The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-01 00:00:00

KING OTHO OF GREECE.

The Paris Univers publishes the following letter,
addressed to it by the Abbe Care, of Nanby :

Monsieur,—With respect to assertions frequently made
in the public journals relative to the religion of King Otho,
I have to affirm positively that it is absolutely false that
lie has changed his religions belief in order to reign in
Greece. His Majesty remains a believing and practical
Roman Catholic, and it is for that reason that serious
reproaches have been made against him by his fanatical
subjects. During two years I saw him piously attend
mass every Sunday and fete•day at Athens, and receive the
communion at Easter in the royal chapel. His chaplain,
the Rev. M. Arnett, is a Bavarian priest of distinguised
merit, who has been attached to his Majesty since his first
arrival in Greece. If, therefore. King Otho is using his
influence, as is stated, to induce his brother to follow his
example, we must. believe that Prince Adalbert will remain
II good Catholic, and not dishonour himself by apostasy, in
order to obtain the Crown of Greece.

General Sir Alexander Woodford, G.C.8., it is
stated, will be the new Lieutenant Governor of Chel-
sea Hospital, General Sir Edward Blakeney who now
fills that office, succeeding to the Governorship
vacant by the death of Sir Colin Halkett. Sir Alex •
ander Woodford, in addition to various brilliant
military services rendered to the State, held for
several years the Governorship of Gibraltar, besides
that of other of our most important colonies, and
well deserves the mark of roJal favour about to be
bestowed on him.

The official appointment of Major-General Sir R.
Dacres, K.C.13., to command the Royal Artillery in
Ireland, was promulgated in general orders at Wool-
wich on Thursday : and Colonel St. George is ap-
pointed Colonel on the staff to command the Royal
Artillery at Malta.

A cociisioiioccnrred at the Greenwich station on
Thursday night between two pas.enger trains.
Seven persons were seriously injured, and are now
lying in St. Thomas's Hospital. No lives were lost.
The trial of Mr. Robson comes on to-day at the
Central Criminal Court.

THE PRESS.

SIR ROBERT PEEL ON RUSSIA.

THE OFFICERS OF THE STAFFORDSHIRE MILITIA
were entertained at a county banquet last week at
the Shire-ball, Stafford. The Earl of Harrowby
presided, and the Hon. Colonel Talbot, the Earl of
Dartmouth, Viscount Sandon, General Sir Harry
Smith, Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., &c. &c., were
present. Iu the course of the evening the usual
toasts were drunk and replied to with great enthu-
siasm, the health of Sir Harry Smith being very
warmly received. The Earl of: Lichfield then pro-
posed " Her Majesty's Ministers," coupling with the
toast the names of LordiHarrowby and Sir Robert
Peel :

He should be very glad if the l►on. baronet would re-
spond to the toast, for he should be very sorry, and he
knew that most of the gentlemen present felt as he did, if
they did not hear from him something about the Emperor
of Russia, with whom he had been on such very intimate
terms lately. He believed that all present would like to
know how the Emperor of Russia looked, and whether he
had had enough of us.

The Earl of HARROWBY said :
He confessed that to him it was matter of great curiosity
to know whether the Emperor of Russia thought he had had
enough of us, because the knowledge of that fact would of
course have great effect on the conduct of public affairs.
The Emperor had not done all that we could have wished,
and we had been obliged to show somewhat of a bold front,
which he hoped would not be thrown away upon him.
Although peace had been established the time had not
come for us to throw aside our arms entirely ; but, on the
contrary, we must be prepared for any emergency which
might arise.
Sir B. I'EEL said that he did not know that he
could with propriety refuse compliance with the re-
quest which had been made, and he would endeavour
to make a few observations on what he had wit-
nessed in Russia:—

He need not say, then, that the noble representative of
England at the Court of Russia discharged the duty im-
posed upon him in the manner that was expected of him,
and in a manner, too, which far exceeded the way in
which other embassies discharged their duties, and that he
clearly enhanced the character of this conntry in the eyes
of the Russian Court. Besides, in Earl Granville Go-
vernment had one who, though carrying courtesy to its
utmost limits, was not anxious to impress the Russian
Court, as another ambassador did, that a different
feeling prevailed towards Russia from what was really
the case.

