The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

our own. The propriety of taking the Punjaub is not here in question ; we simply show that the conquest has not in any way benefited us in a financial view. in regard to the question of the annexation of Oude generally, that is a matter into which we do not purpose here to enter. The Go vernment have taken on themselves the re sponsibility of the act; the fiat has gone forth ; and it will be time enough when the papers are regularly before Parliament to enter into the merits of the general question. In the meantime, however, we may remark that there seems but Little consistency between the statement of the Government as to the feelings of the people and the steps they are taking to coerce or overawe them. It has been dinned into our ears incessantly for the last twelve months that the native rule is so hateful to the people that nothing but the presence of our supporting troops prevents their immediately rising on the Sovereign and tearing him in pieces. Yet one of the largest armies ever assembled in India (more than six times the number present in the great battle of Meeanee) is being concentrated within three marches of Luck now ; and we are significantly informed by the papers that the artillery, with the force, are furnished with fifteen hundred rounds per gun. Now, if the native Government be really so unpopular and powerless that it is by us alone that the King is maintained upon his throne, a force of this kind is evidently needless. If, on the con trary, his army, his nobility, and his people, are prepared to fight for his and their inde pendence, then a deep responsibility will rest on the Ministry for all the blood that may be shed in this deed of violence and rapine, which will thus be shown to have rested upon grounds that were wholly false Parties may differ upon many points, but there is one point on which we do believe that the honest men of all parties will be found to agree. This is, that, of all the crimes a British statesman could be guilty of, it is undoubtedly the greatest to get up a cry of protection against oppression as a cover for a flagrant breach of treaty in forcing our rule at the point of the bayonet upon a protesting and resisting race. Whether the Ministry will have so deep a deed of guilt as this is to answer for or not will speedily be proved, by the mode in which they employ the sixteen thousand bayonets now as sembled on the borders of Oude. IRISH CROWN PROSECUTIONS. SHOCKED as our readers have lately been with swindling bankers, suic►des, great forgeries, fearful fires, it is not likely that they can have yet forgotten the dreadful murder in Cavan of Miss HINDS, dragged off her car last November in open daylight, and brutally murdered. It was one of the most atrocious crimes ever committed by men upon a hapless woman. So barbarous was it, that there was one cry of horror from all sides of Ireland. In attempting to bring to justice parties charged with that crime, there has been appa rently (if not positively) a serious mismanage ment. Who are the official persons blameable for the delays, we cannot say at present. The facts are these :—About three weeks since, it was stated in the public prints that " the " ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND would spe " cially attend at the Cavan assizes to prose " cute the murderers of Miss HINDS." The case was one above all others which required a grave and prompt example, if the law could be rightfully put into force. There are pecu liar circumstances in Irish society which render it of great importance that an Attorney- General should be eminently vigilant, and sagacious in his application of the law. Mr. KEOGH had recently made a showy speech, of a declamatory character, in the bible-burning case, but on the incidental legal discussions we were not struck by any great display of acuteness or research. On the Ist of March, in the Crown Court at Cavan, application was made by Messrs. JOHNSTON arid DOWSE (counsel for the accused) to put off the trial of the (alleged) murderers to the next assizes. The prisoners THE PRESS. had been arrested two mouths and a half ago, and they contended that, according to the provisions or a late statute, the prisoners had not received copies of the informations in due time. The provisions of that statute we may learn from the words of Mr. JUSTICE TORRENS, who by a singular chance was brought face to face with the Attorney-General. Our readers must recollect that Mr. JUSTICE TORRENS was one of the judges lately selected for censure in the House of Commons. " The late statute," said Judge TORRENS, " has given to prisoners " the power of demanding from the officer of " tho county such informations as have been " lodged against them , and it is, therefore, " clear that the Legislature believed them to " be necessary to them ou their trial." Just so ; and let us now see how that provi sion was met by the Crown officials. Mr. KNIPE, the prisoner's attorney, swore that after the arrest of one of the prisoners (DUNN) he had been employed for his defence. He went to the officer, and found no informa tion lodged, nor could he have known before the 18th of February that it was intended to go on with the case. On the 23rd of February he got fifteen informations, and he was told that there were ten more to come. From the voluminous character of the informations, it was utterly impossible to prepare for trial at these assizes. MR KNIPE further stated that some of the informations, which were not lodged until the 14th of February, hai been sworn, some in October, some in November, and some in January. The counsel for the accused then earnestly pressed for the adjournment of the trial. The Attorney-General wished to go on, and Sir EDWARD TIERNEY, the Crown Solicitor for the circuit, was put into the witness-box, and swore " that the Attorney-General had directed " him to use every exertion to bring the pri " soners to trial now, and that all the evidence '` of an important character was given iu the " information of the 16th of February." But the Crown officials were no judges of that. The question then stood for decision. Counsel for the accused pleaded want of knowledge by the prisoners of the nature of the charge, and they dwelt strongly on the voluminous character of the evidence. The informations were kept back to the last moment, and there were not less than thirty four or thirty-five of them. Then the Court asked a very pertinent ques tion—" When were the last infornuttions lodged The Clerk of the Crown answered, "on the 26th of February." The Court ruled that the case should be ad journed to the next assizes, or to any inter vening commission. It did not consider that sufficient time had been allowed to the pri soners. " I should," said Mr. JUSTICE TORRENS, " suggest to the Attorney-General " (Mr. WIL LIAM KEOGH) " the necessity of a due and " calm, not hurried, investigation, and that the " accused should have every