The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-10 00:00:00

at some length, and shown it to be in reality causeless ;
but even they, we should suppose, can hardly object
to give their aid in raising a sum equal to that which
resulted from the Queen's letter, inasmuch as that
sum was devoted entirely to grants in aid of school-
buliding. They may, absurdly enough, make the ap-
pointment of a particular master, or the maintenance
of a choral service, a ground for withdrawing their
subscriptions to the general fund of the society, but
hardly for refusing to assist in collecting money which is
to be devoted exclusively to bricks and mortar. Against
the Church Building Society we are not aware that any
ill-feelinglias been expressed, but against that for the Pro-
pagation of the Gospel the most unjust and reckless
charges have been perseveringly urged. It is now in the
155th year of its existence, and has just celebrated its
anniversaryfestival within the walls of St. Paul's Cathe-
dral. At that festival men like the Archbishop of
CANTERBURY, the Bishops of LONDON, WINCHESTER,
OXFORD, HEREFORD, ST. ASAPH, and MEATH, were
found side by side ; while at the meeting at the Man-
sion-house the Bishop of MELBOURNE was not only
present, but spoke in support of the Society. At the
meeting at Willis's Rooms, the Archbishop of CAN-
TERBURY took the chair. These facts need no com-
ment. They prove that the Society is indeed no
mere party affair, but a Church society; and as such we
trust it will be supported when the year comes round in
which it would have received the collections resulting
from a QUEEN'S letter, had not the usage of the last
thirty years been causelessly interrupted.

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY I'vfOßNlNfl.
TILE parliamentary proceedings of the past week have been
marked by peculiarities of very opposite character. Both
branches of the Legislature, in obedience to the expressed
wishes of the Crown, and in perfect accordance with the
national feeling, have been engaged in recording the national
sense of the great and valuable services of the late Lord
RAGLAN, and accompanying that testimony by making some
provision for those who were near and dear to the late com-
mander of our armies in the Crimea. A proper degree of
unanimity on this important subject was displayed by both
houses ; and the attempt of Mr. GIBSON to foist some of his
crude theoriei into a consideration of the claims of the hero
was properly repelled by the House of Commons-. A resolu-
tion was unanimously adopted by both houses, recommending
a pension of £l,OOO per annum to Lady RAGLAN during her
life, and to date from the 2nd of the present month ; and also
another annuity of £2,000 a-year to his Lordship's successor,
the present Lord RAGLAN and his heir, was also adopted with
the same unanimity. In recommending the adoption of this
course, Lord PAN3IURE, Lord HARDINGE, the Duke of COT.,
BRIDGE, the Earl of CARDIGAN., Lord BROUGRAM, the Earl
of DERBY, and other peers, vied with each other in bearing
testimony to the great merits of the gallant gxneral, whose.
military virtues they severally extolled, while they also bore-
witness to his numerous personal excellences. In the House
of Commons, the same course of emulation, in lauding the.
memory of the deceased, was observed by Lord P2ensrzusTiolf,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, Sir DE LACY EVANS; Admiral WAL-
COTT, and Mr. DISRAELI, the latter tastefully remarking:that
" half a century of public service—always valuable and some-
times illustrious—could not be allowed to pass away without
record and recognition. The career of Lord RAGLAN was
remarkable. Forty years ago he sealed with his blood. the
triumphant close of a great struggle against the danger of
universal empire ;and, after that long interval, he had given
his country his life, in order to guard it from the menace of
a new and overwhelming enemy." As already stated, the only
divergence from entire unanimity in reference to the graceful
tribute, thus paid on all hands to departed worth, came witheha-
racteristic mal-appropriateness from the peace party. With his
customary stolidity of purpose, Mr. MILNER GIBS oN interrupted
the harmony of the proceeding by interjecting an address upon
the iniquity of hostilities, and propounding a series of questions
as to the future policy of the cabinet, in relation to the conduct
of the war. The house was in no temper for indulging in such
unseemly freaks : it felt the business before it was business-of
deep importance to the national character and honour ; it sym-
pathised entirely with the indignant repudiation of such ,a
course contained in the withering observations delivered in
answer to it by Lord PALMERSToN, who declared "he should
not, on the present occasion, be led away by the taunts of Mr.
