The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-22 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

This Day—Morn. 25 min. aft. 11—Evening 0 min. aft. 0
TO-MORROW—lliern.s4 min. aft.ll —Evening 19 min. aft. 12

THE WEATHER.-SIIN OFFICE, Oct. 21.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.

63—highest since neon yesterday.
57—lowest this morning and during the night.
62—this day st noon.
BAROMETER, 30'19.

Wpm Westerly.—Fresh, with heavy clouds and sprink-
ling of rain in the evening.

OCTOBER 22.
62—highest since noon yesterday.
55 —lowest this morning and during the night.
62 —this day at noon.

Bsitordirrica, 30/8.

WIND, S.W.—Light. In the morning it was N.E.,
with slight rain. Now very fine.

3"~~

~lic

SIMI,

"

Tr. .. . . .'a , :

LONDON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1855.

DEATH OF SIR WM. MOLESWORTH.

It is with deep regret that we have to an-
nounce the melancholy intelligence of the death
of the Right Hon. Sir WILLIAM MoLzswortan,
her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the
Colonial Department. A very formidable attack
of peritonitis was, we believe, the immediate cause
of this deplorable event. There is, however,
but too much reason to fear that the devoted and
indefatigable attention which he bestowed on the
duties of his office greatly accelerated, if it did
not occasion, the melancholy event. The attack
set in with such terrible force that from the first
moment of advice being taken, but little hope
remained of the recovery of the distinguished
patient. It would be a sad catastrophe at
any time, but it is peculiarly so at the
present time, when the assistance of
every true-hearted Englishman was required.
The Colonies will also have abundant reason to
lament the premature death of a Statesman
who had studied their condition closely, and
was thoroughly earnest in his desire to ren-
der complete justice to our dependencies
in every quarter of the globe, and to do all in his
power to develop° their resources. Men of
all classes and conditions will feel the mag-
nitude of the calamity, and sympathise with
w
his bereaved family, who have sustained a
loss in every respect so irreparable.

In our impression of Saturday we briefly
ipression
alluded to the important achievement, of which
official intelligence had just been received—which
placed one of the pillars of the strongly-guarded
gate to Nicolaieff and to ICherson, the chief ar-
senal and granary of Southern Russia, in our
hands. The brilliant and important exploit was
most judiciously managed, so that our triumph
was unalloyed by any serious loss. Three forts,
1,500 prisoners, and 70 guns are the immediate
results of the operation. But far greater rewards
await us if we only follow up our successes fairly,
and seek to obtain the legitimate fruits of the good
seed so carefully sown. We now command the
estuary of the Bong and Dnieper, completely cut
off the sea entrance to the greatest stations still
remaining to Russia, from which she has hitherto
been enabled to provide the army of the Crimea
with men, provisions, and the munitions of
war. But this is only an infinitesimal
portion of the substantial advantages of the trans-
action. It is the valuable position which we
occupy, and which enables us to turn against
Russia the formidable weapon she has so fre-
quently resorted to and with such striking effects.
Kinbourn may now be regarded as a standing
menace to Nicolaieff and to Kherson, while the
maritime commerce of the entire districts watered
by the Bong, the ancient boundary of Russia, and
the Dnieper, is hermetically sealed up. These
magnificent "silent highways" are now compara-
tively useless to Russia, and all its produce must
be transported by laud carriage. It is unneces-
sary to expatiate on the enormous difficulties and
embarrassment which must necessarily be occa-
sioned by this serious • • privation, which must bl
continued so long as Kinbourn is
occupied by the
Allied troops, and protected by an Allred Fleet 1
The manner in which this brilliant exploit was
accomplished must materially enhance the gratifi-
will be received=
cation With which the glad tidings

