The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-20 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON. WEDNESDAY EVENING FEBRUARY 20, 1856

Britain and a desire to forc3 her into a quarrel
's regarded as a masterly stroke of electioneering
t 4 lodes. It requires but a little exertion on the
Art of Russia to fan the smouldering fire into a
fierce flame, and to give England a far more for-
saidable opponent than the soi dint "Colossus of
td te North," whose vaunted strength has now
134:en fairly tested, and is no longer so extrava-
g -Intly over-estimated as in former years.

Energetic efforts will also be made to weaken
tl to entente cordiale that fortunately exists with
o it nearest neighbour and natural ally. We
b 4 3lieye that all these insidious attempts will be
lavailing, but there is no reason why the oppor-
tunity should be afforded—why we should expose
our faithful friends to needless temptation.

The initiatory trial of Lord CLARENDON* then
%rill be on the question of the armistice, its inci-
dents and duration. Should he pass through
Chem ordeals unscathed, we may accept the auspi-
cious augury with heartfelt satisfaction. But
stould he, when weighed in the diplomatic bal-
ce, be found wanting, menacing, indeed, will
be. the omens that obscure the political horizon,
a.nd which presage a protracted occultation of the
Star of the Western Empire.

The Army Estimates for the forthcoming year,
which have just been issued, completely verify
the allegation that there will be no relaxation in
our preparations for the vigorous maintenance of
the War. The total amount for army, ordnance,
and commissariat will be 34,998,5001. The
sumsrequired last year under these heads amounted
to 28,670,4971. The increase is therefore no
less than 6,328,0071., or about 23 per cent. ad•
dition to the Estimates for the current year. It
is true that the whole of this does not apply to
future service. In many instances the outlay
has already been incurred. But still the provision
made will be to a great extent available, and we
must, as in every similar case, make up our minds
to many retrospective items in the Estimates for
the year 1857.
The chief matter that first attracts attention is
the number of our effective troops. These
amount for the coming year to 246,716, being
an addition of 30,378, or rather more than 14
per cent. to the number asked for last year. The
outlay for obtaining the services of this powerful
body is calculated at 10,956,3981., the cost for
the addition being 1,611,657/. It will at once
be seen that the additional expense is by no
means proportioned to the enhanced strength.
But so it always is, where the effective force is
added without any corresponding increase to the
non-effective incumbrances on the list.
The next vote is 3,150,1291. for the embodied
militia. This is less than the last demand, by
285,599/. It does not, however, prove that the
force will be in any degree less efficient. On the
contrary, despite the liberal contributions made
from this truly national body to the line, we have
reason to believe that there will be no deteriora-
tion whatever. Great expenses for bounties and
training, which were indispensable during the
present year, will, not be required in that com-
mencing on the Ist April, although the full effec-
tive strength of the regiments be maintained
intact. It is also right to remember, that a-
though the charge is altogether debited to the
militia, a considerable portion might fairly be
transferred to the line, when the number and
value of well-drilled recruits that have volunteered
for active service at the seat of war are taken into
consideration. We next find 88,0001. for
volunteer corps, an item not calling for any
particular notice, and 408,5951. for the
irmy works corps. A. new and exceedingly
useful body, whose pay will be willingly provided
by the nation-169,0261. is required for the War
Department, in which, as in the Militia, we find
increased efficiency with diminished outlay, a
matter for which Lord PANMURE is entitled to
considerable credit.

The next item worthy of particular notice is
514,1411. for Civil Establishments. In this
there is an increase of more 'than 20 per cent.
(111,8061.) on the estimate of last session. The
country will, however, obtain ample value for
the extra expenditure in the more nume•
rous and far more efficient staff employed
both at home and abroad. The wages
of artificers will be 915,3011., an increase of
289,3761. ; for clothing, barrack furniture, pro-
visions, forage, fuel, and lights, 9,886,2611.,
being 3,682,219/. increase ; while in stores for
land and sea service we are required to provide
no less than 4,3711,165/: ; and for works and
buildings, 2,044,0691., an increase of 656,5691.
No complaints will be made of the foregoing
charges, which prove that we are not now " statv.
ing the War." It is only to be regretted that such
efficient and costly preparation should be wasted by
the acceptance of terms far beneath. those which
we should clearly be enabled to enforce. The
amount required also contrasts strangely with the
Loan required by the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
who will probably want five times five millions in
aid of the annual revenue, and who must, there-
fore, again make his appearance as a borrower
in the Money Market ere many months.
have elapsed. The opinions which we yesterday
promulgated en the subject of the Laan, have re-
ceived powerful corroboration from the array of
figures which we are now enabled to present to
our friends and to the community at large.

