The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

intent, and a compass in his hand, spent long hours in elaborating the plan, and he sent it to Constantinople en tirely written with his own hand, and without having pre viously communicated it to anybody. The Emperor dis trusted the observations which Marshal Valliant would not have failed to proffer, and which he would have impatiently listened to. In England, it is said, the conception was received with the greatest delight:— The venerable Lord Aberdeen, whose utter want of fore sight reminds us so much of M. de Kaunitz, was enchanted with the boldness of the conception ; the excellent Duke of Newcastle smiled beforehand at the infallible success of the allied armies; Lord Palmerston had but one fear — that of not being able to prove to the Emperor with whit eagerness England accepted his plans, and how much she admired his genius. The Marshal St. Arnaud displayed, it is asserted, " une activite fabuleuse" in carrying out the design. o Fr e first time, we have here what appears to be a trus th tworthy account of the celebrated council of war at Varna : The council of war assembled at Varna in the beginning of the month of August—the 10th, if our memory serves us. Marshal de Saint Arnaud presided. He had previously made Prince Napoleon and Generals Canrobert and Boa quet acquainted with the plan agreed upon between him and the Emperor ; it was the plan elaborated by Napoleon Il T. himself. It was dated from Biarritz; for it was from that place that, at that critical period, Napoleon 111. sent his orders and dated his proclamations. The marshal communicated to the council the idea of the expedition All eyes were turned towards General Raglan. His fore head bore the impress of care, and his face expressed for a few minutes previous all the indecision of his mind. Lord Raglan put forth as an objection the want of know ledge respecting the Russian forces, and respecting the state of the place on the land side. T he ma p s afforded no indication. The roads, rivers, and natural obstacles were unknown. It was a disadvantageous battlefield. The English general specially remonstrated, on the score that the army was in want of cavalry, whilst the Russians were very well provided with excellent horses. That was not war on equal terms. Vice-Admiral Hamelin treated the matter with more animus. According to his opinion the expedition, under taken under such circumstances, looked very much like on an adventure l'rince Napole then spoke for nearly three-quarters of an hour. We must state here that he expressed at the same time his opinion, and that of General Bosquet and the Duke of Cambridge, whom he had seen the day before, and with whom he had consulted and agreed. The prince disapproved of the expedition in its principle, in its execution, in an absolute manner. The Empe but t ror he 's authority was, doubtless, very great in the matter; Emperor, at Biarritz, was not in a position to understand the practical difficulties of the enterprise Marshal Saint Arnaud was very sharp in his reply to Prince Napoleon, and made a few cutting allusions to his ideas and to his well-known connections. The prince In terrupted him to tell him that he chose as he thought proper his personal friends; and that, as to rests his idFrance eas, he derived them from his sympathy with the inte of a nd from the national tradition of the first empire. No one had a right to sit in judgment upon them but himself. ..... • • . Notwithstanding these judicious ob jections, Lord Raglan wound up by giving an affirmative vote; General Bosquet did the same. This was a grave error. The four noncontents who remained were Admiral Hamelin, Admiral Dundas, the Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Napoleon. The subsequent events of the campaign are too well known to need recapitulation here. After Alma, when the decision was taken that it would be impr de u dent to attempt to carry the fortress by a coup main, the difficulties in which the allies were placed became obvious : If the hand of a man becomes entangled in a pie vice c of e of mac hinery, his entire body must follow—the radical the expedition corrupted all its details. The principle was false, and the consequences must be fatal. The idea, con ceived in Paris, without any practical action, was bad. The resu lts it might have brought could not be good. From the 24th of September, the words of the Vice-Admiral Hamelin had become a fact, " We are sailing at all hazards for an adventure," and the fruits of the Anglo-French bravery at the battle of the Alma were already lost. In noticing the exact reports conveyed to the Em peror after the bombardment had been attempted and failed, we have an explanation of the phrase, so much commented on at the time, " les avis timides" The Emperor was fully acquainted with the most minute particulars, and with every circumstance and every detail which could possibly enlighten him as to the actual