The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EvENING, OCTOBER 2 1855

LINES LEASED T FIXED RENTALS

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE MAGAZINES.

I Paid. 1

Leasing
Company

losing ?rims
yesterlity.

Baseness
this day.

( Front the Morning Post of this day.)

That attack of the Redan, which brought to our arms
so many of the honours of battle without the more con-
tingent glory of victory, has the same mysterious cha-
racter which characterised the attempt of the 18th of
June, the issue of which so weighed upon Lord Raglan's
mind that an indisposition from which be ought to have
recovered, and which was apparently leaving him, be-
cause mortal. We, too, hold the interests of our heroic
army paramount to every consideration connected with
that army ; and the instant we felt assured that
.a man
fit to lead it in the style of Marlborough, in the style of
Wellington, had been discovered, that instant we would
counsel the appointment of such a commander. An army
is not made for the General, but for it, for the army, its
General is sought and chosen. We are not anxious,
then, to invert the order of these vast interests and
values ; all we want is that justice and fairness be not
forgotten in the unkind and indiscriminate acerbity of
disappointed national pride.
When Lord Raglan was announced to be no more—
immediately after the receipt of a message which repre-
sented him as almost recovered—the sudden exigency
compelled a rapid selection of his successor. Much bad
been said—much urged with heat and energy--about
the folly of nominating men whose proofs were chiefly
associated with our home service, or remitted back
through 40 years, to an early and a doubtful period of
practical warlike probation. Those who were known
in India, it was urged, ought to fix our attention. India
was our constant gymnasium. What said our officers in
that quarter ? For whom was their voice ! In whom
had they confidence ? Meanwhile, time pressed hard,
and General Simpson was appointed.
Now comes the great trial of the Bth inst. He, like
General Canrobert, would be only too glad to yield a
place which he never wanted to occupy, and which he
accepted with reluctance, if not with misgiving. But
why with misgiving ? This requires a few words. The
English army is small compared to that of our valiant
friends, the French. In the severe labours of a period of
adversity, now passed away, it sufficed not for all the
duties which were embraced with such a brave and large-
hearted spirit. The little army was relieved ; its posts
were curtailed—and were shifted. Any place would
answer ' • any place was acceptable ; neither men nor
General would demur to our holding any one of those
stations of which all must be held. That somebody or
other must be at a particular spot was quite enough for
us. Why not the English ?
Now, we had a more rocky ground through which to
trench than fell to the lot of the indomitable men who
made their approaches to the Malakhoff. From this two
consequences followed. First, we pushed the advance
more slowly ; and, in the second place, we were forced
to content ourselves with a narrower line of excavation.
When the day of assault arrived, that is the day when
our more numerous Allies were ready for their attack,
it seemed right that we should defer to those who were
more forward ; it seemed shameful that we should clog
their movements. But were we also ready ? No. How
is this ? Fewer men and a harder soil. And how not
ready ? We were farther from the enemy, and our paral-
lels were so narrow, that supports, reinforcements, and
reserves were unable to form effectually therein. Then
why attack at all I There was the point of honour.
There was, moreover, the diminution of the pressure
upon those who would assail the Malakhoff, and who
had before helped us so well. Have we said enough ?
The French columns, who sprang into the Kerniloff
Bastion, had only from 12 to 20 yards to clear. Their
supports, who swarmed upon their track, had wide
trenches in which to form—bays, so to say, in the
parallels, easily won out of a less rocky ground.
And if our storming party was numerically weak, let
thejeader fix it well in his head that they constituted
"a forlorn hope," and the smaller such a band is (after
reaching the needful number) the better. They had
besides 215 or 220 yards to clear, instead of about 12 ;
and the 12 to which we allude were not swept by artil-
lery, whereas these 200 yards were terminated by a
raking cross-fire of grape throughout their whole interval.
Another point is still more important ; the Redan was
not like the Malakoff, a closed fort, but open behind ;
and those whom the sudden French attack found card-
playing and dice-throwing in the Malakhoff, came rush-
ing by hundreds into the Redan. Meantime the Mala-
khoff enclosure became a citadel to its conquerors, while
our forlorn assailants of the Redan stood in its pointed
exterior angle, or salient, exposed to the broad line of
fire which its base, or " hypothenuse," flung out ; cut
off from support, and far from their own unfriendly, be-
cause narrow, parallels. It is wonderful they held their
ground so long. But for them, the Malakoff might not
have been taken. They died not "in the arms of victory,"
but they helped to secure it. It is considered a great
thing to win victory, or to aid in its winning, for the
sake of honour ; what shall we say of those devoted
hearts who aided in its winning without the honour, and
without a hope of it ?
As to General Simpson, let all who judge him first
put themselves mentally in his place.

