The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

SATURDAY RETlEW.—iooking to the evidence
produced by Lord Cardigan it is proper to notice, la)
way of introduction,that the Light Cavalry Brigade
advanced to charge the Russian battery in three
lines. The first line was composed of the 13th Light
Dragoons and the 17th Lancers ; the second line
was formed'by the 11th Hussars; and the third by
the 4: h Light Dragoons and the Bth Hussars. Lord
Cardigan, i❑ his own affidavit, stated that he ad-
vanced at the head of the first line of the brigade,
and led it up to and into the battery. He rode
through the battery at the head of the brigade, and
past the guns, till he came nearly up to a force of
Russian cavalry stationed behind the battery, and
in rear of the guns. He was then attacked by
some Cossacks, slightly wounded, and nearly dis-
mounted. He was at this time almost alone, for
the first line of cavalry, which had followed him into
the battery, had been entirely broken up. Upon
disengaging himself from the CossOcks and return-
ing past the guns, he saw the broken remnants of
the first line, in small detached portions, retreating
up the hill towards their original position. The
statement of Lord Cardigan was confirmed by
eeveral witnesses. Lieutenant Johnson, of the 13th
Light Dragoons, ~erved as a sergeant in thiS action.
He entered the battery with his regiment, which
formed part of the first line. The remnants of that
line retreated in small detached parties, one of
which, including Sergeant Johnson, fell in with the
second line as it advanced, and turned and rode a
second time through the battery along with it. On
making this second advance, Sergeant Johnson
found himself within a few yards of Lord Cardigan,
who was then in the rear of the batteryourrounded
by and engaged in defending himself against, four
or five Cossack lancers. Lord Cardigan disengaged
himself from the Cossacks, and rode away unhurt,
one of them making ineffectually a right rear point
at him as he departed. The witness then retreated
towards the hill as rapidly as he could. Another
witness was Mr. Percy Smith, formerly a captain
in the same regiment. He charged in the first line,
and had the best possible opportunity of observing
where Lord Cardigan was and what he did. Lord
Cardigan rode nearly opposite the space between
the two regiments which formed the first line, and
he entered the battery about three horses' lengths
in advance of the line. Mr. Percy Smith adds;—
"After we had pasted through the battery, I saw
one of the Cossacks who were drawn up in the rear
of the guns cut at his lordship with his sword, and I
recollect this circumstance particularly, as I
observed that Lord Cardigan kept his
own sword at the slope, and did not
seem to take any trouble to defend himself."
Colonel Jenyns, of the same regiment, served as a
captain at Balaklava. He describes how a gun was
fired close to Lord Cardigan's horse's head. " His
horse slightly swerved to the right, crossed me, and
entered the battery on my right front."
ATAENAUM.—In the dedication of Wednesday,
the world, we may be sure, thought less of the Cryt.-
tal Palace and all its wonders than of that prince
of men who first conceived it in Ilia mind, and then
by skill and courage translated the idea of his soul
into its perfect material shape. It was an unwel-
come rather than an infelicitous combination ; the
fitness being perfect, while the need for that fitting
combination was full of pain, The figure which
should have crowned the pedestal in the Horticul-
tural Gardens was a Britannia—making the whole
work symbolical, instead of partly real and partly

ideal, as it now stands, to its -manifest artistic loss.
But the years consumed in making out the original
thought brought with them changes which com-
pelled us to adopt new plans. Britannia gave her
piece to Albert; the true genius of the Exhibition
—the best representative of Peace, Industry and
Art. We could well have spared the mournful poe-
try of this association; but having no choice in the
affair, we may take to heart the tender teaching, the
benignant moral, of events, which come upon us
against our selfish will. That lapse of a Dozen
Years which changed our memorial into a monument
must be accepted with other facts. It is the old story.
We go a safe and steady pace. A more sprightly peo-
ple, to whom a fanfare of trumpets is an event, and
real events are but a fanfare of trumpets would have
enjoyed, and quizzed. and libelled, and forgotten
the doings in Hyde Park long ago. This haste to
do and to forget is not in our sober and chastened
natures. We play our music in slow time. Our
festivals become solemnities. We pause so long about
our rejoicings that Time and Death come knocking
at our gate and add some fresh and unwelcome
visitors to our string of guests. It has always been
so with us ; for our movement of ideas is like the
growth of our oaks, our Constitution and our em-

