The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON., THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 5. 1855.

and R. J. B. Clayton, severely ' • F. Peel, slightly ; and H.
D. Alt, dangerously, since dead.
88th Foot—Capt. G. R. Browne, dangerously.
2d Battalion, Rifle Brigade—Capt. E. Blackttt, danger-
ously ; Lieuts. F. Fremantle, severely ; and J. S. Knox,
dangerously.
Royal Artillery—Capt. W. J. Williams, slightly.
Royal Engineers—Major-General Harry D. Jones,
slightly; Lient.-Col. R. Tylden, severely ; Brevet-Major
and Brigade-Major E. F. Bourchier, slightly ; Lieut. Jas.
Murray, severely, since dead.
MissiNG.

Royal Engineers—Lieut. T. aiaco dead.
LIGHT DIVISION.

7th Foot—Lieut. N. D. Robinson.
33d. Foot—Lieut. Heyland.
J. B. BUCKNALL ESTCOURT, Adjutant-General.

re (Enclosu 13
____ „).

NUMERICAL RETURN OF CASUALTIES FROM
THE EVENING OF THE 18TH OF JUNE TO THE

- 211;i OF JUNE, INCLUSIVE.
Ist Battalion, Coldstream Guards-2 rank and file
wounded ;Ist Battalion, Scots Fusilier Guards-4 rank and
file, killed, 8 rank and file, wounded ; 2d Battalion, Ist
Foot-1 rank and file, wounded; 4th Foot-11 rank and
file, wounded ; 17th Foot- -2 rank and file, wounded ;
18th Foot-2 rank and file killed, 1 sergeant, 8 rank and
file wounded ; 19th Foot-1 rank and file wounded ; 20th
Foot-1 rank and file wounded ; 21st Foot-2 rank and
file killed, 1 officer, 6 rank and file wounded; 23d Foot-1
rank and file wounded ; 30th Foot-1 rank and file
wounded ; 33d Foot-2 rank and file killed ; 38th Foot-
-4 rank and file wounded ; 39th Foot-1 rank and file
wounded ; 41st Foot-1 rank and file killed, 5 rank and
file, wounded ; 42d Foot-2 rank and file, killed, 11 rank
and file, wounded; 44th Foot-3 rank and file, wounded;
48th Foot-3 rank and file wounded ; 49th Foot-2 rank
and file, killed; 1 rank and file, wounded ; 57th Foot-2
rank and file, wounded ; 63d Foot-1 rank and file,
wounded ; 72d Foot-3 rank and file, wounded ; 89th
Foot-2 rank and file wounded ; 93d Foot-6 rank and
file, wounded ; 95th Foot-1 rank and file, wounded ;
Ist Battalion Rifle Brigade-5 rank and file, wounded ;2d
Battalion Rifle Brigade-2 rank and file, wounded ;
Total-15 rank and tile, killed, 1 officer, 1 serjeant, 92
rank and file, wounded.
,* A special return of the casualties which occured on
the'morning of the 18th of June is in course of prepara-
tion, and will be forwarded by next post.
W. L. PAKENHAM, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Acting-Adjutant-General:for the Adjutant-General.

Enclosure. 14.

NOMINAL RETURN OF OFFICFRS WHO HAVE
BEEN WOUNDED FROM THE EVENING OF
THE 18TH TO THE 21sT OF JUNE, INCLUSIVE.
Jun 19.
21st Foot—Lieut. V. H. Lee, slightly.
W. L. PAKENHAM, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Acting-Adjutant-General for the Adjutant-General.

Enclosure 15.

NOMINAL RETURN OF NON-COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS AND PRIVATES KILLED, FROM
THE EVENING OF THE 11TH TO THE 21sT OF
JUNE, INCLUSIVE.
JUNE 18.

Ist Battalion Scots Fusilier Guards—Privates George
Clark, James Clarke, Archibald Davidson, and Andrew
Gibson.
41st Foot—Private Owen Eddy.
42d Foot—Privates Hugh Carr and Alexander Lowrie.:

JUNE 19.
21st Foot—Private Patrick Fitz Gerald.
JUNE 20.

15th Foot—Private John Cashman and Dennis O'Brien.
33dFoot—PrivatesRichard Worrell and Richard Harris.
JUNE 21.
21st Foot—Private Edward M‘Faden.
49th Foot—Lance-Serjeant Bernard Moore and Private
Thomas Godfrey.
*** A special return of the casualties which occurred on
the morning of the 18th of June is in coarse of prepara-
tion, and will be,forwarded by next post.
W. L. PAKENHAM, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Acting-Adjutant-General for the Adjutant-General.

