The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-08 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

The precedent is equally good in both in-
stances. It is perhaps a little hard on us. If
a number of Protestants were to gather toge-
ther and make a holy bonfire of a huge crucifix,
or of a painting of the Mother of our Lord,
what a howl would be raised against the pro-
fanity. We know that such representations
are liable to abuse, but only bigots would
think of insulting the sanctity which attaches
to them on that account. But then there
is a wide difference between a Protestant and
a Roman Catholic. The latter is bound to
extirpate heresy, the former only to refute it.
Besides which, it is blasphemous to draw any
comparison between a son of the one Univer-
sal and Infallible Church and a dog of a
heretic who, for all he knows of Christian
virtue, might as well be a Pagan. This is the
view which the Romauists take of the subject,
and any restraint from carrying it into full
effect they call persecution.
We seek not to anticipate the verdict of the
jury—one reason being that we do not suppose
it will have much effect one way or the other.
Rome is not to be foiled by a solitary act of
opposition. If we really wish to check her
aggressions and punish her insolence, the law
must be put in force against all offenders; and
if the present laws are not sufficient, we must
find some that are. Mr. GLADSTONE once
uttered a very grandiloquent sentence on this
subject. He said that " England could no
" more go back than could the waves of the
" river which gird this giant city reseek their
" source." The image was pretty, though
not new, and Mr. GLADSTONE was loudly
applauded. But we cannot allow the
toric to dazzle reason. This very course,
if we are not much mistaken, will turn out
itself to be the path of retrogression. Every
fresh indulgence to Rome is a step back
towards meditevalism, and can only be called
progress as day is a progress towards night.
In the eyes of all true Roman Catholics
there can be but one final settlement of all these
difliealties ompltt: toleration means com-
plete supremacy. Rome can brook neither
equal nor second. Such has ever been the
charater of that marvellous and mysterious
city. Divisum imperiunt cunt jove Casar habet.
The priestly usurper of the capitol has adopted
the motto of the Caesars, while he has made
their throne his footstool; and has not swerved
one inch from his pretensions for a thousand
years. Nothing is trifling which relates to
such a power as this—a power that combines
almost superhuman energy with almost
superhuman secrecy. We are apt to look on
such an occurrence as that at Kingstown as a
mere casual outburst of bigotry. But, if we
would be safe, we should remember that with
Roman organisation casual outbursts are un-
known. Nothing is accidental, nothing un
important, nothing even is local.

THE WHIGS AND THE DISSENTERS.
WE were much amused by seeing Lord
PANMURE advertised this week as being about
to preside at an evening meeting of one of the
various religious societies at Exeter-hall. It
is possible that the polemical character of the
locality suggested the propriety of its super-
vision by the War Minister. The chief of our
military department desired to have an expe-
rimental knowledge of " the apostolic blows
" and knocks " by which controversy is occa-
sionally distinguished. There is certainly
much of the ludicrous in Lord PANMURE main-
taining a double connection with the British
army in the Crimea and with that portion of
the Church Militant which pitches its theolo-
gical camp at Exeter-hall.
In this recent courting of Exeter•hall by
the Leaders of the Whigs there is something
more than is obviously apparent. The feeling
of their party is not unlike that of poor
Reynard, when the giutrap deprived him of his
tail. They kne* that they could not meet the
country at a general election without having
recourse to some means to attract certain
classes. Circumstances put an end to their
coalition with the experienced officials of the
Peelites. The Leaders of the Manchester

SATURDAY,

School and many of the mercantile body are
not in love with them, and their old friends
the Roman Catholics use them and dupe them
without the affectation of enthusiasm. Hence
they are slyly creeping into Exeter-hall ; and,
if they remained in power to the next session,
we should probably see a majority of the
Cabinet taking part in the " May Meetings."
It is of course calculated that Exeter hall may
be as good as Lichfield-house was to a party in
search of a policy. Mr. COPPOCK may yet
become tract distributor to Dr. CUMMING, and
the Reform Club may be directed to place
itself in the van of the three denominations.
The resources of the Meeting-house will be
employed tt, eke out the shortcomings of the
polling-booth, and the fury of political faction
will be aggravated by the bitterness of excited
sectarianism.