Blackwood.— The eleventh instalment of the
charming romance of "Zaidee" brings us at last to
that crisis in the plot in which the great secret of
the story trembles on the verge of revelation. So
imminently, indeed, that the poor little brown
Zaidee that was, grown now, after the lapse of these
seven years of concealment, into the beautiful
Elizabeth Cumberland, half meditates running
away again, and hiding herself this time if possible
effectually from the chance of recognition. The
truth is—Mary has become the betrothed of Percy
Vivian, the Great Author ; and Percy, in one of
their lovers' "confidences," has told the whole ro-
mantic history of the family to the adopted sister
of the unknown Zaidee, the heroine of the narra-
tive. The incidents recounted in the present in-
stalment take place at Malvern, whither Mr. Cum-
berland's family have removed after a brief sojourn
in London, subsequent to their staying for a while
at " Sylvo's-place' ' where they see the wonderful
Mr. Mansfield. Why they go to Sylvo's-place at
all is to us altogether unaccountable. Nothing
comes of it. We aro just toll that they go, and
that they return, and are then hurried with them
through town to the heights of Malvern. There it
is that Percy woos and wins Mary Cumberland.
And there it is that poor beautiful Elizabeth Cum-
berland otherwise Zaidee Vivian suddenly
wakens to the terror of being discovered by Percy,
and carried back after all her unavailing self-sacri-
fice to be the wealthy heiress of the dear old Grange
in Cheshire. The next part will probably bring
the whole story to a conclusion. " North and the
Noctes," a tribute from Maga to the shade of
Christopher, opens the October number of Black-
wood. It is a strange rambling comment upon the
introductory volume (recently published) of Pro-
fessor John Wilson's Noctes Ambrosiance —the
earliest and, all things considered, the greatest of
the glories of old Ebony ! This we say in no for-
getfulness of Warren's "Diary of a Late Physici an,"
or of his glorious " Ten Thousand a-Year !" Any
more than in failing memory of Lytton's exquisite
" Caxtons," or of his immortal chef dceuvre " My
Novel !" These, however, be it remembered, were
merely conveyed to us through Maga. Black-
wood's Magazine was only in their regard the
revered medium, the glorified vehicle for their
first publication. They never constituted an
integral portion of Maga herself bone of
her bone and flesh of her flesh—as was, in very
deed, the case with Wilson's inimitable " octes !"
They, as works, were simply presented to us, we
repeat, through Maga. It, whether as an entire
masterpiece, or originally as a piecemeal pub-
lication, was Maga herself Maga in all her
terrors and with all her charms—Maga in her
wit and her wisdom—Maga sublimated and trans-
figured. Samuel Philips with his coarse but vigor-
ous " Caleb Stukely "—Douglas Jerrold with his
queer fantastic " Men of Character "—Thomas
Barham (the laughter-moving Ingoldsby) with his
" Cousin Nicholas "--cum cceteris paribus were at
the best but brilliant contributors to Blackwood.
Professor Wilson—without ever having been its
