The Express.
London, England, 1855-02-17 00:00:00

DESPATCH FROM LORD RAGLAN.

011,011 Zia! 1111011T.1 CIAZNITZ4
War Department Feb. 16, 1666.
_ _

Lord Penman has this day received a despatch,l
of which the following is a copy, addressed to his
Oraew the Duke of Newcsatle, by Field-Marshal the
Lord Raglan, 0.C.8.:

Before Sebastopol, Feb. 3, 1866.

My Lord Dule,—Nothiag hr occurred in front
of the British lines sine:ll-wrote to your Grace on the
27th January.
Before daylight on the morning of the Ist the
enemy made a vigorous sortie on the meet advanced
works of the French right : they were repulsed, after
a sharp =teat. in the most gallant manner, by our
ally, who, however, sustained some lose.
The weather, which had latterly been Ask broke
yesterday ; and, after a rainy evening, there was a
fall of snow during the right, and there is again a
frost, with an exceedingly cold wind.
The materials for the railway continue to arrive,
bat I fear it will not be possible for me to supply the
amount of military labour which Mr. Beatty would
seem to require.
Nearly two hundred Croatians, who were hired at
Constantinople, have arrived, and been handed over
to him, and more are expected, and, as a matter of
experiment, I have obtained four hundred Tartars
from Rupatoria. I have, &0.,
(Signed) RAGLAN.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, &c., &c.

The ►arl of Clarendon has received a despatch
from her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, dated Feb.
4, 1866, of which the following is an extract :
"I have the honour to enclose • espy of a note
which I received yesterday evening from Monsieur
Drawn de Lhuys, eulogising the services rendered
by Major-General Rats, and Majors Claremont and
Foley, not only to the common cause in which they
are engaged, but to General Canrobert personally in
his communications with his own troops."

Tks sets of M. Drs de Lime refereed to sites ease
very high sompliniess paid by General Camel:est to the
three British (Moms meatiosod, sad states that the do-
seaminess aid great protessiosal knowledge which they
display has led him to asks se diatinetiss Wows them
sad the Milers et Ms emit slat, and to employ them Ms
his owes When oa mast diMettle services.

THE MINISTERIAL

TEE changes, contemplated by Claremont in the
&tare administration of Military Affairs, wen mid-

rind by Lord

kit night in a

speech full of practical good sense, and deli;ered in •
tone, more free, than is sometimes observable with his
lordship, from references that savour of pique and
egotism. Few of the noble earl's suggestion• will to
the public seem oat olden or oat of place; although
with one exception they were chiefly confined to the
pressing, and let us hope the passing, nods of
our ill-fated army in the Crimea. The exception
to which we allude is that of abrogating
the narrow limits within which distinctions for merit
are now invidiously confined; and kyles down the
broad and just principle instead. that not merely is
service, when psribrnsed in the field of action or
in the face of the enemy, worthy of reward, but
that successful care by an caw of the health and
well-being of those under his command deserves
the gratitude of the country as much, nay, en-
dless more, than the brilliant achievement of
battle, inspired by the excitement of the moment,
and sure to win abundant Mat. As was well said
by Lord ELLIMOROUGH, when sash statements as

those regarding the annihilation of the whole rank
and file of a regiment 1,000 string p useentradietsd,
it ia sorely high time to inquire how other oilcan in
other regiments, similarly posted, have kept their men
alive ; and it is right that in ease the circumstances
shall prove to have been the emus or similar, those
who sameeded in this highest of all duties shosid be
rewarded, end those who tailed called to account.
The establishment of such a principle, and its appli-
'Mimi to all ranks of the array in the distribution of
the decorations of the proposed Order of Merit,
Vould be the humanisation of military rewards.
Hitherto each honours have not only been the per-
quisite Of an exclusive .In., bat they have been
shoed invariably confertml for deeds el dump to
the fee: hereafter, if the public wide makes itself
hsard,safileiently load and lag in the ebnrlish ear of
authority, wu may pewitly behold men wearing
Oren of Merit' fa having laved company,