He had had the opportunity of conversing with
Todtleben, the distinguished engineer and a highly
honourable man ; and he had seen Gortschakoff, Menschi-
koff, and a number of other distinguished personages,
whose names were almost unpronounceable ; but of these
and their doings, and other matters connected with Russia
and the coronation, they had been told in better language
than lie could possibly find by Mr. Russell, the correspon-
dent of the Times. He had seen assembled in Russia
120,000 of the finest infantry in the world. Those troops
in stature and appearance exceeded anything he had ever
before witnessed, and he had been over the whole of
Europe, yet he had no doubt that the pluck of the English
army would be a match for them.
He had visited the fortress of Cronstadt, and there was but
one opinion, from the Grand Duke Constantine down to the
youngest " middy " on board the Vladimir, that had the
energy of the commander equalled the pluck of the British
navy,—that fortress at the present moment would be crum-
bled in the dust. Sir Charles Napier had been through the
whole of the fleet and fortress, and he gave it as his opinion
thatit was impossible to destroy the fortress. It was certainly
very clear at this moment that it was impossible to attack
Cronstadt with success now, but when the war commenced
the case was very different, and if the man who commanded
the fleet at Copenhagen had commanded the Baltic fleet,
or if a man possessed of the spirit and capacity of a
Nelson had commanded that fleet, he had not the slightest
doubt that as the fortress at Copenhagen yielded so would
Cronstadt have fallen.

He doubted the continuance of peace :
They would perhaps allow him to say that, although
peace had been concluded, there was much to prevent
them from relying on a continuance of peace. They were
on the edge of a volcano, which might break forth at any
time ; and among the causes for disquietude were Naples
and the Danubian principalities. Had the war continued
there was no doubt that the resources of Russia would have
been inadequate to cope with the resources of France and
England, and that a most effectual blow would have been
dealt that power, fr.un which it would have taken her a
lung time to recover. But peace had been made, and it
was to be hoped that it would continue.

SATURDAY,

impossible to destroy the fortress. It was certainly very
clear at this moment that it was impossible to attack Cron-
stadt with success now ; but when the war commenced the
c the was very different, and if the man who commanded the
fleet at Copenhagen had commanded the Baltic fleet, or if
a man possessed of the spirit and capacity of a Nelson had
commanded that fleet, he had not the slightest doubt that
as the fortress of Copenhagen yielded so would Cronstadt
have fallen."

You appear, sir, not to know that there were two com-
manders in the Baltic fleet, viz., myself and my respected
colleague Admiral Parseval, a man whose courage and
judgment will bear criticism—even from you. But let
that pass. lam quite willing to take his responsibility on
my shoulders, as we agreed on everything as regards Cron-
stadt. Like myself, Admiral Parseval may, in your estima-
tion, have been wanting in energy and spirit; but we cut
both afford to bear the imputation from you.
As regards myself, if the Grand Duke Constantine told
you what you state, he told me a very different story.
His Imperial Highness went over with me the plan
of the south of Cronstadt, and he himself showed nut
the total impossibility of succeeding against Cronstadt by
ships.
If you formed your judgment from what you saw, it
shows your ignorance of naval matters, and your want of
generosity in attacking the character of a man who has
faithfully served his country for so many years.
If the Grand Duke told you that the north of Cronstadt
might have been attacked, this was quite true. But whose
fault was it that it was not attacked brit that of the Board of
Admiralty, which did not furnish the means by which
alone it could have been successfully attacked, viz., gun
and mortar boats and rockets, of which the allied fleets
were altogether destitute. And sufficient means, more-
over, were not supplied to Admiral Dundas in the following
year, so that he could no more attack it than Admiral Par-
Bevel and myself could.
If you have been put forward by the Admiralty to insult
me you have acted an unworthy part, and if you have pat
yourself forward you have acted a foolish one.
You say, if Lord Nelson, who commanded the fleet at
Copenhagen, or any man of spirit, had commanded the
fleet at Cronstadt, it would have fallen as Copenhagen did.
Now, sir, I tell you that there was no comparison between
Copenhagen and Cronstadt; and neither Lord Nelson nor
any other admiral, of ancient or modern times, would have
touched it with the force I hadat my command.—l remain,
your obedient servant,

