The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-07 00:00:00

Zrl)

LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1854.

The Crimea ought evidently, in prudence, to on such a question is practicable at the fag-end of
the session, when the prorogation of Parliament
be effectually cut off from the chance of any com-
munication with the European continent—before is rapidly approaching. All that can be done is
to direct the attention of Noble Lords and
the fleets and armies of the Allies adventure upon Honourable Gentlemen to the interesting and
any grand attack, simultaneously by sea and land, important subject, Fo that they may be well
upon Sebastopol. That is perfectly obvious. And acquainted with its various details when the
it is worthy of remembrance that it is a prelimi- time for action shall arise, and when required to
s
nary movement, not only perfectly obvious in its sanction a new experiment for the suppression of
crime, and the reformation of the criminal pope.
advisability, but demonstrably feasible in its
lation of the country. The topic may also be
realisation. very advantageously discussed in the public press.
The Crimea might be cut off from the possibility Anything calculated to place it in a striking point
of further communication with the Continent—by of view---to give additional facts—must prove be-
our landing a body of the Anglo-French troops to neficial, and increase the chances of a happy issue.
the north-west, hard by the narrow isthmus con- There are two distinct lights in which the topic
netting the Crimea with the mainland, and thereby must be strictly examined—so far as relates to
society and the convict himself, or as we have
giving it, indeed, the character of a peninsula—and already stated, to " the prevention of crime," and
by our landing at the same time another body of " the reformation of tfie criminal." It is only
the Anglo-French soldiers tc the north-east above for the sake of society that any punishment is at
all justifiable. The doctrine of "vengeance" has
Anapa, in fact somewhere upon the shores of the
Strait of Enikale. B accomplishin this, the long been banished from the penal codes of all
y g
Crimea would be at once completely insulated. civilised nations, and if " retributive justice"
be apparently extended to the offenders,
Already the latter part of the difficulty appears it is . simply to deter others from fol-
to have been overcome by means of the timely i lowing their most evil example, and thus to
enterprise effected by landing 5,000 troops near afford protection and security to their innocent
Amapa under the joint- direction of Generals and meritorious neighbours. It is therefore the
BROWN and CANRORERT. There is left, cense_ imperative duty of those who assume the position
o
quently, the other preparatory step to be taken, of law-givers, who arrogate to themselves autho-
namely, the landing of some 5,000 at l ' '
more,leas,,,
, rity not only over the liberties and fortunes, but
even, in extreme cases, over the lives of their fel-
hard by the Isthmus of Perecop. " Perecop low-men, to use their gigantic power with the ut-
is the portal of the Crimea," says DEMIDOFF— most possible moderation, and to inflict no unne-
"it is the entrance
That-gate to the government of cessary suffering even on the convicted culprits
Taurida." portal must be closed. That who are helplessly placed in their hands.
important gate must be successfully barri- ,
ceded. What is of extraordinary interest to '
Our old Draconic cod© looked only to society.
1 Its object was to affect men's fears, to rule by
know now—and it is known for certain—is that
terror solely. Not a week passed that the metro-
the occupation of the Isthmus and village of Pere- polis was not disgraced by public executions for
cop might be readily accomplished. With our the most trivial -offences. The "hangman" was
the great public instructor, and we can scarcely
gigantic fleets and immense disposable land fOrces wonder at the wide-spread brutality that pre-
in the Black Sea, we might easily transport to time vailed when the community received such tuition.
appointed locality a sufficient number of men to A better spirit subsequently prevailed. The
take up there at once a very formidable and secure :
I modified,
penal code was judiciously revised, and greatly
position. It may be objected, that, according to
p aco law, as and capital punishment only retained in
. cases of atrocious turpitude, where, by the Divine
the account given by certain travellers, the I well as the almost universal practice of
is singularly unhealthy, the half putrid and via- nations, it was sanctioned and considered indis-
pensal)le.
abridging capital
indis-
cons sea in its immediate neighbourhood, the seal We have, perhaps, gone as far in
of Azof, " constantly heated to the very bottoml
,justifiedtha that w e requirein go igoing,
girl andrthe further t
alterationsi n
punishment as we should be
otin. thatbut diitreisctioinn
forth, say some of these
of its slimy bed," giving
injurious to the' quality of , the
writers, "a miasma system of secondary p • h ' •
" Bat—mark this ! discipline, that urns ments, in the prison
the surrounding atmosphere. has been introduced under
the
M• MoNL&NDON asserts, sanction and authorityof
an important exception— • the local ,
rumour and prejudice, rather than that of Parliament, and in •
in spite of every contrary
dis-
posal of those who have either the dis-
spot, but a . served out their
that Perecop is not merely a healthy times and are therefore entitled to th • cl•
Whatever the their tscharge,
" particularly" healthy spot. or who have evinced such symptoms of
sincere
sanitary state of that point on the coast of the penitence for their former offences, and earnest
sea of Azof—thither our efforts ought in simple determination to lead a new life, that improve-
precaution, and as constituting an absolutely ne- ments and ameliorations must be introduced.
cessary preliminary, to be directed, if we sincerely In the prison discipline we have allowed the
propose to strike a blow in that direction at the crotchets of men fancying themselves philanthro-
pists, but who are really giving rein to the na-
pride and power of the Russian AUTOCRAT. tural cruelty of their disposition, too long to pre-
A position fairly established
at Anapa—an (1 prevail. We have treadwheels, cranks, collars,
another position firmly taken up at Pereco and and cats-of-nine-tails, and the various instruments
the Crimea would, so far at least, be at the mercy of torture which the Birmingh • am investigation
of the Allies, who might then take into cousidera- has brought to light. The "secrets of one pri-

