The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-01 00:00:00

AU IJC, erigi sae, ae
thwarted by the difficulties which even the best and
most sensible men find in co-operation. The spirit of en-
terprise stagnates in the dead lock of contrary opinions.
Doubtless, there is wisdom in the multitude of counsel-
lors ; doubtless, dangers are avoided that might have
camped the eye of one man, however circumspect ; yet
genius itself becomes a retarding, instead of a moving
power in these consultations, and the only result is that
nothing is done for fear of a result that might, perhaps,
have been better than nothing. The difficulty is even
aggravated by the interference of unseen advisers. The
chiefs before Troy found themselves occasionally tapped
on the shoulder by a goddess who bad come at a bound
from Olympus to pull them out of a scrape. The
electric telegraph, if it makes a still longer journey, takes
as we know not why, a much longer time, and does
not always appear to be the best possible adviser.
But it is not merely personal genius and personal
qualities of all kinds that are "thrown into the melting-
pot ; " there never was so great a muster, and so little
use, of national characteristics. Our own solid infantry,
our heavy cavalry, our perfect artillery, the dashing
Zouave, the scientific French engineer, the active Pied-
montese, and the rough Turkish troops, who evidently
hove more in them than appears to the Western eye,
furnish a variety of instruments such as is rarely ob-
tained iu modern armies. We have ourselves added to
the variety, by the formation of German and Swiss Le-
gions, a Turkish Contingent, and we know not what
besides. There are also army works corps, and trans-
port corps, and "navvies," and every supplementary
service that can be imagined by land or by sea.
With all these auxiliaries it might have been expected
that while the grand army was moving at a pace of
' its own, or taking its own time for doing anything
before Sebastopol, some smaller enterprises would
be attempted elsewhere. The autumn has been
most unusually propitious for any undertaking, by
land or by sea, that we were likely to attempt. With
such a force, and with three whole months to do it—
long enough fur a march from Sebastopol to Moscow—
it certainly is unaccountable that we have done nothing
to interrupt the communication between Perekop and
the Russian camp, or, at least, to compel so large an
e.cort as to aggravate the drain on the Russian army.
We are afraid to move more than a day's journey from
our positions, having the fear of the Cossacks always
before us ; and at the same time we hold, not only at
Eupatoria, but on the Dardanelles, and now on their
road to Shumla, a large force of irregular cavalry, quite
as good as the Cossacks for outpost work, for forays,
and such desultory erup'oyments. We have done a
little in the way of intercepting supplies, but we must
be pardoned ff wo think it but little.
The preparations made for an attack on Kaffa, on
Arabat, and elsewhere indicate thateven in the cautious
judgment of the chiefs more might be done with ad-
vantage, if it were possible. But, so far, Omar Pasha is
the fortunate man, alone spared from councils of war,
and allowed to act single handed. Are we to suppose
that among the many thousand officers of all nations
iu our army in the Crimea, and the soldiers of all
kinds at their disposal, there is no one who could
ado what Omar Pasha seems to do as a matter of
course whenever he has the opportunity 1 Yes,
there are two or three at Kars, the chief of whom
is there because the rules of the British service are
carefully devised to discourage, and so to banish.
the officer who combines with experience the highest
description of professional ability. But to revert to the
hero of the Danubian campaign, now fortunately released
from Crimean trammels. He has conducted a large
force of irregulars into the interior of a country notorious
in all ages for its difficulty. Without any basis of ope-
rations, except that ho holds the coast a., no coniderable
distaoce, be has pushed his way through Eresta' over
mountains and rivers, till be found a Russian army
strongly fortified on the opposite banks of a wide river.
The situation is very suggestive of Alma, but Omer
Pacha's treatment of it was not quite the same. Csl-
lecting his army, he planted some cannon to occupy the
attention of the enemy, and then explored the river up
and down. Crossing it at four points, he drove the
Russians from their intrenchments with great slaughter
and little loss, and at the last date was following them
on the road to Kutais. The country before him is said
to be a second Affghanistan, and we are now approach-
ing a season of the year that would add to the parallel ;
yet we bear no fears expressed for Omer Pasha and his
gallant little army. So unbounded, after all, is the con-
fidence that people naturally plaoe in enterprise and
genius in ever so great difficulties and with ever so in-
adequate means ! We are not saying that the same
risks are to be run with 200,000 men as with 20,000, or
that we ought necessarily to give up the advantage of
good advice for the sake of one command ; but it is
rather hard on our officers, our soldiers, and our cause
that the only opportunity of personal distinction should
be reserved for an Austrian renegade and an army of
Turkish irregular.