The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-04 00:00:00

THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS'

SCHOOLS.

TO TUE EDITOR OP THE SUN.
SIR,---1 hope you will allow me through your impar-
tial paper to make a few observations, arising out of
some remarks made by Mr. G. Moore, of London, at a
dinner given last week at the Corn Exchange, Man-
chester, in aid of the above sehoels.
Mr. Moore remarked, after relating the success and
value of the institution, that he was sorry to observe they
had the most children belonging to commission travellers,
which he only accounted for from the miserable and
stingy manner they were paid, entreating houses to act
more liberal, and pay men at least enough to live upon
further observing, he knew several melancholy instances
of destitution, which was not the result of improvidence
or prodigelity, but front most inadequate pay to meet
the necessary expenses of the road. Mr. Moore, lam
sure, will receive the best thanks of all travellers for his
kind consideration ; the more so, from the fact of his
being himself a principal, and for many years a traveller,
and, to his credit, the architect of his own fortune by
indomitable application and industry.
I have kno,,vii bins many years. ()Mimes do I recol-
lect him leaving his Led before sunrise in the spring of
the year, continuing hard at ►work until the cock an-
nounced early morn again; so that he is good authority
for ►what a traveller requires and deserves. And now it
is needful some one shoal I give further information,
and explain how it is commission travellers are not in a
prosperous condition. The fact is they are robbed at
every point.
I will point out one or two methods houses adopt to
reduce their expenses. It is no uncommon thingte assert
that travellers are of no service to them, and still they are
glad to retain their assistance ; they are well aware who
" brings grist to the mill." They complain of kheir profits
being small, an argument used to complete a grinding
engagement. When you come to a settlement at th•
end of the journey they write down what they say is the
amount of sales. You are much surprised, you expected
a much larger amount, and express a wish to go through
the books, which is indignantly refused, and the ill-used
traveller submits to be fleeced rather than litigate with
men who may, in an under-handed way, do him an in-
jury. He, consequently, suffers his already too small
earnings to be reduced by this unprincipled subterfuge.
Another false system, often adopted, is the following :
—A traveller is paid a commission on his sales ; he is
given patterns; some are manufactured or engaged by the
'house who employs him, and other patterns are made and
bought from other makers. The traveller works early and
late, using his best endeavours to influence sales, but on
his return home, after an absence of three or four months,
and paying his own expenses, he discovers that little more
I than half the amount of orders sent home have been exe-
cuted, only such as they make themselves having been
sent, underwriting the invoice that the remainder will
follow in a few days, carriagepaiel, which, of course, is
never more thought of, and the unfortunate commission
ma❑ is again victimised. These and other equally dis-
reputable tricks are beginning to be known and scouted.
I was once a commission man myself, and, from all I
know, would recommend every man to make a sturdy
resistance against any house who refuses to pay, or assist
in paying, part of the necessary expenses of the road, other-
wise he must lose his own money, or become a defaulter.
In either case these " vampires" will show no sym-
pathy, but will exact their "pound of flesh." Pardon
me, sir, for occupying so much of your valuable paper.
I am emboldened to trespass, because I believe you feel
an interest in the welfare of the commercial body. I
shall now conclude by giving some wholesome advice,
gratis, to those houses in London, Manchester, Brad-
ford, and elsewhere, who have for some time past made
money, wrung from the bones of the badly-paid tra-
veller. I advise such to abandon altogether un-
principled practices, and begin the New Year afresh,
adopting the good old adage of " live and let live"—to
repent of their sins of omission as well as commission.
This done, not only Mr. Moore, but other respectable
men, will not fail, when Christmas comes again, to sound
their praise ; and 1 thick, to prove their sincerity, and
make their consciences easy, they ought to disgorge,
and lose no time in sending 100 guineas each to assist
in the schools, and 100 guineas in aid of the Poor Tra-
vellers' Benevolent Institution ; and, furthermore, be-
come annual subscribers of 10 guineas each to both in-
stitutions. I beg to assure commission travellers there
are only two proper ways to make an agreement : one
is to travel for no house whatever without the expenses
are paid, or work the journey for a fixed sum. This
persevered in will restore the prospects of the ill-paid
commission traveller.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant.
A COnMERCIAL TRAVELLER.
man ches te r, Jan.

