The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-30 00:00:00

' it is rejected as an argument by our routinists,
like a sovereign the lighter for wear, although of
sterling gold, when presented at the ank. But
just now there are two Generals and two armies
of Englishmen at work together before Sebastopol
and Balaklava. One General has made all his
appointments by near relation to himself, by
seniority, by purchase, and a few by merit ;
the other General has made his appoint-
ments exclusively by merit. - He would have
told his own brothers, nephews, or cousins—
" Gentlemen, you will not do for me ; I intrust
my work to capacity and integrity only ; if you
are needy it would be cheaper to me to pension
you than employ you." We need not say that
the Generals are Lord RAGLAN and Sir SAMUEL
MORTON PETO, and their armies respectively com-
posed of soldiers and navvies. But what is the
result of the two systems ? Why, that the French
themselves are enthusiastic in their admiration
of the organisation, good management, and
effectiveness of our navvies. On the other
hand, while they generously applauded the
courage of our soldiers, they feelingly deplored
the utter want of all which they admire in the
navvies, and which, by their own practice, they
are so well able to appreciate.
Indeed, even here at home, the contrast strikes
every reader. We have not heard of a single
thing wanted except a few more horses, which,
moreover, were on the way before information of
the want arrived. The tools of every man are
equal to their work, huts, food, clothing, medi-
cines, all are there when called for. We hardly
indeed, heard of the commencement of the road
before we beard of its having reached half-way to
the camp, and next of its having got there ! and
its branches diverging to the French lines, and to
the other side of Balaklava harbour 1 Muddy
brooks, quaggy or rocky soil, steep inclines, no-
thing was suffered to stop its onward march.
Everything was foreseen and proviled for each
emergency. Nothing was left to chance. With
our eyes on Sebastopol and Balaklava we can but
exclaim osi sic ()alma ! Had all things, indeed,
been managed thus long ere now Sebastopol would
have been ours, and we should have been talking of the
Baltic and Poland, while Russia would have been
begging us to take the Crimea, and Bessarabia
and Circassia too, and keep them, so that we did
but leave her Poland. I

We all must see that the sad difference is re-
ferable to one cause alone. Lord RAGLAN and his
successors here promote by purchase, seniority, or
favour—Sir MORTON PETO promotes by merit.
The former administers everything by an office-
creating, time-wasting system of checks and counter-
checks; the latter by finding men whom he
can trust to work in the shortest way. The Ge-
neral of the Army cannot tell who is responsible
for any miscarriage, and no one knows to whom
to apply to get anything done. The General of
the Navvies could find out and dismiss at once
the culpable author of any mishap—he would do
it too, and every man knows where and to whom
to apply for all that is needed. One fact is, we
repeat, the key to all this—every man under Sir
MORTON PETO is thoroughly assured that the bet-
ter he does his work the more certain he is to bet-
ter his condition. If only a labourer, he is sure
of better work ; if a man of education and capa-
city, he may become a contractor, perhaps a PETO.

All eyes are now anxiously turned towards
Vienna. Public attention is concentrated on the
proceedings of the Conference now pending in the
Austrian capital. On the results depend the wol-
f ire and rrn.4DP)."-s- —1 permanent tranquillity of
Europe and an important district in Asia. bven
the safety of the Anglo-Indian empire trembles in
the balance ; for so long as the Russian supre-
macy is maintained in the Euxine—so long as
. _

there is the slightest possibility of the Corossus
of the North opening a road for his predatory
hordes into Hindostan, or even of influencing

native Princes—so long must every true-hearted
Englishman feel that a struggle for life or death
is impending, and that the country may at any
moment be compelled to encounter the most for-
midable pelils and to sustain the most onerous
burdens.

I England did not lightly or unnecessarily enter
on the contest in which she is now engaged. In
fact, the absurd hesitation of the then Prime
Minister, the good and excellent ABERDEEN, was
the chief cause of the War, by inducing NICHOLAS
to more than doubt the sincerity of his opposition.
The AUTOCRAT well knew that the English Premier
could not be deceived by his professions of mode-
ration. He had, as he thought, completely re-
moved any possibility of such a result by his very
candid admission to the British Ambassador. So
far as Sir HAMLITON SEYMOUR was concerned, the
mask had. been cast aside. Not only was the
rapidly approaching dissolution of the " sick man"
distinctly and unequivocally alluded to, but the
probable distribution of his assets was openly can-
vassed, and the share which England might hope
to obtain as the price of her connivance clearly
expressed. Candia and Egypt-were the tempting
bribes by which our acquiescence in the iniquitous
scheme was to be purchased. He was fully aware
that he could do as he pleased with Austria and
Prussia, and the active co-operation, or at least
the neutrality of these three Powers being secured,
he fondly imagined that he could either cajole or
bully France. When he found that after these
revelations we contented ourselves with still pro-
testing—that even the passage of the Pruth and
the seizure of the Principalities was made,
not a cases belli, but an excuse for fresh
negotiations, which Lord ABERDEEN well knew,
or ought to have known, must prove
abortive. What could he have imagined but
that England was acting with duplicity similar to
his own, that she only desired to save appear-
ances by a decent show of resistance, and that
she would have eventually, even while
" Whispering I will ne'er consent, consented."

It was to the sterling honesty and unbending
firmness of the peoples of France and England,
as well as of the French EMPEROR, that the de-
feat of the deep-laid scheme may be attributed.
But it has been only postponed, not abandoned.
" The snake is scotched, not killed," for
ALEXANDER still professes the policy laid down in
the will of PETER, and sedulously pursued by all
subsequenendt the
rulers of Russia, more especially by
CATHERINE, ALEXANDER 1., and NICHOLAS. With
the Crimea, a geographical fortress of
hnmense natural strength, was taken possession of,
and all the resources of Russia, its men, its
I money, and
any
the engineering art of foreigners,
"the
l,
st Sebastopol opmol, e
inure skilful than
natives that could
Ibe found, were lavished to render its cita-
d2
and tue
nacieunporfegnEabulreo—pe
!
to make it ,
and Asia," as it was felicitously termed
by the British Plenipotentiary, who,
it is now
said, is willing to sanction its retention with un-
diminished power by Russia,
We repeat the interrogatory exhibited when
the sinister rumour was first whispered. We again
ask, can this be possible ? Can the Western
Powers—the chivalrous peoples of France and
England, who would sacrifice their lives rather
than their honour—submit to this deep humilia-