The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-11 00:00:00

THE WEEK. THE week has not been remarkable for any very stirring events eithe at home or abroad. Parliament has been busy forwarding unimportant and throwing over other bills. Lord JoHN RUSSELL, whose nature, it would appear, is not capable of perfect resignation, made an attempt to regain his lost popularity, and has nothing now left to him but reflec tion and oatmeal in the Highlands. Several Ministerial changes have occurred ; the Hon. NV. COWPER accepting the Board of Health ; Mr. BAINES retiring from the Poor-Law Board, suc ceeded by Mr. BOUVERIE, whose place in the Board of Trade is filled by Mr. LOWE, the gentleman who has been carefully coaching himself for the higher offices of State, and who is eloquently described in the Morning Post as pre-eminently " the right man in the " right place," a cant expression, which is becoming too common to be true in all oases. In France, a curious discovery of a Legitimate conspiracy to raise an insurrection in Spain by means of Russian roubles, offers another instance of the intricate policy and wide spread power of Russia, who alike stimulates Democrat and Legitimist to excite revolution and harass the Western Powers. The adhesion of Spain to the Western alliance, and her proposal to send twenty-five thousand men to the seat of war, opens another• prospect to us of loans and subsidies. Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH has not inaugurated his State Secretary ship with éclat. He commenced by a very bad speech upon the hust ings, and ended by a worse defence of it in the House. He could not deny the allegations Mr. Co BOEN brought against him, and he had not the frankness to acknowledge them. His reply to Mr. COBDEN was the very essence of the feebleness which a bad cause induces : no ex planation was offered for his sudden change in opinions which furyears he has held ; and when he was called upon to retract the most un warrantable expressions which he had used upon the hustings towards his former colleagues he could only find it in him to say, after it had first been proposed by his master, that he had mistaken an accidental union for a skilful combination. Some remarks in the Times of Monday, upon the debate, called forth a stinging reproof from Mr. COB. DES, who fixed the article pretty plainly upon a iately-elected gentle. man to an office in the Board of Trade. The debate upon Naval Promotions on Thursday night offers a curious illustration in favour of the system of purchase in the army, and of how little modern reformers of the army and navy really un derstand the question upon which they speak. Merit is the magic word of some, seniority of others ; now merit and seniority, as a means of promotion, are combined in the navy, and yet were there ever such a notoriously discontented set of men as naval officers? And in some cases with a great show of justice—for it is a difficult thing, as Sir CHARLES WOOD observed, to reward the claims of seniority and those of merit at the same time—the recognition of the one necessarily leads to the exclusion of the other. The assertion of Captain SCOBELL—that the great evil of the naval system is that when a lieutenant is promoted for merit he is put on half-pay and never employed again unless he has distinguished himself in a more than ordinary way, or possesses extraordinary interest to obtain a command — would, we think, hardly be borne out by fact. Many lieutenants when promoted marry, and do not wish for further active service—a coast guard station or some quiet berth on shore is all they desire; and post rank in many instances would not better their position. But yet, when on half-pay, if an officer desire to improve himself, tho Naval College is always open for study in steam and other professional branches of education, and few officers who avail themselves of this opportunity are passed over in promotions or appointments to com mand. The system works better since the Retiring. Lists were en larged. If we want young admirals we must have young captains ; youth and activity are the very essence of efficiency : and yet Captain SCOBELL proposes that promotion be retarded in the lower ranks. If so, we shall in future years only relapse again into aged post captains and superannuated admirals. We cannot understand how Mr. Tura, who is presumed to advocate " the light man in the right place," should agree with a plan which would retard promotion, yet favour the retirement of all officers, of whatever rank, after a certain age. The debate afforded another proof of the failure of the Adminis trative Reformers, for, after Admiral NVAtcorr had borne well-deserved testimony to the energetic naval administration of the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND, and the provision he had made for the efficiency of the service, Members felt that there would be nothing else worth listening to, and—the House was counted out. No intelligence of any moment has this week arrived from the °amp. The attack which we had reason to anticipate would be made about the 6th has, we perceive, been postponed from the preparations not being sufficiently advanced. The pick and spade are the weapons most used by the allied Generals, yet nnder that " feeble cannonade" which- Prince GORTSCHAKOFF so constantly announces the most gigantic pre. parations are making for the sixth bombardment and second assault Both French and English are pushing their approaches close up to the Redan and Malakoff—sap and countermine, battery and trench, are stretching out on all sides towards the doomed points—while the Russians upon their side are making every effort commensurate with their vast means and determined spirit. A new view appears lately to have sprung up in the camp that the possession of the Malakoff will insure the immediate capture of the south side of the ttmn, and hence