The Press. — London, England, 1855-07-07 00:00:00

JULY 7, 1855. afterwards upon the Pyrenees. 6oult came to the rescue in the following month, and had approached within fourteen miles of Pampeluna, which the British forces were closely investing, when his progress was stopped by Wellington at Saraoren, where, after a terrible conflict, the French were defeated, and compelled to retreat. In several subsequent encounter& he was still worsted by the British general, and the French at length, hard pressed in narrow passes by their pursuers, fled towards the gorges of the Pyrenees in irremediable disorder. Soult crossed the French frontier on the Ist of August, and Clause! on the following day, leaving the garrison of Pampeluna to their fate. An inter cepted letter of the governor of that city, which was deciphered by Lord Fitzroy Somerset, disclosed the state of the fortress and the condition of its defenders, and led to a capitulation. The way was now clear for the invasion of France, and Wellington led his triumphant legions to the victories of Nivelles, Orthes, and Toulouse, in all of whioh Lord 'Fitzroy Somerset greatly distinguished himself. The reward of these services was a cross ant five clasps, which he received on his return to England with Wel lington in 1814, in which year he married Emily Harriett, second daughter of the late, and sister of the present Earl of Mornington—consequently niece of the Great Duke. His lordship subsequently served under the illustrious chief in the brief but eventful campaign of 1815, and was present at the terrible affair of Quatre Bras. At Waterloo be lost an arm, and that decisive victory terminated the first act of his brilliant military career. He was afterwards Secretary to the Embassy to the Court of France, and Secretary to the Master-General of the Ordnance from 1819 to 1827. He was made colonel of the 53rd Foot in 1830, and promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1838. In 1847 he was made a Grand Cross of the Bath, and in 1852, on the death of the Duke of Wellington, to whom he had long been a military secretary, he was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Raglan, made a Privy Councillor, and appointed Master-General of the Ordnance. During all the years that intervened since the peace he was known to the public only as an exemplary professional disciplinarian, and eschewed the notoriety of political in terference, though the Conservative politics of his house have always been his own. Lord Raglan leaves issue an only surviving son, the Hon. Richard Henry Fitzroy Somerset, who has for many years acted as secretary to hie Majesty the King of Hanover, and two daughters, the Hon. Charlotte and the Hon. Katherine Somerset. His eldest son, Major the Hon. Arthur W. Fitzroy, was killed, after a brilliant career, in India, during the first campaign in the Punjaub, while serving on the staff of General Viscount Gough. The following tribute to the deceased Commander was published, in a " General Order," on Thursday, by °Tiler of Viscount Hardinge : Horse Guards, July 4, 1855. The General Commanding-in-Chief has received her Majesty's most gracious commands to express to the army the deep regret with which her Majesty has to deplore the loss of a most devoted and able officer, by the death of Field-Marshal Lord Raglan, the Commander of the Forces in the Crimea. Her Majesty has been pleased to command that her sentiments shall be communicated to the army, in order that the military career of so illustrious an officer shall be recorded, not only as an honorable testimony of her Ma jesty's sense of his eminent services, and the respect due to his memory, but as an example worthy of imitation by all ranks of her army. Selected by the Duke of Wellington to be his military secretary and aide-de-camp, he took part, nearly fifty years ago, in all the military achievements of our greatest com mander. From him Lord Raglan adopted, as the guiding principle of his life, a constant undeviating obedience to the call of duty. During a long peace his life was most usefully em• ployed in those unwearied attentions to the interests and welfare of the army, shown by the kindness, the impartiality, and justice with which he transacted all his duties. When war broke out last year he was selected by his Sovereign to take the command of the army proceeding to the East ; he never hesitated, he obeyed the summons, although he had reached an age when an officer may be disposed to retire from active duties in the field. At the head of the troops during the arduous opera tions of the campaign, he resumed the early habits of his life ; by his calmness in the hottest momenta of battle, and by his quick perception in taking advantage of the ground or the movements of the enemy, he won the confidence of his army, and performed great and brilliant services. In the midst of a winter's campaign, in a severe climate, and surrounded by difficulties, he never despaired. The heroic army, whose fortitude amidst the severest privations is recognised by her Majesty as beyond all praise, have shown their attachment to their Com mander by the deep regrets with which they now mourn his loss. Her Majesty is