TliE ATEIVLY-DIS'COVERED 1,0.31 A CE Olil
SIR iYAL7'EIk! SCOTT.

TO THE EDITOR OP TUE SON,
91, Boulevard Boaumarchais Paris, Dee 10
1
Sir,-1 should earlier hare acknowledged the Dee.
you took in the &en of the 25th of last month—by a
very eKtraordinary coincidence, the day on which Mr.
Lockhart died—Of the unpublished manuscript of his
illustrious fither-in law, which has become my property.
As, however, so great an incredulity reigned with regard
to it that not one editor, 1 believe, throtOiout the
United Kingdom was found courageous enorgh eN en to
whisper the no Ns which you had so boldly announced, I
have deft reed writing to you acknowledging your manly
and liberal conduct—a conduct whili a perusal of the
work itself will ere long thank you for, far more expres-
sively than any terms I can employ—l say I have de-
ferred writing until I could add to my letter the assur-
ance that the letter of W.S. to W.S., and the manuscript
of the Romance itself, had been examined by the parties
in Paris most competent to judge of their authenticity.
That has been done; and now, sir, in addition to the
testimony of the much-respected gentleman on whose
authority, as I have since learned, you announced the
discovery on the 25th November, I have now the satis-
faction of referring you to the Journal des Debats of the
27th December instant, in which M. Philai .te Chasles,
one of the ablest writers and severest critics in France,
and, moreover, a personal friend of Sir Walter Scott,
devotes five columns of that leading journal to the sub-
ject of the authenticity of these interesting manuscripts
--an authenticity which he establishes on the firmest of
all foundations, internal evidence ;—and to this I have
the pleasure of adding that, the correspondent of one of
the leading London morning papers has since examined
the manuscript, and not only coincides in opinion with
M. Philarete Chasles, but gives it as his opinion that the
romance was a very early production of the pen of the
great Scottish novellist.
Such being the case and the question of authenticity '
set at rest—as I purpose to devote the surplus of the
first edition to the "Patriotic Fund"—perhaps there
may not now exist the came fear on the part of your con-
temporaries to copy the following resurzt of the work,
which can scarcely fail to be read with interest even by
those who have hitherto been the most incredulous.
Accept, sir, the assurance of the high consideration of
E. SAINT MAURICE CADANY,
Directeur-General de la Societ6 Archiviste de

