The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC .NU.RNALS.

(From the Times of this day,
Our own great Captain has record ' the follow-
ing opinion, which would hardly n ed enforcing
id
except at a time when we appeared in lined to fight
Russia with one hand tied :—" I cannot," writes
the Duke of Wellington from St. Sever, in March,
1814,—" I cannot discover the policy 'of not hitting
one's enemy as hard as one can, and! in the most
vulnerable place. lam certain that he would not
act so by us if he had the opportunity." We are
therefore extremely glad to learn Trom Prince
Gortschakoff, who at present provid the British
public with telegraphic intelligence, t at the allied
fleets have appeared in great force b fore Odessa,
so long spared, and that an immedi te bombard-
ment of the Russian Liverpool is or hourly ex-
pected. We are certain that the enemy would not
spare Liverpool if he had the opportunity of laying
it in ashes, and it is no small satisfaction to learn
from the enemy's Commander-in-Chief that the
fleets, so long idle, are about to hit the Russians
" as hard as they can, and in the most vulnerable
place."
We are the more obliged to Prince 'Gortschakoff
for his promptness on this occasion, f r it seems to
be the opinion of the British official orld that the
li
public has feasted largely on milita intelligence,
and can now content itself with Lent n fare. Lord
Panmure has ceased to be a corresp dent of the
press, and, were it not for the reflects and sema-
phores of the Russian Government, , the country
would know little of what passes at tNe seat of war.
The enlightened West is now 24 houies behind St.
Petersburg in the receipt of intelligence. This
,mystery on the part of our Ministers may nourish
hopes of some striking military event ; the great-
ness and originality of the General's plans may
justify concealment until they have ; insured suc-
cess. So far the silence would be satisfactory. But
we cannot forget that this secrecy commenced im-
mediately on the fall of Sebastopol, while we learn
from our correspondent that up tot the 25th of
September nothing of importance had been under-
taken. It appears, then, that for more than a
fortnight concealment was not proi3ipted by the
magnitude of passing events. Even the Russian
despatches, which, for some reason beit'known to
the Czar's advisers, seem to give great importance
to every movement of the Allies, mention
no serious encounter or any imminent attack.
The conclusion seems just that a new policy has
been adopted either by the General or the Go-
vernment at home. We can, howevr, hardly be-
lieve that the Ministers of the Crounii are kept in
ignorance of affairs, full details of which are neces-
sary to enable them to meet the arm s wants, and
it remains therefore to be inferred th the Govern-
ment at home intends that the , Tic shall no
longer participate in the intelligence hich is daily
..
b.
eceived.
We cannot but regret a change which seems
likely to be productive of no good effect. The in-
terest felt in the war and the willingness in all
classes to strive and suffer for its success has been
in a high degree due to the comparative openness
with which the Government made the public its
confidant, and, possessing the means Of speedy in-
telligence, has allowed every Englishman to be, in
a certain sense, present at the opeila.tions before
Sebastopol. It is certain that the Government
(rained more by such a course than if it had
:7ffectecl the mystery in which secondtrate officials
delight. When the telegraph was fi4st laid down
there were not wanting those who anticipated evil
from so speedy a transmission of news. It was
thought that Cabinets would interfere strategically,
and that to satisfy public curiosity secrets of im-
portance would be divulged to the country and the
enemy._ That such fears have proved empty need
not be said. The public at home has only been
made acquainted with what was fully known in
both the camps. The firmness with which the
nation bore delay and disaster and the spirit with
which it rose above them have been mainly duo to
the completeness of its information. > ach man, in
fact, took a cheerful view of affairs, because he was
certain that he knew the worst. TI4 only argu-
ment for a change in a policy so successful is, that
then we were engaged in a siege, but now in a cam-
paign. A short reflection will show, however,
that in a siege early intelligence to the enemy is
more dangerous than in the open field. The for-
mation of new batteries, the position Of magazines
and mines, the preparations for a cannonade, which
must be commenced weeks before, are all matters
in which a General may suffer by he accurate
knowledge of his enemy. But in the eyer-changing
operations of a campaign it is impossible that the
announcement of what has taken place days before
can benefit the hostile commander. The war in.
the Crimea is not on the territorial scale of Napo-
leon's invasions ; the hosts aro numerqus, but they
are concentrated on a small space ; it is a duel in
close lists. A few hours is sufficient for a horse-
man to carry to Prince Gortschakoff the news of a
landing at Eupatoria or Kaffa. There is no reason
to fancy that he will be indebted to Ilnglish jour-
nals for any news that will be serviceable. It is,
therefore, indubitably the duty of the Government
to keep the public informed of what c.. 11 be known
without injury. The confidence created by such a
course has a good effect in checking panic and
discouraging speculation. To be early acquainted
with events of such moment must be a benefit
to all classes of the people. There ,is no wish
to penetrate into military secrets • in fact, we
rather doubt whether the Britishl General haei
any secrets to keep. Let our Generals form their
plans and keep their counsel ; but actual occur-
rences and the state of the army may well be com-
municated by more speedy means than the Medi-
terranean steamers. Why were we indebted to the
French for the account of the cavalry affair at Eu-
patoria, and to the Russians for the appearance of
the fleet before Odessa ?
But, as we have said before, in default of other
information, we must have recourse to Prince
Gortschakoff. A telegraphic despatch from St.
Petersburg states that the allied fleet left Kamiesh
on the 7th, and arrived off Odessa early on the
ensuing day. It was expected that something
more than a demonstration was to take place, and
that a bombardment would commence the next
morning. The town of Odessa is stated to have
been more strongly fortified since the affair 18
months since ; but it is not likely that any batte-
ries erected in this interval will be able to resist
he fire of so powerful a fleet. Odessa is, however,
from the construction of its buildings, well calcu-
lated to sustain the effects even of what is called a
vertical fire. From the abundance of stone and
the scarcity of wood the houses are constructed of
solid masonry, even the floors being formed of
bricks laid on massive arches. The consequences
of a bombardment are therefore uncertain ; loss of
life and a great destruction of' propertywill no
‘
doubt follow, but whether the town can be
reduced
without the aid of a land force must be a matter of
'of
doubt. From the Crimea the communicative P, te;-
sian General has nothing particular to tell. lle
sends a despatch on the 7th, and makes no mention
of a change. It may therefore be concluded that
the month which has elapsed since the fall of
Sebastopol has been devoted by the allied Gene-
rats to plans and preparations. We think we could
name a great General who fought and won at Jena,
who would not have waited a whole month to
count his trophies before he struck another
blow. If he had, the Russians would have
been in Berlin before him. The plans of the Gene-
rals of course, are secret ; but, so far as the British
force. is concerned, even their preparations have
escaped the notice of vigilant observers. We can-
not doubt the determination of the commanders to
crown their victory by the expulsion of the Rus-
sians from the Crimea, if possible, within the pre-
sent year, but it is well known that the time has
arrived when the commencement of heavy rains
may be daily expected. From the middle of Oc-
tober the continuance of fine weather for a week
cannot be predicted. Last year the wet season did
not commence until after the battle of Inkerman,
but sometimes there is a rainy October and a fine
November. The state even of military roads dur-
ing such a season is so bad as to impede all but the
lightest guns and waggons, and the events of last
year remind us what will be the condition of the
cross-roads and horse-tracks of the peninsula. The
Russians did, indeed, make campaigns against the
Tartars during the winter months, but such war-
fare can hardly be a precedent for modern armies
with their heavy field guns and long trains of
waggons. All these matters make the public
anxious to learn the latest news. It is no feeling
of mere curiosity, it is no appetite for the details 1
of war which makes them seek the columns of the
daily journals, and turn away disappointed. Men
as patriotic and reflecting as any begin to tire of
this unnecessary silence, which, if continued, will
have no small effect on the spirits of the people.
It is not a light thing to thwart the nation's legi.
timate desire to be informed of its own affairs and
to abandon it to the enemy for information, for it
is notorious that the great enthusiasm shown by
the English for the war has been due to that full
and accurate information which even our allies
have wanted. Should the present system last, the
public of thin country may be found at some
future time of trial less patient under calamity
nd eacri ticee.

