The Press. — London, England, 1855-06-09 00:00:00

534 They will not in themselves achieve the con quest of the Crimea, or force the Russians to lay down their arms. They are but the preliminaries of the struggle withal alone can force the intrenchments of the enetny, and plant the allied standards within the walls of Sebastopol. Yet they have done mach to facili tate the victory. The finirses of &Reit hal been captured and occupied ; both at that seaport and at the important depots of Berdianski and Jenitchi immense stores of provisions have been taken and destroyed ; a large fleet of shipping has been burnt, and the maritime resources of Russia in the Sea of Azoff annihilated; two of the routes by which the Russian supplies and munitions of war have up to the present time been con veyed to the beleaguered fortress have been entirely stopped; the passage of reinforce ments from the Caucasus has been inter cepted ; and the spirit of the Russians has been broken by defeat, at the moment when enthusiasm is of the highest importance. But, for all that, the work is but begun. The road by Perekop is still open, as well as an other passage across the narrowest part of the Putrid Sea. A temporary hindrance will take plate in the arrival of supplies until the new transport service is organised, and the con voys have wound their way over the steppe to the interior of the Crimea. But are there no depots at I3aktehi-Sergi or Simferopol, and no stores of provisions within Sebastopol, that will enable the Russians to boar the delay ? In a few weeks the loss may be repaired, and a line of communication estab blished more secure than before It is not safe to calculate on the impassable nature in the summer months of the country between Perekop and Simferopol. The difficulties and obstacles will have been foreseen, and every means of precaution adopted. It is even said that a tramway has been constructed for the whole of the distance, which will enable the Russians to bring up any amount of supplies. The commissariat of a hundred thousand men is too important an undertaking not to have been put into the most perfect efficiency. Before Sebastopol itself we have gained no decisive advantage The French with admir able gallantry have frustrated the attempts of the enemy to construct a new and formidable outwork, and have possessed themselves of the disputed ground ; but, though a fortnight has elapsed, we have not heard of our allies pushing their advantage and storming any battery that commands the town. All that can be said is that they are in a favorable position for the assault whenever a propitious moment may arrive The combined forces of the English, French, Sardinians, and Turks have advanced their outposts to the Tschernaya and fortified the village of Tehorgoum, but they do not menace the communications between the gar• rison and Simferopol. We are told by the able correspondent of the Morning Herald that such an attempt will be attended by the greatest difficulties in consequence of the for midable intrenchments which defend the only practicable mountain pass, the road to Mac kenzie's Farm ; that from their immense size, position, and extent, the attack will be one of the most bloody struggles of the siege. In the Caucasus the state of affairs is similar From inadequacy of force the Russians have evacuated Soujak Kale, and concentrated their troops in the fortress of Anapa, which they are strengthing by every means in their power, It is scarcely probable that the Circassian troops will accomplish much in a siege ; we can only expect that they will post an army of ob servation, and transport the remain der of their forces tieress the Straits of Yenikale to form a junction with the garrison of Kertch. Several courses are open to the Allied Generals. They might adopt the plan originally suggested to Marshal ST. ARNAUD, in the instructions of the Emperor NAPOLEON, of advancing with a large force from Kertch and Katfa, so as to take Karasa-Bazar and Simferopol in the rear. But this they give no indication of attempting. Possibly they await their Circassian auxiliaries. Another course was to reinforce the Turks at Eupatoria, and IMM. THE PRESS. cut off the communications of the Russians with Perekop. Buy they seemed to have abandoned all thought!! DACHA such a scheme, and have couveye4 Omen PicnA and his best trodgn tU the beiglite of Sebastopol. The third Cdtirsc is 6 tigototis prosecution of the siege, together With att Ittteck upon the arm of obseteOtion Upon tha heights to the north And emit, Thin app ird to be their present intention. • Great itelittres are evidently itt contemplation. Troops are accumulated to an extent incompatible Willi prolonged inaction, and preparations are made which betoken vigorous movements in the field. But none can tell whether there is to be an assault on the town or a campaign in the interior, or a combination of both these operations. There are symptoms which worn us that active movements cannot be further delayed, if great results are to be accomplished. The want of water is beginning to be painfully felt. Cholera is extending through every part of the encampment, fostered by the unwholesome ness of the ground and the crowding of the troops. Are the allies ready to march? We fear that our own regiments are not. It is but a short time since we were assured that only one-seventh part of the necessary means of transport had been provided, and that the great mass of our men were practically as Im moveable as the rocks on which they stood. Ought this to he the case? Again, it is only a few days since the leading journal published a list of regiments of cavalry and infantry that were under orders for immediate embarkation for the seat of war. Why had they not been sent before? On the eve of so desperate a struggle, why have our own reinforcements not yet come up ? We fear that it will be found that, notwithstanding all their warn ings, the measures of the Government will be inadequate to the emergency which is be fore us. " GENERAL CLAMOUR." Tax feats performed by " General Routine" in the Crimea have been signalised, according to Mr. Hitasznes admission, by