The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 30, 1855;

LONT)O:ti, MONDAY, JULY 30, 18E5.

The season is rapidly advancing. The chills of
Autumn will speedily replace the heat of summer,
and iu a few months—we might almost say weeks
—the ominous senthrido, " too late," will again
indicate the neglected opportunities and misspent
time, and prove that some at least of the Minis-
try have not, even vet, " screwed their courage
to the stickirry p
the vigorous and
or made up their minds to
and energetic prosecution of the War.
S'lnetiling has been done in the Crimea. If our
troops have not yet forced their way into Sebas-
topol, they have made many gallant attempts
against the enemy's fortifications ; and have cor-
tainly spared' neither fatigue nor peril. At Kertch
and in the Sea of Azov
our ships have accom-
plished important operations, although with but
little loss to themselves. re
—hey have materially
damaged the interests of the enemy ,y
0 cutting off I
the chief sources of supply for the army of the
Crimea and the Garrison of the beleaguered For-
floet might
tress. The Black Sea certainly have
done far more; and with a more efficient First Lord
of the Adatiralty a long list of brilliant triumphs I
would doubtless have long since been recorded.
But still they have something to show—the time
of the navy in the Eexine,has not been altogether
wasted !

Bat how has it been in the Baltic?
feats have we achieved iu the Western Sea ?
Nothing literally, and positively nothing.. A
gallant Admiral, against whom we wish to make
no imputatioD, is placed in commas d of the most

powerful Fleet that ever sailed from a British
Port. He has the support and co-operation of a
French Fleet of great force, so that altogether
there are more than 100 ships of war, with 2,500
guns at his disposal, and yet he has not taken or
destroyed a single vessel of war, or bombarded a
fortification where there could be even a show of
resistance ! The Russian vessels have skulked in
harbours under the protection of the fortifications
where it has been supposed that they could not be
followed. They have not dared to sport their
blood-stained flag on what but yesterday was
deemed a Russian lake. Their valour !! ! has
only been exhibited in the Hango Massacre, where
500 assassins lay bid to wile a few unarmed sea-
men to their fate, regardless of the flag of truce,
which would have been respected by any but blood-
thirsty barbarians, ignorant, or rather indifferent,
to the first principles of civilisation, the most
sacred and inviolable laws of war, and the Go-
vernment, by screening the infamous miscreants,
and refusing to liberate the surviving victims of
their atrocity, have identified themselves with the
disgraceful outrage, and to all intents and pur-
poses rendered themselves accessories to the cold-
blooded and deliberate murder.

This brutality has been unavenged. One
"hundred ships" keep the sea—waiting for the
dastard who will not come—waiting, perhaps,
for the tempest, or the shoal, or any -of the in-
numerable casualties to which those " who go
down to the sea in ships, and visit the great
waters" are always exposed. If nothing is to be
attempted, why do they not retire into safe quar-
ters, leaving a few frigates an sentinels over the
skulking Muscovites ? The Western standards—
the Union Jack or tri-colour—seem to be quite,
sufficient to keep them in port. They: are only
brave against the white flag that indicates peace-
ful intercourse—and surely such a force as that
which last year sufficed not only to maintain the
blockade, but also to destroy Bomarsund, would
be sufficient. There can be no necessity-
for bringing forward the strength of a giant wllen
that of a comparative dwarf would ho sufficient
for every purpos2 contemplated. Let half the
fleet come home, unless they mean to attempt
something worthy of the ancient reputation and
prowess of the British flag.
And yet we believe that the fault is not with Ad-
miral DIINDAS. We know that ho has not got the
class of vessels required for the shallow approaches
and entrances of the ports, or at leaSt a sufficient
force thereof—that he has not yet got the floating
batteries, &c., long since promised, and without
which be could scarcely hope to strike a decisive
blow. We know that he has not a single soldier
to co-operate by land while he is attacking from
the seaward. In these respects the deficiencies
are but too palpable, but we do not know' the
instructions from the First Lord, which may, and
considering who is First Lord, very probably do,
cripple him far more than any deficiency of force
or other drawback whatsoever.