confident that the talents and virtues which distinguished Lord Raglan throughout the whole of his valuable life will for ever endear his memory to the British army. By con►►nand of the Right Hon. General Viscount Hardinge, Com►nanding-in•Chief. G. A. WEITHERALL, Adjutant• General. THE statements that Admiral Sir Charles Napier, and the widow of Rear-Admiral Boxer, had sustained heavy losses by the failure of Messrs. Stralian's bank, and in connection with Messrs. Halford and Co., are denied upon authority by the United Service Gazette. GOVERNMENT intend, next session, t() introduce a bill providing for the appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction, who is to have a seat in the House of Commons. THE PRESS. THE BALTIC FLEET. (From our Own Correspondent.) Jura 19.—Having heard a great deal of firing in the direction of Narva, in the neighbourhood of which place Admiral Seymour, in Exmouth, accompanied by Snap and Pincher, gun-boats, had been the last day or two, we were anxious to know what they had been about, and were glad to see thorn all returning safely at daybreak this morning. It appears that on their arrival near the mouth of the river they found it strongly defended by a battery mounting twenty four guns, with a pontoon drawn across to prevent any vessels of light draught passing. The gun-boats and boats of the ships accordingly threw some shells and rockets at the 24-gun battery and troops at two thousand yards. Their fire was warmly returned, on which the line-of-battle ships steamed in as near as the soundings would allow them, and opened fire with their pivot guns. Having capsized three or four guns, set fire to some outworks, and dispersed the soldiers, and finding they could do nothing more, they hauled off, the Blenheim having received one shot in her mizenmasthead, a splinter from which wounded slightly her captain of marines, and another shot in her maintop. The gun-boats were struck once or twice, but nobody was hurt. The fact is, we cannot get at these Russians. Nature has de fended them by having made all the waters in the approaches to her seaports so excessively shallow that vessels carrying guns cannot approach near enough to do any damage. Still we must not despair ; " never give up " is the signal for glory. Let us go on worrying our skulking enemy as long as the season lasts, and I'll answer for it he'll not look for. ward with any pleasure to our visit next year. The mortar-boats and additional gun-boats daily expected under Admiral Baynes will be a great help. But I will not anticipate. This JUNE 20.—. morning, at ten o'clock, a signal (which took us all unawares) was made, "Prepare for sailing immediately," and sure enough in an hour afterwards we were under weigh with the heads of the ships pointing towards Cronstadt. On nearing the lighthouse the fleet separated, Captain Codnng. ton, in Royal George, with four line-of-battle ships, standing off to south-east side of the island, and the admiral with the remainder, including the French admiral and his squadron and all the gun-boats, steering towards the north-west side. At six o'clock the former ships anchored about four and a half miles from the forts at the mouth of the harbour, and at about the same time the other division an chored three miles from the forti fi cations on the north side and four from the town of Cronstadt. As the ships were taking their positions, a loud report was heard, which turned out to be another of those infernal machines, which had exploded under the Vulture's bottom, doing no harm. However, it nearly knocked Captain Glasse off the paddlebox, and lifted some 68-lb. shot out of their racks on to the deck. This is the fourth occurrence of this nature. As yet these machines have proved pro ductive of little harm; but we certainly don't like them much, as we cannot be certain whether any of them have gone off properly. The Russian flotilla on the north side, consisting of six line-of-battle ships and fourteen steam gun-boats, are well in view some five miles from us. We cannot get at them on account of the row of piles they have thrown across between us and them. JUNE 21.—The boats have been all day creeping for these infernal machines. They have picked up twenty or thirty of them ; and 1 am sorry to say that in examining them Admirals Dundas and Seymour were hurt by the explosions which took place, from their not understanding how the machinery worked. One of them actually —.. r Viva ter burst in Admiral Sey mour's hands. It is very much to be feared that he will lose one of his eyes. Admiral Dun das is only slightly hurt. As I said yesterday, they are comparatively harmless to ships, only containing 10 lbs. of gunpowder, in a zinc case shaped as in the margin, and anchored, which is exploded by a vessel's bottom com ing in contact with a `ten"'' lioNam trigger set near to the top of the machine. They are eight or nine feet below the surface. Four or five officers were more or less severely hurt by the explosion on the poop of Admiral Sey mour's flag-ship. The general opinion is, that those now picked up have been laid down for some time, as the anchors and stones by which they were Moored are much covered with seaweed, and the 637 rope cables very much damaged by long immersion in the water. JUNE 24.