The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-14 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

THE BATTLE OF ALMA.
(AFTER ROBERT SOUTHEY.)
It was an autumn evening
Old Gordon's work was done ;
He wasn't pleased with the result,
Nor much inclined for fun;
His grandson by his side was seen—
Perchance the future Aberdeen.

The kinchin watch'd an older boy
With paper " Cossacks " play ;
As fast as he could cut them out
He put them in array;
Till, wanting more, he stooped and found
A paper broadsheet on the ground.
Old Gordon gave a surly growl,
And took it from the boy,—
" And wad ye then, ye foolish lad,
The vera Times destroy?—
The Times that has the news," says he,
" Of this most grievous victory?

" I wish, indeed, agen the Czar
'Twad not mak sic a rout;
'Twas quite a treat to read that prent
Before the war broke out ;
But now it shows unchristian glee
At this most grievous victory."

" Now tell us what 'tis all about,"
The Cossack maker cries,
And little Aberdeen looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes ;
" Now tell us all about the war,
And what they kill each other for ? "

" It is the English," Gordon cried,
" Who don't like caviar,
Who've taken a most strange dislike
To my old fren' the Czar ;
And as a consequence we see
This vera grievous victory.

"A year agon, wi' Greville's aid,
We tried to snub the Turk,
And threatened how we'd serve him, if
He made a piece of work ;
We talked of diplomatic notes,
And never dreamt of cutting throats.
" A year agon—ah, yes! we hoped.
The Czar would have his way,
And pacify the fractious foe,
As in Sinope's bay ;
The provinces we view'd as booty
Sanctioned by treaty and by duty.'
"Alas! the stubborn English will
Can spoil the best beau role ;
The force of English prejudice,
Escaped from all control,
Has borne us on until we seo
This vera grievous victory.

" St. Arnaud, ay, and Raglan were
A trifle, perhaps, too keen."
" Why, 'twas a very gallant thing !"
Said little Aberdeen.
" Nay—nay—my little boy !" quoth he,
" It is a grievous victory.
" I hear the troops who won the day
Rush'd up the hill like mad."
" But what will come of it at last ?"
Inquired the elder lad.
" The least that I can help," said he,
" For 'tis a grievous victory."

joyed a not undeserved reputation for producing men who knew how
to take care of themselves, and the present generation is not likely
to prove itself unworthy of the founders of the " Caw, me, caw thee,"
school. The fact that the Earl of Aberdeen is Premier of England,
and the sequitur that he has many a good thing to give away, were
ample reasons why every attention should be paid to him ; but the
circumstance that in scarcely any other town in the kingdom wouli
the prudent and wary statesman deem it equally advisable to show
himself in public, at this crisis, seemed to the Aberdeen magnates
to make their course still plainer. If Aberdeen only held to the Earl,
it must follow that the Earl would hold only to Aberdeen. So, as
matter of business, it was determined that the thing should be done
in earnest.

The Noble Earl proceeded to the Town•hall, attended by the
officials, and the ceremony and introductory speeches took place
pretty much as reported in the papers, the dialect excepted. At first
this seemed to puzzle Lord Aberdeen considerably, from his having
lately lived a good deal among civilised persons, and his ear having
become unused to the " barbarian accent." But by degrees his
ancient familiarity with the uncouth jargon in question began to
return, and his Lordship appeared to understand great part of the
congratulatory and laudatory harangues nearly as well as the speakers
themselves.

The portrait was then uncovered amid the cheers of the spec-
tators, a few dissentients being at once extruded by the police. The like-
ness is exceedingly good. The Noble Earl is represented as he appeared
in his place in the House of Lords when he uttered the memorable
sentiment that " we had gone to war with au enemy for whom it
" was impossible that we could entertain any hatred." On the bench
behind him lies a map of the Crimea, and a half-open letter in which
the words "my friend of forty years" can be read. By artistic
licence, a malachite column, against which the Noble Earl is leaning,
gives colour to the picture, which might otherwise have been too
sombre.
Lord ABERDEEN then rose. After the usual formalities as to that
being the proudest day of his life, and the one to which he should
ever look with satisfaction, his Lordship proceeded to say that he was
under a heavier debt of gratitude to the inhabitants of Aberdeen than
he should ever be able to pay. (Murmurs, and some cries of " We'll
just tak' instalments.") He would try, however—(cheers)—aud he be-
lieved that those whom be addressed and himself understood one
another. The demonstration they had made was most peculiarly
valuable and acceptable at the present time. He did not regard it so
much as touching himself, for he cared very little, as his recent course
of politics must have shown, what people—at least people in this
country—thought about him. But as a tribute to the Ministry to
which he belonged, or which belonged to him—(laughter)—the pro-
ceedings of the day were invaluable. They showed—and they would
be proved by his friends elsewhere to show—that the British nation
approved alike the conduct of the Coalition Ministry both in negotia-
tion and in war. and they would give a flat contradiction to the impu-
dent assertion that the country had originally desired to coerce, or
now desired to chastise, Russia. (Cheers.) Negotiations, whose only
object was delay, had thus been ratified by the nation ; and war, con-
ducted upon a system which threw every advantage into the hands of
the enemy, had thus equally received the national approbation. A
naval armament without gun-boats, and a military force without
cavalry, had thus been proved to be the kind of weapons with which
the country desired that her commanders should go forth to battle.
(Loud cheers.) For this testimony to the character of himself and
friends he, for self and friends—(laughter)—begged to return his
best thanks. As for this melancholy war itself he would be glad to
avoid saying more than was necessary. They were in it, and they
must get out of it. He had had no part in getting them into it, and,
had his counsels prevailed, Russia would be at this moment spreading
the blessings of Christianity and civilisation among the wretched
Mahommedans of Constantinople. But the country, misled by ancient
traditions of false honour, and misguided by modern teachers of false
policy, had taken the matter into its own hands, and all that the ablest
statesmen could do was to put as many drags as possible upon the
vehicle which he could not stop. (Applause.) That he had endea-
voured to do, as he trusted was proved by the palsied faltering of the
expedition in the Baltic, by the utter inaction of the fleet in the Black
Sea, by the long-enforced and enfeebling idleness of the army in Turkey,
and by the inadequacy of the force with which at length it went to
battle. This army had certainly gained what was called a victory—
that is, it had crossed a shallow river, and taken possession of an un-
defended bay. At what price these stupendous results were pur-
chased he would not say ; but he would say that he was quite pre-
pared to learn that the blame of having made such a sacrifice
necessary would be laid at his door, and that he should treat it with
the same contempt that he had manifested towards every other com-
plaint. (Applause.) He would add that Sebastopol might, despite of
all precautions, fall—or it might not. (Laughter.) We had been in a
precious hurry to believe it taken the other day, and he could imagine
the amusement of his friend the Emperor at reading the jubilations
which had been put forth on the strength of the false news of that
Tartar—that cream of all Tartars—(shouts of laughter at th
humorous expression assumed by the speaker)—who had " sold " Europe.
But, if Sebastopol did fall, he could assure them that it would be a
prize scarcely worth having, for all the guns would be burst, all the
ships sunk, and all the powder exploded. He would only add that he
looked forward to speedy peace—(cheers)—and he would promise them
that he would continue to use every means to that end, by taking care