cemetery, from whence they were driven out on the 18th, and the Mamelon, at the gorge of the valley which divides the English left attack from the right of the south har bour. In the Moniteur a series of telegraphic advices from General Pelissier are published, communicating the result of every day's operations to the morning of the 20th. Successive announcements areas follows : Before Sebastopol, June 19. The besieged, notwithstanding our want of success yes. terday, which doubtless he will not fail to exaggerate, has taken fright to-night, and has been firing at random (duns le ride) fir a considerable time with all his guns. . _ _ At lour to-day there was an armistice to bury the dead. Juror, 20.—The besieged, closely hemmed in near the central ravine, has burnt the little faubourg which is at the bottom of the southern harbour. We are constructing batteries with very heavy guns on those of the works con quered on the 7th, which directly menace the great fort. JUNE 2l.—We are actively making approaches towards the Malakoff Tower. The enemy appears to be exclusively occupied in repairing and strengthening his works. A little cholera stall prevails, but it does not spread. The general health is good. JUNE 22.—1 have no new fact to mention. I send you by the ordinary mail a detailed report of the combat of the 18th. JUNE 24.—1 have nothing new to announce to you. We are pushing our approaches against Malakoff and the con struction of the advanced battery, which will complete the investment of the port. We are also drawing closer with our left attack. There are still some cases of cholera. JUNE 25.-1 have not anything to announce to you to day of particular interest. The works indicated are pro gressing. JUNE 28, Half-past Eleven, a.m.—l have not any news to communicate. By the last accounts from the Danube the electric cable was still deranged; and all intelligence from the Crimea had been forwarded, since the rupture, by Giurgevo to Kronstadt and to litrmanstadt. The French loss on the 18th is thus officially stated :-37 officers killed, 17 prisoners, 06 gone to the ambulances ; non-commissioned officers and men killed and missing, 1,544 ; gone to the ambulances, 1,644. The expressions used in this return imply that the large number of cases in which trifling wounds and injuries were received have been omitted. Even thus, however, the proportion of wounded to the killed and missing seem extravagant, and the comparison justifies belief in the assertion made by Prince Gortschakoff, that several hundred French soldiers were taken prisoners on that occasion. The Russian despatch announcing the affair was published in St. Petersburg on the 24th : Prince Gortschakoff sends a despatch to announce that, after twenty-four hours bombardment, on the morning of the 18th the enemy attempted an assault on Bastions 1,2, and 3, and on the Korniloff Bastion. They were repulsed from all sides with enormous loss, the French leaving OW prisoners in our hands. Up to the evening of the 19th nothing fresh. The cholera, according to the last letters from the camp, was playing sad havoc amongst the Guards. Already (June 15th) the deaths had amounted to nearly 100. The Grenadiers had lost two sergeants and thirty.five men, the Coldstream; one sergeant and eighteen men, and the Scots Fusilier Guards two sergeants and twenty five men. The following was published in general orders to the British troops on the 13th : The Commander of the Forces has the gratification of announcing to the army that he has received a telegraphic despatch from the Minister for War, conveying her Ma jesty's most gracious approbation of the brilliant conduct of the officers and soldiers who were engaged in the attack on the 7th inst. The troops of the Kertch expedition bad returned on the 17th to Kamiescli, with the exception of 4,00 G men who were left at Yenikale. The admirals bad given orders to complete the destruction of the forti fications of Anapa. Four ships had been sent to finish the burning of Arabat. The allies were fortifying Yenikale, where they purposed to leave a garrison. Kertch, on the con trary, was to be abandoned. The inhabitants have been removed and the buildings razed to the ground. In the expedition which the allies made to Taganrog they destroyed 800,000 hectolitres of corn.