The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-14 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morning
This day at Two o'clock 7B
Barometer-29.00.
Wind—S.-E. ; moderate, and very fine weather.

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LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1863.

Everyone remembers, of course, the little cluster
of Quaker doves flitting all the way from Liverpool
to St. Petersburg, for the express purpose of con-
verting that wily old serpent, the late Russian
Autocrat, from the error of his ways. As amusing
a piece of impertinence, though one of a totally dif-
ferent character, has just now been thrust under
our observation. A preposterous pamphlet, extend-
ing to the length of exactly six pages—one of these
six pages being the dedication and another the title-
page—lets us into the secret. It is, as one may say,
a word spoken in the strictest confidence—to the
universe. Something equivalent to a whisper
through a speaking trumpet. One of those stage
66 asides" audible to a whole housefull, in boxes,
pit and gallery, but supposed to be unheard by the
person standing close by the speaker's elbow. We
take this atom of a pamphlet to be an expression
of the most consummate vanity, and of an effron-
tery wholly matchless of its kind. Although
the writer of it is an obscure Mr. Somebody,
whose name has never been heard of before by
the public, before whom the bearer of it may be
said to come now smirking and swaggering down
to the footlights, that name is coolly given in
its simple integrity upon the titlepage as though
it were a Duke's! And again, in its simple
integrity, that is, without the prefix of any Chris-
tian name whatever, at the close of a dedica-
tion such as even a right-minded costermonger
must, one would think, perforce, with an
instinctive sense of delicacy, pronounce, upon the
instant of glancing at it, to to " owdacious."
" Basis of a Plan for the Abolition of War"—this
astoundingly nonsensical brochure is entitled—
"By Ntre here purposely suppress the
avowal of the insignificant authorship. Between
the name of the writer and the title of his pamphlet
appears this utterly ridiculous paragraph, in the
middle of the title page, by way of preliminary
annoucement :—" Submitted to Lord PALMERSTON
and Earl RUSSELL, with Mr. —'s respectful com-
pliments, on July 16, 1863, in order to obtain the
sanction of Earl GREY, Mr. ROEBUCK, Mr. BRIGHT,
and Mr. COBDEN,before presentation to her MAJESTY
the QUEEN, and her MAJESTY'S Ministers ; but.it is
presumed they have come to no determination on
the subject." Better even than this, however, in its
exquisite absurdity, is the outrageous dedication,
"To the QUEEN'S Most Excellent MAJESTY"—
beginning with a sublime impertinence—" My Dear
SOVEREIGN," and signed by this human emmet as
from her MAJESTY'S " sincere friend "—then follows
the isolated surname of this " illustrious obscure."
A Bugg, calling himself Bugg, and yet affecting to
be a HOWARD—signing his homely patronymic
with a flourish, as though it were " Noßromi," or
° SHREWSBURY " at the very least! The letterpress
embodying the proposition of this preposterous
Peacemaker extends, in straggling lines of very
large type, barely over four small pages, the gist of
it being comprised within a passage of less than
twenty lines altogether. " I want a Congress,"
says the writer, at the commencement of his revela-
tion, and these few words may be said, strictly
speaking, to contain within them the whole of his
proposition. He might far more reasonably have
said, while he was about it—" I want a
strait-waistcoat !" If anything were really
required to demonstrate the utter absur-
dity and fatuity of the peace-at-any-price
principles—that demonstration would be found
ready to hand in such nonsensical escapades as that
revealed to view in the Quaker Deputation of some
ten years since, or again at this moment in the por-
tentous folly, penned, printed, and published by
the blatant egotism of this prig of a pamphleteer.

The history of sieges forms one of the most in-
teresting chapters in military annals. It is felt,
and justly so, that it requires courage of a far
higher standard, heroism of a nobler type, to sustain
812°11 trial unflinchingly than to turn the flight or
to lead the forlorn hope. The days and nights of
anxious watching under the most depressing in-
fluences, with Luling ammunition and insufficient
food, the constant presence of the enemy, the
gradual diminution of the little body of defenders,
by casualty and sickness, the double siege of famine
within the walls and the foe 'without, all these in-
flaences combine to render a Protracted siege one
of the sharpest tests of a soldier's Prowess and en-
durance. It is not surprising, therefore, that in
most campaigns the interest centres on the story of
a siege. Those which fill a foremost place in
history are too numerous to mention ; but the sieges
of Badajos, of Acre, of Kars, and of Sebastopol are
not forgotten by this generation, while the sur-
render of Cawnpore and the defence of Lucknow
can scarcely be ranked as mere historical events, so
warmly did they enlist our sympathies. Bat if our
feelings are always enlisted on the side of the be-
siegers, such is doubly the case when their situation
is a desperate one ; and if the story of the trium-
phant repulse of the allied besiegers from the rocky
coasts of Gibraltar be a thrilling one, still more do
we pay homage to the inflexible resolution that
some two centuries earlier held the little island of
Malta against the whole power of the Turkish
force. The great civil war that is now raging
before us has proved no exception to the general
rule, and for many months the names of Charleston
and Vickebarg hays bees familiar as household