CHAS. NAPIER.

LORD PALMEItSTON, it is expected, will visit Man-
chester in the course of next week. In anticipation
of the visit a special meeting of the council is to be
held on Monday for the purpose of agreeing to an
address to his lordship, to be presented in the large
room of the Town hall.

COLONEL LAKE was entertained at a public dinner
on Wednesday at Grimsby. The gallant colonel, in
his return speech, alluded briefly to the sufferings of
all in the defence of Kars :

will not tell you that we underwent no hardships in
the defence of Kars, for, perhaps, it may be considered
that the constant watching by night and want of natural
rest, the almost ceaseless duty and anxiety by day, and the
hourly hope and expectation of suczour which never ar-
rived, were somewhat hard to bear; but I ask you, gentle-
men, whc.t were all these compared to what the helpless
women and children suffered, digging up and eagerly de•
vouring the commonest roots of the ground without even
waiting to wash off the mould which clung to them, and
begging piteously for a morsel of bread from those who
were unable to assist them ? What, I repeat, were our
hardships compared to those of the half clothed—l might
almost say nearly naked—soldiers, with scarcely enough
food to keep body and soul together, mounting sentry in
all weathers, some of them staning in the snow without
shoes to their feet, and still never complaining, though
their ranks were daily being thinned by cholera as
well as by starvation? In many of the houses of the in-
habitants of the town, after the surrender, six and eight
dead bodies were found by the Russians, the survivors
having been unable, from weakness, to carry them to their
graves. For any.hing we may have undergone we have
been amply rewarded by the honours conferred on us by
her most gracious Majesty, and by the cordial reception
we have everywhere met with from our countrymen,simi-
lar to that which I have this night enjoyed. The sad
scenes have long since passed away, but they must live for
ever in the memory of those who witnessed them. I
would ask you to bestow some amount of pity on those
brave soldiers who, under hardships and privations of no
ordinary nature, held the place until forced by famine
unwillingly to surrender, when only one day's provisions
remained in store ; and I would ask you to think kindly
of that enemy who received us so hospitably, and treated
us with such courtesy, showing that they knew how to
appreciate a defence sustained under almost overwhelming
difficulties.

COLONEL Turin has written to the papers stating
that he has been refused a passport for Constanti-
nople by Lord Clarendon on the following grounds:-
1. That his statement of having resided five years in
England is incorrect. 2. That his movements last
year led to various misunderstandings and collision
between the English and Austrian Governments.
3. That his application for a passport to Constanti-
nople was inconsistent with the dec'eration of his in-
tention to reside for the future in England.
A SECOND NIGER EXPEDITION to maintain the
communication with the interior of Africa, lately
opened out by the successful expedition under Dr.
Baikie, was this week urged upon Lord Clarendon
by a deputation from the British Association for the
Advancement of Science.

NOVEMBER 1, 1856.

Nittratart.

Art and Nature at Home and Abroad. By
G. W. Thornbury. Two Vols. London :
Hurst and Blackett.
WE have not met with so original a work for
many a day as these two volumes by Mr.
Thornbury. They have the freedom and
freshness of genius. Acute observation is
combined with great research, yet the style is
so dashing that the last thing we think of is
the variety and the extent of knowledge which
these sketches evince. Mr. Thornbury has
the rare faculty of seizing hold of what is
vital in the present and the past, and of re-
producing it with all the glow and vigour of
its pristine colour. These is so much genuine
imaginative talent in these volumes, that
we confidently expect he will distinguish
himself, whatever walk of literature he may
hereafter pursue. History, romance, and the
drama, are all before him. Should he choose
either of the two last, he can hardly miss ex-
cellence.