Has not Sir CHARLES WOOD been the associate
of ABERDEEN, and GLADSTONE, and GRAHAM, and
LTELsEnT? Is henot known as thehenchman and fol-
lower of Lord Jonx RUSSELL, the obedient brother-
in-law of Earl GREY ? And is it not notorious
that he was one of the party in the Cabinet who
supported the Austrian compromise from the 29th
April to the 7th of May ? Who is there that anti-
cipates a single manly sentiment, or the most
trivial effort to liberate himself from the tram-
mels of routine, from the "red-tapist" First Lord?
We believe that there are none so sanguine—that
the opinion of the incompetence and incapacity of
the Right Hon. Bareuet who was pitchforked into
one of the most important departments of the Go-
vernment is universal throughout the length and
breadth of the land. Were he " faithful and
bOld" we should entertain but little confidence in
his capacity, but he is notoriously imbued with
the principles of the Peace Party, and there would
be nothing in his views and feelings repecting the
war to prevent him from holding office with
GLADSTONE and HERBERT, with MILNER GIBSON,
BRIGHT, and COBDEN.
Why, then, are not inquiries made as to the
steps, if any, to be taken in the Baltic ? Why are
not other Ministers interrogated as to the inten-
tions of sending out a co-operating, land force ?
Why are not 50,000 French and English soldiers
sent to assist the fleet in the task of paring the
claws and extracting the fangs of the Northern
Bear ? If anything of the kind is to be attempted
it should be tried forthwith. In a few weeks it
will be too late. The standing reproach against
the tardy English will receive a new and power-
ful illultration. Let some independent Member
then endeavour to elicit the intentions of 'Ministers,
and join the public journalists of all parties in re-
minding them that—

"If 'twere done well, 'twere well it were done quickly."

The wheel has come round at last, and sober
legislation, in one particular at least, is about t o
resume its sway. The Committee on the Beer
Act of last session, after a careful consideration
of the evidence given before them, have agreed to
recommend the opening of licensed houses from
1 to 3 o'clock, and from 5 to 11 o'clock in the
afternoons of Sundays and other days specified in
the Act. So far so good. They
_have thereby
pronounced a verdict against the policy of at-
tempting to drive men into courses which, de-
sirable or otherwise, they ought only to follow
of their own free will.

What sufficient reason, however, was brought
before the Committee to justify the closure of the
houses in question between 3 and 5 we are unable
to discover. It is not likely to induce excur-
sionists to go to church, nor to afford any great
relief to the licensed victualler. Such a restric-
tion, in fact, can do no good, and being a vestige
of a mischievous measure will have a tendency to
perpetuate the dangerous irritation to which that
measure gave rise. In cases of this sort
it is especially bad to do things by halves, and we
trust that it will ultimately be enacted that
licensed houses shall he suffered to remain open
from one o'clock iu the afternoon until eleven
at night.

On whatever grounds the Beer Bill met with
the sanction of the Legislature—whether as being
likely to promote Sabbath observance or to lessen
t.,110 amount of drunkenness, which, however little,
is too groat—there can be no question i
man's mind that they were illusory, an dhave been
proved so by the results. The stiff-necked Sabbah-
ri n,
marching in the pride of superior virtue, au-
sterely to church or chapel, thereto proclaim himself
a miserable sinner, nlay possibly, through the ope-
ration of the bill, have met, since its enactment,
half-a-dozen fewer specimens of poverty in rags,
smelling of gin on the way, and found cause to re-
joice thereat, but that is all. There has, we are bold
to say, been no more church-going because of the
act. We are sure there has been no more piety, nor
any less drunkenness and crime. Nay, we will go
further and express what is our sincere belief, that
a mom godless and mischievous measure, we don't
mean in intention, but in tendency and effect,
was never Passed.

A fair consideration of the evidence, we think,
will lead the reader to the .same result. That of
the City Police Commissioner, Mr. DANIEL W.
HARVEY, is very striking. From careful returns,

