The Press.
London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

THE WEEK.

Tug resignation of Lord Jour; RUSSELL, announced on Thursday af-
ternoon, was not understood till the debate of last night. The general
impression was that " JOHNNY had upset the coach," but it now rather
appears that he has been jockeyed himself, and has fallen a victim to
the superior craft of his venerable friend the Premier. It is
not imagined, however, that the Government can possibly go on long
without him. Its fall may be delayed, but cannot be averted.
The other members of the Coalition see their fate, yet are reluctant
to resign themselves to it. They cling to office with desperate tenacity,
as if every hour interposed between them and their inevitable doom
was a boon gained. With pinioned hands and the nightcap drawn over
their eyes, they still cry—a minute more if you please, my good
friend, I have some last words to say. So the signal for withdrawing
the bolt is delayed, and we leave them with handkerchief iu hand
still standing on the platform. We back the clock against their
irresolution.

The last accounts from the Crimea are the most deplorable yet
received. Making every allowance we may for difficulty, it yet seems
incredible that an army of 20,000 or 30,000 men should have every ne-
cessary and comfort within six or seven miles of their camp, yet be
unable to get them to the spot. There are tons upon tons of huts, of
clothing, of provisions, at Balaklava, but no means of transport. The
few remaining animals were fast dying in the frost, and our Com-
mander was at last forced to solicit the assistance of the French to
carry necessaries to the camp, while our poor fellows were clad in
French great coats which were generously distributed to them from
the French stores. The destitution of the men is not the ugliest part
of the business ; we have seen letters from officers high in command
speaking of the disorganisation which prevails in their regiments ; and
the mention of that word is sufficient to raise a frightful vision of the
worst disasters that can possibly befall an army. A severe frost
set in on the 4th of January, and it is to be feared that some
men and many horses perished in the cold of that night.
Condemned to pass a winter under canvas—a circumstance
unknown by experience to the oldest soldier in the Crimea—the
strength of the men was broken down by cold and wet, and, alarming
as the reports of illness and mortality previously were, the doleful
tidings reach us, mail after mail, that sickness was on the increase.
We can but chronicle facts as they reach us. What is to be done no
one can tell. Inquiry, with its tardy progress, would come too late to
remedy the evil. One thing is clear, that all our routine pen-and-ink
habits of administration, so far as the army is concerned, must be
revolutionised,. and that plenary powers must be given into, able and
vigorous hands. The reports of Prince MENSCHIKOFF from the Crimea,
via St. Petersburg, reach to the 17th inst. At that date he wrote the
siege operations did not advance, while sorties from Sebastopol were
made on the nights of the 13th and 15th. According to these reports
the allies lost " a considerable number in killed." The Russians were
believed to have received strong reinforcements, and, from the
debilitated condition of the English, again hoped to drive our force
into the sea.
Every hour is of vital importance, yet since the last short session
terminated, on the 23rd December, and the Government has had the
. powers it demanded, what has been done? The Militia Act by which
the Mediterranean garrisons were to be replaced has not yet been
put in force. Too late—too late—too late still characterises every
act of the Ministry, and their inexplicable dilatoriness, whether
occasioned by their internal squabbles, or governmental imbecility,
matters little, seals the death-warrant of the survivors of Alma,
Ba laklava, and Inkermann.