The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-03 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1855.

The month of September, 1854, inaugurate d
the triumph of the Allied Armies in the Crimea.
Scarcely had the debarkation been completed, and
the forward movement against Sebastopol com"
ramped, than the invading troops were subjected
to an ordeal of the most stringent character. A
position selected by the enemy was strongly' forti-
fied, so strongly indeed that the General vaun-
tingly reported to his Imperial Master that "he
could held it for three weeks against 80,000
men." Fifty thousand Russian soldiers .were
quartered on the heights of the Alma, protected
by a numerous park of artillery of heavy calibre.
" The beauty and'fashion" of Sebastopol were in-
vited to witness the discomfiture of the assailants.
The delusion was, however, speedily dispelled.
In three short hours, the work intended to occupy
three weeks, was accomplished. The brilliancy
of the triumph excited the spirits of the army and
of the nation to the highest point, while the Rus-
siana were proportionately depressed. A com-
plete panic took possession of the discomfited
troops, and it is more than probable that had
the first advantage been rapidly followed up
Sebastopol might have been ours, the
fleet and fortress demolished, and the
objects of the campaign accomplished within less
than the period assigned by Prince MENSCHIKOFF
to the defence of the heights of the Alma. But
" prurient counsels" prevailed. A different course
was pursued. The flank movement on Balaklava
took place, and the siege was commenced scion les
ejles, according to long-established principles as it
was asserted.

But, unfortunately, a formidable, although we
trust not an irreparable, mistake was committed
in the very commencement of the siege operations.
There was no complete investment. The garrison
was permitted to maintain undisturbed communi-
cation with the relieving army, It could obtain
constant reinforcements of men, and almost inex-
haustible supplies of ammunition and provisions
were forwarded daily from Kertch and the vari-
ous storehouses on the Sea of Azoff, while
Odessa—so unaccountably spared— Nicolaieff, and
other towns west of Perekop, contributed ample
stores of every description in aid of the beleaguered
fortress, nay, more, were enabled through the
treachery of Austria to send armies that hoped to
drive the besiegers into the sea, and to free the
" standing menace to Constantinople and to
Europe" from their assaults.

The siege then totally changed its character ;
it was not with Sebastopol alone, its garrison
and resources, that the Allies had to deal with,
but the entire of the Crimea—of the Russian
Empire itself. It. was no longer a mere siege.
The result of the War depended on the fate of
the town. The Russians by the energy and de-
termination of the defence showed that they had
staked everything on the cast. The most despe-
rate measures were resorted to in order to relieve
the fortress, while the Allies showed the stuff of
which they were made, by the zeal and gallantry
disp!ayed in pushing on their operations, and foil-
ing the most vigorous efforts of the enemy.
Balaklava,, Inkerman, the Tchernaya attest
the unsurpassed bravery with which they fought
on the defensive, while the capture of the
Mamelon and the Rifle pits and a series of similar
operations, even the failure on the Malakhoff,
bore witness that they were as efficient on the
offensive as the defensive, and that their fierce
onslaught was only paralleled by the stubborn re-
solution with which they held every inch of
ground against even overwhelming odds.

But, notwithstanding all these unequalled exer-
tions, the Russian flag still floats over Sebastopol.
The Malakhoff is still manned by Russian troops,
and we have not yet effected a permanent footing
on the south side of the town, the object of our
earliest attack. There are men experienced and
well qualified to form a judgment who put for-
ward sinister auguries, declaring that we never
can achieve a complete or decisive success until
the whole plan of operations be changed,
and that we repair the original blunder
by taking the field with our entire force against
the Russian army, and then after disposing of
them, and cutting off all supplies, allowing famine
to do our work, and patiently awaiting the
inevitable surrender of the starving garrison.
This might have been an exceedingly judicious
course iu the first instance, and might possibly
have led to more important results than any yet
accomplished. But we fear that it would now be
altogether inapplicable—a far greater error than
that already con3mitted—and one which would
prove deeply injurious to the best interests of the
Western Powers and of Europe.
Nye onaot lightly relinquish the work 4 coA,

strutted during more than eleven months, or suffer
the garrison to take possession of or to destroy our
lines, the produce of so much toil, and which
cost so many precious lives. If the army be de-
spatched to Eupatoria as suggested, the whole
must be given up to the enemy. It would be a
virtual raising of the siege, which would materially
damage the prestige justly belonging to France
and England, which would elevate the spirits of
the Muscovites, and render them more obstinately
bent on pursuing the aggressive policy which they
have steadily maintained under various Czars for
a long succession of years. No ultimate triumph
could compensate for a course so damaging, the
effects whereof would be so completely misunder-
stood. The issue of the Russian War depends on
the fate of Sebastopol ; and we cannot abandon
our trenches while there is a reasonable prospect
of success.

