The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-16 00:00:00

it is above all things necessary, if we
_ever are to have
Generals, to accustom younger hands Co the truncheon
of command, we rouse from. the repoe which his
honoured age demands a veterau who contmariied -the
crack regiment of the Peninsular war befOre either of
the Generals to whom the Emperor Napoleon is con-
tented to intrust the welfare of his great army in the
Crimea were born.. It is irksome to speak in any other
terms than those of respect of this time-honoured relic
of another age ; but the shame must fall upon those who
drag Lord Seaton from well-earned repose and dignified
retirement into the turmoil of active life. In the place
of Sir De Lacy Evans, Lord Panmure has appointed the
late Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth, General Sleep-
son, to command the Second Division, an officer of
whose private character we would speak with every re-
spect, but who is 64 years of age, of feeble health and
constitution, and, in a word, a perfectly fit comrade for
the two other Generals of Division we have just de-
spatched to the Crimea. In the East Indies we find.
General Somerset, who entered the service the same
year as General Simpson, the year 1811, appointed to,
high command. Judging by these appointments, and
by the maintenance of every existing incapacity in its.
present place, we fear we must look elsewhere for Minis-
terial vigour.
Let us, then, tarn to the Medical Department. It is
presided over by Dr. Andrew Smith— a gentleman en-
feebled by age, and rendered irritable andnervere to a.
degree hardly compatible with the effective transaction
of business by long exposure to a tropical climate and
the diseases which those climates produce. A faint
rumour prevailed some days ago that this gentleman had
been relieved from duties which he has exercised in a
manner so little to the advantage of our unfortunate
army ; but the rumour died away, and Dr. Andrew
Smith sits as fast as ever. Dr. Lawson rules at Scutari,
and Dr. Hall, though reproved in a General Order, still
presides at Balaklava. But we have learnt something
from their proceedings. We have cline to distrust
the efficiency of the Medical Department, and, as we
have not vigour enough to reform it, we have, according
to the present practice, called in the aid of volunteers to
reps'r the (deficiency of the regular service. We are-
preparing the hospital at Smyrna, and, in order that
that hospital may be indeed a place of refuge for the sick
and wounded, we are about place it under the calt of
civilians. The Incase- sigorous one, but e-" are
7 The no„al at Smyrna, ~cmate,l a hots
climate and a half-civilised country, is to be placed :
under the care of a medical gentleman 6S years of age I
When we add that Admiral Boxer, " that anarch old,"
who has left. everything intrusted to him at Constantis
cople in utter confusion, has been sent to Balaklava, ac
order, if possible, to add another disturbing element to
that hopelese chaos, we have said enough to show to
what manlier of men it is that the lives of our fellow-
subjects, the honour of our arms, the safety of our
homes—nay, the very existence of our country, are
•
intrusted.
It is vain for us to appeal to those who do these
things against such cruel and wanton squandering of
the best resources of the nation. Were they not in-
fatuated by a long comae of power, which only shifted
from one portion of their own narrow class to another,
they would scarcely have chosen this moment at least
for the exhibition of such wanton and short-sighted sel-
fishness, The instinct of self-preservation would have
taught them better, but we solemnly ask the people of
, England whether they will suffer their countrymen to
be thus sacrificed at the shrine of cruel apathy or help.
less incapacity, and whether they will permit in these
our days scandals and abuses to disgrace and ruin the
public service from which the Tory .Ministry of 50 years
ago turned away with disgust, and which the iron Duke
of Wellington, for a time at least, effectually trampled
out and extinguished ?

LITERATUBE.

The Moslem and the Christian. 3 vols. Surat

and Blackett.