Among the acknowledged wants of the times is
that of duly qualified nurses, available for the
labouring population throughout the country
when attacked by fever, cholera, or other epide-
mical diseases ; and how to supply it is a matter
interesting, not only to the class in question, but
to the entire community, involving as it does
considerations of a sanitary and financial as well
as of a humane nature.

For instance, a working man is overtaken by
fever, and, of course, requires the most watchful
attendance. Who is there to bestow it but his
wife, whose family cares burden her sufficiently
already, and who probably knows no more of
good nursing than affection teaches her? The
result is she overtasks her strength, takes the
disease, and possibly communicates it to her chil-
dren ; and he either dies, or regains strength so
slowly, and the common wants are so great, that
the whole family are thrown on the parish for a
lengthened period. Or, say the wife is first
seized, the result is pretty much the same—the
patient being no better tended, the danger of
infection equally great, and tho husband finally
laid off his work for a considerable period, if not
for ever. In both these cases, and in the case of
a widow supporting her children, nothing can be
p more obvious than that prompt attendance of a
proper description—viz., by a
duly qualified
nurse—would go a long way to prevent the above
disastrous consequences, epidemics being more
manageable at an early stage than is generally
believed, and the cure more speedy when then
attempted.

Such attendance is, however, not to be La'l,
and the question is, how is it to be so ? A Com-
mittee of the Epidemiological Society have, we.
find, had the matter ender their serious consi-
deration, and have come to the conclusion that
the want is one whicb auiy readily be met. Cast- ,

ing their eyes over the 533 unions of England,
they find nearly 20,000 able-bodied women within
their walls, from whose ranks competent nurses in
abundance may be supplied. The question of
training is met in this fashion. The Committee
propose " that, by an order of the Poor-Law
Board, it be made imperative upon the master
and matron of each workhouse to put the able-
bodied females through a systematic training in
the kitchen and infirmary ; that when found
sufficiently qualified to act as nurses they shall re-
ceive a certificate of fitness, signed by the medical
officer and master ; and that a register of all such
qualified nurses, whether residing in or out of
the workhouse, shall be open to the public as a
means of obtaining nurses." In vindication of
this scheme they insist, first, on the necessity of
having nurses of the same class as the patients—
nurses habituated to their manner of life, thoughts,
and feelings, and not exigent in their personal
requirements ; second, on the elevating tendency
of such employment to the parties selected, and of
the emulation excited by the opportunity to be
so ; and third, on the great diminution of expen-
diture it would occasion to the ratepayers.
Finally, they appeal to the public for aid, and
thereby call on them to form an opinion on the
subject. To the formation of this opinion we
cannot at present contribute much. To a con-
siderable extent the scheme seems feasible,
but before we can express a decided opinion we
must learn what sort of women these able-bodied
paupers generally are. Are they in the main, or
in such a proportion as will meet the necessities
of the case, morally and intellectually fit for the
office Y That nurses for labourers should be of a
higher class than the labouring may not be desir-
able ; but that they should possess at least equal
moral qualities seems to us to be a sine qua non.
The Committee, however, will have opportunity
for further inquiry, and, in the meantime, the
thorough success of so large and cheap a scheme
appears to us so very desirable, that we trust the
labours of the committee will not be impeded by
the want of contributions of a pecuniary nature.

THE LOSS OF THE POLYPHEMUS.

ADMIRALTY, FEB. 20.

The fallowing intelligence has this day been
received from Commander Fred. P. Warren, of
life sloop Polyphemus, dated Thisted, 13th
Feb..—

"I have not been able, up to the present date,
to forward to their lordships a correct list of such
men as have lost their lives. Eight bodies have,
however, been found and interred. Those which
have been identified aro the remains of Mr. Her-
bert, master ; Thos. Maunder, boatswain's mate;
Samuel Pearce, boy, Ist class ; John Reynolds,
capt. aftgd.; and Henry Forbes, capt. forecastle."

PAYMENTS OF DEPOSITS ON THE
NEW LOAN.

The following Treasury notice has just been
communicated to the Stock Exchange :

" DOWNING-STREET, FEB. 19, 1856.
" Gentlemen,—lt has beea represented to
Viscount Palmerston and myself, in reference to
the proposals for a loan of 5,000,0001., and a
funding of 3,000,0001. of Exchequer-bills, that
it would be more convenient if the deposits are
fixed at 10 per cent, instead of 20 per cent., as
stated in the terms already published.
" I have therefore to request that you will
cause an intimation to be given at the Stock Ex-
change, at the opening of business to-morrow,
and the deposits to be paid on Tuesday, the 26th
inst., will be 10 per cent., and that the additional
10 per cent., making up the first 20 per cent.,
will be payable as an instalment on Monday, the
3d March. The other instalments x ill remain
as originally stated.