--The creeping for infernal machines has gone on all day, and the result has been that some fifty in all have been picked up, two or three of a smaller size than those Y already mentioned. The admiral has been in reconnoitring to-day. Some shots were fired at his ship from the vessels at the rear of Cronstadt, but the range was too great for them to do any damage. We hear from Kiel that the gun boat and mortar vessel squadron have left that place; so we anxiously look for their arrival. It is said also that some French vessels of a similar class are on their way here. Admiral Seymour is much better to-day, and hopes are entertained that his eye will be saved. The others wounded by the infernal machines are doing well. Bulldog has made her defects good, and is just coming iu with two col liers in tow. Dragon and two gun-boats are gone in shore to cut off the coasting vessels, who ate getting bold again from our not bullying them. We find the following description of the Russian infernal machines in the Baltic letter of the Times dated June 25 : Each machine consists of a cone of galvanised iron, 16 inches in diameter at the base and 20 inches from base to apex, and is divided into three chambers; the one near the base being largest, and containing air, causes it to float with the base uppermost. In the centre of this chamber is another, which holds a tube with a fuse in it, and an apparatus for firing it. This consists of two little iron rods, which move in guides, and are kept projected over the side of the base by springs, which press them out wards. When anything pushes either of these rods in wards it strikes against a lever, which moves like a pen dulum, in the fuse-tube, and the lower end of the lever breaks or bends a small leaden tube, containing a combus tible compound, which is set on fire by coming in contact with some sulphuric acid held in a capillary tube, which is broken at the same time, and so fires the fuse, which com municates with the powder c)ntained in the chamber at the apex of the cone, and which holds about Olb. or 10Ib. At the extreme apex is a brass ring, to which is attached a rope and some pieces of granite, which moors them about nine or ten feet below the surface, so that the only vessels they could hurt, the gun-boats, float quietly over them, and, now we know what they are, they have been disarmed of all their dread. Dantzic despatches of Thursday, the sth instant, state that the British fleet was still lying off Cron stadt. Admiral Baynes and his squadron were at Nargen. Sweaborg has been bombarded. Some magazines were blown up and various buildings tired. The island battery of Narva also has been attacked with success, several cannon having been dismounted and shipping destroyed. The A mphion, Captain Cooper Key, in reconnoitring the newly-erected works at Sweaborg, unfortunately got aground within range of the enemy's guns, which opened fire on the frigate. Four balls hit the vessel, killing one man and wounding two, but the Amphion returned the fire with such effect that she blew up a powder-magazine, the exploslin of which seriously damaged some of the works also. Intelligence has reached Stockholm that Nystadt had been destroyed by a British squadron. The Ordnance are preparing mortars upon a pro digious scale, some to carry shells as large as the huge stone balls used by the Turks at the siege of Rhodes. The range of these monster missiles Is calculated at five miles. Cronstadt will probably have the benefit of their first experiments. THE CELEBRATED GREAT BELL " REM," suspended in the tower of St. Iwan, in the Kremlin, whilst being tolled for the late Czar, fell, in consequence of the iron supporters giving way, and broke through no less than three separate storeys of vaults, killing five persons on the spot, whilst five were wounded severely and four slightly. The accident made a deep im pression at the time on the minds of the superstiticus Russians, who regarded it as a direct visitation from Heaven in condemnation of the war undertaken by the Emperor ; and processions were made, fasts insti tuted, and candles burned to the Panagia, or Holy irgin, to appease the wrath of Heaven. The bell is probably the largest in the world, weighing no less than 2,o°t) poods, or 80,000 lbs. After three months incessant labour it has been swung again. SINCE the war with Russia a new kind of domestic fowl has been introduced into England from the Black Sea, and is likely to prove a formidable rival to the Shanghai and Cochin China. It is quite as large as the barn door fowl ; is crested, has feathered legs ; its colour is genet ally all white or black—when the latter, of a raven hue and glossy. This bird is pugnacious, and its movements are very lively. Several of these fowls are to be seen at Southampton, where they have been landed from the war-transports. ACCOUNTS RECEIVED AT ODESSA from the Sea of Azoff state that the quantity of wheat destroyed by the allied squadron at Taganrog was about 12,000 quarters, and that at Marioupol the total of grain of all kinds destroyed was about 68,000 or 78,000 quarters.