GinsOw, or any of his colleagues, to discuss the Vienna confe-
rences, or to encounter the hostility of the peace party." In
this view of the case, the house quite concurred with the views
expressed by the PREMIER, and the resolutions were put and
carried neinine contradicente. So far, the proceedings in both
branches of the legislature have been creditable to them, and
in harmony with the feelings of the nation. On Friday night
an occurrence took place in the House of Commons, calculated
seriously to damage the little reputation Lord Join( RUM/ESL
had contrived to retain for himself. On the occasion referred
to, Mr. M. GIBSON extorted from our recent envoy at the
Vienna conferences, that he (Lord JOHN RUSSELL) concurred
in the third point proposed by Count Biro', and agreed to
recommend it for the adoption of his colleagues. That, on his,
return, he did urge it on the acceptance of the British cabinet;
but was out-voted on the question ; and, instead of retiring
from the ministry which he had endeavoured to compromise,.
he concurred in the rejection of the proposal, and, with sings.
lar inconsistency, defended in parliament the rejection of that
offer, which, as a plenipotentiary, he had approved of, and
which, as a cabinet minister, he had endeavoured to securethe
adoption of! Well might Mr. DISRAELI say, that evening
would be " memorable for its revelations—memorable- for.
confessions more extraordinary than any ever made—in

that house. Tne noble lord had returned from Vienna*
as he now confessed, the advocate of propositions. for
peace which had been rejected by his colleagues, and he
then became the zealous advocate of a proposition for
war, while privately he was of opinion that peace ought
to have been, and could have been, obtained-- "-We
own," says the Daily News, " we should have hesitated to
believe any other testimony than that of Lord Jorailinaself
on such a subject; but as he has thought fit to place the
matter on record, we have no choice but to express. our dis-
appointment at the course he has pursued, and our astonish-
ment at the reasons he has set forth as its justification."
With such revelations as the one of Friday night, and some
others of a scarcely less startling character, how' can the
Cabinet expect to enjoy the confidence of Parliament or the
respect of the people ? With such discordant views upon the
vital questions of peace or war, how can the Ministry expect
to be believed sincere in their pretensions to carry on the war
with energy and alacrity ? Is not the influeneeof such divided
counsels a sufficiently strong and pointed explanation of the
inefficient manner in which the war has been conducted? How,
stands. Lord Jorm RUSSELL'S own position in respect to it ?
At the opening of the present Parliamentary session, his
lordship, in the exigence of his rampant zeal for an energetic
conduct of hostilities, upset the Government of which he-was.-
then a member, because it lacked the element of capacit, for
vigorously carrying on the war. On the accomplishment.of
this feat, a real war Ministry was of course formed, and. the
valiant member for the City of London contrived tawriggle
himself into it. Having succeeded so far, his next move .was
to obtain the appointment of Plenipotentiary, in which cha-
racter he endeavoured to bring about a close of thewar on
terms, which he afterwards, in Parliament, denounced:as pusil-
lanimous and discreditable to our arms—as .a mockery and a
delusion—yet which he had himself expressed, approbation of
and done his best to wheedle- his colleagues into. an adoption
of! And what is the reason he assigns for this,fast-and-loose
policy ? On what ground does he pretend to justify the turn-
ing and turning policy he thus acknowledges himself guilty
of ? Why, forsooth, " he felt it his duty,.as aMinister of the
Crown, not to embarrass a. Government placed in the difficult
circumstances which surrounded that of his noble friend."
This was too much for even the coarse maw of Mr. COBDEN to
digest ; and the honourable representative of the Hussies
broadly charged Lord JOHN with " dissimulation" in so long
disguising his sentiments on the subject of the Austrian pro-
positions ; and with " weakness" in yielding to his fellow-mi-
nisters on a point so important. Mr. ROEBUCK was equally
pointed, and still more severe, in his condemnation of the
" inconsistency, incompetence, and weakness," displayed by
our late negotiator at Vienna. The self-reliant PREMIER ob-
viously felt himself much perplexed by the awkwardness of the
" situation," and, with his least nonchalant air, declared, in
defence of Lord JOHN, that " no government could be ren-
dered permanent without some sacrifice of opinion among its
component members ;" while, to render the farce completes
Sir GEORGE GREY denied the existence of any division in the
cabinet, and declared that ou the question of the war they
were united and determined ! What may be the result of
such discrepant views on questions of vital policy, it is no easy
matter to determine. The present occupants of office appear
to wear a charmed official life, and to cling to place with ex-
traordinary pertinacity. The vote of censure on the late and
present governments, of which Mr. ROEBUCK has given no-
tice, is fixed for discussion on the evening of Tuesday week.
It is to be met by " the previous question," which will be
moved as an amendment on Mr. ROEBUCK'S motion, by General
PEEL, and much anxious speculation as to the result is indulged
in by both the friends and foes of ministers. In the mean-
time, popular rumour is again busy in asserting that Lord
JOHN Rvsseu, has been making the most of his Austrian

political holiday, and has been successful in superseding Lord
WESTMORELAND, as ambassador at Vienna, by the Hon. Mr.
ELLIOTT, a near relative by marriage of Lord JOHN.
