The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1854,

Seldom, if ever, have British soldiers been
more severely tried within an equal space of time
than during tie brief campaign in the Crimea.
Never have any passed more brilliantly through
the ordeal than those who, notwithstanding a
prolonged. enjoyment of " the piping •times of
peace," dieplayei when the emergency arose the
highest qualifications of veterans. It was not
merely the dasiing bravery, which seems the
characteristic of the inhabitants of the United
Kingdom, in which English, Irish, and Scotch
equally participate, and in which the inhabitants
of many other nations share, and for which our
brave Allies, the French, are particularly remark- I
able. That comes naturally. It is impulsive,
and will be felt by the greatest tyro in military
affairs as well as by the tried and experienced
soldier. But there was the coolness under
fire, the steady, calm intrepidity that enabled
men to stand firmly aid solidly in position while
mowed down by a murderous fire, to see their
comrades falling on every side around them, with-
out pulling a trigger to avenge their fate, or to
procure for themselves the excitement incidental
to every contest where blows are " given." as well
as "received," that leads the succeeding men to
fill up the vacancies occasioned in their ranks as
steadily and. regularly as if they were on parade, in
place of in front of
an enemy, and enables them to
" walk" in Place of " running" up to the oppos-
ing lines, reserving the desperate rush for the
time it can be most effective, all the vigour and
energy being kept for the moment of crossing
bayonets, when the men, are fresh and active
" piping" from previous useless exertions.
It has generally been supposed that a protracted
experience is necessary to acquire this habit,"
which is regarded as the highest qualification of a
soldier ; that even the physically brave must have
gone through a long course of smelling powder,
and hearing the boom of cannon hurling the iron
shower against themselves, before their noses and
ears have been brought into suitable training ; and

"Become more Iri.h and lees nice."

But our brave fellows have done so from the very
first. At the landing under Old Fort there was
no confusion or disorder. Oa the glorious 20th
of September, when crossing the ever-memorable
Alma, or marching through the burning village,
sustaining the concentrated fire of one hundred
field-pieces, or winning their way up heights that

would have required the skill of a mountaineer to
scale, they were still the same. The wonder
excited amongst our Continental brethren was
that they moved so " slowly" to the charge.
But they speedily appreciated the high, undaunted
courage that carried them on so surely and
steadily to the onslaught, and made it invariably
successful—that what at first sight they were in-
clined to attribute to a want of vivacity, was
really the great secret of British prowess, which
led to the most brilliant triumphs of the sturdy
and indomitable Islanders.

Again before Sebastopol, during the constant
turmoil of the siege, and under the unceasing fire
of its batteries, they were still the same, calm,
collected, and undisturbed—ready to obey orders
as if they possessed charmed lives, and bodies
imperirious to cold steel or hot lead. There was
no vaunting, no apparent notion that they were
doing anything beyond the common, or more than
their simple duty, in obeying orders—even when
those orders, delivered under a fatal misconcep-
tion, led them to almost certain death. On the
25th October, when. the Turks had sought refuge
in ignominious flight when even the duty of
spiking the guns was only discharged in the three
redoubts by " the one English Artilleryman who
was in each "—the 93d Highlanders stood firm.
Although attacked by an overwhelming force of
cavalry they did not take refuge even in the
square ; but, standing " shoulder to shoulder" in
!ine, they bore the brunt of the deadly charge,
and drove back the astonished foe, who had but
little notion of the stuff arrayed against them
under the ." Hieland bonnet." Then came the
time of the "Greys"—Scots likewise. They were
actually surrounded by ton times their numbers,
but the gallant band stuck firmly together. The
brave Inniskillings joined them. English, Irish,
tnd SCOteh—SCARLETT'S Brigade—dashed on the
foe, and Lord RAGLAN declares that the charge
"was one of the most successful he had ever wit-
nessed, was never for a moment doubtful, and was
in the highest degree creditable to Brigadier-General
SCARLETT and the officers and men engaged in it."

It was later, however, that the qualifications
tbove alluded to were displayed in the strongest
'ight. The unfortunate misconception, occurred—
we shall not pause to inquire who was in
fault orders were given the execution
whereof was of the most dangerous character.
The Generals by whom they were received
;tared with astonishment. They could not, how-
ever, disobey ; and the men of the Light Cayalry
Brigade rode cheerfully to the spot whore it was
timost a certainty that they would leave three-
fourths of their numbers on the field. Not a
murmur was heard when these gallant fellows
entered on the final charge, that elicited the ad-
miration alike of their Allies and their enemies.

It was the same on the following day when DE
LACY Eva...Ns' Brigade repelled the sortie from
Sebastopol, which was probably intended to have
taken place simultaneously with the at tack.on the
lines near Balaklava. But the latest and most im-
portant achievement of all was when the English
troops on the sth instant abided the shock of the
entire Russian force, with what the French General
termed remarkable solidity, and gained what we
hope and believe to have been a decisive victory.
The Russians, under the eye of the sons of
the AUTOCRAT, fought with desperate deter-
s
mination. Again and again they returned
to the charge, to be repulsed with increasing
slaughter. Nine thousand of their number were
left on the field by the English, supported by
General Boscfarr's division, while a sortie from
the garrison was easily repelled by General FOREY,
who displayed a degree of -valour worthy of the
heroes of Austerlitz. The triumph was decisive,
although dearly bought. The French very nearly
meceed.ed in following the flying adversary into
the fortress, and bringing the siege to a summary
conclusion. The town, however, cannot long be
held against such desperate and persevering at-
tacks.

