The Sun.
London, England, 1855-04-25 00:00:00

~1~~

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1855.

Although Austria has grossly imposed on Eng-
land, and befooled her diplomatists, we at least
have never been deceived. From the very com-
mencement of the existing complications—when
the moderation of the professions contrasted so
powerfully with the audacity of the actions of
Russia—we emphatically cautioned our friends
and the community at large against being misled
by the fair speeches of Austria, or lending too
easy a credence to her promises. For a long suc-
cession of ages duplicity and selfishness have been
the leading characteristics of the Government of
the House of Hapsburg. " The leopard does
not easily change its spots," and we might safely
assume that Austria would still prove as she has
been at all times—

" Ever strong upon the stronger side." ,

The only course by which she could have been
influenced would have been to have acted a per-
fectly independent part—to have proved that we
could conquer without her assistance, and that we
were profoundly indifferent as to the course she
might think proper to pursue—that we regardei
with equal contempt her suspicious neutrality and
her open and avowed enmity. Had we thus acted
in the first instance—had we resolutely seized on
the first aggression of Rnssia, the War would never
have commenced, or would long since have been
brought to a conclusion. We should not have
lost a tithe of the men, nor expended a tenth of
the money, which the nation has already been
called oa to provide. But these are by no means
the only sacrifices offered, and still to be immo-
lated at the altar of " red-tapiam."
Since the Proclamation of War our remon-
strances have been no less energetic. In every-
thing we have seen the spirit of Germanism in tht
ascendant, and we have protested against the
apathy and indifference exhibited in our
Councils, and the undue deference shown
to those in whom we could not repose the
slightest confidence. In this spirit Austria was
suffered to occupy the Principalities, from which
the Russians had just retired. England suffered
FRANCIS JOSEEH to do that which she engaged in
war against NICHOLAS for attempting ; and,
verily, she speedily received the reward of her
short-sighted folly. That very occupation led to
the sanguinary encounters at Balaklava and Inker-
lnan—to the immolation of our Light Cavalry
Brigade, and the imminent danger of all our
troops. The tried valour of our soldiers—the
unwavering steadiness of the " thin red line,"
combined with the efficiency of our gallant Allies
—rescued them from the peril in which they were
involved by the imbecility of our diplomatists.
So far from being driven into the sea, as fondly
anticipated by Russia aud. by Austria, ;hey re-
pelled the fierce onslaught with terrible loss to
their assailants, maintained their position intact,
and still continued to threaten the Russian
stronghold in the Euxine.
Under such circumstances further schemes were
resorted to by Austria. When the capture of
Sebastopol seemed certain, and its destruction
merely a matter of time, the precious Treaty of
the 2d of December was concluded—a Treat)
which hound the Western Powers to everything
and Austria to nothing ! If she was attacked
we were bound to defend her, and to enter into
a treaty offensive and defensive. But then
was no reciprocity in the contract. She gave
no equivalent.
with The bargain was totally
cEttt consideration, a mere nudam, pactum,
the pbrasenl
ogY of legal practitioners.
'y e . -
6‘•01 pointed out the grievous error, any;
repeated our Protests
our rulers. But in v .
against the servile folly o'
to lean upon a brok
en mu. They were still resolved
reed, to place implicit re
liance on those vht, had
01l
siona proved thenagebios
were
Further delays:utterly previous occa
sa untrustworthy.
sanctioned, the insidious propositions 'led, and, althougl
°E PrUßSia for an armis-
tice, while the negotiations were
peremptorily rejected—there ea rt be Pending, were
lac, d,
that the Conferences produced some degree oub
apathy in the camp before Sebastopol. It vra.,
held desirable to damage. too greatly the buqd•
ut
of a fortification which might make a great weigh,
in the bargain to be concluded. Nor possibly
through an amicable motive was the neoessar,
bloodshed incidental to an escalade to be thought

S r oi.s. Our Financial Minister, too, was quite wil-
.
/"" -- - .-ing-..3/40 avoid any additional expenditure while
/-. . , ._ „the*
' geinent:
*aa the faintest gleam of hope of an arnica
1 . hie arall
V. , 'ndiffe AA-. --We were thus beguiled into
i. r-.....—, while Bussl.a,
who was well aware of
-juir pwn'treachery, made
-
-trition - . -
_pa a-for the coutesti
the most strenuous pre-
m." was permitted _to

.