Another dreary and sad week has closed on the public as it
broods in sorrow over the dark details which have been trans-
mitted from the Crimea. Very full accounts have now arrived
in relation to all the complicated miseries and mistakes which
appear to have been crowded into the fatal affairs of the 18th
of June. These, if not quite so bad as was at first dreaded,
have turned out considerably worse than it was hoped they
would do. Our losses, although not so extensive as was at
first stated, are in a degree aggravated by the circumstance
that they were almost entirely the result of blunders. De-
spatches from the late Lord RAGLAN and from General
PELISSIER render this melancholy fact indisputable, and
strong opinions are expressed on all hands in relation to the
sad affair. Viewed in the light afforded in those despatches,
and in the descriptions given by the newspaper correspond-
ents, and by private letters, the affair of the 18th was a chap-
ter of accidents, a tissue of blunders, leading to great and
inevitable slaughter, without affording almost the chance of
a fortunate result. The game of deadly cross-purposes ap-
pears to have begun in the French camp, and to have been
continued with fatal pertinacity on the part of the English.
That action which on the part of our Allies should have been,
and was intended to be simultaneous, was begun prematurely,
and never was anything but desultory. On our part a
similar want of concert and understanding appears to have
been equally predominant and equally disastrous. When
the enemy showed coolness and power, the generals
opposed to them became bewildered and lost their lives. At
first it had been decided that the assault should be preceded
by a cannonade of some hours' duration ; a point on which
Lord RAGLAN placed great and well-founded reliance. S-ab-
sequent to this airangement, General PsrassrEn saw some
reason for changing his mind, and he communicated this
altered intention to his brother commander at a late hour in
the evening. It seems also to have been arranged that the
French attack on the Malakhoff should be made before the
English columns attempted anything against the Redan.
The signal for the French advance Was to be the discharge
of a star-rocket, and for this signal the blazing fuse
of a shell was mistaken by General Mkneetee, who im-
mediately ordered his columns forward. In this he was
but- too• promptly obeyed—he rushed on; and before the
real signal for attack was made, trey were' repulsed'
and he' himself' was borne off the field hr a dying condition.
Another division of the French attack was' equally unfortu-
nate, frem- the- opposite.cause. General Bnulerr was-as much
too late. as- General Pfee-rer,ter had been too early. Ire'sras
also killed, and his columns were driven back, with great
slaughter, after they had actually planted their eagles within
the Russian works. The absence- of combined amVsimultane-
ous action, an the part of these two bodies, enabled the
Russians to deal with each separately, and in succession: If
such were the blundering commencement, and such theunfor-
tunate issue of the' intended operations on the part of the
French, the conduct and result of the English proceedings
offer a wonderful parallelism throughout their continuance,
and at their conclusion'. The attach on the Redan, wliieh it
was arranged should not be made'until the French established
themselves in the Malakhoffi and in whieh ease it could scarcely
have been needed, was made when the- Fiench had failed in
their attack. The French columns were exposed to a sever3'
and murderous fire long before they coulclreach the scene of
their intended conflict, andMeerasee's divisitm was broken in
iteprosoess. On the part of the English, proper means had
not been adopted to enable the men to get saver" the parapets
of their own trenches, and they were shot" down in twos and
threes-as• they straggled out of their fastnesses. It is certain
that two of the attacking parties were almost atrnildlated in
less than a quarter of an hour after they had sotanibled out
of the trenches, and before they had recovered from~ the con-
fusion into which they had been thrown in their eff6rts to get
out of those- trenches in which they had previa:SOY been
posted. In vain-endeavours to form the men into bodies at
this critical and terrible moment, the brave Sir Joner'Cliser-
BELL and the-equally gallant Colonel YEA' were killed; while
a perfect storm. of grape, cannister, and round shot, together
with musket and- rig balls, swept over and through their
rapidly diminishing ranks. To complete the 'chapter of acci-
dents with which this-sad clay's work began and ended, it is
necessary to examine the course of action begun and
carried out by the third division under- Genera! ETRE; in,
what appears •to -have been intended only as -a feint ; lane'
which in reality turned out the only success, of 'the day, .And'
which if duly supported might have terminated• in a real
victory. This gallant officer, with a force- of- osily about four-.
regiments, although the effectives of five'were under Iris-
orders,- made an attack upon an armed cemetery, in a suburb
of Sebastopol,. and carried the-defences, four 'companies of the
166Yal brisk making a successful lodgment in some hou_es.
within range of the Russian fire, which they- held against
every opposidon for several hours—seventeen, it is
said—vainly hoping for support which should enable
them permanently to hold th'e advantage they had gained.
