The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-06-26 00:00:00

layman, or one of their own ministers to officiate, they

would condescend to attend.

Here is the basis for a

union of Church and Dissent. These are the real

reasons of Lord SHA.FTESBIIIIY'S anxiety about the bill;
both his wish that it should pass, and that without too
close an inquiry.

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

--4----

MONDAY MORNING.

t:NEASY popular feeling and -ominous general surmise have
so frequently been experienced:4,: the harbingers of public
calamity, as to have given rise to •a common belief in their
prophetic value; and the Writs, the, knowledge of which
has been Crowded into the past week's history, go far to coun-
tenance the prevalent impression. The capitals of France and
England were both overclouded by a brooding apprehension
of misfortune during Wednesday and Thursday, on the latter
of which days it took the' form of Whispered rumour of defeat
to the Allied arms before Sebastopol ; but the rumour was so
vague, and seemed so baseless, that its retailers scarce gave
utterance to their thoughts, leaving them only half breathed
out. On Thursday, the impression was widely prevalent, and
broadly stated, that Government was in receipt of intelligence,
"announcing reverses to the Allies, with great loss, before
Sebastopol." The assertion thus substantively put for Ward,
received the same evening an official contradiction. So strong,
however, was the presentiment of evil which had taken pos-
session of the public mind, in connexion with the subject,. that
men, though willing to give credit to the contradiction, found
themselves resistlessly impelled to disbelieve it. In the (lead
watches of the night, the uneasy feeling, which had been im-
perceptibly engendered, was reduced so far to a distinct cer-
tainty by a telegraphic announcement at the War Department,
to the effect that an attack,made simultaneously by the French
and English, oa the Redan and Malakhoff Batteries, had been
unsuccessful, and that the assailants of both points had been
repulsed with great loss. This sorrowful intelligence was
speedily communicated to the telegraph in London, and within
an hour the unwelcome tidings were disseminated all over the
British Islands, spreading a deep gloom and dark dismay
wherever they were heard. Lord PANMrRE'S brief but
tmphatic despatch consisted of only 39 words, but in their dire
import these seemed winged with fate. The weight of the blow
which they inflicted was oppresssive and the very vagueness
of the intimation, connected with its heavy import, staggered
the boldest as it bewildered the most clear-headed and dis-
passionate. All that was to be gathered from the unwelcome
message was the fact that, at daylight on the morning of the
fortieth anniversary of the glorious victory of Waterloo, the
Standards of those hosts who that day met in deadly conflict
on the Belgian plain, were borne in concert against the com-
mon foe, and, unlike the fortune of that memorable day, these
'Standards were both driven back defeated. The extent of loss
Was not stated nor even indicated, but, as in all such cases
conjecture did its utmost to realize the worst of fears. At first
all presented- to the mind's eye seemed a chaos of commingling
disaster and defeat; a steady gaze on matters as theycould be
guessed at through the misty medium of contemplation
presented, tended in no small degree to reassure the most
desponding and to rekindle the hope which had been all but
crushed in every bosom. The despatch spoke, indeed, in terms
sufficiently impressive, of an attack repelled, but was silent as
to the loss of any advantage previously achieved ; and, though.
mournfully eloquent as to the sustained in the
:Parthhelar einterprise referred to, was encouragingly mute as
to fatal casualties on any other point in either of the allied
works. From the glimmering ray of hope thus permitted to
Illumine the darkened picture,. men were enabled more im-
partially to scan its limning.. The inspection showed that,
deeply as the misfortune is to be deplored, it is not such an
occurrence as to take it in any degree out of the ordinary cc-
- currencea of war. Deeply as this, the. first, repulse of our
attack upon Sebastcpel is to be lamented, it is not such as
ought iu any degree to dishearten a great and gallant people.
Such reverses have happened before, in numerous instances,
to even the bravest nn'd best disciplined troops when 'led by
the most skilful generals. Our annals tell us that WEL-
ZINGION cr,)erienced similar checks before Burgos and
Badajos ; and his invincille army was much worse handled at
Ciudad Rodrigo and Son Sebastian ; yet all of these plaCeS
fell before his victorious arms. From such details as have
been permitted to transpire, it would seem as if tileteoeasy
eonquast of the Mamelon and the eornparativele rapid capture
-
of.the Oi•ens'lnd Quarry-works had rendered the commanders

