The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

A WORD TO THE CONSERVATIVES.

THE first duty of the Conservatives at the pre-
sent hour is to their country; and they can
best serve the cause of England by a firm
resolution that no dissension, on any pretence
whatever, should be allowed to creep into their
great and powerful party. It is through the Con-
servative connection only that England can be
delivered from her perils, and any authors
of discord at such a moment would not only
be unfaithful to the Conservative banner, but
would be foes to the national cause. We
rejoice to know that there is not any division
amongst our ranks, which are marshalled
under experienced chiefs, and are bound
together by principles common to a united
party. The tone of the enthusiastic meeting
at Lord DERBY'S leaves nothing to be desired
so far as the parliamentary supporters of Con-
servative principles are concerned. To that
firm phalanx we have nothing to say but to
urge it to continue its present course of vigi-
lance and concord.

But to the general Conservative body
through the country we desire earnestly to
appeal at the present hour, and to intreat its
members to follow the example of their
representatives, and stand closely together.
The pride of our powerful party is justified by
the brilliant contrast it exhibits to the bewil-
dering anarchy of our opponents. While the
Conservatives have not fur many years been
so combined as at the present moment, the
Liberals are torn into twenty petty factions,
too tedious to enumerate. It will be utterly
impossible to join in one harmonious connec-
tion such fragmentary bodies as Lord PALMERS-
TON and his personal friends, the RUSSELL
clique of old Whigs, the GREY cousinhood, Mr.
BAINES and the Dissenters, Sir WILLIAM
MOLESWORTH and the Radicals, Brookes's Club
with its old traditions, and the Reform Club
with its novel pretensions.
Then, at the head of these supporters of a
Tower-of-Babel system, we observe a nominal
chief who for fifty years has coquetted with
every party in the State, and has twice within
the last three years wanted to join the Con-
servative cause. This " faded flower of former
" Administrations " is bending beneath the
weight of years and the difficulties of the
crisis. Let the ominous fact be observed
that so old a Prime Minister as Lord PALMERS-
TON has not been seen since England was ruled
by parliamentary government. The third
Duke of PORTLAND (the oldest of his prede-
cessors) died in 1809, after being Premier for
two years and a half, and the public affairs
suffered severely from his Grace's physical in-
firmities, as recorded in Lord 211aLmEsauay's
Diary. Earl GREY resigned in 1834, because
he was too old at seventy ; and now, at a
tremendous crisis, when Ministers are called
on to work double tides, we have an infirm
Statesman in his seventy-second year, who
commenced his official life so long since as the
times of that Duke of PORTLAND who preceded

SATURDAY,

Mr. PERCEVAL as Premier! The bare state-
ment of such a fact is enough to show that
any combination under such a chief cannot
possibly be lasting. The want of the emer-
gency is a Axed Ministerial system; and how
can it be attained under :t Premier whose per-
sonal infirmities are painfully obvious at a
passing glance, and whose increasing want of
pght and difficulty in heisting have become
notorious ?

Should such a PNIMISr appeal to the coun-
try, and unfurl the flag of a vague and indis-
criminate Liberalism, what a pitiful spectacle
it would be to witness the colleague and pupil
of Lord CASTLEREAGH terminate his career in
an inglorious attempt to secure his personal
position, by catering to the passions of the
Radicals and levellers ! Such a spectacle
would carry its own commentary. The
only policy, apart from himself, that such
a Premier could truly personify would be tho
curse of compromised opinions and suspended
action, always ending in the terrible " too
late."

It is cheering, then, for Conservatives to ob-
serve that they have a noble mission before
them in presenting a united front. In both
moral and material power the Conservatives
have the decided preponderance at this new
crisis of the current week. The secession of
the Peelites has left our opponents deficient
in a parliamentary staff, and has complicated
still further the obstacles to a " Liberal" Ca-
binet,. Lord DERBY, by his calm circumspec-
tion, has vastly gained in moral power. Had
Lord DERBY gone hastily into office, when re-
cently offered to him, the Peelites would not
have broken from the Whigs and Lord PAL-
MERBTON. A snare would have been set by
another conspiracy, baptised as a coalition.
By his sagacious foresight, Lord DERBY has
thus secured an infinitely better position for
the party of which he is the honoured leader.
That party is now thoroughly identified with
the cause of England; its unity, combination,
and harmony of principles clothe it with the
political power which can alone decide the
crisis.

