The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-05 00:00:00

876 idle it is to form resolutions relating to a lifetime while we have yet any time to live. THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 5, 1857. Very different, and much more sagacious, was the lan guage held by the leader of the Conservative Opposition. " No one," said Mr. Disraeli, " could shut his eyes to the extreme peril to which, st this moment, our authority is sub ject in that country; but I cannot say—little as my confidence has ever been in the Government of India—that I take those despairing or desperate views with respect to our position which, in moments of danger or calamity, are too often prevalent. I would express my opinion, that the tenure by which we hold India is not a frail tenure; but when we consider that that great country is inhabited by twenty•five nations, different in race, different in religion, and different in language, I think it is not easy—perhaps it is not possible—fbr such heterogeneous elements to fuse into perfect co:nbination. Everything, however, is pos sible--every disaster is practicable—if there be an inefficient or negligent Government." " Three months," continues the reviewer, " have now " elapsed since the despatch of that mail, which, Mr. " Vernon Smith so pleasantly told us, came away a " day or two too soon to bring the intelligence of the " recapture of Delhi and the entire suppression of " the revolt. Each succeeding mail has brought " tidings only of its extension. The armies of the " other Presidencies are happily still stanch ; but it " would be rashness, rather than wisdom, to predict " for one week the fidelity of any native troops, while insurrection maintains itself in Bengal. We are " far enough from despair, but we are more than " ever impressed with the correctness of Mr. Dis " raeli's remark, that any disaster is practicable if " ' there he a negligent or inefficient Government.'" The reforms proposed by the reviewer remind us of the old story of the hare and the soup. It will be time enough to consider that part of the Indian question when we have reconquered the rebellious provinces. At present we have to crush a rebellion which will shake the empire to its centre if not speedily subdued. When that is effected, and the opportunity for reform once more placed within our reach, then we shall be prepared to dis cuss the question and to advocate such measures as will for the future insure the stability of our rule in Hindostan, not so much by any improved system of military organisation as by basing our power upon measures which shall secure the happiness and prosperity of the people. The Dublin affords much varied matter. A clever critical review of the lire of SL Columba, the founder of the monastery of lona, and whose life is charac terised by the reviewer as " a tissue of supernatural occurrences," opens the number. The reviewer, after detailing the early incidents in the life of St. Columba, who was born in A.D. 521, traces his career to its close, and gently treats the apparitions, super stitions, and miraculous powers of the simple old Abbot of lona. An article on the British Association briefly traces the progress of science in modern times, and gives a rapid summary of the labours of the association ; and a pleasant biographical sketch of the Times Crimean correspondent, Mr. Russell, introduces us to some anecdotes of interest:— When at Moscow, whither he was despatched by the Times to report proceedings on the coronation of the Czar, Mr. Russell was introduced, at the Austrian Ambas• sador's ball, to Prince Gortschakoff, who, after some com plimentary remarks in a very friendly and brusque manner, said, at last, " Your admirable letters were as agreeable as they were well written ; my cousin used to send the papers to me from Warsaw, and 1 read them regularly, but I am bound to admit that I never received any information from them, nor learned anything that I hail not known beforehand?' Mr. Russell Iplied that lie was much gratified at hearing the Pri,,ee make this declaration, for he feared he was going to say that he had derived intelligence as well as satisfaction from the perusal of the letters in the Times. " Oh, no," he rejoined, " I had Lien case: des renseignements as to any movement of the allies through infallible channels ; and with every respect, let me add, I was little disposed to trust newspapers.' The Prince expressed himself very much pleased at the manner in which his retreat was spoken of, and thanked Mr. Russell for the terms in which he had described it. Another anecdote of Moscow also shows the value of our own correspondents in the Crimea : The Colonel I'rince Von Hesse, an Austrian officer (son of the Prince Von Hesse of Philipstahl, who so gallantly defended Gaeta against the French in I 8011), remarked to Mr. Russell, " It is well for the prestige of England on the Continent that she had a press to tell the truth ; otherwise your military reputation would have been lost with us for ever. NN e should have only heeril the French version of the war, as they command the universal language of Europe. By them we were told how you English were always impeding and counteracting their superior activity ; bow you were late at the Alma, sur prised by the Russians, and saved by the French at Inkermann, starved in the winter, and clothed and fed from their superabundant supplies ; how you protracted the siege, and were at last disgracefully beaten in the two assaults on the Redan, while the French, single-handed, took Sebastopol. 