The volumes are made up of essays of the
most opposite character. The title of the
book, " Art and Nature," very indifferently
expresses its character. Some of the essays
are on London, some on the country.; some
on the cities of the Continent ; some on times
past, some on times present; some on man-
ners ; some on art ; some on great men ; some
on odd fellows. There is no attempt at order
in the arrangement. The whole reads like
the overflowings of a richly-stored, vivid, and
fanciful mind. The breadth of thought will
strike every reader. Mr. Thornbury writes as
though he had only his own amusement in
view. lie is the very steeple-chaser of essayists,
rapid, brilliant, and daring. His sketches
have not the finish of those by Washington
Irving, which they something resemble in
their lifelike portraiture, hut they have more
spirit; the pencilling is less minute, but the
sweep of the hand is freer.
The first paper in the book, " Poetry of
London," is less attractive than the chapters
which succeed it. We like the essays on
"Beggars," on "Fountains," and on `. In-door Life
and Out-door Life" as exemplified in different
countries. " Teniers at A msterdam" shows more
penetration. The leading characteristics of
the painter are grasped in a masterly man-
ner :

The world of Teniers is a disreputable second-rate ale•
house world, very far on this side of heaven. His men do
not love, they lust; they do not drink for society's sake,
but to get drunk ; they are mean, selfish, dirty, and de-
spicable. Yet such were the men who tore Do Witt to
pieces, and shouted as William steered towards England.
Louis XI V. longs to have them as his subjects ; and such
men as Vane and Bradshaw }earned to make Holland
and England one republic. The fact is, it is only a nest
of oddities that Toners paints : men that he has seen
through windows in dusky streets, startled by their sudden
shout as he mused by looking out for stray sunbeams and
chance gloms lurking all day under archways.

In the streets, too, Ben Jonson himself could not be
more alive to humour. His characters are almost as indi-
vidualised as those of Dickens His ale houses have a
jug hung up for a sign, with sometimes a spoon beside it,
a sufficiently obvious allegory to the traveller. Not unfre-
quently there is a garland round the jug, and often, too, a
sign with an heraldic bearing. Below, always the same
large•nosed, toothless men, with loose breeches, and looser
morals, play at bowls, shoot at the butts, and dwarfish
men eye them with dull eagerness, their hands behind
their back and heads thrown forward. The storks, who
build in Dutch roofs, are poising in the air careless of the
arrows. lu the distance is a spire, where the men once a
week pray. At Tenicra' dances there is always a man
asleep and snoring, a pair of lovers, a man filling his pipe,
a group of critics, a wealth of vegetables, and the imme•
modal brass pan. The man who fills his pipe does it with
protruded lips and arms and face ; and the man who sings
over his ale does it with wry mouth and shut eyes. The
Dutchman does not care much for natural things dune
naturally, but prefers odd things done oddly.
In his country roads we meet with pilgrims holding out
their broad tapped hats for alms. They carry the hooked
staff, the scrip, and the water•bottle. Sometimes we pass
a cavalier, with short cloak, boots, and doublet, who is
having his fortune told by a gipsy. His stately burgo-
masters wear costly robes, and their flowing beards mingle
with the fur that trims its front, and with their muffs.
Still his world is a dismal world, noisy with pots ham•
mering on a thousand tables, noisy with drunken Dutch
shouts and curses, the upsetting of barrels and chairs, and
the angry tearing of cards. There is no blue sky, no
children, no pure love, no fathers, no home, no religion.
- - - - -

This is admirable writing. It is impossible
for description to convey pictorial ideas more