The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-04 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

and confirm the belief in its fulfilment ; for, it would be no
easy matter to reconcile the voluntary demonstrations of re-
spect, paid on all hands to our QUEEN, with any other opi-
nion than that the French viewed the visit of our sovereign,
not merely as paid to their EMPEROR, but through him to
the French people,
Next to the gratifying details of the royal visit to France,
the subject which has most exclusively occupied attention has
been the war. Not because intelligence of unexpected victories
has fed the public ear, but because all classes and ranks of
the people feel alike convinced that the season for great under-
takings in connexion with it is rapidly drawing to a close ; and
even the most callous put the question to themselves, are our
brave countrymen and allies to be exposed to the horrifying
rigours of another Crimean winter in the trenches ? Are our
ships to be once more subjected to the fitful and fatal wintry
tempests of the Euxine ? Various circumstances conspire to
justify an affirmative or a negative answer to these questions,
according to the humour of the respondent. Recent state-
ments made on authority have been exceedingly meagre, yet
on the whole comforting. The works of the besiegers, we are
assured, as we have been for the last ten or eleven months, are
making satisfactory progress. True, the progress has been but
slow; still there is reason for thankfulness in the fact that it
has not been retrograde. This latter circumstance must be
looked on as the more gratifying and surprising, when it is
contrasted with the serious blundering which first and last has
hung like an incubus upon all the incidents connected with
the siege. Even the last and most vaunted achievement of
the campaign, the battle of the Tchernaya, appears to have
been forced upon the allies under circumstances for which
they were not prepared. Like that of Inkermann, it tarns
out that the battle last fought and won was: thrust unex-
pectedly upon the French and Sardinians, by the Russians,
as was that of Inkermann upon the British. Such a sur-
prise was greatly culpable, and might have been fatal in either
case ; yet, singularly enough, no one seems to have been held
accountable for it any more than for the others. Judging by
past experience, the blundering seems so inveterate, that one is
more at a loss to conjecture in what form it will next display
itself, than expectant of its cessation. The Crimean campaign
itself has been, on good authority, stigmatised as a blunder ;
but as that has been traced to the conflicting counsels which
prevailed at Downing-street, and as an official revolution has
taken place in the establishment there located—and as it is im-
possible to turn from that expedition, or to escape from its
responsibilities—present discussion relative to it would be un-
profitable. Not so, however, with those singular and fatal
errors of detail which have oftener than once imperilled the
safety of the army, and placed in serious jeopardy the honour
of the allied arms. Such were the disastrous glories of Bala-
klava and Inkerman, in the last campaign. Such were the
misfortunes attendant on the combined, or rather uncombined,
actions of the 18th of June, in which no readiness was shown
to take advantage of a British brigade having unexpectedly
obtained a footing within the walls of Sebastopol, and which,
after being held for several hours, it wee- forced to abandon,
not on account of any vigorous measures adopted by the
enemy, but simply because no effort was made on our part to
profit by the heroism of our troops. Want of energy, self-
possession, and presence of mind, appear to be characteristics
of the commanders in all their changes. This-IS-true of both
nations. If the memory of Lord RAGLAN is to be impeached
for want of due precautions, leading to the gallant though un-
profitable actions of Balaklava, and Inkerman, these seem
fully balanced by the misconceptions and contretemps
of General Peeisseen, in his attack upon the Malakhoffe
and his more than questionable state of unpreparedness' on
the 16th of last month, to repel the attack of the Russians
on his position at the Tchernaya. It is certain that the attack
was ultimately repelled with great loss to the-enemy; but
good military critics- maintain that, with the army and the
position which he held, and, with the warning he had pre-
viously received, the Russians ought never to have been `per-
mitted to cross the aqueduct, nor to have carried the Sardinian
outposts. These scrutineers are positive in their averment
that, with such dispositions as General PELISSIEE had it in his
power to make, the Russians never could have forced the
bridge of Traktir. In Parisian 'military circles, the conduct
and result of this battle are in many points severely censured.
On the other hand, it is generally admitted, that the ad-
vantages gained in the victory, -although probably not all
that could have been desired, or even all that might have
been made to flow from. it, - are nevertheless great and im-
portant. No room exists for doubting that the attack was
meant for a decisive one, any more than for questioning that
it has signally failed. The day for making the 'attack -was
deliberately fixed. The general plan of the battle was-sketched
out by Prince Gonrsemenonrhineself, and carried into ope-
ration without mistake or hesitation, all except one of the pro-
visions of the intended action. This was a sortie,. in consi-
derable force, from the garrison of Sebastopol, to be made
simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with the grand
attack, so as to distract the attention of the Allies, and pre-
vent them from acting with promptitude in a combined en-
deavour to repel the intended advance. Here, as on- other oc-
casions, the hardy and indomitable bravery of the allied
soldiery stood the army and the cause in better steadthan the
generalship and prudence of their. leaders.
The effect of this victory, like most of its predecessors in the
Crimea, essentially a soldier's battle, must be greats upon the
morale of both armies. It has taught the Ruseiane, once
more, the bitter lesson that in < the open field they are no
match for the higher disciplined: soldiers of the west —that the '
stubborn courage of the serf is an inferior element in war,
when confronted with the intrepid zeal and ardent heroism of
the free soldiery of civilized Europe. Another matter of.no '
small consequence in connexion with this victory will be found
in the fact that the troops engaged and beaten were obviously
of a higher military character than these previously encoun-
tered.. This is attested by the circumstance that-the arms and
appointments found upon the battle field by the-victors were
of a superior kind to those generally met with on. similar oc-
casions. Whatever the grade. of the Russian army, whether
veterans or raw conscripta, one- feature of their warfare ap-
pears attached alike to all a merciless and savage habit of
firing among masses of their countrymen, if it afford the
chance of slaying their epponents while slaughtering their
friends. At the battle of the Tchernaya, as on. previous occa-
sions, their artillery poured showers of round, shot, shell, and
grape among the French. and Sardinians, who were endeavount-
ing to succour and rescue the Russian wounded- Cruel as the:
usages of war must inevitably be, these XIISSiaIaS have thus-
added a new and horrifying feature to its ruthlessness and
barbarity.
Another disheartening feature of the wareas a war conduct ed
en a great scale, has been the sad neglect of the opport‘nity
afforded by the co-operation of peoples hestile to Russia. The
European allies of Turkey have evaded and postponed, f they
have not absolutely lost the opportunity of striking a vital
blow at the Russian avarice of territory, by re-establishing the
nationality of Poland, and thus paralysing the enemy by creat-
ing within his own. boundaries a formidable foe. Policy of a
similarly sinistelecharacter has operated in the couneils of the
Turks themselvss,wbo, instead of availing themselves of the
invaluable aid they might have derived from gallant. though
irregular warriors of Circassia, have held aloof from them
in sulky suspicion. A vigorous and hearty co-operation
on the part of these latter would have rendered the Geor-
gian campaign of the. Russians not only abortive' ut disastrous
Jealousy, however, instead of amity, has been fostered
between the PORTE and the followers of SegeiN.Yl., and the
natural consequence has ensued. What at first promised tabe
a feeble -and ill-supported. campaign on the part of Russia, hs
turned.uut her only success. At first the Tarks had the superi,-
ority. Theconquest of Fort St. Nicholas weaaspromisingto their
armein Asia as the action of Citate was upon the Danube, and if I
duly followed up must have been attended with signal leaven- I
tages, The. Asiatic campaign has been treated as a secondary
matter, and the Russians have reaped-the benefit of so.ttnwise
a policy ; the Turks have become enfeebled 'and disheartened;
not only has Kars been invested, but Erzeroum itself is threat-
ened. Fortunately it is not yet too late to remedy this state
of matters,, although probably too late to render the change of
great importance during the present campaign., OM AR PASHA
has at length been appointed, and has consented to lead a
large body of his veteran army against thellussians in Arme-
nia.. The landing of this force at Monne will at once check
the Russian advance upon. Erzeroume as it would enable him
to raise the siege, if that be attempted, and also to cut off thee
retreat of any Russian force which may have ventured so far.
This view is, no doubt, so far consolatory, but still the fermi-
dable question remains behinde—Why has it been so long
delayed? ' Has the Turkish like the English cabinet been
also hampered in its motions by the &Weida' counsels, of a
" peace-at-any-price party ?"
From the north-west no further expectation seems to be en-