The leading Ministerial organ has affected
much surprise at certain societies of so-called
" Religious Young Men" being ushered with-
out any difficulty into the presence of her
Majesty's august visitor the King of SARDINIA.
It was astonished that the lowest functionaries
of the Palace did not remove the pre-
sumptuous intruders. It forgets that these
religious addressers of foreign Royalty were
allowed to do so with the full connivance, if
not positive approbation, of the leading officials
of our Crown. The Whigs must " get up the
steam " In the absence of a real popularity
and of a legitimate connection, they must
excite a fictitious enthusiasm. They know
well that the momentary equality produced by
intercourse with great personages is a source
of fascination to little men of little minds.
Glimpses of Court life are very charming to
your brawlers about the " haristocracy." It is
an old art of the Whigs to cater for the
vanities of democrats. As Lord MELBOURNE
said on the eve of a dissolution—" Shake
" hands with the Radicals, but do nothing
" else for them except to smile on their wives,
" and get up a dance for their daughters."
All this coquetting with Exeter-hall by the
Whig section is part of their system;
They fear the effect produced by the Con-
servatives, with their vast legitimate influ-
ences, which are under no necessity of catering
to ephemeral cries and courting insignificant
cliques. " Six years of barristration," and
commissionerships, were some of the resources
employed by the Whigs to counteract the in-
fluence of the gentry of England given to the
Conservatives. " Deputations " is another of
the stock resources of the Whigs. Lord PAL-
MERSTuN fell into the Whig habitudes, and
received congratulations from the pothouses,
presented at his own private house ; and,
during the Reform Bill excitement, there was
no end of volunteer addresses. When one of
the legal functionaries of that time was, in
after years, taxed for all the blunders in the
composition of " the Bill," he made answer—
" The fact of it is, that it was hardly possible
" to draw it up, with the doors always opening
" to admit deputations to tell us what splendid
" fellows we were r

And there have been abundant symptoms to
show that the Whigs are about getting up
addresses and deputations to themselves.
Quack authors are always advertising praises
from obscure journals of their unread books.
The fame of deputations extends beyond paro-
chial bounds, by means of paragraphs in tri-
umphant tone of jubilation at " Liberal pro-
gress " The machinery of agitation, and the
weapons of electioneering warfare, are thus
kept oiled and burnished for future use. Be-
hind every member of a Whig deputation there
are, at least, half a dozen canvassers. Messrs.
HATTER and COPPOCK have had wonderful
assiduity in organising the Liberal place-
hunters into panegyrists of the Whigs.
Lord PANIIIIRE coquetting with Exeter-hall,
and Mr. BAINES closeted in the Cabinet, mark
the tack likely to be followed by the Whigs in
their domestic policy. Hoping that they will
draw the dividend of a majority, they are
about to coax the Dissenters to take shares in
their speculation of " The Grand Whig
Family Compact Company." It is a bubble,
and sure to burst. Its promoters are sure to
" waddle," and the country will answer " the
city " that no more " lame ducks " are wanted
from the Whigs.

DECEMBER 8, 1855.

THE WAR.

