The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

their progress. A noble career is open to the
Emperor Alexander. Of all countries Russia
has least need of a large standing army, as her
territory is least exposed to invasion. We are
only sorry that the Caucasus has been left
unsettled to employ her arms. But for that
temptation to hostility the Russian frontier
on every side would have been defined, and
her whole empire would have been at peace.
We cannot praise too highly the industry of
the author in collecting the immense mass of
statistics contained in these volumes, his skill
in arranging them, nor the perfect fairness
with which he comments on them. His im-
partiality is equal to his diligence, and that is
saying much. As far as figures can represent
the productive forces of a nation, his work is
perfect. His first volume on the agricultural
produce of Russia showed her strength; this
second on her manufactures exhibits her weak-
ness. A third is to follow on the institutions
and administration of the Government. He
exhibits great sagacity on industrial topics,
but he has not yet quite cleared his mind of
those absurd notions of political economists
on the " balance of trade" which once confused
and embarrassed commerce, though now
happily exploded among us. If we are not
much mistaken, the publication of such a work
must be viewed as indicative of a large and
most beneficial change in the policy of the
Russian Government.

L'Expedition de Crintie jusqu'd la Prise de Sebas-
topol. By the Baron de Bazaneourt. Paris:
Amyot. . . .

(Second Notice.)

AFTER the battle of Inkermann, the generals-
in-chief called a grand council of all the gene-
rals and admirals, and the result of it was the
postponement of the assault which had been
fixed for the 6th November. In an extract
from a private despatch of the Bth, General
Canrobert is made to say that this postpone-
ment was rendered necessary in consequence
of the Russians having received reinforce-
ments of at least 100,000 men (part of them
from the Pruth, where they were supposed to
be detained by the Austrians), who would be
able to attack the allies in flank during the
assault ; but Baron de Bazancourt throws the
resnonsibility of it mainly on the English :

The losses of Inkermann had, so to speak, stricken the
English army to the heart. The battle of Balsklava,
which preceded the battle of Inkermann by ten days, had
already decapitated its cavalry. The two days were glori•
cuts but fatal. Assuredly the losses of the Russians were
greatly superior to those of the allied armies ; but was that
a compensation?

A footnote adds, on authority of Colonel
Vico, the French officer attached to Lord
Raglan, that at this date the English army
consisted only of 18,500 bayonets, after deduct-
ing 2 580 killed or wounded at Inkermann.
The author then describes the storm of 14th
November, which did more damage to the
allies than the Russian fire could do, and
speaks of the means taken to relieve the suf-
ferings of the French by the incessant vigilance
of the Emperor. Of the situation of the
English we read :

The English, alas ! were far from having the same
welfare. The losses which they had sustained by the
hurricane of the 14th, snd perhaps the want of foresight
of their military administration, which was not so minutely
and so regularly organised as ours, left them more exposed
to the first and severest attacks of the winter. But the
courage of this valiant army remained the same ; and we
saw it every day, with profound sorrow, become weakened
by maladies, and advance only slowly in the portion of the
siege which was left to it.
In consequence of the unfavorable state of
atfairs the Emperor of the French sent his
aide de camp, General de Montebello, to
make a full investigation into and to report
on them. The general thought that—

The siege would cause delays which seemed to him in-
evitable, and he expressed doubts as to the decisive results
to be hoped for from the situation. He saw Lord Raglan,
and made, but in vain, efforts to obtain from him his per-
sonal opinion on events as regarded the present and the
future. At that epoch of the year, however, with the un-
expected hazards which might suddenly arise, it was diffi-
cult to foresee a certain solution.

The French works, nevertheless, continued
to advance ; and a page or two further on our
author writes as follows, again " showing up "
the unfortunate English :
Our works of approach became developed, enlarged, and
armed. The enemy's defences also accumulated, and his

position became surrounded with works in earth and
threatening cannon. The difficulties were great; but
everything was hoped for from a forcible attack. Alma
and Inkermann proved that we might count even on the
impossible. " The assault ! the assault ! " was conse•
quently the cry of every man—to combat was the hope of
every heart. Gene►al Canrobert might say, as Marshal
Saint Arnaud said at Varna, " Everybody wishes to march
in advance, and J, who wish it more than anyone, do not
show it !"

