The Press. — London, England, 1855-08-25 00:00:00

804 deteriorate their services. One thing should be clearly understood—that, had not these vessels to a great extent drawn the fire off the mortar boats, some frightful accident would have happened. In the meantime our vessels on the right and left were warmly engaged with the earthworks. Broad• side after broadside was fired in rapid succession ; two batteries were silenced ; and, having gained ti.eir object—viz., to draw the enemy's attention, and part of his energies, from our main attack—they hauled off, with a loss of sixteen wounded. As even ing came on the fires on shore increased ; and, as our mortars were getting very warm, we slackened the fire to an occasional shell, and the light squadron hauled off for the night. When it was quite dark the conflagration inshore was terrific. The Russians perhaps thought we were going to leave them alone ; but they were grievously mistaken, for at eleven o'clock a shower of rockets was thrown into the already blazing town by the boats of the squadron, who, favored by the darkness, had approached to within 1,500 yards of the place. They made some vain efforts to drive them off with shell and other missiles, but. it was of no avail—it was impossible to hit them, and they gave it up. Under these dis charges the fires increased, and to a looker on it appeared that the whole place was in flames. At daylight the Russians were very savage, and opened a very hot fire upon us. The gun-boats dashed in and blazed away, and the mortars kept up a famous fire, until the forts got somewhat milder ; after which they settled down into the steady fire of the day previous. The principal fire to-day was directed against the dockyard, arsenal, and public store liouses ; and in two or three hours the whole were on fire. Bright flames rose to the sky at noon day, and frequent explosions varied the scene. The enemy's fire became weaker and weaker, and it was evident that he was much demoralised by the constant harassing he was undergoing. I doubt much whe ther they had any quantity of ammunition loft, as the amount of powder destroyed must have been enor mous. The line-of-baffle ship that lay in the mouth of the harbour was much damaged, and had to be uddenly removed to save her from utter destruction. Orders ware received at five o'clock to continue the fring throughout the night. The rocket-boats were again sent in, and a grander sight it is impos sible to conceive than was formed by, in the first place, the conflagration in Sweaborg, now nearly a mile long and more in width; in the second place, by the hundreds of rockets rushing like meteors into the middle of the Ore; and, lastly, the shells hissing through the air, the small blue light of their fuses marking their course. At half-past three in the morning (the rocket-tubes by that time being much the worse for wear, three having burst, and several others being damaged) the signal was made to leave the bombardment. And thus ended this affair, which terminated so gloriously for the allies. Hango is nobly avenged. And I trust that we have shown our barbarous enemies that such actions as they were guilty of there are not to be allowed to pass unavenged, and that we are able to make them feel the weight of our power in spite of their fortifications and infernal machines. By-the-way, we picked up some of these things, which exactly resembled those we found at Cronstadt, and appear t.) be even more ridiculously inefficient. During the last few hours of the bombardment the enemy was entirely silent, and the royal standard of Russia had entirely disappeared. It is supposed, from what can be gathered, from deserters, that pro• perty worth between two and three million pounds sterling has been destroyed. The squadron are all back here. Our casualties amount to between twenty and thirty wounded, several through accidents in rocket-boats. (From another Correspondent.) OFF SWEABORO, Aug. 11. I HINTED in my last letter to you that we were to start for Sweaborg. I will now give you an account of what we have oeen doing since. Last Monday, the oth, we weighed, and started from Revel. It was a splendid morning. We were followed by about fifty steamers—a very grand sight. In the afternoon, we sighted Sweaborg and Helsingfors in the distance. With three blockading ships, we anchored at about 5,000 yards from Sweaborg and Helsingfors. We led the way through a channel that had never been pene trated before, and one which the Russians thought would never have been attempted, and therefore bad not defended the approach or obstructed the passage. It was truly wonderful to see this large ship handled in such a beautiful manner. There were rocks and shoals about two hundred yards on either side of us, but our master handled her more like a yacht than anything else, and sometimes turned her on little more than her length. We despatched boats from every ship at tea in the evening, with rockets as signals in case of danger, and the crews armed to the teeth, It was a dark night, and they sounded within THE PRESS. 