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

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1855.

Although Austria has grossly imposed on Eng
land, and befooled her diplomatists, we at leas
have never been deceived. From the very com-
mencement of the existing complications—when
the moderation of the professions contrasted s,
powerfully with the audacity of the actions o'
Russia—we emphatically cautioned our friend,
and the community at large against being misled
by the fair speeches of Austria, or lending to(
easy a eredence to her promises. For a long suc-
cession of ages duplicity and selfishness have beet
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 beer
influenced would have been to have acted a per
fectly independent part—to have proved that wt-
could conquer without her assistance, and that we
were profoundly indifferent as to the course slif
might think proper to pursue—that we regarde.
with equal contempt her suspicious neutrality an(
her open and avowed eihnity. Had we thus acte,
in the first instance—had we resolutely seized o•
the first aggression of Russia, the War would neve
have commenced, or would long since have bee;
brought to a conclusion. We should not hay
lost a tithe of the men, ncir expended a tenth ()
the money, which the nation has already beet
called on to provide. But these are by no mean
the only sacrifices offered, and still to be imaw
lated at the altar of " red-tapism."

Since the Proclamation of War our remon
strancea hsve been no less energetic. In every
thing we have seen the spirit of Germanism in th,
ascendant, and we have protested against the
apathy and. indifference exhibited in on'
Councils, and the undue deference shows
to those in whom we could not repose th-
slightest confidence. In this spirit Austria wa.,
suffered to occupy the Principalities, from whicl
the Russians had just retired. England suffere.
FRANCIS JOSEPH to do that which she engaged ir,
war against NICHOLAS for attempting ; and,
verily, she speedily received the reward of he:
short-sighted folly. That very occupation led to
the sanguinary encounters at Balaklava and Inker-
man—to the immolation of our Light Cavalry
Brigade, and the imminent danger of all on,
troops. The tried valour' of our soldiers—th:
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 diplomatist,'.
So far from being driven into the sea, as fondl:.
anticipated' by Russia and by Austria, they rt
pelled the fierce onslaught with terrible loss
their assailants, maintained their position intact.
and still continued to threaten the Russia;
stronghold in. the Euxine.

Under such circumstances further schemes were
resorted to by Austria. When the capture o•
Sebastopol seemed certain, and its destructior
merely a matter of time, the precious Treaty of
the 2d of December was concluded—a Treat:
which hound the Western Powers to everytbin
and Austria to nothing ! If she was attacker
we were bound to defend her, and to enter int,
a treaty offensive and defensive. But they:
was no reciprocity in the contract. She gav,
no . equivalent. The bargain was totall
without consideration, a mere nudum pacturn, it
titerraseology of legal practitioners.
-6
again pointed out the grievous error, an,
0 our protests against the servile folly o
ur ilaera.
But in 0
to ieku
livo -n vain. They were still resolve,
lia-nee ou tit: a 'broken reed, to place implicit re
11,i°113 Proved 0711° had en many previous occe
zurther 44, -et"eives t
u terly untrustworthy
the inii• 'clieti„3::"!. sanctioned, and, al thoug
tire, while the Position, of t, .
negotiati mama for an armi!..
befel7loo:4area: :11,,:boild3i-oc;
peremptorily rejected "3 were ' •
that the Conferences --there
eeaa:bei:dinc, wet.
debts,
apathy in the camp
held desirable to danlagreet-ebast°P°l. Itewgraee:
which aught make a great •
of a fortification
in the bargain to be concluded.
through an amicable motive wa.s
be
that
weign
bloodshed incidental to an escalade necetaal'3
of. Our Financial Minister, too,
ling to avoid any additional expenditure
whil,
there was
aPuthits,:lhwal;
was the faintest gleam of hope of an amica-
ble arrangement. we wore thus beguiled int.
indifter
Ler 'lice, while Russia, who was well aware el,
_ own
rea.
chery made the most strenuous pre
Potation :for the Contest, and was permitted to

6ring her insidious blandishments into operation
.m our supposed friend.
Well, the mask has fallen off—the disguise has
-,een flung aside. Are we now prepared to
sct with determination ? Will we display
-he honest indignation which the dissimulation
if Austria has so justly provoked ? These are
iuestions that must be answered in another place.
The time has arrived when the representatives of
independent constituencies must discharge the
luty they owe to those by whom they have been
elevated to such honourable positions—must faith-
fully execute the important trusts confided to
r,heir hands. Lord JOHN RCSSELL will now
speedily arrive in Loudon. The explanations re-
specting the conduct of Austria cannot be long
leferred, and must come the long-deferred expres-
sion of public opinion to which Ministers must

iefer, or relinquish the places for which they
will be no longer competent. One thing
It least is certain—Austria must decide one way