bring her insidious blandishments into operation
on our supposed friend.
Well, the mask has fallen off—the disguise has
been flung aside. Are we now prepared to
act with determination ? Will we display
the honest indignation which the dissimulation
of Austria has so justly provoked? These are
questions that must be answered in anotherylace.
The time has arrived when the representatives of
independent constituencies must discharge the
duty they owe to those by whom they have been
elevated to such honourable positions—must faith-
fully execute the important trusts confided to
their hands. Lord JOHN RUSSELL will now
speedily arrive in Loudon. The explanations re-
specting the conduct of Austria cannot be long
deferred, and must come the long-deferred expres-
sion of public opinion to which Ministers must
defer, or relinquish the places for which they
will be no longer competent. One thing
at least is certain—A.llAl is must decide one way
or the other. If she be not with us, she must
be against us. We cannot permit the armed neu-
trality which will allow the German Powers to
become the arbiters of the fate of Europe, when
the belligerents, exhausted by the conflict, must
bend before a far inferior power if fresh, and un-
damaged by previous strife. Austria has already
" sworn to be our soldier." She must redeem
the pledge or be prepared to expiate her false-
hood.

Among the items of mismanagement with which
the present as well as the late Government are
fairly chargeable is their neglect of the resources
open to them in our Indian army.
To begin with the beginning. From the first
landing of our troops in the Crimea the inade-
quacy of the cavalry contingent, in point of num-
bers, was painfully obvious. Bravely as our gal-
lant infantry drove back the army under MENSCHT-
KOFF at the Alma, their efforts were robbed
of half their legitimate success for want of
cavalry. Had they been supported as they ought
to have been by this branch of the service,
there can be little doubt that, instead of a com-
paratively barren victory, they would have
achieved a most important success. Already de-
moralised by the severity of their defeat the van-
quished Russians would not have retired in the
order they did. Their retreat, in fact, would have
been converted into an utter rout. Passing on
to subsequent events, there cannot be a doubt
that, had the cavalry been in sufficient numbers,
not only would heavy blows and great discourage-
ment have been administered to the enemy—in
proof of which we have only to point to what
was achieved by the cavalry under LIICAN, and
the heroic charge at Balaklava—but much
of the disaster which befell the regiments of the
line might have been prevented. Had our
cavalry been in greater force the enemy would
have been less daring, and the besiegers, in all
probability, would not long have been menaced
by LIPRANDI, nor been themselves besieged.
Not only, however, was the cavalry far below
the usual proportion to the infantry, but the in-
fantry was far below what was necessary for the
service in which it was engaged. No one doubts
that we laid siege to Sebastopol with shamefully
inadequate forces. The wonderful bravery and
endurance of our men serves rather to illustrate
than conceal that. Their prolonged work in the
trenches, exposed to the influence of an inclement
season, and their consequent exhaustion and deci-
mation by disease—confirm the truth we some•
what unnecessarily, it may be thought, endeavour
to enforce. The want of adequate strength
can hardly bo said to have been in any degree
made up by the skill and wisdom of the Generals
and officers in command. Indeed it is notorious
so far as the higher qualities of generalship are
concerned, no man save Sir DE, LACY EVAN; and,
perhaps, another, has displayed them. The grizzly
veterans of the Peninsula have shown, and that is
'bout all they have done, that physical bravery
will outlast physical strength, professional promp-
titude, and skill. What a cumulation of imper-
fection. A gallant iuf tutu wcrking at a task to
which they were numerically unequal, led by in-
capables, and deriving little or no aid from cavalry.

And what has been done by the Government at
home to supply these deficiencies ? Now that the
cavalry of which we have spoken is all bat ex-
tinct, what is there in the Crimea or on the way
to it to supply their place? Somewhere, if we aro not
mistaken, about a couple of regiments; and for the
infantry, a few thousand English troops have been
sent to supply the profligate waste of life that had
taken place in this arm ; besides which, it is true,
there are on the way, or being formed-, two im-
portant contingents—viz., the Sardinian, and the
Turkish under Colonel VIVIAN. But only reflect.
A great nation like ours falls back on its re-
sources and gathers less than half-a-dozen native
regiments towards the thirty thousand or more
additional troops required ! What possible fact
could tend more than this to degrade us in the
estimation of the more military nations of Europe.
the only thing approaching it iu this respect is
the apparent absence, or rather hopeless dearth, of
military genius in command.

