The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-09 00:00:00

SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON ON THE WAR.
Sir ARCHIBALD ALISON, in moving a resolution at a
meeting held in Glasgow, on Monday last, said—l feel
highly honoured on being called upon to address this
great, influential, and respectable meeting on behalf of
the appeal which the Queen has made to her subjects on
this interesting occasion, The Queen's commission,
addressed to the first in rank, the first in talent, the
first in virtue, and the first in respectability, of all
parties and all shades of opinion, is now before you ;
and the object of the commission is to gather sub-
scriptions throughout the length and the breadth of
the land, in order to provide a fund for the widows
and children of those who may lose their lives in
defence of their country. I am sure nothing more is
needed that the announcement of that object to recom-
mend it ,to an assembly such as this ; and I am well sure
Glasgow on this great national and interesting occasion
will not forfeit that high name it has always 'gained
when objects of national importance were to be adminis-
tered for the relief of suffering. Gentlemen, the Queen
has appealed to her subjects on this occasion, and has
herself headed the subscription upon a ground which she
well knew would be responded to by all her subjects—
the justice and necessity of the war. While we are engaged
in a contest Rith one,of the greatest and most powerful
empires of the world, all have the satisfaction of thinking
that we delayed the contest as long as by possibility it
could be avoided ; we did not draw the sword till we
found it could not be kept any longer in the scabbard.
If we had allowed that great Power to go on for another
quarter of a century as it had done for a century and a
half before, swallowing up province after province, for-
tress after fortress, and harbour after harbour, it was
easy to see that the time was not far distant when the
danger would roll to our own shores, our independence
and liberty be menaced—not by 70,000,000 of men, but
by 70,000,000 heading an alliance of 140,000,000 of more
dependent countries, and we would be compelled to fight
in defence of our own homes and hearths on our own
shores, and probably the fate which has now fallen to Se-
bastopol would be ours, the streets of our cities obstructed
by the heaps of the slain, and the air tainted by the odour
from corpses around us. As such was the necessity of the
war into which we have been driven by the imminent
danger which threatened not less our national indepen-
dence than the fortune and happiness of every indi-
vidual in the country, so I am sure the Queen has
reckoned with good reason in trusting to the patriotism
of her subjects at home, who are protected by the valour
of brethren abroad, to provide for the losses which a war
must inevitably cause. Eight months have hardly
elapsed since half the empire bayed responsive to the
music of the bands of the many regiments which left this
city, and all the other cities and harbours of the king-
dom, to go on a distant and dangerous warfare, and al-
ready, in that short period, the warmest anticipations of
all have been realised. The armies of England, Scotland,
and Ireland haue sustained their ancient and well-
earned reputation, and our streets have resounded with
notes of triumph and exultation at the well-earned
glories of our armies. When England, Scotland,
and Ireland have been animated only by generous
rivalry which shall best discharge their duty, and .
maintain a place in the archives of military fame, it
might be invidious to speak of any one, but in this
country, and in this city, I think we may say the Scotch
regiments have not degenerated from their ancient repu-
tation. On the first occasion that occurred, when the
soldiers were called into battle, almost all of whom had
never seen a shot fired in anger, we know it was the
Highland brigade that was on the left of the Guards
when they made the decisive charge on the field of the
Alma ; and already we see through the dim obscurity of
telegraphic intelligence that the Scotch, in a moment of
difficulty and danger, have well maintained their ancient
reputation ; for from Redcliffe's despatches we learn
that, when the Turkish army lost its redoubts, the
Scotch regiments stood firm. It was they that
gained time for succour to come up, and that suc-
cour was headed by the Scots Greys and the 4th
Dragoon Guards. Well did Napoleon say on the
field of Waterloo, " Ces terribles chevaux grin comma
ifs travaillent 1" and I am sure, when the official de-
spatches come, it will be found that that noble regi-
ment and the 79th have maintained the reputation which
commenced at Blenheim. There are many among us
old enough to remember—and I am among them—the
time when a similar subscription was made. Many of
us recollect the subscription which was made for the re-
latives of these who fell at Waterloo. It amounted to
500,000/., and I trust this subscription will amount to
at least double the sum, for the resources of the country
are more than triple what they were at that time, and
the necessity is more than tripled. The country has in-
creased more than a half in population, its wealth more
than triple. 500,0001. then would not be more than
1,600,0001. now, and when the necessity is con-
sidered it is still more crying. Great as was
Waterloo, prolific as was the blood of the children of
the country then poured out, it was then the last
battle of a great contest—the temple of Janus was shut
when the cannon of Waterloo ceased to resound ;
but we are ROW called on to subscribe for a battle that
commences a struggle—a battle that, instead of closing
a campaign of 20 years, may commence a war of 20
years' duration, and you should consider the necessity
of animating the spirit of the soldiers and the population
in a contest of which no man can anticipate the danger
and the limit. Suppose Sebastopol is taken—that to-
morrow we hear of its fall—what follows but a winter
campaign in the Crimea or the south of Turkey ; and
what will be the fate of our gallant soldiers ? How true,
then, the words of the poet:—