-Ore. We are talking of a monument to Shakepeare,
and asking whether Cromwell is to have a statue.
Our Nelson column is still unfinished. With us,
everything has to grow, and while growth is pro-
ceeding change may come. It is the principle of our
national life, and we must accept the law even when,
instead of giving us, in our most frequented and
brilliant public places, a memorial of our enterprise
and greatness, it reminds us of an irretrievable loss.
As a mere spectacle, the uncovering of Mr. Dur-
ham's group was singularly fine—recalling more
than any other show of a dozen years, that festive
scene when the Queen and Piince, in the bloom 01
youth and manliness, rode over into Hyde Park on
the Ist of May, 1851. There were the same bright
colours, the same royal salutes, the same graceful
harmony of trees and flags, the same fitful sunshine,
broken by straying clouds, and the same serpen-
tine winding of a rich bright line of representative
men and women. Some of the chief performers were
the same ; and where, as in the foremost, change
had done its melancholy office, there were gleams of
beauty and of hope which proved that if the cloud
which weighs upon the nation is very dark, it has,
nevertheless, the most radiant golden fringe.
EXAMINER.—Why does Mr. Hankey hanker so
for the Nelson lions ? Is not sufficient for the day
of production the evil thereof ? " Show his eyes
but grieve his heart," the evil genius that presides!
over Trafalgar-square may say. That Sir E. Land-
seer will make all that artist can make of lions we
are quite certain. He will not make them look as

Livingstone says is the established sculptural usage,
like" old women in night-caps," but no matter how

the animals may be rendered, the design is bad, and
its completion will bring prominently cut the ab-
surdity. There you will see a hero in a cocked Let
at the top of a lofty pillar. What is he up there
for ? For very good reason ; because there are four
savage carnivorous animals at the bottom licking
their chops, and ready to devour him if he conies
down within reach of their fangs and claws. In
appropriate slang phrase the gentleman in the
cocked hat is up a tree. He will never come down
while those lions are there, No wonder, then, that
Sir Edwin Laudseer has been in no hurry to set the
lions there. Things are not now at the worst, and
it does not seem that the hero in the cocked hat is
in any jeopardy, but merely that he has mounted
that pillar to take an observation of the sun's alti-
tude, and he has been there so long, and is likely to
be there much longer, waiting tor a lucid interval
for a sight of the sun. All this looks professional
and suitable. But set the lions there, and it is ob-
vious that Nelson has climbed up out of their way,
or that he is in the difficulty before described of being
up a tree." Time was when the lion was a beast
of good repute for courage and generosity. He is,
now known to be an arrant impostor. Except when
stimulated by hunger he is one of the most dastardly
animals in the creation. He is a huge cat and no-
thing more. The true type of courage is the dog,
which, uustimulated by hunger, will at the command
of man attack an animal a hundred times his size.
In ignorance of natural history the attribute of
courage was bestowed on the lion, and with im-
proved knowledge it will be withdrawn, and popu
larly understood that the mangy beast is only brave
when he has an empty belly. The saying, " brave
as a lion," will soon come to sound pretty much the
same as "brave as a hare," or " bold as a mouse."
So, if Landseer would present his lions in the
only mood, rendering them types of courage, he
must exhibit them with every appearance of
a long fast, exceedingly lank and lean,
with a notable collapse of the flanks. They will he
bold enough iu that shabby condition, but then,
will it not teem obvious that they are at the foot of
the column for no good, and hungering for the
gentleman who has taken refuge at the top ? The
predicament is not one in which you would choose
to present a hero.
LONDON REVIEW.—The story of Colonel Waugh's
doings is worth recalling. Some years ago there
existed a joint-stock bank, whose seat of manage-
ment was in London, but whose scene of operations
was in India. The company was respectable, but
not profitable; and as those were the
i days of Bri-
tish Banks and marvellous dividends, t struck some
of the members that it would be well to cultivate
the rich field of English confidence, and add to the
Oriental connection an extended London business.
The idea found favour, and towards the latter end
of 1854 the scheme of the London and Eastern
Banking corporation was submitted to the public.
Applications for shares came fast and thick.
Officers, civil and military, of high standing under
the East India Company, became contributories ;
the deed of settlement was executed ; and in
January, 1855, the company obtained its charter of
incorporation. Of course it was essential that a
first-rate concern should have a first-rate manager.
This desideratum was found in Mr. J. E. Stephens,
a gentleman possessed of experience and influence
in India; known to Lord Gough, and other Indian
.officers of rank, and well acquainted with the In-
dian Exchanges. The wisdom of this choice of a
manager soon became apparent. He introduced
customer after customer. First came the Letts'
Wharf Timber and. Sawing Mills Company.; then
the firm of Minter and Co:, upholsterers and