1,500 yards of the batteries. Some of the channels twelve fathoms of water and the other six fathoms, were found as far as the above distance without any obstruction. The Russians imagined it impossible for us to enter, for they never laid any infernal machines. However, the main forts and innumerable batteries and earthworks were upon us, and the broadside of a three-decker faced us. Our boats re turned from sounding at about one in the morning. Tuesday. Beautiful morning—the afternoon warm. At ten a.m. our gun-boats got under weigh, and, tackling their respective mortar-boats, moved them in their position. Each mortar-boat had about 150 fathoms of hawser to haul it in or out, according to circum tances. The Russians appeared in great activity. Great numbers of troops crowned the heights—pro bably not less than 10,000 men are exercising and practising near the Cathedral of Helsin g fors. At Sweaborg great numbers of men are working at earthworks. The fact is, we have come in on a side they little expected we should have dared to enter. The enemy did not fire a gun while the mortar boats were taking up their position. I will now try and give you an account of the bom bardment of this place, but I don't think it will be a very good one; you will have a much better one from the papers. We commenced with the gun and mortar boats on the 9th—the firing made a dreadful noise—the enemy replied feebly. Three block-ships, the Hastings, Cornwallis, and Russell, liners, engaged the batteries at Sandhamn : the bombardment at this time was very violent, and the firing tremendous. Half-past Nine—Shells bursting right and left of the Government buildings. Quarter to Ten—A dense black smoke arose from the town, the effects of our fire. Quarter-past ten, a tremendous explosion took place. The sailors were cheering away all the time we were filing red hot shot, and the Russians likewise. The liners at Sandhamn were obliged to haul out about this time ou account of the Russian fire being too hot for them. The Rus sian fort where the explosion took place is a heap of ruins. The Cossack, Arrogant, and Cruiser opened fire upon come troops about Helsingfors. Five minutes to Twelve—A very large magazine blew up. Twenty minutes past Twelve—A series of terrific explosions occurred in the main fortress : rockets, shot, &c., must have been hurled a tremen dous height into the air, and I don't doubt but that hundreds must have lost their lives in that explosion. It continued about four minutes. Though it was splendid to behold, thers was something dreadful in the thought that such numbers of human beings must be hurled to destruction. Half past Twelve—The whole town on fire. It is a beautiful sight. The last explosion must have been of some mines under the fort, for that is the only thing we think that could account for it. Quarter past Two—Our fire is terrible and doing great mischief to the enemy. Sweaborg is flaming away in four places. Half-past Three—The Russian flagstaff and stan dard are carried away. Quarter to Six—Another fire breaks out in the di rection of the citadel—the citadel is in flames—the town on fire in all directions—the flames from the burning citadel burst forth with amazing brilliancy. Cannonade not iu the least abated. A gentle breeze springing up about this time is fanning the flames into a general conflagration. The Admiralty is a heap of ruins. Half -past Nine—Rocket-boats departed from this ship to fire the town more completely, under the com mand of Captain Caldwell of this ship. There were about forty boats. At ten o'clock they opened fire, and a beautiful sight it was. Wednesday. Seven, a.m.—Sweaborg is still burning. A rocket burst in one of the Vulture's boats last night. All the men jumped into the water. Luckily, only two were hurt. Eight—Our shell telling with its usual effect. Nine—Two of our boats went close in shore. The enemy fired a storm of shot and shell at them, but they returned safe. Half-past Ten—A number of new fires appearing in the town, we were looking earnestly for some more explosions. There were a numbet of spectators and soldiers on the heights at Ilelsingfors, looking on. I should like to tire a shell or two among the latter, but our guns do not range so far. Quarter to One—The sides of the great sheds in the dockyard fell in . the flames mounted to a great height. Half-put Four—The whole town completely en veloped in smoke. Many of the gun-boats having expended their shot, have returned for more. Quarter-past Six—The fire on both sides more terrific than since the bombardment began. Fires breaking out everywhere. Twelve, midnight—All the fires seem in one, and the grandeur of the scene surpasses all description. At ten o'clock a tremendous explosiPn in the