The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-12 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 12, 1855.

redoubts, we can search their defences that no
troops can live in them. The works of the oppos-
ing armies are now pushed close to each other, the
range is known to an inch, and, under such cir-
cumstances, the ascendancy in artillery must be
nearly equivalent to the ascendancy altogether. It
is plain that the Russians see their danger, and
that they are exerting all their ingenuity to avert
it. Our correspondent states that in the Mamelon,
which is a good specimen of the works to be en-
countered, there were found funnel-shaped pits,
into which shells might roll and burst, together
with bomb-proof excavations, into which the men
could retire. Although, however, the enemy will
no doubt avail themselves of all such expedients
with the skill which they have hitherto displayed,
the means of attack, under present conditions,
must exceed those of defence. The Allies, in fact,
have advanced closer and closer to the works of
the place, their artillery has opened on successive
occasions with greater and greater power, and the
Russians, who at first assorted something like an
equality in this respect, and long maintained the
contest, aro now fain to withdraw their guns under
our fire, and to confess or pretend themselves si-
lenced. It is scarcely possible, indeed, that the
resources of Sebastopol, however vast they may
have been, should not be exhausted by exertions
so prodigious and so protracted ; and, while the
Allies are constantly receiving accessions of
strength, and improving their communications in
all directions, the Russians are becoming more
effectually isolated day after day.
While we reflect, however, with satisfaction on
these undeniable grounds of encouragement, we
do not attempt to disguise either from ourselves or
the public the difficulties still presented by this un-
exampled siege. In strict truth, it is no siege at
all—it is a campaign against a powerful army
acting on its own territory, protected by a chain
of strong intrenchments, resting,upon an enor-
mous arsenal, and, what is stillresaxtranrdinary
assisted by the guns of a fleet, It is scarcely cor-
rect to speak of Sebastopol as a single town, so
various are its divisions and so diversified the de-
fences they include. In the siege of an ordinary
place, however strong, there is usually but one
enceinte or chain of protecting works to be pene-
trated, and when an entrance is effected at any
point of this fortified circumference the town is
taken. Engineers select the weakest or most pro-
mising point of the works for their attack ; they
make au opening with battering guns, " the as-
sault" is then delivered, and, if successful there is
an end of the affair. But at Sebastopol we may
succeed in effecting an entrance or lodgment with-
out accomplishing the whole work in hand, for
there are forts and batteries of all kinds, divided
from each other by creeks and ravines, and ad-
mitting of separate and independent defence.
Thus, in the late attack General Eyre and his bri■
gade actually got through the outer line of works,
carried the batteries first opposed to them, and
fairly entered the town. About the gallantry of
this most creditable action there can be no question,
but the extent to which the success admitted of
improvement was unfortunately not put to the
test of trial. On the other hand, works so dis-
posed as those at Sebastopol are liable to be com-
manded one by the other, so that the capture of
one may facilitate, if not insure, the capture of
more. The Malakhoff Tower, for instance, com-
mands the Redan, and probably other works in its
vicinity ; indeed, it is regarded by our engineers
as the key of the whole position in that quarter.
But the most singular feature in this siege con-
sists, as wo have already remarked, in the part
played by the Russian fleet, which from first to
last has contributed most essentially to the strength
and defence of the town. Its guns supplied the
works of the enemy as they were successively
thrown up with armaments of extraordinary power;
its crews reinforced the garrison with a numerous
body of practical artillerymen. Many vessels were
destroyed, but others remained, and their broad-
sides have been brought into play, to the serious
cost of the allies. The harbour of Sebastopol and
its creeks offer every facility for these naval ma-
nceuvres, and General Palissier relates in his report
of th© last assault that a crushing fire was pored
upon the storming columns, not only from the
works against which they were advancing, but also
" from the enemy's steamers, which came up at
full steam, and nianwuvred with great skill and
effect,"—an incident., we should think, hitherto
unprecedented in the defence of a fortified town.
It is possible, too, that as our works are advanced,
or, in other words, as we approach near the har-
bour, we may find these ships still more trouble-
some, though we hope that the same circumstances
may also serve to bring them within reach of our
owu mortars. Upon the whole, in spite of the
obstacles and checks which the fortune of war de-
velopes, the prospects of the allies have steadily
improved. Their position is unassailable, and, if
their advance has not been rapid, they have never
lost ground. Their communications are good, their
supplies abundant, and their means of offence in-
creasing, while the health of the troops, as General
Simpson's last despatch states, " is satisfactory,
notwithstanding that the heats of summer have
now arrived. Under such circumstances, we may
fairly regard the prospect as encouraging, and we
trust that the indomitable valour of the allied
armies may be speedily crowned with the success
'or which they have so ardently toiled.