editor—was its veritable impersonation. As he
himself in his proper person was the indubitable
incarnation of that " king of men," rare old Chris-
topher North. His crutch was the sceptre of
Maga. His great laugh of derision was her thun-
der. His flashes of wit her lightning. Remem-
bering all which, we turn with interest to Black-
wood's own tribute of love and admiration for his
memory, and read the paper " North and the
Noctes ' through to the last word, and close it—
strange to tell—only with a sense of bitterest dis-
appointment. The reason for which may in some
measure be discernible through the date appended
to the article by its writer, viz., " Camp before
Sebastopol, Ist September." A date which, in our
eyes, looks like an insufferable affectation. As
though the nameless contributor said to us—See
what a clever fellow I am, to be cracking jokes
like this in the midst of the roar of a bombardment.
When all the while, to ourselves, the flippant
chatter of the contribution reads like a heartless
impertinence, scribbled by vanity in the midst of
the blood and tears of a strife such as the world
has seldom before witnessed. Bearing in mind
where it was written, we have scarcely pa-
tience to listen to the errant gabble of this
most gossipping and garrulous of commenta-
tors. He pays due homage, of course, to each
of the three grand interlocutors of the Noctes
—North, and Tickler, and Shepherd ! He speaks
of the three great masters of humour in these
modern times in England, as no other than Chris-
topher North, Sam Slick, and Charles Dickens.
And so forth. But the article, though clever here
and there, is altogether an egregious failure. Not
so Major Hamley's " Story of the Campaign," the
tenth portion of which brings us this month later
down than the battle variously known as that of
the Traktir-bridge or of the Tcheinaya. Besides
the last-mentioned there are two other " continua-
tions" in Blackwood for October—part two of " The
Baltic in 1855," and part two of " Books for the
Holidays." In the last-mentioned of which serial
contributions there is a delicious sketch of the
seekers of praise, who pester the life almost out of
any well-known writers for the magazine of maga-
zines. We could almost fancy the sketch to have
been drawn in burning lines by the caustic pencil
of Professor Aytoun ! as we could positively
swear to it that the learned Recorder of Hull, and
no other, is discernible a little further on in "An
Old Contributor at the Sea-side." We can hardly
mistake the bold hand of the master, any more than
his subtle humour, his keen and watchful observa-
tion, his sly, quaint drollery, and (with evidences
like these too) his reverential awe (when occasion
permits) before Nature and her God. Other con-
tributions there are—a paper on " Centralisation,"
one on " Modern Light Literature," and another
descriptive of a journey made by Vedette from
" Madrid to Balaklava"—enough in regard to all
which is said by their mere enumeration. Some-
what curious, by the way, it is to find in this one
number of Blackwood no less than three separate
articles, dated by their writers from the Camp
before Sebastopol !

