The Press.
London, England, 1855-04-14 00:00:00

THE LAST RUSSIAN SORTIE.

ALTHOUGH our officers and soldiers eminently
signalised themselves on the occasion of the
recent sanguinary struggle in the trenches,
still it is deeply to be deplored that so much
blood should have been shed while a Peace
Conference was sitting at Vienna. During the
progress of this contest we have often heard
the phrase of " civilised " as distinguished
from " savage " warfare, and while warlike
passions have frequently been stimulated,
there has been an appeal occasionally to some
of our nobler feelings. It certainly would have
been more humane, as well as more indicative
of a sincere desire for peace, if there had been
an entire suspension of arms during the Con-
ference. A brief cessation would not have
been of more advantage to one side than the
other. It is lamentable to think, should the
Conference have a favorable result, how much
blood has been recently wasted which, for the
sake of the country, we could well wish to
have been spared.
And yet the blood shed in the sortie of the
22-23rd of March has unquestionably added
one more page to the annals of our
military heroism. Never since the com-
mencement of the campaign have our officers
and soldiers behaved more bravely in the field.
Suddenly surprised, with numerous foes swarm-
ing around them, our detached troops in the
trenches showed undaunted valour, and per-
formed feats of prowess not surpassed by any
of the former exploits of the campaign. "It
" was Inkermann on a small scale," was the
faithful description given of the struggle, and
the brave men who died in it deserve to have
their names enshrined in the hearts of their
countrymen.
It is admitted on all hands that our officers
highly distinguished themselves in their en-
counter with the enemy. Two sons of Lord
KILMAINE were foremost iu the fray, and while
one of them survives to have the pleasure of
seeing his name deservedly mentioned in the
despatches, the other, CAVENDISH BROWNE, of
the 7th Fusiliers, gloriously fell at the head of
his men, with several musket-balls in his cheat.
And not less forward in the deadly strife were
Captain BUTLER, of the 20th, and Captain
RICKMAN, of the 77th, while Colonel KELLY
and Captain MONTAGU, wounded and over-
powered by numbers, were taken prisoners.
On both sides valour was displayed that stirs
the blood to read of; and the surviving friends
of the bold spirits who perished in that des-
perate encounter have the satisfaction of
knowing that they died the deaths of the
brave.

Amongst these gallant champions now
laid low there was one whose fall has
elicited numerous testimonies from distinct
sources to his heroism and worth. In truth,
the late Captain HEDLEY VICARS, of her Ma
jesty's 97th Regiment, was cast in no common
mould. Sprung from an honourable English
race, young VICARS was trained, by family
example, to the ways of the Christian and the

gentleman. Embracing the professi,
arms, he soon showed that he had all

qualities which gain the palm of glory
that he could combine martial daring
the more difficult, because irksome, adherence
to the most monotonous of duties.

months since that generous officer ga\
affecting instance of the pure spirit of reli
which was so beautiful a feature in his
ratter. While the black fever in the

was mowing down his regiment, this high-
souled officer was seen, day after day, walking
through the pestilential wards, or sitting '
the bedside of the dying, reading to them
sacred words of consolation. We learn

pathetic circumstance from a letter _
Times of Thursday, in which it is stated
in this Christian labour HEDLEY VICAP

assisted by another officer, whose name
known.

In the daily life of VICARS might .
cerned the depth of the Divine sources
which he derived the moral serenity
mind. The language of cant was abhorrent
from his truthful soul, and he loathed thr

righteousness of the Pharisee. Frank
manly in his manners, he was loved

brother by all the officers of his regiment,
respected by all who came within the circle
his intercourse. Often has his name "

mentioned with affectionate regard in
of the private letters from the seat of war,
of his standing in the army. There
an officer with brighter prospects of rising
the first rank of that profession which
adorned.