Was the portion of the attacks which devolved on the
English army terminated? NVere the batteries of our
allies armed? Alas! In spite of their good will, in spite
of all the efforts they made, they were still very far from
the object they desired to attain. Sickness decimated
them, and every day thinned the ranks of these troops,
splendid (belles) in combat, but unaccustomed to the
severe trials of privations, watchings, sufferings, an &
labours by day and night. Moreover, their means of trans-
port were quite insufficient for so heavy a task ; their
horses died by hundreds, and those that lived were scarcely
of any utility.
This forced delay which the precarious situation of the
English caused in the execution of the projects of attack,
rendered the situation every day more difficult. Our
allies had been of great assistance to us by their vessels in
the transport of our troops ; and in our turn we did all
that we could to aid them by placing at their disposal for
their sick all our spare bedding, mules, cart and bit
horses. Unfortunately, our animals were also severely
tried by mortality and by the fatigue of transports,
which the sinking in of the soil rendered every day more
painful. _ _

" I do everything I can to assist our valiant allies,"
wrote General Canrobert, in a despatch of the month of
December. " They are far from being ready, though all
our batteries only await the signal to open fir.!, This
situation is painful, and even dangerous, if the enemy, ac-
quainted wi'h it, were to cover with projectiles our
batteries which are constrained to silence." And he
added Our approaches towards the town having been
forcibly stopped, I have ordered the general of engineers
to prolong them towards our left, parallel to the defences
of the enemy ; and we have gained the bottom of Quaran-
tine Bay, of which we occupy the lazaretto on the south
bank of the bay.".. _ _ _

Already we could foresee that, to complete the develop-
ment of the plan of attack, the French, R !,ose troops
were more numerous, and whose means of transport were
more considerable, would be constrained to take a portion
of the attacks comps ised in tbe English lines. That was
a grave question ; but the general•in-chief of the allied
army, far from declaring frankly his impossibility of termi-
nating the portion of the siege left to him, gave no reply
which could lead to a new decision, and thus allowed
precious days to pass away.
In a footnote to the preceding passage, wo
read that the French officer attached to the
English army, after reporting that the Eng-
lish were behindhand with their works,
said :

They have not, as we have, baggage•traina militarily
organised. The resources which they have found in the
country are, no doubt, of great use to them when commu-
nications are easy, but they are far from sufficing in bad
weather for the transport of provisions alone.
In another• note we read this extract from
" a very interesting correspondence "

The English army suffers more than we do, although it
is entirely established in large tents, a certain number of
which are provided with stoves. The service has hitherto
been very painful for this arm), and its food is not pre-
pared like that of our soldiers, who make soup twice a day,
and coffee even three times a day—steeping in the latter
crushed biscuit, so as to make it of nutritive and comfort-
ing solidity. The English soldier does not much like
coffee, and he has not the same admiration of soup as our
troops ; and yet the stomach of the English soldier re-
quires to be more ♦igorously fed than that of our men.
There results from all this a greater number of maladies
than in our army, where the men are more ingenious.
At the commencement of 1855 the situation
of the allied armies is thus described :

We (the French) were ready, armed and provided with
ammunition. At a given signal all our 150 guns could
thunder at once against the besieged town. Our acting
effective was composed of 67,000 men.
But what was the situation of our allies? " The Eng-
lish army," wrote the general in-chief, " maintains priva-
tions and sufferings which it is not in my power to pre-
vent; its effective becomes so diminished, its cart and
riding horses are so weakened, and the number of them is
so reduced, that it has a good deal of trouble to take even
food up to its camp ; it cannot, then, even by means of the
co-operation we are so happy to afford it, arm its batteries
as they ought to te, in order to act efficaciously in concert
with our army."
Meanwhile, the anxiety as to the state of
the tam), and the result of its attack on Sebas-
topol was very great in France, and demand
after demand reached General Canrobort,
both from the Emperor and the Minister of
War, as to what he meant to do. He stated
in reply that his object was the capture of
Sebastopol, and that it was impossible to leave
the place for several reasons, one of which
was that " the English were not in a condition
"to do anything, and that the French could
" not and ought not to separate from them."
General Niel, the celebrated engineer offi-
cer, was sent out by the Emperor, and he was


I

of opinion, after a careful examination, that
" never was siege undertaken under more un-
favorable conditions," but that the Mala-
koff ought to be attacked and the place in-
vez-ted.
And so the siege continued its weary way.
On the 9th March General Canrobert officially
informed Lord Raglan that on the 13th all his
batteries, old and new, would be ready to open
their fire. But—

Unfortunately our allies were not ready, and to this
declaration, to which events impossible to foresee might
from one moment to another give great gravity, Lord
Raglan replied :—" Your excellency knows that the Eng•
lish engineers have undertaken new batteries which will
not be without importance in the operations against the
town These batteries are greatly advanced, but they will
not be terminated by the day you indicate, and I cannot
at this moment tix that on which they and the other Eng.
lish batteries can open their lire."