(From the Times of this day.)

The election of Mr. Alderman Salomons to the im-
portant and honourable office of Lord Mayor of London
is too significant a circumstance to be overlooked even
amid the all-engrossing topics of the war. The Alder-
men and Livery of London ought to be pretty good
judges, we think, of what constitutes a citizen, and they
have elected to the chief civic dignity—to the office of
Lord Mayor—Mr. David Salomons, Alderman and
cooper, who was, indeed, elected Sheriff of London and
Middlesex 20 years ago, but who is nevertheless a mem-
ber of the Jewish persuasion. It seems hard to deny the
full rights of citizenship to a class one of which is chosen
Lord Mayor of London. That the Jews, moreover, are
good citizens—that is to say, peaceable, orderly, and
well-disposed—has never been denied, and the honour
now conferred on Mr. Alderman Salomons is precisely
that which has always been regarded as the peculiar re-
ward of civic industry and success. Nor can the Jews
be charged with any want of wholesome conservatism.
The Lord Mayor Elect, in returning thanks for his
election, himself observed that he trusted we should
still find "that a desire for the maintenance of all old
institutions was consistent with popular rights, and,
above all, with the rights of conscience.
It used to be said that the emancipation of the Jews
would "uncluistianise the country." We do not, as we
remarked once on a former occasion, see how this argu-
ment, on which so much stress has been laid, can be
better met than by an appeal to facts. We say, without
fear of contradiction, that those opinions by virtue of
which the emancipation of the Jews has been advocated
cannot convey any indication of laxity in religious feeling
on the part of the nation, inasmuch as, so far from being
attended with any manifestations of religious indiffer-
ence in general, they have, on the contrary, been coin-
cident with marked and unquestionable improvement. In
proof of our words we refer to open evidence. Let any
person look around him, and compare what may be
termed the religious aspects of society at the present
time with what might have been seen in times past. To
deny the progress exhibited in this respect would be
impossible. In every quarter may be observed churches
recently erected or in process of erection, or old churches
restored by the most careful and zealous renovation. To
judge by such testimony, one might almost imagine that
there bad been some great revival of religious feeling—
some awakening of the public mind. From the statistics
of the last census it appears that between the years 1801
and 1831 there were built 500 new churches, and that
between 1831 and 1851 no fewer than 2,029 were added
to the existing number ; while of the total estimated
oust of 9,087,0001. incurred upon these fabrics, no less
than 7,423,5711. was contributed by private benefaction.
The numbers and funds of the various societies organised
for religious purposes would furnish evidence still more
remarkable. To take a single examples—the Church
Missionary Society, which for the first ten years of its
existence—i. e., from 1798 to 1808, had not above
1,5001. yearly incense, has now 120,0001. We need not,
however, multiply these quotations, as the observation
of every reader may convince him of the truth of our
argument, and of the fact that religious feeling has been
strengthened, and not impaired, during the progress of
political liberality.
With such evidence before us there can be no grounds
for apprehending that opinions favourable th religious
toleration would be unfavourable to religious truth.
Conscience, said a great man, is God's province, mean-
ing that it should be regarded as beyond the cognisance
of man. If this principle could only be carried _out at
the cost of sincerity or zeal, it would be deplorable in-
deed, but fortunately no such perils are in the way.
Look at the instance furnished in the case of Roman
Catholic emancipation. Did that concession make the
nation less Protestant I We venture to say that never
could there have been a more genuine, hearty, or uni-
versal expression of real Protestant feeling than was
called forth 21 years after the Emancipation Act by the
Papal aggression in 1850. No observer of that demon-
stration could ever have doubted that England was Pro.
testant to the backbone, and we believe that the Chris-
tianity of the nation is just as little liable to be affected
by the emancipation of the Jews. In the present day
we can show our zeal for religion by other methods than
those of excluding from civil privileges those who differ
from us in belief ; nor is it likely to be considered that
the city of London is in any degree less Christian than
it was before its chief magistrate was a Jew. What was
shown by the election on Saturdaywas not tbat the
electors were indifferent to Christianity, but that they
were unwilling to allow a difference in religious belief to
exclude a fellow-citizen from the honours which he bad
deserved.

The Dublin, of course, has its say about " The
Plan of the War," and says it well. Disapproval
is expressed of the past, and useful suggestions made
for the future. " The Fortunes of Glencore" ad-
vances three chapters (the last sufficiently exciting)
without making much progress. The writer of
" The Civil Service" regards the late semi-official
plan of reform somewhat distrustingly, andintimates
that desirable as competitive examination may be,
more will be required to cure the evils that prevail
in the service, and which have been productive of
so much mischief. " Notes of a Yacht Cruise from
Forth to Clyde" will be interesting to amateur
sailors. In " The Dramatic Writers of Ireland,
No. V III.," we are presented with nervous
sketches of Thomas Moore, the Rev. C. R. Maturm,
and Sir Aubrey De Vero, Bart., and notices of
their dramatic works, the productions of the latter
studded here and there with rich poetic fancies,
being exclusively confined to the enacted drama.
A paper on the " Origin of the Russians" is quite
apropos at the present time. A lady contributor,
Mary C. J. March, supplies some stirring lines ;
besides which there is a variety of matter of a more
or less entertaining nature.