firlieWtla SATURDAY, The damage done mac be immense, for the stores and Government buildings are completely destroyed. The sight during the bombardment was beautiful. The shells at night seemed like small stars running across the heavens. There were not above twelve men wounded during the whole affair; whilst the Russians, if they bad one killed, had two thousand or more. I have done my best to give you an ac count of it. We left off on Saturday—had a quiet day on Sunday—but thought I should have liked to have kuocked down all the forts. Flap (tortzspoubtutt. FRANKFORT, August 22. ENOUSH politics continue to be carefully watched on the Continent. Every debate in the House of Com mons is conned over, every change in the details of the administration is examined on its probable bear ing upon the subject of peace and war. The antece dents of Lord Palmerston are nicely traced, his motives of action jealously sifted, and the general conclusion throughout Germany determines that he is not sincere in the prosecution of the war. Of this insincerity Lord Clarendon is reported to share largely, and in proof thereof a letter, semi-official, and coming from a quarter in direct communication with an ex-Minister, states broadly that the despatch of Lord Clarendon, for which so much credit has been given him, was written subsequent to the attack of Mr. Disraeli, and proceeded from sheer necessity of circumstance—that means party necessity—and not from honest conviction. The same authority in sinuates that other revelations, of a nature yet more damaging to the reputation of the so•called war Ministry, may be possibly forthcoming. From one end of Europe to the other the last speech of Lord John Russell and the reply of Lord Palmerston form the standard topic of conversation. They are dwelt upon with an earnest avidity, as if the fate of nations depended thereon. That of Lord Palmerston contained sentiments expressed years before, which brought hopes created only to be blighted ; and their good effect has been neutralised by certain tidings industriously spread by the friends of his disloyal antagonist largely to his detriment, and promising a further instalment of confessional revelations. In all these disgraceful proceedings, the reputation of the country suffers without the power of a plea in justification. Russia is " pro tanto " the gainer, and the most warm advocate for England Cannot f rame, by the acutest ingenuity, an apology for such damning profligacy. " It is no longer," say the Germans, " the England of old. Faith cannot be given to those who hold no faith among themselves; and if the lives of parents, brothers, and children are coldly sacrificed— not for the sake of country, but of party—not for a grand cause, but for the possession of office—who can willingly trust men so utterly devoid of every right feeling that should guide action and ennoble sentiment ?" These words were uttered by a foreign nobleman of the highest rank, and connected with English royalty. He had passed a winter in England, and had been in intimate relation with a veteran and dis tinguished Whig. This nobleman denied absolutely the sincerity of the present Ministry in the prosecu tion of the war, from facts that came under his imme diate observation. And here it may be well to observe, as a caution to the " Seraphin" politically inclined, not to disburden themselves too freely when under the influence of the soft seduction of foreign manners and a graceful person. A Ministerial " Seraphin," in reply to the expressed regret of Count K— at the present disastrous conflict, and the Ger manic estrangement from England, said pointedly, " Nous sommes pousses a la guerre—il n'y a pas moyen autrement de nous debarrasser de ce malheu reux Disraeli." This was uttered in a Ministerial house, and by a Ministerial "Soraphin." The per sonal pronoun, collective withal, has its significance, and the word " autrement" delicately conveys the sense that, were it not for " ce malheureux Disraeli," the course of policy would have been different. And so says Lord John Russell, who is about to turn right honourable and kingly evidence. This evidence will be produced with a view to weaken the alliance with the Emperor Napoleon, against whom the Whigs and Radicals entertain a republican antipathy. It is impossible for this " consommé " of impostors and impostures to censure the war without inculpation of Franoe. The pompons bravado of Sir James Graham, and the elated gasconade of the Secretary of the Admi ralty, on the perfection of their arrangements ie regard to the transport service, has been lately and miserably tested. A copy of the Hampshire Tele graph has found its way here, wherein the life of that meritorious officer Colonel Lowth is distinctly stated to have been unnecessarily sacrificed to neglect, and the faulty accommodation of the transport vessel. The jnse steam-packet had been employed for the