Enclosure 16.
NOMINAL RETURN OF NON-COMMISSIONED
OFFICERS AND PRIVATES WOUNDED, FROM
THE EVENING OF THE 18TH TO. THE 21ST OF
JUNE, INCLUSIVE.

JUNE 18.

Ist. Battalion, Coldstream Guards—Privates Robert
Stephenson and George Slatter, slightly.
Ist Battalion, Scots Fusilier Guards—Privates James
Cumming, dangerously ; John Drummond, George Turn-
bull, and James Geddes, severely ; John Kenworthy,
Joshua Carbine, George Brooker, and Alexander Laing,
slightly.
2d Battalion, Ist Foot—Private Lewis Horne, slightly.
19th Foot—Private George Watson, slightly.
30th Foot—Private Michael Savourd, severely.
41st Foot—Privates Edward Byrne, severely ; Patrick
Hartnady, William Higgins, and John Thomas, slightly.
42d Foot—Corporal Robert Dunsmoro, slightly ; Pri-
vates Wm. Campbell, dangerously ; James Cameron and
Andrew Coull, severely ; James Crone, John Williamson,
John Duncan, Thomas M'Ennis, Thomas Hadley, William
Brooks, and George Blanny, slightly.
63d Foot—Private John Madden, slightly.
72d Foot—Privates John Bell, dangerously; John
M`Donald, severely; and William Hall, slightly.
93d Foot— Privates Findlay Al`Kenzie and Duncan Munro,
severely; William Dugind, Andrew Goff, John MiKinnon,
and John Murdoch, slightly.
let Battalion, Rifle Brigade—Privates Thomas Harrison,
severely ; Timothy Collins, Peter Lafferty, and William
Brown, slightly. _ _ _

JUNE 19.
4th Foot—Private John Kincade, slightly.
21st Foot—Privates William Flower and Michael Hogau
-both severely.
39th Foot—Corporal Joseph Field, mortally.

JUNE 20.
17th Foot—Private Patrick Quin,
18th Foot—Sergeant William Stuart, slightly ' • Privates
John Henry, Patrick Greenan, Thomas Talbot, Robert
Marsh—all severely ; Aubred Small, James O'Reegan, and
Thomas Quinn—all slightly.
21st Foot—Privates Alexander Chalmers, severely; Mi-
chael Powell, and George Sartiu—both severely.
23d Foot—Private George Roberts, severely.
44th' Foot—Private Hutnphery Arnold, severely.
57th Foot—Privates John Campbell and Anthony Frost
—both severely.
_ _

B:3th Foot—Corporal John Farrell, slightly ; Private
Alexander Jordon, dangerously.
is Battalion, Rifle Brigade—Private James Wheeler,
severely.

and to the left of the Mainelon ; Breton's brigade
in the parallel in the rear.

" Twobatteries of artillery, which could be served
a lea bricole, were placed behind the Brancion Re-
doubt (Mamelon), ready to occupy the enemy's '
positions in case we succeeded in carrying them.
"The division of the Imperial Guard forming
the general reserve of the three attacks was drawn
up in a body in the rear of the Victoria Redoubt.
" I selected the Lancaster Battery for my post,
from which I was to give the signal by star rockets
for the general advance. Notwithstanding great
difficulties of ground, notwithstanding the ob-
stacles accumulated by the enemy, and although
the Russians, evidently informed of our plans, were
on their guard and ready to repel an attack, I
am inclined to think that if the attack could have
been general and instantaneous on the whole ex-
tent of the line—if there had been a simultaneous
action and ensemble in the efforts of our brave
troops—the object would have been achieved. -1;11..
happily, it was notso, and an inconceivable fa',D,lity
caused us to fail.

" I was still at more than 1,000 metres from the
place whence I was to give the signal, when a vio-
lent fire of musketry, intermixed with grape, ap-
prised me that the combat hadminmenced seriously
on the right. In fact, a little before 8 a.m. Ge-
neral Mayran fancied he recognised my signal in a
shell with a blazing fuse sent up from the Brancion
Redoubt. It wail in vain that he was informed of
his mistake.