opportunity given "to them to defend themselves. From what " has occurred, accidentally or otherwise, or by " overlaying the case with unnecessary evidence, " documents are not forthcoming which the " prisoners would require in order to a satis " factory trial " It is impossible that the case can be allowed to pass without further inquiry. There must have been neglect or mismanage ment somewhere amongst the various officials. There were various blunders committed in prosecuting Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN and his friends; and some of the English Law Lords brought the conduct of the Irish Law officers before Parliament. We believe that we shall have occasion to notice this important case again ; and, in the meanwhile, Mr. PHILLI MORE may meditate as to whether he should interfere in it. AN AMERICAN VIEW OF RUSSIA. - - A NOT uninteresting sketch of the present position of Rassia, by an American gentleman lately arrived at New York, after two years' residence in St. Peters burg, has been received this week by the American mail. The views expressed are diametrically op posed to those of Colonel Tal Schaffner, of veracious notoriety, to whim this American gentleman alludes in rather forcible terms, as " A pretender —a bloated " eulogist of Russia ; a publi s her o f f a b u l ous ac __ SATURDAY, " counts of Russia, which are publicly denounced in " New York by Russian gentlemen as base fabricu " Lions." With details of the internal administration of Russia we have not much to do at present. Everyone is aware that the Russian Government is despotic ; but those portions of the sketch which relate to the war and • its Effects upon Russia will be read eagerly. First, with Cronstadt and our Baltic fleet last year, the citizen of the United States confirms the views we held last autumn, that want of decision in Admiral Dundas lost him a fair chance of destroying Cronstadt Cronstadt is the sheet•anchor of the capital. Jt is the chief stronghold of the empire. And yet Cronstadt came very near being taken last year. And it should have been taken. It was only a series of blunders that prevented it. If an American engineer who comprehended English naval affairs could have directed the fleet of Admiral Landes last year he would have taken Cronatadt. But the admiral was afraid of infernal submarine machines ; and on the day that everybody expected Cronstadt would be taken he retired ! The English fleet throw shells into the town, which exploded and set the place on fire in several places. The fleet could have canie up near enough to have supported their advanced gun batteries ; and if a bold and well-directed movement had been made on that day the town would have been carried or burned to ashes. Such was the opinion of the engineers of the Russian eat pire, who stood on the ramparts and looked on the scene. They expected it. Thus Russia was saved—for Cronstadt was spared. . . _ Cru'ustadt is about two miles in length by half a mile wide. It is strongly fortified on the south side, while it is open on the north. The channel being ou the southern side, most of the guns are planted to command it But with the light draft of boats which the allies are now build ing they could pass to the north side and open a deadly fire, where they would be little exposed. When they should once have passed Cronstadt they would be at the gates of St. Petersburg. It is only nine miles. But in Sebastopol, he tells us, lies the scene of the deepest interest to Russia:— It is strange how little the world comprehends the enor mous losses that Russia has suffered in that place. When the clouds of war began to blacken over Europe. and it was ascertained that Sebastopol was the point where the allies would strike their chief blow, preparations were made by Nicholas to concentrate his power in that direc• tion, and he drained the empire of its best troop. When the war began a large portion of the best trained divisions of the Russian empire were marched towards Sebastopol, numbering not less than two hundred thousand. Their terrific losses, which were always greater than the allies supposed, were constantly suptilied by new drains upon the best departments of the Russian army. It is not only probable, but certain, that up to the Ist of August, last year, the Russians had lost three hundred thousand picked men, and after the southern side of Sebastopol was taken, and the losses were accur..tely ascertained, the official report sent to St. Petersburg and the reports made in person by the commanders to the Emyeror settled it beyond a doubt that from the Ist of August till the retreat to the north side of Sebastopol the losses must have amounted to seventy-five thousand more. Such were the private reports of Prince Gortschakoff that were laid before the Emperor. In that terrible seige, he tells us, her fine army has been completely used,up. She has nothing now left but serfs : If Russia continues the present war, or maintains her position towards the rest of Europe as she has taken it, she must draw and train a new army from her serfs. Her great army, that was the flower of her empire, the fruit of her science, the glory of her imperial system, has melted away before the assaults of the invincible allies. It is gone. She has no army now. But she is looking forsanl, for Russia is the longest-sighted empire that has existed since the time of the Cfesars. The impossibility of Russia being able to maintain a lengthened contest with England and France, he believes to arise entirely from the check given to her trade. From their system of making all their calcu lation of profit from the soil twelve months ahead, the interruption was not felt in 1854 5, but at present the revenue of every nobleman in Russia, he asserts, s seriously diminished : The moral result of this conflict, with its attending cir cumstances, has left all classes in Russia (except a small circle that flutters about the Court) deeply anxious for peace. Ist. The merchants want it, because their business is interrupted, and ruin will attend all their enterprises un- less they zan once more, through the Baltic, reach their means of intercourse through the world. 2nd. The nobles are cut off from their usnal revenres. because these channels are stopped. The serfs are deeply discontented, because they are dragged away of thousands from their homes to go into the army, and shoot down men they never saw, and of whom they know nothing. by hundreds Cabinet Councils were held on Saturday and Thursday afternoons at the Foreign-office. They were attended by Viscount Palmerston, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir George Grey, Mr. Secretary Labouchere, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. R. Vernon Smith, the Right Hon. M. T. Baines, the Duke of Aro'', the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Harrowby, Lord Pail mure, and Lord Stanley of Alderley. The Councils sat for three hours and a half and tyro hours respec tively.