position of affairs. He took no notice of these things—he smiled at these representations with a most deplorable mistrust — and one day he replied publicly to them by the phrase of "timid counsels," which struck directly at Admiral Ha melin and prince Napoleon, and indirectly at Marshal Valliant, who more than once expressed his doubts, both to the Emperor and Prince Jerome, of the success of such an enterprise. It has not before, that we recollect, been auth tatively stated that the sth of November —the day of Inkennann—had been positively fixed on by the allies for the assault to take place, whatever might be the state of the breaches in the fortifies tions on that day. Shall we refer the Russian attack to a knowledge of the design of the allied com manders, or to pure accident? THE PRESS. ---------- After Inkermann, it is asserted that Lord Raglan saw but two courses—" to continue the siege and await reinforcements, or to re-embark—an extreme measure, but the principle of which was admitted by the two Governments at the starting of the the ex pedition." General Ca nrobert opposed re embarkation, and the siege was continued. But accord ing to this authority, the total force of the allied army, with all the reinforcements it has received, does not now exceed 64,000 fighting men, a powerful force, nevertheless, if we consider the materials of 1 which it is composed. The conclusion of the writer is remarkable : The expedition is condemned; the first campaign has been disastrous. The Emperor knew the truth, the whole truth, as to the worth of Marshal Saint Arnaud—as to the merit of General Canrobert—as to the importance of the fortifications of Sebastopol—as to the dangers of an invasion of the Russian territory—as to the perils of every w inter campaign in t country under the 45th as under the 57th degree of lati tude. It is for him to advise ....... The two Governments are fettere d, i and are therefore ces, a- potent : they will n ot obtain by r present allianor by their alliances to come, the fruits whioh they expect — they will not drive Russia to a peace. The sum total of the losses to this time by the enemy, by diseases and cold, exceeds 45,000 dead, and and 30 ,0 00 already more p u t hors-de-combat. They kn ow all this, ave acknowledged it. Th e continuance of this state of things will loosen the cordiality of their alliance, and end by dissolving it : they will destroy each other. All the advantage of this war—so full of hope in the beginning, so burthened with happy chances—will be for despotism, ever represented by the old Coalition. Prussia knows it ; Austria, her fears once calmed, will see it in her turn; and Russia will seize the opportunity to remind them, not in vain, of the past. The game is not lost; it can be recommenced upon another basis—upon new conditions, with better elements. The path followed up to the present time is wrong, and leads to an abyss : it must be altered. The expedition to the Crimea is a madness ; it must be given up. The remarks on the allied commanders give the impression that Lord Raglan is too formal for his post, and General Canrobert too limited in his views. G enera l Bosquet is indicated as possessing military genius of the highest order. The fact of the publication of this pamphlet —of the enormous sale it has obtained—of its fear less tone—and of its important revelations--mark an epoch in the reign of the Emperor Napoleon. It would be vain to attempt the suppression of c l os ures with which every political circle is now ringing. The censorship of the French press is baffled, and the memoir of this " Officier General," erroneous as it is in many particulars, and evidently published from most factious motives, may be destined i to have some serious result on the political situa tion of France. THE NEWSPAPER PRESS. THE following is a list of the London and provincial journals whose consumption of stamps, according to the return just printed, exceeded or approached a million during the course of last year:— ENOLLND. Bell's Life Daily News Evening Mail Ezpress 841,000 Globe 850,000 Illustrated News 5,627,000 Leeds Mercury Lloyd's Weekly London 5,572,000 Liverpool Mercury Manchester Guardian Morning Advertiser ------- Chronicle ---- Herald 1,158,000 ----- Post 832,000 News of the World 5,673,000 Reynolds's Weekly 2,496,000 Sun Times Weekly Dispatch 1,982,000 ----- Times L_ 55,157,0t10 (oaa numbers below thousands omitted.) SCOTLAND. North British Advertiser Glasgow Saturday Post 802,000 727,000 IRELAND. Daily Express Telegraph.... 