France.
MOREDUN ; A TALE OP THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND
TEN.---A manuscript, bearing this title, has been brought
to light in Paris under most singular circumstances, and
after undergoing the scrutiny of the first writers and
severest critics of that capital has been authenticated
as an early romance of Sir Walter Scott, which had
been the pirate property of his daughter, Miss
Anne Scott, as is also attested by a letter found along
with the manuscript of the romance. It is in 25 chap-
ters, and will form three volumes similar to Waverley.
The titles of the chapters are, 1. The Inundation ; 2.
The Incantation ; 3. The Council Chamber ; 4. The
Crown and Anchor ; 5. Marsden Rocks ; 6. The Two
Kings ; 7. The Seal ; 8. Private Conferences ; 9. The
Borderere ; 10. Durham ; 11. Ettrick Shaws ; 12. The
Golden Cross ; 13. The Lion's Mouth; 14. Sherwood ;
15. Ingleborough ; 16. The Utrid ; 17. The Storm ;
18. The Fire ; 19. The Arbour ; 20. The Wreck ; 21.
The Three Knights ; 22. The Caverns ; 23. The Wool-
pack ; 24. The Moot Hall ; 25. Conclusion. The story
is interesting, full of incident and lively description ; is
rapidly and forcibly told, and more dramatic iu its style
than almost any other of Sir Walter's works, whilst the
portraits of the two kings, Jahn, of England, and Wil-
liam, the lion of iscotland, are admirably drawn, and
placed in fine contrast. The proprietor of the manu-
script, we understand,
in consequence of an incredulity
on the part of publishers, which has gone the length even
of refusing to examine the manuscript itself; purposes to
publish the work himself, and to give the surplus which
may arise out of the first edition to the " Patriotic
Fund." Thus the public will be constituted the judges,
and not one copy more will be printed than is actually
demanded by public opinion. To this end, the Union
Lank of London, acting for Messrs. Gil and Co., bankers
at Paris, mandatories of the proprietor, M. de Saint
Maurice Cabany, 91, Boulevard Beaumarchais, Presi-
dent of the Society of Archivists of France, is autho-
rised to receive subscriptions and to grant receipts.
The price of the work, in three vela , Bvo., handsomely
printed, will b 3 305.; four copies will be supplied, car-
riage free, for Si. Thus, any bookseller, on receiving
orders for four copies, on paying 51. to his banker, who
will advise through the usual channels of the Union
Bank of London, will receive in return, immediately on
publication, the four copies subscribed for. On the
prompt and liberal reception, then, by the public cf this
handsome arrangement on the part of the proprietor, will
depend the amount of the sum to be paid over to the
"Patriotic Fund ;" and it will be none of the least re-
markable incidents of the extraordinary times in which
we live to find the Author of " Waverley " a large con-
tributor to the fund iu aid of the brave armies near suf-
fering all the privations and hardships of war in the
Crimea. -

TEA PARTY IN AID OF THE PATRIOTIC FUND.—The
Shrewsbury Journal has an account of a "monster tea
party" held on New Year's-day, in the district of
Ilorsehay -and- Dawley, in -aid of tire Patriotic Fund.
The proc,?.eds of the tea party was expected to amount
to 1.27 e:, after all iiacidental expeuts had been paid.

LETTERS FROM THE CRIMEA.

