The Press.
London, England, 1854-11-11 00:00:00

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counter : the assistant surgeons are now educated
gentlemen, who have passed the requisite examina-
tions of the college, and seek a recognition of this
change by a more respectful attention to their merits
and acquirements. But the Board of Admiralty are
astonished at this presumption, have paid no heed
to it, and consequently " there are not half a dozen
assistant-surgeons in the fleet" watching Sebastopol.
The day after the action, continues the report, all
wounded and sick were transported on board the
Vulcan, en route for Therapia ; there they remained
for more than another day without care or assistance
from anybody. Several of the men are said to have
actually had no food for more than twenty-four
hours.

TWENTY-FOUR IRON CYLINDERS, of the same size
as the two laid down to raise the wreck of the Royal
George at Portsmouth, and each capable of con-
taining a charge of I,ooolbs. of powder, have been
manufactured at Newcastle-on-Tyne, for the purpose
of blowing up the SUNKEN Stars at the mouth of
the harbour of Sebastopol. They are hermetically
sealed, having strong iron handles, so as to be easily
lifted; in one end is a small aperture for the wire of
the electrical battery, strongly protected by an iron
covering, attached by nuts and screws; and their
Strength may be estimated by the fact that each
cylinder weighs upwards of two tons and a half.
Experiments of simultaneously exploding submarine
magazines of gunpowder have been successfully
performed by Messrs. Armstong, of Newcastle, who
have prepared the magazines attached to the cylin-
ders. Letters from Malta notice a submarine battery,
with shells in connection, which has been tested
successfully in the Great Harbour.

THE Crvlr. SERVICE SCHEME.—The scheme put
forward by the Government for the reconstruction
of the civil service of the Crownhaving been strongly
opposed, and warmly denounced in quarters where
it was anticipated it would receive a hearty welcome,
was, as our readers are aware, withdrawn for the
session, but it has not as yet been condemned to
the fate of most of the projects which emanated
from the Coalition. In order to ascertain how far it
is susceptible of emendation, and to what extent its
proposals are favourably regarded, the scheme has
been submitted for the opinion of the working head
of each public department, nor will any future steps
he taken in the matter, independent of the informa-
tion and the views which will be supplied from this
source.

SUCCESSION TO THE TFIRONE.—The career of the
Emperor Napoleon 111. is justly deemed one of the
most wonderful recorded in history, yet it was once
not impossible that a destiny as splendid and not less
extraordinary might have been reserved for his con.
sin, Prince Napoleon. That young prince might, if
certain contingencies not in themselves violently im-
probable had eventuated in a particular manner, have
become heir to the English throne—nay, it is possible
even now. By the act of settlement, 11 and 1!2 Wm.
o. 3, the heirs of the Princess Sophia, being
Protestants, are entitled to the Crown in succession.
At the time of the death of the Princess Charlotte, in
1817, all the descendants of Frederick Prince of
Wales, father of George 111., in the male line, were
more than forty years of age and either childless or
unmarried ; there was, therefore, nothing very un-
likely in the supposition that they might all die with-
out leaving issue. In that case it would have been
necessary to resort to the female line for an heir to
the throne. Augusta Duchess of Brunswick, who
died in 1813, was the elder daughter of Frederick
Prince of Wales. First in descent from her are her
grandsons, Charles, the exiled Duke of Brunswick,
and his brother William, both of whom are now of
mature age and unmarried. In case of their death
without issue, the next descendants of Augusta
Duchess of Brunswick, are Frederick and Paul of
Wurteraburg, also her grandsons ; and, after them,
Frederica Catherine of Wurtemburg, who married
Prince Jerome Bonaparte, and by him had issue
Jerome Napoleon, who is now serving with the army
of the East. Thus, if the sons and daughters of
George 111. had died without issue, an event at one
time far from unlikely, the Dukes of Brunswick
would have been next in succession. If they also
die without issue, a contingency most probable, then
amongst the princes and princesses of Wurtemburg
must we have looked for our sovereign, and Prince
Napoleon is one of them. Of course it is necessary
that the sovereign of England should profess Pro-
t3stantism. It was not long since that a powerful
contemporary devoted a leading article to various
vain and fanciful imaginations as to what might have
occurred if the Emperor of Russia had been captured
the other day at Cronstadt. Commend we to him
this text—what would be the state of Europe if, whilst
Louis Napoleon reigns over France, Jerome sits on
the throne of England?