(Front the Morning Advertiser of this day.)
Among the many objections which were made
to the Royal Marriage Act of 1772, while the mea-
sure was under debate, there is only one that the
circumstances of the present times show to have
oeen of sufficient importance to have demanded a
better consideration ; for it was 004,„d in vain.
It NrAS., th-ithat the hill provides no security
against the improper marriages of princesses, mar-

ried into foreign families and those of their issue,
which may fully as materially affect the interest of
this nation as the marriages of princes residing in
the dominions of Great Britain. The only reply to
it that we can find is of a very general nature—
that the inconvenience is purely imaginary, and
that if any material grievance should ensue from
the act, it can at any time be easily repealed..
The possibility intimated, however, is of very little
value, when the issue of a princess of England by
her foreign husband unites with the enemy of this
country.
By the act of 12 and 13 Wil. 111. c. 2, there is
only a conditional right to the throne vested in
" the heirs and successors of the Princess Sophia,"
and, as is observed by Judge Blackstone, in his full
and able argument on the elective nature of the '
British monarchy, the use of the word "successors"
along with heirs, shows that it regards the power
of the Legislature to change the line of descent,
on the violation of the condition, which is, that
the monarch shall be a Protestant and not marry
a Roman Catholic without forfeiting the Crown.
Since this, act, both princes and princesses have
marriedinto all the Royal families of the Con-
tinent, and England has ever since been more
or less mixed up with politics and interests
with which she has no natural concern. There
is nothing in the Marriage Act to prevent unions
with Roman Catholics ; and when that takes place,
although the Act of William remains in force, an
interest is introduced in the Court, which is at
variance with the liberties of this country. So there
is nothing in the Marriage Act to prevent the mar-
riage of a prince or princess of England which is
related by a multitude of intermarriages with the
deadliest enemy of the country ; and this can be
done without incurring the serious penalty of the
act to limit the succession to Protestants.