" INCREASED BY REINFORORAIENTS FROM THE
DANUBE." Englishmen of all classes mark these
words ! General CA.NROBERT tells us that the
Russians, "increased by reinforcements from the
Danube and the southern provinces, attacked the
English position." They were brilliantly repulsed,
they lost some 10,000 men, but the Allies sus-
tained "some loss " also. There will be a black
bordered bulletin for the glorious sth of Novem-
ber, as well as for the victory of the Alma. Let
the widows and orphans, the fathers and mothers,
the brothers and sisters of the dead remember
whence came the reinforcements which embol-
dened the Russians to attack .our camp, and to
add to the list of our bereaved ones, though at
the awful penalty of losing perhaps ten for one.
For those reinforcements, probably for the attack
itself, certainly for the death of many of our brave
soldiers, we may thank Austria. Let electors,
Ind let subscribers to the Patriotic Fund, expect
that the dealings between this auxiliary, as
the professes herself to be, and our Government
L'orm one of the first texts for Parliamentary in-
terrogations. Our soldiers' blood demands it.

Why, in the name of all political, military, and
patriotic considerations, are we to be longer cursed
with the second-hand murderer of our troops
under the name of an ally, or a friendly power, or
whatever else short of an enemy we permit her
to call herself ? Had she not thrust herself into
the provinces, had she not obstructed Omen
PA.CHA'S movements, we should have heard no-
thing of "reinforcements from the Danube and
the Southern Provinces" in the Crimea. The
Turkish General would have given them other
work to do. When they had him on the
other side of the Danube, that real general
was down upon them in twenty places, where
they never looked for him, and had he, instead of
General Heiss, been on the Pruth, assuredly Prince
GORTSCHAKONIP would have had' no time to sleep,
much less to send reinforcements to attack the
army besieging Sebastopol. Let none forget the
hypocrisy and the fatal treachery of Austria, in
the splendour of the victory of the sth. The
curse of Austrian diplomacy delayed our operations
till we eommenced this siege on the verge of win-
ter ; now the curse of Austrian friendly occupa-
tion of Moldavia and Wallachia is felt in rein-
forcements to harass the besiegers, and in the
death struggles of many a gallant soldier. If our
kBERDEENS and PEELITBS endure this, we can tell
them the country will not. All England knows
that this heartless, yet arrogant power
is at our feet.. We can explode at any moment
mines of righteous discontent, which would scatter
her empire to the winds ; and we could do it
with the applause of all civilised peoples, and with
the motto of " Justice to Poland, to Hungary,
and to Italy." There are three noble names at
the very mention of which every Hapsburg
Nakes, albeit they are yet exiles—exiles from the
land. which Hapsburg tyranny holds' in its brutal
and ferocious grasp, but still at home where a
Hapsburg will never be—in the hearts of loving
and admiring fellow-countrymen. England knows
its power over a monarch with such a coward
conscience ; she demands that her public servants
use that power ; and if Austria have not joined
tae Allies in arms, or evacuated the provinces, or
facilitated the movements of Cox= ziolus before

Parliament meets, we sincerely trust that the very
first vote of her MAJESTY'S faithful Commons will
be a vote of no confidence in her MAJESTY'S un-
faithful Ministers.

SYDNEY SMITH was accustomed to remark that
no reliance could be placed on corporations be-
cause they had " neither souls to be saved nor
bodies to be kicked." The same observation
might be applied to Governments ; which, al-
though composed of men honourable, no doubt,
in their private capacities, do acts for which
individuals would blush and feel the deepest
shame. We have frequently exposed the petty
jealousies and paltry subterfuges the cha-
racteristics of red tapism that prevent
the different departments from giving credit to
persons out of the service for any suggestions
they may offer, or improvements they may dis-
cover. The plans of civilians could scarcely re-
ceive attentive consideration, however ingenious
or worthy of notice. So at least it was thought.
But now it seems that in some instances they are
willing to purloin what they are not satisfied
to pay for ; and that, in many instances,
designs explained in confidence to the commit-
tees appointed to investigate and report on
their efficiency are unblushingly printed, and the
real inventors deprived of the rewards due to
their ingenuity and enterprise.
On this point we would earnestly invite publio
attention to the letter of Mr. GEORGE HALF;
which will be found in another part of this day's
impression. That gentleman has, like many
others, been defrauded of his just rights, but he
is not willing to bear the injury without remon-
strance. He shows that his plans have been ap-
propriated without reward or acknowledgment.
Not having taken out a patent he cannot bring
an action for the piracy. But his moral claim
is no less powerful, and we are greatly mis-
taken in the British Parliament if they counte-
nance such gross and palpable dishonesty on the
part of officials. When Mr. HALE proves, as we
have no doubt he will be enabled to do, that the
invention is substantially his own, he will not by
a society of gentlemen be thrown overboard or
dismissed without recompense because his demand
is merely equitable, and could not be recovered in
a Court of Law.