EXTRACT FROM THE LETTER OF AN
OFFICER AT SEBASTOPOL.
We have now been more than two months at this
work, and I had hoped ere this that Sebastopol would
have fallen, but it still holds out, with every propect
of
doing so for some time yet. Indeed, nothing but the
bayonet, I believe, will take it, and the sooner we make
our assault the better, for it is quite impossible that we
can go on much longer the way that we are doing. You
will expect me to give some description of Sebastopol, but
it is not easy to do so without reference to a map. Our
position, then, before the place is as follows :—At the
distance of perhaps half a mile from the Careening Bay,
in a south-easterly direction, stands a round tower, or
rather what was one formerly, for our artillery have
battered it all to pieces—around which the Russians
have thrown up extensive earthworks, armed with ship
guns. This tower was originally- whitewashed, but the
Russian-s, like cunning fellows as they are, painted it a
detp dun: colour, the Letter to remark the earthworks
which surround it, and which they have faced lately
with abettis, or stakes and boughs of trees driven
into the ground. Fronting this, and in a direct
tion near y south south-west, we have thrown up a
heavy battery of 21 guns, to which we have given the
name, ie cempliment to our gallant. Allies, of " French-
nrau', bill. Tine Lattcry is distant, perhaps, 1,209
yards from the dockyard creek, along the front of
wheli the Russians have thrown up a large earthwork
in tt.e form of a right angle, called a cedar, and an-
ot
other,
Bar to which our engineers have applied the name
" rack Battery." Next to Frenchman's-hill,
„„e on the opposite side of a deep ravine running down
into ti!, dockyard creek, is another heavy battery,
denominated " Green-hill," beyond which the French
hues commence, which extend from that to "Arrow
Bay on the sea. Fronting the French lines, front
which they are distant now only four or five
hundred yards, the Russians have thrown up two heavy
earthworks, called, in the language of the camp, the
"Summer-house "and " Flag-staff " batteries. These
terminate the chain of Russian earthworks, but they
have a large stone battery on the extreme right near the
sea, which is likely to give the French some trouble be-
fore it is taken. Beyond Frenchman's-hill and more to
the right we had another five gun battery of 61-pound-
ers, commanding the left face of tke Round Tower,
but they have removed four of the guns to Green-hill,
where they have done great execution to the barracks and
thehouses on that side of the town. When first we opened
tire the Russians had a large three-deeker, called the
Twelve Apostles, moored in the dockyard creek, at the
mouth of the ravine between Frenchman's-hill and
Green-hill batteries, but they soon shifted it out of that
to prevent its being set on fire, which it would have
been to a certainty bad it remained in the same place
Since then also they have concealed all their shipping in
the Careening Bay, at the back of the Round Tower,
where they are effectually hid from observation, and
protected from the fire of our guns, unless a stray shot
goes near them. The entrance of the harbour is only.
eight hundred yards across, and is defended on the north
side by forts Constantine and Catherine, and on the south
side by forts Alexander, St. Nicholas, and Panl, mount-
ing I should be afraid to say how many guns, but you
may be able to form some estimate of their number
when I tell you that fort St. Nicholas, which is the
largest, mounts 192 alone. Above Fort Constantine,
and on the north side, is a small fort, which the navy
have given the name of the " Wasp's Fort," and a large
earthwork called the "Star Fort," which I expect will give
as some trouble to take, even after this side is taken,
unless we can starve the garrison out, which we
shall certainly attempt. The Russians have a
large army assembled there, with which they made as
attack on our right flank on the sth of this month,
where the camp of the Second Division, S'r de Lacy
Evans's, rests on the valley of Inkerman. This action,
to which Lord Raglan has given the name of " the
Battle of Inkerman," is the severest that we have had
yet, more so than Alma, as it began at 7 o'clock in the
morning, and raged without ceasing until 4 in the after-
noon. lam afraid to say what our losses have been,
but that of the Russians is variously estimated, from
12,000 to 11,000, which is rather under than
above the mark, incredible as it may seem.
The Russians bad at least fifty thousand men en-
gaged that day, and brought up nearly a hundred
guns to bear upon our position, consisting chiefly of 24
and 32-pounders, which put our modest little field-pieces,
so to speak, to the blush. However, two 18-pounders
which we brought up late in the day did good execution,
and mowed down their crowded ranks like corn before
the sickle. Indeed I never saw such frightful carnage
in my life, not even at Alma, when the 23d lost
so many, and could not have believed it possible
that the dead could lie so thick together, if I had
not witnessed it with my own eyes. As fur the
numbers of muskets and bayonets, brass caps, great-
coats, cartouch-boxes, cartridges,grapeshot, cannon-balls,
fragments of shell, and dead horses lying upon the
growl, they ex7eeded all calculation. The Russians evi-
dently came for a lengthened stay on the heights, as they
brought up a quantity of faecines and gabions to entrench
themselves with, in which design they were grievously
disappointed, and had to leave then, all behind when
they retired, besides 4 ammunition waggons, which we
found filled full of shot, and purpose sending back to
them the next time we meet. If ever they had a chance
of thrashing us it was then, as a dense fog hung about
the hills, which enabled them to get their guns into
position, and to assemble their forces unperceived, yet no
people ever failed more completely.
The 2,1 Division was taken first by surprise, and had '
hardly time to seize their arms and to fill in before the
ereiny was upon them. To add to their confusion, when
:hay came to discharge their arms, not more than
one in five would go off after the wanting of the previous
night, when it, rained iii torrents. However, they held
their ground like trumps until the other Division came
up, and succeeded in inflicting severe loss upon their
opponents, who lied been led to uxpeet that they would
meet with little or no opposition from us. The Empe-
ror's two sons, Constantine and Nicholas, were both on
the ground, but took precious good care, I have no
doubt, not to expose themselves more than they could
help. My regiment was one of the first up, and upon
being ordered to charge, dashed forward with such spirit
that we got completely surrounded. Fortunately, a
panic seized the Russians, who ran away like a flock of
sheep, and we were enabled to return in comparative
safety, or we should have bean cut to pieces. As it was,
we lost a fifth, of our numbers, but were the
means of saving four of our guns which the
artillery had already abandoned as no longer ten-
able. The hardest fighting decidedly was around a
two gun-battery on the extreme right of our line, where
I counted five hundred dead Russians in a space that yen
could hardly put fifty. The Culdstreams, who defended
this position, had eight officers, and I don't know how
many men, ci uelly butchered, in cold blood, by the Rus-
sians, after they had been left wounded on the ground,and
consequently could do nothinc, to defend themselves.
Most of the prisoners were found to be quitedrunk, which
is a common practice of the Russians to give them false
courage ; however it did nut answer, if they expected
them to gain the victory. Another practice, too, of
theirs is to station battalions in the rear will orders to
fire on those in front in case they attempt to run back,
which was done both at Alma and Inkerman—so at
least their deserters declare. The troops that we fought
at Inkerman were very different to those we met
at Alma, who were really fine able-bodied men,
with light hair and eyes, and high checked
bones, very like the Scotch, whereas the former
looked half starved, and had the most villanous
expressions of countenance. Many of them had come
all ibe way from the Danube, and had been three
months on the march. They are still encamped on the
other side of the Inkerman valley, but are not likely to
renew their attack on that quarter, which the Ftench
are busy fortifying. A battalion of French rendered
material assistance at Inkerman, and drove the
Russians before them like chaff before the wind,
since which our men can never inset them with-
out shouting, " Bravo la France !" to which the
others say, "le brave Anglais." The silence and
gloom of our encampment contrasts strongly with
the noise of theirs, which is often enlivened by the
strains of one of their military bands. The fact is,. when
we landed in the Crimea all our instruments were left
on board ship, and the bandsmen being required to carry
about stretchers for the sick and wounded, it has not
been thought worth while to send for them. I could
relate many amusing anecdotes of the sailors who have
camps next ours, but must leave them to another oppor-
tunity.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DI Y.)