1 always supplied myself with Galignani, and after my officers had read the French statements from their own papers, I translated for them, as antidotes, the accounts in the Times and other English journals." The veteran Marshal Radetzky, who took intense interest in the campaign, and particularly in the deeds of the British army, was accustomed to read the Times regularly, and expressed his opinion to Major Forster, an Englishman, in the Austrian service, that the articles on the war were of immense advantage to the allied cause." PERIODICAL LITERATURE. Blackwood this month, though not deficient in entertaining matter, offers some solid reading upon solid subjects. Military Education, Genesis and Geology, and the Bengal Mutiny are assisted by some lively chapters from the eloquent pen of Fisistratus Caxton, the continuation of the " Scenes of Clerical Life," an instructive paper upon " Sea. side Studies," and some pleasant and entertaining " Memoranda from the Manzanares " by the welcome pen of Vedette. The article upon "Military Educa• tion " is a careful analysis of the report of the commis sioners upon the reorganisation of the scientific corps of our army. The principal object of this commission was an examination into the chief military schools of the great continental powers, Austria, France, and Prussia, as well as of Sardinia. Of the educati final systems followed by these powers, that of Austria is considered the best. It is curious VI contrast the amount of money granted by our Government for the education of its military officers with the stuns paid by the continental Govern ments : To maintain and render effective the several establish ments here enumerated, the four countries visited by the commissioners submit to a very large outlay. Austria, as we have shown, expends about 400,0001. a year in this manner ; of which enormous sum 127,0001. appears to be devoted to the education of officers exclusively. In France the annual expenditure amounts to 72,0001., of which 4'2,0001. is absorbed by the education of officers alone ; while in Prussia, a much poorer country than France, the training of officers requires the outlay of 26,0001. In Eng land we have our two departments at Sandhurst—the junior far cadets, the senior for officers—with Woolwich, and Atidiscombe, and Chatham, wherein young men are trained for the artillery and engineer services by the Crown and by the East India Company. Yet the total annual outlay incurred by the nation (we put out of view the arrangements made by the Company) falls something short of •'a,MAII. Is it to be wondered at if, in the Crimea and elsewhere, our armies, victorious in the field, break down for lack of skill and resources in military adminis tration? Next month the reviewer promises us to continue the subject in detail, and to state original views upon what the country can and ought to do towards carry ing into effect a great plan for the better education of officers of all arms. The article upon the Bengal mutiny, though necessarily written in the face of important changes in the position of affairs announced by every mail, displays great skill in its careful detail. The writer indicates his estimate of the ability of her Majesty's Ministers to meet the crisis with success : The disaffection which, long smouldering in the Bengal army, began to show itself in action as early as January last, attained to a crisis in the second week of May. An official narrative of its rise and progress was despatched from Calcutta on the 18th of that month. Lord Ellen. borough. with his usual vigilance, adverted to the subject in the House of Lords on the 4th June, and was answered by Lord Granville, that he hoped the accounts were exag• gerated ! Two days alter, Mr. Vernon Smith, in opposing the petition of some missionaries in Bengal, told the house " it could not he disguised that considerable disaffection prevailed among the troops, in consequence of a prevalent notion that a compulsory conversion of the natives was intended." He added, that. "it was not his wish to alarm the house or the public—the agitation, he trusted, was limited to a few of the troops, and would speedily be repressed " ! The I'resident of the Board of Control was at this time in possession of despatches announcing the disappearance of six regiments from the strength of the Bengal army, the commission of horrible atrocities by the sepoys on their officers, and the seizure of Delhi with the proclamation of a Mussulinan emperor! To Lord Ellenborough's suggestion that a proclamation should be issued to tranquillise the angry suspicions of the native soldiery, Lori Granville replied—for there must always be a reply—that the Indian Government had acted judiciously in not taking any such step. Yet, if his lordship had read his despatches, he would have found that a similar mimes. Lion had proceeded from the Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western Provinces; and the proclamation was actually issued by the Governor General on the lOth of May! So unequal, too, was the action of the home authorities to the emergency reported, that, notwithstanding the loud cry from India for the immediate despatch of every English )Idier that could be spared, it was thought enough, as late as the end of June, to have placed four regiments under orders to embark for India. Happily 10,000 men had returned to Bombay from the Persian expedition, and the force despatched from this country for China will have been diverted to a duty more consonant with justice and . . . the security of the Ilritish empire. For these * reinforce ments, however, the Indian Government is no way indebted to the foresight or judgment of the Cabinet at home. Their mouthpiece in the House of Lords again assured us, on the 29th June, that the disaffection in India was " exag• gerated by the noble earl. There was