words among us. Every attack on: Charleston has
hitherto met with ill success, and if report speaks
truly the present attempt does not seen% likely to
fare much better than its predecesso rs. The tenure
of 'Vicksburg has been a harder nIP .tter, and all
eyes, American and European, havr; been turned to
it with eager expectation. It was felt that the key
of the Mississippi would not be sur rendered without
a struggle, and we had seen encei gh of Southern
daring and determination to knove that they would
not yield the struggle lightly. Sc , it has proved, re-
duced to their last mule, decimate dby the murderous
fire of the enemy, and her Let-sick with the
weariness of hope deferred, Vela valiant little band
has yet contrived to defe r d a fortress whose
strength has been greatly over-estimated, and to
repulse a foe who had every means of success at his
command. A very interesting narrative of the for-
tunes of war, extending from the opening struggle
to the capitulation of the town, has been given by
an officer who took part in the defence. He states
that the discrepancy between the forces was very
considerable. " Our land front works consisted of
one single line of earthworks, running along a
continuous ridge from a point about a mile and a
half above Vicksburg to about the same distance
below—the curve inland increasing the extent of
line from four to five miles in all. At short inter-
vals we had little redoubts or forts, in which light
artillery had been placed, but after the first and
second days' experience it became evident to every
one that they were rather an element of weakness
than otherwise. The enemy, who had access to all
the appliances and improvements that science has
invented to carry on modern warfare, can boast
first-class guns, the best of ammunition, and mag-
nificent artilleryman." The defenders might well
mournfully compare the enemy's lavish expendi-
ture of ammunition with their own enforced caution,
for, at the time the siege was commenced, so scanty
was the store in Vicksburg that they had but ten
percussion caps per man ; a fortnight later they
were supplied by their own prowess and by couriers
from General JOHNSTONE, but the opportunity was
lost. The besiegers had availed themselves of the
ridges surrounding Vicksburg to entrench
themselves strongly ; and, by the time
that percussion caps were no longer
a matter of anxious consideration they had provided
themselves with shelter and protection. "At the
only time when we could have annoyed and delayed
their operations," says the writer, " we dared not
fire for want of ammunition." Even worse than
the scanty stock of the means of warfare, however,
was the slender supply of food. About the 35th
day provisions grew very scarce, and anxiously did
the garrison watch for the relief that was never to
come. Mule meal was the common fare and even
dogs became in request. Bean meal was made into
coffee, long before hope was abandoned, and thus
under a scorching sun and surrounded by unburied
corpses the besieged still struggled on. For the
first two weeks General GRANT had made several
efforts to carry the place by storm, but having be-
come convinced of the hopelessness of such attempts,
after that time, he set about making regular ap-
proaches. By the 40th day his forces were at many
points within 15 feet of the enemy's works ; yet, al-
though the besiegers blew up several forts, and their
defenders with them, it was not their fate to storm
the city. General PEMBERTON, learning that the
long-hoped-for relief from General JOHNSTONE was
not forthcoming, and knowing that his famished
and wearied troops could not cut their way through
the opposing force, determined to capitulate.
Honourable terms were agreed upon, the army was
to be paroled and allowed to retire into the Confe-
deracy, and the officers were to march out with
horses, arms, and personal prop'rty. It must have
been with feelings of bitter regret that the brave
garrison surrendered the key of the Mississippi into
the hands of the enemy, after the heavy struggle,
the unflinching endurance, and the long-cherished
hopes of succour. The historian of the siege con-
soles himself by the reflection that, notwithstanding
the capture of Vicksburg, the navigation of the
river will still be so unsafe- that neither passengers
nor freight will be able to travel by that route until
the navigation of the Mississippi is permitted by
the Confederates. He finds another source of satis-
faction in the courage and determination which
held the city for so long, and contrasts it with the
reckless manner in which the assault was conducted.
The old barbarity which has so often stained the
annals of Northern triumphs did not fail to show
itself here, and the utter absence of all chivalry and
humanity in their mode of conducting warfare is
painfully remarkable at the present day. The city
lies in a hollow, and as it contained neither troops
nor stores within its bounds, the place might, says
the writer we have referred to, have been just as
soon reduced if a shot had never fallen in its streets.
But Admiral PORTER thought fit to establish a
mortar battery opposite the town, and day and
night kept up a constant discharge of 13-inch shell
into the streets of the city. Many women and
children were killed, every street more or less
damaged, part of the city burnt, and worst of all the
hospitals suffered greatly. " Whether from chance or
intention I know not, but certain it is that the
yellow flag, ordinarily held so sacred in modern
war, has in this one been but the mark for the hot-
test and most deadly fire." Hundreds of sick and
wounded—Federals and Confederates alike—fell
victims to this barbarous mode of warfare, although
advantage was taken of occasional flags of truce to
represent the matter to the besieging authorities.
Such proceedings do the Northern cause more in-
jury than ten victorious sieges can do it good<
They produce a feeling of bitter indignation in
Southern minds, that disinclines them for peace or
compromise ; they call forth the reprobation of
every humane and civilised being. The North
American States have certainly the proud satisfac-
tion of having introduced several new features into
modern warfare, some of which, indeed, would seem
to have been learnt from the Indians who formerly
peopled their territories. Whatever may be the
result politically, it is certain that morally the ad-
vantage is with the besieged rather than the
besiegers ; and the writer of the narrative we have
been
.quoting speaks truly, when he says that the
defence will redound more to the credit of the
famished, ill-provided handful of 12,000 to 15,000
men, than the attack and reduction will do to the
130,000 assaulters, possessed of abundant supplies,
"with the most perfect artillery and ordnance that
a lavish expenditure and the most famous markets
of Europe could supply, and who for 48 days were
barred ingress by one thin line, and who only
entered at last with the consent of the garrison they
feared to assault."