It was not merely that the Allied squadrons suc-
ceeded in rendering a strong fortification on which
great expense and labour was lavishly employed,
untenable—that they could do if enabled to come
within reasonable distance—but the enemy had
manifestly placed considerable reliance on the
shallowness of the water, which, as they vainly
supposed, would prevent the larger class of vessels
from interfering in the contest. They were, how-
ever, bitterly disappointed. Sir E. LYONS ex-
tended NELSON'S axiom, " that where there was
water for an enemy's ship to swing at anchor,
there was also room for an English vessel of
equal size to float beside her." He made
his calculations so nicely that the steam
line-of-battle ships anal frigates were
enabled to participate in the bombardment,
although, in some instances, there were but two
feet of water under their keels l This is a remark-
able feature in the transaction, deserving of pe-
culiar notice, and which has perhaps never been
paralleled in the annals of naval warfare. The
line has frequently been drawn very close, but
never within our recollection so exceedingly fine
as on the present occasion, and it is to that judi-
cious and well-calculated bravery that we are in-
debted for the completeness of our comparatively
bloodless triumph.
There is nothing, literally nothing, to prevent
the occasion from being fully improved. Our
only fear is with respect to the instructions from
"My Lords." If Sir EDMUND LYONS and his
coadjutors be left to themselves, and permitted
to act in accordance with their own judgment and
enterprise, Nicolaieff will be completely destroyed,
the Portsmouth of Southern Russia will be ren-
dered incapable of producing substitutes for the
fleet now blocking up the bay of Sebastopol ; and
Kherson, the storehouse of the Crimea, can no
longer supply the wants of its starving army.
The important co-operation of the land troops can
also be obtained. There is an admirable military
road betwen the towns, which would admit of
any movements of troops that may seem desirable,
and the possession whereof would completely cut
off the communication between them.

While so much has been accomplished in the
Euxine, we look with greater regret—a stronger
term may possibly be applicable—to what sports-
men would term the " blank season" in the
Baltic. There the most powerful fleet that evor
sailed from a British port has enjoyed
inglorious ease. It certainly made the Rus-
sian ships stay at home, and prevented
them from enjoying many excursions during
the summer, but a much smaller force would have
done the same thing, and could, perhaps, have
given a better account of Sweaborg than is within
the power of Admiral DIINDAS to render. We
cannot record our complete approbation of half
measures, and although willing to make ample
allowance for the deplorable deficiency of
gun-boats and mortar-vessels, we cannot see
but that the work well begun might
have been properly finished. Besides there
were many other points inviting attack, even if
Cronstadt was " too strong," or that Helsingfors,
like Odessa, should be spared. We will not,
however, blame Admiral DIINDAS. We believe
that the party really responsible is much nearer
home, and that Sir CHAREES WOOD is the person who
will have to account for and explain the inactivity
of the Baltic Fleet. It is due to Admiral DUNDAS
that the matter should be fully investigated, so
that he should not be unnecessarily or improperly
made the scapegoat on whose devoted head the
sins of the clique at Whitehall should be visited,
or be sacrificed to shield the scanty remnant
of the unenviable reputation of the political
" Jack of all trades "—who has in turn tried his
hand at financial, Indian, and naval affairs, and
proved himself the veriest botch in each and all.