Through frequent intermarriages with the petty
Princes of Germany a German interest prevails in
the Court ; and as the policy of those Princes, or
more probably their unpatriotic servility, inclines
them to Russia, the present war is heartily sup-
ported by none but the people of England. Prussia
is, perhaps, of all the states of Europe the one
most entangled by intermarriages with the Imperial
Family of Russia, and must naturally be disposed
to advance the interests of Russia, at the cost of
England and every other civilised nation. At this
very moment, Prussia, which has abetted Russia
from the commencement of the war, while pretend-
ing to observe a neutrality, is enabling the Czar to
defeat the blockade, and is consequently not a
neutral Power, but an active ally of our enemy.
At Memel, and another port in East Prussia, on
the Baltic, the greatest activity prevails among the
merchants, who are engaged in forwarding Russian
produce to all parts of the world in Prussian ves-
sels, which, of course, return laden with munitions
of war of every description. The ports in question
lie within a very few miles of the Russian terri-
tories, so that while we are expending immense
treasures in an attempt to blockade Russia, and
flattering ourselves that by stopping her commerce
we are cutting off her resources, Prussia is as ac-
tive in rendering the blockade abortive, extending
Russian commerce wherever it is possible, and
providing her with all the means in her power to
defeat England and France. It is a question, there-
fore, which admits of solution from commercial re-
turns of exports and imports, whether Prussia is
not really doing, with her own free will, more
harm to the allies by her hypocritical conduct than
Russia with all the means of hostile aggression at
her command ?

A neutral power is not a friendly power ; it is
simply one not hostile, and bound by the laws of
nations neither to assist nor molest either of the
belligerent States, in respect to which the position of
neutrality is acknowledged by them. For a power,
to which the rights of neutrality are conceded, to
augment the resources of one of the belligerents,
by carrying on his commerce in defeat of a block-
ade, is to take as real a part in the war as if it were
done with fleets and armies. This Prussia has
been doing from the first, and is doing at the pre-
sent moment ; she is, therefore, not a neutral
power, but an ally of Russia, and an active enemy
of England.- Explanations of this conduct ought
to be demanded without delay, by a fleet of men-
of-war, with instructions to commence warlike ope-
rations if they refused ; but if given, and found
unsatisfactory, then a declaration of war should be
proclaimed in the usual manner.
It is strange—passing strange, that at this time,
and under these untoward circumstances, there
should be rumours of an alliance between a Prin-
cess
of England and a Prince of Prussia. If they
are owing to a friend of the Royal Family, his in
discretion is unexampled in the history of this
country, which neither can nor will sacrifice its
vital interests to the desires of partisans of its ene-
mies. We see by the history of the descent of the
Crown that much less has sufficed to change the
line of succession, and we are, therefore, more sea-
, sitively alive to the folly of those partisans of the
enemy, if they be sincere, or their treachery to the

Royal 'Family-, if insincere. Nothing will conduce
so much to restore the confidence of the nation as
demanding explanations of Prussia, and compelling
her to take au open part on one side or the other.
That she will prefer the enemy is to be expected,
from the intermarriages, which are too numerous
to be disregarded. But the folly of allowing her
thus to assist our enemy in a war which must now
be continued until Russia is effectually disabled
from future aggressions can no longer be tolerated.
We have peace men, Philo-Russians, and other
enemies enough at home, without suffering the
cheat of a false neutrality to increase the diffi-
culties of hostilities, of no common magnitude,
when we have the means of putting an end to
it with perfect ease.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

CAMBRIDGE, OCT. 10.

ELECTION OF UNIVERSITY OFFICERS.

At a Congregation held this day, being the first day of
term, the undermentioned gentlemen were elected to fill
the offices to which their names are attached, for the
academical year 1855.56

PROCTORS.
Rev. Arthur Wolfe, M.A., Clare Hall.
Rev. John Spicer Wood, M.A., St. John's College.

TAXOBS.
Rev. Joseph Eflisston, M.A., Trinity College.
Rev. Charles Style Drake, M.A., Jesus College.

SCRIITATORS.
Edward Reed Theed, M.A., King's College.
Mynors Bright, M.A., President of Magdalene College.

MODERATORS.
J. Budd Phear, KA., Clare Hal!.
WM. Henry Besant, M.A., St. John's College.

At the same Congregation the following degrees were
conferred :

Masters of Arts—Jno. Thomas, Trinity College ; J.
E. Dudley and Thos. Nightingale, St. John's College ;
E. W. Pittar, Caius College ; Joshua Kirkman and
Francis Angel Smith, Queen's College ; Thos. Cheadle,
Sidney College.
Bachelors of Arts—James John Dand, Christ's Col-
lege ' • Richard Pyper, Downing College ; Frederick
York St. Leger, Corpus Christi College.