%,
4.IOPIFILLYAM if,

! • I,lj

Commons seemed pararoid with the idea thaCa
Government whale recent history was one of Mere
could inspire no confidence and deserve no support,
=apt that which may hereafter be bestowed on
vigorous action. The prestige of that onoepowerfal
Coalition is gone. The country has ceased to put
unhesitating faith in the statesmen whom it looked
upon two years ago as its deliverers from the bondage
of corrupt and inefficient rulers. There was some
anxiety, perhaps. to hear an explanation of the
late crisis from the man who has at Length become
master of the situation, and the House was curious to
learn how the "reburnished" Government intended
to meet Mr. Answer's motion for the appointment
of members to serve on the commission of inquiry.
But this was all. The obvious and universal feeling
was that the oriels is not yet over, and that they who
shall completely extricate us from our great difficulties
were not seated last night on the Treasury Bench.
Below the gangway, on the Ministerial side, was
some of that " new blood." an infusion of which into
the race of English statesmen would best fulfil the
desires of the country. One, at least, was there who
has separated himself from hie late colleagues, dis-
gusted with their want of zeal, or ambitions of a
higher position in the Government than hes hitherto
been assigned to him. Another, whose knowledge
and wide experience had marked him out as
peculiarly fitted to take pert in the con-
duct of the war, retained his place as a
leader among those young politicians whom the
slightest exhibition of weakness or indecision on
the part dour present rulers, will change from luke-
warm allies into formidable opponents. There, too,
sat another, whom the temptations of office could
not divert from his allegiance to that party, whose
cause, arietoorat though he be, he has hitherto
steadily espoused. The truth is, that, in the opinion
of such men, we are in a state of transition. The
existing Government, whose days, perhaps, are
already numbered, is the last which shall base its
claim to rule on lofty birth and hereditary
power. England is upon the eve of an administrative
revolution, end the country will presently be called
upon to say who and what they are whom it will
choose to govern it. And we cannot doubt that,
last night, the Houle of Commons faithfully reflected
the feeling of the entire nation, which regards the
Rama Government as to a great extent provisional.
Lord PALMERSTON, indeed, exerted himself to
inspire for his colleagues that confidence which the
people seems to have reposed in him alone. His
speech, however, was the greatest satire that could
have been delivered against the late Government.
The occasion wu too good to be lost by Mr. Da.
'usu. It was easy for that profound master of
malicious sarcasm to taunt the new PREMIER with
the faults and shortcomings of his " identical prede-
cessors "—easy to advise that the gentlemen whom
a short week had converted into vigorous promoters
of a war which they had hitherto disliked should

resume their offices amid "'solemn silence." But cer-
tainly, h►d England been searched from one end to
the other, it would have been absolutely impossible
to find any one mere fitted to meet the peculiar diffi-
culties of his position than Lord PALMERBTON.
With happy tact he tried to anticipate his opponents,
and by one dexterous move to take the game out of
their hands. Who but so clever a tactician would
have ventured upon a comparison between the present

Government and the monarch who slew WiT TYLER?
" What, has this great people been betrayed by its
rulers P Are they who usurped dominion driven back
in scorn and confusion P We—l and my colleagues
—will take your part ; we will utterly destroy the
wicked men who so foully betrayed their trust." And
when, after inch an appeal to the generous sentiment,
the new PRIMER sketched out a plan of reform so
sweeping in its nature that it seemed to effect by one
blow all that was desired, the House was bound to
acknowledge the skiff of the manmuvre, although the
suddenness of the conversion might excite a smile.

But is not this the season of pantomimes P Why
should the House of Commons be deprived of its
Harlequin and Pantaloon ?
The most memorable revelation of last night's pro.
osedings is, that the Government :lo determined to
oppose Mr. Rom:toes motion ; aed that the Tories,io
conjunction with the most pronewei section of Liberal
politicians, are as determined to support it. That is
the first question to be tried. It is all very wall to
bring forward a plan of stringent reforms,, so to
speak, at the point of the sword. But the Howe of
Commons—and in this case that means the country—
is resolved to inquire 'tato the past. Of
course the whole system of our military
and naval administration is rotten to the owe.
Every one acknowledges that. The Government has
been ocespellsd to emittele• its finks, and to promise
to repair them. Bid if the Meal d Commons
exhibited lest night ti comparitive indifferenos to
the Ministerial statements on
,thit point, it was only
became, in obedient* to the newhitakeable feeling of
the country, it has thaeoughlt Teestead that no profes-
sions of amendment for the future should be accepted
as fall atonement for the delinquencies of the past.
When it has been fairly brought to the test, the re-
formed House of Commons hes, in general, performed
its duty well. And at no period in the history of this
country, hes it been called upon to discharge en.oftice
so arduous and so honourable es at present. If it
continues ill,.finitemper which pervaded it last night,
we bare no ref tAa reault.—Daily News.