The Press.
London, England, 1854-06-24 00:00:00

THEI P'VE SS.

and renewed during a period of several hours. The
issue, however, was invariably the same. The
masses of Russian infantry dashed on towards the
point of attack until they came fully within range of
the Turkish musketry, when they were swept away
by a murderous fire, until the shattered relicts of the
attacking brigades were withdrawn by their officers in
hopelessness of success. 0 ;lola' bulletins from
Omar Pacha describe the events of these days, and
estimate the loss on the Russian aide as then already
exceeding 10,000.
Still more formidable attacks were made on the
29th and 31st. In the former 30,000 men, divided
into three bodies of 10,000 each, advanced succes-
sively on the forts of Jellani and Arab-Tabia ,at one
o'clock in the morning. This attack was very near
proving successful, and the Russians had already
penetrated into one of the forts by the aid of scaling-
ladders. The Turks, however, had in the meantime
received reinforcements, and they beat off the Rug.
skins, 150 of them being killed within the precincts
of the fort. Retiring for two days to make fresh
preparation'', the Russians again advanced in great
----n-------n,.,7 strength on the 31st, making the assault in the order
THE WAII. they had done before. The struggle was long and
desperate, when, repulsed on all sides, they were
obliged to retire. In the evening they sent a flag of
THE SIEGE OF SILISTRIA. truce, requesting permission to carry away unmo-
THE gallant resistance offered by the Turkish de- lested their dead, which was granted to them. They
fenders of Silistria has been crowned with signal sue- collected 2,000 corpses on the field of battle, which
cess. After sustaining a series of most disastrous re- the Ottoman troops were able to count from the top
pulses in every attempt against the fortress, whether of their rampants,
by assault or mine, the great body of.the Russian as- On the 2nd of June having made fresh disposi-
sailants have withdrawn across the I)anuhe, soil the tions, the Russians Male a general assault, and
siege is effectually raised. The losses on both sides attacked the forts, while their flotilla bombarded the
have probably, been, somewhat exasgerated by the town. This combat was most murderous and un-
accounts received through various Channels during successful for the Russians; but about midday, when
the progress of events, bin is known to be emirmous, the fight was gathering intensity, the splinter of a
and to have fallen in by far the heaviest proportioh shell struck Mussa Pacha, who survived but a few
on the besiegers. On the Turkish side we have to minutes, though able to convince himself before
regret the lOsls of tlitrisoble commander of the garri- expiring that, thanks to leis excellent dispositions
the
son, Mussa Pacha, o was killed in his own house end the valour of the Ottomans, this attack of
Wh
by the explosion of a shell.on the 2d lust. The Rus- Russians would fare no better than the preceding
sians have seen nearly all their leaders struck down ones, Towards evening the Russians badsucceeded
or placed hors de combat. Prince Paskiewitsch him- in driving a mine under the first battery of Arab
self received what is called a contusion, during an Table; but the defenderS had been enabled to per-
unsuccassful attack,uponJnne 9, and was forced to re- ceive it in time, and they made a countermine that
tire toJaasys where he still remained at the date of the blew up from 350 to 4(X) Russians of the storming
last, accounts, tenable. to obey the Einperor's corn- column, which was htilding itself in readiness to
mend to proceed. t,o Odessa. On the 13th General early the breach whet the thine should have effected
Schilders, who conducted the engineering operations, its object. Profiting by the disorder that the explo-
received a wound which rendered aniputation of the sioh produced, the Ottomans made a vigorous sortie
leg necessary. Five general officers are said to hive that led to a general defeat of the enemy and the
been killed or Wounded in the same engagement. taking of his entrenchments.
General Luders 'is stated to have bad his jawbone In these last affairs the less of the Russians was
carried away, and Prince Gortechalsoff sustained estimated at between live and six thousand slain.
some injury, though not apparently •of serious cha- The Ottomans, in ptoportion. Ipst but few.
meter. Count Orloff, junin, wounded iu a previous Some days of Comparative. inaction succeeded this
encounter, was past hope of,
recovery when the last heavy repse. , t was not until the Oth inst. that we
despatches left. hear ,pf any renewed attacks. The Russians then