And all this time, while our army has b2en
vainly toiling at (with its numbers) an imp,msible
task, and thousands have died of disease and ex-
haustion ; while the demand for fresh troops has
been so exigent, and so diffictfA• apparently to
meet, that we have had to haie recourse to
foreign aid, while we have been victimised in
prestige, purse, and feeling, and all in vain,
Nhile Sebastopol answers gun for gun to the
roar of -cur artillery, and at the last moment,
owing to our weakness, the taking of it is deemed
problematical, we have an army in India equal
Almost in numbers and valour to any in the
world, and officered by men surpassed by none in
skill and experience. Yet of this army we have
in the smallest noticeable degree availed ourselves.
Even were it the fact that what by way of dis-
' tinction are called the QUEEN'S troops could
not prudently be spared, no one could for a
moment pretend to assert that almost any
number of sepoys and of native cavalry was not
available ; and of these troops the surpassing
prowess is recorded in the history of many a hard-
fought field. Against the nervous and agile arms
tied experience of the latter neither the regular
nor irregular Russian cavalry could successfully
have combatted ; and dogged as the Russian in-
fantr h
nsquestionably have provproved, the steady valour of our sepoys
would
ed mora than its
match. What a resource is here to have
ua
been neglected ! But the system pursued by
our rulers appears to be to abuse what they em-
ploy, and leave unused whatever is likely to be
of service ; and here we are at the mere begin-
uing of a mighty war, of which no man can guess
the termination, mulcted in fresh taxes, and bur-
dened
with a new loan, while lamenting over a
wastel army and
useless victories, with no pro-
Teat before
us of amendment. Blame the Go-
vernment ! of nonrs
the people vho
sue ewe do. But their masters,
national heart Will the national voer'
devised to adroe
management will go funillojsuts ttiocebtloamthee.
On, Until it does so, mis-
ere any scheme is we may wait long
the public service on render available for
r splendid India'
courage, force, experiencearmy, its
and talent. . .
and breaetithrlimver

LATEST NEWS.

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL.

Accounts have been received from Sebastopol
of the date of the 19th.

The besiegers were gaining ground every day.
The enemy had made a sortie on the 18th in
great force, but was vigorously repulsed.
All is going on well.
The cholera has broken out among the French
troops, and on the 17th was raging fiercely.

ST. PETERSBURG, APRIL 24.
Prince Gortschakoff writes as follows on the

19th :-

On the 16th, 17th, and 18th the fire of the
enemy was not so sustained as on the preceding

days.
Our batteries have replied successfully; particu-
larly by their cross-fire in front of the 4th bastion,
directed against the works which the enemy is,
actively executing against that fortification.
The injuries caused by the day's fire are re-
paired during the night.
In the night between the 18th and 19th, one
of our battalions successfully, and at a very
slight loss, effected a sortie, with the object of
destroying the enemy's most advanced works of
approach.
In general the loss of the garrison has been
much less within the last two or three days than
at the commencement, of the bombardment.

GENOA, APRIL 24.

The Crcesus, which left Genoa at 8 o'clock this
morning for Constantinople, with 37 officers, 209
soldiers of the Sardinian army, 25 mules, and pro.
visions, was entirely lost 11 miles south-east of
Genoa.

The passengers and crew were saved, with the
exception of one sailor and six soldiers.

VIENNA, TUESDAY.

Lord John Russell left here yesterday evening,
on his return to London by way of Prague and
Dresden,

Before his departure, his excellency had a pri-
vate interview with Count Buol, that lasted au
hour and a half.

Lord John Russell is expected in London to-

morrow.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY.

From the intelligence brought by the Euphrate
it appears that the fleet is not to act till the assault
takes place, which, it is said, will not be till after
fourteen days' bombardment.

THE SUN,, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVEN)LNG, APRIL 25, 185 b.

their regiments, which were quartered round that city
to the distance of about 16 miles. It was inferred from
the unusual move%nect observed for some days in the
staff of the army at Warsaw that some extraordinary
event was at band. The Marshal received regu-
larly every day despatches from Vienna, and read
all those forwarded to St. Petersburg. Neverthe-
less, although, on the 16th, all the commanders of
troops in ?o land bad been orderel to return to their
posts, no nu,vement of concentration bad as yet taken
place on t►iat day. Immense quantities of provi-
sions ate, being stored at Riga and Revel for
the arnsy of the Baltic, the organisation of which
is progressing rapidly. Along the entire coast of the
Gulf of, F inland, between Liban and Cronstadt, there is
an ex'zaeirdinary movement of troops of all arms. Re-
vel, being nearer Cronstadt than Riga, was last year
considers4bly fortified. The General•in-Chief of the new
army of the Baltic appears to have deemed the works
not sufficiently strong to resist a serious attack on the
part of the aernbined fleets. Hundreds of labourers and
soldiers brave been occupied since the beginning of
March in erecting additional defences, which extend a
considera},le distance inland, and are spacious enough to
protect a n entire army corps. Wesenberg and Wiesen-
stein by ye been also placed in a respectable state of de-
fence., 'in order to arrest the progress of the enemy into
the ce,untry. The Russian engineers thought proper to
co'ffre Esthonia with fortifications, on account of its
vicinity to at. Petersburg."