THE intelligence now received from the camp is
necessarily confined to details of the domestic ar-
rangements of the army. General Codrington ap-
pears to be instilling no little vigour into the
administration of affairs. New regulations restrict-
ing the hitherto unlimited entry of strangers into the
camp have been issued ; robberies and malpractices
are suppressed with a strong hand ; and drunkenness
at last appears to have been brought within bounds.
The weather up to the 20th ult. still continued fine
and dry; the winter clothing had been issued to the
men; the hutting was progressing rapidly; and the
army, healthy and well cared for, promised to pass
this winter in comparative comfort. The Russians
still occupy their old positions, and daily add to the
impregnable fortifications on the heights. There
were rumours in the camp, from Russian deserters,
that a retreat is intended, and the evacuation of
Simferopol now in progress; but the movements
of their troops would seem only for purposes of relief
or inspection, as their most advanced posts were still
hold by strong bodies of men.
The large timber rafts captured off Kinburn, and
moored off the fort, had broken from their moorings
in a fresh breeze, and been carried out to sea and
lost.
At Kertch the position of affairs seemed scarcely
satisfactory. The Russians were evidently concen-
trating their forces in some strength, and an attack
upon Yenikale, at the first favorable opportunity, is
not improbable.
At Eupatoria, on the other side, although a strong
Russian force of 70,300 men was believed to be in
the neighbourhood, no attack on the town was ap-
prehended. On the 20th November, we learn that
General d'Allonville's spies had returned again with
the intelligence that the evacuation of the Crimea
was really intended, and that a strong force of
cavalry and artillery had reached Karagourt to re-
connoitre.
On the arrival of the Euphrates at Marseilles on
the 4th, the following telegraphic despatch was for-
warded :
Admiral Lyons continues to cruise near the shore of the
Crimes to survey the point of Kertch, against which the
Russians seem to be preparing an attack during the winter.
They are fortifying Arabat. and are concentrating in its
environs 80,000 men, whilst 15.0(5) more are sent towards
Genitchi in order to re-establish communications between
the mass of the army of Prince Gortschakoff and the in
tenor of Russia by the road over the Spit of Arabat.
The guns of the boats and steamers of the allies, and
of their floating batteries, zan reach the Russian convoys
along the whole route and across the whole breadth of the
Spit, unless maritime operations are suspended by the
freezing of the Sea of Azoff.
Accounts from Kertch state that the Russian cavalry
which had been in the neighbourhood of that place, have
retired into the interior.
Five gun-boats are still cruising in the Sea of Azoff.
Three hundred sail of merchantmen are lying wind-
bound in the Sulina mouth of the Danube.
On the recal of the Marine Brigade to England,
Admiral Lyons issued the following memorandum :
Royal Albert, off Sebastopol, Nov. 18.
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having
directed me to send the battalions of Royal Marines under
your command to England, I cannot allow the officers
and men to quit the Black Sea without expressing my
warmest approbation of their admirable conduct and
bearing throughout the memorable events of the last
thirteen months.
Wherever this noble corps has been employed it has
called forth the approbation of the generals in command,
and the manner in which the officers and men overcame
the trials and difficulties of the last winter was the theme
of universal admiration.
The late Lord Raglan, Sir James Simpson, Sir Colin
Campbell, and Brigadier-General Spencer have repeatedly
borne testimony to the exemplary conduct of the battalions,
and it will be my pleasing duty to bear similar testimony
in my report to their lordships.
I have already had the pleasure of expressing my ac-
knowledgments to Colonel Hurdle, who so ably commanded
these battalions until his services were required at his
divisional head-quarters, and I only regret that you have
not had a longer opportunity in command to reap some
reward for the invaluable assistance you have invariably
afforded to your late commanding offic
LYONS,er.
E.
Rear-Admiral Commander-in Chief.
THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER TO THE ARMY OF
THCRIMEA.
In addition to a rescript personally addressed to
Prince Gortschalcoff, thanking him for his labours,
the Emperor Alexander before leaving the Crimea
addressed the following order of the day to his army :
Brave Soldiers of the Army of the Crimea,—By my
order of the day of the 11th September, I expressed to you
my feelings of sincere gratitude for your services in the
defence of Sebastopol, services which have acquired for you
immortal glory. But it was not sufficient for my heart to
thank you from a distance for the heroic acts of courage

THE PRESS.

and devotedness with which you have supported, to the
admiration even of your enemies, a terrible siege of nearly
a year's duration ; it is here, in the midst of you, that I wish
to express to you the sentiments of my sincere gratitude. I
have felt an inexpressible satisfaction in seeing myself
near you, and the brilliant condition in which I have found
the troops of the army of the Crimea at the time of the
late reviews has surpassed my expectations. To see you,
and find myself in the midst of you, has been a great hap-
, piness to me. I thank you with all my soul, for your
merits, for your brilliant actions, and for the virtues which
are so deeply rooted in you. They guarantee to me the
maintenance of the glory of the Russian arms, and the
ardour with which my brave army will always be ready to
sacrifice itself for their faith, their Czar, and their country.
In commemoration of the striking and glorious defence
of Sebastopol, I have founded, for the troops who have
taken part in the defence of that fortress a special
silver medal, which will be worn at the breast with
the ribbon of St. George. Let this medal be the
manifest sign of your merits, and let it inculcate on your
future companions the high idea of honour and of duty
which forms the unfailing support of the Throne and
of the country. Let the name of my ever-to-be-regretted
father, united to mine on this medal, be a pledge to you of
our sentiments, and render inseparable in your hearts the
faithful remembrance of the Emperor Nicholas I'aulowitch
and of me. I am proud of you as my father was. Like
him, I have confidence in your tried devotedness anti
• in your zeal for the accomplishment of your duty. In
his name and in my own I once more thank the brave
defenders of Sebastopol and the whole army.
ALEXANDER.