THE PRESS.

General Canrobert waited on Lord Raglan,
anti told him that in consequence of that order
he must recal the expedition :
Lord Raglan strongly insisted that the expedition should
b 3 allowed to continue its course, hut General Canrohert
I nought right, after the receipt of such precise instructions,
to recal General d'Autecuarre and Vice•Adtniral Bruat.

And here the author remarks :
It was from this moment, and in consequence of this re•
solution adopted in spite of the resistance of the English
general•in-chief, that a certain degree of coldness arose in
the relations, which tilt then had been completely cordial,
between the two generals of the allied armies.

A French steamer being despatched to bring
back the French part of the expedition, Lord
Raglan had no other alternative than to recut
the English part of it.
By this time the Piedmontese army arrived,
and the English army had

arisen from its ruins, and was about to become what it
was at the beginning of the campaign—brilliant and superb.

Here the author places the plan of campaign
drawn up by the Emperor ; and he gives the
details of what subsequently took place be-
tween General Canrobert and Lord Raglan.
The result, it will be remembered, was that
the two generals not being able to agree,
General Canrobert threw up the command in
chief of the French army, and was succeeded
by General Pelissier.
The ntot d'ordre given to General Pelissier
was, it appears, this'—

SATURDAY,

Conform as much as possible to the instructions given.
If it be necessary to modify them, let it be in accord with
Lurd Raglan. Act in concert.

eyes is, that it shows the views which the
Vrer,ch Government takes—(the work, re-
member, is written under its dictation, and
from documents and inform 'Lion supplied by
it)—of the share which the English army aid
tue leading English generals had in the
famous expedition to the Crimea; and that it
throws light on the real relations between the
French and English commanders, and on the
manner in which the former were dependent
on the Emperor at Paris—matters on which,
though much has been guessed, little has
hitherto been known.

Poetical Works of Ben Jonson. Edited by
Robert Bell. London : J. W. Parker and

Pelissier forthwith gave up the idea of ex-
ternal operations, and modified the system of
attack on Sebastopol. The expedition to
Kertch was also resolved on and executed.
Thus we see that in all the matters which led
to coolness between Canrobert arid Raglan—
excepting only the delays in the execution of
the English works during the winter—it was
Lord Raglan who was right. The admission of
this fact by the French must be very consola-
tory, not only to the friends of the cruelly-
traduced nobleman, but to all Englishmen.
The rest of the hook, devoted to details of
the attacks on different positions before Sebas-
topol, in May and June ; of the battle of the
Tschernaya, and of the grand assault on Se-
bastopol of the Bth of September, contains
nothing of special interest to the English. We
must, however, translate what the author says
of the English attack on the Great Redan, in
the grand assault; it is very brief indeed:—
General M`Mahon maintaining himself definitively in
the Malakoff, the moment had arrived for commencing the
attack on the Great Redan, confided to the valour of our
allies. General Pelissier gave General Simpson the signal,
which consisted in displaying the national flag at a given
spot. It was not then two o'clock. The division of light
troops formed the head of the column—the troops of the
second division designed fur the assault followed imme-
diately. All the arrangements for the attack had been set-
tled hetween Generals Markham and Codrington. As soon
as the signal was perceived, our allies, who were devoured
with impatience to combat., advanced under a terrible fire
towivds the salient of the Redan, where the artillery had
made a breach. The English column had nearly two hun-
dred yards to cross. Soon the earth was strewed with
dead, but the march of the intrepid column was not stopped
for an instant. As soon as it had reached the fosse the
ladders were put up, and our allies, energetically climbing
up the parapet of the Redan, penetrated into the salient
angle. But there they only found a vast apace, swept by
the guns of the enemy, who were under shelter. For more
than an hour did the English, indefatigable in death,
struggle to maintain themselves against this murderous
hurricane which assailed them from all parts ; those who
arrived scarcely replaced those who fell. It was not until
after a desperate resistance, after useless and sanguinary
efforts, that they determined to evacuate the Redan.