LONDON, Jan. 4.—Wind this day at Noon, W.N.W.;
find weather. - • •

FALMOUTH, Jan. 3.—Wind, N.W. Arrived—Ame-
rican, from Akyab ; Royal Rose, and Sinope, from Con-
stantinople.
PLYMOUTH, Jan. 3.—Wind, N.W. Arrived—Amelia,
from Oran ; Teneriffe, Patras; Hooghly, Australia ; Gio-
vanni, Trieste. _ _

PORTSMOUTH, Jan. 3.—Wind, N.W. Sailed—Rose;
Ellis, and Kaffirland, for Sydney, N.S.W.; Euphrates,
New Zealand ; Speedy, New South Wales ; Yorktown,
New York ; Clyde (s), Crimea ; Azores Packet, Malta.
DOVER, Jan. 3.—Wind, W.N.W. Arrived—Alfred,
from St. Michael's, for London, towed in disrnasted, and
very leaky, having been in collision with a barque, off
Dover, in the morning.
TORBAY, Jan. 2.--Sailed—Great Northern (s), for the
Crimea.

GLOUCESTER, Jan. 2.—Arrived—Counteß of Durham,
from Quebec. .

Idii,FonD, Jan. 3.—Wind, N. V. Arrived—Ch,istian
Charlotte, from Cyprus, for the Clyde; Highland Mary,
Alexandria, for Cork. Sailed—Helen Mauro, for Rio
Janeiro ; dommeree and Ereto. Constantinople.
Stephen
andt USE4ErNatI,.°I;;NO alniio2.o-22(ltd; N.A.l%;ionA,rrSi‘t.e.d.iiehael's;
Phoenix, Callao.

(PER ELECTRIC.' TELEGRApH.)
LivEnrooL, Thursday Morning,

Ebro (s s).
Wind,
ived—Devar, from Calcutta ; Pomona, Bonny; City
-steanicr Iwperador, from Brazil.
Taragona.
Sailed—Nova 'Balla, for Rio Janeiro; Centurion, for
of
oPfarlacels.,
New York-.
Cllbc