Simferopol, Nov. 13.
POSITION OF AFFAIRS.
Although the weather was fine for the time of
year, yet all thoughts of any further movements in
the camp have been entirely given up. The for-
midable positions of the Russians, and the impreg-
nable ones of the allies, render any chances of attack
on either side very problematical
Our positions are impregnable, and to have any chance
against us a regular siege would be necessary. The Rus.
sians know it well ; the only idea they can have is to
attempt to surprise us, and the thing is not possible. The
only thing that remains fur them is to change the theatre
of war. The expedition to Kinburn has given the Rus-
sians a sufficient indication, and they therefore work at
Nicolaieff with the utmost ardour. It is General
Todtleben who directs the works, and you know what he
has done at Sebastopol.
At Eupatoria an important affair is out of the question.
The Russians have choked up the wells, and, besides, they
have a considerable force. General d'Allonville, tempted
by his first success, wished, before engaging in a new
action, to ascertain the resources of the enemy, and you
know that on the occasion of his great reconnaissance
lately he stumbled on eighty guns and an army of 60,000
men. He has therefore judged it prudent to undertake
nothing in that quarter. The campaign is regarded gene-
rally as over for this winter, and we must wait for spring.—
Letter from Constantinople of the 20th.
MOVEMENTS OF THE RUSSIANS.
No proof of a decided retreat has yet been dis-
covered, although there have lately been visible con-
siderable movements and changes in the disposition
of the Russian army :
Yesterday we observed that the whole of the enemy
were in motion along the plateau, and from an early hour
in the morning till two o'clock in the afternoon their bat-
talions were marching to and fro, but it was evident they
were only changing their troops, and that the regiments
which left Mackenzie were replaced by regiments from the
camp in the rear. The new corners at the spur huts seem
to be better dressed, to be taller men, and to wear darker
coats than those who were relieved by them, and this ap-
pearance, which, atter all, may be ideal and deceptive, has
given rise to the notion that the troops so close to us
belong to the Imperial Guard. Their various camps are
rapidly losing the look of snowy neatness of canvas, and
are being converted into dingy rows of huts. We can see
their telegraphs at work with the greatest facility, and
to-day I can make out the flags with my glass. It is a
pity one cannot get the " Imperial Code Book of Signals,"
and a dictionary. They have • considerable quantity of
cattle feeding among the brushwood at Inkermann, and
their works on the north side, rapidly attaining prodigious
sod gigantic dimensions, indicate every intention of hold
ing their position. They fire seldom in comparison with
their former abortive cannonade upon the town ever since
the French have ceased to reply to them, but they do not
hesitate to waste a shot or shell on a horseman riding near
Fort Nicholas by the water's edge, or coming down the
streets enfiladed by their fire; and at night they fire at any
light in the ruins of the city.—Times coo., Nov. 24.
The correspondent of the Daily News, alluding to
the rumours of retreat and evacuation, states :
The rumour received confirmation from observation of
some of the enemy's movements on the north side of the
roadstead. On the 22nd instant several large bodies of
troops were noticed marching along the heights towards
the eastward. They appeared to be in heavy marching
order, and accompanied by a baggage-train. No other
troops were seen to come in to fill their place, so that it
had not the character of being simply a relief of certain
battalions. About the same time, including the day pre-
vious, there was a cessation of firing from the north side,
which lasted about thirty hours. This, however, was
actively resumed on the afternoon of the 22nd instant, and
has been continued as usual since, with the exception of a
few hours this morning, when a flag of truce was hoisted,
and some communication took place between the two sides
of the harbour. On examining the enemy's positions to-
day, both on the north side of the roadstead and on the

