The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

GAINS OF THE WAR.

ALTHOUGH no sober-minded man could honestly
declare himself dissatisfied at the return of
peace, and although the congratulations of the
Government are doubtless tendered in a spirit
of perfect sincerity, yet we would not shut our
eyes to the fact that throughout the country
there is a very general, though not, we hope,
very deep, sentiment of disappointment. It is
thought that England has only been second
where she ought to have been first, and that
the valour of her troops and the exertions of
her people should have been crowned with
more brilliant and showy results. We should
be the last to speak with severity of any such
sentiment as this ; and it is rather because we
respect the patriotism it displays that we wish
to place the results of this war in a truer
light, and afford to such persons the satisfac-
tion they must derive from contemplating its
real and its permanent advantages.
First and foremost, then, we have tested the
personal prowess of the legions of the North,
and proved that we can beat them. In close
action the Russian soldiers have gone down
before our men like nine-pins, and Kars and
Silistria have both shown us that in the power
of steady endurance we are at least their
equals. We have seen also that the traditional
gallantry of the high-bred gentleman is still
what it ever was, and that forty years of peace,
the rapid spread of materialism, and the igno-
ble political doctrines which have been so
zealously preached, have effected no lasting
damage on the English character. We have
not sustained a single reverse which is fairly
attributable to such a cause. Nor are the
failures at the Redan any set-off whatsoever
against Alma, Balaklava, and Inkermann. It is
satisfactory to have obtained such a result
at all : we need never fear to use our armour
because we have not proved it ; but if we con-
sider also under what disadvantages it was
obtained, it is more than satisfactory—it is
glorious. Diplomatists and War Ministers
did their worst—yet still we triumphed. No
amount of mismanagement, no amount of
fatuity, could mar the unconquerable energies
of the English nation. This fact stands out
bold and well defined. It is because we were
so little in the closet that we were se great in
the field. What might we not effect when the
administrative ability of the country was in
proportion to the spirit of its people and the
devotion of its troops? We have never had
forty years' peace before, and we must not be
surprised at the proportionate slowness with
which the whole machinery of war was set in
motion. Let us be satisfied to feel that the
heart of the nation is sound. If we have good
raw material we need not despond, though we
lack strategical skill. The latter would come
in time, but nothing could make up for the
former.

99

Yet, great as these fruits of our b,.
undoubtedly are, if we turn to the mot
aspect of the question they are infinitei,
greater. For more than a century Russia ha&
been steadily advancing, till Europe had well-
nigh come to take her at her word, and fancy
that she could never recede. Where her ban-
ners had once waved, there they should wave
always; where her foot had once been planted,
the soil should be Russian for ever. Germany
was fascinated by her cold, unflinching gaze,
and even England began to talk of her
destiny. This whole fabric of pretension has
been scattered to the winds. Her frontier
has been pushed backward, and her grasp
loosened from her victim's throat. The ground
lost may be little, but it is the first step of
retrogression. On the other hand, how im-
pressively have the gigantic resources of this
country been unfolded ! We may not have:
•
done much, but we have shown what we could
do in a style that renders the sneers of our
enemies as contemptible as they are feigned ;
and while we acknowledge with affectionate
gratitude the services of our gallant Allies,
we must at once disclaim all share in the
ridiculous notion that we could not fight
Russia without them.
In its effect upon our own political parties
we discern also another most gratifying re-
sult. The peace at-any-price party has ceased
to exist. Mr. BRIG HT may pipe, but nobody
will dance. His faction is decomposed.
Had their advice been followed, what would
have been the condition of Europe now?
Their golden age would have found Constanti-
nople in the bands of Russia, and war more
necessary, with fewer resources. How happy
Mr. BRIGHT would have been! Talk of NERO
and his fiddle, it is nothing to Mr BRIGHT and
his bobbins! Europe might writhe in the fangs
of a ruthless conqueror, but the spinning-
jenny would go merrily round, and the peace-
ful Quaker would smile blandly as ho
modestly confessed that it was his work.
The two pictures, of what is and what might
have been, are now fairly before the eyes of
the people, and it is needless to ask if they
are satisfied with their choice.

Let us remember also that for the first time
in our annals we have made peace without
being tired of war. By an act of sublime
moderation and self-control we have paused
in mid-career as soon as justice was satisfied,
and refused to take more than our due, though
we had everything before us. The spectacle
is grander than a hundred victories. Nor is
such conduct without its own reward. When
a nation is sated with bloodshed, and bonfires,
and illuminations—when it has felt for a long
time the real pressure of war—when it has
graven fiercely impatient of taxation, and for-
getful of the original objects of the struggle,
it is apt to rush into any kind of peace that is
offered it, from sheer weariness. Under such
circumstances a country like England, where
the popular voice is so powerful, is always at
a great disadvantage. But we have now begun
our negotiations in cool blood—confident, but
not elated—desirous of rest, but still not
despondent—with, so far, every guarantee
that they shall be conducted with resolution,
self-possession, and dignity. We make peace,
not because we want it, but because we have
gained the objects of war; and this is the only
kind of peace which can ever be satisfactory.
From all these various considerations we
think we may affirm with safety that we have
more reasons to rejoice, and fewer reasons to
grieve, at the present prospect of peace, than
this country has often had reason to boast of.

NEWSPAPER LICENCE.

THE remarks of Lord CAMPBELL in the

of Queen's Bench on Thursday last are
satisfactory testimony to the justice wi
which we last week spoke against the licep
of the newspaper press. We are glad to he
from Lord CAMPBELL'S own lips that: il
assumption of a prisoner's guilt or innobetv
before trial is an offence recognised. Ist 'll
English law, and that he is himself p . .
ouE
to carry out that law, should any trans
be brought before him. The mischicv
we denounce has been long gainifitOddi

•