.

THE PRESS.

THE WAR.

THE latest intelligence from the Crimea is of the
3rd inst., derived, as heretofore, from Russian
souroes, and received vii Vienna. It comprises a
brief telegraphic announcement from Prince Mons-
chikoff, to the effect that the siege operations of the
allies continued without visible result. The fire on
the English side had become weaker, and the
damage done to the Russian works was so incon-
siderable as to admit of being immediately re-
paired.
Despatches transmitted by the Prince on previous
days had borne a similar tenor. AU purported to
report that " nothing of importance had occurred."
Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that the siege
works were gradually becoming more formid-
able, and approaching nearer to the fortifications
of Sebastopol. A third parallel had been completed,
and the besiegers had thus established themselves
within 400 metres of the place. The batteries apper-
taining to this third entrenchment were not quite
completed when the last accounts were despatched,
but the guns were rapidly being brought up, and their
fire was expected to open very shortly. As a counter-
check to this approximation, the Russians are stated
to be constructing another line of defences behind
their former works. They have plenty of guns and
ammunition, but there appears symptoms of a scarcity
in trained artillerymen. The practice on their side is
said to have grown less rapid and effective, and it was
believed in the camp that their most skilful gunners
had been killed or put hors tie combat, and that the
batteries were served by infantry soldiers.
According to the Oest. Correspondeaz the loss of
the Russians up to the 28th ult. had been 5,000,
while the allies had lost 1,500. The casualties
among the besiegers from the enemy's fire are
stated in the official reports to have been compara-
tively slight, but no accounts are yet received of the
loss sustained during the attack by General Liprandi
on the 25th, and the subsequent sortie of the gar-
rison on the following day. The diminution of the
allied force through sickness, however, continues to
be very severe. The Chronicle correspondent at
Balaklava states that on the 23rd only 15,0tX) English
remained fit for service out of the 26,000 which hail
arrived before Sebastopol. This estimate, however,
the writer of a leading article in the same paper
considers much exaggerated, arguing that if our loss
had been anything like so heavy, the authorities at
home would have exhibited tokens of alarm, and
hurried forward the reinforcements to a much
greater extent than they have done. The French
loss, of the land force, is thus returned by General
Canrobert, from October Ist to 22nd :—Killed :
officers, 4 ; soldiers, 54. Wounded : officers, 14 ;
soldiers, 454.
The British loss is stated elsewhere from the official
returns as far as they have been received. But, in
addition to the report of killed and wounded, the
list of deaths from disease is a long and sad one.
Among the officers whose loss is to be lamented
from this cause is Colonel Alexander, of the En-
gineers, who died from a sudden stroke of apoplexy.
In his profession he was gallant, skilful, and inde-
fatigable ; and his death is regretted as at once
depriving the service of an admirable engineer officer,
and his comrades of a much. valued friend.
Some accounts from the camp represent the ex-
istence of serious anxieties on the score of the sup-
plies
of ammunition. The writer of a letter from
Balaklava states that two vessels, one laden with
powder, the other with shot, had arrived on the '2lst.,
adding that " had it not been for this supply we
should have been destitute of ammunition for the
larger guns by to-morrow night, even at the present
rate of firing—One discharge every seven minutes.
Many of the Russian round.shot have been collected
and returned."
No authenticated, details of the cavalry attack on
the 25th have yet arrived, but the following brief
account was published in the Moniteur on the autho-
rity of a letter from Constantinople
On the 25th the Russians, to the number of 20,000,
attacked our rear, which was defended by the Turks, and
took possession of the redoubt occupied by them.
The English commenced the attack, after sending word
to General Canrobert, who sent the 2nd division and a
squadron of Chasseurs to their aid. Our cavalry with the
English cavalry made a brilliant charge, in which for nearly
five minutes a hand-to-hand fight with cold steel took place.
The positions were retaken. The English lost 124 men
belonging to the Queen's squadron, who had recently
arrived. In all their losses amount to 400 men. Ours are
not so great, but we have to deplore the death of two

officers.
A Russian version of the same encounter is con-
tained in the Journal de St. Petersburgh of the 2nd
inst., in the shape of a report from Prince Menschi•
koff. After describing the capture of four redoubts
and eleven guns from the Turks by General Li-
prandi's force, it proceeds to say:—