1161

Inkermann plateau above the Tschernaya valley, no indi-
cation of departure could be distinguished. In the latter
situation, although at a considerable distance towards
Mackenzie's Farm, the clearness of the atmosphere per-
mitted a Russian battalion to be plAinly visible ; and the
character of the movements, as well as the glitter of the
bayonets in the sun, showed that the troops were at drill.—
D. News cur., Nov. '23.
Deserters from the Russians came in so frequently
as to excite some surprise. They all speak of the
Emperor's inspection of the army, and allude to an
expression he made use of, that "he hoped they
would prove worthy of their fame now they were
going to march":—
About the movements of the Russian army the deserters
seem to know nothing. The expression which they say
the Emperor used in his speech, namely, that they are
going to march, puzzles them as much as it does us ;
whether they are marching forwards or backwards is to them
as much a mystery as to us.
In the meantime they confirm that (with the exception
of the 4th and sth divisions of infantry, which, as I wrote
some time ago, have gone northward) the bulk of the army
still remains in its old position, the llth, 12th, and I:itl►
divisions on the Severnaya or north plateau, the lath and
17th on the Mackenzie ridge, and the rest on the plateau of
Korales, keeping the lielbeok aril the Katscha.
On the Mackenzie ridge there are still the twenty-one
pieces of heavy artillery remaining. A Russian gunner
who deserted says that there would be no great difficulty in
case of au attack. but the good fellow seems to forget the
run up hill for more than a mile which an attacking party
would have to perform before it could close with the enemy
on the ridge. The roads leading to the heights are all cut
up or obstructed.
The Russian field artillery has received orders to draw
back from the front, and twenty men of each battery will
be sent into the interior to drill recruits during the winter.
This looks as if the Russians were preparing for a quiet
winter.

MOVEMENTS AT EtPATORTA.
MI hopes of any attack upon the Russian positions
seem to be at an end. Hutting and housing are the
sole occupation of both French and English in the
town, and since the coup de•n.ain of sleep and cattle,
General d'Allonville did not appear disposed to
attempt any further reconnaissances. On the 20th
November, however, the correspondent of the Daily
News intimates that an action with the Russians was

- _
not improbable :
Some French spies came in late last evening from the
neitzhbourhood of Simferopol, bringing the very doubtful
intelligence that the Russians were rapidly preparing to
evacuate that town and the surrounding districts, prelimi-
nary to a total withdrawal from the Crimea. The same
individuals announced the approach also of a strong cavalry
and artillery force of the enemy in this ditection from
Karagourt, and orders were accordingly sent round at half-
past ten o'clock last night for the brigade to be saddled up
and ready to start at a moment's notice at daylight this
morning. General d'Allonyille has already left the town
with a strong force of his own troops, and both the Egyp-
tians and ourselves are momentarily expecting the order
to follow. It is not expected, however, that there will be
any collision, the Russian object being in all probability to
reconnoitre, and not to give battle in open field. As the
steamers anchor, however. is already heaving up, 1 have
no time to add a note of what. may take place, but shall do
so by the next mail.—D. News eor., Nov. 20.
THE TURKISH CONTINGENT.

- -
This force, which at length has been sent on
active service, seem to have been despatched from
Constantinople without any requisites for the season
of the year and the locality they were going to.
Without huts or winter clothing, the men are suffer-
ing and becoming demoralised. The correspondent
of the Daily News, writing from Kertch, details
nothing but a series of atrocities and barbarities ex-
ecuted by these men upon the unfortunate inhabi-
tants. An attack by the Russians would possibly
test their value as troops and bring them to order
and subordination.
The cavalry of the contingent, which has been
lying idle so long at the Bosphorus, was lately
despatched, at the earnest request of General Vivian,
to Kertch. We subjoin an account of the result of
the expedition
On Monday, the 19th of November, a fleet of steamers
and transports were been arriving, one by one, in Italaklava
roads, where it remained the whole day, not anchoring,
but, with steam up, moving to and fro. With the exception
of a solitary boat, which passed to the shore, no communica-
tion was held with the port. Next morning the mysterious
fleet was gone. What could the armament be that it con-
tained, on what important errand was it bound? It was
the cavalry of the Turkish Contingent : it had arrived from
Kertch ;it had sailed for the Bosphorus. The following is
the history of its wanderings :—General Vivian, in his ex-
posed position at Kenai, greatly needed his cavalry, and
wrote for it to join him. Gene nd Shirley hastened to em-
bark his force, he and his officers hugging the belief that
they would at last see some service. Large steamers and
transports, expensive ships, costing the Government 10(W.
to 2001. a day, conveyed the force, which, owing to bad
weather and contrary winds, reached Kertch only on Thurs.
day, the 15th of November. What does it hear on arriving?
Every one is calling out for cavalry. There is abundance of
forage in the country around. Only three days before the
Cossacks had been rick burning within three miles of the
place. The cavalry are delighted to hear they have arrived
just at the right time ; but their hopes are soon dashed. A
report spreads that there are no means of landing them, and