Our great contemporary, who seems deeply
affronted whenever its own correspondent is not
admitted to the secrets of a Council of War in the
Crimea, or when a Cabinet Minister at home does
not appoint and recal Commanders-in-chief at its
bidding, is now busy in denouncing the Ministe-
rial autocracy of the recess, and in stringing to-
gether a breviary of prayers for information, which
can be granted only by a Minister in his place in
Parliament. But for the physical necessities of
our jaded legislators we could not, at the end of
summer, as our readers may remember, reconcile
ourselves to a recess at all. We could have wished
for short adjournments only, and for frequent
opportunities for Ministerial explanations and com-
munications. Usage, however, and the plea of
members' health, with the necessity of attending
to field sports, and other agreeable duties, carried
the day, as a matter of course. Lords and Com-
mons were emancipated ; Lord PALMERSTOX left
to himself and the CODURGS ; Sir C. WOOD to
make a splendid ruin of the combustible part of
Sweaborg, that it might by next spring become an
incombustible and indestructible fortress ; and
Lord PANMITRE to adjust as he best could the
Horse-Guards' demand for routine and promotion
for birth or money, and the public demand for
promotion by merit.
It seems little likely now that a winter session
will be vouchsafed ; but what would the country
say to a winterelection instead? The present Parlia-
ment was chosen to settle the Free-Trade and Pro-
tection question; it is naturally, therefore, about the
most unfit conceivable to superintend questions of
War and foreign policy. It is no expression of the
national mind on those subjects. We do not mean
that it may not represent roughly the views of its
constituents, but it does not do it authoritatively.
surelyittaiospininin
e time that the nation itself ahould utter
the constitutional way. Individual
speakers, among the numbers who on all kinds of
occasions seem constrained to adverb to the War,
seem pretty fairly, by the cheers they elicit to un-
veil the mind of the '
people • the Presisnahlsaormmonayy
naturally enough be judged to be
newspaper read-
with the sentiments of twhheevnasiting t
is not so, " Mr.
mai°ilsitsYu.re
of an ample supply of
antagonistic
such a character for ability and
lEedttietrosr'f'rom
" Constant Readers" and
roefspectable Editor even wishes to
lniloanneys t yo f
as n theseo
exclude. Yet letters on the
arleVabru,
thofsewtileintodetehde.
gs et
inl el rat
hl
et
re
en e a
roef tonhee
or two Press,
great speakers who
revile the Press as not really representing the
mind of the nation which supports it. Is it not
time, then, that the country should express itself
twoitself
unequivocally ? We have now had almost
years' experience of the War ; we all by this time
know more or less of the general bearings
of th©
whole question. We are competent as a country
to send the right men, or such as we think so, to
the right place. The Czen, the King of PRUSSIA,
and the oppressor of Lombardy and Hungary,
would know for certain the temper of the English
nation, and the position which its Ministry
must take. The Peace Party would have
full opportunity to plead their cause with
their constituencies, and the Peelites would
understand how far their desertion was approved
by the public.

There is one domestic question, too, which
, ought not to be shuffled with or evaded longer.
We mean the Bank Charter. It ought to be
oticeior afl, -whether The iiseat‘

of Free Trade shall apply to money or not.
Whether a giant monopoly shall still be at the
head of the Money Market, or all banks stand
upon the same footing. Whether we shall be
condemned or not to carry sovereigns in our
purses, although, like our neighbours across the
Tweed, we may prefer one-pound notes. Whether,
if there is to be buf, one sort of paper enjoying
the privilege of being legal tender it shall be
Government paper, the nation reaping the benefit
of the transaction, or that of a clique of interested
proprietors ? Whether Government shall not
conduct its banking account on the same simple
and well-defined principles as any commercial
house ; or whether, indeed, Government shall
not be its own banker ? It will be a deep
disgrace to a commercial nation like ours if these
great questions be not now fully discussed, their
bearings made evident to all, and the right course
honestly settled for ever. To us the main point
appears to be as simple as the principle of Free
Trade itself. But not to dogmatise, or even to
argue now, it is time to decide the monetary
°
principles which shall guide us, and with this
before us all, the leading men on this subject
however diverse their opinions, should have a
place in the Legislature.
The War is, of course, more in most men's
thoughts than the currency ; and how supremely
important are the questions now opening to the
public view. Ere long the winter must stop all
important operations ; we earnestly hope not till
Kherson, Nicolaieff, and Odessa are deprived of
their power to barrack and feed a Russian• army ;
and with winter will come, in all probability,
Prussian, Austrian, and Coburg intriguings for a
despots' peace. Well, if the nation has pronounced
beforehand, by its elections, what kind of a peace
it will tolerate. Most probably, perhaps, the
CZAR will neither wish, nor be able to ask for
peace, while Warsaw and Cronstalt are untouched.
We hope he will not ; but then we do need an
election which will compel Ministers to give up
the detested Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns ; which
will bid them prefer Scandinavia and Poland, as
allies, to the neutral hostility of the despotic Ger-
man Courts, and convert the War into one for
driving Russia out of all her much-abused and
nefarious conquests, and restoring the nationalities
to their long-trampled-on rights. Premiers, ex
or in, may, and do, deride the cause of the people
abroad as a missionary crusade ; but an election
might tell them that this nation sympathises not
with courts, but with nations ; that it cares not
a straw for " Russian honour," and for what is
miscalled Russian territory ; but that it does care
for the honour of European civilisation and
liberty, in its conflict with Asiatic barbarism and
despotism ; and cares very much that territory,
which the wicked Congress of Vienna gave to
Russia, or left in her hands, should return to its
rightful owners. We believe the verdict of the
election would be, " emancipate Sweden, Ger-
many, and Denmark, as well as Turkey ; the
Baltic as well as the Black Sea, and then we may
reasonably hope for growing popular liberty, and
for permanent peace."