" This brave and unfortunate General gave the
order for the attack. The Saurin and De Failly
columns immediately rushed forward ; the first
rush was magnificent, but scarcely were these heads
of colums in march when a shower of balls and
grape was poured in upon them. This crushing fire
came not only from the works which we wished to
carry, but also from the enemy's steamers, which
came up at full steam, and manoeuvred with great
skill and effect. We, however, caused them some
damage. This prodigious fire stopped the efforts of
our troops. It became impossible for our soldiers to
advance, but not a man retired one step ; it was at
this moment that General Mayran, already hit in
two places, was knocked down by a grapeshot, and
compelled to resign the command of his division.
" All this was the work of a moment, and Gene-
ral Mayran was already carried off the field of bat-
tle when I sent up the signal from the Lancaster
Battery. The other troops then advanced to sup-
port the premature movement of the Right Divi-
sion. That valiant division, for a moment discon-
certed by the loss of its General, promptly rallied
at the voice of General de Failly. The troops en-
gaged, supported by the second battalion of the
95th of the Line and by a battalion of the Volti-
geurs of the Guard, under the orders of the brave
Colonel Boudville, hold a footing iu a bend of the
ground where the General places them, and boldly
maintain their position there. Informed, however,
of this position, which might become critical, I
ordered General Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely to
send four battalions of the Voltigeurs of the Guard,
taken from the general reserve, to the support of
that division. Generals Mclliuet and Uhrich
marched with that fine body of men, rallied the
stragglers in the ravine of Careening Bay, and gave
a solid support to General de Failly, by occupying
the bottom of the ravine.

" General Mellinet in person advanced to the
right of General de Failly at the head of a battalion
of Grenadiers, placed the evening before to defend
the ravine, and was of great service to him by
covering his right.
"The attack on the centre had not a better fate.
General Brunet had not yet completed all his ar-
rangements when the signal-rockets were fired.
The whole of the right was already premately en-
gaged for more than 20 to 25 minutes. The troops,
nevertheless, resolutely advanced, but their valour
was of no avail against the well-sustained fire of
the Russians and against unforeseen obstacles. At
the very outset General Brunet fell mortally
wounded by a ball in the chest. The flag of the
91st was cut in two by a ball, 'out it is needless to
add that its fragments were brought back by that
gallant regiment.
" General Lafont 'de Villiers took the command
of the division, and intrusted that of the troops
engaged to Col. Lorencez. The latter held firm
while the remainder of the division occupied the
trenches to provide against the eventualities of the
combat.
" To the left, General d'Autemarre could not go
into action before Brunet's division, nor could he
explain the hasty fusillade he heard in the direction
of Careening Bay ; but at the signal agreed upon
for the attack he threw forward with impetuosity
the sthChasseurs-k-Pied and the Ist battalion of the
19th of the Line, which, following the ridge of the
Karabelnaia Ravine, arrived at the intreuohment
which connects it with the Malakhoff Tower, scaled
the intrenchment, and entered into the enceinte
itself. The sappers of the Engineers were already
placing the scaling ladders for the remainder of the
19th and 26th Regiments, who were hurrying up,
by order of General d'Autemarre to follow his gal-
lant column. For an instant we believed in suc-
cess. Our eagles were planted on the Russian
works. Unhappily, that hope was promptly dis-
pelled. Our allies had met with such obstacles in
their attack on the Grand Redan, they had been
received with such a fearful shower of grape,
that, despite their well-known tenacity, they
had already been obliged to beat a retreat. Such
was the spirit of our troops that. despite this cir-
cumstance, they would have
down upon the enemy, but nslied. on and charged
the want of simultane-
ity in the attack of our divisions permitted the
Russians to fall ul3(l.ii us with their reserves and
with the artille-4
Pied. of the great Redan, and the
enemy did lose a moment in advancing all the
:cla;:es of the Karabelnaia against our bravo
oethh,a,esr :eio
se re.,Terrse
so
imposing
a force Commandant Gar-
taier, of the sth Battalion, already struck by five
balls, endeavoured, but in vain, to maintain the
conquered ground. Compelled to give way to num-
bers he re-crossed the intrenchments. General
Niol came up to support his brigade reinforced by
the 30th of the line ; a new offensive movement
was attempted to assure the success of the new
effort, and on a message from General D'Aute-
,,
mane to the effect his reserve was reduced to
the 74th of the Line, I sent him the regi-
ment of Zonaves of the Guard ; but on the ar-
rival of those hardy veterans of our African cam-
paigns, as the movement had no longer any desir-
able ensemble for so vigorous a blow, with a single
division without support either on the right or on
the left, and cut up by the artillery of the Redan,
the attack upon which had been relinquished by
our allies, I at once saw that all chance of success
was over. Another effort would only have led to
useless bloodshed. It was half past 8 o'clock, and
I ordered a general retreat to the trenches. This
movement was carried out proudly, with order and
coolness, and without the enemy following us on
any point. A portion of the Russian trenches re-
mained even occupied by some of our men, who
evacuated them gradually, without the enemy dar-
ing to turn their advantage to account against them.
" Our losses have been great. We took care at
the very commencement of the action to carry off
most of our wounded. But a certain number of
those glorious dead remained lying on the glacis or
in the ditches of the place. The last duties were
rendered to them the following day.
" Besides General Brunet and General Mayran
(who died during the night) we have to deplore the
loss of an officer beloved and appreciated by the
whoLs army, the young and brave Lieutenant-
Colonel of Artillery De Labo-uriniere, killed while
scaling the reverse of a trench obstructed by troops
on his way, from one of his batteries to the Brancion
Redoubt. It is a great loss. In him wore the
germs of future promise. A number of brave
superior officers have been wounded while showing
the most noble example. The officers of the staff
and of the Troops worthily performed their duties,
and the. conduct of the men was admirable every-
"We bad 37 officers killed, and 17 taken pri-
soners ; 1,544 non-commissioned officers and pri-
vates killed or missing. On the evening of the
18th, 96 officers and 1,644 men went to the ambu-
lances.
"Many wounds at first thought very serious will
ultimately prove not to be so. The bearers of these
honouratle scars will shortly rejoin their colours.
"Theta losses have not shaken either the ardour
or the confidence of these valiant 'divisions. They
only ask to make the enemy pay dearly for this
day's work. The hope and the will to conquer are
in everyheart, and all count upon it that in the
next strtggle fortune will not play false to valour.
PELISSIER,
" Commander-in-Chief."