At four o'clock in the morning, Majcrt4eneral ETRE
established himself within Sebastopol, andi not tell nine at
nighteafter he himself had been carried off wounded, did his
men reluctantly retire, in obedience to orders -from the Com-
mander-in-Chief. These houses- are represented as -having
been well furnished and plentifully supplied with• everything
conducive to comfort, and to.these our brave- soldiers-helped
themselves pretty liberally. Considerable freedenr of remark
has been indulged in by more than one non-military critic, in
reference to the withdrawal from this positioneafter our troops
had established themselves in it ; some of these•maintaining
that it might have been rete.staed•and converted- into a point

d' appui, from which future - operations •might. - have been
readily directed. This, it is said, is of a piecewith• the other
proceedings. in this war. Nosmall. success* haseverteen pushed
into a great one:. Here waaat least one regiment which had
forced its way into Sebastopol, 'and remainecl there f3n-u day.
The soldiers-drank wine ant carried off some-articles of fur-
niture, togetherwith poultry,-guinea-pigs anlother -mementoes
of the day's foray, clearly establishing
.the foot of their suc-
cessful occupation, and their comparatively unmolested retreat.
Thus we have invariably knocked our heads. lustily against
the strong points but, when.we have found. weak: nes, we have
made but sligbi- endeavour to•profit by the discovery.
Since the • last scene of this bloody and All-constructed
tragedy has been played, popular, judgment.- hoe been much
disturbed.. Before any of tile details were• known, intelligence
was received that Lord, Ra.e.r....ut was no ,more. That his
constitution, yielding to the debilitating influences of the-
climate, and weakened by anxiety, had been overthrown irt_,
the unequal . conflict between duty an inadequate support:
from the home authorities.;. the fatal result: expedited in all
likelihood by reflection on the fearful issue othis first and list-
failure., If the gallant General or his friends ,had reason to.,
complaint of bewildering instructions and lukewarm support,-:-
if either he or they had ,grounds for objecting.to the curr!sit'
attoPuhe criticism on his conduct of affairs in the Crimea,
much may be said in extenuation of the latter—(the formes, if
existing, admits of: no defence)—by alinsiosa to popular: en,
thosia. sm—to the comparatively small results and enormous
sacrifices which have up to the present moment characterised
the Crimean war, and the general mismanagement which has
been proved to hang about it from its commencement.. If
any injustice has. been done to the -noble soldier when living,
ample amends have been made to his memory. His.gallantry
and goodness, have been themes. for every pen and every
tongue. A serous country has liberally acknawledged,its.
error. Let the unwelcome topic sink now into merited,

oblivion. The honour and the.. memory of Lord, Ittnr.,ax are.
safe in the country's keeping; he is beyond the reach of,
censure, and deaf to the voice of praise.
The appointment of a successor to Lord Rextx.A.x still oceu,-
pies a considerable shareof general attention ; and, although
General SIMPSON* has, been formally appointed, a strong
opinion is prevalent in well-informed circles that this is.but a
temporary arrangement ; and many maintain, as. upon good
authority, that the command has been offered to Lord
HARDINGE, who, it is further said, will accept it.. In objec-
tion to this appointment it is urged, that his lordship, who is
three years the senior of the late Lord RAGLAN, is too old to
be oppressed, with the cares of sa arduous a command—many
maintaining that the active energy of youth is alone com-
petent to cope with the difficultieaof such a position. Against
those who start such objections it is urged that the dangerous
impetuosity of inexperience has been fatally shown in the
results of the attack on the Malakhoff. From even the very
regulated tone of Lard RAGLAN'S despatch, giving an
account of the affair,, it is evident that he did not
even from the first approve of it, although he yielded to
the impressement of General PELlssinn. What is wanted
is a General with firmness of -purpose, and such experience in
war as will enable him to form a just estimate of any proposal,
and abide by his decision on it. The high military position of
Lord HARDINGE, and his generally calm, yet resolute judg-
ment, point him out as well suited to the post ; whether his
physical energies are such as would justify his acceptance of
it, may well intace him to pause for consideration.
The last week or two has been fatal to two veterans long
connected with the newspaper press of the metropolis. Mr.
Joint BLACK and Mr. JAMES S. BUCKINGHAM, are men-
tioned in the obituaries among those whose warfare has been
brought to a close, but not before each of them attained a ripe
old age. The former was editor of the Morning Chronicle
for upwards of a 4uarter of a century, at the time when it
earned that reputation which of late years its chief conductors
have successfully laboured to dispel. The son of a Scotch
peasant, Mr. BLACK, like many of his countrymen, began life
with no better education than that afforded by a Scotch
parochial school. Having left the scene of early labour, he
succeeded in placing himself in a solicitor's office, in Edin•