Son.
IT has always been our opinion that Ben
Jonson's fame has unjustly suffered from the
overpowering genius of Shakespeare. To the
crowd of general readers Ben Jonson is
known only as a dramatist, and many are not
aware of the rich mine of intellect exhibited
in his minor poems. No one can be said
to understand the measure of Jonson's
powers without studying the "Epigrams"
and " Underwoods." Well, indeed, does he
deserve to be called " rare Ben Jonson."

Mr Bell judiciously observes of the minor
poems which he has edited:—
Here his express qualities are fully brought out ; his
close study of the classics ; his piety, sound principles, and
profound knowledge of mankind ; his accurate observation
of social modes and habits ; and that strong common tense,
taking the most nervous and direct forms of expression,
in which we may trace the germs of Dryden more clesrly
than in any other writer. Here, too, and here alone, we find
him surrounded by the accomplished society in the midst
of which he lived, and of whose principal celebrities he has
transmitted to us a gallery of imperishable portraits.

We cannot accept, however, without qualifi•
cation, the concluding paragraph of Mr. Bell's
estimate of these poems. The accomplished
editor writes :

Want of space has compelled us to confine
our notice of this book to the portions in
which the English figure, or which particu-
larly concern them ; brit, as the reader will
naturally suppose, the far greater part of it is
devoted to the French and their exploits.
The same reason prevents us from disputing
the correctness of certain statements, as we
might easily do ; a.-td also from criticising in
detail the author's bombastic style, his terrible
efforts to be always dramatic, his occasional
Hibernian similes, his frequent negligences of
language, his bad grouping of facts, his awk-
ward transitions from one subject to another,
his lack of precision in details of considerable
imoortanee—in a word, his neglect or in•
ability to make a more effective use of the
excellent materials provided for hint. But
what makes the book valuable in English

The predominant merit of his poems lies in their prac-
tical wisdom. Making reasonable allowances for the aber-
rations of flattery in an age of patronage, he is everywhere
the inflexible advocate of truth and virtue, the scorner of
false pretensions, and the scourger of vice and meanness.
His lines are pregnant with thought applicable to the con-
duct of life ; and without any of the affectation of apho-
risms, multitudes of his couplets might be separated
from the text, and preserved apart for their axiomatic com-
pleteness.

Mr. Bell says, " might be separated." True ;
but Jonson's posterity have not done so. His
verses want the polish necessary for popular
currency in an " axiomatic " fashion. His
thoughts and sentiments are preserved in
books, and admired by every one who knows
how to wield a pen, but they do not run trir
pingly off the tongue, or linger lovingly in
the memory. There was too much of scho-
lastic cultivation, as opposed to poetical art,
in all his writings. Though we soon grow
weary of the smooth-shaven verdure trodden
by the poets of later times, Jonson too often
took us into moorlands, where the wastes
were not always elevated by the sublime, and
where the ruggedness was without graceful
contrast.

Mr. Bell is correct (note, p. 17) in saying
that " Gifford's denunciation of Drummond of
" Hawthornden was merely a rabid misrepre-
" sentation of facts." We have our doubts as
to whether Gifford was right in " construct-
ing a romance " out of tile three elegies in the
" Uziderwoods." Mr. Bell inserts a note on
the " Epistle to Sir Edward Sackvile," men-
tioning, on Gifford's authority, how Horne
Tooke had that particular poem by heart, and
that "it was his (Horne Tooke's) favorite
poem." The thinking of the poem is calcu-
lated to please a vigorous mind like Tooke's,
baulked of fame and celebrity, and fully con-
scious of its superiority to many contemporary
intellects. The following passage, with its
poetry not devoid of an unt:onscious spleen,
must have specially pleased Horne Tooke :

Such notes are virtuous men ! they live as fast
As they are high ; are rooted, and will last ;
They need no stilts, nor rise upon their toes,
As if they would belie their stature : those
Are dwarfs of honour, and have neither weight
Nor fashion ; if they chance aspire to height,
'Tie like light canes, that first rise big and brave,
Shoot forth in smooth and comely spaces, have
But few and fair divisions, but being got
Aloft, grow less and straightened, full of knot,
And, last, go out in nothing.