no occasion for alarm. and it was quite unnecessary to call out the militia." On the same evening the President of the Board of Control told the other house that the additional forces were sent out simply as a measure of security, not at all as believing the empire of India to be in peril. The writer, in the course of his remarks, alludes to the disagreeable controversy in which Mr. Russell became entangled with Lord Dartmouth with respect to the disparaging observations made by Mr. Russell upon the subject of the non-appearance of Lord Raglan in the camp. Everyone, of course, remembers that Lord Raglan, according to the Times and its correspondent, was " never to be seen." We will give a little anecdote upon this point, vouching for its authenticity. An officer of rank was one day conversing near the hospital with a brother officer, with whom Mr. Russell had most intimate relations, and from whom it was generally believed in camp lie received certain " inspirations." 'Well, this officer, whom we will call 13, complained to A that he (B) never saw Lord Raglan. "If he would only show his face here occasionally, and not stick in his hut. It's really disgraceful; I've been here three months, and have never seen him," remarked B. " Well, that's very odd," said A," I have very often. By the way, who is that old fellow coming up there?" pointing to a man shabbily dressed coming up the hill. " I don't know," said B, "he is always here poking about the hospitals. I have ad— good mind to ask him who he is." "My dear fellow," said A, " don't, for that is—Lord Raglan !"—liistorical sketches of the Castle of Dublin and of Delhi, some good verses upon India, and other light article; contribute to make a very pleasant, readable number of this excellent Review. Colburn contains the usual amount of light read able matter. " The Baths of Lucca" have "run out," so that we may reasonably anticipate fresh scenes of Italian life for the future. An article upon the Indian rebellion takes a cheerful view of our position ; while a review of Baron Stein's memoirs contains matter of interest. The Titan, considerably enlarged, now ranks among the standard monthlies at L. (3d. It slid‘vs good and careful editing, and contains matter well written and well selected; but it is all too light, if not trifling. One good article upon literature, or science, or politics would give the Titan that dis tinctive character it would appear at present to want.l Bentley—opening with an extremely interesting review of Gregorovius's sketches of Italian scenery— takes up the subject of the German tourist's visit to Elba, and discourses pleasantly thereon. The immense interest attached to Napoleon lasts to this day in Elba. Ilis name is ever mentioned with reverence and awe, and the benefits he conferred upon the island are not forgotten by-the humble in habitants. It may be interesting to our readers to know that Prince Demidoff has purchased Napoleon's villa in the Campagna : This Russian Crmsus is converting it into a Napo leonic museum. It will be splendid, with its halls of marble and fairy salons, in which all the deeds of the Emperor will be depicted on the walls al fresco. Napo leon himself, who planted the orange trees on the terrace of his country-house, was satisfied with having the salon decorated in the Egyptian style; indeed, the remembrance of Egypt seems to have been the dearest of all to him, for it was the most extraordinary—the romantic hercrepos of his hero-youth. At present, Prince Dewidoff has col lected all imaginable relics which relate to Napoleon's history, and will display them in the apartments of San Marino. Possibly, however, the Prince will not exhibit here a living relic of Napoleon which he once possessed, because he did not take proper care of it, so folk say-- 1 mean his former wife, Mathilde Bonaparte, daughter of the ex-King Jerome, sole remaining relic of Westphalia. When the house has been properly arranged, the workmen told me the Prince intends to run a steamer weekly from Leghorn, at his own charges, to enable all the world to see the sight. Mrs. Fitzwilliam fills the present place in the gallery of theatrical portraits. The story of " The Millionaire of Mincing Lane " is continued with vigour; and many other light readable articles, "The Life of an Architect," and "Beech Lodge," creditably sustain the character of the Review. Tait, in an article upon India, reviews the diffe rent causes which may have contributed to the revolt, and points out the errors of the East India Company's Government in detail. Finally, it regards as the most fatal error the neglect to increase the British army in India at the peace of 1855. In con clusion, the writer estimate!, the crisis as "suffi ciently alarming," and doubts if tha present Govern ment can extricate the country " without ignominy and loss." A pleasant article upon " Old llooks" is followed by the usual varied selection of entertaining matter, from sketches of Australia and Jersey to the " Industrial Culture" of Women,. and the usual brief political narrative, which we venture to think is open to considerable improvement. The Irish Metropolitan and the Train are main tained with their usual ability. In the biographical sketches of the Train we have Shirley Brooks taken off first of all in a hideous woodcut, and then exhi bited as one of the striving writers "readily to be " distinguished from the crowd of amateurs who are perpetually forcing themselves forward by means of " self-evident gratuitous contributions to feeble period 1- " cals." Without passing any opinion upon the good taste of this passage, we select the following personal sketch of this most facile of writers and besli:eropered of wits:—