But a Higher Power had ruled that VICARS
should be called to a kingdom not of this
world. On the 21st of March—the Day of
Humiliation—he read the Service to several
of his brother-officers and fellow-soldiers. On
the next day he was with a picket of his re-
giment in the advanced parallel of the right
attack. It seems that VICARS was the first to
discern the advancing hosts of the enemy,
and to raise the alarm. How he met those
foes—how, against desperate odds, he rushed
to the deadly struggle—how he slew two of
his assailants, and fell only from the hemorr-
hage of a mortal wound, has been vividly
chronicled by all the correspondents of the
journals, unanimous as to the bravery of his
deeds.
To the various testators to the virtues of
HEDLEY VICARS we shall only add the testi-
mony, that never was eulogy more thoroughly
deserved. He died the death of a hero,

" With his back to the field, and his front to the foe."
Short as was his span, lie has won
the guerdon of a fair renown, and while me-
mory remains to them the comrades who wit-
nessed his qualities as a soldier, gentleman,
and Christian, will lovingly recal the glorious
death and lofty virtues of the high-souled
HEDLEY VICARS, who taught all men how to
live, and soldiers how to die. And what more
could a hero desire, than to fall first amongst
the foremost in the combat of fame, loved
through his life, and lamented after his death,
by all the brave ? Gallant hands have placed
a chaplet over the young soldier's tomb, and
those well-won laurels are too bright to fade.

LORD PALMERSTON'S MILITIA
ADMINISTRATION.

WE have alluded in a previous article to the
disorganisation of the Militia force, and as the
whole subject of the recent Militia Acts is not
well understood, a narrative of facts may not
be unacceptable for the purpose of tracing
the conduct of LOTO PALMERSTON as Militia
Ministerduring the t. he held the seals
of the Home Department

In the last war—to
recollections must
both in 1792 and
months before tho
tilities, and w•as i
to its full strength.
disciplined with the
in barracks, marched _
brigaded in garrison and
to a state of efficiency
regular troops. The late
in the last speech ho

343
ession of
d all tho
;lory, and
ring with
adherence
s. Some
gave an
if religion
a his cha-
llis Piraeus
his high-
', walking
sitting by
them the
learn this
er in the
rated that
ICARS was
,me is not
ht be dis-
arces from
ity of his
abhorrent
.d the self-
rank and
Dyed as a
iment, and
to circle of
iame been
I in many
d war, and
re was not
f rising to
which he
hat VICARS
of of this
2e Day of
to several
diers. On
of his re-
the right
he first to
le enemy,
met those
he rushed
iw two of
e hemorr-
?,n vividly
its of the
ery of his
virtues of
the testi- •
horoughly
a.
iero,
to the foe."
has won
while me-
a who wit-
gentleman,
he glorious
iigh-souled
Len how to
what more
st amongst
me, loved
his death,
ave placed
tomb, and
I to fade.
[ILITIA
- -

two years he held the scam
rtment.
which Lord PALMERSTON'S
extend—the Militia wee,
1 1803, embodied two
commencement of hos-
immediately completed
1. It was trained and
greatest care, quartered
from station to station,
and in camp, and brought
cy scarcely inferior to the
late Duke of WELLINGTON,
addressed to the Lord.,