he said, he found that " the number of persons
charged with drunkenness during the ten or eleven
months since the act had been in operation was
2,817 in the City of London, and the number of
cases of the same kind for a similar period of the
previous year, before the passing of the act, was
2,809, making, in point of fact, only a difference
of 8 since the passing of the act." What follows is
still more striking. " The cases of drunkenness
on Sundays, before the passing of the act, were
317 for 11 months, and for 11 months subse-
quently 334. On Monday, before the passing of
the act, 418, and, after the act, 486. On the Sa-
turdays, before the actlpassed;s36, and, after the
act, 606 ! ! According to Mr. COMBE, the ma-
gistrate at Southwark, who has watched the ope-
ration of the act, "there had been less drunkenness
on the Sunday, but more on other days." On the
other hand, some little diminution in the amount
of drunkenness had, in the opinion of a few, taken
place, but they were unable to ascribe it to the
operation of the bill, the weight •of testimony, in
fact, going to prove that the bill had not re-
strained drunkenness in public or increased the
respect for the Sabbath, whilst its effects in pri-
vate must be left to charitable supposition, since
they could not possibly be good.
Thus it is seen that one object of the bill has
not been answered, and that there is strong rea-
son to believe it has increased the evil sought to
be diminished. How stands it with the other—
has the Sabbath, as it is called, been better ob-
served ? There is no tittle of evidence to be
found warranting the conclusion. The pre-
sumption, on the contrary, is irresistible that
it has been less—the tendency of all at-
tempts to coerce individuals into what may
be called a right course being to induce them
to pursue more eagerly a disreputable one. And to
this result the vexatious character of the act has
materially contributed. Individuals with no
particular dislike to Sabbath observance, provided
it was not too strict, have revolted from an act
that would have been absurd had it not abridged
their comforts without the slightest show of rea-
sonable cause. To have the beer-houses closed all
the morning might be endured—they had no ob-
jection to go to church, but to be compelled to go to
church in the afternoon, or if, instead, they strolled
abroad to gather lessons of instruction and grati-
tude from the glorious handiwork of a benevolent
CREATOR, to be deprived of the wholesome refresh-
ment to which they had a right, was intolerable,
and thousands, we doubt not, have vowed in their
indignation never to set foot in church or chapel
more. The pretensions of his neighbours to su-
perior piety might be allowed to go unchallenged,
while they did not touch him ; but when they did
their hollowness only became the more apparent,
and the mistaken notion that religion itself was
an imposture began to be entertained, and church
and chapel ran some risk of being deserted by
them altogether. But another ground of condem-
nation will be found in the proved tendency of
the act to alienate class from class, and introduce
anarchy and confusion. The Sunday Trading
Bill completed what the Beer Act began.
,The camel could not bear any further
load, and if the Trading Bill had not been
withdrawn the consequences might have proved
most disastrous. The decision of the Com-
mittee will generally be received with satisfaction,
and we congratulate the public on the prospect of
release in a great measure from a restrictive act,
from whose provisions the majority have'more or
less suffered ; but we cannot refrain from saying,
in conclusion, that if religion and temperance were
'not better served than, with respect to the Beer
Act, they have been by their most ostentatious
advocates, we should not witness that orderly
behaviour and high average of morality in the
masses which makes every right-minded English-
man proud of and hopeful for his country. For
the future we recommend the Sabbatarian to
purge the evil passions—the pride, dogmatism,
and lust of oppression—from his own breast, and
the Teetotaller to cool, iu more copious exhibi-
tions of the element in which he delights, his
mania for restriction, and leave matters alone for
which they have neither the heart nor the under-
standing.

COURT CIRCULAR.

OSBORNE, JULY 28.
The Queen and Prince drove out yesterday.
The Prince of Wales rode on horseback.

JULY 29.
The Queen and Prince embarked in the Royal yacht
Fairy yesterday afternoon, and cruised towards Spithead.
The Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess
Royal, and Princess Helena walked and drove in the
grounds.

His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar
arrived on a visit to her Majesty.
Her Royal Highness Princess Alice is free from fever,
and in all respects is going on favourably.

A Cabinet Council was held on Saturday afternoon at
the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Viscount
Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of Lans-
downe, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll, Sir George
Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Sir William Moleswortb,
Lord Panmure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir
Charles Wood; the Right Hon. R. Vernon Smith, Vis-
count Canning, and the Earl of Harrowby. The Council
sat two hours.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT...I...The date of this
occurrence is differently assigned in journals which pass
for organs of the Government. The earliest day named
for the event is August 10, the latest August 14.
THE MINISTERIAL WHITEBAIT DINNER.—This annual
entertainment is appointed to take place on Saturday
next, at Greenwich, at which a party of about forty
members of the House of Commons will muster.
The Right Hon. the Speaker, preparatory to the pro-
rogation of Parliament, gives his customary banquet to
Lord Charles Russell and the chief officers of the
House of Commons, on Wednesday next, at his tempo-
rary official residence, in Eaton-square.
Signor Verdi has been in London, with a view of
arranging for the production of his "Les V6pres" at the
Royal Italian Opera next season, and for the publication
of its music.

RECENT ARRIVALS AT THE GRANBY HOTEL, HARROW-
GA.TE,—..kinongst the latest arrivals are—The Right
Hon. the Earl of Lauderdale, Vice-Admiral the Hon.
Sir Anthony Maitland, C. 8., and G.C.M.G., Mr. and
the Hon. Mrs. Gordon Duff, Captain and Mrs. R. Gor-
don Duff, the Very Rev, the Dean of York and Lady
Cockburn, D. Robertson, Esq., and Lady, of Ladykirk,
the Misses Robertson, J. Waring Maxwell, Esq., and
Lady, Mrs. Hunter, the Very Rev, the Dean of Elphis,
and Mrs. Warburton and family, Captain Raikes, D.
Milne Home, Esq., lady, and family, of Wedderburne,
Mrs. Stocks, Colles, Esq., and lady, Wybrants,
Esq., and lady, Shaw, Esq.
THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF IN THE CRIMEA.—We un-
derstand that Lieutenant-General Simpson, Commander-
in-Chief of the Troops in the Crimea, telegraphed to the
General Commanding-in-Chief at the Horse Guards, to
the effect that he declined the servical of Major-General
Knnllys t 3 succeed him as Chief of the Staff, and would
prefer au officer of experience in the duties, to be selected
from the staff already stationed in that country. Major-
General Barnard has been appointed. —United Service
Gaze/AL