These are no new sentiments to the readers
of Tux PRESS. In the first article of our
journal, nearly two years ago, " the consider-
" able danger," resulting from the anomalous
state of party in Parliament was distinctly in-
dicated. It was then predicted in our first
printed page, that Coalition Counsels and their
abettors would end "in individual scandals,
" in aggregate humiliation, and general loss of
" weight and character for the Parliament of
" England."
The danger has come upon us as was them
foretold, but we rejoice that there is a remedy
at hand. Conservative force can alone give to
the counsels of the Sovereign that stability
which cannot he found in the distractions of
the " Liberals " The password of Conser-
vatism throughout the Empire, at this event-
ful hour, must be, " Let us stand firm to our
•' colours, and follow
.faithfully our gallant
" chiefs."

FEBRUARY 24, 1855.

streaks of smoke indicate the arrival of muses
of their troops on the table lands above the
Tschernaya, and that 30,000 man resume their
position on the heights above Balaklava, while
another army threatens Eupatoria. The pro-
bability is that larger forces are not far distant.
A very small proportion of the army of the
South of Russia has yet taken part in the
Crimean contest, and we may expect that no
effort will be spared to bring down corps after
corps to the neighbourhood of the scene of
action. The same course was adopted in the
autumn, when, after the battle of Alma, in an
incredibly short space of time, 60,000 fresh
troops were brought up in cars to be launched at
Inkermann upon the British lines. We ought
to be prepared for successive reinforcements,
and a battle, or succession of battles, for the

relief of Sebastopol.
But we shall be in a worse position than be
fore. Our forces have dwindled to a smaller
number, and the men are more reduced in
physical strength. Another Inkermann would
destroy them. We had then fresh troops to
supply the places of those who fell. Sixteen
regiments were in the garrisons of the Medi-
teranean, eight regiments of the line and four
battalions of the Guards were in the United
Kingdom, and three regiments were on their
way from Canada, making a total of thirty
battalions. We were able to despatch at once
to the seat of war thirteen regiments, number-

ing 10,000 men.
But where now is our reserve? In the
Mediterranean garrisons we have only ten
regiments—the 13th, 54th, 66th, and 92nd, at
Gibraltar ; the 72nd and 91st at Malta, and the
31st, 48th, 82nd, and the 2nd battalion of the
let at Corfu ; and it is officially announced
that these are numerically so weak that none
are fit to send, or will be sent to the Crimea.
In the United Kingdom there are four regi-
ments, the 51st, 56th, 80th, and 94th, and four
battalions of the Guards. Three of the regi-
ments, the 51st, 80th, and 94th, are stated, on
the same authority, to be under orders for the
Crimea. There are also third battalions of
the 60th Rifles and of the Rifle Brigade, which
are in the course of formation, but these are
composed of young recruits. We are informed
that, after the lapse of two months, the Militia
Act will be carried into execution by the de-
parture of three militia regiments for the
Mediterranean. No others are yet ready.
Many regiments have 400, and even 450 volun-
teers, but Government will not take them
unless they can raise 540. As the last hun-
dred are the most difficult to obtain, especially
in regiments of only 600 bayonets, there is
every probability of a prolongation of the
delay.
That they had sent out an army without a
reserve, was one of the principal charges, in
December last, against the late Government.
It was urged, with great truth, that it was their
duty to have collected a considerable force at
some point within reach of the invading army,
to be at hand in case of an emergency. A
coup de main on Sebastopol after the victory
of Alma was rendered impossible by neglect
of the precaution. The same reasons exist
at the present moment. We ought to have
in the Mediterranean, not one or two, but
several regiments beyond the necessary com-
plement for garrison duty, recruited to their
full strength, and ready to be despatched at
any moment to the Crimea. The system of
Mediterranean depots, when fully organised,
will dispense with the necessity of so large a
number of complete regiments. But, even
then, some must be kept to supply the place
of regiments that, like the 63rd, are totally
destroyed, or seriously disorganised. It would
never do to rely for our reinforcements
entirely on drafts. But in the present infancy
of the depot system, while the drafts are not
sufficient to supply the casualties, it is folly
to rest content with the small force which is
now available. Immediate steps should be
taken to form a proper reserve, or the conse-
quences may be serious to the Crimean army
and to the nation.