If no very decided change is proposed by the
Commissioners on " Transportation and Penal Ser-
vitude," at least they have offered several sugges-
tiuns which, if carried out, will doubtless prove of
essential service. It would not have been advisable
at once to introduce startling changes, and to make
extensive alterations, as some proposed. A. gradual
infusion of new rules and regulations is the best,
especially in a case like that of a convict prison ;
otherwise the sudden move may cause the greatest
confusion, and even rouse the most lawless into a
state of sedition that may be difficult to quell. It is
obvious, then, that it is wise and prudent to weigh
the matter well, before teginiairg to ,Ttnapdel the

' system; and even if faulty in many of its existing
forms, to seek to modify rather then to re-make
the plan. During the last twenty-one years crime
has decreased in England ; but in the last two
years there has been in England and Ireland an
increase amounting to one-fifth in smaller offences,
and one-third in graver charges. Now, the com-
missioners give it as their opinion that this sad
state of things is certainly attributable in some de-
gree to the defects that exist in the present sys-
tem of punishment. This is a pretty strong re-
buke, and may satisfy the most strenuous opposers
of the mode now in vogue. Also, the Commis.
sioners consider that this unsatisfactory result is
partly produced by retaining so many convicts at
home. They prove the inefficiency of penal servitude
as it is at present managed, by pointing out the
immense number of re-convictions that have taken
place. This anomaly they justly attribute to the
shortness of the sentences that are passed upon
offenders, and also to the defective discipline that
now prevails. The Commissioners, therefore, pro-
posesaypedelsentence
yt a
years,
esse
dl age decidednn
dtob ftheaaat
penalsentences
fehonerrtree
emns
theceieesrdsvygi
pt
futureforruae
sdasete
dft
ohn
trihs glaringelrees
than
should
evilb
sevene bn yo
beycludaifflietyrenntojw-uddgies;
nfoortb
thee so
sammeooeffh itenlcsets,utde allowedhathenc henceforth
the on
h therecsrhtos i
should
the fixing of the term of punishments. These are
very wise proposals, and seem to meet the require-
ments of the case, at the same time that they do not
upset and disturb all existing arrangements, and
the present line of procedure, to an extent that
would confuse and complicate matters. The ques-
tion of the ticket-of-leave system has of course been
tested by a strict inquiry, and the result is that it
is proposed to retain it still in force, since it holds
out encouragements and offers inducements to the
men to preserve a decent demeanour, and to work
industriously. This is true enough, doubtless, so
far as the plan works within the prison walls, but
the world without their confines has complained,
.and with good cause, too, that they are made the
sacrifice, that their lives and property are at stake
to enable the prison authorities to carry out their
crotchets, and to put in practice their theories con-
cerning the votaries of crime. However, those who
are strongly against the system will be pleased to
find in the report that the commissioners agree that
there was sufficient cause last year for the dissen-
tient opinion that prevailed among the public re-
garding this much debated question. They, how-
ever, attribute the evils that accrued to the abuses
and not the uses, of the plan, and think that a
great deal of the harm came from the sentences
being too short, and the prisoners too soon released.
This custom of making the terms of imprisonment
of so brief a duration has been much the practice
lately, and it is a very wise piece of advice for the
Commissioners to propose rescinding such a custom,
which has been productive of such pernicious con-
sequences. Another great advantage that will
accrue from this plan of giving seven years as the
minimum term of penal servitude, is that hence the
reason for keeping so many prisoners at home will
be done away with. Western Australia most for-
tunately presents an opportunity for the great
ne-
cessity that exists at present for transportation.
Since the other colonies objected to receiving con-