IV.mei KEDALg.—These will cost 52,5001. for the pre-
sent year, viz., 4001. for ordinary service medals ; 3,2001.
for 3,000 Caffre war medals at Bs. ; 36,0001. for 72,000
, Crimea medals at 10R. ; 4001. for 1,000 "distinguished
conduct in the field" medals at Bs. ; and 12,5001. for
25,000 Crimean medals for the navy and marines at 10s.
SUNDAY CLOSING OF PUBLIC-HOUSES —A petition in
favour of materially. modifying the act of last session, with
respect tos Sundays,
ofa oy:s:an.builansstgornoefzpiovu.febdlwi citi
hhinu se s and the sale of
and the rest persons belonging to the classrueorfe
beer on
signatures
inhabitants
tradesmen,
sraodf
e slm,
respectableoe2ns,
.Is.BingEs, M.P.--Mr. Baines has been suffering
artmisaßt
discharge of
somefrom sdeavyesrefrionmdistih)oesitior hasi withdrawn him for
;disposition
al and Parlia-
mentary duties, though his health i: official
great mea-
sure restored. We understand thatnethwisini
prevented him from being present at the critical
on the Turkish loan yesterday- week.—Leeds,division
Captain Linskill, one of the River Tyne] Coran.cry.
ern, and a resident of the borough of Tynetnouthest
pa. l° an address, announcing his intention of b ' eeom-
,..
!li a candidate for the representation of that borough
in Parliament, on any future vacancy. The gallant cap-
tain guatly interested himself in obtaining the incorpo-
ration of the borough for which he aspires to be a mem-
ber, and was its first-elected mayor. Jie announces
himself to be a " liberal Conservative.".

until the number of clergymen necessary should
be exactly ascertained, is based on the Concordate
in vigour, which provides that the livings should
be proportioned to the wants of the church. It
was the fault of the Bishops if the Government
were not in possession of the statistical data in-
dispensable for the purpose. Those prelates, hav-
ing no doubt to attend to more important duties,
had not yet supplied the Government with the
returns it had demanded. Grave political and
financial considerations rendered necessary the dis-
amortisacion of the property of the secular clergy.
Those considerations had struck the authors of the
Concordate, who themselves stipulated the sale of
that property. The ecclesiastical authorities ne-
glected to execute those clauses of the Concordate.
The history of Spain proves that at different
periods the most Catholic Monarchs and the best
friends of the Holy Seo had, without its know-
ledge, proceeded to sell the Church property with-
out incurring the displeasure of the Pontifical
Government, or being accused of offending
the Catholic religion. The Government, being
anxious that its whole conduct throughout
the negotiations should be clearly explained, will
publish the memorandum the moment it has reason
to believe that it has been placed in the hands of
the Cardinal, Under-Secretary of State, &c.
The period of the marriage of Prince Adalbert
of Bavaria with the Infanta Maria Amelia was not
yet fixed. The young Prince was at the Escurial
with the Court.

General O'Donnell had assumed the command of
the 3d battalion of the National Militia, and pro-
nounced on the occasion a speech, which was
greatly applauded by the corps. The theme
chosen by the General was Liberty and the Throne
of Isabel 11.

The official Gazette announces that the Govern-
ment would receive on the 20th August next
tenders for the construction of electric telegraph
lines all over Spain.
The Queen had ordered the Civil Governor of
Madrid to distribute at her expense 503 pieces of
linen among the charitable establishments of that
capital. _ _

The gazette publishes the following telegraphic
despatch, addressed to the Minister of War by the
Governor of Saragossa, under date 21st July, 11
o'clock a.m.

" Tbe Governor of Gerona writes to me, on the 18th,
that the Caboodle. Estartus had again crossed the fron-
tier, near Campredon, accompanied by the self-styled
General Torres Borges, a son of each of them, a cousin
of the Pretender Charles VI., a nephew of Cabrera, and
34 individuals. They were immediately attacked by the
Cacadores of Ciudad Rodrigo and the Carabineers, and
completely routed. Seren were killed, five of whom
were officers. One was taken prisoner, and 21 muskets
were abandoned on the field by the fugitives. Being
closely pursued three other prisoners were made, and the
remainder of the band sought refuge in Frauce."

At Genoa the officer charged with the purchase
of mules for the Laud Transport Corps has recently
received an order to engage men for the same as
fast as possible, in addition to the usual number
of muleteers sent with each vessel, and they are to
be organised, as much as circumstances will permit,
before starting. They are to be formed in sections
of 30, with a chief, sub-chief, and four corporals to
each section. The enrolment and organisation pro-
ceed rapidly, and the latter, I am told, with greater
ease than could have been anticipated.

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