" I have the honour to be, gentlemen,
" Your obedient, humble servant,
"G. C. LEWIS.
" The Governor and Mputy-Governor
of the Bank of England."
In consequence of this announcement by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Messrs. Rothschild
have intimated that they will receive a deposit of
10 per cent. instead of 20 per cent. as previously
stated.

The following notice from Messrs. Rothschild, in-
viting subscriptions to the new loan and the funding, was
communicated yesterday to the Stock Exchange :-
6' LOAN FOR FIVE MILLIONS STERLING AND FUNDING
THREE MILLIONS OF EXCHEQUER•BILLS
"Messrs. N. M. Rothschild and Sons beg to announce
to the public that they are ready to receive applications
for the proposed loan and funding from parties desirous
of participating therein, and will receive the same until
Thursday, at 2 o'clock,
. _

•` It isnec.:Asary that every application be accompa-
nied with a, deposit in money of 20 per cent. on the
amount thereof ; and if the amount applied for be not
alloted the proportion of the deposit will be forth with
returned.

" All applications will be corisidered as joint applica-
tions for the loan and funding.
N.B. In order to insure correctness in the scrip re-
ceipts it is requested that applicants for the loan will sign
their name or names in full.
" New-court, St. Swithin's-lane, Feb. 18."
It will be observed frogs this t hat all the applications
will be treated as if they were for part of a loan of
8,000,000/. The only difference will be that after the
payme%t of the deposit the subscribers will receive two
descriptiQns of receipt, and that they will have the op-
tion of paying three-eighths of the amount of their instal-
menti in Exchequer bills.

The Court, it is expected, will return to Windsor
Castle, for the Easter vacation, A week earlier than
usual—about the 19th proximo—when the Princess
Royal will receive the holy rite of confirmation.
The Earl of Wilton has been entertaining a distin-
guished party at Melton Mowbray, The Marquis of
Clanricarde, Lord Forester, and Lord Gardiner, have
been among the guests of the noble earl.
Viscountess Palmerston has issued cards for an as-
sembly on Saturday evening.
Major• General Buckley, M.P., and Lady Catherine
Buckley have arrived at their residence in South Audle3
street, from New Hall, near Salisbury.
The celebrated German poet, Henry Heine, died last
night in Paris.

-It is stated that important and very serious news from
the United States reached Paris last night.
Mr. Bright, M.P., is still unable to resume his seat
in Parliament in consequence of indisposition arising
from an affection of the liver, and bilious attack.
Mit. COGAN, M.P.—We learn that Mr. Cogan, M.P.,
ors the eve of his intended departure for London to re-
sume his Parliamentary duties was seized with a seven:
and renewed attack of illness of a formidable cbaracter.i
DEATH OF SIR JOHN STODDART.-Sir John Stoddart,
Kt., D.C.L. late Chief Justice of Malta, and judge of
the Admiralty Court of that island, died on the 16th
inst. at his residence, Brompton-square.
We learn that, in addition to the very liberal money
prizes offered by the French Government for Scotch
stock exhibited at the coming Paris Show, there will be
given with each first prize a gold medal, and with the
second and third prizes silver and bronze medals.—
Scotsman.

Draughts of considerable amount of the Tipperary
Joint-stock Bank continue to be returned by their Lon-
don agents, notwithstanding the recent intimation that
the business of the establishment would go on without
interruption.

The suspension was announced yesterday of Messrs.
Cambouroglou Leno and Co., one of the Greek houses
engaged in the Danube corn trade. Their difficulties
are attributed to the circumstance of many of their car-
goes being detained in the Danube, and their friends
express confident anticipations that the assets cf the
firm will be sufficient ultimately to meet all claims in
full. Their uncovered liabilities are only about 20,0001.
BURFORD'S PANORAMA, LEICESTER-SQUARF. —Her Ma-
jesty the Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the
Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, and the Princess Alice,
attended by the Hon. Miss Byng, the Hon. niss Bul-
teel, Major-General Bouverie, and Captain Du Platt,
honoured Mr. Burford's new Panorama' of the Fall and
Interior of the City of Sebastopol, with a visit on Mon-
day last, in Leicester-3quare. The Royal party remained
nearly an hour, and evinced the deepest interest in the
splendid painting and truly national subject.
MR. BRIGHT AND THE PRESS.—In his last Manchester
speech Mr. Bright said :—" If I were the editor of a
newspaper, er a writer for one, if I could not in the
columns of that paper state to the people the fair facts,
both for and against, that they might know precisely
where they were going and what they were doing—if I
could not afford to do that I would choose some other
Way of earning my bread." The writer in the news-
Paper may retort, " If I wore a speaker on the hustings,
and I could not state to the people the fair facts, both
for and against, that they might know precisely where
they were going and what they were doing, 1 would
shut iny month fore per.".
—Examiner.