The siege operations appear to have been prose- attempted to storm two semi detached forts called
cuted upon no very definite systein. The fortress No. 5 and 11; but were repulsed with, it is said, a loss
was first bombarded from the opposite bank of the of 2,000 men. The Turks lost 800. The intelli.
river, hut without result. When the Russian forces genets of this date and thenceforward is, however,
were pushed across the Danube they first died to communicated only by telegraph, and i 4 neither full
carry the place by assault, and, this being defeated, nor altogether reliable in the matter of details. •
proceeded to make more regular approaehes, and for The last. Russian attack was ordered on the 13th
some weeks Silistria was said to be " invested." BO upon a great, scale, under the command of Prince
nothing like a complete blookade seems ever to have. Gortschaltoff and General Schildem. The particu•
been established : the communications with Schumla lays of the engagement are not teld,
the but the res
wereult
were seldom, if ever, interrupted,and Omar Pacha found was, that, after many houra' fighting, Tints
little difficulty in furnishing supplies and reinforce- again successful, both Russian leaders being
ments to the garrison whenever they were wanted wounded, and their forces dtiven back. The com-
or could be spared. Even in their mining attempts pleteness of the repulse is amply
testified by the
the Russians appear to have been either very unskil- subsetirterit proceedings on both sides. Taking a
ful or very unlucky. A grand slinultanions exploder/ reit, during which a strong reinforcement from
sion of three mines On the sth inst., which was ex. Sehtrmla is said to have entered the fortress, the
pected to open 6. breach for the storming parties intti Turks made a vigorous sortie, attacked the Russians
the centre of the fortretti, turned out more deadly to on all points, and drove them across the Danube.
the assailants than to the besieged, and the conflict Pursuing their advantage, they crossed an arm of
which followed was the bloodiest and most disastrouts the rivet, seized the opposite island Of Hopa, where
to the Russians of any that have occurred since the the enemy had constructed siege works, and from
opening of the war.
which Silistria had been bombarded. The Russians
The siege now terminated had lasted almost es.- fled to the Wallachian bank of the Danube, and
actly a month. During the first week of May a dis- were. compelled to witness the destruction of their
tent bomb/rdment was opened from the left bank, batteries. The Turks then brought out their guns
but the regular operations commenced on the 17th, and erected batteriei oh the Brilgariati bank of the
when Prince Paskiewitsch effected the passage of the river, before the north face of the fortress. The
river, and began to throw up siege works in front of Rumen battalions east and west of Silistria imme-
the fortress. The next ten days were occupied with diately began to recross the river, destroying their
-frequent assaults upon the fortifications at various bridges as they witlirevt. Advises from Silistria 4;of
points, upon which it would seem the Russian can- the next day's date (10th) convey the brief but,
non had made but slight impression, but the prince satisfaetoty tidings that the siege is at an end.
was evidently urged beyond the bounds of prudence, For this glorious result the Turks owe nothing an
hy the injunction from his master that " Silistria their allies. It is all their own work. ThOugh an
must be taken at all hazards." Every hazard was immense allied force has remained during the whole
indeed encountered, but the fortress couid not be period of the siege within a couple of days' sail from
taken nevertheless. The Russian leaders, :Wielding Visits, whence the march to Scratunla is short and
a force far superior in numbers to the ueks,,were easy, Omar Pacha has seen nothing of the Anglo-
prodigal of life, daily renewing attacks in which the French arm Ca
y, except the chiefs in a council of war;
soldiers were literally driven by their officers to the and two English officers, ptains Nasmyth and
ramparts, where they Met almost certain death' •On 13titlei, seem to be the only Englishmen present in
some occasions we are told that the cavalry were die besieged forttess: They went to Silistha as
placed behind the infantry to urge them on to the as- volunteers, and are stated to have done good
sank. On May 21st, 25th, and 2Rth Russian attacks service.
took place against different redoubts. The attempts The Sultan has expressed his intention of deco-
were in every instance made with reckless hardihood, ' rating every man in the garrison, and of giving the