rumours that the attack will be directed solely upon this tower. Our mistake throughout the war has been that of under estimating the resources of our enemy, and after all the experience M a teh months siege we do not seem at HU inclined to allow him i THE PRESS. SATURDAY, any credit for active resource against our possible successes. No doubt the possession of the Malakoff is of vital importance to both parties. From its heigth and position, it would certainly insure to us the partial clearance, if not destruction, of the Russian ships in the harbour, and, by enabling us to reach the sea-front forts of the south side in reverse, perhaps open up a passage for our fleet ; but every thing is yet purely speculative : de facto, we know absolutely nothing of the interior lines of defence which the Russians have thrown up; but to judge from those outside, which have taken us ten months to reach only, we may not incorrectly infer that they are of vast strength. Meanwhile, we wait anxiously for the coming assault. The struggle, whenever it occurs, will be short but terribly severe, and our ultimate success must depend entirely upon the weakness of those inner lines of defence which are supposed to sweep both Malakoff and Redan in re verse. The attack, it is believed, will be general along the whole line, and a powerful diversion will be effected by our fleet. The health of the army on the whole has been satisfactory, though the latest despatches of General PSLISSIER announce the re appearance of cholera. General CANROBEET is stated to have embarked for France on the 2nd. It is not known whether he has left the army definitively, but letters assert that he returns to Paris in order to arrange with the Emperor the plan of a campaign in Bessarabia in the ensuing year. The late extensive purchase of light river boats by the French Government gives colour to the fact of some such expedi tion being seriously entertained. No further operations have been attempted in the Putrid Sea by the allied squadrons, and the Russians are taking the opportunity of fortifying the approaches to the military road. Our Baltic correspondent still flatters us with the hope of some great blow being levelled against either Revel or Sweaborg, and the Paris papers assert that private telegraphs already announce the bombardment of Revel with great success by the allied fleets. It is certain that every preparation was being made for some great enter prise ; and if the ships can only get in close enough, we have little doubt that, once in position, the stone batteries of Revel would be destroyed. For the earthworks which have lately been thrown up we have a strong respect, enhanced by the proof of their powers of re sistance and pers►stence at the late affair off Fredericksham, where a small six-gun battery for three hours defied more than ten times the number of ships' suns to silence it. Our blockade in the Baltic appears to be forcing Russia to seek some outlet for her southein coast produce similar to Memel and the Prussian dominions for that of her northern coasts. Austria is to have a share in the spoil, and a like overland traffic which has proved so lucrative to the Prussians is about to be organised for the southern produce on the Danube, the goods to be transported to Vienna, and from thence to Trieste, where, shipped in neutral bottoms, our blockade of the Black Sea becomes a pleasant delusion. "If we only shut our eyes," as Mark Tapley says, " the delusion's complete." Will Lord WESTMORLAND be kind enough to open his ? Meantime Austria signifies her willing ness to reopen negotiations. Her Majesty, we believe, with that kindness of heart for which she is so pre-eminently distinguished, lately addressed a letter of condolence to Sir EDMUND LYONS, upon the death of his gallant son. The expressions of sincere sorrow and kindly sympathy with which her Majesty testified her admiration of Captain LYONS'S gallant conduct, and her grief at his untimely death, excited the warmest gratitude on the part of the gallant Admiral for so unexpected and distinguished an honour from his Queen. The generous interest which the Queen takes in everything which concerns the welfare of her officers and men, and the numerous instances in which with true womanly feeling she has sought to alleviate the calamity of death in the families of those who have fallen in her service, must endear her still more to the hearts of her people. The condition of Italy seems to excite great interest at this moment. There is no doubt that Absolutism and Red-Republicanism are for once allied, though for different objects, and that MAZZINI is now the tool of Russia His hatred of constitutional monarchy, and his jealousy of the effect of the good government of Piedmont, and the establishment of a powerful kingdom in the north of Italy, cannot be too severely reprobated. It is these Red revolutionists who are the curse of their unhappy country ; their vile intrigues and abortive attempts prove a continual obstacle to real progress, and offer better excuse for the increased cruelties of Austria, Rome, and Naples. Italy will never gain her freedom by faction. The Bette seek only the elevation of themselves, not the real happiness of their country. "Per rifare l'ltalia, bisogna disfare 'le Bette," were the words of Uoo FoscoLo forty years ago ; and let Italy listen to them now. SWIFT'S "CANTATA." (SLIGHTLY ALTERED.) And such a speech !—Mr. Bright on the Premier's manner. In keeping place would you excel See that you con "Joe Miller" well ! " Joe Miller" well! See that you con " Joe Miller " well! The dullest of jokes sometimes may tell, And the ablest opponents " a laugh" may " sell ;" For, whether grave or gay your race, Dear " Quarter-day " will come apace. When questions are asked then slily smile— A first rate plan your foes to " rile," Etpebially if they're warm the while, Warm the while§ PMP 760