the Eastern question. The government of the King,
in conformity to the position which it has assumed
as a European power, and, which I have pointed
out to Count Arnim in my despatch of the 26th
ult., explains its views in the document here an-
nexed, and will bring them forward in the discus-
sion which is to take place on this question in the
Diet, relying with confidence on the assent and
support of his German confederates. Prussia has
thought it its duty to abstain from any exclusive
views on the subject. It has, in the first place,
sought the guarantee of the dignity and true in-
terests of the German nation ; in the second place,
it has evinced a sincere desire to co-operate, as
much as possible, with the other great German
power ; and, lastly, it has thought it its duty to
take into consideration, as far as possible, the
wishes and views which have been privately dis-
closed to it by some of the German Governments.
You will communicate the annexed despatch to the
government to which you have the honour of being
accredited, and confidentially urge the views which
I have pointed out. You will also let us know if,
and to what extent, our hopes of seeing our Ger.
man confederates, by their instructions to their re-
presentatives to the Diet, agree with us for the
future as heretofore, are well founded."

SARDINIA.
SPEECH OF GENERAL LA MARMORA.
At the banquet given a few days since to General
La Marmora by the senators and deputies of the
Sardinian chambers, the general replied as follows
to the toast in honour of the Sardinian army :
" Gentlemen,--I thank you in the name of the brave
army which I have the honour to command, and which
may call itself brave, although it has not been given it
to register numerous victories. The bravery of the Pied-
montese army contributed powerfully to the success of
the battle of the Tchernaya—that last desperate effort of
the enemy to save the great fortress upon which Russia
expended so much laboar, and for which it has made
such prodigious sacrifices.
"Many a time, gentlemen, when our soldiers ran to
arms with the almost perfect certainty of meeting the
enemy hand to hand, I have gone through the ranks
looking in the face of those brave men, and I can assure
you that in their eyes and in the expression of their
features I read an ardent desire and impatience to be
measured against the foe. Chagrin and regret were
only seen on their countenances when they returned to
pile their arms.

"I cannot, gentlemen, resist citing to you here the
dying words of the brave General Montevecchte. 'Tell
the King,' said he, that I was not unworthy to com-
mand a brigade. Tell my reg:ment that I carried its
uniform when mortally wounded in fighting. Bring me
to the affectionate remembrance of my friensls, by telling
them that since Almighty God has called me to himself,
I thank Him for granting me a death which crowns my
life, and fulfils all the military aspirations of my long
career.' •

"I ana certain, gentlemen, that if peace is made, in
spite of the pleasure which our soldiers will have to see
their country 'once more, and to embrace their parents
and their friends, they will regret abandoning the scene
of so many glorious contests without having reaped more
:aurels."

THE MEDITERRANEAN.
SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY MORNING.

By the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steam-ship Euxine, Captain Joy, with the India,
China, and Mediterranean mailg, we have dates
from Alexandria, Feb. 6 ; Malta, 10 ;
Gibral-
tar, 16.

The Euxine brings 38 passengers, and on freight
one package of specie, value not stated, and the
usual cargo.

The screw steam-ship Pera was at Malta, repair-
ing the damage to her machinery, when the Euxine
left. The mails, however, have been brought on
by this arrival. The Pera was to sail for South-
ampton on the 11th inst.

A letter from Vienna of the 14th, in the Gazette
de Weser, states :—" There arrived yesterday from
Berlin a new Prussian circular of the 9th, which
Count Arnim has already communicated to our
Cabinet. It is said to relate to the admission of
Prussia to the Conferences."

A correspondent of the Frurtzburg Gazette says :
—" The question relative to the foreign troops who
are in Turkey will not be decided until after the
definitive conclusion of peace; but it is certain that
the Western Powers and Austria are agreed as to
the necessity of a prolonged military occupation of
the Turkish provinces, without which occupation
the contemplated reforms cannot be carried into
execution. Austria will consequently keep a gar-
rison in the Principalities, and the allies will con-
tinue to occupy Constantinople, Gallipoli, Adri-
anople, Varna, Trobizond, and Erzeroum. Russia
will not take any part in the occupation of the
Turkish territory."

At the late election for a member of the Execu-
tive Government in the canton of Zurich, three
candidates presented themselves, a Conservative, a
Socialist, and a governmental Radical. M. Hagen-
buck, the last named, gained the day on the sixth
ballot.