bore testimony to the efficiency of the
Militia :—" In the last war," he said, "we had 1
"in service several regiments of English
" Militia, and they were in as high a state of
" discipline and as fit for service as any men
" I ever saw in my life." The numerical
strength of the force was continually aug-
mented, until in the last six years of the war
it numbered 450,000 men. Of these 90,000
were regular Militia, permanently embodied
and liable to service in any part of the United
Kingdom ; and 360,000 were local Militia, em-
bodied for limited periods, and not serving
beyond the limits of the neighbouring coun-
ties. Nor was this vast establishment too large.
It was only sufficient to afford the requisite re
lief to the regular troops, and to furnish the
necessary number of volunteers for the army on
active service. But the results were immense.
From 1799 to 1815 the Militia gave no less
than 150,000 volunteers to the Line, and thus
mainly contributed to the success of the war.
A few years after the peace the Militia Acts
were suspended. Many attempts were made
for their revival, but always without success.
At last came the apprehension of French inva-
sion. In March, 1852, Lord JOHN RUSSELL
proposed to reconstitute the local Militia. He
was opposed by Lord PALMERSTON, who righty
gave the preference to the regular Militia.
Lord JOHN was defeated, and Lord DERBY as-
sumed the reins of Government. The first
act of the new Ministry was to organise the
regular Militia. They did not alter its con-
stitution further than to suspend for a time
the operation of the ballot. The act of 1852
merely carried into execution the act of 1802,
and regulated the quota of men to be raised,
and the number of days of annual training. It
contains no enactment respecting embodiment.
Until the act of last May the liability to em-
bodiment was settled entirely by the 111th
section of the act of 1802.
It is important to mark the circumstances
and the state of public feeling which led to
the act of 1852, as Lord PALMERSTON can only
excuse himself for not having earlier em-
bodied the Militia, and given it permanence,
by alleging the limited scope of the law under
which the men were enlisted. In his speech
of the 26th of last month he endeavours to
throw on Lord DERBY'S Administration the
responsibility of that delay and mismanage-
ment which properly attach only to himself by
alleging that the act made no provision for
offensive warfare. Of course it did not. The
country and the Legislature demanded the
old constitutional force of the Militia as a
safeguard against invasion, and against that
only. No other danger was contemplated at
the time Parliament would have objected to
any extension of the old terms of service,
and, having not the remotest anticipation of
such a war as that in which we are engaged,
it would have felt the strongest repugnance
to the formation of an army of reserve under
the name of a militia.
This is perfectly evident from the debates
in Parliament upon the act. They were of
great length, and on one point there was
remarkable unanimity of opinion among the
speakers—that the only contingency to be
discussed was the danger of invasion, and
that the sole purpose of organisint, the
Militia was to guard against that danger.
A Minister who should then have spoken
of the Militia to aid in waging offensive
war against a distant Power, and above all
against Russia, would have been regarded as
insane, and would instantly have seen a
majority arrayed against him. The Militia
Act of 1852 provided against what seemed the
danger of that day; and the charge against
Lord PALMERSTON is, that when the circum-
stances altered, and the military force of the
country required to be organised, not to repel
invasion, but to carry on war in a distant ter-
ritory, he delayed to take necessary steps for
placing the Militia on a different footing, and
thus lost the opportunity of rendering it
really serviceable to the country when the
pressure for troops became urgent.
It is vain for Lord PALMERSTON to allege that
the act of 1852 gave him no power to embody
the Militia. It was his duty to have demanded
such power as soon as the war appeared pro-
bable, and still more when it was known to be
inevitable, and when it became a fact. That

THE PRESS.

time and opportunity were afforded him will
be evident from a recapitulation of leading
facts.
In December, 1852, Lord PALMERSTON ac-
cepted the seals of the Home-office and the
management of the Militia. In a very short
time he must have become acquainted with
the designs which the Emperor of Russre.
disclosed to Sir HAMILTON SEYMOUR. More
than other man, he must have been aware of
the deep significance of the proposals, and the
danger which threatened Europe. The horizon
darkened apace. On the 3rd of May, 1853, Prince
MENSCHIKOFF gave in his ultimatum. On the
4th of June the British fleet was ordered to
Besika Bay. On the 2nd of July the Russian
armies entered the Principalities. On the
27th of September the Porte declared war
against Russia. On the 4th of November oc-
curred the battle of Oltenitza, and on the 30th
the massacre of Sinope. On the Bth of Febru-
ary, 1854, the Russian Ambassador left London.
What was the effect of all these warnings ?
They were lost on Lord PALMERSTON. Even
the declaration of war could not rouse him
from his apathy. It was not till May that he
discovered that the powers of embodiment in
the Act of 1802 did not apply to the present
war, and that it was necessary to extend the
conditions of militia service. The act should
have been amended long before.
Warnings had been given by the Conserva-
tive party. On the 6th of February, 1854,
Lord PALMERSTON was interrogated by Mr.
BAILLIE and Colonel DUNNE respecting the
Scotch and Irish militias. He announced his
intention of bringing iu bills for their organi-
sation, but would say nothing respecting the
period of their enrolment. On the 2nd of
/starch, 1854, Lord ELLENBOROUOII made a
motion respecting the Militia, pointed out the
deficiency in the number enrolled, and en-
treated the Government to take measures for
their embodiment. Lord ABERDEEN replied
that the number of men raised surpassed ex-
pectation, and that there was no present in-
tention of permanently embodying the force.
What was the use of the Home Secretary—
the Militia Minister—unless he exercised fore-
sight over the force committed to his charge,
and introduced the changes in its constitution
which were necessary to adapt it to the altered
circumstances of the nation ? How little at-
tention Lord PALMERSTON paid to the Militia
may be gathered from his own statement.
In his speech of the 26th ultimo he stated