of both armies totAangaine of an easy victory; forgetful that
to obtain posseltiion of these important points, which would
completely command the fortress, they must expect a stub-
born and a sanguinary opposition, which they appear to have
been but indifferently prepared to overcome.
So far as can be gathered from the very imperfect data
hitherto made public, it would seem that, in accordance with
a preconceived plan, the French were to attack the Malakhoff,
and the English the Redan, at day-break on the morning of
the 18th, and this attack they spiritedly made at the time
and in the manner agreed on. To understand the nature of
this combined operation, and its importance, it will be well_to
bear in mind the following explanation. The Malakhoff is a
strong fort constructed on an eminence to the east of the
town, which it completely oyarlaaks,.cpmmanding the inner
harbour, and with its guns sweeping the whole of the town
proper, enfilading Fort Nicholas, and traversing the eastern or.
military portion of the town, and according to some authorities
holding within its range the Star Fort, on the north side of
the Great Harbour. In short, it is placed so as to pour destruc-
tion over nearly every portion of the devoted city. The Redan
is another strong fort, also crowning an eminence at a short
distance to the south-west of the Malakhoff, from whioh it is
separated by a deep ravine. The Redan is on a level con-
siderably lower than that crowned by the Malakhoff, and is
commanded by it. In front of the Malakhoff the Russians
had-constructed and fortified the strong out-work called the
Mamelon, from which the French dispossessed them after a
sharp and sanguinary struggle ; at the same time, the English
took possession of the Quarries.
.Both these important out-
works were held by their respective conquerors ; and from
them it was agreed they were to sally forth in quest of the
new advantages they sought, which, if obtained, would have
given them virtual command of the whole south side of the Great
Harbour. Within the exterior defences of the Redan, the Rus-
sians had constructed an additional battery, so that if beaten
from the main work they might still be able to check the storm-
ing party in its progress towards the town, and in front of this
inner battery they had dug a deep and wide ditch. The
attack on both the Redan and the Malakhoff were made
simultaneously. After a severe, although not very protracted
struggle, the British storming party carried the maiuworks of
the Redan, but were brought to a stand at the ditch which
defended the inner battery ; they had no planks.on which to
cross this formidable obstacle, nor were they provided with
scaling.-hidders to surmount the wall, and they were conse-
quently exposed to a severe and murderous fire from the guns
of the inner fort. The French also advanced gallantly in their
attack upon the Malakhoff, the outworks of which they
had barely reached when a 'mine was sprung beneath
them, causing instant and wide-spread destruction. The
recoil of the attacking column was immediately followed
up by a vigorous attack of the Russians, in such
force as to bear down the staggered and broken batta-
lions of the French, whom they succeeded in driving beyond
.the Mamelon, which they held with desperate tenacity, not-
withstanding the repeated and brave efforts of the French to
regain their lost position, which efforts were not crowned with
success till night. Consequent on this partial success of the
Russians, the newly-acquired position of the English became
eminently perilous. They were exposed to a dreadful can-
nonade from three different points, viz., from the inner battery
of the Redan, from the Malakhoff, and from the recaptured
outwork of the Mamelon ; to none of which could they reply
with anything like effect. From this exposed situation they
were at last compelled to retire, but not before they had sus-
tained a loss, it is said, of between 4,000 and 5,000 men in
killed and wounded, including 20 officers, amongst whom were
Sir Joirs CAMPBELL, Lieut.-Colonel YEA, and Colonel SHAD-
FORTS. The French behaved with their customary bravery
in the desperate conflict. In the first burst of the strife they
gained a partial footing in the Malakhoff works, from which
they were driven by the springing of the mine referred to,
which, by its destructive effects, secured for the Russians a
temporary triumph, and an additional means of galling the
previously victorious English. After repeated struggles of a
dre-adfully sanguinary character, the French succeeded in dis-
lodging the enemy, and before night-fall were once more per-

manent possessors of the dearly-bought works of the Marne-
lon. In accomplishing these efforts, however, they suffered
severely, and lost, it is said, two general officers in the contest.
No estimate has as yet been transmitted of the absolute num-
ber of their killed and wounded, nor of those who fell on the
part of the enemy, the latter of whom must also have sustained
a very severe loss.

