The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-17 00:00:00

256 THE WEEK. THE ingenuity of the gentlemen who " do " the editorials for the morning papers, appears even to us who are of the craft something marvellous. Day after day do Times, Herald, Chronicle, Post, &c., appear with articles on the Vienna Congress, which read very smoothly, and seem to contain a vast amount of good sense and information, till, subjected to a scrutiny, they are found to be mere dissolving-views of politics, a collection of phrases from which it is impossible to collect the slightest idea of what is doing, what is intended, or what will happen. One writer hammers away on the disposition of the late Emperor NICHOLAS, and another on the disposition of the present Emperor ALEXANDER. The King of PRUSSIA is sure to be abused, and the Emperor of AUSTRIA. doubted ; on the whole, negotiation will pro • ceed, and will probably occupy a certain number of days. Much may depend on the temper of the Russian Court, much ou the terms the allies will demand, something on the events of the war. At all events, Sebastopol ought to be taken, and then—we shall see what will happen next. All this uncertainty is due of course to our ignorance of the terms likely to be proposed by the allies. What limitation of the power of Russia in the Black Sea will satisfy them? Much depends on the answer to this question, next to nothing on the Emperor ALEXANDER. He can concede to a certain point, but not beyond it. If the reduction of Sebastopol be not insisted on, there will probably be peace; if nothing short of that will satisfy the allies, the war will most likely he long protracted. But as this point, we may con jecture, will very early engage the attention of the Congress, it is possible that another week may go far to substantially decide the grand question of peace or war. The Congress held its first con ference on Thursday last; it was attended by one French, two Ottoman, two English, and two Austrian Plenipotentiaries. The Emperor of the FRENCH has certainly postponed his projected departure for the Crimea for a time, but the reason of this delay is not known. It must have been some powerful motive which detained him, as he is known to have said that he never acted on his own will without having reason to be satisfied with the result ; nor ever gave way to the persuasion of another without having reason to bitterly repent it. Prince NAPOLEON iS in Paris, and vents unsparing criticism on the management of the war, and on both French and English commanders. Full details of the last hours of the Emperor NICHOLAS are con tained in letters and journals from St. Petersburg. The conjecture, originating in the suddenness of his demise, that he might have died a violent death, is proved to be wholly unfounded. In him the ruling passion seems to have prevailed to the last. His illness was aggra vated by his attention to military duties against the advice of his phy sicians, and on his dying-bed he fulfilled all offices of religion and affection as if on parade. - He manifested care for his family and anxiety for his empire as long as life remained ; and if it be true that almost his last words expressed regret that he had not been able to accomplish the complete emancipation of the serfs of his empire, his name will long linger among the inhabitants of the vast forests and illimitable plains of Russia as that of the father of his people. The death of Czar NICHOLAS does not seem to have occasioned any of that panic at St. Petersburg which might have been anticipated. The military appointments of the new Emperor denote sound judg ment, and thus far the disappearance of NICHOLAS from the scene seems to have occasioned no change. The mission of the Archduke WILLIAM, brother of the Emperor of AUSTRIA, to St. Petersburg, though stated to have no diplomatic signifi cance, shows the friendly feeling still subsisting between the two Courts. " Hawks will not pick out hawks' eyes." If the death of the Emperor NICHOLAS has no other result, it will probably tend to bring the two young Emperors together, and establish a good understanding between them. The last despatches from the Crimea show that considerable pro gress is now making with the works in front of Sebastopol. The railway is far advanced, and is already of available use in carrying stores, huts, &c., as far as Kadikoi. The weather appears unsettled, a fall of snow having taken place again upon the morning of the 2nd. The Russians are unremitting in their exertions to render Sebas - topol impregnable, as far as art and science can avail. They have sunk some additional ships at the mouth of the harbour, and have commenced throwing up some fresh batteries upon the extreme right; and their army, Lord RAGLAN states, appears to be increasing in force. The Redan Battery, which in October mounted only 45 guns, now mounts, upon estimation, some 220 guns in all, upon two lines of works ; the earthworks round the Malakoff Tower, which then mounted only 25 guns, now mounts 70 ; and the Flagstaff Battery, which then inotinted WU 50 guns, now maunti At kith 1601 The Quarantine, ham.. THE PRESS. SATURDAY, Garden, and Barrack Batteriea, have all been daily more or less strengthened, and there is every feeling in the allied camp that the defence will be as desperate as the means promise. The English troops appear to be daily recovering their health, the number of sick having fallen to 400 a week. The huts are being gradually erected, and we may fairly estimate that by the time the warm