(From the Daily News of this day.)
Tuesday evening's debate in the House of Com,
mons, on Mr. Scully's motion, is a fair sample of
the manner in which Administrative Reform is
likely to be discussed by the existing race of public
men. Mr. Scully's ostensible object was to urge the
Government to confer appointments in the public
service withan exclusive regard to merit ascertained
by public competitive examinations. But the real
drift of the honourable member peeped out in the
reply with which he wound up the debate, as the
real object of ladies' epistles is alleged always to be
found in their postscripts. Mr. Scully read two
letters—one which he had addressed to a noble lord
on his accession to office; the other, also from himself,
addressed to a friend of Lord Palmerston's, in.
February last. The purport of both was a re-
monstrance against the non-appointment of Irish
members to places in the recently constructed Cabi-
nets. Now, with a view to the practical efficiency
of Government, we are quite prepared to assert that
the most capable men ought to be selected, irre-
spective of the part of the kingdom from which they
come. But it does not necessarily follow that every
Administration should be composed of certain fixed
proportions of Englishmen, Scotchmen, Welchmen,
and Irishmen. If there have been few or no Irish-
men in late Cabinets, the cause must be sought
elsewhere than in any obstruction to the promotion
of our countrymen from the "green isle," attri-
butable to the want of Administrative Reform.
Ever since the Union, when there have been Irish
members in Parliament gifted with official apti-
tude, Ireland has had her fair share of Ministerial
patronage at the least. Under the Tories we had the
Castlereaghs and Crokers • under the Whigs the
Tierneys, Besboroughs, thanricardes, and Sheila.
Nay, before the Union, we bad. from Ire-
land greater names than any of these—Burke
and Sheridan. At no time have our Irish
friends been entirely excluded from office by
impracticable public virtue ; nor, to judge from Mr.
Scully's urgent petitions for place for his friends
does that appear to be the cause of the exclusion he
now complains of. All Governments have been but
too glad to enrol Irish talent under their banners,
is simply because there are
when Irish talent was to be had. If the doors of
Downing-street are kept close shut against the
Irish Brigade, notwithstanding their loud and per-
tinacious knocking, it
no Burkes, Castlereagks) or Shells among them.
Mr. Vincent Scully may take our word for it that
Administrative Reform would do little to promote
the ambitious views of the coterie to which he be-
longs ; that Administrative Reform means some-
thing very different from snug places for men who
have no other recommendation than that they re-
present Irish constituencies. Let Ireland send us
once more such Irish members as we have formerly
seen in Parliament, and their claims to office will
be irresistible.
forgotten theme
ons ateoa-
rr.
giattempt
The debate inaugurated by Mr. Scully
riw
rwiend
wonillinnoat mwaanstneetrinqiuoitoer wcomment
on the attempt
to harp on that already , the per-
sonal squabble between Mr. Lindsay and Sir Chas.
Wood. We confine ourselves, as illustrative of
the character of the debate, to the orations of Sir
G. Cornewall Lewis and Mr. Gladstone. The one
nostrum for in-
the other gave it
sli;tChh a display of his
recondite lore, expatiating Chancellor of the
opposed
qualified
uiconhas in-
suring
Exchequer
ueSeai C
rr
edifiedu support.
paorrl
administrativeet s.
his
s TTehr
vee veao eri
actual
your
toasounnywa'
the antiquities of
accomlish
Roman history. The ex-Chancellor showed up
this pedantry with delicate persiflage. Both ex.
erted themselves in a manner to deserve the repu-
tation of elegant and
neither evinced anythi ped scholars ; but
ng of breadth of comprehen-
sion or robust manliness of character. Both are
admirable examples of the deteriorating influ-
stem of
once of the ezolusive PYappointment to

office upon the Engish statesmen of our age. At
no period of our history, perhaps,
have we bad
more accomplished men—men who have read more,
or who have more cultivated tastes—than are to be
found among our leaders of every party. But one
and all of them are destitute of that strength of
character, and of that intuitive insight into men
and social circumstances which constitute the real
statesman. The cause is obvious. Office can only
be attained and retained by combinations of a few
possessed of hereditary influence. It is this influence
that all parties rely upon to place and keep them
in power. The able men among them aro regarded
more as ornaments than as essentials ; and are
consequently selected, not from the really power-
ful minds, who would insist upon having their own
way, but from the elegant minds, who, provided
they are allowed a fair modicum of flattering
admiration, are contented to do the bidding
of their patrons. It is the effeminacy of our
public men that is the great source of national
weakness mid embarrassment at present. They
lack courage and strength to adopt a bold and de- '
cided policy, such as the existing emergency calls
for. Were the competition for office extended to
greater numbers, robust and vigorous intellects
would have some chance in the rivalry for political
distinction, and even those who now rule us would
be strengthened by the more rude contests to which
they would be subjected.
The one-sided discussion raised by Lord Clanri-
carde in the House of Lords on Tuesday evening
was a mereappendix to the debate that was going on
in the Commons. One noble lord rose after another
to pronounce fulsome eulogi ums on things as they are,
and to bespatter with indiscriminate praise every liv-
ing official from the highest to the lowest. Afterthis
monotonous interchange of lordly civilities, Lord
Hardwicke's honest burst of impatience was "quite
refreshing." He bluntly told the assembled peers
that " there had been a great deal of what out of
doors waa called ' butter' on both sides." The
whole nation will echo Lord Haidwicke's emi-
nently sailor-like rebuke of the complimentary
platitudes in which Lord Clanricarde, Clarendon,
and Granville so complacently indulged.