tertained, and the second great naval campaign hi the Baltic I
appears to have ended in the smoke of Sweaborg. A gallant
action in itself, no doubt, though only half performed from
want of proper means to perfect it ; but, like the destruction
of Bomarsund, sadly inadequate to the .cost at which it has
been achieved. The amount of damage inflicted on the enemy
in the last exploit is estimated at upwards of £2,000,000, but
the fleet which accomplished that achievement has cost Jonx
BULL and his French ally £20,000,000 to equip and send it out,
showing a considerable balance on the debtor side of the
transaction ! ThiS costly enterprise has, in truth, resulted in
a large and triumphant experiment in pyroteclmy.; but
it has also—if anything could have done so - demonstrated
to the Russians that the race as well as the name of our
NELSONS and COLLINGWOODB is extinct,and has no representh-
tive heirs at present in the British navy. Now-a-days we
hear of nothing but the magnificence and power of our
incomparable fleets, but this ground of joy is speedily re-
moved by the next stave of the naval chant. which (:r,,:vis,ts

entirely in pointing out the impropriety of exposing such
fine ships to risk ! In days of old, our. Admirals, if they were
not entrusted with such model fleets, were, at least expected
to work them. Without going back to the days of naval
glory, when NELSON, in the tame Baltic Sea, stood boldly in
and dared the conflict with stone walls at Copenhagen, a briefer
memory suffices to show that at Algiers Exmouxn moored
his ships not two miles off, but within less than two hundred
yards of batteries. The old lumbering tubs, as they were
called, were not considered too good to risk against batteries
bristling with cannon, and those who commanded and
manned them did not expect they should come out of
such tussles without having some of their beauty tar-
nished, lightly as that beauty may be esteemed in modern
eyes. Nay more, instances are numerous in which those same
despised ships have sailed right into an enemy's harbour,
fighting his batteries and his shipping both at the same
moment, and doing both considerably more damage than they
themselves received. Now the care seems all for the in-
strument; then it was devoted to attain the object for which
the instrument was made.