victs, all the evils which they complained of, and
which were to some extent imaginary, have been
forced upon us in sad reality. It is impossible to
succeed at all with the penal system in its
present state, and a change of some kind is rendered
highly imperative.
Mr. GREELET, in his interesting letter to the Times
the other day, discoursed at great length on the
great advantages that would be gained if transpor-
tation on a more extended scale were carried on in
Western Australia. He showed that the chief evil
that abounds at home in ticket-of-leave men is
unknown there, namely, a return to their old ways
of life. His evidence was personal testimony. He
said—" I do not speak from conjecture or hearsay,
having, while in the colony, employed the largest
amount of convict labour. I have every reason
to speak well thereof, for although I was without
neighbours,soldiers,an d t hs
er
ve
ee n
thyu-nfide
vre df r
ommi es
op forroi
eme
mt ha
ne nearest
fastened door or window, and never lost the value
of a shilling." This is most valuable testimony,
since it goes far to establish the fact already asserted
by so many that the convicts do so much better
abroad. Removed from temptation, ensured an
amount of remunerative labour, they are almost
certain to become altered characters. By degrees
new objects of interest spring up around them, and
they are weaned from all the associations that
abound at home and constantly lead them back to
ruin. Colonel HENDERSON, who was the Comp-
troller-General of Convicts in Western Australia,
speaks strongly as regards the advantages of this
colony. He says it is an " extensive terri-
tory, constituting a vast natural gaol, with
innumerable resources, a large leaven of free
settlers anxious and willing to co-operate
with the Government in the progress of transporta-
tion." After summing up various other advantages,
such as excellent climate, the cheapness of the ne-
cessaries of life, and a Ni ell organised convict depart-
ment, no wonder that he declares that it forms a
combination of facts that may be sought for in vain
hereafter. It is satisfactory that Col. HENDERSON
is appointed as the Inspector-General of our Con-
victe Prisons at home, as his influence will then be
exerted in favour of the system of transportation,
and having seen for himself the remedial results of
the plan he will enter into its furtherance with
spirit and energy. On this point of transportation
to Western Australia on a large scale the Lord
Chief Justice coincides with his colleagues ; so
that there seems every reason to hope that the
wise and beneficial scheme will shortly be intro-
duced in full force. It has every reasonable argu-
ment in its favour, and its advocates appear. suc-
cessfully to have combated the opponents of the
project. Great reforms are unquestionably called
for at home, in the arrangements within the prison
as to diet, the hours of labour, and a stricter system
of discipline, but it will strike at the root of the
evil as regards the failure of the convict system, if
this proposal regarding Western Australia be
carried out. Then the most dangerous characters
will not be left all hero to become indifferent to im-
prisonment in consequence of the many leniences
lately introduced, and they will not be able, above
all, to return to their old ways and associates,
the terror of society and the lasting reproach
to the prison authorities. If the Commissioners
succeed in persuading the authorities to carry out
their proposal, they will have rendered most essen-
tial service to all concerned in the affair. The
officials will be spared great annoyance, the convicts
themselves will be benefited, the settlers will be
satisfied, and the community at home will reap the
advantages of security from violence and repeated
losses.

VARIETY IS PLEASING.—Yet, as the Spectator
remarks, practical life is a variegated heap of monotonous oc-
cupations, where most people are doing very unlike things,
where scarcely any two people are doing precisely the same
things, but where each one is for ever doing the same thing
—on—on—on—as long as he lives.
IPFLAND, the " German Garrick,' and author of
numerous sentimental dramas, is to have a statue, of which
King Ludwig of Bavaria at
will bear the whole expense,