Such, according to the meagre accounts received, has been
the nature of the great and sanguinary conflict, which resulted
in the first check as yet sustained by the allied arms.
Deeply to be deplored as it unquestionably is, it presents few
features Which ought to dishearten the Allies, and it exhibits
no characteristic, except the indomitable courage of the
attacking troops, if that be an eiception, which ought not to
have been looked 'for in so arduous an undertaking as that in,
which we have been engaged. The works assaulted are evi-
dently of the last importance to the besieged, and conse..
quently a resistance proportionately desperate was to be looked'
for. The disaster, for disaster it unquestionably has been,.
like that which was the precursor of the French successful'
attack on the newly-constrncted• works thrown up- by the.
Russians to the. westward of the Flagstaff Battery; will,
there is reason to hope, prove only the harbinger of a decisive
and victorious effort to carry the works of which partial pos-
session had been obtained. Profiting by the dear-bought
knowledge they have acquired, their martial
" virtues rising will appear
More glorious and more dread than from no fall,
And trust themselves to fear no second fate."
Indeed, even among those but little tainted with an over-
sanguine disposition, there are not wanting many who believe
that the assault will have been made, and that successfullyi,
before these lines shall see the light. Expectation is eagerly
on the stretch—time presses for the issue, unless we mean to
see our gallant armies melt away before the debilitating influ-
ence of a Crimean summer, not less fatal than the winter
campaign whose miseries and desolation all classes have joined
so feelingly in deploring.

Mention of the winter campaign recals to memory that the
famous committee of inquiry into the disasters of that periode
more fatal than the unsuccessful attack which is now the cause
of such general and acute regret and grief, delivered its report
to the House of Commons on Monday night. It is a long
and somewhat pointless document; from Which, nevertheless-5.
some good may ultimately be extracted. It is understood to
have been the result of so much wrangling—the offspring-of
so little unanimity, as to be practically a mosaic in which each •
individual member has placed his little bit of tile after it ins•
been ground, and pared, and chipped, and trimmed, and fitted
to its particular opening by the combined ingenuity of allahis-
colleagues. As good not unfrequently comes out of evil, so-in
the case of this committee and its report, in which censure
has been so refined and attenuated as to have lost all but the
semblance of condemnation, a substantive motion has.been
carved out and notified to the house by Mr. RoEnroxecalling
upon its members collectively to pass a censure upon all the.
members of the late and present Government, with: the
exception of three members of the present, of which. exception
neither Lord PALMERSTON nor Lord Jolter RI/SSE-id, is- one.
The motion has been fixed for the 3rd of Julyeand.if it do
not, as in the case of several of its predecesacese.give-rise
alone to endless and seemingly aimless speechmaking,- it may
be productive of some benefit.
The metropolis and the nation, and indeed its may. be said
the whole of civilized Europe, has been., struck breath-
less with indignation, by the accounts received. of that
atrocious outrage which the Russians have , perpetrated at
Hango, in the Baltic. There, as all the world knows by this
time, some four or five hundred Russian. soldiers attacked
and most inhumanly murdered a boat's-crew belonging to
the English ship Cossack, which under cover of a flag of
truce landed for the purpose of setting at liberty some Rus-
sian prisoners. ..The affair was brought before-the House of
Peers on Thursday, by the Earl of MA.I4I}IFSBIMT, who, in em-
phatic, yet measured, language, denounced it as a deed of mar-.
der demanding the execration of the civilised world—as a deed
of ruthlessness unparalleled in English history. The spirit of
his lordship's observations was promptly taken upend reiterated
by a large number of the peers assembled. Lord BROI GE*3f,
with.his characteristic energy,.refused to be satisfied with a
mere disclaimer of participation by the Russian Government,
and called for " punishment on the perpetrators of a, deed so
extraordinary and so cruel. If ever the land called for blood,"
said his lordship, "it is now." The details of this sad tragedy
are now widely known, and universally condemned and exe-
crated. In the field our countrymen have met and beaten the
Russians with a disadvantage of eight to one;; on the wave
they have not dared to show an adverse prow ; but at.
Hango they had the foerfune to find thews elves in a M 3,
jority of between twenty and thirty to one, and the oppor-
tunity'was `toe; good to'. be let slip.. The leader of
these murdering, ..-miscreants, elated with his overwhelming
numerical ,auperioeity, e,xclaitned in savage exultation,—
"We will show you how Russia us fight." And he did
so. He showed how Russians can fight when fire hundred
have to wage unequal conflict with eleven ! the smaller party,
trusting to, the usages of war-and their-own message of mercy
for protection, being altogether unarmed. The victory in
such circumstances was indeed suited to the genius of Russian
bravery. In treachery and wantonness it surpasses the
butchery of Sinope, and will, without doubt, be rewarded
with a similar meal of public approbation at St. Petersburg.
Indeed, it has already met with Russian praise. According to
the Russian account of the atrocity, the:crew of the Cossack's
boat are said to have landed in arms, and, consequently, the
deed is exalted into one of patriotic heroism; but the amount
of slaughter is cencealed, and the majority of the crew are said
to be only " caged." Such is the Russian phrase, but what it
means it i not easy to conjecture. The falaeheed of the Husain