(From the Morning Advertiser of this day.)
The result of Mr. Roebuck's motion for a call of
the house to determine the most important question
thathas arisen in half a century, affords ample proof
that the country is a very secondary consideration
in the deliberations of that assembly. It represents
Ministers, government boards, monopolists in the
army and navy, peers, landowners, lawyers, capi-
talists, railway and other great companies, class in-
terests of all kinds, but not the people ; nor can
any person point out a time since the repeal of the
Septennial Act when the representation was other-
wise than a visible sham. Mr. Roebuck was op-
posed by only two orators, but both of them are
examples of the improper personages who are ad-
mitted into the representation ; for both are lords.
Though these two honourable members, against
whom as individuals we have no objection to offer,
are only lords by courtesy, yet their claim to that
courtesy proves them to belong to a body possessed
of higher privileges than any other in the realm, and,
therefore, already amply provided with the means of
protecting their own interests. Considering the ori-
gin and intention of erecting a House of Commons,
a man is easily satisfied that it was never contem-
plated that the sons of peers should sit among the
representatives of the people. They may, it is true,
be called commoners, inasmuch as they are not
peers—that is, parliamentary barons ; but the title
prefixed to their names is an abundant proof that
they are not looked upon as commoner by them-
selves, their connexions, or the people. In fact,
they are interlopers in a House of Commons ; and
the great number of such interlopers helps largely
to increase the undue influence which the lords ex-

ercise in a place intended for the people.
It is not at all likely that, had there been a
representation in accordance with the British con-
stitution, the last Administration would have
escaped impeachment for high crimes and misde-
meanours ; in the sifting of the evidence for which
it is possible proofs of treason might have been de-
veloped ; and it is just as little likely that the pre-
sent Administration would ever have been formed,
for there is scarcely one among them who does not
seem to be in fear of Russia, or does not succumb
to some unconstitutional influence that disposes
him to favour Russia, in preference to England
and the safety of Europe.
In such hands as wield our military resources,
and with a representation of any interests but those
of the people, we cannot but feel apprehensive of
the result of the war. There is cause for despon-
dency, but none for hope, except what must bo
placed in the indomitable spirit of our soldiers and
sailors ; but these may be wasted in useless toils
and sufferings, or misdirected to their total destruc-
tion. We sea one part of the Cabinet making a
show of war, and sending a fleet of ships to the
Baltic too large to be able to operate with effect
against the fortresses which it is indispensable to
destroy, and this, too, with the knowledge a year
beforehand of the only kind of armament which can
operate in the Russian seas. Is there not a cause
for arrangements so innocuous and satisfactory to
the enemy ? We see another part of the Cabinet
apparently eager to give any price for a dishonour-
able peace, and assuring Austria that England has
no desire to weaken Russia, or do anything detri-
mental to her honour—the honour of a gang of
robbers and treacherous cut-throats. The language
of this section of the Ministry passes all common
understanding. If we have really enaged in war
with Russia, it is to weaken her as much as pos-
sible, and also, if possible, to put her so far hors
de combat as never again to have the means of in-
vading Turkey, cm disturbing the peace of Europe.
Indeed, the common weal of Europe demands the
dispersion of the vast confederacy of innumerable
hordes of Tartars who make up the Russian
Empire. But there is yet another object of the
war, without which terms of peace will have no
meaning, and peace itself will be disgraceful.
Both France and England must have satisfactory
guarantees for the reimbursement of all the costs
to which they have already been put, and may
hereafter incur, through the aggression of Russia
on Turkey.
We have thus a Ministry, apparently at variance
among themselves on the two extremes of peace
and war—the section in favour of peace eager to
sacrifice the honour of England and the interests of
Europe, and the section which will carry on the war
without adopting the means of bringing it to a
satisfactory conclusion. Were the latter sincere
they would embarrass Russia by encouraging the
Poles to assert their independence, and punish
Austria for her worse than duplicity, by proclaim-
ing the independence of Hungary and Italy. Had
this been done at first it is very probable the con-
test would have been nearly over at this time.
No one will say that such administrations as the
last and present are suited to a great empire like
this, which particularly requires men with intel-
lects that can embrace affairs on the largest scale,
and not men who are incompetent to go through
the details of the ordinary business of the nation.
We have had mos of a different stamp, but it was
before the House of Commons became the mass of
servility and corruption which it now is. With a
representation such as it was intended by the Con-
stitution we should have had Ministers in the con-
fidence of the people, and none of that secret and
dark influence which is felt but not seen in so many
departments—an influence which is daily assimilat-
ing us to the miserable condition of a petty German
despotism—could have had existence.