" Oh ! winds of winter, list ye there,
To many a deep and dying groan •
Or start yo demons of the midnight air
At shrieks and thunders louder than your own.
" Alas ! ev'n your unhallowed breath
Will spare the victims fallen low,
But man will ask no truce to death,
No bounds to human woe."
Gentlemen, if such is the magnificence and difficulty
of the contest on which we are entering, we yet have a
great source of consolation that we enter on it with a
population one-half greater, and resources three times
what they were before ; and, most important of all, we
enter into it not alone, but with that gallant and power-
ful nation standing by our side, which we have learned
to respect, and which has learned to respect us iu many
a field. There is a remark by the French historian of
the revolution, " how often would enmities the most in-
veterate be appeased if they could meet and read each
other's hearts." England and France have met, have
met under the shadow of the tent, and have read each
other's hearts, and each nation seen in the other the
strongest respect, the highest admiration of the quali-
ties by which they are distinguished thoroughly veil-
ing all national enmity and animosity. And let me
tell you, those alliances are not the less firm and
prolific of future progress which may be founded on
the respect based upon prior opposition. The re-
spect of England and France to each other is not of
recent origin. Every contest for a century and a half
has been in the field of honour, for military and naval
glory. They more nearly resemble the days when knights
of old met in the tournament to contend for the prize of
honour or the smiles of beauty; and during the Penin-
sular war it pervaded all ranks of the army. It is a
beautiful fact that any officer who was present will tell
you, that during the war the outposts never fired on each
other; they often met in friendly intercourse, shared the
soldier's meal and the soldier's bed, without either party
relinquishing military duty. And at Talavera, when the
two armies, wearied with fighting, reposed during a few
hours in the heat of the day on the opposite banks of
the same stream, the foemen drank in peace out of
the same stream, held their hands across the water,
shook hands, and laid the foundation, amid blood
and carnage, of that mutual respect and good feeling
which is now realised in the defence of Europe's
freedom. (Loud cheers.) Nothing was wanting but
some common ground on which they might unite, and
some common object to which their hostility might be
directed. That foundation was found in struggling for
the independence of Europe, and the object of hostility
lay in the usurpation of the Emperor of Russia. lam
glad the subscription has been so magnificently entered
upon. The names will be read out for you, but there
are a few I cannot omit mentioning. The city of Glas-
gow contributes 500/. The Messrs. Baird, with equalhe
munificence, their 5001. The Messrs. Napier subscribe
2501., and their' workmen the same sum.
firms have subscribed equally munificentlyNB,_e
avlpirautrAs t we
will see here the realisation of what
itphtei o
lowest,
andest,
sub-
scription foreshadowed—a union
ranks of parties, from the most t
piesakontlyo
in defence of that common aoffifMaueleslnsdrtse.sct or
one other topic I n
the heart of every generaitiiouobdniee
of
,winhbeinecc.haumlsuehsettrhese re is a
pose and others which
It has been stated that the
slight difference betWileshtean:ethbeeernesseulubtmiounteldhtaoveniteeetpin7;
throughout the country..
number of persons have enlisted from the
a greater
fGlasgow than any other city ; and such.
situation of Glasgow is in several respects peculiar--
thatneighbourhood o
ma , a
is the martial spiritlof tuhueeStehoitrdtiswherneasticoont,
hthatltohf the
number° f killed at
of population had been followed,oug it
if the proportion
circumstance
would
dered a sght my lu-
have been less than one-ninth. Thatrcumstance
•
-tiaosn.ren When theli regimentsdifference leftnecessar Glasgowy in
for thereso East
lass spring, it was found that a large body of women and
children were left destitute—as widowed and orphaned as
if they had lost their husbands and parents. A small
subscription was entered into by a certain number of in-
dividuals, without any appeal to the public, to alleviate
their sufferings. The committee raised about 6001., and
they contrived to maintain the wives and children of the
soldiers, and save them from utter ruin and destitution,
from that time till this. The number of women re-
ceiving weekly relief, at the rate of 2s. 6d., is 147. and
the children dependent on them are 250 mere. Nearly
400 have thus been maintained from this 6001. from
March till now ; and the committee are above 1501. in
debt. It was evident that this great subscription for
the Patriotic Fund would destroy all hopes of support
to that smaller fund if it stood by itself, and the 400
persons be thrown on the country in utter destitu-
tion at the very time when the wives of those who had
fallen were to be provided for. The committee, therefore,
thought the only way to do was to combine
ond this lesser
object with the greater one in the Queen's Commission
e:
is
and in order to combine these two objects, what p
e
being mentioned,
are is this, that all subscriptions which are gives g
rally, without any specific distinction ene-
ift her relativesey balance
is an
are understood to be given, tenthsnine- for the Patrioticarestill
Fund, and one-tenth for those whose l
alive, on the understanding that if
the
general Patriotic
out of the one-tenth it is to go
of not relinquishing the
erue
rieto relieve those who have:,
Fund. We think thus the twof objectsute wrielllabteivcesomb jet
living, because we entdh
eeavfield of battle. If others think
lost their support in
differently, they can
write that their subscription ttk• •
Only for the Patriotic Fuad, or entirely for the other.,

;' ,
• .