AUSTRATAX ARRIVALS.—SeveraI vessels arrived yes-
terday fren Australia, but two only are known to bring
,gold—viz, the Windermere, from Geelong, with 4,500
ounces, .alued at 18,0001., and the Devonshire, from
Swan Rifer, with 8,956 sovereigns, The other ships are
—the Erttow and Empress, from South Australia—the
Gladlate., from Sydney—and the Stirlingshire, from
Launceston.

•
at[ktuAleenrvw:4:B"ENT.]
ast"aclitg Remedies for Bad Legs.—Robert Dickie, of
Broad-stxtet, Alloa, informed Mr. Cummings, druggist,
of tilt sane town, that about 18 years ago he injured his
—Holloway's Ointment and Pills
H owev
4v,!regien.ndthsotirshtsres,
formed
eaamrteuiisrnkgoiuuntl cewar:
tc°:ooa:ctPuiertffe
eWwethhi:cchfthehavvelatt:rri:::l3:.idanSe- 1
Royal Infrmary about three years ago, there they said
amputationr
ii
e agnisfe.dti.
London;
mareaortasnefalirtc,nohtrsl iiieoyifooeafoisli n:ohdol chanceuwyeranaariodlyi a .
n'
_os 1
Kg Ointmentlli wo
dithea:zifo
wound
biop:Esu anseavta:niaNi nidbagineimPswdhl hei
reamiiydg ( :1111:1, i fevtne;::

THE ATTACK OF T..EirE 18th, JUNE.

•
The valuable letter of our correspondent from the
camp before Sebastopol, which we published yesterday,
and some additional particulars on the movethen ts of
the French army which we have received from Paris,
place us in possession of the principal causes of the
check sustained by the allied armies in their late com-
bined attack upon the place, and we must add that these
authentic particulars confirm with remarkable precision
the observations we had already ventured to Make upon
the occurrences of that eventful and Unfortunate day.
The first untoward incident was, that General Mayran's
Division, which was on its way to attack the fort on the
extreme right by the Careening Harbour, began the
attack before the hour tired for the commencement of
the action, and be
"ore the other Divisions had taken up
their ground.• General Mayran himself was struck by
three wo".,nds, and fell mortally hurt in the presenca of
his ;ten, upon whom this melancholy event at the very
outset of the battle produced a most painful impression.
The Division ou the right having been thus pre-
maturely worsted, the whole concentrated fire of the
Russians was turned upon the next Division, which
came up under the command of General Brunet, and
here again the commanding officer was unhappily killed
as he was leading on his men with the utmost gallantry,
and the Division suffered frightfully. The order was
then given to withdraw the troops into the trenches,
although General d'Autemarre had meanwhile reached
the Malakhoff Tower. The retreat was effected in good
order, though with great loss.
The spectacle of this disaster, which was partly
visible in the early dawn of morning from the position
at which Lord Raglan stood in the 8-gun Battery, de-
cided the British Commander•in•Chief to give the
signal for attacking the Redan. We state with con-
fidence that it had not been the intention of the allied
Generals that the attacks should be simultaneous, or at
least that they should commence simultaneously ; on the
contrary, as the Redan is entirely commanded by the
works of the Malakhoff Tower, it was impossible to take
or to hold it unless the latter was already in the pos-
session of our allies ; and the British troops told off for
this service would not, if all had gone well, have quitted
the trenches until the French colours were seen on the
Malakhoff works. When, however, Lord Raglan ob-
served that the right columns of the allied army bad
sustained a severe check, he determined at all hazards
to attempt his portion of the enterprise, and at least to
effect a diversion in favour of our brave allies. Painful
as it is to record the unprofitable loss of so many heroic
soldiers, it would have been far more painful to the
honourable feelings of the British army if they bad not
shared the losses which have told so heavily on our com-
rades in the field.

