The Press. — London, England, 1855-07-07 00:00:00

zel46-fe-e f re; 41)b t rt „10 - . No. 114.—VoL. 111. LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 7, 1855. STAMPED .... SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCE. C't Vrtss. personal traits in the gallant nature of the deceased warrior. LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 7, 1855. WHEN the Emperor NAPOLEON heard of the death of the Czar NICHOLAS, it is said that he exclaimed with instinctive sagacity, " Rien n'est change !" The same observation must have occurred to the mind of Continental ourts when it was announced that Lord PALMERSTON had replaced Lord ABERDEEN as head of the English Government—" Rien n'est change !" The system in each case remained the same. The change was one of persons, not of policy. Russia continued to exert all her energies to increase her vast armaments, and England continued to trifle with her strength, and look mainly to her hospitals for reinforcing her army. No other result could have been anticipated. The present Premier was, up to the very mo ment of the Cabinet being broken up, the devoted adherent of his predecessor. He was bred in the same school—he was of the same standing—he had been used to the same habits of official life. As far as practicable, he formed his Government of his late colleagues, and he gave them an assurance that Lord ABERDEEN'S policy would be faithfully ob served. He kept his word in all but one respect. He missed the opportunity of peace which Lord ABERDEEN had been so careful to promote, and confirmed the war while neg lecting measures for its successful prose cution. In January last a vigorous Administration might have hurried forward preparations for increasing our naval and military forces, and for giving a new character to our operations by land and sea, in the coming season. Lord PALMERSTON did nothing but follow up the routine of his predecessor. In deference to popular clamour some changes were promised in the War Department; but it would be as rational to expect that puppets could be endued with vitality by being moved from one box to another, as that a mere transference of offices and change of names could repair a worn-out system, and impart to the whole machinery of Government the superior energy and activity required by the emergencies of the time. The period of preparation is now past. No more can be done to forward the success of our arms this year than has been done already. The Government, if it would not repeat the fatal blunder of last year, must now be col lecting winter stores for the supply of the Sebas topol army. That army has never been raised to the strength with which it commenced the campaign last year. The reinforcements have failed to repair the waste it has sustained, and is sustaining The French and British forces on their first lauding in the Crimea were nearly equal in strength. Tho French to our 30,000 men, can now show an army of four times than number. The enormous dispro portion is a proof or our weakness or our in difference, and in a contest of this magnitude it cannot continue to exist without seriously compromising our reputation and endanger ing our alliance with France. Lord ABERDEEN, in answer to the charges brought against his Government, can point to the events of the period since he quitted office. He could not have done less than has been done by Lord PALMERSTON. He could not have maintained a weaker force in the Crimea; he could not have sent fewer gun boats to tho Baltic ; he could not have permitted the re cruiting service to proceed more languidly. The Report of the Committee of Inquiry is practically nullified by the continuance of tho system it condemns. Clouds are thickening about us. Our army is not only reduced by sickness and warfare, but our most experienced officers are vanishing from the field. Our force is too plainly insuffi cient for the work it has to perform. No steps have ever been taken to remedy the one radical defect dating from the commence ment of the expedition of our army, being inadequate to the enterprise it was com manded to undertake. Our only hope is now in the valour and perseverance of our allies ; and in Lord RAGLAN we have unques tionably lost the Commander whose eminent prudence and conciliatory manners compen sated in some degree for the smallness of our force. We cannot expect that the same respect will be paid to General SIMPSON which was accorded to the captain of European fame, who had for forty years shared the councils and been honoured with the confidence of WELLINGTON. No one who looks abroad and contemplates all the circumstances of our position can doubt —as it has been asserted—that our system of Constitutional Government is on trial. But it is not by concealing perils that we can hope to evade them. In a free country the weakness of the Executive is the reproach of the people. The remedy is in their own hands. If they sink, the fault is their own. Of all junctures adverse to the safety of great States, the most menacing is when the Administration is noto riously incapable and the people contented. If, as the friends of tho Government allege, its action for the last six months has been satisfactory, and it has effected all that could be done for the vigorous prosecution of the war, then the Cabinet of Lord ABERDEEN has been most unjustly blamed, and the resources and strength of England have been prodi giously overrated. This conclusion at least stands clearly forth from a review of the past and present, that since Lord PALMERsTON'S accession to power there has been no change in the general management of our affairs , and I no increase of strength in our armaments. LORD RAGLAN. DEATH, with its stern mandate, has hushed all harsh criticism upon Lord RAGLAN. It is not too much to say that if the gallant FITZROT SOMERSET (from associations we like to recal his old name) had been a Napoleon, or Wel lington, he would have been, under the circumstances of the Crimean expedition, ex posed to unjust aspersions. Never before did a military man bear so heavy a load of Minis terial sins ; but our respectful regret for the dead prevents us now from enlarging on the peculiar difficulties of the post which the late British Commander had to fill. We prefer, at present, to touch upon some of the In his personal courage, as in most of his characteristics, Lord RAGLAN was emphatically English. He disliked ostentation and parade, though he was sensitive to the value of rightly earned popularity. Laborious; quick in appre hension, cautious in decision;; and proverbial for his courtesy, the deceased General had many of the qualities necessary to the success ful administration of an official system. After the war ceased in 1815, an immense quantity of military detail of different kind fell upon the War-office Department ; and in the various reductions, consolidations, &c., of that tim• Lord RAGLAN was a leading instrument, and his services as an " Administrative Reformer," were frankly acknowledged by the sturdiest advocates of Radical changes. Of his bravery in the - field it would be superfluous to speak. His calm courage had a certain " classical repose " which distin guished it from the fiery and precipitate ardour of men who burned to display their hardihood of spirit. But, as was well observed by Mr. DISRAELI, it was the union of finished cour tesy with first• rate personal spirit, that pre eminently characterised Lord RAGLAN. Pro bably in our age no public character was so marked by such charming manners. No Ensign could be casually presented to the late General of the British Army witho .t being struck by those winning encomiums, that beaming smile, and cordiality of voice. These are not " small things," as some persons would affirm. Manner, combined with experience and knowledge, go a long way in ruling mankind. Lord RAGLAN could encourage the timid, and quietly repel the familiar and obtrusive, without ever losing his dignity. It has been repeatedly asserted by some ultra-Liberal organs that Lord RAGLAN had no desire to be placed at the head of the expedi. tion. Such points cannot now be discussed, but we think it right to observe that nothing has transpired in the recent. debates to warrant such an assertion. Enough, however, is known to show that Government placed great reliance on the temper and manners of Lord RAGLAN in smoothing over the difficulties of a joint command He was, to a great extent, a negotiator as well as a general, and his services were unquestionably of great value in promoting good humour between the staffs of the two armies. We know of no other instance of late years in which the vote of a pension for a new peerage has been let pass without snarls from the Radical Members of the House of Com mons. The proposal to enable Her Majesty to provide for the family of Lord RAGLAN encountered no one hostile censor from " the " guardians of the public purse "—a noble tribute in itself to the memory of the departed commander. PUBLICITY FOR OFTSS-91‹ .---73 • ES. Oun readers will recollek that all Administrative her sidered with reference kn ttf ... ciples—the connection ft t Im o ' tr o • \ • s ,,, State and the Civil Seiti • the relationship betw ' 114 2", '• N INN • • •