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

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURN.AL'7.

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Fro.,L y Post
That attack of th 6 Re.tee, which brought to our arms
so many of the honours of battle without thu 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 he ought to hare
recovered, and which was apparently leaving him, be-
came 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 d'scovered, 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 choler). 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 repro.
santed 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, dine pressed hard,
and General Simpson was appointed.
Now comes the great trial of the Bth inst. He, like
General Caurobert, 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 I
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 further 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 ? There was the point of honour.
There was, moreover, the diminution of the pressure
upon those who would assail the Malakhoff, and who
bad 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.

- 7
And if our storming party was numerically weak, let
the reader 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 Male,
k heff enclosuili 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.

(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 oven
amid the all-eegrossing, 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 "unchristianise 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 unquestionableimprovement, 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 renovatiotr. To
judge by such testimony, one might almost imagine that
there had 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
cost 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 org,a,aieed,
for religious purposes would furnish evidence still more
remarkable. To take a single example,—the Church
Missionary Society, which for the first ten years of its
existence—i. e., from 1798 to 1808, bad not above
1,5001. yearly income, 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 to religious
toleration would be unfavourable to religious truth.
Conscience, said a great man, is God's province, mean-
ing that it should he regarded as beyond the cognisance
.of man. If this reinciple 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? 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 Saturday was not that 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.

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 Te I)eum, 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 Sandgate, 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 memoratle 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 p-ges to the annals of the foreign Legion
by coming forward, one and all, officers and men, of
their own free win 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!.
man.