Since the attack failed, and no number of men could
have stood against the awful storm of grape and balls
poured from the embrasures of the Russian ramparts,
we may rejoice that the sacrifices of the army were not
greater, but for the purpose of assaulting, capturing,
and holding a work like the Redan, the number of men
under the command of Sir Geo. Brown was exceedingly
small. Supposing they had penetrated through the
abattis and the ditch, and scaled the parapet of the
work, which could not have been accomplished without
heavy loss, what could a column of 400 men, or three
columns of that number, making in all 1,200 men, have
done against the large forces which the Russians are
wont to cram into every part of their defences ? Even
including the supports and the sailors, the whole num-
ber of British troops engaged barely exceeded 5,000.
When the Duke of Wellington exclaimed at San Sebas-
tian that he wanted " some of these fellows who would
show the way to mount a breach," 750 volunteers started
up, and that storming party carried the place. But in
all the sieges of the Peninsula the assailants far outnum-
bered the garrison. At Sebastopol it must never be for-
gotten that the Russians are defending an intrenched
camp with all the resources of an army We shall pre-
sently see that of all the faults committed on the 18th of
June by far the greatest was the not bringing a larger
number of men into action on several puints. Ever since
the bombardment of the 7th and the loss of the Maine,
ion and the Quarries, the Russians had confidently ex-
pected an attack on the Malakhofl works and the Redan.
Those were consequently the points on which they were
best prepared, and it is now capable of proof that they
had concentrated in those works the greater portion of
the garrison, who were consequently separated from the
town itself by the Dockyard Creek.
By far the most extraordinary part of the events of
the day was the successful, and we must add astonish-
ing, attack on the Barrack Battery, made by the Second
Brigade of the Third Division, under- the command of
General Eyre. The official report of this officer to the
Commander-in-Chief will be found elsewhere, and, Stith
the description given of the operation by our own cor-
respondent, affords demonstrative proof of what might
have been accomplished if this gallant brigade had been
properly supported. This corps consisted of the 9th, 18th,
28th, 38th, and 44th Regiments, to which was added the
18th Royal Irish as the storming party. These six regi-,
ments mustered in all scarcely 2,000 men. Their task was
to occupy the Cemetery and Barrack Batteries upon
the Dockyard Creek. Major Biddulph states, in his
"Topographical Sketches of Sebastopol," that the Bar-
rack Battery stands on the nose of the hill, immediately
above the bay. Lord Raglan describes it as " the works
at the head of the Dockyard Creek." It is, in fact, a work
between the Redan and the South Harbour, and slightly
in the rear of the Redan, as represented by Major Bid-
dulpb. Against this point the attack of General Eyre
and his brigade was directed. They rushed upon the
Churchyard (which must not be confounded with the
work of the same name on the extreme left), and drove
out the enemy, but a heavy fire immediately opened on
our men from the adjacent batteries. Nothing daunted,
however, four companies of the 18th dashed on towards
the town, and literally entered the suburb, where they
occupied some furnished houses;apparently just deserted
by their inhabitants. In this singular position they
were secure from the fire of the Russian heavy guns, but
they could neither advance nor retreat, and, what is most
extraordinary, no attempt appears to have been made to
relieve them, or to strengthen thisattack, although they
remained in the place 17 hours, from 4 o'clock in the
morning until 9 at night, when the return of darkness
enabled them to retire. Nor was this an exceptional cir-
cumstance. The 9th Regiment also effected a lodgment
in some houses ; a sergeant's party drove a dozen Rus-
sian Artillerymen out of a small battery ; an officer with
6 men and about 15 French soldiers reached a part of
the Flagstaff Battery ; another officer with 12 men took.
one of the Russian rifle-pits, and held it throughout the
clay. It is scarcely possible to doubt that if, upon the
failure of the attack on the Redan, which, fatal as it
was, did not last half an hour, the strength of
the columns of attack had been thrown on the left, one
part at least of the place would have been carried. It is
indeed inconceivable that, knowing the critical position
in which this brigade was placed by its own successful
advance, aid the fact that it was engaged alone through-
out the day, no attempt should have been made to take
advantage of its entry, and to relieve it at all hazards
from so perilous a predicament.
We are aware that throughout these operations Lard
Raglan's opinion was decidedly in favour of a general, in
preference to any partial attack, and we have reason to
believe that to the very last, and even after the first
check bad been sustained on the 18th of June, the
British General still urged a more extended system of.
operations ; but he appears to have thought that his own
forces were not sufficient to execute the plan on a more
enlarged scale. The obvious advantage of a general at-
tack is, that as the enemy cannot be in force at every
point at once, if you do not succeed oasone point you
may on another. The Duke of Wellington did not ex-
pect to take Badajoz by the Castle or by the bastion of
San 'Vincent°, but by the breaches. When, however,
he found that he was repulsed at the breaches, and that
Picton had found a way in at the Castle, he instantly
ordered his whole division to establish themselves there.
On the present occasion the First Division of the army,
consisting of the Guards and the Highland Regiments,
was on duty as a reserve force in the trenches. Had
that intrepid and powerful corps been flung at once upon
the Barrack Battery, into which the Royal Irish had
already penetrated, it is not too much to say that the for-
tune of the day might have been turned ; for the vigour of
the defence of the Russians lay in the superiority of their
fire ; but, if they had learned that the enemy bad penetrated
their line of defence between the Redan and the South