Is that prospect so very remote ? We believe
not. The conditions of the siege are completely
changed. The naval operations in the Sea of
Azoff have cut off that fertile channel of supply.
There are no longer 1,500 waggons per diem
despatched from Kertch. Sebastopol and the
surrounding country are completely denuded of
provisions ; and the power of communicating with
the army in the open country ceases to be valu-
able when that army is itself undergoing the
most serious privations. Admiral BRUAT, in
his excellent despatch, declares " the attack of
the 16th so weakly followed up, is a greater
symptom of discouragement than of daring.' It
proves the straits to which the Russians, without
as well as within the walls, are driven, and affords
strong evidence that their last effort has been
nearly made. Whatever, then, be our views of
the original plan of action, it must now be steadily
and unflinchingly pursued. We must persevere
to the end, and we feel unbounded confidence
that the result will more than justify our antici-
pations, and possibly may be more speedily attained
than is now deemed probable, or even possible.

In the absence of a comprehensive system of
education, of which all classes of the community,
whatever be their religious views, may conscien-
tiously avail themselves, every well-considered
scheme to lessen the amount of national ignorance
is deserving of encouragement, and more parti-
cularly suck as are to be applied to quarters
wbere the results of ignorance are known to have
been of the most deplorable nature, and the ne-
cessity for instruction is, consequently, the most
urgent.

In this category we are disposed to place the
scheme propounded on Thursday last at an influen-
tial meeting of coal-owners, and coal-viewers, and
others interested in the education of the children
of the miners in the counties of Durham and
Northumberland. Greatly improved as the
moral and intellectual condition of this pecu-
liar class of labourers is when compared with
the past, it is still very unsatisfactory, while
the strongest motives exist for its improve-
ment. Our readers generally are aware of the
frightful sacrifices of life which have long charac-
terised mining operations in the north, aad were
doubtless gratified by the passing of the Coal
Mines Inspection Bill, designed to prevent, as far
as possible, their continual recurrence. That
this bill should fail of complete success, as it un-
doubtedly must, need not be wondered at, since,
however certainly it may insure care and atten-
tion to the safety of the men on the part of the
owners, it by no means guards against the greatest
danger—viz., the ignorance and foolhardiness of
the men themselves, who, it is well known, have
quite as often fallen victims to their violation of
known rules and contempt of ordinary precau-
tions as to the culpable neglect of their employers
or any other cause whatever. The adequate in-
*truction of the children of these men who, in
the course of things, will succeed them in their
employment, has naturally, therefore, become a
serious consideration, and no measures, it will l3e
admitted, can be too prompt to be effective in
insuring such a result. Fortunately the miners
themselves, many of whom are highly intelligent
men, and, as a body, are susceptible of perhaps
more than average cultivation, are desirous to
have their children educated ; but, unfortunately-,
the remuneration derivable from the labours of
children in the mines, who are employed there at
an early age, interposes a formidable obstacle to
instruction, and the consequence is they are taken
from school so young that when they arrive ai
manhood numbers have forgotten all they had
learnt, and are unable to read or to sign their
names to an agreement.

In, such a state of things an educational scheme,
holding out inducements of a countervailing na-
ture, and not likely to offend the religious views
of any section of the miners, appears ex-
ceedingly desirable ; and of such a nature
appears to be the scheme to which we
have referred, which has the positive merit
of having been tried with success in Stafford-
shire. According to the statement of the Rev.
Mr. MONCRIEFF, Government Inspector of Schools,
it is as follows :—" In the first instance a prize of
11. was proposed to be given to every boy and
girl under 10 years of age (this limit being only
fixed for the present), who should bring certifi-
cates showing that he had attended school for two
years, and certificates of good character, and who
should be able to pass satisfactorily an examina-
tion, which would be of a very moderate amount
of difficulty indeed, only including subjects of the
ordinary elementary character. Along with this
prize would bo given a card or ticket, as a kind
of testimonial to the pupil's good conduct and per-
severance. At the end of the next year the same
child might again come up, and, if again success
ful, receive a prize of 21., and so on ; and they
might, after having left school, again present
themselves for a larger prize, on producing evi-
dence that they had attended a Sunday School,
and some other school during the week, and thus
kept up their education."

No particular school, it will be seen, is speci-
fied, every parent being left to exercise his own
discretion in this respect ; and what with this
liberality, and the combined effects of emulation
and pecuniary reward, we are disposed to anti-
cipate equally good results in Northumberland
and Durham as in Staffordshire, where, we are
told, the prize-money has been very satisfactorily
expended, and the cards have been carefully pre-
served as honourable testimonials of merit.
Whether, however, our anticipations with regard
to the scheme aro verified or not, its originator,
the Hon. and Rev. J. GREY, and its promoters,
including the Earl of DURHAM, Lord RAVENS-
WORTH, Mr. T. E. HBADLAM, M.P., Mr. INGHAM,
M.P., in addition to several of the local clergy
and authorities, and a number of influential coal-
owners, are deserving at once of public sympathy
in their exertions and gratitude for their good
intentions. The scheme, we may add, is also
intended for the manufacturing districts.

PLYMOUTH, SUNDAY.—The Gambia, screw steam-ship,
Captain Dolt, sailed last evening with the mails for the
west coast of Africa, Madeira, etc.
WOOLWICH, SEPT. I.—During the past month, about
650 recruits have joined the Royal Artillery, and above
100 to the Royal Sappers and Miners. Between 400
and 500 of these men havo volunteered from the