It has come at last ! The turn, we mean, of
nir. DRUMMOND. Better late than never. An
autumnal political curriculum without a lecture
of his would, as everybody knows, be somewhat
" flat and stale," however profitable. The jingle
of the cap and bells, the play of impudent
grimace, and the flow of " pestilent" buffoonery
—welcome all of them 2 Welcome nonsense—
welcome " half-and-half "—welcome censure, flat-
tery, and slander, pure or adulterated—welcome
the latest instalment of the best thousand and one
manifestation of morbid vanity and apostolic in.
fallibility extant. Welcome, thrice welcome, Mr.
DRUMMOND ! After the heady wines of his pre-
decessors, his brisk bottled pop can do us no
harm, but may relieve us of the headache. We
have fairly earned a little relaxation ; let us
enjoy it.
We are, or suppose ourselves to be, which is
perhaps quite as good, at the annual dinner of
the Chertsey Agricultural Association for the en-
couragement of deserving farm servants and agri-
cultural labourers. The cloth is removed, and
we have time to gaze on our agricultural friends
in Chertsey, and to rejoice in their well-to-do
appearance and looks of cheery good-fellowship.
Barely, for the " watch of his wit " being already
wound up, off goes our versatile friend as the
" apostle of the LORD " on the claimS of " the
LORD'S anointed." Presto ! and with a fine sense
of the appropriate, and a relevancy really surpris-
ing, apart from the mode of treatment, he dis-
courseth on matrimony ! The gentlemen of the
agricultural interest look amazed—after such a
proem, to be told that " the Royal Family was
nothing more nor less than like the family of any
farmer now hearing him." They are propitiated
a little, however, and have begun to think him
" a funny fellow," when their attention is arrested
by a perplexing question. " Ile should like to
know what any oue in the room would say if an
impertinent neighbour (Mrs. GRUNDY to wit), on
learning that a young man had fallen in love with
his (the farmer's) daughter, were to turn round
and remark that it was a very improper mar-
riage." The cautious parents of bouncing young
ladies look down at this and murmur indistinctly,
" Why, that would depend upon circumstances,"
as the likeness of some fine sprout
.of ruddy hu-
manity in their service passes before them. But
no time is allowed them for deliberation, for an-
other question, and a leading one, is propounded.
" Would he not instantly tell such a meddler to
hold his tongue and mind his own business ?"
" Parients" still in a state of dubiety. Some sort
of an answer is, however, expected, so one if not
two of the least reflecting " hear, hears," and an
agricultural young waiter, incontinently laughs.
The speaker is encouraged, and, with imposing
dignity, remarks—" He asked simply that the
same degree of forbearance should be evinced to-
wards the domestic affairs of the Royal Family as
a man in the position of a farmer had a right to
claim." The farmers, who are loyal to a man, and
stick by their rights, fancying this should be a
clincher, look grave. He (Mr. Dnuarmortn) looked
upon any interference with the matrimonial affairs
of the Royal Family as " a most abominable
act--(a gentleman in black shaketh his head,
and the waiter looks virtuous indignation)
and" inexorable logic ! "if they (tho meet=
ing) would not suffer such meddling by
'
strangers with their affairs, upon the same prin-
ciple they ought not to allow it in the affairs of
others," down sits the versatile speaker t()
prepare for another change,
with a "Hear, hear,"
from the parson, and •• •
a Jingling of glasses as his
reward.

Weaensare wonder at his disappointment,
grieved by it. It was not
assent t it—much,
the sort of nonsense suited for his audience. It
ho-wWevee by
ymnuoc mach
involved dangerous matter, and they could not
. . 0,
indeed; in one point of view,
see their way to laugh at, or
to the credit of their
plain blunt good sense.
They were not to bo made
merry with what they did not like,
..and if he
was
serious they were not to be hoaxed. They had
some glimmering that there was a serious difference
between the two cases—that the Royal Family,
was kept by the taxes of the nation, for the ad.