We embodied a certain number of regiments as soon as
war broke out ; and how did we embody them ? Not by
any power which the bill gave us, but by voluntary offers
of these regiments which, with no power to compel them
to serve, gallantly and voluntarily tendered their services
in aid of the national efforts to carry on the war in which
the country was engaged. In all sixteen regiments were
embodied at a time when we had no power to compel them
to serve, and when the bill of the right hon. gentleman op-
posite had given us no power of ordering them to be
embodied. Well, we then brought in a bill to enable the
Crown to embody the Militia in time of war, and when
that power was given to us we proceeded to embody a
number of other regiments. _

What, in opposition to this extraordinary
statement, are the facts? The new Militia
Bill of which Lord PALMERSTON speaks was
passed on the 12th of May 1854. The following
statement of the periods when militia regi-
ments were embodied is made up from the
best authorities :
MAY 13 TO MAT 81, Mt
Six Regiments :-
Ist Stafbrd
Royal Bucks
Royal Wiltshire.
JUNE.

Essex Rifles
3rd West York
Royal Monmouth

Four Regiments :-
9nl West York South Devon
East Kent Ist Somerset.
JULY.
Three Regiments :
liampsliire Bedfordshire
tat Lancashire.
AUGUST.

Four Regiments :-
4th Middlesex
Cambridge.
SEPTEMBER.
One Regiment :-2nd Somerset.
OCTORER.—None.
Total—Eighteen Regiments in six months.

Northampton
South Lincoln

Not one regiment was embodied before the
passing of the new bill. These plain facts
show how little Loid PALMERSTON can know of
the embodiment which ha ought to have su•

SATURDAY,

perintended ; how ignorant he must be of the
most important transactions of his depart-
ment; and how little attention he could have
paid to the duties for which he was respon-
sible. We have a right, in the words of Sir
JAMES GRAHAM, to know the reason-
1. Why the regiments were embodied so
slowly, six in May, four in June, three in July,
four in August, and one in September? No
extensive embodiment took place until the
end of November. Why was it so long
delayed ?
2. Why the militia regiments were not
recruited to their full strength during the
spring and summer? It was well known
that they were below their complement.
In May and June their numbers were
thinned by volunteering into the Line; and
the embodied regiments sustained a serious
diminution from the number of married men
whom they were obliged to discharge. Yet
Lord PALMERSTON made no move, and it was
not until the beginning of the winter that he
gave permission to send out recruiting par-
ties. The neglect has probably cost us 10,000
men. And as the majority of these would
have been enlisted after the 12th of May,
there would have been no defect in their
obligation to serve.
3. Why the act of last December was carried
out so feebly ? Parliament was called toge-
ther at an unusual time, and with extra-
ordinary haste, in order to pass two bills of
urgent importance, of which this was one. It
received the Royal assent on the 23rd of De-
cember. Two months elapsed before a single
regiment was sent out. In the third month
three regiments were despatched ; the Ist
Lancashire, the Wiltshire, and the Ist Stafford
Three more, the Northampton, the 2nd West
York, and the East Kent, are to sail during
the present month. Several other regiments
had volunteered and had completed their
complements, but their attestation was un
necessarily delayed. At last Lord PANMURE'S
circular came down, and the men demanded
to return home. The regiments are unable to
go out. Great delay will be caused in the
relief of the Line regiments in the Mediterra
nean garrisons, which were to have been sent
on at once to the Crimea. The country is now
paying the penalty of Lord PALMERSTON'S
neglect; and, as a commentary on his oft-
repeated declaration to use all possible means
for the vigorous prosecution of the war, we
see the only force thrown into confusion on
which w• could rely for reinforcing our army
abroad, and for doing garrison duty at home.