the loss of thirteen thousand men, and since the war commenced the exploits that were to have been achieved by "General Rumour" kept attention on the rack. A new officer has this week been added to the staff by the Member for the West Riding. In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. COBDEN charges our losses, disappointments, and embarrassment upon "General Clamour." This invective against this "popular" officer was perfectly safe, as it wounded no susceptibilities of near kinsfolk. He wa►s only pulling the whiskers of the British Lion, whose teeth have been filed down by its official keepers, who fondly calculate that it may yet be advertised to "go safely in harness." It was " General Clamour" got up the Russo-phobia, precipi tated the war suddenly, vanquished all parties successively, ordered Peelite platoons to take up ground at Brookes's, and, in compliment to " antiquated imbecility," insisted upon the Whigs defiling one by one under the Caudine Forks of Coalition. Mr. COBDEN assumes the office of a biographer to this wonderful General, at whose orders, according to the Honourable Gentleman, so many English statesmen have sacrificed their sell respect. " There seemed to be an utter want of con " fidence in public men, arising from their " having yielded up their better judgment " to the momentary expectations of others." Things are certainly come to a strange pass, when a platform politician like Mr. COBDEN acknowledges the necessity of becoming a censor on the folly of yielding to popular cries. Unfortunately, with facts before us, there is no use in denying that the want of political firmness in the late and present Ministers is directly traceable to weak de pendance on popular impulses. That plan of Government must of necessity be funda mentally vicious which precipitately changes its mind according to every apparent alteration of public feeling. To concede to " a cry" is a grievous fault in statesmanship. It is SATURDAY, practically abrogating the British Constitution, kb and trantgerring the Ex .entive into the hand s of organised iriblithillt lig ruling, not by the Queen's Oabinet, blii . stipendiary dema goguo it is acting tiji t licy of a " leap ain tag dittilt." It 3 'bulb up dice in hopes i that es May turn tif , t It putting out to *ea w t otit chaFt or Otnpliii. It is the very quintillseddli of Peck dill ditiregard of conse quence*. The eenfession of Lord JOHN RessELL that the expedition to Sebastopol was undertaken in order to satisfy public sentiment, gives the point of truth to the accusation of Mr. COBDEN. Fleeting popular applause—exciting, though ephemeral—is the extent of Lord JOHN Res- SELL'S imagination. He forgets that the Whigs of other days gloried in being in a small minority, and appealed, not to popular passions, but.principles. Twenty years since, deferring to " a cry," Lord JOHN wanted to confiscate the Irish Church ; he deferred to platform prejudices on the subject, while Lord DERBY made a memorable and successful stand on the ground of Protestant principles. No thanks to Lord JOHN that 'e cry" wits not vielded to by the Legislature, mil the United - Church Establishment has been preserved. Yet when the public feelings boiled at the aggression of Cardinal WISEMAN, Lord JOHN was the first to run after the cry, and having chalked up " No Popery" on the wall, he ran away from it, on the new cry of the Whigs being in danger without the Irish votes. Yet this vacillating toadeater of " General Cla mour" is the chief of an enthralled oligarchy, what the Radical morning journal on Thursday designated as " the half-hearted clique whom " Brookes's and Stafford-house have sent up " to govern England." Our Premier also is ono of the greatest offenders in this dangerous system of con• ceding to the last clamour upon a subject. But he is an old and important sinner in that respect, and the notoriety of his constant. affection for " General Claptrap " kept him out of the highest office for many years. While listening on Thursday night to the merciless castigation inflicted by an ex tribune of the people on the two chiefs, and the rival intriguers of the present Cabinet, we could not but think of the humiliation of the Whigs, while receiving lessons on the neces sity of moderation from the lips of Mr BitioHT. Nor will it serve their purposes to demur to the propriety of Mr. COBDEN or Mr. BRIGHT performing the duties of censors and lictors. Tu 'pimple is a pitiful mode of rebutting a charge. A certain conventional license is given to men who affect 0 representpopular opinions. They speak as the nominees of " General Clamour," the biggest borough monger of the day. But another line of con duct is expected from the statesmen who aspire to the Cabinet of the Sovereign, and who walk in the great procession of Ministers which reaches back to the times of ELIZABETH, and WALSINGHAM, and CECIL. The vacillations of the Ministers prove that they belong to the " whirligig school" and are the mere puppets of "General Clamour." Tergi versation is a great offence against the dignity of public life. Its worst evil is to rob the pursuit of politics of its ennobling character. It diffuses a dreadful spirit of scepticism, under which faith in public virtue withers. The public mind soon ceases to be manly and loyally courageous, and attached to great ideas, when those who ought to be the models of noble conduct exhibit themselves womanishly fond of idle admiration, and just as fickle in their regard. When Mr. DRUMMOND on Thurs day said that "the generation which reeol " lected Sir ROBERT PEEL would never place " faith in public men," there were some signi ficant cheers from various parts of the House. It is too true that there is a disposition to believe that public life in England cannot be raised to a higher standard in our time than that at which it was left by Sir Roamer Pest., and at which it was kept by statesmen who make inflammatory speeches at the Reform Club, and then swallow up their fiery invec• tires with a,marvellous voracity, which shows that though the existence of the great sea serpent is fabulous, its swallow is not beyond human experience.