which h,
The junction of the French squadron with Si C.
Napier is announced to have taken place by a
despatch from Admiral Deschenes to his Govern-
ment. This occurred on the lath. Admiral Plum-
ridge was expected to join on the 29th with his
advanced squadron ; and on the 21st, according to
the last advices, the combined fleets were to proceed
towards Cronstadt. The united maritime force would
amount to fifiy•four Sail, armed with 2,725 guns, and
carrying 20,150 seamen and marines.

The Par% correspondent of the Times, writing
ye,tertlay, gives the following guess at the plan of
calnpaign for the allied &lilies in the East
The Anglodirench forces will, it ,t ppeass. leave the
right bank of the Danube awl direct themselves towards
the Crimea, where it is thought a combined attack will be
made byisea and land, in conjunction with the eircassiaws.
Innuense siege preparatiOns are going on, and guns of
great power have already been sent to tke Black bra, and
the troops in Turkey are frequently exercised in embark.
ing and landing. We may expect, therefore, to hear before
long of 'anions operations in the Black Sea."

CIRCASSIA.
The Russians have encountered a serious cheek in Chu
easels. Pursuant to instructions received from bt..Peters-
burg, the etrongludda of Redout-Kale, Anakrie, Sokum-
Kale, and others situated in Maisie, on the lilack Sea,
were abandoned by their garrisons, who withdrew into the
interior, and, having collected the garrisons of the minor
forts on their way, they advanced by the Diu iel pass, in the
direction of Tiflis and Omit. This Russian force, 15,000
strong, having entered the pass, was suddenly attacked in
van and rear by a large army of inountaineers,under the
command of Emir Bey, the second in command to Seha
inyl. Thus assailed, the Russian advanced guard was cut
to pieces, whilst the centre and rear were compelled to re-
treat with a severe loss. The Russians lost three pieces
of cannon, much ammunition, and above t,hree thousand
killed. I)ariel lies .on the high road from Vladikaultas to
Tiflis, and is six days' march from the latter place. Had
the flussians succeeded in Aiming the pass they would
have at ohee entered Georgia: whilst to the army of Kars
the accession of this force Guturi would have been moat
redoubtable. All the above forts are in the hands of the
Circaasiaus. The town and fortress of Urzughetti, near
liatoum, have been abandoned by the enemy, and are occur
pied by Salim Pacha.
The Russian communications with Georgia are now cut
off. Schamyl is said to be in a condition to take the field
with silty thousand Cirerasians, and delays his operations
only in attendance upon Ake *low movement ef an equal
amount of force. under the command of Ottoman generals.
Fromia letter from Kars in the Paris Pram we leant that.
Sch'amyi had deetroyed Kars.
Russian feats Arialler and Du-
sad. On those occasions the Russians had 1,400 killoun-
ed,
and &Mimi sent 1,000 men as prisoners into the m
tains. All the Caucasian tribes were moving. The Rus-
sian fort of hi zchet, close to Tiflis, wee closely invested.

JUNE 24, 1854.

Sittraturt.

Psychological Inquiries. In a Series of Essays.
London: Longmans.
A SERIES of essays on psychology, from the
pen of Sir Benjamin Brodie (for we believe
that the authorship of this work is no secret),
necessarily commands attention. The faseina
tion which surrounds that most mysterious of
all subjects, the connection of body and mind,
invites the speculations of quackery, whence
the sanction of a distinguished name, guaran-
teeing in some sort the soundness of the
writer's deductions, becomes doubly impor-
tant. Nor is this all. Nobody cares to know
what Mr. A. or Mr. B. may have to say about
the signs of approaching death ; but Sir Ben
jamin Brodie's assertions on such a subject,
confirmed by the experience of many thou-
sand cases, carry with them the weight and
stamp of authority. The following are his
most important statements :—" The mind is
" often, perhaps usually, active up to the
" moment of dissolution, even where the
" bodily appearances presented are those of
" complete stupor." Drowning persons, after-
wards brought to life, have affirmed that their
whole previous existence seemed to pass
before them in an instant of time. Death by
drowning is not a painful process : the
memory of those who have been saved seldom
retains any unpleasant impression. One pa-
tient declared " that the last thing he remem-
" bared was looking at the pebbles and weeds
" at the bottom of the river, with little or no
" fear of what was about to happen, and no
" bodily suffering." With the exception of a
few complaints, such as hydrophobia and
delirium tremens, this general rule of painless
dissolution holds good. Some have fallen
asleep in extreme old age, and never awaked,
thus passing away in apparent unconscious-
ness of their end. It would seem that in the
last moments of life neither religious nor any
other influences are utr.:ally strong.
Dreams are next discussed, as also the
problem, " What is sleep ?" which our author
declares insoluble. The sense of weariness
appears confined to those functions over which
the will has power : all involuntary actions
are continued through our resting as well as
waking hours. Sleep "accumulates the ner
" vous force, which is gradually exhausted"
during the day ; but these are words only, for
who can define or explain the "nervous
" force "? Darwin's axiom, " that the essen-
" tial part of sleep is the suspension of roll-
" tion," still holds good, and is accepted as
satisfactory. Talking and moving in sleep,
though apparently phenomena irreconcilable
with this theory, are not so in reality; for
there are degrees of sleep, and these things
only occur where the slumber is imperfect.
It may be urged, again, that the mere absence
of volition would not produce that insensibility
to sight and sound which is the characteristic
of the sleeper. But few persons are aware
how much the will is concerned in the recep-
tion of impressions on the senses. One who
is absorbed in reading or writing will not hear
words addressed to him in the ordinary tone,
though their physical effect on the ear must
be the same as usual. Dreams are inexpli-
cable : Lord Brougham suggested that they
took place only in the momentary state of
transition from sleep to waking; but facts con-
tradict this theory, since persons will mutter
to themselves, and utter inarticulate sounds,
indicative of dreaming, at intervals of several
minutes. The common puzzle as to how
dreams apparently long can pass in a moment
of time presents no difficulty to the psycholo-
gist. Life is not measured by hours and
days, but by the number of new impressions
received ; and the limit to these is in the
world without us, not in the constitution of
our minds. To a child, whose imagination r
constantly excited by new objects, twelve
months seem a much longer period than to a
man. As we advance in life, time flies faster.
The butterfly, living for a single season, may
really enjoy a longer existence than the
,tor-
Wise, whose years exceed a century. Even
between the busy and the idle among human
beings there exists a similar difference, though
less strongly marked.