Colburn's United Service.—" The Disastrous
Storming of Sebastopol " is the subject of severe
comment. " The attack," it is said, "was not only
a mistake : it was a botch, badly planned, badly
directed, and wholly unsustained. ' What is now
wanted for the conduct of the war, the indignant
writer declares, is secrecy, or at any cost a practi-
cable administration at home, and the reconstruc-
tion of the War Department, which, with the
Ordnance, should be placed in the charge of an
experienced soldier. Nothing like leather! Exeunt
Lord Panmure and Mr. Russel of the Times ! In
addition to a number of professional articles will
be found an interesting description of one which
was witnessed in " The Woolwich Arsenal and the
Marshes," on the occasion of the visit of Lord
Panmure, Mr. F. Peel, and Mr. Monsell, and the
other of "Liverpool Twenty-five Years Ago," (a
continuation). The editor, in his " Portfolio,"
suggests that the Duke of Cambridge has fairly
earned a Field-Marshalship, and that the claims of
Sir G. Brown, Sir J. Burgoyne, and others who
have distinguished themselves during the siege of
Sebastopol, should not be overlooked.

BRITISH GERMAN LEGION.—Last Sunday, being the
day fixed for the public thanksgiving to the Almighty
for the brilliant success of the allied armies in the East,
the troops of the German Legion in camp at Shorncliffe,
amounting to about 3,400 men, paraded for that pur-
pose, under the command of Colonel Wooldridge. The
different regiments formed one hollow square. The
prescribed prayer was read, the Tc Deign was sung, and
a most impressive sermon was delivered by the chaplain,
Immediately afterwards the greater portion of the offi-
cers of the force accompanied their gallant commander
to the established church at Saudgate, where they joined
the English congregation in returning thanks for the vic-
tories gained by their brave comrades in arms. The offi-
cers and soldiers of the First Brigade of Infantry, while
bitterly disappointed at not having had the good fortune
to be present upon the memorable occasion for which they
assembled to celebrate a feast of thanksgiving, have
hearts that can feel for the desolated hearths of those who
fell in this glorious struggle. They have added one of
the brightest pages to the annals of the foreign Legion
by coming forward, one and all, officers and men, of
their own free and accord, to give their Sunday's
pay for the benefit of the widows and orphans of their
English comrades who fell at the capture of Sebastopol.
This noble conduct on the part of our foreign soldiers
needs no comment ; it carries with it its own force, and
will no doubt be deservedly appreciated by every English-
Inane

Bentley's Miscellany presents its accustomed
variety, an article on the fall of Sebastopol leading
the way. "Woman in Turkey" describes the un-
enviable condition of the sex there. " War Critics"
demonstrates that discordances of opinion in rela-
tion to the war have not been confined to ama-
teurs, but have at once as amusingly and painfully
been exhibited by military authorities. "The
Wehr Wolf of Wilton-crescent " is an amusing and
somewhat extravagant contribution by Dudley
Coitello. " Another Passage in a Dark Story
possesses a painful and suggestive interest. "Music
and Song " is the title of a charming ode by T. E.
Carpenter. Some instructive particulars are given„
respecting " Nicholaief, Kherson and Perecop.
In connection with the former, it would appear
that though it is the seat of immense storehouses
and dockyards, in which all the Russian fleet in
the Black Sea is built, and which give support to
a population of 10,000 or 12,000 souls, the timber
for ship-building comes chiefly down the Dnieper,
and thus has to be conveyed down to the sea before
it can be passed into the Bug, and upwards to
Nicolaief. " The town of Nicolaief was, before
the war," we are told, "quite undefended, except
Iby a wall, built, not for military, but for police