Harbour, it is highly probable that the troops in the
works more to the eastward would have been seriously
shaken, and they would perhaps have receded to their
second line of defence. It is vain to express useless re-
gret at the occurrence of an error of this nature, which
is still almost inexplicable. But Lord Raglan himself
states that " General Eyre possessed himself of a church-
yard which the enemy had hitherto carefully watched,
and of some houses within the place ; but, as the, town
fronhwas not attacked, it became necessary to withdraw
his btigade at night." There is, therefore, no mistake
as to the facts. Why the town front, where General
Eyre was, was not attacked we are not told ; brit we
know enough to perceive that the action was lost in the
first instance by the confusion into which two Divisions
of the French army were thrown by a premature attack
and by unforeseen obstacles, and that this check was
not retrieved, as perhaps it might have been, by bringing
up the strength of the army upon the only point at
which a successful assault had actually been made.—
Times,

THE BANKRUPTCY OF STRAHAN,
PAUL, AND CO.

In consequence of the startling. failures which have
recently taken plane, a suggestion has been thrown out
that a solemn inquiry should be instituted before a com-
mittee of the House of Commons as to the general
system upon which commercial affairs are conducted
by the trading community. We have no great belief
that the evils which are acknowledged to exist are
within tho reach of legislation. Who shall circum•
scribe the scope of credit ? Who shall say to the mer-
chant, the bilibroker, or the banker, that positive law
shall prohibit dealings froth which they should in reason
be deterred by the most ordinary dictates of prudence?
We do not, however imagine that the persons who
have been struck by the magnitude of the evil ai'n so
much at prohibition as exposure. But who is to aid in
the exposure ?—the persons who profit by, or at least,
acquiesce in the system ? From them, at least, no trust-
worthy. evidence'is to be expected ; and, indeed, the sub-
ject is so encompassed with difficulties that we canscarcely
indulge a hope that the inquiry suggested would be at-
tended with any beneficial result. If public discussion of
themoreflagrant cases which from th-neto time are brought
before the commercial or criminal tribunals will not
avail, neither is much to be expected from a more formal
investigation, which
i
rate enterprise which P
chatice of success. ld invite, without compelling,
disclosure upon transactionsw" of the most private and
delicate nature, involvingl t e failure of many a despe-
de ends upon secrecy as its sole
Until we can see our way clearer
through this entangled maze, we .f.eelotu it the safer. course_
to point to the records of the tnali for eyginoe of
- -