748,000 959,000 A CONVENTION was signed at London on the 24th of January between he r Majesty and the Emperor of the French relative to the supplies to be furnished to the Turkish army. The allies are to furnish supplies in equal proportions, as nearly as possible. In the case of one furnishing a larger proportion, there shall be prepared every three months an ac count of the supplies furnished by each, and the half of the excess duly repaid. This convention wan ratified on the 28th ult. SATURDAY, lortign 6orrtspillatutt. FRLNEFORT, March 7. THE death of the Emperor Nicholas has set aside for the moment, at the Diet and throughout Germany, all other considerations. Both the Prussian and Austrian cabals claim advantages from this fortuitous event. In the first place, it must be premised that the Prussian party, since the Premiership of Lord Palmerston, has suddenly increased in importance. This'has arisen from a variety of causes. The name of the noble lord, if not clothed, as heretofore, in thunder, yet possesses something of the accustomed honour. They regard with apprehension his known sympathies for imperial France; these, at one time, were the occasion of the discourtesy of Lord John Russell. Yet, in despite of this, and of the recorded philippics against Napoleonic despotism, Lord John Russell has been selected by Lord Palmerston to act in concert with the views of the Emperor, to have an interview with the very monarch whose principles he has most irreverently denounced, and then to proceed to Vienna, in order to confer with that Cabinet whose written word this same envoy, Lord John Russell, not a month since declared to be valueless. Here he was right, and if he retain that opinion it may make him cautious, and forget Magna Charts: and the man, once upon a time not courteously dismissed by him, has offered, and he has consented to accept, Ministerial office at his hands. These strange ma neeuvres are not tokens of Ministerial strength—they neutralise the legitimate force of party, weaken the Government inwardly and outwardly, and immediately strengthen continental adversaries. Such is the case with Prussia. The feeble inconsistency of England has, pro tanto, augmented the single energy of France in defence of a common cause, has still further alarmed Prussia, consolidated her Russian predilec tion, and immediately extended her German influence. Austria, by the death of Nicholas, sees an obstacle removed from the battle-ground betwixt herself and Prussia. She is content to occupy the principalities on her own terms, by a distinct treaty with the Porte, tacitly consented to by Russia ; and she has placed the local governmen t u nder the Russian Hospodar, Stirbey, and the Russian boyards. Every loss in the Sebas topol duel is in her favour, and she awaits patiently, without any intention of active interference, the re sult of a struggle that must work to her advantage, and the effects of conferences that she can length ssen at pleasure, to the ben efit or damage of Ruia, Prussia, Germany, or the allies, according as her policy may dictate ; and this policy will be directed by M. de Bruck, and not by M. de Buol SchOnstein. In the meantime the Jesuits are indefatigable in their intrigues. Through their instrumentality Tus cany has joined the treaty of the Western powers, in order to have a check upon Piedmont at the Confe rence. Nicholas was personally disliked by them from an identity of pursuit, in seeking to establish an ecclesiastical and irresponsible supremacy ; and, although they readily concurred in a projected Russo- Austrian crusade against the nationalities which would comprise that of Piedmont, they were indis posed to coalesce with a disciple who had dared to rival his master. Vienna and Brussels are the ad vanced posts of the Roman Jesuit-General. In the latter city the late Parisian conspiracy had and has extensive ramifications, and the brochure, " De la Conduite de la Guerre d'Orient," was published there with the thorough consent of the " parti pretre." One of the chief objects of this publication is to sub vert the English predilection for the Emperor, by laying the origin of the Crimean disasters at his door. This is the "mot d'ordre" of the B e l g i a n Jesuits they are ordered to use ever y means, worthy and un worthy, as of old, to poison the intimate connection betwixt a Protestant a nd Catholic country. , the Jesuit is pontiff ; at Vienna, imperial; at Brussels, constitutional ; and in the " cabaret" Republican or anarchist as may be required. An Englishman of apparent respectability, and professing to be a work ing jeweller and a freemason in distress, persecuted by the Jesuits, sought for and obtained employment amon gst the English fami lies at Bruges, an d after wards at Brussels. He invariably preferred coming to the house to perform his work, and to take his m eals with the servants. At this p lace he remained some time, and pursued the same system. He was known to have been at Munich and Geneva, anti s t e acher of the English language and a violent Catholic, and last November he was accidentally the re cognised at Rome in the dress of a dignitary of order of Jesuits. the I J. E. L. THE EARL OF GIFFORD iS appointed additional private secretary to Lord PRIIIIItHe ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer has appointed Sir Alexander Duff Gordon, Bart., of the Treasury, to be his private secretary,