,r 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-
lamaged 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-
luau of the cavalry contingent, in point of num-
bers, was painfully obvious. Bravely as our gal-
lant infantry drove back the army under MENscHr-
KOFF at the Alma, their efforts were robbed
,f half their legitimate success for want of
lavalry. 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
o 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
roof of which we have only to point to what
.vas achieved by the cavalry under LuceN, and
-.he heroic charge at Balaklava—but much
the disaster which befell the regiments of the
ine might have been prevented. Had our
avalry been in greater force the enemy would
lave been less daring, and the besiegers, in all
brobability, would nit long have been menaced
)3, LIPRANDI, nor been themiel ves besieged.
Not only, however, was the cavalry far below
the usual proportion to the infantry, but the in-
'antry was far below what was necessary for the
iervice in which it was engaged. No one doubts

;hat we laid siege to Sebastopol with shamefully
nadequate forces. The wonderful bravery and
endurance of our men serves rather to illustrate
han conceal that. Their prolonged work in the
-.reaches, exposed to fife influence of an inclement
4eason, and their consequent exhaustion and deci-
nation by disease—confirm the truth we some•
what unnecessarily, it may be thought, endeavour
-o enforce. The want of adequate strength
lan hardly be said to have been in any degree
nade up by the skill and wisdom of the Generals
i.nd officers in command. Indeed it is notorious
-to far as the higher qualities of generalship are
)oncerned, no man save Sir DE LAAW EVANS, and,
perhaps, another, has displayed them. The grizzly
'eterans of the Peninsula have shown, and thatis
bout all they have done, that physical bravery
'ill outlast physical strength, professional promp-
itude, and skill. What a cumulation of limper-
'!ction. A gallant iuftutry wcrking at a task to
vhich they were numerically unequal, led by in-
, Tables, and deriving little or no aid from cavalry.
And what has been done by the Government at
'owe to supply these deficiencies ? Now that the
•Avalry of which we have spoken is all but ex-
inct, what is there in the Crimea or on the way
vit to supply their place? Somewhere, if we are not
Mistaken, about a couple of regiments; and for the
ifantry, a few thousand English troops have been
• ant to supply the profligate waste of life that had

tken place in this arm ; besides which, it is true,
here are on the way, or being formed, two im-
iortant contingents—viz., the Sardiuian, and the
Uurkish under Colonel VIVIAN. But only reflect.
X great nation like ours falls back on its re-
4ources and gathers less than half-a•dozen native
regiments towards the thirty thousand or more
Aditional troops required ! What possible fact
could tend more than this to degrade us in the
ti mati o n of the more military nations of Europe.
The only thing approaching it in this respect is
the apparent absence, or rather hopeless dearth, of
military genius in command.

And all this time, while our army has been
,Tainly toiling at (with its numbers) an impossible '
tslr, and thousands have died of disease and ex-
taustion ; while the demand for fresh troops has
teen nct axigant, and so difficult apparently to
-aeet, that we have had to have recourse to
',reign aid, while we have been victimised in
,restige, purse, and feeling, and all in vain,
vhile Sebastopol answers gun for gun to the '
'oar of our artillery, and at the last moment,
,wing to our weakness, the taking of it is deemed
tyroblematical, we have an army in India equal
amost in numbers and valour to any in the
world, and officered by men surpassed by none in
,kill and experience. Yet of this army we have
n the smallest noticeable degree availed ourselves.
liven were it the fact that waat by way of dis-
tinction are called the QUEEN'S troops could
lot prudently be spared, no one could for a
noment pretend to assert that almost any
lumber of sepoys and of native cavalry was not
tvailable ; and of these troops the surpassing
,rowess is recorded in the history of many a hard-
..maht field. Against the nervous and agile arms
rtnd experience of the latter neither the regular
tor irregular Russian cavalry could successfully

save combatted ; and dogged as the Russian in.

entry has proved, the steady valour of our sepoys
could unquestionably have proved more than its
notch. What a resource is here to have
,een neglected ! But the system pursued by
'ur rulers appears to be to abuse what they em-
)loy, and leave ivaused whatever is likely to be
'f service ; and :here we are at the mere begin-
sing of a mighty war, of which no man can guess
.
termination„ mulcted is fresh taxes, and bur-
uel with a sew loan, while lamenting over a
l'uted army Lnd useless victories, with no pro-
'Peet before ,
7hertirneut I
01.51 of amendment. Blame the Go-
-7aeitEatz::::4l° course we do. But their masters,
naua~
,croeuraangye: cher:
ee:eenaattri 0
,al
and
eobrirc_et, he_ m
never are most
full
justicet o blame.
to ths
public ;vet
in
go d: Until it does so, mis-
ieceiperinerauvelet_uocirieandmerdiaavnasilramblye, for
s
e devised to
we may wait long
) and talent.