weather comes round they will be all up. The Guards have returned to Balaklava, and, relieved from fatigue duty, the men are slowly recovering their strength and health. The wretched remains of our cavalry and horse artillery are once more employed in carrying up shot and shell for the supply of the batteries. The attack is not expected to open until the end of this month or the beginning of April,—scarcely earlier, if any inference may be drawn from the French Emperor having deferred his visit to the Crimea during the past week. The Baltic fleet is gradually collecting from the various ports at the general rendezvous at Spithead. So magnificent a fleet has never in the history of the world been seen gathered together before. The plan of the campaign is as yet in any other but the positive state. A flying squadron of light steam frigates is, we believe, to be de spatched to the edge of the ice the moment the weather breaks; but for the ulterior operations of the campaign nothing is yet decided, and in a week or two more the fleet must be at sea! From the Cape and Australia we learn that the fears for a renewal of the Kaffir war have subsided, and that the eme►ute on the Victoria gold fields had been put down, the ringleaders captured, and quiet restored. In connection with the news from the Cape is the intelli gence that a razzia had been undertaken by the Dutch General PRE • TORIUS against some Kaffir tribes who had committed depredation and murder upon some of the extreme outstations of the Dutch settlers. The details of the Dutch General's operations are very horrible. The Kaffirs, it appears, had taken refuge in some extensive subterraneous caverns, in which the Dutch closely besieged them, and, after having failed to destroy them by blasting the rocks, literally starved them to death, after a strict blockade of some three weeks. Nine hundred dead Kaffirs were counted outside, and it was computed from the frightful effluvia which issued from every part of these vast caverns that the number of bodies within was far greater. The parliamentary proceedings of the week have not been impor tant. In both Houses Ministers have been called to account for the neglect of the Colonial Department during Lord JOHN'S absence, and have had nothing better to urge than that they believe it will not be long protracted. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER has begun his career by abandoning the Newspaper Stamp Act of his predecessor. He promises an entirely new meaelire, as it seems that in his opinion Mr. GLADSTONE'S bill was too bad to admit of modification. The measure for allowing marriage with a deceased wife's sister gave rise to some amusing discussion on Monday. One hit was made by Mr. DRUMMOND which produced more boisterous merriment than has yet been heard in the new building. He exhorted Mr. SPOONER, who supported the bill, to carry his principle further, and come forth like aman and marry his grandmother. Inextinguishable laughter followed this sally for some minutes. In the same debate Lord PALMERSTON made one of the escapades now common with him. The law of GOD, he said, had been previously settled by Act of Parliament. He was not successful in sub sequently endeavouring to explain this strange expression. Last night Sir JOHN PAKINOTON introduced his educational measure, which was cordially received by the House. It is intended to refer this bill, together with that already introduced by Lord Joux RUSSELL, to a Select Committee, with the hope of producing an amalgamated measure, combining the merits of both. Later in the evening Sir. B. HALL produced his often promised bill for the Better Local Manage ment of the Metropolis. He spent two hours in describing its details; the second reading is fixed for 16th April, when a strong opposition to it is anticipated. The evidence of Lord LUCAN on Thursday was given in great detail, and, at least apparently, without any strong animus against the authorities ; but the Noble Earl's statements bore heavily upon the Quartermaster-Generals department, and with great force against Commissary-General FILDER. Of this last official, it was positively stated by Lord LUCAS, "Representations to Mr. FILDER were never " attended to at any time whatever• ;" and the Noble Earl's evidence exemplified in extenso that assertion. The Commissariat, from first to last, according to him, was scandalously unequal to its duties. No stores of forage were made with forethought, and when winter set in the cavalry horses had to do double work, besides being badly fed. Overwork completely destroyed the horses. Between the Bth of October and the 31st of January 1,100 horses were lost, and, calculat ing at 751. each animal, there would be a loss on this head of 82,5001. The most flagrant blunder of all as indicative of the stupidity of the subordinate officials was the circumstance relative to the horse medicines on board the Medway, " which had taken out a large quantity, " that never was discovered till the month of January, though it had " been on board since the month of June preceding " During all that time the horses were in want of medicine, and it had often been asked for ! On feeding the men, most of the witnesses ar•e tolerably unani mous that there were provisions enough. The overwork destroyed the army ; there were not troops enough ; they had to act as trans ports and dig the trenches, and were left in rags; and the tremendous results can be described only by BURKE'S designation of Lord Noaru's misthanagement, " Au Iliad of bluadeta;" -7 11