This work is translated from the Eastern original,
which is from the pen of Sadyk Pasha. It appeared
under the title of Kirdjali, which is the name of
its hero, who is not a fictitious character, but one
of those individuals that may be found in almost
every history. Half hero and half bandit, his.
name forms one of those favourite topics for songs
and legend that Robin Hood or Rob Roy have'
supplied in their own countries. The most extra-
ordinary tales of his valour, his daring, his won-
derful exploits and hair-breadth escapes are re-
lated, but the author avers that whatever is told
of him in these volumes is merely a narrative of
facts, collected among people who had personally.
known him. The scene is laid in those Danubiant
Principalities which have lately been the scene of
such stirring events ; but of course, from the epoch
of the narrative, no reference is made to present
occurrences. It describes the revolt of the Ser-
vians under Milosch, and the endeavours of the
Wallachs to throw off the Turkish domir.:on, and
establish their independence. It forms an exciting
narrative, and sustains the_reader's interest. It is.
certainly impartial, for several Mussulmans appear
to equal advantage with the Christians. The
heroine, Sarah Michaels, is the daughter of a
powerful Seraskier, and becomes the bride of Kira:
jali. Many extraordinary adventures occur to,
them, and the reader regrets when ho arrives at
the conclusion theta should be so tragical, though,,
according to the author's assertion, it agrees with
the facts. The work is translated and revised
by Colonel Lech Szyrma, who has already edited
several similar works. fe affixes an interesting
sketch of the writer's life. Sadyk Pasha at this
moment occupies a prominent position in the Turk-
ish army on the Danube, being the commander, of
the Turkish Cossacks. This corps consists of Chris-
! ftriarims
s;ewrlhing who are
the debarred,army by
Thisth the Iparwohoifbthaitice!Coran
,how-
ever, Sadyk Pasha persuaded the Porte to! Abs.°.
gate, and the regiment having distinguished itself
a second is now being formed. They consist. of
Bulgarians and other Christian volunteers from=
Servia and Wallachia; their officers aro chiefly
Poles. On their banner is the Crescent and the
Cross, signifying that, in fighting for the Porte,
they also fight for their own religious liberty,
which the Sultan has guaranteed throughout his
empire. Sadyk Pasha is a Pole by birth, and first
distinguished himself in the Polish insurrection.
He subsequently resided in France, where he pub-
lished several works, and where he became ac-
quainted with Prince Adam Czartoryski, who sent
him as his confidential agent to Constantinople.
Here he succeeded well on his mission, and through
his agency Servia was preserved in loyalty to
the Porte, which so enraged the Russians that
their ambassador demanded his extradition as the
Czar's subject. No resource was left him but to
embrace Islamism, or fly. He chose the first, and
adopted the name of Sadyk Pasha, his former name
having been Czaykowski. Copious notes are ap-
pended to each of the volumes, and whether from
the intrinsic merit of the work, or from the inte-
rest attaching to the life of the author, or from the
attention which those countries have lately excited,
the lover of Oriental romance will not fail to be
attracted and entertained.

The Warltawk ; a Tale ,of the Sea. By Claudius
Armstrong, author of the "Two Midshipmen."
3 vols. Newby.
This is an interesting stor.v ; the plot is exceed-
ingly complicated, and at first rather difficult to
understand ; but as the narrative proceeds the
attention is riveted by the gre,At skill and inge-
nuity displayed in the events. The nautical por-
tion of the work, above all, exhibits remarkable
ability, and shows that the author is well. acquainted
with the subject of which lie treats. The last part
of the third volume especially deserves notice, and
the description of the race at sea between the cap-
tors and deliverers of the heroine, the beautiful
Aleen, is intensely interesting and exciting. By a
skilful manoeuvre the pirates had possessed them-
selves of the boat belonging to their pursuers, and
thus gained a great advantage. However, not-
withstanding all these drawbacks, Gerald Gran-
ville contrived to come up with them, as they-
reached a Dutch sloop belonging to one of their
number; and although the turn of affairs was
most threatening he leaped on board, followed by
his brave companions. Considering the period
at which these incidents are supposed to have oc-
curred, Fnurret(ili,ey are not
andtheliamwplersosbale o
state of
exaggerates. Some
exist-
of
fltoty of scenes, personages, and
gheethcehactraravearsriea graphically described,t and
events is given to the reader. Most probably the
story will entertain many from its talent and spirit.

Sr. VALENTINE'S DAY AT THE POST-orriog..--The
total number of letters posted during St. Valentine's
Day and stamped at the London district office, amounted
to the unprecedented number of 240,900, or a quarter of
a million within one hundred, and this in the " London
District" alone. Besides these there were about 10,000
" bye" letters and 100,000 at least destined for the pro-
vinces and places beyond sea, which were transferred to
th© Inland Department. The grand total, therefore,
reached 350,000. It is estimated that of this number,
at least 140,000 were sacrificed to the fame of St. Valen-
tine, as about 100,000 is now the February daily ave-
rage. Taking the number posted on Valentine's Day
and stamped at the Post-office during the day, as for-
warded to the reporter by the authorities, at 240,900
letters,stioa fv we gather
In
therefrom
making
the
of? following=th
o,
50a2musi
reamsng et o
paper would he used up ; thea-
averaging the price of each one of the ,
;the
Was laid one upon
postagecostof theolt othoveoaol2ena4toti,n,taesdo.
would be 2,3331. 6s. Bd. ;0
would realise 1,0041.3. 4d. ; the height to which a pile
pimsirg the
a dozen to the eighth of an incb,
thew-1 d
other reach, a c
ath ,
thesu rate of'
opened,
1
would be 209 feet 2 inches, or 7 feet 2 inches higher than
the Monument at Fish-street-hillii the
allowing w-hole ofB
; w
itnhcolmiesw'w.-°idutiblh etoxteeancdh,litioaaltet miles and 243
yards, of 86i
yards, nearly as far as from London to Dover by the
South-Eastern line of railway.
PRICE OF SILVER.-111e dollars brought by the last
west jadra steamer have been disposed of at 60jd. per
eu,,ee, being Id above the price realised for the previous
arrival, although transactions to a limited extent took
pla3e at a higher rate at the end of the month. The
bar silver has been sold at 614 d. per ounce, being a de.
cline of id,

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