The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-09 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

SATURDAY,

fatal effects of exposure :—" Three Zouaves, who went under a wall for
" shelter from the piercing gale, when their tents had been destroyed
" fell asleep, and were all found dead in the morning. I walked tt;
" Balaklava, but there saw nothing unusual for that strange place,
" except, perhaps, an unusual number of burials going on. The
" wounded and sick were coming in in ambulances, and the hospital
" and ships were again too much crowded, and the medical officers
" overworked. On my return I observed the increasing number of
" dead horses in the neighbourhood, and also more vultures than of
" late." Again:—" About a mile from this, near the French camp, we
`• found collected, and brought there in carts, about fifty carcasses of
" bullocks that had died from hard weather, fatigue, and insufficient
" food." As the cold grew intense fuel became more scarce :—" Fuel
" for firing is daily becoming scarcer and scarcer, and where it is to
" obtained for winter use is a problem requiring solution." The
hospitals exhibit a far more deplorable spectacle. One of the nurses
writes from Scutari, under date of November 11 :—" With such a num-
" ber of wounded coming in from Sebastopol, it does appear absolutely
" impossible to meet the wants of those who aro dying of dysentery
" and exhaustion: out of four wards committed to my care, eleven
" men have died in the night simply from exhaustion." In the pre-
sence of these appalling facts, Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT can think of no
better means to relieve the distress of our gallant defenders than to
invite Oxonians to send him their old boating jacke;s and dressing-
gowns for transport to the Crimea. Whence the necessity for this
begging? Is there no clothing to be purchased in manufacturing
England that these reiterated appeals are made to the charity of the
public for rags and old garments? As we touched on this theme
before, let us say briefly that we do not discourage that noble mani-
festation of benevolence which seeks to mitigate by every kind of indi-
vidual sympathy and exertion the privation of our soldiers, whether
contending on the bleak heights of Balaklava, with the piercing gales
of the Euxine, or stretched on wretched pallets in the hospital at
Scutari. But what we insist ou is this,—that Government should
provide necessaries for our troops, whether in camp or hospital ; and
that it should be left to private benevolence to supply those comforts
and luxuries which it is beyond the province of Government to care
for. It is the first and most urgent duty of Ministers to supply our
heroes with actual requirements, not stintingly, but in liberal abun-
dance ; and it is with feelings of agony that we learn how, until the
latest moment, the sending out of warm clothing was deferred. By all
means let yachts take out agreeable refreshments. Let a peer, like
the Duke of MARLBOROUGH, send his hundred head of venison, if be
please. Such aids will no doubt be most acceptable ; but necessaries of
every description should have been provided by the Ministry long
before the actual want of them was experienced. The success of
Messrs. GUNTER in preserving the venison has given currency to au in-
different joke. No wonder, it is said, that the Duke of NEWCASTLE and
his friends are friendly to the potting of venison as they are actually
going to pot themselves !
As fresh details arrive of the wrecks in the Euxine on the fatal
14th, the extent of the disasters becomes more conspicuous. By far
the greater part of the supplies of winter clothing sent out, were car-
ried in the ill-fated Prince, and have been totally lost. Every one is
now asking,—why did no winter clothing reach the Crimea until the
middle of November ? Why was a cargo so essential, not only to the
comfort and health, but to the very life of our troops, all trusted to
one ship? Were not the storms of the Euxine well known? Care
was taken to insure the vessel in case of loss, but no care was taken
to send out duplicate supplies. The delay in respect to providing
shelter for the troops has been still more culpable. The main supply
of wooden houses intended for them can hardly arrive before
January, and it is frightful to reflect what mortality there may be
from exposure before January arrives ?
Has any conjecture yet been formed as to the probable amount of
the Patriotic Fund ? It will, when completed, we trust and believe,
form the noblest testimony of public spirit ever yet manifested in the
world. There is a soul of goodness in things evil. The shortcomings
of the Government have evoked a display of national spirit veritably
sublime. The Times, when the fund was first established, thought a
hundred thousand pounds might be realised. We may now proudly
anticipate that it will reach something like half a million. Evidently
with advancing civilisation, and the freer interchange of thought, the
sympathies of the country take a wider range. By every fireside in
the land tears are shed for the bereavement of widows and orphans, as
the names of the slain are read, and anecdotes of their heroism told.
Never has the heart of the nation been more profoundly stirred ; and
still, as we think of the forces fast gathering in numbers on the mhos-
pitable downs where their tents are pitched, whether soon to be
hurled, mass after mass, against the Russian batteries which
guard
the town, or condemned to wait imprisoned in their lines through the
long
e and drear winter, till the word is given f
next?
or action, our interest
in thir fate inycreases, and we anxiously exclaim—What

As the public feeling deepens on the incapacity of the Govern-
ment to conduct the war the Coalition hacks endeavour to weaken the
force of the criticism and censure they anticipate by abuse of the
leading members of the Opposition. Mere contempt has hitherto
closed our lips as to the cavils of a portion of the London press upon
that great Dublin meeting which in a manner so unmistakable, recog-
nised in Mr. DISRAELI the meet expounder of the feelings which prevail
in the country as to the management or mis-management of the war.
Lest, however, our silence should be misinterpreted, we will very
briefly say that the gentry of Ireland and the citizens of Dublin did
themselves high honour by their judgment, and that we feel convinced
the result will justify both them and the lovers of constitutional Go"
vernment throughout the United Kingdom•

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