The din of distant battle, and the prospective closing of
another year's campaigning, have almost entirely absorbed
the public attention, to the exclusion of most other subjects.
One of the few which still divides consideration with those
mighty topics, is that propounded the other day by Lord
STANLEY, for an earlier opening and closing of the par-
liamentary session. The. suggestion is not entirely a new one,
but the tact with which his Lordship has brought it forward
has done as much to ensure it a favourable reception as it
could have desired from its intrinsic merits. His arguments
are terse and telling, and they are cogently put before the
public. He handles his case like an unconcerned spectator,
and, having secured his audience in the belief that it is a
matter of indifference to him, he has awakened their earnest
co-operation. What may ultimately come out of it, it is no
easy matter to predict, but it is something to have secured an
attentive and indulgent audience in the public, and that
Lord STANLEY has effected in part through the goodness of
his cause, but more by his judicious treatment of it.
The newspapers, and mostly without comment, intimate
that on Thursday last YERS,US O'CONNOR died of paralysis.
For two years past, the life of this once reckless and noisy
agitator has been a blank, he having for that length of time
been under the care of Dr. TIME, at Chiswick ; about a week
before his death, which was obviously fast approaching, he was
removed thence by his sister. The deceased, whose politica,
eccentricities, to call them by the mildest name, rendered him
notorious and dangerous for a considerable period, was a mem-
ber of an ancient Irish family, which for many years has been
settled at Fort Robert, in the county of Cork. .
Amusements of all sorts have of late; 'as is customary at this
season,- become retiring, or at all events unobtrusive. The
theatres,may be denominated spectacles of woe, their radiant
stars of " bright-particular " lustre having travelled into the
provincial, or other spheres for the time being. This brings to
recollection -the absence of a very glittering-star. Some of
your readers may remember that about a year age. Mr. G. V.
BROOKE, crowned with factitious laurels and heralded by an
incongruous blast of penny trumpets, took his oft-repeated
leave of British auditories,• and winged his way to the anti-
podes. In Australia his advent was hailed by a similar chorus
to that which inaugurated his departure hence. Newspapers
gave essays columns long anticipatory of his merits and
his triumph ; but alas for the brevity of human joys ! At
Sydney his success has been so poor, that he' has had
to prematurely terminate his engagement there ; his
Brummagem tinsel not answering the purposes of
the pure ore. To return from foreign to domestic
entertainments, it is somewhat pleasing to observe that,
notwithstanding its early unpopularity, Mr. BUCK szarra is
making head with his Olympian "Muddle," which still keeps
the stage, and even promises to be popular. The great Nimrod
of modern days, Mr. GORDON CUMMING, has betaken himself
to-lecturing on his " travels' history." Standing in his, well-
filled gallery in Piccadilly, surrounded by trophies of his- skill
and -daring, and leaning over an old saddle which serves- him
for a reading-desk, he-recounts " the-story of his life," wherein
it is indeed his cue

To speak of antres vast and•deserts idle.
In his interesting though not very well;delivered leeturs,he
tells• how, when a mere- boy, he began a hunter's life among
the craigs and tarns and mountain solitudes of his native laud
how, when a lad, he " harried " the eagle's eyrie, and carried off
the eggs of other birds—which -do not :build among finches?
though they soar above the lark. In his narrative of African
adventure he is particalar.ly interesting, illustrated by a per--
feet museum of the natural history of, Africa. Mr. GORDON
CUMMING'S lecturing: exhibition, which is already popular,
andis rapidly growing: more so, is at once entertaining and
instructive, exciting and amusing. Another of our popular
lecturing authors, Mr.. TIKACIEERLY, is-aunounced to give:a
series of lectures on the " Four Georges," at the Mercantile.
Literary Association, New York. His- lectures will, it is under-
stood, be prepared especially for the atmosphere of the United.
Str.tes, If so, it cannot be difficult toguess the kind of season*.
ing -with which they will be spiced.

PHILHABMONIC COSTUME.

TO: THE EDITOR, OF THE LIVERPOOL. STANDARD

313,—Wi11 you havnthe kindness. tu-ascestain the exact out
of a Philharmonic- Coat, and the name: of the tailor of the
society where the pattern may be seen I—Having been refused,
admittance to the last concert, although.l had travelled along,
distance to be present, because the coat I bad on was round-
fronted, a la Quaker, although tla&whole of my dress was
black, and I had _used a more than. ordinary care in, its
arrangement.—l 61114 sir, your obedient Servant,
Aug. 29, 1855, ANTI-SNOB..