son house" have been revealed—;.be doings of a
model governor, a magisterial pet, exposed. And
we may ask every unprejudiced person whether
they are such as to bring the mind of the pri-
soner into a better condition, or whether, on the
contrary, they are not calculated
,to harden the
hearts, and to make more crooked dispositions
previously perverted ? We do not strive to tame
the wild beasts, but to terrify and still further
brutalise them. We do not give a training
that will qualify the party again to mingle
with society. By excessive violence and
physical torture we either break or bend the stub-.
born metal—the " breaking" being death either
from suicide or the severity practised, the " bend-
ing" nothing but organised hypocrisy. Such is
not the spirit to which a man should be brought
to enable him to take a useful part in " the battle
of life," to gain an honest livelihood by his own
industry ; nor is the treatment which the libe-
rated convict meets out of doors in any degree
better calculated to keep alive the spark of good-
ness within him. We do nothing to keep him
within the paths of rectitude ; on the contrary,
by suspicions and unmerited harshness we smother
and extinguish it. By interfering with and re-
stricting his honest efforts we drive him to crime
for the bare means of livelihood, and then de-
plore the fearful depravity of human nature, and
the failure of all our well-meant, but very injudi-
cious, proceedings for the reformation of the cri-
minal.

We would here very earnestly direct attention
to the Address to the electors of Hull, from General
PERRONET THOMPSON, given elsewhere in the-
customary way as an advertisement. It will
gladden every liberal heart in the kingdom (but
will rejoice more particularly, we feel assured,
every independent elector of the borough of Hull)
—by affording us all the prospect of seeing this
distinguished and veteran Reformer once more back
in his proper place, namely, amongst the number
of the national representatives. It is sincerely tobe
hoped that the gallant officer will be afforded an
opportunity of appearing before that, or if not
before that, before some other constituency, as a
candidate for an unpurchased seat in the British
Parliament. The liberal electors of Hull should
remember that the triumph of General THOMPSON'S
successful appearance as alcandidate for their suf-
frages would not be his only—Hull itself would
be honoured by returning to the House of Com-
mons as its member the eminent author of the
" Corn Law Catechism."

HOW TO TAKE CRONSTADT-"NO ENGI-
NEERING DIFFICULTIES."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEWS.

SIR,—An able letter on "Our Two Fleets and their
Task," in your columns of yesterday, properly insists
upon the importance of destroying the Russian fleet in
the Gulf of Finland, as an object second to none which
we can propose to ourselves during the present war ;
and the writer proposes two methods of effecting this re-
sult, so far as relates to the fleet in Cronstadt :-Ist. By
landing on the Western extremity of the island, which is
comparatively defenceless, and thence destroying the
fortifications by regular approaches. 2d. By shelling
the fleet in harbour at long range, from the northern
side across the island. A simpler mode of effecting
this object presents itself, by breaking through the Lisi
Noss embankment, which extends from the north-eastern
corner of the island, a distance of six miles, to the near.
est point of the mainland, and which forms the sole
obstacle to a large portion of the allied fleets penetrating
to within a very few miles of St. Petersburg itself. The
embankment once cut through, there would be a channel
for vessels drawing 18 feet of water into the rear of
Cronstadt, where the fortifications amount absolutely ,of
nil.

With regard to the feasibility of the undertaking,
it is to be observed that the embankment is unde-
fended by batteries, and from its length and position
is incapable of being so. As to mechanical obstacles,
if a joint stock company were got up to cut a ship canal
through the Lisi Noss, they would find a hundred engi-
neers and contractors who would undertake to complete
the works for them within a month.
This same Lisi Noss embankment is, after all, a
unique and barbarous contrivance, and such as, with the
mechanical resources at our command, ought not to stop
our progress for a moment. It might puzzle for a while
the routine of Chatham ; but a Stephenson or a Brunel
—a Rendel or a Brassey would laugh at the idea. of its
occasioning serious embarrassment. In a word, to adopt
the language of our parliamentary committees, "the
scheme presents no engineering difficulties."
August 4, 1854. A COUNTRY READER.